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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-14 18:44:01 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-14 18:44:01 -0700 |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/44491-0.txt b/44491-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..43c8b6e --- /dev/null +++ b/44491-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10920 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44491 *** + +Transcriber's note: + +Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). + +Small capital text has been replaced with all capitals. + + * * * * * + + + + + BLACKWOOD'S + EDINBURGH MAGAZINE. + + No. CCCCXXXIV. DECEMBER, 1851. VOL. LXX. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + TO THE SHOPKEEPERS OF GREAT BRITAIN, 629 + + THE JEW'S LEGACY. A TALE OF THE SIEGE OF GIBRALTAR, 648 + + LIFE AMONGST THE LOGGERS, 669 + + MY NOVEL; OR, VARIETIES IN ENGLISH LIFE. PART XVI., 681 + + JOHNSTON'S NOTES ON NORTH AMERICA, 699 + + THE ANSAYRII, 719 + + THE CHAMPIONS OF THE RAIL, 739 + + INDEX, 751 + + + EDINBURGH: + WILLIAM BLACKWOOD & SONS, 45 GEORGE STREET; + AND 37 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON. + + _To whom all communications (post paid) must be addressed._ + + SOLD BY ALL THE BOOKSELLERS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM. + + PRINTED BY WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS, EDINBURGH. + + + + + BLACKWOOD'S + EDINBURGH MAGAZINE. + + No. CCCCXXXIV. DECEMBER, 1851. VOL. LXX. + + + + +TO THE SHOPKEEPERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. + + +GENTLEMEN,--As it is customary for most men about this season of +the year, when accounts are balanced and squared, to take a serious +survey of the posture of their affairs, and to examine into their +business prospects, perhaps you may not consider a few observations, +touching the welfare and position of that important class of the +community to which you belong, either impertinent or ill-timed. You +are aware that, for the last year or two, Her Majesty's Ministers +have been in the habit of opening Parliament with a congratulatory +assurance of the continued, and even augmented, prosperity of the +country. The reason why such statements were made, altogether +irrespective of their truth or falsehood, is obvious enough. In a +political point of view, they were necessary for the vindication +of the measures which Government either originated or adopted. To +have admitted that the country was not prospering under the new +commercial system, would have been considered by the public as +tantamount to an acknowledgment that the policy which dictated +those measures was vicious; and that the Whig ministry, if not +deficient in duty, had at least erred sorely in judgment. In private +life, we rarely meet with that degree of candour which amounts to +an unequivocal admission of error in point of judgment--in public +life, such an admission is altogether unknown. Failure may indeed +be acknowledged when the fact becomes too evident to admit of +further denial; but the causes of that failure are never attributed +to their real source. Not only the purity of the motive, but the +wisdom of the conception, is vindicated to the last. In this case, +however, failure is totally denied. So far from being put upon their +defence, the Whigs maintain that they have achieved a triumph. Their +averment is, that, with the exception of the agricultural producers, +among whom they allow that a certain degree of distress prevails, +all other classes of the community are prosperous. Even for the +agriculturists there is balm in store. The prosperity of the other +classes is to react upon them; so that, within some indefinite +period of time, we shall all find ourselves in circumstances of ease +and comfort which have hitherto been unknown in our land. + +With you the benefit is represented, not as prospective, but as +present. The agriculturist may have to wait a little longer, but you +are already provided for. Your cake is baked; and we are assured +that you are eating it in thankfulness and joy. If this is really +the case, there is no more to be said on the subject. If the harvest +of Free Trade has actually yielded you such a large measure of +profit, it would be madness in anyone to decry that line of policy +in your hearing. You constitute the class which, from its peculiar +position and vocation, is better qualified than any other to judge +accurately, and from experience, of the degree of prosperity which +is actually known in the country. The verdict of twelve shopkeepers, +given after an inspection of their books for an average of years, +ought to be of more weight, in settling the merits of any disputed +commercial question, than the random assurances of a dozen cabinet +ministers whose reputation and official existence are bound up in +the vindication of their own policy. The reason of this is perfectly +obvious. Your profit is simply a commission upon your sales. You +do not produce or manufacture articles of consumption--you simply +retail them. Your profit depends upon the briskness of trade, that +is, the amount of demand. It rises or falls according to the general +circumstances of your customers. In good times you make large +profits; in bad times those profits decrease. One while your stock +sells off rapidly; at another, it remains upon your hands. Your +interest is inseparable from that of the great body of consumers by +whom you live. You have little or nothing to do with the foreign +trade; for, whatever be the nature, of the articles in which you +deal, you sell them in the home market. You have, therefore, the +best opportunity of estimating the real condition of your customers. +The state of your own books, and the comparative degree of ease or +difficulty which you experience in the collection of your accounts, +furnish you with a sure index of the purchasing power of the +community. Compared with this criterion, which is common to every +man among you, tables of exports and imports, statements of bank +bullion, and such like artificial implements as have been invented +by the political impostors and economists, are absolutely worthless. +When our sapient Chancellor of the Exchequer, or Mr Labouchere, +tell you, with an air of unbounded triumph, that the exportation +of calicoes to China or Peru has mightily increased--and therefore +argue, without condescending to inquire whether such exportation +has been attended with any profit at all to the manufacturers, that +the prosperity of the country is advancing at a railway pace--you +may indeed be gratified by the statistical information, but you +will fail to discover in what way the public are benefited thereby. +It is pleasant to know that there are fifteen millions of gold in +the vaults of the Bank of England, and that, so long as this hoard +remains undiminished, there is little chance of a commercial crisis, +or a violent contraction of credit. But we take it you would be +infinitely better pleased to know that sovereigns were circulating +freely from hand to hand amongst the people, and that your customers +had their pockets so well filled as to enable them to purchase +largely, and to pay their accounts when due. To you any depression +whatever is a serious matter--a depression which assumes a permanent +appearance cannot be much short of ruin. Therefore you ought most +especially to take care that no false representation is made +regarding your circumstances, which may be the means of perpetuating +a system that has already proved detrimental to a large body of your +customers. + +Were we to take for granted the ministerial statement of +prosperity--which no doubt will be repeated next February--your Whig +minister being an incorrigible cuckoo--this paper would certainly +not have been written. But, having had occasion early to doubt the +truthfulness of this vernal note, and having taken some pains to +examine the statements which from time to time are issued by the +great houses engaged in commercial and manufacturing industry, as +also the accounts of the present condition of the poor, which have +excited so much public interest, we have really been unable to +discover any one influential class, beyond the money-lenders and +creditors, or any one large and important branch of industry, which +can, with truth, be described as prospering, or will confess to the +existence of such prosperity. Shipmasters, manufacturers, merchants, +iron-masters, and agriculturists, all tell the same tale. This is +very strange. You may possibly remember that Mr M'Gregor, once +Secretary to the Board of Trade, and now member for Glasgow, the +great commercial city of Scotland, estimated the additional amount +of wealth which was to accrue to Great Britain, in consequence of +the repeal of the Corn Laws, at two millions sterling per week! Upon +what data that profound gentleman, who thus enunciated the prophecy +and assumed the mask of Midas, proceeded in his calculation, we know +not, and perhaps it would be superfluous to inquire. It certainly +was a good round sum; for, by this time, without insisting upon +compound, or even simple interest, it should have amounted to +rather more than one-half of the national debt; but unfortunately +nobody will own to having fingered a farthing of the money. In +recalling to your memory this little circumstance, it is by no +means our intention to offer any disrespect to the intellectual +powers of M'Gregor, for whom, indeed, we entertain a high degree of +veneration, similar to that which is manifested by the Mussulman +when he finds himself in the company of a howling derveesh. We +merely wish to reproduce to you one phantom of the golden dream, +which, five or six years ago, when the fever of gain was epidemical, +possessed the slumbers of so many; and having done so, to ask you, +now that the fever is gone, whether it was not indeed a phantom? We +are wiser now--at all events, we have had more experience--and the +producing classes tell us very distinctly, and quite unanimously, +that they have derived no benefit whatever from the commercial +changes which have taken place. Capital, whether invested in ships, +factories, mines, or land, is less profitable, and therefore less +valuable, than it was before; and in some instances, where the +depression has been most heavy, it has been almost annihilated. + +These are not our statements, but the statements of the several +interests, as put forward by their own representatives. They +are statements which emanate alike from the Free-Trader and the +Protectionist. Men may differ as to the cause, but they all agree +as to the grand fact of the depression. So that, when we hear +ministers congratulating themselves and the country upon its general +prosperity, and, _pari passu_ with this congratulation, find the +accredited organs of each of the great branches of productive +industry vehemently asserting that they are exceptions from the +general rule, an anxious believer in the probity of all parties has +his faith somewhat rudely shaken. + +We believe that, collectively, you are the best judges as to this +disputed matter. As the real wealth of the country depends upon +the amount and value of its yearly produce--as from that annual +creation, when measured by the monetary standard, and circulated +through a thousand channels, all our incomes are derived--you, +who supply the whole population with the necessaries and luxuries +of life, (fabricated by others, but passing through your hands,) +must necessarily have the best means of knowing whether the +circumstances of that population have, on the aggregate, been +bettered or made worse. When Napoleon in the bitterness of his heart +declared that we were a nation of shopkeepers, he uttered no terms +of reproach, though he intended to convey a taunt. Your position +in the community is such that you cannot flourish independent of +its general prosperity. The exporting manufacturer, and even the +foreign merchant, may multiply their gains, and realise fortunes, +whilst other classes, whose wellbeing is far more important to the +stability of the empire, are hastening to decay. Such phenomena are +common in old states, when the process of dissolution has begun. +The parasite lives and thrives, while the tree round which it has +wound its tendrils is crumbling into rottenness. But such is not +your case. Your interests are identical with those of the productive +classes, for without them you could not exist. Ill-remunerated +labour--unproductive capital--lessened means--deteriorated +property--are things which affect you as deeply as though you were +the direct sufferers or losers. Upon the wealth of your customers +depends your own. And therefore, in such an important crisis as +the present, when the existing commercial system of the country is +vigorously assailed by one party, and as obstinately defended by +another--when facts and statements apparently of much weight are +adduced on either side, to serve as arguments for the overthrow or +the maintenance of that system--when some cite statistical tables to +prove that the country must be prosperous, and others adduce real +evidence to show that the reverse is the case--you cannot afford +to sit idly by, without throwing the weight of your testimony and +experience into one or other of the scales. You have had admirable +opportunities of noticing the working of the Free-Trade system. It +matters not what were the original prepossessions of any of you, +or what might have been your opinion with regard to the merits of +this or that scheme, while it was still in embryo and untried. A +more complex question than that of Free Trade, as affecting the +importation of corn, probably never was presented to the public +consideration. Many excellent, judicious, and thoroughly patriotic +men, relying upon the truth of statements which were regarded by +others as mere plausible theories, were willing to submit to the +experiment. And when, by the grossest act of political perfidy +that was ever perpetrated--an act which future times, if not the +present, will stigmatise with deserved opprobrium--the last and most +important change, save that which subsequently assailed our maritime +interest, was suddenly effected, it was the declared opinion of the +majority that the new system must at least have a trial, until its +real results were developed, and until it became apparent to the +nation whether or not Free Trade would operate for the advantage of +the people, as its advocates and promoters had predicted. + +Here we must, for a moment or two, however unwillingly, digress. The +later measures of Free Trade have assailed interests so important +and so strong, that its former and earlier advances, stealthily and +cautiously made, have almost faded from the public view. Free Trade, +as a political system, did not alone strike at the agricultural or +the shipping interest. Since the days of Mr Huskisson, who brought +with him into active life the principles which he had imbibed in +youth from his associates in French Jacobinism, the principles of +Free Trade have been gradually but cautiously applied to various +branches of British industry. The slow and insidious nature of the +movement on the part of the statesmen, who, even then, were yielding +to the influence of the modern economical school, showed their +distrust of the system, which, if true, ought at once to have been +openly promulgated. Like the late Sir Robert Peel, Huskisson was +destitute of that manly courage which scorns concealment or deceit, +and walks steadfastly to its goal. Cunning was an ingredient of +his nature: whatever he did was accomplished by tortuous methods, +and vindicated upon false pretences. The tendency of that policy +which he commenced was to maintain by all means, at all hazards, +and at the sacrifice, if needful, of every other interest, the +manufacturing supremacy, of England in the foreign market--an object +for which we still are striving, though at the imminent risk of the +dismemberment of the British empire. It is due, however, to the +memory of Mr Huskisson, to remark, that, although the originator +of this policy, he does not seem to have contemplated the extent +to which it would be carried out by his successors. His opinions +upon the subject of protection to agriculture were clear and +decided: "There is no effectual security, either in peace or war, +against the frequent return of scarcity, but in making ourselves +independent of foreign supply. Let the bread we eat be the produce +of corn grown among ourselves; and, for one, I care not how cheap +it is--the cheaper the better. It is cheap now, and I rejoice at +it, because it is altogether owing to a sufficiency of corn of our +own growth; but, to insure a continuance of that cheapness, and +that sufficiency, we must insure to our own growers _protection +against foreign importation_, which has produced those blessings, +and by which alone they can be permanently maintained." The time, +however, was fast approaching when the reins of government were to +fall into the hands of a scion of the manufacturing body, in whose +eyes the momentary supremacy of party was of more importance than +any principle of national policy. There is no more curious page in +history than that which records the rise of British manufactures +towards the close of last century. Invention after invention, +whereby manual labour was superseded by machinery, and the power of +production almost indefinitely multiplied, paved the way for that +monopoly which our manufacturers enjoyed for at least a quarter of +a century, during which time every other country in Europe except +our own was devastated by war, and the peaceful arts forgotten or +overthrown. It was during that period that the gigantic fortunes of +the Arkwrights and the Peels were made, and that influence secured +to the manufacturing body in the British House of Commons which it +never possessed before. But with the return of peace the monopoly +disappeared. By invention in mechanical appliances, Britain had +the start of other nations in the creation of manufactures; by +war, she was enabled long to enjoy the undivided benefits. But +inventions are not the property of a single nation; they pass from +one to another with the rapidity of lightning; they are available +by the foreign, even more easily than by the domestic, rival. Hence +it very soon became apparent that other states were preparing to +compete with us in those branches of industry which had proved +so exceedingly profitable. France, Belgium, Germany, Russia, +Switzerland, and America, all entered keenly into the contest; and +then commenced that decline of prices which has continued, almost +without intermission, to the present hour. Reciprocity treaties were +tried, but were in fact of little avail; for the great bulk of the +English exports consisted of those very textile fabrics which it +was the object of each country to produce for its own consumption, +if not to export to others. During the war, both the expenses of +government and the interest of the National Debt had doubled in +amount, and the monetary changes effected in 1819 added at least +one-third to the weight of that augmented burden. In order to make +this taxation bearable, the industry of the people was protected in +their own market by a scale of customs duties, which prevented the +influx of foreign produce at rates which must have annihilated the +British workman. Protection is a clear necessity which arises out +of taxation. If the tobacco, tea, coffee, sugar, beer, soap, and +other articles of the labourer's consumption, are taxed in order +to maintain an expensive establishment, and to defray the interest +of an enormous debt, he must have a compensation of some kind. The +only kind of compensation which can be granted, and which the wit of +man can devise, is to be found in an equitable scale of duties, by +means of which all produce imported into Britain shall be taxed as +heavily as though it had been reared, grown, or made up on British +ground by British labourers. Unless this be done, there is no fair +competition. The less burdened foreigner must ultimately carry the +day against the heavily-taxed Englishman. And when we consider that +all taxes must be paid out of produce, there being no other source +whatever from which they can be drawn, the importance of maintaining +the market value of our produce at a point equal to the pressure of +our taxation will at once become apparent. + +There are, however, plausible, though in reality most fallacious +grounds, upon which the Protective System may be assailed. In this, +as in every other country, the first and most important branch +of industry is that which provides food for the population. To +that all others are subordinate. It is impossible to estimate the +amount of capital which has been laid out upon the soil of Britain, +first in reclaiming it from a state of nature, and, since then, +in maturing and increasing its fruitfulness. But some idea may be +formed of its magnitude from the fact that, in 1846, the annual +agricultural produce of the United Kingdom was valued, according +to the prices then current, at £250,000,000. Whatever imperial +taxation is imposed on other classes of the community is shared +equally by the agriculturists; and they are, moreover, exposed to +heavy local rates, from which the others are comparatively free. +It is a received maxim in political economy--we ought rather to +say a rule of common sense--that all taxes and charges paid by the +producer, over and above his necessary profit, fail ultimately to +be defrayed by the consumer--that is, that such taxes and charges +form a component part of the selling price of the article. There is +no specialty whatever in the case of corn or provisions to exempt +them from the general rule. But all restrictions which tend to +enhance the price of the first necessaries of life are obnoxious +to that section of the people who, from ignorance or incapacity, +cannot understand why bread should be dear in one country and +cheap in another. They, too, are subjected to their share of +indirect taxation, and the knowledge that they are so taxed in +the consumption of articles which constitute their only luxuries, +renders them doubly impatient of a system which, on the authority +of wicked and designing demagogues, they are led to believe was +invented by the landlords solely for their own benefit. Thus heavy +taxation, however engendered, must always be fraught with great +peril to the permanency of a state. The burden of such taxation +falls most heavily upon the land, and yet the agriculturist is +expected to provide food for the people as cheaply as though he were +altogether exempt from the burden. + +The reason why the exporting manufacturers, and those politicians +who entered thoroughly into their views, were so bent upon the +destruction of the Corn Laws, was twofold. In the first place, the +competition in foreign markets threatened to become so strong, owing +to the rapid development of textile industry on the Continent, that +it was necessary to lower prices. England had given machinery and +models to the Continent, and the Continent was now fighting her +with her own weapons, and at a cheaper cost, as labour abroad is +less expensive than it is here. In order to bring down the value +of labour in England, for the purpose of protracting this grand +manufacturing contest, it was necessary to lower, in some way +or other, the price of food in England, and this could only be +accomplished by free admission of foreign supplies. In short, their +object was to bring down wages. On this point we have the testimony +of Mr Muntz, M.P. for Birmingham, as early as February 1842. He +wrote as follows:--"Say what you will, the _object_ of the measure +is _to reduce wages_, and the _intention_ is to reduce them to +the Continental level. I repeat it, the Corn Laws very materially +support labour in this country.... Why, the professed object of +the repeal is to enable the English merchant to compete with the +foreigner, and how can he do that _unless by a reduction of wages_, +which reduction will be upon all trade, home and foreign?" Mr John +Bright was not less clear as to the necessity of such reduction of +wages in order to maintain our exports: "If the tariff in Russia +imposed a heavy duty on English yarn, and if English yarn went there +and had to be sold at the same rate as the yarn of the Russian +spinner, he (that is, the Russian spinner) not paying the heavy +duty, it followed that we must, _by some means or other_, make our +goods cheaper by the amount of duty which we paid, and to do that +_it was absolutely necessary that the wages of the operatives in +this country should be reduced_." And Mr Greg of Manchester, a +leading member of the Anti-Corn Law League, wrote as follows:--"In +the only remaining item of the cost of production--that is, the +wages of labour--foreign nations have a decided advantage; and +although a free trade in provisions, by lowering them here, and +raising them abroad, might regulate the difference, I doubt if it +ever could be entirely removed. Better education, more sober habits, +more frugality, and general forethought, together with cheaper food, +will no doubt enable our people to live in much greater comfort +than at present UPON CONSIDERABLY SMALLER EARNINGS." These extracts +sufficiently disclose the designs of the Free-Traders against the +wages of the workman. In the second place, it was believed by many +of them, that, by sacrificing the agriculturists, they would be +able to turn the attention of other countries, especially America, +from the prosecution of their rising manufactures. They argued, +that if we were to surrender and secure our provision market to +foreign states, they would return the compliment by allowing us +to manufacture for them--in other words, that the foreigners were +to feed England, and England was to clothe the foreigners! This +precious scheme has since been avowed, seriously and gravely, by men +who have seats in the present House of Commons; and, so far as we +can understand their language, the philosophers of the _Edinburgh +Review_ consider this a most sensible arrangement! + +The agricultural interest, however, was of too great magnitude to +be attacked at once. Several outworks were to be gained before +the citadel was summoned to surrender. Accordingly Mr Huskisson +began, and Sir Robert Peel continued, that system of commercial +relaxations, (which, some five-and-twenty years ago, was exposed +and denounced in this Magazine,) annihilating some branches of +industry and depressing others--pauperising whole districts, as in +the Highlands, and merging the villages in the towns--until the time +seemed ripe, and the opportunity propitious, for the accomplishment +of the grand design. It is not now necessary to dwell upon the +circumstances which attended the change in the Corn and Navigation +Laws--these are still fresh in the memory of all of us, and will +not soon be forgotten. Our object in this digression was simply to +remind you that Free Trade, in its insidious and stealthy progress, +has warred with other interests than those which belong to the +agricultural and the maritime classes. + +Neither is it necessary at present to advert to the gross +inconsistencies of the system--to the restrictions which it still +continues upon that very branch of industry which it has laid bare +to foreign competition. Let us take the system as it is, of which +you have had now nearly three years' experience, dating from the +time when the ports were opened. + +Three years constitute a long period for the endurance of a +commercial experiment. During that time you have had ample +opportunity of observing how the system has worked. Are you richer +or poorer than you were before the experiment began? If the former, +Free Trade has worked well; if the latter, it is a mischievous +delusion. + +This is a question which you alone can answer--or rather, every man +must answer it for himself. But this much we may be allowed to say, +that, from what information we can gather regarding the state of +general trade--from the sentiments which we have heard expressed by +many of the most respectable of your own body--the experiences of +the last year have not been such as to give you much encouragement +for the future. If it is so, then you will do well to consider +whether or not you ought to lend that great political influence +which you undoubtedly possess, in support of a system which has not +only failed to realise the anticipations of its founders, but has +actually diminished in a great degree the power of purchase of the +community. + +This is no trivial matter to any of us, least of all is it trivial +to you. The next general election will be, in its results, by far +the most important of any which has taken place for centuries. If, +in the new Parliament, all idea of a return to the Protective System +is abandoned, we may prepare ourselves for that most dismal conflict +which can convulse a country--a war against taxation, and ultimately +against property. For--rely upon this--heavy taxation and cheap +produce are things which never can be reconciled. You may, if you +please, hand over the home market of Britain to the foreigner, and +allow him, without toll or custom, to supply our wants with produce +of his own rearing; but, if you do so, what is to become of our +own population, and their labour?--and how are you to levy those +taxes which labour alone can supply? That manufacturing interest, +for which such desperate sacrifices have been made, is daily losing +ground in the markets of the world. The fact will brook no denial, +and it is admitted even by its own members. America has refused +the bait offered to her by the Free-Traders, and is engaged heart +and soul in the cotton manufacture, for which she possesses within +herself the command of the raw material. _To those countries which +supply us with corn, our exports of manufactures have alarmingly +decreased._ We may continue to glut (for that is what we are doing +at present) the markets of India and China, and our export tables +may exhibit a cheering increase in the amount of yards of calico +sent out; but, unless the trade circulars are utterly mendacious, +the speculation has been, and will continue to be for a long tract +of time, unprofitable. The fact is, that the extent and value of +our foreign trade in manufactures is little understood by most +of us, and grossly exaggerated by others. It constitutes, after +all, a mere fraction of the national production. The consumption +of manufactures at home is, or was, before the late changes were +made, twice as great as the whole amount of our annual exports. The +prosperity of this country does not depend upon the amount of wares +which it sends or forces abroad, though that is the doctrine which +is constantly clamoured in our ears by the political economists--a +generation of ridiculous pretenders, of whom it is only necessary +to know one, in order to form an accurate estimate of the mental +capabilities of his tribe. It depends on our own labour, on our +own internal arrangements, and on that reciprocity between man and +man, and between class and class of our fellow-subjects, which is +the only real security for the peace and tranquillity of a kingdom. +Those exporting manufacturers, who rummage foreign markets, are +no better than so many buccaneers. Their object is to evade the +burden of taxation at home, and, wherever they can with advantage +to themselves, to bring in foreign labour, untaxed and untolled, to +supersede that of the British workman. + +You cannot have failed to remark that the arguments which are now +put forward by the Free-Traders, in support of their system, are +totally different from those which they advanced while recommending +it for the adoption of the country. How often were we told, during +the struggle which preceded the repeal of the Corn Laws, that all +the apprehensions expressed of a permanent fall in the value of +produce, and of overwhelming importations from abroad, were purely +visionary! Learned statists undertook to prove by figures that the +whole quantity of grain which could be brought into this country was +absolutely insignificant, and that it could not disturb prices. Mr +James Wilson of the _Economist_, in his valuable tractate entitled +_Influences of the Corn Laws_, which was published eleven years ago, +thus favoured the public with _his_ anticipations for the future, in +the event of the repeal of the Corn Laws:-- + +"Our belief is," says the sage of Westbury, "that the whole of +these generally received opinions are erroneous; that if we had had +a free trade in corn since 1815, the average price of the whole +period, actually received by the British grower, would have been +higher than it has been; that little or no more foreign grain would +have been imported; and that if, for the next twenty years, the +whole protective system shall be abandoned, _the average price of +wheat will be higher than it has been for the last seven years_, +(52s. 2d.,) or than it would be in the future with a continuance of +the present system;--but with this great difference, that prices +would be nearly uniform and unaltering from year to year; that the +disastrous fluctuations would be greatly avoided, which we have +shown, in the first proposition, to be so ruinous under the present +system." + +For this very notable sentiment, Mr Wilson was clapped on the back +by the Manchester men, and commended thus in the seventh circular +of the League:--"We are much indebted to Mr Ibbotson of Sheffield, +_Mr James Wilson_, and our esteemed correspondent, for labouring to +prove to the landlords that they may safely do justice to others, +without endangering their own interests. And we think very much has +been done towards justifying their opinions, _that the money price +of grain would not be lowered even by the total repeal of the Corn +Laws_!" Sir Robert Peel, in the memorable debates of 1846, attempted +to justify his experiment on the ground that previous commercial +relaxations had been found beneficial to the parties who were +directly engaged in the trade, his inference being, that the same +result would follow in the case of the agriculturists. Unfortunately +the data upon which he proceeded were altogether fallacious; for, +notwithstanding his dexterity in selecting figures, and bringing +out balances which were apparently favourable, it was clearly +demonstrated by Lord George Bentinck, that in no one instance +whatever had those relaxations proved favourable to the British +producer, and that many of them had moreover occasioned a large +loss to the public revenue. But the language held by Sir Robert +Peel, upon that occasion, cannot be construed otherwise than as +the expression of an opinion that, by the repeal of the Corn Laws, +prices would not be materially disturbed--at all events, that they +would not be lowered so as to fall below the remunerative point. + +The immense influx of foreign grain which followed the opening +of the ports in 1849, and the immediate fall of price, were +calculated to alarm not only the farmers, but even that section of +the Free-Traders who believed conscientiously that the productive +powers of Europe and America were unequal to the supply of so very +considerable a surplus. It is no wonder that the farmers were +frightened, when they saw grain coming in at the rate of a million +of quarters per month! They were, however, told by the highest +Free-trading authorities in both Houses of Parliament, and the same +view was violently maintained by the Liberal press, that their +fears were altogether groundless; that such importations could not +possibly be maintained; and that the first inundation was simply +caused by an accumulation of corn at the foreign ports, stored up +in readiness for the opening of the English market--a contingency +which could not happen again. The utmost pains were taken, by those +who had consented to the repeal of the Corn Laws, to persuade the +farmers that the low prices of 1849 were attributable principally to +the superabundance of the harvest at home; and they were exhorted +to wait patiently, but hopefully, for the advent of better times. +In short, every means were taken to persuade the agriculturists +that they were labouring under a temporary but not a permanent +difficulty, and that a very short time would suffice to restore them +to their former condition. But no one attempted to maintain, in +1849, that, if wheat continued to sell at or about 40s. per quarter, +its cultivation could be profitable in Britain; and when, at a later +period, one or two rash theorists attempted to broach that doctrine, +they were instantly put to silence by the overwhelming nature of the +proof which was brought against them--not the least instructive part +of it being the admissions of the leading Free-Traders as to what +really was, on an average of years, the remunerative price of wheat +to the British grower. + +It is now clearly established, that, under Free Trade, 40s. per +quarter is a price which the British farmer cannot calculate on +receiving. The averages of England are now about 36s. per quarter, +being 20s. lower than the sum which Sir Robert Peel considered as +the lowest which could remunerate the grower. Therefore, taking +the average yield of good wheat-land at four quarters per acre, +it appears that, by continuing to grow that kind of grain which +is convertible into ordinary bread, the farmer must be a positive +loser to the extent of _four pounds per acre_! In other words, +even suppose no rent at all were taken for the land, wheat cannot +continue to be grown at a profit in Great Britain, so long as +the averages remain below 40s.; and we leave a large margin to +the credit of improved husbandry and strict economy, exercised, +as it must be, at the expense of the labourer's wages. That such +is the present condition of the British farmers--a hopeless one, +unless a legislative remedy is applied--will brook no denial. Last +year we were told of farms letting at an increase of rent, and of +other symptoms of agricultural prosperity, whereof nothing now is +heard. The fact of the depression--if we may use so mild a term in +respect to a branch of industry which is now merely existing upon +capital, not by income--is beyond all possibility of doubt or cavil. +The causes of it are obvious; and it now only remains to be seen +whether we can afford to allow agriculture to be extinguished from +among us, or at best raised to that point which will afford a bare +subsistence to the grower, without the risk of involving the rest of +us in a like calamity. + +You may have heard it said--for it has been often written--that it +signifies little to the people of this country from what source they +receive their bread. It is worth your while to examine into this. +That a loaf baked of American flour, grown in the valley of the +Mississippi, may taste quite as well in the mouth of the consumer as +a loaf of English material is a circumstance which we can readily +believe; but is this all that is to be considered? Does the American +bear any part of our national taxation? Does he contribute, directly +or indirectly, to the burdens which are common to the British +producer? Does he deal with any of you, and can you call him a +customer? These are the questions which you ought to ask yourselves, +in making up your minds on this matter; and if you will only examine +the subject patiently and dispassionately, your own common sense +will lead you to a just conclusion. Let us suppose that all the food +which you purchase and consume was grown on a foreign soil, and +admitted free of duty. You might then have cheap bread, but, as a +necessary consequence, you would lose more than half your customers. +Unless people have money they cannot buy; and if agricultural +production were to be abandoned in the British islands, all those +who derive their incomes--not only directly, but indirectly--from +the soil, would necessarily be stripped of their means. Are you +aware of the fact that, on a minute analysis of the census of +1841, it appeared that the relative numbers of the population of +Great Britain and Ireland, supported and maintained by the two +great sources of production, agriculture and manufactures, were as +18,734,468, dependent on the first, to 8,091,621, dependent on the +second? Do you believe that the country can remain prosperous, if +you strike a deathblow at the produce which maintains more than +two-thirds of its inhabitants? + +Let us go a little farther, and suppose--what may hereafter be the +case--that other countries could undersell us in the home market in +the article of manufactures--that America, France, or Germany could +send us cotton and woollen stuffs, and other ware, cheaper than we +could make them at home. In that case, where would be the sources +of our income? All industry would be prostrated--for you know very +well that a losing trade will not and cannot be carried on long, and +that the time will soon arrive when, through the failure of capital, +it must be abandoned. In such an event, what would become of our +population, with their labour entirely destroyed? How could the +taxes be levied, and the expenses of government paid, to say nothing +of the interest of the National Debt? Great cheapness you would +have, no doubt, but nobody would be able to buy. + +If cheapness is a blessing in food, it is a blessing in clothing +and in everything else. The rule admits of no exception. It is as +advantageous for any of us to save a pound on the price of his coat +as a penny on the price of his loaf. Bread is, no doubt, the most +important article of the workingman's consumption, but at the same +time it is no less a fact that the raising of food is the most +important part of the production of the labouring-classes. Without +home labour, all capital in this country would be annihilated, or +at least would depart from it. Labour depends entirely upon wages, +and wages upon the market price of the article produced. If from +the introduction of foreign labour, in the shape of products, the +price of any article is forced down below the cost of production, +then wages begin to fall, and in the end production is extinguished. +Why is it that foreign countries have imposed heavy duties upon +our exported articles of manufacture? Simply for this object--that +their own manufacturers, who give employment to large numbers of +their population, may not be undersold by ours, nor those means of +employment annihilated. In acting thus, these governments perform a +paternal duty to the people--shielding them against the competition +of an older manufacturing power, and preparing them hereafter, when +skill and capital are acquired, to enter neutral markets, with a +fair chance of ultimately overcoming the other. + +It stands to reason that, with an equal degree of energy on the part +of its inhabitants, the country which is the least heavily burdened +must distance others in all branches of industry, where nature does +not oppose a barrier, or place it at a disadvantage. The mineral +wealth of England, and our priority in manufacturing invention, gave +us for a long time an advantage over all other nations. America +was not advanced enough to enter into the lists of manufacturing +competition; the distracted state of the Continent, and the +perpetual presence or apprehension of war, effectually prevented the +European states from attempting to rival Britain. But since that +time vast changes have taken place. The mineral resources of other +countries have been developed. Some idea of the manufacturing power +which America now possesses may be formed from the enormous increase +of her domestic production of iron and coal. In 1829, the amount of +iron manufactured in the United States was 90,000 tons; in 1848, +it had risen to 800,000 tons. The coal raised in 1829 was 37,000 +tons; in 1849 it was 3,200,000 tons. In the article of cotton, which +is our great manufacturing staple, America has the inestimable +advantage of growing the raw material--an advantage which never +can be counterbalanced, as, even if we were to obtain our supplies +from some other quarter, the expenses of freightage must still +continue to be great. In fact, to all appearance, our supremacy in +the conversion of cotton is already doomed. That branch of industry +rests upon no substantial basis. It rose like an exhalation, and so +it will disappear. These are not merely our opinions, but those of +the most shrewd and calculating of the Free-Traders. Hear Mr Greg +of Manchester on this subject, previous to the repeal of the Corn +Laws:-- + + "At present we are undersold by foreigners in neutral markets in + all the staple articles of English manufacture. In the articles + of cotton, hosiery, and cutlery, which amount altogether to + three-fourths of our exports, this is notoriously the case. In + cotton fabrics the Swiss undersell us in several markets. In + cutlery Sheffeld is immensely undersold by the Alsace, and our + exports are yearly decreasing. In hosiery, the case is still + worse. Saxon hosiery, after paying a duty of 20 per cent, is + sold in London 25 to 30 per cent cheaper than the produce of + the Leicester and Nottingham looms. In Leicester the stocking + frames have diminished from 16,000 in 1815 to 14,000 in 1840; + whilst in Saxony, in the same time, they have increased from + 4590 to 25,000. The English manufacturer pays 2s. 6d. for the + same work that the French manufacturer gets done for 2½d. The + American cutlery market (the most important of all) has been + wrested from us, and our exports of that article to all the + world have fallen from £1,620,000 in 1831 to £1,325,000 in 1841. + _How far with cheaper food, no taxes on the raw material, and + no duties but for the sake of revenue, we might yet recover our + lost superiority, is a matter for grave consideration._ I do not + believe we could either in woollens or hosiery; and even in the + cutlery or cotton trade I think it very doubtful. Now, under a + free commercial system, the raw material would be nearly the + same in all countries, and the advantage, where there was one, + would be generally on the side of foreigners. France and Italy + would have an advantage in silk, and America in cotton; the + current expenses would also be nearly equal. The machinery of + foreign nations even now is not very inferior to our own, and is + daily and rapidly improving; their capital is fast accumulating, + and the yearly interest of it approximating to our own rate." + +Here, you see, is a confession of opinion by a leading Free-Trader, +that even the cheapening of food, by which he means the reduction of +the wages of labour, will not suffice ultimately to secure us the +supremacy of the foreign markets. He is perfectly right. In this +insane, and we believe almost entirely unprofitable competition with +the rest of the world, we must infallibly be overcome. No cheapness +of food can countervail the pressure of our heavy taxation. The +cotton-lords, if they could, would fain bring down the price of +labour to the Continental level, which doubtless would enable them, +for a long time, to prolong the contest; but this they cannot do, if +our national engagements are to be fulfilled, and our most valuable +institutions maintained. So long as the revenue duties exist, +labour cannot be forced down to that point. But, in the mean time, +agriculture may be ruined, and the home trade, by which alone you +subsist, be palsied. In fact, the present struggle lies between +the home trade and the foreign trade. One or other of these must +ultimately succumb. The effect of our present commercial system is +to paralyse the home trade, by decreasing the value of all kinds of +domestic produce; by lowering all incomes, and consequently reducing +the amount of the internal business of the country. It has enabled +our manufacturers, for the time, to make a show of larger exports +than before; but it has not, according to their own acknowledgement, +at all enhanced their profits. It may have enabled them to lower +their prices, but it has not increased their returns. + +And no wonder that it should be so. Except in the most miserable and +unimportant quarters, our relaxations have been met by augmented +tariffs instead of eager reciprocity. The nations of the world have +refused to sacrifice their advantages, to renounce their prospects, +and to become Free-Traders at the call of Britain. Their statesmen +thoroughly understood the motive of the ingenuous offer: they were +not to be cozened even by the plausibility of Sir Robert Peel. It +is almost melancholy now, when we remember what has actually taken +place, to revert to the peroration of that statesman's speech +delivered on 16th February 1846. A more lamentable instance of +delusion, as to the true feeling and position of other countries, +was never perhaps exhibited. Mark his words:-- + + "Many countries are watching with anxiety the selection you may + make. Determine for 'Advance,' and it will be the watchword + which will animate and encourage in every state the friends + of liberal commercial policy. Sardinia has taken the lead. + Naples is relaxing her protective duties, and favouring British + produce. Prussia is shaken in her adherence to restriction. + The government of France will be strengthened; and, backed by + the intelligence of the reflecting, and by conviction of the + real welfare of the great body of the community, will perhaps + ultimately prevail over the self-interest of the commercial + and manufacturing aristocracy which now predominates in her + Chambers. Can you doubt that the United States will soon + relax her hostile tariff, and that the friends of a freer + commercial intercourse--the friends of peace between the two + countries--will hail with satisfaction the example of England?" + +How strangely did this remarkable man, whose career in all time +coming will be a warning to the aspiring statesman, misunderstand +the true nature of his country's position! In order to tempt +reciprocity he opened the British ports--that is, he conceded +gratuitously the only condition by which we ever could have hoped to +insure it! At the expense of the British agriculturist he opened the +British market to the foreigner, in the expectation, as he expressly +declared, that the boon would be repaid by measures which would +prevent the rise of manufactures abroad, and restrain other nations +from employing capital profitably, from entering into rivalry with +Britain, and from using those natural advantages which were ready +to their hand; and which, if used, could not fail to add to their +wealth, and to furnish employment for millions of their increasing +population! Most egregious was the blunder, and terrible is the +penalty which we are certain to pay for it, if we do not retrace our +steps. + +It is always useful to know what intelligent men of other countries +think of our system. They survey and examine it without those +prejudices which are apt to beset all of us, and are better able +than ourselves to determine with what degree of favour it will be +received, or is received, by those who are removed beyond the scope +of our immediate observation. Certainly, of all others, from their +affinity to ourselves, and their proverbially shrewd acuteness in +all matters of commercial detail, the Americans are most likely to +form an accurate estimate both of our position and our prospects +in regard to foreign trade. It is well worth our while to read and +consider the following opinion of Mr Carey, the most distinguished +Transatlantic writer on points of political economy. It occurs in +his work entitled _The Harmony of Interests_, published in America +so late as December 1849. + + "Men are everywhere flying from British commerce, which + everywhere pursues them. Having exhausted the people of the + lower lands of India, it follows them as they retreat towards + the fastnesses of the Himalaya. Affghanistan is attempted, while + Scinde and the Punjaub are subjugated. Siamese provinces are + added to the empire of Free Trade, and war and desolation are + carried into China, in order that the Chinese may be compelled + to pay for the use of ships, instead of making looms. The + Irishman flies to Canada; but there the system follows him, and + he feels himself insecure until within the Union. The Englishman + and the Scotchman try Southern Africa, and thence they fly + to the more distant New Holland, Van Diemen's Land, or New + Zealand. The farther they fly, the more they use ships and other + perishable machinery, the less steadily can their efforts be + applied, the less must be the power of production, and the fewer + must be the equivalents to be exchanged; and yet in the growth + of ships caused by such circumstances, we are told to look for + evidence of prosperous commerce! + + "_The British system is built upon cheap labour, by which is + meant low-priced and worthless labour._ Its effect is to cause + it to become from day to day more low-priced and worthless; and + thus _to destroy production upon which commerce must be based_. + The object of protection is to produce dear labour--that is, + high-priced and valuable labour, and its effect is to cause + it to increase in value from day to day, and to increase the + equivalents to be exchanged, to the great increase of commerce. + + "The object of what is now called Free Trade, is that of + securing to the people of England the further existence of _the + monopoly of machinery_, by aid of which Ireland and India have + been ruined, and commerce prostrated. Protection seeks _to break + down this monopoly_, and to cause the loom and the anvil to take + their natural places by the side of the food and the cotton, + that production may be increased, and that commerce may revive." + +In short, the harmony of interests is regarded in America as the +grand point of aim for the statesman. With us, our most important +home interests, on which depend the welfare of by far the greater +part of our population, are sacrificed to prolong a struggle in +which our exporting manufacturers cannot possibly be the victors, +and from which, even at present, they derive little or no profit. + +Now, let us ask you to consider for one moment, what is the natural +effect, upon the whole of us, of a forcible diminution of prices, +and depreciation of produce. Here we shall borrow an illustration +and argument from our adversaries, referring to a point which +is in the recollection of all of you, and about which there can +be no possible mistake. You will recollect that the Liberal and +Free-trading journals, almost without exception, as well as most of +the defenders of the Peel policy in the House of Commons, attributed +much of that general depression and stagnation of trade which +followed the repeal of the Corn Laws to the losses sustained by +the failure of the potato-crop in 1845-6. Was there a general want +of confidence visible--were the shopkeepers scant of custom--was +there a less demand than usual within the country for home +manufactures--was there a decline in the price of iron--all was laid +at the door of the unfortunate potato. Since Cobbett uttered his +anathema against the root, it never was in such bad odour. To every +complaint, remonstrance, or lamentation, the reply was ready--"How +can we remedy a calamity of this kind? The potato has done it all!" +At that time it was very convenient, nay, absolutely necessary, +for the Free-Traders to discover some tangible cause for the gross +failure of their predictions. They looked about them in every +direction, and they could discover nothing except the potato which +could endure the blame. Now, although we believe that this esculent +has been unduly reviled, and made to bear a greater burden than +was its due for political misfortune, we nevertheless accept the +illustration at the hands of our opponents, and we beg you to mark +its significance. The loss of the potato-crop in Great Britain and +Ireland, during the year in question, has been variously estimated, +but if we assume it to have been £20,000,000 we are making a very +large calculation indeed. So then, _according to the Free-Traders, +the loss of twenty millions of agricultural produce_ was sufficient +to bring down profits, embarrass trade, and cause a stagnation in +home manufactures! And yet, when Mr Villiers came forward in the +beginning of 1850, and told you, in his capacity of proposer of +the Address to the Crown, that £91,000,000 were _annually_ taken +from the value of the agricultural produce of the country, you +were expected, and directed, to clap your hands with joy, and to +congratulate one another on this symptom of the national prosperity! + +The sum of twenty millions lost by the failure of the potato-crop--a +single event, not one of annual occurrence--was taken from the +country's power of produce; and _therefore_, said the Free-Traders, +there was stagnation. But they, of course, could not help it. Of +course they could not; but what about the ninety-one millions +of _annual_ loss, which is equally deducted from the internal +expenditure of the country? About _that_ we do not hear a word. And +yet ask yourselves, and that most seriously--for it is time that we +should get rid of all such pitiful paltering--whether there is any +difference whatever between the two cases, except that the one was +an isolated casualty, and that the other is an annual infliction to +which we are subjected by statute? Weigh the matter as you will, +you cannot, we are satisfied, be able to detect any difference. If +the grower of grain at present prices has no remuneration for his +toil, or return for his capital, he cannot buy from you, any more +than could the farmer whose crop perished by the potato disease. +What caused the stagnation? The failure of the power to purchase, +because there was no return for produce. What causes the stagnation? +Precisely the same thing perpetrated by Act of Parliament. + +Do not, we beseech you, allow yourselves to be fooled any longer +by the jesuitry of these political economists, but apply your own +reason to discover the cause of the present depression. Do not +believe them when they talk about exceptional causes, affecting +temporarily the industry of the nation, but certain immediately to +disappear. If you were to live as long as Methusaleh, no one year +would elapse without furnishing those gentlemen with a special and +exceptional cause. One year it is the potato disease; another the +French Revolution; another the Great Exhibition. Heaven only knows +what will be their excuse next year--perhaps the new Reform Bill, or +some other similar godsend. You are the particular class upon whom +the deception is to be played, and for whose especial benefit the +fraud is concocted. The producers know very well how they stand, +and what they have to expect. They can be no longer cajoled by +assurances of higher prices, by vague promises of profit after the +disappearance of "the transition state," or by impudent averments +that, by an entire change of system and the expenditure of more +capital, they will be able to maintain themselves in affluence. To +do the Free-Traders justice, they have for some time desisted from +such attempts. They now address their victims, through their organs, +in a fine tone of desperado indifference, telling them that, if they +do not like the present arrangement, the sooner they go elsewhere +the better. And the people are taking them at their word and going. +Hundreds of thousands of tax-payers are leaving the country as fast +as possible, carrying with them the fragments of their property, +and bequeathing to those who remain behind their share of the +national burdens. But in your case, the Free-Traders cannot yet +afford to pull off the mask. They are apprehensive that you should +see them in their real character; and therefore, so long as you are +likely to be amused with "specialties" and "exceptional causes," +these will be furnished to you gratis, and in great variety. There +seems, however, to be an apprehension among their camp that you are +beginning to evince suspicion. Recent elections have not been quite +as they should be; and in the seaport and large commercial towns +there are evident symptoms of mutiny. So, by way of diverting your +attention, you are likely to have a measure of Reform next year, +possibly as satisfactory in its result as the Ecclesiastical Titles +Bill, upon which Ministers cleverly managed to concentrate the whole +public attention throughout last session, and then, having carried +it, allowed its provisions to become a dead letter, almost before +the ink, which made the measure complete, was dry! We say this, not +as opponents of an extension of the suffrage--for on that point we +reserve our opinion until the details are fully before us--but as +enemies and loathers of a miserable system of chicane and deception +which has now crept into the public counsels, and which threatens +very speedily to destroy the independence of public opinion, by +opposing state obstacles to its free and legitimate expression. We +ask any of you, fearlessly, to look back at the records of last +session, and then say whether the country was not degraded and +stultified by the act of the Prime Minister? Right or wrong, at his +invitation and call, the Protestants of Great Britain demanded a +security against what they considered an intolerable instance of +Romish insolence and aggression. They received it from Parliament; +and the moment it passed into the hands of the executive power, it +became as worthless as the paper upon which it was written! And why +was this? Simply because the object was gained--you had been amused +for a whole session. If nothing was intended to be done in the way +of repelling aggression, and if Ministers durst have told you so +a year ago, there were many points affecting your more immediate +interests which would have been forced upon their attention. But +they were very glad to escape from such discussions under cover of a +Protestantism which they did not feel, and an affected indignation +of Papal claims, which they had done everything in their power, by +diplomatic agency, to encourage; and, having escaped the perils of +one session upon that ground, they will strain every effort to turn +your attention from your own position, during the next, by bringing +forward some measure which they hope may enlist your sympathies, +or provoke controversy, so far as to render you indifferent to the +real nature of your position. The selection of the battlefield is +the oldest trick in strategy. Get up the appearance of a battle, +and people will flock from any distance to witness it, regardless +of their own interest. Lord John Russell is famous for bloodless +fields, which resolve themselves into reviews--shall we have another +such in the course of the approaching session? + +That manufactures are now exceedingly depressed, and have been so +for a long time, notwithstanding the reduction in the price of food +consequent upon foreign importations, is an admitted and notorious +fact. We have from time to time kept this before the public view by +quoting from the trade circulars; and though further evidence may +be unnecessary, we shall subjoin extracts from the last accounts +received from three seats of industry, two of which are represented +in Parliament by Colonel Peyronnet Thompson and Mr Feargus O'Connor. +Gloomy as they are, they are by no means the worst which we have had +occasion to cite during the last two years. + + "BRADFORD, _November 6_.--The market here does not show any + symptom of improvement in the demand for any kind of combing + wools. All seem in wonder and anxiety as to what may be next + expected, for to buy none are willing, whether with stock or + without. The staplers appeared to expect that the spirited + buying of colonial wools would give a tone of confidence, but + that appears to have no effect. The spinners pause when they + contrast the comparative high prices of English wool, especially + those of the finer class, with what they were in 1848, when + yarns were at the present prices, and will not buy with the + certainty of making so great a loss as a purchase would entail. + The supply of Noils and Brokes was never so limited as at + present, and the small quantity making brings full prices. The + business doing in yarns is certainly small, and the transactions + confined to immediate delivery. No one seems inclined to enter + into engagements for distant delivery. For to go on at the + present prices of yarns is worse than madness, the price for + low numbers of good spinning and standing having reached 8s. + per gross, and those of a secondary class sold, if reeled, for + what may be the instructions to the commission houses, who have + needy parties pressing sales. The quantity so offering is not so + great, but the sacrifices which have now for so long been made + render the position of the trade exceedingly embarrassing. _The + production continues to be daily curtailed, and from the whole + district the same cheerless tidings are received. Some large + houses, who have never reduced their operations before, have + adopted it, their loss being so immense, and the whole condition + of the trade so thoroughly disjointed._ In pieces the business + during the week has not shown any feature of increased activity, + and the stocks in the manufacturers' hands are somewhat + increasing, but not so fast as last year at this period, and + especially in Coburgs and fancy goods: the former are chiefly + made in this district, and not in Lancashire, for the ruinous + price has driven them on to other classes of goods adaptable + to their looms; and for some months several large houses have + been engaged in making Bareges for the American market. This has + prevented mousselines-de-laine being made to stock, and, perhaps + for many years, this branch of the trade has not opened with so + small a stock on hand. + + "NOTTINGHAM, _November 6_.--In lace we have no improvement + to notice this week in the general sale of goods, and, with + very few exceptions, there is a great falling off in demand; + but, as many of the manufacturers are wisely lessening their + production, we do not anticipate any serious losses resulting + from the present temporary stagnation. Many are stopping their + frames to make fresh designs altogether; which, if done with + good taste, some advantage may result from present difficulties. + In hosiery our trade is not so much depressed as we had reason + to anticipate. There is still a fair business doing in wrought + hose, and a little increased demand for 'cut-ups,' as well as + gloves made of thread and spun silk. The price of yarn is low, + which is in favour both of the manufacturer and merchant. + + "LEICESTER, _November 6_.--The unsettled state of the price of + workmanship for straight-down hose has caused a great depression + in that branch, and led to nearly a total cessation of work, + many hosiers declining to give out until prices are settled. In + wrought hose a better business is doing, though not so good as + usual at this season. Yarns continue dull of sale." + +Now, why do we insist upon these things? For two reasons. In +the first place, we wish you to observe that the cheapness of +manufacturing products does not of itself induce consumption. +There must be buyers as well as sellers in order to constitute +a market, and the tendency of our late legislation has been to +diminish the means of the former. It by no means follows that, if +we have cheap food and cheap manufactures, the relative position +of all classes can be maintained. Never forget _that our burdens +all the while remain at a fixed money rate_, and that, as the value +of produce is lowered, the weight of those burdens is aggravated. +This consideration, which is now well understood, is beginning to +tell strongly against the doctrines of the Free-Traders, even with +some of those, who were once their ardent supporters. Mr James +Harvey of Liverpool, late a member of the Anti-Corn-Law League, +but now a strenuous opponent of their system, thus chronicles the +leading cause of his conversion. We quote from his pamphlet just +published, _Remunerative Price the Desideratum, not Cheapness_. He +says:--"My suspicions were first awakened by the blind devotion +of the Manchester school of political economy to the doctrine of +CHEAPNESS; for it struck me as a self-evident proposition, that to +buy cheap is to sell cheap, in which case there can be no possible +gain, but a positive loss, arising from the necessary aggravation of +all fixed charges." In order to place the producers of this country +in the same position as before, it would be necessary to reduce all +fixed charges, the interest of debt both public and private, the +expenses of government, and all salaries and annuities, to an amount +corresponding to the forced decline of prices. This would be called +a war against property; but, in reality, the war against property +began when the Legislature admitted foreign untaxed produce to +compete with the produce and labour of our tax-paying population at +home. + +Our second reason for drawing your attention to the cheerless +prospect of manufactures, has reference to the sacrifices, not +only indirect but direct, which the other classes of the community +were called upon to make in order to prop them up. In the first +place, the Property and Income Tax, which we are still called upon +to pay, was imposed by Sir Robert Peel expressly for the object of +effecting "such an improvement in the _manufacturing interests_ as +will react on every other interest in the country." He admitted +that it was an unjust and partial impost, and therefore promised +that it should be only temporary--however, we have endured it for +ten years, and the Whigs will no doubt make an effort to continue +it still longer. Here, then, you have a sum of five millions and a +half annually confiscated for the benefit of the manufacturers, who +were relieved from taxation to that amount. So far for sacrifice the +first. Then came sacrifice the second, in the shape of Free Trade, +mulcting the productive classes of this country to the extent of at +least five-and-thirty per cent of their annual returns. Then came +sacrifice the third, which handed over the carrying trade to the +foreigner. + +Now, considering that all these sacrifices have been made for the +encouragement of manufactures, or at least with that professed +object, is it not, to say the least of it, extraordinary that +they have not thriven? How are we to account for a result so +wholly contrary to the avowed anticipations of our statesmen? The +explanation is, after all, not very difficult. All these sacrifices +have been made, not for the great body of the manufacturers, but for +a mere section of them. We possess no authentic official information +as to the amount of manufactures consumed at home; but we have +records, more or less trustworthy, of the amount of our exports, +and these are used to mislead the minds of the multitude as to the +actual extent and relative importance of our trade. England has no +more title than France has to the character of the workshop of the +world. We are driven from the markets of civilised countries by the +protective duties imposed by their governments for the righteous and +prudent purpose of fostering native industry, and we are compelled +to seek our marts among people who are not yet so far advanced in +political economy as to detect the enormous discrepancy between our +principles and our practice. Listen to Mr Harvey's sketch of our +foreign trade:-- + + "From the theories and systems I turned my attention to passing + events and recorded facts: I saw the West Indies prostrated; + Canada thrown into a state of revolt, succeeded by a smothered + feeling of discontent; Ireland depopulated; the magnificent + resources of India undeveloped; and the British farmer + reduced to the dire necessity of paying rent out of capital. + I also perceived that the change in our commercial policy had + substituted a cosmopolitan cant in the place of patriotism and + nationality. To become the friend of every country but his own + had become the pride and the glory of statesmanship. Foreign + goods were admitted, duty free, into our ports, in the vain hope + of reciprocity being established; but our manufactures were + subjected to heavy imposts on the Continent of Europe, and in + the United States. China, unversed in the mysteries of political + economy, only levies five per cent upon our goods, whilst, + in direct contravention of our pet notions of Free Trade and + reciprocity, we impose a tax of 300 per cent upon her teas. OUR + HOPES HAVE BEEN DISAPPOINTED, OUR CALCULATIONS FALSIFIED. WE ARE + THE DUPES OF OUR OWN FANTASTIC IDEAS AND QUIXOTIC CONCESSIONS. + We are the laughing-stock of the Old and the New Worlds. The + Germanic Zollverein shuns our overtures; the American excludes + our ships from his seaboard." + +Can these things be controverted? We defy the ingenuity of mankind +to do it. + +So much for the foreign trade; but there still remains the home +trade, in which by far the largest portion of our manufacturing +capital is embarked, and which furnishes a much greater amount of +employment to British labour than the other. You see what is the +state of that trade, notwithstanding the savings which may have been +effected by the lowered price of food, and also notwithstanding that +partial protection which several branches of it are still allowed +to retain. One word as to that incidental point. Mr Cobden is +reported to have said, that he did not care how soon these remnants +of protection were abolished. Let him be as good as his word, and, +IF HE DARES, rise up in his place in the House of Commons, and +make a motion to that effect. We shall then have an opportunity of +testing the exact nature of his principles. To what cause can such +a depression as this, so long and continuous, be attributed, except +to a general curtailment of demand on the part of the consumers, +arising from the insufficiency of their means to make purchases as +before? You are probably aware that what is called strict economy +in families is not favourable to the interests of manufacture or +of trade. Of manufactures of all kinds there must be a certain +yearly consumption, based upon the necessities of the people. +Besides food, men require clothes to cover them, and houses in which +to dwell, and those houses must be more or less furnished. But +between the bare supply of such necessities, and that point which +is considered by persons, according to their tastes, education, or +habits, as constituting comfort, there is a wide interval. Nothing +is a more sure criterion of the wealth and income of a people than +the ordering of their homes, and the manner of their living; and the +traveller who passes from one country into another can at once form +an estimate, from such appearances, of their respective wealth or +poverty. Diminish income, and a reduction is immediately made. All +superfluities are lopped off and renounced. The broker, who deals +in second-hand articles, drives a larger business than the man who +is the vendor of new ones; and even in domestic labour there is a +large economy practised, by reducing establishments. That this must +be so, will be evident on the slightest reflection. Reduce a man's +income from £1000 to £800 or £600, and he will, if he has any wisdom +or prudence, cut down his expenses to meet the fall. It is upon +the home manufacturer in the first place, and upon the shopkeeper +secondly, that these reductions tell. The one finds that his amount +of production is much greater than the demand; the other does not +turn over his capital nearly so rapidly as before. Add to this +that the home manufacturer, in many branches, is exposed to strong +foreign competition. Sir Robert Peel, in his last alterations of +the tariff, did indeed continue Protection--more largely than is +generally understood, for the mere amount of revenue-duty drawn from +importations of foreign articles, adapted to compete with ours in +the home, is no criterion of the Protective value--to some branches +of industry; but others were exposed without shelter, and have since +suffered accordingly. It is undeniable that a very large amount of +foreign manufactures, which have paid no duty at all, or merely an +elusory one, are consumed within this country--thereby inflicting +extreme injury upon British labour, and depressing trades which, +though severally not important, give in the aggregate, or ought to +give, the means of employment to thousands. Regard the subject in +any light you will, this cheapness, of which we have heard so much, +just amounts to a diminution of the income of every class, except +the annuitants and fund-holders, while it consequently renders the +payment of the fixed burdens more grievous to every one of us. + +You, gentlemen, to whom we have ventured to submit these remarks, +have a very great deal in your power. You can, by your decision, +either confirm the present policy, or cause it to be reversed; and +your own experience will suffice to show you in what manner the +system has worked. Statists may parade their figures, economists may +puff their plans, statesmen may indulge in high-coloured pictures +of the success which they expect to follow their measures--but the +true test of every measure which has a practical tendency will be +found in the effect which it produces upon the circumstances of the +people, and especially upon those of the middle classes. We, who +have, from the very first, anticipated the baneful effects of this +attack upon British industry--we, who have no more connection than +any of yourselves with territorial aristocracy, and who consider +the welfare of the people as the grand object which it is the duty +of the Government to promote--ask you to apply your own reason to +the facts which are before you and in your reach, and to decide and +act accordingly. It was, we knew from the very beginning of this +struggle, impossible that you could decide until the effects of the +Free-Trade experiment became visible and palpable among yourselves. +We foresaw that it was only through the suffering and impoverishment +of the producers that the practical lesson could reach you, and +that, until this took place, it was of little use to invoke your +aid, or even to entreat your judgment. Probably, by this time, you +will have formed an accurate estimate of the value of the doctrines +promulgated by the babblers on political economy--a sect which has +never yet been allowed to interfere with the internal affairs of +any nation, without producing the most disastrous results. To them +we are indebted for that change of the currency which has added +fully one-third to our fixed burdens, and for those complex monetary +arrangements which insure periodically the return of a commercial +crisis. But whatever you may think of them, do not allow yourselves +to be influenced by their representations, or by those of their +accredited organs. The time for theory is over. You have now to deal +with facts, regarding which every man of you is competent to form +an opinion. We do not ask you to accept our statements implicitly, +any more than those of our opponents--though, if we did so, we might +hold ourselves justified on this ground, that the greater part of +our evidence is taken from the admissions of our adversaries. We +appeal to your own experience, and upon that we leave you to decide. + +And do not be afraid to give free utterance to your opinion. There +exists not in this land--there exists not in all the world, the +power which can rise up against you. The British producer on the +one hand, and the exporting manufacturer on the other, may have +conflicting interests not altogether reconcilable with the public +good, for isolated interest always begets selfishness; and where +individual or class profit is concerned, principle is apt to be +overlooked. But you are, eminently, THE CLASS to pronounce upon +conflicting opinions. Your interest is that of the nation whose +pulse is beneath your finger. You can tell, with greater accuracy +than others, whether any political prescription has stimulated +the circulation of the blood, or caused it to run torpidly in the +national veins. You can mark the changes in the circumstances of +your customers, and from these you can form an estimate whether or +not the late experiment has been successful. + +If, judging by that test, you should think it has been successful, +our case is lost. We, who have advocated the Protective Principle in +legislation, cannot continue to maintain it, if those whose incomes +depend mainly upon British custom find themselves advantaged by +measures which have reduced the value of British produce. In matters +of this kind there is no abstract dogma involved, on the strength +of which any man could make himself a creditable martyr. Men have +died for their faith or for their allegiance, believing either to be +their highest duty; but no one in his senses will spend a lifetime, +or any considerable portion of it, in combating absolute facts. The +reason why Protection is still a living principle--the reason why it +finds so many supporters among the learned and the thoughtful--the +reason why it is progressing step by step towards triumph--is +because, in the minds of those who advocate it, there is a strong +and deep-rooted conviction that you already know that the opposite +system has entirely failed to realise the predictions of its +advocates, and that you feel that its permanency is contrary to your +interest, and to that of the great body of the people. If we are +right in this conviction, then we are entitled not only to solicit, +but to demand, your earnest co-operation. These are not times +for political cowardice, or weak suppression of opinion. Liberty +of thought, and liberty of the expression of sentiment, are our +unalienable prerogative; but of late years, and in the hands of a +certain party, that prerogative has been scandalously overstretched. +We now hear men--even members of the Legislature--threatening the +country, and you, with hints of insurrection, in case you exercise +your undoubted right of pronouncing a free and unbiassed judgment +upon any point of commercial policy. Let the caitiffs bluster! They +know, from the bottom of their ignoble souls--for none save an +ignoble soul would have dared to conceive that such threats would +intimidate any man of British birth or blood--that their menace is +as meaningless and vain as their miserable motives are apparent. +Let them bluster! They, the advocates of lowered wages--they, the +combatants for lengthened labour--they, the crushers of the infants, +have no large margin of operative sympathy upon which they can +afford to trade. Had John Fielden been alive, he could have told +you what these men were, and what sympathy they were likely to +command. Well do the workmen know with whom they have to deal! + +Let us not be misunderstood. We never have underrated the difficulty +of a change such as we contemplate; but no difficulty attending +that, is for a moment to be put into the balance against the general +welfare of the country, if, on reflection, and on considering your +own position, you shall be of opinion that the interests of the +country demand that change. But, at any hazard, we cannot afford to +go down-hill. To bring us, as the Manchester men contemplate, to +the Continental level in point of wages as well as expenditure, is +to seal the ruin of the British empire, burdened as it is; or, in +the least dangerous view, to necessitate repudiation. That matter +is, as we have said before, for you to decide; and the period for +your decision is rapidly drawing near. On the next general election +depends the fate of the country, and--without saying one syllable +more upon the merits of the systems at issue--the decision or +inclination of your body will form the most important, because it +must be considered, as between conflicting interests, the most +impartial element, of the expression of British opinion. + + + + +THE JEW'S LEGACY. + +A TALE OF THE SIEGE OF GIBRALTAR. + + +CHAPTER I. + +The note-book of my grandfather, Major Flinders, contains much +matter relative to the famous siege of Gibraltar, and he seems to +have kept an accurate and minute journal of such of its incidents +as came under his own observation. Indeed, I suspect the historian +Drinkwater must have had access to it, as I frequently find the same +notabilia chronicled in pretty much the same terms by both these +learned Thebans. But while Drinkwater confines himself mostly to +professional matters--the state of the fortifications, nature of the +enemy's fire, casualties to the soldiery, and the like--and seldom +introduces an anecdote interesting to the generality of readers +without apologising for such levity, my grandfather's sympathies +seem to have been engrossed by the sufferings of the inhabitants +deprived of shelter, as well as of sufficient food, and helplessly +witnessing the destruction of their property. Consequently, his +journal, though quite below the dignity of history, affords, now and +then, a tolerably graphic glimpse of the beleagured town. + +From the discursive and desultory nature of the old gentleman's +style, as before hinted, it would be vain to look for a continuous +narrative in his journal, even if it contained materials for such. +But here and there a literary Jack Horner might extract a plum or +two from the vast quantity of dough--of reflections, quotations, +and all manner of irrelevant observations, surrounding them. The +following incidents, which occurred at the most interesting period +of the long and tedious siege, appear to me to give a fair idea of +some of the characteristics of the time, and of the personages who +figured in it; and accordingly, after subjecting them to a process +analogous to gold-washing, I present them to the reader. + +After a strict blockade of six months, reducing the garrison to +great extremity for want of provisions, Gibraltar was relieved by +Sir George Rodney, who landed a large quantity of stores. But about +a year after his departure, no further relief having reached them +except casual supplies from trading vessels that came at a great +risk to the Rock, their exigencies were even worse than before. The +issue of provisions was limited in quantity, and their price so +high, that the families, even of officers, were frequently in dismal +straits. This has given rise to a wooden joke of my grandfather's, +who, although he seldom ventures on any deliberate facetiousness, +has entitled the volume of his journal relating to this period of +the siege, _The Straits of Gibraltar_. He seems to have estimated +the worth of his wit by its rarity, for the words appear at the top +of every page. + +The 11th of April 1781 being Carlota's birthday, the Major had +invited Owen (now Lieutenant Owen) to dine with them in honour of +the occasion. Owen was once more, for the time, a single man; for +Juana, having gone to visit her friends in Tarifa just before the +commencement of the siege, had been unable to rejoin her husband. In +vain had Carlota requested that the celebration might be postponed +till the arrival of supplies from England should afford them a +banquet worthy of the anniversary--the Major, a great stickler for +ancient customs, insisted on its taking place forthwith. Luckily, +a merchantman from Minorca had succeeded in landing a cargo of +sheep, poultry, vegetables, and fruit the day before, so that the +provision for the feast, though by no means sumptuous, was far +better than any they had been accustomed to for many months past. +The Major's note-book enables me to set the materials for the +dinner, and also its cost, before the reader--viz. a sheep's head, +price sixteen shillings, (my grandfather was too late to secure any +of the body, which was rent in pieces, and the fragments carried +off as if by wolves, ere the breath was well out of it)--a couple +of fowls, twenty shillings, (scraggy creatures, says my ancestor +in a parenthesis)--a ham, two guineas--raisins and flour for a +pudding, five shillings--eggs, (how many the deponent sayeth not,) +sixpence each--vegetables, nine and sixpence--and fruit for dessert, +seven and tenpence. Then, for wine, a Spanish merchant, a friend +of Carlota's, had sent them two bottles of champagne and one of +amontillado, a present as generous then as a hogshead would have +been in ordinary times; and there was, moreover, some old rum, and +two lemons for punch. Altogether, there was probably no dinner half +so good that day in Gibraltar. + +At the appointed hour, the Major was reading in his quarters (a +tolerably commodious house near the South Barracks, and at some +distance outside the town) when Owen appeared. + +"You're punctual, my boy; and punctuality's a cardinal virtue about +dinner-time," said my grandfather, looking at his watch; "three +o'clock exactly. And now we'll have dinner. I only hope the new cook +is a tolerable proficient." + +"What's become of Mrs Grigson?" asked Owen. "You haven't parted with +that disciple of Apicius, I should hope?" + +"She's confined again," said my grandfather, sighing; "a most +prolific woman that! It certainly can't be above half-a-year since +her last child was born, and she's just going to have another. 'Tis +certainly not longer ago than last autumn," he added musingly. + +"A wonderful woman," said Owen; "she ought to be purchased by the +Government, and sent out to some of our thinly-populated colonies. +And who fills her place?" + +"Why, I'll tell you," responded the Major. "Joe Trigg, my old +servant, is confined too--in the guardroom, I mean, for getting +drunk--and I've taken a man of the regiment, one Private Bags, for a +day or two, who recommended his wife as an excellent cook. She says +the same of herself; but this is her first trial, and I'm a little +nervous about it." + +"Shocking rascal that Bags," said Owen. + +"Indeed!" said my grandfather; "I'm sorry to hear that. I didn't +inquire about his character. He offered his services, saying he came +from the same part of England as myself, though I don't recollect +him." + +"Terrible work this blockade," said the Major after a pause. "Do +you know, if I was a general in command of a besieging army, I +don't think I could find it in my heart to starve out the garrison. +Consider now, my dear boy," (laying his forefinger on Owen's +arm,)--"consider, now, several thousand men, with strong appetites, +never having a full meal for months together. And just, too, as my +digestion was getting all right--for I never get a nightmare now, +though I frequently have the most delicious dreams of banquets +that I try to eat, but wake before I get a mouthful. 'Tis enough +to provoke a saint. And, as if this was not enough, the supply of +books is cut off. The _Weekly Entertainer_ isn't even an annual +entertainer to me. The last number I got was in '79, and I've been +a regular subscriber these twelve years. There's the _Gentleman's +Magazine_, too. The last one reached me a year since, with a capital +story in it, only half-finished, that I'm anxious to know the end +of; and also a rebus that I've been longing to see the answer to. +'The answer in our next,' says the tantalising editor. It's a +capital rebus--just listen now. 'Two-thirds of the name of an old +novelist, one-sixth of what we all do in the morning, and a heathen +deity, make together a morsel fit for a king.' I've been working at +it for upwards of a year, and I can't guess it. Can you?" + +"Roast pig with stuffing answers the general description," said +Owen. "That, you'll admit, is a morsel fit for a king." + +"Pooh!" said my grandfather. "But you must really try now. I've +run through the mythology, all that I know of it, and tried all +the old novelists' names, even Boccaccio and Cervantes. Never were +such combinations as I've made--but can't compound anything edible +out of them. Again, as to what we do in the morning: we all shave, +(that is, all who have beards)--and we yawn, too; at least I do, +on waking; but it must be a word of six letters. Then, who can the +heathen deity be?" + +"Pan is the only heathen deity that has anything to do with +cookery," said Owen. "Frying-pan, you know, and stew-pan." + +My grandfather caught at the idea, but had not succeeded in making +anything of it, or in approximating to the solution of the riddle, +when Carlota entered from an inner room. + +"I wish, my dear, you would see about the dinner," said the Major; +"'tis a quarter past three." + +"_Si, mi vida_," (yes, my life,) said Carlota, who was in the habit +of bestowing lavishly on my grandfather the most endearing epithets +in the Spanish language, some of them, perhaps, not particularly +applicable--_niño de mi alma_, (child of my soul,) _luz de mis +ojos_, (light of my eyes,) and the like; none of which appeared to +have any more effect on the object of them than if they had been +addressed to somebody else. + +Carlota rung the bell, which nobody answered. "Nurse is busy with +de _niña_," she said, when nobody answered it; "I go myself to de +_cocina_," (kitchen,)--she spoke English as yet but imperfectly. + +"There's one comfort in delay," said the Major; "'tis better to boil +a ham too much than too little--and yet I shouldn't like it overdone +either." + +Here they were alarmed by an exclamation from Carlota. "_Ah Dios! +Caramba! Ven, ven, mi niño!_" cried she from the kitchen. + +The Major and Owen hastened to the kitchen, which was so close +at hand that the smell of the dinner sometimes anticipated its +appearance in the dining-room. Mrs Bags, the new cook, was seated +before the fire. On the table beside her was an empty champagne +bottle, the fellow to which protruded its neck from a pail in one +corner, where the Major had put it to cool; and another bottle +of more robust build, about half-full, was also beside her. The +countenance of Mrs Bags wore a pleasant and satisfied, though not +very intelligent smile, as she gazed steadfastly on the ham that +was roasting on a spit before the fire--at least one side of it was +done quite black, while the other oozed with warm greese; for the +machinery which should have turned it was not in motion. + +"_Caramba!_" exclaimed Carlota, with uplifted hands. "_Que +picarilla!_"--(What a knave of a woman!) + +"Gracious heavens!" said my grandfather, "she's roasting it! Who +ever heard of a roast ham?" + +"A many years," remarked Mrs Bags, without turning her head, and +still smiling pleasantly, "have I lived in gentlemen's families--" +Here this fragment of autobiography was terminated by a hiccup. + +"And the champagne bottle is empty," said Owen, handling it. "A nice +sort of cook this of yours, Major. She seems to have constituted +herself butler, too." + +My grandfather advanced and lifted the other bottle to his nose. +"'Tis the old rum," he ejaculated with a groan. "But if the woman +has drunk all this 'twill be the death of her. Bags," he called, +"come here." + +The spouse of Mrs Bags emerged from a sort of scullery behind the +kitchen--a tall bony man, of an ugliness quite remarkable, and with +a very red face. He was better known by his comrades as Tongs, in +allusion probably to personal peculiarities; for the length of his +legs, the width of his bony hips, and the smallness of his head, +gave him some distant resemblance to that article of domestic +ironmongery; but as his wife called herself Mrs Bags, and he was +entered in the regimental books by that name, it was probably his +real appellation. + +"Run directly to Dr Fagan," said the Major, "and request him to come +here. Your wife has poisoned herself with rum." + +"'Tisn't rum," said Bags, somewhat thickly--"'tis fits." + +"Fits!" said my grandfather. + +"Fits," doggedly replied Mr Bags, who seemed by no means disturbed +at the alleged indisposition of his wife--"she often gets them." + +"Don't alarm yourself, Major," said Owen, "I'll answer for it she +hasn't drunk _all_ the rum. The scoundrel is half-drunk himself, and +smells like a spirit-vault. You'd better take your wife away," he +said to Bags. + +"She can leave if she ain't wanted," said Private Bags, with +dignity: "we never comes where we ain't wanted." And he advanced to +remove the lady. Mrs Bags at first resisted this measure, proceeding +to deliver a eulogium on her own excellent qualities, moral and +culinary. She had, she said, the best of characters, in proof of +which she made reference to several persons in various parts of the +United Kingdom, and, as she spoke, she smiled more affably than ever. + +"_La picarilla no tiene verguenza_," (the wretch is perfectly +shameless,) cried Carlota, who, having hastily removed the ham +from the fire, was now looking after the rest of the dinner. The +fowls, cut up in small pieces, were boiling along with the sheep's +head, and, probably to save time, the estimable Mrs Bags had put +the rice and raisins destined for a pudding into the pot along with +them--certainly, as Owen remarked, a bold innovation in cookery. + +Still continuing to afford them glimpses of her personal history, +Mrs Bags was at length persuaded to retire along with her helpmate. + +"What astonishing impudence," said the Major, shutting the door upon +her, "to pretend to be a cook, and yet know no better than to roast +a ham!" + +Carlota, meanwhile, was busy in remedying the disaster as far as she +could; cutting the ham into slices and frying it, making a fricassee +of the fowls, and fishing the raisins out of the pot, exclaiming +bitterly all the while, in English and Spanish, against the +_tunanta_ (equivalent to female scoundrel or scamp) who had spoilt +the only nice dinner her _pobrecito_, her _niño_, her _querido_, +(meaning my grandfather,) had been likely to enjoy for a long time, +stopping occasionally in her occupations to give him a consolatory +kiss. However, my grandfather did not keep up the character of a +martyr at all well: he took the matter really very patiently; and +when the excellent Carlota had set the dinner on the table, and he +tasted the fine flavour of the maltreated ham, he speedily regained +his accustomed good-humour. + +"It is very strange," he said presently, while searching with a fork +in the dish before him, "that a pair of fowls should have only three +wings, two legs, and one breast between them." + +It certainly was not according to the order of nature; nevertheless +the fact was so, all my grandfather's researches in the dish +failing to bring to light the missing members. This however, was +subsequently explained by the discovery of the remains of these +portions of the birds in the scullery, where they appeared to have +been eaten after being grilled; and Mrs Bags' reason for adopting +this mode of cooking them was also rendered apparent--viz., that she +might secure a share for herself without immediate detection. + +However, all this did not prevent them from making the best of what +was left, and the Major's face beamed as he drank Carlota's health +in a glass of the remaining bottle of champagne, as brightly as if +the dinner had been completely successful. + +"It is partly my fault, Owen," said the Major, "that you haven't a +joint of mutton instead of this sheep's head. I ought to have been +sharper. The animal was actually sold in parts before he was killed. +Old Clutterbuck had secured a haunch, and he a single man you +know--'tis thrown away upon him. I offered him something handsome +for his bargain, but he wouldn't part with it." + +"We're lucky to get any," returned Owen. "Never was such a scramble. +Old Fiskin, the commissary, and Mrs O'Regan, the Major's wife, both +swore the left leg was knocked down to them; neither would give in, +and it was put up again, when the staff doctor, Pursum, who had just +arrived in a great hurry, carried it off by bidding eightpence more +than either. Not one of the three has spoken to either of the others +since; and people say," added Owen, "Mrs O'Regan avers openly that +Fiskin didn't behave like a gentleman." + +"God knows!" said my grandfather, "'tis a difficult thing in such a +case to decide between politeness and a consciousness of being in +the right. Fiskin likes a good dinner." + +The dinner having been done justice to, Carlota removed the remains +to a side-table, and the Major was in the act of compounding a bowl +of punch, when there was a knock at the door. "Come in," cried +Carlota. + +A light and timid step crossed the narrow passage separating the +outer door from that of the room they sat in, and there was another +hesitating tap at this latter. "Come in," again cried Carlota, and a +young girl entered with a basket on her arm. + +"'Tis Esther Lazaro," said Carlota in Spanish. "Come in, child; sit +here and tell me what you want." + +Esther Lazaro was the daughter of a Jew in the town, whose +occupations were multifarious, and connected him closely with the +garrison. He discounted officers' bills, furnished their rooms, sold +them everything they wanted--all at most exorbitant rates. Still, +as is customary with military men, while perfectly aware that they +could have procured what he supplied them with elsewhere at less +expense, they continued to patronise and abuse him rather than +take the trouble of looking out for a more liberal dealer. As the +difficulties of the garrison increased, he had not failed to take +advantage of them, and it was even said he was keeping back large +stores of provisions and necessaries till the increasing scarcity +should enable him to demand his own terms for them. + +His daughter was about fifteen years old--a pretty girl, with hair +of the unusual colour of chestnut, plaited into thick masses on the +crown of her head. Her skin was fairer than is customary with her +race--her eyes brown and soft in expression, her face oval, and +her figure, even at this early age, very graceful, being somewhat +more precocious than an English girl's at those years. She was a +favourite with the ladies of the garrison, who often employed her to +procure feminine matters for them. Carlota, particularly, had always +treated her with great kindness--and hence the present visit. She +had come, she said timidly, to ask a favour--a great favour. She had +a little dog that she loved. (Here a great commotion in the basket +seemed to say she had brought her _protégé_ with her.) He had been +given to her by a young school friend who was dead, and her father +would no longer let her keep it, because, he said, these were no +times to keep such creatures, when provisions, even those fit for a +dog, were so dear. He was a very good little dog--would the Señora +take him? + +"Let us look at him, Esther," said Owen--"I see you have brought him +with you." + +"He is not pretty," said Esther, blushing as she produced him from +the basket. He certainly was not, being a small cur, marked with +black and white, like a magpie, with a tall curling over his back. +He did not appear at all at his ease in society, for he tried to +shrink back again into the basket. + +"He was frightened," she said, "for he had been shut up for more +than a month. She had tried to keep him in her bedroom, unknown to +her father, feeding him with part of her own meals; but he had found +it out, and had beaten her, and threatened to kill the dog if ever +he saw it again." + +"_Pobrecito!_" (poor little thing,) said the good Carlota--"we shall +take good care of it. _Toma_," (take this,) offering him a bit of +meat. But he crept under her chair, with his tail so depressed, in +his extreme bashfulness, that the point of it came out between his +forelegs. + +Carlota would have made the young Jewess dine there forthwith, at +the side-table still spread with the remains of the dinner; but +she refused to take anything, only sipping once from a glass of +wine that Carlota insisted on making her drink of. Then she rose, +and, having tied the end of a string that was fastened to the dog's +collar to the leg of the table, to prevent his following her, took +her leave, thanking Carlota very prettily. + +"_A Dios, Sancho!_" she said to the little dog, who wagged his +tail and gave her a piteous look as she turned to go away--"_A +Dios, Sancho_," she repeated, taking him up and kissing him very +affectionately. The poor child was ready to cry. + +"Come and see him every day, my child," said Carlota, "and when +better times come you shall have him again." + + +CHAPTER II. + +Lazaro the Jew was seated towards dusk that evening in a sort of +office partitioned off by an open railing from a great store filled +with a most motley collection of articles. Sofas, looking-glasses, +washing-stands--bales of goods in corded canvass--rows of old boots +purchased from officers' servants--window curtains lying on heaps +of carpeting and matting--bedsteads of wood and iron--crockery +and glass--were all piled indiscriminately. Similar articles had +also overflowed along the passage down the wooden steps leading +to the square stone court below, which was lumbered with barrels, +packing-cases, and pieces of old iron. This court was entered +from the street, and an arched door on one side of it, barred and +padlocked, opened on a large warehouse, which nobody except the Jew +had set foot in for many months. + +The Jew himself was a spare, rather small man, with a thin eager +face, small sharp features, and a scanty beard. Being by descent +a Barbary Jew, he wore the costume peculiar to that branch of his +race--a black skull-cap; a long-skirted, collarless, cloth coat, +buttoned close, the waist fastened with a belt; loose light-coloured +trousers and yellow slippers--altogether he looked somewhat like an +overgrown scholar of Christ's Hospital. He was busied in turning +over old parchment-covered ledgers, when an officer entered. + +Von Dessel was a captain in Hardenberg's regiment. He was a square, +strong-built man, about forty, with very light hair, as was apparent +since the governor's order had forbidden the use of powder to the +troops, in consequence of the scarcity of flour. His thick, white, +overhanging eyebrows, close lips, and projecting under jaw gave +sternness to his countenance. + +"Good afternoon, captain," said the Jew; "what I do for you to-day, +sare?" + +"Do for me! By Gott, you have done for me already, with your cursed +Hebrew tricks," said the captain. The German and the Jew met on a +neutral ground of broken English. + +"I always treat every gentleman fair, sare," said the Jew. "I tell +you, captain, I lose by that last bill of yours." + +"_Der teufel!_ who gains, then?" said Von Dessel, "for you cut me +off thirty per cent." + +The Jew shrugged his shoulders. + +"I don't make it so, sare; the siege makes it so. When the port is +open, you shall have more better exchange." + +"Well, money must be had," said the German. "What will you give now +for my bill for twenty pounds?" + +The Jew consulted a book of figures--then made some calculations on +paper--then appeared to consider intently. + +"Curse you, speak!" said the choleric captain. "You have made up +your mind about how much roguery long ago." + +"Captain, sare, I give you feefty dallars," said the Jew. + +The captain burst forth with a volley of German execrations. + +"Captain," said the Jew presently, "I like to please a gentleman if +I can. I give you one box of cigars besides--real Cubas--one hundred +and feefty in a box." + +The captain at this broke forth again, but checked himself presently +on the entrance of the Jew's daughter, who now returned from the +Major's. She advanced quietly into the room, made a little bow to +the captain, took off and laid aside her shawl, and, taking up some +work, sat down and began to sew. + +Von Dessel resumed his expostulation in a milder tone. The Jew, +however, knew the money was necessary to him, and only yielded +so far as to increase his box of cigars to two hundred; and the +captain, finding he could get no better terms from him, was forced +to agree. While the Jew was drawing out the bills, the German gazed +attentively at Esther, with a good deal of admiration expressed in +his countenance. + +"I can't take the money now," said he, after signing the bills. "I +am going on duty. Bring it to me to-morrow morning, at nine o'clock." + +"I'm afraid I can't, sare," said Lazaro; "too moch business. +Couldn't you send for it, captain?" + +"Not possible," said the German; "but you must surely have somebody +that might bring it--some trustworthy person you know." And his eye +rested on Esther. + +"There's my dater, sare," said the Jew--"I shall send her, if that +will do." + +"Good," said the captain, "do not forget," and quitted the room +forthwith. + +He was scarcely gone when a pair with whom the reader is already +slightly acquainted, Mr and Mrs Bags, presented themselves. The +effects of their morning conviviality had in a great measure +disappeared. + +"Your servant, sir," said Bags. The Jew nodded. + +"We've got a few articles to dispose of," pursued Mr Bags, looking +round the room cautiously. "They was left us," he added in a low +tone, "by a _diseased_ friend." + +"Ah!" said the Jew, "never mind where you got 'em. Be quick--show +them." + +Mrs Bags produced from under her cloak, first a tin teakettle, then +a brass saucepan; and Mr Bags, unbuttoning his coat, laid on the +table three knives and a silver fork. Esther, passing near the table +at the time, glanced accidentally at the fork, and recognised the +Flinders crest--a talbot, or old English bloodhound. + +"Father," said she hastily, in Spanish, "don't have anything to do +with that--it must be stolen." But the Jew turned so sharply on her, +telling her to mind her work, that she retreated. + +The Jew took up the tea-kettle, and examined the bottom to see that +it was sound--did the same with the saucepan--looked at the knives +narrowly, and still closer at the fork--then ranged them before him +on the table. + +"For dis," said he, laying his hand on the tea-kettle, "we will say +one pound of rice; for dis (the saucepan) two pounds of corned beef; +for de knives, a bottle of rum; and for de fork, seex ounces of the +best tea." + +"Curse your tea!" said Mr Bags. + +"Yes!" said Mrs Bags, who had with difficulty restrained herself +during the process of valuation, "we doesn't want no tea. And the +things is worth a much more than what you say: the saucepan's as +good as new, and the fork's silver--" + +"Plated," said the Jew, weighing it across his finger. + +"A many years," said Mrs Bags, "have I lived in gentlemen's +families, and well do I know plate from silver. I've lived with Mrs +Milson of Pidding Hill, where everything was silver, and nothing +plated, even to the handles of the doors; and a dear good lady she +was to me; many's the gown, she giv me. And I've lived with--" + +Here the Jew unceremoniously interrupted the train of her +recollections by pushing the things from before him. "Take what I +offer, or else take your things away," said he, shortly. + +Mr and Mrs Bags grumbled considerably. The tea they positively +refused at any price: Mr Bags didn't like it, and Mrs Bags said it +disagreed with her. So the Jew agreed to give them instead another +bottle of rum, a pound of onions, and two pounds of beef; and with +these terms they at length closed, and departed with the results of +their barter. + +During the altercation, a soldier of another regiment had entered, +and stood silently awaiting his turn to be attended to. He was a +gaunt man, with want written legibly in the hollows of his face +and the dismal eagerness of his eye. He now came forward, and with +trembling hands unfolded an old gown, and handed it to the Jew. + +"'Tis no good to me," said the latter, giving it back, after holding +it against the light; "nothing but holes." + +"But my wife has no other," said the man: "'tis her last stitch of +clothes, except her petticoat and a blanket. I've brought everything +else to you." + +The Jew shrugged his shoulders and spread out his hands, in token +that he could not help it. + +"I swear 'tis her last!" reiterated the man, as if he really fancied +this fact must give the garment as much value in the Jew's eyes as +in his own. + +"I tell you I won't have it!" said the Jew, testily. + +"Give me only a loaf for it, or but one pound of potatoes," said the +soldier: "'tis more than my wife and four children have had among +them for two days. Half-rations for one, among six of us, is too +hard to live." + +"A pound of potatoes," said the Jew, "is worth four reals and +a-half--eighteenpence; your wife's gown is worth--nothing!" + +"Then take this," said the man, beginning frantically to pull off +his uniform coat; "anything is better than starving." + +The Jew laughed. "What!" said he, "you think I don't know better +than to buy a soldier's necessaries, eh? Ah, ah! no such a fool, I +think, my friend. What your captain say?--eh?" + +The man struck his hand violently on the table. "Then give me--or +lend me," said he, "some food, much or little, and I'll work for you +every hour I'm off duty till you're satisfied. I will, Mr Lazaro, so +help me God!" + +"I got plenty of men to work for me," said Lazaro; "don't want any +more. Come again, when you've got something to sell, my friend." + +The man rolled up the gown without speaking, then lifted it over his +head, and dashed it into the furthest corner of the store. He was +hurrying from the place, when, as if unwilling to throw away his +last chance, he turned back, gathered it up, and, thrusting it under +his arm, quitted the store with lingering steps, as if he even yet +hoped to be called back. No such summons reached him, however; but, +immediately after he was gone, Esther rose and stole softly down the +stairs. She overtook him at the street-door opening from the court +before mentioned, and laid her hand on his arm. The man turned and +glared on her. "What!--he'll buy it, will he?" said he. + +"Hush!" said Esther--"keep it for your poor wife. Look; I have no +money, but take these," and she placed in his hand two earrings +hastily detached from her ears. + +The man stood looking at her for a space, as if stupified, without +closing his hand on the trinkets that lay on the palm; then, +suddenly rousing himself, he swore, with tears in his eyes, that +for this service he would do for her anything on earth she should +require from him; but she only begged him to go away at once, and +say nothing, lest her father should overhear the transaction, who +would certainly be angry with her for it. + +Bags and his wife had stopt in a corner of the court, to pack +up their property in a commodious form for conveyance, and had +witnessed this scene in silence. As soon as the soldier had, in +compliance with Esther's entreaties, disappeared, Bags came forward. + +"And your father would be angry, would he, my dear?" said he. + +"Oh, very--oh, so angry! Please don't stop me," she said, trying to +pass him. + +"And what'll ye give me not to tell him, now?" asked Mr Bags. +"Ain't ye got nothing for me?" + +"No--oh, no--indeed, nothing. Do let me pass." + +"Yes, you have; you've got this, I think," said Bags, snatching at +a silver-mounted comb glistening in her hair, which, thus loosened, +all fell down on her shoulders as she darted past him. "And now," +said Mr Bags, inspecting his prize, "I think me and that 'ere +cheating Jew is quits for the silver fork. I'll allow it's plated +now." + + +CHAPTER III. + +Early the next morning (the 12th of April) a rumour went through +the town that an English fleet was signalled as in sight. The news +roused the starving people like electricity. The pale spectres of +men that, on the previous day, had stalked so gauntly through the +dreary streets--the wretched, sinking women, and children careworn +as grandfathers--poured forth, with something like a natural light +in their hollow eyes, to witness the joyful spectacle. The sea-wall +of the city was, like the margin of a vast pool of Bethesda, +thronged with hopeful wretches awaiting the coming of the angel. + +The streets were instantly deserted. Those who could not leave their +homes got on the housetops, but the great mass of the population +spread itself along the line-wall, the Grand Parade and Alameda, +and the heights skirting the chief slopes of the Rock. Moors and +Jews, Spaniards and English, citizens and soldiers, men, women, +and children, of all ages, grades, and nations, ranged themselves +indiscriminately wherever they could obtain a view of the sea. + +For some time the wished-for sight was delayed by a thick fog that +spread itself across the Straits and the entrance of the bay. A +murmur rose from each successive rank of people that forced itself +into a front place on the line-wall. Terrible doubts flew about, +originating no one knew where, but gaining strength and confirmation +as they passed from mouth to mouth. On the summit of the Rock behind +them the signal for a fleet flew steadily from the mast at Middle +Hill; but still in this, as in all crowds, were some of little +faith, who were full of misgivings. Many rushed up to the signal +station, unable to bear the pain of the delay. My grandfather +noticed the Jew Lazaro among the throng, watching the event with an +anxious eye, though his anxiety was from the opposite cause to that +of most of the spectators. The arrival of supplies would at once +bring down the price of provisions, and rob him, for the present, +of his expected profits; and as each successive rumour obtained +credence with the crowd, his countenance brightened as their hopes +fell, and sank as they again emerged from despondency. + +Not far from him was an old Genoese woman, wearing the quaint red +cloak, trimmed with black velvet, that old Genoese women usually +wear in Gibraltar. She hovered round the skirts of the crowd, +occasionally peering beneath an uplifted arm, or thrusting it +between two obstructing figures, to catch a glimpse, though it was +evident that her dim eyes would fail to discern the fleet when +it should come in view. Her thin shrivelled features, relieved +against her black hood, were positively wolfish from starvation. +She frequently drew one hand from beneath her cloak, and gazed at +something she held in it--then, muttering, she would again conceal +it. My grandfather's curiosity was roused. He drew near and watched +for the reappearance of the object that so engrossed her. It was a +blue mouldy crust of bread. + +The wished-for spectacle was at length revealed. "As the sun became +more powerful," says Drinkwater, rising into positive poetry +with the occasion, "the fog gradually rose, _like the curtain of +a vast theatre_, discovering to the anxious garrison one of the +most beautiful and pleasing scenes it is possible to conceive. The +convoy, consisting of near a hundred vessels, were in a compact +body, led by several men-of-war--their sails just filled enough for +steerage, while the majority of the line-of-battle ships lay to +under the Barbary shore, having orders not to enter the bay, lest +the enemy should molest them with their fireships." + +Then rose a great shout--at once the casting-off of long-pressing +anxiety and the utterance of delight. Happy tears streamed down +haggard faces overgrown with hair, and presently men turned to one +another, smiling in the face of a stranger neighbour as in that of +an old friend, while a joyful murmur, distilled from many languages, +rose upward. Assuredly, if blessings are of any avail, the soul of +Admiral Darby, who commanded the relieving fleet, is at this moment +in Paradise. + +Friends and relations now began to search for one another in +the crowd, which broke quickly into knots, each contriving how +to enjoy together the plenty that was to descend upon them. My +grandfather's eye at this juncture was again attracted by the old +Genoese woman. When the crowd shouted, she screened her eyes with +her withered hand, and, with her nostril spread, her chin fallen, in +her eagerness gazed towards the sea--but presently shook her head, +discerning nothing. Then she plucked by the arm a joyful Spaniard. + +"_Es verdad? Por Dios, es verdad?_" she cried; "_jura! jura!_"--(Is +it true? Swear by Heaven it is true.) + +"_Si, si,_" said the Spaniard, pointing; "_es verdad_," ('tis true.) +"You may see them yourself." + +Instantly the old woman, for the last time, drew forth her +treasured crust, and began to devour it, muttering, as she tore +away each mouthful, "_Mas mañana! mas mañana!_" (I shall have more +to-morrow--more to-morrow!) + +After the crowd had partially dispersed, Owen was returning to +his quarters to breakfast, when, as he paused to open the door, +he heard a voice he thought he knew crying out in affright in the +rooms opposite, where Von Dessel resided. Presently the door of the +quarters was opened, and the flushed and frightened face of Esther +Lazaro appeared, as she struggled to escape from Von Dessel, who +held her arm. + +"Señor, señor, speak to the gentleman!" she cried to Owen. + +"Leetle foolish girl," said Von Dessel, grinning a smile on seeing +him; "she frightens at nothing. Come in, child"--trying to shut the +door. + +"Why don't you let her alone?" said Owen; "don't you see she doesn't +like you?" + +"Pouf!" said the captain. "We all have trouble with them +sometimes--you must know that well." + +"No, by Jupiter!" cried Frank Owen. "If I couldn't gain them +willingly, they might go to the devil for me. But you hurt her--pray +let her go--you must indeed." + +"Do you mind your own affair," said the captain, "and don't meddle;" +and, exerting his strength, he drew Esther in, and partially +succeeded in shutting the door--she calling the while again on Owen +to help her. Frank stepped forward, and, putting his foot against +the door, sent it into the room, causing Captain Von Dessel, who was +behind it, to stagger back with some violence, and to quit his hold +of Esther, who ran down stairs. + +"Very good, sir," said the captain, stalking grimly out of his room, +pale with rage. "You have thought right to interfere with me, and to +insult me. By Gott! I will teach you better, young man. Shall we say +in one hour, sir, in the Fives' Court?" + +Owen nodded. "At your pleasure," said he, and, entering his own +quarters, shut the door. + +Meanwhile my grandfather walked about with the telescope he had +brought with him to look after the fleet under his arm, enjoying the +unusual sight of happy faces around him. And he has remarked it as +a singular feature of humanity, that this prospect of relief from +physical want inspired a far more deep and universal joy than he +had witnessed in any public rejoicings arising from such causes as +loyalty or patriotism evinced at a coronation or the news of a great +victory; and hence my grandfather takes occasion to express a fear +that human nature, as well as other nature, is, except among the +rarer class of souls, more powerfully and generally influenced by +its animal propensities than by more refined causes. + +He was so engrossed with the philanthropic pursuit of enjoying the +joy of the multitude, and the philosophic one of extracting moral +reflections therefrom, that he quite forgot he had not breakfasted. +He was just beginning to be reminded of the circumstance by a +feeling of hollowness in the region of the stomach, and to turn +his steps homeward, when a light hand was laid on his arm. My +grandfather turned, and beheld the face of the young Jewess looking +wistfully in his. + +She began at first to address him in Spanish--the language she spoke +most naturally; but, quickly perceiving her mistake on hearing the +extraordinary jargon in which he replied, (for it is a singular +fact that nobody but Carlota, who taught him, could understand my +grandfather's Spanish,) she exchanged it for his own tongue. She +told him in a few hurried words of the quarrel Owen had incurred on +her account with Von Dessel, and of the challenge she had overheard +given by the latter, beseeching the major to hasten to prevent the +result. + +"In the Fives' Court! in an hour!" said my grandfather. "When did +this happen?" + +Esther thought nearly an hour ago--she had been almost so long +seeking my grandfather. + +"I'll go, child--I'll go at once," said the Major. "With Von Dessel, +too, as if he could find nobody else to quarrel with but the best +swordsman in the garrison. 'Souls and bodies' quoted my grandfather, +'hath he divorced three.'" + +With every stride he took, the Major's uneasiness was augmented. At +any time his anxiety would have been extreme while peril threatened +Frank; but now, when he was calculating on him as a companion +at many a well-spread table, when they might forget their past +miseries, it peculiarly affected him. + +"To think," muttered my grandfather, "that these two madmen should +choose a time when everybody is going to be made so happy, by +getting plenty to eat, to show their gratitude to Providence by +cutting one another's throats!" + +The danger to Owen was really formidable; for, though a respectable +swordsman, he was no unusual proficient in the graceful art, while +his opponent was not only, as my grandfather had said, the best +swordsman in the garrison, but perhaps the best at that time in the +army. As a student in Germany he had distinguished himself in some +sanguinary duels; and since his arrival in Gibraltar, a Spanish +gentleman, a very able fencer, had fallen beneath his arm. + +"God grant," said my grandfather to himself, as he neared the Fives' +Court, "that we may settle this without the perdition of souls. +Frank, my dear boy, we could better spare a better man!" + +On attempting to enter the Fives' Court he was stopped by the +master, posted at the door. "It was engaged," he said, "for a +private match." + +"Ay, ay," said my grandfather, pushing past him; "a pretty match, +indeed! Ay, ay--pray God we can stop it!" + +Finding the inner door locked, the Major, who was well acquainted +with the locality--for, when he had nothing else particular to +do, he would sometimes mark for the players for a rubber or +two--ascended the stairs to the gallery. + +About the centre of the court stood the combatants. All +preliminaries had been gone through--for they were stripped to their +shirts--and the seconds (one a German, the adjutant of Hardenberg's +regiment--the other, one Lieutenant Rushton, an old hand at these +affairs, and himself a fire-eater) stood by, each with a spare sword +in his hand. In a corner was the German regimental surgeon, his +apparatus displayed on the floor, ready for an emergency. Rushton +fully expected Owen to fall, and only hoped he might escape without +a mortal wound. Von Dessel himself seemed of the same opinion, +standing square and firm as a tower, scarcely troubling himself to +assume an attitude, but easy and masterly withal. Both contempt and +malice were expressed for his antagonist in his half-shut eyes and +sardonic twist of the corners of his mouth. + +"Owen, Owen, my boy!" shouted my grandfather, rushing to the front +of the gallery, and leaning over, as the swords crossed--"stop, for +God's sake. You mustn't fight that swashbuckler! They say he hath +been fencer to the Sophy," roared the Major, in the words of Sir +Toby Belch. + +The combatants just turned their heads for a moment to look at the +interrupter, and again crossed swords. + +Immediately on finding his remonstrance disregarded, the Major +descended personally into the arena--not by the ordinary route of +the stairs, but the shorter one of a perpendicular drop from the +gallery, not effected with the lightness of a feathered Mercury. But +the clatter of his descent was lost in the concussion of a discharge +of artillery that shook the walls. Instantly the air was alive +with shot and hissing shells; and before the echoes of the first +discharge had ceased, the successive explosion of the shells in the +air, and the crashing of chimneys, shattered doors, and falling +masonry, increased the uproar. One shell burst in the court, filling +it with smoke. My grandfather felt, for a minute, rather dizzy with +the shock. When the smoke cleared, by which time he had partially +recovered himself, the first object that caught his eye was Von +Dessel lying on the pavement, and the doctor stooping over him. The +only other person hurt was Rushton, a great piece of the skin of +whose forehead, detached by a splinter, was hanging over his right +eye. Von Dessel had sustained a compound fracture of the thigh, +while the loss of two fingers from his right hand had spoiled his +thrust in tierce for ever. + +"What can be the matter?" said my grandfather, looking upward, as a +second flight of missiles hurtled overhead. + +"Matter enough," quoth Rushton, mopping the blood from his eye with +his handkerchief; "those cursed devils of Spaniards are bombarding +the town." + +The Major went up to Owen, and squeezed his hand. "We won't abuse +the Spaniards for all that," said he--"they've saved your life, my +boy." + + +CHAPTER IV. + +Enraged at seeing their blockade evaded by the arrival of Darby's +fleet, the Spaniards revenged themselves by directing such a fire +upon Gibraltar, from their batteries in the Neutral Ground, as in +a short time reduced the town to a mass of ruins. This misfortune +was rendered the more intolerable to the besieged, as it came in +the moment of exultation and general thanksgiving. While words of +congratulation were passing from mouth to mouth, the blow descended, +and "turned to groans their roundelay." + +The contrast between the elation of the inhabitants when my +grandfather entered the Fives' Court, and their universal +consternation and despair when he quitted it, was terrible. The +crowd that had a few minutes before so smilingly and hopefully +entered their homes, now fled from them in terror. Again the +streets were thronged by the unhappy people, who began to believe +themselves the sport of some powerful and malevolent demon. Whole +families, parents, children, and servants, rushed together into +the streets, making their way to the south to escape the missiles +that pursued them. Some bore pieces of furniture snatched up in +haste, and apparently seized because they came first to hand; some +took the chairs they had been sitting on; one man my grandfather +noticed bearing away with difficulty the leaf of a mahogany table, +leaving behind the legs which should have supported it; and a woman +had a crying child in one hand, and in the other a gridiron, still +reeking with the fat of some meat she had been cooking. Rubbish +from the houses began to strew the streets; and here and there +a ragged breach in a wall rent by the cannon afforded a strange +incongruous glimpse of the room inside, with its mirrors, tables, +and drapery, just as the inhabitants left them. Armed soldiers +were hastening to their different points of assembly, summoned by +bugles that resounded shrilly amid the din, and thrusting their way +unceremoniously through the impeding masses of fugitives. + +The house of the Jew Lazaro was one of the first that was seriously +injured. The blank wall of the great warehouse before mentioned, +that faced the street, had, either from age or bad masonry, long +before exhibited several cracks. A large segment, bounded by +two of these cracks, had been knocked away by a shot, and the +superincumbent mass falling in consequence, the great store, and all +its hoarded treasures, appeared through the chasm. + +The Jew's instincts had, at first, led him to save himself by +flight. But, on returning timorously to look after his property, the +sight of the ruined wall, and the unprotected hoards on which he had +so securely reckoned as the source of wealth, obliterated in his +mind, for the time, all sense of personal danger. Seeing a party of +soldiers issuing from a wine-house near, he eagerly besought them to +assist him in removing his property to a place of safety, promising +to reward them largely for their risk and trouble. + +One of the soldiers thus appealed to was Mr Bags. + +"Ho, ho!" said Mr Bags; "here's a chance--here's a pleasure, +comrades. We can help Mr Lazaro, who is always so good to us--this +here Jewish gentleman, that gives such liberal prices for our +things. Certainly--we'll remove 'em all, and not charge him nothing. +Oh--oh--ah!" And, to give point to his irony, Mr Bags distorted his +face hideously, and winked upon his friends. + +The idea of giving Lazaro any assistance was considered a capital +joke, and caused a great deal of mirth as they walked towards the +store, to which the Jew eagerly led the way. + +"If there's anything good to eat or drink in the store, we may +remove some of it, though it won't be on our backs, eh, boys?" said +Bags, as he stept in advance, over a heap of rubbish, into the store. + +"These first--these, my friends," cried the Jew, going up to a row +of barrels, standing a little apart from the crowded masses of +articles. + +"Oh, these first, eh?" said Bags; "they're the best, be they? Thank +you, Mr Lazaro; we'll see what's in 'em;" and, taking up a gimlet +that lay near, he proceeded to bore a hole in one of the barrels, +desiring a friend, whom he addressed as Tim, to tap the next one. + +"Thieves!" screamed the Jew, on witnessing this proceeding, seizing +Bags' arm, "leave my store--go out--let my goods alone!" Bags lent him +a shove that sent him into a corner, and perceiving liquor flowing +from the hole he had drilled, applied his mouth to the orifice. + +"Brandy," said he, as he paused for breath, "real Cognac. Comrades, +here's luck to that 'ere shot that showed us the way in;" and he +took another diligent pull at the hole. + +Meantime his comrades had not been idle; other barrels were opened, +and their contents submitted to a critical inspection. + +The Jew tried various modes to induce them to relinquish their +booty: first threats--then offers of reward--then cajolery; and, +at last, attempted to interpose and thrust them from their spoil. +A shot from the enemy entering the store, enfiladed a long line of +barrels, scattering the staves and their contents. The place was +instantly flooded with liquor--wine, molasses, spirits, and oil, +ran in a mingled stream, soaking the _débris_ of biscuit and salt +provisions that strewed the floor. One soldier was struck dead, and +Mr Bags only escaped destruction by the lucky accident of having his +head at that moment apart from the barrel which had engrossed his +attention, and which was knocked to pieces. + +The Jew, partly stunned by a wound in the forehead from the splinter +of a barrel, and partly in despair at the destruction of his +property, came to the entrance of the store, seating himself among +the rubbish. Other plunderers speedily followed the example of the +marauding soldiers, but he made no attempt to stop them as they +walked past him. My grandfather, passing at the time on his way +home, was horrified at the sight of him. Flour from a splintered +barrel had been scattered over his face, and blood from the wound +in his forehead, trickling down, had clotted it on his cheeks and +scanty beard, giving him an aspect at once appalling and disgusting. +His daughter had waited at the door of the Fives' Court till she +saw Owen come forth in safety, and had then availed herself of +the protection of the Major as far as her own home. Shrieking at +the dismal sight, she sprang forward and threw herself before the +Jew, casting her arms around him. This seemed to rouse him. He +arose--looked back into the store; and then, as if goaded by the +sight of the wreck into intolerable anguish, he lifted his clenched +hands above his head, uttering a sentence of such fearful blasphemy, +that a devout Spaniard, who was emerging from the store with some +plunder, struck him on the mouth. He never heeded the blow, but +continued to rave, till, suddenly overcome by loss of blood and +impotent rage, he dropt senseless on the ground. + +My grandfather, calling some soldiers of his regiment who were +passing, desired them to convey him to the hospital at the South +Barracks, and, again taking the terrified and weeping Esther under +his protection, followed to see the unfortunate Jew cared for. + +At the various parades that day Mr Bags was reported absent, being +in fact engaged in pursuits of a much more interesting nature than +his military duties. A vast field of interprise was opened to him +and other adventurous spirits, of which they did not fail to avail +themselves, in the quantity of property of all kinds abandoned by +the owners, in houses and shops where locks and bolts were no longer +a protection; and although the firing, which ceased for an hour +or two in the middle of the day, was renewed towards evening and +continued with great fury, the ardour of acquisition by no means +abated. + +About midnight a sentry on the heights of Rosia (the name given +to a portion of the rugged cliffs towards the south and near the +hospital) observed, in the gloom, a figure lurking about one of the +batteries, and challenged it. Receiving no answer, he threatened to +fire, when Bags came forward reluctantly, with a bundle in his hand. + +"Hush, Bill," said Bags, on finding the sentry was a personal +friend--"don't make a row: it's only me, Bags--Tongs, you know," he +added, to insure his recognition. + +"What the devil are you doing there, you fool?" asked his friend in +a surly tone--"don't you know the picquet's after you?" + +"I've got some little things here that I want to lay by, where +nobody won't see 'em, in case I'm catched," returned Bags. "Don't +you take no notice of me, Bill, and I'll be off directly." + +"What have ye got?" asked Bill, whose curiosity was awakened by the +proceedings of his friend. + +"Some little matters that I picked up in the town," returned Bags. +"Pity you should be on guard to-day, Bill--there was some pretty +pickings. I'll save something for you, Bill," added Bags, in an +unaccountable access of generosity. + +The sentry, however, who was a person in every way worthy of the +friendship of Mr Bags, expressed no gratitude for the considerate +offer, but began poking at the bundle with his bayonet. + +"Hands off, Bill," said Bags, "they won't abear touching." + +"Let's see 'em," said Bill. + +"Not a bit on it," said Bags; "they ain't aworth looking at." + +"Suppose I was to call the sergeant of the guard," said Bill. + +"You wouldn't do such a action?" said Bags, in a tone strongly +expressive of disgust at such baseness. "No, no, Bill, you ain't +that sort of fellow, _I'm_ sure." + +"It's my dooty," said the sentry, placing the butt of his musket on +the ground, and leaning his elbow on the muzzle. "You see that what +you said, Tongs, was very true, about its being hard upon me to be +carrying about this here damnable weppin" (slapping the barrel of +the musket) "all day for fourpence ha'penny, while you are making +your fortin. It is, Tongs, d--d hard." + +"Never mind; there'll be plenty left to-morrow," said Bags in a +consolatory tone. + +"What shall we say, now, if I lets ye hide it?" said Bill, pointing +to the bundle. "Half-shares?" + +"This ain't like a friend, Bill," returned Tongs, highly disgusted +with this ungenerous proposal. "Nobody ever knowed me interfere +with a comrade when I was on sentry. How long ago is it since I let +ye stay in my box an hour, till ye was sober enough to walk into +barracks, when I was sentry at the gate? Why, the whole bundle ain't +worth eighteenpence--and I've worked hard for it." + +"Half-shares?" reiterated Bill, not melted in the least by the +memory of ancient benefits. + +"No, by G--!" said Bags in great wrath. + +"Serg----," began Bill in an elevated voice, porting his arms at the +same time. + +"Stop!" said Bags; "don't call the sergeant. Half is better nor +nothing, if ye're going to behave like that. We'll say half, then." + +"Ah," said Bill, returning to his former position--"I thought we +should agree. And now let's see 'em, Tongs." + +Muttering still his disapprobation of this unworthy treatment, Bags +put his bundle on the stone embrasure of the battery, and began to +unfold it. + +Eighteenpence was certainly a low valuation. Bags appeared to have +visited a jeweller's shop. Watches, rings, bracelets, gold chains, +and brooches glittered on the dingy surface of the handkerchief. + +"My eye!" said Bill, unable to repress a low laugh of delight--"why, +we'll turn bankers when we've sold 'em. Tongs and Co., eh?" said +Bill with considerable humour. + +Bags, however, told him he was altogether mistaken in his +estimate--most of the things were pinchbeck, he said, and the stones +all glass; and, to save Bill any trouble, he offered to dispose of +them himself to the best possible advantage, and bring his partner +his share of the proceeds, which would certainly be at least +ninepence, and might perhaps be half-a-dollar. This arrangement +did not, however, meet the approbation of the astute William, who +insisted on dividing the spoils by lot. But here, again, there was +a slight misunderstanding, for both fixed their affections on a +gigantic watch, which never could have been got into any modern +pocket, and whose face was ornamented with paintings from the +heathen mythology. Both of them supposed, from the size and the +brilliancy of the colours, that this must be of immense value. +Finding they were not likely to come to a speedy arrangement on +this point, they agreed to postpone the division of the spoils till +morning. + +"I'll tell ye where to put it, Bags," said Bill. "These here guns in +this battery haven't been fired for years, nor ain't likely to be, +though they loaded 'em the other day. Take out the wad of this one, +and put in the bundle." + +Bags approved of the idea, withdrew the wad from the muzzle of the +gun, put in the bundle as far as his arm would reach, and then +replaced the wad. + +"Honour bright?" said Bags, preparing to depart. + +"Honour bright," returned Bill; and Bags disappeared. + +Nevertheless he did not feel sufficient confidence in his +confederate's integrity to justify his quitting the place and +leaving him to his own devices. He thought Bill might perhaps avail +himself of his absence to remove the treasure, or be guilty of some +other treachery. He therefore crept back again softly, till he got +behind a crag from whence he had a full view of the battery. + +For some time Bill walked sternly to and fro on his post. Bags +observed, however, that he always included the gun where the deposit +lay in his perambulations, which became shorter and shorter. At last +he halted close to it, laid down his musket against the parapet, +and, approaching the muzzle of the gun, took out the wad. + +At this moment a neighbouring sentry gave an alarm. The guard +turned out, and Bill, hastily replacing the wad, resumed his arms +and looked about for the cause of the alarm. About a mile out in +the bay several red sparks were visible. As he looked there were a +corresponding number of flashes, and then a whistling of shot high +overhead told that the guns from which they had been discharged had +been laid too high. The Spanish gunboats were attacking the south. + +The drums beat to arms, and in a few minutes the battery was manned +with artillerymen. To the inconceivable horror of Bags and Bill, the +whole of the guns in the battery were altered in position, and a +gunner took post at the rear of each with a lighted portfire. Then +a flushed face might be seen, by the blue light of the portfires, +rising from behind a neighbouring piece of rock, the eyes staring, +the mouth open in agonised expectation. + +"Number one--fire!" said the officer in command, to the gunner in +rear of the gun in which Mr Bags had invested his capital. + +"No, no!" shouted Bags, rising wildly from behind the rock. + +The portfire touched the vent--there was a discharge that seemed to +rend Mr Bags's heartstrings and blow off the roof of his skull--and +the clever speculation on which he had counted for making his +fortune ended, like many others, in smoke. He gazed for a moment out +in the direction of the flash, as if he expected to see the watches +and rings gleaming in the air; then he turned and disappeared in the +darkness. + +After a few ineffectual discharges, the Spaniards seemed to become +aware of the badness of their aim, and to take measures to amend it. +Several shot struck the hospital; and some shells falling through +the roof, exploded in the very wards where the sick lay. The unhappy +Jew, Lazaro, lying in a feverish and semi-delirious state from his +former hurt and agitation, was again struck by a splinter of a +shell which burst in the ward where the Major's care had seen him +deposited, blowing up the ceiling and part of the wall. In the midst +of the confusion, the Jew, frantic with terror, rushed unrestrained +from the building, followed only by his daughter, who was watching +by his bed. He was not missed for some time, and the attempts to +discover him, made after his disappearance became known, were of no +avail. A neighbouring sentry had seen a white figure, followed by +another crying after it, dash across the road and disappear in the +bushes; but the search made about the vicinity of the spot failed in +detecting any traces of them, and those who troubled themselves to +think of the matter at all, surmised that they had fallen into the +sea. + + +CHAPTER V. + +For some pages, my grandfather's note-book is filled with memoranda +of singular casualties from the enemy's shot, wonderful escapes, +and hasty moments of quietude and attempted comfort snatched "even +in the cannon's mouth." The fire from the Spanish batteries shortly +reduced the town to ruins, and the gunboats at night precluded all +hope of peace and oblivion after the horrors of the day. Dreams, in +which these horrors were reproduced, were interrupted by still more +frightful nocturnal realities. One of the curious minor evils that +my grandfather notices, as resulting from an incessant cannonade, +to those not engaged in it actively enough to withdraw their +attention from the noise, is the extreme irritation produced by its +long continuance, amounting, in persons of nervous and excitable +temperament, to positive exasperation. + +Some of the numerous incidents he chronicles are also recorded by +Drinkwater, especially that of a man who recovered after being +almost knocked to pieces by the bursting of a shell. "His head was +terribly fractured, his left arm broken in two places, one of his +legs shattered, the skin and muscles torn off his right hand, the +middle finger broken to pieces, and his whole body most severely +bruised and marked with gunpowder. He presented so horrid an object +to the surgeons, that they had not the smallest hopes of saving his +life, and were at a loss what part to attend to first. He was that +evening trepanned; a few days afterwards his leg was amputated, +and other wounds and fractures dressed. Being possessed of a most +excellent constitution, nature performed wonders in his favour, +and in eleven weeks the cure was completely effected. His name," +continues Mr Drinkwater, with what might be deemed irony--if the +worthy historian ever indulged in that figure of rhetoric--"is +Donald Ross, and he" (_i. e._ the remaining fragment of the said +Donald Ross) "now enjoys his sovereign's bounty in a pension of +ninepence a-day for life." One might almost suppose that Mr Hume had +some hand in affixing the gratuity; but in those days there was a +king who knew not Joseph. + +My grandfather appears to have had also an adventure of his own. +During a cessation of the cannonade, he was sitting one morning on +a fragment of rock, in the garden behind his quarters, reading his +favourite author. The firing suddenly recommenced, and a long-ranged +shell, striking the ground at some distance, rolled towards him. +He glanced half-absently at the hissing missile; and whether he +actually did not for a moment recollect its character, or whether, +as was often the case on such occasions, the imminence of the danger +paralysed him, he sat immovably watching it as it fizzed within a +couple of yards of him. Unquestionably in another three seconds +my grandfather's earthly tabernacle would have been resolved into +its original atoms, had not the intrepid Carlota (who was standing +near gathering flowers to stick in her hair) darted on him, and, +seizing him by the arm, dragged him behind a wall. They were scarce +under shelter when the shell exploded--the shock laying them both +prostrate, though unhurt but for a few bruises--while the stone +on which the Major had been sitting was shivered to atoms. To the +description of this incident in the Major's journal are appended a +pious reflection and a short thanksgiving, which, being entirely of +a personal nature, I omit. + +The stores landed from the fleet were in a very precarious position. +Owing to the destruction of the buildings, there were no means of +placing them where they might be sheltered at once from the fire of +the enemy and from rain. Some were piled under sails spread out as +a sort of roof to protect them, and some, that were not likely to +sustain immediate injury from the damp air of such a depository, +were ordered to be conveyed to St Michael's Cave. + +This cave is one of the most curious features of the Rock. Its +mouth--an inconsiderable opening in the slope of the mountain--is +situated many hundred feet above the sea. Within, it expands into a +spacious hall, the roof, invisible in the gloom, supported by thick +pillars formed by the petrified droppings of the rock. From this +principal cavern numerous smaller ones branch off, leading, by dark, +broken, and precipitous passages, to unknown depths. Along one of +these, according to tradition, Governor O'Hara advanced farther than +ever man had gone before, and left his sword in the inmost recess to +be recovered by the next explorer who should be equally adventurous. +But whether it is that the tradition is unfounded, or that the +weapon has been carried off by some gnome, or that the governor's +exploit is as yet unrivalled, the sword has never been brought to +light. + +For the duty of placing the stores here, the name of Lieutenant +Owen appeared in the garrison orders. My grandfather having nothing +particular to do, and being anxious to escape as much as possible +for a short time from the din of the bombardment, offered to +accompany Frank in the execution of this duty. + +The day was dark and gloomy, and the steep path slippery from rain, +so that the mules bearing the stores toiled with difficulty up the +ascent. At first, my grandfather and Owen indulged in cheerful +conversation; but shortness of breath soon reduced the Major to +monosyllables, and the latter part of the journey was accomplished +in silence. Frequently the Major paused and faced about, at once +to look at the prospect and to take breath. Far below, on his +right, was seen the southern end of the town, consisting partly +of a heap of ruins, with here and there a rafter sticking out of +the mass, partly of roofless walls, among which was occasionally +heard the crashing of shot; but the guns that discharged them, as +well as those that replied from the town, were invisible from +this point. Directly beneath him the ground afforded a curious +spectacle, being covered with tents, huts, and sheds, of all sorts +and sizes, where the outcast population of the ruined town obtained +a precarious and insufficient shelter. The only building visible +which still retained its former appearance was the convent--the +governor's residence--which was protected by bomb-proofs, and where +working-parties were constantly engaged in repairing the injuries. +The bay, once thickly wooded with masts and dotted with sails, was +now blank and cheerless; only the enemy's cruisers were visible, +lying under the opposite shore of Spain. + +Owen and my grandfather arrived at the mouth of the cave somewhat in +advance of the convoy. To their surprise a smoke was issuing from +it; and, as they approached nearer, their nostrils were greeted by +an odour at once savoury and spicy. Going softly up they looked in. + +Mr Bags and a couple of friends were seated round a fire, over which +was roasting a small pig, scientifically butchered and deprived of +his hair, and hung up by the heels. The fire, in the absence of +other fuel, (of which there was an extreme scarcity in Gibraltar,) +was supplied by bundles of cinnamon plundered from the store of some +grocer, and, as the flame waxed low, Mr Bags took a fresh bundle +from a heap of that fragrant spice by his side, and laid it on the +embers. Mrs Bags was occupied in basting the pig with lard, which +she administered from time to time with an iron ladle. + +Presently Mr Bags tapped on the pig's back with his knife. It sent +forth a crisp crackling sound, that made my grandfather's mouth +water, and caused Mr Bags to become impatient. + +"Polly," said he, "it's my opinion it's been done these three +minutes. I can't wait much longer." + +And he cast a glance at the other two soldiers, (in whom, as well as +in Bags, Owen recognised men of his company who had been reported +absent for some days, and were supposed to have gone over to the +enemy,) to ascertain if their opinions tallied with his own on this +point. + +"It can't be no better," said one, taking hold of the pig's neck +between his finger and thumb, which he afterwards applied to his +mouth. + +"I can't abear my meat overdone," said the third. "What I say is, +let them that likes to wait, wait, and let them that wants to begin, +begin." So saying, he rose, and was about to attack the ribs of the +porker with his knife. + +"Do stop a minute--that's a dear," said Mrs Bags; "another bundle of +cinnament will make it parfect. I'll give ye something to stay your +stomach;" and stepping to a nook in the wall of the cavern, where +stood a large barrel, she filled a pewter measure, and handed it to +the impatient advocate for underdone pork, who took a considerable +dram, and passed it to his companions. + +"Cinnament's better with pork nor with most things," said Bags. "It +spoils goose, because it don't agree with the inions, and it makes +fowls wishy-washy; but it goes excellent with pig." + +"What's left in the larder?" asked one of the party. + +"There's a week's good eating yet," said Mrs Bags, "and we _might_ +make it do ten days or a fortnight." + +"Well!" said the other, "they may say what they like about sieges, +but this is the jolliest time ever _I_ had." + +"It's very well by day," said Bags, "but the nights is cold, and the +company of that ghost ain't agreeable--I seed it again last night." + +"Ah!" said his friend, "what was it like, Tongs?" + +"Something white," returned Bags in an awful whisper, "with a +ghost's eyes. You may allays know a ghost by the eyes. I was just +rising up, and thinking about getting a drink, for my coppers was +hot, when it comes gliding up from that end of the cave. I spoke to +you, and then I couldn't see it no more, because it was varnished." + +"Ghosts always varnishes if you speak," said Mrs Bags. "But never +mind the spirit now--let's look after the flesh," added the lady, +who possessed a fund of native pleasantry: "the pig's done to a +turn." + +At this interesting juncture, and just as they were about to fall +to, the footsteps of the approaching mules struck on their ears. +Owen went to meet the party, and hastily selecting six men from it, +advanced, and desired them to secure the astounded convivialists. + +On recovering from their first astonishment, Bags begged Owen would +overlook the offence; they were only, he pleaded, having a little +spree--times had been hard lately. Mrs Bags, as usual, displayed +great eloquence, though not much to the purpose. She seemed to have +some idea that an enumeration of the gentlemen's families she had +lived in, and the high estimation in which she had been held in +all, would really tell powerfully in favour of the delinquents, and +persevered accordingly, till they were marched off in custody of the +escort, when she made a final appeal to my grandfather, as the last +gentleman whose family she had lived in--with what advantage to the +household the reader knows. The Major, who could not forgive the +roasting of his ham, called her, in reply, a "horrible woman," but, +at the same time, whispered to Owen that he hoped the fellows would +not be severely punished. "If we had caught them after dinner," said +he, "I shouldn't have pitied them so much." + +"Never mind them," said Owen; "let us proceed to business. We must +select the driest spot we can find to put the stores in." + +[Here, by way of taking leave of Mr Bags, I may remark, that he +narrowly escaped being hanged as a plunderer--failing which, he was +sentenced by a court-martial to receive a number of lashes, which I +refrain from specifying, because it would certainly make the hair of +a modern humanitarian turn white with horror.] + +"Come along, Major," said Owen; "perhaps we may find more of these +scoundrels in the course of our researches." + +The Major did not move; he was earnestly regarding the carcase of +the pig, that steamed hissing above the embers. + +"Queer idea that of the cinnamon fire," said he. "I wonder how the +meat tastes." + +Owen did not hear him, having walked forward. + +"Have you got a knife about you, Frank?" said the Major. "Do you +know I have a curious desire to ascertain the flavour. It may be a +feature in cookery worth knowing." + +Owen had not a knife, nor had any of the men, but one of them +suggested that the Major's sword would answer the purpose. + +"To be sure," said the Major. "A good idea! I don't see why +swords shouldn't be turned into carving-knives as well as into +pruning-hooks." So saying, he drew it from the sheath, and, +straddling across the fire, detached a crisp brown mouthful from the +pig's ribs, and putting a little salt on it, he conveyed it to his +mouth. + +"Excellent!" cried the Major. "I give you my word of honour, Owen, +'tis excellent! The cinnamon gives it a sort of a ----" + +Here a second and larger mouthful interrupted the criticism. + +"It must be very near lunch-time," said the Major, pausing, sword +in hand, when he had swallowed it; then, pretending to look at his +watch--"Bless me, it only wants half-an-hour of it. Do you think +this business will take you long, Owen?" + +"About a couple of hours," said Owen. + +"Ah, why, there you see," returned the Major, "we shan't get home +till long past lunch-time. I really don't see why we shouldn't take +a snack now. Nothing can be better than that pig. I only wish the +woman had dressed my dinner half as well. Corporal Hodson, would you +oblige me with a piece of that biscuit near you?" And, detaching a +large fragment of pork, he placed it on the biscuit, and sprinkling +it with pepper and salt, which condiments had not been forgotten in +the gastronomic arrangements of Mr Bags, he proceeded to follow Owen +into the interior of the cave, taking huge bites as he went. + +The path slopes at first steeply downward from the mouth to the +interior of the cavern, where it becomes more level. Light being +admitted only at the entrance, the gloom of the interior is almost +impenetrable to the eye. The men had brought torches to assist them +in their work, and, a suitable spot having been selected, these were +stuck on different points and abutments of the rocky wall, when the +party proceeded to unload the mules at the entrance, conveying their +burdens into the cave. + +In the midst of the bustle and noise attending the operation, the +little dog given by Esther to Carlota, which had that morning +followed the Major, to whom it had speedily attached itself, began +barking and howling dismally in a dark recess behind one of the +great natural pillars before spoken of. As the noise continued, +intermixed with piteous whinings, one of the men took a torch from +the wall, and stepped forward into the darkness, to see what ailed +the animal. Presently he cried out that "there was a man there." + +My grandfather, who was next him, immediately followed, and five +paces brought him to the spot. The soldier who held the torch was +stooping, and holding it over a figure that lay on the ground on its +back. In the unshaven, blood-stained countenance, my grandfather, at +first, had some difficulty in recognising Lazaro the Jew. Some fiery +splashes of pitch from the torch dropping at the moment on his bare +throat, produced no movement, though, had he been living, they must +have scorched him to the quick. + +On the body was nothing but the shirt he wore the night of his +flight from the hospital, but his legs were wrapt in a woman's +dress. Across his breast, on her face, lay Esther, in her white +under-garments--for the gown that wrapt the Jew's legs was hers. The +glare of the torch was bright and red on the two prostrate figures, +and on the staring appalled countenance of the man who held it--the +group forming a glowing spot in the vast, sombre, vaulted space, +where dim gleams of light were caught and repeated on projecting +masses of rock, more and more faintly, till all was bounded by +darkness. + +Years afterwards my grandfather would sometimes complain of having +been revisited, in dreams of the night, by that ghastly piece of +Rembrandt painting. + +The rest quickly flocked to the spot, and Esther was lifted and +found to breathe, though the Jew was stiff and cold. Some diluted +spirit, from the cellar of Bags, being poured down her throat she +revived a little, when my grandfather caused two of the men to bear +her carefully to his house; and the body of the Jew being wrapt in a +piece of canvass, was placed on a mule and conveyed to the hospital +for interment. + +Medical aid restored Esther to consciousness, and she told how they +came to be found in the cave. + +Her father, on leaving the hospital, had fled by chance, as she +thought, to this cave, for he did not reach it by the usual path, +but climbed, in his delirious fear, up the face of the rock, and she +had followed him as well as she could, keeping his white figure in +sight. They had both lain exhausted in the cave till morning, when, +finding that her father slept, she was on the point of leaving him +to seek assistance. But, unhappily, before she could quit the place, +Bags and his associates entered from their plundering expedition +into the town, and, frightened at their drunken language, and +recognising in Bags the man who had robbed her, she had crept back +to her concealment. The party of marauders never quitted the cavern +from the moment of establishing themselves in it. They spent the +day in eating, drinking, singing songs, and sometimes quarrelling. +Twice, at night, she ventured forth; but she always found one of +them asleep across the entrance, so that she could not pass without +waking him, and once one of them started up, and seemed about to +pursue her--doubtless Bags, on the occasion when he thought he saw +a ghost. Nevertheless, she had mustered courage twice to take some +fragments of food that were lying near the fire, leaving each time a +piece of money in payment; and she had also taken a lighted candle, +the better to ascertain her father's situation. He had never spoken +to her since the first night of their coming, and, during all those +dark and weary hours, (for they were three nights and two days in +the cavern,) she had remained by him listening to his incoherent +mutterings and moans. The candle had showed her that he had lost +much blood, from the wound in his forehead breaking out afresh, as +well as from the other received in the hospital, though the latter +was but a flesh wound. These she had bandaged with shreds of her +dress, and had tried to give him some of the nourishment she had +procured, but could force nothing on him except some water. Some +hours, however--how long she did not know, but it was during the +night--before Owen's party found her, the Jew had become sensible. +He told her he was dying; and, unconscious of where he was, desired +her to fetch a light. This she had procured in the same way as +before, lighting the candle at the embers of the fire round which +Bags and his friends reposed. Then the Jew, who seemed to imagine +himself still in the hospital, bid her say whom, among those she +knew in Gibraltar, she would wish to have charge of her when he was +no more; and, on her mentioning Carlota, had desired her to take pen +and paper and write his will as he should dictate it. Pen she had +none, but she had a pencil and a scrap of paper in her pocket, and +with these she wrote, leaning over to catch the whispered syllables +that he with difficulty articulated. + +From this paper it would appear that the Jew had some fatherly +feelings for Esther concealed beneath his harsh deportment towards +her. I can describe the will, for I have often seen it. It is +written on a piece of crumpled writing-paper, about the size of a +bank-note, very stained and dirty. It is written in Spanish; and +in it the Jew entreats "the Señora, the wife of Sr. Don Flinder, +English officer, to take charge of his orphan child, in requital +whereof he leaves her the half of whatsoever property he dies +possessed of, the other half to be disposed of for the benefit of +his daughter." Then follows a second paragraph, inserted at Esther's +own desire, to the effect that, should she not survive, the whole +was to be inherited by the aforesaid Señora. It is dated "Abril +1781," and signed in a faint, straggling hand, quite different from +the clear writing of the rest--"JOSÉ LAZARO." + +Esther would now have gone, at all hazards, to obtain assistance, +but the Jew clutched her arm, and would not permit her to quit him. +He breathed his last shortly after, and Esther remembered nothing +more till she came to herself in the Major's house. The paper was +found in her bosom. + +Some days after this event my grandfather went with Owen into the +town, during a temporary lull in the enemy's firing, to visit the +house of Lazaro, in order to ascertain whether anything valuable +was left that might be converted to Esther's benefit. They had +some difficulty in finding the exact locality, owing to the utter +destruction of all the landmarks. The place was a mass of ruins. +Some provisions and goods had been left by the plunderers, but so +mixed with rubbish, and overflowed with the contents of the casks +of liquor and molasses, as to be of no value even in these times of +dearth. + +Owen, poking about among the wreck, observed an open space in the +middle of one of the shattered walls, as if something had been built +into it. With the assistance of my grandfather's cane, he succeeded +in dislodging the surrounding masonry, already loosened by shot, and +they discovered it to be a recess made in the thickness of the wall, +and closed by a small iron door. At the bottom was lying a small +box, also of iron, which they raised, not without difficulty, for +its weight was extraordinary in proportion to its dimensions. This +being conveyed to my grandfather's, and opened, was found to contain +more than six hundred doubloons, (a sum in value about two thousand +pounds,) and many bills of exchange and promissory notes, mostly +those of officers. The latest was that of Von Dessel. These the +Major, by Esther's desire, returned to the persons whose signatures +they bore. + +Esther never completely recovered from the effects of her sojourn +in the cave, but remained always pale and of weak health. My +grandfather took good care of her inheritance for her, and on +leaving Gibraltar, at the conclusion of the siege, invested the +whole of it safely for her benefit, placing her, at the same time, +in the family of some respectable persons of her own religion. She +afterwards married a wealthy Hebrew; and, in whatever part of +the world the Major chanced to be serving, so long as she lived, +valuable presents would constantly arrive from Gibraltar--mantillas +and ornaments of jewellery for Carlota, and butts of delicious +sherry for my grandfather. These, however, ceased with her death, +about twenty years afterwards. + +This is, I believe, the most connected and interesting episode to +be found in the Major's note-book; and it is, I think, the last +specimen I shall offer of these new "Tales of my Grandfather." + +As a child I used to listen, with interest ever new, to the tale +of the young Jewess, which the narrator had often heard from the +lips of Carlota and her husband. St Michael's Cave took rank in my +mind with those other subterranean abodes where Cassim, the brother +of Ali Baba, who forgot the word "_Open Sesame_," was murdered by +the Forty Thieves; where Aladdin was shut by the magician in the +enchanted garden; and where Robinson Crusoe discovered the dying +he-goat. And when, at the conclusion of the tale, the scrap of +paper containing the Jew's will was produced from a certain desk, +and carefully unfolded, I seemed to be connected by some awful and +mysterious link with these departed actors in the scenes I had so +breathlessly listened to. + + + + +LIFE AMONGST THE LOGGERS. + +_Forest Life and Forest Trees._ By JOHN S. SPRINGER. New York: +Harper. London: Sampson Low. 1851. + + +The northern and elder States of the great American Union have +ceased to be associated in our minds with those ideas of wild +and romantic adventure which are inseparably connected with some +of their younger brethren far west and south. There is nothing +suggestive of romance in such names as New York, Maine, and +Pennsylvania: cotton bales, keen traders and repudiated debts, +drab coats, wooden clocks, and counterfeit nutmegs, compose the +equivocal and unpoetical visions they conjure up to European +imaginations. But drop we our eyes down the map to lawless Arkansas, +feverish Louisiana, and debateable Texas, or westwards to the still +newer State of California, and a host of stirring and picturesque +associations throng upon our memory. Strange scenes and a motley +array pass before us. Bands of hunters and trappers, scarce more +civilised than the Indians with whom they war, or gentler than the +buffalo which yields them sport and food; predatory armies, for +Mexico bound, keen for spoil and regardless of right; caravans of +adventurous gold-seekers braving the perilous passage of the Rocky +Mountains; hardy squatters, axe in hand, hewing themselves a home +in the heart of the wilderness; innumerable traits of courage and +endurance--incredible sufferings and countless crimes--make up a +picture-gallery unrivalled of its kind. In those districts, not +a league of prairie, not a mountain or stream, not a _bayou_ or +_barranca_, but has derived recent and vivid interest from the +animated sketches of Sealsfield, Ruxton, Wise, and a host of other +graphic and vigorous delineators. + +As if to vindicate the claims to interest of the northern American +provinces, a Down-easter, Springer by name, who hails from the State +of Maine, has exhibited, in a curious little volume, the adventurous +side of life in _his_ part of the Union. At a first glance, there +would appear to be few created things whose history was likely to be +less interesting than that of a Yankee pine-log. Get astride it with +Springer, and paddle up the Penobscot, clearing rapids and other +impediments as best you may on so unpromising a float--and, before +reaching the place where it grew, you shall marvel at the skill +and daring expended, and at the risks run to procure it. Springer, +who was reared amongst the pine forests, which his axe afterwards +helped to thin, is an enthusiastic woodsman, and feels "kinder +jealous" that whilst the habits and adventures of many classes of +his countrymen have occupied skilful writers and public attention, +no chronicler should have been found for the deeds and perils of +that numerous class to which he for some years belonged. To supply +this deficiency, he himself, although more used to handle axe than +goose-quill, has written a plain and unpretending account of scenes +and incidents which he shared in and witnessed. The freshness of +the subject, and the honest earnestness of the man, would atone for +clumsier treatment than it has met with at his hands. + +The second title of Mr Springer's book gives a clearer idea of +its contents than the primary one. The volume comprises, says the +title-page, "Winter camp-life, among the Loggers, and wild-wood +adventure, with descriptions of lumbering operations on the various +rivers of Maine and New Brunswick." It is divided into three parts; +the first and shortest being a dissertation on forest trees, with +particular reference to those of America; the second, entitled +"The Pine Tree, or Forest Life," giving an account of wood-cutting +operations; the third, "River Life," detailing the progress of +the timber from the forest to the "boom," or depôt. The chief +interest of the book begins with the second chapter of the second +part, wherein is described the commencement of the labours of a +gang of "loggers," or woodcutters. In the hunt after timber, as +after certain animals, the first thing to be done is to mark the +whereabout of your game preparatory to starting in its pursuit. On +the eve of the chase the keeper reconnoitres the retreat of the +wild-boar. Before a party of loggers proceed to establish a camp +and pass the winter woodcutting, they send out scouts to ascertain +where timber is plenty. Thirty years since, this was scarcely +necessary--the pine, that forest king of the northern States, +abounded on every side. Fifty years hence--so it is estimated by +those best qualified to judge--the vast pine forests, through which +the Penobscot flows, will be on the eve of extinction. Now is the +intermediate stage. A man cannot, as he formerly could, step from +his house to his day's work; but research and labour still command +a rich timber harvest. Exploring expeditions may be made at any +period of the year, but autumn is the favourite season. They consist +generally of only two or three men, accustomed to the business, +who, provided with the necessary provisions, with a coffee-pot and +a blanket, axe, rifle, and ammunition, embark on skiff or _bateau_, +and pole and paddle their way two hundred miles or more up the +Penobscot or the St Croix, and their numerous tributaries. On +reaching the district it is proposed to explore, the boat is hauled +ashore and turned bottom upwards, the load of stores is divided +amongst the party, and they strike into the forest, rousing, on +their passage, the stately moose, the timid deer, the roaming black +bear, and many an inferior denizen of the lonesome wilderness. They +now begin "prospecting." Often the thickness of the forest and the +uneven surface of the country prevent their obtaining a sufficiently +extensive view, and compel them to climb trees in order to look +around them. + + "When an ascent is to be made, the spruce tree is generally + selected, principally for the superior facilities which its + numerous limbs afford the climber. To gain the first limbs of + this tree, which are from twenty to forty feet from the ground, + a smaller tree is undercut and lodged against it, clambering + up which the top of the spruce is reached. Sometimes, when a + very elevated position is desired, the spruce tree is lodged + against the trunk of some lofty pine, up which we ascend to + a height twice that of the surrounding forest. From such a + tree-top, like a mariner at the mast-head upon the look-out for + whales, (and indeed the pine is the whale of the forest,) large + 'clumps' and 'veins' of pine are discovered, whose towering + tops may be seen for miles around. Such views fill the bosom of + timber-hunters with an _intense interest_. They are the object + of his search--his treasure, his Eldorado; and they are beheld + with peculiar and thrilling emotions. To detail the process more + minutely, we should observe, that the man in the tree-top points + out the direction in which the pines are seen; or, if hid from + the view of those below by the surrounding foliage, he breaks a + small limb, and throws it in the direction in which they appear, + whilst a man at the base marks the direction indicated by the + falling limb by means of a compass which he holds in his hand, + the compass being quite as necessary in the wilderness as on the + pathless ocean. In fair weather the sun serves as an important + guide; and in cloudy weather the close observation of an + experienced woodman will enable him to steer a tolerably correct + course by the moss which grows on the trunks of most hardwood + trees, the north sides of which are covered with a much larger + share than the other portions of the trunk. This Indian compass, + however, is not very convenient or safe, particularly in passing + through swampy lands, which are of frequent occurrence." + +Two reflections are suggested by the paragraph we have just copied. +The substance of one of them is noted in the Preface. "This volume," +says the modest and sensible Springer, "makes no pretensions to +literary merit; sooner would it claim kindred with the wild and +uncultivated scenes of which it is but a simple relation." The +second reflection is, that our wood-cutter is an enthusiast in +his craft; for wood-cutting in Maine _is_ a craft, and no common +log-chopping. To Springer, a towering grove of timber is as exciting +a sight as is to the hunter that of a herd of antlered deer or +shaggy buffalo. The pine especially is the object of his love and +admiration. He abounds in anecdotes and arguments to prove its +good qualities, and labours hard to establish its superiority to +the oak. Reared amongst the noble pines of Maine, he says, even as +a child, he could never hear, without feelings of jealousy, the +oak extolled as monarch of the forest. Admitting it to excel in +strength, he vaunts, upon the other hand, the superior grandeur and +girth of the pine, its value in building, the breadth of its planks, +their clearness, beauty, and freedom from knots, the numerous uses +to which it is applicable, its excellence as fuel, its perfect +adaptation to all the joiner's purposes. He extols in turn each of +its varieties; the red pine, remarkable for its tall trunk, which +sometimes rises eighty feet from the ground before putting out a +limb; the pitch pine, inferior in size, but preferable to any other +wood for generating steam in engines; the white pine, superior +to all in value and dimensions. He tells us of pines, of which +he has read or heard, of extraordinary grandeur and diameter: of +one, two hundred and sixty-four feet long; and of another which, +at three feet from the ground, was fifty-seven feet nine inches in +circumference. These extraordinary specimens were cut some years +ago. Trees of such dimensions are now rare. + + "I have worked in the forests among this timber several years," + says Springer, "have cut many hundreds of trees, and seen many + thousands, but I never found one larger than one I felled on a + little stream which empties into Jackson Lake, near the head of + Baskahegan stream, in eastern Maine. This was a pumpkin pine, + (a variety of the white pine.) Its trunk was as straight and + handsomely grown as a moulded candle, and measured six feet in + diameter four feet from the ground, without the aid of spur + roots. It was about nine rods in length, or one hundred and + forty-four feet, about sixty-five feet of which was free of + limbs, and retained its diameter remarkably well. I was employed + about one hour and a quarter in felling it. The afternoon was + beautiful; everything was calm, and to me the circumstances + were deeply interesting. After chopping an hour or so, the + mighty giant, the growth of centuries, which had withstood the + hurricane, and raised itself in peerless majesty above all + around, began to tremble under the strokes of a mere insect, as + I might appear in comparison with it. My heart palpitated as I + occasionally raised my eye to its pinnacle to catch the first + indications of its fall. It came down at length with a crash, + which seemed to shake a hundred acres, whilst the loud echo rang + through the forest, dying away amongst the distant hills. It had + a hollow in the butt about the size of a barrel, and the surface + of the stump was sufficiently spacious to allow a yoke of oxen + to stand upon it. It made five logs, and loaded a six-ox team + three times. The butt-log was so large, that the stream did not + float it in the spring; and when the drive was taken down, we + were obliged to leave it behind, much to our regret and loss. At + the boom, that log would have been worth fifty dollars." + +The pine tracts ascertained, the quality of the trees examined, +the distance the timber will have to be hauled duly calculated, +and the ground inspected, through which logging roads must be +cut, the exploring party retrace their steps to the place where +they left their boat. Foot-sore with their forest roamings, they +gladly look forward to the quick, gliding passage down stream. A +grievous disappointment sometimes awaits them. In the fall of the +year, the black bear is seized with a violent longing for pitch and +resinous substances, and frequently strips fir trees of their bark +for the sake of the exudations. Occasionally he stumbles over a +timber-hunter's _bateau_, and tears it to pieces in the course of +the rough process he employs to extract the tar from its planks. If +it is injured beyond possibility of repair, the unlucky pioneers +have to perform their homeward journey on foot, unless indeed they +are so fortunate as to fall in with some Indian trapper, whose canoe +they can charter for a portion of the way. Once at home, the next +step is to obtain permits from the State or proprietors, securing, +at a stipulated price of so much per thousand feet, the exclusive +right to cut timber within certain bounds. Then comes haymaking--a +most important part of the loggers' duty; for on nothing does the +success of the wood-cutting campaign depend more than on the good +working condition of the sturdy teams of oxen which drag the logs +from the snow-covered forest to the river's brink. Hard by the +forest extensive strips of meadow-land are commonly found, covered +with a heavy growth of grass, and thither large bands of men repair +to make and stalk the hay for the ensuing winter's consumption. The +labour of haymaking in these upland meadows of Maine is rendered +intolerably painful by the assaults of flies and mosquitoes, and +especially by the insidious attacks of millions of midges, so small +as to be scarcely perceptible to the naked eye, and which get +between the clothes and the skin, causing a smarting and irritation +so great as to impede the progress of the work. The torment of +these insect attacks is hardly compensated by the pastimes and +adventures incidental to the occupation. Now and then a shot is to +be had at a stray deer; the streams swarm with beautiful trout and +pickerel; skirmishes with black bears are of frequent occurrence. +Mr Springer's volume abounds with stories of encounters with bears, +wolves, and "Indian devils"--a formidable species of catamount, +of which the Indians stand in particular dread. Although the bear +rarely shows himself pugnacious unless assailed, his meddlesome, +thievish propensities render him particularly obnoxious to the +hay-makers and wood-cutters; and when they meet him, they never can +abstain from the aggressive, however civilly Bruin may be disposed +to pass them by. + + "On one occasion," says Mr Springer, "two men, crossing a small + lake in skiff, on their return from putting up hay, discovered + a bear swimming from a point of land for the opposite shore. As + usual in such cases, temptation silenced prudence--they changed + their course, and gave chase. The craft being light, they gained + fast upon the bear, who exerted himself to the utmost to gain + the shore; but, finding himself an unequal match in the race, + he turned upon his pursuers, and swam to meet them. One of the + men, a short, thick-set, dare-devil fellow, seized an axe, and, + the moment the bear came up, inflicted a blow upon his head. It + seemed to make but a slight impression, and before it could be + repeated the bear clambered into the boat. He instantly grappled + the man who struck him, firmly setting his teeth in his thigh; + then, settling back upon his haunches, he raised his victim in + the air, and shook him as a dog would a wood-chuck. The man at + the helm stood for a moment in amazement, without knowing how to + act, and fearing that the bear might spring overboard and drown + his companion; but, recollecting the effect of a blow upon the + end of a bear's snout, he struck him with a short setting-pole. + The bear dropped his victim into the bottom of the boat, sallied + and fell overboard, and swam again for the shore. The man bled + freely from the bite, and, as the wound proved too serious to + allow a renewal of the encounter, they made for the shore. + But one thing saved them from being upset: the water proved + sufficiently shoal to admit of the bear's getting bottom, from + which he sprang into the boat. Had the water been deep, the + consequences might have been more serious." + +From its first to its last stage, the logger's occupation is one +of severe toil and frequent peril. When the pioneer's duty is +accomplished, and when the hay is made, there is still hard work to +be done before he can begin to level the forest giants. No kind of +labour, Mr Springer assures us, tests a man's physical abilities +and powers of endurance more than boating supplies up river. The +wood-cutters come to a fall, and have to land their implements and +provisions, and to carry them past it. Their boats, too, must be +carried, and that over rocks and fallen trees, through thickets and +pathless swamps. Then they come to rapids, up which they have to +pole their heavy-laden bateaux. For this work, prodigious skill, +nerve, and strength are requisite. Then come the long portages from +lake to lake, and the danger of being swamped, when traversing +these, by sudden gusts of wind lashing the lake, in a few minutes' +time, into foaming waves, in which the deeply-loaded boats could not +for a moment live. + + "Our frail skiff was about eighteen feet long, and four feet + across the top of the gunwale amidships, tapering to a point at + either end, constructed of thin slips of pine boards, nailed + to some half-dozen pair of slender knees, about two inches in + diameter. On board were fifteen hundred pounds of provisions, + with seven men, which pressed her into the water nearly to the + gunwale; three inches from the position of a level, and she + would fill with water." + +In such an overburthened cockle-shell as this did Mr Springer once +find himself in company with a drunken man, who was only withheld +from capsizing the boat by the threat of having his skull split +with a paddle; for an inordinate addiction to rum is the loggers' +chief vice, a vice palliated by the hardship and exposure they +endure. Drinking, however, is on the decline amongst them of late +years, since "it has been fully demonstrated that men can endure the +chilling hardships of river-driving quite as well, and indeed far +better, without the stimulus of ardent spirits, and perform more and +better-directed labour." Black pepper tea is drunk on cold nights +when camping in the open air, and is found a warming and comfortable +beverage. Both in drink and diet the loggers look more to strength +than to delicacy. Salt pork, ship bread, and molasses, compose the +staple of their consumption. The drippings from a slice of pork, +roasted before the fire, are allowed to fall on the bread, which is +then dignified by the name of buttered toast. Sometimes the salt +pork is eaten raw, dipped in molasses,--a mixture unequalled for +nastiness, we should imagine, excepting by that of oysters and brown +sugar. "The recital may cause," says honest Springer in his comical +English, "in delicate and pampered stomachs some qualms, yet we can +assure the uninitiated that, from these gross samples, the hungry +woodsman makes many a delicious meal." An assurance which gives us +a most exalted idea of the appetite and digestion of the loggers of +Maine. + +Once in the forest with their stores, the woodmen carefully select +a suitable spot, clear the ground, build their "camp" and "hovel," +and commence their winter's work. The "camp" and "hovel" are two +log-houses, the former being for the men, the latter for the oxen. +In some respects the beasts are better treated than their masters, +for their hovel is floored with small poles, a luxury unknown in +the camp, where the men sleep on branches strewn upon the bare +earth. "Having completed our winter residences, next in order comes +the business of looking out and cutting the 'main' and some of +the principal 'branch roads.' These roads, like the veins in the +human body, ramify the wilderness to all the principal 'clumps' and +'groves' of pine embraced in the permit." Mr Springer expatiates on +the graceful curves of the roads, whose inequalities soon become +filled with snow, and their surface hard-beaten and glassy, polished +by the sled and logs which are continually passing over it, whilst +overhead the trees interlace their spreading branches. "Along this +roadside, on the way to the landing, runs a serpentine path for the +'knight of the goad,' whose deviations are marked now outside this +tree, then behind that 'windfall,' now again intercepting the main +road, skipping along like a dog at one's side." The teamster, if +he does his duty, works harder than any man in camp. Under a good +teamster, the oxen receive care almost as tender as though they were +race-horses with thousands depending on their health and condition. +With proper attention and management, they should be in as good +flesh in the spring as when they began hauling early in winter. + + "The last thing at night before 'turning in,' the teamster + lights his lantern and repairs to the ox-hovel. In the morning, + by peep of day, and often before, his visits are repeated, to + hay and provender, and card, and yoke up. While the rest of the + hands are sitting or lounging around the liberal fire, shifting + for their comfort, after exposure to the winter frosts through + the day, he must repeatedly go out to look after the comfort + of the sturdy, faithful ox. And then, for an hour or two in + the morning again, whilst all, save the cook, are closing up + the sweet and unbroken slumbers of the night, so welcome and + necessary to the labourer, he is out amid the early frost with, + I had almost said, the care of a mother, to see if 'old Turk' is + not loose, whether 'Bright' favours the near fore-foot, (which + felt a little hot the day before,) as he stands up on the hard + floor, and then to inspect 'Swan's' provender-trough, to see + if he has eaten his meal, for it was carefully noted that at + the 'watering-place' last night he drank but little; whilst at + the further end of the 'tie-up' he thinks he hears a little + clattering noise, and presently 'little Star' is having his + shins gently rapped, as a token of his master's wish to raise + his foot to see if some nail has not given way in the loosened + shoe; and this not for once, but every day, with numberless + other cares connected with his charge." + +The oxen are taken out to the forest by the last detachment of +wood-cutters, when winter fairly sets in. This is the hardest trip +of any. Both man and beast experience much inconvenience from the +cold. Often, when driving a boat up rapids, ice forms upon the +poles in the men's hands, which are already so cold and stiff that +they can scarcely retain their grasp; yet an instant's cessation of +exertion would be fraught with imminent peril to life and goods. +The oxen, attached to long lightly-loaded sleds, are driven over +rough miry tracks. "In crossing large streams, we unyoke the oxen +and swim them over. If we have no boat, a raft is constructed, upon +which our effects are transported, when we reyoke and pursue our +route as before. Our cattle are often very reluctant to enter the +water whilst the anchor-ice runs, and the cold has already begun +to congeal its surface." Lakes are crossed upon the ice, which not +unfrequently breaks in. Mr Springer gives an account of a journey he +made, when this misfortune happened, and ten oxen at one time were +struggling in the chilling waters of Baskahegan Lake. They were all +got out, he tells us, although rescue under such circumstances would +appear almost hopeless. + + "Standing upon the edge of the ice, a man was placed by the side + of each ox to keep his head out of the water. We unyoked one at + a time, and throwing a rope round the roots of his horns, the + warp was carried forward and attached to the little oxen, (a + pair that had not broken in,) whose services on this occasion + were very necessary. A strong man was placed on the ice at the + edge, so that, lifting the ox by his horns, he was able to + press the ice down and raise his shoulder up on the edge, when + the warp-oxen would pull them out. For half-an-hour we had a + lively time of it, and in an almost incredibly short time we had + them all safely out, and drove them back upon the point nearly + a mile. It was now very dark. We left our sleds in the water + with the hay, pulling out a few armsful, which we carried to + the shore to rub the oxen down with. Poor fellows! they seemed + nearly chilled to death, and shook as if they would fall to + pieces." + +So great is the labour of taking oxen to the forest every +Fall--often to a distance of two hundred miles into the +interior--that the wood-cutters sometimes leave them, when they go +down stream in the spring to get their own living in the wilderness, +and hunt them up again in autumn. They thrive finely in the +interval, and get very wild and difficult to catch; but when at last +subjugated, they evidently recognise their masters, and are pleased +to see them. Occasionally they disappear in the course of the +summer, and are heard of no more; they are then supposed to have got +"mired or cast," or to have been devoured by wolves--or by bears, +which also are known to attack oxen. + + "An individual who owned a very fine 'six-ox team' turned them + into the woods to brouse, in a new region of country. Late in + the evening, his attention was arrested by the bellowing of + one of them. It continued for an hour or two, then ceased + altogether. The night was very dark, and as the ox was supposed + to be more than a mile distant, it was thought not advisable + to venture in search of him until morning. As soon as daylight + appeared, the owner started, in company with another man, to + investigate the cause of the uproar. Passing on about a mile, + he found one of his best oxen prostrate, and, on examination, + there was found a hole eaten into the thickest part of his hind + quarter nearly as large as a hat; not less than six or eight + pounds of flesh were gone. He had bled profusely. The ground + was torn up for rods around where the encounter occurred; the + tracks indicated the assailant to be a very large bear, who had + probably worried the ox out, and then satiated his ravenous + appetite, feasting upon him while yet alive. A road was bushed + out to the spot where the poor creature lay, and he was got upon + a sled and hauled home by a yoke of his companions, where the + wound was dressed. It never, however, entirely healed, though + it was so far improved as to allow of its being fattened, after + which he was slaughtered for food." + +In cold weather in those forests the bears and wolves are +exceedingly audacious. The latter have a curious habit of +accompanying the teams on their journeys between the forest and the +river to which they drag the logs. This has only occurred of late +years, and the manner in which they thus volunteer their services as +assistant drivers is exceedingly curious. + + "Three teams," says Springer, "in the winter of 1844, all in + the same neighbourhood, were beset with these ravenous animals. + They were of unusually large size, manifesting a most singular + boldness, and even familiarity, without the usual appearance of + ferocity so characteristic of the animal. Sometimes one, and in + another instance three, in a most unwelcome manner, volunteered + their attendance, accompanying the teamster a long distance on + his way. They would even jump on the log and ride, and approach + very near the oxen. One of them actually jumped upon the sled, + and down between the bars, while the sled was in motion. Some of + the teamsters were much alarmed, keeping close to the oxen, and + driving on as fast as possible. Others, more courageous, would + run forward and strike at them with their goad-sticks; but the + wolves sprang out of the way in an instant. But, although they + seemed to act without a motive, there was something so cool and + impudent in their conduct that it was trying to the nerves--even + more so than an active encounter. For some time after this, + firearms were a constant part of the teamster's equipage." + +The distant howling and screaming of the wolves, compared by an old +Yankee hunter to the screeching of forty pair of old cart-wheels, +is particularly ominous and disagreeable. Springer has collected a +number of curious anecdotes concerning them. One night a pack of the +prowling marauders were seen trailing down Mattawamkeag River on the +ice. The dwellers in a log-house hard by soaked some meat in poison +and threw it out. Next morning the meat was gone, and six wolves lay +dead, all within sight of each other. "Every one of them had dug a +hole down through the snow into the frozen earth, in which they had +thrust their noses, either for water to quench the burning thirst +produced by the poison, or to snuff some antidote to the fatal +drug. A bounty was obtained on each of ten dollars, besides their +hides, making a fair job of it, as well as ridding the neighbourhood +of an annoying enemy." Several of Mr Springer's logging and +lumbering friends have contributed to his book the results of their +experience, and narratives of their adventures, some of which he +gives in their own words. Amongst these is an ill-written, but yet a +very exciting, account of a wolf-chase, or we should perhaps rather +say a man-chase, the wolves in this instance being the pursuers, +and Springer's neighbour the pursued. The person in question was +passionately fond of skating, and one night he left a friend's +house to skate a short distance up the frozen Kennebeck, which +flowed before the door. It was a bright still evening; the new moon +silvered the frosty pines. After gliding a couple of miles up the +river, the skater turned off into a little tributary stream, over +which fir and hemlock twined their evergreen branches. The archway +beneath was dark, but he fearlessly entered it, unsuspicious of +peril, with a joyous laugh and hurra--an involuntary expression of +exhilaration, elicited by the bracing crispness of the atmosphere, +and glow of pleasant exercise. What followed is worth extracting. + + "All of a sudden a sound arose, it seemed from the very ice + beneath my feet. It was loud and tremendous at first, until it + ended in one long yell. I was appalled. Never before had such + a noise met my ears. I thought it more than mortal--so fierce, + and amid such an unbroken solitude, that it seemed a fiend from + hell had blown a blast from an infernal trumpet. Presently I + heard the twigs on the shore snap as if from the tread of some + animal, and the blood rushed back to my forehead with a bound + that made my skin burn. My energies returned, and I looked + around me for some means of defence. The moon shone through the + opening by which I had entered the forest, and, considering this + the best means of escape, I darted towards it like an arrow. + It was hardly a hundred yards distant, and the swallow could + scarcely outstrip my desperate flight; yet as I turned my eyes + to the shore, I could see two dark objects dashing through the + underbrush at a pace nearly double mine. By their great speed, + and the short yells which they occasionally gave, I knew at once + that they were the much dreaded grey wolf." + +Here Springer interposes a vignette of a wolf--a most formidable and +unwholesome-looking quadruped--grinning over the well-picked bone of +some unlucky victim. The logger's pages are enlivened by a number +of illustrations--woodcuts of course--rough enough in execution, +but giving an excellent notion of the scenery, animals, and logging +operations spoken of in the text. Grey wolves are of untameable +fierceness, great strength and speed, and pursue their prey to the +death with frightful tenacity, unwearyingly following the trail-- + + "With their long gallop, which can tire + The hounds' deep hate, the hunter's fire." + +A more dangerous foe a benighted traveller could hardly fall in with. + + "The bushes that skirted the shore," continues the hunted of + wolves, "flew past with the velocity of light as I dashed on in + my flight. The outlet was nearly gained; one second more and I + should be comparatively safe; when my pursuers appeared on the + bank, directly above me, which rose to the height of some ten + feet. There was no time for thought; I bent my head, and dashed + wildly forward. The wolves sprang, but, miscalculating my speed, + sprang behind, whilst their intended prey glided out into the + river. + + "Nature turned me towards home. The light flakes of snow spun + from the iron of my skates, and I was now some distance from my + pursuers, when their fierce howl told me that I was again the + fugitive. I did not look back; I did not feel sorry or glad; + one thought of home, of the bright faces awaiting my return, + of their tears if they should never see me again, and then + every energy of body and mind was exerted for my escape. I was + perfectly at home on the ice. Many were the days I spent on my + skates, never thinking that at one time they would be my only + means of safety. Every half minute an alternate yelp from my + pursuers made me but too certain they were close at my heels. + Nearer and nearer they came; I heard their feet pattering on + the ice nearer still, until I fancied I could hear their deep + breathing. Every nerve and muscle in my frame was stretched to + the utmost tension. The trees along the shore seemed to dance in + the uncertain light, and my brain turned with my own breathless + speed, when an involuntary motion turned me out of my course. + The wolves close behind, unable to stop and as unable to turn, + slipped, fell, still going on far ahead, their tongues lolling + out, their white tusks gleaming from their bloody mouths, their + dark shaggy breasts freckled with foam; and as they passed me + their eyes glared, and they howled with rage and fury. The + thought flashed on my mind that by this means I could avoid + them--viz., by turning aside whenever they came too near; for + they, by the formation of their feet, are unable to run on ice + except in a right line. + + "I immediately acted on this plan. The wolves, having regained + their feet, sprang directly towards me. The race was renewed for + twenty yards up the stream; they were already close on my back, + when I glided round and dashed past them. A fierce howl greeted + my evolution, and the wolves slipped upon their haunches, and + sailed onward, presenting a perfect picture of helplessness + and baffled rage. Thus I gained nearly a hundred yards each + turning. This was repeated two or three times, every moment + the wolves getting more excited and baffled, until, coming + opposite the house, a couple of staghounds, aroused by the + noise, bayed furiously from their kennels. The wolves, taking + the hint, stopped in their mad career, and, after a moment's + consideration, turned and fled. I watched them till their dusky + forms disappeared over a neighbouring hill; then, taking off my + skates, I wended my way to the house." + +From some unassigned reason, wolves have increased of late years in +the wild forests of north-eastern Maine. Up to 1840, Mr Springer, +who had been much in that district, logging in winter and clearing +land in summer, never saw one. Since then they have frequently been +seen in numerous parties, and of most formidable size. There would +not seem to be much to choose, as far as the pleasure of the thing +goes, between an encounter with one of these ravenous brutes and a +tussle with a catamount. Springer, however, who must be competent to +judge, considers the catamount the worse customer. He tells an ugly +story, which may serve as a pendant to that of the bear's breakfast +on live beef, of what happened to a logger named Smith, when on his +way to join a timbering party in the woods. He had nearly reached +camp, when he fell in with a catamount, or "Indian devil." Retreat +was impossible; for reflection there was no time: arms he had none. +Acting from impulse, he sprang up a small tree--perhaps as sensible +a thing as he could have done. He had scarcely ascended his length, +when the creature, fierce from hunger, made a bound and caught him +by the heel. Although badly bitten, Smith managed to get his foot +out of the shoe, in which the tiger-cat's teeth were firmly set, and +shoe and savage fell together to the ground. What then ensued is so +horrible and extraordinary that we should suspect our wood-cutting +friend of imaginative decoration, but for the assurance he gives us +in his preface, that "the incidents he has related are real, and +that in no case is the truth sacrificed to fancy or embellishment." +He shall finish his yarn himself. + + "The moment he was disengaged, Smith sprang for a more secure + position, and the animal at the same time leaped to another + large tree, about ten feet distant, up which he ascended to + an elevation equal to that of his victim, from which he threw + himself upon him, firmly fixing his teeth in the calf of his + leg. Hanging suspended thus until the flesh, insufficient to + sustain the weight, gave way, he dropped again to the ground, + carrying a portion of flesh in his mouth. _Having greedily + devoured this morsel_, he bounded again up the opposite tree, + and from thence upon Smith, in this manner renewing his attacks, + and tearing away the flesh in mouthfuls from his legs. During + this agonising operation, Smith contrived to cut a limb from + the tree, to which he managed to bind his jack-knife, with + which he could now assail his enemy at every leap. He succeeded + thus in wounding him so badly that at length his attacks were + discontinued, and he disappeared in the dense forest." + +Smith, who, as Springer coolly informs us, "had exerted his voice +to the utmost," whilst the catamount was devouring him in detail, +(we can perfectly imagine a man bellowing like twenty bulls under +such circumstances,) was found by his friends in a state of dreadful +exhaustion and suffering, and was carried to camp on a litter. He +ultimately recovered, but had sustained irreparable injuries. "Such +desperate encounters are of rare occurrence," Springer quietly adds. +We should think they were. Really these loggers are cool hands. +Encounters with black bears are much more common, we are informed. +These are strong fellows, clever at parrying blows, and at wrenching +the weapon from their assailant's hand--very tenacious of life, +and confirmed robbers. Springer and his comrades were once, whilst +ascending a river, followed by one of them for several days. He +was bent upon plunder, and one night he walked off with a bundle +containing clothing, boots, shaving implements, and other things, +for which it might be thought a bear could have little occasion. +He examined his prize in the neighbourhood of the camp, tore the +clothes to shreds, and chewed up the cow-hide boots and the handle +of a razor. From the roof of a log-house, which the woodmen erected +a few miles farther on, he carried off a ten-gallon keg of molasses, +set it on one end, knocked the head in or out, and was about to +enjoy the feast, when he was discovered, pursued, and at last +killed. At page 140 we find a capital account of a fight between a +family of bears (father, mother, and cubs) and two foresters; and +at page 100 the stirring-up of a bear's den is graphically described. + +The pine tree is subject to disease of more than one kind, the most +frequent being a sort of cancer, known amongst lumber-men as "Conk" +or "Konkus," whose sole external manifestation is a small brown +spot, usually at several feet from the ground, and sometimes no +larger than a shilling. The trees thus afflicted are noway inferior +to the soundest in size and apparent beauty; but on cutting into +them the rot is at once evident, the wood being reddish in colour, +and of spungy texture. "Sometimes it shoots upwards, in imitation +of the streaming light of the aurora borealis; in others downwards, +and even both ways, preserving the same appearance." Unscrupulous +loggers cheat the unwary by driving a knot or piece of a limb of +the same tree into the plague-spot, and hewing it off smoothly, so +as to give it the appearance of a natural knot. A great many pines +are hollow at the base or butt, and these hollows are the favourite +winter-retreats of Bruin the bear. + + "A few rods from the main logging road where I worked one + winter," said Mr Johnston, (a logger whom Springer more than + once quotes,) "there stood a very large pine tree. We had nearly + completed our winter's work, and it still stood unmolested, + because, from appearances, it was supposed to be worthless. + Whilst passing it one day, not quite satisfied with the decision + that had been made upon its quality, I resolved to satisfy my + own mind touching its value; so, wallowing to it through the + snow, which was nearly up to my middle, I struck it several + blows with the head of my axe, an experiment to test whether + a tree be hollow or not. When I desisted, my attention was + arrested by a slight scratching and whining. Suspecting the + cause, I thumped the tree again, listening more attentively, and + heard the same noise as before. It was a bear's den. Examining + the tree more closely, I discovered a small hole in the trunk, + near the roots, with a rim of ice on the edge of the orifice, + made by the freezing of the breath and vapour from the inmates." + +The logging crew were summoned, and came scampering down, eager +for the fun. The snow was kicked away from the root of the tree, +exposing the entrance to the den; and a small hole was cut in the +opposite side, through which the family of bears were literally +"stirred up with a long pole;" and when the great she-bear, annoyed +at this treatment, put her head out at the door, she was cut over +the pate with an axe. + + "The cubs, four in number--a thing unusual by one-half--we took + alive, and carried to camp, kept them a while, and finally sold + them. They were quite small and harmless, of a most beautiful + lustrous black, and fat as porpoises. The old dam was uncommonly + large--we judged she might weigh about three hundred pounds. Her + hide, when stretched out and nailed on to the end of the camp, + appeared quite equal to a cow's hide in dimensions." + +The attacks of wild animals are far from being the sole dangers +to which the wood-cutters of Maine are exposed in following their +toilsome occupation. Scarcely any phase of their adventurous +existence is exempt from risk. Bad wounds are sometimes accidentally +received from the axe whilst felling trees. To heal these, in the +absence of surgeons, the loggers are thrown upon their own very +insufficient resources. Life is also constantly endangered in +felling the pine, which comes plunging down, breaking, splitting, +and crushing all before it. The broken limbs which are torn from the +fallen tree, and the branches it wrenches from other trees, + + "rendered brittle by the intense frosts, fly in every direction, + like the scattered fragments of an exploding ship. Often these + wrenched limbs are suspended directly over the place where our + work requires our presence, and on the slightest motion, or from + a sudden gust of wind, they slip down with the stealthiness + of a hawk and the velocity of an arrow. I recollect one in + particular, which was wrenched from a large pine I had just + felled. It lodged in the top of a towering birch, directly over + where it was necessary for me to stand whilst severing the + top from the trunk. Viewing its position with some anxiety, + I ventured to stand and work under it, forgetting my danger + in the excitement. Whilst thus engaged, the limb slipped from + its position, and, falling directly before me, end foremost, + penetrated the frozen earth. It was about four inches through, + and ten feet long. It just grazed my cap; a little variation, + and it would have dashed my head to pieces. Attracted on one + occasion, whilst swamping a road, by the appearance of a + large limb which stuck fast in the ground, curiosity induced + me to extricate it, for the purpose of seeing how far it had + penetrated. After considerable exertion, I succeeded in drawing + it out, when I was amazed _to find a thick cloth cap on the end + of it_. It had penetrated the earth to a considerable depth. + Subsequently I learned that _it_ [the cap, we presume, but + Springer makes sad work of his pronouns] belonged to a man who + was killed instantly by _its_ fall, [here our logging friend + must be supposed to refer to the timber,] striking him on the + head, and carrying his cap into the ground with it." + +This is not impossible, although it does a little remind us of +certain adventures of the renowned Munchausen. And Springer is so +pleasant a fellow, that we shall not call his veracity in question, +or even tax him with that tinting of truth in which many of his +countrymen excel, but of which he only here and there lays himself +open to suspicion. He certainly does put our credulity a little +to the strain by an anecdote of a moose deer, which he gives, +however, between inverted commas, on the authority of a hunter who +occasionally passed the night at the logger's camp. The moose is the +largest species of deer found in the New-England forests, its size +varying from that of a large pony to that of a full-grown horse. +It has immense branching antlers, and, judging from its portrait, +which forms the frontispiece to _Forest Life_, we readily believe +Springer's assurance, that "the taking of moose is sometimes quite +hazardous." Quite astonishing, we are sure the reader will say, is +the following ride:-- + + "Once," hunter _loquitur_, "whilst out on a hunting excursion, + I was pursued by a bull-moose. He approached me with his + muscular neck curved, and head to the ground, in a manner not + dissimilar to the attitude assumed by horned cattle when about + to encounter each other. Just as he was about to make a pass + at me, I sprang suddenly between his wide-spreading antlers, + bestride his neck. Dexterously turning round, I seized him by + the horns, and, locking my feet together under his neck, I + clung to him like a sloth. With a mixture of rage and terror, + he dashed wildly about, endeavouring to dislodge me; but, as + my life depended upon maintaining my position, I clung to him + with a corresponding desperation. After making a few ineffectual + attempts to disengage me, he threw out his nose, and, laying his + antlers back upon his shoulders, _which formed a screen for my + defence_, he sprang forward into a furious run, still bearing + me upon his neck. Now penetrating dense thickets, then leaping + high 'windfalls,' (old fallen trees,) and struggling through + swamp-mires, he finally fell from exhaustion, after carrying + me about three miles. Improving the opportunity, I drew my + hunting-knife from its sheath, and instantly buried it in his + neck, cutting the jugular vein, which put a speedy termination + to the contest and the flight." + +After which we presume that he spitted the moose on a pine tree, +roasted and ate it, and used its antlers for toothpicks. The +adventure is worthy of Mazeppa or the Wild Huntsman. By the antlers +_forming a screen for the rider's defence_, we are reminded of +that memorable morning in the life of the great German Baron, when +his horse, cut in two, just behind the saddle, by the fall of a +portcullis, was sewn together with laurel-twigs, which sprouted +up into a pleasant bower, beneath whose appropriate shade the +redoubtable warrior thenceforward rode to victory. An awful liar, +indeed, must have been the narrator of this "singular adventure," +as Springer, who tells this story quite gravely, artlessly styles +it. Doubtless such yarns are acceptable enough by the camp-fire, +where the weary logger smokes the pipe of repose after a hard day's +work; and they are by no means out of place in the logger's book, +of which, however, they occupy but a small portion--by far the +greater number of its chapters being filled with solid and curious +information. The third and longest part, "River Life," upon which +we have not touched, is highly interesting, and gives thrilling +accounts of the dangers incurred during the progress down stream of +the various "parcels" of logs, which, each distinguished like cattle +by the owner's mark, soon mingle and form one grand "drive" on the +main river. "Driving" of this kind is a very hazardous occupation. +Sometimes the logs come to a "jam," get wedged together in a narrow +part of the river or amongst rocks, and, whilst the drivers work +with axe and lever to set the huge floating field of tree-trunks in +motion again, lives are frequently lost. This is easy to understand. +The removal of a single log, the keystone of the mass--nay, a +single blow of the axe--often suffices to liberate acres of timber +from their "dead lock," and set them furiously rushing down the +rapid current. Then does woe betide those who are caught in the +hurly-burly. Sometimes, the key-log being well ascertained, a man +is let down, like a samphire-gatherer, by a rope from an adjacent +cliff, on to the "jam." Then-- + + "As the place to be operated upon may in some cases be a little + removed from the shore, he either walks to it with the rope + attached to his body, or, untying the rope, leaves it where + he can readily grasp it in time to be drawn from his perilous + position. Often, where the pressure is direct, a few blows only + are given with the axe, when the log snaps in an instant with + a loud report, followed suddenly by the violent motion of the + 'jam;' and, ere our bold river-driver is jerked half way to the + top of the cliff, scores of logs, in wildest confusion, rush + beneath his feet, whilst he yet dangles in the air above the + trembling mass. If that rope, on which life and hope hang thus + suspended, should part, worn by the sharp point of some jutting + rock, death, certain and quick, were inevitable." + +The wood-cutter's occupation, which, to European imagination, +presents itself as peaceful, pastoral, and void of peril, assumes +a very different aspect when pursued in North American forests. If +any doubt this fact, let them study Springer, who will repay the +trouble, and of whose volume we have rather skimmed the surface than +meddled with the substance. + + + + +MY NOVEL; OR, VARIETIES IN ENGLISH LIFE. + +BY PISISTRATUS CAXTON. + + +CHAPTER VII. + +Randal advanced--"I fear, Signior Riccabocca, that I am guilty of +some want of ceremony." + +"To dispense with ceremony is the most delicate mode of conferring +a compliment," replied the urbane Italian, as he recovered from his +first surprise at Randal's sudden address, and extended his hand. + +Violante bowed her graceful head to the young man's respectful +salutation. "I am on my way to Hazeldean," resumed Randal, "and, +seeing you in the garden, could not resist this intrusion." + +RICCABOCCA.--"You come from London? Stirring times for you English, +but I do not ask you the news. No news can affect us." + +RANDAL, (softly.)--"Perhaps--yes." + +RICCABOCCA, (startled.)--"How?" + +VIOLANTE.--"Surely he speaks of Italy, and news from that country +affects you still, my father." + +RICCABOCCA.--"Nay, nay, nothing affects me like this country; its +east winds might affect a pyramid! Draw your mantle round you, +child, and go in; the air has suddenly grown chill." + +Violante smiled on her father, glanced uneasily towards Randal's +grave brow, and went slowly towards the house. + +Riccabocca, after waiting some moments in silence, as if expecting +Randal to speak, said with affected carelessness, "So you think that +you have news that might affect me? _Corpo di Bacco!_ I am curious +to learn what!" + +"I may be mistaken--that depends on your answer to one question. Do +you know the Count of Peschiera?" + +Riccabocca winced, and turned pale. He could not baffle the watchful +eye of the questioner. + +"Enough," said Randal; "I see that I am right. Believe in my +sincerity. I speak but to warn and to serve you. The Count seeks to +discover the retreat of a countryman and kinsman of his own." + +"And for what end?" cried Riccabocca, thrown off his guard, and +his breast dilated, his crest rose, and his eye flashed; valour +and defiance broke from habitual caution and self-control. "But +pooh," he added, striving to regain his ordinary and half-ironical +calm, "it matters not to me. I grant, sir, that I know the Count di +Peschiera; but what has Dr Riccabocca to do with the kinsmen of so +grand a personage?" + +"Dr Riccabocca--nothing. But--" here Randal put his lip close to the +Italian's ear, and whispered a brief sentence. Then retreating a +step, but laying his hand on the exile's shoulder, he added--"Need I +say that your secret is safe with me?" + +Riccabocca made no answer. His eyes rested on the ground musingly. + +Randal continued--"And I shall esteem it the highest honour you can +bestow on me, to be permitted to assist you in forestalling danger." + +RICCABOCCA, (slowly.)--"Sir, I thank you; you have my secret, and I +feel assured it is safe, for I speak to an English gentleman. There +may be family reasons why I should avoid the Count di Peschiera; +and, indeed, He is safest from shoals who steers clearest of +his--relations." + +The poor Italian regained his caustic smile as he uttered that wise, +villanous Italian maxim. + +RANDAL.--"I know little of the Count of Peschiera save from the +current talk of the world. He is said to hold the estates of a +kinsman who took part in a conspiracy against the Austrian power." + +RICCABOCCA.--"It is true. Let that content him; what more does he +desire. You spoke of forestalling danger; what danger? I am on the +soil of England, and protected by its laws." + +RANDAL.--"Allow me to inquire if, had the kinsman no child, the +Count di Peschiera would be legitimate and natural heir to the +estates he holds?" + +RICCABOCCA.--"He would. What then?" + +RANDAL.--"Does that thought suggest no danger to the child of the +kinsman?" + +Riccabocca recoiled, and gasped forth, "The child! You do not mean +to imply that this man, infamous though he be, can contemplate the +crime of an assassin?" + +Randal paused perplexed. His ground was delicate. He knew not what +causes of resentment the exile entertained against the Count. He +knew not whether Riccabocca would not assent to an alliance that +might restore him to his country--and he resolved to feel his way +with precaution. + +"I did not," said he, smiling gravely, "mean to insinuate so +horrible a charge against a man whom I have never seen. He seeks +you--that is all I know. I imagine, from his general character, that +in this search he consults his interest. Perhaps all matters might +be conciliated by an interview!" + +"An interview!" exclaimed Riccabocca; "there is but one way we +should meet--foot to foot, and hand to hand." + +"Is it so? Then you would not listen to the Count if he proposed +some amicable compromise; if, for instance, he was a candidate for +the hand of your daughter?" + +The poor Italian, so wise and so subtle in his talk, was as rash and +blind when it came to action, as if he had been born in Ireland, and +nourished on potatoes and Repeal. He bared his whole soul to the +merciless eye of Randal. + +"My daughter!" he exclaimed. "Sir, your very question is an insult." + +Randal's way became clear at once. "Forgive me," he said mildly; +"I will tell you frankly all that I know. I am acquainted with the +Count's sister. I have some little influence over her. It was she +who informed me that the Count had come here, bent upon discovering +your refuge, and resolved to wed your daughter. This is the danger +of which I spoke. And when I asked your permission to aid in +forestalling it, I only intended to suggest that it might be wise to +find some securer home, and that I, if permitted to know that home, +and to visit you, could apprise you from time to time of the Count's +plans and movements." + +"Sir, I thank you sincerely," said Riccabocca with emotion; "but am +I not safe here?" + +"I doubt it. Many people have visited the Squire in the shooting +season, who will have heard of you--perhaps seen you, and who are +likely to meet the Count in London. And Frank Hazeldean, too, who +knows the Count's sister--" + +"True, true," interrupted Riccabocca. "I see, I see. I will +consider. I will reflect. Meanwhile you are going to Hazeldean. +Do not say a word to the Squire. He knows not the secret you have +discovered." + +With those words Riccabocca turned slightly away, and Randal took +the hint to depart. + +"At all times command and rely on me," said the young traitor, and +he regained the pale to which he had fastened his horse. + +As he remounted, he cast his eyes towards the place where he had +left Riccabocca. The Italian was still standing there. Presently +the form of Jackeymo was seen emerging from the shrubs. Riccabocca +turned hastily round, recognised his servant, uttered an exclamation +loud enough to reach Randal's ear, and then catching Jackeymo by the +arm, disappeared with him amidst the deeper recesses of the garden. + +"It will be indeed in my favour," thought Randal as he rode on, "if +I can get them into the neighbourhood of London--all occasion there +to woo, and if expedient, to win--the heiress." + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +"By the Lord Harry!" cried the Squire, as he stood with his wife in +the park, on a visit of inspection to some first-rate South-Downs +just added to his stock--"By the Lord, if that is not Randal Leslie +trying to get into the park at the back gate! Hollo, Randal! you +must come round by the lodge, my boy," said he. + +"You see this gate is locked to keep out trespassers." + +"A pity," said Randal. "I like short cuts, and you have shut up a +very short one." + +"So the trespassers said," quoth the Squire; "but Stirn would not +hear of it;--valuable man, Stirn. But ride round to the lodge. Put +up your horse, and you'll join us before we can get to the house." + +Randal nodded and smiled, and rode briskly on. + +The Squire rejoined his Harry. + +"Ah, William," said she anxiously, "though certainly Randal Leslie +means well, I always dread his visits." + +"So do I, in one sense," quoth the Squire, "for he always carries +away a bank-note for Frank." + +"I hope he is really Frank's friend," said Mrs Hazeldean. + +"Whose else can he be? Not his own, poor fellow, for he will never +accept a shilling from me, though his grandmother was as good a +Hazeldean as I am. But, zounds! I like his pride, and his economy +too. As for Frank--" + +"Hush, William!" cried Mrs Hazeldean, and put her fair hand before +the Squire's mouth. The Squire was softened, and kissed the fair +hand gallantly--perhaps he kissed the lips too; at all events, the +worthy pair were walking lovingly arm-in-arm when Randal joined them. + +He did not affect to perceive a certain coldness in the manner of +Mrs Hazeldean, but began immediately to talk to her about Frank; +praise that young gentleman's appearance; expatiate on his health, +his popularity, and his good gifts, personal and mental; and this +with so much warmth, that any dim and undeveloped suspicions Mrs +Hazeldean might have formed soon melted away. + +Randal continued to make himself thus agreeable, until the Squire, +persuaded that his young kinsman was a first-rate agriculturist, +insisted upon carrying him off to the home farm, and Harry turned +towards the house to order Randal's room to be got ready: "For," +said Randal, "knowing that you will excuse my morning dress, I +venture to invite myself to dine and sleep at the Hall." + +On approaching the farm-buildings, Randal was seized with the +terror of an impostor; for, despite all the theoretical learning on +Bucolics and Georgics with which he had dazzled the Squire, poor +Frank, so despised, would have beat him hollow when it came to +judging of the points of an ox or the show of a crop. + +"Ha, ha!" cried the Squire, chuckling, "I long to see how you'll +astonish Stirn. Why, you'll guess in a moment where we put the +top-dressing; and when you come to handle my short-horns, I dare +swear you'll know to a pound how much oilcake has gone into their +sides." + +"Oh, you do me too much honour--indeed you do. I only know the +general principles of agriculture--the details are eminently +interesting; but I have not had the opportunity to acquire them." + +"Stuff!" cried the Squire. "How can a man know general principles +unless he has first studied the details? You are too modest, my boy. +Ho! there's Stirn looking out for us!" + +Randal saw the grim visage of Stirn peering out of a cattle-shed, +and felt undone. He made a desperate rush towards changing the +Squire's humour. + +"Well, sir, perhaps Frank may soon gratify your wish and turn farmer +himself." + +"Eh!" quoth the Squire, stopping short. "What now?" + +"Suppose he was to marry?" + +"I'd give him the two best farms on the property rent free. Ha, ha! +Has he seen the girl yet? I'd leave him free to choose, sir. I chose +for myself--every man should. Not but what Miss Sticktorights is an +heiress, and, I hear, a very decent girl, and that would join the +two properties, and put an end to that lawsuit about the right of +way, which began in the reign of King Charles the Second, and is +likely otherwise to last till the day of judgment. But never mind +her; let Frank choose to please himself." + +"I'll not fail to tell him so, sir. I did fear you might have some +prejudices. But here we are at the farm-yard." + +"Burn the farm-yard! How can I think of farm-yards when you talk +of Frank's marriage? Come on--this way. What were you saying about +prejudices?" + +"Why, you might wish him to marry an Englishwoman, for instance." + +"English! Good heavens, sir, does he mean to marry a Hindoo?" + +"Nay, I don't know that he means to marry at all: I am only +surmising; but if he did fall in love with a foreigner--" + +"A foreigner! Ah, then Harry was--" The Squire stopped short. + +"Who might, perhaps," observed Randal--not truly if he referred to +Madame di Negra--"who might, perhaps, speak very little English?" + +"Lord ha' mercy!" + +"And a Roman Catholic--" + +"Worshipping idols, and roasting people who don't worship them." + +"Signior Riccabocca is not so bad as that." + +"Rickeybockey! Well, if it was his daughter! But not speak English! +and not go to the parish church! By George! if Frank thought of such +a thing, I'd cut him off with a shilling. Don't talk to me, sir; I +would. I'm a mild man, and an easy man; but when I say a thing, I +say it, Mr. Leslie. Oh, but it is a jest--you are laughing at me. +There's no such painted, good-for-nothing creature in Frank's eye, +eh?" + +"Indeed, sir, if ever I find there is, I will give you notice in +time. At present I was only trying to ascertain what you wished for +a daughter-in-law. You said you had no prejudice." + +"No more I have--not a bit of it." + +"You don't like a foreigner and a Catholic?" + +"Who the devil would?" + +"But if she had rank and title?" + +"Rank and title! Bubble and squeak! No, not half so good as bubble +and squeak. English beef and good cabbage. But foreign rank and +title!--foreign cabbage and beef!--foreign bubble and foreign +squeak!" And the Squire made a wry face, and spat forth his disgust +and indignation. + +"You must have an Englishwoman?" + +"Of course." + +"Money?" + +"Don't care, provided she is a tidy, sensible, active lass, with a +good character for her dower." + +"Character--ah, that is indispensable?" + +"I should think so, indeed. A Mrs. Hazeldean of Hazeldean; you +frighten me. He's not going to run off with a divorced woman, or a--" + +The Squire stopped, and looked so red in the face, that Randal +feared he might be seized with apoplexy before Frank's crimes had +made him alter his will. + +Therefore he hastened to relieve Mr Hazeldean's mind, and assured +him that he had been only talking at random; that Frank was in +the habit, indeed, of seeing foreign ladies occasionally, as all +persons in the London world were; but that he was sure Frank would +never marry without the full consent and approval of his parents. +He ended by repeating his assurance, that he would warn the Squire +if ever it became necessary. Still, however, he left Mr Hazeldean +so disturbed and uneasy, that that gentleman forgot all about the +farm, and went moodily on in the opposite direction, re-entering the +park at its farther extremity. As soon as they approached the house, +the Squire hastened to shut himself with his wife in full parental +consultation; and Randal, seated upon a bench on the terrace, +revolved the mischief he had done, and its chances of success. + +While thus seated, and thus thinking, a footstep approached +cautiously, and a low voice said, in broken English, "Sare, sare, +let me speak vid you." + +Randal turned in surprise, and beheld a swarthy saturnine face, with +grizzled hair and marked features. He recognised the figure that had +joined Riccabocca in the Italian's garden. + +"Speak-a you Italian?" resumed Jackeymo. + +Randal, who had made himself an excellent linguist, nodded assent; +and Jackeymo, rejoiced, begged him to withdraw into a more private +part of the grounds. + +Randal obeyed, and the two gained the shade of a stately chestnut +avenue. + +"Sir," then said Jackeymo, speaking in his native tongue, and +expressing himself with a certain simple pathos, "I am but a poor +man; my name is Giacomo. You have heard of me;--servant to the +Signior whom you saw to-day--only a servant; but he honours me +with his confidence. We have known danger together; and of all his +friends and followers, I alone came with him to the stranger's land." + +"Good, faithful fellow," said Randal, examining the man's face, "say +on. Your master confides in you? He confided that which I told him +this day?" + +"He did. Ah, sir! the Padrone was too proud to ask you to explain +more--too proud to show fear of another. But he does fear--he ought +to fear--he shall fear," (continued Jackeymo, working himself up +to passion)--"for the Padrone has a daughter, and his enemy is a +villain. Oh, sir, tell me all that you did not tell to the Padrone. +You hinted that this man might wish to marry the Signora. Marry +her!--I could cut his throat at the altar!" + +"Indeed," said Randal; "I believe that such is his object." + +"But why? He is rich--she is penniless; no, not quite that, for we +have saved--but penniless, compared to him." + +"My good friend, I know not yet his motives; but I can easily learn +them. If, however, this Count be your master's enemy, it is surely +well to guard against him, whatever his designs; and, to do so, you +should move into London or its neighbourhood. I fear that, while we +speak, the Count may get upon his track." + +"He had better not come here!" cried the servant menacingly, and +putting his hand where the knife was _not_. + +"Beware of your own anger, Giacomo. One act of violence, and you +would be transported from England, and your master would lose a +friend." + +Jackeymo seemed struck by this caution. + +"And if the Padrone were to meet him, do you think the Padrone would +meekly say, 'Come stà sa Signoria?' The Padrone would strike him +dead!" + +"Hush--hush! You speak of what, in England, is called murder, and +is punished by the gallows. If you really love your master, for +heaven's sake get him from this place--get him from all chance of +such passion and peril. I go to town to-morrow; I will find him a +house that shall be safe from all spies--all discovery. And there, +too, my friend, I can do--what I cannot at this distance--watch over +him, and keep watch also on his enemy." + +Jackeymo seized Randal's hand and lifted it towards his lip; then, +as if struck by a sudden suspicion, dropped the hand, and said +bluntly--"Signior, I think you have seen the Padrone twice. Why do +you take this interest in him?" + +"Is it so uncommon to take interest even in a stranger who is +menaced by some peril?" + +Jackeymo, who believed little in general philanthropy, shook his +head sceptically. + +"Besides," continued Randal, suddenly bethinking himself of a more +plausible reason--"besides, I am a friend and connection of Mr +Egerton; and Mr Egerton's most intimate friend is Lord L'Estrange; +and I have heard that Lord L'Estrange--" + +"The good lord! Oh, now I understand," interrupted Jackeymo, and his +brow cleared. "Ah, if _he_ were in England! But you will let us know +when he comes?" + +"Certainly. Now, tell me, Giacomo, is this Count really unprincipled +and dangerous? Remember, I know him not personally." + +"He has neither heart, head, nor conscience." + +"That makes him dangerous to men; but to women, danger comes from +other qualities. Could it be possible, if he obtained any interview +with the Signora, that he could win her affections?" + +Jackeymo crossed himself rapidly, and made no answer. + +"I have heard that he is still very handsome." + +Jackeymo groaned. + +Randal resumed--"Enough; persuade the Padrone to come to town." + +"But if the Count is in town?" + +"That makes no difference; the safest place is always the largest +city. Everywhere else a foreigner is in himself an object of +attention and curiosity." + +"True." + +"Let your master, then, come to London. He can reside in one of the +suburbs most remote from the Count's haunts. In two days I will have +found him a lodging and write to him. You trust to me now?" + +"I do indeed--I do, Excellency. Ah, if the Signorina were married, +we would not care!" + +"Married! But she looks so high!" + +"Alas! not now--not here!" + +Randal sighed heavily. Jackeymo's eyes sparkled. He thought he had +detected a new motive for Randal's interest--a motive to an Italian +the most natural, the most laudable of all. + +"Find the house, Signior--write to the Padrone. He shall come. I'll +talk to him. I can manage him. Holy San Giacomo, bestir thyself +now--'tis long since I troubled thee!" + +Jackeymo strode off through the fading trees, smiling and muttering +as he went. + +The first dinner-bell rang, and, on entering the drawing-room, +Randal found Parson Dale and his wife, who had been invited in haste +to meet the unexpected visitor. + +The preliminary greetings over, Mr Dale took the opportunity +afforded by the Squire's absence to inquire after the health of Mr +Egerton. + +"He is always well," said Randal. "I believe he is made of iron." + +"His heart is of gold," said the Parson. + +"Ah!" said Randal, inquisitively, "you told me you had come in +contact with him once, respecting, I think, some of your old +parishioners at Lansmere?" + +The Parson nodded, and there was a moment's silence. + +"Do you remember your battle by the Stocks, Mr Leslie?" said Mr +Dale, with a good-humoured laugh. + +"Indeed, yes. By the way, now you speak of it, I met my old opponent +in London the first year I went up to it." + +"You did!--where?" + +"At a literary scamp's--a cleverish man called Burley." + +"Burley! I have seen some burlesque verses in Greek by a Mr Burley." + +"No doubt, the same person. He has disappeared--gone to the dogs, I +dare say. Burlesque Greek is not a knowledge very much in power at +present." + +"Well, but Leonard Fairfield?--you have seen him since?" + +"No." + +"Nor heard of him?" + +"No!--have you?" + +"Strange to say, not for a long time. But I have reason to believe +that he must be doing well." + +"You surprise me! Why?" + +"Because, two years ago, he sent for his mother. She went to him." + +"Is that all?" + +"It is enough; for he would not have sent for her if he could not +maintain her." + +Here the Hazeldeans entered, arm-in-arm, and the fat butler +announced dinner. + +The Squire was unusually taciturn--Mrs Hazeldean thoughtful--Mrs +Dale languid, and headachy. The Parson, who seldom enjoyed the +luxury of converse with a scholar, save when he quarrelled with Dr +Riccabocca, was animated, by Randal's repute for ability, into a +great desire for argument. + +"A glass of wine, Mr Leslie. You were saying, before dinner, that +burlesque Greek is not a knowledge very much in power at present. +Pray, sir, what knowledge is in power?" + +RANDAL, (laconically.)--"Practical knowledge." + +PARSON.--"What of?" + +RANDAL.--"Men." + +PARSON, (candidly.)--"Well, I suppose that is the most available +sort of knowledge, in a worldly point of view. How does one learn +it? Do books help?" + +RANDAL.--"According as they are read, they help or injure." + +PARSON.--"How should they be read in order to help?" + +RANDAL.--"Read specially to apply to purposes that lead to power." + +PARSON, (very much struck with Randal's pithy and Spartan +logic.)--"Upon my word, sir, you express yourself very well. I must +own that I began these questions in the hope of differing from you; +for I like an argument." + +"That he does," growled the Squire; "the most contradictory +creature!" + +PARSON.--"Argument is the salt of talk. But now I am afraid I must +agree with you, which I was not at all prepared for." + +Randal bowed, and answered--"No two men of our education can dispute +upon the application of knowledge." + +PARSON, (pricking up his ears.)--"Eh! what to?" + +RANDAL.--"Power, of course." + +PARSON, (overjoyed.)--"Power!--the vulgarest application of it, or +the loftiest? But you mean the loftiest?" + +RANDAL, (in his turn interested and interrogative.)--"What do you +call the loftiest, and what the vulgarest?" + +PARSON.--"The vulgarest, self-interest; the loftiest, beneficence." + +Randal suppressed the half disdainful smile that rose to his lip. + +"You speak, sir, as a clergyman should do. I admire your sentiment, +and adopt it; but I fear that the knowledge which aims only at +beneficence very rarely in this world gets any power at all." + +SQUIRE, (seriously.)--"That's true; I never get my own way when I +want to do a kindness, and Stirn always gets his when he insists on +something diabolically brutal and harsh." + +PARSON.--"Pray, Mr Leslie, what does intellectual power refined to +the utmost, but entirely stripped of beneficence, most resemble?" + +RANDAL.--"Resemble?--I can hardly say. Some very great man--almost +any very great man--who has baffled all his foes, and attained all +his ends." + +PARSON.--"I doubt if any man has ever become very great who has not +meant to be beneficent, though he might err in the means. Cæsar was +naturally beneficent, and so was Alexander. But intellectual power +refined to the utmost, and wholly void of beneficence, resembles +only one being, and that, sir, is the Principle of Evil." + +RANDAL, (startled.)--"Do you mean the Devil?" + +PARSON.--"Yes, sir--the Devil; and even he, sir, did not succeed! +Even he, sir, is what your great men would call a most decided +failure." + +MRS DALE.--"My dear--my dear." + +PARSON.--"Our religion proves it, my love; he was an angel, and he +fell." + +There was a solemn pause. Randal was more impressed than he liked to +own to himself. By this time the dinner was over, and the servants +had retired. Harry glanced at Carry. Carry smoothed her gown and +rose. + +The gentlemen remained over their wine; and the Parson, satisfied +with what he deemed a clencher upon his favourite subject of +discussion, changed the subject to lighter topics, till happening to +fall upon tithes, the Squire struck in, and by dint of loudness of +voice, and truculence of brow, fairly overwhelmed both his guests, +and proved to his own satisfaction that tithes were an unjust and +unchristian-like usurpation on the part of the Church generally, and +a most especial and iniquitous infliction upon the Hazeldean estates +in particular. + + +CHAPTER IX. + +On entering the drawing-room, Randal found the two ladies seated +close together, in a position much more appropriate to the +familiarity of their school-days than to the politeness of the +friendship now existing between them. Mrs Hazeldean's hand hung +affectionately over Carry's shoulder, and both those fair English +faces were bent over the same book. It was pretty to see these sober +matrons, so different from each other in character and aspect, thus +unconsciously restored to the intimacy of happy maiden youth by +the golden link of some Magician from the still land of Truth or +Fancy--brought together in heart, as each eye rested on the same +thought;--closer and closer, as sympathy, lost in the actual world, +grew out of that world which unites in one bond of feeling the +readers of some gentle book. + +"And what work interests you so much?" said Randal, pausing by the +table. + +"One you have read, of course," replied Mrs Dale, putting a +bookmark embroidered by herself into the page, and handing the +volume to Randal. "It has made a great sensation, I believe." + +Randal glanced at the title of the work. "True," said he, "I have +heard much of it in London, but I have not yet had time to read it." + +MRS DALE.--"I can lend it to you, if you like to look over it +to-night, and you can leave it for me with Mrs Hazeldean." + +PARSON, (approaching.)--"Oh! that book!--yes, you must read it. I do +not know a work more instructive." + +RANDAL.--"Instructive! Certainly I will read it then. But I thought +it was a mere work of amusement--of fancy. It seems so, as I look +over it." + +PARSON.--"So is the _Vicar of Wakefield_; yet what book more +instructive?" + +RANDAL.--"I should not have said _that_ of the _Vicar of Wakefield_. +A pretty book enough, though the story is most improbable. But how +is it instructive?" + +PARSON.--"By its results: it leaves us happier and better. What +can any instruction do more? Some works instruct through the head, +some through the heart; the last reach the widest circle, and often +produce the most genial influence on the character. This book +belongs to the last. You will grant my proposition when you have +read it." + +Randal smiled and took the volume. + +MRS DALE.--"Is the author known yet?" + +RANDAL.--"I have heard it ascribed to many writers, but I believe no +one has claimed it." + +PARSON.--"I think it must have been written by my old college +friend, Professor Moss, the naturalist; its descriptions of scenery +are so accurate." + +MRS DALE.--"La, Charles dear! that snuffy, tiresome, prosy +professor? How can you talk such nonsense? I am sure the author must +be young; there is so much freshness of feeling." + +MRS HAZELDEAN, (positively.)--"Yes, certainly young." + +PARSON, (no less positively.)--"I should say just the contrary. +Its tone is too serene, and its style too simple for a young man. +Besides, I don't know any young man who would send me his book, and +this book has been sent me--very handsomely bound too, you see. +Depend upon it, Moss is the man--quite his turn of mind." + +MRS DALE.--"You are too provoking, Charles dear! Mr Moss is so +remarkably plain, too." + +RANDAL.--"Must an author be handsome?" + +PARSON.--"Ha, ha! Answer that, if you can, Carry." + +Carry remained mute and disdainful. + +SQUIRE, (with great _naiveté_.)--"Well, I don't think there's +much in the book, whoever wrote it; for I've read it myself, and +understand every word of it." + +MRS DALE.--"I don't see why you should suppose it was written by a +man at all. For my part, I think it must be a woman." + +MRS HAZELDEAN.--"Yes, there's a passage about maternal affection, +which only a woman could have written." + +PARSON.--"Pooh, pooh! I should like to see a woman who could +have written that description of an August evening before a +thunderstorm; every wildflower in the hedgerow exactly the flowers +of August--every sign in the air exactly those of the month. Bless +you! a woman would have filled the hedge with violets and cowslips. +Nobody else but my friend Moss could have written that description." + +SQUIRE.--"I don't know; there's a simile about the waste of +corn-seed in hand-sowing, which makes me think he must be a farmer!" + +MRS DALE, (scornfully.)--"A farmer! In hob-nailed shoes, I suppose! +I say it is a woman." + +MRS HAZELDEAN.--"A WOMAN, and A MOTHER!" + +PARSON.--"A middle-aged man, and a naturalist." + +SQUIRE.--"No, no, Parson; certainly a young man; for that love-scene +puts me in mind of my own young days, when I would have given my +ears to tell Harry how handsome I thought her; and all I could say +was--'Fine weather for the crops, Miss.' Yes, a young man, and a +farmer. I should not wonder if he had held the plough himself." + +RANDAL, (who had been turning over the pages.)--"This sketch of +Night in London comes from a man who has lived the life, of cities, +and looked at wealth with the eyes of poverty. Not bad! I will read +the book." + +"Strange," said the Parson, smiling, "that this little work should +so have entered into our minds, suggested to all of us different +ideas, yet equally charmed all--given a new and fresh current to +our dull country life--animated us as with the sight of a world in +our breasts we had never seen before, save in dreams;--a little +work like this, by a man we don't know, and never may! Well, _that_ +knowledge _is_ power, and a noble one!" + +"A sort of power, certainly, sir," said Randal, candidly; and that +night, when Randal retired to his own room, he suspended his schemes +and projects, and read, as he rarely did, without an object to gain +by the reading. + +The work surprised him by the pleasure it gave. Its charm lay in +the writer's calm enjoyment of the Beautiful. It seemed like some +happy soul sunning itself in the light of its own thoughts. Its +power was so tranquil and even, that it was only a critic who could +perceive how much force and vigour were necessary to sustain the +wing that floated aloft with so imperceptible an effort. There was +no one faculty predominating tyrannically over the others; all +seemed proportioned in the felicitous symmetry of a nature rounded, +integral, and complete. And when the work was closed, it left behind +it a tender warmth that played round the heart of the reader, and +vivified feelings that seemed unknown before. Randal laid down the +book softly; and for five minutes the ignoble and base purposes to +which his own knowledge was applied, stood before him, naked and +unmasked. + +"Tut," said he, wrenching himself violently away from the benign +influence, "it was not to sympathise with Hector, but to conquer +with Achilles, that Alexander of Macedon kept Homer under his +pillow. Such should be the true use of books to him who has the +practical world to subdue; let parsons and women construe it +otherwise as they may!" + +And the Principle of Evil descended again upon the intellect, from +which the guide of beneficence was gone. + + +CHAPTER X. + +Randal rose at the sound of the first breakfast bell, and on the +staircase met Mrs Hazeldean. He gave her back the book; and as he +was about to speak, she beckoned to him to follow her into a little +morning-room appropriated to herself. No boudoir of white and gold, +with pictures by Watteau, but lined with large walnut-tree presses, +that held the old heirloom linen strewed with lavender--stores for +the housekeeper, and medicines for the poor. + +Seating herself on a large chair in this sanctum, Mrs Hazeldean +looked formidably at home. + +"Pray," said the lady, coming at once to the point, with her usual +straightforward candour, "what is all this you have been saying to +my husband as to the possibility of Frank's marrying a foreigner?" + +RANDAL.--"Would you be as averse to such a notion as Mr Hazeldean +is?" + +MRS HAZELDEAN.--"You ask me a question, instead of answering mine." + +Randal was greatly put out in his fence by these rude thrusts. For +indeed he had a double purpose to serve--first thoroughly to know if +Frank's marriage with a woman like Madame di Negra would irritate +the Squire sufficiently to endanger the son's inheritance; and, +secondly, to prevent Mr and Mrs Hazeldean believing, seriously that +such a marriage was to be apprehended, lest they should prematurely +address Frank on the subject, and frustrate the marriage itself. +Yet, withal, he must so express himself, that he could not be +afterwards accused by the parents of disguising matters. In his +talk to the Squire the preceding day, he had gone a little too +far--farther than he would have done but for his desire of escaping +the cattle-shed and short-horns. While he mused, Mrs Hazeldean +observed him with her honest sensible eyes, and finally exclaimed-- + +"Out with it, Mr Leslie!" + +"Out with what, my dear madam? The Squire has sadly exaggerated +the importance of what was said mainly in jest. But I will own to +you plainly, that Frank has appeared to me a little smitten with a +certain fair Italian." + +"Italian!" cried Mrs Hazeldean. "Well, I said so from the first. +Italian!--that's all, is it?" and she smiled. + +Randal was more and more perplexed. The pupil of his eye contracted, +as it does when we retreat into ourselves, and think, watch, and +keep guard. + +"And perhaps," resumed Mrs Hazeldean, with a very sunny expression +of countenance, "you have noticed this in Frank since he was here?" + +"It is true," murmured Randal; "but I think his heart or his fancy +was touched even before." + +"Very natural," said Mrs Hazeldean; "how could he help it?--such +a beautiful creature! Well, I must not ask you to tell Frank's +secrets; but I guess the object of attraction; and though she will +have no fortune to speak of--and it is not such a match as he might +form--still she is so amiable, and has been so well brought up, and +is so little like one's general notions of a Roman Catholic, that I +think I could persuade Hazeldean into giving his consent." + +"Ah!" said Randal, drawing a long breath, and beginning with his +practised acuteness to detect Mrs Hazeldean's error, "I am very much +relieved and rejoiced to hear this; and I may venture to give Frank +some hope, if I find him disheartened and desponding, poor fellow!" + +"I think you may," replied Mrs Hazeldean, laughing pleasantly. "But +you should not have frightened poor William so, hinting that the +lady knew very little English. She has an accent, to be sure; but +she speaks our tongue very prettily. I always forget that she's not +English born! Ha, ha, poor William!" + +RANDAL.--"Ha, ha!" + +MRS HAZELDEAN.--"We had once thought of another match for Frank--a +girl of good English family." + +RANDAL.--"Miss Sticktorights?" + +MRS HAZELDEAN.--"No; that's an old whim of Hazeldean's. But he knows +very well that the Sticktorights would never merge their property +in ours. Bless you, it would be all off the moment they came to +settlements, and had to give up the right of way. We thought of a +very different match; but there's no dictating to young hearts, Mr +Leslie." + +RANDAL.--"Indeed no, Mrs Hazeldean. But since we now understand each +other so well, excuse me if I suggest that you had better leave +things to themselves, and not write to Frank on the subject. Young +hearts, you know, are often stimulated by apparent difficulties, and +grow cool when the obstacle vanishes." + +MRS HAZELDEAN.--"Very possibly; it was not so with Hazeldean and +me. But I shall not write to Frank on the subject, for a different +reason--though I would consent to the match, and so would William; +yet we both would rather, after all, that Frank married an +Englishwoman, and a Protestant. We will not, therefore, do anything +to encourage the idea. But if Frank's happiness becomes really at +stake, _then_ we will step in. In short, we would neither encourage +nor oppose. You understand?" + +"Perfectly." + +"And, in the meanwhile, it is quite right that Frank should see the +world, and try to distract his mind, or at least to know it. And I +dare say it has been some thought of that kind which has prevented +his coming here." + +Randal, dreading a farther and plainer _éclaircissement_, now rose, +and saying, "Pardon me, but I must hurry over breakfast, and be back +in time to catch the coach"--offered his arm to his hostess, and led +her into the breakfast-parlour. Devouring his meal, as if in great +haste, he then mounted his horse, and, taking cordial leave of his +entertainers, trotted briskly away. + +All things favoured his project--even chance had befriended him in +Mrs Hazeldean's mistake. She had not unnaturally supposed Violante +to have captivated Frank on his last visit to the Hall. Thus, while +Randal had certified his own mind that nothing could more exasperate +the Squire than an alliance with Madame di Negra, he could yet +assure Frank that Mrs Hazeldean was all on his side. And when the +error was discovered, Mrs Hazeldean would only have to blame herself +for it. Still more successful had his diplomacy proved with the +Riccaboccas; he had ascertained the secret he had come to discover; +he should induce the Italian to remove to the neighbourhood of +London; and if Violante were the great heiress he suspected her to +prove, whom else of her own age would she see but him? And the old +Leslie domains--to be sold in two years--a portion of the dowry +might purchase them! Flushed by the triumph of his craft, all former +vacillations of conscience ceased. In high and fervent spirits he +passed the Casino, the garden of which was solitary and deserted, +reached his home, and, telling Oliver to be studious, and Juliet to +be patient, walked thence to meet the coach and regain the capital. + + +CHAPTER XI. + +Violante was seated in her own little room, and looking from the +window on the terrace that stretched below. The day was warm for +the time of year. The orange-trees had been removed under shelter +for the approach of winter; but where they had stood sate Mrs +Riccabocca at work. In the Belvidere, Riccabocca himself was +conversing with his favourite servant. But the casements and the +door of the Belvidere were open; and where they sate, both wife and +daughter could see the Padrone leaning against the wall, with his +arms folded, and his eyes fixed on the floor; while Jackeymo, with +one finger on his master's arm, was talking to him with visible +earnestness. And the daughter from the window, and the wife from +her work, directed tender anxious eyes towards the still thoughtful +form so dear to both. For the last day or two, Riccabocca had been +peculiarly abstracted, even to gloom. Each felt there was something +stirring at his heart--neither as yet knew what. + +Violante's room silently revealed the nature of the education by +which her character had been formed. Save a sketch-book which lay +open on a desk at hand, and which showed talent exquisitely taught, +(for in this Riccabocca had been her teacher,) there was nothing +that spoke of the ordinary female accomplishments. No piano stood +open, no harp occupied yon nook, which seemed made for one; no +broidery frame, nor implements of work, betrayed the usual and +graceful resources of a girl; but ranged on shelves against the wall +were the best writers in English, Italian, and French; and these +betokened an extent of reading, that he who wishes for a companion +to his mind in the sweet commune of woman, which softens and refines +all it gives and takes in interchange, will never condemn as +masculine. You had but to look into Violante's face to see how noble +was the intelligence that brought soul to those lovely features. +Nothing hard, nothing dry and stern was there. Even as you detected +knowledge, it was lost in the gentleness of grace. In fact, whatever +she gained in the graver kinds of information, became transmuted, +through her heart and her fancy, into spiritual golden stores. Give +her some tedious and arid history, her imagination seized upon +beauties other readers had passed by, and, like the eye of the +artist, detected everywhere the Picturesque. Something in her mind +seemed to reject all that was mean and commonplace, and to bring +out all that was rare and elevated in whatever it received. Living +so apart from all companions of her age, she scarcely belonged to +the Present time. She dwelt in the Past, as Sabrina, in her crystal +well. Images of chivalry--of the Beautiful and the Heroic--such as, +in reading the silvery line of Tasso, rise before us, softening +force and valour into love and song--haunted the reveries of the +fair Italian maid. + +Tell us not that the Past, examined by cold Philosophy, was no +better and no loftier than the Present; it is not thus seen by pure +and generous eyes. Let the Past perish, when it ceases to reflect on +its magic mirror the beautiful Romance which is its noblest reality, +though perchance but the shadow of Delusion. + +Yet Violante was not merely the dreamer. In her, life was so +puissant and rich, that action seemed necessary to its glorious +development--action, but still in the woman's sphere--action to +bless and to refine and to exalt all around her, and to pour +whatever else of ambition was left unsatisfied into sympathy with +the aspirations of man. Despite her father's fears of the bleak air +of England, in that air she had strengthened the delicate health +of her childhood. Her elastic step--her eyes full of sweetness and +light--her bloom, at once soft and luxuriant--all spoke of the +vital powers fit to sustain a mind of such exquisite mould, and the +emotions of a heart that, once aroused, could ennoble the passions +of the South with the purity and devotion of the North. + +Solitude makes some natures more timid, some more bold. Violante was +fearless. When she spoke, her eyes frankly met your own; and she was +so ignorant of evil, that as yet she seemed nearly unacquainted with +shame. From this courage, combined with affluence of idea, came a +delightful flow of happy converse. Though possessing so imperfectly +the accomplishments ordinarily taught to young women, and which may +be cultured to the utmost, and yet leave the thoughts so barren, and +the talk so vapid--she had that accomplishment which most pleases +the taste, and commands the love, of the man of talent; especially +if his talent be not so actively employed as to make him desire +only relaxation where he seeks companionship--the accomplishment +of facility in intellectual interchange--the charm that clothes in +musical words beautiful womanly ideas. + +"I hear him sigh at this distance," said Violante softly, as she +still watched her father; "and methinks this is a new grief, and +not for his country. He spoke twice yesterday of that dear English +friend, and wished that he were here." + +As she said this, unconsciously the virgin blushed, her hands +drooped on her knee, and she fell herself into thought as profound +as her father's, but less gloomy. From her arrival in England, +Violante had been taught a grateful interest in the name of Harley +L'Estrange. Her father, preserving a silence, that seemed disdain, +of all his old Italian intimates, had been pleased to converse with +open heart of the Englishman who had saved where countrymen had +betrayed. He spoke of the soldier, then in the full bloom of youth, +who, unconsoled by fame, had nursed the memory of some hidden sorrow +amidst the pine-trees that cast their shadow over the sunny Italian +lake; how Riccabocca, then honoured and happy, had courted from his +seclusion the English Signor, then the mourner and the voluntary +exile; how they had grown friends amidst the landscapes in which her +eyes had opened to the day; how Harley had vainly warned him from +the rash schemes in which he had sought to reconstruct in an hour +the ruins of weary ages; how, when abandoned, deserted, proscribed, +pursued, he had fled for life--the infant Violante clasped to +his bosom--the English soldier had given him refuge, baffled the +pursuers, armed his servants, accompanied the fugitive at night +towards the defile in the Apennines, and, when the emissaries of a +perfidious enemy, hot in the chase, came near, had said, "You have +your child to save! Fly on! Another league, and you are beyond the +borders. We will delay the foes with parley; they will not harm us." +And not till escape was gained did the father know that the English +friend had delayed the foe, not by parley, but by the sword, holding +the pass against numbers, with a breast as dauntless as Bayard's in +the immortal bridge. + +And since then, the same Englishman had never ceased to vindicate +his name, to urge his cause, and if hope yet remained of restoration +to land and honours, it was in that untiring zeal. + +Hence, naturally and insensibly, this secluded and musing girl had +associated all that she read in tales of romance and chivalry with +the image of the brave and loyal stranger. He it was who animated +her dreams of the Past, and seemed born to be, in the destined hour, +the deliverer of the Future. Around this image grouped all the +charms that the fancy of virgin woman can raise from the enchanted +lore of old Heroic Fable. Once in her early girlhood, her father (to +satisfy her curiosity, eager for general description) had drawn from +memory a sketch of the features of the Englishman--drawn Harley, as +he was in that first youth, flattered and idealised, no doubt, by +art and by partial gratitude--but still resembling him as he was +then; while the deep mournfulness of recent sorrow yet shadowed and +concentrated all the varying expression of his countenance; and to +look on him was to say,--"So sad, yet so young!" Never did Violante +pause to remember that the same years which ripened herself from +infancy into woman, were passing less gently over that smooth cheek +and dreamy brow--that the world might be altering the nature, as +time the aspect. To her, the hero of the Ideal remained immortal in +bloom and youth. Bright illusion, common to us all, where Poetry +once hallows the human form! Who ever thinks of Petrarch as the +old time-worn man? Who does not see him as when he first gazed on +Laura?-- + + "Ogni altra cosa ogni pensier va fore; + E sol ivi con voi rimansi Amore!" + + +CHAPTER XII. + +And Violante, thus absorbed in reverie, forgot to keep watch on the +Belvidere. And the Belvidere was now deserted. The wife, who had no +other ideal to distract _her_ thoughts, saw Riccabocca pass into the +house. + +The exile entered his daughter's room, and she started to feel his +hand upon her locks and his kiss upon her brow. + +"My child!" cried Riccabocca, seating himself, "I have resolved to +leave for a time this retreat, and to seek the neighbourhood of +London." + +"Ah, dear father, _that_, then, was your thought? But what can be +your reason? Do not turn away; you know how carefully I have obeyed +your command and kept your secret. Ah, you will confide in me." + +"I do, indeed," returned Riccabocca, with emotion. "I leave this +place, in the fear lest my enemies discover me. I shall say to +others that you are of an age to require teachers, not to be +obtained here. But I should like none to know where we go." + +The Italian said these last words through his teeth, and hanging his +head. He said them in shame. + +"My mother--(so Violante always called Jemima)--my mother, you have +spoken to her?" + +"Not yet. _There_ is the difficulty." + +"No difficulty, for she loves you so well," replied Violante, with +soft reproach. "Ah, why not also confide in her? Who so true? so +good?" + +"Good--I grant it!" exclaimed Riccabocca. "What then? 'Da cattiva +Donna guardati, ed alla buona non fidar niente,' (from the bad +woman, guard thyself; to the good woman trust nothing.) And if you +must trust," added the abominable man, "trust her with anything but +a secret!" + +"Fie," said Violante, with arch reproach, for she knew her +father's humours too well to interpret his horrible sentiments +literally--"fie on your consistency, _Padre carissimo_. Do you not +trust your secret to me?" + +"You! A kitten is not a cat, and a girl is not a woman. Besides, the +secret was already known to you, and I had no choice. Peace, Jemima +will stay here for the present. See to what you wish to take with +you; we shall leave to-night." + +Not waiting for an answer, Riccabocca hurried away, and with a firm +step strode the terrace and approached his wife. + +"_Anima mia_," said the pupil of Machiavel, disguising in the +tenderest words the cruellest intentions--for one of his most +cherished Italian proverbs was to the effect, that there is no +getting on with a mule or a woman unless you coax them--"_Anima +mia_,--soul of my being--you have already seen that Violante mopes +herself to death here." + +"She, poor child! Oh no!" + +"She does, core of my heart, she does, and is as ignorant of music +as I am of tent-stitch." + +"She sings beautifully." + +"Just as birds do, against all the rules, and in defiance of gamut. +Therefore, to come to the point, O treasure of my soul! I am going +to take her with me for a short time, perhaps to Cheltenham, or +Brighton--we shall see." + +"All places with you are the same to me, Alphonso. When shall we go?" + +"_We_ shall go to-night; but, terrible as it is to part from +you--you--" + +"Ah!" interrupted the wife, and covered her face with her hands. + +Riccabocca, the wiliest and most relentless of men in his maxims, +melted into absolute uxorial imbecility at the sight of that mute +distress. He put his arm round his wife's waist, with genuine +affection, and without a single proverb at his heart--"_Carissima_, +do not grieve so; we shall be back soon, and travelling is +expensive; rolling stones gather no moss, and there is so much to +see to at home." + +Mrs Riccabocca gently escaped from her husband's arms. She withdrew +her hands from her face, and brushed away the tears that stood in +her eyes. + +"Alphonso," she said touchingly, "hear me! What you think good, that +shall ever be good to me. But do not think that I grieve solely +because of our parting. No; I grieve to think that, despite all +these years in which I have been the partner of your hearth and +slept on your breast--all these years in which I have had no thought +but, however humbly, to do my duty to you and yours, and could have +wished that you had read my heart, and seen there but yourself and +your child--I grieve to think that you still deem me as unworthy +your trust as when you stood by my side at the altar." + +"Trust!" repeated Riccabocca, startled and conscience-stricken; +"why do you say 'trust?' In what have I distrusted you? I am sure," +he continued, with the artful volubility of guilt, "that I never +doubted your fidelity--hook-nosed, long-visaged foreigner though +I be; never pryed into your letters; never inquired into your +solitary walks; never heeded your flirtations with that good-looking +Parson Dale; never kept the money; and never looked into the +account-books!" Mrs Riccabocca refused even a smile of contempt at +these revolting evasions; nay, she seemed scarcely to hear them. + +"Can you think," she resumed, pressing her hand on her heart to +still its struggles for relief in sobs--"can you think that I could +have watched, and thought, and tasked my poor mind so constantly, +to conjecture what might best soothe or please you, and not seen, +long since, that you have secrets known to your daughter--your +servant--not to me? Fear not--the secrets cannot be evil, or you +would not tell them to your innocent child. Besides, do I not know +your nature? and do I not love you because I know it?--it is for +something connected with these secrets that you leave your home. You +think that I should be incautious--imprudent. You will not take me +with you. Be it so. I go to prepare for your departure. Forgive me +if I have displeased you, husband." + +Mrs Riccabocca turned away; but a soft hand touched the Italian's +arm. "O father, can you resist this? Trust her!--trust her! I am a +woman like her! I answer for her woman's faith. Be yourself--ever +nobler than all others, my own father." + +"_Diavolo!_ Never one door shuts but another opens," groaned +Riccabocca. "Are you a fool, child? Don't you see that it was for +your sake only I feared--and would be cautious?" + +"For mine! O then, do not make me deem myself mean, and the cause of +meanness. For mine! Am I not your daughter--the descendant of men +who never feared?" + +Violante looked sublime while she spoke; and as she ended she led +her father gently on towards the door, which his wife had now gained. + +"Jemima--wife mine!--pardon, pardon," cried the Italian, whose heart +had been yearning to repay such tenderness and devotion,--"come back +to my breast--it has been long closed--it shall be open to you now +and for ever." + +In another moment, the wife was in her right place--on her +husband's bosom; and Violante, beautiful peace-maker, stood smiling +a while at both, and then lifted her eyes gratefully to heaven, and +stole away. + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +On Randal's return to town, he heard mixed and contradictory rumours +in the streets, and at the clubs of the probable downfall of the +Government at the approaching session of Parliament. These rumours +had sprung up suddenly, as if in an hour. True that, for some time, +the sagacious had shaken their heads and said, "Ministers could +not last." True that certain changes in policy, a year or two +before, had divided the party on which the Government depended, and +strengthened that which opposed it. But still its tenure in office +had been so long, and there seemed so little power in the Opposition +to form a cabinet of names familiar to official ears, that the +general public had anticipated, at most, a few partial changes. +Rumour now went far beyond this. Randal, whose whole prospects at +present were but reflections from the greatness of his patron, was +alarmed. He sought Egerton, but the minister was impenetrable, and +seemed calm, confident, and imperturbed. Somewhat relieved, Randal +then set himself to work to find a safe home for Riccabocca; for the +greater need to succeed in obtaining fortune there, if he failed in +getting it through Egerton. He found a quiet house, detached and +secluded, in the neighbourhood of Norwood. No vicinity more secure +from espionage and remark. He wrote to Riccabocca, and communicated +the address, adding fresh assurances of his own power to be of +use. The next morning he was seated in his office, thinking very +little of the details, that he mastered, however, with mechanical +precision, when the minister who presided over that department of +the public service sent for him into his private room, and begged +him to take a letter to Egerton, with whom he wished to consult +relative to a very important point to be decided in the Cabinet +that day. "I want you to take it," said the minister smiling, (the +minister was a frank, homely man,) "because you are in Mr Egerton's +confidence, and he may give you some verbal message besides a +written reply. Egerton is often over cautious and brief in the +_litera scripta_." + +Randal went first to Egerton's neighbouring office--he had not been +there that day. He then took a cabriolet and drove to Grosvenor +Square. A quiet-looking chariot was at the door. Mr Egerton was at +home; but the servant said, "Dr F. is with him, sir; and perhaps he +may not like to be disturbed." + +"What, is your master ill?" + +"Not that I know of, sir. He never says he is ill. But he has looked +poorly the last day or two." + +Randal hesitated a moment; but his commission might be important, +and Egerton was a man who so held the maxim, that health and all +else must give way to business, that he resolved to enter; and, +unannounced, and unceremoniously, as was his wont, he opened the +door of the library. He started as he did so. Audley Egerton was +leaning back on the sofa, and the doctor, on his knees before him, +was applying the stethoscope to his breast. Egerton's eyes were +partially closed as the door opened. But at the noise he sprang +up, nearly oversetting the doctor. "Who's that?--How dare you!" he +exclaimed, in a voice of great anger. Then recognising Randal, he +changed colour, bit his lip, and muttered drily, "I beg pardon for +my abruptness; what do you want, Mr Leslie?" + +"This letter from Lord ----; I was told to deliver it immediately +into your own hands; I beg pardon--" + +"There is no cause," said Egerton, coldly. "I have had a slight +attack of bronchitis; and as Parliament meets so soon, I must take +advice from my doctor, if I would be heard by the reporters. Lay the +letter on the table, and be kind enough to wait for my reply." + +Randal withdrew. He had never seen a physician in that house before, +and it seemed surprising that Egerton should even take a medical +opinion upon a slight attack. While waiting in the ante-room +there was a knock at the street door, and presently a gentleman, +exceedingly well dressed, was shown in, and honoured Randal with +an easy and half familiar bow. Randal remembered to have met this +personage at dinner, and at the house of a young nobleman of high +fashion, but had not been introduced to him, and did not even know +him by name. The visitor was better informed. + +"Our friend Egerton is busy, I hear, Mr Leslie," said he, arranging +the camelia in his button hole. + +"Our friend Egerton!" It must be a very great man to say, "Our +friend Egerton." + +"He will not be engaged long, I dare say," returned Randal, glancing +his shrewd inquiring eye over the stranger's person. + +"I trust not; my time is almost as precious as his own. I was +not so fortunate as to be presented to you when we met at Lord +Spendquick's. Good fellow, Spendquick; and decidedly clever." + +Lord Spendquick was usually esteemed a gentleman without three ideas. + +Randal smiled. + +In the meanwhile the visitor had taken out a card from an embossed +morocco case, and now presented it to Randal, who read thereon, +"Baron Levy, No. --, Bruton St." + +The name was not unknown to Randal. It was a name too often on the +lips of men of fashion not to have reached the ears of an _habitué_ +of good society. + +Mr Levy had been a solicitor by profession. He had of late years +relinquished his ostensible calling; and not long since, in +consequence of some services towards the negotiation of a loan, had +been created a baron by one of the German kings. The wealth of Mr +Levy was said to be only equalled by his good nature to all who were +in want of a temporary loan, and with sound expectations of repaying +it some day or other. + +You seldom saw a finer-looking man than Baron Levy--about the +same age as Egerton, but looking younger: so well preserved--such +magnificent black whiskers--such superb teeth! Despite his name and +his dark complexion, he did not, however, resemble a Jew--at least +externally; and, in fact, he was not a Jew on the father's side, +but the natural son of a rich English _grand seigneur_, by a Hebrew +lady of distinction--in the opera. After his birth, this lady had +married a German trader of her own persuasion, and her husband had +been prevailed upon, for the convenience of all parties, to adopt +his wife's son, and accord to him his own Hebrew name. Mr Levy +senior was soon left a widower, and then the real father, though +never actually owning the boy, had shown him great attention--had +him frequently at his house--initiated him betimes into his own +high-born society, for which the boy showed great taste. But when my +Lord died, and left but a moderate legacy to the younger Levy, who +was then about eighteen, that ambiguous person was articled to an +attorney by his putative sire, who shortly afterwards returned to +his native land, and was buried at Prague, where his tombstone may +yet be seen. Young Levy, however, continued to do very well without +him. His real birth was generally known, and rather advantageous +to him in a social point of view. His legacy enabled him to become +a partner where he had been a clerk, and his practice became great +amongst the fashionable classes of society. Indeed he was so useful, +so pleasant, so much a man of the world, that he grew intimate with +his clients--chiefly young men of rank; was on good terms with both +Jew and Christian; and being neither one nor the other, resembled +(to use Sheridan's incomparable simile) the blank page between the +Old and the New Testament. + +Vulgar, some might call Mr Levy, from his assurance, but it was not +the vulgarity of a man accustomed to low and coarse society--rather +the _mauvais ton_ of a person not sure of his own position, but +who has resolved to swagger into the best one he can get. When it +is remembered that he had made his way in the world, and gleaned +together an immense fortune, it is needless to add that he was as +sharp as a needle, and as hard as a flint. No man had had more +friends, and no man had stuck by them more firmly--as long as there +was a pound in their pockets! + +Something of this character had Randal heard of the Baron, and he +now gazed, first at his card, and then at him, with--admiration. + +"I met a friend of yours at Borrowwell's the other day," resumed the +Baron--"Young Hazeldean. Careful fellow--quite a man of the world." + +As this was the last praise poor Frank deserved, Randal again smiled. + +The Baron went on--"I hear, Mr Leslie, that you have much influence +over this same Hazeldean. His affairs are in a sad state. I should +be very happy to be of use to him, as a relation of my friend +Egerton's; but he understands business so well that he despises my +advice." + +"I am sure you do him injustice." + +"Injustice! I honour his caution. I say to every man, 'Don't come to +me--I can get you money on much easier terms than any one else;' and +what's the result? You come so often that you ruin yourself; whereas +a regular usurer without conscience frightens you. 'Cent per cent,' +you say; 'oh, I must pull in.' If you have influence over your +friend, tell him to stick to his bill-brokers, and have nothing to +do with Baron Levy." + +Here the minister's bell rung, and Randal, looking through the +window, saw Dr F. walking to his carriage, which had made way for +Baron Levy's splendid cabriolet--a cabriolet in the most perfect +taste--Baron's coronet on the dark brown panels--horse black, with +such action!--harness just relieved with plating. The servant now +entered, and requested Randal to step in; and addressing the Baron, +assured him that he would not be detained a minute. + +"Leslie," said the minister, sealing a note, "take this back to Lord +----, and say that I shall be with him in an hour." + +"No other message?--he seemed to expect one." + +"I dare say he did. Well, my letter is official, my message is not; +beg him to see Mr ---- before we meet--he will understand--all rests +upon that interview." + +Egerton then, extending the letter, resumed gravely, "Of course you +will not mention to any one that Dr F. was with me: the health of +public men is not to be suspected. Hum--were you in your own room or +the ante-room?" + +"The ante-room, sir." + +Egerton's brow contracted slightly. "And Mr Levy was there, eh?" + +"Yes--the Baron." + +"Baron! true. Come to plague me about the Mexican loan, I suppose. I +will keep you no longer." + +Randal, much meditating, left the house, and re-entered his hack +cab. The Baron was admitted to the statesman's presence. + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +Egerton had thrown himself at full length on the sofa, a position +exceedingly rare with him; and about his whole air and manner, as +Levy entered, there was something singularly different from that +stateliness of port common to the austere legislator. The very tone +of his voice was different. It was as if the statesman--the man of +business--had vanished; it was rather the man of fashion and the +idler, who, nodding languidly to his visitor, said, "Levy, what +money can I have for a year?" + +"The estate will bear very little more. My dear fellow, that last +election was the very devil. You cannot go on thus much longer." + +"My dear fellow!" Baron Levy hailed Audley Egerton as "my dear +fellow." And Audley Egerton, perhaps, saw nothing strange in the +words, though his lip curled. + +"I shall not want to go on thus much longer," answered Egerton, as +the curl on his lip changed to a gloomy smile. "The estate must, +meanwhile, bear £5000 more." + +"A hard pull on it. You had really better sell." + +"I cannot afford to sell at present. I cannot afford men to say, +'Audley Egerton is done up--his property is for sale.'" + +"It is very sad when one thinks what a rich man you have been--and +may be yet!" + +"Be yet! How?" + +Baron Levy glanced towards the thick mahogany doors--thick and +impervious, as should be the doors of statesmen. "Why, you know +that, with three words from you, I could produce an effect upon the +stocks of three nations, that might give as each a hundred thousand +pounds. We would go shares." + +"Levy," said Egerton coldly, though a deep blush overspread his +face, "you are a scoundrel; that is your look-out. I interfere with +no man's tastes and conscience. I don't intend to be a scoundrel +myself. I have told you that long ago." + +The Baron laughed, without evincing the least displeasure. + +"Well," said he, "you are neither wise nor complimentary, but you +shall have the money. But yet, would it not be better," added Levy, +with emphasis, "to borrow it, without interest, of your friend +L'Estrange?" + +Egerton started as if stung. + +"You mean to taunt me, sir!" he exclaimed, passionately. "I accept +pecuniary favours from Lord L'Estrange! I!" + +"Tut, my dear Egerton, I dare say my Lord would not think so ill now +of that little act in your life which--" + +"Hold!" exclaimed Egerton, writhing. "Hold!" + +He stopped, and paced the room, muttering in broken sentences, "To +blush before this man! Chastisement, chastisement!" + +Levy gazed on him with hard and sinister eyes. The minister turned +abruptly. + +"Look you, Levy," said he, with forced composure--"you hate me--why, +I know not. I have never injured you--never avenged the inexpiable +wrong you did me." + +"Wrong!--you a man of the world! Wrong! Call it so if you will, +then," he added shrinkingly, for Audley's brow grew terrible. "But +have I not atoned it? Would you ever have lived in this palace, and +ruled this country as one of the most influential of its ministers, +but for my management--my whispers to the wealthy Miss Leslie? Come, +but for me what would you have been--perhaps a beggar?" + +"What shall I be now if I live? _Then_ I should not have been a +beggar; poor perhaps in money, but rich--rich in all that now leaves +my life bankrupt. Gold has not thriven with me; how should it? And +this fortune--it has passed for the main part into your hands. Be +patient, you will have it all ere long. But there is one man in the +world who has loved me from a boy, and woe to you if ever he learn +that he has the right to despise me!" + +"Egerton, my good fellow," said Levy, with great composure, "you +need not threaten me, for what interest can I possibly have in +tale-telling to Lord L'Estrange? As to hating you--pooh! You snub me +in private, you cut me in public, you refuse to come to my dinners, +you'll not ask me to your own; still, there is no man I like better, +nor would more willingly serve. When do you want the £5000?" + +"Perhaps in one month, perhaps not for three or four. Let it be +ready when required." + +"Enough; depend on it. Have you any other commands?" + +"None." + +"I will take my leave, then. By the by, what do you suppose the +Hazeldean rental is worth--net?" + +"I don't know, nor care. You have no designs upon _that_, too?" + +"Well, I like keeping up family connections. Mr Frank seems a +liberal young gentleman." + +Before Egerton could answer, the Baron had glided to the door, and, +nodding pleasantly, vanished with that nod. + +Egerton remained, standing on his solitary hearth. A drear, single +man's room it was, from wall to wall, despite its fretted ceilings +and official pomp of Bramah escritoires and red boxes. Drear and +cheerless--no trace of woman's habitation--no vestige of intruding, +happy children. There stood the austere man alone. And then with a +deep sigh he muttered, "Thank heaven, not for long--it will not last +long." + +Repeating those words, he mechanically locked up his papers, and +pressed his hand to his heart for an instant, as if a spasm had shot +through it. + +"So--I must shun all emotion!" said he, shaking his head gently. + +In five minutes more, Audley Egerton was in the streets, his mien +erect, and his step firm as ever. + +"That man is made of bronze," said a leader of the Opposition to a +friend as they rode past the minister. "What would I give for his +nerves!" + + + + +JOHNSTON'S NOTES ON NORTH AMERICA. + +_Notes on North America, Agricultural, Social, and Economical._ By +JAMES F. W. JOHNSTON, M.A., F.R.SS.L. and E., &c. Two Vols. post +8vo. William Blackwood & Sons. + + +Professor Johnston had three objects in view in his visit to the +New World. His high reputation as an agricultural chemist had +induced the Agricultural Society of New York to request him to give +a course of lectures at Albany upon the connection of chemical and +geological science with that of the cultivation of land. He had also +been commissioned by the Government of New Brunswick to examine +and report on the agricultural capabilities of that province. And +besides these public duties, he was impelled by a strong desire to +study the actual position of the art of husbandry in the fertile +regions of the West, and the influence which its progress is likely +to exert upon British agriculture. + +Our shrewd brother Jonathan, however brilliant his achievements have +been in other arts, has not hitherto earned any great reputation +as a scientific farmer. Nature has been so bountiful to him, +that, with "fresh fields and pastures new" ever before him, he +has hitherto had no need to resort to the toilsome processes and +anxious expedients--"_curis acuens mortalia corda_"--of our Old +World systems of agriculture. On the newer lands of the Union, at +least, the rotations followed, the waste of manures, and the general +contempt of all method and economy, are such as would break the +heart of a Haddingtonshire "grieve," and in a couple of seasons +convert his trim acres into a howling wilderness. What would our +respected friend Mr Caird say to a course of cropping like the +following, which, though given by Professor Johnston as a specimen +of New Brunswick farming, is the usual method followed on most of +the new soils of North America?-- + + "He cuts down the wood and burns it, then takes a crop of + potatoes, followed by one of wheat, with grass seeds. _Nine + successive crops of hay follow in as many years_; after which + the stumps are taken up, the land is ploughed, a crop of wheat + is taken; it is then manured for the first time, or limed, and + laid down again for a similar succession of crops of hay. This + treatment is hard enough; but the unskilful man, after burning + and spreading the ashes, takes two or three more crops of grain, + leaves it to sow itself with grass, then cuts hay as long as + it bears a crop which is worth cutting--after all which he + either stumps and ploughs it, or leaves it to run again into the + wilderness state."--(_Johnston_, vol. i. p. 104.) + +Such a system seems, at first sight, to argue a barbarous ignorance +of the very first elements of agriculture; and yet, as Professor +Johnston remarks, "we English farmers and teachers of agricultural +science, with all our skill, should probably, in the same +circumstances, do just the same, so long as land was plenty, labour +scarce and dear, and markets few and distant." Let no one suppose +that our wide-awake kinsman does not know perfectly well what he is +about. His apparently rude agricultural practice is regulated by a +maxim which some of our _Mechists_ at home would do well to bear in +mind--that high farming is bad farming if it is not remunerative. +He knows that to manure his land would be to insure the lodging +and destruction of his crops, and he therefore leaves his straw +to wither in the fields, and lives on in blessed ignorance of the +virtues and cost of guano. To plough deep furrows in a virgin soil, +saturated with organic matter, would be an idle waste of labour; +and the primitive Triptolemus of Michigan scatters the seed upon +the surface--or, raising a little mould on the point of a hoe, +drops in a few grains of maize, covers them over, and heeds them +no more till the golden pyramids are ripe for the knife. The first +three crops, thus easily obtained, generally repay to the settler +in the wilderness the expense of felling the timber, burning, and +cultivating. If he then abandon it, he is at least no loser; but +for eight or ten years the soil will still continue to produce crops +of natural hay; and then, having extracted from it all that its +spontaneous fertility will yield, he sells his possession for what +it may bring, and moves off westward to repeat the same exhaustive +process on a fresh portion of the forest, leaving to his successor +the task of reinvigorating the severely tested powers of the soil by +rest and restoratives. + +This locust-like progress of the American settler--ever on the move +to new lands, and leaving comparative barrenness in his track--must +evidently place the case of America beyond the sphere of those +ordinary laws of political economy which are applicable in European +countries; and Professor Johnston seems to consider the fact of the +incessant exhaustion and abandonment of lands as the chief key to +a right understanding of the peculiar economical position of the +United States. The owner of land in the older and more populous +States, who has not learnt to apply a restorative system of culture, +derives little benefit from the comparative advantage of situation, +while the inhabitants of the towns and villages around him are fed +with the surplus spontaneous produce of the far off clearings in +Ohio or Missouri. But these in their turn become worn out--and as +cultivation travels on westward, the chief centres of agricultural +production are gradually receding farther and farther from the +chief centres of population and consumption; and this increasing +distance, and consequent cost of transport, is every year enhancing +the price of grain in the busy and crowded marts of the West--ever +filling up with the incessant stream of immigration from Europe. +Such is Mr Johnston's view of the present normal condition of the +Union in regard to the sustenance of her people; and he makes it +the ground-work, as we shall presently see, of certain rather +doubtful inferences, of some importance in their bearing on the +agriculture of this country. One consequence, however, of any +material increase in the price of food in the Eastern States of the +Union is very obvious--the proprietor of land in these districts +will gradually be enabled to apply, with profit to his exhausted +soil, the artificial aids and costlier system of culture followed +in Britain. Already this result is apparent in Professor Johnston's +account of the energetic spirit of agricultural improvement which is +rapidly spreading over most of the New England States. In the keen, +restless, and enterprising New Englander, our Old Country farmers +will undoubtedly find a more formidable competitor, for the honour +of the first place in agricultural advancement, than any they have +yet met on this side of the Atlantic. We have seen this year what +his invention can produce in mechanical contrivances for economising +the labour of the field; and, that he is not indifferent to the +aids which science can afford him, is sufficiently proved by the +occasion of that visit to America of which Professor Johnston has +here given so pleasant and instructive a record. The invitation was +not more creditable to the character of the Professor, than to the +discernment of the zealous and patriotic men who thus showed how +correctly they apprehend the true method of improving their fine +country. His engagement was fulfilled during the sitting of the +State Legislature at Albany in January 1850, when the hall of the +Assembly was given up to him as a lecture-room; the leading members +of the Assembly and of the State Agricultural Society were among +his auditors, and the greatest public interest was evinced in the +important subjects of his prelections. + +It is apparent, from many passages of the _Notes_, that the author +has listened too confidingly to the flattering tale--the "_canor +mulcendas natus ad aures_" of the syren of Free Trade. He seems to +be gifted with a strong natural faith, and a patriotic confidence +in what British enterprise, and especially British agriculture, can +achieve in the way of surmounting difficulties. It is not perhaps +to be wondered at that one, whose professional pursuits naturally +lead him to place a high value upon the aids which science has in +store for the agriculturist, should encourage the farmer to think +lightly of his present difficulties, and keep up his spirits +with the hope of some paulo-post-future prosperity. It must be +allowed that the farmer, poor fellow, has not wanted abundance of +kind friends to comfort him in his adversity. Generally, however, +their consolations--like those of the sympathetic Mrs Gamp--have +been rather indefinite--vague moralisings upon his calamity, as if +it were some inevitable stroke of Providence, to be bowed to in +silent resignation, and hazy anticipations of good luck awaiting +him. Others, again--who have professed the greatest friendship for +him, and, like the Knight of Netherby, have come down to hearten +up the broken-down man by imparting to him some plan of theirs, +as sheep-pasturage or the like, for setting him on his legs +again--are mentally taking an inventory of his remaining chattels, +and calculating when to send the sheriff's officer. But Professor +Johnston belongs to neither of these classes of comforters. His +opinion, we know, is at least disinterested, and he brings it +before us in the shape of a distinct proposition--viz., that the +wheat-exporting capabilities of the United States are not so great +as have generally been supposed, and that, as they must diminish +rather than increase in future, the prospect of competition with +American produce need cause no alarm to the British farmer. + +This opinion, coming from such an authority, claims a deliberate +examination; and the more so that, in the dearth of other +gratulatory topics, it has been eagerly laid hold of by the +_Edinburgh Review_, the _Economist_, and other Free-Trade organs, +and vaunted as a complete proof that protective duties are quite +unnecessary. + +The reasons which Professor Johnston assigns for believing that the +_present_ wheat-exporting powers of the United States have been +exaggerated, may be passed over with very little comment. The Board +of Trade returns leave no room for doubt as to the quantity that has +actually reached this country, and it is therefore unnecessary for +us to follow him through his hypothetical estimate of the exportable +grain, grounded on what they _ought_ to have had to spare for us. +We may remark, however, that the data on which his calculations +proceed are far from satisfactory. He shows that all the _wheat_ +produced in the United States, as given in the estimates of the +Patent Office, is inadequate to afford the eight bushels which in +England we reckon to be requisite for the annual supply of each +inhabitant--the population of the Union being about twenty-one +millions, and the produce of wheat one hundred and twenty-seven +millions of bushels. He does not overlook altogether the fact that +wheat is not in America, as it is with us, almost the sole cereal +food of the people; and he admits that a considerable allowance must +be made for the consumption of Indian corn instead of wheat. But how +much?--That is the question. The compilers of the State Papers at +Washington estimate that Indian corn, buckwheat, and other grain, +form so large a proportion of the food of the people, that they +require only _three_ bushels of wheat per head; and no doubt they +have good grounds for this calculation. Professor Johnston, however, +without indicating any reason whatever for his assumption, has set +down the consumption of each individual at _five_ bushels per annum; +and thus, by a stroke of his pen, he reduces the average exportable +surplus of the Union to _only_ three millions of quarters. + +As to what may be expected in future--Professor Johnston anticipates +the gradual diminution of the supply, from the circumstance, already +adverted to, of the progressive exhaustion of the newer lands of the +Union, and the rapid increase of population in the old. If several +of the Western States, he argues, have even already ceased to raise +enough wheat for the supply of their present inhabitants, and are +compelled to draw largely on the produce of the remote States of +Illinois, Ohio, &c.--and if the productive power of these new lands +is annually becoming less, the virgin soils more distant, and the +transport of subsistence more difficult--if this is the state of +matters now, what will it be in 1860, when immigration and natural +increase will probably have raised the population of the Union to +some thirty-four millions? "It is very safe," he concludes, "to +say that in 1860 their wheat-exporting capability will have become +so small as to give our British farmers very little cause for +apprehension." It may perchance occur to these gentlemen, that the +consolation Professor Johnston here offers them is not very cheering +after all; and as long as they see the provision stores in every +market town piled up with the interloping flour barrels of New York, +and their own waggons returning home with their loads unsold, it is +not to be wondered at if they are not greatly exhilarated with the +prospect of what may possibly happen nine years hence. And slender +as is the hope deferred here held out to them, it rests, we fear, on +very questionable grounds. + +Professor Johnston's opinion is founded on two suppositions: 1st, +That the exhaustion of the Western States, on which he dwells so +much, is proceeding so rapidly as already to affect the markets +of the eastern districts; 2d, That these older districts will be +unable to increase the quantity of produce raised within their own +boundaries, without so adding to its cost as to prevent its being +profitably exported. + +As to the first supposition, it may be conceded that, in the course +of time, a period must necessarily come when the spontaneous +fertility of the newer-settled States will cease to yield grain with +the same bountiful abundance it has done hitherto. But, when may +that period be expected to arrive?--to what extent has exhaustion +already taken place?--and what is the rate of its progress? For a +reply, we have only to point to that vast territory, bounded by the +lakes on the north and Ohio on the south, comprising the five States +of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin--a territory +eight times the size of England and Wales, with a population about +equal to that of Scotland, containing 180,000,000 acres of arable +land, a large portion of which is of surprising fertility--and +ask whether it is possible to believe that it has already reached +the turning point of its wheat-productiveness,[1] or can by any +possibility do so for centuries to come? Why, the extent of land +advertised in these five States for sale, (which forms only a +fraction of what still remains in the hands of government,) is +greater by a fourth than the whole area of England; and of the +territory that has been actually sold, it is estimated that +five-sevenths is still unreclaimed from the wilderness. Then look +at the means of transport provided for conveying the overflowing +abundance of those rich alluvial regions to the markets of the +East, by way of the two great outlets--the lakes on the north, +and the Mississippi on the south. The cost of such transport is +no doubt considerable; the conveyance of a quarter of wheat from +the centre of Illinois to Boston, by New Orleans, averages about +16s. 6d. But, nevertheless, so trifling is the original cost of +production, that immense quantities of corn do annually reach the +eastern seaboard by this route, a considerable portion of which is +re-shipped to Liverpool, and sold there at prices greatly below its +cost of production in this country. The annexed table[2] shows the +remarkable fact, that, of the whole quantity of grain exported +from the United States in the five years 1842-6, twelve-thirteenths +of the wheat, about one-half of the flour, and a large proportion +of the Indian corn, came from the two ports of New York and +Philadelphia alone. Now, as we know that these large supplies were +not grown within the confines of the Eastern States, and _must_ have +been brought from the westward, the inference is obvious that the +two causes insisted on by Professor Johnston--the distance of the +virgin soils, and the expense of transport--are as yet inoperative; +or at least that they have not prevented the transmission of grain +to the east in such vast quantities, as not only to meet the wants +of all the population of that part of the Union, but to afford an +average surplus for exportation to other countries equivalent to +the annual maintenance of a million and a half of men. We need +only mention one other fact, which seems in itself a sufficient +refutation of the theory Professor Johnston has taken up. The causes +which he thinks are so soon to dry up the supplies now derived +from the West are of no recent or sudden emergence. The process +of exhaustion on the new lands, and the rapid population of the +old, has been going on for many years. If, then, these causes are +so influential as he imagines, their effects should at least be +apparent in a gradual increase of the prices of bread-stuffs in +the Eastern States. Now, no such effect is to be found. On the +contrary, we find that, during the last twenty years, the price of +wheat, as well as of maize, in the chief marts of the east, has been +_steadily diminishing, instead of increasing_. We extract from the +returns published by the Board of Trade the annexed comparison[3] +of the prices of wheat flour at New York, during two periods, from +which it appears that, in the very State where the results of +Professor Johnston's hypothesis ought to have been most manifest, +the experience of twenty years shows a reduction of price instead +of an enhancement, notwithstanding that the latter period in the +comparison embraces the years of the potato failure. An examination +of similar returns from Baltimore and New Orleans establishes the +same fact, namely, that the tendency of prices for twenty years past +is _not upwards, but downwards_--a fact quite irreconcilable with +the supposed rapid exhaustion of the wheat soils of the interior. + + [1] The estimated produce of wheat in these five States in the year + 1847 was 38,400,000 bushels. + + [2] Quantity of bread-stuffs exported from the whole of the United + States, and from the ports of New York and Philadelphia, in the + years 1842-46 inclusive:-- + + | Wheat | Flour | Indian Corn | Indian Corn + | (bushels.) |(barrels.) | (bushels.) |(Meal barrels.) + |------------+-----------+-------------+--------------- + United States, | 2,691,711 | 7,048,356 | 4,764,450 | 1,199,255 + |------------+-----------+-------------+--------------- + New York, | 1,985,900 | 2,610,944 | 2,443,733 | 242,294 + Philadelphia, | 474,788 | 1,055,382 | 677,530 | 565,682 + |------------+-----------+-------------+--------------- + Total of both ports, | 2,460,688 | 3,666,326 | 3,121,263 | 807,976 + + + [3] Comparative statement of the prices, per barrel, of best wheat + flour at New York, (taken from the _Monthly Averages_) in 1829-33, + and 1844-48:-- + + FIRST PERIOD. + + 1829, Dr. 6.23 + 1830, 5.02 + 1831, 5.84 + 1832, 5.70 + 1833, 5.70 + ---- + Average of five years, 5.69 + + SECOND PERIOD. + + 1844, Dr. 4.60 + 1845, 5.00 + 1846, 5.16 + 1847, 6.77 + 1848, 5.83 + ---- + Average of five years, 5.47 + + +It is much to be regretted that Professor Johnston was unable to +extend his tour to these granary States of the West. It would +have been satisfactory to have had from him an estimate of their +capabilities founded on actual survey and personal observation, +instead of indirect inference. We are quite ready to admit, that +many of the accounts of those regions which have reached us, +drawn up to suit the purposes of speculators in land, are of very +dubious authenticity, and, like the stage-coach in which Mr Dickens +travelled to Buffalo, have "a pretty loud smell of varnish." But, +on the other hand, we cannot discredit the official data supplied +by the State papers--without at least stronger grounds than those +inferences from general geological structure which Professor +Johnston has adduced to disprove the alleged fertility of the State +of Michigan. There can, of course, be no more valuable criterion of +the natural agricultural value of a country than is afforded by its +geology--provided the survey be sufficiently extensive and accurate. +But it is difficult to follow those enthusiasts in the science, +whom we occasionally find drawing the most startling deductions +from very narrow data--and prophesying the future history of the +territory, and even the character of its inhabitants, from a glance +at the bowels of the earth, as the Roman augur foretold the fate of +empires from the entrails of his chickens. + +We find, for example, a writer of high standing in America +accounting for a remarkable diminution in the amount of _bastardy_ +in Pennsylvania, some thirty years ago, by the fact--that the +settlers at that time _had got off the cold clays and on to the +limestone_! A Scottish geologist, with more apparent reason +perhaps, has founded an argument for an extensive emigration of the +Highlanders on the prevalence of the primitive rocks in the north +and west of Scotland. It is only from a complete and systematic +survey that we can venture to predicate anything with certainty of +the future agricultural powers of a country; and, in the absence of +such trustworthy data, we must be content to estimate the future +wheat-productiveness of Michigan, as well as of the other States +we have named along with it, from what we know of their present +fertility, and of the vast extent that is still uncleared. + +As to New York and the other old-settled States of the Union, which +we are told do not now produce enough for their own consumption, +are we to take it for granted that they are always to continue +stationary, and to make no effort to keep pace with the growing +demands of an increasing population? Professor Johnston, we observe +in one passage, has qualified his opinion as to the prospective +dearth of grain by this curious condition--"_Provided no change +takes place in their agricultural system._" But what shadow of a +reason can be given for supposing it will not take place? The area +of New York State is only one-twelfth less than that of England, and +is, at least, no way inferior as to climate or quality of soil. As +far as material means go, it is quite capable of maintaining, under +an improved culture, at least four times its present population of +three millions. The only question is as to the will and ability +of her people to develop these means; and on this point Professor +Johnston's own work is full of multiplied proofs of the zealous and +intelligent spirit of improvement which is extending rapidly all +over the North-Eastern States. We find the central government of the +Confederation occupied in organising the plan of an Agricultural +Bureau on a scale worthy of a great and enlightened nation--a work +that contrasts in a very marked way with the studious neglect which +such subjects meet with from the government of this country.[4] We +find the several State legislatures anxiously encouraging every +species of improvement--that of New York, in particular, devoting +large grants to the support of exhibitions; preparing to found an +Agricultural College; distributing widely and gratuitously the +annual public reports on the state of agriculture; and, finally, +sending to Europe for a celebrated chemist to assist in maturing +their plans, and sitting--senators and great officers of state--at +the feet of a British Gamaliel, laying down the law to them on the +true principles of the all-important science of agriculture. Nor are +the owners of the land asleep. It is a strong indication of their +growing desire for information, that seven or eight agricultural +periodicals are published in the State of New York alone. Professor +Johnston found no less than fifty copies of such papers taken +regularly in a small town in Connecticut of some two thousand +inhabitants; and he had occasion to observe, in his intercourse with +the farmers of New York, their general acquaintance with the geology +of their country, and its relation to the management of their lands. +Their implement-makers, who had already taught us the use of the +horse-rake, the cradle-scythe, and the improved churn, have recently +outstripped us by the invention, or at least the great improvement, +of the reaping-machine, the advantages of which are so appreciated +in the country of its origin that at Chicago 1500 of M'Cormick's +machines were ordered in one year. In short, the proverbial energy, +perseverance, and sagacity that distinguish our Yankee friends, +seem now to be all directed towards effecting a change of system in +the management of land; and the true question is, not whether the +hitherto laggard progress of American agriculture is to be quickened +in future, but whether we shall be able to keep pace with it. + + [4] Vol. ii. p. 389. + +But then Professor Johnston tells us that improvement is expensive, +and that every process for reviving the dormant powers of the soil, +and preserving their activity, must necessarily be attended with +an addition to the price of the produce, which will thus prevent +its coming into competition with that of England. This view rests +upon a fallacy, which we are sure the author must have drawn from +his reading in political economy, and not from his experience as +an agriculturist. It is an off-shoot from the rent-theory, (the +pestilent root of so much error and confusion,) which, however, we +shall not notice at present, further than by affirming, in direct +contradiction to it, that improvements do _not_ necessarily, nor +generally, involve an increase of price. Even those which require +the greatest outlay--even a complete system of arterial drainage +all over the State of New York, instead of adding to the cost of +wheat, may very probably reduce it, as it has certainly done in +this country. But most of the improvements readily available in +the Eastern States involve scarcely any expenditure at all. The +most obvious and effectual is to save and apply the manure, which +is now wasted or thrown away; and when that proves insufficient, +abundant supplies of mineral manures are easily procurable. On the +exhausted wheat-lands of Virginia, a single dressing of lime or marl +generally doubles the first crop. Deposits of gypsum, and of the +valuable mineral phosphate of lime, seem to be abundant both in New +York and New Jersey. Again, in the former State, where the common +practice is to plough to a depth of _not more than four inches_, the +simple expedient of putting in the plough a few inches deeper would +of itself add one-half to the return of wheat over a very large +district. + +On the whole, so far from seeing any reason to anticipate, with +Professor Johnston, a material reduction in the quantity of our +wheat imports from the States, we look rather to see it increased; +and, at all events, we have no hesitation in saying, that to +encourage our English farmers to expect a cessation of competition +from that quarter is to deceive them with very groundless hopes. + +We have already dwelt at considerable length on this topic, both +because of the prominent place it occupies in Professor Johnston's +volumes, and of the notice which his speculations upon it have +attracted in this country. + +It has been mentioned that a large proportion--probably not less +than one-half--of the cereal food consumed in the States consists +of maize and buckwheat. Mr Johnston always alludes to this fact, +as if the use of these grains were a matter of compulsion--as if +the Americans resorted to them from being unable to afford wheaten +bread. Now, according to the information we have from other sources, +the truth is just the reverse of this. We are told that in the +Eastern and Central States, as well as on the West frontier and +among the slave population, the various preparations of Indian +corn are becoming more relished every year; and that the extension +of its cultivation is to be attributed, not to the failure of the +wheat crops, but to a growing preference for it as an article of +food. In a less degree the use both of oats and buckwheat seems to +be spreading in the States, as well as in our own colonies of New +Brunswick and Canada East; and one can scarcely wonder at the taste +for the latter grain, after reading the appetising descriptions our +author gives of the crisp hot cakes, with their savoury adjuncts +of maple-honey, which so often formed his breakfast during his +wanderings. The general use of these three kinds of grain--maize, +oats, and buckwheat--has somehow come to be considered by political +economists as indicative of a low degree of social advancement. +And yet we know that, in the countries suited to their growth, +a given area of ground cultivated with any of them will return a +greater quantity of nutritious food, at a smaller expense and with +less risk of failure, than if it were cropped with wheat. We are +told that the great objection to them is, that their culture _is +too easy_. Professor Johnston touches upon this notion in some +remarks he makes on the disadvantage of buckwheat as a staple +article of food. The objections to it, he tells us, consist in the +ease with which it can be raised, the rapidity of its growth, and +the small quantity of seed it requires: it induces, he says, like +the potato, an indolent, slovenly, and exhausting culture; and "it +is the prelude of evil, when a kind of food that requires little +exertion to obtain it becomes the staple support of a people."[5] +It may be noticed in passing, that, in point of fact, the results +alleged are at least not universal; for, in regard to this very +grain, we find its cultivation prevalent in some of the best-managed +districts of the hard-working, provident, and intelligent Belgians. +But taking the axiom as it stands, we cannot help suspecting +that there is some fallacy lurking at the bottom of it. Misled +by what we have observed of the Irishman and his potato diet, we +have confounded the _cum hoc_ with the _propter hoc_, and come to +regard an easily-raised food as _the cause_ of that indolence of +which it is only the frequent indication. It were otherwise a most +inexplicable contrariety between the physical and the moral laws +which govern this world, that in every country there should be a +penalty of social wretchedness and degradation attached to the use +of that particular food which its climate and soil are best suited +to produce. Can it be supposed that the blessings of nature are +only a moral snare for us, and that, while she has given to the +American the maize plant--oats to the Scotch Highlander--rice to the +Hindoo--the banana to the inhabitant of Brazil--a regard for their +social well-being requires each of them to renounce these gifts, and +to spend their labour in extorting from the unwilling soil some less +congenial kind of subsistence? Virgil has warned the husbandman-- + + "Pater ipse colendi + Haud facilem esse viam voluit." + +But it were surely a dire aggravation of the difficulties of his +task if his most plentiful harvest were also the most injurious to +his advancement and true happiness. We cannot now, however, examine +the grounds of a doctrine so paradoxical, and have adverted to it +only to remark that it seems destined to meet with a most direct +practical refutation in North America, where we find the habitual +use of what we choose to consider the coarser grains associated +with the highest intelligence and the most rapid development of +social progress. There can be no doubt that the nature of the food +generally used in any nation must exert an important influence +on its prosperity; but it is difficult to understand how that +prosperity should be promoted by the universal use of that variety +which costs most labour. At all events, it is certainly a subject of +very interesting inquiry, in reference to the increasing consumption +among ourselves of wheat--the dearest and most precarious species +of grain, much of it imported from other countries--and its gradual +abandonment in North America, what effect these opposite courses +may have on the future destinies of the two great branches of the +Anglo-Saxon race. + + [5] Vol. i. p. 80. + +Leaving this as a problem for political economists, let us now +follow him in his visit to the British side of the St Lawrence. His +brief three weeks' survey of the Canadas did not, of course, enable +him to form any very intimate acquaintance with the condition of +these provinces; and he prudently abstains from pronouncing any +judgment upon the vexed topics of Canadian politics. His presence +at the great exhibition, at Kingston, of the Agricultural Society +of Upper Canada, gave him a good opportunity of estimating the +progress that has been made in practical agriculture. The stock, +as well as the implements, there brought forward in competition +for the various premiums, amounting in all to £1000, gave most +satisfactory indications of improvement; while the large attendance, +and the interest taken in the proceedings, sufficiently showed +that the inhabitants of the Upper Province are now awake to the +necessity of agricultural improvement as the main source of their +future prosperity. In a country where eighty per cent of the +whole population are directly engaged in the cultivation of the +soil, the land interest is, or ought to be, predominant. But the +bitter animosity of political parties, and the abortive attempts +of government to soothe and reconcile them, have hitherto stood +much in the way of any combined effort towards the encouragement +of improved cultivation. The art of husbandry is not likely to +thrive in a country where every man is bent on proving himself a +Cincinnatus. Of late, however, public spirit has shown symptoms of +taking a more wholesome direction; and, notwithstanding occasional +ministerial crises and political explosions, which we on this +side the water are sometimes puzzled to understand, all parties +in the province seem now fully aware that the development of the +vast resources of their fertile soil is the only road to permanent +prosperity. The encouragement of local competitions, the provision +for systematic instruction in agriculture in the colleges--which +Professor Johnston tells us is in progress--and the introduction of +elementary lessons in the art as a regular branch of common school +learning, are all steps in the right direction. It is precisely in +such a community as that of Canada that the last-mentioned kind of +instruction is really of essential benefit. From the last census +of Upper Canada, it appears that there are sixty thousand owners +of land in the province, and only ten thousand labourers without +land. The great majority of the boys in the ordinary schools will +become proprietors, and, at the same time, cultivators; and, in such +circumstances, it is of the utmost importance that the youth should +acquire betimes a competent knowledge of the principles on which +his future practice is, or ought to be, founded--such knowledge as +will, at least, enable him to, shake off the traditional prejudices +and slovenly habits which his father may have imported with him from +Harris or the County Kerry. + +The querulous and depreciatory tone which our Canadian +fellow-subjects are apt to employ in speaking of their country, and +its prospects, is remarked by Professor Johnston as contrasting +oddly with the unqualified adulation of everything--from the +national constitution to the navy button--which one constantly +hears from his republican neighbour. One consequence of this habit +is, the existence of a prevalent but very mistaken notion that, +in the march of social advancement, Canada has been completely +distanced by the United States. Professor Johnston has been at some +pains to demonstrate, and we think most successfully, that this +impression is entirely erroneous. Indeed, if we only recollect +the history of Canada for the last fifteen years--the disunion of +her own people, and the reckless commercial experiments to which +she has been subjected by the home government, the rapid strides +in improvement--of the Upper Province especially--are almost +marvellous. As a corroboration of what Professor Johnston has said +on the subject, we have thrown together in the subjoined table, +collected from the Government returns, some of the most striking +and decisive evidences of the recent progress of Upper Canada. In +certain particulars, no doubt, she is outstripped by some of those +districts of the States to which from time to time extraordinary +migrations of their unsettled and nomadic population have been +directed. But putting such exceptional cases out of view, the +inhabitants of Canada need fear no comparison with the Union in all +the chief elements of national advancement. + + +PROGRESS OF UPPER CANADA,--1837-47. + + | | |Increase | |Increase + | 1837. | 1842. |per cent.| 1847. |per cent. + |-----------+-----------+---------+-----------+--------- + | | | | | + Population, | 396,721 | 486,055 | 22 | 723,332 | 48 + Number of cultivated| | | | | + acres assessed for | | | | | + local taxes, | 4,736,268 | 5,548,357 | 17 | 6,477,338 | 16 + Number of houses | | | | | + assessed | | | | | + for ditto, | 22,057 | 31,638 | 43 | 42,937 | 35 + Value of property | | | | | + assessed, |£4,431,098 |£6,913,341 | 56 |£8,567,001 | 23 + Number of carriages | | | | | + kept for pleasure, | 1,627 | 2,188 | 34 | 4,685 | 114 + Number of | | | | | + elementary | | | | | + schools, | -- | 927 | -- | 2,464 | 165 + Number of scholars | | | | | + in ditto, | -- | 29,961 | -- | 80,461 | 170 + Number of cattle, | -- | 504,963 | -- | 565,848 | 12 + Number of horses, | -- | 113,675 | -- | 151,389 | 33 + Number of sheep, | -- | 575,730 | -- | 833,869 | 45 + +In looking at the great sources of wealth possessed by these +provinces, our attention is at once arrested by the growing +importance of the St Lawrence as an outlet to the produce, not only +of the Canadas, but of a vast area of the States territory. With the +exception, perhaps, of the Mississippi, no river in the world opens +up so grand a highway for the industry of man as the St Lawrence, +with the chain of vast lakes and innumerable rivers that unite with +it in the two thousand miles of its majestic progress to the ocean. +Never was there an enterprise more worthy of a great nation than +that of surmounting the obstacles to its navigation, and completing +the channels of connection with its tributary waters; and nobly have +the people of Canada executed it. Taking into account the infancy +of their country, and the amount of its population and revenue, +it is not too much to say, with Mr Johnston, that their exertions +to secure water-communication have been greater than those of any +part of the Union, or any country of Europe. The improvements on +the St Lawrence itself, and the canals connected with it, have +already cost the colony two millions and a quarter sterling, in +addition to the expenditure of £800,000 by the home government on +the construction of the Rideau Canal. The results of this liberal +but judicious outlay are already showing themselves, not only by +the rapidly-increasing Canadian traffic on the St Lawrence, but +by its drawing into it, year after year, a larger share of the +commerce of the States. That the influx of trade from the south +must ere long vastly exceed its present amount, is evident from a +consideration of the gigantic projects already completed, or in +course of construction, for effecting an access between the lakes +and the fertile regions of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, &c., already +spoken of, and thus saving the longer and costlier transit by the +Mississippi. One of the Reports of the State of New York thus speaks +of them:-- + + "Three great canals, (one of them longer than the Erie Canal,) + embracing in their aggregate length about one thousand miles, + are to connect the Ohio with Lake Erie; while another deep and + capacious channel, excavated for nearly thirty miles through + solid rock, unites Lake Michigan with the navigable waters of + the Illinois. In addition to these broad avenues of trade, + they are constructing lines of railroads not less than fifteen + hundred miles in extent, in order to reach with more case and + speed the lakes through which they seek a conveyance to the + seaboard. The circumstance, moreover, is particularly important, + that the public works of each of these great communities + are arranged on a harmonious plan, each having a main line, + supported and enriched by lateral and tributary branches, + thereby bringing the industry of their people into prompt and + profitable action; while the systems themselves are again + united, on a grander scale, with Lake Erie as its common centre." + +The various streams of the trade from the interior being thus +collected in the lakes--which form, as it were, the heart of +the system--there are two great channels for its redistribution +and dispersion through the markets of the world. These are the +St Lawrence, and the Erie Canal with the Hudson; and the vital +question as regards the prosperity of Canada is, by which of these +outlets will the concentrated traffic of the lakes find its way to +the ocean? Mr Johnston has devoted considerable attention to this +subject, and assigns two good reasons for believing that the St +Lawrence is destined immensely to increase the share which it has +already secured. In the first place, the American artery is already +surcharged and choked up;--notwithstanding all the efforts that have +been made to expedite the traffic on the Erie Canal, it has been +found wholly inadequate to accommodate the immense trade pouring in +from the west; and, secondly, the route of the St Lawrence, besides +being the more expeditious, is now found to be the cheaper one. In +a document issued by the Executive Council of Upper Canada, it is +mentioned that the Great Ohio Railway Company, having occasion to +import about 11,000 tons of railway iron from England, made special +inquiries as to the relative cost of transport by the St Lawrence +and New York routes, the result of which was the preference of +the former, the saving on the inland transport alone being 11,000 +dollars. There seems good reason to expect that a considerable +portion of the Mississippi trade may be diverted into the Canadian +channel; but putting this out of view altogether, it is certain +that the navigation of this glorious river is every year becoming +of greater importance to the United States, as well as to Britain: +let us hope that it is destined ever to bear on its broad breast the +blessings of peace and mutual prosperity to both nations. + +After a rapid glance at Lower Canada, Professor Johnston crossed +the St Lawrence, in order to complete the survey of New Brunswick, +which, before leaving England, he had been commissioned to make for +the Government of the colony. We have had no opportunity of seeing +the official Report, in which he has published the detailed results +of his observations; but the valuable information collected in these +volumes has strongly confirmed our previous impression, that the +resources and importance of this fine colony have never yet been +sufficiently appreciated at home. With an area as nearly as possible +equal to that of Scotland, it possesses a much larger surface +available for agriculture. The climate is healthy and invigorating; +it is traversed by numerous navigable rivers; its rocks contain +considerable mineral wealth; and the fisheries on its coasts are +inexhaustible. Imperfectly developed as its resources are, the trade +from the two ports of St John's and St Andrew's alone, exceeds that +of the whole of the three adjoining States of the Union--Maine, +Vermont, and New Hampshire--although its inhabitants do not number +one-sixth of the population of these States. As to the fertility of +the soil, Professor Johnston, by a comparison of authentic returns, +shows that the productive power of the land already cultivated in +the province considerably exceeds the averages of New York, of Ohio, +and of Upper Canada--countries which have hitherto been considered +more favoured both in soil and climate. By classifying the soils in +the several districts, he has estimated that the available land, +after deducting a reserve for fuel, is capable of maintaining in +abundance a population of 4,200,000; while its present number little +exceeds 200,000. In all the course of his travels, he met with but +a few rare instances in which the agricultural settlers did not +express their contentment with their circumstances; and although it +seems still questionable whether farming on a large scale, by the +employment of hired labour, can be made remunerative, the universal +opinion of the experienced persons he consulted testified that, with +ordinary prudence and industry, the poorest settler, who confines +his attention to the clearing and cultivation of land, is sure of +attaining a comfortable independence. + +The question naturally occurs--How is it that, with all these +natural advantages and encouragements to colonisation, and with its +proximity to our shores, so very small a proportion--not more than +one in sixty or seventy of the emigrants from Great Britain--make +New Brunswick their destination? Professor Johnston, while he +maintains that, taking population into account, New Brunswick is in +this respect no worse off than Canada, adverts to several causes +of a special nature which may have retarded its settlement. But +the truth is, that the question above started leads us directly to +another of far greater compass and importance--What is the reason +that all our colonies taken together absorb so small a proportion of +our emigrants compared with the United States? What is the nature +of the inducements that annually impel so large a number of our +countrymen to forfeit the character of British subjects, and prefer +a domicile among those who are aliens in laws, interests, and system +of government? + +We hardly know how to venture upon anything connected with the +ominous subject of emigration, at a moment when the crowds leaving +our shores, at the rate of nearly a thousand every day, are such +as to startle the most apathetic observer, and shake the faith of +the most dogmatic economist in the truth of his speculations. This +is not the place to inquire what strangely compulsive cause it may +be that has all at once swelled the ordinary stream of emigration +into a headlong torrent.[6] Mayhap it is neither distant, nor +doubtful, nor unforetold. But whatever it may be, there stands the +fact--which we can neither undo, nor, for aught that can be seen at +present, prevent its annual recurrence in future, or say how and +when the waves are to be stayed. "When the Exe runs up the streets +of Tiverton," says a certain noble prophet--whose vaticinations, +however, have not been very felicitous hitherto--"then, and not till +then, may we expect to see the reversal of the free-import system;" +and then, and not till then, we take leave to add, may we hope to +see the ebbing of that tide of British capital and British strength +which is now flowing strongly and steadily into the bay of New York. + + [6] Total number of registered emigrants for the twenty-one years from 1825 + to 1845 inclusive 1,349,476----Average, 64,260 + Do. do. _for the five years_ 1846 _to_ 1850 inclusive, + 1,216,557----Average, 243,311 + + +PROPORTION OF BRITISH EMIGRATION TO THE COLONIES AND TO THE UNITED +STATES, 1846-50 INCLUSIVE. + + | | | | | | | Quarter | + | Destination. | 1846. | 1847. | 1848. | 1849. | 1850. | ending Sept | + | | | | | | | 30, 1851. | + | +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------------+ + | | | | | | | | + | United States | 45.1 | 31.8 | 57.3 | 73.3 | 79.4 | 80.5 | + | British America | 33.4 | 42.5 | 12.5 | 13.9 | 11.7 | 10.8 | + | All other places | 21.5 | 25.7 | 30.2 | 12.8 | 8.9 | 8.7 | + | +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------------+ + | Total | 100. | 100. | 100. | 100. | 100. | 100. | + +The accompanying abstract, from the returns of the Emigration +Commissioners, exhibits two most remarkable results:--1st, The +proportion of emigration to British America and other destinations +is gradually falling off; 2d, That to the United States is steadily +and rapidly increasing, so that they now receive four out of every +five emigrants who leave our shores. Is this distribution to be +regarded as a matter of indifference in a political point of view? +Are we to understand that it is no concern to us who remain behind, +whether the labour and capital of those who leave us shall go to +fill up the vacuum of our own colonial empire, or to carry new +accessions of wealth and power to those in whose prosperity (to put +the matter mildly) we have only a secondary interest? This question +the consistent Free-Trader is bound to answer unhesitatingly in +the affirmative. In his cosmopolitan philosophy, the interests of +one country are no more to be considered than those of any other. +The theory of absolute freedom of exchange expunges altogether the +idea of nationalism, and regards man, not as a member of this or +that community, but as the denizen of a great universal republic. +Local and historical associations--ties of kindred and of birth--are +only so many obstructions in the way of human progress; and an +Englishman is nothing more than the subject of certain animal +wants and instincts, the gratification of which he must be left to +seek wherever he finds the materials most abundant. Such is Free +Trade in its true scope and ultimate tendency. What shall be said, +then, of the consistency or sincerity of those pseudo-apostles +of the doctrine, who, having been the most active in promoting +that nibbling and piecemeal legislation which they choose to call +freedom of trade--who have been loudest in proclaiming a universal +commercial fraternity, and in denouncing colonies as a wasteful +encumbrance--are now the first to take alarm at the natural and +inevitable result of their own measures, and to call out for a +better regulation of emigration; in other words, for legislative +interference with the free action of those of our countrymen who, +being thrust out of employment in the land of their birth, are so +literally following out the great maxim of buying in the cheapest +market and selling in the dearest? + +The text is a tempting one, but we must refrain from wandering +further from the subject with which we started--namely, the +inducements which lead so many of our emigrants to select the United +States as their future home. One of the prevalent causes has been +very well stated by Professor Johnston--that which we may call the +capillary attraction of former emigration:-- + + "A letter from a connection or acquaintance determines the + choice of a place to go to, and, without further inquiry, + the emigrant starts. Thus for a while, emigration to a given + point, once begun, goes on progressively by a sort of innate + force. Those who go before urge those who follow by hasty and + inaccurate representations; so that, the more numerous the + settlers from a particular district, the more numerous also the + invitations for others to follow, till the fever of emigration + subsides. In other words, in proportion as the home-born + settlers in one of these countries increases, will the number of + home-born emigrants to that country increase--_but for a time + only, if the place have real disadvantages_."--(Vol. ii, p. 204.) + +It is vain to shut our eyes to the fact that the government of the +United States offers to the emigrant many real, substantial, and +peculiar advantages. The first and most important aid that can be +given to the intending settler is a complete and accurate survey of +the country; and this has been accomplished by the States government +at great expense, but in so perfect a manner that a purchaser has no +difficulty in at once pointing out, on the official plan, any lot +he may have selected in the most remote corner of the wilderness. +The next point of importance to him is simplicity of conveyance and +security of title; and so effectual and satisfactory is the American +system that litigation in original land-titles is almost unknown. +Then as to the weighty consideration of price--which perhaps ought +to have been first mentioned--the uniform and very low rate in the +States of 5s. 3d. an acre saves infinite trouble, disputation, +and jealousy. Such are some of the temptations held out to the +intending purchaser of land; and it must be confessed that, in each +particular, they present a striking contrast to the difficulties +he has to meet in some of the British colonies--the arbitrary +changes of system, the vexatious delays, and the comparatively +exorbitant charges--which must appear to the settler as if they had +been contrived on purpose to discourage him. When we add to these +the prospects of ready employment in the States held out to other +classes of emigrants, and the stringent laws lately made for their +protection, both on the passage and on their arrival, we cannot be +at a loss to see that the direction which emigration has lately +taken is not the result of chance or caprice, but of a deliberate +comparison of advantages, which the most ignorant can easily +understand and appreciate. + +The main object of Professor Johnston's visit being of a scientific +character, his remarks on the general topics of manners and politics +occur only incidentally; but it is impossible for any traveller +to keep clear of such subjects in writing of a country, the +peculiarities of which are pressed upon his notice at every hour of +the day, and at every corner of the street. Rabelais tells us of a +certain island, explored by the mighty Pantagruel, whose inhabitants +lived wholly upon _wind_--that is, being interpreted, on flattery; +and the visitor of the States who finds himself, as it were, pinned +to the wall, and compelled to yield up his admiration at discretion, +may be sometimes tempted to believe that he has made a similar +discovery, and that the flatulent diet of compliment is somehow +congenial to an American appetite. Professor Johnston seems to have +had his candour or his eulogistic powers sometimes severely tested, +if we may guess from his quiet hint, that "it is unpleasant to a +stranger to be always called on to admire and praise what he sees +in a foreign country; and it is a part of the perversity of human +nature to withhold, upon urgent request, what, if unasked, would +have been freely and spontaneously given." He is of course prepared +for the reception which any work, aiming at mere impartiality, +is sure to meet with among Transatlantic critics; and it will, +therefore, not surprise him to find that the above peccant sentence +has been already pounced upon by them as proving _malice prepense_, +and as affording a significant key to all his observations on the +institutions of the States. + +The following extract explains the origin of two of those euphonious +party designations in which our neighbours delight, and which may +perchance have puzzled some of our readers:-- + + "In England, to be a _democrat_ still implies a position at + the very front of the movement party, and a desire to hasten + forward political changes, irrespective of season or expediency. + But among the American democrats there is a Conservative and + a Radical party. The former, who desire to restrain 'the + amazing violence of the popular spirit,' are nicknamed by their + democratic adversaries the '_Old Hunkers_;' the latter, who + profess to have in their hearts 'sworn eternal hostility against + every form of tyranny over the mind of man,' are stigmatised as + '_Barnburners_.' The _New York Tribune_, in reference to the + origin of the names themselves, says that the name 'Hunkers' + was intended to indicate that those on whom it was conferred + had an appetite for a large 'hunk' of the spoils; though we + never could discover that they were peculiar in _that_. On the + other hand, the 'Barnburners' were so named in allusion to + the story of an old Dutchman who relieved himself of rats by + burning his barns, which they infested, just like exterminating + all banks and corporations, to root out the abuses connected + therewith."--(Vol. i. p. 218.) + +Equally mysterious is the term "log-rolling," though the thing +itself is not altogether unknown in legislatures nearer home. + + "When the trees are felled and trimmed, rolling the logs to the + rivers or streams down which they are to be floated, as soon as + the spring freshets set in, remains to be done. This being the + hardest work of all, the men of several camps will unite, giving + their conjoined strength to the first party on Monday, to the + second on Tuesday, and so on. A like system in parliamentary + matters is called 'log-rolling.' You and your friends help me + in my railroad bill, and I and my friends help you with your + bank charter; or sometimes the Whigs and Democrats, when nearly + balanced, will get up a party log-rolling, agreeing that the + one shall be allowed to carry through a certain measure without + much opposition, provided a similar concession is granted to the + other."--(Vol. ii. p. 297.) + +The _Notes_ convey to us the strong impression that Professor +Johnston's visit to the West has operated as a wholesome corrective +of a certain tendency in his political opinions. He seems to have +left home with a warm admiration of American institutions generally, +which, like Slender's love, "it pleased heaven to diminish on +further acquaintance." At all events, he could not avoid being +struck with some of the many perplexities and anomalies that +result from referring everything directly to the popular voice. +In England, whatever dissensions may arise about the enactment of +law, all are agreed in a sensitive jealousy as to the purity of its +administration. The most rampant Radical among us looks upon justice +as far too sacred a thing to be hazarded in the rude chance-medley +of popular election. The keenest partisan feels that, in the lofty +and unswerving integrity of our judges, he possesses a substantial +security and blessing, for the loss of which no place, power, or +parliamentary triumph, could compensate. To one accustomed to regard +with veneration the dignified independence of the judicial office +in Great Britain, nothing will appear more harshly repugnant to +sound policy than the system, lately introduced into some of the New +England States, of appointing all judges, high and low, by the votes +of the electors of the district over which they are to preside, and +for a limited term of years. + + "It was deservedly considered a great triumph when the + appointment of judges for life liberated the English bench from + the influence of the Crown, and when public opinion became + strong enough to enforce the selection of the most learned + in the law for the highest judicial offices. Now, passing + over the objection which some will strongly urge, that the + popular electors are not the best judges of the qualifications + of those who aspire to the bench, and that the most popular + legal demagogue may expect to obtain from them the highest + legal appointment, it may be reasonably asked whether popular + influence in seasons of excitement, and on questions of great + moment, may not bias the minds of judges whose appointment is in + the hands of the people?--whether the fear of a coming election + may not deter them from unpopular decisions? The influence of a + popular majority may here as profoundly pollute the fountains + of justice as the influence of the Crown ever did among us at + home."--(Vol. i. p. 150.) + +At first sight, it seems quite unaccountable that an enlightened +people should ever have devised or sanctioned a system which so +obviously exposes the bench to the risk of corruption; and one is +at a loss to reconcile a reverence for the law with an ordinance +that subjects her minister to the ordeal of canvassing and cajoling +all and sundry--perhaps the very men who may next day be in the +dock before him. But the root of the anomaly is not hard to find. +Into the purest of republics ambition and cupidity--the love of +office and the love of dollars--will force their way. But then, +under that form of constition, situations of trust and emolument +are necessarily few in comparison to the number of candidates for +them. The offices in the civil departments of the United States +governments are not numerous. The navy employs altogether some five +hundred officers above the rank of midshipman--exactly the number +of our post-captains; and the whole army of the Confederation, rank +and file, musicians and artificers included, is very little over +ten thousand men. There is little temptation to enter the medical +profession, in which learning and experience go for nothing, and a +Brodie is precisely on a level with a "Doctor Bokanky;"--nor the +Church, in which the pastor is hired by the twelvemonth, and is +thought handsomely paid with a wage of £100 a-year. What field, +then, remains for the aspiring spirit but the law?--and what +wonder if the sixteen thousand attorneys, who, we are told, find +a living in the States, and take a leading part in the management +of all public business, should vote "the higher honours of the +profession" far too few to be retained as perpetual incumbencies? +Hence has sprung the device of popular election to, and rotation +in, the sweets of office, which, by "passing it round," and giving +everyone a chance, is designed to render it as generally available +as possible. The constitution of the judiciary is not uniform, but +varies in almost every different state. In New York, the Judges of +Appeals, as well as those of the Supreme and Circuit Courts, are +elected by the people at large, and for a term of eight years, +each leaving office in rotation. In New Jersey they are appointed +for six years by the governor and senate; in Vermont, annually by +the legislature. In Connecticut nearly the same system prevails as +that in Vermont; while in Massachusetts the judges retain office +"during good behaviour." The salaries are not less various, in some +States the remuneration of judges of supreme courts being £500 +a-year, which is about the highest rate; and in others so low as +£180. There are no retiring allowances in any case; and as they are +thus liable to be thrown out of office at an uncertain period, or +compelled to vacate it after a short term of years, it can scarcely +be expected that such remuneration will secure the highest grade of +legal acquirements, either for the bench itself, or for the inferior +offices of attorney-generalships and chief-clerkships, which are all +held by the same lax tenure of popular favour. Even if the system +has "worked well," as it is said to have done by American writers, +during the four or five years it has been in operation in New +York--even if it be true that the lawyers of the Empire State have, +by avoiding the snares thrown in their way, given proof individually +of the probity of Cato, and of a constancy worthy of Socrates, we +still say that the State does wrong in putting their virtues to such +a test. Mr Johnston supplies us with an example of the temptation +it holds out to a dangerous pliancy of principle. Most of our +readers must be aware of the existence of an active and noisy party +in the States, who, under the name of "Anti-renters," are seeking +to free themselves from payment of certain reserved _rents_, or +_feu-duties_, as they would be termed in Scotland, which form the +stipulated condition of land tenure in a certain district. + + "The question has caused much excitement and considerable + disturbance in the State. It has been agitated in the + legislature and in the courts of law, and the supposed opinion + in regard to it of candidates for legal appointments, is said to + have formed an element which weighed with many in determining + which candidate they would support. During the last canvass + for the office of attorney-general, I met with the following + advertisement in the public journals of the State:-- + + "'I have repeatedly been applied to by individuals to know my + opinions with regard to the manorial titles, and what course I + intend to pursue, if elected, in relation to suits commenced, + and to be commenced, under the joint resolution of the Senate + and Assembly. I have uniformly replied to these inquiries, that + I regard the manor titles as a public curse which ought not + to exist in a free government, and that if they can be broken + up and invalidated by law, it will give me great pleasure; + and I shall prosecute the pending suits with as much vigour + and industry as I possess, and will commence others, if, on + examination, I shall be satisfied there is the least chance of + success. I regard these prosecutions as a matter of public duty, + and, in this instance, duty squares with my inclination and + wishes. 'L. S. CHATFIELD.' + + "Mr Chatfield," adds Professor Johnston, "_is now + attorney-general_; and I was informed that the known opinions of + certain of the old judges on this exciting question was one of + the understood reasons why they were not re-elected by popular + suffrage, when, according to the new constitution, their term of + office had expired."--(Vol. ii. p. 291.) + +Here, then, we see the highest law officer of the State openly +"bidding" for office--truckling to faction--and indecently +condescending to enact the part of a "soft-sawderer." That term, +we presume, is the proper American equivalent for the stinging +_soubriquet_ with which Persius stigmatises some Chatfield--some +supple attorney-general of his day-- + + "PALPO, quem ducit _hiantem_ + Cretata ambitio." + +When persons of the highest official position scruple not thus +undisguisedly to trim their course according to the "_popularis +aura_," one can scarcely help suspecting a want of firmness of +principle and genuine independence among the classes below them. +De Tocqueville's observations have taught us to doubt whether the +tree of liberty that grows under the shadow of a tyrant majority +can ever attain a healthy stability, however vigorous it may appear +externally. No one questions that the Americans enjoy, under +their institutions, very many of the blessings of a liberal and +cheaply-administered government. You have perfect liberty of speech +and action, so far as the government is concerned. The avowal of +one's opinion is not followed, as in Italy, or in the rival republic +of France, by a hint that your passport is ready, or by the polite +attendance on you, wherever you go, of a mysterious gentleman +in black; but you feel yourself, nevertheless, perpetually "_en +surveillance_," and constrained either to sail with the stream, or +to adopt a reserve and reticence which, to an Englishman, is almost +as irksome as the knowledge that there is a spy sitting at the same +dinner-table with him. + +The spirit of Professor Johnston's strictures on such anomalies +will, of course, insure his being set down by his democratic friends +in America as an unmitigated "old hunker;" and he certainly shows +no great liking for practical republicanism. But to find fault with +our neighbours' arrangements, and to be contented with our own, are +two very different things; and, accordingly, our author takes many +opportunities, as he goes along, of showing that he is quite aware +of the innumerable rents in our own old battered tea-kettle of a +constitution, and of the infinite tinkering it will take to make it +hold water. + +We should have held him unworthy of the character of a true Briton +if he had omitted the occasion of a grumble at our system of +taxation, though, of course, we differ with him entirely in the view +he takes of the evil. After an elaborate comparison of the taxation +in the United States with that of Great Britain, he sums up all with +the following somewhat sententious apophthegm:-- + + "The great contrast between the two sections of the Anglo-Saxon + race on the opposite sides of the Atlantic is this--_On the + one side the masses rule and property pays; on the other side + property rules and the masses pay_."--(Vol. ii. 254.) + +The sentence sounds remarkably terse and epigrammatic. Most of +such brilliant and highly-condensed crystals of wisdom, however, +will be found on analysis to contain, along with some exaggerated +truth, a considerable residuum of nonsense; and this specimen +before us, we apprehend, forms no exception. Even if the fact so +broadly asserted were indisputable, we should still be inclined to +doubt, after what the author has himself told us, whether the "rule +of the masses" is always an unmixed blessing to a community. He +has seen enough of it to know at least that the preponderance of +popular sway is not incompatible with much social restraint--with +prejudice and narrow-mindedness--with what _he_ considers a false +commercial principle--with a disregard of public faith, and of the +rights of other nations; and lastly, with a contempt of the rights +of humanity itself, and a legalised traffic in our fellow men. +But, if we understand him rightly, he does not so much defend the +abstract excellence of the democratic principle as advocate a nearer +approach, on our part, to the American model of taxation. In the +States, he says, property pays--in England the masses pay;--that +is, if we strip the proposition of its antithetical obscurity, the +owners of property pay less here than they do in America--not only +_absolutely_ less, but less in proportion to the whole amount of +taxation. The calculations on which he founds this assertion are too +long and involved to be quoted at length, but we will endeavour to +abridge them so as to enable the reader to judge of their accuracy. + +The taxes in the United States are of three classes: 1st,--the +_national_ taxes, amounting to about six millions a-year, which are +raised chiefly by customs duties on imports; 2d,--the _state_ +taxes; 3d,--the _local_ taxes, for the service of the several +counties, cities, and townships. These two last classes are levied +chiefly in the form of an equal rate assessed upon the estimated +value of all property, real and personal. + +In order to compare the incidence of the public burdens upon +property in the two countries, Professor Johnston selects the case +of New York State, in which the total taxable property (personal as +well as real) in 1849 was 666,000,000 of dollars, and the amount +of rates levied for state and local taxes 5,500,000 dollars, or +about 4/5 per cent on the gross valuation. Turning then to Great +Britain, (excluding Ireland,) he sets down the fee simple value of +the real property alone in estates above £150 a-year, as rated to +the income-tax, at £2,382,000,000. + + "Four-fifths of a per cent (the rate levied in New York) on this + sum would realise £19,000,000 sterling; and were _all_ property, + real and _personal_, in this island below £150 a-year, and the + amount of property in Ireland rated in a similar way, and fairly + collected, our entire revenue of £50,000,000 would probably be + obtained as the revenue of the State of New York now is, by this + one property tax only."--(Vol. ii. p. 257.) + +And he thus concludes that, as regards the _absolute_ amount of +taxation, property in Britain escapes for a smaller payment than +that in America. + +Now, it must be remarked, on this branch of the comparison, that +before we can form any opinion as to its soundness, it is essential +that we should know on what principles the valuation of property +is conducted in New York. The whole question depends upon this. If +the system of valuation is different in the two countries, there +are no materials on which to build a conclusion. We know what +discrepancies may arise out of the mode of valuation, from the fact +that, while the annual value of _all_ real property in England and +Wales was assessed for the poor-rate, in 1841, at about £62,500,000, +_a portion_ of it only--that over £150 a-year--was valued two years +afterwards, for the income-tax, at nearly £86,000,000. We observe +that Professor Johnston has arrived at the amount of real property +in Britain, by assuming the fee-simple value to be twenty-seven +years' purchase of the income. But in New York, he tells us, the +value of income is calculated at _only sixteen and a half years'_ +purchase. The terms of the comparison are, therefore, manifestly +faulty. And mark how this affects the result. The real income of +Great Britain, capitalised at sixteen and a half years' purchase, +would amount to only £1,447,000,000, and, if taxed at the same +rate as in New York, would yield, instead of £19,000,000 only, +£11,500,000, which, as it happens, _is three millions less than +it actually pays_, as may be plainly seen from the undernoted +statement:-- + + +DIRECT AND LOCAL TAXATION OF REAL PROPERTY IN GREAT BRITAIN. + + 1. Land Tax, £1,164,000 + 2. Poor and County Rate, (England,) 6,847,205 + 3. Highway Rate, " 1,169,891 + 4. Church Rate, " 506,812 + 5. Proportion of Stamp Duties on deeds affecting real property, 1,200,000 + 6. Proportion of Legacy Duty affecting do., 300,000 + 7. Property Tax, 2,600,000 + 8. Poor Rate, (Scotland,) £577,000--say on real property, 500,000 + 9. Statute Labour, (Scotland,) 81,226 + ---------- + Total, £14,369,134 + + _Note._--The first six items are taken from the Report of the + House of Lords on burdens affecting land, and some of them are + below the present amounts. The items affecting Scotland are + obviously defective. + +To this extent at least, then, we are justified in correcting +Professor Johnston's calculations, and in affirming with certainty +that the owner of _real property in Britain surrenders a larger +portion of his wealth for the public service than in New York_, or +any other State of the Union. Whether the same can be said of the +British owner of _personal_ property is another question, which we +shall come to by-and-by. + +So much for the _absolute_ comparison. But then Professor Johnston +aims also at proving, that while the rich man is better off here, +the poor man is worse--that the "masses" (_i. e._, we presume, those +who are dependent on the wages of labour) pay a larger share of +the public burdens than the same "masses" do in America. And this, +he thinks, is demonstrated by the fact, that the customs duties of +America amount to only a dollar a-head of the whole population, +whereas in Great Britain they are _three_ dollars--three times +heavier. Now, we venture to affirm that, as a contrast between the +position of the labouring man on this side of the Atlantic, and +that of his brother on the other, this statement is quite a nest +of fallacies. In the first place, it proceeds on the assumption (a +very common but erroneous one among our Free-Trade authorities) that +it is the labouring class who pay the bulk of the taxes drawn in +the shape of customs. As this error, however, may be held to affect +both sides of the comparison equally, we have next to notice that, +admitting it to be the case, the fact of the customs being three +dollars a-head in this country, and only one in the States, only +shows that the English labourer pays _absolutely_ more than the +Yankee, which no one ever doubted. It amounts only to this--that +in an old country which has to uphold numerous public institutions +unknown in America, and with a public debt to provide for of some +£800,000,000 sterling, the burden of this, as well as of all other +branches of taxation, is heavier than in the youthful republic, +with a national debt of only £13,000,000. In order to draw a fair +parallel between the cases as regards the poorer classes of both +countries, we must put the question in a different way, and inquire, +what proportion does the amount of customs (assumed as representing +the poor man's share of taxation) bear _to the whole public burdens_ +in the two countries respectively? The contrasted account would +then show the matter in a very different aspect from that in which +Professor Johnston has represented it, and would stand thus:-- + + | GREAT BRITAIN. | UNITED STATES. | + | | | + | National taxes, £50,000,000 | National taxes, £6,000,000 | + | Local ditto,[7] 14,000,000 | Local ditto,[8] 5,680,000 | + | ----------- | ----------- | + | Total, £64,000,000 | Total, £11,680,000 | + | Whereof the poor man's | Whereof the poor man's | + | share, or customs, is £20,000,000 | share, or customs, is £6,000,000 | + | or 32½ per cent. | or 52 per cent. | + | | | + + [7] We give this amount as it is usually estimated, although it is + certainly far below the truth. + + [8] _The American Almanac_ for 1851. + +Even if we were to throw into the scale a large portion of the +excise duties levied in Britain, which Professor Johnston may be +entitled to claim as a peculiar burden on "the masses"--at least +as much as the customs--it would still be apparent, that, if such +payments are to be taken as a fair criterion, _the people's burdens +are not relatively heavier here than in America_. We shall only +add further on this subject, that while many of the less opulent +class of our fellow-citizens have undoubted real grievances +to complain of, and while writers, with worse intentions than +Professor Johnston, are ever ready to exaggerate them, and to foster +discontent, it becomes one of his high character to guard against +allowing a somewhat undisciplined taste for statistics to betray +him into rash general allegations, calculated to produce error and +irritation. + +The parallel he has drawn, however, is very instructive on one +point, although he has failed to notice it. He has taken some pains +to prove that, tried by the American standard, our poor men pay too +much, and our owners of real property too little, in both which +conclusions we have shown his grounds to be fallacious; but he takes +no notice of a far more obvious anomaly, the glaring injustice of +which is every day attracting more public comment--the comparative +_immunity of the owners of personal property_ in this country. The +local taxation of the States, it has been seen, is levied by an +equal assessment on property _of all kinds_; and although, from +the character of a great part of the country, the real property +much exceeds the movable in amount, the rate upon both is a uniform +one. No description of possessions is favoured with an invidious +exemption. We will take the assessment of one State as an example, +and copy the following "Items of the valuation of the taxable +property for the State of Iowa, according to the assessor's returns +for 1849." They are as follows:-- + + "Acres of land--Improvements on land--Town lots and + improvements--_Capital employed in merchandise_--Mills, + manufactories, distilleries, carding machines and tan-yards, + _with the stock employed_--Horses, cattle, sheep, &c.--Pleasure + carriages, watches, pianofortes--_Capital stocks and profits + in any company incorporated or unincorporated_--Property + in boats and vessels--Gold and silver coin, and bank-notes + in actual possession--_Claims for money, or other + consideration--Annuities--Amount of notes, mortgages, &c. All + other personal property over 100 dollars._" + +All these descriptions of property contribute alike, dollar +for dollar, towards the expenses of the State, which--be it +remarked--embrace not only the general charges for interest of +debt, and for the support of the legislative, executive, and +judiciary departments, but include also payments for prisons, +asylums, the militia, the public roads, and several other branches +of expenditure, which in this country are saddled either upon real +property or upon the land alone. Let any one look at the items of +the above list printed in italics, and say what portion of such +wealth passes through the national exchequer, or goes to uphold the +public institutions, of Great Britain. The whole annual incomes +above £50 a-year in Great Britain are estimated, on the best +attainable data,[9] to amount to upwards of £352,000,000 sterling, +of which the taxed real income is £86,000,000, or one-fourth part +only. Is there any one with a conscience so elastic as to maintain +that the owners of the other three-fourths contribute fairly to +the support of the State, in proportion to the revenue they enjoy +under its protection? From the investigations of Mr Smee, to whom +we have referred, it appears that while the number of those who +pay the direct taxes is about five hundred thousand, _there are +upwards of one million eight hundred thousand persons in Great +Britain enjoying incomes of above £50 a-year, who do not contribute +one farthing to them_. What is this but a system of iniquitous +exemption of the one class, and of virtual confiscation as to the +other? But the whole subject occupies far too prominent a place in +the public mind to be treated thus incidentally. For the present +then we leave it, thoroughly persuaded that, under a form of +government which acknowledges no distinctions between classes and +interests, so shameless a violation of the plainest principles of +equity cannot long be permitted to continue, and cordially joining +in the wish that no object of less momentous interest--no schemes of +impracticable retrenchment--no wily bait of extended suffrage--no +flourishing of the old red rag of reform, may be suffered to +distract the attention of the public, from the one great paramount +practical reform--A READJUSTMENT OF TAXATION. + + [9] See Mr Smee's pamphlet on the Income-Tax. + +We owe an apology to Professor Johnston for having deviated somewhat +from the ordinary course of a review. His work has already been so +much and so flatteringly noticed, that to have limited ourselves +to mere abridgment and quotation from the _Notes_ would have +led us over the same ground that has been already exhausted by +other critics. We have therefore preferred discussing some of the +questions of greatest public interest which his observations have +suggested; and if, on some of these, we have been led to dissent +from his opinions, we have done so in no unfriendly spirit, which +indeed would have been impossible in judging of an author whose own +views are always expressed with perfect candour and moderation. +There can be no doubt that, under the unpretending title which he +has chosen to adopt, he has contrived to bring together a larger +mass of varied and valuable information on the present condition of +North America than is to be found in any work yet published. + + + + +THE ANSAYRII. + +_The Ansayrii (or Assassins;) with Travels in the Further East._ +By the Hon. FREDERIC WALPOLE, R.N., Author of _Four Years in the +Pacific_. London: Bentley, 1851. + + +Hail to the bright East, with all its mysteries, its mighty past, +its pregnant future, its inexhaustible sources of airiest amusement +and most solemn interest! We welcome with pleasure the original and +truly Oriental book before us. It harmonises rather with the poetic +than the historic character of Eastern lands; but in its wild and +dreamy narrative there are to be found vivid and faithful pictures, +such as those that lighted up the charmed reveries of DeQuincey. For +the present we will lay aside the critic's task: we will postpone +all such considerations, and invite the reader to accompany us in a +rapid tour over the varied regions which Mr Walpole has recalled to +our memory and imagination. Let us turn for a little from the "world +that is too much with us," and, ranging away from chilly mists and +gloomy skies, sun our fancy in the lands where Paradise was planted. + +Egypt and Palestine appear familiar to us all; they are of common +interest to the whole Christian world--classic lands to every old +villager who can read his Bible, as well as to the profound scholar. +In them, sacred and profane history are so intimately blended +that the latter assumes almost the authenticity of the former. +Herodotus and his followers have actually a people still in the +flesh (if flesh the mummy may be called) to refer to: subterranean +Egypt is still inhabited by the undecayed bodies of the very men +who associated with the Israelites, and forms that were beautiful +and loved three thousand years ago. Imperishable as their old +inhabitants, their temples and their monuments still stand above +them, and will there remain unparalleled, until their long-buried +architects shall rise again. + +Passing on to Palestine, we find, memories and associations still +stronger and more striking; for here nature is invested with the +sentiment that in Egypt is awakened by art. Palestine belongs not to +time only, but to eternity; with which, by types and illustrations, +its earthly history is so beautifully blended and aggrandised. Its +literature is inspired truth, its annals are prophecies fulfilled, +and the very face of the land itself vindicates the beauty it _once_ +wore, through all the sorrow and desolation that have fallen on it +since. Owing to the metaphorical style of Oriental composition, +every object in nature was used to illustrate or impress by its +analogy; and hence not only the holy mountains, the sacred rivers, +and the battle plains have memories for us, but the very "hyssop +on the wall," the blasted fig-tree, the cedar, the "high rock in +the thirsty land;" every vale, and hill, and lake, and city, is +consecrated by some association with the men who spoke the words of +God--with the time that witnessed His presence in the flesh. + +The remorseless Jews were swept from the Promised Land, as their +ancestor was from Eden, for the irreparable sin; and the sword of +the Roman waved over the ruined walls of Jerusalem, forbidding all +return. The Saracen and the Crusader succeeding, add another element +of interest--an English association--to long-tried and suffering +Judea. The Crusaders were rather a warlike emigration than invasion; +they were the angry overflow of discontented Europe, which sought +to vent its spleen and dogmas upon the Infidel. Their ebbing tide +bore back to us the arts and sciences and chivalry of Arabia; +and thus Palestine became the channel for all our best temporal +acquirements, as it had long since furnished us with our eternal +hope. + +All this, and more--much more--invests Syria with undying and +exhaustless interest to the student and the traveller; but we +will not linger on such impressions now. We have a lighter task +to fulfil, though we are about to visit the land of Nimrod, of +Abraham's nativity, and of the empire of Semiramis. The pleasant +company in which we travel will speed us on; and, in the old +troubadour fashion, lay and legend will beguile the way. But before +we enter fairly on our pilgrimage to "Ur of the Chaldees" and the +tomb of Nineveh, we shall pause to make some practical observations +on the route which, in its present aspect, may be new to some of our +readers. + +EGYPT MAY SOON BE REACHED IN TEN DAYS.[10] This is almost +incredible; still more so, when we add that it may be accomplished +without fatigue, hardship, or self-denial. The traveller even now +embarks at Southampton in one of the Oriental Company's magnificent +steamers, and finds himself landed at Alexandria in fifteen days, +having visited Gibraltar and Malta, besides having travelled three +thousand miles in as much comfort as he would have enjoyed at +Brighton, with far more advantage to his health and spirits, and but +trifling additional expense. For our own parts, we believe that, +before long, sea voyages, instead of sea shores, will be resorted +to, not only by the invalid, but by the epicurean and the idler. +The floating hotels of our ocean steamers afford as comfortable +quarters as any of their more stationary rivals, with the additional +advantage of presenting a change of air and of scenery every morning +that the "lodger" rises. + + [10] By the leviathan steamers now building for the Peninsular and + Oriental Steam Company. They are calculated to make from sixteen to + eighteen miles an hour, which would reduce the sea-going part of the + voyage to eight days two hours. + +The autumn--the later the _better_--is the _best_ period for +visiting Egypt. October is, on the whole, the best month for +beginning the ascent of the Nile. We will suppose the traveller +landed at Alexandria: he achieves the lions of that suddenly-created +city (except Aboukir Bay) in a few hours, and is ready to start +for Cairo in the mail steamer, with the India-bound passengers who +accompanied him from England. The country in which he now finds +himself, by so sudden a transition, is full of apparent paradoxes; +amongst others, he may be surprised to find that the canal on which +he travels to Atfeh winds considerably, though no engineering +obstacles whatever oppose themselves to a straight course. The +reason of this sinuosity was thus explained to us by Mehemet Ali +himself:--"You ask why my canal is not straight: Ya, Wallah! it is +owing to a bit of bigotry. The dog who made it was a true Believer, +and something more. He said to himself, 'Ya, Seedee, thou art about +to make what Giaours call a canal, and Giaours in their impiety make +such things straight. Now, a canal is made after the fashion of a +river--(Allah pardon us for imitating his works!)--and all rivers +wind: Allah forbid that my canal should be better than His river; it +shall wind too.'" + +And so it does. + +Landed at Cairo, the traveller of the present day will find a +steamer once a fortnight ready to take him up to the first cataract +and back again, as fast as Young Rapid, or any other son of a +tailor, could desire. But even the rational tourist will be tempted +to send on his Kandjiah, (the old-fashioned Nile boat,) well +found and provisioned, a fortnight or three weeks before him, and +overtake her in the steamer. The Kandjiah voyage up stream is often +wearisome, downward never--as in the descent you are borne softly +along at from three to six miles an hour, even when you sleep. From +the first cataract to the second is only about two hundred miles, +and occupies about three weeks; but to those who can find pleasure +in what is most wild and dreamy and unearthly in scenery and art, +the desert view from Mount Abousir, the temples of Guerf, Hassan, +and Ipsamboul, are worth all the rest of the Nile voyage, except +Thebes and exquisite Philæ.[11] Returned to Alexandria, as we will +suppose, in March, the traveller will be quite early enough for +Syria, whose winter (considering the tented life he is compelled to +lead) is not to be despised. A steamer transports him to Beyrout in +thirty hours; and there our true travel begins.[12] + + [11] The mere physical pleasure of the upper voyage has been + thus described--"No words can convey an idea of the beauty and + delightfulness of tropical weather, at least while any breeze + from the north is blowing. There is a pleasure in the very act of + breathing--a voluptuous consciousness that existence is a blessed + thing: the pulse beats high, but calmly; the eye feels expanded; + the chest heaves pleasureably, as if air was a delicious draught + to thirsty lungs; and the mind takes its colouring and character + from sensation. No thought of melancholy ever darkens over us--no + painful sense of isolation or of loneliness, as day after day we + pass on through silent deserts, upon the silent and solemn river. + One seems, as it were, removed into another state of existence; and + all the strifes and struggles of that from which we have emerged + seem to fade, softened into indistinctness. This is what Homer and + Alfred Tennyson knew that the lotus-eaters felt when they tasted + of the mysterious tree of this country, and became weary of their + wanderings:-- + + '----To him the gushing of the wave + Far, far away, did seem to mourn and rave + On alien shores: and, if his fellow spake, + His voice was thin, as voices from the grave! + And deep asleep he seemed, yet all awake, + And music in his ears his beating heart did make.' + + If the day, with all the tyranny of its sunshine and its innumerable + insects, be enjoyable in the tropics, the night is still more so. + The stars shine out with diamond brilliancy, and appear as large as + if seen through a telescope. Their changing colours, the wake of + light they cast upon the water, the distinctness of the milky way, + and the splendour, above all, of the evening star, give one the + impression of being under a different firmament from that to which + we have been accustomed; then the cool delicious airs, with all the + strange and stilly sounds they bear from the desert and the forest; + the delicate scents they scatter, and the languid breathings with + which they make our large white sails appear to pant, as they heave + and languish softly over the water."--(_The Crescent and the Cross_, + vol. i. p. 210.) + + [12] The journey from Cairo across the desert by Suez, or at least + thence by Gaza or Sinai to Jerusalem, is performed in the same + manner as it was in the days when Eothen, Dr Robinson, and Lord + Castlereagh described it. The only difference occurs in the route + between Cairo and Suez, which is now performed on wheels in about + twelve hours, and, in the course of eighteen months, is expected to + be easily accomplished in two hours and a half by railway. + +Thus, (omitting the somewhat important episode of Egypt,) we find +ourselves transported, in little more than a fortnight, from +the murky fogs and leafless trees of England, to the delicious +temperature and tropical verdure that surrounds the most beautiful +town of the Levant. As every improvement in steam-navigation lessens +its distance from Christendom, Beyrout increases and expands. Nor +must we omit an honest tribute to the iron but even-handed justice +of Ibrahim Pasha, which first rendered it safely accessible to +Europeans. Before his conquest of Syria, the Frank was wont to +skulk anxiously through the town, exposed to insult and unpunished +violence: without the walls, the robber enjoyed as much impunity +as the bigot did within; and, between both, Beyrout became, or +continued to be, a miserable village. Its environs were wild +wastes, where the gipsy alone ventured to pitch his tent, and the +wild dog prowled. Now, pleasant gardens and picturesque kiosks, +or summer-houses, replace the wilderness; the town expands, grows +clean, doubles its population, and welcomes a crowd of shipping to +its port. A more delightful residence, as a refuge from winter, can +scarcely be conceived. An infinite variety of excursions may be made +from hence; and every time the traveller mounts his horse, whether +he be historically, picturesquely, controversially, botanically, +or geologically given, he may return to his flat-roofed home with +some valuable acquisition to his note-book. The views are everywhere +magnificent, and the warm breezes from the bluest of oceans are +tempered by the snowy neighbourhood of the loveliest of mountains. + +Five roads of leading interest (besides many a cheering byway +among the hills) branch out from the walls of Beyrout. Damascus is +about eighteen hours off; Jerusalem six days; Djouni, the romantic +residence and burial-place of Lady Hester Stanhope, ten hours; +Baalbec, the flower of all Eastern ruins, eighteen hours, and +Latakia, whither _we_ are bound, five days. These distances may be +accomplished in less time; they are here given at the calculation +of a walking pace, as the roads, or rather paths, are for the most +part steep and difficult; and the baggage-horses, at all events, +can seldom advance more rapidly. One word more of dry detail, and +we shall put ourselves _en route_ for the mountains of the Ansayrii +and the further East. Notwithstanding the advance of civilisation at +Beyrout, where a European consulocracy has established a more than +European equality of privileges between Turks and Christians, the +interior of the country is daily becoming more dangerous to travel +in. Eight years ago, when the stern rule of Ibrahim Pasha had still +left its beneficent traces, the writer of this article wandered over +the length and breadth of the land, attended by a single servant +and a muleteer. Since our Government, for inscrutable reasons, +has restored Syria to the embroilment of its native factions, all +security for the traveller, and indeed for the native, has ceased. +To reach Jerusalem, or even Damascus, in safety, a considerable +escort is now necessary; though the Vale of Baalbec may still be +reached in less warlike fashion from Latakia or Tripoli, if the +traveller is endowed with liberality, courage, and courtesy--the +leading virtues of his profession. + +Before we proceed on our travels, let us introduce our guide. +Mr Walpole is a young naval officer, and there is in most of +his narrative a dashing impetuous style, which savours of his +profession. In this there is a certain charm, imparting as it does +an air of frank and fearless confidence in his reader's quick +perception and favourable construction. There is in his writings +what we would also hope is professional--a chivalrous feeling and +generous sentiment, that is never obscured by a sordid thought or +unworthy imputation. As he sees clearly, of course he also sees +faults in men, and minds, and manners; but such discoveries are +made in a tone of regret rather than of triumph; or thrown off in +a strain of good-humoured satire that could not offend even its +objects. His descriptive powers are graphic, and often very vivid; +his humour is very original, being generally tinged with melancholy, +in such sort as that of a philanthropic Jacques might be: finally, +he does not fear to display a profound and manly reverence for +holy things and sacred places. On the other hand, to set against +all these high merits, we must confess that many faults afford +some drawback to his book. It is often incoherent, and deficient +in arrangement. The first volume is rather the groundwork than +the accomplishment of what an author with Mr Walpole's powers and +material should have effected. Most of these faults, however, +may find their excuse in the circumstances under which they were +composed. They smack of the tent, the boat, and the bivouac, as old +wine does of the _borachio_. Whatever they may be, this work is one +that will be widely read; and wherever it is read with appreciation, +it will direct the interest not only to its subject, but its author: +his individuality, unostentatiously and unconsciously, is impressed +on every page; and his genius, however erratic, is unquestionable. + +The cockpit, and even the gun-room of a man-of-war, are little +favourable to intellectual effort, or the habit or the love of +learning which it can alone accomplish. We can therefore make +greater allowances for errors in composition, and concede greater +credit for the attainments in languages and general knowledge which +our young author has achieved. This is perhaps still more striking +in a work written by Mr Walpole three years ago, entitled _Four +Years in the Pacific_, which, though written in a midshipman's +berth, abounds in passages of beauty, and in his peculiar and +original humour. Having said so much in his praise and dispraise, +and only premising, in addition, that he speaks Arabic and Turkish, +so as to interpret for himself the quaint unusual thoughts of the +people among whom he lives, we enter upon a survey of what he saw. + +We have unwillingly passed over the whole of our author's outward +voyage, which is graphically, and almost dramatically, described. +We shall only refer to one or two passages respecting the Levant. +The following sentence may dispel some fanciful visions of the sunny +climate of Stamboul:-- + + "Snow, 'thick and deep' enveloped the city; cupola, dome, + and cypress were burdened with icicles; above, was an angry + winter sky with a keenly piercing wind.... English fires and + English coals were the best things we saw--we were actually + blockaded by the weather.... At length we embarked: the crew + were shovelling the deep snow-drift off the deck, so we rushed + below into a cabin whose bulkheads were beautifully varnished, + sofas perfect, skylights closed, the whole atmosphere tobacco. + We were off, gliding past the Seraglio Point, which was swathed + in snow, and looking like a man in summer clothes caught in a + wintry storm.... Masses animate and inanimate encumbered the + deck; the former for the most part consisting of the Sultan's + subjects; among the latter our baggage, which was thrown into + the general heap, and kicked about until it found quiet in the + hold.... The numbers thus congregated were principally pilgrims, + on their way to Jerusalem and to the Jordan; though others, on + more worldly journey bent, were mingled with the rest. Each + family had taken a spot on the deck, and there, piled over with + coverings, and surrounded with their goods, they remained during + the voyage: one side of the after-deck was alone kept clear for + the first-class passengers, and even this was often invaded by + others, who wisely remarked that _we_ had cabins below. + + "Each family forms a scene in itself; and an epitome of life + in the East is found by a glance around. Four merchants, on + their return from a trading tour, have bivouacked between the + skylights; and they sing and are sick; call _kief_[13] and + smoke, with true Moslem indifference. On the starboard quarter, + our notions of Eastern domesticity are sadly put out, for there + a Moslem husband is mercilessly bullied by a shrill-voiced + Houri. It is curious to observe her perseverance in covering + her face, even during the agonies of sea-sickness. Their black + servant has taken us into the number of licensed ones, and her + veil now hangs over her neck like a loosened neck-cloth. + + [13] _Kief_: a word difficult to translate, but expressing + perfect abandonment to repose; a _dolce far niente_ which only + Orientals can thoroughly achieve. + + "On the other side, a Greek family in three generations lies + along the deck, fortified by a stout man-servant across their + legs, whose attentions to the girls during his own heart-rending + ailments is very pretty. The huge grandmother was set on fire + and smouldered away most stoically, until her foot began to + burn, when, while others put her out, she sank blubbering to + sleep again. The pretty granddaughters find the long prostration + more irksome; but send their flashing eyes about with careless + movement, and so the mass goes on. Here one appears to be + offering up _nazam_, but nearer inspection shows that his shoe + is only receiving the offering to the heaving waves.... + + "Our steamer had passed sad hours of toil, and pitched and + tossed us all out of temper before we entered the calm waters to + leeward of Rhodes, and at last, passing the low points covered + with detached houses and windmills, we shot round in front of + the harbour. Our view of the intervening coast had been too + vague to form a judgment upon it; but here and there a peak + towered up above the mists, all else being veiled by the cloudy + sky.... No place it has ever been my fortune to visit, more, by + its appearance, justifies its character than Rhodes. Around the + harbour's shore, one continued line of high castellated wall, + unbroken save by flanking towers or frowning portals; from the + wave on either side, dovetailed to the rock, rise the knightly + buildings; and as the eye reaches round, no dissonant work mars + the effect, save that one lofty palm rears its tropic head--but + it adds to, rather than lessens, the effect. Above the walls, a + mosque with its domed roof or minaret appears; and the fragile + building speaks, how truly! in its contrast to the massive walls + and ponderous works of former rulers, that the battle is not + always to the strong." + +In speaking of the sister island-fortress, Malta, our author remarks +(in a former page) the immediate contrast presented by these +luxurious arsenals:-- + + "The Eastern reclines on the cushioned divan, the embodiment + of repose; the softest carpets, the freshest flowers, surround + him--soft women attend the slightest motion of his eye--all + breathes of indolence, abandonment, and ease; yet his girdle + bristles with arms--his gates are locked and guarded. So at + Malta, the bower is a bastion, the saloon a casemate, the + serenade the call of martial music, the draperies war-flags, the + ornaments shot in ready proximity." + +Proceeding to Tarsus, we pass on to Alexandretta, "a wretched +collection of hovels. The harbour is splendid; the ruins of the old, +the skeleton of the new town, standing on the beach. Behind it, in +every direction, stretches a fetid and swampy plain, which only +requires drainage to be rendered fertile and wholesome." This is the +seaport of Aleppo, on the road to which lies the town of Beilau, +and the village of Mortawan, where Pagan rites, especially those of +Venus, are still said to be maintained. But again we reimbark-- + + "Again the vessel cuts the wave. The mountains become a feeble + bleached outline, save Cassius on the north, who frowns on his + unrecorded fame. Yes, noble hill! though not so high as Strabo + tells, though not lofty and imposing; though dark thy path + now--unnoticed, solitary. There blazed up the last effort of the + flame of pagan civilisation: there Julian the Great--whatever + other title men may bestow upon him--offered his solemn + sacrifice to Jupiter the Avenger, previous to his last campaign, + when the eagles were to wave over Mesopotamia. + + "The Sabbath dawned fresh, unclouded, and beautiful, as we + anchored in the pretty little port of Latakia, the ancient + Laodicea. The town of Latakia, built by Seleucus Nicator, in + honour of his mother, is comprehended in the Pashalic of Saida, + or Beyrout. It stands on a spur of the Ansayrii Mountains. About + half a mile inland, the spur falls into the sea, and forms Cape + Zairet; the town stands on its southern slope, and is joined, + by gardens and a port, to the sea. The port is small and well + sheltered; but time, Turks, and ruins, are filling it up. The + buildings on the shore, having their backs to the sea, present + the appearance of a fortification. On a reef of rock that + shelters the harbour stands a pile of building of different + eras. It seems to be castle, mosque, and church. Along the beach + lie hundreds of shafts of columns, and many are built into the + walls, of whose remains you catch a glimpse on the southern + side." + +Here we must pause, though our traveller proceeds to Beyrout, of +which he gives a charming account, which our limits forbid us +to quote. We reserve our space for more novel scenes, and must +pass over a chapter on Damascus, which is rich in legends and +graphic pictures. Thence, _en route_ to Homs, by the way of the +desert, eastward of the Anti-Lebanon, we have a sketch that is too +characteristic of Eastern travel to pass over:-- + + "North, south and east, dead plain; west, a low range of hills, + and beyond, the fair Anti-Lebanon in all its snowy beauty. + Desert all around us, but no dreary waste. Here and there were + loose stones and rocks; the rest a carpet of green, fresh, dewy + grass, filled with every hue of wild-flowers--the poppy in its + gorgeous red, the hyacinth, the simple daisy and others, thick + as they could struggle up, all freshened with a breeze heavy + with the scents of thyme. The lark sent forth its thrill of + joy in welcome to the coming day; before us the pennon of the + spearmen gleamed as they wound along the plain. We passed the + site of an Arab encampment strewn with fire-blackened stones, + bones, and well picked carcasses. Storks and painted quails + sauntered slowly away at our approach, or perched and looked as + if they questioned our right to pass. At eight o'clock halted + at a khan called Hasiah also. The population consisting of + robust, wild-looking fellows; and very pretty women poured out + to sell hard-boiled eggs, leban, bread, and milk: they were all + Mussulmans.... + + "We were soon disturbed by a multitude of sick, which recalled + to one's mind how in this land, of old, the same style of faces, + probably in the same costumes, crowded to Him who healed. The + lame, carried by the healthy; feeble mothers with sickly babes; + hale men showing wounds long self-healed; others with or without + complaints." + +Arrived at Homs, we have-- + + "Fish for dinner, from the Lake of Kades, whose blue waters we + saw in the distance to-day. The Lebanon opens behind that lake, + and you may pass to the sea, on the plain, without a hill. + This plain, but rarely visited, is among the most interesting + portions of Syria, containing numerous convents, castles, and + ruins, and its people are still but little known. Maszyad, the + principal seat of the sect called Ismayly: the Ansayrii also, + and Koords, besides Turks, Christians, and gipsys, may be found + among its varied population. The ancient castle of El Hoshn, + supposed, by the lions over its gates, to have been built by + the Count of Thoulouse, is well worth a visit. The Orontes, + taking its rise in a rock, from whence it gushes just west of + the Tel of Khroumee,--(true bearing from Homs from south 60° + 32' east,)--flows through the Lake of Kades, and passes about + 2° to the west of Homs: it is called Nahr El Aazzy, or "the + rebel river," some say because of its running north, while all + the other rivers run south; more probably, however, on account + of its rapidity and strength of current. It is an historical + stream; on its banks were altars, and the country it waters is + almost unmatched for beauty-- + + 'Oh, sacred stream! whose dust + Is the fragments of the altars of idolatry.'" + +It was at Homs--the ancient Emessa--that Zenobia was brought as a +captive into the presence of Aurelian. + + "Why did she not there fall? why add the remaining lustreless + years to her else glorious life? why, in the words of Gibbon, + sink insensibly into the Roman matron? Zenobia fat, dowdy, and + contented--profanation! Zimmerman, however, invests the close + of her career with graceful philosophy: at Tivoli, in happy + tranquillity, she fed the greatness of her soul with the noble + images of Homer, and the exalted precepts of Plato; supported + the adversity of her fortunes with fortitude and resignation, + and learnt that the anxieties attendant on ambition are happily + exchanged for the enjoyments of ease and the comforts of + philosophy." + +From Homs we reach Aleppo in four days. + + "It was a spring morning, and a gentle keenness, wafted from + snow-clad mountains, rendered the climate delightful. The town + lay beneath me, and each terrace, court, serai, and leewan + lay open to my view. I saw Aleppo was built in a hollow, from + which ran plains north and west, surrounded by mountains. To + the north, Djebel Ma Hash and his range, untouched by the soft + smiles of the young spring, lay deep in the snow; the flat + connected grass-grown roofs and well-watered sparkling courts, + with their carefully-tended trees, relieving the glare of the + houses, while all around the town lay belted in its garden. The + scene was pretty and pleasing; here and there the forests of + tomb-stones, the perfect minaret, the Eastern dome swelling up + from the mob of flat roofs,--these formed a sight that told I + was in the East, in the cradle of mankind--the home of + history."... + + "And here, though sorely pressed for time, we must stop for a + picnic, which E---- and myself were told it would be right to + give. We provided carpets, nargillehs, horse-loads of sundries, + cushions, a cargo of lettuces; and thus equipped, we sallied + out, a very numerous party. The first thing to select was a + garden, a point on which our own choice, and not the owner's + will, seemed alone to be consulted. Let not the reader fancy + an Eastern garden is what a warm Western fancy would paint + it--wild with luxuriant but weedless verdure, heavy with the + scent of roses and jessamine, thrilling with the songs of the + bulbul and the nightingale, where fair women with plaited + tresses touch the soulful lute in graceful attitudes. No; it + is a piece of ground enclosed by high walls, varying in size. + A wretched gate, invariably badly made, probably ruined, + admits you to the interior. Some enclose a house with two or + three rooms--windowless, white-washed places. Before this + is a reservoir of dirty, stagnant water, turned up from a + neighbouring well by an apparatus as rude as it is ungainly and + laborious: this is used to irrigate the ground, which therefore + is alternately mud and dust. Fruit trees or mulberries are + planted in rows, and the ground beneath, being ploughed up, + is productive of vegetables or corn. One or two trees, for + ornament, may be planted in the first row, but nothing more; and + weeds, uncut, undestroyed, spring up in every direction. Such, + without exaggeration, is the _Bistan zareff quiess!_--the Lovely + Garden. + + "We selected one that belonged to the Mollah. Oh, true believer! + in thy pot we boiled a ham; on thy divan we ate the forbidden + beast; thy gardener, for base reward, assisting to cook--who + knows, but also to eat the same? We chose a spot shaded by a + noble walnut tree, and spread carpets and cushions. Fire was + lighted, nargillehs bubbled, and kief began." + +On the 2d of May we start for the Euphrates, and follow for some +time nearly the route recommended by Colonel Chesney for the great +Indian railway to Bussora, on the Persian Gulph. The distance is +little more than 800 miles--scarcely thirty steam-winged hours--the +level surpassingly uniform. Truly those who desire to find either +solitude, or what our author calls _kief_, in the East, must +repair thither quickly, for the iron of the engineer has already +entered into its soul. Already the blue and white rivers of the +Nile are more easily attainable than were the Tiber and the Po to +our grandfathers. Beyrout and Latakia will soon be fashionable +watering-places; Baalbec as well known as Melrose Abbey; and the +excavated ruins of Nimroud will come under the range of "return +tickets." The grim Arab will look out from any quiet spot that the +all-searching Cockney may have spared him; and he will gaze with +wonder on the awful processions of the "devil-goaded" tourists, as +they rush with magic speed across his wilderness--only to retrace +their steps. The Turk, at the utmost bounds of the Othman Empire, +will marvel at this new freak of _kismet_ (destiny;) with a sigh +he will abandon his beloved _bockra_ (the "to-morrow" in which he +loves to live;) and commending himself to Islam, or resignation in +its most trying form, he will "jump in" like the mere Giaours, and +be hurled along with the rest across the desert behind the Afreet +stoker. + +But at present the wilderness knows nothing of all this, and we have +before us the scenery of other days as Abram beheld it. We now cross +the Chalus River, and enter upon a series of vast plains, varied by +mysterious _tels_ or mounds, rising up from the level surface like +bubbles on a pool. On, or among these, the ever restless Turkomans +pitch their tents, and welcome the traveller kindly to their +wandering homes. On the third day from Aleppo we reach Aintab, on +the river Sadschur, "which, fresh and young, danced brightly on, as +if eager to join the Euphrates and see the wide world beyond." + + "At Aintab, among other visitors was Doctor Smith, an American + missionary. He was a well-bred, sensible man, a clever linguist, + and, from all I ever heard, an earnest and zealous servant of + his heavenly Master. His mission already shows results which + must indeed be a source of peace to his heart, and proves that + some are allowed even in this world to reap the fruits of their + toil for the Lord. In that very town, whence a few years ago he + was insulted and abused, a faithful flock now join in humble + prayers to God; and surely they pray for him, the instrument of + their salvation. I was much pleased at the plain unexaggerating + way in which he told the history of his mission.... The good + work has progressed, and he now has from one hundred and fifty + to three hundred pupils in his school, many the children of + non-converted parents. And in this year's enrolment--great + glory to our ambassador at Constantinople!--the Protestants are + enrolled as a separate religious community: the males are two + hundred and odd here. + + "All sects recognised by the Porte are enrolled separately, as + their taxes, &c., are apportioned by their own heads (chiefs.)" + +Many of the Armenians here have been converted to the Church of +England, and this has proved to be a most advantageous change for +their women. + + "They are now emancipated from the bondage they have so long + been held in--I do not mean personal bondage, for perhaps there + is less of it in the East than in the West--but their whole + moral position has undergone a vast change. The man is now first + taught that the woman is his best friend; his firmest, truest + companion; his equal in the social scale, as God made her--a + help meet for him, not a mere piece of household furniture. The + woman is also taught to reverence the man as her head; thus + imparting that beautiful lesson, 'He for God only, she for + God through him.' She is also taught perhaps a harder lesson, + a more painful task--to relinquish all her costly ornaments, + when such may be more usefully employed in trade and traffic; + to consider necessaries more beautiful than costly clothes or + embroidered suits. Gradually she is allowed to unite with the + man in prayers, which is permitted by no other sect in the East, + women always having a portion of the church set apart for them, + and the Moslems praying at different times. May it please Him + who gives and dispenses all things, to prosper this and all + other good and holy works!... On leaving Aintab, we passed over + the hills that environ the town, and entered a pretty valley, + through which the Sadschur river accompanies us. Here, at a + small village called Naringa, we chose a pretty spot under some + trees, and pitched our tents. The horses browsed at our door, + the stream jumped by before us as we took our evening's repose. + And repose it is to sit thus at the close of a day of travel, to + enjoy the view of the lovely regions given man to dwell in; to + see the various changes time, circumstances, and religion have + wrought in the family of Adam, or, as the Arabs say, in the Beni + Adam. It was a lovely evening; and as I reclined apart from my + more gregarious fellow-travellers, I felt + + 'That the night was filled with music, + And the cares that infested the day + Had folded their tents, like the Arab, + And as silently stolen away.'" + +From Naringa our route lies eastward over low undulated hills, +still marked by frequent _tels_, generally surmounted by a village. +"Are these mounds natural, or does man still fondly cling to the +ruined home of his fathers?" Crossing the river Kirsan, we arrive at +Nezeeb, lying among vineyards and plantations of figs, pistachios, +and olives, interspersed with fields of wheat. At this village the +Sultan's forces, 70,000 strong, were defeated by Ibrahim Pasha with +45,000 men--a bootless victory, soon neutralised by a few lines +from our "Foreign Office." On the 6th day after leaving Aleppo, we +find ourselves on the Euphrates, the _Mourad Shai_, or "Water of +desire."[14] + + [14] The Moslems being water-drinkers, are as curious about their + streams as _bons vivans_ are about their cellars. One of the Caliphs + sent to weigh all the waters in his wide kingdom, and found that of + the Euphrates was the lightest. + + "In all its majesty, it glides beneath our gaze. It is needless + to tell the history of this river, renowned in the earliest + traditions. Watering the Paradise of earth, it has been mingled + with the fables of heaven; the Lord gave it in his covenants + unto Abram; Moses, inspired, preached it in his sermon to the + people. In its waters are bound the four angels, and, at the + emptying of the sixth vial, its waters will dry up, that the + 'way of the kings of the East may be prepared.' In every age + it has formed a prominent feature in the diorama of history, + flashing with sunshine, or sluggish and turbid with blood; and + here, on its bank, its name unchanged, all now is solitude and + quiet. + + "Descending amidst wide burial-grounds, where here and there + a _kubbé_ sheltered some clay more revered than the rest, we + reached its shores, and patiently took up our quarters beneath + the shade of a tree, till a boat should arrive to carry us over. + The redoubt, Fort William, as it was called, of the Euphrates + expedition still remains. In ancient times four shallows existed + where there were bridges over the Euphrates: the northernmost at + Samosata, now unused; Rum Kalaat, further south, being the route + frequented; Bir, the khan and eastern bank of which is called + Zeugma, or the Bridge, to this day; and the fourth at Thapsacus, + the modern Thapsaish, where Cyrus, Alexander, and Crassus passed + into Mesopotamia. The Arabs now generally pass here, or else by + fords known only to themselves. Julian crossed at a place called + Menbidjy, which was probably abreast of Hierapolis. + + "But what avails to recount individual cases?--the whole land is + history. Near us is Racca, once the favourite residence of Aaron + the Just. Here he delighted to spend his leisure-- + + 'Entranced with that place and time, + So worthy of the golden prime + Of good Haroun Alraschid.'" + +We cross the Euphrates to the town of Bir, and proceed still +eastward, along a flat desert, strewn with a small-bladed scanty +grass, aromatic flowers, and wormwood. "One small gleam, like a +polished shield or a dark sward, is all we see of the mighty river +that flows around us. Every hour of the day changes the aspect of +the desert: now it is wild and gloomy, as scudding clouds pass over +the sun; now smiling with maiden sweetness, as the sun shines out +again." Often we pass by the tented homes of the desert tribes, with +their flocks and herds tended by busy maidens, now screaming wildly +after their restless charge--now singing songs as wild, but sweeter +far. Then comes sunset with its massed clouds of purple, blue, and +gold; the air is full of bleatings as the flocks all tamely follow +their shepherds home. On the tenth day after leaving Aleppo, we +descend into a plain covered with some dusty olive-trees: we come +to a hill with a low wall, and a castle on its summit. "And this is +the Ur of the Chaldees, the Edessa of the Romans, the Orfa of the +Arabs. Here God spake to Abram." From this city, very fruitful in +legends, we reach Haran in six hours; travelling over a plain strewn +with _tels_ and encampments of the Koords. + + "Perhaps by this very route Abraham of old and those with him + travelled; nor is it extravagance to say, the family we now meet + may exhibit the exact appearance that the patriarchs did four + thousand years ago--the tents and pots piled on the camels; + the young children in one saddle-bag balancing the kids in + the other; the matron astride on the ass; the maid following + modestly behind; the boys now here, now there; the patriarch + himself on his useful mare, following and directing the march. + As we pass, he lays his hand on his heart, and says, 'Peace be + with you; where are you going?--Depart in peace.'" + +Haran appears to be, without doubt, the ancient city of Nahor, where +Laban lived, and where Jacob served for Leah and Rachel. Here, +too, is Rebekah's well, and here our traveller beheld the very +counterpart of the scene that Eleazar saw when he sought a bride +for his master's son. By this time our author had so far identified +himself with the desert tribes, their language, their interests, +their enjoyment of the desert life, and their love of horses, +that he seems to feel, and almost to speak, in the Arab style. We +have never seen that interesting people so happily described and +so vividly illustrated. If we had not so much before us still to +investigate, we would gladly dwell upon the desert journey from +Haran to Tel Bagdad, and on the raft voyage thence down the Tigris +to Mosul. One graphic sketch of an Arab sheik must serve for many: +his characteristic speech contains volumes of his people's history. + + "The young sheik was not, probably, more than seventeen or + eighteen years of age; handsome, but with that peculiarly + girlish effeminate appearance I have before mentioned as so + frequently found among the younger aristocracy of the desert, + and so strangely belied by their character and deeds. He now + held my horse, and, apologising for his father's temporary + absence, welcomed us. The tent was large and well made. We + remained here smoking and drinking coffee till the sheik + Dahhal arrived. He was fully dressed in silk--a fine figure of + a man with light clear eyes. Wounds, received long ago, have + incapacitated him from the free use of his hands, but report + says he can still grasp the rich dagger at his girdle with a + fatal strength when passion urges him. Though every feeling + was subdued, there showed through all his mildness the baffled + tiger, whose vengeance would be fearful--he resembled a netted + animal, vainly with all its cunning seeking to break the meshes + that encompassed him on all sides. + + "He received us with a hospitality that seemed natural; his + words were more sonorous, grand, and flowing than those of any + Arab I had before seen. They reminded me of the pleasure I had + felt in South America in listening to the language of a true + Spaniard, heard amidst the harsh gutturals of a provincial + jargon; strings of highflown compliments, uttered with an open, + noble mien, that, while it must please those to whom it is used, + seems but a worthy condescension in him. + + 'He was a man of war and woes; + Yet on his lineaments ye cannot trace, + While gentleness her milder radiance throws + Along that aged venerable face, + The deeds that lurk beneath, and stain him with disgrace.' + + "If report speaks true, never did there breathe a truer son of + Hagar than Sheik Dahhal. During his whole life his hand has + been against every man, and every man's against him. Gaining + his social position with his dagger, he openly endeavoured + to enlarge it by every exercise of force or fraud. The whole + frontier of Mardin, Nisibis, Mosul, Bagdad, &c., are his deadly + enemies, made so by his acts. It must be sad in declining years + to see the wreck of a youth thus spent; already the punishment + and repayment are hard at hand. + + "Successful violence brings temporary rewards--power, rule, + dominion; but for this he has bartered honour, fame, youth, + conscience: every stake, every ruse, has been used, and he gains + but defeat, disgrace, and contempt. It must be hard, very hard, + for the proud man to live on thus. I pitied him, and could feel + for him as he fondled his young son, a lovely little naked + savage, who lay crouching at his side. He had two or three other + children, all strikingly handsome.... + + "We were ultimately obliged to refuse his escort. 'It is + well,' said he, 'whether you go or stay, all Dahhal has, all + his enemies have left him, is yours.' We asked him if he saw + any change in the Arab since he remembered: he looked quietly + round at his tents, at his camels now crowded round them, the + flocks lowing to their homes; his dress, his arms, and then + said, 'No: since the time of the Prophets--since time was, + we are unchanged; perhaps poorer, perhaps less hospitable in + consequence; but otherwise unchanged.' He made a very just + remark afterwards: 'Our habits are the only ones adapted to the + country we live in; they cannot change unless we change our + country: no other life can be lived here.'" + +Our travellers, sending their horses and servants along the banks of +the Tigris, themselves embarked on board a raft composed of inflated +skins; and their voyage, after many incidents, terminated in the +following scene:-- + + "At last the pious true-believing eye of the boatman detected + the minarets of Mosul over the low land on the right. On our + left was a large temporary village, built of dried grass, + roughly and coarsely framed; low peaked mountains ahead broke + the steel line of the sky. No sooner did our boatman detect the + minarets, than he continued his prayers, confiding the oars + to one of the servants. Poor fellow! it was sad work; for the + raft, as if in revenge for the way he had pulled her about, + kept pertinaciously turning, and as it bore his Mecca--turned + front to the north, east, or west--he had to stop his pious + invocations, that otherwise would have been wafted to some + useless bourne; and then, as in the swing she turned him to the + black stone, he had to hurry on, like sportsmen anxious for some + passing game. Often he rose, but seemed not satisfied, and again + he knelt, and bowing prayed his Caaba-directing prayers. This + man had not prayed before during the voyage. + + "At last, over the land appeared a mud fort hardly + distinguishable from the hill; before it a white-washed dome, + a few straggling buildings--it was Mosul. Presently an angle + is turned, and the broken ruinous wall of an Eastern town lies + before us." + +Mosul is only sixteen days' journey from Aleppo. Although now +invested with a lasting interest by its connection with Mr Layard's +magnificent discoveries, it is one of the least attractive cities +of the East. Its neighbourhood, with the grand exception of buried +Nineveh, and some curious naphtha springs, is equally devoid of +interest. The huge mound called Koyunjik, "coverer of cities," lies +on the opposite side of the Tigris, about two miles from the river. +Tel Nimroud, where the first successful excavations were made, is +about eighteen miles lower down. It will be remembered that Mr Rich, +a merchant of Bagdad, first directed attention to these subterranean +treasures nearly twenty years ago: M. Botta, more recently, made +some energetic attempts to discover them; but it remained for our +gallant countryman, Mr Layard, to render his name illustrious by +unveiling the mysteries of ages, and restoring to light the wonders +of the ancient capital of the Assyrians. His renown, and still +more his success itself, must be its own reward; but we fear that +in all other respects the nation is still deeply in his debt. The +capricious liberalities of our Government with respect to art are +very singular; the financial dispositions of the British Museum are +still more difficult to explain. The former does not hesitate to +bestow £2500 on transporting a pillar from the sea-shore of Egypt to +London, while it only places at Mr Layard's disposal £3000 for the +excavation of Nineveh and its surrounding suburbs, eighteen miles +in extent--together with the support and pay of a numerous staff of +artists and others during eighteen months. On the other hand, the +trustees of the British Museum, knowing themselves already to be +deeply in Mr Layard's debt, refuse to further his great efforts, +except by the paltry (and refused) pittance of £12 a-month; and, at +the same time, they furnish Colonel Rawlinson with the sum of £2000 +to proceed with excavations at Koyunjik, (three hundred miles from +his residence,) and at Susa, which is one-third of the distance. +In the approaching session of Parliament, we hope that Mr Layard's +services to England and to art will be more generously appreciated +than they have hitherto been; and that, at all events, we shall +not be left to labour under the disgrace of pecuniary debt to that +enterprising gentleman. + +We have now reached our traveller's goal, and must make brief +work of his returning tour, in order to spare some columns to the +consideration of the Ansayrii, the most important matter in the work. + +After a residence of some weeks at Mosul, and at the several +neighbouring excavations, Mr Walpole accompanied Mr Layard in a tour +through the fastnesses of Koordistan: and here we must find space +for one or two glimpses at those unknown regions, and the life that +awaits the traveller there. + +Before we begin to ascend the hill country, we look back: + + "On either side, the mountain falls away with jut and crag + almost perpendicularly to the plain; at the foot, hills rise + above hills in irregular and petulant ranges, like a stormy sea + when the wind is gone, and nothing save its memory remains, + lashing the waves with restless motion. Westward lies the vast + plain, its surface broken by the mounds of imperial cities long + passed away. + + "One moment the eye rests on the Tigris as it glides its vast + volume by; then, out upon the plain, the desert broken by the + range of Singar, again on to distance where earth and air mingle + imperceptibly together. To the south, over a varied land, is + Mosul, the white glare of its mosque glistening in the sun; to + the south and east, a sea of hills, wave after wave, low and + irregular. The Zab, forcing its way, takes a tortuous course + to its companion; farther on, they join their waters, and run + together to the vast worlds of the south. Beyond are Arbela and + the Obeid. Kara Chout and its crags shut out the view, passing + many a spot graven on the pages of the younger world. + + "What a blank in history is there around those vast cities, now + brought to light! A few vague traditions, a few names whose + fabulous actions throw discredit on their existence, are all + that research has discovered. Even the nations following after + these we know but dimly--tradition, garlanded by poetry, our + only guide. + + 'Belshazzar's grave is made, + His kingdom passed away; + He in the balance weighed, + Is light and worthless clay. + The shroud his robe of state; + His canopy the stone; + The Mede is at his gate, + The Persian on his throne.' + + "Fancy conjures up to the south a small and compact body of + Greeks: around them, at a distance, like vultures round a + struggling carcase, hover bands of cavalry. Now, as a gap opens, + they rush on; now, as the ranks close up, they melt away, + shooting arrows as they fly, vengeful in their cowardice--it + is the retreat of Xenophon and his gallant band. They encamp + at Nimroud--as in his yesterday, so in our to-day, a mound + smothering its own renown. + + "Northward again comes a mighty band: with careful haste they + cross the rivers, and with confident step traverse the plain + south. On the south-east plain, a legion of nations, golden, + glittering, yet timorous, await their approach. Alexander, the + hero, scatters dismay: assured of conquest ere he met the foe, + he esteems the pursuit the only difficulty. On the one side, + Asia musters her nations--Indians, Syrians, Albanians, and + Bactrians--the hardiest population of her empire. Elephants and + war-chariots are of no avail: the result was fore-written, and + Darius foremost flies along the plain. + + "Faint, afar, we can see in the north-west Lucullus; and the + arms of Rome float over the walls of Nisibis, (B.C. 68.) We may + almost see the glorious array of Julian; hear him subduing his + mortal pain; hear him pronounce, with well-modulated tones, one + of the finest orations the world can record. We may see the + timid Jovian skulking in his purple from the field he dared not + defend in his armour. But again rise up the legions and the + Labarum: Heraclius throws aside his lethargy; the earth drinks + deep of gore, and Khosroo[15] is vanquished under our eyes. + + [15] He was subsequently murdered, A. D. 62. + + "The white and the black banners now gleam upon the field; the + crescent flaunts on either side. One God, one faith--they fight + for nought. Hell for the coward, paradise for the brave. Abou + Moslem and Merwan. The earth, on the spot which had last drunk + the red life-blood of Greek and Persian, now slakes its fill. + Merwan flies with wondrous steps, but the avenger follows fast. + He first loses his army on the Tigris; himself dies on the banks + of the Nile: there perished the rule of the Ommiades. + + "The hordes of Timour now approach: their war-song ought to be + the chorus of the spirits of destiny in _Manfred_-- + + 'Our hands contain the hearts of men, + Our footsteps are their graves; + We only give to take again + The spirits of our slaves.' + + "What a different aspect must this plain have presented when + those sun-burnt mysterious mounds were living, teeming, sinning + cities; irrigated, cultivated, protected, safe; fruitful and + productive! And these were barbarous times; and now, in this + our day, peace-congresses, civilisation, one vast federal + union, liberty, equality;--a few villages fortified as castles, + a population flying without a hope of even a death-spot in + peace--fearful alike of robbers and rulers, robbed alike by + protectors and enemies, planting the harvest they may not reap; + a government seizing what the roving Arabs choose to leave; + law known but as oppression; authority a license to plunder; + government a resident extortioner. + + "Too long have we lingered on the scene. Again the plain is + naked, bare, and lifeless; the sun hovers on the horizon--he + gilds the desert, licks the river; the desert breaks his + glorious disc. Slowly, like the light troops covering a retreat, + he collects his rays; with fondness lights up each hill; warms + with his smile, lighting with unnumbered tints each peak and + crag of hold desert-throned Singar. Reluctantly he hovers for a + moment on the horizon's verge, large, fearful, red; then + + 'The sun's rim dips, the stars rush out; + At one stride comes the dark.' + + "Near the convent is a dripping well; a rough path leads us to + it, and its entrance is shaded by a gigantic tree. The water + is very cold and sweet; the moisture shed a coolness around, + that made an exquisite retreat. Near it is a cave which in days + of persecution sheltered securely many of the poor fugitive + Christians. The destruction of most of the convents about these + mountains and on this plain is imputed to Tamerlane; but in our + own time Sheik Mattie was attacked by the Koords; its fathers + were slain, beaten, and dispersed; and the dust of long ages of + bishops scattered to the winds. They still show in the church + the tombs of Mar Halveus and Abou Faraf, which they say escaped + the observation of the destroyer. The inscription of one we + were able to decipher; but another resisted even the efforts of + the scholar then resident at the convent. We in vain tried many + learned men, but the inscription defies all investigation. + + 'Chaldea's seers are good, + But here they have no skill; + And the unknown letters stood, + Untold and mystic still.' + + "We now made straight for Sheik Mattie, whose green gorge we + could discover high up the face of the mountain. The plain was + a succession of low hills all brown with the summer; here and + there a Koord village with its cultivated fields, cucumbers, + and cool melons. The villages west of the river are nearly all + Christian, but on to-day's ride we passed two Koordish ones. At + one we halted, and regaled ourselves and horses on the fruit + they pressed on us. + + "The old sheik came out, followed by two men with felts; these + were spread in the cool, and we made kief. He begged the loan + of Zea, (my Albanian greyhound,) whom he praised beyond measure + for his extreme beauty, to kill hares. To hear him talk, his + complaints of game, of fields, hares destroyed, &c., I could + have believed myself once more in England, but that he closed + each sentence with "It is God's will; His will be done," and + such like holy words. His long, wide, graceful robes also + brought one back to the East, to poetry and to romance." + +And here we find less happy accidents in a traveller's life, which +must not pass unremembered. + + "At first, one of the greatest privations I experienced in + Eastern travel, and one that half did away with the pleasure + derived from it, was the want of privacy; and one can fully + understand (as probably centuries have produced but little + change in their habits) the expression in the Bible, of our + Saviour retiring apart to pray; for, in the East, privacy is + a word unknown. Families live in one room; men, women, sons, + daughters, sons' wives, &c., and may be said never to be alone. + This at first annoyed me, but habit is second nature. As soon + as the traveller arrives he has visits; all the world crowd to + see him; the thousand nameless things one likes to do after a + tedious hot journey must be done in public. Before you are up + they are there; meals, all, there they are; and there is nothing + for it but to proceed just as if the privacy was complete.... + + "FRIDAY, 12th--I rose as well as usual: on one side of the tent + lay the Doctor, dead beat; under one flap which constitutes + a separate room, Abdallah perfectly insensible: the cook lay + behind on a heap of horse-cloths, equally stricken. I sat down + to write in the air: finding the flies annoyed me, I read, fell + asleep, and remember nothing save a great sensation of pain and + weariness for two days. It seemed as if a noise awoke me; it + was early morning, and Mr Layard stood before me. Poor fellow! + he had learned how to treat the fever by bitter, almost fatal, + personal experience; and now he dosed us and starved us, till + all but Abdallah were out of danger, at all events. + + "It is curious how soon people of warm climates,--or, in fact, + I may say,--all uneducated people, succumb to sickness. Hardy + fellows, apparently as strong as iron: when attacked they lie + down, wrap a coat or cloak around them, and resign themselves + to suffer. It would seem that the mind is alone able to rise + superior to disease: their minds, uncultivated, by disuse weak, + or in perfect alliance with the body, cease to exist when its + companion falls. In intellectual man the mind is the last + to succumb: long after the poor weak body has yielded, the + mind holds out like a well-garrisoned citadel: it refuses all + surrender, and, though the town is taken, fights bravely till + the last." + +And now one glimpse at Koordistan and the beautiful and mysterious +Lake Van, which lies hidden in its deepest recesses. + + "We now journeyed on through strange regions, where Frank had + never wandered. We saw the Koords as they are best seen, free + in their own magnificent mountains;--not "the ass," as the Turk + calls him, "of the plains." Mahomet Pasha, son of the little + standard-bearer, and Pasha of Mosul was requested to provide for + its defence by the consuls, and to attempt by better rule the + civilisation of the Arabs. He replied:-- + + 'Erkekler Densige + Allar genisig + Kurytar Donsig + Devekler Yoolarsig.' + + "'What can I do with people whose men have no religion, whose + women are without drawers, their horses without bits, and their + camels without halters?' + + "Thus we wandered over many miles, plains spreading between + their fat mountains, splendid in their grandeur; now amidst + pleasant valleys anon over giant passes-- + + ----'Dim retreat, + For fear and melancholy meet; + Where rocks were rudely heaped and rent, + As by a spirit turbulent; + Where sights were rough, and sounds were wild, + And everything unreconciled.' + + "My health after this gradually got worse: repeated attacks of + fever, brought on probably by my own carelessness, weakened me + so much that I could scarcely keep up with the party. Riding was + an agony, and, by the carelessness of my servant, my horses were + ruined. One evening an Abyssinian, one of my attendants, went so + far as to present a pistol at my head. My poor dear dog, too, + was lost, which perhaps afflicted me more than most ills which + could happen to myself. At last we passed over a ridge, and Lake + Van lay before us. We had, perhaps, been the first Europeans + who had performed the journey. The last and only other of which + we have any record was poor Professor Schultz, who was murdered + by order of Khan Mahmoud for the baggage he unfortunately + displayed. The Khan received him kindly, entertained him with + hospitality, and despatched him on his road with a guard who had + their instructions to murder him on the way. He was an accurate + and capable traveller, a native of Hesse, and travelling for the + French government. + + "The morning of the 3d of August saw us passing up a most + lovely valley, the Vale of Sweet Waters. We had encamped in + it the night before. Leaving its pretty verdure, we mounted a + long range of sun-burnt hills covered with sun-dried grass and + _immortelles_, whose immortality must have been sorely tried on + that sun-exposed place. Achieving a pass, we gained our view of + Van. The scene was worthy of Stanfield in his best mood. Before + us, on the north-east, brown, quaintly-shaped hills, variegated + with many tints, filled the view of the far horizon. From this + a plain led to the lake; around it were noble mountains, snow + and cloud clad--their beauty enhanced by the supervening water. + Saphan Dagh, with a wreath of mist and cap of spotless snow, + seen across the sea was imposing--I might say, perfect. + + "The plain on the eastern coast spread out broad and fair: + here verdant meadows, there masses of fruit-laden trees; while + between the mass wandered the mountain streams, hastening on + to their homes in the fair bosom of the lake. Van itself swept + round its castle, which stands on a curious rock that rises + abruptly from the plain; but the lake, indeed, was the queen + of the view--blue as the far depth of ocean, yet unlike the + ocean--so soft, so sweet, so calm was its surface. On its near + coast, bounded by silver sands, soft and brilliant; while its + far west formed the foot of Nimrod Dagh, on whose lofty crest + are said to be a lake and a castle.... + + "The waters of the lake have lately been analysed, so the + curious substance found floating on its surface, and used as + soap, will be accounted for: it is sold in the bazaars. At + present there are but three small boats or launches on the lake, + and even these can hardly find trade enough to remunerate them. + Their principal occupation is carrying passengers to the towns + on the coast." + +Mr Layard remained at Lake Van in order to copy some inscriptions; +but Mr Walpole was induced to penetrate northward as far as +Patnos, where no European had yet been seen. Here his enterprise +was rewarded by the view of some magnificent scenery, and the +more important discovery of some cuneiform, and many ancient +Armenian inscriptions. These were forwarded by our traveller to +Mr Layard, and will doubtless appear in his forthcoming work.[16] +But we must now leave Koordistan, recommending the perusal of +Mr Walpole's chapter on the Christians of Lake Van, and their +beautiful and mysterious inland sea, to all who love to picture to +themselves strange lands and wild adventure. We return by way of +Erzeroum, Trebizond, the shores of the Black Sea, and Sansoun, to +Constantinople; thence to Latakia; and here we find ourselves within +view of the mountains of the mysterious Ansayrii and Ismaylis. + + [16] We must here notice the generosity with which Mr Walpole + forbears to enlarge upon any subject in which he might anticipate + the works of other travellers. For this reason he passes lightly + over this interesting tour in the mountains of Koordistan, and + only (to our regret) alludes _en passant_ to a tribe of _pastoral_ + Jews, whom he and Mr Layard met on these mountains, following the + spring (as the snows receding left fresh herbage for their flocks) + up the mountains. When we consider how rarely pastoral Jews are met + with, and that this was the very land wherein the lost ten tribes + disappeared, and, moreover, that the elders of these people spoke + the Chaldean tongue, we are much disappointed to hear no more of + them. + +In the title of this work is revived a subject of very ancient +interest. The Ansayrii, or Nassairi, or Assassins, are a singularly +surviving relic of the followers of the Old Man of the Mountain, +so celebrated in the history of the Crusades.[17] Historians have +fallen into a great mistake in supposing this Order to have been +a hereditary dynasty, or to have embraced a nation. Originally +it was simply an Order, like that of the Templars. Like them +the members wore white garments set off with crimson, typifying +innocence and blood. The policy of both was to obtain possession +of strong places, and by terror to keep the surrounding nations in +subjection. The Assassins succeeded in this object so far as to +dictate their will to several Sultans, many Viziers, and innumerable +minor authorities. When the Sultan of the Seljuks sent an ambassador +to the Old Man of the Mountain, demanding his submission, the +following well-known circumstance took place:--"The chief said to +one of his followers, 'Stab thyself!' To another he said, 'Throw +thyself from the battlements!' Before he had ceased to speak his +disciples had obeyed him, and lay dead, not only willing but eager +martyrs to their faith. The chief then turning to the envoy, said, +'Take what thou hast seen for thine answer. I am obeyed by seventy +thousand such men as these.'" The founder of this terrible sect +was Hassan Ben Sahab. He was a "Dai," or master-missionary, from +the Secret Lodge established at Cairo, (about 1004 A.D.), in order +to sap and overthrow the Caliphat of Abbas, and establish that +of the Fatimites. Hassan gave promise of greatness in his youth, +became a favourite of the Melekshah, was banished from court by +the intrigues of a rival, and took refuge at Ispahan. Here he +became initiated in the voluptuous and atheistical doctrines of +the Ismailis, and was sent to Egypt, to the Caliph Mostansur, as a +preacher and promulgator of that atrocious creed. He was banished +from the Egyptian court also, and cast ashore in Syria. After a +variety of adventures in the course of his travels from Aleppo +through Persia, he at length obtained possession of the fortress of +AlamÅ«t,[18] near Khaswin. Here he remained for the remainder of +his life, never leaving the castle, and only twice moving from his +own apartment to the terrace during a period of thirty-eight years. +Here he perfected, in mystery and deep seclusion, his diabolical +doctrines, and soon sent "Dais," or missionaries, of his own into +all lands. The secret society of which he was the head contained +several grades, embracing the initiated, the aspirant, and the +devoted--mere executioners or tools of higher intelligences.[19] +The grand-master was called Sidna (Sidney) "our lord;" and more +commonly Sheik el Djebel, the Sheik or Old Man of the Mountain, +because the Order always possessed themselves of the castles in +mountainous regions in Irak, Kuhistan, and Syria. The Old Man, +robed in white, resided always in the mountain fort of AlamÅ«t. +There he maintained himself against all the power of the Sultan, +until at length the daggers of his Fedavie, or devoted followers, +freed him from his most active enemies, and appalled the others +into quiescence. AlamÅ«t was now called "the abode of Fortune," +and all the neighbouring strongholds submitted to the Ancient +of the Mountain. The Assassins were proscribed in all civilised +communities, and the dagger and the sword found constant work on +their own professors. The Assassins, however, like the Indian Thugs, +depraved all societies, in all sorts of disguises. At one time the +courtiers of a Caliph being solemnly invoked, with a promise of +pardon and impunity, five chamberlains stepped forward, and each +showed the dagger, which only waited an order from the Old Man to +plunge into the heart of any human being it could reach. By such +agency Hassan kept entire empires in a state of revolution and +carnage. From his remote fortress he made his influence felt and +feared to the extreme confines of Khorassan and Syria. And thence, +too, he propagated the still more infernal engines of his authority, +his catechisms of atheism and licentiousness--"Nothing is true; all +things are permitted to the initiated." Such was the foundation of +his creed. + + [17] The mystery relating to this community is so great that the + laborious Müller, in his twenty-four books, has not attempted to + penetrate it. And Gibbon, notwithstanding his acknowledged pleasure + in painting scenes of blood, has treated the Order of Assassins + very superficially. Marco Polo is, as usual, the most entertaining + of authorities, as far as he goes; but it remained for Joseph Von + Hammer to explore the faint vestiges of their strange story with + vast and patient research. He has thrown together the results of his + labours in a small volume, of great interest. + + [18] The Vulture's Nest. + + [19] Dais, Refik, and Fedavie. + +This villain died tranquilly in his bed, having survived to the +age of ninety. His spiritual and temporal power was continued with +various vicissitudes through a long succession of impostors, the +dagger still maintaining its mysterious and inevitable agency. +The list of the best, and some of the most powerful, of Oriental +potentates who perished by it, swells, as the history of the +Order proceeds, to an incredible extent. During all this time +the fundamental maxim of the creed, which separates the secret +doctrines of the initiated from the public tenets of the people, was +preserved. These last were (and now are, according to Mr Walpole) +held to the strictest injunctions of Mahometanism. The East did not +detect the motive power of the Assassins' chief: they only saw the +poniard strike those who had offended the envoy of the invisible +Imam, who was soon to arrive in power and glory, and to assert his +dominion over earth. In the Crusades, the hand of the Assassins is +traced in the fate of Raymond of Tripoli--perhaps in that of the +Marquis of Montferrat--and in many meaner instances. At that period +the numbers of people openly professing the creed is stated by +William of Tyre at sixty thousand; and by James, Bishop of Alla, at +forty thousand. At this day Mr Walpole estimates the number of the +Ansayrii at forty thousand fighting men, including Ismaylis. These +numbers are to be understood, however, in former times, as well +as in the present, to comprise the whole sect, and not merely the +executioners, who always formed a very small proportion, and are now +probably extinct. The Old Man is no longer recognised, so far as can +be ascertained, among the mountains, (where, as usual in other parts +of Syria, the patriarchal form prevails;) and the strange creed +that their ancestors held, together with a singular recklessness of +life, alone remains to mark their descent. Concerning this creed +we are referred by Mr Walpole to some discoveries which he intends +to publish in a future volume. We must confess to considerable +disappointment in the meagre information that is here afforded to us +on the subject, especially after our expectations have been raised +by such a preface as the following:-- + + "Alone, without means, without powers to buy or bribe, I have + penetrated a secret, the enigma of ages--have dared alone to + venture where none have been--where the government, with five + hundred soldiers, could not follow; and, better than all, I have + gained esteem among the race condemned as savages, and feared as + robbers and ASSASSINS." + +Nevertheless, our author has told us a good deal that is new and +interesting about the Ansayrii, as will be seen from our extracts. + +The Ismaylis, concerning whose woman-worship and peculiar habits +such strange stories have been whispered, live among the southern +mountains of the Ansayrii. They amount only to five thousand souls, +and appear to be a different tribe, (probably Arab,) grafted upon +them, and gradually, by superior vigour, possessing themselves of +the strongest places in the mountains. These people hold a creed +quite distinct from the Ansayrii, among whom they dwell; and the +extraordinary prayer, or address used by them seems fully to bear +out the long-questioned assertion of their aphrodisial worship. + +Marco Polo[20] was the first to furnish some curious accounts of +the Ansayrii, and of the discipline and catechism of the Fedavie: +we hope that Mr Walpole, in his promised volume, will add to the +many vindications which that brave old traveller has received +from time to time. But at the sack of AlamÅ«t, in 1257, all +the Assassins' books (except the Koran) were burned as impious; +and all that now remains of their doctrines must be traditional. +We have dwelt thus long on the Ansayrii in order to display the +interest that belongs to that secluded and mysterious people, and +the importance of any novel intelligence respecting them. Before +we proceed to illustrate their country from Mr Walpole's volumes, +we must find space for some account of the manner in which the +initiation of the Assassins is said to have been performed. The +two great strongholds of the Order were the castle of AlamÅ«t +in Irak, and that of Massiat near Latakia in the Lebanon. These +fortresses, stern and impregnable in themselves, are said to have +been surrounded with exquisite gardens, enclosed from all vulgar +gaze by walls of immense height. These gardens were filled with the +most delicate flowers and delicious fruits. Streams flowed, and +fountains sparkled brightly, through the grateful gloom of luxuriant +foliage. Bowers of roses, and porcelain-paved kiosks, and carpets +from the richest looms of Persia, invited to repose the senses heavy +with luxury. Circassian girls, bright as the houris of Paradise, +served the happy guests with golden goblets of Schiraz wine, and +glances yet more intoxicating. The music of harps, and women's +sweetest voices, sent fascination through the ear as well as eyes. +Everything breathed rapture and sensuality, intensified by seclusion +and deep calm. The youth, where energy and courage seemed to qualify +him for the office of _fedavie_, was invited to the table of the +grand-master, (at Irak,) or the grand-prior, (at Massiat.) He was +there intoxicated with the maddening, yet delightful _hashishe_. +In his insensible state he was transported to the garden, which, +he was told, was Paradise, and which he was too ready to take for +the scene of eternal delight, as he revelled in all the pleasure +that Eastern voluptuousness could devise. He was there lulled into +sleep once more, and then transported back to the grand-master's +side. As he awoke, numbers of uninitiated youths were admitted to +hear his account of the Paradise which the power of the Old Man had +permitted him to taste. And thus tools were found and formed for +the execution of the wildest projects. That glimpse of Paradise for +ever haunted the inflamed imagination of the novices, and any death +appeared welcome that could restore them to such joys. + + [20] _De Regionibus Orient._, lib. i. c. 28. + +Such is the theory of this singular people, as maintained by Von +Hammer, which it remains for future discoveries--now that Mr Walpole +has opened the way for them--to vindicate or refute. There are also +some remnants of the Persian tribes of this people, an account of +which, by Mr Badger, we are informed, is soon to appear: the Syrians +scarcely know of their existence. The Syrian Ansayrii amount, as +we have said, including Ismaylis, to about forty thousand souls: +they have always preserved their seclusion inviolate; setting at +nought the various tyrannies that have harassed the neighbouring +states, denying the authority of the Sultan, and blaspheming the +Prophet, while they outwardly conform to his rites. They occupy the +northernmost range of the Lebanon, from Tortosa and Latakia, as far +as Adana. + +Notwithstanding Von Hammer's elaborate and ingenious theory, many +(amongst whom is our author) have seemed disposed to treat the whole +story of the Assassins, and the Old Man of the Mountain himself, +as myths. It was, they say, the sort of romance that the Crusaders +would have lent a ready ear to, and that their troubadours would +have made the most of. They deny the existence of the powerful hill +fortresses surrounded by the intoxicating gardens; they point to the +renowned Syrian castle of El Massiat, whose ruins occupy a space of +only one hundred yards square, and in whose vaulted stables there is +an inscription purporting that the castle was "the work of Roostan +the Mameluke." + +Mr Walpole, however, does not enter into any controversy respecting +this strange people. Of the little that he has confided in his +present two volumes to the public, the following extracts must be +taken as an instalment:-- + + "The Ansayrii nation--for such it is--being capable of mustering + forty thousand warriors able to bear arms, is divided into two + classes--sheiks and people; the sheiks again into two--Sheiks or + Chiefs of Religion, Sheik el Maalem, and the temporal Sheiks, + or Sheiks of Government; these being generally called Sheik el + Zullom, or Sheiks of Oppression. These latter, though some of + them are of good families, are not so generally: having gained + favour with government, they have received the appointment. + Others there are, however, whose families have held it for many + generations--such as Shemseen Sultan, Sheik Succor, &c. The + sheiks of religion are held as almost infallible, and the people + pay them the greatest respect. With regard to the succession, + there seems to be no fixed rule: the elder brother has, however, + rule over the rest; but then I have seen the son the head of the + family while the father was living. + + "The sheik of religion enjoys great privileges: as a boy he is + taught to read and write; he is marked from his fellows from + very earliest childhood, by a white handkerchief round his + head. Early as his sense will admit, he is initiated into the + principles of his faith: in this he is schooled and perfected. + Early he is taught that death, martyrdom, is a glorious reward; + and that, sooner than divulge one word of his creed, he is to + suffer the case in which his soul is enshrined to be mangled + or tortured in any way. Frequent instances have been known + where they have defied the Turks, who have threatened them with + death if they would not divulge, saying, 'Try me; cut my heart + out, and see if anything is within there.' During his manhood + he is strictly to conform to his faith: this forbids him not + only eating certain things at any time, but eating at all with + any but chiefs of religion; or eating anything purchased with + unclean money;--and the higher sheiks carry this to such an + extent that they will only eat of the produce of their own + grounds; they will not even touch water, except such as they + deem pure and clean. Then the sheik must exercise the most + unbounded hospitality; and, after death, the people will build + him a tomb, (a square place, with a dome on the top,) and he + will be revered as a saint. + + "The lower classes are initiated into the principles of their + religion, but not into its more mystical or higher parts: they + are taught to obey their chiefs without question, without + hesitation, and to give to them abundantly at feasts and + religious ceremonies: above all, even the uninitiated is to die + a thousand deaths sooner than betray his faith. + + "In their houses, which, as I have before said, are poor, + dirty, and wretched, they place two small windows over the door. + This is in order that, if a birth and death occur at the same + moment, the coming and the parting spirit may not meet. In rooms + dedicated to hospitality several square holes are left, so that + each spirit may come or depart without meeting another. + + "Like the Mahometans, they practise the rite of circumcision, + performing it at various ages, according to the precocity of + the child. The ceremony is celebrated, as among the Turks, with + feasting and music. This, they say, is not a necessary rite, + but a custom derived from ancient times, and they should be + Christians if they did not do it. This is the same among the + Mahometans, who are not enjoined by their prophet to do so, but + received the rite from of old.[21] + + [21] We do not yet know if any ceremony exists at the naming of + the child. + + "When a candidate is pronounced ready for initiation, his + tarboosh is removed, and a white cloth wrapped round his + head. He is then conducted into the presence of the sheiks of + religion. The chief proceeds to deliver a lecture, cautioning + him against ever divulging their great and solemn secret. 'If + you are under the sword, the rope, or the torture, die, and + smile--you are blessed.' He then kisses the earth three times + before the chief, who continues telling him the articles of + their faith. On rising, he teaches him a sign, and delivers + three words to him. This completes the first lesson. + + "At death, the body is washed with warm soap and water, wrapped + in white cloths, and laid in the tomb. Each person takes a + handful of earth, which is placed on the body; then upright + stones, one at the feet, one at the head, one in the middle, + are placed. The one in the middle is necessary. They have the + blood-feud--the Huck el Dum. In war, blood is not reckoned; but + if one man kills another of a different tribe, all the tribe of + the slayer pay an equal sum to the tribe of the slain--generally + one thousand six hundred piastres, (L.15.) + + "In marriage, a certain price is agreed on. One portion goes to + the father, another to supply dress and things necessary for + the maiden. This will vary much, according to the wealth of the + bridegroom and the beauty or rank of the bride. It is generally + from two hundred to seven hundred or a thousand piastres (L.1, + 15s. 6d. to L.9, 10s.) Sometimes a mare, a cow, or a donkey, + merely, is given for her. The bridegroom has then to solicit the + consent of the _hirce_, or owner of the bride's village, who + will generally extort five hundred piastres, or more, before he + will give a permission of marriage. + + "The price being settled, and security given for its payment, + the friends of the bridegroom mount on the top of the house + armed with sticks. The girl's friends pass her in hastily to + avoid their blows. The bridegroom enters, and beats her with a + stick or back of a sword, so that she cries: these cries must be + heard without. All then retire, and the marriage is concluded. + + "They are allowed four wives. The marriage ceremony is simple, + and divorce not permitted. If one of these four wives die, they + are permitted to take another. Generally, they have little + affection for their wives--treating them rather as useful + cattle than as rational creatures. They never teach women the + smallest portion of their faith. They are jealously excluded + from all religious ceremonies; and, in fact, are utterly denied + creed, prayers, or soul. Many here have told me that the women + themselves believe in this; and do not, as one would fancy, + murmur at such an exclusive belief. + + "The Ansayrii are honest in their dealings, and none can accuse + them of repudiation or denying a sum they owe.... They regard + Mahomet el Hamyd as the prophet of God, and thus use the + Mussulman confession--'La illa ill Allah, Mahomet el Hamyd, + Resoul e nebbi Allah;' but they omit all this when before + Mahometans, saying merely, 'There is no God but God, and Mahomet + is the prophet of God.' Otherwise, they say, 'There is no God + but Ali, and Mahomet el Hamyd, the Beloved, is the prophet of + God.' + + "I do not intend here to enter into their belief more fully; + but it is a most confused medley--a unity, a trinity, a deity. + 'These are five; these five are three; these three are two; + these two, these three, these five--one.' + + "They believe in the transmigration of souls. Those who in this + life do well, are hospitable, and follow their faith, become + stars; the souls of others return to the earth, and become + Ansayrii again, until, purified, they fly to rest. The souls of + bad men become Jews, Christians, and Turks; while the souls of + those who believe not, become pigs and other beasts. One eve, + sitting with a dear old man, a high sheik--his boys were round + him--I said, 'Speak: where are the sons of your youth? these + are the children of your old age.'--'My son,' he said, looking + up, 'is there: nightly he smiles on me, and invites me to come.' + + "They pray five times a day, saying several prayers each time, + turning this way or that, having no keblah. If a Christian or + Turk sees them at their devotions, the prayers are of no avail. + At their feasts, they pray in a room closed and guarded from the + sight or ingress of the uninitiated. + + "This will give a general outline of the faith and customs + of the Ansayrii. My intercourse with them was on the most + friendly footing, and daily a little was added to my stock + of information. Let me, however, warn the traveller against + entering into argument with them, or avowing, through the + dragoman, any knowledge of their creed. They are as ready and + prompt to avenge as they are generous and hospitable to protect. + To destroy one who deceives them on this point is an imperative + duty; and I firmly believe they would do it though you took + shelter on the divan of the Sultan. For myself, the risk is + passed: I have gone through the ordeal, and owe my life several + times to perfect accident." + +To this long extract we shall only add, that a good deal of +additional light is indirectly thrown upon this singular people +throughout the whole of the third volume of Mr Walpole's work. It is +the best written, as well as the most important, of the series; it +abounds in humour, anecdote, originality, and in no small degree of +curious research. + +And now, it only remains for us to bid our entertaining +fellow-traveller heartily farewell. Although, especially in the +first volume, we have felt disposed to quarrel with his style +occasionally, we have found his good-humour, his thoughtful +sentiment, and his reckless wit, at last irresistible. His +very imperfections often prove his fidelity, and his apparent +contradictions his innate truthfulness. We commend to him a little +more study of the art of composition, and a good deal more care; +but we shall consider ourselves fortunate when we meet with another +author of as many faults, if they are atoned for by as many merits. + + + + +THE CHAMPIONS OF THE RAIL. + +_A History of the English Railway: its Social Relations and +Revelations._ By JOHN FRANCIS. 2 vols. London. + + +A good many years ago, a late correspondent and writer in this +Magazine, Dr M'Nish of Glasgow, published a work entitled _The +Anatomy of Drunkenness_. The book was an excellent one: most perfect +in its portraiture of the different phenomena which accompany and +succeed a debauch; and in the hands of a regular tee-totaller, it +was undeniably worth some reams of vapid sermons. The preacher, +who never, we are bound to believe, had experienced the vinous or +spirituous excitement in his own person, was enabled from it to hold +forth, with all the unction of reality, to his terrified audience, +upon the awful effects of intemperance. Old ladies, who rarely in +their lives had transgressed beyond a second glass of weak negus +at some belated party, when whist or commerce had been suggested +to while away the weary hours, listened to the warnings of the +gifted apostle of temperance, and hied them home in the tremendous +conviction that they had only escaped, by the merest miracle, the +horrors of _delirium tremens_. Dyspeptic gentlemen were rendered +wretched, as they reflected that, for years past, they had been +accustomed to wash down their evening Finnan haddock, or moderate +board of oysters, with a pint of Younger's prime ale, or, mayhap, a +screeching tumbler. The enormity of their offence became visible to +their eyes, and they incontinently conceived amendment. + +But we doubt very much whether the _Anatomy_ would have been +pleasant reading to a gentleman who overnight had imbibed "not +wisely but too well." How could he bear to be told, not only of the +sensations of the previous evening, minutely traced through the +gradations of each consecutive decanter, but of the state of thirst +and unnatural discomfort to which he was presently a victim? Would +it relieve his headach to assure him that, after swallowing three +bottles of claret, most men are apt to be out of sorts? Could he, +the sufferer, derive any assuagement of his pains by knowing--if he +did not know it already--that unlimited brandy and water, however +agreeable during consumption, was clearly prejudicial to the nerves? +Sermons may come too soon. The sufferer ought to be allowed at least +a day or two to recover, before his offence is laid before him in +all its huge deformity. Give him time to be ashamed of himself. +A man's own conscience is his best accuser; and, unless the vice +be absolutely inherent, or totally beyond the hope of remedy, his +own misery will be more likely to effect a cure than any amount of +philosophical dissertations upon its nature. + +These thoughts have been irresistibly suggested to us by a perusal +of the two ponderous tomes of Mr Francis, entitled, _A History of +the English Railway: its Social Relations and Revelations_. A more +unfortunate kind of apocalypse could hardly have been hazarded at +the present time. Most people are tolerably well aware, without +the aid of Mr Francis, of the changes in social relations which +have been worked by the British railway; and as for revelations, a +good many would give a trifle to have these entirely suppressed. +We have not yet arrived at the time when the history of the "'45" +of this century can be calmly or dispassionately written. Too many +of us, still remanent here, have burned our fingers, and too many +of our kith and kin have been sent to exile, in consequence of +that notable enterprise. Since the standard was last unfurled in +the vale of Glenmutchkin, a considerable number of the population +have been bitten by the sod, if they did not literally bite it. +That system of turning over turfs, by the aid of silver spades and +mahogany wheelbarrows, was more fatal to the peace of families than +the accumulation of any number of Celtic bagpipers whatever. It +was a grand interment of capital. Who has forgotten the misery of +those times, when letters of railway calls arrived punctually once +a quarter? Two pound ten per share might be a moderate instalment; +but if you were the unfortunate holder of a hundred shares, you had +better have been boarded with a vampire. Repudiation, though a clear +Christian duty to yourself and your family, was utterly impossible. +It mattered not that the majority of the original committeemen and +directors had bolted; you, the subscriber, were tied to the stake. +The work was begun, the contracts opened, and money must be had +at all hazards and sacrifices. You found yourself in the pitiable +situation of an involuntary philanthropist. Threescore hulking +Irish navvies were daily fed, liquored, and lodged at your expense. +Your dwindling resources were torn from you, to make the fortunes +of engineers and contractors. So long as you had a penny, or a +convertible equivalent, you were forced to surrender it. Your case +was precisely similar to that of the Jew incarcerated in the vaults +beneath the royal treasury of King John. One by one all your teeth +were drawn. If you managed to survive the extraction of the last +grinder, and to behold the opening of the line, your position was +not one whit improved. Dividend of course there was none. That awful +and mysterious item of charge, "working expenses," engulfed nearly +the whole revenue. What was over went to pay interest on preference +debentures. That gallant body of men, the directors, laid before +you, with the utmost candour, a state of the affairs of the company; +from which it appeared that they had exceeded their borrowing +powers by perhaps a brace of millions, and had raised the money by +interposing their own individual security. These obligations you +were, of course, expected to redeem; and an appeal was made to your +finer feelings, urging you to consent to a further issue of stock! + +It is no great consolation to the men who have suffered more woes +from the railways, than fell to the lot of the much-enduring Ulysses +from the relentless anger of the deities, to know that they have +rendered perfect a vast chain of internal communication throughout +the country. We doubt whether the Israelites, who built them, took +any especial pride in surveying the pile of the pyramids. The +gentleman in embarrassed circumstances, who is pondering over the +memory of his perished capital, is not likely to feel his heart +expand with enthusiasm at the thought that through his agency, and +that of his fellows, thousands of bagmen are daily being whirled +along the rails with the velocity of lightning. He may even be +pardoned if, in the sadness and despondency of his soul, he should +seriously ask himself what, after all, is the use of this confounded +hurry? Is a man's life prolonged because he can get along at the +rate of forty or fifty miles an hour? Is existence to be measured +by locomotion? In that case Chifney, who passed the best part of +his life in the saddle, ought to have been considered as a rival +to Methuselah, and a stoker on the Great Western lives in one week +far longer than the venerable Parr! Is enjoyment multiplied? That, +too, will admit of a serious doubt. In a railway carriage you have +no fair view of the fresh aspect of nature: you dash through the +landscape--supposing that there is one--before its leading features +are impressed upon your mind. There is no time for details, or even +for reflection. You must accommodate your thought to your pace, +otherwise you are left behind, and see nothing whatever for at least +a couple of stations. But for the most part your way lies between +embankments and cuttings, representing either sections of whinstone, +or bare banks of turf, dotted over with brown patches, where the +engine has effected arson. Even furze will not willingly flourish +in such an uncomfortable locality. Then you roar through tunnels, +the passage of which makes your flesh creep--for you cannot divest +yourself of a horrid idea that you may possibly be encountered in +the centre of the darkness by an opposing engine, and be pounded +into paste by the shock of that terrific tilt; or that a keystone of +the arch may give way, and the whole train be buried in the centre +of the excavated mountain. Sensual gratification there is none. +If you do not condescend to the iniquity of carrying sandwiches +along with you--in which case your habiliments are certain to be +grievously defiled with buttered crumbs--you are driven by the +pangs of sheer hunger into the refreshment-room at some station, +and find yourself at the bar of an inferior gin-palace. Very bad +is the pork-pie, for which you are charged an exorbitant ransom. +Call ye this sherry, my masters? If it be so, commend us for the +future to Bucellas. The oranges look well outside, but the moment +you have penetrated the rind, you find that they have been boiled +and are fozy. Do not indulge in the vain hope that you may venture +on a glass of anything hot. Hot enough you will find it with a +vengeance; for, the instant that you receive the rummer, the bell +is sure to ring, and you must either scald your throat by gulping +down two mouthfuls of mahogany-water raised to a temperature which +would melt solder, or consign the prepaid potion to the leisure +of the attendant Hebe. Smoking is strictly prohibited. Even if +you are alone in a carriage, you cannot indulge in that luxury +without rendering yourself liable to a fine; and, if your appetite +should overcome your prudence, and you should venture to set the +law at defiance, before you have inhaled two whiffs, a railway +guard appears as if by magic at the window--for those fellows have +the scent of the vulture, and can race along the foot-boards as +nimbly as a cat along a gutter--and you are ordered to abandon your +Havanna. Under such circumstances, literature is a poor resource. +You read the _Times_ twice over, advertisements and all, and then +sink into a feverish slumber, from which you are awakened by a +demand from a ruffian in blue livery, with a glazed leather belt +across his shoulder, for the exhibition of your ticket. Talk of +the inconvenience of passports abroad! The Continental system is +paradisaical compared with ours. At length, after fingering your +watch with an insane desire to accelerate its movement, you run into +the ribs of something, which resembles the skeleton of a whale--the +train stops--and you know that your journey is at an end. You select +your luggage, after having undergone the scrutiny of a member of the +police force, who evidently thinks that he has seen you before under +circumstances of considerable peculiarity, ensconce yourself in a +cab, and drive off, being favoured at the gate of the station by a +shower of diminutive pamphlets, purporting to be poetical tributes +to the merits of Messrs Moses and Hyams. You have done the distance +in twelve hours, but pleasure you have had none. + +Mr Francis, who is gifted with no more imagination than an ordinary +tortoise, though he asserts the superiority of the hare, begins his +book with an exceedingly stupid dissertation upon the difficulties +of ancient travel. Broken bridges, impassable quagmires, and +ferocious highwaymen constitute leading features in his picture; +and, as you read him, you marvel, between your fits of yawning, what +manner of men our ancestors must have been to brave so many dangers. +Sheer drivel all of it! The old roads were uncommonly good, and the +bridges kept in splendid repair from the time they were built by +the Romans. Who ever heard of a quagmire on a turnpike? As for a +casual encounter with Turpin, Duval, or any other of the minions of +the moon, we are decidedly of opinion that such incidents must have +added much to the excitement of the journey. A stout fellow, well +mounted, usually carried about him both pops and a cutlass, and, if +he was cool and collected, might very easily square accounts with +the most ardent clerk of St Nicholas. Does Mr Francis really suppose +that the author of _Jack Sheppard_ likes railway travelling? Not +he. Dearer to his soul is a prancing prad upon Hounslow Heath than +all the engines that ever whistled along a line. Mount him upon +Black Bess, arm him with a brace of barkers, and in the twinkling +of an eye there would be daylight through the carcase of the Golden +Farmer. Is adventure nothing? Had the road no joys? Are we to +consider the whole universe worthless, except those black dots which +in the maps represent cities? Was nature made in vain, in order that +men might hasten from town to town, at the tail of a shrieking +engine, regardless of all the glorious scenery which intervenes? +To our taste, the old mode of travelling--nay, the oldest--was +infinitely superior to the present sickening system. You rose by +times in the morning; took a substantial breakfast of beef and +ale--none of your miserable slops--and mounted your horse between +your saddle-bags, in time to hear the lark carolling on his earliest +flight to heaven. Your way ran through dingle and thicket, along the +banks of rivers, skirting magnificent parks, rich in the possession +of primeval oaks, under which the deer lay tranquilly and still. +You entered a village, stopped at the door of the public-house, +and cooled your brow in the foam of the wholesome home-brewed. You +dined at mid-day, in some town where the execrable inventions of +Arkwright and Watt were unknown; where you encountered only honest, +healthy, rosy-cheeked Christians, who went regularly once a-week to +church, and identified the devil with the first dissenter--instead +of meeting gangs of hollow-eyed lean mechanics, talking radicalism, +and discussing the fundamental points of the Charter. You moved +through merry England as a man ought to do, who is both content +with his own lot and can enjoy the happiness of others. As you saw +the sun rising, so you saw him set. The clouds reddened in the +west--you heard the sweet carol of the thrush from the coppice, and +lingered to catch the melody. The shades of evening grew deeper. +The glow-worms lit their tiny lanterns on the bank, the owl flitted +past with noiseless wing, the village candles began to appear in the +distance; and as you dismounted at the door of your humble inn, and +surrendered your weary beast to the hands of the careful hostler, +you felt that you were the richer by a day spent in the fresh air +and gladsome sunshine, and made happy by all the sounds and sights +which are dear to the heart of man. + +But this was solitary travelling, and might not suit every one. +Well--if you were a little fellow, deficient in pluck, and sorely +afraid of robbers, you might have company for the asking. At every +large inn on the road there were at least a dozen travellers who, +for the sake of security, agreed to journey in company. Was that no +fun? Have you anything like it in your modern railways? Just compare +your own experiences of a rocket-flight along the Great Western with +Chaucer's delineation of his Canterbury pilgrimage, and you will +see what you have lost. Nice sort of tales you would elicit either +from that beetle-browed Bradford Free-Trader, evidently a dealer in +devil's-dust, who is your _vis-à -vis_ in the railway carriage; or +from that singular specimen of a nun who is ogling you deliberately +on the left! Can you associate the story of Palamon and Arcite--can +you connect anything which is noble, lofty, inspiriting, humane, or +gentle, with a journey made in an express train? If not, so much +the worse for the present times. Doubtless you may hear something +about Thompson or Bright, but we may be excused if we prefer the +mention of the earlier heroes. Also, you may pick up information +touching the price of calicoes, or the value of stocks, or the +amount of exports of cotton twist--and we wish you much good of all +that you get. But, O dear, is that travelling? Would you like to go +from London to Ispahan in such company? How long do you think you +could stand it? And yet this is the improved system of locomotion +for which we are told to be thankful, and in honour of which such +weariful volumes as those of Mr Francis are written. + +"But, mercy on us!" we hear Mr Francis or some of his backers +exclaim--"is it nothing that commercial gentlemen can now make four +trips a-day between Manchester and Liverpool, and do a stroke of +business on each occasion?" We reply, that it would be better for +the said commercial gentlemen, both here and hereafter, if they +would content themselves with a more moderate pursuit of Mammon. +Happiness in this life does not depend upon the amount of sales +effected. The assistant in the London grocer's shop, who daily +ties up a thousand packages of tea and sugar, is not greatly to be +envied beyond his brother in the country, who twists the twine +around fifty. We have an intense respect for work while kept within +wholesome limits; but we cannot regard the man whose sole pursuit +is grubbing after gold as otherwise than an ignominious slave. The +railways are in one sense excellent things. You can get from point +to point, if necessity requires it, much sooner than before, at less +cost, and perhaps with less inconvenience. But there the advantage +ends. There is no pleasure in them; and, compared with former +methods of locomotion, they are decidedly less healthy and less +instructive. We decry them not. We only wish to stop the babbling +of the blockheads who would have us to believe that, until the +steam-engine was invented, this earth was an unendurable waste, a +wilderness of barbarians, and an unfit residence for civilised and +enlightened man. Would the genius either of Shakspeare or Newton +have been greater had they known of the rails? Would the splendour +of the reign of Elizabeth have been heightened had Stephenson then +existed? + +The admiration of Mr Francis for the railway system is so intense +as to be purely ludicrous. He considers every man connected with +its development--whether as engineer, contractor, or director--as a +positive public hero; and this work of his seems intended as a kind +of Iliad, to chronicle their several achievements. Since we last +met, Mr Francis has been hard at work upon his style. Formerly he +went along, pleasantly enough, without any great effort: now he is +not satisfied unless he can eclipse Mr Macaulay. He has read the +_History of England_ to some purpose. Fascinated by the brilliancy +of the sketches which the accomplished historian has drawn of the +statesmen of the age of William of Orange, Mr Francis thinks he +will not do justice to his subject unless he adopts a similar mode +of handling. Unfortunately he has no statesmen to celebrate. But +he can do quite as well. There are surveyors and contractors by +the score, whose portraits in his eyes are just as interesting. +Accordingly, we have a repetition of the old scene in the play. A +voice without is heard calling, "Francis!" To which summons Francis +incontinently replieth, "Anon, anon, sir!" and then--"Enter Poins, +Peto, Gadshill, and the rest." No loftier apparition ever comes +upon the stage; but we are warned that, in surveying these, we look +upon individuals destined in all coming time to occupy a lofty +niche in British history. Thus, to quote at random from the index, +we have the following entries--"Richard Creed ... his services and +character." "Who may this Mr Richard Creed be?" says the unconscious +reader; "we never heard of him before!" "Fool!" quoth Francis, "he +was THE SECRETARY OF THE LONDON AND BIRMINGHAM LINE! 'On his honesty +and integrity,' said Mr Glyn on one occasion emphatically, 'I pin my +faith, and you may pin yours also!'" And he adds, referring to an +occasion which must have been exceedingly gratifying to the feelings +of the recipient--"The testimonial to this gentleman, in 1844, was +worthy the munificence of the givers. It is not often that a cheque +for two thousand one hundred guineas accompanies an expression of +opinion, or that the rich man's praise fructifies into a service of +plate." As we contemplate our unadorned sideboard, we acknowledge +the truth of this remark; still, we hesitate to exalt Mr Creed +to the rank of a hero. Then we light on "Undertakings of Thomas +Brassey.... Anecdote concerning him." Mr Brassey is a contractor, +eminent no doubt; but so, in his own age, must have been the Roman +gentleman who undertook the construction of the Cloaca Maxima, +though his name has unfortunately perished. Then appears "Henry +Booth.... His services." We trust they were properly acknowledged. +Then, "Personal sketches of Mr Locke and Mr Chaplin." We are greatly +edified by the _silhouettes_. "Personal sketch of Samuel Morton +Peto." We shall try, if possible, not to forget him. Much as Mr +Francis has done to perpetuate the memory of these great men, it +is plain that his powers have been cramped with the space of two +thick octavo volumes. In order to make his Iliad perfect, we ought +to have had a catalogue of the chiefs of the navvies. But we must +rest satisfied with the acute remark of Herder, that "the burden +of the song is infinite, but the powers of the human voice are +finite." Mr Francis has done what he can. Creed and Brassey--Brunel +and Locke--Chaplin, Peto, and Vignolles, live within his inspired +volumes; and we beg to congratulate them on account of that assured +immortalisation. They are the salt of the earth. The compilers +of traffic-tables have disappeared--the old standing witnesses +before committees of the House of Commons are dumb--the young +engineering gentlemen, who could do anything they pleased in the +way of levelling mountains, are amusing themselves in California or +elsewhere--even the mighty counsel, the holders of a hundred briefs, +for which, for the most part, they rendered but indifferent service, +are unsung. But the others live. In the British Valhalla they are +assured of an adequate niche, thanks to Mr Francis, who, as Captain +Dangerfield says, is ready to stake his reputation that they are the +only men worthy of record in such an enlightened age as our own. + +No--we are wrong. The man of all others to be deeply venerated is +"George Carr Glyn, Esq., Chairman of the London and North-Western +Railway," to whom these volumes are respectfully dedicated. Of Mr +Glyn's career as a statesman we know absolutely nothing. We are +not even aware to what section of politicians he belongs, so utter +is our ignorance of his fame. As we read the pages of Francis, and +encountered the continual eulogiums heaped upon this gentleman, we +felt remarkably uncomfortable. We could not divest ourselves of the +notion that we had been asleep for some quarter of a century, and +had therefore missed the opportunity of witnessing the appearance +of a new and most brilliant star in the political horizon. About +Mr Glyn, Francis has no manner of doubt. He is not only the most +sagacious, but the most clever personage extant, for every purpose +which can smooth railway difficulties. He is the Ulysses of his +line, and can rap Thersites on the sconce, if that cynical fiend +should insist upon an awkward question. We really and unaffectedly +ask pardon of Mr Glyn, if we mistake him through his eulogist. We +have no other means of knowing him; and therefore he must settle the +correctness of the following sketch with Mr Francis, who appears +as the voluntary artist. If the drawing is to the mind of Mr Glyn, +and if it meets his ideas of ethics, we have nothing in the world +to say against it, having no interest whatever in the line over +which he presides. Hear Francis: "The proper place to see Mr Glyn +is as chairman in that noble room, where, with an earnest multitude +around him, with the representative of every class and caste before +him--with Jew and Gentile ready to carp at and criticise his +statements--he yet moves them at his pleasure, and leads them at +his will. And perhaps the ascendency of one man over many is seldom +_more agreeably seen_ than when, standing before a huge expectant +audience, he enlivens the platitudes of one with some light +epigrammatic touch, answers another with a clear tabular statement, +_or replies to a third with some fallacy so like a fact_ that the +recipient sits contentedly down, about as wise as he was before." +This is, to say the least of it, an equivocal sort of panegyric. We +all know what is implied by the term "fallacies" in railway matters, +and some of us have suffered in consequence. According to our view, +this interchange of fallacies between directors and shareholders is +a custom by no means laudable, or to be held in especial repute. In +pure matters of business, the less frequently fallacies are resorted +to, the better. They are apt, in the long run, to find their way +into the balance-sheet--until, as we have seen in some notorious +instances, the assumed fact of a clear balance, to be applied by way +of dividend, turns out also to be a fallacy. In the case before us, +we are willing to believe that Mr Francis is altogether mistaken, +and that the statements of Mr Glyn, made in his official capacity, +which appeared to the blundering reporter to be fallacies, were in +reality stern truths. But what sort of estimate must we form of Mr +Francis' moral perception, when we find him selecting such a trait +as the subject of especial commendation? He has, however, like +most other great men, large sympathies. He does battle in behalf of +Mr Hudson with considerable energy; though, after all, taking his +conclusions as legitimate, his defence simply resolves itself into +this--that Mr Hudson's conduct was not more blamable than that of +others. So be it. We never joined in the wholesale censure directed +against the quondam railway monarch, because we knew that the whole +tone of the morals of society had been poisoned by the villanous +system engendered by railway speculation; and because we saw that +many of his accusers, if their own conduct had been sifted, might +have been arraigned equally with him at the bar of public opinion. +Therefore we have no desire to interfere with the operations of Mr +Francis, when he appears with his pot of whitewash. Nay, we wish +that the implement were more roomy than it is, and the contents +of less questionable purity--for assuredly he has a large surface +of wall to cover, if he sets himself seriously to the task of +obliterating the traces of past iniquity. + +The reader, however, must not suppose that Mr Francis sees nothing +to condemn, or that he has not at command thunderbolts of wrath to +launch at the heads of offenders. According to him, the most painful +feature of the railway system was the rapacity of the owners of the +soil in driving hard bargains for their land. As this is a charge +which has often been made by men more competent to form an opinion +upon any subject than the gentleman whose work we are now reviewing, +we shall condescend to notice it. Let us premise however, that, in +this matter, the howl is distinctly traceable to the harpies who +inveigled the public to join their nefarious schemes, and to advance +their capital on the assurance of enormous dividends. + +After referring to the negotiations made with landowners by the +promoters of the London and Birmingham line, Mr Francis comments as +follows:-- + + "These things are written with pain, for they display a low + tone of moral feeling in that class which, by virtue of + inheritance, of birth, and blood, should possess a high and + chivalrous sense of honour. The writer is far from wishing to + blame those who honestly opposed the rail. The conscientious + feeling which prompts a man, even in an unwise action, if + mistaken, is at least respectable. There is much to palliate the + honest opposition of the landowner. Scenes and spots which are + replete with associations of great men and great deeds cannot be + pecuniarily paid for. Sites which bear memories more selfish, + yet not less real, have no market value. Homes in which boyhood, + manhood, and age have been passed, carry recollections which + are almost hallowed. Such places cannot be bought and sold; nor + are the various prejudices which cling to the country to be + overlooked. If the nobleman disliked the destruction of his fine + old English park, the yeoman deplored the desecration of his + homestead. The one bore its splendid remembrances, the other its + affectionate recollections. If the peer hallowed the former for + the sake of its royal visits, the farmer cherished the latter + for the sake of those who had tilled the land before him. There + are fancy spots in this our beautiful England which it would + pain the most indifferent to destroy; what then must be the + feelings of those who have lived, and only wish to die there? + + "It is the trafficker in sympathies, it is the dealer in haunts + and homes, at whom the finger of scorn should be pointed. It + is the trader in touching recollections, only to be soothed + by gold, that should be denounced. It is the peer who made + the historic memories of his mansion a plea for replenishing + an impoverished estate; it is the farmer who made the sacred + associations of home an excuse for receiving treble its value; + it is the country gentleman who made his opposition the lever + by which he procured the money from the proprietors' pockets, + who should be shamed. And a double portion of ignominy must rest + upon these, when it is remembered that the money thus immorally + obtained is a constant tax on the pleasures of the artisan, on + the work of the manufacturer, and on the wages of the railway + official." + +Mr Francis, it is evident, is fighting hard for his service of +plate; but we doubt much whether he will get it. He evidently +considers the foregoing passage as a specimen of splendid writing. +He is mistaken. It is nothing better than unadulterated drivel. +Let us try to extricate, if we can, his argument from this heap of +verbiage. + +He admits that associations ought to be respected, but he denies +that they ought to have been paid for. What does he mean by this? By +whom were the said associations to be respected? By the projectors +of the railway companies? Hardly: for those very sympathising +gentlemen were precisely the persons who insisted upon running their +rails right through park and cottage, and who would have prostrated +without remorse the Temple of Jerusalem or the Coliseum, had either +edifice stood in their way. What, then, was the value of that +respect? Precisely the worth of the tear which stood in the eye of +the tender-hearted surveyor. What was the operation of that respect? +Not to spare, but if possible to destroy. + +In a word, Mr Francis maintains that the railway companies ought to +have had their own way in everything, and to have got possession of +the land at the lowest conceivable prices. He thinks that, because +gentlemen whose property was threatened with invasion, whose privacy +it was purposed to destroy, and whose homes were to be rendered +untenantable, demanded a high price from the joint-stock trading +companies, as an equivalent for the surrender of such privileges, +they manifested a "low tone of moral feeling." In fact, so far as +we can gather from his language, he puts no value whatever, in +a pecuniary sense, upon the associations which he admits to be +entitled to respect; and hardly any, if any, upon the score of +amenity. He is anything but an Evelyn. An oak, in his eyes, is +merely a piece of standing timber to be measured, valued, and paid +for according to the current price in the dockyards. The land--no +matter of what kind--is to be estimated according to the amount +of its yearly return, and handed over without farther question +to the enterprising company which demands it. Perhaps Mr Francis +may remember a certain passage in sacred history, narrating the +particulars of a proposed transfer of ground--the parties being +King Ahab on the one hand, and Naboth the Jezreelite on the other? +If not, we recommend it to his attention, assuring him that he will +find it to contain a very important lesson touching the rights of +property. His present argument, if it is worth anything, would go +far to vindicate Ahab. He wanted the other man's vineyard because it +lay contiguous to his house, and he offered to give him in exchange +a better vineyard for it, or an equivalent in money. According to +the view maintained by Mr Francis, Naboth was not justified in +refusing the offer. + +But let us look into this matter a little more closely. On the one +hand there is the owner of a property which has been transmitted +through a long line of ancestors, and which is now to be intersected +and cut up by a projected line of railway. On the other hand there +is the company, which cannot progress a step until they have +possession of the land. Now let us see what is the nature, and what +are the objects of this company. It will not do for Mr Francis +or any one else to babble about public advantages, arising from +more direct communication between cities or towns of importance. +Public advantage may be taken for granted as a result, but upon +pure considerations of public advantage no railway whatever +was undertaken. It is the commercial speculation of a private +company. No man ever took a share in any railway from motives of +disinterested philanthropy. He took them because he expected to make +a profit by them, to hold them as a safe investment, or finally to +sell them for a larger sum than he paid. A condition, and the main +one, of the existence of the railway is the possession of the land, +and at this point proprietors and speculators join issue. The former +do not want the railway. Their wish is to preserve their property +undissevered, and to be spared from the spectacle of engines roaring +by at all hours of the day and night close to the bottom of the +lawn. They very naturally think it a monstrous hardship that the +rights of private property should be invaded by private individuals, +even though acting upon an incorporated semblance, who are simply +seeking their own profit; and they argue that, if the railway was +required for public purposes, the government was the proper party +to have undertaken its construction. But as, under the existing +law, they are liable to be dragged, session after session, into +a ruinous expense to oppose the demands of the capitalists, they +wisely determine to make the best arrangement they can, and at all +events to secure a full remuneration for the sacrifice. So the +Squire, finding that the law is so conceived and modified that any +one individual who is possessed of landed property may be compelled +to surrender it at the demand of a hundred leagued capitalists, +makes a virtue of necessity, and demands a sum corresponding in +some degree to the extent of the extorted sacrifice: whereupon the +promoters of the railway instantly raise such a howl that you would +think somebody was trying to rob _them_, or to take _their_ property +by force--the case being notoriously the reverse. + +Undoubtedly the Squire demands more from the railway company, as +compensation for his land, than he could calculate on receiving +from a neighbouring proprietor at an ordinary sale. And on what +principle, in the majority of cases, does he base his calculation +of value? Strictly upon that adopted by the projectors of the line. +For instance, a prospectus of a railway is put out, announcing that, +after the most careful consideration of district traffic, &c., the +clear dividend, after clearing all expenses, must be fifteen per +cent per annum to the proprietors. That is the statement of the +projectors. Well, then, if such are the prospects of the concern, +is it unreasonable that the land, which must be taken for its +construction, and which is, in fact, to form the railway, should be +valued, less on account of its productiveness, than on account of +its adaptation for the peculiar purpose for which it is required? +Why is an acre in the centre of a town a hundred times more valuable +than an acre in a rural district? Simply because it is required for +building, and the value of the land rises in just correspondence +to the demand. The subsequent failure or diminution of the railway +dividends cannot be made a just article of dittay against the landed +proprietors. Fifteen per cent, or ten, as the case might be, was +the amount of dividend which the promoters undertook to prove, to +the satisfaction of Parliament and the public, as their reasonable +expectation. It was part of their case always, and very often the +most important part; and if they chose so to commit themselves, +they were bound to pay accordingly. Just conceive a body of men +addressing an urban proprietor of land, upon which no houses were +yet built, in the following terms:--"Sir, we perceive you have an +acre and a half of land which would be very convenient for our +purpose. We propose to build a street of houses upon it, and a +hotel, from the rents of which we expect to draw fifteen per cent +yearly. At present your land yields you little or nothing, and +therefore we wish you to dispose of it at its present value. Let us +say that just now it is worth to you five pounds a-year: we shall +buy it from you at five-and-twenty years' purchase!" We leave to the +imagination of the reader the exact terms in which the proprietor +would assuredly reply to the propounders of this reasonable request. +And yet, where is the difference between the cases? The railway +projector tells the landed proprietor that he desires to have his +property for the purpose of securing fifteen per cent for his own +money: the landed proprietor tells him that he may have the property +at a rate corresponding to the advantage which he anticipates. Can +anything be fairer? If Mr Francis understood even the simplest +elements of political economy--an amount of mental comprehension of +which we believe him to be wholly incapable--he ought to know that +demand and supply are the leading conditions of price. If there +is only one salmon in the London market, it will sell, as it has +done before now, at the rate of a-guinea per pound, and it would be +obviously unfair to charge the fishmonger with being actuated by "a +low tone of moral feeling." He coerces no customer: he simply states +his price, and if no one chooses to buy, no one has a right to +complain. Our friend Francis seems to labour under the hallucination +that everything required for a railway ought to be furnished at +prime cost. That the promoters expect fifteen percent is nothing. +Nay, even the free-trading rule of selling in the dearest and +buying in the cheapest market is to be suspended for their behoof. +The seller is to have no option: he must be cheap to them, else +he is a moral monster. If, however, the judicious panegyrist of +Mr Carr Glyn does not carry his principles quite so far, he lays +himself open to the charge of most monstrous inconsistency. During +the prevalence of the railway mania, all commodities requisite for +their construction rose greatly in value. From iron to railway +sleepers--in wood, metal, and everything connected with the making +of the lines--there was an enormous enhancement of price. And +why? On account of the demand. Was the soil on which that iron +and wood was to be laid--the absolute foundation of the railway +itself--to be paid for at a meaner rate? Mr Francis seems to think +so; and we cannot help honouring him for the candid expression of +his opinions, even while we regret the conglomeration of ideas +which gave them birth. We are afraid that he has been talked over +by some of his acute acquaintances. It is the fashion at railway +meetings to attribute all disasters to some other cause than the +mismanagement of the directors; and we daresay that Mr Francis has +been fully indoctrinated with such opinions. It is not agreeable +to meet shareholders with a confession of dwindled dividend. But +when imperious circumstances render such a course inevitable, it +is convenient to be prepared with some "fallacy" which may help +to account for the fact, and to stifle too curious investigation. +The readiest scapegoat is the landowner. All accounting with him +is past and gone, yet he still can be made to bear the blame for a +vast amount of reckless prodigality. He is not there to speak for +himself--he has no connection with the company. Therefore, whenever +failure must be acknowledged, the onus is cast upon him. Railway +orators and railway writers alike conceal the real cause of the +disaster, and combine to cast discredit and aspersion upon the +gentry of England. + +The truth is, that the system of railway management in this country +has been, from the beginning to the end, decidedly bad. Each line, +as it came into existence, was fostered by quackery and falsehood. +The most extravagant representations were used to secure the +adhesion of shareholders, and to procure the public support. Rival +lines fought each other before the committees with a desperation +worthy of the cats of Kilkenny, and enormous expenses and law +charges were incurred at the very commencement. No economy whatever +was used in the engineering, and no check placed on the engineers. +In those days, indeed, an engineer of established reputation was a +kind of demigod, whose doctrine, or, at all events, whose charges, +it was sinful to challenge. But engineers have their ambition. +They like viaducts which will be talked of and admired as splendid +achievements of mechanical skill; and the most virtuous of the tribe +cannot resist the temptation of a tunnel. Such tastes are natural, +but they are fearfully expensive in their indulgence, as the +shareholders know to their cost. The remuneration of these gentlemen +was monstrous. In the course of a few years most of them realised +large fortunes, which is more than can be said for the majority of +the men who paid them. So was it with the contractors. Mr Francis +tells us of many, "who, beginning life as navigators, have become +contractors; who, having saved money, have become 'gangers,' +realised capital and formed contracts, first for thousands, and then +for hundreds of thousands. These are almost a caste by themselves. +They make fortunes, and purchase landed estates. Many a fine +property has passed from some improvident possessor to a railway +labourer; and some of the most beautiful country seats in England +belong to men who trundled the barrow, who delved with the spade, +who smote with the pick-axe, and blasted the rock." With such +statements before us, it is not difficult to see how the money went. +Alas for the shareholders! Poor geese! they little thought how many +were to have a pluck at their pinions. + +Industry, we freely admit, ought to have its reward; but rewards +such as these are beyond the reach of pure industry, as we used +formerly to understand the term. These revelations may, however, +be of use as indicating the direction in which a great part of the +money has gone. We accept them as such, and as illustrations of +that profound economy which was practised by the different boards +of railway direction throughout the kingdom. Mr Francis, in his +laudatory sketches of his favourite heroes, usually takes care +to tell us that they are "sprung from the ranks of the people." +Of course they are. Where else were they to spring from? Does Mr +Francis suppose it to be a popular article of belief that they +emerged from the bowels of a steam-engine? What he means, however, +is plain enough. Judging from the whole tenor of his book, we +take him to be one of those jaundiced persons who, without any +intelligible reason beyond class prejudice, are filled with bile +and rancour against the aristocracy, and who worship at the shrine +of money. He grudges every farthing that the railway companies were +compelled to pay for land; he bows down in reverence before the +princely fortunes of the contractors. Every man to his own taste. We +cannot truthfully assert that we admire the selection of his idols. + +But what is this? We have just lighted upon a passage which compels +us, in spite of ourselves, to suspect that our Francis is, at least, +a bit of a repudiator, and that he would regard with no unfavourable +eye another pluck at the shareholders. Here it is:-- + + "The assertion that land and compensation on the line to + which Mr Robert Stephenson was engineer, which was estimated + at £250,000, amounted to £750,000, appears to call for some + additional remark; _and the question which is now proposed is, + how far the right is with the railroads to demand, and the + passengers to pay an increased fare, in consequence of bargains + which, unjust in principle, ought never to have been allowed?_ + It is now a historic fact that every line in England has cost + more than it ought. That in some--where, too, the directors were + business men--large sums were improperly paid for land, for + compensation, for consequential damages, for fancy prospects, + and other unjust demands under various names. These sums being + immorally obtained, _is it right that the public should pay + the interest on them_? Is it just that the working man should + forego his trifling luxury to meet them? Is it fair that the + artisan should be deprived of his occasional trip, or that the + frequenter of the rail should pay an additional tax?" + +Is it fair that anybody should pay anything at all for travelling +on the railways? That is the question which must finally be +considered, if Mr Francis' preliminary questions are to be +entertained. Because some part of the capital of the shareholders +may have been needlessly expended, they ought in this view to +receive a less amount of interest for the remainder! The silliness +of the above passage is so supreme--the ignorance which it displays +of the first rules of law and equity, regarding property, is so +profound, that it is hardly worth while exposing it. It betrays an +obliquity of intellect of which we had not previously suspected +even Mr Francis. Pray observe the exquisite serenity with which +this important personage opens his case: "The question which is now +proposed!" Proposed--and for whose consideration? Not surely for +that of the Legislature, for the Legislature has already pronounced +judgment. Are the public to take the matter in hand, and decide +on the tables of rates? It would seem so. In that case, we might +indeed calculate upon travelling cheap, provided the rails were not +shut up. But the whole of his remarks are as practically absurd +as they are mischievous in doctrine. What right has Jack, Tom, or +Harry to question the cost of his conveyance? Are there not, in +all conscience, competing lines enough, independent altogether +of Parliamentary regulations, to secure the public against being +overcharged on the railways? On what authority does Mr Francis +assume that a single acre of the land was paid for at an unjust +rate? Mr Robert Stephenson's estimate, we take it, has not the +authority of gospel. No engineer's estimate has. Their margin is +always a large one; and it almost never happens that, when the +works are completed, their actual cost is found to correspond with +the hypothetical calculation. But the truth is, that the value +paid for the land taken by railways is the only item of expense +which cannot be justly challenged. The reason is plain. A railway +company has in the first instance to prove the preamble of its +bill--that is, it must show to the satisfaction of the Legislature +that the construction of the work will be attended with public and +local advantages. The settlement of the money question, regarding +the value of the land, is reserved for the legal tribunals of the +country. To complain of the verdicts given is to impugn the course +of justice, and to cast discredit on the system of jury trial. +Very wisely was it determined that such questions should be so +adjudicated, because no reasonable ground of complaint can be left +to either party. The decision as to the value of the land, and the +amount of compensation which is due, is taken from the hands both +of Ahab and Naboth, and their respective engineers and valuators, +and intrusted to neutral parties, whose duty it is to see fair play +between them. + +We have done with this book. It has greatly disappointed us in every +respect. As a repertory of facts, or as a history of the railways, +it is ill-arranged, meagre, and stupid; and the sketches which it +contains are so absurdly conceived, and so clumsily executed, that +they entirely fail to enliven the general dulness of the volumes. At +the very point which might have been rendered most interesting in +the hands of an able and well-instructed writer--the period of the +great mania--Mr Francis fails. His pen is not adequate to the task +of depicting the rapid occurrences of the day, or the fearful whirl +which then agitated the public mind. In short, he is insufferably +prosy throughout the first four acts of his drama, and makes a +lamentable break-down at the catastrophe. His work will fail to +please any portion of the public, except the heroes whose praises +he has sung. He has given them sugar, indeed; but, after all, it is +a sanded article. We hope they will combine to buy up the edition, +and thus fulfil the prophecy of Shakspeare--"Nay, but hark you, +Francis: for the sugar thou gavest me--'twas a pennyworth, was't +not?" "O Lord, sir! I would it had been two." "I will give thee for +it a thousand pound: ask me when thou wilt, and thou shalt have it." +"Anon, anon, sir!" + + + + +INDEX TO VOL. LXX. + + + Abdallah, a dragoman, sketch of, 448 _et seq._ + + Aborigines, general characteristics of, 416. + + Abrantes, the marquis of, 354. + + Achmet Bascha, a campaign in Taka under, 251 _et seq._ + + Achmet Effendi, sketch of, 453. + + Acre, sketches at, 459. + + Administration, system of, in Russia, 164 ET SEQ. + + Adolphe the clairvoyant, performances of, 70. + + Africa, recent travels in, 251. + + Agricultural depression, amount of, in Ireland, 136 + --reaction of it on other classes of the community, 303. + + Agricultural interest, experienced results of free trade to + the, 133 + --Lord John Russell on its state, 489. + + Agricultural Relief Associations, proceedings and demands of + the, 616. + + Agriculture, Huskisson on protection to, 632 + --state of, &c. in the United States, 699 _et seq._ + --relations of geology to, 703 + --improvements in, in New York, &c., 704 + --its state, &c., in Canada, 707. + + Agriculturists, effects of the depression of the, on the home + trade, 109 + --lowering of the wages of the, 496. + + Albany, Professor Johnston's Lectures in, 700. + + Alchemy, origin of chemistry with, &c., 564. + + Aleppo, town of, 725. + + Alexandretta, town of, 463, 724. + + Alexandria, a voyage from, to Syria, 451. + + Alexis the clairvoyant, 77. + + Ali-Beg, the pass of, 100. + + Amadeus I. of Savoy, 414. + + American lakes, the, 708, 709. + + American slavery, on, 385. + + Americans in California, character, &c. of the, 478. + + Amiens, sketches at, 199. + + ANSAYRII, THE, 719 + --their tenets, numbers, &c., 733. + + Apes, shooting of, at Hassela, 270. + + Arab Scheik, an, 728. + + Arable culture, expense of, 1790, 1803, and 1813, 620. + + Arc de Triomphe de l'Etoile, the, 319. + + Arches, the triumphal, of Paris, 320. + + Arkwright, sir R., origin of the discoveries of, 566. + + Army, the French, feeling in, toward Louis Napoleon, 547. + + ARNABOLL, THE RAID OF, chap. I., 220 + --chap. II., 225 + --chap. III., 230 + --chap. IV., 236. + + Artesian well, the, at Paris, 317. + + Aspre, general d', notices of, during the campaign in Italy, 29 ET + SEQ. PASSIM + --his march on Verona, 442. + + ASSASSINS or Ansayrii, the, 719 + --their tenets, &c., 733. + + Atbara river, the, 257 _et seq. passim_. + + Atoi, a New Zealand chief, 417. + + Auber's opera of Zerline, on, 311. + + Aumale, the duke d', the duke of Orleans on, 555. + + Australia, character of the aborigines of, 416 + --a voyage to California from, 471. + + Austria, sketches of the war between her and Piedmont, 25 _et seq._ + --her intervention in the Papal States in 1830, 432 + --her long possession of Lombardy and acquisition of Venice, 433 + --her administration of the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom, 434. + + AUSTRIAN AIDE-DE-CAMP, the campaigns of an, 25. + + AUTUMN POLITICS, 607. + + + Bacon, Friar, the prophecy of, 562. + + Bagdad, sketches of, 97. + + Ballet-dancing, Fanny Lewald on, 217. + + Baranken, fur called, 172. + + Bassora, a voyage to, 96. + + Bears, the, in the Jardin des Plantes, 314 + --sketches of, in North America, 672, 677. + + Beautiful, Ruskin's theory of the, examined, 333. + + Belgian Revolution, Stahr on the, 544. + + Benares, sketches by Madame Pfeiffer at, 93. + + Berchthold, count, fellow-traveller of Madame Pfeiffer, 87 _et seq. + passim_. + + Bethmeria, village of, in Lebanon, 456. + + Beyrout, sketches at, 454, 721. + + Blane, Louis, account of, by Fanny Lewald, 214. + + Bombay, a voyage from Bassora to, 96. + + BOROUGHS, DISFRANCHISEMENT OF THE, 296. + + Boroughs, apparent secession of the, from the free-trade cause, 299. + + Boulevard of Paris, the, 200. + + Boulogne, difficulties of the invasion of England from, 197 + --sketches in, 198. + + Bradford, present state of manufactures at, 643. + + Brazil, sketches in the interior of, 87. + + Bread-stuffs, the exports of, from the United States, 702. + + Brett, Messrs, the inventors of the submarine telegraph, 567. + + Bribery, parliamentary, on, 303. + + Bright, John, on the reduction of wages, 634. + + British empire, statistics regarding population of the, 1801 to + 1851, 127. + + British shipping, influence of free trade on, 138. + + Browne, sir Thomas, testimony of, concerning witchcraft, 81. + + Buckwheat, use of, in North America, 705. + + Buffon, superintendence of the Jardin des Plantes by, 315. + + Buonaparte, Napoleon, restoration of the Jardin des Plantes by, 315 + --the monument to, in the Hôtel des Invalides, 317 + --measures of, regarding the drama, 324. + + Buonaparte, Napoleon, son of Jerome, 206. + + Burdon, captain, British resident at Kottah, 94. + + Burke, E., proposal by, to gild the dome of St Paul's, 316. + + Burning forest, a, in Brazil, 88. + + + Cagliostro, supposed mesmeric power of, 77. + + Cairo, sketches of life, &c. at, 449. + + California, sketches in, 470 _et seq._ + + Camino theatre, the, at St Petersburg, 168. + + CAMPAIGN IN TAKA, a, 251. + + CAMPAIGNS OF AN AUSTRIAN AIDE-DE-CAMP, the, 25. + + Canadas, sketches by Professor Johnston in the, 706 + --statistics of their progress, 708. + + Cancrin, finance minister of Russia, 166. + + Cannibalism of New Zealand, the, 415. + + Caravan journey to Mossul, a, 98. + + Cards, playing, consumption of, in Russia, 169. + + Carey's Harmony of Interests, &c., extracts from, 640. + + Carlists, fall of the, in Spain, 356. + + Carré, Michel, French translation of Goethe's Faust by, 556. + + Carrousel, the arch of the, 320. + + Cash payments, influence of the suspension of, 619 + --and that of their resumption, 622. + + Catamount, adventure with a, 677. + + Cavalry, the Russian, 165. + + Caxton, Pisistratus, My Novel by, + --Part XI. Book VI. chapters I. to XII. 1 + --Part XII. Book VI. chapters XIII. to XXV. 173 + --Part XIII. Book VII. chapters I. to XV. 275 + --Part XIV. Book VII. chapters XVI. to XXII. 392 + --Part XV. Book VIII. chapters I. to VI. 573 + --Part XVI. Book VIII. chapters VII. to XIV. 681. + + CENSUS AND FREE TRADE, the, 123. + + CHAMPIONS OF THE RAIL, the, 739. + + Charles Albert, King of Sardinia, sketches of, 30 _et seq. passim_ + --his conduct with regard to Lombardy, 437 + --hostilities begun by him, 440 + --sketch of his previous career, 442 + --the campaign under him, 444 + --his last defeat, abdication, and death, 446. + + Chartum, the town of, 251. + + Cheapness, examination of the question of, 638. + + Chemistry, alchemy the parent of, 564. + + Cherbourg, the harbour of, 197. + + China, sketches in, by Madame Pfeiffer, 92. + + Chinese junk, voyage in a, 93. + + Church, Mr Phelps on the, 388. + + Churches, Ruskin on, 327. + + "Claims of Labour," remarks on the, 380. + + Clairvoyance, examination of the claims of, 70 _et seq._ + + Clam, General Count, 33. + + Clergy, influence of free trade on the, 500. + + Clouds, Ruskin on, 330. + + Coal gas, how first discovered, 569. + + Colonisation, two sonnets, 606. + + Column, on the, as the monument, 319. + + "Companions of my solitude," review of, 386. + + Concorde, the Place and Pont de la, in Paris, 202, 203, 312. + + CONGRESS AND THE AGAPEDOME, the, chap. I. 359 + --chap. II. 365 + --chap. III. 370 + --chap. IV. 375. + + Conjurors, Indian, 94. + + "Conquerors of the New World, the," remarks on, 380. + + Conscription, the, in France, 323. + + Constable the painter, the trees of, 332. + + Constantinople, winter aspect of, 723. + + Constituencies, large, the _Times_ on, 301. + + Continent, revolutionary tendencies the, and their causes, 431. + + Cook, Captain, on the cannibalism of New Zealand, 416. + + Corn laws, causes which brought about the repeal of the, 115 + --separation between landlord and tenant induced by their + repeal, 610 + --circumstances which originated them. &c., 621 + --Huskisson in favour of the, 632 + --effects of their repeal on prices, 637. + + Cornu, Madame, letters of Louis Napoleon to, 547. + + Costazza, defeat of Charles Albert at, 445. + + Cotton manufacture, wheat used for starch in the, 497. + + Counties, decrease of population in, 1841 to 1851, 129. + + Country, immigration of population into the towns from the, 307. + + Country districts, first failure of population in the, 125. + + Crime, increase of, under the free-trade system, 139 + --increase of it in the towns, 307. + + Croats, the troops called, 443. + + Crusades, increase of population during the, 124. + + CRYSTAL PALACE, VOLTAIRE IN THE, 142. + + Currency reform, necessity for, 111. + + Currency system, the new, the monetary crisis due to, 132 + --relation of it to the free-trade question, 618. + + Custine, M. de, his book on Russia, 160. + + Cuvier, superintendence of the Jardin des Plantes by, 316. + + + Daun, Marshal, the victory of, at Kolin, 26. + + DAY-DREAMS OF AN EXILE. Longings + --I. To ----, 465 + --II. Where summer is, 467 + --III. Earth is the realm of death, 469 + --IV. Stand by the ocean, _ib._ + --V. Sigh thou not for a happier lot, 604 + --VI. To ----, 605 + --VII. Oft in a night of April, _ib._ + --VIII. Dream on, 606 + --IX. Colonisation, two sonnets, _ib._ + + Defalla, an African chief, 259. + + Delta, The Lament of Selim, by, 103 + --his death, and sketch of his life, &c., 249. + + Dembinski, General, in the Hungarian war, 37. + + Depression, the present, its universality, 630. + + Derby, the Earl of, on protection, 613. + + Digby, Sir Kenelm, supposed acquaintance of, with mesmerism, 77. + + DIGGINGS, A VOICE FROM THE, 470. + + DISFRANCHISEMENT OF THE BOROUGHS, the, 296. + + Disraeli, Mr, new policy proposed by, against free trade, 612 _et + seq. passim_. + + Domestic tyranny, Mr Helps on, 381. + + Doubleday, Mr, on the effects of Peel's currency system, 622. + + DOWNWARD TENDENCIES, 106. + + Drama, sketch of the rise and history of the, in France, 323 + --its present state there, 324. + + "Dream on, ye souls who slumber here," 606. + + Druses, sketches of the, 456. + + Dumas, Alexander, sketches of, by Professor Stahr, and account of + the duke of Orleans by him, 547, 554. + + Dunshunner, A. R., letter to R. M'Corkindale by--"Downward + tendencies," 106. + + Dunstan the monk, on the character of, 513. + + Duprat, M., speech of, on the National Guard, 207. + + Durando, general, defence of Vicenza, by, 35. + + + Earle, Mr, account of cannibalism in New Zealand by, 417. + + "Earth is the realm of death, who reigns," 469. + + East, interest of the, 719. + + Eastlake's Good Samaritan, on, 212. + + Eating-houses in San Francisco, 472. + + Edinburgh Review, the, on protection, 306. + + Education, Mr Helps on, 383. + + Edwin the Fair, review of, 513. + + Egypt, interest of, 719 + --sketches in, 720 _et seq._ + + Electric telegraph, laying down of the, from England to France, 568. + + Elliotson, Dr, Phreno-mesmeric exhibition by, 74. + + Elora, visit to, by Madame Pfeiffer, 95. + + Emigration, increase of, from Great Britain, 113 + --rapidity of it in a declining state, 126 + --amounts of it from Great Britain, 1841 to 1850, 128 _note_ + --amount of it from Ireland, 131 + --influence of free trade on it, 139, 503 + --the _Times_ on the increased, 626 + --encouragements to, to the United States, 710, 711. + + Employers, on the relation between, and employed, 381. + + Employment, influence of, on population, 123. + + England and France, laying down of the submarine electric telegraph + between, 568. + + English travellers, contrast between, and French, 447 + --follies, &c. of, 454 + --how regarded in the East, 461. + + Esperon, Dr, 453. + + "Essays written in intervals of business," remarks on, 380. + + Etoile, the Arc de l', 319. + + Euphrates, the, 727. + + Europe, the advances of population in, 123 + --tendencies to revolution in, 431. + + Eve of the Conquest, Taylor's, remarks on, 520. + + Exhibition of paintings, Fanny Lewald on the, 211. + + Exile, day-dreams of an, see Day-dreams. + + EXPERIMENT, the, 488. + + Exports, increase of, under free trade, 140. + + Eye, alleged power of charm in the, 79. + + + Farmers, loss at present sustaining by the, 492 + --their right to relief, 614, 615. + See also Agriculturists. + + Faucher, M., speech of, in the Legislative Assembly, 207. + + Faust, French translation of, the, 556. + + Finances, influence of free trade on the, 137. + + Financial system, relations of the, to the free-trade question, 618. + + Flour, falling price of, in New York, 703. + + Folkstone, sketches of, 197. + + Foreign shipping, influence of free trade on, 138. + + Foreign trade, state of, &c., 645. + + Forest life, sketches of, in Maine, &c., 670 _et seq._ + + Forests of Brazil, the, 88, 89. + + Fountains of the Place de la Concorde, the, 314. + + France, the protective policy of, 117 + --increase of population in, during the war, 124, 125 + --increased facilities of communication with, 195 + --the revolutions of, and their influences, 431 + --the intervention of, in Rome, 438 + --the importation of flour into Great Britain from, 489 _note_ + --sketches of the present state of, by Professor Stahr, 545 + --belief in, as to Napoleon being still alive, 549 + --laying down of the submarine telegraph from England to, 568. + + FRANCIS' HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH RAILWAY reviewed, 739. + + Frederick the Great, his defeat at Kolin, 26. + + FREE TRADE, THE CENSUS AND, 123. + + Free trade, the experienced results of, 108 _et seq._ + --contrast between its results and those of protection, 116 + --influence of it on trading profits, 137 + --influence of it on shipping, 138 + --its influence on crime, emigration, and poor-rates, 139 + --and on exports and imports, 140 + --general summary of its results, 141 + --general reaction against it, 245 + --declarations from the boroughs against it, 299 + --the experiment of, 488 + --influence of it on the income, &c., of the clergy, 500 + --continued depression under it, 609 + --reaction against it, 613 + --address to the shopkeepers on its effects on them, + 629 _et seq._ + --universality of the depression from it, 630 + --its progress from the time of Huskisson, 632 + --prices of corn under it, 637. + + Free-traders, preponderance of, among the Scottish + representatives, 297 + --present views of, regarding the smaller boroughs, 305. + + Freedom, Protestantism essential to, 447. + + French in Tahiti, the, 90. + + French army, feeling in, toward Louis Napoleon, 546. + + French opera, the, at Paris, 310. + + French railroads, on, 199. + + French theatres, Stahr on the, 557. + + French travellers, contrast between, and English, 447. + + "Friends in council," notice of, 382. + + Funds, danger of the, 112. + + Furs, prices of, in Russia, 171. + + + Gaming and gaming-houses in San Francisco, 473. + + Gand, Dr, 253, 254. + + Garcia, Madame, reception of, in St Petersburg, 168. + + Gas, how first discovered, 569. + + Gaufridy, Louis, the case of, 76. + + Gaza, the Lazaretto at, 453. + + Geology, relations of, to agriculture, 703. + + Georgey, General, 36. + + GERMAN AUTHORESS, London diary of a, 209. + + GERMAN LETTERS FROM PARIS, 543. + + German literature, non-appreciation of, in France, 556. + + German professors, former and present characters of, 543. + + German women, Fanny Lewald on, 216. + + Gibelin, the Count de, case of, 82. + + Gibili tobacco, 462. + + GIBRALTAR, A LEGEND OF, Chap. I. 522 + --Chap. II. 529 + --Chap. III. 532 + --Chap. IV. 535 + --Chap. V. 539. + + GIBRALTAR, A TALE OF THE SIEGE OF, 648. + + Glasgow, increase of population in, 1841 to 1851, 129 + --1811 to 1851, 131 + --immigrations of Irish into, _ib._ + + Glastonbury waters, alleged cure by the, 81. + + Goethe's Faust, French translation of, 556. + + Goito, engagement at, 443. + + Gold diggings in California, sketches in the, 470 _et seq._ + + Gos Rajeb, an African town, 259. + + Grahame, Sir James, position of, and his party, 118 + --his conduct towards his tenantry, 499. + + Grain, importations of, into Ireland, 134 + --fall in the prices of, in Scotland, 491. + + GREAT BRITAIN, TO THE SHOPKEEPERS OF, 629. + + Great Britain, increase of population in, during the war, 124 + --statistics regarding her population, 1801 to 1851, 127 _et seq._ + --immigration of Irish into, 131 + --aversion to revolution among the middle classes of, 297 + --recent foreign works on, 209 + --contrast between, and the Continent, as regards revolution, 431 + --comparative pressure of taxation in, and in the United + States, 715. + + Greatrakes, Valentine, the cures of, 81. + + Greenwich fair, Fanny Lewald on, 212. + + Greg, Mr, on the reduction of wages, 634 + --on the competition to which our manufactures are exposed, 639. + + Gregory XVI., death of, 432. + + Gunpowder, new mode of discharging, 570. + + + H. G. K., Day-dreams of an exile, by, Nos. I. to IV. 465 + --Nos. V. to IX. 604. + + Haddendas, African tribe of the, 261 _et seq. passim_ + --a visit to them, 264. + + Hallengas, the, an Arab tribe, 268, 272. + + Hamilton, Mr, British resident at Indore, 95. + + Harles' "Career in the Commons," notice of, 120. + + Harris' Ethiopia, remarks on, 251. + + Harvey, James, on free trade and its results, 644, 645. + + Hassan, the founder of the Assassins, 733. + + Heke, the New Zealand chief, 427. + + HELPS, MR, THE ESSAYS OF, 379. + + HELSHAM, CAPTAIN, note on the case of, 122. + + Henry V., Stahr on, 557. + + High farming, inefficiency of, to counteract the agricultural + depression, 491. + + Highlands, present state of the, and its causes, 308. + + Home trade, falling off in the, 108 + --effects of free trade on the, 645. + + Horn, Cape, a voyage round, 90. + + Hortense, Queen, mother of Louis Napoleon, 547. + + Hôtel des Invalides, the, 316. + + Human responsibility, relations of mesmerism to, 81. + + Hungary, sketches of the war in, 35 _et seq._ + + Huskisson, effects of the commercial system begun by, 308 + --strictures on his statue at Lloyds', 211 + --his character, and commencement of the free-trade system + under him, 632. + + Hussars, the Hungarian, 38. + + + Imitation, Ruskin on, 331. + + Immorality, increase of, in the towns, 307. + + Imports, increase of, under free trade, 140. + + Income-tax returns, falling off in the, 137. + + India, sketches by Madame Pfeiffer in, 93. + + Indians of Brazil, the, 89. + + Indore, sketches at, 95. + + Industry, relations of, to population, 123. + + Infidelity, influence of, on Continental revolution, 431. + + Interests, harmony of, Carey on, 640. + + Invalides, the Hôtel des, 316. + + Invention, the progress of, 563. + + Ionic column, Ruskin on the, 327. + + Ireland, diminution of the population of, 123 + --decrease of its population since 1846, 128 + --increase of the population in the towns and its diminution in + the counties, 129 + --the alleged influence of the potato failure on the + population, 131, 132 + --diminution of cultivation in, 489, _note_. + --proofs of agricultural depression in, 497. + + Irish, immigration of the, into Great Britain, 131. + + Isaac Comnenus, the drama of, reviewed, 517. + + Ismaylis, the sect of the, 735. + + Italian insurrection, sketches of the, 25 _et seq._ + + Italian opera, the, in St Petersburg, 168. + + ITALIAN REVOLUTION, the, 431. + + Italy, the war between Austria and Sardinia in, 29 _et seq._ + --its disunited state, 434 + --character of the Austrian administration in, _ib. et seq._ + + + Jacobleff, a Russian, anecdotes of, 170. + + Jardin des Plantes, sketches in the, 314. + + Jellachich, baron, operations of, during the Hungarian + insurrection, 39 + --sketch of his career, 444. + + JERRMANN'S PICTURES FROM ST PETERSBURG, review of, 154. + + JEW'S LEGACY, the, a tale of the siege of Gibraltar, chap. I. 648 + --chap. II. 653 + --chap. III. 656 + --chap. IV. 659 + --chap. V. 663. + + JOHNSTON'S NOTES ON NORTH AMERICA, 699. + + Joinville, the prince de, character of, 555. + + Judicial system, the, of the United States, 713. + + Justice, the administration of, in St Petersburg, 162 _et seq._ + + + Kassela, the African mountain of, 270. + + Kent, the scenery of, 196. + + King, Mr, report by, on the gold diggings of California, 477. + + Kiss, general, 43. + + Kleber, general, skeleton of the murderer of, 316. + + Kleinmichael, general, reconstruction of the winter palace at St + Petersburg by, 159. + + Knaresborough election, the, 245, 246. + + Kohl, misstatements of, regarding Russia, 171. + + Kolin, an incident of the battle of, 26. + + Kurdistan, journey of madame Pfeiffer through, 99. + + + Labourers, the agricultural, loss which will fall on, from free + trade, 492. + + Labouring classes, on the condition of the dwellings of the, 381. + + LAMENT OF SELIM, the, 103. + + Lanarkshire, increase of population in, 1841 to 1851, 129. + + Landlord and tenant, separation induced by free trade between, 610. + + Landlords, proportion of loss from free trade to be sustained by + the, 492 + --their conduct as regards their tenantry, 612. + + Latachia, sketches at, 462, 724. + + Latour's dragoons, Austrian regiment called, 26. + + Law, proposed change in the mode of administering, 386, 387. + + Lazaretto at Gaza, the, 453. + + Lebanon, sketches in, 455. + + LEGEND OF GIBRALTAR, a, chap. I. 522 + --chap. II. 529 + --chap. III. 532 + --chap. IV. 535 + --chap. V. 539. + + Legislative assembly, the present, of France, 202 + --sketch of a debate in it, 205. + + Legislative interference, on, as applied to sanitary measures, 381. + + Leicester, depressed state of, 644. + + Leitzendorf, colonel, death of, 31. + + LEVANTINE RAMBLES, 447. + + LEWALD'S DIARY IN ENGLAND, review of, 209. + + Liberal policy, experienced results of, in the Peninsula, 349. + + Liberals, preponderance of the, in Scotland, 297. + + Liberals, the Portuguese, division among the, &c., 352. + + LIFE AMONG THE LOGGERS, 669. + + Limerick Examiner, the, on emigration from Ireland, 134. + + Liszt the pianist, reception of, at St Petersburg, 169. + + Littledale, Messrs, on the manufacturing depression, 609. + + Lodging-house, a, in San Francisco, 473. + + LOGGERS, LIFE AMONG THE, 669. + + Logrolling, origin of the phrase, 712. + + Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom, the Austrian administration of the, 435. + + Lombardy, the insurrection of, against Austria, 26 _et seq._, 433 + --the government of it by Austria, 435. + + London, the shopkeepers of, effects of free trade on, 111 + --increase of population in, 1841 to 1851, 129. + + LONDON DIARY OF A GERMAN AUTHORESS, the, 209. + + Louis XIII., foundation of the Jardin des Plantes by, 315. + + Louis Napoleon, improvement of the passport system by, 196 + --Stahr's picture of him, 545 + --anecdotes, &c. of him, 547 + --causes of his election, 548. + + Louis Philippe, improvement of the Boulevard of Paris under him, 202 + --the final act of his dethronement, 204 + --Stahr's sketches, &c. of him, 548 _et seq. passim_, 550 _et seq._ + + Luxor, the obelisk of, at Paris, 312. + + + M'Corkindale, R., letter from A. R. Dunshunner to + --Downward tendencies, 106. + + Madeleine, church of the, at Paris, 312. + + Magic, the secrets of, 564. + + Maine, sketches among the wood-cutters of, 669 _et seq._ + + Maize, extensive use of, in the United States, 705. + + Malthus, the views of, on population, 123. + + Mammiani, the Roman demagogue, 437, 438. + + Mantua, the Austrian possession of, 433. + + Manufactures, British, their rise during the war, 633 + --their state under free trade, 643. + + Manufacturers, depressed state of the, 108. + + Manufacturing districts, distress and depression in the, 305, 609. + + Manufacturing towns, check to the population in the, 130, 131. + + Maria, Donna, position of, in Portugal, 349. + + Maronites, sketches of the, 455. + + Martineau, Miss, testimony of, regarding mesmerism, 75 + --atheistical work by her, 76, _note_. + + MASTER THIEF, the, a Norse popular tale, 595. + + Mazarin, encouragement of the drama by, in France, 323. + + Mazzini, proceedings of, in Rome, 438. + + Mechanics, the poetry of, 567. + + Mechi, Mr, his high farming system, 491. + + Medusa's head, the, in connection with mesmerism, 77. + + Mehmet Pasha of Acre, sketches of, 459 _et seq._ + + Mesmer, the alleged powers, &c. of, 82. + + MESMERISM, WHAT IS IT? 70 + --postscript, 83. + + Metallic tractors, cure by, 79. + + Metropolitan representatives, character of the, 300 + --the _Times_ on them, 301. + + Middle classes, their aversion to revolution in Great Britain, 297. + + Miguel, Don, Whig policy toward, and its results, 349 + --his dethronement, 350 + --party still adhering to him, 351 _et seq. passim_. + + Miguelites, strength of the party of, in Portugal, 352. + + Milan, the duchy of, the Austrian possession of, 433. + + Milan, city of. Radetsky's retreat from it, 440 + --its aspect after the suppression of the insurrection, 35. + + Military service, term of, in Russia, 155. + + Millais, painting by, 212. + + Milton on emigration, 503. + + Ministry, uncertain position of the, 110. + + Mitkenab, visit to village of, 264. + + "Modern Painters," review of, 326. + + MODERN STATE TRIALS + --Note on Part III. + --Captain Helsham + --Duelling 122. + + Mohammed Din, an Arab chief, 261 _et seq. passim_. + + MOIR, THE LATE D. M., 249. + + Molesworth, Mr, account of cannibalism in New Zealand, by, 418. + + Monetary Crisis, the, its alleged influence on population, 132. + + Montanara, battle of, 33. + + Montemolin, the Count de, 356. + + Montpensier, the duke de + --his character, 555. + + Monuments of London, Fanny Lewald on the, 210. + + Moor, action at, in the Hungarian war, 37. + + Moose-deer, adventure with a, 679. + + Morgan, lady, sketch of, by Lewald, 218. + + Morroqueimado, Swiss settlement of, in Brazil, 88. + + Mossul, a caravan journey to, 98. + + Mosul, town of, 729. + + Mulgrave, the earl of, defeat of, at Scarborough, 245. + + Mulot, M., the engineer of the great Artesian well at Paris, 317. + + Muntz, Mr, on the reduction of wages by free trade, 634. + + Music, passion for, in St Petersburg, 168. + + MY NOVEL; or, Varieties in English Life, by Pisistratus Caxton. + Book VI., + --Initial Chapter, 1. + --chap. ii. 3 + --chap. iii. 5 + --chap. iv. 6 + --chap. v. 7 + --chap. vi. 10 + --chap. vii. 11 + --chap. viii. 13 + --chap. ix. 15 + --chap. x. 17 + --chap. xi. 20 + --chap. xii. 21 + --chap. xiii. 173 + --chap. xiv. 175 + --chap. xv. 178 + --chap. xvi. _ib._ + --chap. xvii. 180 + --chap. xviii. _ib._ + --chap. xix. 184 + --chap. xx. 185 + --chap. xxi. 187 + --chap. xxii. 189 + --chap. xxiii. 190 + --chap. xxiv. 192 + --chap. xxv. 194 + --Book VII., Initial Chapter, 275 + --chap. ii. 277 + --chap. iii. _ib._ + --chap. iv. 278 + --chap. v. 280 + --chap. vi. 281 + --chap. vii. _ib._ + --chap. viii. 283 + --chap. ix. 285 + --chap. x. 286 + --chap. xi. 288 + --chap. xii. 289 + --chap. xiii. 290 + --chap. xiv. 291 + --chap. xv. 292 + --chap. xvi. 392 + --chap. xvii. 397 + --chap. xviii. 399 + --chap. xix. 400 + --chap. xx. 403 + --chap. xxi. 407 + --chap. xxii. 412 + --Book VIII., Initial Chapter, the abuse of intellect, 573 + --chap. ii. 575 + --chap. iii. 580 + --chap. iv. 585 + --chap. v. 590 + --chap. vi. 594 + --chap. vii. 681 + --chap. viii. 682 + --chap. ix. 687 + --chap. x. 689 + --chap. xi. 691 + --chap. xii. 693 + --chap. xiii. 695 + --chap. xiv. 697. + + + Naples, the revolt and revolution in, 433. + + Napoleon column, the, in the Place Vendôme, 318. + + Narvaez, the downfall of, in Spain, 356. + + National debt, recent increase of the, 138. + + National gallery, the British, buildings of the, 210. + + National guard, debate on the, in the French Assembly, 205 + --their conduct during the Revolution of 1848, 550, 551. + + National wealth, origin of, from the soil, 107. + + NEALE'S EIGHT YEARS IN SYRIA, &c. reviewed, 447. + + Nelson column, the, 210. + + Nemours, the duke de, character of, 555. + + NERVAL'S SCENES DE LA VIE ORIENTALE, reviewed, 447. + + Neuilly, conduct of the National guard of, in 1848, 550 + --the destruction of the chateau of, 551 + --its present state, 552. + + New Brunswick, sketches in, 709. + + New York, diminishing price of flour at, 703 + --agricultural improvement in, 704. + + New Zealand Company, the, 422. + + New Zealand Pahs, sketches of, 420. + + NEW ZEALANDERS, the, 414. + + Nicholas, the emperor, character of, 154 _et seq._ + + Nile, expedition up the, 251 _et seq._ + + Nineveh, the excavations at, &c., 729. + + NORTH AMERICA, JOHNSTON'S NOTES ON, 699. + + North America, wood-cutting life in, 669 _et seq._ + + Nottingham, depressed state of, 644. + + Novara, defeat of Charles Albert at, 446. + + Novo Friburgo, Swiss colony of, in Brazil, 88. + + Nugent, general, 443. + + + Obelisk of Luxor, the, at Paris, 312. + + "Oft in a night of April," 605. + + Oligarchies of medieval Italy, the, 435. + + Opera, the, at Paris, 310. + + Orleans, the late duke of, anecdotes and sketches of, 547, _et + seq. passim_, 554, 555. + + Orleans, the duchess of, conduct of, on the 24th February, 204. + + Orleans dynasty, Stahr on the, 549. + + Otaki, New Zealand village of, 430. + + Ottinger, general, sketches of, 36, 37. + + Oudinot, general, the siege of Rome by, 438. + + Ouroomia, American missionary settlement at, 101. + + + Palestine, interest of, 719. + + Palmerston, lord, on the state of Spain, 355. + + Papal states, the revolution of 1848 in the, 437. + + PARIS IN 1851, 195 + --the journey, &c., 196 _et seq._ + --the Boulevard, 200 + --the Legislative Assembly, 202 + --the Debate, 205 + --the Opera, 310 + --the Obelisk of Luxor, 312 + --the Jardin des Plantes, 314 + --the Hôtel des Invalides, 316 + --the Artesian well, 317 + --the Napoleon column, 318 + --the Arc de l'Etoile, 319 + --the Arc du Carrousel, 320 + --suicides, 321 + --the drama, 323. + + PARIS, GERMAN LETTERS FROM, 543. + + Paris in 1815, picture of, 201. + + Parochial clergy and schoolmasters, influence of free trade on + the, 501. + + Pasquali, the baron di, a Sicilian renegade, 253, 254. + + Passport system, improvement in the, 195. + + Pauperism, increase of, under free trade, 139. + + PEACEFUL LIEUTENANT AND HIS FRIENDS, the, a three hours' platonic + gossip. Hour Third--containing sundry passages in the + lieutenant's own history, and the strange legend of his + supposed grandfather, 45. + + Peel, Sir R. effects of his free-trade system, 115 + --insidious character of his free-trade advances, 635 + --on the anticipated price of corn under free trade, 636 + --effects of his measures, 640. + + Peel, the present Sir R., his letter to his tenantry, 106. + + Peninsula, experienced results of the Liberal policy in the, 349. + + Perowsky, a Russian minister, 163. + + Persia, sketches by madame Pfeiffer in, 97. + + Peschiera, the capture of, by the Piedmontese, 444. + + Peter the Great, the first residence of, at St Petersburg, 171. + + Peterwardein, a captivity in, 39. + + Petropolis, German colony of, in Brazil, 87. + + PFEIFFER, MADAME, WANDERINGS ROUND THE WORLD, by, reviewed, 86. + + Philip van Artevelde, review of, 505. + + Phreno-mesmerism, exhibitions of, 74. + + Picnic, an Eastern, 725. + + Picture gallery of Versailles, Stahr on the, 552. + + PICTURES FROM ST PETERSBURG, 154. + + PIMODAN, THE COUNT DE, CAMPAIGNS OF, reviewed, 25. + + Pine, the, in America, 671. + + Pius IX., the accession of, and review of his proceedings, 432 + _et seq._ + + Place de la Concorde, the, at Paris, 202. + + Place Vendôme, the Napoleon column in the, 318. + + Playing cards, consumption of, in Russia, 169. + + Poetry: The Lament of Selim, by Delta, 103 + --Day-dreams of an exile, by H. G. K., 465, 604. + + Police, abuses of the, in St Petersburg, 162 _et seq._ + + Political agitation, evils connected with, 296. + + Pomaree, queen, sketches of, 91. + + Poor-rates, influence of free trade on, 139. + + Popery, influence of, on Continental Revolution, 431. + + Population, the views of Malthus on, 123 + --the influence of employment on it, _ib._ + --its decrease in Great Britain since 1845, 128 + --immigration of it from the country into the towns, 307. + + Porter, Mr, on surplus population, 625. + + Portugal, the ancient constitution of, 351. + + PORTUGUESE POLITICS, 349. + + Potato failure, influence of the, on population, 131 + --the free-traders on it, 641. + + Poussin, Ruskin on, 328. + + Pre-Raphaelitism, Lewald on, 212. + + Production, true policy with regard to, 107. + + Productive classes, all classes dependent on the, 631. + + Property-tax returns, falling off in the, 137. + + Prosperity, anticipations regarding, and their disappointment, 609. + + Prostitution, Mr Helps on, 389. + + Protection, prosperity enjoyed under, 115. + + Protestantism, necessity of, to freedom, 447. + + Purchas, account of cannibalism in Africa by, 416. + + Puris of Brazil, the, 89. + + Pusey, Mr, his letters on protection, &c., 119. + + + Radetsky, marshal, sketch of the character of, 31 + --sketches of, during the campaign in Italy, 26, _et seq. passim_ + --his first proclamation on the outbreak of the insurrection, 439 + --sketch of his previous career, 441. + + RAID OF ARNABOLL, the, chap. i. 220 + --chap. ii. 225 + --chap. iii. 230 + --chap. iv. 236. + + RAIL, THE CHAMPIONS OF THE, 739. + + Railroads, French and English, 199. + + Railway travelling, on, 196. + + Rangihaeata, a New Zealand chief, 425. + + Rauparaha, a New Zealand chief, 425. + + Ravandus, town of, 100. + + Recreation, Mr Helps on, 384. + + Reform Bill, agitation connected the, 296. + + Reform Bill, the proposed new, 297 _et seq._ + + Rent, reduction of, its inefficiency to meet the agricultural + crisis, 492, 611, 612. + + Rents, alleged rises of, 494. + + Responsibility, application of the principle of, in Russia, 164. + + Resumption of cash payments, influence of, 622. + + Revenue, influence of free trade on the, 137. + + Revolution, aversion to, in Great Britain, 297. + + Revolutionary war, increase of population during the, 124. + + Rhodes, sketch of, 723. + + Richelieu, encouragement of the drama by, in France, 323. + + Rivoli, defeat of Charles Albert at, 444. + + Roman states, the revolt of the, in 1830, 432 + --and in 1848, 437. + + Rome, rise of, after the battle of Cannæ, 124 + --progress of the decline of population in, 125 + --the siege of, by Oudinot, 438. + + Rosicrucians, supposed acquaintance of the, with mesmerism, 77. + + Rossi, the papal minister, murder of, 437. + + Rossi, the countess, 168, 169. + + Royal Academy's exhibition, Fanny Lewald on the, 211. + + Rubini, reception of, in St Petersburg, 168. + + RUSKIN, THE WORKS OF, 326. + + Russell, Lord John, his proposed new Reform Bill, 297 _et seq._ + --on the state of the agricultural interest, 489. + + Russia, sketches of government, society, &c. in, 154 _et seq._ + --extravagance of the higher classes, 170. + + Russians, cheerfulness of the, 166. + + + Sabbath, a, in California, 472. + + St Denis, the arch of, 320. + + St Jean d' Acre, sketches in, 459. + + St Lawrence river, the, 708. + + St Martin, the arch of, 320. + + St Petersburg, pictures from, 154. + + Saldanha, the marquis, his insurrection in Portugal and its + results, 349 + --his present position, 357. + + Salis, general, death of, 30. + + San Francisco, sketches in, 472 _et seq._ + + Sanitary measures, on government interference in, 381. + + Sanitary regulations, Mr Helps on, 383. + + Sardinia and Austria, sketches of the war between, 25 _et seq._, + 437 _et seq._ + + Savoy, sketch of the princes of, 441. + + Scanderoon, the town of, 463. + + SCARBOROUGH ELECTION, the, 245 + --the _Times_ on it, 303. + + Scheremetiew, count, anecdote of, 156. + + Schoolmasters, influence of free trade on the, 501. + + Science, the superstitions of, 565. + + Scotland, increase of population in, 1841 to 1851, 129 + --preponderance of the liberal representatives in, 297 + --fall in the prices of grain as shown by the Fiars, 491 + --alleged rise of rents, 494. + + Scottish clergy and schoolmasters, influence of free trade on + the incomes of, 500 _et seq._ + + Scribe, M., the words of Zerline by, 311. + + Scully, Mr, his motion regarding pauperism in Ireland, 136. + + SELIM'S LAMENT, by Delta, 103. + + Sena, defeat of Charles Albert at, 444. + + Serfdom, provisions for the abolition of, in Russia, 155 + --sketches of it there, 156 _et seq._ + + Servants and employers, on the relations between, 381. + + SHAW'S GOLDEN DREAMS AND WAKING REALITIES, review of, 470. + + Shelley's Cenci, remarks on, 505. + + Shipping, influence of free trade on, 138. + + SHOPKEEPERS OF GREAT BRITAIN, to the, 629. + + Shopkeepers, effects of free trade on the, 111 + --serfdom of the, in St Petersburg, 156. + + "Sigh thou not for a happier lot," 604. + + Slavery, Mr Helps on, 384 + --different circumstances in which originated, 385. + + Small boroughs, the _Times_ on the, 246, 300. + + Small trades, effects of the suppression of the, 308. + + Snake-charming in India, 94. + + Snakes, accounts of, 271. + + Soil, true origin of national wealth with the, 107. + + Soliman Effendi, a renegade Sicilian, 253, 254. + + Sontag, madame, at St Petersburg, 168, 169. + + Spain, results of liberal policy in, 354 + --its state compared with that of Portugal, _ib._ + + Spiral column, Ruskin on the, 327. + + SPRINGER'S FOREST LIFE reviewed, 669. + + Stage, state of the, in St Petersburg, 167. + + STAHR'S TWO MONTHS IN PARIS, review of, 543 + --his "A Year in Italy," remarks on, 544. + + "Stand by the Ocean," 469. + + Stanley, lord, see Derby, earl of. + + Starch, quantity of, used in the cotton manufacture, 497. + + Stockton, (California,) sketch of, 474. + + Strada, account of a case of magnetic communication by, 78. + + Strang, Dr, his statistics regarding the population of Glasgow, 130. + + Streams, Ruskin on, 330. + + SUBMARINE TELEGRAPH, the, 562. + + Suffolk Agricultural Association, resolutions of the, 616. + + Suicide, prevalence and character of, in Paris, 321. + + Sunday in London, Lewald on, 213. + + Superstitions of science, the, 565. + + Suspension of cash payments, influence of the, 619. + + Swiss, defence of Vicenza by the, 35. + + Syria, sketches in, 453. + + + Tabriz, sketches by madame Pfeiffer at, 101. + + Tahiti, sketches at, 90. + + TAKA, A CAMPAIGN IN, 251. + + Taxation, impossibility of reduction of, adequate to meet the + agricultural depression, 113 + --influence of, on industry, 306 + --the question of, in relation to that of free trade, 633 + --comparative pressure of, in the United States and Great Britain, + 715. + + TAYLOR, HENRY, THE DRAMAS OF, 505. + + TELEGRAPH, THE SUBMARINE, 562. + + Tenantry, separation between, and their landlords, induced by free + trade, 610 + --their losses by free trade, 611. + + Thames, the approach to London by the, 210. + + Theatre, state of the, in Russia, 167. + + Theatres, the London, Fanny Lewald on, 217 + --statistics of those of Paris, 323. + + Theoretic faculty, Ruskin on the, 334. + + Thiennes, the count de, heroism of, 26. + + Tiger hunt in India, a, 95. + + Times newspaper, the, on the results of free trade, 133 + --on the depopulation of Ireland, 134 + --on the Scarborough election, 246 + --on the small boroughs, 300 + --on the metropolitan representatives, 301 + --account of the laying down of the submarine telegraph from, 568 + --on the increased emigration and its results, 626. + + Tirel's La République, &c., remarks on, 549. + + To ----, by H. G. K., 465, 605 + + Towns, increase of the, at the expense of the country, 125 + --increase of population in the, 1841 to 1851, 129 + --reaction of the agricultural depression on the, 303 + --immigration of population from the country into them, 307 + --state of their population, _ib._ + --ventilation, drainage, &c. of them, 381. + + Trade circulars, general tone of the, 108. + + Traders, influence of free trade on the, 137. + + Trafalgar Square fountains, the, 314. + + Travelling, modern universality of, 86 + --increased facilities and abundance of it, 195. + + Tucket, Mr, account of the massacre of Wairau by, 425. + + + United States, protective policy of the, 117 + --increase in their population, 123 + --on slavery in the, 385 + --increased cultivation of grain in the, 489 _note_ + --sketches of agriculture in the, 699 _et seq._ + --Johnston on their wheat producing powers, 701 + --the exports of bread-stuffs from, 702 + --the prices of these falling in, 703 + --extensive use of maize and buckwheat in, 705 + --encouragements to emigration to, 710, 711 + --their judicial system, 713 + --taxation, 715. + + Upper Canada, progress of, 708. + + + Vaccination in New Zealand, 430. + + Van, lake, 732. + + Van Diemen's land, the aborigines of, 416. + + Vendôme column, the, 318. + + Venetian territories, the insurrection in the, 26 _et seq._ + --how acquired by Austria, 433 + --her administration of them, 435, 436. + + Venice, the revolt at, 27. + + Ventilation, Mr Helps on the importance of, 383. + + Vernet the actor, anecdote of, 161. + + Verona, the battle of, 30 _et seq._ + --capture of it by general d'Aspre, 442. + + Versailles, Stahr on the galleries of, 552. + + Vicenza, the capture of, by Radetsky, 34, 35, 445. + + VOICE FROM THE DIGGINGS, A, 470. + + VOLTAIRE IN THE CRYSTAL PALACE, 142. + + + Wages, lowering of, among the agricultural classes, 496 + --the general reduction of them the object of the + free-traders, 634. + + Wairau, the massacre of, 425. + + Walmsley, sir J., his reception in Scotland, 298. + + WALPOLE'S ANSAYRII, reviewed, 719. + + WANDERINGS ROUND THE WORLD, 86. + + Wanganui, treaty of, with the New Zealand chiefs, 423. + + Warburton's "Crescent and Cross," extract from, 721 _note_. + + Wellington statues, Fanny Lewald on the, 211. + + WERNE, F. A., A CAMPAIGN IN TAKA by, reviewed, 251. + + Wheat, alleged increased consumption of, 496 + --its price under free trade, 636 + --powers of producing, in the United States, 701. + + "Where summer is, there 'tis fresh and fair," 467. + + Wilson, James, on the corn laws, 636. + + Windischgratz, sketches of the campaign in Hungary under, 36. + + Winter palace, destruction and rebuilding of the, in St + Petersburg, 158. + + Wolves, sketches of, in America, 675. + + Women, English and German, Fanny Lewald on, 216. + + Woodcutters' life in Maine, sketches of, 669 _et seq._ + + Working-classes, effects of free trade on the, 113. + + WORLD, WANDERINGS ROUND THE, 86. + + + York column, the, 211. + + Young, G. F., return of, for Scarborough, 245. + + + Zerline, the opera of, 311. + + Zichy, count, Austrian commandant at Venice, 28. + + Zichy, lieutenant count, death of, 33. + + +_Printed by William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh._ + + * * * * * + +Transcriber's note: + +Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. +Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained as +printed (example: Sheffield and Sheffeld). + +Mismatched quotes are not fixed if it's not sufficiently clear where +the missing quote should be placed. + +The cover for the eBook version of this book was created by the +transcriber and is placed in the public domain. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol. +70, No. 434, December, 1851, by Various + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44491 *** diff --git a/44491-h/44491-h.htm b/44491-h/44491-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..32aeb0e --- /dev/null +++ b/44491-h/44491-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,17282 @@ +<!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. 434, December, 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;} + +.b15 {font-size:1.5em;} + +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%; +} + +.bb {border-bottom: solid 1px;} + +.bl {border-left: solid 2px;} + +.bt {border-top: solid 1px;} + +.br {border-right: solid 2px;} + +.center {text-align: center;} + +.right {text-align: right;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +.caption {font-weight: bold;} + +.space-above { margin-top: 3em; } + +.hanging {margin-left: 2em; text-indent: -2em; font-size: 15px;} + +.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.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 1em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} +.poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 2em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} +.poem span.i6 {display: block; margin-left: 3em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} +.poem span.i12 {display: block; margin-left: 6em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} +.poem span.i14 {display: block; margin-left: 7em; 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 44491 ***</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h1> +BLACKWOOD'S<br /> +EDINBURGH MAGAZINE.</h1> + +<p class="center">No. CCCCXXXIV. DECEMBER, 1851. <span class="smcap">Vol. LXX.</span> +</p> + + + + +<h2><br />CONTENTS.</h2> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="contents"> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">To the Shopkeepers of Great Britain</span>,</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_629">629</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Jew's Legacy. A Tale of the Siege of Gibraltar</span>,</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_648">648</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Life Amongst the Loggers</span>,</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_669">669</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">My Novel; or, Varieties in English Life. Part XVI.</span>,</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_681">681</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Johnston's Notes on North America</span>,</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_699">699</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Ansayrii</span>,</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_719">719</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Champions of the Rail</span>,</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_739">739</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Index</span>,</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_751">751</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p class="center">——————</p> + +<p class="center"> +<big>EDINBURGH:</big><br /> +WILLIAM BLACKWOOD & SONS, 45 GEORGE STREET;<br /> +AND 37 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON.<br /> +<br /> +<small><i>To whom all communications (post paid) must be addressed.</i><br /> +<br /> +SOLD BY ALL THE BOOKSELLERS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM.</small></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_629" id="Page_629"> </a></span></p> + + + + +<p class="center"> +<span class="b15">BLACKWOOD'S<br /> +EDINBURGH MAGAZINE.</span></p> + +<p class="center">No. CCCCXXXIV. <span class="bb bt">DECEMBER, 1851</span>. <span class="smcap">Vol. LXX.</span> +</p> + + + + + +<h2><br /><br />TO THE SHOPKEEPERS OF GREAT BRITAIN.</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Gentlemen</span>,—As it is customary +for most men about this season of the +year, when accounts are balanced and +squared, to take a serious survey of +the posture of their affairs, and to +examine into their business prospects, +perhaps you may not consider a few +observations, touching the welfare +and position of that important class +of the community to which you belong, +either impertinent or ill-timed. +You are aware that, for the last year +or two, Her Majesty's Ministers have +been in the habit of opening Parliament +with a congratulatory assurance +of the continued, and even augmented, +prosperity of the country. The +reason why such statements were +made, altogether irrespective of their +truth or falsehood, is obvious enough. +In a political point of view, they +were necessary for the vindication of +the measures which Government +either originated or adopted. To have +admitted that the country was not +prospering under the new commercial +system, would have been considered +by the public as tantamount to an +acknowledgment that the policy which +dictated those measures was vicious; +and that the Whig ministry, if not +deficient in duty, had at least erred +sorely in judgment. In private life, +we rarely meet with that degree of +candour which amounts to an unequivocal +admission of error in point of +judgment—in public life, such an +admission is altogether unknown. +Failure may indeed be acknowledged +when the fact becomes too evident to +admit of further denial; but the +causes of that failure are never +attributed to their real source. Not +only the purity of the motive, but the +wisdom of the conception, is vindicated +to the last. In this case, however, +failure is totally denied. So far +from being put upon their defence, +the Whigs maintain that they have +achieved a triumph. Their averment +is, that, with the exception of the +agricultural producers, among whom +they allow that a certain degree of +distress prevails, all other classes of +the community are prosperous. Even +for the agriculturists there is balm in +store. The prosperity of the other +classes is to react upon them; so +that, within some indefinite period of +time, we shall all find ourselves in +circumstances of ease and comfort +which have hitherto been unknown in +our land.</p> + +<p>With you the benefit is represented, +not as prospective, but as present. +The agriculturist may have to wait a +little longer, but you are already provided +for. Your cake is baked; and +we are assured that you are eating it +in thankfulness and joy. If this is +really the case, there is no more to be +said on the subject. If the harvest +of Free Trade has actually yielded +you such a large measure of profit, it +would be madness in anyone to decry +that line of policy in your hearing.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_630" id="Page_630">[630]</a></span> +You constitute the class which, from +its peculiar position and vocation, is +better qualified than any other to +judge accurately, and from experience, +of the degree of prosperity which is +actually known in the country. The +verdict of twelve shopkeepers, given +after an inspection of their books for +an average of years, ought to be of +more weight, in settling the merits of +any disputed commercial question, +than the random assurances of a +dozen cabinet ministers whose reputation +and official existence are bound +up in the vindication of their own +policy. The reason of this is perfectly +obvious. Your profit is simply +a commission upon your sales. You +do not produce or manufacture +articles of consumption—you simply +retail them. Your profit depends +upon the briskness of trade, that is, +the amount of demand. It rises or +falls according to the general circumstances +of your customers. In good +times you make large profits; in bad +times those profits decrease. One +while your stock sells off rapidly; at +another, it remains upon your hands. +Your interest is inseparable from that +of the great body of consumers by +whom you live. You have little or +nothing to do with the foreign trade; +for, whatever be the nature, of the +articles in which you deal, you sell +them in the home market. You have, +therefore, the best opportunity of +estimating the real condition of your +customers. The state of your own +books, and the comparative degree of +ease or difficulty which you experience +in the collection of your accounts, +furnish you with a sure index of the +purchasing power of the community. +Compared with this criterion, which +is common to every man among you, +tables of exports and imports, statements +of bank bullion, and such like +artificial implements as have been +invented by the political impostors +and economists, are absolutely worthless. +When our sapient Chancellor +of the Exchequer, or Mr Labouchere, +tell you, with an air of unbounded +triumph, that the exportation of +calicoes to China or Peru has mightily +increased—and therefore argue, +without condescending to inquire +whether such exportation has been +attended with any profit at all to the +manufacturers, that the prosperity of +the country is advancing at a railway +pace—you may indeed be gratified by +the statistical information, but you +will fail to discover in what way the +public are benefited thereby. It is +pleasant to know that there are fifteen +millions of gold in the vaults of +the Bank of England, and that, so +long as this hoard remains undiminished, +there is little chance of a commercial +crisis, or a violent contraction +of credit. But we take it you would +be infinitely better pleased to know +that sovereigns were circulating freely +from hand to hand amongst the people, +and that your customers had their +pockets so well filled as to enable +them to purchase largely, and to pay +their accounts when due. To you +any depression whatever is a serious +matter—a depression which assumes +a permanent appearance cannot be +much short of ruin. Therefore you +ought most especially to take care +that no false representation is made +regarding your circumstances, which +may be the means of perpetuating +a system that has already proved +detrimental to a large body of your +customers.</p> + +<p>Were we to take for granted the +ministerial statement of prosperity—which +no doubt will be repeated next +February—your Whig minister being +an incorrigible cuckoo—this paper +would certainly not have been written. +But, having had occasion early +to doubt the truthfulness of this +vernal note, and having taken some +pains to examine the statements +which from time to time are issued +by the great houses engaged in commercial +and manufacturing industry, +as also the accounts of the present +condition of the poor, which have excited +so much public interest, we +have really been unable to discover +any one influential class, beyond the +money-lenders and creditors, or any +one large and important branch of +industry, which can, with truth, be +described as prospering, or will confess +to the existence of such prosperity. +Shipmasters, manufacturers, +merchants, iron-masters, and agriculturists, +all tell the same tale. This +is very strange. You may possibly +remember that Mr M'Gregor, once +Secretary to the Board of Trade, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_631" id="Page_631">[631]</a></span> +now member for Glasgow, the great +commercial city of Scotland, estimated +the additional amount of wealth which +was to accrue to Great Britain, in +consequence of the repeal of the Corn +Laws, at two millions sterling per +week! Upon what data that profound +gentleman, who thus enunciated +the prophecy and assumed the +mask of Midas, proceeded in his calculation, +we know not, and perhaps +it would be superfluous to inquire. It +certainly was a good round sum; for, +by this time, without insisting upon +compound, or even simple interest, it +should have amounted to rather more +than one-half of the national debt; +but unfortunately nobody will own to +having fingered a farthing of the +money. In recalling to your memory +this little circumstance, it is by no +means our intention to offer any disrespect +to the intellectual powers of +M'Gregor, for whom, indeed, we entertain +a high degree of veneration, +similar to that which is manifested +by the Mussulman when he finds +himself in the company of a howling +derveesh. We merely wish to reproduce +to you one phantom of the +golden dream, which, five or six +years ago, when the fever of gain was +epidemical, possessed the slumbers of +so many; and having done so, to ask +you, now that the fever is gone, +whether it was not indeed a phantom? +We are wiser now—at all events, we +have had more experience—and the +producing classes tell us very distinctly, +and quite unanimously, that +they have derived no benefit whatever +from the commercial changes +which have taken place. Capital, +whether invested in ships, factories, +mines, or land, is less profitable, and +therefore less valuable, than it was +before; and in some instances, where +the depression has been most heavy, +it has been almost annihilated.</p> + +<p>These are not our statements, but +the statements of the several interests, +as put forward by their own +representatives. They are statements +which emanate alike from the +Free-Trader and the Protectionist. +Men may differ as to the cause, but +they all agree as to the grand fact of +the depression. So that, when we +hear ministers congratulating themselves +and the country upon its general +prosperity, and, <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">pari passu</i> with +this congratulation, find the accredited +organs of each of the great branches +of productive industry vehemently +asserting that they are exceptions +from the general rule, an anxious +believer in the probity of all parties +has his faith somewhat rudely shaken.</p> + +<p>We believe that, collectively, you +are the best judges as to this disputed +matter. As the real wealth of +the country depends upon the amount +and value of its yearly produce—as +from that annual creation, when measured +by the monetary standard, and +circulated through a thousand channels, +all our incomes are derived—you, +who supply the whole population +with the necessaries and luxuries of +life, (fabricated by others, but passing +through your hands,) must necessarily +have the best means of +knowing whether the circumstances +of that population have, on the aggregate, +been bettered or made worse. +When Napoleon in the bitterness of +his heart declared that we were a +nation of shopkeepers, he uttered no +terms of reproach, though he intended +to convey a taunt. Your position +in the community is such that you +cannot flourish independent of its +general prosperity. The exporting +manufacturer, and even the foreign +merchant, may multiply their gains, +and realise fortunes, whilst other +classes, whose wellbeing is far more +important to the stability of the +empire, are hastening to decay. Such +phenomena are common in old states, +when the process of dissolution has +begun. The parasite lives and thrives, +while the tree round which it has +wound its tendrils is crumbling into +rottenness. But such is not your +case. Your interests are identical +with those of the productive classes, +for without them you could not exist. +Ill-remunerated labour—unproductive +capital—lessened means—deteriorated +property—are things which +affect you as deeply as though you +were the direct sufferers or losers. +Upon the wealth of your customers +depends your own. And therefore, +in such an important crisis as the +present, when the existing commercial +system of the country is vigorously +assailed by one party, and as +obstinately defended by another—when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_632" id="Page_632">[632]</a></span> +facts and statements apparently +of much weight are adduced on either +side, to serve as arguments for the +overthrow or the maintenance of that +system—when some cite statistical +tables to prove that the country +must be prosperous, and others adduce +real evidence to show that the +reverse is the case—you cannot afford +to sit idly by, without throwing the +weight of your testimony and experience +into one or other of the scales. +You have had admirable opportunities +of noticing the working of the +Free-Trade system. It matters not +what were the original prepossessions +of any of you, or what might have +been your opinion with regard to the +merits of this or that scheme, while it +was still in embryo and untried. A +more complex question than that of +Free Trade, as affecting the importation +of corn, probably never was presented +to the public consideration. +Many excellent, judicious, and thoroughly +patriotic men, relying upon +the truth of statements which were +regarded by others as mere plausible +theories, were willing to submit to +the experiment. And when, by the +grossest act of political perfidy that +was ever perpetrated—an act which +future times, if not the present, will +stigmatise with deserved opprobrium—the +last and most important change, +save that which subsequently assailed +our maritime interest, was suddenly +effected, it was the declared opinion +of the majority that the new system +must at least have a trial, until its +real results were developed, and until +it became apparent to the nation +whether or not Free Trade would +operate for the advantage of the +people, as its advocates and promoters +had predicted.</p> + +<p>Here we must, for a moment or +two, however unwillingly, digress. +The later measures of Free Trade +have assailed interests so important +and so strong, that its former and +earlier advances, stealthily and cautiously +made, have almost faded from +the public view. Free Trade, as a +political system, did not alone strike +at the agricultural or the shipping +interest. Since the days of Mr Huskisson, +who brought with him into +active life the principles which he +had imbibed in youth from his associates +in French Jacobinism, the +principles of Free Trade have been +gradually but cautiously applied to +various branches of British industry. +The slow and insidious nature of the +movement on the part of the statesmen, +who, even then, were yielding +to the influence of the modern economical +school, showed their distrust +of the system, which, if true, ought +at once to have been openly promulgated. +Like the late Sir Robert Peel, +Huskisson was destitute of that manly +courage which scorns concealment or +deceit, and walks steadfastly to its +goal. Cunning was an ingredient of +his nature: whatever he did was +accomplished by tortuous methods, +and vindicated upon false pretences. +The tendency of that policy which +he commenced was to maintain by +all means, at all hazards, and at the +sacrifice, if needful, of every other +interest, the manufacturing supremacy, +of England in the foreign +market—an object for which we still +are striving, though at the imminent +risk of the dismemberment of the +British empire. It is due, however, to +the memory of Mr Huskisson, to remark, +that, although the originator of +this policy, he does not seem to have +contemplated the extent to which it +would be carried out by his successors. +His opinions upon the subject +of protection to agriculture were +clear and decided: "There is no +effectual security, either in peace +or war, against the frequent return +of scarcity, but in making ourselves +independent of foreign supply. Let +the bread we eat be the produce of +corn grown among ourselves; and, for +one, I care not how cheap it is—the +cheaper the better. It is cheap now, +and I rejoice at it, because it is altogether +owing to a sufficiency of corn +of our own growth; but, to insure a +continuance of that cheapness, and that +sufficiency, we must insure to our own +growers <em>protection against foreign importation</em>, +which has produced those +blessings, and by which alone they can +be permanently maintained." The +time, however, was fast approaching +when the reins of government were to +fall into the hands of a scion of the +manufacturing body, in whose eyes +the momentary supremacy of party was +of more importance than any principle<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_633" id="Page_633">[633]</a></span> +of national policy. There is no +more curious page in history than +that which records the rise of British +manufactures towards the close of +last century. Invention after invention, +whereby manual labour was +superseded by machinery, and the +power of production almost indefinitely +multiplied, paved the way for +that monopoly which our manufacturers +enjoyed for at least a quarter +of a century, during which time every +other country in Europe except our +own was devastated by war, and the +peaceful arts forgotten or overthrown. +It was during that period that the +gigantic fortunes of the Arkwrights +and the Peels were made, and that +influence secured to the manufacturing +body in the British House of +Commons which it never possessed +before. But with the return of peace +the monopoly disappeared. By invention +in mechanical appliances, +Britain had the start of other +nations in the creation of manufactures; +by war, she was enabled +long to enjoy the undivided benefits. +But inventions are not the property +of a single nation; they pass from +one to another with the rapidity +of lightning; they are available +by the foreign, even more +easily than by the domestic, rival. +Hence it very soon became apparent +that other states were preparing to +compete with us in those branches +of industry which had proved so +exceedingly profitable. France, Belgium, +Germany, Russia, Switzerland, +and America, all entered keenly into +the contest; and then commenced +that decline of prices which has +continued, almost without intermission, +to the present hour. Reciprocity +treaties were tried, but were in +fact of little avail; for the great bulk +of the English exports consisted of +those very textile fabrics which it +was the object of each country to +produce for its own consumption, +if not to export to others. During +the war, both the expenses of government +and the interest of the +National Debt had doubled in amount, +and the monetary changes effected +in 1819 added at least one-third to +the weight of that augmented burden. +In order to make this taxation +bearable, the industry of the people +was protected in their own market +by a scale of customs duties, which +prevented the influx of foreign produce +at rates which must have +annihilated the British workman. +Protection is a clear necessity which +arises out of taxation. If the +tobacco, tea, coffee, sugar, beer, soap, +and other articles of the labourer's +consumption, are taxed in order to +maintain an expensive establishment, +and to defray the interest +of an enormous debt, he must have +a compensation of some kind. The +only kind of compensation which +can be granted, and which the wit +of man can devise, is to be found +in an equitable scale of duties, by +means of which all produce imported +into Britain shall be taxed as heavily +as though it had been reared, grown, +or made up on British ground by +British labourers. Unless this be +done, there is no fair competition. +The less burdened foreigner must +ultimately carry the day against +the heavily-taxed Englishman. And +when we consider that all taxes must +be paid out of produce, there being +no other source whatever from which +they can be drawn, the importance +of maintaining the market value of +our produce at a point equal to the +pressure of our taxation will at once +become apparent.</p> + +<p>There are, however, plausible, +though in reality most fallacious +grounds, upon which the Protective +System may be assailed. In this, +as in every other country, the first +and most important branch of industry +is that which provides food +for the population. To that all +others are subordinate. It is impossible +to estimate the amount of +capital which has been laid out +upon the soil of Britain, first in +reclaiming it from a state of nature, +and, since then, in maturing and +increasing its fruitfulness. But some +idea may be formed of its magnitude +from the fact that, in 1846, +the annual agricultural produce of +the United Kingdom was valued, +according to the prices then current, +at £250,000,000. Whatever imperial +taxation is imposed on other +classes of the community is shared +equally by the agriculturists; and +they are, moreover, exposed to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_634" id="Page_634">[634]</a></span> +heavy local rates, from which the +others are comparatively free. It is +a received maxim in political economy—we +ought rather to say a +rule of common sense—that all taxes +and charges paid by the producer, +over and above his necessary profit, +fail ultimately to be defrayed by +the consumer—that is, that such +taxes and charges form a component +part of the selling price of the article. +There is no specialty whatever in +the case of corn or provisions to +exempt them from the general rule. +But all restrictions which tend to +enhance the price of the first necessaries +of life are obnoxious to that +section of the people who, from +ignorance or incapacity, cannot understand +why bread should be dear +in one country and cheap in another. +They, too, are subjected to their +share of indirect taxation, and the +knowledge that they are so taxed +in the consumption of articles which +constitute their only luxuries, renders +them doubly impatient of a system +which, on the authority of wicked +and designing demagogues, they are +led to believe was invented by the +landlords solely for their own benefit. +Thus heavy taxation, however engendered, +must always be fraught +with great peril to the permanency +of a state. The burden of such +taxation falls most heavily upon +the land, and yet the agriculturist +is expected to provide food for the +people as cheaply as though he were +altogether exempt from the burden.</p> + +<p>The reason why the exporting +manufacturers, and those politicians +who entered thoroughly into their +views, were so bent upon the destruction +of the Corn Laws, was twofold. +In the first place, the competition +in foreign markets threatened to +become so strong, owing to the rapid +development of textile industry on +the Continent, that it was necessary +to lower prices. England had given +machinery and models to the Continent, +and the Continent was now +fighting her with her own weapons, +and at a cheaper cost, as labour +abroad is less expensive than it is +here. In order to bring down the value +of labour in England, for the purpose +of protracting this grand manufacturing +contest, it was necessary to +lower, in some way or other, the +price of food in England, and this +could only be accomplished by free +admission of foreign supplies. In +short, their object was to bring down +wages. On this point we have the +testimony of Mr Muntz, M.P. for +Birmingham, as early as February +1842. He wrote as follows:—"Say +what you will, the <em>object</em> of the +measure is <em>to reduce wages</em>, and +the <em>intention</em> is to reduce them to +the Continental level. I repeat it, +the Corn Laws very materially support +labour in this country.... +Why, the professed object of the +repeal is to enable the English merchant +to compete with the foreigner, +and how can he do that <em>unless by a +reduction of wages</em>, which reduction +will be upon all trade, home and +foreign?" Mr John Bright was not +less clear as to the necessity of +such reduction of wages in order to +maintain our exports: "If the tariff +in Russia imposed a heavy duty on +English yarn, and if English yarn +went there and had to be sold at +the same rate as the yarn of the +Russian spinner, he (that is, the +Russian spinner) not paying the +heavy duty, it followed that we +must, <em>by some means or other</em>, make +our goods cheaper by the amount +of duty which we paid, and to do +that <em>it was absolutely necessary that +the wages of the operatives in this +country should be reduced</em>." And Mr +Greg of Manchester, a leading member +of the Anti-Corn Law League, +wrote as follows:—"In the only +remaining item of the cost of production—that +is, the wages of labour—foreign +nations have a decided advantage; +and although a free trade in +provisions, by lowering them here, +and raising them abroad, might regulate +the difference, I doubt if it ever +could be entirely removed. Better +education, more sober habits, more +frugality, and general forethought, +together with cheaper food, will no +doubt enable our people to live in +much greater comfort than at present +<small>UPON CONSIDERABLY SMALLER +EARNINGS</small>." These extracts sufficiently +disclose the designs of the +Free-Traders against the wages of +the workman. In the second place, +it was believed by many of them,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_635" id="Page_635">[635]</a></span> +that, by sacrificing the agriculturists, +they would be able to turn the +attention of other countries, especially +America, from the prosecution +of their rising manufactures. They +argued, that if we were to surrender +and secure our provision market to +foreign states, they would return +the compliment by allowing us to +manufacture for them—in other +words, that the foreigners were to feed +England, and England was to clothe +the foreigners! This precious scheme +has since been avowed, seriously and +gravely, by men who have seats in +the present House of Commons; and, +so far as we can understand their +language, the philosophers of the +<cite>Edinburgh Review</cite> consider this a +most sensible arrangement!</p> + +<p>The agricultural interest, however, +was of too great magnitude to be +attacked at once. Several outworks +were to be gained before the citadel +was summoned to surrender. Accordingly +Mr Huskisson began, and +Sir Robert Peel continued, that system +of commercial relaxations, (which, +some five-and-twenty years ago, was +exposed and denounced in this Magazine,) +annihilating some branches of +industry and depressing others—pauperising +whole districts, as in the +Highlands, and merging the villages +in the towns—until the time seemed +ripe, and the opportunity propitious, +for the accomplishment of the grand +design. It is not now necessary to +dwell upon the circumstances which +attended the change in the Corn and +Navigation Laws—these are still fresh +in the memory of all of us, and will +not soon be forgotten. Our object +in this digression was simply to remind +you that Free Trade, in its +insidious and stealthy progress, has +warred with other interests than those +which belong to the agricultural and +the maritime classes.</p> + +<p>Neither is it necessary at present +to advert to the gross inconsistencies +of the system—to the restrictions +which it still continues upon that +very branch of industry which it has +laid bare to foreign competition. +Let us take the system as it is, of +which you have had now nearly three +years' experience, dating from the +time when the ports were opened.</p> + +<p>Three years constitute a long period +for the endurance of a commercial +experiment. During that time +you have had ample opportunity of +observing how the system has worked. +Are you richer or poorer than you +were before the experiment began? +If the former, Free Trade has worked +well; if the latter, it is a mischievous +delusion.</p> + +<p>This is a question which you alone +can answer—or rather, every man +must answer it for himself. But this +much we may be allowed to say, that, +from what information we can gather +regarding the state of general trade—from +the sentiments which we have +heard expressed by many of the most +respectable of your own body—the +experiences of the last year have not +been such as to give you much encouragement +for the future. If it is so, +then you will do well to consider +whether or not you ought to lend that +great political influence which you undoubtedly +possess, in support of a +system which has not only failed to +realise the anticipations of its founders, +but has actually diminished in a +great degree the power of purchase of +the community.</p> + +<p>This is no trivial matter to any of +us, least of all is it trivial to you. The +next general election will be, in its +results, by far the most important of +any which has taken place for centuries. +If, in the new Parliament, +all idea of a return to the Protective +System is abandoned, we may prepare +ourselves for that most dismal +conflict which can convulse a country—a +war against taxation, and ultimately +against property. For—rely +upon this—heavy taxation and cheap +produce are things which never can +be reconciled. You may, if you +please, hand over the home market of +Britain to the foreigner, and allow +him, without toll or custom, to supply +our wants with produce of his own +rearing; but, if you do so, what is to +become of our own population, and +their labour?—and how are you to +levy those taxes which labour alone +can supply? That manufacturing interest, +for which such desperate sacrifices +have been made, is daily losing +ground in the markets of the world. +The fact will brook no denial, and it +is admitted even by its own members. +America has refused the bait offered<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_636" id="Page_636">[636]</a></span> +to her by the Free-Traders, and is +engaged heart and soul in the cotton +manufacture, for which she possesses +within herself the command of the +raw material. <em>To those countries +which supply us with corn, our exports +of manufactures have alarmingly +decreased.</em> We may continue +to glut (for that is what we are +doing at present) the markets of India +and China, and our export tables +may exhibit a cheering increase in +the amount of yards of calico sent out; +but, unless the trade circulars are +utterly mendacious, the speculation +has been, and will continue to be for +a long tract of time, unprofitable. +The fact is, that the extent and value +of our foreign trade in manufactures +is little understood by most of us, and +grossly exaggerated by others. It +constitutes, after all, a mere fraction +of the national production. The consumption +of manufactures at home is, +or was, before the late changes were +made, twice as great as the whole +amount of our annual exports. The +prosperity of this country does not +depend upon the amount of wares +which it sends or forces abroad, +though that is the doctrine which is +constantly clamoured in our ears by +the political economists—a generation +of ridiculous pretenders, of whom it is +only necessary to know one, in order +to form an accurate estimate of the +mental capabilities of his tribe. It +depends on our own labour, on our +own internal arrangements, and on +that reciprocity between man and +man, and between class and class of +our fellow-subjects, which is the only +real security for the peace and tranquillity +of a kingdom. Those exporting +manufacturers, who rummage foreign +markets, are no better than so +many buccaneers. Their object is to +evade the burden of taxation at home, +and, wherever they can with advantage +to themselves, to bring in foreign +labour, untaxed and untolled, to supersede +that of the British workman.</p> + +<p>You cannot have failed to remark +that the arguments which are now +put forward by the Free-Traders, in +support of their system, are totally +different from those which they advanced +while recommending it for the +adoption of the country. How often +were we told, during the struggle +which preceded the repeal of the +Corn Laws, that all the apprehensions +expressed of a permanent fall in the +value of produce, and of overwhelming +importations from abroad, were +purely visionary! Learned statists +undertook to prove by figures that +the whole quantity of grain which +could be brought into this country +was absolutely insignificant, and that +it could not disturb prices. Mr James +Wilson of the <cite>Economist</cite>, in his valuable +tractate entitled <cite>Influences of the +Corn Laws</cite>, which was published eleven +years ago, thus favoured the +public with <em>his</em> anticipations for the +future, in the event of the repeal of +the Corn Laws:—</p> + +<p>"Our belief is," says the sage of +Westbury, "that the whole of these +generally received opinions are erroneous; +that if we had had a free trade +in corn since 1815, the average price +of the whole period, actually received +by the British grower, would have +been higher than it has been; that +little or no more foreign grain would +have been imported; and that if, for +the next twenty years, the whole +protective system shall be abandoned, +<em>the average price of wheat will be +higher than it has been for the last +seven years</em>, (52s. 2d.,) or than it +would be in the future with a continuance +of the present system;—but +with this great difference, that prices +would be nearly uniform and unaltering +from year to year; that the disastrous +fluctuations would be greatly +avoided, which we have shown, in +the first proposition, to be so ruinous +under the present system."</p> + +<p>For this very notable sentiment, Mr +Wilson was clapped on the back by +the Manchester men, and commended +thus in the seventh circular of the +League:—"We are much indebted to +Mr Ibbotson of Sheffield, <em>Mr James +Wilson</em>, and our esteemed correspondent, +for labouring to prove to the +landlords that they may safely do +justice to others, without endangering +their own interests. And we think +very much has been done towards +justifying their opinions, <em>that the money +price of grain would not be lowered +even by the total repeal of the Corn +Laws</em>!" Sir Robert Peel, in the memorable +debates of 1846, attempted to +justify his experiment on the ground<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_637" id="Page_637">[637]</a></span> +that previous commercial relaxations +had been found beneficial to the parties +who were directly engaged in the +trade, his inference being, that the +same result would follow in the case +of the agriculturists. Unfortunately +the data upon which he proceeded +were altogether fallacious; for, notwithstanding +his dexterity in selecting +figures, and bringing out balances +which were apparently favourable, it +was clearly demonstrated by Lord +George Bentinck, that in no one instance +whatever had those relaxations +proved favourable to the British +producer, and that many of them had +moreover occasioned a large loss to +the public revenue. But the language +held by Sir Robert Peel, upon that +occasion, cannot be construed otherwise +than as the expression of an +opinion that, by the repeal of the +Corn Laws, prices would not be materially +disturbed—at all events, that +they would not be lowered so as to +fall below the remunerative point.</p> + +<p>The immense influx of foreign grain +which followed the opening of the +ports in 1849, and the immediate fall +of price, were calculated to alarm not +only the farmers, but even that section +of the Free-Traders who believed +conscientiously that the productive +powers of Europe and America were +unequal to the supply of so very considerable +a surplus. It is no wonder +that the farmers were frightened, +when they saw grain coming in at +the rate of a million of quarters per +month! They were, however, told by +the highest Free-trading authorities in +both Houses of Parliament, and the +same view was violently maintained +by the Liberal press, that their fears +were altogether groundless; that such +importations could not possibly be +maintained; and that the first inundation +was simply caused by an accumulation +of corn at the foreign ports, +stored up in readiness for the opening +of the English market—a contingency +which could not happen again. The +utmost pains were taken, by those who +had consented to the repeal of the Corn +Laws, to persuade the farmers that the +low prices of 1849 were attributable +principally to the superabundance of +the harvest at home; and they were +exhorted to wait patiently, but hopefully, +for the advent of better times. +In short, every means were taken to +persuade the agriculturists that they +were labouring under a temporary but +not a permanent difficulty, and that a +very short time would suffice to restore +them to their former condition. +But no one attempted to maintain, in +1849, that, if wheat continued to sell +at or about 40s. per quarter, its cultivation +could be profitable in Britain; +and when, at a later period, one or +two rash theorists attempted to broach +that doctrine, they were instantly put +to silence by the overwhelming nature +of the proof which was brought against +them—not the least instructive part of +it being the admissions of the leading +Free-Traders as to what really was, on +an average of years, the remunerative +price of wheat to the British grower.</p> + +<p>It is now clearly established, that, +under Free Trade, 40s. per quarter is a +price which the British farmer cannot +calculate on receiving. The averages +of England are now about 36s. per +quarter, being 20s. lower than the +sum which Sir Robert Peel considered +as the lowest which could remunerate +the grower. Therefore, taking the +average yield of good wheat-land at +four quarters per acre, it appears that, +by continuing to grow that kind of +grain which is convertible into ordinary +bread, the farmer must be a +positive loser to the extent of <em>four +pounds per acre</em>! In other words, +even suppose no rent at all were taken +for the land, wheat cannot continue +to be grown at a profit in Great Britain, +so long as the averages remain +below 40s.; and we leave a large +margin to the credit of improved husbandry +and strict economy, exercised, +as it must be, at the expense of the +labourer's wages. That such is the +present condition of the British farmers—a +hopeless one, unless a legislative +remedy is applied—will brook +no denial. Last year we were told of +farms letting at an increase of rent, +and of other symptoms of agricultural +prosperity, whereof nothing now is +heard. The fact of the depression—if +we may use so mild a term in respect +to a branch of industry which is +now merely existing upon capital, not +by income—is beyond all possibility +of doubt or cavil. The causes of it +are obvious; and it now only remains +to be seen whether we can afford to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_638" id="Page_638">[638]</a></span> +allow agriculture to be extinguished +from among us, or at best raised to +that point which will afford a bare +subsistence to the grower, without +the risk of involving the rest of us +in a like calamity.</p> + +<p>You may have heard it said—for it +has been often written—that it signifies +little to the people of this country +from what source they receive their +bread. It is worth your while to +examine into this. That a loaf baked +of American flour, grown in the valley +of the Mississippi, may taste quite as +well in the mouth of the consumer as +a loaf of English material is a circumstance +which we can readily believe; +but is this all that is to be considered? +Does the American bear any part of +our national taxation? Does he contribute, +directly or indirectly, to the +burdens which are common to the +British producer? Does he deal with +any of you, and can you call him a +customer? These are the questions +which you ought to ask yourselves, +in making up your minds on this +matter; and if you will only examine +the subject patiently and dispassionately, +your own common sense will +lead you to a just conclusion. Let +us suppose that all the food which +you purchase and consume was grown +on a foreign soil, and admitted free of +duty. You might then have cheap +bread, but, as a necessary consequence, +you would lose more than half your +customers. Unless people have money +they cannot buy; and if agricultural +production were to be abandoned in +the British islands, all those who derive +their incomes—not only directly, +but indirectly—from the soil, would +necessarily be stripped of their means. +Are you aware of the fact that, on a +minute analysis of the census of 1841, +it appeared that the relative numbers +of the population of Great Britain and +Ireland, supported and maintained by +the two great sources of production, +agriculture and manufactures, were +as 18,734,468, dependent on the first, +to 8,091,621, dependent on the second? +Do you believe that the country can +remain prosperous, if you strike a +deathblow at the produce which maintains +more than two-thirds of its +inhabitants?</p> + +<p>Let us go a little farther, and suppose—what +may hereafter be the case—that +other countries could undersell +us in the home market in the article +of manufactures—that America, +France, or Germany could send us +cotton and woollen stuffs, and other +ware, cheaper than we could make +them at home. In that case, where +would be the sources of our income? +All industry would be prostrated—for +you know very well that a losing +trade will not and cannot be carried +on long, and that the time will soon +arrive when, through the failure of +capital, it must be abandoned. In +such an event, what would become of +our population, with their labour entirely +destroyed? How could the +taxes be levied, and the expenses of +government paid, to say nothing of +the interest of the National Debt? +Great cheapness you would have, no +doubt, but nobody would be able to +buy.</p> + +<p>If cheapness is a blessing in food, +it is a blessing in clothing and in +everything else. The rule admits of +no exception. It is as advantageous +for any of us to save a pound on the +price of his coat as a penny on the price +of his loaf. Bread is, no doubt, the +most important article of the workingman's +consumption, but at the same +time it is no less a fact that the raising +of food is the most important part +of the production of the labouring-classes. +Without home labour, all +capital in this country would be annihilated, +or at least would depart +from it. Labour depends entirely +upon wages, and wages upon the +market price of the article produced. +If from the introduction of foreign +labour, in the shape of products, the +price of any article is forced down +below the cost of production, then +wages begin to fall, and in the end +production is extinguished. Why is +it that foreign countries have imposed +heavy duties upon our exported articles +of manufacture? Simply for this +object—that their own manufacturers, +who give employment to large numbers +of their population, may not be +undersold by ours, nor those means +of employment annihilated. In acting +thus, these governments perform a +paternal duty to the people—shielding +them against the competition of an +older manufacturing power, and preparing +them hereafter, when skill and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_639" id="Page_639">[639]</a></span> +capital are acquired, to enter neutral +markets, with a fair chance of ultimately +overcoming the other.</p> + +<p>It stands to reason that, with an +equal degree of energy on the part of +its inhabitants, the country which is +the least heavily burdened must distance +others in all branches of industry, +where nature does not oppose +a barrier, or place it at a disadvantage. +The mineral wealth of England, and +our priority in manufacturing invention, +gave us for a long time an +advantage over all other nations. +America was not advanced enough to +enter into the lists of manufacturing +competition; the distracted state of the +Continent, and the perpetual presence +or apprehension of war, effectually +prevented the European states from +attempting to rival Britain. But since +that time vast changes have taken +place. The mineral resources of +other countries have been developed. +Some idea of the manufacturing +power which America now possesses +may be formed from the enormous +increase of her domestic production of +iron and coal. In 1829, the amount +of iron manufactured in the United +States was 90,000 tons; in 1848, it +had risen to 800,000 tons. The coal +raised in 1829 was 37,000 tons; in +1849 it was 3,200,000 tons. In the +article of cotton, which is our great +manufacturing staple, America has +the inestimable advantage of growing +the raw material—an advantage which +never can be counterbalanced, as, +even if we were to obtain our supplies +from some other quarter, the expenses +of freightage must still continue to +be great. In fact, to all appearance, +our supremacy in the conversion of +cotton is already doomed. That +branch of industry rests upon no substantial +basis. It rose like an exhalation, +and so it will disappear. These +are not merely our opinions, but those +of the most shrewd and calculating of +the Free-Traders. Hear Mr Greg of +Manchester on this subject, previous +to the repeal of the Corn Laws:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"At present we are undersold by +foreigners in neutral markets in all the +staple articles of English manufacture. +In the articles of cotton, hosiery, and +cutlery, which amount altogether to three-fourths +of our exports, this is notoriously +the case. In cotton fabrics the Swiss +undersell us in several markets. In +cutlery Sheffeld is immensely undersold +by the Alsace, and our exports are yearly +decreasing. In hosiery, the case is still +worse. Saxon hosiery, after paying a +duty of 20 per cent, is sold in London +25 to 30 per cent cheaper than the produce +of the Leicester and Nottingham +looms. In Leicester the stocking frames +have diminished from 16,000 in 1815 to +14,000 in 1840; whilst in Saxony, in the +same time, they have increased from 4590 +to 25,000. The English manufacturer +pays 2s. 6d. for the same work that the +French manufacturer gets done for 2½d. +The American cutlery market (the most +important of all) has been wrested from +us, and our exports of that article to all +the world have fallen from £1,620,000 +in 1831 to £1,325,000 in 1841. <em>How far +with cheaper food, no taxes on the raw +material, and no duties but for the sake of +revenue, we might yet recover our lost +superiority, is a matter for grave consideration.</em> +I do not believe we could either in +woollens or hosiery; and even in the +cutlery or cotton trade I think it very +doubtful. Now, under a free commercial +system, the raw material would be nearly +the same in all countries, and the advantage, +where there was one, would be +generally on the side of foreigners. +France and Italy would have an advantage +in silk, and America in cotton; the +current expenses would also be nearly +equal. The machinery of foreign nations +even now is not very inferior to our +own, and is daily and rapidly improving; +their capital is fast accumulating, and +the yearly interest of it approximating to +our own rate."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Here, you see, is a confession of +opinion by a leading Free-Trader, that +even the cheapening of food, by which +he means the reduction of the wages +of labour, will not suffice ultimately to +secure us the supremacy of the foreign +markets. He is perfectly right. +In this insane, and we believe almost +entirely unprofitable competition with +the rest of the world, we must infallibly +be overcome. No cheapness +of food can countervail the pressure +of our heavy taxation. The cotton-lords, +if they could, would fain bring +down the price of labour to the Continental +level, which doubtless would +enable them, for a long time, to prolong +the contest; but this they cannot +do, if our national engagements are +to be fulfilled, and our most valuable +institutions maintained. So long as +the revenue duties exist, labour cannot<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_640" id="Page_640">[640]</a></span> +be forced down to that point. +But, in the mean time, agriculture may +be ruined, and the home trade, by +which alone you subsist, be palsied. +In fact, the present struggle lies between +the home trade and the foreign +trade. One or other of these must +ultimately succumb. The effect of +our present commercial system is to +paralyse the home trade, by decreasing +the value of all kinds of domestic +produce; by lowering all incomes, +and consequently reducing the amount +of the internal business of the country. +It has enabled our manufacturers, for +the time, to make a show of larger +exports than before; but it has not, +according to their own acknowledgement, +at all enhanced their profits. +It may have enabled them to lower +their prices, but it has not increased +their returns.</p> + +<p>And no wonder that it should be so. +Except in the most miserable and +unimportant quarters, our relaxations +have been met by augmented tariffs +instead of eager reciprocity. The +nations of the world have refused to +sacrifice their advantages, to renounce +their prospects, and to become Free-Traders +at the call of Britain. Their +statesmen thoroughly understood the +motive of the ingenuous offer: they +were not to be cozened even by the +plausibility of Sir Robert Peel. It is +almost melancholy now, when we remember +what has actually taken place, +to revert to the peroration of that +statesman's speech delivered on 16th +February 1846. A more lamentable +instance of delusion, as to the true +feeling and position of other countries, +was never perhaps exhibited. Mark +his words:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"Many countries are watching with +anxiety the selection you may make. +Determine for 'Advance,' and it will be +the watchword which will animate and +encourage in every state the friends of +liberal commercial policy. Sardinia has +taken the lead. Naples is relaxing her +protective duties, and favouring British +produce. Prussia is shaken in her adherence +to restriction. The government +of France will be strengthened; and, +backed by the intelligence of the reflecting, +and by conviction of the real welfare +of the great body of the community, will +perhaps ultimately prevail over the self-interest +of the commercial and manufacturing +aristocracy which now predominates +in her Chambers. Can you doubt +that the United States will soon relax +her hostile tariff, and that the friends of +a freer commercial intercourse—the +friends of peace between the two countries—will +hail with satisfaction the example +of England?"</p></blockquote> + +<p>How strangely did this remarkable +man, whose career in all time coming +will be a warning to the aspiring +statesman, misunderstand the true +nature of his country's position! In +order to tempt reciprocity he opened +the British ports—that is, he conceded +gratuitously the only condition +by which we ever could have hoped +to insure it! At the expense of the +British agriculturist he opened the +British market to the foreigner, in +the expectation, as he expressly declared, +that the boon would be repaid +by measures which would prevent +the rise of manufactures abroad, and +restrain other nations from employing +capital profitably, from entering into +rivalry with Britain, and from using +those natural advantages which were +ready to their hand; and which, if +used, could not fail to add to their +wealth, and to furnish employment +for millions of their increasing population! +Most egregious was the +blunder, and terrible is the penalty +which we are certain to pay for it, if +we do not retrace our steps.</p> + +<p>It is always useful to know what +intelligent men of other countries +think of our system. They survey +and examine it without those prejudices +which are apt to beset all of us, +and are better able than ourselves to +determine with what degree of favour +it will be received, or is received, by +those who are removed beyond the +scope of our immediate observation. +Certainly, of all others, from their +affinity to ourselves, and their proverbially +shrewd acuteness in all +matters of commercial detail, the +Americans are most likely to form +an accurate estimate both of our position +and our prospects in regard to +foreign trade. It is well worth our +while to read and consider the following +opinion of Mr Carey, the most +distinguished Transatlantic writer on +points of political economy. It occurs +in his work entitled <cite>The Harmony +of Interests</cite>, published in America so +late as December 1849.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_641" id="Page_641">[641]</a></span></p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"Men are everywhere flying from +British commerce, which everywhere +pursues them. Having exhausted the +people of the lower lands of India, it +follows them as they retreat towards the +fastnesses of the Himalaya. Affghanistan +is attempted, while Scinde and the +Punjaub are subjugated. Siamese provinces +are added to the empire of Free +Trade, and war and desolation are carried +into China, in order that the Chinese +may be compelled to pay for the +use of ships, instead of making looms. +The Irishman flies to Canada; but there +the system follows him, and he feels himself +insecure until within the Union. +The Englishman and the Scotchman try +Southern Africa, and thence they fly to +the more distant New Holland, Van Diemen's +Land, or New Zealand. The farther +they fly, the more they use ships and other +perishable machinery, the less steadily +can their efforts be applied, the less must +be the power of production, and the fewer +must be the equivalents to be exchanged; +and yet in the growth of ships caused by +such circumstances, we are told to look +for evidence of prosperous commerce!</p> + +<p>"<em>The British system is built upon cheap +labour, by which is meant low-priced and +worthless labour.</em> Its effect is to cause it +to become from day to day more low-priced +and worthless; and thus <em>to destroy +production upon which commerce +must be based</em>. The object of protection +is to produce dear labour—that is, high-priced +and valuable labour, and its effect +is to cause it to increase in value from +day to day, and to increase the equivalents +to be exchanged, to the great increase +of commerce.</p> + +<p>"The object of what is now called +Free Trade, is that of securing to the +people of England the further existence +of <em>the monopoly of machinery</em>, by aid of +which Ireland and India have been +ruined, and commerce prostrated. Protection +seeks <em>to break down this monopoly</em>, +and to cause the loom and the anvil to +take their natural places by the side of +the food and the cotton, that production +may be increased, and that commerce +may revive."</p></blockquote> + +<p>In short, the harmony of interests +is regarded in America as the grand +point of aim for the statesman. With +us, our most important home interests, +on which depend the welfare of by +far the greater part of our population, +are sacrificed to prolong a struggle in +which our exporting manufacturers +cannot possibly be the victors, and +from which, even at present, they +derive little or no profit.</p> + +<p>Now, let us ask you to consider for +one moment, what is the natural +effect, upon the whole of us, of a +forcible diminution of prices, and depreciation +of produce. Here we shall +borrow an illustration and argument +from our adversaries, referring to a +point which is in the recollection of +all of you, and about which there can +be no possible mistake. You will +recollect that the Liberal and Free-trading +journals, almost without exception, +as well as most of the defenders +of the Peel policy in the House +of Commons, attributed much of that +general depression and stagnation of +trade which followed the repeal of the +Corn Laws to the losses sustained by +the failure of the potato-crop in +1845-6. Was there a general want +of confidence visible—were the shopkeepers +scant of custom—was there a +less demand than usual within the +country for home manufactures—was +there a decline in the price of iron—all +was laid at the door of the unfortunate +potato. Since Cobbett uttered +his anathema against the root, it +never was in such bad odour. To +every complaint, remonstrance, or +lamentation, the reply was ready—"How +can we remedy a calamity of +this kind? The potato has done it +all!" At that time it was very convenient, +nay, absolutely necessary, +for the Free-Traders to discover some +tangible cause for the gross failure of +their predictions. They looked about +them in every direction, and they +could discover nothing except the +potato which could endure the blame. +Now, although we believe that this +esculent has been unduly reviled, and +made to bear a greater burden than +was its due for political misfortune, +we nevertheless accept the illustration +at the hands of our opponents, +and we beg you to mark its significance. +The loss of the potato-crop +in Great Britain and Ireland, during +the year in question, has been variously +estimated, but if we assume it +to have been £20,000,000 we are +making a very large calculation indeed. +So then, <em>according to the Free-Traders, +the loss of twenty millions of +agricultural produce</em> was sufficient to +bring down profits, embarrass trade, +and cause a stagnation in home +manufactures! And yet, when Mr<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_642" id="Page_642">[642]</a></span> +Villiers came forward in the beginning +of 1850, and told you, in his +capacity of proposer of the Address +to the Crown, that £91,000,000 +were <em>annually</em> taken from the value +of the agricultural produce of the +country, you were expected, and +directed, to clap your hands with +joy, and to congratulate one another +on this symptom of the national prosperity!</p> + +<p>The sum of twenty millions lost by +the failure of the potato-crop—a single +event, not one of annual occurrence—was +taken from the country's power +of produce; and <em>therefore</em>, said the +Free-Traders, there was stagnation. +But they, of course, could not help it. +Of course they could not; but what +about the ninety-one millions of <em>annual</em> +loss, which is equally deducted from +the internal expenditure of the country? +About <em>that</em> we do not hear a +word. And yet ask yourselves, and that +most seriously—for it is time that we +should get rid of all such pitiful paltering—whether +there is any difference +whatever between the two +cases, except that the one was an +isolated casualty, and that the other +is an annual infliction to which we +are subjected by statute? Weigh the +matter as you will, you cannot, we +are satisfied, be able to detect any +difference. If the grower of grain at +present prices has no remuneration +for his toil, or return for his capital, +he cannot buy from you, any more +than could the farmer whose crop +perished by the potato disease. What +caused the stagnation? The failure +of the power to purchase, because +there was no return for produce. +What causes the stagnation? Precisely +the same thing perpetrated by +Act of Parliament.</p> + +<p>Do not, we beseech you, allow +yourselves to be fooled any longer by +the jesuitry of these political economists, +but apply your own reason to +discover the cause of the present depression. +Do not believe them when +they talk about exceptional causes, +affecting temporarily the industry +of the nation, but certain immediately +to disappear. If you were +to live as long as Methusaleh, no +one year would elapse without furnishing +those gentlemen with a special +and exceptional cause. One year +it is the potato disease; another +the French Revolution; another the +Great Exhibition. Heaven only +knows what will be their excuse next +year—perhaps the new Reform Bill, +or some other similar godsend. You +are the particular class upon whom +the deception is to be played, and for +whose especial benefit the fraud is +concocted. The producers know very +well how they stand, and what they +have to expect. They can be no +longer cajoled by assurances of higher +prices, by vague promises of profit +after the disappearance of "the transition +state," or by impudent averments +that, by an entire change of +system and the expenditure of more +capital, they will be able to maintain +themselves in affluence. To do the +Free-Traders justice, they have for +some time desisted from such attempts. +They now address their +victims, through their organs, in a +fine tone of desperado indifference, +telling them that, if they do not like +the present arrangement, the sooner +they go elsewhere the better. And +the people are taking them at their +word and going. Hundreds of thousands +of tax-payers are leaving the +country as fast as possible, carrying +with them the fragments of their property, +and bequeathing to those who +remain behind their share of the national +burdens. But in your case, +the Free-Traders cannot yet afford to +pull off the mask. They are apprehensive +that you should see them in +their real character; and therefore, so +long as you are likely to be amused +with "specialties" and "exceptional +causes," these will be furnished to +you gratis, and in great variety. +There seems, however, to be an apprehension +among their camp that +you are beginning to evince suspicion. +Recent elections have not been quite +as they should be; and in the seaport +and large commercial towns there +are evident symptoms of mutiny. So, +by way of diverting your attention, +you are likely to have a measure +of Reform next year, possibly as +satisfactory in its result as the Ecclesiastical +Titles Bill, upon which Ministers +cleverly managed to concentrate +the whole public attention +throughout last session, and then, +having carried it, allowed its provisions<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_643" id="Page_643">[643]</a></span> +to become a dead letter, +almost before the ink, which made +the measure complete, was dry! We +say this, not as opponents of an +extension of the suffrage—for on that +point we reserve our opinion until +the details are fully before us—but +as enemies and loathers of a miserable +system of chicane and deception which +has now crept into the public counsels, +and which threatens very speedily +to destroy the independence of public +opinion, by opposing state obstacles +to its free and legitimate expression. +We ask any of you, fearlessly, to +look back at the records of last +session, and then say whether the +country was not degraded and stultified +by the act of the Prime Minister? +Right or wrong, at his invitation and +call, the Protestants of Great Britain +demanded a security against what +they considered an intolerable instance +of Romish insolence and aggression. +They received it from +Parliament; and the moment it +passed into the hands of the executive +power, it became as worthless as the +paper upon which it was written! +And why was this? Simply because +the object was gained—you had been +amused for a whole session. If nothing +was intended to be done in the +way of repelling aggression, and if +Ministers durst have told you so a +year ago, there were many points affecting +your more immediate interests +which would have been forced upon +their attention. But they were very +glad to escape from such discussions +under cover of a Protestantism which +they did not feel, and an affected +indignation of Papal claims, which +they had done everything in their +power, by diplomatic agency, to encourage; +and, having escaped the +perils of one session upon that ground, +they will strain every effort to turn +your attention from your own position, +during the next, by bringing forward +some measure which they hope may +enlist your sympathies, or provoke +controversy, so far as to render you +indifferent to the real nature of your +position. The selection of the battlefield +is the oldest trick in strategy. +Get up the appearance of a battle, +and people will flock from any distance +to witness it, regardless of their +own interest. Lord John Russell is +famous for bloodless fields, which +resolve themselves into reviews—shall +we have another such in the course of +the approaching session?</p> + +<p>That manufactures are now exceedingly +depressed, and have been +so for a long time, notwithstanding +the reduction in the price of food +consequent upon foreign importations, +is an admitted and notorious fact. +We have from time to time kept this +before the public view by quoting +from the trade circulars; and though +further evidence may be unnecessary, +we shall subjoin extracts from the +last accounts received from three +seats of industry, two of which are +represented in Parliament by Colonel +Peyronnet Thompson and Mr Feargus +O'Connor. Gloomy as they are, +they are by no means the worst +which we have had occasion to cite +during the last two years.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Bradford</span>, <em>November 6</em>.—The market +here does not show any symptom of improvement +in the demand for any kind of +combing wools. All seem in wonder and +anxiety as to what may be next expected, +for to buy none are willing, whether with +stock or without. The staplers appeared +to expect that the spirited buying of +colonial wools would give a tone of confidence, +but that appears to have no +effect. The spinners pause when they +contrast the comparative high prices of +English wool, especially those of the finer +class, with what they were in 1848, when +yarns were at the present prices, and will +not buy with the certainty of making so +great a loss as a purchase would entail. +The supply of Noils and Brokes was +never so limited as at present, and the +small quantity making brings full prices. +The business doing in yarns is certainly +small, and the transactions confined to +immediate delivery. No one seems inclined +to enter into engagements for +distant delivery. For to go on at the +present prices of yarns is worse than madness, +the price for low numbers of good +spinning and standing having reached 8s. +per gross, and those of a secondary class +sold, if reeled, for what may be the instructions +to the commission houses, who +have needy parties pressing sales. The +quantity so offering is not so great, but +the sacrifices which have now for so long +been made render the position of the +trade exceedingly embarrassing. <em>The +production continues to be daily curtailed, +and from the whole district the same cheerless +tidings are received. Some large +houses, who have never reduced their operations<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_644" id="Page_644">[644]</a></span> +before, have adopted it, their loss +being so immense, and the whole condition +of the trade so thoroughly disjointed.</em> In +pieces the business during the week has +not shown any feature of increased activity, +and the stocks in the manufacturers' +hands are somewhat increasing, +but not so fast as last year at this period, +and especially in Coburgs and fancy goods: +the former are chiefly made in this district, +and not in Lancashire, for the ruinous +price has driven them on to other +classes of goods adaptable to their looms; +and for some months several large houses +have been engaged in making Bareges +for the American market. This has prevented +mousselines-de-laine being made +to stock, and, perhaps for many years, +this branch of the trade has not opened +with so small a stock on hand.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Nottingham</span>, <em>November 6</em>.—In lace +we have no improvement to notice this +week in the general sale of goods, and, +with very few exceptions, there is a great +falling off in demand; but, as many of +the manufacturers are wisely lessening +their production, we do not anticipate +any serious losses resulting from the present +temporary stagnation. Many are +stopping their frames to make fresh designs +altogether; which, if done with +good taste, some advantage may result +from present difficulties. In hosiery our +trade is not so much depressed as we had +reason to anticipate. There is still a fair +business doing in wrought hose, and a +little increased demand for 'cut-ups,' as +well as gloves made of thread and spun +silk. The price of yarn is low, which is +in favour both of the manufacturer and +merchant.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Leicester</span>, <em>November 6</em>.—The unsettled +state of the price of workmanship +for straight-down hose has caused a +great depression in that branch, and led +to nearly a total cessation of work, many +hosiers declining to give out until prices +are settled. In wrought hose a better +business is doing, though not so good as +usual at this season. Yarns continue +dull of sale."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Now, why do we insist upon these +things? For two reasons. In the +first place, we wish you to observe +that the cheapness of manufacturing +products does not of itself induce consumption. +There must be buyers as +well as sellers in order to constitute +a market, and the tendency of our +late legislation has been to diminish +the means of the former. It by no +means follows that, if we have cheap +food and cheap manufactures, the +relative position of all classes can be +maintained. Never forget <em>that our +burdens all the while remain at a fixed +money rate</em>, and that, as the value of +produce is lowered, the weight of +those burdens is aggravated. This +consideration, which is now well understood, +is beginning to tell strongly +against the doctrines of the Free-Traders, +even with some of those, +who were once their ardent supporters. +Mr James Harvey of Liverpool, +late a member of the Anti-Corn-Law +League, but now a strenuous +opponent of their system, thus chronicles +the leading cause of his conversion. +We quote from his pamphlet +just published, <em>Remunerative Price +the Desideratum, not Cheapness</em>. He +says:—"My suspicions were first +awakened by the blind devotion of +the Manchester school of political +economy to the doctrine of <small>CHEAPNESS</small>; +for it struck me as a self-evident +proposition, that to buy cheap +is to sell cheap, in which case there +can be no possible gain, but a positive +loss, arising from the necessary aggravation +of all fixed charges." In +order to place the producers of this +country in the same position as before, +it would be necessary to reduce all +fixed charges, the interest of debt +both public and private, the expenses +of government, and all salaries and +annuities, to an amount corresponding +to the forced decline of prices. This +would be called a war against property; +but, in reality, the war against +property began when the Legislature +admitted foreign untaxed produce to +compete with the produce and labour +of our tax-paying population at home.</p> + +<p>Our second reason for drawing +your attention to the cheerless prospect +of manufactures, has reference +to the sacrifices, not only indirect +but direct, which the other classes of +the community were called upon to +make in order to prop them up. In the +first place, the Property and Income +Tax, which we are still called upon to +pay, was imposed by Sir Robert Peel +expressly for the object of effecting +"such an improvement in the <em>manufacturing +interests</em> as will react on +every other interest in the country." +He admitted that it was an unjust +and partial impost, and therefore +promised that it should be only temporary—however, +we have endured<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_645" id="Page_645">[645]</a></span> +it for ten years, and the Whigs will +no doubt make an effort to continue +it still longer. Here, then, you have +a sum of five millions and a half +annually confiscated for the benefit of +the manufacturers, who were relieved +from taxation to that amount. So +far for sacrifice the first. Then came +sacrifice the second, in the shape of +Free Trade, mulcting the productive +classes of this country to the extent +of at least five-and-thirty per cent of +their annual returns. Then came +sacrifice the third, which handed over +the carrying trade to the foreigner.</p> + +<p>Now, considering that all these +sacrifices have been made for the +encouragement of manufactures, or at +least with that professed object, is it +not, to say the least of it, extraordinary +that they have not thriven? +How are we to account for a result +so wholly contrary to the avowed +anticipations of our statesmen? The +explanation is, after all, not very +difficult. All these sacrifices have +been made, not for the great body of +the manufacturers, but for a mere +section of them. We possess no +authentic official information as to the +amount of manufactures consumed at +home; but we have records, more or +less trustworthy, of the amount of +our exports, and these are used to +mislead the minds of the multitude as +to the actual extent and relative importance +of our trade. England has +no more title than France has to the +character of the workshop of the +world. We are driven from the +markets of civilised countries by the +protective duties imposed by their +governments for the righteous and +prudent purpose of fostering native +industry, and we are compelled to +seek our marts among people who +are not yet so far advanced in political +economy as to detect the enormous +discrepancy between our principles +and our practice. Listen to Mr Harvey's +sketch of our foreign trade:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"From the theories and systems I +turned my attention to passing events +and recorded facts: I saw the West Indies +prostrated; Canada thrown into a +state of revolt, succeeded by a smothered +feeling of discontent; Ireland depopulated; +the magnificent resources of India +undeveloped; and the British farmer reduced +to the dire necessity of paying rent +out of capital. I also perceived that the +change in our commercial policy had substituted +a cosmopolitan cant in the place +of patriotism and nationality. To become +the friend of every country but his own +had become the pride and the glory of +statesmanship. Foreign goods were admitted, +duty free, into our ports, in the +vain hope of reciprocity being established; +but our manufactures were subjected +to heavy imposts on the Continent of +Europe, and in the United States. China, +unversed in the mysteries of political economy, +only levies five per cent upon our +goods, whilst, in direct contravention of +our pet notions of Free Trade and reciprocity, +we impose a tax of 300 per cent +upon her teas. <span class="smcap">Our hopes have been +disappointed, our calculations falsified. +We are the dupes of our own +fantastic ideas and Quixotic concessions.</span> +We are the laughing-stock of the +Old and the New Worlds. The Germanic +Zollverein shuns our overtures; the American +excludes our ships from his seaboard."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Can these things be controverted? +We defy the ingenuity of mankind to +do it.</p> + +<p>So much for the foreign trade; but +there still remains the home trade, in +which by far the largest portion of our +manufacturing capital is embarked, +and which furnishes a much greater +amount of employment to British +labour than the other. You see what +is the state of that trade, notwithstanding +the savings which may have +been effected by the lowered price +of food, and also notwithstanding +that partial protection which several +branches of it are still allowed to retain. +One word as to that incidental +point. Mr Cobden is reported to have +said, that he did not care how soon +these remnants of protection were +abolished. Let him be as good as his +word, and, <small>IF HE DARES</small>, rise up in his +place in the House of Commons, and +make a motion to that effect. We +shall then have an opportunity of +testing the exact nature of his principles. +To what cause can such a +depression as this, so long and continuous, +be attributed, except to a +general curtailment of demand on the +part of the consumers, arising from +the insufficiency of their means to make +purchases as before? You are probably +aware that what is called strict economy +in families is not favourable to +the interests of manufacture or of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_646" id="Page_646">[646]</a></span> +trade. Of manufactures of all kinds +there must be a certain yearly consumption, +based upon the necessities +of the people. Besides food, men require +clothes to cover them, and +houses in which to dwell, and those +houses must be more or less furnished. +But between the bare supply +of such necessities, and that point +which is considered by persons, +according to their tastes, education, +or habits, as constituting comfort, +there is a wide interval. Nothing is +a more sure criterion of the wealth +and income of a people than the ordering +of their homes, and the manner +of their living; and the traveller who +passes from one country into another +can at once form an estimate, from +such appearances, of their respective +wealth or poverty. Diminish income, +and a reduction is immediately made. +All superfluities are lopped off and +renounced. The broker, who deals in +second-hand articles, drives a larger +business than the man who is the +vendor of new ones; and even in +domestic labour there is a large economy +practised, by reducing establishments. +That this must be so, will be +evident on the slightest reflection. +Reduce a man's income from £1000 +to £800 or £600, and he will, if he +has any wisdom or prudence, cut +down his expenses to meet the fall. +It is upon the home manufacturer in +the first place, and upon the shopkeeper +secondly, that these reductions +tell. The one finds that his amount +of production is much greater than +the demand; the other does not turn +over his capital nearly so rapidly as +before. Add to this that the home +manufacturer, in many branches, is +exposed to strong foreign competition. +Sir Robert Peel, in his last alterations +of the tariff, did indeed continue Protection—more +largely than is generally +understood, for the mere amount +of revenue-duty drawn from importations +of foreign articles, adapted to +compete with ours in the home, is no +criterion of the Protective value—to +some branches of industry; but others +were exposed without shelter, and +have since suffered accordingly. It +is undeniable that a very large amount +of foreign manufactures, which have +paid no duty at all, or merely an +elusory one, are consumed within this +country—thereby inflicting extreme +injury upon British labour, and depressing +trades which, though severally +not important, give in the +aggregate, or ought to give, the +means of employment to thousands. +Regard the subject in any light you +will, this cheapness, of which we have +heard so much, just amounts to a +diminution of the income of every +class, except the annuitants and fund-holders, +while it consequently renders +the payment of the fixed burdens +more grievous to every one of us.</p> + +<p>You, gentlemen, to whom we have +ventured to submit these remarks, +have a very great deal in your power. +You can, by your decision, either +confirm the present policy, or cause +it to be reversed; and your own +experience will suffice to show you in +what manner the system has worked. +Statists may parade their figures, economists +may puff their plans, statesmen +may indulge in high-coloured +pictures of the success which they expect +to follow their measures—but the +true test of every measure which has +a practical tendency will be found in +the effect which it produces upon the +circumstances of the people, and especially +upon those of the middle classes. +We, who have, from the very first, +anticipated the baneful effects of this +attack upon British industry—we, +who have no more connection than +any of yourselves with territorial aristocracy, +and who consider the welfare +of the people as the grand object +which it is the duty of the Government +to promote—ask you to apply +your own reason to the facts which +are before you and in your reach, and +to decide and act accordingly. It +was, we knew from the very beginning +of this struggle, impossible that +you could decide until the effects of +the Free-Trade experiment became +visible and palpable among yourselves. +We foresaw that it was only +through the suffering and impoverishment +of the producers that the practical +lesson could reach you, and that, +until this took place, it was of little +use to invoke your aid, or even to +entreat your judgment. Probably, by +this time, you will have formed an +accurate estimate of the value of the +doctrines promulgated by the babblers +on political economy—a sect<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_647" id="Page_647">[647]</a></span> +which has never yet been allowed to +interfere with the internal affairs of +any nation, without producing the +most disastrous results. To them we +are indebted for that change of the +currency which has added fully one-third +to our fixed burdens, and for +those complex monetary arrangements +which insure periodically the +return of a commercial crisis. But +whatever you may think of them, do +not allow yourselves to be influenced +by their representations, or by those +of their accredited organs. The time +for theory is over. You have now to +deal with facts, regarding which every +man of you is competent to form an +opinion. We do not ask you to accept +our statements implicitly, any more +than those of our opponents—though, +if we did so, we might hold ourselves +justified on this ground, that the +greater part of our evidence is taken +from the admissions of our adversaries. +We appeal to your own +experience, and upon that we leave +you to decide.</p> + +<p>And do not be afraid to give free +utterance to your opinion. There +exists not in this land—there exists +not in all the world, the power which +can rise up against you. The British +producer on the one hand, and the +exporting manufacturer on the other, +may have conflicting interests not +altogether reconcilable with the public +good, for isolated interest always +begets selfishness; and where individual +or class profit is concerned, +principle is apt to be overlooked. +But you are, eminently, <small>THE CLASS</small> +to pronounce upon conflicting opinions. +Your interest is that of the +nation whose pulse is beneath your +finger. You can tell, with greater +accuracy than others, whether any +political prescription has stimulated +the circulation of the blood, or caused +it to run torpidly in the national +veins. You can mark the changes in +the circumstances of your customers, +and from these you can form an estimate +whether or not the late experiment +has been successful.</p> + +<p>If, judging by that test, you should +think it has been successful, our case +is lost. We, who have advocated the +Protective Principle in legislation, +cannot continue to maintain it, if +those whose incomes depend mainly +upon British custom find themselves +advantaged by measures which have +reduced the value of British produce. +In matters of this kind there is no +abstract dogma involved, on the +strength of which any man could +make himself a creditable martyr. +Men have died for their faith or for +their allegiance, believing either to be +their highest duty; but no one in his +senses will spend a lifetime, or any +considerable portion of it, in combating +absolute facts. The reason why +Protection is still a living principle—the +reason why it finds so many supporters +among the learned and the +thoughtful—the reason why it is progressing +step by step towards triumph—is +because, in the minds of +those who advocate it, there is a +strong and deep-rooted conviction that +you already know that the opposite +system has entirely failed to realise +the predictions of its advocates, and +that you feel that its permanency is +contrary to your interest, and to that +of the great body of the people. If +we are right in this conviction, then +we are entitled not only to solicit, +but to demand, your earnest co-operation. +These are not times for political +cowardice, or weak suppression +of opinion. Liberty of thought, and +liberty of the expression of sentiment, +are our unalienable prerogative; but +of late years, and in the hands of a +certain party, that prerogative has +been scandalously overstretched. We +now hear men—even members of the +Legislature—threatening the country, +and you, with hints of insurrection, +in case you exercise your undoubted +right of pronouncing a free and unbiassed +judgment upon any point of +commercial policy. Let the caitiffs +bluster! They know, from the bottom +of their ignoble souls—for none save +an ignoble soul would have dared to +conceive that such threats would intimidate +any man of British birth or +blood—that their menace is as meaningless +and vain as their miserable +motives are apparent. Let them +bluster! They, the advocates of +lowered wages—they, the combatants +for lengthened labour—they, the +crushers of the infants, have no large +margin of operative sympathy upon +which they can afford to trade. Had +John Fielden been alive, he could<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_648" id="Page_648">[648]</a></span> +have told you what these men +were, and what sympathy they were +likely to command. Well do the +workmen know with whom they have +to deal!</p> + +<p>Let us not be misunderstood. We +never have underrated the difficulty +of a change such as we contemplate; +but no difficulty attending that, is for +a moment to be put into the balance +against the general welfare of the +country, if, on reflection, and on considering +your own position, you shall +be of opinion that the interests of the +country demand that change. But, +at any hazard, we cannot afford to go +down-hill. To bring us, as the Manchester +men contemplate, to the Continental +level in point of wages as +well as expenditure, is to seal the +ruin of the British empire, burdened +as it is; or, in the least dangerous +view, to necessitate repudiation. That +matter is, as we have said before, for +you to decide; and the period for +your decision is rapidly drawing near. +On the next general election depends +the fate of the country, and—without +saying one syllable more upon the +merits of the systems at issue—the +decision or inclination of your body +will form the most important, because +it must be considered, as between +conflicting interests, the most impartial +element, of the expression of +British opinion.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2>THE JEW'S LEGACY.</h2> + +<h3>A TALE OF THE SIEGE OF GIBRALTAR.</h3> + + +<h4>CHAPTER I.</h4> + +<p>The note-book of my grandfather, +Major Flinders, contains much matter +relative to the famous siege of Gibraltar, +and he seems to have kept an +accurate and minute journal of such +of its incidents as came under his own +observation. Indeed, I suspect the +historian Drinkwater must have had +access to it, as I frequently find the +same notabilia chronicled in pretty +much the same terms by both these +learned Thebans. But while Drinkwater +confines himself mostly to professional +matters—the state of the +fortifications, nature of the enemy's +fire, casualties to the soldiery, and the +like—and seldom introduces an anecdote +interesting to the generality of +readers without apologising for such +levity, my grandfather's sympathies +seem to have been engrossed by the +sufferings of the inhabitants deprived +of shelter, as well as of sufficient food, +and helplessly witnessing the destruction +of their property. Consequently, +his journal, though quite below the +dignity of history, affords, now and +then, a tolerably graphic glimpse of +the beleagured town.</p> + +<p>From the discursive and desultory +nature of the old gentleman's style, +as before hinted, it would be vain to +look for a continuous narrative in his +journal, even if it contained materials +for such. But here and there a literary +Jack Horner might extract a +plum or two from the vast quantity +of dough—of reflections, quotations, +and all manner of irrelevant observations, +surrounding them. The following +incidents, which occurred at +the most interesting period of the +long and tedious siege, appear to me +to give a fair idea of some of the characteristics +of the time, and of the +personages who figured in it; and +accordingly, after subjecting them to +a process analogous to gold-washing, +I present them to the reader.</p> + +<p>After a strict blockade of six +months, reducing the garrison to great +extremity for want of provisions, +Gibraltar was relieved by Sir George +Rodney, who landed a large quantity +of stores. But about a year after his +departure, no further relief having +reached them except casual supplies +from trading vessels that came at a +great risk to the Rock, their exigencies +were even worse than before. +The issue of provisions was limited in +quantity, and their price so high, that +the families, even of officers, were frequently +in dismal straits. This has +given rise to a wooden joke of my +grandfather's, who, although he seldom +ventures on any deliberate facetiousness, +has entitled the volume of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_649" id="Page_649">[649]</a></span> +his journal relating to this period of +the siege, <em>The Straits of Gibraltar</em>. +He seems to have estimated the +worth of his wit by its rarity, for the +words appear at the top of every +page.</p> + +<p>The 11th of April 1781 being Carlota's +birthday, the Major had invited +Owen (now Lieutenant Owen) to dine +with them in honour of the occasion. +Owen was once more, for the time, a +single man; for Juana, having gone +to visit her friends in Tarifa just before +the commencement of the siege, +had been unable to rejoin her husband. +In vain had Carlota requested +that the celebration might be postponed +till the arrival of supplies from +England should afford them a banquet +worthy of the anniversary—the Major, +a great stickler for ancient customs, +insisted on its taking place forthwith. +Luckily, a merchantman from Minorca +had succeeded in landing a cargo of +sheep, poultry, vegetables, and fruit +the day before, so that the provision +for the feast, though by no means +sumptuous, was far better than any +they had been accustomed to for +many months past. The Major's +note-book enables me to set the materials +for the dinner, and also its cost, +before the reader—viz. a sheep's head, +price sixteen shillings, (my grandfather +was too late to secure any of +the body, which was rent in pieces, +and the fragments carried off as if by +wolves, ere the breath was well out +of it)—a couple of fowls, twenty +shillings, (scraggy creatures, says my +ancestor in a parenthesis)—a ham, +two guineas—raisins and flour for a +pudding, five shillings—eggs, (how +many the deponent sayeth not,) sixpence +each—vegetables, nine and sixpence—and +fruit for dessert, seven and +tenpence. Then, for wine, a Spanish +merchant, a friend of Carlota's, had +sent them two bottles of champagne +and one of amontillado, a present as +generous then as a hogshead would +have been in ordinary times; and +there was, moreover, some old rum, +and two lemons for punch. Altogether, +there was probably no dinner +half so good that day in Gibraltar.</p> + +<p>At the appointed hour, the Major +was reading in his quarters (a tolerably +commodious house near the +South Barracks, and at some distance +outside the town) when Owen appeared.</p> + +<p>"You're punctual, my boy; and +punctuality's a cardinal virtue about +dinner-time," said my grandfather, +looking at his watch; "three o'clock +exactly. And now we'll have dinner. +I only hope the new cook is a tolerable +proficient."</p> + +<p>"What's become of Mrs Grigson?" +asked Owen. "You haven't parted +with that disciple of Apicius, I should +hope?"</p> + +<p>"She's confined again," said my +grandfather, sighing; "a most prolific +woman that! It certainly can't +be above half-a-year since her last +child was born, and she's just going +to have another. 'Tis certainly not +longer ago than last autumn," he +added musingly.</p> + +<p>"A wonderful woman," said Owen; +"she ought to be purchased by the +Government, and sent out to some of +our thinly-populated colonies. And +who fills her place?"</p> + +<p>"Why, I'll tell you," responded +the Major. "Joe Trigg, my old servant, +is confined too—in the guardroom, +I mean, for getting drunk—and +I've taken a man of the regiment, +one Private Bags, for a day or two, +who recommended his wife as an +excellent cook. She says the same +of herself; but this is her first trial, +and I'm a little nervous about it."</p> + +<p>"Shocking rascal that Bags," said +Owen.</p> + +<p>"Indeed!" said my grandfather; +"I'm sorry to hear that. I didn't +inquire about his character. He offered +his services, saying he came from the +same part of England as myself, +though I don't recollect him."</p> + +<p>"Terrible work this blockade," said +the Major after a pause. "Do you +know, if I was a general in command +of a besieging army, I don't think I +could find it in my heart to starve out +the garrison. Consider now, my dear +boy," (laying his forefinger on Owen's +arm,)—"consider, now, several thousand +men, with strong appetites, +never having a full meal for months +together. And just, too, as my digestion +was getting all right—for I never +get a nightmare now, though I frequently +have the most delicious +dreams of banquets that I try to eat, +but wake before I get a mouthful.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_650" id="Page_650">[650]</a></span> +'Tis enough to provoke a saint. And, +as if this was not enough, the supply +of books is cut off. The <cite>Weekly +Entertainer</cite> isn't even an annual entertainer +to me. The last number I +got was in '79, and I've been a regular +subscriber these twelve years. +There's the <cite>Gentleman's Magazine</cite>, +too. The last one reached me a year +since, with a capital story in it, only +half-finished, that I'm anxious to know +the end of; and also a rebus that I've +been longing to see the answer to. +'The answer in our next,' says the +tantalising editor. It's a capital rebus—just +listen now. 'Two-thirds +of the name of an old novelist, one-sixth +of what we all do in the morning, +and a heathen deity, make together +a morsel fit for a king.' I've +been working at it for upwards of a +year, and I can't guess it. Can +you?"</p> + +<p>"Roast pig with stuffing answers +the general description," said Owen. +"That, you'll admit, is a morsel fit +for a king."</p> + +<p>"Pooh!" said my grandfather. +"But you must really try now. I've +run through the mythology, all that I +know of it, and tried all the old novelists' +names, even Boccaccio and Cervantes. +Never were such combinations +as I've made—but can't compound +anything edible out of them. Again, +as to what we do in the morning: we +all shave, (that is, all who have +beards)—and we yawn, too; at least +I do, on waking; but it must be a +word of six letters. Then, who can +the heathen deity be?"</p> + +<p>"Pan is the only heathen deity +that has anything to do with cookery," +said Owen. "Frying-pan, you know, +and stew-pan."</p> + +<p>My grandfather caught at the idea, +but had not succeeded in making anything +of it, or in approximating to the +solution of the riddle, when Carlota +entered from an inner room.</p> + +<p>"I wish, my dear, you would see +about the dinner," said the Major; +"'tis a quarter past three."</p> + +<p>"<i lang="es" xml:lang="es">Si, mi vida</i>," (yes, my life,) said +Carlota, who was in the habit of bestowing +lavishly on my grandfather +the most endearing epithets in the +Spanish language, some of them, perhaps, +not particularly applicable—<i lang="es" xml:lang="es">niño +de mi alma</i>, (child of my soul,) +<i lang="es" xml:lang="es">luz de mis ojos</i>, (light of my eyes,) and +the like; none of which appeared to +have any more effect on the object of +them than if they had been addressed +to somebody else.</p> + +<p>Carlota rung the bell, which nobody +answered. "Nurse is busy with de +<i lang="es" xml:lang="es">niña</i>," she said, when nobody answered +it; "I go myself to de <i lang="es" xml:lang="es">cocina</i>," +(kitchen,)—she spoke English as yet +but imperfectly.</p> + +<p>"There's one comfort in delay," +said the Major; "'tis better to boil a +ham too much than too little—and yet +I shouldn't like it overdone either."</p> + +<p>Here they were alarmed by an exclamation +from Carlota. "<i lang="es" xml:lang="es">Ah Dios! +Caramba! Ven, ven, mi niño!</i>" cried +she from the kitchen.</p> + +<p>The Major and Owen hastened to +the kitchen, which was so close at +hand that the smell of the dinner +sometimes anticipated its appearance +in the dining-room. Mrs Bags, the +new cook, was seated before the fire. +On the table beside her was an empty +champagne bottle, the fellow to which +protruded its neck from a pail in one +corner, where the Major had put it to +cool; and another bottle of more +robust build, about half-full, was also +beside her. The countenance of Mrs +Bags wore a pleasant and satisfied, +though not very intelligent smile, as +she gazed steadfastly on the ham that +was roasting on a spit before the fire—at +least one side of it was done +quite black, while the other oozed +with warm greese; for the machinery +which should have turned it was not +in motion.</p> + +<p>"<i lang="es" xml:lang="es">Caramba!</i>" exclaimed Carlota, +with uplifted hands. "<i lang="es" xml:lang="es">Que picarilla!</i>"—(What +a knave of a woman!)</p> + +<p>"Gracious heavens!" said my +grandfather, "she's roasting it! Who +ever heard of a roast ham?"</p> + +<p>"A many years," remarked Mrs +Bags, without turning her head, and +still smiling pleasantly, "have I lived +in gentlemen's families—" Here this +fragment of autobiography was terminated +by a hiccup.</p> + +<p>"And the champagne bottle is +empty," said Owen, handling it. "A +nice sort of cook this of yours, Major. +She seems to have constituted herself +butler, too."</p> + +<p>My grandfather advanced and +lifted the other bottle to his nose.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_651" id="Page_651">[651]</a></span> +"'Tis the old rum," he ejaculated +with a groan. "But if the woman +has drunk all this 'twill be the death +of her. Bags," he called, "come +here."</p> + +<p>The spouse of Mrs Bags emerged +from a sort of scullery behind the +kitchen—a tall bony man, of an ugliness +quite remarkable, and with a +very red face. He was better known +by his comrades as Tongs, in allusion +probably to personal peculiarities; for +the length of his legs, the width of +his bony hips, and the smallness of +his head, gave him some distant resemblance +to that article of domestic +ironmongery; but as his wife called +herself Mrs Bags, and he was entered +in the regimental books by that name, +it was probably his real appellation.</p> + +<p>"Run directly to Dr Fagan," said +the Major, "and request him to come +here. Your wife has poisoned herself +with rum."</p> + +<p>"'Tisn't rum," said Bags, somewhat +thickly—"'tis fits."</p> + +<p>"Fits!" said my grandfather.</p> + +<p>"Fits," doggedly replied Mr Bags, +who seemed by no means disturbed +at the alleged indisposition of his +wife—"she often gets them."</p> + +<p>"Don't alarm yourself, Major," +said Owen, "I'll answer for it she +hasn't drunk <em>all</em> the rum. The +scoundrel is half-drunk himself, and +smells like a spirit-vault. You'd +better take your wife away," he said +to Bags.</p> + +<p>"She can leave if she ain't wanted," +said Private Bags, with dignity: "we +never comes where we ain't wanted." +And he advanced to remove the lady. +Mrs Bags at first resisted this measure, +proceeding to deliver a eulogium +on her own excellent qualities, moral +and culinary. She had, she said, the +best of characters, in proof of which +she made reference to several persons +in various parts of the United Kingdom, +and, as she spoke, she smiled +more affably than ever.</p> + +<p>"<i lang="es" xml:lang="es">La picarilla no tiene verguenza</i>," +(the wretch is perfectly shameless,) +cried Carlota, who, having hastily +removed the ham from the fire, was +now looking after the rest of the +dinner. The fowls, cut up in small +pieces, were boiling along with the +sheep's head, and, probably to save +time, the estimable Mrs Bags had put +the rice and raisins destined for a +pudding into the pot along with them—certainly, +as Owen remarked, a +bold innovation in cookery.</p> + +<p>Still continuing to afford them +glimpses of her personal history, Mrs +Bags was at length persuaded to +retire along with her helpmate.</p> + +<p>"What astonishing impudence," said +the Major, shutting the door upon her, +"to pretend to be a cook, and yet +know no better than to roast a ham!"</p> + +<p>Carlota, meanwhile, was busy in +remedying the disaster as far as she +could; cutting the ham into slices +and frying it, making a fricassee of the +fowls, and fishing the raisins out of +the pot, exclaiming bitterly all the +while, in English and Spanish, against +the <i lang="es" xml:lang="es">tunanta</i> (equivalent to female +scoundrel or scamp) who had spoilt +the only nice dinner her <i lang="es" xml:lang="es">pobrecito</i>, +her <i lang="es" xml:lang="es">niño</i>, her <i lang="es" xml:lang="es">querido</i>, (meaning my +grandfather,) had been likely to enjoy +for a long time, stopping occasionally +in her occupations to give him a consolatory +kiss. However, my grandfather +did not keep up the character +of a martyr at all well: he took the +matter really very patiently; and +when the excellent Carlota had set +the dinner on the table, and he tasted +the fine flavour of the maltreated +ham, he speedily regained his accustomed +good-humour.</p> + +<p>"It is very strange," he said presently, +while searching with a fork in +the dish before him, "that a pair of +fowls should have only three wings, +two legs, and one breast between +them."</p> + +<p>It certainly was not according to +the order of nature; nevertheless the +fact was so, all my grandfather's +researches in the dish failing to bring +to light the missing members. This +however, was subsequently explained +by the discovery of the remains of +these portions of the birds in the +scullery, where they appeared to have +been eaten after being grilled; and +Mrs Bags' reason for adopting this +mode of cooking them was also rendered +apparent—viz., that she might +secure a share for herself without immediate +detection.</p> + +<p>However, all this did not prevent +them from making the best of what +was left, and the Major's face beamed +as he drank Carlota's health in a glass<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_652" id="Page_652">[652]</a></span> +of the remaining bottle of champagne, +as brightly as if the dinner had been +completely successful.</p> + +<p>"It is partly my fault, Owen," +said the Major, "that you haven't a +joint of mutton instead of this sheep's +head. I ought to have been sharper. +The animal was actually sold in parts +before he was killed. Old Clutterbuck +had secured a haunch, and he a +single man you know—'tis thrown +away upon him. I offered him something +handsome for his bargain, but +he wouldn't part with it."</p> + +<p>"We're lucky to get any," returned +Owen. "Never was such a scramble. +Old Fiskin, the commissary, and Mrs +O'Regan, the Major's wife, both +swore the left leg was knocked down +to them; neither would give in, and +it was put up again, when the staff +doctor, Pursum, who had just arrived +in a great hurry, carried it off by +bidding eightpence more than either. +Not one of the three has spoken to +either of the others since; and people +say," added Owen, "Mrs O'Regan +avers openly that Fiskin didn't behave +like a gentleman."</p> + +<p>"God knows!" said my grandfather, +"'tis a difficult thing in such a +case to decide between politeness and +a consciousness of being in the right. +Fiskin likes a good dinner."</p> + +<p>The dinner having been done justice +to, Carlota removed the remains to a +side-table, and the Major was in the +act of compounding a bowl of punch, +when there was a knock at the door. +"Come in," cried Carlota.</p> + +<p>A light and timid step crossed the +narrow passage separating the outer +door from that of the room they sat +in, and there was another hesitating +tap at this latter. "Come in," again +cried Carlota, and a young girl entered +with a basket on her arm.</p> + +<p>"'Tis Esther Lazaro," said Carlota +in Spanish. "Come in, child; sit +here and tell me what you want."</p> + +<p>Esther Lazaro was the daughter of +a Jew in the town, whose occupations +were multifarious, and connected him +closely with the garrison. He discounted +officers' bills, furnished their +rooms, sold them everything they +wanted—all at most exorbitant rates. +Still, as is customary with military +men, while perfectly aware that they +could have procured what he supplied +them with elsewhere at less expense, +they continued to patronise and abuse +him rather than take the trouble of +looking out for a more liberal dealer. +As the difficulties of the garrison increased, +he had not failed to take +advantage of them, and it was even +said he was keeping back large stores +of provisions and necessaries till the +increasing scarcity should enable +him to demand his own terms for +them.</p> + +<p>His daughter was about fifteen +years old—a pretty girl, with hair of +the unusual colour of chestnut, plaited +into thick masses on the crown of her +head. Her skin was fairer than is +customary with her race—her eyes +brown and soft in expression, her +face oval, and her figure, even at this +early age, very graceful, being somewhat +more precocious than an English +girl's at those years. She was a +favourite with the ladies of the garrison, +who often employed her to procure +feminine matters for them. Carlota, +particularly, had always treated +her with great kindness—and hence +the present visit. She had come, she +said timidly, to ask a favour—a great +favour. She had a little dog that she +loved. (Here a great commotion in the +basket seemed to say she had brought +her <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">protégé</i> with her.) He had been +given to her by a young school friend +who was dead, and her father would +no longer let her keep it, because, he +said, these were no times to keep +such creatures, when provisions, even +those fit for a dog, were so dear. He +was a very good little dog—would the +Señora take him?</p> + +<p>"Let us look at him, Esther," +said Owen—"I see you have brought +him with you."</p> + +<p>"He is not pretty," said Esther, +blushing as she produced him from +the basket. He certainly was not, +being a small cur, marked with black +and white, like a magpie, with a tall +curling over his back. He did not +appear at all at his ease in society, +for he tried to shrink back again into +the basket.</p> + +<p>"He was frightened," she said, +"for he had been shut up for more +than a month. She had tried to keep +him in her bedroom, unknown to her +father, feeding him with part of her +own meals; but he had found it out,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_653" id="Page_653">[653]</a></span> +and had beaten her, and threatened +to kill the dog if ever he saw it +again."</p> + +<p>"<i lang="es" xml:lang="es">Pobrecito!</i>" (poor little thing,) +said the good Carlota—"we shall take +good care of it. <i lang="es" xml:lang="es">Toma</i>," (take this,) +offering him a bit of meat. But he +crept under her chair, with his tail so +depressed, in his extreme bashfulness, +that the point of it came out between +his forelegs.</p> + +<p>Carlota would have made the young +Jewess dine there forthwith, at the +side-table still spread with the remains +of the dinner; but she refused +to take anything, only sipping once +from a glass of wine that Carlota insisted +on making her drink of. Then +she rose, and, having tied the end of +a string that was fastened to the dog's +collar to the leg of the table, to prevent +his following her, took her leave, +thanking Carlota very prettily.</p> + +<p>"<i lang="es" xml:lang="es">A Dios, Sancho!</i>" she said to +the little dog, who wagged his tail +and gave her a piteous look as she +turned to go away—"<i lang="es" xml:lang="es">A Dios, +Sancho</i>," she repeated, taking him up +and kissing him very affectionately. +The poor child was ready to cry.</p> + +<p>"Come and see him every day, +my child," said Carlota, "and when +better times come you shall have him +again."</p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER II.</h4> + +<p>Lazaro the Jew was seated towards +dusk that evening in a sort of office +partitioned off by an open railing +from a great store filled with a most +motley collection of articles. Sofas, +looking-glasses, washing-stands—bales +of goods in corded canvass—rows +of old boots purchased from officers' +servants—window curtains lying on +heaps of carpeting and matting—bedsteads +of wood and iron—crockery +and glass—were all piled indiscriminately. +Similar articles had also +overflowed along the passage down +the wooden steps leading to the +square stone court below, which was +lumbered with barrels, packing-cases, +and pieces of old iron. This court +was entered from the street, and an +arched door on one side of it, barred +and padlocked, opened on a large +warehouse, which nobody except the +Jew had set foot in for many months.</p> + +<p>The Jew himself was a spare, +rather small man, with a thin eager +face, small sharp features, and a +scanty beard. Being by descent a +Barbary Jew, he wore the costume +peculiar to that branch of his race—a +black skull-cap; a long-skirted, collarless, +cloth coat, buttoned close, the +waist fastened with a belt; loose +light-coloured trousers and yellow +slippers—altogether he looked somewhat +like an overgrown scholar of +Christ's Hospital. He was busied in +turning over old parchment-covered +ledgers, when an officer entered.</p> + +<p>Von Dessel was a captain in Hardenberg's +regiment. He was a square, +strong-built man, about forty, with +very light hair, as was apparent since +the governor's order had forbidden the +use of powder to the troops, in consequence +of the scarcity of flour. +His thick, white, overhanging eyebrows, +close lips, and projecting under +jaw gave sternness to his countenance.</p> + +<p>"Good afternoon, captain," said +the Jew; "what I do for you to-day, +sare?"</p> + +<p>"Do for me! By Gott, you have +done for me already, with your cursed +Hebrew tricks," said the captain. +The German and the Jew met on a +neutral ground of broken English.</p> + +<p>"I always treat every gentleman +fair, sare," said the Jew. "I tell you, +captain, I lose by that last bill of +yours."</p> + +<p>"<i lang="de" xml:lang="de">Der teufel!</i> who gains, then?" +said Von Dessel, "for you cut me off +thirty per cent."</p> + +<p>The Jew shrugged his shoulders.</p> + +<p>"I don't make it so, sare; the siege +makes it so. When the port is open, +you shall have more better exchange."</p> + +<p>"Well, money must be had," said +the German. "What will you give +now for my bill for twenty pounds?"</p> + +<p>The Jew consulted a book of +figures—then made some calculations +on paper—then appeared to consider +intently.</p> + +<p>"Curse you, speak!" said the +choleric captain. "You have made up<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_654" id="Page_654">[654]</a></span> +your mind about how much roguery +long ago."</p> + +<p>"Captain, sare, I give you feefty +dallars," said the Jew.</p> + +<p>The captain burst forth with a +volley of German execrations.</p> + +<p>"Captain," said the Jew presently, +"I like to please a gentleman if I +can. I give you one box of cigars +besides—real Cubas—one hundred +and feefty in a box."</p> + +<p>The captain at this broke forth +again, but checked himself presently +on the entrance of the Jew's daughter, +who now returned from the Major's. +She advanced quietly into the room, +made a little bow to the captain, took +off and laid aside her shawl, and, +taking up some work, sat down and +began to sew.</p> + +<p>Von Dessel resumed his expostulation +in a milder tone. The Jew, +however, knew the money was necessary +to him, and only yielded so far +as to increase his box of cigars to +two hundred; and the captain, finding +he could get no better terms from +him, was forced to agree. While the +Jew was drawing out the bills, the +German gazed attentively at Esther, +with a good deal of admiration expressed +in his countenance.</p> + +<p>"I can't take the money now," +said he, after signing the bills. "I +am going on duty. Bring it to +me to-morrow morning, at nine +o'clock."</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid I can't, sare," said +Lazaro; "too moch business. +Couldn't you send for it, captain?"</p> + +<p>"Not possible," said the German; +"but you must surely have somebody +that might bring it—some trustworthy +person you know." And his +eye rested on Esther.</p> + +<p>"There's my dater, sare," said the +Jew—"I shall send her, if that will +do."</p> + +<p>"Good," said the captain, "do not +forget," and quitted the room forthwith.</p> + +<p>He was scarcely gone when a pair +with whom the reader is already +slightly acquainted, Mr and Mrs +Bags, presented themselves. The +effects of their morning conviviality +had in a great measure disappeared.</p> + +<p>"Your servant, sir," said Bags. +The Jew nodded.</p> + +<p>"We've got a few articles to dispose +of," pursued Mr Bags, looking +round the room cautiously. "They +was left us," he added in a low tone, +"by a <em>diseased</em> friend."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" said the Jew, "never +mind where you got 'em. Be quick—show +them."</p> + +<p>Mrs Bags produced from under her +cloak, first a tin teakettle, then a brass +saucepan; and Mr Bags, unbuttoning +his coat, laid on the table three knives +and a silver fork. Esther, passing +near the table at the time, glanced +accidentally at the fork, and recognised +the Flinders crest—a talbot, or +old English bloodhound.</p> + +<p>"Father," said she hastily, in +Spanish, "don't have anything to do +with that—it must be stolen." But +the Jew turned so sharply on her, +telling her to mind her work, that +she retreated.</p> + +<p>The Jew took up the tea-kettle, and +examined the bottom to see that it +was sound—did the same with the +saucepan—looked at the knives narrowly, +and still closer at the fork—then +ranged them before him on the +table.</p> + +<p>"For dis," said he, laying his hand +on the tea-kettle, "we will say one +pound of rice; for dis (the saucepan) +two pounds of corned beef; for de +knives, a bottle of rum; and for de +fork, seex ounces of the best tea."</p> + +<p>"Curse your tea!" said Mr Bags.</p> + +<p>"Yes!" said Mrs Bags, who had +with difficulty restrained herself during +the process of valuation, "we +doesn't want no tea. And the things +is worth a much more than what you +say: the saucepan's as good as new, +and the fork's silver—"</p> + +<p>"Plated," said the Jew, weighing +it across his finger.</p> + +<p>"A many years," said Mrs Bags, +"have I lived in gentlemen's families, +and well do I know plate from silver. +I've lived with Mrs Milson of Pidding +Hill, where everything was silver, +and nothing plated, even to the +handles of the doors; and a dear good +lady she was to me; many's the gown, +she giv me. And I've lived with—"</p> + +<p>Here the Jew unceremoniously interrupted +the train of her recollections +by pushing the things from before +him. "Take what I offer, or else +take your things away," said he, +shortly.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_655" id="Page_655">[655]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mr and Mrs Bags grumbled considerably. +The tea they positively refused +at any price: Mr Bags didn't +like it, and Mrs Bags said it disagreed +with her. So the Jew agreed to give +them instead another bottle of rum, +a pound of onions, and two pounds of +beef; and with these terms they at +length closed, and departed with the +results of their barter.</p> + +<p>During the altercation, a soldier of +another regiment had entered, and +stood silently awaiting his turn to be +attended to. He was a gaunt man, +with want written legibly in the hollows +of his face and the dismal eagerness +of his eye. He now came forward, +and with trembling hands unfolded +an old gown, and handed it to the +Jew.</p> + +<p>"'Tis no good to me," said the +latter, giving it back, after holding it +against the light; "nothing but +holes."</p> + +<p>"But my wife has no other," said +the man: "'tis her last stitch of +clothes, except her petticoat and a +blanket. I've brought everything else +to you."</p> + +<p>The Jew shrugged his shoulders +and spread out his hands, in token +that he could not help it.</p> + +<p>"I swear 'tis her last!" reiterated +the man, as if he really fancied this +fact must give the garment as much +value in the Jew's eyes as in his +own.</p> + +<p>"I tell you I won't have it!" said +the Jew, testily.</p> + +<p>"Give me only a loaf for it, or but +one pound of potatoes," said the soldier: +"'tis more than my wife and +four children have had among them +for two days. Half-rations for one, +among six of us, is too hard to live."</p> + +<p>"A pound of potatoes," said the +Jew, "is worth four reals and a-half—eighteenpence; +your wife's gown is +worth—nothing!"</p> + +<p>"Then take this," said the man, +beginning frantically to pull off his +uniform coat; "anything is better +than starving."</p> + +<p>The Jew laughed. "What!" said +he, "you think I don't know better +than to buy a soldier's necessaries, +eh? Ah, ah! no such a fool, I think, +my friend. What your captain say?—eh?"</p> + +<p>The man struck his hand violently +on the table. "Then give me—or +lend me," said he, "some food, much +or little, and I'll work for you every +hour I'm off duty till you're satisfied. +I will, Mr Lazaro, so help me +God!"</p> + +<p>"I got plenty of men to work for +me," said Lazaro; "don't want any +more. Come again, when you've got +something to sell, my friend."</p> + +<p>The man rolled up the gown without +speaking, then lifted it over his +head, and dashed it into the furthest +corner of the store. He was hurrying +from the place, when, as if unwilling +to throw away his last chance, he +turned back, gathered it up, and, +thrusting it under his arm, quitted +the store with lingering steps, as if +he even yet hoped to be called back. +No such summons reached him, however; +but, immediately after he was +gone, Esther rose and stole softly +down the stairs. She overtook him +at the street-door opening from the +court before mentioned, and laid her +hand on his arm. The man turned +and glared on her. "What!—he'll +buy it, will he?" said he.</p> + +<p>"Hush!" said Esther—"keep it +for your poor wife. Look; I have no +money, but take these," and she +placed in his hand two earrings +hastily detached from her ears.</p> + +<p>The man stood looking at her for a +space, as if stupified, without closing +his hand on the trinkets that lay on +the palm; then, suddenly rousing +himself, he swore, with tears in his +eyes, that for this service he would +do for her anything on earth she +should require from him; but she +only begged him to go away at once, +and say nothing, lest her father should +overhear the transaction, who would +certainly be angry with her for it.</p> + +<p>Bags and his wife had stopt in a +corner of the court, to pack up their +property in a commodious form for +conveyance, and had witnessed this +scene in silence. As soon as the +soldier had, in compliance with Esther's +entreaties, disappeared, Bags +came forward.</p> + +<p>"And your father would be angry, +would he, my dear?" said he.</p> + +<p>"Oh, very—oh, so angry! Please +don't stop me," she said, trying to +pass him.</p> + +<p>"And what'll ye give me not to tell<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_656" id="Page_656">[656]</a></span> +him, now?" asked Mr Bags. "Ain't +ye got nothing for me?"</p> + +<p>"No—oh, no—indeed, nothing. Do +let me pass."</p> + +<p>"Yes, you have; you've got this, +I think," said Bags, snatching at a +silver-mounted comb glistening in her +hair, which, thus loosened, all fell +down on her shoulders as she darted +past him. "And now," said Mr +Bags, inspecting his prize, "I think +me and that 'ere cheating Jew is quits +for the silver fork. I'll allow it's +plated now."</p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER III.</h4> + +<p>Early the next morning (the 12th of +April) a rumour went through the +town that an English fleet was signalled +as in sight. The news roused +the starving people like electricity. +The pale spectres of men that, on the +previous day, had stalked so gauntly +through the dreary streets—the +wretched, sinking women, and children +careworn as grandfathers—poured +forth, with something like a +natural light in their hollow eyes, to +witness the joyful spectacle. The +sea-wall of the city was, like the margin +of a vast pool of Bethesda, thronged +with hopeful wretches awaiting +the coming of the angel.</p> + +<p>The streets were instantly deserted. +Those who could not leave their +homes got on the housetops, but the +great mass of the population spread +itself along the line-wall, the Grand +Parade and Alameda, and the heights +skirting the chief slopes of the +Rock. Moors and Jews, Spaniards +and English, citizens and soldiers, +men, women, and children, of all +ages, grades, and nations, ranged +themselves indiscriminately wherever +they could obtain a view of the sea.</p> + +<p>For some time the wished-for sight +was delayed by a thick fog that +spread itself across the Straits and +the entrance of the bay. A murmur +rose from each successive rank of +people that forced itself into a front +place on the line-wall. Terrible +doubts flew about, originating no one +knew where, but gaining strength and +confirmation as they passed from +mouth to mouth. On the summit of +the Rock behind them the signal for +a fleet flew steadily from the mast at +Middle Hill; but still in this, as in +all crowds, were some of little faith, +who were full of misgivings. Many +rushed up to the signal station, unable +to bear the pain of the delay. My +grandfather noticed the Jew Lazaro +among the throng, watching the event +with an anxious eye, though his anxiety +was from the opposite cause to +that of most of the spectators. The +arrival of supplies would at once +bring down the price of provisions, +and rob him, for the present, of his +expected profits; and as each successive +rumour obtained credence with +the crowd, his countenance brightened +as their hopes fell, and sank as they +again emerged from despondency.</p> + +<p>Not far from him was an old +Genoese woman, wearing the quaint +red cloak, trimmed with black velvet, +that old Genoese women usually wear +in Gibraltar. She hovered round the +skirts of the crowd, occasionally +peering beneath an uplifted arm, +or thrusting it between two obstructing +figures, to catch a glimpse, though +it was evident that her dim eyes +would fail to discern the fleet when +it should come in view. Her thin +shrivelled features, relieved against +her black hood, were positively wolfish +from starvation. She frequently drew +one hand from beneath her cloak, and +gazed at something she held in it—then, +muttering, she would again conceal +it. My grandfather's curiosity +was roused. He drew near and watched +for the reappearance of the object +that so engrossed her. It was a blue +mouldy crust of bread.</p> + +<p>The wished-for spectacle was at +length revealed. "As the sun became +more powerful," says Drinkwater, +rising into positive poetry +with the occasion, "the fog gradually +rose, <em>like the curtain of a vast theatre</em>, +discovering to the anxious garrison +one of the most beautiful and pleasing +scenes it is possible to conceive. The +convoy, consisting of near a hundred +vessels, were in a compact body, led +by several men-of-war—their sails +just filled enough for steerage, while +the majority of the line-of-battle<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_657" id="Page_657">[657]</a></span> +ships lay to under the Barbary shore, +having orders not to enter the bay, +lest the enemy should molest them +with their fireships."</p> + +<p>Then rose a great shout—at once +the casting-off of long-pressing anxiety +and the utterance of delight. Happy +tears streamed down haggard faces +overgrown with hair, and presently +men turned to one another, smiling +in the face of a stranger neighbour +as in that of an old friend, while a +joyful murmur, distilled from many +languages, rose upward. Assuredly, +if blessings are of any avail, the soul +of Admiral Darby, who commanded +the relieving fleet, is at this moment +in Paradise.</p> + +<p>Friends and relations now began +to search for one another in the +crowd, which broke quickly into +knots, each contriving how to enjoy +together the plenty that was to +descend upon them. My grandfather's +eye at this juncture was +again attracted by the old Genoese +woman. When the crowd shouted, +she screened her eyes with her +withered hand, and, with her nostril +spread, her chin fallen, in her eagerness +gazed towards the sea—but +presently shook her head, discerning +nothing. Then she plucked by the +arm a joyful Spaniard.</p> + +<p>"<i lang="es" xml:lang="es">Es verdad? Por Dios, es verdad?</i>" +she cried; "<i lang="es" xml:lang="es">jura! jura!</i>"—(Is it +true? Swear by Heaven it is +true.)</p> + +<p>"<i lang="es" xml:lang="es">Si, si,</i>" said the Spaniard, pointing; +"<i lang="es" xml:lang="es">es verdad</i>," ('tis true.) "You +may see them yourself."</p> + +<p>Instantly the old woman, for the +last time, drew forth her treasured +crust, and began to devour it, muttering, +as she tore away each mouthful, +"<i lang="es" xml:lang="es">Mas mañana! mas mañana!</i>" +(I shall have more to-morrow—more +to-morrow!)</p> + +<p>After the crowd had partially dispersed, +Owen was returning to his +quarters to breakfast, when, as he +paused to open the door, he heard +a voice he thought he knew crying +out in affright in the rooms opposite, +where Von Dessel resided. Presently +the door of the quarters was opened, +and the flushed and frightened face +of Esther Lazaro appeared, as she +struggled to escape from Von Dessel, +who held her arm.</p> + +<p>"Señor, señor, speak to the gentleman!" +she cried to Owen.</p> + +<p>"Leetle foolish girl," said Von +Dessel, grinning a smile on seeing +him; "she frightens at nothing. +Come in, child"—trying to shut the +door.</p> + +<p>"Why don't you let her alone?" +said Owen; "don't you see she +doesn't like you?"</p> + +<p>"Pouf!" said the captain. "We +all have trouble with them sometimes—you +must know that well."</p> + +<p>"No, by Jupiter!" cried Frank +Owen. "If I couldn't gain them +willingly, they might go to the +devil for me. But you hurt her—pray +let her go—you must indeed."</p> + +<p>"Do you mind your own affair," +said the captain, "and don't +meddle;" and, exerting his strength, +he drew Esther in, and partially +succeeded in shutting the door—she +calling the while again on Owen +to help her. Frank stepped forward, +and, putting his foot against the +door, sent it into the room, causing +Captain Von Dessel, who was behind +it, to stagger back with some +violence, and to quit his hold of +Esther, who ran down stairs.</p> + +<p>"Very good, sir," said the captain, +stalking grimly out of his room, pale +with rage. "You have thought +right to interfere with me, and to +insult me. By Gott! I will teach +you better, young man. Shall we +say in one hour, sir, in the Fives' +Court?"</p> + +<p>Owen nodded. "At your pleasure," +said he, and, entering his own quarters, +shut the door.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile my grandfather walked +about with the telescope he had +brought with him to look after the +fleet under his arm, enjoying the +unusual sight of happy faces around +him. And he has remarked it as a +singular feature of humanity, that +this prospect of relief from physical +want inspired a far more deep and +universal joy than he had witnessed +in any public rejoicings arising from +such causes as loyalty or patriotism +evinced at a coronation or the +news of a great victory; and hence +my grandfather takes occasion to +express a fear that human nature, as +well as other nature, is, except +among the rarer class of souls, more<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_658" id="Page_658">[658]</a></span> +powerfully and generally influenced +by its animal propensities than by +more refined causes.</p> + +<p>He was so engrossed with the +philanthropic pursuit of enjoying the +joy of the multitude, and the philosophic +one of extracting moral reflections +therefrom, that he quite forgot +he had not breakfasted. He was +just beginning to be reminded of the +circumstance by a feeling of hollowness +in the region of the stomach, +and to turn his steps homeward, when +a light hand was laid on his arm. +My grandfather turned, and beheld +the face of the young Jewess looking +wistfully in his.</p> + +<p>She began at first to address him +in Spanish—the language she spoke +most naturally; but, quickly perceiving +her mistake on hearing the +extraordinary jargon in which he +replied, (for it is a singular fact that +nobody but Carlota, who taught +him, could understand my grandfather's +Spanish,) she exchanged it +for his own tongue. She told him +in a few hurried words of the quarrel +Owen had incurred on her account +with Von Dessel, and of the challenge +she had overheard given by +the latter, beseeching the major to +hasten to prevent the result.</p> + +<p>"In the Fives' Court! in an +hour!" said my grandfather. "When +did this happen?"</p> + +<p>Esther thought nearly an hour +ago—she had been almost so long +seeking my grandfather.</p> + +<p>"I'll go, child—I'll go at once," +said the Major. "With Von Dessel, +too, as if he could find nobody else +to quarrel with but the best swordsman +in the garrison. 'Souls and +bodies' quoted my grandfather, +'hath he divorced three.'"</p> + +<p>With every stride he took, the +Major's uneasiness was augmented. +At any time his anxiety would have +been extreme while peril threatened +Frank; but now, when he was calculating +on him as a companion at +many a well-spread table, when they +might forget their past miseries, it +peculiarly affected him.</p> + +<p>"To think," muttered my grandfather, +"that these two madmen +should choose a time when everybody +is going to be made so happy, +by getting plenty to eat, to show +their gratitude to Providence by +cutting one another's throats!"</p> + +<p>The danger to Owen was really +formidable; for, though a respectable +swordsman, he was no unusual proficient +in the graceful art, while his +opponent was not only, as my grandfather +had said, the best swordsman +in the garrison, but perhaps the +best at that time in the army. As +a student in Germany he had distinguished +himself in some sanguinary +duels; and since his arrival in Gibraltar, +a Spanish gentleman, a very +able fencer, had fallen beneath his +arm.</p> + +<p>"God grant," said my grandfather +to himself, as he neared the +Fives' Court, "that we may settle +this without the perdition of souls. +Frank, my dear boy, we could better +spare a better man!"</p> + +<p>On attempting to enter the Fives' +Court he was stopped by the master, +posted at the door. "It was engaged," +he said, "for a private +match."</p> + +<p>"Ay, ay," said my grandfather, +pushing past him; "a pretty match, +indeed! Ay, ay—pray God we can +stop it!"</p> + +<p>Finding the inner door locked, the +Major, who was well acquainted +with the locality—for, when he had +nothing else particular to do, he +would sometimes mark for the +players for a rubber or two—ascended +the stairs to the gallery.</p> + +<p>About the centre of the court +stood the combatants. All preliminaries +had been gone through—for +they were stripped to their shirts—and +the seconds (one a German, the +adjutant of Hardenberg's regiment—the +other, one Lieutenant Rushton, +an old hand at these affairs, and +himself a fire-eater) stood by, each +with a spare sword in his hand. In +a corner was the German regimental +surgeon, his apparatus displayed on +the floor, ready for an emergency. +Rushton fully expected Owen to +fall, and only hoped he might +escape without a mortal wound. +Von Dessel himself seemed of the +same opinion, standing square and +firm as a tower, scarcely troubling +himself to assume an attitude, but +easy and masterly withal. Both contempt +and malice were expressed for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_659" id="Page_659">[659]</a></span> +his antagonist in his half-shut eyes +and sardonic twist of the corners of +his mouth.</p> + +<p>"Owen, Owen, my boy!" shouted +my grandfather, rushing to the front +of the gallery, and leaning over, as +the swords crossed—"stop, for God's +sake. You mustn't fight that swashbuckler! +They say he hath been fencer +to the Sophy," roared the Major, in +the words of Sir Toby Belch.</p> + +<p>The combatants just turned their +heads for a moment to look at the +interrupter, and again crossed swords.</p> + +<p>Immediately on finding his remonstrance +disregarded, the Major descended +personally into the arena—not +by the ordinary route of the stairs, +but the shorter one of a perpendicular +drop from the gallery, not effected +with the lightness of a feathered Mercury. +But the clatter of his descent +was lost in the concussion of a discharge +of artillery that shook the +walls. Instantly the air was alive +with shot and hissing shells; and before +the echoes of the first discharge +had ceased, the successive explosion +of the shells in the air, and the crashing +of chimneys, shattered doors, and +falling masonry, increased the uproar. +One shell burst in the court, filling +it with smoke. My grandfather felt, +for a minute, rather dizzy with the +shock. When the smoke cleared, by +which time he had partially recovered +himself, the first object that caught +his eye was Von Dessel lying on the +pavement, and the doctor stooping +over him. The only other person +hurt was Rushton, a great piece of +the skin of whose forehead, detached +by a splinter, was hanging over his +right eye. Von Dessel had sustained +a compound fracture of the thigh, +while the loss of two fingers from his +right hand had spoiled his thrust in +tierce for ever.</p> + +<p>"What can be the matter?" said +my grandfather, looking upward, as +a second flight of missiles hurtled overhead.</p> + +<p>"Matter enough," quoth Rushton, +mopping the blood from his eye with +his handkerchief; "those cursed +devils of Spaniards are bombarding +the town."</p> + +<p>The Major went up to Owen, and +squeezed his hand. "We won't abuse +the Spaniards for all that," said +he—"they've saved your life, my +boy."</p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER IV.</h4> + +<p>Enraged at seeing their blockade +evaded by the arrival of Darby's fleet, +the Spaniards revenged themselves +by directing such a fire upon Gibraltar, +from their batteries in the Neutral +Ground, as in a short time reduced +the town to a mass of ruins. This +misfortune was rendered the more intolerable +to the besieged, as it came in +the moment of exultation and general +thanksgiving. While words of congratulation +were passing from mouth +to mouth, the blow descended, and +"turned to groans their roundelay."</p> + +<p>The contrast between the elation +of the inhabitants when my grandfather +entered the Fives' Court, and +their universal consternation and despair +when he quitted it, was terrible. +The crowd that had a few minutes +before so smilingly and hopefully entered +their homes, now fled from them +in terror. Again the streets were +thronged by the unhappy people, who +began to believe themselves the sport +of some powerful and malevolent demon. +Whole families, parents, children, +and servants, rushed together +into the streets, making their way to +the south to escape the missiles that +pursued them. Some bore pieces of +furniture snatched up in haste, and +apparently seized because they came +first to hand; some took the chairs +they had been sitting on; one man +my grandfather noticed bearing away +with difficulty the leaf of a mahogany +table, leaving behind the legs which +should have supported it; and a +woman had a crying child in one +hand, and in the other a gridiron, still +reeking with the fat of some meat she +had been cooking. Rubbish from the +houses began to strew the streets; +and here and there a ragged breach +in a wall rent by the cannon afforded +a strange incongruous glimpse of the +room inside, with its mirrors, tables, +and drapery, just as the inhabitants +left them. Armed soldiers were hastening<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_660" id="Page_660">[660]</a></span> +to their different points of +assembly, summoned by bugles that +resounded shrilly amid the din, and +thrusting their way unceremoniously +through the impeding masses of fugitives.</p> + +<p>The house of the Jew Lazaro was +one of the first that was seriously injured. +The blank wall of the great +warehouse before mentioned, that +faced the street, had, either from age +or bad masonry, long before exhibited +several cracks. A large segment, +bounded by two of these cracks, had +been knocked away by a shot, and +the superincumbent mass falling in +consequence, the great store, and all its +hoarded treasures, appeared through +the chasm.</p> + +<p>The Jew's instincts had, at first, +led him to save himself by flight. +But, on returning timorously to look +after his property, the sight of the +ruined wall, and the unprotected +hoards on which he had so securely +reckoned as the source of wealth, +obliterated in his mind, for the time, +all sense of personal danger. Seeing +a party of soldiers issuing from a wine-house +near, he eagerly besought them +to assist him in removing his property +to a place of safety, promising to reward +them largely for their risk and +trouble.</p> + +<p>One of the soldiers thus appealed +to was Mr Bags.</p> + +<p>"Ho, ho!" said Mr Bags; "here's +a chance—here's a pleasure, comrades. +We can help Mr Lazaro, who +is always so good to us—this here +Jewish gentleman, that gives such +liberal prices for our things. Certainly—we'll +remove 'em all, and not +charge him nothing. Oh—oh—ah!" +And, to give point to his irony, Mr +Bags distorted his face hideously, and +winked upon his friends.</p> + +<p>The idea of giving Lazaro any +assistance was considered a capital +joke, and caused a great deal of mirth +as they walked towards the store, to +which the Jew eagerly led the way.</p> + +<p>"If there's anything good to eat +or drink in the store, we may remove +some of it, though it won't be on our +backs, eh, boys?" said Bags, as he +stept in advance, over a heap of rubbish, +into the store.</p> + +<p>"These first—these, my friends," +cried the Jew, going up to a row of +barrels, standing a little apart from +the crowded masses of articles.</p> + +<p>"Oh, these first, eh?" said Bags; +"they're the best, be they? Thank +you, Mr Lazaro; we'll see what's in +'em;" and, taking up a gimlet that +lay near, he proceeded to bore a hole +in one of the barrels, desiring a friend, +whom he addressed as Tim, to tap +the next one.</p> + +<p>"Thieves!" screamed the Jew, on +witnessing this proceeding, seizing +Bags' arm, "leave my store—go out—let +my goods alone!" Bags lent +him a shove that sent him into a corner, +and perceiving liquor flowing +from the hole he had drilled, applied +his mouth to the orifice.</p> + +<p>"Brandy," said he, as he paused +for breath, "real Cognac. Comrades, +here's luck to that 'ere shot that +showed us the way in;" and he took +another diligent pull at the hole.</p> + +<p>Meantime his comrades had not +been idle; other barrels were opened, +and their contents submitted to a critical +inspection.</p> + +<p>The Jew tried various modes to +induce them to relinquish their booty: +first threats—then offers of reward—then +cajolery; and, at last, attempted +to interpose and thrust them from +their spoil. A shot from the enemy +entering the store, enfiladed a long +line of barrels, scattering the staves +and their contents. The place was +instantly flooded with liquor—wine, +molasses, spirits, and oil, ran in a +mingled stream, soaking the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">débris</i> of +biscuit and salt provisions that strewed +the floor. One soldier was struck +dead, and Mr Bags only escaped destruction +by the lucky accident of +having his head at that moment apart +from the barrel which had engrossed +his attention, and which was knocked +to pieces.</p> + +<p>The Jew, partly stunned by a +wound in the forehead from the +splinter of a barrel, and partly in +despair at the destruction of his property, +came to the entrance of the +store, seating himself among the +rubbish. Other plunderers speedily +followed the example of the marauding +soldiers, but he made no attempt +to stop them as they walked past him. +My grandfather, passing at the time +on his way home, was horrified at the +sight of him. Flour from a splintered<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_661" id="Page_661">[661]</a></span> +barrel had been scattered over his +face, and blood from the wound in +his forehead, trickling down, had +clotted it on his cheeks and scanty +beard, giving him an aspect at +once appalling and disgusting. His +daughter had waited at the door of the +Fives' Court till she saw Owen come +forth in safety, and had then availed +herself of the protection of the Major +as far as her own home. Shrieking +at the dismal sight, she sprang forward +and threw herself before the +Jew, casting her arms around him. +This seemed to rouse him. He arose—looked +back into the store; and +then, as if goaded by the sight of the +wreck into intolerable anguish, he +lifted his clenched hands above his +head, uttering a sentence of such +fearful blasphemy, that a devout +Spaniard, who was emerging from +the store with some plunder, struck +him on the mouth. He never heeded +the blow, but continued to rave, till, +suddenly overcome by loss of blood +and impotent rage, he dropt senseless +on the ground.</p> + +<p>My grandfather, calling some soldiers +of his regiment who were passing, +desired them to convey him to +the hospital at the South Barracks, +and, again taking the terrified and +weeping Esther under his protection, +followed to see the unfortunate +Jew cared for.</p> + +<p>At the various parades that day +Mr Bags was reported absent, being +in fact engaged in pursuits of a much +more interesting nature than his military +duties. A vast field of interprise +was opened to him and other +adventurous spirits, of which they +did not fail to avail themselves, in the +quantity of property of all kinds +abandoned by the owners, in houses +and shops where locks and bolts were +no longer a protection; and although +the firing, which ceased for an hour +or two in the middle of the day, was +renewed towards evening and continued +with great fury, the ardour of +acquisition by no means abated.</p> + +<p>About midnight a sentry on the +heights of Rosia (the name given to +a portion of the rugged cliffs towards +the south and near the hospital) +observed, in the gloom, a figure lurking +about one of the batteries, and +challenged it. Receiving no answer, +he threatened to fire, when Bags came +forward reluctantly, with a bundle in +his hand.</p> + +<p>"Hush, Bill," said Bags, on finding +the sentry was a personal friend—"don't +make a row: it's only me, +Bags—Tongs, you know," he added, +to insure his recognition.</p> + +<p>"What the devil are you doing +there, you fool?" asked his friend in +a surly tone—"don't you know the +picquet's after you?"</p> + +<p>"I've got some little things here +that I want to lay by, where nobody +won't see 'em, in case I'm catched," +returned Bags. "Don't you take no +notice of me, Bill, and I'll be off +directly."</p> + +<p>"What have ye got?" asked Bill, +whose curiosity was awakened by the +proceedings of his friend.</p> + +<p>"Some little matters that I picked +up in the town," returned Bags. +"Pity you should be on guard to-day, +Bill—there was some pretty pickings. +I'll save something for you, Bill," +added Bags, in an unaccountable +access of generosity.</p> + +<p>The sentry, however, who was a +person in every way worthy of the +friendship of Mr Bags, expressed no +gratitude for the considerate offer, +but began poking at the bundle with +his bayonet.</p> + +<p>"Hands off, Bill," said Bags, +"they won't abear touching."</p> + +<p>"Let's see 'em," said Bill.</p> + +<p>"Not a bit on it," said Bags; +"they ain't aworth looking at."</p> + +<p>"Suppose I was to call the sergeant +of the guard," said Bill.</p> + +<p>"You wouldn't do such a action?" +said Bags, in a tone strongly expressive +of disgust at such baseness. +"No, no, Bill, you ain't that sort of +fellow, <em>I'm</em> sure."</p> + +<p>"It's my dooty," said the sentry, +placing the butt of his musket on the +ground, and leaning his elbow on the +muzzle. "You see that what you +said, Tongs, was very true, about its +being hard upon me to be carrying +about this here damnable weppin" +(slapping the barrel of the musket) +"all day for fourpence ha'penny, +while you are making your fortin. +It is, Tongs, d—d hard."</p> + +<p>"Never mind; there'll be plenty +left to-morrow," said Bags in a consolatory +tone.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_662" id="Page_662">[662]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What shall we say, now, if I lets +ye hide it?" said Bill, pointing to the +bundle. "Half-shares?"</p> + +<p>"This ain't like a friend, Bill," +returned Tongs, highly disgusted +with this ungenerous proposal. "Nobody +ever knowed me interfere with +a comrade when I was on sentry. +How long ago is it since I let ye stay +in my box an hour, till ye was sober +enough to walk into barracks, when +I was sentry at the gate? Why, the +whole bundle ain't worth eighteenpence—and +I've worked hard for +it."</p> + +<p>"Half-shares?" reiterated Bill, not +melted in the least by the memory of +ancient benefits.</p> + +<p>"No, by G—!" said Bags in great +wrath.</p> + +<p>"Serg——," began Bill in an elevated +voice, porting his arms at the +same time.</p> + +<p>"Stop!" said Bags; "don't call +the sergeant. Half is better nor +nothing, if ye're going to behave like +that. We'll say half, then."</p> + +<p>"Ah," said Bill, returning to his +former position—"I thought we +should agree. And now let's see +'em, Tongs."</p> + +<p>Muttering still his disapprobation +of this unworthy treatment, Bags +put his bundle on the stone embrasure +of the battery, and began to +unfold it.</p> + +<p>Eighteenpence was certainly a low +valuation. Bags appeared to have +visited a jeweller's shop. Watches, +rings, bracelets, gold chains, and +brooches glittered on the dingy surface +of the handkerchief.</p> + +<p>"My eye!" said Bill, unable to +repress a low laugh of delight—"why, +we'll turn bankers when we've +sold 'em. Tongs and Co., eh?" said +Bill with considerable humour.</p> + +<p>Bags, however, told him he was +altogether mistaken in his estimate—most +of the things were pinchbeck, +he said, and the stones all glass; +and, to save Bill any trouble, he +offered to dispose of them himself to +the best possible advantage, and +bring his partner his share of the +proceeds, which would certainly be +at least ninepence, and might perhaps +be half-a-dollar. This arrangement +did not, however, meet the approbation +of the astute William, who +insisted on dividing the spoils by lot. +But here, again, there was a slight +misunderstanding, for both fixed +their affections on a gigantic watch, +which never could have been got into +any modern pocket, and whose face +was ornamented with paintings from +the heathen mythology. Both of +them supposed, from the size and the +brilliancy of the colours, that this +must be of immense value. Finding +they were not likely to come to a +speedy arrangement on this point, +they agreed to postpone the division +of the spoils till morning.</p> + +<p>"I'll tell ye where to put it, Bags," +said Bill. "These here guns in this +battery haven't been fired for years, +nor ain't likely to be, though they +loaded 'em the other day. Take out the +wad of this one, and put in the bundle."</p> + +<p>Bags approved of the idea, withdrew +the wad from the muzzle of the +gun, put in the bundle as far as his +arm would reach, and then replaced +the wad.</p> + +<p>"Honour bright?" said Bags, preparing +to depart.</p> + +<p>"Honour bright," returned Bill; +and Bags disappeared.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless he did not feel sufficient +confidence in his confederate's +integrity to justify his quitting the +place and leaving him to his own +devices. He thought Bill might +perhaps avail himself of his absence +to remove the treasure, or be guilty +of some other treachery. He therefore +crept back again softly, till he +got behind a crag from whence he +had a full view of the battery.</p> + +<p>For some time Bill walked sternly +to and fro on his post. Bags observed, +however, that he always included the +gun where the deposit lay in his perambulations, +which became shorter +and shorter. At last he halted close +to it, laid down his musket against +the parapet, and, approaching the +muzzle of the gun, took out the wad.</p> + +<p>At this moment a neighbouring +sentry gave an alarm. The guard +turned out, and Bill, hastily replacing +the wad, resumed his arms and +looked about for the cause of the +alarm. About a mile out in the bay +several red sparks were visible. As +he looked there were a corresponding +number of flashes, and then a whistling +of shot high overhead told that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_663" id="Page_663">[663]</a></span> +the guns from which they had been +discharged had been laid too high. +The Spanish gunboats were attacking +the south.</p> + +<p>The drums beat to arms, and in a +few minutes the battery was manned +with artillerymen. To the inconceivable +horror of Bags and Bill, the +whole of the guns in the battery were +altered in position, and a gunner took +post at the rear of each with a lighted +portfire. Then a flushed face might +be seen, by the blue light of the portfires, +rising from behind a neighbouring +piece of rock, the eyes staring, the +mouth open in agonised expectation.</p> + +<p>"Number one—fire!" said the +officer in command, to the gunner in +rear of the gun in which Mr Bags +had invested his capital.</p> + +<p>"No, no!" shouted Bags, rising +wildly from behind the rock.</p> + +<p>The portfire touched the vent—there +was a discharge that seemed +to rend Mr Bags's heartstrings and +blow off the roof of his skull—and +the clever speculation on which he +had counted for making his fortune +ended, like many others, in smoke. +He gazed for a moment out in the +direction of the flash, as if he expected +to see the watches and rings +gleaming in the air; then he turned +and disappeared in the darkness.</p> + +<p>After a few ineffectual discharges, +the Spaniards seemed to become +aware of the badness of their aim, +and to take measures to amend it. +Several shot struck the hospital; and +some shells falling through the roof, +exploded in the very wards where +the sick lay. The unhappy Jew, +Lazaro, lying in a feverish and semi-delirious +state from his former hurt +and agitation, was again struck by a +splinter of a shell which burst in the +ward where the Major's care had +seen him deposited, blowing up the +ceiling and part of the wall. In the +midst of the confusion, the Jew, +frantic with terror, rushed unrestrained +from the building, followed +only by his daughter, who was +watching by his bed. He was not +missed for some time, and the attempts +to discover him, made after +his disappearance became known, +were of no avail. A neighbouring +sentry had seen a white figure, followed +by another crying after it, +dash across the road and disappear +in the bushes; but the search made +about the vicinity of the spot failed +in detecting any traces of them, and +those who troubled themselves to +think of the matter at all, surmised +that they had fallen into the +sea.</p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER V.</h4> + +<p>For some pages, my grandfather's +note-book is filled with memoranda of +singular casualties from the enemy's +shot, wonderful escapes, and hasty +moments of quietude and attempted +comfort snatched "even in the cannon's +mouth." The fire from the +Spanish batteries shortly reduced the +town to ruins, and the gunboats at +night precluded all hope of peace and +oblivion after the horrors of the day. +Dreams, in which these horrors were +reproduced, were interrupted by still +more frightful nocturnal realities. One +of the curious minor evils that my +grandfather notices, as resulting from +an incessant cannonade, to those not +engaged in it actively enough to withdraw +their attention from the noise, +is the extreme irritation produced by +its long continuance, amounting, in +persons of nervous and excitable +temperament, to positive exasperation.</p> + +<p>Some of the numerous incidents he +chronicles are also recorded by Drinkwater, +especially that of a man who +recovered after being almost knocked +to pieces by the bursting of a shell. +"His head was terribly fractured, his +left arm broken in two places, one of +his legs shattered, the skin and +muscles torn off his right hand, the +middle finger broken to pieces, and +his whole body most severely bruised +and marked with gunpowder. He +presented so horrid an object to the +surgeons, that they had not the +smallest hopes of saving his life, and +were at a loss what part to attend +to first. He was that evening trepanned; +a few days afterwards his +leg was amputated, and other wounds +and fractures dressed. Being possessed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_664" id="Page_664">[664]</a></span> +of a most excellent constitution, +nature performed wonders in his +favour, and in eleven weeks the cure +was completely effected. His name," +continues Mr Drinkwater, with what +might be deemed irony—if the worthy +historian ever indulged in that figure +of rhetoric—"is Donald Ross, and +he" (<em>i. e.</em> the remaining fragment of +the said Donald Ross) "now enjoys +his sovereign's bounty in a pension +of ninepence a-day for life." One +might almost suppose that Mr Hume +had some hand in affixing the gratuity; +but in those days there was a +king who knew not Joseph.</p> + +<p>My grandfather appears to have +had also an adventure of his own. +During a cessation of the cannonade, +he was sitting one morning on a fragment +of rock, in the garden behind +his quarters, reading his favourite +author. The firing suddenly recommenced, +and a long-ranged shell, +striking the ground at some distance, +rolled towards him. He glanced +half-absently at the hissing missile; +and whether he actually did not for +a moment recollect its character, or +whether, as was often the case on +such occasions, the imminence of the +danger paralysed him, he sat immovably +watching it as it fizzed within a +couple of yards of him. Unquestionably +in another three seconds my +grandfather's earthly tabernacle would +have been resolved into its original +atoms, had not the intrepid Carlota +(who was standing near gathering +flowers to stick in her hair) darted on +him, and, seizing him by the arm, +dragged him behind a wall. They were +scarce under shelter when the shell +exploded—the shock laying them both +prostrate, though unhurt but for a +few bruises—while the stone on which +the Major had been sitting was +shivered to atoms. To the description +of this incident in the Major's +journal are appended a pious reflection +and a short thanksgiving, which, +being entirely of a personal nature, I +omit.</p> + +<p>The stores landed from the fleet +were in a very precarious position. +Owing to the destruction of the +buildings, there were no means of +placing them where they might be +sheltered at once from the fire of the +enemy and from rain. Some were +piled under sails spread out as a sort +of roof to protect them, and some, +that were not likely to sustain immediate +injury from the damp air of +such a depository, were ordered to be +conveyed to St Michael's Cave.</p> + +<p>This cave is one of the most curious +features of the Rock. Its mouth—an +inconsiderable opening in the slope of +the mountain—is situated many hundred +feet above the sea. Within, it +expands into a spacious hall, the roof, +invisible in the gloom, supported by +thick pillars formed by the petrified +droppings of the rock. From this +principal cavern numerous smaller +ones branch off, leading, by dark, +broken, and precipitous passages, to +unknown depths. Along one of +these, according to tradition, Governor +O'Hara advanced farther than +ever man had gone before, and left +his sword in the inmost recess to be +recovered by the next explorer who +should be equally adventurous. But +whether it is that the tradition is unfounded, +or that the weapon has been +carried off by some gnome, or that +the governor's exploit is as yet unrivalled, +the sword has never been +brought to light.</p> + +<p>For the duty of placing the stores +here, the name of Lieutenant Owen +appeared in the garrison orders. My +grandfather having nothing particular +to do, and being anxious to escape as +much as possible for a short time from +the din of the bombardment, offered +to accompany Frank in the execution +of this duty.</p> + +<p>The day was dark and gloomy, and +the steep path slippery from rain, so +that the mules bearing the stores +toiled with difficulty up the ascent. +At first, my grandfather and Owen +indulged in cheerful conversation; but +shortness of breath soon reduced the +Major to monosyllables, and the latter +part of the journey was accomplished +in silence. Frequently the Major +paused and faced about, at once to +look at the prospect and to take +breath. Far below, on his right, was +seen the southern end of the town, +consisting partly of a heap of ruins, +with here and there a rafter sticking +out of the mass, partly of roofless +walls, among which was occasionally +heard the crashing of shot; but the +guns that discharged them, as well as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_665" id="Page_665">[665]</a></span> +those that replied from the town, were +invisible from this point. Directly +beneath him the ground afforded a +curious spectacle, being covered with +tents, huts, and sheds, of all sorts +and sizes, where the outcast population +of the ruined town obtained a +precarious and insufficient shelter. +The only building visible which still +retained its former appearance was +the convent—the governor's residence—which +was protected by bomb-proofs, +and where working-parties +were constantly engaged in repairing +the injuries. The bay, once thickly +wooded with masts and dotted with +sails, was now blank and cheerless; +only the enemy's cruisers were visible, +lying under the opposite shore of +Spain.</p> + +<p>Owen and my grandfather arrived +at the mouth of the cave somewhat +in advance of the convoy. To their +surprise a smoke was issuing from it; +and, as they approached nearer, their +nostrils were greeted by an odour at +once savoury and spicy. Going softly +up they looked in.</p> + +<p>Mr Bags and a couple of friends +were seated round a fire, over which +was roasting a small pig, scientifically +butchered and deprived of his hair, +and hung up by the heels. The fire, +in the absence of other fuel, (of which +there was an extreme scarcity in +Gibraltar,) was supplied by bundles +of cinnamon plundered from the store +of some grocer, and, as the flame +waxed low, Mr Bags took a fresh +bundle from a heap of that fragrant +spice by his side, and laid it on the +embers. Mrs Bags was occupied in +basting the pig with lard, which she +administered from time to time with +an iron ladle.</p> + +<p>Presently Mr Bags tapped on the +pig's back with his knife. It sent +forth a crisp crackling sound, that +made my grandfather's mouth water, +and caused Mr Bags to become impatient.</p> + +<p>"Polly," said he, "it's my opinion +it's been done these three minutes. +I can't wait much longer."</p> + +<p>And he cast a glance at the other +two soldiers, (in whom, as well as in +Bags, Owen recognised men of his +company who had been reported absent +for some days, and were supposed +to have gone over to the enemy,) +to ascertain if their opinions tallied +with his own on this point.</p> + +<p>"It can't be no better," said one, +taking hold of the pig's neck between +his finger and thumb, which he afterwards +applied to his mouth.</p> + +<p>"I can't abear my meat overdone," +said the third. "What I say is, let +them that likes to wait, wait, and let +them that wants to begin, begin." So +saying, he rose, and was about to attack +the ribs of the porker with his +knife.</p> + +<p>"Do stop a minute—that's a dear," +said Mrs Bags; "another bundle of +cinnament will make it parfect. I'll +give ye something to stay your +stomach;" and stepping to a nook +in the wall of the cavern, where stood +a large barrel, she filled a pewter +measure, and handed it to the impatient +advocate for underdone pork, +who took a considerable dram, and +passed it to his companions.</p> + +<p>"Cinnament's better with pork +nor with most things," said Bags. +"It spoils goose, because it don't +agree with the inions, and it makes +fowls wishy-washy; but it goes excellent +with pig."</p> + +<p>"What's left in the larder?" asked +one of the party.</p> + +<p>"There's a week's good eating yet," +said Mrs Bags, "and we <em>might</em> make +it do ten days or a fortnight."</p> + +<p>"Well!" said the other, "they +may say what they like about sieges, +but this is the jolliest time ever <em>I</em> had."</p> + +<p>"It's very well by day," said Bags, +"but the nights is cold, and the company +of that ghost ain't agreeable—I +seed it again last night."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" said his friend, "what +was it like, Tongs?"</p> + +<p>"Something white," returned Bags +in an awful whisper, "with a ghost's +eyes. You may allays know a ghost +by the eyes. I was just rising up, +and thinking about getting a drink, +for my coppers was hot, when it +comes gliding up from that end of the +cave. I spoke to you, and then I +couldn't see it no more, because it +was varnished."</p> + +<p>"Ghosts always varnishes if you +speak," said Mrs Bags. "But never +mind the spirit now—let's look after +the flesh," added the lady, who possessed +a fund of native pleasantry: +"the pig's done to a turn."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_666" id="Page_666">[666]</a></span></p> + +<p>At this interesting juncture, and +just as they were about to fall to, the +footsteps of the approaching mules +struck on their ears. Owen went to +meet the party, and hastily selecting +six men from it, advanced, and desired +them to secure the astounded +convivialists.</p> + +<p>On recovering from their first astonishment, +Bags begged Owen would +overlook the offence; they were only, +he pleaded, having a little spree—times +had been hard lately. Mrs +Bags, as usual, displayed great eloquence, +though not much to the purpose. +She seemed to have some idea +that an enumeration of the gentlemen's +families she had lived in, and +the high estimation in which she had +been held in all, would really tell +powerfully in favour of the delinquents, +and persevered accordingly, +till they were marched off in custody +of the escort, when she made a final +appeal to my grandfather, as the last +gentleman whose family she had lived +in—with what advantage to the +household the reader knows. The +Major, who could not forgive the +roasting of his ham, called her, in reply, +a "horrible woman," but, at the +same time, whispered to Owen that +he hoped the fellows would not be +severely punished. "If we had +caught them after dinner," said he, "I +shouldn't have pitied them so much."</p> + +<p>"Never mind them," said Owen; +"let us proceed to business. We +must select the driest spot we can find +to put the stores in."</p> + +<p>[Here, by way of taking leave of +Mr Bags, I may remark, that he narrowly +escaped being hanged as a +plunderer—failing which, he was sentenced +by a court-martial to receive +a number of lashes, which I refrain +from specifying, because it would certainly +make the hair of a modern +humanitarian turn white with horror.]</p> + +<p>"Come along, Major," said Owen; +"perhaps we may find more of these +scoundrels in the course of our researches."</p> + +<p>The Major did not move; he was +earnestly regarding the carcase of the +pig, that steamed hissing above the +embers.</p> + +<p>"Queer idea that of the cinnamon +fire," said he. "I wonder how the +meat tastes."</p> + +<p>Owen did not hear him, having +walked forward.</p> + +<p>"Have you got a knife about you, +Frank?" said the Major. "Do you +know I have a curious desire to ascertain +the flavour. It may be a feature +in cookery worth knowing."</p> + +<p>Owen had not a knife, nor had +any of the men, but one of them suggested +that the Major's sword would +answer the purpose.</p> + +<p>"To be sure," said the Major. "A +good idea! I don't see why swords +shouldn't be turned into carving-knives +as well as into pruning-hooks." +So saying, he drew it from the sheath, +and, straddling across the fire, detached +a crisp brown mouthful from +the pig's ribs, and putting a little +salt on it, he conveyed it to his +mouth.</p> + +<p>"Excellent!" cried the Major. +"I give you my word of honour, +Owen, 'tis excellent! The cinnamon +gives it a sort of a ——"</p> + +<p>Here a second and larger mouthful +interrupted the criticism.</p> + +<p>"It must be very near lunch-time," +said the Major, pausing, sword in +hand, when he had swallowed it; +then, pretending to look at his watch—"Bless +me, it only wants half-an-hour +of it. Do you think this business +will take you long, Owen?"</p> + +<p>"About a couple of hours," said +Owen.</p> + +<p>"Ah, why, there you see," returned +the Major, "we shan't get home till +long past lunch-time. I really don't +see why we shouldn't take a snack +now. Nothing can be better than +that pig. I only wish the woman +had dressed my dinner half as well. +Corporal Hodson, would you oblige +me with a piece of that biscuit near +you?" And, detaching a large fragment +of pork, he placed it on the +biscuit, and sprinkling it with pepper +and salt, which condiments had not +been forgotten in the gastronomic arrangements +of Mr Bags, he proceeded +to follow Owen into the interior of +the cave, taking huge bites as he +went.</p> + +<p>The path slopes at first steeply +downward from the mouth to the interior +of the cavern, where it becomes +more level. Light being admitted +only at the entrance, the gloom of the +interior is almost impenetrable to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_667" id="Page_667">[667]</a></span> +eye. The men had brought torches +to assist them in their work, and, a +suitable spot having been selected, +these were stuck on different points +and abutments of the rocky wall, +when the party proceeded to unload +the mules at the entrance, conveying +their burdens into the cave.</p> + +<p>In the midst of the bustle and noise +attending the operation, the little dog +given by Esther to Carlota, which +had that morning followed the Major, +to whom it had speedily attached itself, +began barking and howling dismally +in a dark recess behind one of +the great natural pillars before spoken +of. As the noise continued, intermixed +with piteous whinings, one of +the men took a torch from the wall, +and stepped forward into the darkness, +to see what ailed the animal. +Presently he cried out that "there +was a man there."</p> + +<p>My grandfather, who was next +him, immediately followed, and five +paces brought him to the spot. The +soldier who held the torch was stooping, +and holding it over a figure that +lay on the ground on its back. In the +unshaven, blood-stained countenance, +my grandfather, at first, had some +difficulty in recognising Lazaro the +Jew. Some fiery splashes of pitch +from the torch dropping at the moment +on his bare throat, produced no +movement, though, had he been living, +they must have scorched him to +the quick.</p> + +<p>On the body was nothing but the +shirt he wore the night of his flight +from the hospital, but his legs were +wrapt in a woman's dress. Across +his breast, on her face, lay Esther, in +her white under-garments—for the +gown that wrapt the Jew's legs was +hers. The glare of the torch was +bright and red on the two prostrate +figures, and on the staring appalled +countenance of the man who held it—the +group forming a glowing spot in +the vast, sombre, vaulted space, where +dim gleams of light were caught and +repeated on projecting masses of rock, +more and more faintly, till all was +bounded by darkness.</p> + +<p>Years afterwards my grandfather +would sometimes complain of having +been revisited, in dreams of the night, +by that ghastly piece of Rembrandt +painting.</p> + +<p>The rest quickly flocked to the spot, +and Esther was lifted and found to +breathe, though the Jew was stiff and +cold. Some diluted spirit, from the +cellar of Bags, being poured down her +throat she revived a little, when my +grandfather caused two of the men to +bear her carefully to his house; and +the body of the Jew being wrapt in a +piece of canvass, was placed on a +mule and conveyed to the hospital +for interment.</p> + +<p>Medical aid restored Esther to consciousness, +and she told how they +came to be found in the cave.</p> + +<p>Her father, on leaving the hospital, +had fled by chance, as she thought, +to this cave, for he did not reach it by +the usual path, but climbed, in his +delirious fear, up the face of the rock, +and she had followed him as well as +she could, keeping his white figure in +sight. They had both lain exhausted +in the cave till morning, when, finding +that her father slept, she was on the +point of leaving him to seek assistance. +But, unhappily, before she +could quit the place, Bags and his +associates entered from their plundering +expedition into the town, and, +frightened at their drunken language, +and recognising in Bags the man who +had robbed her, she had crept back to +her concealment. The party of marauders +never quitted the cavern from +the moment of establishing themselves +in it. They spent the day in eating, +drinking, singing songs, and sometimes +quarrelling. Twice, at night, +she ventured forth; but she always +found one of them asleep across the +entrance, so that she could not pass +without waking him, and once one of +them started up, and seemed about to +pursue her—doubtless Bags, on the +occasion when he thought he saw a +ghost. Nevertheless, she had mustered +courage twice to take some fragments +of food that were lying near +the fire, leaving each time a piece of +money in payment; and she had also +taken a lighted candle, the better to +ascertain her father's situation. He +had never spoken to her since the first +night of their coming, and, during all +those dark and weary hours, (for they +were three nights and two days in +the cavern,) she had remained by +him listening to his incoherent mutterings +and moans. The candle had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_668" id="Page_668">[668]</a></span> +showed her that he had lost much +blood, from the wound in his forehead +breaking out afresh, as well as +from the other received in the hospital, +though the latter was but a flesh +wound. These she had bandaged with +shreds of her dress, and had tried to +give him some of the nourishment she +had procured, but could force nothing +on him except some water. Some +hours, however—how long she did not +know, but it was during the night—before +Owen's party found her, the +Jew had become sensible. He told +her he was dying; and, unconscious of +where he was, desired her to fetch a +light. This she had procured in the +same way as before, lighting the +candle at the embers of the fire round +which Bags and his friends reposed. +Then the Jew, who seemed to imagine +himself still in the hospital, bid her +say whom, among those she knew in +Gibraltar, she would wish to have +charge of her when he was no more; +and, on her mentioning Carlota, had +desired her to take pen and paper and +write his will as he should dictate it. +Pen she had none, but she had a +pencil and a scrap of paper in her +pocket, and with these she wrote, +leaning over to catch the whispered +syllables that he with difficulty articulated.</p> + +<p>From this paper it would appear +that the Jew had some fatherly feelings +for Esther concealed beneath his +harsh deportment towards her. I can +describe the will, for I have often seen +it. It is written on a piece of crumpled +writing-paper, about the size of a bank-note, +very stained and dirty. It is +written in Spanish; and in it the Jew +entreats "the Señora, the wife of Sr. +Don Flinder, English officer, to take +charge of his orphan child, in requital +whereof he leaves her the half of whatsoever +property he dies possessed of, +the other half to be disposed of for the +benefit of his daughter." Then follows +a second paragraph, inserted at Esther's +own desire, to the effect that, +should she not survive, the whole was +to be inherited by the aforesaid Señora. +It is dated "Abril 1781," and signed +in a faint, straggling hand, quite +different from the clear writing of the +rest—"<span class="smcap">José Lazaro</span>."</p> + +<p>Esther would now have gone, at all +hazards, to obtain assistance, but the +Jew clutched her arm, and would not +permit her to quit him. He breathed +his last shortly after, and Esther +remembered nothing more till she +came to herself in the Major's house. +The paper was found in her bosom.</p> + +<p>Some days after this event my +grandfather went with Owen into the +town, during a temporary lull in the +enemy's firing, to visit the house of +Lazaro, in order to ascertain whether +anything valuable was left that might +be converted to Esther's benefit. +They had some difficulty in finding +the exact locality, owing to the utter +destruction of all the landmarks. The +place was a mass of ruins. Some +provisions and goods had been left by +the plunderers, but so mixed with +rubbish, and overflowed with the +contents of the casks of liquor and +molasses, as to be of no value even in +these times of dearth.</p> + +<p>Owen, poking about among the +wreck, observed an open space in the +middle of one of the shattered walls, +as if something had been built into it. +With the assistance of my grandfather's +cane, he succeeded in dislodging +the surrounding masonry, already +loosened by shot, and they discovered +it to be a recess made in the +thickness of the wall, and closed by a +small iron door. At the bottom was +lying a small box, also of iron, which +they raised, not without difficulty, for +its weight was extraordinary in proportion +to its dimensions. This being +conveyed to my grandfather's, and +opened, was found to contain more +than six hundred doubloons, (a sum +in value about two thousand pounds,) +and many bills of exchange and promissory +notes, mostly those of officers. +The latest was that of Von Dessel. +These the Major, by Esther's desire, +returned to the persons whose signatures +they bore.</p> + +<p>Esther never completely recovered +from the effects of her sojourn in the +cave, but remained always pale and +of weak health. My grandfather took +good care of her inheritance for her, +and on leaving Gibraltar, at the conclusion +of the siege, invested the +whole of it safely for her benefit, +placing her, at the same time, in the +family of some respectable persons of +her own religion. She afterwards +married a wealthy Hebrew; and, in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_669" id="Page_669">[669]</a></span> +whatever part of the world the Major +chanced to be serving, so long as she +lived, valuable presents would constantly +arrive from Gibraltar—mantillas +and ornaments of jewellery for +Carlota, and butts of delicious sherry +for my grandfather. These, however, +ceased with her death, about twenty +years afterwards.</p> + +<p>This is, I believe, the most connected +and interesting episode to be +found in the Major's note-book; and +it is, I think, the last specimen I shall +offer of these new "Tales of my +Grandfather."</p> + +<p>As a child I used to listen, with +interest ever new, to the tale of the +young Jewess, which the narrator +had often heard from the lips of Carlota +and her husband. St Michael's +Cave took rank in my mind with those +other subterranean abodes where Cassim, +the brother of Ali Baba, who +forgot the word "<em>Open Sesame</em>," +was murdered by the Forty Thieves; +where Aladdin was shut by the magician +in the enchanted garden; and +where Robinson Crusoe discovered +the dying he-goat. And when, at the +conclusion of the tale, the scrap of +paper containing the Jew's will was +produced from a certain desk, and +carefully unfolded, I seemed to be connected +by some awful and mysterious +link with these departed actors in the +scenes I had so breathlessly listened to.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2>LIFE AMONGST THE LOGGERS.</h2> + +<p><em>Forest Life and Forest Trees.</em> By <span class="smcap">John S. Springer</span>. New York: Harper. +London: Sampson Low. 1851.</p> + + +<p>The northern and elder States of +the great American Union have ceased +to be associated in our minds with +those ideas of wild and romantic adventure +which are inseparably connected +with some of their younger +brethren far west and south. There +is nothing suggestive of romance in +such names as New York, Maine, +and Pennsylvania: cotton bales, keen +traders and repudiated debts, drab +coats, wooden clocks, and counterfeit +nutmegs, compose the equivocal and +unpoetical visions they conjure up to +European imaginations. But drop we +our eyes down the map to lawless +Arkansas, feverish Louisiana, and +debateable Texas, or westwards to +the still newer State of California, and +a host of stirring and picturesque associations +throng upon our memory. +Strange scenes and a motley array +pass before us. Bands of hunters and +trappers, scarce more civilised than +the Indians with whom they war, or +gentler than the buffalo which yields +them sport and food; predatory armies, +for Mexico bound, keen for spoil and +regardless of right; caravans of adventurous +gold-seekers braving the +perilous passage of the Rocky Mountains; +hardy squatters, axe in hand, +hewing themselves a home in the heart +of the wilderness; innumerable traits +of courage and endurance—incredible +sufferings and countless crimes—make +up a picture-gallery unrivalled of its +kind. In those districts, not a league +of prairie, not a mountain or stream, +not a <i lang="es" xml:lang="es">bayou</i> or <i lang="es" xml:lang="es">barranca</i>, but has +derived recent and vivid interest from +the animated sketches of Sealsfield, +Ruxton, Wise, and a host of other +graphic and vigorous delineators.</p> + +<p>As if to vindicate the claims to interest +of the northern American provinces, +a Down-easter, Springer by +name, who hails from the State of +Maine, has exhibited, in a curious little +volume, the adventurous side of life in +<em>his</em> part of the Union. At a first +glance, there would appear to be few +created things whose history was +likely to be less interesting than that +of a Yankee pine-log. Get astride it +with Springer, and paddle up the +Penobscot, clearing rapids and other +impediments as best you may on so +unpromising a float—and, before +reaching the place where it grew, you +shall marvel at the skill and daring +expended, and at the risks run to +procure it. Springer, who was reared +amongst the pine forests, which his +axe afterwards helped to thin, is an +enthusiastic woodsman, and feels +"kinder jealous" that whilst the +habits and adventures of many classes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_670" id="Page_670">[670]</a></span> +of his countrymen have occupied skilful +writers and public attention, no +chronicler should have been found for +the deeds and perils of that numerous +class to which he for some years +belonged. To supply this deficiency, +he himself, although more used to +handle axe than goose-quill, has written +a plain and unpretending account +of scenes and incidents which he +shared in and witnessed. The freshness +of the subject, and the honest +earnestness of the man, would atone +for clumsier treatment than it has +met with at his hands.</p> + +<p>The second title of Mr Springer's +book gives a clearer idea of its contents +than the primary one. The +volume comprises, says the title-page, +"Winter camp-life, among the Loggers, +and wild-wood adventure, with descriptions +of lumbering operations on +the various rivers of Maine and New +Brunswick." It is divided into three +parts; the first and shortest being a +dissertation on forest trees, with particular +reference to those of America; +the second, entitled "The Pine Tree, +or Forest Life," giving an account of +wood-cutting operations; the third, +"River Life," detailing the progress +of the timber from the forest to the +"boom," or depôt. The chief interest +of the book begins with the second +chapter of the second part, wherein is +described the commencement of the +labours of a gang of "loggers," or +woodcutters. In the hunt after +timber, as after certain animals, the +first thing to be done is to mark the +whereabout of your game preparatory +to starting in its pursuit. On the eve +of the chase the keeper reconnoitres +the retreat of the wild-boar. Before +a party of loggers proceed to establish +a camp and pass the winter woodcutting, +they send out scouts to ascertain +where timber is plenty. +Thirty years since, this was scarcely +necessary—the pine, that forest king +of the northern States, abounded on +every side. Fifty years hence—so it +is estimated by those best qualified to +judge—the vast pine forests, through +which the Penobscot flows, will be on +the eve of extinction. Now is the +intermediate stage. A man cannot, +as he formerly could, step from his +house to his day's work; but research +and labour still command a rich +timber harvest. Exploring expeditions +may be made at any period of +the year, but autumn is the favourite +season. They consist generally of +only two or three men, accustomed to +the business, who, provided with the +necessary provisions, with a coffee-pot +and a blanket, axe, rifle, and +ammunition, embark on skiff or +<i lang="es" xml:lang="es">bateau</i>, and pole and paddle their way +two hundred miles or more up the +Penobscot or the St Croix, and their +numerous tributaries. On reaching +the district it is proposed to explore, +the boat is hauled ashore and turned +bottom upwards, the load of stores is +divided amongst the party, and they +strike into the forest, rousing, on their +passage, the stately moose, the timid +deer, the roaming black bear, and +many an inferior denizen of the lonesome +wilderness. They now begin +"prospecting." Often the thickness +of the forest and the uneven surface +of the country prevent their obtaining +a sufficiently extensive view, and +compel them to climb trees in order +to look around them.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"When an ascent is to be made, the +spruce tree is generally selected, principally +for the superior facilities which its +numerous limbs afford the climber. To +gain the first limbs of this tree, which are +from twenty to forty feet from the ground, +a smaller tree is undercut and lodged +against it, clambering up which the top +of the spruce is reached. Sometimes, +when a very elevated position is desired, +the spruce tree is lodged against the +trunk of some lofty pine, up which we +ascend to a height twice that of the +surrounding forest. From such a tree-top, +like a mariner at the mast-head upon +the look-out for whales, (and indeed the +pine is the whale of the forest,) large +'clumps' and 'veins' of pine are discovered, +whose towering tops may be +seen for miles around. Such views fill +the bosom of timber-hunters with an +<em>intense interest</em>. They are the object of his +search—his treasure, his Eldorado; and +they are beheld with peculiar and thrilling +emotions. To detail the process more +minutely, we should observe, that the +man in the tree-top points out the direction +in which the pines are seen; or, if +hid from the view of those below by the +surrounding foliage, he breaks a small +limb, and throws it in the direction in +which they appear, whilst a man at the +base marks the direction indicated by the +falling limb by means of a compass which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_671" id="Page_671">[671]</a></span> +he holds in his hand, the compass being +quite as necessary in the wilderness as on +the pathless ocean. In fair weather the +sun serves as an important guide; and in +cloudy weather the close observation of +an experienced woodman will enable him +to steer a tolerably correct course by the +moss which grows on the trunks of most +hardwood trees, the north sides of which +are covered with a much larger share +than the other portions of the trunk. +This Indian compass, however, is not very +convenient or safe, particularly in passing +through swampy lands, which are of +frequent occurrence."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Two reflections are suggested by +the paragraph we have just copied. +The substance of one of them is noted +in the Preface. "This volume," says +the modest and sensible Springer, +"makes no pretensions to literary +merit; sooner would it claim kindred +with the wild and uncultivated scenes +of which it is but a simple relation." +The second reflection is, that our +wood-cutter is an enthusiast in his +craft; for wood-cutting in Maine <em>is</em> a +craft, and no common log-chopping. +To Springer, a towering grove of +timber is as exciting a sight as is to +the hunter that of a herd of antlered +deer or shaggy buffalo. The pine +especially is the object of his love and +admiration. He abounds in anecdotes +and arguments to prove its good +qualities, and labours hard to establish +its superiority to the oak. Reared +amongst the noble pines of Maine, he +says, even as a child, he could never +hear, without feelings of jealousy, +the oak extolled as monarch of the +forest. Admitting it to excel in +strength, he vaunts, upon the other +hand, the superior grandeur and girth +of the pine, its value in building, the +breadth of its planks, their clearness, +beauty, and freedom from knots, the +numerous uses to which it is applicable, +its excellence as fuel, its perfect adaptation +to all the joiner's purposes. +He extols in turn each of its varieties; +the red pine, remarkable for its tall +trunk, which sometimes rises eighty +feet from the ground before putting +out a limb; the pitch pine, inferior in +size, but preferable to any other wood +for generating steam in engines; the +white pine, superior to all in value +and dimensions. He tells us of pines, +of which he has read or heard, of +extraordinary grandeur and diameter: +of one, two hundred and sixty-four +feet long; and of another which, at +three feet from the ground, was fifty-seven +feet nine inches in circumference. +These extraordinary specimens were +cut some years ago. Trees of such +dimensions are now rare.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"I have worked in the forests among +this timber several years," says Springer, +"have cut many hundreds of trees, and +seen many thousands, but I never found +one larger than one I felled on a little +stream which empties into Jackson Lake, +near the head of Baskahegan stream, in +eastern Maine. This was a pumpkin +pine, (a variety of the white pine.) Its +trunk was as straight and handsomely +grown as a moulded candle, and measured +six feet in diameter four feet from the +ground, without the aid of spur roots. +It was about nine rods in length, or one +hundred and forty-four feet, about sixty-five +feet of which was free of limbs, and +retained its diameter remarkably well. +I was employed about one hour and a +quarter in felling it. The afternoon was +beautiful; everything was calm, and to +me the circumstances were deeply interesting. +After chopping an hour or so, +the mighty giant, the growth of centuries, +which had withstood the hurricane, and +raised itself in peerless majesty above all +around, began to tremble under the +strokes of a mere insect, as I might appear +in comparison with it. My heart palpitated +as I occasionally raised my eye to +its pinnacle to catch the first indications +of its fall. It came down at length with +a crash, which seemed to shake a hundred +acres, whilst the loud echo rang through +the forest, dying away amongst the distant +hills. It had a hollow in the butt about the +size of a barrel, and the surface of the +stump was sufficiently spacious to allow +a yoke of oxen to stand upon it. It made +five logs, and loaded a six-ox team three +times. The butt-log was so large, that +the stream did not float it in the spring; +and when the drive was taken down, we +were obliged to leave it behind, much to +our regret and loss. At the boom, that +log would have been worth fifty dollars."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The pine tracts ascertained, the +quality of the trees examined, the +distance the timber will have to be +hauled duly calculated, and the ground +inspected, through which logging +roads must be cut, the exploring +party retrace their steps to the place +where they left their boat. Foot-sore +with their forest roamings, they gladly +look forward to the quick, gliding<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_672" id="Page_672">[672]</a></span> +passage down stream. A grievous +disappointment sometimes awaits +them. In the fall of the year, the +black bear is seized with a violent +longing for pitch and resinous substances, +and frequently strips fir trees +of their bark for the sake of the exudations. +Occasionally he stumbles +over a timber-hunter's <i lang="es" xml:lang="es">bateau</i>, and +tears it to pieces in the course of the +rough process he employs to extract +the tar from its planks. If it is injured +beyond possibility of repair, +the unlucky pioneers have to perform +their homeward journey on foot, unless +indeed they are so fortunate as to +fall in with some Indian trapper, +whose canoe they can charter for a +portion of the way. Once at home, +the next step is to obtain permits +from the State or proprietors, securing, +at a stipulated price of so much per +thousand feet, the exclusive right to +cut timber within certain bounds. +Then comes haymaking—a most +important part of the loggers' duty; +for on nothing does the success of the +wood-cutting campaign depend more +than on the good working condition of +the sturdy teams of oxen which drag the +logs from the snow-covered forest to +the river's brink. Hard by the forest +extensive strips of meadow-land are +commonly found, covered with a +heavy growth of grass, and thither +large bands of men repair to make +and stalk the hay for the ensuing +winter's consumption. The labour of +haymaking in these upland meadows +of Maine is rendered intolerably +painful by the assaults of flies and +mosquitoes, and especially by the insidious +attacks of millions of midges, +so small as to be scarcely perceptible +to the naked eye, and which get between +the clothes and the skin, causing +a smarting and irritation so great as +to impede the progress of the work. +The torment of these insect attacks +is hardly compensated by the pastimes +and adventures incidental to the +occupation. Now and then a shot is +to be had at a stray deer; the streams +swarm with beautiful trout and +pickerel; skirmishes with black bears +are of frequent occurrence. Mr +Springer's volume abounds with stories +of encounters with bears, wolves, and +"Indian devils"—a formidable species +of catamount, of which the Indians +stand in particular dread. Although +the bear rarely shows himself pugnacious +unless assailed, his meddlesome, +thievish propensities render +him particularly obnoxious to the +hay-makers and wood-cutters; and +when they meet him, they never can +abstain from the aggressive, however +civilly Bruin may be disposed to pass +them by.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"On one occasion," says Mr Springer, +"two men, crossing a small lake in +skiff, on their return from putting up hay, +discovered a bear swimming from a point +of land for the opposite shore. As usual +in such cases, temptation silenced prudence—they +changed their course, and +gave chase. The craft being light, they +gained fast upon the bear, who exerted +himself to the utmost to gain the shore; +but, finding himself an unequal match in +the race, he turned upon his pursuers, +and swam to meet them. One of the +men, a short, thick-set, dare-devil fellow, +seized an axe, and, the moment the bear +came up, inflicted a blow upon his head. +It seemed to make but a slight impression, +and before it could be repeated the +bear clambered into the boat. He instantly +grappled the man who struck +him, firmly setting his teeth in his thigh; +then, settling back upon his haunches, he +raised his victim in the air, and shook him +as a dog would a wood-chuck. The man at +the helm stood for a moment in amazement, +without knowing how to act, and fearing +that the bear might spring overboard and +drown his companion; but, recollecting +the effect of a blow upon the end of a +bear's snout, he struck him with a short +setting-pole. The bear dropped his victim +into the bottom of the boat, sallied +and fell overboard, and swam again for +the shore. The man bled freely from the +bite, and, as the wound proved too serious +to allow a renewal of the encounter, +they made for the shore. But one thing +saved them from being upset: the water +proved sufficiently shoal to admit of the +bear's getting bottom, from which he +sprang into the boat. Had the water +been deep, the consequences might have +been more serious."</p></blockquote> + +<p>From its first to its last stage, the +logger's occupation is one of severe +toil and frequent peril. When the +pioneer's duty is accomplished, and +when the hay is made, there is still +hard work to be done before he can +begin to level the forest giants. No +kind of labour, Mr Springer assures +us, tests a man's physical abilities +and powers of endurance more than<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_673" id="Page_673">[673]</a></span> +boating supplies up river. The wood-cutters +come to a fall, and have to +land their implements and provisions, +and to carry them past it. Their +boats, too, must be carried, and that +over rocks and fallen trees, through +thickets and pathless swamps. Then +they come to rapids, up which they +have to pole their heavy-laden +bateaux. For this work, prodigious +skill, nerve, and strength are requisite. +Then come the long portages +from lake to lake, and the danger +of being swamped, when traversing +these, by sudden gusts of wind lashing +the lake, in a few minutes' time, +into foaming waves, in which the +deeply-loaded boats could not for a +moment live.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"Our frail skiff was about eighteen +feet long, and four feet across the top of +the gunwale amidships, tapering to a +point at either end, constructed of thin +slips of pine boards, nailed to some half-dozen +pair of slender knees, about two +inches in diameter. On board were fifteen +hundred pounds of provisions, with seven +men, which pressed her into the water +nearly to the gunwale; three inches +from the position of a level, and she +would fill with water."</p></blockquote> + +<p>In such an overburthened cockle-shell +as this did Mr Springer once +find himself in company with a +drunken man, who was only withheld +from capsizing the boat by the threat +of having his skull split with a paddle; +for an inordinate addiction to rum is +the loggers' chief vice, a vice palliated +by the hardship and exposure they +endure. Drinking, however, is on +the decline amongst them of late +years, since "it has been fully demonstrated +that men can endure the +chilling hardships of river-driving +quite as well, and indeed far better, +without the stimulus of ardent spirits, +and perform more and better-directed +labour." Black pepper tea is drunk +on cold nights when camping in the +open air, and is found a warming and +comfortable beverage. Both in drink +and diet the loggers look more to +strength than to delicacy. Salt pork, +ship bread, and molasses, compose the +staple of their consumption. The +drippings from a slice of pork, roasted +before the fire, are allowed to fall on +the bread, which is then dignified by +the name of buttered toast. Sometimes +the salt pork is eaten raw, +dipped in molasses,—a mixture unequalled +for nastiness, we should +imagine, excepting by that of oysters +and brown sugar. "The recital may +cause," says honest Springer in his +comical English, "in delicate and +pampered stomachs some qualms, yet +we can assure the uninitiated that, +from these gross samples, the hungry +woodsman makes many a delicious +meal." An assurance which gives us +a most exalted idea of the appetite +and digestion of the loggers of +Maine.</p> + +<p>Once in the forest with their stores, +the woodmen carefully select a suitable +spot, clear the ground, build +their "camp" and "hovel," and +commence their winter's work. The +"camp" and "hovel" are two log-houses, +the former being for the men, +the latter for the oxen. In some +respects the beasts are better treated +than their masters, for their hovel is +floored with small poles, a luxury +unknown in the camp, where the men +sleep on branches strewn upon the +bare earth. "Having completed our +winter residences, next in order comes +the business of looking out and cutting +the 'main' and some of the +principal 'branch roads.' These +roads, like the veins in the human +body, ramify the wilderness to all the +principal 'clumps' and 'groves' of +pine embraced in the permit." Mr +Springer expatiates on the graceful +curves of the roads, whose inequalities +soon become filled with snow, +and their surface hard-beaten and +glassy, polished by the sled and logs +which are continually passing over it, +whilst overhead the trees interlace +their spreading branches. "Along +this roadside, on the way to the landing, +runs a serpentine path for the +'knight of the goad,' whose deviations +are marked now outside this +tree, then behind that 'windfall,' now +again intercepting the main road, +skipping along like a dog at one's +side." The teamster, if he does his +duty, works harder than any man in +camp. Under a good teamster, the +oxen receive care almost as tender as +though they were race-horses with +thousands depending on their health +and condition. With proper attention +and management, they should be in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_674" id="Page_674">[674]</a></span> +as good flesh in the spring as when +they began hauling early in winter.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"The last thing at night before 'turning +in,' the teamster lights his lantern +and repairs to the ox-hovel. In the +morning, by peep of day, and often before, +his visits are repeated, to hay and +provender, and card, and yoke up. While +the rest of the hands are sitting or lounging +around the liberal fire, shifting for +their comfort, after exposure to the winter +frosts through the day, he must repeatedly +go out to look after the comfort +of the sturdy, faithful ox. And then, for +an hour or two in the morning again, +whilst all, save the cook, are closing up +the sweet and unbroken slumbers of the +night, so welcome and necessary to the +labourer, he is out amid the early frost +with, I had almost said, the care of a +mother, to see if 'old Turk' is not loose, +whether 'Bright' favours the near fore-foot, +(which felt a little hot the day before,) +as he stands up on the hard floor, +and then to inspect 'Swan's' provender-trough, +to see if he has eaten his meal, +for it was carefully noted that at the +'watering-place' last night he drank but +little; whilst at the further end of the +'tie-up' he thinks he hears a little clattering +noise, and presently 'little Star' +is having his shins gently rapped, as a +token of his master's wish to raise his +foot to see if some nail has not given way +in the loosened shoe; and this not for +once, but every day, with numberless +other cares connected with his charge."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The oxen are taken out to the forest +by the last detachment of wood-cutters, +when winter fairly sets in. This +is the hardest trip of any. Both man +and beast experience much inconvenience +from the cold. Often, when +driving a boat up rapids, ice forms +upon the poles in the men's hands, +which are already so cold and stiff +that they can scarcely retain their +grasp; yet an instant's cessation of +exertion would be fraught with imminent +peril to life and goods. The +oxen, attached to long lightly-loaded +sleds, are driven over rough miry +tracks. "In crossing large streams, +we unyoke the oxen and swim them +over. If we have no boat, a raft is +constructed, upon which our effects +are transported, when we reyoke and +pursue our route as before. Our +cattle are often very reluctant to +enter the water whilst the anchor-ice +runs, and the cold has already begun +to congeal its surface." Lakes are +crossed upon the ice, which not unfrequently +breaks in. Mr Springer +gives an account of a journey he +made, when this misfortune happened, +and ten oxen at one time +were struggling in the chilling waters +of Baskahegan Lake. They were all +got out, he tells us, although rescue +under such circumstances would appear +almost hopeless.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"Standing upon the edge of the ice, a +man was placed by the side of each ox to +keep his head out of the water. We unyoked +one at a time, and throwing a rope +round the roots of his horns, the warp +was carried forward and attached to the +little oxen, (a pair that had not broken +in,) whose services on this occasion were +very necessary. A strong man was +placed on the ice at the edge, so that, +lifting the ox by his horns, he was able +to press the ice down and raise his +shoulder up on the edge, when the warp-oxen +would pull them out. For half-an-hour +we had a lively time of it, and in an +almost incredibly short time we had them +all safely out, and drove them back upon +the point nearly a mile. It was now +very dark. We left our sleds in the +water with the hay, pulling out a few +armsful, which we carried to the shore +to rub the oxen down with. Poor fellows! +they seemed nearly chilled to +death, and shook as if they would fall to +pieces."</p></blockquote> + +<p>So great is the labour of taking oxen +to the forest every Fall—often to a distance +of two hundred miles into the +interior—that the wood-cutters sometimes +leave them, when they go down +stream in the spring to get their own +living in the wilderness, and hunt +them up again in autumn. They +thrive finely in the interval, and get +very wild and difficult to catch; but +when at last subjugated, they evidently +recognise their masters, and +are pleased to see them. Occasionally +they disappear in the course of the +summer, and are heard of no more; +they are then supposed to have got +"mired or cast," or to have been +devoured by wolves—or by bears, +which also are known to attack oxen.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"An individual who owned a very fine +'six-ox team' turned them into the +woods to brouse, in a new region of +country. Late in the evening, his attention +was arrested by the bellowing of one +of them. It continued for an hour or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_675" id="Page_675">[675]</a></span> +two, then ceased altogether. The night +was very dark, and as the ox was supposed +to be more than a mile distant, it +was thought not advisable to venture in +search of him until morning. As soon as +daylight appeared, the owner started, in +company with another man, to investigate +the cause of the uproar. Passing +on about a mile, he found one of his best +oxen prostrate, and, on examination, +there was found a hole eaten into the +thickest part of his hind quarter nearly +as large as a hat; not less than six or +eight pounds of flesh were gone. He +had bled profusely. The ground was +torn up for rods around where the encounter +occurred; the tracks indicated +the assailant to be a very large bear, +who had probably worried the ox out, +and then satiated his ravenous appetite, +feasting upon him while yet alive. A +road was bushed out to the spot where +the poor creature lay, and he was got +upon a sled and hauled home by a yoke +of his companions, where the wound was +dressed. It never, however, entirely +healed, though it was so far improved as +to allow of its being fattened, after which +he was slaughtered for food."</p></blockquote> + +<p>In cold weather in those forests +the bears and wolves are exceedingly +audacious. The latter have a curious +habit of accompanying the teams on +their journeys between the forest and +the river to which they drag the logs. +This has only occurred of late years, +and the manner in which they thus +volunteer their services as assistant +drivers is exceedingly curious.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"Three teams," says Springer, "in the +winter of 1844, all in the same neighbourhood, +were beset with these ravenous +animals. They were of unusually large +size, manifesting a most singular boldness, +and even familiarity, without the +usual appearance of ferocity so characteristic +of the animal. Sometimes one, +and in another instance three, in a most +unwelcome manner, volunteered their +attendance, accompanying the teamster +a long distance on his way. They would +even jump on the log and ride, and approach +very near the oxen. One of them +actually jumped upon the sled, and down +between the bars, while the sled was in +motion. Some of the teamsters were +much alarmed, keeping close to the oxen, +and driving on as fast as possible. +Others, more courageous, would run forward +and strike at them with their goad-sticks; +but the wolves sprang out of the +way in an instant. But, although they +seemed to act without a motive, there +was something so cool and impudent in +their conduct that it was trying to the +nerves—even more so than an active encounter. +For some time after this, firearms +were a constant part of the teamster's +equipage."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The distant howling and screaming +of the wolves, compared by an old +Yankee hunter to the screeching of +forty pair of old cart-wheels, is particularly +ominous and disagreeable. +Springer has collected a number of +curious anecdotes concerning them. +One night a pack of the prowling +marauders were seen trailing down +Mattawamkeag River on the ice. +The dwellers in a log-house hard +by soaked some meat in poison and +threw it out. Next morning the +meat was gone, and six wolves lay +dead, all within sight of each other. +"Every one of them had dug a hole +down through the snow into the +frozen earth, in which they had +thrust their noses, either for water +to quench the burning thirst produced +by the poison, or to snuff some +antidote to the fatal drug. A bounty +was obtained on each of ten dollars, +besides their hides, making a fair job +of it, as well as ridding the neighbourhood +of an annoying enemy." +Several of Mr Springer's logging and +lumbering friends have contributed +to his book the results of their experience, +and narratives of their adventures, +some of which he gives in +their own words. Amongst these is +an ill-written, but yet a very exciting, +account of a wolf-chase, or we should +perhaps rather say a man-chase, the +wolves in this instance being the pursuers, +and Springer's neighbour the +pursued. The person in question was +passionately fond of skating, and one +night he left a friend's house to skate +a short distance up the frozen Kennebeck, +which flowed before the door. +It was a bright still evening; the new +moon silvered the frosty pines. After +gliding a couple of miles up the river, +the skater turned off into a little +tributary stream, over which fir +and hemlock twined their evergreen +branches. The archway beneath was +dark, but he fearlessly entered it, +unsuspicious of peril, with a joyous +laugh and hurra—an involuntary expression +of exhilaration, elicited by +the bracing crispness of the atmosphere,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_676" id="Page_676">[676]</a></span> +and glow of pleasant exercise. +What followed is worth extracting.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"All of a sudden a sound arose, it +seemed from the very ice beneath my +feet. It was loud and tremendous at +first, until it ended in one long yell. I +was appalled. Never before had such +a noise met my ears. I thought it more +than mortal—so fierce, and amid such +an unbroken solitude, that it seemed a +fiend from hell had blown a blast from +an infernal trumpet. Presently I heard +the twigs on the shore snap as if from +the tread of some animal, and the blood +rushed back to my forehead with a bound +that made my skin burn. My energies +returned, and I looked around me for +some means of defence. The moon shone +through the opening by which I had +entered the forest, and, considering this +the best means of escape, I darted towards +it like an arrow. It was hardly +a hundred yards distant, and the swallow +could scarcely outstrip my desperate +flight; yet as I turned my eyes to the +shore, I could see two dark objects +dashing through the underbrush at a +pace nearly double mine. By their great +speed, and the short yells which they +occasionally gave, I knew at once that +they were the much dreaded grey wolf."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Here Springer interposes a vignette +of a wolf—a most formidable and unwholesome-looking +quadruped—grinning +over the well-picked bone of +some unlucky victim. The logger's +pages are enlivened by a number of +illustrations—woodcuts of course—rough +enough in execution, but giving +an excellent notion of the scenery, +animals, and logging operations +spoken of in the text. Grey wolves +are of untameable fierceness, great +strength and speed, and pursue their +prey to the death with frightful tenacity, +unwearyingly following the +trail—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"With their long gallop, which can tire<br /></span> +<span class="i1">The hounds' deep hate, the hunter's fire."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>A more dangerous foe a benighted +traveller could hardly fall in with.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"The bushes that skirted the shore," +continues the hunted of wolves, "flew +past with the velocity of light as I +dashed on in my flight. The outlet was +nearly gained; one second more and I +should be comparatively safe; when my +pursuers appeared on the bank, directly +above me, which rose to the height of +some ten feet. There was no time for +thought; I bent my head, and dashed +wildly forward. The wolves sprang, +but, miscalculating my speed, sprang +behind, whilst their intended prey glided +out into the river.</p> + +<p>"Nature turned me towards home. +The light flakes of snow spun from the +iron of my skates, and I was now some +distance from my pursuers, when their +fierce howl told me that I was again the +fugitive. I did not look back; I did not +feel sorry or glad; one thought of home, +of the bright faces awaiting my return, +of their tears if they should never see me +again, and then every energy of body and +mind was exerted for my escape. I was +perfectly at home on the ice. Many were +the days I spent on my skates, never +thinking that at one time they would be +my only means of safety. Every half +minute an alternate yelp from my pursuers +made me but too certain they were +close at my heels. Nearer and nearer +they came; I heard their feet pattering +on the ice nearer still, until I fancied I +could hear their deep breathing. Every +nerve and muscle in my frame was +stretched to the utmost tension. The +trees along the shore seemed to dance in +the uncertain light, and my brain turned +with my own breathless speed, when an +involuntary motion turned me out of my +course. The wolves close behind, unable +to stop and as unable to turn, slipped, +fell, still going on far ahead, their tongues +lolling out, their white tusks gleaming +from their bloody mouths, their dark +shaggy breasts freckled with foam; and +as they passed me their eyes glared, and +they howled with rage and fury. The +thought flashed on my mind that by this +means I could avoid them—viz., by turning +aside whenever they came too near; for +they, by the formation of their feet, are +unable to run on ice except in a right +line.</p> + +<p>"I immediately acted on this plan. +The wolves, having regained their feet, +sprang directly towards me. The race +was renewed for twenty yards up the +stream; they were already close on my +back, when I glided round and dashed +past them. A fierce howl greeted my +evolution, and the wolves slipped upon +their haunches, and sailed onward, presenting +a perfect picture of helplessness +and baffled rage. Thus I gained nearly +a hundred yards each turning. This was +repeated two or three times, every moment +the wolves getting more excited +and baffled, until, coming opposite the +house, a couple of staghounds, aroused by +the noise, bayed furiously from their +kennels. The wolves, taking the hint, +stopped in their mad career, and, after a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_677" id="Page_677">[677]</a></span> +moment's consideration, turned and fled. +I watched them till their dusky forms +disappeared over a neighbouring hill; +then, taking off my skates, I wended my +way to the house."</p></blockquote> + +<p>From some unassigned reason, +wolves have increased of late years in +the wild forests of north-eastern +Maine. Up to 1840, Mr Springer, who +had been much in that district, logging +in winter and clearing land in summer, +never saw one. Since then they +have frequently been seen in numerous +parties, and of most formidable size. +There would not seem to be much to +choose, as far as the pleasure of the +thing goes, between an encounter +with one of these ravenous brutes and +a tussle with a catamount. Springer, +however, who must be competent to +judge, considers the catamount the +worse customer. He tells an ugly +story, which may serve as a pendant +to that of the bear's breakfast on live +beef, of what happened to a logger +named Smith, when on his way to +join a timbering party in the woods. +He had nearly reached camp, when +he fell in with a catamount, or +"Indian devil." Retreat was impossible; +for reflection there was no +time: arms he had none. Acting +from impulse, he sprang up a small +tree—perhaps as sensible a thing as +he could have done. He had scarcely +ascended his length, when the creature, +fierce from hunger, made a bound +and caught him by the heel. Although +badly bitten, Smith managed +to get his foot out of the shoe, in +which the tiger-cat's teeth were firmly +set, and shoe and savage fell together +to the ground. What then ensued is +so horrible and extraordinary that we +should suspect our wood-cutting friend +of imaginative decoration, but for the +assurance he gives us in his preface, +that "the incidents he has related +are real, and that in no case is the +truth sacrificed to fancy or embellishment." +He shall finish his yarn +himself.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"The moment he was disengaged, +Smith sprang for a more secure position, +and the animal at the same time leaped +to another large tree, about ten feet distant, +up which he ascended to an elevation +equal to that of his victim, from +which he threw himself upon him, firmly +fixing his teeth in the calf of his leg. +Hanging suspended thus until the flesh, +insufficient to sustain the weight, gave +way, he dropped again to the ground, +carrying a portion of flesh in his mouth. +<em>Having greedily devoured this morsel</em>, he +bounded again up the opposite tree, and +from thence upon Smith, in this manner +renewing his attacks, and tearing away +the flesh in mouthfuls from his legs. +During this agonising operation, Smith +contrived to cut a limb from the tree, to +which he managed to bind his jack-knife, +with which he could now assail his enemy +at every leap. He succeeded thus in +wounding him so badly that at length his +attacks were discontinued, and he disappeared +in the dense forest."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Smith, who, as Springer coolly +informs us, "had exerted his +voice to the utmost," whilst the +catamount was devouring him in +detail, (we can perfectly imagine a +man bellowing like twenty bulls under +such circumstances,) was found by +his friends in a state of dreadful +exhaustion and suffering, and was +carried to camp on a litter. He ultimately +recovered, but had sustained +irreparable injuries. "Such desperate +encounters are of rare occurrence," +Springer quietly adds. We +should think they were. Really these +loggers are cool hands. Encounters +with black bears are much more common, +we are informed. These are +strong fellows, clever at parrying +blows, and at wrenching the weapon +from their assailant's hand—very +tenacious of life, and confirmed robbers. +Springer and his comrades +were once, whilst ascending a river, +followed by one of them for several +days. He was bent upon plunder, +and one night he walked off with a +bundle containing clothing, boots, +shaving implements, and other things, +for which it might be thought a bear +could have little occasion. He examined +his prize in the neighbourhood +of the camp, tore the clothes to +shreds, and chewed up the cow-hide +boots and the handle of a razor. +From the roof of a log-house, which +the woodmen erected a few miles farther +on, he carried off a ten-gallon keg +of molasses, set it on one end, knocked +the head in or out, and was about to +enjoy the feast, when he was discovered, +pursued, and at last killed. +At page 140 we find a capital account +of a fight between a family of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_678" id="Page_678">[678]</a></span> +bears (father, mother, and cubs) and +two foresters; and at page 100 the +stirring-up of a bear's den is graphically +described.</p> + +<p>The pine tree is subject to disease of +more than one kind, the most frequent +being a sort of cancer, known amongst +lumber-men as "Conk" or "Konkus," +whose sole external manifestation is a +small brown spot, usually at several +feet from the ground, and sometimes no +larger than a shilling. The trees thus +afflicted are noway inferior to the +soundest in size and apparent beauty; +but on cutting into them the rot is at +once evident, the wood being reddish +in colour, and of spungy texture. +"Sometimes it shoots upwards, in +imitation of the streaming light of the +aurora borealis; in others downwards, +and even both ways, preserving the +same appearance." Unscrupulous loggers +cheat the unwary by driving a +knot or piece of a limb of the same +tree into the plague-spot, and hewing +it off smoothly, so as to give it the +appearance of a natural knot. A +great many pines are hollow at the +base or butt, and these hollows are +the favourite winter-retreats of Bruin +the bear.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"A few rods from the main logging +road where I worked one winter," said +Mr Johnston, (a logger whom Springer +more than once quotes,) "there stood a +very large pine tree. We had nearly +completed our winter's work, and it still +stood unmolested, because, from appearances, +it was supposed to be worthless. +Whilst passing it one day, not quite satisfied +with the decision that had been +made upon its quality, I resolved to satisfy +my own mind touching its value; so, +wallowing to it through the snow, which +was nearly up to my middle, I struck it +several blows with the head of my axe, +an experiment to test whether a tree be +hollow or not. When I desisted, my +attention was arrested by a slight scratching +and whining. Suspecting the cause, +I thumped the tree again, listening more +attentively, and heard the same noise as +before. It was a bear's den. Examining +the tree more closely, I discovered a +small hole in the trunk, near the roots, +with a rim of ice on the edge of the orifice, +made by the freezing of the breath +and vapour from the inmates."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The logging crew were summoned, +and came scampering down, eager for +the fun. The snow was kicked away +from the root of the tree, exposing +the entrance to the den; and a small +hole was cut in the opposite side, +through which the family of bears +were literally "stirred up with a long +pole;" and when the great she-bear, +annoyed at this treatment, put her +head out at the door, she was cut +over the pate with an axe.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"The cubs, four in number—a thing +unusual by one-half—we took alive, and +carried to camp, kept them a while, and +finally sold them. They were quite +small and harmless, of a most beautiful +lustrous black, and fat as porpoises. The +old dam was uncommonly large—we +judged she might weigh about three hundred +pounds. Her hide, when stretched +out and nailed on to the end of the camp, +appeared quite equal to a cow's hide in +dimensions."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The attacks of wild animals are +far from being the sole dangers to +which the wood-cutters of Maine +are exposed in following their toilsome +occupation. Scarcely any phase +of their adventurous existence is +exempt from risk. Bad wounds are +sometimes accidentally received from +the axe whilst felling trees. To heal +these, in the absence of surgeons, +the loggers are thrown upon their +own very insufficient resources. Life +is also constantly endangered in felling +the pine, which comes plunging +down, breaking, splitting, and crushing +all before it. The broken limbs +which are torn from the fallen tree, +and the branches it wrenches from +other trees,</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"rendered brittle by the intense frosts, +fly in every direction, like the scattered +fragments of an exploding ship. Often +these wrenched limbs are suspended +directly over the place where our work +requires our presence, and on the +slightest motion, or from a sudden gust of +wind, they slip down with the stealthiness +of a hawk and the velocity of an arrow. +I recollect one in particular, which was +wrenched from a large pine I had just +felled. It lodged in the top of a towering +birch, directly over where it was necessary +for me to stand whilst severing the +top from the trunk. Viewing its position +with some anxiety, I ventured to stand +and work under it, forgetting my danger +in the excitement. Whilst thus engaged, +the limb slipped from its position, and, +falling directly before me, end foremost, +penetrated the frozen earth. It was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_679" id="Page_679">[679]</a></span> +about four inches through, and ten +feet long. It just grazed my cap; a +little variation, and it would have dashed +my head to pieces. Attracted on one +occasion, whilst swamping a road, by +the appearance of a large limb which +stuck fast in the ground, curiosity induced +me to extricate it, for the purpose +of seeing how far it had penetrated. +After considerable exertion, I succeeded +in drawing it out, when I was amazed +<em>to find a thick cloth cap on the end of it</em>. +It had penetrated the earth to a considerable +depth. Subsequently I learned +that <em>it</em> [the cap, we presume, but Springer +makes sad work of his pronouns] belonged +to a man who was killed instantly by +<em>its</em> fall, [here our logging friend must be +supposed to refer to the timber,] striking +him on the head, and carrying his +cap into the ground with it."</p></blockquote> + +<p>This is not impossible, although +it does a little remind us of certain +adventures of the renowned Munchausen. +And Springer is so pleasant +a fellow, that we shall not call his +veracity in question, or even tax +him with that tinting of truth in +which many of his countrymen excel, +but of which he only here and there +lays himself open to suspicion. He +certainly does put our credulity +a little to the strain by an anecdote +of a moose deer, which he gives, +however, between inverted commas, +on the authority of a hunter who +occasionally passed the night at the +logger's camp. The moose is the +largest species of deer found in the +New-England forests, its size varying +from that of a large pony to that of +a full-grown horse. It has immense +branching antlers, and, judging from +its portrait, which forms the frontispiece +to <cite>Forest Life</cite>, we readily +believe Springer's assurance, that +"the taking of moose is sometimes +quite hazardous." Quite astonishing, +we are sure the reader will say, +is the following ride:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"Once," hunter <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">loquitur</i>, "whilst out +on a hunting excursion, I was pursued +by a bull-moose. He approached me +with his muscular neck curved, and +head to the ground, in a manner not +dissimilar to the attitude assumed by +horned cattle when about to encounter +each other. Just as he was about to +make a pass at me, I sprang suddenly +between his wide-spreading antlers, bestride +his neck. Dexterously turning +round, I seized him by the horns, and, +locking my feet together under his neck, +I clung to him like a sloth. With a +mixture of rage and terror, he dashed +wildly about, endeavouring to dislodge +me; but, as my life depended upon +maintaining my position, I clung to him +with a corresponding desperation. After +making a few ineffectual attempts to +disengage me, he threw out his nose, +and, laying his antlers back upon his +shoulders, <em>which formed a screen for my +defence</em>, he sprang forward into a furious +run, still bearing me upon his neck. +Now penetrating dense thickets, then +leaping high 'windfalls,' (old fallen +trees,) and struggling through swamp-mires, +he finally fell from exhaustion, +after carrying me about three miles. +Improving the opportunity, I drew my +hunting-knife from its sheath, and instantly +buried it in his neck, cutting the +jugular vein, which put a speedy termination +to the contest and the flight."</p></blockquote> + +<p>After which we presume that he +spitted the moose on a pine tree, +roasted and ate it, and used its antlers +for toothpicks. The adventure is +worthy of Mazeppa or the Wild +Huntsman. By the antlers <em>forming +a screen for the rider's defence</em>, we are +reminded of that memorable morning +in the life of the great German Baron, +when his horse, cut in two, just behind +the saddle, by the fall of a portcullis, +was sewn together with laurel-twigs, +which sprouted up into a pleasant +bower, beneath whose appropriate +shade the redoubtable warrior +thenceforward rode to victory. An +awful liar, indeed, must have been +the narrator of this "singular adventure," +as Springer, who tells this story +quite gravely, artlessly styles it. +Doubtless such yarns are acceptable +enough by the camp-fire, where the +weary logger smokes the pipe of repose +after a hard day's work; and +they are by no means out of place in +the logger's book, of which, however, +they occupy but a small portion—by +far the greater number of its chapters +being filled with solid and curious +information. The third and longest +part, "River Life," upon which we +have not touched, is highly interesting, +and gives thrilling accounts of +the dangers incurred during the progress +down stream of the various +"parcels" of logs, which, each distinguished +like cattle by the owner's +mark, soon mingle and form one<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_680" id="Page_680">[680]</a></span> +grand "drive" on the main river. +"Driving" of this kind is a very +hazardous occupation. Sometimes +the logs come to a "jam," get wedged +together in a narrow part of the river +or amongst rocks, and, whilst the +drivers work with axe and lever to +set the huge floating field of tree-trunks +in motion again, lives are frequently +lost. This is easy to understand. +The removal of a single log, +the keystone of the mass—nay, a +single blow of the axe—often suffices +to liberate acres of timber from their +"dead lock," and set them furiously +rushing down the rapid current. +Then does woe betide those who are +caught in the hurly-burly. Sometimes, +the key-log being well ascertained, +a man is let down, like a samphire-gatherer, +by a rope from an +adjacent cliff, on to the "jam." +Then—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"As the place to be operated upon may +in some cases be a little removed from +the shore, he either walks to it with the +rope attached to his body, or, untying the +rope, leaves it where he can readily grasp +it in time to be drawn from his perilous +position. Often, where the pressure is +direct, a few blows only are given with +the axe, when the log snaps in an instant +with a loud report, followed suddenly +by the violent motion of the 'jam;' and, +ere our bold river-driver is jerked half +way to the top of the cliff, scores of logs, +in wildest confusion, rush beneath his +feet, whilst he yet dangles in the air +above the trembling mass. If that rope, +on which life and hope hang thus suspended, +should part, worn by the sharp +point of some jutting rock, death, certain +and quick, were inevitable."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The wood-cutter's occupation, which, +to European imagination, presents +itself as peaceful, pastoral, and void +of peril, assumes a very different aspect +when pursued in North American +forests. If any doubt this fact, let +them study Springer, who will repay +the trouble, and of whose volume we +have rather skimmed the surface than +meddled with the substance.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_681" id="Page_681">[681]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>MY NOVEL; OR, VARIETIES IN ENGLISH LIFE.</h2> + +<h3>BY PISISTRATUS CAXTON.</h3> + + +<h4>CHAPTER VII.</h4> + +<p>Randal advanced—"I fear, Signior +Riccabocca, that I am guilty of +some want of ceremony."</p> + +<p>"To dispense with ceremony is +the most delicate mode of conferring +a compliment," replied the urbane +Italian, as he recovered from his first +surprise at Randal's sudden address, +and extended his hand.</p> + +<p>Violante bowed her graceful head +to the young man's respectful salutation. +"I am on my way to Hazeldean," +resumed Randal, "and, seeing +you in the garden, could not resist +this intrusion."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Riccabocca.</span>—"You come from +London? Stirring times for you English, +but I do not ask you the news. +No news can affect us."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Randal</span>, (softly.)—"Perhaps—yes."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Riccabocca</span>, (startled.)—"How?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Violante.</span>—"Surely he speaks of +Italy, and news from that country +affects you still, my father."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Riccabocca.</span>—"Nay, nay, nothing +affects me like this country; its east +winds might affect a pyramid! +Draw your mantle round you, child, +and go in; the air has suddenly +grown chill."</p> + +<p>Violante smiled on her father, +glanced uneasily towards Randal's +grave brow, and went slowly towards +the house.</p> + +<p>Riccabocca, after waiting some +moments in silence, as if expecting +Randal to speak, said with affected +carelessness, "So you think that you +have news that might affect me? +<i lang="it" xml:lang="it">Corpo di Bacco!</i> I am curious to +learn what!"</p> + +<p>"I may be mistaken—that depends +on your answer to one question. Do +you know the Count of Peschiera?"</p> + +<p>Riccabocca winced, and turned +pale. He could not baffle the watchful +eye of the questioner.</p> + +<p>"Enough," said Randal; "I see +that I am right. Believe in my sincerity. +I speak but to warn and to +serve you. The Count seeks to discover +the retreat of a countryman +and kinsman of his own."</p> + +<p>"And for what end?" cried Riccabocca, +thrown off his guard, and his +breast dilated, his crest rose, and +his eye flashed; valour and defiance +broke from habitual caution and self-control. +"But pooh," he added, +striving to regain his ordinary and +half-ironical calm, "it matters not to +me. I grant, sir, that I know the +Count di Peschiera; but what has +Dr Riccabocca to do with the kinsmen +of so grand a personage?"</p> + +<p>"Dr Riccabocca—nothing. But—" +here Randal put his lip close to the +Italian's ear, and whispered a brief +sentence. Then retreating a step, +but laying his hand on the exile's +shoulder, he added—"Need I say +that your secret is safe with me?"</p> + +<p>Riccabocca made no answer. His +eyes rested on the ground musingly.</p> + +<p>Randal continued—"And I shall +esteem it the highest honour you +can bestow on me, to be permitted +to assist you in forestalling +danger."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Riccabocca</span>, (slowly.)—"Sir, I +thank you; you have my secret, and I +feel assured it is safe, for I speak to +an English gentleman. There may +be family reasons why I should avoid +the Count di Peschiera; and, indeed, +He is safest from shoals who steers +clearest of his—relations."</p> + +<p>The poor Italian regained his +caustic smile as he uttered that wise, +villanous Italian maxim.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Randal.</span>—"I know little of the +Count of Peschiera save from the +current talk of the world. He is said +to hold the estates of a kinsman who +took part in a conspiracy against the +Austrian power."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Riccabocca.</span>—"It is true. Let +that content him; what more does he +desire. You spoke of forestalling +danger; what danger? I am on the +soil of England, and protected by its +laws."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Randal.</span>—"Allow me to inquire<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_682" id="Page_682">[682]</a></span> +if, had the kinsman no child, the +Count di Peschiera would be legitimate +and natural heir to the estates +he holds?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Riccabocca.</span>—"He would. What +then?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Randal.</span>—"Does that thought +suggest no danger to the child of the +kinsman?"</p> + +<p>Riccabocca recoiled, and gasped +forth, "The child! You do not mean +to imply that this man, infamous +though he be, can contemplate the +crime of an assassin?"</p> + +<p>Randal paused perplexed. His +ground was delicate. He knew not +what causes of resentment the exile +entertained against the Count. He +knew not whether Riccabocca would +not assent to an alliance that might +restore him to his country—and he +resolved to feel his way with precaution.</p> + +<p>"I did not," said he, smiling +gravely, "mean to insinuate so horrible +a charge against a man whom I +have never seen. He seeks you—that +is all I know. I imagine, from his +general character, that in this search +he consults his interest. Perhaps all +matters might be conciliated by an +interview!"</p> + +<p>"An interview!" exclaimed Riccabocca; +"there is but one way we +should meet—foot to foot, and hand +to hand."</p> + +<p>"Is it so? Then you would not +listen to the Count if he proposed +some amicable compromise; if, for instance, +he was a candidate for the +hand of your daughter?"</p> + +<p>The poor Italian, so wise and so +subtle in his talk, was as rash and +blind when it came to action, as if he +had been born in Ireland, and nourished +on potatoes and Repeal. He bared +his whole soul to the merciless eye of +Randal.</p> + +<p>"My daughter!" he exclaimed. +"Sir, your very question is an insult."</p> + +<p>Randal's way became clear at once. +"Forgive me," he said mildly; "I +will tell you frankly all that I know. +I am acquainted with the Count's +sister. I have some little influence +over her. It was she who informed +me that the Count had come here, +bent upon discovering your refuge, +and resolved to wed your daughter. +This is the danger of which I spoke. +And when I asked your permission to +aid in forestalling it, I only intended +to suggest that it might be wise to +find some securer home, and that I, +if permitted to know that home, and +to visit you, could apprise you from +time to time of the Count's plans and +movements."</p> + +<p>"Sir, I thank you sincerely," said +Riccabocca with emotion; "but am I +not safe here?"</p> + +<p>"I doubt it. Many people have +visited the Squire in the shooting +season, who will have heard of you—perhaps +seen you, and who are likely +to meet the Count in London. And +Frank Hazeldean, too, who knows +the Count's sister—"</p> + +<p>"True, true," interrupted Riccabocca. +"I see, I see. I will consider. +I will reflect. Meanwhile you are +going to Hazeldean. Do not say a +word to the Squire. He knows not +the secret you have discovered."</p> + +<p>With those words Riccabocca turned +slightly away, and Randal took +the hint to depart.</p> + +<p>"At all times command and rely +on me," said the young traitor, and +he regained the pale to which he had +fastened his horse.</p> + +<p>As he remounted, he cast his +eyes towards the place where he had +left Riccabocca. The Italian was +still standing there. Presently the +form of Jackeymo was seen emerging +from the shrubs. Riccabocca +turned hastily round, recognised his +servant, uttered an exclamation loud +enough to reach Randal's ear, and +then catching Jackeymo by the arm, +disappeared with him amidst the +deeper recesses of the garden.</p> + +<p>"It will be indeed in my favour," +thought Randal as he rode on, "if I +can get them into the neighbourhood +of London—all occasion there to woo, +and if expedient, to win—the heiress."</p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER VIII.</h4> + +<p>"By the Lord Harry!" cried the +Squire, as he stood with his wife in +the park, on a visit of inspection to +some first-rate South-Downs just<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_683" id="Page_683">[683]</a></span> +added to his stock—"By the Lord, +if that is not Randal Leslie trying +to get into the park at the back +gate! Hollo, Randal! you must come +round by the lodge, my boy," said he.</p> + +<p>"You see this gate is locked to keep +out trespassers."</p> + +<p>"A pity," said Randal. "I like +short cuts, and you have shut up a +very short one."</p> + +<p>"So the trespassers said," quoth +the Squire; "but Stirn would not +hear of it;—valuable man, Stirn. But +ride round to the lodge. Put up your +horse, and you'll join us before we can +get to the house."</p> + +<p>Randal nodded and smiled, and +rode briskly on.</p> + +<p>The Squire rejoined his Harry.</p> + +<p>"Ah, William," said she anxiously, +"though certainly Randal Leslie +means well, I always dread his visits."</p> + +<p>"So do I, in one sense," quoth the +Squire, "for he always carries away +a bank-note for Frank."</p> + +<p>"I hope he is really Frank's friend," +said Mrs Hazeldean.</p> + +<p>"Whose else can he be? Not his +own, poor fellow, for he will never +accept a shilling from me, though his +grandmother was as good a Hazeldean +as I am. But, zounds! I like his +pride, and his economy too. As for +Frank—"</p> + +<p>"Hush, William!" cried Mrs Hazeldean, +and put her fair hand before the +Squire's mouth. The Squire was +softened, and kissed the fair hand +gallantly—perhaps he kissed the lips +too; at all events, the worthy pair +were walking lovingly arm-in-arm +when Randal joined them.</p> + +<p>He did not affect to perceive a certain +coldness in the manner of Mrs +Hazeldean, but began immediately to +talk to her about Frank; praise that +young gentleman's appearance; expatiate +on his health, his popularity, and +his good gifts, personal and mental; +and this with so much warmth, that +any dim and undeveloped suspicions +Mrs Hazeldean might have formed +soon melted away.</p> + +<p>Randal continued to make himself +thus agreeable, until the Squire, persuaded +that his young kinsman was a +first-rate agriculturist, insisted upon +carrying him off to the home farm, +and Harry turned towards the house to +order Randal's room to be got ready: +"For," said Randal, "knowing that +you will excuse my morning dress, I +venture to invite myself to dine and +sleep at the Hall."</p> + +<p>On approaching the farm-buildings, +Randal was seized with the terror +of an impostor; for, despite all the +theoretical learning on Bucolics and +Georgics with which he had dazzled +the Squire, poor Frank, so despised, +would have beat him hollow when it +came to judging of the points of an ox +or the show of a crop.</p> + +<p>"Ha, ha!" cried the Squire, chuckling, +"I long to see how you'll astonish +Stirn. Why, you'll guess in a +moment where we put the top-dressing; +and when you come to handle +my short-horns, I dare swear you'll +know to a pound how much oilcake +has gone into their sides."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you do me too much honour—indeed +you do. I only know the +general principles of agriculture—the +details are eminently interesting; but +I have not had the opportunity to acquire +them."</p> + +<p>"Stuff!" cried the Squire. "How +can a man know general principles +unless he has first studied the details? +You are too modest, my boy. Ho! +there's Stirn looking out for us!"</p> + +<p>Randal saw the grim visage of Stirn +peering out of a cattle-shed, and felt +undone. He made a desperate rush +towards changing the Squire's humour.</p> + +<p>"Well, sir, perhaps Frank may soon +gratify your wish and turn farmer +himself."</p> + +<p>"Eh!" quoth the Squire, stopping +short. "What now?"</p> + +<p>"Suppose he was to marry?"</p> + +<p>"I'd give him the two best farms +on the property rent free. Ha, ha! +Has he seen the girl yet? I'd leave +him free to choose, sir. I chose for +myself—every man should. Not but +what Miss Sticktorights is an heiress, +and, I hear, a very decent girl, and +that would join the two properties, +and put an end to that lawsuit about +the right of way, which began in the +reign of King Charles the Second, and +is likely otherwise to last till the day +of judgment. But never mind her; +let Frank choose to please himself."</p> + +<p>"I'll not fail to tell him so, sir. I +did fear you might have some prejudices. +But here we are at the farm-yard."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_684" id="Page_684">[684]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Burn the farm-yard! How can +I think of farm-yards when you talk +of Frank's marriage? Come on—this +way. What were you saying about +prejudices?"</p> + +<p>"Why, you might wish him to marry +an Englishwoman, for instance."</p> + +<p>"English! Good heavens, sir, does +he mean to marry a Hindoo?"</p> + +<p>"Nay, I don't know that he means +to marry at all: I am only surmising; +but if he did fall in love with a +foreigner—"</p> + +<p>"A foreigner! Ah, then Harry +was—" The Squire stopped short.</p> + +<p>"Who might, perhaps," observed +Randal—not truly if he referred to +Madame di Negra—"who might, perhaps, +speak very little English?"</p> + +<p>"Lord ha' mercy!"</p> + +<p>"And a Roman Catholic—"</p> + +<p>"Worshipping idols, and roasting +people who don't worship them."</p> + +<p>"Signior Riccabocca is not so bad +as that."</p> + +<p>"Rickeybockey! Well, if it was +his daughter! But not speak English! +and not go to the parish church! By +George! if Frank thought of such a +thing, I'd cut him off with a shilling. +Don't talk to me, sir; I would. I'm +a mild man, and an easy man; but +when I say a thing, I say it, Mr. Leslie. +Oh, but it is a jest—you are laughing +at me. There's no such painted, good-for-nothing +creature in Frank's eye, +eh?"</p> + +<p>"Indeed, sir, if ever I find there is, +I will give you notice in time. At +present I was only trying to ascertain +what you wished for a daughter-in-law. +You said you had no prejudice."</p> + +<p>"No more I have—not a bit of it."</p> + +<p>"You don't like a foreigner and a +Catholic?"</p> + +<p>"Who the devil would?"</p> + +<p>"But if she had rank and title?"</p> + +<p>"Rank and title! Bubble and +squeak! No, not half so good as +bubble and squeak. English beef and +good cabbage. But foreign rank and +title!—foreign cabbage and beef!—foreign +bubble and foreign squeak!" +And the Squire made a wry face, and +spat forth his disgust and indignation.</p> + +<p>"You must have an Englishwoman?"</p> + +<p>"Of course."</p> + +<p>"Money?"</p> + +<p>"Don't care, provided she is a tidy, +sensible, active lass, with a good +character for her dower."</p> + +<p>"Character—ah, that is indispensable?"</p> + +<p>"I should think so, indeed. A Mrs. +Hazeldean of Hazeldean; you frighten +me. He's not going to run off with a +divorced woman, or a—"</p> + +<p>The Squire stopped, and looked so +red in the face, that Randal feared he +might be seized with apoplexy before +Frank's crimes had made him alter his +will.</p> + +<p>Therefore he hastened to relieve +Mr Hazeldean's mind, and assured +him that he had been only talking at +random; that Frank was in the habit, +indeed, of seeing foreign ladies occasionally, +as all persons in the London +world were; but that he was sure Frank +would never marry without the full +consent and approval of his parents. +He ended by repeating his assurance, +that he would warn the Squire if ever +it became necessary. Still, however, +he left Mr Hazeldean so disturbed and +uneasy, that that gentleman forgot all +about the farm, and went moodily on +in the opposite direction, re-entering +the park at its farther extremity. +As soon as they approached the house, +the Squire hastened to shut himself +with his wife in full parental consultation; +and Randal, seated upon a +bench on the terrace, revolved the +mischief he had done, and its chances +of success.</p> + +<p>While thus seated, and thus thinking, +a footstep approached cautiously, +and a low voice said, in broken English, +"Sare, sare, let me speak vid +you."</p> + +<p>Randal turned in surprise, and beheld +a swarthy saturnine face, with +grizzled hair and marked features. He +recognised the figure that had joined +Riccabocca in the Italian's garden.</p> + +<p>"Speak-a you Italian?" resumed +Jackeymo.</p> + +<p>Randal, who had made himself an +excellent linguist, nodded assent; +and Jackeymo, rejoiced, begged him +to withdraw into a more private +part of the grounds.</p> + +<p>Randal obeyed, and the two gained +the shade of a stately chestnut avenue.</p> + +<p>"Sir," then said Jackeymo, speaking +in his native tongue, and expressing +himself with a certain simple +pathos, "I am but a poor man; my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_685" id="Page_685">[685]</a></span> +name is Giacomo. You have heard +of me;—servant to the Signior +whom you saw to-day—only a servant; +but he honours me with his +confidence. We have known danger +together; and of all his friends and +followers, I alone came with him to +the stranger's land."</p> + +<p>"Good, faithful fellow," said +Randal, examining the man's face, +"say on. Your master confides in +you? He confided that which I told +him this day?"</p> + +<p>"He did. Ah, sir! the Padrone +was too proud to ask you to explain +more—too proud to show fear of +another. But he does fear—he ought +to fear—he shall fear," (continued +Jackeymo, working himself up to +passion)—"for the Padrone has a +daughter, and his enemy is a villain. +Oh, sir, tell me all that you did not +tell to the Padrone. You hinted +that this man might wish to marry +the Signora. Marry her!—I could +cut his throat at the altar!"</p> + +<p>"Indeed," said Randal; "I believe +that such is his object."</p> + +<p>"But why? He is rich—she is +penniless; no, not quite that, for we +have saved—but penniless, compared +to him."</p> + +<p>"My good friend, I know not yet +his motives; but I can easily learn +them. If, however, this Count be +your master's enemy, it is surely +well to guard against him, whatever +his designs; and, to do so, you +should move into London or its +neighbourhood. I fear that, while +we speak, the Count may get upon +his track."</p> + +<p>"He had better not come here!" +cried the servant menacingly, and +putting his hand where the knife was +<em>not</em>.</p> + +<p>"Beware of your own anger, +Giacomo. One act of violence, and +you would be transported from England, +and your master would lose a +friend."</p> + +<p>Jackeymo seemed struck by this +caution.</p> + +<p>"And if the Padrone were to meet +him, do you think the Padrone would +meekly say, 'Come stà sa Signoria?' +The Padrone would strike +him dead!"</p> + +<p>"Hush—hush! You speak of +what, in England, is called murder, +and is punished by the gallows. If +you really love your master, for +heaven's sake get him from this +place—get him from all chance of +such passion and peril. I go to +town to-morrow; I will find him a +house that shall be safe from all +spies—all discovery. And there, +too, my friend, I can do—what I cannot +at this distance—watch over +him, and keep watch also on his +enemy."</p> + +<p>Jackeymo seized Randal's hand +and lifted it towards his lip; then, as +if struck by a sudden suspicion, +dropped the hand, and said bluntly—"Signior, +I think you have seen +the Padrone twice. Why do you +take this interest in him?"</p> + +<p>"Is it so uncommon to take +interest even in a stranger who is +menaced by some peril?"</p> + +<p>Jackeymo, who believed little in +general philanthropy, shook his head +sceptically.</p> + +<p>"Besides," continued Randal, suddenly +bethinking himself of a more +plausible reason—"besides, I am +a friend and connection of Mr Egerton; +and Mr Egerton's most intimate +friend is Lord L'Estrange; and I +have heard that Lord L'Estrange—"</p> + +<p>"The good lord! Oh, now I +understand," interrupted Jackeymo, +and his brow cleared. "Ah, if <em>he</em> +were in England! But you will let +us know when he comes?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly. Now, tell me, Giacomo, +is this Count really unprincipled +and dangerous? Remember, +I know him not personally."</p> + +<p>"He has neither heart, head, nor +conscience."</p> + +<p>"That makes him dangerous to +men; but to women, danger comes +from other qualities. Could it be +possible, if he obtained any interview +with the Signora, that he could win +her affections?"</p> + +<p>Jackeymo crossed himself rapidly, +and made no answer.</p> + +<p>"I have heard that he is still very +handsome."</p> + +<p>Jackeymo groaned.</p> + +<p>Randal resumed—"Enough; persuade +the Padrone to come to +town."</p> + +<p>"But if the Count is in town?"</p> + +<p>"That makes no difference; the +safest place is always the largest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_686" id="Page_686">[686]</a></span> +city. Everywhere else a foreigner +is in himself an object of attention +and curiosity."</p> + +<p>"True."</p> + +<p>"Let your master, then, come to +London. He can reside in one of the +suburbs most remote from the Count's +haunts. In two days I will have +found him a lodging and write to +him. You trust to me now?"</p> + +<p>"I do indeed—I do, Excellency. +Ah, if the Signorina were married, +we would not care!"</p> + +<p>"Married! But she looks so high!"</p> + +<p>"Alas! not now—not here!"</p> + +<p>Randal sighed heavily. Jackeymo's +eyes sparkled. He thought +he had detected a new motive for +Randal's interest—a motive to an +Italian the most natural, the most +laudable of all.</p> + +<p>"Find the house, Signior—write +to the Padrone. He shall come. I'll +talk to him. I can manage him. +Holy San Giacomo, bestir thyself +now—'tis long since I troubled +thee!"</p> + +<p>Jackeymo strode off through the +fading trees, smiling and muttering +as he went.</p> + +<p>The first dinner-bell rang, and, on +entering the drawing-room, Randal +found Parson Dale and his wife, who +had been invited in haste to meet +the unexpected visitor.</p> + +<p>The preliminary greetings over, +Mr Dale took the opportunity afforded +by the Squire's absence to inquire +after the health of Mr Egerton.</p> + +<p>"He is always well," said Randal. +"I believe he is made of iron."</p> + +<p>"His heart is of gold," said the +Parson.</p> + +<p>"Ah!" said Randal, inquisitively, +"you told me you had come in +contact with him once, respecting, +I think, some of your old parishioners +at Lansmere?"</p> + +<p>The Parson nodded, and there was +a moment's silence.</p> + +<p>"Do you remember your battle by +the Stocks, Mr Leslie?" said Mr +Dale, with a good-humoured laugh.</p> + +<p>"Indeed, yes. By the way, now +you speak of it, I met my old +opponent in London the first year I +went up to it."</p> + +<p>"You did!—where?"</p> + +<p>"At a literary scamp's—a cleverish +man called Burley."</p> + +<p>"Burley! I have seen some burlesque +verses in Greek by a Mr +Burley."</p> + +<p>"No doubt, the same person. He +has disappeared—gone to the dogs, +I dare say. Burlesque Greek is not +a knowledge very much in power +at present."</p> + +<p>"Well, but Leonard Fairfield?—you +have seen him since?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Nor heard of him?"</p> + +<p>"No!—have you?"</p> + +<p>"Strange to say, not for a long +time. But I have reason to believe +that he must be doing well."</p> + +<p>"You surprise me! Why?"</p> + +<p>"Because, two years ago, he sent +for his mother. She went to him."</p> + +<p>"Is that all?"</p> + +<p>"It is enough; for he would not +have sent for her if he could not +maintain her."</p> + +<p>Here the Hazeldeans entered, +arm-in-arm, and the fat butler +announced dinner.</p> + +<p>The Squire was unusually taciturn—Mrs +Hazeldean thoughtful—Mrs +Dale languid, and headachy. The +Parson, who seldom enjoyed the +luxury of converse with a scholar, +save when he quarrelled with Dr +Riccabocca, was animated, by Randal's +repute for ability, into a great +desire for argument.</p> + +<p>"A glass of wine, Mr Leslie. You +were saying, before dinner, that burlesque +Greek is not a knowledge very +much in power at present. Pray, sir, +what knowledge is in power?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Randal</span>, (laconically.)—"Practical +knowledge."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Parson.</span>—"What of?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Randal.</span>—"Men."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Parson</span>, (candidly.)—"Well, I +suppose that is the most available +sort of knowledge, in a worldly point +of view. How does one learn it? Do +books help?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Randal.</span>—"According as they are +read, they help or injure."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Parson.</span>—"How should they be +read in order to help?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Randal.</span>—"Read specially to apply +to purposes that lead to power."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Parson</span>, (very much struck with +Randal's pithy and Spartan logic.)—"Upon +my word, sir, you express +yourself very well. I must own that +I began these questions in the hope of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_687" id="Page_687">[687]</a></span> +differing from you; for I like an argument."</p> + +<p>"That he does," growled the Squire; +"the most contradictory creature!"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Parson.</span>—"Argument is the salt +of talk. But now I am afraid I must +agree with you, which I was not at +all prepared for."</p> + +<p>Randal bowed, and answered—"No +two men of our education can +dispute upon the application of knowledge."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Parson</span>, (pricking up his ears.)—"Eh! +what to?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Randal.</span>—"Power, of course."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Parson</span>, (overjoyed.)—"Power!—the +vulgarest application of it, or the +loftiest? But you mean the loftiest?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Randal</span>, (in his turn interested +and interrogative.)—"What do you +call the loftiest, and what the vulgarest?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Parson.</span>—"The vulgarest, self-interest; +the loftiest, beneficence."</p> + +<p>Randal suppressed the half disdainful +smile that rose to his lip.</p> + +<p>"You speak, sir, as a clergyman +should do. I admire your sentiment, +and adopt it; but I fear that the +knowledge which aims only at beneficence +very rarely in this world gets +any power at all."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Squire</span>, (seriously.)—"That's true; +I never get my own way when I want +to do a kindness, and Stirn always +gets his when he insists on something +diabolically brutal and harsh."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Parson.</span>—"Pray, Mr Leslie, what +does intellectual power refined to the +utmost, but entirely stripped of beneficence, +most resemble?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Randal.</span>—"Resemble?—I can +hardly say. Some very great man—almost +any very great man—who has +baffled all his foes, and attained all +his ends."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Parson.</span>—"I doubt if any man +has ever become very great who has +not meant to be beneficent, though he +might err in the means. Cæsar was +naturally beneficent, and so was Alexander. +But intellectual power refined +to the utmost, and wholly void of +beneficence, resembles only one being, +and that, sir, is the Principle of Evil."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Randal</span>, (startled.)—"Do you +mean the Devil?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Parson.</span>—"Yes, sir—the Devil; +and even he, sir, did not succeed! +Even he, sir, is what your great men +would call a most decided failure."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mrs Dale.</span>—"My dear—my dear."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Parson.</span>—"Our religion proves it, +my love; he was an angel, and he +fell."</p> + +<p>There was a solemn pause. Randal +was more impressed than he liked to +own to himself. By this time the +dinner was over, and the servants +had retired. Harry glanced at Carry. +Carry smoothed her gown and rose.</p> + +<p>The gentlemen remained over their +wine; and the Parson, satisfied with +what he deemed a clencher upon his +favourite subject of discussion, changed +the subject to lighter topics, till happening +to fall upon tithes, the Squire +struck in, and by dint of loudness of +voice, and truculence of brow, fairly +overwhelmed both his guests, and +proved to his own satisfaction that +tithes were an unjust and unchristian-like +usurpation on the part of the +Church generally, and a most especial +and iniquitous infliction upon the +Hazeldean estates in particular.</p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER IX.</h4> + +<p>On entering the drawing-room, +Randal found the two ladies seated +close together, in a position much more +appropriate to the familiarity of their +school-days than to the politeness of +the friendship now existing between +them. Mrs Hazeldean's hand hung +affectionately over Carry's shoulder, +and both those fair English faces were +bent over the same book. It was pretty +to see these sober matrons, so different +from each other in character and aspect, +thus unconsciously restored to +the intimacy of happy maiden youth +by the golden link of some Magician +from the still land of Truth or Fancy—brought +together in heart, as each eye +rested on the same thought;—closer +and closer, as sympathy, lost in the +actual world, grew out of that world +which unites in one bond of feeling +the readers of some gentle book.</p> + +<p>"And what work interests you so +much?" said Randal, pausing by the +table.</p> + +<p>"One you have read, of course,"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_688" id="Page_688">[688]</a></span> +replied Mrs Dale, putting a bookmark +embroidered by herself into +the page, and handing the volume to +Randal. "It has made a great sensation, +I believe."</p> + +<p>Randal glanced at the title of the +work. "True," said he, "I have +heard much of it in London, but I +have not yet had time to read it."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mrs Dale.</span>—"I can lend it to you, +if you like to look over it to-night, +and you can leave it for me with Mrs +Hazeldean."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Parson</span>, (approaching.)—"Oh! +that book!—yes, you must read it. +I do not know a work more instructive."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Randal.</span>—"Instructive! Certainly +I will read it then. But I thought it +was a mere work of amusement—of +fancy. It seems so, as I look over it."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Parson.</span>—"So is the <cite>Vicar of +Wakefield</cite>; yet what book more instructive?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Randal.</span>—"I should not have +said <em>that</em> of the <cite>Vicar of Wakefield</cite>. +A pretty book enough, though the +story is most improbable. But how is +it instructive?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Parson.</span>—"By its results: it leaves +us happier and better. What can +any instruction do more? Some +works instruct through the head, some +through the heart; the last reach the +widest circle, and often produce the +most genial influence on the character. +This book belongs to the last. You +will grant my proposition when you +have read it."</p> + +<p>Randal smiled and took the volume.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mrs Dale.</span>—"Is the author known +yet?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Randal.</span>—"I have heard it ascribed +to many writers, but I believe +no one has claimed it."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Parson.</span>—"I think it must have +been written by my old college friend, +Professor Moss, the naturalist; its descriptions +of scenery are so accurate."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mrs Dale.</span>—"La, Charles dear! +that snuffy, tiresome, prosy professor? +How can you talk such nonsense? I +am sure the author must be young; +there is so much freshness of feeling."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mrs Hazeldean</span>, (positively.)—"Yes, +certainly young."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Parson</span>, (no less positively.)—"I +should say just the contrary. Its +tone is too serene, and its style too +simple for a young man. Besides, I +don't know any young man who would +send me his book, and this book has +been sent me—very handsomely bound +too, you see. Depend upon it, Moss +is the man—quite his turn of mind."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mrs Dale.</span>—"You are too provoking, +Charles dear! Mr Moss is +so remarkably plain, too."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Randal.</span>—"Must an author be +handsome?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Parson.</span>—"Ha, ha! Answer that, +if you can, Carry."</p> + +<p>Carry remained mute and disdainful.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Squire</span>, (with great <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">naiveté</i>.)—"Well, +I don't think there's much in +the book, whoever wrote it; for I've +read it myself, and understand every +word of it."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mrs Dale.</span>—"I don't see why you +should suppose it was written by a +man at all. For my part, I think it +must be a woman."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mrs Hazeldean.</span>—"Yes, there's +a passage about maternal affection, +which only a woman could have +written."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Parson.</span>—"Pooh, pooh! I should +like to see a woman who could have +written that description of an August +evening before a thunderstorm; +every wildflower in the hedgerow +exactly the flowers of August—every +sign in the air exactly those of +the month. Bless you! a woman +would have filled the hedge with +violets and cowslips. Nobody else +but my friend Moss could have written +that description."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Squire.</span>—"I don't know; there's +a simile about the waste of corn-seed +in hand-sowing, which makes me +think he must be a farmer!"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mrs Dale</span>, (scornfully.)—"A farmer! +In hob-nailed shoes, I suppose! +I say it is a woman."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mrs Hazeldean.</span>—"A <small>WOMAN</small>, +and <small>A MOTHER</small>!"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Parson.</span>—"A middle-aged man, +and a naturalist."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Squire.</span>—"No, no, Parson; certainly +a young man; for that love-scene +puts me in mind of my own +young days, when I would have given +my ears to tell Harry how handsome +I thought her; and all I could say +was—'Fine weather for the crops, +Miss.' Yes, a young man, and a +farmer. I should not wonder if he +had held the plough himself."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_689" id="Page_689">[689]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Randal</span>, (who had been turning +over the pages.)—"This sketch of +Night in London comes from a man +who has lived the life, of cities, and +looked at wealth with the eyes of +poverty. Not bad! I will read the +book."</p> + +<p>"Strange," said the Parson, smiling, +"that this little work should so +have entered into our minds, suggested +to all of us different ideas, yet +equally charmed all—given a new and +fresh current to our dull country life—animated +us as with the sight of +a world in our breasts we had +never seen before, save in dreams;—a +little work like this, by a man we +don't know, and never may! Well, +<em>that</em> knowledge <em>is</em> power, and a noble +one!"</p> + +<p>"A sort of power, certainly, sir," +said Randal, candidly; and that +night, when Randal retired to his +own room, he suspended his schemes +and projects, and read, as he rarely +did, without an object to gain by the +reading.</p> + +<p>The work surprised him by the +pleasure it gave. Its charm lay in +the writer's calm enjoyment of the +Beautiful. It seemed like some happy +soul sunning itself in the light of +its own thoughts. Its power was so +tranquil and even, that it was only a +critic who could perceive how much +force and vigour were necessary +to sustain the wing that floated aloft +with so imperceptible an effort. +There was no one faculty predominating +tyrannically over the others; all +seemed proportioned in the felicitous +symmetry of a nature rounded, integral, +and complete. And when the +work was closed, it left behind it a +tender warmth that played round the +heart of the reader, and vivified feelings +that seemed unknown before. +Randal laid down the book softly; +and for five minutes the ignoble and +base purposes to which his own knowledge +was applied, stood before him, +naked and unmasked.</p> + +<p>"Tut," said he, wrenching himself +violently away from the benign influence, +"it was not to sympathise with +Hector, but to conquer with Achilles, +that Alexander of Macedon kept +Homer under his pillow. Such should +be the true use of books to him who +has the practical world to subdue; let +parsons and women construe it otherwise +as they may!"</p> + +<p>And the Principle of Evil descended +again upon the intellect, +from which the guide of beneficence +was gone.</p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER X.</h4> + +<p>Randal rose at the sound of the +first breakfast bell, and on the staircase +met Mrs Hazeldean. He gave +her back the book; and as he was +about to speak, she beckoned to him +to follow her into a little morning-room +appropriated to herself. No +boudoir of white and gold, with pictures +by Watteau, but lined with +large walnut-tree presses, that held +the old heirloom linen strewed with +lavender—stores for the housekeeper, +and medicines for the poor.</p> + +<p>Seating herself on a large chair in +this sanctum, Mrs Hazeldean looked +formidably at home.</p> + +<p>"Pray," said the lady, coming at +once to the point, with her usual +straightforward candour, "what is +all this you have been saying to my +husband as to the possibility of Frank's +marrying a foreigner?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Randal.</span>—"Would you be as +averse to such a notion as Mr Hazeldean +is?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mrs Hazeldean.</span>—"You ask me +a question, instead of answering +mine."</p> + +<p>Randal was greatly put out in his +fence by these rude thrusts. For indeed +he had a double purpose to serve—first +thoroughly to know if Frank's +marriage with a woman like Madame +di Negra would irritate the Squire +sufficiently to endanger the son's inheritance; +and, secondly, to prevent +Mr and Mrs Hazeldean believing, +seriously that such a marriage was to +be apprehended, lest they should prematurely +address Frank on the subject, +and frustrate the marriage itself. Yet, +withal, he must so express himself, +that he could not be afterwards accused +by the parents of disguising +matters. In his talk to the Squire +the preceding day, he had gone a little<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_690" id="Page_690">[690]</a></span> +too far—farther than he would have +done but for his desire of escaping the +cattle-shed and short-horns. While +he mused, Mrs Hazeldean observed +him with her honest sensible eyes, +and finally exclaimed—</p> + +<p>"Out with it, Mr Leslie!"</p> + +<p>"Out with what, my dear madam? +The Squire has sadly exaggerated the +importance of what was said mainly +in jest. But I will own to you plainly, +that Frank has appeared to me a little +smitten with a certain fair Italian."</p> + +<p>"Italian!" cried Mrs Hazeldean. +"Well, I said so from the first. Italian!—that's +all, is it?" and she +smiled.</p> + +<p>Randal was more and more perplexed. +The pupil of his eye contracted, +as it does when we retreat +into ourselves, and think, watch, and +keep guard.</p> + +<p>"And perhaps," resumed Mrs +Hazeldean, with a very sunny expression +of countenance, "you have noticed +this in Frank since he was +here?"</p> + +<p>"It is true," murmured Randal; +"but I think his heart or his fancy +was touched even before."</p> + +<p>"Very natural," said Mrs Hazeldean; +"how could he help it?—such +a beautiful creature! Well, I must +not ask you to tell Frank's secrets; +but I guess the object of attraction; +and though she will have no fortune +to speak of—and it is not such a +match as he might form—still she +is so amiable, and has been so well +brought up, and is so little like one's +general notions of a Roman Catholic, +that I think I could persuade Hazeldean +into giving his consent."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" said Randal, drawing a +long breath, and beginning with his +practised acuteness to detect Mrs +Hazeldean's error, "I am very much +relieved and rejoiced to hear this; and +I may venture to give Frank some +hope, if I find him disheartened and +desponding, poor fellow!"</p> + +<p>"I think you may," replied Mrs +Hazeldean, laughing pleasantly. "But +you should not have frightened poor +William so, hinting that the lady +knew very little English. She has +an accent, to be sure; but she speaks +our tongue very prettily. I always +forget that she's not English born! +Ha, ha, poor William!"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Randal.</span>—"Ha, ha!"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mrs Hazeldean.</span>—"We had once +thought of another match for Frank—a +girl of good English family."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Randal.</span>—"Miss Sticktorights?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mrs Hazeldean.</span>—"No; that's +an old whim of Hazeldean's. But +he knows very well that the Sticktorights +would never merge their property +in ours. Bless you, it would +be all off the moment they came to +settlements, and had to give up the +right of way. We thought of a +very different match; but there's no +dictating to young hearts, Mr Leslie."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Randal.</span>—"Indeed no, Mrs Hazeldean. +But since we now understand +each other so well, excuse me if I +suggest that you had better leave +things to themselves, and not write +to Frank on the subject. Young +hearts, you know, are often stimulated +by apparent difficulties, and grow +cool when the obstacle vanishes."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mrs Hazeldean.</span>—"Very possibly; +it was not so with Hazeldean and +me. But I shall not write to Frank +on the subject, for a different reason—though +I would consent to the match, +and so would William; yet we both +would rather, after all, that Frank +married an Englishwoman, and a +Protestant. We will not, therefore, +do anything to encourage the idea. +But if Frank's happiness becomes +really at stake, <em>then</em> we will step in. +In short, we would neither encourage +nor oppose. You understand?"</p> + +<p>"Perfectly."</p> + +<p>"And, in the meanwhile, it is +quite right that Frank should see +the world, and try to distract his +mind, or at least to know it. And +I dare say it has been some thought +of that kind which has prevented his +coming here."</p> + +<p>Randal, dreading a farther and +plainer <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">éclaircissement</i>, now rose, +and saying, "Pardon me, but I +must hurry over breakfast, and be +back in time to catch the coach"—offered +his arm to his hostess, and +led her into the breakfast-parlour. +Devouring his meal, as if in great +haste, he then mounted his horse, +and, taking cordial leave of his entertainers, +trotted briskly away.</p> + +<p>All things favoured his project—even +chance had befriended him in +Mrs Hazeldean's mistake. She had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_691" id="Page_691">[691]</a></span> +not unnaturally supposed Violante to +have captivated Frank on his last +visit to the Hall. Thus, while Randal +had certified his own mind that +nothing could more exasperate the +Squire than an alliance with Madame +di Negra, he could yet assure Frank +that Mrs Hazeldean was all on his +side. And when the error was discovered, +Mrs Hazeldean would only +have to blame herself for it. Still +more successful had his diplomacy +proved with the Riccaboccas; he +had ascertained the secret he had +come to discover; he should induce +the Italian to remove to the neighbourhood +of London; and if Violante +were the great heiress he suspected +her to prove, whom else of her own +age would she see but him? And +the old Leslie domains—to be sold +in two years—a portion of the +dowry might purchase them! Flushed +by the triumph of his craft, all former +vacillations of conscience ceased. +In high and fervent spirits he passed +the Casino, the garden of which was +solitary and deserted, reached his +home, and, telling Oliver to be +studious, and Juliet to be patient, +walked thence to meet the coach and +regain the capital.</p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER XI.</h4> + +<p>Violante was seated in her own +little room, and looking from the window +on the terrace that stretched +below. The day was warm for the +time of year. The orange-trees had +been removed under shelter for the +approach of winter; but where they +had stood sate Mrs Riccabocca at +work. In the Belvidere, Riccabocca +himself was conversing with +his favourite servant. But the casements +and the door of the Belvidere +were open; and where they sate, +both wife and daughter could see the +Padrone leaning against the wall, +with his arms folded, and his eyes +fixed on the floor; while Jackeymo, +with one finger on his master's arm, +was talking to him with visible earnestness. +And the daughter from +the window, and the wife from her +work, directed tender anxious eyes +towards the still thoughtful form so +dear to both. For the last day or +two, Riccabocca had been peculiarly +abstracted, even to gloom. Each felt +there was something stirring at his +heart—neither as yet knew what.</p> + +<p>Violante's room silently revealed the +nature of the education by which her +character had been formed. Save +a sketch-book which lay open on a +desk at hand, and which showed +talent exquisitely taught, (for in this +Riccabocca had been her teacher,) +there was nothing that spoke of the +ordinary female accomplishments. No +piano stood open, no harp occupied +yon nook, which seemed made for +one; no broidery frame, nor implements +of work, betrayed the usual +and graceful resources of a girl; but +ranged on shelves against the wall were +the best writers in English, Italian, +and French; and these betokened an +extent of reading, that he who wishes +for a companion to his mind in the +sweet commune of woman, which +softens and refines all it gives and +takes in interchange, will never condemn +as masculine. You had but to +look into Violante's face to see how +noble was the intelligence that brought +soul to those lovely features. Nothing +hard, nothing dry and stern was there. +Even as you detected knowledge, it +was lost in the gentleness of grace. +In fact, whatever she gained in the +graver kinds of information, became +transmuted, through her heart and +her fancy, into spiritual golden stores. +Give her some tedious and arid history, +her imagination seized upon +beauties other readers had passed by, +and, like the eye of the artist, detected +everywhere the Picturesque. +Something in her mind seemed to +reject all that was mean and commonplace, +and to bring out all that +was rare and elevated in whatever it +received. Living so apart from all +companions of her age, she scarcely +belonged to the Present time. She +dwelt in the Past, as Sabrina, in her +crystal well. Images of chivalry—of +the Beautiful and the Heroic—such +as, in reading the silvery line of +Tasso, rise before us, softening force +and valour into love and song—haunted +the reveries of the fair Italian maid.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_692" id="Page_692">[692]</a></span></p> + +<p>Tell us not that the Past, examined +by cold Philosophy, was no better +and no loftier than the Present; it is +not thus seen by pure and generous +eyes. Let the Past perish, when it +ceases to reflect on its magic mirror +the beautiful Romance which is its +noblest reality, though perchance but +the shadow of Delusion.</p> + +<p>Yet Violante was not merely the +dreamer. In her, life was so puissant +and rich, that action seemed necessary +to its glorious development—action, +but still in the woman's sphere—action +to bless and to refine and to exalt all +around her, and to pour whatever else +of ambition was left unsatisfied into +sympathy with the aspirations of +man. Despite her father's fears of +the bleak air of England, in that air +she had strengthened the delicate +health of her childhood. Her elastic +step—her eyes full of sweetness and +light—her bloom, at once soft and +luxuriant—all spoke of the vital +powers fit to sustain a mind of such +exquisite mould, and the emotions of +a heart that, once aroused, could ennoble +the passions of the South +with the purity and devotion of the +North.</p> + +<p>Solitude makes some natures more +timid, some more bold. Violante was +fearless. When she spoke, her eyes +frankly met your own; and she was +so ignorant of evil, that as yet she +seemed nearly unacquainted with +shame. From this courage, combined +with affluence of idea, came a delightful +flow of happy converse. Though +possessing so imperfectly the accomplishments +ordinarily taught to young +women, and which may be cultured +to the utmost, and yet leave the +thoughts so barren, and the talk so +vapid—she had that accomplishment +which most pleases the taste, and commands +the love, of the man of talent; +especially if his talent be not so actively +employed as to make him desire +only relaxation where he seeks companionship—the +accomplishment of +facility in intellectual interchange—the +charm that clothes in musical +words beautiful womanly ideas.</p> + +<p>"I hear him sigh at this distance," +said Violante softly, as she still +watched her father; "and methinks +this is a new grief, and not for his +country. He spoke twice yesterday +of that dear English friend, and +wished that he were here."</p> + +<p>As she said this, unconsciously the +virgin blushed, her hands drooped on +her knee, and she fell herself into +thought as profound as her father's, +but less gloomy. From her arrival +in England, Violante had been taught +a grateful interest in the name of +Harley L'Estrange. Her father, preserving +a silence, that seemed disdain, +of all his old Italian intimates, +had been pleased to converse with +open heart of the Englishman who +had saved where countrymen had +betrayed. He spoke of the soldier, +then in the full bloom of youth, +who, unconsoled by fame, had nursed +the memory of some hidden sorrow +amidst the pine-trees that cast their +shadow over the sunny Italian lake; +how Riccabocca, then honoured and +happy, had courted from his seclusion +the English Signor, then the +mourner and the voluntary exile; +how they had grown friends amidst +the landscapes in which her eyes had +opened to the day; how Harley +had vainly warned him from the rash +schemes in which he had sought to reconstruct +in an hour the ruins of weary +ages; how, when abandoned, deserted, +proscribed, pursued, he had fled for +life—the infant Violante clasped to +his bosom—the English soldier had +given him refuge, baffled the pursuers, +armed his servants, accompanied the +fugitive at night towards the defile in +the Apennines, and, when the emissaries +of a perfidious enemy, hot in +the chase, came near, had said, "You +have your child to save! Fly on! +Another league, and you are beyond +the borders. We will delay the foes +with parley; they will not harm us." +And not till escape was gained did +the father know that the English +friend had delayed the foe, not by +parley, but by the sword, holding the +pass against numbers, with a breast +as dauntless as Bayard's in the immortal +bridge.</p> + +<p>And since then, the same Englishman +had never ceased to vindicate +his name, to urge his cause, and if +hope yet remained of restoration to +land and honours, it was in that +untiring zeal.</p> + +<p>Hence, naturally and insensibly, +this secluded and musing girl had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_693" id="Page_693">[693]</a></span> +associated all that she read in tales +of romance and chivalry with the +image of the brave and loyal stranger. +He it was who animated her dreams +of the Past, and seemed born to be, in +the destined hour, the deliverer of the +Future. Around this image grouped +all the charms that the fancy of virgin +woman can raise from the enchanted +lore of old Heroic Fable. Once in her +early girlhood, her father (to satisfy +her curiosity, eager for general description) +had drawn from memory a +sketch of the features of the Englishman—drawn +Harley, as he was in +that first youth, flattered and idealised, +no doubt, by art and by partial +gratitude—but still resembling him +as he was then; while the deep +mournfulness of recent sorrow yet +shadowed and concentrated all the +varying expression of his countenance; +and to look on him was to +say,—"So sad, yet so young!" Never +did Violante pause to remember that +the same years which ripened herself +from infancy into woman, were passing +less gently over that smooth +cheek and dreamy brow—that the +world might be altering the nature, +as time the aspect. To her, the hero +of the Ideal remained immortal in +bloom and youth. Bright illusion, +common to us all, where Poetry once +hallows the human form! Who ever +thinks of Petrarch as the old time-worn +man? Who does not see him as when +he first gazed on Laura?—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Ogni altra cosa ogni pensier va fore;<br /></span> +<span class="i1">E sol ivi con voi rimansi Amore!"<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<h4>CHAPTER XII.</h4> + +<p>And Violante, thus absorbed in +reverie, forgot to keep watch on the +Belvidere. And the Belvidere was +now deserted. The wife, who had no +other ideal to distract <em>her</em> thoughts, +saw Riccabocca pass into the house.</p> + +<p>The exile entered his daughter's +room, and she started to feel his hand +upon her locks and his kiss upon her +brow.</p> + +<p>"My child!" cried Riccabocca, +seating himself, "I have resolved to +leave for a time this retreat, and to +seek the neighbourhood of London."</p> + +<p>"Ah, dear father, <em>that</em>, then, was +your thought? But what can be +your reason? Do not turn away; you +know how carefully I have obeyed +your command and kept your secret. +Ah, you will confide in me."</p> + +<p>"I do, indeed," returned Riccabocca, +with emotion. "I leave this place, +in the fear lest my enemies discover +me. I shall say to others that you +are of an age to require teachers, not +to be obtained here. But I should +like none to know where we go."</p> + +<p>The Italian said these last words +through his teeth, and hanging his +head. He said them in shame.</p> + +<p>"My mother—(so Violante always +called Jemima)—my mother, you +have spoken to her?"</p> + +<p>"Not yet. <em>There</em> is the difficulty."</p> + +<p>"No difficulty, for she loves you so +well," replied Violante, with soft +reproach. "Ah, why not also confide +in her? Who so true? so +good?"</p> + +<p>"Good—I grant it!" exclaimed +Riccabocca. "What then? 'Da cattiva +Donna guardati, ed alla buona non +fidar niente,' (from the bad woman, +guard thyself; to the good woman +trust nothing.) And if you must trust," +added the abominable man, "trust +her with anything but a secret!"</p> + +<p>"Fie," said Violante, with arch +reproach, for she knew her father's +humours too well to interpret his +horrible sentiments literally—"fie +on your consistency, <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Padre carissimo</i>. +Do you not trust your secret to me?"</p> + +<p>"You! A kitten is not a cat, and +a girl is not a woman. Besides, the +secret was already known to you, +and I had no choice. Peace, Jemima +will stay here for the present. See +to what you wish to take with you; +we shall leave to-night."</p> + +<p>Not waiting for an answer, Riccabocca +hurried away, and with a firm +step strode the terrace and approached +his wife.</p> + +<p>"<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Anima mia</i>," said the pupil of +Machiavel, disguising in the tenderest +words the cruellest intentions—for +one of his most cherished Italian proverbs +was to the effect, that there is +no getting on with a mule or a woman +unless you coax them—"<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Anima mia</i>,—soul +of my being—you have already +seen that Violante mopes herself to +death here."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_694" id="Page_694">[694]</a></span></p> + +<p>"She, poor child! Oh no!"</p> + +<p>"She does, core of my heart, she +does, and is as ignorant of music as I +am of tent-stitch."</p> + +<p>"She sings beautifully."</p> + +<p>"Just as birds do, against all the +rules, and in defiance of gamut. +Therefore, to come to the point, O +treasure of my soul! I am going to +take her with me for a short time, +perhaps to Cheltenham, or Brighton—we +shall see."</p> + +<p>"All places with you are the same +to me, Alphonso. When shall we go?"</p> + +<p>"<em>We</em> shall go to-night; but, terrible +as it is to part from you—you—"</p> + +<p>"Ah!" interrupted the wife, and +covered her face with her hands.</p> + +<p>Riccabocca, the wiliest and most relentless +of men in his maxims, melted +into absolute uxorial imbecility at the +sight of that mute distress. He put +his arm round his wife's waist, with +genuine affection, and without a +single proverb at his heart—"<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Carissima</i>, +do not grieve so; we shall be +back soon, and travelling is expensive; +rolling stones gather no moss, and +there is so much to see to at home."</p> + +<p>Mrs Riccabocca gently escaped +from her husband's arms. She withdrew +her hands from her face, and +brushed away the tears that stood in +her eyes.</p> + +<p>"Alphonso," she said touchingly, +"hear me! What you think good, +that shall ever be good to me. But +do not think that I grieve solely +because of our parting. No; I grieve +to think that, despite all these years +in which I have been the partner of +your hearth and slept on your breast—all +these years in which I have had +no thought but, however humbly, to +do my duty to you and yours, and +could have wished that you had read +my heart, and seen there but yourself +and your child—I grieve to +think that you still deem me as unworthy +your trust as when you stood +by my side at the altar."</p> + +<p>"Trust!" repeated Riccabocca, +startled and conscience-stricken; +"why do you say 'trust?' In what +have I distrusted you? I am sure," he +continued, with the artful volubility +of guilt, "that I never doubted your +fidelity—hook-nosed, long-visaged +foreigner though I be; never pryed +into your letters; never inquired into +your solitary walks; never heeded +your flirtations with that good-looking +Parson Dale; never kept the +money; and never looked into the +account-books!" Mrs Riccabocca refused +even a smile of contempt at +these revolting evasions; nay, she +seemed scarcely to hear them.</p> + +<p>"Can you think," she resumed, +pressing her hand on her heart to +still its struggles for relief in sobs—"can +you think that I could have +watched, and thought, and tasked my +poor mind so constantly, to conjecture +what might best soothe or please you, +and not seen, long since, that you +have secrets known to your daughter—your +servant—not to me? Fear not—the +secrets cannot be evil, or you +would not tell them to your innocent +child. Besides, do I not know your +nature? and do I not love you because +I know it?—it is for something connected +with these secrets that you +leave your home. You think that I +should be incautious—imprudent. +You will not take me with you. Be it +so. I go to prepare for your departure. +Forgive me if I have displeased you, +husband."</p> + +<p>Mrs Riccabocca turned away; but +a soft hand touched the Italian's arm. +"O father, can you resist this? +Trust her!—trust her! I am a woman +like her! I answer for her woman's +faith. Be yourself—ever nobler than +all others, my own father."</p> + +<p>"<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Diavolo!</i> Never one door shuts +but another opens," groaned Riccabocca. +"Are you a fool, child? Don't +you see that it was for your sake only +I feared—and would be cautious?"</p> + +<p>"For mine! O then, do not make +me deem myself mean, and the cause +of meanness. For mine! Am I not +your daughter—the descendant of +men who never feared?"</p> + +<p>Violante looked sublime while she +spoke; and as she ended she led her +father gently on towards the door, +which his wife had now gained.</p> + +<p>"Jemima—wife mine!—pardon, +pardon," cried the Italian, whose +heart had been yearning to repay such +tenderness and devotion,—"come +back to my breast—it has been long +closed—it shall be open to you now +and for ever."</p> + +<p>In another moment, the wife was +in her right place—on her husband's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_695" id="Page_695">[695]</a></span> +bosom; and Violante, beautiful peace-maker, +stood smiling a while at both, +and then lifted her eyes gratefully to +heaven, and stole away.</p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER XIII.</h4> + +<p>On Randal's return to town, he +heard mixed and contradictory rumours +in the streets, and at the clubs +of the probable downfall of the Government +at the approaching session +of Parliament. These rumours had +sprung up suddenly, as if in an hour. +True that, for some time, the sagacious +had shaken their heads and said, +"Ministers could not last." True +that certain changes in policy, a year +or two before, had divided the party +on which the Government depended, +and strengthened that which opposed +it. But still its tenure in office had +been so long, and there seemed so +little power in the Opposition to form +a cabinet of names familiar to official +ears, that the general public had anticipated, +at most, a few partial changes. +Rumour now went far beyond this. +Randal, whose whole prospects at +present were but reflections from the +greatness of his patron, was alarmed. +He sought Egerton, but the minister +was impenetrable, and seemed calm, +confident, and imperturbed. Somewhat +relieved, Randal then set himself +to work to find a safe home for +Riccabocca; for the greater need +to succeed in obtaining fortune there, +if he failed in getting it through Egerton. +He found a quiet house, detached +and secluded, in the neighbourhood +of Norwood. No vicinity +more secure from espionage and remark. +He wrote to Riccabocca, and +communicated the address, adding +fresh assurances of his own power to +be of use. The next morning he was +seated in his office, thinking very +little of the details, that he mastered, +however, with mechanical precision, +when the minister who presided over +that department of the public service +sent for him into his private room, and +begged him to take a letter to Egerton, +with whom he wished to consult relative +to a very important point to be +decided in the Cabinet that day. "I +want you to take it," said the minister +smiling, (the minister was a frank, +homely man,) "because you are in Mr +Egerton's confidence, and he may give +you some verbal message besides a +written reply. Egerton is often over +cautious and brief in the <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">litera scripta</i>."</p> + +<p>Randal went first to Egerton's +neighbouring office—he had not been +there that day. He then took a +cabriolet and drove to Grosvenor +Square. A quiet-looking chariot was +at the door. Mr Egerton was at +home; but the servant said, "Dr F. +is with him, sir; and perhaps he may +not like to be disturbed."</p> + +<p>"What, is your master ill?"</p> + +<p>"Not that I know of, sir. He never +says he is ill. But he has looked +poorly the last day or two."</p> + +<p>Randal hesitated a moment; but +his commission might be important, +and Egerton was a man who so held +the maxim, that health and all else +must give way to business, that he +resolved to enter; and, unannounced, +and unceremoniously, as was his wont, +he opened the door of the library. +He started as he did so. Audley +Egerton was leaning back on the sofa, +and the doctor, on his knees before +him, was applying the stethoscope to +his breast. Egerton's eyes were partially +closed as the door opened. But +at the noise he sprang up, nearly +oversetting the doctor. "Who's +that?—How dare you!" he exclaimed, +in a voice of great anger. Then +recognising Randal, he changed colour, +bit his lip, and muttered drily, +"I beg pardon for my abruptness; +what do you want, Mr Leslie?"</p> + +<p>"This letter from Lord ——; I was +told to deliver it immediately into +your own hands; I beg pardon—"</p> + +<p>"There is no cause," said Egerton, +coldly. "I have had a slight attack of +bronchitis; and as Parliament meets so +soon, I must take advice from my doctor, +if I would be heard by the reporters. +Lay the letter on the table, and +be kind enough to wait for my reply."</p> + +<p>Randal withdrew. He had never +seen a physician in that house before, +and it seemed surprising that Egerton +should even take a medical opinion +upon a slight attack. While waiting +in the ante-room there was a knock at +the street door, and presently a gentleman, +exceedingly well dressed, was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_696" id="Page_696">[696]</a></span> +shown in, and honoured Randal with +an easy and half familiar bow. Randal +remembered to have met this personage +at dinner, and at the house of +a young nobleman of high fashion, but +had not been introduced to him, and +did not even know him by name. The +visitor was better informed.</p> + +<p>"Our friend Egerton is busy, I +hear, Mr Leslie," said he, arranging +the camelia in his button hole.</p> + +<p>"Our friend Egerton!" It must be +a very great man to say, "Our friend +Egerton."</p> + +<p>"He will not be engaged long, I +dare say," returned Randal, glancing +his shrewd inquiring eye over the +stranger's person.</p> + +<p>"I trust not; my time is almost as +precious as his own. I was not so +fortunate as to be presented to you +when we met at Lord Spendquick's. +Good fellow, Spendquick; and decidedly +clever."</p> + +<p>Lord Spendquick was usually esteemed +a gentleman without three ideas.</p> + +<p>Randal smiled.</p> + +<p>In the meanwhile the visitor had +taken out a card from an embossed +morocco case, and now presented it +to Randal, who read thereon, "Baron +Levy, No. —, Bruton St."</p> + +<p>The name was not unknown to +Randal. It was a name too often on +the lips of men of fashion not to have +reached the ears of an <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">habitué</i> of good +society.</p> + +<p>Mr Levy had been a solicitor by +profession. He had of late years relinquished +his ostensible calling; and +not long since, in consequence of some +services towards the negotiation of a +loan, had been created a baron by one +of the German kings. The wealth of +Mr Levy was said to be only equalled +by his good nature to all who were in +want of a temporary loan, and with +sound expectations of repaying it +some day or other.</p> + +<p>You seldom saw a finer-looking man +than Baron Levy—about the same age +as Egerton, but looking younger: so +well preserved—such magnificent +black whiskers—such superb teeth! +Despite his name and his dark complexion, +he did not, however, resemble +a Jew—at least externally; and, in +fact, he was not a Jew on the father's +side, but the natural son of a +rich English <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">grand seigneur</i>, by a +Hebrew lady of distinction—in the +opera. After his birth, this lady had +married a German trader of her own +persuasion, and her husband had been +prevailed upon, for the convenience +of all parties, to adopt his wife's son, +and accord to him his own Hebrew +name. Mr Levy senior was soon +left a widower, and then the real +father, though never actually owning +the boy, had shown him great attention—had +him frequently at his house—initiated +him betimes into his own +high-born society, for which the boy +showed great taste. But when my +Lord died, and left but a moderate +legacy to the younger Levy, who was +then about eighteen, that ambiguous +person was articled to an attorney by +his putative sire, who shortly afterwards +returned to his native land, and +was buried at Prague, where his tombstone +may yet be seen. Young Levy, +however, continued to do very well +without him. His real birth was +generally known, and rather advantageous +to him in a social point of +view. His legacy enabled him to become +a partner where he had been a +clerk, and his practice became great +amongst the fashionable classes of +society. Indeed he was so useful, so +pleasant, so much a man of the world, +that he grew intimate with his clients—chiefly +young men of rank; was on +good terms with both Jew and Christian; +and being neither one nor the +other, resembled (to use Sheridan's +incomparable simile) the blank page between +the Old and the New Testament.</p> + +<p>Vulgar, some might call Mr Levy, +from his assurance, but it was not the +vulgarity of a man accustomed to low +and coarse society—rather the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">mauvais +ton</i> of a person not sure of his +own position, but who has resolved to +swagger into the best one he can get. +When it is remembered that he had +made his way in the world, and +gleaned together an immense fortune, +it is needless to add that he was as +sharp as a needle, and as hard as a +flint. No man had had more friends, +and no man had stuck by them more +firmly—as long as there was a pound +in their pockets!</p> + +<p>Something of this character had +Randal heard of the Baron, and he +now gazed, first at his card, and then +at him, with—admiration.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_697" id="Page_697">[697]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I met a friend of yours at Borrowwell's +the other day," resumed the +Baron—"Young Hazeldean. Careful +fellow—quite a man of the world."</p> + +<p>As this was the last praise poor +Frank deserved, Randal again smiled.</p> + +<p>The Baron went on—"I hear, Mr +Leslie, that you have much influence +over this same Hazeldean. His +affairs are in a sad state. I should +be very happy to be of use to him, as +a relation of my friend Egerton's; but +he understands business so well that +he despises my advice."</p> + +<p>"I am sure you do him injustice."</p> + +<p>"Injustice! I honour his caution. +I say to every man, 'Don't come to +me—I can get you money on much +easier terms than any one else;' and +what's the result? You come so often +that you ruin yourself; whereas a regular +usurer without conscience frightens +you. 'Cent per cent,' you say; 'oh, +I must pull in.' If you have influence +over your friend, tell him to stick to +his bill-brokers, and have nothing to +do with Baron Levy."</p> + +<p>Here the minister's bell rung, and +Randal, looking through the window, +saw Dr F. walking to his carriage, +which had made way for Baron Levy's +splendid cabriolet—a cabriolet in the +most perfect taste—Baron's coronet +on the dark brown panels—horse black, +with such action!—harness just relieved +with plating. The servant now +entered, and requested Randal to step +in; and addressing the Baron, assured +him that he would not be detained a minute.</p> + +<p>"Leslie," said the minister, sealing a +note, "take this back to Lord ——, and +say that I shall be with him in an hour."</p> + +<p>"No other message?—he seemed +to expect one."</p> + +<p>"I dare say he did. Well, my +letter is official, my message is not; +beg him to see Mr —— before we +meet—he will understand—all rests +upon that interview."</p> + +<p>Egerton then, extending the letter, +resumed gravely, "Of course you will +not mention to any one that Dr F. +was with me: the health of public +men is not to be suspected. Hum—were +you in your own room or the +ante-room?"</p> + +<p>"The ante-room, sir."</p> + +<p>Egerton's brow contracted slightly. +"And Mr Levy was there, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Yes—the Baron."</p> + +<p>"Baron! true. Come to plague +me about the Mexican loan, I suppose. +I will keep you no longer."</p> + +<p>Randal, much meditating, left the +house, and re-entered his hack cab. +The Baron was admitted to the statesman's +presence.</p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER XIV.</h4> + +<p>Egerton had thrown himself at full +length on the sofa, a position exceedingly +rare with him; and about his +whole air and manner, as Levy entered, +there was something singularly +different from that stateliness of port +common to the austere legislator. +The very tone of his voice was +different. It was as if the statesman—the +man of business—had +vanished; it was rather the man of +fashion and the idler, who, nodding +languidly to his visitor, said, "Levy, +what money can I have for a +year?"</p> + +<p>"The estate will bear very little +more. My dear fellow, that last election +was the very devil. You cannot +go on thus much longer."</p> + +<p>"My dear fellow!" Baron Levy +hailed Audley Egerton as "my dear +fellow." And Audley Egerton, perhaps, +saw nothing strange in the +words, though his lip curled.</p> + +<p>"I shall not want to go on thus +much longer," answered Egerton, as +the curl on his lip changed to a +gloomy smile. "The estate must, +meanwhile, bear £5000 more."</p> + +<p>"A hard pull on it. You had really +better sell."</p> + +<p>"I cannot afford to sell at present. +I cannot afford men to say, 'Audley +Egerton is done up—his property is +for sale.'"</p> + +<p>"It is very sad when one thinks +what a rich man you have been—and +may be yet!"</p> + +<p>"Be yet! How?"</p> + +<p>Baron Levy glanced towards the +thick mahogany doors—thick and impervious, +as should be the doors of +statesmen. "Why, you know that, +with three words from you, I could<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_698" id="Page_698">[698]</a></span> +produce an effect upon the stocks of +three nations, that might give as each +a hundred thousand pounds. We +would go shares."</p> + +<p>"Levy," said Egerton coldly, though +a deep blush overspread his face, +"you are a scoundrel; that is your +look-out. I interfere with no man's +tastes and conscience. I don't intend +to be a scoundrel myself. I have told +you that long ago."</p> + +<p>The Baron laughed, without evincing +the least displeasure.</p> + +<p>"Well," said he, "you are neither +wise nor complimentary, but you shall +have the money. But yet, would it +not be better," added Levy, with emphasis, +"to borrow it, without interest, +of your friend L'Estrange?"</p> + +<p>Egerton started as if stung.</p> + +<p>"You mean to taunt me, sir!" he +exclaimed, passionately. "I accept +pecuniary favours from Lord L'Estrange! +I!"</p> + +<p>"Tut, my dear Egerton, I dare say +my Lord would not think so ill now +of that little act in your life which—"</p> + +<p>"Hold!" exclaimed Egerton, writhing. +"Hold!"</p> + +<p>He stopped, and paced the room, +muttering in broken sentences, "To +blush before this man! Chastisement, +chastisement!"</p> + +<p>Levy gazed on him with hard and +sinister eyes. The minister turned +abruptly.</p> + +<p>"Look you, Levy," said he, with +forced composure—"you hate me—why, +I know not. I have never injured +you—never avenged the inexpiable +wrong you did me."</p> + +<p>"Wrong!—you a man of the world! +Wrong! Call it so if you will, then," +he added shrinkingly, for Audley's +brow grew terrible. "But have I not +atoned it? Would you ever have +lived in this palace, and ruled this +country as one of the most influential +of its ministers, but for my management—my +whispers to the wealthy +Miss Leslie? Come, but for me what +would you have been—perhaps a +beggar?"</p> + +<p>"What shall I be now if I live? +<em>Then</em> I should not have been a beggar; +poor perhaps in money, but rich—rich +in all that now leaves my life +bankrupt. Gold has not thriven with +me; how should it? And this fortune—it +has passed for the main part into +your hands. Be patient, you will +have it all ere long. But there is one +man in the world who has loved me +from a boy, and woe to you if ever +he learn that he has the right to despise +me!"</p> + +<p>"Egerton, my good fellow," said +Levy, with great composure, "you +need not threaten me, for what interest +can I possibly have in tale-telling +to Lord L'Estrange? As to hating +you—pooh! You snub me in private, +you cut me in public, you refuse to +come to my dinners, you'll not ask +me to your own; still, there is no +man I like better, nor would more +willingly serve. When do you want +the £5000?"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps in one month, perhaps +not for three or four. Let it be ready +when required."</p> + +<p>"Enough; depend on it. Have +you any other commands?"</p> + +<p>"None."</p> + +<p>"I will take my leave, then. By +the by, what do you suppose the +Hazeldean rental is worth—net?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know, nor care. You +have no designs upon <em>that</em>, too?"</p> + +<p>"Well, I like keeping up family +connections. Mr Frank seems a liberal +young gentleman."</p> + +<p>Before Egerton could answer, the +Baron had glided to the door, and, +nodding pleasantly, vanished with +that nod.</p> + +<p>Egerton remained, standing on his +solitary hearth. A drear, single man's +room it was, from wall to wall, despite +its fretted ceilings and official pomp +of Bramah escritoires and red boxes. +Drear and cheerless—no trace of woman's +habitation—no vestige of intruding, +happy children. There stood the +austere man alone. And then with a +deep sigh he muttered, "Thank heaven, +not for long—it will not last long."</p> + +<p>Repeating those words, he mechanically +locked up his papers, and pressed +his hand to his heart for an instant, +as if a spasm had shot through it.</p> + +<p>"So—I must shun all emotion!" +said he, shaking his head gently.</p> + +<p>In five minutes more, Audley Egerton +was in the streets, his mien erect, +and his step firm as ever.</p> + +<p>"That man is made of bronze," +said a leader of the Opposition to a +friend as they rode past the minister. +"What would I give for his nerves!"</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_699" id="Page_699">[699]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>JOHNSTON'S NOTES ON NORTH AMERICA.</h2> + +<p><em>Notes on North America, Agricultural, Social, and Economical.</em> By <span class="smcap">James F. W. +Johnston</span>, M.A., F.R.SS.L. and E., &c. Two Vols. post 8vo. William Blackwood +& Sons.</p> + + +<p>Professor Johnston had three +objects in view in his visit to the New +World. His high reputation as an +agricultural chemist had induced the +Agricultural Society of New York to +request him to give a course of lectures +at Albany upon the connection of chemical +and geological science with that +of the cultivation of land. He had also +been commissioned by the Government +of New Brunswick to examine +and report on the agricultural capabilities +of that province. And besides +these public duties, he was impelled +by a strong desire to study the actual +position of the art of husbandry in the +fertile regions of the West, and the +influence which its progress is likely +to exert upon British agriculture.</p> + +<p>Our shrewd brother Jonathan, however +brilliant his achievements have +been in other arts, has not hitherto +earned any great reputation as a scientific +farmer. Nature has been so bountiful +to him, that, with "fresh fields +and pastures new" ever before him, +he has hitherto had no need to resort +to the toilsome processes and anxious +expedients—"<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">curis acuens mortalia +corda</i>"—of our Old World systems +of agriculture. On the newer lands +of the Union, at least, the rotations +followed, the waste of manures, and +the general contempt of all method +and economy, are such as would +break the heart of a Haddingtonshire +"grieve," and in a couple of seasons +convert his trim acres into a howling +wilderness. What would our respected +friend Mr Caird say to a course +of cropping like the following, which, +though given by Professor Johnston as +a specimen of New Brunswick farming, +is the usual method followed on +most of the new soils of North +America?—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"He cuts down the wood and burns +it, then takes a crop of potatoes, followed +by one of wheat, with grass seeds. +<em>Nine successive crops of hay follow in as +many years</em>; after which the stumps +are taken up, the land is ploughed, a +crop of wheat is taken; it is then +manured for the first time, or limed, +and laid down again for a similar succession +of crops of hay. This treatment +is hard enough; but the unskilful man, +after burning and spreading the ashes, +takes two or three more crops of grain, +leaves it to sow itself with grass, then +cuts hay as long as it bears a crop which +is worth cutting—after all which he +either stumps and ploughs it, or leaves +it to run again into the wilderness +state."—(<cite>Johnston</cite>, vol. i. p. 104.)</p></blockquote> + +<p>Such a system seems, at first sight, +to argue a barbarous ignorance of the +very first elements of agriculture; +and yet, as Professor Johnston +remarks, "we English farmers and +teachers of agricultural science, with +all our skill, should probably, in the +same circumstances, do just the +same, so long as land was plenty, +labour scarce and dear, and markets +few and distant." Let no one suppose +that our wide-awake kinsman +does not know perfectly well what +he is about. His apparently rude +agricultural practice is regulated by +a maxim which some of our <i>Mechists</i> +at home would do well to bear in +mind—that high farming is bad +farming if it is not remunerative. +He knows that to manure his land +would be to insure the lodging and +destruction of his crops, and he +therefore leaves his straw to wither +in the fields, and lives on in blessed +ignorance of the virtues and cost of +guano. To plough deep furrows in +a virgin soil, saturated with organic +matter, would be an idle waste of +labour; and the primitive Triptolemus +of Michigan scatters the seed +upon the surface—or, raising a little +mould on the point of a hoe, drops +in a few grains of maize, covers +them over, and heeds them no more +till the golden pyramids are ripe for +the knife. The first three crops, +thus easily obtained, generally repay +to the settler in the wilderness the +expense of felling the timber, burning, +and cultivating. If he then abandon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_700" id="Page_700">[700]</a></span> +it, he is at least no loser; but for +eight or ten years the soil will still +continue to produce crops of natural +hay; and then, having extracted +from it all that its spontaneous +fertility will yield, he sells his possession +for what it may bring, and +moves off westward to repeat the +same exhaustive process on a fresh +portion of the forest, leaving to his +successor the task of reinvigorating +the severely tested powers of the soil +by rest and restoratives.</p> + +<p>This locust-like progress of the +American settler—ever on the move +to new lands, and leaving comparative +barrenness in his track—must evidently +place the case of America +beyond the sphere of those ordinary +laws of political economy which are +applicable in European countries; and +Professor Johnston seems to consider +the fact of the incessant exhaustion +and abandonment of lands as the +chief key to a right understanding of +the peculiar economical position of +the United States. The owner of +land in the older and more populous +States, who has not learnt to apply +a restorative system of culture, +derives little benefit from the comparative +advantage of situation, while +the inhabitants of the towns and +villages around him are fed with the +surplus spontaneous produce of the +far off clearings in Ohio or Missouri. +But these in their turn become worn +out—and as cultivation travels on +westward, the chief centres of agricultural +production are gradually receding +farther and farther from the +chief centres of population and consumption; +and this increasing distance, +and consequent cost of transport, +is every year enhancing the price +of grain in the busy and crowded +marts of the West—ever filling up +with the incessant stream of immigration +from Europe. Such is Mr +Johnston's view of the present normal +condition of the Union in regard +to the sustenance of her people; and +he makes it the ground-work, as we +shall presently see, of certain rather +doubtful inferences, of some importance +in their bearing on the agriculture of +this country. One consequence, however, +of any material increase in the +price of food in the Eastern States of +the Union is very obvious—the proprietor +of land in these districts will +gradually be enabled to apply, with +profit to his exhausted soil, the artificial +aids and costlier system of culture +followed in Britain. Already this +result is apparent in Professor Johnston's +account of the energetic spirit +of agricultural improvement which is +rapidly spreading over most of the +New England States. In the keen, +restless, and enterprising New Englander, +our Old Country farmers will +undoubtedly find a more formidable +competitor, for the honour of the first +place in agricultural advancement, +than any they have yet met on this +side of the Atlantic. We have seen +this year what his invention can produce +in mechanical contrivances for +economising the labour of the field; +and, that he is not indifferent to the +aids which science can afford him, is +sufficiently proved by the occasion of +that visit to America of which Professor +Johnston has here given so pleasant +and instructive a record. The +invitation was not more creditable to +the character of the Professor, than to +the discernment of the zealous and +patriotic men who thus showed how +correctly they apprehend the true +method of improving their fine +country. His engagement was fulfilled +during the sitting of the State +Legislature at Albany in January +1850, when the hall of the Assembly +was given up to him as a lecture-room; +the leading members of the +Assembly and of the State Agricultural +Society were among his auditors, +and the greatest public interest was +evinced in the important subjects of +his prelections.</p> + +<p>It is apparent, from many passages +of the <em>Notes</em>, that the author has +listened too confidingly to the flattering +tale—the "<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">canor mulcendas natus +ad aures</i>" of the syren of Free Trade. +He seems to be gifted with a strong +natural faith, and a patriotic confidence +in what British enterprise, and +especially British agriculture, can +achieve in the way of surmounting +difficulties. It is not perhaps to be +wondered at that one, whose professional +pursuits naturally lead him to +place a high value upon the aids which +science has in store for the agriculturist, +should encourage the farmer +to think lightly of his present difficulties,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_701" id="Page_701">[701]</a></span> +and keep up his spirits with the +hope of some paulo-post-future prosperity. +It must be allowed that the +farmer, poor fellow, has not wanted +abundance of kind friends to comfort +him in his adversity. Generally, +however, their consolations—like +those of the sympathetic Mrs Gamp—have +been rather indefinite—vague +moralisings upon his calamity, as if +it were some inevitable stroke of Providence, +to be bowed to in silent +resignation, and hazy anticipations of +good luck awaiting him. Others, +again—who have professed the greatest +friendship for him, and, like the +Knight of Netherby, have come down +to hearten up the broken-down man +by imparting to him some plan of +theirs, as sheep-pasturage or the like, +for setting him on his legs again—are +mentally taking an inventory of +his remaining chattels, and calculating +when to send the sheriff's officer. +But Professor Johnston belongs to +neither of these classes of comforters. +His opinion, we know, is at least +disinterested, and he brings it before +us in the shape of a distinct proposition—viz., +that the wheat-exporting +capabilities of the United States are +not so great as have generally been +supposed, and that, as they must +diminish rather than increase in +future, the prospect of competition +with American produce need cause no +alarm to the British farmer.</p> + +<p>This opinion, coming from such +an authority, claims a deliberate +examination; and the more so that, +in the dearth of other gratulatory +topics, it has been eagerly laid hold +of by the <cite>Edinburgh Review</cite>, the +<cite>Economist</cite>, and other Free-Trade +organs, and vaunted as a complete +proof that protective duties are quite +unnecessary.</p> + +<p>The reasons which Professor Johnston +assigns for believing that the +<em>present</em> wheat-exporting powers of the +United States have been exaggerated, +may be passed over with very little +comment. The Board of Trade returns +leave no room for doubt as to +the quantity that has actually reached +this country, and it is therefore unnecessary +for us to follow him through +his hypothetical estimate of the exportable +grain, grounded on what +they <em>ought</em> to have had to spare for +us. We may remark, however, that +the data on which his calculations +proceed are far from satisfactory. He +shows that all the <em>wheat</em> produced in +the United States, as given in the +estimates of the Patent Office, is inadequate +to afford the eight bushels +which in England we reckon to be +requisite for the annual supply of +each inhabitant—the population of +the Union being about twenty-one +millions, and the produce of wheat one +hundred and twenty-seven millions +of bushels. He does not overlook +altogether the fact that wheat is +not in America, as it is with us, almost +the sole cereal food of the +people; and he admits that a considerable +allowance must be made +for the consumption of Indian corn +instead of wheat. But how much?—That +is the question. The compilers +of the State Papers at Washington +estimate that Indian corn, buckwheat, +and other grain, form so large a proportion +of the food of the people, that +they require only <em>three</em> bushels of +wheat per head; and no doubt they +have good grounds for this calculation. +Professor Johnston, however, without +indicating any reason whatever +for his assumption, has set down the +consumption of each individual at <em>five</em> +bushels per annum; and thus, by a +stroke of his pen, he reduces the average +exportable surplus of the Union +to <em>only</em> three millions of quarters.</p> + +<p>As to what may be expected in future—Professor +Johnston anticipates +the gradual diminution of the supply, +from the circumstance, already adverted +to, of the progressive exhaustion +of the newer lands of the Union, +and the rapid increase of population +in the old. If several of the Western +States, he argues, have even already +ceased to raise enough wheat for the +supply of their present inhabitants, +and are compelled to draw largely on +the produce of the remote States of +Illinois, Ohio, &c.—and if the productive +power of these new lands is +annually becoming less, the virgin +soils more distant, and the transport +of subsistence more difficult—if this +is the state of matters now, what +will it be in 1860, when immigration +and natural increase will probably +have raised the population of the +Union to some thirty-four millions?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_702" id="Page_702">[702]</a></span> +"It is very safe," he concludes, "to +say that in 1860 their wheat-exporting +capability will have become so +small as to give our British farmers +very little cause for apprehension." It +may perchance occur to these gentlemen, +that the consolation Professor +Johnston here offers them is not very +cheering after all; and as long as +they see the provision stores in every +market town piled up with the interloping +flour barrels of New York, +and their own waggons returning +home with their loads unsold, it is +not to be wondered at if they are +not greatly exhilarated with the +prospect of what may possibly happen +nine years hence. And slender +as is the hope deferred here held out +to them, it rests, we fear, on very +questionable grounds.</p> + +<p>Professor Johnston's opinion is +founded on two suppositions: 1st, +That the exhaustion of the Western +States, on which he dwells so much, is +proceeding so rapidly as already to +affect the markets of the eastern districts; +2d, That these older districts +will be unable to increase the quantity +of produce raised within their own +boundaries, without so adding to its +cost as to prevent its being profitably +exported.</p> + +<p>As to the first supposition, it may +be conceded that, in the course of +time, a period must necessarily come +when the spontaneous fertility of the +newer-settled States will cease to +yield grain with the same bountiful +abundance it has done hitherto. But, +when may that period be expected +to arrive?—to what extent has exhaustion +already taken place?—and +what is the rate of its progress? For +a reply, we have only to point to +that vast territory, bounded by the +lakes on the north and Ohio on the +south, comprising the five States of +Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and +Wisconsin—a territory eight times +the size of England and Wales, with +a population about equal to that +of Scotland, containing 180,000,000 +acres of arable land, a large portion +of which is of surprising fertility—and +ask whether it is possible to +believe that it has already reached +the turning point of its wheat-productiveness,<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> +or can by any possibility +do so for centuries to come? +Why, the extent of land advertised +in these five States for sale, (which +forms only a fraction of what still +remains in the hands of government,) +is greater by a fourth than the whole +area of England; and of the territory +that has been actually sold, it is +estimated that five-sevenths is still +unreclaimed from the wilderness. +Then look at the means of transport +provided for conveying the overflowing +abundance of those rich +alluvial regions to the markets of the +East, by way of the two great outlets—the +lakes on the north, and the +Mississippi on the south. The cost of +such transport is no doubt considerable; +the conveyance of a quarter of +wheat from the centre of Illinois to +Boston, by New Orleans, averages +about 16s. 6d. But, nevertheless, so +trifling is the original cost of production, +that immense quantities of corn +do annually reach the eastern seaboard +by this route, a considerable +portion of which is re-shipped to +Liverpool, and sold there at prices +greatly below its cost of production +in this country. The annexed table<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> +shows the remarkable fact, that, of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_703" id="Page_703">[703]</a></span> +the whole quantity of grain exported +from the United States in the five +years 1842-6, twelve-thirteenths of +the wheat, about one-half of the +flour, and a large proportion of the +Indian corn, came from the two ports +of New York and Philadelphia alone. +Now, as we know that these large +supplies were not grown within the +confines of the Eastern States, and +<em>must</em> have been brought from the +westward, the inference is obvious +that the two causes insisted on by +Professor Johnston—the distance of +the virgin soils, and the expense of +transport—are as yet inoperative; or +at least that they have not prevented +the transmission of grain to the east +in such vast quantities, as not only +to meet the wants of all the population +of that part of the Union, but to +afford an average surplus for exportation +to other countries equivalent to +the annual maintenance of a million +and a half of men. We need only +mention one other fact, which seems +in itself a sufficient refutation of the +theory Professor Johnston has taken +up. The causes which he thinks are +so soon to dry up the supplies now derived +from the West are of no recent +or sudden emergence. The process +of exhaustion on the new lands, and +the rapid population of the old, has +been going on for many years. If, +then, these causes are so influential +as he imagines, their effects should at +least be apparent in a gradual increase +of the prices of bread-stuffs in +the Eastern States. Now, no such +effect is to be found. On the contrary, +we find that, during the last +twenty years, the price of wheat, as +well as of maize, in the chief marts +of the east, has been <em>steadily diminishing, +instead of increasing</em>. We extract +from the returns published by +the Board of Trade the annexed +comparison<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> of the prices of wheat +flour at New York, during two periods, +from which it appears that, in +the very State where the results of +Professor Johnston's hypothesis ought +to have been most manifest, the experience +of twenty years shows a reduction +of price instead of an enhancement, +notwithstanding that the latter +period in the comparison embraces +the years of the potato failure. An +examination of similar returns from +Baltimore and New Orleans establishes +the same fact, namely, that +the tendency of prices for twenty +years past is <em>not upwards, but downwards</em>—a +fact quite irreconcilable +with the supposed rapid exhaustion +of the wheat soils of the interior.</p> + +<p>It is much to be regretted that Professor +Johnston was unable to extend +his tour to these granary States of the +West. It would have been satisfactory +to have had from him an estimate +of their capabilities founded on +actual survey and personal observation, +instead of indirect inference. +We are quite ready to admit, that +many of the accounts of those regions +which have reached us, drawn up to +suit the purposes of speculators in +land, are of very dubious authenticity, +and, like the stage-coach in which +Mr Dickens travelled to Buffalo, have +"a pretty loud smell of varnish." +But, on the other hand, we cannot +discredit the official data supplied by +the State papers—without at least +stronger grounds than those inferences +from general geological structure +which Professor Johnston has adduced +to disprove the alleged fertility of the +State of Michigan. There can, of +course, be no more valuable criterion +of the natural agricultural value of a +country than is afforded by its geology—provided +the survey be sufficiently +extensive and accurate. But<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_704" id="Page_704">[704]</a></span> +it is difficult to follow those enthusiasts +in the science, whom we occasionally +find drawing the most startling +deductions from very narrow +data—and prophesying the future +history of the territory, and even the +character of its inhabitants, from a +glance at the bowels of the earth, as +the Roman augur foretold the fate +of empires from the entrails of his +chickens.</p> + +<p>We find, for example, a writer of +high standing in America accounting +for a remarkable diminution in the +amount of <em>bastardy</em> in Pennsylvania, +some thirty years ago, by the fact—that +the settlers at that time <em>had got +off the cold clays and on to the limestone</em>! +A Scottish geologist, with +more apparent reason perhaps, has +founded an argument for an extensive +emigration of the Highlanders on the +prevalence of the primitive rocks in +the north and west of Scotland. It +is only from a complete and systematic +survey that we can venture to +predicate anything with certainty of +the future agricultural powers of a +country; and, in the absence of such +trustworthy data, we must be content +to estimate the future wheat-productiveness +of Michigan, as well as +of the other States we have named +along with it, from what we know of +their present fertility, and of the vast +extent that is still uncleared.</p> + +<p>As to New York and the other old-settled +States of the Union, which we +are told do not now produce enough +for their own consumption, are we to +take it for granted that they are always +to continue stationary, and to +make no effort to keep pace with the +growing demands of an increasing +population? Professor Johnston, we +observe in one passage, has qualified +his opinion as to the prospective dearth +of grain by this curious condition—"<em>Provided +no change takes place in +their agricultural system.</em>" But what +shadow of a reason can be given for +supposing it will not take place? The +area of New York State is only one-twelfth +less than that of England, and +is, at least, no way inferior as to climate +or quality of soil. As far as +material means go, it is quite capable +of maintaining, under an improved +culture, at least four times its present +population of three millions. +The only question is as to the will +and ability of her people to develop +these means; and on this point Professor +Johnston's own work is full +of multiplied proofs of the zealous +and intelligent spirit of improvement +which is extending rapidly all over +the North-Eastern States. We find +the central government of the Confederation +occupied in organising the +plan of an Agricultural Bureau on a +scale worthy of a great and enlightened +nation—a work that contrasts +in a very marked way with the +studious neglect which such subjects +meet with from the government of +this country.<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> We find the several +State legislatures anxiously encouraging +every species of improvement—that +of New York, in particular, +devoting large grants to the +support of exhibitions; preparing to +found an Agricultural College; distributing +widely and gratuitously the +annual public reports on the state +of agriculture; and, finally, sending +to Europe for a celebrated chemist +to assist in maturing their plans, and +sitting—senators and great officers of +state—at the feet of a British Gamaliel, +laying down the law to them on +the true principles of the all-important +science of agriculture. Nor are +the owners of the land asleep. It is +a strong indication of their growing +desire for information, that seven or +eight agricultural periodicals are published +in the State of New York alone. +Professor Johnston found no less than +fifty copies of such papers taken regularly +in a small town in Connecticut +of some two thousand inhabitants; +and he had occasion to observe, in +his intercourse with the farmers of +New York, their general acquaintance +with the geology of their country, and +its relation to the management of +their lands. Their implement-makers, +who had already taught us the use +of the horse-rake, the cradle-scythe, +and the improved churn, have +recently outstripped us by the invention, +or at least the great improvement, +of the reaping-machine, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_705" id="Page_705">[705]</a></span> +advantages of which are so appreciated +in the country of its origin +that at Chicago 1500 of M'Cormick's +machines were ordered in one year. +In short, the proverbial energy, perseverance, +and sagacity that distinguish +our Yankee friends, seem now +to be all directed towards effecting a +change of system in the management +of land; and the true question is, not +whether the hitherto laggard progress +of American agriculture is to be quickened +in future, but whether we shall +be able to keep pace with it.</p> + +<p>But then Professor Johnston tells +us that improvement is expensive, and +that every process for reviving the +dormant powers of the soil, and preserving +their activity, must necessarily +be attended with an addition to the +price of the produce, which will thus +prevent its coming into competition +with that of England. This view rests +upon a fallacy, which we are sure the +author must have drawn from his reading +in political economy, and not from +his experience as an agriculturist. It is +an off-shoot from the rent-theory, (the +pestilent root of so much error and +confusion,) which, however, we shall +not notice at present, further than by +affirming, in direct contradiction to it, +that improvements do <em>not</em> necessarily, +nor generally, involve an increase of +price. Even those which require the +greatest outlay—even a complete system +of arterial drainage all over the +State of New York, instead of adding +to the cost of wheat, may very probably +reduce it, as it has certainly done +in this country. But most of the improvements +readily available in the +Eastern States involve scarcely any +expenditure at all. The most obvious +and effectual is to save and apply +the manure, which is now wasted or +thrown away; and when that proves +insufficient, abundant supplies of +mineral manures are easily procurable. +On the exhausted wheat-lands +of Virginia, a single dressing of lime +or marl generally doubles the first +crop. Deposits of gypsum, and of +the valuable mineral phosphate of +lime, seem to be abundant both in +New York and New Jersey. Again, +in the former State, where the common +practice is to plough to a depth +of <em>not more than four inches</em>, the simple +expedient of putting in the plough +a few inches deeper would of itself +add one-half to the return of wheat +over a very large district.</p> + +<p>On the whole, so far from seeing any +reason to anticipate, with Professor +Johnston, a material reduction in the +quantity of our wheat imports from +the States, we look rather to see it +increased; and, at all events, we have +no hesitation in saying, that to encourage +our English farmers to expect +a cessation of competition from that +quarter is to deceive them with very +groundless hopes.</p> + +<p>We have already dwelt at considerable +length on this topic, both because +of the prominent place it occupies +in Professor Johnston's volumes, and +of the notice which his speculations +upon it have attracted in this country.</p> + +<p>It has been mentioned that a large +proportion—probably not less than +one-half—of the cereal food consumed +in the States consists of maize and +buckwheat. Mr Johnston always +alludes to this fact, as if the use of +these grains were a matter of compulsion—as +if the Americans resorted +to them from being unable to afford +wheaten bread. Now, according to +the information we have from other +sources, the truth is just the reverse +of this. We are told that in the +Eastern and Central States, as well +as on the West frontier and among +the slave population, the various preparations +of Indian corn are becoming +more relished every year; and +that the extension of its cultivation +is to be attributed, not to the failure +of the wheat crops, but to a growing +preference for it as an article of food. +In a less degree the use both of oats +and buckwheat seems to be spreading +in the States, as well as in our +own colonies of New Brunswick and +Canada East; and one can scarcely +wonder at the taste for the latter +grain, after reading the appetising +descriptions our author gives of the +crisp hot cakes, with their savoury +adjuncts of maple-honey, which so +often formed his breakfast during his +wanderings. The general use of these +three kinds of grain—maize, oats, and +buckwheat—has somehow come to be +considered by political economists as +indicative of a low degree of social +advancement. And yet we know that, +in the countries suited to their growth,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_706" id="Page_706">[706]</a></span> +a given area of ground cultivated with +any of them will return a greater +quantity of nutritious food, at a smaller +expense and with less risk of failure, +than if it were cropped with wheat. +We are told that the great objection to +them is, that their culture <em>is too easy</em>. +Professor Johnston touches upon this +notion in some remarks he makes on +the disadvantage of buckwheat as a +staple article of food. The objections +to it, he tells us, consist in the ease +with which it can be raised, the rapidity +of its growth, and the small quantity +of seed it requires: it induces, he says, +like the potato, an indolent, slovenly, +and exhausting culture; and "it is +the prelude of evil, when a kind of +food that requires little exertion to +obtain it becomes the staple support +of a people."<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> It may be noticed in +passing, that, in point of fact, the +results alleged are at least not universal; +for, in regard to this very +grain, we find its cultivation prevalent +in some of the best-managed districts +of the hard-working, provident, +and intelligent Belgians. But taking +the axiom as it stands, we cannot +help suspecting that there is some +fallacy lurking at the bottom of it. +Misled by what we have observed of +the Irishman and his potato diet, we +have confounded the <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">cum hoc</i> with +the <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">propter hoc</i>, and come to regard +an easily-raised food as <em>the cause</em> of +that indolence of which it is only the +frequent indication. It were otherwise +a most inexplicable contrariety +between the physical and the moral +laws which govern this world, that +in every country there should be a +penalty of social wretchedness and +degradation attached to the use of +that particular food which its climate +and soil are best suited to produce. +Can it be supposed that the blessings +of nature are only a moral snare for +us, and that, while she has given to +the American the maize plant—oats +to the Scotch Highlander—rice to +the Hindoo—the banana to the inhabitant +of Brazil—a regard for their +social well-being requires each of +them to renounce these gifts, and to +spend their labour in extorting from +the unwilling soil some less congenial +kind of subsistence? Virgil has +warned the husbandman—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i12">"Pater ipse colendi<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Haud facilem esse viam voluit."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noind">But it were surely a dire aggravation +of the difficulties of his task if his +most plentiful harvest were also the +most injurious to his advancement +and true happiness. We cannot +now, however, examine the grounds +of a doctrine so paradoxical, and +have adverted to it only to remark +that it seems destined to meet with a +most direct practical refutation in +North America, where we find the +habitual use of what we choose to +consider the coarser grains associated +with the highest intelligence and the +most rapid development of social +progress. There can be no doubt +that the nature of the food generally +used in any nation must exert an important +influence on its prosperity; +but it is difficult to understand how +that prosperity should be promoted +by the universal use of that variety +which costs most labour. At all +events, it is certainly a subject of +very interesting inquiry, in reference +to the increasing consumption among +ourselves of wheat—the dearest and +most precarious species of grain, +much of it imported from other countries—and +its gradual abandonment +in North America, what effect these +opposite courses may have on the +future destinies of the two great +branches of the Anglo-Saxon race.</p> + +<p>Leaving this as a problem for political +economists, let us now follow +him in his visit to the British side +of the St Lawrence. His brief three +weeks' survey of the Canadas did +not, of course, enable him to form +any very intimate acquaintance with +the condition of these provinces; +and he prudently abstains from pronouncing +any judgment upon the +vexed topics of Canadian politics. +His presence at the great exhibition, +at Kingston, of the Agricultural Society +of Upper Canada, gave him a +good opportunity of estimating the +progress that has been made in practical +agriculture. The stock, as well +as the implements, there brought<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_707" id="Page_707">[707]</a></span> +forward in competition for the various +premiums, amounting in all to £1000, +gave most satisfactory indications of +improvement; while the large attendance, +and the interest taken in the +proceedings, sufficiently showed that +the inhabitants of the Upper Province +are now awake to the necessity of +agricultural improvement as the main +source of their future prosperity. In +a country where eighty per cent of +the whole population are directly engaged +in the cultivation of the soil, +the land interest is, or ought to be, +predominant. But the bitter animosity +of political parties, and the abortive +attempts of government to soothe +and reconcile them, have hitherto +stood much in the way of any combined +effort towards the encouragement +of improved cultivation. The +art of husbandry is not likely to thrive +in a country where every man is bent +on proving himself a Cincinnatus. +Of late, however, public spirit has +shown symptoms of taking a more +wholesome direction; and, notwithstanding +occasional ministerial crises +and political explosions, which we on +this side the water are sometimes +puzzled to understand, all parties in +the province seem now fully aware +that the development of the vast +resources of their fertile soil is the +only road to permanent prosperity. +The encouragement of local competitions, +the provision for systematic instruction +in agriculture in the colleges—which +Professor Johnston tells us is +in progress—and the introduction of +elementary lessons in the art as a regular +branch of common school learning, +are all steps in the right direction. +It is precisely in such a community as +that of Canada that the last-mentioned +kind of instruction is really of +essential benefit. From the last +census of Upper Canada, it appears +that there are sixty thousand owners +of land in the province, and only ten +thousand labourers without land. +The great majority of the boys in +the ordinary schools will become proprietors, +and, at the same time, cultivators; +and, in such circumstances, +it is of the utmost importance that +the youth should acquire betimes a +competent knowledge of the principles +on which his future practice is, +or ought to be, founded—such knowledge +as will, at least, enable him to, +shake off the traditional prejudices +and slovenly habits which his father +may have imported with him from +Harris or the County Kerry.</p> + +<p>The querulous and depreciatory +tone which our Canadian fellow-subjects +are apt to employ in speaking of +their country, and its prospects, is +remarked by Professor Johnston as +contrasting oddly with the unqualified +adulation of everything—from +the national constitution to the navy +button—which one constantly hears +from his republican neighbour. One +consequence of this habit is, the +existence of a prevalent but very +mistaken notion that, in the march of +social advancement, Canada has been +completely distanced by the United +States. Professor Johnston has been +at some pains to demonstrate, and we +think most successfully, that this impression +is entirely erroneous. Indeed, +if we only recollect the history +of Canada for the last fifteen years—the +disunion of her own people, and +the reckless commercial experiments +to which she has been subjected by +the home government, the rapid strides +in improvement—of the Upper Province +especially—are almost marvellous. +As a corroboration of what Professor +Johnston has said on the subject, +we have thrown together in the +subjoined table, collected from the +Government returns, some of the +most striking and decisive evidences +of the recent progress of Upper +Canada. In certain particulars, no +doubt, she is outstripped by some of +those districts of the States to which +from time to time extraordinary +migrations of their unsettled and +nomadic population have been directed. +But putting such exceptional +cases out of view, the inhabitants of +Canada need fear no comparison +with the Union in all the chief elements +of national advancement.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_708" id="Page_708">[708]</a></span></p> + + +<p class="center">PROGRESS OF UPPER CANADA,—1837-47.</p> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="upper"> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"> </td><td align="right">Increase</td><td align="right"> </td><td align="right">Increase</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="right">1837.</td><td align="right">1842.</td><td align="center">per cent.</td><td align="right">1847.</td><td align="center">per cent.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align="left" colspan="5">———————————————————————————</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Population,</td><td align="right">396,721</td><td align="right">486,055</td><td align="right">22</td><td align="right">723,332</td><td align="right">48</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Number of cultivated acres assessed for local taxes,</td><td align="right">4,736,268</td><td align="right">5,548,357</td><td align="right">17</td><td align="right">6,477,338</td><td align="right">16</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Number of houses assessed for ditto,</td><td align="right">22,057</td><td align="right">31,638</td><td align="right">43</td><td align="right">42,937</td><td align="right">35</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Value of property assessed,</td><td align="right">£4,431,098</td><td align="right">£6,913,341</td><td align="right">56</td><td align="right">£8,567,001</td><td align="right">23</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Number of carriages kept for pleasure,</td><td align="right">1,627</td><td align="right">2,188</td><td align="right">34</td><td align="right">4,685</td><td align="right">114</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Number of elementary schools,</td><td align="right">—</td><td align="right">927</td><td align="right">—</td><td align="right">2,464</td><td align="right">165</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Number of scholars in ditto,</td><td align="right">—</td><td align="right">29,961</td><td align="right">—</td><td align="right">80,461</td><td align="right">170</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Number of cattle,</td><td align="right">—</td><td align="right">504,963</td><td align="right">—</td><td align="right">565,848</td><td align="right">12</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Number of horses,</td><td align="right">—</td><td align="right">113,675</td><td align="right">—</td><td align="right">151,389</td><td align="right">33</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Number of sheep,</td><td align="right">—</td><td align="right">575,730</td><td align="right">—</td><td align="right">833,869</td><td align="right">45</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>In looking at the great sources of +wealth possessed by these provinces, +our attention is at once arrested by +the growing importance of the St +Lawrence as an outlet to the produce, +not only of the Canadas, but of a vast +area of the States territory. With +the exception, perhaps, of the Mississippi, +no river in the world opens up +so grand a highway for the industry +of man as the St Lawrence, with the +chain of vast lakes and innumerable +rivers that unite with it in the two +thousand miles of its majestic progress +to the ocean. Never was there an +enterprise more worthy of a great +nation than that of surmounting the +obstacles to its navigation, and completing +the channels of connection +with its tributary waters; and nobly +have the people of Canada executed +it. Taking into account the infancy +of their country, and the amount of its +population and revenue, it is not too +much to say, with Mr Johnston, that +their exertions to secure water-communication +have been greater than +those of any part of the Union, or +any country of Europe. The improvements +on the St Lawrence itself, +and the canals connected with it, +have already cost the colony two millions +and a quarter sterling, in addition +to the expenditure of £800,000 +by the home government on the construction +of the Rideau Canal. The +results of this liberal but judicious +outlay are already showing themselves, +not only by the rapidly-increasing +Canadian traffic on the St Lawrence, +but by its drawing into it, year after +year, a larger share of the commerce +of the States. That the influx of +trade from the south must ere long +vastly exceed its present amount, is +evident from a consideration of the +gigantic projects already completed, +or in course of construction, for effecting +an access between the lakes and +the fertile regions of Ohio, Indiana, +and Illinois, &c., already spoken of, +and thus saving the longer and costlier +transit by the Mississippi. One +of the Reports of the State of New +York thus speaks of them:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"Three great canals, (one of them +longer than the Erie Canal,) embracing +in their aggregate length about one thousand +miles, are to connect the Ohio with +Lake Erie; while another deep and capacious +channel, excavated for nearly thirty +miles through solid rock, unites Lake +Michigan with the navigable waters of +the Illinois. In addition to these broad +avenues of trade, they are constructing +lines of railroads not less than fifteen +hundred miles in extent, in order to reach +with more case and speed the lakes +through which they seek a conveyance to +the seaboard. The circumstance, moreover, +is particularly important, that the +public works of each of these great communities +are arranged on a harmonious +plan, each having a main line, supported +and enriched by lateral and tributary<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_709" id="Page_709">[709]</a></span> +branches, thereby bringing the industry +of their people into prompt and profitable +action; while the systems themselves are +again united, on a grander scale, with +Lake Erie as its common centre."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The various streams of the trade +from the interior being thus collected +in the lakes—which form, as it were, +the heart of the system—there are +two great channels for its redistribution +and dispersion through the markets +of the world. These are the St +Lawrence, and the Erie Canal with +the Hudson; and the vital question +as regards the prosperity of Canada +is, by which of these outlets will the +concentrated traffic of the lakes find +its way to the ocean? Mr Johnston +has devoted considerable attention to +this subject, and assigns two good +reasons for believing that the St +Lawrence is destined immensely to +increase the share which it has already +secured. In the first place, the +American artery is already surcharged +and choked up;—notwithstanding +all the efforts that have +been made to expedite the traffic on +the Erie Canal, it has been found +wholly inadequate to accommodate +the immense trade pouring in from +the west; and, secondly, the route +of the St Lawrence, besides being +the more expeditious, is now found +to be the cheaper one. In a document +issued by the Executive Council +of Upper Canada, it is mentioned +that the Great Ohio Railway Company, +having occasion to import about +11,000 tons of railway iron from +England, made special inquiries as to +the relative cost of transport by the +St Lawrence and New York routes, +the result of which was the preference +of the former, the saving on the inland +transport alone being 11,000 +dollars. There seems good reason to +expect that a considerable portion of +the Mississippi trade may be diverted +into the Canadian channel; but putting +this out of view altogether, it is +certain that the navigation of this +glorious river is every year becoming +of greater importance to the United +States, as well as to Britain: let us +hope that it is destined ever to bear +on its broad breast the blessings of +peace and mutual prosperity to both +nations.</p> + +<p>After a rapid glance at Lower +Canada, Professor Johnston crossed +the St Lawrence, in order to complete +the survey of New Brunswick, which, +before leaving England, he had been +commissioned to make for the Government +of the colony. We have had +no opportunity of seeing the official +Report, in which he has published +the detailed results of his observations; +but the valuable information +collected in these volumes has strongly +confirmed our previous impression, +that the resources and importance of +this fine colony have never yet been +sufficiently appreciated at home. +With an area as nearly as possible +equal to that of Scotland, it possesses +a much larger surface available for +agriculture. The climate is healthy +and invigorating; it is traversed by +numerous navigable rivers; its rocks +contain considerable mineral wealth; +and the fisheries on its coasts are inexhaustible. +Imperfectly developed +as its resources are, the trade from +the two ports of St John's and St +Andrew's alone, exceeds that of the +whole of the three adjoining States of +the Union—Maine, Vermont, and +New Hampshire—although its inhabitants +do not number one-sixth of the +population of these States. As to the +fertility of the soil, Professor Johnston, +by a comparison of authentic returns, +shows that the productive power of +the land already cultivated in the +province considerably exceeds the +averages of New York, of Ohio, and +of Upper Canada—countries which +have hitherto been considered more +favoured both in soil and climate. +By classifying the soils in the several +districts, he has estimated that the +available land, after deducting a reserve +for fuel, is capable of maintaining in +abundance a population of 4,200,000; +while its present number little exceeds +200,000. In all the course of his +travels, he met with but a few +rare instances in which the agricultural +settlers did not express their +contentment with their circumstances; +and although it seems still questionable +whether farming on a large +scale, by the employment of hired +labour, can be made remunerative, +the universal opinion of the experienced +persons he consulted testified +that, with ordinary prudence and industry, +the poorest settler, who confines<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_710" id="Page_710">[710]</a></span> +his attention to the clearing and cultivation +of land, is sure of attaining a +comfortable independence.</p> + +<p>The question naturally occurs—How +is it that, with all these natural +advantages and encouragements to colonisation, +and with its proximity to +our shores, so very small a proportion—not +more than one in sixty or seventy +of the emigrants from Great Britain—make +New Brunswick their destination? +Professor Johnston, while he +maintains that, taking population into +account, New Brunswick is in this +respect no worse off than Canada, +adverts to several causes of a special +nature which may have retarded its +settlement. But the truth is, that +the question above started leads us +directly to another of far greater compass +and importance—What is the +reason that all our colonies taken +together absorb so small a proportion +of our emigrants compared with the +United States? What is the nature +of the inducements that annually +impel so large a number of our countrymen +to forfeit the character of British +subjects, and prefer a domicile +among those who are aliens in laws, +interests, and system of government?</p> + +<p>We hardly know how to venture +upon anything connected with the +ominous subject of emigration, at a +moment when the crowds leaving our +shores, at the rate of nearly a thousand +every day, are such as to startle +the most apathetic observer, and +shake the faith of the most dogmatic +economist in the truth of his speculations. +This is not the place to inquire +what strangely compulsive cause +it may be that has all at once swelled +the ordinary stream of emigration +into a headlong torrent.<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> Mayhap it +is neither distant, nor doubtful, nor +unforetold. But whatever it may be, +there stands the fact—which we can +neither undo, nor, for aught that can +be seen at present, prevent its annual +recurrence in future, or say how and +when the waves are to be stayed. +"When the Exe runs up the streets +of Tiverton," says a certain noble +prophet—whose vaticinations, however, +have not been very felicitous +hitherto—"then, and not till then, +may we expect to see the reversal of +the free-import system;" and then, +and not till then, we take leave to +add, may we hope to see the ebbing +of that tide of British capital and +British strength which is now flowing +strongly and steadily into the bay +of New York.</p> + + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Proportion of British Emigration to the Colonies and to the United States, +1846-50 inclusive.</span></p> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="emigration"> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"> </td><td align="right"> </td><td align="right"> </td><td align="right"> </td><td align="right"> </td><td align="center">Quarter</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Destination.</td><td align="right">1846.</td><td align="right">1847.</td><td align="right">1848.</td><td align="right">1849.</td><td align="right">1850.</td><td align="center">ending Sept</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"> </td><td align="right"> </td><td align="right"> </td><td align="right"> </td><td align="right"> </td><td align="right"><span class="bb">30, 1851.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">United States</td><td align="right">45.1</td><td align="right">31.8</td><td align="right">57.3</td><td align="right">73.3</td><td align="right">79.4</td><td align="right">80.5</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">British America</td><td align="right">33.4</td><td align="right">42.5</td><td align="right">12.5</td><td align="right">13.9</td><td align="right">11.7</td><td align="right">10.8</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">All other places</td><td align="right">21.5</td><td align="right">25.7</td><td align="right">30.2</td><td align="right">12.8</td><td align="right">8.9</td><td align="right">8.7</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">Total</td><td align="right"><span class="bt">100.</span></td><td align="right"><span class="bt">100.</span></td><td align="right"><span class="bt">100.</span></td><td align="right"><span class="bt">100.</span></td><td align="right"><span class="bt">100.</span></td><td align="right"><span class="bt">100.</span></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>The accompanying abstract, from +the returns of the Emigration Commissioners, +exhibits two most remarkable +results:—1st, The proportion of +emigration to British America and +other destinations is gradually falling +off; 2d, That to the United States is +steadily and rapidly increasing, so +that they now receive four out of +every five emigrants who leave our +shores. Is this distribution to be +regarded as a matter of indifference +in a political point of view? Are we +to understand that it is no concern to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_711" id="Page_711">[711]</a></span> +us who remain behind, whether the +labour and capital of those who leave +us shall go to fill up the vacuum of +our own colonial empire, or to carry +new accessions of wealth and power +to those in whose prosperity (to put +the matter mildly) we have only a +secondary interest? This question +the consistent Free-Trader is bound +to answer unhesitatingly in the affirmative. +In his cosmopolitan philosophy, +the interests of one country +are no more to be considered than +those of any other. The theory of +absolute freedom of exchange expunges +altogether the idea of nationalism, +and regards man, not as a +member of this or that community, +but as the denizen of a great universal +republic. Local and historical +associations—ties of kindred and of +birth—are only so many obstructions +in the way of human progress; and +an Englishman is nothing more than +the subject of certain animal wants +and instincts, the gratification of +which he must be left to seek wherever +he finds the materials most +abundant. Such is Free Trade in its +true scope and ultimate tendency. +What shall be said, then, of the consistency +or sincerity of those pseudo-apostles +of the doctrine, who, having +been the most active in promoting +that nibbling and piecemeal legislation +which they choose to call freedom +of trade—who have been loudest +in proclaiming a universal commercial +fraternity, and in denouncing +colonies as a wasteful encumbrance—are +now the first to take alarm at the +natural and inevitable result of their +own measures, and to call out for a +better regulation of emigration; in +other words, for legislative interference +with the free action of those +of our countrymen who, being thrust +out of employment in the land of their +birth, are so literally following out +the great maxim of buying in the +cheapest market and selling in the +dearest?</p> + +<p>The text is a tempting one, but we +must refrain from wandering further +from the subject with which we started—namely, +the inducements which lead so many +of our emigrants to +select the United States as their +future home. One of the prevalent +causes has been very well stated by +Professor Johnston—that which we +may call the capillary attraction of +former emigration:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"A letter from a connection or acquaintance +determines the choice of a +place to go to, and, without further inquiry, +the emigrant starts. Thus for a +while, emigration to a given point, once +begun, goes on progressively by a sort of +innate force. Those who go before urge +those who follow by hasty and inaccurate +representations; so that, the more +numerous the settlers from a particular +district, the more numerous also the invitations +for others to follow, till the +fever of emigration subsides. In other +words, in proportion as the home-born +settlers in one of these countries increases, +will the number of home-born emigrants +to that country increase—<em>but for a time +only, if the place have real disadvantages</em>."—(Vol. +ii, p. 204.)</p></blockquote> + +<p>It is vain to shut our eyes to the +fact that the government of the +United States offers to the emigrant +many real, substantial, and peculiar +advantages. The first and most important +aid that can be given to the +intending settler is a complete and +accurate survey of the country; and +this has been accomplished by the +States government at great expense, +but in so perfect a manner that a +purchaser has no difficulty in at once +pointing out, on the official plan, any +lot he may have selected in the most +remote corner of the wilderness. The +next point of importance to him is +simplicity of conveyance and security +of title; and so effectual and satisfactory +is the American system that +litigation in original land-titles is +almost unknown. Then as to the +weighty consideration of price—which +perhaps ought to have been +first mentioned—the uniform and +very low rate in the States of 5s. 3d. +an acre saves infinite trouble, disputation, +and jealousy. Such are some +of the temptations held out to the +intending purchaser of land; and it +must be confessed that, in each particular, +they present a striking contrast +to the difficulties he has to meet in +some of the British colonies—the +arbitrary changes of system, the +vexatious delays, and the comparatively +exorbitant charges—which +must appear to the settler as if they +had been contrived on purpose to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_712" id="Page_712">[712]</a></span> +discourage him. When we add to +these the prospects of ready employment +in the States held out to other +classes of emigrants, and the stringent +laws lately made for their protection, +both on the passage and on +their arrival, we cannot be at a loss +to see that the direction which emigration +has lately taken is not the +result of chance or caprice, but of a +deliberate comparison of advantages, +which the most ignorant can easily +understand and appreciate.</p> + +<p>The main object of Professor Johnston's +visit being of a scientific character, +his remarks on the general topics of +manners and politics occur only incidentally; +but it is impossible for any +traveller to keep clear of such subjects +in writing of a country, the +peculiarities of which are pressed +upon his notice at every hour of the +day, and at every corner of the +street. Rabelais tells us of a certain +island, explored by the mighty Pantagruel, +whose inhabitants lived wholly +upon <em>wind</em>—that is, being interpreted, +on flattery; and the visitor of the +States who finds himself, as it were, +pinned to the wall, and compelled to +yield up his admiration at discretion, +may be sometimes tempted to believe +that he has made a similar discovery, +and that the flatulent diet of +compliment is somehow congenial to an +American appetite. Professor Johnston +seems to have had his candour or +his eulogistic powers sometimes severely +tested, if we may guess from his +quiet hint, that "it is unpleasant to +a stranger to be always called on to +admire and praise what he sees in a +foreign country; and it is a part of +the perversity of human nature to +withhold, upon urgent request, what, +if unasked, would have been freely +and spontaneously given." He is of +course prepared for the reception +which any work, aiming at mere +impartiality, is sure to meet with +among Transatlantic critics; and it +will, therefore, not surprise him to +find that the above peccant sentence +has been already pounced upon by +them as proving <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">malice prepense</i>, and +as affording a significant key to all +his observations on the institutions +of the States.</p> + +<p>The following extract explains the +origin of two of those euphonious +party designations in which our +neighbours delight, and which may +perchance have puzzled some of our +readers:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"In England, to be a <em>democrat</em> still +implies a position at the very front of +the movement party, and a desire to +hasten forward political changes, irrespective +of season or expediency. But +among the American democrats there is +a Conservative and a Radical party. +The former, who desire to restrain +'the amazing violence of the popular +spirit,' are nicknamed by their democratic +adversaries the '<em>Old Hunkers</em>;' +the latter, who profess to have in their +hearts 'sworn eternal hostility against +every form of tyranny over the mind of +man,' are stigmatised as '<em>Barnburners</em>.' +The <cite>New York Tribune</cite>, in reference to +the origin of the names themselves, says +that the name 'Hunkers' was intended +to indicate that those on whom it was +conferred had an appetite for a large +'hunk' of the spoils; though we never +could discover that they were peculiar +in <em>that</em>. On the other hand, the 'Barnburners' +were so named in allusion to +the story of an old Dutchman who relieved +himself of rats by burning his +barns, which they infested, just like exterminating +all banks and corporations, +to root out the abuses connected therewith."—(Vol. +i. p. 218.)</p></blockquote> + +<p>Equally mysterious is the term +"log-rolling," though the thing itself +is not altogether unknown in legislatures +nearer home.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"When the trees are felled and trimmed, +rolling the logs to the rivers or +streams down which they are to be +floated, as soon as the spring freshets set +in, remains to be done. This being the +hardest work of all, the men of several +camps will unite, giving their conjoined +strength to the first party on Monday, +to the second on Tuesday, and so on. A +like system in parliamentary matters is +called 'log-rolling.' You and your +friends help me in my railroad bill, and I +and my friends help you with your bank +charter; or sometimes the Whigs and +Democrats, when nearly balanced, will +get up a party log-rolling, agreeing that +the one shall be allowed to carry through +a certain measure without much opposition, +provided a similar concession is +granted to the other."—(Vol. ii. p. 297.)</p></blockquote> + +<p>The <cite>Notes</cite> convey to us the strong +impression that Professor Johnston's +visit to the West has operated +as a wholesome corrective of a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_713" id="Page_713">[713]</a></span> +certain tendency in his political +opinions. He seems to have +left home with a warm admiration +of American institutions generally, +which, like Slender's love, "it pleased +heaven to diminish on further acquaintance." +At all events, he could +not avoid being struck with some of +the many perplexities and anomalies +that result from referring everything +directly to the popular voice. In +England, whatever dissensions may +arise about the enactment of law, all +are agreed in a sensitive jealousy as to +the purity of its administration. The +most rampant Radical among us looks +upon justice as far too sacred a thing +to be hazarded in the rude chance-medley +of popular election. The +keenest partisan feels that, in the lofty +and unswerving integrity of our +judges, he possesses a substantial +security and blessing, for the loss of +which no place, power, or parliamentary +triumph, could compensate. +To one accustomed to regard with +veneration the dignified independence +of the judicial office in Great Britain, +nothing will appear more harshly repugnant +to sound policy than the +system, lately introduced into some of +the New England States, of appointing +all judges, high and low, by the +votes of the electors of the district +over which they are to preside, and +for a limited term of years.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"It was deservedly considered a great +triumph when the appointment of judges +for life liberated the English bench from +the influence of the Crown, and when +public opinion became strong enough to +enforce the selection of the most learned +in the law for the highest judicial offices. +Now, passing over the objection which +some will strongly urge, that the popular +electors are not the best judges of the +qualifications of those who aspire to the +bench, and that the most popular legal +demagogue may expect to obtain from +them the highest legal appointment, it +may be reasonably asked whether popular +influence in seasons of excitement, +and on questions of great moment, may +not bias the minds of judges whose appointment +is in the hands of the people?—whether +the fear of a coming election +may not deter them from unpopular decisions? +The influence of a popular majority +may here as profoundly pollute the +fountains of justice as the influence of the +Crown ever did among us at home."—(Vol. +i. p. 150.)</p></blockquote> + +<p>At first sight, it seems quite unaccountable +that an enlightened people +should ever have devised or sanctioned +a system which so obviously exposes +the bench to the risk of corruption; +and one is at a loss to reconcile a +reverence for the law with an ordinance +that subjects her minister to +the ordeal of canvassing and cajoling +all and sundry—perhaps the very +men who may next day be in the +dock before him. But the root of the +anomaly is not hard to find. Into +the purest of republics ambition and +cupidity—the love of office and the +love of dollars—will force their way. +But then, under that form of constition, +situations of trust and emolument +are necessarily few in comparison +to the number of candidates for +them. The offices in the civil departments +of the United States governments +are not numerous. The navy +employs altogether some five hundred +officers above the rank of midshipman—exactly +the number of our post-captains; +and the whole army of the +Confederation, rank and file, musicians +and artificers included, is very +little over ten thousand men. There +is little temptation to enter the medical +profession, in which learning and +experience go for nothing, and a +Brodie is precisely on a level with +a "Doctor Bokanky;"—nor the +Church, in which the pastor is hired +by the twelvemonth, and is thought +handsomely paid with a wage of £100 +a-year. What field, then, remains +for the aspiring spirit but the law?—and +what wonder if the sixteen thousand +attorneys, who, we are told, +find a living in the States, and take a +leading part in the management of +all public business, should vote "the +higher honours of the profession" far +too few to be retained as perpetual +incumbencies? Hence has sprung +the device of popular election to, and +rotation in, the sweets of office, +which, by "passing it round," and +giving everyone a chance, is designed +to render it as generally available as +possible. The constitution of the +judiciary is not uniform, but varies in +almost every different state. In New +York, the Judges of Appeals, as well +as those of the Supreme and Circuit +Courts, are elected by the people +at large, and for a term of eight<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_714" id="Page_714">[714]</a></span> +years, each leaving office in rotation. +In New Jersey they are +appointed for six years by the governor +and senate; in Vermont, annually +by the legislature. In Connecticut +nearly the same system prevails +as that in Vermont; while in +Massachusetts the judges retain office +"during good behaviour." The salaries +are not less various, in some +States the remuneration of judges of +supreme courts being £500 a-year, +which is about the highest rate; and +in others so low as £180. There are +no retiring allowances in any case; +and as they are thus liable to be +thrown out of office at an uncertain +period, or compelled to vacate it +after a short term of years, it can +scarcely be expected that such remuneration +will secure the highest grade +of legal acquirements, either for the +bench itself, or for the inferior offices +of attorney-generalships and chief-clerkships, +which are all held by the +same lax tenure of popular favour. +Even if the system has "worked +well," as it is said to have done by +American writers, during the four or +five years it has been in operation in +New York—even if it be true that +the lawyers of the Empire State have, +by avoiding the snares thrown in +their way, given proof individually of +the probity of Cato, and of a constancy +worthy of Socrates, we still +say that the State does wrong in putting +their virtues to such a test. Mr +Johnston supplies us with an example +of the temptation it holds out to a +dangerous pliancy of principle. Most +of our readers must be aware of the +existence of an active and noisy party +in the States, who, under the name of +"Anti-renters," are seeking to free +themselves from payment of certain +reserved <em>rents</em>, or <i>feu-duties</i>, as they +would be termed in Scotland, which +form the stipulated condition of land +tenure in a certain district.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"The question has caused much excitement +and considerable disturbance in +the State. It has been agitated in the +legislature and in the courts of law, and +the supposed opinion in regard to it of +candidates for legal appointments, is said +to have formed an element which weighed +with many in determining which candidate +they would support. During the +last canvass for the office of attorney-general, +I met with the following advertisement +in the public journals of the +State:—</p> + +<p>"'I have repeatedly been applied to +by individuals to know my opinions with +regard to the manorial titles, and what +course I intend to pursue, if elected, in +relation to suits commenced, and to be +commenced, under the joint resolution of +the Senate and Assembly. I have uniformly +replied to these inquiries, that I +regard the manor titles as a public curse +which ought not to exist in a free government, +and that if they can be broken up +and invalidated by law, it will give me +great pleasure; and I shall prosecute the +pending suits with as much vigour and +industry as I possess, and will commence +others, if, on examination, I shall be satisfied +there is the least chance of success. +I regard these prosecutions as a +matter of public duty, and, in this instance, +duty squares with my inclination +and wishes.</p> + +<p class="sig">'L. S. CHATFIELD.'</p> + +<p>"Mr Chatfield," adds Professor Johnston, +"<em>is now attorney-general</em>; and I was +informed that the known opinions of certain +of the old judges on this exciting +question was one of the understood reasons +why they were not re-elected by +popular suffrage, when, according to the +new constitution, their term of office had +expired."—(Vol. ii. p. 291.)</p></blockquote> + +<p>Here, then, we see the highest law +officer of the State openly "bidding" +for office—truckling to faction—and +indecently condescending to enact the +part of a "soft-sawderer." That +term, we presume, is the proper American +equivalent for the stinging <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">soubriquet</i> +with which Persius stigmatises +some Chatfield—some supple +attorney-general of his day—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i2">"<span class="smcap">Palpo</span>, quem ducit <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">hiantem</i><br /></span> +<span class="i0">Cretata ambitio."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>When persons of the highest official +position scruple not thus undisguisedly +to trim their course according +to the "<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">popularis aura</i>," one +can scarcely help suspecting a want +of firmness of principle and genuine +independence among the classes below +them. De Tocqueville's observations +have taught us to doubt +whether the tree of liberty that grows +under the shadow of a tyrant majority +can ever attain a healthy stability, +however vigorous it may appear externally. +No one questions that the +Americans enjoy, under their institutions, +very many of the blessings of a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_715" id="Page_715">[715]</a></span> +liberal and cheaply-administered government. +You have perfect liberty +of speech and action, so far as the +government is concerned. The avowal +of one's opinion is not followed, as in +Italy, or in the rival republic of +France, by a hint that your passport +is ready, or by the polite attendance +on you, wherever you go, of a mysterious +gentleman in black; but you +feel yourself, nevertheless, perpetually +"<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">en surveillance</i>," and constrained +either to sail with the stream, or to +adopt a reserve and reticence which, +to an Englishman, is almost as irksome +as the knowledge that there is a +spy sitting at the same dinner-table +with him.</p> + +<p>The spirit of Professor Johnston's +strictures on such anomalies +will, of course, insure his being set +down by his democratic friends in +America as an unmitigated "old +hunker;" and he certainly shows no +great liking for practical republicanism. +But to find fault with our +neighbours' arrangements, and to be +contented with our own, are two very +different things; and, accordingly, +our author takes many opportunities, +as he goes along, of showing that he +is quite aware of the innumerable +rents in our own old battered tea-kettle +of a constitution, and of the +infinite tinkering it will take to make +it hold water.</p> + +<p>We should have held him unworthy +of the character of a true Briton if he +had omitted the occasion of a grumble +at our system of taxation, though, of +course, we differ with him entirely in +the view he takes of the evil. After +an elaborate comparison of the taxation +in the United States with that of +Great Britain, he sums up all with +the following somewhat sententious +apophthegm:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"The great contrast between the two +sections of the Anglo-Saxon race on the +opposite sides of the Atlantic is this—<em>On +the one side the masses rule and property +pays; on the other side property +rules and the masses pay</em>."—(Vol. ii. 254.)</p></blockquote> + +<p>The sentence sounds remarkably +terse and epigrammatic. Most of +such brilliant and highly-condensed +crystals of wisdom, however, will be +found on analysis to contain, along +with some exaggerated truth, a considerable +residuum of nonsense; and +this specimen before us, we apprehend, +forms no exception. Even if +the fact so broadly asserted were indisputable, +we should still be inclined +to doubt, after what the author has +himself told us, whether the "rule of +the masses" is always an unmixed +blessing to a community. He has +seen enough of it to know at least +that the preponderance of popular +sway is not incompatible with much +social restraint—with prejudice and +narrow-mindedness—with what <em>he</em> +considers a false commercial principle—with +a disregard of public faith, +and of the rights of other nations; +and lastly, with a contempt of the +rights of humanity itself, and a legalised +traffic in our fellow men. But, if +we understand him rightly, he does +not so much defend the abstract excellence +of the democratic principle +as advocate a nearer approach, on our +part, to the American model of taxation. +In the States, he says, property +pays—in England the masses pay;—that +is, if we strip the proposition of +its antithetical obscurity, the owners +of property pay less here than they +do in America—not only <em>absolutely</em> +less, but less in proportion to the +whole amount of taxation. The calculations +on which he founds this assertion +are too long and involved to +be quoted at length, but we will +endeavour to abridge them so as to +enable the reader to judge of their +accuracy.</p> + +<p>The taxes in the United States are +of three classes: 1st,—the <em>national</em> +taxes, amounting to about six millions +a-year, which are raised chiefly by +customs duties on imports; 2d,—the +<em>state</em> taxes; 3d,—the <em>local</em> taxes, for +the service of the several counties, +cities, and townships. These two +last classes are levied chiefly in the +form of an equal rate assessed upon +the estimated value of all property, +real and personal.</p> + +<p>In order to compare the incidence +of the public burdens upon property in +the two countries, Professor Johnston +selects the case of New York State, +in which the total taxable property +(personal as well as real) in 1849 was +666,000,000 of dollars, and the amount +of rates levied for state and local taxes +5,500,000 dollars, or about <sup><small>4</small></sup>⁄<sub><small>5</small></sub> per cent +on the gross valuation. Turning then<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_716" id="Page_716">[716]</a></span> +to Great Britain, (excluding Ireland,) +he sets down the fee simple value of +the real property alone in estates +above £150 a-year, as rated to the +income-tax, at £2,382,000,000.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"Four-fifths of a per cent (the rate +levied in New York) on this sum would +realise £19,000,000 sterling; and were +<em>all</em> property, real and <em>personal</em>, in this +island below £150 a-year, and the amount +of property in Ireland rated in a similar +way, and fairly collected, our entire revenue +of £50,000,000 would probably be +obtained as the revenue of the State of +New York now is, by this one property +tax only."—(Vol. ii. p. 257.)</p></blockquote> + +<p>And he thus concludes that, as +regards the <em>absolute</em> amount of taxation, +property in Britain escapes for +a smaller payment than that in +America.</p> + +<p>Now, it must be remarked, on this +branch of the comparison, that before +we can form any opinion as to its +soundness, it is essential that we +should know on what principles the +valuation of property is conducted +in New York. The whole question +depends upon this. If the system of +valuation is different in the two +countries, there are no materials +on which to build a conclusion. We +know what discrepancies may arise +out of the mode of valuation, from +the fact that, while the annual value +of <em>all</em> real property in England and +Wales was assessed for the poor-rate, +in 1841, at about £62,500,000, +<em>a portion</em> of it only—that over £150 +a-year—was valued two years afterwards, +for the income-tax, at nearly +£86,000,000. We observe that Professor +Johnston has arrived at the +amount of real property in Britain, by +assuming the fee-simple value to be +twenty-seven years' purchase of the +income. But in New York, he tells +us, the value of income is calculated +at <em>only sixteen and a half years'</em> +purchase. The terms of the comparison +are, therefore, manifestly +faulty. And mark how this affects +the result. The real income of Great +Britain, capitalised at sixteen and a +half years' purchase, would amount +to only £1,447,000,000, and, if taxed +at the same rate as in New York, +would yield, instead of £19,000,000 +only, £11,500,000, which, as it happens, +<em>is three millions less than it +actually pays</em>, as may be plainly seen +from the undernoted statement:—</p> + + +<p class="center">DIRECT AND LOCAL TAXATION OF REAL PROPERTY IN GREAT BRITAIN.</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="tax"> +<tr><td align="left">1. Land Tax,</td><td align="right">£1,164,000</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">2. Poor and County Rate, (England,)</td><td align="right">6,847,205</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">3. Highway Rate, "</td><td align="right">1,169,891</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">4. Church Rate, "</td><td align="right">506,812</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">5. Proportion of Stamp Duties on deeds affecting real property,</td><td align="right">1,200,000</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">6. Proportion of Legacy Duty affecting do.,</td><td align="right">300,000</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">7. Property Tax,</td><td align="right">2,600,000</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">8. Poor Rate, (Scotland,) £577,000—say on real property,</td><td align="right">500,000</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">9. Statute Labour, (Scotland,)</td><td align="right">81,226</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">Total,</td><td align="right"><span class="bt">£14,369,134</span></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="hanging"><em>Note.</em>—The first six items are taken from the Report of the House of Lords on +burdens affecting land, and some of them are below the present amounts. +The items affecting Scotland are obviously defective.</p></blockquote> + +<p>To this extent at least, then, we are +justified in correcting Professor Johnston's +calculations, and in affirming +with certainty that the owner of +<em>real property in Britain surrenders +a larger portion of his wealth for +the public service than in New York</em>, +or any other State of the Union. +Whether the same can be said of +the British owner of <em>personal</em> property +is another question, which we +shall come to by-and-by.</p> + +<p>So much for the <em>absolute</em> comparison. +But then Professor Johnston +aims also at proving, that while the +rich man is better off here, the poor +man is worse—that the "masses" +(<em>i. e.</em>, we presume, those who are +dependent on the wages of labour) +pay a larger share of the public +burdens than the same "masses" +do in America. And this, he thinks, +is demonstrated by the fact, that the +customs duties of America amount +to only a dollar a-head of the whole +population, whereas in Great Britain +they are <em>three</em> dollars—three times +heavier. Now, we venture to affirm<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_717" id="Page_717">[717]</a></span> +that, as a contrast between the position +of the labouring man on this +side of the Atlantic, and that of his +brother on the other, this statement +is quite a nest of fallacies. In the +first place, it proceeds on the assumption +(a very common but erroneous +one among our Free-Trade authorities) +that it is the labouring class +who pay the bulk of the taxes +drawn in the shape of customs. As +this error, however, may be held to +affect both sides of the comparison +equally, we have next to notice that, +admitting it to be the case, the fact +of the customs being three dollars +a-head in this country, and only +one in the States, only shows that +the English labourer pays <em>absolutely</em> +more than the Yankee, which no +one ever doubted. It amounts only +to this—that in an old country +which has to uphold numerous public +institutions unknown in America, +and with a public debt to provide for +of some £800,000,000 sterling, the +burden of this, as well as of all +other branches of taxation, is heavier +than in the youthful republic, with +a national debt of only £13,000,000. +In order to draw a fair parallel between +the cases as regards the +poorer classes of both countries, +we must put the question in a different +way, and inquire, what proportion +does the amount of customs +(assumed as representing the poor +man's share of taxation) bear <em>to the +whole public burdens</em> in the two +countries respectively? The contrasted +account would then show the +matter in a very different aspect from +that in which Professor Johnston has +represented it, and would stand thus:—</p> + + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="United"> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">GREAT BRITAIN.</td><td align="center" colspan="2">UNITED STATES.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">National taxes,</td><td align="right">£50,000,000</td><td align="left">National taxes,</td><td align="right">£6,000,000</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Local ditto,<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a></td><td align="right">14,000,000</td><td align="left">Local ditto,<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></td><td align="right">5,680,000</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Total,</td><td align="right"><span class="bt">£64,000,000</span></td><td align="right">Total,</td><td align="right"><span class="bt">£11,680,000</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Whereof the poor man's</td><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">Whereof the poor man's</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">share, or customs, is</td><td align="right">£20,000,000</td><td align="left">share, or customs, is</td><td align="right">£6,000,000</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">or 32<sup><small>1</small></sup>⁄<sub><small>2</small></sub> per cent.</td><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">or 52 per cent.</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>Even if we were to throw into the scale +a large portion of the excise duties +levied in Britain, which Professor +Johnston may be entitled to claim as +a peculiar burden on "the masses"—at +least as much as the customs—it +would still be apparent, that, if such +payments are to be taken as a fair +criterion, <em>the people's burdens are not +relatively heavier here than in America</em>. +We shall only add further on this +subject, that while many of the less +opulent class of our fellow-citizens +have undoubted real grievances to +complain of, and while writers, with +worse intentions than Professor Johnston, +are ever ready to exaggerate +them, and to foster discontent, it becomes +one of his high character to +guard against allowing a somewhat +undisciplined taste for statistics to +betray him into rash general allegations, +calculated to produce error and +irritation.</p> + +<p>The parallel he has drawn, however, +is very instructive on one point, +although he has failed to notice it. +He has taken some pains to prove +that, tried by the American standard, +our poor men pay too much, and our +owners of real property too little, in +both which conclusions we have +shown his grounds to be fallacious; +but he takes no notice of a far more +obvious anomaly, the glaring injustice +of which is every day attracting +more public comment—the comparative +<em>immunity of the owners of personal +property</em> in this country. The +local taxation of the States, it has +been seen, is levied by an equal assessment +on property <em>of all kinds</em>; and +although, from the character of a +great part of the country, the real<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_718" id="Page_718">[718]</a></span> +property much exceeds the movable +in amount, the rate upon both is a +uniform one. No description of possessions +is favoured with an invidious +exemption. We will take the assessment +of one State as an example, and +copy the following "Items of the +valuation of the taxable property for +the State of Iowa, according to the +assessor's returns for 1849." They +are as follows:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"Acres of land—Improvements on +land—Town lots and improvements—<em>Capital +employed in merchandise</em>—Mills, +manufactories, distilleries, carding machines +and tan-yards, <em>with the stock +employed</em>—Horses, cattle, sheep, &c.—Pleasure +carriages, watches, pianofortes—<em>Capital +stocks and profits in any company +incorporated or unincorporated</em>—Property +in boats and vessels—Gold and +silver coin, and bank-notes in actual possession—<em>Claims +for money, or other consideration—Annuities—Amount +of notes, +mortgages, &c. All other personal property +over 100 dollars.</em>"</p></blockquote> + +<p>All these descriptions of property +contribute alike, dollar for dollar, +towards the expenses of the State, +which—be it remarked—embrace not +only the general charges for interest +of debt, and for the support of the +legislative, executive, and judiciary +departments, but include also payments +for prisons, asylums, the +militia, the public roads, and several +other branches of expenditure, which +in this country are saddled either +upon real property or upon the land +alone. Let any one look at the +items of the above list printed in +italics, and say what portion of such +wealth passes through the national +exchequer, or goes to uphold the +public institutions, of Great Britain. +The whole annual incomes above £50 +a-year in Great Britain are estimated, +on the best attainable data,<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> to +amount to upwards of £352,000,000 +sterling, of which the taxed real +income is £86,000,000, or one-fourth +part only. Is there any one with a +conscience so elastic as to maintain +that the owners of the other three-fourths +contribute fairly to the support +of the State, in proportion to the +revenue they enjoy under its protection? +From the investigations of Mr +Smee, to whom we have referred, it +appears that while the number of +those who pay the direct taxes is +about five hundred thousand, <em>there +are upwards of one million eight hundred +thousand persons in Great Britain +enjoying incomes of above £50 a-year, +who do not contribute one farthing to +them</em>. What is this but a system of +iniquitous exemption of the one class, +and of virtual confiscation as to the +other? But the whole subject occupies +far too prominent a place in the +public mind to be treated thus incidentally. +For the present then we +leave it, thoroughly persuaded that, +under a form of government which +acknowledges no distinctions between +classes and interests, so shameless a +violation of the plainest principles of +equity cannot long be permitted to +continue, and cordially joining in the +wish that no object of less momentous +interest—no schemes of impracticable +retrenchment—no wily bait of extended +suffrage—no flourishing of the +old red rag of reform, may be suffered +to distract the attention of the public, +from the one great paramount practical +reform—<span class="smcap">a readjustment of +Taxation</span>.</p> + +<p>We owe an apology to Professor +Johnston for having deviated somewhat +from the ordinary course of a review. +His work has already been so +much and so flatteringly noticed, that +to have limited ourselves to mere abridgment +and quotation from the <em>Notes</em> +would have led us over the same +ground that has been already exhausted +by other critics. We have +therefore preferred discussing some of +the questions of greatest public interest +which his observations have suggested; +and if, on some of these, we +have been led to dissent from his +opinions, we have done so in no unfriendly +spirit, which indeed would +have been impossible in judging of an +author whose own views are always +expressed with perfect candour and +moderation. There can be no doubt +that, under the unpretending title +which he has chosen to adopt, he has +contrived to bring together a larger +mass of varied and valuable information +on the present condition of North +America than is to be found in any +work yet published.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_719" id="Page_719">[719]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>THE ANSAYRII.</h2> + +<p><em>The Ansayrii (or Assassins;) with Travels in the Further East.</em> By the Hon. +<span class="smcap">Frederic Walpole</span>, R.N., Author of <cite>Four Years in the Pacific</cite>. London: Bentley, +1851.</p> + + +<p>Hail to the bright East, with all +its mysteries, its mighty past, its +pregnant future, its inexhaustible +sources of airiest amusement and +most solemn interest! We welcome +with pleasure the original and truly +Oriental book before us. It harmonises +rather with the poetic than +the historic character of Eastern lands; +but in its wild and dreamy narrative +there are to be found vivid and faithful +pictures, such as those that lighted +up the charmed reveries of DeQuincey. +For the present we will lay aside the +critic's task: we will postpone all +such considerations, and invite the +reader to accompany us in a rapid +tour over the varied regions which +Mr Walpole has recalled to our +memory and imagination. Let us +turn for a little from the "world +that is too much with us," and, +ranging away from chilly mists +and gloomy skies, sun our fancy +in the lands where Paradise was +planted.</p> + +<p>Egypt and Palestine appear familiar +to us all; they are of common +interest to the whole Christian world—classic +lands to every old villager who +can read his Bible, as well as to the +profound scholar. In them, sacred +and profane history are so intimately +blended that the latter assumes +almost the authenticity of the former. +Herodotus and his followers have +actually a people still in the flesh (if +flesh the mummy may be called) to +refer to: subterranean Egypt is still +inhabited by the undecayed bodies of +the very men who associated with the +Israelites, and forms that were beautiful +and loved three thousand years +ago. Imperishable as their old inhabitants, +their temples and their monuments +still stand above them, and +will there remain unparalleled, until +their long-buried architects shall rise +again.</p> + +<p>Passing on to Palestine, we find, +memories and associations still +stronger and more striking; for here +nature is invested with the sentiment +that in Egypt is awakened by art. +Palestine belongs not to time only, +but to eternity; with which, by types +and illustrations, its earthly history +is so beautifully blended and aggrandised. +Its literature is inspired truth, +its annals are prophecies fulfilled, and +the very face of the land itself vindicates +the beauty it <em>once</em> wore, through +all the sorrow and desolation that +have fallen on it since. Owing to +the metaphorical style of Oriental +composition, every object in nature +was used to illustrate or impress by +its analogy; and hence not only the +holy mountains, the sacred rivers, +and the battle plains have memories +for us, but the very "hyssop on the +wall," the blasted fig-tree, the cedar, +the "high rock in the thirsty land;" +every vale, and hill, and lake, and +city, is consecrated by some association +with the men who spoke the +words of God—with the time that +witnessed His presence in the +flesh.</p> + +<p>The remorseless Jews were swept +from the Promised Land, as their +ancestor was from Eden, for the irreparable +sin; and the sword of the +Roman waved over the ruined walls +of Jerusalem, forbidding all return. +The Saracen and the Crusader succeeding, +add another element of interest—an +English association—to +long-tried and suffering Judea. The +Crusaders were rather a warlike emigration +than invasion; they were the +angry overflow of discontented Europe, +which sought to vent its spleen and +dogmas upon the Infidel. Their ebbing +tide bore back to us the arts and +sciences and chivalry of Arabia; and +thus Palestine became the channel for +all our best temporal acquirements,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_720" id="Page_720">[720]</a></span> +as it had long since furnished us with +our eternal hope.</p> + +<p>All this, and more—much more—invests +Syria with undying and exhaustless +interest to the student and +the traveller; but we will not linger +on such impressions now. We have +a lighter task to fulfil, though we are +about to visit the land of Nimrod, +of Abraham's nativity, and of the +empire of Semiramis. The pleasant +company in which we travel will +speed us on; and, in the old troubadour +fashion, lay and legend will +beguile the way. But before we enter +fairly on our pilgrimage to "Ur of +the Chaldees" and the tomb of +Nineveh, we shall pause to make some +practical observations on the route +which, in its present aspect, may be +new to some of our readers.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Egypt may soon be reached in +ten days.</span><a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> This is almost incredible; +still more so, when we add that it +may be accomplished without fatigue, +hardship, or self-denial. The traveller +even now embarks at Southampton in +one of the Oriental Company's magnificent +steamers, and finds himself +landed at Alexandria in fifteen days, +having visited Gibraltar and Malta, +besides having travelled three thousand +miles in as much comfort as he would +have enjoyed at Brighton, with far +more advantage to his health and +spirits, and but trifling additional expense. +For our own parts, we believe +that, before long, sea voyages, instead +of sea shores, will be resorted to, not +only by the invalid, but by the epicurean +and the idler. The floating +hotels of our ocean steamers afford +as comfortable quarters as any of +their more stationary rivals, with the +additional advantage of presenting +a change of air and of scenery +every morning that the "lodger" +rises.</p> + +<p>The autumn—the later the <em>better</em>—is +the <em>best</em> period for visiting Egypt. +October is, on the whole, the best +month for beginning the ascent of the +Nile. We will suppose the traveller +landed at Alexandria: he achieves +the lions of that suddenly-created +city (except Aboukir Bay) in a few +hours, and is ready to start for Cairo +in the mail steamer, with the India-bound +passengers who accompanied +him from England. The country in +which he now finds himself, by so +sudden a transition, is full of apparent +paradoxes; amongst others, he may be +surprised to find that the canal on +which he travels to Atfeh winds considerably, +though no engineering obstacles +whatever oppose themselves to +a straight course. The reason of this +sinuosity was thus explained to us by +Mehemet Ali himself:—"You ask why +my canal is not straight: Ya, Wallah! +it is owing to a bit of bigotry. The +dog who made it was a true Believer, +and something more. He said to +himself, 'Ya, Seedee, thou art about +to make what Giaours call a canal, +and Giaours in their impiety make +such things straight. Now, a canal +is made after the fashion of a river—(Allah +pardon us for imitating his +works!)—and all rivers wind: Allah +forbid that my canal should be better +than His river; it shall wind too.'"</p> + +<p>And so it does.</p> + +<p>Landed at Cairo, the traveller of +the present day will find a steamer +once a fortnight ready to take him up +to the first cataract and back again, +as fast as Young Rapid, or any other +son of a tailor, could desire. But +even the rational tourist will be +tempted to send on his Kandjiah, +(the old-fashioned Nile boat,) well +found and provisioned, a fortnight or +three weeks before him, and overtake +her in the steamer. The Kandjiah +voyage up stream is often wearisome, +downward never—as in the +descent you are borne softly along +at from three to six miles an hour, +even when you sleep. From the first +cataract to the second is only about +two hundred miles, and occupies +about three weeks; but to those who +can find pleasure in what is most wild +and dreamy and unearthly in scenery +and art, the desert view from Mount +Abousir, the temples of Guerf, Hassan, +and Ipsamboul, are worth all the rest +of the Nile voyage, except Thebes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_721" id="Page_721">[721]</a></span> +and exquisite Philæ.<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> Returned to +Alexandria, as we will suppose, in +March, the traveller will be quite +early enough for Syria, whose winter +(considering the tented life he is compelled +to lead) is not to be despised. +A steamer transports him to Beyrout +in thirty hours; and there our true +travel begins.<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> +11 A: The mere physical pleasure of the upper voyage has been thus described—"No +words can convey an idea of the beauty and delightfulness of tropical weather, at +least while any breeze from the north is blowing. There is a pleasure in the very +act of breathing—a voluptuous consciousness that existence is a blessed thing: the +pulse beats high, but calmly; the eye feels expanded; the chest heaves pleasureably, +as if air was a delicious draught to thirsty lungs; and the mind takes its colouring +and character from sensation. No thought of melancholy ever darkens over us—no +painful sense of isolation or of loneliness, as day after day we pass on through silent +deserts, upon the silent and solemn river. One seems, as it were, removed into +another state of existence; and all the strifes and struggles of that from which we +have emerged seem to fade, softened into indistinctness. This is what Homer and +Alfred Tennyson knew that the lotus-eaters felt when they tasted of the mysterious +tree of this country, and became weary of their wanderings:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6">'——To him the gushing of the wave<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Far, far away, did seem to mourn and rave<br /></span> +<span class="i0">On alien shores: and, if his fellow spake,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">His voice was thin, as voices from the grave!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And deep asleep he seemed, yet all awake,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And music in his ears his beating heart did make.'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noind">If the day, with all the tyranny of its sunshine and its innumerable insects, be +enjoyable in the tropics, the night is still more so. The stars shine out with diamond +brilliancy, and appear as large as if seen through a telescope. Their changing +colours, the wake of light they cast upon the water, the distinctness of the milky +way, and the splendour, above all, of the evening star, give one the impression of being +under a different firmament from that to which we have been accustomed; then +the cool delicious airs, with all the strange and stilly sounds they bear from the +desert and the forest; the delicate scents they scatter, and the languid breathings +with which they make our large white sails appear to pant, as they heave and languish +softly over the water."—(<cite>The Crescent and the Cross</cite>, vol. i. p. 210.)]</p> + +<p>Thus, (omitting the somewhat +important episode of Egypt,) we find +ourselves transported, in little more +than a fortnight, from the murky fogs +and leafless trees of England, to the +delicious temperature and tropical verdure +that surrounds the most beautiful +town of the Levant. As every +improvement in steam-navigation +lessens its distance from Christendom, +Beyrout increases and expands. +Nor must we omit an honest tribute +to the iron but even-handed justice +of Ibrahim Pasha, which first rendered +it safely accessible to Europeans. +Before his conquest of Syria, +the Frank was wont to skulk anxiously +through the town, exposed to +insult and unpunished violence: +without the walls, the robber enjoyed +as much impunity as the bigot did +within; and, between both, Beyrout +became, or continued to be, a miserable +village. Its environs were wild +wastes, where the gipsy alone ventured +to pitch his tent, and the wild +dog prowled. Now, pleasant gardens +and picturesque kiosks, or summer-houses, +replace the wilderness; the +town expands, grows clean, doubles +its population, and welcomes a crowd +of shipping to its port. A more delightful +residence, as a refuge from +winter, can scarcely be conceived. +An infinite variety of excursions may +be made from hence; and every time +the traveller mounts his horse, whether +he be historically, picturesquely, +controversially, botanically, or geologically +given, he may return to his +flat-roofed home with some valuable +acquisition to his note-book. The views +are everywhere magnificent, and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_722" id="Page_722">[722]</a></span> +warm breezes from the bluest of +oceans are tempered by the snowy +neighbourhood of the loveliest of +mountains.</p> + +<p>Five roads of leading interest (besides +many a cheering byway among +the hills) branch out from the walls +of Beyrout. Damascus is about +eighteen hours off; Jerusalem six +days; Djouni, the romantic residence +and burial-place of Lady Hester Stanhope, +ten hours; Baalbec, the flower +of all Eastern ruins, eighteen hours, +and Latakia, whither <em>we</em> are bound, +five days. These distances may be +accomplished in less time; they are +here given at the calculation of a +walking pace, as the roads, or rather +paths, are for the most part steep and +difficult; and the baggage-horses, at +all events, can seldom advance more +rapidly. One word more of dry detail, +and we shall put ourselves <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">en +route</i> for the mountains of the Ansayrii +and the further East. Notwithstanding +the advance of civilisation +at Beyrout, where a European +consulocracy has established a more +than European equality of privileges +between Turks and Christians, the +interior of the country is daily becoming +more dangerous to travel in. +Eight years ago, when the stern rule +of Ibrahim Pasha had still left its +beneficent traces, the writer of this +article wandered over the length and +breadth of the land, attended by a +single servant and a muleteer. Since +our Government, for inscrutable reasons, +has restored Syria to the embroilment +of its native factions, all +security for the traveller, and indeed +for the native, has ceased. To reach +Jerusalem, or even Damascus, in +safety, a considerable escort is now +necessary; though the Vale of Baalbec +may still be reached in less warlike +fashion from Latakia or Tripoli, +if the traveller is endowed with liberality, +courage, and courtesy—the +leading virtues of his profession.</p> + +<p>Before we proceed on our travels, +let us introduce our guide. Mr Walpole +is a young naval officer, and +there is in most of his narrative a +dashing impetuous style, which savours +of his profession. In this there is a +certain charm, imparting as it does +an air of frank and fearless confidence +in his reader's quick perception and +favourable construction. There is in +his writings what we would also hope +is professional—a chivalrous feeling +and generous sentiment, that is never +obscured by a sordid thought or unworthy +imputation. As he sees clearly, +of course he also sees faults in men, +and minds, and manners; but such +discoveries are made in a tone of regret +rather than of triumph; or thrown +off in a strain of good-humoured +satire that could not offend even its +objects. His descriptive powers are +graphic, and often very vivid; his +humour is very original, being generally +tinged with melancholy, in such +sort as that of a philanthropic Jacques +might be: finally, he does not fear +to display a profound and manly reverence +for holy things and sacred +places. On the other hand, to set +against all these high merits, we must +confess that many faults afford some +drawback to his book. It is often incoherent, +and deficient in arrangement. +The first volume is rather the groundwork +than the accomplishment of +what an author with Mr Walpole's +powers and material should have +effected. Most of these faults, however, +may find their excuse in the circumstances +under which they were composed. +They smack of the tent, the +boat, and the bivouac, as old wine +does of the <i>borachio</i>. Whatever they +may be, this work is one that will be +widely read; and wherever it is read +with appreciation, it will direct the +interest not only to its subject, but its +author: his individuality, unostentatiously +and unconsciously, is impressed +on every page; and his genius, however +erratic, is unquestionable.</p> + +<p>The cockpit, and even the gun-room +of a man-of-war, are little +favourable to intellectual effort, or +the habit or the love of learning +which it can alone accomplish. We +can therefore make greater allowances +for errors in composition, and +concede greater credit for the attainments +in languages and general knowledge +which our young author has +achieved. This is perhaps still more +striking in a work written by Mr Walpole +three years ago, entitled <cite>Four +Years in the Pacific</cite>, which, though +written in a midshipman's berth, +abounds in passages of beauty, and in +his peculiar and original humour.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_723" id="Page_723">[723]</a></span> +Having said so much in his praise and +dispraise, and only premising, in addition, +that he speaks Arabic and Turkish, +so as to interpret for himself the +quaint unusual thoughts of the people +among whom he lives, we enter upon +a survey of what he saw.</p> + +<p>We have unwillingly passed over +the whole of our author's outward voyage, +which is graphically, and almost +dramatically, described. We shall only +refer to one or two passages respecting +the Levant. The following sentence +may dispel some fanciful visions +of the sunny climate of Stamboul:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"Snow, 'thick and deep' enveloped the +city; cupola, dome, and cypress were +burdened with icicles; above, was an +angry winter sky with a keenly piercing +wind.... English fires and English +coals were the best things we saw—we +were actually blockaded by the +weather.... At length we embarked: +the crew were shovelling the deep +snow-drift off the deck, so we rushed +below into a cabin whose bulkheads +were beautifully varnished, sofas perfect, +skylights closed, the whole atmosphere +tobacco. We were off, gliding past the +Seraglio Point, which was swathed in +snow, and looking like a man in summer +clothes caught in a wintry storm.... +Masses animate and inanimate encumbered +the deck; the former for the most +part consisting of the Sultan's subjects; +among the latter our baggage, which was +thrown into the general heap, and kicked +about until it found quiet in the hold.... +The numbers thus congregated +were principally pilgrims, on their +way to Jerusalem and to the Jordan; +though others, on more worldly journey +bent, were mingled with the rest. Each +family had taken a spot on the deck, +and there, piled over with coverings, +and surrounded with their goods, they +remained during the voyage: one side +of the after-deck was alone kept clear +for the first-class passengers, and even +this was often invaded by others, who +wisely remarked that <em>we</em> had cabins +below.</p> + +<p>"Each family forms a scene in itself; +and an epitome of life in the East is +found by a glance around. Four merchants, +on their return from a trading +tour, have bivouacked between the skylights; +and they sing and are sick; call +<i>kief</i><a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> and smoke, with true Moslem indifference. +On the starboard quarter, our +notions of Eastern domesticity are sadly +put out, for there a Moslem husband is +mercilessly bullied by a shrill-voiced +Houri. It is curious to observe her perseverance +in covering her face, even during +the agonies of sea-sickness. Their +black servant has taken us into the number +of licensed ones, and her veil now +hangs over her neck like a loosened neck-cloth.</p> + +<p>"On the other side, a Greek family in +three generations lies along the deck, +fortified by a stout man-servant across +their legs, whose attentions to the girls +during his own heart-rending ailments +is very pretty. The huge grandmother +was set on fire and smouldered away +most stoically, until her foot began to +burn, when, while others put her out, she +sank blubbering to sleep again. The +pretty granddaughters find the long prostration +more irksome; but send their +flashing eyes about with careless movement, +and so the mass goes on. Here +one appears to be offering up <i>nazam</i>, but +nearer inspection shows that his shoe is +only receiving the offering to the heaving +waves....</p> + +<p>"Our steamer had passed sad hours of +toil, and pitched and tossed us all out of +temper before we entered the calm +waters to leeward of Rhodes, and at last, +passing the low points covered with +detached houses and windmills, we shot +round in front of the harbour. Our view +of the intervening coast had been too +vague to form a judgment upon it; but +here and there a peak towered up above +the mists, all else being veiled by the +cloudy sky.... No place it has +ever been my fortune to visit, more, by +its appearance, justifies its character than +Rhodes. Around the harbour's shore, +one continued line of high castellated +wall, unbroken save by flanking towers +or frowning portals; from the wave on +either side, dovetailed to the rock, rise +the knightly buildings; and as the eye +reaches round, no dissonant work mars +the effect, save that one lofty palm rears +its tropic head—but it adds to, rather +than lessens, the effect. Above the walls, +a mosque with its domed roof or minaret +appears; and the fragile building speaks, +how truly! in its contrast to the massive +walls and ponderous works of former +rulers, that the battle is not always to +the strong."</p></blockquote> + +<p>In speaking of the sister island-fortress, +Malta, our author remarks +(in a former page) the immediate contrast<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_724" id="Page_724">[724]</a></span> +presented by these luxurious +arsenals:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"The Eastern reclines on the cushioned +divan, the embodiment of repose; the +softest carpets, the freshest flowers, surround +him—soft women attend the +slightest motion of his eye—all breathes +of indolence, abandonment, and ease; yet +his girdle bristles with arms—his gates +are locked and guarded. So at Malta, +the bower is a bastion, the saloon a casemate, +the serenade the call of martial +music, the draperies war-flags, the ornaments +shot in ready proximity."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Proceeding to Tarsus, we pass on +to Alexandretta, "a wretched collection +of hovels. The harbour is splendid; +the ruins of the old, the skeleton +of the new town, standing on the +beach. Behind it, in every direction, +stretches a fetid and swampy plain, +which only requires drainage to be +rendered fertile and wholesome." +This is the seaport of Aleppo, on the +road to which lies the town of Beilau, +and the village of Mortawan, where +Pagan rites, especially those of Venus, +are still said to be maintained. But +again we reimbark—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"Again the vessel cuts the wave. The +mountains become a feeble bleached outline, +save Cassius on the north, who +frowns on his unrecorded fame. Yes, +noble hill! though not so high as Strabo +tells, though not lofty and imposing; +though dark thy path now—unnoticed, +solitary. There blazed up the last effort +of the flame of pagan civilisation: there +Julian the Great—whatever other title +men may bestow upon him—offered his +solemn sacrifice to Jupiter the Avenger, +previous to his last campaign, when +the eagles were to wave over Mesopotamia.</p> + +<p>"The Sabbath dawned fresh, unclouded, +and beautiful, as we anchored in the +pretty little port of Latakia, the ancient +Laodicea. The town of Latakia, built +by Seleucus Nicator, in honour of his +mother, is comprehended in the Pashalic +of Saida, or Beyrout. It stands on a +spur of the Ansayrii Mountains. About +half a mile inland, the spur falls into the +sea, and forms Cape Zairet; the town +stands on its southern slope, and is joined, +by gardens and a port, to the sea. The +port is small and well sheltered; but +time, Turks, and ruins, are filling it up. +The buildings on the shore, having their +backs to the sea, present the appearance +of a fortification. On a reef of rock that +shelters the harbour stands a pile of +building of different eras. It seems to +be castle, mosque, and church. Along +the beach lie hundreds of shafts of +columns, and many are built into the +walls, of whose remains you catch a +glimpse on the southern side."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Here we must pause, though our +traveller proceeds to Beyrout, of +which he gives a charming account, +which our limits forbid us to quote. +We reserve our space for more novel +scenes, and must pass over a chapter +on Damascus, which is rich in legends +and graphic pictures. Thence, <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">en +route</i> to Homs, by the way of the +desert, eastward of the Anti-Lebanon, +we have a sketch that is too characteristic +of Eastern travel to pass +over:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"North, south and east, dead plain; +west, a low range of hills, and beyond, +the fair Anti-Lebanon in all its snowy +beauty. Desert all around us, but no +dreary waste. Here and there were +loose stones and rocks; the rest a carpet +of green, fresh, dewy grass, filled with +every hue of wild-flowers—the poppy in +its gorgeous red, the hyacinth, the simple +daisy and others, thick as they could +struggle up, all freshened with a breeze +heavy with the scents of thyme. The +lark sent forth its thrill of joy in welcome +to the coming day; before us the +pennon of the spearmen gleamed as they +wound along the plain. We passed the +site of an Arab encampment strewn with +fire-blackened stones, bones, and well +picked carcasses. Storks and painted +quails sauntered slowly away at our approach, +or perched and looked as if they +questioned our right to pass. At eight +o'clock halted at a khan called Hasiah +also. The population consisting of robust, +wild-looking fellows; and very pretty +women poured out to sell hard-boiled +eggs, leban, bread, and milk: they were +all Mussulmans....</p> + +<p>"We were soon disturbed by a multitude +of sick, which recalled to one's mind +how in this land, of old, the same style +of faces, probably in the same costumes, +crowded to Him who healed. The lame, +carried by the healthy; feeble mothers +with sickly babes; hale men showing +wounds long self-healed; others with or +without complaints."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Arrived at Homs, we have—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"Fish for dinner, from the Lake of +Kades, whose blue waters we saw in the +distance to-day. The Lebanon opens +behind that lake, and you may pass to +the sea, on the plain, without a hill. +This plain, but rarely visited, is among<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_725" id="Page_725">[725]</a></span> +the most interesting portions of Syria, +containing numerous convents, castles, +and ruins, and its people are still but +little known. Maszyad, the principal +seat of the sect called Ismayly: the Ansayrii +also, and Koords, besides Turks, +Christians, and gipsys, may be found +among its varied population. The ancient +castle of El Hoshn, supposed, by the +lions over its gates, to have been built +by the Count of Thoulouse, is well worth +a visit. The Orontes, taking its rise in +a rock, from whence it gushes just west +of the Tel of Khroumee,—(true bearing +from Homs from south 60° 32' east,)—flows +through the Lake of Kades, and +passes about 2° to the west of Homs: it +is called Nahr El Aazzy, or "the rebel +river," some say because of its running +north, while all the other rivers run +south; more probably, however, on +account of its rapidity and strength of +current. It is an historical stream; on +its banks were altars, and the country it +waters is almost unmatched for beauty—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'Oh, sacred stream! whose dust<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Is the fragments of the altars of idolatry.'"<br /></span> +</div></div></blockquote> + +<p>It was at Homs—the ancient +Emessa—that Zenobia was brought +as a captive into the presence of +Aurelian.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"Why did she not there fall? why +add the remaining lustreless years to +her else glorious life? why, in the words +of Gibbon, sink insensibly into the +Roman matron? Zenobia fat, dowdy, +and contented—profanation! Zimmerman, +however, invests the close of her +career with graceful philosophy: at +Tivoli, in happy tranquillity, she fed the +greatness of her soul with the noble +images of Homer, and the exalted precepts +of Plato; supported the adversity of her +fortunes with fortitude and resignation, +and learnt that the anxieties attendant +on ambition are happily exchanged for +the enjoyments of ease and the comforts +of philosophy."</p></blockquote> + +<p>From Homs we reach Aleppo in +four days.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"It was a spring morning, and a gentle +keenness, wafted from snow-clad mountains, +rendered the climate delightful. +The town lay beneath me, and each +terrace, court, serai, and leewan lay open +to my view. I saw Aleppo was built in +a hollow, from which ran plains north +and west, surrounded by mountains. To +the north, Djebel Ma Hash and his range, +untouched by the soft smiles of the young +spring, lay deep in the snow; the flat +connected grass-grown roofs and well-watered +sparkling courts, with their +carefully-tended trees, relieving the glare +of the houses, while all around the town +lay belted in its garden. The scene was +pretty and pleasing; here and there the +forests of tomb-stones, the perfect minaret, +the Eastern dome swelling up from +the mob of flat roofs,—these formed a +sight that told I was in the East, in the +cradle of mankind—the home of history."...</p> + +<p>"And here, though sorely pressed for +time, we must stop for a picnic, which +E—— and myself were told it would be +right to give. We provided carpets, nargillehs, +horse-loads of sundries, cushions, +a cargo of lettuces; and thus equipped, +we sallied out, a very numerous party. +The first thing to select was a garden, a +point on which our own choice, and not +the owner's will, seemed alone to be consulted. +Let not the reader fancy an +Eastern garden is what a warm Western +fancy would paint it—wild with luxuriant +but weedless verdure, heavy with the +scent of roses and jessamine, thrilling +with the songs of the bulbul and the +nightingale, where fair women with +plaited tresses touch the soulful lute in +graceful attitudes. No; it is a piece of +ground enclosed by high walls, varying +in size. A wretched gate, invariably +badly made, probably ruined, admits you +to the interior. Some enclose a house +with two or three rooms—windowless, +white-washed places. Before this is a +reservoir of dirty, stagnant water, turned +up from a neighbouring well by an apparatus +as rude as it is ungainly and +laborious: this is used to irrigate the +ground, which therefore is alternately +mud and dust. Fruit trees or mulberries +are planted in rows, and the ground +beneath, being ploughed up, is productive +of vegetables or corn. One or two trees, +for ornament, may be planted in the first +row, but nothing more; and weeds, uncut, +undestroyed, spring up in every +direction. Such, without exaggeration, +is the <i>Bistan zareff quiess!</i>—the Lovely +Garden.</p> + +<p>"We selected one that belonged to +the Mollah. Oh, true believer! in thy +pot we boiled a ham; on thy divan we +ate the forbidden beast; thy gardener, +for base reward, assisting to cook—who +knows, but also to eat the same? We +chose a spot shaded by a noble walnut +tree, and spread carpets and cushions. +Fire was lighted, nargillehs bubbled, +and kief began."</p></blockquote> + +<p>On the 2d of May we start for the +Euphrates, and follow for some time +nearly the route recommended by +Colonel Chesney for the great Indian +railway to Bussora, on the Persian<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_726" id="Page_726">[726]</a></span> +Gulph. The distance is little more +than 800 miles—scarcely thirty steam-winged +hours—the level surpassingly +uniform. Truly those who desire to +find either solitude, or what our author +calls <i>kief</i>, in the East, must +repair thither quickly, for the iron of +the engineer has already entered into +its soul. Already the blue and white +rivers of the Nile are more easily +attainable than were the Tiber and +the Po to our grandfathers. Beyrout +and Latakia will soon be fashionable +watering-places; Baalbec as well +known as Melrose Abbey; and the +excavated ruins of Nimroud will come +under the range of "return tickets." +The grim Arab will look out from +any quiet spot that the all-searching +Cockney may have spared him; and +he will gaze with wonder on the awful +processions of the "devil-goaded" +tourists, as they rush with magic +speed across his wilderness—only to +retrace their steps. The Turk, at the +utmost bounds of the Othman Empire, +will marvel at this new freak of +<i>kismet</i> (destiny;) with a sigh he will +abandon his beloved <i>bockra</i> (the "to-morrow" +in which he loves to live;) +and commending himself to Islam, or +resignation in its most trying form, +he will "jump in" like the mere +Giaours, and be hurled along with +the rest across the desert behind the +Afreet stoker.</p> + +<p>But at present the wilderness knows +nothing of all this, and we have before +us the scenery of other days as +Abram beheld it. We now cross the +Chalus River, and enter upon a +series of vast plains, varied by mysterious +<i>tels</i> or mounds, rising up from +the level surface like bubbles on a +pool. On, or among these, the ever +restless Turkomans pitch their tents, +and welcome the traveller kindly to +their wandering homes. On the third +day from Aleppo we reach Aintab, +on the river Sadschur, "which, fresh +and young, danced brightly on, as if +eager to join the Euphrates and see +the wide world beyond."</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"At Aintab, among other visitors was +Doctor Smith, an American missionary. +He was a well-bred, sensible man, a +clever linguist, and, from all I ever +heard, an earnest and zealous servant +of his heavenly Master. His mission already +shows results which must indeed +be a source of peace to his heart, and +proves that some are allowed even in +this world to reap the fruits of their toil +for the Lord. In that very town, whence +a few years ago he was insulted and +abused, a faithful flock now join in humble +prayers to God; and surely they +pray for him, the instrument of their +salvation. I was much pleased at the +plain unexaggerating way in which he told +the history of his mission.... The +good work has progressed, and he now +has from one hundred and fifty to three +hundred pupils in his school, many the +children of non-converted parents. And +in this year's enrolment—great glory to +our ambassador at Constantinople!—the +Protestants are enrolled as a separate +religious community: the males are two +hundred and odd here.</p> + +<p>"All sects recognised by the Porte are +enrolled separately, as their taxes, &c., +are apportioned by their own heads +(chiefs.)"</p></blockquote> + +<p>Many of the Armenians here have +been converted to the Church of +England, and this has proved to be a +most advantageous change for their +women.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"They are now emancipated from the +bondage they have so long been held in—I +do not mean personal bondage, for +perhaps there is less of it in the East +than in the West—but their whole moral +position has undergone a vast change. +The man is now first taught that the +woman is his best friend; his firmest, +truest companion; his equal in the social +scale, as God made her—a help meet for +him, not a mere piece of household furniture. +The woman is also taught to +reverence the man as her head; thus +imparting that beautiful lesson, 'He for +God only, she for God through him.' +She is also taught perhaps a harder lesson, +a more painful task—to relinquish +all her costly ornaments, when such may +be more usefully employed in trade and +traffic; to consider necessaries more +beautiful than costly clothes or embroidered +suits. Gradually she is allowed +to unite with the man in prayers, which +is permitted by no other sect in the East, +women always having a portion of the +church set apart for them, and the Moslems +praying at different times. May it +please Him who gives and dispenses all +things, to prosper this and all other good +and holy works!... On leaving +Aintab, we passed over the hills that +environ the town, and entered a pretty +valley, through which the Sadschur river +accompanies us. Here, at a small village +called Naringa, we chose a pretty spot<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_727" id="Page_727">[727]</a></span> +under some trees, and pitched our tents. +The horses browsed at our door, the +stream jumped by before us as we took +our evening's repose. And repose it is +to sit thus at the close of a day of travel, +to enjoy the view of the lovely regions +given man to dwell in; to see the various +changes time, circumstances, and religion +have wrought in the family of Adam, +or, as the Arabs say, in the Beni Adam. +It was a lovely evening; and as I reclined +apart from my more gregarious +fellow-travellers, I felt</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'That the night was filled with music,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And the cares that infested the day<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Had folded their tents, like the Arab,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And as silently stolen away.'"<br /></span> +</div></div></blockquote> + +<p>From Naringa our route lies eastward +over low undulated hills, still +marked by frequent <i>tels</i>, generally +surmounted by a village. "Are +these mounds natural, or does man +still fondly cling to the ruined home +of his fathers?" Crossing the river +Kirsan, we arrive at Nezeeb, lying +among vineyards and plantations of +figs, pistachios, and olives, interspersed +with fields of wheat. At this +village the Sultan's forces, 70,000 +strong, were defeated by Ibrahim +Pasha with 45,000 men—a bootless +victory, soon neutralised by a few lines +from our "Foreign Office." On the +6th day after leaving Aleppo, we find +ourselves on the Euphrates, the +<i>Mourad Shai</i>, or "Water of desire."<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a></p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"In all its majesty, it glides beneath +our gaze. It is needless to tell the history +of this river, renowned in the earliest +traditions. Watering the Paradise of +earth, it has been mingled with the fables +of heaven; the Lord gave it in his covenants +unto Abram; Moses, inspired, +preached it in his sermon to the people. +In its waters are bound the four angels, +and, at the emptying of the sixth vial, +its waters will dry up, that the 'way of +the kings of the East may be prepared.' +In every age it has formed a prominent +feature in the diorama of history, flashing +with sunshine, or sluggish and turbid +with blood; and here, on its bank, its +name unchanged, all now is solitude and +quiet.</p> + +<p>"Descending amidst wide burial-grounds, +where here and there a <i>kubbé</i> +sheltered some clay more revered than +the rest, we reached its shores, and +patiently took up our quarters beneath +the shade of a tree, till a boat should +arrive to carry us over. The redoubt, +Fort William, as it was called, of the +Euphrates expedition still remains. In +ancient times four shallows existed where +there were bridges over the Euphrates: +the northernmost at Samosata, now unused; +Rum Kalaat, further south, being +the route frequented; Bir, the khan and +eastern bank of which is called Zeugma, +or the Bridge, to this day; and the +fourth at Thapsacus, the modern Thapsaish, +where Cyrus, Alexander, and +Crassus passed into Mesopotamia. The +Arabs now generally pass here, or else +by fords known only to themselves. +Julian crossed at a place called Menbidjy, +which was probably abreast of +Hierapolis.</p> + +<p>"But what avails to recount individual +cases?—the whole land is history. Near +us is Racca, once the favourite residence +of Aaron the Just. Here he delighted +to spend his leisure—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'Entranced with that place and time,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">So worthy of the golden prime<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of good Haroun Alraschid.'"<br /></span> +</div></div></blockquote> + +<p>We cross the Euphrates to the +town of Bir, and proceed still eastward, +along a flat desert, strewn with +a small-bladed scanty grass, aromatic +flowers, and wormwood. "One +small gleam, like a polished shield or +a dark sward, is all we see of the +mighty river that flows around us. +Every hour of the day changes the +aspect of the desert: now it is wild +and gloomy, as scudding clouds pass +over the sun; now smiling with +maiden sweetness, as the sun shines +out again." Often we pass by the +tented homes of the desert tribes, +with their flocks and herds tended +by busy maidens, now screaming +wildly after their restless charge—now +singing songs as wild, but +sweeter far. Then comes sunset with +its massed clouds of purple, blue, and +gold; the air is full of bleatings as +the flocks all tamely follow their +shepherds home. On the tenth day +after leaving Aleppo, we descend into +a plain covered with some dusty +olive-trees: we come to a hill with a +low wall, and a castle on its summit. +"And this is the Ur of the Chaldees,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_728" id="Page_728">[728]</a></span> +the Edessa of the Romans, the Orfa +of the Arabs. Here God spake to +Abram." From this city, very fruitful +in legends, we reach Haran in six +hours; travelling over a plain strewn +with <i>tels</i> and encampments of the +Koords.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"Perhaps by this very route Abraham +of old and those with him travelled; nor +is it extravagance to say, the family we +now meet may exhibit the exact appearance +that the patriarchs did four thousand +years ago—the tents and pots piled +on the camels; the young children in one +saddle-bag balancing the kids in the +other; the matron astride on the ass; the +maid following modestly behind; the +boys now here, now there; the patriarch +himself on his useful mare, following and +directing the march. As we pass, he +lays his hand on his heart, and says, +'Peace be with you; where are you +going?—Depart in peace.'"</p></blockquote> + +<p>Haran appears to be, without +doubt, the ancient city of Nahor, +where Laban lived, and where Jacob +served for Leah and Rachel. Here, +too, is Rebekah's well, and here our +traveller beheld the very counterpart +of the scene that Eleazar saw when he +sought a bride for his master's son. By +this time our author had so far identified +himself with the desert tribes, their +language, their interests, their enjoyment +of the desert life, and their love +of horses, that he seems to feel, and +almost to speak, in the Arab style. +We have never seen that interesting +people so happily described and so +vividly illustrated. If we had not so +much before us still to investigate, +we would gladly dwell upon the +desert journey from Haran to Tel +Bagdad, and on the raft voyage +thence down the Tigris to Mosul. +One graphic sketch of an Arab sheik +must serve for many: his characteristic +speech contains volumes of +his people's history.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"The young sheik was not, probably, +more than seventeen or eighteen years of +age; handsome, but with that peculiarly +girlish effeminate appearance I have before +mentioned as so frequently found +among the younger aristocracy of the +desert, and so strangely belied by their +character and deeds. He now held my +horse, and, apologising for his father's +temporary absence, welcomed us. The +tent was large and well made. We remained +here smoking and drinking coffee +till the sheik Dahhal arrived. He was +fully dressed in silk—a fine figure of a +man with light clear eyes. Wounds, +received long ago, have incapacitated +him from the free use of his hands, but +report says he can still grasp the rich +dagger at his girdle with a fatal strength +when passion urges him. Though every +feeling was subdued, there showed +through all his mildness the baffled tiger, +whose vengeance would be fearful—he +resembled a netted animal, vainly with +all its cunning seeking to break the +meshes that encompassed him on all +sides.</p> + +<p>"He received us with a hospitality +that seemed natural; his words were +more sonorous, grand, and flowing than +those of any Arab I had before seen. +They reminded me of the pleasure I had +felt in South America in listening to the +language of a true Spaniard, heard amidst +the harsh gutturals of a provincial jargon; +strings of highflown compliments, uttered +with an open, noble mien, that, while it +must please those to whom it is used, +seems but a worthy condescension in him.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6">'He was a man of war and woes;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Yet on his lineaments ye cannot trace,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">While gentleness her milder radiance throws<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Along that aged venerable face,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The deeds that lurk beneath, and stain him with disgrace.'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"If report speaks true, never did there +breathe a truer son of Hagar than Sheik +Dahhal. During his whole life his hand +has been against every man, and every +man's against him. Gaining his social +position with his dagger, he openly endeavoured +to enlarge it by every exercise +of force or fraud. The whole frontier of +Mardin, Nisibis, Mosul, Bagdad, &c., are +his deadly enemies, made so by his acts. +It must be sad in declining years to see +the wreck of a youth thus spent; already +the punishment and repayment are hard +at hand.</p> + +<p>"Successful violence brings temporary +rewards—power, rule, dominion; but for +this he has bartered honour, fame, youth, +conscience: every stake, every ruse, has +been used, and he gains but defeat, disgrace, +and contempt. It must be hard, +very hard, for the proud man to live on +thus. I pitied him, and could feel for +him as he fondled his young son, a lovely +little naked savage, who lay crouching at +his side. He had two or three other +children, all strikingly handsome....</p> + +<p>"We were ultimately obliged to refuse +his escort. 'It is well,' said he, 'whether +you go or stay, all Dahhal has, all his +enemies have left him, is yours.' We +asked him if he saw any change in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_729" id="Page_729">[729]</a></span> +Arab since he remembered: he looked +quietly round at his tents, at his camels +now crowded round them, the flocks lowing +to their homes; his dress, his arms, +and then said, 'No: since the time of +the Prophets—since time was, we are +unchanged; perhaps poorer, perhaps less +hospitable in consequence; but otherwise +unchanged.' He made a very just remark +afterwards: 'Our habits are the +only ones adapted to the country we live +in; they cannot change unless we change +our country: no other life can be lived +here.'"</p></blockquote> + +<p>Our travellers, sending their horses +and servants along the banks of the +Tigris, themselves embarked on board +a raft composed of inflated skins; +and their voyage, after many incidents, +terminated in the following +scene:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"At last the pious true-believing eye +of the boatman detected the minarets of +Mosul over the low land on the right. +On our left was a large temporary village, +built of dried grass, roughly and coarsely +framed; low peaked mountains ahead +broke the steel line of the sky. No sooner +did our boatman detect the minarets, +than he continued his prayers, confiding +the oars to one of the servants. Poor +fellow! it was sad work; for the raft, as +if in revenge for the way he had pulled +her about, kept pertinaciously turning, +and as it bore his Mecca—turned front +to the north, east, or west—he had to +stop his pious invocations, that otherwise +would have been wafted to some useless +bourne; and then, as in the swing she +turned him to the black stone, he had to +hurry on, like sportsmen anxious for +some passing game. Often he rose, but +seemed not satisfied, and again he knelt, +and bowing prayed his Caaba-directing +prayers. This man had not prayed before +during the voyage.</p> + +<p>"At last, over the land appeared a +mud fort hardly distinguishable from the +hill; before it a white-washed dome, a +few straggling buildings—it was Mosul. +Presently an angle is turned, and the +broken ruinous wall of an Eastern town +lies before us."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Mosul is only sixteen days' journey +from Aleppo. Although now invested +with a lasting interest by its connection +with Mr Layard's magnificent discoveries, +it is one of the least attractive +cities of the East. Its neighbourhood, +with the grand exception +of buried Nineveh, and some curious +naphtha springs, is equally devoid of +interest. The huge mound called +Koyunjik, "coverer of cities," lies on +the opposite side of the Tigris, about +two miles from the river. Tel Nimroud, +where the first successful excavations +were made, is about eighteen +miles lower down. It will be remembered +that Mr Rich, a merchant of +Bagdad, first directed attention to +these subterranean treasures nearly +twenty years ago: M. Botta, more +recently, made some energetic attempts +to discover them; but it remained +for our gallant countryman, +Mr Layard, to render his name illustrious +by unveiling the mysteries of +ages, and restoring to light the wonders +of the ancient capital of the +Assyrians. His renown, and still +more his success itself, must be its +own reward; but we fear that in all +other respects the nation is still +deeply in his debt. The capricious +liberalities of our Government with +respect to art are very singular; the +financial dispositions of the British +Museum are still more difficult to explain. +The former does not hesitate +to bestow £2500 on transporting a +pillar from the sea-shore of Egypt to +London, while it only places at Mr +Layard's disposal £3000 for the excavation +of Nineveh and its surrounding +suburbs, eighteen miles in extent—together +with the support and +pay of a numerous staff of artists +and others during eighteen months. +On the other hand, the trustees of +the British Museum, knowing themselves +already to be deeply in Mr +Layard's debt, refuse to further his +great efforts, except by the paltry +(and refused) pittance of £12 a-month; +and, at the same time, they +furnish Colonel Rawlinson with the +sum of £2000 to proceed with excavations +at Koyunjik, (three hundred +miles from his residence,) and at +Susa, which is one-third of the distance. +In the approaching session +of Parliament, we hope that Mr +Layard's services to England and to +art will be more generously appreciated +than they have hitherto been; +and that, at all events, we shall not +be left to labour under the disgrace of +pecuniary debt to that enterprising +gentleman.</p> + +<p>We have now reached our traveller's +goal, and must make brief work<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_730" id="Page_730">[730]</a></span> +of his returning tour, in order to spare +some columns to the consideration of +the Ansayrii, the most important +matter in the work.</p> + +<p>After a residence of some weeks at +Mosul, and at the several neighbouring +excavations, Mr Walpole accompanied +Mr Layard in a tour through +the fastnesses of Koordistan: and +here we must find space for one or +two glimpses at those unknown +regions, and the life that awaits the +traveller there.</p> + +<p>Before we begin to ascend the hill +country, we look back:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"On either side, the mountain falls +away with jut and crag almost perpendicularly +to the plain; at the foot, hills rise +above hills in irregular and petulant +ranges, like a stormy sea when the wind +is gone, and nothing save its memory +remains, lashing the waves with restless +motion. Westward lies the vast plain, +its surface broken by the mounds of imperial +cities long passed away.</p> + +<p>"One moment the eye rests on the Tigris +as it glides its vast volume by; then, out +upon the plain, the desert broken by the +range of Singar, again on to distance +where earth and air mingle imperceptibly +together. To the south, over a varied +land, is Mosul, the white glare of its +mosque glistening in the sun; to the south +and east, a sea of hills, wave after wave, +low and irregular. The Zab, forcing its +way, takes a tortuous course to its companion; +farther on, they join their waters, +and run together to the vast worlds of +the south. Beyond are Arbela and the +Obeid. Kara Chout and its crags shut +out the view, passing many a spot graven +on the pages of the younger world.</p> + +<p>"What a blank in history is there +around those vast cities, now brought to +light! A few vague traditions, a few +names whose fabulous actions throw discredit +on their existence, are all that +research has discovered. Even the nations +following after these we know but +dimly—tradition, garlanded by poetry, +our only guide.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'Belshazzar's grave is made,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">His kingdom passed away;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He in the balance weighed,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Is light and worthless clay.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The shroud his robe of state;<br /></span> +<span class="i2">His canopy the stone;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The Mede is at his gate,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The Persian on his throne.'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"Fancy conjures up to the south a +small and compact body of Greeks: around +them, at a distance, like vultures round +a struggling carcase, hover bands of +cavalry. Now, as a gap opens, they +rush on; now, as the ranks close up, they +melt away, shooting arrows as they fly, +vengeful in their cowardice—it is the +retreat of Xenophon and his gallant +band. They encamp at Nimroud—as in +his yesterday, so in our to-day, a mound +smothering its own renown.</p> + +<p>"Northward again comes a mighty +band: with careful haste they cross the +rivers, and with confident step traverse +the plain south. On the south-east plain, +a legion of nations, golden, glittering, +yet timorous, await their approach. +Alexander, the hero, scatters dismay: +assured of conquest ere he met the foe, +he esteems the pursuit the only difficulty. +On the one side, Asia musters her nations—Indians, +Syrians, Albanians, and Bactrians—the +hardiest population of her +empire. Elephants and war-chariots are +of no avail: the result was fore-written, +and Darius foremost flies along the plain.</p> + +<p>"Faint, afar, we can see in the north-west +Lucullus; and the arms of Rome +float over the walls of Nisibis, (<small>B.C.</small> 68.) +We may almost see the glorious array of +Julian; hear him subduing his mortal +pain; hear him pronounce, with well-modulated +tones, one of the finest orations +the world can record. We may +see the timid Jovian skulking in his +purple from the field he dared not defend +in his armour. But again rise up the +legions and the Labarum: Heraclius +throws aside his lethargy; the earth +drinks deep of gore, and Khosroo<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> is +vanquished under our eyes.</p> + +<p>"The white and the black banners now +gleam upon the field; the crescent flaunts +on either side. One God, one faith—they +fight for nought. Hell for the +coward, paradise for the brave. Abou +Moslem and Merwan. The earth, on the +spot which had last drunk the red life-blood +of Greek and Persian, now slakes +its fill. Merwan flies with wondrous +steps, but the avenger follows fast. He +first loses his army on the Tigris; himself +dies on the banks of the Nile: there +perished the rule of the Ommiades.</p> + +<p>"The hordes of Timour now approach: +their war-song ought to be the chorus of +the spirits of destiny in <em>Manfred</em>—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'Our hands contain the hearts of men,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Our footsteps are their graves;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">We only give to take again<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The spirits of our slaves.'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"What a different aspect must this +plain have presented when those sun-burnt<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_731" id="Page_731">[731]</a></span> +mysterious mounds were living, +teeming, sinning cities; irrigated, cultivated, +protected, safe; fruitful and productive! +And these were barbarous +times; and now, in this our day, peace-congresses, +civilisation, one vast federal +union, liberty, equality;—a few villages +fortified as castles, a population flying +without a hope of even a death-spot in +peace—fearful alike of robbers and +rulers, robbed alike by protectors and +enemies, planting the harvest they may +not reap; a government seizing what +the roving Arabs choose to leave; law +known but as oppression; authority a +license to plunder; government a resident +extortioner.</p> + +<p>"Too long have we lingered on the +scene. Again the plain is naked, bare, +and lifeless; the sun hovers on the +horizon—he gilds the desert, licks the +river; the desert breaks his glorious +disc. Slowly, like the light troops +covering a retreat, he collects his rays; +with fondness lights up each hill; warms +with his smile, lighting with unnumbered +tints each peak and crag of hold +desert-throned Singar. Reluctantly he +hovers for a moment on the horizon's +verge, large, fearful, red; then</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'The sun's rim dips, the stars rush out;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">At one stride comes the dark.'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"Near the convent is a dripping well; +a rough path leads us to it, and its +entrance is shaded by a gigantic tree. +The water is very cold and sweet; the +moisture shed a coolness around, that +made an exquisite retreat. Near it is a +cave which in days of persecution sheltered +securely many of the poor fugitive +Christians. The destruction of most of +the convents about these mountains and +on this plain is imputed to Tamerlane; +but in our own time Sheik Mattie was +attacked by the Koords; its fathers were +slain, beaten, and dispersed; and the +dust of long ages of bishops scattered +to the winds. They still show in the +church the tombs of Mar Halveus and +Abou Faraf, which they say escaped +the observation of the destroyer. The +inscription of one we were able to +decipher; but another resisted even the +efforts of the scholar then resident at +the convent. We in vain tried many +learned men, but the inscription defies +all investigation.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'Chaldea's seers are good,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">But here they have no skill;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And the unknown letters stood,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Untold and mystic still.'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"We now made straight for Sheik +Mattie, whose green gorge we could +discover high up the face of the mountain. +The plain was a succession of low +hills all brown with the summer; here +and there a Koord village with its cultivated +fields, cucumbers, and cool melons. +The villages west of the river are +nearly all Christian, but on to-day's +ride we passed two Koordish ones. At +one we halted, and regaled ourselves and +horses on the fruit they pressed on us.</p> + +<p>"The old sheik came out, followed by +two men with felts; these were spread +in the cool, and we made kief. He +begged the loan of Zea, (my Albanian +greyhound,) whom he praised beyond +measure for his extreme beauty, to kill +hares. To hear him talk, his complaints +of game, of fields, hares destroyed, &c., I +could have believed myself once more in +England, but that he closed each sentence +with "It is God's will; His will be +done," and such like holy words. His +long, wide, graceful robes also brought +one back to the East, to poetry and to +romance."</p></blockquote> + +<p>And here we find less happy accidents +in a traveller's life, which must +not pass unremembered.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"At first, one of the greatest privations +I experienced in Eastern travel, +and one that half did away with the +pleasure derived from it, was the want of +privacy; and one can fully understand +(as probably centuries have produced but +little change in their habits) the expression +in the Bible, of our Saviour retiring +apart to pray; for, in the East, privacy +is a word unknown. Families live in +one room; men, women, sons, daughters, +sons' wives, &c., and may be said never +to be alone. This at first annoyed me, +but habit is second nature. As soon as +the traveller arrives he has visits; all +the world crowd to see him; the thousand +nameless things one likes to do +after a tedious hot journey must be done +in public. Before you are up they are +there; meals, all, there they are; and +there is nothing for it but to proceed just +as if the privacy was complete....</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Friday</span>, 12th—I rose as well as +usual: on one side of the tent lay the +Doctor, dead beat; under one flap +which constitutes a separate room, Abdallah +perfectly insensible: the cook lay +behind on a heap of horse-cloths, equally +stricken. I sat down to write in the air: +finding the flies annoyed me, I read, fell +asleep, and remember nothing save a +great sensation of pain and weariness for +two days. It seemed as if a noise awoke +me; it was early morning, and Mr +Layard stood before me. Poor fellow! +he had learned how to treat the fever by +bitter, almost fatal, personal experience;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_732" id="Page_732">[732]</a></span> +and now he dosed us and starved us, till +all but Abdallah were out of danger, at +all events.</p> + +<p>"It is curious how soon people of warm +climates,—or, in fact, I may say,—all +uneducated people, succumb to sickness. +Hardy fellows, apparently as strong as +iron: when attacked they lie down, +wrap a coat or cloak around them, and +resign themselves to suffer. It would +seem that the mind is alone able to rise +superior to disease: their minds, uncultivated, +by disuse weak, or in perfect +alliance with the body, cease to exist +when its companion falls. In intellectual +man the mind is the last to succumb: +long after the poor weak body has +yielded, the mind holds out like a well-garrisoned +citadel: it refuses all surrender, +and, though the town is taken, +fights bravely till the last."</p></blockquote> + +<p>And now one glimpse at Koordistan +and the beautiful and mysterious +Lake Van, which lies hidden in its +deepest recesses.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"We now journeyed on through +strange regions, where Frank had never +wandered. We saw the Koords as they +are best seen, free in their own magnificent +mountains;—not "the ass," as the +Turk calls him, "of the plains." Mahomet +Pasha, son of the little standard-bearer, +and Pasha of Mosul was requested +to provide for its defence by the consuls, +and to attempt by better rule the civilisation +of the Arabs. He replied:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'Erkekler Densige<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Allar genisig<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Kurytar Donsig<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Devekler Yoolarsig.'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"'What can I do with people whose +men have no religion, whose women are +without drawers, their horses without +bits, and their camels without halters?'</p> + +<p>"Thus we wandered over many miles, +plains spreading between their fat mountains, +splendid in their grandeur; now +amidst pleasant valleys anon over giant +passes—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i14">——'Dim retreat,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For fear and melancholy meet;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where rocks were rudely heaped and rent,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As by a spirit turbulent;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where sights were rough, and sounds were wild,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And everything unreconciled.'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"My health after this gradually got +worse: repeated attacks of fever, brought +on probably by my own carelessness, +weakened me so much that I could +scarcely keep up with the party. Riding +was an agony, and, by the carelessness of +my servant, my horses were ruined. +One evening an Abyssinian, one of my +attendants, went so far as to present a +pistol at my head. My poor dear dog, +too, was lost, which perhaps afflicted me +more than most ills which could happen +to myself. At last we passed over a +ridge, and Lake Van lay before us. We +had, perhaps, been the first Europeans +who had performed the journey. The +last and only other of which we have any +record was poor Professor Schultz, who +was murdered by order of Khan Mahmoud +for the baggage he unfortunately +displayed. The Khan received him kindly, +entertained him with hospitality, and +despatched him on his road with a guard +who had their instructions to murder +him on the way. He was an accurate +and capable traveller, a native of Hesse, +and travelling for the French government.</p> + +<p>"The morning of the 3d of August saw +us passing up a most lovely valley, the +Vale of Sweet Waters. We had encamped +in it the night before. Leaving +its pretty verdure, we mounted a long +range of sun-burnt hills covered with +sun-dried grass and <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">immortelles</i>, whose +immortality must have been sorely tried +on that sun-exposed place. Achieving a +pass, we gained our view of Van. The +scene was worthy of Stanfield in his best +mood. Before us, on the north-east, +brown, quaintly-shaped hills, variegated +with many tints, filled the view of the +far horizon. From this a plain led to the +lake; around it were noble mountains, +snow and cloud clad—their beauty enhanced +by the supervening water. Saphan +Dagh, with a wreath of mist and cap of +spotless snow, seen across the sea was +imposing—I might say, perfect.</p> + +<p>"The plain on the eastern coast spread +out broad and fair: here verdant meadows, +there masses of fruit-laden trees; +while between the mass wandered the +mountain streams, hastening on to their +homes in the fair bosom of the lake. +Van itself swept round its castle, which +stands on a curious rock that rises abruptly +from the plain; but the lake, indeed, +was the queen of the view—blue as the far +depth of ocean, yet unlike the ocean—so +soft, so sweet, so calm was its surface. On +its near coast, bounded by silver sands, +soft and brilliant; while its far west +formed the foot of Nimrod Dagh, on +whose lofty crest are said to be a lake +and a castle....</p> + +<p>"The waters of the lake have lately +been analysed, so the curious substance +found floating on its surface, and used +as soap, will be accounted for: it is sold +in the bazaars. At present there are but +three small boats or launches on the +lake, and even these can hardly find trade<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_733" id="Page_733">[733]</a></span> +enough to remunerate them. Their principal +occupation is carrying passengers +to the towns on the coast."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Mr Layard remained at Lake Van in +order to copy some inscriptions; but +Mr Walpole was induced to penetrate +northward as far as Patnos, where no +European had yet been seen. Here +his enterprise was rewarded by the +view of some magnificent scenery, +and the more important discovery of +some cuneiform, and many ancient +Armenian inscriptions. These were +forwarded by our traveller to Mr +Layard, and will doubtless appear in +his forthcoming work.<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> But we must +now leave Koordistan, recommending +the perusal of Mr Walpole's chapter +on the Christians of Lake Van, and +their beautiful and mysterious inland +sea, to all who love to picture to +themselves strange lands and wild +adventure. We return by way of +Erzeroum, Trebizond, the shores of +the Black Sea, and Sansoun, to Constantinople; +thence to Latakia; and +here we find ourselves within view of +the mountains of the mysterious +Ansayrii and Ismaylis.</p> + +<p>In the title of this work is revived +a subject of very ancient interest. +The Ansayrii, or Nassairi, or Assassins, +are a singularly surviving +relic of the followers of the Old Man +of the Mountain, so celebrated in the +history of the Crusades.<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> Historians +have fallen into a great mistake in +supposing this Order to have been a +hereditary dynasty, or to have embraced +a nation. Originally it was +simply an Order, like that of the +Templars. Like them the members +wore white garments set off with +crimson, typifying innocence and +blood. The policy of both was to +obtain possession of strong places, +and by terror to keep the surrounding +nations in subjection. The Assassins +succeeded in this object so far as +to dictate their will to several Sultans, +many Viziers, and innumerable +minor authorities. When the Sultan +of the Seljuks sent an ambassador to +the Old Man of the Mountain, demanding +his submission, the following +well-known circumstance took +place:—"The chief said to one of his +followers, 'Stab thyself!' To another +he said, 'Throw thyself from the +battlements!' Before he had ceased +to speak his disciples had obeyed +him, and lay dead, not only willing +but eager martyrs to their faith. +The chief then turning to the envoy, +said, 'Take what thou hast seen for +thine answer. I am obeyed by +seventy thousand such men as these.'" +The founder of this terrible sect was +Hassan Ben Sahab. He was a "Dai," +or master-missionary, from the +Secret Lodge established at Cairo, +(about 1004 <small>A.D.</small>), in order to sap +and overthrow the Caliphat of Abbas, +and establish that of the Fatimites. +Hassan gave promise of greatness in +his youth, became a favourite of the +Melekshah, was banished from court +by the intrigues of a rival, and took +refuge at Ispahan. Here he became +initiated in the voluptuous and atheistical +doctrines of the Ismailis, and +was sent to Egypt, to the Caliph +Mostansur, as a preacher and promulgator +of that atrocious creed. He +was banished from the Egyptian +court also, and cast ashore in Syria.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_734" id="Page_734">[734]</a></span> +After a variety of adventures in the +course of his travels from Aleppo +through Persia, he at length obtained +possession of the fortress of AlamÃ…t,<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> +near Khaswin. Here he remained +for the remainder of his life, never +leaving the castle, and only twice +moving from his own apartment to +the terrace during a period of thirty-eight +years. Here he perfected, in +mystery and deep seclusion, his +diabolical doctrines, and soon sent +"Dais," or missionaries, of his own +into all lands. The secret society of +which he was the head contained +several grades, embracing the initiated, +the aspirant, and the devoted—mere +executioners or tools of higher +intelligences.<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> The grand-master +was called Sidna (Sidney) "our +lord;" and more commonly Sheik +el Djebel, the Sheik or Old Man of +the Mountain, because the Order +always possessed themselves of the +castles in mountainous regions in +Irak, Kuhistan, and Syria. The Old +Man, robed in white, resided always +in the mountain fort of AlamÃ…t. +There he maintained himself against +all the power of the Sultan, until at +length the daggers of his Fedavie, or +devoted followers, freed him from his +most active enemies, and appalled the +others into quiescence. AlamÃ…t was +now called "the abode of Fortune," +and all the neighbouring strongholds +submitted to the Ancient of the +Mountain. The Assassins were proscribed +in all civilised communities, +and the dagger and the sword +found constant work on their own +professors. The Assassins, however, +like the Indian Thugs, depraved all +societies, in all sorts of disguises. At +one time the courtiers of a Caliph +being solemnly invoked, with a promise +of pardon and impunity, five +chamberlains stepped forward, and +each showed the dagger, which only +waited an order from the Old Man +to plunge into the heart of any human +being it could reach. By such agency +Hassan kept entire empires in a +state of revolution and carnage. +From his remote fortress he made +his influence felt and feared to the +extreme confines of Khorassan and +Syria. And thence, too, he propagated +the still more infernal engines of his +authority, his catechisms of atheism +and licentiousness—"Nothing is +true; all things are permitted to the +initiated." Such was the foundation +of his creed.</p> + +<p>This villain died tranquilly in his +bed, having survived to the age of +ninety. His spiritual and temporal +power was continued with various +vicissitudes through a long succession +of impostors, the dagger still maintaining +its mysterious and inevitable +agency. The list of the best, and some +of the most powerful, of Oriental +potentates who perished by it, swells, +as the history of the Order proceeds, +to an incredible extent. During all +this time the fundamental maxim of +the creed, which separates the secret +doctrines of the initiated from the +public tenets of the people, was preserved. +These last were (and now +are, according to Mr Walpole) held +to the strictest injunctions of Mahometanism. +The East did not detect +the motive power of the Assassins' +chief: they only saw the poniard +strike those who had offended the +envoy of the invisible Imam, who was +soon to arrive in power and glory, and +to assert his dominion over earth. In +the Crusades, the hand of the Assassins +is traced in the fate of Raymond +of Tripoli—perhaps in that of the +Marquis of Montferrat—and in many +meaner instances. At that period +the numbers of people openly professing +the creed is stated by William +of Tyre at sixty thousand; and by +James, Bishop of Alla, at forty thousand. +At this day Mr Walpole estimates +the number of the Ansayrii +at forty thousand fighting men, including +Ismaylis. These numbers +are to be understood, however, in +former times, as well as in the present, +to comprise the whole sect, and +not merely the executioners, who +always formed a very small proportion, +and are now probably extinct. +The Old Man is no longer recognised, +so far as can be ascertained, among +the mountains, (where, as usual in +other parts of Syria, the patriarchal +form prevails;) and the strange creed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_735" id="Page_735">[735]</a></span> +that their ancestors held, together +with a singular recklessness of life, +alone remains to mark their descent. +Concerning this creed we are referred +by Mr Walpole to some discoveries +which he intends to publish in a +future volume. We must confess to +considerable disappointment in the +meagre information that is here afforded +to us on the subject, especially +after our expectations have +been raised by such a preface as the +following:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"Alone, without means, without +powers to buy or bribe, I have penetrated +a secret, the enigma of ages—have +dared alone to venture where none +have been—where the government, with +five hundred soldiers, could not follow; +and, better than all, I have gained esteem +among the race condemned as savages, +and feared as robbers and <small>ASSASSINS</small>."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Nevertheless, our author has told +us a good deal that is new and interesting +about the Ansayrii, as will be +seen from our extracts.</p> + +<p>The Ismaylis, concerning whose +woman-worship and peculiar habits +such strange stories have been whispered, +live among the southern mountains +of the Ansayrii. They amount +only to five thousand souls, and appear +to be a different tribe, (probably +Arab,) grafted upon them, and gradually, +by superior vigour, possessing +themselves of the strongest places in +the mountains. These people hold a +creed quite distinct from the Ansayrii, +among whom they dwell; and the extraordinary +prayer, or address used by +them seems fully to bear out the long-questioned +assertion of their aphrodisial +worship.</p> + +<p>Marco Polo<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> was the first to furnish +some curious accounts of the Ansayrii, +and of the discipline and catechism +of the Fedavie: we hope that +Mr Walpole, in his promised volume, +will add to the many vindications +which that brave old traveller has received +from time to time. But at +the sack of AlamÃ…t, in 1257, all the +Assassins' books (except the Koran) +were burned as impious; and all that +now remains of their doctrines must +be traditional. We have dwelt thus +long on the Ansayrii in order to display +the interest that belongs to that +secluded and mysterious people, and +the importance of any novel intelligence +respecting them. Before we +proceed to illustrate their country +from Mr Walpole's volumes, we must +find space for some account of the +manner in which the initiation of the +Assassins is said to have been performed. +The two great strongholds +of the Order were the castle of AlamÃ…t +in Irak, and that of Massiat near +Latakia in the Lebanon. These fortresses, +stern and impregnable in +themselves, are said to have been +surrounded with exquisite gardens, +enclosed from all vulgar gaze by +walls of immense height. These +gardens were filled with the most +delicate flowers and delicious fruits. +Streams flowed, and fountains +sparkled brightly, through the grateful +gloom of luxuriant foliage. Bowers +of roses, and porcelain-paved kiosks, +and carpets from the richest looms of +Persia, invited to repose the senses +heavy with luxury. Circassian girls, +bright as the houris of Paradise, served +the happy guests with golden goblets +of Schiraz wine, and glances yet more +intoxicating. The music of harps, and +women's sweetest voices, sent fascination +through the ear as well as eyes. +Everything breathed rapture and sensuality, +intensified by seclusion and +deep calm. The youth, where energy +and courage seemed to qualify him for +the office of <i>fedavie</i>, was invited to the +table of the grand-master, (at Irak,) +or the grand-prior, (at Massiat.) He +was there intoxicated with the +maddening, yet delightful <i>hashishe</i>. +In his insensible state he was transported +to the garden, which, he was +told, was Paradise, and which he was +too ready to take for the scene of +eternal delight, as he revelled in all +the pleasure that Eastern voluptuousness +could devise. He was there lulled +into sleep once more, and then transported +back to the grand-master's +side. As he awoke, numbers of uninitiated +youths were admitted to hear +his account of the Paradise which the +power of the Old Man had permitted +him to taste. And thus tools were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_736" id="Page_736">[736]</a></span> +found and formed for the execution +of the wildest projects. That glimpse +of Paradise for ever haunted the +inflamed imagination of the novices, +and any death appeared welcome that +could restore them to such joys.</p> + +<p>Such is the theory of this singular +people, as maintained by Von Hammer, +which it remains for future discoveries—now +that Mr Walpole has +opened the way for them—to vindicate +or refute. There are also some +remnants of the Persian tribes of this +people, an account of which, by Mr +Badger, we are informed, is soon to +appear: the Syrians scarcely know of +their existence. The Syrian Ansayrii +amount, as we have said, including +Ismaylis, to about forty thousand +souls: they have always preserved +their seclusion inviolate; setting at +nought the various tyrannies that have +harassed the neighbouring states, +denying the authority of the Sultan, +and blaspheming the Prophet, while +they outwardly conform to his rites. +They occupy the northernmost range +of the Lebanon, from Tortosa and +Latakia, as far as Adana.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding Von Hammer's +elaborate and ingenious theory, many +(amongst whom is our author) have +seemed disposed to treat the whole story +of the Assassins, and the Old Man +of the Mountain himself, as myths. +It was, they say, the sort of romance +that the Crusaders would have lent +a ready ear to, and that their troubadours +would have made the most +of. They deny the existence of the +powerful hill fortresses surrounded +by the intoxicating gardens; they +point to the renowned Syrian castle +of El Massiat, whose ruins occupy +a space of only one hundred yards +square, and in whose vaulted stables +there is an inscription purporting +that the castle was "the work of +Roostan the Mameluke."</p> + +<p>Mr Walpole, however, does not +enter into any controversy respecting +this strange people. Of the little that +he has confided in his present two +volumes to the public, the following +extracts must be taken as an instalment:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"The Ansayrii nation—for such it +is—being capable of mustering forty +thousand warriors able to bear arms, +is divided into two classes—sheiks +and people; the sheiks again into two—Sheiks +or Chiefs of Religion, Sheik el +Maalem, and the temporal Sheiks, or +Sheiks of Government; these being generally +called Sheik el Zullom, or +Sheiks of Oppression. These latter, +though some of them are of good families, +are not so generally: having gained +favour with government, they have received +the appointment. Others there +are, however, whose families have held +it for many generations—such as Shemseen +Sultan, Sheik Succor, &c. The +sheiks of religion are held as almost +infallible, and the people pay them the +greatest respect. With regard to the +succession, there seems to be no fixed +rule: the elder brother has, however, +rule over the rest; but then I have seen +the son the head of the family while the +father was living.</p> + +<p>"The sheik of religion enjoys great +privileges: as a boy he is taught to read +and write; he is marked from his fellows +from very earliest childhood, by a white +handkerchief round his head. Early as +his sense will admit, he is initiated into +the principles of his faith: in this he +is schooled and perfected. Early he is +taught that death, martyrdom, is a glorious +reward; and that, sooner than +divulge one word of his creed, he is to +suffer the case in which his soul is +enshrined to be mangled or tortured in +any way. Frequent instances have been +known where they have defied the +Turks, who have threatened them with +death if they would not divulge, saying, +'Try me; cut my heart out, and see if +anything is within there.' During his +manhood he is strictly to conform to his +faith: this forbids him not only eating +certain things at any time, but eating +at all with any but chiefs of religion; +or eating anything purchased with +unclean money;—and the higher sheiks +carry this to such an extent that they +will only eat of the produce of their own +grounds; they will not even touch water, +except such as they deem pure and clean. +Then the sheik must exercise the most +unbounded hospitality; and, after death, +the people will build him a tomb, (a +square place, with a dome on the top,) +and he will be revered as a saint.</p> + +<p>"The lower classes are initiated into +the principles of their religion, but not +into its more mystical or higher parts: +they are taught to obey their chiefs +without question, without hesitation, and +to give to them abundantly at feasts +and religious ceremonies: above all, even +the uninitiated is to die a thousand +deaths sooner than betray his faith.</p> + +<p>"In their houses, which, as I have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_737" id="Page_737">[737]</a></span> +before said, are poor, dirty, and wretched, +they place two small windows over the +door. This is in order that, if a birth +and death occur at the same moment, +the coming and the parting spirit may +not meet. In rooms dedicated to hospitality +several square holes are left, so +that each spirit may come or depart +without meeting another.</p> + +<p>"Like the Mahometans, they practise +the rite of circumcision, performing it +at various ages, according to the precocity +of the child. The ceremony is +celebrated, as among the Turks, with +feasting and music. This, they say, is +not a necessary rite, but a custom derived +from ancient times, and they +should be Christians if they did not do it. +This is the same among the Mahometans, +who are not enjoined by their prophet +to do so, but received the rite from +of old.<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a></p> + +<p>"When a candidate is pronounced ready +for initiation, his tarboosh is removed, +and a white cloth wrapped round his head. +He is then conducted into the presence of +the sheiks of religion. The chief proceeds +to deliver a lecture, cautioning him +against ever divulging their great and +solemn secret. 'If you are under the +sword, the rope, or the torture, die, and +smile—you are blessed.' He then kisses +the earth three times before the chief, +who continues telling him the articles of +their faith. On rising, he teaches him a +sign, and delivers three words to him. +This completes the first lesson.</p> + +<p>"At death, the body is washed with +warm soap and water, wrapped in white +cloths, and laid in the tomb. Each person +takes a handful of earth, which is +placed on the body; then upright stones, +one at the feet, one at the head, one in +the middle, are placed. The one in the +middle is necessary. They have the +blood-feud—the Huck el Dum. In war, +blood is not reckoned; but if one man +kills another of a different tribe, all the +tribe of the slayer pay an equal sum to +the tribe of the slain—generally one +thousand six hundred piastres, (L.15.)</p> + +<p>"In marriage, a certain price is agreed +on. One portion goes to the father, +another to supply dress and things necessary +for the maiden. This will vary much, +according to the wealth of the bridegroom +and the beauty or rank of the +bride. It is generally from two hundred +to seven hundred or a thousand piastres +(L.1, 15s. 6d. to L.9, 10s.) Sometimes a +mare, a cow, or a donkey, merely, is given +for her. The bridegroom has then to +solicit the consent of the <i>hirce</i>, or owner +of the bride's village, who will generally +extort five hundred piastres, or more, +before he will give a permission of marriage.</p> + +<p>"The price being settled, and security +given for its payment, the friends of the +bridegroom mount on the top of the house +armed with sticks. The girl's friends +pass her in hastily to avoid their blows. +The bridegroom enters, and beats her +with a stick or back of a sword, so that +she cries: these cries must be heard without. +All then retire, and the marriage +is concluded.</p> + +<p>"They are allowed four wives. The +marriage ceremony is simple, and divorce +not permitted. If one of these four wives +die, they are permitted to take another. +Generally, they have little affection for +their wives—treating them rather as useful +cattle than as rational creatures. +They never teach women the smallest +portion of their faith. They are jealously +excluded from all religious ceremonies; +and, in fact, are utterly denied creed, +prayers, or soul. Many here have told +me that the women themselves believe in +this; and do not, as one would fancy, +murmur at such an exclusive belief.</p> + +<p>"The Ansayrii are honest in their +dealings, and none can accuse them of +repudiation or denying a sum they owe.... +They regard Mahomet el +Hamyd as the prophet of God, and thus +use the Mussulman confession—'La illa +ill Allah, Mahomet el Hamyd, Resoul e +nebbi Allah;' but they omit all this +when before Mahometans, saying merely, +'There is no God but God, and Mahomet +is the prophet of God.' Otherwise, they +say, 'There is no God but Ali, and Mahomet +el Hamyd, the Beloved, is the +prophet of God.'</p> + +<p>"I do not intend here to enter into +their belief more fully; but it is a most +confused medley—a unity, a trinity, a +deity. 'These are five; these five are +three; these three are two; these two, +these three, these five—one.'</p> + +<p>"They believe in the transmigration of +souls. Those who in this life do well, +are hospitable, and follow their faith, +become stars; the souls of others return +to the earth, and become Ansayrii again, +until, purified, they fly to rest. The +souls of bad men become Jews, Christians, +and Turks; while the souls of +those who believe not, become pigs and +other beasts. One eve, sitting with a +dear old man, a high sheik—his boys +were round him—I said, 'Speak: where<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_738" id="Page_738">[738]</a></span> +are the sons of your youth? these are the +children of your old age.'—'My son,' he +said, looking up, 'is there: nightly he +smiles on me, and invites me to come.'</p> + +<p>"They pray five times a day, saying +several prayers each time, turning this +way or that, having no keblah. If a +Christian or Turk sees them at their devotions, +the prayers are of no avail. At +their feasts, they pray in a room closed +and guarded from the sight or ingress of +the uninitiated.</p> + +<p>"This will give a general outline of +the faith and customs of the Ansayrii. +My intercourse with them was on the +most friendly footing, and daily a little +was added to my stock of information. +Let me, however, warn the traveller +against entering into argument with +them, or avowing, through the dragoman, +any knowledge of their creed. They are +as ready and prompt to avenge as they +are generous and hospitable to protect. +To destroy one who deceives them on +this point is an imperative duty; and I +firmly believe they would do it though +you took shelter on the divan of the +Sultan. For myself, the risk is passed: +I have gone through the ordeal, and owe +my life several times to perfect accident."</p></blockquote> + +<p>To this long extract we shall only +add, that a good deal of additional +light is indirectly thrown upon this +singular people throughout the whole +of the third volume of Mr Walpole's +work. It is the best written, as well +as the most important, of the series; +it abounds in humour, anecdote, +originality, and in no small degree of +curious research.</p> + +<p>And now, it only remains for us to +bid our entertaining fellow-traveller +heartily farewell. Although, especially +in the first volume, we have +felt disposed to quarrel with his style +occasionally, we have found his good-humour, +his thoughtful sentiment, and +his reckless wit, at last irresistible. +His very imperfections often prove +his fidelity, and his apparent contradictions +his innate truthfulness. We +commend to him a little more study +of the art of composition, and a good +deal more care; but we shall consider +ourselves fortunate when we meet +with another author of as many faults, +if they are atoned for by as many +merits.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_739" id="Page_739">[739]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>THE CHAMPIONS OF THE RAIL.</h2> + +<p><cite>A History of the English Railway: its Social Relations and Revelations.</cite> By <span class="smcap">John +Francis</span>. 2 vols. London.</p> + + +<p>A good many years ago, a late +correspondent and writer in this +Magazine, Dr M'Nish of Glasgow, +published a work entitled <cite>The Anatomy +of Drunkenness</cite>. The book was +an excellent one: most perfect in its +portraiture of the different phenomena +which accompany and succeed a debauch; +and in the hands of a regular +tee-totaller, it was undeniably worth +some reams of vapid sermons. The +preacher, who never, we are bound +to believe, had experienced the vinous +or spirituous excitement in his own +person, was enabled from it to hold +forth, with all the unction of reality, +to his terrified audience, upon the +awful effects of intemperance. Old +ladies, who rarely in their lives had +transgressed beyond a second glass of +weak negus at some belated party, +when whist or commerce had been +suggested to while away the weary +hours, listened to the warnings of the +gifted apostle of temperance, and hied +them home in the tremendous conviction +that they had only escaped, by +the merest miracle, the horrors of +<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">delirium tremens</i>. Dyspeptic gentlemen +were rendered wretched, as they +reflected that, for years past, they +had been accustomed to wash down +their evening Finnan haddock, or +moderate board of oysters, with a +pint of Younger's prime ale, or, mayhap, +a screeching tumbler. The +enormity of their offence became +visible to their eyes, and they incontinently +conceived amendment.</p> + +<p>But we doubt very much whether +the <cite>Anatomy</cite> would have been pleasant +reading to a gentleman who overnight +had imbibed "not wisely but too well." +How could he bear to be told, not only +of the sensations of the previous evening, +minutely traced through the gradations +of each consecutive decanter, +but of the state of thirst and unnatural +discomfort to which he was presently +a victim? Would it relieve his headach +to assure him that, after swallowing +three bottles of claret, most men +are apt to be out of sorts? Could he, +the sufferer, derive any assuagement +of his pains by knowing—if he did +not know it already—that unlimited +brandy and water, however agreeable +during consumption, was clearly prejudicial +to the nerves? Sermons may +come too soon. The sufferer ought +to be allowed at least a day or two to +recover, before his offence is laid +before him in all its huge deformity. +Give him time to be ashamed of himself. +A man's own conscience is his +best accuser; and, unless the vice +be absolutely inherent, or totally +beyond the hope of remedy, his own +misery will be more likely to effect a +cure than any amount of philosophical +dissertations upon its nature.</p> + +<p>These thoughts have been irresistibly +suggested to us by a perusal of +the two ponderous tomes of Mr +Francis, entitled, <cite>A History of the +English Railway: its Social Relations +and Revelations</cite>. A more unfortunate +kind of apocalypse could hardly have +been hazarded at the present time. +Most people are tolerably well aware, +without the aid of Mr Francis, of the +changes in social relations which have +been worked by the British railway; +and as for revelations, a good many +would give a trifle to have these +entirely suppressed. We have not +yet arrived at the time when the +history of the "'45" of this century +can be calmly or dispassionately +written. Too many of us, still remanent +here, have burned our fingers, +and too many of our kith and kin +have been sent to exile, in consequence +of that notable enterprise. Since +the standard was last unfurled in the +vale of Glenmutchkin, a considerable +number of the population have been +bitten by the sod, if they did not +literally bite it. That system of +turning over turfs, by the aid of silver +spades and mahogany wheelbarrows, +was more fatal to the peace of families +than the accumulation of any number +of Celtic bagpipers whatever. It +was a grand interment of capital. +Who has forgotten the misery of those<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_740" id="Page_740">[740]</a></span> +times, when letters of railway calls +arrived punctually once a quarter? +Two pound ten per share might be a +moderate instalment; but if you were +the unfortunate holder of a hundred +shares, you had better have been +boarded with a vampire. Repudiation, +though a clear Christian duty to yourself +and your family, was utterly +impossible. It mattered not that the +majority of the original committeemen +and directors had bolted; you, +the subscriber, were tied to the stake. +The work was begun, the contracts +opened, and money must be had at all +hazards and sacrifices. You found +yourself in the pitiable situation of an +involuntary philanthropist. Threescore +hulking Irish navvies were daily +fed, liquored, and lodged at your +expense. Your dwindling resources +were torn from you, to make the fortunes +of engineers and contractors. +So long as you had a penny, or a +convertible equivalent, you were +forced to surrender it. Your case +was precisely similar to that of the +Jew incarcerated in the vaults beneath +the royal treasury of King John. One +by one all your teeth were drawn. If +you managed to survive the extraction +of the last grinder, and to behold the +opening of the line, your position was +not one whit improved. Dividend +of course there was none. That +awful and mysterious item of charge, +"working expenses," engulfed nearly +the whole revenue. What was over +went to pay interest on preference +debentures. That gallant body of +men, the directors, laid before you, +with the utmost candour, a state of the +affairs of the company; from which +it appeared that they had exceeded +their borrowing powers by perhaps a +brace of millions, and had raised the +money by interposing their own individual +security. These obligations +you were, of course, expected to +redeem; and an appeal was made to +your finer feelings, urging you to consent +to a further issue of stock!</p> + +<p>It is no great consolation to the +men who have suffered more woes +from the railways, than fell to the +lot of the much-enduring Ulysses +from the relentless anger of the +deities, to know that they have rendered +perfect a vast chain of internal +communication throughout the +country. We doubt whether the +Israelites, who built them, took any +especial pride in surveying the pile of +the pyramids. The gentleman in +embarrassed circumstances, who is +pondering over the memory of his +perished capital, is not likely to feel +his heart expand with enthusiasm at +the thought that through his agency, +and that of his fellows, thousands of +bagmen are daily being whirled along +the rails with the velocity of lightning. +He may even be pardoned if, +in the sadness and despondency of +his soul, he should seriously ask himself +what, after all, is the use of this +confounded hurry? Is a man's life +prolonged because he can get along +at the rate of forty or fifty miles +an hour? Is existence to be measured +by locomotion? In that case +Chifney, who passed the best part of +his life in the saddle, ought to have been +considered as a rival to Methuselah, +and a stoker on the Great Western +lives in one week far longer than the +venerable Parr! Is enjoyment multiplied? +That, too, will admit of a +serious doubt. In a railway carriage +you have no fair view of the fresh +aspect of nature: you dash through +the landscape—supposing that there +is one—before its leading features are +impressed upon your mind. There +is no time for details, or even for +reflection. You must accommodate +your thought to your pace, otherwise +you are left behind, and see +nothing whatever for at least a +couple of stations. But for the most +part your way lies between embankments +and cuttings, representing +either sections of whinstone, or bare +banks of turf, dotted over with brown +patches, where the engine has effected +arson. Even furze will not willingly +flourish in such an uncomfortable +locality. Then you roar through +tunnels, the passage of which makes +your flesh creep—for you cannot +divest yourself of a horrid idea that +you may possibly be encountered in +the centre of the darkness by an +opposing engine, and be pounded into +paste by the shock of that terrific +tilt; or that a keystone of the arch +may give way, and the whole train +be buried in the centre of the excavated +mountain. Sensual gratification +there is none. If you do not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_741" id="Page_741">[741]</a></span> +condescend to the iniquity of carrying +sandwiches along with you—in which +case your habiliments are certain to +be grievously defiled with buttered +crumbs—you are driven by the pangs +of sheer hunger into the refreshment-room +at some station, and find yourself +at the bar of an inferior gin-palace. +Very bad is the pork-pie, for +which you are charged an exorbitant +ransom. Call ye this sherry, +my masters? If it be so, commend +us for the future to Bucellas. The +oranges look well outside, but the +moment you have penetrated the +rind, you find that they have been +boiled and are fozy. Do not indulge +in the vain hope that you may venture +on a glass of anything hot. Hot +enough you will find it with a vengeance; +for, the instant that you receive +the rummer, the bell is sure to ring, +and you must either scald your throat +by gulping down two mouthfuls of +mahogany-water raised to a temperature +which would melt solder, or +consign the prepaid potion to the +leisure of the attendant Hebe. Smoking +is strictly prohibited. Even if +you are alone in a carriage, you cannot +indulge in that luxury without +rendering yourself liable to a fine; +and, if your appetite should overcome +your prudence, and you should +venture to set the law at defiance, +before you have inhaled two whiffs, a +railway guard appears as if by magic +at the window—for those fellows +have the scent of the vulture, and +can race along the foot-boards as +nimbly as a cat along a gutter—and +you are ordered to abandon your +Havanna. Under such circumstances, +literature is a poor resource. +You read the <cite>Times</cite> twice over, advertisements +and all, and then sink +into a feverish slumber, from which +you are awakened by a demand from +a ruffian in blue livery, with a glazed +leather belt across his shoulder, for +the exhibition of your ticket. Talk of +the inconvenience of passports abroad! +The Continental system is paradisaical +compared with ours. At length, +after fingering your watch with an +insane desire to accelerate its movement, +you run into the ribs of something, +which resembles the skeleton of +a whale—the train stops—and you +know that your journey is at an end. +You select your luggage, after having +undergone the scrutiny of a member +of the police force, who evidently +thinks that he has seen you before +under circumstances of considerable +peculiarity, ensconce yourself in a +cab, and drive off, being favoured at +the gate of the station by a shower +of diminutive pamphlets, purporting +to be poetical tributes to the merits of +Messrs Moses and Hyams. You +have done the distance in twelve +hours, but pleasure you have had +none.</p> + +<p>Mr Francis, who is gifted with no +more imagination than an ordinary +tortoise, though he asserts the superiority +of the hare, begins his book +with an exceedingly stupid dissertation +upon the difficulties of ancient +travel. Broken bridges, impassable +quagmires, and ferocious highwaymen +constitute leading features in his picture; +and, as you read him, you marvel, +between your fits of yawning, +what manner of men our ancestors +must have been to brave so many +dangers. Sheer drivel all of it! The +old roads were uncommonly good, and +the bridges kept in splendid repair +from the time they were built by the +Romans. Who ever heard of a quagmire +on a turnpike? As for a casual +encounter with Turpin, Duval, or any +other of the minions of the moon, we +are decidedly of opinion that such +incidents must have added much to +the excitement of the journey. A +stout fellow, well mounted, usually +carried about him both pops and a +cutlass, and, if he was cool and collected, +might very easily square accounts +with the most ardent clerk of +St Nicholas. Does Mr Francis really +suppose that the author of <cite>Jack Sheppard</cite> +likes railway travelling? Not +he. Dearer to his soul is a prancing +prad upon Hounslow Heath than all +the engines that ever whistled along +a line. Mount him upon Black Bess, +arm him with a brace of barkers, and +in the twinkling of an eye there +would be daylight through the carcase +of the Golden Farmer. Is adventure +nothing? Had the road no +joys? Are we to consider the whole +universe worthless, except those black +dots which in the maps represent +cities? Was nature made in vain, +in order that men might hasten from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_742" id="Page_742">[742]</a></span> +town to town, at the tail of a shrieking +engine, regardless of all the glorious +scenery which intervenes? To +our taste, the old mode of travelling—nay, +the oldest—was infinitely superior +to the present sickening system. +You rose by times in the +morning; took a substantial breakfast +of beef and ale—none of your +miserable slops—and mounted your +horse between your saddle-bags, in +time to hear the lark carolling on his +earliest flight to heaven. Your way +ran through dingle and thicket, along +the banks of rivers, skirting magnificent +parks, rich in the possession of +primeval oaks, under which the deer +lay tranquilly and still. You entered +a village, stopped at the door of the +public-house, and cooled your brow +in the foam of the wholesome home-brewed. +You dined at mid-day, in +some town where the execrable inventions +of Arkwright and Watt were +unknown; where you encountered +only honest, healthy, rosy-cheeked +Christians, who went regularly once +a-week to church, and identified the +devil with the first dissenter—instead +of meeting gangs of hollow-eyed lean +mechanics, talking radicalism, and +discussing the fundamental points of +the Charter. You moved through +merry England as a man ought to do, +who is both content with his own lot +and can enjoy the happiness of others. +As you saw the sun rising, so you +saw him set. The clouds reddened +in the west—you heard the sweet +carol of the thrush from the coppice, +and lingered to catch the melody. +The shades of evening grew deeper. +The glow-worms lit their tiny lanterns +on the bank, the owl flitted +past with noiseless wing, the village +candles began to appear in the distance; +and as you dismounted at the +door of your humble inn, and surrendered +your weary beast to the hands +of the careful hostler, you felt that +you were the richer by a day spent +in the fresh air and gladsome sunshine, +and made happy by all the +sounds and sights which are dear to +the heart of man.</p> + +<p>But this was solitary travelling, +and might not suit every one. Well—if +you were a little fellow, deficient +in pluck, and sorely afraid of robbers, +you might have company for +the asking. At every large inn on the +road there were at least a dozen travellers +who, for the sake of security, +agreed to journey in company. Was +that no fun? Have you anything +like it in your modern railways? +Just compare your own experiences +of a rocket-flight along the Great +Western with Chaucer's delineation +of his Canterbury pilgrimage, and +you will see what you have lost. +Nice sort of tales you would elicit +either from that beetle-browed Bradford +Free-Trader, evidently a dealer +in devil's-dust, who is your <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">vis-à -vis</i> +in the railway carriage; or from that +singular specimen of a nun who is +ogling you deliberately on the left! +Can you associate the story of Palamon +and Arcite—can you connect +anything which is noble, lofty, inspiriting, +humane, or gentle, with a +journey made in an express train? +If not, so much the worse for the +present times. Doubtless you may +hear something about Thompson or +Bright, but we may be excused if we +prefer the mention of the earlier +heroes. Also, you may pick up information +touching the price of calicoes, +or the value of stocks, or the +amount of exports of cotton twist—and +we wish you much good of all +that you get. But, O dear, is that +travelling? Would you like to go +from London to Ispahan in such company? +How long do you think you +could stand it? And yet this is the +improved system of locomotion for +which we are told to be thankful, and +in honour of which such weariful +volumes as those of Mr Francis are +written.</p> + +<p>"But, mercy on us!" we hear Mr +Francis or some of his backers exclaim—"is +it nothing that commercial +gentlemen can now make four +trips a-day between Manchester and +Liverpool, and do a stroke of business +on each occasion?" We reply, that +it would be better for the said commercial +gentlemen, both here and +hereafter, if they would content themselves +with a more moderate pursuit +of Mammon. Happiness in this life +does not depend upon the amount of +sales effected. The assistant in the +London grocer's shop, who daily ties +up a thousand packages of tea and +sugar, is not greatly to be envied<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_743" id="Page_743">[743]</a></span> +beyond his brother in the country, who +twists the twine around fifty. We +have an intense respect for work +while kept within wholesome limits; +but we cannot regard the man whose +sole pursuit is grubbing after gold as +otherwise than an ignominious slave. +The railways are in one sense excellent +things. You can get from point +to point, if necessity requires it, much +sooner than before, at less cost, and +perhaps with less inconvenience. But +there the advantage ends. There is +no pleasure in them; and, compared +with former methods of locomotion, +they are decidedly less healthy and +less instructive. We decry them not. +We only wish to stop the babbling of +the blockheads who would have us to +believe that, until the steam-engine +was invented, this earth was an unendurable +waste, a wilderness of barbarians, +and an unfit residence for +civilised and enlightened man. Would +the genius either of Shakspeare or +Newton have been greater had they +known of the rails? Would the splendour +of the reign of Elizabeth have +been heightened had Stephenson then +existed?</p> + +<p>The admiration of Mr Francis for +the railway system is so intense as to +be purely ludicrous. He considers +every man connected with its development—whether +as engineer, contractor, +or director—as a positive +public hero; and this work of his +seems intended as a kind of Iliad, to +chronicle their several achievements. +Since we last met, Mr Francis has +been hard at work upon his style. +Formerly he went along, pleasantly +enough, without any great effort: +now he is not satisfied unless he can +eclipse Mr Macaulay. He has read +the <cite>History of England</cite> to some purpose. +Fascinated by the brilliancy +of the sketches which the accomplished +historian has drawn of the +statesmen of the age of William of +Orange, Mr Francis thinks he will +not do justice to his subject unless he +adopts a similar mode of handling. +Unfortunately he has no statesmen +to celebrate. But he can do quite as +well. There are surveyors and contractors +by the score, whose portraits +in his eyes are just as interesting. +Accordingly, we have a repetition of +the old scene in the play. A voice +without is heard calling, "Francis!" +To which summons Francis incontinently +replieth, "Anon, anon, sir!" +and then—"Enter Poins, Peto, Gadshill, +and the rest." No loftier apparition +ever comes upon the stage; +but we are warned that, in surveying +these, we look upon individuals destined +in all coming time to occupy a +lofty niche in British history. Thus, +to quote at random from the index, +we have the following entries—"Richard +Creed ... his services +and character." "Who may this Mr +Richard Creed be?" says the unconscious +reader; "we never heard of +him before!" "Fool!" quoth Francis, +"he was <span class="smcap">the Secretary of +the London and Birmingham +line</span>! 'On his honesty and integrity,' +said Mr Glyn on one occasion emphatically, +'I pin my faith, and you may +pin yours also!'" And he adds, referring +to an occasion which must +have been exceedingly gratifying to +the feelings of the recipient—"The +testimonial to this gentleman, in 1844, +was worthy the munificence of the +givers. It is not often that a cheque +for two thousand one hundred guineas +accompanies an expression of opinion, +or that the rich man's praise fructifies +into a service of plate." As we contemplate +our unadorned sideboard, +we acknowledge the truth of this remark; +still, we hesitate to exalt Mr +Creed to the rank of a hero. Then +we light on "Undertakings of Thomas +Brassey.... Anecdote concerning +him." Mr Brassey is a contractor, +eminent no doubt; but so, in his own +age, must have been the Roman gentleman +who undertook the construction +of the Cloaca Maxima, though his name +has unfortunately perished. Then appears +"Henry Booth.... His services." +We trust they were properly +acknowledged. Then, "Personal +sketches of Mr Locke and Mr Chaplin." +We are greatly edified by the <em>silhouettes</em>. +"Personal sketch of Samuel Morton +Peto." We shall try, if possible, not +to forget him. Much as Mr Francis +has done to perpetuate the memory +of these great men, it is plain that his +powers have been cramped with the +space of two thick octavo volumes. +In order to make his Iliad perfect, we +ought to have had a catalogue of the +chiefs of the navvies. But we must<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_744" id="Page_744">[744]</a></span> +rest satisfied with the acute remark +of Herder, that "the burden of the +song is infinite, but the powers of the +human voice are finite." Mr Francis +has done what he can. Creed and +Brassey—Brunel and Locke—Chaplin, +Peto, and Vignolles, live within +his inspired volumes; and we beg to +congratulate them on account of that +assured immortalisation. They are +the salt of the earth. The compilers of +traffic-tables have disappeared—the +old standing witnesses before committees +of the House of Commons are +dumb—the young engineering gentlemen, +who could do anything they +pleased in the way of levelling mountains, +are amusing themselves in California +or elsewhere—even the mighty +counsel, the holders of a hundred +briefs, for which, for the most part, +they rendered but indifferent service, +are unsung. But the others live. In +the British Valhalla they are assured +of an adequate niche, thanks to Mr +Francis, who, as Captain Dangerfield +says, is ready to stake his reputation +that they are the only men worthy +of record in such an enlightened age +as our own.</p> + +<p>No—we are wrong. The man of +all others to be deeply venerated is +"George Carr Glyn, Esq., Chairman +of the London and North-Western +Railway," to whom these volumes are +respectfully dedicated. Of Mr Glyn's +career as a statesman we know absolutely +nothing. We are not even +aware to what section of politicians +he belongs, so utter is our ignorance +of his fame. As we read the pages +of Francis, and encountered the continual +eulogiums heaped upon this +gentleman, we felt remarkably uncomfortable. +We could not divest +ourselves of the notion that we had +been asleep for some quarter of a century, +and had therefore missed the +opportunity of witnessing the appearance +of a new and most brilliant star +in the political horizon. About Mr +Glyn, Francis has no manner of +doubt. He is not only the most +sagacious, but the most clever personage +extant, for every purpose +which can smooth railway difficulties. +He is the Ulysses of his line, and can +rap Thersites on the sconce, if that +cynical fiend should insist upon an +awkward question. We really and +unaffectedly ask pardon of Mr Glyn, +if we mistake him through his eulogist. +We have no other means of +knowing him; and therefore he must +settle the correctness of the following +sketch with Mr Francis, who appears +as the voluntary artist. If the drawing +is to the mind of Mr Glyn, and if +it meets his ideas of ethics, we have +nothing in the world to say against +it, having no interest whatever in the +line over which he presides. Hear +Francis: "The proper place to see +Mr Glyn is as chairman in that noble +room, where, with an earnest multitude +around him, with the representative +of every class and caste before +him—with Jew and Gentile ready to +carp at and criticise his statements—he +yet moves them at his pleasure, +and leads them at his will. And perhaps +the ascendency of one man over +many is seldom <em>more agreeably seen</em> +than when, standing before a huge expectant +audience, he enlivens the platitudes +of one with some light epigrammatic +touch, answers another with +a clear tabular statement, <em>or replies +to a third with some fallacy so like a +fact</em> that the recipient sits contentedly +down, about as wise as he was before." +This is, to say the least of it, +an equivocal sort of panegyric. We +all know what is implied by the term +"fallacies" in railway matters, and +some of us have suffered in consequence. +According to our view, this +interchange of fallacies between directors +and shareholders is a custom +by no means laudable, or to be held +in especial repute. In pure matters +of business, the less frequently fallacies +are resorted to, the better. They are +apt, in the long run, to find their way +into the balance-sheet—until, as we +have seen in some notorious instances, +the assumed fact of a clear balance, to +be applied by way of dividend, turns +out also to be a fallacy. In the case +before us, we are willing to believe +that Mr Francis is altogether mistaken, +and that the statements of Mr +Glyn, made in his official capacity, +which appeared to the blundering reporter +to be fallacies, were in reality +stern truths. But what sort of estimate +must we form of Mr Francis' +moral perception, when we find him +selecting such a trait as the subject +of especial commendation? He has,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_745" id="Page_745">[745]</a></span> +however, like most other great men, +large sympathies. He does battle in +behalf of Mr Hudson with considerable +energy; though, after all, taking +his conclusions as legitimate, his defence +simply resolves itself into this—that +Mr Hudson's conduct was not +more blamable than that of others. +So be it. We never joined in the +wholesale censure directed against +the quondam railway monarch, because +we knew that the whole tone of +the morals of society had been poisoned +by the villanous system engendered +by railway speculation; +and because we saw that many of his +accusers, if their own conduct had +been sifted, might have been arraigned +equally with him at the bar of public +opinion. Therefore we have no +desire to interfere with the operations +of Mr Francis, when he appears with +his pot of whitewash. Nay, we wish +that the implement were more roomy +than it is, and the contents of less +questionable purity—for assuredly he +has a large surface of wall to cover, +if he sets himself seriously to the task +of obliterating the traces of past iniquity.</p> + +<p>The reader, however, must not +suppose that Mr Francis sees nothing +to condemn, or that he has not at +command thunderbolts of wrath to +launch at the heads of offenders. +According to him, the most painful +feature of the railway system was the +rapacity of the owners of the soil in +driving hard bargains for their land. +As this is a charge which has often +been made by men more competent +to form an opinion upon any subject +than the gentleman whose work we +are now reviewing, we shall condescend +to notice it. Let us premise +however, that, in this matter, the +howl is distinctly traceable to the +harpies who inveigled the public to +join their nefarious schemes, and to +advance their capital on the assurance +of enormous dividends.</p> + +<p>After referring to the negotiations +made with landowners by the promoters +of the London and Birmingham +line, Mr Francis comments as +follows:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"These things are written with pain, +for they display a low tone of moral feeling +in that class which, by virtue of inheritance, +of birth, and blood, should +possess a high and chivalrous sense of +honour. The writer is far from wishing +to blame those who honestly opposed the +rail. The conscientious feeling which +prompts a man, even in an unwise action, +if mistaken, is at least respectable. There +is much to palliate the honest opposition +of the landowner. Scenes and spots +which are replete with associations of +great men and great deeds cannot be +pecuniarily paid for. Sites which bear +memories more selfish, yet not less real, +have no market value. Homes in which +boyhood, manhood, and age have been +passed, carry recollections which are +almost hallowed. Such places cannot +be bought and sold; nor are the various +prejudices which cling to the country to +be overlooked. If the nobleman disliked +the destruction of his fine old English +park, the yeoman deplored the desecration +of his homestead. The one bore its +splendid remembrances, the other its +affectionate recollections. If the peer +hallowed the former for the sake of its +royal visits, the farmer cherished the +latter for the sake of those who had tilled +the land before him. There are fancy +spots in this our beautiful England which +it would pain the most indifferent to destroy; +what then must be the feelings of +those who have lived, and only wish to +die there?</p> + +<p>"It is the trafficker in sympathies, it +is the dealer in haunts and homes, at +whom the finger of scorn should be +pointed. It is the trader in touching +recollections, only to be soothed by gold, +that should be denounced. It is the peer +who made the historic memories of his +mansion a plea for replenishing an impoverished +estate; it is the farmer who +made the sacred associations of home an +excuse for receiving treble its value; it is +the country gentleman who made his opposition +the lever by which he procured +the money from the proprietors' pockets, +who should be shamed. And a double +portion of ignominy must rest upon these, +when it is remembered that the money +thus immorally obtained is a constant +tax on the pleasures of the artisan, on +the work of the manufacturer, and on +the wages of the railway official."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Mr Francis, it is evident, is fighting +hard for his service of plate; but +we doubt much whether he will get +it. He evidently considers the foregoing +passage as a specimen of splendid +writing. He is mistaken. It is +nothing better than unadulterated +drivel. Let us try to extricate, if we +can, his argument from this heap of +verbiage.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_746" id="Page_746">[746]</a></span></p> + +<p>He admits that associations ought +to be respected, but he denies that +they ought to have been paid for. +What does he mean by this? By +whom were the said associations to be +respected? By the projectors of the +railway companies? Hardly: for +those very sympathising gentlemen +were precisely the persons who insisted +upon running their rails right +through park and cottage, and who +would have prostrated without remorse +the Temple of Jerusalem or the +Coliseum, had either edifice stood in +their way. What, then, was the +value of that respect? Precisely +the worth of the tear which stood in +the eye of the tender-hearted surveyor. +What was the operation of +that respect? Not to spare, but if +possible to destroy.</p> + +<p>In a word, Mr Francis maintains +that the railway companies ought to +have had their own way in everything, +and to have got possession of +the land at the lowest conceivable +prices. He thinks that, because gentlemen +whose property was threatened +with invasion, whose privacy it was +purposed to destroy, and whose homes +were to be rendered untenantable, +demanded a high price from the joint-stock +trading companies, as an equivalent +for the surrender of such privileges, +they manifested a "low tone +of moral feeling." In fact, so far as +we can gather from his language, he +puts no value whatever, in a pecuniary +sense, upon the associations +which he admits to be entitled to +respect; and hardly any, if any, upon +the score of amenity. He is anything +but an Evelyn. An oak, in his eyes, +is merely a piece of standing timber +to be measured, valued, and paid for +according to the current price in the +dockyards. The land—no matter of +what kind—is to be estimated according +to the amount of its yearly return, +and handed over without farther +question to the enterprising company +which demands it. Perhaps Mr +Francis may remember a certain passage +in sacred history, narrating the +particulars of a proposed transfer of +ground—the parties being King Ahab +on the one hand, and Naboth the +Jezreelite on the other? If not, we +recommend it to his attention, assuring +him that he will find it to contain +a very important lesson touching the +rights of property. His present argument, +if it is worth anything, would +go far to vindicate Ahab. He wanted +the other man's vineyard because it +lay contiguous to his house, and he +offered to give him in exchange a +better vineyard for it, or an equivalent +in money. According to the view +maintained by Mr Francis, Naboth +was not justified in refusing the offer.</p> + +<p>But let us look into this matter a +little more closely. On the one hand +there is the owner of a property which +has been transmitted through a long +line of ancestors, and which is now to +be intersected and cut up by a projected +line of railway. On the other +hand there is the company, which +cannot progress a step until they have +possession of the land. Now let us +see what is the nature, and what are +the objects of this company. It will +not do for Mr Francis or any one else +to babble about public advantages, +arising from more direct communication +between cities or towns of importance. +Public advantage may be +taken for granted as a result, but +upon pure considerations of public +advantage no railway whatever was +undertaken. It is the commercial +speculation of a private company. No +man ever took a share in any railway +from motives of disinterested philanthropy. +He took them because he +expected to make a profit by them, to +hold them as a safe investment, or +finally to sell them for a larger sum +than he paid. A condition, and the +main one, of the existence of the railway +is the possession of the land, and +at this point proprietors and speculators +join issue. The former do not +want the railway. Their wish is to +preserve their property undissevered, +and to be spared from the spectacle +of engines roaring by at all hours of +the day and night close to the bottom +of the lawn. They very naturally +think it a monstrous hardship that the +rights of private property should be +invaded by private individuals, even +though acting upon an incorporated +semblance, who are simply seeking +their own profit; and they argue +that, if the railway was required for +public purposes, the government was +the proper party to have undertaken +its construction. But as, under the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_747" id="Page_747">[747]</a></span> +existing law, they are liable to be +dragged, session after session, into a +ruinous expense to oppose the demands +of the capitalists, they wisely +determine to make the best arrangement +they can, and at all events to +secure a full remuneration for the +sacrifice. So the Squire, finding that +the law is so conceived and modified +that any one individual who is possessed +of landed property may be +compelled to surrender it at the +demand of a hundred leagued capitalists, +makes a virtue of necessity, and +demands a sum corresponding in some +degree to the extent of the extorted +sacrifice: whereupon the promoters +of the railway instantly raise such a +howl that you would think somebody +was trying to rob <em>them</em>, or to take +<em>their</em> property by force—the case being +notoriously the reverse.</p> + +<p>Undoubtedly the Squire demands +more from the railway company, as +compensation for his land, than he +could calculate on receiving from a +neighbouring proprietor at an ordinary +sale. And on what principle, +in the majority of cases, does he +base his calculation of value? Strictly +upon that adopted by the projectors +of the line. For instance, a prospectus +of a railway is put out, +announcing that, after the most +careful consideration of district +traffic, &c., the clear dividend, after +clearing all expenses, must be fifteen +per cent per annum to the proprietors. +That is the statement of the projectors. +Well, then, if such are the +prospects of the concern, is it unreasonable +that the land, which must +be taken for its construction, and +which is, in fact, to form the railway, +should be valued, less on account of +its productiveness, than on account +of its adaptation for the peculiar +purpose for which it is required? +Why is an acre in the centre of a +town a hundred times more valuable +than an acre in a rural district? +Simply because it is required for +building, and the value of the land +rises in just correspondence to the +demand. The subsequent failure or +diminution of the railway dividends +cannot be made a just article of +dittay against the landed proprietors. +Fifteen per cent, or ten, as the case +might be, was the amount of dividend +which the promoters undertook +to prove, to the satisfaction of Parliament +and the public, as their reasonable +expectation. It was part of +their case always, and very often +the most important part; and if they +chose so to commit themselves, they +were bound to pay accordingly. Just +conceive a body of men addressing +an urban proprietor of land, upon +which no houses were yet built, in +the following terms:—"Sir, we perceive +you have an acre and a half +of land which would be very convenient +for our purpose. We propose +to build a street of houses upon it, +and a hotel, from the rents of which +we expect to draw fifteen per cent +yearly. At present your land yields +you little or nothing, and therefore +we wish you to dispose of it at its +present value. Let us say that just +now it is worth to you five pounds +a-year: we shall buy it from you +at five-and-twenty years' purchase!" +We leave to the imagination of the +reader the exact terms in which the +proprietor would assuredly reply to +the propounders of this reasonable +request. And yet, where is the difference +between the cases? The +railway projector tells the landed +proprietor that he desires to have +his property for the purpose of +securing fifteen per cent for his +own money: the landed proprietor +tells him that he may have the property +at a rate corresponding to the +advantage which he anticipates. Can +anything be fairer? If Mr Francis +understood even the simplest elements +of political economy—an +amount of mental comprehension of +which we believe him to be wholly +incapable—he ought to know that +demand and supply are the leading +conditions of price. If there is only +one salmon in the London market, +it will sell, as it has done before now, +at the rate of a-guinea per pound, +and it would be obviously unfair to +charge the fishmonger with being +actuated by "a low tone of moral +feeling." He coerces no customer: +he simply states his price, and if +no one chooses to buy, no one has a +right to complain. Our friend Francis +seems to labour under the hallucination +that everything required for a +railway ought to be furnished at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_748" id="Page_748">[748]</a></span> +prime cost. That the promoters expect +fifteen percent is nothing. Nay, +even the free-trading rule of selling +in the dearest and buying in the +cheapest market is to be suspended +for their behoof. The seller is to +have no option: he must be cheap +to them, else he is a moral monster. +If, however, the judicious panegyrist +of Mr Carr Glyn does not carry his +principles quite so far, he lays +himself open to the charge of most +monstrous inconsistency. During the +prevalence of the railway mania, all +commodities requisite for their construction +rose greatly in value. From +iron to railway sleepers—in wood, +metal, and everything connected with +the making of the lines—there was +an enormous enhancement of price. +And why? On account of the demand. +Was the soil on which that +iron and wood was to be laid—the +absolute foundation of the railway +itself—to be paid for at a meaner +rate? Mr Francis seems to think +so; and we cannot help honouring +him for the candid expression of his +opinions, even while we regret the +conglomeration of ideas which gave +them birth. We are afraid that he +has been talked over by some of his +acute acquaintances. It is the fashion +at railway meetings to attribute all +disasters to some other cause than +the mismanagement of the directors; +and we daresay that Mr Francis has +been fully indoctrinated with such +opinions. It is not agreeable to meet +shareholders with a confession of +dwindled dividend. But when imperious +circumstances render such a +course inevitable, it is convenient to +be prepared with some "fallacy" +which may help to account for the +fact, and to stifle too curious investigation. +The readiest scapegoat is the +landowner. All accounting with him +is past and gone, yet he still can be +made to bear the blame for a vast +amount of reckless prodigality. He +is not there to speak for himself—he +has no connection with the company. +Therefore, whenever failure must be +acknowledged, the onus is cast upon +him. Railway orators and railway +writers alike conceal the real cause +of the disaster, and combine to cast +discredit and aspersion upon the +gentry of England.</p> + +<p>The truth is, that the system of +railway management in this country +has been, from the beginning to the +end, decidedly bad. Each line, as +it came into existence, was fostered +by quackery and falsehood. The +most extravagant representations +were used to secure the adhesion +of shareholders, and to procure the +public support. Rival lines fought +each other before the committees +with a desperation worthy of the +cats of Kilkenny, and enormous +expenses and law charges were incurred +at the very commencement. +No economy whatever was used in +the engineering, and no check placed +on the engineers. In those days, +indeed, an engineer of established +reputation was a kind of demigod, +whose doctrine, or, at all events, +whose charges, it was sinful to +challenge. But engineers have their +ambition. They like viaducts which +will be talked of and admired as +splendid achievements of mechanical +skill; and the most virtuous of the +tribe cannot resist the temptation +of a tunnel. Such tastes are natural, +but they are fearfully expensive in +their indulgence, as the shareholders +know to their cost. The remuneration +of these gentlemen was monstrous. +In the course of a few years most of +them realised large fortunes, which is +more than can be said for the majority +of the men who paid them. So was +it with the contractors. Mr Francis +tells us of many, "who, beginning life +as navigators, have become contractors; +who, having saved money, have +become 'gangers,' realised capital +and formed contracts, first for thousands, +and then for hundreds of +thousands. These are almost a caste +by themselves. They make fortunes, +and purchase landed estates. Many +a fine property has passed from +some improvident possessor to a +railway labourer; and some of the +most beautiful country seats in England +belong to men who trundled +the barrow, who delved with the +spade, who smote with the pick-axe, +and blasted the rock." With such +statements before us, it is not difficult +to see how the money went. +Alas for the shareholders! Poor +geese! they little thought how many +were to have a pluck at their pinions.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_749" id="Page_749">[749]</a></span></p> + +<p>Industry, we freely admit, ought to +have its reward; but rewards such as +these are beyond the reach of pure +industry, as we used formerly to +understand the term. These revelations +may, however, be of use as +indicating the direction in which a +great part of the money has gone. +We accept them as such, and as illustrations +of that profound economy +which was practised by the different +boards of railway direction throughout +the kingdom. Mr Francis, in his +laudatory sketches of his favourite heroes, +usually takes care to tell us that +they are "sprung from the ranks of the +people." Of course they are. Where +else were they to spring from? Does +Mr Francis suppose it to be a popular +article of belief that they emerged +from the bowels of a steam-engine? +What he means, however, is plain +enough. Judging from the whole +tenor of his book, we take him to +be one of those jaundiced persons +who, without any intelligible reason +beyond class prejudice, are filled +with bile and rancour against the +aristocracy, and who worship at the +shrine of money. He grudges every +farthing that the railway companies +were compelled to pay for land; he +bows down in reverence before the +princely fortunes of the contractors. +Every man to his own taste. We +cannot truthfully assert that we +admire the selection of his idols.</p> + +<p>But what is this? We have just +lighted upon a passage which compels +us, in spite of ourselves, to suspect +that our Francis is, at least, a bit of +a repudiator, and that he would +regard with no unfavourable eye +another pluck at the shareholders. +Here it is:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"The assertion that land and compensation +on the line to which Mr +Robert Stephenson was engineer, which +was estimated at £250,000, amounted to +£750,000, appears to call for some additional +remark; <em>and the question which is +now proposed is, how far the right is with +the railroads to demand, and the passengers +to pay an increased fare, in consequence +of bargains which, unjust in +principle, ought never to have been allowed?</em> +It is now a historic fact that every line +in England has cost more than it ought. +That in some—where, too, the directors +were business men—large sums were +improperly paid for land, for compensation, +for consequential damages, for fancy +prospects, and other unjust demands +under various names. These sums being +immorally obtained, <em>is it right that the public +should pay the interest on them</em>? Is it +just that the working man should forego +his trifling luxury to meet them? Is it +fair that the artisan should be deprived +of his occasional trip, or that the frequenter +of the rail should pay an additional +tax?"</p></blockquote> + +<p>Is it fair that anybody should pay +anything at all for travelling on the +railways? That is the question which +must finally be considered, if Mr +Francis' preliminary questions are to +be entertained. Because some part +of the capital of the shareholders may +have been needlessly expended, they +ought in this view to receive a less +amount of interest for the remainder! +The silliness of the above passage is +so supreme—the ignorance which it +displays of the first rules of law and +equity, regarding property, is so profound, +that it is hardly worth while +exposing it. It betrays an obliquity +of intellect of which we had not previously +suspected even Mr Francis. +Pray observe the exquisite serenity +with which this important personage +opens his case: "The question which +is now proposed!" Proposed—and +for whose consideration? Not surely +for that of the Legislature, for the +Legislature has already pronounced +judgment. Are the public to take +the matter in hand, and decide on the +tables of rates? It would seem so. +In that case, we might indeed calculate +upon travelling cheap, provided +the rails were not shut up. But the +whole of his remarks are as practically +absurd as they are mischievous +in doctrine. What right has Jack, +Tom, or Harry to question the cost +of his conveyance? Are there not, +in all conscience, competing lines +enough, independent altogether of Parliamentary +regulations, to secure the +public against being overcharged on +the railways? On what authority does +Mr Francis assume that a single acre +of the land was paid for at an unjust +rate? Mr Robert Stephenson's estimate, +we take it, has not the authority +of gospel. No engineer's estimate +has. Their margin is always +a large one; and it almost never happens<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_750" id="Page_750">[750]</a></span> +that, when the works are completed, +their actual cost is found to +correspond with the hypothetical +calculation. But the truth is, that +the value paid for the land taken by +railways is the only item of expense +which cannot be justly challenged. +The reason is plain. A railway company +has in the first instance to +prove the preamble of its bill—that +is, it must show to the satisfaction of +the Legislature that the construction +of the work will be attended with +public and local advantages. The +settlement of the money question, +regarding the value of the land, is +reserved for the legal tribunals of the +country. To complain of the verdicts +given is to impugn the course of +justice, and to cast discredit on the +system of jury trial. Very wisely +was it determined that such questions +should be so adjudicated, because no +reasonable ground of complaint can +be left to either party. The decision +as to the value of the land, and the +amount of compensation which is +due, is taken from the hands both of +Ahab and Naboth, and their respective +engineers and valuators, and intrusted +to neutral parties, whose duty +it is to see fair play between them.</p> + +<p>We have done with this book. It +has greatly disappointed us in every +respect. As a repertory of facts, or +as a history of the railways, it is +ill-arranged, meagre, and stupid; +and the sketches which it contains +are so absurdly conceived, and so +clumsily executed, that they entirely +fail to enliven the general dulness of +the volumes. At the very point +which might have been rendered +most interesting in the hands of an +able and well-instructed writer—the +period of the great mania—Mr +Francis fails. His pen is not adequate +to the task of depicting the rapid +occurrences of the day, or the fearful +whirl which then agitated the public +mind. In short, he is insufferably +prosy throughout the first four acts +of his drama, and makes a lamentable +break-down at the catastrophe. His +work will fail to please any portion of +the public, except the heroes whose +praises he has sung. He has given +them sugar, indeed; but, after all, it is +a sanded article. We hope they will +combine to buy up the edition, and +thus fulfil the prophecy of Shakspeare—"Nay, +but hark you, Francis: +for the sugar thou gavest me—'twas +a pennyworth, was't not?" "O Lord, +sir! I would it had been two." "I +will give thee for it a thousand pound: +ask me when thou wilt, and thou +shalt have it." "Anon, anon, sir!"</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_751" id="Page_751">[751]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>INDEX TO VOL. LXX.</h2> + + +<div> +Abdallah, a dragoman, sketch of, 448 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<br /> +Aborigines, general characteristics of, 416.<br /> +<br /> +Abrantes, the marquis of, 354.<br /> +<br /> +Achmet Bascha, a campaign in Taka under, 251 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<br /> +Achmet Effendi, sketch of, 453.<br /> +<br /> +Acre, sketches at, 459.<br /> +<br /> +Administration, system of, in Russia, 164 <span class="smcap">et seq.</span><br /> +<br /> +Adolphe the clairvoyant, performances of, 70.<br /> +<br /> +Africa, recent travels in, 251.<br /> +<br /> +Agricultural depression, amount of, in Ireland, 136<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—reaction of it on other classes of the community, 303.</span><br /> +<br /> +Agricultural interest, experienced results of free trade to the, 133<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Lord John Russell on its state, 489.</span><br /> +<br /> +Agricultural Relief Associations, proceedings and demands of the, 616.<br /> +<br /> +Agriculture, Huskisson on protection to, <a href="#Page_632">632</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—state of, &c. in the United States, <a href="#Page_699">699</a> <em>et seq.</em></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—relations of geology to, <a href="#Page_703">703</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—improvements in, in New York, &c., <a href="#Page_704">704</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—its state, &c., in Canada, <a href="#Page_707">707</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Agriculturists, effects of the depression of the, on the home trade, 109<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—lowering of the wages of the, 496.</span><br /> +<br /> +Albany, Professor Johnston's Lectures in, <a href="#Page_700">700</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Alchemy, origin of chemistry with, &c., 564.<br /> +<br /> +Aleppo, town of, <a href="#Page_725">725</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Alexandretta, town of, 463, <a href="#Page_724">724</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Alexandria, a voyage from, to Syria, 451.<br /> +<br /> +Alexis the clairvoyant, 77.<br /> +<br /> +Ali-Beg, the pass of, 100.<br /> +<br /> +Amadeus I. of Savoy, 414.<br /> +<br /> +American lakes, the, <a href="#Page_708">708</a>, <a href="#Page_709">709</a>.<br /> +<br /> +American slavery, on, 385.<br /> +<br /> +Americans in California, character, &c. of the, 478.<br /> +<br /> +Amiens, sketches at, 199.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Ansayrii, the</span>, <a href="#Page_719">719</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—their tenets, numbers, &c., <a href="#Page_733">733</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Apes, shooting of, at Hassela, 270.<br /> +<br /> +Arab Scheik, an, <a href="#Page_728">728</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Arable culture, expense of, 1790, 1803, and 1813, 620.<br /> +<br /> +Arc de Triomphe de l'Etoile, the, 319.<br /> +<br /> +Arches, the triumphal, of Paris, 320.<br /> +<br /> +Arkwright, sir R., origin of the discoveries of, 566.<br /> +<br /> +Army, the French, feeling in, toward Louis Napoleon, 547.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Arnaboll, the Raid of</span>, chap. I., 220<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. II., 225</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. III., 230</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. IV., 236.</span><br /> +<br /> +Artesian well, the, at Paris, 317.<br /> +<br /> +Aspre, general d', notices of, during the campaign in Italy, 29 <span class="smcap">et seq. passim</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—his march on Verona, 442.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Assassins</span> or Ansayrii, the, <a href="#Page_719">719</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—their tenets, &c., <a href="#Page_733">733</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Atbara river, the, 257 <em>et seq. passim</em>.<br /> +<br /> +Atoi, a New Zealand chief, 417.<br /> +<br /> +Auber's opera of Zerline, on, 311.<br /> +<br /> +Aumale, the duke d', the duke of Orleans on, 555.<br /> +<br /> +Australia, character of the aborigines of, 416<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—a voyage to California from, 471.</span><br /> +<br /> +Austria, sketches of the war between her and Piedmont, 25 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—her intervention in the Papal States in 1830, 432</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—her long possession of Lombardy and acquisition of Venice, 433</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—her administration of the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom, 434.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Austrian Aide-de-Camp</span>, the campaigns of an, 25.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Autumn Politics</span>, 607.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Bacon, Friar, the prophecy of, 562.<br /> +<br /> +Bagdad, sketches of, 97.<br /> +<br /> +Ballet-dancing, Fanny Lewald on, 217.<br /> +<br /> +Baranken, fur called, 172.<br /> +<br /> +Bassora, a voyage to, 96.<br /> +<br /> +Bears, the, in the Jardin des Plantes, 314<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—sketches of, in North America, 672, 677.</span><br /> +<br /> +Beautiful, Ruskin's theory of the, examined, 333.<br /> +<br /> +Belgian Revolution, Stahr on the, 544.<br /> +<br /> +Benares, sketches by Madame Pfeiffer at, 93.<br /> +<br /> +Berchthold, count, fellow-traveller of Madame Pfeiffer, 87 <em>et seq. passim</em>.<br /> +<br /> +Bethmeria, village of, in Lebanon, 456.<br /> +<br /> +Beyrout, sketches at, 454, <a href="#Page_721">721</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Blane, Louis, account of, by Fanny Lewald, 214.<br /> +<br /> +Bombay, a voyage from Bassora to, 96.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Boroughs, disfranchisement of the</span>, 296.<br /> +<br /> +Boroughs, apparent secession of the, from the free-trade cause, 299.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_752" id="Page_752">[752]</a></span>Boulevard of Paris, the, 200.<br /> +<br /> +Boulogne, difficulties of the invasion of England from, 197<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—sketches in, 198.</span><br /> +<br /> +Bradford, present state of manufactures at, <a href="#Page_643">643</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Brazil, sketches in the interior of, 87.<br /> +<br /> +Bread-stuffs, the exports of, from the United States, <a href="#Page_702">702</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Brett, Messrs, the inventors of the submarine telegraph, 567.<br /> +<br /> +Bribery, parliamentary, on, 303.<br /> +<br /> +Bright, John, on the reduction of wages, <a href="#Page_634">634</a>.<br /> +<br /> +British empire, statistics regarding population of the, 1801 to 1851, 127.<br /> +<br /> +British shipping, influence of free trade on, 138.<br /> +<br /> +Browne, sir Thomas, testimony of, concerning witchcraft, 81.<br /> +<br /> +Buckwheat, use of, in North America, <a href="#Page_705">705</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Buffon, superintendence of the Jardin des Plantes by, 315.<br /> +<br /> +Buonaparte, Napoleon, restoration of the Jardin des Plantes by, 315<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the monument to, in the Hôtel des Invalides, 317</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—measures of, regarding the drama, 324.</span><br /> +<br /> +Buonaparte, Napoleon, son of Jerome, 206.<br /> +<br /> +Burdon, captain, British resident at Kottah, 94.<br /> +<br /> +Burke, E., proposal by, to gild the dome of St Paul's, 316.<br /> +<br /> +Burning forest, a, in Brazil, 88.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Cagliostro, supposed mesmeric power of, 77.<br /> +<br /> +Cairo, sketches of life, &c. at, 449.<br /> +<br /> +California, sketches in, 470 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<br /> +Camino theatre, the, at St Petersburg, 168.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Campaign in Taka</span>, a, 251.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Campaigns of an Austrian Aide-de-camp</span>, the, 25.<br /> +<br /> +Canadas, sketches by Professor Johnston in the, <a href="#Page_706">706</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—statistics of their progress, <a href="#Page_708">708</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Cancrin, finance minister of Russia, 166.<br /> +<br /> +Cannibalism of New Zealand, the, 415.<br /> +<br /> +Caravan journey to Mossul, a, 98.<br /> +<br /> +Cards, playing, consumption of, in Russia, 169.<br /> +<br /> +Carey's Harmony of Interests, &c., extracts from, <a href="#Page_640">640</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Carlists, fall of the, in Spain, 356.<br /> +<br /> +Carré, Michel, French translation of Goethe's Faust by, 556.<br /> +<br /> +Carrousel, the arch of the, 320.<br /> +<br /> +Cash payments, influence of the suspension of, 619<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—and that of their resumption, 622.</span><br /> +<br /> +Catamount, adventure with a, <a href="#Page_677">677</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Cavalry, the Russian, 165.<br /> +<br /> +Caxton, Pisistratus, My Novel by,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Part XI. Book VI. chapters I. to XII. 1</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Part XII. Book VI. chapters XIII. to XXV. 173</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Part XIII. Book VII. chapters I. to XV. 275</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Part XIV. Book VII. chapters XVI. to XXII. 392</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Part XV. Book VIII. chapters I. to VI. 573</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Part XVI. Book VIII. chapters VII. to XIV. <a href="#Page_681">681</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Census and Free Trade</span>, the, 123.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Champions of the Rail</span>, the, <a href="#Page_739">739</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Charles Albert, King of Sardinia, sketches of, 30 <em>et seq. passim</em><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—his conduct with regard to Lombardy, 437</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—hostilities begun by him, 440</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—sketch of his previous career, 442</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the campaign under him, 444</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—his last defeat, abdication, and death, 446.</span><br /> +<br /> +Chartum, the town of, 251.<br /> +<br /> +Cheapness, examination of the question of, <a href="#Page_638">638</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Chemistry, alchemy the parent of, 564.<br /> +<br /> +Cherbourg, the harbour of, 197.<br /> +<br /> +China, sketches in, by Madame Pfeiffer, 92.<br /> +<br /> +Chinese junk, voyage in a, 93.<br /> +<br /> +Church, Mr Phelps on the, 388.<br /> +<br /> +Churches, Ruskin on, 327.<br /> +<br /> +"Claims of Labour," remarks on the, 380.<br /> +<br /> +Clairvoyance, examination of the claims of, 70 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<br /> +Clam, General Count, 33.<br /> +<br /> +Clergy, influence of free trade on the, 500.<br /> +<br /> +Clouds, Ruskin on, 330.<br /> +<br /> +Coal gas, how first discovered, 569.<br /> +<br /> +Colonisation, two sonnets, 606.<br /> +<br /> +Column, on the, as the monument, 319.<br /> +<br /> +"Companions of my solitude," review of, 386.<br /> +<br /> +Concorde, the Place and Pont de la, in Paris, 202, 203, 312.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Congress and the Agapedome</span>, the, chap. I. 359<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. II. 365</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. III. 370</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. IV. 375.</span><br /> +<br /> +Conjurors, Indian, 94.<br /> +<br /> +"Conquerors of the New World, the," remarks on, 380.<br /> +<br /> +Conscription, the, in France, 323.<br /> +<br /> +Constable the painter, the trees of, 332.<br /> +<br /> +Constantinople, winter aspect of, <a href="#Page_723">723</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Constituencies, large, the <cite>Times</cite> on, 301.<br /> +<br /> +Continent, revolutionary tendencies the, and their causes, 431.<br /> +<br /> +Cook, Captain, on the cannibalism of New Zealand, 416.<br /> +<br /> +Corn laws, causes which brought about the repeal of the, 115<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—separation between landlord and tenant induced by their repeal, 610</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—circumstances which originated them. &c., 621</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Huskisson in favour of the, <a href="#Page_632">632</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—effects of their repeal on prices, <a href="#Page_637">637</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Cornu, Madame, letters of Louis Napoleon to, 547.<br /> +<br /> +Costazza, defeat of Charles Albert at, 445.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_753" id="Page_753">[753]</a></span>Cotton manufacture, wheat used for starch in the, 497.<br /> +<br /> +Counties, decrease of population in, 1841 to 1851, 129.<br /> +<br /> +Country, immigration of population into the towns from the, 307.<br /> +<br /> +Country districts, first failure of population in the, 125.<br /> +<br /> +Crime, increase of, under the free-trade system, 139<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—increase of it in the towns, 307.</span><br /> +<br /> +Croats, the troops called, 443.<br /> +<br /> +Crusades, increase of population during the, 124.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Crystal Palace, Voltaire in the</span>, 142.<br /> +<br /> +Currency reform, necessity for, 111.<br /> +<br /> +Currency system, the new, the monetary crisis due to, 132<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—relation of it to the free-trade question, 618.</span><br /> +<br /> +Custine, M. de, his book on Russia, 160.<br /> +<br /> +Cuvier, superintendence of the Jardin des Plantes by, 316.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Daun, Marshal, the victory of, at Kolin, 26.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Day-dreams of an Exile.</span> Longings<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—I. To ——, 465</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—II. Where summer is, 467</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—III. Earth is the realm of death, 469</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—IV. Stand by the ocean, <em>ib.</em></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—V. Sigh thou not for a happier lot, 604</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—VI. To ——, 605</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—VII. Oft in a night of April, <em>ib.</em></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—VIII. Dream on, 606</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—IX. Colonisation, two sonnets, <em>ib.</em></span><br /> +<br /> +Defalla, an African chief, 259.<br /> +<br /> +Delta, The Lament of Selim, by, 103<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—his death, and sketch of his life, &c., 249.</span><br /> +<br /> +Dembinski, General, in the Hungarian war, 37.<br /> +<br /> +Depression, the present, its universality, <a href="#Page_630">630</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Derby, the Earl of, on protection, 613.<br /> +<br /> +Digby, Sir Kenelm, supposed acquaintance of, with mesmerism, 77.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Diggings, a voice from the</span>, 470.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Disfranchisement of the Boroughs</span>, the, 296.<br /> +<br /> +Disraeli, Mr, new policy proposed by, against free trade, 612 <em>et seq. passim</em>.<br /> +<br /> +Domestic tyranny, Mr Helps on, 381.<br /> +<br /> +Doubleday, Mr, on the effects of Peel's currency system, 622.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Downward tendencies</span>, 106.<br /> +<br /> +Drama, sketch of the rise and history of the, in France, 323<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—its present state there, 324.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Dream on, ye souls who slumber here," 606.<br /> +<br /> +Druses, sketches of the, 456.<br /> +<br /> +Dumas, Alexander, sketches of, by Professor Stahr, and account of the duke of Orleans by him, 547, 554.<br /> +<br /> +Dunshunner, A. R., letter to R. M'Corkindale by—"Downward tendencies," 106.<br /> +<br /> +Dunstan the monk, on the character of, 513.<br /> +<br /> +Duprat, M., speech of, on the National Guard, 207.<br /> +<br /> +Durando, general, defence of Vicenza, by, 35.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Earle, Mr, account of cannibalism in New Zealand by, 417.<br /> +<br /> +"Earth is the realm of death, who reigns," 469.<br /> +<br /> +East, interest of the, <a href="#Page_719">719</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Eastlake's Good Samaritan, on, 212.<br /> +<br /> +Eating-houses in San Francisco, 472.<br /> +<br /> +Edinburgh Review, the, on protection, 306.<br /> +<br /> +Education, Mr Helps on, 383.<br /> +<br /> +Edwin the Fair, review of, 513.<br /> +<br /> +Egypt, interest of, <a href="#Page_719">719</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—sketches in, <a href="#Page_720">720</a> <em>et seq.</em></span><br /> +<br /> +Electric telegraph, laying down of the, from England to France, 568.<br /> +<br /> +Elliotson, Dr, Phreno-mesmeric exhibition by, 74.<br /> +<br /> +Elora, visit to, by Madame Pfeiffer, 95.<br /> +<br /> +Emigration, increase of, from Great Britain, 113<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—rapidity of it in a declining state, 126</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—amounts of it from Great Britain, 1841 to 1850, 128 <em>note</em></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—amount of it from Ireland, 131</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—influence of free trade on it, 139, 503</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the <cite>Times</cite> on the increased, 626</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—encouragements to, to the United States, <a href="#Page_710">710</a>, <a href="#Page_711">711</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Employers, on the relation between, and employed, 381.<br /> +<br /> +Employment, influence of, on population, 123.<br /> +<br /> +England and France, laying down of the submarine electric telegraph between, 568.<br /> +<br /> +English travellers, contrast between, and French, 447<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—follies, &c. of, 454</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—how regarded in the East, 461.</span><br /> +<br /> +Esperon, Dr, 453.<br /> +<br /> +"Essays written in intervals of business," remarks on, 380.<br /> +<br /> +Etoile, the Arc de l', 319.<br /> +<br /> +Euphrates, the, <a href="#Page_727">727</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Europe, the advances of population in, 123<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—tendencies to revolution in, 431.</span><br /> +<br /> +Eve of the Conquest, Taylor's, remarks on, 520.<br /> +<br /> +Exhibition of paintings, Fanny Lewald on the, 211.<br /> +<br /> +Exile, day-dreams of an, see Day-dreams.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Experiment</span>, the, 488.<br /> +<br /> +Exports, increase of, under free trade, 140.<br /> +<br /> +Eye, alleged power of charm in the, 79.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Farmers, loss at present sustaining by the, 492<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—their right to relief, 614, 615.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">See also Agriculturists.</span><br /> +<br /> +Faucher, M., speech of, in the Legislative Assembly, 207.<br /> +<br /> +Faust, French translation of, the, 556.<br /> +<br /> +Finances, influence of free trade on the, 137.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_754" id="Page_754">[754]</a></span>Financial system, relations of the, to the free-trade question, 618.<br /> +<br /> +Flour, falling price of, in New York, <a href="#Page_703">703</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Folkstone, sketches of, 197.<br /> +<br /> +Foreign shipping, influence of free trade on, 138.<br /> +<br /> +Foreign trade, state of, &c., <a href="#Page_645">645</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Forest life, sketches of, in Maine, &c., <a href="#Page_670">670</a> <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<br /> +Forests of Brazil, the, 88, 89.<br /> +<br /> +Fountains of the Place de la Concorde, the, 314.<br /> +<br /> +France, the protective policy of, 117<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—increase of population in, during the war, 124, 125</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—increased facilities of communication with, 195</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the revolutions of, and their influences, 431</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the intervention of, in Rome, 438</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the importation of flour into Great Britain from, 489 <em>note</em></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—sketches of the present state of, by Professor Stahr, 545</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—belief in, as to Napoleon being still alive, 549</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—laying down of the submarine telegraph from England to, 568.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Francis' History of the English Railway</span> reviewed, <a href="#Page_739">739</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Frederick the Great, his defeat at Kolin, 26.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Free Trade, the Census and</span>, 123.<br /> +<br /> +Free trade, the experienced results of, 108 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—contrast between its results and those of protection, 116</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—influence of it on trading profits, 137</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—influence of it on shipping, 138</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—its influence on crime, emigration, and poor-rates, 139</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—and on exports and imports, 140</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—general summary of its results, 141</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—general reaction against it, 245</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—declarations from the boroughs against it, 299</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the experiment of, 488</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—influence of it on the income, &c., of the clergy, 500</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—continued depression under it, 609</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—reaction against it, 613</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—address to the shopkeepers on its effects on them, <a href="#Page_629">629</a> <em>et seq.</em></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—universality of the depression from it, <a href="#Page_630">630</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—its progress from the time of Huskisson, <a href="#Page_632">632</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—prices of corn under it, <a href="#Page_637">637</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Free-traders, preponderance of, among the Scottish representatives, 297<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—present views of, regarding the smaller boroughs, 305.</span><br /> +<br /> +Freedom, Protestantism essential to, 447.<br /> +<br /> +French in Tahiti, the, 90.<br /> +<br /> +French army, feeling in, toward Louis Napoleon, 546.<br /> +<br /> +French opera, the, at Paris, 310.<br /> +<br /> +French railroads, on, 199.<br /> +<br /> +French theatres, Stahr on the, 557.<br /> +<br /> +French travellers, contrast between, and English, 447.<br /> +<br /> +"Friends in council," notice of, 382.<br /> +<br /> +Funds, danger of the, 112.<br /> +<br /> +Furs, prices of, in Russia, 171.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Gaming and gaming-houses in San Francisco, 473.<br /> +<br /> +Gand, Dr, 253, 254.<br /> +<br /> +Garcia, Madame, reception of, in St Petersburg, 168.<br /> +<br /> +Gas, how first discovered, 569.<br /> +<br /> +Gaufridy, Louis, the case of, 76.<br /> +<br /> +Gaza, the Lazaretto at, 453.<br /> +<br /> +Geology, relations of, to agriculture, <a href="#Page_703">703</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Georgey, General, 36.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">German Authoress</span>, London diary of a, 209.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">German Letters from Paris</span>, 543.<br /> +<br /> +German literature, non-appreciation of, in France, 556.<br /> +<br /> +German professors, former and present characters of, 543.<br /> +<br /> +German women, Fanny Lewald on, 216.<br /> +<br /> +Gibelin, the Count de, case of, 82.<br /> +<br /> +Gibili tobacco, 462.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Gibraltar, a legend of</span>, Chap. I. 522<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Chap. II. 529</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Chap. III. 532</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Chap. IV. 535</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Chap. V. 539.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Gibraltar, a tale of the siege of</span>, <a href="#Page_648">648</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Glasgow, increase of population in, 1841 to 1851, 129<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—1811 to 1851, 131</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—immigrations of Irish into, <em>ib.</em></span><br /> +<br /> +Glastonbury waters, alleged cure by the, 81.<br /> +<br /> +Goethe's Faust, French translation of, 556.<br /> +<br /> +Goito, engagement at, 443.<br /> +<br /> +Gold diggings in California, sketches in the, 470 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<br /> +Gos Rajeb, an African town, 259.<br /> +<br /> +Grahame, Sir James, position of, and his party, 118<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—his conduct towards his tenantry, 499.</span><br /> +<br /> +Grain, importations of, into Ireland, 134<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—fall in the prices of, in Scotland, 491.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Great Britain, to the Shopkeepers of</span>, <a href="#Page_629">629</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Great Britain, increase of population in, during the war, 124<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—statistics regarding her population, 1801 to 1851, 127 <em>et seq.</em></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—immigration of Irish into, 131</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—aversion to revolution among the middle classes of, 297</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—recent foreign works on, 209</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—contrast between, and the Continent, as regards revolution, 431</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—comparative pressure of taxation in, and in the United States, <a href="#Page_715">715</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Greatrakes, Valentine, the cures of, 81.<br /> +<br /> +Greenwich fair, Fanny Lewald on, 212.<br /> +<br /> +Greg, Mr, on the reduction of wages, <a href="#Page_634">634</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—on the competition to which our manufactures are exposed, 639.</span><br /> +<br /> +Gregory XVI., death of, 432.<br /> +<br /> +Gunpowder, new mode of discharging, 570.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +H. G. K., Day-dreams of an exile, by, Nos. I. to IV. 465<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Nos. V. to IX. 604.</span><br /> +<br /> +Haddendas, African tribe of the, 261 <em>et seq. passim</em><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—a visit to them, 264.</span><br /> +<br /> +Hallengas, the, an Arab tribe, 268, 272.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_755" id="Page_755">[755]</a></span>Hamilton, Mr, British resident at Indore, 95.<br /> +<br /> +Harles' "Career in the Commons," notice of, 120.<br /> +<br /> +Harris' Ethiopia, remarks on, 251.<br /> +<br /> +Harvey, James, on free trade and its results, <a href="#Page_644">644</a>, <a href="#Page_645">645</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Hassan, the founder of the Assassins, <a href="#Page_733">733</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Heke, the New Zealand chief, 427.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Helps, Mr, the Essays of</span>, 379.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Helsham, Captain</span>, note on the case of, 122.<br /> +<br /> +Henry V., Stahr on, 557.<br /> +<br /> +High farming, inefficiency of, to counteract the agricultural depression, 491.<br /> +<br /> +Highlands, present state of the, and its causes, 308.<br /> +<br /> +Home trade, falling off in the, 108<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—effects of free trade on the, <a href="#Page_645">645</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Horn, Cape, a voyage round, 90.<br /> +<br /> +Hortense, Queen, mother of Louis Napoleon, 547.<br /> +<br /> +Hôtel des Invalides, the, 316.<br /> +<br /> +Human responsibility, relations of mesmerism to, 81.<br /> +<br /> +Hungary, sketches of the war in, 35 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<br /> +Huskisson, effects of the commercial system begun by, 308<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—strictures on his statue at Lloyds', 211</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—his character, and commencement of the free-trade system under him, <a href="#Page_632">632</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Hussars, the Hungarian, 38.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Imitation, Ruskin on, 331.<br /> +<br /> +Immorality, increase of, in the towns, 307.<br /> +<br /> +Imports, increase of, under free trade, 140.<br /> +<br /> +Income-tax returns, falling off in the, 137.<br /> +<br /> +India, sketches by Madame Pfeiffer in, 93.<br /> +<br /> +Indians of Brazil, the, 89.<br /> +<br /> +Indore, sketches at, 95.<br /> +<br /> +Industry, relations of, to population, 123.<br /> +<br /> +Infidelity, influence of, on Continental revolution, 431.<br /> +<br /> +Interests, harmony of, Carey on, <a href="#Page_640">640</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Invalides, the Hôtel des, 316.<br /> +<br /> +Invention, the progress of, 563.<br /> +<br /> +Ionic column, Ruskin on the, 327.<br /> +<br /> +Ireland, diminution of the population of, 123<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—decrease of its population since 1846, 128</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—increase of the population in the towns and its diminution in the counties, 129</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the alleged influence of the potato failure on the population, 131, 132</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—diminution of cultivation in, 489, <em>note</em>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—proofs of agricultural depression in, 497.</span><br /> +<br /> +Irish, immigration of the, into Great Britain, 131.<br /> +<br /> +Isaac Comnenus, the drama of, reviewed, 517.<br /> +<br /> +Ismaylis, the sect of the, <a href="#Page_735">735</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Italian insurrection, sketches of the, 25 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<br /> +Italian opera, the, in St Petersburg, 168.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Italian Revolution</span>, the, 431.<br /> +<br /> +Italy, the war between Austria and Sardinia in, 29 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—its disunited state, 434</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—character of the Austrian administration in, <em>ib. et seq.</em></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Jacobleff, a Russian, anecdotes of, 170.<br /> +<br /> +Jardin des Plantes, sketches in the, 314.<br /> +<br /> +Jellachich, baron, operations of, during the Hungarian insurrection, 39<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—sketch of his career, 444.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Jerrmann's pictures from St Petersburg</span>, review of, 154.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Jew's Legacy</span>, the, a tale of the siege of Gibraltar, chap. I. <a href="#Page_648">648</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. II. <a href="#Page_653">653</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. III. <a href="#Page_656">656</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. IV. <a href="#Page_659">659</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. V. <a href="#Page_663">663</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Johnston's Notes on North America</span>, <a href="#Page_699">699</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Joinville, the prince de, character of, 555.<br /> +<br /> +Judicial system, the, of the United States, <a href="#Page_713">713</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Justice, the administration of, in St Petersburg, 162 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Kassela, the African mountain of, 270.<br /> +<br /> +Kent, the scenery of, 196.<br /> +<br /> +King, Mr, report by, on the gold diggings of California, 477.<br /> +<br /> +Kiss, general, 43.<br /> +<br /> +Kleber, general, skeleton of the murderer of, 316.<br /> +<br /> +Kleinmichael, general, reconstruction of the winter palace at St Petersburg by, 159.<br /> +<br /> +Knaresborough election, the, 245, 246.<br /> +<br /> +Kohl, misstatements of, regarding Russia, 171.<br /> +<br /> +Kolin, an incident of the battle of, 26.<br /> +<br /> +Kurdistan, journey of madame Pfeiffer through, 99.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Labourers, the agricultural, loss which will fall on, from free trade, 492.<br /> +<br /> +Labouring classes, on the condition of the dwellings of the, 381.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Lament of Selim</span>, the, 103.<br /> +<br /> +Lanarkshire, increase of population in, 1841 to 1851, 129.<br /> +<br /> +Landlord and tenant, separation induced by free trade between, 610.<br /> +<br /> +Landlords, proportion of loss from free trade to be sustained by the, 492<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—their conduct as regards their tenantry, 612.</span><br /> +<br /> +Latachia, sketches at, 462, <a href="#Page_724">724</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Latour's dragoons, Austrian regiment called, 26.<br /> +<br /> +Law, proposed change in the mode of administering, 386, 387.<br /> +<br /> +Lazaretto at Gaza, the, 453.<br /> +<br /> +Lebanon, sketches in, 455.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Legend of Gibraltar</span>, a, chap. I. 522<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. II. 529</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. III. 532</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. IV. 535</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. V. 539.</span><br /> +<br /> +Legislative assembly, the present, of France, 202<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—sketch of a debate in it, 205.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_756" id="Page_756">[756]</a></span>Legislative interference, on, as applied to sanitary measures, 381.<br /> +<br /> +Leicester, depressed state of, <a href="#Page_644">644</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Leitzendorf, colonel, death of, 31.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Levantine Rambles</span>, 447.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Lewald's Diary in England</span>, review of, 209.<br /> +<br /> +Liberal policy, experienced results of, in the Peninsula, 349.<br /> +<br /> +Liberals, preponderance of the, in Scotland, 297.<br /> +<br /> +Liberals, the Portuguese, division among the, &c., 352.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Life among the Loggers</span>, <a href="#Page_669">669</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Limerick Examiner, the, on emigration from Ireland, 134.<br /> +<br /> +Liszt the pianist, reception of, at St Petersburg, 169.<br /> +<br /> +Littledale, Messrs, on the manufacturing depression, 609.<br /> +<br /> +Lodging-house, a, in San Francisco, 473.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Loggers, Life among the</span>, <a href="#Page_669">669</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Logrolling, origin of the phrase, <a href="#Page_712">712</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom, the Austrian administration of the, 435.<br /> +<br /> +Lombardy, the insurrection of, against Austria, 26 <em>et seq.</em>, 433<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the government of it by Austria, 435.</span><br /> +<br /> +London, the shopkeepers of, effects of free trade on, 111<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—increase of population in, 1841 to 1851, 129.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">London Diary of a German Authoress</span>, the, 209.<br /> +<br /> +Louis XIII., foundation of the Jardin des Plantes by, 315.<br /> +<br /> +Louis Napoleon, improvement of the passport system by, 196<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Stahr's picture of him, 545</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—anecdotes, &c. of him, 547</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—causes of his election, 548.</span><br /> +<br /> +Louis Philippe, improvement of the Boulevard of Paris under him, 202<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the final act of his dethronement, 204</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Stahr's sketches, &c. of him, 548 <em>et seq. passim</em>, 550 <em>et seq.</em></span><br /> +<br /> +Luxor, the obelisk of, at Paris, 312.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +M'Corkindale, R., letter from A. R. Dunshunner to<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Downward tendencies, 106.</span><br /> +<br /> +Madeleine, church of the, at Paris, 312.<br /> +<br /> +Magic, the secrets of, 564.<br /> +<br /> +Maine, sketches among the wood-cutters of, <a href="#Page_669">669</a> <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<br /> +Maize, extensive use of, in the United States, <a href="#Page_705">705</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Malthus, the views of, on population, 123.<br /> +<br /> +Mammiani, the Roman demagogue, 437, 438.<br /> +<br /> +Mantua, the Austrian possession of, 433.<br /> +<br /> +Manufactures, British, their rise during the war, <a href="#Page_633">633</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—their state under free trade, <a href="#Page_643">643</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Manufacturers, depressed state of the, 108.<br /> +<br /> +Manufacturing districts, distress and depression in the, 305, 609.<br /> +<br /> +Manufacturing towns, check to the population in the, 130, 131.<br /> +<br /> +Maria, Donna, position of, in Portugal, 349.<br /> +<br /> +Maronites, sketches of the, 455.<br /> +<br /> +Martineau, Miss, testimony of, regarding mesmerism, 75<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—atheistical work by her, 76, <em>note</em>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Master Thief</span>, the, a Norse popular tale, 595.<br /> +<br /> +Mazarin, encouragement of the drama by, in France, 323.<br /> +<br /> +Mazzini, proceedings of, in Rome, 438.<br /> +<br /> +Mechanics, the poetry of, 567.<br /> +<br /> +Mechi, Mr, his high farming system, 491.<br /> +<br /> +Medusa's head, the, in connection with mesmerism, 77.<br /> +<br /> +Mehmet Pasha of Acre, sketches of, 459 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<br /> +Mesmer, the alleged powers, &c. of, 82.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Mesmerism, what is it?</span> 70<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—postscript, 83.</span><br /> +<br /> +Metallic tractors, cure by, 79.<br /> +<br /> +Metropolitan representatives, character of the, 300<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the <cite>Times</cite> on them, 301.</span><br /> +<br /> +Middle classes, their aversion to revolution in Great Britain, 297.<br /> +<br /> +Miguel, Don, Whig policy toward, and its results, 349<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—his dethronement, 350</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—party still adhering to him, 351 <em>et seq. passim</em>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Miguelites, strength of the party of, in Portugal, 352.<br /> +<br /> +Milan, the duchy of, the Austrian possession of, 433.<br /> +<br /> +Milan, city of. Radetsky's retreat from it, 440<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—its aspect after the suppression of the insurrection, 35.</span><br /> +<br /> +Military service, term of, in Russia, 155.<br /> +<br /> +Millais, painting by, 212.<br /> +<br /> +Milton on emigration, 503.<br /> +<br /> +Ministry, uncertain position of the, 110.<br /> +<br /> +Mitkenab, visit to village of, 264.<br /> +<br /> +"Modern Painters," review of, 326.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Modern State Trials</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Note on Part III.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Captain Helsham</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Duelling 122.</span><br /> +<br /> +Mohammed Din, an Arab chief, 261 <em>et seq. passim</em>.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Moir, the late D. M.</span>, 249.<br /> +<br /> +Molesworth, Mr, account of cannibalism in New Zealand, by, 418.<br /> +<br /> +Monetary Crisis, the, its alleged influence on population, 132.<br /> +<br /> +Montanara, battle of, 33.<br /> +<br /> +Montemolin, the Count de, 356.<br /> +<br /> +Montpensier, the duke de<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—his character, 555.</span><br /> +<br /> +Monuments of London, Fanny Lewald on the, 210.<br /> +<br /> +Moor, action at, in the Hungarian war, 37.<br /> +<br /> +Moose-deer, adventure with a, <a href="#Page_679">679</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Morgan, lady, sketch of, by Lewald, 218.<br /> +<br /> +Morroqueimado, Swiss settlement of, in Brazil, 88.<br /> +<br /> +Mossul, a caravan journey to, 98.<br /> +<br /> +Mosul, town of, <a href="#Page_729">729</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_757" id="Page_757">[757]</a></span>Mulgrave, the earl of, defeat of, at Scarborough, 245.<br /> +<br /> +Mulot, M., the engineer of the great Artesian well at Paris, 317.<br /> +<br /> +Muntz, Mr, on the reduction of wages by free trade, <a href="#Page_634">634</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Music, passion for, in St Petersburg, 168.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">My Novel</span>; or, Varieties in English Life, by Pisistratus Caxton. Book VI.,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Initial Chapter, 1.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. ii. 3</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. iii. 5</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. iv. 6</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. v. 7</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. vi. 10</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. vii. 11</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. viii. 13</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. ix. 15</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. x. 17</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xi. 20</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xii. 21</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xiii. 173</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xiv. 175</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xv. 178</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xvi. <em>ib.</em></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xvii. 180</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xviii. <em>ib.</em></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xix. 184</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xx. 185</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xxi. 187</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xxii. 189</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xxiii. 190</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xxiv. 192</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xxv. 194</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Book VII., Initial Chapter, 275</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. ii. 277</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. iii. <em>ib.</em></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. iv. 278</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. v. 280</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. vi. 281</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. vii. <em>ib.</em></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. viii. 283</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. ix. 285</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. x. 286</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xi. 288</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xii. 289</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xiii. 290</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xiv. 291</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xv. 292</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xvi. 392</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xvii. 397</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xviii. 399</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xix. 400</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xx. 403</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xxi. 407</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xxii. 412</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Book VIII., Initial Chapter, the abuse of intellect, 573</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. ii. 575</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. iii. 580</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. iv. 585</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. v. 590</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. vi. 594</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. vii. <a href="#Page_681">681</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. viii. <a href="#Page_682">682</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. ix. <a href="#Page_687">687</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. x. <a href="#Page_689">689</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xi. <a href="#Page_691">691</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xii. <a href="#Page_693">693</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xiii. <a href="#Page_695">695</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xiv. <a href="#Page_697">697</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Naples, the revolt and revolution in, 433.<br /> +<br /> +Napoleon column, the, in the Place Vendôme, 318.<br /> +<br /> +Narvaez, the downfall of, in Spain, 356.<br /> +<br /> +National debt, recent increase of the, 138.<br /> +<br /> +National gallery, the British, buildings of the, 210.<br /> +<br /> +National guard, debate on the, in the French Assembly, 205<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—their conduct during the Revolution of 1848, 550, 551.</span><br /> +<br /> +National wealth, origin of, from the soil, 107.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Neale's eight years in Syria</span>, &c. reviewed, 447.<br /> +<br /> +Nelson column, the, 210.<br /> +<br /> +Nemours, the duke de, character of, 555.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Nerval's Scenes de la vie orientale</span>, reviewed, 447.<br /> +<br /> +Neuilly, conduct of the National guard of, in 1848, 550<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the destruction of the chateau of, 551</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—its present state, 552.</span><br /> +<br /> +New Brunswick, sketches in, <a href="#Page_709">709</a>.<br /> +<br /> +New York, diminishing price of flour at, <a href="#Page_703">703</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—agricultural improvement in, <a href="#Page_704">704</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +New Zealand Company, the, 422.<br /> +<br /> +New Zealand Pahs, sketches of, 420.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">New Zealanders</span>, the, 414.<br /> +<br /> +Nicholas, the emperor, character of, 154 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<br /> +Nile, expedition up the, 251 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<br /> +Nineveh, the excavations at, &c., <a href="#Page_729">729</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">North America, Johnston's Notes on</span>, <a href="#Page_699">699</a>.<br /> +<br /> +North America, wood-cutting life in, <a href="#Page_669">669</a> <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<br /> +Nottingham, depressed state of, <a href="#Page_644">644</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Novara, defeat of Charles Albert at, 446.<br /> +<br /> +Novo Friburgo, Swiss colony of, in Brazil, 88.<br /> +<br /> +Nugent, general, 443.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Obelisk of Luxor, the, at Paris, 312.<br /> +<br /> +"Oft in a night of April," 605.<br /> +<br /> +Oligarchies of medieval Italy, the, 435.<br /> +<br /> +Opera, the, at Paris, 310.<br /> +<br /> +Orleans, the late duke of, anecdotes and sketches of, 547, <em>et seq. passim</em>, 554, 555.<br /> +<br /> +Orleans, the duchess of, conduct of, on the 24th February, 204.<br /> +<br /> +Orleans dynasty, Stahr on the, 549.<br /> +<br /> +Otaki, New Zealand village of, 430.<br /> +<br /> +Ottinger, general, sketches of, 36, 37.<br /> +<br /> +Oudinot, general, the siege of Rome by, 438.<br /> +<br /> +Ouroomia, American missionary settlement at, 101.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Palestine, interest of, <a href="#Page_719">719</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Palmerston, lord, on the state of Spain, 355.<br /> +<br /> +Papal states, the revolution of 1848 in the, 437.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Paris in 1851</span>, 195<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the journey, &c., 196 <em>et seq.</em></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the Boulevard, 200</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the Legislative Assembly, 202</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the Debate, 205</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the Opera, 310</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the Obelisk of Luxor, 312</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the Jardin des Plantes, 314</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the Hôtel des Invalides, 316</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the Artesian well, 317</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the Napoleon column, 318</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the Arc de l'Etoile, 319</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the Arc du Carrousel, 320</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—suicides, 321</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the drama, 323.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Paris, German Letters from</span>, 543.<br /> +<br /> +Paris in 1815, picture of, 201.<br /> +<br /> +Parochial clergy and schoolmasters, influence of free trade on the, 501.<br /> +<br /> +Pasquali, the baron di, a Sicilian renegade, 253, 254.<br /> +<br /> +Passport system, improvement in the, 195.<br /> +<br /> +Pauperism, increase of, under free trade, 139.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Peaceful Lieutenant and his friends</span>, the, a three hours' platonic gossip. Hour Third—containing sundry passages in the lieutenant's own history, and the strange legend of his supposed grandfather, 45.<br /> +<br /> +Peel, Sir R. effects of his free-trade system, 115<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—insidious character of his free-trade advances, <a href="#Page_635">635</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—on the anticipated price of corn under free trade, <a href="#Page_636">636</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—effects of his measures, <a href="#Page_640">640</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Peel, the present Sir R., his letter to his tenantry, 106.<br /> +<br /> +Peninsula, experienced results of the Liberal policy in the, 349.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_758" id="Page_758">[758]</a></span>Perowsky, a Russian minister, 163.<br /> +<br /> +Persia, sketches by madame Pfeiffer in, 97.<br /> +<br /> +Peschiera, the capture of, by the Piedmontese, 444.<br /> +<br /> +Peter the Great, the first residence of, at St Petersburg, 171.<br /> +<br /> +Peterwardein, a captivity in, 39.<br /> +<br /> +Petropolis, German colony of, in Brazil, 87.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Pfeiffer, madame, wanderings round the world</span>, by, reviewed, 86.<br /> +<br /> +Philip van Artevelde, review of, 505.<br /> +<br /> +Phreno-mesmerism, exhibitions of, 74.<br /> +<br /> +Picnic, an Eastern, 725<a href="#Page_725">725</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Picture gallery of Versailles, Stahr on the, 552.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Pictures from St Petersburg</span>, 154.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Pimodan, the count de, campaigns of</span>, reviewed, 25.<br /> +<br /> +Pine, the, in America, <a href="#Page_671">671</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Pius IX., the accession of, and review of his proceedings, 432 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<br /> +Place de la Concorde, the, at Paris, 202.<br /> +<br /> +Place Vendôme, the Napoleon column in the, 318.<br /> +<br /> +Playing cards, consumption of, in Russia, 169.<br /> +<br /> +Poetry: The Lament of Selim, by Delta, 103<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Day-dreams of an exile, by H. G. K., 465, 604.</span><br /> +<br /> +Police, abuses of the, in St Petersburg, 162 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<br /> +Political agitation, evils connected with, 296.<br /> +<br /> +Pomaree, queen, sketches of, 91.<br /> +<br /> +Poor-rates, influence of free trade on, 139.<br /> +<br /> +Popery, influence of, on Continental Revolution, 431.<br /> +<br /> +Population, the views of Malthus on, 123<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the influence of employment on it, <em>ib.</em></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—its decrease in Great Britain since 1845, 128</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—immigration of it from the country into the towns, 307.</span><br /> +<br /> +Porter, Mr, on surplus population, 625.<br /> +<br /> +Portugal, the ancient constitution of, 351.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Portuguese Politics</span>, 349.<br /> +<br /> +Potato failure, influence of the, on population, 131<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the free-traders on it, <a href="#Page_641">641</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Poussin, Ruskin on, 328.<br /> +<br /> +Pre-Raphaelitism, Lewald on, 212.<br /> +<br /> +Production, true policy with regard to, 107.<br /> +<br /> +Productive classes, all classes dependent on the, <a href="#Page_631">631</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Property-tax returns, falling off in the, 137.<br /> +<br /> +Prosperity, anticipations regarding, and their disappointment, 609.<br /> +<br /> +Prostitution, Mr Helps on, 389.<br /> +<br /> +Protection, prosperity enjoyed under, 115.<br /> +<br /> +Protestantism, necessity of, to freedom, 447.<br /> +<br /> +Purchas, account of cannibalism in Africa by, 416.<br /> +<br /> +Puris of Brazil, the, 89.<br /> +<br /> +Pusey, Mr, his letters on protection, &c., 119.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Radetsky, marshal, sketch of the character of, 31<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—sketches of, during the campaign in Italy, 26, <em>et seq. passim</em></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—his first proclamation on the outbreak of the insurrection, 439</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—sketch of his previous career, 441.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Raid of Arnaboll</span>, the, chap. i. 220<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. ii. 225</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. iii. 230</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. iv. 236.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Rail, the Champions of the</span>, <a href="#Page_739">739</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Railroads, French and English, 199.<br /> +<br /> +Railway travelling, on, 196.<br /> +<br /> +Rangihaeata, a New Zealand chief, 425.<br /> +<br /> +Rauparaha, a New Zealand chief, 425.<br /> +<br /> +Ravandus, town of, 100.<br /> +<br /> +Recreation, Mr Helps on, 384.<br /> +<br /> +Reform Bill, agitation connected the, 296.<br /> +<br /> +Reform Bill, the proposed new, 297 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<br /> +Rent, reduction of, its inefficiency to meet the agricultural crisis, 492, 611, 612.<br /> +<br /> +Rents, alleged rises of, 494.<br /> +<br /> +Responsibility, application of the principle of, in Russia, 164.<br /> +<br /> +Resumption of cash payments, influence of, 622.<br /> +<br /> +Revenue, influence of free trade on the, 137.<br /> +<br /> +Revolution, aversion to, in Great Britain, 297.<br /> +<br /> +Revolutionary war, increase of population during the, 124.<br /> +<br /> +Rhodes, sketch of, <a href="#Page_723">723</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Richelieu, encouragement of the drama by, in France, 323.<br /> +<br /> +Rivoli, defeat of Charles Albert at, 444.<br /> +<br /> +Roman states, the revolt of the, in 1830, 432<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—and in 1848, 437.</span><br /> +<br /> +Rome, rise of, after the battle of Cannæ, 124<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—progress of the decline of population in, 125</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the siege of, by Oudinot, 438.</span><br /> +<br /> +Rosicrucians, supposed acquaintance of the, with mesmerism, 77.<br /> +<br /> +Rossi, the papal minister, murder of, 437.<br /> +<br /> +Rossi, the countess, 168, 169.<br /> +<br /> +Royal Academy's exhibition, Fanny Lewald on the, 211.<br /> +<br /> +Rubini, reception of, in St Petersburg, 168.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Ruskin, the works of</span>, 326.<br /> +<br /> +Russell, Lord John, his proposed new Reform Bill, 297 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—on the state of the agricultural interest, 489.</span><br /> +<br /> +Russia, sketches of government, society, &c. in, 154 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—extravagance of the higher classes, 170.</span><br /> +<br /> +Russians, cheerfulness of the, 166.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Sabbath, a, in California, 472.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_759" id="Page_759">[759]</a></span>St Denis, the arch of, 320.<br /> +<br /> +St Jean d' Acre, sketches in, 459.<br /> +<br /> +St Lawrence river, the, <a href="#Page_708">708</a>.<br /> +<br /> +St Martin, the arch of, 320.<br /> +<br /> +St Petersburg, pictures from, 154.<br /> +<br /> +Saldanha, the marquis, his insurrection in Portugal and its results, 349<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—his present position, 357.</span><br /> +<br /> +Salis, general, death of, 30.<br /> +<br /> +San Francisco, sketches in, 472 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<br /> +Sanitary measures, on government interference in, 381.<br /> +<br /> +Sanitary regulations, Mr Helps on, 383.<br /> +<br /> +Sardinia and Austria, sketches of the war between, 25 <em>et seq.</em>, 437 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<br /> +Savoy, sketch of the princes of, 441.<br /> +<br /> +Scanderoon, the town of, 463.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Scarborough election</span>, the, 245<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the <cite>Times</cite> on it, 303.</span><br /> +<br /> +Scheremetiew, count, anecdote of, 156.<br /> +<br /> +Schoolmasters, influence of free trade on the, 501.<br /> +<br /> +Science, the superstitions of, 565.<br /> +<br /> +Scotland, increase of population in, 1841 to 1851, 129<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—preponderance of the liberal representatives in, 297</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—fall in the prices of grain as shown by the Fiars, 491</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—alleged rise of rents, 494.</span><br /> +<br /> +Scottish clergy and schoolmasters, influence of free trade on the incomes of, 500 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<br /> +Scribe, M., the words of Zerline by, 311.<br /> +<br /> +Scully, Mr, his motion regarding pauperism in Ireland, 136.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Selim's Lament</span>, by Delta, 103.<br /> +<br /> +Sena, defeat of Charles Albert at, 444.<br /> +<br /> +Serfdom, provisions for the abolition of, in Russia, 155<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—sketches of it there, 156 <em>et seq.</em></span><br /> +<br /> +Servants and employers, on the relations between, 381.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Shaw's Golden dreams and Waking realities</span>, review of, 470.<br /> +<br /> +Shelley's Cenci, remarks on, 505.<br /> +<br /> +Shipping, influence of free trade on, 138.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Shopkeepers of Great Britain</span>, to the, <a href="#Page_629">629</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Shopkeepers, effects of free trade on the, 111<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—serfdom of the, in St Petersburg, 156.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Sigh thou not for a happier lot," 604.<br /> +<br /> +Slavery, Mr Helps on, 384<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—different circumstances in which originated, 385.</span><br /> +<br /> +Small boroughs, the <cite>Times</cite> on the, 246, 300.<br /> +<br /> +Small trades, effects of the suppression of the, 308.<br /> +<br /> +Snake-charming in India, 94.<br /> +<br /> +Snakes, accounts of, 271.<br /> +<br /> +Soil, true origin of national wealth with the, 107.<br /> +<br /> +Soliman Effendi, a renegade Sicilian, 253, 254.<br /> +<br /> +Sontag, madame, at St Petersburg, 168, 169.<br /> +<br /> +Spain, results of liberal policy in, 354<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—its state compared with that of Portugal, <em>ib.</em></span><br /> +<br /> +Spiral column, Ruskin on the, 327.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Springer's Forest Life</span> reviewed, <a href="#Page_669">669</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Stage, state of the, in St Petersburg, 167.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Stahr's Two Months in Paris</span>, review of, 543<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—his "A Year in Italy," remarks on, 544.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Stand by the Ocean," 469.<br /> +<br /> +Stanley, lord, see Derby, earl of.<br /> +<br /> +Starch, quantity of, used in the cotton manufacture, 497.<br /> +<br /> +Stockton, (California,) sketch of, 474.<br /> +<br /> +Strada, account of a case of magnetic communication by, 78.<br /> +<br /> +Strang, Dr, his statistics regarding the population of Glasgow, 130.<br /> +<br /> +Streams, Ruskin on, 330.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Submarine telegraph</span>, the, 562.<br /> +<br /> +Suffolk Agricultural Association, resolutions of the, 616.<br /> +<br /> +Suicide, prevalence and character of, in Paris, 321.<br /> +<br /> +Sunday in London, Lewald on, 213.<br /> +<br /> +Superstitions of science, the, 565.<br /> +<br /> +Suspension of cash payments, influence of the, 619.<br /> +<br /> +Swiss, defence of Vicenza by the, 35.<br /> +<br /> +Syria, sketches in, 453.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Tabriz, sketches by madame Pfeiffer at, 101.<br /> +<br /> +Tahiti, sketches at, 90.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Taka, a campaign in</span>, 251.<br /> +<br /> +Taxation, impossibility of reduction of, adequate to meet the agricultural depression, 113<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—influence of, on industry, 306</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the question of, in relation to that of free trade, <a href="#Page_633">633</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—comparative pressure of, in the United States and Great Britain, 715.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Taylor, Henry, the dramas of</span>, 505.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Telegraph, the submarine</span>, 562.<br /> +<br /> +Tenantry, separation between, and their landlords, induced by free trade, 610<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—their losses by free trade, 611.</span><br /> +<br /> +Thames, the approach to London by the, 210.<br /> +<br /> +Theatre, state of the, in Russia, 167.<br /> +<br /> +Theatres, the London, Fanny Lewald on, 217<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—statistics of those of Paris, 323.</span><br /> +<br /> +Theoretic faculty, Ruskin on the, 334.<br /> +<br /> +Thiennes, the count de, heroism of, 26.<br /> +<br /> +Tiger hunt in India, a, 95.<br /> +<br /> +Times newspaper, the, on the results of free trade, 133<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—on the depopulation of Ireland, 134</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—on the Scarborough election, 246</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—on the small boroughs, 300</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—on the metropolitan representatives, 301</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—account of the laying down of the submarine telegraph from, 568</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—on the increased emigration and its results, 626.</span><br /> +<br /> +Tirel's La République, &c., remarks on, 549.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_760" id="Page_760">[760]</a></span>To ——, by H. G. K., 465, 605<br /> +<br /> +Towns, increase of the, at the expense of the country, 125<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—increase of population in the, 1841 to 1851, 129</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—reaction of the agricultural depression on the, 303</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—immigration of population from the country into them, 307</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—state of their population, <em>ib.</em></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—ventilation, drainage, &c. of them, 381.</span><br /> +<br /> +Trade circulars, general tone of the, 108.<br /> +<br /> +Traders, influence of free trade on the, 137.<br /> +<br /> +Trafalgar Square fountains, the, 314.<br /> +<br /> +Travelling, modern universality of, 86<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—increased facilities and abundance of it, 195.</span><br /> +<br /> +Tucket, Mr, account of the massacre of Wairau by, 425.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +United States, protective policy of the, 117<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—increase in their population, 123</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—on slavery in the, 385</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—increased cultivation of grain in the, 489 <em>note</em></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—sketches of agriculture in the, <a href="#Page_699">699</a> <em>et seq.</em></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Johnston on their wheat producing powers, <a href="#Page_701">701</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the exports of bread-stuffs from, <a href="#Page_702">702</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the prices of these falling in, <a href="#Page_703">703</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—extensive use of maize and buckwheat in, <a href="#Page_705">705</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—encouragements to emigration to, <a href="#Page_710">710</a>, 711</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—their judicial system, <a href="#Page_713">713</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—taxation, <a href="#Page_715">715</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Upper Canada, progress of, <a href="#Page_708">7008</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Vaccination in New Zealand, 430.<br /> +<br /> +Van, lake, <a href="#Page_732">732</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Van Diemen's land, the aborigines of, 416.<br /> +<br /> +Vendôme column, the, 318.<br /> +<br /> +Venetian territories, the insurrection in the, 26 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—how acquired by Austria, 433</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—her administration of them, 435, 436.</span><br /> +<br /> +Venice, the revolt at, 27.<br /> +<br /> +Ventilation, Mr Helps on the importance of, 383.<br /> +<br /> +Vernet the actor, anecdote of, 161.<br /> +<br /> +Verona, the battle of, 30 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—capture of it by general d'Aspre, 442.</span><br /> +<br /> +Versailles, Stahr on the galleries of, 552.<br /> +<br /> +Vicenza, the capture of, by Radetsky, 34, 35, 445.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Voice from the Diggings, a</span>, 470.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Voltaire in the Crystal Palace</span>, 142.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Wages, lowering of, among the agricultural classes, 496<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the general reduction of them the object of the free-traders, 634.</span><br /> +<br /> +Wairau, the massacre of, 425.<br /> +<br /> +Walmsley, sir J., his reception in Scotland, 298.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Walpole's Ansayrii</span>, reviewed, <a href="#Page_719">719</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Wanderings round the World</span>, 86.<br /> +<br /> +Wanganui, treaty of, with the New Zealand chiefs, 423.<br /> +<br /> +Warburton's "Crescent and Cross," extract from, <a href="#Page_721">721</a> <em>note</em>.<br /> +<br /> +Wellington statues, Fanny Lewald on the, 211.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Werne, F. A., a campaign in taka</span> by, reviewed, 251.<br /> +<br /> +Wheat, alleged increased consumption of, 496<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—its price under free trade, <a href="#Page_636">636</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—powers of producing, in the United States, <a href="#Page_701">701</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Where summer is, there 'tis fresh and fair," 467.<br /> +<br /> +Wilson, James, on the corn laws, <a href="#Page_636">636</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Windischgratz, sketches of the campaign in Hungary under, 36.<br /> +<br /> +Winter palace, destruction and rebuilding of the, in St Petersburg, 158.<br /> +<br /> +Wolves, sketches of, in America, <a href="#Page_675">675</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Women, English and German, Fanny Lewald on, 216.<br /> +<br /> +Woodcutters' life in Maine, sketches of, <a href="#Page_669">669</a> <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<br /> +Working-classes, effects of free trade on the, 113.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">World, wanderings round the</span>, 86.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +York column, the, 211.<br /> +<br /> +Young, G. F., return of, for Scarborough, 245.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Zerline, the opera of, 311.<br /> +<br /> +Zichy, count, Austrian commandant at Venice, 28.<br /> +<br /> +Zichy, lieutenant count, death of, 33.<br /> +</div> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="center"><em>Printed by William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh.</em></p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<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> The estimated produce of wheat in these five States in the year 1847 was +38,400,000 bushels.</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> Quantity of bread-stuffs exported from the whole of the United States, and +from the ports of New York and Philadelphia, in the years 1842-46 inclusive:— +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="wheat"> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="center">Wheat</td><td align="center">Flour</td><td align="center">Indian Corn</td><td align="center">Indian Corn</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="center">(bushels.)</td><td align="center">(barrels.)</td><td align="center">(bushels.)</td><td align="center">(Meal barrels.)</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">United States,</td><td align="right">2,691,711</td><td align="right">7,048,356</td><td align="right">4,764,450</td><td align="right">1,199,255</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">New York</td><td align="right">1,985,900</td><td align="right">610,944</td><td align="right">2,443,733</td><td align="right">242,294</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Philadelphia,</td><td align="right">474,788</td><td align="left">1,055,382</td><td align="right">677,530</td><td align="right">565,682</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Total of both ports,</td><td align="right">2,460,688</td><td align="right">3,666,326</td><td align="right">3,121,263</td><td align="right">807,976</td></tr> +</table></div> +</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> Comparative statement of the prices, per barrel, of best wheat flour at New +York, (taken from the <em>Monthly Averages</em>) in 1829-33, and 1844-48:— +</p> + + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="prices"> +<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 4em;">FIRST PERIOD.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1829,</td><td align="right">Dr. 6.23</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1830,</td><td align="right">5.02</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1831,</td><td align="right">5.84</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1832,</td><td align="right">5.70</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1833,</td><td align="right">5.70</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Average of five years,</td><td align="right"><span class="bt">5.69</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 3em;">SECOND PERIOD.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1844,</td><td align="right">Dr. 4.60</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1845,</td><td align="right">5.00</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1846,</td><td align="right">5.16</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1847,</td><td align="right">6.77</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1848,</td><td align="right">5.83</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Average of five years,</td><td align="right"><span class="bt">5.47</span></td></tr> +</table></div> +</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> Vol. ii. p. 389.</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> Vol. i. p. 80.</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> +</p> + +<p><br /> +Total number of registered emigrants for the twenty-one years from 1825 to<br /> +1845 inclusive 1,349,476——Average, 64,260<br /> +Do. do. <em>for the five years</em> 1846 <em>to</em> 1850 inclusive, 1,216,557——Average, 243,311<br /> + +</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> We give this amount as it is usually estimated, although it is certainly far +below the truth.</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> <cite>The American Almanac</cite> for 1851.</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> See Mr Smee's pamphlet on the Income-Tax.</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> By the leviathan steamers now building for the Peninsular and Oriental Steam +Company. They are calculated to make from sixteen to eighteen miles an hour, which +would reduce the sea-going part of the voyage to eight days two hours.</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> +The mere physical pleasure of the upper voyage has been thus described—"No +words can convey an idea of the beauty and delightfulness of tropical weather, at +least while any breeze from the north is blowing. There is a pleasure in the very +act of breathing—a voluptuous consciousness that existence is a blessed thing: the +pulse beats high, but calmly; the eye feels expanded; the chest heaves pleasureably, +as if air was a delicious draught to thirsty lungs; and the mind takes its colouring +and character from sensation. No thought of melancholy ever darkens over us—no +painful sense of isolation or of loneliness, as day after day we pass on through silent +deserts, upon the silent and solemn river. One seems, as it were, removed into +another state of existence; and all the strifes and struggles of that from which we +have emerged seem to fade, softened into indistinctness. This is what Homer and +Alfred Tennyson knew that the lotus-eaters felt when they tasted of the mysterious +tree of this country, and became weary of their wanderings:— +</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4">'——To him the gushing of the wave<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Far, far away, did seem to mourn and rave<br /></span> +<span class="i0">On alien shores: and, if his fellow spake,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">His voice was thin, as voices from the grave!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And deep asleep he seemed, yet all awake,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And music in his ears his beating heart did make.'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>If the day, with all the tyranny of its sunshine and its innumerable insects, be +enjoyable in the tropics, the night is still more so. The stars shine out with diamond +brilliancy, and appear as large as if seen through a telescope. Their changing +colours, the wake of light they cast upon the water, the distinctness of the milky +way, and the splendour, above all, of the evening star, give one the impression of being +under a different firmament from that to which we have been accustomed; then +the cool delicious airs, with all the strange and stilly sounds they bear from the +desert and the forest; the delicate scents they scatter, and the languid breathings +with which they make our large white sails appear to pant, as they heave and languish +softly over the water."—(<cite>The Crescent and the Cross</cite>, vol. i. p. 210.) +</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> The journey from Cairo across the desert by Suez, or at least thence by Gaza +or Sinai to Jerusalem, is performed in the same manner as it was in the days when +Eothen, Dr Robinson, and Lord Castlereagh described it. The only difference occurs +in the route between Cairo and Suez, which is now performed on wheels in about +twelve hours, and, in the course of eighteen months, is expected to be easily accomplished +in two hours and a half by railway.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> <i>Kief</i>: a word difficult to translate, but expressing perfect abandonment to +repose; a <i>dolce far niente</i> which only Orientals can thoroughly achieve.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> The Moslems being water-drinkers, are as curious about their streams as <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">bons +vivans</i> are about their cellars. One of the Caliphs sent to weigh all the waters in +his wide kingdom, and found that of the Euphrates was the lightest.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> He was subsequently murdered, <small>A. D.</small> 62.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> We must here notice the generosity with which Mr Walpole forbears to enlarge +upon any subject in which he might anticipate the works of other travellers. For +this reason he passes lightly over this interesting tour in the mountains of Koordistan, +and only (to our regret) alludes <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">en passant</i> to a tribe of <em>pastoral</em> Jews, whom he +and Mr Layard met on these mountains, following the spring (as the snows receding +left fresh herbage for their flocks) up the mountains. When we consider how rarely +pastoral Jews are met with, and that this was the very land wherein the lost ten +tribes disappeared, and, moreover, that the elders of these people spoke the Chaldean +tongue, we are much disappointed to hear no more of them.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> The mystery relating to this community is so great that the laborious Müller, +in his twenty-four books, has not attempted to penetrate it. And Gibbon, notwithstanding +his acknowledged pleasure in painting scenes of blood, has treated the Order +of Assassins very superficially. Marco Polo is, as usual, the most entertaining of +authorities, as far as he goes; but it remained for Joseph Von Hammer to explore the +faint vestiges of their strange story with vast and patient research. He has thrown +together the results of his labours in a small volume, of great interest.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> The Vulture's Nest.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> Dais, Refik, and Fedavie.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> <cite>De Regionibus Orient.</cite>, lib. i. c. 28.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> We do not yet know if any ceremony exists at the naming of the child.</p></div></div> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<div class="tn"><h3>Transcriber's note:</h3> +<p>Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. +Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained as +printed (example: Sheffield and Sheffeld).</p> + +<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> +</div> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44491 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/44491-h/images/coverpage.jpg b/44491-h/images/coverpage.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..16c9db5 --- /dev/null +++ b/44491-h/images/coverpage.jpg diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c58ef80 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #44491 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/44491) diff --git a/old/44491-0.txt b/old/44491-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4867c20 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/44491-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11308 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol. 70, +No. 434, December, 1851, by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol. 70, No. 434, December, 1851 + +Author: Various + +Release Date: December 24, 2013 [EBook #44491] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLACKWOOD'S MAGAZINE, DEC 1851 *** + + + + +Produced by Brendan OConnor, Jonathan Ingram and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Library of Early Journals.) + + + + + +Transcriber's note: + +Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). + +Small capital text has been replaced with all capitals. + + * * * * * + + + + + BLACKWOOD'S + EDINBURGH MAGAZINE. + + No. CCCCXXXIV. DECEMBER, 1851. VOL. LXX. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + TO THE SHOPKEEPERS OF GREAT BRITAIN, 629 + + THE JEW'S LEGACY. A TALE OF THE SIEGE OF GIBRALTAR, 648 + + LIFE AMONGST THE LOGGERS, 669 + + MY NOVEL; OR, VARIETIES IN ENGLISH LIFE. PART XVI., 681 + + JOHNSTON'S NOTES ON NORTH AMERICA, 699 + + THE ANSAYRII, 719 + + THE CHAMPIONS OF THE RAIL, 739 + + INDEX, 751 + + + EDINBURGH: + WILLIAM BLACKWOOD & SONS, 45 GEORGE STREET; + AND 37 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON. + + _To whom all communications (post paid) must be addressed._ + + SOLD BY ALL THE BOOKSELLERS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM. + + PRINTED BY WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS, EDINBURGH. + + + + + BLACKWOOD'S + EDINBURGH MAGAZINE. + + No. CCCCXXXIV. DECEMBER, 1851. VOL. LXX. + + + + +TO THE SHOPKEEPERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. + + +GENTLEMEN,--As it is customary for most men about this season of +the year, when accounts are balanced and squared, to take a serious +survey of the posture of their affairs, and to examine into their +business prospects, perhaps you may not consider a few observations, +touching the welfare and position of that important class of the +community to which you belong, either impertinent or ill-timed. You +are aware that, for the last year or two, Her Majesty's Ministers +have been in the habit of opening Parliament with a congratulatory +assurance of the continued, and even augmented, prosperity of the +country. The reason why such statements were made, altogether +irrespective of their truth or falsehood, is obvious enough. In a +political point of view, they were necessary for the vindication +of the measures which Government either originated or adopted. To +have admitted that the country was not prospering under the new +commercial system, would have been considered by the public as +tantamount to an acknowledgment that the policy which dictated +those measures was vicious; and that the Whig ministry, if not +deficient in duty, had at least erred sorely in judgment. In private +life, we rarely meet with that degree of candour which amounts to +an unequivocal admission of error in point of judgment--in public +life, such an admission is altogether unknown. Failure may indeed +be acknowledged when the fact becomes too evident to admit of +further denial; but the causes of that failure are never attributed +to their real source. Not only the purity of the motive, but the +wisdom of the conception, is vindicated to the last. In this case, +however, failure is totally denied. So far from being put upon their +defence, the Whigs maintain that they have achieved a triumph. Their +averment is, that, with the exception of the agricultural producers, +among whom they allow that a certain degree of distress prevails, +all other classes of the community are prosperous. Even for the +agriculturists there is balm in store. The prosperity of the other +classes is to react upon them; so that, within some indefinite +period of time, we shall all find ourselves in circumstances of ease +and comfort which have hitherto been unknown in our land. + +With you the benefit is represented, not as prospective, but as +present. The agriculturist may have to wait a little longer, but you +are already provided for. Your cake is baked; and we are assured +that you are eating it in thankfulness and joy. If this is really +the case, there is no more to be said on the subject. If the harvest +of Free Trade has actually yielded you such a large measure of +profit, it would be madness in anyone to decry that line of policy +in your hearing. You constitute the class which, from its peculiar +position and vocation, is better qualified than any other to judge +accurately, and from experience, of the degree of prosperity which +is actually known in the country. The verdict of twelve shopkeepers, +given after an inspection of their books for an average of years, +ought to be of more weight, in settling the merits of any disputed +commercial question, than the random assurances of a dozen cabinet +ministers whose reputation and official existence are bound up in +the vindication of their own policy. The reason of this is perfectly +obvious. Your profit is simply a commission upon your sales. You +do not produce or manufacture articles of consumption--you simply +retail them. Your profit depends upon the briskness of trade, that +is, the amount of demand. It rises or falls according to the general +circumstances of your customers. In good times you make large +profits; in bad times those profits decrease. One while your stock +sells off rapidly; at another, it remains upon your hands. Your +interest is inseparable from that of the great body of consumers by +whom you live. You have little or nothing to do with the foreign +trade; for, whatever be the nature, of the articles in which you +deal, you sell them in the home market. You have, therefore, the +best opportunity of estimating the real condition of your customers. +The state of your own books, and the comparative degree of ease or +difficulty which you experience in the collection of your accounts, +furnish you with a sure index of the purchasing power of the +community. Compared with this criterion, which is common to every +man among you, tables of exports and imports, statements of bank +bullion, and such like artificial implements as have been invented +by the political impostors and economists, are absolutely worthless. +When our sapient Chancellor of the Exchequer, or Mr Labouchere, +tell you, with an air of unbounded triumph, that the exportation +of calicoes to China or Peru has mightily increased--and therefore +argue, without condescending to inquire whether such exportation +has been attended with any profit at all to the manufacturers, that +the prosperity of the country is advancing at a railway pace--you +may indeed be gratified by the statistical information, but you +will fail to discover in what way the public are benefited thereby. +It is pleasant to know that there are fifteen millions of gold in +the vaults of the Bank of England, and that, so long as this hoard +remains undiminished, there is little chance of a commercial crisis, +or a violent contraction of credit. But we take it you would be +infinitely better pleased to know that sovereigns were circulating +freely from hand to hand amongst the people, and that your customers +had their pockets so well filled as to enable them to purchase +largely, and to pay their accounts when due. To you any depression +whatever is a serious matter--a depression which assumes a permanent +appearance cannot be much short of ruin. Therefore you ought most +especially to take care that no false representation is made +regarding your circumstances, which may be the means of perpetuating +a system that has already proved detrimental to a large body of your +customers. + +Were we to take for granted the ministerial statement of +prosperity--which no doubt will be repeated next February--your Whig +minister being an incorrigible cuckoo--this paper would certainly +not have been written. But, having had occasion early to doubt the +truthfulness of this vernal note, and having taken some pains to +examine the statements which from time to time are issued by the +great houses engaged in commercial and manufacturing industry, as +also the accounts of the present condition of the poor, which have +excited so much public interest, we have really been unable to +discover any one influential class, beyond the money-lenders and +creditors, or any one large and important branch of industry, which +can, with truth, be described as prospering, or will confess to the +existence of such prosperity. Shipmasters, manufacturers, merchants, +iron-masters, and agriculturists, all tell the same tale. This is +very strange. You may possibly remember that Mr M'Gregor, once +Secretary to the Board of Trade, and now member for Glasgow, the +great commercial city of Scotland, estimated the additional amount +of wealth which was to accrue to Great Britain, in consequence of +the repeal of the Corn Laws, at two millions sterling per week! Upon +what data that profound gentleman, who thus enunciated the prophecy +and assumed the mask of Midas, proceeded in his calculation, we know +not, and perhaps it would be superfluous to inquire. It certainly +was a good round sum; for, by this time, without insisting upon +compound, or even simple interest, it should have amounted to +rather more than one-half of the national debt; but unfortunately +nobody will own to having fingered a farthing of the money. In +recalling to your memory this little circumstance, it is by no +means our intention to offer any disrespect to the intellectual +powers of M'Gregor, for whom, indeed, we entertain a high degree of +veneration, similar to that which is manifested by the Mussulman +when he finds himself in the company of a howling derveesh. We +merely wish to reproduce to you one phantom of the golden dream, +which, five or six years ago, when the fever of gain was epidemical, +possessed the slumbers of so many; and having done so, to ask you, +now that the fever is gone, whether it was not indeed a phantom? We +are wiser now--at all events, we have had more experience--and the +producing classes tell us very distinctly, and quite unanimously, +that they have derived no benefit whatever from the commercial +changes which have taken place. Capital, whether invested in ships, +factories, mines, or land, is less profitable, and therefore less +valuable, than it was before; and in some instances, where the +depression has been most heavy, it has been almost annihilated. + +These are not our statements, but the statements of the several +interests, as put forward by their own representatives. They +are statements which emanate alike from the Free-Trader and the +Protectionist. Men may differ as to the cause, but they all agree +as to the grand fact of the depression. So that, when we hear +ministers congratulating themselves and the country upon its general +prosperity, and, _pari passu_ with this congratulation, find the +accredited organs of each of the great branches of productive +industry vehemently asserting that they are exceptions from the +general rule, an anxious believer in the probity of all parties has +his faith somewhat rudely shaken. + +We believe that, collectively, you are the best judges as to this +disputed matter. As the real wealth of the country depends upon +the amount and value of its yearly produce--as from that annual +creation, when measured by the monetary standard, and circulated +through a thousand channels, all our incomes are derived--you, +who supply the whole population with the necessaries and luxuries +of life, (fabricated by others, but passing through your hands,) +must necessarily have the best means of knowing whether the +circumstances of that population have, on the aggregate, been +bettered or made worse. When Napoleon in the bitterness of his heart +declared that we were a nation of shopkeepers, he uttered no terms +of reproach, though he intended to convey a taunt. Your position +in the community is such that you cannot flourish independent of +its general prosperity. The exporting manufacturer, and even the +foreign merchant, may multiply their gains, and realise fortunes, +whilst other classes, whose wellbeing is far more important to the +stability of the empire, are hastening to decay. Such phenomena are +common in old states, when the process of dissolution has begun. +The parasite lives and thrives, while the tree round which it has +wound its tendrils is crumbling into rottenness. But such is not +your case. Your interests are identical with those of the productive +classes, for without them you could not exist. Ill-remunerated +labour--unproductive capital--lessened means--deteriorated +property--are things which affect you as deeply as though you were +the direct sufferers or losers. Upon the wealth of your customers +depends your own. And therefore, in such an important crisis as +the present, when the existing commercial system of the country is +vigorously assailed by one party, and as obstinately defended by +another--when facts and statements apparently of much weight are +adduced on either side, to serve as arguments for the overthrow or +the maintenance of that system--when some cite statistical tables to +prove that the country must be prosperous, and others adduce real +evidence to show that the reverse is the case--you cannot afford +to sit idly by, without throwing the weight of your testimony and +experience into one or other of the scales. You have had admirable +opportunities of noticing the working of the Free-Trade system. It +matters not what were the original prepossessions of any of you, +or what might have been your opinion with regard to the merits of +this or that scheme, while it was still in embryo and untried. A +more complex question than that of Free Trade, as affecting the +importation of corn, probably never was presented to the public +consideration. Many excellent, judicious, and thoroughly patriotic +men, relying upon the truth of statements which were regarded by +others as mere plausible theories, were willing to submit to the +experiment. And when, by the grossest act of political perfidy +that was ever perpetrated--an act which future times, if not the +present, will stigmatise with deserved opprobrium--the last and most +important change, save that which subsequently assailed our maritime +interest, was suddenly effected, it was the declared opinion of the +majority that the new system must at least have a trial, until its +real results were developed, and until it became apparent to the +nation whether or not Free Trade would operate for the advantage of +the people, as its advocates and promoters had predicted. + +Here we must, for a moment or two, however unwillingly, digress. The +later measures of Free Trade have assailed interests so important +and so strong, that its former and earlier advances, stealthily and +cautiously made, have almost faded from the public view. Free Trade, +as a political system, did not alone strike at the agricultural or +the shipping interest. Since the days of Mr Huskisson, who brought +with him into active life the principles which he had imbibed in +youth from his associates in French Jacobinism, the principles of +Free Trade have been gradually but cautiously applied to various +branches of British industry. The slow and insidious nature of the +movement on the part of the statesmen, who, even then, were yielding +to the influence of the modern economical school, showed their +distrust of the system, which, if true, ought at once to have been +openly promulgated. Like the late Sir Robert Peel, Huskisson was +destitute of that manly courage which scorns concealment or deceit, +and walks steadfastly to its goal. Cunning was an ingredient of +his nature: whatever he did was accomplished by tortuous methods, +and vindicated upon false pretences. The tendency of that policy +which he commenced was to maintain by all means, at all hazards, +and at the sacrifice, if needful, of every other interest, the +manufacturing supremacy, of England in the foreign market--an object +for which we still are striving, though at the imminent risk of the +dismemberment of the British empire. It is due, however, to the +memory of Mr Huskisson, to remark, that, although the originator +of this policy, he does not seem to have contemplated the extent +to which it would be carried out by his successors. His opinions +upon the subject of protection to agriculture were clear and +decided: "There is no effectual security, either in peace or war, +against the frequent return of scarcity, but in making ourselves +independent of foreign supply. Let the bread we eat be the produce +of corn grown among ourselves; and, for one, I care not how cheap +it is--the cheaper the better. It is cheap now, and I rejoice at +it, because it is altogether owing to a sufficiency of corn of our +own growth; but, to insure a continuance of that cheapness, and +that sufficiency, we must insure to our own growers _protection +against foreign importation_, which has produced those blessings, +and by which alone they can be permanently maintained." The time, +however, was fast approaching when the reins of government were to +fall into the hands of a scion of the manufacturing body, in whose +eyes the momentary supremacy of party was of more importance than +any principle of national policy. There is no more curious page in +history than that which records the rise of British manufactures +towards the close of last century. Invention after invention, +whereby manual labour was superseded by machinery, and the power of +production almost indefinitely multiplied, paved the way for that +monopoly which our manufacturers enjoyed for at least a quarter of +a century, during which time every other country in Europe except +our own was devastated by war, and the peaceful arts forgotten or +overthrown. It was during that period that the gigantic fortunes of +the Arkwrights and the Peels were made, and that influence secured +to the manufacturing body in the British House of Commons which it +never possessed before. But with the return of peace the monopoly +disappeared. By invention in mechanical appliances, Britain had +the start of other nations in the creation of manufactures; by +war, she was enabled long to enjoy the undivided benefits. But +inventions are not the property of a single nation; they pass from +one to another with the rapidity of lightning; they are available +by the foreign, even more easily than by the domestic, rival. Hence +it very soon became apparent that other states were preparing to +compete with us in those branches of industry which had proved +so exceedingly profitable. France, Belgium, Germany, Russia, +Switzerland, and America, all entered keenly into the contest; and +then commenced that decline of prices which has continued, almost +without intermission, to the present hour. Reciprocity treaties were +tried, but were in fact of little avail; for the great bulk of the +English exports consisted of those very textile fabrics which it +was the object of each country to produce for its own consumption, +if not to export to others. During the war, both the expenses of +government and the interest of the National Debt had doubled in +amount, and the monetary changes effected in 1819 added at least +one-third to the weight of that augmented burden. In order to make +this taxation bearable, the industry of the people was protected in +their own market by a scale of customs duties, which prevented the +influx of foreign produce at rates which must have annihilated the +British workman. Protection is a clear necessity which arises out +of taxation. If the tobacco, tea, coffee, sugar, beer, soap, and +other articles of the labourer's consumption, are taxed in order +to maintain an expensive establishment, and to defray the interest +of an enormous debt, he must have a compensation of some kind. The +only kind of compensation which can be granted, and which the wit of +man can devise, is to be found in an equitable scale of duties, by +means of which all produce imported into Britain shall be taxed as +heavily as though it had been reared, grown, or made up on British +ground by British labourers. Unless this be done, there is no fair +competition. The less burdened foreigner must ultimately carry the +day against the heavily-taxed Englishman. And when we consider that +all taxes must be paid out of produce, there being no other source +whatever from which they can be drawn, the importance of maintaining +the market value of our produce at a point equal to the pressure of +our taxation will at once become apparent. + +There are, however, plausible, though in reality most fallacious +grounds, upon which the Protective System may be assailed. In this, +as in every other country, the first and most important branch +of industry is that which provides food for the population. To +that all others are subordinate. It is impossible to estimate the +amount of capital which has been laid out upon the soil of Britain, +first in reclaiming it from a state of nature, and, since then, +in maturing and increasing its fruitfulness. But some idea may be +formed of its magnitude from the fact that, in 1846, the annual +agricultural produce of the United Kingdom was valued, according +to the prices then current, at £250,000,000. Whatever imperial +taxation is imposed on other classes of the community is shared +equally by the agriculturists; and they are, moreover, exposed to +heavy local rates, from which the others are comparatively free. +It is a received maxim in political economy--we ought rather to +say a rule of common sense--that all taxes and charges paid by the +producer, over and above his necessary profit, fail ultimately to +be defrayed by the consumer--that is, that such taxes and charges +form a component part of the selling price of the article. There is +no specialty whatever in the case of corn or provisions to exempt +them from the general rule. But all restrictions which tend to +enhance the price of the first necessaries of life are obnoxious +to that section of the people who, from ignorance or incapacity, +cannot understand why bread should be dear in one country and +cheap in another. They, too, are subjected to their share of +indirect taxation, and the knowledge that they are so taxed in +the consumption of articles which constitute their only luxuries, +renders them doubly impatient of a system which, on the authority +of wicked and designing demagogues, they are led to believe was +invented by the landlords solely for their own benefit. Thus heavy +taxation, however engendered, must always be fraught with great +peril to the permanency of a state. The burden of such taxation +falls most heavily upon the land, and yet the agriculturist is +expected to provide food for the people as cheaply as though he were +altogether exempt from the burden. + +The reason why the exporting manufacturers, and those politicians +who entered thoroughly into their views, were so bent upon the +destruction of the Corn Laws, was twofold. In the first place, the +competition in foreign markets threatened to become so strong, owing +to the rapid development of textile industry on the Continent, that +it was necessary to lower prices. England had given machinery and +models to the Continent, and the Continent was now fighting her +with her own weapons, and at a cheaper cost, as labour abroad is +less expensive than it is here. In order to bring down the value +of labour in England, for the purpose of protracting this grand +manufacturing contest, it was necessary to lower, in some way +or other, the price of food in England, and this could only be +accomplished by free admission of foreign supplies. In short, their +object was to bring down wages. On this point we have the testimony +of Mr Muntz, M.P. for Birmingham, as early as February 1842. He +wrote as follows:--"Say what you will, the _object_ of the measure +is _to reduce wages_, and the _intention_ is to reduce them to +the Continental level. I repeat it, the Corn Laws very materially +support labour in this country.... Why, the professed object of +the repeal is to enable the English merchant to compete with the +foreigner, and how can he do that _unless by a reduction of wages_, +which reduction will be upon all trade, home and foreign?" Mr John +Bright was not less clear as to the necessity of such reduction of +wages in order to maintain our exports: "If the tariff in Russia +imposed a heavy duty on English yarn, and if English yarn went there +and had to be sold at the same rate as the yarn of the Russian +spinner, he (that is, the Russian spinner) not paying the heavy +duty, it followed that we must, _by some means or other_, make our +goods cheaper by the amount of duty which we paid, and to do that +_it was absolutely necessary that the wages of the operatives in +this country should be reduced_." And Mr Greg of Manchester, a +leading member of the Anti-Corn Law League, wrote as follows:--"In +the only remaining item of the cost of production--that is, the +wages of labour--foreign nations have a decided advantage; and +although a free trade in provisions, by lowering them here, and +raising them abroad, might regulate the difference, I doubt if it +ever could be entirely removed. Better education, more sober habits, +more frugality, and general forethought, together with cheaper food, +will no doubt enable our people to live in much greater comfort +than at present UPON CONSIDERABLY SMALLER EARNINGS." These extracts +sufficiently disclose the designs of the Free-Traders against the +wages of the workman. In the second place, it was believed by many +of them, that, by sacrificing the agriculturists, they would be +able to turn the attention of other countries, especially America, +from the prosecution of their rising manufactures. They argued, +that if we were to surrender and secure our provision market to +foreign states, they would return the compliment by allowing us +to manufacture for them--in other words, that the foreigners were +to feed England, and England was to clothe the foreigners! This +precious scheme has since been avowed, seriously and gravely, by men +who have seats in the present House of Commons; and, so far as we +can understand their language, the philosophers of the _Edinburgh +Review_ consider this a most sensible arrangement! + +The agricultural interest, however, was of too great magnitude to +be attacked at once. Several outworks were to be gained before +the citadel was summoned to surrender. Accordingly Mr Huskisson +began, and Sir Robert Peel continued, that system of commercial +relaxations, (which, some five-and-twenty years ago, was exposed +and denounced in this Magazine,) annihilating some branches of +industry and depressing others--pauperising whole districts, as in +the Highlands, and merging the villages in the towns--until the time +seemed ripe, and the opportunity propitious, for the accomplishment +of the grand design. It is not now necessary to dwell upon the +circumstances which attended the change in the Corn and Navigation +Laws--these are still fresh in the memory of all of us, and will +not soon be forgotten. Our object in this digression was simply to +remind you that Free Trade, in its insidious and stealthy progress, +has warred with other interests than those which belong to the +agricultural and the maritime classes. + +Neither is it necessary at present to advert to the gross +inconsistencies of the system--to the restrictions which it still +continues upon that very branch of industry which it has laid bare +to foreign competition. Let us take the system as it is, of which +you have had now nearly three years' experience, dating from the +time when the ports were opened. + +Three years constitute a long period for the endurance of a +commercial experiment. During that time you have had ample +opportunity of observing how the system has worked. Are you richer +or poorer than you were before the experiment began? If the former, +Free Trade has worked well; if the latter, it is a mischievous +delusion. + +This is a question which you alone can answer--or rather, every man +must answer it for himself. But this much we may be allowed to say, +that, from what information we can gather regarding the state of +general trade--from the sentiments which we have heard expressed by +many of the most respectable of your own body--the experiences of +the last year have not been such as to give you much encouragement +for the future. If it is so, then you will do well to consider +whether or not you ought to lend that great political influence +which you undoubtedly possess, in support of a system which has not +only failed to realise the anticipations of its founders, but has +actually diminished in a great degree the power of purchase of the +community. + +This is no trivial matter to any of us, least of all is it trivial +to you. The next general election will be, in its results, by far +the most important of any which has taken place for centuries. If, +in the new Parliament, all idea of a return to the Protective System +is abandoned, we may prepare ourselves for that most dismal conflict +which can convulse a country--a war against taxation, and ultimately +against property. For--rely upon this--heavy taxation and cheap +produce are things which never can be reconciled. You may, if you +please, hand over the home market of Britain to the foreigner, and +allow him, without toll or custom, to supply our wants with produce +of his own rearing; but, if you do so, what is to become of our +own population, and their labour?--and how are you to levy those +taxes which labour alone can supply? That manufacturing interest, +for which such desperate sacrifices have been made, is daily losing +ground in the markets of the world. The fact will brook no denial, +and it is admitted even by its own members. America has refused +the bait offered to her by the Free-Traders, and is engaged heart +and soul in the cotton manufacture, for which she possesses within +herself the command of the raw material. _To those countries which +supply us with corn, our exports of manufactures have alarmingly +decreased._ We may continue to glut (for that is what we are doing +at present) the markets of India and China, and our export tables +may exhibit a cheering increase in the amount of yards of calico +sent out; but, unless the trade circulars are utterly mendacious, +the speculation has been, and will continue to be for a long tract +of time, unprofitable. The fact is, that the extent and value of +our foreign trade in manufactures is little understood by most +of us, and grossly exaggerated by others. It constitutes, after +all, a mere fraction of the national production. The consumption +of manufactures at home is, or was, before the late changes were +made, twice as great as the whole amount of our annual exports. The +prosperity of this country does not depend upon the amount of wares +which it sends or forces abroad, though that is the doctrine which +is constantly clamoured in our ears by the political economists--a +generation of ridiculous pretenders, of whom it is only necessary +to know one, in order to form an accurate estimate of the mental +capabilities of his tribe. It depends on our own labour, on our +own internal arrangements, and on that reciprocity between man and +man, and between class and class of our fellow-subjects, which is +the only real security for the peace and tranquillity of a kingdom. +Those exporting manufacturers, who rummage foreign markets, are +no better than so many buccaneers. Their object is to evade the +burden of taxation at home, and, wherever they can with advantage +to themselves, to bring in foreign labour, untaxed and untolled, to +supersede that of the British workman. + +You cannot have failed to remark that the arguments which are now +put forward by the Free-Traders, in support of their system, are +totally different from those which they advanced while recommending +it for the adoption of the country. How often were we told, during +the struggle which preceded the repeal of the Corn Laws, that all +the apprehensions expressed of a permanent fall in the value of +produce, and of overwhelming importations from abroad, were purely +visionary! Learned statists undertook to prove by figures that the +whole quantity of grain which could be brought into this country was +absolutely insignificant, and that it could not disturb prices. Mr +James Wilson of the _Economist_, in his valuable tractate entitled +_Influences of the Corn Laws_, which was published eleven years ago, +thus favoured the public with _his_ anticipations for the future, in +the event of the repeal of the Corn Laws:-- + +"Our belief is," says the sage of Westbury, "that the whole of +these generally received opinions are erroneous; that if we had had +a free trade in corn since 1815, the average price of the whole +period, actually received by the British grower, would have been +higher than it has been; that little or no more foreign grain would +have been imported; and that if, for the next twenty years, the +whole protective system shall be abandoned, _the average price of +wheat will be higher than it has been for the last seven years_, +(52s. 2d.,) or than it would be in the future with a continuance of +the present system;--but with this great difference, that prices +would be nearly uniform and unaltering from year to year; that the +disastrous fluctuations would be greatly avoided, which we have +shown, in the first proposition, to be so ruinous under the present +system." + +For this very notable sentiment, Mr Wilson was clapped on the back +by the Manchester men, and commended thus in the seventh circular +of the League:--"We are much indebted to Mr Ibbotson of Sheffield, +_Mr James Wilson_, and our esteemed correspondent, for labouring to +prove to the landlords that they may safely do justice to others, +without endangering their own interests. And we think very much has +been done towards justifying their opinions, _that the money price +of grain would not be lowered even by the total repeal of the Corn +Laws_!" Sir Robert Peel, in the memorable debates of 1846, attempted +to justify his experiment on the ground that previous commercial +relaxations had been found beneficial to the parties who were +directly engaged in the trade, his inference being, that the same +result would follow in the case of the agriculturists. Unfortunately +the data upon which he proceeded were altogether fallacious; for, +notwithstanding his dexterity in selecting figures, and bringing +out balances which were apparently favourable, it was clearly +demonstrated by Lord George Bentinck, that in no one instance +whatever had those relaxations proved favourable to the British +producer, and that many of them had moreover occasioned a large +loss to the public revenue. But the language held by Sir Robert +Peel, upon that occasion, cannot be construed otherwise than as +the expression of an opinion that, by the repeal of the Corn Laws, +prices would not be materially disturbed--at all events, that they +would not be lowered so as to fall below the remunerative point. + +The immense influx of foreign grain which followed the opening +of the ports in 1849, and the immediate fall of price, were +calculated to alarm not only the farmers, but even that section of +the Free-Traders who believed conscientiously that the productive +powers of Europe and America were unequal to the supply of so very +considerable a surplus. It is no wonder that the farmers were +frightened, when they saw grain coming in at the rate of a million +of quarters per month! They were, however, told by the highest +Free-trading authorities in both Houses of Parliament, and the same +view was violently maintained by the Liberal press, that their +fears were altogether groundless; that such importations could not +possibly be maintained; and that the first inundation was simply +caused by an accumulation of corn at the foreign ports, stored up +in readiness for the opening of the English market--a contingency +which could not happen again. The utmost pains were taken, by those +who had consented to the repeal of the Corn Laws, to persuade the +farmers that the low prices of 1849 were attributable principally to +the superabundance of the harvest at home; and they were exhorted +to wait patiently, but hopefully, for the advent of better times. +In short, every means were taken to persuade the agriculturists +that they were labouring under a temporary but not a permanent +difficulty, and that a very short time would suffice to restore them +to their former condition. But no one attempted to maintain, in +1849, that, if wheat continued to sell at or about 40s. per quarter, +its cultivation could be profitable in Britain; and when, at a later +period, one or two rash theorists attempted to broach that doctrine, +they were instantly put to silence by the overwhelming nature of the +proof which was brought against them--not the least instructive part +of it being the admissions of the leading Free-Traders as to what +really was, on an average of years, the remunerative price of wheat +to the British grower. + +It is now clearly established, that, under Free Trade, 40s. per +quarter is a price which the British farmer cannot calculate on +receiving. The averages of England are now about 36s. per quarter, +being 20s. lower than the sum which Sir Robert Peel considered as +the lowest which could remunerate the grower. Therefore, taking +the average yield of good wheat-land at four quarters per acre, +it appears that, by continuing to grow that kind of grain which +is convertible into ordinary bread, the farmer must be a positive +loser to the extent of _four pounds per acre_! In other words, +even suppose no rent at all were taken for the land, wheat cannot +continue to be grown at a profit in Great Britain, so long as +the averages remain below 40s.; and we leave a large margin to +the credit of improved husbandry and strict economy, exercised, +as it must be, at the expense of the labourer's wages. That such +is the present condition of the British farmers--a hopeless one, +unless a legislative remedy is applied--will brook no denial. Last +year we were told of farms letting at an increase of rent, and of +other symptoms of agricultural prosperity, whereof nothing now is +heard. The fact of the depression--if we may use so mild a term in +respect to a branch of industry which is now merely existing upon +capital, not by income--is beyond all possibility of doubt or cavil. +The causes of it are obvious; and it now only remains to be seen +whether we can afford to allow agriculture to be extinguished from +among us, or at best raised to that point which will afford a bare +subsistence to the grower, without the risk of involving the rest of +us in a like calamity. + +You may have heard it said--for it has been often written--that it +signifies little to the people of this country from what source they +receive their bread. It is worth your while to examine into this. +That a loaf baked of American flour, grown in the valley of the +Mississippi, may taste quite as well in the mouth of the consumer as +a loaf of English material is a circumstance which we can readily +believe; but is this all that is to be considered? Does the American +bear any part of our national taxation? Does he contribute, directly +or indirectly, to the burdens which are common to the British +producer? Does he deal with any of you, and can you call him a +customer? These are the questions which you ought to ask yourselves, +in making up your minds on this matter; and if you will only examine +the subject patiently and dispassionately, your own common sense +will lead you to a just conclusion. Let us suppose that all the food +which you purchase and consume was grown on a foreign soil, and +admitted free of duty. You might then have cheap bread, but, as a +necessary consequence, you would lose more than half your customers. +Unless people have money they cannot buy; and if agricultural +production were to be abandoned in the British islands, all those +who derive their incomes--not only directly, but indirectly--from +the soil, would necessarily be stripped of their means. Are you +aware of the fact that, on a minute analysis of the census of +1841, it appeared that the relative numbers of the population of +Great Britain and Ireland, supported and maintained by the two +great sources of production, agriculture and manufactures, were as +18,734,468, dependent on the first, to 8,091,621, dependent on the +second? Do you believe that the country can remain prosperous, if +you strike a deathblow at the produce which maintains more than +two-thirds of its inhabitants? + +Let us go a little farther, and suppose--what may hereafter be the +case--that other countries could undersell us in the home market in +the article of manufactures--that America, France, or Germany could +send us cotton and woollen stuffs, and other ware, cheaper than we +could make them at home. In that case, where would be the sources +of our income? All industry would be prostrated--for you know very +well that a losing trade will not and cannot be carried on long, and +that the time will soon arrive when, through the failure of capital, +it must be abandoned. In such an event, what would become of our +population, with their labour entirely destroyed? How could the +taxes be levied, and the expenses of government paid, to say nothing +of the interest of the National Debt? Great cheapness you would +have, no doubt, but nobody would be able to buy. + +If cheapness is a blessing in food, it is a blessing in clothing +and in everything else. The rule admits of no exception. It is as +advantageous for any of us to save a pound on the price of his coat +as a penny on the price of his loaf. Bread is, no doubt, the most +important article of the workingman's consumption, but at the same +time it is no less a fact that the raising of food is the most +important part of the production of the labouring-classes. Without +home labour, all capital in this country would be annihilated, or +at least would depart from it. Labour depends entirely upon wages, +and wages upon the market price of the article produced. If from +the introduction of foreign labour, in the shape of products, the +price of any article is forced down below the cost of production, +then wages begin to fall, and in the end production is extinguished. +Why is it that foreign countries have imposed heavy duties upon +our exported articles of manufacture? Simply for this object--that +their own manufacturers, who give employment to large numbers of +their population, may not be undersold by ours, nor those means of +employment annihilated. In acting thus, these governments perform a +paternal duty to the people--shielding them against the competition +of an older manufacturing power, and preparing them hereafter, when +skill and capital are acquired, to enter neutral markets, with a +fair chance of ultimately overcoming the other. + +It stands to reason that, with an equal degree of energy on the part +of its inhabitants, the country which is the least heavily burdened +must distance others in all branches of industry, where nature does +not oppose a barrier, or place it at a disadvantage. The mineral +wealth of England, and our priority in manufacturing invention, gave +us for a long time an advantage over all other nations. America +was not advanced enough to enter into the lists of manufacturing +competition; the distracted state of the Continent, and the +perpetual presence or apprehension of war, effectually prevented the +European states from attempting to rival Britain. But since that +time vast changes have taken place. The mineral resources of other +countries have been developed. Some idea of the manufacturing power +which America now possesses may be formed from the enormous increase +of her domestic production of iron and coal. In 1829, the amount of +iron manufactured in the United States was 90,000 tons; in 1848, +it had risen to 800,000 tons. The coal raised in 1829 was 37,000 +tons; in 1849 it was 3,200,000 tons. In the article of cotton, which +is our great manufacturing staple, America has the inestimable +advantage of growing the raw material--an advantage which never +can be counterbalanced, as, even if we were to obtain our supplies +from some other quarter, the expenses of freightage must still +continue to be great. In fact, to all appearance, our supremacy in +the conversion of cotton is already doomed. That branch of industry +rests upon no substantial basis. It rose like an exhalation, and so +it will disappear. These are not merely our opinions, but those of +the most shrewd and calculating of the Free-Traders. Hear Mr Greg +of Manchester on this subject, previous to the repeal of the Corn +Laws:-- + + "At present we are undersold by foreigners in neutral markets in + all the staple articles of English manufacture. In the articles + of cotton, hosiery, and cutlery, which amount altogether to + three-fourths of our exports, this is notoriously the case. In + cotton fabrics the Swiss undersell us in several markets. In + cutlery Sheffeld is immensely undersold by the Alsace, and our + exports are yearly decreasing. In hosiery, the case is still + worse. Saxon hosiery, after paying a duty of 20 per cent, is + sold in London 25 to 30 per cent cheaper than the produce of + the Leicester and Nottingham looms. In Leicester the stocking + frames have diminished from 16,000 in 1815 to 14,000 in 1840; + whilst in Saxony, in the same time, they have increased from + 4590 to 25,000. The English manufacturer pays 2s. 6d. for the + same work that the French manufacturer gets done for 2½d. The + American cutlery market (the most important of all) has been + wrested from us, and our exports of that article to all the + world have fallen from £1,620,000 in 1831 to £1,325,000 in 1841. + _How far with cheaper food, no taxes on the raw material, and + no duties but for the sake of revenue, we might yet recover our + lost superiority, is a matter for grave consideration._ I do not + believe we could either in woollens or hosiery; and even in the + cutlery or cotton trade I think it very doubtful. Now, under a + free commercial system, the raw material would be nearly the + same in all countries, and the advantage, where there was one, + would be generally on the side of foreigners. France and Italy + would have an advantage in silk, and America in cotton; the + current expenses would also be nearly equal. The machinery of + foreign nations even now is not very inferior to our own, and is + daily and rapidly improving; their capital is fast accumulating, + and the yearly interest of it approximating to our own rate." + +Here, you see, is a confession of opinion by a leading Free-Trader, +that even the cheapening of food, by which he means the reduction of +the wages of labour, will not suffice ultimately to secure us the +supremacy of the foreign markets. He is perfectly right. In this +insane, and we believe almost entirely unprofitable competition with +the rest of the world, we must infallibly be overcome. No cheapness +of food can countervail the pressure of our heavy taxation. The +cotton-lords, if they could, would fain bring down the price of +labour to the Continental level, which doubtless would enable them, +for a long time, to prolong the contest; but this they cannot do, if +our national engagements are to be fulfilled, and our most valuable +institutions maintained. So long as the revenue duties exist, +labour cannot be forced down to that point. But, in the mean time, +agriculture may be ruined, and the home trade, by which alone you +subsist, be palsied. In fact, the present struggle lies between +the home trade and the foreign trade. One or other of these must +ultimately succumb. The effect of our present commercial system is +to paralyse the home trade, by decreasing the value of all kinds of +domestic produce; by lowering all incomes, and consequently reducing +the amount of the internal business of the country. It has enabled +our manufacturers, for the time, to make a show of larger exports +than before; but it has not, according to their own acknowledgement, +at all enhanced their profits. It may have enabled them to lower +their prices, but it has not increased their returns. + +And no wonder that it should be so. Except in the most miserable and +unimportant quarters, our relaxations have been met by augmented +tariffs instead of eager reciprocity. The nations of the world have +refused to sacrifice their advantages, to renounce their prospects, +and to become Free-Traders at the call of Britain. Their statesmen +thoroughly understood the motive of the ingenuous offer: they were +not to be cozened even by the plausibility of Sir Robert Peel. It +is almost melancholy now, when we remember what has actually taken +place, to revert to the peroration of that statesman's speech +delivered on 16th February 1846. A more lamentable instance of +delusion, as to the true feeling and position of other countries, +was never perhaps exhibited. Mark his words:-- + + "Many countries are watching with anxiety the selection you may + make. Determine for 'Advance,' and it will be the watchword + which will animate and encourage in every state the friends + of liberal commercial policy. Sardinia has taken the lead. + Naples is relaxing her protective duties, and favouring British + produce. Prussia is shaken in her adherence to restriction. + The government of France will be strengthened; and, backed by + the intelligence of the reflecting, and by conviction of the + real welfare of the great body of the community, will perhaps + ultimately prevail over the self-interest of the commercial + and manufacturing aristocracy which now predominates in her + Chambers. Can you doubt that the United States will soon + relax her hostile tariff, and that the friends of a freer + commercial intercourse--the friends of peace between the two + countries--will hail with satisfaction the example of England?" + +How strangely did this remarkable man, whose career in all time +coming will be a warning to the aspiring statesman, misunderstand +the true nature of his country's position! In order to tempt +reciprocity he opened the British ports--that is, he conceded +gratuitously the only condition by which we ever could have hoped to +insure it! At the expense of the British agriculturist he opened the +British market to the foreigner, in the expectation, as he expressly +declared, that the boon would be repaid by measures which would +prevent the rise of manufactures abroad, and restrain other nations +from employing capital profitably, from entering into rivalry with +Britain, and from using those natural advantages which were ready +to their hand; and which, if used, could not fail to add to their +wealth, and to furnish employment for millions of their increasing +population! Most egregious was the blunder, and terrible is the +penalty which we are certain to pay for it, if we do not retrace our +steps. + +It is always useful to know what intelligent men of other countries +think of our system. They survey and examine it without those +prejudices which are apt to beset all of us, and are better able +than ourselves to determine with what degree of favour it will be +received, or is received, by those who are removed beyond the scope +of our immediate observation. Certainly, of all others, from their +affinity to ourselves, and their proverbially shrewd acuteness in +all matters of commercial detail, the Americans are most likely to +form an accurate estimate both of our position and our prospects +in regard to foreign trade. It is well worth our while to read and +consider the following opinion of Mr Carey, the most distinguished +Transatlantic writer on points of political economy. It occurs in +his work entitled _The Harmony of Interests_, published in America +so late as December 1849. + + "Men are everywhere flying from British commerce, which + everywhere pursues them. Having exhausted the people of the + lower lands of India, it follows them as they retreat towards + the fastnesses of the Himalaya. Affghanistan is attempted, while + Scinde and the Punjaub are subjugated. Siamese provinces are + added to the empire of Free Trade, and war and desolation are + carried into China, in order that the Chinese may be compelled + to pay for the use of ships, instead of making looms. The + Irishman flies to Canada; but there the system follows him, and + he feels himself insecure until within the Union. The Englishman + and the Scotchman try Southern Africa, and thence they fly + to the more distant New Holland, Van Diemen's Land, or New + Zealand. The farther they fly, the more they use ships and other + perishable machinery, the less steadily can their efforts be + applied, the less must be the power of production, and the fewer + must be the equivalents to be exchanged; and yet in the growth + of ships caused by such circumstances, we are told to look for + evidence of prosperous commerce! + + "_The British system is built upon cheap labour, by which is + meant low-priced and worthless labour._ Its effect is to cause + it to become from day to day more low-priced and worthless; and + thus _to destroy production upon which commerce must be based_. + The object of protection is to produce dear labour--that is, + high-priced and valuable labour, and its effect is to cause + it to increase in value from day to day, and to increase the + equivalents to be exchanged, to the great increase of commerce. + + "The object of what is now called Free Trade, is that of + securing to the people of England the further existence of _the + monopoly of machinery_, by aid of which Ireland and India have + been ruined, and commerce prostrated. Protection seeks _to break + down this monopoly_, and to cause the loom and the anvil to take + their natural places by the side of the food and the cotton, + that production may be increased, and that commerce may revive." + +In short, the harmony of interests is regarded in America as the +grand point of aim for the statesman. With us, our most important +home interests, on which depend the welfare of by far the greater +part of our population, are sacrificed to prolong a struggle in +which our exporting manufacturers cannot possibly be the victors, +and from which, even at present, they derive little or no profit. + +Now, let us ask you to consider for one moment, what is the natural +effect, upon the whole of us, of a forcible diminution of prices, +and depreciation of produce. Here we shall borrow an illustration +and argument from our adversaries, referring to a point which +is in the recollection of all of you, and about which there can +be no possible mistake. You will recollect that the Liberal and +Free-trading journals, almost without exception, as well as most of +the defenders of the Peel policy in the House of Commons, attributed +much of that general depression and stagnation of trade which +followed the repeal of the Corn Laws to the losses sustained by +the failure of the potato-crop in 1845-6. Was there a general want +of confidence visible--were the shopkeepers scant of custom--was +there a less demand than usual within the country for home +manufactures--was there a decline in the price of iron--all was laid +at the door of the unfortunate potato. Since Cobbett uttered his +anathema against the root, it never was in such bad odour. To every +complaint, remonstrance, or lamentation, the reply was ready--"How +can we remedy a calamity of this kind? The potato has done it all!" +At that time it was very convenient, nay, absolutely necessary, +for the Free-Traders to discover some tangible cause for the gross +failure of their predictions. They looked about them in every +direction, and they could discover nothing except the potato which +could endure the blame. Now, although we believe that this esculent +has been unduly reviled, and made to bear a greater burden than +was its due for political misfortune, we nevertheless accept the +illustration at the hands of our opponents, and we beg you to mark +its significance. The loss of the potato-crop in Great Britain and +Ireland, during the year in question, has been variously estimated, +but if we assume it to have been £20,000,000 we are making a very +large calculation indeed. So then, _according to the Free-Traders, +the loss of twenty millions of agricultural produce_ was sufficient +to bring down profits, embarrass trade, and cause a stagnation in +home manufactures! And yet, when Mr Villiers came forward in the +beginning of 1850, and told you, in his capacity of proposer of +the Address to the Crown, that £91,000,000 were _annually_ taken +from the value of the agricultural produce of the country, you +were expected, and directed, to clap your hands with joy, and to +congratulate one another on this symptom of the national prosperity! + +The sum of twenty millions lost by the failure of the potato-crop--a +single event, not one of annual occurrence--was taken from the +country's power of produce; and _therefore_, said the Free-Traders, +there was stagnation. But they, of course, could not help it. Of +course they could not; but what about the ninety-one millions +of _annual_ loss, which is equally deducted from the internal +expenditure of the country? About _that_ we do not hear a word. And +yet ask yourselves, and that most seriously--for it is time that we +should get rid of all such pitiful paltering--whether there is any +difference whatever between the two cases, except that the one was +an isolated casualty, and that the other is an annual infliction to +which we are subjected by statute? Weigh the matter as you will, +you cannot, we are satisfied, be able to detect any difference. If +the grower of grain at present prices has no remuneration for his +toil, or return for his capital, he cannot buy from you, any more +than could the farmer whose crop perished by the potato disease. +What caused the stagnation? The failure of the power to purchase, +because there was no return for produce. What causes the stagnation? +Precisely the same thing perpetrated by Act of Parliament. + +Do not, we beseech you, allow yourselves to be fooled any longer +by the jesuitry of these political economists, but apply your own +reason to discover the cause of the present depression. Do not +believe them when they talk about exceptional causes, affecting +temporarily the industry of the nation, but certain immediately to +disappear. If you were to live as long as Methusaleh, no one year +would elapse without furnishing those gentlemen with a special and +exceptional cause. One year it is the potato disease; another the +French Revolution; another the Great Exhibition. Heaven only knows +what will be their excuse next year--perhaps the new Reform Bill, or +some other similar godsend. You are the particular class upon whom +the deception is to be played, and for whose especial benefit the +fraud is concocted. The producers know very well how they stand, +and what they have to expect. They can be no longer cajoled by +assurances of higher prices, by vague promises of profit after the +disappearance of "the transition state," or by impudent averments +that, by an entire change of system and the expenditure of more +capital, they will be able to maintain themselves in affluence. To +do the Free-Traders justice, they have for some time desisted from +such attempts. They now address their victims, through their organs, +in a fine tone of desperado indifference, telling them that, if they +do not like the present arrangement, the sooner they go elsewhere +the better. And the people are taking them at their word and going. +Hundreds of thousands of tax-payers are leaving the country as fast +as possible, carrying with them the fragments of their property, +and bequeathing to those who remain behind their share of the +national burdens. But in your case, the Free-Traders cannot yet +afford to pull off the mask. They are apprehensive that you should +see them in their real character; and therefore, so long as you are +likely to be amused with "specialties" and "exceptional causes," +these will be furnished to you gratis, and in great variety. There +seems, however, to be an apprehension among their camp that you are +beginning to evince suspicion. Recent elections have not been quite +as they should be; and in the seaport and large commercial towns +there are evident symptoms of mutiny. So, by way of diverting your +attention, you are likely to have a measure of Reform next year, +possibly as satisfactory in its result as the Ecclesiastical Titles +Bill, upon which Ministers cleverly managed to concentrate the whole +public attention throughout last session, and then, having carried +it, allowed its provisions to become a dead letter, almost before +the ink, which made the measure complete, was dry! We say this, not +as opponents of an extension of the suffrage--for on that point we +reserve our opinion until the details are fully before us--but as +enemies and loathers of a miserable system of chicane and deception +which has now crept into the public counsels, and which threatens +very speedily to destroy the independence of public opinion, by +opposing state obstacles to its free and legitimate expression. We +ask any of you, fearlessly, to look back at the records of last +session, and then say whether the country was not degraded and +stultified by the act of the Prime Minister? Right or wrong, at his +invitation and call, the Protestants of Great Britain demanded a +security against what they considered an intolerable instance of +Romish insolence and aggression. They received it from Parliament; +and the moment it passed into the hands of the executive power, it +became as worthless as the paper upon which it was written! And why +was this? Simply because the object was gained--you had been amused +for a whole session. If nothing was intended to be done in the way +of repelling aggression, and if Ministers durst have told you so +a year ago, there were many points affecting your more immediate +interests which would have been forced upon their attention. But +they were very glad to escape from such discussions under cover of a +Protestantism which they did not feel, and an affected indignation +of Papal claims, which they had done everything in their power, by +diplomatic agency, to encourage; and, having escaped the perils of +one session upon that ground, they will strain every effort to turn +your attention from your own position, during the next, by bringing +forward some measure which they hope may enlist your sympathies, +or provoke controversy, so far as to render you indifferent to the +real nature of your position. The selection of the battlefield is +the oldest trick in strategy. Get up the appearance of a battle, +and people will flock from any distance to witness it, regardless +of their own interest. Lord John Russell is famous for bloodless +fields, which resolve themselves into reviews--shall we have another +such in the course of the approaching session? + +That manufactures are now exceedingly depressed, and have been so +for a long time, notwithstanding the reduction in the price of food +consequent upon foreign importations, is an admitted and notorious +fact. We have from time to time kept this before the public view by +quoting from the trade circulars; and though further evidence may +be unnecessary, we shall subjoin extracts from the last accounts +received from three seats of industry, two of which are represented +in Parliament by Colonel Peyronnet Thompson and Mr Feargus O'Connor. +Gloomy as they are, they are by no means the worst which we have had +occasion to cite during the last two years. + + "BRADFORD, _November 6_.--The market here does not show any + symptom of improvement in the demand for any kind of combing + wools. All seem in wonder and anxiety as to what may be next + expected, for to buy none are willing, whether with stock or + without. The staplers appeared to expect that the spirited + buying of colonial wools would give a tone of confidence, but + that appears to have no effect. The spinners pause when they + contrast the comparative high prices of English wool, especially + those of the finer class, with what they were in 1848, when + yarns were at the present prices, and will not buy with the + certainty of making so great a loss as a purchase would entail. + The supply of Noils and Brokes was never so limited as at + present, and the small quantity making brings full prices. The + business doing in yarns is certainly small, and the transactions + confined to immediate delivery. No one seems inclined to enter + into engagements for distant delivery. For to go on at the + present prices of yarns is worse than madness, the price for + low numbers of good spinning and standing having reached 8s. + per gross, and those of a secondary class sold, if reeled, for + what may be the instructions to the commission houses, who have + needy parties pressing sales. The quantity so offering is not so + great, but the sacrifices which have now for so long been made + render the position of the trade exceedingly embarrassing. _The + production continues to be daily curtailed, and from the whole + district the same cheerless tidings are received. Some large + houses, who have never reduced their operations before, have + adopted it, their loss being so immense, and the whole condition + of the trade so thoroughly disjointed._ In pieces the business + during the week has not shown any feature of increased activity, + and the stocks in the manufacturers' hands are somewhat + increasing, but not so fast as last year at this period, and + especially in Coburgs and fancy goods: the former are chiefly + made in this district, and not in Lancashire, for the ruinous + price has driven them on to other classes of goods adaptable + to their looms; and for some months several large houses have + been engaged in making Bareges for the American market. This has + prevented mousselines-de-laine being made to stock, and, perhaps + for many years, this branch of the trade has not opened with so + small a stock on hand. + + "NOTTINGHAM, _November 6_.--In lace we have no improvement + to notice this week in the general sale of goods, and, with + very few exceptions, there is a great falling off in demand; + but, as many of the manufacturers are wisely lessening their + production, we do not anticipate any serious losses resulting + from the present temporary stagnation. Many are stopping their + frames to make fresh designs altogether; which, if done with + good taste, some advantage may result from present difficulties. + In hosiery our trade is not so much depressed as we had reason + to anticipate. There is still a fair business doing in wrought + hose, and a little increased demand for 'cut-ups,' as well as + gloves made of thread and spun silk. The price of yarn is low, + which is in favour both of the manufacturer and merchant. + + "LEICESTER, _November 6_.--The unsettled state of the price of + workmanship for straight-down hose has caused a great depression + in that branch, and led to nearly a total cessation of work, + many hosiers declining to give out until prices are settled. In + wrought hose a better business is doing, though not so good as + usual at this season. Yarns continue dull of sale." + +Now, why do we insist upon these things? For two reasons. In +the first place, we wish you to observe that the cheapness of +manufacturing products does not of itself induce consumption. +There must be buyers as well as sellers in order to constitute +a market, and the tendency of our late legislation has been to +diminish the means of the former. It by no means follows that, if +we have cheap food and cheap manufactures, the relative position +of all classes can be maintained. Never forget _that our burdens +all the while remain at a fixed money rate_, and that, as the value +of produce is lowered, the weight of those burdens is aggravated. +This consideration, which is now well understood, is beginning to +tell strongly against the doctrines of the Free-Traders, even with +some of those, who were once their ardent supporters. Mr James +Harvey of Liverpool, late a member of the Anti-Corn-Law League, +but now a strenuous opponent of their system, thus chronicles the +leading cause of his conversion. We quote from his pamphlet just +published, _Remunerative Price the Desideratum, not Cheapness_. He +says:--"My suspicions were first awakened by the blind devotion +of the Manchester school of political economy to the doctrine of +CHEAPNESS; for it struck me as a self-evident proposition, that to +buy cheap is to sell cheap, in which case there can be no possible +gain, but a positive loss, arising from the necessary aggravation of +all fixed charges." In order to place the producers of this country +in the same position as before, it would be necessary to reduce all +fixed charges, the interest of debt both public and private, the +expenses of government, and all salaries and annuities, to an amount +corresponding to the forced decline of prices. This would be called +a war against property; but, in reality, the war against property +began when the Legislature admitted foreign untaxed produce to +compete with the produce and labour of our tax-paying population at +home. + +Our second reason for drawing your attention to the cheerless +prospect of manufactures, has reference to the sacrifices, not +only indirect but direct, which the other classes of the community +were called upon to make in order to prop them up. In the first +place, the Property and Income Tax, which we are still called upon +to pay, was imposed by Sir Robert Peel expressly for the object of +effecting "such an improvement in the _manufacturing interests_ as +will react on every other interest in the country." He admitted +that it was an unjust and partial impost, and therefore promised +that it should be only temporary--however, we have endured it for +ten years, and the Whigs will no doubt make an effort to continue +it still longer. Here, then, you have a sum of five millions and a +half annually confiscated for the benefit of the manufacturers, who +were relieved from taxation to that amount. So far for sacrifice the +first. Then came sacrifice the second, in the shape of Free Trade, +mulcting the productive classes of this country to the extent of at +least five-and-thirty per cent of their annual returns. Then came +sacrifice the third, which handed over the carrying trade to the +foreigner. + +Now, considering that all these sacrifices have been made for the +encouragement of manufactures, or at least with that professed +object, is it not, to say the least of it, extraordinary that +they have not thriven? How are we to account for a result so +wholly contrary to the avowed anticipations of our statesmen? The +explanation is, after all, not very difficult. All these sacrifices +have been made, not for the great body of the manufacturers, but for +a mere section of them. We possess no authentic official information +as to the amount of manufactures consumed at home; but we have +records, more or less trustworthy, of the amount of our exports, +and these are used to mislead the minds of the multitude as to the +actual extent and relative importance of our trade. England has no +more title than France has to the character of the workshop of the +world. We are driven from the markets of civilised countries by the +protective duties imposed by their governments for the righteous and +prudent purpose of fostering native industry, and we are compelled +to seek our marts among people who are not yet so far advanced in +political economy as to detect the enormous discrepancy between our +principles and our practice. Listen to Mr Harvey's sketch of our +foreign trade:-- + + "From the theories and systems I turned my attention to passing + events and recorded facts: I saw the West Indies prostrated; + Canada thrown into a state of revolt, succeeded by a smothered + feeling of discontent; Ireland depopulated; the magnificent + resources of India undeveloped; and the British farmer + reduced to the dire necessity of paying rent out of capital. + I also perceived that the change in our commercial policy had + substituted a cosmopolitan cant in the place of patriotism and + nationality. To become the friend of every country but his own + had become the pride and the glory of statesmanship. Foreign + goods were admitted, duty free, into our ports, in the vain hope + of reciprocity being established; but our manufactures were + subjected to heavy imposts on the Continent of Europe, and in + the United States. China, unversed in the mysteries of political + economy, only levies five per cent upon our goods, whilst, + in direct contravention of our pet notions of Free Trade and + reciprocity, we impose a tax of 300 per cent upon her teas. OUR + HOPES HAVE BEEN DISAPPOINTED, OUR CALCULATIONS FALSIFIED. WE ARE + THE DUPES OF OUR OWN FANTASTIC IDEAS AND QUIXOTIC CONCESSIONS. + We are the laughing-stock of the Old and the New Worlds. The + Germanic Zollverein shuns our overtures; the American excludes + our ships from his seaboard." + +Can these things be controverted? We defy the ingenuity of mankind +to do it. + +So much for the foreign trade; but there still remains the home +trade, in which by far the largest portion of our manufacturing +capital is embarked, and which furnishes a much greater amount of +employment to British labour than the other. You see what is the +state of that trade, notwithstanding the savings which may have been +effected by the lowered price of food, and also notwithstanding that +partial protection which several branches of it are still allowed +to retain. One word as to that incidental point. Mr Cobden is +reported to have said, that he did not care how soon these remnants +of protection were abolished. Let him be as good as his word, and, +IF HE DARES, rise up in his place in the House of Commons, and +make a motion to that effect. We shall then have an opportunity of +testing the exact nature of his principles. To what cause can such +a depression as this, so long and continuous, be attributed, except +to a general curtailment of demand on the part of the consumers, +arising from the insufficiency of their means to make purchases as +before? You are probably aware that what is called strict economy +in families is not favourable to the interests of manufacture or +of trade. Of manufactures of all kinds there must be a certain +yearly consumption, based upon the necessities of the people. +Besides food, men require clothes to cover them, and houses in which +to dwell, and those houses must be more or less furnished. But +between the bare supply of such necessities, and that point which +is considered by persons, according to their tastes, education, or +habits, as constituting comfort, there is a wide interval. Nothing +is a more sure criterion of the wealth and income of a people than +the ordering of their homes, and the manner of their living; and the +traveller who passes from one country into another can at once form +an estimate, from such appearances, of their respective wealth or +poverty. Diminish income, and a reduction is immediately made. All +superfluities are lopped off and renounced. The broker, who deals +in second-hand articles, drives a larger business than the man who +is the vendor of new ones; and even in domestic labour there is a +large economy practised, by reducing establishments. That this must +be so, will be evident on the slightest reflection. Reduce a man's +income from £1000 to £800 or £600, and he will, if he has any wisdom +or prudence, cut down his expenses to meet the fall. It is upon +the home manufacturer in the first place, and upon the shopkeeper +secondly, that these reductions tell. The one finds that his amount +of production is much greater than the demand; the other does not +turn over his capital nearly so rapidly as before. Add to this +that the home manufacturer, in many branches, is exposed to strong +foreign competition. Sir Robert Peel, in his last alterations of +the tariff, did indeed continue Protection--more largely than is +generally understood, for the mere amount of revenue-duty drawn from +importations of foreign articles, adapted to compete with ours in +the home, is no criterion of the Protective value--to some branches +of industry; but others were exposed without shelter, and have since +suffered accordingly. It is undeniable that a very large amount of +foreign manufactures, which have paid no duty at all, or merely an +elusory one, are consumed within this country--thereby inflicting +extreme injury upon British labour, and depressing trades which, +though severally not important, give in the aggregate, or ought to +give, the means of employment to thousands. Regard the subject in +any light you will, this cheapness, of which we have heard so much, +just amounts to a diminution of the income of every class, except +the annuitants and fund-holders, while it consequently renders the +payment of the fixed burdens more grievous to every one of us. + +You, gentlemen, to whom we have ventured to submit these remarks, +have a very great deal in your power. You can, by your decision, +either confirm the present policy, or cause it to be reversed; and +your own experience will suffice to show you in what manner the +system has worked. Statists may parade their figures, economists may +puff their plans, statesmen may indulge in high-coloured pictures +of the success which they expect to follow their measures--but the +true test of every measure which has a practical tendency will be +found in the effect which it produces upon the circumstances of the +people, and especially upon those of the middle classes. We, who +have, from the very first, anticipated the baneful effects of this +attack upon British industry--we, who have no more connection than +any of yourselves with territorial aristocracy, and who consider +the welfare of the people as the grand object which it is the duty +of the Government to promote--ask you to apply your own reason to +the facts which are before you and in your reach, and to decide and +act accordingly. It was, we knew from the very beginning of this +struggle, impossible that you could decide until the effects of the +Free-Trade experiment became visible and palpable among yourselves. +We foresaw that it was only through the suffering and impoverishment +of the producers that the practical lesson could reach you, and +that, until this took place, it was of little use to invoke your +aid, or even to entreat your judgment. Probably, by this time, you +will have formed an accurate estimate of the value of the doctrines +promulgated by the babblers on political economy--a sect which has +never yet been allowed to interfere with the internal affairs of +any nation, without producing the most disastrous results. To them +we are indebted for that change of the currency which has added +fully one-third to our fixed burdens, and for those complex monetary +arrangements which insure periodically the return of a commercial +crisis. But whatever you may think of them, do not allow yourselves +to be influenced by their representations, or by those of their +accredited organs. The time for theory is over. You have now to deal +with facts, regarding which every man of you is competent to form +an opinion. We do not ask you to accept our statements implicitly, +any more than those of our opponents--though, if we did so, we might +hold ourselves justified on this ground, that the greater part of +our evidence is taken from the admissions of our adversaries. We +appeal to your own experience, and upon that we leave you to decide. + +And do not be afraid to give free utterance to your opinion. There +exists not in this land--there exists not in all the world, the +power which can rise up against you. The British producer on the +one hand, and the exporting manufacturer on the other, may have +conflicting interests not altogether reconcilable with the public +good, for isolated interest always begets selfishness; and where +individual or class profit is concerned, principle is apt to be +overlooked. But you are, eminently, THE CLASS to pronounce upon +conflicting opinions. Your interest is that of the nation whose +pulse is beneath your finger. You can tell, with greater accuracy +than others, whether any political prescription has stimulated +the circulation of the blood, or caused it to run torpidly in the +national veins. You can mark the changes in the circumstances of +your customers, and from these you can form an estimate whether or +not the late experiment has been successful. + +If, judging by that test, you should think it has been successful, +our case is lost. We, who have advocated the Protective Principle in +legislation, cannot continue to maintain it, if those whose incomes +depend mainly upon British custom find themselves advantaged by +measures which have reduced the value of British produce. In matters +of this kind there is no abstract dogma involved, on the strength +of which any man could make himself a creditable martyr. Men have +died for their faith or for their allegiance, believing either to be +their highest duty; but no one in his senses will spend a lifetime, +or any considerable portion of it, in combating absolute facts. The +reason why Protection is still a living principle--the reason why it +finds so many supporters among the learned and the thoughtful--the +reason why it is progressing step by step towards triumph--is +because, in the minds of those who advocate it, there is a strong +and deep-rooted conviction that you already know that the opposite +system has entirely failed to realise the predictions of its +advocates, and that you feel that its permanency is contrary to your +interest, and to that of the great body of the people. If we are +right in this conviction, then we are entitled not only to solicit, +but to demand, your earnest co-operation. These are not times +for political cowardice, or weak suppression of opinion. Liberty +of thought, and liberty of the expression of sentiment, are our +unalienable prerogative; but of late years, and in the hands of a +certain party, that prerogative has been scandalously overstretched. +We now hear men--even members of the Legislature--threatening the +country, and you, with hints of insurrection, in case you exercise +your undoubted right of pronouncing a free and unbiassed judgment +upon any point of commercial policy. Let the caitiffs bluster! They +know, from the bottom of their ignoble souls--for none save an +ignoble soul would have dared to conceive that such threats would +intimidate any man of British birth or blood--that their menace is +as meaningless and vain as their miserable motives are apparent. +Let them bluster! They, the advocates of lowered wages--they, the +combatants for lengthened labour--they, the crushers of the infants, +have no large margin of operative sympathy upon which they can +afford to trade. Had John Fielden been alive, he could have told +you what these men were, and what sympathy they were likely to +command. Well do the workmen know with whom they have to deal! + +Let us not be misunderstood. We never have underrated the difficulty +of a change such as we contemplate; but no difficulty attending +that, is for a moment to be put into the balance against the general +welfare of the country, if, on reflection, and on considering your +own position, you shall be of opinion that the interests of the +country demand that change. But, at any hazard, we cannot afford to +go down-hill. To bring us, as the Manchester men contemplate, to +the Continental level in point of wages as well as expenditure, is +to seal the ruin of the British empire, burdened as it is; or, in +the least dangerous view, to necessitate repudiation. That matter +is, as we have said before, for you to decide; and the period for +your decision is rapidly drawing near. On the next general election +depends the fate of the country, and--without saying one syllable +more upon the merits of the systems at issue--the decision or +inclination of your body will form the most important, because it +must be considered, as between conflicting interests, the most +impartial element, of the expression of British opinion. + + + + +THE JEW'S LEGACY. + +A TALE OF THE SIEGE OF GIBRALTAR. + + +CHAPTER I. + +The note-book of my grandfather, Major Flinders, contains much +matter relative to the famous siege of Gibraltar, and he seems to +have kept an accurate and minute journal of such of its incidents +as came under his own observation. Indeed, I suspect the historian +Drinkwater must have had access to it, as I frequently find the same +notabilia chronicled in pretty much the same terms by both these +learned Thebans. But while Drinkwater confines himself mostly to +professional matters--the state of the fortifications, nature of the +enemy's fire, casualties to the soldiery, and the like--and seldom +introduces an anecdote interesting to the generality of readers +without apologising for such levity, my grandfather's sympathies +seem to have been engrossed by the sufferings of the inhabitants +deprived of shelter, as well as of sufficient food, and helplessly +witnessing the destruction of their property. Consequently, his +journal, though quite below the dignity of history, affords, now and +then, a tolerably graphic glimpse of the beleagured town. + +From the discursive and desultory nature of the old gentleman's +style, as before hinted, it would be vain to look for a continuous +narrative in his journal, even if it contained materials for such. +But here and there a literary Jack Horner might extract a plum or +two from the vast quantity of dough--of reflections, quotations, +and all manner of irrelevant observations, surrounding them. The +following incidents, which occurred at the most interesting period +of the long and tedious siege, appear to me to give a fair idea of +some of the characteristics of the time, and of the personages who +figured in it; and accordingly, after subjecting them to a process +analogous to gold-washing, I present them to the reader. + +After a strict blockade of six months, reducing the garrison to +great extremity for want of provisions, Gibraltar was relieved by +Sir George Rodney, who landed a large quantity of stores. But about +a year after his departure, no further relief having reached them +except casual supplies from trading vessels that came at a great +risk to the Rock, their exigencies were even worse than before. The +issue of provisions was limited in quantity, and their price so +high, that the families, even of officers, were frequently in dismal +straits. This has given rise to a wooden joke of my grandfather's, +who, although he seldom ventures on any deliberate facetiousness, +has entitled the volume of his journal relating to this period of +the siege, _The Straits of Gibraltar_. He seems to have estimated +the worth of his wit by its rarity, for the words appear at the top +of every page. + +The 11th of April 1781 being Carlota's birthday, the Major had +invited Owen (now Lieutenant Owen) to dine with them in honour of +the occasion. Owen was once more, for the time, a single man; for +Juana, having gone to visit her friends in Tarifa just before the +commencement of the siege, had been unable to rejoin her husband. In +vain had Carlota requested that the celebration might be postponed +till the arrival of supplies from England should afford them a +banquet worthy of the anniversary--the Major, a great stickler for +ancient customs, insisted on its taking place forthwith. Luckily, +a merchantman from Minorca had succeeded in landing a cargo of +sheep, poultry, vegetables, and fruit the day before, so that the +provision for the feast, though by no means sumptuous, was far +better than any they had been accustomed to for many months past. +The Major's note-book enables me to set the materials for the +dinner, and also its cost, before the reader--viz. a sheep's head, +price sixteen shillings, (my grandfather was too late to secure any +of the body, which was rent in pieces, and the fragments carried +off as if by wolves, ere the breath was well out of it)--a couple +of fowls, twenty shillings, (scraggy creatures, says my ancestor +in a parenthesis)--a ham, two guineas--raisins and flour for a +pudding, five shillings--eggs, (how many the deponent sayeth not,) +sixpence each--vegetables, nine and sixpence--and fruit for dessert, +seven and tenpence. Then, for wine, a Spanish merchant, a friend +of Carlota's, had sent them two bottles of champagne and one of +amontillado, a present as generous then as a hogshead would have +been in ordinary times; and there was, moreover, some old rum, and +two lemons for punch. Altogether, there was probably no dinner half +so good that day in Gibraltar. + +At the appointed hour, the Major was reading in his quarters (a +tolerably commodious house near the South Barracks, and at some +distance outside the town) when Owen appeared. + +"You're punctual, my boy; and punctuality's a cardinal virtue about +dinner-time," said my grandfather, looking at his watch; "three +o'clock exactly. And now we'll have dinner. I only hope the new cook +is a tolerable proficient." + +"What's become of Mrs Grigson?" asked Owen. "You haven't parted with +that disciple of Apicius, I should hope?" + +"She's confined again," said my grandfather, sighing; "a most +prolific woman that! It certainly can't be above half-a-year since +her last child was born, and she's just going to have another. 'Tis +certainly not longer ago than last autumn," he added musingly. + +"A wonderful woman," said Owen; "she ought to be purchased by the +Government, and sent out to some of our thinly-populated colonies. +And who fills her place?" + +"Why, I'll tell you," responded the Major. "Joe Trigg, my old +servant, is confined too--in the guardroom, I mean, for getting +drunk--and I've taken a man of the regiment, one Private Bags, for a +day or two, who recommended his wife as an excellent cook. She says +the same of herself; but this is her first trial, and I'm a little +nervous about it." + +"Shocking rascal that Bags," said Owen. + +"Indeed!" said my grandfather; "I'm sorry to hear that. I didn't +inquire about his character. He offered his services, saying he came +from the same part of England as myself, though I don't recollect +him." + +"Terrible work this blockade," said the Major after a pause. "Do +you know, if I was a general in command of a besieging army, I +don't think I could find it in my heart to starve out the garrison. +Consider now, my dear boy," (laying his forefinger on Owen's +arm,)--"consider, now, several thousand men, with strong appetites, +never having a full meal for months together. And just, too, as my +digestion was getting all right--for I never get a nightmare now, +though I frequently have the most delicious dreams of banquets +that I try to eat, but wake before I get a mouthful. 'Tis enough +to provoke a saint. And, as if this was not enough, the supply of +books is cut off. The _Weekly Entertainer_ isn't even an annual +entertainer to me. The last number I got was in '79, and I've been +a regular subscriber these twelve years. There's the _Gentleman's +Magazine_, too. The last one reached me a year since, with a capital +story in it, only half-finished, that I'm anxious to know the end +of; and also a rebus that I've been longing to see the answer to. +'The answer in our next,' says the tantalising editor. It's a +capital rebus--just listen now. 'Two-thirds of the name of an old +novelist, one-sixth of what we all do in the morning, and a heathen +deity, make together a morsel fit for a king.' I've been working at +it for upwards of a year, and I can't guess it. Can you?" + +"Roast pig with stuffing answers the general description," said +Owen. "That, you'll admit, is a morsel fit for a king." + +"Pooh!" said my grandfather. "But you must really try now. I've +run through the mythology, all that I know of it, and tried all +the old novelists' names, even Boccaccio and Cervantes. Never were +such combinations as I've made--but can't compound anything edible +out of them. Again, as to what we do in the morning: we all shave, +(that is, all who have beards)--and we yawn, too; at least I do, +on waking; but it must be a word of six letters. Then, who can the +heathen deity be?" + +"Pan is the only heathen deity that has anything to do with +cookery," said Owen. "Frying-pan, you know, and stew-pan." + +My grandfather caught at the idea, but had not succeeded in making +anything of it, or in approximating to the solution of the riddle, +when Carlota entered from an inner room. + +"I wish, my dear, you would see about the dinner," said the Major; +"'tis a quarter past three." + +"_Si, mi vida_," (yes, my life,) said Carlota, who was in the habit +of bestowing lavishly on my grandfather the most endearing epithets +in the Spanish language, some of them, perhaps, not particularly +applicable--_niño de mi alma_, (child of my soul,) _luz de mis +ojos_, (light of my eyes,) and the like; none of which appeared to +have any more effect on the object of them than if they had been +addressed to somebody else. + +Carlota rung the bell, which nobody answered. "Nurse is busy with +de _niña_," she said, when nobody answered it; "I go myself to de +_cocina_," (kitchen,)--she spoke English as yet but imperfectly. + +"There's one comfort in delay," said the Major; "'tis better to boil +a ham too much than too little--and yet I shouldn't like it overdone +either." + +Here they were alarmed by an exclamation from Carlota. "_Ah Dios! +Caramba! Ven, ven, mi niño!_" cried she from the kitchen. + +The Major and Owen hastened to the kitchen, which was so close +at hand that the smell of the dinner sometimes anticipated its +appearance in the dining-room. Mrs Bags, the new cook, was seated +before the fire. On the table beside her was an empty champagne +bottle, the fellow to which protruded its neck from a pail in one +corner, where the Major had put it to cool; and another bottle +of more robust build, about half-full, was also beside her. The +countenance of Mrs Bags wore a pleasant and satisfied, though not +very intelligent smile, as she gazed steadfastly on the ham that +was roasting on a spit before the fire--at least one side of it was +done quite black, while the other oozed with warm greese; for the +machinery which should have turned it was not in motion. + +"_Caramba!_" exclaimed Carlota, with uplifted hands. "_Que +picarilla!_"--(What a knave of a woman!) + +"Gracious heavens!" said my grandfather, "she's roasting it! Who +ever heard of a roast ham?" + +"A many years," remarked Mrs Bags, without turning her head, and +still smiling pleasantly, "have I lived in gentlemen's families--" +Here this fragment of autobiography was terminated by a hiccup. + +"And the champagne bottle is empty," said Owen, handling it. "A nice +sort of cook this of yours, Major. She seems to have constituted +herself butler, too." + +My grandfather advanced and lifted the other bottle to his nose. +"'Tis the old rum," he ejaculated with a groan. "But if the woman +has drunk all this 'twill be the death of her. Bags," he called, +"come here." + +The spouse of Mrs Bags emerged from a sort of scullery behind the +kitchen--a tall bony man, of an ugliness quite remarkable, and with +a very red face. He was better known by his comrades as Tongs, in +allusion probably to personal peculiarities; for the length of his +legs, the width of his bony hips, and the smallness of his head, +gave him some distant resemblance to that article of domestic +ironmongery; but as his wife called herself Mrs Bags, and he was +entered in the regimental books by that name, it was probably his +real appellation. + +"Run directly to Dr Fagan," said the Major, "and request him to come +here. Your wife has poisoned herself with rum." + +"'Tisn't rum," said Bags, somewhat thickly--"'tis fits." + +"Fits!" said my grandfather. + +"Fits," doggedly replied Mr Bags, who seemed by no means disturbed +at the alleged indisposition of his wife--"she often gets them." + +"Don't alarm yourself, Major," said Owen, "I'll answer for it she +hasn't drunk _all_ the rum. The scoundrel is half-drunk himself, and +smells like a spirit-vault. You'd better take your wife away," he +said to Bags. + +"She can leave if she ain't wanted," said Private Bags, with +dignity: "we never comes where we ain't wanted." And he advanced to +remove the lady. Mrs Bags at first resisted this measure, proceeding +to deliver a eulogium on her own excellent qualities, moral and +culinary. She had, she said, the best of characters, in proof of +which she made reference to several persons in various parts of the +United Kingdom, and, as she spoke, she smiled more affably than ever. + +"_La picarilla no tiene verguenza_," (the wretch is perfectly +shameless,) cried Carlota, who, having hastily removed the ham +from the fire, was now looking after the rest of the dinner. The +fowls, cut up in small pieces, were boiling along with the sheep's +head, and, probably to save time, the estimable Mrs Bags had put +the rice and raisins destined for a pudding into the pot along with +them--certainly, as Owen remarked, a bold innovation in cookery. + +Still continuing to afford them glimpses of her personal history, +Mrs Bags was at length persuaded to retire along with her helpmate. + +"What astonishing impudence," said the Major, shutting the door upon +her, "to pretend to be a cook, and yet know no better than to roast +a ham!" + +Carlota, meanwhile, was busy in remedying the disaster as far as she +could; cutting the ham into slices and frying it, making a fricassee +of the fowls, and fishing the raisins out of the pot, exclaiming +bitterly all the while, in English and Spanish, against the +_tunanta_ (equivalent to female scoundrel or scamp) who had spoilt +the only nice dinner her _pobrecito_, her _niño_, her _querido_, +(meaning my grandfather,) had been likely to enjoy for a long time, +stopping occasionally in her occupations to give him a consolatory +kiss. However, my grandfather did not keep up the character of a +martyr at all well: he took the matter really very patiently; and +when the excellent Carlota had set the dinner on the table, and he +tasted the fine flavour of the maltreated ham, he speedily regained +his accustomed good-humour. + +"It is very strange," he said presently, while searching with a fork +in the dish before him, "that a pair of fowls should have only three +wings, two legs, and one breast between them." + +It certainly was not according to the order of nature; nevertheless +the fact was so, all my grandfather's researches in the dish +failing to bring to light the missing members. This however, was +subsequently explained by the discovery of the remains of these +portions of the birds in the scullery, where they appeared to have +been eaten after being grilled; and Mrs Bags' reason for adopting +this mode of cooking them was also rendered apparent--viz., that she +might secure a share for herself without immediate detection. + +However, all this did not prevent them from making the best of what +was left, and the Major's face beamed as he drank Carlota's health +in a glass of the remaining bottle of champagne, as brightly as if +the dinner had been completely successful. + +"It is partly my fault, Owen," said the Major, "that you haven't a +joint of mutton instead of this sheep's head. I ought to have been +sharper. The animal was actually sold in parts before he was killed. +Old Clutterbuck had secured a haunch, and he a single man you +know--'tis thrown away upon him. I offered him something handsome +for his bargain, but he wouldn't part with it." + +"We're lucky to get any," returned Owen. "Never was such a scramble. +Old Fiskin, the commissary, and Mrs O'Regan, the Major's wife, both +swore the left leg was knocked down to them; neither would give in, +and it was put up again, when the staff doctor, Pursum, who had just +arrived in a great hurry, carried it off by bidding eightpence more +than either. Not one of the three has spoken to either of the others +since; and people say," added Owen, "Mrs O'Regan avers openly that +Fiskin didn't behave like a gentleman." + +"God knows!" said my grandfather, "'tis a difficult thing in such a +case to decide between politeness and a consciousness of being in +the right. Fiskin likes a good dinner." + +The dinner having been done justice to, Carlota removed the remains +to a side-table, and the Major was in the act of compounding a bowl +of punch, when there was a knock at the door. "Come in," cried +Carlota. + +A light and timid step crossed the narrow passage separating the +outer door from that of the room they sat in, and there was another +hesitating tap at this latter. "Come in," again cried Carlota, and a +young girl entered with a basket on her arm. + +"'Tis Esther Lazaro," said Carlota in Spanish. "Come in, child; sit +here and tell me what you want." + +Esther Lazaro was the daughter of a Jew in the town, whose +occupations were multifarious, and connected him closely with the +garrison. He discounted officers' bills, furnished their rooms, sold +them everything they wanted--all at most exorbitant rates. Still, +as is customary with military men, while perfectly aware that they +could have procured what he supplied them with elsewhere at less +expense, they continued to patronise and abuse him rather than +take the trouble of looking out for a more liberal dealer. As the +difficulties of the garrison increased, he had not failed to take +advantage of them, and it was even said he was keeping back large +stores of provisions and necessaries till the increasing scarcity +should enable him to demand his own terms for them. + +His daughter was about fifteen years old--a pretty girl, with hair +of the unusual colour of chestnut, plaited into thick masses on the +crown of her head. Her skin was fairer than is customary with her +race--her eyes brown and soft in expression, her face oval, and +her figure, even at this early age, very graceful, being somewhat +more precocious than an English girl's at those years. She was a +favourite with the ladies of the garrison, who often employed her to +procure feminine matters for them. Carlota, particularly, had always +treated her with great kindness--and hence the present visit. She +had come, she said timidly, to ask a favour--a great favour. She had +a little dog that she loved. (Here a great commotion in the basket +seemed to say she had brought her _protégé_ with her.) He had been +given to her by a young school friend who was dead, and her father +would no longer let her keep it, because, he said, these were no +times to keep such creatures, when provisions, even those fit for a +dog, were so dear. He was a very good little dog--would the Señora +take him? + +"Let us look at him, Esther," said Owen--"I see you have brought him +with you." + +"He is not pretty," said Esther, blushing as she produced him from +the basket. He certainly was not, being a small cur, marked with +black and white, like a magpie, with a tall curling over his back. +He did not appear at all at his ease in society, for he tried to +shrink back again into the basket. + +"He was frightened," she said, "for he had been shut up for more +than a month. She had tried to keep him in her bedroom, unknown to +her father, feeding him with part of her own meals; but he had found +it out, and had beaten her, and threatened to kill the dog if ever +he saw it again." + +"_Pobrecito!_" (poor little thing,) said the good Carlota--"we shall +take good care of it. _Toma_," (take this,) offering him a bit of +meat. But he crept under her chair, with his tail so depressed, in +his extreme bashfulness, that the point of it came out between his +forelegs. + +Carlota would have made the young Jewess dine there forthwith, at +the side-table still spread with the remains of the dinner; but +she refused to take anything, only sipping once from a glass of +wine that Carlota insisted on making her drink of. Then she rose, +and, having tied the end of a string that was fastened to the dog's +collar to the leg of the table, to prevent his following her, took +her leave, thanking Carlota very prettily. + +"_A Dios, Sancho!_" she said to the little dog, who wagged his +tail and gave her a piteous look as she turned to go away--"_A +Dios, Sancho_," she repeated, taking him up and kissing him very +affectionately. The poor child was ready to cry. + +"Come and see him every day, my child," said Carlota, "and when +better times come you shall have him again." + + +CHAPTER II. + +Lazaro the Jew was seated towards dusk that evening in a sort of +office partitioned off by an open railing from a great store filled +with a most motley collection of articles. Sofas, looking-glasses, +washing-stands--bales of goods in corded canvass--rows of old boots +purchased from officers' servants--window curtains lying on heaps +of carpeting and matting--bedsteads of wood and iron--crockery +and glass--were all piled indiscriminately. Similar articles had +also overflowed along the passage down the wooden steps leading +to the square stone court below, which was lumbered with barrels, +packing-cases, and pieces of old iron. This court was entered +from the street, and an arched door on one side of it, barred and +padlocked, opened on a large warehouse, which nobody except the Jew +had set foot in for many months. + +The Jew himself was a spare, rather small man, with a thin eager +face, small sharp features, and a scanty beard. Being by descent +a Barbary Jew, he wore the costume peculiar to that branch of his +race--a black skull-cap; a long-skirted, collarless, cloth coat, +buttoned close, the waist fastened with a belt; loose light-coloured +trousers and yellow slippers--altogether he looked somewhat like an +overgrown scholar of Christ's Hospital. He was busied in turning +over old parchment-covered ledgers, when an officer entered. + +Von Dessel was a captain in Hardenberg's regiment. He was a square, +strong-built man, about forty, with very light hair, as was apparent +since the governor's order had forbidden the use of powder to the +troops, in consequence of the scarcity of flour. His thick, white, +overhanging eyebrows, close lips, and projecting under jaw gave +sternness to his countenance. + +"Good afternoon, captain," said the Jew; "what I do for you to-day, +sare?" + +"Do for me! By Gott, you have done for me already, with your cursed +Hebrew tricks," said the captain. The German and the Jew met on a +neutral ground of broken English. + +"I always treat every gentleman fair, sare," said the Jew. "I tell +you, captain, I lose by that last bill of yours." + +"_Der teufel!_ who gains, then?" said Von Dessel, "for you cut me +off thirty per cent." + +The Jew shrugged his shoulders. + +"I don't make it so, sare; the siege makes it so. When the port is +open, you shall have more better exchange." + +"Well, money must be had," said the German. "What will you give now +for my bill for twenty pounds?" + +The Jew consulted a book of figures--then made some calculations on +paper--then appeared to consider intently. + +"Curse you, speak!" said the choleric captain. "You have made up +your mind about how much roguery long ago." + +"Captain, sare, I give you feefty dallars," said the Jew. + +The captain burst forth with a volley of German execrations. + +"Captain," said the Jew presently, "I like to please a gentleman if +I can. I give you one box of cigars besides--real Cubas--one hundred +and feefty in a box." + +The captain at this broke forth again, but checked himself presently +on the entrance of the Jew's daughter, who now returned from the +Major's. She advanced quietly into the room, made a little bow to +the captain, took off and laid aside her shawl, and, taking up some +work, sat down and began to sew. + +Von Dessel resumed his expostulation in a milder tone. The Jew, +however, knew the money was necessary to him, and only yielded +so far as to increase his box of cigars to two hundred; and the +captain, finding he could get no better terms from him, was forced +to agree. While the Jew was drawing out the bills, the German gazed +attentively at Esther, with a good deal of admiration expressed in +his countenance. + +"I can't take the money now," said he, after signing the bills. "I +am going on duty. Bring it to me to-morrow morning, at nine o'clock." + +"I'm afraid I can't, sare," said Lazaro; "too moch business. +Couldn't you send for it, captain?" + +"Not possible," said the German; "but you must surely have somebody +that might bring it--some trustworthy person you know." And his eye +rested on Esther. + +"There's my dater, sare," said the Jew--"I shall send her, if that +will do." + +"Good," said the captain, "do not forget," and quitted the room +forthwith. + +He was scarcely gone when a pair with whom the reader is already +slightly acquainted, Mr and Mrs Bags, presented themselves. The +effects of their morning conviviality had in a great measure +disappeared. + +"Your servant, sir," said Bags. The Jew nodded. + +"We've got a few articles to dispose of," pursued Mr Bags, looking +round the room cautiously. "They was left us," he added in a low +tone, "by a _diseased_ friend." + +"Ah!" said the Jew, "never mind where you got 'em. Be quick--show +them." + +Mrs Bags produced from under her cloak, first a tin teakettle, then +a brass saucepan; and Mr Bags, unbuttoning his coat, laid on the +table three knives and a silver fork. Esther, passing near the table +at the time, glanced accidentally at the fork, and recognised the +Flinders crest--a talbot, or old English bloodhound. + +"Father," said she hastily, in Spanish, "don't have anything to do +with that--it must be stolen." But the Jew turned so sharply on her, +telling her to mind her work, that she retreated. + +The Jew took up the tea-kettle, and examined the bottom to see that +it was sound--did the same with the saucepan--looked at the knives +narrowly, and still closer at the fork--then ranged them before him +on the table. + +"For dis," said he, laying his hand on the tea-kettle, "we will say +one pound of rice; for dis (the saucepan) two pounds of corned beef; +for de knives, a bottle of rum; and for de fork, seex ounces of the +best tea." + +"Curse your tea!" said Mr Bags. + +"Yes!" said Mrs Bags, who had with difficulty restrained herself +during the process of valuation, "we doesn't want no tea. And the +things is worth a much more than what you say: the saucepan's as +good as new, and the fork's silver--" + +"Plated," said the Jew, weighing it across his finger. + +"A many years," said Mrs Bags, "have I lived in gentlemen's +families, and well do I know plate from silver. I've lived with Mrs +Milson of Pidding Hill, where everything was silver, and nothing +plated, even to the handles of the doors; and a dear good lady she +was to me; many's the gown, she giv me. And I've lived with--" + +Here the Jew unceremoniously interrupted the train of her +recollections by pushing the things from before him. "Take what I +offer, or else take your things away," said he, shortly. + +Mr and Mrs Bags grumbled considerably. The tea they positively +refused at any price: Mr Bags didn't like it, and Mrs Bags said it +disagreed with her. So the Jew agreed to give them instead another +bottle of rum, a pound of onions, and two pounds of beef; and with +these terms they at length closed, and departed with the results of +their barter. + +During the altercation, a soldier of another regiment had entered, +and stood silently awaiting his turn to be attended to. He was a +gaunt man, with want written legibly in the hollows of his face +and the dismal eagerness of his eye. He now came forward, and with +trembling hands unfolded an old gown, and handed it to the Jew. + +"'Tis no good to me," said the latter, giving it back, after holding +it against the light; "nothing but holes." + +"But my wife has no other," said the man: "'tis her last stitch of +clothes, except her petticoat and a blanket. I've brought everything +else to you." + +The Jew shrugged his shoulders and spread out his hands, in token +that he could not help it. + +"I swear 'tis her last!" reiterated the man, as if he really fancied +this fact must give the garment as much value in the Jew's eyes as +in his own. + +"I tell you I won't have it!" said the Jew, testily. + +"Give me only a loaf for it, or but one pound of potatoes," said the +soldier: "'tis more than my wife and four children have had among +them for two days. Half-rations for one, among six of us, is too +hard to live." + +"A pound of potatoes," said the Jew, "is worth four reals and +a-half--eighteenpence; your wife's gown is worth--nothing!" + +"Then take this," said the man, beginning frantically to pull off +his uniform coat; "anything is better than starving." + +The Jew laughed. "What!" said he, "you think I don't know better +than to buy a soldier's necessaries, eh? Ah, ah! no such a fool, I +think, my friend. What your captain say?--eh?" + +The man struck his hand violently on the table. "Then give me--or +lend me," said he, "some food, much or little, and I'll work for you +every hour I'm off duty till you're satisfied. I will, Mr Lazaro, so +help me God!" + +"I got plenty of men to work for me," said Lazaro; "don't want any +more. Come again, when you've got something to sell, my friend." + +The man rolled up the gown without speaking, then lifted it over his +head, and dashed it into the furthest corner of the store. He was +hurrying from the place, when, as if unwilling to throw away his +last chance, he turned back, gathered it up, and, thrusting it under +his arm, quitted the store with lingering steps, as if he even yet +hoped to be called back. No such summons reached him, however; but, +immediately after he was gone, Esther rose and stole softly down the +stairs. She overtook him at the street-door opening from the court +before mentioned, and laid her hand on his arm. The man turned and +glared on her. "What!--he'll buy it, will he?" said he. + +"Hush!" said Esther--"keep it for your poor wife. Look; I have no +money, but take these," and she placed in his hand two earrings +hastily detached from her ears. + +The man stood looking at her for a space, as if stupified, without +closing his hand on the trinkets that lay on the palm; then, +suddenly rousing himself, he swore, with tears in his eyes, that +for this service he would do for her anything on earth she should +require from him; but she only begged him to go away at once, and +say nothing, lest her father should overhear the transaction, who +would certainly be angry with her for it. + +Bags and his wife had stopt in a corner of the court, to pack +up their property in a commodious form for conveyance, and had +witnessed this scene in silence. As soon as the soldier had, in +compliance with Esther's entreaties, disappeared, Bags came forward. + +"And your father would be angry, would he, my dear?" said he. + +"Oh, very--oh, so angry! Please don't stop me," she said, trying to +pass him. + +"And what'll ye give me not to tell him, now?" asked Mr Bags. +"Ain't ye got nothing for me?" + +"No--oh, no--indeed, nothing. Do let me pass." + +"Yes, you have; you've got this, I think," said Bags, snatching at +a silver-mounted comb glistening in her hair, which, thus loosened, +all fell down on her shoulders as she darted past him. "And now," +said Mr Bags, inspecting his prize, "I think me and that 'ere +cheating Jew is quits for the silver fork. I'll allow it's plated +now." + + +CHAPTER III. + +Early the next morning (the 12th of April) a rumour went through +the town that an English fleet was signalled as in sight. The news +roused the starving people like electricity. The pale spectres of +men that, on the previous day, had stalked so gauntly through the +dreary streets--the wretched, sinking women, and children careworn +as grandfathers--poured forth, with something like a natural light +in their hollow eyes, to witness the joyful spectacle. The sea-wall +of the city was, like the margin of a vast pool of Bethesda, +thronged with hopeful wretches awaiting the coming of the angel. + +The streets were instantly deserted. Those who could not leave their +homes got on the housetops, but the great mass of the population +spread itself along the line-wall, the Grand Parade and Alameda, +and the heights skirting the chief slopes of the Rock. Moors and +Jews, Spaniards and English, citizens and soldiers, men, women, +and children, of all ages, grades, and nations, ranged themselves +indiscriminately wherever they could obtain a view of the sea. + +For some time the wished-for sight was delayed by a thick fog that +spread itself across the Straits and the entrance of the bay. A +murmur rose from each successive rank of people that forced itself +into a front place on the line-wall. Terrible doubts flew about, +originating no one knew where, but gaining strength and confirmation +as they passed from mouth to mouth. On the summit of the Rock behind +them the signal for a fleet flew steadily from the mast at Middle +Hill; but still in this, as in all crowds, were some of little +faith, who were full of misgivings. Many rushed up to the signal +station, unable to bear the pain of the delay. My grandfather +noticed the Jew Lazaro among the throng, watching the event with an +anxious eye, though his anxiety was from the opposite cause to that +of most of the spectators. The arrival of supplies would at once +bring down the price of provisions, and rob him, for the present, +of his expected profits; and as each successive rumour obtained +credence with the crowd, his countenance brightened as their hopes +fell, and sank as they again emerged from despondency. + +Not far from him was an old Genoese woman, wearing the quaint red +cloak, trimmed with black velvet, that old Genoese women usually +wear in Gibraltar. She hovered round the skirts of the crowd, +occasionally peering beneath an uplifted arm, or thrusting it +between two obstructing figures, to catch a glimpse, though it was +evident that her dim eyes would fail to discern the fleet when +it should come in view. Her thin shrivelled features, relieved +against her black hood, were positively wolfish from starvation. +She frequently drew one hand from beneath her cloak, and gazed at +something she held in it--then, muttering, she would again conceal +it. My grandfather's curiosity was roused. He drew near and watched +for the reappearance of the object that so engrossed her. It was a +blue mouldy crust of bread. + +The wished-for spectacle was at length revealed. "As the sun became +more powerful," says Drinkwater, rising into positive poetry +with the occasion, "the fog gradually rose, _like the curtain of +a vast theatre_, discovering to the anxious garrison one of the +most beautiful and pleasing scenes it is possible to conceive. The +convoy, consisting of near a hundred vessels, were in a compact +body, led by several men-of-war--their sails just filled enough for +steerage, while the majority of the line-of-battle ships lay to +under the Barbary shore, having orders not to enter the bay, lest +the enemy should molest them with their fireships." + +Then rose a great shout--at once the casting-off of long-pressing +anxiety and the utterance of delight. Happy tears streamed down +haggard faces overgrown with hair, and presently men turned to one +another, smiling in the face of a stranger neighbour as in that of +an old friend, while a joyful murmur, distilled from many languages, +rose upward. Assuredly, if blessings are of any avail, the soul of +Admiral Darby, who commanded the relieving fleet, is at this moment +in Paradise. + +Friends and relations now began to search for one another in +the crowd, which broke quickly into knots, each contriving how +to enjoy together the plenty that was to descend upon them. My +grandfather's eye at this juncture was again attracted by the old +Genoese woman. When the crowd shouted, she screened her eyes with +her withered hand, and, with her nostril spread, her chin fallen, in +her eagerness gazed towards the sea--but presently shook her head, +discerning nothing. Then she plucked by the arm a joyful Spaniard. + +"_Es verdad? Por Dios, es verdad?_" she cried; "_jura! jura!_"--(Is +it true? Swear by Heaven it is true.) + +"_Si, si,_" said the Spaniard, pointing; "_es verdad_," ('tis true.) +"You may see them yourself." + +Instantly the old woman, for the last time, drew forth her +treasured crust, and began to devour it, muttering, as she tore +away each mouthful, "_Mas mañana! mas mañana!_" (I shall have more +to-morrow--more to-morrow!) + +After the crowd had partially dispersed, Owen was returning to +his quarters to breakfast, when, as he paused to open the door, +he heard a voice he thought he knew crying out in affright in the +rooms opposite, where Von Dessel resided. Presently the door of the +quarters was opened, and the flushed and frightened face of Esther +Lazaro appeared, as she struggled to escape from Von Dessel, who +held her arm. + +"Señor, señor, speak to the gentleman!" she cried to Owen. + +"Leetle foolish girl," said Von Dessel, grinning a smile on seeing +him; "she frightens at nothing. Come in, child"--trying to shut the +door. + +"Why don't you let her alone?" said Owen; "don't you see she doesn't +like you?" + +"Pouf!" said the captain. "We all have trouble with them +sometimes--you must know that well." + +"No, by Jupiter!" cried Frank Owen. "If I couldn't gain them +willingly, they might go to the devil for me. But you hurt her--pray +let her go--you must indeed." + +"Do you mind your own affair," said the captain, "and don't meddle;" +and, exerting his strength, he drew Esther in, and partially +succeeded in shutting the door--she calling the while again on Owen +to help her. Frank stepped forward, and, putting his foot against +the door, sent it into the room, causing Captain Von Dessel, who was +behind it, to stagger back with some violence, and to quit his hold +of Esther, who ran down stairs. + +"Very good, sir," said the captain, stalking grimly out of his room, +pale with rage. "You have thought right to interfere with me, and to +insult me. By Gott! I will teach you better, young man. Shall we say +in one hour, sir, in the Fives' Court?" + +Owen nodded. "At your pleasure," said he, and, entering his own +quarters, shut the door. + +Meanwhile my grandfather walked about with the telescope he had +brought with him to look after the fleet under his arm, enjoying the +unusual sight of happy faces around him. And he has remarked it as +a singular feature of humanity, that this prospect of relief from +physical want inspired a far more deep and universal joy than he +had witnessed in any public rejoicings arising from such causes as +loyalty or patriotism evinced at a coronation or the news of a great +victory; and hence my grandfather takes occasion to express a fear +that human nature, as well as other nature, is, except among the +rarer class of souls, more powerfully and generally influenced by +its animal propensities than by more refined causes. + +He was so engrossed with the philanthropic pursuit of enjoying the +joy of the multitude, and the philosophic one of extracting moral +reflections therefrom, that he quite forgot he had not breakfasted. +He was just beginning to be reminded of the circumstance by a +feeling of hollowness in the region of the stomach, and to turn +his steps homeward, when a light hand was laid on his arm. My +grandfather turned, and beheld the face of the young Jewess looking +wistfully in his. + +She began at first to address him in Spanish--the language she spoke +most naturally; but, quickly perceiving her mistake on hearing the +extraordinary jargon in which he replied, (for it is a singular +fact that nobody but Carlota, who taught him, could understand my +grandfather's Spanish,) she exchanged it for his own tongue. She +told him in a few hurried words of the quarrel Owen had incurred on +her account with Von Dessel, and of the challenge she had overheard +given by the latter, beseeching the major to hasten to prevent the +result. + +"In the Fives' Court! in an hour!" said my grandfather. "When did +this happen?" + +Esther thought nearly an hour ago--she had been almost so long +seeking my grandfather. + +"I'll go, child--I'll go at once," said the Major. "With Von Dessel, +too, as if he could find nobody else to quarrel with but the best +swordsman in the garrison. 'Souls and bodies' quoted my grandfather, +'hath he divorced three.'" + +With every stride he took, the Major's uneasiness was augmented. At +any time his anxiety would have been extreme while peril threatened +Frank; but now, when he was calculating on him as a companion +at many a well-spread table, when they might forget their past +miseries, it peculiarly affected him. + +"To think," muttered my grandfather, "that these two madmen should +choose a time when everybody is going to be made so happy, by +getting plenty to eat, to show their gratitude to Providence by +cutting one another's throats!" + +The danger to Owen was really formidable; for, though a respectable +swordsman, he was no unusual proficient in the graceful art, while +his opponent was not only, as my grandfather had said, the best +swordsman in the garrison, but perhaps the best at that time in the +army. As a student in Germany he had distinguished himself in some +sanguinary duels; and since his arrival in Gibraltar, a Spanish +gentleman, a very able fencer, had fallen beneath his arm. + +"God grant," said my grandfather to himself, as he neared the Fives' +Court, "that we may settle this without the perdition of souls. +Frank, my dear boy, we could better spare a better man!" + +On attempting to enter the Fives' Court he was stopped by the +master, posted at the door. "It was engaged," he said, "for a +private match." + +"Ay, ay," said my grandfather, pushing past him; "a pretty match, +indeed! Ay, ay--pray God we can stop it!" + +Finding the inner door locked, the Major, who was well acquainted +with the locality--for, when he had nothing else particular to +do, he would sometimes mark for the players for a rubber or +two--ascended the stairs to the gallery. + +About the centre of the court stood the combatants. All +preliminaries had been gone through--for they were stripped to their +shirts--and the seconds (one a German, the adjutant of Hardenberg's +regiment--the other, one Lieutenant Rushton, an old hand at these +affairs, and himself a fire-eater) stood by, each with a spare sword +in his hand. In a corner was the German regimental surgeon, his +apparatus displayed on the floor, ready for an emergency. Rushton +fully expected Owen to fall, and only hoped he might escape without +a mortal wound. Von Dessel himself seemed of the same opinion, +standing square and firm as a tower, scarcely troubling himself to +assume an attitude, but easy and masterly withal. Both contempt and +malice were expressed for his antagonist in his half-shut eyes and +sardonic twist of the corners of his mouth. + +"Owen, Owen, my boy!" shouted my grandfather, rushing to the front +of the gallery, and leaning over, as the swords crossed--"stop, for +God's sake. You mustn't fight that swashbuckler! They say he hath +been fencer to the Sophy," roared the Major, in the words of Sir +Toby Belch. + +The combatants just turned their heads for a moment to look at the +interrupter, and again crossed swords. + +Immediately on finding his remonstrance disregarded, the Major +descended personally into the arena--not by the ordinary route of +the stairs, but the shorter one of a perpendicular drop from the +gallery, not effected with the lightness of a feathered Mercury. But +the clatter of his descent was lost in the concussion of a discharge +of artillery that shook the walls. Instantly the air was alive +with shot and hissing shells; and before the echoes of the first +discharge had ceased, the successive explosion of the shells in the +air, and the crashing of chimneys, shattered doors, and falling +masonry, increased the uproar. One shell burst in the court, filling +it with smoke. My grandfather felt, for a minute, rather dizzy with +the shock. When the smoke cleared, by which time he had partially +recovered himself, the first object that caught his eye was Von +Dessel lying on the pavement, and the doctor stooping over him. The +only other person hurt was Rushton, a great piece of the skin of +whose forehead, detached by a splinter, was hanging over his right +eye. Von Dessel had sustained a compound fracture of the thigh, +while the loss of two fingers from his right hand had spoiled his +thrust in tierce for ever. + +"What can be the matter?" said my grandfather, looking upward, as a +second flight of missiles hurtled overhead. + +"Matter enough," quoth Rushton, mopping the blood from his eye with +his handkerchief; "those cursed devils of Spaniards are bombarding +the town." + +The Major went up to Owen, and squeezed his hand. "We won't abuse +the Spaniards for all that," said he--"they've saved your life, my +boy." + + +CHAPTER IV. + +Enraged at seeing their blockade evaded by the arrival of Darby's +fleet, the Spaniards revenged themselves by directing such a fire +upon Gibraltar, from their batteries in the Neutral Ground, as in +a short time reduced the town to a mass of ruins. This misfortune +was rendered the more intolerable to the besieged, as it came in +the moment of exultation and general thanksgiving. While words of +congratulation were passing from mouth to mouth, the blow descended, +and "turned to groans their roundelay." + +The contrast between the elation of the inhabitants when my +grandfather entered the Fives' Court, and their universal +consternation and despair when he quitted it, was terrible. The +crowd that had a few minutes before so smilingly and hopefully +entered their homes, now fled from them in terror. Again the +streets were thronged by the unhappy people, who began to believe +themselves the sport of some powerful and malevolent demon. Whole +families, parents, children, and servants, rushed together into +the streets, making their way to the south to escape the missiles +that pursued them. Some bore pieces of furniture snatched up in +haste, and apparently seized because they came first to hand; some +took the chairs they had been sitting on; one man my grandfather +noticed bearing away with difficulty the leaf of a mahogany table, +leaving behind the legs which should have supported it; and a woman +had a crying child in one hand, and in the other a gridiron, still +reeking with the fat of some meat she had been cooking. Rubbish +from the houses began to strew the streets; and here and there +a ragged breach in a wall rent by the cannon afforded a strange +incongruous glimpse of the room inside, with its mirrors, tables, +and drapery, just as the inhabitants left them. Armed soldiers +were hastening to their different points of assembly, summoned by +bugles that resounded shrilly amid the din, and thrusting their way +unceremoniously through the impeding masses of fugitives. + +The house of the Jew Lazaro was one of the first that was seriously +injured. The blank wall of the great warehouse before mentioned, +that faced the street, had, either from age or bad masonry, long +before exhibited several cracks. A large segment, bounded by +two of these cracks, had been knocked away by a shot, and the +superincumbent mass falling in consequence, the great store, and all +its hoarded treasures, appeared through the chasm. + +The Jew's instincts had, at first, led him to save himself by +flight. But, on returning timorously to look after his property, the +sight of the ruined wall, and the unprotected hoards on which he had +so securely reckoned as the source of wealth, obliterated in his +mind, for the time, all sense of personal danger. Seeing a party of +soldiers issuing from a wine-house near, he eagerly besought them to +assist him in removing his property to a place of safety, promising +to reward them largely for their risk and trouble. + +One of the soldiers thus appealed to was Mr Bags. + +"Ho, ho!" said Mr Bags; "here's a chance--here's a pleasure, +comrades. We can help Mr Lazaro, who is always so good to us--this +here Jewish gentleman, that gives such liberal prices for our +things. Certainly--we'll remove 'em all, and not charge him nothing. +Oh--oh--ah!" And, to give point to his irony, Mr Bags distorted his +face hideously, and winked upon his friends. + +The idea of giving Lazaro any assistance was considered a capital +joke, and caused a great deal of mirth as they walked towards the +store, to which the Jew eagerly led the way. + +"If there's anything good to eat or drink in the store, we may +remove some of it, though it won't be on our backs, eh, boys?" said +Bags, as he stept in advance, over a heap of rubbish, into the store. + +"These first--these, my friends," cried the Jew, going up to a row +of barrels, standing a little apart from the crowded masses of +articles. + +"Oh, these first, eh?" said Bags; "they're the best, be they? Thank +you, Mr Lazaro; we'll see what's in 'em;" and, taking up a gimlet +that lay near, he proceeded to bore a hole in one of the barrels, +desiring a friend, whom he addressed as Tim, to tap the next one. + +"Thieves!" screamed the Jew, on witnessing this proceeding, seizing +Bags' arm, "leave my store--go out--let my goods alone!" Bags lent him +a shove that sent him into a corner, and perceiving liquor flowing +from the hole he had drilled, applied his mouth to the orifice. + +"Brandy," said he, as he paused for breath, "real Cognac. Comrades, +here's luck to that 'ere shot that showed us the way in;" and he +took another diligent pull at the hole. + +Meantime his comrades had not been idle; other barrels were opened, +and their contents submitted to a critical inspection. + +The Jew tried various modes to induce them to relinquish their +booty: first threats--then offers of reward--then cajolery; and, +at last, attempted to interpose and thrust them from their spoil. +A shot from the enemy entering the store, enfiladed a long line of +barrels, scattering the staves and their contents. The place was +instantly flooded with liquor--wine, molasses, spirits, and oil, +ran in a mingled stream, soaking the _débris_ of biscuit and salt +provisions that strewed the floor. One soldier was struck dead, and +Mr Bags only escaped destruction by the lucky accident of having his +head at that moment apart from the barrel which had engrossed his +attention, and which was knocked to pieces. + +The Jew, partly stunned by a wound in the forehead from the splinter +of a barrel, and partly in despair at the destruction of his +property, came to the entrance of the store, seating himself among +the rubbish. Other plunderers speedily followed the example of the +marauding soldiers, but he made no attempt to stop them as they +walked past him. My grandfather, passing at the time on his way +home, was horrified at the sight of him. Flour from a splintered +barrel had been scattered over his face, and blood from the wound +in his forehead, trickling down, had clotted it on his cheeks and +scanty beard, giving him an aspect at once appalling and disgusting. +His daughter had waited at the door of the Fives' Court till she +saw Owen come forth in safety, and had then availed herself of +the protection of the Major as far as her own home. Shrieking at +the dismal sight, she sprang forward and threw herself before the +Jew, casting her arms around him. This seemed to rouse him. He +arose--looked back into the store; and then, as if goaded by the +sight of the wreck into intolerable anguish, he lifted his clenched +hands above his head, uttering a sentence of such fearful blasphemy, +that a devout Spaniard, who was emerging from the store with some +plunder, struck him on the mouth. He never heeded the blow, but +continued to rave, till, suddenly overcome by loss of blood and +impotent rage, he dropt senseless on the ground. + +My grandfather, calling some soldiers of his regiment who were +passing, desired them to convey him to the hospital at the South +Barracks, and, again taking the terrified and weeping Esther under +his protection, followed to see the unfortunate Jew cared for. + +At the various parades that day Mr Bags was reported absent, being +in fact engaged in pursuits of a much more interesting nature than +his military duties. A vast field of interprise was opened to him +and other adventurous spirits, of which they did not fail to avail +themselves, in the quantity of property of all kinds abandoned by +the owners, in houses and shops where locks and bolts were no longer +a protection; and although the firing, which ceased for an hour +or two in the middle of the day, was renewed towards evening and +continued with great fury, the ardour of acquisition by no means +abated. + +About midnight a sentry on the heights of Rosia (the name given +to a portion of the rugged cliffs towards the south and near the +hospital) observed, in the gloom, a figure lurking about one of the +batteries, and challenged it. Receiving no answer, he threatened to +fire, when Bags came forward reluctantly, with a bundle in his hand. + +"Hush, Bill," said Bags, on finding the sentry was a personal +friend--"don't make a row: it's only me, Bags--Tongs, you know," he +added, to insure his recognition. + +"What the devil are you doing there, you fool?" asked his friend in +a surly tone--"don't you know the picquet's after you?" + +"I've got some little things here that I want to lay by, where +nobody won't see 'em, in case I'm catched," returned Bags. "Don't +you take no notice of me, Bill, and I'll be off directly." + +"What have ye got?" asked Bill, whose curiosity was awakened by the +proceedings of his friend. + +"Some little matters that I picked up in the town," returned Bags. +"Pity you should be on guard to-day, Bill--there was some pretty +pickings. I'll save something for you, Bill," added Bags, in an +unaccountable access of generosity. + +The sentry, however, who was a person in every way worthy of the +friendship of Mr Bags, expressed no gratitude for the considerate +offer, but began poking at the bundle with his bayonet. + +"Hands off, Bill," said Bags, "they won't abear touching." + +"Let's see 'em," said Bill. + +"Not a bit on it," said Bags; "they ain't aworth looking at." + +"Suppose I was to call the sergeant of the guard," said Bill. + +"You wouldn't do such a action?" said Bags, in a tone strongly +expressive of disgust at such baseness. "No, no, Bill, you ain't +that sort of fellow, _I'm_ sure." + +"It's my dooty," said the sentry, placing the butt of his musket on +the ground, and leaning his elbow on the muzzle. "You see that what +you said, Tongs, was very true, about its being hard upon me to be +carrying about this here damnable weppin" (slapping the barrel of +the musket) "all day for fourpence ha'penny, while you are making +your fortin. It is, Tongs, d--d hard." + +"Never mind; there'll be plenty left to-morrow," said Bags in a +consolatory tone. + +"What shall we say, now, if I lets ye hide it?" said Bill, pointing +to the bundle. "Half-shares?" + +"This ain't like a friend, Bill," returned Tongs, highly disgusted +with this ungenerous proposal. "Nobody ever knowed me interfere +with a comrade when I was on sentry. How long ago is it since I let +ye stay in my box an hour, till ye was sober enough to walk into +barracks, when I was sentry at the gate? Why, the whole bundle ain't +worth eighteenpence--and I've worked hard for it." + +"Half-shares?" reiterated Bill, not melted in the least by the +memory of ancient benefits. + +"No, by G--!" said Bags in great wrath. + +"Serg----," began Bill in an elevated voice, porting his arms at the +same time. + +"Stop!" said Bags; "don't call the sergeant. Half is better nor +nothing, if ye're going to behave like that. We'll say half, then." + +"Ah," said Bill, returning to his former position--"I thought we +should agree. And now let's see 'em, Tongs." + +Muttering still his disapprobation of this unworthy treatment, Bags +put his bundle on the stone embrasure of the battery, and began to +unfold it. + +Eighteenpence was certainly a low valuation. Bags appeared to have +visited a jeweller's shop. Watches, rings, bracelets, gold chains, +and brooches glittered on the dingy surface of the handkerchief. + +"My eye!" said Bill, unable to repress a low laugh of delight--"why, +we'll turn bankers when we've sold 'em. Tongs and Co., eh?" said +Bill with considerable humour. + +Bags, however, told him he was altogether mistaken in his +estimate--most of the things were pinchbeck, he said, and the stones +all glass; and, to save Bill any trouble, he offered to dispose of +them himself to the best possible advantage, and bring his partner +his share of the proceeds, which would certainly be at least +ninepence, and might perhaps be half-a-dollar. This arrangement +did not, however, meet the approbation of the astute William, who +insisted on dividing the spoils by lot. But here, again, there was +a slight misunderstanding, for both fixed their affections on a +gigantic watch, which never could have been got into any modern +pocket, and whose face was ornamented with paintings from the +heathen mythology. Both of them supposed, from the size and the +brilliancy of the colours, that this must be of immense value. +Finding they were not likely to come to a speedy arrangement on +this point, they agreed to postpone the division of the spoils till +morning. + +"I'll tell ye where to put it, Bags," said Bill. "These here guns in +this battery haven't been fired for years, nor ain't likely to be, +though they loaded 'em the other day. Take out the wad of this one, +and put in the bundle." + +Bags approved of the idea, withdrew the wad from the muzzle of the +gun, put in the bundle as far as his arm would reach, and then +replaced the wad. + +"Honour bright?" said Bags, preparing to depart. + +"Honour bright," returned Bill; and Bags disappeared. + +Nevertheless he did not feel sufficient confidence in his +confederate's integrity to justify his quitting the place and +leaving him to his own devices. He thought Bill might perhaps avail +himself of his absence to remove the treasure, or be guilty of some +other treachery. He therefore crept back again softly, till he got +behind a crag from whence he had a full view of the battery. + +For some time Bill walked sternly to and fro on his post. Bags +observed, however, that he always included the gun where the deposit +lay in his perambulations, which became shorter and shorter. At last +he halted close to it, laid down his musket against the parapet, +and, approaching the muzzle of the gun, took out the wad. + +At this moment a neighbouring sentry gave an alarm. The guard +turned out, and Bill, hastily replacing the wad, resumed his arms +and looked about for the cause of the alarm. About a mile out in +the bay several red sparks were visible. As he looked there were a +corresponding number of flashes, and then a whistling of shot high +overhead told that the guns from which they had been discharged had +been laid too high. The Spanish gunboats were attacking the south. + +The drums beat to arms, and in a few minutes the battery was manned +with artillerymen. To the inconceivable horror of Bags and Bill, the +whole of the guns in the battery were altered in position, and a +gunner took post at the rear of each with a lighted portfire. Then +a flushed face might be seen, by the blue light of the portfires, +rising from behind a neighbouring piece of rock, the eyes staring, +the mouth open in agonised expectation. + +"Number one--fire!" said the officer in command, to the gunner in +rear of the gun in which Mr Bags had invested his capital. + +"No, no!" shouted Bags, rising wildly from behind the rock. + +The portfire touched the vent--there was a discharge that seemed to +rend Mr Bags's heartstrings and blow off the roof of his skull--and +the clever speculation on which he had counted for making his +fortune ended, like many others, in smoke. He gazed for a moment out +in the direction of the flash, as if he expected to see the watches +and rings gleaming in the air; then he turned and disappeared in the +darkness. + +After a few ineffectual discharges, the Spaniards seemed to become +aware of the badness of their aim, and to take measures to amend it. +Several shot struck the hospital; and some shells falling through +the roof, exploded in the very wards where the sick lay. The unhappy +Jew, Lazaro, lying in a feverish and semi-delirious state from his +former hurt and agitation, was again struck by a splinter of a +shell which burst in the ward where the Major's care had seen him +deposited, blowing up the ceiling and part of the wall. In the midst +of the confusion, the Jew, frantic with terror, rushed unrestrained +from the building, followed only by his daughter, who was watching +by his bed. He was not missed for some time, and the attempts to +discover him, made after his disappearance became known, were of no +avail. A neighbouring sentry had seen a white figure, followed by +another crying after it, dash across the road and disappear in the +bushes; but the search made about the vicinity of the spot failed in +detecting any traces of them, and those who troubled themselves to +think of the matter at all, surmised that they had fallen into the +sea. + + +CHAPTER V. + +For some pages, my grandfather's note-book is filled with memoranda +of singular casualties from the enemy's shot, wonderful escapes, +and hasty moments of quietude and attempted comfort snatched "even +in the cannon's mouth." The fire from the Spanish batteries shortly +reduced the town to ruins, and the gunboats at night precluded all +hope of peace and oblivion after the horrors of the day. Dreams, in +which these horrors were reproduced, were interrupted by still more +frightful nocturnal realities. One of the curious minor evils that +my grandfather notices, as resulting from an incessant cannonade, +to those not engaged in it actively enough to withdraw their +attention from the noise, is the extreme irritation produced by its +long continuance, amounting, in persons of nervous and excitable +temperament, to positive exasperation. + +Some of the numerous incidents he chronicles are also recorded by +Drinkwater, especially that of a man who recovered after being +almost knocked to pieces by the bursting of a shell. "His head was +terribly fractured, his left arm broken in two places, one of his +legs shattered, the skin and muscles torn off his right hand, the +middle finger broken to pieces, and his whole body most severely +bruised and marked with gunpowder. He presented so horrid an object +to the surgeons, that they had not the smallest hopes of saving his +life, and were at a loss what part to attend to first. He was that +evening trepanned; a few days afterwards his leg was amputated, +and other wounds and fractures dressed. Being possessed of a most +excellent constitution, nature performed wonders in his favour, +and in eleven weeks the cure was completely effected. His name," +continues Mr Drinkwater, with what might be deemed irony--if the +worthy historian ever indulged in that figure of rhetoric--"is +Donald Ross, and he" (_i. e._ the remaining fragment of the said +Donald Ross) "now enjoys his sovereign's bounty in a pension of +ninepence a-day for life." One might almost suppose that Mr Hume had +some hand in affixing the gratuity; but in those days there was a +king who knew not Joseph. + +My grandfather appears to have had also an adventure of his own. +During a cessation of the cannonade, he was sitting one morning on +a fragment of rock, in the garden behind his quarters, reading his +favourite author. The firing suddenly recommenced, and a long-ranged +shell, striking the ground at some distance, rolled towards him. +He glanced half-absently at the hissing missile; and whether he +actually did not for a moment recollect its character, or whether, +as was often the case on such occasions, the imminence of the danger +paralysed him, he sat immovably watching it as it fizzed within a +couple of yards of him. Unquestionably in another three seconds +my grandfather's earthly tabernacle would have been resolved into +its original atoms, had not the intrepid Carlota (who was standing +near gathering flowers to stick in her hair) darted on him, and, +seizing him by the arm, dragged him behind a wall. They were scarce +under shelter when the shell exploded--the shock laying them both +prostrate, though unhurt but for a few bruises--while the stone +on which the Major had been sitting was shivered to atoms. To the +description of this incident in the Major's journal are appended a +pious reflection and a short thanksgiving, which, being entirely of +a personal nature, I omit. + +The stores landed from the fleet were in a very precarious position. +Owing to the destruction of the buildings, there were no means of +placing them where they might be sheltered at once from the fire of +the enemy and from rain. Some were piled under sails spread out as +a sort of roof to protect them, and some, that were not likely to +sustain immediate injury from the damp air of such a depository, +were ordered to be conveyed to St Michael's Cave. + +This cave is one of the most curious features of the Rock. Its +mouth--an inconsiderable opening in the slope of the mountain--is +situated many hundred feet above the sea. Within, it expands into a +spacious hall, the roof, invisible in the gloom, supported by thick +pillars formed by the petrified droppings of the rock. From this +principal cavern numerous smaller ones branch off, leading, by dark, +broken, and precipitous passages, to unknown depths. Along one of +these, according to tradition, Governor O'Hara advanced farther than +ever man had gone before, and left his sword in the inmost recess to +be recovered by the next explorer who should be equally adventurous. +But whether it is that the tradition is unfounded, or that the +weapon has been carried off by some gnome, or that the governor's +exploit is as yet unrivalled, the sword has never been brought to +light. + +For the duty of placing the stores here, the name of Lieutenant +Owen appeared in the garrison orders. My grandfather having nothing +particular to do, and being anxious to escape as much as possible +for a short time from the din of the bombardment, offered to +accompany Frank in the execution of this duty. + +The day was dark and gloomy, and the steep path slippery from rain, +so that the mules bearing the stores toiled with difficulty up the +ascent. At first, my grandfather and Owen indulged in cheerful +conversation; but shortness of breath soon reduced the Major to +monosyllables, and the latter part of the journey was accomplished +in silence. Frequently the Major paused and faced about, at once +to look at the prospect and to take breath. Far below, on his +right, was seen the southern end of the town, consisting partly +of a heap of ruins, with here and there a rafter sticking out of +the mass, partly of roofless walls, among which was occasionally +heard the crashing of shot; but the guns that discharged them, as +well as those that replied from the town, were invisible from +this point. Directly beneath him the ground afforded a curious +spectacle, being covered with tents, huts, and sheds, of all sorts +and sizes, where the outcast population of the ruined town obtained +a precarious and insufficient shelter. The only building visible +which still retained its former appearance was the convent--the +governor's residence--which was protected by bomb-proofs, and where +working-parties were constantly engaged in repairing the injuries. +The bay, once thickly wooded with masts and dotted with sails, was +now blank and cheerless; only the enemy's cruisers were visible, +lying under the opposite shore of Spain. + +Owen and my grandfather arrived at the mouth of the cave somewhat in +advance of the convoy. To their surprise a smoke was issuing from +it; and, as they approached nearer, their nostrils were greeted by +an odour at once savoury and spicy. Going softly up they looked in. + +Mr Bags and a couple of friends were seated round a fire, over which +was roasting a small pig, scientifically butchered and deprived of +his hair, and hung up by the heels. The fire, in the absence of +other fuel, (of which there was an extreme scarcity in Gibraltar,) +was supplied by bundles of cinnamon plundered from the store of some +grocer, and, as the flame waxed low, Mr Bags took a fresh bundle +from a heap of that fragrant spice by his side, and laid it on the +embers. Mrs Bags was occupied in basting the pig with lard, which +she administered from time to time with an iron ladle. + +Presently Mr Bags tapped on the pig's back with his knife. It sent +forth a crisp crackling sound, that made my grandfather's mouth +water, and caused Mr Bags to become impatient. + +"Polly," said he, "it's my opinion it's been done these three +minutes. I can't wait much longer." + +And he cast a glance at the other two soldiers, (in whom, as well as +in Bags, Owen recognised men of his company who had been reported +absent for some days, and were supposed to have gone over to the +enemy,) to ascertain if their opinions tallied with his own on this +point. + +"It can't be no better," said one, taking hold of the pig's neck +between his finger and thumb, which he afterwards applied to his +mouth. + +"I can't abear my meat overdone," said the third. "What I say is, +let them that likes to wait, wait, and let them that wants to begin, +begin." So saying, he rose, and was about to attack the ribs of the +porker with his knife. + +"Do stop a minute--that's a dear," said Mrs Bags; "another bundle of +cinnament will make it parfect. I'll give ye something to stay your +stomach;" and stepping to a nook in the wall of the cavern, where +stood a large barrel, she filled a pewter measure, and handed it to +the impatient advocate for underdone pork, who took a considerable +dram, and passed it to his companions. + +"Cinnament's better with pork nor with most things," said Bags. "It +spoils goose, because it don't agree with the inions, and it makes +fowls wishy-washy; but it goes excellent with pig." + +"What's left in the larder?" asked one of the party. + +"There's a week's good eating yet," said Mrs Bags, "and we _might_ +make it do ten days or a fortnight." + +"Well!" said the other, "they may say what they like about sieges, +but this is the jolliest time ever _I_ had." + +"It's very well by day," said Bags, "but the nights is cold, and the +company of that ghost ain't agreeable--I seed it again last night." + +"Ah!" said his friend, "what was it like, Tongs?" + +"Something white," returned Bags in an awful whisper, "with a +ghost's eyes. You may allays know a ghost by the eyes. I was just +rising up, and thinking about getting a drink, for my coppers was +hot, when it comes gliding up from that end of the cave. I spoke to +you, and then I couldn't see it no more, because it was varnished." + +"Ghosts always varnishes if you speak," said Mrs Bags. "But never +mind the spirit now--let's look after the flesh," added the lady, +who possessed a fund of native pleasantry: "the pig's done to a +turn." + +At this interesting juncture, and just as they were about to fall +to, the footsteps of the approaching mules struck on their ears. +Owen went to meet the party, and hastily selecting six men from it, +advanced, and desired them to secure the astounded convivialists. + +On recovering from their first astonishment, Bags begged Owen would +overlook the offence; they were only, he pleaded, having a little +spree--times had been hard lately. Mrs Bags, as usual, displayed +great eloquence, though not much to the purpose. She seemed to have +some idea that an enumeration of the gentlemen's families she had +lived in, and the high estimation in which she had been held in +all, would really tell powerfully in favour of the delinquents, and +persevered accordingly, till they were marched off in custody of the +escort, when she made a final appeal to my grandfather, as the last +gentleman whose family she had lived in--with what advantage to the +household the reader knows. The Major, who could not forgive the +roasting of his ham, called her, in reply, a "horrible woman," but, +at the same time, whispered to Owen that he hoped the fellows would +not be severely punished. "If we had caught them after dinner," said +he, "I shouldn't have pitied them so much." + +"Never mind them," said Owen; "let us proceed to business. We must +select the driest spot we can find to put the stores in." + +[Here, by way of taking leave of Mr Bags, I may remark, that he +narrowly escaped being hanged as a plunderer--failing which, he was +sentenced by a court-martial to receive a number of lashes, which I +refrain from specifying, because it would certainly make the hair of +a modern humanitarian turn white with horror.] + +"Come along, Major," said Owen; "perhaps we may find more of these +scoundrels in the course of our researches." + +The Major did not move; he was earnestly regarding the carcase of +the pig, that steamed hissing above the embers. + +"Queer idea that of the cinnamon fire," said he. "I wonder how the +meat tastes." + +Owen did not hear him, having walked forward. + +"Have you got a knife about you, Frank?" said the Major. "Do you +know I have a curious desire to ascertain the flavour. It may be a +feature in cookery worth knowing." + +Owen had not a knife, nor had any of the men, but one of them +suggested that the Major's sword would answer the purpose. + +"To be sure," said the Major. "A good idea! I don't see why +swords shouldn't be turned into carving-knives as well as into +pruning-hooks." So saying, he drew it from the sheath, and, +straddling across the fire, detached a crisp brown mouthful from the +pig's ribs, and putting a little salt on it, he conveyed it to his +mouth. + +"Excellent!" cried the Major. "I give you my word of honour, Owen, +'tis excellent! The cinnamon gives it a sort of a ----" + +Here a second and larger mouthful interrupted the criticism. + +"It must be very near lunch-time," said the Major, pausing, sword +in hand, when he had swallowed it; then, pretending to look at his +watch--"Bless me, it only wants half-an-hour of it. Do you think +this business will take you long, Owen?" + +"About a couple of hours," said Owen. + +"Ah, why, there you see," returned the Major, "we shan't get home +till long past lunch-time. I really don't see why we shouldn't take +a snack now. Nothing can be better than that pig. I only wish the +woman had dressed my dinner half as well. Corporal Hodson, would you +oblige me with a piece of that biscuit near you?" And, detaching a +large fragment of pork, he placed it on the biscuit, and sprinkling +it with pepper and salt, which condiments had not been forgotten in +the gastronomic arrangements of Mr Bags, he proceeded to follow Owen +into the interior of the cave, taking huge bites as he went. + +The path slopes at first steeply downward from the mouth to the +interior of the cavern, where it becomes more level. Light being +admitted only at the entrance, the gloom of the interior is almost +impenetrable to the eye. The men had brought torches to assist them +in their work, and, a suitable spot having been selected, these were +stuck on different points and abutments of the rocky wall, when the +party proceeded to unload the mules at the entrance, conveying their +burdens into the cave. + +In the midst of the bustle and noise attending the operation, the +little dog given by Esther to Carlota, which had that morning +followed the Major, to whom it had speedily attached itself, began +barking and howling dismally in a dark recess behind one of the +great natural pillars before spoken of. As the noise continued, +intermixed with piteous whinings, one of the men took a torch from +the wall, and stepped forward into the darkness, to see what ailed +the animal. Presently he cried out that "there was a man there." + +My grandfather, who was next him, immediately followed, and five +paces brought him to the spot. The soldier who held the torch was +stooping, and holding it over a figure that lay on the ground on its +back. In the unshaven, blood-stained countenance, my grandfather, at +first, had some difficulty in recognising Lazaro the Jew. Some fiery +splashes of pitch from the torch dropping at the moment on his bare +throat, produced no movement, though, had he been living, they must +have scorched him to the quick. + +On the body was nothing but the shirt he wore the night of his +flight from the hospital, but his legs were wrapt in a woman's +dress. Across his breast, on her face, lay Esther, in her white +under-garments--for the gown that wrapt the Jew's legs was hers. The +glare of the torch was bright and red on the two prostrate figures, +and on the staring appalled countenance of the man who held it--the +group forming a glowing spot in the vast, sombre, vaulted space, +where dim gleams of light were caught and repeated on projecting +masses of rock, more and more faintly, till all was bounded by +darkness. + +Years afterwards my grandfather would sometimes complain of having +been revisited, in dreams of the night, by that ghastly piece of +Rembrandt painting. + +The rest quickly flocked to the spot, and Esther was lifted and +found to breathe, though the Jew was stiff and cold. Some diluted +spirit, from the cellar of Bags, being poured down her throat she +revived a little, when my grandfather caused two of the men to bear +her carefully to his house; and the body of the Jew being wrapt in a +piece of canvass, was placed on a mule and conveyed to the hospital +for interment. + +Medical aid restored Esther to consciousness, and she told how they +came to be found in the cave. + +Her father, on leaving the hospital, had fled by chance, as she +thought, to this cave, for he did not reach it by the usual path, +but climbed, in his delirious fear, up the face of the rock, and she +had followed him as well as she could, keeping his white figure in +sight. They had both lain exhausted in the cave till morning, when, +finding that her father slept, she was on the point of leaving him +to seek assistance. But, unhappily, before she could quit the place, +Bags and his associates entered from their plundering expedition +into the town, and, frightened at their drunken language, and +recognising in Bags the man who had robbed her, she had crept back +to her concealment. The party of marauders never quitted the cavern +from the moment of establishing themselves in it. They spent the +day in eating, drinking, singing songs, and sometimes quarrelling. +Twice, at night, she ventured forth; but she always found one of +them asleep across the entrance, so that she could not pass without +waking him, and once one of them started up, and seemed about to +pursue her--doubtless Bags, on the occasion when he thought he saw +a ghost. Nevertheless, she had mustered courage twice to take some +fragments of food that were lying near the fire, leaving each time a +piece of money in payment; and she had also taken a lighted candle, +the better to ascertain her father's situation. He had never spoken +to her since the first night of their coming, and, during all those +dark and weary hours, (for they were three nights and two days in +the cavern,) she had remained by him listening to his incoherent +mutterings and moans. The candle had showed her that he had lost +much blood, from the wound in his forehead breaking out afresh, as +well as from the other received in the hospital, though the latter +was but a flesh wound. These she had bandaged with shreds of her +dress, and had tried to give him some of the nourishment she had +procured, but could force nothing on him except some water. Some +hours, however--how long she did not know, but it was during the +night--before Owen's party found her, the Jew had become sensible. +He told her he was dying; and, unconscious of where he was, desired +her to fetch a light. This she had procured in the same way as +before, lighting the candle at the embers of the fire round which +Bags and his friends reposed. Then the Jew, who seemed to imagine +himself still in the hospital, bid her say whom, among those she +knew in Gibraltar, she would wish to have charge of her when he was +no more; and, on her mentioning Carlota, had desired her to take pen +and paper and write his will as he should dictate it. Pen she had +none, but she had a pencil and a scrap of paper in her pocket, and +with these she wrote, leaning over to catch the whispered syllables +that he with difficulty articulated. + +From this paper it would appear that the Jew had some fatherly +feelings for Esther concealed beneath his harsh deportment towards +her. I can describe the will, for I have often seen it. It is +written on a piece of crumpled writing-paper, about the size of a +bank-note, very stained and dirty. It is written in Spanish; and +in it the Jew entreats "the Señora, the wife of Sr. Don Flinder, +English officer, to take charge of his orphan child, in requital +whereof he leaves her the half of whatsoever property he dies +possessed of, the other half to be disposed of for the benefit of +his daughter." Then follows a second paragraph, inserted at Esther's +own desire, to the effect that, should she not survive, the whole +was to be inherited by the aforesaid Señora. It is dated "Abril +1781," and signed in a faint, straggling hand, quite different from +the clear writing of the rest--"JOSÉ LAZARO." + +Esther would now have gone, at all hazards, to obtain assistance, +but the Jew clutched her arm, and would not permit her to quit him. +He breathed his last shortly after, and Esther remembered nothing +more till she came to herself in the Major's house. The paper was +found in her bosom. + +Some days after this event my grandfather went with Owen into the +town, during a temporary lull in the enemy's firing, to visit the +house of Lazaro, in order to ascertain whether anything valuable +was left that might be converted to Esther's benefit. They had +some difficulty in finding the exact locality, owing to the utter +destruction of all the landmarks. The place was a mass of ruins. +Some provisions and goods had been left by the plunderers, but so +mixed with rubbish, and overflowed with the contents of the casks +of liquor and molasses, as to be of no value even in these times of +dearth. + +Owen, poking about among the wreck, observed an open space in the +middle of one of the shattered walls, as if something had been built +into it. With the assistance of my grandfather's cane, he succeeded +in dislodging the surrounding masonry, already loosened by shot, and +they discovered it to be a recess made in the thickness of the wall, +and closed by a small iron door. At the bottom was lying a small +box, also of iron, which they raised, not without difficulty, for +its weight was extraordinary in proportion to its dimensions. This +being conveyed to my grandfather's, and opened, was found to contain +more than six hundred doubloons, (a sum in value about two thousand +pounds,) and many bills of exchange and promissory notes, mostly +those of officers. The latest was that of Von Dessel. These the +Major, by Esther's desire, returned to the persons whose signatures +they bore. + +Esther never completely recovered from the effects of her sojourn +in the cave, but remained always pale and of weak health. My +grandfather took good care of her inheritance for her, and on +leaving Gibraltar, at the conclusion of the siege, invested the +whole of it safely for her benefit, placing her, at the same time, +in the family of some respectable persons of her own religion. She +afterwards married a wealthy Hebrew; and, in whatever part of +the world the Major chanced to be serving, so long as she lived, +valuable presents would constantly arrive from Gibraltar--mantillas +and ornaments of jewellery for Carlota, and butts of delicious +sherry for my grandfather. These, however, ceased with her death, +about twenty years afterwards. + +This is, I believe, the most connected and interesting episode to +be found in the Major's note-book; and it is, I think, the last +specimen I shall offer of these new "Tales of my Grandfather." + +As a child I used to listen, with interest ever new, to the tale +of the young Jewess, which the narrator had often heard from the +lips of Carlota and her husband. St Michael's Cave took rank in my +mind with those other subterranean abodes where Cassim, the brother +of Ali Baba, who forgot the word "_Open Sesame_," was murdered by +the Forty Thieves; where Aladdin was shut by the magician in the +enchanted garden; and where Robinson Crusoe discovered the dying +he-goat. And when, at the conclusion of the tale, the scrap of +paper containing the Jew's will was produced from a certain desk, +and carefully unfolded, I seemed to be connected by some awful and +mysterious link with these departed actors in the scenes I had so +breathlessly listened to. + + + + +LIFE AMONGST THE LOGGERS. + +_Forest Life and Forest Trees._ By JOHN S. SPRINGER. New York: +Harper. London: Sampson Low. 1851. + + +The northern and elder States of the great American Union have +ceased to be associated in our minds with those ideas of wild +and romantic adventure which are inseparably connected with some +of their younger brethren far west and south. There is nothing +suggestive of romance in such names as New York, Maine, and +Pennsylvania: cotton bales, keen traders and repudiated debts, +drab coats, wooden clocks, and counterfeit nutmegs, compose the +equivocal and unpoetical visions they conjure up to European +imaginations. But drop we our eyes down the map to lawless Arkansas, +feverish Louisiana, and debateable Texas, or westwards to the still +newer State of California, and a host of stirring and picturesque +associations throng upon our memory. Strange scenes and a motley +array pass before us. Bands of hunters and trappers, scarce more +civilised than the Indians with whom they war, or gentler than the +buffalo which yields them sport and food; predatory armies, for +Mexico bound, keen for spoil and regardless of right; caravans of +adventurous gold-seekers braving the perilous passage of the Rocky +Mountains; hardy squatters, axe in hand, hewing themselves a home +in the heart of the wilderness; innumerable traits of courage and +endurance--incredible sufferings and countless crimes--make up a +picture-gallery unrivalled of its kind. In those districts, not +a league of prairie, not a mountain or stream, not a _bayou_ or +_barranca_, but has derived recent and vivid interest from the +animated sketches of Sealsfield, Ruxton, Wise, and a host of other +graphic and vigorous delineators. + +As if to vindicate the claims to interest of the northern American +provinces, a Down-easter, Springer by name, who hails from the State +of Maine, has exhibited, in a curious little volume, the adventurous +side of life in _his_ part of the Union. At a first glance, there +would appear to be few created things whose history was likely to be +less interesting than that of a Yankee pine-log. Get astride it with +Springer, and paddle up the Penobscot, clearing rapids and other +impediments as best you may on so unpromising a float--and, before +reaching the place where it grew, you shall marvel at the skill +and daring expended, and at the risks run to procure it. Springer, +who was reared amongst the pine forests, which his axe afterwards +helped to thin, is an enthusiastic woodsman, and feels "kinder +jealous" that whilst the habits and adventures of many classes of +his countrymen have occupied skilful writers and public attention, +no chronicler should have been found for the deeds and perils of +that numerous class to which he for some years belonged. To supply +this deficiency, he himself, although more used to handle axe than +goose-quill, has written a plain and unpretending account of scenes +and incidents which he shared in and witnessed. The freshness of +the subject, and the honest earnestness of the man, would atone for +clumsier treatment than it has met with at his hands. + +The second title of Mr Springer's book gives a clearer idea of +its contents than the primary one. The volume comprises, says the +title-page, "Winter camp-life, among the Loggers, and wild-wood +adventure, with descriptions of lumbering operations on the various +rivers of Maine and New Brunswick." It is divided into three parts; +the first and shortest being a dissertation on forest trees, with +particular reference to those of America; the second, entitled +"The Pine Tree, or Forest Life," giving an account of wood-cutting +operations; the third, "River Life," detailing the progress of +the timber from the forest to the "boom," or depôt. The chief +interest of the book begins with the second chapter of the second +part, wherein is described the commencement of the labours of a +gang of "loggers," or woodcutters. In the hunt after timber, as +after certain animals, the first thing to be done is to mark the +whereabout of your game preparatory to starting in its pursuit. On +the eve of the chase the keeper reconnoitres the retreat of the +wild-boar. Before a party of loggers proceed to establish a camp +and pass the winter woodcutting, they send out scouts to ascertain +where timber is plenty. Thirty years since, this was scarcely +necessary--the pine, that forest king of the northern States, +abounded on every side. Fifty years hence--so it is estimated by +those best qualified to judge--the vast pine forests, through which +the Penobscot flows, will be on the eve of extinction. Now is the +intermediate stage. A man cannot, as he formerly could, step from +his house to his day's work; but research and labour still command +a rich timber harvest. Exploring expeditions may be made at any +period of the year, but autumn is the favourite season. They consist +generally of only two or three men, accustomed to the business, +who, provided with the necessary provisions, with a coffee-pot and +a blanket, axe, rifle, and ammunition, embark on skiff or _bateau_, +and pole and paddle their way two hundred miles or more up the +Penobscot or the St Croix, and their numerous tributaries. On +reaching the district it is proposed to explore, the boat is hauled +ashore and turned bottom upwards, the load of stores is divided +amongst the party, and they strike into the forest, rousing, on +their passage, the stately moose, the timid deer, the roaming black +bear, and many an inferior denizen of the lonesome wilderness. They +now begin "prospecting." Often the thickness of the forest and the +uneven surface of the country prevent their obtaining a sufficiently +extensive view, and compel them to climb trees in order to look +around them. + + "When an ascent is to be made, the spruce tree is generally + selected, principally for the superior facilities which its + numerous limbs afford the climber. To gain the first limbs of + this tree, which are from twenty to forty feet from the ground, + a smaller tree is undercut and lodged against it, clambering + up which the top of the spruce is reached. Sometimes, when a + very elevated position is desired, the spruce tree is lodged + against the trunk of some lofty pine, up which we ascend to + a height twice that of the surrounding forest. From such a + tree-top, like a mariner at the mast-head upon the look-out for + whales, (and indeed the pine is the whale of the forest,) large + 'clumps' and 'veins' of pine are discovered, whose towering + tops may be seen for miles around. Such views fill the bosom of + timber-hunters with an _intense interest_. They are the object + of his search--his treasure, his Eldorado; and they are beheld + with peculiar and thrilling emotions. To detail the process more + minutely, we should observe, that the man in the tree-top points + out the direction in which the pines are seen; or, if hid from + the view of those below by the surrounding foliage, he breaks a + small limb, and throws it in the direction in which they appear, + whilst a man at the base marks the direction indicated by the + falling limb by means of a compass which he holds in his hand, + the compass being quite as necessary in the wilderness as on the + pathless ocean. In fair weather the sun serves as an important + guide; and in cloudy weather the close observation of an + experienced woodman will enable him to steer a tolerably correct + course by the moss which grows on the trunks of most hardwood + trees, the north sides of which are covered with a much larger + share than the other portions of the trunk. This Indian compass, + however, is not very convenient or safe, particularly in passing + through swampy lands, which are of frequent occurrence." + +Two reflections are suggested by the paragraph we have just copied. +The substance of one of them is noted in the Preface. "This volume," +says the modest and sensible Springer, "makes no pretensions to +literary merit; sooner would it claim kindred with the wild and +uncultivated scenes of which it is but a simple relation." The +second reflection is, that our wood-cutter is an enthusiast in +his craft; for wood-cutting in Maine _is_ a craft, and no common +log-chopping. To Springer, a towering grove of timber is as exciting +a sight as is to the hunter that of a herd of antlered deer or +shaggy buffalo. The pine especially is the object of his love and +admiration. He abounds in anecdotes and arguments to prove its +good qualities, and labours hard to establish its superiority to +the oak. Reared amongst the noble pines of Maine, he says, even as +a child, he could never hear, without feelings of jealousy, the +oak extolled as monarch of the forest. Admitting it to excel in +strength, he vaunts, upon the other hand, the superior grandeur and +girth of the pine, its value in building, the breadth of its planks, +their clearness, beauty, and freedom from knots, the numerous uses +to which it is applicable, its excellence as fuel, its perfect +adaptation to all the joiner's purposes. He extols in turn each of +its varieties; the red pine, remarkable for its tall trunk, which +sometimes rises eighty feet from the ground before putting out a +limb; the pitch pine, inferior in size, but preferable to any other +wood for generating steam in engines; the white pine, superior +to all in value and dimensions. He tells us of pines, of which +he has read or heard, of extraordinary grandeur and diameter: of +one, two hundred and sixty-four feet long; and of another which, +at three feet from the ground, was fifty-seven feet nine inches in +circumference. These extraordinary specimens were cut some years +ago. Trees of such dimensions are now rare. + + "I have worked in the forests among this timber several years," + says Springer, "have cut many hundreds of trees, and seen many + thousands, but I never found one larger than one I felled on a + little stream which empties into Jackson Lake, near the head of + Baskahegan stream, in eastern Maine. This was a pumpkin pine, + (a variety of the white pine.) Its trunk was as straight and + handsomely grown as a moulded candle, and measured six feet in + diameter four feet from the ground, without the aid of spur + roots. It was about nine rods in length, or one hundred and + forty-four feet, about sixty-five feet of which was free of + limbs, and retained its diameter remarkably well. I was employed + about one hour and a quarter in felling it. The afternoon was + beautiful; everything was calm, and to me the circumstances + were deeply interesting. After chopping an hour or so, the + mighty giant, the growth of centuries, which had withstood the + hurricane, and raised itself in peerless majesty above all + around, began to tremble under the strokes of a mere insect, as + I might appear in comparison with it. My heart palpitated as I + occasionally raised my eye to its pinnacle to catch the first + indications of its fall. It came down at length with a crash, + which seemed to shake a hundred acres, whilst the loud echo rang + through the forest, dying away amongst the distant hills. It had + a hollow in the butt about the size of a barrel, and the surface + of the stump was sufficiently spacious to allow a yoke of oxen + to stand upon it. It made five logs, and loaded a six-ox team + three times. The butt-log was so large, that the stream did not + float it in the spring; and when the drive was taken down, we + were obliged to leave it behind, much to our regret and loss. At + the boom, that log would have been worth fifty dollars." + +The pine tracts ascertained, the quality of the trees examined, +the distance the timber will have to be hauled duly calculated, +and the ground inspected, through which logging roads must be +cut, the exploring party retrace their steps to the place where +they left their boat. Foot-sore with their forest roamings, they +gladly look forward to the quick, gliding passage down stream. A +grievous disappointment sometimes awaits them. In the fall of the +year, the black bear is seized with a violent longing for pitch and +resinous substances, and frequently strips fir trees of their bark +for the sake of the exudations. Occasionally he stumbles over a +timber-hunter's _bateau_, and tears it to pieces in the course of +the rough process he employs to extract the tar from its planks. If +it is injured beyond possibility of repair, the unlucky pioneers +have to perform their homeward journey on foot, unless indeed they +are so fortunate as to fall in with some Indian trapper, whose canoe +they can charter for a portion of the way. Once at home, the next +step is to obtain permits from the State or proprietors, securing, +at a stipulated price of so much per thousand feet, the exclusive +right to cut timber within certain bounds. Then comes haymaking--a +most important part of the loggers' duty; for on nothing does the +success of the wood-cutting campaign depend more than on the good +working condition of the sturdy teams of oxen which drag the logs +from the snow-covered forest to the river's brink. Hard by the +forest extensive strips of meadow-land are commonly found, covered +with a heavy growth of grass, and thither large bands of men repair +to make and stalk the hay for the ensuing winter's consumption. The +labour of haymaking in these upland meadows of Maine is rendered +intolerably painful by the assaults of flies and mosquitoes, and +especially by the insidious attacks of millions of midges, so small +as to be scarcely perceptible to the naked eye, and which get +between the clothes and the skin, causing a smarting and irritation +so great as to impede the progress of the work. The torment of +these insect attacks is hardly compensated by the pastimes and +adventures incidental to the occupation. Now and then a shot is to +be had at a stray deer; the streams swarm with beautiful trout and +pickerel; skirmishes with black bears are of frequent occurrence. +Mr Springer's volume abounds with stories of encounters with bears, +wolves, and "Indian devils"--a formidable species of catamount, +of which the Indians stand in particular dread. Although the bear +rarely shows himself pugnacious unless assailed, his meddlesome, +thievish propensities render him particularly obnoxious to the +hay-makers and wood-cutters; and when they meet him, they never can +abstain from the aggressive, however civilly Bruin may be disposed +to pass them by. + + "On one occasion," says Mr Springer, "two men, crossing a small + lake in skiff, on their return from putting up hay, discovered + a bear swimming from a point of land for the opposite shore. As + usual in such cases, temptation silenced prudence--they changed + their course, and gave chase. The craft being light, they gained + fast upon the bear, who exerted himself to the utmost to gain + the shore; but, finding himself an unequal match in the race, + he turned upon his pursuers, and swam to meet them. One of the + men, a short, thick-set, dare-devil fellow, seized an axe, and, + the moment the bear came up, inflicted a blow upon his head. It + seemed to make but a slight impression, and before it could be + repeated the bear clambered into the boat. He instantly grappled + the man who struck him, firmly setting his teeth in his thigh; + then, settling back upon his haunches, he raised his victim in + the air, and shook him as a dog would a wood-chuck. The man at + the helm stood for a moment in amazement, without knowing how to + act, and fearing that the bear might spring overboard and drown + his companion; but, recollecting the effect of a blow upon the + end of a bear's snout, he struck him with a short setting-pole. + The bear dropped his victim into the bottom of the boat, sallied + and fell overboard, and swam again for the shore. The man bled + freely from the bite, and, as the wound proved too serious to + allow a renewal of the encounter, they made for the shore. + But one thing saved them from being upset: the water proved + sufficiently shoal to admit of the bear's getting bottom, from + which he sprang into the boat. Had the water been deep, the + consequences might have been more serious." + +From its first to its last stage, the logger's occupation is one +of severe toil and frequent peril. When the pioneer's duty is +accomplished, and when the hay is made, there is still hard work to +be done before he can begin to level the forest giants. No kind of +labour, Mr Springer assures us, tests a man's physical abilities +and powers of endurance more than boating supplies up river. The +wood-cutters come to a fall, and have to land their implements and +provisions, and to carry them past it. Their boats, too, must be +carried, and that over rocks and fallen trees, through thickets and +pathless swamps. Then they come to rapids, up which they have to +pole their heavy-laden bateaux. For this work, prodigious skill, +nerve, and strength are requisite. Then come the long portages from +lake to lake, and the danger of being swamped, when traversing +these, by sudden gusts of wind lashing the lake, in a few minutes' +time, into foaming waves, in which the deeply-loaded boats could not +for a moment live. + + "Our frail skiff was about eighteen feet long, and four feet + across the top of the gunwale amidships, tapering to a point at + either end, constructed of thin slips of pine boards, nailed + to some half-dozen pair of slender knees, about two inches in + diameter. On board were fifteen hundred pounds of provisions, + with seven men, which pressed her into the water nearly to the + gunwale; three inches from the position of a level, and she + would fill with water." + +In such an overburthened cockle-shell as this did Mr Springer once +find himself in company with a drunken man, who was only withheld +from capsizing the boat by the threat of having his skull split +with a paddle; for an inordinate addiction to rum is the loggers' +chief vice, a vice palliated by the hardship and exposure they +endure. Drinking, however, is on the decline amongst them of late +years, since "it has been fully demonstrated that men can endure the +chilling hardships of river-driving quite as well, and indeed far +better, without the stimulus of ardent spirits, and perform more and +better-directed labour." Black pepper tea is drunk on cold nights +when camping in the open air, and is found a warming and comfortable +beverage. Both in drink and diet the loggers look more to strength +than to delicacy. Salt pork, ship bread, and molasses, compose the +staple of their consumption. The drippings from a slice of pork, +roasted before the fire, are allowed to fall on the bread, which is +then dignified by the name of buttered toast. Sometimes the salt +pork is eaten raw, dipped in molasses,--a mixture unequalled for +nastiness, we should imagine, excepting by that of oysters and brown +sugar. "The recital may cause," says honest Springer in his comical +English, "in delicate and pampered stomachs some qualms, yet we can +assure the uninitiated that, from these gross samples, the hungry +woodsman makes many a delicious meal." An assurance which gives us +a most exalted idea of the appetite and digestion of the loggers of +Maine. + +Once in the forest with their stores, the woodmen carefully select +a suitable spot, clear the ground, build their "camp" and "hovel," +and commence their winter's work. The "camp" and "hovel" are two +log-houses, the former being for the men, the latter for the oxen. +In some respects the beasts are better treated than their masters, +for their hovel is floored with small poles, a luxury unknown in +the camp, where the men sleep on branches strewn upon the bare +earth. "Having completed our winter residences, next in order comes +the business of looking out and cutting the 'main' and some of +the principal 'branch roads.' These roads, like the veins in the +human body, ramify the wilderness to all the principal 'clumps' and +'groves' of pine embraced in the permit." Mr Springer expatiates on +the graceful curves of the roads, whose inequalities soon become +filled with snow, and their surface hard-beaten and glassy, polished +by the sled and logs which are continually passing over it, whilst +overhead the trees interlace their spreading branches. "Along this +roadside, on the way to the landing, runs a serpentine path for the +'knight of the goad,' whose deviations are marked now outside this +tree, then behind that 'windfall,' now again intercepting the main +road, skipping along like a dog at one's side." The teamster, if +he does his duty, works harder than any man in camp. Under a good +teamster, the oxen receive care almost as tender as though they were +race-horses with thousands depending on their health and condition. +With proper attention and management, they should be in as good +flesh in the spring as when they began hauling early in winter. + + "The last thing at night before 'turning in,' the teamster + lights his lantern and repairs to the ox-hovel. In the morning, + by peep of day, and often before, his visits are repeated, to + hay and provender, and card, and yoke up. While the rest of the + hands are sitting or lounging around the liberal fire, shifting + for their comfort, after exposure to the winter frosts through + the day, he must repeatedly go out to look after the comfort + of the sturdy, faithful ox. And then, for an hour or two in + the morning again, whilst all, save the cook, are closing up + the sweet and unbroken slumbers of the night, so welcome and + necessary to the labourer, he is out amid the early frost with, + I had almost said, the care of a mother, to see if 'old Turk' is + not loose, whether 'Bright' favours the near fore-foot, (which + felt a little hot the day before,) as he stands up on the hard + floor, and then to inspect 'Swan's' provender-trough, to see + if he has eaten his meal, for it was carefully noted that at + the 'watering-place' last night he drank but little; whilst at + the further end of the 'tie-up' he thinks he hears a little + clattering noise, and presently 'little Star' is having his + shins gently rapped, as a token of his master's wish to raise + his foot to see if some nail has not given way in the loosened + shoe; and this not for once, but every day, with numberless + other cares connected with his charge." + +The oxen are taken out to the forest by the last detachment of +wood-cutters, when winter fairly sets in. This is the hardest trip +of any. Both man and beast experience much inconvenience from the +cold. Often, when driving a boat up rapids, ice forms upon the +poles in the men's hands, which are already so cold and stiff that +they can scarcely retain their grasp; yet an instant's cessation of +exertion would be fraught with imminent peril to life and goods. +The oxen, attached to long lightly-loaded sleds, are driven over +rough miry tracks. "In crossing large streams, we unyoke the oxen +and swim them over. If we have no boat, a raft is constructed, upon +which our effects are transported, when we reyoke and pursue our +route as before. Our cattle are often very reluctant to enter the +water whilst the anchor-ice runs, and the cold has already begun +to congeal its surface." Lakes are crossed upon the ice, which not +unfrequently breaks in. Mr Springer gives an account of a journey he +made, when this misfortune happened, and ten oxen at one time were +struggling in the chilling waters of Baskahegan Lake. They were all +got out, he tells us, although rescue under such circumstances would +appear almost hopeless. + + "Standing upon the edge of the ice, a man was placed by the side + of each ox to keep his head out of the water. We unyoked one at + a time, and throwing a rope round the roots of his horns, the + warp was carried forward and attached to the little oxen, (a + pair that had not broken in,) whose services on this occasion + were very necessary. A strong man was placed on the ice at the + edge, so that, lifting the ox by his horns, he was able to + press the ice down and raise his shoulder up on the edge, when + the warp-oxen would pull them out. For half-an-hour we had a + lively time of it, and in an almost incredibly short time we had + them all safely out, and drove them back upon the point nearly + a mile. It was now very dark. We left our sleds in the water + with the hay, pulling out a few armsful, which we carried to + the shore to rub the oxen down with. Poor fellows! they seemed + nearly chilled to death, and shook as if they would fall to + pieces." + +So great is the labour of taking oxen to the forest every +Fall--often to a distance of two hundred miles into the +interior--that the wood-cutters sometimes leave them, when they go +down stream in the spring to get their own living in the wilderness, +and hunt them up again in autumn. They thrive finely in the +interval, and get very wild and difficult to catch; but when at last +subjugated, they evidently recognise their masters, and are pleased +to see them. Occasionally they disappear in the course of the +summer, and are heard of no more; they are then supposed to have got +"mired or cast," or to have been devoured by wolves--or by bears, +which also are known to attack oxen. + + "An individual who owned a very fine 'six-ox team' turned them + into the woods to brouse, in a new region of country. Late in + the evening, his attention was arrested by the bellowing of + one of them. It continued for an hour or two, then ceased + altogether. The night was very dark, and as the ox was supposed + to be more than a mile distant, it was thought not advisable + to venture in search of him until morning. As soon as daylight + appeared, the owner started, in company with another man, to + investigate the cause of the uproar. Passing on about a mile, + he found one of his best oxen prostrate, and, on examination, + there was found a hole eaten into the thickest part of his hind + quarter nearly as large as a hat; not less than six or eight + pounds of flesh were gone. He had bled profusely. The ground + was torn up for rods around where the encounter occurred; the + tracks indicated the assailant to be a very large bear, who had + probably worried the ox out, and then satiated his ravenous + appetite, feasting upon him while yet alive. A road was bushed + out to the spot where the poor creature lay, and he was got upon + a sled and hauled home by a yoke of his companions, where the + wound was dressed. It never, however, entirely healed, though + it was so far improved as to allow of its being fattened, after + which he was slaughtered for food." + +In cold weather in those forests the bears and wolves are +exceedingly audacious. The latter have a curious habit of +accompanying the teams on their journeys between the forest and the +river to which they drag the logs. This has only occurred of late +years, and the manner in which they thus volunteer their services as +assistant drivers is exceedingly curious. + + "Three teams," says Springer, "in the winter of 1844, all in + the same neighbourhood, were beset with these ravenous animals. + They were of unusually large size, manifesting a most singular + boldness, and even familiarity, without the usual appearance of + ferocity so characteristic of the animal. Sometimes one, and in + another instance three, in a most unwelcome manner, volunteered + their attendance, accompanying the teamster a long distance on + his way. They would even jump on the log and ride, and approach + very near the oxen. One of them actually jumped upon the sled, + and down between the bars, while the sled was in motion. Some of + the teamsters were much alarmed, keeping close to the oxen, and + driving on as fast as possible. Others, more courageous, would + run forward and strike at them with their goad-sticks; but the + wolves sprang out of the way in an instant. But, although they + seemed to act without a motive, there was something so cool and + impudent in their conduct that it was trying to the nerves--even + more so than an active encounter. For some time after this, + firearms were a constant part of the teamster's equipage." + +The distant howling and screaming of the wolves, compared by an old +Yankee hunter to the screeching of forty pair of old cart-wheels, +is particularly ominous and disagreeable. Springer has collected a +number of curious anecdotes concerning them. One night a pack of the +prowling marauders were seen trailing down Mattawamkeag River on the +ice. The dwellers in a log-house hard by soaked some meat in poison +and threw it out. Next morning the meat was gone, and six wolves lay +dead, all within sight of each other. "Every one of them had dug a +hole down through the snow into the frozen earth, in which they had +thrust their noses, either for water to quench the burning thirst +produced by the poison, or to snuff some antidote to the fatal +drug. A bounty was obtained on each of ten dollars, besides their +hides, making a fair job of it, as well as ridding the neighbourhood +of an annoying enemy." Several of Mr Springer's logging and +lumbering friends have contributed to his book the results of their +experience, and narratives of their adventures, some of which he +gives in their own words. Amongst these is an ill-written, but yet a +very exciting, account of a wolf-chase, or we should perhaps rather +say a man-chase, the wolves in this instance being the pursuers, +and Springer's neighbour the pursued. The person in question was +passionately fond of skating, and one night he left a friend's +house to skate a short distance up the frozen Kennebeck, which +flowed before the door. It was a bright still evening; the new moon +silvered the frosty pines. After gliding a couple of miles up the +river, the skater turned off into a little tributary stream, over +which fir and hemlock twined their evergreen branches. The archway +beneath was dark, but he fearlessly entered it, unsuspicious of +peril, with a joyous laugh and hurra--an involuntary expression of +exhilaration, elicited by the bracing crispness of the atmosphere, +and glow of pleasant exercise. What followed is worth extracting. + + "All of a sudden a sound arose, it seemed from the very ice + beneath my feet. It was loud and tremendous at first, until it + ended in one long yell. I was appalled. Never before had such + a noise met my ears. I thought it more than mortal--so fierce, + and amid such an unbroken solitude, that it seemed a fiend from + hell had blown a blast from an infernal trumpet. Presently I + heard the twigs on the shore snap as if from the tread of some + animal, and the blood rushed back to my forehead with a bound + that made my skin burn. My energies returned, and I looked + around me for some means of defence. The moon shone through the + opening by which I had entered the forest, and, considering this + the best means of escape, I darted towards it like an arrow. + It was hardly a hundred yards distant, and the swallow could + scarcely outstrip my desperate flight; yet as I turned my eyes + to the shore, I could see two dark objects dashing through the + underbrush at a pace nearly double mine. By their great speed, + and the short yells which they occasionally gave, I knew at once + that they were the much dreaded grey wolf." + +Here Springer interposes a vignette of a wolf--a most formidable and +unwholesome-looking quadruped--grinning over the well-picked bone of +some unlucky victim. The logger's pages are enlivened by a number +of illustrations--woodcuts of course--rough enough in execution, +but giving an excellent notion of the scenery, animals, and logging +operations spoken of in the text. Grey wolves are of untameable +fierceness, great strength and speed, and pursue their prey to the +death with frightful tenacity, unwearyingly following the trail-- + + "With their long gallop, which can tire + The hounds' deep hate, the hunter's fire." + +A more dangerous foe a benighted traveller could hardly fall in with. + + "The bushes that skirted the shore," continues the hunted of + wolves, "flew past with the velocity of light as I dashed on in + my flight. The outlet was nearly gained; one second more and I + should be comparatively safe; when my pursuers appeared on the + bank, directly above me, which rose to the height of some ten + feet. There was no time for thought; I bent my head, and dashed + wildly forward. The wolves sprang, but, miscalculating my speed, + sprang behind, whilst their intended prey glided out into the + river. + + "Nature turned me towards home. The light flakes of snow spun + from the iron of my skates, and I was now some distance from my + pursuers, when their fierce howl told me that I was again the + fugitive. I did not look back; I did not feel sorry or glad; + one thought of home, of the bright faces awaiting my return, + of their tears if they should never see me again, and then + every energy of body and mind was exerted for my escape. I was + perfectly at home on the ice. Many were the days I spent on my + skates, never thinking that at one time they would be my only + means of safety. Every half minute an alternate yelp from my + pursuers made me but too certain they were close at my heels. + Nearer and nearer they came; I heard their feet pattering on + the ice nearer still, until I fancied I could hear their deep + breathing. Every nerve and muscle in my frame was stretched to + the utmost tension. The trees along the shore seemed to dance in + the uncertain light, and my brain turned with my own breathless + speed, when an involuntary motion turned me out of my course. + The wolves close behind, unable to stop and as unable to turn, + slipped, fell, still going on far ahead, their tongues lolling + out, their white tusks gleaming from their bloody mouths, their + dark shaggy breasts freckled with foam; and as they passed me + their eyes glared, and they howled with rage and fury. The + thought flashed on my mind that by this means I could avoid + them--viz., by turning aside whenever they came too near; for + they, by the formation of their feet, are unable to run on ice + except in a right line. + + "I immediately acted on this plan. The wolves, having regained + their feet, sprang directly towards me. The race was renewed for + twenty yards up the stream; they were already close on my back, + when I glided round and dashed past them. A fierce howl greeted + my evolution, and the wolves slipped upon their haunches, and + sailed onward, presenting a perfect picture of helplessness + and baffled rage. Thus I gained nearly a hundred yards each + turning. This was repeated two or three times, every moment + the wolves getting more excited and baffled, until, coming + opposite the house, a couple of staghounds, aroused by the + noise, bayed furiously from their kennels. The wolves, taking + the hint, stopped in their mad career, and, after a moment's + consideration, turned and fled. I watched them till their dusky + forms disappeared over a neighbouring hill; then, taking off my + skates, I wended my way to the house." + +From some unassigned reason, wolves have increased of late years in +the wild forests of north-eastern Maine. Up to 1840, Mr Springer, +who had been much in that district, logging in winter and clearing +land in summer, never saw one. Since then they have frequently been +seen in numerous parties, and of most formidable size. There would +not seem to be much to choose, as far as the pleasure of the thing +goes, between an encounter with one of these ravenous brutes and a +tussle with a catamount. Springer, however, who must be competent to +judge, considers the catamount the worse customer. He tells an ugly +story, which may serve as a pendant to that of the bear's breakfast +on live beef, of what happened to a logger named Smith, when on his +way to join a timbering party in the woods. He had nearly reached +camp, when he fell in with a catamount, or "Indian devil." Retreat +was impossible; for reflection there was no time: arms he had none. +Acting from impulse, he sprang up a small tree--perhaps as sensible +a thing as he could have done. He had scarcely ascended his length, +when the creature, fierce from hunger, made a bound and caught him +by the heel. Although badly bitten, Smith managed to get his foot +out of the shoe, in which the tiger-cat's teeth were firmly set, and +shoe and savage fell together to the ground. What then ensued is so +horrible and extraordinary that we should suspect our wood-cutting +friend of imaginative decoration, but for the assurance he gives us +in his preface, that "the incidents he has related are real, and +that in no case is the truth sacrificed to fancy or embellishment." +He shall finish his yarn himself. + + "The moment he was disengaged, Smith sprang for a more secure + position, and the animal at the same time leaped to another + large tree, about ten feet distant, up which he ascended to + an elevation equal to that of his victim, from which he threw + himself upon him, firmly fixing his teeth in the calf of his + leg. Hanging suspended thus until the flesh, insufficient to + sustain the weight, gave way, he dropped again to the ground, + carrying a portion of flesh in his mouth. _Having greedily + devoured this morsel_, he bounded again up the opposite tree, + and from thence upon Smith, in this manner renewing his attacks, + and tearing away the flesh in mouthfuls from his legs. During + this agonising operation, Smith contrived to cut a limb from + the tree, to which he managed to bind his jack-knife, with + which he could now assail his enemy at every leap. He succeeded + thus in wounding him so badly that at length his attacks were + discontinued, and he disappeared in the dense forest." + +Smith, who, as Springer coolly informs us, "had exerted his voice +to the utmost," whilst the catamount was devouring him in detail, +(we can perfectly imagine a man bellowing like twenty bulls under +such circumstances,) was found by his friends in a state of dreadful +exhaustion and suffering, and was carried to camp on a litter. He +ultimately recovered, but had sustained irreparable injuries. "Such +desperate encounters are of rare occurrence," Springer quietly adds. +We should think they were. Really these loggers are cool hands. +Encounters with black bears are much more common, we are informed. +These are strong fellows, clever at parrying blows, and at wrenching +the weapon from their assailant's hand--very tenacious of life, +and confirmed robbers. Springer and his comrades were once, whilst +ascending a river, followed by one of them for several days. He +was bent upon plunder, and one night he walked off with a bundle +containing clothing, boots, shaving implements, and other things, +for which it might be thought a bear could have little occasion. +He examined his prize in the neighbourhood of the camp, tore the +clothes to shreds, and chewed up the cow-hide boots and the handle +of a razor. From the roof of a log-house, which the woodmen erected +a few miles farther on, he carried off a ten-gallon keg of molasses, +set it on one end, knocked the head in or out, and was about to +enjoy the feast, when he was discovered, pursued, and at last +killed. At page 140 we find a capital account of a fight between a +family of bears (father, mother, and cubs) and two foresters; and +at page 100 the stirring-up of a bear's den is graphically described. + +The pine tree is subject to disease of more than one kind, the most +frequent being a sort of cancer, known amongst lumber-men as "Conk" +or "Konkus," whose sole external manifestation is a small brown +spot, usually at several feet from the ground, and sometimes no +larger than a shilling. The trees thus afflicted are noway inferior +to the soundest in size and apparent beauty; but on cutting into +them the rot is at once evident, the wood being reddish in colour, +and of spungy texture. "Sometimes it shoots upwards, in imitation +of the streaming light of the aurora borealis; in others downwards, +and even both ways, preserving the same appearance." Unscrupulous +loggers cheat the unwary by driving a knot or piece of a limb of +the same tree into the plague-spot, and hewing it off smoothly, so +as to give it the appearance of a natural knot. A great many pines +are hollow at the base or butt, and these hollows are the favourite +winter-retreats of Bruin the bear. + + "A few rods from the main logging road where I worked one + winter," said Mr Johnston, (a logger whom Springer more than + once quotes,) "there stood a very large pine tree. We had nearly + completed our winter's work, and it still stood unmolested, + because, from appearances, it was supposed to be worthless. + Whilst passing it one day, not quite satisfied with the decision + that had been made upon its quality, I resolved to satisfy my + own mind touching its value; so, wallowing to it through the + snow, which was nearly up to my middle, I struck it several + blows with the head of my axe, an experiment to test whether + a tree be hollow or not. When I desisted, my attention was + arrested by a slight scratching and whining. Suspecting the + cause, I thumped the tree again, listening more attentively, and + heard the same noise as before. It was a bear's den. Examining + the tree more closely, I discovered a small hole in the trunk, + near the roots, with a rim of ice on the edge of the orifice, + made by the freezing of the breath and vapour from the inmates." + +The logging crew were summoned, and came scampering down, eager +for the fun. The snow was kicked away from the root of the tree, +exposing the entrance to the den; and a small hole was cut in the +opposite side, through which the family of bears were literally +"stirred up with a long pole;" and when the great she-bear, annoyed +at this treatment, put her head out at the door, she was cut over +the pate with an axe. + + "The cubs, four in number--a thing unusual by one-half--we took + alive, and carried to camp, kept them a while, and finally sold + them. They were quite small and harmless, of a most beautiful + lustrous black, and fat as porpoises. The old dam was uncommonly + large--we judged she might weigh about three hundred pounds. Her + hide, when stretched out and nailed on to the end of the camp, + appeared quite equal to a cow's hide in dimensions." + +The attacks of wild animals are far from being the sole dangers +to which the wood-cutters of Maine are exposed in following their +toilsome occupation. Scarcely any phase of their adventurous +existence is exempt from risk. Bad wounds are sometimes accidentally +received from the axe whilst felling trees. To heal these, in the +absence of surgeons, the loggers are thrown upon their own very +insufficient resources. Life is also constantly endangered in +felling the pine, which comes plunging down, breaking, splitting, +and crushing all before it. The broken limbs which are torn from the +fallen tree, and the branches it wrenches from other trees, + + "rendered brittle by the intense frosts, fly in every direction, + like the scattered fragments of an exploding ship. Often these + wrenched limbs are suspended directly over the place where our + work requires our presence, and on the slightest motion, or from + a sudden gust of wind, they slip down with the stealthiness + of a hawk and the velocity of an arrow. I recollect one in + particular, which was wrenched from a large pine I had just + felled. It lodged in the top of a towering birch, directly over + where it was necessary for me to stand whilst severing the + top from the trunk. Viewing its position with some anxiety, + I ventured to stand and work under it, forgetting my danger + in the excitement. Whilst thus engaged, the limb slipped from + its position, and, falling directly before me, end foremost, + penetrated the frozen earth. It was about four inches through, + and ten feet long. It just grazed my cap; a little variation, + and it would have dashed my head to pieces. Attracted on one + occasion, whilst swamping a road, by the appearance of a + large limb which stuck fast in the ground, curiosity induced + me to extricate it, for the purpose of seeing how far it had + penetrated. After considerable exertion, I succeeded in drawing + it out, when I was amazed _to find a thick cloth cap on the end + of it_. It had penetrated the earth to a considerable depth. + Subsequently I learned that _it_ [the cap, we presume, but + Springer makes sad work of his pronouns] belonged to a man who + was killed instantly by _its_ fall, [here our logging friend + must be supposed to refer to the timber,] striking him on the + head, and carrying his cap into the ground with it." + +This is not impossible, although it does a little remind us of +certain adventures of the renowned Munchausen. And Springer is so +pleasant a fellow, that we shall not call his veracity in question, +or even tax him with that tinting of truth in which many of his +countrymen excel, but of which he only here and there lays himself +open to suspicion. He certainly does put our credulity a little +to the strain by an anecdote of a moose deer, which he gives, +however, between inverted commas, on the authority of a hunter who +occasionally passed the night at the logger's camp. The moose is the +largest species of deer found in the New-England forests, its size +varying from that of a large pony to that of a full-grown horse. +It has immense branching antlers, and, judging from its portrait, +which forms the frontispiece to _Forest Life_, we readily believe +Springer's assurance, that "the taking of moose is sometimes quite +hazardous." Quite astonishing, we are sure the reader will say, is +the following ride:-- + + "Once," hunter _loquitur_, "whilst out on a hunting excursion, + I was pursued by a bull-moose. He approached me with his + muscular neck curved, and head to the ground, in a manner not + dissimilar to the attitude assumed by horned cattle when about + to encounter each other. Just as he was about to make a pass + at me, I sprang suddenly between his wide-spreading antlers, + bestride his neck. Dexterously turning round, I seized him by + the horns, and, locking my feet together under his neck, I + clung to him like a sloth. With a mixture of rage and terror, + he dashed wildly about, endeavouring to dislodge me; but, as + my life depended upon maintaining my position, I clung to him + with a corresponding desperation. After making a few ineffectual + attempts to disengage me, he threw out his nose, and, laying his + antlers back upon his shoulders, _which formed a screen for my + defence_, he sprang forward into a furious run, still bearing + me upon his neck. Now penetrating dense thickets, then leaping + high 'windfalls,' (old fallen trees,) and struggling through + swamp-mires, he finally fell from exhaustion, after carrying + me about three miles. Improving the opportunity, I drew my + hunting-knife from its sheath, and instantly buried it in his + neck, cutting the jugular vein, which put a speedy termination + to the contest and the flight." + +After which we presume that he spitted the moose on a pine tree, +roasted and ate it, and used its antlers for toothpicks. The +adventure is worthy of Mazeppa or the Wild Huntsman. By the antlers +_forming a screen for the rider's defence_, we are reminded of +that memorable morning in the life of the great German Baron, when +his horse, cut in two, just behind the saddle, by the fall of a +portcullis, was sewn together with laurel-twigs, which sprouted +up into a pleasant bower, beneath whose appropriate shade the +redoubtable warrior thenceforward rode to victory. An awful liar, +indeed, must have been the narrator of this "singular adventure," +as Springer, who tells this story quite gravely, artlessly styles +it. Doubtless such yarns are acceptable enough by the camp-fire, +where the weary logger smokes the pipe of repose after a hard day's +work; and they are by no means out of place in the logger's book, +of which, however, they occupy but a small portion--by far the +greater number of its chapters being filled with solid and curious +information. The third and longest part, "River Life," upon which +we have not touched, is highly interesting, and gives thrilling +accounts of the dangers incurred during the progress down stream of +the various "parcels" of logs, which, each distinguished like cattle +by the owner's mark, soon mingle and form one grand "drive" on the +main river. "Driving" of this kind is a very hazardous occupation. +Sometimes the logs come to a "jam," get wedged together in a narrow +part of the river or amongst rocks, and, whilst the drivers work +with axe and lever to set the huge floating field of tree-trunks in +motion again, lives are frequently lost. This is easy to understand. +The removal of a single log, the keystone of the mass--nay, a +single blow of the axe--often suffices to liberate acres of timber +from their "dead lock," and set them furiously rushing down the +rapid current. Then does woe betide those who are caught in the +hurly-burly. Sometimes, the key-log being well ascertained, a man +is let down, like a samphire-gatherer, by a rope from an adjacent +cliff, on to the "jam." Then-- + + "As the place to be operated upon may in some cases be a little + removed from the shore, he either walks to it with the rope + attached to his body, or, untying the rope, leaves it where + he can readily grasp it in time to be drawn from his perilous + position. Often, where the pressure is direct, a few blows only + are given with the axe, when the log snaps in an instant with + a loud report, followed suddenly by the violent motion of the + 'jam;' and, ere our bold river-driver is jerked half way to the + top of the cliff, scores of logs, in wildest confusion, rush + beneath his feet, whilst he yet dangles in the air above the + trembling mass. If that rope, on which life and hope hang thus + suspended, should part, worn by the sharp point of some jutting + rock, death, certain and quick, were inevitable." + +The wood-cutter's occupation, which, to European imagination, +presents itself as peaceful, pastoral, and void of peril, assumes +a very different aspect when pursued in North American forests. If +any doubt this fact, let them study Springer, who will repay the +trouble, and of whose volume we have rather skimmed the surface than +meddled with the substance. + + + + +MY NOVEL; OR, VARIETIES IN ENGLISH LIFE. + +BY PISISTRATUS CAXTON. + + +CHAPTER VII. + +Randal advanced--"I fear, Signior Riccabocca, that I am guilty of +some want of ceremony." + +"To dispense with ceremony is the most delicate mode of conferring +a compliment," replied the urbane Italian, as he recovered from his +first surprise at Randal's sudden address, and extended his hand. + +Violante bowed her graceful head to the young man's respectful +salutation. "I am on my way to Hazeldean," resumed Randal, "and, +seeing you in the garden, could not resist this intrusion." + +RICCABOCCA.--"You come from London? Stirring times for you English, +but I do not ask you the news. No news can affect us." + +RANDAL, (softly.)--"Perhaps--yes." + +RICCABOCCA, (startled.)--"How?" + +VIOLANTE.--"Surely he speaks of Italy, and news from that country +affects you still, my father." + +RICCABOCCA.--"Nay, nay, nothing affects me like this country; its +east winds might affect a pyramid! Draw your mantle round you, +child, and go in; the air has suddenly grown chill." + +Violante smiled on her father, glanced uneasily towards Randal's +grave brow, and went slowly towards the house. + +Riccabocca, after waiting some moments in silence, as if expecting +Randal to speak, said with affected carelessness, "So you think that +you have news that might affect me? _Corpo di Bacco!_ I am curious +to learn what!" + +"I may be mistaken--that depends on your answer to one question. Do +you know the Count of Peschiera?" + +Riccabocca winced, and turned pale. He could not baffle the watchful +eye of the questioner. + +"Enough," said Randal; "I see that I am right. Believe in my +sincerity. I speak but to warn and to serve you. The Count seeks to +discover the retreat of a countryman and kinsman of his own." + +"And for what end?" cried Riccabocca, thrown off his guard, and +his breast dilated, his crest rose, and his eye flashed; valour +and defiance broke from habitual caution and self-control. "But +pooh," he added, striving to regain his ordinary and half-ironical +calm, "it matters not to me. I grant, sir, that I know the Count di +Peschiera; but what has Dr Riccabocca to do with the kinsmen of so +grand a personage?" + +"Dr Riccabocca--nothing. But--" here Randal put his lip close to the +Italian's ear, and whispered a brief sentence. Then retreating a +step, but laying his hand on the exile's shoulder, he added--"Need I +say that your secret is safe with me?" + +Riccabocca made no answer. His eyes rested on the ground musingly. + +Randal continued--"And I shall esteem it the highest honour you can +bestow on me, to be permitted to assist you in forestalling danger." + +RICCABOCCA, (slowly.)--"Sir, I thank you; you have my secret, and I +feel assured it is safe, for I speak to an English gentleman. There +may be family reasons why I should avoid the Count di Peschiera; +and, indeed, He is safest from shoals who steers clearest of +his--relations." + +The poor Italian regained his caustic smile as he uttered that wise, +villanous Italian maxim. + +RANDAL.--"I know little of the Count of Peschiera save from the +current talk of the world. He is said to hold the estates of a +kinsman who took part in a conspiracy against the Austrian power." + +RICCABOCCA.--"It is true. Let that content him; what more does he +desire. You spoke of forestalling danger; what danger? I am on the +soil of England, and protected by its laws." + +RANDAL.--"Allow me to inquire if, had the kinsman no child, the +Count di Peschiera would be legitimate and natural heir to the +estates he holds?" + +RICCABOCCA.--"He would. What then?" + +RANDAL.--"Does that thought suggest no danger to the child of the +kinsman?" + +Riccabocca recoiled, and gasped forth, "The child! You do not mean +to imply that this man, infamous though he be, can contemplate the +crime of an assassin?" + +Randal paused perplexed. His ground was delicate. He knew not what +causes of resentment the exile entertained against the Count. He +knew not whether Riccabocca would not assent to an alliance that +might restore him to his country--and he resolved to feel his way +with precaution. + +"I did not," said he, smiling gravely, "mean to insinuate so +horrible a charge against a man whom I have never seen. He seeks +you--that is all I know. I imagine, from his general character, that +in this search he consults his interest. Perhaps all matters might +be conciliated by an interview!" + +"An interview!" exclaimed Riccabocca; "there is but one way we +should meet--foot to foot, and hand to hand." + +"Is it so? Then you would not listen to the Count if he proposed +some amicable compromise; if, for instance, he was a candidate for +the hand of your daughter?" + +The poor Italian, so wise and so subtle in his talk, was as rash and +blind when it came to action, as if he had been born in Ireland, and +nourished on potatoes and Repeal. He bared his whole soul to the +merciless eye of Randal. + +"My daughter!" he exclaimed. "Sir, your very question is an insult." + +Randal's way became clear at once. "Forgive me," he said mildly; +"I will tell you frankly all that I know. I am acquainted with the +Count's sister. I have some little influence over her. It was she +who informed me that the Count had come here, bent upon discovering +your refuge, and resolved to wed your daughter. This is the danger +of which I spoke. And when I asked your permission to aid in +forestalling it, I only intended to suggest that it might be wise to +find some securer home, and that I, if permitted to know that home, +and to visit you, could apprise you from time to time of the Count's +plans and movements." + +"Sir, I thank you sincerely," said Riccabocca with emotion; "but am +I not safe here?" + +"I doubt it. Many people have visited the Squire in the shooting +season, who will have heard of you--perhaps seen you, and who are +likely to meet the Count in London. And Frank Hazeldean, too, who +knows the Count's sister--" + +"True, true," interrupted Riccabocca. "I see, I see. I will +consider. I will reflect. Meanwhile you are going to Hazeldean. +Do not say a word to the Squire. He knows not the secret you have +discovered." + +With those words Riccabocca turned slightly away, and Randal took +the hint to depart. + +"At all times command and rely on me," said the young traitor, and +he regained the pale to which he had fastened his horse. + +As he remounted, he cast his eyes towards the place where he had +left Riccabocca. The Italian was still standing there. Presently +the form of Jackeymo was seen emerging from the shrubs. Riccabocca +turned hastily round, recognised his servant, uttered an exclamation +loud enough to reach Randal's ear, and then catching Jackeymo by the +arm, disappeared with him amidst the deeper recesses of the garden. + +"It will be indeed in my favour," thought Randal as he rode on, "if +I can get them into the neighbourhood of London--all occasion there +to woo, and if expedient, to win--the heiress." + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +"By the Lord Harry!" cried the Squire, as he stood with his wife in +the park, on a visit of inspection to some first-rate South-Downs +just added to his stock--"By the Lord, if that is not Randal Leslie +trying to get into the park at the back gate! Hollo, Randal! you +must come round by the lodge, my boy," said he. + +"You see this gate is locked to keep out trespassers." + +"A pity," said Randal. "I like short cuts, and you have shut up a +very short one." + +"So the trespassers said," quoth the Squire; "but Stirn would not +hear of it;--valuable man, Stirn. But ride round to the lodge. Put +up your horse, and you'll join us before we can get to the house." + +Randal nodded and smiled, and rode briskly on. + +The Squire rejoined his Harry. + +"Ah, William," said she anxiously, "though certainly Randal Leslie +means well, I always dread his visits." + +"So do I, in one sense," quoth the Squire, "for he always carries +away a bank-note for Frank." + +"I hope he is really Frank's friend," said Mrs Hazeldean. + +"Whose else can he be? Not his own, poor fellow, for he will never +accept a shilling from me, though his grandmother was as good a +Hazeldean as I am. But, zounds! I like his pride, and his economy +too. As for Frank--" + +"Hush, William!" cried Mrs Hazeldean, and put her fair hand before +the Squire's mouth. The Squire was softened, and kissed the fair +hand gallantly--perhaps he kissed the lips too; at all events, the +worthy pair were walking lovingly arm-in-arm when Randal joined them. + +He did not affect to perceive a certain coldness in the manner of +Mrs Hazeldean, but began immediately to talk to her about Frank; +praise that young gentleman's appearance; expatiate on his health, +his popularity, and his good gifts, personal and mental; and this +with so much warmth, that any dim and undeveloped suspicions Mrs +Hazeldean might have formed soon melted away. + +Randal continued to make himself thus agreeable, until the Squire, +persuaded that his young kinsman was a first-rate agriculturist, +insisted upon carrying him off to the home farm, and Harry turned +towards the house to order Randal's room to be got ready: "For," +said Randal, "knowing that you will excuse my morning dress, I +venture to invite myself to dine and sleep at the Hall." + +On approaching the farm-buildings, Randal was seized with the +terror of an impostor; for, despite all the theoretical learning on +Bucolics and Georgics with which he had dazzled the Squire, poor +Frank, so despised, would have beat him hollow when it came to +judging of the points of an ox or the show of a crop. + +"Ha, ha!" cried the Squire, chuckling, "I long to see how you'll +astonish Stirn. Why, you'll guess in a moment where we put the +top-dressing; and when you come to handle my short-horns, I dare +swear you'll know to a pound how much oilcake has gone into their +sides." + +"Oh, you do me too much honour--indeed you do. I only know the +general principles of agriculture--the details are eminently +interesting; but I have not had the opportunity to acquire them." + +"Stuff!" cried the Squire. "How can a man know general principles +unless he has first studied the details? You are too modest, my boy. +Ho! there's Stirn looking out for us!" + +Randal saw the grim visage of Stirn peering out of a cattle-shed, +and felt undone. He made a desperate rush towards changing the +Squire's humour. + +"Well, sir, perhaps Frank may soon gratify your wish and turn farmer +himself." + +"Eh!" quoth the Squire, stopping short. "What now?" + +"Suppose he was to marry?" + +"I'd give him the two best farms on the property rent free. Ha, ha! +Has he seen the girl yet? I'd leave him free to choose, sir. I chose +for myself--every man should. Not but what Miss Sticktorights is an +heiress, and, I hear, a very decent girl, and that would join the +two properties, and put an end to that lawsuit about the right of +way, which began in the reign of King Charles the Second, and is +likely otherwise to last till the day of judgment. But never mind +her; let Frank choose to please himself." + +"I'll not fail to tell him so, sir. I did fear you might have some +prejudices. But here we are at the farm-yard." + +"Burn the farm-yard! How can I think of farm-yards when you talk +of Frank's marriage? Come on--this way. What were you saying about +prejudices?" + +"Why, you might wish him to marry an Englishwoman, for instance." + +"English! Good heavens, sir, does he mean to marry a Hindoo?" + +"Nay, I don't know that he means to marry at all: I am only +surmising; but if he did fall in love with a foreigner--" + +"A foreigner! Ah, then Harry was--" The Squire stopped short. + +"Who might, perhaps," observed Randal--not truly if he referred to +Madame di Negra--"who might, perhaps, speak very little English?" + +"Lord ha' mercy!" + +"And a Roman Catholic--" + +"Worshipping idols, and roasting people who don't worship them." + +"Signior Riccabocca is not so bad as that." + +"Rickeybockey! Well, if it was his daughter! But not speak English! +and not go to the parish church! By George! if Frank thought of such +a thing, I'd cut him off with a shilling. Don't talk to me, sir; I +would. I'm a mild man, and an easy man; but when I say a thing, I +say it, Mr. Leslie. Oh, but it is a jest--you are laughing at me. +There's no such painted, good-for-nothing creature in Frank's eye, +eh?" + +"Indeed, sir, if ever I find there is, I will give you notice in +time. At present I was only trying to ascertain what you wished for +a daughter-in-law. You said you had no prejudice." + +"No more I have--not a bit of it." + +"You don't like a foreigner and a Catholic?" + +"Who the devil would?" + +"But if she had rank and title?" + +"Rank and title! Bubble and squeak! No, not half so good as bubble +and squeak. English beef and good cabbage. But foreign rank and +title!--foreign cabbage and beef!--foreign bubble and foreign +squeak!" And the Squire made a wry face, and spat forth his disgust +and indignation. + +"You must have an Englishwoman?" + +"Of course." + +"Money?" + +"Don't care, provided she is a tidy, sensible, active lass, with a +good character for her dower." + +"Character--ah, that is indispensable?" + +"I should think so, indeed. A Mrs. Hazeldean of Hazeldean; you +frighten me. He's not going to run off with a divorced woman, or a--" + +The Squire stopped, and looked so red in the face, that Randal +feared he might be seized with apoplexy before Frank's crimes had +made him alter his will. + +Therefore he hastened to relieve Mr Hazeldean's mind, and assured +him that he had been only talking at random; that Frank was in +the habit, indeed, of seeing foreign ladies occasionally, as all +persons in the London world were; but that he was sure Frank would +never marry without the full consent and approval of his parents. +He ended by repeating his assurance, that he would warn the Squire +if ever it became necessary. Still, however, he left Mr Hazeldean +so disturbed and uneasy, that that gentleman forgot all about the +farm, and went moodily on in the opposite direction, re-entering the +park at its farther extremity. As soon as they approached the house, +the Squire hastened to shut himself with his wife in full parental +consultation; and Randal, seated upon a bench on the terrace, +revolved the mischief he had done, and its chances of success. + +While thus seated, and thus thinking, a footstep approached +cautiously, and a low voice said, in broken English, "Sare, sare, +let me speak vid you." + +Randal turned in surprise, and beheld a swarthy saturnine face, with +grizzled hair and marked features. He recognised the figure that had +joined Riccabocca in the Italian's garden. + +"Speak-a you Italian?" resumed Jackeymo. + +Randal, who had made himself an excellent linguist, nodded assent; +and Jackeymo, rejoiced, begged him to withdraw into a more private +part of the grounds. + +Randal obeyed, and the two gained the shade of a stately chestnut +avenue. + +"Sir," then said Jackeymo, speaking in his native tongue, and +expressing himself with a certain simple pathos, "I am but a poor +man; my name is Giacomo. You have heard of me;--servant to the +Signior whom you saw to-day--only a servant; but he honours me +with his confidence. We have known danger together; and of all his +friends and followers, I alone came with him to the stranger's land." + +"Good, faithful fellow," said Randal, examining the man's face, "say +on. Your master confides in you? He confided that which I told him +this day?" + +"He did. Ah, sir! the Padrone was too proud to ask you to explain +more--too proud to show fear of another. But he does fear--he ought +to fear--he shall fear," (continued Jackeymo, working himself up +to passion)--"for the Padrone has a daughter, and his enemy is a +villain. Oh, sir, tell me all that you did not tell to the Padrone. +You hinted that this man might wish to marry the Signora. Marry +her!--I could cut his throat at the altar!" + +"Indeed," said Randal; "I believe that such is his object." + +"But why? He is rich--she is penniless; no, not quite that, for we +have saved--but penniless, compared to him." + +"My good friend, I know not yet his motives; but I can easily learn +them. If, however, this Count be your master's enemy, it is surely +well to guard against him, whatever his designs; and, to do so, you +should move into London or its neighbourhood. I fear that, while we +speak, the Count may get upon his track." + +"He had better not come here!" cried the servant menacingly, and +putting his hand where the knife was _not_. + +"Beware of your own anger, Giacomo. One act of violence, and you +would be transported from England, and your master would lose a +friend." + +Jackeymo seemed struck by this caution. + +"And if the Padrone were to meet him, do you think the Padrone would +meekly say, 'Come stà sa Signoria?' The Padrone would strike him +dead!" + +"Hush--hush! You speak of what, in England, is called murder, and +is punished by the gallows. If you really love your master, for +heaven's sake get him from this place--get him from all chance of +such passion and peril. I go to town to-morrow; I will find him a +house that shall be safe from all spies--all discovery. And there, +too, my friend, I can do--what I cannot at this distance--watch over +him, and keep watch also on his enemy." + +Jackeymo seized Randal's hand and lifted it towards his lip; then, +as if struck by a sudden suspicion, dropped the hand, and said +bluntly--"Signior, I think you have seen the Padrone twice. Why do +you take this interest in him?" + +"Is it so uncommon to take interest even in a stranger who is +menaced by some peril?" + +Jackeymo, who believed little in general philanthropy, shook his +head sceptically. + +"Besides," continued Randal, suddenly bethinking himself of a more +plausible reason--"besides, I am a friend and connection of Mr +Egerton; and Mr Egerton's most intimate friend is Lord L'Estrange; +and I have heard that Lord L'Estrange--" + +"The good lord! Oh, now I understand," interrupted Jackeymo, and his +brow cleared. "Ah, if _he_ were in England! But you will let us know +when he comes?" + +"Certainly. Now, tell me, Giacomo, is this Count really unprincipled +and dangerous? Remember, I know him not personally." + +"He has neither heart, head, nor conscience." + +"That makes him dangerous to men; but to women, danger comes from +other qualities. Could it be possible, if he obtained any interview +with the Signora, that he could win her affections?" + +Jackeymo crossed himself rapidly, and made no answer. + +"I have heard that he is still very handsome." + +Jackeymo groaned. + +Randal resumed--"Enough; persuade the Padrone to come to town." + +"But if the Count is in town?" + +"That makes no difference; the safest place is always the largest +city. Everywhere else a foreigner is in himself an object of +attention and curiosity." + +"True." + +"Let your master, then, come to London. He can reside in one of the +suburbs most remote from the Count's haunts. In two days I will have +found him a lodging and write to him. You trust to me now?" + +"I do indeed--I do, Excellency. Ah, if the Signorina were married, +we would not care!" + +"Married! But she looks so high!" + +"Alas! not now--not here!" + +Randal sighed heavily. Jackeymo's eyes sparkled. He thought he had +detected a new motive for Randal's interest--a motive to an Italian +the most natural, the most laudable of all. + +"Find the house, Signior--write to the Padrone. He shall come. I'll +talk to him. I can manage him. Holy San Giacomo, bestir thyself +now--'tis long since I troubled thee!" + +Jackeymo strode off through the fading trees, smiling and muttering +as he went. + +The first dinner-bell rang, and, on entering the drawing-room, +Randal found Parson Dale and his wife, who had been invited in haste +to meet the unexpected visitor. + +The preliminary greetings over, Mr Dale took the opportunity +afforded by the Squire's absence to inquire after the health of Mr +Egerton. + +"He is always well," said Randal. "I believe he is made of iron." + +"His heart is of gold," said the Parson. + +"Ah!" said Randal, inquisitively, "you told me you had come in +contact with him once, respecting, I think, some of your old +parishioners at Lansmere?" + +The Parson nodded, and there was a moment's silence. + +"Do you remember your battle by the Stocks, Mr Leslie?" said Mr +Dale, with a good-humoured laugh. + +"Indeed, yes. By the way, now you speak of it, I met my old opponent +in London the first year I went up to it." + +"You did!--where?" + +"At a literary scamp's--a cleverish man called Burley." + +"Burley! I have seen some burlesque verses in Greek by a Mr Burley." + +"No doubt, the same person. He has disappeared--gone to the dogs, I +dare say. Burlesque Greek is not a knowledge very much in power at +present." + +"Well, but Leonard Fairfield?--you have seen him since?" + +"No." + +"Nor heard of him?" + +"No!--have you?" + +"Strange to say, not for a long time. But I have reason to believe +that he must be doing well." + +"You surprise me! Why?" + +"Because, two years ago, he sent for his mother. She went to him." + +"Is that all?" + +"It is enough; for he would not have sent for her if he could not +maintain her." + +Here the Hazeldeans entered, arm-in-arm, and the fat butler +announced dinner. + +The Squire was unusually taciturn--Mrs Hazeldean thoughtful--Mrs +Dale languid, and headachy. The Parson, who seldom enjoyed the +luxury of converse with a scholar, save when he quarrelled with Dr +Riccabocca, was animated, by Randal's repute for ability, into a +great desire for argument. + +"A glass of wine, Mr Leslie. You were saying, before dinner, that +burlesque Greek is not a knowledge very much in power at present. +Pray, sir, what knowledge is in power?" + +RANDAL, (laconically.)--"Practical knowledge." + +PARSON.--"What of?" + +RANDAL.--"Men." + +PARSON, (candidly.)--"Well, I suppose that is the most available +sort of knowledge, in a worldly point of view. How does one learn +it? Do books help?" + +RANDAL.--"According as they are read, they help or injure." + +PARSON.--"How should they be read in order to help?" + +RANDAL.--"Read specially to apply to purposes that lead to power." + +PARSON, (very much struck with Randal's pithy and Spartan +logic.)--"Upon my word, sir, you express yourself very well. I must +own that I began these questions in the hope of differing from you; +for I like an argument." + +"That he does," growled the Squire; "the most contradictory +creature!" + +PARSON.--"Argument is the salt of talk. But now I am afraid I must +agree with you, which I was not at all prepared for." + +Randal bowed, and answered--"No two men of our education can dispute +upon the application of knowledge." + +PARSON, (pricking up his ears.)--"Eh! what to?" + +RANDAL.--"Power, of course." + +PARSON, (overjoyed.)--"Power!--the vulgarest application of it, or +the loftiest? But you mean the loftiest?" + +RANDAL, (in his turn interested and interrogative.)--"What do you +call the loftiest, and what the vulgarest?" + +PARSON.--"The vulgarest, self-interest; the loftiest, beneficence." + +Randal suppressed the half disdainful smile that rose to his lip. + +"You speak, sir, as a clergyman should do. I admire your sentiment, +and adopt it; but I fear that the knowledge which aims only at +beneficence very rarely in this world gets any power at all." + +SQUIRE, (seriously.)--"That's true; I never get my own way when I +want to do a kindness, and Stirn always gets his when he insists on +something diabolically brutal and harsh." + +PARSON.--"Pray, Mr Leslie, what does intellectual power refined to +the utmost, but entirely stripped of beneficence, most resemble?" + +RANDAL.--"Resemble?--I can hardly say. Some very great man--almost +any very great man--who has baffled all his foes, and attained all +his ends." + +PARSON.--"I doubt if any man has ever become very great who has not +meant to be beneficent, though he might err in the means. Cæsar was +naturally beneficent, and so was Alexander. But intellectual power +refined to the utmost, and wholly void of beneficence, resembles +only one being, and that, sir, is the Principle of Evil." + +RANDAL, (startled.)--"Do you mean the Devil?" + +PARSON.--"Yes, sir--the Devil; and even he, sir, did not succeed! +Even he, sir, is what your great men would call a most decided +failure." + +MRS DALE.--"My dear--my dear." + +PARSON.--"Our religion proves it, my love; he was an angel, and he +fell." + +There was a solemn pause. Randal was more impressed than he liked to +own to himself. By this time the dinner was over, and the servants +had retired. Harry glanced at Carry. Carry smoothed her gown and +rose. + +The gentlemen remained over their wine; and the Parson, satisfied +with what he deemed a clencher upon his favourite subject of +discussion, changed the subject to lighter topics, till happening to +fall upon tithes, the Squire struck in, and by dint of loudness of +voice, and truculence of brow, fairly overwhelmed both his guests, +and proved to his own satisfaction that tithes were an unjust and +unchristian-like usurpation on the part of the Church generally, and +a most especial and iniquitous infliction upon the Hazeldean estates +in particular. + + +CHAPTER IX. + +On entering the drawing-room, Randal found the two ladies seated +close together, in a position much more appropriate to the +familiarity of their school-days than to the politeness of the +friendship now existing between them. Mrs Hazeldean's hand hung +affectionately over Carry's shoulder, and both those fair English +faces were bent over the same book. It was pretty to see these sober +matrons, so different from each other in character and aspect, thus +unconsciously restored to the intimacy of happy maiden youth by +the golden link of some Magician from the still land of Truth or +Fancy--brought together in heart, as each eye rested on the same +thought;--closer and closer, as sympathy, lost in the actual world, +grew out of that world which unites in one bond of feeling the +readers of some gentle book. + +"And what work interests you so much?" said Randal, pausing by the +table. + +"One you have read, of course," replied Mrs Dale, putting a +bookmark embroidered by herself into the page, and handing the +volume to Randal. "It has made a great sensation, I believe." + +Randal glanced at the title of the work. "True," said he, "I have +heard much of it in London, but I have not yet had time to read it." + +MRS DALE.--"I can lend it to you, if you like to look over it +to-night, and you can leave it for me with Mrs Hazeldean." + +PARSON, (approaching.)--"Oh! that book!--yes, you must read it. I do +not know a work more instructive." + +RANDAL.--"Instructive! Certainly I will read it then. But I thought +it was a mere work of amusement--of fancy. It seems so, as I look +over it." + +PARSON.--"So is the _Vicar of Wakefield_; yet what book more +instructive?" + +RANDAL.--"I should not have said _that_ of the _Vicar of Wakefield_. +A pretty book enough, though the story is most improbable. But how +is it instructive?" + +PARSON.--"By its results: it leaves us happier and better. What +can any instruction do more? Some works instruct through the head, +some through the heart; the last reach the widest circle, and often +produce the most genial influence on the character. This book +belongs to the last. You will grant my proposition when you have +read it." + +Randal smiled and took the volume. + +MRS DALE.--"Is the author known yet?" + +RANDAL.--"I have heard it ascribed to many writers, but I believe no +one has claimed it." + +PARSON.--"I think it must have been written by my old college +friend, Professor Moss, the naturalist; its descriptions of scenery +are so accurate." + +MRS DALE.--"La, Charles dear! that snuffy, tiresome, prosy +professor? How can you talk such nonsense? I am sure the author must +be young; there is so much freshness of feeling." + +MRS HAZELDEAN, (positively.)--"Yes, certainly young." + +PARSON, (no less positively.)--"I should say just the contrary. +Its tone is too serene, and its style too simple for a young man. +Besides, I don't know any young man who would send me his book, and +this book has been sent me--very handsomely bound too, you see. +Depend upon it, Moss is the man--quite his turn of mind." + +MRS DALE.--"You are too provoking, Charles dear! Mr Moss is so +remarkably plain, too." + +RANDAL.--"Must an author be handsome?" + +PARSON.--"Ha, ha! Answer that, if you can, Carry." + +Carry remained mute and disdainful. + +SQUIRE, (with great _naiveté_.)--"Well, I don't think there's +much in the book, whoever wrote it; for I've read it myself, and +understand every word of it." + +MRS DALE.--"I don't see why you should suppose it was written by a +man at all. For my part, I think it must be a woman." + +MRS HAZELDEAN.--"Yes, there's a passage about maternal affection, +which only a woman could have written." + +PARSON.--"Pooh, pooh! I should like to see a woman who could +have written that description of an August evening before a +thunderstorm; every wildflower in the hedgerow exactly the flowers +of August--every sign in the air exactly those of the month. Bless +you! a woman would have filled the hedge with violets and cowslips. +Nobody else but my friend Moss could have written that description." + +SQUIRE.--"I don't know; there's a simile about the waste of +corn-seed in hand-sowing, which makes me think he must be a farmer!" + +MRS DALE, (scornfully.)--"A farmer! In hob-nailed shoes, I suppose! +I say it is a woman." + +MRS HAZELDEAN.--"A WOMAN, and A MOTHER!" + +PARSON.--"A middle-aged man, and a naturalist." + +SQUIRE.--"No, no, Parson; certainly a young man; for that love-scene +puts me in mind of my own young days, when I would have given my +ears to tell Harry how handsome I thought her; and all I could say +was--'Fine weather for the crops, Miss.' Yes, a young man, and a +farmer. I should not wonder if he had held the plough himself." + +RANDAL, (who had been turning over the pages.)--"This sketch of +Night in London comes from a man who has lived the life, of cities, +and looked at wealth with the eyes of poverty. Not bad! I will read +the book." + +"Strange," said the Parson, smiling, "that this little work should +so have entered into our minds, suggested to all of us different +ideas, yet equally charmed all--given a new and fresh current to +our dull country life--animated us as with the sight of a world in +our breasts we had never seen before, save in dreams;--a little +work like this, by a man we don't know, and never may! Well, _that_ +knowledge _is_ power, and a noble one!" + +"A sort of power, certainly, sir," said Randal, candidly; and that +night, when Randal retired to his own room, he suspended his schemes +and projects, and read, as he rarely did, without an object to gain +by the reading. + +The work surprised him by the pleasure it gave. Its charm lay in +the writer's calm enjoyment of the Beautiful. It seemed like some +happy soul sunning itself in the light of its own thoughts. Its +power was so tranquil and even, that it was only a critic who could +perceive how much force and vigour were necessary to sustain the +wing that floated aloft with so imperceptible an effort. There was +no one faculty predominating tyrannically over the others; all +seemed proportioned in the felicitous symmetry of a nature rounded, +integral, and complete. And when the work was closed, it left behind +it a tender warmth that played round the heart of the reader, and +vivified feelings that seemed unknown before. Randal laid down the +book softly; and for five minutes the ignoble and base purposes to +which his own knowledge was applied, stood before him, naked and +unmasked. + +"Tut," said he, wrenching himself violently away from the benign +influence, "it was not to sympathise with Hector, but to conquer +with Achilles, that Alexander of Macedon kept Homer under his +pillow. Such should be the true use of books to him who has the +practical world to subdue; let parsons and women construe it +otherwise as they may!" + +And the Principle of Evil descended again upon the intellect, from +which the guide of beneficence was gone. + + +CHAPTER X. + +Randal rose at the sound of the first breakfast bell, and on the +staircase met Mrs Hazeldean. He gave her back the book; and as he +was about to speak, she beckoned to him to follow her into a little +morning-room appropriated to herself. No boudoir of white and gold, +with pictures by Watteau, but lined with large walnut-tree presses, +that held the old heirloom linen strewed with lavender--stores for +the housekeeper, and medicines for the poor. + +Seating herself on a large chair in this sanctum, Mrs Hazeldean +looked formidably at home. + +"Pray," said the lady, coming at once to the point, with her usual +straightforward candour, "what is all this you have been saying to +my husband as to the possibility of Frank's marrying a foreigner?" + +RANDAL.--"Would you be as averse to such a notion as Mr Hazeldean +is?" + +MRS HAZELDEAN.--"You ask me a question, instead of answering mine." + +Randal was greatly put out in his fence by these rude thrusts. For +indeed he had a double purpose to serve--first thoroughly to know if +Frank's marriage with a woman like Madame di Negra would irritate +the Squire sufficiently to endanger the son's inheritance; and, +secondly, to prevent Mr and Mrs Hazeldean believing, seriously that +such a marriage was to be apprehended, lest they should prematurely +address Frank on the subject, and frustrate the marriage itself. +Yet, withal, he must so express himself, that he could not be +afterwards accused by the parents of disguising matters. In his +talk to the Squire the preceding day, he had gone a little too +far--farther than he would have done but for his desire of escaping +the cattle-shed and short-horns. While he mused, Mrs Hazeldean +observed him with her honest sensible eyes, and finally exclaimed-- + +"Out with it, Mr Leslie!" + +"Out with what, my dear madam? The Squire has sadly exaggerated +the importance of what was said mainly in jest. But I will own to +you plainly, that Frank has appeared to me a little smitten with a +certain fair Italian." + +"Italian!" cried Mrs Hazeldean. "Well, I said so from the first. +Italian!--that's all, is it?" and she smiled. + +Randal was more and more perplexed. The pupil of his eye contracted, +as it does when we retreat into ourselves, and think, watch, and +keep guard. + +"And perhaps," resumed Mrs Hazeldean, with a very sunny expression +of countenance, "you have noticed this in Frank since he was here?" + +"It is true," murmured Randal; "but I think his heart or his fancy +was touched even before." + +"Very natural," said Mrs Hazeldean; "how could he help it?--such +a beautiful creature! Well, I must not ask you to tell Frank's +secrets; but I guess the object of attraction; and though she will +have no fortune to speak of--and it is not such a match as he might +form--still she is so amiable, and has been so well brought up, and +is so little like one's general notions of a Roman Catholic, that I +think I could persuade Hazeldean into giving his consent." + +"Ah!" said Randal, drawing a long breath, and beginning with his +practised acuteness to detect Mrs Hazeldean's error, "I am very much +relieved and rejoiced to hear this; and I may venture to give Frank +some hope, if I find him disheartened and desponding, poor fellow!" + +"I think you may," replied Mrs Hazeldean, laughing pleasantly. "But +you should not have frightened poor William so, hinting that the +lady knew very little English. She has an accent, to be sure; but +she speaks our tongue very prettily. I always forget that she's not +English born! Ha, ha, poor William!" + +RANDAL.--"Ha, ha!" + +MRS HAZELDEAN.--"We had once thought of another match for Frank--a +girl of good English family." + +RANDAL.--"Miss Sticktorights?" + +MRS HAZELDEAN.--"No; that's an old whim of Hazeldean's. But he knows +very well that the Sticktorights would never merge their property +in ours. Bless you, it would be all off the moment they came to +settlements, and had to give up the right of way. We thought of a +very different match; but there's no dictating to young hearts, Mr +Leslie." + +RANDAL.--"Indeed no, Mrs Hazeldean. But since we now understand each +other so well, excuse me if I suggest that you had better leave +things to themselves, and not write to Frank on the subject. Young +hearts, you know, are often stimulated by apparent difficulties, and +grow cool when the obstacle vanishes." + +MRS HAZELDEAN.--"Very possibly; it was not so with Hazeldean and +me. But I shall not write to Frank on the subject, for a different +reason--though I would consent to the match, and so would William; +yet we both would rather, after all, that Frank married an +Englishwoman, and a Protestant. We will not, therefore, do anything +to encourage the idea. But if Frank's happiness becomes really at +stake, _then_ we will step in. In short, we would neither encourage +nor oppose. You understand?" + +"Perfectly." + +"And, in the meanwhile, it is quite right that Frank should see the +world, and try to distract his mind, or at least to know it. And I +dare say it has been some thought of that kind which has prevented +his coming here." + +Randal, dreading a farther and plainer _éclaircissement_, now rose, +and saying, "Pardon me, but I must hurry over breakfast, and be back +in time to catch the coach"--offered his arm to his hostess, and led +her into the breakfast-parlour. Devouring his meal, as if in great +haste, he then mounted his horse, and, taking cordial leave of his +entertainers, trotted briskly away. + +All things favoured his project--even chance had befriended him in +Mrs Hazeldean's mistake. She had not unnaturally supposed Violante +to have captivated Frank on his last visit to the Hall. Thus, while +Randal had certified his own mind that nothing could more exasperate +the Squire than an alliance with Madame di Negra, he could yet +assure Frank that Mrs Hazeldean was all on his side. And when the +error was discovered, Mrs Hazeldean would only have to blame herself +for it. Still more successful had his diplomacy proved with the +Riccaboccas; he had ascertained the secret he had come to discover; +he should induce the Italian to remove to the neighbourhood of +London; and if Violante were the great heiress he suspected her to +prove, whom else of her own age would she see but him? And the old +Leslie domains--to be sold in two years--a portion of the dowry +might purchase them! Flushed by the triumph of his craft, all former +vacillations of conscience ceased. In high and fervent spirits he +passed the Casino, the garden of which was solitary and deserted, +reached his home, and, telling Oliver to be studious, and Juliet to +be patient, walked thence to meet the coach and regain the capital. + + +CHAPTER XI. + +Violante was seated in her own little room, and looking from the +window on the terrace that stretched below. The day was warm for +the time of year. The orange-trees had been removed under shelter +for the approach of winter; but where they had stood sate Mrs +Riccabocca at work. In the Belvidere, Riccabocca himself was +conversing with his favourite servant. But the casements and the +door of the Belvidere were open; and where they sate, both wife and +daughter could see the Padrone leaning against the wall, with his +arms folded, and his eyes fixed on the floor; while Jackeymo, with +one finger on his master's arm, was talking to him with visible +earnestness. And the daughter from the window, and the wife from +her work, directed tender anxious eyes towards the still thoughtful +form so dear to both. For the last day or two, Riccabocca had been +peculiarly abstracted, even to gloom. Each felt there was something +stirring at his heart--neither as yet knew what. + +Violante's room silently revealed the nature of the education by +which her character had been formed. Save a sketch-book which lay +open on a desk at hand, and which showed talent exquisitely taught, +(for in this Riccabocca had been her teacher,) there was nothing +that spoke of the ordinary female accomplishments. No piano stood +open, no harp occupied yon nook, which seemed made for one; no +broidery frame, nor implements of work, betrayed the usual and +graceful resources of a girl; but ranged on shelves against the wall +were the best writers in English, Italian, and French; and these +betokened an extent of reading, that he who wishes for a companion +to his mind in the sweet commune of woman, which softens and refines +all it gives and takes in interchange, will never condemn as +masculine. You had but to look into Violante's face to see how noble +was the intelligence that brought soul to those lovely features. +Nothing hard, nothing dry and stern was there. Even as you detected +knowledge, it was lost in the gentleness of grace. In fact, whatever +she gained in the graver kinds of information, became transmuted, +through her heart and her fancy, into spiritual golden stores. Give +her some tedious and arid history, her imagination seized upon +beauties other readers had passed by, and, like the eye of the +artist, detected everywhere the Picturesque. Something in her mind +seemed to reject all that was mean and commonplace, and to bring +out all that was rare and elevated in whatever it received. Living +so apart from all companions of her age, she scarcely belonged to +the Present time. She dwelt in the Past, as Sabrina, in her crystal +well. Images of chivalry--of the Beautiful and the Heroic--such as, +in reading the silvery line of Tasso, rise before us, softening +force and valour into love and song--haunted the reveries of the +fair Italian maid. + +Tell us not that the Past, examined by cold Philosophy, was no +better and no loftier than the Present; it is not thus seen by pure +and generous eyes. Let the Past perish, when it ceases to reflect on +its magic mirror the beautiful Romance which is its noblest reality, +though perchance but the shadow of Delusion. + +Yet Violante was not merely the dreamer. In her, life was so +puissant and rich, that action seemed necessary to its glorious +development--action, but still in the woman's sphere--action to +bless and to refine and to exalt all around her, and to pour +whatever else of ambition was left unsatisfied into sympathy with +the aspirations of man. Despite her father's fears of the bleak air +of England, in that air she had strengthened the delicate health +of her childhood. Her elastic step--her eyes full of sweetness and +light--her bloom, at once soft and luxuriant--all spoke of the +vital powers fit to sustain a mind of such exquisite mould, and the +emotions of a heart that, once aroused, could ennoble the passions +of the South with the purity and devotion of the North. + +Solitude makes some natures more timid, some more bold. Violante was +fearless. When she spoke, her eyes frankly met your own; and she was +so ignorant of evil, that as yet she seemed nearly unacquainted with +shame. From this courage, combined with affluence of idea, came a +delightful flow of happy converse. Though possessing so imperfectly +the accomplishments ordinarily taught to young women, and which may +be cultured to the utmost, and yet leave the thoughts so barren, and +the talk so vapid--she had that accomplishment which most pleases +the taste, and commands the love, of the man of talent; especially +if his talent be not so actively employed as to make him desire +only relaxation where he seeks companionship--the accomplishment +of facility in intellectual interchange--the charm that clothes in +musical words beautiful womanly ideas. + +"I hear him sigh at this distance," said Violante softly, as she +still watched her father; "and methinks this is a new grief, and +not for his country. He spoke twice yesterday of that dear English +friend, and wished that he were here." + +As she said this, unconsciously the virgin blushed, her hands +drooped on her knee, and she fell herself into thought as profound +as her father's, but less gloomy. From her arrival in England, +Violante had been taught a grateful interest in the name of Harley +L'Estrange. Her father, preserving a silence, that seemed disdain, +of all his old Italian intimates, had been pleased to converse with +open heart of the Englishman who had saved where countrymen had +betrayed. He spoke of the soldier, then in the full bloom of youth, +who, unconsoled by fame, had nursed the memory of some hidden sorrow +amidst the pine-trees that cast their shadow over the sunny Italian +lake; how Riccabocca, then honoured and happy, had courted from his +seclusion the English Signor, then the mourner and the voluntary +exile; how they had grown friends amidst the landscapes in which her +eyes had opened to the day; how Harley had vainly warned him from +the rash schemes in which he had sought to reconstruct in an hour +the ruins of weary ages; how, when abandoned, deserted, proscribed, +pursued, he had fled for life--the infant Violante clasped to +his bosom--the English soldier had given him refuge, baffled the +pursuers, armed his servants, accompanied the fugitive at night +towards the defile in the Apennines, and, when the emissaries of a +perfidious enemy, hot in the chase, came near, had said, "You have +your child to save! Fly on! Another league, and you are beyond the +borders. We will delay the foes with parley; they will not harm us." +And not till escape was gained did the father know that the English +friend had delayed the foe, not by parley, but by the sword, holding +the pass against numbers, with a breast as dauntless as Bayard's in +the immortal bridge. + +And since then, the same Englishman had never ceased to vindicate +his name, to urge his cause, and if hope yet remained of restoration +to land and honours, it was in that untiring zeal. + +Hence, naturally and insensibly, this secluded and musing girl had +associated all that she read in tales of romance and chivalry with +the image of the brave and loyal stranger. He it was who animated +her dreams of the Past, and seemed born to be, in the destined hour, +the deliverer of the Future. Around this image grouped all the +charms that the fancy of virgin woman can raise from the enchanted +lore of old Heroic Fable. Once in her early girlhood, her father (to +satisfy her curiosity, eager for general description) had drawn from +memory a sketch of the features of the Englishman--drawn Harley, as +he was in that first youth, flattered and idealised, no doubt, by +art and by partial gratitude--but still resembling him as he was +then; while the deep mournfulness of recent sorrow yet shadowed and +concentrated all the varying expression of his countenance; and to +look on him was to say,--"So sad, yet so young!" Never did Violante +pause to remember that the same years which ripened herself from +infancy into woman, were passing less gently over that smooth cheek +and dreamy brow--that the world might be altering the nature, as +time the aspect. To her, the hero of the Ideal remained immortal in +bloom and youth. Bright illusion, common to us all, where Poetry +once hallows the human form! Who ever thinks of Petrarch as the +old time-worn man? Who does not see him as when he first gazed on +Laura?-- + + "Ogni altra cosa ogni pensier va fore; + E sol ivi con voi rimansi Amore!" + + +CHAPTER XII. + +And Violante, thus absorbed in reverie, forgot to keep watch on the +Belvidere. And the Belvidere was now deserted. The wife, who had no +other ideal to distract _her_ thoughts, saw Riccabocca pass into the +house. + +The exile entered his daughter's room, and she started to feel his +hand upon her locks and his kiss upon her brow. + +"My child!" cried Riccabocca, seating himself, "I have resolved to +leave for a time this retreat, and to seek the neighbourhood of +London." + +"Ah, dear father, _that_, then, was your thought? But what can be +your reason? Do not turn away; you know how carefully I have obeyed +your command and kept your secret. Ah, you will confide in me." + +"I do, indeed," returned Riccabocca, with emotion. "I leave this +place, in the fear lest my enemies discover me. I shall say to +others that you are of an age to require teachers, not to be +obtained here. But I should like none to know where we go." + +The Italian said these last words through his teeth, and hanging his +head. He said them in shame. + +"My mother--(so Violante always called Jemima)--my mother, you have +spoken to her?" + +"Not yet. _There_ is the difficulty." + +"No difficulty, for she loves you so well," replied Violante, with +soft reproach. "Ah, why not also confide in her? Who so true? so +good?" + +"Good--I grant it!" exclaimed Riccabocca. "What then? 'Da cattiva +Donna guardati, ed alla buona non fidar niente,' (from the bad +woman, guard thyself; to the good woman trust nothing.) And if you +must trust," added the abominable man, "trust her with anything but +a secret!" + +"Fie," said Violante, with arch reproach, for she knew her +father's humours too well to interpret his horrible sentiments +literally--"fie on your consistency, _Padre carissimo_. Do you not +trust your secret to me?" + +"You! A kitten is not a cat, and a girl is not a woman. Besides, the +secret was already known to you, and I had no choice. Peace, Jemima +will stay here for the present. See to what you wish to take with +you; we shall leave to-night." + +Not waiting for an answer, Riccabocca hurried away, and with a firm +step strode the terrace and approached his wife. + +"_Anima mia_," said the pupil of Machiavel, disguising in the +tenderest words the cruellest intentions--for one of his most +cherished Italian proverbs was to the effect, that there is no +getting on with a mule or a woman unless you coax them--"_Anima +mia_,--soul of my being--you have already seen that Violante mopes +herself to death here." + +"She, poor child! Oh no!" + +"She does, core of my heart, she does, and is as ignorant of music +as I am of tent-stitch." + +"She sings beautifully." + +"Just as birds do, against all the rules, and in defiance of gamut. +Therefore, to come to the point, O treasure of my soul! I am going +to take her with me for a short time, perhaps to Cheltenham, or +Brighton--we shall see." + +"All places with you are the same to me, Alphonso. When shall we go?" + +"_We_ shall go to-night; but, terrible as it is to part from +you--you--" + +"Ah!" interrupted the wife, and covered her face with her hands. + +Riccabocca, the wiliest and most relentless of men in his maxims, +melted into absolute uxorial imbecility at the sight of that mute +distress. He put his arm round his wife's waist, with genuine +affection, and without a single proverb at his heart--"_Carissima_, +do not grieve so; we shall be back soon, and travelling is +expensive; rolling stones gather no moss, and there is so much to +see to at home." + +Mrs Riccabocca gently escaped from her husband's arms. She withdrew +her hands from her face, and brushed away the tears that stood in +her eyes. + +"Alphonso," she said touchingly, "hear me! What you think good, that +shall ever be good to me. But do not think that I grieve solely +because of our parting. No; I grieve to think that, despite all +these years in which I have been the partner of your hearth and +slept on your breast--all these years in which I have had no thought +but, however humbly, to do my duty to you and yours, and could have +wished that you had read my heart, and seen there but yourself and +your child--I grieve to think that you still deem me as unworthy +your trust as when you stood by my side at the altar." + +"Trust!" repeated Riccabocca, startled and conscience-stricken; +"why do you say 'trust?' In what have I distrusted you? I am sure," +he continued, with the artful volubility of guilt, "that I never +doubted your fidelity--hook-nosed, long-visaged foreigner though +I be; never pryed into your letters; never inquired into your +solitary walks; never heeded your flirtations with that good-looking +Parson Dale; never kept the money; and never looked into the +account-books!" Mrs Riccabocca refused even a smile of contempt at +these revolting evasions; nay, she seemed scarcely to hear them. + +"Can you think," she resumed, pressing her hand on her heart to +still its struggles for relief in sobs--"can you think that I could +have watched, and thought, and tasked my poor mind so constantly, +to conjecture what might best soothe or please you, and not seen, +long since, that you have secrets known to your daughter--your +servant--not to me? Fear not--the secrets cannot be evil, or you +would not tell them to your innocent child. Besides, do I not know +your nature? and do I not love you because I know it?--it is for +something connected with these secrets that you leave your home. You +think that I should be incautious--imprudent. You will not take me +with you. Be it so. I go to prepare for your departure. Forgive me +if I have displeased you, husband." + +Mrs Riccabocca turned away; but a soft hand touched the Italian's +arm. "O father, can you resist this? Trust her!--trust her! I am a +woman like her! I answer for her woman's faith. Be yourself--ever +nobler than all others, my own father." + +"_Diavolo!_ Never one door shuts but another opens," groaned +Riccabocca. "Are you a fool, child? Don't you see that it was for +your sake only I feared--and would be cautious?" + +"For mine! O then, do not make me deem myself mean, and the cause of +meanness. For mine! Am I not your daughter--the descendant of men +who never feared?" + +Violante looked sublime while she spoke; and as she ended she led +her father gently on towards the door, which his wife had now gained. + +"Jemima--wife mine!--pardon, pardon," cried the Italian, whose heart +had been yearning to repay such tenderness and devotion,--"come back +to my breast--it has been long closed--it shall be open to you now +and for ever." + +In another moment, the wife was in her right place--on her +husband's bosom; and Violante, beautiful peace-maker, stood smiling +a while at both, and then lifted her eyes gratefully to heaven, and +stole away. + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +On Randal's return to town, he heard mixed and contradictory rumours +in the streets, and at the clubs of the probable downfall of the +Government at the approaching session of Parliament. These rumours +had sprung up suddenly, as if in an hour. True that, for some time, +the sagacious had shaken their heads and said, "Ministers could +not last." True that certain changes in policy, a year or two +before, had divided the party on which the Government depended, and +strengthened that which opposed it. But still its tenure in office +had been so long, and there seemed so little power in the Opposition +to form a cabinet of names familiar to official ears, that the +general public had anticipated, at most, a few partial changes. +Rumour now went far beyond this. Randal, whose whole prospects at +present were but reflections from the greatness of his patron, was +alarmed. He sought Egerton, but the minister was impenetrable, and +seemed calm, confident, and imperturbed. Somewhat relieved, Randal +then set himself to work to find a safe home for Riccabocca; for the +greater need to succeed in obtaining fortune there, if he failed in +getting it through Egerton. He found a quiet house, detached and +secluded, in the neighbourhood of Norwood. No vicinity more secure +from espionage and remark. He wrote to Riccabocca, and communicated +the address, adding fresh assurances of his own power to be of +use. The next morning he was seated in his office, thinking very +little of the details, that he mastered, however, with mechanical +precision, when the minister who presided over that department of +the public service sent for him into his private room, and begged +him to take a letter to Egerton, with whom he wished to consult +relative to a very important point to be decided in the Cabinet +that day. "I want you to take it," said the minister smiling, (the +minister was a frank, homely man,) "because you are in Mr Egerton's +confidence, and he may give you some verbal message besides a +written reply. Egerton is often over cautious and brief in the +_litera scripta_." + +Randal went first to Egerton's neighbouring office--he had not been +there that day. He then took a cabriolet and drove to Grosvenor +Square. A quiet-looking chariot was at the door. Mr Egerton was at +home; but the servant said, "Dr F. is with him, sir; and perhaps he +may not like to be disturbed." + +"What, is your master ill?" + +"Not that I know of, sir. He never says he is ill. But he has looked +poorly the last day or two." + +Randal hesitated a moment; but his commission might be important, +and Egerton was a man who so held the maxim, that health and all +else must give way to business, that he resolved to enter; and, +unannounced, and unceremoniously, as was his wont, he opened the +door of the library. He started as he did so. Audley Egerton was +leaning back on the sofa, and the doctor, on his knees before him, +was applying the stethoscope to his breast. Egerton's eyes were +partially closed as the door opened. But at the noise he sprang +up, nearly oversetting the doctor. "Who's that?--How dare you!" he +exclaimed, in a voice of great anger. Then recognising Randal, he +changed colour, bit his lip, and muttered drily, "I beg pardon for +my abruptness; what do you want, Mr Leslie?" + +"This letter from Lord ----; I was told to deliver it immediately +into your own hands; I beg pardon--" + +"There is no cause," said Egerton, coldly. "I have had a slight +attack of bronchitis; and as Parliament meets so soon, I must take +advice from my doctor, if I would be heard by the reporters. Lay the +letter on the table, and be kind enough to wait for my reply." + +Randal withdrew. He had never seen a physician in that house before, +and it seemed surprising that Egerton should even take a medical +opinion upon a slight attack. While waiting in the ante-room +there was a knock at the street door, and presently a gentleman, +exceedingly well dressed, was shown in, and honoured Randal with +an easy and half familiar bow. Randal remembered to have met this +personage at dinner, and at the house of a young nobleman of high +fashion, but had not been introduced to him, and did not even know +him by name. The visitor was better informed. + +"Our friend Egerton is busy, I hear, Mr Leslie," said he, arranging +the camelia in his button hole. + +"Our friend Egerton!" It must be a very great man to say, "Our +friend Egerton." + +"He will not be engaged long, I dare say," returned Randal, glancing +his shrewd inquiring eye over the stranger's person. + +"I trust not; my time is almost as precious as his own. I was +not so fortunate as to be presented to you when we met at Lord +Spendquick's. Good fellow, Spendquick; and decidedly clever." + +Lord Spendquick was usually esteemed a gentleman without three ideas. + +Randal smiled. + +In the meanwhile the visitor had taken out a card from an embossed +morocco case, and now presented it to Randal, who read thereon, +"Baron Levy, No. --, Bruton St." + +The name was not unknown to Randal. It was a name too often on the +lips of men of fashion not to have reached the ears of an _habitué_ +of good society. + +Mr Levy had been a solicitor by profession. He had of late years +relinquished his ostensible calling; and not long since, in +consequence of some services towards the negotiation of a loan, had +been created a baron by one of the German kings. The wealth of Mr +Levy was said to be only equalled by his good nature to all who were +in want of a temporary loan, and with sound expectations of repaying +it some day or other. + +You seldom saw a finer-looking man than Baron Levy--about the +same age as Egerton, but looking younger: so well preserved--such +magnificent black whiskers--such superb teeth! Despite his name and +his dark complexion, he did not, however, resemble a Jew--at least +externally; and, in fact, he was not a Jew on the father's side, +but the natural son of a rich English _grand seigneur_, by a Hebrew +lady of distinction--in the opera. After his birth, this lady had +married a German trader of her own persuasion, and her husband had +been prevailed upon, for the convenience of all parties, to adopt +his wife's son, and accord to him his own Hebrew name. Mr Levy +senior was soon left a widower, and then the real father, though +never actually owning the boy, had shown him great attention--had +him frequently at his house--initiated him betimes into his own +high-born society, for which the boy showed great taste. But when my +Lord died, and left but a moderate legacy to the younger Levy, who +was then about eighteen, that ambiguous person was articled to an +attorney by his putative sire, who shortly afterwards returned to +his native land, and was buried at Prague, where his tombstone may +yet be seen. Young Levy, however, continued to do very well without +him. His real birth was generally known, and rather advantageous +to him in a social point of view. His legacy enabled him to become +a partner where he had been a clerk, and his practice became great +amongst the fashionable classes of society. Indeed he was so useful, +so pleasant, so much a man of the world, that he grew intimate with +his clients--chiefly young men of rank; was on good terms with both +Jew and Christian; and being neither one nor the other, resembled +(to use Sheridan's incomparable simile) the blank page between the +Old and the New Testament. + +Vulgar, some might call Mr Levy, from his assurance, but it was not +the vulgarity of a man accustomed to low and coarse society--rather +the _mauvais ton_ of a person not sure of his own position, but +who has resolved to swagger into the best one he can get. When it +is remembered that he had made his way in the world, and gleaned +together an immense fortune, it is needless to add that he was as +sharp as a needle, and as hard as a flint. No man had had more +friends, and no man had stuck by them more firmly--as long as there +was a pound in their pockets! + +Something of this character had Randal heard of the Baron, and he +now gazed, first at his card, and then at him, with--admiration. + +"I met a friend of yours at Borrowwell's the other day," resumed the +Baron--"Young Hazeldean. Careful fellow--quite a man of the world." + +As this was the last praise poor Frank deserved, Randal again smiled. + +The Baron went on--"I hear, Mr Leslie, that you have much influence +over this same Hazeldean. His affairs are in a sad state. I should +be very happy to be of use to him, as a relation of my friend +Egerton's; but he understands business so well that he despises my +advice." + +"I am sure you do him injustice." + +"Injustice! I honour his caution. I say to every man, 'Don't come to +me--I can get you money on much easier terms than any one else;' and +what's the result? You come so often that you ruin yourself; whereas +a regular usurer without conscience frightens you. 'Cent per cent,' +you say; 'oh, I must pull in.' If you have influence over your +friend, tell him to stick to his bill-brokers, and have nothing to +do with Baron Levy." + +Here the minister's bell rung, and Randal, looking through the +window, saw Dr F. walking to his carriage, which had made way for +Baron Levy's splendid cabriolet--a cabriolet in the most perfect +taste--Baron's coronet on the dark brown panels--horse black, with +such action!--harness just relieved with plating. The servant now +entered, and requested Randal to step in; and addressing the Baron, +assured him that he would not be detained a minute. + +"Leslie," said the minister, sealing a note, "take this back to Lord +----, and say that I shall be with him in an hour." + +"No other message?--he seemed to expect one." + +"I dare say he did. Well, my letter is official, my message is not; +beg him to see Mr ---- before we meet--he will understand--all rests +upon that interview." + +Egerton then, extending the letter, resumed gravely, "Of course you +will not mention to any one that Dr F. was with me: the health of +public men is not to be suspected. Hum--were you in your own room or +the ante-room?" + +"The ante-room, sir." + +Egerton's brow contracted slightly. "And Mr Levy was there, eh?" + +"Yes--the Baron." + +"Baron! true. Come to plague me about the Mexican loan, I suppose. I +will keep you no longer." + +Randal, much meditating, left the house, and re-entered his hack +cab. The Baron was admitted to the statesman's presence. + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +Egerton had thrown himself at full length on the sofa, a position +exceedingly rare with him; and about his whole air and manner, as +Levy entered, there was something singularly different from that +stateliness of port common to the austere legislator. The very tone +of his voice was different. It was as if the statesman--the man of +business--had vanished; it was rather the man of fashion and the +idler, who, nodding languidly to his visitor, said, "Levy, what +money can I have for a year?" + +"The estate will bear very little more. My dear fellow, that last +election was the very devil. You cannot go on thus much longer." + +"My dear fellow!" Baron Levy hailed Audley Egerton as "my dear +fellow." And Audley Egerton, perhaps, saw nothing strange in the +words, though his lip curled. + +"I shall not want to go on thus much longer," answered Egerton, as +the curl on his lip changed to a gloomy smile. "The estate must, +meanwhile, bear £5000 more." + +"A hard pull on it. You had really better sell." + +"I cannot afford to sell at present. I cannot afford men to say, +'Audley Egerton is done up--his property is for sale.'" + +"It is very sad when one thinks what a rich man you have been--and +may be yet!" + +"Be yet! How?" + +Baron Levy glanced towards the thick mahogany doors--thick and +impervious, as should be the doors of statesmen. "Why, you know +that, with three words from you, I could produce an effect upon the +stocks of three nations, that might give as each a hundred thousand +pounds. We would go shares." + +"Levy," said Egerton coldly, though a deep blush overspread his +face, "you are a scoundrel; that is your look-out. I interfere with +no man's tastes and conscience. I don't intend to be a scoundrel +myself. I have told you that long ago." + +The Baron laughed, without evincing the least displeasure. + +"Well," said he, "you are neither wise nor complimentary, but you +shall have the money. But yet, would it not be better," added Levy, +with emphasis, "to borrow it, without interest, of your friend +L'Estrange?" + +Egerton started as if stung. + +"You mean to taunt me, sir!" he exclaimed, passionately. "I accept +pecuniary favours from Lord L'Estrange! I!" + +"Tut, my dear Egerton, I dare say my Lord would not think so ill now +of that little act in your life which--" + +"Hold!" exclaimed Egerton, writhing. "Hold!" + +He stopped, and paced the room, muttering in broken sentences, "To +blush before this man! Chastisement, chastisement!" + +Levy gazed on him with hard and sinister eyes. The minister turned +abruptly. + +"Look you, Levy," said he, with forced composure--"you hate me--why, +I know not. I have never injured you--never avenged the inexpiable +wrong you did me." + +"Wrong!--you a man of the world! Wrong! Call it so if you will, +then," he added shrinkingly, for Audley's brow grew terrible. "But +have I not atoned it? Would you ever have lived in this palace, and +ruled this country as one of the most influential of its ministers, +but for my management--my whispers to the wealthy Miss Leslie? Come, +but for me what would you have been--perhaps a beggar?" + +"What shall I be now if I live? _Then_ I should not have been a +beggar; poor perhaps in money, but rich--rich in all that now leaves +my life bankrupt. Gold has not thriven with me; how should it? And +this fortune--it has passed for the main part into your hands. Be +patient, you will have it all ere long. But there is one man in the +world who has loved me from a boy, and woe to you if ever he learn +that he has the right to despise me!" + +"Egerton, my good fellow," said Levy, with great composure, "you +need not threaten me, for what interest can I possibly have in +tale-telling to Lord L'Estrange? As to hating you--pooh! You snub me +in private, you cut me in public, you refuse to come to my dinners, +you'll not ask me to your own; still, there is no man I like better, +nor would more willingly serve. When do you want the £5000?" + +"Perhaps in one month, perhaps not for three or four. Let it be +ready when required." + +"Enough; depend on it. Have you any other commands?" + +"None." + +"I will take my leave, then. By the by, what do you suppose the +Hazeldean rental is worth--net?" + +"I don't know, nor care. You have no designs upon _that_, too?" + +"Well, I like keeping up family connections. Mr Frank seems a +liberal young gentleman." + +Before Egerton could answer, the Baron had glided to the door, and, +nodding pleasantly, vanished with that nod. + +Egerton remained, standing on his solitary hearth. A drear, single +man's room it was, from wall to wall, despite its fretted ceilings +and official pomp of Bramah escritoires and red boxes. Drear and +cheerless--no trace of woman's habitation--no vestige of intruding, +happy children. There stood the austere man alone. And then with a +deep sigh he muttered, "Thank heaven, not for long--it will not last +long." + +Repeating those words, he mechanically locked up his papers, and +pressed his hand to his heart for an instant, as if a spasm had shot +through it. + +"So--I must shun all emotion!" said he, shaking his head gently. + +In five minutes more, Audley Egerton was in the streets, his mien +erect, and his step firm as ever. + +"That man is made of bronze," said a leader of the Opposition to a +friend as they rode past the minister. "What would I give for his +nerves!" + + + + +JOHNSTON'S NOTES ON NORTH AMERICA. + +_Notes on North America, Agricultural, Social, and Economical._ By +JAMES F. W. JOHNSTON, M.A., F.R.SS.L. and E., &c. Two Vols. post +8vo. William Blackwood & Sons. + + +Professor Johnston had three objects in view in his visit to the +New World. His high reputation as an agricultural chemist had +induced the Agricultural Society of New York to request him to give +a course of lectures at Albany upon the connection of chemical and +geological science with that of the cultivation of land. He had also +been commissioned by the Government of New Brunswick to examine +and report on the agricultural capabilities of that province. And +besides these public duties, he was impelled by a strong desire to +study the actual position of the art of husbandry in the fertile +regions of the West, and the influence which its progress is likely +to exert upon British agriculture. + +Our shrewd brother Jonathan, however brilliant his achievements have +been in other arts, has not hitherto earned any great reputation +as a scientific farmer. Nature has been so bountiful to him, +that, with "fresh fields and pastures new" ever before him, he +has hitherto had no need to resort to the toilsome processes and +anxious expedients--"_curis acuens mortalia corda_"--of our Old +World systems of agriculture. On the newer lands of the Union, at +least, the rotations followed, the waste of manures, and the general +contempt of all method and economy, are such as would break the +heart of a Haddingtonshire "grieve," and in a couple of seasons +convert his trim acres into a howling wilderness. What would our +respected friend Mr Caird say to a course of cropping like the +following, which, though given by Professor Johnston as a specimen +of New Brunswick farming, is the usual method followed on most of +the new soils of North America?-- + + "He cuts down the wood and burns it, then takes a crop of + potatoes, followed by one of wheat, with grass seeds. _Nine + successive crops of hay follow in as many years_; after which + the stumps are taken up, the land is ploughed, a crop of wheat + is taken; it is then manured for the first time, or limed, and + laid down again for a similar succession of crops of hay. This + treatment is hard enough; but the unskilful man, after burning + and spreading the ashes, takes two or three more crops of grain, + leaves it to sow itself with grass, then cuts hay as long as + it bears a crop which is worth cutting--after all which he + either stumps and ploughs it, or leaves it to run again into the + wilderness state."--(_Johnston_, vol. i. p. 104.) + +Such a system seems, at first sight, to argue a barbarous ignorance +of the very first elements of agriculture; and yet, as Professor +Johnston remarks, "we English farmers and teachers of agricultural +science, with all our skill, should probably, in the same +circumstances, do just the same, so long as land was plenty, labour +scarce and dear, and markets few and distant." Let no one suppose +that our wide-awake kinsman does not know perfectly well what he is +about. His apparently rude agricultural practice is regulated by a +maxim which some of our _Mechists_ at home would do well to bear in +mind--that high farming is bad farming if it is not remunerative. +He knows that to manure his land would be to insure the lodging +and destruction of his crops, and he therefore leaves his straw +to wither in the fields, and lives on in blessed ignorance of the +virtues and cost of guano. To plough deep furrows in a virgin soil, +saturated with organic matter, would be an idle waste of labour; +and the primitive Triptolemus of Michigan scatters the seed upon +the surface--or, raising a little mould on the point of a hoe, +drops in a few grains of maize, covers them over, and heeds them +no more till the golden pyramids are ripe for the knife. The first +three crops, thus easily obtained, generally repay to the settler +in the wilderness the expense of felling the timber, burning, and +cultivating. If he then abandon it, he is at least no loser; but +for eight or ten years the soil will still continue to produce crops +of natural hay; and then, having extracted from it all that its +spontaneous fertility will yield, he sells his possession for what +it may bring, and moves off westward to repeat the same exhaustive +process on a fresh portion of the forest, leaving to his successor +the task of reinvigorating the severely tested powers of the soil by +rest and restoratives. + +This locust-like progress of the American settler--ever on the move +to new lands, and leaving comparative barrenness in his track--must +evidently place the case of America beyond the sphere of those +ordinary laws of political economy which are applicable in European +countries; and Professor Johnston seems to consider the fact of the +incessant exhaustion and abandonment of lands as the chief key to +a right understanding of the peculiar economical position of the +United States. The owner of land in the older and more populous +States, who has not learnt to apply a restorative system of culture, +derives little benefit from the comparative advantage of situation, +while the inhabitants of the towns and villages around him are fed +with the surplus spontaneous produce of the far off clearings in +Ohio or Missouri. But these in their turn become worn out--and as +cultivation travels on westward, the chief centres of agricultural +production are gradually receding farther and farther from the +chief centres of population and consumption; and this increasing +distance, and consequent cost of transport, is every year enhancing +the price of grain in the busy and crowded marts of the West--ever +filling up with the incessant stream of immigration from Europe. +Such is Mr Johnston's view of the present normal condition of the +Union in regard to the sustenance of her people; and he makes it +the ground-work, as we shall presently see, of certain rather +doubtful inferences, of some importance in their bearing on the +agriculture of this country. One consequence, however, of any +material increase in the price of food in the Eastern States of the +Union is very obvious--the proprietor of land in these districts +will gradually be enabled to apply, with profit to his exhausted +soil, the artificial aids and costlier system of culture followed +in Britain. Already this result is apparent in Professor Johnston's +account of the energetic spirit of agricultural improvement which is +rapidly spreading over most of the New England States. In the keen, +restless, and enterprising New Englander, our Old Country farmers +will undoubtedly find a more formidable competitor, for the honour +of the first place in agricultural advancement, than any they have +yet met on this side of the Atlantic. We have seen this year what +his invention can produce in mechanical contrivances for economising +the labour of the field; and, that he is not indifferent to the +aids which science can afford him, is sufficiently proved by the +occasion of that visit to America of which Professor Johnston has +here given so pleasant and instructive a record. The invitation was +not more creditable to the character of the Professor, than to the +discernment of the zealous and patriotic men who thus showed how +correctly they apprehend the true method of improving their fine +country. His engagement was fulfilled during the sitting of the +State Legislature at Albany in January 1850, when the hall of the +Assembly was given up to him as a lecture-room; the leading members +of the Assembly and of the State Agricultural Society were among +his auditors, and the greatest public interest was evinced in the +important subjects of his prelections. + +It is apparent, from many passages of the _Notes_, that the author +has listened too confidingly to the flattering tale--the "_canor +mulcendas natus ad aures_" of the syren of Free Trade. He seems to +be gifted with a strong natural faith, and a patriotic confidence +in what British enterprise, and especially British agriculture, can +achieve in the way of surmounting difficulties. It is not perhaps +to be wondered at that one, whose professional pursuits naturally +lead him to place a high value upon the aids which science has in +store for the agriculturist, should encourage the farmer to think +lightly of his present difficulties, and keep up his spirits +with the hope of some paulo-post-future prosperity. It must be +allowed that the farmer, poor fellow, has not wanted abundance of +kind friends to comfort him in his adversity. Generally, however, +their consolations--like those of the sympathetic Mrs Gamp--have +been rather indefinite--vague moralisings upon his calamity, as if +it were some inevitable stroke of Providence, to be bowed to in +silent resignation, and hazy anticipations of good luck awaiting +him. Others, again--who have professed the greatest friendship for +him, and, like the Knight of Netherby, have come down to hearten +up the broken-down man by imparting to him some plan of theirs, +as sheep-pasturage or the like, for setting him on his legs +again--are mentally taking an inventory of his remaining chattels, +and calculating when to send the sheriff's officer. But Professor +Johnston belongs to neither of these classes of comforters. His +opinion, we know, is at least disinterested, and he brings it +before us in the shape of a distinct proposition--viz., that the +wheat-exporting capabilities of the United States are not so great +as have generally been supposed, and that, as they must diminish +rather than increase in future, the prospect of competition with +American produce need cause no alarm to the British farmer. + +This opinion, coming from such an authority, claims a deliberate +examination; and the more so that, in the dearth of other +gratulatory topics, it has been eagerly laid hold of by the +_Edinburgh Review_, the _Economist_, and other Free-Trade organs, +and vaunted as a complete proof that protective duties are quite +unnecessary. + +The reasons which Professor Johnston assigns for believing that the +_present_ wheat-exporting powers of the United States have been +exaggerated, may be passed over with very little comment. The Board +of Trade returns leave no room for doubt as to the quantity that has +actually reached this country, and it is therefore unnecessary for +us to follow him through his hypothetical estimate of the exportable +grain, grounded on what they _ought_ to have had to spare for us. +We may remark, however, that the data on which his calculations +proceed are far from satisfactory. He shows that all the _wheat_ +produced in the United States, as given in the estimates of the +Patent Office, is inadequate to afford the eight bushels which in +England we reckon to be requisite for the annual supply of each +inhabitant--the population of the Union being about twenty-one +millions, and the produce of wheat one hundred and twenty-seven +millions of bushels. He does not overlook altogether the fact that +wheat is not in America, as it is with us, almost the sole cereal +food of the people; and he admits that a considerable allowance must +be made for the consumption of Indian corn instead of wheat. But how +much?--That is the question. The compilers of the State Papers at +Washington estimate that Indian corn, buckwheat, and other grain, +form so large a proportion of the food of the people, that they +require only _three_ bushels of wheat per head; and no doubt they +have good grounds for this calculation. Professor Johnston, however, +without indicating any reason whatever for his assumption, has set +down the consumption of each individual at _five_ bushels per annum; +and thus, by a stroke of his pen, he reduces the average exportable +surplus of the Union to _only_ three millions of quarters. + +As to what may be expected in future--Professor Johnston anticipates +the gradual diminution of the supply, from the circumstance, already +adverted to, of the progressive exhaustion of the newer lands of the +Union, and the rapid increase of population in the old. If several +of the Western States, he argues, have even already ceased to raise +enough wheat for the supply of their present inhabitants, and are +compelled to draw largely on the produce of the remote States of +Illinois, Ohio, &c.--and if the productive power of these new lands +is annually becoming less, the virgin soils more distant, and the +transport of subsistence more difficult--if this is the state of +matters now, what will it be in 1860, when immigration and natural +increase will probably have raised the population of the Union to +some thirty-four millions? "It is very safe," he concludes, "to +say that in 1860 their wheat-exporting capability will have become +so small as to give our British farmers very little cause for +apprehension." It may perchance occur to these gentlemen, that the +consolation Professor Johnston here offers them is not very cheering +after all; and as long as they see the provision stores in every +market town piled up with the interloping flour barrels of New York, +and their own waggons returning home with their loads unsold, it is +not to be wondered at if they are not greatly exhilarated with the +prospect of what may possibly happen nine years hence. And slender +as is the hope deferred here held out to them, it rests, we fear, on +very questionable grounds. + +Professor Johnston's opinion is founded on two suppositions: 1st, +That the exhaustion of the Western States, on which he dwells so +much, is proceeding so rapidly as already to affect the markets +of the eastern districts; 2d, That these older districts will be +unable to increase the quantity of produce raised within their own +boundaries, without so adding to its cost as to prevent its being +profitably exported. + +As to the first supposition, it may be conceded that, in the course +of time, a period must necessarily come when the spontaneous +fertility of the newer-settled States will cease to yield grain with +the same bountiful abundance it has done hitherto. But, when may +that period be expected to arrive?--to what extent has exhaustion +already taken place?--and what is the rate of its progress? For a +reply, we have only to point to that vast territory, bounded by the +lakes on the north and Ohio on the south, comprising the five States +of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin--a territory +eight times the size of England and Wales, with a population about +equal to that of Scotland, containing 180,000,000 acres of arable +land, a large portion of which is of surprising fertility--and +ask whether it is possible to believe that it has already reached +the turning point of its wheat-productiveness,[1] or can by any +possibility do so for centuries to come? Why, the extent of land +advertised in these five States for sale, (which forms only a +fraction of what still remains in the hands of government,) is +greater by a fourth than the whole area of England; and of the +territory that has been actually sold, it is estimated that +five-sevenths is still unreclaimed from the wilderness. Then look +at the means of transport provided for conveying the overflowing +abundance of those rich alluvial regions to the markets of the +East, by way of the two great outlets--the lakes on the north, +and the Mississippi on the south. The cost of such transport is +no doubt considerable; the conveyance of a quarter of wheat from +the centre of Illinois to Boston, by New Orleans, averages about +16s. 6d. But, nevertheless, so trifling is the original cost of +production, that immense quantities of corn do annually reach the +eastern seaboard by this route, a considerable portion of which is +re-shipped to Liverpool, and sold there at prices greatly below its +cost of production in this country. The annexed table[2] shows the +remarkable fact, that, of the whole quantity of grain exported +from the United States in the five years 1842-6, twelve-thirteenths +of the wheat, about one-half of the flour, and a large proportion +of the Indian corn, came from the two ports of New York and +Philadelphia alone. Now, as we know that these large supplies were +not grown within the confines of the Eastern States, and _must_ have +been brought from the westward, the inference is obvious that the +two causes insisted on by Professor Johnston--the distance of the +virgin soils, and the expense of transport--are as yet inoperative; +or at least that they have not prevented the transmission of grain +to the east in such vast quantities, as not only to meet the wants +of all the population of that part of the Union, but to afford an +average surplus for exportation to other countries equivalent to +the annual maintenance of a million and a half of men. We need +only mention one other fact, which seems in itself a sufficient +refutation of the theory Professor Johnston has taken up. The causes +which he thinks are so soon to dry up the supplies now derived +from the West are of no recent or sudden emergence. The process +of exhaustion on the new lands, and the rapid population of the +old, has been going on for many years. If, then, these causes are +so influential as he imagines, their effects should at least be +apparent in a gradual increase of the prices of bread-stuffs in +the Eastern States. Now, no such effect is to be found. On the +contrary, we find that, during the last twenty years, the price of +wheat, as well as of maize, in the chief marts of the east, has been +_steadily diminishing, instead of increasing_. We extract from the +returns published by the Board of Trade the annexed comparison[3] +of the prices of wheat flour at New York, during two periods, from +which it appears that, in the very State where the results of +Professor Johnston's hypothesis ought to have been most manifest, +the experience of twenty years shows a reduction of price instead +of an enhancement, notwithstanding that the latter period in the +comparison embraces the years of the potato failure. An examination +of similar returns from Baltimore and New Orleans establishes the +same fact, namely, that the tendency of prices for twenty years past +is _not upwards, but downwards_--a fact quite irreconcilable with +the supposed rapid exhaustion of the wheat soils of the interior. + + [1] The estimated produce of wheat in these five States in the year + 1847 was 38,400,000 bushels. + + [2] Quantity of bread-stuffs exported from the whole of the United + States, and from the ports of New York and Philadelphia, in the + years 1842-46 inclusive:-- + + | Wheat | Flour | Indian Corn | Indian Corn + | (bushels.) |(barrels.) | (bushels.) |(Meal barrels.) + |------------+-----------+-------------+--------------- + United States, | 2,691,711 | 7,048,356 | 4,764,450 | 1,199,255 + |------------+-----------+-------------+--------------- + New York, | 1,985,900 | 2,610,944 | 2,443,733 | 242,294 + Philadelphia, | 474,788 | 1,055,382 | 677,530 | 565,682 + |------------+-----------+-------------+--------------- + Total of both ports, | 2,460,688 | 3,666,326 | 3,121,263 | 807,976 + + + [3] Comparative statement of the prices, per barrel, of best wheat + flour at New York, (taken from the _Monthly Averages_) in 1829-33, + and 1844-48:-- + + FIRST PERIOD. + + 1829, Dr. 6.23 + 1830, 5.02 + 1831, 5.84 + 1832, 5.70 + 1833, 5.70 + ---- + Average of five years, 5.69 + + SECOND PERIOD. + + 1844, Dr. 4.60 + 1845, 5.00 + 1846, 5.16 + 1847, 6.77 + 1848, 5.83 + ---- + Average of five years, 5.47 + + +It is much to be regretted that Professor Johnston was unable to +extend his tour to these granary States of the West. It would +have been satisfactory to have had from him an estimate of their +capabilities founded on actual survey and personal observation, +instead of indirect inference. We are quite ready to admit, that +many of the accounts of those regions which have reached us, +drawn up to suit the purposes of speculators in land, are of very +dubious authenticity, and, like the stage-coach in which Mr Dickens +travelled to Buffalo, have "a pretty loud smell of varnish." But, +on the other hand, we cannot discredit the official data supplied +by the State papers--without at least stronger grounds than those +inferences from general geological structure which Professor +Johnston has adduced to disprove the alleged fertility of the State +of Michigan. There can, of course, be no more valuable criterion of +the natural agricultural value of a country than is afforded by its +geology--provided the survey be sufficiently extensive and accurate. +But it is difficult to follow those enthusiasts in the science, +whom we occasionally find drawing the most startling deductions +from very narrow data--and prophesying the future history of the +territory, and even the character of its inhabitants, from a glance +at the bowels of the earth, as the Roman augur foretold the fate of +empires from the entrails of his chickens. + +We find, for example, a writer of high standing in America +accounting for a remarkable diminution in the amount of _bastardy_ +in Pennsylvania, some thirty years ago, by the fact--that the +settlers at that time _had got off the cold clays and on to the +limestone_! A Scottish geologist, with more apparent reason +perhaps, has founded an argument for an extensive emigration of the +Highlanders on the prevalence of the primitive rocks in the north +and west of Scotland. It is only from a complete and systematic +survey that we can venture to predicate anything with certainty of +the future agricultural powers of a country; and, in the absence of +such trustworthy data, we must be content to estimate the future +wheat-productiveness of Michigan, as well as of the other States +we have named along with it, from what we know of their present +fertility, and of the vast extent that is still uncleared. + +As to New York and the other old-settled States of the Union, which +we are told do not now produce enough for their own consumption, +are we to take it for granted that they are always to continue +stationary, and to make no effort to keep pace with the growing +demands of an increasing population? Professor Johnston, we observe +in one passage, has qualified his opinion as to the prospective +dearth of grain by this curious condition--"_Provided no change +takes place in their agricultural system._" But what shadow of a +reason can be given for supposing it will not take place? The area +of New York State is only one-twelfth less than that of England, and +is, at least, no way inferior as to climate or quality of soil. As +far as material means go, it is quite capable of maintaining, under +an improved culture, at least four times its present population of +three millions. The only question is as to the will and ability +of her people to develop these means; and on this point Professor +Johnston's own work is full of multiplied proofs of the zealous and +intelligent spirit of improvement which is extending rapidly all +over the North-Eastern States. We find the central government of the +Confederation occupied in organising the plan of an Agricultural +Bureau on a scale worthy of a great and enlightened nation--a work +that contrasts in a very marked way with the studious neglect which +such subjects meet with from the government of this country.[4] We +find the several State legislatures anxiously encouraging every +species of improvement--that of New York, in particular, devoting +large grants to the support of exhibitions; preparing to found an +Agricultural College; distributing widely and gratuitously the +annual public reports on the state of agriculture; and, finally, +sending to Europe for a celebrated chemist to assist in maturing +their plans, and sitting--senators and great officers of state--at +the feet of a British Gamaliel, laying down the law to them on the +true principles of the all-important science of agriculture. Nor are +the owners of the land asleep. It is a strong indication of their +growing desire for information, that seven or eight agricultural +periodicals are published in the State of New York alone. Professor +Johnston found no less than fifty copies of such papers taken +regularly in a small town in Connecticut of some two thousand +inhabitants; and he had occasion to observe, in his intercourse with +the farmers of New York, their general acquaintance with the geology +of their country, and its relation to the management of their lands. +Their implement-makers, who had already taught us the use of the +horse-rake, the cradle-scythe, and the improved churn, have recently +outstripped us by the invention, or at least the great improvement, +of the reaping-machine, the advantages of which are so appreciated +in the country of its origin that at Chicago 1500 of M'Cormick's +machines were ordered in one year. In short, the proverbial energy, +perseverance, and sagacity that distinguish our Yankee friends, +seem now to be all directed towards effecting a change of system in +the management of land; and the true question is, not whether the +hitherto laggard progress of American agriculture is to be quickened +in future, but whether we shall be able to keep pace with it. + + [4] Vol. ii. p. 389. + +But then Professor Johnston tells us that improvement is expensive, +and that every process for reviving the dormant powers of the soil, +and preserving their activity, must necessarily be attended with +an addition to the price of the produce, which will thus prevent +its coming into competition with that of England. This view rests +upon a fallacy, which we are sure the author must have drawn from +his reading in political economy, and not from his experience as +an agriculturist. It is an off-shoot from the rent-theory, (the +pestilent root of so much error and confusion,) which, however, we +shall not notice at present, further than by affirming, in direct +contradiction to it, that improvements do _not_ necessarily, nor +generally, involve an increase of price. Even those which require +the greatest outlay--even a complete system of arterial drainage +all over the State of New York, instead of adding to the cost of +wheat, may very probably reduce it, as it has certainly done in +this country. But most of the improvements readily available in +the Eastern States involve scarcely any expenditure at all. The +most obvious and effectual is to save and apply the manure, which +is now wasted or thrown away; and when that proves insufficient, +abundant supplies of mineral manures are easily procurable. On the +exhausted wheat-lands of Virginia, a single dressing of lime or marl +generally doubles the first crop. Deposits of gypsum, and of the +valuable mineral phosphate of lime, seem to be abundant both in New +York and New Jersey. Again, in the former State, where the common +practice is to plough to a depth of _not more than four inches_, the +simple expedient of putting in the plough a few inches deeper would +of itself add one-half to the return of wheat over a very large +district. + +On the whole, so far from seeing any reason to anticipate, with +Professor Johnston, a material reduction in the quantity of our +wheat imports from the States, we look rather to see it increased; +and, at all events, we have no hesitation in saying, that to +encourage our English farmers to expect a cessation of competition +from that quarter is to deceive them with very groundless hopes. + +We have already dwelt at considerable length on this topic, both +because of the prominent place it occupies in Professor Johnston's +volumes, and of the notice which his speculations upon it have +attracted in this country. + +It has been mentioned that a large proportion--probably not less +than one-half--of the cereal food consumed in the States consists +of maize and buckwheat. Mr Johnston always alludes to this fact, +as if the use of these grains were a matter of compulsion--as if +the Americans resorted to them from being unable to afford wheaten +bread. Now, according to the information we have from other sources, +the truth is just the reverse of this. We are told that in the +Eastern and Central States, as well as on the West frontier and +among the slave population, the various preparations of Indian +corn are becoming more relished every year; and that the extension +of its cultivation is to be attributed, not to the failure of the +wheat crops, but to a growing preference for it as an article of +food. In a less degree the use both of oats and buckwheat seems to +be spreading in the States, as well as in our own colonies of New +Brunswick and Canada East; and one can scarcely wonder at the taste +for the latter grain, after reading the appetising descriptions our +author gives of the crisp hot cakes, with their savoury adjuncts +of maple-honey, which so often formed his breakfast during his +wanderings. The general use of these three kinds of grain--maize, +oats, and buckwheat--has somehow come to be considered by political +economists as indicative of a low degree of social advancement. +And yet we know that, in the countries suited to their growth, +a given area of ground cultivated with any of them will return a +greater quantity of nutritious food, at a smaller expense and with +less risk of failure, than if it were cropped with wheat. We are +told that the great objection to them is, that their culture _is +too easy_. Professor Johnston touches upon this notion in some +remarks he makes on the disadvantage of buckwheat as a staple +article of food. The objections to it, he tells us, consist in the +ease with which it can be raised, the rapidity of its growth, and +the small quantity of seed it requires: it induces, he says, like +the potato, an indolent, slovenly, and exhausting culture; and "it +is the prelude of evil, when a kind of food that requires little +exertion to obtain it becomes the staple support of a people."[5] +It may be noticed in passing, that, in point of fact, the results +alleged are at least not universal; for, in regard to this very +grain, we find its cultivation prevalent in some of the best-managed +districts of the hard-working, provident, and intelligent Belgians. +But taking the axiom as it stands, we cannot help suspecting +that there is some fallacy lurking at the bottom of it. Misled +by what we have observed of the Irishman and his potato diet, we +have confounded the _cum hoc_ with the _propter hoc_, and come to +regard an easily-raised food as _the cause_ of that indolence of +which it is only the frequent indication. It were otherwise a most +inexplicable contrariety between the physical and the moral laws +which govern this world, that in every country there should be a +penalty of social wretchedness and degradation attached to the use +of that particular food which its climate and soil are best suited +to produce. Can it be supposed that the blessings of nature are +only a moral snare for us, and that, while she has given to the +American the maize plant--oats to the Scotch Highlander--rice to the +Hindoo--the banana to the inhabitant of Brazil--a regard for their +social well-being requires each of them to renounce these gifts, and +to spend their labour in extorting from the unwilling soil some less +congenial kind of subsistence? Virgil has warned the husbandman-- + + "Pater ipse colendi + Haud facilem esse viam voluit." + +But it were surely a dire aggravation of the difficulties of his +task if his most plentiful harvest were also the most injurious to +his advancement and true happiness. We cannot now, however, examine +the grounds of a doctrine so paradoxical, and have adverted to it +only to remark that it seems destined to meet with a most direct +practical refutation in North America, where we find the habitual +use of what we choose to consider the coarser grains associated +with the highest intelligence and the most rapid development of +social progress. There can be no doubt that the nature of the food +generally used in any nation must exert an important influence +on its prosperity; but it is difficult to understand how that +prosperity should be promoted by the universal use of that variety +which costs most labour. At all events, it is certainly a subject of +very interesting inquiry, in reference to the increasing consumption +among ourselves of wheat--the dearest and most precarious species +of grain, much of it imported from other countries--and its gradual +abandonment in North America, what effect these opposite courses +may have on the future destinies of the two great branches of the +Anglo-Saxon race. + + [5] Vol. i. p. 80. + +Leaving this as a problem for political economists, let us now +follow him in his visit to the British side of the St Lawrence. His +brief three weeks' survey of the Canadas did not, of course, enable +him to form any very intimate acquaintance with the condition of +these provinces; and he prudently abstains from pronouncing any +judgment upon the vexed topics of Canadian politics. His presence +at the great exhibition, at Kingston, of the Agricultural Society +of Upper Canada, gave him a good opportunity of estimating the +progress that has been made in practical agriculture. The stock, +as well as the implements, there brought forward in competition +for the various premiums, amounting in all to £1000, gave most +satisfactory indications of improvement; while the large attendance, +and the interest taken in the proceedings, sufficiently showed +that the inhabitants of the Upper Province are now awake to the +necessity of agricultural improvement as the main source of their +future prosperity. In a country where eighty per cent of the +whole population are directly engaged in the cultivation of the +soil, the land interest is, or ought to be, predominant. But the +bitter animosity of political parties, and the abortive attempts +of government to soothe and reconcile them, have hitherto stood +much in the way of any combined effort towards the encouragement +of improved cultivation. The art of husbandry is not likely to +thrive in a country where every man is bent on proving himself a +Cincinnatus. Of late, however, public spirit has shown symptoms of +taking a more wholesome direction; and, notwithstanding occasional +ministerial crises and political explosions, which we on this +side the water are sometimes puzzled to understand, all parties +in the province seem now fully aware that the development of the +vast resources of their fertile soil is the only road to permanent +prosperity. The encouragement of local competitions, the provision +for systematic instruction in agriculture in the colleges--which +Professor Johnston tells us is in progress--and the introduction of +elementary lessons in the art as a regular branch of common school +learning, are all steps in the right direction. It is precisely in +such a community as that of Canada that the last-mentioned kind of +instruction is really of essential benefit. From the last census +of Upper Canada, it appears that there are sixty thousand owners +of land in the province, and only ten thousand labourers without +land. The great majority of the boys in the ordinary schools will +become proprietors, and, at the same time, cultivators; and, in such +circumstances, it is of the utmost importance that the youth should +acquire betimes a competent knowledge of the principles on which +his future practice is, or ought to be, founded--such knowledge as +will, at least, enable him to, shake off the traditional prejudices +and slovenly habits which his father may have imported with him from +Harris or the County Kerry. + +The querulous and depreciatory tone which our Canadian +fellow-subjects are apt to employ in speaking of their country, and +its prospects, is remarked by Professor Johnston as contrasting +oddly with the unqualified adulation of everything--from the +national constitution to the navy button--which one constantly +hears from his republican neighbour. One consequence of this habit +is, the existence of a prevalent but very mistaken notion that, +in the march of social advancement, Canada has been completely +distanced by the United States. Professor Johnston has been at some +pains to demonstrate, and we think most successfully, that this +impression is entirely erroneous. Indeed, if we only recollect +the history of Canada for the last fifteen years--the disunion of +her own people, and the reckless commercial experiments to which +she has been subjected by the home government, the rapid strides +in improvement--of the Upper Province especially--are almost +marvellous. As a corroboration of what Professor Johnston has said +on the subject, we have thrown together in the subjoined table, +collected from the Government returns, some of the most striking +and decisive evidences of the recent progress of Upper Canada. In +certain particulars, no doubt, she is outstripped by some of those +districts of the States to which from time to time extraordinary +migrations of their unsettled and nomadic population have been +directed. But putting such exceptional cases out of view, the +inhabitants of Canada need fear no comparison with the Union in all +the chief elements of national advancement. + + +PROGRESS OF UPPER CANADA,--1837-47. + + | | |Increase | |Increase + | 1837. | 1842. |per cent.| 1847. |per cent. + |-----------+-----------+---------+-----------+--------- + | | | | | + Population, | 396,721 | 486,055 | 22 | 723,332 | 48 + Number of cultivated| | | | | + acres assessed for | | | | | + local taxes, | 4,736,268 | 5,548,357 | 17 | 6,477,338 | 16 + Number of houses | | | | | + assessed | | | | | + for ditto, | 22,057 | 31,638 | 43 | 42,937 | 35 + Value of property | | | | | + assessed, |£4,431,098 |£6,913,341 | 56 |£8,567,001 | 23 + Number of carriages | | | | | + kept for pleasure, | 1,627 | 2,188 | 34 | 4,685 | 114 + Number of | | | | | + elementary | | | | | + schools, | -- | 927 | -- | 2,464 | 165 + Number of scholars | | | | | + in ditto, | -- | 29,961 | -- | 80,461 | 170 + Number of cattle, | -- | 504,963 | -- | 565,848 | 12 + Number of horses, | -- | 113,675 | -- | 151,389 | 33 + Number of sheep, | -- | 575,730 | -- | 833,869 | 45 + +In looking at the great sources of wealth possessed by these +provinces, our attention is at once arrested by the growing +importance of the St Lawrence as an outlet to the produce, not only +of the Canadas, but of a vast area of the States territory. With the +exception, perhaps, of the Mississippi, no river in the world opens +up so grand a highway for the industry of man as the St Lawrence, +with the chain of vast lakes and innumerable rivers that unite with +it in the two thousand miles of its majestic progress to the ocean. +Never was there an enterprise more worthy of a great nation than +that of surmounting the obstacles to its navigation, and completing +the channels of connection with its tributary waters; and nobly have +the people of Canada executed it. Taking into account the infancy +of their country, and the amount of its population and revenue, +it is not too much to say, with Mr Johnston, that their exertions +to secure water-communication have been greater than those of any +part of the Union, or any country of Europe. The improvements on +the St Lawrence itself, and the canals connected with it, have +already cost the colony two millions and a quarter sterling, in +addition to the expenditure of £800,000 by the home government on +the construction of the Rideau Canal. The results of this liberal +but judicious outlay are already showing themselves, not only by +the rapidly-increasing Canadian traffic on the St Lawrence, but +by its drawing into it, year after year, a larger share of the +commerce of the States. That the influx of trade from the south +must ere long vastly exceed its present amount, is evident from a +consideration of the gigantic projects already completed, or in +course of construction, for effecting an access between the lakes +and the fertile regions of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, &c., already +spoken of, and thus saving the longer and costlier transit by the +Mississippi. One of the Reports of the State of New York thus speaks +of them:-- + + "Three great canals, (one of them longer than the Erie Canal,) + embracing in their aggregate length about one thousand miles, + are to connect the Ohio with Lake Erie; while another deep and + capacious channel, excavated for nearly thirty miles through + solid rock, unites Lake Michigan with the navigable waters of + the Illinois. In addition to these broad avenues of trade, + they are constructing lines of railroads not less than fifteen + hundred miles in extent, in order to reach with more case and + speed the lakes through which they seek a conveyance to the + seaboard. The circumstance, moreover, is particularly important, + that the public works of each of these great communities + are arranged on a harmonious plan, each having a main line, + supported and enriched by lateral and tributary branches, + thereby bringing the industry of their people into prompt and + profitable action; while the systems themselves are again + united, on a grander scale, with Lake Erie as its common centre." + +The various streams of the trade from the interior being thus +collected in the lakes--which form, as it were, the heart of +the system--there are two great channels for its redistribution +and dispersion through the markets of the world. These are the +St Lawrence, and the Erie Canal with the Hudson; and the vital +question as regards the prosperity of Canada is, by which of these +outlets will the concentrated traffic of the lakes find its way to +the ocean? Mr Johnston has devoted considerable attention to this +subject, and assigns two good reasons for believing that the St +Lawrence is destined immensely to increase the share which it has +already secured. In the first place, the American artery is already +surcharged and choked up;--notwithstanding all the efforts that have +been made to expedite the traffic on the Erie Canal, it has been +found wholly inadequate to accommodate the immense trade pouring in +from the west; and, secondly, the route of the St Lawrence, besides +being the more expeditious, is now found to be the cheaper one. In +a document issued by the Executive Council of Upper Canada, it is +mentioned that the Great Ohio Railway Company, having occasion to +import about 11,000 tons of railway iron from England, made special +inquiries as to the relative cost of transport by the St Lawrence +and New York routes, the result of which was the preference of +the former, the saving on the inland transport alone being 11,000 +dollars. There seems good reason to expect that a considerable +portion of the Mississippi trade may be diverted into the Canadian +channel; but putting this out of view altogether, it is certain +that the navigation of this glorious river is every year becoming +of greater importance to the United States, as well as to Britain: +let us hope that it is destined ever to bear on its broad breast the +blessings of peace and mutual prosperity to both nations. + +After a rapid glance at Lower Canada, Professor Johnston crossed +the St Lawrence, in order to complete the survey of New Brunswick, +which, before leaving England, he had been commissioned to make for +the Government of the colony. We have had no opportunity of seeing +the official Report, in which he has published the detailed results +of his observations; but the valuable information collected in these +volumes has strongly confirmed our previous impression, that the +resources and importance of this fine colony have never yet been +sufficiently appreciated at home. With an area as nearly as possible +equal to that of Scotland, it possesses a much larger surface +available for agriculture. The climate is healthy and invigorating; +it is traversed by numerous navigable rivers; its rocks contain +considerable mineral wealth; and the fisheries on its coasts are +inexhaustible. Imperfectly developed as its resources are, the trade +from the two ports of St John's and St Andrew's alone, exceeds that +of the whole of the three adjoining States of the Union--Maine, +Vermont, and New Hampshire--although its inhabitants do not number +one-sixth of the population of these States. As to the fertility of +the soil, Professor Johnston, by a comparison of authentic returns, +shows that the productive power of the land already cultivated in +the province considerably exceeds the averages of New York, of Ohio, +and of Upper Canada--countries which have hitherto been considered +more favoured both in soil and climate. By classifying the soils in +the several districts, he has estimated that the available land, +after deducting a reserve for fuel, is capable of maintaining in +abundance a population of 4,200,000; while its present number little +exceeds 200,000. In all the course of his travels, he met with but +a few rare instances in which the agricultural settlers did not +express their contentment with their circumstances; and although it +seems still questionable whether farming on a large scale, by the +employment of hired labour, can be made remunerative, the universal +opinion of the experienced persons he consulted testified that, with +ordinary prudence and industry, the poorest settler, who confines +his attention to the clearing and cultivation of land, is sure of +attaining a comfortable independence. + +The question naturally occurs--How is it that, with all these +natural advantages and encouragements to colonisation, and with its +proximity to our shores, so very small a proportion--not more than +one in sixty or seventy of the emigrants from Great Britain--make +New Brunswick their destination? Professor Johnston, while he +maintains that, taking population into account, New Brunswick is in +this respect no worse off than Canada, adverts to several causes +of a special nature which may have retarded its settlement. But +the truth is, that the question above started leads us directly to +another of far greater compass and importance--What is the reason +that all our colonies taken together absorb so small a proportion of +our emigrants compared with the United States? What is the nature +of the inducements that annually impel so large a number of our +countrymen to forfeit the character of British subjects, and prefer +a domicile among those who are aliens in laws, interests, and system +of government? + +We hardly know how to venture upon anything connected with the +ominous subject of emigration, at a moment when the crowds leaving +our shores, at the rate of nearly a thousand every day, are such +as to startle the most apathetic observer, and shake the faith of +the most dogmatic economist in the truth of his speculations. This +is not the place to inquire what strangely compulsive cause it may +be that has all at once swelled the ordinary stream of emigration +into a headlong torrent.[6] Mayhap it is neither distant, nor +doubtful, nor unforetold. But whatever it may be, there stands the +fact--which we can neither undo, nor, for aught that can be seen at +present, prevent its annual recurrence in future, or say how and +when the waves are to be stayed. "When the Exe runs up the streets +of Tiverton," says a certain noble prophet--whose vaticinations, +however, have not been very felicitous hitherto--"then, and not till +then, may we expect to see the reversal of the free-import system;" +and then, and not till then, we take leave to add, may we hope to +see the ebbing of that tide of British capital and British strength +which is now flowing strongly and steadily into the bay of New York. + + [6] Total number of registered emigrants for the twenty-one years from 1825 + to 1845 inclusive 1,349,476----Average, 64,260 + Do. do. _for the five years_ 1846 _to_ 1850 inclusive, + 1,216,557----Average, 243,311 + + +PROPORTION OF BRITISH EMIGRATION TO THE COLONIES AND TO THE UNITED +STATES, 1846-50 INCLUSIVE. + + | | | | | | | Quarter | + | Destination. | 1846. | 1847. | 1848. | 1849. | 1850. | ending Sept | + | | | | | | | 30, 1851. | + | +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------------+ + | | | | | | | | + | United States | 45.1 | 31.8 | 57.3 | 73.3 | 79.4 | 80.5 | + | British America | 33.4 | 42.5 | 12.5 | 13.9 | 11.7 | 10.8 | + | All other places | 21.5 | 25.7 | 30.2 | 12.8 | 8.9 | 8.7 | + | +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------------+ + | Total | 100. | 100. | 100. | 100. | 100. | 100. | + +The accompanying abstract, from the returns of the Emigration +Commissioners, exhibits two most remarkable results:--1st, The +proportion of emigration to British America and other destinations +is gradually falling off; 2d, That to the United States is steadily +and rapidly increasing, so that they now receive four out of every +five emigrants who leave our shores. Is this distribution to be +regarded as a matter of indifference in a political point of view? +Are we to understand that it is no concern to us who remain behind, +whether the labour and capital of those who leave us shall go to +fill up the vacuum of our own colonial empire, or to carry new +accessions of wealth and power to those in whose prosperity (to put +the matter mildly) we have only a secondary interest? This question +the consistent Free-Trader is bound to answer unhesitatingly in +the affirmative. In his cosmopolitan philosophy, the interests of +one country are no more to be considered than those of any other. +The theory of absolute freedom of exchange expunges altogether the +idea of nationalism, and regards man, not as a member of this or +that community, but as the denizen of a great universal republic. +Local and historical associations--ties of kindred and of birth--are +only so many obstructions in the way of human progress; and an +Englishman is nothing more than the subject of certain animal +wants and instincts, the gratification of which he must be left to +seek wherever he finds the materials most abundant. Such is Free +Trade in its true scope and ultimate tendency. What shall be said, +then, of the consistency or sincerity of those pseudo-apostles +of the doctrine, who, having been the most active in promoting +that nibbling and piecemeal legislation which they choose to call +freedom of trade--who have been loudest in proclaiming a universal +commercial fraternity, and in denouncing colonies as a wasteful +encumbrance--are now the first to take alarm at the natural and +inevitable result of their own measures, and to call out for a +better regulation of emigration; in other words, for legislative +interference with the free action of those of our countrymen who, +being thrust out of employment in the land of their birth, are so +literally following out the great maxim of buying in the cheapest +market and selling in the dearest? + +The text is a tempting one, but we must refrain from wandering +further from the subject with which we started--namely, the +inducements which lead so many of our emigrants to select the United +States as their future home. One of the prevalent causes has been +very well stated by Professor Johnston--that which we may call the +capillary attraction of former emigration:-- + + "A letter from a connection or acquaintance determines the + choice of a place to go to, and, without further inquiry, + the emigrant starts. Thus for a while, emigration to a given + point, once begun, goes on progressively by a sort of innate + force. Those who go before urge those who follow by hasty and + inaccurate representations; so that, the more numerous the + settlers from a particular district, the more numerous also the + invitations for others to follow, till the fever of emigration + subsides. In other words, in proportion as the home-born + settlers in one of these countries increases, will the number of + home-born emigrants to that country increase--_but for a time + only, if the place have real disadvantages_."--(Vol. ii, p. 204.) + +It is vain to shut our eyes to the fact that the government of the +United States offers to the emigrant many real, substantial, and +peculiar advantages. The first and most important aid that can be +given to the intending settler is a complete and accurate survey of +the country; and this has been accomplished by the States government +at great expense, but in so perfect a manner that a purchaser has no +difficulty in at once pointing out, on the official plan, any lot +he may have selected in the most remote corner of the wilderness. +The next point of importance to him is simplicity of conveyance and +security of title; and so effectual and satisfactory is the American +system that litigation in original land-titles is almost unknown. +Then as to the weighty consideration of price--which perhaps ought +to have been first mentioned--the uniform and very low rate in the +States of 5s. 3d. an acre saves infinite trouble, disputation, +and jealousy. Such are some of the temptations held out to the +intending purchaser of land; and it must be confessed that, in each +particular, they present a striking contrast to the difficulties +he has to meet in some of the British colonies--the arbitrary +changes of system, the vexatious delays, and the comparatively +exorbitant charges--which must appear to the settler as if they had +been contrived on purpose to discourage him. When we add to these +the prospects of ready employment in the States held out to other +classes of emigrants, and the stringent laws lately made for their +protection, both on the passage and on their arrival, we cannot be +at a loss to see that the direction which emigration has lately +taken is not the result of chance or caprice, but of a deliberate +comparison of advantages, which the most ignorant can easily +understand and appreciate. + +The main object of Professor Johnston's visit being of a scientific +character, his remarks on the general topics of manners and politics +occur only incidentally; but it is impossible for any traveller +to keep clear of such subjects in writing of a country, the +peculiarities of which are pressed upon his notice at every hour of +the day, and at every corner of the street. Rabelais tells us of a +certain island, explored by the mighty Pantagruel, whose inhabitants +lived wholly upon _wind_--that is, being interpreted, on flattery; +and the visitor of the States who finds himself, as it were, pinned +to the wall, and compelled to yield up his admiration at discretion, +may be sometimes tempted to believe that he has made a similar +discovery, and that the flatulent diet of compliment is somehow +congenial to an American appetite. Professor Johnston seems to have +had his candour or his eulogistic powers sometimes severely tested, +if we may guess from his quiet hint, that "it is unpleasant to a +stranger to be always called on to admire and praise what he sees +in a foreign country; and it is a part of the perversity of human +nature to withhold, upon urgent request, what, if unasked, would +have been freely and spontaneously given." He is of course prepared +for the reception which any work, aiming at mere impartiality, +is sure to meet with among Transatlantic critics; and it will, +therefore, not surprise him to find that the above peccant sentence +has been already pounced upon by them as proving _malice prepense_, +and as affording a significant key to all his observations on the +institutions of the States. + +The following extract explains the origin of two of those euphonious +party designations in which our neighbours delight, and which may +perchance have puzzled some of our readers:-- + + "In England, to be a _democrat_ still implies a position at + the very front of the movement party, and a desire to hasten + forward political changes, irrespective of season or expediency. + But among the American democrats there is a Conservative and + a Radical party. The former, who desire to restrain 'the + amazing violence of the popular spirit,' are nicknamed by their + democratic adversaries the '_Old Hunkers_;' the latter, who + profess to have in their hearts 'sworn eternal hostility against + every form of tyranny over the mind of man,' are stigmatised as + '_Barnburners_.' The _New York Tribune_, in reference to the + origin of the names themselves, says that the name 'Hunkers' + was intended to indicate that those on whom it was conferred + had an appetite for a large 'hunk' of the spoils; though we + never could discover that they were peculiar in _that_. On the + other hand, the 'Barnburners' were so named in allusion to + the story of an old Dutchman who relieved himself of rats by + burning his barns, which they infested, just like exterminating + all banks and corporations, to root out the abuses connected + therewith."--(Vol. i. p. 218.) + +Equally mysterious is the term "log-rolling," though the thing +itself is not altogether unknown in legislatures nearer home. + + "When the trees are felled and trimmed, rolling the logs to the + rivers or streams down which they are to be floated, as soon as + the spring freshets set in, remains to be done. This being the + hardest work of all, the men of several camps will unite, giving + their conjoined strength to the first party on Monday, to the + second on Tuesday, and so on. A like system in parliamentary + matters is called 'log-rolling.' You and your friends help me + in my railroad bill, and I and my friends help you with your + bank charter; or sometimes the Whigs and Democrats, when nearly + balanced, will get up a party log-rolling, agreeing that the + one shall be allowed to carry through a certain measure without + much opposition, provided a similar concession is granted to the + other."--(Vol. ii. p. 297.) + +The _Notes_ convey to us the strong impression that Professor +Johnston's visit to the West has operated as a wholesome corrective +of a certain tendency in his political opinions. He seems to have +left home with a warm admiration of American institutions generally, +which, like Slender's love, "it pleased heaven to diminish on +further acquaintance." At all events, he could not avoid being +struck with some of the many perplexities and anomalies that +result from referring everything directly to the popular voice. +In England, whatever dissensions may arise about the enactment of +law, all are agreed in a sensitive jealousy as to the purity of its +administration. The most rampant Radical among us looks upon justice +as far too sacred a thing to be hazarded in the rude chance-medley +of popular election. The keenest partisan feels that, in the lofty +and unswerving integrity of our judges, he possesses a substantial +security and blessing, for the loss of which no place, power, or +parliamentary triumph, could compensate. To one accustomed to regard +with veneration the dignified independence of the judicial office +in Great Britain, nothing will appear more harshly repugnant to +sound policy than the system, lately introduced into some of the New +England States, of appointing all judges, high and low, by the votes +of the electors of the district over which they are to preside, and +for a limited term of years. + + "It was deservedly considered a great triumph when the + appointment of judges for life liberated the English bench from + the influence of the Crown, and when public opinion became + strong enough to enforce the selection of the most learned + in the law for the highest judicial offices. Now, passing + over the objection which some will strongly urge, that the + popular electors are not the best judges of the qualifications + of those who aspire to the bench, and that the most popular + legal demagogue may expect to obtain from them the highest + legal appointment, it may be reasonably asked whether popular + influence in seasons of excitement, and on questions of great + moment, may not bias the minds of judges whose appointment is in + the hands of the people?--whether the fear of a coming election + may not deter them from unpopular decisions? The influence of a + popular majority may here as profoundly pollute the fountains + of justice as the influence of the Crown ever did among us at + home."--(Vol. i. p. 150.) + +At first sight, it seems quite unaccountable that an enlightened +people should ever have devised or sanctioned a system which so +obviously exposes the bench to the risk of corruption; and one is +at a loss to reconcile a reverence for the law with an ordinance +that subjects her minister to the ordeal of canvassing and cajoling +all and sundry--perhaps the very men who may next day be in the +dock before him. But the root of the anomaly is not hard to find. +Into the purest of republics ambition and cupidity--the love of +office and the love of dollars--will force their way. But then, +under that form of constition, situations of trust and emolument +are necessarily few in comparison to the number of candidates for +them. The offices in the civil departments of the United States +governments are not numerous. The navy employs altogether some five +hundred officers above the rank of midshipman--exactly the number +of our post-captains; and the whole army of the Confederation, rank +and file, musicians and artificers included, is very little over +ten thousand men. There is little temptation to enter the medical +profession, in which learning and experience go for nothing, and a +Brodie is precisely on a level with a "Doctor Bokanky;"--nor the +Church, in which the pastor is hired by the twelvemonth, and is +thought handsomely paid with a wage of £100 a-year. What field, +then, remains for the aspiring spirit but the law?--and what +wonder if the sixteen thousand attorneys, who, we are told, find +a living in the States, and take a leading part in the management +of all public business, should vote "the higher honours of the +profession" far too few to be retained as perpetual incumbencies? +Hence has sprung the device of popular election to, and rotation +in, the sweets of office, which, by "passing it round," and giving +everyone a chance, is designed to render it as generally available +as possible. The constitution of the judiciary is not uniform, but +varies in almost every different state. In New York, the Judges of +Appeals, as well as those of the Supreme and Circuit Courts, are +elected by the people at large, and for a term of eight years, +each leaving office in rotation. In New Jersey they are appointed +for six years by the governor and senate; in Vermont, annually by +the legislature. In Connecticut nearly the same system prevails as +that in Vermont; while in Massachusetts the judges retain office +"during good behaviour." The salaries are not less various, in some +States the remuneration of judges of supreme courts being £500 +a-year, which is about the highest rate; and in others so low as +£180. There are no retiring allowances in any case; and as they are +thus liable to be thrown out of office at an uncertain period, or +compelled to vacate it after a short term of years, it can scarcely +be expected that such remuneration will secure the highest grade of +legal acquirements, either for the bench itself, or for the inferior +offices of attorney-generalships and chief-clerkships, which are all +held by the same lax tenure of popular favour. Even if the system +has "worked well," as it is said to have done by American writers, +during the four or five years it has been in operation in New +York--even if it be true that the lawyers of the Empire State have, +by avoiding the snares thrown in their way, given proof individually +of the probity of Cato, and of a constancy worthy of Socrates, we +still say that the State does wrong in putting their virtues to such +a test. Mr Johnston supplies us with an example of the temptation +it holds out to a dangerous pliancy of principle. Most of our +readers must be aware of the existence of an active and noisy party +in the States, who, under the name of "Anti-renters," are seeking +to free themselves from payment of certain reserved _rents_, or +_feu-duties_, as they would be termed in Scotland, which form the +stipulated condition of land tenure in a certain district. + + "The question has caused much excitement and considerable + disturbance in the State. It has been agitated in the + legislature and in the courts of law, and the supposed opinion + in regard to it of candidates for legal appointments, is said to + have formed an element which weighed with many in determining + which candidate they would support. During the last canvass + for the office of attorney-general, I met with the following + advertisement in the public journals of the State:-- + + "'I have repeatedly been applied to by individuals to know my + opinions with regard to the manorial titles, and what course I + intend to pursue, if elected, in relation to suits commenced, + and to be commenced, under the joint resolution of the Senate + and Assembly. I have uniformly replied to these inquiries, that + I regard the manor titles as a public curse which ought not + to exist in a free government, and that if they can be broken + up and invalidated by law, it will give me great pleasure; + and I shall prosecute the pending suits with as much vigour + and industry as I possess, and will commence others, if, on + examination, I shall be satisfied there is the least chance of + success. I regard these prosecutions as a matter of public duty, + and, in this instance, duty squares with my inclination and + wishes. 'L. S. CHATFIELD.' + + "Mr Chatfield," adds Professor Johnston, "_is now + attorney-general_; and I was informed that the known opinions of + certain of the old judges on this exciting question was one of + the understood reasons why they were not re-elected by popular + suffrage, when, according to the new constitution, their term of + office had expired."--(Vol. ii. p. 291.) + +Here, then, we see the highest law officer of the State openly +"bidding" for office--truckling to faction--and indecently +condescending to enact the part of a "soft-sawderer." That term, +we presume, is the proper American equivalent for the stinging +_soubriquet_ with which Persius stigmatises some Chatfield--some +supple attorney-general of his day-- + + "PALPO, quem ducit _hiantem_ + Cretata ambitio." + +When persons of the highest official position scruple not thus +undisguisedly to trim their course according to the "_popularis +aura_," one can scarcely help suspecting a want of firmness of +principle and genuine independence among the classes below them. +De Tocqueville's observations have taught us to doubt whether the +tree of liberty that grows under the shadow of a tyrant majority +can ever attain a healthy stability, however vigorous it may appear +externally. No one questions that the Americans enjoy, under +their institutions, very many of the blessings of a liberal and +cheaply-administered government. You have perfect liberty of speech +and action, so far as the government is concerned. The avowal of +one's opinion is not followed, as in Italy, or in the rival republic +of France, by a hint that your passport is ready, or by the polite +attendance on you, wherever you go, of a mysterious gentleman +in black; but you feel yourself, nevertheless, perpetually "_en +surveillance_," and constrained either to sail with the stream, or +to adopt a reserve and reticence which, to an Englishman, is almost +as irksome as the knowledge that there is a spy sitting at the same +dinner-table with him. + +The spirit of Professor Johnston's strictures on such anomalies +will, of course, insure his being set down by his democratic friends +in America as an unmitigated "old hunker;" and he certainly shows +no great liking for practical republicanism. But to find fault with +our neighbours' arrangements, and to be contented with our own, are +two very different things; and, accordingly, our author takes many +opportunities, as he goes along, of showing that he is quite aware +of the innumerable rents in our own old battered tea-kettle of a +constitution, and of the infinite tinkering it will take to make it +hold water. + +We should have held him unworthy of the character of a true Briton +if he had omitted the occasion of a grumble at our system of +taxation, though, of course, we differ with him entirely in the view +he takes of the evil. After an elaborate comparison of the taxation +in the United States with that of Great Britain, he sums up all with +the following somewhat sententious apophthegm:-- + + "The great contrast between the two sections of the Anglo-Saxon + race on the opposite sides of the Atlantic is this--_On the + one side the masses rule and property pays; on the other side + property rules and the masses pay_."--(Vol. ii. 254.) + +The sentence sounds remarkably terse and epigrammatic. Most of +such brilliant and highly-condensed crystals of wisdom, however, +will be found on analysis to contain, along with some exaggerated +truth, a considerable residuum of nonsense; and this specimen +before us, we apprehend, forms no exception. Even if the fact so +broadly asserted were indisputable, we should still be inclined to +doubt, after what the author has himself told us, whether the "rule +of the masses" is always an unmixed blessing to a community. He +has seen enough of it to know at least that the preponderance of +popular sway is not incompatible with much social restraint--with +prejudice and narrow-mindedness--with what _he_ considers a false +commercial principle--with a disregard of public faith, and of the +rights of other nations; and lastly, with a contempt of the rights +of humanity itself, and a legalised traffic in our fellow men. +But, if we understand him rightly, he does not so much defend the +abstract excellence of the democratic principle as advocate a nearer +approach, on our part, to the American model of taxation. In the +States, he says, property pays--in England the masses pay;--that +is, if we strip the proposition of its antithetical obscurity, the +owners of property pay less here than they do in America--not only +_absolutely_ less, but less in proportion to the whole amount of +taxation. The calculations on which he founds this assertion are too +long and involved to be quoted at length, but we will endeavour to +abridge them so as to enable the reader to judge of their accuracy. + +The taxes in the United States are of three classes: 1st,--the +_national_ taxes, amounting to about six millions a-year, which are +raised chiefly by customs duties on imports; 2d,--the _state_ +taxes; 3d,--the _local_ taxes, for the service of the several +counties, cities, and townships. These two last classes are levied +chiefly in the form of an equal rate assessed upon the estimated +value of all property, real and personal. + +In order to compare the incidence of the public burdens upon +property in the two countries, Professor Johnston selects the case +of New York State, in which the total taxable property (personal as +well as real) in 1849 was 666,000,000 of dollars, and the amount +of rates levied for state and local taxes 5,500,000 dollars, or +about 4/5 per cent on the gross valuation. Turning then to Great +Britain, (excluding Ireland,) he sets down the fee simple value of +the real property alone in estates above £150 a-year, as rated to +the income-tax, at £2,382,000,000. + + "Four-fifths of a per cent (the rate levied in New York) on this + sum would realise £19,000,000 sterling; and were _all_ property, + real and _personal_, in this island below £150 a-year, and the + amount of property in Ireland rated in a similar way, and fairly + collected, our entire revenue of £50,000,000 would probably be + obtained as the revenue of the State of New York now is, by this + one property tax only."--(Vol. ii. p. 257.) + +And he thus concludes that, as regards the _absolute_ amount of +taxation, property in Britain escapes for a smaller payment than +that in America. + +Now, it must be remarked, on this branch of the comparison, that +before we can form any opinion as to its soundness, it is essential +that we should know on what principles the valuation of property +is conducted in New York. The whole question depends upon this. If +the system of valuation is different in the two countries, there +are no materials on which to build a conclusion. We know what +discrepancies may arise out of the mode of valuation, from the fact +that, while the annual value of _all_ real property in England and +Wales was assessed for the poor-rate, in 1841, at about £62,500,000, +_a portion_ of it only--that over £150 a-year--was valued two years +afterwards, for the income-tax, at nearly £86,000,000. We observe +that Professor Johnston has arrived at the amount of real property +in Britain, by assuming the fee-simple value to be twenty-seven +years' purchase of the income. But in New York, he tells us, the +value of income is calculated at _only sixteen and a half years'_ +purchase. The terms of the comparison are, therefore, manifestly +faulty. And mark how this affects the result. The real income of +Great Britain, capitalised at sixteen and a half years' purchase, +would amount to only £1,447,000,000, and, if taxed at the same +rate as in New York, would yield, instead of £19,000,000 only, +£11,500,000, which, as it happens, _is three millions less than +it actually pays_, as may be plainly seen from the undernoted +statement:-- + + +DIRECT AND LOCAL TAXATION OF REAL PROPERTY IN GREAT BRITAIN. + + 1. Land Tax, £1,164,000 + 2. Poor and County Rate, (England,) 6,847,205 + 3. Highway Rate, " 1,169,891 + 4. Church Rate, " 506,812 + 5. Proportion of Stamp Duties on deeds affecting real property, 1,200,000 + 6. Proportion of Legacy Duty affecting do., 300,000 + 7. Property Tax, 2,600,000 + 8. Poor Rate, (Scotland,) £577,000--say on real property, 500,000 + 9. Statute Labour, (Scotland,) 81,226 + ---------- + Total, £14,369,134 + + _Note._--The first six items are taken from the Report of the + House of Lords on burdens affecting land, and some of them are + below the present amounts. The items affecting Scotland are + obviously defective. + +To this extent at least, then, we are justified in correcting +Professor Johnston's calculations, and in affirming with certainty +that the owner of _real property in Britain surrenders a larger +portion of his wealth for the public service than in New York_, or +any other State of the Union. Whether the same can be said of the +British owner of _personal_ property is another question, which we +shall come to by-and-by. + +So much for the _absolute_ comparison. But then Professor Johnston +aims also at proving, that while the rich man is better off here, +the poor man is worse--that the "masses" (_i. e._, we presume, those +who are dependent on the wages of labour) pay a larger share of +the public burdens than the same "masses" do in America. And this, +he thinks, is demonstrated by the fact, that the customs duties of +America amount to only a dollar a-head of the whole population, +whereas in Great Britain they are _three_ dollars--three times +heavier. Now, we venture to affirm that, as a contrast between the +position of the labouring man on this side of the Atlantic, and +that of his brother on the other, this statement is quite a nest +of fallacies. In the first place, it proceeds on the assumption (a +very common but erroneous one among our Free-Trade authorities) that +it is the labouring class who pay the bulk of the taxes drawn in +the shape of customs. As this error, however, may be held to affect +both sides of the comparison equally, we have next to notice that, +admitting it to be the case, the fact of the customs being three +dollars a-head in this country, and only one in the States, only +shows that the English labourer pays _absolutely_ more than the +Yankee, which no one ever doubted. It amounts only to this--that +in an old country which has to uphold numerous public institutions +unknown in America, and with a public debt to provide for of some +£800,000,000 sterling, the burden of this, as well as of all other +branches of taxation, is heavier than in the youthful republic, +with a national debt of only £13,000,000. In order to draw a fair +parallel between the cases as regards the poorer classes of both +countries, we must put the question in a different way, and inquire, +what proportion does the amount of customs (assumed as representing +the poor man's share of taxation) bear _to the whole public burdens_ +in the two countries respectively? The contrasted account would +then show the matter in a very different aspect from that in which +Professor Johnston has represented it, and would stand thus:-- + + | GREAT BRITAIN. | UNITED STATES. | + | | | + | National taxes, £50,000,000 | National taxes, £6,000,000 | + | Local ditto,[7] 14,000,000 | Local ditto,[8] 5,680,000 | + | ----------- | ----------- | + | Total, £64,000,000 | Total, £11,680,000 | + | Whereof the poor man's | Whereof the poor man's | + | share, or customs, is £20,000,000 | share, or customs, is £6,000,000 | + | or 32½ per cent. | or 52 per cent. | + | | | + + [7] We give this amount as it is usually estimated, although it is + certainly far below the truth. + + [8] _The American Almanac_ for 1851. + +Even if we were to throw into the scale a large portion of the +excise duties levied in Britain, which Professor Johnston may be +entitled to claim as a peculiar burden on "the masses"--at least +as much as the customs--it would still be apparent, that, if such +payments are to be taken as a fair criterion, _the people's burdens +are not relatively heavier here than in America_. We shall only +add further on this subject, that while many of the less opulent +class of our fellow-citizens have undoubted real grievances +to complain of, and while writers, with worse intentions than +Professor Johnston, are ever ready to exaggerate them, and to foster +discontent, it becomes one of his high character to guard against +allowing a somewhat undisciplined taste for statistics to betray +him into rash general allegations, calculated to produce error and +irritation. + +The parallel he has drawn, however, is very instructive on one +point, although he has failed to notice it. He has taken some pains +to prove that, tried by the American standard, our poor men pay too +much, and our owners of real property too little, in both which +conclusions we have shown his grounds to be fallacious; but he takes +no notice of a far more obvious anomaly, the glaring injustice of +which is every day attracting more public comment--the comparative +_immunity of the owners of personal property_ in this country. The +local taxation of the States, it has been seen, is levied by an +equal assessment on property _of all kinds_; and although, from +the character of a great part of the country, the real property +much exceeds the movable in amount, the rate upon both is a uniform +one. No description of possessions is favoured with an invidious +exemption. We will take the assessment of one State as an example, +and copy the following "Items of the valuation of the taxable +property for the State of Iowa, according to the assessor's returns +for 1849." They are as follows:-- + + "Acres of land--Improvements on land--Town lots and + improvements--_Capital employed in merchandise_--Mills, + manufactories, distilleries, carding machines and tan-yards, + _with the stock employed_--Horses, cattle, sheep, &c.--Pleasure + carriages, watches, pianofortes--_Capital stocks and profits + in any company incorporated or unincorporated_--Property + in boats and vessels--Gold and silver coin, and bank-notes + in actual possession--_Claims for money, or other + consideration--Annuities--Amount of notes, mortgages, &c. All + other personal property over 100 dollars._" + +All these descriptions of property contribute alike, dollar +for dollar, towards the expenses of the State, which--be it +remarked--embrace not only the general charges for interest of +debt, and for the support of the legislative, executive, and +judiciary departments, but include also payments for prisons, +asylums, the militia, the public roads, and several other branches +of expenditure, which in this country are saddled either upon real +property or upon the land alone. Let any one look at the items of +the above list printed in italics, and say what portion of such +wealth passes through the national exchequer, or goes to uphold the +public institutions, of Great Britain. The whole annual incomes +above £50 a-year in Great Britain are estimated, on the best +attainable data,[9] to amount to upwards of £352,000,000 sterling, +of which the taxed real income is £86,000,000, or one-fourth part +only. Is there any one with a conscience so elastic as to maintain +that the owners of the other three-fourths contribute fairly to +the support of the State, in proportion to the revenue they enjoy +under its protection? From the investigations of Mr Smee, to whom +we have referred, it appears that while the number of those who +pay the direct taxes is about five hundred thousand, _there are +upwards of one million eight hundred thousand persons in Great +Britain enjoying incomes of above £50 a-year, who do not contribute +one farthing to them_. What is this but a system of iniquitous +exemption of the one class, and of virtual confiscation as to the +other? But the whole subject occupies far too prominent a place in +the public mind to be treated thus incidentally. For the present +then we leave it, thoroughly persuaded that, under a form of +government which acknowledges no distinctions between classes and +interests, so shameless a violation of the plainest principles of +equity cannot long be permitted to continue, and cordially joining +in the wish that no object of less momentous interest--no schemes of +impracticable retrenchment--no wily bait of extended suffrage--no +flourishing of the old red rag of reform, may be suffered to +distract the attention of the public, from the one great paramount +practical reform--A READJUSTMENT OF TAXATION. + + [9] See Mr Smee's pamphlet on the Income-Tax. + +We owe an apology to Professor Johnston for having deviated somewhat +from the ordinary course of a review. His work has already been so +much and so flatteringly noticed, that to have limited ourselves +to mere abridgment and quotation from the _Notes_ would have +led us over the same ground that has been already exhausted by +other critics. We have therefore preferred discussing some of the +questions of greatest public interest which his observations have +suggested; and if, on some of these, we have been led to dissent +from his opinions, we have done so in no unfriendly spirit, which +indeed would have been impossible in judging of an author whose own +views are always expressed with perfect candour and moderation. +There can be no doubt that, under the unpretending title which he +has chosen to adopt, he has contrived to bring together a larger +mass of varied and valuable information on the present condition of +North America than is to be found in any work yet published. + + + + +THE ANSAYRII. + +_The Ansayrii (or Assassins;) with Travels in the Further East._ +By the Hon. FREDERIC WALPOLE, R.N., Author of _Four Years in the +Pacific_. London: Bentley, 1851. + + +Hail to the bright East, with all its mysteries, its mighty past, +its pregnant future, its inexhaustible sources of airiest amusement +and most solemn interest! We welcome with pleasure the original and +truly Oriental book before us. It harmonises rather with the poetic +than the historic character of Eastern lands; but in its wild and +dreamy narrative there are to be found vivid and faithful pictures, +such as those that lighted up the charmed reveries of DeQuincey. For +the present we will lay aside the critic's task: we will postpone +all such considerations, and invite the reader to accompany us in a +rapid tour over the varied regions which Mr Walpole has recalled to +our memory and imagination. Let us turn for a little from the "world +that is too much with us," and, ranging away from chilly mists and +gloomy skies, sun our fancy in the lands where Paradise was planted. + +Egypt and Palestine appear familiar to us all; they are of common +interest to the whole Christian world--classic lands to every old +villager who can read his Bible, as well as to the profound scholar. +In them, sacred and profane history are so intimately blended +that the latter assumes almost the authenticity of the former. +Herodotus and his followers have actually a people still in the +flesh (if flesh the mummy may be called) to refer to: subterranean +Egypt is still inhabited by the undecayed bodies of the very men +who associated with the Israelites, and forms that were beautiful +and loved three thousand years ago. Imperishable as their old +inhabitants, their temples and their monuments still stand above +them, and will there remain unparalleled, until their long-buried +architects shall rise again. + +Passing on to Palestine, we find, memories and associations still +stronger and more striking; for here nature is invested with the +sentiment that in Egypt is awakened by art. Palestine belongs not to +time only, but to eternity; with which, by types and illustrations, +its earthly history is so beautifully blended and aggrandised. Its +literature is inspired truth, its annals are prophecies fulfilled, +and the very face of the land itself vindicates the beauty it _once_ +wore, through all the sorrow and desolation that have fallen on it +since. Owing to the metaphorical style of Oriental composition, +every object in nature was used to illustrate or impress by its +analogy; and hence not only the holy mountains, the sacred rivers, +and the battle plains have memories for us, but the very "hyssop +on the wall," the blasted fig-tree, the cedar, the "high rock in +the thirsty land;" every vale, and hill, and lake, and city, is +consecrated by some association with the men who spoke the words of +God--with the time that witnessed His presence in the flesh. + +The remorseless Jews were swept from the Promised Land, as their +ancestor was from Eden, for the irreparable sin; and the sword of +the Roman waved over the ruined walls of Jerusalem, forbidding all +return. The Saracen and the Crusader succeeding, add another element +of interest--an English association--to long-tried and suffering +Judea. The Crusaders were rather a warlike emigration than invasion; +they were the angry overflow of discontented Europe, which sought +to vent its spleen and dogmas upon the Infidel. Their ebbing tide +bore back to us the arts and sciences and chivalry of Arabia; +and thus Palestine became the channel for all our best temporal +acquirements, as it had long since furnished us with our eternal +hope. + +All this, and more--much more--invests Syria with undying and +exhaustless interest to the student and the traveller; but we +will not linger on such impressions now. We have a lighter task +to fulfil, though we are about to visit the land of Nimrod, of +Abraham's nativity, and of the empire of Semiramis. The pleasant +company in which we travel will speed us on; and, in the old +troubadour fashion, lay and legend will beguile the way. But before +we enter fairly on our pilgrimage to "Ur of the Chaldees" and the +tomb of Nineveh, we shall pause to make some practical observations +on the route which, in its present aspect, may be new to some of our +readers. + +EGYPT MAY SOON BE REACHED IN TEN DAYS.[10] This is almost +incredible; still more so, when we add that it may be accomplished +without fatigue, hardship, or self-denial. The traveller even now +embarks at Southampton in one of the Oriental Company's magnificent +steamers, and finds himself landed at Alexandria in fifteen days, +having visited Gibraltar and Malta, besides having travelled three +thousand miles in as much comfort as he would have enjoyed at +Brighton, with far more advantage to his health and spirits, and but +trifling additional expense. For our own parts, we believe that, +before long, sea voyages, instead of sea shores, will be resorted +to, not only by the invalid, but by the epicurean and the idler. +The floating hotels of our ocean steamers afford as comfortable +quarters as any of their more stationary rivals, with the additional +advantage of presenting a change of air and of scenery every morning +that the "lodger" rises. + + [10] By the leviathan steamers now building for the Peninsular and + Oriental Steam Company. They are calculated to make from sixteen to + eighteen miles an hour, which would reduce the sea-going part of the + voyage to eight days two hours. + +The autumn--the later the _better_--is the _best_ period for +visiting Egypt. October is, on the whole, the best month for +beginning the ascent of the Nile. We will suppose the traveller +landed at Alexandria: he achieves the lions of that suddenly-created +city (except Aboukir Bay) in a few hours, and is ready to start +for Cairo in the mail steamer, with the India-bound passengers who +accompanied him from England. The country in which he now finds +himself, by so sudden a transition, is full of apparent paradoxes; +amongst others, he may be surprised to find that the canal on which +he travels to Atfeh winds considerably, though no engineering +obstacles whatever oppose themselves to a straight course. The +reason of this sinuosity was thus explained to us by Mehemet Ali +himself:--"You ask why my canal is not straight: Ya, Wallah! it is +owing to a bit of bigotry. The dog who made it was a true Believer, +and something more. He said to himself, 'Ya, Seedee, thou art about +to make what Giaours call a canal, and Giaours in their impiety make +such things straight. Now, a canal is made after the fashion of a +river--(Allah pardon us for imitating his works!)--and all rivers +wind: Allah forbid that my canal should be better than His river; it +shall wind too.'" + +And so it does. + +Landed at Cairo, the traveller of the present day will find a +steamer once a fortnight ready to take him up to the first cataract +and back again, as fast as Young Rapid, or any other son of a +tailor, could desire. But even the rational tourist will be tempted +to send on his Kandjiah, (the old-fashioned Nile boat,) well +found and provisioned, a fortnight or three weeks before him, and +overtake her in the steamer. The Kandjiah voyage up stream is often +wearisome, downward never--as in the descent you are borne softly +along at from three to six miles an hour, even when you sleep. From +the first cataract to the second is only about two hundred miles, +and occupies about three weeks; but to those who can find pleasure +in what is most wild and dreamy and unearthly in scenery and art, +the desert view from Mount Abousir, the temples of Guerf, Hassan, +and Ipsamboul, are worth all the rest of the Nile voyage, except +Thebes and exquisite Philæ.[11] Returned to Alexandria, as we will +suppose, in March, the traveller will be quite early enough for +Syria, whose winter (considering the tented life he is compelled to +lead) is not to be despised. A steamer transports him to Beyrout in +thirty hours; and there our true travel begins.[12] + + [11] The mere physical pleasure of the upper voyage has been + thus described--"No words can convey an idea of the beauty and + delightfulness of tropical weather, at least while any breeze + from the north is blowing. There is a pleasure in the very act of + breathing--a voluptuous consciousness that existence is a blessed + thing: the pulse beats high, but calmly; the eye feels expanded; + the chest heaves pleasureably, as if air was a delicious draught + to thirsty lungs; and the mind takes its colouring and character + from sensation. No thought of melancholy ever darkens over us--no + painful sense of isolation or of loneliness, as day after day we + pass on through silent deserts, upon the silent and solemn river. + One seems, as it were, removed into another state of existence; and + all the strifes and struggles of that from which we have emerged + seem to fade, softened into indistinctness. This is what Homer and + Alfred Tennyson knew that the lotus-eaters felt when they tasted + of the mysterious tree of this country, and became weary of their + wanderings:-- + + '----To him the gushing of the wave + Far, far away, did seem to mourn and rave + On alien shores: and, if his fellow spake, + His voice was thin, as voices from the grave! + And deep asleep he seemed, yet all awake, + And music in his ears his beating heart did make.' + + If the day, with all the tyranny of its sunshine and its innumerable + insects, be enjoyable in the tropics, the night is still more so. + The stars shine out with diamond brilliancy, and appear as large as + if seen through a telescope. Their changing colours, the wake of + light they cast upon the water, the distinctness of the milky way, + and the splendour, above all, of the evening star, give one the + impression of being under a different firmament from that to which + we have been accustomed; then the cool delicious airs, with all the + strange and stilly sounds they bear from the desert and the forest; + the delicate scents they scatter, and the languid breathings with + which they make our large white sails appear to pant, as they heave + and languish softly over the water."--(_The Crescent and the Cross_, + vol. i. p. 210.) + + [12] The journey from Cairo across the desert by Suez, or at least + thence by Gaza or Sinai to Jerusalem, is performed in the same + manner as it was in the days when Eothen, Dr Robinson, and Lord + Castlereagh described it. The only difference occurs in the route + between Cairo and Suez, which is now performed on wheels in about + twelve hours, and, in the course of eighteen months, is expected to + be easily accomplished in two hours and a half by railway. + +Thus, (omitting the somewhat important episode of Egypt,) we find +ourselves transported, in little more than a fortnight, from +the murky fogs and leafless trees of England, to the delicious +temperature and tropical verdure that surrounds the most beautiful +town of the Levant. As every improvement in steam-navigation lessens +its distance from Christendom, Beyrout increases and expands. Nor +must we omit an honest tribute to the iron but even-handed justice +of Ibrahim Pasha, which first rendered it safely accessible to +Europeans. Before his conquest of Syria, the Frank was wont to +skulk anxiously through the town, exposed to insult and unpunished +violence: without the walls, the robber enjoyed as much impunity +as the bigot did within; and, between both, Beyrout became, or +continued to be, a miserable village. Its environs were wild +wastes, where the gipsy alone ventured to pitch his tent, and the +wild dog prowled. Now, pleasant gardens and picturesque kiosks, +or summer-houses, replace the wilderness; the town expands, grows +clean, doubles its population, and welcomes a crowd of shipping to +its port. A more delightful residence, as a refuge from winter, can +scarcely be conceived. An infinite variety of excursions may be made +from hence; and every time the traveller mounts his horse, whether +he be historically, picturesquely, controversially, botanically, +or geologically given, he may return to his flat-roofed home with +some valuable acquisition to his note-book. The views are everywhere +magnificent, and the warm breezes from the bluest of oceans are +tempered by the snowy neighbourhood of the loveliest of mountains. + +Five roads of leading interest (besides many a cheering byway +among the hills) branch out from the walls of Beyrout. Damascus is +about eighteen hours off; Jerusalem six days; Djouni, the romantic +residence and burial-place of Lady Hester Stanhope, ten hours; +Baalbec, the flower of all Eastern ruins, eighteen hours, and +Latakia, whither _we_ are bound, five days. These distances may be +accomplished in less time; they are here given at the calculation +of a walking pace, as the roads, or rather paths, are for the most +part steep and difficult; and the baggage-horses, at all events, +can seldom advance more rapidly. One word more of dry detail, and +we shall put ourselves _en route_ for the mountains of the Ansayrii +and the further East. Notwithstanding the advance of civilisation at +Beyrout, where a European consulocracy has established a more than +European equality of privileges between Turks and Christians, the +interior of the country is daily becoming more dangerous to travel +in. Eight years ago, when the stern rule of Ibrahim Pasha had still +left its beneficent traces, the writer of this article wandered over +the length and breadth of the land, attended by a single servant +and a muleteer. Since our Government, for inscrutable reasons, +has restored Syria to the embroilment of its native factions, all +security for the traveller, and indeed for the native, has ceased. +To reach Jerusalem, or even Damascus, in safety, a considerable +escort is now necessary; though the Vale of Baalbec may still be +reached in less warlike fashion from Latakia or Tripoli, if the +traveller is endowed with liberality, courage, and courtesy--the +leading virtues of his profession. + +Before we proceed on our travels, let us introduce our guide. +Mr Walpole is a young naval officer, and there is in most of +his narrative a dashing impetuous style, which savours of his +profession. In this there is a certain charm, imparting as it does +an air of frank and fearless confidence in his reader's quick +perception and favourable construction. There is in his writings +what we would also hope is professional--a chivalrous feeling and +generous sentiment, that is never obscured by a sordid thought or +unworthy imputation. As he sees clearly, of course he also sees +faults in men, and minds, and manners; but such discoveries are +made in a tone of regret rather than of triumph; or thrown off in +a strain of good-humoured satire that could not offend even its +objects. His descriptive powers are graphic, and often very vivid; +his humour is very original, being generally tinged with melancholy, +in such sort as that of a philanthropic Jacques might be: finally, +he does not fear to display a profound and manly reverence for +holy things and sacred places. On the other hand, to set against +all these high merits, we must confess that many faults afford +some drawback to his book. It is often incoherent, and deficient +in arrangement. The first volume is rather the groundwork than +the accomplishment of what an author with Mr Walpole's powers and +material should have effected. Most of these faults, however, +may find their excuse in the circumstances under which they were +composed. They smack of the tent, the boat, and the bivouac, as old +wine does of the _borachio_. Whatever they may be, this work is one +that will be widely read; and wherever it is read with appreciation, +it will direct the interest not only to its subject, but its author: +his individuality, unostentatiously and unconsciously, is impressed +on every page; and his genius, however erratic, is unquestionable. + +The cockpit, and even the gun-room of a man-of-war, are little +favourable to intellectual effort, or the habit or the love of +learning which it can alone accomplish. We can therefore make +greater allowances for errors in composition, and concede greater +credit for the attainments in languages and general knowledge which +our young author has achieved. This is perhaps still more striking +in a work written by Mr Walpole three years ago, entitled _Four +Years in the Pacific_, which, though written in a midshipman's +berth, abounds in passages of beauty, and in his peculiar and +original humour. Having said so much in his praise and dispraise, +and only premising, in addition, that he speaks Arabic and Turkish, +so as to interpret for himself the quaint unusual thoughts of the +people among whom he lives, we enter upon a survey of what he saw. + +We have unwillingly passed over the whole of our author's outward +voyage, which is graphically, and almost dramatically, described. +We shall only refer to one or two passages respecting the Levant. +The following sentence may dispel some fanciful visions of the sunny +climate of Stamboul:-- + + "Snow, 'thick and deep' enveloped the city; cupola, dome, + and cypress were burdened with icicles; above, was an angry + winter sky with a keenly piercing wind.... English fires and + English coals were the best things we saw--we were actually + blockaded by the weather.... At length we embarked: the crew + were shovelling the deep snow-drift off the deck, so we rushed + below into a cabin whose bulkheads were beautifully varnished, + sofas perfect, skylights closed, the whole atmosphere tobacco. + We were off, gliding past the Seraglio Point, which was swathed + in snow, and looking like a man in summer clothes caught in a + wintry storm.... Masses animate and inanimate encumbered the + deck; the former for the most part consisting of the Sultan's + subjects; among the latter our baggage, which was thrown into + the general heap, and kicked about until it found quiet in the + hold.... The numbers thus congregated were principally pilgrims, + on their way to Jerusalem and to the Jordan; though others, on + more worldly journey bent, were mingled with the rest. Each + family had taken a spot on the deck, and there, piled over with + coverings, and surrounded with their goods, they remained during + the voyage: one side of the after-deck was alone kept clear for + the first-class passengers, and even this was often invaded by + others, who wisely remarked that _we_ had cabins below. + + "Each family forms a scene in itself; and an epitome of life + in the East is found by a glance around. Four merchants, on + their return from a trading tour, have bivouacked between the + skylights; and they sing and are sick; call _kief_[13] and + smoke, with true Moslem indifference. On the starboard quarter, + our notions of Eastern domesticity are sadly put out, for there + a Moslem husband is mercilessly bullied by a shrill-voiced + Houri. It is curious to observe her perseverance in covering + her face, even during the agonies of sea-sickness. Their black + servant has taken us into the number of licensed ones, and her + veil now hangs over her neck like a loosened neck-cloth. + + [13] _Kief_: a word difficult to translate, but expressing + perfect abandonment to repose; a _dolce far niente_ which only + Orientals can thoroughly achieve. + + "On the other side, a Greek family in three generations lies + along the deck, fortified by a stout man-servant across their + legs, whose attentions to the girls during his own heart-rending + ailments is very pretty. The huge grandmother was set on fire + and smouldered away most stoically, until her foot began to + burn, when, while others put her out, she sank blubbering to + sleep again. The pretty granddaughters find the long prostration + more irksome; but send their flashing eyes about with careless + movement, and so the mass goes on. Here one appears to be + offering up _nazam_, but nearer inspection shows that his shoe + is only receiving the offering to the heaving waves.... + + "Our steamer had passed sad hours of toil, and pitched and + tossed us all out of temper before we entered the calm waters to + leeward of Rhodes, and at last, passing the low points covered + with detached houses and windmills, we shot round in front of + the harbour. Our view of the intervening coast had been too + vague to form a judgment upon it; but here and there a peak + towered up above the mists, all else being veiled by the cloudy + sky.... No place it has ever been my fortune to visit, more, by + its appearance, justifies its character than Rhodes. Around the + harbour's shore, one continued line of high castellated wall, + unbroken save by flanking towers or frowning portals; from the + wave on either side, dovetailed to the rock, rise the knightly + buildings; and as the eye reaches round, no dissonant work mars + the effect, save that one lofty palm rears its tropic head--but + it adds to, rather than lessens, the effect. Above the walls, a + mosque with its domed roof or minaret appears; and the fragile + building speaks, how truly! in its contrast to the massive walls + and ponderous works of former rulers, that the battle is not + always to the strong." + +In speaking of the sister island-fortress, Malta, our author remarks +(in a former page) the immediate contrast presented by these +luxurious arsenals:-- + + "The Eastern reclines on the cushioned divan, the embodiment + of repose; the softest carpets, the freshest flowers, surround + him--soft women attend the slightest motion of his eye--all + breathes of indolence, abandonment, and ease; yet his girdle + bristles with arms--his gates are locked and guarded. So at + Malta, the bower is a bastion, the saloon a casemate, the + serenade the call of martial music, the draperies war-flags, the + ornaments shot in ready proximity." + +Proceeding to Tarsus, we pass on to Alexandretta, "a wretched +collection of hovels. The harbour is splendid; the ruins of the old, +the skeleton of the new town, standing on the beach. Behind it, in +every direction, stretches a fetid and swampy plain, which only +requires drainage to be rendered fertile and wholesome." This is the +seaport of Aleppo, on the road to which lies the town of Beilau, +and the village of Mortawan, where Pagan rites, especially those of +Venus, are still said to be maintained. But again we reimbark-- + + "Again the vessel cuts the wave. The mountains become a feeble + bleached outline, save Cassius on the north, who frowns on his + unrecorded fame. Yes, noble hill! though not so high as Strabo + tells, though not lofty and imposing; though dark thy path + now--unnoticed, solitary. There blazed up the last effort of the + flame of pagan civilisation: there Julian the Great--whatever + other title men may bestow upon him--offered his solemn + sacrifice to Jupiter the Avenger, previous to his last campaign, + when the eagles were to wave over Mesopotamia. + + "The Sabbath dawned fresh, unclouded, and beautiful, as we + anchored in the pretty little port of Latakia, the ancient + Laodicea. The town of Latakia, built by Seleucus Nicator, in + honour of his mother, is comprehended in the Pashalic of Saida, + or Beyrout. It stands on a spur of the Ansayrii Mountains. About + half a mile inland, the spur falls into the sea, and forms Cape + Zairet; the town stands on its southern slope, and is joined, + by gardens and a port, to the sea. The port is small and well + sheltered; but time, Turks, and ruins, are filling it up. The + buildings on the shore, having their backs to the sea, present + the appearance of a fortification. On a reef of rock that + shelters the harbour stands a pile of building of different + eras. It seems to be castle, mosque, and church. Along the beach + lie hundreds of shafts of columns, and many are built into the + walls, of whose remains you catch a glimpse on the southern + side." + +Here we must pause, though our traveller proceeds to Beyrout, of +which he gives a charming account, which our limits forbid us +to quote. We reserve our space for more novel scenes, and must +pass over a chapter on Damascus, which is rich in legends and +graphic pictures. Thence, _en route_ to Homs, by the way of the +desert, eastward of the Anti-Lebanon, we have a sketch that is too +characteristic of Eastern travel to pass over:-- + + "North, south and east, dead plain; west, a low range of hills, + and beyond, the fair Anti-Lebanon in all its snowy beauty. + Desert all around us, but no dreary waste. Here and there were + loose stones and rocks; the rest a carpet of green, fresh, dewy + grass, filled with every hue of wild-flowers--the poppy in its + gorgeous red, the hyacinth, the simple daisy and others, thick + as they could struggle up, all freshened with a breeze heavy + with the scents of thyme. The lark sent forth its thrill of + joy in welcome to the coming day; before us the pennon of the + spearmen gleamed as they wound along the plain. We passed the + site of an Arab encampment strewn with fire-blackened stones, + bones, and well picked carcasses. Storks and painted quails + sauntered slowly away at our approach, or perched and looked as + if they questioned our right to pass. At eight o'clock halted + at a khan called Hasiah also. The population consisting of + robust, wild-looking fellows; and very pretty women poured out + to sell hard-boiled eggs, leban, bread, and milk: they were all + Mussulmans.... + + "We were soon disturbed by a multitude of sick, which recalled + to one's mind how in this land, of old, the same style of faces, + probably in the same costumes, crowded to Him who healed. The + lame, carried by the healthy; feeble mothers with sickly babes; + hale men showing wounds long self-healed; others with or without + complaints." + +Arrived at Homs, we have-- + + "Fish for dinner, from the Lake of Kades, whose blue waters we + saw in the distance to-day. The Lebanon opens behind that lake, + and you may pass to the sea, on the plain, without a hill. + This plain, but rarely visited, is among the most interesting + portions of Syria, containing numerous convents, castles, and + ruins, and its people are still but little known. Maszyad, the + principal seat of the sect called Ismayly: the Ansayrii also, + and Koords, besides Turks, Christians, and gipsys, may be found + among its varied population. The ancient castle of El Hoshn, + supposed, by the lions over its gates, to have been built by + the Count of Thoulouse, is well worth a visit. The Orontes, + taking its rise in a rock, from whence it gushes just west of + the Tel of Khroumee,--(true bearing from Homs from south 60° + 32' east,)--flows through the Lake of Kades, and passes about + 2° to the west of Homs: it is called Nahr El Aazzy, or "the + rebel river," some say because of its running north, while all + the other rivers run south; more probably, however, on account + of its rapidity and strength of current. It is an historical + stream; on its banks were altars, and the country it waters is + almost unmatched for beauty-- + + 'Oh, sacred stream! whose dust + Is the fragments of the altars of idolatry.'" + +It was at Homs--the ancient Emessa--that Zenobia was brought as a +captive into the presence of Aurelian. + + "Why did she not there fall? why add the remaining lustreless + years to her else glorious life? why, in the words of Gibbon, + sink insensibly into the Roman matron? Zenobia fat, dowdy, and + contented--profanation! Zimmerman, however, invests the close + of her career with graceful philosophy: at Tivoli, in happy + tranquillity, she fed the greatness of her soul with the noble + images of Homer, and the exalted precepts of Plato; supported + the adversity of her fortunes with fortitude and resignation, + and learnt that the anxieties attendant on ambition are happily + exchanged for the enjoyments of ease and the comforts of + philosophy." + +From Homs we reach Aleppo in four days. + + "It was a spring morning, and a gentle keenness, wafted from + snow-clad mountains, rendered the climate delightful. The town + lay beneath me, and each terrace, court, serai, and leewan + lay open to my view. I saw Aleppo was built in a hollow, from + which ran plains north and west, surrounded by mountains. To + the north, Djebel Ma Hash and his range, untouched by the soft + smiles of the young spring, lay deep in the snow; the flat + connected grass-grown roofs and well-watered sparkling courts, + with their carefully-tended trees, relieving the glare of the + houses, while all around the town lay belted in its garden. The + scene was pretty and pleasing; here and there the forests of + tomb-stones, the perfect minaret, the Eastern dome swelling up + from the mob of flat roofs,--these formed a sight that told I + was in the East, in the cradle of mankind--the home of + history."... + + "And here, though sorely pressed for time, we must stop for a + picnic, which E---- and myself were told it would be right to + give. We provided carpets, nargillehs, horse-loads of sundries, + cushions, a cargo of lettuces; and thus equipped, we sallied + out, a very numerous party. The first thing to select was a + garden, a point on which our own choice, and not the owner's + will, seemed alone to be consulted. Let not the reader fancy + an Eastern garden is what a warm Western fancy would paint + it--wild with luxuriant but weedless verdure, heavy with the + scent of roses and jessamine, thrilling with the songs of the + bulbul and the nightingale, where fair women with plaited + tresses touch the soulful lute in graceful attitudes. No; it + is a piece of ground enclosed by high walls, varying in size. + A wretched gate, invariably badly made, probably ruined, + admits you to the interior. Some enclose a house with two or + three rooms--windowless, white-washed places. Before this + is a reservoir of dirty, stagnant water, turned up from a + neighbouring well by an apparatus as rude as it is ungainly and + laborious: this is used to irrigate the ground, which therefore + is alternately mud and dust. Fruit trees or mulberries are + planted in rows, and the ground beneath, being ploughed up, + is productive of vegetables or corn. One or two trees, for + ornament, may be planted in the first row, but nothing more; and + weeds, uncut, undestroyed, spring up in every direction. Such, + without exaggeration, is the _Bistan zareff quiess!_--the Lovely + Garden. + + "We selected one that belonged to the Mollah. Oh, true believer! + in thy pot we boiled a ham; on thy divan we ate the forbidden + beast; thy gardener, for base reward, assisting to cook--who + knows, but also to eat the same? We chose a spot shaded by a + noble walnut tree, and spread carpets and cushions. Fire was + lighted, nargillehs bubbled, and kief began." + +On the 2d of May we start for the Euphrates, and follow for some +time nearly the route recommended by Colonel Chesney for the great +Indian railway to Bussora, on the Persian Gulph. The distance is +little more than 800 miles--scarcely thirty steam-winged hours--the +level surpassingly uniform. Truly those who desire to find either +solitude, or what our author calls _kief_, in the East, must +repair thither quickly, for the iron of the engineer has already +entered into its soul. Already the blue and white rivers of the +Nile are more easily attainable than were the Tiber and the Po to +our grandfathers. Beyrout and Latakia will soon be fashionable +watering-places; Baalbec as well known as Melrose Abbey; and the +excavated ruins of Nimroud will come under the range of "return +tickets." The grim Arab will look out from any quiet spot that the +all-searching Cockney may have spared him; and he will gaze with +wonder on the awful processions of the "devil-goaded" tourists, as +they rush with magic speed across his wilderness--only to retrace +their steps. The Turk, at the utmost bounds of the Othman Empire, +will marvel at this new freak of _kismet_ (destiny;) with a sigh +he will abandon his beloved _bockra_ (the "to-morrow" in which he +loves to live;) and commending himself to Islam, or resignation in +its most trying form, he will "jump in" like the mere Giaours, and +be hurled along with the rest across the desert behind the Afreet +stoker. + +But at present the wilderness knows nothing of all this, and we have +before us the scenery of other days as Abram beheld it. We now cross +the Chalus River, and enter upon a series of vast plains, varied by +mysterious _tels_ or mounds, rising up from the level surface like +bubbles on a pool. On, or among these, the ever restless Turkomans +pitch their tents, and welcome the traveller kindly to their +wandering homes. On the third day from Aleppo we reach Aintab, on +the river Sadschur, "which, fresh and young, danced brightly on, as +if eager to join the Euphrates and see the wide world beyond." + + "At Aintab, among other visitors was Doctor Smith, an American + missionary. He was a well-bred, sensible man, a clever linguist, + and, from all I ever heard, an earnest and zealous servant of + his heavenly Master. His mission already shows results which + must indeed be a source of peace to his heart, and proves that + some are allowed even in this world to reap the fruits of their + toil for the Lord. In that very town, whence a few years ago he + was insulted and abused, a faithful flock now join in humble + prayers to God; and surely they pray for him, the instrument of + their salvation. I was much pleased at the plain unexaggerating + way in which he told the history of his mission.... The good + work has progressed, and he now has from one hundred and fifty + to three hundred pupils in his school, many the children of + non-converted parents. And in this year's enrolment--great + glory to our ambassador at Constantinople!--the Protestants are + enrolled as a separate religious community: the males are two + hundred and odd here. + + "All sects recognised by the Porte are enrolled separately, as + their taxes, &c., are apportioned by their own heads (chiefs.)" + +Many of the Armenians here have been converted to the Church of +England, and this has proved to be a most advantageous change for +their women. + + "They are now emancipated from the bondage they have so long + been held in--I do not mean personal bondage, for perhaps there + is less of it in the East than in the West--but their whole + moral position has undergone a vast change. The man is now first + taught that the woman is his best friend; his firmest, truest + companion; his equal in the social scale, as God made her--a + help meet for him, not a mere piece of household furniture. The + woman is also taught to reverence the man as her head; thus + imparting that beautiful lesson, 'He for God only, she for + God through him.' She is also taught perhaps a harder lesson, + a more painful task--to relinquish all her costly ornaments, + when such may be more usefully employed in trade and traffic; + to consider necessaries more beautiful than costly clothes or + embroidered suits. Gradually she is allowed to unite with the + man in prayers, which is permitted by no other sect in the East, + women always having a portion of the church set apart for them, + and the Moslems praying at different times. May it please Him + who gives and dispenses all things, to prosper this and all + other good and holy works!... On leaving Aintab, we passed over + the hills that environ the town, and entered a pretty valley, + through which the Sadschur river accompanies us. Here, at a + small village called Naringa, we chose a pretty spot under some + trees, and pitched our tents. The horses browsed at our door, + the stream jumped by before us as we took our evening's repose. + And repose it is to sit thus at the close of a day of travel, to + enjoy the view of the lovely regions given man to dwell in; to + see the various changes time, circumstances, and religion have + wrought in the family of Adam, or, as the Arabs say, in the Beni + Adam. It was a lovely evening; and as I reclined apart from my + more gregarious fellow-travellers, I felt + + 'That the night was filled with music, + And the cares that infested the day + Had folded their tents, like the Arab, + And as silently stolen away.'" + +From Naringa our route lies eastward over low undulated hills, +still marked by frequent _tels_, generally surmounted by a village. +"Are these mounds natural, or does man still fondly cling to the +ruined home of his fathers?" Crossing the river Kirsan, we arrive at +Nezeeb, lying among vineyards and plantations of figs, pistachios, +and olives, interspersed with fields of wheat. At this village the +Sultan's forces, 70,000 strong, were defeated by Ibrahim Pasha with +45,000 men--a bootless victory, soon neutralised by a few lines +from our "Foreign Office." On the 6th day after leaving Aleppo, we +find ourselves on the Euphrates, the _Mourad Shai_, or "Water of +desire."[14] + + [14] The Moslems being water-drinkers, are as curious about their + streams as _bons vivans_ are about their cellars. One of the Caliphs + sent to weigh all the waters in his wide kingdom, and found that of + the Euphrates was the lightest. + + "In all its majesty, it glides beneath our gaze. It is needless + to tell the history of this river, renowned in the earliest + traditions. Watering the Paradise of earth, it has been mingled + with the fables of heaven; the Lord gave it in his covenants + unto Abram; Moses, inspired, preached it in his sermon to the + people. In its waters are bound the four angels, and, at the + emptying of the sixth vial, its waters will dry up, that the + 'way of the kings of the East may be prepared.' In every age + it has formed a prominent feature in the diorama of history, + flashing with sunshine, or sluggish and turbid with blood; and + here, on its bank, its name unchanged, all now is solitude and + quiet. + + "Descending amidst wide burial-grounds, where here and there + a _kubbé_ sheltered some clay more revered than the rest, we + reached its shores, and patiently took up our quarters beneath + the shade of a tree, till a boat should arrive to carry us over. + The redoubt, Fort William, as it was called, of the Euphrates + expedition still remains. In ancient times four shallows existed + where there were bridges over the Euphrates: the northernmost at + Samosata, now unused; Rum Kalaat, further south, being the route + frequented; Bir, the khan and eastern bank of which is called + Zeugma, or the Bridge, to this day; and the fourth at Thapsacus, + the modern Thapsaish, where Cyrus, Alexander, and Crassus passed + into Mesopotamia. The Arabs now generally pass here, or else by + fords known only to themselves. Julian crossed at a place called + Menbidjy, which was probably abreast of Hierapolis. + + "But what avails to recount individual cases?--the whole land is + history. Near us is Racca, once the favourite residence of Aaron + the Just. Here he delighted to spend his leisure-- + + 'Entranced with that place and time, + So worthy of the golden prime + Of good Haroun Alraschid.'" + +We cross the Euphrates to the town of Bir, and proceed still +eastward, along a flat desert, strewn with a small-bladed scanty +grass, aromatic flowers, and wormwood. "One small gleam, like a +polished shield or a dark sward, is all we see of the mighty river +that flows around us. Every hour of the day changes the aspect of +the desert: now it is wild and gloomy, as scudding clouds pass over +the sun; now smiling with maiden sweetness, as the sun shines out +again." Often we pass by the tented homes of the desert tribes, with +their flocks and herds tended by busy maidens, now screaming wildly +after their restless charge--now singing songs as wild, but sweeter +far. Then comes sunset with its massed clouds of purple, blue, and +gold; the air is full of bleatings as the flocks all tamely follow +their shepherds home. On the tenth day after leaving Aleppo, we +descend into a plain covered with some dusty olive-trees: we come +to a hill with a low wall, and a castle on its summit. "And this is +the Ur of the Chaldees, the Edessa of the Romans, the Orfa of the +Arabs. Here God spake to Abram." From this city, very fruitful in +legends, we reach Haran in six hours; travelling over a plain strewn +with _tels_ and encampments of the Koords. + + "Perhaps by this very route Abraham of old and those with him + travelled; nor is it extravagance to say, the family we now meet + may exhibit the exact appearance that the patriarchs did four + thousand years ago--the tents and pots piled on the camels; + the young children in one saddle-bag balancing the kids in + the other; the matron astride on the ass; the maid following + modestly behind; the boys now here, now there; the patriarch + himself on his useful mare, following and directing the march. + As we pass, he lays his hand on his heart, and says, 'Peace be + with you; where are you going?--Depart in peace.'" + +Haran appears to be, without doubt, the ancient city of Nahor, where +Laban lived, and where Jacob served for Leah and Rachel. Here, +too, is Rebekah's well, and here our traveller beheld the very +counterpart of the scene that Eleazar saw when he sought a bride +for his master's son. By this time our author had so far identified +himself with the desert tribes, their language, their interests, +their enjoyment of the desert life, and their love of horses, +that he seems to feel, and almost to speak, in the Arab style. We +have never seen that interesting people so happily described and +so vividly illustrated. If we had not so much before us still to +investigate, we would gladly dwell upon the desert journey from +Haran to Tel Bagdad, and on the raft voyage thence down the Tigris +to Mosul. One graphic sketch of an Arab sheik must serve for many: +his characteristic speech contains volumes of his people's history. + + "The young sheik was not, probably, more than seventeen or + eighteen years of age; handsome, but with that peculiarly + girlish effeminate appearance I have before mentioned as so + frequently found among the younger aristocracy of the desert, + and so strangely belied by their character and deeds. He now + held my horse, and, apologising for his father's temporary + absence, welcomed us. The tent was large and well made. We + remained here smoking and drinking coffee till the sheik + Dahhal arrived. He was fully dressed in silk--a fine figure of + a man with light clear eyes. Wounds, received long ago, have + incapacitated him from the free use of his hands, but report + says he can still grasp the rich dagger at his girdle with a + fatal strength when passion urges him. Though every feeling + was subdued, there showed through all his mildness the baffled + tiger, whose vengeance would be fearful--he resembled a netted + animal, vainly with all its cunning seeking to break the meshes + that encompassed him on all sides. + + "He received us with a hospitality that seemed natural; his + words were more sonorous, grand, and flowing than those of any + Arab I had before seen. They reminded me of the pleasure I had + felt in South America in listening to the language of a true + Spaniard, heard amidst the harsh gutturals of a provincial + jargon; strings of highflown compliments, uttered with an open, + noble mien, that, while it must please those to whom it is used, + seems but a worthy condescension in him. + + 'He was a man of war and woes; + Yet on his lineaments ye cannot trace, + While gentleness her milder radiance throws + Along that aged venerable face, + The deeds that lurk beneath, and stain him with disgrace.' + + "If report speaks true, never did there breathe a truer son of + Hagar than Sheik Dahhal. During his whole life his hand has + been against every man, and every man's against him. Gaining + his social position with his dagger, he openly endeavoured + to enlarge it by every exercise of force or fraud. The whole + frontier of Mardin, Nisibis, Mosul, Bagdad, &c., are his deadly + enemies, made so by his acts. It must be sad in declining years + to see the wreck of a youth thus spent; already the punishment + and repayment are hard at hand. + + "Successful violence brings temporary rewards--power, rule, + dominion; but for this he has bartered honour, fame, youth, + conscience: every stake, every ruse, has been used, and he gains + but defeat, disgrace, and contempt. It must be hard, very hard, + for the proud man to live on thus. I pitied him, and could feel + for him as he fondled his young son, a lovely little naked + savage, who lay crouching at his side. He had two or three other + children, all strikingly handsome.... + + "We were ultimately obliged to refuse his escort. 'It is + well,' said he, 'whether you go or stay, all Dahhal has, all + his enemies have left him, is yours.' We asked him if he saw + any change in the Arab since he remembered: he looked quietly + round at his tents, at his camels now crowded round them, the + flocks lowing to their homes; his dress, his arms, and then + said, 'No: since the time of the Prophets--since time was, + we are unchanged; perhaps poorer, perhaps less hospitable in + consequence; but otherwise unchanged.' He made a very just + remark afterwards: 'Our habits are the only ones adapted to the + country we live in; they cannot change unless we change our + country: no other life can be lived here.'" + +Our travellers, sending their horses and servants along the banks of +the Tigris, themselves embarked on board a raft composed of inflated +skins; and their voyage, after many incidents, terminated in the +following scene:-- + + "At last the pious true-believing eye of the boatman detected + the minarets of Mosul over the low land on the right. On our + left was a large temporary village, built of dried grass, + roughly and coarsely framed; low peaked mountains ahead broke + the steel line of the sky. No sooner did our boatman detect the + minarets, than he continued his prayers, confiding the oars + to one of the servants. Poor fellow! it was sad work; for the + raft, as if in revenge for the way he had pulled her about, + kept pertinaciously turning, and as it bore his Mecca--turned + front to the north, east, or west--he had to stop his pious + invocations, that otherwise would have been wafted to some + useless bourne; and then, as in the swing she turned him to the + black stone, he had to hurry on, like sportsmen anxious for some + passing game. Often he rose, but seemed not satisfied, and again + he knelt, and bowing prayed his Caaba-directing prayers. This + man had not prayed before during the voyage. + + "At last, over the land appeared a mud fort hardly + distinguishable from the hill; before it a white-washed dome, + a few straggling buildings--it was Mosul. Presently an angle + is turned, and the broken ruinous wall of an Eastern town lies + before us." + +Mosul is only sixteen days' journey from Aleppo. Although now +invested with a lasting interest by its connection with Mr Layard's +magnificent discoveries, it is one of the least attractive cities +of the East. Its neighbourhood, with the grand exception of buried +Nineveh, and some curious naphtha springs, is equally devoid of +interest. The huge mound called Koyunjik, "coverer of cities," lies +on the opposite side of the Tigris, about two miles from the river. +Tel Nimroud, where the first successful excavations were made, is +about eighteen miles lower down. It will be remembered that Mr Rich, +a merchant of Bagdad, first directed attention to these subterranean +treasures nearly twenty years ago: M. Botta, more recently, made +some energetic attempts to discover them; but it remained for our +gallant countryman, Mr Layard, to render his name illustrious by +unveiling the mysteries of ages, and restoring to light the wonders +of the ancient capital of the Assyrians. His renown, and still +more his success itself, must be its own reward; but we fear that +in all other respects the nation is still deeply in his debt. The +capricious liberalities of our Government with respect to art are +very singular; the financial dispositions of the British Museum are +still more difficult to explain. The former does not hesitate to +bestow £2500 on transporting a pillar from the sea-shore of Egypt to +London, while it only places at Mr Layard's disposal £3000 for the +excavation of Nineveh and its surrounding suburbs, eighteen miles +in extent--together with the support and pay of a numerous staff of +artists and others during eighteen months. On the other hand, the +trustees of the British Museum, knowing themselves already to be +deeply in Mr Layard's debt, refuse to further his great efforts, +except by the paltry (and refused) pittance of £12 a-month; and, at +the same time, they furnish Colonel Rawlinson with the sum of £2000 +to proceed with excavations at Koyunjik, (three hundred miles from +his residence,) and at Susa, which is one-third of the distance. +In the approaching session of Parliament, we hope that Mr Layard's +services to England and to art will be more generously appreciated +than they have hitherto been; and that, at all events, we shall +not be left to labour under the disgrace of pecuniary debt to that +enterprising gentleman. + +We have now reached our traveller's goal, and must make brief +work of his returning tour, in order to spare some columns to the +consideration of the Ansayrii, the most important matter in the work. + +After a residence of some weeks at Mosul, and at the several +neighbouring excavations, Mr Walpole accompanied Mr Layard in a tour +through the fastnesses of Koordistan: and here we must find space +for one or two glimpses at those unknown regions, and the life that +awaits the traveller there. + +Before we begin to ascend the hill country, we look back: + + "On either side, the mountain falls away with jut and crag + almost perpendicularly to the plain; at the foot, hills rise + above hills in irregular and petulant ranges, like a stormy sea + when the wind is gone, and nothing save its memory remains, + lashing the waves with restless motion. Westward lies the vast + plain, its surface broken by the mounds of imperial cities long + passed away. + + "One moment the eye rests on the Tigris as it glides its vast + volume by; then, out upon the plain, the desert broken by the + range of Singar, again on to distance where earth and air mingle + imperceptibly together. To the south, over a varied land, is + Mosul, the white glare of its mosque glistening in the sun; to + the south and east, a sea of hills, wave after wave, low and + irregular. The Zab, forcing its way, takes a tortuous course + to its companion; farther on, they join their waters, and run + together to the vast worlds of the south. Beyond are Arbela and + the Obeid. Kara Chout and its crags shut out the view, passing + many a spot graven on the pages of the younger world. + + "What a blank in history is there around those vast cities, now + brought to light! A few vague traditions, a few names whose + fabulous actions throw discredit on their existence, are all + that research has discovered. Even the nations following after + these we know but dimly--tradition, garlanded by poetry, our + only guide. + + 'Belshazzar's grave is made, + His kingdom passed away; + He in the balance weighed, + Is light and worthless clay. + The shroud his robe of state; + His canopy the stone; + The Mede is at his gate, + The Persian on his throne.' + + "Fancy conjures up to the south a small and compact body of + Greeks: around them, at a distance, like vultures round a + struggling carcase, hover bands of cavalry. Now, as a gap opens, + they rush on; now, as the ranks close up, they melt away, + shooting arrows as they fly, vengeful in their cowardice--it + is the retreat of Xenophon and his gallant band. They encamp + at Nimroud--as in his yesterday, so in our to-day, a mound + smothering its own renown. + + "Northward again comes a mighty band: with careful haste they + cross the rivers, and with confident step traverse the plain + south. On the south-east plain, a legion of nations, golden, + glittering, yet timorous, await their approach. Alexander, the + hero, scatters dismay: assured of conquest ere he met the foe, + he esteems the pursuit the only difficulty. On the one side, + Asia musters her nations--Indians, Syrians, Albanians, and + Bactrians--the hardiest population of her empire. Elephants and + war-chariots are of no avail: the result was fore-written, and + Darius foremost flies along the plain. + + "Faint, afar, we can see in the north-west Lucullus; and the + arms of Rome float over the walls of Nisibis, (B.C. 68.) We may + almost see the glorious array of Julian; hear him subduing his + mortal pain; hear him pronounce, with well-modulated tones, one + of the finest orations the world can record. We may see the + timid Jovian skulking in his purple from the field he dared not + defend in his armour. But again rise up the legions and the + Labarum: Heraclius throws aside his lethargy; the earth drinks + deep of gore, and Khosroo[15] is vanquished under our eyes. + + [15] He was subsequently murdered, A. D. 62. + + "The white and the black banners now gleam upon the field; the + crescent flaunts on either side. One God, one faith--they fight + for nought. Hell for the coward, paradise for the brave. Abou + Moslem and Merwan. The earth, on the spot which had last drunk + the red life-blood of Greek and Persian, now slakes its fill. + Merwan flies with wondrous steps, but the avenger follows fast. + He first loses his army on the Tigris; himself dies on the banks + of the Nile: there perished the rule of the Ommiades. + + "The hordes of Timour now approach: their war-song ought to be + the chorus of the spirits of destiny in _Manfred_-- + + 'Our hands contain the hearts of men, + Our footsteps are their graves; + We only give to take again + The spirits of our slaves.' + + "What a different aspect must this plain have presented when + those sun-burnt mysterious mounds were living, teeming, sinning + cities; irrigated, cultivated, protected, safe; fruitful and + productive! And these were barbarous times; and now, in this + our day, peace-congresses, civilisation, one vast federal + union, liberty, equality;--a few villages fortified as castles, + a population flying without a hope of even a death-spot in + peace--fearful alike of robbers and rulers, robbed alike by + protectors and enemies, planting the harvest they may not reap; + a government seizing what the roving Arabs choose to leave; + law known but as oppression; authority a license to plunder; + government a resident extortioner. + + "Too long have we lingered on the scene. Again the plain is + naked, bare, and lifeless; the sun hovers on the horizon--he + gilds the desert, licks the river; the desert breaks his + glorious disc. Slowly, like the light troops covering a retreat, + he collects his rays; with fondness lights up each hill; warms + with his smile, lighting with unnumbered tints each peak and + crag of hold desert-throned Singar. Reluctantly he hovers for a + moment on the horizon's verge, large, fearful, red; then + + 'The sun's rim dips, the stars rush out; + At one stride comes the dark.' + + "Near the convent is a dripping well; a rough path leads us to + it, and its entrance is shaded by a gigantic tree. The water + is very cold and sweet; the moisture shed a coolness around, + that made an exquisite retreat. Near it is a cave which in days + of persecution sheltered securely many of the poor fugitive + Christians. The destruction of most of the convents about these + mountains and on this plain is imputed to Tamerlane; but in our + own time Sheik Mattie was attacked by the Koords; its fathers + were slain, beaten, and dispersed; and the dust of long ages of + bishops scattered to the winds. They still show in the church + the tombs of Mar Halveus and Abou Faraf, which they say escaped + the observation of the destroyer. The inscription of one we + were able to decipher; but another resisted even the efforts of + the scholar then resident at the convent. We in vain tried many + learned men, but the inscription defies all investigation. + + 'Chaldea's seers are good, + But here they have no skill; + And the unknown letters stood, + Untold and mystic still.' + + "We now made straight for Sheik Mattie, whose green gorge we + could discover high up the face of the mountain. The plain was + a succession of low hills all brown with the summer; here and + there a Koord village with its cultivated fields, cucumbers, + and cool melons. The villages west of the river are nearly all + Christian, but on to-day's ride we passed two Koordish ones. At + one we halted, and regaled ourselves and horses on the fruit + they pressed on us. + + "The old sheik came out, followed by two men with felts; these + were spread in the cool, and we made kief. He begged the loan + of Zea, (my Albanian greyhound,) whom he praised beyond measure + for his extreme beauty, to kill hares. To hear him talk, his + complaints of game, of fields, hares destroyed, &c., I could + have believed myself once more in England, but that he closed + each sentence with "It is God's will; His will be done," and + such like holy words. His long, wide, graceful robes also + brought one back to the East, to poetry and to romance." + +And here we find less happy accidents in a traveller's life, which +must not pass unremembered. + + "At first, one of the greatest privations I experienced in + Eastern travel, and one that half did away with the pleasure + derived from it, was the want of privacy; and one can fully + understand (as probably centuries have produced but little + change in their habits) the expression in the Bible, of our + Saviour retiring apart to pray; for, in the East, privacy is + a word unknown. Families live in one room; men, women, sons, + daughters, sons' wives, &c., and may be said never to be alone. + This at first annoyed me, but habit is second nature. As soon + as the traveller arrives he has visits; all the world crowd to + see him; the thousand nameless things one likes to do after a + tedious hot journey must be done in public. Before you are up + they are there; meals, all, there they are; and there is nothing + for it but to proceed just as if the privacy was complete.... + + "FRIDAY, 12th--I rose as well as usual: on one side of the tent + lay the Doctor, dead beat; under one flap which constitutes + a separate room, Abdallah perfectly insensible: the cook lay + behind on a heap of horse-cloths, equally stricken. I sat down + to write in the air: finding the flies annoyed me, I read, fell + asleep, and remember nothing save a great sensation of pain and + weariness for two days. It seemed as if a noise awoke me; it + was early morning, and Mr Layard stood before me. Poor fellow! + he had learned how to treat the fever by bitter, almost fatal, + personal experience; and now he dosed us and starved us, till + all but Abdallah were out of danger, at all events. + + "It is curious how soon people of warm climates,--or, in fact, + I may say,--all uneducated people, succumb to sickness. Hardy + fellows, apparently as strong as iron: when attacked they lie + down, wrap a coat or cloak around them, and resign themselves + to suffer. It would seem that the mind is alone able to rise + superior to disease: their minds, uncultivated, by disuse weak, + or in perfect alliance with the body, cease to exist when its + companion falls. In intellectual man the mind is the last + to succumb: long after the poor weak body has yielded, the + mind holds out like a well-garrisoned citadel: it refuses all + surrender, and, though the town is taken, fights bravely till + the last." + +And now one glimpse at Koordistan and the beautiful and mysterious +Lake Van, which lies hidden in its deepest recesses. + + "We now journeyed on through strange regions, where Frank had + never wandered. We saw the Koords as they are best seen, free + in their own magnificent mountains;--not "the ass," as the Turk + calls him, "of the plains." Mahomet Pasha, son of the little + standard-bearer, and Pasha of Mosul was requested to provide for + its defence by the consuls, and to attempt by better rule the + civilisation of the Arabs. He replied:-- + + 'Erkekler Densige + Allar genisig + Kurytar Donsig + Devekler Yoolarsig.' + + "'What can I do with people whose men have no religion, whose + women are without drawers, their horses without bits, and their + camels without halters?' + + "Thus we wandered over many miles, plains spreading between + their fat mountains, splendid in their grandeur; now amidst + pleasant valleys anon over giant passes-- + + ----'Dim retreat, + For fear and melancholy meet; + Where rocks were rudely heaped and rent, + As by a spirit turbulent; + Where sights were rough, and sounds were wild, + And everything unreconciled.' + + "My health after this gradually got worse: repeated attacks of + fever, brought on probably by my own carelessness, weakened me + so much that I could scarcely keep up with the party. Riding was + an agony, and, by the carelessness of my servant, my horses were + ruined. One evening an Abyssinian, one of my attendants, went so + far as to present a pistol at my head. My poor dear dog, too, + was lost, which perhaps afflicted me more than most ills which + could happen to myself. At last we passed over a ridge, and Lake + Van lay before us. We had, perhaps, been the first Europeans + who had performed the journey. The last and only other of which + we have any record was poor Professor Schultz, who was murdered + by order of Khan Mahmoud for the baggage he unfortunately + displayed. The Khan received him kindly, entertained him with + hospitality, and despatched him on his road with a guard who had + their instructions to murder him on the way. He was an accurate + and capable traveller, a native of Hesse, and travelling for the + French government. + + "The morning of the 3d of August saw us passing up a most + lovely valley, the Vale of Sweet Waters. We had encamped in + it the night before. Leaving its pretty verdure, we mounted a + long range of sun-burnt hills covered with sun-dried grass and + _immortelles_, whose immortality must have been sorely tried on + that sun-exposed place. Achieving a pass, we gained our view of + Van. The scene was worthy of Stanfield in his best mood. Before + us, on the north-east, brown, quaintly-shaped hills, variegated + with many tints, filled the view of the far horizon. From this + a plain led to the lake; around it were noble mountains, snow + and cloud clad--their beauty enhanced by the supervening water. + Saphan Dagh, with a wreath of mist and cap of spotless snow, + seen across the sea was imposing--I might say, perfect. + + "The plain on the eastern coast spread out broad and fair: + here verdant meadows, there masses of fruit-laden trees; while + between the mass wandered the mountain streams, hastening on + to their homes in the fair bosom of the lake. Van itself swept + round its castle, which stands on a curious rock that rises + abruptly from the plain; but the lake, indeed, was the queen + of the view--blue as the far depth of ocean, yet unlike the + ocean--so soft, so sweet, so calm was its surface. On its near + coast, bounded by silver sands, soft and brilliant; while its + far west formed the foot of Nimrod Dagh, on whose lofty crest + are said to be a lake and a castle.... + + "The waters of the lake have lately been analysed, so the + curious substance found floating on its surface, and used as + soap, will be accounted for: it is sold in the bazaars. At + present there are but three small boats or launches on the lake, + and even these can hardly find trade enough to remunerate them. + Their principal occupation is carrying passengers to the towns + on the coast." + +Mr Layard remained at Lake Van in order to copy some inscriptions; +but Mr Walpole was induced to penetrate northward as far as +Patnos, where no European had yet been seen. Here his enterprise +was rewarded by the view of some magnificent scenery, and the +more important discovery of some cuneiform, and many ancient +Armenian inscriptions. These were forwarded by our traveller to +Mr Layard, and will doubtless appear in his forthcoming work.[16] +But we must now leave Koordistan, recommending the perusal of +Mr Walpole's chapter on the Christians of Lake Van, and their +beautiful and mysterious inland sea, to all who love to picture to +themselves strange lands and wild adventure. We return by way of +Erzeroum, Trebizond, the shores of the Black Sea, and Sansoun, to +Constantinople; thence to Latakia; and here we find ourselves within +view of the mountains of the mysterious Ansayrii and Ismaylis. + + [16] We must here notice the generosity with which Mr Walpole + forbears to enlarge upon any subject in which he might anticipate + the works of other travellers. For this reason he passes lightly + over this interesting tour in the mountains of Koordistan, and + only (to our regret) alludes _en passant_ to a tribe of _pastoral_ + Jews, whom he and Mr Layard met on these mountains, following the + spring (as the snows receding left fresh herbage for their flocks) + up the mountains. When we consider how rarely pastoral Jews are met + with, and that this was the very land wherein the lost ten tribes + disappeared, and, moreover, that the elders of these people spoke + the Chaldean tongue, we are much disappointed to hear no more of + them. + +In the title of this work is revived a subject of very ancient +interest. The Ansayrii, or Nassairi, or Assassins, are a singularly +surviving relic of the followers of the Old Man of the Mountain, +so celebrated in the history of the Crusades.[17] Historians have +fallen into a great mistake in supposing this Order to have been +a hereditary dynasty, or to have embraced a nation. Originally +it was simply an Order, like that of the Templars. Like them +the members wore white garments set off with crimson, typifying +innocence and blood. The policy of both was to obtain possession +of strong places, and by terror to keep the surrounding nations in +subjection. The Assassins succeeded in this object so far as to +dictate their will to several Sultans, many Viziers, and innumerable +minor authorities. When the Sultan of the Seljuks sent an ambassador +to the Old Man of the Mountain, demanding his submission, the +following well-known circumstance took place:--"The chief said to +one of his followers, 'Stab thyself!' To another he said, 'Throw +thyself from the battlements!' Before he had ceased to speak his +disciples had obeyed him, and lay dead, not only willing but eager +martyrs to their faith. The chief then turning to the envoy, said, +'Take what thou hast seen for thine answer. I am obeyed by seventy +thousand such men as these.'" The founder of this terrible sect +was Hassan Ben Sahab. He was a "Dai," or master-missionary, from +the Secret Lodge established at Cairo, (about 1004 A.D.), in order +to sap and overthrow the Caliphat of Abbas, and establish that +of the Fatimites. Hassan gave promise of greatness in his youth, +became a favourite of the Melekshah, was banished from court by +the intrigues of a rival, and took refuge at Ispahan. Here he +became initiated in the voluptuous and atheistical doctrines of +the Ismailis, and was sent to Egypt, to the Caliph Mostansur, as a +preacher and promulgator of that atrocious creed. He was banished +from the Egyptian court also, and cast ashore in Syria. After a +variety of adventures in the course of his travels from Aleppo +through Persia, he at length obtained possession of the fortress of +AlamÅ«t,[18] near Khaswin. Here he remained for the remainder of +his life, never leaving the castle, and only twice moving from his +own apartment to the terrace during a period of thirty-eight years. +Here he perfected, in mystery and deep seclusion, his diabolical +doctrines, and soon sent "Dais," or missionaries, of his own into +all lands. The secret society of which he was the head contained +several grades, embracing the initiated, the aspirant, and the +devoted--mere executioners or tools of higher intelligences.[19] +The grand-master was called Sidna (Sidney) "our lord;" and more +commonly Sheik el Djebel, the Sheik or Old Man of the Mountain, +because the Order always possessed themselves of the castles in +mountainous regions in Irak, Kuhistan, and Syria. The Old Man, +robed in white, resided always in the mountain fort of AlamÅ«t. +There he maintained himself against all the power of the Sultan, +until at length the daggers of his Fedavie, or devoted followers, +freed him from his most active enemies, and appalled the others +into quiescence. AlamÅ«t was now called "the abode of Fortune," +and all the neighbouring strongholds submitted to the Ancient +of the Mountain. The Assassins were proscribed in all civilised +communities, and the dagger and the sword found constant work on +their own professors. The Assassins, however, like the Indian Thugs, +depraved all societies, in all sorts of disguises. At one time the +courtiers of a Caliph being solemnly invoked, with a promise of +pardon and impunity, five chamberlains stepped forward, and each +showed the dagger, which only waited an order from the Old Man to +plunge into the heart of any human being it could reach. By such +agency Hassan kept entire empires in a state of revolution and +carnage. From his remote fortress he made his influence felt and +feared to the extreme confines of Khorassan and Syria. And thence, +too, he propagated the still more infernal engines of his authority, +his catechisms of atheism and licentiousness--"Nothing is true; all +things are permitted to the initiated." Such was the foundation of +his creed. + + [17] The mystery relating to this community is so great that the + laborious Müller, in his twenty-four books, has not attempted to + penetrate it. And Gibbon, notwithstanding his acknowledged pleasure + in painting scenes of blood, has treated the Order of Assassins + very superficially. Marco Polo is, as usual, the most entertaining + of authorities, as far as he goes; but it remained for Joseph Von + Hammer to explore the faint vestiges of their strange story with + vast and patient research. He has thrown together the results of his + labours in a small volume, of great interest. + + [18] The Vulture's Nest. + + [19] Dais, Refik, and Fedavie. + +This villain died tranquilly in his bed, having survived to the +age of ninety. His spiritual and temporal power was continued with +various vicissitudes through a long succession of impostors, the +dagger still maintaining its mysterious and inevitable agency. +The list of the best, and some of the most powerful, of Oriental +potentates who perished by it, swells, as the history of the +Order proceeds, to an incredible extent. During all this time +the fundamental maxim of the creed, which separates the secret +doctrines of the initiated from the public tenets of the people, was +preserved. These last were (and now are, according to Mr Walpole) +held to the strictest injunctions of Mahometanism. The East did not +detect the motive power of the Assassins' chief: they only saw the +poniard strike those who had offended the envoy of the invisible +Imam, who was soon to arrive in power and glory, and to assert his +dominion over earth. In the Crusades, the hand of the Assassins is +traced in the fate of Raymond of Tripoli--perhaps in that of the +Marquis of Montferrat--and in many meaner instances. At that period +the numbers of people openly professing the creed is stated by +William of Tyre at sixty thousand; and by James, Bishop of Alla, at +forty thousand. At this day Mr Walpole estimates the number of the +Ansayrii at forty thousand fighting men, including Ismaylis. These +numbers are to be understood, however, in former times, as well +as in the present, to comprise the whole sect, and not merely the +executioners, who always formed a very small proportion, and are now +probably extinct. The Old Man is no longer recognised, so far as can +be ascertained, among the mountains, (where, as usual in other parts +of Syria, the patriarchal form prevails;) and the strange creed +that their ancestors held, together with a singular recklessness of +life, alone remains to mark their descent. Concerning this creed +we are referred by Mr Walpole to some discoveries which he intends +to publish in a future volume. We must confess to considerable +disappointment in the meagre information that is here afforded to us +on the subject, especially after our expectations have been raised +by such a preface as the following:-- + + "Alone, without means, without powers to buy or bribe, I have + penetrated a secret, the enigma of ages--have dared alone to + venture where none have been--where the government, with five + hundred soldiers, could not follow; and, better than all, I have + gained esteem among the race condemned as savages, and feared as + robbers and ASSASSINS." + +Nevertheless, our author has told us a good deal that is new and +interesting about the Ansayrii, as will be seen from our extracts. + +The Ismaylis, concerning whose woman-worship and peculiar habits +such strange stories have been whispered, live among the southern +mountains of the Ansayrii. They amount only to five thousand souls, +and appear to be a different tribe, (probably Arab,) grafted upon +them, and gradually, by superior vigour, possessing themselves of +the strongest places in the mountains. These people hold a creed +quite distinct from the Ansayrii, among whom they dwell; and the +extraordinary prayer, or address used by them seems fully to bear +out the long-questioned assertion of their aphrodisial worship. + +Marco Polo[20] was the first to furnish some curious accounts of +the Ansayrii, and of the discipline and catechism of the Fedavie: +we hope that Mr Walpole, in his promised volume, will add to the +many vindications which that brave old traveller has received +from time to time. But at the sack of AlamÅ«t, in 1257, all +the Assassins' books (except the Koran) were burned as impious; +and all that now remains of their doctrines must be traditional. +We have dwelt thus long on the Ansayrii in order to display the +interest that belongs to that secluded and mysterious people, and +the importance of any novel intelligence respecting them. Before +we proceed to illustrate their country from Mr Walpole's volumes, +we must find space for some account of the manner in which the +initiation of the Assassins is said to have been performed. The +two great strongholds of the Order were the castle of AlamÅ«t +in Irak, and that of Massiat near Latakia in the Lebanon. These +fortresses, stern and impregnable in themselves, are said to have +been surrounded with exquisite gardens, enclosed from all vulgar +gaze by walls of immense height. These gardens were filled with the +most delicate flowers and delicious fruits. Streams flowed, and +fountains sparkled brightly, through the grateful gloom of luxuriant +foliage. Bowers of roses, and porcelain-paved kiosks, and carpets +from the richest looms of Persia, invited to repose the senses heavy +with luxury. Circassian girls, bright as the houris of Paradise, +served the happy guests with golden goblets of Schiraz wine, and +glances yet more intoxicating. The music of harps, and women's +sweetest voices, sent fascination through the ear as well as eyes. +Everything breathed rapture and sensuality, intensified by seclusion +and deep calm. The youth, where energy and courage seemed to qualify +him for the office of _fedavie_, was invited to the table of the +grand-master, (at Irak,) or the grand-prior, (at Massiat.) He was +there intoxicated with the maddening, yet delightful _hashishe_. +In his insensible state he was transported to the garden, which, +he was told, was Paradise, and which he was too ready to take for +the scene of eternal delight, as he revelled in all the pleasure +that Eastern voluptuousness could devise. He was there lulled into +sleep once more, and then transported back to the grand-master's +side. As he awoke, numbers of uninitiated youths were admitted to +hear his account of the Paradise which the power of the Old Man had +permitted him to taste. And thus tools were found and formed for +the execution of the wildest projects. That glimpse of Paradise for +ever haunted the inflamed imagination of the novices, and any death +appeared welcome that could restore them to such joys. + + [20] _De Regionibus Orient._, lib. i. c. 28. + +Such is the theory of this singular people, as maintained by Von +Hammer, which it remains for future discoveries--now that Mr Walpole +has opened the way for them--to vindicate or refute. There are also +some remnants of the Persian tribes of this people, an account of +which, by Mr Badger, we are informed, is soon to appear: the Syrians +scarcely know of their existence. The Syrian Ansayrii amount, as +we have said, including Ismaylis, to about forty thousand souls: +they have always preserved their seclusion inviolate; setting at +nought the various tyrannies that have harassed the neighbouring +states, denying the authority of the Sultan, and blaspheming the +Prophet, while they outwardly conform to his rites. They occupy the +northernmost range of the Lebanon, from Tortosa and Latakia, as far +as Adana. + +Notwithstanding Von Hammer's elaborate and ingenious theory, many +(amongst whom is our author) have seemed disposed to treat the whole +story of the Assassins, and the Old Man of the Mountain himself, +as myths. It was, they say, the sort of romance that the Crusaders +would have lent a ready ear to, and that their troubadours would +have made the most of. They deny the existence of the powerful hill +fortresses surrounded by the intoxicating gardens; they point to the +renowned Syrian castle of El Massiat, whose ruins occupy a space of +only one hundred yards square, and in whose vaulted stables there is +an inscription purporting that the castle was "the work of Roostan +the Mameluke." + +Mr Walpole, however, does not enter into any controversy respecting +this strange people. Of the little that he has confided in his +present two volumes to the public, the following extracts must be +taken as an instalment:-- + + "The Ansayrii nation--for such it is--being capable of mustering + forty thousand warriors able to bear arms, is divided into two + classes--sheiks and people; the sheiks again into two--Sheiks or + Chiefs of Religion, Sheik el Maalem, and the temporal Sheiks, + or Sheiks of Government; these being generally called Sheik el + Zullom, or Sheiks of Oppression. These latter, though some of + them are of good families, are not so generally: having gained + favour with government, they have received the appointment. + Others there are, however, whose families have held it for many + generations--such as Shemseen Sultan, Sheik Succor, &c. The + sheiks of religion are held as almost infallible, and the people + pay them the greatest respect. With regard to the succession, + there seems to be no fixed rule: the elder brother has, however, + rule over the rest; but then I have seen the son the head of the + family while the father was living. + + "The sheik of religion enjoys great privileges: as a boy he is + taught to read and write; he is marked from his fellows from + very earliest childhood, by a white handkerchief round his + head. Early as his sense will admit, he is initiated into the + principles of his faith: in this he is schooled and perfected. + Early he is taught that death, martyrdom, is a glorious reward; + and that, sooner than divulge one word of his creed, he is to + suffer the case in which his soul is enshrined to be mangled + or tortured in any way. Frequent instances have been known + where they have defied the Turks, who have threatened them with + death if they would not divulge, saying, 'Try me; cut my heart + out, and see if anything is within there.' During his manhood + he is strictly to conform to his faith: this forbids him not + only eating certain things at any time, but eating at all with + any but chiefs of religion; or eating anything purchased with + unclean money;--and the higher sheiks carry this to such an + extent that they will only eat of the produce of their own + grounds; they will not even touch water, except such as they + deem pure and clean. Then the sheik must exercise the most + unbounded hospitality; and, after death, the people will build + him a tomb, (a square place, with a dome on the top,) and he + will be revered as a saint. + + "The lower classes are initiated into the principles of their + religion, but not into its more mystical or higher parts: they + are taught to obey their chiefs without question, without + hesitation, and to give to them abundantly at feasts and + religious ceremonies: above all, even the uninitiated is to die + a thousand deaths sooner than betray his faith. + + "In their houses, which, as I have before said, are poor, + dirty, and wretched, they place two small windows over the door. + This is in order that, if a birth and death occur at the same + moment, the coming and the parting spirit may not meet. In rooms + dedicated to hospitality several square holes are left, so that + each spirit may come or depart without meeting another. + + "Like the Mahometans, they practise the rite of circumcision, + performing it at various ages, according to the precocity of + the child. The ceremony is celebrated, as among the Turks, with + feasting and music. This, they say, is not a necessary rite, + but a custom derived from ancient times, and they should be + Christians if they did not do it. This is the same among the + Mahometans, who are not enjoined by their prophet to do so, but + received the rite from of old.[21] + + [21] We do not yet know if any ceremony exists at the naming of + the child. + + "When a candidate is pronounced ready for initiation, his + tarboosh is removed, and a white cloth wrapped round his + head. He is then conducted into the presence of the sheiks of + religion. The chief proceeds to deliver a lecture, cautioning + him against ever divulging their great and solemn secret. 'If + you are under the sword, the rope, or the torture, die, and + smile--you are blessed.' He then kisses the earth three times + before the chief, who continues telling him the articles of + their faith. On rising, he teaches him a sign, and delivers + three words to him. This completes the first lesson. + + "At death, the body is washed with warm soap and water, wrapped + in white cloths, and laid in the tomb. Each person takes a + handful of earth, which is placed on the body; then upright + stones, one at the feet, one at the head, one in the middle, + are placed. The one in the middle is necessary. They have the + blood-feud--the Huck el Dum. In war, blood is not reckoned; but + if one man kills another of a different tribe, all the tribe of + the slayer pay an equal sum to the tribe of the slain--generally + one thousand six hundred piastres, (L.15.) + + "In marriage, a certain price is agreed on. One portion goes to + the father, another to supply dress and things necessary for + the maiden. This will vary much, according to the wealth of the + bridegroom and the beauty or rank of the bride. It is generally + from two hundred to seven hundred or a thousand piastres (L.1, + 15s. 6d. to L.9, 10s.) Sometimes a mare, a cow, or a donkey, + merely, is given for her. The bridegroom has then to solicit the + consent of the _hirce_, or owner of the bride's village, who + will generally extort five hundred piastres, or more, before he + will give a permission of marriage. + + "The price being settled, and security given for its payment, + the friends of the bridegroom mount on the top of the house + armed with sticks. The girl's friends pass her in hastily to + avoid their blows. The bridegroom enters, and beats her with a + stick or back of a sword, so that she cries: these cries must be + heard without. All then retire, and the marriage is concluded. + + "They are allowed four wives. The marriage ceremony is simple, + and divorce not permitted. If one of these four wives die, they + are permitted to take another. Generally, they have little + affection for their wives--treating them rather as useful + cattle than as rational creatures. They never teach women the + smallest portion of their faith. They are jealously excluded + from all religious ceremonies; and, in fact, are utterly denied + creed, prayers, or soul. Many here have told me that the women + themselves believe in this; and do not, as one would fancy, + murmur at such an exclusive belief. + + "The Ansayrii are honest in their dealings, and none can accuse + them of repudiation or denying a sum they owe.... They regard + Mahomet el Hamyd as the prophet of God, and thus use the + Mussulman confession--'La illa ill Allah, Mahomet el Hamyd, + Resoul e nebbi Allah;' but they omit all this when before + Mahometans, saying merely, 'There is no God but God, and Mahomet + is the prophet of God.' Otherwise, they say, 'There is no God + but Ali, and Mahomet el Hamyd, the Beloved, is the prophet of + God.' + + "I do not intend here to enter into their belief more fully; + but it is a most confused medley--a unity, a trinity, a deity. + 'These are five; these five are three; these three are two; + these two, these three, these five--one.' + + "They believe in the transmigration of souls. Those who in this + life do well, are hospitable, and follow their faith, become + stars; the souls of others return to the earth, and become + Ansayrii again, until, purified, they fly to rest. The souls of + bad men become Jews, Christians, and Turks; while the souls of + those who believe not, become pigs and other beasts. One eve, + sitting with a dear old man, a high sheik--his boys were round + him--I said, 'Speak: where are the sons of your youth? these + are the children of your old age.'--'My son,' he said, looking + up, 'is there: nightly he smiles on me, and invites me to come.' + + "They pray five times a day, saying several prayers each time, + turning this way or that, having no keblah. If a Christian or + Turk sees them at their devotions, the prayers are of no avail. + At their feasts, they pray in a room closed and guarded from the + sight or ingress of the uninitiated. + + "This will give a general outline of the faith and customs + of the Ansayrii. My intercourse with them was on the most + friendly footing, and daily a little was added to my stock + of information. Let me, however, warn the traveller against + entering into argument with them, or avowing, through the + dragoman, any knowledge of their creed. They are as ready and + prompt to avenge as they are generous and hospitable to protect. + To destroy one who deceives them on this point is an imperative + duty; and I firmly believe they would do it though you took + shelter on the divan of the Sultan. For myself, the risk is + passed: I have gone through the ordeal, and owe my life several + times to perfect accident." + +To this long extract we shall only add, that a good deal of +additional light is indirectly thrown upon this singular people +throughout the whole of the third volume of Mr Walpole's work. It is +the best written, as well as the most important, of the series; it +abounds in humour, anecdote, originality, and in no small degree of +curious research. + +And now, it only remains for us to bid our entertaining +fellow-traveller heartily farewell. Although, especially in the +first volume, we have felt disposed to quarrel with his style +occasionally, we have found his good-humour, his thoughtful +sentiment, and his reckless wit, at last irresistible. His +very imperfections often prove his fidelity, and his apparent +contradictions his innate truthfulness. We commend to him a little +more study of the art of composition, and a good deal more care; +but we shall consider ourselves fortunate when we meet with another +author of as many faults, if they are atoned for by as many merits. + + + + +THE CHAMPIONS OF THE RAIL. + +_A History of the English Railway: its Social Relations and +Revelations._ By JOHN FRANCIS. 2 vols. London. + + +A good many years ago, a late correspondent and writer in this +Magazine, Dr M'Nish of Glasgow, published a work entitled _The +Anatomy of Drunkenness_. The book was an excellent one: most perfect +in its portraiture of the different phenomena which accompany and +succeed a debauch; and in the hands of a regular tee-totaller, it +was undeniably worth some reams of vapid sermons. The preacher, +who never, we are bound to believe, had experienced the vinous or +spirituous excitement in his own person, was enabled from it to hold +forth, with all the unction of reality, to his terrified audience, +upon the awful effects of intemperance. Old ladies, who rarely in +their lives had transgressed beyond a second glass of weak negus +at some belated party, when whist or commerce had been suggested +to while away the weary hours, listened to the warnings of the +gifted apostle of temperance, and hied them home in the tremendous +conviction that they had only escaped, by the merest miracle, the +horrors of _delirium tremens_. Dyspeptic gentlemen were rendered +wretched, as they reflected that, for years past, they had been +accustomed to wash down their evening Finnan haddock, or moderate +board of oysters, with a pint of Younger's prime ale, or, mayhap, a +screeching tumbler. The enormity of their offence became visible to +their eyes, and they incontinently conceived amendment. + +But we doubt very much whether the _Anatomy_ would have been +pleasant reading to a gentleman who overnight had imbibed "not +wisely but too well." How could he bear to be told, not only of the +sensations of the previous evening, minutely traced through the +gradations of each consecutive decanter, but of the state of thirst +and unnatural discomfort to which he was presently a victim? Would +it relieve his headach to assure him that, after swallowing three +bottles of claret, most men are apt to be out of sorts? Could he, +the sufferer, derive any assuagement of his pains by knowing--if he +did not know it already--that unlimited brandy and water, however +agreeable during consumption, was clearly prejudicial to the nerves? +Sermons may come too soon. The sufferer ought to be allowed at least +a day or two to recover, before his offence is laid before him in +all its huge deformity. Give him time to be ashamed of himself. +A man's own conscience is his best accuser; and, unless the vice +be absolutely inherent, or totally beyond the hope of remedy, his +own misery will be more likely to effect a cure than any amount of +philosophical dissertations upon its nature. + +These thoughts have been irresistibly suggested to us by a perusal +of the two ponderous tomes of Mr Francis, entitled, _A History of +the English Railway: its Social Relations and Revelations_. A more +unfortunate kind of apocalypse could hardly have been hazarded at +the present time. Most people are tolerably well aware, without +the aid of Mr Francis, of the changes in social relations which +have been worked by the British railway; and as for revelations, a +good many would give a trifle to have these entirely suppressed. +We have not yet arrived at the time when the history of the "'45" +of this century can be calmly or dispassionately written. Too many +of us, still remanent here, have burned our fingers, and too many +of our kith and kin have been sent to exile, in consequence of +that notable enterprise. Since the standard was last unfurled in +the vale of Glenmutchkin, a considerable number of the population +have been bitten by the sod, if they did not literally bite it. +That system of turning over turfs, by the aid of silver spades and +mahogany wheelbarrows, was more fatal to the peace of families than +the accumulation of any number of Celtic bagpipers whatever. It +was a grand interment of capital. Who has forgotten the misery of +those times, when letters of railway calls arrived punctually once +a quarter? Two pound ten per share might be a moderate instalment; +but if you were the unfortunate holder of a hundred shares, you had +better have been boarded with a vampire. Repudiation, though a clear +Christian duty to yourself and your family, was utterly impossible. +It mattered not that the majority of the original committeemen and +directors had bolted; you, the subscriber, were tied to the stake. +The work was begun, the contracts opened, and money must be had +at all hazards and sacrifices. You found yourself in the pitiable +situation of an involuntary philanthropist. Threescore hulking +Irish navvies were daily fed, liquored, and lodged at your expense. +Your dwindling resources were torn from you, to make the fortunes +of engineers and contractors. So long as you had a penny, or a +convertible equivalent, you were forced to surrender it. Your case +was precisely similar to that of the Jew incarcerated in the vaults +beneath the royal treasury of King John. One by one all your teeth +were drawn. If you managed to survive the extraction of the last +grinder, and to behold the opening of the line, your position was +not one whit improved. Dividend of course there was none. That awful +and mysterious item of charge, "working expenses," engulfed nearly +the whole revenue. What was over went to pay interest on preference +debentures. That gallant body of men, the directors, laid before +you, with the utmost candour, a state of the affairs of the company; +from which it appeared that they had exceeded their borrowing +powers by perhaps a brace of millions, and had raised the money by +interposing their own individual security. These obligations you +were, of course, expected to redeem; and an appeal was made to your +finer feelings, urging you to consent to a further issue of stock! + +It is no great consolation to the men who have suffered more woes +from the railways, than fell to the lot of the much-enduring Ulysses +from the relentless anger of the deities, to know that they have +rendered perfect a vast chain of internal communication throughout +the country. We doubt whether the Israelites, who built them, took +any especial pride in surveying the pile of the pyramids. The +gentleman in embarrassed circumstances, who is pondering over the +memory of his perished capital, is not likely to feel his heart +expand with enthusiasm at the thought that through his agency, and +that of his fellows, thousands of bagmen are daily being whirled +along the rails with the velocity of lightning. He may even be +pardoned if, in the sadness and despondency of his soul, he should +seriously ask himself what, after all, is the use of this confounded +hurry? Is a man's life prolonged because he can get along at the +rate of forty or fifty miles an hour? Is existence to be measured +by locomotion? In that case Chifney, who passed the best part of +his life in the saddle, ought to have been considered as a rival +to Methuselah, and a stoker on the Great Western lives in one week +far longer than the venerable Parr! Is enjoyment multiplied? That, +too, will admit of a serious doubt. In a railway carriage you have +no fair view of the fresh aspect of nature: you dash through the +landscape--supposing that there is one--before its leading features +are impressed upon your mind. There is no time for details, or even +for reflection. You must accommodate your thought to your pace, +otherwise you are left behind, and see nothing whatever for at least +a couple of stations. But for the most part your way lies between +embankments and cuttings, representing either sections of whinstone, +or bare banks of turf, dotted over with brown patches, where the +engine has effected arson. Even furze will not willingly flourish +in such an uncomfortable locality. Then you roar through tunnels, +the passage of which makes your flesh creep--for you cannot divest +yourself of a horrid idea that you may possibly be encountered in +the centre of the darkness by an opposing engine, and be pounded +into paste by the shock of that terrific tilt; or that a keystone of +the arch may give way, and the whole train be buried in the centre +of the excavated mountain. Sensual gratification there is none. +If you do not condescend to the iniquity of carrying sandwiches +along with you--in which case your habiliments are certain to be +grievously defiled with buttered crumbs--you are driven by the +pangs of sheer hunger into the refreshment-room at some station, +and find yourself at the bar of an inferior gin-palace. Very bad +is the pork-pie, for which you are charged an exorbitant ransom. +Call ye this sherry, my masters? If it be so, commend us for the +future to Bucellas. The oranges look well outside, but the moment +you have penetrated the rind, you find that they have been boiled +and are fozy. Do not indulge in the vain hope that you may venture +on a glass of anything hot. Hot enough you will find it with a +vengeance; for, the instant that you receive the rummer, the bell +is sure to ring, and you must either scald your throat by gulping +down two mouthfuls of mahogany-water raised to a temperature which +would melt solder, or consign the prepaid potion to the leisure +of the attendant Hebe. Smoking is strictly prohibited. Even if +you are alone in a carriage, you cannot indulge in that luxury +without rendering yourself liable to a fine; and, if your appetite +should overcome your prudence, and you should venture to set the +law at defiance, before you have inhaled two whiffs, a railway +guard appears as if by magic at the window--for those fellows have +the scent of the vulture, and can race along the foot-boards as +nimbly as a cat along a gutter--and you are ordered to abandon your +Havanna. Under such circumstances, literature is a poor resource. +You read the _Times_ twice over, advertisements and all, and then +sink into a feverish slumber, from which you are awakened by a +demand from a ruffian in blue livery, with a glazed leather belt +across his shoulder, for the exhibition of your ticket. Talk of +the inconvenience of passports abroad! The Continental system is +paradisaical compared with ours. At length, after fingering your +watch with an insane desire to accelerate its movement, you run into +the ribs of something, which resembles the skeleton of a whale--the +train stops--and you know that your journey is at an end. You select +your luggage, after having undergone the scrutiny of a member of the +police force, who evidently thinks that he has seen you before under +circumstances of considerable peculiarity, ensconce yourself in a +cab, and drive off, being favoured at the gate of the station by a +shower of diminutive pamphlets, purporting to be poetical tributes +to the merits of Messrs Moses and Hyams. You have done the distance +in twelve hours, but pleasure you have had none. + +Mr Francis, who is gifted with no more imagination than an ordinary +tortoise, though he asserts the superiority of the hare, begins his +book with an exceedingly stupid dissertation upon the difficulties +of ancient travel. Broken bridges, impassable quagmires, and +ferocious highwaymen constitute leading features in his picture; +and, as you read him, you marvel, between your fits of yawning, what +manner of men our ancestors must have been to brave so many dangers. +Sheer drivel all of it! The old roads were uncommonly good, and the +bridges kept in splendid repair from the time they were built by +the Romans. Who ever heard of a quagmire on a turnpike? As for a +casual encounter with Turpin, Duval, or any other of the minions of +the moon, we are decidedly of opinion that such incidents must have +added much to the excitement of the journey. A stout fellow, well +mounted, usually carried about him both pops and a cutlass, and, if +he was cool and collected, might very easily square accounts with +the most ardent clerk of St Nicholas. Does Mr Francis really suppose +that the author of _Jack Sheppard_ likes railway travelling? Not +he. Dearer to his soul is a prancing prad upon Hounslow Heath than +all the engines that ever whistled along a line. Mount him upon +Black Bess, arm him with a brace of barkers, and in the twinkling +of an eye there would be daylight through the carcase of the Golden +Farmer. Is adventure nothing? Had the road no joys? Are we to +consider the whole universe worthless, except those black dots which +in the maps represent cities? Was nature made in vain, in order that +men might hasten from town to town, at the tail of a shrieking +engine, regardless of all the glorious scenery which intervenes? +To our taste, the old mode of travelling--nay, the oldest--was +infinitely superior to the present sickening system. You rose by +times in the morning; took a substantial breakfast of beef and +ale--none of your miserable slops--and mounted your horse between +your saddle-bags, in time to hear the lark carolling on his earliest +flight to heaven. Your way ran through dingle and thicket, along the +banks of rivers, skirting magnificent parks, rich in the possession +of primeval oaks, under which the deer lay tranquilly and still. +You entered a village, stopped at the door of the public-house, +and cooled your brow in the foam of the wholesome home-brewed. You +dined at mid-day, in some town where the execrable inventions of +Arkwright and Watt were unknown; where you encountered only honest, +healthy, rosy-cheeked Christians, who went regularly once a-week to +church, and identified the devil with the first dissenter--instead +of meeting gangs of hollow-eyed lean mechanics, talking radicalism, +and discussing the fundamental points of the Charter. You moved +through merry England as a man ought to do, who is both content +with his own lot and can enjoy the happiness of others. As you saw +the sun rising, so you saw him set. The clouds reddened in the +west--you heard the sweet carol of the thrush from the coppice, and +lingered to catch the melody. The shades of evening grew deeper. +The glow-worms lit their tiny lanterns on the bank, the owl flitted +past with noiseless wing, the village candles began to appear in the +distance; and as you dismounted at the door of your humble inn, and +surrendered your weary beast to the hands of the careful hostler, +you felt that you were the richer by a day spent in the fresh air +and gladsome sunshine, and made happy by all the sounds and sights +which are dear to the heart of man. + +But this was solitary travelling, and might not suit every one. +Well--if you were a little fellow, deficient in pluck, and sorely +afraid of robbers, you might have company for the asking. At every +large inn on the road there were at least a dozen travellers who, +for the sake of security, agreed to journey in company. Was that no +fun? Have you anything like it in your modern railways? Just compare +your own experiences of a rocket-flight along the Great Western with +Chaucer's delineation of his Canterbury pilgrimage, and you will +see what you have lost. Nice sort of tales you would elicit either +from that beetle-browed Bradford Free-Trader, evidently a dealer in +devil's-dust, who is your _vis-à -vis_ in the railway carriage; or +from that singular specimen of a nun who is ogling you deliberately +on the left! Can you associate the story of Palamon and Arcite--can +you connect anything which is noble, lofty, inspiriting, humane, or +gentle, with a journey made in an express train? If not, so much +the worse for the present times. Doubtless you may hear something +about Thompson or Bright, but we may be excused if we prefer the +mention of the earlier heroes. Also, you may pick up information +touching the price of calicoes, or the value of stocks, or the +amount of exports of cotton twist--and we wish you much good of all +that you get. But, O dear, is that travelling? Would you like to go +from London to Ispahan in such company? How long do you think you +could stand it? And yet this is the improved system of locomotion +for which we are told to be thankful, and in honour of which such +weariful volumes as those of Mr Francis are written. + +"But, mercy on us!" we hear Mr Francis or some of his backers +exclaim--"is it nothing that commercial gentlemen can now make four +trips a-day between Manchester and Liverpool, and do a stroke of +business on each occasion?" We reply, that it would be better for +the said commercial gentlemen, both here and hereafter, if they +would content themselves with a more moderate pursuit of Mammon. +Happiness in this life does not depend upon the amount of sales +effected. The assistant in the London grocer's shop, who daily +ties up a thousand packages of tea and sugar, is not greatly to be +envied beyond his brother in the country, who twists the twine +around fifty. We have an intense respect for work while kept within +wholesome limits; but we cannot regard the man whose sole pursuit +is grubbing after gold as otherwise than an ignominious slave. The +railways are in one sense excellent things. You can get from point +to point, if necessity requires it, much sooner than before, at less +cost, and perhaps with less inconvenience. But there the advantage +ends. There is no pleasure in them; and, compared with former +methods of locomotion, they are decidedly less healthy and less +instructive. We decry them not. We only wish to stop the babbling +of the blockheads who would have us to believe that, until the +steam-engine was invented, this earth was an unendurable waste, a +wilderness of barbarians, and an unfit residence for civilised and +enlightened man. Would the genius either of Shakspeare or Newton +have been greater had they known of the rails? Would the splendour +of the reign of Elizabeth have been heightened had Stephenson then +existed? + +The admiration of Mr Francis for the railway system is so intense +as to be purely ludicrous. He considers every man connected with +its development--whether as engineer, contractor, or director--as a +positive public hero; and this work of his seems intended as a kind +of Iliad, to chronicle their several achievements. Since we last +met, Mr Francis has been hard at work upon his style. Formerly he +went along, pleasantly enough, without any great effort: now he is +not satisfied unless he can eclipse Mr Macaulay. He has read the +_History of England_ to some purpose. Fascinated by the brilliancy +of the sketches which the accomplished historian has drawn of the +statesmen of the age of William of Orange, Mr Francis thinks he +will not do justice to his subject unless he adopts a similar mode +of handling. Unfortunately he has no statesmen to celebrate. But +he can do quite as well. There are surveyors and contractors by +the score, whose portraits in his eyes are just as interesting. +Accordingly, we have a repetition of the old scene in the play. A +voice without is heard calling, "Francis!" To which summons Francis +incontinently replieth, "Anon, anon, sir!" and then--"Enter Poins, +Peto, Gadshill, and the rest." No loftier apparition ever comes +upon the stage; but we are warned that, in surveying these, we look +upon individuals destined in all coming time to occupy a lofty +niche in British history. Thus, to quote at random from the index, +we have the following entries--"Richard Creed ... his services and +character." "Who may this Mr Richard Creed be?" says the unconscious +reader; "we never heard of him before!" "Fool!" quoth Francis, "he +was THE SECRETARY OF THE LONDON AND BIRMINGHAM LINE! 'On his honesty +and integrity,' said Mr Glyn on one occasion emphatically, 'I pin my +faith, and you may pin yours also!'" And he adds, referring to an +occasion which must have been exceedingly gratifying to the feelings +of the recipient--"The testimonial to this gentleman, in 1844, was +worthy the munificence of the givers. It is not often that a cheque +for two thousand one hundred guineas accompanies an expression of +opinion, or that the rich man's praise fructifies into a service of +plate." As we contemplate our unadorned sideboard, we acknowledge +the truth of this remark; still, we hesitate to exalt Mr Creed +to the rank of a hero. Then we light on "Undertakings of Thomas +Brassey.... Anecdote concerning him." Mr Brassey is a contractor, +eminent no doubt; but so, in his own age, must have been the Roman +gentleman who undertook the construction of the Cloaca Maxima, +though his name has unfortunately perished. Then appears "Henry +Booth.... His services." We trust they were properly acknowledged. +Then, "Personal sketches of Mr Locke and Mr Chaplin." We are greatly +edified by the _silhouettes_. "Personal sketch of Samuel Morton +Peto." We shall try, if possible, not to forget him. Much as Mr +Francis has done to perpetuate the memory of these great men, it +is plain that his powers have been cramped with the space of two +thick octavo volumes. In order to make his Iliad perfect, we ought +to have had a catalogue of the chiefs of the navvies. But we must +rest satisfied with the acute remark of Herder, that "the burden +of the song is infinite, but the powers of the human voice are +finite." Mr Francis has done what he can. Creed and Brassey--Brunel +and Locke--Chaplin, Peto, and Vignolles, live within his inspired +volumes; and we beg to congratulate them on account of that assured +immortalisation. They are the salt of the earth. The compilers +of traffic-tables have disappeared--the old standing witnesses +before committees of the House of Commons are dumb--the young +engineering gentlemen, who could do anything they pleased in the +way of levelling mountains, are amusing themselves in California or +elsewhere--even the mighty counsel, the holders of a hundred briefs, +for which, for the most part, they rendered but indifferent service, +are unsung. But the others live. In the British Valhalla they are +assured of an adequate niche, thanks to Mr Francis, who, as Captain +Dangerfield says, is ready to stake his reputation that they are the +only men worthy of record in such an enlightened age as our own. + +No--we are wrong. The man of all others to be deeply venerated is +"George Carr Glyn, Esq., Chairman of the London and North-Western +Railway," to whom these volumes are respectfully dedicated. Of Mr +Glyn's career as a statesman we know absolutely nothing. We are +not even aware to what section of politicians he belongs, so utter +is our ignorance of his fame. As we read the pages of Francis, and +encountered the continual eulogiums heaped upon this gentleman, we +felt remarkably uncomfortable. We could not divest ourselves of the +notion that we had been asleep for some quarter of a century, and +had therefore missed the opportunity of witnessing the appearance +of a new and most brilliant star in the political horizon. About +Mr Glyn, Francis has no manner of doubt. He is not only the most +sagacious, but the most clever personage extant, for every purpose +which can smooth railway difficulties. He is the Ulysses of his +line, and can rap Thersites on the sconce, if that cynical fiend +should insist upon an awkward question. We really and unaffectedly +ask pardon of Mr Glyn, if we mistake him through his eulogist. We +have no other means of knowing him; and therefore he must settle the +correctness of the following sketch with Mr Francis, who appears +as the voluntary artist. If the drawing is to the mind of Mr Glyn, +and if it meets his ideas of ethics, we have nothing in the world +to say against it, having no interest whatever in the line over +which he presides. Hear Francis: "The proper place to see Mr Glyn +is as chairman in that noble room, where, with an earnest multitude +around him, with the representative of every class and caste before +him--with Jew and Gentile ready to carp at and criticise his +statements--he yet moves them at his pleasure, and leads them at +his will. And perhaps the ascendency of one man over many is seldom +_more agreeably seen_ than when, standing before a huge expectant +audience, he enlivens the platitudes of one with some light +epigrammatic touch, answers another with a clear tabular statement, +_or replies to a third with some fallacy so like a fact_ that the +recipient sits contentedly down, about as wise as he was before." +This is, to say the least of it, an equivocal sort of panegyric. We +all know what is implied by the term "fallacies" in railway matters, +and some of us have suffered in consequence. According to our view, +this interchange of fallacies between directors and shareholders is +a custom by no means laudable, or to be held in especial repute. In +pure matters of business, the less frequently fallacies are resorted +to, the better. They are apt, in the long run, to find their way +into the balance-sheet--until, as we have seen in some notorious +instances, the assumed fact of a clear balance, to be applied by way +of dividend, turns out also to be a fallacy. In the case before us, +we are willing to believe that Mr Francis is altogether mistaken, +and that the statements of Mr Glyn, made in his official capacity, +which appeared to the blundering reporter to be fallacies, were in +reality stern truths. But what sort of estimate must we form of Mr +Francis' moral perception, when we find him selecting such a trait +as the subject of especial commendation? He has, however, like +most other great men, large sympathies. He does battle in behalf of +Mr Hudson with considerable energy; though, after all, taking his +conclusions as legitimate, his defence simply resolves itself into +this--that Mr Hudson's conduct was not more blamable than that of +others. So be it. We never joined in the wholesale censure directed +against the quondam railway monarch, because we knew that the whole +tone of the morals of society had been poisoned by the villanous +system engendered by railway speculation; and because we saw that +many of his accusers, if their own conduct had been sifted, might +have been arraigned equally with him at the bar of public opinion. +Therefore we have no desire to interfere with the operations of Mr +Francis, when he appears with his pot of whitewash. Nay, we wish +that the implement were more roomy than it is, and the contents +of less questionable purity--for assuredly he has a large surface +of wall to cover, if he sets himself seriously to the task of +obliterating the traces of past iniquity. + +The reader, however, must not suppose that Mr Francis sees nothing +to condemn, or that he has not at command thunderbolts of wrath to +launch at the heads of offenders. According to him, the most painful +feature of the railway system was the rapacity of the owners of the +soil in driving hard bargains for their land. As this is a charge +which has often been made by men more competent to form an opinion +upon any subject than the gentleman whose work we are now reviewing, +we shall condescend to notice it. Let us premise however, that, in +this matter, the howl is distinctly traceable to the harpies who +inveigled the public to join their nefarious schemes, and to advance +their capital on the assurance of enormous dividends. + +After referring to the negotiations made with landowners by the +promoters of the London and Birmingham line, Mr Francis comments as +follows:-- + + "These things are written with pain, for they display a low + tone of moral feeling in that class which, by virtue of + inheritance, of birth, and blood, should possess a high and + chivalrous sense of honour. The writer is far from wishing to + blame those who honestly opposed the rail. The conscientious + feeling which prompts a man, even in an unwise action, if + mistaken, is at least respectable. There is much to palliate the + honest opposition of the landowner. Scenes and spots which are + replete with associations of great men and great deeds cannot be + pecuniarily paid for. Sites which bear memories more selfish, + yet not less real, have no market value. Homes in which boyhood, + manhood, and age have been passed, carry recollections which + are almost hallowed. Such places cannot be bought and sold; nor + are the various prejudices which cling to the country to be + overlooked. If the nobleman disliked the destruction of his fine + old English park, the yeoman deplored the desecration of his + homestead. The one bore its splendid remembrances, the other its + affectionate recollections. If the peer hallowed the former for + the sake of its royal visits, the farmer cherished the latter + for the sake of those who had tilled the land before him. There + are fancy spots in this our beautiful England which it would + pain the most indifferent to destroy; what then must be the + feelings of those who have lived, and only wish to die there? + + "It is the trafficker in sympathies, it is the dealer in haunts + and homes, at whom the finger of scorn should be pointed. It + is the trader in touching recollections, only to be soothed + by gold, that should be denounced. It is the peer who made + the historic memories of his mansion a plea for replenishing + an impoverished estate; it is the farmer who made the sacred + associations of home an excuse for receiving treble its value; + it is the country gentleman who made his opposition the lever + by which he procured the money from the proprietors' pockets, + who should be shamed. And a double portion of ignominy must rest + upon these, when it is remembered that the money thus immorally + obtained is a constant tax on the pleasures of the artisan, on + the work of the manufacturer, and on the wages of the railway + official." + +Mr Francis, it is evident, is fighting hard for his service of +plate; but we doubt much whether he will get it. He evidently +considers the foregoing passage as a specimen of splendid writing. +He is mistaken. It is nothing better than unadulterated drivel. +Let us try to extricate, if we can, his argument from this heap of +verbiage. + +He admits that associations ought to be respected, but he denies +that they ought to have been paid for. What does he mean by this? By +whom were the said associations to be respected? By the projectors +of the railway companies? Hardly: for those very sympathising +gentlemen were precisely the persons who insisted upon running their +rails right through park and cottage, and who would have prostrated +without remorse the Temple of Jerusalem or the Coliseum, had either +edifice stood in their way. What, then, was the value of that +respect? Precisely the worth of the tear which stood in the eye of +the tender-hearted surveyor. What was the operation of that respect? +Not to spare, but if possible to destroy. + +In a word, Mr Francis maintains that the railway companies ought to +have had their own way in everything, and to have got possession of +the land at the lowest conceivable prices. He thinks that, because +gentlemen whose property was threatened with invasion, whose privacy +it was purposed to destroy, and whose homes were to be rendered +untenantable, demanded a high price from the joint-stock trading +companies, as an equivalent for the surrender of such privileges, +they manifested a "low tone of moral feeling." In fact, so far as +we can gather from his language, he puts no value whatever, in +a pecuniary sense, upon the associations which he admits to be +entitled to respect; and hardly any, if any, upon the score of +amenity. He is anything but an Evelyn. An oak, in his eyes, is +merely a piece of standing timber to be measured, valued, and paid +for according to the current price in the dockyards. The land--no +matter of what kind--is to be estimated according to the amount +of its yearly return, and handed over without farther question +to the enterprising company which demands it. Perhaps Mr Francis +may remember a certain passage in sacred history, narrating the +particulars of a proposed transfer of ground--the parties being +King Ahab on the one hand, and Naboth the Jezreelite on the other? +If not, we recommend it to his attention, assuring him that he will +find it to contain a very important lesson touching the rights of +property. His present argument, if it is worth anything, would go +far to vindicate Ahab. He wanted the other man's vineyard because it +lay contiguous to his house, and he offered to give him in exchange +a better vineyard for it, or an equivalent in money. According to +the view maintained by Mr Francis, Naboth was not justified in +refusing the offer. + +But let us look into this matter a little more closely. On the one +hand there is the owner of a property which has been transmitted +through a long line of ancestors, and which is now to be intersected +and cut up by a projected line of railway. On the other hand there +is the company, which cannot progress a step until they have +possession of the land. Now let us see what is the nature, and what +are the objects of this company. It will not do for Mr Francis +or any one else to babble about public advantages, arising from +more direct communication between cities or towns of importance. +Public advantage may be taken for granted as a result, but upon +pure considerations of public advantage no railway whatever +was undertaken. It is the commercial speculation of a private +company. No man ever took a share in any railway from motives of +disinterested philanthropy. He took them because he expected to make +a profit by them, to hold them as a safe investment, or finally to +sell them for a larger sum than he paid. A condition, and the main +one, of the existence of the railway is the possession of the land, +and at this point proprietors and speculators join issue. The former +do not want the railway. Their wish is to preserve their property +undissevered, and to be spared from the spectacle of engines roaring +by at all hours of the day and night close to the bottom of the +lawn. They very naturally think it a monstrous hardship that the +rights of private property should be invaded by private individuals, +even though acting upon an incorporated semblance, who are simply +seeking their own profit; and they argue that, if the railway was +required for public purposes, the government was the proper party +to have undertaken its construction. But as, under the existing +law, they are liable to be dragged, session after session, into +a ruinous expense to oppose the demands of the capitalists, they +wisely determine to make the best arrangement they can, and at all +events to secure a full remuneration for the sacrifice. So the +Squire, finding that the law is so conceived and modified that any +one individual who is possessed of landed property may be compelled +to surrender it at the demand of a hundred leagued capitalists, +makes a virtue of necessity, and demands a sum corresponding in +some degree to the extent of the extorted sacrifice: whereupon the +promoters of the railway instantly raise such a howl that you would +think somebody was trying to rob _them_, or to take _their_ property +by force--the case being notoriously the reverse. + +Undoubtedly the Squire demands more from the railway company, as +compensation for his land, than he could calculate on receiving +from a neighbouring proprietor at an ordinary sale. And on what +principle, in the majority of cases, does he base his calculation +of value? Strictly upon that adopted by the projectors of the line. +For instance, a prospectus of a railway is put out, announcing that, +after the most careful consideration of district traffic, &c., the +clear dividend, after clearing all expenses, must be fifteen per +cent per annum to the proprietors. That is the statement of the +projectors. Well, then, if such are the prospects of the concern, +is it unreasonable that the land, which must be taken for its +construction, and which is, in fact, to form the railway, should be +valued, less on account of its productiveness, than on account of +its adaptation for the peculiar purpose for which it is required? +Why is an acre in the centre of a town a hundred times more valuable +than an acre in a rural district? Simply because it is required for +building, and the value of the land rises in just correspondence +to the demand. The subsequent failure or diminution of the railway +dividends cannot be made a just article of dittay against the landed +proprietors. Fifteen per cent, or ten, as the case might be, was +the amount of dividend which the promoters undertook to prove, to +the satisfaction of Parliament and the public, as their reasonable +expectation. It was part of their case always, and very often the +most important part; and if they chose so to commit themselves, +they were bound to pay accordingly. Just conceive a body of men +addressing an urban proprietor of land, upon which no houses were +yet built, in the following terms:--"Sir, we perceive you have an +acre and a half of land which would be very convenient for our +purpose. We propose to build a street of houses upon it, and a +hotel, from the rents of which we expect to draw fifteen per cent +yearly. At present your land yields you little or nothing, and +therefore we wish you to dispose of it at its present value. Let us +say that just now it is worth to you five pounds a-year: we shall +buy it from you at five-and-twenty years' purchase!" We leave to the +imagination of the reader the exact terms in which the proprietor +would assuredly reply to the propounders of this reasonable request. +And yet, where is the difference between the cases? The railway +projector tells the landed proprietor that he desires to have his +property for the purpose of securing fifteen per cent for his own +money: the landed proprietor tells him that he may have the property +at a rate corresponding to the advantage which he anticipates. Can +anything be fairer? If Mr Francis understood even the simplest +elements of political economy--an amount of mental comprehension of +which we believe him to be wholly incapable--he ought to know that +demand and supply are the leading conditions of price. If there +is only one salmon in the London market, it will sell, as it has +done before now, at the rate of a-guinea per pound, and it would be +obviously unfair to charge the fishmonger with being actuated by "a +low tone of moral feeling." He coerces no customer: he simply states +his price, and if no one chooses to buy, no one has a right to +complain. Our friend Francis seems to labour under the hallucination +that everything required for a railway ought to be furnished at +prime cost. That the promoters expect fifteen percent is nothing. +Nay, even the free-trading rule of selling in the dearest and +buying in the cheapest market is to be suspended for their behoof. +The seller is to have no option: he must be cheap to them, else +he is a moral monster. If, however, the judicious panegyrist of +Mr Carr Glyn does not carry his principles quite so far, he lays +himself open to the charge of most monstrous inconsistency. During +the prevalence of the railway mania, all commodities requisite for +their construction rose greatly in value. From iron to railway +sleepers--in wood, metal, and everything connected with the making +of the lines--there was an enormous enhancement of price. And +why? On account of the demand. Was the soil on which that iron +and wood was to be laid--the absolute foundation of the railway +itself--to be paid for at a meaner rate? Mr Francis seems to think +so; and we cannot help honouring him for the candid expression of +his opinions, even while we regret the conglomeration of ideas +which gave them birth. We are afraid that he has been talked over +by some of his acute acquaintances. It is the fashion at railway +meetings to attribute all disasters to some other cause than the +mismanagement of the directors; and we daresay that Mr Francis has +been fully indoctrinated with such opinions. It is not agreeable +to meet shareholders with a confession of dwindled dividend. But +when imperious circumstances render such a course inevitable, it +is convenient to be prepared with some "fallacy" which may help +to account for the fact, and to stifle too curious investigation. +The readiest scapegoat is the landowner. All accounting with him +is past and gone, yet he still can be made to bear the blame for a +vast amount of reckless prodigality. He is not there to speak for +himself--he has no connection with the company. Therefore, whenever +failure must be acknowledged, the onus is cast upon him. Railway +orators and railway writers alike conceal the real cause of the +disaster, and combine to cast discredit and aspersion upon the +gentry of England. + +The truth is, that the system of railway management in this country +has been, from the beginning to the end, decidedly bad. Each line, +as it came into existence, was fostered by quackery and falsehood. +The most extravagant representations were used to secure the +adhesion of shareholders, and to procure the public support. Rival +lines fought each other before the committees with a desperation +worthy of the cats of Kilkenny, and enormous expenses and law +charges were incurred at the very commencement. No economy whatever +was used in the engineering, and no check placed on the engineers. +In those days, indeed, an engineer of established reputation was a +kind of demigod, whose doctrine, or, at all events, whose charges, +it was sinful to challenge. But engineers have their ambition. +They like viaducts which will be talked of and admired as splendid +achievements of mechanical skill; and the most virtuous of the tribe +cannot resist the temptation of a tunnel. Such tastes are natural, +but they are fearfully expensive in their indulgence, as the +shareholders know to their cost. The remuneration of these gentlemen +was monstrous. In the course of a few years most of them realised +large fortunes, which is more than can be said for the majority of +the men who paid them. So was it with the contractors. Mr Francis +tells us of many, "who, beginning life as navigators, have become +contractors; who, having saved money, have become 'gangers,' +realised capital and formed contracts, first for thousands, and then +for hundreds of thousands. These are almost a caste by themselves. +They make fortunes, and purchase landed estates. Many a fine +property has passed from some improvident possessor to a railway +labourer; and some of the most beautiful country seats in England +belong to men who trundled the barrow, who delved with the spade, +who smote with the pick-axe, and blasted the rock." With such +statements before us, it is not difficult to see how the money went. +Alas for the shareholders! Poor geese! they little thought how many +were to have a pluck at their pinions. + +Industry, we freely admit, ought to have its reward; but rewards +such as these are beyond the reach of pure industry, as we used +formerly to understand the term. These revelations may, however, +be of use as indicating the direction in which a great part of the +money has gone. We accept them as such, and as illustrations of +that profound economy which was practised by the different boards +of railway direction throughout the kingdom. Mr Francis, in his +laudatory sketches of his favourite heroes, usually takes care +to tell us that they are "sprung from the ranks of the people." +Of course they are. Where else were they to spring from? Does Mr +Francis suppose it to be a popular article of belief that they +emerged from the bowels of a steam-engine? What he means, however, +is plain enough. Judging from the whole tenor of his book, we +take him to be one of those jaundiced persons who, without any +intelligible reason beyond class prejudice, are filled with bile +and rancour against the aristocracy, and who worship at the shrine +of money. He grudges every farthing that the railway companies were +compelled to pay for land; he bows down in reverence before the +princely fortunes of the contractors. Every man to his own taste. We +cannot truthfully assert that we admire the selection of his idols. + +But what is this? We have just lighted upon a passage which compels +us, in spite of ourselves, to suspect that our Francis is, at least, +a bit of a repudiator, and that he would regard with no unfavourable +eye another pluck at the shareholders. Here it is:-- + + "The assertion that land and compensation on the line to + which Mr Robert Stephenson was engineer, which was estimated + at £250,000, amounted to £750,000, appears to call for some + additional remark; _and the question which is now proposed is, + how far the right is with the railroads to demand, and the + passengers to pay an increased fare, in consequence of bargains + which, unjust in principle, ought never to have been allowed?_ + It is now a historic fact that every line in England has cost + more than it ought. That in some--where, too, the directors were + business men--large sums were improperly paid for land, for + compensation, for consequential damages, for fancy prospects, + and other unjust demands under various names. These sums being + immorally obtained, _is it right that the public should pay + the interest on them_? Is it just that the working man should + forego his trifling luxury to meet them? Is it fair that the + artisan should be deprived of his occasional trip, or that the + frequenter of the rail should pay an additional tax?" + +Is it fair that anybody should pay anything at all for travelling +on the railways? That is the question which must finally be +considered, if Mr Francis' preliminary questions are to be +entertained. Because some part of the capital of the shareholders +may have been needlessly expended, they ought in this view to +receive a less amount of interest for the remainder! The silliness +of the above passage is so supreme--the ignorance which it displays +of the first rules of law and equity, regarding property, is so +profound, that it is hardly worth while exposing it. It betrays an +obliquity of intellect of which we had not previously suspected +even Mr Francis. Pray observe the exquisite serenity with which +this important personage opens his case: "The question which is now +proposed!" Proposed--and for whose consideration? Not surely for +that of the Legislature, for the Legislature has already pronounced +judgment. Are the public to take the matter in hand, and decide +on the tables of rates? It would seem so. In that case, we might +indeed calculate upon travelling cheap, provided the rails were not +shut up. But the whole of his remarks are as practically absurd +as they are mischievous in doctrine. What right has Jack, Tom, or +Harry to question the cost of his conveyance? Are there not, in +all conscience, competing lines enough, independent altogether +of Parliamentary regulations, to secure the public against being +overcharged on the railways? On what authority does Mr Francis +assume that a single acre of the land was paid for at an unjust +rate? Mr Robert Stephenson's estimate, we take it, has not the +authority of gospel. No engineer's estimate has. Their margin is +always a large one; and it almost never happens that, when the +works are completed, their actual cost is found to correspond with +the hypothetical calculation. But the truth is, that the value +paid for the land taken by railways is the only item of expense +which cannot be justly challenged. The reason is plain. A railway +company has in the first instance to prove the preamble of its +bill--that is, it must show to the satisfaction of the Legislature +that the construction of the work will be attended with public and +local advantages. The settlement of the money question, regarding +the value of the land, is reserved for the legal tribunals of the +country. To complain of the verdicts given is to impugn the course +of justice, and to cast discredit on the system of jury trial. +Very wisely was it determined that such questions should be so +adjudicated, because no reasonable ground of complaint can be left +to either party. The decision as to the value of the land, and the +amount of compensation which is due, is taken from the hands both +of Ahab and Naboth, and their respective engineers and valuators, +and intrusted to neutral parties, whose duty it is to see fair play +between them. + +We have done with this book. It has greatly disappointed us in every +respect. As a repertory of facts, or as a history of the railways, +it is ill-arranged, meagre, and stupid; and the sketches which it +contains are so absurdly conceived, and so clumsily executed, that +they entirely fail to enliven the general dulness of the volumes. At +the very point which might have been rendered most interesting in +the hands of an able and well-instructed writer--the period of the +great mania--Mr Francis fails. His pen is not adequate to the task +of depicting the rapid occurrences of the day, or the fearful whirl +which then agitated the public mind. In short, he is insufferably +prosy throughout the first four acts of his drama, and makes a +lamentable break-down at the catastrophe. His work will fail to +please any portion of the public, except the heroes whose praises +he has sung. He has given them sugar, indeed; but, after all, it is +a sanded article. We hope they will combine to buy up the edition, +and thus fulfil the prophecy of Shakspeare--"Nay, but hark you, +Francis: for the sugar thou gavest me--'twas a pennyworth, was't +not?" "O Lord, sir! I would it had been two." "I will give thee for +it a thousand pound: ask me when thou wilt, and thou shalt have it." +"Anon, anon, sir!" + + + + +INDEX TO VOL. LXX. + + + Abdallah, a dragoman, sketch of, 448 _et seq._ + + Aborigines, general characteristics of, 416. + + Abrantes, the marquis of, 354. + + Achmet Bascha, a campaign in Taka under, 251 _et seq._ + + Achmet Effendi, sketch of, 453. + + Acre, sketches at, 459. + + Administration, system of, in Russia, 164 ET SEQ. + + Adolphe the clairvoyant, performances of, 70. + + Africa, recent travels in, 251. + + Agricultural depression, amount of, in Ireland, 136 + --reaction of it on other classes of the community, 303. + + Agricultural interest, experienced results of free trade to + the, 133 + --Lord John Russell on its state, 489. + + Agricultural Relief Associations, proceedings and demands of + the, 616. + + Agriculture, Huskisson on protection to, 632 + --state of, &c. in the United States, 699 _et seq._ + --relations of geology to, 703 + --improvements in, in New York, &c., 704 + --its state, &c., in Canada, 707. + + Agriculturists, effects of the depression of the, on the home + trade, 109 + --lowering of the wages of the, 496. + + Albany, Professor Johnston's Lectures in, 700. + + Alchemy, origin of chemistry with, &c., 564. + + Aleppo, town of, 725. + + Alexandretta, town of, 463, 724. + + Alexandria, a voyage from, to Syria, 451. + + Alexis the clairvoyant, 77. + + Ali-Beg, the pass of, 100. + + Amadeus I. of Savoy, 414. + + American lakes, the, 708, 709. + + American slavery, on, 385. + + Americans in California, character, &c. of the, 478. + + Amiens, sketches at, 199. + + ANSAYRII, THE, 719 + --their tenets, numbers, &c., 733. + + Apes, shooting of, at Hassela, 270. + + Arab Scheik, an, 728. + + Arable culture, expense of, 1790, 1803, and 1813, 620. + + Arc de Triomphe de l'Etoile, the, 319. + + Arches, the triumphal, of Paris, 320. + + Arkwright, sir R., origin of the discoveries of, 566. + + Army, the French, feeling in, toward Louis Napoleon, 547. + + ARNABOLL, THE RAID OF, chap. I., 220 + --chap. II., 225 + --chap. III., 230 + --chap. IV., 236. + + Artesian well, the, at Paris, 317. + + Aspre, general d', notices of, during the campaign in Italy, 29 ET + SEQ. PASSIM + --his march on Verona, 442. + + ASSASSINS or Ansayrii, the, 719 + --their tenets, &c., 733. + + Atbara river, the, 257 _et seq. passim_. + + Atoi, a New Zealand chief, 417. + + Auber's opera of Zerline, on, 311. + + Aumale, the duke d', the duke of Orleans on, 555. + + Australia, character of the aborigines of, 416 + --a voyage to California from, 471. + + Austria, sketches of the war between her and Piedmont, 25 _et seq._ + --her intervention in the Papal States in 1830, 432 + --her long possession of Lombardy and acquisition of Venice, 433 + --her administration of the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom, 434. + + AUSTRIAN AIDE-DE-CAMP, the campaigns of an, 25. + + AUTUMN POLITICS, 607. + + + Bacon, Friar, the prophecy of, 562. + + Bagdad, sketches of, 97. + + Ballet-dancing, Fanny Lewald on, 217. + + Baranken, fur called, 172. + + Bassora, a voyage to, 96. + + Bears, the, in the Jardin des Plantes, 314 + --sketches of, in North America, 672, 677. + + Beautiful, Ruskin's theory of the, examined, 333. + + Belgian Revolution, Stahr on the, 544. + + Benares, sketches by Madame Pfeiffer at, 93. + + Berchthold, count, fellow-traveller of Madame Pfeiffer, 87 _et seq. + passim_. + + Bethmeria, village of, in Lebanon, 456. + + Beyrout, sketches at, 454, 721. + + Blane, Louis, account of, by Fanny Lewald, 214. + + Bombay, a voyage from Bassora to, 96. + + BOROUGHS, DISFRANCHISEMENT OF THE, 296. + + Boroughs, apparent secession of the, from the free-trade cause, 299. + + Boulevard of Paris, the, 200. + + Boulogne, difficulties of the invasion of England from, 197 + --sketches in, 198. + + Bradford, present state of manufactures at, 643. + + Brazil, sketches in the interior of, 87. + + Bread-stuffs, the exports of, from the United States, 702. + + Brett, Messrs, the inventors of the submarine telegraph, 567. + + Bribery, parliamentary, on, 303. + + Bright, John, on the reduction of wages, 634. + + British empire, statistics regarding population of the, 1801 to + 1851, 127. + + British shipping, influence of free trade on, 138. + + Browne, sir Thomas, testimony of, concerning witchcraft, 81. + + Buckwheat, use of, in North America, 705. + + Buffon, superintendence of the Jardin des Plantes by, 315. + + Buonaparte, Napoleon, restoration of the Jardin des Plantes by, 315 + --the monument to, in the Hôtel des Invalides, 317 + --measures of, regarding the drama, 324. + + Buonaparte, Napoleon, son of Jerome, 206. + + Burdon, captain, British resident at Kottah, 94. + + Burke, E., proposal by, to gild the dome of St Paul's, 316. + + Burning forest, a, in Brazil, 88. + + + Cagliostro, supposed mesmeric power of, 77. + + Cairo, sketches of life, &c. at, 449. + + California, sketches in, 470 _et seq._ + + Camino theatre, the, at St Petersburg, 168. + + CAMPAIGN IN TAKA, a, 251. + + CAMPAIGNS OF AN AUSTRIAN AIDE-DE-CAMP, the, 25. + + Canadas, sketches by Professor Johnston in the, 706 + --statistics of their progress, 708. + + Cancrin, finance minister of Russia, 166. + + Cannibalism of New Zealand, the, 415. + + Caravan journey to Mossul, a, 98. + + Cards, playing, consumption of, in Russia, 169. + + Carey's Harmony of Interests, &c., extracts from, 640. + + Carlists, fall of the, in Spain, 356. + + Carré, Michel, French translation of Goethe's Faust by, 556. + + Carrousel, the arch of the, 320. + + Cash payments, influence of the suspension of, 619 + --and that of their resumption, 622. + + Catamount, adventure with a, 677. + + Cavalry, the Russian, 165. + + Caxton, Pisistratus, My Novel by, + --Part XI. Book VI. chapters I. to XII. 1 + --Part XII. Book VI. chapters XIII. to XXV. 173 + --Part XIII. Book VII. chapters I. to XV. 275 + --Part XIV. Book VII. chapters XVI. to XXII. 392 + --Part XV. Book VIII. chapters I. to VI. 573 + --Part XVI. Book VIII. chapters VII. to XIV. 681. + + CENSUS AND FREE TRADE, the, 123. + + CHAMPIONS OF THE RAIL, the, 739. + + Charles Albert, King of Sardinia, sketches of, 30 _et seq. passim_ + --his conduct with regard to Lombardy, 437 + --hostilities begun by him, 440 + --sketch of his previous career, 442 + --the campaign under him, 444 + --his last defeat, abdication, and death, 446. + + Chartum, the town of, 251. + + Cheapness, examination of the question of, 638. + + Chemistry, alchemy the parent of, 564. + + Cherbourg, the harbour of, 197. + + China, sketches in, by Madame Pfeiffer, 92. + + Chinese junk, voyage in a, 93. + + Church, Mr Phelps on the, 388. + + Churches, Ruskin on, 327. + + "Claims of Labour," remarks on the, 380. + + Clairvoyance, examination of the claims of, 70 _et seq._ + + Clam, General Count, 33. + + Clergy, influence of free trade on the, 500. + + Clouds, Ruskin on, 330. + + Coal gas, how first discovered, 569. + + Colonisation, two sonnets, 606. + + Column, on the, as the monument, 319. + + "Companions of my solitude," review of, 386. + + Concorde, the Place and Pont de la, in Paris, 202, 203, 312. + + CONGRESS AND THE AGAPEDOME, the, chap. I. 359 + --chap. II. 365 + --chap. III. 370 + --chap. IV. 375. + + Conjurors, Indian, 94. + + "Conquerors of the New World, the," remarks on, 380. + + Conscription, the, in France, 323. + + Constable the painter, the trees of, 332. + + Constantinople, winter aspect of, 723. + + Constituencies, large, the _Times_ on, 301. + + Continent, revolutionary tendencies the, and their causes, 431. + + Cook, Captain, on the cannibalism of New Zealand, 416. + + Corn laws, causes which brought about the repeal of the, 115 + --separation between landlord and tenant induced by their + repeal, 610 + --circumstances which originated them. &c., 621 + --Huskisson in favour of the, 632 + --effects of their repeal on prices, 637. + + Cornu, Madame, letters of Louis Napoleon to, 547. + + Costazza, defeat of Charles Albert at, 445. + + Cotton manufacture, wheat used for starch in the, 497. + + Counties, decrease of population in, 1841 to 1851, 129. + + Country, immigration of population into the towns from the, 307. + + Country districts, first failure of population in the, 125. + + Crime, increase of, under the free-trade system, 139 + --increase of it in the towns, 307. + + Croats, the troops called, 443. + + Crusades, increase of population during the, 124. + + CRYSTAL PALACE, VOLTAIRE IN THE, 142. + + Currency reform, necessity for, 111. + + Currency system, the new, the monetary crisis due to, 132 + --relation of it to the free-trade question, 618. + + Custine, M. de, his book on Russia, 160. + + Cuvier, superintendence of the Jardin des Plantes by, 316. + + + Daun, Marshal, the victory of, at Kolin, 26. + + DAY-DREAMS OF AN EXILE. Longings + --I. To ----, 465 + --II. Where summer is, 467 + --III. Earth is the realm of death, 469 + --IV. Stand by the ocean, _ib._ + --V. Sigh thou not for a happier lot, 604 + --VI. To ----, 605 + --VII. Oft in a night of April, _ib._ + --VIII. Dream on, 606 + --IX. Colonisation, two sonnets, _ib._ + + Defalla, an African chief, 259. + + Delta, The Lament of Selim, by, 103 + --his death, and sketch of his life, &c., 249. + + Dembinski, General, in the Hungarian war, 37. + + Depression, the present, its universality, 630. + + Derby, the Earl of, on protection, 613. + + Digby, Sir Kenelm, supposed acquaintance of, with mesmerism, 77. + + DIGGINGS, A VOICE FROM THE, 470. + + DISFRANCHISEMENT OF THE BOROUGHS, the, 296. + + Disraeli, Mr, new policy proposed by, against free trade, 612 _et + seq. passim_. + + Domestic tyranny, Mr Helps on, 381. + + Doubleday, Mr, on the effects of Peel's currency system, 622. + + DOWNWARD TENDENCIES, 106. + + Drama, sketch of the rise and history of the, in France, 323 + --its present state there, 324. + + "Dream on, ye souls who slumber here," 606. + + Druses, sketches of the, 456. + + Dumas, Alexander, sketches of, by Professor Stahr, and account of + the duke of Orleans by him, 547, 554. + + Dunshunner, A. R., letter to R. M'Corkindale by--"Downward + tendencies," 106. + + Dunstan the monk, on the character of, 513. + + Duprat, M., speech of, on the National Guard, 207. + + Durando, general, defence of Vicenza, by, 35. + + + Earle, Mr, account of cannibalism in New Zealand by, 417. + + "Earth is the realm of death, who reigns," 469. + + East, interest of the, 719. + + Eastlake's Good Samaritan, on, 212. + + Eating-houses in San Francisco, 472. + + Edinburgh Review, the, on protection, 306. + + Education, Mr Helps on, 383. + + Edwin the Fair, review of, 513. + + Egypt, interest of, 719 + --sketches in, 720 _et seq._ + + Electric telegraph, laying down of the, from England to France, 568. + + Elliotson, Dr, Phreno-mesmeric exhibition by, 74. + + Elora, visit to, by Madame Pfeiffer, 95. + + Emigration, increase of, from Great Britain, 113 + --rapidity of it in a declining state, 126 + --amounts of it from Great Britain, 1841 to 1850, 128 _note_ + --amount of it from Ireland, 131 + --influence of free trade on it, 139, 503 + --the _Times_ on the increased, 626 + --encouragements to, to the United States, 710, 711. + + Employers, on the relation between, and employed, 381. + + Employment, influence of, on population, 123. + + England and France, laying down of the submarine electric telegraph + between, 568. + + English travellers, contrast between, and French, 447 + --follies, &c. of, 454 + --how regarded in the East, 461. + + Esperon, Dr, 453. + + "Essays written in intervals of business," remarks on, 380. + + Etoile, the Arc de l', 319. + + Euphrates, the, 727. + + Europe, the advances of population in, 123 + --tendencies to revolution in, 431. + + Eve of the Conquest, Taylor's, remarks on, 520. + + Exhibition of paintings, Fanny Lewald on the, 211. + + Exile, day-dreams of an, see Day-dreams. + + EXPERIMENT, the, 488. + + Exports, increase of, under free trade, 140. + + Eye, alleged power of charm in the, 79. + + + Farmers, loss at present sustaining by the, 492 + --their right to relief, 614, 615. + See also Agriculturists. + + Faucher, M., speech of, in the Legislative Assembly, 207. + + Faust, French translation of, the, 556. + + Finances, influence of free trade on the, 137. + + Financial system, relations of the, to the free-trade question, 618. + + Flour, falling price of, in New York, 703. + + Folkstone, sketches of, 197. + + Foreign shipping, influence of free trade on, 138. + + Foreign trade, state of, &c., 645. + + Forest life, sketches of, in Maine, &c., 670 _et seq._ + + Forests of Brazil, the, 88, 89. + + Fountains of the Place de la Concorde, the, 314. + + France, the protective policy of, 117 + --increase of population in, during the war, 124, 125 + --increased facilities of communication with, 195 + --the revolutions of, and their influences, 431 + --the intervention of, in Rome, 438 + --the importation of flour into Great Britain from, 489 _note_ + --sketches of the present state of, by Professor Stahr, 545 + --belief in, as to Napoleon being still alive, 549 + --laying down of the submarine telegraph from England to, 568. + + FRANCIS' HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH RAILWAY reviewed, 739. + + Frederick the Great, his defeat at Kolin, 26. + + FREE TRADE, THE CENSUS AND, 123. + + Free trade, the experienced results of, 108 _et seq._ + --contrast between its results and those of protection, 116 + --influence of it on trading profits, 137 + --influence of it on shipping, 138 + --its influence on crime, emigration, and poor-rates, 139 + --and on exports and imports, 140 + --general summary of its results, 141 + --general reaction against it, 245 + --declarations from the boroughs against it, 299 + --the experiment of, 488 + --influence of it on the income, &c., of the clergy, 500 + --continued depression under it, 609 + --reaction against it, 613 + --address to the shopkeepers on its effects on them, + 629 _et seq._ + --universality of the depression from it, 630 + --its progress from the time of Huskisson, 632 + --prices of corn under it, 637. + + Free-traders, preponderance of, among the Scottish + representatives, 297 + --present views of, regarding the smaller boroughs, 305. + + Freedom, Protestantism essential to, 447. + + French in Tahiti, the, 90. + + French army, feeling in, toward Louis Napoleon, 546. + + French opera, the, at Paris, 310. + + French railroads, on, 199. + + French theatres, Stahr on the, 557. + + French travellers, contrast between, and English, 447. + + "Friends in council," notice of, 382. + + Funds, danger of the, 112. + + Furs, prices of, in Russia, 171. + + + Gaming and gaming-houses in San Francisco, 473. + + Gand, Dr, 253, 254. + + Garcia, Madame, reception of, in St Petersburg, 168. + + Gas, how first discovered, 569. + + Gaufridy, Louis, the case of, 76. + + Gaza, the Lazaretto at, 453. + + Geology, relations of, to agriculture, 703. + + Georgey, General, 36. + + GERMAN AUTHORESS, London diary of a, 209. + + GERMAN LETTERS FROM PARIS, 543. + + German literature, non-appreciation of, in France, 556. + + German professors, former and present characters of, 543. + + German women, Fanny Lewald on, 216. + + Gibelin, the Count de, case of, 82. + + Gibili tobacco, 462. + + GIBRALTAR, A LEGEND OF, Chap. I. 522 + --Chap. II. 529 + --Chap. III. 532 + --Chap. IV. 535 + --Chap. V. 539. + + GIBRALTAR, A TALE OF THE SIEGE OF, 648. + + Glasgow, increase of population in, 1841 to 1851, 129 + --1811 to 1851, 131 + --immigrations of Irish into, _ib._ + + Glastonbury waters, alleged cure by the, 81. + + Goethe's Faust, French translation of, 556. + + Goito, engagement at, 443. + + Gold diggings in California, sketches in the, 470 _et seq._ + + Gos Rajeb, an African town, 259. + + Grahame, Sir James, position of, and his party, 118 + --his conduct towards his tenantry, 499. + + Grain, importations of, into Ireland, 134 + --fall in the prices of, in Scotland, 491. + + GREAT BRITAIN, TO THE SHOPKEEPERS OF, 629. + + Great Britain, increase of population in, during the war, 124 + --statistics regarding her population, 1801 to 1851, 127 _et seq._ + --immigration of Irish into, 131 + --aversion to revolution among the middle classes of, 297 + --recent foreign works on, 209 + --contrast between, and the Continent, as regards revolution, 431 + --comparative pressure of taxation in, and in the United + States, 715. + + Greatrakes, Valentine, the cures of, 81. + + Greenwich fair, Fanny Lewald on, 212. + + Greg, Mr, on the reduction of wages, 634 + --on the competition to which our manufactures are exposed, 639. + + Gregory XVI., death of, 432. + + Gunpowder, new mode of discharging, 570. + + + H. G. K., Day-dreams of an exile, by, Nos. I. to IV. 465 + --Nos. V. to IX. 604. + + Haddendas, African tribe of the, 261 _et seq. passim_ + --a visit to them, 264. + + Hallengas, the, an Arab tribe, 268, 272. + + Hamilton, Mr, British resident at Indore, 95. + + Harles' "Career in the Commons," notice of, 120. + + Harris' Ethiopia, remarks on, 251. + + Harvey, James, on free trade and its results, 644, 645. + + Hassan, the founder of the Assassins, 733. + + Heke, the New Zealand chief, 427. + + HELPS, MR, THE ESSAYS OF, 379. + + HELSHAM, CAPTAIN, note on the case of, 122. + + Henry V., Stahr on, 557. + + High farming, inefficiency of, to counteract the agricultural + depression, 491. + + Highlands, present state of the, and its causes, 308. + + Home trade, falling off in the, 108 + --effects of free trade on the, 645. + + Horn, Cape, a voyage round, 90. + + Hortense, Queen, mother of Louis Napoleon, 547. + + Hôtel des Invalides, the, 316. + + Human responsibility, relations of mesmerism to, 81. + + Hungary, sketches of the war in, 35 _et seq._ + + Huskisson, effects of the commercial system begun by, 308 + --strictures on his statue at Lloyds', 211 + --his character, and commencement of the free-trade system + under him, 632. + + Hussars, the Hungarian, 38. + + + Imitation, Ruskin on, 331. + + Immorality, increase of, in the towns, 307. + + Imports, increase of, under free trade, 140. + + Income-tax returns, falling off in the, 137. + + India, sketches by Madame Pfeiffer in, 93. + + Indians of Brazil, the, 89. + + Indore, sketches at, 95. + + Industry, relations of, to population, 123. + + Infidelity, influence of, on Continental revolution, 431. + + Interests, harmony of, Carey on, 640. + + Invalides, the Hôtel des, 316. + + Invention, the progress of, 563. + + Ionic column, Ruskin on the, 327. + + Ireland, diminution of the population of, 123 + --decrease of its population since 1846, 128 + --increase of the population in the towns and its diminution in + the counties, 129 + --the alleged influence of the potato failure on the + population, 131, 132 + --diminution of cultivation in, 489, _note_. + --proofs of agricultural depression in, 497. + + Irish, immigration of the, into Great Britain, 131. + + Isaac Comnenus, the drama of, reviewed, 517. + + Ismaylis, the sect of the, 735. + + Italian insurrection, sketches of the, 25 _et seq._ + + Italian opera, the, in St Petersburg, 168. + + ITALIAN REVOLUTION, the, 431. + + Italy, the war between Austria and Sardinia in, 29 _et seq._ + --its disunited state, 434 + --character of the Austrian administration in, _ib. et seq._ + + + Jacobleff, a Russian, anecdotes of, 170. + + Jardin des Plantes, sketches in the, 314. + + Jellachich, baron, operations of, during the Hungarian + insurrection, 39 + --sketch of his career, 444. + + JERRMANN'S PICTURES FROM ST PETERSBURG, review of, 154. + + JEW'S LEGACY, the, a tale of the siege of Gibraltar, chap. I. 648 + --chap. II. 653 + --chap. III. 656 + --chap. IV. 659 + --chap. V. 663. + + JOHNSTON'S NOTES ON NORTH AMERICA, 699. + + Joinville, the prince de, character of, 555. + + Judicial system, the, of the United States, 713. + + Justice, the administration of, in St Petersburg, 162 _et seq._ + + + Kassela, the African mountain of, 270. + + Kent, the scenery of, 196. + + King, Mr, report by, on the gold diggings of California, 477. + + Kiss, general, 43. + + Kleber, general, skeleton of the murderer of, 316. + + Kleinmichael, general, reconstruction of the winter palace at St + Petersburg by, 159. + + Knaresborough election, the, 245, 246. + + Kohl, misstatements of, regarding Russia, 171. + + Kolin, an incident of the battle of, 26. + + Kurdistan, journey of madame Pfeiffer through, 99. + + + Labourers, the agricultural, loss which will fall on, from free + trade, 492. + + Labouring classes, on the condition of the dwellings of the, 381. + + LAMENT OF SELIM, the, 103. + + Lanarkshire, increase of population in, 1841 to 1851, 129. + + Landlord and tenant, separation induced by free trade between, 610. + + Landlords, proportion of loss from free trade to be sustained by + the, 492 + --their conduct as regards their tenantry, 612. + + Latachia, sketches at, 462, 724. + + Latour's dragoons, Austrian regiment called, 26. + + Law, proposed change in the mode of administering, 386, 387. + + Lazaretto at Gaza, the, 453. + + Lebanon, sketches in, 455. + + LEGEND OF GIBRALTAR, a, chap. I. 522 + --chap. II. 529 + --chap. III. 532 + --chap. IV. 535 + --chap. V. 539. + + Legislative assembly, the present, of France, 202 + --sketch of a debate in it, 205. + + Legislative interference, on, as applied to sanitary measures, 381. + + Leicester, depressed state of, 644. + + Leitzendorf, colonel, death of, 31. + + LEVANTINE RAMBLES, 447. + + LEWALD'S DIARY IN ENGLAND, review of, 209. + + Liberal policy, experienced results of, in the Peninsula, 349. + + Liberals, preponderance of the, in Scotland, 297. + + Liberals, the Portuguese, division among the, &c., 352. + + LIFE AMONG THE LOGGERS, 669. + + Limerick Examiner, the, on emigration from Ireland, 134. + + Liszt the pianist, reception of, at St Petersburg, 169. + + Littledale, Messrs, on the manufacturing depression, 609. + + Lodging-house, a, in San Francisco, 473. + + LOGGERS, LIFE AMONG THE, 669. + + Logrolling, origin of the phrase, 712. + + Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom, the Austrian administration of the, 435. + + Lombardy, the insurrection of, against Austria, 26 _et seq._, 433 + --the government of it by Austria, 435. + + London, the shopkeepers of, effects of free trade on, 111 + --increase of population in, 1841 to 1851, 129. + + LONDON DIARY OF A GERMAN AUTHORESS, the, 209. + + Louis XIII., foundation of the Jardin des Plantes by, 315. + + Louis Napoleon, improvement of the passport system by, 196 + --Stahr's picture of him, 545 + --anecdotes, &c. of him, 547 + --causes of his election, 548. + + Louis Philippe, improvement of the Boulevard of Paris under him, 202 + --the final act of his dethronement, 204 + --Stahr's sketches, &c. of him, 548 _et seq. passim_, 550 _et seq._ + + Luxor, the obelisk of, at Paris, 312. + + + M'Corkindale, R., letter from A. R. Dunshunner to + --Downward tendencies, 106. + + Madeleine, church of the, at Paris, 312. + + Magic, the secrets of, 564. + + Maine, sketches among the wood-cutters of, 669 _et seq._ + + Maize, extensive use of, in the United States, 705. + + Malthus, the views of, on population, 123. + + Mammiani, the Roman demagogue, 437, 438. + + Mantua, the Austrian possession of, 433. + + Manufactures, British, their rise during the war, 633 + --their state under free trade, 643. + + Manufacturers, depressed state of the, 108. + + Manufacturing districts, distress and depression in the, 305, 609. + + Manufacturing towns, check to the population in the, 130, 131. + + Maria, Donna, position of, in Portugal, 349. + + Maronites, sketches of the, 455. + + Martineau, Miss, testimony of, regarding mesmerism, 75 + --atheistical work by her, 76, _note_. + + MASTER THIEF, the, a Norse popular tale, 595. + + Mazarin, encouragement of the drama by, in France, 323. + + Mazzini, proceedings of, in Rome, 438. + + Mechanics, the poetry of, 567. + + Mechi, Mr, his high farming system, 491. + + Medusa's head, the, in connection with mesmerism, 77. + + Mehmet Pasha of Acre, sketches of, 459 _et seq._ + + Mesmer, the alleged powers, &c. of, 82. + + MESMERISM, WHAT IS IT? 70 + --postscript, 83. + + Metallic tractors, cure by, 79. + + Metropolitan representatives, character of the, 300 + --the _Times_ on them, 301. + + Middle classes, their aversion to revolution in Great Britain, 297. + + Miguel, Don, Whig policy toward, and its results, 349 + --his dethronement, 350 + --party still adhering to him, 351 _et seq. passim_. + + Miguelites, strength of the party of, in Portugal, 352. + + Milan, the duchy of, the Austrian possession of, 433. + + Milan, city of. Radetsky's retreat from it, 440 + --its aspect after the suppression of the insurrection, 35. + + Military service, term of, in Russia, 155. + + Millais, painting by, 212. + + Milton on emigration, 503. + + Ministry, uncertain position of the, 110. + + Mitkenab, visit to village of, 264. + + "Modern Painters," review of, 326. + + MODERN STATE TRIALS + --Note on Part III. + --Captain Helsham + --Duelling 122. + + Mohammed Din, an Arab chief, 261 _et seq. passim_. + + MOIR, THE LATE D. M., 249. + + Molesworth, Mr, account of cannibalism in New Zealand, by, 418. + + Monetary Crisis, the, its alleged influence on population, 132. + + Montanara, battle of, 33. + + Montemolin, the Count de, 356. + + Montpensier, the duke de + --his character, 555. + + Monuments of London, Fanny Lewald on the, 210. + + Moor, action at, in the Hungarian war, 37. + + Moose-deer, adventure with a, 679. + + Morgan, lady, sketch of, by Lewald, 218. + + Morroqueimado, Swiss settlement of, in Brazil, 88. + + Mossul, a caravan journey to, 98. + + Mosul, town of, 729. + + Mulgrave, the earl of, defeat of, at Scarborough, 245. + + Mulot, M., the engineer of the great Artesian well at Paris, 317. + + Muntz, Mr, on the reduction of wages by free trade, 634. + + Music, passion for, in St Petersburg, 168. + + MY NOVEL; or, Varieties in English Life, by Pisistratus Caxton. + Book VI., + --Initial Chapter, 1. + --chap. ii. 3 + --chap. iii. 5 + --chap. iv. 6 + --chap. v. 7 + --chap. vi. 10 + --chap. vii. 11 + --chap. viii. 13 + --chap. ix. 15 + --chap. x. 17 + --chap. xi. 20 + --chap. xii. 21 + --chap. xiii. 173 + --chap. xiv. 175 + --chap. xv. 178 + --chap. xvi. _ib._ + --chap. xvii. 180 + --chap. xviii. _ib._ + --chap. xix. 184 + --chap. xx. 185 + --chap. xxi. 187 + --chap. xxii. 189 + --chap. xxiii. 190 + --chap. xxiv. 192 + --chap. xxv. 194 + --Book VII., Initial Chapter, 275 + --chap. ii. 277 + --chap. iii. _ib._ + --chap. iv. 278 + --chap. v. 280 + --chap. vi. 281 + --chap. vii. _ib._ + --chap. viii. 283 + --chap. ix. 285 + --chap. x. 286 + --chap. xi. 288 + --chap. xii. 289 + --chap. xiii. 290 + --chap. xiv. 291 + --chap. xv. 292 + --chap. xvi. 392 + --chap. xvii. 397 + --chap. xviii. 399 + --chap. xix. 400 + --chap. xx. 403 + --chap. xxi. 407 + --chap. xxii. 412 + --Book VIII., Initial Chapter, the abuse of intellect, 573 + --chap. ii. 575 + --chap. iii. 580 + --chap. iv. 585 + --chap. v. 590 + --chap. vi. 594 + --chap. vii. 681 + --chap. viii. 682 + --chap. ix. 687 + --chap. x. 689 + --chap. xi. 691 + --chap. xii. 693 + --chap. xiii. 695 + --chap. xiv. 697. + + + Naples, the revolt and revolution in, 433. + + Napoleon column, the, in the Place Vendôme, 318. + + Narvaez, the downfall of, in Spain, 356. + + National debt, recent increase of the, 138. + + National gallery, the British, buildings of the, 210. + + National guard, debate on the, in the French Assembly, 205 + --their conduct during the Revolution of 1848, 550, 551. + + National wealth, origin of, from the soil, 107. + + NEALE'S EIGHT YEARS IN SYRIA, &c. reviewed, 447. + + Nelson column, the, 210. + + Nemours, the duke de, character of, 555. + + NERVAL'S SCENES DE LA VIE ORIENTALE, reviewed, 447. + + Neuilly, conduct of the National guard of, in 1848, 550 + --the destruction of the chateau of, 551 + --its present state, 552. + + New Brunswick, sketches in, 709. + + New York, diminishing price of flour at, 703 + --agricultural improvement in, 704. + + New Zealand Company, the, 422. + + New Zealand Pahs, sketches of, 420. + + NEW ZEALANDERS, the, 414. + + Nicholas, the emperor, character of, 154 _et seq._ + + Nile, expedition up the, 251 _et seq._ + + Nineveh, the excavations at, &c., 729. + + NORTH AMERICA, JOHNSTON'S NOTES ON, 699. + + North America, wood-cutting life in, 669 _et seq._ + + Nottingham, depressed state of, 644. + + Novara, defeat of Charles Albert at, 446. + + Novo Friburgo, Swiss colony of, in Brazil, 88. + + Nugent, general, 443. + + + Obelisk of Luxor, the, at Paris, 312. + + "Oft in a night of April," 605. + + Oligarchies of medieval Italy, the, 435. + + Opera, the, at Paris, 310. + + Orleans, the late duke of, anecdotes and sketches of, 547, _et + seq. passim_, 554, 555. + + Orleans, the duchess of, conduct of, on the 24th February, 204. + + Orleans dynasty, Stahr on the, 549. + + Otaki, New Zealand village of, 430. + + Ottinger, general, sketches of, 36, 37. + + Oudinot, general, the siege of Rome by, 438. + + Ouroomia, American missionary settlement at, 101. + + + Palestine, interest of, 719. + + Palmerston, lord, on the state of Spain, 355. + + Papal states, the revolution of 1848 in the, 437. + + PARIS IN 1851, 195 + --the journey, &c., 196 _et seq._ + --the Boulevard, 200 + --the Legislative Assembly, 202 + --the Debate, 205 + --the Opera, 310 + --the Obelisk of Luxor, 312 + --the Jardin des Plantes, 314 + --the Hôtel des Invalides, 316 + --the Artesian well, 317 + --the Napoleon column, 318 + --the Arc de l'Etoile, 319 + --the Arc du Carrousel, 320 + --suicides, 321 + --the drama, 323. + + PARIS, GERMAN LETTERS FROM, 543. + + Paris in 1815, picture of, 201. + + Parochial clergy and schoolmasters, influence of free trade on + the, 501. + + Pasquali, the baron di, a Sicilian renegade, 253, 254. + + Passport system, improvement in the, 195. + + Pauperism, increase of, under free trade, 139. + + PEACEFUL LIEUTENANT AND HIS FRIENDS, the, a three hours' platonic + gossip. Hour Third--containing sundry passages in the + lieutenant's own history, and the strange legend of his + supposed grandfather, 45. + + Peel, Sir R. effects of his free-trade system, 115 + --insidious character of his free-trade advances, 635 + --on the anticipated price of corn under free trade, 636 + --effects of his measures, 640. + + Peel, the present Sir R., his letter to his tenantry, 106. + + Peninsula, experienced results of the Liberal policy in the, 349. + + Perowsky, a Russian minister, 163. + + Persia, sketches by madame Pfeiffer in, 97. + + Peschiera, the capture of, by the Piedmontese, 444. + + Peter the Great, the first residence of, at St Petersburg, 171. + + Peterwardein, a captivity in, 39. + + Petropolis, German colony of, in Brazil, 87. + + PFEIFFER, MADAME, WANDERINGS ROUND THE WORLD, by, reviewed, 86. + + Philip van Artevelde, review of, 505. + + Phreno-mesmerism, exhibitions of, 74. + + Picnic, an Eastern, 725. + + Picture gallery of Versailles, Stahr on the, 552. + + PICTURES FROM ST PETERSBURG, 154. + + PIMODAN, THE COUNT DE, CAMPAIGNS OF, reviewed, 25. + + Pine, the, in America, 671. + + Pius IX., the accession of, and review of his proceedings, 432 + _et seq._ + + Place de la Concorde, the, at Paris, 202. + + Place Vendôme, the Napoleon column in the, 318. + + Playing cards, consumption of, in Russia, 169. + + Poetry: The Lament of Selim, by Delta, 103 + --Day-dreams of an exile, by H. G. K., 465, 604. + + Police, abuses of the, in St Petersburg, 162 _et seq._ + + Political agitation, evils connected with, 296. + + Pomaree, queen, sketches of, 91. + + Poor-rates, influence of free trade on, 139. + + Popery, influence of, on Continental Revolution, 431. + + Population, the views of Malthus on, 123 + --the influence of employment on it, _ib._ + --its decrease in Great Britain since 1845, 128 + --immigration of it from the country into the towns, 307. + + Porter, Mr, on surplus population, 625. + + Portugal, the ancient constitution of, 351. + + PORTUGUESE POLITICS, 349. + + Potato failure, influence of the, on population, 131 + --the free-traders on it, 641. + + Poussin, Ruskin on, 328. + + Pre-Raphaelitism, Lewald on, 212. + + Production, true policy with regard to, 107. + + Productive classes, all classes dependent on the, 631. + + Property-tax returns, falling off in the, 137. + + Prosperity, anticipations regarding, and their disappointment, 609. + + Prostitution, Mr Helps on, 389. + + Protection, prosperity enjoyed under, 115. + + Protestantism, necessity of, to freedom, 447. + + Purchas, account of cannibalism in Africa by, 416. + + Puris of Brazil, the, 89. + + Pusey, Mr, his letters on protection, &c., 119. + + + Radetsky, marshal, sketch of the character of, 31 + --sketches of, during the campaign in Italy, 26, _et seq. passim_ + --his first proclamation on the outbreak of the insurrection, 439 + --sketch of his previous career, 441. + + RAID OF ARNABOLL, the, chap. i. 220 + --chap. ii. 225 + --chap. iii. 230 + --chap. iv. 236. + + RAIL, THE CHAMPIONS OF THE, 739. + + Railroads, French and English, 199. + + Railway travelling, on, 196. + + Rangihaeata, a New Zealand chief, 425. + + Rauparaha, a New Zealand chief, 425. + + Ravandus, town of, 100. + + Recreation, Mr Helps on, 384. + + Reform Bill, agitation connected the, 296. + + Reform Bill, the proposed new, 297 _et seq._ + + Rent, reduction of, its inefficiency to meet the agricultural + crisis, 492, 611, 612. + + Rents, alleged rises of, 494. + + Responsibility, application of the principle of, in Russia, 164. + + Resumption of cash payments, influence of, 622. + + Revenue, influence of free trade on the, 137. + + Revolution, aversion to, in Great Britain, 297. + + Revolutionary war, increase of population during the, 124. + + Rhodes, sketch of, 723. + + Richelieu, encouragement of the drama by, in France, 323. + + Rivoli, defeat of Charles Albert at, 444. + + Roman states, the revolt of the, in 1830, 432 + --and in 1848, 437. + + Rome, rise of, after the battle of Cannæ, 124 + --progress of the decline of population in, 125 + --the siege of, by Oudinot, 438. + + Rosicrucians, supposed acquaintance of the, with mesmerism, 77. + + Rossi, the papal minister, murder of, 437. + + Rossi, the countess, 168, 169. + + Royal Academy's exhibition, Fanny Lewald on the, 211. + + Rubini, reception of, in St Petersburg, 168. + + RUSKIN, THE WORKS OF, 326. + + Russell, Lord John, his proposed new Reform Bill, 297 _et seq._ + --on the state of the agricultural interest, 489. + + Russia, sketches of government, society, &c. in, 154 _et seq._ + --extravagance of the higher classes, 170. + + Russians, cheerfulness of the, 166. + + + Sabbath, a, in California, 472. + + St Denis, the arch of, 320. + + St Jean d' Acre, sketches in, 459. + + St Lawrence river, the, 708. + + St Martin, the arch of, 320. + + St Petersburg, pictures from, 154. + + Saldanha, the marquis, his insurrection in Portugal and its + results, 349 + --his present position, 357. + + Salis, general, death of, 30. + + San Francisco, sketches in, 472 _et seq._ + + Sanitary measures, on government interference in, 381. + + Sanitary regulations, Mr Helps on, 383. + + Sardinia and Austria, sketches of the war between, 25 _et seq._, + 437 _et seq._ + + Savoy, sketch of the princes of, 441. + + Scanderoon, the town of, 463. + + SCARBOROUGH ELECTION, the, 245 + --the _Times_ on it, 303. + + Scheremetiew, count, anecdote of, 156. + + Schoolmasters, influence of free trade on the, 501. + + Science, the superstitions of, 565. + + Scotland, increase of population in, 1841 to 1851, 129 + --preponderance of the liberal representatives in, 297 + --fall in the prices of grain as shown by the Fiars, 491 + --alleged rise of rents, 494. + + Scottish clergy and schoolmasters, influence of free trade on + the incomes of, 500 _et seq._ + + Scribe, M., the words of Zerline by, 311. + + Scully, Mr, his motion regarding pauperism in Ireland, 136. + + SELIM'S LAMENT, by Delta, 103. + + Sena, defeat of Charles Albert at, 444. + + Serfdom, provisions for the abolition of, in Russia, 155 + --sketches of it there, 156 _et seq._ + + Servants and employers, on the relations between, 381. + + SHAW'S GOLDEN DREAMS AND WAKING REALITIES, review of, 470. + + Shelley's Cenci, remarks on, 505. + + Shipping, influence of free trade on, 138. + + SHOPKEEPERS OF GREAT BRITAIN, to the, 629. + + Shopkeepers, effects of free trade on the, 111 + --serfdom of the, in St Petersburg, 156. + + "Sigh thou not for a happier lot," 604. + + Slavery, Mr Helps on, 384 + --different circumstances in which originated, 385. + + Small boroughs, the _Times_ on the, 246, 300. + + Small trades, effects of the suppression of the, 308. + + Snake-charming in India, 94. + + Snakes, accounts of, 271. + + Soil, true origin of national wealth with the, 107. + + Soliman Effendi, a renegade Sicilian, 253, 254. + + Sontag, madame, at St Petersburg, 168, 169. + + Spain, results of liberal policy in, 354 + --its state compared with that of Portugal, _ib._ + + Spiral column, Ruskin on the, 327. + + SPRINGER'S FOREST LIFE reviewed, 669. + + Stage, state of the, in St Petersburg, 167. + + STAHR'S TWO MONTHS IN PARIS, review of, 543 + --his "A Year in Italy," remarks on, 544. + + "Stand by the Ocean," 469. + + Stanley, lord, see Derby, earl of. + + Starch, quantity of, used in the cotton manufacture, 497. + + Stockton, (California,) sketch of, 474. + + Strada, account of a case of magnetic communication by, 78. + + Strang, Dr, his statistics regarding the population of Glasgow, 130. + + Streams, Ruskin on, 330. + + SUBMARINE TELEGRAPH, the, 562. + + Suffolk Agricultural Association, resolutions of the, 616. + + Suicide, prevalence and character of, in Paris, 321. + + Sunday in London, Lewald on, 213. + + Superstitions of science, the, 565. + + Suspension of cash payments, influence of the, 619. + + Swiss, defence of Vicenza by the, 35. + + Syria, sketches in, 453. + + + Tabriz, sketches by madame Pfeiffer at, 101. + + Tahiti, sketches at, 90. + + TAKA, A CAMPAIGN IN, 251. + + Taxation, impossibility of reduction of, adequate to meet the + agricultural depression, 113 + --influence of, on industry, 306 + --the question of, in relation to that of free trade, 633 + --comparative pressure of, in the United States and Great Britain, + 715. + + TAYLOR, HENRY, THE DRAMAS OF, 505. + + TELEGRAPH, THE SUBMARINE, 562. + + Tenantry, separation between, and their landlords, induced by free + trade, 610 + --their losses by free trade, 611. + + Thames, the approach to London by the, 210. + + Theatre, state of the, in Russia, 167. + + Theatres, the London, Fanny Lewald on, 217 + --statistics of those of Paris, 323. + + Theoretic faculty, Ruskin on the, 334. + + Thiennes, the count de, heroism of, 26. + + Tiger hunt in India, a, 95. + + Times newspaper, the, on the results of free trade, 133 + --on the depopulation of Ireland, 134 + --on the Scarborough election, 246 + --on the small boroughs, 300 + --on the metropolitan representatives, 301 + --account of the laying down of the submarine telegraph from, 568 + --on the increased emigration and its results, 626. + + Tirel's La République, &c., remarks on, 549. + + To ----, by H. G. K., 465, 605 + + Towns, increase of the, at the expense of the country, 125 + --increase of population in the, 1841 to 1851, 129 + --reaction of the agricultural depression on the, 303 + --immigration of population from the country into them, 307 + --state of their population, _ib._ + --ventilation, drainage, &c. of them, 381. + + Trade circulars, general tone of the, 108. + + Traders, influence of free trade on the, 137. + + Trafalgar Square fountains, the, 314. + + Travelling, modern universality of, 86 + --increased facilities and abundance of it, 195. + + Tucket, Mr, account of the massacre of Wairau by, 425. + + + United States, protective policy of the, 117 + --increase in their population, 123 + --on slavery in the, 385 + --increased cultivation of grain in the, 489 _note_ + --sketches of agriculture in the, 699 _et seq._ + --Johnston on their wheat producing powers, 701 + --the exports of bread-stuffs from, 702 + --the prices of these falling in, 703 + --extensive use of maize and buckwheat in, 705 + --encouragements to emigration to, 710, 711 + --their judicial system, 713 + --taxation, 715. + + Upper Canada, progress of, 708. + + + Vaccination in New Zealand, 430. + + Van, lake, 732. + + Van Diemen's land, the aborigines of, 416. + + Vendôme column, the, 318. + + Venetian territories, the insurrection in the, 26 _et seq._ + --how acquired by Austria, 433 + --her administration of them, 435, 436. + + Venice, the revolt at, 27. + + Ventilation, Mr Helps on the importance of, 383. + + Vernet the actor, anecdote of, 161. + + Verona, the battle of, 30 _et seq._ + --capture of it by general d'Aspre, 442. + + Versailles, Stahr on the galleries of, 552. + + Vicenza, the capture of, by Radetsky, 34, 35, 445. + + VOICE FROM THE DIGGINGS, A, 470. + + VOLTAIRE IN THE CRYSTAL PALACE, 142. + + + Wages, lowering of, among the agricultural classes, 496 + --the general reduction of them the object of the + free-traders, 634. + + Wairau, the massacre of, 425. + + Walmsley, sir J., his reception in Scotland, 298. + + WALPOLE'S ANSAYRII, reviewed, 719. + + WANDERINGS ROUND THE WORLD, 86. + + Wanganui, treaty of, with the New Zealand chiefs, 423. + + Warburton's "Crescent and Cross," extract from, 721 _note_. + + Wellington statues, Fanny Lewald on the, 211. + + WERNE, F. A., A CAMPAIGN IN TAKA by, reviewed, 251. + + Wheat, alleged increased consumption of, 496 + --its price under free trade, 636 + --powers of producing, in the United States, 701. + + "Where summer is, there 'tis fresh and fair," 467. + + Wilson, James, on the corn laws, 636. + + Windischgratz, sketches of the campaign in Hungary under, 36. + + Winter palace, destruction and rebuilding of the, in St + Petersburg, 158. + + Wolves, sketches of, in America, 675. + + Women, English and German, Fanny Lewald on, 216. + + Woodcutters' life in Maine, sketches of, 669 _et seq._ + + Working-classes, effects of free trade on the, 113. + + WORLD, WANDERINGS ROUND THE, 86. + + + York column, the, 211. + + Young, G. F., return of, for Scarborough, 245. + + + Zerline, the opera of, 311. + + Zichy, count, Austrian commandant at Venice, 28. + + Zichy, lieutenant count, death of, 33. + + +_Printed by William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh._ + + * * * * * + +Transcriber's note: + +Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. +Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained as +printed (example: Sheffield and Sheffeld). + +Mismatched quotes are not fixed if it's not sufficiently clear where +the missing quote should be placed. + +The cover for the eBook version of this book was created by the +transcriber and is placed in the public domain. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol. +70, No. 434, December, 1851, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLACKWOOD'S MAGAZINE, DEC 1851 *** + +***** This file should be named 44491-0.txt or 44491-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/4/4/9/44491/ + +Produced by Brendan OConnor, Jonathan Ingram and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Library of Early Journals.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol. 70, No. 434, December, 1851 + +Author: Various + +Release Date: December 24, 2013 [EBook #44491] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLACKWOOD'S MAGAZINE, DEC 1851 *** + + + + +Produced by Brendan OConnor, Jonathan Ingram and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Library of Early Journals.) + + + + + +Transcriber's note: + +Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). + +Small capital text has been replaced with all capitals. + +The equal sign before "u" in "Alam=ut" refers to a macron +above the "u". + + * * * * * + + + + + BLACKWOOD'S + EDINBURGH MAGAZINE. + + No. CCCCXXXIV. DECEMBER, 1851. VOL. LXX. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + TO THE SHOPKEEPERS OF GREAT BRITAIN, 629 + + THE JEW'S LEGACY. A TALE OF THE SIEGE OF GIBRALTAR, 648 + + LIFE AMONGST THE LOGGERS, 669 + + MY NOVEL; OR, VARIETIES IN ENGLISH LIFE. PART XVI., 681 + + JOHNSTON'S NOTES ON NORTH AMERICA, 699 + + THE ANSAYRII, 719 + + THE CHAMPIONS OF THE RAIL, 739 + + INDEX, 751 + + + EDINBURGH: + WILLIAM BLACKWOOD & SONS, 45 GEORGE STREET; + AND 37 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON. + + _To whom all communications (post paid) must be addressed._ + + SOLD BY ALL THE BOOKSELLERS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM. + + PRINTED BY WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS, EDINBURGH. + + + + + BLACKWOOD'S + EDINBURGH MAGAZINE. + + No. CCCCXXXIV. DECEMBER, 1851. VOL. LXX. + + + + +TO THE SHOPKEEPERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. + + +GENTLEMEN,--As it is customary for most men about this season of +the year, when accounts are balanced and squared, to take a serious +survey of the posture of their affairs, and to examine into their +business prospects, perhaps you may not consider a few observations, +touching the welfare and position of that important class of the +community to which you belong, either impertinent or ill-timed. You +are aware that, for the last year or two, Her Majesty's Ministers +have been in the habit of opening Parliament with a congratulatory +assurance of the continued, and even augmented, prosperity of the +country. The reason why such statements were made, altogether +irrespective of their truth or falsehood, is obvious enough. In a +political point of view, they were necessary for the vindication +of the measures which Government either originated or adopted. To +have admitted that the country was not prospering under the new +commercial system, would have been considered by the public as +tantamount to an acknowledgment that the policy which dictated +those measures was vicious; and that the Whig ministry, if not +deficient in duty, had at least erred sorely in judgment. In private +life, we rarely meet with that degree of candour which amounts to +an unequivocal admission of error in point of judgment--in public +life, such an admission is altogether unknown. Failure may indeed +be acknowledged when the fact becomes too evident to admit of +further denial; but the causes of that failure are never attributed +to their real source. Not only the purity of the motive, but the +wisdom of the conception, is vindicated to the last. In this case, +however, failure is totally denied. So far from being put upon their +defence, the Whigs maintain that they have achieved a triumph. Their +averment is, that, with the exception of the agricultural producers, +among whom they allow that a certain degree of distress prevails, +all other classes of the community are prosperous. Even for the +agriculturists there is balm in store. The prosperity of the other +classes is to react upon them; so that, within some indefinite +period of time, we shall all find ourselves in circumstances of ease +and comfort which have hitherto been unknown in our land. + +With you the benefit is represented, not as prospective, but as +present. The agriculturist may have to wait a little longer, but you +are already provided for. Your cake is baked; and we are assured +that you are eating it in thankfulness and joy. If this is really +the case, there is no more to be said on the subject. If the harvest +of Free Trade has actually yielded you such a large measure of +profit, it would be madness in anyone to decry that line of policy +in your hearing. You constitute the class which, from its peculiar +position and vocation, is better qualified than any other to judge +accurately, and from experience, of the degree of prosperity which +is actually known in the country. The verdict of twelve shopkeepers, +given after an inspection of their books for an average of years, +ought to be of more weight, in settling the merits of any disputed +commercial question, than the random assurances of a dozen cabinet +ministers whose reputation and official existence are bound up in +the vindication of their own policy. The reason of this is perfectly +obvious. Your profit is simply a commission upon your sales. You +do not produce or manufacture articles of consumption--you simply +retail them. Your profit depends upon the briskness of trade, that +is, the amount of demand. It rises or falls according to the general +circumstances of your customers. In good times you make large +profits; in bad times those profits decrease. One while your stock +sells off rapidly; at another, it remains upon your hands. Your +interest is inseparable from that of the great body of consumers by +whom you live. You have little or nothing to do with the foreign +trade; for, whatever be the nature, of the articles in which you +deal, you sell them in the home market. You have, therefore, the +best opportunity of estimating the real condition of your customers. +The state of your own books, and the comparative degree of ease or +difficulty which you experience in the collection of your accounts, +furnish you with a sure index of the purchasing power of the +community. Compared with this criterion, which is common to every +man among you, tables of exports and imports, statements of bank +bullion, and such like artificial implements as have been invented +by the political impostors and economists, are absolutely worthless. +When our sapient Chancellor of the Exchequer, or Mr Labouchere, +tell you, with an air of unbounded triumph, that the exportation +of calicoes to China or Peru has mightily increased--and therefore +argue, without condescending to inquire whether such exportation +has been attended with any profit at all to the manufacturers, that +the prosperity of the country is advancing at a railway pace--you +may indeed be gratified by the statistical information, but you +will fail to discover in what way the public are benefited thereby. +It is pleasant to know that there are fifteen millions of gold in +the vaults of the Bank of England, and that, so long as this hoard +remains undiminished, there is little chance of a commercial crisis, +or a violent contraction of credit. But we take it you would be +infinitely better pleased to know that sovereigns were circulating +freely from hand to hand amongst the people, and that your customers +had their pockets so well filled as to enable them to purchase +largely, and to pay their accounts when due. To you any depression +whatever is a serious matter--a depression which assumes a permanent +appearance cannot be much short of ruin. Therefore you ought most +especially to take care that no false representation is made +regarding your circumstances, which may be the means of perpetuating +a system that has already proved detrimental to a large body of your +customers. + +Were we to take for granted the ministerial statement of +prosperity--which no doubt will be repeated next February--your Whig +minister being an incorrigible cuckoo--this paper would certainly +not have been written. But, having had occasion early to doubt the +truthfulness of this vernal note, and having taken some pains to +examine the statements which from time to time are issued by the +great houses engaged in commercial and manufacturing industry, as +also the accounts of the present condition of the poor, which have +excited so much public interest, we have really been unable to +discover any one influential class, beyond the money-lenders and +creditors, or any one large and important branch of industry, which +can, with truth, be described as prospering, or will confess to the +existence of such prosperity. Shipmasters, manufacturers, merchants, +iron-masters, and agriculturists, all tell the same tale. This is +very strange. You may possibly remember that Mr M'Gregor, once +Secretary to the Board of Trade, and now member for Glasgow, the +great commercial city of Scotland, estimated the additional amount +of wealth which was to accrue to Great Britain, in consequence of +the repeal of the Corn Laws, at two millions sterling per week! Upon +what data that profound gentleman, who thus enunciated the prophecy +and assumed the mask of Midas, proceeded in his calculation, we know +not, and perhaps it would be superfluous to inquire. It certainly +was a good round sum; for, by this time, without insisting upon +compound, or even simple interest, it should have amounted to +rather more than one-half of the national debt; but unfortunately +nobody will own to having fingered a farthing of the money. In +recalling to your memory this little circumstance, it is by no +means our intention to offer any disrespect to the intellectual +powers of M'Gregor, for whom, indeed, we entertain a high degree of +veneration, similar to that which is manifested by the Mussulman +when he finds himself in the company of a howling derveesh. We +merely wish to reproduce to you one phantom of the golden dream, +which, five or six years ago, when the fever of gain was epidemical, +possessed the slumbers of so many; and having done so, to ask you, +now that the fever is gone, whether it was not indeed a phantom? We +are wiser now--at all events, we have had more experience--and the +producing classes tell us very distinctly, and quite unanimously, +that they have derived no benefit whatever from the commercial +changes which have taken place. Capital, whether invested in ships, +factories, mines, or land, is less profitable, and therefore less +valuable, than it was before; and in some instances, where the +depression has been most heavy, it has been almost annihilated. + +These are not our statements, but the statements of the several +interests, as put forward by their own representatives. They +are statements which emanate alike from the Free-Trader and the +Protectionist. Men may differ as to the cause, but they all agree +as to the grand fact of the depression. So that, when we hear +ministers congratulating themselves and the country upon its general +prosperity, and, _pari passu_ with this congratulation, find the +accredited organs of each of the great branches of productive +industry vehemently asserting that they are exceptions from the +general rule, an anxious believer in the probity of all parties has +his faith somewhat rudely shaken. + +We believe that, collectively, you are the best judges as to this +disputed matter. As the real wealth of the country depends upon +the amount and value of its yearly produce--as from that annual +creation, when measured by the monetary standard, and circulated +through a thousand channels, all our incomes are derived--you, +who supply the whole population with the necessaries and luxuries +of life, (fabricated by others, but passing through your hands,) +must necessarily have the best means of knowing whether the +circumstances of that population have, on the aggregate, been +bettered or made worse. When Napoleon in the bitterness of his heart +declared that we were a nation of shopkeepers, he uttered no terms +of reproach, though he intended to convey a taunt. Your position +in the community is such that you cannot flourish independent of +its general prosperity. The exporting manufacturer, and even the +foreign merchant, may multiply their gains, and realise fortunes, +whilst other classes, whose wellbeing is far more important to the +stability of the empire, are hastening to decay. Such phenomena are +common in old states, when the process of dissolution has begun. +The parasite lives and thrives, while the tree round which it has +wound its tendrils is crumbling into rottenness. But such is not +your case. Your interests are identical with those of the productive +classes, for without them you could not exist. Ill-remunerated +labour--unproductive capital--lessened means--deteriorated +property--are things which affect you as deeply as though you were +the direct sufferers or losers. Upon the wealth of your customers +depends your own. And therefore, in such an important crisis as +the present, when the existing commercial system of the country is +vigorously assailed by one party, and as obstinately defended by +another--when facts and statements apparently of much weight are +adduced on either side, to serve as arguments for the overthrow or +the maintenance of that system--when some cite statistical tables to +prove that the country must be prosperous, and others adduce real +evidence to show that the reverse is the case--you cannot afford +to sit idly by, without throwing the weight of your testimony and +experience into one or other of the scales. You have had admirable +opportunities of noticing the working of the Free-Trade system. It +matters not what were the original prepossessions of any of you, +or what might have been your opinion with regard to the merits of +this or that scheme, while it was still in embryo and untried. A +more complex question than that of Free Trade, as affecting the +importation of corn, probably never was presented to the public +consideration. Many excellent, judicious, and thoroughly patriotic +men, relying upon the truth of statements which were regarded by +others as mere plausible theories, were willing to submit to the +experiment. And when, by the grossest act of political perfidy +that was ever perpetrated--an act which future times, if not the +present, will stigmatise with deserved opprobrium--the last and most +important change, save that which subsequently assailed our maritime +interest, was suddenly effected, it was the declared opinion of the +majority that the new system must at least have a trial, until its +real results were developed, and until it became apparent to the +nation whether or not Free Trade would operate for the advantage of +the people, as its advocates and promoters had predicted. + +Here we must, for a moment or two, however unwillingly, digress. The +later measures of Free Trade have assailed interests so important +and so strong, that its former and earlier advances, stealthily and +cautiously made, have almost faded from the public view. Free Trade, +as a political system, did not alone strike at the agricultural or +the shipping interest. Since the days of Mr Huskisson, who brought +with him into active life the principles which he had imbibed in +youth from his associates in French Jacobinism, the principles of +Free Trade have been gradually but cautiously applied to various +branches of British industry. The slow and insidious nature of the +movement on the part of the statesmen, who, even then, were yielding +to the influence of the modern economical school, showed their +distrust of the system, which, if true, ought at once to have been +openly promulgated. Like the late Sir Robert Peel, Huskisson was +destitute of that manly courage which scorns concealment or deceit, +and walks steadfastly to its goal. Cunning was an ingredient of +his nature: whatever he did was accomplished by tortuous methods, +and vindicated upon false pretences. The tendency of that policy +which he commenced was to maintain by all means, at all hazards, +and at the sacrifice, if needful, of every other interest, the +manufacturing supremacy, of England in the foreign market--an object +for which we still are striving, though at the imminent risk of the +dismemberment of the British empire. It is due, however, to the +memory of Mr Huskisson, to remark, that, although the originator +of this policy, he does not seem to have contemplated the extent +to which it would be carried out by his successors. His opinions +upon the subject of protection to agriculture were clear and +decided: "There is no effectual security, either in peace or war, +against the frequent return of scarcity, but in making ourselves +independent of foreign supply. Let the bread we eat be the produce +of corn grown among ourselves; and, for one, I care not how cheap +it is--the cheaper the better. It is cheap now, and I rejoice at +it, because it is altogether owing to a sufficiency of corn of our +own growth; but, to insure a continuance of that cheapness, and +that sufficiency, we must insure to our own growers _protection +against foreign importation_, which has produced those blessings, +and by which alone they can be permanently maintained." The time, +however, was fast approaching when the reins of government were to +fall into the hands of a scion of the manufacturing body, in whose +eyes the momentary supremacy of party was of more importance than +any principle of national policy. There is no more curious page in +history than that which records the rise of British manufactures +towards the close of last century. Invention after invention, +whereby manual labour was superseded by machinery, and the power of +production almost indefinitely multiplied, paved the way for that +monopoly which our manufacturers enjoyed for at least a quarter of +a century, during which time every other country in Europe except +our own was devastated by war, and the peaceful arts forgotten or +overthrown. It was during that period that the gigantic fortunes of +the Arkwrights and the Peels were made, and that influence secured +to the manufacturing body in the British House of Commons which it +never possessed before. But with the return of peace the monopoly +disappeared. By invention in mechanical appliances, Britain had +the start of other nations in the creation of manufactures; by +war, she was enabled long to enjoy the undivided benefits. But +inventions are not the property of a single nation; they pass from +one to another with the rapidity of lightning; they are available +by the foreign, even more easily than by the domestic, rival. Hence +it very soon became apparent that other states were preparing to +compete with us in those branches of industry which had proved +so exceedingly profitable. France, Belgium, Germany, Russia, +Switzerland, and America, all entered keenly into the contest; and +then commenced that decline of prices which has continued, almost +without intermission, to the present hour. Reciprocity treaties were +tried, but were in fact of little avail; for the great bulk of the +English exports consisted of those very textile fabrics which it +was the object of each country to produce for its own consumption, +if not to export to others. During the war, both the expenses of +government and the interest of the National Debt had doubled in +amount, and the monetary changes effected in 1819 added at least +one-third to the weight of that augmented burden. In order to make +this taxation bearable, the industry of the people was protected in +their own market by a scale of customs duties, which prevented the +influx of foreign produce at rates which must have annihilated the +British workman. Protection is a clear necessity which arises out +of taxation. If the tobacco, tea, coffee, sugar, beer, soap, and +other articles of the labourer's consumption, are taxed in order +to maintain an expensive establishment, and to defray the interest +of an enormous debt, he must have a compensation of some kind. The +only kind of compensation which can be granted, and which the wit of +man can devise, is to be found in an equitable scale of duties, by +means of which all produce imported into Britain shall be taxed as +heavily as though it had been reared, grown, or made up on British +ground by British labourers. Unless this be done, there is no fair +competition. The less burdened foreigner must ultimately carry the +day against the heavily-taxed Englishman. And when we consider that +all taxes must be paid out of produce, there being no other source +whatever from which they can be drawn, the importance of maintaining +the market value of our produce at a point equal to the pressure of +our taxation will at once become apparent. + +There are, however, plausible, though in reality most fallacious +grounds, upon which the Protective System may be assailed. In this, +as in every other country, the first and most important branch +of industry is that which provides food for the population. To +that all others are subordinate. It is impossible to estimate the +amount of capital which has been laid out upon the soil of Britain, +first in reclaiming it from a state of nature, and, since then, +in maturing and increasing its fruitfulness. But some idea may be +formed of its magnitude from the fact that, in 1846, the annual +agricultural produce of the United Kingdom was valued, according +to the prices then current, at £250,000,000. Whatever imperial +taxation is imposed on other classes of the community is shared +equally by the agriculturists; and they are, moreover, exposed to +heavy local rates, from which the others are comparatively free. +It is a received maxim in political economy--we ought rather to +say a rule of common sense--that all taxes and charges paid by the +producer, over and above his necessary profit, fail ultimately to +be defrayed by the consumer--that is, that such taxes and charges +form a component part of the selling price of the article. There is +no specialty whatever in the case of corn or provisions to exempt +them from the general rule. But all restrictions which tend to +enhance the price of the first necessaries of life are obnoxious +to that section of the people who, from ignorance or incapacity, +cannot understand why bread should be dear in one country and +cheap in another. They, too, are subjected to their share of +indirect taxation, and the knowledge that they are so taxed in +the consumption of articles which constitute their only luxuries, +renders them doubly impatient of a system which, on the authority +of wicked and designing demagogues, they are led to believe was +invented by the landlords solely for their own benefit. Thus heavy +taxation, however engendered, must always be fraught with great +peril to the permanency of a state. The burden of such taxation +falls most heavily upon the land, and yet the agriculturist is +expected to provide food for the people as cheaply as though he were +altogether exempt from the burden. + +The reason why the exporting manufacturers, and those politicians +who entered thoroughly into their views, were so bent upon the +destruction of the Corn Laws, was twofold. In the first place, the +competition in foreign markets threatened to become so strong, owing +to the rapid development of textile industry on the Continent, that +it was necessary to lower prices. England had given machinery and +models to the Continent, and the Continent was now fighting her +with her own weapons, and at a cheaper cost, as labour abroad is +less expensive than it is here. In order to bring down the value +of labour in England, for the purpose of protracting this grand +manufacturing contest, it was necessary to lower, in some way +or other, the price of food in England, and this could only be +accomplished by free admission of foreign supplies. In short, their +object was to bring down wages. On this point we have the testimony +of Mr Muntz, M.P. for Birmingham, as early as February 1842. He +wrote as follows:--"Say what you will, the _object_ of the measure +is _to reduce wages_, and the _intention_ is to reduce them to +the Continental level. I repeat it, the Corn Laws very materially +support labour in this country.... Why, the professed object of +the repeal is to enable the English merchant to compete with the +foreigner, and how can he do that _unless by a reduction of wages_, +which reduction will be upon all trade, home and foreign?" Mr John +Bright was not less clear as to the necessity of such reduction of +wages in order to maintain our exports: "If the tariff in Russia +imposed a heavy duty on English yarn, and if English yarn went there +and had to be sold at the same rate as the yarn of the Russian +spinner, he (that is, the Russian spinner) not paying the heavy +duty, it followed that we must, _by some means or other_, make our +goods cheaper by the amount of duty which we paid, and to do that +_it was absolutely necessary that the wages of the operatives in +this country should be reduced_." And Mr Greg of Manchester, a +leading member of the Anti-Corn Law League, wrote as follows:--"In +the only remaining item of the cost of production--that is, the +wages of labour--foreign nations have a decided advantage; and +although a free trade in provisions, by lowering them here, and +raising them abroad, might regulate the difference, I doubt if it +ever could be entirely removed. Better education, more sober habits, +more frugality, and general forethought, together with cheaper food, +will no doubt enable our people to live in much greater comfort +than at present UPON CONSIDERABLY SMALLER EARNINGS." These extracts +sufficiently disclose the designs of the Free-Traders against the +wages of the workman. In the second place, it was believed by many +of them, that, by sacrificing the agriculturists, they would be +able to turn the attention of other countries, especially America, +from the prosecution of their rising manufactures. They argued, +that if we were to surrender and secure our provision market to +foreign states, they would return the compliment by allowing us +to manufacture for them--in other words, that the foreigners were +to feed England, and England was to clothe the foreigners! This +precious scheme has since been avowed, seriously and gravely, by men +who have seats in the present House of Commons; and, so far as we +can understand their language, the philosophers of the _Edinburgh +Review_ consider this a most sensible arrangement! + +The agricultural interest, however, was of too great magnitude to +be attacked at once. Several outworks were to be gained before +the citadel was summoned to surrender. Accordingly Mr Huskisson +began, and Sir Robert Peel continued, that system of commercial +relaxations, (which, some five-and-twenty years ago, was exposed +and denounced in this Magazine,) annihilating some branches of +industry and depressing others--pauperising whole districts, as in +the Highlands, and merging the villages in the towns--until the time +seemed ripe, and the opportunity propitious, for the accomplishment +of the grand design. It is not now necessary to dwell upon the +circumstances which attended the change in the Corn and Navigation +Laws--these are still fresh in the memory of all of us, and will +not soon be forgotten. Our object in this digression was simply to +remind you that Free Trade, in its insidious and stealthy progress, +has warred with other interests than those which belong to the +agricultural and the maritime classes. + +Neither is it necessary at present to advert to the gross +inconsistencies of the system--to the restrictions which it still +continues upon that very branch of industry which it has laid bare +to foreign competition. Let us take the system as it is, of which +you have had now nearly three years' experience, dating from the +time when the ports were opened. + +Three years constitute a long period for the endurance of a +commercial experiment. During that time you have had ample +opportunity of observing how the system has worked. Are you richer +or poorer than you were before the experiment began? If the former, +Free Trade has worked well; if the latter, it is a mischievous +delusion. + +This is a question which you alone can answer--or rather, every man +must answer it for himself. But this much we may be allowed to say, +that, from what information we can gather regarding the state of +general trade--from the sentiments which we have heard expressed by +many of the most respectable of your own body--the experiences of +the last year have not been such as to give you much encouragement +for the future. If it is so, then you will do well to consider +whether or not you ought to lend that great political influence +which you undoubtedly possess, in support of a system which has not +only failed to realise the anticipations of its founders, but has +actually diminished in a great degree the power of purchase of the +community. + +This is no trivial matter to any of us, least of all is it trivial +to you. The next general election will be, in its results, by far +the most important of any which has taken place for centuries. If, +in the new Parliament, all idea of a return to the Protective System +is abandoned, we may prepare ourselves for that most dismal conflict +which can convulse a country--a war against taxation, and ultimately +against property. For--rely upon this--heavy taxation and cheap +produce are things which never can be reconciled. You may, if you +please, hand over the home market of Britain to the foreigner, and +allow him, without toll or custom, to supply our wants with produce +of his own rearing; but, if you do so, what is to become of our +own population, and their labour?--and how are you to levy those +taxes which labour alone can supply? That manufacturing interest, +for which such desperate sacrifices have been made, is daily losing +ground in the markets of the world. The fact will brook no denial, +and it is admitted even by its own members. America has refused +the bait offered to her by the Free-Traders, and is engaged heart +and soul in the cotton manufacture, for which she possesses within +herself the command of the raw material. _To those countries which +supply us with corn, our exports of manufactures have alarmingly +decreased._ We may continue to glut (for that is what we are doing +at present) the markets of India and China, and our export tables +may exhibit a cheering increase in the amount of yards of calico +sent out; but, unless the trade circulars are utterly mendacious, +the speculation has been, and will continue to be for a long tract +of time, unprofitable. The fact is, that the extent and value of +our foreign trade in manufactures is little understood by most +of us, and grossly exaggerated by others. It constitutes, after +all, a mere fraction of the national production. The consumption +of manufactures at home is, or was, before the late changes were +made, twice as great as the whole amount of our annual exports. The +prosperity of this country does not depend upon the amount of wares +which it sends or forces abroad, though that is the doctrine which +is constantly clamoured in our ears by the political economists--a +generation of ridiculous pretenders, of whom it is only necessary +to know one, in order to form an accurate estimate of the mental +capabilities of his tribe. It depends on our own labour, on our +own internal arrangements, and on that reciprocity between man and +man, and between class and class of our fellow-subjects, which is +the only real security for the peace and tranquillity of a kingdom. +Those exporting manufacturers, who rummage foreign markets, are +no better than so many buccaneers. Their object is to evade the +burden of taxation at home, and, wherever they can with advantage +to themselves, to bring in foreign labour, untaxed and untolled, to +supersede that of the British workman. + +You cannot have failed to remark that the arguments which are now +put forward by the Free-Traders, in support of their system, are +totally different from those which they advanced while recommending +it for the adoption of the country. How often were we told, during +the struggle which preceded the repeal of the Corn Laws, that all +the apprehensions expressed of a permanent fall in the value of +produce, and of overwhelming importations from abroad, were purely +visionary! Learned statists undertook to prove by figures that the +whole quantity of grain which could be brought into this country was +absolutely insignificant, and that it could not disturb prices. Mr +James Wilson of the _Economist_, in his valuable tractate entitled +_Influences of the Corn Laws_, which was published eleven years ago, +thus favoured the public with _his_ anticipations for the future, in +the event of the repeal of the Corn Laws:-- + +"Our belief is," says the sage of Westbury, "that the whole of +these generally received opinions are erroneous; that if we had had +a free trade in corn since 1815, the average price of the whole +period, actually received by the British grower, would have been +higher than it has been; that little or no more foreign grain would +have been imported; and that if, for the next twenty years, the +whole protective system shall be abandoned, _the average price of +wheat will be higher than it has been for the last seven years_, +(52s. 2d.,) or than it would be in the future with a continuance of +the present system;--but with this great difference, that prices +would be nearly uniform and unaltering from year to year; that the +disastrous fluctuations would be greatly avoided, which we have +shown, in the first proposition, to be so ruinous under the present +system." + +For this very notable sentiment, Mr Wilson was clapped on the back +by the Manchester men, and commended thus in the seventh circular +of the League:--"We are much indebted to Mr Ibbotson of Sheffield, +_Mr James Wilson_, and our esteemed correspondent, for labouring to +prove to the landlords that they may safely do justice to others, +without endangering their own interests. And we think very much has +been done towards justifying their opinions, _that the money price +of grain would not be lowered even by the total repeal of the Corn +Laws_!" Sir Robert Peel, in the memorable debates of 1846, attempted +to justify his experiment on the ground that previous commercial +relaxations had been found beneficial to the parties who were +directly engaged in the trade, his inference being, that the same +result would follow in the case of the agriculturists. Unfortunately +the data upon which he proceeded were altogether fallacious; for, +notwithstanding his dexterity in selecting figures, and bringing +out balances which were apparently favourable, it was clearly +demonstrated by Lord George Bentinck, that in no one instance +whatever had those relaxations proved favourable to the British +producer, and that many of them had moreover occasioned a large +loss to the public revenue. But the language held by Sir Robert +Peel, upon that occasion, cannot be construed otherwise than as +the expression of an opinion that, by the repeal of the Corn Laws, +prices would not be materially disturbed--at all events, that they +would not be lowered so as to fall below the remunerative point. + +The immense influx of foreign grain which followed the opening +of the ports in 1849, and the immediate fall of price, were +calculated to alarm not only the farmers, but even that section of +the Free-Traders who believed conscientiously that the productive +powers of Europe and America were unequal to the supply of so very +considerable a surplus. It is no wonder that the farmers were +frightened, when they saw grain coming in at the rate of a million +of quarters per month! They were, however, told by the highest +Free-trading authorities in both Houses of Parliament, and the same +view was violently maintained by the Liberal press, that their +fears were altogether groundless; that such importations could not +possibly be maintained; and that the first inundation was simply +caused by an accumulation of corn at the foreign ports, stored up +in readiness for the opening of the English market--a contingency +which could not happen again. The utmost pains were taken, by those +who had consented to the repeal of the Corn Laws, to persuade the +farmers that the low prices of 1849 were attributable principally to +the superabundance of the harvest at home; and they were exhorted +to wait patiently, but hopefully, for the advent of better times. +In short, every means were taken to persuade the agriculturists +that they were labouring under a temporary but not a permanent +difficulty, and that a very short time would suffice to restore them +to their former condition. But no one attempted to maintain, in +1849, that, if wheat continued to sell at or about 40s. per quarter, +its cultivation could be profitable in Britain; and when, at a later +period, one or two rash theorists attempted to broach that doctrine, +they were instantly put to silence by the overwhelming nature of the +proof which was brought against them--not the least instructive part +of it being the admissions of the leading Free-Traders as to what +really was, on an average of years, the remunerative price of wheat +to the British grower. + +It is now clearly established, that, under Free Trade, 40s. per +quarter is a price which the British farmer cannot calculate on +receiving. The averages of England are now about 36s. per quarter, +being 20s. lower than the sum which Sir Robert Peel considered as +the lowest which could remunerate the grower. Therefore, taking +the average yield of good wheat-land at four quarters per acre, +it appears that, by continuing to grow that kind of grain which +is convertible into ordinary bread, the farmer must be a positive +loser to the extent of _four pounds per acre_! In other words, +even suppose no rent at all were taken for the land, wheat cannot +continue to be grown at a profit in Great Britain, so long as +the averages remain below 40s.; and we leave a large margin to +the credit of improved husbandry and strict economy, exercised, +as it must be, at the expense of the labourer's wages. That such +is the present condition of the British farmers--a hopeless one, +unless a legislative remedy is applied--will brook no denial. Last +year we were told of farms letting at an increase of rent, and of +other symptoms of agricultural prosperity, whereof nothing now is +heard. The fact of the depression--if we may use so mild a term in +respect to a branch of industry which is now merely existing upon +capital, not by income--is beyond all possibility of doubt or cavil. +The causes of it are obvious; and it now only remains to be seen +whether we can afford to allow agriculture to be extinguished from +among us, or at best raised to that point which will afford a bare +subsistence to the grower, without the risk of involving the rest of +us in a like calamity. + +You may have heard it said--for it has been often written--that it +signifies little to the people of this country from what source they +receive their bread. It is worth your while to examine into this. +That a loaf baked of American flour, grown in the valley of the +Mississippi, may taste quite as well in the mouth of the consumer as +a loaf of English material is a circumstance which we can readily +believe; but is this all that is to be considered? Does the American +bear any part of our national taxation? Does he contribute, directly +or indirectly, to the burdens which are common to the British +producer? Does he deal with any of you, and can you call him a +customer? These are the questions which you ought to ask yourselves, +in making up your minds on this matter; and if you will only examine +the subject patiently and dispassionately, your own common sense +will lead you to a just conclusion. Let us suppose that all the food +which you purchase and consume was grown on a foreign soil, and +admitted free of duty. You might then have cheap bread, but, as a +necessary consequence, you would lose more than half your customers. +Unless people have money they cannot buy; and if agricultural +production were to be abandoned in the British islands, all those +who derive their incomes--not only directly, but indirectly--from +the soil, would necessarily be stripped of their means. Are you +aware of the fact that, on a minute analysis of the census of +1841, it appeared that the relative numbers of the population of +Great Britain and Ireland, supported and maintained by the two +great sources of production, agriculture and manufactures, were as +18,734,468, dependent on the first, to 8,091,621, dependent on the +second? Do you believe that the country can remain prosperous, if +you strike a deathblow at the produce which maintains more than +two-thirds of its inhabitants? + +Let us go a little farther, and suppose--what may hereafter be the +case--that other countries could undersell us in the home market in +the article of manufactures--that America, France, or Germany could +send us cotton and woollen stuffs, and other ware, cheaper than we +could make them at home. In that case, where would be the sources +of our income? All industry would be prostrated--for you know very +well that a losing trade will not and cannot be carried on long, and +that the time will soon arrive when, through the failure of capital, +it must be abandoned. In such an event, what would become of our +population, with their labour entirely destroyed? How could the +taxes be levied, and the expenses of government paid, to say nothing +of the interest of the National Debt? Great cheapness you would +have, no doubt, but nobody would be able to buy. + +If cheapness is a blessing in food, it is a blessing in clothing +and in everything else. The rule admits of no exception. It is as +advantageous for any of us to save a pound on the price of his coat +as a penny on the price of his loaf. Bread is, no doubt, the most +important article of the workingman's consumption, but at the same +time it is no less a fact that the raising of food is the most +important part of the production of the labouring-classes. Without +home labour, all capital in this country would be annihilated, or +at least would depart from it. Labour depends entirely upon wages, +and wages upon the market price of the article produced. If from +the introduction of foreign labour, in the shape of products, the +price of any article is forced down below the cost of production, +then wages begin to fall, and in the end production is extinguished. +Why is it that foreign countries have imposed heavy duties upon +our exported articles of manufacture? Simply for this object--that +their own manufacturers, who give employment to large numbers of +their population, may not be undersold by ours, nor those means of +employment annihilated. In acting thus, these governments perform a +paternal duty to the people--shielding them against the competition +of an older manufacturing power, and preparing them hereafter, when +skill and capital are acquired, to enter neutral markets, with a +fair chance of ultimately overcoming the other. + +It stands to reason that, with an equal degree of energy on the part +of its inhabitants, the country which is the least heavily burdened +must distance others in all branches of industry, where nature does +not oppose a barrier, or place it at a disadvantage. The mineral +wealth of England, and our priority in manufacturing invention, gave +us for a long time an advantage over all other nations. America +was not advanced enough to enter into the lists of manufacturing +competition; the distracted state of the Continent, and the +perpetual presence or apprehension of war, effectually prevented the +European states from attempting to rival Britain. But since that +time vast changes have taken place. The mineral resources of other +countries have been developed. Some idea of the manufacturing power +which America now possesses may be formed from the enormous increase +of her domestic production of iron and coal. In 1829, the amount of +iron manufactured in the United States was 90,000 tons; in 1848, +it had risen to 800,000 tons. The coal raised in 1829 was 37,000 +tons; in 1849 it was 3,200,000 tons. In the article of cotton, which +is our great manufacturing staple, America has the inestimable +advantage of growing the raw material--an advantage which never +can be counterbalanced, as, even if we were to obtain our supplies +from some other quarter, the expenses of freightage must still +continue to be great. In fact, to all appearance, our supremacy in +the conversion of cotton is already doomed. That branch of industry +rests upon no substantial basis. It rose like an exhalation, and so +it will disappear. These are not merely our opinions, but those of +the most shrewd and calculating of the Free-Traders. Hear Mr Greg +of Manchester on this subject, previous to the repeal of the Corn +Laws:-- + + "At present we are undersold by foreigners in neutral markets in + all the staple articles of English manufacture. In the articles + of cotton, hosiery, and cutlery, which amount altogether to + three-fourths of our exports, this is notoriously the case. In + cotton fabrics the Swiss undersell us in several markets. In + cutlery Sheffeld is immensely undersold by the Alsace, and our + exports are yearly decreasing. In hosiery, the case is still + worse. Saxon hosiery, after paying a duty of 20 per cent, is + sold in London 25 to 30 per cent cheaper than the produce of + the Leicester and Nottingham looms. In Leicester the stocking + frames have diminished from 16,000 in 1815 to 14,000 in 1840; + whilst in Saxony, in the same time, they have increased from + 4590 to 25,000. The English manufacturer pays 2s. 6d. for the + same work that the French manufacturer gets done for 2½d. The + American cutlery market (the most important of all) has been + wrested from us, and our exports of that article to all the + world have fallen from £1,620,000 in 1831 to £1,325,000 in 1841. + _How far with cheaper food, no taxes on the raw material, and + no duties but for the sake of revenue, we might yet recover our + lost superiority, is a matter for grave consideration._ I do not + believe we could either in woollens or hosiery; and even in the + cutlery or cotton trade I think it very doubtful. Now, under a + free commercial system, the raw material would be nearly the + same in all countries, and the advantage, where there was one, + would be generally on the side of foreigners. France and Italy + would have an advantage in silk, and America in cotton; the + current expenses would also be nearly equal. The machinery of + foreign nations even now is not very inferior to our own, and is + daily and rapidly improving; their capital is fast accumulating, + and the yearly interest of it approximating to our own rate." + +Here, you see, is a confession of opinion by a leading Free-Trader, +that even the cheapening of food, by which he means the reduction of +the wages of labour, will not suffice ultimately to secure us the +supremacy of the foreign markets. He is perfectly right. In this +insane, and we believe almost entirely unprofitable competition with +the rest of the world, we must infallibly be overcome. No cheapness +of food can countervail the pressure of our heavy taxation. The +cotton-lords, if they could, would fain bring down the price of +labour to the Continental level, which doubtless would enable them, +for a long time, to prolong the contest; but this they cannot do, if +our national engagements are to be fulfilled, and our most valuable +institutions maintained. So long as the revenue duties exist, +labour cannot be forced down to that point. But, in the mean time, +agriculture may be ruined, and the home trade, by which alone you +subsist, be palsied. In fact, the present struggle lies between +the home trade and the foreign trade. One or other of these must +ultimately succumb. The effect of our present commercial system is +to paralyse the home trade, by decreasing the value of all kinds of +domestic produce; by lowering all incomes, and consequently reducing +the amount of the internal business of the country. It has enabled +our manufacturers, for the time, to make a show of larger exports +than before; but it has not, according to their own acknowledgement, +at all enhanced their profits. It may have enabled them to lower +their prices, but it has not increased their returns. + +And no wonder that it should be so. Except in the most miserable and +unimportant quarters, our relaxations have been met by augmented +tariffs instead of eager reciprocity. The nations of the world have +refused to sacrifice their advantages, to renounce their prospects, +and to become Free-Traders at the call of Britain. Their statesmen +thoroughly understood the motive of the ingenuous offer: they were +not to be cozened even by the plausibility of Sir Robert Peel. It +is almost melancholy now, when we remember what has actually taken +place, to revert to the peroration of that statesman's speech +delivered on 16th February 1846. A more lamentable instance of +delusion, as to the true feeling and position of other countries, +was never perhaps exhibited. Mark his words:-- + + "Many countries are watching with anxiety the selection you may + make. Determine for 'Advance,' and it will be the watchword + which will animate and encourage in every state the friends + of liberal commercial policy. Sardinia has taken the lead. + Naples is relaxing her protective duties, and favouring British + produce. Prussia is shaken in her adherence to restriction. + The government of France will be strengthened; and, backed by + the intelligence of the reflecting, and by conviction of the + real welfare of the great body of the community, will perhaps + ultimately prevail over the self-interest of the commercial + and manufacturing aristocracy which now predominates in her + Chambers. Can you doubt that the United States will soon + relax her hostile tariff, and that the friends of a freer + commercial intercourse--the friends of peace between the two + countries--will hail with satisfaction the example of England?" + +How strangely did this remarkable man, whose career in all time +coming will be a warning to the aspiring statesman, misunderstand +the true nature of his country's position! In order to tempt +reciprocity he opened the British ports--that is, he conceded +gratuitously the only condition by which we ever could have hoped to +insure it! At the expense of the British agriculturist he opened the +British market to the foreigner, in the expectation, as he expressly +declared, that the boon would be repaid by measures which would +prevent the rise of manufactures abroad, and restrain other nations +from employing capital profitably, from entering into rivalry with +Britain, and from using those natural advantages which were ready +to their hand; and which, if used, could not fail to add to their +wealth, and to furnish employment for millions of their increasing +population! Most egregious was the blunder, and terrible is the +penalty which we are certain to pay for it, if we do not retrace our +steps. + +It is always useful to know what intelligent men of other countries +think of our system. They survey and examine it without those +prejudices which are apt to beset all of us, and are better able +than ourselves to determine with what degree of favour it will be +received, or is received, by those who are removed beyond the scope +of our immediate observation. Certainly, of all others, from their +affinity to ourselves, and their proverbially shrewd acuteness in +all matters of commercial detail, the Americans are most likely to +form an accurate estimate both of our position and our prospects +in regard to foreign trade. It is well worth our while to read and +consider the following opinion of Mr Carey, the most distinguished +Transatlantic writer on points of political economy. It occurs in +his work entitled _The Harmony of Interests_, published in America +so late as December 1849. + + "Men are everywhere flying from British commerce, which + everywhere pursues them. Having exhausted the people of the + lower lands of India, it follows them as they retreat towards + the fastnesses of the Himalaya. Affghanistan is attempted, while + Scinde and the Punjaub are subjugated. Siamese provinces are + added to the empire of Free Trade, and war and desolation are + carried into China, in order that the Chinese may be compelled + to pay for the use of ships, instead of making looms. The + Irishman flies to Canada; but there the system follows him, and + he feels himself insecure until within the Union. The Englishman + and the Scotchman try Southern Africa, and thence they fly + to the more distant New Holland, Van Diemen's Land, or New + Zealand. The farther they fly, the more they use ships and other + perishable machinery, the less steadily can their efforts be + applied, the less must be the power of production, and the fewer + must be the equivalents to be exchanged; and yet in the growth + of ships caused by such circumstances, we are told to look for + evidence of prosperous commerce! + + "_The British system is built upon cheap labour, by which is + meant low-priced and worthless labour._ Its effect is to cause + it to become from day to day more low-priced and worthless; and + thus _to destroy production upon which commerce must be based_. + The object of protection is to produce dear labour--that is, + high-priced and valuable labour, and its effect is to cause + it to increase in value from day to day, and to increase the + equivalents to be exchanged, to the great increase of commerce. + + "The object of what is now called Free Trade, is that of + securing to the people of England the further existence of _the + monopoly of machinery_, by aid of which Ireland and India have + been ruined, and commerce prostrated. Protection seeks _to break + down this monopoly_, and to cause the loom and the anvil to take + their natural places by the side of the food and the cotton, + that production may be increased, and that commerce may revive." + +In short, the harmony of interests is regarded in America as the +grand point of aim for the statesman. With us, our most important +home interests, on which depend the welfare of by far the greater +part of our population, are sacrificed to prolong a struggle in +which our exporting manufacturers cannot possibly be the victors, +and from which, even at present, they derive little or no profit. + +Now, let us ask you to consider for one moment, what is the natural +effect, upon the whole of us, of a forcible diminution of prices, +and depreciation of produce. Here we shall borrow an illustration +and argument from our adversaries, referring to a point which +is in the recollection of all of you, and about which there can +be no possible mistake. You will recollect that the Liberal and +Free-trading journals, almost without exception, as well as most of +the defenders of the Peel policy in the House of Commons, attributed +much of that general depression and stagnation of trade which +followed the repeal of the Corn Laws to the losses sustained by +the failure of the potato-crop in 1845-6. Was there a general want +of confidence visible--were the shopkeepers scant of custom--was +there a less demand than usual within the country for home +manufactures--was there a decline in the price of iron--all was laid +at the door of the unfortunate potato. Since Cobbett uttered his +anathema against the root, it never was in such bad odour. To every +complaint, remonstrance, or lamentation, the reply was ready--"How +can we remedy a calamity of this kind? The potato has done it all!" +At that time it was very convenient, nay, absolutely necessary, +for the Free-Traders to discover some tangible cause for the gross +failure of their predictions. They looked about them in every +direction, and they could discover nothing except the potato which +could endure the blame. Now, although we believe that this esculent +has been unduly reviled, and made to bear a greater burden than +was its due for political misfortune, we nevertheless accept the +illustration at the hands of our opponents, and we beg you to mark +its significance. The loss of the potato-crop in Great Britain and +Ireland, during the year in question, has been variously estimated, +but if we assume it to have been £20,000,000 we are making a very +large calculation indeed. So then, _according to the Free-Traders, +the loss of twenty millions of agricultural produce_ was sufficient +to bring down profits, embarrass trade, and cause a stagnation in +home manufactures! And yet, when Mr Villiers came forward in the +beginning of 1850, and told you, in his capacity of proposer of +the Address to the Crown, that £91,000,000 were _annually_ taken +from the value of the agricultural produce of the country, you +were expected, and directed, to clap your hands with joy, and to +congratulate one another on this symptom of the national prosperity! + +The sum of twenty millions lost by the failure of the potato-crop--a +single event, not one of annual occurrence--was taken from the +country's power of produce; and _therefore_, said the Free-Traders, +there was stagnation. But they, of course, could not help it. Of +course they could not; but what about the ninety-one millions +of _annual_ loss, which is equally deducted from the internal +expenditure of the country? About _that_ we do not hear a word. And +yet ask yourselves, and that most seriously--for it is time that we +should get rid of all such pitiful paltering--whether there is any +difference whatever between the two cases, except that the one was +an isolated casualty, and that the other is an annual infliction to +which we are subjected by statute? Weigh the matter as you will, +you cannot, we are satisfied, be able to detect any difference. If +the grower of grain at present prices has no remuneration for his +toil, or return for his capital, he cannot buy from you, any more +than could the farmer whose crop perished by the potato disease. +What caused the stagnation? The failure of the power to purchase, +because there was no return for produce. What causes the stagnation? +Precisely the same thing perpetrated by Act of Parliament. + +Do not, we beseech you, allow yourselves to be fooled any longer +by the jesuitry of these political economists, but apply your own +reason to discover the cause of the present depression. Do not +believe them when they talk about exceptional causes, affecting +temporarily the industry of the nation, but certain immediately to +disappear. If you were to live as long as Methusaleh, no one year +would elapse without furnishing those gentlemen with a special and +exceptional cause. One year it is the potato disease; another the +French Revolution; another the Great Exhibition. Heaven only knows +what will be their excuse next year--perhaps the new Reform Bill, or +some other similar godsend. You are the particular class upon whom +the deception is to be played, and for whose especial benefit the +fraud is concocted. The producers know very well how they stand, +and what they have to expect. They can be no longer cajoled by +assurances of higher prices, by vague promises of profit after the +disappearance of "the transition state," or by impudent averments +that, by an entire change of system and the expenditure of more +capital, they will be able to maintain themselves in affluence. To +do the Free-Traders justice, they have for some time desisted from +such attempts. They now address their victims, through their organs, +in a fine tone of desperado indifference, telling them that, if they +do not like the present arrangement, the sooner they go elsewhere +the better. And the people are taking them at their word and going. +Hundreds of thousands of tax-payers are leaving the country as fast +as possible, carrying with them the fragments of their property, +and bequeathing to those who remain behind their share of the +national burdens. But in your case, the Free-Traders cannot yet +afford to pull off the mask. They are apprehensive that you should +see them in their real character; and therefore, so long as you are +likely to be amused with "specialties" and "exceptional causes," +these will be furnished to you gratis, and in great variety. There +seems, however, to be an apprehension among their camp that you are +beginning to evince suspicion. Recent elections have not been quite +as they should be; and in the seaport and large commercial towns +there are evident symptoms of mutiny. So, by way of diverting your +attention, you are likely to have a measure of Reform next year, +possibly as satisfactory in its result as the Ecclesiastical Titles +Bill, upon which Ministers cleverly managed to concentrate the whole +public attention throughout last session, and then, having carried +it, allowed its provisions to become a dead letter, almost before +the ink, which made the measure complete, was dry! We say this, not +as opponents of an extension of the suffrage--for on that point we +reserve our opinion until the details are fully before us--but as +enemies and loathers of a miserable system of chicane and deception +which has now crept into the public counsels, and which threatens +very speedily to destroy the independence of public opinion, by +opposing state obstacles to its free and legitimate expression. We +ask any of you, fearlessly, to look back at the records of last +session, and then say whether the country was not degraded and +stultified by the act of the Prime Minister? Right or wrong, at his +invitation and call, the Protestants of Great Britain demanded a +security against what they considered an intolerable instance of +Romish insolence and aggression. They received it from Parliament; +and the moment it passed into the hands of the executive power, it +became as worthless as the paper upon which it was written! And why +was this? Simply because the object was gained--you had been amused +for a whole session. If nothing was intended to be done in the way +of repelling aggression, and if Ministers durst have told you so +a year ago, there were many points affecting your more immediate +interests which would have been forced upon their attention. But +they were very glad to escape from such discussions under cover of a +Protestantism which they did not feel, and an affected indignation +of Papal claims, which they had done everything in their power, by +diplomatic agency, to encourage; and, having escaped the perils of +one session upon that ground, they will strain every effort to turn +your attention from your own position, during the next, by bringing +forward some measure which they hope may enlist your sympathies, +or provoke controversy, so far as to render you indifferent to the +real nature of your position. The selection of the battlefield is +the oldest trick in strategy. Get up the appearance of a battle, +and people will flock from any distance to witness it, regardless +of their own interest. Lord John Russell is famous for bloodless +fields, which resolve themselves into reviews--shall we have another +such in the course of the approaching session? + +That manufactures are now exceedingly depressed, and have been so +for a long time, notwithstanding the reduction in the price of food +consequent upon foreign importations, is an admitted and notorious +fact. We have from time to time kept this before the public view by +quoting from the trade circulars; and though further evidence may +be unnecessary, we shall subjoin extracts from the last accounts +received from three seats of industry, two of which are represented +in Parliament by Colonel Peyronnet Thompson and Mr Feargus O'Connor. +Gloomy as they are, they are by no means the worst which we have had +occasion to cite during the last two years. + + "BRADFORD, _November 6_.--The market here does not show any + symptom of improvement in the demand for any kind of combing + wools. All seem in wonder and anxiety as to what may be next + expected, for to buy none are willing, whether with stock or + without. The staplers appeared to expect that the spirited + buying of colonial wools would give a tone of confidence, but + that appears to have no effect. The spinners pause when they + contrast the comparative high prices of English wool, especially + those of the finer class, with what they were in 1848, when + yarns were at the present prices, and will not buy with the + certainty of making so great a loss as a purchase would entail. + The supply of Noils and Brokes was never so limited as at + present, and the small quantity making brings full prices. The + business doing in yarns is certainly small, and the transactions + confined to immediate delivery. No one seems inclined to enter + into engagements for distant delivery. For to go on at the + present prices of yarns is worse than madness, the price for + low numbers of good spinning and standing having reached 8s. + per gross, and those of a secondary class sold, if reeled, for + what may be the instructions to the commission houses, who have + needy parties pressing sales. The quantity so offering is not so + great, but the sacrifices which have now for so long been made + render the position of the trade exceedingly embarrassing. _The + production continues to be daily curtailed, and from the whole + district the same cheerless tidings are received. Some large + houses, who have never reduced their operations before, have + adopted it, their loss being so immense, and the whole condition + of the trade so thoroughly disjointed._ In pieces the business + during the week has not shown any feature of increased activity, + and the stocks in the manufacturers' hands are somewhat + increasing, but not so fast as last year at this period, and + especially in Coburgs and fancy goods: the former are chiefly + made in this district, and not in Lancashire, for the ruinous + price has driven them on to other classes of goods adaptable + to their looms; and for some months several large houses have + been engaged in making Bareges for the American market. This has + prevented mousselines-de-laine being made to stock, and, perhaps + for many years, this branch of the trade has not opened with so + small a stock on hand. + + "NOTTINGHAM, _November 6_.--In lace we have no improvement + to notice this week in the general sale of goods, and, with + very few exceptions, there is a great falling off in demand; + but, as many of the manufacturers are wisely lessening their + production, we do not anticipate any serious losses resulting + from the present temporary stagnation. Many are stopping their + frames to make fresh designs altogether; which, if done with + good taste, some advantage may result from present difficulties. + In hosiery our trade is not so much depressed as we had reason + to anticipate. There is still a fair business doing in wrought + hose, and a little increased demand for 'cut-ups,' as well as + gloves made of thread and spun silk. The price of yarn is low, + which is in favour both of the manufacturer and merchant. + + "LEICESTER, _November 6_.--The unsettled state of the price of + workmanship for straight-down hose has caused a great depression + in that branch, and led to nearly a total cessation of work, + many hosiers declining to give out until prices are settled. In + wrought hose a better business is doing, though not so good as + usual at this season. Yarns continue dull of sale." + +Now, why do we insist upon these things? For two reasons. In +the first place, we wish you to observe that the cheapness of +manufacturing products does not of itself induce consumption. +There must be buyers as well as sellers in order to constitute +a market, and the tendency of our late legislation has been to +diminish the means of the former. It by no means follows that, if +we have cheap food and cheap manufactures, the relative position +of all classes can be maintained. Never forget _that our burdens +all the while remain at a fixed money rate_, and that, as the value +of produce is lowered, the weight of those burdens is aggravated. +This consideration, which is now well understood, is beginning to +tell strongly against the doctrines of the Free-Traders, even with +some of those, who were once their ardent supporters. Mr James +Harvey of Liverpool, late a member of the Anti-Corn-Law League, +but now a strenuous opponent of their system, thus chronicles the +leading cause of his conversion. We quote from his pamphlet just +published, _Remunerative Price the Desideratum, not Cheapness_. He +says:--"My suspicions were first awakened by the blind devotion +of the Manchester school of political economy to the doctrine of +CHEAPNESS; for it struck me as a self-evident proposition, that to +buy cheap is to sell cheap, in which case there can be no possible +gain, but a positive loss, arising from the necessary aggravation of +all fixed charges." In order to place the producers of this country +in the same position as before, it would be necessary to reduce all +fixed charges, the interest of debt both public and private, the +expenses of government, and all salaries and annuities, to an amount +corresponding to the forced decline of prices. This would be called +a war against property; but, in reality, the war against property +began when the Legislature admitted foreign untaxed produce to +compete with the produce and labour of our tax-paying population at +home. + +Our second reason for drawing your attention to the cheerless +prospect of manufactures, has reference to the sacrifices, not +only indirect but direct, which the other classes of the community +were called upon to make in order to prop them up. In the first +place, the Property and Income Tax, which we are still called upon +to pay, was imposed by Sir Robert Peel expressly for the object of +effecting "such an improvement in the _manufacturing interests_ as +will react on every other interest in the country." He admitted +that it was an unjust and partial impost, and therefore promised +that it should be only temporary--however, we have endured it for +ten years, and the Whigs will no doubt make an effort to continue +it still longer. Here, then, you have a sum of five millions and a +half annually confiscated for the benefit of the manufacturers, who +were relieved from taxation to that amount. So far for sacrifice the +first. Then came sacrifice the second, in the shape of Free Trade, +mulcting the productive classes of this country to the extent of at +least five-and-thirty per cent of their annual returns. Then came +sacrifice the third, which handed over the carrying trade to the +foreigner. + +Now, considering that all these sacrifices have been made for the +encouragement of manufactures, or at least with that professed +object, is it not, to say the least of it, extraordinary that +they have not thriven? How are we to account for a result so +wholly contrary to the avowed anticipations of our statesmen? The +explanation is, after all, not very difficult. All these sacrifices +have been made, not for the great body of the manufacturers, but for +a mere section of them. We possess no authentic official information +as to the amount of manufactures consumed at home; but we have +records, more or less trustworthy, of the amount of our exports, +and these are used to mislead the minds of the multitude as to the +actual extent and relative importance of our trade. England has no +more title than France has to the character of the workshop of the +world. We are driven from the markets of civilised countries by the +protective duties imposed by their governments for the righteous and +prudent purpose of fostering native industry, and we are compelled +to seek our marts among people who are not yet so far advanced in +political economy as to detect the enormous discrepancy between our +principles and our practice. Listen to Mr Harvey's sketch of our +foreign trade:-- + + "From the theories and systems I turned my attention to passing + events and recorded facts: I saw the West Indies prostrated; + Canada thrown into a state of revolt, succeeded by a smothered + feeling of discontent; Ireland depopulated; the magnificent + resources of India undeveloped; and the British farmer + reduced to the dire necessity of paying rent out of capital. + I also perceived that the change in our commercial policy had + substituted a cosmopolitan cant in the place of patriotism and + nationality. To become the friend of every country but his own + had become the pride and the glory of statesmanship. Foreign + goods were admitted, duty free, into our ports, in the vain hope + of reciprocity being established; but our manufactures were + subjected to heavy imposts on the Continent of Europe, and in + the United States. China, unversed in the mysteries of political + economy, only levies five per cent upon our goods, whilst, + in direct contravention of our pet notions of Free Trade and + reciprocity, we impose a tax of 300 per cent upon her teas. OUR + HOPES HAVE BEEN DISAPPOINTED, OUR CALCULATIONS FALSIFIED. WE ARE + THE DUPES OF OUR OWN FANTASTIC IDEAS AND QUIXOTIC CONCESSIONS. + We are the laughing-stock of the Old and the New Worlds. The + Germanic Zollverein shuns our overtures; the American excludes + our ships from his seaboard." + +Can these things be controverted? We defy the ingenuity of mankind +to do it. + +So much for the foreign trade; but there still remains the home +trade, in which by far the largest portion of our manufacturing +capital is embarked, and which furnishes a much greater amount of +employment to British labour than the other. You see what is the +state of that trade, notwithstanding the savings which may have been +effected by the lowered price of food, and also notwithstanding that +partial protection which several branches of it are still allowed +to retain. One word as to that incidental point. Mr Cobden is +reported to have said, that he did not care how soon these remnants +of protection were abolished. Let him be as good as his word, and, +IF HE DARES, rise up in his place in the House of Commons, and +make a motion to that effect. We shall then have an opportunity of +testing the exact nature of his principles. To what cause can such +a depression as this, so long and continuous, be attributed, except +to a general curtailment of demand on the part of the consumers, +arising from the insufficiency of their means to make purchases as +before? You are probably aware that what is called strict economy +in families is not favourable to the interests of manufacture or +of trade. Of manufactures of all kinds there must be a certain +yearly consumption, based upon the necessities of the people. +Besides food, men require clothes to cover them, and houses in which +to dwell, and those houses must be more or less furnished. But +between the bare supply of such necessities, and that point which +is considered by persons, according to their tastes, education, or +habits, as constituting comfort, there is a wide interval. Nothing +is a more sure criterion of the wealth and income of a people than +the ordering of their homes, and the manner of their living; and the +traveller who passes from one country into another can at once form +an estimate, from such appearances, of their respective wealth or +poverty. Diminish income, and a reduction is immediately made. All +superfluities are lopped off and renounced. The broker, who deals +in second-hand articles, drives a larger business than the man who +is the vendor of new ones; and even in domestic labour there is a +large economy practised, by reducing establishments. That this must +be so, will be evident on the slightest reflection. Reduce a man's +income from £1000 to £800 or £600, and he will, if he has any wisdom +or prudence, cut down his expenses to meet the fall. It is upon +the home manufacturer in the first place, and upon the shopkeeper +secondly, that these reductions tell. The one finds that his amount +of production is much greater than the demand; the other does not +turn over his capital nearly so rapidly as before. Add to this +that the home manufacturer, in many branches, is exposed to strong +foreign competition. Sir Robert Peel, in his last alterations of +the tariff, did indeed continue Protection--more largely than is +generally understood, for the mere amount of revenue-duty drawn from +importations of foreign articles, adapted to compete with ours in +the home, is no criterion of the Protective value--to some branches +of industry; but others were exposed without shelter, and have since +suffered accordingly. It is undeniable that a very large amount of +foreign manufactures, which have paid no duty at all, or merely an +elusory one, are consumed within this country--thereby inflicting +extreme injury upon British labour, and depressing trades which, +though severally not important, give in the aggregate, or ought to +give, the means of employment to thousands. Regard the subject in +any light you will, this cheapness, of which we have heard so much, +just amounts to a diminution of the income of every class, except +the annuitants and fund-holders, while it consequently renders the +payment of the fixed burdens more grievous to every one of us. + +You, gentlemen, to whom we have ventured to submit these remarks, +have a very great deal in your power. You can, by your decision, +either confirm the present policy, or cause it to be reversed; and +your own experience will suffice to show you in what manner the +system has worked. Statists may parade their figures, economists may +puff their plans, statesmen may indulge in high-coloured pictures +of the success which they expect to follow their measures--but the +true test of every measure which has a practical tendency will be +found in the effect which it produces upon the circumstances of the +people, and especially upon those of the middle classes. We, who +have, from the very first, anticipated the baneful effects of this +attack upon British industry--we, who have no more connection than +any of yourselves with territorial aristocracy, and who consider +the welfare of the people as the grand object which it is the duty +of the Government to promote--ask you to apply your own reason to +the facts which are before you and in your reach, and to decide and +act accordingly. It was, we knew from the very beginning of this +struggle, impossible that you could decide until the effects of the +Free-Trade experiment became visible and palpable among yourselves. +We foresaw that it was only through the suffering and impoverishment +of the producers that the practical lesson could reach you, and +that, until this took place, it was of little use to invoke your +aid, or even to entreat your judgment. Probably, by this time, you +will have formed an accurate estimate of the value of the doctrines +promulgated by the babblers on political economy--a sect which has +never yet been allowed to interfere with the internal affairs of +any nation, without producing the most disastrous results. To them +we are indebted for that change of the currency which has added +fully one-third to our fixed burdens, and for those complex monetary +arrangements which insure periodically the return of a commercial +crisis. But whatever you may think of them, do not allow yourselves +to be influenced by their representations, or by those of their +accredited organs. The time for theory is over. You have now to deal +with facts, regarding which every man of you is competent to form +an opinion. We do not ask you to accept our statements implicitly, +any more than those of our opponents--though, if we did so, we might +hold ourselves justified on this ground, that the greater part of +our evidence is taken from the admissions of our adversaries. We +appeal to your own experience, and upon that we leave you to decide. + +And do not be afraid to give free utterance to your opinion. There +exists not in this land--there exists not in all the world, the +power which can rise up against you. The British producer on the +one hand, and the exporting manufacturer on the other, may have +conflicting interests not altogether reconcilable with the public +good, for isolated interest always begets selfishness; and where +individual or class profit is concerned, principle is apt to be +overlooked. But you are, eminently, THE CLASS to pronounce upon +conflicting opinions. Your interest is that of the nation whose +pulse is beneath your finger. You can tell, with greater accuracy +than others, whether any political prescription has stimulated +the circulation of the blood, or caused it to run torpidly in the +national veins. You can mark the changes in the circumstances of +your customers, and from these you can form an estimate whether or +not the late experiment has been successful. + +If, judging by that test, you should think it has been successful, +our case is lost. We, who have advocated the Protective Principle in +legislation, cannot continue to maintain it, if those whose incomes +depend mainly upon British custom find themselves advantaged by +measures which have reduced the value of British produce. In matters +of this kind there is no abstract dogma involved, on the strength +of which any man could make himself a creditable martyr. Men have +died for their faith or for their allegiance, believing either to be +their highest duty; but no one in his senses will spend a lifetime, +or any considerable portion of it, in combating absolute facts. The +reason why Protection is still a living principle--the reason why it +finds so many supporters among the learned and the thoughtful--the +reason why it is progressing step by step towards triumph--is +because, in the minds of those who advocate it, there is a strong +and deep-rooted conviction that you already know that the opposite +system has entirely failed to realise the predictions of its +advocates, and that you feel that its permanency is contrary to your +interest, and to that of the great body of the people. If we are +right in this conviction, then we are entitled not only to solicit, +but to demand, your earnest co-operation. These are not times +for political cowardice, or weak suppression of opinion. Liberty +of thought, and liberty of the expression of sentiment, are our +unalienable prerogative; but of late years, and in the hands of a +certain party, that prerogative has been scandalously overstretched. +We now hear men--even members of the Legislature--threatening the +country, and you, with hints of insurrection, in case you exercise +your undoubted right of pronouncing a free and unbiassed judgment +upon any point of commercial policy. Let the caitiffs bluster! They +know, from the bottom of their ignoble souls--for none save an +ignoble soul would have dared to conceive that such threats would +intimidate any man of British birth or blood--that their menace is +as meaningless and vain as their miserable motives are apparent. +Let them bluster! They, the advocates of lowered wages--they, the +combatants for lengthened labour--they, the crushers of the infants, +have no large margin of operative sympathy upon which they can +afford to trade. Had John Fielden been alive, he could have told +you what these men were, and what sympathy they were likely to +command. Well do the workmen know with whom they have to deal! + +Let us not be misunderstood. We never have underrated the difficulty +of a change such as we contemplate; but no difficulty attending +that, is for a moment to be put into the balance against the general +welfare of the country, if, on reflection, and on considering your +own position, you shall be of opinion that the interests of the +country demand that change. But, at any hazard, we cannot afford to +go down-hill. To bring us, as the Manchester men contemplate, to +the Continental level in point of wages as well as expenditure, is +to seal the ruin of the British empire, burdened as it is; or, in +the least dangerous view, to necessitate repudiation. That matter +is, as we have said before, for you to decide; and the period for +your decision is rapidly drawing near. On the next general election +depends the fate of the country, and--without saying one syllable +more upon the merits of the systems at issue--the decision or +inclination of your body will form the most important, because it +must be considered, as between conflicting interests, the most +impartial element, of the expression of British opinion. + + + + +THE JEW'S LEGACY. + +A TALE OF THE SIEGE OF GIBRALTAR. + + +CHAPTER I. + +The note-book of my grandfather, Major Flinders, contains much +matter relative to the famous siege of Gibraltar, and he seems to +have kept an accurate and minute journal of such of its incidents +as came under his own observation. Indeed, I suspect the historian +Drinkwater must have had access to it, as I frequently find the same +notabilia chronicled in pretty much the same terms by both these +learned Thebans. But while Drinkwater confines himself mostly to +professional matters--the state of the fortifications, nature of the +enemy's fire, casualties to the soldiery, and the like--and seldom +introduces an anecdote interesting to the generality of readers +without apologising for such levity, my grandfather's sympathies +seem to have been engrossed by the sufferings of the inhabitants +deprived of shelter, as well as of sufficient food, and helplessly +witnessing the destruction of their property. Consequently, his +journal, though quite below the dignity of history, affords, now and +then, a tolerably graphic glimpse of the beleagured town. + +From the discursive and desultory nature of the old gentleman's +style, as before hinted, it would be vain to look for a continuous +narrative in his journal, even if it contained materials for such. +But here and there a literary Jack Horner might extract a plum or +two from the vast quantity of dough--of reflections, quotations, +and all manner of irrelevant observations, surrounding them. The +following incidents, which occurred at the most interesting period +of the long and tedious siege, appear to me to give a fair idea of +some of the characteristics of the time, and of the personages who +figured in it; and accordingly, after subjecting them to a process +analogous to gold-washing, I present them to the reader. + +After a strict blockade of six months, reducing the garrison to +great extremity for want of provisions, Gibraltar was relieved by +Sir George Rodney, who landed a large quantity of stores. But about +a year after his departure, no further relief having reached them +except casual supplies from trading vessels that came at a great +risk to the Rock, their exigencies were even worse than before. The +issue of provisions was limited in quantity, and their price so +high, that the families, even of officers, were frequently in dismal +straits. This has given rise to a wooden joke of my grandfather's, +who, although he seldom ventures on any deliberate facetiousness, +has entitled the volume of his journal relating to this period of +the siege, _The Straits of Gibraltar_. He seems to have estimated +the worth of his wit by its rarity, for the words appear at the top +of every page. + +The 11th of April 1781 being Carlota's birthday, the Major had +invited Owen (now Lieutenant Owen) to dine with them in honour of +the occasion. Owen was once more, for the time, a single man; for +Juana, having gone to visit her friends in Tarifa just before the +commencement of the siege, had been unable to rejoin her husband. In +vain had Carlota requested that the celebration might be postponed +till the arrival of supplies from England should afford them a +banquet worthy of the anniversary--the Major, a great stickler for +ancient customs, insisted on its taking place forthwith. Luckily, +a merchantman from Minorca had succeeded in landing a cargo of +sheep, poultry, vegetables, and fruit the day before, so that the +provision for the feast, though by no means sumptuous, was far +better than any they had been accustomed to for many months past. +The Major's note-book enables me to set the materials for the +dinner, and also its cost, before the reader--viz. a sheep's head, +price sixteen shillings, (my grandfather was too late to secure any +of the body, which was rent in pieces, and the fragments carried +off as if by wolves, ere the breath was well out of it)--a couple +of fowls, twenty shillings, (scraggy creatures, says my ancestor +in a parenthesis)--a ham, two guineas--raisins and flour for a +pudding, five shillings--eggs, (how many the deponent sayeth not,) +sixpence each--vegetables, nine and sixpence--and fruit for dessert, +seven and tenpence. Then, for wine, a Spanish merchant, a friend +of Carlota's, had sent them two bottles of champagne and one of +amontillado, a present as generous then as a hogshead would have +been in ordinary times; and there was, moreover, some old rum, and +two lemons for punch. Altogether, there was probably no dinner half +so good that day in Gibraltar. + +At the appointed hour, the Major was reading in his quarters (a +tolerably commodious house near the South Barracks, and at some +distance outside the town) when Owen appeared. + +"You're punctual, my boy; and punctuality's a cardinal virtue about +dinner-time," said my grandfather, looking at his watch; "three +o'clock exactly. And now we'll have dinner. I only hope the new cook +is a tolerable proficient." + +"What's become of Mrs Grigson?" asked Owen. "You haven't parted with +that disciple of Apicius, I should hope?" + +"She's confined again," said my grandfather, sighing; "a most +prolific woman that! It certainly can't be above half-a-year since +her last child was born, and she's just going to have another. 'Tis +certainly not longer ago than last autumn," he added musingly. + +"A wonderful woman," said Owen; "she ought to be purchased by the +Government, and sent out to some of our thinly-populated colonies. +And who fills her place?" + +"Why, I'll tell you," responded the Major. "Joe Trigg, my old +servant, is confined too--in the guardroom, I mean, for getting +drunk--and I've taken a man of the regiment, one Private Bags, for a +day or two, who recommended his wife as an excellent cook. She says +the same of herself; but this is her first trial, and I'm a little +nervous about it." + +"Shocking rascal that Bags," said Owen. + +"Indeed!" said my grandfather; "I'm sorry to hear that. I didn't +inquire about his character. He offered his services, saying he came +from the same part of England as myself, though I don't recollect +him." + +"Terrible work this blockade," said the Major after a pause. "Do +you know, if I was a general in command of a besieging army, I +don't think I could find it in my heart to starve out the garrison. +Consider now, my dear boy," (laying his forefinger on Owen's +arm,)--"consider, now, several thousand men, with strong appetites, +never having a full meal for months together. And just, too, as my +digestion was getting all right--for I never get a nightmare now, +though I frequently have the most delicious dreams of banquets +that I try to eat, but wake before I get a mouthful. 'Tis enough +to provoke a saint. And, as if this was not enough, the supply of +books is cut off. The _Weekly Entertainer_ isn't even an annual +entertainer to me. The last number I got was in '79, and I've been +a regular subscriber these twelve years. There's the _Gentleman's +Magazine_, too. The last one reached me a year since, with a capital +story in it, only half-finished, that I'm anxious to know the end +of; and also a rebus that I've been longing to see the answer to. +'The answer in our next,' says the tantalising editor. It's a +capital rebus--just listen now. 'Two-thirds of the name of an old +novelist, one-sixth of what we all do in the morning, and a heathen +deity, make together a morsel fit for a king.' I've been working at +it for upwards of a year, and I can't guess it. Can you?" + +"Roast pig with stuffing answers the general description," said +Owen. "That, you'll admit, is a morsel fit for a king." + +"Pooh!" said my grandfather. "But you must really try now. I've +run through the mythology, all that I know of it, and tried all +the old novelists' names, even Boccaccio and Cervantes. Never were +such combinations as I've made--but can't compound anything edible +out of them. Again, as to what we do in the morning: we all shave, +(that is, all who have beards)--and we yawn, too; at least I do, +on waking; but it must be a word of six letters. Then, who can the +heathen deity be?" + +"Pan is the only heathen deity that has anything to do with +cookery," said Owen. "Frying-pan, you know, and stew-pan." + +My grandfather caught at the idea, but had not succeeded in making +anything of it, or in approximating to the solution of the riddle, +when Carlota entered from an inner room. + +"I wish, my dear, you would see about the dinner," said the Major; +"'tis a quarter past three." + +"_Si, mi vida_," (yes, my life,) said Carlota, who was in the habit +of bestowing lavishly on my grandfather the most endearing epithets +in the Spanish language, some of them, perhaps, not particularly +applicable--_niño de mi alma_, (child of my soul,) _luz de mis +ojos_, (light of my eyes,) and the like; none of which appeared to +have any more effect on the object of them than if they had been +addressed to somebody else. + +Carlota rung the bell, which nobody answered. "Nurse is busy with +de _niña_," she said, when nobody answered it; "I go myself to de +_cocina_," (kitchen,)--she spoke English as yet but imperfectly. + +"There's one comfort in delay," said the Major; "'tis better to boil +a ham too much than too little--and yet I shouldn't like it overdone +either." + +Here they were alarmed by an exclamation from Carlota. "_Ah Dios! +Caramba! Ven, ven, mi niño!_" cried she from the kitchen. + +The Major and Owen hastened to the kitchen, which was so close +at hand that the smell of the dinner sometimes anticipated its +appearance in the dining-room. Mrs Bags, the new cook, was seated +before the fire. On the table beside her was an empty champagne +bottle, the fellow to which protruded its neck from a pail in one +corner, where the Major had put it to cool; and another bottle +of more robust build, about half-full, was also beside her. The +countenance of Mrs Bags wore a pleasant and satisfied, though not +very intelligent smile, as she gazed steadfastly on the ham that +was roasting on a spit before the fire--at least one side of it was +done quite black, while the other oozed with warm greese; for the +machinery which should have turned it was not in motion. + +"_Caramba!_" exclaimed Carlota, with uplifted hands. "_Que +picarilla!_"--(What a knave of a woman!) + +"Gracious heavens!" said my grandfather, "she's roasting it! Who +ever heard of a roast ham?" + +"A many years," remarked Mrs Bags, without turning her head, and +still smiling pleasantly, "have I lived in gentlemen's families--" +Here this fragment of autobiography was terminated by a hiccup. + +"And the champagne bottle is empty," said Owen, handling it. "A nice +sort of cook this of yours, Major. She seems to have constituted +herself butler, too." + +My grandfather advanced and lifted the other bottle to his nose. +"'Tis the old rum," he ejaculated with a groan. "But if the woman +has drunk all this 'twill be the death of her. Bags," he called, +"come here." + +The spouse of Mrs Bags emerged from a sort of scullery behind the +kitchen--a tall bony man, of an ugliness quite remarkable, and with +a very red face. He was better known by his comrades as Tongs, in +allusion probably to personal peculiarities; for the length of his +legs, the width of his bony hips, and the smallness of his head, +gave him some distant resemblance to that article of domestic +ironmongery; but as his wife called herself Mrs Bags, and he was +entered in the regimental books by that name, it was probably his +real appellation. + +"Run directly to Dr Fagan," said the Major, "and request him to come +here. Your wife has poisoned herself with rum." + +"'Tisn't rum," said Bags, somewhat thickly--"'tis fits." + +"Fits!" said my grandfather. + +"Fits," doggedly replied Mr Bags, who seemed by no means disturbed +at the alleged indisposition of his wife--"she often gets them." + +"Don't alarm yourself, Major," said Owen, "I'll answer for it she +hasn't drunk _all_ the rum. The scoundrel is half-drunk himself, and +smells like a spirit-vault. You'd better take your wife away," he +said to Bags. + +"She can leave if she ain't wanted," said Private Bags, with +dignity: "we never comes where we ain't wanted." And he advanced to +remove the lady. Mrs Bags at first resisted this measure, proceeding +to deliver a eulogium on her own excellent qualities, moral and +culinary. She had, she said, the best of characters, in proof of +which she made reference to several persons in various parts of the +United Kingdom, and, as she spoke, she smiled more affably than ever. + +"_La picarilla no tiene verguenza_," (the wretch is perfectly +shameless,) cried Carlota, who, having hastily removed the ham +from the fire, was now looking after the rest of the dinner. The +fowls, cut up in small pieces, were boiling along with the sheep's +head, and, probably to save time, the estimable Mrs Bags had put +the rice and raisins destined for a pudding into the pot along with +them--certainly, as Owen remarked, a bold innovation in cookery. + +Still continuing to afford them glimpses of her personal history, +Mrs Bags was at length persuaded to retire along with her helpmate. + +"What astonishing impudence," said the Major, shutting the door upon +her, "to pretend to be a cook, and yet know no better than to roast +a ham!" + +Carlota, meanwhile, was busy in remedying the disaster as far as she +could; cutting the ham into slices and frying it, making a fricassee +of the fowls, and fishing the raisins out of the pot, exclaiming +bitterly all the while, in English and Spanish, against the +_tunanta_ (equivalent to female scoundrel or scamp) who had spoilt +the only nice dinner her _pobrecito_, her _niño_, her _querido_, +(meaning my grandfather,) had been likely to enjoy for a long time, +stopping occasionally in her occupations to give him a consolatory +kiss. However, my grandfather did not keep up the character of a +martyr at all well: he took the matter really very patiently; and +when the excellent Carlota had set the dinner on the table, and he +tasted the fine flavour of the maltreated ham, he speedily regained +his accustomed good-humour. + +"It is very strange," he said presently, while searching with a fork +in the dish before him, "that a pair of fowls should have only three +wings, two legs, and one breast between them." + +It certainly was not according to the order of nature; nevertheless +the fact was so, all my grandfather's researches in the dish +failing to bring to light the missing members. This however, was +subsequently explained by the discovery of the remains of these +portions of the birds in the scullery, where they appeared to have +been eaten after being grilled; and Mrs Bags' reason for adopting +this mode of cooking them was also rendered apparent--viz., that she +might secure a share for herself without immediate detection. + +However, all this did not prevent them from making the best of what +was left, and the Major's face beamed as he drank Carlota's health +in a glass of the remaining bottle of champagne, as brightly as if +the dinner had been completely successful. + +"It is partly my fault, Owen," said the Major, "that you haven't a +joint of mutton instead of this sheep's head. I ought to have been +sharper. The animal was actually sold in parts before he was killed. +Old Clutterbuck had secured a haunch, and he a single man you +know--'tis thrown away upon him. I offered him something handsome +for his bargain, but he wouldn't part with it." + +"We're lucky to get any," returned Owen. "Never was such a scramble. +Old Fiskin, the commissary, and Mrs O'Regan, the Major's wife, both +swore the left leg was knocked down to them; neither would give in, +and it was put up again, when the staff doctor, Pursum, who had just +arrived in a great hurry, carried it off by bidding eightpence more +than either. Not one of the three has spoken to either of the others +since; and people say," added Owen, "Mrs O'Regan avers openly that +Fiskin didn't behave like a gentleman." + +"God knows!" said my grandfather, "'tis a difficult thing in such a +case to decide between politeness and a consciousness of being in +the right. Fiskin likes a good dinner." + +The dinner having been done justice to, Carlota removed the remains +to a side-table, and the Major was in the act of compounding a bowl +of punch, when there was a knock at the door. "Come in," cried +Carlota. + +A light and timid step crossed the narrow passage separating the +outer door from that of the room they sat in, and there was another +hesitating tap at this latter. "Come in," again cried Carlota, and a +young girl entered with a basket on her arm. + +"'Tis Esther Lazaro," said Carlota in Spanish. "Come in, child; sit +here and tell me what you want." + +Esther Lazaro was the daughter of a Jew in the town, whose +occupations were multifarious, and connected him closely with the +garrison. He discounted officers' bills, furnished their rooms, sold +them everything they wanted--all at most exorbitant rates. Still, +as is customary with military men, while perfectly aware that they +could have procured what he supplied them with elsewhere at less +expense, they continued to patronise and abuse him rather than +take the trouble of looking out for a more liberal dealer. As the +difficulties of the garrison increased, he had not failed to take +advantage of them, and it was even said he was keeping back large +stores of provisions and necessaries till the increasing scarcity +should enable him to demand his own terms for them. + +His daughter was about fifteen years old--a pretty girl, with hair +of the unusual colour of chestnut, plaited into thick masses on the +crown of her head. Her skin was fairer than is customary with her +race--her eyes brown and soft in expression, her face oval, and +her figure, even at this early age, very graceful, being somewhat +more precocious than an English girl's at those years. She was a +favourite with the ladies of the garrison, who often employed her to +procure feminine matters for them. Carlota, particularly, had always +treated her with great kindness--and hence the present visit. She +had come, she said timidly, to ask a favour--a great favour. She had +a little dog that she loved. (Here a great commotion in the basket +seemed to say she had brought her _protégé_ with her.) He had been +given to her by a young school friend who was dead, and her father +would no longer let her keep it, because, he said, these were no +times to keep such creatures, when provisions, even those fit for a +dog, were so dear. He was a very good little dog--would the Señora +take him? + +"Let us look at him, Esther," said Owen--"I see you have brought him +with you." + +"He is not pretty," said Esther, blushing as she produced him from +the basket. He certainly was not, being a small cur, marked with +black and white, like a magpie, with a tall curling over his back. +He did not appear at all at his ease in society, for he tried to +shrink back again into the basket. + +"He was frightened," she said, "for he had been shut up for more +than a month. She had tried to keep him in her bedroom, unknown to +her father, feeding him with part of her own meals; but he had found +it out, and had beaten her, and threatened to kill the dog if ever +he saw it again." + +"_Pobrecito!_" (poor little thing,) said the good Carlota--"we shall +take good care of it. _Toma_," (take this,) offering him a bit of +meat. But he crept under her chair, with his tail so depressed, in +his extreme bashfulness, that the point of it came out between his +forelegs. + +Carlota would have made the young Jewess dine there forthwith, at +the side-table still spread with the remains of the dinner; but +she refused to take anything, only sipping once from a glass of +wine that Carlota insisted on making her drink of. Then she rose, +and, having tied the end of a string that was fastened to the dog's +collar to the leg of the table, to prevent his following her, took +her leave, thanking Carlota very prettily. + +"_A Dios, Sancho!_" she said to the little dog, who wagged his +tail and gave her a piteous look as she turned to go away--"_A +Dios, Sancho_," she repeated, taking him up and kissing him very +affectionately. The poor child was ready to cry. + +"Come and see him every day, my child," said Carlota, "and when +better times come you shall have him again." + + +CHAPTER II. + +Lazaro the Jew was seated towards dusk that evening in a sort of +office partitioned off by an open railing from a great store filled +with a most motley collection of articles. Sofas, looking-glasses, +washing-stands--bales of goods in corded canvass--rows of old boots +purchased from officers' servants--window curtains lying on heaps +of carpeting and matting--bedsteads of wood and iron--crockery +and glass--were all piled indiscriminately. Similar articles had +also overflowed along the passage down the wooden steps leading +to the square stone court below, which was lumbered with barrels, +packing-cases, and pieces of old iron. This court was entered +from the street, and an arched door on one side of it, barred and +padlocked, opened on a large warehouse, which nobody except the Jew +had set foot in for many months. + +The Jew himself was a spare, rather small man, with a thin eager +face, small sharp features, and a scanty beard. Being by descent +a Barbary Jew, he wore the costume peculiar to that branch of his +race--a black skull-cap; a long-skirted, collarless, cloth coat, +buttoned close, the waist fastened with a belt; loose light-coloured +trousers and yellow slippers--altogether he looked somewhat like an +overgrown scholar of Christ's Hospital. He was busied in turning +over old parchment-covered ledgers, when an officer entered. + +Von Dessel was a captain in Hardenberg's regiment. He was a square, +strong-built man, about forty, with very light hair, as was apparent +since the governor's order had forbidden the use of powder to the +troops, in consequence of the scarcity of flour. His thick, white, +overhanging eyebrows, close lips, and projecting under jaw gave +sternness to his countenance. + +"Good afternoon, captain," said the Jew; "what I do for you to-day, +sare?" + +"Do for me! By Gott, you have done for me already, with your cursed +Hebrew tricks," said the captain. The German and the Jew met on a +neutral ground of broken English. + +"I always treat every gentleman fair, sare," said the Jew. "I tell +you, captain, I lose by that last bill of yours." + +"_Der teufel!_ who gains, then?" said Von Dessel, "for you cut me +off thirty per cent." + +The Jew shrugged his shoulders. + +"I don't make it so, sare; the siege makes it so. When the port is +open, you shall have more better exchange." + +"Well, money must be had," said the German. "What will you give now +for my bill for twenty pounds?" + +The Jew consulted a book of figures--then made some calculations on +paper--then appeared to consider intently. + +"Curse you, speak!" said the choleric captain. "You have made up +your mind about how much roguery long ago." + +"Captain, sare, I give you feefty dallars," said the Jew. + +The captain burst forth with a volley of German execrations. + +"Captain," said the Jew presently, "I like to please a gentleman if +I can. I give you one box of cigars besides--real Cubas--one hundred +and feefty in a box." + +The captain at this broke forth again, but checked himself presently +on the entrance of the Jew's daughter, who now returned from the +Major's. She advanced quietly into the room, made a little bow to +the captain, took off and laid aside her shawl, and, taking up some +work, sat down and began to sew. + +Von Dessel resumed his expostulation in a milder tone. The Jew, +however, knew the money was necessary to him, and only yielded +so far as to increase his box of cigars to two hundred; and the +captain, finding he could get no better terms from him, was forced +to agree. While the Jew was drawing out the bills, the German gazed +attentively at Esther, with a good deal of admiration expressed in +his countenance. + +"I can't take the money now," said he, after signing the bills. "I +am going on duty. Bring it to me to-morrow morning, at nine o'clock." + +"I'm afraid I can't, sare," said Lazaro; "too moch business. +Couldn't you send for it, captain?" + +"Not possible," said the German; "but you must surely have somebody +that might bring it--some trustworthy person you know." And his eye +rested on Esther. + +"There's my dater, sare," said the Jew--"I shall send her, if that +will do." + +"Good," said the captain, "do not forget," and quitted the room +forthwith. + +He was scarcely gone when a pair with whom the reader is already +slightly acquainted, Mr and Mrs Bags, presented themselves. The +effects of their morning conviviality had in a great measure +disappeared. + +"Your servant, sir," said Bags. The Jew nodded. + +"We've got a few articles to dispose of," pursued Mr Bags, looking +round the room cautiously. "They was left us," he added in a low +tone, "by a _diseased_ friend." + +"Ah!" said the Jew, "never mind where you got 'em. Be quick--show +them." + +Mrs Bags produced from under her cloak, first a tin teakettle, then +a brass saucepan; and Mr Bags, unbuttoning his coat, laid on the +table three knives and a silver fork. Esther, passing near the table +at the time, glanced accidentally at the fork, and recognised the +Flinders crest--a talbot, or old English bloodhound. + +"Father," said she hastily, in Spanish, "don't have anything to do +with that--it must be stolen." But the Jew turned so sharply on her, +telling her to mind her work, that she retreated. + +The Jew took up the tea-kettle, and examined the bottom to see that +it was sound--did the same with the saucepan--looked at the knives +narrowly, and still closer at the fork--then ranged them before him +on the table. + +"For dis," said he, laying his hand on the tea-kettle, "we will say +one pound of rice; for dis (the saucepan) two pounds of corned beef; +for de knives, a bottle of rum; and for de fork, seex ounces of the +best tea." + +"Curse your tea!" said Mr Bags. + +"Yes!" said Mrs Bags, who had with difficulty restrained herself +during the process of valuation, "we doesn't want no tea. And the +things is worth a much more than what you say: the saucepan's as +good as new, and the fork's silver--" + +"Plated," said the Jew, weighing it across his finger. + +"A many years," said Mrs Bags, "have I lived in gentlemen's +families, and well do I know plate from silver. I've lived with Mrs +Milson of Pidding Hill, where everything was silver, and nothing +plated, even to the handles of the doors; and a dear good lady she +was to me; many's the gown, she giv me. And I've lived with--" + +Here the Jew unceremoniously interrupted the train of her +recollections by pushing the things from before him. "Take what I +offer, or else take your things away," said he, shortly. + +Mr and Mrs Bags grumbled considerably. The tea they positively +refused at any price: Mr Bags didn't like it, and Mrs Bags said it +disagreed with her. So the Jew agreed to give them instead another +bottle of rum, a pound of onions, and two pounds of beef; and with +these terms they at length closed, and departed with the results of +their barter. + +During the altercation, a soldier of another regiment had entered, +and stood silently awaiting his turn to be attended to. He was a +gaunt man, with want written legibly in the hollows of his face +and the dismal eagerness of his eye. He now came forward, and with +trembling hands unfolded an old gown, and handed it to the Jew. + +"'Tis no good to me," said the latter, giving it back, after holding +it against the light; "nothing but holes." + +"But my wife has no other," said the man: "'tis her last stitch of +clothes, except her petticoat and a blanket. I've brought everything +else to you." + +The Jew shrugged his shoulders and spread out his hands, in token +that he could not help it. + +"I swear 'tis her last!" reiterated the man, as if he really fancied +this fact must give the garment as much value in the Jew's eyes as +in his own. + +"I tell you I won't have it!" said the Jew, testily. + +"Give me only a loaf for it, or but one pound of potatoes," said the +soldier: "'tis more than my wife and four children have had among +them for two days. Half-rations for one, among six of us, is too +hard to live." + +"A pound of potatoes," said the Jew, "is worth four reals and +a-half--eighteenpence; your wife's gown is worth--nothing!" + +"Then take this," said the man, beginning frantically to pull off +his uniform coat; "anything is better than starving." + +The Jew laughed. "What!" said he, "you think I don't know better +than to buy a soldier's necessaries, eh? Ah, ah! no such a fool, I +think, my friend. What your captain say?--eh?" + +The man struck his hand violently on the table. "Then give me--or +lend me," said he, "some food, much or little, and I'll work for you +every hour I'm off duty till you're satisfied. I will, Mr Lazaro, so +help me God!" + +"I got plenty of men to work for me," said Lazaro; "don't want any +more. Come again, when you've got something to sell, my friend." + +The man rolled up the gown without speaking, then lifted it over his +head, and dashed it into the furthest corner of the store. He was +hurrying from the place, when, as if unwilling to throw away his +last chance, he turned back, gathered it up, and, thrusting it under +his arm, quitted the store with lingering steps, as if he even yet +hoped to be called back. No such summons reached him, however; but, +immediately after he was gone, Esther rose and stole softly down the +stairs. She overtook him at the street-door opening from the court +before mentioned, and laid her hand on his arm. The man turned and +glared on her. "What!--he'll buy it, will he?" said he. + +"Hush!" said Esther--"keep it for your poor wife. Look; I have no +money, but take these," and she placed in his hand two earrings +hastily detached from her ears. + +The man stood looking at her for a space, as if stupified, without +closing his hand on the trinkets that lay on the palm; then, +suddenly rousing himself, he swore, with tears in his eyes, that +for this service he would do for her anything on earth she should +require from him; but she only begged him to go away at once, and +say nothing, lest her father should overhear the transaction, who +would certainly be angry with her for it. + +Bags and his wife had stopt in a corner of the court, to pack +up their property in a commodious form for conveyance, and had +witnessed this scene in silence. As soon as the soldier had, in +compliance with Esther's entreaties, disappeared, Bags came forward. + +"And your father would be angry, would he, my dear?" said he. + +"Oh, very--oh, so angry! Please don't stop me," she said, trying to +pass him. + +"And what'll ye give me not to tell him, now?" asked Mr Bags. +"Ain't ye got nothing for me?" + +"No--oh, no--indeed, nothing. Do let me pass." + +"Yes, you have; you've got this, I think," said Bags, snatching at +a silver-mounted comb glistening in her hair, which, thus loosened, +all fell down on her shoulders as she darted past him. "And now," +said Mr Bags, inspecting his prize, "I think me and that 'ere +cheating Jew is quits for the silver fork. I'll allow it's plated +now." + + +CHAPTER III. + +Early the next morning (the 12th of April) a rumour went through +the town that an English fleet was signalled as in sight. The news +roused the starving people like electricity. The pale spectres of +men that, on the previous day, had stalked so gauntly through the +dreary streets--the wretched, sinking women, and children careworn +as grandfathers--poured forth, with something like a natural light +in their hollow eyes, to witness the joyful spectacle. The sea-wall +of the city was, like the margin of a vast pool of Bethesda, +thronged with hopeful wretches awaiting the coming of the angel. + +The streets were instantly deserted. Those who could not leave their +homes got on the housetops, but the great mass of the population +spread itself along the line-wall, the Grand Parade and Alameda, +and the heights skirting the chief slopes of the Rock. Moors and +Jews, Spaniards and English, citizens and soldiers, men, women, +and children, of all ages, grades, and nations, ranged themselves +indiscriminately wherever they could obtain a view of the sea. + +For some time the wished-for sight was delayed by a thick fog that +spread itself across the Straits and the entrance of the bay. A +murmur rose from each successive rank of people that forced itself +into a front place on the line-wall. Terrible doubts flew about, +originating no one knew where, but gaining strength and confirmation +as they passed from mouth to mouth. On the summit of the Rock behind +them the signal for a fleet flew steadily from the mast at Middle +Hill; but still in this, as in all crowds, were some of little +faith, who were full of misgivings. Many rushed up to the signal +station, unable to bear the pain of the delay. My grandfather +noticed the Jew Lazaro among the throng, watching the event with an +anxious eye, though his anxiety was from the opposite cause to that +of most of the spectators. The arrival of supplies would at once +bring down the price of provisions, and rob him, for the present, +of his expected profits; and as each successive rumour obtained +credence with the crowd, his countenance brightened as their hopes +fell, and sank as they again emerged from despondency. + +Not far from him was an old Genoese woman, wearing the quaint red +cloak, trimmed with black velvet, that old Genoese women usually +wear in Gibraltar. She hovered round the skirts of the crowd, +occasionally peering beneath an uplifted arm, or thrusting it +between two obstructing figures, to catch a glimpse, though it was +evident that her dim eyes would fail to discern the fleet when +it should come in view. Her thin shrivelled features, relieved +against her black hood, were positively wolfish from starvation. +She frequently drew one hand from beneath her cloak, and gazed at +something she held in it--then, muttering, she would again conceal +it. My grandfather's curiosity was roused. He drew near and watched +for the reappearance of the object that so engrossed her. It was a +blue mouldy crust of bread. + +The wished-for spectacle was at length revealed. "As the sun became +more powerful," says Drinkwater, rising into positive poetry +with the occasion, "the fog gradually rose, _like the curtain of +a vast theatre_, discovering to the anxious garrison one of the +most beautiful and pleasing scenes it is possible to conceive. The +convoy, consisting of near a hundred vessels, were in a compact +body, led by several men-of-war--their sails just filled enough for +steerage, while the majority of the line-of-battle ships lay to +under the Barbary shore, having orders not to enter the bay, lest +the enemy should molest them with their fireships." + +Then rose a great shout--at once the casting-off of long-pressing +anxiety and the utterance of delight. Happy tears streamed down +haggard faces overgrown with hair, and presently men turned to one +another, smiling in the face of a stranger neighbour as in that of +an old friend, while a joyful murmur, distilled from many languages, +rose upward. Assuredly, if blessings are of any avail, the soul of +Admiral Darby, who commanded the relieving fleet, is at this moment +in Paradise. + +Friends and relations now began to search for one another in +the crowd, which broke quickly into knots, each contriving how +to enjoy together the plenty that was to descend upon them. My +grandfather's eye at this juncture was again attracted by the old +Genoese woman. When the crowd shouted, she screened her eyes with +her withered hand, and, with her nostril spread, her chin fallen, in +her eagerness gazed towards the sea--but presently shook her head, +discerning nothing. Then she plucked by the arm a joyful Spaniard. + +"_Es verdad? Por Dios, es verdad?_" she cried; "_jura! jura!_"--(Is +it true? Swear by Heaven it is true.) + +"_Si, si,_" said the Spaniard, pointing; "_es verdad_," ('tis true.) +"You may see them yourself." + +Instantly the old woman, for the last time, drew forth her +treasured crust, and began to devour it, muttering, as she tore +away each mouthful, "_Mas mañana! mas mañana!_" (I shall have more +to-morrow--more to-morrow!) + +After the crowd had partially dispersed, Owen was returning to +his quarters to breakfast, when, as he paused to open the door, +he heard a voice he thought he knew crying out in affright in the +rooms opposite, where Von Dessel resided. Presently the door of the +quarters was opened, and the flushed and frightened face of Esther +Lazaro appeared, as she struggled to escape from Von Dessel, who +held her arm. + +"Señor, señor, speak to the gentleman!" she cried to Owen. + +"Leetle foolish girl," said Von Dessel, grinning a smile on seeing +him; "she frightens at nothing. Come in, child"--trying to shut the +door. + +"Why don't you let her alone?" said Owen; "don't you see she doesn't +like you?" + +"Pouf!" said the captain. "We all have trouble with them +sometimes--you must know that well." + +"No, by Jupiter!" cried Frank Owen. "If I couldn't gain them +willingly, they might go to the devil for me. But you hurt her--pray +let her go--you must indeed." + +"Do you mind your own affair," said the captain, "and don't meddle;" +and, exerting his strength, he drew Esther in, and partially +succeeded in shutting the door--she calling the while again on Owen +to help her. Frank stepped forward, and, putting his foot against +the door, sent it into the room, causing Captain Von Dessel, who was +behind it, to stagger back with some violence, and to quit his hold +of Esther, who ran down stairs. + +"Very good, sir," said the captain, stalking grimly out of his room, +pale with rage. "You have thought right to interfere with me, and to +insult me. By Gott! I will teach you better, young man. Shall we say +in one hour, sir, in the Fives' Court?" + +Owen nodded. "At your pleasure," said he, and, entering his own +quarters, shut the door. + +Meanwhile my grandfather walked about with the telescope he had +brought with him to look after the fleet under his arm, enjoying the +unusual sight of happy faces around him. And he has remarked it as +a singular feature of humanity, that this prospect of relief from +physical want inspired a far more deep and universal joy than he +had witnessed in any public rejoicings arising from such causes as +loyalty or patriotism evinced at a coronation or the news of a great +victory; and hence my grandfather takes occasion to express a fear +that human nature, as well as other nature, is, except among the +rarer class of souls, more powerfully and generally influenced by +its animal propensities than by more refined causes. + +He was so engrossed with the philanthropic pursuit of enjoying the +joy of the multitude, and the philosophic one of extracting moral +reflections therefrom, that he quite forgot he had not breakfasted. +He was just beginning to be reminded of the circumstance by a +feeling of hollowness in the region of the stomach, and to turn +his steps homeward, when a light hand was laid on his arm. My +grandfather turned, and beheld the face of the young Jewess looking +wistfully in his. + +She began at first to address him in Spanish--the language she spoke +most naturally; but, quickly perceiving her mistake on hearing the +extraordinary jargon in which he replied, (for it is a singular +fact that nobody but Carlota, who taught him, could understand my +grandfather's Spanish,) she exchanged it for his own tongue. She +told him in a few hurried words of the quarrel Owen had incurred on +her account with Von Dessel, and of the challenge she had overheard +given by the latter, beseeching the major to hasten to prevent the +result. + +"In the Fives' Court! in an hour!" said my grandfather. "When did +this happen?" + +Esther thought nearly an hour ago--she had been almost so long +seeking my grandfather. + +"I'll go, child--I'll go at once," said the Major. "With Von Dessel, +too, as if he could find nobody else to quarrel with but the best +swordsman in the garrison. 'Souls and bodies' quoted my grandfather, +'hath he divorced three.'" + +With every stride he took, the Major's uneasiness was augmented. At +any time his anxiety would have been extreme while peril threatened +Frank; but now, when he was calculating on him as a companion +at many a well-spread table, when they might forget their past +miseries, it peculiarly affected him. + +"To think," muttered my grandfather, "that these two madmen should +choose a time when everybody is going to be made so happy, by +getting plenty to eat, to show their gratitude to Providence by +cutting one another's throats!" + +The danger to Owen was really formidable; for, though a respectable +swordsman, he was no unusual proficient in the graceful art, while +his opponent was not only, as my grandfather had said, the best +swordsman in the garrison, but perhaps the best at that time in the +army. As a student in Germany he had distinguished himself in some +sanguinary duels; and since his arrival in Gibraltar, a Spanish +gentleman, a very able fencer, had fallen beneath his arm. + +"God grant," said my grandfather to himself, as he neared the Fives' +Court, "that we may settle this without the perdition of souls. +Frank, my dear boy, we could better spare a better man!" + +On attempting to enter the Fives' Court he was stopped by the +master, posted at the door. "It was engaged," he said, "for a +private match." + +"Ay, ay," said my grandfather, pushing past him; "a pretty match, +indeed! Ay, ay--pray God we can stop it!" + +Finding the inner door locked, the Major, who was well acquainted +with the locality--for, when he had nothing else particular to +do, he would sometimes mark for the players for a rubber or +two--ascended the stairs to the gallery. + +About the centre of the court stood the combatants. All +preliminaries had been gone through--for they were stripped to their +shirts--and the seconds (one a German, the adjutant of Hardenberg's +regiment--the other, one Lieutenant Rushton, an old hand at these +affairs, and himself a fire-eater) stood by, each with a spare sword +in his hand. In a corner was the German regimental surgeon, his +apparatus displayed on the floor, ready for an emergency. Rushton +fully expected Owen to fall, and only hoped he might escape without +a mortal wound. Von Dessel himself seemed of the same opinion, +standing square and firm as a tower, scarcely troubling himself to +assume an attitude, but easy and masterly withal. Both contempt and +malice were expressed for his antagonist in his half-shut eyes and +sardonic twist of the corners of his mouth. + +"Owen, Owen, my boy!" shouted my grandfather, rushing to the front +of the gallery, and leaning over, as the swords crossed--"stop, for +God's sake. You mustn't fight that swashbuckler! They say he hath +been fencer to the Sophy," roared the Major, in the words of Sir +Toby Belch. + +The combatants just turned their heads for a moment to look at the +interrupter, and again crossed swords. + +Immediately on finding his remonstrance disregarded, the Major +descended personally into the arena--not by the ordinary route of +the stairs, but the shorter one of a perpendicular drop from the +gallery, not effected with the lightness of a feathered Mercury. But +the clatter of his descent was lost in the concussion of a discharge +of artillery that shook the walls. Instantly the air was alive +with shot and hissing shells; and before the echoes of the first +discharge had ceased, the successive explosion of the shells in the +air, and the crashing of chimneys, shattered doors, and falling +masonry, increased the uproar. One shell burst in the court, filling +it with smoke. My grandfather felt, for a minute, rather dizzy with +the shock. When the smoke cleared, by which time he had partially +recovered himself, the first object that caught his eye was Von +Dessel lying on the pavement, and the doctor stooping over him. The +only other person hurt was Rushton, a great piece of the skin of +whose forehead, detached by a splinter, was hanging over his right +eye. Von Dessel had sustained a compound fracture of the thigh, +while the loss of two fingers from his right hand had spoiled his +thrust in tierce for ever. + +"What can be the matter?" said my grandfather, looking upward, as a +second flight of missiles hurtled overhead. + +"Matter enough," quoth Rushton, mopping the blood from his eye with +his handkerchief; "those cursed devils of Spaniards are bombarding +the town." + +The Major went up to Owen, and squeezed his hand. "We won't abuse +the Spaniards for all that," said he--"they've saved your life, my +boy." + + +CHAPTER IV. + +Enraged at seeing their blockade evaded by the arrival of Darby's +fleet, the Spaniards revenged themselves by directing such a fire +upon Gibraltar, from their batteries in the Neutral Ground, as in +a short time reduced the town to a mass of ruins. This misfortune +was rendered the more intolerable to the besieged, as it came in +the moment of exultation and general thanksgiving. While words of +congratulation were passing from mouth to mouth, the blow descended, +and "turned to groans their roundelay." + +The contrast between the elation of the inhabitants when my +grandfather entered the Fives' Court, and their universal +consternation and despair when he quitted it, was terrible. The +crowd that had a few minutes before so smilingly and hopefully +entered their homes, now fled from them in terror. Again the +streets were thronged by the unhappy people, who began to believe +themselves the sport of some powerful and malevolent demon. Whole +families, parents, children, and servants, rushed together into +the streets, making their way to the south to escape the missiles +that pursued them. Some bore pieces of furniture snatched up in +haste, and apparently seized because they came first to hand; some +took the chairs they had been sitting on; one man my grandfather +noticed bearing away with difficulty the leaf of a mahogany table, +leaving behind the legs which should have supported it; and a woman +had a crying child in one hand, and in the other a gridiron, still +reeking with the fat of some meat she had been cooking. Rubbish +from the houses began to strew the streets; and here and there +a ragged breach in a wall rent by the cannon afforded a strange +incongruous glimpse of the room inside, with its mirrors, tables, +and drapery, just as the inhabitants left them. Armed soldiers +were hastening to their different points of assembly, summoned by +bugles that resounded shrilly amid the din, and thrusting their way +unceremoniously through the impeding masses of fugitives. + +The house of the Jew Lazaro was one of the first that was seriously +injured. The blank wall of the great warehouse before mentioned, +that faced the street, had, either from age or bad masonry, long +before exhibited several cracks. A large segment, bounded by +two of these cracks, had been knocked away by a shot, and the +superincumbent mass falling in consequence, the great store, and all +its hoarded treasures, appeared through the chasm. + +The Jew's instincts had, at first, led him to save himself by +flight. But, on returning timorously to look after his property, the +sight of the ruined wall, and the unprotected hoards on which he had +so securely reckoned as the source of wealth, obliterated in his +mind, for the time, all sense of personal danger. Seeing a party of +soldiers issuing from a wine-house near, he eagerly besought them to +assist him in removing his property to a place of safety, promising +to reward them largely for their risk and trouble. + +One of the soldiers thus appealed to was Mr Bags. + +"Ho, ho!" said Mr Bags; "here's a chance--here's a pleasure, +comrades. We can help Mr Lazaro, who is always so good to us--this +here Jewish gentleman, that gives such liberal prices for our +things. Certainly--we'll remove 'em all, and not charge him nothing. +Oh--oh--ah!" And, to give point to his irony, Mr Bags distorted his +face hideously, and winked upon his friends. + +The idea of giving Lazaro any assistance was considered a capital +joke, and caused a great deal of mirth as they walked towards the +store, to which the Jew eagerly led the way. + +"If there's anything good to eat or drink in the store, we may +remove some of it, though it won't be on our backs, eh, boys?" said +Bags, as he stept in advance, over a heap of rubbish, into the store. + +"These first--these, my friends," cried the Jew, going up to a row +of barrels, standing a little apart from the crowded masses of +articles. + +"Oh, these first, eh?" said Bags; "they're the best, be they? Thank +you, Mr Lazaro; we'll see what's in 'em;" and, taking up a gimlet +that lay near, he proceeded to bore a hole in one of the barrels, +desiring a friend, whom he addressed as Tim, to tap the next one. + +"Thieves!" screamed the Jew, on witnessing this proceeding, seizing +Bags' arm, "leave my store--go out--let my goods alone!" Bags lent him +a shove that sent him into a corner, and perceiving liquor flowing +from the hole he had drilled, applied his mouth to the orifice. + +"Brandy," said he, as he paused for breath, "real Cognac. Comrades, +here's luck to that 'ere shot that showed us the way in;" and he +took another diligent pull at the hole. + +Meantime his comrades had not been idle; other barrels were opened, +and their contents submitted to a critical inspection. + +The Jew tried various modes to induce them to relinquish their +booty: first threats--then offers of reward--then cajolery; and, +at last, attempted to interpose and thrust them from their spoil. +A shot from the enemy entering the store, enfiladed a long line of +barrels, scattering the staves and their contents. The place was +instantly flooded with liquor--wine, molasses, spirits, and oil, +ran in a mingled stream, soaking the _débris_ of biscuit and salt +provisions that strewed the floor. One soldier was struck dead, and +Mr Bags only escaped destruction by the lucky accident of having his +head at that moment apart from the barrel which had engrossed his +attention, and which was knocked to pieces. + +The Jew, partly stunned by a wound in the forehead from the splinter +of a barrel, and partly in despair at the destruction of his +property, came to the entrance of the store, seating himself among +the rubbish. Other plunderers speedily followed the example of the +marauding soldiers, but he made no attempt to stop them as they +walked past him. My grandfather, passing at the time on his way +home, was horrified at the sight of him. Flour from a splintered +barrel had been scattered over his face, and blood from the wound +in his forehead, trickling down, had clotted it on his cheeks and +scanty beard, giving him an aspect at once appalling and disgusting. +His daughter had waited at the door of the Fives' Court till she +saw Owen come forth in safety, and had then availed herself of +the protection of the Major as far as her own home. Shrieking at +the dismal sight, she sprang forward and threw herself before the +Jew, casting her arms around him. This seemed to rouse him. He +arose--looked back into the store; and then, as if goaded by the +sight of the wreck into intolerable anguish, he lifted his clenched +hands above his head, uttering a sentence of such fearful blasphemy, +that a devout Spaniard, who was emerging from the store with some +plunder, struck him on the mouth. He never heeded the blow, but +continued to rave, till, suddenly overcome by loss of blood and +impotent rage, he dropt senseless on the ground. + +My grandfather, calling some soldiers of his regiment who were +passing, desired them to convey him to the hospital at the South +Barracks, and, again taking the terrified and weeping Esther under +his protection, followed to see the unfortunate Jew cared for. + +At the various parades that day Mr Bags was reported absent, being +in fact engaged in pursuits of a much more interesting nature than +his military duties. A vast field of interprise was opened to him +and other adventurous spirits, of which they did not fail to avail +themselves, in the quantity of property of all kinds abandoned by +the owners, in houses and shops where locks and bolts were no longer +a protection; and although the firing, which ceased for an hour +or two in the middle of the day, was renewed towards evening and +continued with great fury, the ardour of acquisition by no means +abated. + +About midnight a sentry on the heights of Rosia (the name given +to a portion of the rugged cliffs towards the south and near the +hospital) observed, in the gloom, a figure lurking about one of the +batteries, and challenged it. Receiving no answer, he threatened to +fire, when Bags came forward reluctantly, with a bundle in his hand. + +"Hush, Bill," said Bags, on finding the sentry was a personal +friend--"don't make a row: it's only me, Bags--Tongs, you know," he +added, to insure his recognition. + +"What the devil are you doing there, you fool?" asked his friend in +a surly tone--"don't you know the picquet's after you?" + +"I've got some little things here that I want to lay by, where +nobody won't see 'em, in case I'm catched," returned Bags. "Don't +you take no notice of me, Bill, and I'll be off directly." + +"What have ye got?" asked Bill, whose curiosity was awakened by the +proceedings of his friend. + +"Some little matters that I picked up in the town," returned Bags. +"Pity you should be on guard to-day, Bill--there was some pretty +pickings. I'll save something for you, Bill," added Bags, in an +unaccountable access of generosity. + +The sentry, however, who was a person in every way worthy of the +friendship of Mr Bags, expressed no gratitude for the considerate +offer, but began poking at the bundle with his bayonet. + +"Hands off, Bill," said Bags, "they won't abear touching." + +"Let's see 'em," said Bill. + +"Not a bit on it," said Bags; "they ain't aworth looking at." + +"Suppose I was to call the sergeant of the guard," said Bill. + +"You wouldn't do such a action?" said Bags, in a tone strongly +expressive of disgust at such baseness. "No, no, Bill, you ain't +that sort of fellow, _I'm_ sure." + +"It's my dooty," said the sentry, placing the butt of his musket on +the ground, and leaning his elbow on the muzzle. "You see that what +you said, Tongs, was very true, about its being hard upon me to be +carrying about this here damnable weppin" (slapping the barrel of +the musket) "all day for fourpence ha'penny, while you are making +your fortin. It is, Tongs, d--d hard." + +"Never mind; there'll be plenty left to-morrow," said Bags in a +consolatory tone. + +"What shall we say, now, if I lets ye hide it?" said Bill, pointing +to the bundle. "Half-shares?" + +"This ain't like a friend, Bill," returned Tongs, highly disgusted +with this ungenerous proposal. "Nobody ever knowed me interfere +with a comrade when I was on sentry. How long ago is it since I let +ye stay in my box an hour, till ye was sober enough to walk into +barracks, when I was sentry at the gate? Why, the whole bundle ain't +worth eighteenpence--and I've worked hard for it." + +"Half-shares?" reiterated Bill, not melted in the least by the +memory of ancient benefits. + +"No, by G--!" said Bags in great wrath. + +"Serg----," began Bill in an elevated voice, porting his arms at the +same time. + +"Stop!" said Bags; "don't call the sergeant. Half is better nor +nothing, if ye're going to behave like that. We'll say half, then." + +"Ah," said Bill, returning to his former position--"I thought we +should agree. And now let's see 'em, Tongs." + +Muttering still his disapprobation of this unworthy treatment, Bags +put his bundle on the stone embrasure of the battery, and began to +unfold it. + +Eighteenpence was certainly a low valuation. Bags appeared to have +visited a jeweller's shop. Watches, rings, bracelets, gold chains, +and brooches glittered on the dingy surface of the handkerchief. + +"My eye!" said Bill, unable to repress a low laugh of delight--"why, +we'll turn bankers when we've sold 'em. Tongs and Co., eh?" said +Bill with considerable humour. + +Bags, however, told him he was altogether mistaken in his +estimate--most of the things were pinchbeck, he said, and the stones +all glass; and, to save Bill any trouble, he offered to dispose of +them himself to the best possible advantage, and bring his partner +his share of the proceeds, which would certainly be at least +ninepence, and might perhaps be half-a-dollar. This arrangement +did not, however, meet the approbation of the astute William, who +insisted on dividing the spoils by lot. But here, again, there was +a slight misunderstanding, for both fixed their affections on a +gigantic watch, which never could have been got into any modern +pocket, and whose face was ornamented with paintings from the +heathen mythology. Both of them supposed, from the size and the +brilliancy of the colours, that this must be of immense value. +Finding they were not likely to come to a speedy arrangement on +this point, they agreed to postpone the division of the spoils till +morning. + +"I'll tell ye where to put it, Bags," said Bill. "These here guns in +this battery haven't been fired for years, nor ain't likely to be, +though they loaded 'em the other day. Take out the wad of this one, +and put in the bundle." + +Bags approved of the idea, withdrew the wad from the muzzle of the +gun, put in the bundle as far as his arm would reach, and then +replaced the wad. + +"Honour bright?" said Bags, preparing to depart. + +"Honour bright," returned Bill; and Bags disappeared. + +Nevertheless he did not feel sufficient confidence in his +confederate's integrity to justify his quitting the place and +leaving him to his own devices. He thought Bill might perhaps avail +himself of his absence to remove the treasure, or be guilty of some +other treachery. He therefore crept back again softly, till he got +behind a crag from whence he had a full view of the battery. + +For some time Bill walked sternly to and fro on his post. Bags +observed, however, that he always included the gun where the deposit +lay in his perambulations, which became shorter and shorter. At last +he halted close to it, laid down his musket against the parapet, +and, approaching the muzzle of the gun, took out the wad. + +At this moment a neighbouring sentry gave an alarm. The guard +turned out, and Bill, hastily replacing the wad, resumed his arms +and looked about for the cause of the alarm. About a mile out in +the bay several red sparks were visible. As he looked there were a +corresponding number of flashes, and then a whistling of shot high +overhead told that the guns from which they had been discharged had +been laid too high. The Spanish gunboats were attacking the south. + +The drums beat to arms, and in a few minutes the battery was manned +with artillerymen. To the inconceivable horror of Bags and Bill, the +whole of the guns in the battery were altered in position, and a +gunner took post at the rear of each with a lighted portfire. Then +a flushed face might be seen, by the blue light of the portfires, +rising from behind a neighbouring piece of rock, the eyes staring, +the mouth open in agonised expectation. + +"Number one--fire!" said the officer in command, to the gunner in +rear of the gun in which Mr Bags had invested his capital. + +"No, no!" shouted Bags, rising wildly from behind the rock. + +The portfire touched the vent--there was a discharge that seemed to +rend Mr Bags's heartstrings and blow off the roof of his skull--and +the clever speculation on which he had counted for making his +fortune ended, like many others, in smoke. He gazed for a moment out +in the direction of the flash, as if he expected to see the watches +and rings gleaming in the air; then he turned and disappeared in the +darkness. + +After a few ineffectual discharges, the Spaniards seemed to become +aware of the badness of their aim, and to take measures to amend it. +Several shot struck the hospital; and some shells falling through +the roof, exploded in the very wards where the sick lay. The unhappy +Jew, Lazaro, lying in a feverish and semi-delirious state from his +former hurt and agitation, was again struck by a splinter of a +shell which burst in the ward where the Major's care had seen him +deposited, blowing up the ceiling and part of the wall. In the midst +of the confusion, the Jew, frantic with terror, rushed unrestrained +from the building, followed only by his daughter, who was watching +by his bed. He was not missed for some time, and the attempts to +discover him, made after his disappearance became known, were of no +avail. A neighbouring sentry had seen a white figure, followed by +another crying after it, dash across the road and disappear in the +bushes; but the search made about the vicinity of the spot failed in +detecting any traces of them, and those who troubled themselves to +think of the matter at all, surmised that they had fallen into the +sea. + + +CHAPTER V. + +For some pages, my grandfather's note-book is filled with memoranda +of singular casualties from the enemy's shot, wonderful escapes, +and hasty moments of quietude and attempted comfort snatched "even +in the cannon's mouth." The fire from the Spanish batteries shortly +reduced the town to ruins, and the gunboats at night precluded all +hope of peace and oblivion after the horrors of the day. Dreams, in +which these horrors were reproduced, were interrupted by still more +frightful nocturnal realities. One of the curious minor evils that +my grandfather notices, as resulting from an incessant cannonade, +to those not engaged in it actively enough to withdraw their +attention from the noise, is the extreme irritation produced by its +long continuance, amounting, in persons of nervous and excitable +temperament, to positive exasperation. + +Some of the numerous incidents he chronicles are also recorded by +Drinkwater, especially that of a man who recovered after being +almost knocked to pieces by the bursting of a shell. "His head was +terribly fractured, his left arm broken in two places, one of his +legs shattered, the skin and muscles torn off his right hand, the +middle finger broken to pieces, and his whole body most severely +bruised and marked with gunpowder. He presented so horrid an object +to the surgeons, that they had not the smallest hopes of saving his +life, and were at a loss what part to attend to first. He was that +evening trepanned; a few days afterwards his leg was amputated, +and other wounds and fractures dressed. Being possessed of a most +excellent constitution, nature performed wonders in his favour, +and in eleven weeks the cure was completely effected. His name," +continues Mr Drinkwater, with what might be deemed irony--if the +worthy historian ever indulged in that figure of rhetoric--"is +Donald Ross, and he" (_i. e._ the remaining fragment of the said +Donald Ross) "now enjoys his sovereign's bounty in a pension of +ninepence a-day for life." One might almost suppose that Mr Hume had +some hand in affixing the gratuity; but in those days there was a +king who knew not Joseph. + +My grandfather appears to have had also an adventure of his own. +During a cessation of the cannonade, he was sitting one morning on +a fragment of rock, in the garden behind his quarters, reading his +favourite author. The firing suddenly recommenced, and a long-ranged +shell, striking the ground at some distance, rolled towards him. +He glanced half-absently at the hissing missile; and whether he +actually did not for a moment recollect its character, or whether, +as was often the case on such occasions, the imminence of the danger +paralysed him, he sat immovably watching it as it fizzed within a +couple of yards of him. Unquestionably in another three seconds +my grandfather's earthly tabernacle would have been resolved into +its original atoms, had not the intrepid Carlota (who was standing +near gathering flowers to stick in her hair) darted on him, and, +seizing him by the arm, dragged him behind a wall. They were scarce +under shelter when the shell exploded--the shock laying them both +prostrate, though unhurt but for a few bruises--while the stone +on which the Major had been sitting was shivered to atoms. To the +description of this incident in the Major's journal are appended a +pious reflection and a short thanksgiving, which, being entirely of +a personal nature, I omit. + +The stores landed from the fleet were in a very precarious position. +Owing to the destruction of the buildings, there were no means of +placing them where they might be sheltered at once from the fire of +the enemy and from rain. Some were piled under sails spread out as +a sort of roof to protect them, and some, that were not likely to +sustain immediate injury from the damp air of such a depository, +were ordered to be conveyed to St Michael's Cave. + +This cave is one of the most curious features of the Rock. Its +mouth--an inconsiderable opening in the slope of the mountain--is +situated many hundred feet above the sea. Within, it expands into a +spacious hall, the roof, invisible in the gloom, supported by thick +pillars formed by the petrified droppings of the rock. From this +principal cavern numerous smaller ones branch off, leading, by dark, +broken, and precipitous passages, to unknown depths. Along one of +these, according to tradition, Governor O'Hara advanced farther than +ever man had gone before, and left his sword in the inmost recess to +be recovered by the next explorer who should be equally adventurous. +But whether it is that the tradition is unfounded, or that the +weapon has been carried off by some gnome, or that the governor's +exploit is as yet unrivalled, the sword has never been brought to +light. + +For the duty of placing the stores here, the name of Lieutenant +Owen appeared in the garrison orders. My grandfather having nothing +particular to do, and being anxious to escape as much as possible +for a short time from the din of the bombardment, offered to +accompany Frank in the execution of this duty. + +The day was dark and gloomy, and the steep path slippery from rain, +so that the mules bearing the stores toiled with difficulty up the +ascent. At first, my grandfather and Owen indulged in cheerful +conversation; but shortness of breath soon reduced the Major to +monosyllables, and the latter part of the journey was accomplished +in silence. Frequently the Major paused and faced about, at once +to look at the prospect and to take breath. Far below, on his +right, was seen the southern end of the town, consisting partly +of a heap of ruins, with here and there a rafter sticking out of +the mass, partly of roofless walls, among which was occasionally +heard the crashing of shot; but the guns that discharged them, as +well as those that replied from the town, were invisible from +this point. Directly beneath him the ground afforded a curious +spectacle, being covered with tents, huts, and sheds, of all sorts +and sizes, where the outcast population of the ruined town obtained +a precarious and insufficient shelter. The only building visible +which still retained its former appearance was the convent--the +governor's residence--which was protected by bomb-proofs, and where +working-parties were constantly engaged in repairing the injuries. +The bay, once thickly wooded with masts and dotted with sails, was +now blank and cheerless; only the enemy's cruisers were visible, +lying under the opposite shore of Spain. + +Owen and my grandfather arrived at the mouth of the cave somewhat in +advance of the convoy. To their surprise a smoke was issuing from +it; and, as they approached nearer, their nostrils were greeted by +an odour at once savoury and spicy. Going softly up they looked in. + +Mr Bags and a couple of friends were seated round a fire, over which +was roasting a small pig, scientifically butchered and deprived of +his hair, and hung up by the heels. The fire, in the absence of +other fuel, (of which there was an extreme scarcity in Gibraltar,) +was supplied by bundles of cinnamon plundered from the store of some +grocer, and, as the flame waxed low, Mr Bags took a fresh bundle +from a heap of that fragrant spice by his side, and laid it on the +embers. Mrs Bags was occupied in basting the pig with lard, which +she administered from time to time with an iron ladle. + +Presently Mr Bags tapped on the pig's back with his knife. It sent +forth a crisp crackling sound, that made my grandfather's mouth +water, and caused Mr Bags to become impatient. + +"Polly," said he, "it's my opinion it's been done these three +minutes. I can't wait much longer." + +And he cast a glance at the other two soldiers, (in whom, as well as +in Bags, Owen recognised men of his company who had been reported +absent for some days, and were supposed to have gone over to the +enemy,) to ascertain if their opinions tallied with his own on this +point. + +"It can't be no better," said one, taking hold of the pig's neck +between his finger and thumb, which he afterwards applied to his +mouth. + +"I can't abear my meat overdone," said the third. "What I say is, +let them that likes to wait, wait, and let them that wants to begin, +begin." So saying, he rose, and was about to attack the ribs of the +porker with his knife. + +"Do stop a minute--that's a dear," said Mrs Bags; "another bundle of +cinnament will make it parfect. I'll give ye something to stay your +stomach;" and stepping to a nook in the wall of the cavern, where +stood a large barrel, she filled a pewter measure, and handed it to +the impatient advocate for underdone pork, who took a considerable +dram, and passed it to his companions. + +"Cinnament's better with pork nor with most things," said Bags. "It +spoils goose, because it don't agree with the inions, and it makes +fowls wishy-washy; but it goes excellent with pig." + +"What's left in the larder?" asked one of the party. + +"There's a week's good eating yet," said Mrs Bags, "and we _might_ +make it do ten days or a fortnight." + +"Well!" said the other, "they may say what they like about sieges, +but this is the jolliest time ever _I_ had." + +"It's very well by day," said Bags, "but the nights is cold, and the +company of that ghost ain't agreeable--I seed it again last night." + +"Ah!" said his friend, "what was it like, Tongs?" + +"Something white," returned Bags in an awful whisper, "with a +ghost's eyes. You may allays know a ghost by the eyes. I was just +rising up, and thinking about getting a drink, for my coppers was +hot, when it comes gliding up from that end of the cave. I spoke to +you, and then I couldn't see it no more, because it was varnished." + +"Ghosts always varnishes if you speak," said Mrs Bags. "But never +mind the spirit now--let's look after the flesh," added the lady, +who possessed a fund of native pleasantry: "the pig's done to a +turn." + +At this interesting juncture, and just as they were about to fall +to, the footsteps of the approaching mules struck on their ears. +Owen went to meet the party, and hastily selecting six men from it, +advanced, and desired them to secure the astounded convivialists. + +On recovering from their first astonishment, Bags begged Owen would +overlook the offence; they were only, he pleaded, having a little +spree--times had been hard lately. Mrs Bags, as usual, displayed +great eloquence, though not much to the purpose. She seemed to have +some idea that an enumeration of the gentlemen's families she had +lived in, and the high estimation in which she had been held in +all, would really tell powerfully in favour of the delinquents, and +persevered accordingly, till they were marched off in custody of the +escort, when she made a final appeal to my grandfather, as the last +gentleman whose family she had lived in--with what advantage to the +household the reader knows. The Major, who could not forgive the +roasting of his ham, called her, in reply, a "horrible woman," but, +at the same time, whispered to Owen that he hoped the fellows would +not be severely punished. "If we had caught them after dinner," said +he, "I shouldn't have pitied them so much." + +"Never mind them," said Owen; "let us proceed to business. We must +select the driest spot we can find to put the stores in." + +[Here, by way of taking leave of Mr Bags, I may remark, that he +narrowly escaped being hanged as a plunderer--failing which, he was +sentenced by a court-martial to receive a number of lashes, which I +refrain from specifying, because it would certainly make the hair of +a modern humanitarian turn white with horror.] + +"Come along, Major," said Owen; "perhaps we may find more of these +scoundrels in the course of our researches." + +The Major did not move; he was earnestly regarding the carcase of +the pig, that steamed hissing above the embers. + +"Queer idea that of the cinnamon fire," said he. "I wonder how the +meat tastes." + +Owen did not hear him, having walked forward. + +"Have you got a knife about you, Frank?" said the Major. "Do you +know I have a curious desire to ascertain the flavour. It may be a +feature in cookery worth knowing." + +Owen had not a knife, nor had any of the men, but one of them +suggested that the Major's sword would answer the purpose. + +"To be sure," said the Major. "A good idea! I don't see why +swords shouldn't be turned into carving-knives as well as into +pruning-hooks." So saying, he drew it from the sheath, and, +straddling across the fire, detached a crisp brown mouthful from the +pig's ribs, and putting a little salt on it, he conveyed it to his +mouth. + +"Excellent!" cried the Major. "I give you my word of honour, Owen, +'tis excellent! The cinnamon gives it a sort of a ----" + +Here a second and larger mouthful interrupted the criticism. + +"It must be very near lunch-time," said the Major, pausing, sword +in hand, when he had swallowed it; then, pretending to look at his +watch--"Bless me, it only wants half-an-hour of it. Do you think +this business will take you long, Owen?" + +"About a couple of hours," said Owen. + +"Ah, why, there you see," returned the Major, "we shan't get home +till long past lunch-time. I really don't see why we shouldn't take +a snack now. Nothing can be better than that pig. I only wish the +woman had dressed my dinner half as well. Corporal Hodson, would you +oblige me with a piece of that biscuit near you?" And, detaching a +large fragment of pork, he placed it on the biscuit, and sprinkling +it with pepper and salt, which condiments had not been forgotten in +the gastronomic arrangements of Mr Bags, he proceeded to follow Owen +into the interior of the cave, taking huge bites as he went. + +The path slopes at first steeply downward from the mouth to the +interior of the cavern, where it becomes more level. Light being +admitted only at the entrance, the gloom of the interior is almost +impenetrable to the eye. The men had brought torches to assist them +in their work, and, a suitable spot having been selected, these were +stuck on different points and abutments of the rocky wall, when the +party proceeded to unload the mules at the entrance, conveying their +burdens into the cave. + +In the midst of the bustle and noise attending the operation, the +little dog given by Esther to Carlota, which had that morning +followed the Major, to whom it had speedily attached itself, began +barking and howling dismally in a dark recess behind one of the +great natural pillars before spoken of. As the noise continued, +intermixed with piteous whinings, one of the men took a torch from +the wall, and stepped forward into the darkness, to see what ailed +the animal. Presently he cried out that "there was a man there." + +My grandfather, who was next him, immediately followed, and five +paces brought him to the spot. The soldier who held the torch was +stooping, and holding it over a figure that lay on the ground on its +back. In the unshaven, blood-stained countenance, my grandfather, at +first, had some difficulty in recognising Lazaro the Jew. Some fiery +splashes of pitch from the torch dropping at the moment on his bare +throat, produced no movement, though, had he been living, they must +have scorched him to the quick. + +On the body was nothing but the shirt he wore the night of his +flight from the hospital, but his legs were wrapt in a woman's +dress. Across his breast, on her face, lay Esther, in her white +under-garments--for the gown that wrapt the Jew's legs was hers. The +glare of the torch was bright and red on the two prostrate figures, +and on the staring appalled countenance of the man who held it--the +group forming a glowing spot in the vast, sombre, vaulted space, +where dim gleams of light were caught and repeated on projecting +masses of rock, more and more faintly, till all was bounded by +darkness. + +Years afterwards my grandfather would sometimes complain of having +been revisited, in dreams of the night, by that ghastly piece of +Rembrandt painting. + +The rest quickly flocked to the spot, and Esther was lifted and +found to breathe, though the Jew was stiff and cold. Some diluted +spirit, from the cellar of Bags, being poured down her throat she +revived a little, when my grandfather caused two of the men to bear +her carefully to his house; and the body of the Jew being wrapt in a +piece of canvass, was placed on a mule and conveyed to the hospital +for interment. + +Medical aid restored Esther to consciousness, and she told how they +came to be found in the cave. + +Her father, on leaving the hospital, had fled by chance, as she +thought, to this cave, for he did not reach it by the usual path, +but climbed, in his delirious fear, up the face of the rock, and she +had followed him as well as she could, keeping his white figure in +sight. They had both lain exhausted in the cave till morning, when, +finding that her father slept, she was on the point of leaving him +to seek assistance. But, unhappily, before she could quit the place, +Bags and his associates entered from their plundering expedition +into the town, and, frightened at their drunken language, and +recognising in Bags the man who had robbed her, she had crept back +to her concealment. The party of marauders never quitted the cavern +from the moment of establishing themselves in it. They spent the +day in eating, drinking, singing songs, and sometimes quarrelling. +Twice, at night, she ventured forth; but she always found one of +them asleep across the entrance, so that she could not pass without +waking him, and once one of them started up, and seemed about to +pursue her--doubtless Bags, on the occasion when he thought he saw +a ghost. Nevertheless, she had mustered courage twice to take some +fragments of food that were lying near the fire, leaving each time a +piece of money in payment; and she had also taken a lighted candle, +the better to ascertain her father's situation. He had never spoken +to her since the first night of their coming, and, during all those +dark and weary hours, (for they were three nights and two days in +the cavern,) she had remained by him listening to his incoherent +mutterings and moans. The candle had showed her that he had lost +much blood, from the wound in his forehead breaking out afresh, as +well as from the other received in the hospital, though the latter +was but a flesh wound. These she had bandaged with shreds of her +dress, and had tried to give him some of the nourishment she had +procured, but could force nothing on him except some water. Some +hours, however--how long she did not know, but it was during the +night--before Owen's party found her, the Jew had become sensible. +He told her he was dying; and, unconscious of where he was, desired +her to fetch a light. This she had procured in the same way as +before, lighting the candle at the embers of the fire round which +Bags and his friends reposed. Then the Jew, who seemed to imagine +himself still in the hospital, bid her say whom, among those she +knew in Gibraltar, she would wish to have charge of her when he was +no more; and, on her mentioning Carlota, had desired her to take pen +and paper and write his will as he should dictate it. Pen she had +none, but she had a pencil and a scrap of paper in her pocket, and +with these she wrote, leaning over to catch the whispered syllables +that he with difficulty articulated. + +From this paper it would appear that the Jew had some fatherly +feelings for Esther concealed beneath his harsh deportment towards +her. I can describe the will, for I have often seen it. It is +written on a piece of crumpled writing-paper, about the size of a +bank-note, very stained and dirty. It is written in Spanish; and +in it the Jew entreats "the Señora, the wife of Sr. Don Flinder, +English officer, to take charge of his orphan child, in requital +whereof he leaves her the half of whatsoever property he dies +possessed of, the other half to be disposed of for the benefit of +his daughter." Then follows a second paragraph, inserted at Esther's +own desire, to the effect that, should she not survive, the whole +was to be inherited by the aforesaid Señora. It is dated "Abril +1781," and signed in a faint, straggling hand, quite different from +the clear writing of the rest--"JOSÉ LAZARO." + +Esther would now have gone, at all hazards, to obtain assistance, +but the Jew clutched her arm, and would not permit her to quit him. +He breathed his last shortly after, and Esther remembered nothing +more till she came to herself in the Major's house. The paper was +found in her bosom. + +Some days after this event my grandfather went with Owen into the +town, during a temporary lull in the enemy's firing, to visit the +house of Lazaro, in order to ascertain whether anything valuable +was left that might be converted to Esther's benefit. They had +some difficulty in finding the exact locality, owing to the utter +destruction of all the landmarks. The place was a mass of ruins. +Some provisions and goods had been left by the plunderers, but so +mixed with rubbish, and overflowed with the contents of the casks +of liquor and molasses, as to be of no value even in these times of +dearth. + +Owen, poking about among the wreck, observed an open space in the +middle of one of the shattered walls, as if something had been built +into it. With the assistance of my grandfather's cane, he succeeded +in dislodging the surrounding masonry, already loosened by shot, and +they discovered it to be a recess made in the thickness of the wall, +and closed by a small iron door. At the bottom was lying a small +box, also of iron, which they raised, not without difficulty, for +its weight was extraordinary in proportion to its dimensions. This +being conveyed to my grandfather's, and opened, was found to contain +more than six hundred doubloons, (a sum in value about two thousand +pounds,) and many bills of exchange and promissory notes, mostly +those of officers. The latest was that of Von Dessel. These the +Major, by Esther's desire, returned to the persons whose signatures +they bore. + +Esther never completely recovered from the effects of her sojourn +in the cave, but remained always pale and of weak health. My +grandfather took good care of her inheritance for her, and on +leaving Gibraltar, at the conclusion of the siege, invested the +whole of it safely for her benefit, placing her, at the same time, +in the family of some respectable persons of her own religion. She +afterwards married a wealthy Hebrew; and, in whatever part of +the world the Major chanced to be serving, so long as she lived, +valuable presents would constantly arrive from Gibraltar--mantillas +and ornaments of jewellery for Carlota, and butts of delicious +sherry for my grandfather. These, however, ceased with her death, +about twenty years afterwards. + +This is, I believe, the most connected and interesting episode to +be found in the Major's note-book; and it is, I think, the last +specimen I shall offer of these new "Tales of my Grandfather." + +As a child I used to listen, with interest ever new, to the tale +of the young Jewess, which the narrator had often heard from the +lips of Carlota and her husband. St Michael's Cave took rank in my +mind with those other subterranean abodes where Cassim, the brother +of Ali Baba, who forgot the word "_Open Sesame_," was murdered by +the Forty Thieves; where Aladdin was shut by the magician in the +enchanted garden; and where Robinson Crusoe discovered the dying +he-goat. And when, at the conclusion of the tale, the scrap of +paper containing the Jew's will was produced from a certain desk, +and carefully unfolded, I seemed to be connected by some awful and +mysterious link with these departed actors in the scenes I had so +breathlessly listened to. + + + + +LIFE AMONGST THE LOGGERS. + +_Forest Life and Forest Trees._ By JOHN S. SPRINGER. New York: +Harper. London: Sampson Low. 1851. + + +The northern and elder States of the great American Union have +ceased to be associated in our minds with those ideas of wild +and romantic adventure which are inseparably connected with some +of their younger brethren far west and south. There is nothing +suggestive of romance in such names as New York, Maine, and +Pennsylvania: cotton bales, keen traders and repudiated debts, +drab coats, wooden clocks, and counterfeit nutmegs, compose the +equivocal and unpoetical visions they conjure up to European +imaginations. But drop we our eyes down the map to lawless Arkansas, +feverish Louisiana, and debateable Texas, or westwards to the still +newer State of California, and a host of stirring and picturesque +associations throng upon our memory. Strange scenes and a motley +array pass before us. Bands of hunters and trappers, scarce more +civilised than the Indians with whom they war, or gentler than the +buffalo which yields them sport and food; predatory armies, for +Mexico bound, keen for spoil and regardless of right; caravans of +adventurous gold-seekers braving the perilous passage of the Rocky +Mountains; hardy squatters, axe in hand, hewing themselves a home +in the heart of the wilderness; innumerable traits of courage and +endurance--incredible sufferings and countless crimes--make up a +picture-gallery unrivalled of its kind. In those districts, not +a league of prairie, not a mountain or stream, not a _bayou_ or +_barranca_, but has derived recent and vivid interest from the +animated sketches of Sealsfield, Ruxton, Wise, and a host of other +graphic and vigorous delineators. + +As if to vindicate the claims to interest of the northern American +provinces, a Down-easter, Springer by name, who hails from the State +of Maine, has exhibited, in a curious little volume, the adventurous +side of life in _his_ part of the Union. At a first glance, there +would appear to be few created things whose history was likely to be +less interesting than that of a Yankee pine-log. Get astride it with +Springer, and paddle up the Penobscot, clearing rapids and other +impediments as best you may on so unpromising a float--and, before +reaching the place where it grew, you shall marvel at the skill +and daring expended, and at the risks run to procure it. Springer, +who was reared amongst the pine forests, which his axe afterwards +helped to thin, is an enthusiastic woodsman, and feels "kinder +jealous" that whilst the habits and adventures of many classes of +his countrymen have occupied skilful writers and public attention, +no chronicler should have been found for the deeds and perils of +that numerous class to which he for some years belonged. To supply +this deficiency, he himself, although more used to handle axe than +goose-quill, has written a plain and unpretending account of scenes +and incidents which he shared in and witnessed. The freshness of +the subject, and the honest earnestness of the man, would atone for +clumsier treatment than it has met with at his hands. + +The second title of Mr Springer's book gives a clearer idea of +its contents than the primary one. The volume comprises, says the +title-page, "Winter camp-life, among the Loggers, and wild-wood +adventure, with descriptions of lumbering operations on the various +rivers of Maine and New Brunswick." It is divided into three parts; +the first and shortest being a dissertation on forest trees, with +particular reference to those of America; the second, entitled +"The Pine Tree, or Forest Life," giving an account of wood-cutting +operations; the third, "River Life," detailing the progress of +the timber from the forest to the "boom," or depôt. The chief +interest of the book begins with the second chapter of the second +part, wherein is described the commencement of the labours of a +gang of "loggers," or woodcutters. In the hunt after timber, as +after certain animals, the first thing to be done is to mark the +whereabout of your game preparatory to starting in its pursuit. On +the eve of the chase the keeper reconnoitres the retreat of the +wild-boar. Before a party of loggers proceed to establish a camp +and pass the winter woodcutting, they send out scouts to ascertain +where timber is plenty. Thirty years since, this was scarcely +necessary--the pine, that forest king of the northern States, +abounded on every side. Fifty years hence--so it is estimated by +those best qualified to judge--the vast pine forests, through which +the Penobscot flows, will be on the eve of extinction. Now is the +intermediate stage. A man cannot, as he formerly could, step from +his house to his day's work; but research and labour still command +a rich timber harvest. Exploring expeditions may be made at any +period of the year, but autumn is the favourite season. They consist +generally of only two or three men, accustomed to the business, +who, provided with the necessary provisions, with a coffee-pot and +a blanket, axe, rifle, and ammunition, embark on skiff or _bateau_, +and pole and paddle their way two hundred miles or more up the +Penobscot or the St Croix, and their numerous tributaries. On +reaching the district it is proposed to explore, the boat is hauled +ashore and turned bottom upwards, the load of stores is divided +amongst the party, and they strike into the forest, rousing, on +their passage, the stately moose, the timid deer, the roaming black +bear, and many an inferior denizen of the lonesome wilderness. They +now begin "prospecting." Often the thickness of the forest and the +uneven surface of the country prevent their obtaining a sufficiently +extensive view, and compel them to climb trees in order to look +around them. + + "When an ascent is to be made, the spruce tree is generally + selected, principally for the superior facilities which its + numerous limbs afford the climber. To gain the first limbs of + this tree, which are from twenty to forty feet from the ground, + a smaller tree is undercut and lodged against it, clambering + up which the top of the spruce is reached. Sometimes, when a + very elevated position is desired, the spruce tree is lodged + against the trunk of some lofty pine, up which we ascend to + a height twice that of the surrounding forest. From such a + tree-top, like a mariner at the mast-head upon the look-out for + whales, (and indeed the pine is the whale of the forest,) large + 'clumps' and 'veins' of pine are discovered, whose towering + tops may be seen for miles around. Such views fill the bosom of + timber-hunters with an _intense interest_. They are the object + of his search--his treasure, his Eldorado; and they are beheld + with peculiar and thrilling emotions. To detail the process more + minutely, we should observe, that the man in the tree-top points + out the direction in which the pines are seen; or, if hid from + the view of those below by the surrounding foliage, he breaks a + small limb, and throws it in the direction in which they appear, + whilst a man at the base marks the direction indicated by the + falling limb by means of a compass which he holds in his hand, + the compass being quite as necessary in the wilderness as on the + pathless ocean. In fair weather the sun serves as an important + guide; and in cloudy weather the close observation of an + experienced woodman will enable him to steer a tolerably correct + course by the moss which grows on the trunks of most hardwood + trees, the north sides of which are covered with a much larger + share than the other portions of the trunk. This Indian compass, + however, is not very convenient or safe, particularly in passing + through swampy lands, which are of frequent occurrence." + +Two reflections are suggested by the paragraph we have just copied. +The substance of one of them is noted in the Preface. "This volume," +says the modest and sensible Springer, "makes no pretensions to +literary merit; sooner would it claim kindred with the wild and +uncultivated scenes of which it is but a simple relation." The +second reflection is, that our wood-cutter is an enthusiast in +his craft; for wood-cutting in Maine _is_ a craft, and no common +log-chopping. To Springer, a towering grove of timber is as exciting +a sight as is to the hunter that of a herd of antlered deer or +shaggy buffalo. The pine especially is the object of his love and +admiration. He abounds in anecdotes and arguments to prove its +good qualities, and labours hard to establish its superiority to +the oak. Reared amongst the noble pines of Maine, he says, even as +a child, he could never hear, without feelings of jealousy, the +oak extolled as monarch of the forest. Admitting it to excel in +strength, he vaunts, upon the other hand, the superior grandeur and +girth of the pine, its value in building, the breadth of its planks, +their clearness, beauty, and freedom from knots, the numerous uses +to which it is applicable, its excellence as fuel, its perfect +adaptation to all the joiner's purposes. He extols in turn each of +its varieties; the red pine, remarkable for its tall trunk, which +sometimes rises eighty feet from the ground before putting out a +limb; the pitch pine, inferior in size, but preferable to any other +wood for generating steam in engines; the white pine, superior +to all in value and dimensions. He tells us of pines, of which +he has read or heard, of extraordinary grandeur and diameter: of +one, two hundred and sixty-four feet long; and of another which, +at three feet from the ground, was fifty-seven feet nine inches in +circumference. These extraordinary specimens were cut some years +ago. Trees of such dimensions are now rare. + + "I have worked in the forests among this timber several years," + says Springer, "have cut many hundreds of trees, and seen many + thousands, but I never found one larger than one I felled on a + little stream which empties into Jackson Lake, near the head of + Baskahegan stream, in eastern Maine. This was a pumpkin pine, + (a variety of the white pine.) Its trunk was as straight and + handsomely grown as a moulded candle, and measured six feet in + diameter four feet from the ground, without the aid of spur + roots. It was about nine rods in length, or one hundred and + forty-four feet, about sixty-five feet of which was free of + limbs, and retained its diameter remarkably well. I was employed + about one hour and a quarter in felling it. The afternoon was + beautiful; everything was calm, and to me the circumstances + were deeply interesting. After chopping an hour or so, the + mighty giant, the growth of centuries, which had withstood the + hurricane, and raised itself in peerless majesty above all + around, began to tremble under the strokes of a mere insect, as + I might appear in comparison with it. My heart palpitated as I + occasionally raised my eye to its pinnacle to catch the first + indications of its fall. It came down at length with a crash, + which seemed to shake a hundred acres, whilst the loud echo rang + through the forest, dying away amongst the distant hills. It had + a hollow in the butt about the size of a barrel, and the surface + of the stump was sufficiently spacious to allow a yoke of oxen + to stand upon it. It made five logs, and loaded a six-ox team + three times. The butt-log was so large, that the stream did not + float it in the spring; and when the drive was taken down, we + were obliged to leave it behind, much to our regret and loss. At + the boom, that log would have been worth fifty dollars." + +The pine tracts ascertained, the quality of the trees examined, +the distance the timber will have to be hauled duly calculated, +and the ground inspected, through which logging roads must be +cut, the exploring party retrace their steps to the place where +they left their boat. Foot-sore with their forest roamings, they +gladly look forward to the quick, gliding passage down stream. A +grievous disappointment sometimes awaits them. In the fall of the +year, the black bear is seized with a violent longing for pitch and +resinous substances, and frequently strips fir trees of their bark +for the sake of the exudations. Occasionally he stumbles over a +timber-hunter's _bateau_, and tears it to pieces in the course of +the rough process he employs to extract the tar from its planks. If +it is injured beyond possibility of repair, the unlucky pioneers +have to perform their homeward journey on foot, unless indeed they +are so fortunate as to fall in with some Indian trapper, whose canoe +they can charter for a portion of the way. Once at home, the next +step is to obtain permits from the State or proprietors, securing, +at a stipulated price of so much per thousand feet, the exclusive +right to cut timber within certain bounds. Then comes haymaking--a +most important part of the loggers' duty; for on nothing does the +success of the wood-cutting campaign depend more than on the good +working condition of the sturdy teams of oxen which drag the logs +from the snow-covered forest to the river's brink. Hard by the +forest extensive strips of meadow-land are commonly found, covered +with a heavy growth of grass, and thither large bands of men repair +to make and stalk the hay for the ensuing winter's consumption. The +labour of haymaking in these upland meadows of Maine is rendered +intolerably painful by the assaults of flies and mosquitoes, and +especially by the insidious attacks of millions of midges, so small +as to be scarcely perceptible to the naked eye, and which get +between the clothes and the skin, causing a smarting and irritation +so great as to impede the progress of the work. The torment of +these insect attacks is hardly compensated by the pastimes and +adventures incidental to the occupation. Now and then a shot is to +be had at a stray deer; the streams swarm with beautiful trout and +pickerel; skirmishes with black bears are of frequent occurrence. +Mr Springer's volume abounds with stories of encounters with bears, +wolves, and "Indian devils"--a formidable species of catamount, +of which the Indians stand in particular dread. Although the bear +rarely shows himself pugnacious unless assailed, his meddlesome, +thievish propensities render him particularly obnoxious to the +hay-makers and wood-cutters; and when they meet him, they never can +abstain from the aggressive, however civilly Bruin may be disposed +to pass them by. + + "On one occasion," says Mr Springer, "two men, crossing a small + lake in skiff, on their return from putting up hay, discovered + a bear swimming from a point of land for the opposite shore. As + usual in such cases, temptation silenced prudence--they changed + their course, and gave chase. The craft being light, they gained + fast upon the bear, who exerted himself to the utmost to gain + the shore; but, finding himself an unequal match in the race, + he turned upon his pursuers, and swam to meet them. One of the + men, a short, thick-set, dare-devil fellow, seized an axe, and, + the moment the bear came up, inflicted a blow upon his head. It + seemed to make but a slight impression, and before it could be + repeated the bear clambered into the boat. He instantly grappled + the man who struck him, firmly setting his teeth in his thigh; + then, settling back upon his haunches, he raised his victim in + the air, and shook him as a dog would a wood-chuck. The man at + the helm stood for a moment in amazement, without knowing how to + act, and fearing that the bear might spring overboard and drown + his companion; but, recollecting the effect of a blow upon the + end of a bear's snout, he struck him with a short setting-pole. + The bear dropped his victim into the bottom of the boat, sallied + and fell overboard, and swam again for the shore. The man bled + freely from the bite, and, as the wound proved too serious to + allow a renewal of the encounter, they made for the shore. + But one thing saved them from being upset: the water proved + sufficiently shoal to admit of the bear's getting bottom, from + which he sprang into the boat. Had the water been deep, the + consequences might have been more serious." + +From its first to its last stage, the logger's occupation is one +of severe toil and frequent peril. When the pioneer's duty is +accomplished, and when the hay is made, there is still hard work to +be done before he can begin to level the forest giants. No kind of +labour, Mr Springer assures us, tests a man's physical abilities +and powers of endurance more than boating supplies up river. The +wood-cutters come to a fall, and have to land their implements and +provisions, and to carry them past it. Their boats, too, must be +carried, and that over rocks and fallen trees, through thickets and +pathless swamps. Then they come to rapids, up which they have to +pole their heavy-laden bateaux. For this work, prodigious skill, +nerve, and strength are requisite. Then come the long portages from +lake to lake, and the danger of being swamped, when traversing +these, by sudden gusts of wind lashing the lake, in a few minutes' +time, into foaming waves, in which the deeply-loaded boats could not +for a moment live. + + "Our frail skiff was about eighteen feet long, and four feet + across the top of the gunwale amidships, tapering to a point at + either end, constructed of thin slips of pine boards, nailed + to some half-dozen pair of slender knees, about two inches in + diameter. On board were fifteen hundred pounds of provisions, + with seven men, which pressed her into the water nearly to the + gunwale; three inches from the position of a level, and she + would fill with water." + +In such an overburthened cockle-shell as this did Mr Springer once +find himself in company with a drunken man, who was only withheld +from capsizing the boat by the threat of having his skull split +with a paddle; for an inordinate addiction to rum is the loggers' +chief vice, a vice palliated by the hardship and exposure they +endure. Drinking, however, is on the decline amongst them of late +years, since "it has been fully demonstrated that men can endure the +chilling hardships of river-driving quite as well, and indeed far +better, without the stimulus of ardent spirits, and perform more and +better-directed labour." Black pepper tea is drunk on cold nights +when camping in the open air, and is found a warming and comfortable +beverage. Both in drink and diet the loggers look more to strength +than to delicacy. Salt pork, ship bread, and molasses, compose the +staple of their consumption. The drippings from a slice of pork, +roasted before the fire, are allowed to fall on the bread, which is +then dignified by the name of buttered toast. Sometimes the salt +pork is eaten raw, dipped in molasses,--a mixture unequalled for +nastiness, we should imagine, excepting by that of oysters and brown +sugar. "The recital may cause," says honest Springer in his comical +English, "in delicate and pampered stomachs some qualms, yet we can +assure the uninitiated that, from these gross samples, the hungry +woodsman makes many a delicious meal." An assurance which gives us +a most exalted idea of the appetite and digestion of the loggers of +Maine. + +Once in the forest with their stores, the woodmen carefully select +a suitable spot, clear the ground, build their "camp" and "hovel," +and commence their winter's work. The "camp" and "hovel" are two +log-houses, the former being for the men, the latter for the oxen. +In some respects the beasts are better treated than their masters, +for their hovel is floored with small poles, a luxury unknown in +the camp, where the men sleep on branches strewn upon the bare +earth. "Having completed our winter residences, next in order comes +the business of looking out and cutting the 'main' and some of +the principal 'branch roads.' These roads, like the veins in the +human body, ramify the wilderness to all the principal 'clumps' and +'groves' of pine embraced in the permit." Mr Springer expatiates on +the graceful curves of the roads, whose inequalities soon become +filled with snow, and their surface hard-beaten and glassy, polished +by the sled and logs which are continually passing over it, whilst +overhead the trees interlace their spreading branches. "Along this +roadside, on the way to the landing, runs a serpentine path for the +'knight of the goad,' whose deviations are marked now outside this +tree, then behind that 'windfall,' now again intercepting the main +road, skipping along like a dog at one's side." The teamster, if +he does his duty, works harder than any man in camp. Under a good +teamster, the oxen receive care almost as tender as though they were +race-horses with thousands depending on their health and condition. +With proper attention and management, they should be in as good +flesh in the spring as when they began hauling early in winter. + + "The last thing at night before 'turning in,' the teamster + lights his lantern and repairs to the ox-hovel. In the morning, + by peep of day, and often before, his visits are repeated, to + hay and provender, and card, and yoke up. While the rest of the + hands are sitting or lounging around the liberal fire, shifting + for their comfort, after exposure to the winter frosts through + the day, he must repeatedly go out to look after the comfort + of the sturdy, faithful ox. And then, for an hour or two in + the morning again, whilst all, save the cook, are closing up + the sweet and unbroken slumbers of the night, so welcome and + necessary to the labourer, he is out amid the early frost with, + I had almost said, the care of a mother, to see if 'old Turk' is + not loose, whether 'Bright' favours the near fore-foot, (which + felt a little hot the day before,) as he stands up on the hard + floor, and then to inspect 'Swan's' provender-trough, to see + if he has eaten his meal, for it was carefully noted that at + the 'watering-place' last night he drank but little; whilst at + the further end of the 'tie-up' he thinks he hears a little + clattering noise, and presently 'little Star' is having his + shins gently rapped, as a token of his master's wish to raise + his foot to see if some nail has not given way in the loosened + shoe; and this not for once, but every day, with numberless + other cares connected with his charge." + +The oxen are taken out to the forest by the last detachment of +wood-cutters, when winter fairly sets in. This is the hardest trip +of any. Both man and beast experience much inconvenience from the +cold. Often, when driving a boat up rapids, ice forms upon the +poles in the men's hands, which are already so cold and stiff that +they can scarcely retain their grasp; yet an instant's cessation of +exertion would be fraught with imminent peril to life and goods. +The oxen, attached to long lightly-loaded sleds, are driven over +rough miry tracks. "In crossing large streams, we unyoke the oxen +and swim them over. If we have no boat, a raft is constructed, upon +which our effects are transported, when we reyoke and pursue our +route as before. Our cattle are often very reluctant to enter the +water whilst the anchor-ice runs, and the cold has already begun +to congeal its surface." Lakes are crossed upon the ice, which not +unfrequently breaks in. Mr Springer gives an account of a journey he +made, when this misfortune happened, and ten oxen at one time were +struggling in the chilling waters of Baskahegan Lake. They were all +got out, he tells us, although rescue under such circumstances would +appear almost hopeless. + + "Standing upon the edge of the ice, a man was placed by the side + of each ox to keep his head out of the water. We unyoked one at + a time, and throwing a rope round the roots of his horns, the + warp was carried forward and attached to the little oxen, (a + pair that had not broken in,) whose services on this occasion + were very necessary. A strong man was placed on the ice at the + edge, so that, lifting the ox by his horns, he was able to + press the ice down and raise his shoulder up on the edge, when + the warp-oxen would pull them out. For half-an-hour we had a + lively time of it, and in an almost incredibly short time we had + them all safely out, and drove them back upon the point nearly + a mile. It was now very dark. We left our sleds in the water + with the hay, pulling out a few armsful, which we carried to + the shore to rub the oxen down with. Poor fellows! they seemed + nearly chilled to death, and shook as if they would fall to + pieces." + +So great is the labour of taking oxen to the forest every +Fall--often to a distance of two hundred miles into the +interior--that the wood-cutters sometimes leave them, when they go +down stream in the spring to get their own living in the wilderness, +and hunt them up again in autumn. They thrive finely in the +interval, and get very wild and difficult to catch; but when at last +subjugated, they evidently recognise their masters, and are pleased +to see them. Occasionally they disappear in the course of the +summer, and are heard of no more; they are then supposed to have got +"mired or cast," or to have been devoured by wolves--or by bears, +which also are known to attack oxen. + + "An individual who owned a very fine 'six-ox team' turned them + into the woods to brouse, in a new region of country. Late in + the evening, his attention was arrested by the bellowing of + one of them. It continued for an hour or two, then ceased + altogether. The night was very dark, and as the ox was supposed + to be more than a mile distant, it was thought not advisable + to venture in search of him until morning. As soon as daylight + appeared, the owner started, in company with another man, to + investigate the cause of the uproar. Passing on about a mile, + he found one of his best oxen prostrate, and, on examination, + there was found a hole eaten into the thickest part of his hind + quarter nearly as large as a hat; not less than six or eight + pounds of flesh were gone. He had bled profusely. The ground + was torn up for rods around where the encounter occurred; the + tracks indicated the assailant to be a very large bear, who had + probably worried the ox out, and then satiated his ravenous + appetite, feasting upon him while yet alive. A road was bushed + out to the spot where the poor creature lay, and he was got upon + a sled and hauled home by a yoke of his companions, where the + wound was dressed. It never, however, entirely healed, though + it was so far improved as to allow of its being fattened, after + which he was slaughtered for food." + +In cold weather in those forests the bears and wolves are +exceedingly audacious. The latter have a curious habit of +accompanying the teams on their journeys between the forest and the +river to which they drag the logs. This has only occurred of late +years, and the manner in which they thus volunteer their services as +assistant drivers is exceedingly curious. + + "Three teams," says Springer, "in the winter of 1844, all in + the same neighbourhood, were beset with these ravenous animals. + They were of unusually large size, manifesting a most singular + boldness, and even familiarity, without the usual appearance of + ferocity so characteristic of the animal. Sometimes one, and in + another instance three, in a most unwelcome manner, volunteered + their attendance, accompanying the teamster a long distance on + his way. They would even jump on the log and ride, and approach + very near the oxen. One of them actually jumped upon the sled, + and down between the bars, while the sled was in motion. Some of + the teamsters were much alarmed, keeping close to the oxen, and + driving on as fast as possible. Others, more courageous, would + run forward and strike at them with their goad-sticks; but the + wolves sprang out of the way in an instant. But, although they + seemed to act without a motive, there was something so cool and + impudent in their conduct that it was trying to the nerves--even + more so than an active encounter. For some time after this, + firearms were a constant part of the teamster's equipage." + +The distant howling and screaming of the wolves, compared by an old +Yankee hunter to the screeching of forty pair of old cart-wheels, +is particularly ominous and disagreeable. Springer has collected a +number of curious anecdotes concerning them. One night a pack of the +prowling marauders were seen trailing down Mattawamkeag River on the +ice. The dwellers in a log-house hard by soaked some meat in poison +and threw it out. Next morning the meat was gone, and six wolves lay +dead, all within sight of each other. "Every one of them had dug a +hole down through the snow into the frozen earth, in which they had +thrust their noses, either for water to quench the burning thirst +produced by the poison, or to snuff some antidote to the fatal +drug. A bounty was obtained on each of ten dollars, besides their +hides, making a fair job of it, as well as ridding the neighbourhood +of an annoying enemy." Several of Mr Springer's logging and +lumbering friends have contributed to his book the results of their +experience, and narratives of their adventures, some of which he +gives in their own words. Amongst these is an ill-written, but yet a +very exciting, account of a wolf-chase, or we should perhaps rather +say a man-chase, the wolves in this instance being the pursuers, +and Springer's neighbour the pursued. The person in question was +passionately fond of skating, and one night he left a friend's +house to skate a short distance up the frozen Kennebeck, which +flowed before the door. It was a bright still evening; the new moon +silvered the frosty pines. After gliding a couple of miles up the +river, the skater turned off into a little tributary stream, over +which fir and hemlock twined their evergreen branches. The archway +beneath was dark, but he fearlessly entered it, unsuspicious of +peril, with a joyous laugh and hurra--an involuntary expression of +exhilaration, elicited by the bracing crispness of the atmosphere, +and glow of pleasant exercise. What followed is worth extracting. + + "All of a sudden a sound arose, it seemed from the very ice + beneath my feet. It was loud and tremendous at first, until it + ended in one long yell. I was appalled. Never before had such + a noise met my ears. I thought it more than mortal--so fierce, + and amid such an unbroken solitude, that it seemed a fiend from + hell had blown a blast from an infernal trumpet. Presently I + heard the twigs on the shore snap as if from the tread of some + animal, and the blood rushed back to my forehead with a bound + that made my skin burn. My energies returned, and I looked + around me for some means of defence. The moon shone through the + opening by which I had entered the forest, and, considering this + the best means of escape, I darted towards it like an arrow. + It was hardly a hundred yards distant, and the swallow could + scarcely outstrip my desperate flight; yet as I turned my eyes + to the shore, I could see two dark objects dashing through the + underbrush at a pace nearly double mine. By their great speed, + and the short yells which they occasionally gave, I knew at once + that they were the much dreaded grey wolf." + +Here Springer interposes a vignette of a wolf--a most formidable and +unwholesome-looking quadruped--grinning over the well-picked bone of +some unlucky victim. The logger's pages are enlivened by a number +of illustrations--woodcuts of course--rough enough in execution, +but giving an excellent notion of the scenery, animals, and logging +operations spoken of in the text. Grey wolves are of untameable +fierceness, great strength and speed, and pursue their prey to the +death with frightful tenacity, unwearyingly following the trail-- + + "With their long gallop, which can tire + The hounds' deep hate, the hunter's fire." + +A more dangerous foe a benighted traveller could hardly fall in with. + + "The bushes that skirted the shore," continues the hunted of + wolves, "flew past with the velocity of light as I dashed on in + my flight. The outlet was nearly gained; one second more and I + should be comparatively safe; when my pursuers appeared on the + bank, directly above me, which rose to the height of some ten + feet. There was no time for thought; I bent my head, and dashed + wildly forward. The wolves sprang, but, miscalculating my speed, + sprang behind, whilst their intended prey glided out into the + river. + + "Nature turned me towards home. The light flakes of snow spun + from the iron of my skates, and I was now some distance from my + pursuers, when their fierce howl told me that I was again the + fugitive. I did not look back; I did not feel sorry or glad; + one thought of home, of the bright faces awaiting my return, + of their tears if they should never see me again, and then + every energy of body and mind was exerted for my escape. I was + perfectly at home on the ice. Many were the days I spent on my + skates, never thinking that at one time they would be my only + means of safety. Every half minute an alternate yelp from my + pursuers made me but too certain they were close at my heels. + Nearer and nearer they came; I heard their feet pattering on + the ice nearer still, until I fancied I could hear their deep + breathing. Every nerve and muscle in my frame was stretched to + the utmost tension. The trees along the shore seemed to dance in + the uncertain light, and my brain turned with my own breathless + speed, when an involuntary motion turned me out of my course. + The wolves close behind, unable to stop and as unable to turn, + slipped, fell, still going on far ahead, their tongues lolling + out, their white tusks gleaming from their bloody mouths, their + dark shaggy breasts freckled with foam; and as they passed me + their eyes glared, and they howled with rage and fury. The + thought flashed on my mind that by this means I could avoid + them--viz., by turning aside whenever they came too near; for + they, by the formation of their feet, are unable to run on ice + except in a right line. + + "I immediately acted on this plan. The wolves, having regained + their feet, sprang directly towards me. The race was renewed for + twenty yards up the stream; they were already close on my back, + when I glided round and dashed past them. A fierce howl greeted + my evolution, and the wolves slipped upon their haunches, and + sailed onward, presenting a perfect picture of helplessness + and baffled rage. Thus I gained nearly a hundred yards each + turning. This was repeated two or three times, every moment + the wolves getting more excited and baffled, until, coming + opposite the house, a couple of staghounds, aroused by the + noise, bayed furiously from their kennels. The wolves, taking + the hint, stopped in their mad career, and, after a moment's + consideration, turned and fled. I watched them till their dusky + forms disappeared over a neighbouring hill; then, taking off my + skates, I wended my way to the house." + +From some unassigned reason, wolves have increased of late years in +the wild forests of north-eastern Maine. Up to 1840, Mr Springer, +who had been much in that district, logging in winter and clearing +land in summer, never saw one. Since then they have frequently been +seen in numerous parties, and of most formidable size. There would +not seem to be much to choose, as far as the pleasure of the thing +goes, between an encounter with one of these ravenous brutes and a +tussle with a catamount. Springer, however, who must be competent to +judge, considers the catamount the worse customer. He tells an ugly +story, which may serve as a pendant to that of the bear's breakfast +on live beef, of what happened to a logger named Smith, when on his +way to join a timbering party in the woods. He had nearly reached +camp, when he fell in with a catamount, or "Indian devil." Retreat +was impossible; for reflection there was no time: arms he had none. +Acting from impulse, he sprang up a small tree--perhaps as sensible +a thing as he could have done. He had scarcely ascended his length, +when the creature, fierce from hunger, made a bound and caught him +by the heel. Although badly bitten, Smith managed to get his foot +out of the shoe, in which the tiger-cat's teeth were firmly set, and +shoe and savage fell together to the ground. What then ensued is so +horrible and extraordinary that we should suspect our wood-cutting +friend of imaginative decoration, but for the assurance he gives us +in his preface, that "the incidents he has related are real, and +that in no case is the truth sacrificed to fancy or embellishment." +He shall finish his yarn himself. + + "The moment he was disengaged, Smith sprang for a more secure + position, and the animal at the same time leaped to another + large tree, about ten feet distant, up which he ascended to + an elevation equal to that of his victim, from which he threw + himself upon him, firmly fixing his teeth in the calf of his + leg. Hanging suspended thus until the flesh, insufficient to + sustain the weight, gave way, he dropped again to the ground, + carrying a portion of flesh in his mouth. _Having greedily + devoured this morsel_, he bounded again up the opposite tree, + and from thence upon Smith, in this manner renewing his attacks, + and tearing away the flesh in mouthfuls from his legs. During + this agonising operation, Smith contrived to cut a limb from + the tree, to which he managed to bind his jack-knife, with + which he could now assail his enemy at every leap. He succeeded + thus in wounding him so badly that at length his attacks were + discontinued, and he disappeared in the dense forest." + +Smith, who, as Springer coolly informs us, "had exerted his voice +to the utmost," whilst the catamount was devouring him in detail, +(we can perfectly imagine a man bellowing like twenty bulls under +such circumstances,) was found by his friends in a state of dreadful +exhaustion and suffering, and was carried to camp on a litter. He +ultimately recovered, but had sustained irreparable injuries. "Such +desperate encounters are of rare occurrence," Springer quietly adds. +We should think they were. Really these loggers are cool hands. +Encounters with black bears are much more common, we are informed. +These are strong fellows, clever at parrying blows, and at wrenching +the weapon from their assailant's hand--very tenacious of life, +and confirmed robbers. Springer and his comrades were once, whilst +ascending a river, followed by one of them for several days. He +was bent upon plunder, and one night he walked off with a bundle +containing clothing, boots, shaving implements, and other things, +for which it might be thought a bear could have little occasion. +He examined his prize in the neighbourhood of the camp, tore the +clothes to shreds, and chewed up the cow-hide boots and the handle +of a razor. From the roof of a log-house, which the woodmen erected +a few miles farther on, he carried off a ten-gallon keg of molasses, +set it on one end, knocked the head in or out, and was about to +enjoy the feast, when he was discovered, pursued, and at last +killed. At page 140 we find a capital account of a fight between a +family of bears (father, mother, and cubs) and two foresters; and +at page 100 the stirring-up of a bear's den is graphically described. + +The pine tree is subject to disease of more than one kind, the most +frequent being a sort of cancer, known amongst lumber-men as "Conk" +or "Konkus," whose sole external manifestation is a small brown +spot, usually at several feet from the ground, and sometimes no +larger than a shilling. The trees thus afflicted are noway inferior +to the soundest in size and apparent beauty; but on cutting into +them the rot is at once evident, the wood being reddish in colour, +and of spungy texture. "Sometimes it shoots upwards, in imitation +of the streaming light of the aurora borealis; in others downwards, +and even both ways, preserving the same appearance." Unscrupulous +loggers cheat the unwary by driving a knot or piece of a limb of +the same tree into the plague-spot, and hewing it off smoothly, so +as to give it the appearance of a natural knot. A great many pines +are hollow at the base or butt, and these hollows are the favourite +winter-retreats of Bruin the bear. + + "A few rods from the main logging road where I worked one + winter," said Mr Johnston, (a logger whom Springer more than + once quotes,) "there stood a very large pine tree. We had nearly + completed our winter's work, and it still stood unmolested, + because, from appearances, it was supposed to be worthless. + Whilst passing it one day, not quite satisfied with the decision + that had been made upon its quality, I resolved to satisfy my + own mind touching its value; so, wallowing to it through the + snow, which was nearly up to my middle, I struck it several + blows with the head of my axe, an experiment to test whether + a tree be hollow or not. When I desisted, my attention was + arrested by a slight scratching and whining. Suspecting the + cause, I thumped the tree again, listening more attentively, and + heard the same noise as before. It was a bear's den. Examining + the tree more closely, I discovered a small hole in the trunk, + near the roots, with a rim of ice on the edge of the orifice, + made by the freezing of the breath and vapour from the inmates." + +The logging crew were summoned, and came scampering down, eager +for the fun. The snow was kicked away from the root of the tree, +exposing the entrance to the den; and a small hole was cut in the +opposite side, through which the family of bears were literally +"stirred up with a long pole;" and when the great she-bear, annoyed +at this treatment, put her head out at the door, she was cut over +the pate with an axe. + + "The cubs, four in number--a thing unusual by one-half--we took + alive, and carried to camp, kept them a while, and finally sold + them. They were quite small and harmless, of a most beautiful + lustrous black, and fat as porpoises. The old dam was uncommonly + large--we judged she might weigh about three hundred pounds. Her + hide, when stretched out and nailed on to the end of the camp, + appeared quite equal to a cow's hide in dimensions." + +The attacks of wild animals are far from being the sole dangers +to which the wood-cutters of Maine are exposed in following their +toilsome occupation. Scarcely any phase of their adventurous +existence is exempt from risk. Bad wounds are sometimes accidentally +received from the axe whilst felling trees. To heal these, in the +absence of surgeons, the loggers are thrown upon their own very +insufficient resources. Life is also constantly endangered in +felling the pine, which comes plunging down, breaking, splitting, +and crushing all before it. The broken limbs which are torn from the +fallen tree, and the branches it wrenches from other trees, + + "rendered brittle by the intense frosts, fly in every direction, + like the scattered fragments of an exploding ship. Often these + wrenched limbs are suspended directly over the place where our + work requires our presence, and on the slightest motion, or from + a sudden gust of wind, they slip down with the stealthiness + of a hawk and the velocity of an arrow. I recollect one in + particular, which was wrenched from a large pine I had just + felled. It lodged in the top of a towering birch, directly over + where it was necessary for me to stand whilst severing the + top from the trunk. Viewing its position with some anxiety, + I ventured to stand and work under it, forgetting my danger + in the excitement. Whilst thus engaged, the limb slipped from + its position, and, falling directly before me, end foremost, + penetrated the frozen earth. It was about four inches through, + and ten feet long. It just grazed my cap; a little variation, + and it would have dashed my head to pieces. Attracted on one + occasion, whilst swamping a road, by the appearance of a + large limb which stuck fast in the ground, curiosity induced + me to extricate it, for the purpose of seeing how far it had + penetrated. After considerable exertion, I succeeded in drawing + it out, when I was amazed _to find a thick cloth cap on the end + of it_. It had penetrated the earth to a considerable depth. + Subsequently I learned that _it_ [the cap, we presume, but + Springer makes sad work of his pronouns] belonged to a man who + was killed instantly by _its_ fall, [here our logging friend + must be supposed to refer to the timber,] striking him on the + head, and carrying his cap into the ground with it." + +This is not impossible, although it does a little remind us of +certain adventures of the renowned Munchausen. And Springer is so +pleasant a fellow, that we shall not call his veracity in question, +or even tax him with that tinting of truth in which many of his +countrymen excel, but of which he only here and there lays himself +open to suspicion. He certainly does put our credulity a little +to the strain by an anecdote of a moose deer, which he gives, +however, between inverted commas, on the authority of a hunter who +occasionally passed the night at the logger's camp. The moose is the +largest species of deer found in the New-England forests, its size +varying from that of a large pony to that of a full-grown horse. +It has immense branching antlers, and, judging from its portrait, +which forms the frontispiece to _Forest Life_, we readily believe +Springer's assurance, that "the taking of moose is sometimes quite +hazardous." Quite astonishing, we are sure the reader will say, is +the following ride:-- + + "Once," hunter _loquitur_, "whilst out on a hunting excursion, + I was pursued by a bull-moose. He approached me with his + muscular neck curved, and head to the ground, in a manner not + dissimilar to the attitude assumed by horned cattle when about + to encounter each other. Just as he was about to make a pass + at me, I sprang suddenly between his wide-spreading antlers, + bestride his neck. Dexterously turning round, I seized him by + the horns, and, locking my feet together under his neck, I + clung to him like a sloth. With a mixture of rage and terror, + he dashed wildly about, endeavouring to dislodge me; but, as + my life depended upon maintaining my position, I clung to him + with a corresponding desperation. After making a few ineffectual + attempts to disengage me, he threw out his nose, and, laying his + antlers back upon his shoulders, _which formed a screen for my + defence_, he sprang forward into a furious run, still bearing + me upon his neck. Now penetrating dense thickets, then leaping + high 'windfalls,' (old fallen trees,) and struggling through + swamp-mires, he finally fell from exhaustion, after carrying + me about three miles. Improving the opportunity, I drew my + hunting-knife from its sheath, and instantly buried it in his + neck, cutting the jugular vein, which put a speedy termination + to the contest and the flight." + +After which we presume that he spitted the moose on a pine tree, +roasted and ate it, and used its antlers for toothpicks. The +adventure is worthy of Mazeppa or the Wild Huntsman. By the antlers +_forming a screen for the rider's defence_, we are reminded of +that memorable morning in the life of the great German Baron, when +his horse, cut in two, just behind the saddle, by the fall of a +portcullis, was sewn together with laurel-twigs, which sprouted +up into a pleasant bower, beneath whose appropriate shade the +redoubtable warrior thenceforward rode to victory. An awful liar, +indeed, must have been the narrator of this "singular adventure," +as Springer, who tells this story quite gravely, artlessly styles +it. Doubtless such yarns are acceptable enough by the camp-fire, +where the weary logger smokes the pipe of repose after a hard day's +work; and they are by no means out of place in the logger's book, +of which, however, they occupy but a small portion--by far the +greater number of its chapters being filled with solid and curious +information. The third and longest part, "River Life," upon which +we have not touched, is highly interesting, and gives thrilling +accounts of the dangers incurred during the progress down stream of +the various "parcels" of logs, which, each distinguished like cattle +by the owner's mark, soon mingle and form one grand "drive" on the +main river. "Driving" of this kind is a very hazardous occupation. +Sometimes the logs come to a "jam," get wedged together in a narrow +part of the river or amongst rocks, and, whilst the drivers work +with axe and lever to set the huge floating field of tree-trunks in +motion again, lives are frequently lost. This is easy to understand. +The removal of a single log, the keystone of the mass--nay, a +single blow of the axe--often suffices to liberate acres of timber +from their "dead lock," and set them furiously rushing down the +rapid current. Then does woe betide those who are caught in the +hurly-burly. Sometimes, the key-log being well ascertained, a man +is let down, like a samphire-gatherer, by a rope from an adjacent +cliff, on to the "jam." Then-- + + "As the place to be operated upon may in some cases be a little + removed from the shore, he either walks to it with the rope + attached to his body, or, untying the rope, leaves it where + he can readily grasp it in time to be drawn from his perilous + position. Often, where the pressure is direct, a few blows only + are given with the axe, when the log snaps in an instant with + a loud report, followed suddenly by the violent motion of the + 'jam;' and, ere our bold river-driver is jerked half way to the + top of the cliff, scores of logs, in wildest confusion, rush + beneath his feet, whilst he yet dangles in the air above the + trembling mass. If that rope, on which life and hope hang thus + suspended, should part, worn by the sharp point of some jutting + rock, death, certain and quick, were inevitable." + +The wood-cutter's occupation, which, to European imagination, +presents itself as peaceful, pastoral, and void of peril, assumes +a very different aspect when pursued in North American forests. If +any doubt this fact, let them study Springer, who will repay the +trouble, and of whose volume we have rather skimmed the surface than +meddled with the substance. + + + + +MY NOVEL; OR, VARIETIES IN ENGLISH LIFE. + +BY PISISTRATUS CAXTON. + + +CHAPTER VII. + +Randal advanced--"I fear, Signior Riccabocca, that I am guilty of +some want of ceremony." + +"To dispense with ceremony is the most delicate mode of conferring +a compliment," replied the urbane Italian, as he recovered from his +first surprise at Randal's sudden address, and extended his hand. + +Violante bowed her graceful head to the young man's respectful +salutation. "I am on my way to Hazeldean," resumed Randal, "and, +seeing you in the garden, could not resist this intrusion." + +RICCABOCCA.--"You come from London? Stirring times for you English, +but I do not ask you the news. No news can affect us." + +RANDAL, (softly.)--"Perhaps--yes." + +RICCABOCCA, (startled.)--"How?" + +VIOLANTE.--"Surely he speaks of Italy, and news from that country +affects you still, my father." + +RICCABOCCA.--"Nay, nay, nothing affects me like this country; its +east winds might affect a pyramid! Draw your mantle round you, +child, and go in; the air has suddenly grown chill." + +Violante smiled on her father, glanced uneasily towards Randal's +grave brow, and went slowly towards the house. + +Riccabocca, after waiting some moments in silence, as if expecting +Randal to speak, said with affected carelessness, "So you think that +you have news that might affect me? _Corpo di Bacco!_ I am curious +to learn what!" + +"I may be mistaken--that depends on your answer to one question. Do +you know the Count of Peschiera?" + +Riccabocca winced, and turned pale. He could not baffle the watchful +eye of the questioner. + +"Enough," said Randal; "I see that I am right. Believe in my +sincerity. I speak but to warn and to serve you. The Count seeks to +discover the retreat of a countryman and kinsman of his own." + +"And for what end?" cried Riccabocca, thrown off his guard, and +his breast dilated, his crest rose, and his eye flashed; valour +and defiance broke from habitual caution and self-control. "But +pooh," he added, striving to regain his ordinary and half-ironical +calm, "it matters not to me. I grant, sir, that I know the Count di +Peschiera; but what has Dr Riccabocca to do with the kinsmen of so +grand a personage?" + +"Dr Riccabocca--nothing. But--" here Randal put his lip close to the +Italian's ear, and whispered a brief sentence. Then retreating a +step, but laying his hand on the exile's shoulder, he added--"Need I +say that your secret is safe with me?" + +Riccabocca made no answer. His eyes rested on the ground musingly. + +Randal continued--"And I shall esteem it the highest honour you can +bestow on me, to be permitted to assist you in forestalling danger." + +RICCABOCCA, (slowly.)--"Sir, I thank you; you have my secret, and I +feel assured it is safe, for I speak to an English gentleman. There +may be family reasons why I should avoid the Count di Peschiera; +and, indeed, He is safest from shoals who steers clearest of +his--relations." + +The poor Italian regained his caustic smile as he uttered that wise, +villanous Italian maxim. + +RANDAL.--"I know little of the Count of Peschiera save from the +current talk of the world. He is said to hold the estates of a +kinsman who took part in a conspiracy against the Austrian power." + +RICCABOCCA.--"It is true. Let that content him; what more does he +desire. You spoke of forestalling danger; what danger? I am on the +soil of England, and protected by its laws." + +RANDAL.--"Allow me to inquire if, had the kinsman no child, the +Count di Peschiera would be legitimate and natural heir to the +estates he holds?" + +RICCABOCCA.--"He would. What then?" + +RANDAL.--"Does that thought suggest no danger to the child of the +kinsman?" + +Riccabocca recoiled, and gasped forth, "The child! You do not mean +to imply that this man, infamous though he be, can contemplate the +crime of an assassin?" + +Randal paused perplexed. His ground was delicate. He knew not what +causes of resentment the exile entertained against the Count. He +knew not whether Riccabocca would not assent to an alliance that +might restore him to his country--and he resolved to feel his way +with precaution. + +"I did not," said he, smiling gravely, "mean to insinuate so +horrible a charge against a man whom I have never seen. He seeks +you--that is all I know. I imagine, from his general character, that +in this search he consults his interest. Perhaps all matters might +be conciliated by an interview!" + +"An interview!" exclaimed Riccabocca; "there is but one way we +should meet--foot to foot, and hand to hand." + +"Is it so? Then you would not listen to the Count if he proposed +some amicable compromise; if, for instance, he was a candidate for +the hand of your daughter?" + +The poor Italian, so wise and so subtle in his talk, was as rash and +blind when it came to action, as if he had been born in Ireland, and +nourished on potatoes and Repeal. He bared his whole soul to the +merciless eye of Randal. + +"My daughter!" he exclaimed. "Sir, your very question is an insult." + +Randal's way became clear at once. "Forgive me," he said mildly; +"I will tell you frankly all that I know. I am acquainted with the +Count's sister. I have some little influence over her. It was she +who informed me that the Count had come here, bent upon discovering +your refuge, and resolved to wed your daughter. This is the danger +of which I spoke. And when I asked your permission to aid in +forestalling it, I only intended to suggest that it might be wise to +find some securer home, and that I, if permitted to know that home, +and to visit you, could apprise you from time to time of the Count's +plans and movements." + +"Sir, I thank you sincerely," said Riccabocca with emotion; "but am +I not safe here?" + +"I doubt it. Many people have visited the Squire in the shooting +season, who will have heard of you--perhaps seen you, and who are +likely to meet the Count in London. And Frank Hazeldean, too, who +knows the Count's sister--" + +"True, true," interrupted Riccabocca. "I see, I see. I will +consider. I will reflect. Meanwhile you are going to Hazeldean. +Do not say a word to the Squire. He knows not the secret you have +discovered." + +With those words Riccabocca turned slightly away, and Randal took +the hint to depart. + +"At all times command and rely on me," said the young traitor, and +he regained the pale to which he had fastened his horse. + +As he remounted, he cast his eyes towards the place where he had +left Riccabocca. The Italian was still standing there. Presently +the form of Jackeymo was seen emerging from the shrubs. Riccabocca +turned hastily round, recognised his servant, uttered an exclamation +loud enough to reach Randal's ear, and then catching Jackeymo by the +arm, disappeared with him amidst the deeper recesses of the garden. + +"It will be indeed in my favour," thought Randal as he rode on, "if +I can get them into the neighbourhood of London--all occasion there +to woo, and if expedient, to win--the heiress." + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +"By the Lord Harry!" cried the Squire, as he stood with his wife in +the park, on a visit of inspection to some first-rate South-Downs +just added to his stock--"By the Lord, if that is not Randal Leslie +trying to get into the park at the back gate! Hollo, Randal! you +must come round by the lodge, my boy," said he. + +"You see this gate is locked to keep out trespassers." + +"A pity," said Randal. "I like short cuts, and you have shut up a +very short one." + +"So the trespassers said," quoth the Squire; "but Stirn would not +hear of it;--valuable man, Stirn. But ride round to the lodge. Put +up your horse, and you'll join us before we can get to the house." + +Randal nodded and smiled, and rode briskly on. + +The Squire rejoined his Harry. + +"Ah, William," said she anxiously, "though certainly Randal Leslie +means well, I always dread his visits." + +"So do I, in one sense," quoth the Squire, "for he always carries +away a bank-note for Frank." + +"I hope he is really Frank's friend," said Mrs Hazeldean. + +"Whose else can he be? Not his own, poor fellow, for he will never +accept a shilling from me, though his grandmother was as good a +Hazeldean as I am. But, zounds! I like his pride, and his economy +too. As for Frank--" + +"Hush, William!" cried Mrs Hazeldean, and put her fair hand before +the Squire's mouth. The Squire was softened, and kissed the fair +hand gallantly--perhaps he kissed the lips too; at all events, the +worthy pair were walking lovingly arm-in-arm when Randal joined them. + +He did not affect to perceive a certain coldness in the manner of +Mrs Hazeldean, but began immediately to talk to her about Frank; +praise that young gentleman's appearance; expatiate on his health, +his popularity, and his good gifts, personal and mental; and this +with so much warmth, that any dim and undeveloped suspicions Mrs +Hazeldean might have formed soon melted away. + +Randal continued to make himself thus agreeable, until the Squire, +persuaded that his young kinsman was a first-rate agriculturist, +insisted upon carrying him off to the home farm, and Harry turned +towards the house to order Randal's room to be got ready: "For," +said Randal, "knowing that you will excuse my morning dress, I +venture to invite myself to dine and sleep at the Hall." + +On approaching the farm-buildings, Randal was seized with the +terror of an impostor; for, despite all the theoretical learning on +Bucolics and Georgics with which he had dazzled the Squire, poor +Frank, so despised, would have beat him hollow when it came to +judging of the points of an ox or the show of a crop. + +"Ha, ha!" cried the Squire, chuckling, "I long to see how you'll +astonish Stirn. Why, you'll guess in a moment where we put the +top-dressing; and when you come to handle my short-horns, I dare +swear you'll know to a pound how much oilcake has gone into their +sides." + +"Oh, you do me too much honour--indeed you do. I only know the +general principles of agriculture--the details are eminently +interesting; but I have not had the opportunity to acquire them." + +"Stuff!" cried the Squire. "How can a man know general principles +unless he has first studied the details? You are too modest, my boy. +Ho! there's Stirn looking out for us!" + +Randal saw the grim visage of Stirn peering out of a cattle-shed, +and felt undone. He made a desperate rush towards changing the +Squire's humour. + +"Well, sir, perhaps Frank may soon gratify your wish and turn farmer +himself." + +"Eh!" quoth the Squire, stopping short. "What now?" + +"Suppose he was to marry?" + +"I'd give him the two best farms on the property rent free. Ha, ha! +Has he seen the girl yet? I'd leave him free to choose, sir. I chose +for myself--every man should. Not but what Miss Sticktorights is an +heiress, and, I hear, a very decent girl, and that would join the +two properties, and put an end to that lawsuit about the right of +way, which began in the reign of King Charles the Second, and is +likely otherwise to last till the day of judgment. But never mind +her; let Frank choose to please himself." + +"I'll not fail to tell him so, sir. I did fear you might have some +prejudices. But here we are at the farm-yard." + +"Burn the farm-yard! How can I think of farm-yards when you talk +of Frank's marriage? Come on--this way. What were you saying about +prejudices?" + +"Why, you might wish him to marry an Englishwoman, for instance." + +"English! Good heavens, sir, does he mean to marry a Hindoo?" + +"Nay, I don't know that he means to marry at all: I am only +surmising; but if he did fall in love with a foreigner--" + +"A foreigner! Ah, then Harry was--" The Squire stopped short. + +"Who might, perhaps," observed Randal--not truly if he referred to +Madame di Negra--"who might, perhaps, speak very little English?" + +"Lord ha' mercy!" + +"And a Roman Catholic--" + +"Worshipping idols, and roasting people who don't worship them." + +"Signior Riccabocca is not so bad as that." + +"Rickeybockey! Well, if it was his daughter! But not speak English! +and not go to the parish church! By George! if Frank thought of such +a thing, I'd cut him off with a shilling. Don't talk to me, sir; I +would. I'm a mild man, and an easy man; but when I say a thing, I +say it, Mr. Leslie. Oh, but it is a jest--you are laughing at me. +There's no such painted, good-for-nothing creature in Frank's eye, +eh?" + +"Indeed, sir, if ever I find there is, I will give you notice in +time. At present I was only trying to ascertain what you wished for +a daughter-in-law. You said you had no prejudice." + +"No more I have--not a bit of it." + +"You don't like a foreigner and a Catholic?" + +"Who the devil would?" + +"But if she had rank and title?" + +"Rank and title! Bubble and squeak! No, not half so good as bubble +and squeak. English beef and good cabbage. But foreign rank and +title!--foreign cabbage and beef!--foreign bubble and foreign +squeak!" And the Squire made a wry face, and spat forth his disgust +and indignation. + +"You must have an Englishwoman?" + +"Of course." + +"Money?" + +"Don't care, provided she is a tidy, sensible, active lass, with a +good character for her dower." + +"Character--ah, that is indispensable?" + +"I should think so, indeed. A Mrs. Hazeldean of Hazeldean; you +frighten me. He's not going to run off with a divorced woman, or a--" + +The Squire stopped, and looked so red in the face, that Randal +feared he might be seized with apoplexy before Frank's crimes had +made him alter his will. + +Therefore he hastened to relieve Mr Hazeldean's mind, and assured +him that he had been only talking at random; that Frank was in +the habit, indeed, of seeing foreign ladies occasionally, as all +persons in the London world were; but that he was sure Frank would +never marry without the full consent and approval of his parents. +He ended by repeating his assurance, that he would warn the Squire +if ever it became necessary. Still, however, he left Mr Hazeldean +so disturbed and uneasy, that that gentleman forgot all about the +farm, and went moodily on in the opposite direction, re-entering the +park at its farther extremity. As soon as they approached the house, +the Squire hastened to shut himself with his wife in full parental +consultation; and Randal, seated upon a bench on the terrace, +revolved the mischief he had done, and its chances of success. + +While thus seated, and thus thinking, a footstep approached +cautiously, and a low voice said, in broken English, "Sare, sare, +let me speak vid you." + +Randal turned in surprise, and beheld a swarthy saturnine face, with +grizzled hair and marked features. He recognised the figure that had +joined Riccabocca in the Italian's garden. + +"Speak-a you Italian?" resumed Jackeymo. + +Randal, who had made himself an excellent linguist, nodded assent; +and Jackeymo, rejoiced, begged him to withdraw into a more private +part of the grounds. + +Randal obeyed, and the two gained the shade of a stately chestnut +avenue. + +"Sir," then said Jackeymo, speaking in his native tongue, and +expressing himself with a certain simple pathos, "I am but a poor +man; my name is Giacomo. You have heard of me;--servant to the +Signior whom you saw to-day--only a servant; but he honours me +with his confidence. We have known danger together; and of all his +friends and followers, I alone came with him to the stranger's land." + +"Good, faithful fellow," said Randal, examining the man's face, "say +on. Your master confides in you? He confided that which I told him +this day?" + +"He did. Ah, sir! the Padrone was too proud to ask you to explain +more--too proud to show fear of another. But he does fear--he ought +to fear--he shall fear," (continued Jackeymo, working himself up +to passion)--"for the Padrone has a daughter, and his enemy is a +villain. Oh, sir, tell me all that you did not tell to the Padrone. +You hinted that this man might wish to marry the Signora. Marry +her!--I could cut his throat at the altar!" + +"Indeed," said Randal; "I believe that such is his object." + +"But why? He is rich--she is penniless; no, not quite that, for we +have saved--but penniless, compared to him." + +"My good friend, I know not yet his motives; but I can easily learn +them. If, however, this Count be your master's enemy, it is surely +well to guard against him, whatever his designs; and, to do so, you +should move into London or its neighbourhood. I fear that, while we +speak, the Count may get upon his track." + +"He had better not come here!" cried the servant menacingly, and +putting his hand where the knife was _not_. + +"Beware of your own anger, Giacomo. One act of violence, and you +would be transported from England, and your master would lose a +friend." + +Jackeymo seemed struck by this caution. + +"And if the Padrone were to meet him, do you think the Padrone would +meekly say, 'Come stà sa Signoria?' The Padrone would strike him +dead!" + +"Hush--hush! You speak of what, in England, is called murder, and +is punished by the gallows. If you really love your master, for +heaven's sake get him from this place--get him from all chance of +such passion and peril. I go to town to-morrow; I will find him a +house that shall be safe from all spies--all discovery. And there, +too, my friend, I can do--what I cannot at this distance--watch over +him, and keep watch also on his enemy." + +Jackeymo seized Randal's hand and lifted it towards his lip; then, +as if struck by a sudden suspicion, dropped the hand, and said +bluntly--"Signior, I think you have seen the Padrone twice. Why do +you take this interest in him?" + +"Is it so uncommon to take interest even in a stranger who is +menaced by some peril?" + +Jackeymo, who believed little in general philanthropy, shook his +head sceptically. + +"Besides," continued Randal, suddenly bethinking himself of a more +plausible reason--"besides, I am a friend and connection of Mr +Egerton; and Mr Egerton's most intimate friend is Lord L'Estrange; +and I have heard that Lord L'Estrange--" + +"The good lord! Oh, now I understand," interrupted Jackeymo, and his +brow cleared. "Ah, if _he_ were in England! But you will let us know +when he comes?" + +"Certainly. Now, tell me, Giacomo, is this Count really unprincipled +and dangerous? Remember, I know him not personally." + +"He has neither heart, head, nor conscience." + +"That makes him dangerous to men; but to women, danger comes from +other qualities. Could it be possible, if he obtained any interview +with the Signora, that he could win her affections?" + +Jackeymo crossed himself rapidly, and made no answer. + +"I have heard that he is still very handsome." + +Jackeymo groaned. + +Randal resumed--"Enough; persuade the Padrone to come to town." + +"But if the Count is in town?" + +"That makes no difference; the safest place is always the largest +city. Everywhere else a foreigner is in himself an object of +attention and curiosity." + +"True." + +"Let your master, then, come to London. He can reside in one of the +suburbs most remote from the Count's haunts. In two days I will have +found him a lodging and write to him. You trust to me now?" + +"I do indeed--I do, Excellency. Ah, if the Signorina were married, +we would not care!" + +"Married! But she looks so high!" + +"Alas! not now--not here!" + +Randal sighed heavily. Jackeymo's eyes sparkled. He thought he had +detected a new motive for Randal's interest--a motive to an Italian +the most natural, the most laudable of all. + +"Find the house, Signior--write to the Padrone. He shall come. I'll +talk to him. I can manage him. Holy San Giacomo, bestir thyself +now--'tis long since I troubled thee!" + +Jackeymo strode off through the fading trees, smiling and muttering +as he went. + +The first dinner-bell rang, and, on entering the drawing-room, +Randal found Parson Dale and his wife, who had been invited in haste +to meet the unexpected visitor. + +The preliminary greetings over, Mr Dale took the opportunity +afforded by the Squire's absence to inquire after the health of Mr +Egerton. + +"He is always well," said Randal. "I believe he is made of iron." + +"His heart is of gold," said the Parson. + +"Ah!" said Randal, inquisitively, "you told me you had come in +contact with him once, respecting, I think, some of your old +parishioners at Lansmere?" + +The Parson nodded, and there was a moment's silence. + +"Do you remember your battle by the Stocks, Mr Leslie?" said Mr +Dale, with a good-humoured laugh. + +"Indeed, yes. By the way, now you speak of it, I met my old opponent +in London the first year I went up to it." + +"You did!--where?" + +"At a literary scamp's--a cleverish man called Burley." + +"Burley! I have seen some burlesque verses in Greek by a Mr Burley." + +"No doubt, the same person. He has disappeared--gone to the dogs, I +dare say. Burlesque Greek is not a knowledge very much in power at +present." + +"Well, but Leonard Fairfield?--you have seen him since?" + +"No." + +"Nor heard of him?" + +"No!--have you?" + +"Strange to say, not for a long time. But I have reason to believe +that he must be doing well." + +"You surprise me! Why?" + +"Because, two years ago, he sent for his mother. She went to him." + +"Is that all?" + +"It is enough; for he would not have sent for her if he could not +maintain her." + +Here the Hazeldeans entered, arm-in-arm, and the fat butler +announced dinner. + +The Squire was unusually taciturn--Mrs Hazeldean thoughtful--Mrs +Dale languid, and headachy. The Parson, who seldom enjoyed the +luxury of converse with a scholar, save when he quarrelled with Dr +Riccabocca, was animated, by Randal's repute for ability, into a +great desire for argument. + +"A glass of wine, Mr Leslie. You were saying, before dinner, that +burlesque Greek is not a knowledge very much in power at present. +Pray, sir, what knowledge is in power?" + +RANDAL, (laconically.)--"Practical knowledge." + +PARSON.--"What of?" + +RANDAL.--"Men." + +PARSON, (candidly.)--"Well, I suppose that is the most available +sort of knowledge, in a worldly point of view. How does one learn +it? Do books help?" + +RANDAL.--"According as they are read, they help or injure." + +PARSON.--"How should they be read in order to help?" + +RANDAL.--"Read specially to apply to purposes that lead to power." + +PARSON, (very much struck with Randal's pithy and Spartan +logic.)--"Upon my word, sir, you express yourself very well. I must +own that I began these questions in the hope of differing from you; +for I like an argument." + +"That he does," growled the Squire; "the most contradictory +creature!" + +PARSON.--"Argument is the salt of talk. But now I am afraid I must +agree with you, which I was not at all prepared for." + +Randal bowed, and answered--"No two men of our education can dispute +upon the application of knowledge." + +PARSON, (pricking up his ears.)--"Eh! what to?" + +RANDAL.--"Power, of course." + +PARSON, (overjoyed.)--"Power!--the vulgarest application of it, or +the loftiest? But you mean the loftiest?" + +RANDAL, (in his turn interested and interrogative.)--"What do you +call the loftiest, and what the vulgarest?" + +PARSON.--"The vulgarest, self-interest; the loftiest, beneficence." + +Randal suppressed the half disdainful smile that rose to his lip. + +"You speak, sir, as a clergyman should do. I admire your sentiment, +and adopt it; but I fear that the knowledge which aims only at +beneficence very rarely in this world gets any power at all." + +SQUIRE, (seriously.)--"That's true; I never get my own way when I +want to do a kindness, and Stirn always gets his when he insists on +something diabolically brutal and harsh." + +PARSON.--"Pray, Mr Leslie, what does intellectual power refined to +the utmost, but entirely stripped of beneficence, most resemble?" + +RANDAL.--"Resemble?--I can hardly say. Some very great man--almost +any very great man--who has baffled all his foes, and attained all +his ends." + +PARSON.--"I doubt if any man has ever become very great who has not +meant to be beneficent, though he might err in the means. Cæsar was +naturally beneficent, and so was Alexander. But intellectual power +refined to the utmost, and wholly void of beneficence, resembles +only one being, and that, sir, is the Principle of Evil." + +RANDAL, (startled.)--"Do you mean the Devil?" + +PARSON.--"Yes, sir--the Devil; and even he, sir, did not succeed! +Even he, sir, is what your great men would call a most decided +failure." + +MRS DALE.--"My dear--my dear." + +PARSON.--"Our religion proves it, my love; he was an angel, and he +fell." + +There was a solemn pause. Randal was more impressed than he liked to +own to himself. By this time the dinner was over, and the servants +had retired. Harry glanced at Carry. Carry smoothed her gown and +rose. + +The gentlemen remained over their wine; and the Parson, satisfied +with what he deemed a clencher upon his favourite subject of +discussion, changed the subject to lighter topics, till happening to +fall upon tithes, the Squire struck in, and by dint of loudness of +voice, and truculence of brow, fairly overwhelmed both his guests, +and proved to his own satisfaction that tithes were an unjust and +unchristian-like usurpation on the part of the Church generally, and +a most especial and iniquitous infliction upon the Hazeldean estates +in particular. + + +CHAPTER IX. + +On entering the drawing-room, Randal found the two ladies seated +close together, in a position much more appropriate to the +familiarity of their school-days than to the politeness of the +friendship now existing between them. Mrs Hazeldean's hand hung +affectionately over Carry's shoulder, and both those fair English +faces were bent over the same book. It was pretty to see these sober +matrons, so different from each other in character and aspect, thus +unconsciously restored to the intimacy of happy maiden youth by +the golden link of some Magician from the still land of Truth or +Fancy--brought together in heart, as each eye rested on the same +thought;--closer and closer, as sympathy, lost in the actual world, +grew out of that world which unites in one bond of feeling the +readers of some gentle book. + +"And what work interests you so much?" said Randal, pausing by the +table. + +"One you have read, of course," replied Mrs Dale, putting a +bookmark embroidered by herself into the page, and handing the +volume to Randal. "It has made a great sensation, I believe." + +Randal glanced at the title of the work. "True," said he, "I have +heard much of it in London, but I have not yet had time to read it." + +MRS DALE.--"I can lend it to you, if you like to look over it +to-night, and you can leave it for me with Mrs Hazeldean." + +PARSON, (approaching.)--"Oh! that book!--yes, you must read it. I do +not know a work more instructive." + +RANDAL.--"Instructive! Certainly I will read it then. But I thought +it was a mere work of amusement--of fancy. It seems so, as I look +over it." + +PARSON.--"So is the _Vicar of Wakefield_; yet what book more +instructive?" + +RANDAL.--"I should not have said _that_ of the _Vicar of Wakefield_. +A pretty book enough, though the story is most improbable. But how +is it instructive?" + +PARSON.--"By its results: it leaves us happier and better. What +can any instruction do more? Some works instruct through the head, +some through the heart; the last reach the widest circle, and often +produce the most genial influence on the character. This book +belongs to the last. You will grant my proposition when you have +read it." + +Randal smiled and took the volume. + +MRS DALE.--"Is the author known yet?" + +RANDAL.--"I have heard it ascribed to many writers, but I believe no +one has claimed it." + +PARSON.--"I think it must have been written by my old college +friend, Professor Moss, the naturalist; its descriptions of scenery +are so accurate." + +MRS DALE.--"La, Charles dear! that snuffy, tiresome, prosy +professor? How can you talk such nonsense? I am sure the author must +be young; there is so much freshness of feeling." + +MRS HAZELDEAN, (positively.)--"Yes, certainly young." + +PARSON, (no less positively.)--"I should say just the contrary. +Its tone is too serene, and its style too simple for a young man. +Besides, I don't know any young man who would send me his book, and +this book has been sent me--very handsomely bound too, you see. +Depend upon it, Moss is the man--quite his turn of mind." + +MRS DALE.--"You are too provoking, Charles dear! Mr Moss is so +remarkably plain, too." + +RANDAL.--"Must an author be handsome?" + +PARSON.--"Ha, ha! Answer that, if you can, Carry." + +Carry remained mute and disdainful. + +SQUIRE, (with great _naiveté_.)--"Well, I don't think there's +much in the book, whoever wrote it; for I've read it myself, and +understand every word of it." + +MRS DALE.--"I don't see why you should suppose it was written by a +man at all. For my part, I think it must be a woman." + +MRS HAZELDEAN.--"Yes, there's a passage about maternal affection, +which only a woman could have written." + +PARSON.--"Pooh, pooh! I should like to see a woman who could +have written that description of an August evening before a +thunderstorm; every wildflower in the hedgerow exactly the flowers +of August--every sign in the air exactly those of the month. Bless +you! a woman would have filled the hedge with violets and cowslips. +Nobody else but my friend Moss could have written that description." + +SQUIRE.--"I don't know; there's a simile about the waste of +corn-seed in hand-sowing, which makes me think he must be a farmer!" + +MRS DALE, (scornfully.)--"A farmer! In hob-nailed shoes, I suppose! +I say it is a woman." + +MRS HAZELDEAN.--"A WOMAN, and A MOTHER!" + +PARSON.--"A middle-aged man, and a naturalist." + +SQUIRE.--"No, no, Parson; certainly a young man; for that love-scene +puts me in mind of my own young days, when I would have given my +ears to tell Harry how handsome I thought her; and all I could say +was--'Fine weather for the crops, Miss.' Yes, a young man, and a +farmer. I should not wonder if he had held the plough himself." + +RANDAL, (who had been turning over the pages.)--"This sketch of +Night in London comes from a man who has lived the life, of cities, +and looked at wealth with the eyes of poverty. Not bad! I will read +the book." + +"Strange," said the Parson, smiling, "that this little work should +so have entered into our minds, suggested to all of us different +ideas, yet equally charmed all--given a new and fresh current to +our dull country life--animated us as with the sight of a world in +our breasts we had never seen before, save in dreams;--a little +work like this, by a man we don't know, and never may! Well, _that_ +knowledge _is_ power, and a noble one!" + +"A sort of power, certainly, sir," said Randal, candidly; and that +night, when Randal retired to his own room, he suspended his schemes +and projects, and read, as he rarely did, without an object to gain +by the reading. + +The work surprised him by the pleasure it gave. Its charm lay in +the writer's calm enjoyment of the Beautiful. It seemed like some +happy soul sunning itself in the light of its own thoughts. Its +power was so tranquil and even, that it was only a critic who could +perceive how much force and vigour were necessary to sustain the +wing that floated aloft with so imperceptible an effort. There was +no one faculty predominating tyrannically over the others; all +seemed proportioned in the felicitous symmetry of a nature rounded, +integral, and complete. And when the work was closed, it left behind +it a tender warmth that played round the heart of the reader, and +vivified feelings that seemed unknown before. Randal laid down the +book softly; and for five minutes the ignoble and base purposes to +which his own knowledge was applied, stood before him, naked and +unmasked. + +"Tut," said he, wrenching himself violently away from the benign +influence, "it was not to sympathise with Hector, but to conquer +with Achilles, that Alexander of Macedon kept Homer under his +pillow. Such should be the true use of books to him who has the +practical world to subdue; let parsons and women construe it +otherwise as they may!" + +And the Principle of Evil descended again upon the intellect, from +which the guide of beneficence was gone. + + +CHAPTER X. + +Randal rose at the sound of the first breakfast bell, and on the +staircase met Mrs Hazeldean. He gave her back the book; and as he +was about to speak, she beckoned to him to follow her into a little +morning-room appropriated to herself. No boudoir of white and gold, +with pictures by Watteau, but lined with large walnut-tree presses, +that held the old heirloom linen strewed with lavender--stores for +the housekeeper, and medicines for the poor. + +Seating herself on a large chair in this sanctum, Mrs Hazeldean +looked formidably at home. + +"Pray," said the lady, coming at once to the point, with her usual +straightforward candour, "what is all this you have been saying to +my husband as to the possibility of Frank's marrying a foreigner?" + +RANDAL.--"Would you be as averse to such a notion as Mr Hazeldean +is?" + +MRS HAZELDEAN.--"You ask me a question, instead of answering mine." + +Randal was greatly put out in his fence by these rude thrusts. For +indeed he had a double purpose to serve--first thoroughly to know if +Frank's marriage with a woman like Madame di Negra would irritate +the Squire sufficiently to endanger the son's inheritance; and, +secondly, to prevent Mr and Mrs Hazeldean believing, seriously that +such a marriage was to be apprehended, lest they should prematurely +address Frank on the subject, and frustrate the marriage itself. +Yet, withal, he must so express himself, that he could not be +afterwards accused by the parents of disguising matters. In his +talk to the Squire the preceding day, he had gone a little too +far--farther than he would have done but for his desire of escaping +the cattle-shed and short-horns. While he mused, Mrs Hazeldean +observed him with her honest sensible eyes, and finally exclaimed-- + +"Out with it, Mr Leslie!" + +"Out with what, my dear madam? The Squire has sadly exaggerated +the importance of what was said mainly in jest. But I will own to +you plainly, that Frank has appeared to me a little smitten with a +certain fair Italian." + +"Italian!" cried Mrs Hazeldean. "Well, I said so from the first. +Italian!--that's all, is it?" and she smiled. + +Randal was more and more perplexed. The pupil of his eye contracted, +as it does when we retreat into ourselves, and think, watch, and +keep guard. + +"And perhaps," resumed Mrs Hazeldean, with a very sunny expression +of countenance, "you have noticed this in Frank since he was here?" + +"It is true," murmured Randal; "but I think his heart or his fancy +was touched even before." + +"Very natural," said Mrs Hazeldean; "how could he help it?--such +a beautiful creature! Well, I must not ask you to tell Frank's +secrets; but I guess the object of attraction; and though she will +have no fortune to speak of--and it is not such a match as he might +form--still she is so amiable, and has been so well brought up, and +is so little like one's general notions of a Roman Catholic, that I +think I could persuade Hazeldean into giving his consent." + +"Ah!" said Randal, drawing a long breath, and beginning with his +practised acuteness to detect Mrs Hazeldean's error, "I am very much +relieved and rejoiced to hear this; and I may venture to give Frank +some hope, if I find him disheartened and desponding, poor fellow!" + +"I think you may," replied Mrs Hazeldean, laughing pleasantly. "But +you should not have frightened poor William so, hinting that the +lady knew very little English. She has an accent, to be sure; but +she speaks our tongue very prettily. I always forget that she's not +English born! Ha, ha, poor William!" + +RANDAL.--"Ha, ha!" + +MRS HAZELDEAN.--"We had once thought of another match for Frank--a +girl of good English family." + +RANDAL.--"Miss Sticktorights?" + +MRS HAZELDEAN.--"No; that's an old whim of Hazeldean's. But he knows +very well that the Sticktorights would never merge their property +in ours. Bless you, it would be all off the moment they came to +settlements, and had to give up the right of way. We thought of a +very different match; but there's no dictating to young hearts, Mr +Leslie." + +RANDAL.--"Indeed no, Mrs Hazeldean. But since we now understand each +other so well, excuse me if I suggest that you had better leave +things to themselves, and not write to Frank on the subject. Young +hearts, you know, are often stimulated by apparent difficulties, and +grow cool when the obstacle vanishes." + +MRS HAZELDEAN.--"Very possibly; it was not so with Hazeldean and +me. But I shall not write to Frank on the subject, for a different +reason--though I would consent to the match, and so would William; +yet we both would rather, after all, that Frank married an +Englishwoman, and a Protestant. We will not, therefore, do anything +to encourage the idea. But if Frank's happiness becomes really at +stake, _then_ we will step in. In short, we would neither encourage +nor oppose. You understand?" + +"Perfectly." + +"And, in the meanwhile, it is quite right that Frank should see the +world, and try to distract his mind, or at least to know it. And I +dare say it has been some thought of that kind which has prevented +his coming here." + +Randal, dreading a farther and plainer _éclaircissement_, now rose, +and saying, "Pardon me, but I must hurry over breakfast, and be back +in time to catch the coach"--offered his arm to his hostess, and led +her into the breakfast-parlour. Devouring his meal, as if in great +haste, he then mounted his horse, and, taking cordial leave of his +entertainers, trotted briskly away. + +All things favoured his project--even chance had befriended him in +Mrs Hazeldean's mistake. She had not unnaturally supposed Violante +to have captivated Frank on his last visit to the Hall. Thus, while +Randal had certified his own mind that nothing could more exasperate +the Squire than an alliance with Madame di Negra, he could yet +assure Frank that Mrs Hazeldean was all on his side. And when the +error was discovered, Mrs Hazeldean would only have to blame herself +for it. Still more successful had his diplomacy proved with the +Riccaboccas; he had ascertained the secret he had come to discover; +he should induce the Italian to remove to the neighbourhood of +London; and if Violante were the great heiress he suspected her to +prove, whom else of her own age would she see but him? And the old +Leslie domains--to be sold in two years--a portion of the dowry +might purchase them! Flushed by the triumph of his craft, all former +vacillations of conscience ceased. In high and fervent spirits he +passed the Casino, the garden of which was solitary and deserted, +reached his home, and, telling Oliver to be studious, and Juliet to +be patient, walked thence to meet the coach and regain the capital. + + +CHAPTER XI. + +Violante was seated in her own little room, and looking from the +window on the terrace that stretched below. The day was warm for +the time of year. The orange-trees had been removed under shelter +for the approach of winter; but where they had stood sate Mrs +Riccabocca at work. In the Belvidere, Riccabocca himself was +conversing with his favourite servant. But the casements and the +door of the Belvidere were open; and where they sate, both wife and +daughter could see the Padrone leaning against the wall, with his +arms folded, and his eyes fixed on the floor; while Jackeymo, with +one finger on his master's arm, was talking to him with visible +earnestness. And the daughter from the window, and the wife from +her work, directed tender anxious eyes towards the still thoughtful +form so dear to both. For the last day or two, Riccabocca had been +peculiarly abstracted, even to gloom. Each felt there was something +stirring at his heart--neither as yet knew what. + +Violante's room silently revealed the nature of the education by +which her character had been formed. Save a sketch-book which lay +open on a desk at hand, and which showed talent exquisitely taught, +(for in this Riccabocca had been her teacher,) there was nothing +that spoke of the ordinary female accomplishments. No piano stood +open, no harp occupied yon nook, which seemed made for one; no +broidery frame, nor implements of work, betrayed the usual and +graceful resources of a girl; but ranged on shelves against the wall +were the best writers in English, Italian, and French; and these +betokened an extent of reading, that he who wishes for a companion +to his mind in the sweet commune of woman, which softens and refines +all it gives and takes in interchange, will never condemn as +masculine. You had but to look into Violante's face to see how noble +was the intelligence that brought soul to those lovely features. +Nothing hard, nothing dry and stern was there. Even as you detected +knowledge, it was lost in the gentleness of grace. In fact, whatever +she gained in the graver kinds of information, became transmuted, +through her heart and her fancy, into spiritual golden stores. Give +her some tedious and arid history, her imagination seized upon +beauties other readers had passed by, and, like the eye of the +artist, detected everywhere the Picturesque. Something in her mind +seemed to reject all that was mean and commonplace, and to bring +out all that was rare and elevated in whatever it received. Living +so apart from all companions of her age, she scarcely belonged to +the Present time. She dwelt in the Past, as Sabrina, in her crystal +well. Images of chivalry--of the Beautiful and the Heroic--such as, +in reading the silvery line of Tasso, rise before us, softening +force and valour into love and song--haunted the reveries of the +fair Italian maid. + +Tell us not that the Past, examined by cold Philosophy, was no +better and no loftier than the Present; it is not thus seen by pure +and generous eyes. Let the Past perish, when it ceases to reflect on +its magic mirror the beautiful Romance which is its noblest reality, +though perchance but the shadow of Delusion. + +Yet Violante was not merely the dreamer. In her, life was so +puissant and rich, that action seemed necessary to its glorious +development--action, but still in the woman's sphere--action to +bless and to refine and to exalt all around her, and to pour +whatever else of ambition was left unsatisfied into sympathy with +the aspirations of man. Despite her father's fears of the bleak air +of England, in that air she had strengthened the delicate health +of her childhood. Her elastic step--her eyes full of sweetness and +light--her bloom, at once soft and luxuriant--all spoke of the +vital powers fit to sustain a mind of such exquisite mould, and the +emotions of a heart that, once aroused, could ennoble the passions +of the South with the purity and devotion of the North. + +Solitude makes some natures more timid, some more bold. Violante was +fearless. When she spoke, her eyes frankly met your own; and she was +so ignorant of evil, that as yet she seemed nearly unacquainted with +shame. From this courage, combined with affluence of idea, came a +delightful flow of happy converse. Though possessing so imperfectly +the accomplishments ordinarily taught to young women, and which may +be cultured to the utmost, and yet leave the thoughts so barren, and +the talk so vapid--she had that accomplishment which most pleases +the taste, and commands the love, of the man of talent; especially +if his talent be not so actively employed as to make him desire +only relaxation where he seeks companionship--the accomplishment +of facility in intellectual interchange--the charm that clothes in +musical words beautiful womanly ideas. + +"I hear him sigh at this distance," said Violante softly, as she +still watched her father; "and methinks this is a new grief, and +not for his country. He spoke twice yesterday of that dear English +friend, and wished that he were here." + +As she said this, unconsciously the virgin blushed, her hands +drooped on her knee, and she fell herself into thought as profound +as her father's, but less gloomy. From her arrival in England, +Violante had been taught a grateful interest in the name of Harley +L'Estrange. Her father, preserving a silence, that seemed disdain, +of all his old Italian intimates, had been pleased to converse with +open heart of the Englishman who had saved where countrymen had +betrayed. He spoke of the soldier, then in the full bloom of youth, +who, unconsoled by fame, had nursed the memory of some hidden sorrow +amidst the pine-trees that cast their shadow over the sunny Italian +lake; how Riccabocca, then honoured and happy, had courted from his +seclusion the English Signor, then the mourner and the voluntary +exile; how they had grown friends amidst the landscapes in which her +eyes had opened to the day; how Harley had vainly warned him from +the rash schemes in which he had sought to reconstruct in an hour +the ruins of weary ages; how, when abandoned, deserted, proscribed, +pursued, he had fled for life--the infant Violante clasped to +his bosom--the English soldier had given him refuge, baffled the +pursuers, armed his servants, accompanied the fugitive at night +towards the defile in the Apennines, and, when the emissaries of a +perfidious enemy, hot in the chase, came near, had said, "You have +your child to save! Fly on! Another league, and you are beyond the +borders. We will delay the foes with parley; they will not harm us." +And not till escape was gained did the father know that the English +friend had delayed the foe, not by parley, but by the sword, holding +the pass against numbers, with a breast as dauntless as Bayard's in +the immortal bridge. + +And since then, the same Englishman had never ceased to vindicate +his name, to urge his cause, and if hope yet remained of restoration +to land and honours, it was in that untiring zeal. + +Hence, naturally and insensibly, this secluded and musing girl had +associated all that she read in tales of romance and chivalry with +the image of the brave and loyal stranger. He it was who animated +her dreams of the Past, and seemed born to be, in the destined hour, +the deliverer of the Future. Around this image grouped all the +charms that the fancy of virgin woman can raise from the enchanted +lore of old Heroic Fable. Once in her early girlhood, her father (to +satisfy her curiosity, eager for general description) had drawn from +memory a sketch of the features of the Englishman--drawn Harley, as +he was in that first youth, flattered and idealised, no doubt, by +art and by partial gratitude--but still resembling him as he was +then; while the deep mournfulness of recent sorrow yet shadowed and +concentrated all the varying expression of his countenance; and to +look on him was to say,--"So sad, yet so young!" Never did Violante +pause to remember that the same years which ripened herself from +infancy into woman, were passing less gently over that smooth cheek +and dreamy brow--that the world might be altering the nature, as +time the aspect. To her, the hero of the Ideal remained immortal in +bloom and youth. Bright illusion, common to us all, where Poetry +once hallows the human form! Who ever thinks of Petrarch as the +old time-worn man? Who does not see him as when he first gazed on +Laura?-- + + "Ogni altra cosa ogni pensier va fore; + E sol ivi con voi rimansi Amore!" + + +CHAPTER XII. + +And Violante, thus absorbed in reverie, forgot to keep watch on the +Belvidere. And the Belvidere was now deserted. The wife, who had no +other ideal to distract _her_ thoughts, saw Riccabocca pass into the +house. + +The exile entered his daughter's room, and she started to feel his +hand upon her locks and his kiss upon her brow. + +"My child!" cried Riccabocca, seating himself, "I have resolved to +leave for a time this retreat, and to seek the neighbourhood of +London." + +"Ah, dear father, _that_, then, was your thought? But what can be +your reason? Do not turn away; you know how carefully I have obeyed +your command and kept your secret. Ah, you will confide in me." + +"I do, indeed," returned Riccabocca, with emotion. "I leave this +place, in the fear lest my enemies discover me. I shall say to +others that you are of an age to require teachers, not to be +obtained here. But I should like none to know where we go." + +The Italian said these last words through his teeth, and hanging his +head. He said them in shame. + +"My mother--(so Violante always called Jemima)--my mother, you have +spoken to her?" + +"Not yet. _There_ is the difficulty." + +"No difficulty, for she loves you so well," replied Violante, with +soft reproach. "Ah, why not also confide in her? Who so true? so +good?" + +"Good--I grant it!" exclaimed Riccabocca. "What then? 'Da cattiva +Donna guardati, ed alla buona non fidar niente,' (from the bad +woman, guard thyself; to the good woman trust nothing.) And if you +must trust," added the abominable man, "trust her with anything but +a secret!" + +"Fie," said Violante, with arch reproach, for she knew her +father's humours too well to interpret his horrible sentiments +literally--"fie on your consistency, _Padre carissimo_. Do you not +trust your secret to me?" + +"You! A kitten is not a cat, and a girl is not a woman. Besides, the +secret was already known to you, and I had no choice. Peace, Jemima +will stay here for the present. See to what you wish to take with +you; we shall leave to-night." + +Not waiting for an answer, Riccabocca hurried away, and with a firm +step strode the terrace and approached his wife. + +"_Anima mia_," said the pupil of Machiavel, disguising in the +tenderest words the cruellest intentions--for one of his most +cherished Italian proverbs was to the effect, that there is no +getting on with a mule or a woman unless you coax them--"_Anima +mia_,--soul of my being--you have already seen that Violante mopes +herself to death here." + +"She, poor child! Oh no!" + +"She does, core of my heart, she does, and is as ignorant of music +as I am of tent-stitch." + +"She sings beautifully." + +"Just as birds do, against all the rules, and in defiance of gamut. +Therefore, to come to the point, O treasure of my soul! I am going +to take her with me for a short time, perhaps to Cheltenham, or +Brighton--we shall see." + +"All places with you are the same to me, Alphonso. When shall we go?" + +"_We_ shall go to-night; but, terrible as it is to part from +you--you--" + +"Ah!" interrupted the wife, and covered her face with her hands. + +Riccabocca, the wiliest and most relentless of men in his maxims, +melted into absolute uxorial imbecility at the sight of that mute +distress. He put his arm round his wife's waist, with genuine +affection, and without a single proverb at his heart--"_Carissima_, +do not grieve so; we shall be back soon, and travelling is +expensive; rolling stones gather no moss, and there is so much to +see to at home." + +Mrs Riccabocca gently escaped from her husband's arms. She withdrew +her hands from her face, and brushed away the tears that stood in +her eyes. + +"Alphonso," she said touchingly, "hear me! What you think good, that +shall ever be good to me. But do not think that I grieve solely +because of our parting. No; I grieve to think that, despite all +these years in which I have been the partner of your hearth and +slept on your breast--all these years in which I have had no thought +but, however humbly, to do my duty to you and yours, and could have +wished that you had read my heart, and seen there but yourself and +your child--I grieve to think that you still deem me as unworthy +your trust as when you stood by my side at the altar." + +"Trust!" repeated Riccabocca, startled and conscience-stricken; +"why do you say 'trust?' In what have I distrusted you? I am sure," +he continued, with the artful volubility of guilt, "that I never +doubted your fidelity--hook-nosed, long-visaged foreigner though +I be; never pryed into your letters; never inquired into your +solitary walks; never heeded your flirtations with that good-looking +Parson Dale; never kept the money; and never looked into the +account-books!" Mrs Riccabocca refused even a smile of contempt at +these revolting evasions; nay, she seemed scarcely to hear them. + +"Can you think," she resumed, pressing her hand on her heart to +still its struggles for relief in sobs--"can you think that I could +have watched, and thought, and tasked my poor mind so constantly, +to conjecture what might best soothe or please you, and not seen, +long since, that you have secrets known to your daughter--your +servant--not to me? Fear not--the secrets cannot be evil, or you +would not tell them to your innocent child. Besides, do I not know +your nature? and do I not love you because I know it?--it is for +something connected with these secrets that you leave your home. You +think that I should be incautious--imprudent. You will not take me +with you. Be it so. I go to prepare for your departure. Forgive me +if I have displeased you, husband." + +Mrs Riccabocca turned away; but a soft hand touched the Italian's +arm. "O father, can you resist this? Trust her!--trust her! I am a +woman like her! I answer for her woman's faith. Be yourself--ever +nobler than all others, my own father." + +"_Diavolo!_ Never one door shuts but another opens," groaned +Riccabocca. "Are you a fool, child? Don't you see that it was for +your sake only I feared--and would be cautious?" + +"For mine! O then, do not make me deem myself mean, and the cause of +meanness. For mine! Am I not your daughter--the descendant of men +who never feared?" + +Violante looked sublime while she spoke; and as she ended she led +her father gently on towards the door, which his wife had now gained. + +"Jemima--wife mine!--pardon, pardon," cried the Italian, whose heart +had been yearning to repay such tenderness and devotion,--"come back +to my breast--it has been long closed--it shall be open to you now +and for ever." + +In another moment, the wife was in her right place--on her +husband's bosom; and Violante, beautiful peace-maker, stood smiling +a while at both, and then lifted her eyes gratefully to heaven, and +stole away. + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +On Randal's return to town, he heard mixed and contradictory rumours +in the streets, and at the clubs of the probable downfall of the +Government at the approaching session of Parliament. These rumours +had sprung up suddenly, as if in an hour. True that, for some time, +the sagacious had shaken their heads and said, "Ministers could +not last." True that certain changes in policy, a year or two +before, had divided the party on which the Government depended, and +strengthened that which opposed it. But still its tenure in office +had been so long, and there seemed so little power in the Opposition +to form a cabinet of names familiar to official ears, that the +general public had anticipated, at most, a few partial changes. +Rumour now went far beyond this. Randal, whose whole prospects at +present were but reflections from the greatness of his patron, was +alarmed. He sought Egerton, but the minister was impenetrable, and +seemed calm, confident, and imperturbed. Somewhat relieved, Randal +then set himself to work to find a safe home for Riccabocca; for the +greater need to succeed in obtaining fortune there, if he failed in +getting it through Egerton. He found a quiet house, detached and +secluded, in the neighbourhood of Norwood. No vicinity more secure +from espionage and remark. He wrote to Riccabocca, and communicated +the address, adding fresh assurances of his own power to be of +use. The next morning he was seated in his office, thinking very +little of the details, that he mastered, however, with mechanical +precision, when the minister who presided over that department of +the public service sent for him into his private room, and begged +him to take a letter to Egerton, with whom he wished to consult +relative to a very important point to be decided in the Cabinet +that day. "I want you to take it," said the minister smiling, (the +minister was a frank, homely man,) "because you are in Mr Egerton's +confidence, and he may give you some verbal message besides a +written reply. Egerton is often over cautious and brief in the +_litera scripta_." + +Randal went first to Egerton's neighbouring office--he had not been +there that day. He then took a cabriolet and drove to Grosvenor +Square. A quiet-looking chariot was at the door. Mr Egerton was at +home; but the servant said, "Dr F. is with him, sir; and perhaps he +may not like to be disturbed." + +"What, is your master ill?" + +"Not that I know of, sir. He never says he is ill. But he has looked +poorly the last day or two." + +Randal hesitated a moment; but his commission might be important, +and Egerton was a man who so held the maxim, that health and all +else must give way to business, that he resolved to enter; and, +unannounced, and unceremoniously, as was his wont, he opened the +door of the library. He started as he did so. Audley Egerton was +leaning back on the sofa, and the doctor, on his knees before him, +was applying the stethoscope to his breast. Egerton's eyes were +partially closed as the door opened. But at the noise he sprang +up, nearly oversetting the doctor. "Who's that?--How dare you!" he +exclaimed, in a voice of great anger. Then recognising Randal, he +changed colour, bit his lip, and muttered drily, "I beg pardon for +my abruptness; what do you want, Mr Leslie?" + +"This letter from Lord ----; I was told to deliver it immediately +into your own hands; I beg pardon--" + +"There is no cause," said Egerton, coldly. "I have had a slight +attack of bronchitis; and as Parliament meets so soon, I must take +advice from my doctor, if I would be heard by the reporters. Lay the +letter on the table, and be kind enough to wait for my reply." + +Randal withdrew. He had never seen a physician in that house before, +and it seemed surprising that Egerton should even take a medical +opinion upon a slight attack. While waiting in the ante-room +there was a knock at the street door, and presently a gentleman, +exceedingly well dressed, was shown in, and honoured Randal with +an easy and half familiar bow. Randal remembered to have met this +personage at dinner, and at the house of a young nobleman of high +fashion, but had not been introduced to him, and did not even know +him by name. The visitor was better informed. + +"Our friend Egerton is busy, I hear, Mr Leslie," said he, arranging +the camelia in his button hole. + +"Our friend Egerton!" It must be a very great man to say, "Our +friend Egerton." + +"He will not be engaged long, I dare say," returned Randal, glancing +his shrewd inquiring eye over the stranger's person. + +"I trust not; my time is almost as precious as his own. I was +not so fortunate as to be presented to you when we met at Lord +Spendquick's. Good fellow, Spendquick; and decidedly clever." + +Lord Spendquick was usually esteemed a gentleman without three ideas. + +Randal smiled. + +In the meanwhile the visitor had taken out a card from an embossed +morocco case, and now presented it to Randal, who read thereon, +"Baron Levy, No. --, Bruton St." + +The name was not unknown to Randal. It was a name too often on the +lips of men of fashion not to have reached the ears of an _habitué_ +of good society. + +Mr Levy had been a solicitor by profession. He had of late years +relinquished his ostensible calling; and not long since, in +consequence of some services towards the negotiation of a loan, had +been created a baron by one of the German kings. The wealth of Mr +Levy was said to be only equalled by his good nature to all who were +in want of a temporary loan, and with sound expectations of repaying +it some day or other. + +You seldom saw a finer-looking man than Baron Levy--about the +same age as Egerton, but looking younger: so well preserved--such +magnificent black whiskers--such superb teeth! Despite his name and +his dark complexion, he did not, however, resemble a Jew--at least +externally; and, in fact, he was not a Jew on the father's side, +but the natural son of a rich English _grand seigneur_, by a Hebrew +lady of distinction--in the opera. After his birth, this lady had +married a German trader of her own persuasion, and her husband had +been prevailed upon, for the convenience of all parties, to adopt +his wife's son, and accord to him his own Hebrew name. Mr Levy +senior was soon left a widower, and then the real father, though +never actually owning the boy, had shown him great attention--had +him frequently at his house--initiated him betimes into his own +high-born society, for which the boy showed great taste. But when my +Lord died, and left but a moderate legacy to the younger Levy, who +was then about eighteen, that ambiguous person was articled to an +attorney by his putative sire, who shortly afterwards returned to +his native land, and was buried at Prague, where his tombstone may +yet be seen. Young Levy, however, continued to do very well without +him. His real birth was generally known, and rather advantageous +to him in a social point of view. His legacy enabled him to become +a partner where he had been a clerk, and his practice became great +amongst the fashionable classes of society. Indeed he was so useful, +so pleasant, so much a man of the world, that he grew intimate with +his clients--chiefly young men of rank; was on good terms with both +Jew and Christian; and being neither one nor the other, resembled +(to use Sheridan's incomparable simile) the blank page between the +Old and the New Testament. + +Vulgar, some might call Mr Levy, from his assurance, but it was not +the vulgarity of a man accustomed to low and coarse society--rather +the _mauvais ton_ of a person not sure of his own position, but +who has resolved to swagger into the best one he can get. When it +is remembered that he had made his way in the world, and gleaned +together an immense fortune, it is needless to add that he was as +sharp as a needle, and as hard as a flint. No man had had more +friends, and no man had stuck by them more firmly--as long as there +was a pound in their pockets! + +Something of this character had Randal heard of the Baron, and he +now gazed, first at his card, and then at him, with--admiration. + +"I met a friend of yours at Borrowwell's the other day," resumed the +Baron--"Young Hazeldean. Careful fellow--quite a man of the world." + +As this was the last praise poor Frank deserved, Randal again smiled. + +The Baron went on--"I hear, Mr Leslie, that you have much influence +over this same Hazeldean. His affairs are in a sad state. I should +be very happy to be of use to him, as a relation of my friend +Egerton's; but he understands business so well that he despises my +advice." + +"I am sure you do him injustice." + +"Injustice! I honour his caution. I say to every man, 'Don't come to +me--I can get you money on much easier terms than any one else;' and +what's the result? You come so often that you ruin yourself; whereas +a regular usurer without conscience frightens you. 'Cent per cent,' +you say; 'oh, I must pull in.' If you have influence over your +friend, tell him to stick to his bill-brokers, and have nothing to +do with Baron Levy." + +Here the minister's bell rung, and Randal, looking through the +window, saw Dr F. walking to his carriage, which had made way for +Baron Levy's splendid cabriolet--a cabriolet in the most perfect +taste--Baron's coronet on the dark brown panels--horse black, with +such action!--harness just relieved with plating. The servant now +entered, and requested Randal to step in; and addressing the Baron, +assured him that he would not be detained a minute. + +"Leslie," said the minister, sealing a note, "take this back to Lord +----, and say that I shall be with him in an hour." + +"No other message?--he seemed to expect one." + +"I dare say he did. Well, my letter is official, my message is not; +beg him to see Mr ---- before we meet--he will understand--all rests +upon that interview." + +Egerton then, extending the letter, resumed gravely, "Of course you +will not mention to any one that Dr F. was with me: the health of +public men is not to be suspected. Hum--were you in your own room or +the ante-room?" + +"The ante-room, sir." + +Egerton's brow contracted slightly. "And Mr Levy was there, eh?" + +"Yes--the Baron." + +"Baron! true. Come to plague me about the Mexican loan, I suppose. I +will keep you no longer." + +Randal, much meditating, left the house, and re-entered his hack +cab. The Baron was admitted to the statesman's presence. + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +Egerton had thrown himself at full length on the sofa, a position +exceedingly rare with him; and about his whole air and manner, as +Levy entered, there was something singularly different from that +stateliness of port common to the austere legislator. The very tone +of his voice was different. It was as if the statesman--the man of +business--had vanished; it was rather the man of fashion and the +idler, who, nodding languidly to his visitor, said, "Levy, what +money can I have for a year?" + +"The estate will bear very little more. My dear fellow, that last +election was the very devil. You cannot go on thus much longer." + +"My dear fellow!" Baron Levy hailed Audley Egerton as "my dear +fellow." And Audley Egerton, perhaps, saw nothing strange in the +words, though his lip curled. + +"I shall not want to go on thus much longer," answered Egerton, as +the curl on his lip changed to a gloomy smile. "The estate must, +meanwhile, bear £5000 more." + +"A hard pull on it. You had really better sell." + +"I cannot afford to sell at present. I cannot afford men to say, +'Audley Egerton is done up--his property is for sale.'" + +"It is very sad when one thinks what a rich man you have been--and +may be yet!" + +"Be yet! How?" + +Baron Levy glanced towards the thick mahogany doors--thick and +impervious, as should be the doors of statesmen. "Why, you know +that, with three words from you, I could produce an effect upon the +stocks of three nations, that might give as each a hundred thousand +pounds. We would go shares." + +"Levy," said Egerton coldly, though a deep blush overspread his +face, "you are a scoundrel; that is your look-out. I interfere with +no man's tastes and conscience. I don't intend to be a scoundrel +myself. I have told you that long ago." + +The Baron laughed, without evincing the least displeasure. + +"Well," said he, "you are neither wise nor complimentary, but you +shall have the money. But yet, would it not be better," added Levy, +with emphasis, "to borrow it, without interest, of your friend +L'Estrange?" + +Egerton started as if stung. + +"You mean to taunt me, sir!" he exclaimed, passionately. "I accept +pecuniary favours from Lord L'Estrange! I!" + +"Tut, my dear Egerton, I dare say my Lord would not think so ill now +of that little act in your life which--" + +"Hold!" exclaimed Egerton, writhing. "Hold!" + +He stopped, and paced the room, muttering in broken sentences, "To +blush before this man! Chastisement, chastisement!" + +Levy gazed on him with hard and sinister eyes. The minister turned +abruptly. + +"Look you, Levy," said he, with forced composure--"you hate me--why, +I know not. I have never injured you--never avenged the inexpiable +wrong you did me." + +"Wrong!--you a man of the world! Wrong! Call it so if you will, +then," he added shrinkingly, for Audley's brow grew terrible. "But +have I not atoned it? Would you ever have lived in this palace, and +ruled this country as one of the most influential of its ministers, +but for my management--my whispers to the wealthy Miss Leslie? Come, +but for me what would you have been--perhaps a beggar?" + +"What shall I be now if I live? _Then_ I should not have been a +beggar; poor perhaps in money, but rich--rich in all that now leaves +my life bankrupt. Gold has not thriven with me; how should it? And +this fortune--it has passed for the main part into your hands. Be +patient, you will have it all ere long. But there is one man in the +world who has loved me from a boy, and woe to you if ever he learn +that he has the right to despise me!" + +"Egerton, my good fellow," said Levy, with great composure, "you +need not threaten me, for what interest can I possibly have in +tale-telling to Lord L'Estrange? As to hating you--pooh! You snub me +in private, you cut me in public, you refuse to come to my dinners, +you'll not ask me to your own; still, there is no man I like better, +nor would more willingly serve. When do you want the £5000?" + +"Perhaps in one month, perhaps not for three or four. Let it be +ready when required." + +"Enough; depend on it. Have you any other commands?" + +"None." + +"I will take my leave, then. By the by, what do you suppose the +Hazeldean rental is worth--net?" + +"I don't know, nor care. You have no designs upon _that_, too?" + +"Well, I like keeping up family connections. Mr Frank seems a +liberal young gentleman." + +Before Egerton could answer, the Baron had glided to the door, and, +nodding pleasantly, vanished with that nod. + +Egerton remained, standing on his solitary hearth. A drear, single +man's room it was, from wall to wall, despite its fretted ceilings +and official pomp of Bramah escritoires and red boxes. Drear and +cheerless--no trace of woman's habitation--no vestige of intruding, +happy children. There stood the austere man alone. And then with a +deep sigh he muttered, "Thank heaven, not for long--it will not last +long." + +Repeating those words, he mechanically locked up his papers, and +pressed his hand to his heart for an instant, as if a spasm had shot +through it. + +"So--I must shun all emotion!" said he, shaking his head gently. + +In five minutes more, Audley Egerton was in the streets, his mien +erect, and his step firm as ever. + +"That man is made of bronze," said a leader of the Opposition to a +friend as they rode past the minister. "What would I give for his +nerves!" + + + + +JOHNSTON'S NOTES ON NORTH AMERICA. + +_Notes on North America, Agricultural, Social, and Economical._ By +JAMES F. W. JOHNSTON, M.A., F.R.SS.L. and E., &c. Two Vols. post +8vo. William Blackwood & Sons. + + +Professor Johnston had three objects in view in his visit to the +New World. His high reputation as an agricultural chemist had +induced the Agricultural Society of New York to request him to give +a course of lectures at Albany upon the connection of chemical and +geological science with that of the cultivation of land. He had also +been commissioned by the Government of New Brunswick to examine +and report on the agricultural capabilities of that province. And +besides these public duties, he was impelled by a strong desire to +study the actual position of the art of husbandry in the fertile +regions of the West, and the influence which its progress is likely +to exert upon British agriculture. + +Our shrewd brother Jonathan, however brilliant his achievements have +been in other arts, has not hitherto earned any great reputation +as a scientific farmer. Nature has been so bountiful to him, +that, with "fresh fields and pastures new" ever before him, he +has hitherto had no need to resort to the toilsome processes and +anxious expedients--"_curis acuens mortalia corda_"--of our Old +World systems of agriculture. On the newer lands of the Union, at +least, the rotations followed, the waste of manures, and the general +contempt of all method and economy, are such as would break the +heart of a Haddingtonshire "grieve," and in a couple of seasons +convert his trim acres into a howling wilderness. What would our +respected friend Mr Caird say to a course of cropping like the +following, which, though given by Professor Johnston as a specimen +of New Brunswick farming, is the usual method followed on most of +the new soils of North America?-- + + "He cuts down the wood and burns it, then takes a crop of + potatoes, followed by one of wheat, with grass seeds. _Nine + successive crops of hay follow in as many years_; after which + the stumps are taken up, the land is ploughed, a crop of wheat + is taken; it is then manured for the first time, or limed, and + laid down again for a similar succession of crops of hay. This + treatment is hard enough; but the unskilful man, after burning + and spreading the ashes, takes two or three more crops of grain, + leaves it to sow itself with grass, then cuts hay as long as + it bears a crop which is worth cutting--after all which he + either stumps and ploughs it, or leaves it to run again into the + wilderness state."--(_Johnston_, vol. i. p. 104.) + +Such a system seems, at first sight, to argue a barbarous ignorance +of the very first elements of agriculture; and yet, as Professor +Johnston remarks, "we English farmers and teachers of agricultural +science, with all our skill, should probably, in the same +circumstances, do just the same, so long as land was plenty, labour +scarce and dear, and markets few and distant." Let no one suppose +that our wide-awake kinsman does not know perfectly well what he is +about. His apparently rude agricultural practice is regulated by a +maxim which some of our _Mechists_ at home would do well to bear in +mind--that high farming is bad farming if it is not remunerative. +He knows that to manure his land would be to insure the lodging +and destruction of his crops, and he therefore leaves his straw +to wither in the fields, and lives on in blessed ignorance of the +virtues and cost of guano. To plough deep furrows in a virgin soil, +saturated with organic matter, would be an idle waste of labour; +and the primitive Triptolemus of Michigan scatters the seed upon +the surface--or, raising a little mould on the point of a hoe, +drops in a few grains of maize, covers them over, and heeds them +no more till the golden pyramids are ripe for the knife. The first +three crops, thus easily obtained, generally repay to the settler +in the wilderness the expense of felling the timber, burning, and +cultivating. If he then abandon it, he is at least no loser; but +for eight or ten years the soil will still continue to produce crops +of natural hay; and then, having extracted from it all that its +spontaneous fertility will yield, he sells his possession for what +it may bring, and moves off westward to repeat the same exhaustive +process on a fresh portion of the forest, leaving to his successor +the task of reinvigorating the severely tested powers of the soil by +rest and restoratives. + +This locust-like progress of the American settler--ever on the move +to new lands, and leaving comparative barrenness in his track--must +evidently place the case of America beyond the sphere of those +ordinary laws of political economy which are applicable in European +countries; and Professor Johnston seems to consider the fact of the +incessant exhaustion and abandonment of lands as the chief key to +a right understanding of the peculiar economical position of the +United States. The owner of land in the older and more populous +States, who has not learnt to apply a restorative system of culture, +derives little benefit from the comparative advantage of situation, +while the inhabitants of the towns and villages around him are fed +with the surplus spontaneous produce of the far off clearings in +Ohio or Missouri. But these in their turn become worn out--and as +cultivation travels on westward, the chief centres of agricultural +production are gradually receding farther and farther from the +chief centres of population and consumption; and this increasing +distance, and consequent cost of transport, is every year enhancing +the price of grain in the busy and crowded marts of the West--ever +filling up with the incessant stream of immigration from Europe. +Such is Mr Johnston's view of the present normal condition of the +Union in regard to the sustenance of her people; and he makes it +the ground-work, as we shall presently see, of certain rather +doubtful inferences, of some importance in their bearing on the +agriculture of this country. One consequence, however, of any +material increase in the price of food in the Eastern States of the +Union is very obvious--the proprietor of land in these districts +will gradually be enabled to apply, with profit to his exhausted +soil, the artificial aids and costlier system of culture followed +in Britain. Already this result is apparent in Professor Johnston's +account of the energetic spirit of agricultural improvement which is +rapidly spreading over most of the New England States. In the keen, +restless, and enterprising New Englander, our Old Country farmers +will undoubtedly find a more formidable competitor, for the honour +of the first place in agricultural advancement, than any they have +yet met on this side of the Atlantic. We have seen this year what +his invention can produce in mechanical contrivances for economising +the labour of the field; and, that he is not indifferent to the +aids which science can afford him, is sufficiently proved by the +occasion of that visit to America of which Professor Johnston has +here given so pleasant and instructive a record. The invitation was +not more creditable to the character of the Professor, than to the +discernment of the zealous and patriotic men who thus showed how +correctly they apprehend the true method of improving their fine +country. His engagement was fulfilled during the sitting of the +State Legislature at Albany in January 1850, when the hall of the +Assembly was given up to him as a lecture-room; the leading members +of the Assembly and of the State Agricultural Society were among +his auditors, and the greatest public interest was evinced in the +important subjects of his prelections. + +It is apparent, from many passages of the _Notes_, that the author +has listened too confidingly to the flattering tale--the "_canor +mulcendas natus ad aures_" of the syren of Free Trade. He seems to +be gifted with a strong natural faith, and a patriotic confidence +in what British enterprise, and especially British agriculture, can +achieve in the way of surmounting difficulties. It is not perhaps +to be wondered at that one, whose professional pursuits naturally +lead him to place a high value upon the aids which science has in +store for the agriculturist, should encourage the farmer to think +lightly of his present difficulties, and keep up his spirits +with the hope of some paulo-post-future prosperity. It must be +allowed that the farmer, poor fellow, has not wanted abundance of +kind friends to comfort him in his adversity. Generally, however, +their consolations--like those of the sympathetic Mrs Gamp--have +been rather indefinite--vague moralisings upon his calamity, as if +it were some inevitable stroke of Providence, to be bowed to in +silent resignation, and hazy anticipations of good luck awaiting +him. Others, again--who have professed the greatest friendship for +him, and, like the Knight of Netherby, have come down to hearten +up the broken-down man by imparting to him some plan of theirs, +as sheep-pasturage or the like, for setting him on his legs +again--are mentally taking an inventory of his remaining chattels, +and calculating when to send the sheriff's officer. But Professor +Johnston belongs to neither of these classes of comforters. His +opinion, we know, is at least disinterested, and he brings it +before us in the shape of a distinct proposition--viz., that the +wheat-exporting capabilities of the United States are not so great +as have generally been supposed, and that, as they must diminish +rather than increase in future, the prospect of competition with +American produce need cause no alarm to the British farmer. + +This opinion, coming from such an authority, claims a deliberate +examination; and the more so that, in the dearth of other +gratulatory topics, it has been eagerly laid hold of by the +_Edinburgh Review_, the _Economist_, and other Free-Trade organs, +and vaunted as a complete proof that protective duties are quite +unnecessary. + +The reasons which Professor Johnston assigns for believing that the +_present_ wheat-exporting powers of the United States have been +exaggerated, may be passed over with very little comment. The Board +of Trade returns leave no room for doubt as to the quantity that has +actually reached this country, and it is therefore unnecessary for +us to follow him through his hypothetical estimate of the exportable +grain, grounded on what they _ought_ to have had to spare for us. +We may remark, however, that the data on which his calculations +proceed are far from satisfactory. He shows that all the _wheat_ +produced in the United States, as given in the estimates of the +Patent Office, is inadequate to afford the eight bushels which in +England we reckon to be requisite for the annual supply of each +inhabitant--the population of the Union being about twenty-one +millions, and the produce of wheat one hundred and twenty-seven +millions of bushels. He does not overlook altogether the fact that +wheat is not in America, as it is with us, almost the sole cereal +food of the people; and he admits that a considerable allowance must +be made for the consumption of Indian corn instead of wheat. But how +much?--That is the question. The compilers of the State Papers at +Washington estimate that Indian corn, buckwheat, and other grain, +form so large a proportion of the food of the people, that they +require only _three_ bushels of wheat per head; and no doubt they +have good grounds for this calculation. Professor Johnston, however, +without indicating any reason whatever for his assumption, has set +down the consumption of each individual at _five_ bushels per annum; +and thus, by a stroke of his pen, he reduces the average exportable +surplus of the Union to _only_ three millions of quarters. + +As to what may be expected in future--Professor Johnston anticipates +the gradual diminution of the supply, from the circumstance, already +adverted to, of the progressive exhaustion of the newer lands of the +Union, and the rapid increase of population in the old. If several +of the Western States, he argues, have even already ceased to raise +enough wheat for the supply of their present inhabitants, and are +compelled to draw largely on the produce of the remote States of +Illinois, Ohio, &c.--and if the productive power of these new lands +is annually becoming less, the virgin soils more distant, and the +transport of subsistence more difficult--if this is the state of +matters now, what will it be in 1860, when immigration and natural +increase will probably have raised the population of the Union to +some thirty-four millions? "It is very safe," he concludes, "to +say that in 1860 their wheat-exporting capability will have become +so small as to give our British farmers very little cause for +apprehension." It may perchance occur to these gentlemen, that the +consolation Professor Johnston here offers them is not very cheering +after all; and as long as they see the provision stores in every +market town piled up with the interloping flour barrels of New York, +and their own waggons returning home with their loads unsold, it is +not to be wondered at if they are not greatly exhilarated with the +prospect of what may possibly happen nine years hence. And slender +as is the hope deferred here held out to them, it rests, we fear, on +very questionable grounds. + +Professor Johnston's opinion is founded on two suppositions: 1st, +That the exhaustion of the Western States, on which he dwells so +much, is proceeding so rapidly as already to affect the markets +of the eastern districts; 2d, That these older districts will be +unable to increase the quantity of produce raised within their own +boundaries, without so adding to its cost as to prevent its being +profitably exported. + +As to the first supposition, it may be conceded that, in the course +of time, a period must necessarily come when the spontaneous +fertility of the newer-settled States will cease to yield grain with +the same bountiful abundance it has done hitherto. But, when may +that period be expected to arrive?--to what extent has exhaustion +already taken place?--and what is the rate of its progress? For a +reply, we have only to point to that vast territory, bounded by the +lakes on the north and Ohio on the south, comprising the five States +of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin--a territory +eight times the size of England and Wales, with a population about +equal to that of Scotland, containing 180,000,000 acres of arable +land, a large portion of which is of surprising fertility--and +ask whether it is possible to believe that it has already reached +the turning point of its wheat-productiveness,[1] or can by any +possibility do so for centuries to come? Why, the extent of land +advertised in these five States for sale, (which forms only a +fraction of what still remains in the hands of government,) is +greater by a fourth than the whole area of England; and of the +territory that has been actually sold, it is estimated that +five-sevenths is still unreclaimed from the wilderness. Then look +at the means of transport provided for conveying the overflowing +abundance of those rich alluvial regions to the markets of the +East, by way of the two great outlets--the lakes on the north, +and the Mississippi on the south. The cost of such transport is +no doubt considerable; the conveyance of a quarter of wheat from +the centre of Illinois to Boston, by New Orleans, averages about +16s. 6d. But, nevertheless, so trifling is the original cost of +production, that immense quantities of corn do annually reach the +eastern seaboard by this route, a considerable portion of which is +re-shipped to Liverpool, and sold there at prices greatly below its +cost of production in this country. The annexed table[2] shows the +remarkable fact, that, of the whole quantity of grain exported +from the United States in the five years 1842-6, twelve-thirteenths +of the wheat, about one-half of the flour, and a large proportion +of the Indian corn, came from the two ports of New York and +Philadelphia alone. Now, as we know that these large supplies were +not grown within the confines of the Eastern States, and _must_ have +been brought from the westward, the inference is obvious that the +two causes insisted on by Professor Johnston--the distance of the +virgin soils, and the expense of transport--are as yet inoperative; +or at least that they have not prevented the transmission of grain +to the east in such vast quantities, as not only to meet the wants +of all the population of that part of the Union, but to afford an +average surplus for exportation to other countries equivalent to +the annual maintenance of a million and a half of men. We need +only mention one other fact, which seems in itself a sufficient +refutation of the theory Professor Johnston has taken up. The causes +which he thinks are so soon to dry up the supplies now derived +from the West are of no recent or sudden emergence. The process +of exhaustion on the new lands, and the rapid population of the +old, has been going on for many years. If, then, these causes are +so influential as he imagines, their effects should at least be +apparent in a gradual increase of the prices of bread-stuffs in +the Eastern States. Now, no such effect is to be found. On the +contrary, we find that, during the last twenty years, the price of +wheat, as well as of maize, in the chief marts of the east, has been +_steadily diminishing, instead of increasing_. We extract from the +returns published by the Board of Trade the annexed comparison[3] +of the prices of wheat flour at New York, during two periods, from +which it appears that, in the very State where the results of +Professor Johnston's hypothesis ought to have been most manifest, +the experience of twenty years shows a reduction of price instead +of an enhancement, notwithstanding that the latter period in the +comparison embraces the years of the potato failure. An examination +of similar returns from Baltimore and New Orleans establishes the +same fact, namely, that the tendency of prices for twenty years past +is _not upwards, but downwards_--a fact quite irreconcilable with +the supposed rapid exhaustion of the wheat soils of the interior. + + [1] The estimated produce of wheat in these five States in the year + 1847 was 38,400,000 bushels. + + [2] Quantity of bread-stuffs exported from the whole of the United + States, and from the ports of New York and Philadelphia, in the + years 1842-46 inclusive:-- + + | Wheat | Flour | Indian Corn | Indian Corn + | (bushels.) |(barrels.) | (bushels.) |(Meal barrels.) + |------------+-----------+-------------+--------------- + United States, | 2,691,711 | 7,048,356 | 4,764,450 | 1,199,255 + |------------+-----------+-------------+--------------- + New York, | 1,985,900 | 2,610,944 | 2,443,733 | 242,294 + Philadelphia, | 474,788 | 1,055,382 | 677,530 | 565,682 + |------------+-----------+-------------+--------------- + Total of both ports, | 2,460,688 | 3,666,326 | 3,121,263 | 807,976 + + + [3] Comparative statement of the prices, per barrel, of best wheat + flour at New York, (taken from the _Monthly Averages_) in 1829-33, + and 1844-48:-- + + FIRST PERIOD. + + 1829, Dr. 6.23 + 1830, 5.02 + 1831, 5.84 + 1832, 5.70 + 1833, 5.70 + ---- + Average of five years, 5.69 + + SECOND PERIOD. + + 1844, Dr. 4.60 + 1845, 5.00 + 1846, 5.16 + 1847, 6.77 + 1848, 5.83 + ---- + Average of five years, 5.47 + + +It is much to be regretted that Professor Johnston was unable to +extend his tour to these granary States of the West. It would +have been satisfactory to have had from him an estimate of their +capabilities founded on actual survey and personal observation, +instead of indirect inference. We are quite ready to admit, that +many of the accounts of those regions which have reached us, +drawn up to suit the purposes of speculators in land, are of very +dubious authenticity, and, like the stage-coach in which Mr Dickens +travelled to Buffalo, have "a pretty loud smell of varnish." But, +on the other hand, we cannot discredit the official data supplied +by the State papers--without at least stronger grounds than those +inferences from general geological structure which Professor +Johnston has adduced to disprove the alleged fertility of the State +of Michigan. There can, of course, be no more valuable criterion of +the natural agricultural value of a country than is afforded by its +geology--provided the survey be sufficiently extensive and accurate. +But it is difficult to follow those enthusiasts in the science, +whom we occasionally find drawing the most startling deductions +from very narrow data--and prophesying the future history of the +territory, and even the character of its inhabitants, from a glance +at the bowels of the earth, as the Roman augur foretold the fate of +empires from the entrails of his chickens. + +We find, for example, a writer of high standing in America +accounting for a remarkable diminution in the amount of _bastardy_ +in Pennsylvania, some thirty years ago, by the fact--that the +settlers at that time _had got off the cold clays and on to the +limestone_! A Scottish geologist, with more apparent reason +perhaps, has founded an argument for an extensive emigration of the +Highlanders on the prevalence of the primitive rocks in the north +and west of Scotland. It is only from a complete and systematic +survey that we can venture to predicate anything with certainty of +the future agricultural powers of a country; and, in the absence of +such trustworthy data, we must be content to estimate the future +wheat-productiveness of Michigan, as well as of the other States +we have named along with it, from what we know of their present +fertility, and of the vast extent that is still uncleared. + +As to New York and the other old-settled States of the Union, which +we are told do not now produce enough for their own consumption, +are we to take it for granted that they are always to continue +stationary, and to make no effort to keep pace with the growing +demands of an increasing population? Professor Johnston, we observe +in one passage, has qualified his opinion as to the prospective +dearth of grain by this curious condition--"_Provided no change +takes place in their agricultural system._" But what shadow of a +reason can be given for supposing it will not take place? The area +of New York State is only one-twelfth less than that of England, and +is, at least, no way inferior as to climate or quality of soil. As +far as material means go, it is quite capable of maintaining, under +an improved culture, at least four times its present population of +three millions. The only question is as to the will and ability +of her people to develop these means; and on this point Professor +Johnston's own work is full of multiplied proofs of the zealous and +intelligent spirit of improvement which is extending rapidly all +over the North-Eastern States. We find the central government of the +Confederation occupied in organising the plan of an Agricultural +Bureau on a scale worthy of a great and enlightened nation--a work +that contrasts in a very marked way with the studious neglect which +such subjects meet with from the government of this country.[4] We +find the several State legislatures anxiously encouraging every +species of improvement--that of New York, in particular, devoting +large grants to the support of exhibitions; preparing to found an +Agricultural College; distributing widely and gratuitously the +annual public reports on the state of agriculture; and, finally, +sending to Europe for a celebrated chemist to assist in maturing +their plans, and sitting--senators and great officers of state--at +the feet of a British Gamaliel, laying down the law to them on the +true principles of the all-important science of agriculture. Nor are +the owners of the land asleep. It is a strong indication of their +growing desire for information, that seven or eight agricultural +periodicals are published in the State of New York alone. Professor +Johnston found no less than fifty copies of such papers taken +regularly in a small town in Connecticut of some two thousand +inhabitants; and he had occasion to observe, in his intercourse with +the farmers of New York, their general acquaintance with the geology +of their country, and its relation to the management of their lands. +Their implement-makers, who had already taught us the use of the +horse-rake, the cradle-scythe, and the improved churn, have recently +outstripped us by the invention, or at least the great improvement, +of the reaping-machine, the advantages of which are so appreciated +in the country of its origin that at Chicago 1500 of M'Cormick's +machines were ordered in one year. In short, the proverbial energy, +perseverance, and sagacity that distinguish our Yankee friends, +seem now to be all directed towards effecting a change of system in +the management of land; and the true question is, not whether the +hitherto laggard progress of American agriculture is to be quickened +in future, but whether we shall be able to keep pace with it. + + [4] Vol. ii. p. 389. + +But then Professor Johnston tells us that improvement is expensive, +and that every process for reviving the dormant powers of the soil, +and preserving their activity, must necessarily be attended with +an addition to the price of the produce, which will thus prevent +its coming into competition with that of England. This view rests +upon a fallacy, which we are sure the author must have drawn from +his reading in political economy, and not from his experience as +an agriculturist. It is an off-shoot from the rent-theory, (the +pestilent root of so much error and confusion,) which, however, we +shall not notice at present, further than by affirming, in direct +contradiction to it, that improvements do _not_ necessarily, nor +generally, involve an increase of price. Even those which require +the greatest outlay--even a complete system of arterial drainage +all over the State of New York, instead of adding to the cost of +wheat, may very probably reduce it, as it has certainly done in +this country. But most of the improvements readily available in +the Eastern States involve scarcely any expenditure at all. The +most obvious and effectual is to save and apply the manure, which +is now wasted or thrown away; and when that proves insufficient, +abundant supplies of mineral manures are easily procurable. On the +exhausted wheat-lands of Virginia, a single dressing of lime or marl +generally doubles the first crop. Deposits of gypsum, and of the +valuable mineral phosphate of lime, seem to be abundant both in New +York and New Jersey. Again, in the former State, where the common +practice is to plough to a depth of _not more than four inches_, the +simple expedient of putting in the plough a few inches deeper would +of itself add one-half to the return of wheat over a very large +district. + +On the whole, so far from seeing any reason to anticipate, with +Professor Johnston, a material reduction in the quantity of our +wheat imports from the States, we look rather to see it increased; +and, at all events, we have no hesitation in saying, that to +encourage our English farmers to expect a cessation of competition +from that quarter is to deceive them with very groundless hopes. + +We have already dwelt at considerable length on this topic, both +because of the prominent place it occupies in Professor Johnston's +volumes, and of the notice which his speculations upon it have +attracted in this country. + +It has been mentioned that a large proportion--probably not less +than one-half--of the cereal food consumed in the States consists +of maize and buckwheat. Mr Johnston always alludes to this fact, +as if the use of these grains were a matter of compulsion--as if +the Americans resorted to them from being unable to afford wheaten +bread. Now, according to the information we have from other sources, +the truth is just the reverse of this. We are told that in the +Eastern and Central States, as well as on the West frontier and +among the slave population, the various preparations of Indian +corn are becoming more relished every year; and that the extension +of its cultivation is to be attributed, not to the failure of the +wheat crops, but to a growing preference for it as an article of +food. In a less degree the use both of oats and buckwheat seems to +be spreading in the States, as well as in our own colonies of New +Brunswick and Canada East; and one can scarcely wonder at the taste +for the latter grain, after reading the appetising descriptions our +author gives of the crisp hot cakes, with their savoury adjuncts +of maple-honey, which so often formed his breakfast during his +wanderings. The general use of these three kinds of grain--maize, +oats, and buckwheat--has somehow come to be considered by political +economists as indicative of a low degree of social advancement. +And yet we know that, in the countries suited to their growth, +a given area of ground cultivated with any of them will return a +greater quantity of nutritious food, at a smaller expense and with +less risk of failure, than if it were cropped with wheat. We are +told that the great objection to them is, that their culture _is +too easy_. Professor Johnston touches upon this notion in some +remarks he makes on the disadvantage of buckwheat as a staple +article of food. The objections to it, he tells us, consist in the +ease with which it can be raised, the rapidity of its growth, and +the small quantity of seed it requires: it induces, he says, like +the potato, an indolent, slovenly, and exhausting culture; and "it +is the prelude of evil, when a kind of food that requires little +exertion to obtain it becomes the staple support of a people."[5] +It may be noticed in passing, that, in point of fact, the results +alleged are at least not universal; for, in regard to this very +grain, we find its cultivation prevalent in some of the best-managed +districts of the hard-working, provident, and intelligent Belgians. +But taking the axiom as it stands, we cannot help suspecting +that there is some fallacy lurking at the bottom of it. Misled +by what we have observed of the Irishman and his potato diet, we +have confounded the _cum hoc_ with the _propter hoc_, and come to +regard an easily-raised food as _the cause_ of that indolence of +which it is only the frequent indication. It were otherwise a most +inexplicable contrariety between the physical and the moral laws +which govern this world, that in every country there should be a +penalty of social wretchedness and degradation attached to the use +of that particular food which its climate and soil are best suited +to produce. Can it be supposed that the blessings of nature are +only a moral snare for us, and that, while she has given to the +American the maize plant--oats to the Scotch Highlander--rice to the +Hindoo--the banana to the inhabitant of Brazil--a regard for their +social well-being requires each of them to renounce these gifts, and +to spend their labour in extorting from the unwilling soil some less +congenial kind of subsistence? Virgil has warned the husbandman-- + + "Pater ipse colendi + Haud facilem esse viam voluit." + +But it were surely a dire aggravation of the difficulties of his +task if his most plentiful harvest were also the most injurious to +his advancement and true happiness. We cannot now, however, examine +the grounds of a doctrine so paradoxical, and have adverted to it +only to remark that it seems destined to meet with a most direct +practical refutation in North America, where we find the habitual +use of what we choose to consider the coarser grains associated +with the highest intelligence and the most rapid development of +social progress. There can be no doubt that the nature of the food +generally used in any nation must exert an important influence +on its prosperity; but it is difficult to understand how that +prosperity should be promoted by the universal use of that variety +which costs most labour. At all events, it is certainly a subject of +very interesting inquiry, in reference to the increasing consumption +among ourselves of wheat--the dearest and most precarious species +of grain, much of it imported from other countries--and its gradual +abandonment in North America, what effect these opposite courses +may have on the future destinies of the two great branches of the +Anglo-Saxon race. + + [5] Vol. i. p. 80. + +Leaving this as a problem for political economists, let us now +follow him in his visit to the British side of the St Lawrence. His +brief three weeks' survey of the Canadas did not, of course, enable +him to form any very intimate acquaintance with the condition of +these provinces; and he prudently abstains from pronouncing any +judgment upon the vexed topics of Canadian politics. His presence +at the great exhibition, at Kingston, of the Agricultural Society +of Upper Canada, gave him a good opportunity of estimating the +progress that has been made in practical agriculture. The stock, +as well as the implements, there brought forward in competition +for the various premiums, amounting in all to £1000, gave most +satisfactory indications of improvement; while the large attendance, +and the interest taken in the proceedings, sufficiently showed +that the inhabitants of the Upper Province are now awake to the +necessity of agricultural improvement as the main source of their +future prosperity. In a country where eighty per cent of the +whole population are directly engaged in the cultivation of the +soil, the land interest is, or ought to be, predominant. But the +bitter animosity of political parties, and the abortive attempts +of government to soothe and reconcile them, have hitherto stood +much in the way of any combined effort towards the encouragement +of improved cultivation. The art of husbandry is not likely to +thrive in a country where every man is bent on proving himself a +Cincinnatus. Of late, however, public spirit has shown symptoms of +taking a more wholesome direction; and, notwithstanding occasional +ministerial crises and political explosions, which we on this +side the water are sometimes puzzled to understand, all parties +in the province seem now fully aware that the development of the +vast resources of their fertile soil is the only road to permanent +prosperity. The encouragement of local competitions, the provision +for systematic instruction in agriculture in the colleges--which +Professor Johnston tells us is in progress--and the introduction of +elementary lessons in the art as a regular branch of common school +learning, are all steps in the right direction. It is precisely in +such a community as that of Canada that the last-mentioned kind of +instruction is really of essential benefit. From the last census +of Upper Canada, it appears that there are sixty thousand owners +of land in the province, and only ten thousand labourers without +land. The great majority of the boys in the ordinary schools will +become proprietors, and, at the same time, cultivators; and, in such +circumstances, it is of the utmost importance that the youth should +acquire betimes a competent knowledge of the principles on which +his future practice is, or ought to be, founded--such knowledge as +will, at least, enable him to, shake off the traditional prejudices +and slovenly habits which his father may have imported with him from +Harris or the County Kerry. + +The querulous and depreciatory tone which our Canadian +fellow-subjects are apt to employ in speaking of their country, and +its prospects, is remarked by Professor Johnston as contrasting +oddly with the unqualified adulation of everything--from the +national constitution to the navy button--which one constantly +hears from his republican neighbour. One consequence of this habit +is, the existence of a prevalent but very mistaken notion that, +in the march of social advancement, Canada has been completely +distanced by the United States. Professor Johnston has been at some +pains to demonstrate, and we think most successfully, that this +impression is entirely erroneous. Indeed, if we only recollect +the history of Canada for the last fifteen years--the disunion of +her own people, and the reckless commercial experiments to which +she has been subjected by the home government, the rapid strides +in improvement--of the Upper Province especially--are almost +marvellous. As a corroboration of what Professor Johnston has said +on the subject, we have thrown together in the subjoined table, +collected from the Government returns, some of the most striking +and decisive evidences of the recent progress of Upper Canada. In +certain particulars, no doubt, she is outstripped by some of those +districts of the States to which from time to time extraordinary +migrations of their unsettled and nomadic population have been +directed. But putting such exceptional cases out of view, the +inhabitants of Canada need fear no comparison with the Union in all +the chief elements of national advancement. + + +PROGRESS OF UPPER CANADA,--1837-47. + + | | |Increase | |Increase + | 1837. | 1842. |per cent.| 1847. |per cent. + |-----------+-----------+---------+-----------+--------- + | | | | | + Population, | 396,721 | 486,055 | 22 | 723,332 | 48 + Number of cultivated| | | | | + acres assessed for | | | | | + local taxes, | 4,736,268 | 5,548,357 | 17 | 6,477,338 | 16 + Number of houses | | | | | + assessed | | | | | + for ditto, | 22,057 | 31,638 | 43 | 42,937 | 35 + Value of property | | | | | + assessed, |£4,431,098 |£6,913,341 | 56 |£8,567,001 | 23 + Number of carriages | | | | | + kept for pleasure, | 1,627 | 2,188 | 34 | 4,685 | 114 + Number of | | | | | + elementary | | | | | + schools, | -- | 927 | -- | 2,464 | 165 + Number of scholars | | | | | + in ditto, | -- | 29,961 | -- | 80,461 | 170 + Number of cattle, | -- | 504,963 | -- | 565,848 | 12 + Number of horses, | -- | 113,675 | -- | 151,389 | 33 + Number of sheep, | -- | 575,730 | -- | 833,869 | 45 + +In looking at the great sources of wealth possessed by these +provinces, our attention is at once arrested by the growing +importance of the St Lawrence as an outlet to the produce, not only +of the Canadas, but of a vast area of the States territory. With the +exception, perhaps, of the Mississippi, no river in the world opens +up so grand a highway for the industry of man as the St Lawrence, +with the chain of vast lakes and innumerable rivers that unite with +it in the two thousand miles of its majestic progress to the ocean. +Never was there an enterprise more worthy of a great nation than +that of surmounting the obstacles to its navigation, and completing +the channels of connection with its tributary waters; and nobly have +the people of Canada executed it. Taking into account the infancy +of their country, and the amount of its population and revenue, +it is not too much to say, with Mr Johnston, that their exertions +to secure water-communication have been greater than those of any +part of the Union, or any country of Europe. The improvements on +the St Lawrence itself, and the canals connected with it, have +already cost the colony two millions and a quarter sterling, in +addition to the expenditure of £800,000 by the home government on +the construction of the Rideau Canal. The results of this liberal +but judicious outlay are already showing themselves, not only by +the rapidly-increasing Canadian traffic on the St Lawrence, but +by its drawing into it, year after year, a larger share of the +commerce of the States. That the influx of trade from the south +must ere long vastly exceed its present amount, is evident from a +consideration of the gigantic projects already completed, or in +course of construction, for effecting an access between the lakes +and the fertile regions of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, &c., already +spoken of, and thus saving the longer and costlier transit by the +Mississippi. One of the Reports of the State of New York thus speaks +of them:-- + + "Three great canals, (one of them longer than the Erie Canal,) + embracing in their aggregate length about one thousand miles, + are to connect the Ohio with Lake Erie; while another deep and + capacious channel, excavated for nearly thirty miles through + solid rock, unites Lake Michigan with the navigable waters of + the Illinois. In addition to these broad avenues of trade, + they are constructing lines of railroads not less than fifteen + hundred miles in extent, in order to reach with more case and + speed the lakes through which they seek a conveyance to the + seaboard. The circumstance, moreover, is particularly important, + that the public works of each of these great communities + are arranged on a harmonious plan, each having a main line, + supported and enriched by lateral and tributary branches, + thereby bringing the industry of their people into prompt and + profitable action; while the systems themselves are again + united, on a grander scale, with Lake Erie as its common centre." + +The various streams of the trade from the interior being thus +collected in the lakes--which form, as it were, the heart of +the system--there are two great channels for its redistribution +and dispersion through the markets of the world. These are the +St Lawrence, and the Erie Canal with the Hudson; and the vital +question as regards the prosperity of Canada is, by which of these +outlets will the concentrated traffic of the lakes find its way to +the ocean? Mr Johnston has devoted considerable attention to this +subject, and assigns two good reasons for believing that the St +Lawrence is destined immensely to increase the share which it has +already secured. In the first place, the American artery is already +surcharged and choked up;--notwithstanding all the efforts that have +been made to expedite the traffic on the Erie Canal, it has been +found wholly inadequate to accommodate the immense trade pouring in +from the west; and, secondly, the route of the St Lawrence, besides +being the more expeditious, is now found to be the cheaper one. In +a document issued by the Executive Council of Upper Canada, it is +mentioned that the Great Ohio Railway Company, having occasion to +import about 11,000 tons of railway iron from England, made special +inquiries as to the relative cost of transport by the St Lawrence +and New York routes, the result of which was the preference of +the former, the saving on the inland transport alone being 11,000 +dollars. There seems good reason to expect that a considerable +portion of the Mississippi trade may be diverted into the Canadian +channel; but putting this out of view altogether, it is certain +that the navigation of this glorious river is every year becoming +of greater importance to the United States, as well as to Britain: +let us hope that it is destined ever to bear on its broad breast the +blessings of peace and mutual prosperity to both nations. + +After a rapid glance at Lower Canada, Professor Johnston crossed +the St Lawrence, in order to complete the survey of New Brunswick, +which, before leaving England, he had been commissioned to make for +the Government of the colony. We have had no opportunity of seeing +the official Report, in which he has published the detailed results +of his observations; but the valuable information collected in these +volumes has strongly confirmed our previous impression, that the +resources and importance of this fine colony have never yet been +sufficiently appreciated at home. With an area as nearly as possible +equal to that of Scotland, it possesses a much larger surface +available for agriculture. The climate is healthy and invigorating; +it is traversed by numerous navigable rivers; its rocks contain +considerable mineral wealth; and the fisheries on its coasts are +inexhaustible. Imperfectly developed as its resources are, the trade +from the two ports of St John's and St Andrew's alone, exceeds that +of the whole of the three adjoining States of the Union--Maine, +Vermont, and New Hampshire--although its inhabitants do not number +one-sixth of the population of these States. As to the fertility of +the soil, Professor Johnston, by a comparison of authentic returns, +shows that the productive power of the land already cultivated in +the province considerably exceeds the averages of New York, of Ohio, +and of Upper Canada--countries which have hitherto been considered +more favoured both in soil and climate. By classifying the soils in +the several districts, he has estimated that the available land, +after deducting a reserve for fuel, is capable of maintaining in +abundance a population of 4,200,000; while its present number little +exceeds 200,000. In all the course of his travels, he met with but +a few rare instances in which the agricultural settlers did not +express their contentment with their circumstances; and although it +seems still questionable whether farming on a large scale, by the +employment of hired labour, can be made remunerative, the universal +opinion of the experienced persons he consulted testified that, with +ordinary prudence and industry, the poorest settler, who confines +his attention to the clearing and cultivation of land, is sure of +attaining a comfortable independence. + +The question naturally occurs--How is it that, with all these +natural advantages and encouragements to colonisation, and with its +proximity to our shores, so very small a proportion--not more than +one in sixty or seventy of the emigrants from Great Britain--make +New Brunswick their destination? Professor Johnston, while he +maintains that, taking population into account, New Brunswick is in +this respect no worse off than Canada, adverts to several causes +of a special nature which may have retarded its settlement. But +the truth is, that the question above started leads us directly to +another of far greater compass and importance--What is the reason +that all our colonies taken together absorb so small a proportion of +our emigrants compared with the United States? What is the nature +of the inducements that annually impel so large a number of our +countrymen to forfeit the character of British subjects, and prefer +a domicile among those who are aliens in laws, interests, and system +of government? + +We hardly know how to venture upon anything connected with the +ominous subject of emigration, at a moment when the crowds leaving +our shores, at the rate of nearly a thousand every day, are such +as to startle the most apathetic observer, and shake the faith of +the most dogmatic economist in the truth of his speculations. This +is not the place to inquire what strangely compulsive cause it may +be that has all at once swelled the ordinary stream of emigration +into a headlong torrent.[6] Mayhap it is neither distant, nor +doubtful, nor unforetold. But whatever it may be, there stands the +fact--which we can neither undo, nor, for aught that can be seen at +present, prevent its annual recurrence in future, or say how and +when the waves are to be stayed. "When the Exe runs up the streets +of Tiverton," says a certain noble prophet--whose vaticinations, +however, have not been very felicitous hitherto--"then, and not till +then, may we expect to see the reversal of the free-import system;" +and then, and not till then, we take leave to add, may we hope to +see the ebbing of that tide of British capital and British strength +which is now flowing strongly and steadily into the bay of New York. + + [6] Total number of registered emigrants for the twenty-one years from 1825 + to 1845 inclusive 1,349,476----Average, 64,260 + Do. do. _for the five years_ 1846 _to_ 1850 inclusive, + 1,216,557----Average, 243,311 + + +PROPORTION OF BRITISH EMIGRATION TO THE COLONIES AND TO THE UNITED +STATES, 1846-50 INCLUSIVE. + + | | | | | | | Quarter | + | Destination. | 1846. | 1847. | 1848. | 1849. | 1850. | ending Sept | + | | | | | | | 30, 1851. | + | +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------------+ + | | | | | | | | + | United States | 45.1 | 31.8 | 57.3 | 73.3 | 79.4 | 80.5 | + | British America | 33.4 | 42.5 | 12.5 | 13.9 | 11.7 | 10.8 | + | All other places | 21.5 | 25.7 | 30.2 | 12.8 | 8.9 | 8.7 | + | +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------------+ + | Total | 100. | 100. | 100. | 100. | 100. | 100. | + +The accompanying abstract, from the returns of the Emigration +Commissioners, exhibits two most remarkable results:--1st, The +proportion of emigration to British America and other destinations +is gradually falling off; 2d, That to the United States is steadily +and rapidly increasing, so that they now receive four out of every +five emigrants who leave our shores. Is this distribution to be +regarded as a matter of indifference in a political point of view? +Are we to understand that it is no concern to us who remain behind, +whether the labour and capital of those who leave us shall go to +fill up the vacuum of our own colonial empire, or to carry new +accessions of wealth and power to those in whose prosperity (to put +the matter mildly) we have only a secondary interest? This question +the consistent Free-Trader is bound to answer unhesitatingly in +the affirmative. In his cosmopolitan philosophy, the interests of +one country are no more to be considered than those of any other. +The theory of absolute freedom of exchange expunges altogether the +idea of nationalism, and regards man, not as a member of this or +that community, but as the denizen of a great universal republic. +Local and historical associations--ties of kindred and of birth--are +only so many obstructions in the way of human progress; and an +Englishman is nothing more than the subject of certain animal +wants and instincts, the gratification of which he must be left to +seek wherever he finds the materials most abundant. Such is Free +Trade in its true scope and ultimate tendency. What shall be said, +then, of the consistency or sincerity of those pseudo-apostles +of the doctrine, who, having been the most active in promoting +that nibbling and piecemeal legislation which they choose to call +freedom of trade--who have been loudest in proclaiming a universal +commercial fraternity, and in denouncing colonies as a wasteful +encumbrance--are now the first to take alarm at the natural and +inevitable result of their own measures, and to call out for a +better regulation of emigration; in other words, for legislative +interference with the free action of those of our countrymen who, +being thrust out of employment in the land of their birth, are so +literally following out the great maxim of buying in the cheapest +market and selling in the dearest? + +The text is a tempting one, but we must refrain from wandering +further from the subject with which we started--namely, the +inducements which lead so many of our emigrants to select the United +States as their future home. One of the prevalent causes has been +very well stated by Professor Johnston--that which we may call the +capillary attraction of former emigration:-- + + "A letter from a connection or acquaintance determines the + choice of a place to go to, and, without further inquiry, + the emigrant starts. Thus for a while, emigration to a given + point, once begun, goes on progressively by a sort of innate + force. Those who go before urge those who follow by hasty and + inaccurate representations; so that, the more numerous the + settlers from a particular district, the more numerous also the + invitations for others to follow, till the fever of emigration + subsides. In other words, in proportion as the home-born + settlers in one of these countries increases, will the number of + home-born emigrants to that country increase--_but for a time + only, if the place have real disadvantages_."--(Vol. ii, p. 204.) + +It is vain to shut our eyes to the fact that the government of the +United States offers to the emigrant many real, substantial, and +peculiar advantages. The first and most important aid that can be +given to the intending settler is a complete and accurate survey of +the country; and this has been accomplished by the States government +at great expense, but in so perfect a manner that a purchaser has no +difficulty in at once pointing out, on the official plan, any lot +he may have selected in the most remote corner of the wilderness. +The next point of importance to him is simplicity of conveyance and +security of title; and so effectual and satisfactory is the American +system that litigation in original land-titles is almost unknown. +Then as to the weighty consideration of price--which perhaps ought +to have been first mentioned--the uniform and very low rate in the +States of 5s. 3d. an acre saves infinite trouble, disputation, +and jealousy. Such are some of the temptations held out to the +intending purchaser of land; and it must be confessed that, in each +particular, they present a striking contrast to the difficulties +he has to meet in some of the British colonies--the arbitrary +changes of system, the vexatious delays, and the comparatively +exorbitant charges--which must appear to the settler as if they had +been contrived on purpose to discourage him. When we add to these +the prospects of ready employment in the States held out to other +classes of emigrants, and the stringent laws lately made for their +protection, both on the passage and on their arrival, we cannot be +at a loss to see that the direction which emigration has lately +taken is not the result of chance or caprice, but of a deliberate +comparison of advantages, which the most ignorant can easily +understand and appreciate. + +The main object of Professor Johnston's visit being of a scientific +character, his remarks on the general topics of manners and politics +occur only incidentally; but it is impossible for any traveller +to keep clear of such subjects in writing of a country, the +peculiarities of which are pressed upon his notice at every hour of +the day, and at every corner of the street. Rabelais tells us of a +certain island, explored by the mighty Pantagruel, whose inhabitants +lived wholly upon _wind_--that is, being interpreted, on flattery; +and the visitor of the States who finds himself, as it were, pinned +to the wall, and compelled to yield up his admiration at discretion, +may be sometimes tempted to believe that he has made a similar +discovery, and that the flatulent diet of compliment is somehow +congenial to an American appetite. Professor Johnston seems to have +had his candour or his eulogistic powers sometimes severely tested, +if we may guess from his quiet hint, that "it is unpleasant to a +stranger to be always called on to admire and praise what he sees +in a foreign country; and it is a part of the perversity of human +nature to withhold, upon urgent request, what, if unasked, would +have been freely and spontaneously given." He is of course prepared +for the reception which any work, aiming at mere impartiality, +is sure to meet with among Transatlantic critics; and it will, +therefore, not surprise him to find that the above peccant sentence +has been already pounced upon by them as proving _malice prepense_, +and as affording a significant key to all his observations on the +institutions of the States. + +The following extract explains the origin of two of those euphonious +party designations in which our neighbours delight, and which may +perchance have puzzled some of our readers:-- + + "In England, to be a _democrat_ still implies a position at + the very front of the movement party, and a desire to hasten + forward political changes, irrespective of season or expediency. + But among the American democrats there is a Conservative and + a Radical party. The former, who desire to restrain 'the + amazing violence of the popular spirit,' are nicknamed by their + democratic adversaries the '_Old Hunkers_;' the latter, who + profess to have in their hearts 'sworn eternal hostility against + every form of tyranny over the mind of man,' are stigmatised as + '_Barnburners_.' The _New York Tribune_, in reference to the + origin of the names themselves, says that the name 'Hunkers' + was intended to indicate that those on whom it was conferred + had an appetite for a large 'hunk' of the spoils; though we + never could discover that they were peculiar in _that_. On the + other hand, the 'Barnburners' were so named in allusion to + the story of an old Dutchman who relieved himself of rats by + burning his barns, which they infested, just like exterminating + all banks and corporations, to root out the abuses connected + therewith."--(Vol. i. p. 218.) + +Equally mysterious is the term "log-rolling," though the thing +itself is not altogether unknown in legislatures nearer home. + + "When the trees are felled and trimmed, rolling the logs to the + rivers or streams down which they are to be floated, as soon as + the spring freshets set in, remains to be done. This being the + hardest work of all, the men of several camps will unite, giving + their conjoined strength to the first party on Monday, to the + second on Tuesday, and so on. A like system in parliamentary + matters is called 'log-rolling.' You and your friends help me + in my railroad bill, and I and my friends help you with your + bank charter; or sometimes the Whigs and Democrats, when nearly + balanced, will get up a party log-rolling, agreeing that the + one shall be allowed to carry through a certain measure without + much opposition, provided a similar concession is granted to the + other."--(Vol. ii. p. 297.) + +The _Notes_ convey to us the strong impression that Professor +Johnston's visit to the West has operated as a wholesome corrective +of a certain tendency in his political opinions. He seems to have +left home with a warm admiration of American institutions generally, +which, like Slender's love, "it pleased heaven to diminish on +further acquaintance." At all events, he could not avoid being +struck with some of the many perplexities and anomalies that +result from referring everything directly to the popular voice. +In England, whatever dissensions may arise about the enactment of +law, all are agreed in a sensitive jealousy as to the purity of its +administration. The most rampant Radical among us looks upon justice +as far too sacred a thing to be hazarded in the rude chance-medley +of popular election. The keenest partisan feels that, in the lofty +and unswerving integrity of our judges, he possesses a substantial +security and blessing, for the loss of which no place, power, or +parliamentary triumph, could compensate. To one accustomed to regard +with veneration the dignified independence of the judicial office +in Great Britain, nothing will appear more harshly repugnant to +sound policy than the system, lately introduced into some of the New +England States, of appointing all judges, high and low, by the votes +of the electors of the district over which they are to preside, and +for a limited term of years. + + "It was deservedly considered a great triumph when the + appointment of judges for life liberated the English bench from + the influence of the Crown, and when public opinion became + strong enough to enforce the selection of the most learned + in the law for the highest judicial offices. Now, passing + over the objection which some will strongly urge, that the + popular electors are not the best judges of the qualifications + of those who aspire to the bench, and that the most popular + legal demagogue may expect to obtain from them the highest + legal appointment, it may be reasonably asked whether popular + influence in seasons of excitement, and on questions of great + moment, may not bias the minds of judges whose appointment is in + the hands of the people?--whether the fear of a coming election + may not deter them from unpopular decisions? The influence of a + popular majority may here as profoundly pollute the fountains + of justice as the influence of the Crown ever did among us at + home."--(Vol. i. p. 150.) + +At first sight, it seems quite unaccountable that an enlightened +people should ever have devised or sanctioned a system which so +obviously exposes the bench to the risk of corruption; and one is +at a loss to reconcile a reverence for the law with an ordinance +that subjects her minister to the ordeal of canvassing and cajoling +all and sundry--perhaps the very men who may next day be in the +dock before him. But the root of the anomaly is not hard to find. +Into the purest of republics ambition and cupidity--the love of +office and the love of dollars--will force their way. But then, +under that form of constition, situations of trust and emolument +are necessarily few in comparison to the number of candidates for +them. The offices in the civil departments of the United States +governments are not numerous. The navy employs altogether some five +hundred officers above the rank of midshipman--exactly the number +of our post-captains; and the whole army of the Confederation, rank +and file, musicians and artificers included, is very little over +ten thousand men. There is little temptation to enter the medical +profession, in which learning and experience go for nothing, and a +Brodie is precisely on a level with a "Doctor Bokanky;"--nor the +Church, in which the pastor is hired by the twelvemonth, and is +thought handsomely paid with a wage of £100 a-year. What field, +then, remains for the aspiring spirit but the law?--and what +wonder if the sixteen thousand attorneys, who, we are told, find +a living in the States, and take a leading part in the management +of all public business, should vote "the higher honours of the +profession" far too few to be retained as perpetual incumbencies? +Hence has sprung the device of popular election to, and rotation +in, the sweets of office, which, by "passing it round," and giving +everyone a chance, is designed to render it as generally available +as possible. The constitution of the judiciary is not uniform, but +varies in almost every different state. In New York, the Judges of +Appeals, as well as those of the Supreme and Circuit Courts, are +elected by the people at large, and for a term of eight years, +each leaving office in rotation. In New Jersey they are appointed +for six years by the governor and senate; in Vermont, annually by +the legislature. In Connecticut nearly the same system prevails as +that in Vermont; while in Massachusetts the judges retain office +"during good behaviour." The salaries are not less various, in some +States the remuneration of judges of supreme courts being £500 +a-year, which is about the highest rate; and in others so low as +£180. There are no retiring allowances in any case; and as they are +thus liable to be thrown out of office at an uncertain period, or +compelled to vacate it after a short term of years, it can scarcely +be expected that such remuneration will secure the highest grade of +legal acquirements, either for the bench itself, or for the inferior +offices of attorney-generalships and chief-clerkships, which are all +held by the same lax tenure of popular favour. Even if the system +has "worked well," as it is said to have done by American writers, +during the four or five years it has been in operation in New +York--even if it be true that the lawyers of the Empire State have, +by avoiding the snares thrown in their way, given proof individually +of the probity of Cato, and of a constancy worthy of Socrates, we +still say that the State does wrong in putting their virtues to such +a test. Mr Johnston supplies us with an example of the temptation +it holds out to a dangerous pliancy of principle. Most of our +readers must be aware of the existence of an active and noisy party +in the States, who, under the name of "Anti-renters," are seeking +to free themselves from payment of certain reserved _rents_, or +_feu-duties_, as they would be termed in Scotland, which form the +stipulated condition of land tenure in a certain district. + + "The question has caused much excitement and considerable + disturbance in the State. It has been agitated in the + legislature and in the courts of law, and the supposed opinion + in regard to it of candidates for legal appointments, is said to + have formed an element which weighed with many in determining + which candidate they would support. During the last canvass + for the office of attorney-general, I met with the following + advertisement in the public journals of the State:-- + + "'I have repeatedly been applied to by individuals to know my + opinions with regard to the manorial titles, and what course I + intend to pursue, if elected, in relation to suits commenced, + and to be commenced, under the joint resolution of the Senate + and Assembly. I have uniformly replied to these inquiries, that + I regard the manor titles as a public curse which ought not + to exist in a free government, and that if they can be broken + up and invalidated by law, it will give me great pleasure; + and I shall prosecute the pending suits with as much vigour + and industry as I possess, and will commence others, if, on + examination, I shall be satisfied there is the least chance of + success. I regard these prosecutions as a matter of public duty, + and, in this instance, duty squares with my inclination and + wishes. 'L. S. CHATFIELD.' + + "Mr Chatfield," adds Professor Johnston, "_is now + attorney-general_; and I was informed that the known opinions of + certain of the old judges on this exciting question was one of + the understood reasons why they were not re-elected by popular + suffrage, when, according to the new constitution, their term of + office had expired."--(Vol. ii. p. 291.) + +Here, then, we see the highest law officer of the State openly +"bidding" for office--truckling to faction--and indecently +condescending to enact the part of a "soft-sawderer." That term, +we presume, is the proper American equivalent for the stinging +_soubriquet_ with which Persius stigmatises some Chatfield--some +supple attorney-general of his day-- + + "PALPO, quem ducit _hiantem_ + Cretata ambitio." + +When persons of the highest official position scruple not thus +undisguisedly to trim their course according to the "_popularis +aura_," one can scarcely help suspecting a want of firmness of +principle and genuine independence among the classes below them. +De Tocqueville's observations have taught us to doubt whether the +tree of liberty that grows under the shadow of a tyrant majority +can ever attain a healthy stability, however vigorous it may appear +externally. No one questions that the Americans enjoy, under +their institutions, very many of the blessings of a liberal and +cheaply-administered government. You have perfect liberty of speech +and action, so far as the government is concerned. The avowal of +one's opinion is not followed, as in Italy, or in the rival republic +of France, by a hint that your passport is ready, or by the polite +attendance on you, wherever you go, of a mysterious gentleman +in black; but you feel yourself, nevertheless, perpetually "_en +surveillance_," and constrained either to sail with the stream, or +to adopt a reserve and reticence which, to an Englishman, is almost +as irksome as the knowledge that there is a spy sitting at the same +dinner-table with him. + +The spirit of Professor Johnston's strictures on such anomalies +will, of course, insure his being set down by his democratic friends +in America as an unmitigated "old hunker;" and he certainly shows +no great liking for practical republicanism. But to find fault with +our neighbours' arrangements, and to be contented with our own, are +two very different things; and, accordingly, our author takes many +opportunities, as he goes along, of showing that he is quite aware +of the innumerable rents in our own old battered tea-kettle of a +constitution, and of the infinite tinkering it will take to make it +hold water. + +We should have held him unworthy of the character of a true Briton +if he had omitted the occasion of a grumble at our system of +taxation, though, of course, we differ with him entirely in the view +he takes of the evil. After an elaborate comparison of the taxation +in the United States with that of Great Britain, he sums up all with +the following somewhat sententious apophthegm:-- + + "The great contrast between the two sections of the Anglo-Saxon + race on the opposite sides of the Atlantic is this--_On the + one side the masses rule and property pays; on the other side + property rules and the masses pay_."--(Vol. ii. 254.) + +The sentence sounds remarkably terse and epigrammatic. Most of +such brilliant and highly-condensed crystals of wisdom, however, +will be found on analysis to contain, along with some exaggerated +truth, a considerable residuum of nonsense; and this specimen +before us, we apprehend, forms no exception. Even if the fact so +broadly asserted were indisputable, we should still be inclined to +doubt, after what the author has himself told us, whether the "rule +of the masses" is always an unmixed blessing to a community. He +has seen enough of it to know at least that the preponderance of +popular sway is not incompatible with much social restraint--with +prejudice and narrow-mindedness--with what _he_ considers a false +commercial principle--with a disregard of public faith, and of the +rights of other nations; and lastly, with a contempt of the rights +of humanity itself, and a legalised traffic in our fellow men. +But, if we understand him rightly, he does not so much defend the +abstract excellence of the democratic principle as advocate a nearer +approach, on our part, to the American model of taxation. In the +States, he says, property pays--in England the masses pay;--that +is, if we strip the proposition of its antithetical obscurity, the +owners of property pay less here than they do in America--not only +_absolutely_ less, but less in proportion to the whole amount of +taxation. The calculations on which he founds this assertion are too +long and involved to be quoted at length, but we will endeavour to +abridge them so as to enable the reader to judge of their accuracy. + +The taxes in the United States are of three classes: 1st,--the +_national_ taxes, amounting to about six millions a-year, which are +raised chiefly by customs duties on imports; 2d,--the _state_ +taxes; 3d,--the _local_ taxes, for the service of the several +counties, cities, and townships. These two last classes are levied +chiefly in the form of an equal rate assessed upon the estimated +value of all property, real and personal. + +In order to compare the incidence of the public burdens upon +property in the two countries, Professor Johnston selects the case +of New York State, in which the total taxable property (personal as +well as real) in 1849 was 666,000,000 of dollars, and the amount +of rates levied for state and local taxes 5,500,000 dollars, or +about 4/5 per cent on the gross valuation. Turning then to Great +Britain, (excluding Ireland,) he sets down the fee simple value of +the real property alone in estates above £150 a-year, as rated to +the income-tax, at £2,382,000,000. + + "Four-fifths of a per cent (the rate levied in New York) on this + sum would realise £19,000,000 sterling; and were _all_ property, + real and _personal_, in this island below £150 a-year, and the + amount of property in Ireland rated in a similar way, and fairly + collected, our entire revenue of £50,000,000 would probably be + obtained as the revenue of the State of New York now is, by this + one property tax only."--(Vol. ii. p. 257.) + +And he thus concludes that, as regards the _absolute_ amount of +taxation, property in Britain escapes for a smaller payment than +that in America. + +Now, it must be remarked, on this branch of the comparison, that +before we can form any opinion as to its soundness, it is essential +that we should know on what principles the valuation of property +is conducted in New York. The whole question depends upon this. If +the system of valuation is different in the two countries, there +are no materials on which to build a conclusion. We know what +discrepancies may arise out of the mode of valuation, from the fact +that, while the annual value of _all_ real property in England and +Wales was assessed for the poor-rate, in 1841, at about £62,500,000, +_a portion_ of it only--that over £150 a-year--was valued two years +afterwards, for the income-tax, at nearly £86,000,000. We observe +that Professor Johnston has arrived at the amount of real property +in Britain, by assuming the fee-simple value to be twenty-seven +years' purchase of the income. But in New York, he tells us, the +value of income is calculated at _only sixteen and a half years'_ +purchase. The terms of the comparison are, therefore, manifestly +faulty. And mark how this affects the result. The real income of +Great Britain, capitalised at sixteen and a half years' purchase, +would amount to only £1,447,000,000, and, if taxed at the same +rate as in New York, would yield, instead of £19,000,000 only, +£11,500,000, which, as it happens, _is three millions less than +it actually pays_, as may be plainly seen from the undernoted +statement:-- + + +DIRECT AND LOCAL TAXATION OF REAL PROPERTY IN GREAT BRITAIN. + + 1. Land Tax, £1,164,000 + 2. Poor and County Rate, (England,) 6,847,205 + 3. Highway Rate, " 1,169,891 + 4. Church Rate, " 506,812 + 5. Proportion of Stamp Duties on deeds affecting real property, 1,200,000 + 6. Proportion of Legacy Duty affecting do., 300,000 + 7. Property Tax, 2,600,000 + 8. Poor Rate, (Scotland,) £577,000--say on real property, 500,000 + 9. Statute Labour, (Scotland,) 81,226 + ---------- + Total, £14,369,134 + + _Note._--The first six items are taken from the Report of the + House of Lords on burdens affecting land, and some of them are + below the present amounts. The items affecting Scotland are + obviously defective. + +To this extent at least, then, we are justified in correcting +Professor Johnston's calculations, and in affirming with certainty +that the owner of _real property in Britain surrenders a larger +portion of his wealth for the public service than in New York_, or +any other State of the Union. Whether the same can be said of the +British owner of _personal_ property is another question, which we +shall come to by-and-by. + +So much for the _absolute_ comparison. But then Professor Johnston +aims also at proving, that while the rich man is better off here, +the poor man is worse--that the "masses" (_i. e._, we presume, those +who are dependent on the wages of labour) pay a larger share of +the public burdens than the same "masses" do in America. And this, +he thinks, is demonstrated by the fact, that the customs duties of +America amount to only a dollar a-head of the whole population, +whereas in Great Britain they are _three_ dollars--three times +heavier. Now, we venture to affirm that, as a contrast between the +position of the labouring man on this side of the Atlantic, and +that of his brother on the other, this statement is quite a nest +of fallacies. In the first place, it proceeds on the assumption (a +very common but erroneous one among our Free-Trade authorities) that +it is the labouring class who pay the bulk of the taxes drawn in +the shape of customs. As this error, however, may be held to affect +both sides of the comparison equally, we have next to notice that, +admitting it to be the case, the fact of the customs being three +dollars a-head in this country, and only one in the States, only +shows that the English labourer pays _absolutely_ more than the +Yankee, which no one ever doubted. It amounts only to this--that +in an old country which has to uphold numerous public institutions +unknown in America, and with a public debt to provide for of some +£800,000,000 sterling, the burden of this, as well as of all other +branches of taxation, is heavier than in the youthful republic, +with a national debt of only £13,000,000. In order to draw a fair +parallel between the cases as regards the poorer classes of both +countries, we must put the question in a different way, and inquire, +what proportion does the amount of customs (assumed as representing +the poor man's share of taxation) bear _to the whole public burdens_ +in the two countries respectively? The contrasted account would +then show the matter in a very different aspect from that in which +Professor Johnston has represented it, and would stand thus:-- + + | GREAT BRITAIN. | UNITED STATES. | + | | | + | National taxes, £50,000,000 | National taxes, £6,000,000 | + | Local ditto,[7] 14,000,000 | Local ditto,[8] 5,680,000 | + | ----------- | ----------- | + | Total, £64,000,000 | Total, £11,680,000 | + | Whereof the poor man's | Whereof the poor man's | + | share, or customs, is £20,000,000 | share, or customs, is £6,000,000 | + | or 32½ per cent. | or 52 per cent. | + | | | + + [7] We give this amount as it is usually estimated, although it is + certainly far below the truth. + + [8] _The American Almanac_ for 1851. + +Even if we were to throw into the scale a large portion of the +excise duties levied in Britain, which Professor Johnston may be +entitled to claim as a peculiar burden on "the masses"--at least +as much as the customs--it would still be apparent, that, if such +payments are to be taken as a fair criterion, _the people's burdens +are not relatively heavier here than in America_. We shall only +add further on this subject, that while many of the less opulent +class of our fellow-citizens have undoubted real grievances +to complain of, and while writers, with worse intentions than +Professor Johnston, are ever ready to exaggerate them, and to foster +discontent, it becomes one of his high character to guard against +allowing a somewhat undisciplined taste for statistics to betray +him into rash general allegations, calculated to produce error and +irritation. + +The parallel he has drawn, however, is very instructive on one +point, although he has failed to notice it. He has taken some pains +to prove that, tried by the American standard, our poor men pay too +much, and our owners of real property too little, in both which +conclusions we have shown his grounds to be fallacious; but he takes +no notice of a far more obvious anomaly, the glaring injustice of +which is every day attracting more public comment--the comparative +_immunity of the owners of personal property_ in this country. The +local taxation of the States, it has been seen, is levied by an +equal assessment on property _of all kinds_; and although, from +the character of a great part of the country, the real property +much exceeds the movable in amount, the rate upon both is a uniform +one. No description of possessions is favoured with an invidious +exemption. We will take the assessment of one State as an example, +and copy the following "Items of the valuation of the taxable +property for the State of Iowa, according to the assessor's returns +for 1849." They are as follows:-- + + "Acres of land--Improvements on land--Town lots and + improvements--_Capital employed in merchandise_--Mills, + manufactories, distilleries, carding machines and tan-yards, + _with the stock employed_--Horses, cattle, sheep, &c.--Pleasure + carriages, watches, pianofortes--_Capital stocks and profits + in any company incorporated or unincorporated_--Property + in boats and vessels--Gold and silver coin, and bank-notes + in actual possession--_Claims for money, or other + consideration--Annuities--Amount of notes, mortgages, &c. All + other personal property over 100 dollars._" + +All these descriptions of property contribute alike, dollar +for dollar, towards the expenses of the State, which--be it +remarked--embrace not only the general charges for interest of +debt, and for the support of the legislative, executive, and +judiciary departments, but include also payments for prisons, +asylums, the militia, the public roads, and several other branches +of expenditure, which in this country are saddled either upon real +property or upon the land alone. Let any one look at the items of +the above list printed in italics, and say what portion of such +wealth passes through the national exchequer, or goes to uphold the +public institutions, of Great Britain. The whole annual incomes +above £50 a-year in Great Britain are estimated, on the best +attainable data,[9] to amount to upwards of £352,000,000 sterling, +of which the taxed real income is £86,000,000, or one-fourth part +only. Is there any one with a conscience so elastic as to maintain +that the owners of the other three-fourths contribute fairly to +the support of the State, in proportion to the revenue they enjoy +under its protection? From the investigations of Mr Smee, to whom +we have referred, it appears that while the number of those who +pay the direct taxes is about five hundred thousand, _there are +upwards of one million eight hundred thousand persons in Great +Britain enjoying incomes of above £50 a-year, who do not contribute +one farthing to them_. What is this but a system of iniquitous +exemption of the one class, and of virtual confiscation as to the +other? But the whole subject occupies far too prominent a place in +the public mind to be treated thus incidentally. For the present +then we leave it, thoroughly persuaded that, under a form of +government which acknowledges no distinctions between classes and +interests, so shameless a violation of the plainest principles of +equity cannot long be permitted to continue, and cordially joining +in the wish that no object of less momentous interest--no schemes of +impracticable retrenchment--no wily bait of extended suffrage--no +flourishing of the old red rag of reform, may be suffered to +distract the attention of the public, from the one great paramount +practical reform--A READJUSTMENT OF TAXATION. + + [9] See Mr Smee's pamphlet on the Income-Tax. + +We owe an apology to Professor Johnston for having deviated somewhat +from the ordinary course of a review. His work has already been so +much and so flatteringly noticed, that to have limited ourselves +to mere abridgment and quotation from the _Notes_ would have +led us over the same ground that has been already exhausted by +other critics. We have therefore preferred discussing some of the +questions of greatest public interest which his observations have +suggested; and if, on some of these, we have been led to dissent +from his opinions, we have done so in no unfriendly spirit, which +indeed would have been impossible in judging of an author whose own +views are always expressed with perfect candour and moderation. +There can be no doubt that, under the unpretending title which he +has chosen to adopt, he has contrived to bring together a larger +mass of varied and valuable information on the present condition of +North America than is to be found in any work yet published. + + + + +THE ANSAYRII. + +_The Ansayrii (or Assassins;) with Travels in the Further East._ +By the Hon. FREDERIC WALPOLE, R.N., Author of _Four Years in the +Pacific_. London: Bentley, 1851. + + +Hail to the bright East, with all its mysteries, its mighty past, +its pregnant future, its inexhaustible sources of airiest amusement +and most solemn interest! We welcome with pleasure the original and +truly Oriental book before us. It harmonises rather with the poetic +than the historic character of Eastern lands; but in its wild and +dreamy narrative there are to be found vivid and faithful pictures, +such as those that lighted up the charmed reveries of DeQuincey. For +the present we will lay aside the critic's task: we will postpone +all such considerations, and invite the reader to accompany us in a +rapid tour over the varied regions which Mr Walpole has recalled to +our memory and imagination. Let us turn for a little from the "world +that is too much with us," and, ranging away from chilly mists and +gloomy skies, sun our fancy in the lands where Paradise was planted. + +Egypt and Palestine appear familiar to us all; they are of common +interest to the whole Christian world--classic lands to every old +villager who can read his Bible, as well as to the profound scholar. +In them, sacred and profane history are so intimately blended +that the latter assumes almost the authenticity of the former. +Herodotus and his followers have actually a people still in the +flesh (if flesh the mummy may be called) to refer to: subterranean +Egypt is still inhabited by the undecayed bodies of the very men +who associated with the Israelites, and forms that were beautiful +and loved three thousand years ago. Imperishable as their old +inhabitants, their temples and their monuments still stand above +them, and will there remain unparalleled, until their long-buried +architects shall rise again. + +Passing on to Palestine, we find, memories and associations still +stronger and more striking; for here nature is invested with the +sentiment that in Egypt is awakened by art. Palestine belongs not to +time only, but to eternity; with which, by types and illustrations, +its earthly history is so beautifully blended and aggrandised. Its +literature is inspired truth, its annals are prophecies fulfilled, +and the very face of the land itself vindicates the beauty it _once_ +wore, through all the sorrow and desolation that have fallen on it +since. Owing to the metaphorical style of Oriental composition, +every object in nature was used to illustrate or impress by its +analogy; and hence not only the holy mountains, the sacred rivers, +and the battle plains have memories for us, but the very "hyssop +on the wall," the blasted fig-tree, the cedar, the "high rock in +the thirsty land;" every vale, and hill, and lake, and city, is +consecrated by some association with the men who spoke the words of +God--with the time that witnessed His presence in the flesh. + +The remorseless Jews were swept from the Promised Land, as their +ancestor was from Eden, for the irreparable sin; and the sword of +the Roman waved over the ruined walls of Jerusalem, forbidding all +return. The Saracen and the Crusader succeeding, add another element +of interest--an English association--to long-tried and suffering +Judea. The Crusaders were rather a warlike emigration than invasion; +they were the angry overflow of discontented Europe, which sought +to vent its spleen and dogmas upon the Infidel. Their ebbing tide +bore back to us the arts and sciences and chivalry of Arabia; +and thus Palestine became the channel for all our best temporal +acquirements, as it had long since furnished us with our eternal +hope. + +All this, and more--much more--invests Syria with undying and +exhaustless interest to the student and the traveller; but we +will not linger on such impressions now. We have a lighter task +to fulfil, though we are about to visit the land of Nimrod, of +Abraham's nativity, and of the empire of Semiramis. The pleasant +company in which we travel will speed us on; and, in the old +troubadour fashion, lay and legend will beguile the way. But before +we enter fairly on our pilgrimage to "Ur of the Chaldees" and the +tomb of Nineveh, we shall pause to make some practical observations +on the route which, in its present aspect, may be new to some of our +readers. + +EGYPT MAY SOON BE REACHED IN TEN DAYS.[10] This is almost +incredible; still more so, when we add that it may be accomplished +without fatigue, hardship, or self-denial. The traveller even now +embarks at Southampton in one of the Oriental Company's magnificent +steamers, and finds himself landed at Alexandria in fifteen days, +having visited Gibraltar and Malta, besides having travelled three +thousand miles in as much comfort as he would have enjoyed at +Brighton, with far more advantage to his health and spirits, and but +trifling additional expense. For our own parts, we believe that, +before long, sea voyages, instead of sea shores, will be resorted +to, not only by the invalid, but by the epicurean and the idler. +The floating hotels of our ocean steamers afford as comfortable +quarters as any of their more stationary rivals, with the additional +advantage of presenting a change of air and of scenery every morning +that the "lodger" rises. + + [10] By the leviathan steamers now building for the Peninsular and + Oriental Steam Company. They are calculated to make from sixteen to + eighteen miles an hour, which would reduce the sea-going part of the + voyage to eight days two hours. + +The autumn--the later the _better_--is the _best_ period for +visiting Egypt. October is, on the whole, the best month for +beginning the ascent of the Nile. We will suppose the traveller +landed at Alexandria: he achieves the lions of that suddenly-created +city (except Aboukir Bay) in a few hours, and is ready to start +for Cairo in the mail steamer, with the India-bound passengers who +accompanied him from England. The country in which he now finds +himself, by so sudden a transition, is full of apparent paradoxes; +amongst others, he may be surprised to find that the canal on which +he travels to Atfeh winds considerably, though no engineering +obstacles whatever oppose themselves to a straight course. The +reason of this sinuosity was thus explained to us by Mehemet Ali +himself:--"You ask why my canal is not straight: Ya, Wallah! it is +owing to a bit of bigotry. The dog who made it was a true Believer, +and something more. He said to himself, 'Ya, Seedee, thou art about +to make what Giaours call a canal, and Giaours in their impiety make +such things straight. Now, a canal is made after the fashion of a +river--(Allah pardon us for imitating his works!)--and all rivers +wind: Allah forbid that my canal should be better than His river; it +shall wind too.'" + +And so it does. + +Landed at Cairo, the traveller of the present day will find a +steamer once a fortnight ready to take him up to the first cataract +and back again, as fast as Young Rapid, or any other son of a +tailor, could desire. But even the rational tourist will be tempted +to send on his Kandjiah, (the old-fashioned Nile boat,) well +found and provisioned, a fortnight or three weeks before him, and +overtake her in the steamer. The Kandjiah voyage up stream is often +wearisome, downward never--as in the descent you are borne softly +along at from three to six miles an hour, even when you sleep. From +the first cataract to the second is only about two hundred miles, +and occupies about three weeks; but to those who can find pleasure +in what is most wild and dreamy and unearthly in scenery and art, +the desert view from Mount Abousir, the temples of Guerf, Hassan, +and Ipsamboul, are worth all the rest of the Nile voyage, except +Thebes and exquisite Philæ.[11] Returned to Alexandria, as we will +suppose, in March, the traveller will be quite early enough for +Syria, whose winter (considering the tented life he is compelled to +lead) is not to be despised. A steamer transports him to Beyrout in +thirty hours; and there our true travel begins.[12] + + [11] The mere physical pleasure of the upper voyage has been + thus described--"No words can convey an idea of the beauty and + delightfulness of tropical weather, at least while any breeze + from the north is blowing. There is a pleasure in the very act of + breathing--a voluptuous consciousness that existence is a blessed + thing: the pulse beats high, but calmly; the eye feels expanded; + the chest heaves pleasureably, as if air was a delicious draught + to thirsty lungs; and the mind takes its colouring and character + from sensation. No thought of melancholy ever darkens over us--no + painful sense of isolation or of loneliness, as day after day we + pass on through silent deserts, upon the silent and solemn river. + One seems, as it were, removed into another state of existence; and + all the strifes and struggles of that from which we have emerged + seem to fade, softened into indistinctness. This is what Homer and + Alfred Tennyson knew that the lotus-eaters felt when they tasted + of the mysterious tree of this country, and became weary of their + wanderings:-- + + '----To him the gushing of the wave + Far, far away, did seem to mourn and rave + On alien shores: and, if his fellow spake, + His voice was thin, as voices from the grave! + And deep asleep he seemed, yet all awake, + And music in his ears his beating heart did make.' + + If the day, with all the tyranny of its sunshine and its innumerable + insects, be enjoyable in the tropics, the night is still more so. + The stars shine out with diamond brilliancy, and appear as large as + if seen through a telescope. Their changing colours, the wake of + light they cast upon the water, the distinctness of the milky way, + and the splendour, above all, of the evening star, give one the + impression of being under a different firmament from that to which + we have been accustomed; then the cool delicious airs, with all the + strange and stilly sounds they bear from the desert and the forest; + the delicate scents they scatter, and the languid breathings with + which they make our large white sails appear to pant, as they heave + and languish softly over the water."--(_The Crescent and the Cross_, + vol. i. p. 210.) + + [12] The journey from Cairo across the desert by Suez, or at least + thence by Gaza or Sinai to Jerusalem, is performed in the same + manner as it was in the days when Eothen, Dr Robinson, and Lord + Castlereagh described it. The only difference occurs in the route + between Cairo and Suez, which is now performed on wheels in about + twelve hours, and, in the course of eighteen months, is expected to + be easily accomplished in two hours and a half by railway. + +Thus, (omitting the somewhat important episode of Egypt,) we find +ourselves transported, in little more than a fortnight, from +the murky fogs and leafless trees of England, to the delicious +temperature and tropical verdure that surrounds the most beautiful +town of the Levant. As every improvement in steam-navigation lessens +its distance from Christendom, Beyrout increases and expands. Nor +must we omit an honest tribute to the iron but even-handed justice +of Ibrahim Pasha, which first rendered it safely accessible to +Europeans. Before his conquest of Syria, the Frank was wont to +skulk anxiously through the town, exposed to insult and unpunished +violence: without the walls, the robber enjoyed as much impunity +as the bigot did within; and, between both, Beyrout became, or +continued to be, a miserable village. Its environs were wild +wastes, where the gipsy alone ventured to pitch his tent, and the +wild dog prowled. Now, pleasant gardens and picturesque kiosks, +or summer-houses, replace the wilderness; the town expands, grows +clean, doubles its population, and welcomes a crowd of shipping to +its port. A more delightful residence, as a refuge from winter, can +scarcely be conceived. An infinite variety of excursions may be made +from hence; and every time the traveller mounts his horse, whether +he be historically, picturesquely, controversially, botanically, +or geologically given, he may return to his flat-roofed home with +some valuable acquisition to his note-book. The views are everywhere +magnificent, and the warm breezes from the bluest of oceans are +tempered by the snowy neighbourhood of the loveliest of mountains. + +Five roads of leading interest (besides many a cheering byway +among the hills) branch out from the walls of Beyrout. Damascus is +about eighteen hours off; Jerusalem six days; Djouni, the romantic +residence and burial-place of Lady Hester Stanhope, ten hours; +Baalbec, the flower of all Eastern ruins, eighteen hours, and +Latakia, whither _we_ are bound, five days. These distances may be +accomplished in less time; they are here given at the calculation +of a walking pace, as the roads, or rather paths, are for the most +part steep and difficult; and the baggage-horses, at all events, +can seldom advance more rapidly. One word more of dry detail, and +we shall put ourselves _en route_ for the mountains of the Ansayrii +and the further East. Notwithstanding the advance of civilisation at +Beyrout, where a European consulocracy has established a more than +European equality of privileges between Turks and Christians, the +interior of the country is daily becoming more dangerous to travel +in. Eight years ago, when the stern rule of Ibrahim Pasha had still +left its beneficent traces, the writer of this article wandered over +the length and breadth of the land, attended by a single servant +and a muleteer. Since our Government, for inscrutable reasons, +has restored Syria to the embroilment of its native factions, all +security for the traveller, and indeed for the native, has ceased. +To reach Jerusalem, or even Damascus, in safety, a considerable +escort is now necessary; though the Vale of Baalbec may still be +reached in less warlike fashion from Latakia or Tripoli, if the +traveller is endowed with liberality, courage, and courtesy--the +leading virtues of his profession. + +Before we proceed on our travels, let us introduce our guide. +Mr Walpole is a young naval officer, and there is in most of +his narrative a dashing impetuous style, which savours of his +profession. In this there is a certain charm, imparting as it does +an air of frank and fearless confidence in his reader's quick +perception and favourable construction. There is in his writings +what we would also hope is professional--a chivalrous feeling and +generous sentiment, that is never obscured by a sordid thought or +unworthy imputation. As he sees clearly, of course he also sees +faults in men, and minds, and manners; but such discoveries are +made in a tone of regret rather than of triumph; or thrown off in +a strain of good-humoured satire that could not offend even its +objects. His descriptive powers are graphic, and often very vivid; +his humour is very original, being generally tinged with melancholy, +in such sort as that of a philanthropic Jacques might be: finally, +he does not fear to display a profound and manly reverence for +holy things and sacred places. On the other hand, to set against +all these high merits, we must confess that many faults afford +some drawback to his book. It is often incoherent, and deficient +in arrangement. The first volume is rather the groundwork than +the accomplishment of what an author with Mr Walpole's powers and +material should have effected. Most of these faults, however, +may find their excuse in the circumstances under which they were +composed. They smack of the tent, the boat, and the bivouac, as old +wine does of the _borachio_. Whatever they may be, this work is one +that will be widely read; and wherever it is read with appreciation, +it will direct the interest not only to its subject, but its author: +his individuality, unostentatiously and unconsciously, is impressed +on every page; and his genius, however erratic, is unquestionable. + +The cockpit, and even the gun-room of a man-of-war, are little +favourable to intellectual effort, or the habit or the love of +learning which it can alone accomplish. We can therefore make +greater allowances for errors in composition, and concede greater +credit for the attainments in languages and general knowledge which +our young author has achieved. This is perhaps still more striking +in a work written by Mr Walpole three years ago, entitled _Four +Years in the Pacific_, which, though written in a midshipman's +berth, abounds in passages of beauty, and in his peculiar and +original humour. Having said so much in his praise and dispraise, +and only premising, in addition, that he speaks Arabic and Turkish, +so as to interpret for himself the quaint unusual thoughts of the +people among whom he lives, we enter upon a survey of what he saw. + +We have unwillingly passed over the whole of our author's outward +voyage, which is graphically, and almost dramatically, described. +We shall only refer to one or two passages respecting the Levant. +The following sentence may dispel some fanciful visions of the sunny +climate of Stamboul:-- + + "Snow, 'thick and deep' enveloped the city; cupola, dome, + and cypress were burdened with icicles; above, was an angry + winter sky with a keenly piercing wind.... English fires and + English coals were the best things we saw--we were actually + blockaded by the weather.... At length we embarked: the crew + were shovelling the deep snow-drift off the deck, so we rushed + below into a cabin whose bulkheads were beautifully varnished, + sofas perfect, skylights closed, the whole atmosphere tobacco. + We were off, gliding past the Seraglio Point, which was swathed + in snow, and looking like a man in summer clothes caught in a + wintry storm.... Masses animate and inanimate encumbered the + deck; the former for the most part consisting of the Sultan's + subjects; among the latter our baggage, which was thrown into + the general heap, and kicked about until it found quiet in the + hold.... The numbers thus congregated were principally pilgrims, + on their way to Jerusalem and to the Jordan; though others, on + more worldly journey bent, were mingled with the rest. Each + family had taken a spot on the deck, and there, piled over with + coverings, and surrounded with their goods, they remained during + the voyage: one side of the after-deck was alone kept clear for + the first-class passengers, and even this was often invaded by + others, who wisely remarked that _we_ had cabins below. + + "Each family forms a scene in itself; and an epitome of life + in the East is found by a glance around. Four merchants, on + their return from a trading tour, have bivouacked between the + skylights; and they sing and are sick; call _kief_[13] and + smoke, with true Moslem indifference. On the starboard quarter, + our notions of Eastern domesticity are sadly put out, for there + a Moslem husband is mercilessly bullied by a shrill-voiced + Houri. It is curious to observe her perseverance in covering + her face, even during the agonies of sea-sickness. Their black + servant has taken us into the number of licensed ones, and her + veil now hangs over her neck like a loosened neck-cloth. + + [13] _Kief_: a word difficult to translate, but expressing + perfect abandonment to repose; a _dolce far niente_ which only + Orientals can thoroughly achieve. + + "On the other side, a Greek family in three generations lies + along the deck, fortified by a stout man-servant across their + legs, whose attentions to the girls during his own heart-rending + ailments is very pretty. The huge grandmother was set on fire + and smouldered away most stoically, until her foot began to + burn, when, while others put her out, she sank blubbering to + sleep again. The pretty granddaughters find the long prostration + more irksome; but send their flashing eyes about with careless + movement, and so the mass goes on. Here one appears to be + offering up _nazam_, but nearer inspection shows that his shoe + is only receiving the offering to the heaving waves.... + + "Our steamer had passed sad hours of toil, and pitched and + tossed us all out of temper before we entered the calm waters to + leeward of Rhodes, and at last, passing the low points covered + with detached houses and windmills, we shot round in front of + the harbour. Our view of the intervening coast had been too + vague to form a judgment upon it; but here and there a peak + towered up above the mists, all else being veiled by the cloudy + sky.... No place it has ever been my fortune to visit, more, by + its appearance, justifies its character than Rhodes. Around the + harbour's shore, one continued line of high castellated wall, + unbroken save by flanking towers or frowning portals; from the + wave on either side, dovetailed to the rock, rise the knightly + buildings; and as the eye reaches round, no dissonant work mars + the effect, save that one lofty palm rears its tropic head--but + it adds to, rather than lessens, the effect. Above the walls, a + mosque with its domed roof or minaret appears; and the fragile + building speaks, how truly! in its contrast to the massive walls + and ponderous works of former rulers, that the battle is not + always to the strong." + +In speaking of the sister island-fortress, Malta, our author remarks +(in a former page) the immediate contrast presented by these +luxurious arsenals:-- + + "The Eastern reclines on the cushioned divan, the embodiment + of repose; the softest carpets, the freshest flowers, surround + him--soft women attend the slightest motion of his eye--all + breathes of indolence, abandonment, and ease; yet his girdle + bristles with arms--his gates are locked and guarded. So at + Malta, the bower is a bastion, the saloon a casemate, the + serenade the call of martial music, the draperies war-flags, the + ornaments shot in ready proximity." + +Proceeding to Tarsus, we pass on to Alexandretta, "a wretched +collection of hovels. The harbour is splendid; the ruins of the old, +the skeleton of the new town, standing on the beach. Behind it, in +every direction, stretches a fetid and swampy plain, which only +requires drainage to be rendered fertile and wholesome." This is the +seaport of Aleppo, on the road to which lies the town of Beilau, +and the village of Mortawan, where Pagan rites, especially those of +Venus, are still said to be maintained. But again we reimbark-- + + "Again the vessel cuts the wave. The mountains become a feeble + bleached outline, save Cassius on the north, who frowns on his + unrecorded fame. Yes, noble hill! though not so high as Strabo + tells, though not lofty and imposing; though dark thy path + now--unnoticed, solitary. There blazed up the last effort of the + flame of pagan civilisation: there Julian the Great--whatever + other title men may bestow upon him--offered his solemn + sacrifice to Jupiter the Avenger, previous to his last campaign, + when the eagles were to wave over Mesopotamia. + + "The Sabbath dawned fresh, unclouded, and beautiful, as we + anchored in the pretty little port of Latakia, the ancient + Laodicea. The town of Latakia, built by Seleucus Nicator, in + honour of his mother, is comprehended in the Pashalic of Saida, + or Beyrout. It stands on a spur of the Ansayrii Mountains. About + half a mile inland, the spur falls into the sea, and forms Cape + Zairet; the town stands on its southern slope, and is joined, + by gardens and a port, to the sea. The port is small and well + sheltered; but time, Turks, and ruins, are filling it up. The + buildings on the shore, having their backs to the sea, present + the appearance of a fortification. On a reef of rock that + shelters the harbour stands a pile of building of different + eras. It seems to be castle, mosque, and church. Along the beach + lie hundreds of shafts of columns, and many are built into the + walls, of whose remains you catch a glimpse on the southern + side." + +Here we must pause, though our traveller proceeds to Beyrout, of +which he gives a charming account, which our limits forbid us +to quote. We reserve our space for more novel scenes, and must +pass over a chapter on Damascus, which is rich in legends and +graphic pictures. Thence, _en route_ to Homs, by the way of the +desert, eastward of the Anti-Lebanon, we have a sketch that is too +characteristic of Eastern travel to pass over:-- + + "North, south and east, dead plain; west, a low range of hills, + and beyond, the fair Anti-Lebanon in all its snowy beauty. + Desert all around us, but no dreary waste. Here and there were + loose stones and rocks; the rest a carpet of green, fresh, dewy + grass, filled with every hue of wild-flowers--the poppy in its + gorgeous red, the hyacinth, the simple daisy and others, thick + as they could struggle up, all freshened with a breeze heavy + with the scents of thyme. The lark sent forth its thrill of + joy in welcome to the coming day; before us the pennon of the + spearmen gleamed as they wound along the plain. We passed the + site of an Arab encampment strewn with fire-blackened stones, + bones, and well picked carcasses. Storks and painted quails + sauntered slowly away at our approach, or perched and looked as + if they questioned our right to pass. At eight o'clock halted + at a khan called Hasiah also. The population consisting of + robust, wild-looking fellows; and very pretty women poured out + to sell hard-boiled eggs, leban, bread, and milk: they were all + Mussulmans.... + + "We were soon disturbed by a multitude of sick, which recalled + to one's mind how in this land, of old, the same style of faces, + probably in the same costumes, crowded to Him who healed. The + lame, carried by the healthy; feeble mothers with sickly babes; + hale men showing wounds long self-healed; others with or without + complaints." + +Arrived at Homs, we have-- + + "Fish for dinner, from the Lake of Kades, whose blue waters we + saw in the distance to-day. The Lebanon opens behind that lake, + and you may pass to the sea, on the plain, without a hill. + This plain, but rarely visited, is among the most interesting + portions of Syria, containing numerous convents, castles, and + ruins, and its people are still but little known. Maszyad, the + principal seat of the sect called Ismayly: the Ansayrii also, + and Koords, besides Turks, Christians, and gipsys, may be found + among its varied population. The ancient castle of El Hoshn, + supposed, by the lions over its gates, to have been built by + the Count of Thoulouse, is well worth a visit. The Orontes, + taking its rise in a rock, from whence it gushes just west of + the Tel of Khroumee,--(true bearing from Homs from south 60° + 32' east,)--flows through the Lake of Kades, and passes about + 2° to the west of Homs: it is called Nahr El Aazzy, or "the + rebel river," some say because of its running north, while all + the other rivers run south; more probably, however, on account + of its rapidity and strength of current. It is an historical + stream; on its banks were altars, and the country it waters is + almost unmatched for beauty-- + + 'Oh, sacred stream! whose dust + Is the fragments of the altars of idolatry.'" + +It was at Homs--the ancient Emessa--that Zenobia was brought as a +captive into the presence of Aurelian. + + "Why did she not there fall? why add the remaining lustreless + years to her else glorious life? why, in the words of Gibbon, + sink insensibly into the Roman matron? Zenobia fat, dowdy, and + contented--profanation! Zimmerman, however, invests the close + of her career with graceful philosophy: at Tivoli, in happy + tranquillity, she fed the greatness of her soul with the noble + images of Homer, and the exalted precepts of Plato; supported + the adversity of her fortunes with fortitude and resignation, + and learnt that the anxieties attendant on ambition are happily + exchanged for the enjoyments of ease and the comforts of + philosophy." + +From Homs we reach Aleppo in four days. + + "It was a spring morning, and a gentle keenness, wafted from + snow-clad mountains, rendered the climate delightful. The town + lay beneath me, and each terrace, court, serai, and leewan + lay open to my view. I saw Aleppo was built in a hollow, from + which ran plains north and west, surrounded by mountains. To + the north, Djebel Ma Hash and his range, untouched by the soft + smiles of the young spring, lay deep in the snow; the flat + connected grass-grown roofs and well-watered sparkling courts, + with their carefully-tended trees, relieving the glare of the + houses, while all around the town lay belted in its garden. The + scene was pretty and pleasing; here and there the forests of + tomb-stones, the perfect minaret, the Eastern dome swelling up + from the mob of flat roofs,--these formed a sight that told I + was in the East, in the cradle of mankind--the home of + history."... + + "And here, though sorely pressed for time, we must stop for a + picnic, which E---- and myself were told it would be right to + give. We provided carpets, nargillehs, horse-loads of sundries, + cushions, a cargo of lettuces; and thus equipped, we sallied + out, a very numerous party. The first thing to select was a + garden, a point on which our own choice, and not the owner's + will, seemed alone to be consulted. Let not the reader fancy + an Eastern garden is what a warm Western fancy would paint + it--wild with luxuriant but weedless verdure, heavy with the + scent of roses and jessamine, thrilling with the songs of the + bulbul and the nightingale, where fair women with plaited + tresses touch the soulful lute in graceful attitudes. No; it + is a piece of ground enclosed by high walls, varying in size. + A wretched gate, invariably badly made, probably ruined, + admits you to the interior. Some enclose a house with two or + three rooms--windowless, white-washed places. Before this + is a reservoir of dirty, stagnant water, turned up from a + neighbouring well by an apparatus as rude as it is ungainly and + laborious: this is used to irrigate the ground, which therefore + is alternately mud and dust. Fruit trees or mulberries are + planted in rows, and the ground beneath, being ploughed up, + is productive of vegetables or corn. One or two trees, for + ornament, may be planted in the first row, but nothing more; and + weeds, uncut, undestroyed, spring up in every direction. Such, + without exaggeration, is the _Bistan zareff quiess!_--the Lovely + Garden. + + "We selected one that belonged to the Mollah. Oh, true believer! + in thy pot we boiled a ham; on thy divan we ate the forbidden + beast; thy gardener, for base reward, assisting to cook--who + knows, but also to eat the same? We chose a spot shaded by a + noble walnut tree, and spread carpets and cushions. Fire was + lighted, nargillehs bubbled, and kief began." + +On the 2d of May we start for the Euphrates, and follow for some +time nearly the route recommended by Colonel Chesney for the great +Indian railway to Bussora, on the Persian Gulph. The distance is +little more than 800 miles--scarcely thirty steam-winged hours--the +level surpassingly uniform. Truly those who desire to find either +solitude, or what our author calls _kief_, in the East, must +repair thither quickly, for the iron of the engineer has already +entered into its soul. Already the blue and white rivers of the +Nile are more easily attainable than were the Tiber and the Po to +our grandfathers. Beyrout and Latakia will soon be fashionable +watering-places; Baalbec as well known as Melrose Abbey; and the +excavated ruins of Nimroud will come under the range of "return +tickets." The grim Arab will look out from any quiet spot that the +all-searching Cockney may have spared him; and he will gaze with +wonder on the awful processions of the "devil-goaded" tourists, as +they rush with magic speed across his wilderness--only to retrace +their steps. The Turk, at the utmost bounds of the Othman Empire, +will marvel at this new freak of _kismet_ (destiny;) with a sigh +he will abandon his beloved _bockra_ (the "to-morrow" in which he +loves to live;) and commending himself to Islam, or resignation in +its most trying form, he will "jump in" like the mere Giaours, and +be hurled along with the rest across the desert behind the Afreet +stoker. + +But at present the wilderness knows nothing of all this, and we have +before us the scenery of other days as Abram beheld it. We now cross +the Chalus River, and enter upon a series of vast plains, varied by +mysterious _tels_ or mounds, rising up from the level surface like +bubbles on a pool. On, or among these, the ever restless Turkomans +pitch their tents, and welcome the traveller kindly to their +wandering homes. On the third day from Aleppo we reach Aintab, on +the river Sadschur, "which, fresh and young, danced brightly on, as +if eager to join the Euphrates and see the wide world beyond." + + "At Aintab, among other visitors was Doctor Smith, an American + missionary. He was a well-bred, sensible man, a clever linguist, + and, from all I ever heard, an earnest and zealous servant of + his heavenly Master. His mission already shows results which + must indeed be a source of peace to his heart, and proves that + some are allowed even in this world to reap the fruits of their + toil for the Lord. In that very town, whence a few years ago he + was insulted and abused, a faithful flock now join in humble + prayers to God; and surely they pray for him, the instrument of + their salvation. I was much pleased at the plain unexaggerating + way in which he told the history of his mission.... The good + work has progressed, and he now has from one hundred and fifty + to three hundred pupils in his school, many the children of + non-converted parents. And in this year's enrolment--great + glory to our ambassador at Constantinople!--the Protestants are + enrolled as a separate religious community: the males are two + hundred and odd here. + + "All sects recognised by the Porte are enrolled separately, as + their taxes, &c., are apportioned by their own heads (chiefs.)" + +Many of the Armenians here have been converted to the Church of +England, and this has proved to be a most advantageous change for +their women. + + "They are now emancipated from the bondage they have so long + been held in--I do not mean personal bondage, for perhaps there + is less of it in the East than in the West--but their whole + moral position has undergone a vast change. The man is now first + taught that the woman is his best friend; his firmest, truest + companion; his equal in the social scale, as God made her--a + help meet for him, not a mere piece of household furniture. The + woman is also taught to reverence the man as her head; thus + imparting that beautiful lesson, 'He for God only, she for + God through him.' She is also taught perhaps a harder lesson, + a more painful task--to relinquish all her costly ornaments, + when such may be more usefully employed in trade and traffic; + to consider necessaries more beautiful than costly clothes or + embroidered suits. Gradually she is allowed to unite with the + man in prayers, which is permitted by no other sect in the East, + women always having a portion of the church set apart for them, + and the Moslems praying at different times. May it please Him + who gives and dispenses all things, to prosper this and all + other good and holy works!... On leaving Aintab, we passed over + the hills that environ the town, and entered a pretty valley, + through which the Sadschur river accompanies us. Here, at a + small village called Naringa, we chose a pretty spot under some + trees, and pitched our tents. The horses browsed at our door, + the stream jumped by before us as we took our evening's repose. + And repose it is to sit thus at the close of a day of travel, to + enjoy the view of the lovely regions given man to dwell in; to + see the various changes time, circumstances, and religion have + wrought in the family of Adam, or, as the Arabs say, in the Beni + Adam. It was a lovely evening; and as I reclined apart from my + more gregarious fellow-travellers, I felt + + 'That the night was filled with music, + And the cares that infested the day + Had folded their tents, like the Arab, + And as silently stolen away.'" + +From Naringa our route lies eastward over low undulated hills, +still marked by frequent _tels_, generally surmounted by a village. +"Are these mounds natural, or does man still fondly cling to the +ruined home of his fathers?" Crossing the river Kirsan, we arrive at +Nezeeb, lying among vineyards and plantations of figs, pistachios, +and olives, interspersed with fields of wheat. At this village the +Sultan's forces, 70,000 strong, were defeated by Ibrahim Pasha with +45,000 men--a bootless victory, soon neutralised by a few lines +from our "Foreign Office." On the 6th day after leaving Aleppo, we +find ourselves on the Euphrates, the _Mourad Shai_, or "Water of +desire."[14] + + [14] The Moslems being water-drinkers, are as curious about their + streams as _bons vivans_ are about their cellars. One of the Caliphs + sent to weigh all the waters in his wide kingdom, and found that of + the Euphrates was the lightest. + + "In all its majesty, it glides beneath our gaze. It is needless + to tell the history of this river, renowned in the earliest + traditions. Watering the Paradise of earth, it has been mingled + with the fables of heaven; the Lord gave it in his covenants + unto Abram; Moses, inspired, preached it in his sermon to the + people. In its waters are bound the four angels, and, at the + emptying of the sixth vial, its waters will dry up, that the + 'way of the kings of the East may be prepared.' In every age + it has formed a prominent feature in the diorama of history, + flashing with sunshine, or sluggish and turbid with blood; and + here, on its bank, its name unchanged, all now is solitude and + quiet. + + "Descending amidst wide burial-grounds, where here and there + a _kubbé_ sheltered some clay more revered than the rest, we + reached its shores, and patiently took up our quarters beneath + the shade of a tree, till a boat should arrive to carry us over. + The redoubt, Fort William, as it was called, of the Euphrates + expedition still remains. In ancient times four shallows existed + where there were bridges over the Euphrates: the northernmost at + Samosata, now unused; Rum Kalaat, further south, being the route + frequented; Bir, the khan and eastern bank of which is called + Zeugma, or the Bridge, to this day; and the fourth at Thapsacus, + the modern Thapsaish, where Cyrus, Alexander, and Crassus passed + into Mesopotamia. The Arabs now generally pass here, or else by + fords known only to themselves. Julian crossed at a place called + Menbidjy, which was probably abreast of Hierapolis. + + "But what avails to recount individual cases?--the whole land is + history. Near us is Racca, once the favourite residence of Aaron + the Just. Here he delighted to spend his leisure-- + + 'Entranced with that place and time, + So worthy of the golden prime + Of good Haroun Alraschid.'" + +We cross the Euphrates to the town of Bir, and proceed still +eastward, along a flat desert, strewn with a small-bladed scanty +grass, aromatic flowers, and wormwood. "One small gleam, like a +polished shield or a dark sward, is all we see of the mighty river +that flows around us. Every hour of the day changes the aspect of +the desert: now it is wild and gloomy, as scudding clouds pass over +the sun; now smiling with maiden sweetness, as the sun shines out +again." Often we pass by the tented homes of the desert tribes, with +their flocks and herds tended by busy maidens, now screaming wildly +after their restless charge--now singing songs as wild, but sweeter +far. Then comes sunset with its massed clouds of purple, blue, and +gold; the air is full of bleatings as the flocks all tamely follow +their shepherds home. On the tenth day after leaving Aleppo, we +descend into a plain covered with some dusty olive-trees: we come +to a hill with a low wall, and a castle on its summit. "And this is +the Ur of the Chaldees, the Edessa of the Romans, the Orfa of the +Arabs. Here God spake to Abram." From this city, very fruitful in +legends, we reach Haran in six hours; travelling over a plain strewn +with _tels_ and encampments of the Koords. + + "Perhaps by this very route Abraham of old and those with him + travelled; nor is it extravagance to say, the family we now meet + may exhibit the exact appearance that the patriarchs did four + thousand years ago--the tents and pots piled on the camels; + the young children in one saddle-bag balancing the kids in + the other; the matron astride on the ass; the maid following + modestly behind; the boys now here, now there; the patriarch + himself on his useful mare, following and directing the march. + As we pass, he lays his hand on his heart, and says, 'Peace be + with you; where are you going?--Depart in peace.'" + +Haran appears to be, without doubt, the ancient city of Nahor, where +Laban lived, and where Jacob served for Leah and Rachel. Here, +too, is Rebekah's well, and here our traveller beheld the very +counterpart of the scene that Eleazar saw when he sought a bride +for his master's son. By this time our author had so far identified +himself with the desert tribes, their language, their interests, +their enjoyment of the desert life, and their love of horses, +that he seems to feel, and almost to speak, in the Arab style. We +have never seen that interesting people so happily described and +so vividly illustrated. If we had not so much before us still to +investigate, we would gladly dwell upon the desert journey from +Haran to Tel Bagdad, and on the raft voyage thence down the Tigris +to Mosul. One graphic sketch of an Arab sheik must serve for many: +his characteristic speech contains volumes of his people's history. + + "The young sheik was not, probably, more than seventeen or + eighteen years of age; handsome, but with that peculiarly + girlish effeminate appearance I have before mentioned as so + frequently found among the younger aristocracy of the desert, + and so strangely belied by their character and deeds. He now + held my horse, and, apologising for his father's temporary + absence, welcomed us. The tent was large and well made. We + remained here smoking and drinking coffee till the sheik + Dahhal arrived. He was fully dressed in silk--a fine figure of + a man with light clear eyes. Wounds, received long ago, have + incapacitated him from the free use of his hands, but report + says he can still grasp the rich dagger at his girdle with a + fatal strength when passion urges him. Though every feeling + was subdued, there showed through all his mildness the baffled + tiger, whose vengeance would be fearful--he resembled a netted + animal, vainly with all its cunning seeking to break the meshes + that encompassed him on all sides. + + "He received us with a hospitality that seemed natural; his + words were more sonorous, grand, and flowing than those of any + Arab I had before seen. They reminded me of the pleasure I had + felt in South America in listening to the language of a true + Spaniard, heard amidst the harsh gutturals of a provincial + jargon; strings of highflown compliments, uttered with an open, + noble mien, that, while it must please those to whom it is used, + seems but a worthy condescension in him. + + 'He was a man of war and woes; + Yet on his lineaments ye cannot trace, + While gentleness her milder radiance throws + Along that aged venerable face, + The deeds that lurk beneath, and stain him with disgrace.' + + "If report speaks true, never did there breathe a truer son of + Hagar than Sheik Dahhal. During his whole life his hand has + been against every man, and every man's against him. Gaining + his social position with his dagger, he openly endeavoured + to enlarge it by every exercise of force or fraud. The whole + frontier of Mardin, Nisibis, Mosul, Bagdad, &c., are his deadly + enemies, made so by his acts. It must be sad in declining years + to see the wreck of a youth thus spent; already the punishment + and repayment are hard at hand. + + "Successful violence brings temporary rewards--power, rule, + dominion; but for this he has bartered honour, fame, youth, + conscience: every stake, every ruse, has been used, and he gains + but defeat, disgrace, and contempt. It must be hard, very hard, + for the proud man to live on thus. I pitied him, and could feel + for him as he fondled his young son, a lovely little naked + savage, who lay crouching at his side. He had two or three other + children, all strikingly handsome.... + + "We were ultimately obliged to refuse his escort. 'It is + well,' said he, 'whether you go or stay, all Dahhal has, all + his enemies have left him, is yours.' We asked him if he saw + any change in the Arab since he remembered: he looked quietly + round at his tents, at his camels now crowded round them, the + flocks lowing to their homes; his dress, his arms, and then + said, 'No: since the time of the Prophets--since time was, + we are unchanged; perhaps poorer, perhaps less hospitable in + consequence; but otherwise unchanged.' He made a very just + remark afterwards: 'Our habits are the only ones adapted to the + country we live in; they cannot change unless we change our + country: no other life can be lived here.'" + +Our travellers, sending their horses and servants along the banks of +the Tigris, themselves embarked on board a raft composed of inflated +skins; and their voyage, after many incidents, terminated in the +following scene:-- + + "At last the pious true-believing eye of the boatman detected + the minarets of Mosul over the low land on the right. On our + left was a large temporary village, built of dried grass, + roughly and coarsely framed; low peaked mountains ahead broke + the steel line of the sky. No sooner did our boatman detect the + minarets, than he continued his prayers, confiding the oars + to one of the servants. Poor fellow! it was sad work; for the + raft, as if in revenge for the way he had pulled her about, + kept pertinaciously turning, and as it bore his Mecca--turned + front to the north, east, or west--he had to stop his pious + invocations, that otherwise would have been wafted to some + useless bourne; and then, as in the swing she turned him to the + black stone, he had to hurry on, like sportsmen anxious for some + passing game. Often he rose, but seemed not satisfied, and again + he knelt, and bowing prayed his Caaba-directing prayers. This + man had not prayed before during the voyage. + + "At last, over the land appeared a mud fort hardly + distinguishable from the hill; before it a white-washed dome, + a few straggling buildings--it was Mosul. Presently an angle + is turned, and the broken ruinous wall of an Eastern town lies + before us." + +Mosul is only sixteen days' journey from Aleppo. Although now +invested with a lasting interest by its connection with Mr Layard's +magnificent discoveries, it is one of the least attractive cities +of the East. Its neighbourhood, with the grand exception of buried +Nineveh, and some curious naphtha springs, is equally devoid of +interest. The huge mound called Koyunjik, "coverer of cities," lies +on the opposite side of the Tigris, about two miles from the river. +Tel Nimroud, where the first successful excavations were made, is +about eighteen miles lower down. It will be remembered that Mr Rich, +a merchant of Bagdad, first directed attention to these subterranean +treasures nearly twenty years ago: M. Botta, more recently, made +some energetic attempts to discover them; but it remained for our +gallant countryman, Mr Layard, to render his name illustrious by +unveiling the mysteries of ages, and restoring to light the wonders +of the ancient capital of the Assyrians. His renown, and still +more his success itself, must be its own reward; but we fear that +in all other respects the nation is still deeply in his debt. The +capricious liberalities of our Government with respect to art are +very singular; the financial dispositions of the British Museum are +still more difficult to explain. The former does not hesitate to +bestow £2500 on transporting a pillar from the sea-shore of Egypt to +London, while it only places at Mr Layard's disposal £3000 for the +excavation of Nineveh and its surrounding suburbs, eighteen miles +in extent--together with the support and pay of a numerous staff of +artists and others during eighteen months. On the other hand, the +trustees of the British Museum, knowing themselves already to be +deeply in Mr Layard's debt, refuse to further his great efforts, +except by the paltry (and refused) pittance of £12 a-month; and, at +the same time, they furnish Colonel Rawlinson with the sum of £2000 +to proceed with excavations at Koyunjik, (three hundred miles from +his residence,) and at Susa, which is one-third of the distance. +In the approaching session of Parliament, we hope that Mr Layard's +services to England and to art will be more generously appreciated +than they have hitherto been; and that, at all events, we shall +not be left to labour under the disgrace of pecuniary debt to that +enterprising gentleman. + +We have now reached our traveller's goal, and must make brief +work of his returning tour, in order to spare some columns to the +consideration of the Ansayrii, the most important matter in the work. + +After a residence of some weeks at Mosul, and at the several +neighbouring excavations, Mr Walpole accompanied Mr Layard in a tour +through the fastnesses of Koordistan: and here we must find space +for one or two glimpses at those unknown regions, and the life that +awaits the traveller there. + +Before we begin to ascend the hill country, we look back: + + "On either side, the mountain falls away with jut and crag + almost perpendicularly to the plain; at the foot, hills rise + above hills in irregular and petulant ranges, like a stormy sea + when the wind is gone, and nothing save its memory remains, + lashing the waves with restless motion. Westward lies the vast + plain, its surface broken by the mounds of imperial cities long + passed away. + + "One moment the eye rests on the Tigris as it glides its vast + volume by; then, out upon the plain, the desert broken by the + range of Singar, again on to distance where earth and air mingle + imperceptibly together. To the south, over a varied land, is + Mosul, the white glare of its mosque glistening in the sun; to + the south and east, a sea of hills, wave after wave, low and + irregular. The Zab, forcing its way, takes a tortuous course + to its companion; farther on, they join their waters, and run + together to the vast worlds of the south. Beyond are Arbela and + the Obeid. Kara Chout and its crags shut out the view, passing + many a spot graven on the pages of the younger world. + + "What a blank in history is there around those vast cities, now + brought to light! A few vague traditions, a few names whose + fabulous actions throw discredit on their existence, are all + that research has discovered. Even the nations following after + these we know but dimly--tradition, garlanded by poetry, our + only guide. + + 'Belshazzar's grave is made, + His kingdom passed away; + He in the balance weighed, + Is light and worthless clay. + The shroud his robe of state; + His canopy the stone; + The Mede is at his gate, + The Persian on his throne.' + + "Fancy conjures up to the south a small and compact body of + Greeks: around them, at a distance, like vultures round a + struggling carcase, hover bands of cavalry. Now, as a gap opens, + they rush on; now, as the ranks close up, they melt away, + shooting arrows as they fly, vengeful in their cowardice--it + is the retreat of Xenophon and his gallant band. They encamp + at Nimroud--as in his yesterday, so in our to-day, a mound + smothering its own renown. + + "Northward again comes a mighty band: with careful haste they + cross the rivers, and with confident step traverse the plain + south. On the south-east plain, a legion of nations, golden, + glittering, yet timorous, await their approach. Alexander, the + hero, scatters dismay: assured of conquest ere he met the foe, + he esteems the pursuit the only difficulty. On the one side, + Asia musters her nations--Indians, Syrians, Albanians, and + Bactrians--the hardiest population of her empire. Elephants and + war-chariots are of no avail: the result was fore-written, and + Darius foremost flies along the plain. + + "Faint, afar, we can see in the north-west Lucullus; and the + arms of Rome float over the walls of Nisibis, (B.C. 68.) We may + almost see the glorious array of Julian; hear him subduing his + mortal pain; hear him pronounce, with well-modulated tones, one + of the finest orations the world can record. We may see the + timid Jovian skulking in his purple from the field he dared not + defend in his armour. But again rise up the legions and the + Labarum: Heraclius throws aside his lethargy; the earth drinks + deep of gore, and Khosroo[15] is vanquished under our eyes. + + [15] He was subsequently murdered, A. D. 62. + + "The white and the black banners now gleam upon the field; the + crescent flaunts on either side. One God, one faith--they fight + for nought. Hell for the coward, paradise for the brave. Abou + Moslem and Merwan. The earth, on the spot which had last drunk + the red life-blood of Greek and Persian, now slakes its fill. + Merwan flies with wondrous steps, but the avenger follows fast. + He first loses his army on the Tigris; himself dies on the banks + of the Nile: there perished the rule of the Ommiades. + + "The hordes of Timour now approach: their war-song ought to be + the chorus of the spirits of destiny in _Manfred_-- + + 'Our hands contain the hearts of men, + Our footsteps are their graves; + We only give to take again + The spirits of our slaves.' + + "What a different aspect must this plain have presented when + those sun-burnt mysterious mounds were living, teeming, sinning + cities; irrigated, cultivated, protected, safe; fruitful and + productive! And these were barbarous times; and now, in this + our day, peace-congresses, civilisation, one vast federal + union, liberty, equality;--a few villages fortified as castles, + a population flying without a hope of even a death-spot in + peace--fearful alike of robbers and rulers, robbed alike by + protectors and enemies, planting the harvest they may not reap; + a government seizing what the roving Arabs choose to leave; + law known but as oppression; authority a license to plunder; + government a resident extortioner. + + "Too long have we lingered on the scene. Again the plain is + naked, bare, and lifeless; the sun hovers on the horizon--he + gilds the desert, licks the river; the desert breaks his + glorious disc. Slowly, like the light troops covering a retreat, + he collects his rays; with fondness lights up each hill; warms + with his smile, lighting with unnumbered tints each peak and + crag of hold desert-throned Singar. Reluctantly he hovers for a + moment on the horizon's verge, large, fearful, red; then + + 'The sun's rim dips, the stars rush out; + At one stride comes the dark.' + + "Near the convent is a dripping well; a rough path leads us to + it, and its entrance is shaded by a gigantic tree. The water + is very cold and sweet; the moisture shed a coolness around, + that made an exquisite retreat. Near it is a cave which in days + of persecution sheltered securely many of the poor fugitive + Christians. The destruction of most of the convents about these + mountains and on this plain is imputed to Tamerlane; but in our + own time Sheik Mattie was attacked by the Koords; its fathers + were slain, beaten, and dispersed; and the dust of long ages of + bishops scattered to the winds. They still show in the church + the tombs of Mar Halveus and Abou Faraf, which they say escaped + the observation of the destroyer. The inscription of one we + were able to decipher; but another resisted even the efforts of + the scholar then resident at the convent. We in vain tried many + learned men, but the inscription defies all investigation. + + 'Chaldea's seers are good, + But here they have no skill; + And the unknown letters stood, + Untold and mystic still.' + + "We now made straight for Sheik Mattie, whose green gorge we + could discover high up the face of the mountain. The plain was + a succession of low hills all brown with the summer; here and + there a Koord village with its cultivated fields, cucumbers, + and cool melons. The villages west of the river are nearly all + Christian, but on to-day's ride we passed two Koordish ones. At + one we halted, and regaled ourselves and horses on the fruit + they pressed on us. + + "The old sheik came out, followed by two men with felts; these + were spread in the cool, and we made kief. He begged the loan + of Zea, (my Albanian greyhound,) whom he praised beyond measure + for his extreme beauty, to kill hares. To hear him talk, his + complaints of game, of fields, hares destroyed, &c., I could + have believed myself once more in England, but that he closed + each sentence with "It is God's will; His will be done," and + such like holy words. His long, wide, graceful robes also + brought one back to the East, to poetry and to romance." + +And here we find less happy accidents in a traveller's life, which +must not pass unremembered. + + "At first, one of the greatest privations I experienced in + Eastern travel, and one that half did away with the pleasure + derived from it, was the want of privacy; and one can fully + understand (as probably centuries have produced but little + change in their habits) the expression in the Bible, of our + Saviour retiring apart to pray; for, in the East, privacy is + a word unknown. Families live in one room; men, women, sons, + daughters, sons' wives, &c., and may be said never to be alone. + This at first annoyed me, but habit is second nature. As soon + as the traveller arrives he has visits; all the world crowd to + see him; the thousand nameless things one likes to do after a + tedious hot journey must be done in public. Before you are up + they are there; meals, all, there they are; and there is nothing + for it but to proceed just as if the privacy was complete.... + + "FRIDAY, 12th--I rose as well as usual: on one side of the tent + lay the Doctor, dead beat; under one flap which constitutes + a separate room, Abdallah perfectly insensible: the cook lay + behind on a heap of horse-cloths, equally stricken. I sat down + to write in the air: finding the flies annoyed me, I read, fell + asleep, and remember nothing save a great sensation of pain and + weariness for two days. It seemed as if a noise awoke me; it + was early morning, and Mr Layard stood before me. Poor fellow! + he had learned how to treat the fever by bitter, almost fatal, + personal experience; and now he dosed us and starved us, till + all but Abdallah were out of danger, at all events. + + "It is curious how soon people of warm climates,--or, in fact, + I may say,--all uneducated people, succumb to sickness. Hardy + fellows, apparently as strong as iron: when attacked they lie + down, wrap a coat or cloak around them, and resign themselves + to suffer. It would seem that the mind is alone able to rise + superior to disease: their minds, uncultivated, by disuse weak, + or in perfect alliance with the body, cease to exist when its + companion falls. In intellectual man the mind is the last + to succumb: long after the poor weak body has yielded, the + mind holds out like a well-garrisoned citadel: it refuses all + surrender, and, though the town is taken, fights bravely till + the last." + +And now one glimpse at Koordistan and the beautiful and mysterious +Lake Van, which lies hidden in its deepest recesses. + + "We now journeyed on through strange regions, where Frank had + never wandered. We saw the Koords as they are best seen, free + in their own magnificent mountains;--not "the ass," as the Turk + calls him, "of the plains." Mahomet Pasha, son of the little + standard-bearer, and Pasha of Mosul was requested to provide for + its defence by the consuls, and to attempt by better rule the + civilisation of the Arabs. He replied:-- + + 'Erkekler Densige + Allar genisig + Kurytar Donsig + Devekler Yoolarsig.' + + "'What can I do with people whose men have no religion, whose + women are without drawers, their horses without bits, and their + camels without halters?' + + "Thus we wandered over many miles, plains spreading between + their fat mountains, splendid in their grandeur; now amidst + pleasant valleys anon over giant passes-- + + ----'Dim retreat, + For fear and melancholy meet; + Where rocks were rudely heaped and rent, + As by a spirit turbulent; + Where sights were rough, and sounds were wild, + And everything unreconciled.' + + "My health after this gradually got worse: repeated attacks of + fever, brought on probably by my own carelessness, weakened me + so much that I could scarcely keep up with the party. Riding was + an agony, and, by the carelessness of my servant, my horses were + ruined. One evening an Abyssinian, one of my attendants, went so + far as to present a pistol at my head. My poor dear dog, too, + was lost, which perhaps afflicted me more than most ills which + could happen to myself. At last we passed over a ridge, and Lake + Van lay before us. We had, perhaps, been the first Europeans + who had performed the journey. The last and only other of which + we have any record was poor Professor Schultz, who was murdered + by order of Khan Mahmoud for the baggage he unfortunately + displayed. The Khan received him kindly, entertained him with + hospitality, and despatched him on his road with a guard who had + their instructions to murder him on the way. He was an accurate + and capable traveller, a native of Hesse, and travelling for the + French government. + + "The morning of the 3d of August saw us passing up a most + lovely valley, the Vale of Sweet Waters. We had encamped in + it the night before. Leaving its pretty verdure, we mounted a + long range of sun-burnt hills covered with sun-dried grass and + _immortelles_, whose immortality must have been sorely tried on + that sun-exposed place. Achieving a pass, we gained our view of + Van. The scene was worthy of Stanfield in his best mood. Before + us, on the north-east, brown, quaintly-shaped hills, variegated + with many tints, filled the view of the far horizon. From this + a plain led to the lake; around it were noble mountains, snow + and cloud clad--their beauty enhanced by the supervening water. + Saphan Dagh, with a wreath of mist and cap of spotless snow, + seen across the sea was imposing--I might say, perfect. + + "The plain on the eastern coast spread out broad and fair: + here verdant meadows, there masses of fruit-laden trees; while + between the mass wandered the mountain streams, hastening on + to their homes in the fair bosom of the lake. Van itself swept + round its castle, which stands on a curious rock that rises + abruptly from the plain; but the lake, indeed, was the queen + of the view--blue as the far depth of ocean, yet unlike the + ocean--so soft, so sweet, so calm was its surface. On its near + coast, bounded by silver sands, soft and brilliant; while its + far west formed the foot of Nimrod Dagh, on whose lofty crest + are said to be a lake and a castle.... + + "The waters of the lake have lately been analysed, so the + curious substance found floating on its surface, and used as + soap, will be accounted for: it is sold in the bazaars. At + present there are but three small boats or launches on the lake, + and even these can hardly find trade enough to remunerate them. + Their principal occupation is carrying passengers to the towns + on the coast." + +Mr Layard remained at Lake Van in order to copy some inscriptions; +but Mr Walpole was induced to penetrate northward as far as +Patnos, where no European had yet been seen. Here his enterprise +was rewarded by the view of some magnificent scenery, and the +more important discovery of some cuneiform, and many ancient +Armenian inscriptions. These were forwarded by our traveller to +Mr Layard, and will doubtless appear in his forthcoming work.[16] +But we must now leave Koordistan, recommending the perusal of +Mr Walpole's chapter on the Christians of Lake Van, and their +beautiful and mysterious inland sea, to all who love to picture to +themselves strange lands and wild adventure. We return by way of +Erzeroum, Trebizond, the shores of the Black Sea, and Sansoun, to +Constantinople; thence to Latakia; and here we find ourselves within +view of the mountains of the mysterious Ansayrii and Ismaylis. + + [16] We must here notice the generosity with which Mr Walpole + forbears to enlarge upon any subject in which he might anticipate + the works of other travellers. For this reason he passes lightly + over this interesting tour in the mountains of Koordistan, and + only (to our regret) alludes _en passant_ to a tribe of _pastoral_ + Jews, whom he and Mr Layard met on these mountains, following the + spring (as the snows receding left fresh herbage for their flocks) + up the mountains. When we consider how rarely pastoral Jews are met + with, and that this was the very land wherein the lost ten tribes + disappeared, and, moreover, that the elders of these people spoke + the Chaldean tongue, we are much disappointed to hear no more of + them. + +In the title of this work is revived a subject of very ancient +interest. The Ansayrii, or Nassairi, or Assassins, are a singularly +surviving relic of the followers of the Old Man of the Mountain, +so celebrated in the history of the Crusades.[17] Historians have +fallen into a great mistake in supposing this Order to have been +a hereditary dynasty, or to have embraced a nation. Originally +it was simply an Order, like that of the Templars. Like them +the members wore white garments set off with crimson, typifying +innocence and blood. The policy of both was to obtain possession +of strong places, and by terror to keep the surrounding nations in +subjection. The Assassins succeeded in this object so far as to +dictate their will to several Sultans, many Viziers, and innumerable +minor authorities. When the Sultan of the Seljuks sent an ambassador +to the Old Man of the Mountain, demanding his submission, the +following well-known circumstance took place:--"The chief said to +one of his followers, 'Stab thyself!' To another he said, 'Throw +thyself from the battlements!' Before he had ceased to speak his +disciples had obeyed him, and lay dead, not only willing but eager +martyrs to their faith. The chief then turning to the envoy, said, +'Take what thou hast seen for thine answer. I am obeyed by seventy +thousand such men as these.'" The founder of this terrible sect +was Hassan Ben Sahab. He was a "Dai," or master-missionary, from +the Secret Lodge established at Cairo, (about 1004 A.D.), in order +to sap and overthrow the Caliphat of Abbas, and establish that +of the Fatimites. Hassan gave promise of greatness in his youth, +became a favourite of the Melekshah, was banished from court by +the intrigues of a rival, and took refuge at Ispahan. Here he +became initiated in the voluptuous and atheistical doctrines of +the Ismailis, and was sent to Egypt, to the Caliph Mostansur, as a +preacher and promulgator of that atrocious creed. He was banished +from the Egyptian court also, and cast ashore in Syria. After a +variety of adventures in the course of his travels from Aleppo +through Persia, he at length obtained possession of the fortress of +Alam=ut,[18] near Khaswin. Here he remained for the remainder of +his life, never leaving the castle, and only twice moving from his +own apartment to the terrace during a period of thirty-eight years. +Here he perfected, in mystery and deep seclusion, his diabolical +doctrines, and soon sent "Dais," or missionaries, of his own into +all lands. The secret society of which he was the head contained +several grades, embracing the initiated, the aspirant, and the +devoted--mere executioners or tools of higher intelligences.[19] +The grand-master was called Sidna (Sidney) "our lord;" and more +commonly Sheik el Djebel, the Sheik or Old Man of the Mountain, +because the Order always possessed themselves of the castles in +mountainous regions in Irak, Kuhistan, and Syria. The Old Man, +robed in white, resided always in the mountain fort of Alam=ut. +There he maintained himself against all the power of the Sultan, +until at length the daggers of his Fedavie, or devoted followers, +freed him from his most active enemies, and appalled the others +into quiescence. Alam=ut was now called "the abode of Fortune," +and all the neighbouring strongholds submitted to the Ancient +of the Mountain. The Assassins were proscribed in all civilised +communities, and the dagger and the sword found constant work on +their own professors. The Assassins, however, like the Indian Thugs, +depraved all societies, in all sorts of disguises. At one time the +courtiers of a Caliph being solemnly invoked, with a promise of +pardon and impunity, five chamberlains stepped forward, and each +showed the dagger, which only waited an order from the Old Man to +plunge into the heart of any human being it could reach. By such +agency Hassan kept entire empires in a state of revolution and +carnage. From his remote fortress he made his influence felt and +feared to the extreme confines of Khorassan and Syria. And thence, +too, he propagated the still more infernal engines of his authority, +his catechisms of atheism and licentiousness--"Nothing is true; all +things are permitted to the initiated." Such was the foundation of +his creed. + + [17] The mystery relating to this community is so great that the + laborious Müller, in his twenty-four books, has not attempted to + penetrate it. And Gibbon, notwithstanding his acknowledged pleasure + in painting scenes of blood, has treated the Order of Assassins + very superficially. Marco Polo is, as usual, the most entertaining + of authorities, as far as he goes; but it remained for Joseph Von + Hammer to explore the faint vestiges of their strange story with + vast and patient research. He has thrown together the results of his + labours in a small volume, of great interest. + + [18] The Vulture's Nest. + + [19] Dais, Refik, and Fedavie. + +This villain died tranquilly in his bed, having survived to the +age of ninety. His spiritual and temporal power was continued with +various vicissitudes through a long succession of impostors, the +dagger still maintaining its mysterious and inevitable agency. +The list of the best, and some of the most powerful, of Oriental +potentates who perished by it, swells, as the history of the +Order proceeds, to an incredible extent. During all this time +the fundamental maxim of the creed, which separates the secret +doctrines of the initiated from the public tenets of the people, was +preserved. These last were (and now are, according to Mr Walpole) +held to the strictest injunctions of Mahometanism. The East did not +detect the motive power of the Assassins' chief: they only saw the +poniard strike those who had offended the envoy of the invisible +Imam, who was soon to arrive in power and glory, and to assert his +dominion over earth. In the Crusades, the hand of the Assassins is +traced in the fate of Raymond of Tripoli--perhaps in that of the +Marquis of Montferrat--and in many meaner instances. At that period +the numbers of people openly professing the creed is stated by +William of Tyre at sixty thousand; and by James, Bishop of Alla, at +forty thousand. At this day Mr Walpole estimates the number of the +Ansayrii at forty thousand fighting men, including Ismaylis. These +numbers are to be understood, however, in former times, as well +as in the present, to comprise the whole sect, and not merely the +executioners, who always formed a very small proportion, and are now +probably extinct. The Old Man is no longer recognised, so far as can +be ascertained, among the mountains, (where, as usual in other parts +of Syria, the patriarchal form prevails;) and the strange creed +that their ancestors held, together with a singular recklessness of +life, alone remains to mark their descent. Concerning this creed +we are referred by Mr Walpole to some discoveries which he intends +to publish in a future volume. We must confess to considerable +disappointment in the meagre information that is here afforded to us +on the subject, especially after our expectations have been raised +by such a preface as the following:-- + + "Alone, without means, without powers to buy or bribe, I have + penetrated a secret, the enigma of ages--have dared alone to + venture where none have been--where the government, with five + hundred soldiers, could not follow; and, better than all, I have + gained esteem among the race condemned as savages, and feared as + robbers and ASSASSINS." + +Nevertheless, our author has told us a good deal that is new and +interesting about the Ansayrii, as will be seen from our extracts. + +The Ismaylis, concerning whose woman-worship and peculiar habits +such strange stories have been whispered, live among the southern +mountains of the Ansayrii. They amount only to five thousand souls, +and appear to be a different tribe, (probably Arab,) grafted upon +them, and gradually, by superior vigour, possessing themselves of +the strongest places in the mountains. These people hold a creed +quite distinct from the Ansayrii, among whom they dwell; and the +extraordinary prayer, or address used by them seems fully to bear +out the long-questioned assertion of their aphrodisial worship. + +Marco Polo[20] was the first to furnish some curious accounts of +the Ansayrii, and of the discipline and catechism of the Fedavie: +we hope that Mr Walpole, in his promised volume, will add to the +many vindications which that brave old traveller has received +from time to time. But at the sack of Alam=ut, in 1257, all +the Assassins' books (except the Koran) were burned as impious; +and all that now remains of their doctrines must be traditional. +We have dwelt thus long on the Ansayrii in order to display the +interest that belongs to that secluded and mysterious people, and +the importance of any novel intelligence respecting them. Before +we proceed to illustrate their country from Mr Walpole's volumes, +we must find space for some account of the manner in which the +initiation of the Assassins is said to have been performed. The +two great strongholds of the Order were the castle of Alam=ut +in Irak, and that of Massiat near Latakia in the Lebanon. These +fortresses, stern and impregnable in themselves, are said to have +been surrounded with exquisite gardens, enclosed from all vulgar +gaze by walls of immense height. These gardens were filled with the +most delicate flowers and delicious fruits. Streams flowed, and +fountains sparkled brightly, through the grateful gloom of luxuriant +foliage. Bowers of roses, and porcelain-paved kiosks, and carpets +from the richest looms of Persia, invited to repose the senses heavy +with luxury. Circassian girls, bright as the houris of Paradise, +served the happy guests with golden goblets of Schiraz wine, and +glances yet more intoxicating. The music of harps, and women's +sweetest voices, sent fascination through the ear as well as eyes. +Everything breathed rapture and sensuality, intensified by seclusion +and deep calm. The youth, where energy and courage seemed to qualify +him for the office of _fedavie_, was invited to the table of the +grand-master, (at Irak,) or the grand-prior, (at Massiat.) He was +there intoxicated with the maddening, yet delightful _hashishe_. +In his insensible state he was transported to the garden, which, +he was told, was Paradise, and which he was too ready to take for +the scene of eternal delight, as he revelled in all the pleasure +that Eastern voluptuousness could devise. He was there lulled into +sleep once more, and then transported back to the grand-master's +side. As he awoke, numbers of uninitiated youths were admitted to +hear his account of the Paradise which the power of the Old Man had +permitted him to taste. And thus tools were found and formed for +the execution of the wildest projects. That glimpse of Paradise for +ever haunted the inflamed imagination of the novices, and any death +appeared welcome that could restore them to such joys. + + [20] _De Regionibus Orient._, lib. i. c. 28. + +Such is the theory of this singular people, as maintained by Von +Hammer, which it remains for future discoveries--now that Mr Walpole +has opened the way for them--to vindicate or refute. There are also +some remnants of the Persian tribes of this people, an account of +which, by Mr Badger, we are informed, is soon to appear: the Syrians +scarcely know of their existence. The Syrian Ansayrii amount, as +we have said, including Ismaylis, to about forty thousand souls: +they have always preserved their seclusion inviolate; setting at +nought the various tyrannies that have harassed the neighbouring +states, denying the authority of the Sultan, and blaspheming the +Prophet, while they outwardly conform to his rites. They occupy the +northernmost range of the Lebanon, from Tortosa and Latakia, as far +as Adana. + +Notwithstanding Von Hammer's elaborate and ingenious theory, many +(amongst whom is our author) have seemed disposed to treat the whole +story of the Assassins, and the Old Man of the Mountain himself, +as myths. It was, they say, the sort of romance that the Crusaders +would have lent a ready ear to, and that their troubadours would +have made the most of. They deny the existence of the powerful hill +fortresses surrounded by the intoxicating gardens; they point to the +renowned Syrian castle of El Massiat, whose ruins occupy a space of +only one hundred yards square, and in whose vaulted stables there is +an inscription purporting that the castle was "the work of Roostan +the Mameluke." + +Mr Walpole, however, does not enter into any controversy respecting +this strange people. Of the little that he has confided in his +present two volumes to the public, the following extracts must be +taken as an instalment:-- + + "The Ansayrii nation--for such it is--being capable of mustering + forty thousand warriors able to bear arms, is divided into two + classes--sheiks and people; the sheiks again into two--Sheiks or + Chiefs of Religion, Sheik el Maalem, and the temporal Sheiks, + or Sheiks of Government; these being generally called Sheik el + Zullom, or Sheiks of Oppression. These latter, though some of + them are of good families, are not so generally: having gained + favour with government, they have received the appointment. + Others there are, however, whose families have held it for many + generations--such as Shemseen Sultan, Sheik Succor, &c. The + sheiks of religion are held as almost infallible, and the people + pay them the greatest respect. With regard to the succession, + there seems to be no fixed rule: the elder brother has, however, + rule over the rest; but then I have seen the son the head of the + family while the father was living. + + "The sheik of religion enjoys great privileges: as a boy he is + taught to read and write; he is marked from his fellows from + very earliest childhood, by a white handkerchief round his + head. Early as his sense will admit, he is initiated into the + principles of his faith: in this he is schooled and perfected. + Early he is taught that death, martyrdom, is a glorious reward; + and that, sooner than divulge one word of his creed, he is to + suffer the case in which his soul is enshrined to be mangled + or tortured in any way. Frequent instances have been known + where they have defied the Turks, who have threatened them with + death if they would not divulge, saying, 'Try me; cut my heart + out, and see if anything is within there.' During his manhood + he is strictly to conform to his faith: this forbids him not + only eating certain things at any time, but eating at all with + any but chiefs of religion; or eating anything purchased with + unclean money;--and the higher sheiks carry this to such an + extent that they will only eat of the produce of their own + grounds; they will not even touch water, except such as they + deem pure and clean. Then the sheik must exercise the most + unbounded hospitality; and, after death, the people will build + him a tomb, (a square place, with a dome on the top,) and he + will be revered as a saint. + + "The lower classes are initiated into the principles of their + religion, but not into its more mystical or higher parts: they + are taught to obey their chiefs without question, without + hesitation, and to give to them abundantly at feasts and + religious ceremonies: above all, even the uninitiated is to die + a thousand deaths sooner than betray his faith. + + "In their houses, which, as I have before said, are poor, + dirty, and wretched, they place two small windows over the door. + This is in order that, if a birth and death occur at the same + moment, the coming and the parting spirit may not meet. In rooms + dedicated to hospitality several square holes are left, so that + each spirit may come or depart without meeting another. + + "Like the Mahometans, they practise the rite of circumcision, + performing it at various ages, according to the precocity of + the child. The ceremony is celebrated, as among the Turks, with + feasting and music. This, they say, is not a necessary rite, + but a custom derived from ancient times, and they should be + Christians if they did not do it. This is the same among the + Mahometans, who are not enjoined by their prophet to do so, but + received the rite from of old.[21] + + [21] We do not yet know if any ceremony exists at the naming of + the child. + + "When a candidate is pronounced ready for initiation, his + tarboosh is removed, and a white cloth wrapped round his + head. He is then conducted into the presence of the sheiks of + religion. The chief proceeds to deliver a lecture, cautioning + him against ever divulging their great and solemn secret. 'If + you are under the sword, the rope, or the torture, die, and + smile--you are blessed.' He then kisses the earth three times + before the chief, who continues telling him the articles of + their faith. On rising, he teaches him a sign, and delivers + three words to him. This completes the first lesson. + + "At death, the body is washed with warm soap and water, wrapped + in white cloths, and laid in the tomb. Each person takes a + handful of earth, which is placed on the body; then upright + stones, one at the feet, one at the head, one in the middle, + are placed. The one in the middle is necessary. They have the + blood-feud--the Huck el Dum. In war, blood is not reckoned; but + if one man kills another of a different tribe, all the tribe of + the slayer pay an equal sum to the tribe of the slain--generally + one thousand six hundred piastres, (L.15.) + + "In marriage, a certain price is agreed on. One portion goes to + the father, another to supply dress and things necessary for + the maiden. This will vary much, according to the wealth of the + bridegroom and the beauty or rank of the bride. It is generally + from two hundred to seven hundred or a thousand piastres (L.1, + 15s. 6d. to L.9, 10s.) Sometimes a mare, a cow, or a donkey, + merely, is given for her. The bridegroom has then to solicit the + consent of the _hirce_, or owner of the bride's village, who + will generally extort five hundred piastres, or more, before he + will give a permission of marriage. + + "The price being settled, and security given for its payment, + the friends of the bridegroom mount on the top of the house + armed with sticks. The girl's friends pass her in hastily to + avoid their blows. The bridegroom enters, and beats her with a + stick or back of a sword, so that she cries: these cries must be + heard without. All then retire, and the marriage is concluded. + + "They are allowed four wives. The marriage ceremony is simple, + and divorce not permitted. If one of these four wives die, they + are permitted to take another. Generally, they have little + affection for their wives--treating them rather as useful + cattle than as rational creatures. They never teach women the + smallest portion of their faith. They are jealously excluded + from all religious ceremonies; and, in fact, are utterly denied + creed, prayers, or soul. Many here have told me that the women + themselves believe in this; and do not, as one would fancy, + murmur at such an exclusive belief. + + "The Ansayrii are honest in their dealings, and none can accuse + them of repudiation or denying a sum they owe.... They regard + Mahomet el Hamyd as the prophet of God, and thus use the + Mussulman confession--'La illa ill Allah, Mahomet el Hamyd, + Resoul e nebbi Allah;' but they omit all this when before + Mahometans, saying merely, 'There is no God but God, and Mahomet + is the prophet of God.' Otherwise, they say, 'There is no God + but Ali, and Mahomet el Hamyd, the Beloved, is the prophet of + God.' + + "I do not intend here to enter into their belief more fully; + but it is a most confused medley--a unity, a trinity, a deity. + 'These are five; these five are three; these three are two; + these two, these three, these five--one.' + + "They believe in the transmigration of souls. Those who in this + life do well, are hospitable, and follow their faith, become + stars; the souls of others return to the earth, and become + Ansayrii again, until, purified, they fly to rest. The souls of + bad men become Jews, Christians, and Turks; while the souls of + those who believe not, become pigs and other beasts. One eve, + sitting with a dear old man, a high sheik--his boys were round + him--I said, 'Speak: where are the sons of your youth? these + are the children of your old age.'--'My son,' he said, looking + up, 'is there: nightly he smiles on me, and invites me to come.' + + "They pray five times a day, saying several prayers each time, + turning this way or that, having no keblah. If a Christian or + Turk sees them at their devotions, the prayers are of no avail. + At their feasts, they pray in a room closed and guarded from the + sight or ingress of the uninitiated. + + "This will give a general outline of the faith and customs + of the Ansayrii. My intercourse with them was on the most + friendly footing, and daily a little was added to my stock + of information. Let me, however, warn the traveller against + entering into argument with them, or avowing, through the + dragoman, any knowledge of their creed. They are as ready and + prompt to avenge as they are generous and hospitable to protect. + To destroy one who deceives them on this point is an imperative + duty; and I firmly believe they would do it though you took + shelter on the divan of the Sultan. For myself, the risk is + passed: I have gone through the ordeal, and owe my life several + times to perfect accident." + +To this long extract we shall only add, that a good deal of +additional light is indirectly thrown upon this singular people +throughout the whole of the third volume of Mr Walpole's work. It is +the best written, as well as the most important, of the series; it +abounds in humour, anecdote, originality, and in no small degree of +curious research. + +And now, it only remains for us to bid our entertaining +fellow-traveller heartily farewell. Although, especially in the +first volume, we have felt disposed to quarrel with his style +occasionally, we have found his good-humour, his thoughtful +sentiment, and his reckless wit, at last irresistible. His +very imperfections often prove his fidelity, and his apparent +contradictions his innate truthfulness. We commend to him a little +more study of the art of composition, and a good deal more care; +but we shall consider ourselves fortunate when we meet with another +author of as many faults, if they are atoned for by as many merits. + + + + +THE CHAMPIONS OF THE RAIL. + +_A History of the English Railway: its Social Relations and +Revelations._ By JOHN FRANCIS. 2 vols. London. + + +A good many years ago, a late correspondent and writer in this +Magazine, Dr M'Nish of Glasgow, published a work entitled _The +Anatomy of Drunkenness_. The book was an excellent one: most perfect +in its portraiture of the different phenomena which accompany and +succeed a debauch; and in the hands of a regular tee-totaller, it +was undeniably worth some reams of vapid sermons. The preacher, +who never, we are bound to believe, had experienced the vinous or +spirituous excitement in his own person, was enabled from it to hold +forth, with all the unction of reality, to his terrified audience, +upon the awful effects of intemperance. Old ladies, who rarely in +their lives had transgressed beyond a second glass of weak negus +at some belated party, when whist or commerce had been suggested +to while away the weary hours, listened to the warnings of the +gifted apostle of temperance, and hied them home in the tremendous +conviction that they had only escaped, by the merest miracle, the +horrors of _delirium tremens_. Dyspeptic gentlemen were rendered +wretched, as they reflected that, for years past, they had been +accustomed to wash down their evening Finnan haddock, or moderate +board of oysters, with a pint of Younger's prime ale, or, mayhap, a +screeching tumbler. The enormity of their offence became visible to +their eyes, and they incontinently conceived amendment. + +But we doubt very much whether the _Anatomy_ would have been +pleasant reading to a gentleman who overnight had imbibed "not +wisely but too well." How could he bear to be told, not only of the +sensations of the previous evening, minutely traced through the +gradations of each consecutive decanter, but of the state of thirst +and unnatural discomfort to which he was presently a victim? Would +it relieve his headach to assure him that, after swallowing three +bottles of claret, most men are apt to be out of sorts? Could he, +the sufferer, derive any assuagement of his pains by knowing--if he +did not know it already--that unlimited brandy and water, however +agreeable during consumption, was clearly prejudicial to the nerves? +Sermons may come too soon. The sufferer ought to be allowed at least +a day or two to recover, before his offence is laid before him in +all its huge deformity. Give him time to be ashamed of himself. +A man's own conscience is his best accuser; and, unless the vice +be absolutely inherent, or totally beyond the hope of remedy, his +own misery will be more likely to effect a cure than any amount of +philosophical dissertations upon its nature. + +These thoughts have been irresistibly suggested to us by a perusal +of the two ponderous tomes of Mr Francis, entitled, _A History of +the English Railway: its Social Relations and Revelations_. A more +unfortunate kind of apocalypse could hardly have been hazarded at +the present time. Most people are tolerably well aware, without +the aid of Mr Francis, of the changes in social relations which +have been worked by the British railway; and as for revelations, a +good many would give a trifle to have these entirely suppressed. +We have not yet arrived at the time when the history of the "'45" +of this century can be calmly or dispassionately written. Too many +of us, still remanent here, have burned our fingers, and too many +of our kith and kin have been sent to exile, in consequence of +that notable enterprise. Since the standard was last unfurled in +the vale of Glenmutchkin, a considerable number of the population +have been bitten by the sod, if they did not literally bite it. +That system of turning over turfs, by the aid of silver spades and +mahogany wheelbarrows, was more fatal to the peace of families than +the accumulation of any number of Celtic bagpipers whatever. It +was a grand interment of capital. Who has forgotten the misery of +those times, when letters of railway calls arrived punctually once +a quarter? Two pound ten per share might be a moderate instalment; +but if you were the unfortunate holder of a hundred shares, you had +better have been boarded with a vampire. Repudiation, though a clear +Christian duty to yourself and your family, was utterly impossible. +It mattered not that the majority of the original committeemen and +directors had bolted; you, the subscriber, were tied to the stake. +The work was begun, the contracts opened, and money must be had +at all hazards and sacrifices. You found yourself in the pitiable +situation of an involuntary philanthropist. Threescore hulking +Irish navvies were daily fed, liquored, and lodged at your expense. +Your dwindling resources were torn from you, to make the fortunes +of engineers and contractors. So long as you had a penny, or a +convertible equivalent, you were forced to surrender it. Your case +was precisely similar to that of the Jew incarcerated in the vaults +beneath the royal treasury of King John. One by one all your teeth +were drawn. If you managed to survive the extraction of the last +grinder, and to behold the opening of the line, your position was +not one whit improved. Dividend of course there was none. That awful +and mysterious item of charge, "working expenses," engulfed nearly +the whole revenue. What was over went to pay interest on preference +debentures. That gallant body of men, the directors, laid before +you, with the utmost candour, a state of the affairs of the company; +from which it appeared that they had exceeded their borrowing +powers by perhaps a brace of millions, and had raised the money by +interposing their own individual security. These obligations you +were, of course, expected to redeem; and an appeal was made to your +finer feelings, urging you to consent to a further issue of stock! + +It is no great consolation to the men who have suffered more woes +from the railways, than fell to the lot of the much-enduring Ulysses +from the relentless anger of the deities, to know that they have +rendered perfect a vast chain of internal communication throughout +the country. We doubt whether the Israelites, who built them, took +any especial pride in surveying the pile of the pyramids. The +gentleman in embarrassed circumstances, who is pondering over the +memory of his perished capital, is not likely to feel his heart +expand with enthusiasm at the thought that through his agency, and +that of his fellows, thousands of bagmen are daily being whirled +along the rails with the velocity of lightning. He may even be +pardoned if, in the sadness and despondency of his soul, he should +seriously ask himself what, after all, is the use of this confounded +hurry? Is a man's life prolonged because he can get along at the +rate of forty or fifty miles an hour? Is existence to be measured +by locomotion? In that case Chifney, who passed the best part of +his life in the saddle, ought to have been considered as a rival +to Methuselah, and a stoker on the Great Western lives in one week +far longer than the venerable Parr! Is enjoyment multiplied? That, +too, will admit of a serious doubt. In a railway carriage you have +no fair view of the fresh aspect of nature: you dash through the +landscape--supposing that there is one--before its leading features +are impressed upon your mind. There is no time for details, or even +for reflection. You must accommodate your thought to your pace, +otherwise you are left behind, and see nothing whatever for at least +a couple of stations. But for the most part your way lies between +embankments and cuttings, representing either sections of whinstone, +or bare banks of turf, dotted over with brown patches, where the +engine has effected arson. Even furze will not willingly flourish +in such an uncomfortable locality. Then you roar through tunnels, +the passage of which makes your flesh creep--for you cannot divest +yourself of a horrid idea that you may possibly be encountered in +the centre of the darkness by an opposing engine, and be pounded +into paste by the shock of that terrific tilt; or that a keystone of +the arch may give way, and the whole train be buried in the centre +of the excavated mountain. Sensual gratification there is none. +If you do not condescend to the iniquity of carrying sandwiches +along with you--in which case your habiliments are certain to be +grievously defiled with buttered crumbs--you are driven by the +pangs of sheer hunger into the refreshment-room at some station, +and find yourself at the bar of an inferior gin-palace. Very bad +is the pork-pie, for which you are charged an exorbitant ransom. +Call ye this sherry, my masters? If it be so, commend us for the +future to Bucellas. The oranges look well outside, but the moment +you have penetrated the rind, you find that they have been boiled +and are fozy. Do not indulge in the vain hope that you may venture +on a glass of anything hot. Hot enough you will find it with a +vengeance; for, the instant that you receive the rummer, the bell +is sure to ring, and you must either scald your throat by gulping +down two mouthfuls of mahogany-water raised to a temperature which +would melt solder, or consign the prepaid potion to the leisure +of the attendant Hebe. Smoking is strictly prohibited. Even if +you are alone in a carriage, you cannot indulge in that luxury +without rendering yourself liable to a fine; and, if your appetite +should overcome your prudence, and you should venture to set the +law at defiance, before you have inhaled two whiffs, a railway +guard appears as if by magic at the window--for those fellows have +the scent of the vulture, and can race along the foot-boards as +nimbly as a cat along a gutter--and you are ordered to abandon your +Havanna. Under such circumstances, literature is a poor resource. +You read the _Times_ twice over, advertisements and all, and then +sink into a feverish slumber, from which you are awakened by a +demand from a ruffian in blue livery, with a glazed leather belt +across his shoulder, for the exhibition of your ticket. Talk of +the inconvenience of passports abroad! The Continental system is +paradisaical compared with ours. At length, after fingering your +watch with an insane desire to accelerate its movement, you run into +the ribs of something, which resembles the skeleton of a whale--the +train stops--and you know that your journey is at an end. You select +your luggage, after having undergone the scrutiny of a member of the +police force, who evidently thinks that he has seen you before under +circumstances of considerable peculiarity, ensconce yourself in a +cab, and drive off, being favoured at the gate of the station by a +shower of diminutive pamphlets, purporting to be poetical tributes +to the merits of Messrs Moses and Hyams. You have done the distance +in twelve hours, but pleasure you have had none. + +Mr Francis, who is gifted with no more imagination than an ordinary +tortoise, though he asserts the superiority of the hare, begins his +book with an exceedingly stupid dissertation upon the difficulties +of ancient travel. Broken bridges, impassable quagmires, and +ferocious highwaymen constitute leading features in his picture; +and, as you read him, you marvel, between your fits of yawning, what +manner of men our ancestors must have been to brave so many dangers. +Sheer drivel all of it! The old roads were uncommonly good, and the +bridges kept in splendid repair from the time they were built by +the Romans. Who ever heard of a quagmire on a turnpike? As for a +casual encounter with Turpin, Duval, or any other of the minions of +the moon, we are decidedly of opinion that such incidents must have +added much to the excitement of the journey. A stout fellow, well +mounted, usually carried about him both pops and a cutlass, and, if +he was cool and collected, might very easily square accounts with +the most ardent clerk of St Nicholas. Does Mr Francis really suppose +that the author of _Jack Sheppard_ likes railway travelling? Not +he. Dearer to his soul is a prancing prad upon Hounslow Heath than +all the engines that ever whistled along a line. Mount him upon +Black Bess, arm him with a brace of barkers, and in the twinkling +of an eye there would be daylight through the carcase of the Golden +Farmer. Is adventure nothing? Had the road no joys? Are we to +consider the whole universe worthless, except those black dots which +in the maps represent cities? Was nature made in vain, in order that +men might hasten from town to town, at the tail of a shrieking +engine, regardless of all the glorious scenery which intervenes? +To our taste, the old mode of travelling--nay, the oldest--was +infinitely superior to the present sickening system. You rose by +times in the morning; took a substantial breakfast of beef and +ale--none of your miserable slops--and mounted your horse between +your saddle-bags, in time to hear the lark carolling on his earliest +flight to heaven. Your way ran through dingle and thicket, along the +banks of rivers, skirting magnificent parks, rich in the possession +of primeval oaks, under which the deer lay tranquilly and still. +You entered a village, stopped at the door of the public-house, +and cooled your brow in the foam of the wholesome home-brewed. You +dined at mid-day, in some town where the execrable inventions of +Arkwright and Watt were unknown; where you encountered only honest, +healthy, rosy-cheeked Christians, who went regularly once a-week to +church, and identified the devil with the first dissenter--instead +of meeting gangs of hollow-eyed lean mechanics, talking radicalism, +and discussing the fundamental points of the Charter. You moved +through merry England as a man ought to do, who is both content +with his own lot and can enjoy the happiness of others. As you saw +the sun rising, so you saw him set. The clouds reddened in the +west--you heard the sweet carol of the thrush from the coppice, and +lingered to catch the melody. The shades of evening grew deeper. +The glow-worms lit their tiny lanterns on the bank, the owl flitted +past with noiseless wing, the village candles began to appear in the +distance; and as you dismounted at the door of your humble inn, and +surrendered your weary beast to the hands of the careful hostler, +you felt that you were the richer by a day spent in the fresh air +and gladsome sunshine, and made happy by all the sounds and sights +which are dear to the heart of man. + +But this was solitary travelling, and might not suit every one. +Well--if you were a little fellow, deficient in pluck, and sorely +afraid of robbers, you might have company for the asking. At every +large inn on the road there were at least a dozen travellers who, +for the sake of security, agreed to journey in company. Was that no +fun? Have you anything like it in your modern railways? Just compare +your own experiences of a rocket-flight along the Great Western with +Chaucer's delineation of his Canterbury pilgrimage, and you will +see what you have lost. Nice sort of tales you would elicit either +from that beetle-browed Bradford Free-Trader, evidently a dealer in +devil's-dust, who is your _vis-à-vis_ in the railway carriage; or +from that singular specimen of a nun who is ogling you deliberately +on the left! Can you associate the story of Palamon and Arcite--can +you connect anything which is noble, lofty, inspiriting, humane, or +gentle, with a journey made in an express train? If not, so much +the worse for the present times. Doubtless you may hear something +about Thompson or Bright, but we may be excused if we prefer the +mention of the earlier heroes. Also, you may pick up information +touching the price of calicoes, or the value of stocks, or the +amount of exports of cotton twist--and we wish you much good of all +that you get. But, O dear, is that travelling? Would you like to go +from London to Ispahan in such company? How long do you think you +could stand it? And yet this is the improved system of locomotion +for which we are told to be thankful, and in honour of which such +weariful volumes as those of Mr Francis are written. + +"But, mercy on us!" we hear Mr Francis or some of his backers +exclaim--"is it nothing that commercial gentlemen can now make four +trips a-day between Manchester and Liverpool, and do a stroke of +business on each occasion?" We reply, that it would be better for +the said commercial gentlemen, both here and hereafter, if they +would content themselves with a more moderate pursuit of Mammon. +Happiness in this life does not depend upon the amount of sales +effected. The assistant in the London grocer's shop, who daily +ties up a thousand packages of tea and sugar, is not greatly to be +envied beyond his brother in the country, who twists the twine +around fifty. We have an intense respect for work while kept within +wholesome limits; but we cannot regard the man whose sole pursuit +is grubbing after gold as otherwise than an ignominious slave. The +railways are in one sense excellent things. You can get from point +to point, if necessity requires it, much sooner than before, at less +cost, and perhaps with less inconvenience. But there the advantage +ends. There is no pleasure in them; and, compared with former +methods of locomotion, they are decidedly less healthy and less +instructive. We decry them not. We only wish to stop the babbling +of the blockheads who would have us to believe that, until the +steam-engine was invented, this earth was an unendurable waste, a +wilderness of barbarians, and an unfit residence for civilised and +enlightened man. Would the genius either of Shakspeare or Newton +have been greater had they known of the rails? Would the splendour +of the reign of Elizabeth have been heightened had Stephenson then +existed? + +The admiration of Mr Francis for the railway system is so intense +as to be purely ludicrous. He considers every man connected with +its development--whether as engineer, contractor, or director--as a +positive public hero; and this work of his seems intended as a kind +of Iliad, to chronicle their several achievements. Since we last +met, Mr Francis has been hard at work upon his style. Formerly he +went along, pleasantly enough, without any great effort: now he is +not satisfied unless he can eclipse Mr Macaulay. He has read the +_History of England_ to some purpose. Fascinated by the brilliancy +of the sketches which the accomplished historian has drawn of the +statesmen of the age of William of Orange, Mr Francis thinks he +will not do justice to his subject unless he adopts a similar mode +of handling. Unfortunately he has no statesmen to celebrate. But +he can do quite as well. There are surveyors and contractors by +the score, whose portraits in his eyes are just as interesting. +Accordingly, we have a repetition of the old scene in the play. A +voice without is heard calling, "Francis!" To which summons Francis +incontinently replieth, "Anon, anon, sir!" and then--"Enter Poins, +Peto, Gadshill, and the rest." No loftier apparition ever comes +upon the stage; but we are warned that, in surveying these, we look +upon individuals destined in all coming time to occupy a lofty +niche in British history. Thus, to quote at random from the index, +we have the following entries--"Richard Creed ... his services and +character." "Who may this Mr Richard Creed be?" says the unconscious +reader; "we never heard of him before!" "Fool!" quoth Francis, "he +was THE SECRETARY OF THE LONDON AND BIRMINGHAM LINE! 'On his honesty +and integrity,' said Mr Glyn on one occasion emphatically, 'I pin my +faith, and you may pin yours also!'" And he adds, referring to an +occasion which must have been exceedingly gratifying to the feelings +of the recipient--"The testimonial to this gentleman, in 1844, was +worthy the munificence of the givers. It is not often that a cheque +for two thousand one hundred guineas accompanies an expression of +opinion, or that the rich man's praise fructifies into a service of +plate." As we contemplate our unadorned sideboard, we acknowledge +the truth of this remark; still, we hesitate to exalt Mr Creed +to the rank of a hero. Then we light on "Undertakings of Thomas +Brassey.... Anecdote concerning him." Mr Brassey is a contractor, +eminent no doubt; but so, in his own age, must have been the Roman +gentleman who undertook the construction of the Cloaca Maxima, +though his name has unfortunately perished. Then appears "Henry +Booth.... His services." We trust they were properly acknowledged. +Then, "Personal sketches of Mr Locke and Mr Chaplin." We are greatly +edified by the _silhouettes_. "Personal sketch of Samuel Morton +Peto." We shall try, if possible, not to forget him. Much as Mr +Francis has done to perpetuate the memory of these great men, it +is plain that his powers have been cramped with the space of two +thick octavo volumes. In order to make his Iliad perfect, we ought +to have had a catalogue of the chiefs of the navvies. But we must +rest satisfied with the acute remark of Herder, that "the burden +of the song is infinite, but the powers of the human voice are +finite." Mr Francis has done what he can. Creed and Brassey--Brunel +and Locke--Chaplin, Peto, and Vignolles, live within his inspired +volumes; and we beg to congratulate them on account of that assured +immortalisation. They are the salt of the earth. The compilers +of traffic-tables have disappeared--the old standing witnesses +before committees of the House of Commons are dumb--the young +engineering gentlemen, who could do anything they pleased in the +way of levelling mountains, are amusing themselves in California or +elsewhere--even the mighty counsel, the holders of a hundred briefs, +for which, for the most part, they rendered but indifferent service, +are unsung. But the others live. In the British Valhalla they are +assured of an adequate niche, thanks to Mr Francis, who, as Captain +Dangerfield says, is ready to stake his reputation that they are the +only men worthy of record in such an enlightened age as our own. + +No--we are wrong. The man of all others to be deeply venerated is +"George Carr Glyn, Esq., Chairman of the London and North-Western +Railway," to whom these volumes are respectfully dedicated. Of Mr +Glyn's career as a statesman we know absolutely nothing. We are +not even aware to what section of politicians he belongs, so utter +is our ignorance of his fame. As we read the pages of Francis, and +encountered the continual eulogiums heaped upon this gentleman, we +felt remarkably uncomfortable. We could not divest ourselves of the +notion that we had been asleep for some quarter of a century, and +had therefore missed the opportunity of witnessing the appearance +of a new and most brilliant star in the political horizon. About +Mr Glyn, Francis has no manner of doubt. He is not only the most +sagacious, but the most clever personage extant, for every purpose +which can smooth railway difficulties. He is the Ulysses of his +line, and can rap Thersites on the sconce, if that cynical fiend +should insist upon an awkward question. We really and unaffectedly +ask pardon of Mr Glyn, if we mistake him through his eulogist. We +have no other means of knowing him; and therefore he must settle the +correctness of the following sketch with Mr Francis, who appears +as the voluntary artist. If the drawing is to the mind of Mr Glyn, +and if it meets his ideas of ethics, we have nothing in the world +to say against it, having no interest whatever in the line over +which he presides. Hear Francis: "The proper place to see Mr Glyn +is as chairman in that noble room, where, with an earnest multitude +around him, with the representative of every class and caste before +him--with Jew and Gentile ready to carp at and criticise his +statements--he yet moves them at his pleasure, and leads them at +his will. And perhaps the ascendency of one man over many is seldom +_more agreeably seen_ than when, standing before a huge expectant +audience, he enlivens the platitudes of one with some light +epigrammatic touch, answers another with a clear tabular statement, +_or replies to a third with some fallacy so like a fact_ that the +recipient sits contentedly down, about as wise as he was before." +This is, to say the least of it, an equivocal sort of panegyric. We +all know what is implied by the term "fallacies" in railway matters, +and some of us have suffered in consequence. According to our view, +this interchange of fallacies between directors and shareholders is +a custom by no means laudable, or to be held in especial repute. In +pure matters of business, the less frequently fallacies are resorted +to, the better. They are apt, in the long run, to find their way +into the balance-sheet--until, as we have seen in some notorious +instances, the assumed fact of a clear balance, to be applied by way +of dividend, turns out also to be a fallacy. In the case before us, +we are willing to believe that Mr Francis is altogether mistaken, +and that the statements of Mr Glyn, made in his official capacity, +which appeared to the blundering reporter to be fallacies, were in +reality stern truths. But what sort of estimate must we form of Mr +Francis' moral perception, when we find him selecting such a trait +as the subject of especial commendation? He has, however, like +most other great men, large sympathies. He does battle in behalf of +Mr Hudson with considerable energy; though, after all, taking his +conclusions as legitimate, his defence simply resolves itself into +this--that Mr Hudson's conduct was not more blamable than that of +others. So be it. We never joined in the wholesale censure directed +against the quondam railway monarch, because we knew that the whole +tone of the morals of society had been poisoned by the villanous +system engendered by railway speculation; and because we saw that +many of his accusers, if their own conduct had been sifted, might +have been arraigned equally with him at the bar of public opinion. +Therefore we have no desire to interfere with the operations of Mr +Francis, when he appears with his pot of whitewash. Nay, we wish +that the implement were more roomy than it is, and the contents +of less questionable purity--for assuredly he has a large surface +of wall to cover, if he sets himself seriously to the task of +obliterating the traces of past iniquity. + +The reader, however, must not suppose that Mr Francis sees nothing +to condemn, or that he has not at command thunderbolts of wrath to +launch at the heads of offenders. According to him, the most painful +feature of the railway system was the rapacity of the owners of the +soil in driving hard bargains for their land. As this is a charge +which has often been made by men more competent to form an opinion +upon any subject than the gentleman whose work we are now reviewing, +we shall condescend to notice it. Let us premise however, that, in +this matter, the howl is distinctly traceable to the harpies who +inveigled the public to join their nefarious schemes, and to advance +their capital on the assurance of enormous dividends. + +After referring to the negotiations made with landowners by the +promoters of the London and Birmingham line, Mr Francis comments as +follows:-- + + "These things are written with pain, for they display a low + tone of moral feeling in that class which, by virtue of + inheritance, of birth, and blood, should possess a high and + chivalrous sense of honour. The writer is far from wishing to + blame those who honestly opposed the rail. The conscientious + feeling which prompts a man, even in an unwise action, if + mistaken, is at least respectable. There is much to palliate the + honest opposition of the landowner. Scenes and spots which are + replete with associations of great men and great deeds cannot be + pecuniarily paid for. Sites which bear memories more selfish, + yet not less real, have no market value. Homes in which boyhood, + manhood, and age have been passed, carry recollections which + are almost hallowed. Such places cannot be bought and sold; nor + are the various prejudices which cling to the country to be + overlooked. If the nobleman disliked the destruction of his fine + old English park, the yeoman deplored the desecration of his + homestead. The one bore its splendid remembrances, the other its + affectionate recollections. If the peer hallowed the former for + the sake of its royal visits, the farmer cherished the latter + for the sake of those who had tilled the land before him. There + are fancy spots in this our beautiful England which it would + pain the most indifferent to destroy; what then must be the + feelings of those who have lived, and only wish to die there? + + "It is the trafficker in sympathies, it is the dealer in haunts + and homes, at whom the finger of scorn should be pointed. It + is the trader in touching recollections, only to be soothed + by gold, that should be denounced. It is the peer who made + the historic memories of his mansion a plea for replenishing + an impoverished estate; it is the farmer who made the sacred + associations of home an excuse for receiving treble its value; + it is the country gentleman who made his opposition the lever + by which he procured the money from the proprietors' pockets, + who should be shamed. And a double portion of ignominy must rest + upon these, when it is remembered that the money thus immorally + obtained is a constant tax on the pleasures of the artisan, on + the work of the manufacturer, and on the wages of the railway + official." + +Mr Francis, it is evident, is fighting hard for his service of +plate; but we doubt much whether he will get it. He evidently +considers the foregoing passage as a specimen of splendid writing. +He is mistaken. It is nothing better than unadulterated drivel. +Let us try to extricate, if we can, his argument from this heap of +verbiage. + +He admits that associations ought to be respected, but he denies +that they ought to have been paid for. What does he mean by this? By +whom were the said associations to be respected? By the projectors +of the railway companies? Hardly: for those very sympathising +gentlemen were precisely the persons who insisted upon running their +rails right through park and cottage, and who would have prostrated +without remorse the Temple of Jerusalem or the Coliseum, had either +edifice stood in their way. What, then, was the value of that +respect? Precisely the worth of the tear which stood in the eye of +the tender-hearted surveyor. What was the operation of that respect? +Not to spare, but if possible to destroy. + +In a word, Mr Francis maintains that the railway companies ought to +have had their own way in everything, and to have got possession of +the land at the lowest conceivable prices. He thinks that, because +gentlemen whose property was threatened with invasion, whose privacy +it was purposed to destroy, and whose homes were to be rendered +untenantable, demanded a high price from the joint-stock trading +companies, as an equivalent for the surrender of such privileges, +they manifested a "low tone of moral feeling." In fact, so far as +we can gather from his language, he puts no value whatever, in +a pecuniary sense, upon the associations which he admits to be +entitled to respect; and hardly any, if any, upon the score of +amenity. He is anything but an Evelyn. An oak, in his eyes, is +merely a piece of standing timber to be measured, valued, and paid +for according to the current price in the dockyards. The land--no +matter of what kind--is to be estimated according to the amount +of its yearly return, and handed over without farther question +to the enterprising company which demands it. Perhaps Mr Francis +may remember a certain passage in sacred history, narrating the +particulars of a proposed transfer of ground--the parties being +King Ahab on the one hand, and Naboth the Jezreelite on the other? +If not, we recommend it to his attention, assuring him that he will +find it to contain a very important lesson touching the rights of +property. His present argument, if it is worth anything, would go +far to vindicate Ahab. He wanted the other man's vineyard because it +lay contiguous to his house, and he offered to give him in exchange +a better vineyard for it, or an equivalent in money. According to +the view maintained by Mr Francis, Naboth was not justified in +refusing the offer. + +But let us look into this matter a little more closely. On the one +hand there is the owner of a property which has been transmitted +through a long line of ancestors, and which is now to be intersected +and cut up by a projected line of railway. On the other hand there +is the company, which cannot progress a step until they have +possession of the land. Now let us see what is the nature, and what +are the objects of this company. It will not do for Mr Francis +or any one else to babble about public advantages, arising from +more direct communication between cities or towns of importance. +Public advantage may be taken for granted as a result, but upon +pure considerations of public advantage no railway whatever +was undertaken. It is the commercial speculation of a private +company. No man ever took a share in any railway from motives of +disinterested philanthropy. He took them because he expected to make +a profit by them, to hold them as a safe investment, or finally to +sell them for a larger sum than he paid. A condition, and the main +one, of the existence of the railway is the possession of the land, +and at this point proprietors and speculators join issue. The former +do not want the railway. Their wish is to preserve their property +undissevered, and to be spared from the spectacle of engines roaring +by at all hours of the day and night close to the bottom of the +lawn. They very naturally think it a monstrous hardship that the +rights of private property should be invaded by private individuals, +even though acting upon an incorporated semblance, who are simply +seeking their own profit; and they argue that, if the railway was +required for public purposes, the government was the proper party +to have undertaken its construction. But as, under the existing +law, they are liable to be dragged, session after session, into +a ruinous expense to oppose the demands of the capitalists, they +wisely determine to make the best arrangement they can, and at all +events to secure a full remuneration for the sacrifice. So the +Squire, finding that the law is so conceived and modified that any +one individual who is possessed of landed property may be compelled +to surrender it at the demand of a hundred leagued capitalists, +makes a virtue of necessity, and demands a sum corresponding in +some degree to the extent of the extorted sacrifice: whereupon the +promoters of the railway instantly raise such a howl that you would +think somebody was trying to rob _them_, or to take _their_ property +by force--the case being notoriously the reverse. + +Undoubtedly the Squire demands more from the railway company, as +compensation for his land, than he could calculate on receiving +from a neighbouring proprietor at an ordinary sale. And on what +principle, in the majority of cases, does he base his calculation +of value? Strictly upon that adopted by the projectors of the line. +For instance, a prospectus of a railway is put out, announcing that, +after the most careful consideration of district traffic, &c., the +clear dividend, after clearing all expenses, must be fifteen per +cent per annum to the proprietors. That is the statement of the +projectors. Well, then, if such are the prospects of the concern, +is it unreasonable that the land, which must be taken for its +construction, and which is, in fact, to form the railway, should be +valued, less on account of its productiveness, than on account of +its adaptation for the peculiar purpose for which it is required? +Why is an acre in the centre of a town a hundred times more valuable +than an acre in a rural district? Simply because it is required for +building, and the value of the land rises in just correspondence +to the demand. The subsequent failure or diminution of the railway +dividends cannot be made a just article of dittay against the landed +proprietors. Fifteen per cent, or ten, as the case might be, was +the amount of dividend which the promoters undertook to prove, to +the satisfaction of Parliament and the public, as their reasonable +expectation. It was part of their case always, and very often the +most important part; and if they chose so to commit themselves, +they were bound to pay accordingly. Just conceive a body of men +addressing an urban proprietor of land, upon which no houses were +yet built, in the following terms:--"Sir, we perceive you have an +acre and a half of land which would be very convenient for our +purpose. We propose to build a street of houses upon it, and a +hotel, from the rents of which we expect to draw fifteen per cent +yearly. At present your land yields you little or nothing, and +therefore we wish you to dispose of it at its present value. Let us +say that just now it is worth to you five pounds a-year: we shall +buy it from you at five-and-twenty years' purchase!" We leave to the +imagination of the reader the exact terms in which the proprietor +would assuredly reply to the propounders of this reasonable request. +And yet, where is the difference between the cases? The railway +projector tells the landed proprietor that he desires to have his +property for the purpose of securing fifteen per cent for his own +money: the landed proprietor tells him that he may have the property +at a rate corresponding to the advantage which he anticipates. Can +anything be fairer? If Mr Francis understood even the simplest +elements of political economy--an amount of mental comprehension of +which we believe him to be wholly incapable--he ought to know that +demand and supply are the leading conditions of price. If there +is only one salmon in the London market, it will sell, as it has +done before now, at the rate of a-guinea per pound, and it would be +obviously unfair to charge the fishmonger with being actuated by "a +low tone of moral feeling." He coerces no customer: he simply states +his price, and if no one chooses to buy, no one has a right to +complain. Our friend Francis seems to labour under the hallucination +that everything required for a railway ought to be furnished at +prime cost. That the promoters expect fifteen percent is nothing. +Nay, even the free-trading rule of selling in the dearest and +buying in the cheapest market is to be suspended for their behoof. +The seller is to have no option: he must be cheap to them, else +he is a moral monster. If, however, the judicious panegyrist of +Mr Carr Glyn does not carry his principles quite so far, he lays +himself open to the charge of most monstrous inconsistency. During +the prevalence of the railway mania, all commodities requisite for +their construction rose greatly in value. From iron to railway +sleepers--in wood, metal, and everything connected with the making +of the lines--there was an enormous enhancement of price. And +why? On account of the demand. Was the soil on which that iron +and wood was to be laid--the absolute foundation of the railway +itself--to be paid for at a meaner rate? Mr Francis seems to think +so; and we cannot help honouring him for the candid expression of +his opinions, even while we regret the conglomeration of ideas +which gave them birth. We are afraid that he has been talked over +by some of his acute acquaintances. It is the fashion at railway +meetings to attribute all disasters to some other cause than the +mismanagement of the directors; and we daresay that Mr Francis has +been fully indoctrinated with such opinions. It is not agreeable +to meet shareholders with a confession of dwindled dividend. But +when imperious circumstances render such a course inevitable, it +is convenient to be prepared with some "fallacy" which may help +to account for the fact, and to stifle too curious investigation. +The readiest scapegoat is the landowner. All accounting with him +is past and gone, yet he still can be made to bear the blame for a +vast amount of reckless prodigality. He is not there to speak for +himself--he has no connection with the company. Therefore, whenever +failure must be acknowledged, the onus is cast upon him. Railway +orators and railway writers alike conceal the real cause of the +disaster, and combine to cast discredit and aspersion upon the +gentry of England. + +The truth is, that the system of railway management in this country +has been, from the beginning to the end, decidedly bad. Each line, +as it came into existence, was fostered by quackery and falsehood. +The most extravagant representations were used to secure the +adhesion of shareholders, and to procure the public support. Rival +lines fought each other before the committees with a desperation +worthy of the cats of Kilkenny, and enormous expenses and law +charges were incurred at the very commencement. No economy whatever +was used in the engineering, and no check placed on the engineers. +In those days, indeed, an engineer of established reputation was a +kind of demigod, whose doctrine, or, at all events, whose charges, +it was sinful to challenge. But engineers have their ambition. +They like viaducts which will be talked of and admired as splendid +achievements of mechanical skill; and the most virtuous of the tribe +cannot resist the temptation of a tunnel. Such tastes are natural, +but they are fearfully expensive in their indulgence, as the +shareholders know to their cost. The remuneration of these gentlemen +was monstrous. In the course of a few years most of them realised +large fortunes, which is more than can be said for the majority of +the men who paid them. So was it with the contractors. Mr Francis +tells us of many, "who, beginning life as navigators, have become +contractors; who, having saved money, have become 'gangers,' +realised capital and formed contracts, first for thousands, and then +for hundreds of thousands. These are almost a caste by themselves. +They make fortunes, and purchase landed estates. Many a fine +property has passed from some improvident possessor to a railway +labourer; and some of the most beautiful country seats in England +belong to men who trundled the barrow, who delved with the spade, +who smote with the pick-axe, and blasted the rock." With such +statements before us, it is not difficult to see how the money went. +Alas for the shareholders! Poor geese! they little thought how many +were to have a pluck at their pinions. + +Industry, we freely admit, ought to have its reward; but rewards +such as these are beyond the reach of pure industry, as we used +formerly to understand the term. These revelations may, however, +be of use as indicating the direction in which a great part of the +money has gone. We accept them as such, and as illustrations of +that profound economy which was practised by the different boards +of railway direction throughout the kingdom. Mr Francis, in his +laudatory sketches of his favourite heroes, usually takes care +to tell us that they are "sprung from the ranks of the people." +Of course they are. Where else were they to spring from? Does Mr +Francis suppose it to be a popular article of belief that they +emerged from the bowels of a steam-engine? What he means, however, +is plain enough. Judging from the whole tenor of his book, we +take him to be one of those jaundiced persons who, without any +intelligible reason beyond class prejudice, are filled with bile +and rancour against the aristocracy, and who worship at the shrine +of money. He grudges every farthing that the railway companies were +compelled to pay for land; he bows down in reverence before the +princely fortunes of the contractors. Every man to his own taste. We +cannot truthfully assert that we admire the selection of his idols. + +But what is this? We have just lighted upon a passage which compels +us, in spite of ourselves, to suspect that our Francis is, at least, +a bit of a repudiator, and that he would regard with no unfavourable +eye another pluck at the shareholders. Here it is:-- + + "The assertion that land and compensation on the line to + which Mr Robert Stephenson was engineer, which was estimated + at £250,000, amounted to £750,000, appears to call for some + additional remark; _and the question which is now proposed is, + how far the right is with the railroads to demand, and the + passengers to pay an increased fare, in consequence of bargains + which, unjust in principle, ought never to have been allowed?_ + It is now a historic fact that every line in England has cost + more than it ought. That in some--where, too, the directors were + business men--large sums were improperly paid for land, for + compensation, for consequential damages, for fancy prospects, + and other unjust demands under various names. These sums being + immorally obtained, _is it right that the public should pay + the interest on them_? Is it just that the working man should + forego his trifling luxury to meet them? Is it fair that the + artisan should be deprived of his occasional trip, or that the + frequenter of the rail should pay an additional tax?" + +Is it fair that anybody should pay anything at all for travelling +on the railways? That is the question which must finally be +considered, if Mr Francis' preliminary questions are to be +entertained. Because some part of the capital of the shareholders +may have been needlessly expended, they ought in this view to +receive a less amount of interest for the remainder! The silliness +of the above passage is so supreme--the ignorance which it displays +of the first rules of law and equity, regarding property, is so +profound, that it is hardly worth while exposing it. It betrays an +obliquity of intellect of which we had not previously suspected +even Mr Francis. Pray observe the exquisite serenity with which +this important personage opens his case: "The question which is now +proposed!" Proposed--and for whose consideration? Not surely for +that of the Legislature, for the Legislature has already pronounced +judgment. Are the public to take the matter in hand, and decide +on the tables of rates? It would seem so. In that case, we might +indeed calculate upon travelling cheap, provided the rails were not +shut up. But the whole of his remarks are as practically absurd +as they are mischievous in doctrine. What right has Jack, Tom, or +Harry to question the cost of his conveyance? Are there not, in +all conscience, competing lines enough, independent altogether +of Parliamentary regulations, to secure the public against being +overcharged on the railways? On what authority does Mr Francis +assume that a single acre of the land was paid for at an unjust +rate? Mr Robert Stephenson's estimate, we take it, has not the +authority of gospel. No engineer's estimate has. Their margin is +always a large one; and it almost never happens that, when the +works are completed, their actual cost is found to correspond with +the hypothetical calculation. But the truth is, that the value +paid for the land taken by railways is the only item of expense +which cannot be justly challenged. The reason is plain. A railway +company has in the first instance to prove the preamble of its +bill--that is, it must show to the satisfaction of the Legislature +that the construction of the work will be attended with public and +local advantages. The settlement of the money question, regarding +the value of the land, is reserved for the legal tribunals of the +country. To complain of the verdicts given is to impugn the course +of justice, and to cast discredit on the system of jury trial. +Very wisely was it determined that such questions should be so +adjudicated, because no reasonable ground of complaint can be left +to either party. The decision as to the value of the land, and the +amount of compensation which is due, is taken from the hands both +of Ahab and Naboth, and their respective engineers and valuators, +and intrusted to neutral parties, whose duty it is to see fair play +between them. + +We have done with this book. It has greatly disappointed us in every +respect. As a repertory of facts, or as a history of the railways, +it is ill-arranged, meagre, and stupid; and the sketches which it +contains are so absurdly conceived, and so clumsily executed, that +they entirely fail to enliven the general dulness of the volumes. At +the very point which might have been rendered most interesting in +the hands of an able and well-instructed writer--the period of the +great mania--Mr Francis fails. His pen is not adequate to the task +of depicting the rapid occurrences of the day, or the fearful whirl +which then agitated the public mind. In short, he is insufferably +prosy throughout the first four acts of his drama, and makes a +lamentable break-down at the catastrophe. His work will fail to +please any portion of the public, except the heroes whose praises +he has sung. He has given them sugar, indeed; but, after all, it is +a sanded article. We hope they will combine to buy up the edition, +and thus fulfil the prophecy of Shakspeare--"Nay, but hark you, +Francis: for the sugar thou gavest me--'twas a pennyworth, was't +not?" "O Lord, sir! I would it had been two." "I will give thee for +it a thousand pound: ask me when thou wilt, and thou shalt have it." +"Anon, anon, sir!" + + + + +INDEX TO VOL. LXX. + + + Abdallah, a dragoman, sketch of, 448 _et seq._ + + Aborigines, general characteristics of, 416. + + Abrantes, the marquis of, 354. + + Achmet Bascha, a campaign in Taka under, 251 _et seq._ + + Achmet Effendi, sketch of, 453. + + Acre, sketches at, 459. + + Administration, system of, in Russia, 164 ET SEQ. + + Adolphe the clairvoyant, performances of, 70. + + Africa, recent travels in, 251. + + Agricultural depression, amount of, in Ireland, 136 + --reaction of it on other classes of the community, 303. + + Agricultural interest, experienced results of free trade to + the, 133 + --Lord John Russell on its state, 489. + + Agricultural Relief Associations, proceedings and demands of + the, 616. + + Agriculture, Huskisson on protection to, 632 + --state of, &c. in the United States, 699 _et seq._ + --relations of geology to, 703 + --improvements in, in New York, &c., 704 + --its state, &c., in Canada, 707. + + Agriculturists, effects of the depression of the, on the home + trade, 109 + --lowering of the wages of the, 496. + + Albany, Professor Johnston's Lectures in, 700. + + Alchemy, origin of chemistry with, &c., 564. + + Aleppo, town of, 725. + + Alexandretta, town of, 463, 724. + + Alexandria, a voyage from, to Syria, 451. + + Alexis the clairvoyant, 77. + + Ali-Beg, the pass of, 100. + + Amadeus I. of Savoy, 414. + + American lakes, the, 708, 709. + + American slavery, on, 385. + + Americans in California, character, &c. of the, 478. + + Amiens, sketches at, 199. + + ANSAYRII, THE, 719 + --their tenets, numbers, &c., 733. + + Apes, shooting of, at Hassela, 270. + + Arab Scheik, an, 728. + + Arable culture, expense of, 1790, 1803, and 1813, 620. + + Arc de Triomphe de l'Etoile, the, 319. + + Arches, the triumphal, of Paris, 320. + + Arkwright, sir R., origin of the discoveries of, 566. + + Army, the French, feeling in, toward Louis Napoleon, 547. + + ARNABOLL, THE RAID OF, chap. I., 220 + --chap. II., 225 + --chap. III., 230 + --chap. IV., 236. + + Artesian well, the, at Paris, 317. + + Aspre, general d', notices of, during the campaign in Italy, 29 ET + SEQ. PASSIM + --his march on Verona, 442. + + ASSASSINS or Ansayrii, the, 719 + --their tenets, &c., 733. + + Atbara river, the, 257 _et seq. passim_. + + Atoi, a New Zealand chief, 417. + + Auber's opera of Zerline, on, 311. + + Aumale, the duke d', the duke of Orleans on, 555. + + Australia, character of the aborigines of, 416 + --a voyage to California from, 471. + + Austria, sketches of the war between her and Piedmont, 25 _et seq._ + --her intervention in the Papal States in 1830, 432 + --her long possession of Lombardy and acquisition of Venice, 433 + --her administration of the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom, 434. + + AUSTRIAN AIDE-DE-CAMP, the campaigns of an, 25. + + AUTUMN POLITICS, 607. + + + Bacon, Friar, the prophecy of, 562. + + Bagdad, sketches of, 97. + + Ballet-dancing, Fanny Lewald on, 217. + + Baranken, fur called, 172. + + Bassora, a voyage to, 96. + + Bears, the, in the Jardin des Plantes, 314 + --sketches of, in North America, 672, 677. + + Beautiful, Ruskin's theory of the, examined, 333. + + Belgian Revolution, Stahr on the, 544. + + Benares, sketches by Madame Pfeiffer at, 93. + + Berchthold, count, fellow-traveller of Madame Pfeiffer, 87 _et seq. + passim_. + + Bethmeria, village of, in Lebanon, 456. + + Beyrout, sketches at, 454, 721. + + Blane, Louis, account of, by Fanny Lewald, 214. + + Bombay, a voyage from Bassora to, 96. + + BOROUGHS, DISFRANCHISEMENT OF THE, 296. + + Boroughs, apparent secession of the, from the free-trade cause, 299. + + Boulevard of Paris, the, 200. + + Boulogne, difficulties of the invasion of England from, 197 + --sketches in, 198. + + Bradford, present state of manufactures at, 643. + + Brazil, sketches in the interior of, 87. + + Bread-stuffs, the exports of, from the United States, 702. + + Brett, Messrs, the inventors of the submarine telegraph, 567. + + Bribery, parliamentary, on, 303. + + Bright, John, on the reduction of wages, 634. + + British empire, statistics regarding population of the, 1801 to + 1851, 127. + + British shipping, influence of free trade on, 138. + + Browne, sir Thomas, testimony of, concerning witchcraft, 81. + + Buckwheat, use of, in North America, 705. + + Buffon, superintendence of the Jardin des Plantes by, 315. + + Buonaparte, Napoleon, restoration of the Jardin des Plantes by, 315 + --the monument to, in the Hôtel des Invalides, 317 + --measures of, regarding the drama, 324. + + Buonaparte, Napoleon, son of Jerome, 206. + + Burdon, captain, British resident at Kottah, 94. + + Burke, E., proposal by, to gild the dome of St Paul's, 316. + + Burning forest, a, in Brazil, 88. + + + Cagliostro, supposed mesmeric power of, 77. + + Cairo, sketches of life, &c. at, 449. + + California, sketches in, 470 _et seq._ + + Camino theatre, the, at St Petersburg, 168. + + CAMPAIGN IN TAKA, a, 251. + + CAMPAIGNS OF AN AUSTRIAN AIDE-DE-CAMP, the, 25. + + Canadas, sketches by Professor Johnston in the, 706 + --statistics of their progress, 708. + + Cancrin, finance minister of Russia, 166. + + Cannibalism of New Zealand, the, 415. + + Caravan journey to Mossul, a, 98. + + Cards, playing, consumption of, in Russia, 169. + + Carey's Harmony of Interests, &c., extracts from, 640. + + Carlists, fall of the, in Spain, 356. + + Carré, Michel, French translation of Goethe's Faust by, 556. + + Carrousel, the arch of the, 320. + + Cash payments, influence of the suspension of, 619 + --and that of their resumption, 622. + + Catamount, adventure with a, 677. + + Cavalry, the Russian, 165. + + Caxton, Pisistratus, My Novel by, + --Part XI. Book VI. chapters I. to XII. 1 + --Part XII. Book VI. chapters XIII. to XXV. 173 + --Part XIII. Book VII. chapters I. to XV. 275 + --Part XIV. Book VII. chapters XVI. to XXII. 392 + --Part XV. Book VIII. chapters I. to VI. 573 + --Part XVI. Book VIII. chapters VII. to XIV. 681. + + CENSUS AND FREE TRADE, the, 123. + + CHAMPIONS OF THE RAIL, the, 739. + + Charles Albert, King of Sardinia, sketches of, 30 _et seq. passim_ + --his conduct with regard to Lombardy, 437 + --hostilities begun by him, 440 + --sketch of his previous career, 442 + --the campaign under him, 444 + --his last defeat, abdication, and death, 446. + + Chartum, the town of, 251. + + Cheapness, examination of the question of, 638. + + Chemistry, alchemy the parent of, 564. + + Cherbourg, the harbour of, 197. + + China, sketches in, by Madame Pfeiffer, 92. + + Chinese junk, voyage in a, 93. + + Church, Mr Phelps on the, 388. + + Churches, Ruskin on, 327. + + "Claims of Labour," remarks on the, 380. + + Clairvoyance, examination of the claims of, 70 _et seq._ + + Clam, General Count, 33. + + Clergy, influence of free trade on the, 500. + + Clouds, Ruskin on, 330. + + Coal gas, how first discovered, 569. + + Colonisation, two sonnets, 606. + + Column, on the, as the monument, 319. + + "Companions of my solitude," review of, 386. + + Concorde, the Place and Pont de la, in Paris, 202, 203, 312. + + CONGRESS AND THE AGAPEDOME, the, chap. I. 359 + --chap. II. 365 + --chap. III. 370 + --chap. IV. 375. + + Conjurors, Indian, 94. + + "Conquerors of the New World, the," remarks on, 380. + + Conscription, the, in France, 323. + + Constable the painter, the trees of, 332. + + Constantinople, winter aspect of, 723. + + Constituencies, large, the _Times_ on, 301. + + Continent, revolutionary tendencies the, and their causes, 431. + + Cook, Captain, on the cannibalism of New Zealand, 416. + + Corn laws, causes which brought about the repeal of the, 115 + --separation between landlord and tenant induced by their + repeal, 610 + --circumstances which originated them. &c., 621 + --Huskisson in favour of the, 632 + --effects of their repeal on prices, 637. + + Cornu, Madame, letters of Louis Napoleon to, 547. + + Costazza, defeat of Charles Albert at, 445. + + Cotton manufacture, wheat used for starch in the, 497. + + Counties, decrease of population in, 1841 to 1851, 129. + + Country, immigration of population into the towns from the, 307. + + Country districts, first failure of population in the, 125. + + Crime, increase of, under the free-trade system, 139 + --increase of it in the towns, 307. + + Croats, the troops called, 443. + + Crusades, increase of population during the, 124. + + CRYSTAL PALACE, VOLTAIRE IN THE, 142. + + Currency reform, necessity for, 111. + + Currency system, the new, the monetary crisis due to, 132 + --relation of it to the free-trade question, 618. + + Custine, M. de, his book on Russia, 160. + + Cuvier, superintendence of the Jardin des Plantes by, 316. + + + Daun, Marshal, the victory of, at Kolin, 26. + + DAY-DREAMS OF AN EXILE. Longings + --I. To ----, 465 + --II. Where summer is, 467 + --III. Earth is the realm of death, 469 + --IV. Stand by the ocean, _ib._ + --V. Sigh thou not for a happier lot, 604 + --VI. To ----, 605 + --VII. Oft in a night of April, _ib._ + --VIII. Dream on, 606 + --IX. Colonisation, two sonnets, _ib._ + + Defalla, an African chief, 259. + + Delta, The Lament of Selim, by, 103 + --his death, and sketch of his life, &c., 249. + + Dembinski, General, in the Hungarian war, 37. + + Depression, the present, its universality, 630. + + Derby, the Earl of, on protection, 613. + + Digby, Sir Kenelm, supposed acquaintance of, with mesmerism, 77. + + DIGGINGS, A VOICE FROM THE, 470. + + DISFRANCHISEMENT OF THE BOROUGHS, the, 296. + + Disraeli, Mr, new policy proposed by, against free trade, 612 _et + seq. passim_. + + Domestic tyranny, Mr Helps on, 381. + + Doubleday, Mr, on the effects of Peel's currency system, 622. + + DOWNWARD TENDENCIES, 106. + + Drama, sketch of the rise and history of the, in France, 323 + --its present state there, 324. + + "Dream on, ye souls who slumber here," 606. + + Druses, sketches of the, 456. + + Dumas, Alexander, sketches of, by Professor Stahr, and account of + the duke of Orleans by him, 547, 554. + + Dunshunner, A. R., letter to R. M'Corkindale by--"Downward + tendencies," 106. + + Dunstan the monk, on the character of, 513. + + Duprat, M., speech of, on the National Guard, 207. + + Durando, general, defence of Vicenza, by, 35. + + + Earle, Mr, account of cannibalism in New Zealand by, 417. + + "Earth is the realm of death, who reigns," 469. + + East, interest of the, 719. + + Eastlake's Good Samaritan, on, 212. + + Eating-houses in San Francisco, 472. + + Edinburgh Review, the, on protection, 306. + + Education, Mr Helps on, 383. + + Edwin the Fair, review of, 513. + + Egypt, interest of, 719 + --sketches in, 720 _et seq._ + + Electric telegraph, laying down of the, from England to France, 568. + + Elliotson, Dr, Phreno-mesmeric exhibition by, 74. + + Elora, visit to, by Madame Pfeiffer, 95. + + Emigration, increase of, from Great Britain, 113 + --rapidity of it in a declining state, 126 + --amounts of it from Great Britain, 1841 to 1850, 128 _note_ + --amount of it from Ireland, 131 + --influence of free trade on it, 139, 503 + --the _Times_ on the increased, 626 + --encouragements to, to the United States, 710, 711. + + Employers, on the relation between, and employed, 381. + + Employment, influence of, on population, 123. + + England and France, laying down of the submarine electric telegraph + between, 568. + + English travellers, contrast between, and French, 447 + --follies, &c. of, 454 + --how regarded in the East, 461. + + Esperon, Dr, 453. + + "Essays written in intervals of business," remarks on, 380. + + Etoile, the Arc de l', 319. + + Euphrates, the, 727. + + Europe, the advances of population in, 123 + --tendencies to revolution in, 431. + + Eve of the Conquest, Taylor's, remarks on, 520. + + Exhibition of paintings, Fanny Lewald on the, 211. + + Exile, day-dreams of an, see Day-dreams. + + EXPERIMENT, the, 488. + + Exports, increase of, under free trade, 140. + + Eye, alleged power of charm in the, 79. + + + Farmers, loss at present sustaining by the, 492 + --their right to relief, 614, 615. + See also Agriculturists. + + Faucher, M., speech of, in the Legislative Assembly, 207. + + Faust, French translation of, the, 556. + + Finances, influence of free trade on the, 137. + + Financial system, relations of the, to the free-trade question, 618. + + Flour, falling price of, in New York, 703. + + Folkstone, sketches of, 197. + + Foreign shipping, influence of free trade on, 138. + + Foreign trade, state of, &c., 645. + + Forest life, sketches of, in Maine, &c., 670 _et seq._ + + Forests of Brazil, the, 88, 89. + + Fountains of the Place de la Concorde, the, 314. + + France, the protective policy of, 117 + --increase of population in, during the war, 124, 125 + --increased facilities of communication with, 195 + --the revolutions of, and their influences, 431 + --the intervention of, in Rome, 438 + --the importation of flour into Great Britain from, 489 _note_ + --sketches of the present state of, by Professor Stahr, 545 + --belief in, as to Napoleon being still alive, 549 + --laying down of the submarine telegraph from England to, 568. + + FRANCIS' HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH RAILWAY reviewed, 739. + + Frederick the Great, his defeat at Kolin, 26. + + FREE TRADE, THE CENSUS AND, 123. + + Free trade, the experienced results of, 108 _et seq._ + --contrast between its results and those of protection, 116 + --influence of it on trading profits, 137 + --influence of it on shipping, 138 + --its influence on crime, emigration, and poor-rates, 139 + --and on exports and imports, 140 + --general summary of its results, 141 + --general reaction against it, 245 + --declarations from the boroughs against it, 299 + --the experiment of, 488 + --influence of it on the income, &c., of the clergy, 500 + --continued depression under it, 609 + --reaction against it, 613 + --address to the shopkeepers on its effects on them, + 629 _et seq._ + --universality of the depression from it, 630 + --its progress from the time of Huskisson, 632 + --prices of corn under it, 637. + + Free-traders, preponderance of, among the Scottish + representatives, 297 + --present views of, regarding the smaller boroughs, 305. + + Freedom, Protestantism essential to, 447. + + French in Tahiti, the, 90. + + French army, feeling in, toward Louis Napoleon, 546. + + French opera, the, at Paris, 310. + + French railroads, on, 199. + + French theatres, Stahr on the, 557. + + French travellers, contrast between, and English, 447. + + "Friends in council," notice of, 382. + + Funds, danger of the, 112. + + Furs, prices of, in Russia, 171. + + + Gaming and gaming-houses in San Francisco, 473. + + Gand, Dr, 253, 254. + + Garcia, Madame, reception of, in St Petersburg, 168. + + Gas, how first discovered, 569. + + Gaufridy, Louis, the case of, 76. + + Gaza, the Lazaretto at, 453. + + Geology, relations of, to agriculture, 703. + + Georgey, General, 36. + + GERMAN AUTHORESS, London diary of a, 209. + + GERMAN LETTERS FROM PARIS, 543. + + German literature, non-appreciation of, in France, 556. + + German professors, former and present characters of, 543. + + German women, Fanny Lewald on, 216. + + Gibelin, the Count de, case of, 82. + + Gibili tobacco, 462. + + GIBRALTAR, A LEGEND OF, Chap. I. 522 + --Chap. II. 529 + --Chap. III. 532 + --Chap. IV. 535 + --Chap. V. 539. + + GIBRALTAR, A TALE OF THE SIEGE OF, 648. + + Glasgow, increase of population in, 1841 to 1851, 129 + --1811 to 1851, 131 + --immigrations of Irish into, _ib._ + + Glastonbury waters, alleged cure by the, 81. + + Goethe's Faust, French translation of, 556. + + Goito, engagement at, 443. + + Gold diggings in California, sketches in the, 470 _et seq._ + + Gos Rajeb, an African town, 259. + + Grahame, Sir James, position of, and his party, 118 + --his conduct towards his tenantry, 499. + + Grain, importations of, into Ireland, 134 + --fall in the prices of, in Scotland, 491. + + GREAT BRITAIN, TO THE SHOPKEEPERS OF, 629. + + Great Britain, increase of population in, during the war, 124 + --statistics regarding her population, 1801 to 1851, 127 _et seq._ + --immigration of Irish into, 131 + --aversion to revolution among the middle classes of, 297 + --recent foreign works on, 209 + --contrast between, and the Continent, as regards revolution, 431 + --comparative pressure of taxation in, and in the United + States, 715. + + Greatrakes, Valentine, the cures of, 81. + + Greenwich fair, Fanny Lewald on, 212. + + Greg, Mr, on the reduction of wages, 634 + --on the competition to which our manufactures are exposed, 639. + + Gregory XVI., death of, 432. + + Gunpowder, new mode of discharging, 570. + + + H. G. K., Day-dreams of an exile, by, Nos. I. to IV. 465 + --Nos. V. to IX. 604. + + Haddendas, African tribe of the, 261 _et seq. passim_ + --a visit to them, 264. + + Hallengas, the, an Arab tribe, 268, 272. + + Hamilton, Mr, British resident at Indore, 95. + + Harles' "Career in the Commons," notice of, 120. + + Harris' Ethiopia, remarks on, 251. + + Harvey, James, on free trade and its results, 644, 645. + + Hassan, the founder of the Assassins, 733. + + Heke, the New Zealand chief, 427. + + HELPS, MR, THE ESSAYS OF, 379. + + HELSHAM, CAPTAIN, note on the case of, 122. + + Henry V., Stahr on, 557. + + High farming, inefficiency of, to counteract the agricultural + depression, 491. + + Highlands, present state of the, and its causes, 308. + + Home trade, falling off in the, 108 + --effects of free trade on the, 645. + + Horn, Cape, a voyage round, 90. + + Hortense, Queen, mother of Louis Napoleon, 547. + + Hôtel des Invalides, the, 316. + + Human responsibility, relations of mesmerism to, 81. + + Hungary, sketches of the war in, 35 _et seq._ + + Huskisson, effects of the commercial system begun by, 308 + --strictures on his statue at Lloyds', 211 + --his character, and commencement of the free-trade system + under him, 632. + + Hussars, the Hungarian, 38. + + + Imitation, Ruskin on, 331. + + Immorality, increase of, in the towns, 307. + + Imports, increase of, under free trade, 140. + + Income-tax returns, falling off in the, 137. + + India, sketches by Madame Pfeiffer in, 93. + + Indians of Brazil, the, 89. + + Indore, sketches at, 95. + + Industry, relations of, to population, 123. + + Infidelity, influence of, on Continental revolution, 431. + + Interests, harmony of, Carey on, 640. + + Invalides, the Hôtel des, 316. + + Invention, the progress of, 563. + + Ionic column, Ruskin on the, 327. + + Ireland, diminution of the population of, 123 + --decrease of its population since 1846, 128 + --increase of the population in the towns and its diminution in + the counties, 129 + --the alleged influence of the potato failure on the + population, 131, 132 + --diminution of cultivation in, 489, _note_. + --proofs of agricultural depression in, 497. + + Irish, immigration of the, into Great Britain, 131. + + Isaac Comnenus, the drama of, reviewed, 517. + + Ismaylis, the sect of the, 735. + + Italian insurrection, sketches of the, 25 _et seq._ + + Italian opera, the, in St Petersburg, 168. + + ITALIAN REVOLUTION, the, 431. + + Italy, the war between Austria and Sardinia in, 29 _et seq._ + --its disunited state, 434 + --character of the Austrian administration in, _ib. et seq._ + + + Jacobleff, a Russian, anecdotes of, 170. + + Jardin des Plantes, sketches in the, 314. + + Jellachich, baron, operations of, during the Hungarian + insurrection, 39 + --sketch of his career, 444. + + JERRMANN'S PICTURES FROM ST PETERSBURG, review of, 154. + + JEW'S LEGACY, the, a tale of the siege of Gibraltar, chap. I. 648 + --chap. II. 653 + --chap. III. 656 + --chap. IV. 659 + --chap. V. 663. + + JOHNSTON'S NOTES ON NORTH AMERICA, 699. + + Joinville, the prince de, character of, 555. + + Judicial system, the, of the United States, 713. + + Justice, the administration of, in St Petersburg, 162 _et seq._ + + + Kassela, the African mountain of, 270. + + Kent, the scenery of, 196. + + King, Mr, report by, on the gold diggings of California, 477. + + Kiss, general, 43. + + Kleber, general, skeleton of the murderer of, 316. + + Kleinmichael, general, reconstruction of the winter palace at St + Petersburg by, 159. + + Knaresborough election, the, 245, 246. + + Kohl, misstatements of, regarding Russia, 171. + + Kolin, an incident of the battle of, 26. + + Kurdistan, journey of madame Pfeiffer through, 99. + + + Labourers, the agricultural, loss which will fall on, from free + trade, 492. + + Labouring classes, on the condition of the dwellings of the, 381. + + LAMENT OF SELIM, the, 103. + + Lanarkshire, increase of population in, 1841 to 1851, 129. + + Landlord and tenant, separation induced by free trade between, 610. + + Landlords, proportion of loss from free trade to be sustained by + the, 492 + --their conduct as regards their tenantry, 612. + + Latachia, sketches at, 462, 724. + + Latour's dragoons, Austrian regiment called, 26. + + Law, proposed change in the mode of administering, 386, 387. + + Lazaretto at Gaza, the, 453. + + Lebanon, sketches in, 455. + + LEGEND OF GIBRALTAR, a, chap. I. 522 + --chap. II. 529 + --chap. III. 532 + --chap. IV. 535 + --chap. V. 539. + + Legislative assembly, the present, of France, 202 + --sketch of a debate in it, 205. + + Legislative interference, on, as applied to sanitary measures, 381. + + Leicester, depressed state of, 644. + + Leitzendorf, colonel, death of, 31. + + LEVANTINE RAMBLES, 447. + + LEWALD'S DIARY IN ENGLAND, review of, 209. + + Liberal policy, experienced results of, in the Peninsula, 349. + + Liberals, preponderance of the, in Scotland, 297. + + Liberals, the Portuguese, division among the, &c., 352. + + LIFE AMONG THE LOGGERS, 669. + + Limerick Examiner, the, on emigration from Ireland, 134. + + Liszt the pianist, reception of, at St Petersburg, 169. + + Littledale, Messrs, on the manufacturing depression, 609. + + Lodging-house, a, in San Francisco, 473. + + LOGGERS, LIFE AMONG THE, 669. + + Logrolling, origin of the phrase, 712. + + Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom, the Austrian administration of the, 435. + + Lombardy, the insurrection of, against Austria, 26 _et seq._, 433 + --the government of it by Austria, 435. + + London, the shopkeepers of, effects of free trade on, 111 + --increase of population in, 1841 to 1851, 129. + + LONDON DIARY OF A GERMAN AUTHORESS, the, 209. + + Louis XIII., foundation of the Jardin des Plantes by, 315. + + Louis Napoleon, improvement of the passport system by, 196 + --Stahr's picture of him, 545 + --anecdotes, &c. of him, 547 + --causes of his election, 548. + + Louis Philippe, improvement of the Boulevard of Paris under him, 202 + --the final act of his dethronement, 204 + --Stahr's sketches, &c. of him, 548 _et seq. passim_, 550 _et seq._ + + Luxor, the obelisk of, at Paris, 312. + + + M'Corkindale, R., letter from A. R. Dunshunner to + --Downward tendencies, 106. + + Madeleine, church of the, at Paris, 312. + + Magic, the secrets of, 564. + + Maine, sketches among the wood-cutters of, 669 _et seq._ + + Maize, extensive use of, in the United States, 705. + + Malthus, the views of, on population, 123. + + Mammiani, the Roman demagogue, 437, 438. + + Mantua, the Austrian possession of, 433. + + Manufactures, British, their rise during the war, 633 + --their state under free trade, 643. + + Manufacturers, depressed state of the, 108. + + Manufacturing districts, distress and depression in the, 305, 609. + + Manufacturing towns, check to the population in the, 130, 131. + + Maria, Donna, position of, in Portugal, 349. + + Maronites, sketches of the, 455. + + Martineau, Miss, testimony of, regarding mesmerism, 75 + --atheistical work by her, 76, _note_. + + MASTER THIEF, the, a Norse popular tale, 595. + + Mazarin, encouragement of the drama by, in France, 323. + + Mazzini, proceedings of, in Rome, 438. + + Mechanics, the poetry of, 567. + + Mechi, Mr, his high farming system, 491. + + Medusa's head, the, in connection with mesmerism, 77. + + Mehmet Pasha of Acre, sketches of, 459 _et seq._ + + Mesmer, the alleged powers, &c. of, 82. + + MESMERISM, WHAT IS IT? 70 + --postscript, 83. + + Metallic tractors, cure by, 79. + + Metropolitan representatives, character of the, 300 + --the _Times_ on them, 301. + + Middle classes, their aversion to revolution in Great Britain, 297. + + Miguel, Don, Whig policy toward, and its results, 349 + --his dethronement, 350 + --party still adhering to him, 351 _et seq. passim_. + + Miguelites, strength of the party of, in Portugal, 352. + + Milan, the duchy of, the Austrian possession of, 433. + + Milan, city of. Radetsky's retreat from it, 440 + --its aspect after the suppression of the insurrection, 35. + + Military service, term of, in Russia, 155. + + Millais, painting by, 212. + + Milton on emigration, 503. + + Ministry, uncertain position of the, 110. + + Mitkenab, visit to village of, 264. + + "Modern Painters," review of, 326. + + MODERN STATE TRIALS + --Note on Part III. + --Captain Helsham + --Duelling 122. + + Mohammed Din, an Arab chief, 261 _et seq. passim_. + + MOIR, THE LATE D. M., 249. + + Molesworth, Mr, account of cannibalism in New Zealand, by, 418. + + Monetary Crisis, the, its alleged influence on population, 132. + + Montanara, battle of, 33. + + Montemolin, the Count de, 356. + + Montpensier, the duke de + --his character, 555. + + Monuments of London, Fanny Lewald on the, 210. + + Moor, action at, in the Hungarian war, 37. + + Moose-deer, adventure with a, 679. + + Morgan, lady, sketch of, by Lewald, 218. + + Morroqueimado, Swiss settlement of, in Brazil, 88. + + Mossul, a caravan journey to, 98. + + Mosul, town of, 729. + + Mulgrave, the earl of, defeat of, at Scarborough, 245. + + Mulot, M., the engineer of the great Artesian well at Paris, 317. + + Muntz, Mr, on the reduction of wages by free trade, 634. + + Music, passion for, in St Petersburg, 168. + + MY NOVEL; or, Varieties in English Life, by Pisistratus Caxton. + Book VI., + --Initial Chapter, 1. + --chap. ii. 3 + --chap. iii. 5 + --chap. iv. 6 + --chap. v. 7 + --chap. vi. 10 + --chap. vii. 11 + --chap. viii. 13 + --chap. ix. 15 + --chap. x. 17 + --chap. xi. 20 + --chap. xii. 21 + --chap. xiii. 173 + --chap. xiv. 175 + --chap. xv. 178 + --chap. xvi. _ib._ + --chap. xvii. 180 + --chap. xviii. _ib._ + --chap. xix. 184 + --chap. xx. 185 + --chap. xxi. 187 + --chap. xxii. 189 + --chap. xxiii. 190 + --chap. xxiv. 192 + --chap. xxv. 194 + --Book VII., Initial Chapter, 275 + --chap. ii. 277 + --chap. iii. _ib._ + --chap. iv. 278 + --chap. v. 280 + --chap. vi. 281 + --chap. vii. _ib._ + --chap. viii. 283 + --chap. ix. 285 + --chap. x. 286 + --chap. xi. 288 + --chap. xii. 289 + --chap. xiii. 290 + --chap. xiv. 291 + --chap. xv. 292 + --chap. xvi. 392 + --chap. xvii. 397 + --chap. xviii. 399 + --chap. xix. 400 + --chap. xx. 403 + --chap. xxi. 407 + --chap. xxii. 412 + --Book VIII., Initial Chapter, the abuse of intellect, 573 + --chap. ii. 575 + --chap. iii. 580 + --chap. iv. 585 + --chap. v. 590 + --chap. vi. 594 + --chap. vii. 681 + --chap. viii. 682 + --chap. ix. 687 + --chap. x. 689 + --chap. xi. 691 + --chap. xii. 693 + --chap. xiii. 695 + --chap. xiv. 697. + + + Naples, the revolt and revolution in, 433. + + Napoleon column, the, in the Place Vendôme, 318. + + Narvaez, the downfall of, in Spain, 356. + + National debt, recent increase of the, 138. + + National gallery, the British, buildings of the, 210. + + National guard, debate on the, in the French Assembly, 205 + --their conduct during the Revolution of 1848, 550, 551. + + National wealth, origin of, from the soil, 107. + + NEALE'S EIGHT YEARS IN SYRIA, &c. reviewed, 447. + + Nelson column, the, 210. + + Nemours, the duke de, character of, 555. + + NERVAL'S SCENES DE LA VIE ORIENTALE, reviewed, 447. + + Neuilly, conduct of the National guard of, in 1848, 550 + --the destruction of the chateau of, 551 + --its present state, 552. + + New Brunswick, sketches in, 709. + + New York, diminishing price of flour at, 703 + --agricultural improvement in, 704. + + New Zealand Company, the, 422. + + New Zealand Pahs, sketches of, 420. + + NEW ZEALANDERS, the, 414. + + Nicholas, the emperor, character of, 154 _et seq._ + + Nile, expedition up the, 251 _et seq._ + + Nineveh, the excavations at, &c., 729. + + NORTH AMERICA, JOHNSTON'S NOTES ON, 699. + + North America, wood-cutting life in, 669 _et seq._ + + Nottingham, depressed state of, 644. + + Novara, defeat of Charles Albert at, 446. + + Novo Friburgo, Swiss colony of, in Brazil, 88. + + Nugent, general, 443. + + + Obelisk of Luxor, the, at Paris, 312. + + "Oft in a night of April," 605. + + Oligarchies of medieval Italy, the, 435. + + Opera, the, at Paris, 310. + + Orleans, the late duke of, anecdotes and sketches of, 547, _et + seq. passim_, 554, 555. + + Orleans, the duchess of, conduct of, on the 24th February, 204. + + Orleans dynasty, Stahr on the, 549. + + Otaki, New Zealand village of, 430. + + Ottinger, general, sketches of, 36, 37. + + Oudinot, general, the siege of Rome by, 438. + + Ouroomia, American missionary settlement at, 101. + + + Palestine, interest of, 719. + + Palmerston, lord, on the state of Spain, 355. + + Papal states, the revolution of 1848 in the, 437. + + PARIS IN 1851, 195 + --the journey, &c., 196 _et seq._ + --the Boulevard, 200 + --the Legislative Assembly, 202 + --the Debate, 205 + --the Opera, 310 + --the Obelisk of Luxor, 312 + --the Jardin des Plantes, 314 + --the Hôtel des Invalides, 316 + --the Artesian well, 317 + --the Napoleon column, 318 + --the Arc de l'Etoile, 319 + --the Arc du Carrousel, 320 + --suicides, 321 + --the drama, 323. + + PARIS, GERMAN LETTERS FROM, 543. + + Paris in 1815, picture of, 201. + + Parochial clergy and schoolmasters, influence of free trade on + the, 501. + + Pasquali, the baron di, a Sicilian renegade, 253, 254. + + Passport system, improvement in the, 195. + + Pauperism, increase of, under free trade, 139. + + PEACEFUL LIEUTENANT AND HIS FRIENDS, the, a three hours' platonic + gossip. Hour Third--containing sundry passages in the + lieutenant's own history, and the strange legend of his + supposed grandfather, 45. + + Peel, Sir R. effects of his free-trade system, 115 + --insidious character of his free-trade advances, 635 + --on the anticipated price of corn under free trade, 636 + --effects of his measures, 640. + + Peel, the present Sir R., his letter to his tenantry, 106. + + Peninsula, experienced results of the Liberal policy in the, 349. + + Perowsky, a Russian minister, 163. + + Persia, sketches by madame Pfeiffer in, 97. + + Peschiera, the capture of, by the Piedmontese, 444. + + Peter the Great, the first residence of, at St Petersburg, 171. + + Peterwardein, a captivity in, 39. + + Petropolis, German colony of, in Brazil, 87. + + PFEIFFER, MADAME, WANDERINGS ROUND THE WORLD, by, reviewed, 86. + + Philip van Artevelde, review of, 505. + + Phreno-mesmerism, exhibitions of, 74. + + Picnic, an Eastern, 725. + + Picture gallery of Versailles, Stahr on the, 552. + + PICTURES FROM ST PETERSBURG, 154. + + PIMODAN, THE COUNT DE, CAMPAIGNS OF, reviewed, 25. + + Pine, the, in America, 671. + + Pius IX., the accession of, and review of his proceedings, 432 + _et seq._ + + Place de la Concorde, the, at Paris, 202. + + Place Vendôme, the Napoleon column in the, 318. + + Playing cards, consumption of, in Russia, 169. + + Poetry: The Lament of Selim, by Delta, 103 + --Day-dreams of an exile, by H. G. K., 465, 604. + + Police, abuses of the, in St Petersburg, 162 _et seq._ + + Political agitation, evils connected with, 296. + + Pomaree, queen, sketches of, 91. + + Poor-rates, influence of free trade on, 139. + + Popery, influence of, on Continental Revolution, 431. + + Population, the views of Malthus on, 123 + --the influence of employment on it, _ib._ + --its decrease in Great Britain since 1845, 128 + --immigration of it from the country into the towns, 307. + + Porter, Mr, on surplus population, 625. + + Portugal, the ancient constitution of, 351. + + PORTUGUESE POLITICS, 349. + + Potato failure, influence of the, on population, 131 + --the free-traders on it, 641. + + Poussin, Ruskin on, 328. + + Pre-Raphaelitism, Lewald on, 212. + + Production, true policy with regard to, 107. + + Productive classes, all classes dependent on the, 631. + + Property-tax returns, falling off in the, 137. + + Prosperity, anticipations regarding, and their disappointment, 609. + + Prostitution, Mr Helps on, 389. + + Protection, prosperity enjoyed under, 115. + + Protestantism, necessity of, to freedom, 447. + + Purchas, account of cannibalism in Africa by, 416. + + Puris of Brazil, the, 89. + + Pusey, Mr, his letters on protection, &c., 119. + + + Radetsky, marshal, sketch of the character of, 31 + --sketches of, during the campaign in Italy, 26, _et seq. passim_ + --his first proclamation on the outbreak of the insurrection, 439 + --sketch of his previous career, 441. + + RAID OF ARNABOLL, the, chap. i. 220 + --chap. ii. 225 + --chap. iii. 230 + --chap. iv. 236. + + RAIL, THE CHAMPIONS OF THE, 739. + + Railroads, French and English, 199. + + Railway travelling, on, 196. + + Rangihaeata, a New Zealand chief, 425. + + Rauparaha, a New Zealand chief, 425. + + Ravandus, town of, 100. + + Recreation, Mr Helps on, 384. + + Reform Bill, agitation connected the, 296. + + Reform Bill, the proposed new, 297 _et seq._ + + Rent, reduction of, its inefficiency to meet the agricultural + crisis, 492, 611, 612. + + Rents, alleged rises of, 494. + + Responsibility, application of the principle of, in Russia, 164. + + Resumption of cash payments, influence of, 622. + + Revenue, influence of free trade on the, 137. + + Revolution, aversion to, in Great Britain, 297. + + Revolutionary war, increase of population during the, 124. + + Rhodes, sketch of, 723. + + Richelieu, encouragement of the drama by, in France, 323. + + Rivoli, defeat of Charles Albert at, 444. + + Roman states, the revolt of the, in 1830, 432 + --and in 1848, 437. + + Rome, rise of, after the battle of Cannæ, 124 + --progress of the decline of population in, 125 + --the siege of, by Oudinot, 438. + + Rosicrucians, supposed acquaintance of the, with mesmerism, 77. + + Rossi, the papal minister, murder of, 437. + + Rossi, the countess, 168, 169. + + Royal Academy's exhibition, Fanny Lewald on the, 211. + + Rubini, reception of, in St Petersburg, 168. + + RUSKIN, THE WORKS OF, 326. + + Russell, Lord John, his proposed new Reform Bill, 297 _et seq._ + --on the state of the agricultural interest, 489. + + Russia, sketches of government, society, &c. in, 154 _et seq._ + --extravagance of the higher classes, 170. + + Russians, cheerfulness of the, 166. + + + Sabbath, a, in California, 472. + + St Denis, the arch of, 320. + + St Jean d' Acre, sketches in, 459. + + St Lawrence river, the, 708. + + St Martin, the arch of, 320. + + St Petersburg, pictures from, 154. + + Saldanha, the marquis, his insurrection in Portugal and its + results, 349 + --his present position, 357. + + Salis, general, death of, 30. + + San Francisco, sketches in, 472 _et seq._ + + Sanitary measures, on government interference in, 381. + + Sanitary regulations, Mr Helps on, 383. + + Sardinia and Austria, sketches of the war between, 25 _et seq._, + 437 _et seq._ + + Savoy, sketch of the princes of, 441. + + Scanderoon, the town of, 463. + + SCARBOROUGH ELECTION, the, 245 + --the _Times_ on it, 303. + + Scheremetiew, count, anecdote of, 156. + + Schoolmasters, influence of free trade on the, 501. + + Science, the superstitions of, 565. + + Scotland, increase of population in, 1841 to 1851, 129 + --preponderance of the liberal representatives in, 297 + --fall in the prices of grain as shown by the Fiars, 491 + --alleged rise of rents, 494. + + Scottish clergy and schoolmasters, influence of free trade on + the incomes of, 500 _et seq._ + + Scribe, M., the words of Zerline by, 311. + + Scully, Mr, his motion regarding pauperism in Ireland, 136. + + SELIM'S LAMENT, by Delta, 103. + + Sena, defeat of Charles Albert at, 444. + + Serfdom, provisions for the abolition of, in Russia, 155 + --sketches of it there, 156 _et seq._ + + Servants and employers, on the relations between, 381. + + SHAW'S GOLDEN DREAMS AND WAKING REALITIES, review of, 470. + + Shelley's Cenci, remarks on, 505. + + Shipping, influence of free trade on, 138. + + SHOPKEEPERS OF GREAT BRITAIN, to the, 629. + + Shopkeepers, effects of free trade on the, 111 + --serfdom of the, in St Petersburg, 156. + + "Sigh thou not for a happier lot," 604. + + Slavery, Mr Helps on, 384 + --different circumstances in which originated, 385. + + Small boroughs, the _Times_ on the, 246, 300. + + Small trades, effects of the suppression of the, 308. + + Snake-charming in India, 94. + + Snakes, accounts of, 271. + + Soil, true origin of national wealth with the, 107. + + Soliman Effendi, a renegade Sicilian, 253, 254. + + Sontag, madame, at St Petersburg, 168, 169. + + Spain, results of liberal policy in, 354 + --its state compared with that of Portugal, _ib._ + + Spiral column, Ruskin on the, 327. + + SPRINGER'S FOREST LIFE reviewed, 669. + + Stage, state of the, in St Petersburg, 167. + + STAHR'S TWO MONTHS IN PARIS, review of, 543 + --his "A Year in Italy," remarks on, 544. + + "Stand by the Ocean," 469. + + Stanley, lord, see Derby, earl of. + + Starch, quantity of, used in the cotton manufacture, 497. + + Stockton, (California,) sketch of, 474. + + Strada, account of a case of magnetic communication by, 78. + + Strang, Dr, his statistics regarding the population of Glasgow, 130. + + Streams, Ruskin on, 330. + + SUBMARINE TELEGRAPH, the, 562. + + Suffolk Agricultural Association, resolutions of the, 616. + + Suicide, prevalence and character of, in Paris, 321. + + Sunday in London, Lewald on, 213. + + Superstitions of science, the, 565. + + Suspension of cash payments, influence of the, 619. + + Swiss, defence of Vicenza by the, 35. + + Syria, sketches in, 453. + + + Tabriz, sketches by madame Pfeiffer at, 101. + + Tahiti, sketches at, 90. + + TAKA, A CAMPAIGN IN, 251. + + Taxation, impossibility of reduction of, adequate to meet the + agricultural depression, 113 + --influence of, on industry, 306 + --the question of, in relation to that of free trade, 633 + --comparative pressure of, in the United States and Great Britain, + 715. + + TAYLOR, HENRY, THE DRAMAS OF, 505. + + TELEGRAPH, THE SUBMARINE, 562. + + Tenantry, separation between, and their landlords, induced by free + trade, 610 + --their losses by free trade, 611. + + Thames, the approach to London by the, 210. + + Theatre, state of the, in Russia, 167. + + Theatres, the London, Fanny Lewald on, 217 + --statistics of those of Paris, 323. + + Theoretic faculty, Ruskin on the, 334. + + Thiennes, the count de, heroism of, 26. + + Tiger hunt in India, a, 95. + + Times newspaper, the, on the results of free trade, 133 + --on the depopulation of Ireland, 134 + --on the Scarborough election, 246 + --on the small boroughs, 300 + --on the metropolitan representatives, 301 + --account of the laying down of the submarine telegraph from, 568 + --on the increased emigration and its results, 626. + + Tirel's La République, &c., remarks on, 549. + + To ----, by H. G. K., 465, 605 + + Towns, increase of the, at the expense of the country, 125 + --increase of population in the, 1841 to 1851, 129 + --reaction of the agricultural depression on the, 303 + --immigration of population from the country into them, 307 + --state of their population, _ib._ + --ventilation, drainage, &c. of them, 381. + + Trade circulars, general tone of the, 108. + + Traders, influence of free trade on the, 137. + + Trafalgar Square fountains, the, 314. + + Travelling, modern universality of, 86 + --increased facilities and abundance of it, 195. + + Tucket, Mr, account of the massacre of Wairau by, 425. + + + United States, protective policy of the, 117 + --increase in their population, 123 + --on slavery in the, 385 + --increased cultivation of grain in the, 489 _note_ + --sketches of agriculture in the, 699 _et seq._ + --Johnston on their wheat producing powers, 701 + --the exports of bread-stuffs from, 702 + --the prices of these falling in, 703 + --extensive use of maize and buckwheat in, 705 + --encouragements to emigration to, 710, 711 + --their judicial system, 713 + --taxation, 715. + + Upper Canada, progress of, 708. + + + Vaccination in New Zealand, 430. + + Van, lake, 732. + + Van Diemen's land, the aborigines of, 416. + + Vendôme column, the, 318. + + Venetian territories, the insurrection in the, 26 _et seq._ + --how acquired by Austria, 433 + --her administration of them, 435, 436. + + Venice, the revolt at, 27. + + Ventilation, Mr Helps on the importance of, 383. + + Vernet the actor, anecdote of, 161. + + Verona, the battle of, 30 _et seq._ + --capture of it by general d'Aspre, 442. + + Versailles, Stahr on the galleries of, 552. + + Vicenza, the capture of, by Radetsky, 34, 35, 445. + + VOICE FROM THE DIGGINGS, A, 470. + + VOLTAIRE IN THE CRYSTAL PALACE, 142. + + + Wages, lowering of, among the agricultural classes, 496 + --the general reduction of them the object of the + free-traders, 634. + + Wairau, the massacre of, 425. + + Walmsley, sir J., his reception in Scotland, 298. + + WALPOLE'S ANSAYRII, reviewed, 719. + + WANDERINGS ROUND THE WORLD, 86. + + Wanganui, treaty of, with the New Zealand chiefs, 423. + + Warburton's "Crescent and Cross," extract from, 721 _note_. + + Wellington statues, Fanny Lewald on the, 211. + + WERNE, F. A., A CAMPAIGN IN TAKA by, reviewed, 251. + + Wheat, alleged increased consumption of, 496 + --its price under free trade, 636 + --powers of producing, in the United States, 701. + + "Where summer is, there 'tis fresh and fair," 467. + + Wilson, James, on the corn laws, 636. + + Windischgratz, sketches of the campaign in Hungary under, 36. + + Winter palace, destruction and rebuilding of the, in St + Petersburg, 158. + + Wolves, sketches of, in America, 675. + + Women, English and German, Fanny Lewald on, 216. + + Woodcutters' life in Maine, sketches of, 669 _et seq._ + + Working-classes, effects of free trade on the, 113. + + WORLD, WANDERINGS ROUND THE, 86. + + + York column, the, 211. + + Young, G. F., return of, for Scarborough, 245. + + + Zerline, the opera of, 311. + + Zichy, count, Austrian commandant at Venice, 28. + + Zichy, lieutenant count, death of, 33. + + +_Printed by William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh._ + + * * * * * + +Transcriber's note: + +Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. +Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained as +printed (example: Sheffield and Sheffeld). + +Mismatched quotes are not fixed if it's not sufficiently clear where +the missing quote should be placed. + +The cover for the eBook version of this book was created by the +transcriber and is placed in the public domain. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol. +70, No. 434, December, 1851, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLACKWOOD'S MAGAZINE, DEC 1851 *** + +***** This file should be named 44491-8.txt or 44491-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/4/4/9/44491/ + +Produced by Brendan OConnor, Jonathan Ingram and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Library of Early Journals.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol. 70, No. 434, December, 1851 + +Author: Various + +Release Date: December 24, 2013 [EBook #44491] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLACKWOOD'S MAGAZINE, DEC 1851 *** + + + + +Produced by Brendan OConnor, Jonathan Ingram and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Library of Early Journals.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h1> +BLACKWOOD'S<br /> +EDINBURGH MAGAZINE.</h1> + +<p class="center">No. CCCCXXXIV. DECEMBER, 1851. <span class="smcap">Vol. LXX.</span> +</p> + + + + +<h2><br />CONTENTS.</h2> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="contents"> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">To the Shopkeepers of Great Britain</span>,</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_629">629</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Jew's Legacy. A Tale of the Siege of Gibraltar</span>,</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_648">648</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Life Amongst the Loggers</span>,</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_669">669</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">My Novel; or, Varieties in English Life. Part XVI.</span>,</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_681">681</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Johnston's Notes on North America</span>,</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_699">699</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Ansayrii</span>,</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_719">719</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Champions of the Rail</span>,</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_739">739</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Index</span>,</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_751">751</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p class="center">——————</p> + +<p class="center"> +<big>EDINBURGH:</big><br /> +WILLIAM BLACKWOOD & SONS, 45 GEORGE STREET;<br /> +AND 37 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON.<br /> +<br /> +<small><i>To whom all communications (post paid) must be addressed.</i><br /> +<br /> +SOLD BY ALL THE BOOKSELLERS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM.</small></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_629" id="Page_629"> </a></span></p> + + + + +<p class="center"> +<span class="b15">BLACKWOOD'S<br /> +EDINBURGH MAGAZINE.</span></p> + +<p class="center">No. CCCCXXXIV. <span class="bb bt">DECEMBER, 1851</span>. <span class="smcap">Vol. LXX.</span> +</p> + + + + + +<h2><br /><br />TO THE SHOPKEEPERS OF GREAT BRITAIN.</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Gentlemen</span>,—As it is customary +for most men about this season of the +year, when accounts are balanced and +squared, to take a serious survey of +the posture of their affairs, and to +examine into their business prospects, +perhaps you may not consider a few +observations, touching the welfare +and position of that important class +of the community to which you belong, +either impertinent or ill-timed. +You are aware that, for the last year +or two, Her Majesty's Ministers have +been in the habit of opening Parliament +with a congratulatory assurance +of the continued, and even augmented, +prosperity of the country. The +reason why such statements were +made, altogether irrespective of their +truth or falsehood, is obvious enough. +In a political point of view, they +were necessary for the vindication of +the measures which Government +either originated or adopted. To have +admitted that the country was not +prospering under the new commercial +system, would have been considered +by the public as tantamount to an +acknowledgment that the policy which +dictated those measures was vicious; +and that the Whig ministry, if not +deficient in duty, had at least erred +sorely in judgment. In private life, +we rarely meet with that degree of +candour which amounts to an unequivocal +admission of error in point of +judgment—in public life, such an +admission is altogether unknown. +Failure may indeed be acknowledged +when the fact becomes too evident to +admit of further denial; but the +causes of that failure are never +attributed to their real source. Not +only the purity of the motive, but the +wisdom of the conception, is vindicated +to the last. In this case, however, +failure is totally denied. So far +from being put upon their defence, +the Whigs maintain that they have +achieved a triumph. Their averment +is, that, with the exception of the +agricultural producers, among whom +they allow that a certain degree of +distress prevails, all other classes of +the community are prosperous. Even +for the agriculturists there is balm in +store. The prosperity of the other +classes is to react upon them; so +that, within some indefinite period of +time, we shall all find ourselves in +circumstances of ease and comfort +which have hitherto been unknown in +our land.</p> + +<p>With you the benefit is represented, +not as prospective, but as present. +The agriculturist may have to wait a +little longer, but you are already provided +for. Your cake is baked; and +we are assured that you are eating it +in thankfulness and joy. If this is +really the case, there is no more to be +said on the subject. If the harvest +of Free Trade has actually yielded +you such a large measure of profit, it +would be madness in anyone to decry +that line of policy in your hearing.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_630" id="Page_630">[630]</a></span> +You constitute the class which, from +its peculiar position and vocation, is +better qualified than any other to +judge accurately, and from experience, +of the degree of prosperity which is +actually known in the country. The +verdict of twelve shopkeepers, given +after an inspection of their books for +an average of years, ought to be of +more weight, in settling the merits of +any disputed commercial question, +than the random assurances of a +dozen cabinet ministers whose reputation +and official existence are bound +up in the vindication of their own +policy. The reason of this is perfectly +obvious. Your profit is simply +a commission upon your sales. You +do not produce or manufacture +articles of consumption—you simply +retail them. Your profit depends +upon the briskness of trade, that is, +the amount of demand. It rises or +falls according to the general circumstances +of your customers. In good +times you make large profits; in bad +times those profits decrease. One +while your stock sells off rapidly; at +another, it remains upon your hands. +Your interest is inseparable from that +of the great body of consumers by +whom you live. You have little or +nothing to do with the foreign trade; +for, whatever be the nature, of the +articles in which you deal, you sell +them in the home market. You have, +therefore, the best opportunity of +estimating the real condition of your +customers. The state of your own +books, and the comparative degree of +ease or difficulty which you experience +in the collection of your accounts, +furnish you with a sure index of the +purchasing power of the community. +Compared with this criterion, which +is common to every man among you, +tables of exports and imports, statements +of bank bullion, and such like +artificial implements as have been +invented by the political impostors +and economists, are absolutely worthless. +When our sapient Chancellor +of the Exchequer, or Mr Labouchere, +tell you, with an air of unbounded +triumph, that the exportation of +calicoes to China or Peru has mightily +increased—and therefore argue, +without condescending to inquire +whether such exportation has been +attended with any profit at all to the +manufacturers, that the prosperity of +the country is advancing at a railway +pace—you may indeed be gratified by +the statistical information, but you +will fail to discover in what way the +public are benefited thereby. It is +pleasant to know that there are fifteen +millions of gold in the vaults of +the Bank of England, and that, so +long as this hoard remains undiminished, +there is little chance of a commercial +crisis, or a violent contraction +of credit. But we take it you would +be infinitely better pleased to know +that sovereigns were circulating freely +from hand to hand amongst the people, +and that your customers had their +pockets so well filled as to enable +them to purchase largely, and to pay +their accounts when due. To you +any depression whatever is a serious +matter—a depression which assumes +a permanent appearance cannot be +much short of ruin. Therefore you +ought most especially to take care +that no false representation is made +regarding your circumstances, which +may be the means of perpetuating +a system that has already proved +detrimental to a large body of your +customers.</p> + +<p>Were we to take for granted the +ministerial statement of prosperity—which +no doubt will be repeated next +February—your Whig minister being +an incorrigible cuckoo—this paper +would certainly not have been written. +But, having had occasion early +to doubt the truthfulness of this +vernal note, and having taken some +pains to examine the statements +which from time to time are issued +by the great houses engaged in commercial +and manufacturing industry, +as also the accounts of the present +condition of the poor, which have excited +so much public interest, we +have really been unable to discover +any one influential class, beyond the +money-lenders and creditors, or any +one large and important branch of +industry, which can, with truth, be +described as prospering, or will confess +to the existence of such prosperity. +Shipmasters, manufacturers, +merchants, iron-masters, and agriculturists, +all tell the same tale. This +is very strange. You may possibly +remember that Mr M'Gregor, once +Secretary to the Board of Trade, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_631" id="Page_631">[631]</a></span> +now member for Glasgow, the great +commercial city of Scotland, estimated +the additional amount of wealth which +was to accrue to Great Britain, in +consequence of the repeal of the Corn +Laws, at two millions sterling per +week! Upon what data that profound +gentleman, who thus enunciated +the prophecy and assumed the +mask of Midas, proceeded in his calculation, +we know not, and perhaps +it would be superfluous to inquire. It +certainly was a good round sum; for, +by this time, without insisting upon +compound, or even simple interest, it +should have amounted to rather more +than one-half of the national debt; +but unfortunately nobody will own to +having fingered a farthing of the +money. In recalling to your memory +this little circumstance, it is by no +means our intention to offer any disrespect +to the intellectual powers of +M'Gregor, for whom, indeed, we entertain +a high degree of veneration, +similar to that which is manifested +by the Mussulman when he finds +himself in the company of a howling +derveesh. We merely wish to reproduce +to you one phantom of the +golden dream, which, five or six +years ago, when the fever of gain was +epidemical, possessed the slumbers of +so many; and having done so, to ask +you, now that the fever is gone, +whether it was not indeed a phantom? +We are wiser now—at all events, we +have had more experience—and the +producing classes tell us very distinctly, +and quite unanimously, that +they have derived no benefit whatever +from the commercial changes +which have taken place. Capital, +whether invested in ships, factories, +mines, or land, is less profitable, and +therefore less valuable, than it was +before; and in some instances, where +the depression has been most heavy, +it has been almost annihilated.</p> + +<p>These are not our statements, but +the statements of the several interests, +as put forward by their own +representatives. They are statements +which emanate alike from the +Free-Trader and the Protectionist. +Men may differ as to the cause, but +they all agree as to the grand fact of +the depression. So that, when we +hear ministers congratulating themselves +and the country upon its general +prosperity, and, <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">pari passu</i> with +this congratulation, find the accredited +organs of each of the great branches +of productive industry vehemently +asserting that they are exceptions +from the general rule, an anxious +believer in the probity of all parties +has his faith somewhat rudely shaken.</p> + +<p>We believe that, collectively, you +are the best judges as to this disputed +matter. As the real wealth of +the country depends upon the amount +and value of its yearly produce—as +from that annual creation, when measured +by the monetary standard, and +circulated through a thousand channels, +all our incomes are derived—you, +who supply the whole population +with the necessaries and luxuries of +life, (fabricated by others, but passing +through your hands,) must necessarily +have the best means of +knowing whether the circumstances +of that population have, on the aggregate, +been bettered or made worse. +When Napoleon in the bitterness of +his heart declared that we were a +nation of shopkeepers, he uttered no +terms of reproach, though he intended +to convey a taunt. Your position +in the community is such that you +cannot flourish independent of its +general prosperity. The exporting +manufacturer, and even the foreign +merchant, may multiply their gains, +and realise fortunes, whilst other +classes, whose wellbeing is far more +important to the stability of the +empire, are hastening to decay. Such +phenomena are common in old states, +when the process of dissolution has +begun. The parasite lives and thrives, +while the tree round which it has +wound its tendrils is crumbling into +rottenness. But such is not your +case. Your interests are identical +with those of the productive classes, +for without them you could not exist. +Ill-remunerated labour—unproductive +capital—lessened means—deteriorated +property—are things which +affect you as deeply as though you +were the direct sufferers or losers. +Upon the wealth of your customers +depends your own. And therefore, +in such an important crisis as the +present, when the existing commercial +system of the country is vigorously +assailed by one party, and as +obstinately defended by another—when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_632" id="Page_632">[632]</a></span> +facts and statements apparently +of much weight are adduced on either +side, to serve as arguments for the +overthrow or the maintenance of that +system—when some cite statistical +tables to prove that the country +must be prosperous, and others adduce +real evidence to show that the +reverse is the case—you cannot afford +to sit idly by, without throwing the +weight of your testimony and experience +into one or other of the scales. +You have had admirable opportunities +of noticing the working of the +Free-Trade system. It matters not +what were the original prepossessions +of any of you, or what might have +been your opinion with regard to the +merits of this or that scheme, while it +was still in embryo and untried. A +more complex question than that of +Free Trade, as affecting the importation +of corn, probably never was presented +to the public consideration. +Many excellent, judicious, and thoroughly +patriotic men, relying upon +the truth of statements which were +regarded by others as mere plausible +theories, were willing to submit to +the experiment. And when, by the +grossest act of political perfidy that +was ever perpetrated—an act which +future times, if not the present, will +stigmatise with deserved opprobrium—the +last and most important change, +save that which subsequently assailed +our maritime interest, was suddenly +effected, it was the declared opinion +of the majority that the new system +must at least have a trial, until its +real results were developed, and until +it became apparent to the nation +whether or not Free Trade would +operate for the advantage of the +people, as its advocates and promoters +had predicted.</p> + +<p>Here we must, for a moment or +two, however unwillingly, digress. +The later measures of Free Trade +have assailed interests so important +and so strong, that its former and +earlier advances, stealthily and cautiously +made, have almost faded from +the public view. Free Trade, as a +political system, did not alone strike +at the agricultural or the shipping +interest. Since the days of Mr Huskisson, +who brought with him into +active life the principles which he +had imbibed in youth from his associates +in French Jacobinism, the +principles of Free Trade have been +gradually but cautiously applied to +various branches of British industry. +The slow and insidious nature of the +movement on the part of the statesmen, +who, even then, were yielding +to the influence of the modern economical +school, showed their distrust +of the system, which, if true, ought +at once to have been openly promulgated. +Like the late Sir Robert Peel, +Huskisson was destitute of that manly +courage which scorns concealment or +deceit, and walks steadfastly to its +goal. Cunning was an ingredient of +his nature: whatever he did was +accomplished by tortuous methods, +and vindicated upon false pretences. +The tendency of that policy which +he commenced was to maintain by +all means, at all hazards, and at the +sacrifice, if needful, of every other +interest, the manufacturing supremacy, +of England in the foreign +market—an object for which we still +are striving, though at the imminent +risk of the dismemberment of the +British empire. It is due, however, to +the memory of Mr Huskisson, to remark, +that, although the originator of +this policy, he does not seem to have +contemplated the extent to which it +would be carried out by his successors. +His opinions upon the subject +of protection to agriculture were +clear and decided: "There is no +effectual security, either in peace +or war, against the frequent return +of scarcity, but in making ourselves +independent of foreign supply. Let +the bread we eat be the produce of +corn grown among ourselves; and, for +one, I care not how cheap it is—the +cheaper the better. It is cheap now, +and I rejoice at it, because it is altogether +owing to a sufficiency of corn +of our own growth; but, to insure a +continuance of that cheapness, and that +sufficiency, we must insure to our own +growers <em>protection against foreign importation</em>, +which has produced those +blessings, and by which alone they can +be permanently maintained." The +time, however, was fast approaching +when the reins of government were to +fall into the hands of a scion of the +manufacturing body, in whose eyes +the momentary supremacy of party was +of more importance than any principle<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_633" id="Page_633">[633]</a></span> +of national policy. There is no +more curious page in history than +that which records the rise of British +manufactures towards the close of +last century. Invention after invention, +whereby manual labour was +superseded by machinery, and the +power of production almost indefinitely +multiplied, paved the way for +that monopoly which our manufacturers +enjoyed for at least a quarter +of a century, during which time every +other country in Europe except our +own was devastated by war, and the +peaceful arts forgotten or overthrown. +It was during that period that the +gigantic fortunes of the Arkwrights +and the Peels were made, and that +influence secured to the manufacturing +body in the British House of +Commons which it never possessed +before. But with the return of peace +the monopoly disappeared. By invention +in mechanical appliances, +Britain had the start of other +nations in the creation of manufactures; +by war, she was enabled +long to enjoy the undivided benefits. +But inventions are not the property +of a single nation; they pass from +one to another with the rapidity +of lightning; they are available +by the foreign, even more +easily than by the domestic, rival. +Hence it very soon became apparent +that other states were preparing to +compete with us in those branches +of industry which had proved so +exceedingly profitable. France, Belgium, +Germany, Russia, Switzerland, +and America, all entered keenly into +the contest; and then commenced +that decline of prices which has +continued, almost without intermission, +to the present hour. Reciprocity +treaties were tried, but were in +fact of little avail; for the great bulk +of the English exports consisted of +those very textile fabrics which it +was the object of each country to +produce for its own consumption, +if not to export to others. During +the war, both the expenses of government +and the interest of the +National Debt had doubled in amount, +and the monetary changes effected +in 1819 added at least one-third to +the weight of that augmented burden. +In order to make this taxation +bearable, the industry of the people +was protected in their own market +by a scale of customs duties, which +prevented the influx of foreign produce +at rates which must have +annihilated the British workman. +Protection is a clear necessity which +arises out of taxation. If the +tobacco, tea, coffee, sugar, beer, soap, +and other articles of the labourer's +consumption, are taxed in order to +maintain an expensive establishment, +and to defray the interest +of an enormous debt, he must have +a compensation of some kind. The +only kind of compensation which +can be granted, and which the wit +of man can devise, is to be found +in an equitable scale of duties, by +means of which all produce imported +into Britain shall be taxed as heavily +as though it had been reared, grown, +or made up on British ground by +British labourers. Unless this be +done, there is no fair competition. +The less burdened foreigner must +ultimately carry the day against +the heavily-taxed Englishman. And +when we consider that all taxes must +be paid out of produce, there being +no other source whatever from which +they can be drawn, the importance +of maintaining the market value of +our produce at a point equal to the +pressure of our taxation will at once +become apparent.</p> + +<p>There are, however, plausible, +though in reality most fallacious +grounds, upon which the Protective +System may be assailed. In this, +as in every other country, the first +and most important branch of industry +is that which provides food +for the population. To that all +others are subordinate. It is impossible +to estimate the amount of +capital which has been laid out +upon the soil of Britain, first in +reclaiming it from a state of nature, +and, since then, in maturing and +increasing its fruitfulness. But some +idea may be formed of its magnitude +from the fact that, in 1846, +the annual agricultural produce of +the United Kingdom was valued, +according to the prices then current, +at £250,000,000. Whatever imperial +taxation is imposed on other +classes of the community is shared +equally by the agriculturists; and +they are, moreover, exposed to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_634" id="Page_634">[634]</a></span> +heavy local rates, from which the +others are comparatively free. It is +a received maxim in political economy—we +ought rather to say a +rule of common sense—that all taxes +and charges paid by the producer, +over and above his necessary profit, +fail ultimately to be defrayed by +the consumer—that is, that such +taxes and charges form a component +part of the selling price of the article. +There is no specialty whatever in +the case of corn or provisions to +exempt them from the general rule. +But all restrictions which tend to +enhance the price of the first necessaries +of life are obnoxious to that +section of the people who, from +ignorance or incapacity, cannot understand +why bread should be dear +in one country and cheap in another. +They, too, are subjected to their +share of indirect taxation, and the +knowledge that they are so taxed +in the consumption of articles which +constitute their only luxuries, renders +them doubly impatient of a system +which, on the authority of wicked +and designing demagogues, they are +led to believe was invented by the +landlords solely for their own benefit. +Thus heavy taxation, however engendered, +must always be fraught +with great peril to the permanency +of a state. The burden of such +taxation falls most heavily upon +the land, and yet the agriculturist +is expected to provide food for the +people as cheaply as though he were +altogether exempt from the burden.</p> + +<p>The reason why the exporting +manufacturers, and those politicians +who entered thoroughly into their +views, were so bent upon the destruction +of the Corn Laws, was twofold. +In the first place, the competition +in foreign markets threatened to +become so strong, owing to the rapid +development of textile industry on +the Continent, that it was necessary +to lower prices. England had given +machinery and models to the Continent, +and the Continent was now +fighting her with her own weapons, +and at a cheaper cost, as labour +abroad is less expensive than it is +here. In order to bring down the value +of labour in England, for the purpose +of protracting this grand manufacturing +contest, it was necessary to +lower, in some way or other, the +price of food in England, and this +could only be accomplished by free +admission of foreign supplies. In +short, their object was to bring down +wages. On this point we have the +testimony of Mr Muntz, M.P. for +Birmingham, as early as February +1842. He wrote as follows:—"Say +what you will, the <em>object</em> of the +measure is <em>to reduce wages</em>, and +the <em>intention</em> is to reduce them to +the Continental level. I repeat it, +the Corn Laws very materially support +labour in this country.... +Why, the professed object of the +repeal is to enable the English merchant +to compete with the foreigner, +and how can he do that <em>unless by a +reduction of wages</em>, which reduction +will be upon all trade, home and +foreign?" Mr John Bright was not +less clear as to the necessity of +such reduction of wages in order to +maintain our exports: "If the tariff +in Russia imposed a heavy duty on +English yarn, and if English yarn +went there and had to be sold at +the same rate as the yarn of the +Russian spinner, he (that is, the +Russian spinner) not paying the +heavy duty, it followed that we +must, <em>by some means or other</em>, make +our goods cheaper by the amount +of duty which we paid, and to do +that <em>it was absolutely necessary that +the wages of the operatives in this +country should be reduced</em>." And Mr +Greg of Manchester, a leading member +of the Anti-Corn Law League, +wrote as follows:—"In the only +remaining item of the cost of production—that +is, the wages of labour—foreign +nations have a decided advantage; +and although a free trade in +provisions, by lowering them here, +and raising them abroad, might regulate +the difference, I doubt if it ever +could be entirely removed. Better +education, more sober habits, more +frugality, and general forethought, +together with cheaper food, will no +doubt enable our people to live in +much greater comfort than at present +<small>UPON CONSIDERABLY SMALLER +EARNINGS</small>." These extracts sufficiently +disclose the designs of the +Free-Traders against the wages of +the workman. In the second place, +it was believed by many of them,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_635" id="Page_635">[635]</a></span> +that, by sacrificing the agriculturists, +they would be able to turn the +attention of other countries, especially +America, from the prosecution +of their rising manufactures. They +argued, that if we were to surrender +and secure our provision market to +foreign states, they would return +the compliment by allowing us to +manufacture for them—in other +words, that the foreigners were to feed +England, and England was to clothe +the foreigners! This precious scheme +has since been avowed, seriously and +gravely, by men who have seats in +the present House of Commons; and, +so far as we can understand their +language, the philosophers of the +<cite>Edinburgh Review</cite> consider this a +most sensible arrangement!</p> + +<p>The agricultural interest, however, +was of too great magnitude to be +attacked at once. Several outworks +were to be gained before the citadel +was summoned to surrender. Accordingly +Mr Huskisson began, and +Sir Robert Peel continued, that system +of commercial relaxations, (which, +some five-and-twenty years ago, was +exposed and denounced in this Magazine,) +annihilating some branches of +industry and depressing others—pauperising +whole districts, as in the +Highlands, and merging the villages +in the towns—until the time seemed +ripe, and the opportunity propitious, +for the accomplishment of the grand +design. It is not now necessary to +dwell upon the circumstances which +attended the change in the Corn and +Navigation Laws—these are still fresh +in the memory of all of us, and will +not soon be forgotten. Our object +in this digression was simply to remind +you that Free Trade, in its +insidious and stealthy progress, has +warred with other interests than those +which belong to the agricultural and +the maritime classes.</p> + +<p>Neither is it necessary at present +to advert to the gross inconsistencies +of the system—to the restrictions +which it still continues upon that +very branch of industry which it has +laid bare to foreign competition. +Let us take the system as it is, of +which you have had now nearly three +years' experience, dating from the +time when the ports were opened.</p> + +<p>Three years constitute a long period +for the endurance of a commercial +experiment. During that time +you have had ample opportunity of +observing how the system has worked. +Are you richer or poorer than you +were before the experiment began? +If the former, Free Trade has worked +well; if the latter, it is a mischievous +delusion.</p> + +<p>This is a question which you alone +can answer—or rather, every man +must answer it for himself. But this +much we may be allowed to say, that, +from what information we can gather +regarding the state of general trade—from +the sentiments which we have +heard expressed by many of the most +respectable of your own body—the +experiences of the last year have not +been such as to give you much encouragement +for the future. If it is so, +then you will do well to consider +whether or not you ought to lend that +great political influence which you undoubtedly +possess, in support of a +system which has not only failed to +realise the anticipations of its founders, +but has actually diminished in a +great degree the power of purchase of +the community.</p> + +<p>This is no trivial matter to any of +us, least of all is it trivial to you. The +next general election will be, in its +results, by far the most important of +any which has taken place for centuries. +If, in the new Parliament, +all idea of a return to the Protective +System is abandoned, we may prepare +ourselves for that most dismal +conflict which can convulse a country—a +war against taxation, and ultimately +against property. For—rely +upon this—heavy taxation and cheap +produce are things which never can +be reconciled. You may, if you +please, hand over the home market of +Britain to the foreigner, and allow +him, without toll or custom, to supply +our wants with produce of his own +rearing; but, if you do so, what is to +become of our own population, and +their labour?—and how are you to +levy those taxes which labour alone +can supply? That manufacturing interest, +for which such desperate sacrifices +have been made, is daily losing +ground in the markets of the world. +The fact will brook no denial, and it +is admitted even by its own members. +America has refused the bait offered<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_636" id="Page_636">[636]</a></span> +to her by the Free-Traders, and is +engaged heart and soul in the cotton +manufacture, for which she possesses +within herself the command of the +raw material. <em>To those countries +which supply us with corn, our exports +of manufactures have alarmingly +decreased.</em> We may continue +to glut (for that is what we are +doing at present) the markets of India +and China, and our export tables +may exhibit a cheering increase in +the amount of yards of calico sent out; +but, unless the trade circulars are +utterly mendacious, the speculation +has been, and will continue to be for +a long tract of time, unprofitable. +The fact is, that the extent and value +of our foreign trade in manufactures +is little understood by most of us, and +grossly exaggerated by others. It +constitutes, after all, a mere fraction +of the national production. The consumption +of manufactures at home is, +or was, before the late changes were +made, twice as great as the whole +amount of our annual exports. The +prosperity of this country does not +depend upon the amount of wares +which it sends or forces abroad, +though that is the doctrine which is +constantly clamoured in our ears by +the political economists—a generation +of ridiculous pretenders, of whom it is +only necessary to know one, in order +to form an accurate estimate of the +mental capabilities of his tribe. It +depends on our own labour, on our +own internal arrangements, and on +that reciprocity between man and +man, and between class and class of +our fellow-subjects, which is the only +real security for the peace and tranquillity +of a kingdom. Those exporting +manufacturers, who rummage foreign +markets, are no better than so +many buccaneers. Their object is to +evade the burden of taxation at home, +and, wherever they can with advantage +to themselves, to bring in foreign +labour, untaxed and untolled, to supersede +that of the British workman.</p> + +<p>You cannot have failed to remark +that the arguments which are now +put forward by the Free-Traders, in +support of their system, are totally +different from those which they advanced +while recommending it for the +adoption of the country. How often +were we told, during the struggle +which preceded the repeal of the +Corn Laws, that all the apprehensions +expressed of a permanent fall in the +value of produce, and of overwhelming +importations from abroad, were +purely visionary! Learned statists +undertook to prove by figures that +the whole quantity of grain which +could be brought into this country +was absolutely insignificant, and that +it could not disturb prices. Mr James +Wilson of the <cite>Economist</cite>, in his valuable +tractate entitled <cite>Influences of the +Corn Laws</cite>, which was published eleven +years ago, thus favoured the +public with <em>his</em> anticipations for the +future, in the event of the repeal of +the Corn Laws:—</p> + +<p>"Our belief is," says the sage of +Westbury, "that the whole of these +generally received opinions are erroneous; +that if we had had a free trade +in corn since 1815, the average price +of the whole period, actually received +by the British grower, would have +been higher than it has been; that +little or no more foreign grain would +have been imported; and that if, for +the next twenty years, the whole +protective system shall be abandoned, +<em>the average price of wheat will be +higher than it has been for the last +seven years</em>, (52s. 2d.,) or than it +would be in the future with a continuance +of the present system;—but +with this great difference, that prices +would be nearly uniform and unaltering +from year to year; that the disastrous +fluctuations would be greatly +avoided, which we have shown, in +the first proposition, to be so ruinous +under the present system."</p> + +<p>For this very notable sentiment, Mr +Wilson was clapped on the back by +the Manchester men, and commended +thus in the seventh circular of the +League:—"We are much indebted to +Mr Ibbotson of Sheffield, <em>Mr James +Wilson</em>, and our esteemed correspondent, +for labouring to prove to the +landlords that they may safely do +justice to others, without endangering +their own interests. And we think +very much has been done towards +justifying their opinions, <em>that the money +price of grain would not be lowered +even by the total repeal of the Corn +Laws</em>!" Sir Robert Peel, in the memorable +debates of 1846, attempted to +justify his experiment on the ground<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_637" id="Page_637">[637]</a></span> +that previous commercial relaxations +had been found beneficial to the parties +who were directly engaged in the +trade, his inference being, that the +same result would follow in the case +of the agriculturists. Unfortunately +the data upon which he proceeded +were altogether fallacious; for, notwithstanding +his dexterity in selecting +figures, and bringing out balances +which were apparently favourable, it +was clearly demonstrated by Lord +George Bentinck, that in no one instance +whatever had those relaxations +proved favourable to the British +producer, and that many of them had +moreover occasioned a large loss to +the public revenue. But the language +held by Sir Robert Peel, upon that +occasion, cannot be construed otherwise +than as the expression of an +opinion that, by the repeal of the +Corn Laws, prices would not be materially +disturbed—at all events, that +they would not be lowered so as to +fall below the remunerative point.</p> + +<p>The immense influx of foreign grain +which followed the opening of the +ports in 1849, and the immediate fall +of price, were calculated to alarm not +only the farmers, but even that section +of the Free-Traders who believed +conscientiously that the productive +powers of Europe and America were +unequal to the supply of so very considerable +a surplus. It is no wonder +that the farmers were frightened, +when they saw grain coming in at +the rate of a million of quarters per +month! They were, however, told by +the highest Free-trading authorities in +both Houses of Parliament, and the +same view was violently maintained +by the Liberal press, that their fears +were altogether groundless; that such +importations could not possibly be +maintained; and that the first inundation +was simply caused by an accumulation +of corn at the foreign ports, +stored up in readiness for the opening +of the English market—a contingency +which could not happen again. The +utmost pains were taken, by those who +had consented to the repeal of the Corn +Laws, to persuade the farmers that the +low prices of 1849 were attributable +principally to the superabundance of +the harvest at home; and they were +exhorted to wait patiently, but hopefully, +for the advent of better times. +In short, every means were taken to +persuade the agriculturists that they +were labouring under a temporary but +not a permanent difficulty, and that a +very short time would suffice to restore +them to their former condition. +But no one attempted to maintain, in +1849, that, if wheat continued to sell +at or about 40s. per quarter, its cultivation +could be profitable in Britain; +and when, at a later period, one or +two rash theorists attempted to broach +that doctrine, they were instantly put +to silence by the overwhelming nature +of the proof which was brought against +them—not the least instructive part of +it being the admissions of the leading +Free-Traders as to what really was, on +an average of years, the remunerative +price of wheat to the British grower.</p> + +<p>It is now clearly established, that, +under Free Trade, 40s. per quarter is a +price which the British farmer cannot +calculate on receiving. The averages +of England are now about 36s. per +quarter, being 20s. lower than the +sum which Sir Robert Peel considered +as the lowest which could remunerate +the grower. Therefore, taking the +average yield of good wheat-land at +four quarters per acre, it appears that, +by continuing to grow that kind of +grain which is convertible into ordinary +bread, the farmer must be a +positive loser to the extent of <em>four +pounds per acre</em>! In other words, +even suppose no rent at all were taken +for the land, wheat cannot continue +to be grown at a profit in Great Britain, +so long as the averages remain +below 40s.; and we leave a large +margin to the credit of improved husbandry +and strict economy, exercised, +as it must be, at the expense of the +labourer's wages. That such is the +present condition of the British farmers—a +hopeless one, unless a legislative +remedy is applied—will brook +no denial. Last year we were told of +farms letting at an increase of rent, +and of other symptoms of agricultural +prosperity, whereof nothing now is +heard. The fact of the depression—if +we may use so mild a term in respect +to a branch of industry which is +now merely existing upon capital, not +by income—is beyond all possibility +of doubt or cavil. The causes of it +are obvious; and it now only remains +to be seen whether we can afford to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_638" id="Page_638">[638]</a></span> +allow agriculture to be extinguished +from among us, or at best raised to +that point which will afford a bare +subsistence to the grower, without +the risk of involving the rest of us +in a like calamity.</p> + +<p>You may have heard it said—for it +has been often written—that it signifies +little to the people of this country +from what source they receive their +bread. It is worth your while to +examine into this. That a loaf baked +of American flour, grown in the valley +of the Mississippi, may taste quite as +well in the mouth of the consumer as +a loaf of English material is a circumstance +which we can readily believe; +but is this all that is to be considered? +Does the American bear any part of +our national taxation? Does he contribute, +directly or indirectly, to the +burdens which are common to the +British producer? Does he deal with +any of you, and can you call him a +customer? These are the questions +which you ought to ask yourselves, +in making up your minds on this +matter; and if you will only examine +the subject patiently and dispassionately, +your own common sense will +lead you to a just conclusion. Let +us suppose that all the food which +you purchase and consume was grown +on a foreign soil, and admitted free of +duty. You might then have cheap +bread, but, as a necessary consequence, +you would lose more than half your +customers. Unless people have money +they cannot buy; and if agricultural +production were to be abandoned in +the British islands, all those who derive +their incomes—not only directly, +but indirectly—from the soil, would +necessarily be stripped of their means. +Are you aware of the fact that, on a +minute analysis of the census of 1841, +it appeared that the relative numbers +of the population of Great Britain and +Ireland, supported and maintained by +the two great sources of production, +agriculture and manufactures, were +as 18,734,468, dependent on the first, +to 8,091,621, dependent on the second? +Do you believe that the country can +remain prosperous, if you strike a +deathblow at the produce which maintains +more than two-thirds of its +inhabitants?</p> + +<p>Let us go a little farther, and suppose—what +may hereafter be the case—that +other countries could undersell +us in the home market in the article +of manufactures—that America, +France, or Germany could send us +cotton and woollen stuffs, and other +ware, cheaper than we could make +them at home. In that case, where +would be the sources of our income? +All industry would be prostrated—for +you know very well that a losing +trade will not and cannot be carried +on long, and that the time will soon +arrive when, through the failure of +capital, it must be abandoned. In +such an event, what would become of +our population, with their labour entirely +destroyed? How could the +taxes be levied, and the expenses of +government paid, to say nothing of +the interest of the National Debt? +Great cheapness you would have, no +doubt, but nobody would be able to +buy.</p> + +<p>If cheapness is a blessing in food, +it is a blessing in clothing and in +everything else. The rule admits of +no exception. It is as advantageous +for any of us to save a pound on the +price of his coat as a penny on the price +of his loaf. Bread is, no doubt, the +most important article of the workingman's +consumption, but at the same +time it is no less a fact that the raising +of food is the most important part +of the production of the labouring-classes. +Without home labour, all +capital in this country would be annihilated, +or at least would depart +from it. Labour depends entirely +upon wages, and wages upon the +market price of the article produced. +If from the introduction of foreign +labour, in the shape of products, the +price of any article is forced down +below the cost of production, then +wages begin to fall, and in the end +production is extinguished. Why is +it that foreign countries have imposed +heavy duties upon our exported articles +of manufacture? Simply for this +object—that their own manufacturers, +who give employment to large numbers +of their population, may not be +undersold by ours, nor those means +of employment annihilated. In acting +thus, these governments perform a +paternal duty to the people—shielding +them against the competition of an +older manufacturing power, and preparing +them hereafter, when skill and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_639" id="Page_639">[639]</a></span> +capital are acquired, to enter neutral +markets, with a fair chance of ultimately +overcoming the other.</p> + +<p>It stands to reason that, with an +equal degree of energy on the part of +its inhabitants, the country which is +the least heavily burdened must distance +others in all branches of industry, +where nature does not oppose +a barrier, or place it at a disadvantage. +The mineral wealth of England, and +our priority in manufacturing invention, +gave us for a long time an +advantage over all other nations. +America was not advanced enough to +enter into the lists of manufacturing +competition; the distracted state of the +Continent, and the perpetual presence +or apprehension of war, effectually +prevented the European states from +attempting to rival Britain. But since +that time vast changes have taken +place. The mineral resources of +other countries have been developed. +Some idea of the manufacturing +power which America now possesses +may be formed from the enormous +increase of her domestic production of +iron and coal. In 1829, the amount +of iron manufactured in the United +States was 90,000 tons; in 1848, it +had risen to 800,000 tons. The coal +raised in 1829 was 37,000 tons; in +1849 it was 3,200,000 tons. In the +article of cotton, which is our great +manufacturing staple, America has +the inestimable advantage of growing +the raw material—an advantage which +never can be counterbalanced, as, +even if we were to obtain our supplies +from some other quarter, the expenses +of freightage must still continue to +be great. In fact, to all appearance, +our supremacy in the conversion of +cotton is already doomed. That +branch of industry rests upon no substantial +basis. It rose like an exhalation, +and so it will disappear. These +are not merely our opinions, but those +of the most shrewd and calculating of +the Free-Traders. Hear Mr Greg of +Manchester on this subject, previous +to the repeal of the Corn Laws:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"At present we are undersold by +foreigners in neutral markets in all the +staple articles of English manufacture. +In the articles of cotton, hosiery, and +cutlery, which amount altogether to three-fourths +of our exports, this is notoriously +the case. In cotton fabrics the Swiss +undersell us in several markets. In +cutlery Sheffeld is immensely undersold +by the Alsace, and our exports are yearly +decreasing. In hosiery, the case is still +worse. Saxon hosiery, after paying a +duty of 20 per cent, is sold in London +25 to 30 per cent cheaper than the produce +of the Leicester and Nottingham +looms. In Leicester the stocking frames +have diminished from 16,000 in 1815 to +14,000 in 1840; whilst in Saxony, in the +same time, they have increased from 4590 +to 25,000. The English manufacturer +pays 2s. 6d. for the same work that the +French manufacturer gets done for 2½d. +The American cutlery market (the most +important of all) has been wrested from +us, and our exports of that article to all +the world have fallen from £1,620,000 +in 1831 to £1,325,000 in 1841. <em>How far +with cheaper food, no taxes on the raw +material, and no duties but for the sake of +revenue, we might yet recover our lost +superiority, is a matter for grave consideration.</em> +I do not believe we could either in +woollens or hosiery; and even in the +cutlery or cotton trade I think it very +doubtful. Now, under a free commercial +system, the raw material would be nearly +the same in all countries, and the advantage, +where there was one, would be +generally on the side of foreigners. +France and Italy would have an advantage +in silk, and America in cotton; the +current expenses would also be nearly +equal. The machinery of foreign nations +even now is not very inferior to our +own, and is daily and rapidly improving; +their capital is fast accumulating, and +the yearly interest of it approximating to +our own rate."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Here, you see, is a confession of +opinion by a leading Free-Trader, that +even the cheapening of food, by which +he means the reduction of the wages +of labour, will not suffice ultimately to +secure us the supremacy of the foreign +markets. He is perfectly right. +In this insane, and we believe almost +entirely unprofitable competition with +the rest of the world, we must infallibly +be overcome. No cheapness +of food can countervail the pressure +of our heavy taxation. The cotton-lords, +if they could, would fain bring +down the price of labour to the Continental +level, which doubtless would +enable them, for a long time, to prolong +the contest; but this they cannot +do, if our national engagements are +to be fulfilled, and our most valuable +institutions maintained. So long as +the revenue duties exist, labour cannot<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_640" id="Page_640">[640]</a></span> +be forced down to that point. +But, in the mean time, agriculture may +be ruined, and the home trade, by +which alone you subsist, be palsied. +In fact, the present struggle lies between +the home trade and the foreign +trade. One or other of these must +ultimately succumb. The effect of +our present commercial system is to +paralyse the home trade, by decreasing +the value of all kinds of domestic +produce; by lowering all incomes, +and consequently reducing the amount +of the internal business of the country. +It has enabled our manufacturers, for +the time, to make a show of larger +exports than before; but it has not, +according to their own acknowledgement, +at all enhanced their profits. +It may have enabled them to lower +their prices, but it has not increased +their returns.</p> + +<p>And no wonder that it should be so. +Except in the most miserable and +unimportant quarters, our relaxations +have been met by augmented tariffs +instead of eager reciprocity. The +nations of the world have refused to +sacrifice their advantages, to renounce +their prospects, and to become Free-Traders +at the call of Britain. Their +statesmen thoroughly understood the +motive of the ingenuous offer: they +were not to be cozened even by the +plausibility of Sir Robert Peel. It is +almost melancholy now, when we remember +what has actually taken place, +to revert to the peroration of that +statesman's speech delivered on 16th +February 1846. A more lamentable +instance of delusion, as to the true +feeling and position of other countries, +was never perhaps exhibited. Mark +his words:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"Many countries are watching with +anxiety the selection you may make. +Determine for 'Advance,' and it will be +the watchword which will animate and +encourage in every state the friends of +liberal commercial policy. Sardinia has +taken the lead. Naples is relaxing her +protective duties, and favouring British +produce. Prussia is shaken in her adherence +to restriction. The government +of France will be strengthened; and, +backed by the intelligence of the reflecting, +and by conviction of the real welfare +of the great body of the community, will +perhaps ultimately prevail over the self-interest +of the commercial and manufacturing +aristocracy which now predominates +in her Chambers. Can you doubt +that the United States will soon relax +her hostile tariff, and that the friends of +a freer commercial intercourse—the +friends of peace between the two countries—will +hail with satisfaction the example +of England?"</p></blockquote> + +<p>How strangely did this remarkable +man, whose career in all time coming +will be a warning to the aspiring +statesman, misunderstand the true +nature of his country's position! In +order to tempt reciprocity he opened +the British ports—that is, he conceded +gratuitously the only condition +by which we ever could have hoped +to insure it! At the expense of the +British agriculturist he opened the +British market to the foreigner, in +the expectation, as he expressly declared, +that the boon would be repaid +by measures which would prevent +the rise of manufactures abroad, and +restrain other nations from employing +capital profitably, from entering into +rivalry with Britain, and from using +those natural advantages which were +ready to their hand; and which, if +used, could not fail to add to their +wealth, and to furnish employment +for millions of their increasing population! +Most egregious was the +blunder, and terrible is the penalty +which we are certain to pay for it, if +we do not retrace our steps.</p> + +<p>It is always useful to know what +intelligent men of other countries +think of our system. They survey +and examine it without those prejudices +which are apt to beset all of us, +and are better able than ourselves to +determine with what degree of favour +it will be received, or is received, by +those who are removed beyond the +scope of our immediate observation. +Certainly, of all others, from their +affinity to ourselves, and their proverbially +shrewd acuteness in all +matters of commercial detail, the +Americans are most likely to form +an accurate estimate both of our position +and our prospects in regard to +foreign trade. It is well worth our +while to read and consider the following +opinion of Mr Carey, the most +distinguished Transatlantic writer on +points of political economy. It occurs +in his work entitled <cite>The Harmony +of Interests</cite>, published in America so +late as December 1849.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_641" id="Page_641">[641]</a></span></p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"Men are everywhere flying from +British commerce, which everywhere +pursues them. Having exhausted the +people of the lower lands of India, it +follows them as they retreat towards the +fastnesses of the Himalaya. Affghanistan +is attempted, while Scinde and the +Punjaub are subjugated. Siamese provinces +are added to the empire of Free +Trade, and war and desolation are carried +into China, in order that the Chinese +may be compelled to pay for the +use of ships, instead of making looms. +The Irishman flies to Canada; but there +the system follows him, and he feels himself +insecure until within the Union. +The Englishman and the Scotchman try +Southern Africa, and thence they fly to +the more distant New Holland, Van Diemen's +Land, or New Zealand. The farther +they fly, the more they use ships and other +perishable machinery, the less steadily +can their efforts be applied, the less must +be the power of production, and the fewer +must be the equivalents to be exchanged; +and yet in the growth of ships caused by +such circumstances, we are told to look +for evidence of prosperous commerce!</p> + +<p>"<em>The British system is built upon cheap +labour, by which is meant low-priced and +worthless labour.</em> Its effect is to cause it +to become from day to day more low-priced +and worthless; and thus <em>to destroy +production upon which commerce +must be based</em>. The object of protection +is to produce dear labour—that is, high-priced +and valuable labour, and its effect +is to cause it to increase in value from +day to day, and to increase the equivalents +to be exchanged, to the great increase +of commerce.</p> + +<p>"The object of what is now called +Free Trade, is that of securing to the +people of England the further existence +of <em>the monopoly of machinery</em>, by aid of +which Ireland and India have been +ruined, and commerce prostrated. Protection +seeks <em>to break down this monopoly</em>, +and to cause the loom and the anvil to +take their natural places by the side of +the food and the cotton, that production +may be increased, and that commerce +may revive."</p></blockquote> + +<p>In short, the harmony of interests +is regarded in America as the grand +point of aim for the statesman. With +us, our most important home interests, +on which depend the welfare of by +far the greater part of our population, +are sacrificed to prolong a struggle in +which our exporting manufacturers +cannot possibly be the victors, and +from which, even at present, they +derive little or no profit.</p> + +<p>Now, let us ask you to consider for +one moment, what is the natural +effect, upon the whole of us, of a +forcible diminution of prices, and depreciation +of produce. Here we shall +borrow an illustration and argument +from our adversaries, referring to a +point which is in the recollection of +all of you, and about which there can +be no possible mistake. You will +recollect that the Liberal and Free-trading +journals, almost without exception, +as well as most of the defenders +of the Peel policy in the House +of Commons, attributed much of that +general depression and stagnation of +trade which followed the repeal of the +Corn Laws to the losses sustained by +the failure of the potato-crop in +1845-6. Was there a general want +of confidence visible—were the shopkeepers +scant of custom—was there a +less demand than usual within the +country for home manufactures—was +there a decline in the price of iron—all +was laid at the door of the unfortunate +potato. Since Cobbett uttered +his anathema against the root, it +never was in such bad odour. To +every complaint, remonstrance, or +lamentation, the reply was ready—"How +can we remedy a calamity of +this kind? The potato has done it +all!" At that time it was very convenient, +nay, absolutely necessary, +for the Free-Traders to discover some +tangible cause for the gross failure of +their predictions. They looked about +them in every direction, and they +could discover nothing except the +potato which could endure the blame. +Now, although we believe that this +esculent has been unduly reviled, and +made to bear a greater burden than +was its due for political misfortune, +we nevertheless accept the illustration +at the hands of our opponents, +and we beg you to mark its significance. +The loss of the potato-crop +in Great Britain and Ireland, during +the year in question, has been variously +estimated, but if we assume it +to have been £20,000,000 we are +making a very large calculation indeed. +So then, <em>according to the Free-Traders, +the loss of twenty millions of +agricultural produce</em> was sufficient to +bring down profits, embarrass trade, +and cause a stagnation in home +manufactures! And yet, when Mr<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_642" id="Page_642">[642]</a></span> +Villiers came forward in the beginning +of 1850, and told you, in his +capacity of proposer of the Address +to the Crown, that £91,000,000 +were <em>annually</em> taken from the value +of the agricultural produce of the +country, you were expected, and +directed, to clap your hands with +joy, and to congratulate one another +on this symptom of the national prosperity!</p> + +<p>The sum of twenty millions lost by +the failure of the potato-crop—a single +event, not one of annual occurrence—was +taken from the country's power +of produce; and <em>therefore</em>, said the +Free-Traders, there was stagnation. +But they, of course, could not help it. +Of course they could not; but what +about the ninety-one millions of <em>annual</em> +loss, which is equally deducted from +the internal expenditure of the country? +About <em>that</em> we do not hear a +word. And yet ask yourselves, and that +most seriously—for it is time that we +should get rid of all such pitiful paltering—whether +there is any difference +whatever between the two +cases, except that the one was an +isolated casualty, and that the other +is an annual infliction to which we +are subjected by statute? Weigh the +matter as you will, you cannot, we +are satisfied, be able to detect any +difference. If the grower of grain at +present prices has no remuneration +for his toil, or return for his capital, +he cannot buy from you, any more +than could the farmer whose crop +perished by the potato disease. What +caused the stagnation? The failure +of the power to purchase, because +there was no return for produce. +What causes the stagnation? Precisely +the same thing perpetrated by +Act of Parliament.</p> + +<p>Do not, we beseech you, allow +yourselves to be fooled any longer by +the jesuitry of these political economists, +but apply your own reason to +discover the cause of the present depression. +Do not believe them when +they talk about exceptional causes, +affecting temporarily the industry +of the nation, but certain immediately +to disappear. If you were +to live as long as Methusaleh, no +one year would elapse without furnishing +those gentlemen with a special +and exceptional cause. One year +it is the potato disease; another +the French Revolution; another the +Great Exhibition. Heaven only +knows what will be their excuse next +year—perhaps the new Reform Bill, +or some other similar godsend. You +are the particular class upon whom +the deception is to be played, and for +whose especial benefit the fraud is +concocted. The producers know very +well how they stand, and what they +have to expect. They can be no +longer cajoled by assurances of higher +prices, by vague promises of profit +after the disappearance of "the transition +state," or by impudent averments +that, by an entire change of +system and the expenditure of more +capital, they will be able to maintain +themselves in affluence. To do the +Free-Traders justice, they have for +some time desisted from such attempts. +They now address their +victims, through their organs, in a +fine tone of desperado indifference, +telling them that, if they do not like +the present arrangement, the sooner +they go elsewhere the better. And +the people are taking them at their +word and going. Hundreds of thousands +of tax-payers are leaving the +country as fast as possible, carrying +with them the fragments of their property, +and bequeathing to those who +remain behind their share of the national +burdens. But in your case, +the Free-Traders cannot yet afford to +pull off the mask. They are apprehensive +that you should see them in +their real character; and therefore, so +long as you are likely to be amused +with "specialties" and "exceptional +causes," these will be furnished to +you gratis, and in great variety. +There seems, however, to be an apprehension +among their camp that +you are beginning to evince suspicion. +Recent elections have not been quite +as they should be; and in the seaport +and large commercial towns there +are evident symptoms of mutiny. So, +by way of diverting your attention, +you are likely to have a measure +of Reform next year, possibly as +satisfactory in its result as the Ecclesiastical +Titles Bill, upon which Ministers +cleverly managed to concentrate +the whole public attention +throughout last session, and then, +having carried it, allowed its provisions<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_643" id="Page_643">[643]</a></span> +to become a dead letter, +almost before the ink, which made +the measure complete, was dry! We +say this, not as opponents of an +extension of the suffrage—for on that +point we reserve our opinion until +the details are fully before us—but +as enemies and loathers of a miserable +system of chicane and deception which +has now crept into the public counsels, +and which threatens very speedily +to destroy the independence of public +opinion, by opposing state obstacles +to its free and legitimate expression. +We ask any of you, fearlessly, to +look back at the records of last +session, and then say whether the +country was not degraded and stultified +by the act of the Prime Minister? +Right or wrong, at his invitation and +call, the Protestants of Great Britain +demanded a security against what +they considered an intolerable instance +of Romish insolence and aggression. +They received it from +Parliament; and the moment it +passed into the hands of the executive +power, it became as worthless as the +paper upon which it was written! +And why was this? Simply because +the object was gained—you had been +amused for a whole session. If nothing +was intended to be done in the +way of repelling aggression, and if +Ministers durst have told you so a +year ago, there were many points affecting +your more immediate interests +which would have been forced upon +their attention. But they were very +glad to escape from such discussions +under cover of a Protestantism which +they did not feel, and an affected +indignation of Papal claims, which +they had done everything in their +power, by diplomatic agency, to encourage; +and, having escaped the +perils of one session upon that ground, +they will strain every effort to turn +your attention from your own position, +during the next, by bringing forward +some measure which they hope may +enlist your sympathies, or provoke +controversy, so far as to render you +indifferent to the real nature of your +position. The selection of the battlefield +is the oldest trick in strategy. +Get up the appearance of a battle, +and people will flock from any distance +to witness it, regardless of their +own interest. Lord John Russell is +famous for bloodless fields, which +resolve themselves into reviews—shall +we have another such in the course of +the approaching session?</p> + +<p>That manufactures are now exceedingly +depressed, and have been +so for a long time, notwithstanding +the reduction in the price of food +consequent upon foreign importations, +is an admitted and notorious fact. +We have from time to time kept this +before the public view by quoting +from the trade circulars; and though +further evidence may be unnecessary, +we shall subjoin extracts from the +last accounts received from three +seats of industry, two of which are +represented in Parliament by Colonel +Peyronnet Thompson and Mr Feargus +O'Connor. Gloomy as they are, +they are by no means the worst +which we have had occasion to cite +during the last two years.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Bradford</span>, <em>November 6</em>.—The market +here does not show any symptom of improvement +in the demand for any kind of +combing wools. All seem in wonder and +anxiety as to what may be next expected, +for to buy none are willing, whether with +stock or without. The staplers appeared +to expect that the spirited buying of +colonial wools would give a tone of confidence, +but that appears to have no +effect. The spinners pause when they +contrast the comparative high prices of +English wool, especially those of the finer +class, with what they were in 1848, when +yarns were at the present prices, and will +not buy with the certainty of making so +great a loss as a purchase would entail. +The supply of Noils and Brokes was +never so limited as at present, and the +small quantity making brings full prices. +The business doing in yarns is certainly +small, and the transactions confined to +immediate delivery. No one seems inclined +to enter into engagements for +distant delivery. For to go on at the +present prices of yarns is worse than madness, +the price for low numbers of good +spinning and standing having reached 8s. +per gross, and those of a secondary class +sold, if reeled, for what may be the instructions +to the commission houses, who +have needy parties pressing sales. The +quantity so offering is not so great, but +the sacrifices which have now for so long +been made render the position of the +trade exceedingly embarrassing. <em>The +production continues to be daily curtailed, +and from the whole district the same cheerless +tidings are received. Some large +houses, who have never reduced their operations<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_644" id="Page_644">[644]</a></span> +before, have adopted it, their loss +being so immense, and the whole condition +of the trade so thoroughly disjointed.</em> In +pieces the business during the week has +not shown any feature of increased activity, +and the stocks in the manufacturers' +hands are somewhat increasing, +but not so fast as last year at this period, +and especially in Coburgs and fancy goods: +the former are chiefly made in this district, +and not in Lancashire, for the ruinous +price has driven them on to other +classes of goods adaptable to their looms; +and for some months several large houses +have been engaged in making Bareges +for the American market. This has prevented +mousselines-de-laine being made +to stock, and, perhaps for many years, +this branch of the trade has not opened +with so small a stock on hand.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Nottingham</span>, <em>November 6</em>.—In lace +we have no improvement to notice this +week in the general sale of goods, and, +with very few exceptions, there is a great +falling off in demand; but, as many of +the manufacturers are wisely lessening +their production, we do not anticipate +any serious losses resulting from the present +temporary stagnation. Many are +stopping their frames to make fresh designs +altogether; which, if done with +good taste, some advantage may result +from present difficulties. In hosiery our +trade is not so much depressed as we had +reason to anticipate. There is still a fair +business doing in wrought hose, and a +little increased demand for 'cut-ups,' as +well as gloves made of thread and spun +silk. The price of yarn is low, which is +in favour both of the manufacturer and +merchant.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Leicester</span>, <em>November 6</em>.—The unsettled +state of the price of workmanship +for straight-down hose has caused a +great depression in that branch, and led +to nearly a total cessation of work, many +hosiers declining to give out until prices +are settled. In wrought hose a better +business is doing, though not so good as +usual at this season. Yarns continue +dull of sale."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Now, why do we insist upon these +things? For two reasons. In the +first place, we wish you to observe +that the cheapness of manufacturing +products does not of itself induce consumption. +There must be buyers as +well as sellers in order to constitute +a market, and the tendency of our +late legislation has been to diminish +the means of the former. It by no +means follows that, if we have cheap +food and cheap manufactures, the +relative position of all classes can be +maintained. Never forget <em>that our +burdens all the while remain at a fixed +money rate</em>, and that, as the value of +produce is lowered, the weight of +those burdens is aggravated. This +consideration, which is now well understood, +is beginning to tell strongly +against the doctrines of the Free-Traders, +even with some of those, +who were once their ardent supporters. +Mr James Harvey of Liverpool, +late a member of the Anti-Corn-Law +League, but now a strenuous +opponent of their system, thus chronicles +the leading cause of his conversion. +We quote from his pamphlet +just published, <em>Remunerative Price +the Desideratum, not Cheapness</em>. He +says:—"My suspicions were first +awakened by the blind devotion of +the Manchester school of political +economy to the doctrine of <small>CHEAPNESS</small>; +for it struck me as a self-evident +proposition, that to buy cheap +is to sell cheap, in which case there +can be no possible gain, but a positive +loss, arising from the necessary aggravation +of all fixed charges." In +order to place the producers of this +country in the same position as before, +it would be necessary to reduce all +fixed charges, the interest of debt +both public and private, the expenses +of government, and all salaries and +annuities, to an amount corresponding +to the forced decline of prices. This +would be called a war against property; +but, in reality, the war against +property began when the Legislature +admitted foreign untaxed produce to +compete with the produce and labour +of our tax-paying population at home.</p> + +<p>Our second reason for drawing +your attention to the cheerless prospect +of manufactures, has reference +to the sacrifices, not only indirect +but direct, which the other classes of +the community were called upon to +make in order to prop them up. In the +first place, the Property and Income +Tax, which we are still called upon to +pay, was imposed by Sir Robert Peel +expressly for the object of effecting +"such an improvement in the <em>manufacturing +interests</em> as will react on +every other interest in the country." +He admitted that it was an unjust +and partial impost, and therefore +promised that it should be only temporary—however, +we have endured<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_645" id="Page_645">[645]</a></span> +it for ten years, and the Whigs will +no doubt make an effort to continue +it still longer. Here, then, you have +a sum of five millions and a half +annually confiscated for the benefit of +the manufacturers, who were relieved +from taxation to that amount. So +far for sacrifice the first. Then came +sacrifice the second, in the shape of +Free Trade, mulcting the productive +classes of this country to the extent +of at least five-and-thirty per cent of +their annual returns. Then came +sacrifice the third, which handed over +the carrying trade to the foreigner.</p> + +<p>Now, considering that all these +sacrifices have been made for the +encouragement of manufactures, or at +least with that professed object, is it +not, to say the least of it, extraordinary +that they have not thriven? +How are we to account for a result +so wholly contrary to the avowed +anticipations of our statesmen? The +explanation is, after all, not very +difficult. All these sacrifices have +been made, not for the great body of +the manufacturers, but for a mere +section of them. We possess no +authentic official information as to the +amount of manufactures consumed at +home; but we have records, more or +less trustworthy, of the amount of +our exports, and these are used to +mislead the minds of the multitude as +to the actual extent and relative importance +of our trade. England has +no more title than France has to the +character of the workshop of the +world. We are driven from the +markets of civilised countries by the +protective duties imposed by their +governments for the righteous and +prudent purpose of fostering native +industry, and we are compelled to +seek our marts among people who +are not yet so far advanced in political +economy as to detect the enormous +discrepancy between our principles +and our practice. Listen to Mr Harvey's +sketch of our foreign trade:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"From the theories and systems I +turned my attention to passing events +and recorded facts: I saw the West Indies +prostrated; Canada thrown into a +state of revolt, succeeded by a smothered +feeling of discontent; Ireland depopulated; +the magnificent resources of India +undeveloped; and the British farmer reduced +to the dire necessity of paying rent +out of capital. I also perceived that the +change in our commercial policy had substituted +a cosmopolitan cant in the place +of patriotism and nationality. To become +the friend of every country but his own +had become the pride and the glory of +statesmanship. Foreign goods were admitted, +duty free, into our ports, in the +vain hope of reciprocity being established; +but our manufactures were subjected +to heavy imposts on the Continent of +Europe, and in the United States. China, +unversed in the mysteries of political economy, +only levies five per cent upon our +goods, whilst, in direct contravention of +our pet notions of Free Trade and reciprocity, +we impose a tax of 300 per cent +upon her teas. <span class="smcap">Our hopes have been +disappointed, our calculations falsified. +We are the dupes of our own +fantastic ideas and Quixotic concessions.</span> +We are the laughing-stock of the +Old and the New Worlds. The Germanic +Zollverein shuns our overtures; the American +excludes our ships from his seaboard."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Can these things be controverted? +We defy the ingenuity of mankind to +do it.</p> + +<p>So much for the foreign trade; but +there still remains the home trade, in +which by far the largest portion of our +manufacturing capital is embarked, +and which furnishes a much greater +amount of employment to British +labour than the other. You see what +is the state of that trade, notwithstanding +the savings which may have +been effected by the lowered price +of food, and also notwithstanding +that partial protection which several +branches of it are still allowed to retain. +One word as to that incidental +point. Mr Cobden is reported to have +said, that he did not care how soon +these remnants of protection were +abolished. Let him be as good as his +word, and, <small>IF HE DARES</small>, rise up in his +place in the House of Commons, and +make a motion to that effect. We +shall then have an opportunity of +testing the exact nature of his principles. +To what cause can such a +depression as this, so long and continuous, +be attributed, except to a +general curtailment of demand on the +part of the consumers, arising from +the insufficiency of their means to make +purchases as before? You are probably +aware that what is called strict economy +in families is not favourable to +the interests of manufacture or of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_646" id="Page_646">[646]</a></span> +trade. Of manufactures of all kinds +there must be a certain yearly consumption, +based upon the necessities +of the people. Besides food, men require +clothes to cover them, and +houses in which to dwell, and those +houses must be more or less furnished. +But between the bare supply +of such necessities, and that point +which is considered by persons, +according to their tastes, education, +or habits, as constituting comfort, +there is a wide interval. Nothing is +a more sure criterion of the wealth +and income of a people than the ordering +of their homes, and the manner +of their living; and the traveller who +passes from one country into another +can at once form an estimate, from +such appearances, of their respective +wealth or poverty. Diminish income, +and a reduction is immediately made. +All superfluities are lopped off and +renounced. The broker, who deals in +second-hand articles, drives a larger +business than the man who is the +vendor of new ones; and even in +domestic labour there is a large economy +practised, by reducing establishments. +That this must be so, will be +evident on the slightest reflection. +Reduce a man's income from £1000 +to £800 or £600, and he will, if he +has any wisdom or prudence, cut +down his expenses to meet the fall. +It is upon the home manufacturer in +the first place, and upon the shopkeeper +secondly, that these reductions +tell. The one finds that his amount +of production is much greater than +the demand; the other does not turn +over his capital nearly so rapidly as +before. Add to this that the home +manufacturer, in many branches, is +exposed to strong foreign competition. +Sir Robert Peel, in his last alterations +of the tariff, did indeed continue Protection—more +largely than is generally +understood, for the mere amount +of revenue-duty drawn from importations +of foreign articles, adapted to +compete with ours in the home, is no +criterion of the Protective value—to +some branches of industry; but others +were exposed without shelter, and +have since suffered accordingly. It +is undeniable that a very large amount +of foreign manufactures, which have +paid no duty at all, or merely an +elusory one, are consumed within this +country—thereby inflicting extreme +injury upon British labour, and depressing +trades which, though severally +not important, give in the +aggregate, or ought to give, the +means of employment to thousands. +Regard the subject in any light you +will, this cheapness, of which we have +heard so much, just amounts to a +diminution of the income of every +class, except the annuitants and fund-holders, +while it consequently renders +the payment of the fixed burdens +more grievous to every one of us.</p> + +<p>You, gentlemen, to whom we have +ventured to submit these remarks, +have a very great deal in your power. +You can, by your decision, either +confirm the present policy, or cause +it to be reversed; and your own +experience will suffice to show you in +what manner the system has worked. +Statists may parade their figures, economists +may puff their plans, statesmen +may indulge in high-coloured +pictures of the success which they expect +to follow their measures—but the +true test of every measure which has +a practical tendency will be found in +the effect which it produces upon the +circumstances of the people, and especially +upon those of the middle classes. +We, who have, from the very first, +anticipated the baneful effects of this +attack upon British industry—we, +who have no more connection than +any of yourselves with territorial aristocracy, +and who consider the welfare +of the people as the grand object +which it is the duty of the Government +to promote—ask you to apply +your own reason to the facts which +are before you and in your reach, and +to decide and act accordingly. It +was, we knew from the very beginning +of this struggle, impossible that +you could decide until the effects of +the Free-Trade experiment became +visible and palpable among yourselves. +We foresaw that it was only +through the suffering and impoverishment +of the producers that the practical +lesson could reach you, and that, +until this took place, it was of little +use to invoke your aid, or even to +entreat your judgment. Probably, by +this time, you will have formed an +accurate estimate of the value of the +doctrines promulgated by the babblers +on political economy—a sect<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_647" id="Page_647">[647]</a></span> +which has never yet been allowed to +interfere with the internal affairs of +any nation, without producing the +most disastrous results. To them we +are indebted for that change of the +currency which has added fully one-third +to our fixed burdens, and for +those complex monetary arrangements +which insure periodically the +return of a commercial crisis. But +whatever you may think of them, do +not allow yourselves to be influenced +by their representations, or by those +of their accredited organs. The time +for theory is over. You have now to +deal with facts, regarding which every +man of you is competent to form an +opinion. We do not ask you to accept +our statements implicitly, any more +than those of our opponents—though, +if we did so, we might hold ourselves +justified on this ground, that the +greater part of our evidence is taken +from the admissions of our adversaries. +We appeal to your own +experience, and upon that we leave +you to decide.</p> + +<p>And do not be afraid to give free +utterance to your opinion. There +exists not in this land—there exists +not in all the world, the power which +can rise up against you. The British +producer on the one hand, and the +exporting manufacturer on the other, +may have conflicting interests not +altogether reconcilable with the public +good, for isolated interest always +begets selfishness; and where individual +or class profit is concerned, +principle is apt to be overlooked. +But you are, eminently, <small>THE CLASS</small> +to pronounce upon conflicting opinions. +Your interest is that of the +nation whose pulse is beneath your +finger. You can tell, with greater +accuracy than others, whether any +political prescription has stimulated +the circulation of the blood, or caused +it to run torpidly in the national +veins. You can mark the changes in +the circumstances of your customers, +and from these you can form an estimate +whether or not the late experiment +has been successful.</p> + +<p>If, judging by that test, you should +think it has been successful, our case +is lost. We, who have advocated the +Protective Principle in legislation, +cannot continue to maintain it, if +those whose incomes depend mainly +upon British custom find themselves +advantaged by measures which have +reduced the value of British produce. +In matters of this kind there is no +abstract dogma involved, on the +strength of which any man could +make himself a creditable martyr. +Men have died for their faith or for +their allegiance, believing either to be +their highest duty; but no one in his +senses will spend a lifetime, or any +considerable portion of it, in combating +absolute facts. The reason why +Protection is still a living principle—the +reason why it finds so many supporters +among the learned and the +thoughtful—the reason why it is progressing +step by step towards triumph—is +because, in the minds of +those who advocate it, there is a +strong and deep-rooted conviction that +you already know that the opposite +system has entirely failed to realise +the predictions of its advocates, and +that you feel that its permanency is +contrary to your interest, and to that +of the great body of the people. If +we are right in this conviction, then +we are entitled not only to solicit, +but to demand, your earnest co-operation. +These are not times for political +cowardice, or weak suppression +of opinion. Liberty of thought, and +liberty of the expression of sentiment, +are our unalienable prerogative; but +of late years, and in the hands of a +certain party, that prerogative has +been scandalously overstretched. We +now hear men—even members of the +Legislature—threatening the country, +and you, with hints of insurrection, +in case you exercise your undoubted +right of pronouncing a free and unbiassed +judgment upon any point of +commercial policy. Let the caitiffs +bluster! They know, from the bottom +of their ignoble souls—for none save +an ignoble soul would have dared to +conceive that such threats would intimidate +any man of British birth or +blood—that their menace is as meaningless +and vain as their miserable +motives are apparent. Let them +bluster! They, the advocates of +lowered wages—they, the combatants +for lengthened labour—they, the +crushers of the infants, have no large +margin of operative sympathy upon +which they can afford to trade. Had +John Fielden been alive, he could<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_648" id="Page_648">[648]</a></span> +have told you what these men +were, and what sympathy they were +likely to command. Well do the +workmen know with whom they have +to deal!</p> + +<p>Let us not be misunderstood. We +never have underrated the difficulty +of a change such as we contemplate; +but no difficulty attending that, is for +a moment to be put into the balance +against the general welfare of the +country, if, on reflection, and on considering +your own position, you shall +be of opinion that the interests of the +country demand that change. But, +at any hazard, we cannot afford to go +down-hill. To bring us, as the Manchester +men contemplate, to the Continental +level in point of wages as +well as expenditure, is to seal the +ruin of the British empire, burdened +as it is; or, in the least dangerous +view, to necessitate repudiation. That +matter is, as we have said before, for +you to decide; and the period for +your decision is rapidly drawing near. +On the next general election depends +the fate of the country, and—without +saying one syllable more upon the +merits of the systems at issue—the +decision or inclination of your body +will form the most important, because +it must be considered, as between +conflicting interests, the most impartial +element, of the expression of +British opinion.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2>THE JEW'S LEGACY.</h2> + +<h3>A TALE OF THE SIEGE OF GIBRALTAR.</h3> + + +<h4>CHAPTER I.</h4> + +<p>The note-book of my grandfather, +Major Flinders, contains much matter +relative to the famous siege of Gibraltar, +and he seems to have kept an +accurate and minute journal of such +of its incidents as came under his own +observation. Indeed, I suspect the +historian Drinkwater must have had +access to it, as I frequently find the +same notabilia chronicled in pretty +much the same terms by both these +learned Thebans. But while Drinkwater +confines himself mostly to professional +matters—the state of the +fortifications, nature of the enemy's +fire, casualties to the soldiery, and the +like—and seldom introduces an anecdote +interesting to the generality of +readers without apologising for such +levity, my grandfather's sympathies +seem to have been engrossed by the +sufferings of the inhabitants deprived +of shelter, as well as of sufficient food, +and helplessly witnessing the destruction +of their property. Consequently, +his journal, though quite below the +dignity of history, affords, now and +then, a tolerably graphic glimpse of +the beleagured town.</p> + +<p>From the discursive and desultory +nature of the old gentleman's style, +as before hinted, it would be vain to +look for a continuous narrative in his +journal, even if it contained materials +for such. But here and there a literary +Jack Horner might extract a +plum or two from the vast quantity +of dough—of reflections, quotations, +and all manner of irrelevant observations, +surrounding them. The following +incidents, which occurred at +the most interesting period of the +long and tedious siege, appear to me +to give a fair idea of some of the characteristics +of the time, and of the +personages who figured in it; and +accordingly, after subjecting them to +a process analogous to gold-washing, +I present them to the reader.</p> + +<p>After a strict blockade of six +months, reducing the garrison to great +extremity for want of provisions, +Gibraltar was relieved by Sir George +Rodney, who landed a large quantity +of stores. But about a year after his +departure, no further relief having +reached them except casual supplies +from trading vessels that came at a +great risk to the Rock, their exigencies +were even worse than before. +The issue of provisions was limited in +quantity, and their price so high, that +the families, even of officers, were frequently +in dismal straits. This has +given rise to a wooden joke of my +grandfather's, who, although he seldom +ventures on any deliberate facetiousness, +has entitled the volume of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_649" id="Page_649">[649]</a></span> +his journal relating to this period of +the siege, <em>The Straits of Gibraltar</em>. +He seems to have estimated the +worth of his wit by its rarity, for the +words appear at the top of every +page.</p> + +<p>The 11th of April 1781 being Carlota's +birthday, the Major had invited +Owen (now Lieutenant Owen) to dine +with them in honour of the occasion. +Owen was once more, for the time, a +single man; for Juana, having gone +to visit her friends in Tarifa just before +the commencement of the siege, +had been unable to rejoin her husband. +In vain had Carlota requested +that the celebration might be postponed +till the arrival of supplies from +England should afford them a banquet +worthy of the anniversary—the Major, +a great stickler for ancient customs, +insisted on its taking place forthwith. +Luckily, a merchantman from Minorca +had succeeded in landing a cargo of +sheep, poultry, vegetables, and fruit +the day before, so that the provision +for the feast, though by no means +sumptuous, was far better than any +they had been accustomed to for +many months past. The Major's +note-book enables me to set the materials +for the dinner, and also its cost, +before the reader—viz. a sheep's head, +price sixteen shillings, (my grandfather +was too late to secure any of +the body, which was rent in pieces, +and the fragments carried off as if by +wolves, ere the breath was well out +of it)—a couple of fowls, twenty +shillings, (scraggy creatures, says my +ancestor in a parenthesis)—a ham, +two guineas—raisins and flour for a +pudding, five shillings—eggs, (how +many the deponent sayeth not,) sixpence +each—vegetables, nine and sixpence—and +fruit for dessert, seven and +tenpence. Then, for wine, a Spanish +merchant, a friend of Carlota's, had +sent them two bottles of champagne +and one of amontillado, a present as +generous then as a hogshead would +have been in ordinary times; and +there was, moreover, some old rum, +and two lemons for punch. Altogether, +there was probably no dinner +half so good that day in Gibraltar.</p> + +<p>At the appointed hour, the Major +was reading in his quarters (a tolerably +commodious house near the +South Barracks, and at some distance +outside the town) when Owen appeared.</p> + +<p>"You're punctual, my boy; and +punctuality's a cardinal virtue about +dinner-time," said my grandfather, +looking at his watch; "three o'clock +exactly. And now we'll have dinner. +I only hope the new cook is a tolerable +proficient."</p> + +<p>"What's become of Mrs Grigson?" +asked Owen. "You haven't parted +with that disciple of Apicius, I should +hope?"</p> + +<p>"She's confined again," said my +grandfather, sighing; "a most prolific +woman that! It certainly can't +be above half-a-year since her last +child was born, and she's just going +to have another. 'Tis certainly not +longer ago than last autumn," he +added musingly.</p> + +<p>"A wonderful woman," said Owen; +"she ought to be purchased by the +Government, and sent out to some of +our thinly-populated colonies. And +who fills her place?"</p> + +<p>"Why, I'll tell you," responded +the Major. "Joe Trigg, my old servant, +is confined too—in the guardroom, +I mean, for getting drunk—and +I've taken a man of the regiment, +one Private Bags, for a day or two, +who recommended his wife as an +excellent cook. She says the same +of herself; but this is her first trial, +and I'm a little nervous about it."</p> + +<p>"Shocking rascal that Bags," said +Owen.</p> + +<p>"Indeed!" said my grandfather; +"I'm sorry to hear that. I didn't +inquire about his character. He offered +his services, saying he came from the +same part of England as myself, +though I don't recollect him."</p> + +<p>"Terrible work this blockade," said +the Major after a pause. "Do you +know, if I was a general in command +of a besieging army, I don't think I +could find it in my heart to starve out +the garrison. Consider now, my dear +boy," (laying his forefinger on Owen's +arm,)—"consider, now, several thousand +men, with strong appetites, +never having a full meal for months +together. And just, too, as my digestion +was getting all right—for I never +get a nightmare now, though I frequently +have the most delicious +dreams of banquets that I try to eat, +but wake before I get a mouthful.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_650" id="Page_650">[650]</a></span> +'Tis enough to provoke a saint. And, +as if this was not enough, the supply +of books is cut off. The <cite>Weekly +Entertainer</cite> isn't even an annual entertainer +to me. The last number I +got was in '79, and I've been a regular +subscriber these twelve years. +There's the <cite>Gentleman's Magazine</cite>, +too. The last one reached me a year +since, with a capital story in it, only +half-finished, that I'm anxious to know +the end of; and also a rebus that I've +been longing to see the answer to. +'The answer in our next,' says the +tantalising editor. It's a capital rebus—just +listen now. 'Two-thirds +of the name of an old novelist, one-sixth +of what we all do in the morning, +and a heathen deity, make together +a morsel fit for a king.' I've +been working at it for upwards of a +year, and I can't guess it. Can +you?"</p> + +<p>"Roast pig with stuffing answers +the general description," said Owen. +"That, you'll admit, is a morsel fit +for a king."</p> + +<p>"Pooh!" said my grandfather. +"But you must really try now. I've +run through the mythology, all that I +know of it, and tried all the old novelists' +names, even Boccaccio and Cervantes. +Never were such combinations +as I've made—but can't compound +anything edible out of them. Again, +as to what we do in the morning: we +all shave, (that is, all who have +beards)—and we yawn, too; at least +I do, on waking; but it must be a +word of six letters. Then, who can +the heathen deity be?"</p> + +<p>"Pan is the only heathen deity +that has anything to do with cookery," +said Owen. "Frying-pan, you know, +and stew-pan."</p> + +<p>My grandfather caught at the idea, +but had not succeeded in making anything +of it, or in approximating to the +solution of the riddle, when Carlota +entered from an inner room.</p> + +<p>"I wish, my dear, you would see +about the dinner," said the Major; +"'tis a quarter past three."</p> + +<p>"<i lang="es" xml:lang="es">Si, mi vida</i>," (yes, my life,) said +Carlota, who was in the habit of bestowing +lavishly on my grandfather +the most endearing epithets in the +Spanish language, some of them, perhaps, +not particularly applicable—<i lang="es" xml:lang="es">niño +de mi alma</i>, (child of my soul,) +<i lang="es" xml:lang="es">luz de mis ojos</i>, (light of my eyes,) and +the like; none of which appeared to +have any more effect on the object of +them than if they had been addressed +to somebody else.</p> + +<p>Carlota rung the bell, which nobody +answered. "Nurse is busy with de +<i lang="es" xml:lang="es">niña</i>," she said, when nobody answered +it; "I go myself to de <i lang="es" xml:lang="es">cocina</i>," +(kitchen,)—she spoke English as yet +but imperfectly.</p> + +<p>"There's one comfort in delay," +said the Major; "'tis better to boil a +ham too much than too little—and yet +I shouldn't like it overdone either."</p> + +<p>Here they were alarmed by an exclamation +from Carlota. "<i lang="es" xml:lang="es">Ah Dios! +Caramba! Ven, ven, mi niño!</i>" cried +she from the kitchen.</p> + +<p>The Major and Owen hastened to +the kitchen, which was so close at +hand that the smell of the dinner +sometimes anticipated its appearance +in the dining-room. Mrs Bags, the +new cook, was seated before the fire. +On the table beside her was an empty +champagne bottle, the fellow to which +protruded its neck from a pail in one +corner, where the Major had put it to +cool; and another bottle of more +robust build, about half-full, was also +beside her. The countenance of Mrs +Bags wore a pleasant and satisfied, +though not very intelligent smile, as +she gazed steadfastly on the ham that +was roasting on a spit before the fire—at +least one side of it was done +quite black, while the other oozed +with warm greese; for the machinery +which should have turned it was not +in motion.</p> + +<p>"<i lang="es" xml:lang="es">Caramba!</i>" exclaimed Carlota, +with uplifted hands. "<i lang="es" xml:lang="es">Que picarilla!</i>"—(What +a knave of a woman!)</p> + +<p>"Gracious heavens!" said my +grandfather, "she's roasting it! Who +ever heard of a roast ham?"</p> + +<p>"A many years," remarked Mrs +Bags, without turning her head, and +still smiling pleasantly, "have I lived +in gentlemen's families—" Here this +fragment of autobiography was terminated +by a hiccup.</p> + +<p>"And the champagne bottle is +empty," said Owen, handling it. "A +nice sort of cook this of yours, Major. +She seems to have constituted herself +butler, too."</p> + +<p>My grandfather advanced and +lifted the other bottle to his nose.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_651" id="Page_651">[651]</a></span> +"'Tis the old rum," he ejaculated +with a groan. "But if the woman +has drunk all this 'twill be the death +of her. Bags," he called, "come +here."</p> + +<p>The spouse of Mrs Bags emerged +from a sort of scullery behind the +kitchen—a tall bony man, of an ugliness +quite remarkable, and with a +very red face. He was better known +by his comrades as Tongs, in allusion +probably to personal peculiarities; for +the length of his legs, the width of +his bony hips, and the smallness of +his head, gave him some distant resemblance +to that article of domestic +ironmongery; but as his wife called +herself Mrs Bags, and he was entered +in the regimental books by that name, +it was probably his real appellation.</p> + +<p>"Run directly to Dr Fagan," said +the Major, "and request him to come +here. Your wife has poisoned herself +with rum."</p> + +<p>"'Tisn't rum," said Bags, somewhat +thickly—"'tis fits."</p> + +<p>"Fits!" said my grandfather.</p> + +<p>"Fits," doggedly replied Mr Bags, +who seemed by no means disturbed +at the alleged indisposition of his +wife—"she often gets them."</p> + +<p>"Don't alarm yourself, Major," +said Owen, "I'll answer for it she +hasn't drunk <em>all</em> the rum. The +scoundrel is half-drunk himself, and +smells like a spirit-vault. You'd +better take your wife away," he said +to Bags.</p> + +<p>"She can leave if she ain't wanted," +said Private Bags, with dignity: "we +never comes where we ain't wanted." +And he advanced to remove the lady. +Mrs Bags at first resisted this measure, +proceeding to deliver a eulogium +on her own excellent qualities, moral +and culinary. She had, she said, the +best of characters, in proof of which +she made reference to several persons +in various parts of the United Kingdom, +and, as she spoke, she smiled +more affably than ever.</p> + +<p>"<i lang="es" xml:lang="es">La picarilla no tiene verguenza</i>," +(the wretch is perfectly shameless,) +cried Carlota, who, having hastily +removed the ham from the fire, was +now looking after the rest of the +dinner. The fowls, cut up in small +pieces, were boiling along with the +sheep's head, and, probably to save +time, the estimable Mrs Bags had put +the rice and raisins destined for a +pudding into the pot along with them—certainly, +as Owen remarked, a +bold innovation in cookery.</p> + +<p>Still continuing to afford them +glimpses of her personal history, Mrs +Bags was at length persuaded to +retire along with her helpmate.</p> + +<p>"What astonishing impudence," said +the Major, shutting the door upon her, +"to pretend to be a cook, and yet +know no better than to roast a ham!"</p> + +<p>Carlota, meanwhile, was busy in +remedying the disaster as far as she +could; cutting the ham into slices +and frying it, making a fricassee of the +fowls, and fishing the raisins out of +the pot, exclaiming bitterly all the +while, in English and Spanish, against +the <i lang="es" xml:lang="es">tunanta</i> (equivalent to female +scoundrel or scamp) who had spoilt +the only nice dinner her <i lang="es" xml:lang="es">pobrecito</i>, +her <i lang="es" xml:lang="es">niño</i>, her <i lang="es" xml:lang="es">querido</i>, (meaning my +grandfather,) had been likely to enjoy +for a long time, stopping occasionally +in her occupations to give him a consolatory +kiss. However, my grandfather +did not keep up the character +of a martyr at all well: he took the +matter really very patiently; and +when the excellent Carlota had set +the dinner on the table, and he tasted +the fine flavour of the maltreated +ham, he speedily regained his accustomed +good-humour.</p> + +<p>"It is very strange," he said presently, +while searching with a fork in +the dish before him, "that a pair of +fowls should have only three wings, +two legs, and one breast between +them."</p> + +<p>It certainly was not according to +the order of nature; nevertheless the +fact was so, all my grandfather's +researches in the dish failing to bring +to light the missing members. This +however, was subsequently explained +by the discovery of the remains of +these portions of the birds in the +scullery, where they appeared to have +been eaten after being grilled; and +Mrs Bags' reason for adopting this +mode of cooking them was also rendered +apparent—viz., that she might +secure a share for herself without immediate +detection.</p> + +<p>However, all this did not prevent +them from making the best of what +was left, and the Major's face beamed +as he drank Carlota's health in a glass<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_652" id="Page_652">[652]</a></span> +of the remaining bottle of champagne, +as brightly as if the dinner had been +completely successful.</p> + +<p>"It is partly my fault, Owen," +said the Major, "that you haven't a +joint of mutton instead of this sheep's +head. I ought to have been sharper. +The animal was actually sold in parts +before he was killed. Old Clutterbuck +had secured a haunch, and he a +single man you know—'tis thrown +away upon him. I offered him something +handsome for his bargain, but +he wouldn't part with it."</p> + +<p>"We're lucky to get any," returned +Owen. "Never was such a scramble. +Old Fiskin, the commissary, and Mrs +O'Regan, the Major's wife, both +swore the left leg was knocked down +to them; neither would give in, and +it was put up again, when the staff +doctor, Pursum, who had just arrived +in a great hurry, carried it off by +bidding eightpence more than either. +Not one of the three has spoken to +either of the others since; and people +say," added Owen, "Mrs O'Regan +avers openly that Fiskin didn't behave +like a gentleman."</p> + +<p>"God knows!" said my grandfather, +"'tis a difficult thing in such a +case to decide between politeness and +a consciousness of being in the right. +Fiskin likes a good dinner."</p> + +<p>The dinner having been done justice +to, Carlota removed the remains to a +side-table, and the Major was in the +act of compounding a bowl of punch, +when there was a knock at the door. +"Come in," cried Carlota.</p> + +<p>A light and timid step crossed the +narrow passage separating the outer +door from that of the room they sat +in, and there was another hesitating +tap at this latter. "Come in," again +cried Carlota, and a young girl entered +with a basket on her arm.</p> + +<p>"'Tis Esther Lazaro," said Carlota +in Spanish. "Come in, child; sit +here and tell me what you want."</p> + +<p>Esther Lazaro was the daughter of +a Jew in the town, whose occupations +were multifarious, and connected him +closely with the garrison. He discounted +officers' bills, furnished their +rooms, sold them everything they +wanted—all at most exorbitant rates. +Still, as is customary with military +men, while perfectly aware that they +could have procured what he supplied +them with elsewhere at less expense, +they continued to patronise and abuse +him rather than take the trouble of +looking out for a more liberal dealer. +As the difficulties of the garrison increased, +he had not failed to take +advantage of them, and it was even +said he was keeping back large stores +of provisions and necessaries till the +increasing scarcity should enable +him to demand his own terms for +them.</p> + +<p>His daughter was about fifteen +years old—a pretty girl, with hair of +the unusual colour of chestnut, plaited +into thick masses on the crown of her +head. Her skin was fairer than is +customary with her race—her eyes +brown and soft in expression, her +face oval, and her figure, even at this +early age, very graceful, being somewhat +more precocious than an English +girl's at those years. She was a +favourite with the ladies of the garrison, +who often employed her to procure +feminine matters for them. Carlota, +particularly, had always treated +her with great kindness—and hence +the present visit. She had come, she +said timidly, to ask a favour—a great +favour. She had a little dog that she +loved. (Here a great commotion in the +basket seemed to say she had brought +her <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">protégé</i> with her.) He had been +given to her by a young school friend +who was dead, and her father would +no longer let her keep it, because, he +said, these were no times to keep +such creatures, when provisions, even +those fit for a dog, were so dear. He +was a very good little dog—would the +Señora take him?</p> + +<p>"Let us look at him, Esther," +said Owen—"I see you have brought +him with you."</p> + +<p>"He is not pretty," said Esther, +blushing as she produced him from +the basket. He certainly was not, +being a small cur, marked with black +and white, like a magpie, with a tall +curling over his back. He did not +appear at all at his ease in society, +for he tried to shrink back again into +the basket.</p> + +<p>"He was frightened," she said, +"for he had been shut up for more +than a month. She had tried to keep +him in her bedroom, unknown to her +father, feeding him with part of her +own meals; but he had found it out,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_653" id="Page_653">[653]</a></span> +and had beaten her, and threatened +to kill the dog if ever he saw it +again."</p> + +<p>"<i lang="es" xml:lang="es">Pobrecito!</i>" (poor little thing,) +said the good Carlota—"we shall take +good care of it. <i lang="es" xml:lang="es">Toma</i>," (take this,) +offering him a bit of meat. But he +crept under her chair, with his tail so +depressed, in his extreme bashfulness, +that the point of it came out between +his forelegs.</p> + +<p>Carlota would have made the young +Jewess dine there forthwith, at the +side-table still spread with the remains +of the dinner; but she refused +to take anything, only sipping once +from a glass of wine that Carlota insisted +on making her drink of. Then +she rose, and, having tied the end of +a string that was fastened to the dog's +collar to the leg of the table, to prevent +his following her, took her leave, +thanking Carlota very prettily.</p> + +<p>"<i lang="es" xml:lang="es">A Dios, Sancho!</i>" she said to +the little dog, who wagged his tail +and gave her a piteous look as she +turned to go away—"<i lang="es" xml:lang="es">A Dios, +Sancho</i>," she repeated, taking him up +and kissing him very affectionately. +The poor child was ready to cry.</p> + +<p>"Come and see him every day, +my child," said Carlota, "and when +better times come you shall have him +again."</p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER II.</h4> + +<p>Lazaro the Jew was seated towards +dusk that evening in a sort of office +partitioned off by an open railing +from a great store filled with a most +motley collection of articles. Sofas, +looking-glasses, washing-stands—bales +of goods in corded canvass—rows +of old boots purchased from officers' +servants—window curtains lying on +heaps of carpeting and matting—bedsteads +of wood and iron—crockery +and glass—were all piled indiscriminately. +Similar articles had also +overflowed along the passage down +the wooden steps leading to the +square stone court below, which was +lumbered with barrels, packing-cases, +and pieces of old iron. This court +was entered from the street, and an +arched door on one side of it, barred +and padlocked, opened on a large +warehouse, which nobody except the +Jew had set foot in for many months.</p> + +<p>The Jew himself was a spare, +rather small man, with a thin eager +face, small sharp features, and a +scanty beard. Being by descent a +Barbary Jew, he wore the costume +peculiar to that branch of his race—a +black skull-cap; a long-skirted, collarless, +cloth coat, buttoned close, the +waist fastened with a belt; loose +light-coloured trousers and yellow +slippers—altogether he looked somewhat +like an overgrown scholar of +Christ's Hospital. He was busied in +turning over old parchment-covered +ledgers, when an officer entered.</p> + +<p>Von Dessel was a captain in Hardenberg's +regiment. He was a square, +strong-built man, about forty, with +very light hair, as was apparent since +the governor's order had forbidden the +use of powder to the troops, in consequence +of the scarcity of flour. +His thick, white, overhanging eyebrows, +close lips, and projecting under +jaw gave sternness to his countenance.</p> + +<p>"Good afternoon, captain," said +the Jew; "what I do for you to-day, +sare?"</p> + +<p>"Do for me! By Gott, you have +done for me already, with your cursed +Hebrew tricks," said the captain. +The German and the Jew met on a +neutral ground of broken English.</p> + +<p>"I always treat every gentleman +fair, sare," said the Jew. "I tell you, +captain, I lose by that last bill of +yours."</p> + +<p>"<i lang="de" xml:lang="de">Der teufel!</i> who gains, then?" +said Von Dessel, "for you cut me off +thirty per cent."</p> + +<p>The Jew shrugged his shoulders.</p> + +<p>"I don't make it so, sare; the siege +makes it so. When the port is open, +you shall have more better exchange."</p> + +<p>"Well, money must be had," said +the German. "What will you give +now for my bill for twenty pounds?"</p> + +<p>The Jew consulted a book of +figures—then made some calculations +on paper—then appeared to consider +intently.</p> + +<p>"Curse you, speak!" said the +choleric captain. "You have made up<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_654" id="Page_654">[654]</a></span> +your mind about how much roguery +long ago."</p> + +<p>"Captain, sare, I give you feefty +dallars," said the Jew.</p> + +<p>The captain burst forth with a +volley of German execrations.</p> + +<p>"Captain," said the Jew presently, +"I like to please a gentleman if I +can. I give you one box of cigars +besides—real Cubas—one hundred +and feefty in a box."</p> + +<p>The captain at this broke forth +again, but checked himself presently +on the entrance of the Jew's daughter, +who now returned from the Major's. +She advanced quietly into the room, +made a little bow to the captain, took +off and laid aside her shawl, and, +taking up some work, sat down and +began to sew.</p> + +<p>Von Dessel resumed his expostulation +in a milder tone. The Jew, +however, knew the money was necessary +to him, and only yielded so far +as to increase his box of cigars to +two hundred; and the captain, finding +he could get no better terms from +him, was forced to agree. While the +Jew was drawing out the bills, the +German gazed attentively at Esther, +with a good deal of admiration expressed +in his countenance.</p> + +<p>"I can't take the money now," +said he, after signing the bills. "I +am going on duty. Bring it to +me to-morrow morning, at nine +o'clock."</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid I can't, sare," said +Lazaro; "too moch business. +Couldn't you send for it, captain?"</p> + +<p>"Not possible," said the German; +"but you must surely have somebody +that might bring it—some trustworthy +person you know." And his +eye rested on Esther.</p> + +<p>"There's my dater, sare," said the +Jew—"I shall send her, if that will +do."</p> + +<p>"Good," said the captain, "do not +forget," and quitted the room forthwith.</p> + +<p>He was scarcely gone when a pair +with whom the reader is already +slightly acquainted, Mr and Mrs +Bags, presented themselves. The +effects of their morning conviviality +had in a great measure disappeared.</p> + +<p>"Your servant, sir," said Bags. +The Jew nodded.</p> + +<p>"We've got a few articles to dispose +of," pursued Mr Bags, looking +round the room cautiously. "They +was left us," he added in a low tone, +"by a <em>diseased</em> friend."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" said the Jew, "never +mind where you got 'em. Be quick—show +them."</p> + +<p>Mrs Bags produced from under her +cloak, first a tin teakettle, then a brass +saucepan; and Mr Bags, unbuttoning +his coat, laid on the table three knives +and a silver fork. Esther, passing +near the table at the time, glanced +accidentally at the fork, and recognised +the Flinders crest—a talbot, or +old English bloodhound.</p> + +<p>"Father," said she hastily, in +Spanish, "don't have anything to do +with that—it must be stolen." But +the Jew turned so sharply on her, +telling her to mind her work, that +she retreated.</p> + +<p>The Jew took up the tea-kettle, and +examined the bottom to see that it +was sound—did the same with the +saucepan—looked at the knives narrowly, +and still closer at the fork—then +ranged them before him on the +table.</p> + +<p>"For dis," said he, laying his hand +on the tea-kettle, "we will say one +pound of rice; for dis (the saucepan) +two pounds of corned beef; for de +knives, a bottle of rum; and for de +fork, seex ounces of the best tea."</p> + +<p>"Curse your tea!" said Mr Bags.</p> + +<p>"Yes!" said Mrs Bags, who had +with difficulty restrained herself during +the process of valuation, "we +doesn't want no tea. And the things +is worth a much more than what you +say: the saucepan's as good as new, +and the fork's silver—"</p> + +<p>"Plated," said the Jew, weighing +it across his finger.</p> + +<p>"A many years," said Mrs Bags, +"have I lived in gentlemen's families, +and well do I know plate from silver. +I've lived with Mrs Milson of Pidding +Hill, where everything was silver, +and nothing plated, even to the +handles of the doors; and a dear good +lady she was to me; many's the gown, +she giv me. And I've lived with—"</p> + +<p>Here the Jew unceremoniously interrupted +the train of her recollections +by pushing the things from before +him. "Take what I offer, or else +take your things away," said he, +shortly.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_655" id="Page_655">[655]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mr and Mrs Bags grumbled considerably. +The tea they positively refused +at any price: Mr Bags didn't +like it, and Mrs Bags said it disagreed +with her. So the Jew agreed to give +them instead another bottle of rum, +a pound of onions, and two pounds of +beef; and with these terms they at +length closed, and departed with the +results of their barter.</p> + +<p>During the altercation, a soldier of +another regiment had entered, and +stood silently awaiting his turn to be +attended to. He was a gaunt man, +with want written legibly in the hollows +of his face and the dismal eagerness +of his eye. He now came forward, +and with trembling hands unfolded +an old gown, and handed it to the +Jew.</p> + +<p>"'Tis no good to me," said the +latter, giving it back, after holding it +against the light; "nothing but +holes."</p> + +<p>"But my wife has no other," said +the man: "'tis her last stitch of +clothes, except her petticoat and a +blanket. I've brought everything else +to you."</p> + +<p>The Jew shrugged his shoulders +and spread out his hands, in token +that he could not help it.</p> + +<p>"I swear 'tis her last!" reiterated +the man, as if he really fancied this +fact must give the garment as much +value in the Jew's eyes as in his +own.</p> + +<p>"I tell you I won't have it!" said +the Jew, testily.</p> + +<p>"Give me only a loaf for it, or but +one pound of potatoes," said the soldier: +"'tis more than my wife and +four children have had among them +for two days. Half-rations for one, +among six of us, is too hard to live."</p> + +<p>"A pound of potatoes," said the +Jew, "is worth four reals and a-half—eighteenpence; +your wife's gown is +worth—nothing!"</p> + +<p>"Then take this," said the man, +beginning frantically to pull off his +uniform coat; "anything is better +than starving."</p> + +<p>The Jew laughed. "What!" said +he, "you think I don't know better +than to buy a soldier's necessaries, +eh? Ah, ah! no such a fool, I think, +my friend. What your captain say?—eh?"</p> + +<p>The man struck his hand violently +on the table. "Then give me—or +lend me," said he, "some food, much +or little, and I'll work for you every +hour I'm off duty till you're satisfied. +I will, Mr Lazaro, so help me +God!"</p> + +<p>"I got plenty of men to work for +me," said Lazaro; "don't want any +more. Come again, when you've got +something to sell, my friend."</p> + +<p>The man rolled up the gown without +speaking, then lifted it over his +head, and dashed it into the furthest +corner of the store. He was hurrying +from the place, when, as if unwilling +to throw away his last chance, he +turned back, gathered it up, and, +thrusting it under his arm, quitted +the store with lingering steps, as if +he even yet hoped to be called back. +No such summons reached him, however; +but, immediately after he was +gone, Esther rose and stole softly +down the stairs. She overtook him +at the street-door opening from the +court before mentioned, and laid her +hand on his arm. The man turned +and glared on her. "What!—he'll +buy it, will he?" said he.</p> + +<p>"Hush!" said Esther—"keep it +for your poor wife. Look; I have no +money, but take these," and she +placed in his hand two earrings +hastily detached from her ears.</p> + +<p>The man stood looking at her for a +space, as if stupified, without closing +his hand on the trinkets that lay on +the palm; then, suddenly rousing +himself, he swore, with tears in his +eyes, that for this service he would +do for her anything on earth she +should require from him; but she +only begged him to go away at once, +and say nothing, lest her father should +overhear the transaction, who would +certainly be angry with her for it.</p> + +<p>Bags and his wife had stopt in a +corner of the court, to pack up their +property in a commodious form for +conveyance, and had witnessed this +scene in silence. As soon as the +soldier had, in compliance with Esther's +entreaties, disappeared, Bags +came forward.</p> + +<p>"And your father would be angry, +would he, my dear?" said he.</p> + +<p>"Oh, very—oh, so angry! Please +don't stop me," she said, trying to +pass him.</p> + +<p>"And what'll ye give me not to tell<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_656" id="Page_656">[656]</a></span> +him, now?" asked Mr Bags. "Ain't +ye got nothing for me?"</p> + +<p>"No—oh, no—indeed, nothing. Do +let me pass."</p> + +<p>"Yes, you have; you've got this, +I think," said Bags, snatching at a +silver-mounted comb glistening in her +hair, which, thus loosened, all fell +down on her shoulders as she darted +past him. "And now," said Mr +Bags, inspecting his prize, "I think +me and that 'ere cheating Jew is quits +for the silver fork. I'll allow it's +plated now."</p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER III.</h4> + +<p>Early the next morning (the 12th of +April) a rumour went through the +town that an English fleet was signalled +as in sight. The news roused +the starving people like electricity. +The pale spectres of men that, on the +previous day, had stalked so gauntly +through the dreary streets—the +wretched, sinking women, and children +careworn as grandfathers—poured +forth, with something like a +natural light in their hollow eyes, to +witness the joyful spectacle. The +sea-wall of the city was, like the margin +of a vast pool of Bethesda, thronged +with hopeful wretches awaiting +the coming of the angel.</p> + +<p>The streets were instantly deserted. +Those who could not leave their +homes got on the housetops, but the +great mass of the population spread +itself along the line-wall, the Grand +Parade and Alameda, and the heights +skirting the chief slopes of the +Rock. Moors and Jews, Spaniards +and English, citizens and soldiers, +men, women, and children, of all +ages, grades, and nations, ranged +themselves indiscriminately wherever +they could obtain a view of the sea.</p> + +<p>For some time the wished-for sight +was delayed by a thick fog that +spread itself across the Straits and +the entrance of the bay. A murmur +rose from each successive rank of +people that forced itself into a front +place on the line-wall. Terrible +doubts flew about, originating no one +knew where, but gaining strength and +confirmation as they passed from +mouth to mouth. On the summit of +the Rock behind them the signal for +a fleet flew steadily from the mast at +Middle Hill; but still in this, as in +all crowds, were some of little faith, +who were full of misgivings. Many +rushed up to the signal station, unable +to bear the pain of the delay. My +grandfather noticed the Jew Lazaro +among the throng, watching the event +with an anxious eye, though his anxiety +was from the opposite cause to +that of most of the spectators. The +arrival of supplies would at once +bring down the price of provisions, +and rob him, for the present, of his +expected profits; and as each successive +rumour obtained credence with +the crowd, his countenance brightened +as their hopes fell, and sank as they +again emerged from despondency.</p> + +<p>Not far from him was an old +Genoese woman, wearing the quaint +red cloak, trimmed with black velvet, +that old Genoese women usually wear +in Gibraltar. She hovered round the +skirts of the crowd, occasionally +peering beneath an uplifted arm, +or thrusting it between two obstructing +figures, to catch a glimpse, though +it was evident that her dim eyes +would fail to discern the fleet when +it should come in view. Her thin +shrivelled features, relieved against +her black hood, were positively wolfish +from starvation. She frequently drew +one hand from beneath her cloak, and +gazed at something she held in it—then, +muttering, she would again conceal +it. My grandfather's curiosity +was roused. He drew near and watched +for the reappearance of the object +that so engrossed her. It was a blue +mouldy crust of bread.</p> + +<p>The wished-for spectacle was at +length revealed. "As the sun became +more powerful," says Drinkwater, +rising into positive poetry +with the occasion, "the fog gradually +rose, <em>like the curtain of a vast theatre</em>, +discovering to the anxious garrison +one of the most beautiful and pleasing +scenes it is possible to conceive. The +convoy, consisting of near a hundred +vessels, were in a compact body, led +by several men-of-war—their sails +just filled enough for steerage, while +the majority of the line-of-battle<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_657" id="Page_657">[657]</a></span> +ships lay to under the Barbary shore, +having orders not to enter the bay, +lest the enemy should molest them +with their fireships."</p> + +<p>Then rose a great shout—at once +the casting-off of long-pressing anxiety +and the utterance of delight. Happy +tears streamed down haggard faces +overgrown with hair, and presently +men turned to one another, smiling +in the face of a stranger neighbour +as in that of an old friend, while a +joyful murmur, distilled from many +languages, rose upward. Assuredly, +if blessings are of any avail, the soul +of Admiral Darby, who commanded +the relieving fleet, is at this moment +in Paradise.</p> + +<p>Friends and relations now began +to search for one another in the +crowd, which broke quickly into +knots, each contriving how to enjoy +together the plenty that was to +descend upon them. My grandfather's +eye at this juncture was +again attracted by the old Genoese +woman. When the crowd shouted, +she screened her eyes with her +withered hand, and, with her nostril +spread, her chin fallen, in her eagerness +gazed towards the sea—but +presently shook her head, discerning +nothing. Then she plucked by the +arm a joyful Spaniard.</p> + +<p>"<i lang="es" xml:lang="es">Es verdad? Por Dios, es verdad?</i>" +she cried; "<i lang="es" xml:lang="es">jura! jura!</i>"—(Is it +true? Swear by Heaven it is +true.)</p> + +<p>"<i lang="es" xml:lang="es">Si, si,</i>" said the Spaniard, pointing; +"<i lang="es" xml:lang="es">es verdad</i>," ('tis true.) "You +may see them yourself."</p> + +<p>Instantly the old woman, for the +last time, drew forth her treasured +crust, and began to devour it, muttering, +as she tore away each mouthful, +"<i lang="es" xml:lang="es">Mas mañana! mas mañana!</i>" +(I shall have more to-morrow—more +to-morrow!)</p> + +<p>After the crowd had partially dispersed, +Owen was returning to his +quarters to breakfast, when, as he +paused to open the door, he heard +a voice he thought he knew crying +out in affright in the rooms opposite, +where Von Dessel resided. Presently +the door of the quarters was opened, +and the flushed and frightened face +of Esther Lazaro appeared, as she +struggled to escape from Von Dessel, +who held her arm.</p> + +<p>"Señor, señor, speak to the gentleman!" +she cried to Owen.</p> + +<p>"Leetle foolish girl," said Von +Dessel, grinning a smile on seeing +him; "she frightens at nothing. +Come in, child"—trying to shut the +door.</p> + +<p>"Why don't you let her alone?" +said Owen; "don't you see she +doesn't like you?"</p> + +<p>"Pouf!" said the captain. "We +all have trouble with them sometimes—you +must know that well."</p> + +<p>"No, by Jupiter!" cried Frank +Owen. "If I couldn't gain them +willingly, they might go to the +devil for me. But you hurt her—pray +let her go—you must indeed."</p> + +<p>"Do you mind your own affair," +said the captain, "and don't +meddle;" and, exerting his strength, +he drew Esther in, and partially +succeeded in shutting the door—she +calling the while again on Owen +to help her. Frank stepped forward, +and, putting his foot against the +door, sent it into the room, causing +Captain Von Dessel, who was behind +it, to stagger back with some +violence, and to quit his hold of +Esther, who ran down stairs.</p> + +<p>"Very good, sir," said the captain, +stalking grimly out of his room, pale +with rage. "You have thought +right to interfere with me, and to +insult me. By Gott! I will teach +you better, young man. Shall we +say in one hour, sir, in the Fives' +Court?"</p> + +<p>Owen nodded. "At your pleasure," +said he, and, entering his own quarters, +shut the door.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile my grandfather walked +about with the telescope he had +brought with him to look after the +fleet under his arm, enjoying the +unusual sight of happy faces around +him. And he has remarked it as a +singular feature of humanity, that +this prospect of relief from physical +want inspired a far more deep and +universal joy than he had witnessed +in any public rejoicings arising from +such causes as loyalty or patriotism +evinced at a coronation or the +news of a great victory; and hence +my grandfather takes occasion to +express a fear that human nature, as +well as other nature, is, except +among the rarer class of souls, more<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_658" id="Page_658">[658]</a></span> +powerfully and generally influenced +by its animal propensities than by +more refined causes.</p> + +<p>He was so engrossed with the +philanthropic pursuit of enjoying the +joy of the multitude, and the philosophic +one of extracting moral reflections +therefrom, that he quite forgot +he had not breakfasted. He was +just beginning to be reminded of the +circumstance by a feeling of hollowness +in the region of the stomach, +and to turn his steps homeward, when +a light hand was laid on his arm. +My grandfather turned, and beheld +the face of the young Jewess looking +wistfully in his.</p> + +<p>She began at first to address him +in Spanish—the language she spoke +most naturally; but, quickly perceiving +her mistake on hearing the +extraordinary jargon in which he +replied, (for it is a singular fact that +nobody but Carlota, who taught +him, could understand my grandfather's +Spanish,) she exchanged it +for his own tongue. She told him +in a few hurried words of the quarrel +Owen had incurred on her account +with Von Dessel, and of the challenge +she had overheard given by +the latter, beseeching the major to +hasten to prevent the result.</p> + +<p>"In the Fives' Court! in an +hour!" said my grandfather. "When +did this happen?"</p> + +<p>Esther thought nearly an hour +ago—she had been almost so long +seeking my grandfather.</p> + +<p>"I'll go, child—I'll go at once," +said the Major. "With Von Dessel, +too, as if he could find nobody else +to quarrel with but the best swordsman +in the garrison. 'Souls and +bodies' quoted my grandfather, +'hath he divorced three.'"</p> + +<p>With every stride he took, the +Major's uneasiness was augmented. +At any time his anxiety would have +been extreme while peril threatened +Frank; but now, when he was calculating +on him as a companion at +many a well-spread table, when they +might forget their past miseries, it +peculiarly affected him.</p> + +<p>"To think," muttered my grandfather, +"that these two madmen +should choose a time when everybody +is going to be made so happy, +by getting plenty to eat, to show +their gratitude to Providence by +cutting one another's throats!"</p> + +<p>The danger to Owen was really +formidable; for, though a respectable +swordsman, he was no unusual proficient +in the graceful art, while his +opponent was not only, as my grandfather +had said, the best swordsman +in the garrison, but perhaps the +best at that time in the army. As +a student in Germany he had distinguished +himself in some sanguinary +duels; and since his arrival in Gibraltar, +a Spanish gentleman, a very +able fencer, had fallen beneath his +arm.</p> + +<p>"God grant," said my grandfather +to himself, as he neared the +Fives' Court, "that we may settle +this without the perdition of souls. +Frank, my dear boy, we could better +spare a better man!"</p> + +<p>On attempting to enter the Fives' +Court he was stopped by the master, +posted at the door. "It was engaged," +he said, "for a private +match."</p> + +<p>"Ay, ay," said my grandfather, +pushing past him; "a pretty match, +indeed! Ay, ay—pray God we can +stop it!"</p> + +<p>Finding the inner door locked, the +Major, who was well acquainted +with the locality—for, when he had +nothing else particular to do, he +would sometimes mark for the +players for a rubber or two—ascended +the stairs to the gallery.</p> + +<p>About the centre of the court +stood the combatants. All preliminaries +had been gone through—for +they were stripped to their shirts—and +the seconds (one a German, the +adjutant of Hardenberg's regiment—the +other, one Lieutenant Rushton, +an old hand at these affairs, and +himself a fire-eater) stood by, each +with a spare sword in his hand. In +a corner was the German regimental +surgeon, his apparatus displayed on +the floor, ready for an emergency. +Rushton fully expected Owen to +fall, and only hoped he might +escape without a mortal wound. +Von Dessel himself seemed of the +same opinion, standing square and +firm as a tower, scarcely troubling +himself to assume an attitude, but +easy and masterly withal. Both contempt +and malice were expressed for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_659" id="Page_659">[659]</a></span> +his antagonist in his half-shut eyes +and sardonic twist of the corners of +his mouth.</p> + +<p>"Owen, Owen, my boy!" shouted +my grandfather, rushing to the front +of the gallery, and leaning over, as +the swords crossed—"stop, for God's +sake. You mustn't fight that swashbuckler! +They say he hath been fencer +to the Sophy," roared the Major, in +the words of Sir Toby Belch.</p> + +<p>The combatants just turned their +heads for a moment to look at the +interrupter, and again crossed swords.</p> + +<p>Immediately on finding his remonstrance +disregarded, the Major descended +personally into the arena—not +by the ordinary route of the stairs, +but the shorter one of a perpendicular +drop from the gallery, not effected +with the lightness of a feathered Mercury. +But the clatter of his descent +was lost in the concussion of a discharge +of artillery that shook the +walls. Instantly the air was alive +with shot and hissing shells; and before +the echoes of the first discharge +had ceased, the successive explosion +of the shells in the air, and the crashing +of chimneys, shattered doors, and +falling masonry, increased the uproar. +One shell burst in the court, filling +it with smoke. My grandfather felt, +for a minute, rather dizzy with the +shock. When the smoke cleared, by +which time he had partially recovered +himself, the first object that caught +his eye was Von Dessel lying on the +pavement, and the doctor stooping +over him. The only other person +hurt was Rushton, a great piece of +the skin of whose forehead, detached +by a splinter, was hanging over his +right eye. Von Dessel had sustained +a compound fracture of the thigh, +while the loss of two fingers from his +right hand had spoiled his thrust in +tierce for ever.</p> + +<p>"What can be the matter?" said +my grandfather, looking upward, as +a second flight of missiles hurtled overhead.</p> + +<p>"Matter enough," quoth Rushton, +mopping the blood from his eye with +his handkerchief; "those cursed +devils of Spaniards are bombarding +the town."</p> + +<p>The Major went up to Owen, and +squeezed his hand. "We won't abuse +the Spaniards for all that," said +he—"they've saved your life, my +boy."</p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER IV.</h4> + +<p>Enraged at seeing their blockade +evaded by the arrival of Darby's fleet, +the Spaniards revenged themselves +by directing such a fire upon Gibraltar, +from their batteries in the Neutral +Ground, as in a short time reduced +the town to a mass of ruins. This +misfortune was rendered the more intolerable +to the besieged, as it came in +the moment of exultation and general +thanksgiving. While words of congratulation +were passing from mouth +to mouth, the blow descended, and +"turned to groans their roundelay."</p> + +<p>The contrast between the elation +of the inhabitants when my grandfather +entered the Fives' Court, and +their universal consternation and despair +when he quitted it, was terrible. +The crowd that had a few minutes +before so smilingly and hopefully entered +their homes, now fled from them +in terror. Again the streets were +thronged by the unhappy people, who +began to believe themselves the sport +of some powerful and malevolent demon. +Whole families, parents, children, +and servants, rushed together +into the streets, making their way to +the south to escape the missiles that +pursued them. Some bore pieces of +furniture snatched up in haste, and +apparently seized because they came +first to hand; some took the chairs +they had been sitting on; one man +my grandfather noticed bearing away +with difficulty the leaf of a mahogany +table, leaving behind the legs which +should have supported it; and a +woman had a crying child in one +hand, and in the other a gridiron, still +reeking with the fat of some meat she +had been cooking. Rubbish from the +houses began to strew the streets; +and here and there a ragged breach +in a wall rent by the cannon afforded +a strange incongruous glimpse of the +room inside, with its mirrors, tables, +and drapery, just as the inhabitants +left them. Armed soldiers were hastening<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_660" id="Page_660">[660]</a></span> +to their different points of +assembly, summoned by bugles that +resounded shrilly amid the din, and +thrusting their way unceremoniously +through the impeding masses of fugitives.</p> + +<p>The house of the Jew Lazaro was +one of the first that was seriously injured. +The blank wall of the great +warehouse before mentioned, that +faced the street, had, either from age +or bad masonry, long before exhibited +several cracks. A large segment, +bounded by two of these cracks, had +been knocked away by a shot, and +the superincumbent mass falling in +consequence, the great store, and all its +hoarded treasures, appeared through +the chasm.</p> + +<p>The Jew's instincts had, at first, +led him to save himself by flight. +But, on returning timorously to look +after his property, the sight of the +ruined wall, and the unprotected +hoards on which he had so securely +reckoned as the source of wealth, +obliterated in his mind, for the time, +all sense of personal danger. Seeing +a party of soldiers issuing from a wine-house +near, he eagerly besought them +to assist him in removing his property +to a place of safety, promising to reward +them largely for their risk and +trouble.</p> + +<p>One of the soldiers thus appealed +to was Mr Bags.</p> + +<p>"Ho, ho!" said Mr Bags; "here's +a chance—here's a pleasure, comrades. +We can help Mr Lazaro, who +is always so good to us—this here +Jewish gentleman, that gives such +liberal prices for our things. Certainly—we'll +remove 'em all, and not +charge him nothing. Oh—oh—ah!" +And, to give point to his irony, Mr +Bags distorted his face hideously, and +winked upon his friends.</p> + +<p>The idea of giving Lazaro any +assistance was considered a capital +joke, and caused a great deal of mirth +as they walked towards the store, to +which the Jew eagerly led the way.</p> + +<p>"If there's anything good to eat +or drink in the store, we may remove +some of it, though it won't be on our +backs, eh, boys?" said Bags, as he +stept in advance, over a heap of rubbish, +into the store.</p> + +<p>"These first—these, my friends," +cried the Jew, going up to a row of +barrels, standing a little apart from +the crowded masses of articles.</p> + +<p>"Oh, these first, eh?" said Bags; +"they're the best, be they? Thank +you, Mr Lazaro; we'll see what's in +'em;" and, taking up a gimlet that +lay near, he proceeded to bore a hole +in one of the barrels, desiring a friend, +whom he addressed as Tim, to tap +the next one.</p> + +<p>"Thieves!" screamed the Jew, on +witnessing this proceeding, seizing +Bags' arm, "leave my store—go out—let +my goods alone!" Bags lent +him a shove that sent him into a corner, +and perceiving liquor flowing +from the hole he had drilled, applied +his mouth to the orifice.</p> + +<p>"Brandy," said he, as he paused +for breath, "real Cognac. Comrades, +here's luck to that 'ere shot that +showed us the way in;" and he took +another diligent pull at the hole.</p> + +<p>Meantime his comrades had not +been idle; other barrels were opened, +and their contents submitted to a critical +inspection.</p> + +<p>The Jew tried various modes to +induce them to relinquish their booty: +first threats—then offers of reward—then +cajolery; and, at last, attempted +to interpose and thrust them from +their spoil. A shot from the enemy +entering the store, enfiladed a long +line of barrels, scattering the staves +and their contents. The place was +instantly flooded with liquor—wine, +molasses, spirits, and oil, ran in a +mingled stream, soaking the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">débris</i> of +biscuit and salt provisions that strewed +the floor. One soldier was struck +dead, and Mr Bags only escaped destruction +by the lucky accident of +having his head at that moment apart +from the barrel which had engrossed +his attention, and which was knocked +to pieces.</p> + +<p>The Jew, partly stunned by a +wound in the forehead from the +splinter of a barrel, and partly in +despair at the destruction of his property, +came to the entrance of the +store, seating himself among the +rubbish. Other plunderers speedily +followed the example of the marauding +soldiers, but he made no attempt +to stop them as they walked past him. +My grandfather, passing at the time +on his way home, was horrified at the +sight of him. Flour from a splintered<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_661" id="Page_661">[661]</a></span> +barrel had been scattered over his +face, and blood from the wound in +his forehead, trickling down, had +clotted it on his cheeks and scanty +beard, giving him an aspect at +once appalling and disgusting. His +daughter had waited at the door of the +Fives' Court till she saw Owen come +forth in safety, and had then availed +herself of the protection of the Major +as far as her own home. Shrieking +at the dismal sight, she sprang forward +and threw herself before the +Jew, casting her arms around him. +This seemed to rouse him. He arose—looked +back into the store; and +then, as if goaded by the sight of the +wreck into intolerable anguish, he +lifted his clenched hands above his +head, uttering a sentence of such +fearful blasphemy, that a devout +Spaniard, who was emerging from +the store with some plunder, struck +him on the mouth. He never heeded +the blow, but continued to rave, till, +suddenly overcome by loss of blood +and impotent rage, he dropt senseless +on the ground.</p> + +<p>My grandfather, calling some soldiers +of his regiment who were passing, +desired them to convey him to +the hospital at the South Barracks, +and, again taking the terrified and +weeping Esther under his protection, +followed to see the unfortunate +Jew cared for.</p> + +<p>At the various parades that day +Mr Bags was reported absent, being +in fact engaged in pursuits of a much +more interesting nature than his military +duties. A vast field of interprise +was opened to him and other +adventurous spirits, of which they +did not fail to avail themselves, in the +quantity of property of all kinds +abandoned by the owners, in houses +and shops where locks and bolts were +no longer a protection; and although +the firing, which ceased for an hour +or two in the middle of the day, was +renewed towards evening and continued +with great fury, the ardour of +acquisition by no means abated.</p> + +<p>About midnight a sentry on the +heights of Rosia (the name given to +a portion of the rugged cliffs towards +the south and near the hospital) +observed, in the gloom, a figure lurking +about one of the batteries, and +challenged it. Receiving no answer, +he threatened to fire, when Bags came +forward reluctantly, with a bundle in +his hand.</p> + +<p>"Hush, Bill," said Bags, on finding +the sentry was a personal friend—"don't +make a row: it's only me, +Bags—Tongs, you know," he added, +to insure his recognition.</p> + +<p>"What the devil are you doing +there, you fool?" asked his friend in +a surly tone—"don't you know the +picquet's after you?"</p> + +<p>"I've got some little things here +that I want to lay by, where nobody +won't see 'em, in case I'm catched," +returned Bags. "Don't you take no +notice of me, Bill, and I'll be off +directly."</p> + +<p>"What have ye got?" asked Bill, +whose curiosity was awakened by the +proceedings of his friend.</p> + +<p>"Some little matters that I picked +up in the town," returned Bags. +"Pity you should be on guard to-day, +Bill—there was some pretty pickings. +I'll save something for you, Bill," +added Bags, in an unaccountable +access of generosity.</p> + +<p>The sentry, however, who was a +person in every way worthy of the +friendship of Mr Bags, expressed no +gratitude for the considerate offer, +but began poking at the bundle with +his bayonet.</p> + +<p>"Hands off, Bill," said Bags, +"they won't abear touching."</p> + +<p>"Let's see 'em," said Bill.</p> + +<p>"Not a bit on it," said Bags; +"they ain't aworth looking at."</p> + +<p>"Suppose I was to call the sergeant +of the guard," said Bill.</p> + +<p>"You wouldn't do such a action?" +said Bags, in a tone strongly expressive +of disgust at such baseness. +"No, no, Bill, you ain't that sort of +fellow, <em>I'm</em> sure."</p> + +<p>"It's my dooty," said the sentry, +placing the butt of his musket on the +ground, and leaning his elbow on the +muzzle. "You see that what you +said, Tongs, was very true, about its +being hard upon me to be carrying +about this here damnable weppin" +(slapping the barrel of the musket) +"all day for fourpence ha'penny, +while you are making your fortin. +It is, Tongs, d—d hard."</p> + +<p>"Never mind; there'll be plenty +left to-morrow," said Bags in a consolatory +tone.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_662" id="Page_662">[662]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What shall we say, now, if I lets +ye hide it?" said Bill, pointing to the +bundle. "Half-shares?"</p> + +<p>"This ain't like a friend, Bill," +returned Tongs, highly disgusted +with this ungenerous proposal. "Nobody +ever knowed me interfere with +a comrade when I was on sentry. +How long ago is it since I let ye stay +in my box an hour, till ye was sober +enough to walk into barracks, when +I was sentry at the gate? Why, the +whole bundle ain't worth eighteenpence—and +I've worked hard for +it."</p> + +<p>"Half-shares?" reiterated Bill, not +melted in the least by the memory of +ancient benefits.</p> + +<p>"No, by G—!" said Bags in great +wrath.</p> + +<p>"Serg——," began Bill in an elevated +voice, porting his arms at the +same time.</p> + +<p>"Stop!" said Bags; "don't call +the sergeant. Half is better nor +nothing, if ye're going to behave like +that. We'll say half, then."</p> + +<p>"Ah," said Bill, returning to his +former position—"I thought we +should agree. And now let's see +'em, Tongs."</p> + +<p>Muttering still his disapprobation +of this unworthy treatment, Bags +put his bundle on the stone embrasure +of the battery, and began to +unfold it.</p> + +<p>Eighteenpence was certainly a low +valuation. Bags appeared to have +visited a jeweller's shop. Watches, +rings, bracelets, gold chains, and +brooches glittered on the dingy surface +of the handkerchief.</p> + +<p>"My eye!" said Bill, unable to +repress a low laugh of delight—"why, +we'll turn bankers when we've +sold 'em. Tongs and Co., eh?" said +Bill with considerable humour.</p> + +<p>Bags, however, told him he was +altogether mistaken in his estimate—most +of the things were pinchbeck, +he said, and the stones all glass; +and, to save Bill any trouble, he +offered to dispose of them himself to +the best possible advantage, and +bring his partner his share of the +proceeds, which would certainly be +at least ninepence, and might perhaps +be half-a-dollar. This arrangement +did not, however, meet the approbation +of the astute William, who +insisted on dividing the spoils by lot. +But here, again, there was a slight +misunderstanding, for both fixed +their affections on a gigantic watch, +which never could have been got into +any modern pocket, and whose face +was ornamented with paintings from +the heathen mythology. Both of +them supposed, from the size and the +brilliancy of the colours, that this +must be of immense value. Finding +they were not likely to come to a +speedy arrangement on this point, +they agreed to postpone the division +of the spoils till morning.</p> + +<p>"I'll tell ye where to put it, Bags," +said Bill. "These here guns in this +battery haven't been fired for years, +nor ain't likely to be, though they +loaded 'em the other day. Take out the +wad of this one, and put in the bundle."</p> + +<p>Bags approved of the idea, withdrew +the wad from the muzzle of the +gun, put in the bundle as far as his +arm would reach, and then replaced +the wad.</p> + +<p>"Honour bright?" said Bags, preparing +to depart.</p> + +<p>"Honour bright," returned Bill; +and Bags disappeared.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless he did not feel sufficient +confidence in his confederate's +integrity to justify his quitting the +place and leaving him to his own +devices. He thought Bill might +perhaps avail himself of his absence +to remove the treasure, or be guilty +of some other treachery. He therefore +crept back again softly, till he +got behind a crag from whence he +had a full view of the battery.</p> + +<p>For some time Bill walked sternly +to and fro on his post. Bags observed, +however, that he always included the +gun where the deposit lay in his perambulations, +which became shorter +and shorter. At last he halted close +to it, laid down his musket against +the parapet, and, approaching the +muzzle of the gun, took out the wad.</p> + +<p>At this moment a neighbouring +sentry gave an alarm. The guard +turned out, and Bill, hastily replacing +the wad, resumed his arms and +looked about for the cause of the +alarm. About a mile out in the bay +several red sparks were visible. As +he looked there were a corresponding +number of flashes, and then a whistling +of shot high overhead told that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_663" id="Page_663">[663]</a></span> +the guns from which they had been +discharged had been laid too high. +The Spanish gunboats were attacking +the south.</p> + +<p>The drums beat to arms, and in a +few minutes the battery was manned +with artillerymen. To the inconceivable +horror of Bags and Bill, the +whole of the guns in the battery were +altered in position, and a gunner took +post at the rear of each with a lighted +portfire. Then a flushed face might +be seen, by the blue light of the portfires, +rising from behind a neighbouring +piece of rock, the eyes staring, the +mouth open in agonised expectation.</p> + +<p>"Number one—fire!" said the +officer in command, to the gunner in +rear of the gun in which Mr Bags +had invested his capital.</p> + +<p>"No, no!" shouted Bags, rising +wildly from behind the rock.</p> + +<p>The portfire touched the vent—there +was a discharge that seemed +to rend Mr Bags's heartstrings and +blow off the roof of his skull—and +the clever speculation on which he +had counted for making his fortune +ended, like many others, in smoke. +He gazed for a moment out in the +direction of the flash, as if he expected +to see the watches and rings +gleaming in the air; then he turned +and disappeared in the darkness.</p> + +<p>After a few ineffectual discharges, +the Spaniards seemed to become +aware of the badness of their aim, +and to take measures to amend it. +Several shot struck the hospital; and +some shells falling through the roof, +exploded in the very wards where +the sick lay. The unhappy Jew, +Lazaro, lying in a feverish and semi-delirious +state from his former hurt +and agitation, was again struck by a +splinter of a shell which burst in the +ward where the Major's care had +seen him deposited, blowing up the +ceiling and part of the wall. In the +midst of the confusion, the Jew, +frantic with terror, rushed unrestrained +from the building, followed +only by his daughter, who was +watching by his bed. He was not +missed for some time, and the attempts +to discover him, made after +his disappearance became known, +were of no avail. A neighbouring +sentry had seen a white figure, followed +by another crying after it, +dash across the road and disappear +in the bushes; but the search made +about the vicinity of the spot failed +in detecting any traces of them, and +those who troubled themselves to +think of the matter at all, surmised +that they had fallen into the +sea.</p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER V.</h4> + +<p>For some pages, my grandfather's +note-book is filled with memoranda of +singular casualties from the enemy's +shot, wonderful escapes, and hasty +moments of quietude and attempted +comfort snatched "even in the cannon's +mouth." The fire from the +Spanish batteries shortly reduced the +town to ruins, and the gunboats at +night precluded all hope of peace and +oblivion after the horrors of the day. +Dreams, in which these horrors were +reproduced, were interrupted by still +more frightful nocturnal realities. One +of the curious minor evils that my +grandfather notices, as resulting from +an incessant cannonade, to those not +engaged in it actively enough to withdraw +their attention from the noise, +is the extreme irritation produced by +its long continuance, amounting, in +persons of nervous and excitable +temperament, to positive exasperation.</p> + +<p>Some of the numerous incidents he +chronicles are also recorded by Drinkwater, +especially that of a man who +recovered after being almost knocked +to pieces by the bursting of a shell. +"His head was terribly fractured, his +left arm broken in two places, one of +his legs shattered, the skin and +muscles torn off his right hand, the +middle finger broken to pieces, and +his whole body most severely bruised +and marked with gunpowder. He +presented so horrid an object to the +surgeons, that they had not the +smallest hopes of saving his life, and +were at a loss what part to attend +to first. He was that evening trepanned; +a few days afterwards his +leg was amputated, and other wounds +and fractures dressed. Being possessed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_664" id="Page_664">[664]</a></span> +of a most excellent constitution, +nature performed wonders in his +favour, and in eleven weeks the cure +was completely effected. His name," +continues Mr Drinkwater, with what +might be deemed irony—if the worthy +historian ever indulged in that figure +of rhetoric—"is Donald Ross, and +he" (<em>i. e.</em> the remaining fragment of +the said Donald Ross) "now enjoys +his sovereign's bounty in a pension +of ninepence a-day for life." One +might almost suppose that Mr Hume +had some hand in affixing the gratuity; +but in those days there was a +king who knew not Joseph.</p> + +<p>My grandfather appears to have +had also an adventure of his own. +During a cessation of the cannonade, +he was sitting one morning on a fragment +of rock, in the garden behind +his quarters, reading his favourite +author. The firing suddenly recommenced, +and a long-ranged shell, +striking the ground at some distance, +rolled towards him. He glanced +half-absently at the hissing missile; +and whether he actually did not for +a moment recollect its character, or +whether, as was often the case on +such occasions, the imminence of the +danger paralysed him, he sat immovably +watching it as it fizzed within a +couple of yards of him. Unquestionably +in another three seconds my +grandfather's earthly tabernacle would +have been resolved into its original +atoms, had not the intrepid Carlota +(who was standing near gathering +flowers to stick in her hair) darted on +him, and, seizing him by the arm, +dragged him behind a wall. They were +scarce under shelter when the shell +exploded—the shock laying them both +prostrate, though unhurt but for a +few bruises—while the stone on which +the Major had been sitting was +shivered to atoms. To the description +of this incident in the Major's +journal are appended a pious reflection +and a short thanksgiving, which, +being entirely of a personal nature, I +omit.</p> + +<p>The stores landed from the fleet +were in a very precarious position. +Owing to the destruction of the +buildings, there were no means of +placing them where they might be +sheltered at once from the fire of the +enemy and from rain. Some were +piled under sails spread out as a sort +of roof to protect them, and some, +that were not likely to sustain immediate +injury from the damp air of +such a depository, were ordered to be +conveyed to St Michael's Cave.</p> + +<p>This cave is one of the most curious +features of the Rock. Its mouth—an +inconsiderable opening in the slope of +the mountain—is situated many hundred +feet above the sea. Within, it +expands into a spacious hall, the roof, +invisible in the gloom, supported by +thick pillars formed by the petrified +droppings of the rock. From this +principal cavern numerous smaller +ones branch off, leading, by dark, +broken, and precipitous passages, to +unknown depths. Along one of +these, according to tradition, Governor +O'Hara advanced farther than +ever man had gone before, and left +his sword in the inmost recess to be +recovered by the next explorer who +should be equally adventurous. But +whether it is that the tradition is unfounded, +or that the weapon has been +carried off by some gnome, or that +the governor's exploit is as yet unrivalled, +the sword has never been +brought to light.</p> + +<p>For the duty of placing the stores +here, the name of Lieutenant Owen +appeared in the garrison orders. My +grandfather having nothing particular +to do, and being anxious to escape as +much as possible for a short time from +the din of the bombardment, offered +to accompany Frank in the execution +of this duty.</p> + +<p>The day was dark and gloomy, and +the steep path slippery from rain, so +that the mules bearing the stores +toiled with difficulty up the ascent. +At first, my grandfather and Owen +indulged in cheerful conversation; but +shortness of breath soon reduced the +Major to monosyllables, and the latter +part of the journey was accomplished +in silence. Frequently the Major +paused and faced about, at once to +look at the prospect and to take +breath. Far below, on his right, was +seen the southern end of the town, +consisting partly of a heap of ruins, +with here and there a rafter sticking +out of the mass, partly of roofless +walls, among which was occasionally +heard the crashing of shot; but the +guns that discharged them, as well as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_665" id="Page_665">[665]</a></span> +those that replied from the town, were +invisible from this point. Directly +beneath him the ground afforded a +curious spectacle, being covered with +tents, huts, and sheds, of all sorts +and sizes, where the outcast population +of the ruined town obtained a +precarious and insufficient shelter. +The only building visible which still +retained its former appearance was +the convent—the governor's residence—which +was protected by bomb-proofs, +and where working-parties +were constantly engaged in repairing +the injuries. The bay, once thickly +wooded with masts and dotted with +sails, was now blank and cheerless; +only the enemy's cruisers were visible, +lying under the opposite shore of +Spain.</p> + +<p>Owen and my grandfather arrived +at the mouth of the cave somewhat +in advance of the convoy. To their +surprise a smoke was issuing from it; +and, as they approached nearer, their +nostrils were greeted by an odour at +once savoury and spicy. Going softly +up they looked in.</p> + +<p>Mr Bags and a couple of friends +were seated round a fire, over which +was roasting a small pig, scientifically +butchered and deprived of his hair, +and hung up by the heels. The fire, +in the absence of other fuel, (of which +there was an extreme scarcity in +Gibraltar,) was supplied by bundles +of cinnamon plundered from the store +of some grocer, and, as the flame +waxed low, Mr Bags took a fresh +bundle from a heap of that fragrant +spice by his side, and laid it on the +embers. Mrs Bags was occupied in +basting the pig with lard, which she +administered from time to time with +an iron ladle.</p> + +<p>Presently Mr Bags tapped on the +pig's back with his knife. It sent +forth a crisp crackling sound, that +made my grandfather's mouth water, +and caused Mr Bags to become impatient.</p> + +<p>"Polly," said he, "it's my opinion +it's been done these three minutes. +I can't wait much longer."</p> + +<p>And he cast a glance at the other +two soldiers, (in whom, as well as in +Bags, Owen recognised men of his +company who had been reported absent +for some days, and were supposed +to have gone over to the enemy,) +to ascertain if their opinions tallied +with his own on this point.</p> + +<p>"It can't be no better," said one, +taking hold of the pig's neck between +his finger and thumb, which he afterwards +applied to his mouth.</p> + +<p>"I can't abear my meat overdone," +said the third. "What I say is, let +them that likes to wait, wait, and let +them that wants to begin, begin." So +saying, he rose, and was about to attack +the ribs of the porker with his +knife.</p> + +<p>"Do stop a minute—that's a dear," +said Mrs Bags; "another bundle of +cinnament will make it parfect. I'll +give ye something to stay your +stomach;" and stepping to a nook +in the wall of the cavern, where stood +a large barrel, she filled a pewter +measure, and handed it to the impatient +advocate for underdone pork, +who took a considerable dram, and +passed it to his companions.</p> + +<p>"Cinnament's better with pork +nor with most things," said Bags. +"It spoils goose, because it don't +agree with the inions, and it makes +fowls wishy-washy; but it goes excellent +with pig."</p> + +<p>"What's left in the larder?" asked +one of the party.</p> + +<p>"There's a week's good eating yet," +said Mrs Bags, "and we <em>might</em> make +it do ten days or a fortnight."</p> + +<p>"Well!" said the other, "they +may say what they like about sieges, +but this is the jolliest time ever <em>I</em> had."</p> + +<p>"It's very well by day," said Bags, +"but the nights is cold, and the company +of that ghost ain't agreeable—I +seed it again last night."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" said his friend, "what +was it like, Tongs?"</p> + +<p>"Something white," returned Bags +in an awful whisper, "with a ghost's +eyes. You may allays know a ghost +by the eyes. I was just rising up, +and thinking about getting a drink, +for my coppers was hot, when it +comes gliding up from that end of the +cave. I spoke to you, and then I +couldn't see it no more, because it +was varnished."</p> + +<p>"Ghosts always varnishes if you +speak," said Mrs Bags. "But never +mind the spirit now—let's look after +the flesh," added the lady, who possessed +a fund of native pleasantry: +"the pig's done to a turn."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_666" id="Page_666">[666]</a></span></p> + +<p>At this interesting juncture, and +just as they were about to fall to, the +footsteps of the approaching mules +struck on their ears. Owen went to +meet the party, and hastily selecting +six men from it, advanced, and desired +them to secure the astounded +convivialists.</p> + +<p>On recovering from their first astonishment, +Bags begged Owen would +overlook the offence; they were only, +he pleaded, having a little spree—times +had been hard lately. Mrs +Bags, as usual, displayed great eloquence, +though not much to the purpose. +She seemed to have some idea +that an enumeration of the gentlemen's +families she had lived in, and +the high estimation in which she had +been held in all, would really tell +powerfully in favour of the delinquents, +and persevered accordingly, +till they were marched off in custody +of the escort, when she made a final +appeal to my grandfather, as the last +gentleman whose family she had lived +in—with what advantage to the +household the reader knows. The +Major, who could not forgive the +roasting of his ham, called her, in reply, +a "horrible woman," but, at the +same time, whispered to Owen that +he hoped the fellows would not be +severely punished. "If we had +caught them after dinner," said he, "I +shouldn't have pitied them so much."</p> + +<p>"Never mind them," said Owen; +"let us proceed to business. We +must select the driest spot we can find +to put the stores in."</p> + +<p>[Here, by way of taking leave of +Mr Bags, I may remark, that he narrowly +escaped being hanged as a +plunderer—failing which, he was sentenced +by a court-martial to receive +a number of lashes, which I refrain +from specifying, because it would certainly +make the hair of a modern +humanitarian turn white with horror.]</p> + +<p>"Come along, Major," said Owen; +"perhaps we may find more of these +scoundrels in the course of our researches."</p> + +<p>The Major did not move; he was +earnestly regarding the carcase of the +pig, that steamed hissing above the +embers.</p> + +<p>"Queer idea that of the cinnamon +fire," said he. "I wonder how the +meat tastes."</p> + +<p>Owen did not hear him, having +walked forward.</p> + +<p>"Have you got a knife about you, +Frank?" said the Major. "Do you +know I have a curious desire to ascertain +the flavour. It may be a feature +in cookery worth knowing."</p> + +<p>Owen had not a knife, nor had +any of the men, but one of them suggested +that the Major's sword would +answer the purpose.</p> + +<p>"To be sure," said the Major. "A +good idea! I don't see why swords +shouldn't be turned into carving-knives +as well as into pruning-hooks." +So saying, he drew it from the sheath, +and, straddling across the fire, detached +a crisp brown mouthful from +the pig's ribs, and putting a little +salt on it, he conveyed it to his +mouth.</p> + +<p>"Excellent!" cried the Major. +"I give you my word of honour, +Owen, 'tis excellent! The cinnamon +gives it a sort of a ——"</p> + +<p>Here a second and larger mouthful +interrupted the criticism.</p> + +<p>"It must be very near lunch-time," +said the Major, pausing, sword in +hand, when he had swallowed it; +then, pretending to look at his watch—"Bless +me, it only wants half-an-hour +of it. Do you think this business +will take you long, Owen?"</p> + +<p>"About a couple of hours," said +Owen.</p> + +<p>"Ah, why, there you see," returned +the Major, "we shan't get home till +long past lunch-time. I really don't +see why we shouldn't take a snack +now. Nothing can be better than +that pig. I only wish the woman +had dressed my dinner half as well. +Corporal Hodson, would you oblige +me with a piece of that biscuit near +you?" And, detaching a large fragment +of pork, he placed it on the +biscuit, and sprinkling it with pepper +and salt, which condiments had not +been forgotten in the gastronomic arrangements +of Mr Bags, he proceeded +to follow Owen into the interior of +the cave, taking huge bites as he +went.</p> + +<p>The path slopes at first steeply +downward from the mouth to the interior +of the cavern, where it becomes +more level. Light being admitted +only at the entrance, the gloom of the +interior is almost impenetrable to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_667" id="Page_667">[667]</a></span> +eye. The men had brought torches +to assist them in their work, and, a +suitable spot having been selected, +these were stuck on different points +and abutments of the rocky wall, +when the party proceeded to unload +the mules at the entrance, conveying +their burdens into the cave.</p> + +<p>In the midst of the bustle and noise +attending the operation, the little dog +given by Esther to Carlota, which +had that morning followed the Major, +to whom it had speedily attached itself, +began barking and howling dismally +in a dark recess behind one of +the great natural pillars before spoken +of. As the noise continued, intermixed +with piteous whinings, one of +the men took a torch from the wall, +and stepped forward into the darkness, +to see what ailed the animal. +Presently he cried out that "there +was a man there."</p> + +<p>My grandfather, who was next +him, immediately followed, and five +paces brought him to the spot. The +soldier who held the torch was stooping, +and holding it over a figure that +lay on the ground on its back. In the +unshaven, blood-stained countenance, +my grandfather, at first, had some +difficulty in recognising Lazaro the +Jew. Some fiery splashes of pitch +from the torch dropping at the moment +on his bare throat, produced no +movement, though, had he been living, +they must have scorched him to +the quick.</p> + +<p>On the body was nothing but the +shirt he wore the night of his flight +from the hospital, but his legs were +wrapt in a woman's dress. Across +his breast, on her face, lay Esther, in +her white under-garments—for the +gown that wrapt the Jew's legs was +hers. The glare of the torch was +bright and red on the two prostrate +figures, and on the staring appalled +countenance of the man who held it—the +group forming a glowing spot in +the vast, sombre, vaulted space, where +dim gleams of light were caught and +repeated on projecting masses of rock, +more and more faintly, till all was +bounded by darkness.</p> + +<p>Years afterwards my grandfather +would sometimes complain of having +been revisited, in dreams of the night, +by that ghastly piece of Rembrandt +painting.</p> + +<p>The rest quickly flocked to the spot, +and Esther was lifted and found to +breathe, though the Jew was stiff and +cold. Some diluted spirit, from the +cellar of Bags, being poured down her +throat she revived a little, when my +grandfather caused two of the men to +bear her carefully to his house; and +the body of the Jew being wrapt in a +piece of canvass, was placed on a +mule and conveyed to the hospital +for interment.</p> + +<p>Medical aid restored Esther to consciousness, +and she told how they +came to be found in the cave.</p> + +<p>Her father, on leaving the hospital, +had fled by chance, as she thought, +to this cave, for he did not reach it by +the usual path, but climbed, in his +delirious fear, up the face of the rock, +and she had followed him as well as +she could, keeping his white figure in +sight. They had both lain exhausted +in the cave till morning, when, finding +that her father slept, she was on the +point of leaving him to seek assistance. +But, unhappily, before she +could quit the place, Bags and his +associates entered from their plundering +expedition into the town, and, +frightened at their drunken language, +and recognising in Bags the man who +had robbed her, she had crept back to +her concealment. The party of marauders +never quitted the cavern from +the moment of establishing themselves +in it. They spent the day in eating, +drinking, singing songs, and sometimes +quarrelling. Twice, at night, +she ventured forth; but she always +found one of them asleep across the +entrance, so that she could not pass +without waking him, and once one of +them started up, and seemed about to +pursue her—doubtless Bags, on the +occasion when he thought he saw a +ghost. Nevertheless, she had mustered +courage twice to take some fragments +of food that were lying near +the fire, leaving each time a piece of +money in payment; and she had also +taken a lighted candle, the better to +ascertain her father's situation. He +had never spoken to her since the first +night of their coming, and, during all +those dark and weary hours, (for they +were three nights and two days in +the cavern,) she had remained by +him listening to his incoherent mutterings +and moans. The candle had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_668" id="Page_668">[668]</a></span> +showed her that he had lost much +blood, from the wound in his forehead +breaking out afresh, as well as +from the other received in the hospital, +though the latter was but a flesh +wound. These she had bandaged with +shreds of her dress, and had tried to +give him some of the nourishment she +had procured, but could force nothing +on him except some water. Some +hours, however—how long she did not +know, but it was during the night—before +Owen's party found her, the +Jew had become sensible. He told +her he was dying; and, unconscious of +where he was, desired her to fetch a +light. This she had procured in the +same way as before, lighting the +candle at the embers of the fire round +which Bags and his friends reposed. +Then the Jew, who seemed to imagine +himself still in the hospital, bid her +say whom, among those she knew in +Gibraltar, she would wish to have +charge of her when he was no more; +and, on her mentioning Carlota, had +desired her to take pen and paper and +write his will as he should dictate it. +Pen she had none, but she had a +pencil and a scrap of paper in her +pocket, and with these she wrote, +leaning over to catch the whispered +syllables that he with difficulty articulated.</p> + +<p>From this paper it would appear +that the Jew had some fatherly feelings +for Esther concealed beneath his +harsh deportment towards her. I can +describe the will, for I have often seen +it. It is written on a piece of crumpled +writing-paper, about the size of a bank-note, +very stained and dirty. It is +written in Spanish; and in it the Jew +entreats "the Señora, the wife of Sr. +Don Flinder, English officer, to take +charge of his orphan child, in requital +whereof he leaves her the half of whatsoever +property he dies possessed of, +the other half to be disposed of for the +benefit of his daughter." Then follows +a second paragraph, inserted at Esther's +own desire, to the effect that, +should she not survive, the whole was +to be inherited by the aforesaid Señora. +It is dated "Abril 1781," and signed +in a faint, straggling hand, quite +different from the clear writing of the +rest—"<span class="smcap">José Lazaro</span>."</p> + +<p>Esther would now have gone, at all +hazards, to obtain assistance, but the +Jew clutched her arm, and would not +permit her to quit him. He breathed +his last shortly after, and Esther +remembered nothing more till she +came to herself in the Major's house. +The paper was found in her bosom.</p> + +<p>Some days after this event my +grandfather went with Owen into the +town, during a temporary lull in the +enemy's firing, to visit the house of +Lazaro, in order to ascertain whether +anything valuable was left that might +be converted to Esther's benefit. +They had some difficulty in finding +the exact locality, owing to the utter +destruction of all the landmarks. The +place was a mass of ruins. Some +provisions and goods had been left by +the plunderers, but so mixed with +rubbish, and overflowed with the +contents of the casks of liquor and +molasses, as to be of no value even in +these times of dearth.</p> + +<p>Owen, poking about among the +wreck, observed an open space in the +middle of one of the shattered walls, +as if something had been built into it. +With the assistance of my grandfather's +cane, he succeeded in dislodging +the surrounding masonry, already +loosened by shot, and they discovered +it to be a recess made in the +thickness of the wall, and closed by a +small iron door. At the bottom was +lying a small box, also of iron, which +they raised, not without difficulty, for +its weight was extraordinary in proportion +to its dimensions. This being +conveyed to my grandfather's, and +opened, was found to contain more +than six hundred doubloons, (a sum +in value about two thousand pounds,) +and many bills of exchange and promissory +notes, mostly those of officers. +The latest was that of Von Dessel. +These the Major, by Esther's desire, +returned to the persons whose signatures +they bore.</p> + +<p>Esther never completely recovered +from the effects of her sojourn in the +cave, but remained always pale and +of weak health. My grandfather took +good care of her inheritance for her, +and on leaving Gibraltar, at the conclusion +of the siege, invested the +whole of it safely for her benefit, +placing her, at the same time, in the +family of some respectable persons of +her own religion. She afterwards +married a wealthy Hebrew; and, in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_669" id="Page_669">[669]</a></span> +whatever part of the world the Major +chanced to be serving, so long as she +lived, valuable presents would constantly +arrive from Gibraltar—mantillas +and ornaments of jewellery for +Carlota, and butts of delicious sherry +for my grandfather. These, however, +ceased with her death, about twenty +years afterwards.</p> + +<p>This is, I believe, the most connected +and interesting episode to be +found in the Major's note-book; and +it is, I think, the last specimen I shall +offer of these new "Tales of my +Grandfather."</p> + +<p>As a child I used to listen, with +interest ever new, to the tale of the +young Jewess, which the narrator +had often heard from the lips of Carlota +and her husband. St Michael's +Cave took rank in my mind with those +other subterranean abodes where Cassim, +the brother of Ali Baba, who +forgot the word "<em>Open Sesame</em>," +was murdered by the Forty Thieves; +where Aladdin was shut by the magician +in the enchanted garden; and +where Robinson Crusoe discovered +the dying he-goat. And when, at the +conclusion of the tale, the scrap of +paper containing the Jew's will was +produced from a certain desk, and +carefully unfolded, I seemed to be connected +by some awful and mysterious +link with these departed actors in the +scenes I had so breathlessly listened to.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2>LIFE AMONGST THE LOGGERS.</h2> + +<p><em>Forest Life and Forest Trees.</em> By <span class="smcap">John S. Springer</span>. New York: Harper. +London: Sampson Low. 1851.</p> + + +<p>The northern and elder States of +the great American Union have ceased +to be associated in our minds with +those ideas of wild and romantic adventure +which are inseparably connected +with some of their younger +brethren far west and south. There +is nothing suggestive of romance in +such names as New York, Maine, +and Pennsylvania: cotton bales, keen +traders and repudiated debts, drab +coats, wooden clocks, and counterfeit +nutmegs, compose the equivocal and +unpoetical visions they conjure up to +European imaginations. But drop we +our eyes down the map to lawless +Arkansas, feverish Louisiana, and +debateable Texas, or westwards to +the still newer State of California, and +a host of stirring and picturesque associations +throng upon our memory. +Strange scenes and a motley array +pass before us. Bands of hunters and +trappers, scarce more civilised than +the Indians with whom they war, or +gentler than the buffalo which yields +them sport and food; predatory armies, +for Mexico bound, keen for spoil and +regardless of right; caravans of adventurous +gold-seekers braving the +perilous passage of the Rocky Mountains; +hardy squatters, axe in hand, +hewing themselves a home in the heart +of the wilderness; innumerable traits +of courage and endurance—incredible +sufferings and countless crimes—make +up a picture-gallery unrivalled of its +kind. In those districts, not a league +of prairie, not a mountain or stream, +not a <i lang="es" xml:lang="es">bayou</i> or <i lang="es" xml:lang="es">barranca</i>, but has +derived recent and vivid interest from +the animated sketches of Sealsfield, +Ruxton, Wise, and a host of other +graphic and vigorous delineators.</p> + +<p>As if to vindicate the claims to interest +of the northern American provinces, +a Down-easter, Springer by +name, who hails from the State of +Maine, has exhibited, in a curious little +volume, the adventurous side of life in +<em>his</em> part of the Union. At a first +glance, there would appear to be few +created things whose history was +likely to be less interesting than that +of a Yankee pine-log. Get astride it +with Springer, and paddle up the +Penobscot, clearing rapids and other +impediments as best you may on so +unpromising a float—and, before +reaching the place where it grew, you +shall marvel at the skill and daring +expended, and at the risks run to +procure it. Springer, who was reared +amongst the pine forests, which his +axe afterwards helped to thin, is an +enthusiastic woodsman, and feels +"kinder jealous" that whilst the +habits and adventures of many classes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_670" id="Page_670">[670]</a></span> +of his countrymen have occupied skilful +writers and public attention, no +chronicler should have been found for +the deeds and perils of that numerous +class to which he for some years +belonged. To supply this deficiency, +he himself, although more used to +handle axe than goose-quill, has written +a plain and unpretending account +of scenes and incidents which he +shared in and witnessed. The freshness +of the subject, and the honest +earnestness of the man, would atone +for clumsier treatment than it has +met with at his hands.</p> + +<p>The second title of Mr Springer's +book gives a clearer idea of its contents +than the primary one. The +volume comprises, says the title-page, +"Winter camp-life, among the Loggers, +and wild-wood adventure, with descriptions +of lumbering operations on +the various rivers of Maine and New +Brunswick." It is divided into three +parts; the first and shortest being a +dissertation on forest trees, with particular +reference to those of America; +the second, entitled "The Pine Tree, +or Forest Life," giving an account of +wood-cutting operations; the third, +"River Life," detailing the progress +of the timber from the forest to the +"boom," or depôt. The chief interest +of the book begins with the second +chapter of the second part, wherein is +described the commencement of the +labours of a gang of "loggers," or +woodcutters. In the hunt after +timber, as after certain animals, the +first thing to be done is to mark the +whereabout of your game preparatory +to starting in its pursuit. On the eve +of the chase the keeper reconnoitres +the retreat of the wild-boar. Before +a party of loggers proceed to establish +a camp and pass the winter woodcutting, +they send out scouts to ascertain +where timber is plenty. +Thirty years since, this was scarcely +necessary—the pine, that forest king +of the northern States, abounded on +every side. Fifty years hence—so it +is estimated by those best qualified to +judge—the vast pine forests, through +which the Penobscot flows, will be on +the eve of extinction. Now is the +intermediate stage. A man cannot, +as he formerly could, step from his +house to his day's work; but research +and labour still command a rich +timber harvest. Exploring expeditions +may be made at any period of +the year, but autumn is the favourite +season. They consist generally of +only two or three men, accustomed to +the business, who, provided with the +necessary provisions, with a coffee-pot +and a blanket, axe, rifle, and +ammunition, embark on skiff or +<i lang="es" xml:lang="es">bateau</i>, and pole and paddle their way +two hundred miles or more up the +Penobscot or the St Croix, and their +numerous tributaries. On reaching +the district it is proposed to explore, +the boat is hauled ashore and turned +bottom upwards, the load of stores is +divided amongst the party, and they +strike into the forest, rousing, on their +passage, the stately moose, the timid +deer, the roaming black bear, and +many an inferior denizen of the lonesome +wilderness. They now begin +"prospecting." Often the thickness +of the forest and the uneven surface +of the country prevent their obtaining +a sufficiently extensive view, and +compel them to climb trees in order +to look around them.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"When an ascent is to be made, the +spruce tree is generally selected, principally +for the superior facilities which its +numerous limbs afford the climber. To +gain the first limbs of this tree, which are +from twenty to forty feet from the ground, +a smaller tree is undercut and lodged +against it, clambering up which the top +of the spruce is reached. Sometimes, +when a very elevated position is desired, +the spruce tree is lodged against the +trunk of some lofty pine, up which we +ascend to a height twice that of the +surrounding forest. From such a tree-top, +like a mariner at the mast-head upon +the look-out for whales, (and indeed the +pine is the whale of the forest,) large +'clumps' and 'veins' of pine are discovered, +whose towering tops may be +seen for miles around. Such views fill +the bosom of timber-hunters with an +<em>intense interest</em>. They are the object of his +search—his treasure, his Eldorado; and +they are beheld with peculiar and thrilling +emotions. To detail the process more +minutely, we should observe, that the +man in the tree-top points out the direction +in which the pines are seen; or, if +hid from the view of those below by the +surrounding foliage, he breaks a small +limb, and throws it in the direction in +which they appear, whilst a man at the +base marks the direction indicated by the +falling limb by means of a compass which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_671" id="Page_671">[671]</a></span> +he holds in his hand, the compass being +quite as necessary in the wilderness as on +the pathless ocean. In fair weather the +sun serves as an important guide; and in +cloudy weather the close observation of +an experienced woodman will enable him +to steer a tolerably correct course by the +moss which grows on the trunks of most +hardwood trees, the north sides of which +are covered with a much larger share +than the other portions of the trunk. +This Indian compass, however, is not very +convenient or safe, particularly in passing +through swampy lands, which are of +frequent occurrence."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Two reflections are suggested by +the paragraph we have just copied. +The substance of one of them is noted +in the Preface. "This volume," says +the modest and sensible Springer, +"makes no pretensions to literary +merit; sooner would it claim kindred +with the wild and uncultivated scenes +of which it is but a simple relation." +The second reflection is, that our +wood-cutter is an enthusiast in his +craft; for wood-cutting in Maine <em>is</em> a +craft, and no common log-chopping. +To Springer, a towering grove of +timber is as exciting a sight as is to +the hunter that of a herd of antlered +deer or shaggy buffalo. The pine +especially is the object of his love and +admiration. He abounds in anecdotes +and arguments to prove its good +qualities, and labours hard to establish +its superiority to the oak. Reared +amongst the noble pines of Maine, he +says, even as a child, he could never +hear, without feelings of jealousy, +the oak extolled as monarch of the +forest. Admitting it to excel in +strength, he vaunts, upon the other +hand, the superior grandeur and girth +of the pine, its value in building, the +breadth of its planks, their clearness, +beauty, and freedom from knots, the +numerous uses to which it is applicable, +its excellence as fuel, its perfect adaptation +to all the joiner's purposes. +He extols in turn each of its varieties; +the red pine, remarkable for its tall +trunk, which sometimes rises eighty +feet from the ground before putting +out a limb; the pitch pine, inferior in +size, but preferable to any other wood +for generating steam in engines; the +white pine, superior to all in value +and dimensions. He tells us of pines, +of which he has read or heard, of +extraordinary grandeur and diameter: +of one, two hundred and sixty-four +feet long; and of another which, at +three feet from the ground, was fifty-seven +feet nine inches in circumference. +These extraordinary specimens were +cut some years ago. Trees of such +dimensions are now rare.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"I have worked in the forests among +this timber several years," says Springer, +"have cut many hundreds of trees, and +seen many thousands, but I never found +one larger than one I felled on a little +stream which empties into Jackson Lake, +near the head of Baskahegan stream, in +eastern Maine. This was a pumpkin +pine, (a variety of the white pine.) Its +trunk was as straight and handsomely +grown as a moulded candle, and measured +six feet in diameter four feet from the +ground, without the aid of spur roots. +It was about nine rods in length, or one +hundred and forty-four feet, about sixty-five +feet of which was free of limbs, and +retained its diameter remarkably well. +I was employed about one hour and a +quarter in felling it. The afternoon was +beautiful; everything was calm, and to +me the circumstances were deeply interesting. +After chopping an hour or so, +the mighty giant, the growth of centuries, +which had withstood the hurricane, and +raised itself in peerless majesty above all +around, began to tremble under the +strokes of a mere insect, as I might appear +in comparison with it. My heart palpitated +as I occasionally raised my eye to +its pinnacle to catch the first indications +of its fall. It came down at length with +a crash, which seemed to shake a hundred +acres, whilst the loud echo rang through +the forest, dying away amongst the distant +hills. It had a hollow in the butt about the +size of a barrel, and the surface of the +stump was sufficiently spacious to allow +a yoke of oxen to stand upon it. It made +five logs, and loaded a six-ox team three +times. The butt-log was so large, that +the stream did not float it in the spring; +and when the drive was taken down, we +were obliged to leave it behind, much to +our regret and loss. At the boom, that +log would have been worth fifty dollars."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The pine tracts ascertained, the +quality of the trees examined, the +distance the timber will have to be +hauled duly calculated, and the ground +inspected, through which logging +roads must be cut, the exploring +party retrace their steps to the place +where they left their boat. Foot-sore +with their forest roamings, they gladly +look forward to the quick, gliding<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_672" id="Page_672">[672]</a></span> +passage down stream. A grievous +disappointment sometimes awaits +them. In the fall of the year, the +black bear is seized with a violent +longing for pitch and resinous substances, +and frequently strips fir trees +of their bark for the sake of the exudations. +Occasionally he stumbles +over a timber-hunter's <i lang="es" xml:lang="es">bateau</i>, and +tears it to pieces in the course of the +rough process he employs to extract +the tar from its planks. If it is injured +beyond possibility of repair, +the unlucky pioneers have to perform +their homeward journey on foot, unless +indeed they are so fortunate as to +fall in with some Indian trapper, +whose canoe they can charter for a +portion of the way. Once at home, +the next step is to obtain permits +from the State or proprietors, securing, +at a stipulated price of so much per +thousand feet, the exclusive right to +cut timber within certain bounds. +Then comes haymaking—a most +important part of the loggers' duty; +for on nothing does the success of the +wood-cutting campaign depend more +than on the good working condition of +the sturdy teams of oxen which drag the +logs from the snow-covered forest to +the river's brink. Hard by the forest +extensive strips of meadow-land are +commonly found, covered with a +heavy growth of grass, and thither +large bands of men repair to make +and stalk the hay for the ensuing +winter's consumption. The labour of +haymaking in these upland meadows +of Maine is rendered intolerably +painful by the assaults of flies and +mosquitoes, and especially by the insidious +attacks of millions of midges, +so small as to be scarcely perceptible +to the naked eye, and which get between +the clothes and the skin, causing +a smarting and irritation so great as +to impede the progress of the work. +The torment of these insect attacks +is hardly compensated by the pastimes +and adventures incidental to the +occupation. Now and then a shot is +to be had at a stray deer; the streams +swarm with beautiful trout and +pickerel; skirmishes with black bears +are of frequent occurrence. Mr +Springer's volume abounds with stories +of encounters with bears, wolves, and +"Indian devils"—a formidable species +of catamount, of which the Indians +stand in particular dread. Although +the bear rarely shows himself pugnacious +unless assailed, his meddlesome, +thievish propensities render +him particularly obnoxious to the +hay-makers and wood-cutters; and +when they meet him, they never can +abstain from the aggressive, however +civilly Bruin may be disposed to pass +them by.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"On one occasion," says Mr Springer, +"two men, crossing a small lake in +skiff, on their return from putting up hay, +discovered a bear swimming from a point +of land for the opposite shore. As usual +in such cases, temptation silenced prudence—they +changed their course, and +gave chase. The craft being light, they +gained fast upon the bear, who exerted +himself to the utmost to gain the shore; +but, finding himself an unequal match in +the race, he turned upon his pursuers, +and swam to meet them. One of the +men, a short, thick-set, dare-devil fellow, +seized an axe, and, the moment the bear +came up, inflicted a blow upon his head. +It seemed to make but a slight impression, +and before it could be repeated the +bear clambered into the boat. He instantly +grappled the man who struck +him, firmly setting his teeth in his thigh; +then, settling back upon his haunches, he +raised his victim in the air, and shook him +as a dog would a wood-chuck. The man at +the helm stood for a moment in amazement, +without knowing how to act, and fearing +that the bear might spring overboard and +drown his companion; but, recollecting +the effect of a blow upon the end of a +bear's snout, he struck him with a short +setting-pole. The bear dropped his victim +into the bottom of the boat, sallied +and fell overboard, and swam again for +the shore. The man bled freely from the +bite, and, as the wound proved too serious +to allow a renewal of the encounter, +they made for the shore. But one thing +saved them from being upset: the water +proved sufficiently shoal to admit of the +bear's getting bottom, from which he +sprang into the boat. Had the water +been deep, the consequences might have +been more serious."</p></blockquote> + +<p>From its first to its last stage, the +logger's occupation is one of severe +toil and frequent peril. When the +pioneer's duty is accomplished, and +when the hay is made, there is still +hard work to be done before he can +begin to level the forest giants. No +kind of labour, Mr Springer assures +us, tests a man's physical abilities +and powers of endurance more than<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_673" id="Page_673">[673]</a></span> +boating supplies up river. The wood-cutters +come to a fall, and have to +land their implements and provisions, +and to carry them past it. Their +boats, too, must be carried, and that +over rocks and fallen trees, through +thickets and pathless swamps. Then +they come to rapids, up which they +have to pole their heavy-laden +bateaux. For this work, prodigious +skill, nerve, and strength are requisite. +Then come the long portages +from lake to lake, and the danger +of being swamped, when traversing +these, by sudden gusts of wind lashing +the lake, in a few minutes' time, +into foaming waves, in which the +deeply-loaded boats could not for a +moment live.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"Our frail skiff was about eighteen +feet long, and four feet across the top of +the gunwale amidships, tapering to a +point at either end, constructed of thin +slips of pine boards, nailed to some half-dozen +pair of slender knees, about two +inches in diameter. On board were fifteen +hundred pounds of provisions, with seven +men, which pressed her into the water +nearly to the gunwale; three inches +from the position of a level, and she +would fill with water."</p></blockquote> + +<p>In such an overburthened cockle-shell +as this did Mr Springer once +find himself in company with a +drunken man, who was only withheld +from capsizing the boat by the threat +of having his skull split with a paddle; +for an inordinate addiction to rum is +the loggers' chief vice, a vice palliated +by the hardship and exposure they +endure. Drinking, however, is on +the decline amongst them of late +years, since "it has been fully demonstrated +that men can endure the +chilling hardships of river-driving +quite as well, and indeed far better, +without the stimulus of ardent spirits, +and perform more and better-directed +labour." Black pepper tea is drunk +on cold nights when camping in the +open air, and is found a warming and +comfortable beverage. Both in drink +and diet the loggers look more to +strength than to delicacy. Salt pork, +ship bread, and molasses, compose the +staple of their consumption. The +drippings from a slice of pork, roasted +before the fire, are allowed to fall on +the bread, which is then dignified by +the name of buttered toast. Sometimes +the salt pork is eaten raw, +dipped in molasses,—a mixture unequalled +for nastiness, we should +imagine, excepting by that of oysters +and brown sugar. "The recital may +cause," says honest Springer in his +comical English, "in delicate and +pampered stomachs some qualms, yet +we can assure the uninitiated that, +from these gross samples, the hungry +woodsman makes many a delicious +meal." An assurance which gives us +a most exalted idea of the appetite +and digestion of the loggers of +Maine.</p> + +<p>Once in the forest with their stores, +the woodmen carefully select a suitable +spot, clear the ground, build +their "camp" and "hovel," and +commence their winter's work. The +"camp" and "hovel" are two log-houses, +the former being for the men, +the latter for the oxen. In some +respects the beasts are better treated +than their masters, for their hovel is +floored with small poles, a luxury +unknown in the camp, where the men +sleep on branches strewn upon the +bare earth. "Having completed our +winter residences, next in order comes +the business of looking out and cutting +the 'main' and some of the +principal 'branch roads.' These +roads, like the veins in the human +body, ramify the wilderness to all the +principal 'clumps' and 'groves' of +pine embraced in the permit." Mr +Springer expatiates on the graceful +curves of the roads, whose inequalities +soon become filled with snow, +and their surface hard-beaten and +glassy, polished by the sled and logs +which are continually passing over it, +whilst overhead the trees interlace +their spreading branches. "Along +this roadside, on the way to the landing, +runs a serpentine path for the +'knight of the goad,' whose deviations +are marked now outside this +tree, then behind that 'windfall,' now +again intercepting the main road, +skipping along like a dog at one's +side." The teamster, if he does his +duty, works harder than any man in +camp. Under a good teamster, the +oxen receive care almost as tender as +though they were race-horses with +thousands depending on their health +and condition. With proper attention +and management, they should be in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_674" id="Page_674">[674]</a></span> +as good flesh in the spring as when +they began hauling early in winter.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"The last thing at night before 'turning +in,' the teamster lights his lantern +and repairs to the ox-hovel. In the +morning, by peep of day, and often before, +his visits are repeated, to hay and +provender, and card, and yoke up. While +the rest of the hands are sitting or lounging +around the liberal fire, shifting for +their comfort, after exposure to the winter +frosts through the day, he must repeatedly +go out to look after the comfort +of the sturdy, faithful ox. And then, for +an hour or two in the morning again, +whilst all, save the cook, are closing up +the sweet and unbroken slumbers of the +night, so welcome and necessary to the +labourer, he is out amid the early frost +with, I had almost said, the care of a +mother, to see if 'old Turk' is not loose, +whether 'Bright' favours the near fore-foot, +(which felt a little hot the day before,) +as he stands up on the hard floor, +and then to inspect 'Swan's' provender-trough, +to see if he has eaten his meal, +for it was carefully noted that at the +'watering-place' last night he drank but +little; whilst at the further end of the +'tie-up' he thinks he hears a little clattering +noise, and presently 'little Star' +is having his shins gently rapped, as a +token of his master's wish to raise his +foot to see if some nail has not given way +in the loosened shoe; and this not for +once, but every day, with numberless +other cares connected with his charge."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The oxen are taken out to the forest +by the last detachment of wood-cutters, +when winter fairly sets in. This +is the hardest trip of any. Both man +and beast experience much inconvenience +from the cold. Often, when +driving a boat up rapids, ice forms +upon the poles in the men's hands, +which are already so cold and stiff +that they can scarcely retain their +grasp; yet an instant's cessation of +exertion would be fraught with imminent +peril to life and goods. The +oxen, attached to long lightly-loaded +sleds, are driven over rough miry +tracks. "In crossing large streams, +we unyoke the oxen and swim them +over. If we have no boat, a raft is +constructed, upon which our effects +are transported, when we reyoke and +pursue our route as before. Our +cattle are often very reluctant to +enter the water whilst the anchor-ice +runs, and the cold has already begun +to congeal its surface." Lakes are +crossed upon the ice, which not unfrequently +breaks in. Mr Springer +gives an account of a journey he +made, when this misfortune happened, +and ten oxen at one time +were struggling in the chilling waters +of Baskahegan Lake. They were all +got out, he tells us, although rescue +under such circumstances would appear +almost hopeless.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"Standing upon the edge of the ice, a +man was placed by the side of each ox to +keep his head out of the water. We unyoked +one at a time, and throwing a rope +round the roots of his horns, the warp +was carried forward and attached to the +little oxen, (a pair that had not broken +in,) whose services on this occasion were +very necessary. A strong man was +placed on the ice at the edge, so that, +lifting the ox by his horns, he was able +to press the ice down and raise his +shoulder up on the edge, when the warp-oxen +would pull them out. For half-an-hour +we had a lively time of it, and in an +almost incredibly short time we had them +all safely out, and drove them back upon +the point nearly a mile. It was now +very dark. We left our sleds in the +water with the hay, pulling out a few +armsful, which we carried to the shore +to rub the oxen down with. Poor fellows! +they seemed nearly chilled to +death, and shook as if they would fall to +pieces."</p></blockquote> + +<p>So great is the labour of taking oxen +to the forest every Fall—often to a distance +of two hundred miles into the +interior—that the wood-cutters sometimes +leave them, when they go down +stream in the spring to get their own +living in the wilderness, and hunt +them up again in autumn. They +thrive finely in the interval, and get +very wild and difficult to catch; but +when at last subjugated, they evidently +recognise their masters, and +are pleased to see them. Occasionally +they disappear in the course of the +summer, and are heard of no more; +they are then supposed to have got +"mired or cast," or to have been +devoured by wolves—or by bears, +which also are known to attack oxen.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"An individual who owned a very fine +'six-ox team' turned them into the +woods to brouse, in a new region of +country. Late in the evening, his attention +was arrested by the bellowing of one +of them. It continued for an hour or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_675" id="Page_675">[675]</a></span> +two, then ceased altogether. The night +was very dark, and as the ox was supposed +to be more than a mile distant, it +was thought not advisable to venture in +search of him until morning. As soon as +daylight appeared, the owner started, in +company with another man, to investigate +the cause of the uproar. Passing +on about a mile, he found one of his best +oxen prostrate, and, on examination, +there was found a hole eaten into the +thickest part of his hind quarter nearly +as large as a hat; not less than six or +eight pounds of flesh were gone. He +had bled profusely. The ground was +torn up for rods around where the encounter +occurred; the tracks indicated +the assailant to be a very large bear, +who had probably worried the ox out, +and then satiated his ravenous appetite, +feasting upon him while yet alive. A +road was bushed out to the spot where +the poor creature lay, and he was got +upon a sled and hauled home by a yoke +of his companions, where the wound was +dressed. It never, however, entirely +healed, though it was so far improved as +to allow of its being fattened, after which +he was slaughtered for food."</p></blockquote> + +<p>In cold weather in those forests +the bears and wolves are exceedingly +audacious. The latter have a curious +habit of accompanying the teams on +their journeys between the forest and +the river to which they drag the logs. +This has only occurred of late years, +and the manner in which they thus +volunteer their services as assistant +drivers is exceedingly curious.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"Three teams," says Springer, "in the +winter of 1844, all in the same neighbourhood, +were beset with these ravenous +animals. They were of unusually large +size, manifesting a most singular boldness, +and even familiarity, without the +usual appearance of ferocity so characteristic +of the animal. Sometimes one, +and in another instance three, in a most +unwelcome manner, volunteered their +attendance, accompanying the teamster +a long distance on his way. They would +even jump on the log and ride, and approach +very near the oxen. One of them +actually jumped upon the sled, and down +between the bars, while the sled was in +motion. Some of the teamsters were +much alarmed, keeping close to the oxen, +and driving on as fast as possible. +Others, more courageous, would run forward +and strike at them with their goad-sticks; +but the wolves sprang out of the +way in an instant. But, although they +seemed to act without a motive, there +was something so cool and impudent in +their conduct that it was trying to the +nerves—even more so than an active encounter. +For some time after this, firearms +were a constant part of the teamster's +equipage."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The distant howling and screaming +of the wolves, compared by an old +Yankee hunter to the screeching of +forty pair of old cart-wheels, is particularly +ominous and disagreeable. +Springer has collected a number of +curious anecdotes concerning them. +One night a pack of the prowling +marauders were seen trailing down +Mattawamkeag River on the ice. +The dwellers in a log-house hard +by soaked some meat in poison and +threw it out. Next morning the +meat was gone, and six wolves lay +dead, all within sight of each other. +"Every one of them had dug a hole +down through the snow into the +frozen earth, in which they had +thrust their noses, either for water +to quench the burning thirst produced +by the poison, or to snuff some +antidote to the fatal drug. A bounty +was obtained on each of ten dollars, +besides their hides, making a fair job +of it, as well as ridding the neighbourhood +of an annoying enemy." +Several of Mr Springer's logging and +lumbering friends have contributed +to his book the results of their experience, +and narratives of their adventures, +some of which he gives in +their own words. Amongst these is +an ill-written, but yet a very exciting, +account of a wolf-chase, or we should +perhaps rather say a man-chase, the +wolves in this instance being the pursuers, +and Springer's neighbour the +pursued. The person in question was +passionately fond of skating, and one +night he left a friend's house to skate +a short distance up the frozen Kennebeck, +which flowed before the door. +It was a bright still evening; the new +moon silvered the frosty pines. After +gliding a couple of miles up the river, +the skater turned off into a little +tributary stream, over which fir +and hemlock twined their evergreen +branches. The archway beneath was +dark, but he fearlessly entered it, +unsuspicious of peril, with a joyous +laugh and hurra—an involuntary expression +of exhilaration, elicited by +the bracing crispness of the atmosphere,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_676" id="Page_676">[676]</a></span> +and glow of pleasant exercise. +What followed is worth extracting.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"All of a sudden a sound arose, it +seemed from the very ice beneath my +feet. It was loud and tremendous at +first, until it ended in one long yell. I +was appalled. Never before had such +a noise met my ears. I thought it more +than mortal—so fierce, and amid such +an unbroken solitude, that it seemed a +fiend from hell had blown a blast from +an infernal trumpet. Presently I heard +the twigs on the shore snap as if from +the tread of some animal, and the blood +rushed back to my forehead with a bound +that made my skin burn. My energies +returned, and I looked around me for +some means of defence. The moon shone +through the opening by which I had +entered the forest, and, considering this +the best means of escape, I darted towards +it like an arrow. It was hardly +a hundred yards distant, and the swallow +could scarcely outstrip my desperate +flight; yet as I turned my eyes to the +shore, I could see two dark objects +dashing through the underbrush at a +pace nearly double mine. By their great +speed, and the short yells which they +occasionally gave, I knew at once that +they were the much dreaded grey wolf."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Here Springer interposes a vignette +of a wolf—a most formidable and unwholesome-looking +quadruped—grinning +over the well-picked bone of +some unlucky victim. The logger's +pages are enlivened by a number of +illustrations—woodcuts of course—rough +enough in execution, but giving +an excellent notion of the scenery, +animals, and logging operations +spoken of in the text. Grey wolves +are of untameable fierceness, great +strength and speed, and pursue their +prey to the death with frightful tenacity, +unwearyingly following the +trail—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"With their long gallop, which can tire<br /></span> +<span class="i1">The hounds' deep hate, the hunter's fire."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>A more dangerous foe a benighted +traveller could hardly fall in with.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"The bushes that skirted the shore," +continues the hunted of wolves, "flew +past with the velocity of light as I +dashed on in my flight. The outlet was +nearly gained; one second more and I +should be comparatively safe; when my +pursuers appeared on the bank, directly +above me, which rose to the height of +some ten feet. There was no time for +thought; I bent my head, and dashed +wildly forward. The wolves sprang, +but, miscalculating my speed, sprang +behind, whilst their intended prey glided +out into the river.</p> + +<p>"Nature turned me towards home. +The light flakes of snow spun from the +iron of my skates, and I was now some +distance from my pursuers, when their +fierce howl told me that I was again the +fugitive. I did not look back; I did not +feel sorry or glad; one thought of home, +of the bright faces awaiting my return, +of their tears if they should never see me +again, and then every energy of body and +mind was exerted for my escape. I was +perfectly at home on the ice. Many were +the days I spent on my skates, never +thinking that at one time they would be +my only means of safety. Every half +minute an alternate yelp from my pursuers +made me but too certain they were +close at my heels. Nearer and nearer +they came; I heard their feet pattering +on the ice nearer still, until I fancied I +could hear their deep breathing. Every +nerve and muscle in my frame was +stretched to the utmost tension. The +trees along the shore seemed to dance in +the uncertain light, and my brain turned +with my own breathless speed, when an +involuntary motion turned me out of my +course. The wolves close behind, unable +to stop and as unable to turn, slipped, +fell, still going on far ahead, their tongues +lolling out, their white tusks gleaming +from their bloody mouths, their dark +shaggy breasts freckled with foam; and +as they passed me their eyes glared, and +they howled with rage and fury. The +thought flashed on my mind that by this +means I could avoid them—viz., by turning +aside whenever they came too near; for +they, by the formation of their feet, are +unable to run on ice except in a right +line.</p> + +<p>"I immediately acted on this plan. +The wolves, having regained their feet, +sprang directly towards me. The race +was renewed for twenty yards up the +stream; they were already close on my +back, when I glided round and dashed +past them. A fierce howl greeted my +evolution, and the wolves slipped upon +their haunches, and sailed onward, presenting +a perfect picture of helplessness +and baffled rage. Thus I gained nearly +a hundred yards each turning. This was +repeated two or three times, every moment +the wolves getting more excited +and baffled, until, coming opposite the +house, a couple of staghounds, aroused by +the noise, bayed furiously from their +kennels. The wolves, taking the hint, +stopped in their mad career, and, after a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_677" id="Page_677">[677]</a></span> +moment's consideration, turned and fled. +I watched them till their dusky forms +disappeared over a neighbouring hill; +then, taking off my skates, I wended my +way to the house."</p></blockquote> + +<p>From some unassigned reason, +wolves have increased of late years in +the wild forests of north-eastern +Maine. Up to 1840, Mr Springer, who +had been much in that district, logging +in winter and clearing land in summer, +never saw one. Since then they +have frequently been seen in numerous +parties, and of most formidable size. +There would not seem to be much to +choose, as far as the pleasure of the +thing goes, between an encounter +with one of these ravenous brutes and +a tussle with a catamount. Springer, +however, who must be competent to +judge, considers the catamount the +worse customer. He tells an ugly +story, which may serve as a pendant +to that of the bear's breakfast on live +beef, of what happened to a logger +named Smith, when on his way to +join a timbering party in the woods. +He had nearly reached camp, when +he fell in with a catamount, or +"Indian devil." Retreat was impossible; +for reflection there was no +time: arms he had none. Acting +from impulse, he sprang up a small +tree—perhaps as sensible a thing as +he could have done. He had scarcely +ascended his length, when the creature, +fierce from hunger, made a bound +and caught him by the heel. Although +badly bitten, Smith managed +to get his foot out of the shoe, in +which the tiger-cat's teeth were firmly +set, and shoe and savage fell together +to the ground. What then ensued is +so horrible and extraordinary that we +should suspect our wood-cutting friend +of imaginative decoration, but for the +assurance he gives us in his preface, +that "the incidents he has related +are real, and that in no case is the +truth sacrificed to fancy or embellishment." +He shall finish his yarn +himself.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"The moment he was disengaged, +Smith sprang for a more secure position, +and the animal at the same time leaped +to another large tree, about ten feet distant, +up which he ascended to an elevation +equal to that of his victim, from +which he threw himself upon him, firmly +fixing his teeth in the calf of his leg. +Hanging suspended thus until the flesh, +insufficient to sustain the weight, gave +way, he dropped again to the ground, +carrying a portion of flesh in his mouth. +<em>Having greedily devoured this morsel</em>, he +bounded again up the opposite tree, and +from thence upon Smith, in this manner +renewing his attacks, and tearing away +the flesh in mouthfuls from his legs. +During this agonising operation, Smith +contrived to cut a limb from the tree, to +which he managed to bind his jack-knife, +with which he could now assail his enemy +at every leap. He succeeded thus in +wounding him so badly that at length his +attacks were discontinued, and he disappeared +in the dense forest."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Smith, who, as Springer coolly +informs us, "had exerted his +voice to the utmost," whilst the +catamount was devouring him in +detail, (we can perfectly imagine a +man bellowing like twenty bulls under +such circumstances,) was found by +his friends in a state of dreadful +exhaustion and suffering, and was +carried to camp on a litter. He ultimately +recovered, but had sustained +irreparable injuries. "Such desperate +encounters are of rare occurrence," +Springer quietly adds. We +should think they were. Really these +loggers are cool hands. Encounters +with black bears are much more common, +we are informed. These are +strong fellows, clever at parrying +blows, and at wrenching the weapon +from their assailant's hand—very +tenacious of life, and confirmed robbers. +Springer and his comrades +were once, whilst ascending a river, +followed by one of them for several +days. He was bent upon plunder, +and one night he walked off with a +bundle containing clothing, boots, +shaving implements, and other things, +for which it might be thought a bear +could have little occasion. He examined +his prize in the neighbourhood +of the camp, tore the clothes to +shreds, and chewed up the cow-hide +boots and the handle of a razor. +From the roof of a log-house, which +the woodmen erected a few miles farther +on, he carried off a ten-gallon keg +of molasses, set it on one end, knocked +the head in or out, and was about to +enjoy the feast, when he was discovered, +pursued, and at last killed. +At page 140 we find a capital account +of a fight between a family of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_678" id="Page_678">[678]</a></span> +bears (father, mother, and cubs) and +two foresters; and at page 100 the +stirring-up of a bear's den is graphically +described.</p> + +<p>The pine tree is subject to disease of +more than one kind, the most frequent +being a sort of cancer, known amongst +lumber-men as "Conk" or "Konkus," +whose sole external manifestation is a +small brown spot, usually at several +feet from the ground, and sometimes no +larger than a shilling. The trees thus +afflicted are noway inferior to the +soundest in size and apparent beauty; +but on cutting into them the rot is at +once evident, the wood being reddish +in colour, and of spungy texture. +"Sometimes it shoots upwards, in +imitation of the streaming light of the +aurora borealis; in others downwards, +and even both ways, preserving the +same appearance." Unscrupulous loggers +cheat the unwary by driving a +knot or piece of a limb of the same +tree into the plague-spot, and hewing +it off smoothly, so as to give it the +appearance of a natural knot. A +great many pines are hollow at the +base or butt, and these hollows are +the favourite winter-retreats of Bruin +the bear.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"A few rods from the main logging +road where I worked one winter," said +Mr Johnston, (a logger whom Springer +more than once quotes,) "there stood a +very large pine tree. We had nearly +completed our winter's work, and it still +stood unmolested, because, from appearances, +it was supposed to be worthless. +Whilst passing it one day, not quite satisfied +with the decision that had been +made upon its quality, I resolved to satisfy +my own mind touching its value; so, +wallowing to it through the snow, which +was nearly up to my middle, I struck it +several blows with the head of my axe, +an experiment to test whether a tree be +hollow or not. When I desisted, my +attention was arrested by a slight scratching +and whining. Suspecting the cause, +I thumped the tree again, listening more +attentively, and heard the same noise as +before. It was a bear's den. Examining +the tree more closely, I discovered a +small hole in the trunk, near the roots, +with a rim of ice on the edge of the orifice, +made by the freezing of the breath +and vapour from the inmates."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The logging crew were summoned, +and came scampering down, eager for +the fun. The snow was kicked away +from the root of the tree, exposing +the entrance to the den; and a small +hole was cut in the opposite side, +through which the family of bears +were literally "stirred up with a long +pole;" and when the great she-bear, +annoyed at this treatment, put her +head out at the door, she was cut +over the pate with an axe.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"The cubs, four in number—a thing +unusual by one-half—we took alive, and +carried to camp, kept them a while, and +finally sold them. They were quite +small and harmless, of a most beautiful +lustrous black, and fat as porpoises. The +old dam was uncommonly large—we +judged she might weigh about three hundred +pounds. Her hide, when stretched +out and nailed on to the end of the camp, +appeared quite equal to a cow's hide in +dimensions."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The attacks of wild animals are +far from being the sole dangers to +which the wood-cutters of Maine +are exposed in following their toilsome +occupation. Scarcely any phase +of their adventurous existence is +exempt from risk. Bad wounds are +sometimes accidentally received from +the axe whilst felling trees. To heal +these, in the absence of surgeons, +the loggers are thrown upon their +own very insufficient resources. Life +is also constantly endangered in felling +the pine, which comes plunging +down, breaking, splitting, and crushing +all before it. The broken limbs +which are torn from the fallen tree, +and the branches it wrenches from +other trees,</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"rendered brittle by the intense frosts, +fly in every direction, like the scattered +fragments of an exploding ship. Often +these wrenched limbs are suspended +directly over the place where our work +requires our presence, and on the +slightest motion, or from a sudden gust of +wind, they slip down with the stealthiness +of a hawk and the velocity of an arrow. +I recollect one in particular, which was +wrenched from a large pine I had just +felled. It lodged in the top of a towering +birch, directly over where it was necessary +for me to stand whilst severing the +top from the trunk. Viewing its position +with some anxiety, I ventured to stand +and work under it, forgetting my danger +in the excitement. Whilst thus engaged, +the limb slipped from its position, and, +falling directly before me, end foremost, +penetrated the frozen earth. It was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_679" id="Page_679">[679]</a></span> +about four inches through, and ten +feet long. It just grazed my cap; a +little variation, and it would have dashed +my head to pieces. Attracted on one +occasion, whilst swamping a road, by +the appearance of a large limb which +stuck fast in the ground, curiosity induced +me to extricate it, for the purpose +of seeing how far it had penetrated. +After considerable exertion, I succeeded +in drawing it out, when I was amazed +<em>to find a thick cloth cap on the end of it</em>. +It had penetrated the earth to a considerable +depth. Subsequently I learned +that <em>it</em> [the cap, we presume, but Springer +makes sad work of his pronouns] belonged +to a man who was killed instantly by +<em>its</em> fall, [here our logging friend must be +supposed to refer to the timber,] striking +him on the head, and carrying his +cap into the ground with it."</p></blockquote> + +<p>This is not impossible, although +it does a little remind us of certain +adventures of the renowned Munchausen. +And Springer is so pleasant +a fellow, that we shall not call his +veracity in question, or even tax +him with that tinting of truth in +which many of his countrymen excel, +but of which he only here and there +lays himself open to suspicion. He +certainly does put our credulity +a little to the strain by an anecdote +of a moose deer, which he gives, +however, between inverted commas, +on the authority of a hunter who +occasionally passed the night at the +logger's camp. The moose is the +largest species of deer found in the +New-England forests, its size varying +from that of a large pony to that of +a full-grown horse. It has immense +branching antlers, and, judging from +its portrait, which forms the frontispiece +to <cite>Forest Life</cite>, we readily +believe Springer's assurance, that +"the taking of moose is sometimes +quite hazardous." Quite astonishing, +we are sure the reader will say, +is the following ride:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"Once," hunter <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">loquitur</i>, "whilst out +on a hunting excursion, I was pursued +by a bull-moose. He approached me +with his muscular neck curved, and +head to the ground, in a manner not +dissimilar to the attitude assumed by +horned cattle when about to encounter +each other. Just as he was about to +make a pass at me, I sprang suddenly +between his wide-spreading antlers, bestride +his neck. Dexterously turning +round, I seized him by the horns, and, +locking my feet together under his neck, +I clung to him like a sloth. With a +mixture of rage and terror, he dashed +wildly about, endeavouring to dislodge +me; but, as my life depended upon +maintaining my position, I clung to him +with a corresponding desperation. After +making a few ineffectual attempts to +disengage me, he threw out his nose, +and, laying his antlers back upon his +shoulders, <em>which formed a screen for my +defence</em>, he sprang forward into a furious +run, still bearing me upon his neck. +Now penetrating dense thickets, then +leaping high 'windfalls,' (old fallen +trees,) and struggling through swamp-mires, +he finally fell from exhaustion, +after carrying me about three miles. +Improving the opportunity, I drew my +hunting-knife from its sheath, and instantly +buried it in his neck, cutting the +jugular vein, which put a speedy termination +to the contest and the flight."</p></blockquote> + +<p>After which we presume that he +spitted the moose on a pine tree, +roasted and ate it, and used its antlers +for toothpicks. The adventure is +worthy of Mazeppa or the Wild +Huntsman. By the antlers <em>forming +a screen for the rider's defence</em>, we are +reminded of that memorable morning +in the life of the great German Baron, +when his horse, cut in two, just behind +the saddle, by the fall of a portcullis, +was sewn together with laurel-twigs, +which sprouted up into a pleasant +bower, beneath whose appropriate +shade the redoubtable warrior +thenceforward rode to victory. An +awful liar, indeed, must have been +the narrator of this "singular adventure," +as Springer, who tells this story +quite gravely, artlessly styles it. +Doubtless such yarns are acceptable +enough by the camp-fire, where the +weary logger smokes the pipe of repose +after a hard day's work; and +they are by no means out of place in +the logger's book, of which, however, +they occupy but a small portion—by +far the greater number of its chapters +being filled with solid and curious +information. The third and longest +part, "River Life," upon which we +have not touched, is highly interesting, +and gives thrilling accounts of +the dangers incurred during the progress +down stream of the various +"parcels" of logs, which, each distinguished +like cattle by the owner's +mark, soon mingle and form one<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_680" id="Page_680">[680]</a></span> +grand "drive" on the main river. +"Driving" of this kind is a very +hazardous occupation. Sometimes +the logs come to a "jam," get wedged +together in a narrow part of the river +or amongst rocks, and, whilst the +drivers work with axe and lever to +set the huge floating field of tree-trunks +in motion again, lives are frequently +lost. This is easy to understand. +The removal of a single log, +the keystone of the mass—nay, a +single blow of the axe—often suffices +to liberate acres of timber from their +"dead lock," and set them furiously +rushing down the rapid current. +Then does woe betide those who are +caught in the hurly-burly. Sometimes, +the key-log being well ascertained, +a man is let down, like a samphire-gatherer, +by a rope from an +adjacent cliff, on to the "jam." +Then—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"As the place to be operated upon may +in some cases be a little removed from +the shore, he either walks to it with the +rope attached to his body, or, untying the +rope, leaves it where he can readily grasp +it in time to be drawn from his perilous +position. Often, where the pressure is +direct, a few blows only are given with +the axe, when the log snaps in an instant +with a loud report, followed suddenly +by the violent motion of the 'jam;' and, +ere our bold river-driver is jerked half +way to the top of the cliff, scores of logs, +in wildest confusion, rush beneath his +feet, whilst he yet dangles in the air +above the trembling mass. If that rope, +on which life and hope hang thus suspended, +should part, worn by the sharp +point of some jutting rock, death, certain +and quick, were inevitable."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The wood-cutter's occupation, which, +to European imagination, presents +itself as peaceful, pastoral, and void +of peril, assumes a very different aspect +when pursued in North American +forests. If any doubt this fact, let +them study Springer, who will repay +the trouble, and of whose volume we +have rather skimmed the surface than +meddled with the substance.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_681" id="Page_681">[681]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>MY NOVEL; OR, VARIETIES IN ENGLISH LIFE.</h2> + +<h3>BY PISISTRATUS CAXTON.</h3> + + +<h4>CHAPTER VII.</h4> + +<p>Randal advanced—"I fear, Signior +Riccabocca, that I am guilty of +some want of ceremony."</p> + +<p>"To dispense with ceremony is +the most delicate mode of conferring +a compliment," replied the urbane +Italian, as he recovered from his first +surprise at Randal's sudden address, +and extended his hand.</p> + +<p>Violante bowed her graceful head +to the young man's respectful salutation. +"I am on my way to Hazeldean," +resumed Randal, "and, seeing +you in the garden, could not resist +this intrusion."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Riccabocca.</span>—"You come from +London? Stirring times for you English, +but I do not ask you the news. +No news can affect us."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Randal</span>, (softly.)—"Perhaps—yes."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Riccabocca</span>, (startled.)—"How?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Violante.</span>—"Surely he speaks of +Italy, and news from that country +affects you still, my father."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Riccabocca.</span>—"Nay, nay, nothing +affects me like this country; its east +winds might affect a pyramid! +Draw your mantle round you, child, +and go in; the air has suddenly +grown chill."</p> + +<p>Violante smiled on her father, +glanced uneasily towards Randal's +grave brow, and went slowly towards +the house.</p> + +<p>Riccabocca, after waiting some +moments in silence, as if expecting +Randal to speak, said with affected +carelessness, "So you think that you +have news that might affect me? +<i lang="it" xml:lang="it">Corpo di Bacco!</i> I am curious to +learn what!"</p> + +<p>"I may be mistaken—that depends +on your answer to one question. Do +you know the Count of Peschiera?"</p> + +<p>Riccabocca winced, and turned +pale. He could not baffle the watchful +eye of the questioner.</p> + +<p>"Enough," said Randal; "I see +that I am right. Believe in my sincerity. +I speak but to warn and to +serve you. The Count seeks to discover +the retreat of a countryman +and kinsman of his own."</p> + +<p>"And for what end?" cried Riccabocca, +thrown off his guard, and his +breast dilated, his crest rose, and +his eye flashed; valour and defiance +broke from habitual caution and self-control. +"But pooh," he added, +striving to regain his ordinary and +half-ironical calm, "it matters not to +me. I grant, sir, that I know the +Count di Peschiera; but what has +Dr Riccabocca to do with the kinsmen +of so grand a personage?"</p> + +<p>"Dr Riccabocca—nothing. But—" +here Randal put his lip close to the +Italian's ear, and whispered a brief +sentence. Then retreating a step, +but laying his hand on the exile's +shoulder, he added—"Need I say +that your secret is safe with me?"</p> + +<p>Riccabocca made no answer. His +eyes rested on the ground musingly.</p> + +<p>Randal continued—"And I shall +esteem it the highest honour you +can bestow on me, to be permitted +to assist you in forestalling +danger."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Riccabocca</span>, (slowly.)—"Sir, I +thank you; you have my secret, and I +feel assured it is safe, for I speak to +an English gentleman. There may +be family reasons why I should avoid +the Count di Peschiera; and, indeed, +He is safest from shoals who steers +clearest of his—relations."</p> + +<p>The poor Italian regained his +caustic smile as he uttered that wise, +villanous Italian maxim.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Randal.</span>—"I know little of the +Count of Peschiera save from the +current talk of the world. He is said +to hold the estates of a kinsman who +took part in a conspiracy against the +Austrian power."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Riccabocca.</span>—"It is true. Let +that content him; what more does he +desire. You spoke of forestalling +danger; what danger? I am on the +soil of England, and protected by its +laws."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Randal.</span>—"Allow me to inquire<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_682" id="Page_682">[682]</a></span> +if, had the kinsman no child, the +Count di Peschiera would be legitimate +and natural heir to the estates +he holds?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Riccabocca.</span>—"He would. What +then?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Randal.</span>—"Does that thought +suggest no danger to the child of the +kinsman?"</p> + +<p>Riccabocca recoiled, and gasped +forth, "The child! You do not mean +to imply that this man, infamous +though he be, can contemplate the +crime of an assassin?"</p> + +<p>Randal paused perplexed. His +ground was delicate. He knew not +what causes of resentment the exile +entertained against the Count. He +knew not whether Riccabocca would +not assent to an alliance that might +restore him to his country—and he +resolved to feel his way with precaution.</p> + +<p>"I did not," said he, smiling +gravely, "mean to insinuate so horrible +a charge against a man whom I +have never seen. He seeks you—that +is all I know. I imagine, from his +general character, that in this search +he consults his interest. Perhaps all +matters might be conciliated by an +interview!"</p> + +<p>"An interview!" exclaimed Riccabocca; +"there is but one way we +should meet—foot to foot, and hand +to hand."</p> + +<p>"Is it so? Then you would not +listen to the Count if he proposed +some amicable compromise; if, for instance, +he was a candidate for the +hand of your daughter?"</p> + +<p>The poor Italian, so wise and so +subtle in his talk, was as rash and +blind when it came to action, as if he +had been born in Ireland, and nourished +on potatoes and Repeal. He bared +his whole soul to the merciless eye of +Randal.</p> + +<p>"My daughter!" he exclaimed. +"Sir, your very question is an insult."</p> + +<p>Randal's way became clear at once. +"Forgive me," he said mildly; "I +will tell you frankly all that I know. +I am acquainted with the Count's +sister. I have some little influence +over her. It was she who informed +me that the Count had come here, +bent upon discovering your refuge, +and resolved to wed your daughter. +This is the danger of which I spoke. +And when I asked your permission to +aid in forestalling it, I only intended +to suggest that it might be wise to +find some securer home, and that I, +if permitted to know that home, and +to visit you, could apprise you from +time to time of the Count's plans and +movements."</p> + +<p>"Sir, I thank you sincerely," said +Riccabocca with emotion; "but am I +not safe here?"</p> + +<p>"I doubt it. Many people have +visited the Squire in the shooting +season, who will have heard of you—perhaps +seen you, and who are likely +to meet the Count in London. And +Frank Hazeldean, too, who knows +the Count's sister—"</p> + +<p>"True, true," interrupted Riccabocca. +"I see, I see. I will consider. +I will reflect. Meanwhile you are +going to Hazeldean. Do not say a +word to the Squire. He knows not +the secret you have discovered."</p> + +<p>With those words Riccabocca turned +slightly away, and Randal took +the hint to depart.</p> + +<p>"At all times command and rely +on me," said the young traitor, and +he regained the pale to which he had +fastened his horse.</p> + +<p>As he remounted, he cast his +eyes towards the place where he had +left Riccabocca. The Italian was +still standing there. Presently the +form of Jackeymo was seen emerging +from the shrubs. Riccabocca +turned hastily round, recognised his +servant, uttered an exclamation loud +enough to reach Randal's ear, and +then catching Jackeymo by the arm, +disappeared with him amidst the +deeper recesses of the garden.</p> + +<p>"It will be indeed in my favour," +thought Randal as he rode on, "if I +can get them into the neighbourhood +of London—all occasion there to woo, +and if expedient, to win—the heiress."</p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER VIII.</h4> + +<p>"By the Lord Harry!" cried the +Squire, as he stood with his wife in +the park, on a visit of inspection to +some first-rate South-Downs just<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_683" id="Page_683">[683]</a></span> +added to his stock—"By the Lord, +if that is not Randal Leslie trying +to get into the park at the back +gate! Hollo, Randal! you must come +round by the lodge, my boy," said he.</p> + +<p>"You see this gate is locked to keep +out trespassers."</p> + +<p>"A pity," said Randal. "I like +short cuts, and you have shut up a +very short one."</p> + +<p>"So the trespassers said," quoth +the Squire; "but Stirn would not +hear of it;—valuable man, Stirn. But +ride round to the lodge. Put up your +horse, and you'll join us before we can +get to the house."</p> + +<p>Randal nodded and smiled, and +rode briskly on.</p> + +<p>The Squire rejoined his Harry.</p> + +<p>"Ah, William," said she anxiously, +"though certainly Randal Leslie +means well, I always dread his visits."</p> + +<p>"So do I, in one sense," quoth the +Squire, "for he always carries away +a bank-note for Frank."</p> + +<p>"I hope he is really Frank's friend," +said Mrs Hazeldean.</p> + +<p>"Whose else can he be? Not his +own, poor fellow, for he will never +accept a shilling from me, though his +grandmother was as good a Hazeldean +as I am. But, zounds! I like his +pride, and his economy too. As for +Frank—"</p> + +<p>"Hush, William!" cried Mrs Hazeldean, +and put her fair hand before the +Squire's mouth. The Squire was +softened, and kissed the fair hand +gallantly—perhaps he kissed the lips +too; at all events, the worthy pair +were walking lovingly arm-in-arm +when Randal joined them.</p> + +<p>He did not affect to perceive a certain +coldness in the manner of Mrs +Hazeldean, but began immediately to +talk to her about Frank; praise that +young gentleman's appearance; expatiate +on his health, his popularity, and +his good gifts, personal and mental; +and this with so much warmth, that +any dim and undeveloped suspicions +Mrs Hazeldean might have formed +soon melted away.</p> + +<p>Randal continued to make himself +thus agreeable, until the Squire, persuaded +that his young kinsman was a +first-rate agriculturist, insisted upon +carrying him off to the home farm, +and Harry turned towards the house to +order Randal's room to be got ready: +"For," said Randal, "knowing that +you will excuse my morning dress, I +venture to invite myself to dine and +sleep at the Hall."</p> + +<p>On approaching the farm-buildings, +Randal was seized with the terror +of an impostor; for, despite all the +theoretical learning on Bucolics and +Georgics with which he had dazzled +the Squire, poor Frank, so despised, +would have beat him hollow when it +came to judging of the points of an ox +or the show of a crop.</p> + +<p>"Ha, ha!" cried the Squire, chuckling, +"I long to see how you'll astonish +Stirn. Why, you'll guess in a +moment where we put the top-dressing; +and when you come to handle +my short-horns, I dare swear you'll +know to a pound how much oilcake +has gone into their sides."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you do me too much honour—indeed +you do. I only know the +general principles of agriculture—the +details are eminently interesting; but +I have not had the opportunity to acquire +them."</p> + +<p>"Stuff!" cried the Squire. "How +can a man know general principles +unless he has first studied the details? +You are too modest, my boy. Ho! +there's Stirn looking out for us!"</p> + +<p>Randal saw the grim visage of Stirn +peering out of a cattle-shed, and felt +undone. He made a desperate rush +towards changing the Squire's humour.</p> + +<p>"Well, sir, perhaps Frank may soon +gratify your wish and turn farmer +himself."</p> + +<p>"Eh!" quoth the Squire, stopping +short. "What now?"</p> + +<p>"Suppose he was to marry?"</p> + +<p>"I'd give him the two best farms +on the property rent free. Ha, ha! +Has he seen the girl yet? I'd leave +him free to choose, sir. I chose for +myself—every man should. Not but +what Miss Sticktorights is an heiress, +and, I hear, a very decent girl, and +that would join the two properties, +and put an end to that lawsuit about +the right of way, which began in the +reign of King Charles the Second, and +is likely otherwise to last till the day +of judgment. But never mind her; +let Frank choose to please himself."</p> + +<p>"I'll not fail to tell him so, sir. I +did fear you might have some prejudices. +But here we are at the farm-yard."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_684" id="Page_684">[684]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Burn the farm-yard! How can +I think of farm-yards when you talk +of Frank's marriage? Come on—this +way. What were you saying about +prejudices?"</p> + +<p>"Why, you might wish him to marry +an Englishwoman, for instance."</p> + +<p>"English! Good heavens, sir, does +he mean to marry a Hindoo?"</p> + +<p>"Nay, I don't know that he means +to marry at all: I am only surmising; +but if he did fall in love with a +foreigner—"</p> + +<p>"A foreigner! Ah, then Harry +was—" The Squire stopped short.</p> + +<p>"Who might, perhaps," observed +Randal—not truly if he referred to +Madame di Negra—"who might, perhaps, +speak very little English?"</p> + +<p>"Lord ha' mercy!"</p> + +<p>"And a Roman Catholic—"</p> + +<p>"Worshipping idols, and roasting +people who don't worship them."</p> + +<p>"Signior Riccabocca is not so bad +as that."</p> + +<p>"Rickeybockey! Well, if it was +his daughter! But not speak English! +and not go to the parish church! By +George! if Frank thought of such a +thing, I'd cut him off with a shilling. +Don't talk to me, sir; I would. I'm +a mild man, and an easy man; but +when I say a thing, I say it, Mr. Leslie. +Oh, but it is a jest—you are laughing +at me. There's no such painted, good-for-nothing +creature in Frank's eye, +eh?"</p> + +<p>"Indeed, sir, if ever I find there is, +I will give you notice in time. At +present I was only trying to ascertain +what you wished for a daughter-in-law. +You said you had no prejudice."</p> + +<p>"No more I have—not a bit of it."</p> + +<p>"You don't like a foreigner and a +Catholic?"</p> + +<p>"Who the devil would?"</p> + +<p>"But if she had rank and title?"</p> + +<p>"Rank and title! Bubble and +squeak! No, not half so good as +bubble and squeak. English beef and +good cabbage. But foreign rank and +title!—foreign cabbage and beef!—foreign +bubble and foreign squeak!" +And the Squire made a wry face, and +spat forth his disgust and indignation.</p> + +<p>"You must have an Englishwoman?"</p> + +<p>"Of course."</p> + +<p>"Money?"</p> + +<p>"Don't care, provided she is a tidy, +sensible, active lass, with a good +character for her dower."</p> + +<p>"Character—ah, that is indispensable?"</p> + +<p>"I should think so, indeed. A Mrs. +Hazeldean of Hazeldean; you frighten +me. He's not going to run off with a +divorced woman, or a—"</p> + +<p>The Squire stopped, and looked so +red in the face, that Randal feared he +might be seized with apoplexy before +Frank's crimes had made him alter his +will.</p> + +<p>Therefore he hastened to relieve +Mr Hazeldean's mind, and assured +him that he had been only talking at +random; that Frank was in the habit, +indeed, of seeing foreign ladies occasionally, +as all persons in the London +world were; but that he was sure Frank +would never marry without the full +consent and approval of his parents. +He ended by repeating his assurance, +that he would warn the Squire if ever +it became necessary. Still, however, +he left Mr Hazeldean so disturbed and +uneasy, that that gentleman forgot all +about the farm, and went moodily on +in the opposite direction, re-entering +the park at its farther extremity. +As soon as they approached the house, +the Squire hastened to shut himself +with his wife in full parental consultation; +and Randal, seated upon a +bench on the terrace, revolved the +mischief he had done, and its chances +of success.</p> + +<p>While thus seated, and thus thinking, +a footstep approached cautiously, +and a low voice said, in broken English, +"Sare, sare, let me speak vid +you."</p> + +<p>Randal turned in surprise, and beheld +a swarthy saturnine face, with +grizzled hair and marked features. He +recognised the figure that had joined +Riccabocca in the Italian's garden.</p> + +<p>"Speak-a you Italian?" resumed +Jackeymo.</p> + +<p>Randal, who had made himself an +excellent linguist, nodded assent; +and Jackeymo, rejoiced, begged him +to withdraw into a more private +part of the grounds.</p> + +<p>Randal obeyed, and the two gained +the shade of a stately chestnut avenue.</p> + +<p>"Sir," then said Jackeymo, speaking +in his native tongue, and expressing +himself with a certain simple +pathos, "I am but a poor man; my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_685" id="Page_685">[685]</a></span> +name is Giacomo. You have heard +of me;—servant to the Signior +whom you saw to-day—only a servant; +but he honours me with his +confidence. We have known danger +together; and of all his friends and +followers, I alone came with him to +the stranger's land."</p> + +<p>"Good, faithful fellow," said +Randal, examining the man's face, +"say on. Your master confides in +you? He confided that which I told +him this day?"</p> + +<p>"He did. Ah, sir! the Padrone +was too proud to ask you to explain +more—too proud to show fear of +another. But he does fear—he ought +to fear—he shall fear," (continued +Jackeymo, working himself up to +passion)—"for the Padrone has a +daughter, and his enemy is a villain. +Oh, sir, tell me all that you did not +tell to the Padrone. You hinted +that this man might wish to marry +the Signora. Marry her!—I could +cut his throat at the altar!"</p> + +<p>"Indeed," said Randal; "I believe +that such is his object."</p> + +<p>"But why? He is rich—she is +penniless; no, not quite that, for we +have saved—but penniless, compared +to him."</p> + +<p>"My good friend, I know not yet +his motives; but I can easily learn +them. If, however, this Count be +your master's enemy, it is surely +well to guard against him, whatever +his designs; and, to do so, you +should move into London or its +neighbourhood. I fear that, while +we speak, the Count may get upon +his track."</p> + +<p>"He had better not come here!" +cried the servant menacingly, and +putting his hand where the knife was +<em>not</em>.</p> + +<p>"Beware of your own anger, +Giacomo. One act of violence, and +you would be transported from England, +and your master would lose a +friend."</p> + +<p>Jackeymo seemed struck by this +caution.</p> + +<p>"And if the Padrone were to meet +him, do you think the Padrone would +meekly say, 'Come stà sa Signoria?' +The Padrone would strike +him dead!"</p> + +<p>"Hush—hush! You speak of +what, in England, is called murder, +and is punished by the gallows. If +you really love your master, for +heaven's sake get him from this +place—get him from all chance of +such passion and peril. I go to +town to-morrow; I will find him a +house that shall be safe from all +spies—all discovery. And there, +too, my friend, I can do—what I cannot +at this distance—watch over +him, and keep watch also on his +enemy."</p> + +<p>Jackeymo seized Randal's hand +and lifted it towards his lip; then, as +if struck by a sudden suspicion, +dropped the hand, and said bluntly—"Signior, +I think you have seen +the Padrone twice. Why do you +take this interest in him?"</p> + +<p>"Is it so uncommon to take +interest even in a stranger who is +menaced by some peril?"</p> + +<p>Jackeymo, who believed little in +general philanthropy, shook his head +sceptically.</p> + +<p>"Besides," continued Randal, suddenly +bethinking himself of a more +plausible reason—"besides, I am +a friend and connection of Mr Egerton; +and Mr Egerton's most intimate +friend is Lord L'Estrange; and I +have heard that Lord L'Estrange—"</p> + +<p>"The good lord! Oh, now I +understand," interrupted Jackeymo, +and his brow cleared. "Ah, if <em>he</em> +were in England! But you will let +us know when he comes?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly. Now, tell me, Giacomo, +is this Count really unprincipled +and dangerous? Remember, +I know him not personally."</p> + +<p>"He has neither heart, head, nor +conscience."</p> + +<p>"That makes him dangerous to +men; but to women, danger comes +from other qualities. Could it be +possible, if he obtained any interview +with the Signora, that he could win +her affections?"</p> + +<p>Jackeymo crossed himself rapidly, +and made no answer.</p> + +<p>"I have heard that he is still very +handsome."</p> + +<p>Jackeymo groaned.</p> + +<p>Randal resumed—"Enough; persuade +the Padrone to come to +town."</p> + +<p>"But if the Count is in town?"</p> + +<p>"That makes no difference; the +safest place is always the largest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_686" id="Page_686">[686]</a></span> +city. Everywhere else a foreigner +is in himself an object of attention +and curiosity."</p> + +<p>"True."</p> + +<p>"Let your master, then, come to +London. He can reside in one of the +suburbs most remote from the Count's +haunts. In two days I will have +found him a lodging and write to +him. You trust to me now?"</p> + +<p>"I do indeed—I do, Excellency. +Ah, if the Signorina were married, +we would not care!"</p> + +<p>"Married! But she looks so high!"</p> + +<p>"Alas! not now—not here!"</p> + +<p>Randal sighed heavily. Jackeymo's +eyes sparkled. He thought +he had detected a new motive for +Randal's interest—a motive to an +Italian the most natural, the most +laudable of all.</p> + +<p>"Find the house, Signior—write +to the Padrone. He shall come. I'll +talk to him. I can manage him. +Holy San Giacomo, bestir thyself +now—'tis long since I troubled +thee!"</p> + +<p>Jackeymo strode off through the +fading trees, smiling and muttering +as he went.</p> + +<p>The first dinner-bell rang, and, on +entering the drawing-room, Randal +found Parson Dale and his wife, who +had been invited in haste to meet +the unexpected visitor.</p> + +<p>The preliminary greetings over, +Mr Dale took the opportunity afforded +by the Squire's absence to inquire +after the health of Mr Egerton.</p> + +<p>"He is always well," said Randal. +"I believe he is made of iron."</p> + +<p>"His heart is of gold," said the +Parson.</p> + +<p>"Ah!" said Randal, inquisitively, +"you told me you had come in +contact with him once, respecting, +I think, some of your old parishioners +at Lansmere?"</p> + +<p>The Parson nodded, and there was +a moment's silence.</p> + +<p>"Do you remember your battle by +the Stocks, Mr Leslie?" said Mr +Dale, with a good-humoured laugh.</p> + +<p>"Indeed, yes. By the way, now +you speak of it, I met my old +opponent in London the first year I +went up to it."</p> + +<p>"You did!—where?"</p> + +<p>"At a literary scamp's—a cleverish +man called Burley."</p> + +<p>"Burley! I have seen some burlesque +verses in Greek by a Mr +Burley."</p> + +<p>"No doubt, the same person. He +has disappeared—gone to the dogs, +I dare say. Burlesque Greek is not +a knowledge very much in power +at present."</p> + +<p>"Well, but Leonard Fairfield?—you +have seen him since?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Nor heard of him?"</p> + +<p>"No!—have you?"</p> + +<p>"Strange to say, not for a long +time. But I have reason to believe +that he must be doing well."</p> + +<p>"You surprise me! Why?"</p> + +<p>"Because, two years ago, he sent +for his mother. She went to him."</p> + +<p>"Is that all?"</p> + +<p>"It is enough; for he would not +have sent for her if he could not +maintain her."</p> + +<p>Here the Hazeldeans entered, +arm-in-arm, and the fat butler +announced dinner.</p> + +<p>The Squire was unusually taciturn—Mrs +Hazeldean thoughtful—Mrs +Dale languid, and headachy. The +Parson, who seldom enjoyed the +luxury of converse with a scholar, +save when he quarrelled with Dr +Riccabocca, was animated, by Randal's +repute for ability, into a great +desire for argument.</p> + +<p>"A glass of wine, Mr Leslie. You +were saying, before dinner, that burlesque +Greek is not a knowledge very +much in power at present. Pray, sir, +what knowledge is in power?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Randal</span>, (laconically.)—"Practical +knowledge."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Parson.</span>—"What of?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Randal.</span>—"Men."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Parson</span>, (candidly.)—"Well, I +suppose that is the most available +sort of knowledge, in a worldly point +of view. How does one learn it? Do +books help?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Randal.</span>—"According as they are +read, they help or injure."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Parson.</span>—"How should they be +read in order to help?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Randal.</span>—"Read specially to apply +to purposes that lead to power."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Parson</span>, (very much struck with +Randal's pithy and Spartan logic.)—"Upon +my word, sir, you express +yourself very well. I must own that +I began these questions in the hope of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_687" id="Page_687">[687]</a></span> +differing from you; for I like an argument."</p> + +<p>"That he does," growled the Squire; +"the most contradictory creature!"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Parson.</span>—"Argument is the salt +of talk. But now I am afraid I must +agree with you, which I was not at +all prepared for."</p> + +<p>Randal bowed, and answered—"No +two men of our education can +dispute upon the application of knowledge."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Parson</span>, (pricking up his ears.)—"Eh! +what to?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Randal.</span>—"Power, of course."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Parson</span>, (overjoyed.)—"Power!—the +vulgarest application of it, or the +loftiest? But you mean the loftiest?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Randal</span>, (in his turn interested +and interrogative.)—"What do you +call the loftiest, and what the vulgarest?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Parson.</span>—"The vulgarest, self-interest; +the loftiest, beneficence."</p> + +<p>Randal suppressed the half disdainful +smile that rose to his lip.</p> + +<p>"You speak, sir, as a clergyman +should do. I admire your sentiment, +and adopt it; but I fear that the +knowledge which aims only at beneficence +very rarely in this world gets +any power at all."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Squire</span>, (seriously.)—"That's true; +I never get my own way when I want +to do a kindness, and Stirn always +gets his when he insists on something +diabolically brutal and harsh."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Parson.</span>—"Pray, Mr Leslie, what +does intellectual power refined to the +utmost, but entirely stripped of beneficence, +most resemble?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Randal.</span>—"Resemble?—I can +hardly say. Some very great man—almost +any very great man—who has +baffled all his foes, and attained all +his ends."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Parson.</span>—"I doubt if any man +has ever become very great who has +not meant to be beneficent, though he +might err in the means. Cæsar was +naturally beneficent, and so was Alexander. +But intellectual power refined +to the utmost, and wholly void of +beneficence, resembles only one being, +and that, sir, is the Principle of Evil."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Randal</span>, (startled.)—"Do you +mean the Devil?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Parson.</span>—"Yes, sir—the Devil; +and even he, sir, did not succeed! +Even he, sir, is what your great men +would call a most decided failure."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mrs Dale.</span>—"My dear—my dear."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Parson.</span>—"Our religion proves it, +my love; he was an angel, and he +fell."</p> + +<p>There was a solemn pause. Randal +was more impressed than he liked to +own to himself. By this time the +dinner was over, and the servants +had retired. Harry glanced at Carry. +Carry smoothed her gown and rose.</p> + +<p>The gentlemen remained over their +wine; and the Parson, satisfied with +what he deemed a clencher upon his +favourite subject of discussion, changed +the subject to lighter topics, till happening +to fall upon tithes, the Squire +struck in, and by dint of loudness of +voice, and truculence of brow, fairly +overwhelmed both his guests, and +proved to his own satisfaction that +tithes were an unjust and unchristian-like +usurpation on the part of the +Church generally, and a most especial +and iniquitous infliction upon the +Hazeldean estates in particular.</p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER IX.</h4> + +<p>On entering the drawing-room, +Randal found the two ladies seated +close together, in a position much more +appropriate to the familiarity of their +school-days than to the politeness of +the friendship now existing between +them. Mrs Hazeldean's hand hung +affectionately over Carry's shoulder, +and both those fair English faces were +bent over the same book. It was pretty +to see these sober matrons, so different +from each other in character and aspect, +thus unconsciously restored to +the intimacy of happy maiden youth +by the golden link of some Magician +from the still land of Truth or Fancy—brought +together in heart, as each eye +rested on the same thought;—closer +and closer, as sympathy, lost in the +actual world, grew out of that world +which unites in one bond of feeling +the readers of some gentle book.</p> + +<p>"And what work interests you so +much?" said Randal, pausing by the +table.</p> + +<p>"One you have read, of course,"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_688" id="Page_688">[688]</a></span> +replied Mrs Dale, putting a bookmark +embroidered by herself into +the page, and handing the volume to +Randal. "It has made a great sensation, +I believe."</p> + +<p>Randal glanced at the title of the +work. "True," said he, "I have +heard much of it in London, but I +have not yet had time to read it."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mrs Dale.</span>—"I can lend it to you, +if you like to look over it to-night, +and you can leave it for me with Mrs +Hazeldean."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Parson</span>, (approaching.)—"Oh! +that book!—yes, you must read it. +I do not know a work more instructive."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Randal.</span>—"Instructive! Certainly +I will read it then. But I thought it +was a mere work of amusement—of +fancy. It seems so, as I look over it."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Parson.</span>—"So is the <cite>Vicar of +Wakefield</cite>; yet what book more instructive?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Randal.</span>—"I should not have +said <em>that</em> of the <cite>Vicar of Wakefield</cite>. +A pretty book enough, though the +story is most improbable. But how is +it instructive?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Parson.</span>—"By its results: it leaves +us happier and better. What can +any instruction do more? Some +works instruct through the head, some +through the heart; the last reach the +widest circle, and often produce the +most genial influence on the character. +This book belongs to the last. You +will grant my proposition when you +have read it."</p> + +<p>Randal smiled and took the volume.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mrs Dale.</span>—"Is the author known +yet?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Randal.</span>—"I have heard it ascribed +to many writers, but I believe +no one has claimed it."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Parson.</span>—"I think it must have +been written by my old college friend, +Professor Moss, the naturalist; its descriptions +of scenery are so accurate."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mrs Dale.</span>—"La, Charles dear! +that snuffy, tiresome, prosy professor? +How can you talk such nonsense? I +am sure the author must be young; +there is so much freshness of feeling."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mrs Hazeldean</span>, (positively.)—"Yes, +certainly young."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Parson</span>, (no less positively.)—"I +should say just the contrary. Its +tone is too serene, and its style too +simple for a young man. Besides, I +don't know any young man who would +send me his book, and this book has +been sent me—very handsomely bound +too, you see. Depend upon it, Moss +is the man—quite his turn of mind."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mrs Dale.</span>—"You are too provoking, +Charles dear! Mr Moss is +so remarkably plain, too."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Randal.</span>—"Must an author be +handsome?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Parson.</span>—"Ha, ha! Answer that, +if you can, Carry."</p> + +<p>Carry remained mute and disdainful.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Squire</span>, (with great <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">naiveté</i>.)—"Well, +I don't think there's much in +the book, whoever wrote it; for I've +read it myself, and understand every +word of it."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mrs Dale.</span>—"I don't see why you +should suppose it was written by a +man at all. For my part, I think it +must be a woman."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mrs Hazeldean.</span>—"Yes, there's +a passage about maternal affection, +which only a woman could have +written."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Parson.</span>—"Pooh, pooh! I should +like to see a woman who could have +written that description of an August +evening before a thunderstorm; +every wildflower in the hedgerow +exactly the flowers of August—every +sign in the air exactly those of +the month. Bless you! a woman +would have filled the hedge with +violets and cowslips. Nobody else +but my friend Moss could have written +that description."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Squire.</span>—"I don't know; there's +a simile about the waste of corn-seed +in hand-sowing, which makes me +think he must be a farmer!"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mrs Dale</span>, (scornfully.)—"A farmer! +In hob-nailed shoes, I suppose! +I say it is a woman."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mrs Hazeldean.</span>—"A <small>WOMAN</small>, +and <small>A MOTHER</small>!"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Parson.</span>—"A middle-aged man, +and a naturalist."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Squire.</span>—"No, no, Parson; certainly +a young man; for that love-scene +puts me in mind of my own +young days, when I would have given +my ears to tell Harry how handsome +I thought her; and all I could say +was—'Fine weather for the crops, +Miss.' Yes, a young man, and a +farmer. I should not wonder if he +had held the plough himself."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_689" id="Page_689">[689]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Randal</span>, (who had been turning +over the pages.)—"This sketch of +Night in London comes from a man +who has lived the life, of cities, and +looked at wealth with the eyes of +poverty. Not bad! I will read the +book."</p> + +<p>"Strange," said the Parson, smiling, +"that this little work should so +have entered into our minds, suggested +to all of us different ideas, yet +equally charmed all—given a new and +fresh current to our dull country life—animated +us as with the sight of +a world in our breasts we had +never seen before, save in dreams;—a +little work like this, by a man we +don't know, and never may! Well, +<em>that</em> knowledge <em>is</em> power, and a noble +one!"</p> + +<p>"A sort of power, certainly, sir," +said Randal, candidly; and that +night, when Randal retired to his +own room, he suspended his schemes +and projects, and read, as he rarely +did, without an object to gain by the +reading.</p> + +<p>The work surprised him by the +pleasure it gave. Its charm lay in +the writer's calm enjoyment of the +Beautiful. It seemed like some happy +soul sunning itself in the light of +its own thoughts. Its power was so +tranquil and even, that it was only a +critic who could perceive how much +force and vigour were necessary +to sustain the wing that floated aloft +with so imperceptible an effort. +There was no one faculty predominating +tyrannically over the others; all +seemed proportioned in the felicitous +symmetry of a nature rounded, integral, +and complete. And when the +work was closed, it left behind it a +tender warmth that played round the +heart of the reader, and vivified feelings +that seemed unknown before. +Randal laid down the book softly; +and for five minutes the ignoble and +base purposes to which his own knowledge +was applied, stood before him, +naked and unmasked.</p> + +<p>"Tut," said he, wrenching himself +violently away from the benign influence, +"it was not to sympathise with +Hector, but to conquer with Achilles, +that Alexander of Macedon kept +Homer under his pillow. Such should +be the true use of books to him who +has the practical world to subdue; let +parsons and women construe it otherwise +as they may!"</p> + +<p>And the Principle of Evil descended +again upon the intellect, +from which the guide of beneficence +was gone.</p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER X.</h4> + +<p>Randal rose at the sound of the +first breakfast bell, and on the staircase +met Mrs Hazeldean. He gave +her back the book; and as he was +about to speak, she beckoned to him +to follow her into a little morning-room +appropriated to herself. No +boudoir of white and gold, with pictures +by Watteau, but lined with +large walnut-tree presses, that held +the old heirloom linen strewed with +lavender—stores for the housekeeper, +and medicines for the poor.</p> + +<p>Seating herself on a large chair in +this sanctum, Mrs Hazeldean looked +formidably at home.</p> + +<p>"Pray," said the lady, coming at +once to the point, with her usual +straightforward candour, "what is +all this you have been saying to my +husband as to the possibility of Frank's +marrying a foreigner?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Randal.</span>—"Would you be as +averse to such a notion as Mr Hazeldean +is?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mrs Hazeldean.</span>—"You ask me +a question, instead of answering +mine."</p> + +<p>Randal was greatly put out in his +fence by these rude thrusts. For indeed +he had a double purpose to serve—first +thoroughly to know if Frank's +marriage with a woman like Madame +di Negra would irritate the Squire +sufficiently to endanger the son's inheritance; +and, secondly, to prevent +Mr and Mrs Hazeldean believing, +seriously that such a marriage was to +be apprehended, lest they should prematurely +address Frank on the subject, +and frustrate the marriage itself. Yet, +withal, he must so express himself, +that he could not be afterwards accused +by the parents of disguising +matters. In his talk to the Squire +the preceding day, he had gone a little<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_690" id="Page_690">[690]</a></span> +too far—farther than he would have +done but for his desire of escaping the +cattle-shed and short-horns. While +he mused, Mrs Hazeldean observed +him with her honest sensible eyes, +and finally exclaimed—</p> + +<p>"Out with it, Mr Leslie!"</p> + +<p>"Out with what, my dear madam? +The Squire has sadly exaggerated the +importance of what was said mainly +in jest. But I will own to you plainly, +that Frank has appeared to me a little +smitten with a certain fair Italian."</p> + +<p>"Italian!" cried Mrs Hazeldean. +"Well, I said so from the first. Italian!—that's +all, is it?" and she +smiled.</p> + +<p>Randal was more and more perplexed. +The pupil of his eye contracted, +as it does when we retreat +into ourselves, and think, watch, and +keep guard.</p> + +<p>"And perhaps," resumed Mrs +Hazeldean, with a very sunny expression +of countenance, "you have noticed +this in Frank since he was +here?"</p> + +<p>"It is true," murmured Randal; +"but I think his heart or his fancy +was touched even before."</p> + +<p>"Very natural," said Mrs Hazeldean; +"how could he help it?—such +a beautiful creature! Well, I must +not ask you to tell Frank's secrets; +but I guess the object of attraction; +and though she will have no fortune +to speak of—and it is not such a +match as he might form—still she +is so amiable, and has been so well +brought up, and is so little like one's +general notions of a Roman Catholic, +that I think I could persuade Hazeldean +into giving his consent."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" said Randal, drawing a +long breath, and beginning with his +practised acuteness to detect Mrs +Hazeldean's error, "I am very much +relieved and rejoiced to hear this; and +I may venture to give Frank some +hope, if I find him disheartened and +desponding, poor fellow!"</p> + +<p>"I think you may," replied Mrs +Hazeldean, laughing pleasantly. "But +you should not have frightened poor +William so, hinting that the lady +knew very little English. She has +an accent, to be sure; but she speaks +our tongue very prettily. I always +forget that she's not English born! +Ha, ha, poor William!"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Randal.</span>—"Ha, ha!"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mrs Hazeldean.</span>—"We had once +thought of another match for Frank—a +girl of good English family."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Randal.</span>—"Miss Sticktorights?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mrs Hazeldean.</span>—"No; that's +an old whim of Hazeldean's. But +he knows very well that the Sticktorights +would never merge their property +in ours. Bless you, it would +be all off the moment they came to +settlements, and had to give up the +right of way. We thought of a +very different match; but there's no +dictating to young hearts, Mr Leslie."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Randal.</span>—"Indeed no, Mrs Hazeldean. +But since we now understand +each other so well, excuse me if I +suggest that you had better leave +things to themselves, and not write +to Frank on the subject. Young +hearts, you know, are often stimulated +by apparent difficulties, and grow +cool when the obstacle vanishes."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mrs Hazeldean.</span>—"Very possibly; +it was not so with Hazeldean and +me. But I shall not write to Frank +on the subject, for a different reason—though +I would consent to the match, +and so would William; yet we both +would rather, after all, that Frank +married an Englishwoman, and a +Protestant. We will not, therefore, +do anything to encourage the idea. +But if Frank's happiness becomes +really at stake, <em>then</em> we will step in. +In short, we would neither encourage +nor oppose. You understand?"</p> + +<p>"Perfectly."</p> + +<p>"And, in the meanwhile, it is +quite right that Frank should see +the world, and try to distract his +mind, or at least to know it. And +I dare say it has been some thought +of that kind which has prevented his +coming here."</p> + +<p>Randal, dreading a farther and +plainer <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">éclaircissement</i>, now rose, +and saying, "Pardon me, but I +must hurry over breakfast, and be +back in time to catch the coach"—offered +his arm to his hostess, and +led her into the breakfast-parlour. +Devouring his meal, as if in great +haste, he then mounted his horse, +and, taking cordial leave of his entertainers, +trotted briskly away.</p> + +<p>All things favoured his project—even +chance had befriended him in +Mrs Hazeldean's mistake. She had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_691" id="Page_691">[691]</a></span> +not unnaturally supposed Violante to +have captivated Frank on his last +visit to the Hall. Thus, while Randal +had certified his own mind that +nothing could more exasperate the +Squire than an alliance with Madame +di Negra, he could yet assure Frank +that Mrs Hazeldean was all on his +side. And when the error was discovered, +Mrs Hazeldean would only +have to blame herself for it. Still +more successful had his diplomacy +proved with the Riccaboccas; he +had ascertained the secret he had +come to discover; he should induce +the Italian to remove to the neighbourhood +of London; and if Violante +were the great heiress he suspected +her to prove, whom else of her own +age would she see but him? And +the old Leslie domains—to be sold +in two years—a portion of the +dowry might purchase them! Flushed +by the triumph of his craft, all former +vacillations of conscience ceased. +In high and fervent spirits he passed +the Casino, the garden of which was +solitary and deserted, reached his +home, and, telling Oliver to be +studious, and Juliet to be patient, +walked thence to meet the coach and +regain the capital.</p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER XI.</h4> + +<p>Violante was seated in her own +little room, and looking from the window +on the terrace that stretched +below. The day was warm for the +time of year. The orange-trees had +been removed under shelter for the +approach of winter; but where they +had stood sate Mrs Riccabocca at +work. In the Belvidere, Riccabocca +himself was conversing with +his favourite servant. But the casements +and the door of the Belvidere +were open; and where they sate, +both wife and daughter could see the +Padrone leaning against the wall, +with his arms folded, and his eyes +fixed on the floor; while Jackeymo, +with one finger on his master's arm, +was talking to him with visible earnestness. +And the daughter from +the window, and the wife from her +work, directed tender anxious eyes +towards the still thoughtful form so +dear to both. For the last day or +two, Riccabocca had been peculiarly +abstracted, even to gloom. Each felt +there was something stirring at his +heart—neither as yet knew what.</p> + +<p>Violante's room silently revealed the +nature of the education by which her +character had been formed. Save +a sketch-book which lay open on a +desk at hand, and which showed +talent exquisitely taught, (for in this +Riccabocca had been her teacher,) +there was nothing that spoke of the +ordinary female accomplishments. No +piano stood open, no harp occupied +yon nook, which seemed made for +one; no broidery frame, nor implements +of work, betrayed the usual +and graceful resources of a girl; but +ranged on shelves against the wall were +the best writers in English, Italian, +and French; and these betokened an +extent of reading, that he who wishes +for a companion to his mind in the +sweet commune of woman, which +softens and refines all it gives and +takes in interchange, will never condemn +as masculine. You had but to +look into Violante's face to see how +noble was the intelligence that brought +soul to those lovely features. Nothing +hard, nothing dry and stern was there. +Even as you detected knowledge, it +was lost in the gentleness of grace. +In fact, whatever she gained in the +graver kinds of information, became +transmuted, through her heart and +her fancy, into spiritual golden stores. +Give her some tedious and arid history, +her imagination seized upon +beauties other readers had passed by, +and, like the eye of the artist, detected +everywhere the Picturesque. +Something in her mind seemed to +reject all that was mean and commonplace, +and to bring out all that +was rare and elevated in whatever it +received. Living so apart from all +companions of her age, she scarcely +belonged to the Present time. She +dwelt in the Past, as Sabrina, in her +crystal well. Images of chivalry—of +the Beautiful and the Heroic—such +as, in reading the silvery line of +Tasso, rise before us, softening force +and valour into love and song—haunted +the reveries of the fair Italian maid.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_692" id="Page_692">[692]</a></span></p> + +<p>Tell us not that the Past, examined +by cold Philosophy, was no better +and no loftier than the Present; it is +not thus seen by pure and generous +eyes. Let the Past perish, when it +ceases to reflect on its magic mirror +the beautiful Romance which is its +noblest reality, though perchance but +the shadow of Delusion.</p> + +<p>Yet Violante was not merely the +dreamer. In her, life was so puissant +and rich, that action seemed necessary +to its glorious development—action, +but still in the woman's sphere—action +to bless and to refine and to exalt all +around her, and to pour whatever else +of ambition was left unsatisfied into +sympathy with the aspirations of +man. Despite her father's fears of +the bleak air of England, in that air +she had strengthened the delicate +health of her childhood. Her elastic +step—her eyes full of sweetness and +light—her bloom, at once soft and +luxuriant—all spoke of the vital +powers fit to sustain a mind of such +exquisite mould, and the emotions of +a heart that, once aroused, could ennoble +the passions of the South +with the purity and devotion of the +North.</p> + +<p>Solitude makes some natures more +timid, some more bold. Violante was +fearless. When she spoke, her eyes +frankly met your own; and she was +so ignorant of evil, that as yet she +seemed nearly unacquainted with +shame. From this courage, combined +with affluence of idea, came a delightful +flow of happy converse. Though +possessing so imperfectly the accomplishments +ordinarily taught to young +women, and which may be cultured +to the utmost, and yet leave the +thoughts so barren, and the talk so +vapid—she had that accomplishment +which most pleases the taste, and commands +the love, of the man of talent; +especially if his talent be not so actively +employed as to make him desire +only relaxation where he seeks companionship—the +accomplishment of +facility in intellectual interchange—the +charm that clothes in musical +words beautiful womanly ideas.</p> + +<p>"I hear him sigh at this distance," +said Violante softly, as she still +watched her father; "and methinks +this is a new grief, and not for his +country. He spoke twice yesterday +of that dear English friend, and +wished that he were here."</p> + +<p>As she said this, unconsciously the +virgin blushed, her hands drooped on +her knee, and she fell herself into +thought as profound as her father's, +but less gloomy. From her arrival +in England, Violante had been taught +a grateful interest in the name of +Harley L'Estrange. Her father, preserving +a silence, that seemed disdain, +of all his old Italian intimates, +had been pleased to converse with +open heart of the Englishman who +had saved where countrymen had +betrayed. He spoke of the soldier, +then in the full bloom of youth, +who, unconsoled by fame, had nursed +the memory of some hidden sorrow +amidst the pine-trees that cast their +shadow over the sunny Italian lake; +how Riccabocca, then honoured and +happy, had courted from his seclusion +the English Signor, then the +mourner and the voluntary exile; +how they had grown friends amidst +the landscapes in which her eyes had +opened to the day; how Harley +had vainly warned him from the rash +schemes in which he had sought to reconstruct +in an hour the ruins of weary +ages; how, when abandoned, deserted, +proscribed, pursued, he had fled for +life—the infant Violante clasped to +his bosom—the English soldier had +given him refuge, baffled the pursuers, +armed his servants, accompanied the +fugitive at night towards the defile in +the Apennines, and, when the emissaries +of a perfidious enemy, hot in +the chase, came near, had said, "You +have your child to save! Fly on! +Another league, and you are beyond +the borders. We will delay the foes +with parley; they will not harm us." +And not till escape was gained did +the father know that the English +friend had delayed the foe, not by +parley, but by the sword, holding the +pass against numbers, with a breast +as dauntless as Bayard's in the immortal +bridge.</p> + +<p>And since then, the same Englishman +had never ceased to vindicate +his name, to urge his cause, and if +hope yet remained of restoration to +land and honours, it was in that +untiring zeal.</p> + +<p>Hence, naturally and insensibly, +this secluded and musing girl had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_693" id="Page_693">[693]</a></span> +associated all that she read in tales +of romance and chivalry with the +image of the brave and loyal stranger. +He it was who animated her dreams +of the Past, and seemed born to be, in +the destined hour, the deliverer of the +Future. Around this image grouped +all the charms that the fancy of virgin +woman can raise from the enchanted +lore of old Heroic Fable. Once in her +early girlhood, her father (to satisfy +her curiosity, eager for general description) +had drawn from memory a +sketch of the features of the Englishman—drawn +Harley, as he was in +that first youth, flattered and idealised, +no doubt, by art and by partial +gratitude—but still resembling him +as he was then; while the deep +mournfulness of recent sorrow yet +shadowed and concentrated all the +varying expression of his countenance; +and to look on him was to +say,—"So sad, yet so young!" Never +did Violante pause to remember that +the same years which ripened herself +from infancy into woman, were passing +less gently over that smooth +cheek and dreamy brow—that the +world might be altering the nature, +as time the aspect. To her, the hero +of the Ideal remained immortal in +bloom and youth. Bright illusion, +common to us all, where Poetry once +hallows the human form! Who ever +thinks of Petrarch as the old time-worn +man? Who does not see him as when +he first gazed on Laura?—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Ogni altra cosa ogni pensier va fore;<br /></span> +<span class="i1">E sol ivi con voi rimansi Amore!"<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<h4>CHAPTER XII.</h4> + +<p>And Violante, thus absorbed in +reverie, forgot to keep watch on the +Belvidere. And the Belvidere was +now deserted. The wife, who had no +other ideal to distract <em>her</em> thoughts, +saw Riccabocca pass into the house.</p> + +<p>The exile entered his daughter's +room, and she started to feel his hand +upon her locks and his kiss upon her +brow.</p> + +<p>"My child!" cried Riccabocca, +seating himself, "I have resolved to +leave for a time this retreat, and to +seek the neighbourhood of London."</p> + +<p>"Ah, dear father, <em>that</em>, then, was +your thought? But what can be +your reason? Do not turn away; you +know how carefully I have obeyed +your command and kept your secret. +Ah, you will confide in me."</p> + +<p>"I do, indeed," returned Riccabocca, +with emotion. "I leave this place, +in the fear lest my enemies discover +me. I shall say to others that you +are of an age to require teachers, not +to be obtained here. But I should +like none to know where we go."</p> + +<p>The Italian said these last words +through his teeth, and hanging his +head. He said them in shame.</p> + +<p>"My mother—(so Violante always +called Jemima)—my mother, you +have spoken to her?"</p> + +<p>"Not yet. <em>There</em> is the difficulty."</p> + +<p>"No difficulty, for she loves you so +well," replied Violante, with soft +reproach. "Ah, why not also confide +in her? Who so true? so +good?"</p> + +<p>"Good—I grant it!" exclaimed +Riccabocca. "What then? 'Da cattiva +Donna guardati, ed alla buona non +fidar niente,' (from the bad woman, +guard thyself; to the good woman +trust nothing.) And if you must trust," +added the abominable man, "trust +her with anything but a secret!"</p> + +<p>"Fie," said Violante, with arch +reproach, for she knew her father's +humours too well to interpret his +horrible sentiments literally—"fie +on your consistency, <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Padre carissimo</i>. +Do you not trust your secret to me?"</p> + +<p>"You! A kitten is not a cat, and +a girl is not a woman. Besides, the +secret was already known to you, +and I had no choice. Peace, Jemima +will stay here for the present. See +to what you wish to take with you; +we shall leave to-night."</p> + +<p>Not waiting for an answer, Riccabocca +hurried away, and with a firm +step strode the terrace and approached +his wife.</p> + +<p>"<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Anima mia</i>," said the pupil of +Machiavel, disguising in the tenderest +words the cruellest intentions—for +one of his most cherished Italian proverbs +was to the effect, that there is +no getting on with a mule or a woman +unless you coax them—"<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Anima mia</i>,—soul +of my being—you have already +seen that Violante mopes herself to +death here."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_694" id="Page_694">[694]</a></span></p> + +<p>"She, poor child! Oh no!"</p> + +<p>"She does, core of my heart, she +does, and is as ignorant of music as I +am of tent-stitch."</p> + +<p>"She sings beautifully."</p> + +<p>"Just as birds do, against all the +rules, and in defiance of gamut. +Therefore, to come to the point, O +treasure of my soul! I am going to +take her with me for a short time, +perhaps to Cheltenham, or Brighton—we +shall see."</p> + +<p>"All places with you are the same +to me, Alphonso. When shall we go?"</p> + +<p>"<em>We</em> shall go to-night; but, terrible +as it is to part from you—you—"</p> + +<p>"Ah!" interrupted the wife, and +covered her face with her hands.</p> + +<p>Riccabocca, the wiliest and most relentless +of men in his maxims, melted +into absolute uxorial imbecility at the +sight of that mute distress. He put +his arm round his wife's waist, with +genuine affection, and without a +single proverb at his heart—"<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Carissima</i>, +do not grieve so; we shall be +back soon, and travelling is expensive; +rolling stones gather no moss, and +there is so much to see to at home."</p> + +<p>Mrs Riccabocca gently escaped +from her husband's arms. She withdrew +her hands from her face, and +brushed away the tears that stood in +her eyes.</p> + +<p>"Alphonso," she said touchingly, +"hear me! What you think good, +that shall ever be good to me. But +do not think that I grieve solely +because of our parting. No; I grieve +to think that, despite all these years +in which I have been the partner of +your hearth and slept on your breast—all +these years in which I have had +no thought but, however humbly, to +do my duty to you and yours, and +could have wished that you had read +my heart, and seen there but yourself +and your child—I grieve to +think that you still deem me as unworthy +your trust as when you stood +by my side at the altar."</p> + +<p>"Trust!" repeated Riccabocca, +startled and conscience-stricken; +"why do you say 'trust?' In what +have I distrusted you? I am sure," he +continued, with the artful volubility +of guilt, "that I never doubted your +fidelity—hook-nosed, long-visaged +foreigner though I be; never pryed +into your letters; never inquired into +your solitary walks; never heeded +your flirtations with that good-looking +Parson Dale; never kept the +money; and never looked into the +account-books!" Mrs Riccabocca refused +even a smile of contempt at +these revolting evasions; nay, she +seemed scarcely to hear them.</p> + +<p>"Can you think," she resumed, +pressing her hand on her heart to +still its struggles for relief in sobs—"can +you think that I could have +watched, and thought, and tasked my +poor mind so constantly, to conjecture +what might best soothe or please you, +and not seen, long since, that you +have secrets known to your daughter—your +servant—not to me? Fear not—the +secrets cannot be evil, or you +would not tell them to your innocent +child. Besides, do I not know your +nature? and do I not love you because +I know it?—it is for something connected +with these secrets that you +leave your home. You think that I +should be incautious—imprudent. +You will not take me with you. Be it +so. I go to prepare for your departure. +Forgive me if I have displeased you, +husband."</p> + +<p>Mrs Riccabocca turned away; but +a soft hand touched the Italian's arm. +"O father, can you resist this? +Trust her!—trust her! I am a woman +like her! I answer for her woman's +faith. Be yourself—ever nobler than +all others, my own father."</p> + +<p>"<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Diavolo!</i> Never one door shuts +but another opens," groaned Riccabocca. +"Are you a fool, child? Don't +you see that it was for your sake only +I feared—and would be cautious?"</p> + +<p>"For mine! O then, do not make +me deem myself mean, and the cause +of meanness. For mine! Am I not +your daughter—the descendant of +men who never feared?"</p> + +<p>Violante looked sublime while she +spoke; and as she ended she led her +father gently on towards the door, +which his wife had now gained.</p> + +<p>"Jemima—wife mine!—pardon, +pardon," cried the Italian, whose +heart had been yearning to repay such +tenderness and devotion,—"come +back to my breast—it has been long +closed—it shall be open to you now +and for ever."</p> + +<p>In another moment, the wife was +in her right place—on her husband's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_695" id="Page_695">[695]</a></span> +bosom; and Violante, beautiful peace-maker, +stood smiling a while at both, +and then lifted her eyes gratefully to +heaven, and stole away.</p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER XIII.</h4> + +<p>On Randal's return to town, he +heard mixed and contradictory rumours +in the streets, and at the clubs +of the probable downfall of the Government +at the approaching session +of Parliament. These rumours had +sprung up suddenly, as if in an hour. +True that, for some time, the sagacious +had shaken their heads and said, +"Ministers could not last." True +that certain changes in policy, a year +or two before, had divided the party +on which the Government depended, +and strengthened that which opposed +it. But still its tenure in office had +been so long, and there seemed so +little power in the Opposition to form +a cabinet of names familiar to official +ears, that the general public had anticipated, +at most, a few partial changes. +Rumour now went far beyond this. +Randal, whose whole prospects at +present were but reflections from the +greatness of his patron, was alarmed. +He sought Egerton, but the minister +was impenetrable, and seemed calm, +confident, and imperturbed. Somewhat +relieved, Randal then set himself +to work to find a safe home for +Riccabocca; for the greater need +to succeed in obtaining fortune there, +if he failed in getting it through Egerton. +He found a quiet house, detached +and secluded, in the neighbourhood +of Norwood. No vicinity +more secure from espionage and remark. +He wrote to Riccabocca, and +communicated the address, adding +fresh assurances of his own power to +be of use. The next morning he was +seated in his office, thinking very +little of the details, that he mastered, +however, with mechanical precision, +when the minister who presided over +that department of the public service +sent for him into his private room, and +begged him to take a letter to Egerton, +with whom he wished to consult relative +to a very important point to be +decided in the Cabinet that day. "I +want you to take it," said the minister +smiling, (the minister was a frank, +homely man,) "because you are in Mr +Egerton's confidence, and he may give +you some verbal message besides a +written reply. Egerton is often over +cautious and brief in the <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">litera scripta</i>."</p> + +<p>Randal went first to Egerton's +neighbouring office—he had not been +there that day. He then took a +cabriolet and drove to Grosvenor +Square. A quiet-looking chariot was +at the door. Mr Egerton was at +home; but the servant said, "Dr F. +is with him, sir; and perhaps he may +not like to be disturbed."</p> + +<p>"What, is your master ill?"</p> + +<p>"Not that I know of, sir. He never +says he is ill. But he has looked +poorly the last day or two."</p> + +<p>Randal hesitated a moment; but +his commission might be important, +and Egerton was a man who so held +the maxim, that health and all else +must give way to business, that he +resolved to enter; and, unannounced, +and unceremoniously, as was his wont, +he opened the door of the library. +He started as he did so. Audley +Egerton was leaning back on the sofa, +and the doctor, on his knees before +him, was applying the stethoscope to +his breast. Egerton's eyes were partially +closed as the door opened. But +at the noise he sprang up, nearly +oversetting the doctor. "Who's +that?—How dare you!" he exclaimed, +in a voice of great anger. Then +recognising Randal, he changed colour, +bit his lip, and muttered drily, +"I beg pardon for my abruptness; +what do you want, Mr Leslie?"</p> + +<p>"This letter from Lord ——; I was +told to deliver it immediately into +your own hands; I beg pardon—"</p> + +<p>"There is no cause," said Egerton, +coldly. "I have had a slight attack of +bronchitis; and as Parliament meets so +soon, I must take advice from my doctor, +if I would be heard by the reporters. +Lay the letter on the table, and +be kind enough to wait for my reply."</p> + +<p>Randal withdrew. He had never +seen a physician in that house before, +and it seemed surprising that Egerton +should even take a medical opinion +upon a slight attack. While waiting +in the ante-room there was a knock at +the street door, and presently a gentleman, +exceedingly well dressed, was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_696" id="Page_696">[696]</a></span> +shown in, and honoured Randal with +an easy and half familiar bow. Randal +remembered to have met this personage +at dinner, and at the house of +a young nobleman of high fashion, but +had not been introduced to him, and +did not even know him by name. The +visitor was better informed.</p> + +<p>"Our friend Egerton is busy, I +hear, Mr Leslie," said he, arranging +the camelia in his button hole.</p> + +<p>"Our friend Egerton!" It must be +a very great man to say, "Our friend +Egerton."</p> + +<p>"He will not be engaged long, I +dare say," returned Randal, glancing +his shrewd inquiring eye over the +stranger's person.</p> + +<p>"I trust not; my time is almost as +precious as his own. I was not so +fortunate as to be presented to you +when we met at Lord Spendquick's. +Good fellow, Spendquick; and decidedly +clever."</p> + +<p>Lord Spendquick was usually esteemed +a gentleman without three ideas.</p> + +<p>Randal smiled.</p> + +<p>In the meanwhile the visitor had +taken out a card from an embossed +morocco case, and now presented it +to Randal, who read thereon, "Baron +Levy, No. —, Bruton St."</p> + +<p>The name was not unknown to +Randal. It was a name too often on +the lips of men of fashion not to have +reached the ears of an <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">habitué</i> of good +society.</p> + +<p>Mr Levy had been a solicitor by +profession. He had of late years relinquished +his ostensible calling; and +not long since, in consequence of some +services towards the negotiation of a +loan, had been created a baron by one +of the German kings. The wealth of +Mr Levy was said to be only equalled +by his good nature to all who were in +want of a temporary loan, and with +sound expectations of repaying it +some day or other.</p> + +<p>You seldom saw a finer-looking man +than Baron Levy—about the same age +as Egerton, but looking younger: so +well preserved—such magnificent +black whiskers—such superb teeth! +Despite his name and his dark complexion, +he did not, however, resemble +a Jew—at least externally; and, in +fact, he was not a Jew on the father's +side, but the natural son of a +rich English <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">grand seigneur</i>, by a +Hebrew lady of distinction—in the +opera. After his birth, this lady had +married a German trader of her own +persuasion, and her husband had been +prevailed upon, for the convenience +of all parties, to adopt his wife's son, +and accord to him his own Hebrew +name. Mr Levy senior was soon +left a widower, and then the real +father, though never actually owning +the boy, had shown him great attention—had +him frequently at his house—initiated +him betimes into his own +high-born society, for which the boy +showed great taste. But when my +Lord died, and left but a moderate +legacy to the younger Levy, who was +then about eighteen, that ambiguous +person was articled to an attorney by +his putative sire, who shortly afterwards +returned to his native land, and +was buried at Prague, where his tombstone +may yet be seen. Young Levy, +however, continued to do very well +without him. His real birth was +generally known, and rather advantageous +to him in a social point of +view. His legacy enabled him to become +a partner where he had been a +clerk, and his practice became great +amongst the fashionable classes of +society. Indeed he was so useful, so +pleasant, so much a man of the world, +that he grew intimate with his clients—chiefly +young men of rank; was on +good terms with both Jew and Christian; +and being neither one nor the +other, resembled (to use Sheridan's +incomparable simile) the blank page between +the Old and the New Testament.</p> + +<p>Vulgar, some might call Mr Levy, +from his assurance, but it was not the +vulgarity of a man accustomed to low +and coarse society—rather the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">mauvais +ton</i> of a person not sure of his +own position, but who has resolved to +swagger into the best one he can get. +When it is remembered that he had +made his way in the world, and +gleaned together an immense fortune, +it is needless to add that he was as +sharp as a needle, and as hard as a +flint. No man had had more friends, +and no man had stuck by them more +firmly—as long as there was a pound +in their pockets!</p> + +<p>Something of this character had +Randal heard of the Baron, and he +now gazed, first at his card, and then +at him, with—admiration.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_697" id="Page_697">[697]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I met a friend of yours at Borrowwell's +the other day," resumed the +Baron—"Young Hazeldean. Careful +fellow—quite a man of the world."</p> + +<p>As this was the last praise poor +Frank deserved, Randal again smiled.</p> + +<p>The Baron went on—"I hear, Mr +Leslie, that you have much influence +over this same Hazeldean. His +affairs are in a sad state. I should +be very happy to be of use to him, as +a relation of my friend Egerton's; but +he understands business so well that +he despises my advice."</p> + +<p>"I am sure you do him injustice."</p> + +<p>"Injustice! I honour his caution. +I say to every man, 'Don't come to +me—I can get you money on much +easier terms than any one else;' and +what's the result? You come so often +that you ruin yourself; whereas a regular +usurer without conscience frightens +you. 'Cent per cent,' you say; 'oh, +I must pull in.' If you have influence +over your friend, tell him to stick to +his bill-brokers, and have nothing to +do with Baron Levy."</p> + +<p>Here the minister's bell rung, and +Randal, looking through the window, +saw Dr F. walking to his carriage, +which had made way for Baron Levy's +splendid cabriolet—a cabriolet in the +most perfect taste—Baron's coronet +on the dark brown panels—horse black, +with such action!—harness just relieved +with plating. The servant now +entered, and requested Randal to step +in; and addressing the Baron, assured +him that he would not be detained a minute.</p> + +<p>"Leslie," said the minister, sealing a +note, "take this back to Lord ——, and +say that I shall be with him in an hour."</p> + +<p>"No other message?—he seemed +to expect one."</p> + +<p>"I dare say he did. Well, my +letter is official, my message is not; +beg him to see Mr —— before we +meet—he will understand—all rests +upon that interview."</p> + +<p>Egerton then, extending the letter, +resumed gravely, "Of course you will +not mention to any one that Dr F. +was with me: the health of public +men is not to be suspected. Hum—were +you in your own room or the +ante-room?"</p> + +<p>"The ante-room, sir."</p> + +<p>Egerton's brow contracted slightly. +"And Mr Levy was there, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Yes—the Baron."</p> + +<p>"Baron! true. Come to plague +me about the Mexican loan, I suppose. +I will keep you no longer."</p> + +<p>Randal, much meditating, left the +house, and re-entered his hack cab. +The Baron was admitted to the statesman's +presence.</p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER XIV.</h4> + +<p>Egerton had thrown himself at full +length on the sofa, a position exceedingly +rare with him; and about his +whole air and manner, as Levy entered, +there was something singularly +different from that stateliness of port +common to the austere legislator. +The very tone of his voice was +different. It was as if the statesman—the +man of business—had +vanished; it was rather the man of +fashion and the idler, who, nodding +languidly to his visitor, said, "Levy, +what money can I have for a +year?"</p> + +<p>"The estate will bear very little +more. My dear fellow, that last election +was the very devil. You cannot +go on thus much longer."</p> + +<p>"My dear fellow!" Baron Levy +hailed Audley Egerton as "my dear +fellow." And Audley Egerton, perhaps, +saw nothing strange in the +words, though his lip curled.</p> + +<p>"I shall not want to go on thus +much longer," answered Egerton, as +the curl on his lip changed to a +gloomy smile. "The estate must, +meanwhile, bear £5000 more."</p> + +<p>"A hard pull on it. You had really +better sell."</p> + +<p>"I cannot afford to sell at present. +I cannot afford men to say, 'Audley +Egerton is done up—his property is +for sale.'"</p> + +<p>"It is very sad when one thinks +what a rich man you have been—and +may be yet!"</p> + +<p>"Be yet! How?"</p> + +<p>Baron Levy glanced towards the +thick mahogany doors—thick and impervious, +as should be the doors of +statesmen. "Why, you know that, +with three words from you, I could<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_698" id="Page_698">[698]</a></span> +produce an effect upon the stocks of +three nations, that might give as each +a hundred thousand pounds. We +would go shares."</p> + +<p>"Levy," said Egerton coldly, though +a deep blush overspread his face, +"you are a scoundrel; that is your +look-out. I interfere with no man's +tastes and conscience. I don't intend +to be a scoundrel myself. I have told +you that long ago."</p> + +<p>The Baron laughed, without evincing +the least displeasure.</p> + +<p>"Well," said he, "you are neither +wise nor complimentary, but you shall +have the money. But yet, would it +not be better," added Levy, with emphasis, +"to borrow it, without interest, +of your friend L'Estrange?"</p> + +<p>Egerton started as if stung.</p> + +<p>"You mean to taunt me, sir!" he +exclaimed, passionately. "I accept +pecuniary favours from Lord L'Estrange! +I!"</p> + +<p>"Tut, my dear Egerton, I dare say +my Lord would not think so ill now +of that little act in your life which—"</p> + +<p>"Hold!" exclaimed Egerton, writhing. +"Hold!"</p> + +<p>He stopped, and paced the room, +muttering in broken sentences, "To +blush before this man! Chastisement, +chastisement!"</p> + +<p>Levy gazed on him with hard and +sinister eyes. The minister turned +abruptly.</p> + +<p>"Look you, Levy," said he, with +forced composure—"you hate me—why, +I know not. I have never injured +you—never avenged the inexpiable +wrong you did me."</p> + +<p>"Wrong!—you a man of the world! +Wrong! Call it so if you will, then," +he added shrinkingly, for Audley's +brow grew terrible. "But have I not +atoned it? Would you ever have +lived in this palace, and ruled this +country as one of the most influential +of its ministers, but for my management—my +whispers to the wealthy +Miss Leslie? Come, but for me what +would you have been—perhaps a +beggar?"</p> + +<p>"What shall I be now if I live? +<em>Then</em> I should not have been a beggar; +poor perhaps in money, but rich—rich +in all that now leaves my life +bankrupt. Gold has not thriven with +me; how should it? And this fortune—it +has passed for the main part into +your hands. Be patient, you will +have it all ere long. But there is one +man in the world who has loved me +from a boy, and woe to you if ever +he learn that he has the right to despise +me!"</p> + +<p>"Egerton, my good fellow," said +Levy, with great composure, "you +need not threaten me, for what interest +can I possibly have in tale-telling +to Lord L'Estrange? As to hating +you—pooh! You snub me in private, +you cut me in public, you refuse to +come to my dinners, you'll not ask +me to your own; still, there is no +man I like better, nor would more +willingly serve. When do you want +the £5000?"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps in one month, perhaps +not for three or four. Let it be ready +when required."</p> + +<p>"Enough; depend on it. Have +you any other commands?"</p> + +<p>"None."</p> + +<p>"I will take my leave, then. By +the by, what do you suppose the +Hazeldean rental is worth—net?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know, nor care. You +have no designs upon <em>that</em>, too?"</p> + +<p>"Well, I like keeping up family +connections. Mr Frank seems a liberal +young gentleman."</p> + +<p>Before Egerton could answer, the +Baron had glided to the door, and, +nodding pleasantly, vanished with +that nod.</p> + +<p>Egerton remained, standing on his +solitary hearth. A drear, single man's +room it was, from wall to wall, despite +its fretted ceilings and official pomp +of Bramah escritoires and red boxes. +Drear and cheerless—no trace of woman's +habitation—no vestige of intruding, +happy children. There stood the +austere man alone. And then with a +deep sigh he muttered, "Thank heaven, +not for long—it will not last long."</p> + +<p>Repeating those words, he mechanically +locked up his papers, and pressed +his hand to his heart for an instant, +as if a spasm had shot through it.</p> + +<p>"So—I must shun all emotion!" +said he, shaking his head gently.</p> + +<p>In five minutes more, Audley Egerton +was in the streets, his mien erect, +and his step firm as ever.</p> + +<p>"That man is made of bronze," +said a leader of the Opposition to a +friend as they rode past the minister. +"What would I give for his nerves!"</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_699" id="Page_699">[699]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>JOHNSTON'S NOTES ON NORTH AMERICA.</h2> + +<p><em>Notes on North America, Agricultural, Social, and Economical.</em> By <span class="smcap">James F. W. +Johnston</span>, M.A., F.R.SS.L. and E., &c. Two Vols. post 8vo. William Blackwood +& Sons.</p> + + +<p>Professor Johnston had three +objects in view in his visit to the New +World. His high reputation as an +agricultural chemist had induced the +Agricultural Society of New York to +request him to give a course of lectures +at Albany upon the connection of chemical +and geological science with that +of the cultivation of land. He had also +been commissioned by the Government +of New Brunswick to examine +and report on the agricultural capabilities +of that province. And besides +these public duties, he was impelled +by a strong desire to study the actual +position of the art of husbandry in the +fertile regions of the West, and the +influence which its progress is likely +to exert upon British agriculture.</p> + +<p>Our shrewd brother Jonathan, however +brilliant his achievements have +been in other arts, has not hitherto +earned any great reputation as a scientific +farmer. Nature has been so bountiful +to him, that, with "fresh fields +and pastures new" ever before him, +he has hitherto had no need to resort +to the toilsome processes and anxious +expedients—"<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">curis acuens mortalia +corda</i>"—of our Old World systems +of agriculture. On the newer lands +of the Union, at least, the rotations +followed, the waste of manures, and +the general contempt of all method +and economy, are such as would +break the heart of a Haddingtonshire +"grieve," and in a couple of seasons +convert his trim acres into a howling +wilderness. What would our respected +friend Mr Caird say to a course +of cropping like the following, which, +though given by Professor Johnston as +a specimen of New Brunswick farming, +is the usual method followed on +most of the new soils of North +America?—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"He cuts down the wood and burns +it, then takes a crop of potatoes, followed +by one of wheat, with grass seeds. +<em>Nine successive crops of hay follow in as +many years</em>; after which the stumps +are taken up, the land is ploughed, a +crop of wheat is taken; it is then +manured for the first time, or limed, +and laid down again for a similar succession +of crops of hay. This treatment +is hard enough; but the unskilful man, +after burning and spreading the ashes, +takes two or three more crops of grain, +leaves it to sow itself with grass, then +cuts hay as long as it bears a crop which +is worth cutting—after all which he +either stumps and ploughs it, or leaves +it to run again into the wilderness +state."—(<cite>Johnston</cite>, vol. i. p. 104.)</p></blockquote> + +<p>Such a system seems, at first sight, +to argue a barbarous ignorance of the +very first elements of agriculture; +and yet, as Professor Johnston +remarks, "we English farmers and +teachers of agricultural science, with +all our skill, should probably, in the +same circumstances, do just the +same, so long as land was plenty, +labour scarce and dear, and markets +few and distant." Let no one suppose +that our wide-awake kinsman +does not know perfectly well what +he is about. His apparently rude +agricultural practice is regulated by +a maxim which some of our <i>Mechists</i> +at home would do well to bear in +mind—that high farming is bad +farming if it is not remunerative. +He knows that to manure his land +would be to insure the lodging and +destruction of his crops, and he +therefore leaves his straw to wither +in the fields, and lives on in blessed +ignorance of the virtues and cost of +guano. To plough deep furrows in +a virgin soil, saturated with organic +matter, would be an idle waste of +labour; and the primitive Triptolemus +of Michigan scatters the seed +upon the surface—or, raising a little +mould on the point of a hoe, drops +in a few grains of maize, covers +them over, and heeds them no more +till the golden pyramids are ripe for +the knife. The first three crops, +thus easily obtained, generally repay +to the settler in the wilderness the +expense of felling the timber, burning, +and cultivating. If he then abandon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_700" id="Page_700">[700]</a></span> +it, he is at least no loser; but for +eight or ten years the soil will still +continue to produce crops of natural +hay; and then, having extracted +from it all that its spontaneous +fertility will yield, he sells his possession +for what it may bring, and +moves off westward to repeat the +same exhaustive process on a fresh +portion of the forest, leaving to his +successor the task of reinvigorating +the severely tested powers of the soil +by rest and restoratives.</p> + +<p>This locust-like progress of the +American settler—ever on the move +to new lands, and leaving comparative +barrenness in his track—must evidently +place the case of America +beyond the sphere of those ordinary +laws of political economy which are +applicable in European countries; and +Professor Johnston seems to consider +the fact of the incessant exhaustion +and abandonment of lands as the +chief key to a right understanding of +the peculiar economical position of +the United States. The owner of +land in the older and more populous +States, who has not learnt to apply +a restorative system of culture, +derives little benefit from the comparative +advantage of situation, while +the inhabitants of the towns and +villages around him are fed with the +surplus spontaneous produce of the +far off clearings in Ohio or Missouri. +But these in their turn become worn +out—and as cultivation travels on +westward, the chief centres of agricultural +production are gradually receding +farther and farther from the +chief centres of population and consumption; +and this increasing distance, +and consequent cost of transport, +is every year enhancing the price +of grain in the busy and crowded +marts of the West—ever filling up +with the incessant stream of immigration +from Europe. Such is Mr +Johnston's view of the present normal +condition of the Union in regard +to the sustenance of her people; and +he makes it the ground-work, as we +shall presently see, of certain rather +doubtful inferences, of some importance +in their bearing on the agriculture of +this country. One consequence, however, +of any material increase in the +price of food in the Eastern States of +the Union is very obvious—the proprietor +of land in these districts will +gradually be enabled to apply, with +profit to his exhausted soil, the artificial +aids and costlier system of culture +followed in Britain. Already this +result is apparent in Professor Johnston's +account of the energetic spirit +of agricultural improvement which is +rapidly spreading over most of the +New England States. In the keen, +restless, and enterprising New Englander, +our Old Country farmers will +undoubtedly find a more formidable +competitor, for the honour of the first +place in agricultural advancement, +than any they have yet met on this +side of the Atlantic. We have seen +this year what his invention can produce +in mechanical contrivances for +economising the labour of the field; +and, that he is not indifferent to the +aids which science can afford him, is +sufficiently proved by the occasion of +that visit to America of which Professor +Johnston has here given so pleasant +and instructive a record. The +invitation was not more creditable to +the character of the Professor, than to +the discernment of the zealous and +patriotic men who thus showed how +correctly they apprehend the true +method of improving their fine +country. His engagement was fulfilled +during the sitting of the State +Legislature at Albany in January +1850, when the hall of the Assembly +was given up to him as a lecture-room; +the leading members of the +Assembly and of the State Agricultural +Society were among his auditors, +and the greatest public interest was +evinced in the important subjects of +his prelections.</p> + +<p>It is apparent, from many passages +of the <em>Notes</em>, that the author has +listened too confidingly to the flattering +tale—the "<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">canor mulcendas natus +ad aures</i>" of the syren of Free Trade. +He seems to be gifted with a strong +natural faith, and a patriotic confidence +in what British enterprise, and +especially British agriculture, can +achieve in the way of surmounting +difficulties. It is not perhaps to be +wondered at that one, whose professional +pursuits naturally lead him to +place a high value upon the aids which +science has in store for the agriculturist, +should encourage the farmer +to think lightly of his present difficulties,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_701" id="Page_701">[701]</a></span> +and keep up his spirits with the +hope of some paulo-post-future prosperity. +It must be allowed that the +farmer, poor fellow, has not wanted +abundance of kind friends to comfort +him in his adversity. Generally, +however, their consolations—like +those of the sympathetic Mrs Gamp—have +been rather indefinite—vague +moralisings upon his calamity, as if +it were some inevitable stroke of Providence, +to be bowed to in silent +resignation, and hazy anticipations of +good luck awaiting him. Others, +again—who have professed the greatest +friendship for him, and, like the +Knight of Netherby, have come down +to hearten up the broken-down man +by imparting to him some plan of +theirs, as sheep-pasturage or the like, +for setting him on his legs again—are +mentally taking an inventory of +his remaining chattels, and calculating +when to send the sheriff's officer. +But Professor Johnston belongs to +neither of these classes of comforters. +His opinion, we know, is at least +disinterested, and he brings it before +us in the shape of a distinct proposition—viz., +that the wheat-exporting +capabilities of the United States are +not so great as have generally been +supposed, and that, as they must +diminish rather than increase in +future, the prospect of competition +with American produce need cause no +alarm to the British farmer.</p> + +<p>This opinion, coming from such +an authority, claims a deliberate +examination; and the more so that, +in the dearth of other gratulatory +topics, it has been eagerly laid hold +of by the <cite>Edinburgh Review</cite>, the +<cite>Economist</cite>, and other Free-Trade +organs, and vaunted as a complete +proof that protective duties are quite +unnecessary.</p> + +<p>The reasons which Professor Johnston +assigns for believing that the +<em>present</em> wheat-exporting powers of the +United States have been exaggerated, +may be passed over with very little +comment. The Board of Trade returns +leave no room for doubt as to +the quantity that has actually reached +this country, and it is therefore unnecessary +for us to follow him through +his hypothetical estimate of the exportable +grain, grounded on what +they <em>ought</em> to have had to spare for +us. We may remark, however, that +the data on which his calculations +proceed are far from satisfactory. He +shows that all the <em>wheat</em> produced in +the United States, as given in the +estimates of the Patent Office, is inadequate +to afford the eight bushels +which in England we reckon to be +requisite for the annual supply of +each inhabitant—the population of +the Union being about twenty-one +millions, and the produce of wheat one +hundred and twenty-seven millions +of bushels. He does not overlook +altogether the fact that wheat is +not in America, as it is with us, almost +the sole cereal food of the +people; and he admits that a considerable +allowance must be made +for the consumption of Indian corn +instead of wheat. But how much?—That +is the question. The compilers +of the State Papers at Washington +estimate that Indian corn, buckwheat, +and other grain, form so large a proportion +of the food of the people, that +they require only <em>three</em> bushels of +wheat per head; and no doubt they +have good grounds for this calculation. +Professor Johnston, however, without +indicating any reason whatever +for his assumption, has set down the +consumption of each individual at <em>five</em> +bushels per annum; and thus, by a +stroke of his pen, he reduces the average +exportable surplus of the Union +to <em>only</em> three millions of quarters.</p> + +<p>As to what may be expected in future—Professor +Johnston anticipates +the gradual diminution of the supply, +from the circumstance, already adverted +to, of the progressive exhaustion +of the newer lands of the Union, +and the rapid increase of population +in the old. If several of the Western +States, he argues, have even already +ceased to raise enough wheat for the +supply of their present inhabitants, +and are compelled to draw largely on +the produce of the remote States of +Illinois, Ohio, &c.—and if the productive +power of these new lands is +annually becoming less, the virgin +soils more distant, and the transport +of subsistence more difficult—if this +is the state of matters now, what +will it be in 1860, when immigration +and natural increase will probably +have raised the population of the +Union to some thirty-four millions?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_702" id="Page_702">[702]</a></span> +"It is very safe," he concludes, "to +say that in 1860 their wheat-exporting +capability will have become so +small as to give our British farmers +very little cause for apprehension." It +may perchance occur to these gentlemen, +that the consolation Professor +Johnston here offers them is not very +cheering after all; and as long as +they see the provision stores in every +market town piled up with the interloping +flour barrels of New York, +and their own waggons returning +home with their loads unsold, it is +not to be wondered at if they are +not greatly exhilarated with the +prospect of what may possibly happen +nine years hence. And slender +as is the hope deferred here held out +to them, it rests, we fear, on very +questionable grounds.</p> + +<p>Professor Johnston's opinion is +founded on two suppositions: 1st, +That the exhaustion of the Western +States, on which he dwells so much, is +proceeding so rapidly as already to +affect the markets of the eastern districts; +2d, That these older districts +will be unable to increase the quantity +of produce raised within their own +boundaries, without so adding to its +cost as to prevent its being profitably +exported.</p> + +<p>As to the first supposition, it may +be conceded that, in the course of +time, a period must necessarily come +when the spontaneous fertility of the +newer-settled States will cease to +yield grain with the same bountiful +abundance it has done hitherto. But, +when may that period be expected +to arrive?—to what extent has exhaustion +already taken place?—and +what is the rate of its progress? For +a reply, we have only to point to +that vast territory, bounded by the +lakes on the north and Ohio on the +south, comprising the five States of +Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and +Wisconsin—a territory eight times +the size of England and Wales, with +a population about equal to that +of Scotland, containing 180,000,000 +acres of arable land, a large portion +of which is of surprising fertility—and +ask whether it is possible to +believe that it has already reached +the turning point of its wheat-productiveness,<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> +or can by any possibility +do so for centuries to come? +Why, the extent of land advertised +in these five States for sale, (which +forms only a fraction of what still +remains in the hands of government,) +is greater by a fourth than the whole +area of England; and of the territory +that has been actually sold, it is +estimated that five-sevenths is still +unreclaimed from the wilderness. +Then look at the means of transport +provided for conveying the overflowing +abundance of those rich +alluvial regions to the markets of the +East, by way of the two great outlets—the +lakes on the north, and the +Mississippi on the south. The cost of +such transport is no doubt considerable; +the conveyance of a quarter of +wheat from the centre of Illinois to +Boston, by New Orleans, averages +about 16s. 6d. But, nevertheless, so +trifling is the original cost of production, +that immense quantities of corn +do annually reach the eastern seaboard +by this route, a considerable +portion of which is re-shipped to +Liverpool, and sold there at prices +greatly below its cost of production +in this country. The annexed table<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> +shows the remarkable fact, that, of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_703" id="Page_703">[703]</a></span> +the whole quantity of grain exported +from the United States in the five +years 1842-6, twelve-thirteenths of +the wheat, about one-half of the +flour, and a large proportion of the +Indian corn, came from the two ports +of New York and Philadelphia alone. +Now, as we know that these large +supplies were not grown within the +confines of the Eastern States, and +<em>must</em> have been brought from the +westward, the inference is obvious +that the two causes insisted on by +Professor Johnston—the distance of +the virgin soils, and the expense of +transport—are as yet inoperative; or +at least that they have not prevented +the transmission of grain to the east +in such vast quantities, as not only +to meet the wants of all the population +of that part of the Union, but to +afford an average surplus for exportation +to other countries equivalent to +the annual maintenance of a million +and a half of men. We need only +mention one other fact, which seems +in itself a sufficient refutation of the +theory Professor Johnston has taken +up. The causes which he thinks are +so soon to dry up the supplies now derived +from the West are of no recent +or sudden emergence. The process +of exhaustion on the new lands, and +the rapid population of the old, has +been going on for many years. If, +then, these causes are so influential +as he imagines, their effects should at +least be apparent in a gradual increase +of the prices of bread-stuffs in +the Eastern States. Now, no such +effect is to be found. On the contrary, +we find that, during the last +twenty years, the price of wheat, as +well as of maize, in the chief marts +of the east, has been <em>steadily diminishing, +instead of increasing</em>. We extract +from the returns published by +the Board of Trade the annexed +comparison<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> of the prices of wheat +flour at New York, during two periods, +from which it appears that, in +the very State where the results of +Professor Johnston's hypothesis ought +to have been most manifest, the experience +of twenty years shows a reduction +of price instead of an enhancement, +notwithstanding that the latter +period in the comparison embraces +the years of the potato failure. An +examination of similar returns from +Baltimore and New Orleans establishes +the same fact, namely, that +the tendency of prices for twenty +years past is <em>not upwards, but downwards</em>—a +fact quite irreconcilable +with the supposed rapid exhaustion +of the wheat soils of the interior.</p> + +<p>It is much to be regretted that Professor +Johnston was unable to extend +his tour to these granary States of the +West. It would have been satisfactory +to have had from him an estimate +of their capabilities founded on +actual survey and personal observation, +instead of indirect inference. +We are quite ready to admit, that +many of the accounts of those regions +which have reached us, drawn up to +suit the purposes of speculators in +land, are of very dubious authenticity, +and, like the stage-coach in which +Mr Dickens travelled to Buffalo, have +"a pretty loud smell of varnish." +But, on the other hand, we cannot +discredit the official data supplied by +the State papers—without at least +stronger grounds than those inferences +from general geological structure +which Professor Johnston has adduced +to disprove the alleged fertility of the +State of Michigan. There can, of +course, be no more valuable criterion +of the natural agricultural value of a +country than is afforded by its geology—provided +the survey be sufficiently +extensive and accurate. But<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_704" id="Page_704">[704]</a></span> +it is difficult to follow those enthusiasts +in the science, whom we occasionally +find drawing the most startling +deductions from very narrow +data—and prophesying the future +history of the territory, and even the +character of its inhabitants, from a +glance at the bowels of the earth, as +the Roman augur foretold the fate +of empires from the entrails of his +chickens.</p> + +<p>We find, for example, a writer of +high standing in America accounting +for a remarkable diminution in the +amount of <em>bastardy</em> in Pennsylvania, +some thirty years ago, by the fact—that +the settlers at that time <em>had got +off the cold clays and on to the limestone</em>! +A Scottish geologist, with +more apparent reason perhaps, has +founded an argument for an extensive +emigration of the Highlanders on the +prevalence of the primitive rocks in +the north and west of Scotland. It +is only from a complete and systematic +survey that we can venture to +predicate anything with certainty of +the future agricultural powers of a +country; and, in the absence of such +trustworthy data, we must be content +to estimate the future wheat-productiveness +of Michigan, as well as +of the other States we have named +along with it, from what we know of +their present fertility, and of the vast +extent that is still uncleared.</p> + +<p>As to New York and the other old-settled +States of the Union, which we +are told do not now produce enough +for their own consumption, are we to +take it for granted that they are always +to continue stationary, and to +make no effort to keep pace with the +growing demands of an increasing +population? Professor Johnston, we +observe in one passage, has qualified +his opinion as to the prospective dearth +of grain by this curious condition—"<em>Provided +no change takes place in +their agricultural system.</em>" But what +shadow of a reason can be given for +supposing it will not take place? The +area of New York State is only one-twelfth +less than that of England, and +is, at least, no way inferior as to climate +or quality of soil. As far as +material means go, it is quite capable +of maintaining, under an improved +culture, at least four times its present +population of three millions. +The only question is as to the will +and ability of her people to develop +these means; and on this point Professor +Johnston's own work is full +of multiplied proofs of the zealous +and intelligent spirit of improvement +which is extending rapidly all over +the North-Eastern States. We find +the central government of the Confederation +occupied in organising the +plan of an Agricultural Bureau on a +scale worthy of a great and enlightened +nation—a work that contrasts +in a very marked way with the +studious neglect which such subjects +meet with from the government of +this country.<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> We find the several +State legislatures anxiously encouraging +every species of improvement—that +of New York, in particular, +devoting large grants to the +support of exhibitions; preparing to +found an Agricultural College; distributing +widely and gratuitously the +annual public reports on the state +of agriculture; and, finally, sending +to Europe for a celebrated chemist +to assist in maturing their plans, and +sitting—senators and great officers of +state—at the feet of a British Gamaliel, +laying down the law to them on +the true principles of the all-important +science of agriculture. Nor are +the owners of the land asleep. It is +a strong indication of their growing +desire for information, that seven or +eight agricultural periodicals are published +in the State of New York alone. +Professor Johnston found no less than +fifty copies of such papers taken regularly +in a small town in Connecticut +of some two thousand inhabitants; +and he had occasion to observe, in +his intercourse with the farmers of +New York, their general acquaintance +with the geology of their country, and +its relation to the management of +their lands. Their implement-makers, +who had already taught us the use +of the horse-rake, the cradle-scythe, +and the improved churn, have +recently outstripped us by the invention, +or at least the great improvement, +of the reaping-machine, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_705" id="Page_705">[705]</a></span> +advantages of which are so appreciated +in the country of its origin +that at Chicago 1500 of M'Cormick's +machines were ordered in one year. +In short, the proverbial energy, perseverance, +and sagacity that distinguish +our Yankee friends, seem now +to be all directed towards effecting a +change of system in the management +of land; and the true question is, not +whether the hitherto laggard progress +of American agriculture is to be quickened +in future, but whether we shall +be able to keep pace with it.</p> + +<p>But then Professor Johnston tells +us that improvement is expensive, and +that every process for reviving the +dormant powers of the soil, and preserving +their activity, must necessarily +be attended with an addition to the +price of the produce, which will thus +prevent its coming into competition +with that of England. This view rests +upon a fallacy, which we are sure the +author must have drawn from his reading +in political economy, and not from +his experience as an agriculturist. It is +an off-shoot from the rent-theory, (the +pestilent root of so much error and +confusion,) which, however, we shall +not notice at present, further than by +affirming, in direct contradiction to it, +that improvements do <em>not</em> necessarily, +nor generally, involve an increase of +price. Even those which require the +greatest outlay—even a complete system +of arterial drainage all over the +State of New York, instead of adding +to the cost of wheat, may very probably +reduce it, as it has certainly done +in this country. But most of the improvements +readily available in the +Eastern States involve scarcely any +expenditure at all. The most obvious +and effectual is to save and apply +the manure, which is now wasted or +thrown away; and when that proves +insufficient, abundant supplies of +mineral manures are easily procurable. +On the exhausted wheat-lands +of Virginia, a single dressing of lime +or marl generally doubles the first +crop. Deposits of gypsum, and of +the valuable mineral phosphate of +lime, seem to be abundant both in +New York and New Jersey. Again, +in the former State, where the common +practice is to plough to a depth +of <em>not more than four inches</em>, the simple +expedient of putting in the plough +a few inches deeper would of itself +add one-half to the return of wheat +over a very large district.</p> + +<p>On the whole, so far from seeing any +reason to anticipate, with Professor +Johnston, a material reduction in the +quantity of our wheat imports from +the States, we look rather to see it +increased; and, at all events, we have +no hesitation in saying, that to encourage +our English farmers to expect +a cessation of competition from that +quarter is to deceive them with very +groundless hopes.</p> + +<p>We have already dwelt at considerable +length on this topic, both because +of the prominent place it occupies +in Professor Johnston's volumes, and +of the notice which his speculations +upon it have attracted in this country.</p> + +<p>It has been mentioned that a large +proportion—probably not less than +one-half—of the cereal food consumed +in the States consists of maize and +buckwheat. Mr Johnston always +alludes to this fact, as if the use of +these grains were a matter of compulsion—as +if the Americans resorted +to them from being unable to afford +wheaten bread. Now, according to +the information we have from other +sources, the truth is just the reverse +of this. We are told that in the +Eastern and Central States, as well +as on the West frontier and among +the slave population, the various preparations +of Indian corn are becoming +more relished every year; and +that the extension of its cultivation +is to be attributed, not to the failure +of the wheat crops, but to a growing +preference for it as an article of food. +In a less degree the use both of oats +and buckwheat seems to be spreading +in the States, as well as in our +own colonies of New Brunswick and +Canada East; and one can scarcely +wonder at the taste for the latter +grain, after reading the appetising +descriptions our author gives of the +crisp hot cakes, with their savoury +adjuncts of maple-honey, which so +often formed his breakfast during his +wanderings. The general use of these +three kinds of grain—maize, oats, and +buckwheat—has somehow come to be +considered by political economists as +indicative of a low degree of social +advancement. And yet we know that, +in the countries suited to their growth,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_706" id="Page_706">[706]</a></span> +a given area of ground cultivated with +any of them will return a greater +quantity of nutritious food, at a smaller +expense and with less risk of failure, +than if it were cropped with wheat. +We are told that the great objection to +them is, that their culture <em>is too easy</em>. +Professor Johnston touches upon this +notion in some remarks he makes on +the disadvantage of buckwheat as a +staple article of food. The objections +to it, he tells us, consist in the ease +with which it can be raised, the rapidity +of its growth, and the small quantity +of seed it requires: it induces, he says, +like the potato, an indolent, slovenly, +and exhausting culture; and "it is +the prelude of evil, when a kind of +food that requires little exertion to +obtain it becomes the staple support +of a people."<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> It may be noticed in +passing, that, in point of fact, the +results alleged are at least not universal; +for, in regard to this very +grain, we find its cultivation prevalent +in some of the best-managed districts +of the hard-working, provident, +and intelligent Belgians. But taking +the axiom as it stands, we cannot +help suspecting that there is some +fallacy lurking at the bottom of it. +Misled by what we have observed of +the Irishman and his potato diet, we +have confounded the <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">cum hoc</i> with +the <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">propter hoc</i>, and come to regard +an easily-raised food as <em>the cause</em> of +that indolence of which it is only the +frequent indication. It were otherwise +a most inexplicable contrariety +between the physical and the moral +laws which govern this world, that +in every country there should be a +penalty of social wretchedness and +degradation attached to the use of +that particular food which its climate +and soil are best suited to produce. +Can it be supposed that the blessings +of nature are only a moral snare for +us, and that, while she has given to +the American the maize plant—oats +to the Scotch Highlander—rice to +the Hindoo—the banana to the inhabitant +of Brazil—a regard for their +social well-being requires each of +them to renounce these gifts, and to +spend their labour in extorting from +the unwilling soil some less congenial +kind of subsistence? Virgil has +warned the husbandman—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i12">"Pater ipse colendi<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Haud facilem esse viam voluit."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noind">But it were surely a dire aggravation +of the difficulties of his task if his +most plentiful harvest were also the +most injurious to his advancement +and true happiness. We cannot +now, however, examine the grounds +of a doctrine so paradoxical, and +have adverted to it only to remark +that it seems destined to meet with a +most direct practical refutation in +North America, where we find the +habitual use of what we choose to +consider the coarser grains associated +with the highest intelligence and the +most rapid development of social +progress. There can be no doubt +that the nature of the food generally +used in any nation must exert an important +influence on its prosperity; +but it is difficult to understand how +that prosperity should be promoted +by the universal use of that variety +which costs most labour. At all +events, it is certainly a subject of +very interesting inquiry, in reference +to the increasing consumption among +ourselves of wheat—the dearest and +most precarious species of grain, +much of it imported from other countries—and +its gradual abandonment +in North America, what effect these +opposite courses may have on the +future destinies of the two great +branches of the Anglo-Saxon race.</p> + +<p>Leaving this as a problem for political +economists, let us now follow +him in his visit to the British side +of the St Lawrence. His brief three +weeks' survey of the Canadas did +not, of course, enable him to form +any very intimate acquaintance with +the condition of these provinces; +and he prudently abstains from pronouncing +any judgment upon the +vexed topics of Canadian politics. +His presence at the great exhibition, +at Kingston, of the Agricultural Society +of Upper Canada, gave him a +good opportunity of estimating the +progress that has been made in practical +agriculture. The stock, as well +as the implements, there brought<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_707" id="Page_707">[707]</a></span> +forward in competition for the various +premiums, amounting in all to £1000, +gave most satisfactory indications of +improvement; while the large attendance, +and the interest taken in the +proceedings, sufficiently showed that +the inhabitants of the Upper Province +are now awake to the necessity of +agricultural improvement as the main +source of their future prosperity. In +a country where eighty per cent of +the whole population are directly engaged +in the cultivation of the soil, +the land interest is, or ought to be, +predominant. But the bitter animosity +of political parties, and the abortive +attempts of government to soothe +and reconcile them, have hitherto +stood much in the way of any combined +effort towards the encouragement +of improved cultivation. The +art of husbandry is not likely to thrive +in a country where every man is bent +on proving himself a Cincinnatus. +Of late, however, public spirit has +shown symptoms of taking a more +wholesome direction; and, notwithstanding +occasional ministerial crises +and political explosions, which we on +this side the water are sometimes +puzzled to understand, all parties in +the province seem now fully aware +that the development of the vast +resources of their fertile soil is the +only road to permanent prosperity. +The encouragement of local competitions, +the provision for systematic instruction +in agriculture in the colleges—which +Professor Johnston tells us is +in progress—and the introduction of +elementary lessons in the art as a regular +branch of common school learning, +are all steps in the right direction. +It is precisely in such a community as +that of Canada that the last-mentioned +kind of instruction is really of +essential benefit. From the last +census of Upper Canada, it appears +that there are sixty thousand owners +of land in the province, and only ten +thousand labourers without land. +The great majority of the boys in +the ordinary schools will become proprietors, +and, at the same time, cultivators; +and, in such circumstances, +it is of the utmost importance that +the youth should acquire betimes a +competent knowledge of the principles +on which his future practice is, +or ought to be, founded—such knowledge +as will, at least, enable him to, +shake off the traditional prejudices +and slovenly habits which his father +may have imported with him from +Harris or the County Kerry.</p> + +<p>The querulous and depreciatory +tone which our Canadian fellow-subjects +are apt to employ in speaking of +their country, and its prospects, is +remarked by Professor Johnston as +contrasting oddly with the unqualified +adulation of everything—from +the national constitution to the navy +button—which one constantly hears +from his republican neighbour. One +consequence of this habit is, the +existence of a prevalent but very +mistaken notion that, in the march of +social advancement, Canada has been +completely distanced by the United +States. Professor Johnston has been +at some pains to demonstrate, and we +think most successfully, that this impression +is entirely erroneous. Indeed, +if we only recollect the history +of Canada for the last fifteen years—the +disunion of her own people, and +the reckless commercial experiments +to which she has been subjected by +the home government, the rapid strides +in improvement—of the Upper Province +especially—are almost marvellous. +As a corroboration of what Professor +Johnston has said on the subject, +we have thrown together in the +subjoined table, collected from the +Government returns, some of the +most striking and decisive evidences +of the recent progress of Upper +Canada. In certain particulars, no +doubt, she is outstripped by some of +those districts of the States to which +from time to time extraordinary +migrations of their unsettled and +nomadic population have been directed. +But putting such exceptional +cases out of view, the inhabitants of +Canada need fear no comparison +with the Union in all the chief elements +of national advancement.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_708" id="Page_708">[708]</a></span></p> + + +<p class="center">PROGRESS OF UPPER CANADA,—1837-47.</p> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="upper"> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"> </td><td align="right">Increase</td><td align="right"> </td><td align="right">Increase</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="right">1837.</td><td align="right">1842.</td><td align="center">per cent.</td><td align="right">1847.</td><td align="center">per cent.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align="left" colspan="5">———————————————————————————</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Population,</td><td align="right">396,721</td><td align="right">486,055</td><td align="right">22</td><td align="right">723,332</td><td align="right">48</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Number of cultivated acres assessed for local taxes,</td><td align="right">4,736,268</td><td align="right">5,548,357</td><td align="right">17</td><td align="right">6,477,338</td><td align="right">16</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Number of houses assessed for ditto,</td><td align="right">22,057</td><td align="right">31,638</td><td align="right">43</td><td align="right">42,937</td><td align="right">35</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Value of property assessed,</td><td align="right">£4,431,098</td><td align="right">£6,913,341</td><td align="right">56</td><td align="right">£8,567,001</td><td align="right">23</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Number of carriages kept for pleasure,</td><td align="right">1,627</td><td align="right">2,188</td><td align="right">34</td><td align="right">4,685</td><td align="right">114</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Number of elementary schools,</td><td align="right">—</td><td align="right">927</td><td align="right">—</td><td align="right">2,464</td><td align="right">165</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Number of scholars in ditto,</td><td align="right">—</td><td align="right">29,961</td><td align="right">—</td><td align="right">80,461</td><td align="right">170</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Number of cattle,</td><td align="right">—</td><td align="right">504,963</td><td align="right">—</td><td align="right">565,848</td><td align="right">12</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Number of horses,</td><td align="right">—</td><td align="right">113,675</td><td align="right">—</td><td align="right">151,389</td><td align="right">33</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Number of sheep,</td><td align="right">—</td><td align="right">575,730</td><td align="right">—</td><td align="right">833,869</td><td align="right">45</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>In looking at the great sources of +wealth possessed by these provinces, +our attention is at once arrested by +the growing importance of the St +Lawrence as an outlet to the produce, +not only of the Canadas, but of a vast +area of the States territory. With +the exception, perhaps, of the Mississippi, +no river in the world opens up +so grand a highway for the industry +of man as the St Lawrence, with the +chain of vast lakes and innumerable +rivers that unite with it in the two +thousand miles of its majestic progress +to the ocean. Never was there an +enterprise more worthy of a great +nation than that of surmounting the +obstacles to its navigation, and completing +the channels of connection +with its tributary waters; and nobly +have the people of Canada executed +it. Taking into account the infancy +of their country, and the amount of its +population and revenue, it is not too +much to say, with Mr Johnston, that +their exertions to secure water-communication +have been greater than +those of any part of the Union, or +any country of Europe. The improvements +on the St Lawrence itself, +and the canals connected with it, +have already cost the colony two millions +and a quarter sterling, in addition +to the expenditure of £800,000 +by the home government on the construction +of the Rideau Canal. The +results of this liberal but judicious +outlay are already showing themselves, +not only by the rapidly-increasing +Canadian traffic on the St Lawrence, +but by its drawing into it, year after +year, a larger share of the commerce +of the States. That the influx of +trade from the south must ere long +vastly exceed its present amount, is +evident from a consideration of the +gigantic projects already completed, +or in course of construction, for effecting +an access between the lakes and +the fertile regions of Ohio, Indiana, +and Illinois, &c., already spoken of, +and thus saving the longer and costlier +transit by the Mississippi. One +of the Reports of the State of New +York thus speaks of them:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"Three great canals, (one of them +longer than the Erie Canal,) embracing +in their aggregate length about one thousand +miles, are to connect the Ohio with +Lake Erie; while another deep and capacious +channel, excavated for nearly thirty +miles through solid rock, unites Lake +Michigan with the navigable waters of +the Illinois. In addition to these broad +avenues of trade, they are constructing +lines of railroads not less than fifteen +hundred miles in extent, in order to reach +with more case and speed the lakes +through which they seek a conveyance to +the seaboard. The circumstance, moreover, +is particularly important, that the +public works of each of these great communities +are arranged on a harmonious +plan, each having a main line, supported +and enriched by lateral and tributary<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_709" id="Page_709">[709]</a></span> +branches, thereby bringing the industry +of their people into prompt and profitable +action; while the systems themselves are +again united, on a grander scale, with +Lake Erie as its common centre."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The various streams of the trade +from the interior being thus collected +in the lakes—which form, as it were, +the heart of the system—there are +two great channels for its redistribution +and dispersion through the markets +of the world. These are the St +Lawrence, and the Erie Canal with +the Hudson; and the vital question +as regards the prosperity of Canada +is, by which of these outlets will the +concentrated traffic of the lakes find +its way to the ocean? Mr Johnston +has devoted considerable attention to +this subject, and assigns two good +reasons for believing that the St +Lawrence is destined immensely to +increase the share which it has already +secured. In the first place, the +American artery is already surcharged +and choked up;—notwithstanding +all the efforts that have +been made to expedite the traffic on +the Erie Canal, it has been found +wholly inadequate to accommodate +the immense trade pouring in from +the west; and, secondly, the route +of the St Lawrence, besides being +the more expeditious, is now found +to be the cheaper one. In a document +issued by the Executive Council +of Upper Canada, it is mentioned +that the Great Ohio Railway Company, +having occasion to import about +11,000 tons of railway iron from +England, made special inquiries as to +the relative cost of transport by the +St Lawrence and New York routes, +the result of which was the preference +of the former, the saving on the inland +transport alone being 11,000 +dollars. There seems good reason to +expect that a considerable portion of +the Mississippi trade may be diverted +into the Canadian channel; but putting +this out of view altogether, it is +certain that the navigation of this +glorious river is every year becoming +of greater importance to the United +States, as well as to Britain: let us +hope that it is destined ever to bear +on its broad breast the blessings of +peace and mutual prosperity to both +nations.</p> + +<p>After a rapid glance at Lower +Canada, Professor Johnston crossed +the St Lawrence, in order to complete +the survey of New Brunswick, which, +before leaving England, he had been +commissioned to make for the Government +of the colony. We have had +no opportunity of seeing the official +Report, in which he has published +the detailed results of his observations; +but the valuable information +collected in these volumes has strongly +confirmed our previous impression, +that the resources and importance of +this fine colony have never yet been +sufficiently appreciated at home. +With an area as nearly as possible +equal to that of Scotland, it possesses +a much larger surface available for +agriculture. The climate is healthy +and invigorating; it is traversed by +numerous navigable rivers; its rocks +contain considerable mineral wealth; +and the fisheries on its coasts are inexhaustible. +Imperfectly developed +as its resources are, the trade from +the two ports of St John's and St +Andrew's alone, exceeds that of the +whole of the three adjoining States of +the Union—Maine, Vermont, and +New Hampshire—although its inhabitants +do not number one-sixth of the +population of these States. As to the +fertility of the soil, Professor Johnston, +by a comparison of authentic returns, +shows that the productive power of +the land already cultivated in the +province considerably exceeds the +averages of New York, of Ohio, and +of Upper Canada—countries which +have hitherto been considered more +favoured both in soil and climate. +By classifying the soils in the several +districts, he has estimated that the +available land, after deducting a reserve +for fuel, is capable of maintaining in +abundance a population of 4,200,000; +while its present number little exceeds +200,000. In all the course of his +travels, he met with but a few +rare instances in which the agricultural +settlers did not express their +contentment with their circumstances; +and although it seems still questionable +whether farming on a large +scale, by the employment of hired +labour, can be made remunerative, +the universal opinion of the experienced +persons he consulted testified +that, with ordinary prudence and industry, +the poorest settler, who confines<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_710" id="Page_710">[710]</a></span> +his attention to the clearing and cultivation +of land, is sure of attaining a +comfortable independence.</p> + +<p>The question naturally occurs—How +is it that, with all these natural +advantages and encouragements to colonisation, +and with its proximity to +our shores, so very small a proportion—not +more than one in sixty or seventy +of the emigrants from Great Britain—make +New Brunswick their destination? +Professor Johnston, while he +maintains that, taking population into +account, New Brunswick is in this +respect no worse off than Canada, +adverts to several causes of a special +nature which may have retarded its +settlement. But the truth is, that +the question above started leads us +directly to another of far greater compass +and importance—What is the +reason that all our colonies taken +together absorb so small a proportion +of our emigrants compared with the +United States? What is the nature +of the inducements that annually +impel so large a number of our countrymen +to forfeit the character of British +subjects, and prefer a domicile +among those who are aliens in laws, +interests, and system of government?</p> + +<p>We hardly know how to venture +upon anything connected with the +ominous subject of emigration, at a +moment when the crowds leaving our +shores, at the rate of nearly a thousand +every day, are such as to startle +the most apathetic observer, and +shake the faith of the most dogmatic +economist in the truth of his speculations. +This is not the place to inquire +what strangely compulsive cause +it may be that has all at once swelled +the ordinary stream of emigration +into a headlong torrent.<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> Mayhap it +is neither distant, nor doubtful, nor +unforetold. But whatever it may be, +there stands the fact—which we can +neither undo, nor, for aught that can +be seen at present, prevent its annual +recurrence in future, or say how and +when the waves are to be stayed. +"When the Exe runs up the streets +of Tiverton," says a certain noble +prophet—whose vaticinations, however, +have not been very felicitous +hitherto—"then, and not till then, +may we expect to see the reversal of +the free-import system;" and then, +and not till then, we take leave to +add, may we hope to see the ebbing +of that tide of British capital and +British strength which is now flowing +strongly and steadily into the bay +of New York.</p> + + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Proportion of British Emigration to the Colonies and to the United States, +1846-50 inclusive.</span></p> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="emigration"> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"> </td><td align="right"> </td><td align="right"> </td><td align="right"> </td><td align="right"> </td><td align="center">Quarter</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Destination.</td><td align="right">1846.</td><td align="right">1847.</td><td align="right">1848.</td><td align="right">1849.</td><td align="right">1850.</td><td align="center">ending Sept</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"> </td><td align="right"> </td><td align="right"> </td><td align="right"> </td><td align="right"> </td><td align="right"><span class="bb">30, 1851.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">United States</td><td align="right">45.1</td><td align="right">31.8</td><td align="right">57.3</td><td align="right">73.3</td><td align="right">79.4</td><td align="right">80.5</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">British America</td><td align="right">33.4</td><td align="right">42.5</td><td align="right">12.5</td><td align="right">13.9</td><td align="right">11.7</td><td align="right">10.8</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">All other places</td><td align="right">21.5</td><td align="right">25.7</td><td align="right">30.2</td><td align="right">12.8</td><td align="right">8.9</td><td align="right">8.7</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">Total</td><td align="right"><span class="bt">100.</span></td><td align="right"><span class="bt">100.</span></td><td align="right"><span class="bt">100.</span></td><td align="right"><span class="bt">100.</span></td><td align="right"><span class="bt">100.</span></td><td align="right"><span class="bt">100.</span></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>The accompanying abstract, from +the returns of the Emigration Commissioners, +exhibits two most remarkable +results:—1st, The proportion of +emigration to British America and +other destinations is gradually falling +off; 2d, That to the United States is +steadily and rapidly increasing, so +that they now receive four out of +every five emigrants who leave our +shores. Is this distribution to be +regarded as a matter of indifference +in a political point of view? Are we +to understand that it is no concern to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_711" id="Page_711">[711]</a></span> +us who remain behind, whether the +labour and capital of those who leave +us shall go to fill up the vacuum of +our own colonial empire, or to carry +new accessions of wealth and power +to those in whose prosperity (to put +the matter mildly) we have only a +secondary interest? This question +the consistent Free-Trader is bound +to answer unhesitatingly in the affirmative. +In his cosmopolitan philosophy, +the interests of one country +are no more to be considered than +those of any other. The theory of +absolute freedom of exchange expunges +altogether the idea of nationalism, +and regards man, not as a +member of this or that community, +but as the denizen of a great universal +republic. Local and historical +associations—ties of kindred and of +birth—are only so many obstructions +in the way of human progress; and +an Englishman is nothing more than +the subject of certain animal wants +and instincts, the gratification of +which he must be left to seek wherever +he finds the materials most +abundant. Such is Free Trade in its +true scope and ultimate tendency. +What shall be said, then, of the consistency +or sincerity of those pseudo-apostles +of the doctrine, who, having +been the most active in promoting +that nibbling and piecemeal legislation +which they choose to call freedom +of trade—who have been loudest +in proclaiming a universal commercial +fraternity, and in denouncing +colonies as a wasteful encumbrance—are +now the first to take alarm at the +natural and inevitable result of their +own measures, and to call out for a +better regulation of emigration; in +other words, for legislative interference +with the free action of those +of our countrymen who, being thrust +out of employment in the land of their +birth, are so literally following out +the great maxim of buying in the +cheapest market and selling in the +dearest?</p> + +<p>The text is a tempting one, but we +must refrain from wandering further +from the subject with which we started—namely, +the inducements which lead so many +of our emigrants to +select the United States as their +future home. One of the prevalent +causes has been very well stated by +Professor Johnston—that which we +may call the capillary attraction of +former emigration:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"A letter from a connection or acquaintance +determines the choice of a +place to go to, and, without further inquiry, +the emigrant starts. Thus for a +while, emigration to a given point, once +begun, goes on progressively by a sort of +innate force. Those who go before urge +those who follow by hasty and inaccurate +representations; so that, the more +numerous the settlers from a particular +district, the more numerous also the invitations +for others to follow, till the +fever of emigration subsides. In other +words, in proportion as the home-born +settlers in one of these countries increases, +will the number of home-born emigrants +to that country increase—<em>but for a time +only, if the place have real disadvantages</em>."—(Vol. +ii, p. 204.)</p></blockquote> + +<p>It is vain to shut our eyes to the +fact that the government of the +United States offers to the emigrant +many real, substantial, and peculiar +advantages. The first and most important +aid that can be given to the +intending settler is a complete and +accurate survey of the country; and +this has been accomplished by the +States government at great expense, +but in so perfect a manner that a +purchaser has no difficulty in at once +pointing out, on the official plan, any +lot he may have selected in the most +remote corner of the wilderness. The +next point of importance to him is +simplicity of conveyance and security +of title; and so effectual and satisfactory +is the American system that +litigation in original land-titles is +almost unknown. Then as to the +weighty consideration of price—which +perhaps ought to have been +first mentioned—the uniform and +very low rate in the States of 5s. 3d. +an acre saves infinite trouble, disputation, +and jealousy. Such are some +of the temptations held out to the +intending purchaser of land; and it +must be confessed that, in each particular, +they present a striking contrast +to the difficulties he has to meet in +some of the British colonies—the +arbitrary changes of system, the +vexatious delays, and the comparatively +exorbitant charges—which +must appear to the settler as if they +had been contrived on purpose to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_712" id="Page_712">[712]</a></span> +discourage him. When we add to +these the prospects of ready employment +in the States held out to other +classes of emigrants, and the stringent +laws lately made for their protection, +both on the passage and on +their arrival, we cannot be at a loss +to see that the direction which emigration +has lately taken is not the +result of chance or caprice, but of a +deliberate comparison of advantages, +which the most ignorant can easily +understand and appreciate.</p> + +<p>The main object of Professor Johnston's +visit being of a scientific character, +his remarks on the general topics of +manners and politics occur only incidentally; +but it is impossible for any +traveller to keep clear of such subjects +in writing of a country, the +peculiarities of which are pressed +upon his notice at every hour of the +day, and at every corner of the +street. Rabelais tells us of a certain +island, explored by the mighty Pantagruel, +whose inhabitants lived wholly +upon <em>wind</em>—that is, being interpreted, +on flattery; and the visitor of the +States who finds himself, as it were, +pinned to the wall, and compelled to +yield up his admiration at discretion, +may be sometimes tempted to believe +that he has made a similar discovery, +and that the flatulent diet of +compliment is somehow congenial to an +American appetite. Professor Johnston +seems to have had his candour or +his eulogistic powers sometimes severely +tested, if we may guess from his +quiet hint, that "it is unpleasant to +a stranger to be always called on to +admire and praise what he sees in a +foreign country; and it is a part of +the perversity of human nature to +withhold, upon urgent request, what, +if unasked, would have been freely +and spontaneously given." He is of +course prepared for the reception +which any work, aiming at mere +impartiality, is sure to meet with +among Transatlantic critics; and it +will, therefore, not surprise him to +find that the above peccant sentence +has been already pounced upon by +them as proving <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">malice prepense</i>, and +as affording a significant key to all +his observations on the institutions +of the States.</p> + +<p>The following extract explains the +origin of two of those euphonious +party designations in which our +neighbours delight, and which may +perchance have puzzled some of our +readers:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"In England, to be a <em>democrat</em> still +implies a position at the very front of +the movement party, and a desire to +hasten forward political changes, irrespective +of season or expediency. But +among the American democrats there is +a Conservative and a Radical party. +The former, who desire to restrain +'the amazing violence of the popular +spirit,' are nicknamed by their democratic +adversaries the '<em>Old Hunkers</em>;' +the latter, who profess to have in their +hearts 'sworn eternal hostility against +every form of tyranny over the mind of +man,' are stigmatised as '<em>Barnburners</em>.' +The <cite>New York Tribune</cite>, in reference to +the origin of the names themselves, says +that the name 'Hunkers' was intended +to indicate that those on whom it was +conferred had an appetite for a large +'hunk' of the spoils; though we never +could discover that they were peculiar +in <em>that</em>. On the other hand, the 'Barnburners' +were so named in allusion to +the story of an old Dutchman who relieved +himself of rats by burning his +barns, which they infested, just like exterminating +all banks and corporations, +to root out the abuses connected therewith."—(Vol. +i. p. 218.)</p></blockquote> + +<p>Equally mysterious is the term +"log-rolling," though the thing itself +is not altogether unknown in legislatures +nearer home.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"When the trees are felled and trimmed, +rolling the logs to the rivers or +streams down which they are to be +floated, as soon as the spring freshets set +in, remains to be done. This being the +hardest work of all, the men of several +camps will unite, giving their conjoined +strength to the first party on Monday, +to the second on Tuesday, and so on. A +like system in parliamentary matters is +called 'log-rolling.' You and your +friends help me in my railroad bill, and I +and my friends help you with your bank +charter; or sometimes the Whigs and +Democrats, when nearly balanced, will +get up a party log-rolling, agreeing that +the one shall be allowed to carry through +a certain measure without much opposition, +provided a similar concession is +granted to the other."—(Vol. ii. p. 297.)</p></blockquote> + +<p>The <cite>Notes</cite> convey to us the strong +impression that Professor Johnston's +visit to the West has operated +as a wholesome corrective of a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_713" id="Page_713">[713]</a></span> +certain tendency in his political +opinions. He seems to have +left home with a warm admiration +of American institutions generally, +which, like Slender's love, "it pleased +heaven to diminish on further acquaintance." +At all events, he could +not avoid being struck with some of +the many perplexities and anomalies +that result from referring everything +directly to the popular voice. In +England, whatever dissensions may +arise about the enactment of law, all +are agreed in a sensitive jealousy as to +the purity of its administration. The +most rampant Radical among us looks +upon justice as far too sacred a thing +to be hazarded in the rude chance-medley +of popular election. The +keenest partisan feels that, in the lofty +and unswerving integrity of our +judges, he possesses a substantial +security and blessing, for the loss of +which no place, power, or parliamentary +triumph, could compensate. +To one accustomed to regard with +veneration the dignified independence +of the judicial office in Great Britain, +nothing will appear more harshly repugnant +to sound policy than the +system, lately introduced into some of +the New England States, of appointing +all judges, high and low, by the +votes of the electors of the district +over which they are to preside, and +for a limited term of years.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"It was deservedly considered a great +triumph when the appointment of judges +for life liberated the English bench from +the influence of the Crown, and when +public opinion became strong enough to +enforce the selection of the most learned +in the law for the highest judicial offices. +Now, passing over the objection which +some will strongly urge, that the popular +electors are not the best judges of the +qualifications of those who aspire to the +bench, and that the most popular legal +demagogue may expect to obtain from +them the highest legal appointment, it +may be reasonably asked whether popular +influence in seasons of excitement, +and on questions of great moment, may +not bias the minds of judges whose appointment +is in the hands of the people?—whether +the fear of a coming election +may not deter them from unpopular decisions? +The influence of a popular majority +may here as profoundly pollute the +fountains of justice as the influence of the +Crown ever did among us at home."—(Vol. +i. p. 150.)</p></blockquote> + +<p>At first sight, it seems quite unaccountable +that an enlightened people +should ever have devised or sanctioned +a system which so obviously exposes +the bench to the risk of corruption; +and one is at a loss to reconcile a +reverence for the law with an ordinance +that subjects her minister to +the ordeal of canvassing and cajoling +all and sundry—perhaps the very +men who may next day be in the +dock before him. But the root of the +anomaly is not hard to find. Into +the purest of republics ambition and +cupidity—the love of office and the +love of dollars—will force their way. +But then, under that form of constition, +situations of trust and emolument +are necessarily few in comparison +to the number of candidates for +them. The offices in the civil departments +of the United States governments +are not numerous. The navy +employs altogether some five hundred +officers above the rank of midshipman—exactly +the number of our post-captains; +and the whole army of the +Confederation, rank and file, musicians +and artificers included, is very +little over ten thousand men. There +is little temptation to enter the medical +profession, in which learning and +experience go for nothing, and a +Brodie is precisely on a level with +a "Doctor Bokanky;"—nor the +Church, in which the pastor is hired +by the twelvemonth, and is thought +handsomely paid with a wage of £100 +a-year. What field, then, remains +for the aspiring spirit but the law?—and +what wonder if the sixteen thousand +attorneys, who, we are told, +find a living in the States, and take a +leading part in the management of +all public business, should vote "the +higher honours of the profession" far +too few to be retained as perpetual +incumbencies? Hence has sprung +the device of popular election to, and +rotation in, the sweets of office, +which, by "passing it round," and +giving everyone a chance, is designed +to render it as generally available as +possible. The constitution of the +judiciary is not uniform, but varies in +almost every different state. In New +York, the Judges of Appeals, as well +as those of the Supreme and Circuit +Courts, are elected by the people +at large, and for a term of eight<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_714" id="Page_714">[714]</a></span> +years, each leaving office in rotation. +In New Jersey they are +appointed for six years by the governor +and senate; in Vermont, annually +by the legislature. In Connecticut +nearly the same system prevails +as that in Vermont; while in +Massachusetts the judges retain office +"during good behaviour." The salaries +are not less various, in some +States the remuneration of judges of +supreme courts being £500 a-year, +which is about the highest rate; and +in others so low as £180. There are +no retiring allowances in any case; +and as they are thus liable to be +thrown out of office at an uncertain +period, or compelled to vacate it +after a short term of years, it can +scarcely be expected that such remuneration +will secure the highest grade +of legal acquirements, either for the +bench itself, or for the inferior offices +of attorney-generalships and chief-clerkships, +which are all held by the +same lax tenure of popular favour. +Even if the system has "worked +well," as it is said to have done by +American writers, during the four or +five years it has been in operation in +New York—even if it be true that +the lawyers of the Empire State have, +by avoiding the snares thrown in +their way, given proof individually of +the probity of Cato, and of a constancy +worthy of Socrates, we still +say that the State does wrong in putting +their virtues to such a test. Mr +Johnston supplies us with an example +of the temptation it holds out to a +dangerous pliancy of principle. Most +of our readers must be aware of the +existence of an active and noisy party +in the States, who, under the name of +"Anti-renters," are seeking to free +themselves from payment of certain +reserved <em>rents</em>, or <i>feu-duties</i>, as they +would be termed in Scotland, which +form the stipulated condition of land +tenure in a certain district.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"The question has caused much excitement +and considerable disturbance in +the State. It has been agitated in the +legislature and in the courts of law, and +the supposed opinion in regard to it of +candidates for legal appointments, is said +to have formed an element which weighed +with many in determining which candidate +they would support. During the +last canvass for the office of attorney-general, +I met with the following advertisement +in the public journals of the +State:—</p> + +<p>"'I have repeatedly been applied to +by individuals to know my opinions with +regard to the manorial titles, and what +course I intend to pursue, if elected, in +relation to suits commenced, and to be +commenced, under the joint resolution of +the Senate and Assembly. I have uniformly +replied to these inquiries, that I +regard the manor titles as a public curse +which ought not to exist in a free government, +and that if they can be broken up +and invalidated by law, it will give me +great pleasure; and I shall prosecute the +pending suits with as much vigour and +industry as I possess, and will commence +others, if, on examination, I shall be satisfied +there is the least chance of success. +I regard these prosecutions as a +matter of public duty, and, in this instance, +duty squares with my inclination +and wishes.</p> + +<p class="sig">'L. S. CHATFIELD.'</p> + +<p>"Mr Chatfield," adds Professor Johnston, +"<em>is now attorney-general</em>; and I was +informed that the known opinions of certain +of the old judges on this exciting +question was one of the understood reasons +why they were not re-elected by +popular suffrage, when, according to the +new constitution, their term of office had +expired."—(Vol. ii. p. 291.)</p></blockquote> + +<p>Here, then, we see the highest law +officer of the State openly "bidding" +for office—truckling to faction—and +indecently condescending to enact the +part of a "soft-sawderer." That +term, we presume, is the proper American +equivalent for the stinging <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">soubriquet</i> +with which Persius stigmatises +some Chatfield—some supple +attorney-general of his day—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i2">"<span class="smcap">Palpo</span>, quem ducit <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">hiantem</i><br /></span> +<span class="i0">Cretata ambitio."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>When persons of the highest official +position scruple not thus undisguisedly +to trim their course according +to the "<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">popularis aura</i>," one +can scarcely help suspecting a want +of firmness of principle and genuine +independence among the classes below +them. De Tocqueville's observations +have taught us to doubt +whether the tree of liberty that grows +under the shadow of a tyrant majority +can ever attain a healthy stability, +however vigorous it may appear externally. +No one questions that the +Americans enjoy, under their institutions, +very many of the blessings of a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_715" id="Page_715">[715]</a></span> +liberal and cheaply-administered government. +You have perfect liberty +of speech and action, so far as the +government is concerned. The avowal +of one's opinion is not followed, as in +Italy, or in the rival republic of +France, by a hint that your passport +is ready, or by the polite attendance +on you, wherever you go, of a mysterious +gentleman in black; but you +feel yourself, nevertheless, perpetually +"<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">en surveillance</i>," and constrained +either to sail with the stream, or to +adopt a reserve and reticence which, +to an Englishman, is almost as irksome +as the knowledge that there is a +spy sitting at the same dinner-table +with him.</p> + +<p>The spirit of Professor Johnston's +strictures on such anomalies +will, of course, insure his being set +down by his democratic friends in +America as an unmitigated "old +hunker;" and he certainly shows no +great liking for practical republicanism. +But to find fault with our +neighbours' arrangements, and to be +contented with our own, are two very +different things; and, accordingly, +our author takes many opportunities, +as he goes along, of showing that he +is quite aware of the innumerable +rents in our own old battered tea-kettle +of a constitution, and of the +infinite tinkering it will take to make +it hold water.</p> + +<p>We should have held him unworthy +of the character of a true Briton if he +had omitted the occasion of a grumble +at our system of taxation, though, of +course, we differ with him entirely in +the view he takes of the evil. After +an elaborate comparison of the taxation +in the United States with that of +Great Britain, he sums up all with +the following somewhat sententious +apophthegm:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"The great contrast between the two +sections of the Anglo-Saxon race on the +opposite sides of the Atlantic is this—<em>On +the one side the masses rule and property +pays; on the other side property +rules and the masses pay</em>."—(Vol. ii. 254.)</p></blockquote> + +<p>The sentence sounds remarkably +terse and epigrammatic. Most of +such brilliant and highly-condensed +crystals of wisdom, however, will be +found on analysis to contain, along +with some exaggerated truth, a considerable +residuum of nonsense; and +this specimen before us, we apprehend, +forms no exception. Even if +the fact so broadly asserted were indisputable, +we should still be inclined +to doubt, after what the author has +himself told us, whether the "rule of +the masses" is always an unmixed +blessing to a community. He has +seen enough of it to know at least +that the preponderance of popular +sway is not incompatible with much +social restraint—with prejudice and +narrow-mindedness—with what <em>he</em> +considers a false commercial principle—with +a disregard of public faith, +and of the rights of other nations; +and lastly, with a contempt of the +rights of humanity itself, and a legalised +traffic in our fellow men. But, if +we understand him rightly, he does +not so much defend the abstract excellence +of the democratic principle +as advocate a nearer approach, on our +part, to the American model of taxation. +In the States, he says, property +pays—in England the masses pay;—that +is, if we strip the proposition of +its antithetical obscurity, the owners +of property pay less here than they +do in America—not only <em>absolutely</em> +less, but less in proportion to the +whole amount of taxation. The calculations +on which he founds this assertion +are too long and involved to +be quoted at length, but we will +endeavour to abridge them so as to +enable the reader to judge of their +accuracy.</p> + +<p>The taxes in the United States are +of three classes: 1st,—the <em>national</em> +taxes, amounting to about six millions +a-year, which are raised chiefly by +customs duties on imports; 2d,—the +<em>state</em> taxes; 3d,—the <em>local</em> taxes, for +the service of the several counties, +cities, and townships. These two +last classes are levied chiefly in the +form of an equal rate assessed upon +the estimated value of all property, +real and personal.</p> + +<p>In order to compare the incidence +of the public burdens upon property in +the two countries, Professor Johnston +selects the case of New York State, +in which the total taxable property +(personal as well as real) in 1849 was +666,000,000 of dollars, and the amount +of rates levied for state and local taxes +5,500,000 dollars, or about <sup><small>4</small></sup>⁄<sub><small>5</small></sub> per cent +on the gross valuation. Turning then<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_716" id="Page_716">[716]</a></span> +to Great Britain, (excluding Ireland,) +he sets down the fee simple value of +the real property alone in estates +above £150 a-year, as rated to the +income-tax, at £2,382,000,000.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"Four-fifths of a per cent (the rate +levied in New York) on this sum would +realise £19,000,000 sterling; and were +<em>all</em> property, real and <em>personal</em>, in this +island below £150 a-year, and the amount +of property in Ireland rated in a similar +way, and fairly collected, our entire revenue +of £50,000,000 would probably be +obtained as the revenue of the State of +New York now is, by this one property +tax only."—(Vol. ii. p. 257.)</p></blockquote> + +<p>And he thus concludes that, as +regards the <em>absolute</em> amount of taxation, +property in Britain escapes for +a smaller payment than that in +America.</p> + +<p>Now, it must be remarked, on this +branch of the comparison, that before +we can form any opinion as to its +soundness, it is essential that we +should know on what principles the +valuation of property is conducted +in New York. The whole question +depends upon this. If the system of +valuation is different in the two +countries, there are no materials +on which to build a conclusion. We +know what discrepancies may arise +out of the mode of valuation, from +the fact that, while the annual value +of <em>all</em> real property in England and +Wales was assessed for the poor-rate, +in 1841, at about £62,500,000, +<em>a portion</em> of it only—that over £150 +a-year—was valued two years afterwards, +for the income-tax, at nearly +£86,000,000. We observe that Professor +Johnston has arrived at the +amount of real property in Britain, by +assuming the fee-simple value to be +twenty-seven years' purchase of the +income. But in New York, he tells +us, the value of income is calculated +at <em>only sixteen and a half years'</em> +purchase. The terms of the comparison +are, therefore, manifestly +faulty. And mark how this affects +the result. The real income of Great +Britain, capitalised at sixteen and a +half years' purchase, would amount +to only £1,447,000,000, and, if taxed +at the same rate as in New York, +would yield, instead of £19,000,000 +only, £11,500,000, which, as it happens, +<em>is three millions less than it +actually pays</em>, as may be plainly seen +from the undernoted statement:—</p> + + +<p class="center">DIRECT AND LOCAL TAXATION OF REAL PROPERTY IN GREAT BRITAIN.</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="tax"> +<tr><td align="left">1. Land Tax,</td><td align="right">£1,164,000</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">2. Poor and County Rate, (England,)</td><td align="right">6,847,205</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">3. Highway Rate, "</td><td align="right">1,169,891</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">4. Church Rate, "</td><td align="right">506,812</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">5. Proportion of Stamp Duties on deeds affecting real property,</td><td align="right">1,200,000</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">6. Proportion of Legacy Duty affecting do.,</td><td align="right">300,000</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">7. Property Tax,</td><td align="right">2,600,000</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">8. Poor Rate, (Scotland,) £577,000—say on real property,</td><td align="right">500,000</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">9. Statute Labour, (Scotland,)</td><td align="right">81,226</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">Total,</td><td align="right"><span class="bt">£14,369,134</span></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="hanging"><em>Note.</em>—The first six items are taken from the Report of the House of Lords on +burdens affecting land, and some of them are below the present amounts. +The items affecting Scotland are obviously defective.</p></blockquote> + +<p>To this extent at least, then, we are +justified in correcting Professor Johnston's +calculations, and in affirming +with certainty that the owner of +<em>real property in Britain surrenders +a larger portion of his wealth for +the public service than in New York</em>, +or any other State of the Union. +Whether the same can be said of +the British owner of <em>personal</em> property +is another question, which we +shall come to by-and-by.</p> + +<p>So much for the <em>absolute</em> comparison. +But then Professor Johnston +aims also at proving, that while the +rich man is better off here, the poor +man is worse—that the "masses" +(<em>i. e.</em>, we presume, those who are +dependent on the wages of labour) +pay a larger share of the public +burdens than the same "masses" +do in America. And this, he thinks, +is demonstrated by the fact, that the +customs duties of America amount +to only a dollar a-head of the whole +population, whereas in Great Britain +they are <em>three</em> dollars—three times +heavier. Now, we venture to affirm<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_717" id="Page_717">[717]</a></span> +that, as a contrast between the position +of the labouring man on this +side of the Atlantic, and that of his +brother on the other, this statement +is quite a nest of fallacies. In the +first place, it proceeds on the assumption +(a very common but erroneous +one among our Free-Trade authorities) +that it is the labouring class +who pay the bulk of the taxes +drawn in the shape of customs. As +this error, however, may be held to +affect both sides of the comparison +equally, we have next to notice that, +admitting it to be the case, the fact +of the customs being three dollars +a-head in this country, and only +one in the States, only shows that +the English labourer pays <em>absolutely</em> +more than the Yankee, which no +one ever doubted. It amounts only +to this—that in an old country +which has to uphold numerous public +institutions unknown in America, +and with a public debt to provide for +of some £800,000,000 sterling, the +burden of this, as well as of all +other branches of taxation, is heavier +than in the youthful republic, with +a national debt of only £13,000,000. +In order to draw a fair parallel between +the cases as regards the +poorer classes of both countries, +we must put the question in a different +way, and inquire, what proportion +does the amount of customs +(assumed as representing the poor +man's share of taxation) bear <em>to the +whole public burdens</em> in the two +countries respectively? The contrasted +account would then show the +matter in a very different aspect from +that in which Professor Johnston has +represented it, and would stand thus:—</p> + + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="United"> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">GREAT BRITAIN.</td><td align="center" colspan="2">UNITED STATES.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">National taxes,</td><td align="right">£50,000,000</td><td align="left">National taxes,</td><td align="right">£6,000,000</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Local ditto,<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a></td><td align="right">14,000,000</td><td align="left">Local ditto,<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></td><td align="right">5,680,000</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Total,</td><td align="right"><span class="bt">£64,000,000</span></td><td align="right">Total,</td><td align="right"><span class="bt">£11,680,000</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Whereof the poor man's</td><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">Whereof the poor man's</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">share, or customs, is</td><td align="right">£20,000,000</td><td align="left">share, or customs, is</td><td align="right">£6,000,000</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">or 32<sup><small>1</small></sup>⁄<sub><small>2</small></sub> per cent.</td><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">or 52 per cent.</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>Even if we were to throw into the scale +a large portion of the excise duties +levied in Britain, which Professor +Johnston may be entitled to claim as +a peculiar burden on "the masses"—at +least as much as the customs—it +would still be apparent, that, if such +payments are to be taken as a fair +criterion, <em>the people's burdens are not +relatively heavier here than in America</em>. +We shall only add further on this +subject, that while many of the less +opulent class of our fellow-citizens +have undoubted real grievances to +complain of, and while writers, with +worse intentions than Professor Johnston, +are ever ready to exaggerate +them, and to foster discontent, it becomes +one of his high character to +guard against allowing a somewhat +undisciplined taste for statistics to +betray him into rash general allegations, +calculated to produce error and +irritation.</p> + +<p>The parallel he has drawn, however, +is very instructive on one point, +although he has failed to notice it. +He has taken some pains to prove +that, tried by the American standard, +our poor men pay too much, and our +owners of real property too little, in +both which conclusions we have +shown his grounds to be fallacious; +but he takes no notice of a far more +obvious anomaly, the glaring injustice +of which is every day attracting +more public comment—the comparative +<em>immunity of the owners of personal +property</em> in this country. The +local taxation of the States, it has +been seen, is levied by an equal assessment +on property <em>of all kinds</em>; and +although, from the character of a +great part of the country, the real<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_718" id="Page_718">[718]</a></span> +property much exceeds the movable +in amount, the rate upon both is a +uniform one. No description of possessions +is favoured with an invidious +exemption. We will take the assessment +of one State as an example, and +copy the following "Items of the +valuation of the taxable property for +the State of Iowa, according to the +assessor's returns for 1849." They +are as follows:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"Acres of land—Improvements on +land—Town lots and improvements—<em>Capital +employed in merchandise</em>—Mills, +manufactories, distilleries, carding machines +and tan-yards, <em>with the stock +employed</em>—Horses, cattle, sheep, &c.—Pleasure +carriages, watches, pianofortes—<em>Capital +stocks and profits in any company +incorporated or unincorporated</em>—Property +in boats and vessels—Gold and +silver coin, and bank-notes in actual possession—<em>Claims +for money, or other consideration—Annuities—Amount +of notes, +mortgages, &c. All other personal property +over 100 dollars.</em>"</p></blockquote> + +<p>All these descriptions of property +contribute alike, dollar for dollar, +towards the expenses of the State, +which—be it remarked—embrace not +only the general charges for interest +of debt, and for the support of the +legislative, executive, and judiciary +departments, but include also payments +for prisons, asylums, the +militia, the public roads, and several +other branches of expenditure, which +in this country are saddled either +upon real property or upon the land +alone. Let any one look at the +items of the above list printed in +italics, and say what portion of such +wealth passes through the national +exchequer, or goes to uphold the +public institutions, of Great Britain. +The whole annual incomes above £50 +a-year in Great Britain are estimated, +on the best attainable data,<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> to +amount to upwards of £352,000,000 +sterling, of which the taxed real +income is £86,000,000, or one-fourth +part only. Is there any one with a +conscience so elastic as to maintain +that the owners of the other three-fourths +contribute fairly to the support +of the State, in proportion to the +revenue they enjoy under its protection? +From the investigations of Mr +Smee, to whom we have referred, it +appears that while the number of +those who pay the direct taxes is +about five hundred thousand, <em>there +are upwards of one million eight hundred +thousand persons in Great Britain +enjoying incomes of above £50 a-year, +who do not contribute one farthing to +them</em>. What is this but a system of +iniquitous exemption of the one class, +and of virtual confiscation as to the +other? But the whole subject occupies +far too prominent a place in the +public mind to be treated thus incidentally. +For the present then we +leave it, thoroughly persuaded that, +under a form of government which +acknowledges no distinctions between +classes and interests, so shameless a +violation of the plainest principles of +equity cannot long be permitted to +continue, and cordially joining in the +wish that no object of less momentous +interest—no schemes of impracticable +retrenchment—no wily bait of extended +suffrage—no flourishing of the +old red rag of reform, may be suffered +to distract the attention of the public, +from the one great paramount practical +reform—<span class="smcap">a readjustment of +Taxation</span>.</p> + +<p>We owe an apology to Professor +Johnston for having deviated somewhat +from the ordinary course of a review. +His work has already been so +much and so flatteringly noticed, that +to have limited ourselves to mere abridgment +and quotation from the <em>Notes</em> +would have led us over the same +ground that has been already exhausted +by other critics. We have +therefore preferred discussing some of +the questions of greatest public interest +which his observations have suggested; +and if, on some of these, we +have been led to dissent from his +opinions, we have done so in no unfriendly +spirit, which indeed would +have been impossible in judging of an +author whose own views are always +expressed with perfect candour and +moderation. There can be no doubt +that, under the unpretending title +which he has chosen to adopt, he has +contrived to bring together a larger +mass of varied and valuable information +on the present condition of North +America than is to be found in any +work yet published.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_719" id="Page_719">[719]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>THE ANSAYRII.</h2> + +<p><em>The Ansayrii (or Assassins;) with Travels in the Further East.</em> By the Hon. +<span class="smcap">Frederic Walpole</span>, R.N., Author of <cite>Four Years in the Pacific</cite>. London: Bentley, +1851.</p> + + +<p>Hail to the bright East, with all +its mysteries, its mighty past, its +pregnant future, its inexhaustible +sources of airiest amusement and +most solemn interest! We welcome +with pleasure the original and truly +Oriental book before us. It harmonises +rather with the poetic than +the historic character of Eastern lands; +but in its wild and dreamy narrative +there are to be found vivid and faithful +pictures, such as those that lighted +up the charmed reveries of DeQuincey. +For the present we will lay aside the +critic's task: we will postpone all +such considerations, and invite the +reader to accompany us in a rapid +tour over the varied regions which +Mr Walpole has recalled to our +memory and imagination. Let us +turn for a little from the "world +that is too much with us," and, +ranging away from chilly mists +and gloomy skies, sun our fancy +in the lands where Paradise was +planted.</p> + +<p>Egypt and Palestine appear familiar +to us all; they are of common +interest to the whole Christian world—classic +lands to every old villager who +can read his Bible, as well as to the +profound scholar. In them, sacred +and profane history are so intimately +blended that the latter assumes +almost the authenticity of the former. +Herodotus and his followers have +actually a people still in the flesh (if +flesh the mummy may be called) to +refer to: subterranean Egypt is still +inhabited by the undecayed bodies of +the very men who associated with the +Israelites, and forms that were beautiful +and loved three thousand years +ago. Imperishable as their old inhabitants, +their temples and their monuments +still stand above them, and +will there remain unparalleled, until +their long-buried architects shall rise +again.</p> + +<p>Passing on to Palestine, we find, +memories and associations still +stronger and more striking; for here +nature is invested with the sentiment +that in Egypt is awakened by art. +Palestine belongs not to time only, +but to eternity; with which, by types +and illustrations, its earthly history +is so beautifully blended and aggrandised. +Its literature is inspired truth, +its annals are prophecies fulfilled, and +the very face of the land itself vindicates +the beauty it <em>once</em> wore, through +all the sorrow and desolation that +have fallen on it since. Owing to +the metaphorical style of Oriental +composition, every object in nature +was used to illustrate or impress by +its analogy; and hence not only the +holy mountains, the sacred rivers, +and the battle plains have memories +for us, but the very "hyssop on the +wall," the blasted fig-tree, the cedar, +the "high rock in the thirsty land;" +every vale, and hill, and lake, and +city, is consecrated by some association +with the men who spoke the +words of God—with the time that +witnessed His presence in the +flesh.</p> + +<p>The remorseless Jews were swept +from the Promised Land, as their +ancestor was from Eden, for the irreparable +sin; and the sword of the +Roman waved over the ruined walls +of Jerusalem, forbidding all return. +The Saracen and the Crusader succeeding, +add another element of interest—an +English association—to +long-tried and suffering Judea. The +Crusaders were rather a warlike emigration +than invasion; they were the +angry overflow of discontented Europe, +which sought to vent its spleen and +dogmas upon the Infidel. Their ebbing +tide bore back to us the arts and +sciences and chivalry of Arabia; and +thus Palestine became the channel for +all our best temporal acquirements,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_720" id="Page_720">[720]</a></span> +as it had long since furnished us with +our eternal hope.</p> + +<p>All this, and more—much more—invests +Syria with undying and exhaustless +interest to the student and +the traveller; but we will not linger +on such impressions now. We have +a lighter task to fulfil, though we are +about to visit the land of Nimrod, +of Abraham's nativity, and of the +empire of Semiramis. The pleasant +company in which we travel will +speed us on; and, in the old troubadour +fashion, lay and legend will +beguile the way. But before we enter +fairly on our pilgrimage to "Ur of +the Chaldees" and the tomb of +Nineveh, we shall pause to make some +practical observations on the route +which, in its present aspect, may be +new to some of our readers.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Egypt may soon be reached in +ten days.</span><a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> This is almost incredible; +still more so, when we add that it +may be accomplished without fatigue, +hardship, or self-denial. The traveller +even now embarks at Southampton in +one of the Oriental Company's magnificent +steamers, and finds himself +landed at Alexandria in fifteen days, +having visited Gibraltar and Malta, +besides having travelled three thousand +miles in as much comfort as he would +have enjoyed at Brighton, with far +more advantage to his health and +spirits, and but trifling additional expense. +For our own parts, we believe +that, before long, sea voyages, instead +of sea shores, will be resorted to, not +only by the invalid, but by the epicurean +and the idler. The floating +hotels of our ocean steamers afford +as comfortable quarters as any of +their more stationary rivals, with the +additional advantage of presenting +a change of air and of scenery +every morning that the "lodger" +rises.</p> + +<p>The autumn—the later the <em>better</em>—is +the <em>best</em> period for visiting Egypt. +October is, on the whole, the best +month for beginning the ascent of the +Nile. We will suppose the traveller +landed at Alexandria: he achieves +the lions of that suddenly-created +city (except Aboukir Bay) in a few +hours, and is ready to start for Cairo +in the mail steamer, with the India-bound +passengers who accompanied +him from England. The country in +which he now finds himself, by so +sudden a transition, is full of apparent +paradoxes; amongst others, he may be +surprised to find that the canal on +which he travels to Atfeh winds considerably, +though no engineering obstacles +whatever oppose themselves to +a straight course. The reason of this +sinuosity was thus explained to us by +Mehemet Ali himself:—"You ask why +my canal is not straight: Ya, Wallah! +it is owing to a bit of bigotry. The +dog who made it was a true Believer, +and something more. He said to +himself, 'Ya, Seedee, thou art about +to make what Giaours call a canal, +and Giaours in their impiety make +such things straight. Now, a canal +is made after the fashion of a river—(Allah +pardon us for imitating his +works!)—and all rivers wind: Allah +forbid that my canal should be better +than His river; it shall wind too.'"</p> + +<p>And so it does.</p> + +<p>Landed at Cairo, the traveller of +the present day will find a steamer +once a fortnight ready to take him up +to the first cataract and back again, +as fast as Young Rapid, or any other +son of a tailor, could desire. But +even the rational tourist will be +tempted to send on his Kandjiah, +(the old-fashioned Nile boat,) well +found and provisioned, a fortnight or +three weeks before him, and overtake +her in the steamer. The Kandjiah +voyage up stream is often wearisome, +downward never—as in the +descent you are borne softly along +at from three to six miles an hour, +even when you sleep. From the first +cataract to the second is only about +two hundred miles, and occupies +about three weeks; but to those who +can find pleasure in what is most wild +and dreamy and unearthly in scenery +and art, the desert view from Mount +Abousir, the temples of Guerf, Hassan, +and Ipsamboul, are worth all the rest +of the Nile voyage, except Thebes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_721" id="Page_721">[721]</a></span> +and exquisite Philæ.<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> Returned to +Alexandria, as we will suppose, in +March, the traveller will be quite +early enough for Syria, whose winter +(considering the tented life he is compelled +to lead) is not to be despised. +A steamer transports him to Beyrout +in thirty hours; and there our true +travel begins.<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> +11 A: The mere physical pleasure of the upper voyage has been thus described—"No +words can convey an idea of the beauty and delightfulness of tropical weather, at +least while any breeze from the north is blowing. There is a pleasure in the very +act of breathing—a voluptuous consciousness that existence is a blessed thing: the +pulse beats high, but calmly; the eye feels expanded; the chest heaves pleasureably, +as if air was a delicious draught to thirsty lungs; and the mind takes its colouring +and character from sensation. No thought of melancholy ever darkens over us—no +painful sense of isolation or of loneliness, as day after day we pass on through silent +deserts, upon the silent and solemn river. One seems, as it were, removed into +another state of existence; and all the strifes and struggles of that from which we +have emerged seem to fade, softened into indistinctness. This is what Homer and +Alfred Tennyson knew that the lotus-eaters felt when they tasted of the mysterious +tree of this country, and became weary of their wanderings:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6">'——To him the gushing of the wave<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Far, far away, did seem to mourn and rave<br /></span> +<span class="i0">On alien shores: and, if his fellow spake,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">His voice was thin, as voices from the grave!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And deep asleep he seemed, yet all awake,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And music in his ears his beating heart did make.'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noind">If the day, with all the tyranny of its sunshine and its innumerable insects, be +enjoyable in the tropics, the night is still more so. The stars shine out with diamond +brilliancy, and appear as large as if seen through a telescope. Their changing +colours, the wake of light they cast upon the water, the distinctness of the milky +way, and the splendour, above all, of the evening star, give one the impression of being +under a different firmament from that to which we have been accustomed; then +the cool delicious airs, with all the strange and stilly sounds they bear from the +desert and the forest; the delicate scents they scatter, and the languid breathings +with which they make our large white sails appear to pant, as they heave and languish +softly over the water."—(<cite>The Crescent and the Cross</cite>, vol. i. p. 210.)]</p> + +<p>Thus, (omitting the somewhat +important episode of Egypt,) we find +ourselves transported, in little more +than a fortnight, from the murky fogs +and leafless trees of England, to the +delicious temperature and tropical verdure +that surrounds the most beautiful +town of the Levant. As every +improvement in steam-navigation +lessens its distance from Christendom, +Beyrout increases and expands. +Nor must we omit an honest tribute +to the iron but even-handed justice +of Ibrahim Pasha, which first rendered +it safely accessible to Europeans. +Before his conquest of Syria, +the Frank was wont to skulk anxiously +through the town, exposed to +insult and unpunished violence: +without the walls, the robber enjoyed +as much impunity as the bigot did +within; and, between both, Beyrout +became, or continued to be, a miserable +village. Its environs were wild +wastes, where the gipsy alone ventured +to pitch his tent, and the wild +dog prowled. Now, pleasant gardens +and picturesque kiosks, or summer-houses, +replace the wilderness; the +town expands, grows clean, doubles +its population, and welcomes a crowd +of shipping to its port. A more delightful +residence, as a refuge from +winter, can scarcely be conceived. +An infinite variety of excursions may +be made from hence; and every time +the traveller mounts his horse, whether +he be historically, picturesquely, +controversially, botanically, or geologically +given, he may return to his +flat-roofed home with some valuable +acquisition to his note-book. The views +are everywhere magnificent, and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_722" id="Page_722">[722]</a></span> +warm breezes from the bluest of +oceans are tempered by the snowy +neighbourhood of the loveliest of +mountains.</p> + +<p>Five roads of leading interest (besides +many a cheering byway among +the hills) branch out from the walls +of Beyrout. Damascus is about +eighteen hours off; Jerusalem six +days; Djouni, the romantic residence +and burial-place of Lady Hester Stanhope, +ten hours; Baalbec, the flower +of all Eastern ruins, eighteen hours, +and Latakia, whither <em>we</em> are bound, +five days. These distances may be +accomplished in less time; they are +here given at the calculation of a +walking pace, as the roads, or rather +paths, are for the most part steep and +difficult; and the baggage-horses, at +all events, can seldom advance more +rapidly. One word more of dry detail, +and we shall put ourselves <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">en +route</i> for the mountains of the Ansayrii +and the further East. Notwithstanding +the advance of civilisation +at Beyrout, where a European +consulocracy has established a more +than European equality of privileges +between Turks and Christians, the +interior of the country is daily becoming +more dangerous to travel in. +Eight years ago, when the stern rule +of Ibrahim Pasha had still left its +beneficent traces, the writer of this +article wandered over the length and +breadth of the land, attended by a +single servant and a muleteer. Since +our Government, for inscrutable reasons, +has restored Syria to the embroilment +of its native factions, all +security for the traveller, and indeed +for the native, has ceased. To reach +Jerusalem, or even Damascus, in +safety, a considerable escort is now +necessary; though the Vale of Baalbec +may still be reached in less warlike +fashion from Latakia or Tripoli, +if the traveller is endowed with liberality, +courage, and courtesy—the +leading virtues of his profession.</p> + +<p>Before we proceed on our travels, +let us introduce our guide. Mr Walpole +is a young naval officer, and +there is in most of his narrative a +dashing impetuous style, which savours +of his profession. In this there is a +certain charm, imparting as it does +an air of frank and fearless confidence +in his reader's quick perception and +favourable construction. There is in +his writings what we would also hope +is professional—a chivalrous feeling +and generous sentiment, that is never +obscured by a sordid thought or unworthy +imputation. As he sees clearly, +of course he also sees faults in men, +and minds, and manners; but such +discoveries are made in a tone of regret +rather than of triumph; or thrown +off in a strain of good-humoured +satire that could not offend even its +objects. His descriptive powers are +graphic, and often very vivid; his +humour is very original, being generally +tinged with melancholy, in such +sort as that of a philanthropic Jacques +might be: finally, he does not fear +to display a profound and manly reverence +for holy things and sacred +places. On the other hand, to set +against all these high merits, we must +confess that many faults afford some +drawback to his book. It is often incoherent, +and deficient in arrangement. +The first volume is rather the groundwork +than the accomplishment of +what an author with Mr Walpole's +powers and material should have +effected. Most of these faults, however, +may find their excuse in the circumstances +under which they were composed. +They smack of the tent, the +boat, and the bivouac, as old wine +does of the <i>borachio</i>. Whatever they +may be, this work is one that will be +widely read; and wherever it is read +with appreciation, it will direct the +interest not only to its subject, but its +author: his individuality, unostentatiously +and unconsciously, is impressed +on every page; and his genius, however +erratic, is unquestionable.</p> + +<p>The cockpit, and even the gun-room +of a man-of-war, are little +favourable to intellectual effort, or +the habit or the love of learning +which it can alone accomplish. We +can therefore make greater allowances +for errors in composition, and +concede greater credit for the attainments +in languages and general knowledge +which our young author has +achieved. This is perhaps still more +striking in a work written by Mr Walpole +three years ago, entitled <cite>Four +Years in the Pacific</cite>, which, though +written in a midshipman's berth, +abounds in passages of beauty, and in +his peculiar and original humour.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_723" id="Page_723">[723]</a></span> +Having said so much in his praise and +dispraise, and only premising, in addition, +that he speaks Arabic and Turkish, +so as to interpret for himself the +quaint unusual thoughts of the people +among whom he lives, we enter upon +a survey of what he saw.</p> + +<p>We have unwillingly passed over +the whole of our author's outward voyage, +which is graphically, and almost +dramatically, described. We shall only +refer to one or two passages respecting +the Levant. The following sentence +may dispel some fanciful visions +of the sunny climate of Stamboul:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"Snow, 'thick and deep' enveloped the +city; cupola, dome, and cypress were +burdened with icicles; above, was an +angry winter sky with a keenly piercing +wind.... English fires and English +coals were the best things we saw—we +were actually blockaded by the +weather.... At length we embarked: +the crew were shovelling the deep +snow-drift off the deck, so we rushed +below into a cabin whose bulkheads +were beautifully varnished, sofas perfect, +skylights closed, the whole atmosphere +tobacco. We were off, gliding past the +Seraglio Point, which was swathed in +snow, and looking like a man in summer +clothes caught in a wintry storm.... +Masses animate and inanimate encumbered +the deck; the former for the most +part consisting of the Sultan's subjects; +among the latter our baggage, which was +thrown into the general heap, and kicked +about until it found quiet in the hold.... +The numbers thus congregated +were principally pilgrims, on their +way to Jerusalem and to the Jordan; +though others, on more worldly journey +bent, were mingled with the rest. Each +family had taken a spot on the deck, +and there, piled over with coverings, +and surrounded with their goods, they +remained during the voyage: one side +of the after-deck was alone kept clear +for the first-class passengers, and even +this was often invaded by others, who +wisely remarked that <em>we</em> had cabins +below.</p> + +<p>"Each family forms a scene in itself; +and an epitome of life in the East is +found by a glance around. Four merchants, +on their return from a trading +tour, have bivouacked between the skylights; +and they sing and are sick; call +<i>kief</i><a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> and smoke, with true Moslem indifference. +On the starboard quarter, our +notions of Eastern domesticity are sadly +put out, for there a Moslem husband is +mercilessly bullied by a shrill-voiced +Houri. It is curious to observe her perseverance +in covering her face, even during +the agonies of sea-sickness. Their +black servant has taken us into the number +of licensed ones, and her veil now +hangs over her neck like a loosened neck-cloth.</p> + +<p>"On the other side, a Greek family in +three generations lies along the deck, +fortified by a stout man-servant across +their legs, whose attentions to the girls +during his own heart-rending ailments +is very pretty. The huge grandmother +was set on fire and smouldered away +most stoically, until her foot began to +burn, when, while others put her out, she +sank blubbering to sleep again. The +pretty granddaughters find the long prostration +more irksome; but send their +flashing eyes about with careless movement, +and so the mass goes on. Here +one appears to be offering up <i>nazam</i>, but +nearer inspection shows that his shoe is +only receiving the offering to the heaving +waves....</p> + +<p>"Our steamer had passed sad hours of +toil, and pitched and tossed us all out of +temper before we entered the calm +waters to leeward of Rhodes, and at last, +passing the low points covered with +detached houses and windmills, we shot +round in front of the harbour. Our view +of the intervening coast had been too +vague to form a judgment upon it; but +here and there a peak towered up above +the mists, all else being veiled by the +cloudy sky.... No place it has +ever been my fortune to visit, more, by +its appearance, justifies its character than +Rhodes. Around the harbour's shore, +one continued line of high castellated +wall, unbroken save by flanking towers +or frowning portals; from the wave on +either side, dovetailed to the rock, rise +the knightly buildings; and as the eye +reaches round, no dissonant work mars +the effect, save that one lofty palm rears +its tropic head—but it adds to, rather +than lessens, the effect. Above the walls, +a mosque with its domed roof or minaret +appears; and the fragile building speaks, +how truly! in its contrast to the massive +walls and ponderous works of former +rulers, that the battle is not always to +the strong."</p></blockquote> + +<p>In speaking of the sister island-fortress, +Malta, our author remarks +(in a former page) the immediate contrast<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_724" id="Page_724">[724]</a></span> +presented by these luxurious +arsenals:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"The Eastern reclines on the cushioned +divan, the embodiment of repose; the +softest carpets, the freshest flowers, surround +him—soft women attend the +slightest motion of his eye—all breathes +of indolence, abandonment, and ease; yet +his girdle bristles with arms—his gates +are locked and guarded. So at Malta, +the bower is a bastion, the saloon a casemate, +the serenade the call of martial +music, the draperies war-flags, the ornaments +shot in ready proximity."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Proceeding to Tarsus, we pass on +to Alexandretta, "a wretched collection +of hovels. The harbour is splendid; +the ruins of the old, the skeleton +of the new town, standing on the +beach. Behind it, in every direction, +stretches a fetid and swampy plain, +which only requires drainage to be +rendered fertile and wholesome." +This is the seaport of Aleppo, on the +road to which lies the town of Beilau, +and the village of Mortawan, where +Pagan rites, especially those of Venus, +are still said to be maintained. But +again we reimbark—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"Again the vessel cuts the wave. The +mountains become a feeble bleached outline, +save Cassius on the north, who +frowns on his unrecorded fame. Yes, +noble hill! though not so high as Strabo +tells, though not lofty and imposing; +though dark thy path now—unnoticed, +solitary. There blazed up the last effort +of the flame of pagan civilisation: there +Julian the Great—whatever other title +men may bestow upon him—offered his +solemn sacrifice to Jupiter the Avenger, +previous to his last campaign, when +the eagles were to wave over Mesopotamia.</p> + +<p>"The Sabbath dawned fresh, unclouded, +and beautiful, as we anchored in the +pretty little port of Latakia, the ancient +Laodicea. The town of Latakia, built +by Seleucus Nicator, in honour of his +mother, is comprehended in the Pashalic +of Saida, or Beyrout. It stands on a +spur of the Ansayrii Mountains. About +half a mile inland, the spur falls into the +sea, and forms Cape Zairet; the town +stands on its southern slope, and is joined, +by gardens and a port, to the sea. The +port is small and well sheltered; but +time, Turks, and ruins, are filling it up. +The buildings on the shore, having their +backs to the sea, present the appearance +of a fortification. On a reef of rock that +shelters the harbour stands a pile of +building of different eras. It seems to +be castle, mosque, and church. Along +the beach lie hundreds of shafts of +columns, and many are built into the +walls, of whose remains you catch a +glimpse on the southern side."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Here we must pause, though our +traveller proceeds to Beyrout, of +which he gives a charming account, +which our limits forbid us to quote. +We reserve our space for more novel +scenes, and must pass over a chapter +on Damascus, which is rich in legends +and graphic pictures. Thence, <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">en +route</i> to Homs, by the way of the +desert, eastward of the Anti-Lebanon, +we have a sketch that is too characteristic +of Eastern travel to pass +over:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"North, south and east, dead plain; +west, a low range of hills, and beyond, +the fair Anti-Lebanon in all its snowy +beauty. Desert all around us, but no +dreary waste. Here and there were +loose stones and rocks; the rest a carpet +of green, fresh, dewy grass, filled with +every hue of wild-flowers—the poppy in +its gorgeous red, the hyacinth, the simple +daisy and others, thick as they could +struggle up, all freshened with a breeze +heavy with the scents of thyme. The +lark sent forth its thrill of joy in welcome +to the coming day; before us the +pennon of the spearmen gleamed as they +wound along the plain. We passed the +site of an Arab encampment strewn with +fire-blackened stones, bones, and well +picked carcasses. Storks and painted +quails sauntered slowly away at our approach, +or perched and looked as if they +questioned our right to pass. At eight +o'clock halted at a khan called Hasiah +also. The population consisting of robust, +wild-looking fellows; and very pretty +women poured out to sell hard-boiled +eggs, leban, bread, and milk: they were +all Mussulmans....</p> + +<p>"We were soon disturbed by a multitude +of sick, which recalled to one's mind +how in this land, of old, the same style +of faces, probably in the same costumes, +crowded to Him who healed. The lame, +carried by the healthy; feeble mothers +with sickly babes; hale men showing +wounds long self-healed; others with or +without complaints."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Arrived at Homs, we have—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"Fish for dinner, from the Lake of +Kades, whose blue waters we saw in the +distance to-day. The Lebanon opens +behind that lake, and you may pass to +the sea, on the plain, without a hill. +This plain, but rarely visited, is among<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_725" id="Page_725">[725]</a></span> +the most interesting portions of Syria, +containing numerous convents, castles, +and ruins, and its people are still but +little known. Maszyad, the principal +seat of the sect called Ismayly: the Ansayrii +also, and Koords, besides Turks, +Christians, and gipsys, may be found +among its varied population. The ancient +castle of El Hoshn, supposed, by the +lions over its gates, to have been built +by the Count of Thoulouse, is well worth +a visit. The Orontes, taking its rise in +a rock, from whence it gushes just west +of the Tel of Khroumee,—(true bearing +from Homs from south 60° 32' east,)—flows +through the Lake of Kades, and +passes about 2° to the west of Homs: it +is called Nahr El Aazzy, or "the rebel +river," some say because of its running +north, while all the other rivers run +south; more probably, however, on +account of its rapidity and strength of +current. It is an historical stream; on +its banks were altars, and the country it +waters is almost unmatched for beauty—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'Oh, sacred stream! whose dust<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Is the fragments of the altars of idolatry.'"<br /></span> +</div></div></blockquote> + +<p>It was at Homs—the ancient +Emessa—that Zenobia was brought +as a captive into the presence of +Aurelian.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"Why did she not there fall? why +add the remaining lustreless years to +her else glorious life? why, in the words +of Gibbon, sink insensibly into the +Roman matron? Zenobia fat, dowdy, +and contented—profanation! Zimmerman, +however, invests the close of her +career with graceful philosophy: at +Tivoli, in happy tranquillity, she fed the +greatness of her soul with the noble +images of Homer, and the exalted precepts +of Plato; supported the adversity of her +fortunes with fortitude and resignation, +and learnt that the anxieties attendant +on ambition are happily exchanged for +the enjoyments of ease and the comforts +of philosophy."</p></blockquote> + +<p>From Homs we reach Aleppo in +four days.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"It was a spring morning, and a gentle +keenness, wafted from snow-clad mountains, +rendered the climate delightful. +The town lay beneath me, and each +terrace, court, serai, and leewan lay open +to my view. I saw Aleppo was built in +a hollow, from which ran plains north +and west, surrounded by mountains. To +the north, Djebel Ma Hash and his range, +untouched by the soft smiles of the young +spring, lay deep in the snow; the flat +connected grass-grown roofs and well-watered +sparkling courts, with their +carefully-tended trees, relieving the glare +of the houses, while all around the town +lay belted in its garden. The scene was +pretty and pleasing; here and there the +forests of tomb-stones, the perfect minaret, +the Eastern dome swelling up from +the mob of flat roofs,—these formed a +sight that told I was in the East, in the +cradle of mankind—the home of history."...</p> + +<p>"And here, though sorely pressed for +time, we must stop for a picnic, which +E—— and myself were told it would be +right to give. We provided carpets, nargillehs, +horse-loads of sundries, cushions, +a cargo of lettuces; and thus equipped, +we sallied out, a very numerous party. +The first thing to select was a garden, a +point on which our own choice, and not +the owner's will, seemed alone to be consulted. +Let not the reader fancy an +Eastern garden is what a warm Western +fancy would paint it—wild with luxuriant +but weedless verdure, heavy with the +scent of roses and jessamine, thrilling +with the songs of the bulbul and the +nightingale, where fair women with +plaited tresses touch the soulful lute in +graceful attitudes. No; it is a piece of +ground enclosed by high walls, varying +in size. A wretched gate, invariably +badly made, probably ruined, admits you +to the interior. Some enclose a house +with two or three rooms—windowless, +white-washed places. Before this is a +reservoir of dirty, stagnant water, turned +up from a neighbouring well by an apparatus +as rude as it is ungainly and +laborious: this is used to irrigate the +ground, which therefore is alternately +mud and dust. Fruit trees or mulberries +are planted in rows, and the ground +beneath, being ploughed up, is productive +of vegetables or corn. One or two trees, +for ornament, may be planted in the first +row, but nothing more; and weeds, uncut, +undestroyed, spring up in every +direction. Such, without exaggeration, +is the <i>Bistan zareff quiess!</i>—the Lovely +Garden.</p> + +<p>"We selected one that belonged to +the Mollah. Oh, true believer! in thy +pot we boiled a ham; on thy divan we +ate the forbidden beast; thy gardener, +for base reward, assisting to cook—who +knows, but also to eat the same? We +chose a spot shaded by a noble walnut +tree, and spread carpets and cushions. +Fire was lighted, nargillehs bubbled, +and kief began."</p></blockquote> + +<p>On the 2d of May we start for the +Euphrates, and follow for some time +nearly the route recommended by +Colonel Chesney for the great Indian +railway to Bussora, on the Persian<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_726" id="Page_726">[726]</a></span> +Gulph. The distance is little more +than 800 miles—scarcely thirty steam-winged +hours—the level surpassingly +uniform. Truly those who desire to +find either solitude, or what our author +calls <i>kief</i>, in the East, must +repair thither quickly, for the iron of +the engineer has already entered into +its soul. Already the blue and white +rivers of the Nile are more easily +attainable than were the Tiber and +the Po to our grandfathers. Beyrout +and Latakia will soon be fashionable +watering-places; Baalbec as well +known as Melrose Abbey; and the +excavated ruins of Nimroud will come +under the range of "return tickets." +The grim Arab will look out from +any quiet spot that the all-searching +Cockney may have spared him; and +he will gaze with wonder on the awful +processions of the "devil-goaded" +tourists, as they rush with magic +speed across his wilderness—only to +retrace their steps. The Turk, at the +utmost bounds of the Othman Empire, +will marvel at this new freak of +<i>kismet</i> (destiny;) with a sigh he will +abandon his beloved <i>bockra</i> (the "to-morrow" +in which he loves to live;) +and commending himself to Islam, or +resignation in its most trying form, +he will "jump in" like the mere +Giaours, and be hurled along with +the rest across the desert behind the +Afreet stoker.</p> + +<p>But at present the wilderness knows +nothing of all this, and we have before +us the scenery of other days as +Abram beheld it. We now cross the +Chalus River, and enter upon a +series of vast plains, varied by mysterious +<i>tels</i> or mounds, rising up from +the level surface like bubbles on a +pool. On, or among these, the ever +restless Turkomans pitch their tents, +and welcome the traveller kindly to +their wandering homes. On the third +day from Aleppo we reach Aintab, +on the river Sadschur, "which, fresh +and young, danced brightly on, as if +eager to join the Euphrates and see +the wide world beyond."</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"At Aintab, among other visitors was +Doctor Smith, an American missionary. +He was a well-bred, sensible man, a +clever linguist, and, from all I ever +heard, an earnest and zealous servant +of his heavenly Master. His mission already +shows results which must indeed +be a source of peace to his heart, and +proves that some are allowed even in +this world to reap the fruits of their toil +for the Lord. In that very town, whence +a few years ago he was insulted and +abused, a faithful flock now join in humble +prayers to God; and surely they +pray for him, the instrument of their +salvation. I was much pleased at the +plain unexaggerating way in which he told +the history of his mission.... The +good work has progressed, and he now +has from one hundred and fifty to three +hundred pupils in his school, many the +children of non-converted parents. And +in this year's enrolment—great glory to +our ambassador at Constantinople!—the +Protestants are enrolled as a separate +religious community: the males are two +hundred and odd here.</p> + +<p>"All sects recognised by the Porte are +enrolled separately, as their taxes, &c., +are apportioned by their own heads +(chiefs.)"</p></blockquote> + +<p>Many of the Armenians here have +been converted to the Church of +England, and this has proved to be a +most advantageous change for their +women.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"They are now emancipated from the +bondage they have so long been held in—I +do not mean personal bondage, for +perhaps there is less of it in the East +than in the West—but their whole moral +position has undergone a vast change. +The man is now first taught that the +woman is his best friend; his firmest, +truest companion; his equal in the social +scale, as God made her—a help meet for +him, not a mere piece of household furniture. +The woman is also taught to +reverence the man as her head; thus +imparting that beautiful lesson, 'He for +God only, she for God through him.' +She is also taught perhaps a harder lesson, +a more painful task—to relinquish +all her costly ornaments, when such may +be more usefully employed in trade and +traffic; to consider necessaries more +beautiful than costly clothes or embroidered +suits. Gradually she is allowed +to unite with the man in prayers, which +is permitted by no other sect in the East, +women always having a portion of the +church set apart for them, and the Moslems +praying at different times. May it +please Him who gives and dispenses all +things, to prosper this and all other good +and holy works!... On leaving +Aintab, we passed over the hills that +environ the town, and entered a pretty +valley, through which the Sadschur river +accompanies us. Here, at a small village +called Naringa, we chose a pretty spot<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_727" id="Page_727">[727]</a></span> +under some trees, and pitched our tents. +The horses browsed at our door, the +stream jumped by before us as we took +our evening's repose. And repose it is +to sit thus at the close of a day of travel, +to enjoy the view of the lovely regions +given man to dwell in; to see the various +changes time, circumstances, and religion +have wrought in the family of Adam, +or, as the Arabs say, in the Beni Adam. +It was a lovely evening; and as I reclined +apart from my more gregarious +fellow-travellers, I felt</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'That the night was filled with music,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And the cares that infested the day<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Had folded their tents, like the Arab,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And as silently stolen away.'"<br /></span> +</div></div></blockquote> + +<p>From Naringa our route lies eastward +over low undulated hills, still +marked by frequent <i>tels</i>, generally +surmounted by a village. "Are +these mounds natural, or does man +still fondly cling to the ruined home +of his fathers?" Crossing the river +Kirsan, we arrive at Nezeeb, lying +among vineyards and plantations of +figs, pistachios, and olives, interspersed +with fields of wheat. At this +village the Sultan's forces, 70,000 +strong, were defeated by Ibrahim +Pasha with 45,000 men—a bootless +victory, soon neutralised by a few lines +from our "Foreign Office." On the +6th day after leaving Aleppo, we find +ourselves on the Euphrates, the +<i>Mourad Shai</i>, or "Water of desire."<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a></p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"In all its majesty, it glides beneath +our gaze. It is needless to tell the history +of this river, renowned in the earliest +traditions. Watering the Paradise of +earth, it has been mingled with the fables +of heaven; the Lord gave it in his covenants +unto Abram; Moses, inspired, +preached it in his sermon to the people. +In its waters are bound the four angels, +and, at the emptying of the sixth vial, +its waters will dry up, that the 'way of +the kings of the East may be prepared.' +In every age it has formed a prominent +feature in the diorama of history, flashing +with sunshine, or sluggish and turbid +with blood; and here, on its bank, its +name unchanged, all now is solitude and +quiet.</p> + +<p>"Descending amidst wide burial-grounds, +where here and there a <i>kubbé</i> +sheltered some clay more revered than +the rest, we reached its shores, and +patiently took up our quarters beneath +the shade of a tree, till a boat should +arrive to carry us over. The redoubt, +Fort William, as it was called, of the +Euphrates expedition still remains. In +ancient times four shallows existed where +there were bridges over the Euphrates: +the northernmost at Samosata, now unused; +Rum Kalaat, further south, being +the route frequented; Bir, the khan and +eastern bank of which is called Zeugma, +or the Bridge, to this day; and the +fourth at Thapsacus, the modern Thapsaish, +where Cyrus, Alexander, and +Crassus passed into Mesopotamia. The +Arabs now generally pass here, or else +by fords known only to themselves. +Julian crossed at a place called Menbidjy, +which was probably abreast of +Hierapolis.</p> + +<p>"But what avails to recount individual +cases?—the whole land is history. Near +us is Racca, once the favourite residence +of Aaron the Just. Here he delighted +to spend his leisure—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'Entranced with that place and time,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">So worthy of the golden prime<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of good Haroun Alraschid.'"<br /></span> +</div></div></blockquote> + +<p>We cross the Euphrates to the +town of Bir, and proceed still eastward, +along a flat desert, strewn with +a small-bladed scanty grass, aromatic +flowers, and wormwood. "One +small gleam, like a polished shield or +a dark sward, is all we see of the +mighty river that flows around us. +Every hour of the day changes the +aspect of the desert: now it is wild +and gloomy, as scudding clouds pass +over the sun; now smiling with +maiden sweetness, as the sun shines +out again." Often we pass by the +tented homes of the desert tribes, +with their flocks and herds tended +by busy maidens, now screaming +wildly after their restless charge—now +singing songs as wild, but +sweeter far. Then comes sunset with +its massed clouds of purple, blue, and +gold; the air is full of bleatings as +the flocks all tamely follow their +shepherds home. On the tenth day +after leaving Aleppo, we descend into +a plain covered with some dusty +olive-trees: we come to a hill with a +low wall, and a castle on its summit. +"And this is the Ur of the Chaldees,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_728" id="Page_728">[728]</a></span> +the Edessa of the Romans, the Orfa +of the Arabs. Here God spake to +Abram." From this city, very fruitful +in legends, we reach Haran in six +hours; travelling over a plain strewn +with <i>tels</i> and encampments of the +Koords.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"Perhaps by this very route Abraham +of old and those with him travelled; nor +is it extravagance to say, the family we +now meet may exhibit the exact appearance +that the patriarchs did four thousand +years ago—the tents and pots piled +on the camels; the young children in one +saddle-bag balancing the kids in the +other; the matron astride on the ass; the +maid following modestly behind; the +boys now here, now there; the patriarch +himself on his useful mare, following and +directing the march. As we pass, he +lays his hand on his heart, and says, +'Peace be with you; where are you +going?—Depart in peace.'"</p></blockquote> + +<p>Haran appears to be, without +doubt, the ancient city of Nahor, +where Laban lived, and where Jacob +served for Leah and Rachel. Here, +too, is Rebekah's well, and here our +traveller beheld the very counterpart +of the scene that Eleazar saw when he +sought a bride for his master's son. By +this time our author had so far identified +himself with the desert tribes, their +language, their interests, their enjoyment +of the desert life, and their love +of horses, that he seems to feel, and +almost to speak, in the Arab style. +We have never seen that interesting +people so happily described and so +vividly illustrated. If we had not so +much before us still to investigate, +we would gladly dwell upon the +desert journey from Haran to Tel +Bagdad, and on the raft voyage +thence down the Tigris to Mosul. +One graphic sketch of an Arab sheik +must serve for many: his characteristic +speech contains volumes of +his people's history.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"The young sheik was not, probably, +more than seventeen or eighteen years of +age; handsome, but with that peculiarly +girlish effeminate appearance I have before +mentioned as so frequently found +among the younger aristocracy of the +desert, and so strangely belied by their +character and deeds. He now held my +horse, and, apologising for his father's +temporary absence, welcomed us. The +tent was large and well made. We remained +here smoking and drinking coffee +till the sheik Dahhal arrived. He was +fully dressed in silk—a fine figure of a +man with light clear eyes. Wounds, +received long ago, have incapacitated +him from the free use of his hands, but +report says he can still grasp the rich +dagger at his girdle with a fatal strength +when passion urges him. Though every +feeling was subdued, there showed +through all his mildness the baffled tiger, +whose vengeance would be fearful—he +resembled a netted animal, vainly with +all its cunning seeking to break the +meshes that encompassed him on all +sides.</p> + +<p>"He received us with a hospitality +that seemed natural; his words were +more sonorous, grand, and flowing than +those of any Arab I had before seen. +They reminded me of the pleasure I had +felt in South America in listening to the +language of a true Spaniard, heard amidst +the harsh gutturals of a provincial jargon; +strings of highflown compliments, uttered +with an open, noble mien, that, while it +must please those to whom it is used, +seems but a worthy condescension in him.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6">'He was a man of war and woes;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Yet on his lineaments ye cannot trace,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">While gentleness her milder radiance throws<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Along that aged venerable face,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The deeds that lurk beneath, and stain him with disgrace.'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"If report speaks true, never did there +breathe a truer son of Hagar than Sheik +Dahhal. During his whole life his hand +has been against every man, and every +man's against him. Gaining his social +position with his dagger, he openly endeavoured +to enlarge it by every exercise +of force or fraud. The whole frontier of +Mardin, Nisibis, Mosul, Bagdad, &c., are +his deadly enemies, made so by his acts. +It must be sad in declining years to see +the wreck of a youth thus spent; already +the punishment and repayment are hard +at hand.</p> + +<p>"Successful violence brings temporary +rewards—power, rule, dominion; but for +this he has bartered honour, fame, youth, +conscience: every stake, every ruse, has +been used, and he gains but defeat, disgrace, +and contempt. It must be hard, +very hard, for the proud man to live on +thus. I pitied him, and could feel for +him as he fondled his young son, a lovely +little naked savage, who lay crouching at +his side. He had two or three other +children, all strikingly handsome....</p> + +<p>"We were ultimately obliged to refuse +his escort. 'It is well,' said he, 'whether +you go or stay, all Dahhal has, all his +enemies have left him, is yours.' We +asked him if he saw any change in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_729" id="Page_729">[729]</a></span> +Arab since he remembered: he looked +quietly round at his tents, at his camels +now crowded round them, the flocks lowing +to their homes; his dress, his arms, +and then said, 'No: since the time of +the Prophets—since time was, we are +unchanged; perhaps poorer, perhaps less +hospitable in consequence; but otherwise +unchanged.' He made a very just remark +afterwards: 'Our habits are the +only ones adapted to the country we live +in; they cannot change unless we change +our country: no other life can be lived +here.'"</p></blockquote> + +<p>Our travellers, sending their horses +and servants along the banks of the +Tigris, themselves embarked on board +a raft composed of inflated skins; +and their voyage, after many incidents, +terminated in the following +scene:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"At last the pious true-believing eye +of the boatman detected the minarets of +Mosul over the low land on the right. +On our left was a large temporary village, +built of dried grass, roughly and coarsely +framed; low peaked mountains ahead +broke the steel line of the sky. No sooner +did our boatman detect the minarets, +than he continued his prayers, confiding +the oars to one of the servants. Poor +fellow! it was sad work; for the raft, as +if in revenge for the way he had pulled +her about, kept pertinaciously turning, +and as it bore his Mecca—turned front +to the north, east, or west—he had to +stop his pious invocations, that otherwise +would have been wafted to some useless +bourne; and then, as in the swing she +turned him to the black stone, he had to +hurry on, like sportsmen anxious for +some passing game. Often he rose, but +seemed not satisfied, and again he knelt, +and bowing prayed his Caaba-directing +prayers. This man had not prayed before +during the voyage.</p> + +<p>"At last, over the land appeared a +mud fort hardly distinguishable from the +hill; before it a white-washed dome, a +few straggling buildings—it was Mosul. +Presently an angle is turned, and the +broken ruinous wall of an Eastern town +lies before us."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Mosul is only sixteen days' journey +from Aleppo. Although now invested +with a lasting interest by its connection +with Mr Layard's magnificent discoveries, +it is one of the least attractive +cities of the East. Its neighbourhood, +with the grand exception +of buried Nineveh, and some curious +naphtha springs, is equally devoid of +interest. The huge mound called +Koyunjik, "coverer of cities," lies on +the opposite side of the Tigris, about +two miles from the river. Tel Nimroud, +where the first successful excavations +were made, is about eighteen +miles lower down. It will be remembered +that Mr Rich, a merchant of +Bagdad, first directed attention to +these subterranean treasures nearly +twenty years ago: M. Botta, more +recently, made some energetic attempts +to discover them; but it remained +for our gallant countryman, +Mr Layard, to render his name illustrious +by unveiling the mysteries of +ages, and restoring to light the wonders +of the ancient capital of the +Assyrians. His renown, and still +more his success itself, must be its +own reward; but we fear that in all +other respects the nation is still +deeply in his debt. The capricious +liberalities of our Government with +respect to art are very singular; the +financial dispositions of the British +Museum are still more difficult to explain. +The former does not hesitate +to bestow £2500 on transporting a +pillar from the sea-shore of Egypt to +London, while it only places at Mr +Layard's disposal £3000 for the excavation +of Nineveh and its surrounding +suburbs, eighteen miles in extent—together +with the support and +pay of a numerous staff of artists +and others during eighteen months. +On the other hand, the trustees of +the British Museum, knowing themselves +already to be deeply in Mr +Layard's debt, refuse to further his +great efforts, except by the paltry +(and refused) pittance of £12 a-month; +and, at the same time, they +furnish Colonel Rawlinson with the +sum of £2000 to proceed with excavations +at Koyunjik, (three hundred +miles from his residence,) and at +Susa, which is one-third of the distance. +In the approaching session +of Parliament, we hope that Mr +Layard's services to England and to +art will be more generously appreciated +than they have hitherto been; +and that, at all events, we shall not +be left to labour under the disgrace of +pecuniary debt to that enterprising +gentleman.</p> + +<p>We have now reached our traveller's +goal, and must make brief work<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_730" id="Page_730">[730]</a></span> +of his returning tour, in order to spare +some columns to the consideration of +the Ansayrii, the most important +matter in the work.</p> + +<p>After a residence of some weeks at +Mosul, and at the several neighbouring +excavations, Mr Walpole accompanied +Mr Layard in a tour through +the fastnesses of Koordistan: and +here we must find space for one or +two glimpses at those unknown +regions, and the life that awaits the +traveller there.</p> + +<p>Before we begin to ascend the hill +country, we look back:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"On either side, the mountain falls +away with jut and crag almost perpendicularly +to the plain; at the foot, hills rise +above hills in irregular and petulant +ranges, like a stormy sea when the wind +is gone, and nothing save its memory +remains, lashing the waves with restless +motion. Westward lies the vast plain, +its surface broken by the mounds of imperial +cities long passed away.</p> + +<p>"One moment the eye rests on the Tigris +as it glides its vast volume by; then, out +upon the plain, the desert broken by the +range of Singar, again on to distance +where earth and air mingle imperceptibly +together. To the south, over a varied +land, is Mosul, the white glare of its +mosque glistening in the sun; to the south +and east, a sea of hills, wave after wave, +low and irregular. The Zab, forcing its +way, takes a tortuous course to its companion; +farther on, they join their waters, +and run together to the vast worlds of +the south. Beyond are Arbela and the +Obeid. Kara Chout and its crags shut +out the view, passing many a spot graven +on the pages of the younger world.</p> + +<p>"What a blank in history is there +around those vast cities, now brought to +light! A few vague traditions, a few +names whose fabulous actions throw discredit +on their existence, are all that +research has discovered. Even the nations +following after these we know but +dimly—tradition, garlanded by poetry, +our only guide.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'Belshazzar's grave is made,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">His kingdom passed away;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He in the balance weighed,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Is light and worthless clay.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The shroud his robe of state;<br /></span> +<span class="i2">His canopy the stone;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The Mede is at his gate,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The Persian on his throne.'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"Fancy conjures up to the south a +small and compact body of Greeks: around +them, at a distance, like vultures round +a struggling carcase, hover bands of +cavalry. Now, as a gap opens, they +rush on; now, as the ranks close up, they +melt away, shooting arrows as they fly, +vengeful in their cowardice—it is the +retreat of Xenophon and his gallant +band. They encamp at Nimroud—as in +his yesterday, so in our to-day, a mound +smothering its own renown.</p> + +<p>"Northward again comes a mighty +band: with careful haste they cross the +rivers, and with confident step traverse +the plain south. On the south-east plain, +a legion of nations, golden, glittering, +yet timorous, await their approach. +Alexander, the hero, scatters dismay: +assured of conquest ere he met the foe, +he esteems the pursuit the only difficulty. +On the one side, Asia musters her nations—Indians, +Syrians, Albanians, and Bactrians—the +hardiest population of her +empire. Elephants and war-chariots are +of no avail: the result was fore-written, +and Darius foremost flies along the plain.</p> + +<p>"Faint, afar, we can see in the north-west +Lucullus; and the arms of Rome +float over the walls of Nisibis, (<small>B.C.</small> 68.) +We may almost see the glorious array of +Julian; hear him subduing his mortal +pain; hear him pronounce, with well-modulated +tones, one of the finest orations +the world can record. We may +see the timid Jovian skulking in his +purple from the field he dared not defend +in his armour. But again rise up the +legions and the Labarum: Heraclius +throws aside his lethargy; the earth +drinks deep of gore, and Khosroo<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> is +vanquished under our eyes.</p> + +<p>"The white and the black banners now +gleam upon the field; the crescent flaunts +on either side. One God, one faith—they +fight for nought. Hell for the +coward, paradise for the brave. Abou +Moslem and Merwan. The earth, on the +spot which had last drunk the red life-blood +of Greek and Persian, now slakes +its fill. Merwan flies with wondrous +steps, but the avenger follows fast. He +first loses his army on the Tigris; himself +dies on the banks of the Nile: there +perished the rule of the Ommiades.</p> + +<p>"The hordes of Timour now approach: +their war-song ought to be the chorus of +the spirits of destiny in <em>Manfred</em>—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'Our hands contain the hearts of men,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Our footsteps are their graves;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">We only give to take again<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The spirits of our slaves.'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"What a different aspect must this +plain have presented when those sun-burnt<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_731" id="Page_731">[731]</a></span> +mysterious mounds were living, +teeming, sinning cities; irrigated, cultivated, +protected, safe; fruitful and productive! +And these were barbarous +times; and now, in this our day, peace-congresses, +civilisation, one vast federal +union, liberty, equality;—a few villages +fortified as castles, a population flying +without a hope of even a death-spot in +peace—fearful alike of robbers and +rulers, robbed alike by protectors and +enemies, planting the harvest they may +not reap; a government seizing what +the roving Arabs choose to leave; law +known but as oppression; authority a +license to plunder; government a resident +extortioner.</p> + +<p>"Too long have we lingered on the +scene. Again the plain is naked, bare, +and lifeless; the sun hovers on the +horizon—he gilds the desert, licks the +river; the desert breaks his glorious +disc. Slowly, like the light troops +covering a retreat, he collects his rays; +with fondness lights up each hill; warms +with his smile, lighting with unnumbered +tints each peak and crag of hold +desert-throned Singar. Reluctantly he +hovers for a moment on the horizon's +verge, large, fearful, red; then</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'The sun's rim dips, the stars rush out;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">At one stride comes the dark.'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"Near the convent is a dripping well; +a rough path leads us to it, and its +entrance is shaded by a gigantic tree. +The water is very cold and sweet; the +moisture shed a coolness around, that +made an exquisite retreat. Near it is a +cave which in days of persecution sheltered +securely many of the poor fugitive +Christians. The destruction of most of +the convents about these mountains and +on this plain is imputed to Tamerlane; +but in our own time Sheik Mattie was +attacked by the Koords; its fathers were +slain, beaten, and dispersed; and the +dust of long ages of bishops scattered +to the winds. They still show in the +church the tombs of Mar Halveus and +Abou Faraf, which they say escaped +the observation of the destroyer. The +inscription of one we were able to +decipher; but another resisted even the +efforts of the scholar then resident at +the convent. We in vain tried many +learned men, but the inscription defies +all investigation.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'Chaldea's seers are good,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">But here they have no skill;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And the unknown letters stood,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Untold and mystic still.'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"We now made straight for Sheik +Mattie, whose green gorge we could +discover high up the face of the mountain. +The plain was a succession of low +hills all brown with the summer; here +and there a Koord village with its cultivated +fields, cucumbers, and cool melons. +The villages west of the river are +nearly all Christian, but on to-day's +ride we passed two Koordish ones. At +one we halted, and regaled ourselves and +horses on the fruit they pressed on us.</p> + +<p>"The old sheik came out, followed by +two men with felts; these were spread +in the cool, and we made kief. He +begged the loan of Zea, (my Albanian +greyhound,) whom he praised beyond +measure for his extreme beauty, to kill +hares. To hear him talk, his complaints +of game, of fields, hares destroyed, &c., I +could have believed myself once more in +England, but that he closed each sentence +with "It is God's will; His will be +done," and such like holy words. His +long, wide, graceful robes also brought +one back to the East, to poetry and to +romance."</p></blockquote> + +<p>And here we find less happy accidents +in a traveller's life, which must +not pass unremembered.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"At first, one of the greatest privations +I experienced in Eastern travel, +and one that half did away with the +pleasure derived from it, was the want of +privacy; and one can fully understand +(as probably centuries have produced but +little change in their habits) the expression +in the Bible, of our Saviour retiring +apart to pray; for, in the East, privacy +is a word unknown. Families live in +one room; men, women, sons, daughters, +sons' wives, &c., and may be said never +to be alone. This at first annoyed me, +but habit is second nature. As soon as +the traveller arrives he has visits; all +the world crowd to see him; the thousand +nameless things one likes to do +after a tedious hot journey must be done +in public. Before you are up they are +there; meals, all, there they are; and +there is nothing for it but to proceed just +as if the privacy was complete....</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Friday</span>, 12th—I rose as well as +usual: on one side of the tent lay the +Doctor, dead beat; under one flap +which constitutes a separate room, Abdallah +perfectly insensible: the cook lay +behind on a heap of horse-cloths, equally +stricken. I sat down to write in the air: +finding the flies annoyed me, I read, fell +asleep, and remember nothing save a +great sensation of pain and weariness for +two days. It seemed as if a noise awoke +me; it was early morning, and Mr +Layard stood before me. Poor fellow! +he had learned how to treat the fever by +bitter, almost fatal, personal experience;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_732" id="Page_732">[732]</a></span> +and now he dosed us and starved us, till +all but Abdallah were out of danger, at +all events.</p> + +<p>"It is curious how soon people of warm +climates,—or, in fact, I may say,—all +uneducated people, succumb to sickness. +Hardy fellows, apparently as strong as +iron: when attacked they lie down, +wrap a coat or cloak around them, and +resign themselves to suffer. It would +seem that the mind is alone able to rise +superior to disease: their minds, uncultivated, +by disuse weak, or in perfect +alliance with the body, cease to exist +when its companion falls. In intellectual +man the mind is the last to succumb: +long after the poor weak body has +yielded, the mind holds out like a well-garrisoned +citadel: it refuses all surrender, +and, though the town is taken, +fights bravely till the last."</p></blockquote> + +<p>And now one glimpse at Koordistan +and the beautiful and mysterious +Lake Van, which lies hidden in its +deepest recesses.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"We now journeyed on through +strange regions, where Frank had never +wandered. We saw the Koords as they +are best seen, free in their own magnificent +mountains;—not "the ass," as the +Turk calls him, "of the plains." Mahomet +Pasha, son of the little standard-bearer, +and Pasha of Mosul was requested +to provide for its defence by the consuls, +and to attempt by better rule the civilisation +of the Arabs. He replied:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'Erkekler Densige<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Allar genisig<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Kurytar Donsig<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Devekler Yoolarsig.'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"'What can I do with people whose +men have no religion, whose women are +without drawers, their horses without +bits, and their camels without halters?'</p> + +<p>"Thus we wandered over many miles, +plains spreading between their fat mountains, +splendid in their grandeur; now +amidst pleasant valleys anon over giant +passes—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i14">——'Dim retreat,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For fear and melancholy meet;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where rocks were rudely heaped and rent,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As by a spirit turbulent;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where sights were rough, and sounds were wild,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And everything unreconciled.'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"My health after this gradually got +worse: repeated attacks of fever, brought +on probably by my own carelessness, +weakened me so much that I could +scarcely keep up with the party. Riding +was an agony, and, by the carelessness of +my servant, my horses were ruined. +One evening an Abyssinian, one of my +attendants, went so far as to present a +pistol at my head. My poor dear dog, +too, was lost, which perhaps afflicted me +more than most ills which could happen +to myself. At last we passed over a +ridge, and Lake Van lay before us. We +had, perhaps, been the first Europeans +who had performed the journey. The +last and only other of which we have any +record was poor Professor Schultz, who +was murdered by order of Khan Mahmoud +for the baggage he unfortunately +displayed. The Khan received him kindly, +entertained him with hospitality, and +despatched him on his road with a guard +who had their instructions to murder +him on the way. He was an accurate +and capable traveller, a native of Hesse, +and travelling for the French government.</p> + +<p>"The morning of the 3d of August saw +us passing up a most lovely valley, the +Vale of Sweet Waters. We had encamped +in it the night before. Leaving +its pretty verdure, we mounted a long +range of sun-burnt hills covered with +sun-dried grass and <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">immortelles</i>, whose +immortality must have been sorely tried +on that sun-exposed place. Achieving a +pass, we gained our view of Van. The +scene was worthy of Stanfield in his best +mood. Before us, on the north-east, +brown, quaintly-shaped hills, variegated +with many tints, filled the view of the +far horizon. From this a plain led to the +lake; around it were noble mountains, +snow and cloud clad—their beauty enhanced +by the supervening water. Saphan +Dagh, with a wreath of mist and cap of +spotless snow, seen across the sea was +imposing—I might say, perfect.</p> + +<p>"The plain on the eastern coast spread +out broad and fair: here verdant meadows, +there masses of fruit-laden trees; +while between the mass wandered the +mountain streams, hastening on to their +homes in the fair bosom of the lake. +Van itself swept round its castle, which +stands on a curious rock that rises abruptly +from the plain; but the lake, indeed, +was the queen of the view—blue as the far +depth of ocean, yet unlike the ocean—so +soft, so sweet, so calm was its surface. On +its near coast, bounded by silver sands, +soft and brilliant; while its far west +formed the foot of Nimrod Dagh, on +whose lofty crest are said to be a lake +and a castle....</p> + +<p>"The waters of the lake have lately +been analysed, so the curious substance +found floating on its surface, and used +as soap, will be accounted for: it is sold +in the bazaars. At present there are but +three small boats or launches on the +lake, and even these can hardly find trade<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_733" id="Page_733">[733]</a></span> +enough to remunerate them. Their principal +occupation is carrying passengers +to the towns on the coast."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Mr Layard remained at Lake Van in +order to copy some inscriptions; but +Mr Walpole was induced to penetrate +northward as far as Patnos, where no +European had yet been seen. Here +his enterprise was rewarded by the +view of some magnificent scenery, +and the more important discovery of +some cuneiform, and many ancient +Armenian inscriptions. These were +forwarded by our traveller to Mr +Layard, and will doubtless appear in +his forthcoming work.<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> But we must +now leave Koordistan, recommending +the perusal of Mr Walpole's chapter +on the Christians of Lake Van, and +their beautiful and mysterious inland +sea, to all who love to picture to +themselves strange lands and wild +adventure. We return by way of +Erzeroum, Trebizond, the shores of +the Black Sea, and Sansoun, to Constantinople; +thence to Latakia; and +here we find ourselves within view of +the mountains of the mysterious +Ansayrii and Ismaylis.</p> + +<p>In the title of this work is revived +a subject of very ancient interest. +The Ansayrii, or Nassairi, or Assassins, +are a singularly surviving +relic of the followers of the Old Man +of the Mountain, so celebrated in the +history of the Crusades.<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> Historians +have fallen into a great mistake in +supposing this Order to have been a +hereditary dynasty, or to have embraced +a nation. Originally it was +simply an Order, like that of the +Templars. Like them the members +wore white garments set off with +crimson, typifying innocence and +blood. The policy of both was to +obtain possession of strong places, +and by terror to keep the surrounding +nations in subjection. The Assassins +succeeded in this object so far as +to dictate their will to several Sultans, +many Viziers, and innumerable +minor authorities. When the Sultan +of the Seljuks sent an ambassador to +the Old Man of the Mountain, demanding +his submission, the following +well-known circumstance took +place:—"The chief said to one of his +followers, 'Stab thyself!' To another +he said, 'Throw thyself from the +battlements!' Before he had ceased +to speak his disciples had obeyed +him, and lay dead, not only willing +but eager martyrs to their faith. +The chief then turning to the envoy, +said, 'Take what thou hast seen for +thine answer. I am obeyed by +seventy thousand such men as these.'" +The founder of this terrible sect was +Hassan Ben Sahab. He was a "Dai," +or master-missionary, from the +Secret Lodge established at Cairo, +(about 1004 <small>A.D.</small>), in order to sap +and overthrow the Caliphat of Abbas, +and establish that of the Fatimites. +Hassan gave promise of greatness in +his youth, became a favourite of the +Melekshah, was banished from court +by the intrigues of a rival, and took +refuge at Ispahan. Here he became +initiated in the voluptuous and atheistical +doctrines of the Ismailis, and +was sent to Egypt, to the Caliph +Mostansur, as a preacher and promulgator +of that atrocious creed. He +was banished from the Egyptian +court also, and cast ashore in Syria.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_734" id="Page_734">[734]</a></span> +After a variety of adventures in the +course of his travels from Aleppo +through Persia, he at length obtained +possession of the fortress of AlamÃ…t,<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> +near Khaswin. Here he remained +for the remainder of his life, never +leaving the castle, and only twice +moving from his own apartment to +the terrace during a period of thirty-eight +years. Here he perfected, in +mystery and deep seclusion, his +diabolical doctrines, and soon sent +"Dais," or missionaries, of his own +into all lands. The secret society of +which he was the head contained +several grades, embracing the initiated, +the aspirant, and the devoted—mere +executioners or tools of higher +intelligences.<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> The grand-master +was called Sidna (Sidney) "our +lord;" and more commonly Sheik +el Djebel, the Sheik or Old Man of +the Mountain, because the Order +always possessed themselves of the +castles in mountainous regions in +Irak, Kuhistan, and Syria. The Old +Man, robed in white, resided always +in the mountain fort of AlamÃ…t. +There he maintained himself against +all the power of the Sultan, until at +length the daggers of his Fedavie, or +devoted followers, freed him from his +most active enemies, and appalled the +others into quiescence. AlamÃ…t was +now called "the abode of Fortune," +and all the neighbouring strongholds +submitted to the Ancient of the +Mountain. The Assassins were proscribed +in all civilised communities, +and the dagger and the sword +found constant work on their own +professors. The Assassins, however, +like the Indian Thugs, depraved all +societies, in all sorts of disguises. At +one time the courtiers of a Caliph +being solemnly invoked, with a promise +of pardon and impunity, five +chamberlains stepped forward, and +each showed the dagger, which only +waited an order from the Old Man +to plunge into the heart of any human +being it could reach. By such agency +Hassan kept entire empires in a +state of revolution and carnage. +From his remote fortress he made +his influence felt and feared to the +extreme confines of Khorassan and +Syria. And thence, too, he propagated +the still more infernal engines of his +authority, his catechisms of atheism +and licentiousness—"Nothing is +true; all things are permitted to the +initiated." Such was the foundation +of his creed.</p> + +<p>This villain died tranquilly in his +bed, having survived to the age of +ninety. His spiritual and temporal +power was continued with various +vicissitudes through a long succession +of impostors, the dagger still maintaining +its mysterious and inevitable +agency. The list of the best, and some +of the most powerful, of Oriental +potentates who perished by it, swells, +as the history of the Order proceeds, +to an incredible extent. During all +this time the fundamental maxim of +the creed, which separates the secret +doctrines of the initiated from the +public tenets of the people, was preserved. +These last were (and now +are, according to Mr Walpole) held +to the strictest injunctions of Mahometanism. +The East did not detect +the motive power of the Assassins' +chief: they only saw the poniard +strike those who had offended the +envoy of the invisible Imam, who was +soon to arrive in power and glory, and +to assert his dominion over earth. In +the Crusades, the hand of the Assassins +is traced in the fate of Raymond +of Tripoli—perhaps in that of the +Marquis of Montferrat—and in many +meaner instances. At that period +the numbers of people openly professing +the creed is stated by William +of Tyre at sixty thousand; and by +James, Bishop of Alla, at forty thousand. +At this day Mr Walpole estimates +the number of the Ansayrii +at forty thousand fighting men, including +Ismaylis. These numbers +are to be understood, however, in +former times, as well as in the present, +to comprise the whole sect, and +not merely the executioners, who +always formed a very small proportion, +and are now probably extinct. +The Old Man is no longer recognised, +so far as can be ascertained, among +the mountains, (where, as usual in +other parts of Syria, the patriarchal +form prevails;) and the strange creed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_735" id="Page_735">[735]</a></span> +that their ancestors held, together +with a singular recklessness of life, +alone remains to mark their descent. +Concerning this creed we are referred +by Mr Walpole to some discoveries +which he intends to publish in a +future volume. We must confess to +considerable disappointment in the +meagre information that is here afforded +to us on the subject, especially +after our expectations have +been raised by such a preface as the +following:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"Alone, without means, without +powers to buy or bribe, I have penetrated +a secret, the enigma of ages—have +dared alone to venture where none +have been—where the government, with +five hundred soldiers, could not follow; +and, better than all, I have gained esteem +among the race condemned as savages, +and feared as robbers and <small>ASSASSINS</small>."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Nevertheless, our author has told +us a good deal that is new and interesting +about the Ansayrii, as will be +seen from our extracts.</p> + +<p>The Ismaylis, concerning whose +woman-worship and peculiar habits +such strange stories have been whispered, +live among the southern mountains +of the Ansayrii. They amount +only to five thousand souls, and appear +to be a different tribe, (probably +Arab,) grafted upon them, and gradually, +by superior vigour, possessing +themselves of the strongest places in +the mountains. These people hold a +creed quite distinct from the Ansayrii, +among whom they dwell; and the extraordinary +prayer, or address used by +them seems fully to bear out the long-questioned +assertion of their aphrodisial +worship.</p> + +<p>Marco Polo<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> was the first to furnish +some curious accounts of the Ansayrii, +and of the discipline and catechism +of the Fedavie: we hope that +Mr Walpole, in his promised volume, +will add to the many vindications +which that brave old traveller has received +from time to time. But at +the sack of AlamÃ…t, in 1257, all the +Assassins' books (except the Koran) +were burned as impious; and all that +now remains of their doctrines must +be traditional. We have dwelt thus +long on the Ansayrii in order to display +the interest that belongs to that +secluded and mysterious people, and +the importance of any novel intelligence +respecting them. Before we +proceed to illustrate their country +from Mr Walpole's volumes, we must +find space for some account of the +manner in which the initiation of the +Assassins is said to have been performed. +The two great strongholds +of the Order were the castle of AlamÃ…t +in Irak, and that of Massiat near +Latakia in the Lebanon. These fortresses, +stern and impregnable in +themselves, are said to have been +surrounded with exquisite gardens, +enclosed from all vulgar gaze by +walls of immense height. These +gardens were filled with the most +delicate flowers and delicious fruits. +Streams flowed, and fountains +sparkled brightly, through the grateful +gloom of luxuriant foliage. Bowers +of roses, and porcelain-paved kiosks, +and carpets from the richest looms of +Persia, invited to repose the senses +heavy with luxury. Circassian girls, +bright as the houris of Paradise, served +the happy guests with golden goblets +of Schiraz wine, and glances yet more +intoxicating. The music of harps, and +women's sweetest voices, sent fascination +through the ear as well as eyes. +Everything breathed rapture and sensuality, +intensified by seclusion and +deep calm. The youth, where energy +and courage seemed to qualify him for +the office of <i>fedavie</i>, was invited to the +table of the grand-master, (at Irak,) +or the grand-prior, (at Massiat.) He +was there intoxicated with the +maddening, yet delightful <i>hashishe</i>. +In his insensible state he was transported +to the garden, which, he was +told, was Paradise, and which he was +too ready to take for the scene of +eternal delight, as he revelled in all +the pleasure that Eastern voluptuousness +could devise. He was there lulled +into sleep once more, and then transported +back to the grand-master's +side. As he awoke, numbers of uninitiated +youths were admitted to hear +his account of the Paradise which the +power of the Old Man had permitted +him to taste. And thus tools were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_736" id="Page_736">[736]</a></span> +found and formed for the execution +of the wildest projects. That glimpse +of Paradise for ever haunted the +inflamed imagination of the novices, +and any death appeared welcome that +could restore them to such joys.</p> + +<p>Such is the theory of this singular +people, as maintained by Von Hammer, +which it remains for future discoveries—now +that Mr Walpole has +opened the way for them—to vindicate +or refute. There are also some +remnants of the Persian tribes of this +people, an account of which, by Mr +Badger, we are informed, is soon to +appear: the Syrians scarcely know of +their existence. The Syrian Ansayrii +amount, as we have said, including +Ismaylis, to about forty thousand +souls: they have always preserved +their seclusion inviolate; setting at +nought the various tyrannies that have +harassed the neighbouring states, +denying the authority of the Sultan, +and blaspheming the Prophet, while +they outwardly conform to his rites. +They occupy the northernmost range +of the Lebanon, from Tortosa and +Latakia, as far as Adana.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding Von Hammer's +elaborate and ingenious theory, many +(amongst whom is our author) have +seemed disposed to treat the whole story +of the Assassins, and the Old Man +of the Mountain himself, as myths. +It was, they say, the sort of romance +that the Crusaders would have lent +a ready ear to, and that their troubadours +would have made the most +of. They deny the existence of the +powerful hill fortresses surrounded +by the intoxicating gardens; they +point to the renowned Syrian castle +of El Massiat, whose ruins occupy +a space of only one hundred yards +square, and in whose vaulted stables +there is an inscription purporting +that the castle was "the work of +Roostan the Mameluke."</p> + +<p>Mr Walpole, however, does not +enter into any controversy respecting +this strange people. Of the little that +he has confided in his present two +volumes to the public, the following +extracts must be taken as an instalment:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"The Ansayrii nation—for such it +is—being capable of mustering forty +thousand warriors able to bear arms, +is divided into two classes—sheiks +and people; the sheiks again into two—Sheiks +or Chiefs of Religion, Sheik el +Maalem, and the temporal Sheiks, or +Sheiks of Government; these being generally +called Sheik el Zullom, or +Sheiks of Oppression. These latter, +though some of them are of good families, +are not so generally: having gained +favour with government, they have received +the appointment. Others there +are, however, whose families have held +it for many generations—such as Shemseen +Sultan, Sheik Succor, &c. The +sheiks of religion are held as almost +infallible, and the people pay them the +greatest respect. With regard to the +succession, there seems to be no fixed +rule: the elder brother has, however, +rule over the rest; but then I have seen +the son the head of the family while the +father was living.</p> + +<p>"The sheik of religion enjoys great +privileges: as a boy he is taught to read +and write; he is marked from his fellows +from very earliest childhood, by a white +handkerchief round his head. Early as +his sense will admit, he is initiated into +the principles of his faith: in this he +is schooled and perfected. Early he is +taught that death, martyrdom, is a glorious +reward; and that, sooner than +divulge one word of his creed, he is to +suffer the case in which his soul is +enshrined to be mangled or tortured in +any way. Frequent instances have been +known where they have defied the +Turks, who have threatened them with +death if they would not divulge, saying, +'Try me; cut my heart out, and see if +anything is within there.' During his +manhood he is strictly to conform to his +faith: this forbids him not only eating +certain things at any time, but eating +at all with any but chiefs of religion; +or eating anything purchased with +unclean money;—and the higher sheiks +carry this to such an extent that they +will only eat of the produce of their own +grounds; they will not even touch water, +except such as they deem pure and clean. +Then the sheik must exercise the most +unbounded hospitality; and, after death, +the people will build him a tomb, (a +square place, with a dome on the top,) +and he will be revered as a saint.</p> + +<p>"The lower classes are initiated into +the principles of their religion, but not +into its more mystical or higher parts: +they are taught to obey their chiefs +without question, without hesitation, and +to give to them abundantly at feasts +and religious ceremonies: above all, even +the uninitiated is to die a thousand +deaths sooner than betray his faith.</p> + +<p>"In their houses, which, as I have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_737" id="Page_737">[737]</a></span> +before said, are poor, dirty, and wretched, +they place two small windows over the +door. This is in order that, if a birth +and death occur at the same moment, +the coming and the parting spirit may +not meet. In rooms dedicated to hospitality +several square holes are left, so +that each spirit may come or depart +without meeting another.</p> + +<p>"Like the Mahometans, they practise +the rite of circumcision, performing it +at various ages, according to the precocity +of the child. The ceremony is +celebrated, as among the Turks, with +feasting and music. This, they say, is +not a necessary rite, but a custom derived +from ancient times, and they +should be Christians if they did not do it. +This is the same among the Mahometans, +who are not enjoined by their prophet +to do so, but received the rite from +of old.<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a></p> + +<p>"When a candidate is pronounced ready +for initiation, his tarboosh is removed, +and a white cloth wrapped round his head. +He is then conducted into the presence of +the sheiks of religion. The chief proceeds +to deliver a lecture, cautioning him +against ever divulging their great and +solemn secret. 'If you are under the +sword, the rope, or the torture, die, and +smile—you are blessed.' He then kisses +the earth three times before the chief, +who continues telling him the articles of +their faith. On rising, he teaches him a +sign, and delivers three words to him. +This completes the first lesson.</p> + +<p>"At death, the body is washed with +warm soap and water, wrapped in white +cloths, and laid in the tomb. Each person +takes a handful of earth, which is +placed on the body; then upright stones, +one at the feet, one at the head, one in +the middle, are placed. The one in the +middle is necessary. They have the +blood-feud—the Huck el Dum. In war, +blood is not reckoned; but if one man +kills another of a different tribe, all the +tribe of the slayer pay an equal sum to +the tribe of the slain—generally one +thousand six hundred piastres, (L.15.)</p> + +<p>"In marriage, a certain price is agreed +on. One portion goes to the father, +another to supply dress and things necessary +for the maiden. This will vary much, +according to the wealth of the bridegroom +and the beauty or rank of the +bride. It is generally from two hundred +to seven hundred or a thousand piastres +(L.1, 15s. 6d. to L.9, 10s.) Sometimes a +mare, a cow, or a donkey, merely, is given +for her. The bridegroom has then to +solicit the consent of the <i>hirce</i>, or owner +of the bride's village, who will generally +extort five hundred piastres, or more, +before he will give a permission of marriage.</p> + +<p>"The price being settled, and security +given for its payment, the friends of the +bridegroom mount on the top of the house +armed with sticks. The girl's friends +pass her in hastily to avoid their blows. +The bridegroom enters, and beats her +with a stick or back of a sword, so that +she cries: these cries must be heard without. +All then retire, and the marriage +is concluded.</p> + +<p>"They are allowed four wives. The +marriage ceremony is simple, and divorce +not permitted. If one of these four wives +die, they are permitted to take another. +Generally, they have little affection for +their wives—treating them rather as useful +cattle than as rational creatures. +They never teach women the smallest +portion of their faith. They are jealously +excluded from all religious ceremonies; +and, in fact, are utterly denied creed, +prayers, or soul. Many here have told +me that the women themselves believe in +this; and do not, as one would fancy, +murmur at such an exclusive belief.</p> + +<p>"The Ansayrii are honest in their +dealings, and none can accuse them of +repudiation or denying a sum they owe.... +They regard Mahomet el +Hamyd as the prophet of God, and thus +use the Mussulman confession—'La illa +ill Allah, Mahomet el Hamyd, Resoul e +nebbi Allah;' but they omit all this +when before Mahometans, saying merely, +'There is no God but God, and Mahomet +is the prophet of God.' Otherwise, they +say, 'There is no God but Ali, and Mahomet +el Hamyd, the Beloved, is the +prophet of God.'</p> + +<p>"I do not intend here to enter into +their belief more fully; but it is a most +confused medley—a unity, a trinity, a +deity. 'These are five; these five are +three; these three are two; these two, +these three, these five—one.'</p> + +<p>"They believe in the transmigration of +souls. Those who in this life do well, +are hospitable, and follow their faith, +become stars; the souls of others return +to the earth, and become Ansayrii again, +until, purified, they fly to rest. The +souls of bad men become Jews, Christians, +and Turks; while the souls of +those who believe not, become pigs and +other beasts. One eve, sitting with a +dear old man, a high sheik—his boys +were round him—I said, 'Speak: where<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_738" id="Page_738">[738]</a></span> +are the sons of your youth? these are the +children of your old age.'—'My son,' he +said, looking up, 'is there: nightly he +smiles on me, and invites me to come.'</p> + +<p>"They pray five times a day, saying +several prayers each time, turning this +way or that, having no keblah. If a +Christian or Turk sees them at their devotions, +the prayers are of no avail. At +their feasts, they pray in a room closed +and guarded from the sight or ingress of +the uninitiated.</p> + +<p>"This will give a general outline of +the faith and customs of the Ansayrii. +My intercourse with them was on the +most friendly footing, and daily a little +was added to my stock of information. +Let me, however, warn the traveller +against entering into argument with +them, or avowing, through the dragoman, +any knowledge of their creed. They are +as ready and prompt to avenge as they +are generous and hospitable to protect. +To destroy one who deceives them on +this point is an imperative duty; and I +firmly believe they would do it though +you took shelter on the divan of the +Sultan. For myself, the risk is passed: +I have gone through the ordeal, and owe +my life several times to perfect accident."</p></blockquote> + +<p>To this long extract we shall only +add, that a good deal of additional +light is indirectly thrown upon this +singular people throughout the whole +of the third volume of Mr Walpole's +work. It is the best written, as well +as the most important, of the series; +it abounds in humour, anecdote, +originality, and in no small degree of +curious research.</p> + +<p>And now, it only remains for us to +bid our entertaining fellow-traveller +heartily farewell. Although, especially +in the first volume, we have +felt disposed to quarrel with his style +occasionally, we have found his good-humour, +his thoughtful sentiment, and +his reckless wit, at last irresistible. +His very imperfections often prove +his fidelity, and his apparent contradictions +his innate truthfulness. We +commend to him a little more study +of the art of composition, and a good +deal more care; but we shall consider +ourselves fortunate when we meet +with another author of as many faults, +if they are atoned for by as many +merits.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_739" id="Page_739">[739]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>THE CHAMPIONS OF THE RAIL.</h2> + +<p><cite>A History of the English Railway: its Social Relations and Revelations.</cite> By <span class="smcap">John +Francis</span>. 2 vols. London.</p> + + +<p>A good many years ago, a late +correspondent and writer in this +Magazine, Dr M'Nish of Glasgow, +published a work entitled <cite>The Anatomy +of Drunkenness</cite>. The book was +an excellent one: most perfect in its +portraiture of the different phenomena +which accompany and succeed a debauch; +and in the hands of a regular +tee-totaller, it was undeniably worth +some reams of vapid sermons. The +preacher, who never, we are bound +to believe, had experienced the vinous +or spirituous excitement in his own +person, was enabled from it to hold +forth, with all the unction of reality, +to his terrified audience, upon the +awful effects of intemperance. Old +ladies, who rarely in their lives had +transgressed beyond a second glass of +weak negus at some belated party, +when whist or commerce had been +suggested to while away the weary +hours, listened to the warnings of the +gifted apostle of temperance, and hied +them home in the tremendous conviction +that they had only escaped, by +the merest miracle, the horrors of +<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">delirium tremens</i>. Dyspeptic gentlemen +were rendered wretched, as they +reflected that, for years past, they +had been accustomed to wash down +their evening Finnan haddock, or +moderate board of oysters, with a +pint of Younger's prime ale, or, mayhap, +a screeching tumbler. The +enormity of their offence became +visible to their eyes, and they incontinently +conceived amendment.</p> + +<p>But we doubt very much whether +the <cite>Anatomy</cite> would have been pleasant +reading to a gentleman who overnight +had imbibed "not wisely but too well." +How could he bear to be told, not only +of the sensations of the previous evening, +minutely traced through the gradations +of each consecutive decanter, +but of the state of thirst and unnatural +discomfort to which he was presently +a victim? Would it relieve his headach +to assure him that, after swallowing +three bottles of claret, most men +are apt to be out of sorts? Could he, +the sufferer, derive any assuagement +of his pains by knowing—if he did +not know it already—that unlimited +brandy and water, however agreeable +during consumption, was clearly prejudicial +to the nerves? Sermons may +come too soon. The sufferer ought +to be allowed at least a day or two to +recover, before his offence is laid +before him in all its huge deformity. +Give him time to be ashamed of himself. +A man's own conscience is his +best accuser; and, unless the vice +be absolutely inherent, or totally +beyond the hope of remedy, his own +misery will be more likely to effect a +cure than any amount of philosophical +dissertations upon its nature.</p> + +<p>These thoughts have been irresistibly +suggested to us by a perusal of +the two ponderous tomes of Mr +Francis, entitled, <cite>A History of the +English Railway: its Social Relations +and Revelations</cite>. A more unfortunate +kind of apocalypse could hardly have +been hazarded at the present time. +Most people are tolerably well aware, +without the aid of Mr Francis, of the +changes in social relations which have +been worked by the British railway; +and as for revelations, a good many +would give a trifle to have these +entirely suppressed. We have not +yet arrived at the time when the +history of the "'45" of this century +can be calmly or dispassionately +written. Too many of us, still remanent +here, have burned our fingers, +and too many of our kith and kin +have been sent to exile, in consequence +of that notable enterprise. Since +the standard was last unfurled in the +vale of Glenmutchkin, a considerable +number of the population have been +bitten by the sod, if they did not +literally bite it. That system of +turning over turfs, by the aid of silver +spades and mahogany wheelbarrows, +was more fatal to the peace of families +than the accumulation of any number +of Celtic bagpipers whatever. It +was a grand interment of capital. +Who has forgotten the misery of those<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_740" id="Page_740">[740]</a></span> +times, when letters of railway calls +arrived punctually once a quarter? +Two pound ten per share might be a +moderate instalment; but if you were +the unfortunate holder of a hundred +shares, you had better have been +boarded with a vampire. Repudiation, +though a clear Christian duty to yourself +and your family, was utterly +impossible. It mattered not that the +majority of the original committeemen +and directors had bolted; you, +the subscriber, were tied to the stake. +The work was begun, the contracts +opened, and money must be had at all +hazards and sacrifices. You found +yourself in the pitiable situation of an +involuntary philanthropist. Threescore +hulking Irish navvies were daily +fed, liquored, and lodged at your +expense. Your dwindling resources +were torn from you, to make the fortunes +of engineers and contractors. +So long as you had a penny, or a +convertible equivalent, you were +forced to surrender it. Your case +was precisely similar to that of the +Jew incarcerated in the vaults beneath +the royal treasury of King John. One +by one all your teeth were drawn. If +you managed to survive the extraction +of the last grinder, and to behold the +opening of the line, your position was +not one whit improved. Dividend +of course there was none. That +awful and mysterious item of charge, +"working expenses," engulfed nearly +the whole revenue. What was over +went to pay interest on preference +debentures. That gallant body of +men, the directors, laid before you, +with the utmost candour, a state of the +affairs of the company; from which +it appeared that they had exceeded +their borrowing powers by perhaps a +brace of millions, and had raised the +money by interposing their own individual +security. These obligations +you were, of course, expected to +redeem; and an appeal was made to +your finer feelings, urging you to consent +to a further issue of stock!</p> + +<p>It is no great consolation to the +men who have suffered more woes +from the railways, than fell to the +lot of the much-enduring Ulysses +from the relentless anger of the +deities, to know that they have rendered +perfect a vast chain of internal +communication throughout the +country. We doubt whether the +Israelites, who built them, took any +especial pride in surveying the pile of +the pyramids. The gentleman in +embarrassed circumstances, who is +pondering over the memory of his +perished capital, is not likely to feel +his heart expand with enthusiasm at +the thought that through his agency, +and that of his fellows, thousands of +bagmen are daily being whirled along +the rails with the velocity of lightning. +He may even be pardoned if, +in the sadness and despondency of +his soul, he should seriously ask himself +what, after all, is the use of this +confounded hurry? Is a man's life +prolonged because he can get along +at the rate of forty or fifty miles +an hour? Is existence to be measured +by locomotion? In that case +Chifney, who passed the best part of +his life in the saddle, ought to have been +considered as a rival to Methuselah, +and a stoker on the Great Western +lives in one week far longer than the +venerable Parr! Is enjoyment multiplied? +That, too, will admit of a +serious doubt. In a railway carriage +you have no fair view of the fresh +aspect of nature: you dash through +the landscape—supposing that there +is one—before its leading features are +impressed upon your mind. There +is no time for details, or even for +reflection. You must accommodate +your thought to your pace, otherwise +you are left behind, and see +nothing whatever for at least a +couple of stations. But for the most +part your way lies between embankments +and cuttings, representing +either sections of whinstone, or bare +banks of turf, dotted over with brown +patches, where the engine has effected +arson. Even furze will not willingly +flourish in such an uncomfortable +locality. Then you roar through +tunnels, the passage of which makes +your flesh creep—for you cannot +divest yourself of a horrid idea that +you may possibly be encountered in +the centre of the darkness by an +opposing engine, and be pounded into +paste by the shock of that terrific +tilt; or that a keystone of the arch +may give way, and the whole train +be buried in the centre of the excavated +mountain. Sensual gratification +there is none. If you do not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_741" id="Page_741">[741]</a></span> +condescend to the iniquity of carrying +sandwiches along with you—in which +case your habiliments are certain to +be grievously defiled with buttered +crumbs—you are driven by the pangs +of sheer hunger into the refreshment-room +at some station, and find yourself +at the bar of an inferior gin-palace. +Very bad is the pork-pie, for +which you are charged an exorbitant +ransom. Call ye this sherry, +my masters? If it be so, commend +us for the future to Bucellas. The +oranges look well outside, but the +moment you have penetrated the +rind, you find that they have been +boiled and are fozy. Do not indulge +in the vain hope that you may venture +on a glass of anything hot. Hot +enough you will find it with a vengeance; +for, the instant that you receive +the rummer, the bell is sure to ring, +and you must either scald your throat +by gulping down two mouthfuls of +mahogany-water raised to a temperature +which would melt solder, or +consign the prepaid potion to the +leisure of the attendant Hebe. Smoking +is strictly prohibited. Even if +you are alone in a carriage, you cannot +indulge in that luxury without +rendering yourself liable to a fine; +and, if your appetite should overcome +your prudence, and you should +venture to set the law at defiance, +before you have inhaled two whiffs, a +railway guard appears as if by magic +at the window—for those fellows +have the scent of the vulture, and +can race along the foot-boards as +nimbly as a cat along a gutter—and +you are ordered to abandon your +Havanna. Under such circumstances, +literature is a poor resource. +You read the <cite>Times</cite> twice over, advertisements +and all, and then sink +into a feverish slumber, from which +you are awakened by a demand from +a ruffian in blue livery, with a glazed +leather belt across his shoulder, for +the exhibition of your ticket. Talk of +the inconvenience of passports abroad! +The Continental system is paradisaical +compared with ours. At length, +after fingering your watch with an +insane desire to accelerate its movement, +you run into the ribs of something, +which resembles the skeleton of +a whale—the train stops—and you +know that your journey is at an end. +You select your luggage, after having +undergone the scrutiny of a member +of the police force, who evidently +thinks that he has seen you before +under circumstances of considerable +peculiarity, ensconce yourself in a +cab, and drive off, being favoured at +the gate of the station by a shower +of diminutive pamphlets, purporting +to be poetical tributes to the merits of +Messrs Moses and Hyams. You +have done the distance in twelve +hours, but pleasure you have had +none.</p> + +<p>Mr Francis, who is gifted with no +more imagination than an ordinary +tortoise, though he asserts the superiority +of the hare, begins his book +with an exceedingly stupid dissertation +upon the difficulties of ancient +travel. Broken bridges, impassable +quagmires, and ferocious highwaymen +constitute leading features in his picture; +and, as you read him, you marvel, +between your fits of yawning, +what manner of men our ancestors +must have been to brave so many +dangers. Sheer drivel all of it! The +old roads were uncommonly good, and +the bridges kept in splendid repair +from the time they were built by the +Romans. Who ever heard of a quagmire +on a turnpike? As for a casual +encounter with Turpin, Duval, or any +other of the minions of the moon, we +are decidedly of opinion that such +incidents must have added much to +the excitement of the journey. A +stout fellow, well mounted, usually +carried about him both pops and a +cutlass, and, if he was cool and collected, +might very easily square accounts +with the most ardent clerk of +St Nicholas. Does Mr Francis really +suppose that the author of <cite>Jack Sheppard</cite> +likes railway travelling? Not +he. Dearer to his soul is a prancing +prad upon Hounslow Heath than all +the engines that ever whistled along +a line. Mount him upon Black Bess, +arm him with a brace of barkers, and +in the twinkling of an eye there +would be daylight through the carcase +of the Golden Farmer. Is adventure +nothing? Had the road no +joys? Are we to consider the whole +universe worthless, except those black +dots which in the maps represent +cities? Was nature made in vain, +in order that men might hasten from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_742" id="Page_742">[742]</a></span> +town to town, at the tail of a shrieking +engine, regardless of all the glorious +scenery which intervenes? To +our taste, the old mode of travelling—nay, +the oldest—was infinitely superior +to the present sickening system. +You rose by times in the +morning; took a substantial breakfast +of beef and ale—none of your +miserable slops—and mounted your +horse between your saddle-bags, in +time to hear the lark carolling on his +earliest flight to heaven. Your way +ran through dingle and thicket, along +the banks of rivers, skirting magnificent +parks, rich in the possession of +primeval oaks, under which the deer +lay tranquilly and still. You entered +a village, stopped at the door of the +public-house, and cooled your brow +in the foam of the wholesome home-brewed. +You dined at mid-day, in +some town where the execrable inventions +of Arkwright and Watt were +unknown; where you encountered +only honest, healthy, rosy-cheeked +Christians, who went regularly once +a-week to church, and identified the +devil with the first dissenter—instead +of meeting gangs of hollow-eyed lean +mechanics, talking radicalism, and +discussing the fundamental points of +the Charter. You moved through +merry England as a man ought to do, +who is both content with his own lot +and can enjoy the happiness of others. +As you saw the sun rising, so you +saw him set. The clouds reddened +in the west—you heard the sweet +carol of the thrush from the coppice, +and lingered to catch the melody. +The shades of evening grew deeper. +The glow-worms lit their tiny lanterns +on the bank, the owl flitted +past with noiseless wing, the village +candles began to appear in the distance; +and as you dismounted at the +door of your humble inn, and surrendered +your weary beast to the hands +of the careful hostler, you felt that +you were the richer by a day spent +in the fresh air and gladsome sunshine, +and made happy by all the +sounds and sights which are dear to +the heart of man.</p> + +<p>But this was solitary travelling, +and might not suit every one. Well—if +you were a little fellow, deficient +in pluck, and sorely afraid of robbers, +you might have company for +the asking. At every large inn on the +road there were at least a dozen travellers +who, for the sake of security, +agreed to journey in company. Was +that no fun? Have you anything +like it in your modern railways? +Just compare your own experiences +of a rocket-flight along the Great +Western with Chaucer's delineation +of his Canterbury pilgrimage, and +you will see what you have lost. +Nice sort of tales you would elicit +either from that beetle-browed Bradford +Free-Trader, evidently a dealer +in devil's-dust, who is your <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">vis-à -vis</i> +in the railway carriage; or from that +singular specimen of a nun who is +ogling you deliberately on the left! +Can you associate the story of Palamon +and Arcite—can you connect +anything which is noble, lofty, inspiriting, +humane, or gentle, with a +journey made in an express train? +If not, so much the worse for the +present times. Doubtless you may +hear something about Thompson or +Bright, but we may be excused if we +prefer the mention of the earlier +heroes. Also, you may pick up information +touching the price of calicoes, +or the value of stocks, or the +amount of exports of cotton twist—and +we wish you much good of all +that you get. But, O dear, is that +travelling? Would you like to go +from London to Ispahan in such company? +How long do you think you +could stand it? And yet this is the +improved system of locomotion for +which we are told to be thankful, and +in honour of which such weariful +volumes as those of Mr Francis are +written.</p> + +<p>"But, mercy on us!" we hear Mr +Francis or some of his backers exclaim—"is +it nothing that commercial +gentlemen can now make four +trips a-day between Manchester and +Liverpool, and do a stroke of business +on each occasion?" We reply, that +it would be better for the said commercial +gentlemen, both here and +hereafter, if they would content themselves +with a more moderate pursuit +of Mammon. Happiness in this life +does not depend upon the amount of +sales effected. The assistant in the +London grocer's shop, who daily ties +up a thousand packages of tea and +sugar, is not greatly to be envied<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_743" id="Page_743">[743]</a></span> +beyond his brother in the country, who +twists the twine around fifty. We +have an intense respect for work +while kept within wholesome limits; +but we cannot regard the man whose +sole pursuit is grubbing after gold as +otherwise than an ignominious slave. +The railways are in one sense excellent +things. You can get from point +to point, if necessity requires it, much +sooner than before, at less cost, and +perhaps with less inconvenience. But +there the advantage ends. There is +no pleasure in them; and, compared +with former methods of locomotion, +they are decidedly less healthy and +less instructive. We decry them not. +We only wish to stop the babbling of +the blockheads who would have us to +believe that, until the steam-engine +was invented, this earth was an unendurable +waste, a wilderness of barbarians, +and an unfit residence for +civilised and enlightened man. Would +the genius either of Shakspeare or +Newton have been greater had they +known of the rails? Would the splendour +of the reign of Elizabeth have +been heightened had Stephenson then +existed?</p> + +<p>The admiration of Mr Francis for +the railway system is so intense as to +be purely ludicrous. He considers +every man connected with its development—whether +as engineer, contractor, +or director—as a positive +public hero; and this work of his +seems intended as a kind of Iliad, to +chronicle their several achievements. +Since we last met, Mr Francis has +been hard at work upon his style. +Formerly he went along, pleasantly +enough, without any great effort: +now he is not satisfied unless he can +eclipse Mr Macaulay. He has read +the <cite>History of England</cite> to some purpose. +Fascinated by the brilliancy +of the sketches which the accomplished +historian has drawn of the +statesmen of the age of William of +Orange, Mr Francis thinks he will +not do justice to his subject unless he +adopts a similar mode of handling. +Unfortunately he has no statesmen +to celebrate. But he can do quite as +well. There are surveyors and contractors +by the score, whose portraits +in his eyes are just as interesting. +Accordingly, we have a repetition of +the old scene in the play. A voice +without is heard calling, "Francis!" +To which summons Francis incontinently +replieth, "Anon, anon, sir!" +and then—"Enter Poins, Peto, Gadshill, +and the rest." No loftier apparition +ever comes upon the stage; +but we are warned that, in surveying +these, we look upon individuals destined +in all coming time to occupy a +lofty niche in British history. Thus, +to quote at random from the index, +we have the following entries—"Richard +Creed ... his services +and character." "Who may this Mr +Richard Creed be?" says the unconscious +reader; "we never heard of +him before!" "Fool!" quoth Francis, +"he was <span class="smcap">the Secretary of +the London and Birmingham +line</span>! 'On his honesty and integrity,' +said Mr Glyn on one occasion emphatically, +'I pin my faith, and you may +pin yours also!'" And he adds, referring +to an occasion which must +have been exceedingly gratifying to +the feelings of the recipient—"The +testimonial to this gentleman, in 1844, +was worthy the munificence of the +givers. It is not often that a cheque +for two thousand one hundred guineas +accompanies an expression of opinion, +or that the rich man's praise fructifies +into a service of plate." As we contemplate +our unadorned sideboard, +we acknowledge the truth of this remark; +still, we hesitate to exalt Mr +Creed to the rank of a hero. Then +we light on "Undertakings of Thomas +Brassey.... Anecdote concerning +him." Mr Brassey is a contractor, +eminent no doubt; but so, in his own +age, must have been the Roman gentleman +who undertook the construction +of the Cloaca Maxima, though his name +has unfortunately perished. Then appears +"Henry Booth.... His services." +We trust they were properly +acknowledged. Then, "Personal +sketches of Mr Locke and Mr Chaplin." +We are greatly edified by the <em>silhouettes</em>. +"Personal sketch of Samuel Morton +Peto." We shall try, if possible, not +to forget him. Much as Mr Francis +has done to perpetuate the memory +of these great men, it is plain that his +powers have been cramped with the +space of two thick octavo volumes. +In order to make his Iliad perfect, we +ought to have had a catalogue of the +chiefs of the navvies. But we must<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_744" id="Page_744">[744]</a></span> +rest satisfied with the acute remark +of Herder, that "the burden of the +song is infinite, but the powers of the +human voice are finite." Mr Francis +has done what he can. Creed and +Brassey—Brunel and Locke—Chaplin, +Peto, and Vignolles, live within +his inspired volumes; and we beg to +congratulate them on account of that +assured immortalisation. They are +the salt of the earth. The compilers of +traffic-tables have disappeared—the +old standing witnesses before committees +of the House of Commons are +dumb—the young engineering gentlemen, +who could do anything they +pleased in the way of levelling mountains, +are amusing themselves in California +or elsewhere—even the mighty +counsel, the holders of a hundred +briefs, for which, for the most part, +they rendered but indifferent service, +are unsung. But the others live. In +the British Valhalla they are assured +of an adequate niche, thanks to Mr +Francis, who, as Captain Dangerfield +says, is ready to stake his reputation +that they are the only men worthy +of record in such an enlightened age +as our own.</p> + +<p>No—we are wrong. The man of +all others to be deeply venerated is +"George Carr Glyn, Esq., Chairman +of the London and North-Western +Railway," to whom these volumes are +respectfully dedicated. Of Mr Glyn's +career as a statesman we know absolutely +nothing. We are not even +aware to what section of politicians +he belongs, so utter is our ignorance +of his fame. As we read the pages +of Francis, and encountered the continual +eulogiums heaped upon this +gentleman, we felt remarkably uncomfortable. +We could not divest +ourselves of the notion that we had +been asleep for some quarter of a century, +and had therefore missed the +opportunity of witnessing the appearance +of a new and most brilliant star +in the political horizon. About Mr +Glyn, Francis has no manner of +doubt. He is not only the most +sagacious, but the most clever personage +extant, for every purpose +which can smooth railway difficulties. +He is the Ulysses of his line, and can +rap Thersites on the sconce, if that +cynical fiend should insist upon an +awkward question. We really and +unaffectedly ask pardon of Mr Glyn, +if we mistake him through his eulogist. +We have no other means of +knowing him; and therefore he must +settle the correctness of the following +sketch with Mr Francis, who appears +as the voluntary artist. If the drawing +is to the mind of Mr Glyn, and if +it meets his ideas of ethics, we have +nothing in the world to say against +it, having no interest whatever in the +line over which he presides. Hear +Francis: "The proper place to see +Mr Glyn is as chairman in that noble +room, where, with an earnest multitude +around him, with the representative +of every class and caste before +him—with Jew and Gentile ready to +carp at and criticise his statements—he +yet moves them at his pleasure, +and leads them at his will. And perhaps +the ascendency of one man over +many is seldom <em>more agreeably seen</em> +than when, standing before a huge expectant +audience, he enlivens the platitudes +of one with some light epigrammatic +touch, answers another with +a clear tabular statement, <em>or replies +to a third with some fallacy so like a +fact</em> that the recipient sits contentedly +down, about as wise as he was before." +This is, to say the least of it, +an equivocal sort of panegyric. We +all know what is implied by the term +"fallacies" in railway matters, and +some of us have suffered in consequence. +According to our view, this +interchange of fallacies between directors +and shareholders is a custom +by no means laudable, or to be held +in especial repute. In pure matters +of business, the less frequently fallacies +are resorted to, the better. They are +apt, in the long run, to find their way +into the balance-sheet—until, as we +have seen in some notorious instances, +the assumed fact of a clear balance, to +be applied by way of dividend, turns +out also to be a fallacy. In the case +before us, we are willing to believe +that Mr Francis is altogether mistaken, +and that the statements of Mr +Glyn, made in his official capacity, +which appeared to the blundering reporter +to be fallacies, were in reality +stern truths. But what sort of estimate +must we form of Mr Francis' +moral perception, when we find him +selecting such a trait as the subject +of especial commendation? He has,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_745" id="Page_745">[745]</a></span> +however, like most other great men, +large sympathies. He does battle in +behalf of Mr Hudson with considerable +energy; though, after all, taking +his conclusions as legitimate, his defence +simply resolves itself into this—that +Mr Hudson's conduct was not +more blamable than that of others. +So be it. We never joined in the +wholesale censure directed against +the quondam railway monarch, because +we knew that the whole tone of +the morals of society had been poisoned +by the villanous system engendered +by railway speculation; +and because we saw that many of his +accusers, if their own conduct had +been sifted, might have been arraigned +equally with him at the bar of public +opinion. Therefore we have no +desire to interfere with the operations +of Mr Francis, when he appears with +his pot of whitewash. Nay, we wish +that the implement were more roomy +than it is, and the contents of less +questionable purity—for assuredly he +has a large surface of wall to cover, +if he sets himself seriously to the task +of obliterating the traces of past iniquity.</p> + +<p>The reader, however, must not +suppose that Mr Francis sees nothing +to condemn, or that he has not at +command thunderbolts of wrath to +launch at the heads of offenders. +According to him, the most painful +feature of the railway system was the +rapacity of the owners of the soil in +driving hard bargains for their land. +As this is a charge which has often +been made by men more competent +to form an opinion upon any subject +than the gentleman whose work we +are now reviewing, we shall condescend +to notice it. Let us premise +however, that, in this matter, the +howl is distinctly traceable to the +harpies who inveigled the public to +join their nefarious schemes, and to +advance their capital on the assurance +of enormous dividends.</p> + +<p>After referring to the negotiations +made with landowners by the promoters +of the London and Birmingham +line, Mr Francis comments as +follows:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"These things are written with pain, +for they display a low tone of moral feeling +in that class which, by virtue of inheritance, +of birth, and blood, should +possess a high and chivalrous sense of +honour. The writer is far from wishing +to blame those who honestly opposed the +rail. The conscientious feeling which +prompts a man, even in an unwise action, +if mistaken, is at least respectable. There +is much to palliate the honest opposition +of the landowner. Scenes and spots +which are replete with associations of +great men and great deeds cannot be +pecuniarily paid for. Sites which bear +memories more selfish, yet not less real, +have no market value. Homes in which +boyhood, manhood, and age have been +passed, carry recollections which are +almost hallowed. Such places cannot +be bought and sold; nor are the various +prejudices which cling to the country to +be overlooked. If the nobleman disliked +the destruction of his fine old English +park, the yeoman deplored the desecration +of his homestead. The one bore its +splendid remembrances, the other its +affectionate recollections. If the peer +hallowed the former for the sake of its +royal visits, the farmer cherished the +latter for the sake of those who had tilled +the land before him. There are fancy +spots in this our beautiful England which +it would pain the most indifferent to destroy; +what then must be the feelings of +those who have lived, and only wish to +die there?</p> + +<p>"It is the trafficker in sympathies, it +is the dealer in haunts and homes, at +whom the finger of scorn should be +pointed. It is the trader in touching +recollections, only to be soothed by gold, +that should be denounced. It is the peer +who made the historic memories of his +mansion a plea for replenishing an impoverished +estate; it is the farmer who +made the sacred associations of home an +excuse for receiving treble its value; it is +the country gentleman who made his opposition +the lever by which he procured +the money from the proprietors' pockets, +who should be shamed. And a double +portion of ignominy must rest upon these, +when it is remembered that the money +thus immorally obtained is a constant +tax on the pleasures of the artisan, on +the work of the manufacturer, and on +the wages of the railway official."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Mr Francis, it is evident, is fighting +hard for his service of plate; but +we doubt much whether he will get +it. He evidently considers the foregoing +passage as a specimen of splendid +writing. He is mistaken. It is +nothing better than unadulterated +drivel. Let us try to extricate, if we +can, his argument from this heap of +verbiage.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_746" id="Page_746">[746]</a></span></p> + +<p>He admits that associations ought +to be respected, but he denies that +they ought to have been paid for. +What does he mean by this? By +whom were the said associations to be +respected? By the projectors of the +railway companies? Hardly: for +those very sympathising gentlemen +were precisely the persons who insisted +upon running their rails right +through park and cottage, and who +would have prostrated without remorse +the Temple of Jerusalem or the +Coliseum, had either edifice stood in +their way. What, then, was the +value of that respect? Precisely +the worth of the tear which stood in +the eye of the tender-hearted surveyor. +What was the operation of +that respect? Not to spare, but if +possible to destroy.</p> + +<p>In a word, Mr Francis maintains +that the railway companies ought to +have had their own way in everything, +and to have got possession of +the land at the lowest conceivable +prices. He thinks that, because gentlemen +whose property was threatened +with invasion, whose privacy it was +purposed to destroy, and whose homes +were to be rendered untenantable, +demanded a high price from the joint-stock +trading companies, as an equivalent +for the surrender of such privileges, +they manifested a "low tone +of moral feeling." In fact, so far as +we can gather from his language, he +puts no value whatever, in a pecuniary +sense, upon the associations +which he admits to be entitled to +respect; and hardly any, if any, upon +the score of amenity. He is anything +but an Evelyn. An oak, in his eyes, +is merely a piece of standing timber +to be measured, valued, and paid for +according to the current price in the +dockyards. The land—no matter of +what kind—is to be estimated according +to the amount of its yearly return, +and handed over without farther +question to the enterprising company +which demands it. Perhaps Mr +Francis may remember a certain passage +in sacred history, narrating the +particulars of a proposed transfer of +ground—the parties being King Ahab +on the one hand, and Naboth the +Jezreelite on the other? If not, we +recommend it to his attention, assuring +him that he will find it to contain +a very important lesson touching the +rights of property. His present argument, +if it is worth anything, would +go far to vindicate Ahab. He wanted +the other man's vineyard because it +lay contiguous to his house, and he +offered to give him in exchange a +better vineyard for it, or an equivalent +in money. According to the view +maintained by Mr Francis, Naboth +was not justified in refusing the offer.</p> + +<p>But let us look into this matter a +little more closely. On the one hand +there is the owner of a property which +has been transmitted through a long +line of ancestors, and which is now to +be intersected and cut up by a projected +line of railway. On the other +hand there is the company, which +cannot progress a step until they have +possession of the land. Now let us +see what is the nature, and what are +the objects of this company. It will +not do for Mr Francis or any one else +to babble about public advantages, +arising from more direct communication +between cities or towns of importance. +Public advantage may be +taken for granted as a result, but +upon pure considerations of public +advantage no railway whatever was +undertaken. It is the commercial +speculation of a private company. No +man ever took a share in any railway +from motives of disinterested philanthropy. +He took them because he +expected to make a profit by them, to +hold them as a safe investment, or +finally to sell them for a larger sum +than he paid. A condition, and the +main one, of the existence of the railway +is the possession of the land, and +at this point proprietors and speculators +join issue. The former do not +want the railway. Their wish is to +preserve their property undissevered, +and to be spared from the spectacle +of engines roaring by at all hours of +the day and night close to the bottom +of the lawn. They very naturally +think it a monstrous hardship that the +rights of private property should be +invaded by private individuals, even +though acting upon an incorporated +semblance, who are simply seeking +their own profit; and they argue +that, if the railway was required for +public purposes, the government was +the proper party to have undertaken +its construction. But as, under the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_747" id="Page_747">[747]</a></span> +existing law, they are liable to be +dragged, session after session, into a +ruinous expense to oppose the demands +of the capitalists, they wisely +determine to make the best arrangement +they can, and at all events to +secure a full remuneration for the +sacrifice. So the Squire, finding that +the law is so conceived and modified +that any one individual who is possessed +of landed property may be +compelled to surrender it at the +demand of a hundred leagued capitalists, +makes a virtue of necessity, and +demands a sum corresponding in some +degree to the extent of the extorted +sacrifice: whereupon the promoters +of the railway instantly raise such a +howl that you would think somebody +was trying to rob <em>them</em>, or to take +<em>their</em> property by force—the case being +notoriously the reverse.</p> + +<p>Undoubtedly the Squire demands +more from the railway company, as +compensation for his land, than he +could calculate on receiving from a +neighbouring proprietor at an ordinary +sale. And on what principle, +in the majority of cases, does he +base his calculation of value? Strictly +upon that adopted by the projectors +of the line. For instance, a prospectus +of a railway is put out, +announcing that, after the most +careful consideration of district +traffic, &c., the clear dividend, after +clearing all expenses, must be fifteen +per cent per annum to the proprietors. +That is the statement of the projectors. +Well, then, if such are the +prospects of the concern, is it unreasonable +that the land, which must +be taken for its construction, and +which is, in fact, to form the railway, +should be valued, less on account of +its productiveness, than on account +of its adaptation for the peculiar +purpose for which it is required? +Why is an acre in the centre of a +town a hundred times more valuable +than an acre in a rural district? +Simply because it is required for +building, and the value of the land +rises in just correspondence to the +demand. The subsequent failure or +diminution of the railway dividends +cannot be made a just article of +dittay against the landed proprietors. +Fifteen per cent, or ten, as the case +might be, was the amount of dividend +which the promoters undertook +to prove, to the satisfaction of Parliament +and the public, as their reasonable +expectation. It was part of +their case always, and very often +the most important part; and if they +chose so to commit themselves, they +were bound to pay accordingly. Just +conceive a body of men addressing +an urban proprietor of land, upon +which no houses were yet built, in +the following terms:—"Sir, we perceive +you have an acre and a half +of land which would be very convenient +for our purpose. We propose +to build a street of houses upon it, +and a hotel, from the rents of which +we expect to draw fifteen per cent +yearly. At present your land yields +you little or nothing, and therefore +we wish you to dispose of it at its +present value. Let us say that just +now it is worth to you five pounds +a-year: we shall buy it from you +at five-and-twenty years' purchase!" +We leave to the imagination of the +reader the exact terms in which the +proprietor would assuredly reply to +the propounders of this reasonable +request. And yet, where is the difference +between the cases? The +railway projector tells the landed +proprietor that he desires to have +his property for the purpose of +securing fifteen per cent for his +own money: the landed proprietor +tells him that he may have the property +at a rate corresponding to the +advantage which he anticipates. Can +anything be fairer? If Mr Francis +understood even the simplest elements +of political economy—an +amount of mental comprehension of +which we believe him to be wholly +incapable—he ought to know that +demand and supply are the leading +conditions of price. If there is only +one salmon in the London market, +it will sell, as it has done before now, +at the rate of a-guinea per pound, +and it would be obviously unfair to +charge the fishmonger with being +actuated by "a low tone of moral +feeling." He coerces no customer: +he simply states his price, and if +no one chooses to buy, no one has a +right to complain. Our friend Francis +seems to labour under the hallucination +that everything required for a +railway ought to be furnished at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_748" id="Page_748">[748]</a></span> +prime cost. That the promoters expect +fifteen percent is nothing. Nay, +even the free-trading rule of selling +in the dearest and buying in the +cheapest market is to be suspended +for their behoof. The seller is to +have no option: he must be cheap +to them, else he is a moral monster. +If, however, the judicious panegyrist +of Mr Carr Glyn does not carry his +principles quite so far, he lays +himself open to the charge of most +monstrous inconsistency. During the +prevalence of the railway mania, all +commodities requisite for their construction +rose greatly in value. From +iron to railway sleepers—in wood, +metal, and everything connected with +the making of the lines—there was +an enormous enhancement of price. +And why? On account of the demand. +Was the soil on which that +iron and wood was to be laid—the +absolute foundation of the railway +itself—to be paid for at a meaner +rate? Mr Francis seems to think +so; and we cannot help honouring +him for the candid expression of his +opinions, even while we regret the +conglomeration of ideas which gave +them birth. We are afraid that he +has been talked over by some of his +acute acquaintances. It is the fashion +at railway meetings to attribute all +disasters to some other cause than +the mismanagement of the directors; +and we daresay that Mr Francis has +been fully indoctrinated with such +opinions. It is not agreeable to meet +shareholders with a confession of +dwindled dividend. But when imperious +circumstances render such a +course inevitable, it is convenient to +be prepared with some "fallacy" +which may help to account for the +fact, and to stifle too curious investigation. +The readiest scapegoat is the +landowner. All accounting with him +is past and gone, yet he still can be +made to bear the blame for a vast +amount of reckless prodigality. He +is not there to speak for himself—he +has no connection with the company. +Therefore, whenever failure must be +acknowledged, the onus is cast upon +him. Railway orators and railway +writers alike conceal the real cause +of the disaster, and combine to cast +discredit and aspersion upon the +gentry of England.</p> + +<p>The truth is, that the system of +railway management in this country +has been, from the beginning to the +end, decidedly bad. Each line, as +it came into existence, was fostered +by quackery and falsehood. The +most extravagant representations +were used to secure the adhesion +of shareholders, and to procure the +public support. Rival lines fought +each other before the committees +with a desperation worthy of the +cats of Kilkenny, and enormous +expenses and law charges were incurred +at the very commencement. +No economy whatever was used in +the engineering, and no check placed +on the engineers. In those days, +indeed, an engineer of established +reputation was a kind of demigod, +whose doctrine, or, at all events, +whose charges, it was sinful to +challenge. But engineers have their +ambition. They like viaducts which +will be talked of and admired as +splendid achievements of mechanical +skill; and the most virtuous of the +tribe cannot resist the temptation +of a tunnel. Such tastes are natural, +but they are fearfully expensive in +their indulgence, as the shareholders +know to their cost. The remuneration +of these gentlemen was monstrous. +In the course of a few years most of +them realised large fortunes, which is +more than can be said for the majority +of the men who paid them. So was +it with the contractors. Mr Francis +tells us of many, "who, beginning life +as navigators, have become contractors; +who, having saved money, have +become 'gangers,' realised capital +and formed contracts, first for thousands, +and then for hundreds of +thousands. These are almost a caste +by themselves. They make fortunes, +and purchase landed estates. Many +a fine property has passed from +some improvident possessor to a +railway labourer; and some of the +most beautiful country seats in England +belong to men who trundled +the barrow, who delved with the +spade, who smote with the pick-axe, +and blasted the rock." With such +statements before us, it is not difficult +to see how the money went. +Alas for the shareholders! Poor +geese! they little thought how many +were to have a pluck at their pinions.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_749" id="Page_749">[749]</a></span></p> + +<p>Industry, we freely admit, ought to +have its reward; but rewards such as +these are beyond the reach of pure +industry, as we used formerly to +understand the term. These revelations +may, however, be of use as +indicating the direction in which a +great part of the money has gone. +We accept them as such, and as illustrations +of that profound economy +which was practised by the different +boards of railway direction throughout +the kingdom. Mr Francis, in his +laudatory sketches of his favourite heroes, +usually takes care to tell us that +they are "sprung from the ranks of the +people." Of course they are. Where +else were they to spring from? Does +Mr Francis suppose it to be a popular +article of belief that they emerged +from the bowels of a steam-engine? +What he means, however, is plain +enough. Judging from the whole +tenor of his book, we take him to +be one of those jaundiced persons +who, without any intelligible reason +beyond class prejudice, are filled +with bile and rancour against the +aristocracy, and who worship at the +shrine of money. He grudges every +farthing that the railway companies +were compelled to pay for land; he +bows down in reverence before the +princely fortunes of the contractors. +Every man to his own taste. We +cannot truthfully assert that we +admire the selection of his idols.</p> + +<p>But what is this? We have just +lighted upon a passage which compels +us, in spite of ourselves, to suspect +that our Francis is, at least, a bit of +a repudiator, and that he would +regard with no unfavourable eye +another pluck at the shareholders. +Here it is:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"The assertion that land and compensation +on the line to which Mr +Robert Stephenson was engineer, which +was estimated at £250,000, amounted to +£750,000, appears to call for some additional +remark; <em>and the question which is +now proposed is, how far the right is with +the railroads to demand, and the passengers +to pay an increased fare, in consequence +of bargains which, unjust in +principle, ought never to have been allowed?</em> +It is now a historic fact that every line +in England has cost more than it ought. +That in some—where, too, the directors +were business men—large sums were +improperly paid for land, for compensation, +for consequential damages, for fancy +prospects, and other unjust demands +under various names. These sums being +immorally obtained, <em>is it right that the public +should pay the interest on them</em>? Is it +just that the working man should forego +his trifling luxury to meet them? Is it +fair that the artisan should be deprived +of his occasional trip, or that the frequenter +of the rail should pay an additional +tax?"</p></blockquote> + +<p>Is it fair that anybody should pay +anything at all for travelling on the +railways? That is the question which +must finally be considered, if Mr +Francis' preliminary questions are to +be entertained. Because some part +of the capital of the shareholders may +have been needlessly expended, they +ought in this view to receive a less +amount of interest for the remainder! +The silliness of the above passage is +so supreme—the ignorance which it +displays of the first rules of law and +equity, regarding property, is so profound, +that it is hardly worth while +exposing it. It betrays an obliquity +of intellect of which we had not previously +suspected even Mr Francis. +Pray observe the exquisite serenity +with which this important personage +opens his case: "The question which +is now proposed!" Proposed—and +for whose consideration? Not surely +for that of the Legislature, for the +Legislature has already pronounced +judgment. Are the public to take +the matter in hand, and decide on the +tables of rates? It would seem so. +In that case, we might indeed calculate +upon travelling cheap, provided +the rails were not shut up. But the +whole of his remarks are as practically +absurd as they are mischievous +in doctrine. What right has Jack, +Tom, or Harry to question the cost +of his conveyance? Are there not, +in all conscience, competing lines +enough, independent altogether of Parliamentary +regulations, to secure the +public against being overcharged on +the railways? On what authority does +Mr Francis assume that a single acre +of the land was paid for at an unjust +rate? Mr Robert Stephenson's estimate, +we take it, has not the authority +of gospel. No engineer's estimate +has. Their margin is always +a large one; and it almost never happens<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_750" id="Page_750">[750]</a></span> +that, when the works are completed, +their actual cost is found to +correspond with the hypothetical +calculation. But the truth is, that +the value paid for the land taken by +railways is the only item of expense +which cannot be justly challenged. +The reason is plain. A railway company +has in the first instance to +prove the preamble of its bill—that +is, it must show to the satisfaction of +the Legislature that the construction +of the work will be attended with +public and local advantages. The +settlement of the money question, +regarding the value of the land, is +reserved for the legal tribunals of the +country. To complain of the verdicts +given is to impugn the course of +justice, and to cast discredit on the +system of jury trial. Very wisely +was it determined that such questions +should be so adjudicated, because no +reasonable ground of complaint can +be left to either party. The decision +as to the value of the land, and the +amount of compensation which is +due, is taken from the hands both of +Ahab and Naboth, and their respective +engineers and valuators, and intrusted +to neutral parties, whose duty +it is to see fair play between them.</p> + +<p>We have done with this book. It +has greatly disappointed us in every +respect. As a repertory of facts, or +as a history of the railways, it is +ill-arranged, meagre, and stupid; +and the sketches which it contains +are so absurdly conceived, and so +clumsily executed, that they entirely +fail to enliven the general dulness of +the volumes. At the very point +which might have been rendered +most interesting in the hands of an +able and well-instructed writer—the +period of the great mania—Mr +Francis fails. His pen is not adequate +to the task of depicting the rapid +occurrences of the day, or the fearful +whirl which then agitated the public +mind. In short, he is insufferably +prosy throughout the first four acts +of his drama, and makes a lamentable +break-down at the catastrophe. His +work will fail to please any portion of +the public, except the heroes whose +praises he has sung. He has given +them sugar, indeed; but, after all, it is +a sanded article. We hope they will +combine to buy up the edition, and +thus fulfil the prophecy of Shakspeare—"Nay, +but hark you, Francis: +for the sugar thou gavest me—'twas +a pennyworth, was't not?" "O Lord, +sir! I would it had been two." "I +will give thee for it a thousand pound: +ask me when thou wilt, and thou +shalt have it." "Anon, anon, sir!"</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_751" id="Page_751">[751]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>INDEX TO VOL. LXX.</h2> + + +<div> +Abdallah, a dragoman, sketch of, 448 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<br /> +Aborigines, general characteristics of, 416.<br /> +<br /> +Abrantes, the marquis of, 354.<br /> +<br /> +Achmet Bascha, a campaign in Taka under, 251 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<br /> +Achmet Effendi, sketch of, 453.<br /> +<br /> +Acre, sketches at, 459.<br /> +<br /> +Administration, system of, in Russia, 164 <span class="smcap">et seq.</span><br /> +<br /> +Adolphe the clairvoyant, performances of, 70.<br /> +<br /> +Africa, recent travels in, 251.<br /> +<br /> +Agricultural depression, amount of, in Ireland, 136<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—reaction of it on other classes of the community, 303.</span><br /> +<br /> +Agricultural interest, experienced results of free trade to the, 133<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Lord John Russell on its state, 489.</span><br /> +<br /> +Agricultural Relief Associations, proceedings and demands of the, 616.<br /> +<br /> +Agriculture, Huskisson on protection to, <a href="#Page_632">632</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—state of, &c. in the United States, <a href="#Page_699">699</a> <em>et seq.</em></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—relations of geology to, <a href="#Page_703">703</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—improvements in, in New York, &c., <a href="#Page_704">704</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—its state, &c., in Canada, <a href="#Page_707">707</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Agriculturists, effects of the depression of the, on the home trade, 109<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—lowering of the wages of the, 496.</span><br /> +<br /> +Albany, Professor Johnston's Lectures in, <a href="#Page_700">700</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Alchemy, origin of chemistry with, &c., 564.<br /> +<br /> +Aleppo, town of, <a href="#Page_725">725</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Alexandretta, town of, 463, <a href="#Page_724">724</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Alexandria, a voyage from, to Syria, 451.<br /> +<br /> +Alexis the clairvoyant, 77.<br /> +<br /> +Ali-Beg, the pass of, 100.<br /> +<br /> +Amadeus I. of Savoy, 414.<br /> +<br /> +American lakes, the, <a href="#Page_708">708</a>, <a href="#Page_709">709</a>.<br /> +<br /> +American slavery, on, 385.<br /> +<br /> +Americans in California, character, &c. of the, 478.<br /> +<br /> +Amiens, sketches at, 199.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Ansayrii, the</span>, <a href="#Page_719">719</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—their tenets, numbers, &c., <a href="#Page_733">733</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Apes, shooting of, at Hassela, 270.<br /> +<br /> +Arab Scheik, an, <a href="#Page_728">728</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Arable culture, expense of, 1790, 1803, and 1813, 620.<br /> +<br /> +Arc de Triomphe de l'Etoile, the, 319.<br /> +<br /> +Arches, the triumphal, of Paris, 320.<br /> +<br /> +Arkwright, sir R., origin of the discoveries of, 566.<br /> +<br /> +Army, the French, feeling in, toward Louis Napoleon, 547.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Arnaboll, the Raid of</span>, chap. I., 220<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. II., 225</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. III., 230</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. IV., 236.</span><br /> +<br /> +Artesian well, the, at Paris, 317.<br /> +<br /> +Aspre, general d', notices of, during the campaign in Italy, 29 <span class="smcap">et seq. passim</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—his march on Verona, 442.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Assassins</span> or Ansayrii, the, <a href="#Page_719">719</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—their tenets, &c., <a href="#Page_733">733</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Atbara river, the, 257 <em>et seq. passim</em>.<br /> +<br /> +Atoi, a New Zealand chief, 417.<br /> +<br /> +Auber's opera of Zerline, on, 311.<br /> +<br /> +Aumale, the duke d', the duke of Orleans on, 555.<br /> +<br /> +Australia, character of the aborigines of, 416<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—a voyage to California from, 471.</span><br /> +<br /> +Austria, sketches of the war between her and Piedmont, 25 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—her intervention in the Papal States in 1830, 432</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—her long possession of Lombardy and acquisition of Venice, 433</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—her administration of the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom, 434.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Austrian Aide-de-Camp</span>, the campaigns of an, 25.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Autumn Politics</span>, 607.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Bacon, Friar, the prophecy of, 562.<br /> +<br /> +Bagdad, sketches of, 97.<br /> +<br /> +Ballet-dancing, Fanny Lewald on, 217.<br /> +<br /> +Baranken, fur called, 172.<br /> +<br /> +Bassora, a voyage to, 96.<br /> +<br /> +Bears, the, in the Jardin des Plantes, 314<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—sketches of, in North America, 672, 677.</span><br /> +<br /> +Beautiful, Ruskin's theory of the, examined, 333.<br /> +<br /> +Belgian Revolution, Stahr on the, 544.<br /> +<br /> +Benares, sketches by Madame Pfeiffer at, 93.<br /> +<br /> +Berchthold, count, fellow-traveller of Madame Pfeiffer, 87 <em>et seq. passim</em>.<br /> +<br /> +Bethmeria, village of, in Lebanon, 456.<br /> +<br /> +Beyrout, sketches at, 454, <a href="#Page_721">721</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Blane, Louis, account of, by Fanny Lewald, 214.<br /> +<br /> +Bombay, a voyage from Bassora to, 96.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Boroughs, disfranchisement of the</span>, 296.<br /> +<br /> +Boroughs, apparent secession of the, from the free-trade cause, 299.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_752" id="Page_752">[752]</a></span>Boulevard of Paris, the, 200.<br /> +<br /> +Boulogne, difficulties of the invasion of England from, 197<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—sketches in, 198.</span><br /> +<br /> +Bradford, present state of manufactures at, <a href="#Page_643">643</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Brazil, sketches in the interior of, 87.<br /> +<br /> +Bread-stuffs, the exports of, from the United States, <a href="#Page_702">702</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Brett, Messrs, the inventors of the submarine telegraph, 567.<br /> +<br /> +Bribery, parliamentary, on, 303.<br /> +<br /> +Bright, John, on the reduction of wages, <a href="#Page_634">634</a>.<br /> +<br /> +British empire, statistics regarding population of the, 1801 to 1851, 127.<br /> +<br /> +British shipping, influence of free trade on, 138.<br /> +<br /> +Browne, sir Thomas, testimony of, concerning witchcraft, 81.<br /> +<br /> +Buckwheat, use of, in North America, <a href="#Page_705">705</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Buffon, superintendence of the Jardin des Plantes by, 315.<br /> +<br /> +Buonaparte, Napoleon, restoration of the Jardin des Plantes by, 315<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the monument to, in the Hôtel des Invalides, 317</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—measures of, regarding the drama, 324.</span><br /> +<br /> +Buonaparte, Napoleon, son of Jerome, 206.<br /> +<br /> +Burdon, captain, British resident at Kottah, 94.<br /> +<br /> +Burke, E., proposal by, to gild the dome of St Paul's, 316.<br /> +<br /> +Burning forest, a, in Brazil, 88.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Cagliostro, supposed mesmeric power of, 77.<br /> +<br /> +Cairo, sketches of life, &c. at, 449.<br /> +<br /> +California, sketches in, 470 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<br /> +Camino theatre, the, at St Petersburg, 168.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Campaign in Taka</span>, a, 251.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Campaigns of an Austrian Aide-de-camp</span>, the, 25.<br /> +<br /> +Canadas, sketches by Professor Johnston in the, <a href="#Page_706">706</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—statistics of their progress, <a href="#Page_708">708</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Cancrin, finance minister of Russia, 166.<br /> +<br /> +Cannibalism of New Zealand, the, 415.<br /> +<br /> +Caravan journey to Mossul, a, 98.<br /> +<br /> +Cards, playing, consumption of, in Russia, 169.<br /> +<br /> +Carey's Harmony of Interests, &c., extracts from, <a href="#Page_640">640</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Carlists, fall of the, in Spain, 356.<br /> +<br /> +Carré, Michel, French translation of Goethe's Faust by, 556.<br /> +<br /> +Carrousel, the arch of the, 320.<br /> +<br /> +Cash payments, influence of the suspension of, 619<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—and that of their resumption, 622.</span><br /> +<br /> +Catamount, adventure with a, <a href="#Page_677">677</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Cavalry, the Russian, 165.<br /> +<br /> +Caxton, Pisistratus, My Novel by,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Part XI. Book VI. chapters I. to XII. 1</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Part XII. Book VI. chapters XIII. to XXV. 173</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Part XIII. Book VII. chapters I. to XV. 275</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Part XIV. Book VII. chapters XVI. to XXII. 392</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Part XV. Book VIII. chapters I. to VI. 573</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Part XVI. Book VIII. chapters VII. to XIV. <a href="#Page_681">681</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Census and Free Trade</span>, the, 123.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Champions of the Rail</span>, the, <a href="#Page_739">739</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Charles Albert, King of Sardinia, sketches of, 30 <em>et seq. passim</em><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—his conduct with regard to Lombardy, 437</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—hostilities begun by him, 440</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—sketch of his previous career, 442</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the campaign under him, 444</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—his last defeat, abdication, and death, 446.</span><br /> +<br /> +Chartum, the town of, 251.<br /> +<br /> +Cheapness, examination of the question of, <a href="#Page_638">638</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Chemistry, alchemy the parent of, 564.<br /> +<br /> +Cherbourg, the harbour of, 197.<br /> +<br /> +China, sketches in, by Madame Pfeiffer, 92.<br /> +<br /> +Chinese junk, voyage in a, 93.<br /> +<br /> +Church, Mr Phelps on the, 388.<br /> +<br /> +Churches, Ruskin on, 327.<br /> +<br /> +"Claims of Labour," remarks on the, 380.<br /> +<br /> +Clairvoyance, examination of the claims of, 70 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<br /> +Clam, General Count, 33.<br /> +<br /> +Clergy, influence of free trade on the, 500.<br /> +<br /> +Clouds, Ruskin on, 330.<br /> +<br /> +Coal gas, how first discovered, 569.<br /> +<br /> +Colonisation, two sonnets, 606.<br /> +<br /> +Column, on the, as the monument, 319.<br /> +<br /> +"Companions of my solitude," review of, 386.<br /> +<br /> +Concorde, the Place and Pont de la, in Paris, 202, 203, 312.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Congress and the Agapedome</span>, the, chap. I. 359<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. II. 365</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. III. 370</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. IV. 375.</span><br /> +<br /> +Conjurors, Indian, 94.<br /> +<br /> +"Conquerors of the New World, the," remarks on, 380.<br /> +<br /> +Conscription, the, in France, 323.<br /> +<br /> +Constable the painter, the trees of, 332.<br /> +<br /> +Constantinople, winter aspect of, <a href="#Page_723">723</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Constituencies, large, the <cite>Times</cite> on, 301.<br /> +<br /> +Continent, revolutionary tendencies the, and their causes, 431.<br /> +<br /> +Cook, Captain, on the cannibalism of New Zealand, 416.<br /> +<br /> +Corn laws, causes which brought about the repeal of the, 115<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—separation between landlord and tenant induced by their repeal, 610</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—circumstances which originated them. &c., 621</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Huskisson in favour of the, <a href="#Page_632">632</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—effects of their repeal on prices, <a href="#Page_637">637</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Cornu, Madame, letters of Louis Napoleon to, 547.<br /> +<br /> +Costazza, defeat of Charles Albert at, 445.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_753" id="Page_753">[753]</a></span>Cotton manufacture, wheat used for starch in the, 497.<br /> +<br /> +Counties, decrease of population in, 1841 to 1851, 129.<br /> +<br /> +Country, immigration of population into the towns from the, 307.<br /> +<br /> +Country districts, first failure of population in the, 125.<br /> +<br /> +Crime, increase of, under the free-trade system, 139<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—increase of it in the towns, 307.</span><br /> +<br /> +Croats, the troops called, 443.<br /> +<br /> +Crusades, increase of population during the, 124.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Crystal Palace, Voltaire in the</span>, 142.<br /> +<br /> +Currency reform, necessity for, 111.<br /> +<br /> +Currency system, the new, the monetary crisis due to, 132<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—relation of it to the free-trade question, 618.</span><br /> +<br /> +Custine, M. de, his book on Russia, 160.<br /> +<br /> +Cuvier, superintendence of the Jardin des Plantes by, 316.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Daun, Marshal, the victory of, at Kolin, 26.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Day-dreams of an Exile.</span> Longings<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—I. To ——, 465</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—II. Where summer is, 467</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—III. Earth is the realm of death, 469</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—IV. Stand by the ocean, <em>ib.</em></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—V. Sigh thou not for a happier lot, 604</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—VI. To ——, 605</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—VII. Oft in a night of April, <em>ib.</em></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—VIII. Dream on, 606</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—IX. Colonisation, two sonnets, <em>ib.</em></span><br /> +<br /> +Defalla, an African chief, 259.<br /> +<br /> +Delta, The Lament of Selim, by, 103<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—his death, and sketch of his life, &c., 249.</span><br /> +<br /> +Dembinski, General, in the Hungarian war, 37.<br /> +<br /> +Depression, the present, its universality, <a href="#Page_630">630</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Derby, the Earl of, on protection, 613.<br /> +<br /> +Digby, Sir Kenelm, supposed acquaintance of, with mesmerism, 77.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Diggings, a voice from the</span>, 470.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Disfranchisement of the Boroughs</span>, the, 296.<br /> +<br /> +Disraeli, Mr, new policy proposed by, against free trade, 612 <em>et seq. passim</em>.<br /> +<br /> +Domestic tyranny, Mr Helps on, 381.<br /> +<br /> +Doubleday, Mr, on the effects of Peel's currency system, 622.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Downward tendencies</span>, 106.<br /> +<br /> +Drama, sketch of the rise and history of the, in France, 323<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—its present state there, 324.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Dream on, ye souls who slumber here," 606.<br /> +<br /> +Druses, sketches of the, 456.<br /> +<br /> +Dumas, Alexander, sketches of, by Professor Stahr, and account of the duke of Orleans by him, 547, 554.<br /> +<br /> +Dunshunner, A. R., letter to R. M'Corkindale by—"Downward tendencies," 106.<br /> +<br /> +Dunstan the monk, on the character of, 513.<br /> +<br /> +Duprat, M., speech of, on the National Guard, 207.<br /> +<br /> +Durando, general, defence of Vicenza, by, 35.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Earle, Mr, account of cannibalism in New Zealand by, 417.<br /> +<br /> +"Earth is the realm of death, who reigns," 469.<br /> +<br /> +East, interest of the, <a href="#Page_719">719</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Eastlake's Good Samaritan, on, 212.<br /> +<br /> +Eating-houses in San Francisco, 472.<br /> +<br /> +Edinburgh Review, the, on protection, 306.<br /> +<br /> +Education, Mr Helps on, 383.<br /> +<br /> +Edwin the Fair, review of, 513.<br /> +<br /> +Egypt, interest of, <a href="#Page_719">719</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—sketches in, <a href="#Page_720">720</a> <em>et seq.</em></span><br /> +<br /> +Electric telegraph, laying down of the, from England to France, 568.<br /> +<br /> +Elliotson, Dr, Phreno-mesmeric exhibition by, 74.<br /> +<br /> +Elora, visit to, by Madame Pfeiffer, 95.<br /> +<br /> +Emigration, increase of, from Great Britain, 113<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—rapidity of it in a declining state, 126</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—amounts of it from Great Britain, 1841 to 1850, 128 <em>note</em></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—amount of it from Ireland, 131</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—influence of free trade on it, 139, 503</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the <cite>Times</cite> on the increased, 626</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—encouragements to, to the United States, <a href="#Page_710">710</a>, <a href="#Page_711">711</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Employers, on the relation between, and employed, 381.<br /> +<br /> +Employment, influence of, on population, 123.<br /> +<br /> +England and France, laying down of the submarine electric telegraph between, 568.<br /> +<br /> +English travellers, contrast between, and French, 447<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—follies, &c. of, 454</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—how regarded in the East, 461.</span><br /> +<br /> +Esperon, Dr, 453.<br /> +<br /> +"Essays written in intervals of business," remarks on, 380.<br /> +<br /> +Etoile, the Arc de l', 319.<br /> +<br /> +Euphrates, the, <a href="#Page_727">727</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Europe, the advances of population in, 123<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—tendencies to revolution in, 431.</span><br /> +<br /> +Eve of the Conquest, Taylor's, remarks on, 520.<br /> +<br /> +Exhibition of paintings, Fanny Lewald on the, 211.<br /> +<br /> +Exile, day-dreams of an, see Day-dreams.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Experiment</span>, the, 488.<br /> +<br /> +Exports, increase of, under free trade, 140.<br /> +<br /> +Eye, alleged power of charm in the, 79.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Farmers, loss at present sustaining by the, 492<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—their right to relief, 614, 615.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">See also Agriculturists.</span><br /> +<br /> +Faucher, M., speech of, in the Legislative Assembly, 207.<br /> +<br /> +Faust, French translation of, the, 556.<br /> +<br /> +Finances, influence of free trade on the, 137.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_754" id="Page_754">[754]</a></span>Financial system, relations of the, to the free-trade question, 618.<br /> +<br /> +Flour, falling price of, in New York, <a href="#Page_703">703</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Folkstone, sketches of, 197.<br /> +<br /> +Foreign shipping, influence of free trade on, 138.<br /> +<br /> +Foreign trade, state of, &c., <a href="#Page_645">645</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Forest life, sketches of, in Maine, &c., <a href="#Page_670">670</a> <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<br /> +Forests of Brazil, the, 88, 89.<br /> +<br /> +Fountains of the Place de la Concorde, the, 314.<br /> +<br /> +France, the protective policy of, 117<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—increase of population in, during the war, 124, 125</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—increased facilities of communication with, 195</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the revolutions of, and their influences, 431</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the intervention of, in Rome, 438</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the importation of flour into Great Britain from, 489 <em>note</em></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—sketches of the present state of, by Professor Stahr, 545</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—belief in, as to Napoleon being still alive, 549</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—laying down of the submarine telegraph from England to, 568.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Francis' History of the English Railway</span> reviewed, <a href="#Page_739">739</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Frederick the Great, his defeat at Kolin, 26.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Free Trade, the Census and</span>, 123.<br /> +<br /> +Free trade, the experienced results of, 108 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—contrast between its results and those of protection, 116</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—influence of it on trading profits, 137</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—influence of it on shipping, 138</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—its influence on crime, emigration, and poor-rates, 139</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—and on exports and imports, 140</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—general summary of its results, 141</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—general reaction against it, 245</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—declarations from the boroughs against it, 299</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the experiment of, 488</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—influence of it on the income, &c., of the clergy, 500</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—continued depression under it, 609</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—reaction against it, 613</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—address to the shopkeepers on its effects on them, <a href="#Page_629">629</a> <em>et seq.</em></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—universality of the depression from it, <a href="#Page_630">630</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—its progress from the time of Huskisson, <a href="#Page_632">632</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—prices of corn under it, <a href="#Page_637">637</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Free-traders, preponderance of, among the Scottish representatives, 297<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—present views of, regarding the smaller boroughs, 305.</span><br /> +<br /> +Freedom, Protestantism essential to, 447.<br /> +<br /> +French in Tahiti, the, 90.<br /> +<br /> +French army, feeling in, toward Louis Napoleon, 546.<br /> +<br /> +French opera, the, at Paris, 310.<br /> +<br /> +French railroads, on, 199.<br /> +<br /> +French theatres, Stahr on the, 557.<br /> +<br /> +French travellers, contrast between, and English, 447.<br /> +<br /> +"Friends in council," notice of, 382.<br /> +<br /> +Funds, danger of the, 112.<br /> +<br /> +Furs, prices of, in Russia, 171.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Gaming and gaming-houses in San Francisco, 473.<br /> +<br /> +Gand, Dr, 253, 254.<br /> +<br /> +Garcia, Madame, reception of, in St Petersburg, 168.<br /> +<br /> +Gas, how first discovered, 569.<br /> +<br /> +Gaufridy, Louis, the case of, 76.<br /> +<br /> +Gaza, the Lazaretto at, 453.<br /> +<br /> +Geology, relations of, to agriculture, <a href="#Page_703">703</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Georgey, General, 36.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">German Authoress</span>, London diary of a, 209.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">German Letters from Paris</span>, 543.<br /> +<br /> +German literature, non-appreciation of, in France, 556.<br /> +<br /> +German professors, former and present characters of, 543.<br /> +<br /> +German women, Fanny Lewald on, 216.<br /> +<br /> +Gibelin, the Count de, case of, 82.<br /> +<br /> +Gibili tobacco, 462.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Gibraltar, a legend of</span>, Chap. I. 522<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Chap. II. 529</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Chap. III. 532</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Chap. IV. 535</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Chap. V. 539.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Gibraltar, a tale of the siege of</span>, <a href="#Page_648">648</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Glasgow, increase of population in, 1841 to 1851, 129<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—1811 to 1851, 131</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—immigrations of Irish into, <em>ib.</em></span><br /> +<br /> +Glastonbury waters, alleged cure by the, 81.<br /> +<br /> +Goethe's Faust, French translation of, 556.<br /> +<br /> +Goito, engagement at, 443.<br /> +<br /> +Gold diggings in California, sketches in the, 470 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<br /> +Gos Rajeb, an African town, 259.<br /> +<br /> +Grahame, Sir James, position of, and his party, 118<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—his conduct towards his tenantry, 499.</span><br /> +<br /> +Grain, importations of, into Ireland, 134<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—fall in the prices of, in Scotland, 491.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Great Britain, to the Shopkeepers of</span>, <a href="#Page_629">629</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Great Britain, increase of population in, during the war, 124<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—statistics regarding her population, 1801 to 1851, 127 <em>et seq.</em></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—immigration of Irish into, 131</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—aversion to revolution among the middle classes of, 297</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—recent foreign works on, 209</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—contrast between, and the Continent, as regards revolution, 431</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—comparative pressure of taxation in, and in the United States, <a href="#Page_715">715</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Greatrakes, Valentine, the cures of, 81.<br /> +<br /> +Greenwich fair, Fanny Lewald on, 212.<br /> +<br /> +Greg, Mr, on the reduction of wages, <a href="#Page_634">634</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—on the competition to which our manufactures are exposed, 639.</span><br /> +<br /> +Gregory XVI., death of, 432.<br /> +<br /> +Gunpowder, new mode of discharging, 570.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +H. G. K., Day-dreams of an exile, by, Nos. I. to IV. 465<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Nos. V. to IX. 604.</span><br /> +<br /> +Haddendas, African tribe of the, 261 <em>et seq. passim</em><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—a visit to them, 264.</span><br /> +<br /> +Hallengas, the, an Arab tribe, 268, 272.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_755" id="Page_755">[755]</a></span>Hamilton, Mr, British resident at Indore, 95.<br /> +<br /> +Harles' "Career in the Commons," notice of, 120.<br /> +<br /> +Harris' Ethiopia, remarks on, 251.<br /> +<br /> +Harvey, James, on free trade and its results, <a href="#Page_644">644</a>, <a href="#Page_645">645</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Hassan, the founder of the Assassins, <a href="#Page_733">733</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Heke, the New Zealand chief, 427.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Helps, Mr, the Essays of</span>, 379.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Helsham, Captain</span>, note on the case of, 122.<br /> +<br /> +Henry V., Stahr on, 557.<br /> +<br /> +High farming, inefficiency of, to counteract the agricultural depression, 491.<br /> +<br /> +Highlands, present state of the, and its causes, 308.<br /> +<br /> +Home trade, falling off in the, 108<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—effects of free trade on the, <a href="#Page_645">645</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Horn, Cape, a voyage round, 90.<br /> +<br /> +Hortense, Queen, mother of Louis Napoleon, 547.<br /> +<br /> +Hôtel des Invalides, the, 316.<br /> +<br /> +Human responsibility, relations of mesmerism to, 81.<br /> +<br /> +Hungary, sketches of the war in, 35 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<br /> +Huskisson, effects of the commercial system begun by, 308<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—strictures on his statue at Lloyds', 211</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—his character, and commencement of the free-trade system under him, <a href="#Page_632">632</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Hussars, the Hungarian, 38.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Imitation, Ruskin on, 331.<br /> +<br /> +Immorality, increase of, in the towns, 307.<br /> +<br /> +Imports, increase of, under free trade, 140.<br /> +<br /> +Income-tax returns, falling off in the, 137.<br /> +<br /> +India, sketches by Madame Pfeiffer in, 93.<br /> +<br /> +Indians of Brazil, the, 89.<br /> +<br /> +Indore, sketches at, 95.<br /> +<br /> +Industry, relations of, to population, 123.<br /> +<br /> +Infidelity, influence of, on Continental revolution, 431.<br /> +<br /> +Interests, harmony of, Carey on, <a href="#Page_640">640</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Invalides, the Hôtel des, 316.<br /> +<br /> +Invention, the progress of, 563.<br /> +<br /> +Ionic column, Ruskin on the, 327.<br /> +<br /> +Ireland, diminution of the population of, 123<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—decrease of its population since 1846, 128</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—increase of the population in the towns and its diminution in the counties, 129</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the alleged influence of the potato failure on the population, 131, 132</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—diminution of cultivation in, 489, <em>note</em>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—proofs of agricultural depression in, 497.</span><br /> +<br /> +Irish, immigration of the, into Great Britain, 131.<br /> +<br /> +Isaac Comnenus, the drama of, reviewed, 517.<br /> +<br /> +Ismaylis, the sect of the, <a href="#Page_735">735</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Italian insurrection, sketches of the, 25 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<br /> +Italian opera, the, in St Petersburg, 168.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Italian Revolution</span>, the, 431.<br /> +<br /> +Italy, the war between Austria and Sardinia in, 29 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—its disunited state, 434</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—character of the Austrian administration in, <em>ib. et seq.</em></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Jacobleff, a Russian, anecdotes of, 170.<br /> +<br /> +Jardin des Plantes, sketches in the, 314.<br /> +<br /> +Jellachich, baron, operations of, during the Hungarian insurrection, 39<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—sketch of his career, 444.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Jerrmann's pictures from St Petersburg</span>, review of, 154.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Jew's Legacy</span>, the, a tale of the siege of Gibraltar, chap. I. <a href="#Page_648">648</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. II. <a href="#Page_653">653</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. III. <a href="#Page_656">656</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. IV. <a href="#Page_659">659</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. V. <a href="#Page_663">663</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Johnston's Notes on North America</span>, <a href="#Page_699">699</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Joinville, the prince de, character of, 555.<br /> +<br /> +Judicial system, the, of the United States, <a href="#Page_713">713</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Justice, the administration of, in St Petersburg, 162 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Kassela, the African mountain of, 270.<br /> +<br /> +Kent, the scenery of, 196.<br /> +<br /> +King, Mr, report by, on the gold diggings of California, 477.<br /> +<br /> +Kiss, general, 43.<br /> +<br /> +Kleber, general, skeleton of the murderer of, 316.<br /> +<br /> +Kleinmichael, general, reconstruction of the winter palace at St Petersburg by, 159.<br /> +<br /> +Knaresborough election, the, 245, 246.<br /> +<br /> +Kohl, misstatements of, regarding Russia, 171.<br /> +<br /> +Kolin, an incident of the battle of, 26.<br /> +<br /> +Kurdistan, journey of madame Pfeiffer through, 99.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Labourers, the agricultural, loss which will fall on, from free trade, 492.<br /> +<br /> +Labouring classes, on the condition of the dwellings of the, 381.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Lament of Selim</span>, the, 103.<br /> +<br /> +Lanarkshire, increase of population in, 1841 to 1851, 129.<br /> +<br /> +Landlord and tenant, separation induced by free trade between, 610.<br /> +<br /> +Landlords, proportion of loss from free trade to be sustained by the, 492<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—their conduct as regards their tenantry, 612.</span><br /> +<br /> +Latachia, sketches at, 462, <a href="#Page_724">724</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Latour's dragoons, Austrian regiment called, 26.<br /> +<br /> +Law, proposed change in the mode of administering, 386, 387.<br /> +<br /> +Lazaretto at Gaza, the, 453.<br /> +<br /> +Lebanon, sketches in, 455.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Legend of Gibraltar</span>, a, chap. I. 522<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. II. 529</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. III. 532</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. IV. 535</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. V. 539.</span><br /> +<br /> +Legislative assembly, the present, of France, 202<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—sketch of a debate in it, 205.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_756" id="Page_756">[756]</a></span>Legislative interference, on, as applied to sanitary measures, 381.<br /> +<br /> +Leicester, depressed state of, <a href="#Page_644">644</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Leitzendorf, colonel, death of, 31.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Levantine Rambles</span>, 447.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Lewald's Diary in England</span>, review of, 209.<br /> +<br /> +Liberal policy, experienced results of, in the Peninsula, 349.<br /> +<br /> +Liberals, preponderance of the, in Scotland, 297.<br /> +<br /> +Liberals, the Portuguese, division among the, &c., 352.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Life among the Loggers</span>, <a href="#Page_669">669</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Limerick Examiner, the, on emigration from Ireland, 134.<br /> +<br /> +Liszt the pianist, reception of, at St Petersburg, 169.<br /> +<br /> +Littledale, Messrs, on the manufacturing depression, 609.<br /> +<br /> +Lodging-house, a, in San Francisco, 473.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Loggers, Life among the</span>, <a href="#Page_669">669</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Logrolling, origin of the phrase, <a href="#Page_712">712</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom, the Austrian administration of the, 435.<br /> +<br /> +Lombardy, the insurrection of, against Austria, 26 <em>et seq.</em>, 433<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the government of it by Austria, 435.</span><br /> +<br /> +London, the shopkeepers of, effects of free trade on, 111<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—increase of population in, 1841 to 1851, 129.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">London Diary of a German Authoress</span>, the, 209.<br /> +<br /> +Louis XIII., foundation of the Jardin des Plantes by, 315.<br /> +<br /> +Louis Napoleon, improvement of the passport system by, 196<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Stahr's picture of him, 545</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—anecdotes, &c. of him, 547</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—causes of his election, 548.</span><br /> +<br /> +Louis Philippe, improvement of the Boulevard of Paris under him, 202<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the final act of his dethronement, 204</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Stahr's sketches, &c. of him, 548 <em>et seq. passim</em>, 550 <em>et seq.</em></span><br /> +<br /> +Luxor, the obelisk of, at Paris, 312.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +M'Corkindale, R., letter from A. R. Dunshunner to<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Downward tendencies, 106.</span><br /> +<br /> +Madeleine, church of the, at Paris, 312.<br /> +<br /> +Magic, the secrets of, 564.<br /> +<br /> +Maine, sketches among the wood-cutters of, <a href="#Page_669">669</a> <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<br /> +Maize, extensive use of, in the United States, <a href="#Page_705">705</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Malthus, the views of, on population, 123.<br /> +<br /> +Mammiani, the Roman demagogue, 437, 438.<br /> +<br /> +Mantua, the Austrian possession of, 433.<br /> +<br /> +Manufactures, British, their rise during the war, <a href="#Page_633">633</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—their state under free trade, <a href="#Page_643">643</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Manufacturers, depressed state of the, 108.<br /> +<br /> +Manufacturing districts, distress and depression in the, 305, 609.<br /> +<br /> +Manufacturing towns, check to the population in the, 130, 131.<br /> +<br /> +Maria, Donna, position of, in Portugal, 349.<br /> +<br /> +Maronites, sketches of the, 455.<br /> +<br /> +Martineau, Miss, testimony of, regarding mesmerism, 75<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—atheistical work by her, 76, <em>note</em>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Master Thief</span>, the, a Norse popular tale, 595.<br /> +<br /> +Mazarin, encouragement of the drama by, in France, 323.<br /> +<br /> +Mazzini, proceedings of, in Rome, 438.<br /> +<br /> +Mechanics, the poetry of, 567.<br /> +<br /> +Mechi, Mr, his high farming system, 491.<br /> +<br /> +Medusa's head, the, in connection with mesmerism, 77.<br /> +<br /> +Mehmet Pasha of Acre, sketches of, 459 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<br /> +Mesmer, the alleged powers, &c. of, 82.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Mesmerism, what is it?</span> 70<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—postscript, 83.</span><br /> +<br /> +Metallic tractors, cure by, 79.<br /> +<br /> +Metropolitan representatives, character of the, 300<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the <cite>Times</cite> on them, 301.</span><br /> +<br /> +Middle classes, their aversion to revolution in Great Britain, 297.<br /> +<br /> +Miguel, Don, Whig policy toward, and its results, 349<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—his dethronement, 350</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—party still adhering to him, 351 <em>et seq. passim</em>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Miguelites, strength of the party of, in Portugal, 352.<br /> +<br /> +Milan, the duchy of, the Austrian possession of, 433.<br /> +<br /> +Milan, city of. Radetsky's retreat from it, 440<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—its aspect after the suppression of the insurrection, 35.</span><br /> +<br /> +Military service, term of, in Russia, 155.<br /> +<br /> +Millais, painting by, 212.<br /> +<br /> +Milton on emigration, 503.<br /> +<br /> +Ministry, uncertain position of the, 110.<br /> +<br /> +Mitkenab, visit to village of, 264.<br /> +<br /> +"Modern Painters," review of, 326.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Modern State Trials</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Note on Part III.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Captain Helsham</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Duelling 122.</span><br /> +<br /> +Mohammed Din, an Arab chief, 261 <em>et seq. passim</em>.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Moir, the late D. M.</span>, 249.<br /> +<br /> +Molesworth, Mr, account of cannibalism in New Zealand, by, 418.<br /> +<br /> +Monetary Crisis, the, its alleged influence on population, 132.<br /> +<br /> +Montanara, battle of, 33.<br /> +<br /> +Montemolin, the Count de, 356.<br /> +<br /> +Montpensier, the duke de<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—his character, 555.</span><br /> +<br /> +Monuments of London, Fanny Lewald on the, 210.<br /> +<br /> +Moor, action at, in the Hungarian war, 37.<br /> +<br /> +Moose-deer, adventure with a, <a href="#Page_679">679</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Morgan, lady, sketch of, by Lewald, 218.<br /> +<br /> +Morroqueimado, Swiss settlement of, in Brazil, 88.<br /> +<br /> +Mossul, a caravan journey to, 98.<br /> +<br /> +Mosul, town of, <a href="#Page_729">729</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_757" id="Page_757">[757]</a></span>Mulgrave, the earl of, defeat of, at Scarborough, 245.<br /> +<br /> +Mulot, M., the engineer of the great Artesian well at Paris, 317.<br /> +<br /> +Muntz, Mr, on the reduction of wages by free trade, <a href="#Page_634">634</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Music, passion for, in St Petersburg, 168.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">My Novel</span>; or, Varieties in English Life, by Pisistratus Caxton. Book VI.,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Initial Chapter, 1.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. ii. 3</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. iii. 5</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. iv. 6</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. v. 7</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. vi. 10</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. vii. 11</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. viii. 13</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. ix. 15</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. x. 17</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xi. 20</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xii. 21</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xiii. 173</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xiv. 175</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xv. 178</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xvi. <em>ib.</em></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xvii. 180</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xviii. <em>ib.</em></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xix. 184</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xx. 185</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xxi. 187</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xxii. 189</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xxiii. 190</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xxiv. 192</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xxv. 194</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Book VII., Initial Chapter, 275</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. ii. 277</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. iii. <em>ib.</em></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. iv. 278</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. v. 280</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. vi. 281</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. vii. <em>ib.</em></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. viii. 283</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. ix. 285</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. x. 286</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xi. 288</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xii. 289</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xiii. 290</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xiv. 291</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xv. 292</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xvi. 392</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xvii. 397</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xviii. 399</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xix. 400</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xx. 403</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xxi. 407</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xxii. 412</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Book VIII., Initial Chapter, the abuse of intellect, 573</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. ii. 575</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. iii. 580</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. iv. 585</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. v. 590</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. vi. 594</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. vii. <a href="#Page_681">681</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. viii. <a href="#Page_682">682</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. ix. <a href="#Page_687">687</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. x. <a href="#Page_689">689</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xi. <a href="#Page_691">691</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xii. <a href="#Page_693">693</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xiii. <a href="#Page_695">695</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. xiv. <a href="#Page_697">697</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Naples, the revolt and revolution in, 433.<br /> +<br /> +Napoleon column, the, in the Place Vendôme, 318.<br /> +<br /> +Narvaez, the downfall of, in Spain, 356.<br /> +<br /> +National debt, recent increase of the, 138.<br /> +<br /> +National gallery, the British, buildings of the, 210.<br /> +<br /> +National guard, debate on the, in the French Assembly, 205<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—their conduct during the Revolution of 1848, 550, 551.</span><br /> +<br /> +National wealth, origin of, from the soil, 107.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Neale's eight years in Syria</span>, &c. reviewed, 447.<br /> +<br /> +Nelson column, the, 210.<br /> +<br /> +Nemours, the duke de, character of, 555.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Nerval's Scenes de la vie orientale</span>, reviewed, 447.<br /> +<br /> +Neuilly, conduct of the National guard of, in 1848, 550<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the destruction of the chateau of, 551</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—its present state, 552.</span><br /> +<br /> +New Brunswick, sketches in, <a href="#Page_709">709</a>.<br /> +<br /> +New York, diminishing price of flour at, <a href="#Page_703">703</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—agricultural improvement in, <a href="#Page_704">704</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +New Zealand Company, the, 422.<br /> +<br /> +New Zealand Pahs, sketches of, 420.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">New Zealanders</span>, the, 414.<br /> +<br /> +Nicholas, the emperor, character of, 154 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<br /> +Nile, expedition up the, 251 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<br /> +Nineveh, the excavations at, &c., <a href="#Page_729">729</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">North America, Johnston's Notes on</span>, <a href="#Page_699">699</a>.<br /> +<br /> +North America, wood-cutting life in, <a href="#Page_669">669</a> <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<br /> +Nottingham, depressed state of, <a href="#Page_644">644</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Novara, defeat of Charles Albert at, 446.<br /> +<br /> +Novo Friburgo, Swiss colony of, in Brazil, 88.<br /> +<br /> +Nugent, general, 443.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Obelisk of Luxor, the, at Paris, 312.<br /> +<br /> +"Oft in a night of April," 605.<br /> +<br /> +Oligarchies of medieval Italy, the, 435.<br /> +<br /> +Opera, the, at Paris, 310.<br /> +<br /> +Orleans, the late duke of, anecdotes and sketches of, 547, <em>et seq. passim</em>, 554, 555.<br /> +<br /> +Orleans, the duchess of, conduct of, on the 24th February, 204.<br /> +<br /> +Orleans dynasty, Stahr on the, 549.<br /> +<br /> +Otaki, New Zealand village of, 430.<br /> +<br /> +Ottinger, general, sketches of, 36, 37.<br /> +<br /> +Oudinot, general, the siege of Rome by, 438.<br /> +<br /> +Ouroomia, American missionary settlement at, 101.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Palestine, interest of, <a href="#Page_719">719</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Palmerston, lord, on the state of Spain, 355.<br /> +<br /> +Papal states, the revolution of 1848 in the, 437.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Paris in 1851</span>, 195<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the journey, &c., 196 <em>et seq.</em></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the Boulevard, 200</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the Legislative Assembly, 202</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the Debate, 205</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the Opera, 310</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the Obelisk of Luxor, 312</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the Jardin des Plantes, 314</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the Hôtel des Invalides, 316</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the Artesian well, 317</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the Napoleon column, 318</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the Arc de l'Etoile, 319</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the Arc du Carrousel, 320</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—suicides, 321</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the drama, 323.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Paris, German Letters from</span>, 543.<br /> +<br /> +Paris in 1815, picture of, 201.<br /> +<br /> +Parochial clergy and schoolmasters, influence of free trade on the, 501.<br /> +<br /> +Pasquali, the baron di, a Sicilian renegade, 253, 254.<br /> +<br /> +Passport system, improvement in the, 195.<br /> +<br /> +Pauperism, increase of, under free trade, 139.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Peaceful Lieutenant and his friends</span>, the, a three hours' platonic gossip. Hour Third—containing sundry passages in the lieutenant's own history, and the strange legend of his supposed grandfather, 45.<br /> +<br /> +Peel, Sir R. effects of his free-trade system, 115<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—insidious character of his free-trade advances, <a href="#Page_635">635</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—on the anticipated price of corn under free trade, <a href="#Page_636">636</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—effects of his measures, <a href="#Page_640">640</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Peel, the present Sir R., his letter to his tenantry, 106.<br /> +<br /> +Peninsula, experienced results of the Liberal policy in the, 349.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_758" id="Page_758">[758]</a></span>Perowsky, a Russian minister, 163.<br /> +<br /> +Persia, sketches by madame Pfeiffer in, 97.<br /> +<br /> +Peschiera, the capture of, by the Piedmontese, 444.<br /> +<br /> +Peter the Great, the first residence of, at St Petersburg, 171.<br /> +<br /> +Peterwardein, a captivity in, 39.<br /> +<br /> +Petropolis, German colony of, in Brazil, 87.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Pfeiffer, madame, wanderings round the world</span>, by, reviewed, 86.<br /> +<br /> +Philip van Artevelde, review of, 505.<br /> +<br /> +Phreno-mesmerism, exhibitions of, 74.<br /> +<br /> +Picnic, an Eastern, 725<a href="#Page_725">725</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Picture gallery of Versailles, Stahr on the, 552.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Pictures from St Petersburg</span>, 154.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Pimodan, the count de, campaigns of</span>, reviewed, 25.<br /> +<br /> +Pine, the, in America, <a href="#Page_671">671</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Pius IX., the accession of, and review of his proceedings, 432 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<br /> +Place de la Concorde, the, at Paris, 202.<br /> +<br /> +Place Vendôme, the Napoleon column in the, 318.<br /> +<br /> +Playing cards, consumption of, in Russia, 169.<br /> +<br /> +Poetry: The Lament of Selim, by Delta, 103<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Day-dreams of an exile, by H. G. K., 465, 604.</span><br /> +<br /> +Police, abuses of the, in St Petersburg, 162 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<br /> +Political agitation, evils connected with, 296.<br /> +<br /> +Pomaree, queen, sketches of, 91.<br /> +<br /> +Poor-rates, influence of free trade on, 139.<br /> +<br /> +Popery, influence of, on Continental Revolution, 431.<br /> +<br /> +Population, the views of Malthus on, 123<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the influence of employment on it, <em>ib.</em></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—its decrease in Great Britain since 1845, 128</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—immigration of it from the country into the towns, 307.</span><br /> +<br /> +Porter, Mr, on surplus population, 625.<br /> +<br /> +Portugal, the ancient constitution of, 351.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Portuguese Politics</span>, 349.<br /> +<br /> +Potato failure, influence of the, on population, 131<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the free-traders on it, <a href="#Page_641">641</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Poussin, Ruskin on, 328.<br /> +<br /> +Pre-Raphaelitism, Lewald on, 212.<br /> +<br /> +Production, true policy with regard to, 107.<br /> +<br /> +Productive classes, all classes dependent on the, <a href="#Page_631">631</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Property-tax returns, falling off in the, 137.<br /> +<br /> +Prosperity, anticipations regarding, and their disappointment, 609.<br /> +<br /> +Prostitution, Mr Helps on, 389.<br /> +<br /> +Protection, prosperity enjoyed under, 115.<br /> +<br /> +Protestantism, necessity of, to freedom, 447.<br /> +<br /> +Purchas, account of cannibalism in Africa by, 416.<br /> +<br /> +Puris of Brazil, the, 89.<br /> +<br /> +Pusey, Mr, his letters on protection, &c., 119.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Radetsky, marshal, sketch of the character of, 31<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—sketches of, during the campaign in Italy, 26, <em>et seq. passim</em></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—his first proclamation on the outbreak of the insurrection, 439</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—sketch of his previous career, 441.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Raid of Arnaboll</span>, the, chap. i. 220<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. ii. 225</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. iii. 230</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—chap. iv. 236.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Rail, the Champions of the</span>, <a href="#Page_739">739</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Railroads, French and English, 199.<br /> +<br /> +Railway travelling, on, 196.<br /> +<br /> +Rangihaeata, a New Zealand chief, 425.<br /> +<br /> +Rauparaha, a New Zealand chief, 425.<br /> +<br /> +Ravandus, town of, 100.<br /> +<br /> +Recreation, Mr Helps on, 384.<br /> +<br /> +Reform Bill, agitation connected the, 296.<br /> +<br /> +Reform Bill, the proposed new, 297 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<br /> +Rent, reduction of, its inefficiency to meet the agricultural crisis, 492, 611, 612.<br /> +<br /> +Rents, alleged rises of, 494.<br /> +<br /> +Responsibility, application of the principle of, in Russia, 164.<br /> +<br /> +Resumption of cash payments, influence of, 622.<br /> +<br /> +Revenue, influence of free trade on the, 137.<br /> +<br /> +Revolution, aversion to, in Great Britain, 297.<br /> +<br /> +Revolutionary war, increase of population during the, 124.<br /> +<br /> +Rhodes, sketch of, <a href="#Page_723">723</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Richelieu, encouragement of the drama by, in France, 323.<br /> +<br /> +Rivoli, defeat of Charles Albert at, 444.<br /> +<br /> +Roman states, the revolt of the, in 1830, 432<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—and in 1848, 437.</span><br /> +<br /> +Rome, rise of, after the battle of Cannæ, 124<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—progress of the decline of population in, 125</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the siege of, by Oudinot, 438.</span><br /> +<br /> +Rosicrucians, supposed acquaintance of the, with mesmerism, 77.<br /> +<br /> +Rossi, the papal minister, murder of, 437.<br /> +<br /> +Rossi, the countess, 168, 169.<br /> +<br /> +Royal Academy's exhibition, Fanny Lewald on the, 211.<br /> +<br /> +Rubini, reception of, in St Petersburg, 168.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Ruskin, the works of</span>, 326.<br /> +<br /> +Russell, Lord John, his proposed new Reform Bill, 297 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—on the state of the agricultural interest, 489.</span><br /> +<br /> +Russia, sketches of government, society, &c. in, 154 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—extravagance of the higher classes, 170.</span><br /> +<br /> +Russians, cheerfulness of the, 166.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Sabbath, a, in California, 472.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_759" id="Page_759">[759]</a></span>St Denis, the arch of, 320.<br /> +<br /> +St Jean d' Acre, sketches in, 459.<br /> +<br /> +St Lawrence river, the, <a href="#Page_708">708</a>.<br /> +<br /> +St Martin, the arch of, 320.<br /> +<br /> +St Petersburg, pictures from, 154.<br /> +<br /> +Saldanha, the marquis, his insurrection in Portugal and its results, 349<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—his present position, 357.</span><br /> +<br /> +Salis, general, death of, 30.<br /> +<br /> +San Francisco, sketches in, 472 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<br /> +Sanitary measures, on government interference in, 381.<br /> +<br /> +Sanitary regulations, Mr Helps on, 383.<br /> +<br /> +Sardinia and Austria, sketches of the war between, 25 <em>et seq.</em>, 437 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<br /> +Savoy, sketch of the princes of, 441.<br /> +<br /> +Scanderoon, the town of, 463.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Scarborough election</span>, the, 245<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the <cite>Times</cite> on it, 303.</span><br /> +<br /> +Scheremetiew, count, anecdote of, 156.<br /> +<br /> +Schoolmasters, influence of free trade on the, 501.<br /> +<br /> +Science, the superstitions of, 565.<br /> +<br /> +Scotland, increase of population in, 1841 to 1851, 129<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—preponderance of the liberal representatives in, 297</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—fall in the prices of grain as shown by the Fiars, 491</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—alleged rise of rents, 494.</span><br /> +<br /> +Scottish clergy and schoolmasters, influence of free trade on the incomes of, 500 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<br /> +Scribe, M., the words of Zerline by, 311.<br /> +<br /> +Scully, Mr, his motion regarding pauperism in Ireland, 136.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Selim's Lament</span>, by Delta, 103.<br /> +<br /> +Sena, defeat of Charles Albert at, 444.<br /> +<br /> +Serfdom, provisions for the abolition of, in Russia, 155<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—sketches of it there, 156 <em>et seq.</em></span><br /> +<br /> +Servants and employers, on the relations between, 381.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Shaw's Golden dreams and Waking realities</span>, review of, 470.<br /> +<br /> +Shelley's Cenci, remarks on, 505.<br /> +<br /> +Shipping, influence of free trade on, 138.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Shopkeepers of Great Britain</span>, to the, <a href="#Page_629">629</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Shopkeepers, effects of free trade on the, 111<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—serfdom of the, in St Petersburg, 156.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Sigh thou not for a happier lot," 604.<br /> +<br /> +Slavery, Mr Helps on, 384<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—different circumstances in which originated, 385.</span><br /> +<br /> +Small boroughs, the <cite>Times</cite> on the, 246, 300.<br /> +<br /> +Small trades, effects of the suppression of the, 308.<br /> +<br /> +Snake-charming in India, 94.<br /> +<br /> +Snakes, accounts of, 271.<br /> +<br /> +Soil, true origin of national wealth with the, 107.<br /> +<br /> +Soliman Effendi, a renegade Sicilian, 253, 254.<br /> +<br /> +Sontag, madame, at St Petersburg, 168, 169.<br /> +<br /> +Spain, results of liberal policy in, 354<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—its state compared with that of Portugal, <em>ib.</em></span><br /> +<br /> +Spiral column, Ruskin on the, 327.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Springer's Forest Life</span> reviewed, <a href="#Page_669">669</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Stage, state of the, in St Petersburg, 167.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Stahr's Two Months in Paris</span>, review of, 543<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—his "A Year in Italy," remarks on, 544.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Stand by the Ocean," 469.<br /> +<br /> +Stanley, lord, see Derby, earl of.<br /> +<br /> +Starch, quantity of, used in the cotton manufacture, 497.<br /> +<br /> +Stockton, (California,) sketch of, 474.<br /> +<br /> +Strada, account of a case of magnetic communication by, 78.<br /> +<br /> +Strang, Dr, his statistics regarding the population of Glasgow, 130.<br /> +<br /> +Streams, Ruskin on, 330.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Submarine telegraph</span>, the, 562.<br /> +<br /> +Suffolk Agricultural Association, resolutions of the, 616.<br /> +<br /> +Suicide, prevalence and character of, in Paris, 321.<br /> +<br /> +Sunday in London, Lewald on, 213.<br /> +<br /> +Superstitions of science, the, 565.<br /> +<br /> +Suspension of cash payments, influence of the, 619.<br /> +<br /> +Swiss, defence of Vicenza by the, 35.<br /> +<br /> +Syria, sketches in, 453.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Tabriz, sketches by madame Pfeiffer at, 101.<br /> +<br /> +Tahiti, sketches at, 90.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Taka, a campaign in</span>, 251.<br /> +<br /> +Taxation, impossibility of reduction of, adequate to meet the agricultural depression, 113<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—influence of, on industry, 306</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the question of, in relation to that of free trade, <a href="#Page_633">633</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—comparative pressure of, in the United States and Great Britain, 715.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Taylor, Henry, the dramas of</span>, 505.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Telegraph, the submarine</span>, 562.<br /> +<br /> +Tenantry, separation between, and their landlords, induced by free trade, 610<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—their losses by free trade, 611.</span><br /> +<br /> +Thames, the approach to London by the, 210.<br /> +<br /> +Theatre, state of the, in Russia, 167.<br /> +<br /> +Theatres, the London, Fanny Lewald on, 217<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—statistics of those of Paris, 323.</span><br /> +<br /> +Theoretic faculty, Ruskin on the, 334.<br /> +<br /> +Thiennes, the count de, heroism of, 26.<br /> +<br /> +Tiger hunt in India, a, 95.<br /> +<br /> +Times newspaper, the, on the results of free trade, 133<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—on the depopulation of Ireland, 134</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—on the Scarborough election, 246</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—on the small boroughs, 300</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—on the metropolitan representatives, 301</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—account of the laying down of the submarine telegraph from, 568</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—on the increased emigration and its results, 626.</span><br /> +<br /> +Tirel's La République, &c., remarks on, 549.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_760" id="Page_760">[760]</a></span>To ——, by H. G. K., 465, 605<br /> +<br /> +Towns, increase of the, at the expense of the country, 125<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—increase of population in the, 1841 to 1851, 129</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—reaction of the agricultural depression on the, 303</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—immigration of population from the country into them, 307</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—state of their population, <em>ib.</em></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—ventilation, drainage, &c. of them, 381.</span><br /> +<br /> +Trade circulars, general tone of the, 108.<br /> +<br /> +Traders, influence of free trade on the, 137.<br /> +<br /> +Trafalgar Square fountains, the, 314.<br /> +<br /> +Travelling, modern universality of, 86<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—increased facilities and abundance of it, 195.</span><br /> +<br /> +Tucket, Mr, account of the massacre of Wairau by, 425.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +United States, protective policy of the, 117<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—increase in their population, 123</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—on slavery in the, 385</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—increased cultivation of grain in the, 489 <em>note</em></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—sketches of agriculture in the, <a href="#Page_699">699</a> <em>et seq.</em></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—Johnston on their wheat producing powers, <a href="#Page_701">701</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the exports of bread-stuffs from, <a href="#Page_702">702</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the prices of these falling in, <a href="#Page_703">703</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—extensive use of maize and buckwheat in, <a href="#Page_705">705</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—encouragements to emigration to, <a href="#Page_710">710</a>, 711</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—their judicial system, <a href="#Page_713">713</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—taxation, <a href="#Page_715">715</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Upper Canada, progress of, <a href="#Page_708">7008</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Vaccination in New Zealand, 430.<br /> +<br /> +Van, lake, <a href="#Page_732">732</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Van Diemen's land, the aborigines of, 416.<br /> +<br /> +Vendôme column, the, 318.<br /> +<br /> +Venetian territories, the insurrection in the, 26 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—how acquired by Austria, 433</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—her administration of them, 435, 436.</span><br /> +<br /> +Venice, the revolt at, 27.<br /> +<br /> +Ventilation, Mr Helps on the importance of, 383.<br /> +<br /> +Vernet the actor, anecdote of, 161.<br /> +<br /> +Verona, the battle of, 30 <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—capture of it by general d'Aspre, 442.</span><br /> +<br /> +Versailles, Stahr on the galleries of, 552.<br /> +<br /> +Vicenza, the capture of, by Radetsky, 34, 35, 445.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Voice from the Diggings, a</span>, 470.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Voltaire in the Crystal Palace</span>, 142.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Wages, lowering of, among the agricultural classes, 496<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—the general reduction of them the object of the free-traders, 634.</span><br /> +<br /> +Wairau, the massacre of, 425.<br /> +<br /> +Walmsley, sir J., his reception in Scotland, 298.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Walpole's Ansayrii</span>, reviewed, <a href="#Page_719">719</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Wanderings round the World</span>, 86.<br /> +<br /> +Wanganui, treaty of, with the New Zealand chiefs, 423.<br /> +<br /> +Warburton's "Crescent and Cross," extract from, <a href="#Page_721">721</a> <em>note</em>.<br /> +<br /> +Wellington statues, Fanny Lewald on the, 211.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Werne, F. A., a campaign in taka</span> by, reviewed, 251.<br /> +<br /> +Wheat, alleged increased consumption of, 496<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—its price under free trade, <a href="#Page_636">636</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—powers of producing, in the United States, <a href="#Page_701">701</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Where summer is, there 'tis fresh and fair," 467.<br /> +<br /> +Wilson, James, on the corn laws, <a href="#Page_636">636</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Windischgratz, sketches of the campaign in Hungary under, 36.<br /> +<br /> +Winter palace, destruction and rebuilding of the, in St Petersburg, 158.<br /> +<br /> +Wolves, sketches of, in America, <a href="#Page_675">675</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Women, English and German, Fanny Lewald on, 216.<br /> +<br /> +Woodcutters' life in Maine, sketches of, <a href="#Page_669">669</a> <em>et seq.</em><br /> +<br /> +Working-classes, effects of free trade on the, 113.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">World, wanderings round the</span>, 86.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +York column, the, 211.<br /> +<br /> +Young, G. F., return of, for Scarborough, 245.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Zerline, the opera of, 311.<br /> +<br /> +Zichy, count, Austrian commandant at Venice, 28.<br /> +<br /> +Zichy, lieutenant count, death of, 33.<br /> +</div> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="center"><em>Printed by William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh.</em></p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<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> The estimated produce of wheat in these five States in the year 1847 was +38,400,000 bushels.</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> Quantity of bread-stuffs exported from the whole of the United States, and +from the ports of New York and Philadelphia, in the years 1842-46 inclusive:— +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="wheat"> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="center">Wheat</td><td align="center">Flour</td><td align="center">Indian Corn</td><td align="center">Indian Corn</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="center">(bushels.)</td><td align="center">(barrels.)</td><td align="center">(bushels.)</td><td align="center">(Meal barrels.)</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">United States,</td><td align="right">2,691,711</td><td align="right">7,048,356</td><td align="right">4,764,450</td><td align="right">1,199,255</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">New York</td><td align="right">1,985,900</td><td align="right">610,944</td><td align="right">2,443,733</td><td align="right">242,294</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Philadelphia,</td><td align="right">474,788</td><td align="left">1,055,382</td><td align="right">677,530</td><td align="right">565,682</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Total of both ports,</td><td align="right">2,460,688</td><td align="right">3,666,326</td><td align="right">3,121,263</td><td align="right">807,976</td></tr> +</table></div> +</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> Comparative statement of the prices, per barrel, of best wheat flour at New +York, (taken from the <em>Monthly Averages</em>) in 1829-33, and 1844-48:— +</p> + + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="prices"> +<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 4em;">FIRST PERIOD.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1829,</td><td align="right">Dr. 6.23</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1830,</td><td align="right">5.02</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1831,</td><td align="right">5.84</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1832,</td><td align="right">5.70</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1833,</td><td align="right">5.70</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Average of five years,</td><td align="right"><span class="bt">5.69</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 3em;">SECOND PERIOD.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1844,</td><td align="right">Dr. 4.60</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1845,</td><td align="right">5.00</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1846,</td><td align="right">5.16</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1847,</td><td align="right">6.77</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1848,</td><td align="right">5.83</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Average of five years,</td><td align="right"><span class="bt">5.47</span></td></tr> +</table></div> +</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> Vol. ii. p. 389.</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> Vol. i. p. 80.</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> +</p> + +<p><br /> +Total number of registered emigrants for the twenty-one years from 1825 to<br /> +1845 inclusive 1,349,476——Average, 64,260<br /> +Do. do. <em>for the five years</em> 1846 <em>to</em> 1850 inclusive, 1,216,557——Average, 243,311<br /> + +</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> We give this amount as it is usually estimated, although it is certainly far +below the truth.</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> <cite>The American Almanac</cite> for 1851.</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> See Mr Smee's pamphlet on the Income-Tax.</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> By the leviathan steamers now building for the Peninsular and Oriental Steam +Company. They are calculated to make from sixteen to eighteen miles an hour, which +would reduce the sea-going part of the voyage to eight days two hours.</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> +The mere physical pleasure of the upper voyage has been thus described—"No +words can convey an idea of the beauty and delightfulness of tropical weather, at +least while any breeze from the north is blowing. There is a pleasure in the very +act of breathing—a voluptuous consciousness that existence is a blessed thing: the +pulse beats high, but calmly; the eye feels expanded; the chest heaves pleasureably, +as if air was a delicious draught to thirsty lungs; and the mind takes its colouring +and character from sensation. No thought of melancholy ever darkens over us—no +painful sense of isolation or of loneliness, as day after day we pass on through silent +deserts, upon the silent and solemn river. One seems, as it were, removed into +another state of existence; and all the strifes and struggles of that from which we +have emerged seem to fade, softened into indistinctness. This is what Homer and +Alfred Tennyson knew that the lotus-eaters felt when they tasted of the mysterious +tree of this country, and became weary of their wanderings:— +</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4">'——To him the gushing of the wave<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Far, far away, did seem to mourn and rave<br /></span> +<span class="i0">On alien shores: and, if his fellow spake,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">His voice was thin, as voices from the grave!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And deep asleep he seemed, yet all awake,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And music in his ears his beating heart did make.'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>If the day, with all the tyranny of its sunshine and its innumerable insects, be +enjoyable in the tropics, the night is still more so. The stars shine out with diamond +brilliancy, and appear as large as if seen through a telescope. Their changing +colours, the wake of light they cast upon the water, the distinctness of the milky +way, and the splendour, above all, of the evening star, give one the impression of being +under a different firmament from that to which we have been accustomed; then +the cool delicious airs, with all the strange and stilly sounds they bear from the +desert and the forest; the delicate scents they scatter, and the languid breathings +with which they make our large white sails appear to pant, as they heave and languish +softly over the water."—(<cite>The Crescent and the Cross</cite>, vol. i. p. 210.) +</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> The journey from Cairo across the desert by Suez, or at least thence by Gaza +or Sinai to Jerusalem, is performed in the same manner as it was in the days when +Eothen, Dr Robinson, and Lord Castlereagh described it. The only difference occurs +in the route between Cairo and Suez, which is now performed on wheels in about +twelve hours, and, in the course of eighteen months, is expected to be easily accomplished +in two hours and a half by railway.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> <i>Kief</i>: a word difficult to translate, but expressing perfect abandonment to +repose; a <i>dolce far niente</i> which only Orientals can thoroughly achieve.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> The Moslems being water-drinkers, are as curious about their streams as <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">bons +vivans</i> are about their cellars. One of the Caliphs sent to weigh all the waters in +his wide kingdom, and found that of the Euphrates was the lightest.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> He was subsequently murdered, <small>A. D.</small> 62.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> We must here notice the generosity with which Mr Walpole forbears to enlarge +upon any subject in which he might anticipate the works of other travellers. For +this reason he passes lightly over this interesting tour in the mountains of Koordistan, +and only (to our regret) alludes <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">en passant</i> to a tribe of <em>pastoral</em> Jews, whom he +and Mr Layard met on these mountains, following the spring (as the snows receding +left fresh herbage for their flocks) up the mountains. When we consider how rarely +pastoral Jews are met with, and that this was the very land wherein the lost ten +tribes disappeared, and, moreover, that the elders of these people spoke the Chaldean +tongue, we are much disappointed to hear no more of them.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> The mystery relating to this community is so great that the laborious Müller, +in his twenty-four books, has not attempted to penetrate it. And Gibbon, notwithstanding +his acknowledged pleasure in painting scenes of blood, has treated the Order +of Assassins very superficially. Marco Polo is, as usual, the most entertaining of +authorities, as far as he goes; but it remained for Joseph Von Hammer to explore the +faint vestiges of their strange story with vast and patient research. He has thrown +together the results of his labours in a small volume, of great interest.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> The Vulture's Nest.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> Dais, Refik, and Fedavie.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> <cite>De Regionibus Orient.</cite>, lib. i. c. 28.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> We do not yet know if any ceremony exists at the naming of the child.</p></div></div> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<div class="tn"><h3>Transcriber's note:</h3> +<p>Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. +Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained as +printed (example: Sheffield and Sheffeld).</p> + +<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> +</div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol. +70, No. 434, December, 1851, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLACKWOOD'S MAGAZINE, DEC 1851 *** + +***** This file should be named 44491-h.htm or 44491-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/4/4/9/44491/ + +Produced by Brendan OConnor, Jonathan Ingram and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Library of Early Journals.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol. 70, No. 434, December, 1851 + +Author: Various + +Release Date: December 24, 2013 [EBook #44491] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLACKWOOD'S MAGAZINE, DEC 1851 *** + + + + +Produced by Brendan OConnor, Jonathan Ingram and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Library of Early Journals.) + + + + + +Transcriber's note: + +Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). + +Small capital text has been replaced with all capitals. + +The equal sign before "u" in "Alam=ut" refers to a macron +above the "u". + + * * * * * + + + + + BLACKWOOD'S + EDINBURGH MAGAZINE. + + No. CCCCXXXIV. DECEMBER, 1851. VOL. LXX. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + TO THE SHOPKEEPERS OF GREAT BRITAIN, 629 + + THE JEW'S LEGACY. A TALE OF THE SIEGE OF GIBRALTAR, 648 + + LIFE AMONGST THE LOGGERS, 669 + + MY NOVEL; OR, VARIETIES IN ENGLISH LIFE. PART XVI., 681 + + JOHNSTON'S NOTES ON NORTH AMERICA, 699 + + THE ANSAYRII, 719 + + THE CHAMPIONS OF THE RAIL, 739 + + INDEX, 751 + + + EDINBURGH: + WILLIAM BLACKWOOD & SONS, 45 GEORGE STREET; + AND 37 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON. + + _To whom all communications (post paid) must be addressed._ + + SOLD BY ALL THE BOOKSELLERS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM. + + PRINTED BY WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS, EDINBURGH. + + + + + BLACKWOOD'S + EDINBURGH MAGAZINE. + + No. CCCCXXXIV. DECEMBER, 1851. VOL. LXX. + + + + +TO THE SHOPKEEPERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. + + +GENTLEMEN,--As it is customary for most men about this season of +the year, when accounts are balanced and squared, to take a serious +survey of the posture of their affairs, and to examine into their +business prospects, perhaps you may not consider a few observations, +touching the welfare and position of that important class of the +community to which you belong, either impertinent or ill-timed. You +are aware that, for the last year or two, Her Majesty's Ministers +have been in the habit of opening Parliament with a congratulatory +assurance of the continued, and even augmented, prosperity of the +country. The reason why such statements were made, altogether +irrespective of their truth or falsehood, is obvious enough. In a +political point of view, they were necessary for the vindication +of the measures which Government either originated or adopted. To +have admitted that the country was not prospering under the new +commercial system, would have been considered by the public as +tantamount to an acknowledgment that the policy which dictated +those measures was vicious; and that the Whig ministry, if not +deficient in duty, had at least erred sorely in judgment. In private +life, we rarely meet with that degree of candour which amounts to +an unequivocal admission of error in point of judgment--in public +life, such an admission is altogether unknown. Failure may indeed +be acknowledged when the fact becomes too evident to admit of +further denial; but the causes of that failure are never attributed +to their real source. Not only the purity of the motive, but the +wisdom of the conception, is vindicated to the last. In this case, +however, failure is totally denied. So far from being put upon their +defence, the Whigs maintain that they have achieved a triumph. Their +averment is, that, with the exception of the agricultural producers, +among whom they allow that a certain degree of distress prevails, +all other classes of the community are prosperous. Even for the +agriculturists there is balm in store. The prosperity of the other +classes is to react upon them; so that, within some indefinite +period of time, we shall all find ourselves in circumstances of ease +and comfort which have hitherto been unknown in our land. + +With you the benefit is represented, not as prospective, but as +present. The agriculturist may have to wait a little longer, but you +are already provided for. Your cake is baked; and we are assured +that you are eating it in thankfulness and joy. If this is really +the case, there is no more to be said on the subject. If the harvest +of Free Trade has actually yielded you such a large measure of +profit, it would be madness in anyone to decry that line of policy +in your hearing. You constitute the class which, from its peculiar +position and vocation, is better qualified than any other to judge +accurately, and from experience, of the degree of prosperity which +is actually known in the country. The verdict of twelve shopkeepers, +given after an inspection of their books for an average of years, +ought to be of more weight, in settling the merits of any disputed +commercial question, than the random assurances of a dozen cabinet +ministers whose reputation and official existence are bound up in +the vindication of their own policy. The reason of this is perfectly +obvious. Your profit is simply a commission upon your sales. You +do not produce or manufacture articles of consumption--you simply +retail them. Your profit depends upon the briskness of trade, that +is, the amount of demand. It rises or falls according to the general +circumstances of your customers. In good times you make large +profits; in bad times those profits decrease. One while your stock +sells off rapidly; at another, it remains upon your hands. Your +interest is inseparable from that of the great body of consumers by +whom you live. You have little or nothing to do with the foreign +trade; for, whatever be the nature, of the articles in which you +deal, you sell them in the home market. You have, therefore, the +best opportunity of estimating the real condition of your customers. +The state of your own books, and the comparative degree of ease or +difficulty which you experience in the collection of your accounts, +furnish you with a sure index of the purchasing power of the +community. Compared with this criterion, which is common to every +man among you, tables of exports and imports, statements of bank +bullion, and such like artificial implements as have been invented +by the political impostors and economists, are absolutely worthless. +When our sapient Chancellor of the Exchequer, or Mr Labouchere, +tell you, with an air of unbounded triumph, that the exportation +of calicoes to China or Peru has mightily increased--and therefore +argue, without condescending to inquire whether such exportation +has been attended with any profit at all to the manufacturers, that +the prosperity of the country is advancing at a railway pace--you +may indeed be gratified by the statistical information, but you +will fail to discover in what way the public are benefited thereby. +It is pleasant to know that there are fifteen millions of gold in +the vaults of the Bank of England, and that, so long as this hoard +remains undiminished, there is little chance of a commercial crisis, +or a violent contraction of credit. But we take it you would be +infinitely better pleased to know that sovereigns were circulating +freely from hand to hand amongst the people, and that your customers +had their pockets so well filled as to enable them to purchase +largely, and to pay their accounts when due. To you any depression +whatever is a serious matter--a depression which assumes a permanent +appearance cannot be much short of ruin. Therefore you ought most +especially to take care that no false representation is made +regarding your circumstances, which may be the means of perpetuating +a system that has already proved detrimental to a large body of your +customers. + +Were we to take for granted the ministerial statement of +prosperity--which no doubt will be repeated next February--your Whig +minister being an incorrigible cuckoo--this paper would certainly +not have been written. But, having had occasion early to doubt the +truthfulness of this vernal note, and having taken some pains to +examine the statements which from time to time are issued by the +great houses engaged in commercial and manufacturing industry, as +also the accounts of the present condition of the poor, which have +excited so much public interest, we have really been unable to +discover any one influential class, beyond the money-lenders and +creditors, or any one large and important branch of industry, which +can, with truth, be described as prospering, or will confess to the +existence of such prosperity. Shipmasters, manufacturers, merchants, +iron-masters, and agriculturists, all tell the same tale. This is +very strange. You may possibly remember that Mr M'Gregor, once +Secretary to the Board of Trade, and now member for Glasgow, the +great commercial city of Scotland, estimated the additional amount +of wealth which was to accrue to Great Britain, in consequence of +the repeal of the Corn Laws, at two millions sterling per week! Upon +what data that profound gentleman, who thus enunciated the prophecy +and assumed the mask of Midas, proceeded in his calculation, we know +not, and perhaps it would be superfluous to inquire. It certainly +was a good round sum; for, by this time, without insisting upon +compound, or even simple interest, it should have amounted to +rather more than one-half of the national debt; but unfortunately +nobody will own to having fingered a farthing of the money. In +recalling to your memory this little circumstance, it is by no +means our intention to offer any disrespect to the intellectual +powers of M'Gregor, for whom, indeed, we entertain a high degree of +veneration, similar to that which is manifested by the Mussulman +when he finds himself in the company of a howling derveesh. We +merely wish to reproduce to you one phantom of the golden dream, +which, five or six years ago, when the fever of gain was epidemical, +possessed the slumbers of so many; and having done so, to ask you, +now that the fever is gone, whether it was not indeed a phantom? We +are wiser now--at all events, we have had more experience--and the +producing classes tell us very distinctly, and quite unanimously, +that they have derived no benefit whatever from the commercial +changes which have taken place. Capital, whether invested in ships, +factories, mines, or land, is less profitable, and therefore less +valuable, than it was before; and in some instances, where the +depression has been most heavy, it has been almost annihilated. + +These are not our statements, but the statements of the several +interests, as put forward by their own representatives. They +are statements which emanate alike from the Free-Trader and the +Protectionist. Men may differ as to the cause, but they all agree +as to the grand fact of the depression. So that, when we hear +ministers congratulating themselves and the country upon its general +prosperity, and, _pari passu_ with this congratulation, find the +accredited organs of each of the great branches of productive +industry vehemently asserting that they are exceptions from the +general rule, an anxious believer in the probity of all parties has +his faith somewhat rudely shaken. + +We believe that, collectively, you are the best judges as to this +disputed matter. As the real wealth of the country depends upon +the amount and value of its yearly produce--as from that annual +creation, when measured by the monetary standard, and circulated +through a thousand channels, all our incomes are derived--you, +who supply the whole population with the necessaries and luxuries +of life, (fabricated by others, but passing through your hands,) +must necessarily have the best means of knowing whether the +circumstances of that population have, on the aggregate, been +bettered or made worse. When Napoleon in the bitterness of his heart +declared that we were a nation of shopkeepers, he uttered no terms +of reproach, though he intended to convey a taunt. Your position +in the community is such that you cannot flourish independent of +its general prosperity. The exporting manufacturer, and even the +foreign merchant, may multiply their gains, and realise fortunes, +whilst other classes, whose wellbeing is far more important to the +stability of the empire, are hastening to decay. Such phenomena are +common in old states, when the process of dissolution has begun. +The parasite lives and thrives, while the tree round which it has +wound its tendrils is crumbling into rottenness. But such is not +your case. Your interests are identical with those of the productive +classes, for without them you could not exist. Ill-remunerated +labour--unproductive capital--lessened means--deteriorated +property--are things which affect you as deeply as though you were +the direct sufferers or losers. Upon the wealth of your customers +depends your own. And therefore, in such an important crisis as +the present, when the existing commercial system of the country is +vigorously assailed by one party, and as obstinately defended by +another--when facts and statements apparently of much weight are +adduced on either side, to serve as arguments for the overthrow or +the maintenance of that system--when some cite statistical tables to +prove that the country must be prosperous, and others adduce real +evidence to show that the reverse is the case--you cannot afford +to sit idly by, without throwing the weight of your testimony and +experience into one or other of the scales. You have had admirable +opportunities of noticing the working of the Free-Trade system. It +matters not what were the original prepossessions of any of you, +or what might have been your opinion with regard to the merits of +this or that scheme, while it was still in embryo and untried. A +more complex question than that of Free Trade, as affecting the +importation of corn, probably never was presented to the public +consideration. Many excellent, judicious, and thoroughly patriotic +men, relying upon the truth of statements which were regarded by +others as mere plausible theories, were willing to submit to the +experiment. And when, by the grossest act of political perfidy +that was ever perpetrated--an act which future times, if not the +present, will stigmatise with deserved opprobrium--the last and most +important change, save that which subsequently assailed our maritime +interest, was suddenly effected, it was the declared opinion of the +majority that the new system must at least have a trial, until its +real results were developed, and until it became apparent to the +nation whether or not Free Trade would operate for the advantage of +the people, as its advocates and promoters had predicted. + +Here we must, for a moment or two, however unwillingly, digress. The +later measures of Free Trade have assailed interests so important +and so strong, that its former and earlier advances, stealthily and +cautiously made, have almost faded from the public view. Free Trade, +as a political system, did not alone strike at the agricultural or +the shipping interest. Since the days of Mr Huskisson, who brought +with him into active life the principles which he had imbibed in +youth from his associates in French Jacobinism, the principles of +Free Trade have been gradually but cautiously applied to various +branches of British industry. The slow and insidious nature of the +movement on the part of the statesmen, who, even then, were yielding +to the influence of the modern economical school, showed their +distrust of the system, which, if true, ought at once to have been +openly promulgated. Like the late Sir Robert Peel, Huskisson was +destitute of that manly courage which scorns concealment or deceit, +and walks steadfastly to its goal. Cunning was an ingredient of +his nature: whatever he did was accomplished by tortuous methods, +and vindicated upon false pretences. The tendency of that policy +which he commenced was to maintain by all means, at all hazards, +and at the sacrifice, if needful, of every other interest, the +manufacturing supremacy, of England in the foreign market--an object +for which we still are striving, though at the imminent risk of the +dismemberment of the British empire. It is due, however, to the +memory of Mr Huskisson, to remark, that, although the originator +of this policy, he does not seem to have contemplated the extent +to which it would be carried out by his successors. His opinions +upon the subject of protection to agriculture were clear and +decided: "There is no effectual security, either in peace or war, +against the frequent return of scarcity, but in making ourselves +independent of foreign supply. Let the bread we eat be the produce +of corn grown among ourselves; and, for one, I care not how cheap +it is--the cheaper the better. It is cheap now, and I rejoice at +it, because it is altogether owing to a sufficiency of corn of our +own growth; but, to insure a continuance of that cheapness, and +that sufficiency, we must insure to our own growers _protection +against foreign importation_, which has produced those blessings, +and by which alone they can be permanently maintained." The time, +however, was fast approaching when the reins of government were to +fall into the hands of a scion of the manufacturing body, in whose +eyes the momentary supremacy of party was of more importance than +any principle of national policy. There is no more curious page in +history than that which records the rise of British manufactures +towards the close of last century. Invention after invention, +whereby manual labour was superseded by machinery, and the power of +production almost indefinitely multiplied, paved the way for that +monopoly which our manufacturers enjoyed for at least a quarter of +a century, during which time every other country in Europe except +our own was devastated by war, and the peaceful arts forgotten or +overthrown. It was during that period that the gigantic fortunes of +the Arkwrights and the Peels were made, and that influence secured +to the manufacturing body in the British House of Commons which it +never possessed before. But with the return of peace the monopoly +disappeared. By invention in mechanical appliances, Britain had +the start of other nations in the creation of manufactures; by +war, she was enabled long to enjoy the undivided benefits. But +inventions are not the property of a single nation; they pass from +one to another with the rapidity of lightning; they are available +by the foreign, even more easily than by the domestic, rival. Hence +it very soon became apparent that other states were preparing to +compete with us in those branches of industry which had proved +so exceedingly profitable. France, Belgium, Germany, Russia, +Switzerland, and America, all entered keenly into the contest; and +then commenced that decline of prices which has continued, almost +without intermission, to the present hour. Reciprocity treaties were +tried, but were in fact of little avail; for the great bulk of the +English exports consisted of those very textile fabrics which it +was the object of each country to produce for its own consumption, +if not to export to others. During the war, both the expenses of +government and the interest of the National Debt had doubled in +amount, and the monetary changes effected in 1819 added at least +one-third to the weight of that augmented burden. In order to make +this taxation bearable, the industry of the people was protected in +their own market by a scale of customs duties, which prevented the +influx of foreign produce at rates which must have annihilated the +British workman. Protection is a clear necessity which arises out +of taxation. If the tobacco, tea, coffee, sugar, beer, soap, and +other articles of the labourer's consumption, are taxed in order +to maintain an expensive establishment, and to defray the interest +of an enormous debt, he must have a compensation of some kind. The +only kind of compensation which can be granted, and which the wit of +man can devise, is to be found in an equitable scale of duties, by +means of which all produce imported into Britain shall be taxed as +heavily as though it had been reared, grown, or made up on British +ground by British labourers. Unless this be done, there is no fair +competition. The less burdened foreigner must ultimately carry the +day against the heavily-taxed Englishman. And when we consider that +all taxes must be paid out of produce, there being no other source +whatever from which they can be drawn, the importance of maintaining +the market value of our produce at a point equal to the pressure of +our taxation will at once become apparent. + +There are, however, plausible, though in reality most fallacious +grounds, upon which the Protective System may be assailed. In this, +as in every other country, the first and most important branch +of industry is that which provides food for the population. To +that all others are subordinate. It is impossible to estimate the +amount of capital which has been laid out upon the soil of Britain, +first in reclaiming it from a state of nature, and, since then, +in maturing and increasing its fruitfulness. But some idea may be +formed of its magnitude from the fact that, in 1846, the annual +agricultural produce of the United Kingdom was valued, according +to the prices then current, at L250,000,000. Whatever imperial +taxation is imposed on other classes of the community is shared +equally by the agriculturists; and they are, moreover, exposed to +heavy local rates, from which the others are comparatively free. +It is a received maxim in political economy--we ought rather to +say a rule of common sense--that all taxes and charges paid by the +producer, over and above his necessary profit, fail ultimately to +be defrayed by the consumer--that is, that such taxes and charges +form a component part of the selling price of the article. There is +no specialty whatever in the case of corn or provisions to exempt +them from the general rule. But all restrictions which tend to +enhance the price of the first necessaries of life are obnoxious +to that section of the people who, from ignorance or incapacity, +cannot understand why bread should be dear in one country and +cheap in another. They, too, are subjected to their share of +indirect taxation, and the knowledge that they are so taxed in +the consumption of articles which constitute their only luxuries, +renders them doubly impatient of a system which, on the authority +of wicked and designing demagogues, they are led to believe was +invented by the landlords solely for their own benefit. Thus heavy +taxation, however engendered, must always be fraught with great +peril to the permanency of a state. The burden of such taxation +falls most heavily upon the land, and yet the agriculturist is +expected to provide food for the people as cheaply as though he were +altogether exempt from the burden. + +The reason why the exporting manufacturers, and those politicians +who entered thoroughly into their views, were so bent upon the +destruction of the Corn Laws, was twofold. In the first place, the +competition in foreign markets threatened to become so strong, owing +to the rapid development of textile industry on the Continent, that +it was necessary to lower prices. England had given machinery and +models to the Continent, and the Continent was now fighting her +with her own weapons, and at a cheaper cost, as labour abroad is +less expensive than it is here. In order to bring down the value +of labour in England, for the purpose of protracting this grand +manufacturing contest, it was necessary to lower, in some way +or other, the price of food in England, and this could only be +accomplished by free admission of foreign supplies. In short, their +object was to bring down wages. On this point we have the testimony +of Mr Muntz, M.P. for Birmingham, as early as February 1842. He +wrote as follows:--"Say what you will, the _object_ of the measure +is _to reduce wages_, and the _intention_ is to reduce them to +the Continental level. I repeat it, the Corn Laws very materially +support labour in this country.... Why, the professed object of +the repeal is to enable the English merchant to compete with the +foreigner, and how can he do that _unless by a reduction of wages_, +which reduction will be upon all trade, home and foreign?" Mr John +Bright was not less clear as to the necessity of such reduction of +wages in order to maintain our exports: "If the tariff in Russia +imposed a heavy duty on English yarn, and if English yarn went there +and had to be sold at the same rate as the yarn of the Russian +spinner, he (that is, the Russian spinner) not paying the heavy +duty, it followed that we must, _by some means or other_, make our +goods cheaper by the amount of duty which we paid, and to do that +_it was absolutely necessary that the wages of the operatives in +this country should be reduced_." And Mr Greg of Manchester, a +leading member of the Anti-Corn Law League, wrote as follows:--"In +the only remaining item of the cost of production--that is, the +wages of labour--foreign nations have a decided advantage; and +although a free trade in provisions, by lowering them here, and +raising them abroad, might regulate the difference, I doubt if it +ever could be entirely removed. Better education, more sober habits, +more frugality, and general forethought, together with cheaper food, +will no doubt enable our people to live in much greater comfort +than at present UPON CONSIDERABLY SMALLER EARNINGS." These extracts +sufficiently disclose the designs of the Free-Traders against the +wages of the workman. In the second place, it was believed by many +of them, that, by sacrificing the agriculturists, they would be +able to turn the attention of other countries, especially America, +from the prosecution of their rising manufactures. They argued, +that if we were to surrender and secure our provision market to +foreign states, they would return the compliment by allowing us +to manufacture for them--in other words, that the foreigners were +to feed England, and England was to clothe the foreigners! This +precious scheme has since been avowed, seriously and gravely, by men +who have seats in the present House of Commons; and, so far as we +can understand their language, the philosophers of the _Edinburgh +Review_ consider this a most sensible arrangement! + +The agricultural interest, however, was of too great magnitude to +be attacked at once. Several outworks were to be gained before +the citadel was summoned to surrender. Accordingly Mr Huskisson +began, and Sir Robert Peel continued, that system of commercial +relaxations, (which, some five-and-twenty years ago, was exposed +and denounced in this Magazine,) annihilating some branches of +industry and depressing others--pauperising whole districts, as in +the Highlands, and merging the villages in the towns--until the time +seemed ripe, and the opportunity propitious, for the accomplishment +of the grand design. It is not now necessary to dwell upon the +circumstances which attended the change in the Corn and Navigation +Laws--these are still fresh in the memory of all of us, and will +not soon be forgotten. Our object in this digression was simply to +remind you that Free Trade, in its insidious and stealthy progress, +has warred with other interests than those which belong to the +agricultural and the maritime classes. + +Neither is it necessary at present to advert to the gross +inconsistencies of the system--to the restrictions which it still +continues upon that very branch of industry which it has laid bare +to foreign competition. Let us take the system as it is, of which +you have had now nearly three years' experience, dating from the +time when the ports were opened. + +Three years constitute a long period for the endurance of a +commercial experiment. During that time you have had ample +opportunity of observing how the system has worked. Are you richer +or poorer than you were before the experiment began? If the former, +Free Trade has worked well; if the latter, it is a mischievous +delusion. + +This is a question which you alone can answer--or rather, every man +must answer it for himself. But this much we may be allowed to say, +that, from what information we can gather regarding the state of +general trade--from the sentiments which we have heard expressed by +many of the most respectable of your own body--the experiences of +the last year have not been such as to give you much encouragement +for the future. If it is so, then you will do well to consider +whether or not you ought to lend that great political influence +which you undoubtedly possess, in support of a system which has not +only failed to realise the anticipations of its founders, but has +actually diminished in a great degree the power of purchase of the +community. + +This is no trivial matter to any of us, least of all is it trivial +to you. The next general election will be, in its results, by far +the most important of any which has taken place for centuries. If, +in the new Parliament, all idea of a return to the Protective System +is abandoned, we may prepare ourselves for that most dismal conflict +which can convulse a country--a war against taxation, and ultimately +against property. For--rely upon this--heavy taxation and cheap +produce are things which never can be reconciled. You may, if you +please, hand over the home market of Britain to the foreigner, and +allow him, without toll or custom, to supply our wants with produce +of his own rearing; but, if you do so, what is to become of our +own population, and their labour?--and how are you to levy those +taxes which labour alone can supply? That manufacturing interest, +for which such desperate sacrifices have been made, is daily losing +ground in the markets of the world. The fact will brook no denial, +and it is admitted even by its own members. America has refused +the bait offered to her by the Free-Traders, and is engaged heart +and soul in the cotton manufacture, for which she possesses within +herself the command of the raw material. _To those countries which +supply us with corn, our exports of manufactures have alarmingly +decreased._ We may continue to glut (for that is what we are doing +at present) the markets of India and China, and our export tables +may exhibit a cheering increase in the amount of yards of calico +sent out; but, unless the trade circulars are utterly mendacious, +the speculation has been, and will continue to be for a long tract +of time, unprofitable. The fact is, that the extent and value of +our foreign trade in manufactures is little understood by most +of us, and grossly exaggerated by others. It constitutes, after +all, a mere fraction of the national production. The consumption +of manufactures at home is, or was, before the late changes were +made, twice as great as the whole amount of our annual exports. The +prosperity of this country does not depend upon the amount of wares +which it sends or forces abroad, though that is the doctrine which +is constantly clamoured in our ears by the political economists--a +generation of ridiculous pretenders, of whom it is only necessary +to know one, in order to form an accurate estimate of the mental +capabilities of his tribe. It depends on our own labour, on our +own internal arrangements, and on that reciprocity between man and +man, and between class and class of our fellow-subjects, which is +the only real security for the peace and tranquillity of a kingdom. +Those exporting manufacturers, who rummage foreign markets, are +no better than so many buccaneers. Their object is to evade the +burden of taxation at home, and, wherever they can with advantage +to themselves, to bring in foreign labour, untaxed and untolled, to +supersede that of the British workman. + +You cannot have failed to remark that the arguments which are now +put forward by the Free-Traders, in support of their system, are +totally different from those which they advanced while recommending +it for the adoption of the country. How often were we told, during +the struggle which preceded the repeal of the Corn Laws, that all +the apprehensions expressed of a permanent fall in the value of +produce, and of overwhelming importations from abroad, were purely +visionary! Learned statists undertook to prove by figures that the +whole quantity of grain which could be brought into this country was +absolutely insignificant, and that it could not disturb prices. Mr +James Wilson of the _Economist_, in his valuable tractate entitled +_Influences of the Corn Laws_, which was published eleven years ago, +thus favoured the public with _his_ anticipations for the future, in +the event of the repeal of the Corn Laws:-- + +"Our belief is," says the sage of Westbury, "that the whole of +these generally received opinions are erroneous; that if we had had +a free trade in corn since 1815, the average price of the whole +period, actually received by the British grower, would have been +higher than it has been; that little or no more foreign grain would +have been imported; and that if, for the next twenty years, the +whole protective system shall be abandoned, _the average price of +wheat will be higher than it has been for the last seven years_, +(52s. 2d.,) or than it would be in the future with a continuance of +the present system;--but with this great difference, that prices +would be nearly uniform and unaltering from year to year; that the +disastrous fluctuations would be greatly avoided, which we have +shown, in the first proposition, to be so ruinous under the present +system." + +For this very notable sentiment, Mr Wilson was clapped on the back +by the Manchester men, and commended thus in the seventh circular +of the League:--"We are much indebted to Mr Ibbotson of Sheffield, +_Mr James Wilson_, and our esteemed correspondent, for labouring to +prove to the landlords that they may safely do justice to others, +without endangering their own interests. And we think very much has +been done towards justifying their opinions, _that the money price +of grain would not be lowered even by the total repeal of the Corn +Laws_!" Sir Robert Peel, in the memorable debates of 1846, attempted +to justify his experiment on the ground that previous commercial +relaxations had been found beneficial to the parties who were +directly engaged in the trade, his inference being, that the same +result would follow in the case of the agriculturists. Unfortunately +the data upon which he proceeded were altogether fallacious; for, +notwithstanding his dexterity in selecting figures, and bringing +out balances which were apparently favourable, it was clearly +demonstrated by Lord George Bentinck, that in no one instance +whatever had those relaxations proved favourable to the British +producer, and that many of them had moreover occasioned a large +loss to the public revenue. But the language held by Sir Robert +Peel, upon that occasion, cannot be construed otherwise than as +the expression of an opinion that, by the repeal of the Corn Laws, +prices would not be materially disturbed--at all events, that they +would not be lowered so as to fall below the remunerative point. + +The immense influx of foreign grain which followed the opening +of the ports in 1849, and the immediate fall of price, were +calculated to alarm not only the farmers, but even that section of +the Free-Traders who believed conscientiously that the productive +powers of Europe and America were unequal to the supply of so very +considerable a surplus. It is no wonder that the farmers were +frightened, when they saw grain coming in at the rate of a million +of quarters per month! They were, however, told by the highest +Free-trading authorities in both Houses of Parliament, and the same +view was violently maintained by the Liberal press, that their +fears were altogether groundless; that such importations could not +possibly be maintained; and that the first inundation was simply +caused by an accumulation of corn at the foreign ports, stored up +in readiness for the opening of the English market--a contingency +which could not happen again. The utmost pains were taken, by those +who had consented to the repeal of the Corn Laws, to persuade the +farmers that the low prices of 1849 were attributable principally to +the superabundance of the harvest at home; and they were exhorted +to wait patiently, but hopefully, for the advent of better times. +In short, every means were taken to persuade the agriculturists +that they were labouring under a temporary but not a permanent +difficulty, and that a very short time would suffice to restore them +to their former condition. But no one attempted to maintain, in +1849, that, if wheat continued to sell at or about 40s. per quarter, +its cultivation could be profitable in Britain; and when, at a later +period, one or two rash theorists attempted to broach that doctrine, +they were instantly put to silence by the overwhelming nature of the +proof which was brought against them--not the least instructive part +of it being the admissions of the leading Free-Traders as to what +really was, on an average of years, the remunerative price of wheat +to the British grower. + +It is now clearly established, that, under Free Trade, 40s. per +quarter is a price which the British farmer cannot calculate on +receiving. The averages of England are now about 36s. per quarter, +being 20s. lower than the sum which Sir Robert Peel considered as +the lowest which could remunerate the grower. Therefore, taking +the average yield of good wheat-land at four quarters per acre, +it appears that, by continuing to grow that kind of grain which +is convertible into ordinary bread, the farmer must be a positive +loser to the extent of _four pounds per acre_! In other words, +even suppose no rent at all were taken for the land, wheat cannot +continue to be grown at a profit in Great Britain, so long as +the averages remain below 40s.; and we leave a large margin to +the credit of improved husbandry and strict economy, exercised, +as it must be, at the expense of the labourer's wages. That such +is the present condition of the British farmers--a hopeless one, +unless a legislative remedy is applied--will brook no denial. Last +year we were told of farms letting at an increase of rent, and of +other symptoms of agricultural prosperity, whereof nothing now is +heard. The fact of the depression--if we may use so mild a term in +respect to a branch of industry which is now merely existing upon +capital, not by income--is beyond all possibility of doubt or cavil. +The causes of it are obvious; and it now only remains to be seen +whether we can afford to allow agriculture to be extinguished from +among us, or at best raised to that point which will afford a bare +subsistence to the grower, without the risk of involving the rest of +us in a like calamity. + +You may have heard it said--for it has been often written--that it +signifies little to the people of this country from what source they +receive their bread. It is worth your while to examine into this. +That a loaf baked of American flour, grown in the valley of the +Mississippi, may taste quite as well in the mouth of the consumer as +a loaf of English material is a circumstance which we can readily +believe; but is this all that is to be considered? Does the American +bear any part of our national taxation? Does he contribute, directly +or indirectly, to the burdens which are common to the British +producer? Does he deal with any of you, and can you call him a +customer? These are the questions which you ought to ask yourselves, +in making up your minds on this matter; and if you will only examine +the subject patiently and dispassionately, your own common sense +will lead you to a just conclusion. Let us suppose that all the food +which you purchase and consume was grown on a foreign soil, and +admitted free of duty. You might then have cheap bread, but, as a +necessary consequence, you would lose more than half your customers. +Unless people have money they cannot buy; and if agricultural +production were to be abandoned in the British islands, all those +who derive their incomes--not only directly, but indirectly--from +the soil, would necessarily be stripped of their means. Are you +aware of the fact that, on a minute analysis of the census of +1841, it appeared that the relative numbers of the population of +Great Britain and Ireland, supported and maintained by the two +great sources of production, agriculture and manufactures, were as +18,734,468, dependent on the first, to 8,091,621, dependent on the +second? Do you believe that the country can remain prosperous, if +you strike a deathblow at the produce which maintains more than +two-thirds of its inhabitants? + +Let us go a little farther, and suppose--what may hereafter be the +case--that other countries could undersell us in the home market in +the article of manufactures--that America, France, or Germany could +send us cotton and woollen stuffs, and other ware, cheaper than we +could make them at home. In that case, where would be the sources +of our income? All industry would be prostrated--for you know very +well that a losing trade will not and cannot be carried on long, and +that the time will soon arrive when, through the failure of capital, +it must be abandoned. In such an event, what would become of our +population, with their labour entirely destroyed? How could the +taxes be levied, and the expenses of government paid, to say nothing +of the interest of the National Debt? Great cheapness you would +have, no doubt, but nobody would be able to buy. + +If cheapness is a blessing in food, it is a blessing in clothing +and in everything else. The rule admits of no exception. It is as +advantageous for any of us to save a pound on the price of his coat +as a penny on the price of his loaf. Bread is, no doubt, the most +important article of the workingman's consumption, but at the same +time it is no less a fact that the raising of food is the most +important part of the production of the labouring-classes. Without +home labour, all capital in this country would be annihilated, or +at least would depart from it. Labour depends entirely upon wages, +and wages upon the market price of the article produced. If from +the introduction of foreign labour, in the shape of products, the +price of any article is forced down below the cost of production, +then wages begin to fall, and in the end production is extinguished. +Why is it that foreign countries have imposed heavy duties upon +our exported articles of manufacture? Simply for this object--that +their own manufacturers, who give employment to large numbers of +their population, may not be undersold by ours, nor those means of +employment annihilated. In acting thus, these governments perform a +paternal duty to the people--shielding them against the competition +of an older manufacturing power, and preparing them hereafter, when +skill and capital are acquired, to enter neutral markets, with a +fair chance of ultimately overcoming the other. + +It stands to reason that, with an equal degree of energy on the part +of its inhabitants, the country which is the least heavily burdened +must distance others in all branches of industry, where nature does +not oppose a barrier, or place it at a disadvantage. The mineral +wealth of England, and our priority in manufacturing invention, gave +us for a long time an advantage over all other nations. America +was not advanced enough to enter into the lists of manufacturing +competition; the distracted state of the Continent, and the +perpetual presence or apprehension of war, effectually prevented the +European states from attempting to rival Britain. But since that +time vast changes have taken place. The mineral resources of other +countries have been developed. Some idea of the manufacturing power +which America now possesses may be formed from the enormous increase +of her domestic production of iron and coal. In 1829, the amount of +iron manufactured in the United States was 90,000 tons; in 1848, +it had risen to 800,000 tons. The coal raised in 1829 was 37,000 +tons; in 1849 it was 3,200,000 tons. In the article of cotton, which +is our great manufacturing staple, America has the inestimable +advantage of growing the raw material--an advantage which never +can be counterbalanced, as, even if we were to obtain our supplies +from some other quarter, the expenses of freightage must still +continue to be great. In fact, to all appearance, our supremacy in +the conversion of cotton is already doomed. That branch of industry +rests upon no substantial basis. It rose like an exhalation, and so +it will disappear. These are not merely our opinions, but those of +the most shrewd and calculating of the Free-Traders. Hear Mr Greg +of Manchester on this subject, previous to the repeal of the Corn +Laws:-- + + "At present we are undersold by foreigners in neutral markets in + all the staple articles of English manufacture. In the articles + of cotton, hosiery, and cutlery, which amount altogether to + three-fourths of our exports, this is notoriously the case. In + cotton fabrics the Swiss undersell us in several markets. In + cutlery Sheffeld is immensely undersold by the Alsace, and our + exports are yearly decreasing. In hosiery, the case is still + worse. Saxon hosiery, after paying a duty of 20 per cent, is + sold in London 25 to 30 per cent cheaper than the produce of + the Leicester and Nottingham looms. In Leicester the stocking + frames have diminished from 16,000 in 1815 to 14,000 in 1840; + whilst in Saxony, in the same time, they have increased from + 4590 to 25,000. The English manufacturer pays 2s. 6d. for the + same work that the French manufacturer gets done for 21/2d. The + American cutlery market (the most important of all) has been + wrested from us, and our exports of that article to all the + world have fallen from L1,620,000 in 1831 to L1,325,000 in 1841. + _How far with cheaper food, no taxes on the raw material, and + no duties but for the sake of revenue, we might yet recover our + lost superiority, is a matter for grave consideration._ I do not + believe we could either in woollens or hosiery; and even in the + cutlery or cotton trade I think it very doubtful. Now, under a + free commercial system, the raw material would be nearly the + same in all countries, and the advantage, where there was one, + would be generally on the side of foreigners. France and Italy + would have an advantage in silk, and America in cotton; the + current expenses would also be nearly equal. The machinery of + foreign nations even now is not very inferior to our own, and is + daily and rapidly improving; their capital is fast accumulating, + and the yearly interest of it approximating to our own rate." + +Here, you see, is a confession of opinion by a leading Free-Trader, +that even the cheapening of food, by which he means the reduction of +the wages of labour, will not suffice ultimately to secure us the +supremacy of the foreign markets. He is perfectly right. In this +insane, and we believe almost entirely unprofitable competition with +the rest of the world, we must infallibly be overcome. No cheapness +of food can countervail the pressure of our heavy taxation. The +cotton-lords, if they could, would fain bring down the price of +labour to the Continental level, which doubtless would enable them, +for a long time, to prolong the contest; but this they cannot do, if +our national engagements are to be fulfilled, and our most valuable +institutions maintained. So long as the revenue duties exist, +labour cannot be forced down to that point. But, in the mean time, +agriculture may be ruined, and the home trade, by which alone you +subsist, be palsied. In fact, the present struggle lies between +the home trade and the foreign trade. One or other of these must +ultimately succumb. The effect of our present commercial system is +to paralyse the home trade, by decreasing the value of all kinds of +domestic produce; by lowering all incomes, and consequently reducing +the amount of the internal business of the country. It has enabled +our manufacturers, for the time, to make a show of larger exports +than before; but it has not, according to their own acknowledgement, +at all enhanced their profits. It may have enabled them to lower +their prices, but it has not increased their returns. + +And no wonder that it should be so. Except in the most miserable and +unimportant quarters, our relaxations have been met by augmented +tariffs instead of eager reciprocity. The nations of the world have +refused to sacrifice their advantages, to renounce their prospects, +and to become Free-Traders at the call of Britain. Their statesmen +thoroughly understood the motive of the ingenuous offer: they were +not to be cozened even by the plausibility of Sir Robert Peel. It +is almost melancholy now, when we remember what has actually taken +place, to revert to the peroration of that statesman's speech +delivered on 16th February 1846. A more lamentable instance of +delusion, as to the true feeling and position of other countries, +was never perhaps exhibited. Mark his words:-- + + "Many countries are watching with anxiety the selection you may + make. Determine for 'Advance,' and it will be the watchword + which will animate and encourage in every state the friends + of liberal commercial policy. Sardinia has taken the lead. + Naples is relaxing her protective duties, and favouring British + produce. Prussia is shaken in her adherence to restriction. + The government of France will be strengthened; and, backed by + the intelligence of the reflecting, and by conviction of the + real welfare of the great body of the community, will perhaps + ultimately prevail over the self-interest of the commercial + and manufacturing aristocracy which now predominates in her + Chambers. Can you doubt that the United States will soon + relax her hostile tariff, and that the friends of a freer + commercial intercourse--the friends of peace between the two + countries--will hail with satisfaction the example of England?" + +How strangely did this remarkable man, whose career in all time +coming will be a warning to the aspiring statesman, misunderstand +the true nature of his country's position! In order to tempt +reciprocity he opened the British ports--that is, he conceded +gratuitously the only condition by which we ever could have hoped to +insure it! At the expense of the British agriculturist he opened the +British market to the foreigner, in the expectation, as he expressly +declared, that the boon would be repaid by measures which would +prevent the rise of manufactures abroad, and restrain other nations +from employing capital profitably, from entering into rivalry with +Britain, and from using those natural advantages which were ready +to their hand; and which, if used, could not fail to add to their +wealth, and to furnish employment for millions of their increasing +population! Most egregious was the blunder, and terrible is the +penalty which we are certain to pay for it, if we do not retrace our +steps. + +It is always useful to know what intelligent men of other countries +think of our system. They survey and examine it without those +prejudices which are apt to beset all of us, and are better able +than ourselves to determine with what degree of favour it will be +received, or is received, by those who are removed beyond the scope +of our immediate observation. Certainly, of all others, from their +affinity to ourselves, and their proverbially shrewd acuteness in +all matters of commercial detail, the Americans are most likely to +form an accurate estimate both of our position and our prospects +in regard to foreign trade. It is well worth our while to read and +consider the following opinion of Mr Carey, the most distinguished +Transatlantic writer on points of political economy. It occurs in +his work entitled _The Harmony of Interests_, published in America +so late as December 1849. + + "Men are everywhere flying from British commerce, which + everywhere pursues them. Having exhausted the people of the + lower lands of India, it follows them as they retreat towards + the fastnesses of the Himalaya. Affghanistan is attempted, while + Scinde and the Punjaub are subjugated. Siamese provinces are + added to the empire of Free Trade, and war and desolation are + carried into China, in order that the Chinese may be compelled + to pay for the use of ships, instead of making looms. The + Irishman flies to Canada; but there the system follows him, and + he feels himself insecure until within the Union. The Englishman + and the Scotchman try Southern Africa, and thence they fly + to the more distant New Holland, Van Diemen's Land, or New + Zealand. The farther they fly, the more they use ships and other + perishable machinery, the less steadily can their efforts be + applied, the less must be the power of production, and the fewer + must be the equivalents to be exchanged; and yet in the growth + of ships caused by such circumstances, we are told to look for + evidence of prosperous commerce! + + "_The British system is built upon cheap labour, by which is + meant low-priced and worthless labour._ Its effect is to cause + it to become from day to day more low-priced and worthless; and + thus _to destroy production upon which commerce must be based_. + The object of protection is to produce dear labour--that is, + high-priced and valuable labour, and its effect is to cause + it to increase in value from day to day, and to increase the + equivalents to be exchanged, to the great increase of commerce. + + "The object of what is now called Free Trade, is that of + securing to the people of England the further existence of _the + monopoly of machinery_, by aid of which Ireland and India have + been ruined, and commerce prostrated. Protection seeks _to break + down this monopoly_, and to cause the loom and the anvil to take + their natural places by the side of the food and the cotton, + that production may be increased, and that commerce may revive." + +In short, the harmony of interests is regarded in America as the +grand point of aim for the statesman. With us, our most important +home interests, on which depend the welfare of by far the greater +part of our population, are sacrificed to prolong a struggle in +which our exporting manufacturers cannot possibly be the victors, +and from which, even at present, they derive little or no profit. + +Now, let us ask you to consider for one moment, what is the natural +effect, upon the whole of us, of a forcible diminution of prices, +and depreciation of produce. Here we shall borrow an illustration +and argument from our adversaries, referring to a point which +is in the recollection of all of you, and about which there can +be no possible mistake. You will recollect that the Liberal and +Free-trading journals, almost without exception, as well as most of +the defenders of the Peel policy in the House of Commons, attributed +much of that general depression and stagnation of trade which +followed the repeal of the Corn Laws to the losses sustained by +the failure of the potato-crop in 1845-6. Was there a general want +of confidence visible--were the shopkeepers scant of custom--was +there a less demand than usual within the country for home +manufactures--was there a decline in the price of iron--all was laid +at the door of the unfortunate potato. Since Cobbett uttered his +anathema against the root, it never was in such bad odour. To every +complaint, remonstrance, or lamentation, the reply was ready--"How +can we remedy a calamity of this kind? The potato has done it all!" +At that time it was very convenient, nay, absolutely necessary, +for the Free-Traders to discover some tangible cause for the gross +failure of their predictions. They looked about them in every +direction, and they could discover nothing except the potato which +could endure the blame. Now, although we believe that this esculent +has been unduly reviled, and made to bear a greater burden than +was its due for political misfortune, we nevertheless accept the +illustration at the hands of our opponents, and we beg you to mark +its significance. The loss of the potato-crop in Great Britain and +Ireland, during the year in question, has been variously estimated, +but if we assume it to have been L20,000,000 we are making a very +large calculation indeed. So then, _according to the Free-Traders, +the loss of twenty millions of agricultural produce_ was sufficient +to bring down profits, embarrass trade, and cause a stagnation in +home manufactures! And yet, when Mr Villiers came forward in the +beginning of 1850, and told you, in his capacity of proposer of +the Address to the Crown, that L91,000,000 were _annually_ taken +from the value of the agricultural produce of the country, you +were expected, and directed, to clap your hands with joy, and to +congratulate one another on this symptom of the national prosperity! + +The sum of twenty millions lost by the failure of the potato-crop--a +single event, not one of annual occurrence--was taken from the +country's power of produce; and _therefore_, said the Free-Traders, +there was stagnation. But they, of course, could not help it. Of +course they could not; but what about the ninety-one millions +of _annual_ loss, which is equally deducted from the internal +expenditure of the country? About _that_ we do not hear a word. And +yet ask yourselves, and that most seriously--for it is time that we +should get rid of all such pitiful paltering--whether there is any +difference whatever between the two cases, except that the one was +an isolated casualty, and that the other is an annual infliction to +which we are subjected by statute? Weigh the matter as you will, +you cannot, we are satisfied, be able to detect any difference. If +the grower of grain at present prices has no remuneration for his +toil, or return for his capital, he cannot buy from you, any more +than could the farmer whose crop perished by the potato disease. +What caused the stagnation? The failure of the power to purchase, +because there was no return for produce. What causes the stagnation? +Precisely the same thing perpetrated by Act of Parliament. + +Do not, we beseech you, allow yourselves to be fooled any longer +by the jesuitry of these political economists, but apply your own +reason to discover the cause of the present depression. Do not +believe them when they talk about exceptional causes, affecting +temporarily the industry of the nation, but certain immediately to +disappear. If you were to live as long as Methusaleh, no one year +would elapse without furnishing those gentlemen with a special and +exceptional cause. One year it is the potato disease; another the +French Revolution; another the Great Exhibition. Heaven only knows +what will be their excuse next year--perhaps the new Reform Bill, or +some other similar godsend. You are the particular class upon whom +the deception is to be played, and for whose especial benefit the +fraud is concocted. The producers know very well how they stand, +and what they have to expect. They can be no longer cajoled by +assurances of higher prices, by vague promises of profit after the +disappearance of "the transition state," or by impudent averments +that, by an entire change of system and the expenditure of more +capital, they will be able to maintain themselves in affluence. To +do the Free-Traders justice, they have for some time desisted from +such attempts. They now address their victims, through their organs, +in a fine tone of desperado indifference, telling them that, if they +do not like the present arrangement, the sooner they go elsewhere +the better. And the people are taking them at their word and going. +Hundreds of thousands of tax-payers are leaving the country as fast +as possible, carrying with them the fragments of their property, +and bequeathing to those who remain behind their share of the +national burdens. But in your case, the Free-Traders cannot yet +afford to pull off the mask. They are apprehensive that you should +see them in their real character; and therefore, so long as you are +likely to be amused with "specialties" and "exceptional causes," +these will be furnished to you gratis, and in great variety. There +seems, however, to be an apprehension among their camp that you are +beginning to evince suspicion. Recent elections have not been quite +as they should be; and in the seaport and large commercial towns +there are evident symptoms of mutiny. So, by way of diverting your +attention, you are likely to have a measure of Reform next year, +possibly as satisfactory in its result as the Ecclesiastical Titles +Bill, upon which Ministers cleverly managed to concentrate the whole +public attention throughout last session, and then, having carried +it, allowed its provisions to become a dead letter, almost before +the ink, which made the measure complete, was dry! We say this, not +as opponents of an extension of the suffrage--for on that point we +reserve our opinion until the details are fully before us--but as +enemies and loathers of a miserable system of chicane and deception +which has now crept into the public counsels, and which threatens +very speedily to destroy the independence of public opinion, by +opposing state obstacles to its free and legitimate expression. We +ask any of you, fearlessly, to look back at the records of last +session, and then say whether the country was not degraded and +stultified by the act of the Prime Minister? Right or wrong, at his +invitation and call, the Protestants of Great Britain demanded a +security against what they considered an intolerable instance of +Romish insolence and aggression. They received it from Parliament; +and the moment it passed into the hands of the executive power, it +became as worthless as the paper upon which it was written! And why +was this? Simply because the object was gained--you had been amused +for a whole session. If nothing was intended to be done in the way +of repelling aggression, and if Ministers durst have told you so +a year ago, there were many points affecting your more immediate +interests which would have been forced upon their attention. But +they were very glad to escape from such discussions under cover of a +Protestantism which they did not feel, and an affected indignation +of Papal claims, which they had done everything in their power, by +diplomatic agency, to encourage; and, having escaped the perils of +one session upon that ground, they will strain every effort to turn +your attention from your own position, during the next, by bringing +forward some measure which they hope may enlist your sympathies, +or provoke controversy, so far as to render you indifferent to the +real nature of your position. The selection of the battlefield is +the oldest trick in strategy. Get up the appearance of a battle, +and people will flock from any distance to witness it, regardless +of their own interest. Lord John Russell is famous for bloodless +fields, which resolve themselves into reviews--shall we have another +such in the course of the approaching session? + +That manufactures are now exceedingly depressed, and have been so +for a long time, notwithstanding the reduction in the price of food +consequent upon foreign importations, is an admitted and notorious +fact. We have from time to time kept this before the public view by +quoting from the trade circulars; and though further evidence may +be unnecessary, we shall subjoin extracts from the last accounts +received from three seats of industry, two of which are represented +in Parliament by Colonel Peyronnet Thompson and Mr Feargus O'Connor. +Gloomy as they are, they are by no means the worst which we have had +occasion to cite during the last two years. + + "BRADFORD, _November 6_.--The market here does not show any + symptom of improvement in the demand for any kind of combing + wools. All seem in wonder and anxiety as to what may be next + expected, for to buy none are willing, whether with stock or + without. The staplers appeared to expect that the spirited + buying of colonial wools would give a tone of confidence, but + that appears to have no effect. The spinners pause when they + contrast the comparative high prices of English wool, especially + those of the finer class, with what they were in 1848, when + yarns were at the present prices, and will not buy with the + certainty of making so great a loss as a purchase would entail. + The supply of Noils and Brokes was never so limited as at + present, and the small quantity making brings full prices. The + business doing in yarns is certainly small, and the transactions + confined to immediate delivery. No one seems inclined to enter + into engagements for distant delivery. For to go on at the + present prices of yarns is worse than madness, the price for + low numbers of good spinning and standing having reached 8s. + per gross, and those of a secondary class sold, if reeled, for + what may be the instructions to the commission houses, who have + needy parties pressing sales. The quantity so offering is not so + great, but the sacrifices which have now for so long been made + render the position of the trade exceedingly embarrassing. _The + production continues to be daily curtailed, and from the whole + district the same cheerless tidings are received. Some large + houses, who have never reduced their operations before, have + adopted it, their loss being so immense, and the whole condition + of the trade so thoroughly disjointed._ In pieces the business + during the week has not shown any feature of increased activity, + and the stocks in the manufacturers' hands are somewhat + increasing, but not so fast as last year at this period, and + especially in Coburgs and fancy goods: the former are chiefly + made in this district, and not in Lancashire, for the ruinous + price has driven them on to other classes of goods adaptable + to their looms; and for some months several large houses have + been engaged in making Bareges for the American market. This has + prevented mousselines-de-laine being made to stock, and, perhaps + for many years, this branch of the trade has not opened with so + small a stock on hand. + + "NOTTINGHAM, _November 6_.--In lace we have no improvement + to notice this week in the general sale of goods, and, with + very few exceptions, there is a great falling off in demand; + but, as many of the manufacturers are wisely lessening their + production, we do not anticipate any serious losses resulting + from the present temporary stagnation. Many are stopping their + frames to make fresh designs altogether; which, if done with + good taste, some advantage may result from present difficulties. + In hosiery our trade is not so much depressed as we had reason + to anticipate. There is still a fair business doing in wrought + hose, and a little increased demand for 'cut-ups,' as well as + gloves made of thread and spun silk. The price of yarn is low, + which is in favour both of the manufacturer and merchant. + + "LEICESTER, _November 6_.--The unsettled state of the price of + workmanship for straight-down hose has caused a great depression + in that branch, and led to nearly a total cessation of work, + many hosiers declining to give out until prices are settled. In + wrought hose a better business is doing, though not so good as + usual at this season. Yarns continue dull of sale." + +Now, why do we insist upon these things? For two reasons. In +the first place, we wish you to observe that the cheapness of +manufacturing products does not of itself induce consumption. +There must be buyers as well as sellers in order to constitute +a market, and the tendency of our late legislation has been to +diminish the means of the former. It by no means follows that, if +we have cheap food and cheap manufactures, the relative position +of all classes can be maintained. Never forget _that our burdens +all the while remain at a fixed money rate_, and that, as the value +of produce is lowered, the weight of those burdens is aggravated. +This consideration, which is now well understood, is beginning to +tell strongly against the doctrines of the Free-Traders, even with +some of those, who were once their ardent supporters. Mr James +Harvey of Liverpool, late a member of the Anti-Corn-Law League, +but now a strenuous opponent of their system, thus chronicles the +leading cause of his conversion. We quote from his pamphlet just +published, _Remunerative Price the Desideratum, not Cheapness_. He +says:--"My suspicions were first awakened by the blind devotion +of the Manchester school of political economy to the doctrine of +CHEAPNESS; for it struck me as a self-evident proposition, that to +buy cheap is to sell cheap, in which case there can be no possible +gain, but a positive loss, arising from the necessary aggravation of +all fixed charges." In order to place the producers of this country +in the same position as before, it would be necessary to reduce all +fixed charges, the interest of debt both public and private, the +expenses of government, and all salaries and annuities, to an amount +corresponding to the forced decline of prices. This would be called +a war against property; but, in reality, the war against property +began when the Legislature admitted foreign untaxed produce to +compete with the produce and labour of our tax-paying population at +home. + +Our second reason for drawing your attention to the cheerless +prospect of manufactures, has reference to the sacrifices, not +only indirect but direct, which the other classes of the community +were called upon to make in order to prop them up. In the first +place, the Property and Income Tax, which we are still called upon +to pay, was imposed by Sir Robert Peel expressly for the object of +effecting "such an improvement in the _manufacturing interests_ as +will react on every other interest in the country." He admitted +that it was an unjust and partial impost, and therefore promised +that it should be only temporary--however, we have endured it for +ten years, and the Whigs will no doubt make an effort to continue +it still longer. Here, then, you have a sum of five millions and a +half annually confiscated for the benefit of the manufacturers, who +were relieved from taxation to that amount. So far for sacrifice the +first. Then came sacrifice the second, in the shape of Free Trade, +mulcting the productive classes of this country to the extent of at +least five-and-thirty per cent of their annual returns. Then came +sacrifice the third, which handed over the carrying trade to the +foreigner. + +Now, considering that all these sacrifices have been made for the +encouragement of manufactures, or at least with that professed +object, is it not, to say the least of it, extraordinary that +they have not thriven? How are we to account for a result so +wholly contrary to the avowed anticipations of our statesmen? The +explanation is, after all, not very difficult. All these sacrifices +have been made, not for the great body of the manufacturers, but for +a mere section of them. We possess no authentic official information +as to the amount of manufactures consumed at home; but we have +records, more or less trustworthy, of the amount of our exports, +and these are used to mislead the minds of the multitude as to the +actual extent and relative importance of our trade. England has no +more title than France has to the character of the workshop of the +world. We are driven from the markets of civilised countries by the +protective duties imposed by their governments for the righteous and +prudent purpose of fostering native industry, and we are compelled +to seek our marts among people who are not yet so far advanced in +political economy as to detect the enormous discrepancy between our +principles and our practice. Listen to Mr Harvey's sketch of our +foreign trade:-- + + "From the theories and systems I turned my attention to passing + events and recorded facts: I saw the West Indies prostrated; + Canada thrown into a state of revolt, succeeded by a smothered + feeling of discontent; Ireland depopulated; the magnificent + resources of India undeveloped; and the British farmer + reduced to the dire necessity of paying rent out of capital. + I also perceived that the change in our commercial policy had + substituted a cosmopolitan cant in the place of patriotism and + nationality. To become the friend of every country but his own + had become the pride and the glory of statesmanship. Foreign + goods were admitted, duty free, into our ports, in the vain hope + of reciprocity being established; but our manufactures were + subjected to heavy imposts on the Continent of Europe, and in + the United States. China, unversed in the mysteries of political + economy, only levies five per cent upon our goods, whilst, + in direct contravention of our pet notions of Free Trade and + reciprocity, we impose a tax of 300 per cent upon her teas. OUR + HOPES HAVE BEEN DISAPPOINTED, OUR CALCULATIONS FALSIFIED. WE ARE + THE DUPES OF OUR OWN FANTASTIC IDEAS AND QUIXOTIC CONCESSIONS. + We are the laughing-stock of the Old and the New Worlds. The + Germanic Zollverein shuns our overtures; the American excludes + our ships from his seaboard." + +Can these things be controverted? We defy the ingenuity of mankind +to do it. + +So much for the foreign trade; but there still remains the home +trade, in which by far the largest portion of our manufacturing +capital is embarked, and which furnishes a much greater amount of +employment to British labour than the other. You see what is the +state of that trade, notwithstanding the savings which may have been +effected by the lowered price of food, and also notwithstanding that +partial protection which several branches of it are still allowed +to retain. One word as to that incidental point. Mr Cobden is +reported to have said, that he did not care how soon these remnants +of protection were abolished. Let him be as good as his word, and, +IF HE DARES, rise up in his place in the House of Commons, and +make a motion to that effect. We shall then have an opportunity of +testing the exact nature of his principles. To what cause can such +a depression as this, so long and continuous, be attributed, except +to a general curtailment of demand on the part of the consumers, +arising from the insufficiency of their means to make purchases as +before? You are probably aware that what is called strict economy +in families is not favourable to the interests of manufacture or +of trade. Of manufactures of all kinds there must be a certain +yearly consumption, based upon the necessities of the people. +Besides food, men require clothes to cover them, and houses in which +to dwell, and those houses must be more or less furnished. But +between the bare supply of such necessities, and that point which +is considered by persons, according to their tastes, education, or +habits, as constituting comfort, there is a wide interval. Nothing +is a more sure criterion of the wealth and income of a people than +the ordering of their homes, and the manner of their living; and the +traveller who passes from one country into another can at once form +an estimate, from such appearances, of their respective wealth or +poverty. Diminish income, and a reduction is immediately made. All +superfluities are lopped off and renounced. The broker, who deals +in second-hand articles, drives a larger business than the man who +is the vendor of new ones; and even in domestic labour there is a +large economy practised, by reducing establishments. That this must +be so, will be evident on the slightest reflection. Reduce a man's +income from L1000 to L800 or L600, and he will, if he has any wisdom +or prudence, cut down his expenses to meet the fall. It is upon +the home manufacturer in the first place, and upon the shopkeeper +secondly, that these reductions tell. The one finds that his amount +of production is much greater than the demand; the other does not +turn over his capital nearly so rapidly as before. Add to this +that the home manufacturer, in many branches, is exposed to strong +foreign competition. Sir Robert Peel, in his last alterations of +the tariff, did indeed continue Protection--more largely than is +generally understood, for the mere amount of revenue-duty drawn from +importations of foreign articles, adapted to compete with ours in +the home, is no criterion of the Protective value--to some branches +of industry; but others were exposed without shelter, and have since +suffered accordingly. It is undeniable that a very large amount of +foreign manufactures, which have paid no duty at all, or merely an +elusory one, are consumed within this country--thereby inflicting +extreme injury upon British labour, and depressing trades which, +though severally not important, give in the aggregate, or ought to +give, the means of employment to thousands. Regard the subject in +any light you will, this cheapness, of which we have heard so much, +just amounts to a diminution of the income of every class, except +the annuitants and fund-holders, while it consequently renders the +payment of the fixed burdens more grievous to every one of us. + +You, gentlemen, to whom we have ventured to submit these remarks, +have a very great deal in your power. You can, by your decision, +either confirm the present policy, or cause it to be reversed; and +your own experience will suffice to show you in what manner the +system has worked. Statists may parade their figures, economists may +puff their plans, statesmen may indulge in high-coloured pictures +of the success which they expect to follow their measures--but the +true test of every measure which has a practical tendency will be +found in the effect which it produces upon the circumstances of the +people, and especially upon those of the middle classes. We, who +have, from the very first, anticipated the baneful effects of this +attack upon British industry--we, who have no more connection than +any of yourselves with territorial aristocracy, and who consider +the welfare of the people as the grand object which it is the duty +of the Government to promote--ask you to apply your own reason to +the facts which are before you and in your reach, and to decide and +act accordingly. It was, we knew from the very beginning of this +struggle, impossible that you could decide until the effects of the +Free-Trade experiment became visible and palpable among yourselves. +We foresaw that it was only through the suffering and impoverishment +of the producers that the practical lesson could reach you, and +that, until this took place, it was of little use to invoke your +aid, or even to entreat your judgment. Probably, by this time, you +will have formed an accurate estimate of the value of the doctrines +promulgated by the babblers on political economy--a sect which has +never yet been allowed to interfere with the internal affairs of +any nation, without producing the most disastrous results. To them +we are indebted for that change of the currency which has added +fully one-third to our fixed burdens, and for those complex monetary +arrangements which insure periodically the return of a commercial +crisis. But whatever you may think of them, do not allow yourselves +to be influenced by their representations, or by those of their +accredited organs. The time for theory is over. You have now to deal +with facts, regarding which every man of you is competent to form +an opinion. We do not ask you to accept our statements implicitly, +any more than those of our opponents--though, if we did so, we might +hold ourselves justified on this ground, that the greater part of +our evidence is taken from the admissions of our adversaries. We +appeal to your own experience, and upon that we leave you to decide. + +And do not be afraid to give free utterance to your opinion. There +exists not in this land--there exists not in all the world, the +power which can rise up against you. The British producer on the +one hand, and the exporting manufacturer on the other, may have +conflicting interests not altogether reconcilable with the public +good, for isolated interest always begets selfishness; and where +individual or class profit is concerned, principle is apt to be +overlooked. But you are, eminently, THE CLASS to pronounce upon +conflicting opinions. Your interest is that of the nation whose +pulse is beneath your finger. You can tell, with greater accuracy +than others, whether any political prescription has stimulated +the circulation of the blood, or caused it to run torpidly in the +national veins. You can mark the changes in the circumstances of +your customers, and from these you can form an estimate whether or +not the late experiment has been successful. + +If, judging by that test, you should think it has been successful, +our case is lost. We, who have advocated the Protective Principle in +legislation, cannot continue to maintain it, if those whose incomes +depend mainly upon British custom find themselves advantaged by +measures which have reduced the value of British produce. In matters +of this kind there is no abstract dogma involved, on the strength +of which any man could make himself a creditable martyr. Men have +died for their faith or for their allegiance, believing either to be +their highest duty; but no one in his senses will spend a lifetime, +or any considerable portion of it, in combating absolute facts. The +reason why Protection is still a living principle--the reason why it +finds so many supporters among the learned and the thoughtful--the +reason why it is progressing step by step towards triumph--is +because, in the minds of those who advocate it, there is a strong +and deep-rooted conviction that you already know that the opposite +system has entirely failed to realise the predictions of its +advocates, and that you feel that its permanency is contrary to your +interest, and to that of the great body of the people. If we are +right in this conviction, then we are entitled not only to solicit, +but to demand, your earnest co-operation. These are not times +for political cowardice, or weak suppression of opinion. Liberty +of thought, and liberty of the expression of sentiment, are our +unalienable prerogative; but of late years, and in the hands of a +certain party, that prerogative has been scandalously overstretched. +We now hear men--even members of the Legislature--threatening the +country, and you, with hints of insurrection, in case you exercise +your undoubted right of pronouncing a free and unbiassed judgment +upon any point of commercial policy. Let the caitiffs bluster! They +know, from the bottom of their ignoble souls--for none save an +ignoble soul would have dared to conceive that such threats would +intimidate any man of British birth or blood--that their menace is +as meaningless and vain as their miserable motives are apparent. +Let them bluster! They, the advocates of lowered wages--they, the +combatants for lengthened labour--they, the crushers of the infants, +have no large margin of operative sympathy upon which they can +afford to trade. Had John Fielden been alive, he could have told +you what these men were, and what sympathy they were likely to +command. Well do the workmen know with whom they have to deal! + +Let us not be misunderstood. We never have underrated the difficulty +of a change such as we contemplate; but no difficulty attending +that, is for a moment to be put into the balance against the general +welfare of the country, if, on reflection, and on considering your +own position, you shall be of opinion that the interests of the +country demand that change. But, at any hazard, we cannot afford to +go down-hill. To bring us, as the Manchester men contemplate, to +the Continental level in point of wages as well as expenditure, is +to seal the ruin of the British empire, burdened as it is; or, in +the least dangerous view, to necessitate repudiation. That matter +is, as we have said before, for you to decide; and the period for +your decision is rapidly drawing near. On the next general election +depends the fate of the country, and--without saying one syllable +more upon the merits of the systems at issue--the decision or +inclination of your body will form the most important, because it +must be considered, as between conflicting interests, the most +impartial element, of the expression of British opinion. + + + + +THE JEW'S LEGACY. + +A TALE OF THE SIEGE OF GIBRALTAR. + + +CHAPTER I. + +The note-book of my grandfather, Major Flinders, contains much +matter relative to the famous siege of Gibraltar, and he seems to +have kept an accurate and minute journal of such of its incidents +as came under his own observation. Indeed, I suspect the historian +Drinkwater must have had access to it, as I frequently find the same +notabilia chronicled in pretty much the same terms by both these +learned Thebans. But while Drinkwater confines himself mostly to +professional matters--the state of the fortifications, nature of the +enemy's fire, casualties to the soldiery, and the like--and seldom +introduces an anecdote interesting to the generality of readers +without apologising for such levity, my grandfather's sympathies +seem to have been engrossed by the sufferings of the inhabitants +deprived of shelter, as well as of sufficient food, and helplessly +witnessing the destruction of their property. Consequently, his +journal, though quite below the dignity of history, affords, now and +then, a tolerably graphic glimpse of the beleagured town. + +From the discursive and desultory nature of the old gentleman's +style, as before hinted, it would be vain to look for a continuous +narrative in his journal, even if it contained materials for such. +But here and there a literary Jack Horner might extract a plum or +two from the vast quantity of dough--of reflections, quotations, +and all manner of irrelevant observations, surrounding them. The +following incidents, which occurred at the most interesting period +of the long and tedious siege, appear to me to give a fair idea of +some of the characteristics of the time, and of the personages who +figured in it; and accordingly, after subjecting them to a process +analogous to gold-washing, I present them to the reader. + +After a strict blockade of six months, reducing the garrison to +great extremity for want of provisions, Gibraltar was relieved by +Sir George Rodney, who landed a large quantity of stores. But about +a year after his departure, no further relief having reached them +except casual supplies from trading vessels that came at a great +risk to the Rock, their exigencies were even worse than before. The +issue of provisions was limited in quantity, and their price so +high, that the families, even of officers, were frequently in dismal +straits. This has given rise to a wooden joke of my grandfather's, +who, although he seldom ventures on any deliberate facetiousness, +has entitled the volume of his journal relating to this period of +the siege, _The Straits of Gibraltar_. He seems to have estimated +the worth of his wit by its rarity, for the words appear at the top +of every page. + +The 11th of April 1781 being Carlota's birthday, the Major had +invited Owen (now Lieutenant Owen) to dine with them in honour of +the occasion. Owen was once more, for the time, a single man; for +Juana, having gone to visit her friends in Tarifa just before the +commencement of the siege, had been unable to rejoin her husband. In +vain had Carlota requested that the celebration might be postponed +till the arrival of supplies from England should afford them a +banquet worthy of the anniversary--the Major, a great stickler for +ancient customs, insisted on its taking place forthwith. Luckily, +a merchantman from Minorca had succeeded in landing a cargo of +sheep, poultry, vegetables, and fruit the day before, so that the +provision for the feast, though by no means sumptuous, was far +better than any they had been accustomed to for many months past. +The Major's note-book enables me to set the materials for the +dinner, and also its cost, before the reader--viz. a sheep's head, +price sixteen shillings, (my grandfather was too late to secure any +of the body, which was rent in pieces, and the fragments carried +off as if by wolves, ere the breath was well out of it)--a couple +of fowls, twenty shillings, (scraggy creatures, says my ancestor +in a parenthesis)--a ham, two guineas--raisins and flour for a +pudding, five shillings--eggs, (how many the deponent sayeth not,) +sixpence each--vegetables, nine and sixpence--and fruit for dessert, +seven and tenpence. Then, for wine, a Spanish merchant, a friend +of Carlota's, had sent them two bottles of champagne and one of +amontillado, a present as generous then as a hogshead would have +been in ordinary times; and there was, moreover, some old rum, and +two lemons for punch. Altogether, there was probably no dinner half +so good that day in Gibraltar. + +At the appointed hour, the Major was reading in his quarters (a +tolerably commodious house near the South Barracks, and at some +distance outside the town) when Owen appeared. + +"You're punctual, my boy; and punctuality's a cardinal virtue about +dinner-time," said my grandfather, looking at his watch; "three +o'clock exactly. And now we'll have dinner. I only hope the new cook +is a tolerable proficient." + +"What's become of Mrs Grigson?" asked Owen. "You haven't parted with +that disciple of Apicius, I should hope?" + +"She's confined again," said my grandfather, sighing; "a most +prolific woman that! It certainly can't be above half-a-year since +her last child was born, and she's just going to have another. 'Tis +certainly not longer ago than last autumn," he added musingly. + +"A wonderful woman," said Owen; "she ought to be purchased by the +Government, and sent out to some of our thinly-populated colonies. +And who fills her place?" + +"Why, I'll tell you," responded the Major. "Joe Trigg, my old +servant, is confined too--in the guardroom, I mean, for getting +drunk--and I've taken a man of the regiment, one Private Bags, for a +day or two, who recommended his wife as an excellent cook. She says +the same of herself; but this is her first trial, and I'm a little +nervous about it." + +"Shocking rascal that Bags," said Owen. + +"Indeed!" said my grandfather; "I'm sorry to hear that. I didn't +inquire about his character. He offered his services, saying he came +from the same part of England as myself, though I don't recollect +him." + +"Terrible work this blockade," said the Major after a pause. "Do +you know, if I was a general in command of a besieging army, I +don't think I could find it in my heart to starve out the garrison. +Consider now, my dear boy," (laying his forefinger on Owen's +arm,)--"consider, now, several thousand men, with strong appetites, +never having a full meal for months together. And just, too, as my +digestion was getting all right--for I never get a nightmare now, +though I frequently have the most delicious dreams of banquets +that I try to eat, but wake before I get a mouthful. 'Tis enough +to provoke a saint. And, as if this was not enough, the supply of +books is cut off. The _Weekly Entertainer_ isn't even an annual +entertainer to me. The last number I got was in '79, and I've been +a regular subscriber these twelve years. There's the _Gentleman's +Magazine_, too. The last one reached me a year since, with a capital +story in it, only half-finished, that I'm anxious to know the end +of; and also a rebus that I've been longing to see the answer to. +'The answer in our next,' says the tantalising editor. It's a +capital rebus--just listen now. 'Two-thirds of the name of an old +novelist, one-sixth of what we all do in the morning, and a heathen +deity, make together a morsel fit for a king.' I've been working at +it for upwards of a year, and I can't guess it. Can you?" + +"Roast pig with stuffing answers the general description," said +Owen. "That, you'll admit, is a morsel fit for a king." + +"Pooh!" said my grandfather. "But you must really try now. I've +run through the mythology, all that I know of it, and tried all +the old novelists' names, even Boccaccio and Cervantes. Never were +such combinations as I've made--but can't compound anything edible +out of them. Again, as to what we do in the morning: we all shave, +(that is, all who have beards)--and we yawn, too; at least I do, +on waking; but it must be a word of six letters. Then, who can the +heathen deity be?" + +"Pan is the only heathen deity that has anything to do with +cookery," said Owen. "Frying-pan, you know, and stew-pan." + +My grandfather caught at the idea, but had not succeeded in making +anything of it, or in approximating to the solution of the riddle, +when Carlota entered from an inner room. + +"I wish, my dear, you would see about the dinner," said the Major; +"'tis a quarter past three." + +"_Si, mi vida_," (yes, my life,) said Carlota, who was in the habit +of bestowing lavishly on my grandfather the most endearing epithets +in the Spanish language, some of them, perhaps, not particularly +applicable--_nino de mi alma_, (child of my soul,) _luz de mis +ojos_, (light of my eyes,) and the like; none of which appeared to +have any more effect on the object of them than if they had been +addressed to somebody else. + +Carlota rung the bell, which nobody answered. "Nurse is busy with +de _nina_," she said, when nobody answered it; "I go myself to de +_cocina_," (kitchen,)--she spoke English as yet but imperfectly. + +"There's one comfort in delay," said the Major; "'tis better to boil +a ham too much than too little--and yet I shouldn't like it overdone +either." + +Here they were alarmed by an exclamation from Carlota. "_Ah Dios! +Caramba! Ven, ven, mi nino!_" cried she from the kitchen. + +The Major and Owen hastened to the kitchen, which was so close +at hand that the smell of the dinner sometimes anticipated its +appearance in the dining-room. Mrs Bags, the new cook, was seated +before the fire. On the table beside her was an empty champagne +bottle, the fellow to which protruded its neck from a pail in one +corner, where the Major had put it to cool; and another bottle +of more robust build, about half-full, was also beside her. The +countenance of Mrs Bags wore a pleasant and satisfied, though not +very intelligent smile, as she gazed steadfastly on the ham that +was roasting on a spit before the fire--at least one side of it was +done quite black, while the other oozed with warm greese; for the +machinery which should have turned it was not in motion. + +"_Caramba!_" exclaimed Carlota, with uplifted hands. "_Que +picarilla!_"--(What a knave of a woman!) + +"Gracious heavens!" said my grandfather, "she's roasting it! Who +ever heard of a roast ham?" + +"A many years," remarked Mrs Bags, without turning her head, and +still smiling pleasantly, "have I lived in gentlemen's families--" +Here this fragment of autobiography was terminated by a hiccup. + +"And the champagne bottle is empty," said Owen, handling it. "A nice +sort of cook this of yours, Major. She seems to have constituted +herself butler, too." + +My grandfather advanced and lifted the other bottle to his nose. +"'Tis the old rum," he ejaculated with a groan. "But if the woman +has drunk all this 'twill be the death of her. Bags," he called, +"come here." + +The spouse of Mrs Bags emerged from a sort of scullery behind the +kitchen--a tall bony man, of an ugliness quite remarkable, and with +a very red face. He was better known by his comrades as Tongs, in +allusion probably to personal peculiarities; for the length of his +legs, the width of his bony hips, and the smallness of his head, +gave him some distant resemblance to that article of domestic +ironmongery; but as his wife called herself Mrs Bags, and he was +entered in the regimental books by that name, it was probably his +real appellation. + +"Run directly to Dr Fagan," said the Major, "and request him to come +here. Your wife has poisoned herself with rum." + +"'Tisn't rum," said Bags, somewhat thickly--"'tis fits." + +"Fits!" said my grandfather. + +"Fits," doggedly replied Mr Bags, who seemed by no means disturbed +at the alleged indisposition of his wife--"she often gets them." + +"Don't alarm yourself, Major," said Owen, "I'll answer for it she +hasn't drunk _all_ the rum. The scoundrel is half-drunk himself, and +smells like a spirit-vault. You'd better take your wife away," he +said to Bags. + +"She can leave if she ain't wanted," said Private Bags, with +dignity: "we never comes where we ain't wanted." And he advanced to +remove the lady. Mrs Bags at first resisted this measure, proceeding +to deliver a eulogium on her own excellent qualities, moral and +culinary. She had, she said, the best of characters, in proof of +which she made reference to several persons in various parts of the +United Kingdom, and, as she spoke, she smiled more affably than ever. + +"_La picarilla no tiene verguenza_," (the wretch is perfectly +shameless,) cried Carlota, who, having hastily removed the ham +from the fire, was now looking after the rest of the dinner. The +fowls, cut up in small pieces, were boiling along with the sheep's +head, and, probably to save time, the estimable Mrs Bags had put +the rice and raisins destined for a pudding into the pot along with +them--certainly, as Owen remarked, a bold innovation in cookery. + +Still continuing to afford them glimpses of her personal history, +Mrs Bags was at length persuaded to retire along with her helpmate. + +"What astonishing impudence," said the Major, shutting the door upon +her, "to pretend to be a cook, and yet know no better than to roast +a ham!" + +Carlota, meanwhile, was busy in remedying the disaster as far as she +could; cutting the ham into slices and frying it, making a fricassee +of the fowls, and fishing the raisins out of the pot, exclaiming +bitterly all the while, in English and Spanish, against the +_tunanta_ (equivalent to female scoundrel or scamp) who had spoilt +the only nice dinner her _pobrecito_, her _nino_, her _querido_, +(meaning my grandfather,) had been likely to enjoy for a long time, +stopping occasionally in her occupations to give him a consolatory +kiss. However, my grandfather did not keep up the character of a +martyr at all well: he took the matter really very patiently; and +when the excellent Carlota had set the dinner on the table, and he +tasted the fine flavour of the maltreated ham, he speedily regained +his accustomed good-humour. + +"It is very strange," he said presently, while searching with a fork +in the dish before him, "that a pair of fowls should have only three +wings, two legs, and one breast between them." + +It certainly was not according to the order of nature; nevertheless +the fact was so, all my grandfather's researches in the dish +failing to bring to light the missing members. This however, was +subsequently explained by the discovery of the remains of these +portions of the birds in the scullery, where they appeared to have +been eaten after being grilled; and Mrs Bags' reason for adopting +this mode of cooking them was also rendered apparent--viz., that she +might secure a share for herself without immediate detection. + +However, all this did not prevent them from making the best of what +was left, and the Major's face beamed as he drank Carlota's health +in a glass of the remaining bottle of champagne, as brightly as if +the dinner had been completely successful. + +"It is partly my fault, Owen," said the Major, "that you haven't a +joint of mutton instead of this sheep's head. I ought to have been +sharper. The animal was actually sold in parts before he was killed. +Old Clutterbuck had secured a haunch, and he a single man you +know--'tis thrown away upon him. I offered him something handsome +for his bargain, but he wouldn't part with it." + +"We're lucky to get any," returned Owen. "Never was such a scramble. +Old Fiskin, the commissary, and Mrs O'Regan, the Major's wife, both +swore the left leg was knocked down to them; neither would give in, +and it was put up again, when the staff doctor, Pursum, who had just +arrived in a great hurry, carried it off by bidding eightpence more +than either. Not one of the three has spoken to either of the others +since; and people say," added Owen, "Mrs O'Regan avers openly that +Fiskin didn't behave like a gentleman." + +"God knows!" said my grandfather, "'tis a difficult thing in such a +case to decide between politeness and a consciousness of being in +the right. Fiskin likes a good dinner." + +The dinner having been done justice to, Carlota removed the remains +to a side-table, and the Major was in the act of compounding a bowl +of punch, when there was a knock at the door. "Come in," cried +Carlota. + +A light and timid step crossed the narrow passage separating the +outer door from that of the room they sat in, and there was another +hesitating tap at this latter. "Come in," again cried Carlota, and a +young girl entered with a basket on her arm. + +"'Tis Esther Lazaro," said Carlota in Spanish. "Come in, child; sit +here and tell me what you want." + +Esther Lazaro was the daughter of a Jew in the town, whose +occupations were multifarious, and connected him closely with the +garrison. He discounted officers' bills, furnished their rooms, sold +them everything they wanted--all at most exorbitant rates. Still, +as is customary with military men, while perfectly aware that they +could have procured what he supplied them with elsewhere at less +expense, they continued to patronise and abuse him rather than +take the trouble of looking out for a more liberal dealer. As the +difficulties of the garrison increased, he had not failed to take +advantage of them, and it was even said he was keeping back large +stores of provisions and necessaries till the increasing scarcity +should enable him to demand his own terms for them. + +His daughter was about fifteen years old--a pretty girl, with hair +of the unusual colour of chestnut, plaited into thick masses on the +crown of her head. Her skin was fairer than is customary with her +race--her eyes brown and soft in expression, her face oval, and +her figure, even at this early age, very graceful, being somewhat +more precocious than an English girl's at those years. She was a +favourite with the ladies of the garrison, who often employed her to +procure feminine matters for them. Carlota, particularly, had always +treated her with great kindness--and hence the present visit. She +had come, she said timidly, to ask a favour--a great favour. She had +a little dog that she loved. (Here a great commotion in the basket +seemed to say she had brought her _protege_ with her.) He had been +given to her by a young school friend who was dead, and her father +would no longer let her keep it, because, he said, these were no +times to keep such creatures, when provisions, even those fit for a +dog, were so dear. He was a very good little dog--would the Senora +take him? + +"Let us look at him, Esther," said Owen--"I see you have brought him +with you." + +"He is not pretty," said Esther, blushing as she produced him from +the basket. He certainly was not, being a small cur, marked with +black and white, like a magpie, with a tall curling over his back. +He did not appear at all at his ease in society, for he tried to +shrink back again into the basket. + +"He was frightened," she said, "for he had been shut up for more +than a month. She had tried to keep him in her bedroom, unknown to +her father, feeding him with part of her own meals; but he had found +it out, and had beaten her, and threatened to kill the dog if ever +he saw it again." + +"_Pobrecito!_" (poor little thing,) said the good Carlota--"we shall +take good care of it. _Toma_," (take this,) offering him a bit of +meat. But he crept under her chair, with his tail so depressed, in +his extreme bashfulness, that the point of it came out between his +forelegs. + +Carlota would have made the young Jewess dine there forthwith, at +the side-table still spread with the remains of the dinner; but +she refused to take anything, only sipping once from a glass of +wine that Carlota insisted on making her drink of. Then she rose, +and, having tied the end of a string that was fastened to the dog's +collar to the leg of the table, to prevent his following her, took +her leave, thanking Carlota very prettily. + +"_A Dios, Sancho!_" she said to the little dog, who wagged his +tail and gave her a piteous look as she turned to go away--"_A +Dios, Sancho_," she repeated, taking him up and kissing him very +affectionately. The poor child was ready to cry. + +"Come and see him every day, my child," said Carlota, "and when +better times come you shall have him again." + + +CHAPTER II. + +Lazaro the Jew was seated towards dusk that evening in a sort of +office partitioned off by an open railing from a great store filled +with a most motley collection of articles. Sofas, looking-glasses, +washing-stands--bales of goods in corded canvass--rows of old boots +purchased from officers' servants--window curtains lying on heaps +of carpeting and matting--bedsteads of wood and iron--crockery +and glass--were all piled indiscriminately. Similar articles had +also overflowed along the passage down the wooden steps leading +to the square stone court below, which was lumbered with barrels, +packing-cases, and pieces of old iron. This court was entered +from the street, and an arched door on one side of it, barred and +padlocked, opened on a large warehouse, which nobody except the Jew +had set foot in for many months. + +The Jew himself was a spare, rather small man, with a thin eager +face, small sharp features, and a scanty beard. Being by descent +a Barbary Jew, he wore the costume peculiar to that branch of his +race--a black skull-cap; a long-skirted, collarless, cloth coat, +buttoned close, the waist fastened with a belt; loose light-coloured +trousers and yellow slippers--altogether he looked somewhat like an +overgrown scholar of Christ's Hospital. He was busied in turning +over old parchment-covered ledgers, when an officer entered. + +Von Dessel was a captain in Hardenberg's regiment. He was a square, +strong-built man, about forty, with very light hair, as was apparent +since the governor's order had forbidden the use of powder to the +troops, in consequence of the scarcity of flour. His thick, white, +overhanging eyebrows, close lips, and projecting under jaw gave +sternness to his countenance. + +"Good afternoon, captain," said the Jew; "what I do for you to-day, +sare?" + +"Do for me! By Gott, you have done for me already, with your cursed +Hebrew tricks," said the captain. The German and the Jew met on a +neutral ground of broken English. + +"I always treat every gentleman fair, sare," said the Jew. "I tell +you, captain, I lose by that last bill of yours." + +"_Der teufel!_ who gains, then?" said Von Dessel, "for you cut me +off thirty per cent." + +The Jew shrugged his shoulders. + +"I don't make it so, sare; the siege makes it so. When the port is +open, you shall have more better exchange." + +"Well, money must be had," said the German. "What will you give now +for my bill for twenty pounds?" + +The Jew consulted a book of figures--then made some calculations on +paper--then appeared to consider intently. + +"Curse you, speak!" said the choleric captain. "You have made up +your mind about how much roguery long ago." + +"Captain, sare, I give you feefty dallars," said the Jew. + +The captain burst forth with a volley of German execrations. + +"Captain," said the Jew presently, "I like to please a gentleman if +I can. I give you one box of cigars besides--real Cubas--one hundred +and feefty in a box." + +The captain at this broke forth again, but checked himself presently +on the entrance of the Jew's daughter, who now returned from the +Major's. She advanced quietly into the room, made a little bow to +the captain, took off and laid aside her shawl, and, taking up some +work, sat down and began to sew. + +Von Dessel resumed his expostulation in a milder tone. The Jew, +however, knew the money was necessary to him, and only yielded +so far as to increase his box of cigars to two hundred; and the +captain, finding he could get no better terms from him, was forced +to agree. While the Jew was drawing out the bills, the German gazed +attentively at Esther, with a good deal of admiration expressed in +his countenance. + +"I can't take the money now," said he, after signing the bills. "I +am going on duty. Bring it to me to-morrow morning, at nine o'clock." + +"I'm afraid I can't, sare," said Lazaro; "too moch business. +Couldn't you send for it, captain?" + +"Not possible," said the German; "but you must surely have somebody +that might bring it--some trustworthy person you know." And his eye +rested on Esther. + +"There's my dater, sare," said the Jew--"I shall send her, if that +will do." + +"Good," said the captain, "do not forget," and quitted the room +forthwith. + +He was scarcely gone when a pair with whom the reader is already +slightly acquainted, Mr and Mrs Bags, presented themselves. The +effects of their morning conviviality had in a great measure +disappeared. + +"Your servant, sir," said Bags. The Jew nodded. + +"We've got a few articles to dispose of," pursued Mr Bags, looking +round the room cautiously. "They was left us," he added in a low +tone, "by a _diseased_ friend." + +"Ah!" said the Jew, "never mind where you got 'em. Be quick--show +them." + +Mrs Bags produced from under her cloak, first a tin teakettle, then +a brass saucepan; and Mr Bags, unbuttoning his coat, laid on the +table three knives and a silver fork. Esther, passing near the table +at the time, glanced accidentally at the fork, and recognised the +Flinders crest--a talbot, or old English bloodhound. + +"Father," said she hastily, in Spanish, "don't have anything to do +with that--it must be stolen." But the Jew turned so sharply on her, +telling her to mind her work, that she retreated. + +The Jew took up the tea-kettle, and examined the bottom to see that +it was sound--did the same with the saucepan--looked at the knives +narrowly, and still closer at the fork--then ranged them before him +on the table. + +"For dis," said he, laying his hand on the tea-kettle, "we will say +one pound of rice; for dis (the saucepan) two pounds of corned beef; +for de knives, a bottle of rum; and for de fork, seex ounces of the +best tea." + +"Curse your tea!" said Mr Bags. + +"Yes!" said Mrs Bags, who had with difficulty restrained herself +during the process of valuation, "we doesn't want no tea. And the +things is worth a much more than what you say: the saucepan's as +good as new, and the fork's silver--" + +"Plated," said the Jew, weighing it across his finger. + +"A many years," said Mrs Bags, "have I lived in gentlemen's +families, and well do I know plate from silver. I've lived with Mrs +Milson of Pidding Hill, where everything was silver, and nothing +plated, even to the handles of the doors; and a dear good lady she +was to me; many's the gown, she giv me. And I've lived with--" + +Here the Jew unceremoniously interrupted the train of her +recollections by pushing the things from before him. "Take what I +offer, or else take your things away," said he, shortly. + +Mr and Mrs Bags grumbled considerably. The tea they positively +refused at any price: Mr Bags didn't like it, and Mrs Bags said it +disagreed with her. So the Jew agreed to give them instead another +bottle of rum, a pound of onions, and two pounds of beef; and with +these terms they at length closed, and departed with the results of +their barter. + +During the altercation, a soldier of another regiment had entered, +and stood silently awaiting his turn to be attended to. He was a +gaunt man, with want written legibly in the hollows of his face +and the dismal eagerness of his eye. He now came forward, and with +trembling hands unfolded an old gown, and handed it to the Jew. + +"'Tis no good to me," said the latter, giving it back, after holding +it against the light; "nothing but holes." + +"But my wife has no other," said the man: "'tis her last stitch of +clothes, except her petticoat and a blanket. I've brought everything +else to you." + +The Jew shrugged his shoulders and spread out his hands, in token +that he could not help it. + +"I swear 'tis her last!" reiterated the man, as if he really fancied +this fact must give the garment as much value in the Jew's eyes as +in his own. + +"I tell you I won't have it!" said the Jew, testily. + +"Give me only a loaf for it, or but one pound of potatoes," said the +soldier: "'tis more than my wife and four children have had among +them for two days. Half-rations for one, among six of us, is too +hard to live." + +"A pound of potatoes," said the Jew, "is worth four reals and +a-half--eighteenpence; your wife's gown is worth--nothing!" + +"Then take this," said the man, beginning frantically to pull off +his uniform coat; "anything is better than starving." + +The Jew laughed. "What!" said he, "you think I don't know better +than to buy a soldier's necessaries, eh? Ah, ah! no such a fool, I +think, my friend. What your captain say?--eh?" + +The man struck his hand violently on the table. "Then give me--or +lend me," said he, "some food, much or little, and I'll work for you +every hour I'm off duty till you're satisfied. I will, Mr Lazaro, so +help me God!" + +"I got plenty of men to work for me," said Lazaro; "don't want any +more. Come again, when you've got something to sell, my friend." + +The man rolled up the gown without speaking, then lifted it over his +head, and dashed it into the furthest corner of the store. He was +hurrying from the place, when, as if unwilling to throw away his +last chance, he turned back, gathered it up, and, thrusting it under +his arm, quitted the store with lingering steps, as if he even yet +hoped to be called back. No such summons reached him, however; but, +immediately after he was gone, Esther rose and stole softly down the +stairs. She overtook him at the street-door opening from the court +before mentioned, and laid her hand on his arm. The man turned and +glared on her. "What!--he'll buy it, will he?" said he. + +"Hush!" said Esther--"keep it for your poor wife. Look; I have no +money, but take these," and she placed in his hand two earrings +hastily detached from her ears. + +The man stood looking at her for a space, as if stupified, without +closing his hand on the trinkets that lay on the palm; then, +suddenly rousing himself, he swore, with tears in his eyes, that +for this service he would do for her anything on earth she should +require from him; but she only begged him to go away at once, and +say nothing, lest her father should overhear the transaction, who +would certainly be angry with her for it. + +Bags and his wife had stopt in a corner of the court, to pack +up their property in a commodious form for conveyance, and had +witnessed this scene in silence. As soon as the soldier had, in +compliance with Esther's entreaties, disappeared, Bags came forward. + +"And your father would be angry, would he, my dear?" said he. + +"Oh, very--oh, so angry! Please don't stop me," she said, trying to +pass him. + +"And what'll ye give me not to tell him, now?" asked Mr Bags. +"Ain't ye got nothing for me?" + +"No--oh, no--indeed, nothing. Do let me pass." + +"Yes, you have; you've got this, I think," said Bags, snatching at +a silver-mounted comb glistening in her hair, which, thus loosened, +all fell down on her shoulders as she darted past him. "And now," +said Mr Bags, inspecting his prize, "I think me and that 'ere +cheating Jew is quits for the silver fork. I'll allow it's plated +now." + + +CHAPTER III. + +Early the next morning (the 12th of April) a rumour went through +the town that an English fleet was signalled as in sight. The news +roused the starving people like electricity. The pale spectres of +men that, on the previous day, had stalked so gauntly through the +dreary streets--the wretched, sinking women, and children careworn +as grandfathers--poured forth, with something like a natural light +in their hollow eyes, to witness the joyful spectacle. The sea-wall +of the city was, like the margin of a vast pool of Bethesda, +thronged with hopeful wretches awaiting the coming of the angel. + +The streets were instantly deserted. Those who could not leave their +homes got on the housetops, but the great mass of the population +spread itself along the line-wall, the Grand Parade and Alameda, +and the heights skirting the chief slopes of the Rock. Moors and +Jews, Spaniards and English, citizens and soldiers, men, women, +and children, of all ages, grades, and nations, ranged themselves +indiscriminately wherever they could obtain a view of the sea. + +For some time the wished-for sight was delayed by a thick fog that +spread itself across the Straits and the entrance of the bay. A +murmur rose from each successive rank of people that forced itself +into a front place on the line-wall. Terrible doubts flew about, +originating no one knew where, but gaining strength and confirmation +as they passed from mouth to mouth. On the summit of the Rock behind +them the signal for a fleet flew steadily from the mast at Middle +Hill; but still in this, as in all crowds, were some of little +faith, who were full of misgivings. Many rushed up to the signal +station, unable to bear the pain of the delay. My grandfather +noticed the Jew Lazaro among the throng, watching the event with an +anxious eye, though his anxiety was from the opposite cause to that +of most of the spectators. The arrival of supplies would at once +bring down the price of provisions, and rob him, for the present, +of his expected profits; and as each successive rumour obtained +credence with the crowd, his countenance brightened as their hopes +fell, and sank as they again emerged from despondency. + +Not far from him was an old Genoese woman, wearing the quaint red +cloak, trimmed with black velvet, that old Genoese women usually +wear in Gibraltar. She hovered round the skirts of the crowd, +occasionally peering beneath an uplifted arm, or thrusting it +between two obstructing figures, to catch a glimpse, though it was +evident that her dim eyes would fail to discern the fleet when +it should come in view. Her thin shrivelled features, relieved +against her black hood, were positively wolfish from starvation. +She frequently drew one hand from beneath her cloak, and gazed at +something she held in it--then, muttering, she would again conceal +it. My grandfather's curiosity was roused. He drew near and watched +for the reappearance of the object that so engrossed her. It was a +blue mouldy crust of bread. + +The wished-for spectacle was at length revealed. "As the sun became +more powerful," says Drinkwater, rising into positive poetry +with the occasion, "the fog gradually rose, _like the curtain of +a vast theatre_, discovering to the anxious garrison one of the +most beautiful and pleasing scenes it is possible to conceive. The +convoy, consisting of near a hundred vessels, were in a compact +body, led by several men-of-war--their sails just filled enough for +steerage, while the majority of the line-of-battle ships lay to +under the Barbary shore, having orders not to enter the bay, lest +the enemy should molest them with their fireships." + +Then rose a great shout--at once the casting-off of long-pressing +anxiety and the utterance of delight. Happy tears streamed down +haggard faces overgrown with hair, and presently men turned to one +another, smiling in the face of a stranger neighbour as in that of +an old friend, while a joyful murmur, distilled from many languages, +rose upward. Assuredly, if blessings are of any avail, the soul of +Admiral Darby, who commanded the relieving fleet, is at this moment +in Paradise. + +Friends and relations now began to search for one another in +the crowd, which broke quickly into knots, each contriving how +to enjoy together the plenty that was to descend upon them. My +grandfather's eye at this juncture was again attracted by the old +Genoese woman. When the crowd shouted, she screened her eyes with +her withered hand, and, with her nostril spread, her chin fallen, in +her eagerness gazed towards the sea--but presently shook her head, +discerning nothing. Then she plucked by the arm a joyful Spaniard. + +"_Es verdad? Por Dios, es verdad?_" she cried; "_jura! jura!_"--(Is +it true? Swear by Heaven it is true.) + +"_Si, si,_" said the Spaniard, pointing; "_es verdad_," ('tis true.) +"You may see them yourself." + +Instantly the old woman, for the last time, drew forth her +treasured crust, and began to devour it, muttering, as she tore +away each mouthful, "_Mas manana! mas manana!_" (I shall have more +to-morrow--more to-morrow!) + +After the crowd had partially dispersed, Owen was returning to +his quarters to breakfast, when, as he paused to open the door, +he heard a voice he thought he knew crying out in affright in the +rooms opposite, where Von Dessel resided. Presently the door of the +quarters was opened, and the flushed and frightened face of Esther +Lazaro appeared, as she struggled to escape from Von Dessel, who +held her arm. + +"Senor, senor, speak to the gentleman!" she cried to Owen. + +"Leetle foolish girl," said Von Dessel, grinning a smile on seeing +him; "she frightens at nothing. Come in, child"--trying to shut the +door. + +"Why don't you let her alone?" said Owen; "don't you see she doesn't +like you?" + +"Pouf!" said the captain. "We all have trouble with them +sometimes--you must know that well." + +"No, by Jupiter!" cried Frank Owen. "If I couldn't gain them +willingly, they might go to the devil for me. But you hurt her--pray +let her go--you must indeed." + +"Do you mind your own affair," said the captain, "and don't meddle;" +and, exerting his strength, he drew Esther in, and partially +succeeded in shutting the door--she calling the while again on Owen +to help her. Frank stepped forward, and, putting his foot against +the door, sent it into the room, causing Captain Von Dessel, who was +behind it, to stagger back with some violence, and to quit his hold +of Esther, who ran down stairs. + +"Very good, sir," said the captain, stalking grimly out of his room, +pale with rage. "You have thought right to interfere with me, and to +insult me. By Gott! I will teach you better, young man. Shall we say +in one hour, sir, in the Fives' Court?" + +Owen nodded. "At your pleasure," said he, and, entering his own +quarters, shut the door. + +Meanwhile my grandfather walked about with the telescope he had +brought with him to look after the fleet under his arm, enjoying the +unusual sight of happy faces around him. And he has remarked it as +a singular feature of humanity, that this prospect of relief from +physical want inspired a far more deep and universal joy than he +had witnessed in any public rejoicings arising from such causes as +loyalty or patriotism evinced at a coronation or the news of a great +victory; and hence my grandfather takes occasion to express a fear +that human nature, as well as other nature, is, except among the +rarer class of souls, more powerfully and generally influenced by +its animal propensities than by more refined causes. + +He was so engrossed with the philanthropic pursuit of enjoying the +joy of the multitude, and the philosophic one of extracting moral +reflections therefrom, that he quite forgot he had not breakfasted. +He was just beginning to be reminded of the circumstance by a +feeling of hollowness in the region of the stomach, and to turn +his steps homeward, when a light hand was laid on his arm. My +grandfather turned, and beheld the face of the young Jewess looking +wistfully in his. + +She began at first to address him in Spanish--the language she spoke +most naturally; but, quickly perceiving her mistake on hearing the +extraordinary jargon in which he replied, (for it is a singular +fact that nobody but Carlota, who taught him, could understand my +grandfather's Spanish,) she exchanged it for his own tongue. She +told him in a few hurried words of the quarrel Owen had incurred on +her account with Von Dessel, and of the challenge she had overheard +given by the latter, beseeching the major to hasten to prevent the +result. + +"In the Fives' Court! in an hour!" said my grandfather. "When did +this happen?" + +Esther thought nearly an hour ago--she had been almost so long +seeking my grandfather. + +"I'll go, child--I'll go at once," said the Major. "With Von Dessel, +too, as if he could find nobody else to quarrel with but the best +swordsman in the garrison. 'Souls and bodies' quoted my grandfather, +'hath he divorced three.'" + +With every stride he took, the Major's uneasiness was augmented. At +any time his anxiety would have been extreme while peril threatened +Frank; but now, when he was calculating on him as a companion +at many a well-spread table, when they might forget their past +miseries, it peculiarly affected him. + +"To think," muttered my grandfather, "that these two madmen should +choose a time when everybody is going to be made so happy, by +getting plenty to eat, to show their gratitude to Providence by +cutting one another's throats!" + +The danger to Owen was really formidable; for, though a respectable +swordsman, he was no unusual proficient in the graceful art, while +his opponent was not only, as my grandfather had said, the best +swordsman in the garrison, but perhaps the best at that time in the +army. As a student in Germany he had distinguished himself in some +sanguinary duels; and since his arrival in Gibraltar, a Spanish +gentleman, a very able fencer, had fallen beneath his arm. + +"God grant," said my grandfather to himself, as he neared the Fives' +Court, "that we may settle this without the perdition of souls. +Frank, my dear boy, we could better spare a better man!" + +On attempting to enter the Fives' Court he was stopped by the +master, posted at the door. "It was engaged," he said, "for a +private match." + +"Ay, ay," said my grandfather, pushing past him; "a pretty match, +indeed! Ay, ay--pray God we can stop it!" + +Finding the inner door locked, the Major, who was well acquainted +with the locality--for, when he had nothing else particular to +do, he would sometimes mark for the players for a rubber or +two--ascended the stairs to the gallery. + +About the centre of the court stood the combatants. All +preliminaries had been gone through--for they were stripped to their +shirts--and the seconds (one a German, the adjutant of Hardenberg's +regiment--the other, one Lieutenant Rushton, an old hand at these +affairs, and himself a fire-eater) stood by, each with a spare sword +in his hand. In a corner was the German regimental surgeon, his +apparatus displayed on the floor, ready for an emergency. Rushton +fully expected Owen to fall, and only hoped he might escape without +a mortal wound. Von Dessel himself seemed of the same opinion, +standing square and firm as a tower, scarcely troubling himself to +assume an attitude, but easy and masterly withal. Both contempt and +malice were expressed for his antagonist in his half-shut eyes and +sardonic twist of the corners of his mouth. + +"Owen, Owen, my boy!" shouted my grandfather, rushing to the front +of the gallery, and leaning over, as the swords crossed--"stop, for +God's sake. You mustn't fight that swashbuckler! They say he hath +been fencer to the Sophy," roared the Major, in the words of Sir +Toby Belch. + +The combatants just turned their heads for a moment to look at the +interrupter, and again crossed swords. + +Immediately on finding his remonstrance disregarded, the Major +descended personally into the arena--not by the ordinary route of +the stairs, but the shorter one of a perpendicular drop from the +gallery, not effected with the lightness of a feathered Mercury. But +the clatter of his descent was lost in the concussion of a discharge +of artillery that shook the walls. Instantly the air was alive +with shot and hissing shells; and before the echoes of the first +discharge had ceased, the successive explosion of the shells in the +air, and the crashing of chimneys, shattered doors, and falling +masonry, increased the uproar. One shell burst in the court, filling +it with smoke. My grandfather felt, for a minute, rather dizzy with +the shock. When the smoke cleared, by which time he had partially +recovered himself, the first object that caught his eye was Von +Dessel lying on the pavement, and the doctor stooping over him. The +only other person hurt was Rushton, a great piece of the skin of +whose forehead, detached by a splinter, was hanging over his right +eye. Von Dessel had sustained a compound fracture of the thigh, +while the loss of two fingers from his right hand had spoiled his +thrust in tierce for ever. + +"What can be the matter?" said my grandfather, looking upward, as a +second flight of missiles hurtled overhead. + +"Matter enough," quoth Rushton, mopping the blood from his eye with +his handkerchief; "those cursed devils of Spaniards are bombarding +the town." + +The Major went up to Owen, and squeezed his hand. "We won't abuse +the Spaniards for all that," said he--"they've saved your life, my +boy." + + +CHAPTER IV. + +Enraged at seeing their blockade evaded by the arrival of Darby's +fleet, the Spaniards revenged themselves by directing such a fire +upon Gibraltar, from their batteries in the Neutral Ground, as in +a short time reduced the town to a mass of ruins. This misfortune +was rendered the more intolerable to the besieged, as it came in +the moment of exultation and general thanksgiving. While words of +congratulation were passing from mouth to mouth, the blow descended, +and "turned to groans their roundelay." + +The contrast between the elation of the inhabitants when my +grandfather entered the Fives' Court, and their universal +consternation and despair when he quitted it, was terrible. The +crowd that had a few minutes before so smilingly and hopefully +entered their homes, now fled from them in terror. Again the +streets were thronged by the unhappy people, who began to believe +themselves the sport of some powerful and malevolent demon. Whole +families, parents, children, and servants, rushed together into +the streets, making their way to the south to escape the missiles +that pursued them. Some bore pieces of furniture snatched up in +haste, and apparently seized because they came first to hand; some +took the chairs they had been sitting on; one man my grandfather +noticed bearing away with difficulty the leaf of a mahogany table, +leaving behind the legs which should have supported it; and a woman +had a crying child in one hand, and in the other a gridiron, still +reeking with the fat of some meat she had been cooking. Rubbish +from the houses began to strew the streets; and here and there +a ragged breach in a wall rent by the cannon afforded a strange +incongruous glimpse of the room inside, with its mirrors, tables, +and drapery, just as the inhabitants left them. Armed soldiers +were hastening to their different points of assembly, summoned by +bugles that resounded shrilly amid the din, and thrusting their way +unceremoniously through the impeding masses of fugitives. + +The house of the Jew Lazaro was one of the first that was seriously +injured. The blank wall of the great warehouse before mentioned, +that faced the street, had, either from age or bad masonry, long +before exhibited several cracks. A large segment, bounded by +two of these cracks, had been knocked away by a shot, and the +superincumbent mass falling in consequence, the great store, and all +its hoarded treasures, appeared through the chasm. + +The Jew's instincts had, at first, led him to save himself by +flight. But, on returning timorously to look after his property, the +sight of the ruined wall, and the unprotected hoards on which he had +so securely reckoned as the source of wealth, obliterated in his +mind, for the time, all sense of personal danger. Seeing a party of +soldiers issuing from a wine-house near, he eagerly besought them to +assist him in removing his property to a place of safety, promising +to reward them largely for their risk and trouble. + +One of the soldiers thus appealed to was Mr Bags. + +"Ho, ho!" said Mr Bags; "here's a chance--here's a pleasure, +comrades. We can help Mr Lazaro, who is always so good to us--this +here Jewish gentleman, that gives such liberal prices for our +things. Certainly--we'll remove 'em all, and not charge him nothing. +Oh--oh--ah!" And, to give point to his irony, Mr Bags distorted his +face hideously, and winked upon his friends. + +The idea of giving Lazaro any assistance was considered a capital +joke, and caused a great deal of mirth as they walked towards the +store, to which the Jew eagerly led the way. + +"If there's anything good to eat or drink in the store, we may +remove some of it, though it won't be on our backs, eh, boys?" said +Bags, as he stept in advance, over a heap of rubbish, into the store. + +"These first--these, my friends," cried the Jew, going up to a row +of barrels, standing a little apart from the crowded masses of +articles. + +"Oh, these first, eh?" said Bags; "they're the best, be they? Thank +you, Mr Lazaro; we'll see what's in 'em;" and, taking up a gimlet +that lay near, he proceeded to bore a hole in one of the barrels, +desiring a friend, whom he addressed as Tim, to tap the next one. + +"Thieves!" screamed the Jew, on witnessing this proceeding, seizing +Bags' arm, "leave my store--go out--let my goods alone!" Bags lent him +a shove that sent him into a corner, and perceiving liquor flowing +from the hole he had drilled, applied his mouth to the orifice. + +"Brandy," said he, as he paused for breath, "real Cognac. Comrades, +here's luck to that 'ere shot that showed us the way in;" and he +took another diligent pull at the hole. + +Meantime his comrades had not been idle; other barrels were opened, +and their contents submitted to a critical inspection. + +The Jew tried various modes to induce them to relinquish their +booty: first threats--then offers of reward--then cajolery; and, +at last, attempted to interpose and thrust them from their spoil. +A shot from the enemy entering the store, enfiladed a long line of +barrels, scattering the staves and their contents. The place was +instantly flooded with liquor--wine, molasses, spirits, and oil, +ran in a mingled stream, soaking the _debris_ of biscuit and salt +provisions that strewed the floor. One soldier was struck dead, and +Mr Bags only escaped destruction by the lucky accident of having his +head at that moment apart from the barrel which had engrossed his +attention, and which was knocked to pieces. + +The Jew, partly stunned by a wound in the forehead from the splinter +of a barrel, and partly in despair at the destruction of his +property, came to the entrance of the store, seating himself among +the rubbish. Other plunderers speedily followed the example of the +marauding soldiers, but he made no attempt to stop them as they +walked past him. My grandfather, passing at the time on his way +home, was horrified at the sight of him. Flour from a splintered +barrel had been scattered over his face, and blood from the wound +in his forehead, trickling down, had clotted it on his cheeks and +scanty beard, giving him an aspect at once appalling and disgusting. +His daughter had waited at the door of the Fives' Court till she +saw Owen come forth in safety, and had then availed herself of +the protection of the Major as far as her own home. Shrieking at +the dismal sight, she sprang forward and threw herself before the +Jew, casting her arms around him. This seemed to rouse him. He +arose--looked back into the store; and then, as if goaded by the +sight of the wreck into intolerable anguish, he lifted his clenched +hands above his head, uttering a sentence of such fearful blasphemy, +that a devout Spaniard, who was emerging from the store with some +plunder, struck him on the mouth. He never heeded the blow, but +continued to rave, till, suddenly overcome by loss of blood and +impotent rage, he dropt senseless on the ground. + +My grandfather, calling some soldiers of his regiment who were +passing, desired them to convey him to the hospital at the South +Barracks, and, again taking the terrified and weeping Esther under +his protection, followed to see the unfortunate Jew cared for. + +At the various parades that day Mr Bags was reported absent, being +in fact engaged in pursuits of a much more interesting nature than +his military duties. A vast field of interprise was opened to him +and other adventurous spirits, of which they did not fail to avail +themselves, in the quantity of property of all kinds abandoned by +the owners, in houses and shops where locks and bolts were no longer +a protection; and although the firing, which ceased for an hour +or two in the middle of the day, was renewed towards evening and +continued with great fury, the ardour of acquisition by no means +abated. + +About midnight a sentry on the heights of Rosia (the name given +to a portion of the rugged cliffs towards the south and near the +hospital) observed, in the gloom, a figure lurking about one of the +batteries, and challenged it. Receiving no answer, he threatened to +fire, when Bags came forward reluctantly, with a bundle in his hand. + +"Hush, Bill," said Bags, on finding the sentry was a personal +friend--"don't make a row: it's only me, Bags--Tongs, you know," he +added, to insure his recognition. + +"What the devil are you doing there, you fool?" asked his friend in +a surly tone--"don't you know the picquet's after you?" + +"I've got some little things here that I want to lay by, where +nobody won't see 'em, in case I'm catched," returned Bags. "Don't +you take no notice of me, Bill, and I'll be off directly." + +"What have ye got?" asked Bill, whose curiosity was awakened by the +proceedings of his friend. + +"Some little matters that I picked up in the town," returned Bags. +"Pity you should be on guard to-day, Bill--there was some pretty +pickings. I'll save something for you, Bill," added Bags, in an +unaccountable access of generosity. + +The sentry, however, who was a person in every way worthy of the +friendship of Mr Bags, expressed no gratitude for the considerate +offer, but began poking at the bundle with his bayonet. + +"Hands off, Bill," said Bags, "they won't abear touching." + +"Let's see 'em," said Bill. + +"Not a bit on it," said Bags; "they ain't aworth looking at." + +"Suppose I was to call the sergeant of the guard," said Bill. + +"You wouldn't do such a action?" said Bags, in a tone strongly +expressive of disgust at such baseness. "No, no, Bill, you ain't +that sort of fellow, _I'm_ sure." + +"It's my dooty," said the sentry, placing the butt of his musket on +the ground, and leaning his elbow on the muzzle. "You see that what +you said, Tongs, was very true, about its being hard upon me to be +carrying about this here damnable weppin" (slapping the barrel of +the musket) "all day for fourpence ha'penny, while you are making +your fortin. It is, Tongs, d--d hard." + +"Never mind; there'll be plenty left to-morrow," said Bags in a +consolatory tone. + +"What shall we say, now, if I lets ye hide it?" said Bill, pointing +to the bundle. "Half-shares?" + +"This ain't like a friend, Bill," returned Tongs, highly disgusted +with this ungenerous proposal. "Nobody ever knowed me interfere +with a comrade when I was on sentry. How long ago is it since I let +ye stay in my box an hour, till ye was sober enough to walk into +barracks, when I was sentry at the gate? Why, the whole bundle ain't +worth eighteenpence--and I've worked hard for it." + +"Half-shares?" reiterated Bill, not melted in the least by the +memory of ancient benefits. + +"No, by G--!" said Bags in great wrath. + +"Serg----," began Bill in an elevated voice, porting his arms at the +same time. + +"Stop!" said Bags; "don't call the sergeant. Half is better nor +nothing, if ye're going to behave like that. We'll say half, then." + +"Ah," said Bill, returning to his former position--"I thought we +should agree. And now let's see 'em, Tongs." + +Muttering still his disapprobation of this unworthy treatment, Bags +put his bundle on the stone embrasure of the battery, and began to +unfold it. + +Eighteenpence was certainly a low valuation. Bags appeared to have +visited a jeweller's shop. Watches, rings, bracelets, gold chains, +and brooches glittered on the dingy surface of the handkerchief. + +"My eye!" said Bill, unable to repress a low laugh of delight--"why, +we'll turn bankers when we've sold 'em. Tongs and Co., eh?" said +Bill with considerable humour. + +Bags, however, told him he was altogether mistaken in his +estimate--most of the things were pinchbeck, he said, and the stones +all glass; and, to save Bill any trouble, he offered to dispose of +them himself to the best possible advantage, and bring his partner +his share of the proceeds, which would certainly be at least +ninepence, and might perhaps be half-a-dollar. This arrangement +did not, however, meet the approbation of the astute William, who +insisted on dividing the spoils by lot. But here, again, there was +a slight misunderstanding, for both fixed their affections on a +gigantic watch, which never could have been got into any modern +pocket, and whose face was ornamented with paintings from the +heathen mythology. Both of them supposed, from the size and the +brilliancy of the colours, that this must be of immense value. +Finding they were not likely to come to a speedy arrangement on +this point, they agreed to postpone the division of the spoils till +morning. + +"I'll tell ye where to put it, Bags," said Bill. "These here guns in +this battery haven't been fired for years, nor ain't likely to be, +though they loaded 'em the other day. Take out the wad of this one, +and put in the bundle." + +Bags approved of the idea, withdrew the wad from the muzzle of the +gun, put in the bundle as far as his arm would reach, and then +replaced the wad. + +"Honour bright?" said Bags, preparing to depart. + +"Honour bright," returned Bill; and Bags disappeared. + +Nevertheless he did not feel sufficient confidence in his +confederate's integrity to justify his quitting the place and +leaving him to his own devices. He thought Bill might perhaps avail +himself of his absence to remove the treasure, or be guilty of some +other treachery. He therefore crept back again softly, till he got +behind a crag from whence he had a full view of the battery. + +For some time Bill walked sternly to and fro on his post. Bags +observed, however, that he always included the gun where the deposit +lay in his perambulations, which became shorter and shorter. At last +he halted close to it, laid down his musket against the parapet, +and, approaching the muzzle of the gun, took out the wad. + +At this moment a neighbouring sentry gave an alarm. The guard +turned out, and Bill, hastily replacing the wad, resumed his arms +and looked about for the cause of the alarm. About a mile out in +the bay several red sparks were visible. As he looked there were a +corresponding number of flashes, and then a whistling of shot high +overhead told that the guns from which they had been discharged had +been laid too high. The Spanish gunboats were attacking the south. + +The drums beat to arms, and in a few minutes the battery was manned +with artillerymen. To the inconceivable horror of Bags and Bill, the +whole of the guns in the battery were altered in position, and a +gunner took post at the rear of each with a lighted portfire. Then +a flushed face might be seen, by the blue light of the portfires, +rising from behind a neighbouring piece of rock, the eyes staring, +the mouth open in agonised expectation. + +"Number one--fire!" said the officer in command, to the gunner in +rear of the gun in which Mr Bags had invested his capital. + +"No, no!" shouted Bags, rising wildly from behind the rock. + +The portfire touched the vent--there was a discharge that seemed to +rend Mr Bags's heartstrings and blow off the roof of his skull--and +the clever speculation on which he had counted for making his +fortune ended, like many others, in smoke. He gazed for a moment out +in the direction of the flash, as if he expected to see the watches +and rings gleaming in the air; then he turned and disappeared in the +darkness. + +After a few ineffectual discharges, the Spaniards seemed to become +aware of the badness of their aim, and to take measures to amend it. +Several shot struck the hospital; and some shells falling through +the roof, exploded in the very wards where the sick lay. The unhappy +Jew, Lazaro, lying in a feverish and semi-delirious state from his +former hurt and agitation, was again struck by a splinter of a +shell which burst in the ward where the Major's care had seen him +deposited, blowing up the ceiling and part of the wall. In the midst +of the confusion, the Jew, frantic with terror, rushed unrestrained +from the building, followed only by his daughter, who was watching +by his bed. He was not missed for some time, and the attempts to +discover him, made after his disappearance became known, were of no +avail. A neighbouring sentry had seen a white figure, followed by +another crying after it, dash across the road and disappear in the +bushes; but the search made about the vicinity of the spot failed in +detecting any traces of them, and those who troubled themselves to +think of the matter at all, surmised that they had fallen into the +sea. + + +CHAPTER V. + +For some pages, my grandfather's note-book is filled with memoranda +of singular casualties from the enemy's shot, wonderful escapes, +and hasty moments of quietude and attempted comfort snatched "even +in the cannon's mouth." The fire from the Spanish batteries shortly +reduced the town to ruins, and the gunboats at night precluded all +hope of peace and oblivion after the horrors of the day. Dreams, in +which these horrors were reproduced, were interrupted by still more +frightful nocturnal realities. One of the curious minor evils that +my grandfather notices, as resulting from an incessant cannonade, +to those not engaged in it actively enough to withdraw their +attention from the noise, is the extreme irritation produced by its +long continuance, amounting, in persons of nervous and excitable +temperament, to positive exasperation. + +Some of the numerous incidents he chronicles are also recorded by +Drinkwater, especially that of a man who recovered after being +almost knocked to pieces by the bursting of a shell. "His head was +terribly fractured, his left arm broken in two places, one of his +legs shattered, the skin and muscles torn off his right hand, the +middle finger broken to pieces, and his whole body most severely +bruised and marked with gunpowder. He presented so horrid an object +to the surgeons, that they had not the smallest hopes of saving his +life, and were at a loss what part to attend to first. He was that +evening trepanned; a few days afterwards his leg was amputated, +and other wounds and fractures dressed. Being possessed of a most +excellent constitution, nature performed wonders in his favour, +and in eleven weeks the cure was completely effected. His name," +continues Mr Drinkwater, with what might be deemed irony--if the +worthy historian ever indulged in that figure of rhetoric--"is +Donald Ross, and he" (_i. e._ the remaining fragment of the said +Donald Ross) "now enjoys his sovereign's bounty in a pension of +ninepence a-day for life." One might almost suppose that Mr Hume had +some hand in affixing the gratuity; but in those days there was a +king who knew not Joseph. + +My grandfather appears to have had also an adventure of his own. +During a cessation of the cannonade, he was sitting one morning on +a fragment of rock, in the garden behind his quarters, reading his +favourite author. The firing suddenly recommenced, and a long-ranged +shell, striking the ground at some distance, rolled towards him. +He glanced half-absently at the hissing missile; and whether he +actually did not for a moment recollect its character, or whether, +as was often the case on such occasions, the imminence of the danger +paralysed him, he sat immovably watching it as it fizzed within a +couple of yards of him. Unquestionably in another three seconds +my grandfather's earthly tabernacle would have been resolved into +its original atoms, had not the intrepid Carlota (who was standing +near gathering flowers to stick in her hair) darted on him, and, +seizing him by the arm, dragged him behind a wall. They were scarce +under shelter when the shell exploded--the shock laying them both +prostrate, though unhurt but for a few bruises--while the stone +on which the Major had been sitting was shivered to atoms. To the +description of this incident in the Major's journal are appended a +pious reflection and a short thanksgiving, which, being entirely of +a personal nature, I omit. + +The stores landed from the fleet were in a very precarious position. +Owing to the destruction of the buildings, there were no means of +placing them where they might be sheltered at once from the fire of +the enemy and from rain. Some were piled under sails spread out as +a sort of roof to protect them, and some, that were not likely to +sustain immediate injury from the damp air of such a depository, +were ordered to be conveyed to St Michael's Cave. + +This cave is one of the most curious features of the Rock. Its +mouth--an inconsiderable opening in the slope of the mountain--is +situated many hundred feet above the sea. Within, it expands into a +spacious hall, the roof, invisible in the gloom, supported by thick +pillars formed by the petrified droppings of the rock. From this +principal cavern numerous smaller ones branch off, leading, by dark, +broken, and precipitous passages, to unknown depths. Along one of +these, according to tradition, Governor O'Hara advanced farther than +ever man had gone before, and left his sword in the inmost recess to +be recovered by the next explorer who should be equally adventurous. +But whether it is that the tradition is unfounded, or that the +weapon has been carried off by some gnome, or that the governor's +exploit is as yet unrivalled, the sword has never been brought to +light. + +For the duty of placing the stores here, the name of Lieutenant +Owen appeared in the garrison orders. My grandfather having nothing +particular to do, and being anxious to escape as much as possible +for a short time from the din of the bombardment, offered to +accompany Frank in the execution of this duty. + +The day was dark and gloomy, and the steep path slippery from rain, +so that the mules bearing the stores toiled with difficulty up the +ascent. At first, my grandfather and Owen indulged in cheerful +conversation; but shortness of breath soon reduced the Major to +monosyllables, and the latter part of the journey was accomplished +in silence. Frequently the Major paused and faced about, at once +to look at the prospect and to take breath. Far below, on his +right, was seen the southern end of the town, consisting partly +of a heap of ruins, with here and there a rafter sticking out of +the mass, partly of roofless walls, among which was occasionally +heard the crashing of shot; but the guns that discharged them, as +well as those that replied from the town, were invisible from +this point. Directly beneath him the ground afforded a curious +spectacle, being covered with tents, huts, and sheds, of all sorts +and sizes, where the outcast population of the ruined town obtained +a precarious and insufficient shelter. The only building visible +which still retained its former appearance was the convent--the +governor's residence--which was protected by bomb-proofs, and where +working-parties were constantly engaged in repairing the injuries. +The bay, once thickly wooded with masts and dotted with sails, was +now blank and cheerless; only the enemy's cruisers were visible, +lying under the opposite shore of Spain. + +Owen and my grandfather arrived at the mouth of the cave somewhat in +advance of the convoy. To their surprise a smoke was issuing from +it; and, as they approached nearer, their nostrils were greeted by +an odour at once savoury and spicy. Going softly up they looked in. + +Mr Bags and a couple of friends were seated round a fire, over which +was roasting a small pig, scientifically butchered and deprived of +his hair, and hung up by the heels. The fire, in the absence of +other fuel, (of which there was an extreme scarcity in Gibraltar,) +was supplied by bundles of cinnamon plundered from the store of some +grocer, and, as the flame waxed low, Mr Bags took a fresh bundle +from a heap of that fragrant spice by his side, and laid it on the +embers. Mrs Bags was occupied in basting the pig with lard, which +she administered from time to time with an iron ladle. + +Presently Mr Bags tapped on the pig's back with his knife. It sent +forth a crisp crackling sound, that made my grandfather's mouth +water, and caused Mr Bags to become impatient. + +"Polly," said he, "it's my opinion it's been done these three +minutes. I can't wait much longer." + +And he cast a glance at the other two soldiers, (in whom, as well as +in Bags, Owen recognised men of his company who had been reported +absent for some days, and were supposed to have gone over to the +enemy,) to ascertain if their opinions tallied with his own on this +point. + +"It can't be no better," said one, taking hold of the pig's neck +between his finger and thumb, which he afterwards applied to his +mouth. + +"I can't abear my meat overdone," said the third. "What I say is, +let them that likes to wait, wait, and let them that wants to begin, +begin." So saying, he rose, and was about to attack the ribs of the +porker with his knife. + +"Do stop a minute--that's a dear," said Mrs Bags; "another bundle of +cinnament will make it parfect. I'll give ye something to stay your +stomach;" and stepping to a nook in the wall of the cavern, where +stood a large barrel, she filled a pewter measure, and handed it to +the impatient advocate for underdone pork, who took a considerable +dram, and passed it to his companions. + +"Cinnament's better with pork nor with most things," said Bags. "It +spoils goose, because it don't agree with the inions, and it makes +fowls wishy-washy; but it goes excellent with pig." + +"What's left in the larder?" asked one of the party. + +"There's a week's good eating yet," said Mrs Bags, "and we _might_ +make it do ten days or a fortnight." + +"Well!" said the other, "they may say what they like about sieges, +but this is the jolliest time ever _I_ had." + +"It's very well by day," said Bags, "but the nights is cold, and the +company of that ghost ain't agreeable--I seed it again last night." + +"Ah!" said his friend, "what was it like, Tongs?" + +"Something white," returned Bags in an awful whisper, "with a +ghost's eyes. You may allays know a ghost by the eyes. I was just +rising up, and thinking about getting a drink, for my coppers was +hot, when it comes gliding up from that end of the cave. I spoke to +you, and then I couldn't see it no more, because it was varnished." + +"Ghosts always varnishes if you speak," said Mrs Bags. "But never +mind the spirit now--let's look after the flesh," added the lady, +who possessed a fund of native pleasantry: "the pig's done to a +turn." + +At this interesting juncture, and just as they were about to fall +to, the footsteps of the approaching mules struck on their ears. +Owen went to meet the party, and hastily selecting six men from it, +advanced, and desired them to secure the astounded convivialists. + +On recovering from their first astonishment, Bags begged Owen would +overlook the offence; they were only, he pleaded, having a little +spree--times had been hard lately. Mrs Bags, as usual, displayed +great eloquence, though not much to the purpose. She seemed to have +some idea that an enumeration of the gentlemen's families she had +lived in, and the high estimation in which she had been held in +all, would really tell powerfully in favour of the delinquents, and +persevered accordingly, till they were marched off in custody of the +escort, when she made a final appeal to my grandfather, as the last +gentleman whose family she had lived in--with what advantage to the +household the reader knows. The Major, who could not forgive the +roasting of his ham, called her, in reply, a "horrible woman," but, +at the same time, whispered to Owen that he hoped the fellows would +not be severely punished. "If we had caught them after dinner," said +he, "I shouldn't have pitied them so much." + +"Never mind them," said Owen; "let us proceed to business. We must +select the driest spot we can find to put the stores in." + +[Here, by way of taking leave of Mr Bags, I may remark, that he +narrowly escaped being hanged as a plunderer--failing which, he was +sentenced by a court-martial to receive a number of lashes, which I +refrain from specifying, because it would certainly make the hair of +a modern humanitarian turn white with horror.] + +"Come along, Major," said Owen; "perhaps we may find more of these +scoundrels in the course of our researches." + +The Major did not move; he was earnestly regarding the carcase of +the pig, that steamed hissing above the embers. + +"Queer idea that of the cinnamon fire," said he. "I wonder how the +meat tastes." + +Owen did not hear him, having walked forward. + +"Have you got a knife about you, Frank?" said the Major. "Do you +know I have a curious desire to ascertain the flavour. It may be a +feature in cookery worth knowing." + +Owen had not a knife, nor had any of the men, but one of them +suggested that the Major's sword would answer the purpose. + +"To be sure," said the Major. "A good idea! I don't see why +swords shouldn't be turned into carving-knives as well as into +pruning-hooks." So saying, he drew it from the sheath, and, +straddling across the fire, detached a crisp brown mouthful from the +pig's ribs, and putting a little salt on it, he conveyed it to his +mouth. + +"Excellent!" cried the Major. "I give you my word of honour, Owen, +'tis excellent! The cinnamon gives it a sort of a ----" + +Here a second and larger mouthful interrupted the criticism. + +"It must be very near lunch-time," said the Major, pausing, sword +in hand, when he had swallowed it; then, pretending to look at his +watch--"Bless me, it only wants half-an-hour of it. Do you think +this business will take you long, Owen?" + +"About a couple of hours," said Owen. + +"Ah, why, there you see," returned the Major, "we shan't get home +till long past lunch-time. I really don't see why we shouldn't take +a snack now. Nothing can be better than that pig. I only wish the +woman had dressed my dinner half as well. Corporal Hodson, would you +oblige me with a piece of that biscuit near you?" And, detaching a +large fragment of pork, he placed it on the biscuit, and sprinkling +it with pepper and salt, which condiments had not been forgotten in +the gastronomic arrangements of Mr Bags, he proceeded to follow Owen +into the interior of the cave, taking huge bites as he went. + +The path slopes at first steeply downward from the mouth to the +interior of the cavern, where it becomes more level. Light being +admitted only at the entrance, the gloom of the interior is almost +impenetrable to the eye. The men had brought torches to assist them +in their work, and, a suitable spot having been selected, these were +stuck on different points and abutments of the rocky wall, when the +party proceeded to unload the mules at the entrance, conveying their +burdens into the cave. + +In the midst of the bustle and noise attending the operation, the +little dog given by Esther to Carlota, which had that morning +followed the Major, to whom it had speedily attached itself, began +barking and howling dismally in a dark recess behind one of the +great natural pillars before spoken of. As the noise continued, +intermixed with piteous whinings, one of the men took a torch from +the wall, and stepped forward into the darkness, to see what ailed +the animal. Presently he cried out that "there was a man there." + +My grandfather, who was next him, immediately followed, and five +paces brought him to the spot. The soldier who held the torch was +stooping, and holding it over a figure that lay on the ground on its +back. In the unshaven, blood-stained countenance, my grandfather, at +first, had some difficulty in recognising Lazaro the Jew. Some fiery +splashes of pitch from the torch dropping at the moment on his bare +throat, produced no movement, though, had he been living, they must +have scorched him to the quick. + +On the body was nothing but the shirt he wore the night of his +flight from the hospital, but his legs were wrapt in a woman's +dress. Across his breast, on her face, lay Esther, in her white +under-garments--for the gown that wrapt the Jew's legs was hers. The +glare of the torch was bright and red on the two prostrate figures, +and on the staring appalled countenance of the man who held it--the +group forming a glowing spot in the vast, sombre, vaulted space, +where dim gleams of light were caught and repeated on projecting +masses of rock, more and more faintly, till all was bounded by +darkness. + +Years afterwards my grandfather would sometimes complain of having +been revisited, in dreams of the night, by that ghastly piece of +Rembrandt painting. + +The rest quickly flocked to the spot, and Esther was lifted and +found to breathe, though the Jew was stiff and cold. Some diluted +spirit, from the cellar of Bags, being poured down her throat she +revived a little, when my grandfather caused two of the men to bear +her carefully to his house; and the body of the Jew being wrapt in a +piece of canvass, was placed on a mule and conveyed to the hospital +for interment. + +Medical aid restored Esther to consciousness, and she told how they +came to be found in the cave. + +Her father, on leaving the hospital, had fled by chance, as she +thought, to this cave, for he did not reach it by the usual path, +but climbed, in his delirious fear, up the face of the rock, and she +had followed him as well as she could, keeping his white figure in +sight. They had both lain exhausted in the cave till morning, when, +finding that her father slept, she was on the point of leaving him +to seek assistance. But, unhappily, before she could quit the place, +Bags and his associates entered from their plundering expedition +into the town, and, frightened at their drunken language, and +recognising in Bags the man who had robbed her, she had crept back +to her concealment. The party of marauders never quitted the cavern +from the moment of establishing themselves in it. They spent the +day in eating, drinking, singing songs, and sometimes quarrelling. +Twice, at night, she ventured forth; but she always found one of +them asleep across the entrance, so that she could not pass without +waking him, and once one of them started up, and seemed about to +pursue her--doubtless Bags, on the occasion when he thought he saw +a ghost. Nevertheless, she had mustered courage twice to take some +fragments of food that were lying near the fire, leaving each time a +piece of money in payment; and she had also taken a lighted candle, +the better to ascertain her father's situation. He had never spoken +to her since the first night of their coming, and, during all those +dark and weary hours, (for they were three nights and two days in +the cavern,) she had remained by him listening to his incoherent +mutterings and moans. The candle had showed her that he had lost +much blood, from the wound in his forehead breaking out afresh, as +well as from the other received in the hospital, though the latter +was but a flesh wound. These she had bandaged with shreds of her +dress, and had tried to give him some of the nourishment she had +procured, but could force nothing on him except some water. Some +hours, however--how long she did not know, but it was during the +night--before Owen's party found her, the Jew had become sensible. +He told her he was dying; and, unconscious of where he was, desired +her to fetch a light. This she had procured in the same way as +before, lighting the candle at the embers of the fire round which +Bags and his friends reposed. Then the Jew, who seemed to imagine +himself still in the hospital, bid her say whom, among those she +knew in Gibraltar, she would wish to have charge of her when he was +no more; and, on her mentioning Carlota, had desired her to take pen +and paper and write his will as he should dictate it. Pen she had +none, but she had a pencil and a scrap of paper in her pocket, and +with these she wrote, leaning over to catch the whispered syllables +that he with difficulty articulated. + +From this paper it would appear that the Jew had some fatherly +feelings for Esther concealed beneath his harsh deportment towards +her. I can describe the will, for I have often seen it. It is +written on a piece of crumpled writing-paper, about the size of a +bank-note, very stained and dirty. It is written in Spanish; and +in it the Jew entreats "the Senora, the wife of Sr. Don Flinder, +English officer, to take charge of his orphan child, in requital +whereof he leaves her the half of whatsoever property he dies +possessed of, the other half to be disposed of for the benefit of +his daughter." Then follows a second paragraph, inserted at Esther's +own desire, to the effect that, should she not survive, the whole +was to be inherited by the aforesaid Senora. It is dated "Abril +1781," and signed in a faint, straggling hand, quite different from +the clear writing of the rest--"JOSE LAZARO." + +Esther would now have gone, at all hazards, to obtain assistance, +but the Jew clutched her arm, and would not permit her to quit him. +He breathed his last shortly after, and Esther remembered nothing +more till she came to herself in the Major's house. The paper was +found in her bosom. + +Some days after this event my grandfather went with Owen into the +town, during a temporary lull in the enemy's firing, to visit the +house of Lazaro, in order to ascertain whether anything valuable +was left that might be converted to Esther's benefit. They had +some difficulty in finding the exact locality, owing to the utter +destruction of all the landmarks. The place was a mass of ruins. +Some provisions and goods had been left by the plunderers, but so +mixed with rubbish, and overflowed with the contents of the casks +of liquor and molasses, as to be of no value even in these times of +dearth. + +Owen, poking about among the wreck, observed an open space in the +middle of one of the shattered walls, as if something had been built +into it. With the assistance of my grandfather's cane, he succeeded +in dislodging the surrounding masonry, already loosened by shot, and +they discovered it to be a recess made in the thickness of the wall, +and closed by a small iron door. At the bottom was lying a small +box, also of iron, which they raised, not without difficulty, for +its weight was extraordinary in proportion to its dimensions. This +being conveyed to my grandfather's, and opened, was found to contain +more than six hundred doubloons, (a sum in value about two thousand +pounds,) and many bills of exchange and promissory notes, mostly +those of officers. The latest was that of Von Dessel. These the +Major, by Esther's desire, returned to the persons whose signatures +they bore. + +Esther never completely recovered from the effects of her sojourn +in the cave, but remained always pale and of weak health. My +grandfather took good care of her inheritance for her, and on +leaving Gibraltar, at the conclusion of the siege, invested the +whole of it safely for her benefit, placing her, at the same time, +in the family of some respectable persons of her own religion. She +afterwards married a wealthy Hebrew; and, in whatever part of +the world the Major chanced to be serving, so long as she lived, +valuable presents would constantly arrive from Gibraltar--mantillas +and ornaments of jewellery for Carlota, and butts of delicious +sherry for my grandfather. These, however, ceased with her death, +about twenty years afterwards. + +This is, I believe, the most connected and interesting episode to +be found in the Major's note-book; and it is, I think, the last +specimen I shall offer of these new "Tales of my Grandfather." + +As a child I used to listen, with interest ever new, to the tale +of the young Jewess, which the narrator had often heard from the +lips of Carlota and her husband. St Michael's Cave took rank in my +mind with those other subterranean abodes where Cassim, the brother +of Ali Baba, who forgot the word "_Open Sesame_," was murdered by +the Forty Thieves; where Aladdin was shut by the magician in the +enchanted garden; and where Robinson Crusoe discovered the dying +he-goat. And when, at the conclusion of the tale, the scrap of +paper containing the Jew's will was produced from a certain desk, +and carefully unfolded, I seemed to be connected by some awful and +mysterious link with these departed actors in the scenes I had so +breathlessly listened to. + + + + +LIFE AMONGST THE LOGGERS. + +_Forest Life and Forest Trees._ By JOHN S. SPRINGER. New York: +Harper. London: Sampson Low. 1851. + + +The northern and elder States of the great American Union have +ceased to be associated in our minds with those ideas of wild +and romantic adventure which are inseparably connected with some +of their younger brethren far west and south. There is nothing +suggestive of romance in such names as New York, Maine, and +Pennsylvania: cotton bales, keen traders and repudiated debts, +drab coats, wooden clocks, and counterfeit nutmegs, compose the +equivocal and unpoetical visions they conjure up to European +imaginations. But drop we our eyes down the map to lawless Arkansas, +feverish Louisiana, and debateable Texas, or westwards to the still +newer State of California, and a host of stirring and picturesque +associations throng upon our memory. Strange scenes and a motley +array pass before us. Bands of hunters and trappers, scarce more +civilised than the Indians with whom they war, or gentler than the +buffalo which yields them sport and food; predatory armies, for +Mexico bound, keen for spoil and regardless of right; caravans of +adventurous gold-seekers braving the perilous passage of the Rocky +Mountains; hardy squatters, axe in hand, hewing themselves a home +in the heart of the wilderness; innumerable traits of courage and +endurance--incredible sufferings and countless crimes--make up a +picture-gallery unrivalled of its kind. In those districts, not +a league of prairie, not a mountain or stream, not a _bayou_ or +_barranca_, but has derived recent and vivid interest from the +animated sketches of Sealsfield, Ruxton, Wise, and a host of other +graphic and vigorous delineators. + +As if to vindicate the claims to interest of the northern American +provinces, a Down-easter, Springer by name, who hails from the State +of Maine, has exhibited, in a curious little volume, the adventurous +side of life in _his_ part of the Union. At a first glance, there +would appear to be few created things whose history was likely to be +less interesting than that of a Yankee pine-log. Get astride it with +Springer, and paddle up the Penobscot, clearing rapids and other +impediments as best you may on so unpromising a float--and, before +reaching the place where it grew, you shall marvel at the skill +and daring expended, and at the risks run to procure it. Springer, +who was reared amongst the pine forests, which his axe afterwards +helped to thin, is an enthusiastic woodsman, and feels "kinder +jealous" that whilst the habits and adventures of many classes of +his countrymen have occupied skilful writers and public attention, +no chronicler should have been found for the deeds and perils of +that numerous class to which he for some years belonged. To supply +this deficiency, he himself, although more used to handle axe than +goose-quill, has written a plain and unpretending account of scenes +and incidents which he shared in and witnessed. The freshness of +the subject, and the honest earnestness of the man, would atone for +clumsier treatment than it has met with at his hands. + +The second title of Mr Springer's book gives a clearer idea of +its contents than the primary one. The volume comprises, says the +title-page, "Winter camp-life, among the Loggers, and wild-wood +adventure, with descriptions of lumbering operations on the various +rivers of Maine and New Brunswick." It is divided into three parts; +the first and shortest being a dissertation on forest trees, with +particular reference to those of America; the second, entitled +"The Pine Tree, or Forest Life," giving an account of wood-cutting +operations; the third, "River Life," detailing the progress of +the timber from the forest to the "boom," or depot. The chief +interest of the book begins with the second chapter of the second +part, wherein is described the commencement of the labours of a +gang of "loggers," or woodcutters. In the hunt after timber, as +after certain animals, the first thing to be done is to mark the +whereabout of your game preparatory to starting in its pursuit. On +the eve of the chase the keeper reconnoitres the retreat of the +wild-boar. Before a party of loggers proceed to establish a camp +and pass the winter woodcutting, they send out scouts to ascertain +where timber is plenty. Thirty years since, this was scarcely +necessary--the pine, that forest king of the northern States, +abounded on every side. Fifty years hence--so it is estimated by +those best qualified to judge--the vast pine forests, through which +the Penobscot flows, will be on the eve of extinction. Now is the +intermediate stage. A man cannot, as he formerly could, step from +his house to his day's work; but research and labour still command +a rich timber harvest. Exploring expeditions may be made at any +period of the year, but autumn is the favourite season. They consist +generally of only two or three men, accustomed to the business, +who, provided with the necessary provisions, with a coffee-pot and +a blanket, axe, rifle, and ammunition, embark on skiff or _bateau_, +and pole and paddle their way two hundred miles or more up the +Penobscot or the St Croix, and their numerous tributaries. On +reaching the district it is proposed to explore, the boat is hauled +ashore and turned bottom upwards, the load of stores is divided +amongst the party, and they strike into the forest, rousing, on +their passage, the stately moose, the timid deer, the roaming black +bear, and many an inferior denizen of the lonesome wilderness. They +now begin "prospecting." Often the thickness of the forest and the +uneven surface of the country prevent their obtaining a sufficiently +extensive view, and compel them to climb trees in order to look +around them. + + "When an ascent is to be made, the spruce tree is generally + selected, principally for the superior facilities which its + numerous limbs afford the climber. To gain the first limbs of + this tree, which are from twenty to forty feet from the ground, + a smaller tree is undercut and lodged against it, clambering + up which the top of the spruce is reached. Sometimes, when a + very elevated position is desired, the spruce tree is lodged + against the trunk of some lofty pine, up which we ascend to + a height twice that of the surrounding forest. From such a + tree-top, like a mariner at the mast-head upon the look-out for + whales, (and indeed the pine is the whale of the forest,) large + 'clumps' and 'veins' of pine are discovered, whose towering + tops may be seen for miles around. Such views fill the bosom of + timber-hunters with an _intense interest_. They are the object + of his search--his treasure, his Eldorado; and they are beheld + with peculiar and thrilling emotions. To detail the process more + minutely, we should observe, that the man in the tree-top points + out the direction in which the pines are seen; or, if hid from + the view of those below by the surrounding foliage, he breaks a + small limb, and throws it in the direction in which they appear, + whilst a man at the base marks the direction indicated by the + falling limb by means of a compass which he holds in his hand, + the compass being quite as necessary in the wilderness as on the + pathless ocean. In fair weather the sun serves as an important + guide; and in cloudy weather the close observation of an + experienced woodman will enable him to steer a tolerably correct + course by the moss which grows on the trunks of most hardwood + trees, the north sides of which are covered with a much larger + share than the other portions of the trunk. This Indian compass, + however, is not very convenient or safe, particularly in passing + through swampy lands, which are of frequent occurrence." + +Two reflections are suggested by the paragraph we have just copied. +The substance of one of them is noted in the Preface. "This volume," +says the modest and sensible Springer, "makes no pretensions to +literary merit; sooner would it claim kindred with the wild and +uncultivated scenes of which it is but a simple relation." The +second reflection is, that our wood-cutter is an enthusiast in +his craft; for wood-cutting in Maine _is_ a craft, and no common +log-chopping. To Springer, a towering grove of timber is as exciting +a sight as is to the hunter that of a herd of antlered deer or +shaggy buffalo. The pine especially is the object of his love and +admiration. He abounds in anecdotes and arguments to prove its +good qualities, and labours hard to establish its superiority to +the oak. Reared amongst the noble pines of Maine, he says, even as +a child, he could never hear, without feelings of jealousy, the +oak extolled as monarch of the forest. Admitting it to excel in +strength, he vaunts, upon the other hand, the superior grandeur and +girth of the pine, its value in building, the breadth of its planks, +their clearness, beauty, and freedom from knots, the numerous uses +to which it is applicable, its excellence as fuel, its perfect +adaptation to all the joiner's purposes. He extols in turn each of +its varieties; the red pine, remarkable for its tall trunk, which +sometimes rises eighty feet from the ground before putting out a +limb; the pitch pine, inferior in size, but preferable to any other +wood for generating steam in engines; the white pine, superior +to all in value and dimensions. He tells us of pines, of which +he has read or heard, of extraordinary grandeur and diameter: of +one, two hundred and sixty-four feet long; and of another which, +at three feet from the ground, was fifty-seven feet nine inches in +circumference. These extraordinary specimens were cut some years +ago. Trees of such dimensions are now rare. + + "I have worked in the forests among this timber several years," + says Springer, "have cut many hundreds of trees, and seen many + thousands, but I never found one larger than one I felled on a + little stream which empties into Jackson Lake, near the head of + Baskahegan stream, in eastern Maine. This was a pumpkin pine, + (a variety of the white pine.) Its trunk was as straight and + handsomely grown as a moulded candle, and measured six feet in + diameter four feet from the ground, without the aid of spur + roots. It was about nine rods in length, or one hundred and + forty-four feet, about sixty-five feet of which was free of + limbs, and retained its diameter remarkably well. I was employed + about one hour and a quarter in felling it. The afternoon was + beautiful; everything was calm, and to me the circumstances + were deeply interesting. After chopping an hour or so, the + mighty giant, the growth of centuries, which had withstood the + hurricane, and raised itself in peerless majesty above all + around, began to tremble under the strokes of a mere insect, as + I might appear in comparison with it. My heart palpitated as I + occasionally raised my eye to its pinnacle to catch the first + indications of its fall. It came down at length with a crash, + which seemed to shake a hundred acres, whilst the loud echo rang + through the forest, dying away amongst the distant hills. It had + a hollow in the butt about the size of a barrel, and the surface + of the stump was sufficiently spacious to allow a yoke of oxen + to stand upon it. It made five logs, and loaded a six-ox team + three times. The butt-log was so large, that the stream did not + float it in the spring; and when the drive was taken down, we + were obliged to leave it behind, much to our regret and loss. At + the boom, that log would have been worth fifty dollars." + +The pine tracts ascertained, the quality of the trees examined, +the distance the timber will have to be hauled duly calculated, +and the ground inspected, through which logging roads must be +cut, the exploring party retrace their steps to the place where +they left their boat. Foot-sore with their forest roamings, they +gladly look forward to the quick, gliding passage down stream. A +grievous disappointment sometimes awaits them. In the fall of the +year, the black bear is seized with a violent longing for pitch and +resinous substances, and frequently strips fir trees of their bark +for the sake of the exudations. Occasionally he stumbles over a +timber-hunter's _bateau_, and tears it to pieces in the course of +the rough process he employs to extract the tar from its planks. If +it is injured beyond possibility of repair, the unlucky pioneers +have to perform their homeward journey on foot, unless indeed they +are so fortunate as to fall in with some Indian trapper, whose canoe +they can charter for a portion of the way. Once at home, the next +step is to obtain permits from the State or proprietors, securing, +at a stipulated price of so much per thousand feet, the exclusive +right to cut timber within certain bounds. Then comes haymaking--a +most important part of the loggers' duty; for on nothing does the +success of the wood-cutting campaign depend more than on the good +working condition of the sturdy teams of oxen which drag the logs +from the snow-covered forest to the river's brink. Hard by the +forest extensive strips of meadow-land are commonly found, covered +with a heavy growth of grass, and thither large bands of men repair +to make and stalk the hay for the ensuing winter's consumption. The +labour of haymaking in these upland meadows of Maine is rendered +intolerably painful by the assaults of flies and mosquitoes, and +especially by the insidious attacks of millions of midges, so small +as to be scarcely perceptible to the naked eye, and which get +between the clothes and the skin, causing a smarting and irritation +so great as to impede the progress of the work. The torment of +these insect attacks is hardly compensated by the pastimes and +adventures incidental to the occupation. Now and then a shot is to +be had at a stray deer; the streams swarm with beautiful trout and +pickerel; skirmishes with black bears are of frequent occurrence. +Mr Springer's volume abounds with stories of encounters with bears, +wolves, and "Indian devils"--a formidable species of catamount, +of which the Indians stand in particular dread. Although the bear +rarely shows himself pugnacious unless assailed, his meddlesome, +thievish propensities render him particularly obnoxious to the +hay-makers and wood-cutters; and when they meet him, they never can +abstain from the aggressive, however civilly Bruin may be disposed +to pass them by. + + "On one occasion," says Mr Springer, "two men, crossing a small + lake in skiff, on their return from putting up hay, discovered + a bear swimming from a point of land for the opposite shore. As + usual in such cases, temptation silenced prudence--they changed + their course, and gave chase. The craft being light, they gained + fast upon the bear, who exerted himself to the utmost to gain + the shore; but, finding himself an unequal match in the race, + he turned upon his pursuers, and swam to meet them. One of the + men, a short, thick-set, dare-devil fellow, seized an axe, and, + the moment the bear came up, inflicted a blow upon his head. It + seemed to make but a slight impression, and before it could be + repeated the bear clambered into the boat. He instantly grappled + the man who struck him, firmly setting his teeth in his thigh; + then, settling back upon his haunches, he raised his victim in + the air, and shook him as a dog would a wood-chuck. The man at + the helm stood for a moment in amazement, without knowing how to + act, and fearing that the bear might spring overboard and drown + his companion; but, recollecting the effect of a blow upon the + end of a bear's snout, he struck him with a short setting-pole. + The bear dropped his victim into the bottom of the boat, sallied + and fell overboard, and swam again for the shore. The man bled + freely from the bite, and, as the wound proved too serious to + allow a renewal of the encounter, they made for the shore. + But one thing saved them from being upset: the water proved + sufficiently shoal to admit of the bear's getting bottom, from + which he sprang into the boat. Had the water been deep, the + consequences might have been more serious." + +From its first to its last stage, the logger's occupation is one +of severe toil and frequent peril. When the pioneer's duty is +accomplished, and when the hay is made, there is still hard work to +be done before he can begin to level the forest giants. No kind of +labour, Mr Springer assures us, tests a man's physical abilities +and powers of endurance more than boating supplies up river. The +wood-cutters come to a fall, and have to land their implements and +provisions, and to carry them past it. Their boats, too, must be +carried, and that over rocks and fallen trees, through thickets and +pathless swamps. Then they come to rapids, up which they have to +pole their heavy-laden bateaux. For this work, prodigious skill, +nerve, and strength are requisite. Then come the long portages from +lake to lake, and the danger of being swamped, when traversing +these, by sudden gusts of wind lashing the lake, in a few minutes' +time, into foaming waves, in which the deeply-loaded boats could not +for a moment live. + + "Our frail skiff was about eighteen feet long, and four feet + across the top of the gunwale amidships, tapering to a point at + either end, constructed of thin slips of pine boards, nailed + to some half-dozen pair of slender knees, about two inches in + diameter. On board were fifteen hundred pounds of provisions, + with seven men, which pressed her into the water nearly to the + gunwale; three inches from the position of a level, and she + would fill with water." + +In such an overburthened cockle-shell as this did Mr Springer once +find himself in company with a drunken man, who was only withheld +from capsizing the boat by the threat of having his skull split +with a paddle; for an inordinate addiction to rum is the loggers' +chief vice, a vice palliated by the hardship and exposure they +endure. Drinking, however, is on the decline amongst them of late +years, since "it has been fully demonstrated that men can endure the +chilling hardships of river-driving quite as well, and indeed far +better, without the stimulus of ardent spirits, and perform more and +better-directed labour." Black pepper tea is drunk on cold nights +when camping in the open air, and is found a warming and comfortable +beverage. Both in drink and diet the loggers look more to strength +than to delicacy. Salt pork, ship bread, and molasses, compose the +staple of their consumption. The drippings from a slice of pork, +roasted before the fire, are allowed to fall on the bread, which is +then dignified by the name of buttered toast. Sometimes the salt +pork is eaten raw, dipped in molasses,--a mixture unequalled for +nastiness, we should imagine, excepting by that of oysters and brown +sugar. "The recital may cause," says honest Springer in his comical +English, "in delicate and pampered stomachs some qualms, yet we can +assure the uninitiated that, from these gross samples, the hungry +woodsman makes many a delicious meal." An assurance which gives us +a most exalted idea of the appetite and digestion of the loggers of +Maine. + +Once in the forest with their stores, the woodmen carefully select +a suitable spot, clear the ground, build their "camp" and "hovel," +and commence their winter's work. The "camp" and "hovel" are two +log-houses, the former being for the men, the latter for the oxen. +In some respects the beasts are better treated than their masters, +for their hovel is floored with small poles, a luxury unknown in +the camp, where the men sleep on branches strewn upon the bare +earth. "Having completed our winter residences, next in order comes +the business of looking out and cutting the 'main' and some of +the principal 'branch roads.' These roads, like the veins in the +human body, ramify the wilderness to all the principal 'clumps' and +'groves' of pine embraced in the permit." Mr Springer expatiates on +the graceful curves of the roads, whose inequalities soon become +filled with snow, and their surface hard-beaten and glassy, polished +by the sled and logs which are continually passing over it, whilst +overhead the trees interlace their spreading branches. "Along this +roadside, on the way to the landing, runs a serpentine path for the +'knight of the goad,' whose deviations are marked now outside this +tree, then behind that 'windfall,' now again intercepting the main +road, skipping along like a dog at one's side." The teamster, if +he does his duty, works harder than any man in camp. Under a good +teamster, the oxen receive care almost as tender as though they were +race-horses with thousands depending on their health and condition. +With proper attention and management, they should be in as good +flesh in the spring as when they began hauling early in winter. + + "The last thing at night before 'turning in,' the teamster + lights his lantern and repairs to the ox-hovel. In the morning, + by peep of day, and often before, his visits are repeated, to + hay and provender, and card, and yoke up. While the rest of the + hands are sitting or lounging around the liberal fire, shifting + for their comfort, after exposure to the winter frosts through + the day, he must repeatedly go out to look after the comfort + of the sturdy, faithful ox. And then, for an hour or two in + the morning again, whilst all, save the cook, are closing up + the sweet and unbroken slumbers of the night, so welcome and + necessary to the labourer, he is out amid the early frost with, + I had almost said, the care of a mother, to see if 'old Turk' is + not loose, whether 'Bright' favours the near fore-foot, (which + felt a little hot the day before,) as he stands up on the hard + floor, and then to inspect 'Swan's' provender-trough, to see + if he has eaten his meal, for it was carefully noted that at + the 'watering-place' last night he drank but little; whilst at + the further end of the 'tie-up' he thinks he hears a little + clattering noise, and presently 'little Star' is having his + shins gently rapped, as a token of his master's wish to raise + his foot to see if some nail has not given way in the loosened + shoe; and this not for once, but every day, with numberless + other cares connected with his charge." + +The oxen are taken out to the forest by the last detachment of +wood-cutters, when winter fairly sets in. This is the hardest trip +of any. Both man and beast experience much inconvenience from the +cold. Often, when driving a boat up rapids, ice forms upon the +poles in the men's hands, which are already so cold and stiff that +they can scarcely retain their grasp; yet an instant's cessation of +exertion would be fraught with imminent peril to life and goods. +The oxen, attached to long lightly-loaded sleds, are driven over +rough miry tracks. "In crossing large streams, we unyoke the oxen +and swim them over. If we have no boat, a raft is constructed, upon +which our effects are transported, when we reyoke and pursue our +route as before. Our cattle are often very reluctant to enter the +water whilst the anchor-ice runs, and the cold has already begun +to congeal its surface." Lakes are crossed upon the ice, which not +unfrequently breaks in. Mr Springer gives an account of a journey he +made, when this misfortune happened, and ten oxen at one time were +struggling in the chilling waters of Baskahegan Lake. They were all +got out, he tells us, although rescue under such circumstances would +appear almost hopeless. + + "Standing upon the edge of the ice, a man was placed by the side + of each ox to keep his head out of the water. We unyoked one at + a time, and throwing a rope round the roots of his horns, the + warp was carried forward and attached to the little oxen, (a + pair that had not broken in,) whose services on this occasion + were very necessary. A strong man was placed on the ice at the + edge, so that, lifting the ox by his horns, he was able to + press the ice down and raise his shoulder up on the edge, when + the warp-oxen would pull them out. For half-an-hour we had a + lively time of it, and in an almost incredibly short time we had + them all safely out, and drove them back upon the point nearly + a mile. It was now very dark. We left our sleds in the water + with the hay, pulling out a few armsful, which we carried to + the shore to rub the oxen down with. Poor fellows! they seemed + nearly chilled to death, and shook as if they would fall to + pieces." + +So great is the labour of taking oxen to the forest every +Fall--often to a distance of two hundred miles into the +interior--that the wood-cutters sometimes leave them, when they go +down stream in the spring to get their own living in the wilderness, +and hunt them up again in autumn. They thrive finely in the +interval, and get very wild and difficult to catch; but when at last +subjugated, they evidently recognise their masters, and are pleased +to see them. Occasionally they disappear in the course of the +summer, and are heard of no more; they are then supposed to have got +"mired or cast," or to have been devoured by wolves--or by bears, +which also are known to attack oxen. + + "An individual who owned a very fine 'six-ox team' turned them + into the woods to brouse, in a new region of country. Late in + the evening, his attention was arrested by the bellowing of + one of them. It continued for an hour or two, then ceased + altogether. The night was very dark, and as the ox was supposed + to be more than a mile distant, it was thought not advisable + to venture in search of him until morning. As soon as daylight + appeared, the owner started, in company with another man, to + investigate the cause of the uproar. Passing on about a mile, + he found one of his best oxen prostrate, and, on examination, + there was found a hole eaten into the thickest part of his hind + quarter nearly as large as a hat; not less than six or eight + pounds of flesh were gone. He had bled profusely. The ground + was torn up for rods around where the encounter occurred; the + tracks indicated the assailant to be a very large bear, who had + probably worried the ox out, and then satiated his ravenous + appetite, feasting upon him while yet alive. A road was bushed + out to the spot where the poor creature lay, and he was got upon + a sled and hauled home by a yoke of his companions, where the + wound was dressed. It never, however, entirely healed, though + it was so far improved as to allow of its being fattened, after + which he was slaughtered for food." + +In cold weather in those forests the bears and wolves are +exceedingly audacious. The latter have a curious habit of +accompanying the teams on their journeys between the forest and the +river to which they drag the logs. This has only occurred of late +years, and the manner in which they thus volunteer their services as +assistant drivers is exceedingly curious. + + "Three teams," says Springer, "in the winter of 1844, all in + the same neighbourhood, were beset with these ravenous animals. + They were of unusually large size, manifesting a most singular + boldness, and even familiarity, without the usual appearance of + ferocity so characteristic of the animal. Sometimes one, and in + another instance three, in a most unwelcome manner, volunteered + their attendance, accompanying the teamster a long distance on + his way. They would even jump on the log and ride, and approach + very near the oxen. One of them actually jumped upon the sled, + and down between the bars, while the sled was in motion. Some of + the teamsters were much alarmed, keeping close to the oxen, and + driving on as fast as possible. Others, more courageous, would + run forward and strike at them with their goad-sticks; but the + wolves sprang out of the way in an instant. But, although they + seemed to act without a motive, there was something so cool and + impudent in their conduct that it was trying to the nerves--even + more so than an active encounter. For some time after this, + firearms were a constant part of the teamster's equipage." + +The distant howling and screaming of the wolves, compared by an old +Yankee hunter to the screeching of forty pair of old cart-wheels, +is particularly ominous and disagreeable. Springer has collected a +number of curious anecdotes concerning them. One night a pack of the +prowling marauders were seen trailing down Mattawamkeag River on the +ice. The dwellers in a log-house hard by soaked some meat in poison +and threw it out. Next morning the meat was gone, and six wolves lay +dead, all within sight of each other. "Every one of them had dug a +hole down through the snow into the frozen earth, in which they had +thrust their noses, either for water to quench the burning thirst +produced by the poison, or to snuff some antidote to the fatal +drug. A bounty was obtained on each of ten dollars, besides their +hides, making a fair job of it, as well as ridding the neighbourhood +of an annoying enemy." Several of Mr Springer's logging and +lumbering friends have contributed to his book the results of their +experience, and narratives of their adventures, some of which he +gives in their own words. Amongst these is an ill-written, but yet a +very exciting, account of a wolf-chase, or we should perhaps rather +say a man-chase, the wolves in this instance being the pursuers, +and Springer's neighbour the pursued. The person in question was +passionately fond of skating, and one night he left a friend's +house to skate a short distance up the frozen Kennebeck, which +flowed before the door. It was a bright still evening; the new moon +silvered the frosty pines. After gliding a couple of miles up the +river, the skater turned off into a little tributary stream, over +which fir and hemlock twined their evergreen branches. The archway +beneath was dark, but he fearlessly entered it, unsuspicious of +peril, with a joyous laugh and hurra--an involuntary expression of +exhilaration, elicited by the bracing crispness of the atmosphere, +and glow of pleasant exercise. What followed is worth extracting. + + "All of a sudden a sound arose, it seemed from the very ice + beneath my feet. It was loud and tremendous at first, until it + ended in one long yell. I was appalled. Never before had such + a noise met my ears. I thought it more than mortal--so fierce, + and amid such an unbroken solitude, that it seemed a fiend from + hell had blown a blast from an infernal trumpet. Presently I + heard the twigs on the shore snap as if from the tread of some + animal, and the blood rushed back to my forehead with a bound + that made my skin burn. My energies returned, and I looked + around me for some means of defence. The moon shone through the + opening by which I had entered the forest, and, considering this + the best means of escape, I darted towards it like an arrow. + It was hardly a hundred yards distant, and the swallow could + scarcely outstrip my desperate flight; yet as I turned my eyes + to the shore, I could see two dark objects dashing through the + underbrush at a pace nearly double mine. By their great speed, + and the short yells which they occasionally gave, I knew at once + that they were the much dreaded grey wolf." + +Here Springer interposes a vignette of a wolf--a most formidable and +unwholesome-looking quadruped--grinning over the well-picked bone of +some unlucky victim. The logger's pages are enlivened by a number +of illustrations--woodcuts of course--rough enough in execution, +but giving an excellent notion of the scenery, animals, and logging +operations spoken of in the text. Grey wolves are of untameable +fierceness, great strength and speed, and pursue their prey to the +death with frightful tenacity, unwearyingly following the trail-- + + "With their long gallop, which can tire + The hounds' deep hate, the hunter's fire." + +A more dangerous foe a benighted traveller could hardly fall in with. + + "The bushes that skirted the shore," continues the hunted of + wolves, "flew past with the velocity of light as I dashed on in + my flight. The outlet was nearly gained; one second more and I + should be comparatively safe; when my pursuers appeared on the + bank, directly above me, which rose to the height of some ten + feet. There was no time for thought; I bent my head, and dashed + wildly forward. The wolves sprang, but, miscalculating my speed, + sprang behind, whilst their intended prey glided out into the + river. + + "Nature turned me towards home. The light flakes of snow spun + from the iron of my skates, and I was now some distance from my + pursuers, when their fierce howl told me that I was again the + fugitive. I did not look back; I did not feel sorry or glad; + one thought of home, of the bright faces awaiting my return, + of their tears if they should never see me again, and then + every energy of body and mind was exerted for my escape. I was + perfectly at home on the ice. Many were the days I spent on my + skates, never thinking that at one time they would be my only + means of safety. Every half minute an alternate yelp from my + pursuers made me but too certain they were close at my heels. + Nearer and nearer they came; I heard their feet pattering on + the ice nearer still, until I fancied I could hear their deep + breathing. Every nerve and muscle in my frame was stretched to + the utmost tension. The trees along the shore seemed to dance in + the uncertain light, and my brain turned with my own breathless + speed, when an involuntary motion turned me out of my course. + The wolves close behind, unable to stop and as unable to turn, + slipped, fell, still going on far ahead, their tongues lolling + out, their white tusks gleaming from their bloody mouths, their + dark shaggy breasts freckled with foam; and as they passed me + their eyes glared, and they howled with rage and fury. The + thought flashed on my mind that by this means I could avoid + them--viz., by turning aside whenever they came too near; for + they, by the formation of their feet, are unable to run on ice + except in a right line. + + "I immediately acted on this plan. The wolves, having regained + their feet, sprang directly towards me. The race was renewed for + twenty yards up the stream; they were already close on my back, + when I glided round and dashed past them. A fierce howl greeted + my evolution, and the wolves slipped upon their haunches, and + sailed onward, presenting a perfect picture of helplessness + and baffled rage. Thus I gained nearly a hundred yards each + turning. This was repeated two or three times, every moment + the wolves getting more excited and baffled, until, coming + opposite the house, a couple of staghounds, aroused by the + noise, bayed furiously from their kennels. The wolves, taking + the hint, stopped in their mad career, and, after a moment's + consideration, turned and fled. I watched them till their dusky + forms disappeared over a neighbouring hill; then, taking off my + skates, I wended my way to the house." + +From some unassigned reason, wolves have increased of late years in +the wild forests of north-eastern Maine. Up to 1840, Mr Springer, +who had been much in that district, logging in winter and clearing +land in summer, never saw one. Since then they have frequently been +seen in numerous parties, and of most formidable size. There would +not seem to be much to choose, as far as the pleasure of the thing +goes, between an encounter with one of these ravenous brutes and a +tussle with a catamount. Springer, however, who must be competent to +judge, considers the catamount the worse customer. He tells an ugly +story, which may serve as a pendant to that of the bear's breakfast +on live beef, of what happened to a logger named Smith, when on his +way to join a timbering party in the woods. He had nearly reached +camp, when he fell in with a catamount, or "Indian devil." Retreat +was impossible; for reflection there was no time: arms he had none. +Acting from impulse, he sprang up a small tree--perhaps as sensible +a thing as he could have done. He had scarcely ascended his length, +when the creature, fierce from hunger, made a bound and caught him +by the heel. Although badly bitten, Smith managed to get his foot +out of the shoe, in which the tiger-cat's teeth were firmly set, and +shoe and savage fell together to the ground. What then ensued is so +horrible and extraordinary that we should suspect our wood-cutting +friend of imaginative decoration, but for the assurance he gives us +in his preface, that "the incidents he has related are real, and +that in no case is the truth sacrificed to fancy or embellishment." +He shall finish his yarn himself. + + "The moment he was disengaged, Smith sprang for a more secure + position, and the animal at the same time leaped to another + large tree, about ten feet distant, up which he ascended to + an elevation equal to that of his victim, from which he threw + himself upon him, firmly fixing his teeth in the calf of his + leg. Hanging suspended thus until the flesh, insufficient to + sustain the weight, gave way, he dropped again to the ground, + carrying a portion of flesh in his mouth. _Having greedily + devoured this morsel_, he bounded again up the opposite tree, + and from thence upon Smith, in this manner renewing his attacks, + and tearing away the flesh in mouthfuls from his legs. During + this agonising operation, Smith contrived to cut a limb from + the tree, to which he managed to bind his jack-knife, with + which he could now assail his enemy at every leap. He succeeded + thus in wounding him so badly that at length his attacks were + discontinued, and he disappeared in the dense forest." + +Smith, who, as Springer coolly informs us, "had exerted his voice +to the utmost," whilst the catamount was devouring him in detail, +(we can perfectly imagine a man bellowing like twenty bulls under +such circumstances,) was found by his friends in a state of dreadful +exhaustion and suffering, and was carried to camp on a litter. He +ultimately recovered, but had sustained irreparable injuries. "Such +desperate encounters are of rare occurrence," Springer quietly adds. +We should think they were. Really these loggers are cool hands. +Encounters with black bears are much more common, we are informed. +These are strong fellows, clever at parrying blows, and at wrenching +the weapon from their assailant's hand--very tenacious of life, +and confirmed robbers. Springer and his comrades were once, whilst +ascending a river, followed by one of them for several days. He +was bent upon plunder, and one night he walked off with a bundle +containing clothing, boots, shaving implements, and other things, +for which it might be thought a bear could have little occasion. +He examined his prize in the neighbourhood of the camp, tore the +clothes to shreds, and chewed up the cow-hide boots and the handle +of a razor. From the roof of a log-house, which the woodmen erected +a few miles farther on, he carried off a ten-gallon keg of molasses, +set it on one end, knocked the head in or out, and was about to +enjoy the feast, when he was discovered, pursued, and at last +killed. At page 140 we find a capital account of a fight between a +family of bears (father, mother, and cubs) and two foresters; and +at page 100 the stirring-up of a bear's den is graphically described. + +The pine tree is subject to disease of more than one kind, the most +frequent being a sort of cancer, known amongst lumber-men as "Conk" +or "Konkus," whose sole external manifestation is a small brown +spot, usually at several feet from the ground, and sometimes no +larger than a shilling. The trees thus afflicted are noway inferior +to the soundest in size and apparent beauty; but on cutting into +them the rot is at once evident, the wood being reddish in colour, +and of spungy texture. "Sometimes it shoots upwards, in imitation +of the streaming light of the aurora borealis; in others downwards, +and even both ways, preserving the same appearance." Unscrupulous +loggers cheat the unwary by driving a knot or piece of a limb of +the same tree into the plague-spot, and hewing it off smoothly, so +as to give it the appearance of a natural knot. A great many pines +are hollow at the base or butt, and these hollows are the favourite +winter-retreats of Bruin the bear. + + "A few rods from the main logging road where I worked one + winter," said Mr Johnston, (a logger whom Springer more than + once quotes,) "there stood a very large pine tree. We had nearly + completed our winter's work, and it still stood unmolested, + because, from appearances, it was supposed to be worthless. + Whilst passing it one day, not quite satisfied with the decision + that had been made upon its quality, I resolved to satisfy my + own mind touching its value; so, wallowing to it through the + snow, which was nearly up to my middle, I struck it several + blows with the head of my axe, an experiment to test whether + a tree be hollow or not. When I desisted, my attention was + arrested by a slight scratching and whining. Suspecting the + cause, I thumped the tree again, listening more attentively, and + heard the same noise as before. It was a bear's den. Examining + the tree more closely, I discovered a small hole in the trunk, + near the roots, with a rim of ice on the edge of the orifice, + made by the freezing of the breath and vapour from the inmates." + +The logging crew were summoned, and came scampering down, eager +for the fun. The snow was kicked away from the root of the tree, +exposing the entrance to the den; and a small hole was cut in the +opposite side, through which the family of bears were literally +"stirred up with a long pole;" and when the great she-bear, annoyed +at this treatment, put her head out at the door, she was cut over +the pate with an axe. + + "The cubs, four in number--a thing unusual by one-half--we took + alive, and carried to camp, kept them a while, and finally sold + them. They were quite small and harmless, of a most beautiful + lustrous black, and fat as porpoises. The old dam was uncommonly + large--we judged she might weigh about three hundred pounds. Her + hide, when stretched out and nailed on to the end of the camp, + appeared quite equal to a cow's hide in dimensions." + +The attacks of wild animals are far from being the sole dangers +to which the wood-cutters of Maine are exposed in following their +toilsome occupation. Scarcely any phase of their adventurous +existence is exempt from risk. Bad wounds are sometimes accidentally +received from the axe whilst felling trees. To heal these, in the +absence of surgeons, the loggers are thrown upon their own very +insufficient resources. Life is also constantly endangered in +felling the pine, which comes plunging down, breaking, splitting, +and crushing all before it. The broken limbs which are torn from the +fallen tree, and the branches it wrenches from other trees, + + "rendered brittle by the intense frosts, fly in every direction, + like the scattered fragments of an exploding ship. Often these + wrenched limbs are suspended directly over the place where our + work requires our presence, and on the slightest motion, or from + a sudden gust of wind, they slip down with the stealthiness + of a hawk and the velocity of an arrow. I recollect one in + particular, which was wrenched from a large pine I had just + felled. It lodged in the top of a towering birch, directly over + where it was necessary for me to stand whilst severing the + top from the trunk. Viewing its position with some anxiety, + I ventured to stand and work under it, forgetting my danger + in the excitement. Whilst thus engaged, the limb slipped from + its position, and, falling directly before me, end foremost, + penetrated the frozen earth. It was about four inches through, + and ten feet long. It just grazed my cap; a little variation, + and it would have dashed my head to pieces. Attracted on one + occasion, whilst swamping a road, by the appearance of a + large limb which stuck fast in the ground, curiosity induced + me to extricate it, for the purpose of seeing how far it had + penetrated. After considerable exertion, I succeeded in drawing + it out, when I was amazed _to find a thick cloth cap on the end + of it_. It had penetrated the earth to a considerable depth. + Subsequently I learned that _it_ [the cap, we presume, but + Springer makes sad work of his pronouns] belonged to a man who + was killed instantly by _its_ fall, [here our logging friend + must be supposed to refer to the timber,] striking him on the + head, and carrying his cap into the ground with it." + +This is not impossible, although it does a little remind us of +certain adventures of the renowned Munchausen. And Springer is so +pleasant a fellow, that we shall not call his veracity in question, +or even tax him with that tinting of truth in which many of his +countrymen excel, but of which he only here and there lays himself +open to suspicion. He certainly does put our credulity a little +to the strain by an anecdote of a moose deer, which he gives, +however, between inverted commas, on the authority of a hunter who +occasionally passed the night at the logger's camp. The moose is the +largest species of deer found in the New-England forests, its size +varying from that of a large pony to that of a full-grown horse. +It has immense branching antlers, and, judging from its portrait, +which forms the frontispiece to _Forest Life_, we readily believe +Springer's assurance, that "the taking of moose is sometimes quite +hazardous." Quite astonishing, we are sure the reader will say, is +the following ride:-- + + "Once," hunter _loquitur_, "whilst out on a hunting excursion, + I was pursued by a bull-moose. He approached me with his + muscular neck curved, and head to the ground, in a manner not + dissimilar to the attitude assumed by horned cattle when about + to encounter each other. Just as he was about to make a pass + at me, I sprang suddenly between his wide-spreading antlers, + bestride his neck. Dexterously turning round, I seized him by + the horns, and, locking my feet together under his neck, I + clung to him like a sloth. With a mixture of rage and terror, + he dashed wildly about, endeavouring to dislodge me; but, as + my life depended upon maintaining my position, I clung to him + with a corresponding desperation. After making a few ineffectual + attempts to disengage me, he threw out his nose, and, laying his + antlers back upon his shoulders, _which formed a screen for my + defence_, he sprang forward into a furious run, still bearing + me upon his neck. Now penetrating dense thickets, then leaping + high 'windfalls,' (old fallen trees,) and struggling through + swamp-mires, he finally fell from exhaustion, after carrying + me about three miles. Improving the opportunity, I drew my + hunting-knife from its sheath, and instantly buried it in his + neck, cutting the jugular vein, which put a speedy termination + to the contest and the flight." + +After which we presume that he spitted the moose on a pine tree, +roasted and ate it, and used its antlers for toothpicks. The +adventure is worthy of Mazeppa or the Wild Huntsman. By the antlers +_forming a screen for the rider's defence_, we are reminded of +that memorable morning in the life of the great German Baron, when +his horse, cut in two, just behind the saddle, by the fall of a +portcullis, was sewn together with laurel-twigs, which sprouted +up into a pleasant bower, beneath whose appropriate shade the +redoubtable warrior thenceforward rode to victory. An awful liar, +indeed, must have been the narrator of this "singular adventure," +as Springer, who tells this story quite gravely, artlessly styles +it. Doubtless such yarns are acceptable enough by the camp-fire, +where the weary logger smokes the pipe of repose after a hard day's +work; and they are by no means out of place in the logger's book, +of which, however, they occupy but a small portion--by far the +greater number of its chapters being filled with solid and curious +information. The third and longest part, "River Life," upon which +we have not touched, is highly interesting, and gives thrilling +accounts of the dangers incurred during the progress down stream of +the various "parcels" of logs, which, each distinguished like cattle +by the owner's mark, soon mingle and form one grand "drive" on the +main river. "Driving" of this kind is a very hazardous occupation. +Sometimes the logs come to a "jam," get wedged together in a narrow +part of the river or amongst rocks, and, whilst the drivers work +with axe and lever to set the huge floating field of tree-trunks in +motion again, lives are frequently lost. This is easy to understand. +The removal of a single log, the keystone of the mass--nay, a +single blow of the axe--often suffices to liberate acres of timber +from their "dead lock," and set them furiously rushing down the +rapid current. Then does woe betide those who are caught in the +hurly-burly. Sometimes, the key-log being well ascertained, a man +is let down, like a samphire-gatherer, by a rope from an adjacent +cliff, on to the "jam." Then-- + + "As the place to be operated upon may in some cases be a little + removed from the shore, he either walks to it with the rope + attached to his body, or, untying the rope, leaves it where + he can readily grasp it in time to be drawn from his perilous + position. Often, where the pressure is direct, a few blows only + are given with the axe, when the log snaps in an instant with + a loud report, followed suddenly by the violent motion of the + 'jam;' and, ere our bold river-driver is jerked half way to the + top of the cliff, scores of logs, in wildest confusion, rush + beneath his feet, whilst he yet dangles in the air above the + trembling mass. If that rope, on which life and hope hang thus + suspended, should part, worn by the sharp point of some jutting + rock, death, certain and quick, were inevitable." + +The wood-cutter's occupation, which, to European imagination, +presents itself as peaceful, pastoral, and void of peril, assumes +a very different aspect when pursued in North American forests. If +any doubt this fact, let them study Springer, who will repay the +trouble, and of whose volume we have rather skimmed the surface than +meddled with the substance. + + + + +MY NOVEL; OR, VARIETIES IN ENGLISH LIFE. + +BY PISISTRATUS CAXTON. + + +CHAPTER VII. + +Randal advanced--"I fear, Signior Riccabocca, that I am guilty of +some want of ceremony." + +"To dispense with ceremony is the most delicate mode of conferring +a compliment," replied the urbane Italian, as he recovered from his +first surprise at Randal's sudden address, and extended his hand. + +Violante bowed her graceful head to the young man's respectful +salutation. "I am on my way to Hazeldean," resumed Randal, "and, +seeing you in the garden, could not resist this intrusion." + +RICCABOCCA.--"You come from London? Stirring times for you English, +but I do not ask you the news. No news can affect us." + +RANDAL, (softly.)--"Perhaps--yes." + +RICCABOCCA, (startled.)--"How?" + +VIOLANTE.--"Surely he speaks of Italy, and news from that country +affects you still, my father." + +RICCABOCCA.--"Nay, nay, nothing affects me like this country; its +east winds might affect a pyramid! Draw your mantle round you, +child, and go in; the air has suddenly grown chill." + +Violante smiled on her father, glanced uneasily towards Randal's +grave brow, and went slowly towards the house. + +Riccabocca, after waiting some moments in silence, as if expecting +Randal to speak, said with affected carelessness, "So you think that +you have news that might affect me? _Corpo di Bacco!_ I am curious +to learn what!" + +"I may be mistaken--that depends on your answer to one question. Do +you know the Count of Peschiera?" + +Riccabocca winced, and turned pale. He could not baffle the watchful +eye of the questioner. + +"Enough," said Randal; "I see that I am right. Believe in my +sincerity. I speak but to warn and to serve you. The Count seeks to +discover the retreat of a countryman and kinsman of his own." + +"And for what end?" cried Riccabocca, thrown off his guard, and +his breast dilated, his crest rose, and his eye flashed; valour +and defiance broke from habitual caution and self-control. "But +pooh," he added, striving to regain his ordinary and half-ironical +calm, "it matters not to me. I grant, sir, that I know the Count di +Peschiera; but what has Dr Riccabocca to do with the kinsmen of so +grand a personage?" + +"Dr Riccabocca--nothing. But--" here Randal put his lip close to the +Italian's ear, and whispered a brief sentence. Then retreating a +step, but laying his hand on the exile's shoulder, he added--"Need I +say that your secret is safe with me?" + +Riccabocca made no answer. His eyes rested on the ground musingly. + +Randal continued--"And I shall esteem it the highest honour you can +bestow on me, to be permitted to assist you in forestalling danger." + +RICCABOCCA, (slowly.)--"Sir, I thank you; you have my secret, and I +feel assured it is safe, for I speak to an English gentleman. There +may be family reasons why I should avoid the Count di Peschiera; +and, indeed, He is safest from shoals who steers clearest of +his--relations." + +The poor Italian regained his caustic smile as he uttered that wise, +villanous Italian maxim. + +RANDAL.--"I know little of the Count of Peschiera save from the +current talk of the world. He is said to hold the estates of a +kinsman who took part in a conspiracy against the Austrian power." + +RICCABOCCA.--"It is true. Let that content him; what more does he +desire. You spoke of forestalling danger; what danger? I am on the +soil of England, and protected by its laws." + +RANDAL.--"Allow me to inquire if, had the kinsman no child, the +Count di Peschiera would be legitimate and natural heir to the +estates he holds?" + +RICCABOCCA.--"He would. What then?" + +RANDAL.--"Does that thought suggest no danger to the child of the +kinsman?" + +Riccabocca recoiled, and gasped forth, "The child! You do not mean +to imply that this man, infamous though he be, can contemplate the +crime of an assassin?" + +Randal paused perplexed. His ground was delicate. He knew not what +causes of resentment the exile entertained against the Count. He +knew not whether Riccabocca would not assent to an alliance that +might restore him to his country--and he resolved to feel his way +with precaution. + +"I did not," said he, smiling gravely, "mean to insinuate so +horrible a charge against a man whom I have never seen. He seeks +you--that is all I know. I imagine, from his general character, that +in this search he consults his interest. Perhaps all matters might +be conciliated by an interview!" + +"An interview!" exclaimed Riccabocca; "there is but one way we +should meet--foot to foot, and hand to hand." + +"Is it so? Then you would not listen to the Count if he proposed +some amicable compromise; if, for instance, he was a candidate for +the hand of your daughter?" + +The poor Italian, so wise and so subtle in his talk, was as rash and +blind when it came to action, as if he had been born in Ireland, and +nourished on potatoes and Repeal. He bared his whole soul to the +merciless eye of Randal. + +"My daughter!" he exclaimed. "Sir, your very question is an insult." + +Randal's way became clear at once. "Forgive me," he said mildly; +"I will tell you frankly all that I know. I am acquainted with the +Count's sister. I have some little influence over her. It was she +who informed me that the Count had come here, bent upon discovering +your refuge, and resolved to wed your daughter. This is the danger +of which I spoke. And when I asked your permission to aid in +forestalling it, I only intended to suggest that it might be wise to +find some securer home, and that I, if permitted to know that home, +and to visit you, could apprise you from time to time of the Count's +plans and movements." + +"Sir, I thank you sincerely," said Riccabocca with emotion; "but am +I not safe here?" + +"I doubt it. Many people have visited the Squire in the shooting +season, who will have heard of you--perhaps seen you, and who are +likely to meet the Count in London. And Frank Hazeldean, too, who +knows the Count's sister--" + +"True, true," interrupted Riccabocca. "I see, I see. I will +consider. I will reflect. Meanwhile you are going to Hazeldean. +Do not say a word to the Squire. He knows not the secret you have +discovered." + +With those words Riccabocca turned slightly away, and Randal took +the hint to depart. + +"At all times command and rely on me," said the young traitor, and +he regained the pale to which he had fastened his horse. + +As he remounted, he cast his eyes towards the place where he had +left Riccabocca. The Italian was still standing there. Presently +the form of Jackeymo was seen emerging from the shrubs. Riccabocca +turned hastily round, recognised his servant, uttered an exclamation +loud enough to reach Randal's ear, and then catching Jackeymo by the +arm, disappeared with him amidst the deeper recesses of the garden. + +"It will be indeed in my favour," thought Randal as he rode on, "if +I can get them into the neighbourhood of London--all occasion there +to woo, and if expedient, to win--the heiress." + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +"By the Lord Harry!" cried the Squire, as he stood with his wife in +the park, on a visit of inspection to some first-rate South-Downs +just added to his stock--"By the Lord, if that is not Randal Leslie +trying to get into the park at the back gate! Hollo, Randal! you +must come round by the lodge, my boy," said he. + +"You see this gate is locked to keep out trespassers." + +"A pity," said Randal. "I like short cuts, and you have shut up a +very short one." + +"So the trespassers said," quoth the Squire; "but Stirn would not +hear of it;--valuable man, Stirn. But ride round to the lodge. Put +up your horse, and you'll join us before we can get to the house." + +Randal nodded and smiled, and rode briskly on. + +The Squire rejoined his Harry. + +"Ah, William," said she anxiously, "though certainly Randal Leslie +means well, I always dread his visits." + +"So do I, in one sense," quoth the Squire, "for he always carries +away a bank-note for Frank." + +"I hope he is really Frank's friend," said Mrs Hazeldean. + +"Whose else can he be? Not his own, poor fellow, for he will never +accept a shilling from me, though his grandmother was as good a +Hazeldean as I am. But, zounds! I like his pride, and his economy +too. As for Frank--" + +"Hush, William!" cried Mrs Hazeldean, and put her fair hand before +the Squire's mouth. The Squire was softened, and kissed the fair +hand gallantly--perhaps he kissed the lips too; at all events, the +worthy pair were walking lovingly arm-in-arm when Randal joined them. + +He did not affect to perceive a certain coldness in the manner of +Mrs Hazeldean, but began immediately to talk to her about Frank; +praise that young gentleman's appearance; expatiate on his health, +his popularity, and his good gifts, personal and mental; and this +with so much warmth, that any dim and undeveloped suspicions Mrs +Hazeldean might have formed soon melted away. + +Randal continued to make himself thus agreeable, until the Squire, +persuaded that his young kinsman was a first-rate agriculturist, +insisted upon carrying him off to the home farm, and Harry turned +towards the house to order Randal's room to be got ready: "For," +said Randal, "knowing that you will excuse my morning dress, I +venture to invite myself to dine and sleep at the Hall." + +On approaching the farm-buildings, Randal was seized with the +terror of an impostor; for, despite all the theoretical learning on +Bucolics and Georgics with which he had dazzled the Squire, poor +Frank, so despised, would have beat him hollow when it came to +judging of the points of an ox or the show of a crop. + +"Ha, ha!" cried the Squire, chuckling, "I long to see how you'll +astonish Stirn. Why, you'll guess in a moment where we put the +top-dressing; and when you come to handle my short-horns, I dare +swear you'll know to a pound how much oilcake has gone into their +sides." + +"Oh, you do me too much honour--indeed you do. I only know the +general principles of agriculture--the details are eminently +interesting; but I have not had the opportunity to acquire them." + +"Stuff!" cried the Squire. "How can a man know general principles +unless he has first studied the details? You are too modest, my boy. +Ho! there's Stirn looking out for us!" + +Randal saw the grim visage of Stirn peering out of a cattle-shed, +and felt undone. He made a desperate rush towards changing the +Squire's humour. + +"Well, sir, perhaps Frank may soon gratify your wish and turn farmer +himself." + +"Eh!" quoth the Squire, stopping short. "What now?" + +"Suppose he was to marry?" + +"I'd give him the two best farms on the property rent free. Ha, ha! +Has he seen the girl yet? I'd leave him free to choose, sir. I chose +for myself--every man should. Not but what Miss Sticktorights is an +heiress, and, I hear, a very decent girl, and that would join the +two properties, and put an end to that lawsuit about the right of +way, which began in the reign of King Charles the Second, and is +likely otherwise to last till the day of judgment. But never mind +her; let Frank choose to please himself." + +"I'll not fail to tell him so, sir. I did fear you might have some +prejudices. But here we are at the farm-yard." + +"Burn the farm-yard! How can I think of farm-yards when you talk +of Frank's marriage? Come on--this way. What were you saying about +prejudices?" + +"Why, you might wish him to marry an Englishwoman, for instance." + +"English! Good heavens, sir, does he mean to marry a Hindoo?" + +"Nay, I don't know that he means to marry at all: I am only +surmising; but if he did fall in love with a foreigner--" + +"A foreigner! Ah, then Harry was--" The Squire stopped short. + +"Who might, perhaps," observed Randal--not truly if he referred to +Madame di Negra--"who might, perhaps, speak very little English?" + +"Lord ha' mercy!" + +"And a Roman Catholic--" + +"Worshipping idols, and roasting people who don't worship them." + +"Signior Riccabocca is not so bad as that." + +"Rickeybockey! Well, if it was his daughter! But not speak English! +and not go to the parish church! By George! if Frank thought of such +a thing, I'd cut him off with a shilling. Don't talk to me, sir; I +would. I'm a mild man, and an easy man; but when I say a thing, I +say it, Mr. Leslie. Oh, but it is a jest--you are laughing at me. +There's no such painted, good-for-nothing creature in Frank's eye, +eh?" + +"Indeed, sir, if ever I find there is, I will give you notice in +time. At present I was only trying to ascertain what you wished for +a daughter-in-law. You said you had no prejudice." + +"No more I have--not a bit of it." + +"You don't like a foreigner and a Catholic?" + +"Who the devil would?" + +"But if she had rank and title?" + +"Rank and title! Bubble and squeak! No, not half so good as bubble +and squeak. English beef and good cabbage. But foreign rank and +title!--foreign cabbage and beef!--foreign bubble and foreign +squeak!" And the Squire made a wry face, and spat forth his disgust +and indignation. + +"You must have an Englishwoman?" + +"Of course." + +"Money?" + +"Don't care, provided she is a tidy, sensible, active lass, with a +good character for her dower." + +"Character--ah, that is indispensable?" + +"I should think so, indeed. A Mrs. Hazeldean of Hazeldean; you +frighten me. He's not going to run off with a divorced woman, or a--" + +The Squire stopped, and looked so red in the face, that Randal +feared he might be seized with apoplexy before Frank's crimes had +made him alter his will. + +Therefore he hastened to relieve Mr Hazeldean's mind, and assured +him that he had been only talking at random; that Frank was in +the habit, indeed, of seeing foreign ladies occasionally, as all +persons in the London world were; but that he was sure Frank would +never marry without the full consent and approval of his parents. +He ended by repeating his assurance, that he would warn the Squire +if ever it became necessary. Still, however, he left Mr Hazeldean +so disturbed and uneasy, that that gentleman forgot all about the +farm, and went moodily on in the opposite direction, re-entering the +park at its farther extremity. As soon as they approached the house, +the Squire hastened to shut himself with his wife in full parental +consultation; and Randal, seated upon a bench on the terrace, +revolved the mischief he had done, and its chances of success. + +While thus seated, and thus thinking, a footstep approached +cautiously, and a low voice said, in broken English, "Sare, sare, +let me speak vid you." + +Randal turned in surprise, and beheld a swarthy saturnine face, with +grizzled hair and marked features. He recognised the figure that had +joined Riccabocca in the Italian's garden. + +"Speak-a you Italian?" resumed Jackeymo. + +Randal, who had made himself an excellent linguist, nodded assent; +and Jackeymo, rejoiced, begged him to withdraw into a more private +part of the grounds. + +Randal obeyed, and the two gained the shade of a stately chestnut +avenue. + +"Sir," then said Jackeymo, speaking in his native tongue, and +expressing himself with a certain simple pathos, "I am but a poor +man; my name is Giacomo. You have heard of me;--servant to the +Signior whom you saw to-day--only a servant; but he honours me +with his confidence. We have known danger together; and of all his +friends and followers, I alone came with him to the stranger's land." + +"Good, faithful fellow," said Randal, examining the man's face, "say +on. Your master confides in you? He confided that which I told him +this day?" + +"He did. Ah, sir! the Padrone was too proud to ask you to explain +more--too proud to show fear of another. But he does fear--he ought +to fear--he shall fear," (continued Jackeymo, working himself up +to passion)--"for the Padrone has a daughter, and his enemy is a +villain. Oh, sir, tell me all that you did not tell to the Padrone. +You hinted that this man might wish to marry the Signora. Marry +her!--I could cut his throat at the altar!" + +"Indeed," said Randal; "I believe that such is his object." + +"But why? He is rich--she is penniless; no, not quite that, for we +have saved--but penniless, compared to him." + +"My good friend, I know not yet his motives; but I can easily learn +them. If, however, this Count be your master's enemy, it is surely +well to guard against him, whatever his designs; and, to do so, you +should move into London or its neighbourhood. I fear that, while we +speak, the Count may get upon his track." + +"He had better not come here!" cried the servant menacingly, and +putting his hand where the knife was _not_. + +"Beware of your own anger, Giacomo. One act of violence, and you +would be transported from England, and your master would lose a +friend." + +Jackeymo seemed struck by this caution. + +"And if the Padrone were to meet him, do you think the Padrone would +meekly say, 'Come sta sa Signoria?' The Padrone would strike him +dead!" + +"Hush--hush! You speak of what, in England, is called murder, and +is punished by the gallows. If you really love your master, for +heaven's sake get him from this place--get him from all chance of +such passion and peril. I go to town to-morrow; I will find him a +house that shall be safe from all spies--all discovery. And there, +too, my friend, I can do--what I cannot at this distance--watch over +him, and keep watch also on his enemy." + +Jackeymo seized Randal's hand and lifted it towards his lip; then, +as if struck by a sudden suspicion, dropped the hand, and said +bluntly--"Signior, I think you have seen the Padrone twice. Why do +you take this interest in him?" + +"Is it so uncommon to take interest even in a stranger who is +menaced by some peril?" + +Jackeymo, who believed little in general philanthropy, shook his +head sceptically. + +"Besides," continued Randal, suddenly bethinking himself of a more +plausible reason--"besides, I am a friend and connection of Mr +Egerton; and Mr Egerton's most intimate friend is Lord L'Estrange; +and I have heard that Lord L'Estrange--" + +"The good lord! Oh, now I understand," interrupted Jackeymo, and his +brow cleared. "Ah, if _he_ were in England! But you will let us know +when he comes?" + +"Certainly. Now, tell me, Giacomo, is this Count really unprincipled +and dangerous? Remember, I know him not personally." + +"He has neither heart, head, nor conscience." + +"That makes him dangerous to men; but to women, danger comes from +other qualities. Could it be possible, if he obtained any interview +with the Signora, that he could win her affections?" + +Jackeymo crossed himself rapidly, and made no answer. + +"I have heard that he is still very handsome." + +Jackeymo groaned. + +Randal resumed--"Enough; persuade the Padrone to come to town." + +"But if the Count is in town?" + +"That makes no difference; the safest place is always the largest +city. Everywhere else a foreigner is in himself an object of +attention and curiosity." + +"True." + +"Let your master, then, come to London. He can reside in one of the +suburbs most remote from the Count's haunts. In two days I will have +found him a lodging and write to him. You trust to me now?" + +"I do indeed--I do, Excellency. Ah, if the Signorina were married, +we would not care!" + +"Married! But she looks so high!" + +"Alas! not now--not here!" + +Randal sighed heavily. Jackeymo's eyes sparkled. He thought he had +detected a new motive for Randal's interest--a motive to an Italian +the most natural, the most laudable of all. + +"Find the house, Signior--write to the Padrone. He shall come. I'll +talk to him. I can manage him. Holy San Giacomo, bestir thyself +now--'tis long since I troubled thee!" + +Jackeymo strode off through the fading trees, smiling and muttering +as he went. + +The first dinner-bell rang, and, on entering the drawing-room, +Randal found Parson Dale and his wife, who had been invited in haste +to meet the unexpected visitor. + +The preliminary greetings over, Mr Dale took the opportunity +afforded by the Squire's absence to inquire after the health of Mr +Egerton. + +"He is always well," said Randal. "I believe he is made of iron." + +"His heart is of gold," said the Parson. + +"Ah!" said Randal, inquisitively, "you told me you had come in +contact with him once, respecting, I think, some of your old +parishioners at Lansmere?" + +The Parson nodded, and there was a moment's silence. + +"Do you remember your battle by the Stocks, Mr Leslie?" said Mr +Dale, with a good-humoured laugh. + +"Indeed, yes. By the way, now you speak of it, I met my old opponent +in London the first year I went up to it." + +"You did!--where?" + +"At a literary scamp's--a cleverish man called Burley." + +"Burley! I have seen some burlesque verses in Greek by a Mr Burley." + +"No doubt, the same person. He has disappeared--gone to the dogs, I +dare say. Burlesque Greek is not a knowledge very much in power at +present." + +"Well, but Leonard Fairfield?--you have seen him since?" + +"No." + +"Nor heard of him?" + +"No!--have you?" + +"Strange to say, not for a long time. But I have reason to believe +that he must be doing well." + +"You surprise me! Why?" + +"Because, two years ago, he sent for his mother. She went to him." + +"Is that all?" + +"It is enough; for he would not have sent for her if he could not +maintain her." + +Here the Hazeldeans entered, arm-in-arm, and the fat butler +announced dinner. + +The Squire was unusually taciturn--Mrs Hazeldean thoughtful--Mrs +Dale languid, and headachy. The Parson, who seldom enjoyed the +luxury of converse with a scholar, save when he quarrelled with Dr +Riccabocca, was animated, by Randal's repute for ability, into a +great desire for argument. + +"A glass of wine, Mr Leslie. You were saying, before dinner, that +burlesque Greek is not a knowledge very much in power at present. +Pray, sir, what knowledge is in power?" + +RANDAL, (laconically.)--"Practical knowledge." + +PARSON.--"What of?" + +RANDAL.--"Men." + +PARSON, (candidly.)--"Well, I suppose that is the most available +sort of knowledge, in a worldly point of view. How does one learn +it? Do books help?" + +RANDAL.--"According as they are read, they help or injure." + +PARSON.--"How should they be read in order to help?" + +RANDAL.--"Read specially to apply to purposes that lead to power." + +PARSON, (very much struck with Randal's pithy and Spartan +logic.)--"Upon my word, sir, you express yourself very well. I must +own that I began these questions in the hope of differing from you; +for I like an argument." + +"That he does," growled the Squire; "the most contradictory +creature!" + +PARSON.--"Argument is the salt of talk. But now I am afraid I must +agree with you, which I was not at all prepared for." + +Randal bowed, and answered--"No two men of our education can dispute +upon the application of knowledge." + +PARSON, (pricking up his ears.)--"Eh! what to?" + +RANDAL.--"Power, of course." + +PARSON, (overjoyed.)--"Power!--the vulgarest application of it, or +the loftiest? But you mean the loftiest?" + +RANDAL, (in his turn interested and interrogative.)--"What do you +call the loftiest, and what the vulgarest?" + +PARSON.--"The vulgarest, self-interest; the loftiest, beneficence." + +Randal suppressed the half disdainful smile that rose to his lip. + +"You speak, sir, as a clergyman should do. I admire your sentiment, +and adopt it; but I fear that the knowledge which aims only at +beneficence very rarely in this world gets any power at all." + +SQUIRE, (seriously.)--"That's true; I never get my own way when I +want to do a kindness, and Stirn always gets his when he insists on +something diabolically brutal and harsh." + +PARSON.--"Pray, Mr Leslie, what does intellectual power refined to +the utmost, but entirely stripped of beneficence, most resemble?" + +RANDAL.--"Resemble?--I can hardly say. Some very great man--almost +any very great man--who has baffled all his foes, and attained all +his ends." + +PARSON.--"I doubt if any man has ever become very great who has not +meant to be beneficent, though he might err in the means. Caesar was +naturally beneficent, and so was Alexander. But intellectual power +refined to the utmost, and wholly void of beneficence, resembles +only one being, and that, sir, is the Principle of Evil." + +RANDAL, (startled.)--"Do you mean the Devil?" + +PARSON.--"Yes, sir--the Devil; and even he, sir, did not succeed! +Even he, sir, is what your great men would call a most decided +failure." + +MRS DALE.--"My dear--my dear." + +PARSON.--"Our religion proves it, my love; he was an angel, and he +fell." + +There was a solemn pause. Randal was more impressed than he liked to +own to himself. By this time the dinner was over, and the servants +had retired. Harry glanced at Carry. Carry smoothed her gown and +rose. + +The gentlemen remained over their wine; and the Parson, satisfied +with what he deemed a clencher upon his favourite subject of +discussion, changed the subject to lighter topics, till happening to +fall upon tithes, the Squire struck in, and by dint of loudness of +voice, and truculence of brow, fairly overwhelmed both his guests, +and proved to his own satisfaction that tithes were an unjust and +unchristian-like usurpation on the part of the Church generally, and +a most especial and iniquitous infliction upon the Hazeldean estates +in particular. + + +CHAPTER IX. + +On entering the drawing-room, Randal found the two ladies seated +close together, in a position much more appropriate to the +familiarity of their school-days than to the politeness of the +friendship now existing between them. Mrs Hazeldean's hand hung +affectionately over Carry's shoulder, and both those fair English +faces were bent over the same book. It was pretty to see these sober +matrons, so different from each other in character and aspect, thus +unconsciously restored to the intimacy of happy maiden youth by +the golden link of some Magician from the still land of Truth or +Fancy--brought together in heart, as each eye rested on the same +thought;--closer and closer, as sympathy, lost in the actual world, +grew out of that world which unites in one bond of feeling the +readers of some gentle book. + +"And what work interests you so much?" said Randal, pausing by the +table. + +"One you have read, of course," replied Mrs Dale, putting a +bookmark embroidered by herself into the page, and handing the +volume to Randal. "It has made a great sensation, I believe." + +Randal glanced at the title of the work. "True," said he, "I have +heard much of it in London, but I have not yet had time to read it." + +MRS DALE.--"I can lend it to you, if you like to look over it +to-night, and you can leave it for me with Mrs Hazeldean." + +PARSON, (approaching.)--"Oh! that book!--yes, you must read it. I do +not know a work more instructive." + +RANDAL.--"Instructive! Certainly I will read it then. But I thought +it was a mere work of amusement--of fancy. It seems so, as I look +over it." + +PARSON.--"So is the _Vicar of Wakefield_; yet what book more +instructive?" + +RANDAL.--"I should not have said _that_ of the _Vicar of Wakefield_. +A pretty book enough, though the story is most improbable. But how +is it instructive?" + +PARSON.--"By its results: it leaves us happier and better. What +can any instruction do more? Some works instruct through the head, +some through the heart; the last reach the widest circle, and often +produce the most genial influence on the character. This book +belongs to the last. You will grant my proposition when you have +read it." + +Randal smiled and took the volume. + +MRS DALE.--"Is the author known yet?" + +RANDAL.--"I have heard it ascribed to many writers, but I believe no +one has claimed it." + +PARSON.--"I think it must have been written by my old college +friend, Professor Moss, the naturalist; its descriptions of scenery +are so accurate." + +MRS DALE.--"La, Charles dear! that snuffy, tiresome, prosy +professor? How can you talk such nonsense? I am sure the author must +be young; there is so much freshness of feeling." + +MRS HAZELDEAN, (positively.)--"Yes, certainly young." + +PARSON, (no less positively.)--"I should say just the contrary. +Its tone is too serene, and its style too simple for a young man. +Besides, I don't know any young man who would send me his book, and +this book has been sent me--very handsomely bound too, you see. +Depend upon it, Moss is the man--quite his turn of mind." + +MRS DALE.--"You are too provoking, Charles dear! Mr Moss is so +remarkably plain, too." + +RANDAL.--"Must an author be handsome?" + +PARSON.--"Ha, ha! Answer that, if you can, Carry." + +Carry remained mute and disdainful. + +SQUIRE, (with great _naivete_.)--"Well, I don't think there's +much in the book, whoever wrote it; for I've read it myself, and +understand every word of it." + +MRS DALE.--"I don't see why you should suppose it was written by a +man at all. For my part, I think it must be a woman." + +MRS HAZELDEAN.--"Yes, there's a passage about maternal affection, +which only a woman could have written." + +PARSON.--"Pooh, pooh! I should like to see a woman who could +have written that description of an August evening before a +thunderstorm; every wildflower in the hedgerow exactly the flowers +of August--every sign in the air exactly those of the month. Bless +you! a woman would have filled the hedge with violets and cowslips. +Nobody else but my friend Moss could have written that description." + +SQUIRE.--"I don't know; there's a simile about the waste of +corn-seed in hand-sowing, which makes me think he must be a farmer!" + +MRS DALE, (scornfully.)--"A farmer! In hob-nailed shoes, I suppose! +I say it is a woman." + +MRS HAZELDEAN.--"A WOMAN, and A MOTHER!" + +PARSON.--"A middle-aged man, and a naturalist." + +SQUIRE.--"No, no, Parson; certainly a young man; for that love-scene +puts me in mind of my own young days, when I would have given my +ears to tell Harry how handsome I thought her; and all I could say +was--'Fine weather for the crops, Miss.' Yes, a young man, and a +farmer. I should not wonder if he had held the plough himself." + +RANDAL, (who had been turning over the pages.)--"This sketch of +Night in London comes from a man who has lived the life, of cities, +and looked at wealth with the eyes of poverty. Not bad! I will read +the book." + +"Strange," said the Parson, smiling, "that this little work should +so have entered into our minds, suggested to all of us different +ideas, yet equally charmed all--given a new and fresh current to +our dull country life--animated us as with the sight of a world in +our breasts we had never seen before, save in dreams;--a little +work like this, by a man we don't know, and never may! Well, _that_ +knowledge _is_ power, and a noble one!" + +"A sort of power, certainly, sir," said Randal, candidly; and that +night, when Randal retired to his own room, he suspended his schemes +and projects, and read, as he rarely did, without an object to gain +by the reading. + +The work surprised him by the pleasure it gave. Its charm lay in +the writer's calm enjoyment of the Beautiful. It seemed like some +happy soul sunning itself in the light of its own thoughts. Its +power was so tranquil and even, that it was only a critic who could +perceive how much force and vigour were necessary to sustain the +wing that floated aloft with so imperceptible an effort. There was +no one faculty predominating tyrannically over the others; all +seemed proportioned in the felicitous symmetry of a nature rounded, +integral, and complete. And when the work was closed, it left behind +it a tender warmth that played round the heart of the reader, and +vivified feelings that seemed unknown before. Randal laid down the +book softly; and for five minutes the ignoble and base purposes to +which his own knowledge was applied, stood before him, naked and +unmasked. + +"Tut," said he, wrenching himself violently away from the benign +influence, "it was not to sympathise with Hector, but to conquer +with Achilles, that Alexander of Macedon kept Homer under his +pillow. Such should be the true use of books to him who has the +practical world to subdue; let parsons and women construe it +otherwise as they may!" + +And the Principle of Evil descended again upon the intellect, from +which the guide of beneficence was gone. + + +CHAPTER X. + +Randal rose at the sound of the first breakfast bell, and on the +staircase met Mrs Hazeldean. He gave her back the book; and as he +was about to speak, she beckoned to him to follow her into a little +morning-room appropriated to herself. No boudoir of white and gold, +with pictures by Watteau, but lined with large walnut-tree presses, +that held the old heirloom linen strewed with lavender--stores for +the housekeeper, and medicines for the poor. + +Seating herself on a large chair in this sanctum, Mrs Hazeldean +looked formidably at home. + +"Pray," said the lady, coming at once to the point, with her usual +straightforward candour, "what is all this you have been saying to +my husband as to the possibility of Frank's marrying a foreigner?" + +RANDAL.--"Would you be as averse to such a notion as Mr Hazeldean +is?" + +MRS HAZELDEAN.--"You ask me a question, instead of answering mine." + +Randal was greatly put out in his fence by these rude thrusts. For +indeed he had a double purpose to serve--first thoroughly to know if +Frank's marriage with a woman like Madame di Negra would irritate +the Squire sufficiently to endanger the son's inheritance; and, +secondly, to prevent Mr and Mrs Hazeldean believing, seriously that +such a marriage was to be apprehended, lest they should prematurely +address Frank on the subject, and frustrate the marriage itself. +Yet, withal, he must so express himself, that he could not be +afterwards accused by the parents of disguising matters. In his +talk to the Squire the preceding day, he had gone a little too +far--farther than he would have done but for his desire of escaping +the cattle-shed and short-horns. While he mused, Mrs Hazeldean +observed him with her honest sensible eyes, and finally exclaimed-- + +"Out with it, Mr Leslie!" + +"Out with what, my dear madam? The Squire has sadly exaggerated +the importance of what was said mainly in jest. But I will own to +you plainly, that Frank has appeared to me a little smitten with a +certain fair Italian." + +"Italian!" cried Mrs Hazeldean. "Well, I said so from the first. +Italian!--that's all, is it?" and she smiled. + +Randal was more and more perplexed. The pupil of his eye contracted, +as it does when we retreat into ourselves, and think, watch, and +keep guard. + +"And perhaps," resumed Mrs Hazeldean, with a very sunny expression +of countenance, "you have noticed this in Frank since he was here?" + +"It is true," murmured Randal; "but I think his heart or his fancy +was touched even before." + +"Very natural," said Mrs Hazeldean; "how could he help it?--such +a beautiful creature! Well, I must not ask you to tell Frank's +secrets; but I guess the object of attraction; and though she will +have no fortune to speak of--and it is not such a match as he might +form--still she is so amiable, and has been so well brought up, and +is so little like one's general notions of a Roman Catholic, that I +think I could persuade Hazeldean into giving his consent." + +"Ah!" said Randal, drawing a long breath, and beginning with his +practised acuteness to detect Mrs Hazeldean's error, "I am very much +relieved and rejoiced to hear this; and I may venture to give Frank +some hope, if I find him disheartened and desponding, poor fellow!" + +"I think you may," replied Mrs Hazeldean, laughing pleasantly. "But +you should not have frightened poor William so, hinting that the +lady knew very little English. She has an accent, to be sure; but +she speaks our tongue very prettily. I always forget that she's not +English born! Ha, ha, poor William!" + +RANDAL.--"Ha, ha!" + +MRS HAZELDEAN.--"We had once thought of another match for Frank--a +girl of good English family." + +RANDAL.--"Miss Sticktorights?" + +MRS HAZELDEAN.--"No; that's an old whim of Hazeldean's. But he knows +very well that the Sticktorights would never merge their property +in ours. Bless you, it would be all off the moment they came to +settlements, and had to give up the right of way. We thought of a +very different match; but there's no dictating to young hearts, Mr +Leslie." + +RANDAL.--"Indeed no, Mrs Hazeldean. But since we now understand each +other so well, excuse me if I suggest that you had better leave +things to themselves, and not write to Frank on the subject. Young +hearts, you know, are often stimulated by apparent difficulties, and +grow cool when the obstacle vanishes." + +MRS HAZELDEAN.--"Very possibly; it was not so with Hazeldean and +me. But I shall not write to Frank on the subject, for a different +reason--though I would consent to the match, and so would William; +yet we both would rather, after all, that Frank married an +Englishwoman, and a Protestant. We will not, therefore, do anything +to encourage the idea. But if Frank's happiness becomes really at +stake, _then_ we will step in. In short, we would neither encourage +nor oppose. You understand?" + +"Perfectly." + +"And, in the meanwhile, it is quite right that Frank should see the +world, and try to distract his mind, or at least to know it. And I +dare say it has been some thought of that kind which has prevented +his coming here." + +Randal, dreading a farther and plainer _eclaircissement_, now rose, +and saying, "Pardon me, but I must hurry over breakfast, and be back +in time to catch the coach"--offered his arm to his hostess, and led +her into the breakfast-parlour. Devouring his meal, as if in great +haste, he then mounted his horse, and, taking cordial leave of his +entertainers, trotted briskly away. + +All things favoured his project--even chance had befriended him in +Mrs Hazeldean's mistake. She had not unnaturally supposed Violante +to have captivated Frank on his last visit to the Hall. Thus, while +Randal had certified his own mind that nothing could more exasperate +the Squire than an alliance with Madame di Negra, he could yet +assure Frank that Mrs Hazeldean was all on his side. And when the +error was discovered, Mrs Hazeldean would only have to blame herself +for it. Still more successful had his diplomacy proved with the +Riccaboccas; he had ascertained the secret he had come to discover; +he should induce the Italian to remove to the neighbourhood of +London; and if Violante were the great heiress he suspected her to +prove, whom else of her own age would she see but him? And the old +Leslie domains--to be sold in two years--a portion of the dowry +might purchase them! Flushed by the triumph of his craft, all former +vacillations of conscience ceased. In high and fervent spirits he +passed the Casino, the garden of which was solitary and deserted, +reached his home, and, telling Oliver to be studious, and Juliet to +be patient, walked thence to meet the coach and regain the capital. + + +CHAPTER XI. + +Violante was seated in her own little room, and looking from the +window on the terrace that stretched below. The day was warm for +the time of year. The orange-trees had been removed under shelter +for the approach of winter; but where they had stood sate Mrs +Riccabocca at work. In the Belvidere, Riccabocca himself was +conversing with his favourite servant. But the casements and the +door of the Belvidere were open; and where they sate, both wife and +daughter could see the Padrone leaning against the wall, with his +arms folded, and his eyes fixed on the floor; while Jackeymo, with +one finger on his master's arm, was talking to him with visible +earnestness. And the daughter from the window, and the wife from +her work, directed tender anxious eyes towards the still thoughtful +form so dear to both. For the last day or two, Riccabocca had been +peculiarly abstracted, even to gloom. Each felt there was something +stirring at his heart--neither as yet knew what. + +Violante's room silently revealed the nature of the education by +which her character had been formed. Save a sketch-book which lay +open on a desk at hand, and which showed talent exquisitely taught, +(for in this Riccabocca had been her teacher,) there was nothing +that spoke of the ordinary female accomplishments. No piano stood +open, no harp occupied yon nook, which seemed made for one; no +broidery frame, nor implements of work, betrayed the usual and +graceful resources of a girl; but ranged on shelves against the wall +were the best writers in English, Italian, and French; and these +betokened an extent of reading, that he who wishes for a companion +to his mind in the sweet commune of woman, which softens and refines +all it gives and takes in interchange, will never condemn as +masculine. You had but to look into Violante's face to see how noble +was the intelligence that brought soul to those lovely features. +Nothing hard, nothing dry and stern was there. Even as you detected +knowledge, it was lost in the gentleness of grace. In fact, whatever +she gained in the graver kinds of information, became transmuted, +through her heart and her fancy, into spiritual golden stores. Give +her some tedious and arid history, her imagination seized upon +beauties other readers had passed by, and, like the eye of the +artist, detected everywhere the Picturesque. Something in her mind +seemed to reject all that was mean and commonplace, and to bring +out all that was rare and elevated in whatever it received. Living +so apart from all companions of her age, she scarcely belonged to +the Present time. She dwelt in the Past, as Sabrina, in her crystal +well. Images of chivalry--of the Beautiful and the Heroic--such as, +in reading the silvery line of Tasso, rise before us, softening +force and valour into love and song--haunted the reveries of the +fair Italian maid. + +Tell us not that the Past, examined by cold Philosophy, was no +better and no loftier than the Present; it is not thus seen by pure +and generous eyes. Let the Past perish, when it ceases to reflect on +its magic mirror the beautiful Romance which is its noblest reality, +though perchance but the shadow of Delusion. + +Yet Violante was not merely the dreamer. In her, life was so +puissant and rich, that action seemed necessary to its glorious +development--action, but still in the woman's sphere--action to +bless and to refine and to exalt all around her, and to pour +whatever else of ambition was left unsatisfied into sympathy with +the aspirations of man. Despite her father's fears of the bleak air +of England, in that air she had strengthened the delicate health +of her childhood. Her elastic step--her eyes full of sweetness and +light--her bloom, at once soft and luxuriant--all spoke of the +vital powers fit to sustain a mind of such exquisite mould, and the +emotions of a heart that, once aroused, could ennoble the passions +of the South with the purity and devotion of the North. + +Solitude makes some natures more timid, some more bold. Violante was +fearless. When she spoke, her eyes frankly met your own; and she was +so ignorant of evil, that as yet she seemed nearly unacquainted with +shame. From this courage, combined with affluence of idea, came a +delightful flow of happy converse. Though possessing so imperfectly +the accomplishments ordinarily taught to young women, and which may +be cultured to the utmost, and yet leave the thoughts so barren, and +the talk so vapid--she had that accomplishment which most pleases +the taste, and commands the love, of the man of talent; especially +if his talent be not so actively employed as to make him desire +only relaxation where he seeks companionship--the accomplishment +of facility in intellectual interchange--the charm that clothes in +musical words beautiful womanly ideas. + +"I hear him sigh at this distance," said Violante softly, as she +still watched her father; "and methinks this is a new grief, and +not for his country. He spoke twice yesterday of that dear English +friend, and wished that he were here." + +As she said this, unconsciously the virgin blushed, her hands +drooped on her knee, and she fell herself into thought as profound +as her father's, but less gloomy. From her arrival in England, +Violante had been taught a grateful interest in the name of Harley +L'Estrange. Her father, preserving a silence, that seemed disdain, +of all his old Italian intimates, had been pleased to converse with +open heart of the Englishman who had saved where countrymen had +betrayed. He spoke of the soldier, then in the full bloom of youth, +who, unconsoled by fame, had nursed the memory of some hidden sorrow +amidst the pine-trees that cast their shadow over the sunny Italian +lake; how Riccabocca, then honoured and happy, had courted from his +seclusion the English Signor, then the mourner and the voluntary +exile; how they had grown friends amidst the landscapes in which her +eyes had opened to the day; how Harley had vainly warned him from +the rash schemes in which he had sought to reconstruct in an hour +the ruins of weary ages; how, when abandoned, deserted, proscribed, +pursued, he had fled for life--the infant Violante clasped to +his bosom--the English soldier had given him refuge, baffled the +pursuers, armed his servants, accompanied the fugitive at night +towards the defile in the Apennines, and, when the emissaries of a +perfidious enemy, hot in the chase, came near, had said, "You have +your child to save! Fly on! Another league, and you are beyond the +borders. We will delay the foes with parley; they will not harm us." +And not till escape was gained did the father know that the English +friend had delayed the foe, not by parley, but by the sword, holding +the pass against numbers, with a breast as dauntless as Bayard's in +the immortal bridge. + +And since then, the same Englishman had never ceased to vindicate +his name, to urge his cause, and if hope yet remained of restoration +to land and honours, it was in that untiring zeal. + +Hence, naturally and insensibly, this secluded and musing girl had +associated all that she read in tales of romance and chivalry with +the image of the brave and loyal stranger. He it was who animated +her dreams of the Past, and seemed born to be, in the destined hour, +the deliverer of the Future. Around this image grouped all the +charms that the fancy of virgin woman can raise from the enchanted +lore of old Heroic Fable. Once in her early girlhood, her father (to +satisfy her curiosity, eager for general description) had drawn from +memory a sketch of the features of the Englishman--drawn Harley, as +he was in that first youth, flattered and idealised, no doubt, by +art and by partial gratitude--but still resembling him as he was +then; while the deep mournfulness of recent sorrow yet shadowed and +concentrated all the varying expression of his countenance; and to +look on him was to say,--"So sad, yet so young!" Never did Violante +pause to remember that the same years which ripened herself from +infancy into woman, were passing less gently over that smooth cheek +and dreamy brow--that the world might be altering the nature, as +time the aspect. To her, the hero of the Ideal remained immortal in +bloom and youth. Bright illusion, common to us all, where Poetry +once hallows the human form! Who ever thinks of Petrarch as the +old time-worn man? Who does not see him as when he first gazed on +Laura?-- + + "Ogni altra cosa ogni pensier va fore; + E sol ivi con voi rimansi Amore!" + + +CHAPTER XII. + +And Violante, thus absorbed in reverie, forgot to keep watch on the +Belvidere. And the Belvidere was now deserted. The wife, who had no +other ideal to distract _her_ thoughts, saw Riccabocca pass into the +house. + +The exile entered his daughter's room, and she started to feel his +hand upon her locks and his kiss upon her brow. + +"My child!" cried Riccabocca, seating himself, "I have resolved to +leave for a time this retreat, and to seek the neighbourhood of +London." + +"Ah, dear father, _that_, then, was your thought? But what can be +your reason? Do not turn away; you know how carefully I have obeyed +your command and kept your secret. Ah, you will confide in me." + +"I do, indeed," returned Riccabocca, with emotion. "I leave this +place, in the fear lest my enemies discover me. I shall say to +others that you are of an age to require teachers, not to be +obtained here. But I should like none to know where we go." + +The Italian said these last words through his teeth, and hanging his +head. He said them in shame. + +"My mother--(so Violante always called Jemima)--my mother, you have +spoken to her?" + +"Not yet. _There_ is the difficulty." + +"No difficulty, for she loves you so well," replied Violante, with +soft reproach. "Ah, why not also confide in her? Who so true? so +good?" + +"Good--I grant it!" exclaimed Riccabocca. "What then? 'Da cattiva +Donna guardati, ed alla buona non fidar niente,' (from the bad +woman, guard thyself; to the good woman trust nothing.) And if you +must trust," added the abominable man, "trust her with anything but +a secret!" + +"Fie," said Violante, with arch reproach, for she knew her +father's humours too well to interpret his horrible sentiments +literally--"fie on your consistency, _Padre carissimo_. Do you not +trust your secret to me?" + +"You! A kitten is not a cat, and a girl is not a woman. Besides, the +secret was already known to you, and I had no choice. Peace, Jemima +will stay here for the present. See to what you wish to take with +you; we shall leave to-night." + +Not waiting for an answer, Riccabocca hurried away, and with a firm +step strode the terrace and approached his wife. + +"_Anima mia_," said the pupil of Machiavel, disguising in the +tenderest words the cruellest intentions--for one of his most +cherished Italian proverbs was to the effect, that there is no +getting on with a mule or a woman unless you coax them--"_Anima +mia_,--soul of my being--you have already seen that Violante mopes +herself to death here." + +"She, poor child! Oh no!" + +"She does, core of my heart, she does, and is as ignorant of music +as I am of tent-stitch." + +"She sings beautifully." + +"Just as birds do, against all the rules, and in defiance of gamut. +Therefore, to come to the point, O treasure of my soul! I am going +to take her with me for a short time, perhaps to Cheltenham, or +Brighton--we shall see." + +"All places with you are the same to me, Alphonso. When shall we go?" + +"_We_ shall go to-night; but, terrible as it is to part from +you--you--" + +"Ah!" interrupted the wife, and covered her face with her hands. + +Riccabocca, the wiliest and most relentless of men in his maxims, +melted into absolute uxorial imbecility at the sight of that mute +distress. He put his arm round his wife's waist, with genuine +affection, and without a single proverb at his heart--"_Carissima_, +do not grieve so; we shall be back soon, and travelling is +expensive; rolling stones gather no moss, and there is so much to +see to at home." + +Mrs Riccabocca gently escaped from her husband's arms. She withdrew +her hands from her face, and brushed away the tears that stood in +her eyes. + +"Alphonso," she said touchingly, "hear me! What you think good, that +shall ever be good to me. But do not think that I grieve solely +because of our parting. No; I grieve to think that, despite all +these years in which I have been the partner of your hearth and +slept on your breast--all these years in which I have had no thought +but, however humbly, to do my duty to you and yours, and could have +wished that you had read my heart, and seen there but yourself and +your child--I grieve to think that you still deem me as unworthy +your trust as when you stood by my side at the altar." + +"Trust!" repeated Riccabocca, startled and conscience-stricken; +"why do you say 'trust?' In what have I distrusted you? I am sure," +he continued, with the artful volubility of guilt, "that I never +doubted your fidelity--hook-nosed, long-visaged foreigner though +I be; never pryed into your letters; never inquired into your +solitary walks; never heeded your flirtations with that good-looking +Parson Dale; never kept the money; and never looked into the +account-books!" Mrs Riccabocca refused even a smile of contempt at +these revolting evasions; nay, she seemed scarcely to hear them. + +"Can you think," she resumed, pressing her hand on her heart to +still its struggles for relief in sobs--"can you think that I could +have watched, and thought, and tasked my poor mind so constantly, +to conjecture what might best soothe or please you, and not seen, +long since, that you have secrets known to your daughter--your +servant--not to me? Fear not--the secrets cannot be evil, or you +would not tell them to your innocent child. Besides, do I not know +your nature? and do I not love you because I know it?--it is for +something connected with these secrets that you leave your home. You +think that I should be incautious--imprudent. You will not take me +with you. Be it so. I go to prepare for your departure. Forgive me +if I have displeased you, husband." + +Mrs Riccabocca turned away; but a soft hand touched the Italian's +arm. "O father, can you resist this? Trust her!--trust her! I am a +woman like her! I answer for her woman's faith. Be yourself--ever +nobler than all others, my own father." + +"_Diavolo!_ Never one door shuts but another opens," groaned +Riccabocca. "Are you a fool, child? Don't you see that it was for +your sake only I feared--and would be cautious?" + +"For mine! O then, do not make me deem myself mean, and the cause of +meanness. For mine! Am I not your daughter--the descendant of men +who never feared?" + +Violante looked sublime while she spoke; and as she ended she led +her father gently on towards the door, which his wife had now gained. + +"Jemima--wife mine!--pardon, pardon," cried the Italian, whose heart +had been yearning to repay such tenderness and devotion,--"come back +to my breast--it has been long closed--it shall be open to you now +and for ever." + +In another moment, the wife was in her right place--on her +husband's bosom; and Violante, beautiful peace-maker, stood smiling +a while at both, and then lifted her eyes gratefully to heaven, and +stole away. + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +On Randal's return to town, he heard mixed and contradictory rumours +in the streets, and at the clubs of the probable downfall of the +Government at the approaching session of Parliament. These rumours +had sprung up suddenly, as if in an hour. True that, for some time, +the sagacious had shaken their heads and said, "Ministers could +not last." True that certain changes in policy, a year or two +before, had divided the party on which the Government depended, and +strengthened that which opposed it. But still its tenure in office +had been so long, and there seemed so little power in the Opposition +to form a cabinet of names familiar to official ears, that the +general public had anticipated, at most, a few partial changes. +Rumour now went far beyond this. Randal, whose whole prospects at +present were but reflections from the greatness of his patron, was +alarmed. He sought Egerton, but the minister was impenetrable, and +seemed calm, confident, and imperturbed. Somewhat relieved, Randal +then set himself to work to find a safe home for Riccabocca; for the +greater need to succeed in obtaining fortune there, if he failed in +getting it through Egerton. He found a quiet house, detached and +secluded, in the neighbourhood of Norwood. No vicinity more secure +from espionage and remark. He wrote to Riccabocca, and communicated +the address, adding fresh assurances of his own power to be of +use. The next morning he was seated in his office, thinking very +little of the details, that he mastered, however, with mechanical +precision, when the minister who presided over that department of +the public service sent for him into his private room, and begged +him to take a letter to Egerton, with whom he wished to consult +relative to a very important point to be decided in the Cabinet +that day. "I want you to take it," said the minister smiling, (the +minister was a frank, homely man,) "because you are in Mr Egerton's +confidence, and he may give you some verbal message besides a +written reply. Egerton is often over cautious and brief in the +_litera scripta_." + +Randal went first to Egerton's neighbouring office--he had not been +there that day. He then took a cabriolet and drove to Grosvenor +Square. A quiet-looking chariot was at the door. Mr Egerton was at +home; but the servant said, "Dr F. is with him, sir; and perhaps he +may not like to be disturbed." + +"What, is your master ill?" + +"Not that I know of, sir. He never says he is ill. But he has looked +poorly the last day or two." + +Randal hesitated a moment; but his commission might be important, +and Egerton was a man who so held the maxim, that health and all +else must give way to business, that he resolved to enter; and, +unannounced, and unceremoniously, as was his wont, he opened the +door of the library. He started as he did so. Audley Egerton was +leaning back on the sofa, and the doctor, on his knees before him, +was applying the stethoscope to his breast. Egerton's eyes were +partially closed as the door opened. But at the noise he sprang +up, nearly oversetting the doctor. "Who's that?--How dare you!" he +exclaimed, in a voice of great anger. Then recognising Randal, he +changed colour, bit his lip, and muttered drily, "I beg pardon for +my abruptness; what do you want, Mr Leslie?" + +"This letter from Lord ----; I was told to deliver it immediately +into your own hands; I beg pardon--" + +"There is no cause," said Egerton, coldly. "I have had a slight +attack of bronchitis; and as Parliament meets so soon, I must take +advice from my doctor, if I would be heard by the reporters. Lay the +letter on the table, and be kind enough to wait for my reply." + +Randal withdrew. He had never seen a physician in that house before, +and it seemed surprising that Egerton should even take a medical +opinion upon a slight attack. While waiting in the ante-room +there was a knock at the street door, and presently a gentleman, +exceedingly well dressed, was shown in, and honoured Randal with +an easy and half familiar bow. Randal remembered to have met this +personage at dinner, and at the house of a young nobleman of high +fashion, but had not been introduced to him, and did not even know +him by name. The visitor was better informed. + +"Our friend Egerton is busy, I hear, Mr Leslie," said he, arranging +the camelia in his button hole. + +"Our friend Egerton!" It must be a very great man to say, "Our +friend Egerton." + +"He will not be engaged long, I dare say," returned Randal, glancing +his shrewd inquiring eye over the stranger's person. + +"I trust not; my time is almost as precious as his own. I was +not so fortunate as to be presented to you when we met at Lord +Spendquick's. Good fellow, Spendquick; and decidedly clever." + +Lord Spendquick was usually esteemed a gentleman without three ideas. + +Randal smiled. + +In the meanwhile the visitor had taken out a card from an embossed +morocco case, and now presented it to Randal, who read thereon, +"Baron Levy, No. --, Bruton St." + +The name was not unknown to Randal. It was a name too often on the +lips of men of fashion not to have reached the ears of an _habitue_ +of good society. + +Mr Levy had been a solicitor by profession. He had of late years +relinquished his ostensible calling; and not long since, in +consequence of some services towards the negotiation of a loan, had +been created a baron by one of the German kings. The wealth of Mr +Levy was said to be only equalled by his good nature to all who were +in want of a temporary loan, and with sound expectations of repaying +it some day or other. + +You seldom saw a finer-looking man than Baron Levy--about the +same age as Egerton, but looking younger: so well preserved--such +magnificent black whiskers--such superb teeth! Despite his name and +his dark complexion, he did not, however, resemble a Jew--at least +externally; and, in fact, he was not a Jew on the father's side, +but the natural son of a rich English _grand seigneur_, by a Hebrew +lady of distinction--in the opera. After his birth, this lady had +married a German trader of her own persuasion, and her husband had +been prevailed upon, for the convenience of all parties, to adopt +his wife's son, and accord to him his own Hebrew name. Mr Levy +senior was soon left a widower, and then the real father, though +never actually owning the boy, had shown him great attention--had +him frequently at his house--initiated him betimes into his own +high-born society, for which the boy showed great taste. But when my +Lord died, and left but a moderate legacy to the younger Levy, who +was then about eighteen, that ambiguous person was articled to an +attorney by his putative sire, who shortly afterwards returned to +his native land, and was buried at Prague, where his tombstone may +yet be seen. Young Levy, however, continued to do very well without +him. His real birth was generally known, and rather advantageous +to him in a social point of view. His legacy enabled him to become +a partner where he had been a clerk, and his practice became great +amongst the fashionable classes of society. Indeed he was so useful, +so pleasant, so much a man of the world, that he grew intimate with +his clients--chiefly young men of rank; was on good terms with both +Jew and Christian; and being neither one nor the other, resembled +(to use Sheridan's incomparable simile) the blank page between the +Old and the New Testament. + +Vulgar, some might call Mr Levy, from his assurance, but it was not +the vulgarity of a man accustomed to low and coarse society--rather +the _mauvais ton_ of a person not sure of his own position, but +who has resolved to swagger into the best one he can get. When it +is remembered that he had made his way in the world, and gleaned +together an immense fortune, it is needless to add that he was as +sharp as a needle, and as hard as a flint. No man had had more +friends, and no man had stuck by them more firmly--as long as there +was a pound in their pockets! + +Something of this character had Randal heard of the Baron, and he +now gazed, first at his card, and then at him, with--admiration. + +"I met a friend of yours at Borrowwell's the other day," resumed the +Baron--"Young Hazeldean. Careful fellow--quite a man of the world." + +As this was the last praise poor Frank deserved, Randal again smiled. + +The Baron went on--"I hear, Mr Leslie, that you have much influence +over this same Hazeldean. His affairs are in a sad state. I should +be very happy to be of use to him, as a relation of my friend +Egerton's; but he understands business so well that he despises my +advice." + +"I am sure you do him injustice." + +"Injustice! I honour his caution. I say to every man, 'Don't come to +me--I can get you money on much easier terms than any one else;' and +what's the result? You come so often that you ruin yourself; whereas +a regular usurer without conscience frightens you. 'Cent per cent,' +you say; 'oh, I must pull in.' If you have influence over your +friend, tell him to stick to his bill-brokers, and have nothing to +do with Baron Levy." + +Here the minister's bell rung, and Randal, looking through the +window, saw Dr F. walking to his carriage, which had made way for +Baron Levy's splendid cabriolet--a cabriolet in the most perfect +taste--Baron's coronet on the dark brown panels--horse black, with +such action!--harness just relieved with plating. The servant now +entered, and requested Randal to step in; and addressing the Baron, +assured him that he would not be detained a minute. + +"Leslie," said the minister, sealing a note, "take this back to Lord +----, and say that I shall be with him in an hour." + +"No other message?--he seemed to expect one." + +"I dare say he did. Well, my letter is official, my message is not; +beg him to see Mr ---- before we meet--he will understand--all rests +upon that interview." + +Egerton then, extending the letter, resumed gravely, "Of course you +will not mention to any one that Dr F. was with me: the health of +public men is not to be suspected. Hum--were you in your own room or +the ante-room?" + +"The ante-room, sir." + +Egerton's brow contracted slightly. "And Mr Levy was there, eh?" + +"Yes--the Baron." + +"Baron! true. Come to plague me about the Mexican loan, I suppose. I +will keep you no longer." + +Randal, much meditating, left the house, and re-entered his hack +cab. The Baron was admitted to the statesman's presence. + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +Egerton had thrown himself at full length on the sofa, a position +exceedingly rare with him; and about his whole air and manner, as +Levy entered, there was something singularly different from that +stateliness of port common to the austere legislator. The very tone +of his voice was different. It was as if the statesman--the man of +business--had vanished; it was rather the man of fashion and the +idler, who, nodding languidly to his visitor, said, "Levy, what +money can I have for a year?" + +"The estate will bear very little more. My dear fellow, that last +election was the very devil. You cannot go on thus much longer." + +"My dear fellow!" Baron Levy hailed Audley Egerton as "my dear +fellow." And Audley Egerton, perhaps, saw nothing strange in the +words, though his lip curled. + +"I shall not want to go on thus much longer," answered Egerton, as +the curl on his lip changed to a gloomy smile. "The estate must, +meanwhile, bear L5000 more." + +"A hard pull on it. You had really better sell." + +"I cannot afford to sell at present. I cannot afford men to say, +'Audley Egerton is done up--his property is for sale.'" + +"It is very sad when one thinks what a rich man you have been--and +may be yet!" + +"Be yet! How?" + +Baron Levy glanced towards the thick mahogany doors--thick and +impervious, as should be the doors of statesmen. "Why, you know +that, with three words from you, I could produce an effect upon the +stocks of three nations, that might give as each a hundred thousand +pounds. We would go shares." + +"Levy," said Egerton coldly, though a deep blush overspread his +face, "you are a scoundrel; that is your look-out. I interfere with +no man's tastes and conscience. I don't intend to be a scoundrel +myself. I have told you that long ago." + +The Baron laughed, without evincing the least displeasure. + +"Well," said he, "you are neither wise nor complimentary, but you +shall have the money. But yet, would it not be better," added Levy, +with emphasis, "to borrow it, without interest, of your friend +L'Estrange?" + +Egerton started as if stung. + +"You mean to taunt me, sir!" he exclaimed, passionately. "I accept +pecuniary favours from Lord L'Estrange! I!" + +"Tut, my dear Egerton, I dare say my Lord would not think so ill now +of that little act in your life which--" + +"Hold!" exclaimed Egerton, writhing. "Hold!" + +He stopped, and paced the room, muttering in broken sentences, "To +blush before this man! Chastisement, chastisement!" + +Levy gazed on him with hard and sinister eyes. The minister turned +abruptly. + +"Look you, Levy," said he, with forced composure--"you hate me--why, +I know not. I have never injured you--never avenged the inexpiable +wrong you did me." + +"Wrong!--you a man of the world! Wrong! Call it so if you will, +then," he added shrinkingly, for Audley's brow grew terrible. "But +have I not atoned it? Would you ever have lived in this palace, and +ruled this country as one of the most influential of its ministers, +but for my management--my whispers to the wealthy Miss Leslie? Come, +but for me what would you have been--perhaps a beggar?" + +"What shall I be now if I live? _Then_ I should not have been a +beggar; poor perhaps in money, but rich--rich in all that now leaves +my life bankrupt. Gold has not thriven with me; how should it? And +this fortune--it has passed for the main part into your hands. Be +patient, you will have it all ere long. But there is one man in the +world who has loved me from a boy, and woe to you if ever he learn +that he has the right to despise me!" + +"Egerton, my good fellow," said Levy, with great composure, "you +need not threaten me, for what interest can I possibly have in +tale-telling to Lord L'Estrange? As to hating you--pooh! You snub me +in private, you cut me in public, you refuse to come to my dinners, +you'll not ask me to your own; still, there is no man I like better, +nor would more willingly serve. When do you want the L5000?" + +"Perhaps in one month, perhaps not for three or four. Let it be +ready when required." + +"Enough; depend on it. Have you any other commands?" + +"None." + +"I will take my leave, then. By the by, what do you suppose the +Hazeldean rental is worth--net?" + +"I don't know, nor care. You have no designs upon _that_, too?" + +"Well, I like keeping up family connections. Mr Frank seems a +liberal young gentleman." + +Before Egerton could answer, the Baron had glided to the door, and, +nodding pleasantly, vanished with that nod. + +Egerton remained, standing on his solitary hearth. A drear, single +man's room it was, from wall to wall, despite its fretted ceilings +and official pomp of Bramah escritoires and red boxes. Drear and +cheerless--no trace of woman's habitation--no vestige of intruding, +happy children. There stood the austere man alone. And then with a +deep sigh he muttered, "Thank heaven, not for long--it will not last +long." + +Repeating those words, he mechanically locked up his papers, and +pressed his hand to his heart for an instant, as if a spasm had shot +through it. + +"So--I must shun all emotion!" said he, shaking his head gently. + +In five minutes more, Audley Egerton was in the streets, his mien +erect, and his step firm as ever. + +"That man is made of bronze," said a leader of the Opposition to a +friend as they rode past the minister. "What would I give for his +nerves!" + + + + +JOHNSTON'S NOTES ON NORTH AMERICA. + +_Notes on North America, Agricultural, Social, and Economical._ By +JAMES F. W. JOHNSTON, M.A., F.R.SS.L. and E., &c. Two Vols. post +8vo. William Blackwood & Sons. + + +Professor Johnston had three objects in view in his visit to the +New World. His high reputation as an agricultural chemist had +induced the Agricultural Society of New York to request him to give +a course of lectures at Albany upon the connection of chemical and +geological science with that of the cultivation of land. He had also +been commissioned by the Government of New Brunswick to examine +and report on the agricultural capabilities of that province. And +besides these public duties, he was impelled by a strong desire to +study the actual position of the art of husbandry in the fertile +regions of the West, and the influence which its progress is likely +to exert upon British agriculture. + +Our shrewd brother Jonathan, however brilliant his achievements have +been in other arts, has not hitherto earned any great reputation +as a scientific farmer. Nature has been so bountiful to him, +that, with "fresh fields and pastures new" ever before him, he +has hitherto had no need to resort to the toilsome processes and +anxious expedients--"_curis acuens mortalia corda_"--of our Old +World systems of agriculture. On the newer lands of the Union, at +least, the rotations followed, the waste of manures, and the general +contempt of all method and economy, are such as would break the +heart of a Haddingtonshire "grieve," and in a couple of seasons +convert his trim acres into a howling wilderness. What would our +respected friend Mr Caird say to a course of cropping like the +following, which, though given by Professor Johnston as a specimen +of New Brunswick farming, is the usual method followed on most of +the new soils of North America?-- + + "He cuts down the wood and burns it, then takes a crop of + potatoes, followed by one of wheat, with grass seeds. _Nine + successive crops of hay follow in as many years_; after which + the stumps are taken up, the land is ploughed, a crop of wheat + is taken; it is then manured for the first time, or limed, and + laid down again for a similar succession of crops of hay. This + treatment is hard enough; but the unskilful man, after burning + and spreading the ashes, takes two or three more crops of grain, + leaves it to sow itself with grass, then cuts hay as long as + it bears a crop which is worth cutting--after all which he + either stumps and ploughs it, or leaves it to run again into the + wilderness state."--(_Johnston_, vol. i. p. 104.) + +Such a system seems, at first sight, to argue a barbarous ignorance +of the very first elements of agriculture; and yet, as Professor +Johnston remarks, "we English farmers and teachers of agricultural +science, with all our skill, should probably, in the same +circumstances, do just the same, so long as land was plenty, labour +scarce and dear, and markets few and distant." Let no one suppose +that our wide-awake kinsman does not know perfectly well what he is +about. His apparently rude agricultural practice is regulated by a +maxim which some of our _Mechists_ at home would do well to bear in +mind--that high farming is bad farming if it is not remunerative. +He knows that to manure his land would be to insure the lodging +and destruction of his crops, and he therefore leaves his straw +to wither in the fields, and lives on in blessed ignorance of the +virtues and cost of guano. To plough deep furrows in a virgin soil, +saturated with organic matter, would be an idle waste of labour; +and the primitive Triptolemus of Michigan scatters the seed upon +the surface--or, raising a little mould on the point of a hoe, +drops in a few grains of maize, covers them over, and heeds them +no more till the golden pyramids are ripe for the knife. The first +three crops, thus easily obtained, generally repay to the settler +in the wilderness the expense of felling the timber, burning, and +cultivating. If he then abandon it, he is at least no loser; but +for eight or ten years the soil will still continue to produce crops +of natural hay; and then, having extracted from it all that its +spontaneous fertility will yield, he sells his possession for what +it may bring, and moves off westward to repeat the same exhaustive +process on a fresh portion of the forest, leaving to his successor +the task of reinvigorating the severely tested powers of the soil by +rest and restoratives. + +This locust-like progress of the American settler--ever on the move +to new lands, and leaving comparative barrenness in his track--must +evidently place the case of America beyond the sphere of those +ordinary laws of political economy which are applicable in European +countries; and Professor Johnston seems to consider the fact of the +incessant exhaustion and abandonment of lands as the chief key to +a right understanding of the peculiar economical position of the +United States. The owner of land in the older and more populous +States, who has not learnt to apply a restorative system of culture, +derives little benefit from the comparative advantage of situation, +while the inhabitants of the towns and villages around him are fed +with the surplus spontaneous produce of the far off clearings in +Ohio or Missouri. But these in their turn become worn out--and as +cultivation travels on westward, the chief centres of agricultural +production are gradually receding farther and farther from the +chief centres of population and consumption; and this increasing +distance, and consequent cost of transport, is every year enhancing +the price of grain in the busy and crowded marts of the West--ever +filling up with the incessant stream of immigration from Europe. +Such is Mr Johnston's view of the present normal condition of the +Union in regard to the sustenance of her people; and he makes it +the ground-work, as we shall presently see, of certain rather +doubtful inferences, of some importance in their bearing on the +agriculture of this country. One consequence, however, of any +material increase in the price of food in the Eastern States of the +Union is very obvious--the proprietor of land in these districts +will gradually be enabled to apply, with profit to his exhausted +soil, the artificial aids and costlier system of culture followed +in Britain. Already this result is apparent in Professor Johnston's +account of the energetic spirit of agricultural improvement which is +rapidly spreading over most of the New England States. In the keen, +restless, and enterprising New Englander, our Old Country farmers +will undoubtedly find a more formidable competitor, for the honour +of the first place in agricultural advancement, than any they have +yet met on this side of the Atlantic. We have seen this year what +his invention can produce in mechanical contrivances for economising +the labour of the field; and, that he is not indifferent to the +aids which science can afford him, is sufficiently proved by the +occasion of that visit to America of which Professor Johnston has +here given so pleasant and instructive a record. The invitation was +not more creditable to the character of the Professor, than to the +discernment of the zealous and patriotic men who thus showed how +correctly they apprehend the true method of improving their fine +country. His engagement was fulfilled during the sitting of the +State Legislature at Albany in January 1850, when the hall of the +Assembly was given up to him as a lecture-room; the leading members +of the Assembly and of the State Agricultural Society were among +his auditors, and the greatest public interest was evinced in the +important subjects of his prelections. + +It is apparent, from many passages of the _Notes_, that the author +has listened too confidingly to the flattering tale--the "_canor +mulcendas natus ad aures_" of the syren of Free Trade. He seems to +be gifted with a strong natural faith, and a patriotic confidence +in what British enterprise, and especially British agriculture, can +achieve in the way of surmounting difficulties. It is not perhaps +to be wondered at that one, whose professional pursuits naturally +lead him to place a high value upon the aids which science has in +store for the agriculturist, should encourage the farmer to think +lightly of his present difficulties, and keep up his spirits +with the hope of some paulo-post-future prosperity. It must be +allowed that the farmer, poor fellow, has not wanted abundance of +kind friends to comfort him in his adversity. Generally, however, +their consolations--like those of the sympathetic Mrs Gamp--have +been rather indefinite--vague moralisings upon his calamity, as if +it were some inevitable stroke of Providence, to be bowed to in +silent resignation, and hazy anticipations of good luck awaiting +him. Others, again--who have professed the greatest friendship for +him, and, like the Knight of Netherby, have come down to hearten +up the broken-down man by imparting to him some plan of theirs, +as sheep-pasturage or the like, for setting him on his legs +again--are mentally taking an inventory of his remaining chattels, +and calculating when to send the sheriff's officer. But Professor +Johnston belongs to neither of these classes of comforters. His +opinion, we know, is at least disinterested, and he brings it +before us in the shape of a distinct proposition--viz., that the +wheat-exporting capabilities of the United States are not so great +as have generally been supposed, and that, as they must diminish +rather than increase in future, the prospect of competition with +American produce need cause no alarm to the British farmer. + +This opinion, coming from such an authority, claims a deliberate +examination; and the more so that, in the dearth of other +gratulatory topics, it has been eagerly laid hold of by the +_Edinburgh Review_, the _Economist_, and other Free-Trade organs, +and vaunted as a complete proof that protective duties are quite +unnecessary. + +The reasons which Professor Johnston assigns for believing that the +_present_ wheat-exporting powers of the United States have been +exaggerated, may be passed over with very little comment. The Board +of Trade returns leave no room for doubt as to the quantity that has +actually reached this country, and it is therefore unnecessary for +us to follow him through his hypothetical estimate of the exportable +grain, grounded on what they _ought_ to have had to spare for us. +We may remark, however, that the data on which his calculations +proceed are far from satisfactory. He shows that all the _wheat_ +produced in the United States, as given in the estimates of the +Patent Office, is inadequate to afford the eight bushels which in +England we reckon to be requisite for the annual supply of each +inhabitant--the population of the Union being about twenty-one +millions, and the produce of wheat one hundred and twenty-seven +millions of bushels. He does not overlook altogether the fact that +wheat is not in America, as it is with us, almost the sole cereal +food of the people; and he admits that a considerable allowance must +be made for the consumption of Indian corn instead of wheat. But how +much?--That is the question. The compilers of the State Papers at +Washington estimate that Indian corn, buckwheat, and other grain, +form so large a proportion of the food of the people, that they +require only _three_ bushels of wheat per head; and no doubt they +have good grounds for this calculation. Professor Johnston, however, +without indicating any reason whatever for his assumption, has set +down the consumption of each individual at _five_ bushels per annum; +and thus, by a stroke of his pen, he reduces the average exportable +surplus of the Union to _only_ three millions of quarters. + +As to what may be expected in future--Professor Johnston anticipates +the gradual diminution of the supply, from the circumstance, already +adverted to, of the progressive exhaustion of the newer lands of the +Union, and the rapid increase of population in the old. If several +of the Western States, he argues, have even already ceased to raise +enough wheat for the supply of their present inhabitants, and are +compelled to draw largely on the produce of the remote States of +Illinois, Ohio, &c.--and if the productive power of these new lands +is annually becoming less, the virgin soils more distant, and the +transport of subsistence more difficult--if this is the state of +matters now, what will it be in 1860, when immigration and natural +increase will probably have raised the population of the Union to +some thirty-four millions? "It is very safe," he concludes, "to +say that in 1860 their wheat-exporting capability will have become +so small as to give our British farmers very little cause for +apprehension." It may perchance occur to these gentlemen, that the +consolation Professor Johnston here offers them is not very cheering +after all; and as long as they see the provision stores in every +market town piled up with the interloping flour barrels of New York, +and their own waggons returning home with their loads unsold, it is +not to be wondered at if they are not greatly exhilarated with the +prospect of what may possibly happen nine years hence. And slender +as is the hope deferred here held out to them, it rests, we fear, on +very questionable grounds. + +Professor Johnston's opinion is founded on two suppositions: 1st, +That the exhaustion of the Western States, on which he dwells so +much, is proceeding so rapidly as already to affect the markets +of the eastern districts; 2d, That these older districts will be +unable to increase the quantity of produce raised within their own +boundaries, without so adding to its cost as to prevent its being +profitably exported. + +As to the first supposition, it may be conceded that, in the course +of time, a period must necessarily come when the spontaneous +fertility of the newer-settled States will cease to yield grain with +the same bountiful abundance it has done hitherto. But, when may +that period be expected to arrive?--to what extent has exhaustion +already taken place?--and what is the rate of its progress? For a +reply, we have only to point to that vast territory, bounded by the +lakes on the north and Ohio on the south, comprising the five States +of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin--a territory +eight times the size of England and Wales, with a population about +equal to that of Scotland, containing 180,000,000 acres of arable +land, a large portion of which is of surprising fertility--and +ask whether it is possible to believe that it has already reached +the turning point of its wheat-productiveness,[1] or can by any +possibility do so for centuries to come? Why, the extent of land +advertised in these five States for sale, (which forms only a +fraction of what still remains in the hands of government,) is +greater by a fourth than the whole area of England; and of the +territory that has been actually sold, it is estimated that +five-sevenths is still unreclaimed from the wilderness. Then look +at the means of transport provided for conveying the overflowing +abundance of those rich alluvial regions to the markets of the +East, by way of the two great outlets--the lakes on the north, +and the Mississippi on the south. The cost of such transport is +no doubt considerable; the conveyance of a quarter of wheat from +the centre of Illinois to Boston, by New Orleans, averages about +16s. 6d. But, nevertheless, so trifling is the original cost of +production, that immense quantities of corn do annually reach the +eastern seaboard by this route, a considerable portion of which is +re-shipped to Liverpool, and sold there at prices greatly below its +cost of production in this country. The annexed table[2] shows the +remarkable fact, that, of the whole quantity of grain exported +from the United States in the five years 1842-6, twelve-thirteenths +of the wheat, about one-half of the flour, and a large proportion +of the Indian corn, came from the two ports of New York and +Philadelphia alone. Now, as we know that these large supplies were +not grown within the confines of the Eastern States, and _must_ have +been brought from the westward, the inference is obvious that the +two causes insisted on by Professor Johnston--the distance of the +virgin soils, and the expense of transport--are as yet inoperative; +or at least that they have not prevented the transmission of grain +to the east in such vast quantities, as not only to meet the wants +of all the population of that part of the Union, but to afford an +average surplus for exportation to other countries equivalent to +the annual maintenance of a million and a half of men. We need +only mention one other fact, which seems in itself a sufficient +refutation of the theory Professor Johnston has taken up. The causes +which he thinks are so soon to dry up the supplies now derived +from the West are of no recent or sudden emergence. The process +of exhaustion on the new lands, and the rapid population of the +old, has been going on for many years. If, then, these causes are +so influential as he imagines, their effects should at least be +apparent in a gradual increase of the prices of bread-stuffs in +the Eastern States. Now, no such effect is to be found. On the +contrary, we find that, during the last twenty years, the price of +wheat, as well as of maize, in the chief marts of the east, has been +_steadily diminishing, instead of increasing_. We extract from the +returns published by the Board of Trade the annexed comparison[3] +of the prices of wheat flour at New York, during two periods, from +which it appears that, in the very State where the results of +Professor Johnston's hypothesis ought to have been most manifest, +the experience of twenty years shows a reduction of price instead +of an enhancement, notwithstanding that the latter period in the +comparison embraces the years of the potato failure. An examination +of similar returns from Baltimore and New Orleans establishes the +same fact, namely, that the tendency of prices for twenty years past +is _not upwards, but downwards_--a fact quite irreconcilable with +the supposed rapid exhaustion of the wheat soils of the interior. + + [1] The estimated produce of wheat in these five States in the year + 1847 was 38,400,000 bushels. + + [2] Quantity of bread-stuffs exported from the whole of the United + States, and from the ports of New York and Philadelphia, in the + years 1842-46 inclusive:-- + + | Wheat | Flour | Indian Corn | Indian Corn + | (bushels.) |(barrels.) | (bushels.) |(Meal barrels.) + |------------+-----------+-------------+--------------- + United States, | 2,691,711 | 7,048,356 | 4,764,450 | 1,199,255 + |------------+-----------+-------------+--------------- + New York, | 1,985,900 | 2,610,944 | 2,443,733 | 242,294 + Philadelphia, | 474,788 | 1,055,382 | 677,530 | 565,682 + |------------+-----------+-------------+--------------- + Total of both ports, | 2,460,688 | 3,666,326 | 3,121,263 | 807,976 + + + [3] Comparative statement of the prices, per barrel, of best wheat + flour at New York, (taken from the _Monthly Averages_) in 1829-33, + and 1844-48:-- + + FIRST PERIOD. + + 1829, Dr. 6.23 + 1830, 5.02 + 1831, 5.84 + 1832, 5.70 + 1833, 5.70 + ---- + Average of five years, 5.69 + + SECOND PERIOD. + + 1844, Dr. 4.60 + 1845, 5.00 + 1846, 5.16 + 1847, 6.77 + 1848, 5.83 + ---- + Average of five years, 5.47 + + +It is much to be regretted that Professor Johnston was unable to +extend his tour to these granary States of the West. It would +have been satisfactory to have had from him an estimate of their +capabilities founded on actual survey and personal observation, +instead of indirect inference. We are quite ready to admit, that +many of the accounts of those regions which have reached us, +drawn up to suit the purposes of speculators in land, are of very +dubious authenticity, and, like the stage-coach in which Mr Dickens +travelled to Buffalo, have "a pretty loud smell of varnish." But, +on the other hand, we cannot discredit the official data supplied +by the State papers--without at least stronger grounds than those +inferences from general geological structure which Professor +Johnston has adduced to disprove the alleged fertility of the State +of Michigan. There can, of course, be no more valuable criterion of +the natural agricultural value of a country than is afforded by its +geology--provided the survey be sufficiently extensive and accurate. +But it is difficult to follow those enthusiasts in the science, +whom we occasionally find drawing the most startling deductions +from very narrow data--and prophesying the future history of the +territory, and even the character of its inhabitants, from a glance +at the bowels of the earth, as the Roman augur foretold the fate of +empires from the entrails of his chickens. + +We find, for example, a writer of high standing in America +accounting for a remarkable diminution in the amount of _bastardy_ +in Pennsylvania, some thirty years ago, by the fact--that the +settlers at that time _had got off the cold clays and on to the +limestone_! A Scottish geologist, with more apparent reason +perhaps, has founded an argument for an extensive emigration of the +Highlanders on the prevalence of the primitive rocks in the north +and west of Scotland. It is only from a complete and systematic +survey that we can venture to predicate anything with certainty of +the future agricultural powers of a country; and, in the absence of +such trustworthy data, we must be content to estimate the future +wheat-productiveness of Michigan, as well as of the other States +we have named along with it, from what we know of their present +fertility, and of the vast extent that is still uncleared. + +As to New York and the other old-settled States of the Union, which +we are told do not now produce enough for their own consumption, +are we to take it for granted that they are always to continue +stationary, and to make no effort to keep pace with the growing +demands of an increasing population? Professor Johnston, we observe +in one passage, has qualified his opinion as to the prospective +dearth of grain by this curious condition--"_Provided no change +takes place in their agricultural system._" But what shadow of a +reason can be given for supposing it will not take place? The area +of New York State is only one-twelfth less than that of England, and +is, at least, no way inferior as to climate or quality of soil. As +far as material means go, it is quite capable of maintaining, under +an improved culture, at least four times its present population of +three millions. The only question is as to the will and ability +of her people to develop these means; and on this point Professor +Johnston's own work is full of multiplied proofs of the zealous and +intelligent spirit of improvement which is extending rapidly all +over the North-Eastern States. We find the central government of the +Confederation occupied in organising the plan of an Agricultural +Bureau on a scale worthy of a great and enlightened nation--a work +that contrasts in a very marked way with the studious neglect which +such subjects meet with from the government of this country.[4] We +find the several State legislatures anxiously encouraging every +species of improvement--that of New York, in particular, devoting +large grants to the support of exhibitions; preparing to found an +Agricultural College; distributing widely and gratuitously the +annual public reports on the state of agriculture; and, finally, +sending to Europe for a celebrated chemist to assist in maturing +their plans, and sitting--senators and great officers of state--at +the feet of a British Gamaliel, laying down the law to them on the +true principles of the all-important science of agriculture. Nor are +the owners of the land asleep. It is a strong indication of their +growing desire for information, that seven or eight agricultural +periodicals are published in the State of New York alone. Professor +Johnston found no less than fifty copies of such papers taken +regularly in a small town in Connecticut of some two thousand +inhabitants; and he had occasion to observe, in his intercourse with +the farmers of New York, their general acquaintance with the geology +of their country, and its relation to the management of their lands. +Their implement-makers, who had already taught us the use of the +horse-rake, the cradle-scythe, and the improved churn, have recently +outstripped us by the invention, or at least the great improvement, +of the reaping-machine, the advantages of which are so appreciated +in the country of its origin that at Chicago 1500 of M'Cormick's +machines were ordered in one year. In short, the proverbial energy, +perseverance, and sagacity that distinguish our Yankee friends, +seem now to be all directed towards effecting a change of system in +the management of land; and the true question is, not whether the +hitherto laggard progress of American agriculture is to be quickened +in future, but whether we shall be able to keep pace with it. + + [4] Vol. ii. p. 389. + +But then Professor Johnston tells us that improvement is expensive, +and that every process for reviving the dormant powers of the soil, +and preserving their activity, must necessarily be attended with +an addition to the price of the produce, which will thus prevent +its coming into competition with that of England. This view rests +upon a fallacy, which we are sure the author must have drawn from +his reading in political economy, and not from his experience as +an agriculturist. It is an off-shoot from the rent-theory, (the +pestilent root of so much error and confusion,) which, however, we +shall not notice at present, further than by affirming, in direct +contradiction to it, that improvements do _not_ necessarily, nor +generally, involve an increase of price. Even those which require +the greatest outlay--even a complete system of arterial drainage +all over the State of New York, instead of adding to the cost of +wheat, may very probably reduce it, as it has certainly done in +this country. But most of the improvements readily available in +the Eastern States involve scarcely any expenditure at all. The +most obvious and effectual is to save and apply the manure, which +is now wasted or thrown away; and when that proves insufficient, +abundant supplies of mineral manures are easily procurable. On the +exhausted wheat-lands of Virginia, a single dressing of lime or marl +generally doubles the first crop. Deposits of gypsum, and of the +valuable mineral phosphate of lime, seem to be abundant both in New +York and New Jersey. Again, in the former State, where the common +practice is to plough to a depth of _not more than four inches_, the +simple expedient of putting in the plough a few inches deeper would +of itself add one-half to the return of wheat over a very large +district. + +On the whole, so far from seeing any reason to anticipate, with +Professor Johnston, a material reduction in the quantity of our +wheat imports from the States, we look rather to see it increased; +and, at all events, we have no hesitation in saying, that to +encourage our English farmers to expect a cessation of competition +from that quarter is to deceive them with very groundless hopes. + +We have already dwelt at considerable length on this topic, both +because of the prominent place it occupies in Professor Johnston's +volumes, and of the notice which his speculations upon it have +attracted in this country. + +It has been mentioned that a large proportion--probably not less +than one-half--of the cereal food consumed in the States consists +of maize and buckwheat. Mr Johnston always alludes to this fact, +as if the use of these grains were a matter of compulsion--as if +the Americans resorted to them from being unable to afford wheaten +bread. Now, according to the information we have from other sources, +the truth is just the reverse of this. We are told that in the +Eastern and Central States, as well as on the West frontier and +among the slave population, the various preparations of Indian +corn are becoming more relished every year; and that the extension +of its cultivation is to be attributed, not to the failure of the +wheat crops, but to a growing preference for it as an article of +food. In a less degree the use both of oats and buckwheat seems to +be spreading in the States, as well as in our own colonies of New +Brunswick and Canada East; and one can scarcely wonder at the taste +for the latter grain, after reading the appetising descriptions our +author gives of the crisp hot cakes, with their savoury adjuncts +of maple-honey, which so often formed his breakfast during his +wanderings. The general use of these three kinds of grain--maize, +oats, and buckwheat--has somehow come to be considered by political +economists as indicative of a low degree of social advancement. +And yet we know that, in the countries suited to their growth, +a given area of ground cultivated with any of them will return a +greater quantity of nutritious food, at a smaller expense and with +less risk of failure, than if it were cropped with wheat. We are +told that the great objection to them is, that their culture _is +too easy_. Professor Johnston touches upon this notion in some +remarks he makes on the disadvantage of buckwheat as a staple +article of food. The objections to it, he tells us, consist in the +ease with which it can be raised, the rapidity of its growth, and +the small quantity of seed it requires: it induces, he says, like +the potato, an indolent, slovenly, and exhausting culture; and "it +is the prelude of evil, when a kind of food that requires little +exertion to obtain it becomes the staple support of a people."[5] +It may be noticed in passing, that, in point of fact, the results +alleged are at least not universal; for, in regard to this very +grain, we find its cultivation prevalent in some of the best-managed +districts of the hard-working, provident, and intelligent Belgians. +But taking the axiom as it stands, we cannot help suspecting +that there is some fallacy lurking at the bottom of it. Misled +by what we have observed of the Irishman and his potato diet, we +have confounded the _cum hoc_ with the _propter hoc_, and come to +regard an easily-raised food as _the cause_ of that indolence of +which it is only the frequent indication. It were otherwise a most +inexplicable contrariety between the physical and the moral laws +which govern this world, that in every country there should be a +penalty of social wretchedness and degradation attached to the use +of that particular food which its climate and soil are best suited +to produce. Can it be supposed that the blessings of nature are +only a moral snare for us, and that, while she has given to the +American the maize plant--oats to the Scotch Highlander--rice to the +Hindoo--the banana to the inhabitant of Brazil--a regard for their +social well-being requires each of them to renounce these gifts, and +to spend their labour in extorting from the unwilling soil some less +congenial kind of subsistence? Virgil has warned the husbandman-- + + "Pater ipse colendi + Haud facilem esse viam voluit." + +But it were surely a dire aggravation of the difficulties of his +task if his most plentiful harvest were also the most injurious to +his advancement and true happiness. We cannot now, however, examine +the grounds of a doctrine so paradoxical, and have adverted to it +only to remark that it seems destined to meet with a most direct +practical refutation in North America, where we find the habitual +use of what we choose to consider the coarser grains associated +with the highest intelligence and the most rapid development of +social progress. There can be no doubt that the nature of the food +generally used in any nation must exert an important influence +on its prosperity; but it is difficult to understand how that +prosperity should be promoted by the universal use of that variety +which costs most labour. At all events, it is certainly a subject of +very interesting inquiry, in reference to the increasing consumption +among ourselves of wheat--the dearest and most precarious species +of grain, much of it imported from other countries--and its gradual +abandonment in North America, what effect these opposite courses +may have on the future destinies of the two great branches of the +Anglo-Saxon race. + + [5] Vol. i. p. 80. + +Leaving this as a problem for political economists, let us now +follow him in his visit to the British side of the St Lawrence. His +brief three weeks' survey of the Canadas did not, of course, enable +him to form any very intimate acquaintance with the condition of +these provinces; and he prudently abstains from pronouncing any +judgment upon the vexed topics of Canadian politics. His presence +at the great exhibition, at Kingston, of the Agricultural Society +of Upper Canada, gave him a good opportunity of estimating the +progress that has been made in practical agriculture. The stock, +as well as the implements, there brought forward in competition +for the various premiums, amounting in all to L1000, gave most +satisfactory indications of improvement; while the large attendance, +and the interest taken in the proceedings, sufficiently showed +that the inhabitants of the Upper Province are now awake to the +necessity of agricultural improvement as the main source of their +future prosperity. In a country where eighty per cent of the +whole population are directly engaged in the cultivation of the +soil, the land interest is, or ought to be, predominant. But the +bitter animosity of political parties, and the abortive attempts +of government to soothe and reconcile them, have hitherto stood +much in the way of any combined effort towards the encouragement +of improved cultivation. The art of husbandry is not likely to +thrive in a country where every man is bent on proving himself a +Cincinnatus. Of late, however, public spirit has shown symptoms of +taking a more wholesome direction; and, notwithstanding occasional +ministerial crises and political explosions, which we on this +side the water are sometimes puzzled to understand, all parties +in the province seem now fully aware that the development of the +vast resources of their fertile soil is the only road to permanent +prosperity. The encouragement of local competitions, the provision +for systematic instruction in agriculture in the colleges--which +Professor Johnston tells us is in progress--and the introduction of +elementary lessons in the art as a regular branch of common school +learning, are all steps in the right direction. It is precisely in +such a community as that of Canada that the last-mentioned kind of +instruction is really of essential benefit. From the last census +of Upper Canada, it appears that there are sixty thousand owners +of land in the province, and only ten thousand labourers without +land. The great majority of the boys in the ordinary schools will +become proprietors, and, at the same time, cultivators; and, in such +circumstances, it is of the utmost importance that the youth should +acquire betimes a competent knowledge of the principles on which +his future practice is, or ought to be, founded--such knowledge as +will, at least, enable him to, shake off the traditional prejudices +and slovenly habits which his father may have imported with him from +Harris or the County Kerry. + +The querulous and depreciatory tone which our Canadian +fellow-subjects are apt to employ in speaking of their country, and +its prospects, is remarked by Professor Johnston as contrasting +oddly with the unqualified adulation of everything--from the +national constitution to the navy button--which one constantly +hears from his republican neighbour. One consequence of this habit +is, the existence of a prevalent but very mistaken notion that, +in the march of social advancement, Canada has been completely +distanced by the United States. Professor Johnston has been at some +pains to demonstrate, and we think most successfully, that this +impression is entirely erroneous. Indeed, if we only recollect +the history of Canada for the last fifteen years--the disunion of +her own people, and the reckless commercial experiments to which +she has been subjected by the home government, the rapid strides +in improvement--of the Upper Province especially--are almost +marvellous. As a corroboration of what Professor Johnston has said +on the subject, we have thrown together in the subjoined table, +collected from the Government returns, some of the most striking +and decisive evidences of the recent progress of Upper Canada. In +certain particulars, no doubt, she is outstripped by some of those +districts of the States to which from time to time extraordinary +migrations of their unsettled and nomadic population have been +directed. But putting such exceptional cases out of view, the +inhabitants of Canada need fear no comparison with the Union in all +the chief elements of national advancement. + + +PROGRESS OF UPPER CANADA,--1837-47. + + | | |Increase | |Increase + | 1837. | 1842. |per cent.| 1847. |per cent. + |-----------+-----------+---------+-----------+--------- + | | | | | + Population, | 396,721 | 486,055 | 22 | 723,332 | 48 + Number of cultivated| | | | | + acres assessed for | | | | | + local taxes, | 4,736,268 | 5,548,357 | 17 | 6,477,338 | 16 + Number of houses | | | | | + assessed | | | | | + for ditto, | 22,057 | 31,638 | 43 | 42,937 | 35 + Value of property | | | | | + assessed, |L4,431,098 |L6,913,341 | 56 |L8,567,001 | 23 + Number of carriages | | | | | + kept for pleasure, | 1,627 | 2,188 | 34 | 4,685 | 114 + Number of | | | | | + elementary | | | | | + schools, | -- | 927 | -- | 2,464 | 165 + Number of scholars | | | | | + in ditto, | -- | 29,961 | -- | 80,461 | 170 + Number of cattle, | -- | 504,963 | -- | 565,848 | 12 + Number of horses, | -- | 113,675 | -- | 151,389 | 33 + Number of sheep, | -- | 575,730 | -- | 833,869 | 45 + +In looking at the great sources of wealth possessed by these +provinces, our attention is at once arrested by the growing +importance of the St Lawrence as an outlet to the produce, not only +of the Canadas, but of a vast area of the States territory. With the +exception, perhaps, of the Mississippi, no river in the world opens +up so grand a highway for the industry of man as the St Lawrence, +with the chain of vast lakes and innumerable rivers that unite with +it in the two thousand miles of its majestic progress to the ocean. +Never was there an enterprise more worthy of a great nation than +that of surmounting the obstacles to its navigation, and completing +the channels of connection with its tributary waters; and nobly have +the people of Canada executed it. Taking into account the infancy +of their country, and the amount of its population and revenue, +it is not too much to say, with Mr Johnston, that their exertions +to secure water-communication have been greater than those of any +part of the Union, or any country of Europe. The improvements on +the St Lawrence itself, and the canals connected with it, have +already cost the colony two millions and a quarter sterling, in +addition to the expenditure of L800,000 by the home government on +the construction of the Rideau Canal. The results of this liberal +but judicious outlay are already showing themselves, not only by +the rapidly-increasing Canadian traffic on the St Lawrence, but +by its drawing into it, year after year, a larger share of the +commerce of the States. That the influx of trade from the south +must ere long vastly exceed its present amount, is evident from a +consideration of the gigantic projects already completed, or in +course of construction, for effecting an access between the lakes +and the fertile regions of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, &c., already +spoken of, and thus saving the longer and costlier transit by the +Mississippi. One of the Reports of the State of New York thus speaks +of them:-- + + "Three great canals, (one of them longer than the Erie Canal,) + embracing in their aggregate length about one thousand miles, + are to connect the Ohio with Lake Erie; while another deep and + capacious channel, excavated for nearly thirty miles through + solid rock, unites Lake Michigan with the navigable waters of + the Illinois. In addition to these broad avenues of trade, + they are constructing lines of railroads not less than fifteen + hundred miles in extent, in order to reach with more case and + speed the lakes through which they seek a conveyance to the + seaboard. The circumstance, moreover, is particularly important, + that the public works of each of these great communities + are arranged on a harmonious plan, each having a main line, + supported and enriched by lateral and tributary branches, + thereby bringing the industry of their people into prompt and + profitable action; while the systems themselves are again + united, on a grander scale, with Lake Erie as its common centre." + +The various streams of the trade from the interior being thus +collected in the lakes--which form, as it were, the heart of +the system--there are two great channels for its redistribution +and dispersion through the markets of the world. These are the +St Lawrence, and the Erie Canal with the Hudson; and the vital +question as regards the prosperity of Canada is, by which of these +outlets will the concentrated traffic of the lakes find its way to +the ocean? Mr Johnston has devoted considerable attention to this +subject, and assigns two good reasons for believing that the St +Lawrence is destined immensely to increase the share which it has +already secured. In the first place, the American artery is already +surcharged and choked up;--notwithstanding all the efforts that have +been made to expedite the traffic on the Erie Canal, it has been +found wholly inadequate to accommodate the immense trade pouring in +from the west; and, secondly, the route of the St Lawrence, besides +being the more expeditious, is now found to be the cheaper one. In +a document issued by the Executive Council of Upper Canada, it is +mentioned that the Great Ohio Railway Company, having occasion to +import about 11,000 tons of railway iron from England, made special +inquiries as to the relative cost of transport by the St Lawrence +and New York routes, the result of which was the preference of +the former, the saving on the inland transport alone being 11,000 +dollars. There seems good reason to expect that a considerable +portion of the Mississippi trade may be diverted into the Canadian +channel; but putting this out of view altogether, it is certain +that the navigation of this glorious river is every year becoming +of greater importance to the United States, as well as to Britain: +let us hope that it is destined ever to bear on its broad breast the +blessings of peace and mutual prosperity to both nations. + +After a rapid glance at Lower Canada, Professor Johnston crossed +the St Lawrence, in order to complete the survey of New Brunswick, +which, before leaving England, he had been commissioned to make for +the Government of the colony. We have had no opportunity of seeing +the official Report, in which he has published the detailed results +of his observations; but the valuable information collected in these +volumes has strongly confirmed our previous impression, that the +resources and importance of this fine colony have never yet been +sufficiently appreciated at home. With an area as nearly as possible +equal to that of Scotland, it possesses a much larger surface +available for agriculture. The climate is healthy and invigorating; +it is traversed by numerous navigable rivers; its rocks contain +considerable mineral wealth; and the fisheries on its coasts are +inexhaustible. Imperfectly developed as its resources are, the trade +from the two ports of St John's and St Andrew's alone, exceeds that +of the whole of the three adjoining States of the Union--Maine, +Vermont, and New Hampshire--although its inhabitants do not number +one-sixth of the population of these States. As to the fertility of +the soil, Professor Johnston, by a comparison of authentic returns, +shows that the productive power of the land already cultivated in +the province considerably exceeds the averages of New York, of Ohio, +and of Upper Canada--countries which have hitherto been considered +more favoured both in soil and climate. By classifying the soils in +the several districts, he has estimated that the available land, +after deducting a reserve for fuel, is capable of maintaining in +abundance a population of 4,200,000; while its present number little +exceeds 200,000. In all the course of his travels, he met with but +a few rare instances in which the agricultural settlers did not +express their contentment with their circumstances; and although it +seems still questionable whether farming on a large scale, by the +employment of hired labour, can be made remunerative, the universal +opinion of the experienced persons he consulted testified that, with +ordinary prudence and industry, the poorest settler, who confines +his attention to the clearing and cultivation of land, is sure of +attaining a comfortable independence. + +The question naturally occurs--How is it that, with all these +natural advantages and encouragements to colonisation, and with its +proximity to our shores, so very small a proportion--not more than +one in sixty or seventy of the emigrants from Great Britain--make +New Brunswick their destination? Professor Johnston, while he +maintains that, taking population into account, New Brunswick is in +this respect no worse off than Canada, adverts to several causes +of a special nature which may have retarded its settlement. But +the truth is, that the question above started leads us directly to +another of far greater compass and importance--What is the reason +that all our colonies taken together absorb so small a proportion of +our emigrants compared with the United States? What is the nature +of the inducements that annually impel so large a number of our +countrymen to forfeit the character of British subjects, and prefer +a domicile among those who are aliens in laws, interests, and system +of government? + +We hardly know how to venture upon anything connected with the +ominous subject of emigration, at a moment when the crowds leaving +our shores, at the rate of nearly a thousand every day, are such +as to startle the most apathetic observer, and shake the faith of +the most dogmatic economist in the truth of his speculations. This +is not the place to inquire what strangely compulsive cause it may +be that has all at once swelled the ordinary stream of emigration +into a headlong torrent.[6] Mayhap it is neither distant, nor +doubtful, nor unforetold. But whatever it may be, there stands the +fact--which we can neither undo, nor, for aught that can be seen at +present, prevent its annual recurrence in future, or say how and +when the waves are to be stayed. "When the Exe runs up the streets +of Tiverton," says a certain noble prophet--whose vaticinations, +however, have not been very felicitous hitherto--"then, and not till +then, may we expect to see the reversal of the free-import system;" +and then, and not till then, we take leave to add, may we hope to +see the ebbing of that tide of British capital and British strength +which is now flowing strongly and steadily into the bay of New York. + + [6] Total number of registered emigrants for the twenty-one years from 1825 + to 1845 inclusive 1,349,476----Average, 64,260 + Do. do. _for the five years_ 1846 _to_ 1850 inclusive, + 1,216,557----Average, 243,311 + + +PROPORTION OF BRITISH EMIGRATION TO THE COLONIES AND TO THE UNITED +STATES, 1846-50 INCLUSIVE. + + | | | | | | | Quarter | + | Destination. | 1846. | 1847. | 1848. | 1849. | 1850. | ending Sept | + | | | | | | | 30, 1851. | + | +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------------+ + | | | | | | | | + | United States | 45.1 | 31.8 | 57.3 | 73.3 | 79.4 | 80.5 | + | British America | 33.4 | 42.5 | 12.5 | 13.9 | 11.7 | 10.8 | + | All other places | 21.5 | 25.7 | 30.2 | 12.8 | 8.9 | 8.7 | + | +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------------+ + | Total | 100. | 100. | 100. | 100. | 100. | 100. | + +The accompanying abstract, from the returns of the Emigration +Commissioners, exhibits two most remarkable results:--1st, The +proportion of emigration to British America and other destinations +is gradually falling off; 2d, That to the United States is steadily +and rapidly increasing, so that they now receive four out of every +five emigrants who leave our shores. Is this distribution to be +regarded as a matter of indifference in a political point of view? +Are we to understand that it is no concern to us who remain behind, +whether the labour and capital of those who leave us shall go to +fill up the vacuum of our own colonial empire, or to carry new +accessions of wealth and power to those in whose prosperity (to put +the matter mildly) we have only a secondary interest? This question +the consistent Free-Trader is bound to answer unhesitatingly in +the affirmative. In his cosmopolitan philosophy, the interests of +one country are no more to be considered than those of any other. +The theory of absolute freedom of exchange expunges altogether the +idea of nationalism, and regards man, not as a member of this or +that community, but as the denizen of a great universal republic. +Local and historical associations--ties of kindred and of birth--are +only so many obstructions in the way of human progress; and an +Englishman is nothing more than the subject of certain animal +wants and instincts, the gratification of which he must be left to +seek wherever he finds the materials most abundant. Such is Free +Trade in its true scope and ultimate tendency. What shall be said, +then, of the consistency or sincerity of those pseudo-apostles +of the doctrine, who, having been the most active in promoting +that nibbling and piecemeal legislation which they choose to call +freedom of trade--who have been loudest in proclaiming a universal +commercial fraternity, and in denouncing colonies as a wasteful +encumbrance--are now the first to take alarm at the natural and +inevitable result of their own measures, and to call out for a +better regulation of emigration; in other words, for legislative +interference with the free action of those of our countrymen who, +being thrust out of employment in the land of their birth, are so +literally following out the great maxim of buying in the cheapest +market and selling in the dearest? + +The text is a tempting one, but we must refrain from wandering +further from the subject with which we started--namely, the +inducements which lead so many of our emigrants to select the United +States as their future home. One of the prevalent causes has been +very well stated by Professor Johnston--that which we may call the +capillary attraction of former emigration:-- + + "A letter from a connection or acquaintance determines the + choice of a place to go to, and, without further inquiry, + the emigrant starts. Thus for a while, emigration to a given + point, once begun, goes on progressively by a sort of innate + force. Those who go before urge those who follow by hasty and + inaccurate representations; so that, the more numerous the + settlers from a particular district, the more numerous also the + invitations for others to follow, till the fever of emigration + subsides. In other words, in proportion as the home-born + settlers in one of these countries increases, will the number of + home-born emigrants to that country increase--_but for a time + only, if the place have real disadvantages_."--(Vol. ii, p. 204.) + +It is vain to shut our eyes to the fact that the government of the +United States offers to the emigrant many real, substantial, and +peculiar advantages. The first and most important aid that can be +given to the intending settler is a complete and accurate survey of +the country; and this has been accomplished by the States government +at great expense, but in so perfect a manner that a purchaser has no +difficulty in at once pointing out, on the official plan, any lot +he may have selected in the most remote corner of the wilderness. +The next point of importance to him is simplicity of conveyance and +security of title; and so effectual and satisfactory is the American +system that litigation in original land-titles is almost unknown. +Then as to the weighty consideration of price--which perhaps ought +to have been first mentioned--the uniform and very low rate in the +States of 5s. 3d. an acre saves infinite trouble, disputation, +and jealousy. Such are some of the temptations held out to the +intending purchaser of land; and it must be confessed that, in each +particular, they present a striking contrast to the difficulties +he has to meet in some of the British colonies--the arbitrary +changes of system, the vexatious delays, and the comparatively +exorbitant charges--which must appear to the settler as if they had +been contrived on purpose to discourage him. When we add to these +the prospects of ready employment in the States held out to other +classes of emigrants, and the stringent laws lately made for their +protection, both on the passage and on their arrival, we cannot be +at a loss to see that the direction which emigration has lately +taken is not the result of chance or caprice, but of a deliberate +comparison of advantages, which the most ignorant can easily +understand and appreciate. + +The main object of Professor Johnston's visit being of a scientific +character, his remarks on the general topics of manners and politics +occur only incidentally; but it is impossible for any traveller +to keep clear of such subjects in writing of a country, the +peculiarities of which are pressed upon his notice at every hour of +the day, and at every corner of the street. Rabelais tells us of a +certain island, explored by the mighty Pantagruel, whose inhabitants +lived wholly upon _wind_--that is, being interpreted, on flattery; +and the visitor of the States who finds himself, as it were, pinned +to the wall, and compelled to yield up his admiration at discretion, +may be sometimes tempted to believe that he has made a similar +discovery, and that the flatulent diet of compliment is somehow +congenial to an American appetite. Professor Johnston seems to have +had his candour or his eulogistic powers sometimes severely tested, +if we may guess from his quiet hint, that "it is unpleasant to a +stranger to be always called on to admire and praise what he sees +in a foreign country; and it is a part of the perversity of human +nature to withhold, upon urgent request, what, if unasked, would +have been freely and spontaneously given." He is of course prepared +for the reception which any work, aiming at mere impartiality, +is sure to meet with among Transatlantic critics; and it will, +therefore, not surprise him to find that the above peccant sentence +has been already pounced upon by them as proving _malice prepense_, +and as affording a significant key to all his observations on the +institutions of the States. + +The following extract explains the origin of two of those euphonious +party designations in which our neighbours delight, and which may +perchance have puzzled some of our readers:-- + + "In England, to be a _democrat_ still implies a position at + the very front of the movement party, and a desire to hasten + forward political changes, irrespective of season or expediency. + But among the American democrats there is a Conservative and + a Radical party. The former, who desire to restrain 'the + amazing violence of the popular spirit,' are nicknamed by their + democratic adversaries the '_Old Hunkers_;' the latter, who + profess to have in their hearts 'sworn eternal hostility against + every form of tyranny over the mind of man,' are stigmatised as + '_Barnburners_.' The _New York Tribune_, in reference to the + origin of the names themselves, says that the name 'Hunkers' + was intended to indicate that those on whom it was conferred + had an appetite for a large 'hunk' of the spoils; though we + never could discover that they were peculiar in _that_. On the + other hand, the 'Barnburners' were so named in allusion to + the story of an old Dutchman who relieved himself of rats by + burning his barns, which they infested, just like exterminating + all banks and corporations, to root out the abuses connected + therewith."--(Vol. i. p. 218.) + +Equally mysterious is the term "log-rolling," though the thing +itself is not altogether unknown in legislatures nearer home. + + "When the trees are felled and trimmed, rolling the logs to the + rivers or streams down which they are to be floated, as soon as + the spring freshets set in, remains to be done. This being the + hardest work of all, the men of several camps will unite, giving + their conjoined strength to the first party on Monday, to the + second on Tuesday, and so on. A like system in parliamentary + matters is called 'log-rolling.' You and your friends help me + in my railroad bill, and I and my friends help you with your + bank charter; or sometimes the Whigs and Democrats, when nearly + balanced, will get up a party log-rolling, agreeing that the + one shall be allowed to carry through a certain measure without + much opposition, provided a similar concession is granted to the + other."--(Vol. ii. p. 297.) + +The _Notes_ convey to us the strong impression that Professor +Johnston's visit to the West has operated as a wholesome corrective +of a certain tendency in his political opinions. He seems to have +left home with a warm admiration of American institutions generally, +which, like Slender's love, "it pleased heaven to diminish on +further acquaintance." At all events, he could not avoid being +struck with some of the many perplexities and anomalies that +result from referring everything directly to the popular voice. +In England, whatever dissensions may arise about the enactment of +law, all are agreed in a sensitive jealousy as to the purity of its +administration. The most rampant Radical among us looks upon justice +as far too sacred a thing to be hazarded in the rude chance-medley +of popular election. The keenest partisan feels that, in the lofty +and unswerving integrity of our judges, he possesses a substantial +security and blessing, for the loss of which no place, power, or +parliamentary triumph, could compensate. To one accustomed to regard +with veneration the dignified independence of the judicial office +in Great Britain, nothing will appear more harshly repugnant to +sound policy than the system, lately introduced into some of the New +England States, of appointing all judges, high and low, by the votes +of the electors of the district over which they are to preside, and +for a limited term of years. + + "It was deservedly considered a great triumph when the + appointment of judges for life liberated the English bench from + the influence of the Crown, and when public opinion became + strong enough to enforce the selection of the most learned + in the law for the highest judicial offices. Now, passing + over the objection which some will strongly urge, that the + popular electors are not the best judges of the qualifications + of those who aspire to the bench, and that the most popular + legal demagogue may expect to obtain from them the highest + legal appointment, it may be reasonably asked whether popular + influence in seasons of excitement, and on questions of great + moment, may not bias the minds of judges whose appointment is in + the hands of the people?--whether the fear of a coming election + may not deter them from unpopular decisions? The influence of a + popular majority may here as profoundly pollute the fountains + of justice as the influence of the Crown ever did among us at + home."--(Vol. i. p. 150.) + +At first sight, it seems quite unaccountable that an enlightened +people should ever have devised or sanctioned a system which so +obviously exposes the bench to the risk of corruption; and one is +at a loss to reconcile a reverence for the law with an ordinance +that subjects her minister to the ordeal of canvassing and cajoling +all and sundry--perhaps the very men who may next day be in the +dock before him. But the root of the anomaly is not hard to find. +Into the purest of republics ambition and cupidity--the love of +office and the love of dollars--will force their way. But then, +under that form of constition, situations of trust and emolument +are necessarily few in comparison to the number of candidates for +them. The offices in the civil departments of the United States +governments are not numerous. The navy employs altogether some five +hundred officers above the rank of midshipman--exactly the number +of our post-captains; and the whole army of the Confederation, rank +and file, musicians and artificers included, is very little over +ten thousand men. There is little temptation to enter the medical +profession, in which learning and experience go for nothing, and a +Brodie is precisely on a level with a "Doctor Bokanky;"--nor the +Church, in which the pastor is hired by the twelvemonth, and is +thought handsomely paid with a wage of L100 a-year. What field, +then, remains for the aspiring spirit but the law?--and what +wonder if the sixteen thousand attorneys, who, we are told, find +a living in the States, and take a leading part in the management +of all public business, should vote "the higher honours of the +profession" far too few to be retained as perpetual incumbencies? +Hence has sprung the device of popular election to, and rotation +in, the sweets of office, which, by "passing it round," and giving +everyone a chance, is designed to render it as generally available +as possible. The constitution of the judiciary is not uniform, but +varies in almost every different state. In New York, the Judges of +Appeals, as well as those of the Supreme and Circuit Courts, are +elected by the people at large, and for a term of eight years, +each leaving office in rotation. In New Jersey they are appointed +for six years by the governor and senate; in Vermont, annually by +the legislature. In Connecticut nearly the same system prevails as +that in Vermont; while in Massachusetts the judges retain office +"during good behaviour." The salaries are not less various, in some +States the remuneration of judges of supreme courts being L500 +a-year, which is about the highest rate; and in others so low as +L180. There are no retiring allowances in any case; and as they are +thus liable to be thrown out of office at an uncertain period, or +compelled to vacate it after a short term of years, it can scarcely +be expected that such remuneration will secure the highest grade of +legal acquirements, either for the bench itself, or for the inferior +offices of attorney-generalships and chief-clerkships, which are all +held by the same lax tenure of popular favour. Even if the system +has "worked well," as it is said to have done by American writers, +during the four or five years it has been in operation in New +York--even if it be true that the lawyers of the Empire State have, +by avoiding the snares thrown in their way, given proof individually +of the probity of Cato, and of a constancy worthy of Socrates, we +still say that the State does wrong in putting their virtues to such +a test. Mr Johnston supplies us with an example of the temptation +it holds out to a dangerous pliancy of principle. Most of our +readers must be aware of the existence of an active and noisy party +in the States, who, under the name of "Anti-renters," are seeking +to free themselves from payment of certain reserved _rents_, or +_feu-duties_, as they would be termed in Scotland, which form the +stipulated condition of land tenure in a certain district. + + "The question has caused much excitement and considerable + disturbance in the State. It has been agitated in the + legislature and in the courts of law, and the supposed opinion + in regard to it of candidates for legal appointments, is said to + have formed an element which weighed with many in determining + which candidate they would support. During the last canvass + for the office of attorney-general, I met with the following + advertisement in the public journals of the State:-- + + "'I have repeatedly been applied to by individuals to know my + opinions with regard to the manorial titles, and what course I + intend to pursue, if elected, in relation to suits commenced, + and to be commenced, under the joint resolution of the Senate + and Assembly. I have uniformly replied to these inquiries, that + I regard the manor titles as a public curse which ought not + to exist in a free government, and that if they can be broken + up and invalidated by law, it will give me great pleasure; + and I shall prosecute the pending suits with as much vigour + and industry as I possess, and will commence others, if, on + examination, I shall be satisfied there is the least chance of + success. I regard these prosecutions as a matter of public duty, + and, in this instance, duty squares with my inclination and + wishes. 'L. S. CHATFIELD.' + + "Mr Chatfield," adds Professor Johnston, "_is now + attorney-general_; and I was informed that the known opinions of + certain of the old judges on this exciting question was one of + the understood reasons why they were not re-elected by popular + suffrage, when, according to the new constitution, their term of + office had expired."--(Vol. ii. p. 291.) + +Here, then, we see the highest law officer of the State openly +"bidding" for office--truckling to faction--and indecently +condescending to enact the part of a "soft-sawderer." That term, +we presume, is the proper American equivalent for the stinging +_soubriquet_ with which Persius stigmatises some Chatfield--some +supple attorney-general of his day-- + + "PALPO, quem ducit _hiantem_ + Cretata ambitio." + +When persons of the highest official position scruple not thus +undisguisedly to trim their course according to the "_popularis +aura_," one can scarcely help suspecting a want of firmness of +principle and genuine independence among the classes below them. +De Tocqueville's observations have taught us to doubt whether the +tree of liberty that grows under the shadow of a tyrant majority +can ever attain a healthy stability, however vigorous it may appear +externally. No one questions that the Americans enjoy, under +their institutions, very many of the blessings of a liberal and +cheaply-administered government. You have perfect liberty of speech +and action, so far as the government is concerned. The avowal of +one's opinion is not followed, as in Italy, or in the rival republic +of France, by a hint that your passport is ready, or by the polite +attendance on you, wherever you go, of a mysterious gentleman +in black; but you feel yourself, nevertheless, perpetually "_en +surveillance_," and constrained either to sail with the stream, or +to adopt a reserve and reticence which, to an Englishman, is almost +as irksome as the knowledge that there is a spy sitting at the same +dinner-table with him. + +The spirit of Professor Johnston's strictures on such anomalies +will, of course, insure his being set down by his democratic friends +in America as an unmitigated "old hunker;" and he certainly shows +no great liking for practical republicanism. But to find fault with +our neighbours' arrangements, and to be contented with our own, are +two very different things; and, accordingly, our author takes many +opportunities, as he goes along, of showing that he is quite aware +of the innumerable rents in our own old battered tea-kettle of a +constitution, and of the infinite tinkering it will take to make it +hold water. + +We should have held him unworthy of the character of a true Briton +if he had omitted the occasion of a grumble at our system of +taxation, though, of course, we differ with him entirely in the view +he takes of the evil. After an elaborate comparison of the taxation +in the United States with that of Great Britain, he sums up all with +the following somewhat sententious apophthegm:-- + + "The great contrast between the two sections of the Anglo-Saxon + race on the opposite sides of the Atlantic is this--_On the + one side the masses rule and property pays; on the other side + property rules and the masses pay_."--(Vol. ii. 254.) + +The sentence sounds remarkably terse and epigrammatic. Most of +such brilliant and highly-condensed crystals of wisdom, however, +will be found on analysis to contain, along with some exaggerated +truth, a considerable residuum of nonsense; and this specimen +before us, we apprehend, forms no exception. Even if the fact so +broadly asserted were indisputable, we should still be inclined to +doubt, after what the author has himself told us, whether the "rule +of the masses" is always an unmixed blessing to a community. He +has seen enough of it to know at least that the preponderance of +popular sway is not incompatible with much social restraint--with +prejudice and narrow-mindedness--with what _he_ considers a false +commercial principle--with a disregard of public faith, and of the +rights of other nations; and lastly, with a contempt of the rights +of humanity itself, and a legalised traffic in our fellow men. +But, if we understand him rightly, he does not so much defend the +abstract excellence of the democratic principle as advocate a nearer +approach, on our part, to the American model of taxation. In the +States, he says, property pays--in England the masses pay;--that +is, if we strip the proposition of its antithetical obscurity, the +owners of property pay less here than they do in America--not only +_absolutely_ less, but less in proportion to the whole amount of +taxation. The calculations on which he founds this assertion are too +long and involved to be quoted at length, but we will endeavour to +abridge them so as to enable the reader to judge of their accuracy. + +The taxes in the United States are of three classes: 1st,--the +_national_ taxes, amounting to about six millions a-year, which are +raised chiefly by customs duties on imports; 2d,--the _state_ +taxes; 3d,--the _local_ taxes, for the service of the several +counties, cities, and townships. These two last classes are levied +chiefly in the form of an equal rate assessed upon the estimated +value of all property, real and personal. + +In order to compare the incidence of the public burdens upon +property in the two countries, Professor Johnston selects the case +of New York State, in which the total taxable property (personal as +well as real) in 1849 was 666,000,000 of dollars, and the amount +of rates levied for state and local taxes 5,500,000 dollars, or +about 4/5 per cent on the gross valuation. Turning then to Great +Britain, (excluding Ireland,) he sets down the fee simple value of +the real property alone in estates above L150 a-year, as rated to +the income-tax, at L2,382,000,000. + + "Four-fifths of a per cent (the rate levied in New York) on this + sum would realise L19,000,000 sterling; and were _all_ property, + real and _personal_, in this island below L150 a-year, and the + amount of property in Ireland rated in a similar way, and fairly + collected, our entire revenue of L50,000,000 would probably be + obtained as the revenue of the State of New York now is, by this + one property tax only."--(Vol. ii. p. 257.) + +And he thus concludes that, as regards the _absolute_ amount of +taxation, property in Britain escapes for a smaller payment than +that in America. + +Now, it must be remarked, on this branch of the comparison, that +before we can form any opinion as to its soundness, it is essential +that we should know on what principles the valuation of property +is conducted in New York. The whole question depends upon this. If +the system of valuation is different in the two countries, there +are no materials on which to build a conclusion. We know what +discrepancies may arise out of the mode of valuation, from the fact +that, while the annual value of _all_ real property in England and +Wales was assessed for the poor-rate, in 1841, at about L62,500,000, +_a portion_ of it only--that over L150 a-year--was valued two years +afterwards, for the income-tax, at nearly L86,000,000. We observe +that Professor Johnston has arrived at the amount of real property +in Britain, by assuming the fee-simple value to be twenty-seven +years' purchase of the income. But in New York, he tells us, the +value of income is calculated at _only sixteen and a half years'_ +purchase. The terms of the comparison are, therefore, manifestly +faulty. And mark how this affects the result. The real income of +Great Britain, capitalised at sixteen and a half years' purchase, +would amount to only L1,447,000,000, and, if taxed at the same +rate as in New York, would yield, instead of L19,000,000 only, +L11,500,000, which, as it happens, _is three millions less than +it actually pays_, as may be plainly seen from the undernoted +statement:-- + + +DIRECT AND LOCAL TAXATION OF REAL PROPERTY IN GREAT BRITAIN. + + 1. Land Tax, L1,164,000 + 2. Poor and County Rate, (England,) 6,847,205 + 3. Highway Rate, " 1,169,891 + 4. Church Rate, " 506,812 + 5. Proportion of Stamp Duties on deeds affecting real property, 1,200,000 + 6. Proportion of Legacy Duty affecting do., 300,000 + 7. Property Tax, 2,600,000 + 8. Poor Rate, (Scotland,) L577,000--say on real property, 500,000 + 9. Statute Labour, (Scotland,) 81,226 + ---------- + Total, L14,369,134 + + _Note._--The first six items are taken from the Report of the + House of Lords on burdens affecting land, and some of them are + below the present amounts. The items affecting Scotland are + obviously defective. + +To this extent at least, then, we are justified in correcting +Professor Johnston's calculations, and in affirming with certainty +that the owner of _real property in Britain surrenders a larger +portion of his wealth for the public service than in New York_, or +any other State of the Union. Whether the same can be said of the +British owner of _personal_ property is another question, which we +shall come to by-and-by. + +So much for the _absolute_ comparison. But then Professor Johnston +aims also at proving, that while the rich man is better off here, +the poor man is worse--that the "masses" (_i. e._, we presume, those +who are dependent on the wages of labour) pay a larger share of +the public burdens than the same "masses" do in America. And this, +he thinks, is demonstrated by the fact, that the customs duties of +America amount to only a dollar a-head of the whole population, +whereas in Great Britain they are _three_ dollars--three times +heavier. Now, we venture to affirm that, as a contrast between the +position of the labouring man on this side of the Atlantic, and +that of his brother on the other, this statement is quite a nest +of fallacies. In the first place, it proceeds on the assumption (a +very common but erroneous one among our Free-Trade authorities) that +it is the labouring class who pay the bulk of the taxes drawn in +the shape of customs. As this error, however, may be held to affect +both sides of the comparison equally, we have next to notice that, +admitting it to be the case, the fact of the customs being three +dollars a-head in this country, and only one in the States, only +shows that the English labourer pays _absolutely_ more than the +Yankee, which no one ever doubted. It amounts only to this--that +in an old country which has to uphold numerous public institutions +unknown in America, and with a public debt to provide for of some +L800,000,000 sterling, the burden of this, as well as of all other +branches of taxation, is heavier than in the youthful republic, +with a national debt of only L13,000,000. In order to draw a fair +parallel between the cases as regards the poorer classes of both +countries, we must put the question in a different way, and inquire, +what proportion does the amount of customs (assumed as representing +the poor man's share of taxation) bear _to the whole public burdens_ +in the two countries respectively? The contrasted account would +then show the matter in a very different aspect from that in which +Professor Johnston has represented it, and would stand thus:-- + + | GREAT BRITAIN. | UNITED STATES. | + | | | + | National taxes, L50,000,000 | National taxes, L6,000,000 | + | Local ditto,[7] 14,000,000 | Local ditto,[8] 5,680,000 | + | ----------- | ----------- | + | Total, L64,000,000 | Total, L11,680,000 | + | Whereof the poor man's | Whereof the poor man's | + | share, or customs, is L20,000,000 | share, or customs, is L6,000,000 | + | or 321/2 per cent. | or 52 per cent. | + | | | + + [7] We give this amount as it is usually estimated, although it is + certainly far below the truth. + + [8] _The American Almanac_ for 1851. + +Even if we were to throw into the scale a large portion of the +excise duties levied in Britain, which Professor Johnston may be +entitled to claim as a peculiar burden on "the masses"--at least +as much as the customs--it would still be apparent, that, if such +payments are to be taken as a fair criterion, _the people's burdens +are not relatively heavier here than in America_. We shall only +add further on this subject, that while many of the less opulent +class of our fellow-citizens have undoubted real grievances +to complain of, and while writers, with worse intentions than +Professor Johnston, are ever ready to exaggerate them, and to foster +discontent, it becomes one of his high character to guard against +allowing a somewhat undisciplined taste for statistics to betray +him into rash general allegations, calculated to produce error and +irritation. + +The parallel he has drawn, however, is very instructive on one +point, although he has failed to notice it. He has taken some pains +to prove that, tried by the American standard, our poor men pay too +much, and our owners of real property too little, in both which +conclusions we have shown his grounds to be fallacious; but he takes +no notice of a far more obvious anomaly, the glaring injustice of +which is every day attracting more public comment--the comparative +_immunity of the owners of personal property_ in this country. The +local taxation of the States, it has been seen, is levied by an +equal assessment on property _of all kinds_; and although, from +the character of a great part of the country, the real property +much exceeds the movable in amount, the rate upon both is a uniform +one. No description of possessions is favoured with an invidious +exemption. We will take the assessment of one State as an example, +and copy the following "Items of the valuation of the taxable +property for the State of Iowa, according to the assessor's returns +for 1849." They are as follows:-- + + "Acres of land--Improvements on land--Town lots and + improvements--_Capital employed in merchandise_--Mills, + manufactories, distilleries, carding machines and tan-yards, + _with the stock employed_--Horses, cattle, sheep, &c.--Pleasure + carriages, watches, pianofortes--_Capital stocks and profits + in any company incorporated or unincorporated_--Property + in boats and vessels--Gold and silver coin, and bank-notes + in actual possession--_Claims for money, or other + consideration--Annuities--Amount of notes, mortgages, &c. All + other personal property over 100 dollars._" + +All these descriptions of property contribute alike, dollar +for dollar, towards the expenses of the State, which--be it +remarked--embrace not only the general charges for interest of +debt, and for the support of the legislative, executive, and +judiciary departments, but include also payments for prisons, +asylums, the militia, the public roads, and several other branches +of expenditure, which in this country are saddled either upon real +property or upon the land alone. Let any one look at the items of +the above list printed in italics, and say what portion of such +wealth passes through the national exchequer, or goes to uphold the +public institutions, of Great Britain. The whole annual incomes +above L50 a-year in Great Britain are estimated, on the best +attainable data,[9] to amount to upwards of L352,000,000 sterling, +of which the taxed real income is L86,000,000, or one-fourth part +only. Is there any one with a conscience so elastic as to maintain +that the owners of the other three-fourths contribute fairly to +the support of the State, in proportion to the revenue they enjoy +under its protection? From the investigations of Mr Smee, to whom +we have referred, it appears that while the number of those who +pay the direct taxes is about five hundred thousand, _there are +upwards of one million eight hundred thousand persons in Great +Britain enjoying incomes of above L50 a-year, who do not contribute +one farthing to them_. What is this but a system of iniquitous +exemption of the one class, and of virtual confiscation as to the +other? But the whole subject occupies far too prominent a place in +the public mind to be treated thus incidentally. For the present +then we leave it, thoroughly persuaded that, under a form of +government which acknowledges no distinctions between classes and +interests, so shameless a violation of the plainest principles of +equity cannot long be permitted to continue, and cordially joining +in the wish that no object of less momentous interest--no schemes of +impracticable retrenchment--no wily bait of extended suffrage--no +flourishing of the old red rag of reform, may be suffered to +distract the attention of the public, from the one great paramount +practical reform--A READJUSTMENT OF TAXATION. + + [9] See Mr Smee's pamphlet on the Income-Tax. + +We owe an apology to Professor Johnston for having deviated somewhat +from the ordinary course of a review. His work has already been so +much and so flatteringly noticed, that to have limited ourselves +to mere abridgment and quotation from the _Notes_ would have +led us over the same ground that has been already exhausted by +other critics. We have therefore preferred discussing some of the +questions of greatest public interest which his observations have +suggested; and if, on some of these, we have been led to dissent +from his opinions, we have done so in no unfriendly spirit, which +indeed would have been impossible in judging of an author whose own +views are always expressed with perfect candour and moderation. +There can be no doubt that, under the unpretending title which he +has chosen to adopt, he has contrived to bring together a larger +mass of varied and valuable information on the present condition of +North America than is to be found in any work yet published. + + + + +THE ANSAYRII. + +_The Ansayrii (or Assassins;) with Travels in the Further East._ +By the Hon. FREDERIC WALPOLE, R.N., Author of _Four Years in the +Pacific_. London: Bentley, 1851. + + +Hail to the bright East, with all its mysteries, its mighty past, +its pregnant future, its inexhaustible sources of airiest amusement +and most solemn interest! We welcome with pleasure the original and +truly Oriental book before us. It harmonises rather with the poetic +than the historic character of Eastern lands; but in its wild and +dreamy narrative there are to be found vivid and faithful pictures, +such as those that lighted up the charmed reveries of DeQuincey. For +the present we will lay aside the critic's task: we will postpone +all such considerations, and invite the reader to accompany us in a +rapid tour over the varied regions which Mr Walpole has recalled to +our memory and imagination. Let us turn for a little from the "world +that is too much with us," and, ranging away from chilly mists and +gloomy skies, sun our fancy in the lands where Paradise was planted. + +Egypt and Palestine appear familiar to us all; they are of common +interest to the whole Christian world--classic lands to every old +villager who can read his Bible, as well as to the profound scholar. +In them, sacred and profane history are so intimately blended +that the latter assumes almost the authenticity of the former. +Herodotus and his followers have actually a people still in the +flesh (if flesh the mummy may be called) to refer to: subterranean +Egypt is still inhabited by the undecayed bodies of the very men +who associated with the Israelites, and forms that were beautiful +and loved three thousand years ago. Imperishable as their old +inhabitants, their temples and their monuments still stand above +them, and will there remain unparalleled, until their long-buried +architects shall rise again. + +Passing on to Palestine, we find, memories and associations still +stronger and more striking; for here nature is invested with the +sentiment that in Egypt is awakened by art. Palestine belongs not to +time only, but to eternity; with which, by types and illustrations, +its earthly history is so beautifully blended and aggrandised. Its +literature is inspired truth, its annals are prophecies fulfilled, +and the very face of the land itself vindicates the beauty it _once_ +wore, through all the sorrow and desolation that have fallen on it +since. Owing to the metaphorical style of Oriental composition, +every object in nature was used to illustrate or impress by its +analogy; and hence not only the holy mountains, the sacred rivers, +and the battle plains have memories for us, but the very "hyssop +on the wall," the blasted fig-tree, the cedar, the "high rock in +the thirsty land;" every vale, and hill, and lake, and city, is +consecrated by some association with the men who spoke the words of +God--with the time that witnessed His presence in the flesh. + +The remorseless Jews were swept from the Promised Land, as their +ancestor was from Eden, for the irreparable sin; and the sword of +the Roman waved over the ruined walls of Jerusalem, forbidding all +return. The Saracen and the Crusader succeeding, add another element +of interest--an English association--to long-tried and suffering +Judea. The Crusaders were rather a warlike emigration than invasion; +they were the angry overflow of discontented Europe, which sought +to vent its spleen and dogmas upon the Infidel. Their ebbing tide +bore back to us the arts and sciences and chivalry of Arabia; +and thus Palestine became the channel for all our best temporal +acquirements, as it had long since furnished us with our eternal +hope. + +All this, and more--much more--invests Syria with undying and +exhaustless interest to the student and the traveller; but we +will not linger on such impressions now. We have a lighter task +to fulfil, though we are about to visit the land of Nimrod, of +Abraham's nativity, and of the empire of Semiramis. The pleasant +company in which we travel will speed us on; and, in the old +troubadour fashion, lay and legend will beguile the way. But before +we enter fairly on our pilgrimage to "Ur of the Chaldees" and the +tomb of Nineveh, we shall pause to make some practical observations +on the route which, in its present aspect, may be new to some of our +readers. + +EGYPT MAY SOON BE REACHED IN TEN DAYS.[10] This is almost +incredible; still more so, when we add that it may be accomplished +without fatigue, hardship, or self-denial. The traveller even now +embarks at Southampton in one of the Oriental Company's magnificent +steamers, and finds himself landed at Alexandria in fifteen days, +having visited Gibraltar and Malta, besides having travelled three +thousand miles in as much comfort as he would have enjoyed at +Brighton, with far more advantage to his health and spirits, and but +trifling additional expense. For our own parts, we believe that, +before long, sea voyages, instead of sea shores, will be resorted +to, not only by the invalid, but by the epicurean and the idler. +The floating hotels of our ocean steamers afford as comfortable +quarters as any of their more stationary rivals, with the additional +advantage of presenting a change of air and of scenery every morning +that the "lodger" rises. + + [10] By the leviathan steamers now building for the Peninsular and + Oriental Steam Company. They are calculated to make from sixteen to + eighteen miles an hour, which would reduce the sea-going part of the + voyage to eight days two hours. + +The autumn--the later the _better_--is the _best_ period for +visiting Egypt. October is, on the whole, the best month for +beginning the ascent of the Nile. We will suppose the traveller +landed at Alexandria: he achieves the lions of that suddenly-created +city (except Aboukir Bay) in a few hours, and is ready to start +for Cairo in the mail steamer, with the India-bound passengers who +accompanied him from England. The country in which he now finds +himself, by so sudden a transition, is full of apparent paradoxes; +amongst others, he may be surprised to find that the canal on which +he travels to Atfeh winds considerably, though no engineering +obstacles whatever oppose themselves to a straight course. The +reason of this sinuosity was thus explained to us by Mehemet Ali +himself:--"You ask why my canal is not straight: Ya, Wallah! it is +owing to a bit of bigotry. The dog who made it was a true Believer, +and something more. He said to himself, 'Ya, Seedee, thou art about +to make what Giaours call a canal, and Giaours in their impiety make +such things straight. Now, a canal is made after the fashion of a +river--(Allah pardon us for imitating his works!)--and all rivers +wind: Allah forbid that my canal should be better than His river; it +shall wind too.'" + +And so it does. + +Landed at Cairo, the traveller of the present day will find a +steamer once a fortnight ready to take him up to the first cataract +and back again, as fast as Young Rapid, or any other son of a +tailor, could desire. But even the rational tourist will be tempted +to send on his Kandjiah, (the old-fashioned Nile boat,) well +found and provisioned, a fortnight or three weeks before him, and +overtake her in the steamer. The Kandjiah voyage up stream is often +wearisome, downward never--as in the descent you are borne softly +along at from three to six miles an hour, even when you sleep. From +the first cataract to the second is only about two hundred miles, +and occupies about three weeks; but to those who can find pleasure +in what is most wild and dreamy and unearthly in scenery and art, +the desert view from Mount Abousir, the temples of Guerf, Hassan, +and Ipsamboul, are worth all the rest of the Nile voyage, except +Thebes and exquisite Philae.[11] Returned to Alexandria, as we will +suppose, in March, the traveller will be quite early enough for +Syria, whose winter (considering the tented life he is compelled to +lead) is not to be despised. A steamer transports him to Beyrout in +thirty hours; and there our true travel begins.[12] + + [11] The mere physical pleasure of the upper voyage has been + thus described--"No words can convey an idea of the beauty and + delightfulness of tropical weather, at least while any breeze + from the north is blowing. There is a pleasure in the very act of + breathing--a voluptuous consciousness that existence is a blessed + thing: the pulse beats high, but calmly; the eye feels expanded; + the chest heaves pleasureably, as if air was a delicious draught + to thirsty lungs; and the mind takes its colouring and character + from sensation. No thought of melancholy ever darkens over us--no + painful sense of isolation or of loneliness, as day after day we + pass on through silent deserts, upon the silent and solemn river. + One seems, as it were, removed into another state of existence; and + all the strifes and struggles of that from which we have emerged + seem to fade, softened into indistinctness. This is what Homer and + Alfred Tennyson knew that the lotus-eaters felt when they tasted + of the mysterious tree of this country, and became weary of their + wanderings:-- + + '----To him the gushing of the wave + Far, far away, did seem to mourn and rave + On alien shores: and, if his fellow spake, + His voice was thin, as voices from the grave! + And deep asleep he seemed, yet all awake, + And music in his ears his beating heart did make.' + + If the day, with all the tyranny of its sunshine and its innumerable + insects, be enjoyable in the tropics, the night is still more so. + The stars shine out with diamond brilliancy, and appear as large as + if seen through a telescope. Their changing colours, the wake of + light they cast upon the water, the distinctness of the milky way, + and the splendour, above all, of the evening star, give one the + impression of being under a different firmament from that to which + we have been accustomed; then the cool delicious airs, with all the + strange and stilly sounds they bear from the desert and the forest; + the delicate scents they scatter, and the languid breathings with + which they make our large white sails appear to pant, as they heave + and languish softly over the water."--(_The Crescent and the Cross_, + vol. i. p. 210.) + + [12] The journey from Cairo across the desert by Suez, or at least + thence by Gaza or Sinai to Jerusalem, is performed in the same + manner as it was in the days when Eothen, Dr Robinson, and Lord + Castlereagh described it. The only difference occurs in the route + between Cairo and Suez, which is now performed on wheels in about + twelve hours, and, in the course of eighteen months, is expected to + be easily accomplished in two hours and a half by railway. + +Thus, (omitting the somewhat important episode of Egypt,) we find +ourselves transported, in little more than a fortnight, from +the murky fogs and leafless trees of England, to the delicious +temperature and tropical verdure that surrounds the most beautiful +town of the Levant. As every improvement in steam-navigation lessens +its distance from Christendom, Beyrout increases and expands. Nor +must we omit an honest tribute to the iron but even-handed justice +of Ibrahim Pasha, which first rendered it safely accessible to +Europeans. Before his conquest of Syria, the Frank was wont to +skulk anxiously through the town, exposed to insult and unpunished +violence: without the walls, the robber enjoyed as much impunity +as the bigot did within; and, between both, Beyrout became, or +continued to be, a miserable village. Its environs were wild +wastes, where the gipsy alone ventured to pitch his tent, and the +wild dog prowled. Now, pleasant gardens and picturesque kiosks, +or summer-houses, replace the wilderness; the town expands, grows +clean, doubles its population, and welcomes a crowd of shipping to +its port. A more delightful residence, as a refuge from winter, can +scarcely be conceived. An infinite variety of excursions may be made +from hence; and every time the traveller mounts his horse, whether +he be historically, picturesquely, controversially, botanically, +or geologically given, he may return to his flat-roofed home with +some valuable acquisition to his note-book. The views are everywhere +magnificent, and the warm breezes from the bluest of oceans are +tempered by the snowy neighbourhood of the loveliest of mountains. + +Five roads of leading interest (besides many a cheering byway +among the hills) branch out from the walls of Beyrout. Damascus is +about eighteen hours off; Jerusalem six days; Djouni, the romantic +residence and burial-place of Lady Hester Stanhope, ten hours; +Baalbec, the flower of all Eastern ruins, eighteen hours, and +Latakia, whither _we_ are bound, five days. These distances may be +accomplished in less time; they are here given at the calculation +of a walking pace, as the roads, or rather paths, are for the most +part steep and difficult; and the baggage-horses, at all events, +can seldom advance more rapidly. One word more of dry detail, and +we shall put ourselves _en route_ for the mountains of the Ansayrii +and the further East. Notwithstanding the advance of civilisation at +Beyrout, where a European consulocracy has established a more than +European equality of privileges between Turks and Christians, the +interior of the country is daily becoming more dangerous to travel +in. Eight years ago, when the stern rule of Ibrahim Pasha had still +left its beneficent traces, the writer of this article wandered over +the length and breadth of the land, attended by a single servant +and a muleteer. Since our Government, for inscrutable reasons, +has restored Syria to the embroilment of its native factions, all +security for the traveller, and indeed for the native, has ceased. +To reach Jerusalem, or even Damascus, in safety, a considerable +escort is now necessary; though the Vale of Baalbec may still be +reached in less warlike fashion from Latakia or Tripoli, if the +traveller is endowed with liberality, courage, and courtesy--the +leading virtues of his profession. + +Before we proceed on our travels, let us introduce our guide. +Mr Walpole is a young naval officer, and there is in most of +his narrative a dashing impetuous style, which savours of his +profession. In this there is a certain charm, imparting as it does +an air of frank and fearless confidence in his reader's quick +perception and favourable construction. There is in his writings +what we would also hope is professional--a chivalrous feeling and +generous sentiment, that is never obscured by a sordid thought or +unworthy imputation. As he sees clearly, of course he also sees +faults in men, and minds, and manners; but such discoveries are +made in a tone of regret rather than of triumph; or thrown off in +a strain of good-humoured satire that could not offend even its +objects. His descriptive powers are graphic, and often very vivid; +his humour is very original, being generally tinged with melancholy, +in such sort as that of a philanthropic Jacques might be: finally, +he does not fear to display a profound and manly reverence for +holy things and sacred places. On the other hand, to set against +all these high merits, we must confess that many faults afford +some drawback to his book. It is often incoherent, and deficient +in arrangement. The first volume is rather the groundwork than +the accomplishment of what an author with Mr Walpole's powers and +material should have effected. Most of these faults, however, +may find their excuse in the circumstances under which they were +composed. They smack of the tent, the boat, and the bivouac, as old +wine does of the _borachio_. Whatever they may be, this work is one +that will be widely read; and wherever it is read with appreciation, +it will direct the interest not only to its subject, but its author: +his individuality, unostentatiously and unconsciously, is impressed +on every page; and his genius, however erratic, is unquestionable. + +The cockpit, and even the gun-room of a man-of-war, are little +favourable to intellectual effort, or the habit or the love of +learning which it can alone accomplish. We can therefore make +greater allowances for errors in composition, and concede greater +credit for the attainments in languages and general knowledge which +our young author has achieved. This is perhaps still more striking +in a work written by Mr Walpole three years ago, entitled _Four +Years in the Pacific_, which, though written in a midshipman's +berth, abounds in passages of beauty, and in his peculiar and +original humour. Having said so much in his praise and dispraise, +and only premising, in addition, that he speaks Arabic and Turkish, +so as to interpret for himself the quaint unusual thoughts of the +people among whom he lives, we enter upon a survey of what he saw. + +We have unwillingly passed over the whole of our author's outward +voyage, which is graphically, and almost dramatically, described. +We shall only refer to one or two passages respecting the Levant. +The following sentence may dispel some fanciful visions of the sunny +climate of Stamboul:-- + + "Snow, 'thick and deep' enveloped the city; cupola, dome, + and cypress were burdened with icicles; above, was an angry + winter sky with a keenly piercing wind.... English fires and + English coals were the best things we saw--we were actually + blockaded by the weather.... At length we embarked: the crew + were shovelling the deep snow-drift off the deck, so we rushed + below into a cabin whose bulkheads were beautifully varnished, + sofas perfect, skylights closed, the whole atmosphere tobacco. + We were off, gliding past the Seraglio Point, which was swathed + in snow, and looking like a man in summer clothes caught in a + wintry storm.... Masses animate and inanimate encumbered the + deck; the former for the most part consisting of the Sultan's + subjects; among the latter our baggage, which was thrown into + the general heap, and kicked about until it found quiet in the + hold.... The numbers thus congregated were principally pilgrims, + on their way to Jerusalem and to the Jordan; though others, on + more worldly journey bent, were mingled with the rest. Each + family had taken a spot on the deck, and there, piled over with + coverings, and surrounded with their goods, they remained during + the voyage: one side of the after-deck was alone kept clear for + the first-class passengers, and even this was often invaded by + others, who wisely remarked that _we_ had cabins below. + + "Each family forms a scene in itself; and an epitome of life + in the East is found by a glance around. Four merchants, on + their return from a trading tour, have bivouacked between the + skylights; and they sing and are sick; call _kief_[13] and + smoke, with true Moslem indifference. On the starboard quarter, + our notions of Eastern domesticity are sadly put out, for there + a Moslem husband is mercilessly bullied by a shrill-voiced + Houri. It is curious to observe her perseverance in covering + her face, even during the agonies of sea-sickness. Their black + servant has taken us into the number of licensed ones, and her + veil now hangs over her neck like a loosened neck-cloth. + + [13] _Kief_: a word difficult to translate, but expressing + perfect abandonment to repose; a _dolce far niente_ which only + Orientals can thoroughly achieve. + + "On the other side, a Greek family in three generations lies + along the deck, fortified by a stout man-servant across their + legs, whose attentions to the girls during his own heart-rending + ailments is very pretty. The huge grandmother was set on fire + and smouldered away most stoically, until her foot began to + burn, when, while others put her out, she sank blubbering to + sleep again. The pretty granddaughters find the long prostration + more irksome; but send their flashing eyes about with careless + movement, and so the mass goes on. Here one appears to be + offering up _nazam_, but nearer inspection shows that his shoe + is only receiving the offering to the heaving waves.... + + "Our steamer had passed sad hours of toil, and pitched and + tossed us all out of temper before we entered the calm waters to + leeward of Rhodes, and at last, passing the low points covered + with detached houses and windmills, we shot round in front of + the harbour. Our view of the intervening coast had been too + vague to form a judgment upon it; but here and there a peak + towered up above the mists, all else being veiled by the cloudy + sky.... No place it has ever been my fortune to visit, more, by + its appearance, justifies its character than Rhodes. Around the + harbour's shore, one continued line of high castellated wall, + unbroken save by flanking towers or frowning portals; from the + wave on either side, dovetailed to the rock, rise the knightly + buildings; and as the eye reaches round, no dissonant work mars + the effect, save that one lofty palm rears its tropic head--but + it adds to, rather than lessens, the effect. Above the walls, a + mosque with its domed roof or minaret appears; and the fragile + building speaks, how truly! in its contrast to the massive walls + and ponderous works of former rulers, that the battle is not + always to the strong." + +In speaking of the sister island-fortress, Malta, our author remarks +(in a former page) the immediate contrast presented by these +luxurious arsenals:-- + + "The Eastern reclines on the cushioned divan, the embodiment + of repose; the softest carpets, the freshest flowers, surround + him--soft women attend the slightest motion of his eye--all + breathes of indolence, abandonment, and ease; yet his girdle + bristles with arms--his gates are locked and guarded. So at + Malta, the bower is a bastion, the saloon a casemate, the + serenade the call of martial music, the draperies war-flags, the + ornaments shot in ready proximity." + +Proceeding to Tarsus, we pass on to Alexandretta, "a wretched +collection of hovels. The harbour is splendid; the ruins of the old, +the skeleton of the new town, standing on the beach. Behind it, in +every direction, stretches a fetid and swampy plain, which only +requires drainage to be rendered fertile and wholesome." This is the +seaport of Aleppo, on the road to which lies the town of Beilau, +and the village of Mortawan, where Pagan rites, especially those of +Venus, are still said to be maintained. But again we reimbark-- + + "Again the vessel cuts the wave. The mountains become a feeble + bleached outline, save Cassius on the north, who frowns on his + unrecorded fame. Yes, noble hill! though not so high as Strabo + tells, though not lofty and imposing; though dark thy path + now--unnoticed, solitary. There blazed up the last effort of the + flame of pagan civilisation: there Julian the Great--whatever + other title men may bestow upon him--offered his solemn + sacrifice to Jupiter the Avenger, previous to his last campaign, + when the eagles were to wave over Mesopotamia. + + "The Sabbath dawned fresh, unclouded, and beautiful, as we + anchored in the pretty little port of Latakia, the ancient + Laodicea. The town of Latakia, built by Seleucus Nicator, in + honour of his mother, is comprehended in the Pashalic of Saida, + or Beyrout. It stands on a spur of the Ansayrii Mountains. About + half a mile inland, the spur falls into the sea, and forms Cape + Zairet; the town stands on its southern slope, and is joined, + by gardens and a port, to the sea. The port is small and well + sheltered; but time, Turks, and ruins, are filling it up. The + buildings on the shore, having their backs to the sea, present + the appearance of a fortification. On a reef of rock that + shelters the harbour stands a pile of building of different + eras. It seems to be castle, mosque, and church. Along the beach + lie hundreds of shafts of columns, and many are built into the + walls, of whose remains you catch a glimpse on the southern + side." + +Here we must pause, though our traveller proceeds to Beyrout, of +which he gives a charming account, which our limits forbid us +to quote. We reserve our space for more novel scenes, and must +pass over a chapter on Damascus, which is rich in legends and +graphic pictures. Thence, _en route_ to Homs, by the way of the +desert, eastward of the Anti-Lebanon, we have a sketch that is too +characteristic of Eastern travel to pass over:-- + + "North, south and east, dead plain; west, a low range of hills, + and beyond, the fair Anti-Lebanon in all its snowy beauty. + Desert all around us, but no dreary waste. Here and there were + loose stones and rocks; the rest a carpet of green, fresh, dewy + grass, filled with every hue of wild-flowers--the poppy in its + gorgeous red, the hyacinth, the simple daisy and others, thick + as they could struggle up, all freshened with a breeze heavy + with the scents of thyme. The lark sent forth its thrill of + joy in welcome to the coming day; before us the pennon of the + spearmen gleamed as they wound along the plain. We passed the + site of an Arab encampment strewn with fire-blackened stones, + bones, and well picked carcasses. Storks and painted quails + sauntered slowly away at our approach, or perched and looked as + if they questioned our right to pass. At eight o'clock halted + at a khan called Hasiah also. The population consisting of + robust, wild-looking fellows; and very pretty women poured out + to sell hard-boiled eggs, leban, bread, and milk: they were all + Mussulmans.... + + "We were soon disturbed by a multitude of sick, which recalled + to one's mind how in this land, of old, the same style of faces, + probably in the same costumes, crowded to Him who healed. The + lame, carried by the healthy; feeble mothers with sickly babes; + hale men showing wounds long self-healed; others with or without + complaints." + +Arrived at Homs, we have-- + + "Fish for dinner, from the Lake of Kades, whose blue waters we + saw in the distance to-day. The Lebanon opens behind that lake, + and you may pass to the sea, on the plain, without a hill. + This plain, but rarely visited, is among the most interesting + portions of Syria, containing numerous convents, castles, and + ruins, and its people are still but little known. Maszyad, the + principal seat of the sect called Ismayly: the Ansayrii also, + and Koords, besides Turks, Christians, and gipsys, may be found + among its varied population. The ancient castle of El Hoshn, + supposed, by the lions over its gates, to have been built by + the Count of Thoulouse, is well worth a visit. The Orontes, + taking its rise in a rock, from whence it gushes just west of + the Tel of Khroumee,--(true bearing from Homs from south 60 deg. + 32' east,)--flows through the Lake of Kades, and passes about + 2 deg. to the west of Homs: it is called Nahr El Aazzy, or "the + rebel river," some say because of its running north, while all + the other rivers run south; more probably, however, on account + of its rapidity and strength of current. It is an historical + stream; on its banks were altars, and the country it waters is + almost unmatched for beauty-- + + 'Oh, sacred stream! whose dust + Is the fragments of the altars of idolatry.'" + +It was at Homs--the ancient Emessa--that Zenobia was brought as a +captive into the presence of Aurelian. + + "Why did she not there fall? why add the remaining lustreless + years to her else glorious life? why, in the words of Gibbon, + sink insensibly into the Roman matron? Zenobia fat, dowdy, and + contented--profanation! Zimmerman, however, invests the close + of her career with graceful philosophy: at Tivoli, in happy + tranquillity, she fed the greatness of her soul with the noble + images of Homer, and the exalted precepts of Plato; supported + the adversity of her fortunes with fortitude and resignation, + and learnt that the anxieties attendant on ambition are happily + exchanged for the enjoyments of ease and the comforts of + philosophy." + +From Homs we reach Aleppo in four days. + + "It was a spring morning, and a gentle keenness, wafted from + snow-clad mountains, rendered the climate delightful. The town + lay beneath me, and each terrace, court, serai, and leewan + lay open to my view. I saw Aleppo was built in a hollow, from + which ran plains north and west, surrounded by mountains. To + the north, Djebel Ma Hash and his range, untouched by the soft + smiles of the young spring, lay deep in the snow; the flat + connected grass-grown roofs and well-watered sparkling courts, + with their carefully-tended trees, relieving the glare of the + houses, while all around the town lay belted in its garden. The + scene was pretty and pleasing; here and there the forests of + tomb-stones, the perfect minaret, the Eastern dome swelling up + from the mob of flat roofs,--these formed a sight that told I + was in the East, in the cradle of mankind--the home of + history."... + + "And here, though sorely pressed for time, we must stop for a + picnic, which E---- and myself were told it would be right to + give. We provided carpets, nargillehs, horse-loads of sundries, + cushions, a cargo of lettuces; and thus equipped, we sallied + out, a very numerous party. The first thing to select was a + garden, a point on which our own choice, and not the owner's + will, seemed alone to be consulted. Let not the reader fancy + an Eastern garden is what a warm Western fancy would paint + it--wild with luxuriant but weedless verdure, heavy with the + scent of roses and jessamine, thrilling with the songs of the + bulbul and the nightingale, where fair women with plaited + tresses touch the soulful lute in graceful attitudes. No; it + is a piece of ground enclosed by high walls, varying in size. + A wretched gate, invariably badly made, probably ruined, + admits you to the interior. Some enclose a house with two or + three rooms--windowless, white-washed places. Before this + is a reservoir of dirty, stagnant water, turned up from a + neighbouring well by an apparatus as rude as it is ungainly and + laborious: this is used to irrigate the ground, which therefore + is alternately mud and dust. Fruit trees or mulberries are + planted in rows, and the ground beneath, being ploughed up, + is productive of vegetables or corn. One or two trees, for + ornament, may be planted in the first row, but nothing more; and + weeds, uncut, undestroyed, spring up in every direction. Such, + without exaggeration, is the _Bistan zareff quiess!_--the Lovely + Garden. + + "We selected one that belonged to the Mollah. Oh, true believer! + in thy pot we boiled a ham; on thy divan we ate the forbidden + beast; thy gardener, for base reward, assisting to cook--who + knows, but also to eat the same? We chose a spot shaded by a + noble walnut tree, and spread carpets and cushions. Fire was + lighted, nargillehs bubbled, and kief began." + +On the 2d of May we start for the Euphrates, and follow for some +time nearly the route recommended by Colonel Chesney for the great +Indian railway to Bussora, on the Persian Gulph. The distance is +little more than 800 miles--scarcely thirty steam-winged hours--the +level surpassingly uniform. Truly those who desire to find either +solitude, or what our author calls _kief_, in the East, must +repair thither quickly, for the iron of the engineer has already +entered into its soul. Already the blue and white rivers of the +Nile are more easily attainable than were the Tiber and the Po to +our grandfathers. Beyrout and Latakia will soon be fashionable +watering-places; Baalbec as well known as Melrose Abbey; and the +excavated ruins of Nimroud will come under the range of "return +tickets." The grim Arab will look out from any quiet spot that the +all-searching Cockney may have spared him; and he will gaze with +wonder on the awful processions of the "devil-goaded" tourists, as +they rush with magic speed across his wilderness--only to retrace +their steps. The Turk, at the utmost bounds of the Othman Empire, +will marvel at this new freak of _kismet_ (destiny;) with a sigh +he will abandon his beloved _bockra_ (the "to-morrow" in which he +loves to live;) and commending himself to Islam, or resignation in +its most trying form, he will "jump in" like the mere Giaours, and +be hurled along with the rest across the desert behind the Afreet +stoker. + +But at present the wilderness knows nothing of all this, and we have +before us the scenery of other days as Abram beheld it. We now cross +the Chalus River, and enter upon a series of vast plains, varied by +mysterious _tels_ or mounds, rising up from the level surface like +bubbles on a pool. On, or among these, the ever restless Turkomans +pitch their tents, and welcome the traveller kindly to their +wandering homes. On the third day from Aleppo we reach Aintab, on +the river Sadschur, "which, fresh and young, danced brightly on, as +if eager to join the Euphrates and see the wide world beyond." + + "At Aintab, among other visitors was Doctor Smith, an American + missionary. He was a well-bred, sensible man, a clever linguist, + and, from all I ever heard, an earnest and zealous servant of + his heavenly Master. His mission already shows results which + must indeed be a source of peace to his heart, and proves that + some are allowed even in this world to reap the fruits of their + toil for the Lord. In that very town, whence a few years ago he + was insulted and abused, a faithful flock now join in humble + prayers to God; and surely they pray for him, the instrument of + their salvation. I was much pleased at the plain unexaggerating + way in which he told the history of his mission.... The good + work has progressed, and he now has from one hundred and fifty + to three hundred pupils in his school, many the children of + non-converted parents. And in this year's enrolment--great + glory to our ambassador at Constantinople!--the Protestants are + enrolled as a separate religious community: the males are two + hundred and odd here. + + "All sects recognised by the Porte are enrolled separately, as + their taxes, &c., are apportioned by their own heads (chiefs.)" + +Many of the Armenians here have been converted to the Church of +England, and this has proved to be a most advantageous change for +their women. + + "They are now emancipated from the bondage they have so long + been held in--I do not mean personal bondage, for perhaps there + is less of it in the East than in the West--but their whole + moral position has undergone a vast change. The man is now first + taught that the woman is his best friend; his firmest, truest + companion; his equal in the social scale, as God made her--a + help meet for him, not a mere piece of household furniture. The + woman is also taught to reverence the man as her head; thus + imparting that beautiful lesson, 'He for God only, she for + God through him.' She is also taught perhaps a harder lesson, + a more painful task--to relinquish all her costly ornaments, + when such may be more usefully employed in trade and traffic; + to consider necessaries more beautiful than costly clothes or + embroidered suits. Gradually she is allowed to unite with the + man in prayers, which is permitted by no other sect in the East, + women always having a portion of the church set apart for them, + and the Moslems praying at different times. May it please Him + who gives and dispenses all things, to prosper this and all + other good and holy works!... On leaving Aintab, we passed over + the hills that environ the town, and entered a pretty valley, + through which the Sadschur river accompanies us. Here, at a + small village called Naringa, we chose a pretty spot under some + trees, and pitched our tents. The horses browsed at our door, + the stream jumped by before us as we took our evening's repose. + And repose it is to sit thus at the close of a day of travel, to + enjoy the view of the lovely regions given man to dwell in; to + see the various changes time, circumstances, and religion have + wrought in the family of Adam, or, as the Arabs say, in the Beni + Adam. It was a lovely evening; and as I reclined apart from my + more gregarious fellow-travellers, I felt + + 'That the night was filled with music, + And the cares that infested the day + Had folded their tents, like the Arab, + And as silently stolen away.'" + +From Naringa our route lies eastward over low undulated hills, +still marked by frequent _tels_, generally surmounted by a village. +"Are these mounds natural, or does man still fondly cling to the +ruined home of his fathers?" Crossing the river Kirsan, we arrive at +Nezeeb, lying among vineyards and plantations of figs, pistachios, +and olives, interspersed with fields of wheat. At this village the +Sultan's forces, 70,000 strong, were defeated by Ibrahim Pasha with +45,000 men--a bootless victory, soon neutralised by a few lines +from our "Foreign Office." On the 6th day after leaving Aleppo, we +find ourselves on the Euphrates, the _Mourad Shai_, or "Water of +desire."[14] + + [14] The Moslems being water-drinkers, are as curious about their + streams as _bons vivans_ are about their cellars. One of the Caliphs + sent to weigh all the waters in his wide kingdom, and found that of + the Euphrates was the lightest. + + "In all its majesty, it glides beneath our gaze. It is needless + to tell the history of this river, renowned in the earliest + traditions. Watering the Paradise of earth, it has been mingled + with the fables of heaven; the Lord gave it in his covenants + unto Abram; Moses, inspired, preached it in his sermon to the + people. In its waters are bound the four angels, and, at the + emptying of the sixth vial, its waters will dry up, that the + 'way of the kings of the East may be prepared.' In every age + it has formed a prominent feature in the diorama of history, + flashing with sunshine, or sluggish and turbid with blood; and + here, on its bank, its name unchanged, all now is solitude and + quiet. + + "Descending amidst wide burial-grounds, where here and there + a _kubbe_ sheltered some clay more revered than the rest, we + reached its shores, and patiently took up our quarters beneath + the shade of a tree, till a boat should arrive to carry us over. + The redoubt, Fort William, as it was called, of the Euphrates + expedition still remains. In ancient times four shallows existed + where there were bridges over the Euphrates: the northernmost at + Samosata, now unused; Rum Kalaat, further south, being the route + frequented; Bir, the khan and eastern bank of which is called + Zeugma, or the Bridge, to this day; and the fourth at Thapsacus, + the modern Thapsaish, where Cyrus, Alexander, and Crassus passed + into Mesopotamia. The Arabs now generally pass here, or else by + fords known only to themselves. Julian crossed at a place called + Menbidjy, which was probably abreast of Hierapolis. + + "But what avails to recount individual cases?--the whole land is + history. Near us is Racca, once the favourite residence of Aaron + the Just. Here he delighted to spend his leisure-- + + 'Entranced with that place and time, + So worthy of the golden prime + Of good Haroun Alraschid.'" + +We cross the Euphrates to the town of Bir, and proceed still +eastward, along a flat desert, strewn with a small-bladed scanty +grass, aromatic flowers, and wormwood. "One small gleam, like a +polished shield or a dark sward, is all we see of the mighty river +that flows around us. Every hour of the day changes the aspect of +the desert: now it is wild and gloomy, as scudding clouds pass over +the sun; now smiling with maiden sweetness, as the sun shines out +again." Often we pass by the tented homes of the desert tribes, with +their flocks and herds tended by busy maidens, now screaming wildly +after their restless charge--now singing songs as wild, but sweeter +far. Then comes sunset with its massed clouds of purple, blue, and +gold; the air is full of bleatings as the flocks all tamely follow +their shepherds home. On the tenth day after leaving Aleppo, we +descend into a plain covered with some dusty olive-trees: we come +to a hill with a low wall, and a castle on its summit. "And this is +the Ur of the Chaldees, the Edessa of the Romans, the Orfa of the +Arabs. Here God spake to Abram." From this city, very fruitful in +legends, we reach Haran in six hours; travelling over a plain strewn +with _tels_ and encampments of the Koords. + + "Perhaps by this very route Abraham of old and those with him + travelled; nor is it extravagance to say, the family we now meet + may exhibit the exact appearance that the patriarchs did four + thousand years ago--the tents and pots piled on the camels; + the young children in one saddle-bag balancing the kids in + the other; the matron astride on the ass; the maid following + modestly behind; the boys now here, now there; the patriarch + himself on his useful mare, following and directing the march. + As we pass, he lays his hand on his heart, and says, 'Peace be + with you; where are you going?--Depart in peace.'" + +Haran appears to be, without doubt, the ancient city of Nahor, where +Laban lived, and where Jacob served for Leah and Rachel. Here, +too, is Rebekah's well, and here our traveller beheld the very +counterpart of the scene that Eleazar saw when he sought a bride +for his master's son. By this time our author had so far identified +himself with the desert tribes, their language, their interests, +their enjoyment of the desert life, and their love of horses, +that he seems to feel, and almost to speak, in the Arab style. We +have never seen that interesting people so happily described and +so vividly illustrated. If we had not so much before us still to +investigate, we would gladly dwell upon the desert journey from +Haran to Tel Bagdad, and on the raft voyage thence down the Tigris +to Mosul. One graphic sketch of an Arab sheik must serve for many: +his characteristic speech contains volumes of his people's history. + + "The young sheik was not, probably, more than seventeen or + eighteen years of age; handsome, but with that peculiarly + girlish effeminate appearance I have before mentioned as so + frequently found among the younger aristocracy of the desert, + and so strangely belied by their character and deeds. He now + held my horse, and, apologising for his father's temporary + absence, welcomed us. The tent was large and well made. We + remained here smoking and drinking coffee till the sheik + Dahhal arrived. He was fully dressed in silk--a fine figure of + a man with light clear eyes. Wounds, received long ago, have + incapacitated him from the free use of his hands, but report + says he can still grasp the rich dagger at his girdle with a + fatal strength when passion urges him. Though every feeling + was subdued, there showed through all his mildness the baffled + tiger, whose vengeance would be fearful--he resembled a netted + animal, vainly with all its cunning seeking to break the meshes + that encompassed him on all sides. + + "He received us with a hospitality that seemed natural; his + words were more sonorous, grand, and flowing than those of any + Arab I had before seen. They reminded me of the pleasure I had + felt in South America in listening to the language of a true + Spaniard, heard amidst the harsh gutturals of a provincial + jargon; strings of highflown compliments, uttered with an open, + noble mien, that, while it must please those to whom it is used, + seems but a worthy condescension in him. + + 'He was a man of war and woes; + Yet on his lineaments ye cannot trace, + While gentleness her milder radiance throws + Along that aged venerable face, + The deeds that lurk beneath, and stain him with disgrace.' + + "If report speaks true, never did there breathe a truer son of + Hagar than Sheik Dahhal. During his whole life his hand has + been against every man, and every man's against him. Gaining + his social position with his dagger, he openly endeavoured + to enlarge it by every exercise of force or fraud. The whole + frontier of Mardin, Nisibis, Mosul, Bagdad, &c., are his deadly + enemies, made so by his acts. It must be sad in declining years + to see the wreck of a youth thus spent; already the punishment + and repayment are hard at hand. + + "Successful violence brings temporary rewards--power, rule, + dominion; but for this he has bartered honour, fame, youth, + conscience: every stake, every ruse, has been used, and he gains + but defeat, disgrace, and contempt. It must be hard, very hard, + for the proud man to live on thus. I pitied him, and could feel + for him as he fondled his young son, a lovely little naked + savage, who lay crouching at his side. He had two or three other + children, all strikingly handsome.... + + "We were ultimately obliged to refuse his escort. 'It is + well,' said he, 'whether you go or stay, all Dahhal has, all + his enemies have left him, is yours.' We asked him if he saw + any change in the Arab since he remembered: he looked quietly + round at his tents, at his camels now crowded round them, the + flocks lowing to their homes; his dress, his arms, and then + said, 'No: since the time of the Prophets--since time was, + we are unchanged; perhaps poorer, perhaps less hospitable in + consequence; but otherwise unchanged.' He made a very just + remark afterwards: 'Our habits are the only ones adapted to the + country we live in; they cannot change unless we change our + country: no other life can be lived here.'" + +Our travellers, sending their horses and servants along the banks of +the Tigris, themselves embarked on board a raft composed of inflated +skins; and their voyage, after many incidents, terminated in the +following scene:-- + + "At last the pious true-believing eye of the boatman detected + the minarets of Mosul over the low land on the right. On our + left was a large temporary village, built of dried grass, + roughly and coarsely framed; low peaked mountains ahead broke + the steel line of the sky. No sooner did our boatman detect the + minarets, than he continued his prayers, confiding the oars + to one of the servants. Poor fellow! it was sad work; for the + raft, as if in revenge for the way he had pulled her about, + kept pertinaciously turning, and as it bore his Mecca--turned + front to the north, east, or west--he had to stop his pious + invocations, that otherwise would have been wafted to some + useless bourne; and then, as in the swing she turned him to the + black stone, he had to hurry on, like sportsmen anxious for some + passing game. Often he rose, but seemed not satisfied, and again + he knelt, and bowing prayed his Caaba-directing prayers. This + man had not prayed before during the voyage. + + "At last, over the land appeared a mud fort hardly + distinguishable from the hill; before it a white-washed dome, + a few straggling buildings--it was Mosul. Presently an angle + is turned, and the broken ruinous wall of an Eastern town lies + before us." + +Mosul is only sixteen days' journey from Aleppo. Although now +invested with a lasting interest by its connection with Mr Layard's +magnificent discoveries, it is one of the least attractive cities +of the East. Its neighbourhood, with the grand exception of buried +Nineveh, and some curious naphtha springs, is equally devoid of +interest. The huge mound called Koyunjik, "coverer of cities," lies +on the opposite side of the Tigris, about two miles from the river. +Tel Nimroud, where the first successful excavations were made, is +about eighteen miles lower down. It will be remembered that Mr Rich, +a merchant of Bagdad, first directed attention to these subterranean +treasures nearly twenty years ago: M. Botta, more recently, made +some energetic attempts to discover them; but it remained for our +gallant countryman, Mr Layard, to render his name illustrious by +unveiling the mysteries of ages, and restoring to light the wonders +of the ancient capital of the Assyrians. His renown, and still +more his success itself, must be its own reward; but we fear that +in all other respects the nation is still deeply in his debt. The +capricious liberalities of our Government with respect to art are +very singular; the financial dispositions of the British Museum are +still more difficult to explain. The former does not hesitate to +bestow L2500 on transporting a pillar from the sea-shore of Egypt to +London, while it only places at Mr Layard's disposal L3000 for the +excavation of Nineveh and its surrounding suburbs, eighteen miles +in extent--together with the support and pay of a numerous staff of +artists and others during eighteen months. On the other hand, the +trustees of the British Museum, knowing themselves already to be +deeply in Mr Layard's debt, refuse to further his great efforts, +except by the paltry (and refused) pittance of L12 a-month; and, at +the same time, they furnish Colonel Rawlinson with the sum of L2000 +to proceed with excavations at Koyunjik, (three hundred miles from +his residence,) and at Susa, which is one-third of the distance. +In the approaching session of Parliament, we hope that Mr Layard's +services to England and to art will be more generously appreciated +than they have hitherto been; and that, at all events, we shall +not be left to labour under the disgrace of pecuniary debt to that +enterprising gentleman. + +We have now reached our traveller's goal, and must make brief +work of his returning tour, in order to spare some columns to the +consideration of the Ansayrii, the most important matter in the work. + +After a residence of some weeks at Mosul, and at the several +neighbouring excavations, Mr Walpole accompanied Mr Layard in a tour +through the fastnesses of Koordistan: and here we must find space +for one or two glimpses at those unknown regions, and the life that +awaits the traveller there. + +Before we begin to ascend the hill country, we look back: + + "On either side, the mountain falls away with jut and crag + almost perpendicularly to the plain; at the foot, hills rise + above hills in irregular and petulant ranges, like a stormy sea + when the wind is gone, and nothing save its memory remains, + lashing the waves with restless motion. Westward lies the vast + plain, its surface broken by the mounds of imperial cities long + passed away. + + "One moment the eye rests on the Tigris as it glides its vast + volume by; then, out upon the plain, the desert broken by the + range of Singar, again on to distance where earth and air mingle + imperceptibly together. To the south, over a varied land, is + Mosul, the white glare of its mosque glistening in the sun; to + the south and east, a sea of hills, wave after wave, low and + irregular. The Zab, forcing its way, takes a tortuous course + to its companion; farther on, they join their waters, and run + together to the vast worlds of the south. Beyond are Arbela and + the Obeid. Kara Chout and its crags shut out the view, passing + many a spot graven on the pages of the younger world. + + "What a blank in history is there around those vast cities, now + brought to light! A few vague traditions, a few names whose + fabulous actions throw discredit on their existence, are all + that research has discovered. Even the nations following after + these we know but dimly--tradition, garlanded by poetry, our + only guide. + + 'Belshazzar's grave is made, + His kingdom passed away; + He in the balance weighed, + Is light and worthless clay. + The shroud his robe of state; + His canopy the stone; + The Mede is at his gate, + The Persian on his throne.' + + "Fancy conjures up to the south a small and compact body of + Greeks: around them, at a distance, like vultures round a + struggling carcase, hover bands of cavalry. Now, as a gap opens, + they rush on; now, as the ranks close up, they melt away, + shooting arrows as they fly, vengeful in their cowardice--it + is the retreat of Xenophon and his gallant band. They encamp + at Nimroud--as in his yesterday, so in our to-day, a mound + smothering its own renown. + + "Northward again comes a mighty band: with careful haste they + cross the rivers, and with confident step traverse the plain + south. On the south-east plain, a legion of nations, golden, + glittering, yet timorous, await their approach. Alexander, the + hero, scatters dismay: assured of conquest ere he met the foe, + he esteems the pursuit the only difficulty. On the one side, + Asia musters her nations--Indians, Syrians, Albanians, and + Bactrians--the hardiest population of her empire. Elephants and + war-chariots are of no avail: the result was fore-written, and + Darius foremost flies along the plain. + + "Faint, afar, we can see in the north-west Lucullus; and the + arms of Rome float over the walls of Nisibis, (B.C. 68.) We may + almost see the glorious array of Julian; hear him subduing his + mortal pain; hear him pronounce, with well-modulated tones, one + of the finest orations the world can record. We may see the + timid Jovian skulking in his purple from the field he dared not + defend in his armour. But again rise up the legions and the + Labarum: Heraclius throws aside his lethargy; the earth drinks + deep of gore, and Khosroo[15] is vanquished under our eyes. + + [15] He was subsequently murdered, A. D. 62. + + "The white and the black banners now gleam upon the field; the + crescent flaunts on either side. One God, one faith--they fight + for nought. Hell for the coward, paradise for the brave. Abou + Moslem and Merwan. The earth, on the spot which had last drunk + the red life-blood of Greek and Persian, now slakes its fill. + Merwan flies with wondrous steps, but the avenger follows fast. + He first loses his army on the Tigris; himself dies on the banks + of the Nile: there perished the rule of the Ommiades. + + "The hordes of Timour now approach: their war-song ought to be + the chorus of the spirits of destiny in _Manfred_-- + + 'Our hands contain the hearts of men, + Our footsteps are their graves; + We only give to take again + The spirits of our slaves.' + + "What a different aspect must this plain have presented when + those sun-burnt mysterious mounds were living, teeming, sinning + cities; irrigated, cultivated, protected, safe; fruitful and + productive! And these were barbarous times; and now, in this + our day, peace-congresses, civilisation, one vast federal + union, liberty, equality;--a few villages fortified as castles, + a population flying without a hope of even a death-spot in + peace--fearful alike of robbers and rulers, robbed alike by + protectors and enemies, planting the harvest they may not reap; + a government seizing what the roving Arabs choose to leave; + law known but as oppression; authority a license to plunder; + government a resident extortioner. + + "Too long have we lingered on the scene. Again the plain is + naked, bare, and lifeless; the sun hovers on the horizon--he + gilds the desert, licks the river; the desert breaks his + glorious disc. Slowly, like the light troops covering a retreat, + he collects his rays; with fondness lights up each hill; warms + with his smile, lighting with unnumbered tints each peak and + crag of hold desert-throned Singar. Reluctantly he hovers for a + moment on the horizon's verge, large, fearful, red; then + + 'The sun's rim dips, the stars rush out; + At one stride comes the dark.' + + "Near the convent is a dripping well; a rough path leads us to + it, and its entrance is shaded by a gigantic tree. The water + is very cold and sweet; the moisture shed a coolness around, + that made an exquisite retreat. Near it is a cave which in days + of persecution sheltered securely many of the poor fugitive + Christians. The destruction of most of the convents about these + mountains and on this plain is imputed to Tamerlane; but in our + own time Sheik Mattie was attacked by the Koords; its fathers + were slain, beaten, and dispersed; and the dust of long ages of + bishops scattered to the winds. They still show in the church + the tombs of Mar Halveus and Abou Faraf, which they say escaped + the observation of the destroyer. The inscription of one we + were able to decipher; but another resisted even the efforts of + the scholar then resident at the convent. We in vain tried many + learned men, but the inscription defies all investigation. + + 'Chaldea's seers are good, + But here they have no skill; + And the unknown letters stood, + Untold and mystic still.' + + "We now made straight for Sheik Mattie, whose green gorge we + could discover high up the face of the mountain. The plain was + a succession of low hills all brown with the summer; here and + there a Koord village with its cultivated fields, cucumbers, + and cool melons. The villages west of the river are nearly all + Christian, but on to-day's ride we passed two Koordish ones. At + one we halted, and regaled ourselves and horses on the fruit + they pressed on us. + + "The old sheik came out, followed by two men with felts; these + were spread in the cool, and we made kief. He begged the loan + of Zea, (my Albanian greyhound,) whom he praised beyond measure + for his extreme beauty, to kill hares. To hear him talk, his + complaints of game, of fields, hares destroyed, &c., I could + have believed myself once more in England, but that he closed + each sentence with "It is God's will; His will be done," and + such like holy words. His long, wide, graceful robes also + brought one back to the East, to poetry and to romance." + +And here we find less happy accidents in a traveller's life, which +must not pass unremembered. + + "At first, one of the greatest privations I experienced in + Eastern travel, and one that half did away with the pleasure + derived from it, was the want of privacy; and one can fully + understand (as probably centuries have produced but little + change in their habits) the expression in the Bible, of our + Saviour retiring apart to pray; for, in the East, privacy is + a word unknown. Families live in one room; men, women, sons, + daughters, sons' wives, &c., and may be said never to be alone. + This at first annoyed me, but habit is second nature. As soon + as the traveller arrives he has visits; all the world crowd to + see him; the thousand nameless things one likes to do after a + tedious hot journey must be done in public. Before you are up + they are there; meals, all, there they are; and there is nothing + for it but to proceed just as if the privacy was complete.... + + "FRIDAY, 12th--I rose as well as usual: on one side of the tent + lay the Doctor, dead beat; under one flap which constitutes + a separate room, Abdallah perfectly insensible: the cook lay + behind on a heap of horse-cloths, equally stricken. I sat down + to write in the air: finding the flies annoyed me, I read, fell + asleep, and remember nothing save a great sensation of pain and + weariness for two days. It seemed as if a noise awoke me; it + was early morning, and Mr Layard stood before me. Poor fellow! + he had learned how to treat the fever by bitter, almost fatal, + personal experience; and now he dosed us and starved us, till + all but Abdallah were out of danger, at all events. + + "It is curious how soon people of warm climates,--or, in fact, + I may say,--all uneducated people, succumb to sickness. Hardy + fellows, apparently as strong as iron: when attacked they lie + down, wrap a coat or cloak around them, and resign themselves + to suffer. It would seem that the mind is alone able to rise + superior to disease: their minds, uncultivated, by disuse weak, + or in perfect alliance with the body, cease to exist when its + companion falls. In intellectual man the mind is the last + to succumb: long after the poor weak body has yielded, the + mind holds out like a well-garrisoned citadel: it refuses all + surrender, and, though the town is taken, fights bravely till + the last." + +And now one glimpse at Koordistan and the beautiful and mysterious +Lake Van, which lies hidden in its deepest recesses. + + "We now journeyed on through strange regions, where Frank had + never wandered. We saw the Koords as they are best seen, free + in their own magnificent mountains;--not "the ass," as the Turk + calls him, "of the plains." Mahomet Pasha, son of the little + standard-bearer, and Pasha of Mosul was requested to provide for + its defence by the consuls, and to attempt by better rule the + civilisation of the Arabs. He replied:-- + + 'Erkekler Densige + Allar genisig + Kurytar Donsig + Devekler Yoolarsig.' + + "'What can I do with people whose men have no religion, whose + women are without drawers, their horses without bits, and their + camels without halters?' + + "Thus we wandered over many miles, plains spreading between + their fat mountains, splendid in their grandeur; now amidst + pleasant valleys anon over giant passes-- + + ----'Dim retreat, + For fear and melancholy meet; + Where rocks were rudely heaped and rent, + As by a spirit turbulent; + Where sights were rough, and sounds were wild, + And everything unreconciled.' + + "My health after this gradually got worse: repeated attacks of + fever, brought on probably by my own carelessness, weakened me + so much that I could scarcely keep up with the party. Riding was + an agony, and, by the carelessness of my servant, my horses were + ruined. One evening an Abyssinian, one of my attendants, went so + far as to present a pistol at my head. My poor dear dog, too, + was lost, which perhaps afflicted me more than most ills which + could happen to myself. At last we passed over a ridge, and Lake + Van lay before us. We had, perhaps, been the first Europeans + who had performed the journey. The last and only other of which + we have any record was poor Professor Schultz, who was murdered + by order of Khan Mahmoud for the baggage he unfortunately + displayed. The Khan received him kindly, entertained him with + hospitality, and despatched him on his road with a guard who had + their instructions to murder him on the way. He was an accurate + and capable traveller, a native of Hesse, and travelling for the + French government. + + "The morning of the 3d of August saw us passing up a most + lovely valley, the Vale of Sweet Waters. We had encamped in + it the night before. Leaving its pretty verdure, we mounted a + long range of sun-burnt hills covered with sun-dried grass and + _immortelles_, whose immortality must have been sorely tried on + that sun-exposed place. Achieving a pass, we gained our view of + Van. The scene was worthy of Stanfield in his best mood. Before + us, on the north-east, brown, quaintly-shaped hills, variegated + with many tints, filled the view of the far horizon. From this + a plain led to the lake; around it were noble mountains, snow + and cloud clad--their beauty enhanced by the supervening water. + Saphan Dagh, with a wreath of mist and cap of spotless snow, + seen across the sea was imposing--I might say, perfect. + + "The plain on the eastern coast spread out broad and fair: + here verdant meadows, there masses of fruit-laden trees; while + between the mass wandered the mountain streams, hastening on + to their homes in the fair bosom of the lake. Van itself swept + round its castle, which stands on a curious rock that rises + abruptly from the plain; but the lake, indeed, was the queen + of the view--blue as the far depth of ocean, yet unlike the + ocean--so soft, so sweet, so calm was its surface. On its near + coast, bounded by silver sands, soft and brilliant; while its + far west formed the foot of Nimrod Dagh, on whose lofty crest + are said to be a lake and a castle.... + + "The waters of the lake have lately been analysed, so the + curious substance found floating on its surface, and used as + soap, will be accounted for: it is sold in the bazaars. At + present there are but three small boats or launches on the lake, + and even these can hardly find trade enough to remunerate them. + Their principal occupation is carrying passengers to the towns + on the coast." + +Mr Layard remained at Lake Van in order to copy some inscriptions; +but Mr Walpole was induced to penetrate northward as far as +Patnos, where no European had yet been seen. Here his enterprise +was rewarded by the view of some magnificent scenery, and the +more important discovery of some cuneiform, and many ancient +Armenian inscriptions. These were forwarded by our traveller to +Mr Layard, and will doubtless appear in his forthcoming work.[16] +But we must now leave Koordistan, recommending the perusal of +Mr Walpole's chapter on the Christians of Lake Van, and their +beautiful and mysterious inland sea, to all who love to picture to +themselves strange lands and wild adventure. We return by way of +Erzeroum, Trebizond, the shores of the Black Sea, and Sansoun, to +Constantinople; thence to Latakia; and here we find ourselves within +view of the mountains of the mysterious Ansayrii and Ismaylis. + + [16] We must here notice the generosity with which Mr Walpole + forbears to enlarge upon any subject in which he might anticipate + the works of other travellers. For this reason he passes lightly + over this interesting tour in the mountains of Koordistan, and + only (to our regret) alludes _en passant_ to a tribe of _pastoral_ + Jews, whom he and Mr Layard met on these mountains, following the + spring (as the snows receding left fresh herbage for their flocks) + up the mountains. When we consider how rarely pastoral Jews are met + with, and that this was the very land wherein the lost ten tribes + disappeared, and, moreover, that the elders of these people spoke + the Chaldean tongue, we are much disappointed to hear no more of + them. + +In the title of this work is revived a subject of very ancient +interest. The Ansayrii, or Nassairi, or Assassins, are a singularly +surviving relic of the followers of the Old Man of the Mountain, +so celebrated in the history of the Crusades.[17] Historians have +fallen into a great mistake in supposing this Order to have been +a hereditary dynasty, or to have embraced a nation. Originally +it was simply an Order, like that of the Templars. Like them +the members wore white garments set off with crimson, typifying +innocence and blood. The policy of both was to obtain possession +of strong places, and by terror to keep the surrounding nations in +subjection. The Assassins succeeded in this object so far as to +dictate their will to several Sultans, many Viziers, and innumerable +minor authorities. When the Sultan of the Seljuks sent an ambassador +to the Old Man of the Mountain, demanding his submission, the +following well-known circumstance took place:--"The chief said to +one of his followers, 'Stab thyself!' To another he said, 'Throw +thyself from the battlements!' Before he had ceased to speak his +disciples had obeyed him, and lay dead, not only willing but eager +martyrs to their faith. The chief then turning to the envoy, said, +'Take what thou hast seen for thine answer. I am obeyed by seventy +thousand such men as these.'" The founder of this terrible sect +was Hassan Ben Sahab. He was a "Dai," or master-missionary, from +the Secret Lodge established at Cairo, (about 1004 A.D.), in order +to sap and overthrow the Caliphat of Abbas, and establish that +of the Fatimites. Hassan gave promise of greatness in his youth, +became a favourite of the Melekshah, was banished from court by +the intrigues of a rival, and took refuge at Ispahan. Here he +became initiated in the voluptuous and atheistical doctrines of +the Ismailis, and was sent to Egypt, to the Caliph Mostansur, as a +preacher and promulgator of that atrocious creed. He was banished +from the Egyptian court also, and cast ashore in Syria. After a +variety of adventures in the course of his travels from Aleppo +through Persia, he at length obtained possession of the fortress of +Alam=ut,[18] near Khaswin. Here he remained for the remainder of +his life, never leaving the castle, and only twice moving from his +own apartment to the terrace during a period of thirty-eight years. +Here he perfected, in mystery and deep seclusion, his diabolical +doctrines, and soon sent "Dais," or missionaries, of his own into +all lands. The secret society of which he was the head contained +several grades, embracing the initiated, the aspirant, and the +devoted--mere executioners or tools of higher intelligences.[19] +The grand-master was called Sidna (Sidney) "our lord;" and more +commonly Sheik el Djebel, the Sheik or Old Man of the Mountain, +because the Order always possessed themselves of the castles in +mountainous regions in Irak, Kuhistan, and Syria. The Old Man, +robed in white, resided always in the mountain fort of Alam=ut. +There he maintained himself against all the power of the Sultan, +until at length the daggers of his Fedavie, or devoted followers, +freed him from his most active enemies, and appalled the others +into quiescence. Alam=ut was now called "the abode of Fortune," +and all the neighbouring strongholds submitted to the Ancient +of the Mountain. The Assassins were proscribed in all civilised +communities, and the dagger and the sword found constant work on +their own professors. The Assassins, however, like the Indian Thugs, +depraved all societies, in all sorts of disguises. At one time the +courtiers of a Caliph being solemnly invoked, with a promise of +pardon and impunity, five chamberlains stepped forward, and each +showed the dagger, which only waited an order from the Old Man to +plunge into the heart of any human being it could reach. By such +agency Hassan kept entire empires in a state of revolution and +carnage. From his remote fortress he made his influence felt and +feared to the extreme confines of Khorassan and Syria. And thence, +too, he propagated the still more infernal engines of his authority, +his catechisms of atheism and licentiousness--"Nothing is true; all +things are permitted to the initiated." Such was the foundation of +his creed. + + [17] The mystery relating to this community is so great that the + laborious Mueller, in his twenty-four books, has not attempted to + penetrate it. And Gibbon, notwithstanding his acknowledged pleasure + in painting scenes of blood, has treated the Order of Assassins + very superficially. Marco Polo is, as usual, the most entertaining + of authorities, as far as he goes; but it remained for Joseph Von + Hammer to explore the faint vestiges of their strange story with + vast and patient research. He has thrown together the results of his + labours in a small volume, of great interest. + + [18] The Vulture's Nest. + + [19] Dais, Refik, and Fedavie. + +This villain died tranquilly in his bed, having survived to the +age of ninety. His spiritual and temporal power was continued with +various vicissitudes through a long succession of impostors, the +dagger still maintaining its mysterious and inevitable agency. +The list of the best, and some of the most powerful, of Oriental +potentates who perished by it, swells, as the history of the +Order proceeds, to an incredible extent. During all this time +the fundamental maxim of the creed, which separates the secret +doctrines of the initiated from the public tenets of the people, was +preserved. These last were (and now are, according to Mr Walpole) +held to the strictest injunctions of Mahometanism. The East did not +detect the motive power of the Assassins' chief: they only saw the +poniard strike those who had offended the envoy of the invisible +Imam, who was soon to arrive in power and glory, and to assert his +dominion over earth. In the Crusades, the hand of the Assassins is +traced in the fate of Raymond of Tripoli--perhaps in that of the +Marquis of Montferrat--and in many meaner instances. At that period +the numbers of people openly professing the creed is stated by +William of Tyre at sixty thousand; and by James, Bishop of Alla, at +forty thousand. At this day Mr Walpole estimates the number of the +Ansayrii at forty thousand fighting men, including Ismaylis. These +numbers are to be understood, however, in former times, as well +as in the present, to comprise the whole sect, and not merely the +executioners, who always formed a very small proportion, and are now +probably extinct. The Old Man is no longer recognised, so far as can +be ascertained, among the mountains, (where, as usual in other parts +of Syria, the patriarchal form prevails;) and the strange creed +that their ancestors held, together with a singular recklessness of +life, alone remains to mark their descent. Concerning this creed +we are referred by Mr Walpole to some discoveries which he intends +to publish in a future volume. We must confess to considerable +disappointment in the meagre information that is here afforded to us +on the subject, especially after our expectations have been raised +by such a preface as the following:-- + + "Alone, without means, without powers to buy or bribe, I have + penetrated a secret, the enigma of ages--have dared alone to + venture where none have been--where the government, with five + hundred soldiers, could not follow; and, better than all, I have + gained esteem among the race condemned as savages, and feared as + robbers and ASSASSINS." + +Nevertheless, our author has told us a good deal that is new and +interesting about the Ansayrii, as will be seen from our extracts. + +The Ismaylis, concerning whose woman-worship and peculiar habits +such strange stories have been whispered, live among the southern +mountains of the Ansayrii. They amount only to five thousand souls, +and appear to be a different tribe, (probably Arab,) grafted upon +them, and gradually, by superior vigour, possessing themselves of +the strongest places in the mountains. These people hold a creed +quite distinct from the Ansayrii, among whom they dwell; and the +extraordinary prayer, or address used by them seems fully to bear +out the long-questioned assertion of their aphrodisial worship. + +Marco Polo[20] was the first to furnish some curious accounts of +the Ansayrii, and of the discipline and catechism of the Fedavie: +we hope that Mr Walpole, in his promised volume, will add to the +many vindications which that brave old traveller has received +from time to time. But at the sack of Alam=ut, in 1257, all +the Assassins' books (except the Koran) were burned as impious; +and all that now remains of their doctrines must be traditional. +We have dwelt thus long on the Ansayrii in order to display the +interest that belongs to that secluded and mysterious people, and +the importance of any novel intelligence respecting them. Before +we proceed to illustrate their country from Mr Walpole's volumes, +we must find space for some account of the manner in which the +initiation of the Assassins is said to have been performed. The +two great strongholds of the Order were the castle of Alam=ut +in Irak, and that of Massiat near Latakia in the Lebanon. These +fortresses, stern and impregnable in themselves, are said to have +been surrounded with exquisite gardens, enclosed from all vulgar +gaze by walls of immense height. These gardens were filled with the +most delicate flowers and delicious fruits. Streams flowed, and +fountains sparkled brightly, through the grateful gloom of luxuriant +foliage. Bowers of roses, and porcelain-paved kiosks, and carpets +from the richest looms of Persia, invited to repose the senses heavy +with luxury. Circassian girls, bright as the houris of Paradise, +served the happy guests with golden goblets of Schiraz wine, and +glances yet more intoxicating. The music of harps, and women's +sweetest voices, sent fascination through the ear as well as eyes. +Everything breathed rapture and sensuality, intensified by seclusion +and deep calm. The youth, where energy and courage seemed to qualify +him for the office of _fedavie_, was invited to the table of the +grand-master, (at Irak,) or the grand-prior, (at Massiat.) He was +there intoxicated with the maddening, yet delightful _hashishe_. +In his insensible state he was transported to the garden, which, +he was told, was Paradise, and which he was too ready to take for +the scene of eternal delight, as he revelled in all the pleasure +that Eastern voluptuousness could devise. He was there lulled into +sleep once more, and then transported back to the grand-master's +side. As he awoke, numbers of uninitiated youths were admitted to +hear his account of the Paradise which the power of the Old Man had +permitted him to taste. And thus tools were found and formed for +the execution of the wildest projects. That glimpse of Paradise for +ever haunted the inflamed imagination of the novices, and any death +appeared welcome that could restore them to such joys. + + [20] _De Regionibus Orient._, lib. i. c. 28. + +Such is the theory of this singular people, as maintained by Von +Hammer, which it remains for future discoveries--now that Mr Walpole +has opened the way for them--to vindicate or refute. There are also +some remnants of the Persian tribes of this people, an account of +which, by Mr Badger, we are informed, is soon to appear: the Syrians +scarcely know of their existence. The Syrian Ansayrii amount, as +we have said, including Ismaylis, to about forty thousand souls: +they have always preserved their seclusion inviolate; setting at +nought the various tyrannies that have harassed the neighbouring +states, denying the authority of the Sultan, and blaspheming the +Prophet, while they outwardly conform to his rites. They occupy the +northernmost range of the Lebanon, from Tortosa and Latakia, as far +as Adana. + +Notwithstanding Von Hammer's elaborate and ingenious theory, many +(amongst whom is our author) have seemed disposed to treat the whole +story of the Assassins, and the Old Man of the Mountain himself, +as myths. It was, they say, the sort of romance that the Crusaders +would have lent a ready ear to, and that their troubadours would +have made the most of. They deny the existence of the powerful hill +fortresses surrounded by the intoxicating gardens; they point to the +renowned Syrian castle of El Massiat, whose ruins occupy a space of +only one hundred yards square, and in whose vaulted stables there is +an inscription purporting that the castle was "the work of Roostan +the Mameluke." + +Mr Walpole, however, does not enter into any controversy respecting +this strange people. Of the little that he has confided in his +present two volumes to the public, the following extracts must be +taken as an instalment:-- + + "The Ansayrii nation--for such it is--being capable of mustering + forty thousand warriors able to bear arms, is divided into two + classes--sheiks and people; the sheiks again into two--Sheiks or + Chiefs of Religion, Sheik el Maalem, and the temporal Sheiks, + or Sheiks of Government; these being generally called Sheik el + Zullom, or Sheiks of Oppression. These latter, though some of + them are of good families, are not so generally: having gained + favour with government, they have received the appointment. + Others there are, however, whose families have held it for many + generations--such as Shemseen Sultan, Sheik Succor, &c. The + sheiks of religion are held as almost infallible, and the people + pay them the greatest respect. With regard to the succession, + there seems to be no fixed rule: the elder brother has, however, + rule over the rest; but then I have seen the son the head of the + family while the father was living. + + "The sheik of religion enjoys great privileges: as a boy he is + taught to read and write; he is marked from his fellows from + very earliest childhood, by a white handkerchief round his + head. Early as his sense will admit, he is initiated into the + principles of his faith: in this he is schooled and perfected. + Early he is taught that death, martyrdom, is a glorious reward; + and that, sooner than divulge one word of his creed, he is to + suffer the case in which his soul is enshrined to be mangled + or tortured in any way. Frequent instances have been known + where they have defied the Turks, who have threatened them with + death if they would not divulge, saying, 'Try me; cut my heart + out, and see if anything is within there.' During his manhood + he is strictly to conform to his faith: this forbids him not + only eating certain things at any time, but eating at all with + any but chiefs of religion; or eating anything purchased with + unclean money;--and the higher sheiks carry this to such an + extent that they will only eat of the produce of their own + grounds; they will not even touch water, except such as they + deem pure and clean. Then the sheik must exercise the most + unbounded hospitality; and, after death, the people will build + him a tomb, (a square place, with a dome on the top,) and he + will be revered as a saint. + + "The lower classes are initiated into the principles of their + religion, but not into its more mystical or higher parts: they + are taught to obey their chiefs without question, without + hesitation, and to give to them abundantly at feasts and + religious ceremonies: above all, even the uninitiated is to die + a thousand deaths sooner than betray his faith. + + "In their houses, which, as I have before said, are poor, + dirty, and wretched, they place two small windows over the door. + This is in order that, if a birth and death occur at the same + moment, the coming and the parting spirit may not meet. In rooms + dedicated to hospitality several square holes are left, so that + each spirit may come or depart without meeting another. + + "Like the Mahometans, they practise the rite of circumcision, + performing it at various ages, according to the precocity of + the child. The ceremony is celebrated, as among the Turks, with + feasting and music. This, they say, is not a necessary rite, + but a custom derived from ancient times, and they should be + Christians if they did not do it. This is the same among the + Mahometans, who are not enjoined by their prophet to do so, but + received the rite from of old.[21] + + [21] We do not yet know if any ceremony exists at the naming of + the child. + + "When a candidate is pronounced ready for initiation, his + tarboosh is removed, and a white cloth wrapped round his + head. He is then conducted into the presence of the sheiks of + religion. The chief proceeds to deliver a lecture, cautioning + him against ever divulging their great and solemn secret. 'If + you are under the sword, the rope, or the torture, die, and + smile--you are blessed.' He then kisses the earth three times + before the chief, who continues telling him the articles of + their faith. On rising, he teaches him a sign, and delivers + three words to him. This completes the first lesson. + + "At death, the body is washed with warm soap and water, wrapped + in white cloths, and laid in the tomb. Each person takes a + handful of earth, which is placed on the body; then upright + stones, one at the feet, one at the head, one in the middle, + are placed. The one in the middle is necessary. They have the + blood-feud--the Huck el Dum. In war, blood is not reckoned; but + if one man kills another of a different tribe, all the tribe of + the slayer pay an equal sum to the tribe of the slain--generally + one thousand six hundred piastres, (L.15.) + + "In marriage, a certain price is agreed on. One portion goes to + the father, another to supply dress and things necessary for + the maiden. This will vary much, according to the wealth of the + bridegroom and the beauty or rank of the bride. It is generally + from two hundred to seven hundred or a thousand piastres (L.1, + 15s. 6d. to L.9, 10s.) Sometimes a mare, a cow, or a donkey, + merely, is given for her. The bridegroom has then to solicit the + consent of the _hirce_, or owner of the bride's village, who + will generally extort five hundred piastres, or more, before he + will give a permission of marriage. + + "The price being settled, and security given for its payment, + the friends of the bridegroom mount on the top of the house + armed with sticks. The girl's friends pass her in hastily to + avoid their blows. The bridegroom enters, and beats her with a + stick or back of a sword, so that she cries: these cries must be + heard without. All then retire, and the marriage is concluded. + + "They are allowed four wives. The marriage ceremony is simple, + and divorce not permitted. If one of these four wives die, they + are permitted to take another. Generally, they have little + affection for their wives--treating them rather as useful + cattle than as rational creatures. They never teach women the + smallest portion of their faith. They are jealously excluded + from all religious ceremonies; and, in fact, are utterly denied + creed, prayers, or soul. Many here have told me that the women + themselves believe in this; and do not, as one would fancy, + murmur at such an exclusive belief. + + "The Ansayrii are honest in their dealings, and none can accuse + them of repudiation or denying a sum they owe.... They regard + Mahomet el Hamyd as the prophet of God, and thus use the + Mussulman confession--'La illa ill Allah, Mahomet el Hamyd, + Resoul e nebbi Allah;' but they omit all this when before + Mahometans, saying merely, 'There is no God but God, and Mahomet + is the prophet of God.' Otherwise, they say, 'There is no God + but Ali, and Mahomet el Hamyd, the Beloved, is the prophet of + God.' + + "I do not intend here to enter into their belief more fully; + but it is a most confused medley--a unity, a trinity, a deity. + 'These are five; these five are three; these three are two; + these two, these three, these five--one.' + + "They believe in the transmigration of souls. Those who in this + life do well, are hospitable, and follow their faith, become + stars; the souls of others return to the earth, and become + Ansayrii again, until, purified, they fly to rest. The souls of + bad men become Jews, Christians, and Turks; while the souls of + those who believe not, become pigs and other beasts. One eve, + sitting with a dear old man, a high sheik--his boys were round + him--I said, 'Speak: where are the sons of your youth? these + are the children of your old age.'--'My son,' he said, looking + up, 'is there: nightly he smiles on me, and invites me to come.' + + "They pray five times a day, saying several prayers each time, + turning this way or that, having no keblah. If a Christian or + Turk sees them at their devotions, the prayers are of no avail. + At their feasts, they pray in a room closed and guarded from the + sight or ingress of the uninitiated. + + "This will give a general outline of the faith and customs + of the Ansayrii. My intercourse with them was on the most + friendly footing, and daily a little was added to my stock + of information. Let me, however, warn the traveller against + entering into argument with them, or avowing, through the + dragoman, any knowledge of their creed. They are as ready and + prompt to avenge as they are generous and hospitable to protect. + To destroy one who deceives them on this point is an imperative + duty; and I firmly believe they would do it though you took + shelter on the divan of the Sultan. For myself, the risk is + passed: I have gone through the ordeal, and owe my life several + times to perfect accident." + +To this long extract we shall only add, that a good deal of +additional light is indirectly thrown upon this singular people +throughout the whole of the third volume of Mr Walpole's work. It is +the best written, as well as the most important, of the series; it +abounds in humour, anecdote, originality, and in no small degree of +curious research. + +And now, it only remains for us to bid our entertaining +fellow-traveller heartily farewell. Although, especially in the +first volume, we have felt disposed to quarrel with his style +occasionally, we have found his good-humour, his thoughtful +sentiment, and his reckless wit, at last irresistible. His +very imperfections often prove his fidelity, and his apparent +contradictions his innate truthfulness. We commend to him a little +more study of the art of composition, and a good deal more care; +but we shall consider ourselves fortunate when we meet with another +author of as many faults, if they are atoned for by as many merits. + + + + +THE CHAMPIONS OF THE RAIL. + +_A History of the English Railway: its Social Relations and +Revelations._ By JOHN FRANCIS. 2 vols. London. + + +A good many years ago, a late correspondent and writer in this +Magazine, Dr M'Nish of Glasgow, published a work entitled _The +Anatomy of Drunkenness_. The book was an excellent one: most perfect +in its portraiture of the different phenomena which accompany and +succeed a debauch; and in the hands of a regular tee-totaller, it +was undeniably worth some reams of vapid sermons. The preacher, +who never, we are bound to believe, had experienced the vinous or +spirituous excitement in his own person, was enabled from it to hold +forth, with all the unction of reality, to his terrified audience, +upon the awful effects of intemperance. Old ladies, who rarely in +their lives had transgressed beyond a second glass of weak negus +at some belated party, when whist or commerce had been suggested +to while away the weary hours, listened to the warnings of the +gifted apostle of temperance, and hied them home in the tremendous +conviction that they had only escaped, by the merest miracle, the +horrors of _delirium tremens_. Dyspeptic gentlemen were rendered +wretched, as they reflected that, for years past, they had been +accustomed to wash down their evening Finnan haddock, or moderate +board of oysters, with a pint of Younger's prime ale, or, mayhap, a +screeching tumbler. The enormity of their offence became visible to +their eyes, and they incontinently conceived amendment. + +But we doubt very much whether the _Anatomy_ would have been +pleasant reading to a gentleman who overnight had imbibed "not +wisely but too well." How could he bear to be told, not only of the +sensations of the previous evening, minutely traced through the +gradations of each consecutive decanter, but of the state of thirst +and unnatural discomfort to which he was presently a victim? Would +it relieve his headach to assure him that, after swallowing three +bottles of claret, most men are apt to be out of sorts? Could he, +the sufferer, derive any assuagement of his pains by knowing--if he +did not know it already--that unlimited brandy and water, however +agreeable during consumption, was clearly prejudicial to the nerves? +Sermons may come too soon. The sufferer ought to be allowed at least +a day or two to recover, before his offence is laid before him in +all its huge deformity. Give him time to be ashamed of himself. +A man's own conscience is his best accuser; and, unless the vice +be absolutely inherent, or totally beyond the hope of remedy, his +own misery will be more likely to effect a cure than any amount of +philosophical dissertations upon its nature. + +These thoughts have been irresistibly suggested to us by a perusal +of the two ponderous tomes of Mr Francis, entitled, _A History of +the English Railway: its Social Relations and Revelations_. A more +unfortunate kind of apocalypse could hardly have been hazarded at +the present time. Most people are tolerably well aware, without +the aid of Mr Francis, of the changes in social relations which +have been worked by the British railway; and as for revelations, a +good many would give a trifle to have these entirely suppressed. +We have not yet arrived at the time when the history of the "'45" +of this century can be calmly or dispassionately written. Too many +of us, still remanent here, have burned our fingers, and too many +of our kith and kin have been sent to exile, in consequence of +that notable enterprise. Since the standard was last unfurled in +the vale of Glenmutchkin, a considerable number of the population +have been bitten by the sod, if they did not literally bite it. +That system of turning over turfs, by the aid of silver spades and +mahogany wheelbarrows, was more fatal to the peace of families than +the accumulation of any number of Celtic bagpipers whatever. It +was a grand interment of capital. Who has forgotten the misery of +those times, when letters of railway calls arrived punctually once +a quarter? Two pound ten per share might be a moderate instalment; +but if you were the unfortunate holder of a hundred shares, you had +better have been boarded with a vampire. Repudiation, though a clear +Christian duty to yourself and your family, was utterly impossible. +It mattered not that the majority of the original committeemen and +directors had bolted; you, the subscriber, were tied to the stake. +The work was begun, the contracts opened, and money must be had +at all hazards and sacrifices. You found yourself in the pitiable +situation of an involuntary philanthropist. Threescore hulking +Irish navvies were daily fed, liquored, and lodged at your expense. +Your dwindling resources were torn from you, to make the fortunes +of engineers and contractors. So long as you had a penny, or a +convertible equivalent, you were forced to surrender it. Your case +was precisely similar to that of the Jew incarcerated in the vaults +beneath the royal treasury of King John. One by one all your teeth +were drawn. If you managed to survive the extraction of the last +grinder, and to behold the opening of the line, your position was +not one whit improved. Dividend of course there was none. That awful +and mysterious item of charge, "working expenses," engulfed nearly +the whole revenue. What was over went to pay interest on preference +debentures. That gallant body of men, the directors, laid before +you, with the utmost candour, a state of the affairs of the company; +from which it appeared that they had exceeded their borrowing +powers by perhaps a brace of millions, and had raised the money by +interposing their own individual security. These obligations you +were, of course, expected to redeem; and an appeal was made to your +finer feelings, urging you to consent to a further issue of stock! + +It is no great consolation to the men who have suffered more woes +from the railways, than fell to the lot of the much-enduring Ulysses +from the relentless anger of the deities, to know that they have +rendered perfect a vast chain of internal communication throughout +the country. We doubt whether the Israelites, who built them, took +any especial pride in surveying the pile of the pyramids. The +gentleman in embarrassed circumstances, who is pondering over the +memory of his perished capital, is not likely to feel his heart +expand with enthusiasm at the thought that through his agency, and +that of his fellows, thousands of bagmen are daily being whirled +along the rails with the velocity of lightning. He may even be +pardoned if, in the sadness and despondency of his soul, he should +seriously ask himself what, after all, is the use of this confounded +hurry? Is a man's life prolonged because he can get along at the +rate of forty or fifty miles an hour? Is existence to be measured +by locomotion? In that case Chifney, who passed the best part of +his life in the saddle, ought to have been considered as a rival +to Methuselah, and a stoker on the Great Western lives in one week +far longer than the venerable Parr! Is enjoyment multiplied? That, +too, will admit of a serious doubt. In a railway carriage you have +no fair view of the fresh aspect of nature: you dash through the +landscape--supposing that there is one--before its leading features +are impressed upon your mind. There is no time for details, or even +for reflection. You must accommodate your thought to your pace, +otherwise you are left behind, and see nothing whatever for at least +a couple of stations. But for the most part your way lies between +embankments and cuttings, representing either sections of whinstone, +or bare banks of turf, dotted over with brown patches, where the +engine has effected arson. Even furze will not willingly flourish +in such an uncomfortable locality. Then you roar through tunnels, +the passage of which makes your flesh creep--for you cannot divest +yourself of a horrid idea that you may possibly be encountered in +the centre of the darkness by an opposing engine, and be pounded +into paste by the shock of that terrific tilt; or that a keystone of +the arch may give way, and the whole train be buried in the centre +of the excavated mountain. Sensual gratification there is none. +If you do not condescend to the iniquity of carrying sandwiches +along with you--in which case your habiliments are certain to be +grievously defiled with buttered crumbs--you are driven by the +pangs of sheer hunger into the refreshment-room at some station, +and find yourself at the bar of an inferior gin-palace. Very bad +is the pork-pie, for which you are charged an exorbitant ransom. +Call ye this sherry, my masters? If it be so, commend us for the +future to Bucellas. The oranges look well outside, but the moment +you have penetrated the rind, you find that they have been boiled +and are fozy. Do not indulge in the vain hope that you may venture +on a glass of anything hot. Hot enough you will find it with a +vengeance; for, the instant that you receive the rummer, the bell +is sure to ring, and you must either scald your throat by gulping +down two mouthfuls of mahogany-water raised to a temperature which +would melt solder, or consign the prepaid potion to the leisure +of the attendant Hebe. Smoking is strictly prohibited. Even if +you are alone in a carriage, you cannot indulge in that luxury +without rendering yourself liable to a fine; and, if your appetite +should overcome your prudence, and you should venture to set the +law at defiance, before you have inhaled two whiffs, a railway +guard appears as if by magic at the window--for those fellows have +the scent of the vulture, and can race along the foot-boards as +nimbly as a cat along a gutter--and you are ordered to abandon your +Havanna. Under such circumstances, literature is a poor resource. +You read the _Times_ twice over, advertisements and all, and then +sink into a feverish slumber, from which you are awakened by a +demand from a ruffian in blue livery, with a glazed leather belt +across his shoulder, for the exhibition of your ticket. Talk of +the inconvenience of passports abroad! The Continental system is +paradisaical compared with ours. At length, after fingering your +watch with an insane desire to accelerate its movement, you run into +the ribs of something, which resembles the skeleton of a whale--the +train stops--and you know that your journey is at an end. You select +your luggage, after having undergone the scrutiny of a member of the +police force, who evidently thinks that he has seen you before under +circumstances of considerable peculiarity, ensconce yourself in a +cab, and drive off, being favoured at the gate of the station by a +shower of diminutive pamphlets, purporting to be poetical tributes +to the merits of Messrs Moses and Hyams. You have done the distance +in twelve hours, but pleasure you have had none. + +Mr Francis, who is gifted with no more imagination than an ordinary +tortoise, though he asserts the superiority of the hare, begins his +book with an exceedingly stupid dissertation upon the difficulties +of ancient travel. Broken bridges, impassable quagmires, and +ferocious highwaymen constitute leading features in his picture; +and, as you read him, you marvel, between your fits of yawning, what +manner of men our ancestors must have been to brave so many dangers. +Sheer drivel all of it! The old roads were uncommonly good, and the +bridges kept in splendid repair from the time they were built by +the Romans. Who ever heard of a quagmire on a turnpike? As for a +casual encounter with Turpin, Duval, or any other of the minions of +the moon, we are decidedly of opinion that such incidents must have +added much to the excitement of the journey. A stout fellow, well +mounted, usually carried about him both pops and a cutlass, and, if +he was cool and collected, might very easily square accounts with +the most ardent clerk of St Nicholas. Does Mr Francis really suppose +that the author of _Jack Sheppard_ likes railway travelling? Not +he. Dearer to his soul is a prancing prad upon Hounslow Heath than +all the engines that ever whistled along a line. Mount him upon +Black Bess, arm him with a brace of barkers, and in the twinkling +of an eye there would be daylight through the carcase of the Golden +Farmer. Is adventure nothing? Had the road no joys? Are we to +consider the whole universe worthless, except those black dots which +in the maps represent cities? Was nature made in vain, in order that +men might hasten from town to town, at the tail of a shrieking +engine, regardless of all the glorious scenery which intervenes? +To our taste, the old mode of travelling--nay, the oldest--was +infinitely superior to the present sickening system. You rose by +times in the morning; took a substantial breakfast of beef and +ale--none of your miserable slops--and mounted your horse between +your saddle-bags, in time to hear the lark carolling on his earliest +flight to heaven. Your way ran through dingle and thicket, along the +banks of rivers, skirting magnificent parks, rich in the possession +of primeval oaks, under which the deer lay tranquilly and still. +You entered a village, stopped at the door of the public-house, +and cooled your brow in the foam of the wholesome home-brewed. You +dined at mid-day, in some town where the execrable inventions of +Arkwright and Watt were unknown; where you encountered only honest, +healthy, rosy-cheeked Christians, who went regularly once a-week to +church, and identified the devil with the first dissenter--instead +of meeting gangs of hollow-eyed lean mechanics, talking radicalism, +and discussing the fundamental points of the Charter. You moved +through merry England as a man ought to do, who is both content +with his own lot and can enjoy the happiness of others. As you saw +the sun rising, so you saw him set. The clouds reddened in the +west--you heard the sweet carol of the thrush from the coppice, and +lingered to catch the melody. The shades of evening grew deeper. +The glow-worms lit their tiny lanterns on the bank, the owl flitted +past with noiseless wing, the village candles began to appear in the +distance; and as you dismounted at the door of your humble inn, and +surrendered your weary beast to the hands of the careful hostler, +you felt that you were the richer by a day spent in the fresh air +and gladsome sunshine, and made happy by all the sounds and sights +which are dear to the heart of man. + +But this was solitary travelling, and might not suit every one. +Well--if you were a little fellow, deficient in pluck, and sorely +afraid of robbers, you might have company for the asking. At every +large inn on the road there were at least a dozen travellers who, +for the sake of security, agreed to journey in company. Was that no +fun? Have you anything like it in your modern railways? Just compare +your own experiences of a rocket-flight along the Great Western with +Chaucer's delineation of his Canterbury pilgrimage, and you will +see what you have lost. Nice sort of tales you would elicit either +from that beetle-browed Bradford Free-Trader, evidently a dealer in +devil's-dust, who is your _vis-a-vis_ in the railway carriage; or +from that singular specimen of a nun who is ogling you deliberately +on the left! Can you associate the story of Palamon and Arcite--can +you connect anything which is noble, lofty, inspiriting, humane, or +gentle, with a journey made in an express train? If not, so much +the worse for the present times. Doubtless you may hear something +about Thompson or Bright, but we may be excused if we prefer the +mention of the earlier heroes. Also, you may pick up information +touching the price of calicoes, or the value of stocks, or the +amount of exports of cotton twist--and we wish you much good of all +that you get. But, O dear, is that travelling? Would you like to go +from London to Ispahan in such company? How long do you think you +could stand it? And yet this is the improved system of locomotion +for which we are told to be thankful, and in honour of which such +weariful volumes as those of Mr Francis are written. + +"But, mercy on us!" we hear Mr Francis or some of his backers +exclaim--"is it nothing that commercial gentlemen can now make four +trips a-day between Manchester and Liverpool, and do a stroke of +business on each occasion?" We reply, that it would be better for +the said commercial gentlemen, both here and hereafter, if they +would content themselves with a more moderate pursuit of Mammon. +Happiness in this life does not depend upon the amount of sales +effected. The assistant in the London grocer's shop, who daily +ties up a thousand packages of tea and sugar, is not greatly to be +envied beyond his brother in the country, who twists the twine +around fifty. We have an intense respect for work while kept within +wholesome limits; but we cannot regard the man whose sole pursuit +is grubbing after gold as otherwise than an ignominious slave. The +railways are in one sense excellent things. You can get from point +to point, if necessity requires it, much sooner than before, at less +cost, and perhaps with less inconvenience. But there the advantage +ends. There is no pleasure in them; and, compared with former +methods of locomotion, they are decidedly less healthy and less +instructive. We decry them not. We only wish to stop the babbling +of the blockheads who would have us to believe that, until the +steam-engine was invented, this earth was an unendurable waste, a +wilderness of barbarians, and an unfit residence for civilised and +enlightened man. Would the genius either of Shakspeare or Newton +have been greater had they known of the rails? Would the splendour +of the reign of Elizabeth have been heightened had Stephenson then +existed? + +The admiration of Mr Francis for the railway system is so intense +as to be purely ludicrous. He considers every man connected with +its development--whether as engineer, contractor, or director--as a +positive public hero; and this work of his seems intended as a kind +of Iliad, to chronicle their several achievements. Since we last +met, Mr Francis has been hard at work upon his style. Formerly he +went along, pleasantly enough, without any great effort: now he is +not satisfied unless he can eclipse Mr Macaulay. He has read the +_History of England_ to some purpose. Fascinated by the brilliancy +of the sketches which the accomplished historian has drawn of the +statesmen of the age of William of Orange, Mr Francis thinks he +will not do justice to his subject unless he adopts a similar mode +of handling. Unfortunately he has no statesmen to celebrate. But +he can do quite as well. There are surveyors and contractors by +the score, whose portraits in his eyes are just as interesting. +Accordingly, we have a repetition of the old scene in the play. A +voice without is heard calling, "Francis!" To which summons Francis +incontinently replieth, "Anon, anon, sir!" and then--"Enter Poins, +Peto, Gadshill, and the rest." No loftier apparition ever comes +upon the stage; but we are warned that, in surveying these, we look +upon individuals destined in all coming time to occupy a lofty +niche in British history. Thus, to quote at random from the index, +we have the following entries--"Richard Creed ... his services and +character." "Who may this Mr Richard Creed be?" says the unconscious +reader; "we never heard of him before!" "Fool!" quoth Francis, "he +was THE SECRETARY OF THE LONDON AND BIRMINGHAM LINE! 'On his honesty +and integrity,' said Mr Glyn on one occasion emphatically, 'I pin my +faith, and you may pin yours also!'" And he adds, referring to an +occasion which must have been exceedingly gratifying to the feelings +of the recipient--"The testimonial to this gentleman, in 1844, was +worthy the munificence of the givers. It is not often that a cheque +for two thousand one hundred guineas accompanies an expression of +opinion, or that the rich man's praise fructifies into a service of +plate." As we contemplate our unadorned sideboard, we acknowledge +the truth of this remark; still, we hesitate to exalt Mr Creed +to the rank of a hero. Then we light on "Undertakings of Thomas +Brassey.... Anecdote concerning him." Mr Brassey is a contractor, +eminent no doubt; but so, in his own age, must have been the Roman +gentleman who undertook the construction of the Cloaca Maxima, +though his name has unfortunately perished. Then appears "Henry +Booth.... His services." We trust they were properly acknowledged. +Then, "Personal sketches of Mr Locke and Mr Chaplin." We are greatly +edified by the _silhouettes_. "Personal sketch of Samuel Morton +Peto." We shall try, if possible, not to forget him. Much as Mr +Francis has done to perpetuate the memory of these great men, it +is plain that his powers have been cramped with the space of two +thick octavo volumes. In order to make his Iliad perfect, we ought +to have had a catalogue of the chiefs of the navvies. But we must +rest satisfied with the acute remark of Herder, that "the burden +of the song is infinite, but the powers of the human voice are +finite." Mr Francis has done what he can. Creed and Brassey--Brunel +and Locke--Chaplin, Peto, and Vignolles, live within his inspired +volumes; and we beg to congratulate them on account of that assured +immortalisation. They are the salt of the earth. The compilers +of traffic-tables have disappeared--the old standing witnesses +before committees of the House of Commons are dumb--the young +engineering gentlemen, who could do anything they pleased in the +way of levelling mountains, are amusing themselves in California or +elsewhere--even the mighty counsel, the holders of a hundred briefs, +for which, for the most part, they rendered but indifferent service, +are unsung. But the others live. In the British Valhalla they are +assured of an adequate niche, thanks to Mr Francis, who, as Captain +Dangerfield says, is ready to stake his reputation that they are the +only men worthy of record in such an enlightened age as our own. + +No--we are wrong. The man of all others to be deeply venerated is +"George Carr Glyn, Esq., Chairman of the London and North-Western +Railway," to whom these volumes are respectfully dedicated. Of Mr +Glyn's career as a statesman we know absolutely nothing. We are +not even aware to what section of politicians he belongs, so utter +is our ignorance of his fame. As we read the pages of Francis, and +encountered the continual eulogiums heaped upon this gentleman, we +felt remarkably uncomfortable. We could not divest ourselves of the +notion that we had been asleep for some quarter of a century, and +had therefore missed the opportunity of witnessing the appearance +of a new and most brilliant star in the political horizon. About +Mr Glyn, Francis has no manner of doubt. He is not only the most +sagacious, but the most clever personage extant, for every purpose +which can smooth railway difficulties. He is the Ulysses of his +line, and can rap Thersites on the sconce, if that cynical fiend +should insist upon an awkward question. We really and unaffectedly +ask pardon of Mr Glyn, if we mistake him through his eulogist. We +have no other means of knowing him; and therefore he must settle the +correctness of the following sketch with Mr Francis, who appears +as the voluntary artist. If the drawing is to the mind of Mr Glyn, +and if it meets his ideas of ethics, we have nothing in the world +to say against it, having no interest whatever in the line over +which he presides. Hear Francis: "The proper place to see Mr Glyn +is as chairman in that noble room, where, with an earnest multitude +around him, with the representative of every class and caste before +him--with Jew and Gentile ready to carp at and criticise his +statements--he yet moves them at his pleasure, and leads them at +his will. And perhaps the ascendency of one man over many is seldom +_more agreeably seen_ than when, standing before a huge expectant +audience, he enlivens the platitudes of one with some light +epigrammatic touch, answers another with a clear tabular statement, +_or replies to a third with some fallacy so like a fact_ that the +recipient sits contentedly down, about as wise as he was before." +This is, to say the least of it, an equivocal sort of panegyric. We +all know what is implied by the term "fallacies" in railway matters, +and some of us have suffered in consequence. According to our view, +this interchange of fallacies between directors and shareholders is +a custom by no means laudable, or to be held in especial repute. In +pure matters of business, the less frequently fallacies are resorted +to, the better. They are apt, in the long run, to find their way +into the balance-sheet--until, as we have seen in some notorious +instances, the assumed fact of a clear balance, to be applied by way +of dividend, turns out also to be a fallacy. In the case before us, +we are willing to believe that Mr Francis is altogether mistaken, +and that the statements of Mr Glyn, made in his official capacity, +which appeared to the blundering reporter to be fallacies, were in +reality stern truths. But what sort of estimate must we form of Mr +Francis' moral perception, when we find him selecting such a trait +as the subject of especial commendation? He has, however, like +most other great men, large sympathies. He does battle in behalf of +Mr Hudson with considerable energy; though, after all, taking his +conclusions as legitimate, his defence simply resolves itself into +this--that Mr Hudson's conduct was not more blamable than that of +others. So be it. We never joined in the wholesale censure directed +against the quondam railway monarch, because we knew that the whole +tone of the morals of society had been poisoned by the villanous +system engendered by railway speculation; and because we saw that +many of his accusers, if their own conduct had been sifted, might +have been arraigned equally with him at the bar of public opinion. +Therefore we have no desire to interfere with the operations of Mr +Francis, when he appears with his pot of whitewash. Nay, we wish +that the implement were more roomy than it is, and the contents +of less questionable purity--for assuredly he has a large surface +of wall to cover, if he sets himself seriously to the task of +obliterating the traces of past iniquity. + +The reader, however, must not suppose that Mr Francis sees nothing +to condemn, or that he has not at command thunderbolts of wrath to +launch at the heads of offenders. According to him, the most painful +feature of the railway system was the rapacity of the owners of the +soil in driving hard bargains for their land. As this is a charge +which has often been made by men more competent to form an opinion +upon any subject than the gentleman whose work we are now reviewing, +we shall condescend to notice it. Let us premise however, that, in +this matter, the howl is distinctly traceable to the harpies who +inveigled the public to join their nefarious schemes, and to advance +their capital on the assurance of enormous dividends. + +After referring to the negotiations made with landowners by the +promoters of the London and Birmingham line, Mr Francis comments as +follows:-- + + "These things are written with pain, for they display a low + tone of moral feeling in that class which, by virtue of + inheritance, of birth, and blood, should possess a high and + chivalrous sense of honour. The writer is far from wishing to + blame those who honestly opposed the rail. The conscientious + feeling which prompts a man, even in an unwise action, if + mistaken, is at least respectable. There is much to palliate the + honest opposition of the landowner. Scenes and spots which are + replete with associations of great men and great deeds cannot be + pecuniarily paid for. Sites which bear memories more selfish, + yet not less real, have no market value. Homes in which boyhood, + manhood, and age have been passed, carry recollections which + are almost hallowed. Such places cannot be bought and sold; nor + are the various prejudices which cling to the country to be + overlooked. If the nobleman disliked the destruction of his fine + old English park, the yeoman deplored the desecration of his + homestead. The one bore its splendid remembrances, the other its + affectionate recollections. If the peer hallowed the former for + the sake of its royal visits, the farmer cherished the latter + for the sake of those who had tilled the land before him. There + are fancy spots in this our beautiful England which it would + pain the most indifferent to destroy; what then must be the + feelings of those who have lived, and only wish to die there? + + "It is the trafficker in sympathies, it is the dealer in haunts + and homes, at whom the finger of scorn should be pointed. It + is the trader in touching recollections, only to be soothed + by gold, that should be denounced. It is the peer who made + the historic memories of his mansion a plea for replenishing + an impoverished estate; it is the farmer who made the sacred + associations of home an excuse for receiving treble its value; + it is the country gentleman who made his opposition the lever + by which he procured the money from the proprietors' pockets, + who should be shamed. And a double portion of ignominy must rest + upon these, when it is remembered that the money thus immorally + obtained is a constant tax on the pleasures of the artisan, on + the work of the manufacturer, and on the wages of the railway + official." + +Mr Francis, it is evident, is fighting hard for his service of +plate; but we doubt much whether he will get it. He evidently +considers the foregoing passage as a specimen of splendid writing. +He is mistaken. It is nothing better than unadulterated drivel. +Let us try to extricate, if we can, his argument from this heap of +verbiage. + +He admits that associations ought to be respected, but he denies +that they ought to have been paid for. What does he mean by this? By +whom were the said associations to be respected? By the projectors +of the railway companies? Hardly: for those very sympathising +gentlemen were precisely the persons who insisted upon running their +rails right through park and cottage, and who would have prostrated +without remorse the Temple of Jerusalem or the Coliseum, had either +edifice stood in their way. What, then, was the value of that +respect? Precisely the worth of the tear which stood in the eye of +the tender-hearted surveyor. What was the operation of that respect? +Not to spare, but if possible to destroy. + +In a word, Mr Francis maintains that the railway companies ought to +have had their own way in everything, and to have got possession of +the land at the lowest conceivable prices. He thinks that, because +gentlemen whose property was threatened with invasion, whose privacy +it was purposed to destroy, and whose homes were to be rendered +untenantable, demanded a high price from the joint-stock trading +companies, as an equivalent for the surrender of such privileges, +they manifested a "low tone of moral feeling." In fact, so far as +we can gather from his language, he puts no value whatever, in +a pecuniary sense, upon the associations which he admits to be +entitled to respect; and hardly any, if any, upon the score of +amenity. He is anything but an Evelyn. An oak, in his eyes, is +merely a piece of standing timber to be measured, valued, and paid +for according to the current price in the dockyards. The land--no +matter of what kind--is to be estimated according to the amount +of its yearly return, and handed over without farther question +to the enterprising company which demands it. Perhaps Mr Francis +may remember a certain passage in sacred history, narrating the +particulars of a proposed transfer of ground--the parties being +King Ahab on the one hand, and Naboth the Jezreelite on the other? +If not, we recommend it to his attention, assuring him that he will +find it to contain a very important lesson touching the rights of +property. His present argument, if it is worth anything, would go +far to vindicate Ahab. He wanted the other man's vineyard because it +lay contiguous to his house, and he offered to give him in exchange +a better vineyard for it, or an equivalent in money. According to +the view maintained by Mr Francis, Naboth was not justified in +refusing the offer. + +But let us look into this matter a little more closely. On the one +hand there is the owner of a property which has been transmitted +through a long line of ancestors, and which is now to be intersected +and cut up by a projected line of railway. On the other hand there +is the company, which cannot progress a step until they have +possession of the land. Now let us see what is the nature, and what +are the objects of this company. It will not do for Mr Francis +or any one else to babble about public advantages, arising from +more direct communication between cities or towns of importance. +Public advantage may be taken for granted as a result, but upon +pure considerations of public advantage no railway whatever +was undertaken. It is the commercial speculation of a private +company. No man ever took a share in any railway from motives of +disinterested philanthropy. He took them because he expected to make +a profit by them, to hold them as a safe investment, or finally to +sell them for a larger sum than he paid. A condition, and the main +one, of the existence of the railway is the possession of the land, +and at this point proprietors and speculators join issue. The former +do not want the railway. Their wish is to preserve their property +undissevered, and to be spared from the spectacle of engines roaring +by at all hours of the day and night close to the bottom of the +lawn. They very naturally think it a monstrous hardship that the +rights of private property should be invaded by private individuals, +even though acting upon an incorporated semblance, who are simply +seeking their own profit; and they argue that, if the railway was +required for public purposes, the government was the proper party +to have undertaken its construction. But as, under the existing +law, they are liable to be dragged, session after session, into +a ruinous expense to oppose the demands of the capitalists, they +wisely determine to make the best arrangement they can, and at all +events to secure a full remuneration for the sacrifice. So the +Squire, finding that the law is so conceived and modified that any +one individual who is possessed of landed property may be compelled +to surrender it at the demand of a hundred leagued capitalists, +makes a virtue of necessity, and demands a sum corresponding in +some degree to the extent of the extorted sacrifice: whereupon the +promoters of the railway instantly raise such a howl that you would +think somebody was trying to rob _them_, or to take _their_ property +by force--the case being notoriously the reverse. + +Undoubtedly the Squire demands more from the railway company, as +compensation for his land, than he could calculate on receiving +from a neighbouring proprietor at an ordinary sale. And on what +principle, in the majority of cases, does he base his calculation +of value? Strictly upon that adopted by the projectors of the line. +For instance, a prospectus of a railway is put out, announcing that, +after the most careful consideration of district traffic, &c., the +clear dividend, after clearing all expenses, must be fifteen per +cent per annum to the proprietors. That is the statement of the +projectors. Well, then, if such are the prospects of the concern, +is it unreasonable that the land, which must be taken for its +construction, and which is, in fact, to form the railway, should be +valued, less on account of its productiveness, than on account of +its adaptation for the peculiar purpose for which it is required? +Why is an acre in the centre of a town a hundred times more valuable +than an acre in a rural district? Simply because it is required for +building, and the value of the land rises in just correspondence +to the demand. The subsequent failure or diminution of the railway +dividends cannot be made a just article of dittay against the landed +proprietors. Fifteen per cent, or ten, as the case might be, was +the amount of dividend which the promoters undertook to prove, to +the satisfaction of Parliament and the public, as their reasonable +expectation. It was part of their case always, and very often the +most important part; and if they chose so to commit themselves, +they were bound to pay accordingly. Just conceive a body of men +addressing an urban proprietor of land, upon which no houses were +yet built, in the following terms:--"Sir, we perceive you have an +acre and a half of land which would be very convenient for our +purpose. We propose to build a street of houses upon it, and a +hotel, from the rents of which we expect to draw fifteen per cent +yearly. At present your land yields you little or nothing, and +therefore we wish you to dispose of it at its present value. Let us +say that just now it is worth to you five pounds a-year: we shall +buy it from you at five-and-twenty years' purchase!" We leave to the +imagination of the reader the exact terms in which the proprietor +would assuredly reply to the propounders of this reasonable request. +And yet, where is the difference between the cases? The railway +projector tells the landed proprietor that he desires to have his +property for the purpose of securing fifteen per cent for his own +money: the landed proprietor tells him that he may have the property +at a rate corresponding to the advantage which he anticipates. Can +anything be fairer? If Mr Francis understood even the simplest +elements of political economy--an amount of mental comprehension of +which we believe him to be wholly incapable--he ought to know that +demand and supply are the leading conditions of price. If there +is only one salmon in the London market, it will sell, as it has +done before now, at the rate of a-guinea per pound, and it would be +obviously unfair to charge the fishmonger with being actuated by "a +low tone of moral feeling." He coerces no customer: he simply states +his price, and if no one chooses to buy, no one has a right to +complain. Our friend Francis seems to labour under the hallucination +that everything required for a railway ought to be furnished at +prime cost. That the promoters expect fifteen percent is nothing. +Nay, even the free-trading rule of selling in the dearest and +buying in the cheapest market is to be suspended for their behoof. +The seller is to have no option: he must be cheap to them, else +he is a moral monster. If, however, the judicious panegyrist of +Mr Carr Glyn does not carry his principles quite so far, he lays +himself open to the charge of most monstrous inconsistency. During +the prevalence of the railway mania, all commodities requisite for +their construction rose greatly in value. From iron to railway +sleepers--in wood, metal, and everything connected with the making +of the lines--there was an enormous enhancement of price. And +why? On account of the demand. Was the soil on which that iron +and wood was to be laid--the absolute foundation of the railway +itself--to be paid for at a meaner rate? Mr Francis seems to think +so; and we cannot help honouring him for the candid expression of +his opinions, even while we regret the conglomeration of ideas +which gave them birth. We are afraid that he has been talked over +by some of his acute acquaintances. It is the fashion at railway +meetings to attribute all disasters to some other cause than the +mismanagement of the directors; and we daresay that Mr Francis has +been fully indoctrinated with such opinions. It is not agreeable +to meet shareholders with a confession of dwindled dividend. But +when imperious circumstances render such a course inevitable, it +is convenient to be prepared with some "fallacy" which may help +to account for the fact, and to stifle too curious investigation. +The readiest scapegoat is the landowner. All accounting with him +is past and gone, yet he still can be made to bear the blame for a +vast amount of reckless prodigality. He is not there to speak for +himself--he has no connection with the company. Therefore, whenever +failure must be acknowledged, the onus is cast upon him. Railway +orators and railway writers alike conceal the real cause of the +disaster, and combine to cast discredit and aspersion upon the +gentry of England. + +The truth is, that the system of railway management in this country +has been, from the beginning to the end, decidedly bad. Each line, +as it came into existence, was fostered by quackery and falsehood. +The most extravagant representations were used to secure the +adhesion of shareholders, and to procure the public support. Rival +lines fought each other before the committees with a desperation +worthy of the cats of Kilkenny, and enormous expenses and law +charges were incurred at the very commencement. No economy whatever +was used in the engineering, and no check placed on the engineers. +In those days, indeed, an engineer of established reputation was a +kind of demigod, whose doctrine, or, at all events, whose charges, +it was sinful to challenge. But engineers have their ambition. +They like viaducts which will be talked of and admired as splendid +achievements of mechanical skill; and the most virtuous of the tribe +cannot resist the temptation of a tunnel. Such tastes are natural, +but they are fearfully expensive in their indulgence, as the +shareholders know to their cost. The remuneration of these gentlemen +was monstrous. In the course of a few years most of them realised +large fortunes, which is more than can be said for the majority of +the men who paid them. So was it with the contractors. Mr Francis +tells us of many, "who, beginning life as navigators, have become +contractors; who, having saved money, have become 'gangers,' +realised capital and formed contracts, first for thousands, and then +for hundreds of thousands. These are almost a caste by themselves. +They make fortunes, and purchase landed estates. Many a fine +property has passed from some improvident possessor to a railway +labourer; and some of the most beautiful country seats in England +belong to men who trundled the barrow, who delved with the spade, +who smote with the pick-axe, and blasted the rock." With such +statements before us, it is not difficult to see how the money went. +Alas for the shareholders! Poor geese! they little thought how many +were to have a pluck at their pinions. + +Industry, we freely admit, ought to have its reward; but rewards +such as these are beyond the reach of pure industry, as we used +formerly to understand the term. These revelations may, however, +be of use as indicating the direction in which a great part of the +money has gone. We accept them as such, and as illustrations of +that profound economy which was practised by the different boards +of railway direction throughout the kingdom. Mr Francis, in his +laudatory sketches of his favourite heroes, usually takes care +to tell us that they are "sprung from the ranks of the people." +Of course they are. Where else were they to spring from? Does Mr +Francis suppose it to be a popular article of belief that they +emerged from the bowels of a steam-engine? What he means, however, +is plain enough. Judging from the whole tenor of his book, we +take him to be one of those jaundiced persons who, without any +intelligible reason beyond class prejudice, are filled with bile +and rancour against the aristocracy, and who worship at the shrine +of money. He grudges every farthing that the railway companies were +compelled to pay for land; he bows down in reverence before the +princely fortunes of the contractors. Every man to his own taste. We +cannot truthfully assert that we admire the selection of his idols. + +But what is this? We have just lighted upon a passage which compels +us, in spite of ourselves, to suspect that our Francis is, at least, +a bit of a repudiator, and that he would regard with no unfavourable +eye another pluck at the shareholders. Here it is:-- + + "The assertion that land and compensation on the line to + which Mr Robert Stephenson was engineer, which was estimated + at L250,000, amounted to L750,000, appears to call for some + additional remark; _and the question which is now proposed is, + how far the right is with the railroads to demand, and the + passengers to pay an increased fare, in consequence of bargains + which, unjust in principle, ought never to have been allowed?_ + It is now a historic fact that every line in England has cost + more than it ought. That in some--where, too, the directors were + business men--large sums were improperly paid for land, for + compensation, for consequential damages, for fancy prospects, + and other unjust demands under various names. These sums being + immorally obtained, _is it right that the public should pay + the interest on them_? Is it just that the working man should + forego his trifling luxury to meet them? Is it fair that the + artisan should be deprived of his occasional trip, or that the + frequenter of the rail should pay an additional tax?" + +Is it fair that anybody should pay anything at all for travelling +on the railways? That is the question which must finally be +considered, if Mr Francis' preliminary questions are to be +entertained. Because some part of the capital of the shareholders +may have been needlessly expended, they ought in this view to +receive a less amount of interest for the remainder! The silliness +of the above passage is so supreme--the ignorance which it displays +of the first rules of law and equity, regarding property, is so +profound, that it is hardly worth while exposing it. It betrays an +obliquity of intellect of which we had not previously suspected +even Mr Francis. Pray observe the exquisite serenity with which +this important personage opens his case: "The question which is now +proposed!" Proposed--and for whose consideration? Not surely for +that of the Legislature, for the Legislature has already pronounced +judgment. Are the public to take the matter in hand, and decide +on the tables of rates? It would seem so. In that case, we might +indeed calculate upon travelling cheap, provided the rails were not +shut up. But the whole of his remarks are as practically absurd +as they are mischievous in doctrine. What right has Jack, Tom, or +Harry to question the cost of his conveyance? Are there not, in +all conscience, competing lines enough, independent altogether +of Parliamentary regulations, to secure the public against being +overcharged on the railways? On what authority does Mr Francis +assume that a single acre of the land was paid for at an unjust +rate? Mr Robert Stephenson's estimate, we take it, has not the +authority of gospel. No engineer's estimate has. Their margin is +always a large one; and it almost never happens that, when the +works are completed, their actual cost is found to correspond with +the hypothetical calculation. But the truth is, that the value +paid for the land taken by railways is the only item of expense +which cannot be justly challenged. The reason is plain. A railway +company has in the first instance to prove the preamble of its +bill--that is, it must show to the satisfaction of the Legislature +that the construction of the work will be attended with public and +local advantages. The settlement of the money question, regarding +the value of the land, is reserved for the legal tribunals of the +country. To complain of the verdicts given is to impugn the course +of justice, and to cast discredit on the system of jury trial. +Very wisely was it determined that such questions should be so +adjudicated, because no reasonable ground of complaint can be left +to either party. The decision as to the value of the land, and the +amount of compensation which is due, is taken from the hands both +of Ahab and Naboth, and their respective engineers and valuators, +and intrusted to neutral parties, whose duty it is to see fair play +between them. + +We have done with this book. It has greatly disappointed us in every +respect. As a repertory of facts, or as a history of the railways, +it is ill-arranged, meagre, and stupid; and the sketches which it +contains are so absurdly conceived, and so clumsily executed, that +they entirely fail to enliven the general dulness of the volumes. At +the very point which might have been rendered most interesting in +the hands of an able and well-instructed writer--the period of the +great mania--Mr Francis fails. His pen is not adequate to the task +of depicting the rapid occurrences of the day, or the fearful whirl +which then agitated the public mind. In short, he is insufferably +prosy throughout the first four acts of his drama, and makes a +lamentable break-down at the catastrophe. His work will fail to +please any portion of the public, except the heroes whose praises +he has sung. He has given them sugar, indeed; but, after all, it is +a sanded article. We hope they will combine to buy up the edition, +and thus fulfil the prophecy of Shakspeare--"Nay, but hark you, +Francis: for the sugar thou gavest me--'twas a pennyworth, was't +not?" "O Lord, sir! I would it had been two." "I will give thee for +it a thousand pound: ask me when thou wilt, and thou shalt have it." +"Anon, anon, sir!" + + + + +INDEX TO VOL. LXX. + + + Abdallah, a dragoman, sketch of, 448 _et seq._ + + Aborigines, general characteristics of, 416. + + Abrantes, the marquis of, 354. + + Achmet Bascha, a campaign in Taka under, 251 _et seq._ + + Achmet Effendi, sketch of, 453. + + Acre, sketches at, 459. + + Administration, system of, in Russia, 164 ET SEQ. + + Adolphe the clairvoyant, performances of, 70. + + Africa, recent travels in, 251. + + Agricultural depression, amount of, in Ireland, 136 + --reaction of it on other classes of the community, 303. + + Agricultural interest, experienced results of free trade to + the, 133 + --Lord John Russell on its state, 489. + + Agricultural Relief Associations, proceedings and demands of + the, 616. + + Agriculture, Huskisson on protection to, 632 + --state of, &c. in the United States, 699 _et seq._ + --relations of geology to, 703 + --improvements in, in New York, &c., 704 + --its state, &c., in Canada, 707. + + Agriculturists, effects of the depression of the, on the home + trade, 109 + --lowering of the wages of the, 496. + + Albany, Professor Johnston's Lectures in, 700. + + Alchemy, origin of chemistry with, &c., 564. + + Aleppo, town of, 725. + + Alexandretta, town of, 463, 724. + + Alexandria, a voyage from, to Syria, 451. + + Alexis the clairvoyant, 77. + + Ali-Beg, the pass of, 100. + + Amadeus I. of Savoy, 414. + + American lakes, the, 708, 709. + + American slavery, on, 385. + + Americans in California, character, &c. of the, 478. + + Amiens, sketches at, 199. + + ANSAYRII, THE, 719 + --their tenets, numbers, &c., 733. + + Apes, shooting of, at Hassela, 270. + + Arab Scheik, an, 728. + + Arable culture, expense of, 1790, 1803, and 1813, 620. + + Arc de Triomphe de l'Etoile, the, 319. + + Arches, the triumphal, of Paris, 320. + + Arkwright, sir R., origin of the discoveries of, 566. + + Army, the French, feeling in, toward Louis Napoleon, 547. + + ARNABOLL, THE RAID OF, chap. I., 220 + --chap. II., 225 + --chap. III., 230 + --chap. IV., 236. + + Artesian well, the, at Paris, 317. + + Aspre, general d', notices of, during the campaign in Italy, 29 ET + SEQ. PASSIM + --his march on Verona, 442. + + ASSASSINS or Ansayrii, the, 719 + --their tenets, &c., 733. + + Atbara river, the, 257 _et seq. passim_. + + Atoi, a New Zealand chief, 417. + + Auber's opera of Zerline, on, 311. + + Aumale, the duke d', the duke of Orleans on, 555. + + Australia, character of the aborigines of, 416 + --a voyage to California from, 471. + + Austria, sketches of the war between her and Piedmont, 25 _et seq._ + --her intervention in the Papal States in 1830, 432 + --her long possession of Lombardy and acquisition of Venice, 433 + --her administration of the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom, 434. + + AUSTRIAN AIDE-DE-CAMP, the campaigns of an, 25. + + AUTUMN POLITICS, 607. + + + Bacon, Friar, the prophecy of, 562. + + Bagdad, sketches of, 97. + + Ballet-dancing, Fanny Lewald on, 217. + + Baranken, fur called, 172. + + Bassora, a voyage to, 96. + + Bears, the, in the Jardin des Plantes, 314 + --sketches of, in North America, 672, 677. + + Beautiful, Ruskin's theory of the, examined, 333. + + Belgian Revolution, Stahr on the, 544. + + Benares, sketches by Madame Pfeiffer at, 93. + + Berchthold, count, fellow-traveller of Madame Pfeiffer, 87 _et seq. + passim_. + + Bethmeria, village of, in Lebanon, 456. + + Beyrout, sketches at, 454, 721. + + Blane, Louis, account of, by Fanny Lewald, 214. + + Bombay, a voyage from Bassora to, 96. + + BOROUGHS, DISFRANCHISEMENT OF THE, 296. + + Boroughs, apparent secession of the, from the free-trade cause, 299. + + Boulevard of Paris, the, 200. + + Boulogne, difficulties of the invasion of England from, 197 + --sketches in, 198. + + Bradford, present state of manufactures at, 643. + + Brazil, sketches in the interior of, 87. + + Bread-stuffs, the exports of, from the United States, 702. + + Brett, Messrs, the inventors of the submarine telegraph, 567. + + Bribery, parliamentary, on, 303. + + Bright, John, on the reduction of wages, 634. + + British empire, statistics regarding population of the, 1801 to + 1851, 127. + + British shipping, influence of free trade on, 138. + + Browne, sir Thomas, testimony of, concerning witchcraft, 81. + + Buckwheat, use of, in North America, 705. + + Buffon, superintendence of the Jardin des Plantes by, 315. + + Buonaparte, Napoleon, restoration of the Jardin des Plantes by, 315 + --the monument to, in the Hotel des Invalides, 317 + --measures of, regarding the drama, 324. + + Buonaparte, Napoleon, son of Jerome, 206. + + Burdon, captain, British resident at Kottah, 94. + + Burke, E., proposal by, to gild the dome of St Paul's, 316. + + Burning forest, a, in Brazil, 88. + + + Cagliostro, supposed mesmeric power of, 77. + + Cairo, sketches of life, &c. at, 449. + + California, sketches in, 470 _et seq._ + + Camino theatre, the, at St Petersburg, 168. + + CAMPAIGN IN TAKA, a, 251. + + CAMPAIGNS OF AN AUSTRIAN AIDE-DE-CAMP, the, 25. + + Canadas, sketches by Professor Johnston in the, 706 + --statistics of their progress, 708. + + Cancrin, finance minister of Russia, 166. + + Cannibalism of New Zealand, the, 415. + + Caravan journey to Mossul, a, 98. + + Cards, playing, consumption of, in Russia, 169. + + Carey's Harmony of Interests, &c., extracts from, 640. + + Carlists, fall of the, in Spain, 356. + + Carre, Michel, French translation of Goethe's Faust by, 556. + + Carrousel, the arch of the, 320. + + Cash payments, influence of the suspension of, 619 + --and that of their resumption, 622. + + Catamount, adventure with a, 677. + + Cavalry, the Russian, 165. + + Caxton, Pisistratus, My Novel by, + --Part XI. Book VI. chapters I. to XII. 1 + --Part XII. Book VI. chapters XIII. to XXV. 173 + --Part XIII. Book VII. chapters I. to XV. 275 + --Part XIV. Book VII. chapters XVI. to XXII. 392 + --Part XV. Book VIII. chapters I. to VI. 573 + --Part XVI. Book VIII. chapters VII. to XIV. 681. + + CENSUS AND FREE TRADE, the, 123. + + CHAMPIONS OF THE RAIL, the, 739. + + Charles Albert, King of Sardinia, sketches of, 30 _et seq. passim_ + --his conduct with regard to Lombardy, 437 + --hostilities begun by him, 440 + --sketch of his previous career, 442 + --the campaign under him, 444 + --his last defeat, abdication, and death, 446. + + Chartum, the town of, 251. + + Cheapness, examination of the question of, 638. + + Chemistry, alchemy the parent of, 564. + + Cherbourg, the harbour of, 197. + + China, sketches in, by Madame Pfeiffer, 92. + + Chinese junk, voyage in a, 93. + + Church, Mr Phelps on the, 388. + + Churches, Ruskin on, 327. + + "Claims of Labour," remarks on the, 380. + + Clairvoyance, examination of the claims of, 70 _et seq._ + + Clam, General Count, 33. + + Clergy, influence of free trade on the, 500. + + Clouds, Ruskin on, 330. + + Coal gas, how first discovered, 569. + + Colonisation, two sonnets, 606. + + Column, on the, as the monument, 319. + + "Companions of my solitude," review of, 386. + + Concorde, the Place and Pont de la, in Paris, 202, 203, 312. + + CONGRESS AND THE AGAPEDOME, the, chap. I. 359 + --chap. II. 365 + --chap. III. 370 + --chap. IV. 375. + + Conjurors, Indian, 94. + + "Conquerors of the New World, the," remarks on, 380. + + Conscription, the, in France, 323. + + Constable the painter, the trees of, 332. + + Constantinople, winter aspect of, 723. + + Constituencies, large, the _Times_ on, 301. + + Continent, revolutionary tendencies the, and their causes, 431. + + Cook, Captain, on the cannibalism of New Zealand, 416. + + Corn laws, causes which brought about the repeal of the, 115 + --separation between landlord and tenant induced by their + repeal, 610 + --circumstances which originated them. &c., 621 + --Huskisson in favour of the, 632 + --effects of their repeal on prices, 637. + + Cornu, Madame, letters of Louis Napoleon to, 547. + + Costazza, defeat of Charles Albert at, 445. + + Cotton manufacture, wheat used for starch in the, 497. + + Counties, decrease of population in, 1841 to 1851, 129. + + Country, immigration of population into the towns from the, 307. + + Country districts, first failure of population in the, 125. + + Crime, increase of, under the free-trade system, 139 + --increase of it in the towns, 307. + + Croats, the troops called, 443. + + Crusades, increase of population during the, 124. + + CRYSTAL PALACE, VOLTAIRE IN THE, 142. + + Currency reform, necessity for, 111. + + Currency system, the new, the monetary crisis due to, 132 + --relation of it to the free-trade question, 618. + + Custine, M. de, his book on Russia, 160. + + Cuvier, superintendence of the Jardin des Plantes by, 316. + + + Daun, Marshal, the victory of, at Kolin, 26. + + DAY-DREAMS OF AN EXILE. Longings + --I. To ----, 465 + --II. Where summer is, 467 + --III. Earth is the realm of death, 469 + --IV. Stand by the ocean, _ib._ + --V. Sigh thou not for a happier lot, 604 + --VI. To ----, 605 + --VII. Oft in a night of April, _ib._ + --VIII. Dream on, 606 + --IX. Colonisation, two sonnets, _ib._ + + Defalla, an African chief, 259. + + Delta, The Lament of Selim, by, 103 + --his death, and sketch of his life, &c., 249. + + Dembinski, General, in the Hungarian war, 37. + + Depression, the present, its universality, 630. + + Derby, the Earl of, on protection, 613. + + Digby, Sir Kenelm, supposed acquaintance of, with mesmerism, 77. + + DIGGINGS, A VOICE FROM THE, 470. + + DISFRANCHISEMENT OF THE BOROUGHS, the, 296. + + Disraeli, Mr, new policy proposed by, against free trade, 612 _et + seq. passim_. + + Domestic tyranny, Mr Helps on, 381. + + Doubleday, Mr, on the effects of Peel's currency system, 622. + + DOWNWARD TENDENCIES, 106. + + Drama, sketch of the rise and history of the, in France, 323 + --its present state there, 324. + + "Dream on, ye souls who slumber here," 606. + + Druses, sketches of the, 456. + + Dumas, Alexander, sketches of, by Professor Stahr, and account of + the duke of Orleans by him, 547, 554. + + Dunshunner, A. R., letter to R. M'Corkindale by--"Downward + tendencies," 106. + + Dunstan the monk, on the character of, 513. + + Duprat, M., speech of, on the National Guard, 207. + + Durando, general, defence of Vicenza, by, 35. + + + Earle, Mr, account of cannibalism in New Zealand by, 417. + + "Earth is the realm of death, who reigns," 469. + + East, interest of the, 719. + + Eastlake's Good Samaritan, on, 212. + + Eating-houses in San Francisco, 472. + + Edinburgh Review, the, on protection, 306. + + Education, Mr Helps on, 383. + + Edwin the Fair, review of, 513. + + Egypt, interest of, 719 + --sketches in, 720 _et seq._ + + Electric telegraph, laying down of the, from England to France, 568. + + Elliotson, Dr, Phreno-mesmeric exhibition by, 74. + + Elora, visit to, by Madame Pfeiffer, 95. + + Emigration, increase of, from Great Britain, 113 + --rapidity of it in a declining state, 126 + --amounts of it from Great Britain, 1841 to 1850, 128 _note_ + --amount of it from Ireland, 131 + --influence of free trade on it, 139, 503 + --the _Times_ on the increased, 626 + --encouragements to, to the United States, 710, 711. + + Employers, on the relation between, and employed, 381. + + Employment, influence of, on population, 123. + + England and France, laying down of the submarine electric telegraph + between, 568. + + English travellers, contrast between, and French, 447 + --follies, &c. of, 454 + --how regarded in the East, 461. + + Esperon, Dr, 453. + + "Essays written in intervals of business," remarks on, 380. + + Etoile, the Arc de l', 319. + + Euphrates, the, 727. + + Europe, the advances of population in, 123 + --tendencies to revolution in, 431. + + Eve of the Conquest, Taylor's, remarks on, 520. + + Exhibition of paintings, Fanny Lewald on the, 211. + + Exile, day-dreams of an, see Day-dreams. + + EXPERIMENT, the, 488. + + Exports, increase of, under free trade, 140. + + Eye, alleged power of charm in the, 79. + + + Farmers, loss at present sustaining by the, 492 + --their right to relief, 614, 615. + See also Agriculturists. + + Faucher, M., speech of, in the Legislative Assembly, 207. + + Faust, French translation of, the, 556. + + Finances, influence of free trade on the, 137. + + Financial system, relations of the, to the free-trade question, 618. + + Flour, falling price of, in New York, 703. + + Folkstone, sketches of, 197. + + Foreign shipping, influence of free trade on, 138. + + Foreign trade, state of, &c., 645. + + Forest life, sketches of, in Maine, &c., 670 _et seq._ + + Forests of Brazil, the, 88, 89. + + Fountains of the Place de la Concorde, the, 314. + + France, the protective policy of, 117 + --increase of population in, during the war, 124, 125 + --increased facilities of communication with, 195 + --the revolutions of, and their influences, 431 + --the intervention of, in Rome, 438 + --the importation of flour into Great Britain from, 489 _note_ + --sketches of the present state of, by Professor Stahr, 545 + --belief in, as to Napoleon being still alive, 549 + --laying down of the submarine telegraph from England to, 568. + + FRANCIS' HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH RAILWAY reviewed, 739. + + Frederick the Great, his defeat at Kolin, 26. + + FREE TRADE, THE CENSUS AND, 123. + + Free trade, the experienced results of, 108 _et seq._ + --contrast between its results and those of protection, 116 + --influence of it on trading profits, 137 + --influence of it on shipping, 138 + --its influence on crime, emigration, and poor-rates, 139 + --and on exports and imports, 140 + --general summary of its results, 141 + --general reaction against it, 245 + --declarations from the boroughs against it, 299 + --the experiment of, 488 + --influence of it on the income, &c., of the clergy, 500 + --continued depression under it, 609 + --reaction against it, 613 + --address to the shopkeepers on its effects on them, + 629 _et seq._ + --universality of the depression from it, 630 + --its progress from the time of Huskisson, 632 + --prices of corn under it, 637. + + Free-traders, preponderance of, among the Scottish + representatives, 297 + --present views of, regarding the smaller boroughs, 305. + + Freedom, Protestantism essential to, 447. + + French in Tahiti, the, 90. + + French army, feeling in, toward Louis Napoleon, 546. + + French opera, the, at Paris, 310. + + French railroads, on, 199. + + French theatres, Stahr on the, 557. + + French travellers, contrast between, and English, 447. + + "Friends in council," notice of, 382. + + Funds, danger of the, 112. + + Furs, prices of, in Russia, 171. + + + Gaming and gaming-houses in San Francisco, 473. + + Gand, Dr, 253, 254. + + Garcia, Madame, reception of, in St Petersburg, 168. + + Gas, how first discovered, 569. + + Gaufridy, Louis, the case of, 76. + + Gaza, the Lazaretto at, 453. + + Geology, relations of, to agriculture, 703. + + Georgey, General, 36. + + GERMAN AUTHORESS, London diary of a, 209. + + GERMAN LETTERS FROM PARIS, 543. + + German literature, non-appreciation of, in France, 556. + + German professors, former and present characters of, 543. + + German women, Fanny Lewald on, 216. + + Gibelin, the Count de, case of, 82. + + Gibili tobacco, 462. + + GIBRALTAR, A LEGEND OF, Chap. I. 522 + --Chap. II. 529 + --Chap. III. 532 + --Chap. IV. 535 + --Chap. V. 539. + + GIBRALTAR, A TALE OF THE SIEGE OF, 648. + + Glasgow, increase of population in, 1841 to 1851, 129 + --1811 to 1851, 131 + --immigrations of Irish into, _ib._ + + Glastonbury waters, alleged cure by the, 81. + + Goethe's Faust, French translation of, 556. + + Goito, engagement at, 443. + + Gold diggings in California, sketches in the, 470 _et seq._ + + Gos Rajeb, an African town, 259. + + Grahame, Sir James, position of, and his party, 118 + --his conduct towards his tenantry, 499. + + Grain, importations of, into Ireland, 134 + --fall in the prices of, in Scotland, 491. + + GREAT BRITAIN, TO THE SHOPKEEPERS OF, 629. + + Great Britain, increase of population in, during the war, 124 + --statistics regarding her population, 1801 to 1851, 127 _et seq._ + --immigration of Irish into, 131 + --aversion to revolution among the middle classes of, 297 + --recent foreign works on, 209 + --contrast between, and the Continent, as regards revolution, 431 + --comparative pressure of taxation in, and in the United + States, 715. + + Greatrakes, Valentine, the cures of, 81. + + Greenwich fair, Fanny Lewald on, 212. + + Greg, Mr, on the reduction of wages, 634 + --on the competition to which our manufactures are exposed, 639. + + Gregory XVI., death of, 432. + + Gunpowder, new mode of discharging, 570. + + + H. G. K., Day-dreams of an exile, by, Nos. I. to IV. 465 + --Nos. V. to IX. 604. + + Haddendas, African tribe of the, 261 _et seq. passim_ + --a visit to them, 264. + + Hallengas, the, an Arab tribe, 268, 272. + + Hamilton, Mr, British resident at Indore, 95. + + Harles' "Career in the Commons," notice of, 120. + + Harris' Ethiopia, remarks on, 251. + + Harvey, James, on free trade and its results, 644, 645. + + Hassan, the founder of the Assassins, 733. + + Heke, the New Zealand chief, 427. + + HELPS, MR, THE ESSAYS OF, 379. + + HELSHAM, CAPTAIN, note on the case of, 122. + + Henry V., Stahr on, 557. + + High farming, inefficiency of, to counteract the agricultural + depression, 491. + + Highlands, present state of the, and its causes, 308. + + Home trade, falling off in the, 108 + --effects of free trade on the, 645. + + Horn, Cape, a voyage round, 90. + + Hortense, Queen, mother of Louis Napoleon, 547. + + Hotel des Invalides, the, 316. + + Human responsibility, relations of mesmerism to, 81. + + Hungary, sketches of the war in, 35 _et seq._ + + Huskisson, effects of the commercial system begun by, 308 + --strictures on his statue at Lloyds', 211 + --his character, and commencement of the free-trade system + under him, 632. + + Hussars, the Hungarian, 38. + + + Imitation, Ruskin on, 331. + + Immorality, increase of, in the towns, 307. + + Imports, increase of, under free trade, 140. + + Income-tax returns, falling off in the, 137. + + India, sketches by Madame Pfeiffer in, 93. + + Indians of Brazil, the, 89. + + Indore, sketches at, 95. + + Industry, relations of, to population, 123. + + Infidelity, influence of, on Continental revolution, 431. + + Interests, harmony of, Carey on, 640. + + Invalides, the Hotel des, 316. + + Invention, the progress of, 563. + + Ionic column, Ruskin on the, 327. + + Ireland, diminution of the population of, 123 + --decrease of its population since 1846, 128 + --increase of the population in the towns and its diminution in + the counties, 129 + --the alleged influence of the potato failure on the + population, 131, 132 + --diminution of cultivation in, 489, _note_. + --proofs of agricultural depression in, 497. + + Irish, immigration of the, into Great Britain, 131. + + Isaac Comnenus, the drama of, reviewed, 517. + + Ismaylis, the sect of the, 735. + + Italian insurrection, sketches of the, 25 _et seq._ + + Italian opera, the, in St Petersburg, 168. + + ITALIAN REVOLUTION, the, 431. + + Italy, the war between Austria and Sardinia in, 29 _et seq._ + --its disunited state, 434 + --character of the Austrian administration in, _ib. et seq._ + + + Jacobleff, a Russian, anecdotes of, 170. + + Jardin des Plantes, sketches in the, 314. + + Jellachich, baron, operations of, during the Hungarian + insurrection, 39 + --sketch of his career, 444. + + JERRMANN'S PICTURES FROM ST PETERSBURG, review of, 154. + + JEW'S LEGACY, the, a tale of the siege of Gibraltar, chap. I. 648 + --chap. II. 653 + --chap. III. 656 + --chap. IV. 659 + --chap. V. 663. + + JOHNSTON'S NOTES ON NORTH AMERICA, 699. + + Joinville, the prince de, character of, 555. + + Judicial system, the, of the United States, 713. + + Justice, the administration of, in St Petersburg, 162 _et seq._ + + + Kassela, the African mountain of, 270. + + Kent, the scenery of, 196. + + King, Mr, report by, on the gold diggings of California, 477. + + Kiss, general, 43. + + Kleber, general, skeleton of the murderer of, 316. + + Kleinmichael, general, reconstruction of the winter palace at St + Petersburg by, 159. + + Knaresborough election, the, 245, 246. + + Kohl, misstatements of, regarding Russia, 171. + + Kolin, an incident of the battle of, 26. + + Kurdistan, journey of madame Pfeiffer through, 99. + + + Labourers, the agricultural, loss which will fall on, from free + trade, 492. + + Labouring classes, on the condition of the dwellings of the, 381. + + LAMENT OF SELIM, the, 103. + + Lanarkshire, increase of population in, 1841 to 1851, 129. + + Landlord and tenant, separation induced by free trade between, 610. + + Landlords, proportion of loss from free trade to be sustained by + the, 492 + --their conduct as regards their tenantry, 612. + + Latachia, sketches at, 462, 724. + + Latour's dragoons, Austrian regiment called, 26. + + Law, proposed change in the mode of administering, 386, 387. + + Lazaretto at Gaza, the, 453. + + Lebanon, sketches in, 455. + + LEGEND OF GIBRALTAR, a, chap. I. 522 + --chap. II. 529 + --chap. III. 532 + --chap. IV. 535 + --chap. V. 539. + + Legislative assembly, the present, of France, 202 + --sketch of a debate in it, 205. + + Legislative interference, on, as applied to sanitary measures, 381. + + Leicester, depressed state of, 644. + + Leitzendorf, colonel, death of, 31. + + LEVANTINE RAMBLES, 447. + + LEWALD'S DIARY IN ENGLAND, review of, 209. + + Liberal policy, experienced results of, in the Peninsula, 349. + + Liberals, preponderance of the, in Scotland, 297. + + Liberals, the Portuguese, division among the, &c., 352. + + LIFE AMONG THE LOGGERS, 669. + + Limerick Examiner, the, on emigration from Ireland, 134. + + Liszt the pianist, reception of, at St Petersburg, 169. + + Littledale, Messrs, on the manufacturing depression, 609. + + Lodging-house, a, in San Francisco, 473. + + LOGGERS, LIFE AMONG THE, 669. + + Logrolling, origin of the phrase, 712. + + Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom, the Austrian administration of the, 435. + + Lombardy, the insurrection of, against Austria, 26 _et seq._, 433 + --the government of it by Austria, 435. + + London, the shopkeepers of, effects of free trade on, 111 + --increase of population in, 1841 to 1851, 129. + + LONDON DIARY OF A GERMAN AUTHORESS, the, 209. + + Louis XIII., foundation of the Jardin des Plantes by, 315. + + Louis Napoleon, improvement of the passport system by, 196 + --Stahr's picture of him, 545 + --anecdotes, &c. of him, 547 + --causes of his election, 548. + + Louis Philippe, improvement of the Boulevard of Paris under him, 202 + --the final act of his dethronement, 204 + --Stahr's sketches, &c. of him, 548 _et seq. passim_, 550 _et seq._ + + Luxor, the obelisk of, at Paris, 312. + + + M'Corkindale, R., letter from A. R. Dunshunner to + --Downward tendencies, 106. + + Madeleine, church of the, at Paris, 312. + + Magic, the secrets of, 564. + + Maine, sketches among the wood-cutters of, 669 _et seq._ + + Maize, extensive use of, in the United States, 705. + + Malthus, the views of, on population, 123. + + Mammiani, the Roman demagogue, 437, 438. + + Mantua, the Austrian possession of, 433. + + Manufactures, British, their rise during the war, 633 + --their state under free trade, 643. + + Manufacturers, depressed state of the, 108. + + Manufacturing districts, distress and depression in the, 305, 609. + + Manufacturing towns, check to the population in the, 130, 131. + + Maria, Donna, position of, in Portugal, 349. + + Maronites, sketches of the, 455. + + Martineau, Miss, testimony of, regarding mesmerism, 75 + --atheistical work by her, 76, _note_. + + MASTER THIEF, the, a Norse popular tale, 595. + + Mazarin, encouragement of the drama by, in France, 323. + + Mazzini, proceedings of, in Rome, 438. + + Mechanics, the poetry of, 567. + + Mechi, Mr, his high farming system, 491. + + Medusa's head, the, in connection with mesmerism, 77. + + Mehmet Pasha of Acre, sketches of, 459 _et seq._ + + Mesmer, the alleged powers, &c. of, 82. + + MESMERISM, WHAT IS IT? 70 + --postscript, 83. + + Metallic tractors, cure by, 79. + + Metropolitan representatives, character of the, 300 + --the _Times_ on them, 301. + + Middle classes, their aversion to revolution in Great Britain, 297. + + Miguel, Don, Whig policy toward, and its results, 349 + --his dethronement, 350 + --party still adhering to him, 351 _et seq. passim_. + + Miguelites, strength of the party of, in Portugal, 352. + + Milan, the duchy of, the Austrian possession of, 433. + + Milan, city of. Radetsky's retreat from it, 440 + --its aspect after the suppression of the insurrection, 35. + + Military service, term of, in Russia, 155. + + Millais, painting by, 212. + + Milton on emigration, 503. + + Ministry, uncertain position of the, 110. + + Mitkenab, visit to village of, 264. + + "Modern Painters," review of, 326. + + MODERN STATE TRIALS + --Note on Part III. + --Captain Helsham + --Duelling 122. + + Mohammed Din, an Arab chief, 261 _et seq. passim_. + + MOIR, THE LATE D. M., 249. + + Molesworth, Mr, account of cannibalism in New Zealand, by, 418. + + Monetary Crisis, the, its alleged influence on population, 132. + + Montanara, battle of, 33. + + Montemolin, the Count de, 356. + + Montpensier, the duke de + --his character, 555. + + Monuments of London, Fanny Lewald on the, 210. + + Moor, action at, in the Hungarian war, 37. + + Moose-deer, adventure with a, 679. + + Morgan, lady, sketch of, by Lewald, 218. + + Morroqueimado, Swiss settlement of, in Brazil, 88. + + Mossul, a caravan journey to, 98. + + Mosul, town of, 729. + + Mulgrave, the earl of, defeat of, at Scarborough, 245. + + Mulot, M., the engineer of the great Artesian well at Paris, 317. + + Muntz, Mr, on the reduction of wages by free trade, 634. + + Music, passion for, in St Petersburg, 168. + + MY NOVEL; or, Varieties in English Life, by Pisistratus Caxton. + Book VI., + --Initial Chapter, 1. + --chap. ii. 3 + --chap. iii. 5 + --chap. iv. 6 + --chap. v. 7 + --chap. vi. 10 + --chap. vii. 11 + --chap. viii. 13 + --chap. ix. 15 + --chap. x. 17 + --chap. xi. 20 + --chap. xii. 21 + --chap. xiii. 173 + --chap. xiv. 175 + --chap. xv. 178 + --chap. xvi. _ib._ + --chap. xvii. 180 + --chap. xviii. _ib._ + --chap. xix. 184 + --chap. xx. 185 + --chap. xxi. 187 + --chap. xxii. 189 + --chap. xxiii. 190 + --chap. xxiv. 192 + --chap. xxv. 194 + --Book VII., Initial Chapter, 275 + --chap. ii. 277 + --chap. iii. _ib._ + --chap. iv. 278 + --chap. v. 280 + --chap. vi. 281 + --chap. vii. _ib._ + --chap. viii. 283 + --chap. ix. 285 + --chap. x. 286 + --chap. xi. 288 + --chap. xii. 289 + --chap. xiii. 290 + --chap. xiv. 291 + --chap. xv. 292 + --chap. xvi. 392 + --chap. xvii. 397 + --chap. xviii. 399 + --chap. xix. 400 + --chap. xx. 403 + --chap. xxi. 407 + --chap. xxii. 412 + --Book VIII., Initial Chapter, the abuse of intellect, 573 + --chap. ii. 575 + --chap. iii. 580 + --chap. iv. 585 + --chap. v. 590 + --chap. vi. 594 + --chap. vii. 681 + --chap. viii. 682 + --chap. ix. 687 + --chap. x. 689 + --chap. xi. 691 + --chap. xii. 693 + --chap. xiii. 695 + --chap. xiv. 697. + + + Naples, the revolt and revolution in, 433. + + Napoleon column, the, in the Place Vendome, 318. + + Narvaez, the downfall of, in Spain, 356. + + National debt, recent increase of the, 138. + + National gallery, the British, buildings of the, 210. + + National guard, debate on the, in the French Assembly, 205 + --their conduct during the Revolution of 1848, 550, 551. + + National wealth, origin of, from the soil, 107. + + NEALE'S EIGHT YEARS IN SYRIA, &c. reviewed, 447. + + Nelson column, the, 210. + + Nemours, the duke de, character of, 555. + + NERVAL'S SCENES DE LA VIE ORIENTALE, reviewed, 447. + + Neuilly, conduct of the National guard of, in 1848, 550 + --the destruction of the chateau of, 551 + --its present state, 552. + + New Brunswick, sketches in, 709. + + New York, diminishing price of flour at, 703 + --agricultural improvement in, 704. + + New Zealand Company, the, 422. + + New Zealand Pahs, sketches of, 420. + + NEW ZEALANDERS, the, 414. + + Nicholas, the emperor, character of, 154 _et seq._ + + Nile, expedition up the, 251 _et seq._ + + Nineveh, the excavations at, &c., 729. + + NORTH AMERICA, JOHNSTON'S NOTES ON, 699. + + North America, wood-cutting life in, 669 _et seq._ + + Nottingham, depressed state of, 644. + + Novara, defeat of Charles Albert at, 446. + + Novo Friburgo, Swiss colony of, in Brazil, 88. + + Nugent, general, 443. + + + Obelisk of Luxor, the, at Paris, 312. + + "Oft in a night of April," 605. + + Oligarchies of medieval Italy, the, 435. + + Opera, the, at Paris, 310. + + Orleans, the late duke of, anecdotes and sketches of, 547, _et + seq. passim_, 554, 555. + + Orleans, the duchess of, conduct of, on the 24th February, 204. + + Orleans dynasty, Stahr on the, 549. + + Otaki, New Zealand village of, 430. + + Ottinger, general, sketches of, 36, 37. + + Oudinot, general, the siege of Rome by, 438. + + Ouroomia, American missionary settlement at, 101. + + + Palestine, interest of, 719. + + Palmerston, lord, on the state of Spain, 355. + + Papal states, the revolution of 1848 in the, 437. + + PARIS IN 1851, 195 + --the journey, &c., 196 _et seq._ + --the Boulevard, 200 + --the Legislative Assembly, 202 + --the Debate, 205 + --the Opera, 310 + --the Obelisk of Luxor, 312 + --the Jardin des Plantes, 314 + --the Hotel des Invalides, 316 + --the Artesian well, 317 + --the Napoleon column, 318 + --the Arc de l'Etoile, 319 + --the Arc du Carrousel, 320 + --suicides, 321 + --the drama, 323. + + PARIS, GERMAN LETTERS FROM, 543. + + Paris in 1815, picture of, 201. + + Parochial clergy and schoolmasters, influence of free trade on + the, 501. + + Pasquali, the baron di, a Sicilian renegade, 253, 254. + + Passport system, improvement in the, 195. + + Pauperism, increase of, under free trade, 139. + + PEACEFUL LIEUTENANT AND HIS FRIENDS, the, a three hours' platonic + gossip. Hour Third--containing sundry passages in the + lieutenant's own history, and the strange legend of his + supposed grandfather, 45. + + Peel, Sir R. effects of his free-trade system, 115 + --insidious character of his free-trade advances, 635 + --on the anticipated price of corn under free trade, 636 + --effects of his measures, 640. + + Peel, the present Sir R., his letter to his tenantry, 106. + + Peninsula, experienced results of the Liberal policy in the, 349. + + Perowsky, a Russian minister, 163. + + Persia, sketches by madame Pfeiffer in, 97. + + Peschiera, the capture of, by the Piedmontese, 444. + + Peter the Great, the first residence of, at St Petersburg, 171. + + Peterwardein, a captivity in, 39. + + Petropolis, German colony of, in Brazil, 87. + + PFEIFFER, MADAME, WANDERINGS ROUND THE WORLD, by, reviewed, 86. + + Philip van Artevelde, review of, 505. + + Phreno-mesmerism, exhibitions of, 74. + + Picnic, an Eastern, 725. + + Picture gallery of Versailles, Stahr on the, 552. + + PICTURES FROM ST PETERSBURG, 154. + + PIMODAN, THE COUNT DE, CAMPAIGNS OF, reviewed, 25. + + Pine, the, in America, 671. + + Pius IX., the accession of, and review of his proceedings, 432 + _et seq._ + + Place de la Concorde, the, at Paris, 202. + + Place Vendome, the Napoleon column in the, 318. + + Playing cards, consumption of, in Russia, 169. + + Poetry: The Lament of Selim, by Delta, 103 + --Day-dreams of an exile, by H. G. K., 465, 604. + + Police, abuses of the, in St Petersburg, 162 _et seq._ + + Political agitation, evils connected with, 296. + + Pomaree, queen, sketches of, 91. + + Poor-rates, influence of free trade on, 139. + + Popery, influence of, on Continental Revolution, 431. + + Population, the views of Malthus on, 123 + --the influence of employment on it, _ib._ + --its decrease in Great Britain since 1845, 128 + --immigration of it from the country into the towns, 307. + + Porter, Mr, on surplus population, 625. + + Portugal, the ancient constitution of, 351. + + PORTUGUESE POLITICS, 349. + + Potato failure, influence of the, on population, 131 + --the free-traders on it, 641. + + Poussin, Ruskin on, 328. + + Pre-Raphaelitism, Lewald on, 212. + + Production, true policy with regard to, 107. + + Productive classes, all classes dependent on the, 631. + + Property-tax returns, falling off in the, 137. + + Prosperity, anticipations regarding, and their disappointment, 609. + + Prostitution, Mr Helps on, 389. + + Protection, prosperity enjoyed under, 115. + + Protestantism, necessity of, to freedom, 447. + + Purchas, account of cannibalism in Africa by, 416. + + Puris of Brazil, the, 89. + + Pusey, Mr, his letters on protection, &c., 119. + + + Radetsky, marshal, sketch of the character of, 31 + --sketches of, during the campaign in Italy, 26, _et seq. passim_ + --his first proclamation on the outbreak of the insurrection, 439 + --sketch of his previous career, 441. + + RAID OF ARNABOLL, the, chap. i. 220 + --chap. ii. 225 + --chap. iii. 230 + --chap. iv. 236. + + RAIL, THE CHAMPIONS OF THE, 739. + + Railroads, French and English, 199. + + Railway travelling, on, 196. + + Rangihaeata, a New Zealand chief, 425. + + Rauparaha, a New Zealand chief, 425. + + Ravandus, town of, 100. + + Recreation, Mr Helps on, 384. + + Reform Bill, agitation connected the, 296. + + Reform Bill, the proposed new, 297 _et seq._ + + Rent, reduction of, its inefficiency to meet the agricultural + crisis, 492, 611, 612. + + Rents, alleged rises of, 494. + + Responsibility, application of the principle of, in Russia, 164. + + Resumption of cash payments, influence of, 622. + + Revenue, influence of free trade on the, 137. + + Revolution, aversion to, in Great Britain, 297. + + Revolutionary war, increase of population during the, 124. + + Rhodes, sketch of, 723. + + Richelieu, encouragement of the drama by, in France, 323. + + Rivoli, defeat of Charles Albert at, 444. + + Roman states, the revolt of the, in 1830, 432 + --and in 1848, 437. + + Rome, rise of, after the battle of Cannae, 124 + --progress of the decline of population in, 125 + --the siege of, by Oudinot, 438. + + Rosicrucians, supposed acquaintance of the, with mesmerism, 77. + + Rossi, the papal minister, murder of, 437. + + Rossi, the countess, 168, 169. + + Royal Academy's exhibition, Fanny Lewald on the, 211. + + Rubini, reception of, in St Petersburg, 168. + + RUSKIN, THE WORKS OF, 326. + + Russell, Lord John, his proposed new Reform Bill, 297 _et seq._ + --on the state of the agricultural interest, 489. + + Russia, sketches of government, society, &c. in, 154 _et seq._ + --extravagance of the higher classes, 170. + + Russians, cheerfulness of the, 166. + + + Sabbath, a, in California, 472. + + St Denis, the arch of, 320. + + St Jean d' Acre, sketches in, 459. + + St Lawrence river, the, 708. + + St Martin, the arch of, 320. + + St Petersburg, pictures from, 154. + + Saldanha, the marquis, his insurrection in Portugal and its + results, 349 + --his present position, 357. + + Salis, general, death of, 30. + + San Francisco, sketches in, 472 _et seq._ + + Sanitary measures, on government interference in, 381. + + Sanitary regulations, Mr Helps on, 383. + + Sardinia and Austria, sketches of the war between, 25 _et seq._, + 437 _et seq._ + + Savoy, sketch of the princes of, 441. + + Scanderoon, the town of, 463. + + SCARBOROUGH ELECTION, the, 245 + --the _Times_ on it, 303. + + Scheremetiew, count, anecdote of, 156. + + Schoolmasters, influence of free trade on the, 501. + + Science, the superstitions of, 565. + + Scotland, increase of population in, 1841 to 1851, 129 + --preponderance of the liberal representatives in, 297 + --fall in the prices of grain as shown by the Fiars, 491 + --alleged rise of rents, 494. + + Scottish clergy and schoolmasters, influence of free trade on + the incomes of, 500 _et seq._ + + Scribe, M., the words of Zerline by, 311. + + Scully, Mr, his motion regarding pauperism in Ireland, 136. + + SELIM'S LAMENT, by Delta, 103. + + Sena, defeat of Charles Albert at, 444. + + Serfdom, provisions for the abolition of, in Russia, 155 + --sketches of it there, 156 _et seq._ + + Servants and employers, on the relations between, 381. + + SHAW'S GOLDEN DREAMS AND WAKING REALITIES, review of, 470. + + Shelley's Cenci, remarks on, 505. + + Shipping, influence of free trade on, 138. + + SHOPKEEPERS OF GREAT BRITAIN, to the, 629. + + Shopkeepers, effects of free trade on the, 111 + --serfdom of the, in St Petersburg, 156. + + "Sigh thou not for a happier lot," 604. + + Slavery, Mr Helps on, 384 + --different circumstances in which originated, 385. + + Small boroughs, the _Times_ on the, 246, 300. + + Small trades, effects of the suppression of the, 308. + + Snake-charming in India, 94. + + Snakes, accounts of, 271. + + Soil, true origin of national wealth with the, 107. + + Soliman Effendi, a renegade Sicilian, 253, 254. + + Sontag, madame, at St Petersburg, 168, 169. + + Spain, results of liberal policy in, 354 + --its state compared with that of Portugal, _ib._ + + Spiral column, Ruskin on the, 327. + + SPRINGER'S FOREST LIFE reviewed, 669. + + Stage, state of the, in St Petersburg, 167. + + STAHR'S TWO MONTHS IN PARIS, review of, 543 + --his "A Year in Italy," remarks on, 544. + + "Stand by the Ocean," 469. + + Stanley, lord, see Derby, earl of. + + Starch, quantity of, used in the cotton manufacture, 497. + + Stockton, (California,) sketch of, 474. + + Strada, account of a case of magnetic communication by, 78. + + Strang, Dr, his statistics regarding the population of Glasgow, 130. + + Streams, Ruskin on, 330. + + SUBMARINE TELEGRAPH, the, 562. + + Suffolk Agricultural Association, resolutions of the, 616. + + Suicide, prevalence and character of, in Paris, 321. + + Sunday in London, Lewald on, 213. + + Superstitions of science, the, 565. + + Suspension of cash payments, influence of the, 619. + + Swiss, defence of Vicenza by the, 35. + + Syria, sketches in, 453. + + + Tabriz, sketches by madame Pfeiffer at, 101. + + Tahiti, sketches at, 90. + + TAKA, A CAMPAIGN IN, 251. + + Taxation, impossibility of reduction of, adequate to meet the + agricultural depression, 113 + --influence of, on industry, 306 + --the question of, in relation to that of free trade, 633 + --comparative pressure of, in the United States and Great Britain, + 715. + + TAYLOR, HENRY, THE DRAMAS OF, 505. + + TELEGRAPH, THE SUBMARINE, 562. + + Tenantry, separation between, and their landlords, induced by free + trade, 610 + --their losses by free trade, 611. + + Thames, the approach to London by the, 210. + + Theatre, state of the, in Russia, 167. + + Theatres, the London, Fanny Lewald on, 217 + --statistics of those of Paris, 323. + + Theoretic faculty, Ruskin on the, 334. + + Thiennes, the count de, heroism of, 26. + + Tiger hunt in India, a, 95. + + Times newspaper, the, on the results of free trade, 133 + --on the depopulation of Ireland, 134 + --on the Scarborough election, 246 + --on the small boroughs, 300 + --on the metropolitan representatives, 301 + --account of the laying down of the submarine telegraph from, 568 + --on the increased emigration and its results, 626. + + Tirel's La Republique, &c., remarks on, 549. + + To ----, by H. G. K., 465, 605 + + Towns, increase of the, at the expense of the country, 125 + --increase of population in the, 1841 to 1851, 129 + --reaction of the agricultural depression on the, 303 + --immigration of population from the country into them, 307 + --state of their population, _ib._ + --ventilation, drainage, &c. of them, 381. + + Trade circulars, general tone of the, 108. + + Traders, influence of free trade on the, 137. + + Trafalgar Square fountains, the, 314. + + Travelling, modern universality of, 86 + --increased facilities and abundance of it, 195. + + Tucket, Mr, account of the massacre of Wairau by, 425. + + + United States, protective policy of the, 117 + --increase in their population, 123 + --on slavery in the, 385 + --increased cultivation of grain in the, 489 _note_ + --sketches of agriculture in the, 699 _et seq._ + --Johnston on their wheat producing powers, 701 + --the exports of bread-stuffs from, 702 + --the prices of these falling in, 703 + --extensive use of maize and buckwheat in, 705 + --encouragements to emigration to, 710, 711 + --their judicial system, 713 + --taxation, 715. + + Upper Canada, progress of, 708. + + + Vaccination in New Zealand, 430. + + Van, lake, 732. + + Van Diemen's land, the aborigines of, 416. + + Vendome column, the, 318. + + Venetian territories, the insurrection in the, 26 _et seq._ + --how acquired by Austria, 433 + --her administration of them, 435, 436. + + Venice, the revolt at, 27. + + Ventilation, Mr Helps on the importance of, 383. + + Vernet the actor, anecdote of, 161. + + Verona, the battle of, 30 _et seq._ + --capture of it by general d'Aspre, 442. + + Versailles, Stahr on the galleries of, 552. + + Vicenza, the capture of, by Radetsky, 34, 35, 445. + + VOICE FROM THE DIGGINGS, A, 470. + + VOLTAIRE IN THE CRYSTAL PALACE, 142. + + + Wages, lowering of, among the agricultural classes, 496 + --the general reduction of them the object of the + free-traders, 634. + + Wairau, the massacre of, 425. + + Walmsley, sir J., his reception in Scotland, 298. + + WALPOLE'S ANSAYRII, reviewed, 719. + + WANDERINGS ROUND THE WORLD, 86. + + Wanganui, treaty of, with the New Zealand chiefs, 423. + + Warburton's "Crescent and Cross," extract from, 721 _note_. + + Wellington statues, Fanny Lewald on the, 211. + + WERNE, F. A., A CAMPAIGN IN TAKA by, reviewed, 251. + + Wheat, alleged increased consumption of, 496 + --its price under free trade, 636 + --powers of producing, in the United States, 701. + + "Where summer is, there 'tis fresh and fair," 467. + + Wilson, James, on the corn laws, 636. + + Windischgratz, sketches of the campaign in Hungary under, 36. + + Winter palace, destruction and rebuilding of the, in St + Petersburg, 158. + + Wolves, sketches of, in America, 675. + + Women, English and German, Fanny Lewald on, 216. + + Woodcutters' life in Maine, sketches of, 669 _et seq._ + + Working-classes, effects of free trade on the, 113. + + WORLD, WANDERINGS ROUND THE, 86. + + + York column, the, 211. + + Young, G. F., return of, for Scarborough, 245. + + + Zerline, the opera of, 311. + + Zichy, count, Austrian commandant at Venice, 28. + + Zichy, lieutenant count, death of, 33. + + +_Printed by William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh._ + + * * * * * + +Transcriber's note: + +Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. +Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained as +printed (example: Sheffield and Sheffeld). + +Mismatched quotes are not fixed if it's not sufficiently clear where +the missing quote should be placed. + +The cover for the eBook version of this book was created by the +transcriber and is placed in the public domain. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol. +70, No. 434, December, 1851, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLACKWOOD'S MAGAZINE, DEC 1851 *** + +***** This file should be named 44491.txt or 44491.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/4/4/9/44491/ + +Produced by Brendan OConnor, Jonathan Ingram and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Library of Early Journals.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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