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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 +Alamūt,[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 Alamūt. +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. Alamūt 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 Alamūt, 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 Alamūt +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 *** |