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diff --git a/44533-h/44533-h.htm b/44533-h/44533-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9f60989 --- /dev/null +++ b/44533-h/44533-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,15608 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 64, No. 393, July 1848, by Various. + </title> + <link rel="coverpage" href="images/coverpage.jpg"/> + <style type="text/css"> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + h1,h2,h3 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .51em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .49em; + text-indent: 1em; +} + +.noind {text-indent: 0em;} + +.b15 {font-size:1.5em;} +.b13 {font-size:1.3em;} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} + +hr.tb {width: 25%;} +hr.chap {width: 45%} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} + +.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + font-style: normal; + text-align: right; +} /* page numbers */ + +.blockquot { + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +.bb {border-bottom: solid 1px;} + +.bt {border-top: solid 1px;} + +.center {text-align: center;} + +.right {text-align: right;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +.caption {font-weight: bold;} + +.space-above { margin-top: 3em; } + +.hanging {margin-left: 2em; text-indent: -2em; font-size: 15px;} + +.sig { text-align: right; margin-right: 5%; } + +.oldenglish { font-family: "Old English Text MT" } + +/* Images */ +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; +} + +.bord img { padding: 1px; border: 2px solid black; } + + +/* Footnotes */ + +.footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + +.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + +.fnanchor { + vertical-align: super; + font-size: 55%; + text-decoration: + none; +} + +/* Poetry */ +.poem { + margin-left:10%; + margin-right:10%; + text-align: left; +} + +.poem br {display: none;} + +.poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + +.poem span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} +.poem span.i1 {display: block; margin-left: 0.5em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} +.poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 1em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} +.poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 2em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} +.poem span.i5 {display: block; margin-left: 2.5em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} +.poem span.i18 {display: block; margin-left: 9em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} +.poem span.i20 {display: block; margin-left: 10em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} +@media handheld +{ + .poetry + { + display: block; + margin-left: 1.5em; + } +} + +/* Transcriber's notes */ +.tn {background-color: #E6E6FA; + color: black; + font-size:smaller; + border: dashed 1px; + padding:0.5em; + margin-bottom:5em; + font-family:sans-serif, serif; } + + + </style> + </head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44533 ***</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> + + + +<h1> +BLACKWOOD'S<br /> + +<span class="oldenglish">Edinburgh</span><br /> + +MAGAZINE.</h1> + +<p class="center">VOL. LXIV.</p> + +<p class="center">JULY-DECEMBER, 1848.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 175px;"> +<img src="images/buchanan.jpg" width="175" height="200" alt="buchanan" /> +</div> + +<p class="center">WILLIAM BLACKWOOD & SONS, EDINBURGH;</p> + +<p class="center"><small>AND</small></p> + +<p class="center">37, PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON.</p> + +<p class="center">———</p> +<p class="center">1848. +</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p class="center">BY WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS, EDINBURGH.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + + +<p class="center b15">BLACKWOOD'S<br /> + +EDINBURGH MAGAZINE.</p> + +<p class="center"> +No. CCCXCIII. JULY, 1848. <span class="smcap">Vol. LXIV.</span><br /> +</p> + + + + +<h2><br />CONTENTS.</h2> + + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="contents"> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Laws of Land.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Life in the "Far West." Part II.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_17">17</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">American Thoughts on European Revolutions.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_31">31</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Caxtons.</span> Part IV.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_40">40</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Republican France.—June 1848.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_51">51</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Colonisation.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_66">66</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Siberia.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_76">76</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Scottish Deer Forests.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_92">92</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Buried Flower.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_108">108</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Huzza for the Rule of the Whigs.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_112">112</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Navigation Laws.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_114">114</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p class="center space-above"> +<big>EDINBURGH:</big></p> + +<p class="center">WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS, 45, GEORGE STREET;<br /> +AND 37, PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON.</p> + +<p class="center"><small><em>To whom all Communications (post paid) must be addressed.</em></small></p> + +<p class="center"><small>SOLD BY ALL THE BOOKSELLERS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM.<br /> +————<br /> +PRINTED BY WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS, EDINBURGH.</small> +</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1"> </a></span></p> + + + + +<p class="center b13">BLACKWOOD'S<br /> + +EDINBURGH MAGAZINE.</p> + +<p class="center"> +No. CCCXCIII. JULY, 1848. <span class="smcap">Vol. LXIV.</span><br /> +</p> + + + + +<h2>THE LAWS OF LAND.</h2> + +<p><em>A Treatise on the Succession to Property vacant by Death.</em> By <span class="smcap">J. R. M'Culloch</span>, +Esq. London: Longmans, 1848.</p> + + +<p>Mr M'Culloch's book introduces +us to a question much debated in this +age of class jealousy. As soon as we +open it, we are straightway environed +with "a barbarous noise of owls and +cuckoos, asses, apes, and dogs," amid +whose jargon of phrases rises loudest +and most frequent the cry of "commercial +principles." It is a great +grievance, it seems, that land should +not be disposed of according to "commercial +principles;" that hill and holt, +and moor and dale, should not pass +from seller to buyer with the same +readiness as candles and calicoes. +Truly we have enough, and more +than enough, of these same commercial +principles in all walks of thought. +Even the pulpit is not free from them. +Politics are positively smothered with +them. Ethical science, with the shallowisms +of Paley and Bentham round +her neck, struggles feebly with them. +The book-keeper is abroad every +where, with an indestructible faith in +double entry. The Spirit of the Age +wears a pen behind his ear, and sits on +a high stool with three legs. That +the prevailing commercial principles +should have been so long excluded +from the absolute possession of our +laws of land, and that those laws +should have preserved to a time like +this so much of their feudal character, +is a notable proof of the adaptation of +the laws to the general requirements +of the community, and of the steadiness +of that social system which is so +essentially linked to the maintenance +of these laws.</p> + +<p>The cry of complaint to which we +have above alluded, is inspired by +many diverse motives. As Mr Cochrane's +ragged followers flocked to Trafalgar +Square to denounce the income-tax, +so many a man takes up the +shout against the law of primogeniture +and entail, as tying up lands and restricting +their sale, who never had the +wherewithal to purchase a single acre +if all broad England was in the market. +On the other hand, the purse-proud +citizen, sore that ready money is not +yet quite at the top of the tree, and +that he does not receive the same consideration +at St James's as in Change +Alley, delights to have some grievance +whereon he can vent his spleen; and +really, in some stolid instances, persuades +himself that he is kept out of +the land which his gold could buy, +through the agency of aristocratical +laws, as if George Robins had been a +mythical personage, or the advertisements +of Farebrother, Clark, and Lye +were a mockery and delusion.</p> + +<p>But the largest class of assailants +are those who come to the debate fortified +with certain specious economical +arguments, generally derived from a +one-sided view of some particular +effect of these restrictive laws. To +the demolition of these objectors Mr +M'Culloch's work is more immediately +addressed; and very effectually, in our +opinion, does it accomplish its end. +He has not, perhaps, treated the subject +so widely as it might have been +treated: he has not entered into the +indirect social influences that might be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span> +traced to our system of the laws relating +to land; but the economical +part of the question he has grasped +most completely, and supported by +most able and practical reasoning.</p> + +<p>We must, we suppose, look for the +text of the work, not where the text +is usually found, but at the end. The +following sentence, which is almost +the concluding one, may be taken as +the leading proposition of the work:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"A powerful and widely-ramified aristocracy +like that of England, not resting +for support on any oppressive laws, and +enjoying no privileges but which are for +the public advantage, is necessary to give +stability and security to the government, +and freedom to the people. And our laws +in regard to succession being well fitted +to maintain such an aristocracy, and, at +the same time, to inspire every other class +with the full spirit of industry and enterprise, +to change them would not be foolish +merely, but criminal,—a <i lang="FR" xml:lang="FR">lèse majesté</i> +against the public interests."—P. 172.</p></blockquote> + +<p>It must not, however, be supposed +from this remark, that any portion of +the work is appropriated to a set defence +of government by means of an +aristocracy. By an aristocracy we +mean the deposition of political power +in the hands of men of leisure and +education, as opposed to the tendency +of the Reform Bill, to transfer the governing +functions to the "practical" +men of the trading and moneyed interests, +and the analogous claims of +Chartism, founded on Jack Cade's +complaint, that the "king's council +are no good workmen." In England, +we are pretty sure to have an aristocracy—that +is, the influences which +affect government and legislation will +emanate principally from that class +which is socially at the head of the +nation; and the question is, whether +we are to have a mere moneyed aristocracy, +or one qualified by those mixed +and undefinable conditions which, +more than any thing else, act to keep +down the growing and eager ascendency +of wealth <em>per se</em>. Among the +safeguards of such an aristocracy as +we have described, not the least +powerful is to be found in the laws +discussed in the work before us. Mr +M'Culloch, as we have said, assumes +the importance to the country of preserving +the present characteristics of +British aristocracy; and he therefore +proceeds at once to show how the laws +on which he treats operate for this +preservation, and to rebut the objections +advanced against them on the +score of their relations to other classes +of the community.</p> + +<p>One of the most frequent of these +objections is, that the laws in question +tend to diminish the productiveness +of the land, and thereby inflict a +serious injury on the community at +large; that they prevent, in many +instances, the landlord from granting +leases to his tenant beyond the term +of his own life; that the tenant, in +consequence, is not willing to incur +the outlay of drainage and other expensive +improvements, because he is not +secured by a lease; while the landlord, +on the other hand, will not enter into +these expenses, because he does not +feel the same interest in his limited +estate which he would in the unconditional +fee-simple.</p> + +<p>Note first of all the logic of this +argument. The tenant, it seems, will +not spend his money in draining without +a lease. As, however, a lease +would suffice to induce him so to do, +we might naturally suppose that the +landlord's estate for life, or in tail, +would be at least an equal inducement. +These reasoners, however, +aver, that the landlord is only to be +tempted by the unrestricted fee. According +to this progressive scale, it +might be fairly, argued, that the tenant, +on becoming lessee for years, would +still require the landlord's life-interest; +and the latter, when seised of the fee, +would decline the requisite expense, +except on a guarantee of immortality, +and justify himself by Horace's authority,—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i20">"Tanquam<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Sit proprium quidquam puncto quod mobilis horæ<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Permutet dominos, et cedat in altera jura."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>But the general scope of an argument +may be just, though clumsily +stated and fallaciously supported. We +are, however, at no loss for experiments +on the largest scale whereby +to test the theory here noticed. We +have English agriculture, subjected +to a limited law of entail, contrasted +on the one hand with Scottish agriculture, +under a law of perpetual entail, +and on the other with that of +France and its compulsory gavelkind.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span> +Mr M'Culloch has taken an elaborate +view of the question in its relation to +the tillage of the soil in these three +countries respectively, more especially +in France. We find, from the result +of his investigation, that,—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"The average produce per acre of the +crops of wheat in England and Wales in +good years, has been carefully estimated +at thirty-two bushels an acre, and it is +certainly not under thirty bushels. But +in France the produce of wheat, even in +the richest and best cultivated departments, +is little more, according to the +official returns and the best private authorities, +than twenty bushels an acre; +and at an average of the entire kingdom, +it hardly amounts in a good year to fourteen +bushels. This result is completely +decisive. It shows that one acre of land +in England yields, from its being better +farmed, considerably more wheat than +two acres in France: and if we took +barley or oats, turnips, beef, or wool for +a standard, the difference in our favour +would be seen to be still greater.... +If labour were taken for a standard instead +of land, the result would be still +more in our favour. One man and one +horse in England produce more corn and +other agricultural produce than three +men and three horses in France. Labour +in the latter is misapplied and +wasted."—P. 117.</p></blockquote> + +<p>Again:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"While two husbandmen in France +furnish a surplus of food above their own +consumption adequate for <em>one</em> individual, +the same number of English husbandmen +furnish a surplus for no fewer than <em>four</em> +individuals; showing, that, as measured +by its capacity of providing for the other +classes of the population, English is to +French agriculture as four to one."—P. +121.</p></blockquote> + +<p>So much for the comparison of +French and English agriculture. Let +us now turn to Scotland:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"In an Appendix to the 'Sketches of +the History of Man,' published in 1774, +Lord Kames says, 'The quantity of land +that is locked up in Scotland by entails +has damped the growing spirit of agriculture. +There is not produced sufficiency +of corn at home for our consumption; and +our condition will become worse and +worse by new entails, till agriculture and +industry be annihilated.' Now the extent +of land under entail in Scotland has been +certainly more than doubled, perhaps more +than trebled, since this paragraph was +written, and yet agriculture and manufactures +have made a more rapid progress +in Scotland in the interval, and especially +during the last thirty years, when entails +were most prevalent, than in England +or in any other country whatever."—P. +71.</p></blockquote> + +<p>Lord Kames, in this respect, seems +to have had the same subtle ingenuity +in prophesying counter to the +event, as distinguishes Mr Cobden.</p> + +<p>The first part of Mr M'Culloch's +volume contains a cursory historical +view of the earliest regulations of succession +and inheritance. Thus, at +p. 16, he traces the right of primogeniture, +or preference of the eldest +son, to the Mosaic law. We are far +from maintaining that the specific details +of the code promulgated on Sinai +are a model of law for all nations; +on the contrary, they were no doubt +intended to be such as a wise human +law-giver would frame, and consequently +more or less applicable according +to the changes and differences +of social organisation. But we do +hold that these laws indicate to +mankind principles which are to be +observed in all times and by all nations. +Thus, the septennial release +of debts, the return of every man to +his possession in the year of jubilee, +the prohibition of interest upon loans +except to an alien, even the poor +man's portion in the field and vineyard, +may or may not be regulations +adapted to a particular existing state +of society. But they enunciate a +principle of mercy and forbearance +towards the poor and unfortunate, of +which, we fear, our political economists +and commercial legislators are +too apt to lose sight. In conformity +with this view, when we hear the +right of primogeniture assailed as +contrary to the law of nature, (by the +way, where is this much-talked-of +law of nature to be found?) we may +safely appeal to the express recognition +by the Jewish law of "the +right of the first-born as the beginning +of his father's strength," to show +that the custom of primogeniture is at +all events not repugnant to instinctive +justice or the common-sense of mankind. +The old Saxon law of gavelkind +might be better adapted to a +superabundance of land and a thin +population; the preference of the +youngest son, by the custom of Borough-English, +might well prevail +among the far progenitors of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span> +Saxon race on the steppes of Scythia,<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> +when the elder brothers would be +sent forth to roam over the boundless +plain with their flocks and herds, the +youngest remaining at home to be the +prop of his father's old age. But in +a settled and cultivated country, and +among an advanced people, we maintain +succession by primogeniture to +be the most consonant, as a matter of +theory, to the social feelings and requirements +of man; and we think our +author has fully established his position +as to the beneficial character of +its practical results.</p> + +<p>In the course of his historical survey, +Mr M'Culloch has of course +touched on the principle of succession +under the Roman law, but more +lightly than we should have expected +in reference to a system which has +entered so largely into our Scottish +law, and which is still accepted as a +model framework of legal principles +in most of the universities of Christendom. +And the slight notice taken +traces an analogy between the feudal +and civil principles of succession, +which we think is altogether incorrect. +Our author, in speaking of the Roman +law of succession, appears to confound +in some measure the Roman term +<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">hæres</i> with the English word <em>heir</em>. +The civilian definition of <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">hæres</i> is <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">qui +ex testamento succedit in universum +jus testatoris</i>. In Scotland the word +<em>heir</em> has much the same import:—"The +law deems it reasonable," says +Erskine, (<cite>Inst.</cite> book iii. tit. 8, §. 2) +"that every fiar shall have the power +by deed, during his life, to declare +who shall have the lands after his +death: and the person so favoured is +called the <em>heir</em>." Whereas the feudal +notion of the word <em>heir</em> preserved in +the English law, is of one upon whom +the estate is cast, after the death of +his ancestor, by act of law and right +of blood. In other words, <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">hæres</i> is he +who is appointed by the will of the +deceased to succeed to his civil rights, +and, in default of such appointment, +the person indicated by a certain +general law. But the <em>heir</em> (in English +law) is the next and worthiest of +blood, appointed by the common-law +to succeed to his ancestor; although +this rule of succession may be set +aside by the appointment or will of +the ancestor, if possessed of the fee-simple. +Bearing in mind this distinction, +we shall perceive the cause of +Mr M'Culloch's error when he says—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"The Furian, the Voconian, and the +Falcidian laws were passed, the first two +under the republic, and the latter under +Augustus, to secure the interests of children +by limiting the power of fathers to +make settlements to their prejudice." P. 6.</p></blockquote> + +<p>Now, the Voconian law, so far from +protecting the interests of children, +frequently operated in the case of +daughters to prejudice them;—of this +we have a remarkable instance in the +case of Annius Asellus, dwelt upon by +Cicero, in the second action against +Verres, <cite>Orat.</cite> i., c. 41—44. The law +prevented all registered or assessed +(<i lang="it" xml:lang="it">censi</i>) citizens of Rome from appointing +a female as their <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">hæres</i>. Again, +the Furian and Falcidian laws were +passed to secure the person nominated +as <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">hæres</i> from being prejudiced by the +excessive amount of legacies under +the will. Hence, if a man died leaving +only daughters, he was prohibited by +the Voconian law from appointing any +of them as his <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">hæres</i>; and the other two +laws restrained him from appointing +a nominal <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">hæres</i>, and leaving his property +to his daughters by way of +legacies (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">legata</i>.)</p> + +<p>In truth, the English notion of heirship, +as succession by right of blood, +seems to be entirely due to the +northern nations and the feudal system. +Under both systems, however, +it is observable how the progress +of legislation and society has been +to increase the privileges and diminish +the duties of the constituted +successor. For as, in tenure by chivalry, +the heir was rather the person +to whom, in consequence of proximity +of blood, the lord might look for the +performance of the military services, +than the fortunate acquirer of the property, +so the Roman <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">hæres</i> was regarded +more in the light of one +on whom devolved the religious, civil, +and private duties of the deceased; +frequently so burdensome that the +inheritance was altogether refused, +until the heir was guarded by such +laws as the Furian and Falcidian.</p> + +<p>While we are in the humour of finding<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span> +fault, we may notice a passage in +which we think Mr M'Culloch has +not dealt fairly with the English law. +It is as follows:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"In one respect the law of intestacy +appears to stand much in need of revision. +It is interpreted so as to give, in +many cases, more to the eldest son than +the real estate and his share of the personalty. +Suppose, for example, that a +person dies intestate, leaving an estate +worth (say) L.100,000, with a mortgage +made by him upon it for half its value, or +£50,000, and leaving also £50,000 of personal +property, in this case the real estate +is obviously worth only £50,000; and +consistently with the principles previously +laid down, the eldest son should succeed +to the estate burdened with its debt, +and the personal property be divided +among the children generally. But a +different rule has been permitted to grow +up. The personal property of persons +dying intestate is the first fund for their +debts, though secured upon their estates; +and it is the surplus only, if there be any, +after these debts are paid, that is divisible +among the children, who, in the above +case, would be entitled to nothing. This +appears to be in all respects a most objectionable +arrangement."—P. 41.</p></blockquote> + +<p>We cannot see any anomaly here. +"It is a rule in equity," says Cruise, +(<cite>Digest</cite>, tit. xv. c. 4,) "that where a +person dies, leaving a variety of funds, +one of which must be charged with a +debt, that the fund which received the +benefit by the contracting the debt +shall make satisfaction." This seems +to us perfectly just and reasonable, +according to the principles of the English +law. In the case put by Mr +M'Culloch, the personalty of £50,000 +obviously owes its existence to the +mortgage debt; and it is, therefore, +fairly applied to the discharge of that +debt. But, <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">cessante ratione, cessat etiam +lex</i>; this only applies where the deceased +was himself the mortgager. +Where the lands came to him mortgaged, +his personal estate will not be +liable, even though he may have made +a covenant to pay it. We may refer +the legal reader to the judgment of +Lord King, delivered, with the assistance +of Lord Chief-Justice Raymond +and the Master of the Rolls, in Evelyn +<em>v.</em> Evelyn, 2 P. Wms. 659. Compare +Cope <em>v.</em> Cope, 1 Salk. 449. Shafto <em>v.</em> +Shafto, 2 P. Wms. 664.</p> + +<p>Although the custom of primogeniture +and the law of entail exercise a +similar influence on our social state, yet, +as they may be said in some measure +to go by a different path towards the +same end, Mr M'Culloch has treated +them separately. With respect to the +first, he begins by rebutting Adam +Smith's sweeping denunciation:—"Nothing +can be more contrary to the real +interest of a numerous family, than a +right which, in order to enrich one, +beggars all the rest of the children." +<cite>Wealth of Nations</cite>, p. 171.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"On the contrary," says Mr M'Culloch, +"we are well convinced that much +of the industry and of the superior wealth +and civilisation of modern Europe, may +be ascribed to the influence of the custom +of primogeniture in determining the +succession to estates; and that, were it +abolished, or superseded by the opposite +custom of equally dividing landed property +among all the children, or even +among all the sons, they would suffer +universally by the change, the youngest as +well as the oldest; while it would most +seriously compromise the interests of +every other class."—P. 28.</p></blockquote> + +<p>The truth is, that the right of primogeniture +is rather to be regarded as +having for its object the benefit of the +community, than the interest of the +particular family. If a man has +£50,000 a-year and five sons, it may +appear, at first sight, decidedly more +conducive to "the greatest possible +happiness of the greatest possible +number," that each of these five sons +should have £10,000 a-year, than that +one should possess the whole, or bulk, +of the paternal property, and the other +four be left to buffet their way through +the world. But it is for the interest +of the nation that its aristocracy +should be founded in old families, fortified +and graced by historical associations; +and these are only to be kept +up by a devolution of their lands +according to the feudal rule. But, as +regards the interest of the particular +family, it will appear on consideration +that, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, +this also is most effectually promoted +by the law of primogeniture. +By means of this law, the main stock of +the family is left in its full strength as +a nucleus round which the younger +branches are united, and from which +their members derive alike a great +portion of their status in society, and +inducement to advance themselves in +their respective pursuits; and, on the +other hand, the professions of the +country are exalted and dignified by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span> +the infusion into their ranks of men of +birth and education, who are, at the +same time, dependent on those professions +for their advancement. Sir +Matthew Hale, as quoted by Mr +M'Culloch, forcibly describes the results +of the opposite system. "This +equal division of inheritance," he says, +speaking of the old times of Saxon +gavelkind, "did by degrees bring the +inhabitants to a low kind of country +living; and families were broken; and +the younger sons which, had they not +had these little parcels of land to apply +themselves to, would have betaken +themselves to trades, or to military, +or civil, or ecclesiastical employments, +neglecting those opportunities, wholly +applied themselves to those small divisions +of land; whereby they neglected +the opportunities of greater advantage +of enriching themselves and the kingdom." +And if it should be urged that +Sir Matthew Hale could do little more +than form an <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">à priori</i> judgment of the +social condition of England in the +days of the Confessor, it should be +remembered that the picture here +drawn is precisely applicable to the +state of France at the present day, +and may easily be traced to its similar +system of partition. An important +public result of the same system, as +regards the landholders in the exercise +of their functions as citizens, may also +be observed in that country. The +large body of landed proprietors, +amounting to between four and five +millions, so far from being the leaders +of the people, are, perhaps, the most +inert and uninfluential class of the +whole community. They pay the bulk +of the taxes, and grumble accordingly; +but beyond a vague dread of aristocracy—not +unnaturally founded, perhaps, +on the traditions of the vexatious +privileges swept away in 1791—they +seem disposed calmly to acquiesce +in all the proclamations, charters, and +chimeras that maybe thrust upon them +by busier handlers of the tools of +government, and behold revolutions +concocted in Paris, and bursting over +their heads, apparently without the +remotest conception that it any wise +rests with them to control or guide +the convulsion.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"It has sometimes been contended that +the custom of primogeniture is injurious, +from its interesting the leading families +of the country in the support of expensive +public establishments, in which their +younger branches are most commonly +placed."—P. 38.</p></blockquote> + +<p>This objection also Mr M'Culloch +brings to the test of experiment, and +shows that this bias, if it really exist, +is little perceptible, and that the aristocracy +have shown much more zeal +to discharge the functions of the ill-paid +offices of the army and navy, +than to get into their hands the lucrative +situations connected with the +administration of justice. It was certainly +not the immediate interest of +the aristocracy, for instance, to maintain +the offices of the six clerks in +Chancery, the profits on which were +estimated for compensation at sums +varying, we believe, from £2500 to +£1000 per annum.</p> + +<p>The law of entail is traceable to the +same human instincts as the law of +primogeniture. The clannish feelings +of the northern nations, their notion +of representation by blood, and the +territorial character of their citizenship, +all combined to produce an anxiety +to perpetuate the old stocks in +the homes of their fathers. Nor is this +desire of posthumous control over the +transmission of lands the product, as +is sometimes alleged, of an artificial +state of society. Man's possessory +instinct essentially connects itself with +the future—<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Serit arbores quæ alteri +prosint sæculo.</i> The justice of gratifying +this wish by general laws of the +community is not more impeachable +than that of guarding the indefeasible +possession of the owner during his +lifetime. It remains to be seen how +far the sanction of entails is consistent +with the good of the nation in +general.</p> + +<p>Every lawyer knows that the progress +of legal decisions in England has +been adverse to entails, and that +although the statute De Donis continues +on the statute-book, yet it was +long ago rendered almost nugatory by +the introduction of fines and recoveries. +Hence the term entail is now +popularly applied to denote the strict +settlement of lands, under provisions +which prevent them from passing from +the heirs to whom they are limited; +this having been, of old, the result of +an entail properly so called, though it +now requires a more complicated mode +of settling, and can only endure (so as +to render the lands inalienable) for a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span> +life or any number of lives in being, +and twenty-one years afterwards. +This more popular meaning of the +word entail is that which Mr M'Culloch +follows—his object being to treat +of the influence of tying up lands from +alienation.</p> + +<p>Measuring the practice of entails +by the rule of utility, Mr M'Culloch +selects two points as the principal +topics of discussion.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"In the first place, it is alleged in favour +of entails that they stimulate exertion +and economy; that they hold out to +industry and ambition the strongest and +safest excitement in the prospect of founding +an imperishable name and a powerful +family, and of being remembered and +venerated by endless generations as their +chief and benefactor. And, in the second +place, it is said that entails form the only +solid bulwark of a respectable aristocracy, +and prevent generations from being +ruined by the folly or misfortunes of an +individual."—P. 78.</p></blockquote> + +<p>The first of these propositions is, no +doubt, partially true; but the motive +put forward has not, we think, as a +matter of experience, the force that +might, at first sight, be attributed to +it. Perhaps the keenest accumulators +of wealth have not been those who +have fixed their capital in a landed +estate. The man of business habits +and judicious speculation is drawn to +make his fortune in obedience to a +passion which is partly developed, and +at all events fostered, by the pursuit +of his life. It cannot be said to arise +altogether from a notion of benefiting +posterity, of being the founder of a +house—the man of whom future Fitztomkynses +shall be ashamed—that +John Tomkins, merchant, sets at +nought all the expostulations of self-indulgence:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Tun' mare transilias? tibi tortâ cannabe fulto<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Cœna sit in transtro? Veientanumque rubellum<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Exhalet vapidâ læsum pice fissilis obba?"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noind">Enormous fortunes were accumulated +during the declining days of the Roman +republic. But entails being then +unknown, and the Roman nobility +having no territorial position, these +fortunes, usually acquired by oppression +and extortion in the provinces, +were squandered in largesses and corruption +at home. There was no other +way in which a Roman citizen of +great wealth could establish the influence +of his family. He could not, like, +all English gentleman, connect his +name with a landed estate, and extend +his influence by those good offices and +local duties which lie so immediately +open to a man in that capacity. As +an almost necessary consequence, he +sought for power through the demoralisation +and corruption of the holders +of the suffrage—causes which contributed +more than any other to the +downfall of the republic. By lavishing +his gold in this manner, he obtained, +not only political eminence for himself, +but also that power which led +to proconsulates and proprætorships +among his heirs, and thus gave them +the opportunity of repairing, by fresh +exactions, his diminished revenues.</p> + +<p>Hence we should rather view the +law of entail as an inducement to a +man to perpetuate his thousands in +broad acres than to acquire his fortune +in the first instance. And, in conformity +with this view, it may be observed, +that it is more generally the +son or other successor than the architect +of the fortune himself who converts +the accumulated wealth into this +permanent form.</p> + +<p>Mr M'Culloch's second point—the +preservation of families by means of +entails—is one of wider interest and +more general importance. In a bustling +mercantile community like ours, +we cannot too jealously guard any +institution which, directly or indirectly, +tends to preserve distinctions +due to something more than mere +wealth. And there can be no doubt +that the system of entails has saved +many an ancient line from being +thrust from its home of centuries to a +strange spot, and this not only among +the titled and wealthy, but among the +yeomanry and "statesmen." In England, +of course, a family may frequently +perish through the possession +of an estate in fee-simple passing into +the hands of an unthrifty representative +of the line, as the settlements require +constant renewal. But in Scotland +the system of perpetual entail +exercises a much more potent influence +in their behalf. Mr M'Culloch, +though he rebuts many of the objections +urged against the Scottish law, is +nevertheless anxious to see it assimilated<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> +in a great measure to that of +England. There is, however, an exception +which he would make to the +rule against perpetuity of entails. It +is with regard to the peerage, in which +matter we cordially agree with him. +There were, in ancient times, instances +of barons who were degraded from +their dignity on account of their lack +of sufficient revenue to support their +hereditary title. The independence +and the dignity of the House of Lords +would be alike maintained by an enactment +enabling, or even obliging, all +peers to tie up by perpetual entail a +certain portion of their estates to +accompany the title. Such anomalies +as that of an Earl of Buchan (Lord +Erskine's father, see Lord Campbell's +<cite>Lives of the Chancellors</cite>) living in the +uppermost flat of a sixteen-story +house, would thereby be avoided with +considerable advantage to the national +interests.</p> + +<p>Mr M'Culloch, therefore, who quotes +Sir William Temple and Dr Johnson +on the same side, would preserve the +law of perpetual entail for the Scottish +peerage, and extend it also to +that of England. In other respects he +is, as we have above stated, in favour +of a considerable modification of the +Scottish law of entail. He admits, +however, the difficulty of dealing with +existing entails.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"These have established a right of +property not only in the actual possessors +and their families, but, speaking generally, +in a wide circle of collateral heirs; +nor could the rights of the unborn heirs +be affected without annulling the clauses +in a great number of settlements, and also +in marriage-contracts and other deeds +<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">inter vivos</i>. It is, therefore, hardly possible +materially to relax the fetters of +entails with strict justice to all parties, +though it might perhaps be slowly and +gradually effected without inflicting any +very serious hardship on any individual. +We incline to think that this might be +most easily brought about by saving the +rights of living heirs of entail, and of +such heirs as may be born under existing +marriage-contracts. The interests of the +possible heirs that might be prejudiced by +the adoption of some such rule as this, +are of so very unsubstantial a description +that they might safely be neglected." +P. 78.</p></blockquote> + +<p>At the time we write, a measure is +pending before Parliament, entitled +"A Bill for the amendment of the Law +of Entail in Scotland," and endorsed +with the names of the Lord-Advocate, +Sir George Grey, and Mr Solicitor-General +for Scotland. Whatever difficulties +Mr M'Culloch feels with regard +to relaxing the fetters of entail, it is +obvious that the contrivers of this bill +are in nowise hampered by them. They +go to work in the most off-hand manner +possible. A short and unobtrusive-looking +bill is to drive clean through +all the existing settlements and deeds +of tailzie, with their complicated train +of clauses irritant and resolutive, as if +no mortal was concerned in the +matter, and estates were the proper +toys of law-makers.</p> + +<p>The fact of the quantity of alienable +land diminishing in a commercial +country, while trade and population +are increasing, is no doubt a state of +things which calls for a remedy, since +there must at some period or another, +be a failure of land adequate to meet +the requirements of realised fortunes. +If, in the judgment of reasonable and +practical observers, the difficulty could +be met by making all future entails +subject to be barred by a process +analogous to that existing in England, +we should think there could be no +hesitation in affirming it to be the +most just and most expedient course +to introduce such a change, and leave +the existing settlements in their contemplated +perpetuity. If, however, it +can be clearly established that already +too much land is locked up in the +northern kingdom, and that the soil +now free from entail is insufficient to +satisfy the requirements of future +buyers, then we should say that the +utmost care and skill were required +in framing enactments which should +adapt themselves to the justice of +particular cases, and should, as far +as might be, save existing and vested +interests in their delicate multiplicity +and connexion. If ever such care and +skill were required, it would be in a +measure which interferes more extensively +with vested rights—usually with +good reason a sacred thing in the eye +of the law—than any which appears in +the statute-books of the three kingdoms. +A statute to convert the Irish +tenants into owners of the fee-simple +of their several holdings, (a project +which has been talked of,) would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span> +scarcely be a more startling invasion +of the rights of property as they are +usually recognised. We do not, however, +intend to impeach the general +provisions of the bill. If, as we before +observed, so important a change was +found to be necessary, it is right to +make it; and it is no more than was +effected in England by a more gradual +process—the subtle fictions of the law-courts, +which virtually got rid of the +statute De Donis. But we can anticipate +nothing but uncertainty and +multiplied litigation, from the apparently +crude and careless project now +before us.</p> + +<p>An instance of the loose wording of +this bill strikes the reader in the very +first section. It proposes to enact +"that where any estate in Scotland +shall be entailed by a deed of tailzie, +dated on or after the first day of +March one thousand eight hundred and +forty-eight, it shall be lawful for any +heir of entail, born after the date of +such tailzie, being of full age, and in +possession of such entailed estate in +virtue of such tailzie, <em>to acquire such +estate in fee-simple</em>, by applying to the +Court of Session, &c." Now, what is +this estate which the heir of entail is +to acquire in fee-simple? The estate-tail, +for so it is by hypothesis. But to +talk of acquiring an estate-tail in fee-simple +is nothing better than downright +nonsense. An estate-tail is, by +the origin of the word, cut or carved +(taillé) out of the fee-simple. You +may talk of converting or enlarging +the part into the whole, but you cannot +talk of acquiring the part in the +entirety of the whole. This is not all; +the bill plunges at once <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">in medias res</i>, +without favouring us with any sort of +definition of the important phrase, +"heir of entail," in this and other +clauses. The same expression in +the statute 1 Jac. VII. c. 32, has +already (see <cite>Sandford's Entails</cite>, p. +231) given rise to no small questioning +and litigation, which promise to +be renewed in abundance should this +measure pass into a law. Again, perpetual +inalienability is not an incident +to all estates-tail. Lands merely +bound by what are called the prohibitive +clauses, may be alienated for a +valuable consideration, though not by +a voluntary or (as the Scotch say) +gratuitous conveyance. Tailzies, however, +to which no clauses are annexed, +do not prevent the heir from conveying +the lands in any manner he +pleases. Now, as, the object of this +bill is to relax the bonds of perpetual +inalienability, we presume that only +those tailzies which are guarded by +the irritant and resolutive clauses are +within its purview. If so, the general +expression "deed of tailzie" should +have been distinctly limited. If that +expression should be held to comprehend +all deeds of tailzie, which it must +of course do when taken by itself, then +the proposed act will exercise a very +extensive disabling power, by restricting +the unlimited right of alienation +under tailzies of simple destination,<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> +and the right of alienation +for value under tailzies with prohibitive +clauses only introduced, to the +peculiar form and instrument pointed +out by this bill, and which we suppose +was devised in analogy to the +forms substituted for fines and recoveries +by the statute 3 & 4 Will. IV. +c. 74.</p> + +<p>We have already seen how Mr +M'Culloch would deal with the difficulty +of disturbing the devolution of +lands already limited in perpetual +entail—namely, by "saving the rights +of living heirs of entail, and of heirs +born under existing marriage-contracts." +We think our author has +not, in this passage, expressed himself +with due legal perspicuity and +precision. The phrase "living heirs +of entail" is somewhat vague and uncertain; +we presume Mr M'Culloch +intended the living issue of the heir +of entail in possession, and all living +heirs-substitute and their living issue. +Again, what are existing marriage-contracts? +Probably those marriage-contracts +are intended, which are +annexed to marriages solemnised +before the introduction of a new +system. Both these suggestions, as +we have interpreted them, might +with justice, and advantage have +formed part of the new law. It is +true that this would, at all events +for a considerable period of time, stop +short of that assimilation of the Scottish +law to the English which seems<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> +to have been a great object with the +framers of this bill. But the two +systems would gradually correspond; +and we hold that there is a principle +of justice involved in the upholding +of contracts the objects of which are +as yet unfulfilled. Where an English +settler has limited lands to a man for +life, remainder to his first and other +sons successively in tail, he knew, at +the time of making the settlement, +that it was liable to be barred with +consent of the eldest son on his coming +of age. But it was not so with a +Scotch settler who executed a deed of +tailzie to several brothers as successive +heirs-substitute; and the legislature +has no right, without the gravest +public cause, to step in and defeat his +intention.</p> + +<p>But the bill, though intending to +give far greater liberty to the owner +of an entailed estate than Mr M'Culloch +does, or, as we think, is consistent +with justice, sets about affording him +aid in the most ambiguous and misty +manner conceivable. The 2d clause +enacts that the heir of entail in possession, +born after the date of the act, +may disentail in the manner provided +by the act; and an heir of entail born +before the date of the act may similarly +disentail, "with the consent (and +not otherwise) of the heir-substitute +next in succession, and heir-apparent +under the entail of the heir in possession," +he being born after the date of +the act, and capable of contracting.</p> + +<p>We should recommend the tenant +in tail to be very cautious how he +attempts to "acquire his estate in +fee-simple" under the provisions of +this clause. He is to obtain the consent +of the heir-substitute next in succession. +So far his course is clear. +But the same person is also designated +by the term "heir-apparent under the +entail of the heir in possession." Now, +is this a qualification of the general +term "heir-substitute next in succession," +and must such person, under +the act, be also heir-apparent? If so, +what is the particular qualification +required of him under the expression +"heir-apparent?" Adhering to the +use of the phrase in popular language, +we must take, as the only circumstances +under which the next heir-substitute +and the heir-apparent are +one and the same person, the case in +which the first estate under the entail +is limited to a man and the heirs of +his body, and the second to his second +son and the heirs of his body; then, +supposing the eldest son to die in the +lifetime of his father, the second son +would be both the next heir-substitute +and also the heir-apparent. Is this, +therefore, the only case within the +act? Scarcely, we should think, was +it so intended. Are we, then, to interpret +the word heir-apparent in the +sense in which the phrase heir-presumptive +is generally used; and must +we suppose that the cases indicated +are those in which there is no issue +under the first entail, and therefore +the next heir-substitute is what we +should call heir-presumptive to the +person in possession? If so, what is +to become of the numerous cases where +there is issue to take under the existing +estate-tail? Or can it be that the +issue in tail is altogether forgotten by +this act, and that the person whose +consent is required is merely the next +heir-substitute in any case? We are +inclined to think this the most probable +explanation of this unfortunate +clause, but can scarcely imagine that +it will be suffered to pass into a law. +A further ambiguity, however, arises +with respect to this term heir-apparent, +from its having a peculiar technical +meaning in the Scottish law. +"He who is entitled," says Erskine, +"to enter heir to a deceased ancestor +is, before his actual entry, styled, both +in our statutes and by our writers, +<em>apparent heir</em>." If the bill intends +any reference to this legal acceptation +of the phrase, we can only understand +the person whose consent is required, +to be such person as, being next heir-substitute, +would, on the immediate +decease of the possessor, be his apparent +heir, or entitled to enter on the +lands. This, again, shuts out all those +estates where the possessor has issue +in tail, and would, consequently, limit +the operation of the bill to exceptional +cases. We think we have said enough +to convince our readers that this clause +is not likely to set free many entailed +estates in Scotland—at all events, not +without a chaos of litigation, in which +the elements of profit will have a tendency +to range themselves on the side +of the lawyers.</p> + +<p>The person whose consent is to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span> +obtained (whoever that mysterious +person may be) is, as we have seen, +to be born after the date of the act. +In conformity with this principle, one +would have supposed that where the +next heir-substitute shall have been +born before that date, then it should +be necessary to obtain the consent of +the first person entitled to take <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">per +formam doni</i>, who shall be born after +this date, together with the consent of +all those who are to take before him. +The third clause, however, introduces +a new form of protection to the settlement, +and merely enacts that, in such +cases, the consent of a certain number +of the heirs-substitute is to be obtained, +(the blank left for the number +was filled up with the word "three" +in committee of the House of Commons. +Nothing said about the issue +in tail, as before.</p> + +<p>Where the main enactments of the +bill are so incomprehensible, it is useless +to dwell on its details. We can +only say, that whatever evils may be +shown to exist under the present law, +they will not only fail to be cured, but +must be aggravated tenfold, by such a +product of off-hand legislation—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i20">"Sent before its time<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Into this breathing world, scarce half made up,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And that so lamely and unfashionable,"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noind">that it must necessarily die of its own +deformity, unless the law-courts will +lick it into shape by their decisions,—a +shape (as it must be) in which its +own parents would not know it again.</p> + +<p>The law of real property in France +exhibits a system so distinctly antagonistic +to our English and Scottish +law of entail, that we cannot be surprised +at the attention with which Mr +M'Culloch has investigated its influences.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"According to the law of France, a +person with one child may dispose at +pleasure of a moiety of his property, the +child inheriting the other moiety as legitim, +or matter of right; a person having +two children can only dispose of a third +part of his property; and those having +more than two must divide three-fourths +of their property equally amongst them, +one-fourth part being all that is then left +at their disposal. When a father dies intestate, +his property is equally divided +among his children, without respect to sex +or seniority. Nothing can be more distinctly +opposed to the principles we have +endeavoured to establish, and to the system +followed in this country, than this +law. It is therefore lucky that it is now +no novelty. It has been established for +more than half a century, so that we may +trace and exhibit its practical influence +over the condition of the extensive population +subject to its operation. Such an +experiment is of rare occurrence, but +when made is invaluable. And if its results +should confirm the conclusions already +come to, it will go far to establish them +on an unassailable basis."—P. 80-81.</p></blockquote> + +<p>We have already seen how these +results may be traced in the state of +French agriculture. They may also, +we think, be discerned in the relative +position which the landholders of +France bear to other classes in the +social scale. These, numbering between +four and five millions, ought, +as a class, to constitute the leaders of +the nation. So far from this being the +case, they are perhaps the most inert +and uninfluential portion of the community, +having apparently had little +or no voice in the two revolutions +which have swept over their heads +within the last eighteen years, and as +little in the erection, maintenance, or +downfall of the Throne of the Barricades. +It yet remains to be seen +whether they will continue to accept +every thing which the clubs of Paris +are willing to force upon them. As +tax-payers and cultivators of the soil, +it can hardly suit them to be propagandists; +as men who have something +to lose, they will not readily give in +to the dictatorial vagaries of Ledru +Rollin. If, however, they would hold +their own, it is time for them to be up +and doing. France has been governed +by a minority before now.</p> + +<p>We have always regarded it as one +of the main advantages of a landed +aristocracy, that it raises up a principle +of social rank antagonistic to +that of mere wealth. In France, the +constant subdivision and transfer of +land breaks down this influence, and +causes land to be regarded as a mere +marketable article and equivalent for +money.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"In countries where the custom of +primogeniture exercises a powerful influence, +families become identified with +estates—the family representing the estate, +and the estate the family. The +wealth and consideration enjoyed by the +latter depend upon, and are intimately<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> +connected with, the possession of the lands +which have descended to them from their +ancestors. They estimate their value by +another than a mere pecuniary standard. +They are attached to them by the oldest +and most endearing associations; and they +are seldom parted with except under the +most painful circumstances. Hence the +perpetuity of property in England in the +same families, notwithstanding the limited +duration of entails; great numbers of +estates being at this moment enjoyed by +those whose ancestors acquired them at or +soon after the Conquest. But in France +such feelings are proscribed. Estates and +families have there no abiding connexion; +and at the demise of an individual who +has a number of children, his estate can +hardly escape being subdivided. And +this effect of the law tends to imbue the +proprietors with corresponding sentiments +and feelings. 'Non seulement,' says M. +De Tocqueville, 'la loi des successions +rend difficile aux familles de conserver +intacts les mêmes domaines, mais elle leur +òte le désir de le tenter, et elle les entraîne, +en quelque sorte, à coopérer avec +elle à leur propre ruine.'"—P. 85-86.</p></blockquote> + +<p>But Mr M'Culloch dwells more particularly +on the injurious effects to +agriculture from the parcelling out of +the land into small properties. He +shows that a small proprietor is not +so efficient a cultivator of the soil as a +tenant, in which doctrine Arthur +Young had preceded him. He shows, +also, that the subdivision of properties +leads to the subdivision of farms, and +urges that it is impossible to have good +farming on small patches of land. Of +the miseries of an agricultural system +carried on by small farmers on petty +holdings, we have already a sufficient +example in Ireland. We cannot but +think, however, that the progress of +things in England has too much swallowed +up those little farms of from +thirty to fifty acres, which at one time +were common over the country. Not +but what capital is employed at a +great disadvantage on these little holdings—but +where there is a general system +of good-sized farms, an intermixture, +of smaller farms is not attended +with injurious effects proportional to +those which arise where the whole of +the land is split up into minute parcels. +And then small farmers furnish a link +between the yeomanry and peasantry, +which it is useful to maintain, cheering +the poor man's lot by pointing out to +him a path by which lie may advance +from the position of a day-labourer to +that of an occupier of land. On the +same principle, we are rejoiced to observe +the gradual extension of the allotment +system; although it would +have a still more beneficial effect, we +think, if the land was granted in the +shape of a croft about the cottage, +thus giving the tenant a greater interest, +and more individual sense of proprietorship, +than when his piece of +land is packed, along with a number +of others, into a mass of unsightly +patches.</p> + +<p>In connexion with the small holdings +in Ireland, it should not be forgotten +that this subdivision of the +land results mainly from the practice +of sub-letting; and this again has +arisen in a great degree from the +practice of granting long leases, +the want of which in England has +served, among many other things, for +an outcry against the landlords. Mr +M'Culloch has pointed out the evils of +too long leases on the farming tenant, +that they superinduce a sense of security +which easily degenerates into +indolence. But the influence on Ireland +is even worse, by breaking up +the land into small patches, on which +the occupier can but just maintain +himself, paying an exorbitant rent to +the middleman. For it is not the +eager demand for land amongst the +Irish peasantry, as we sometimes +hear, that has produced this subdivision +of the land, but the subdivision +that has produced the demand, by +putting the cultivation of the land +into the hands of a class who are +unable, through want of skill and +capital, to carry it on; who cannot, +therefore, furnish employment for the +labourers, and thus drive them to +grasp at little parcels of land as their +only means of securing a wretched +subsistence; and this security, as we +know, has more than once proved but +a fancied one, as in the disastrous +failure of the potato crop.</p> + +<p>While we are on this subject, we +may draw the reader's attention to a +very able pamphlet by an Irish gentleman, +on Irish matters, which, +though we believe it has never been +published, has had an extensive private +circulation. We allude to "An +Address to the Members of the House, +of Commons on the Landlord and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> +Tenant Question, by Warren H. R. +Jackson, Esq." The work, though +somewhat tinged with the hard politico-economical +school, is written +with great shrewdness of thought and +freedom from prejudice, and is well +worthy the careful attention of the +honourable House. The writer, in +discussing the vexed question he has +taken in hand, fully coincides with +the general principles laid down by +Mr M'Culloch. "This," he says, +(speaking of the subdivision of land) +"is one of the monster grievances of +Ireland, and you will do little good +unless you abate it." This abatement +he would bring about mainly +by prospective laws, as by placing all +contracts for subletting <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">hors la loi</i>, +and so taking away from the first +lessee all power of recovering his rent +from the actual tenant. We cannot +but think that this would be found a +most salutary enactment. It should +be remembered, that the occupier is +responsible to the owner of the freehold +by the power of distress vested +in the latter, and it is but just that +he should be relieved from the liability +to pay two rents—a liability which it +is manifest no good farmer would incur, +but which the squalid ravager of +the soil in Ireland is always eager +for.</p> + +<p>It has been said that no further +legislative enactment is required in +Ireland, and that administrative wisdom +must do what yet remains to be +done. Mr Jackson, however, shows +that there are such deep-seated evils +in Ireland as cannot be cured except +by the direct interference of the legislature. +But we think he expects too +much from the Sale of Encumbered +Estates Bill. An extensive change +of proprietorship would, we are persuaded, +be a great evil in Ireland. +There is an attachment in general to +the "ould stock" among their poorer +neighbours, which would naturally be +followed by a jealousy and prejudice +against the new comers who displaced +them. And this prejudice would of +itself neutralise any efforts for improvement +which the landlord might otherwise +be disposed to make—although, +in most cases, we should not expect +much effort in this direction from a +stranger mortgagee, often an unwilling +purchaser, who would naturally +be anxious to contract with those +parties from whom he could obtain his +rents with least trouble, leaving them +to deal with the land as they liked, +and thereby continuing and increasing +the odious middleman system.</p> + +<p>Mr M'Culloch does not confine his +examination of the compulsory partition +in France to its influence on +agriculture. He has discerned certain +political effects of that and the concomitant +system of which it is a part, +with a precision which subsequent +events have elevated into a sort of +prophecy. The preface to his work is +dated December 1847, and the work +was published, we believe, early in +January. There can, therefore, be no +grounds for classing the following passage +with those anticipations which +are made after the event:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"The aristocratical element is no longer +to be found in French society; and the +compulsory division of the soil, while it +prevents the growth of an aristocracy, +impresses the same character of mobility +upon landed possessions that is impressed +on the families of their occupiers. Hence +the prevalent want of confidence in the +continuance of the present order of things +in France. What is there in that country +to oppose an effectual resistance to a +revolutionary movement? Monarchy in +France has been stripped of those old associations +and powerful bulwarks whence +it derives almost all its lustre and support +in this and other countries. The +throne stands in solitary, though not +unenvied dignity, without the shelter of +a single eminence, exposed to the full +force of the furious blasts that sweep +from every point of the surrounding +level. There is nothing intermediate, +nothing to hinder a hostile majority in the +Chamber of Deputies from at once subverting +the regal branch of the constitution, +or changing the reigning dynasty."—P. +132-133.</p></blockquote> + +<p>Scarcely was the printer's ink dry +on this passage when the Throne of +the Barricades was gone. We have +given our author full credit for his +sagacity in penetrating into the future, +but we think it would puzzle him to +foretell what is to come next. We +are disposed to doubt, however, whether +an aristocracy could have preserved +the throne of Louis Philippe. +It is true that in our own country +William of Nassau and George of +Brunswick maintained their crowns by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> +the aid of powerful sections of the +nobility. But the revolutions which +gave them those crowns were not the +volcanic outbursts of popular force. +Under such outbursts, no successful +usurper, no "Hero-king," no sovereign +by the will of the people, has +been able to devise a principle which +shall establish his throne in security, +and serve in the stead of that prestige +of old hereditary succession, that +grand feudal idea of kingly right, +which is the essential fountain of +the reverence that guards royalty. +Louis Philippe would have confirmed +his sovereignty by means of the +influence exerted upon interested +officials. No sooner was his power +shaken in its unstable equilibrium +than the men whom his gold had +bought rushed to worship the rising +sun of the young Republic. Napoleon, +before him, would have built up +a similar power on military glory: +his doom was sealed when his eagles +turned from the field of Leipsic. +Cromwell employed religious fanaticism +to the same end: the fanaticism +lasted his time; but we will venture +to say that, had he lived, his protectorate +would not have reached the +seventeen years allotted to the democratic +King of the French.</p> + +<p>Our author is of opinion that, after +all, the system of compulsory partition +will fail to guard what has since +become the French Republic:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"But, though it were possible, which +it is not, to obviate the mischievous +influence of the French and other plans +for preventing the increase and continuance +of property in the same families, +it may be confidently predicted that +they will, in time to come as hitherto, +wholly fail in their grand object of perpetuating +the ascendancy of the democracy. +In old settled and fully peopled +countries, where the bulk of the population +is necessarily poor and dependent, +an aristocracy is indispensable for the +support of a free system of government—'Il +importe à tous les peuples qui ont la +prétention de devenir ou de rester puissants, +d'avoir une aristocratie, c'est-à-dire +un corps héréditaire ou non, qui conserve +et perpetue les traditions, donne de +l'esprit de suite à la politique, et se voue +à l'art le plus difficile de tous, qu' +aujourd'hui cependant tout le monde +croit savoir sans l'avoir appris, celui de +gouverner. Un peuple sans aristocratic +pourra briller dans les lettres et les arts, +mais sa gloire politique me semble +devoir être passagère comme un méteore.' +<span class="smcap">Chevalier</span>, <cite>Lettres sur l'Amerique</cite>, ii. +379," pp. 171, 172.</p></blockquote> + +<p>We have already said that we +think England certain to have an +aristocracy of some description. The +ambition of the people to advance +themselves individually in the social +scale will necessarily lead to a high +value being set upon those advanced +positions, and will tend to make them +the fulcrum from which the country is +governed. And we can conceive +nothing more fatal to our national +organisation than the result which +would follow indirectly from the repeal +of these laws. It may be supposed +at first sight that no very vital +question is involved here. Let those +who suppose so, take a view of the +probable condition of society which +would ensue. These, and other so-called +feudalities, being swept away, +land becomes a commercial article, +according to the desire of the plutocratic +reformers. Estates are trucked +about in the market like bills of exchange; +constantly changing hands, +their owners have little connexion +with them or the people that live on +them, regarding them merely in the +light of so much realised capital. The +old families gradually become dispossessed; +mere wealth is recognised +as the sole qualification for rank and +influence; and the leading class in +the state is composed of men who are +an aristocracy by virtue of ready +money. Far be it from us to undervalue +the enterprise, integrity, and +industry of our merchant manufacturers +and tradesmen. But we will +say that when we meet with a man, +as we often do among those classes, +endowed with a broad range of +thought and high and noble aims, +we regard him as possessing these +qualities not as a consequence, but +in spite of a commercial training. +The immediate effects of such training +are to narrow the mind and +cramp the soul, not in respect of +domestic and social life—for in these, +perhaps, the middle classes are unsurpassed +by any other—but in the provinces +of the statesman and the +politician.</p> + +<p>In these times, it seems to be commonly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> +supposed that a legislator—like +a poet—<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">nascitur, non fit</i>. There is a +certain kind of training, the acquisition +of a certain cast of thought, which +are requisites for statesmen as a class, +as much as his legal reading for a lawyer, +or his apprenticeship for a handicraftsman. +Statesmen, however, have +to deal with practical matters; and +therefore we think, as we have before +said, that while the predominance of +these requisites in the legislature is +essential to good government, there +may with advantage at the same time +be a certain admixture of the men +practically versed in commerce and +manufactures. But this should be always +a subordinate, not a leading, element +in the principles which regulate +the administration of government.—We +repeat, that the counting-house, +the loom, and the anvil, are not the +best schools for legislators. For that +office, a man requires leisure and education. +We shall be told that a +"Squire" is not necessarily an educated +man. We do not maintain that +he is. But, in the first place, as we +cannot well have an education-test, +we must go to the class in which, as a +class, we find the highest and most +enlarged form of education; and we +believe that this qualification can, +without question, be claimed for the +leisure-class, or gentlemen of England. +In the second place, it should +be remembered, that if the squire is +not always individually what we +should call an educated man, he yet +imbibes his thoughts and notions from +those who are such, who give tone to +the society in which he moves. In +investigating the characteristics of +classes, it can scarcely be but that a +number of exceptions to our general +rules will force themselves upon our +attention. Yet, in good truth, we believe +that almost all the individual +examples which can be cited will bear +out our estimate. The highest contributions +to the legislature, on the +part of the middle or commercial +classes, have been the shrewd practical +men of business, men of the stamp +of Mr Hawes. As for the Cobdens +and Brights, <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">et hoc genus omne</i>, their +only motive principle appears to be +the interests of <em>My Shop</em>. Their notion +of loyalty, patriotism, and British +prosperity, is nothing but low wages, +high profits, and a brisk trade in calicoes.</p> + +<p>Many of our readers will recollect +a passage in Cicero, (<cite>Off.</cite> i. 42,) in +which he reprobates, more or less, all +commercial pursuits, in respect of their +operations on the moral insight of +man, and finishes with the praise of +the culture of the soil, in these words: +"Omnium rerum ex quibus aliquid +acquiritur, nihil est agriculturâ meliùs, +nihil uberiùs, nihil dulciùs, nihil homine +libero digniùs." In this country we +should find it difficult to go along +with the feelings of the old Roman +republican on these points. But +though we have already expressed +our high sense of the social and domestic +virtues of the middle or +trading classes, yet we are most confident +in the truth of our position, +that the shop is the worst possible +preparation for the senate. We know +that there is a talk abroad about +earnest workers, drones of the hive, +and so forth. By all means, let every +man work who is fit to work. But it +is not necessary, nor is it desirable, +that every man should work for gain. +On the contrary, we hold that a class +endowed with leisure is indispensable, +not only for the grace and civilisation, +but even for the moral well-being of +a community. That money should +become the one grand loadstar of +thought and action is the bane of +those societies where the pursuit of +money is the general employment; +but where there is such a leisure-class +as we have spoken of, forming the +topmost rank of a nation otherwise +chiefly mercantile, there are numberless +influences derived from it which +percolate through the underlying +masses, and check or modify the +exclusive reverence for wealth to +which they would otherwise be prone. +Even a mere blind respect for rank or +title exalts the mind immeasurably as +compared with mammon-worship.</p> + +<p>While on the subject of our leisure-class, +which is pretty nearly synonymous +with the landed gentry, we must +not pass over in silence a subject in +connexion with which the outcry +against "the drones of the hive" is +frequently introduced. We refer to +the Game-Laws. The whole question +of these laws has been so fully discussed +in a recent Number of this magazine,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span> +that we will not attempt in any +way to open that controversy. But +they are so commonly coupled with +the Laws of Entail as "feudalities," +and as interfering with the transmission +of land according to "commercial +principles," that we could not altogether +omit the mention of them. We +will at this time only observe, that the +denunciation of the Game-Laws is a +part of the crusade which Hard-Cash, +that arrogant monopolist who bears no +brother near his throne, is waging +against all other objects of interest or +devotion. Let it not be supposed that +laws are of minor importance because +they relate to the amusements of any +portion of the community. They may +derive their importance from that circumstance +as tending to raise up something +which shall cope with the lust of +gold. The game-preserving interest +is worth maintenance if only as clashing +with mammonism.</p> + +<p>While the brawlers about "improvement" +and "progress," are heaping their +meaningless abuse upon feudalities, +we should be glad to know what they +purpose to do with that greatest feudality +of all, the Crown? Already +there are symptoms of an intention to +take that matter in hand. Mr Cobden +and some of his Calibans have talked +in the House of Commons about curtailing +the "barbarous splendour" of +the throne. They know nothing and +care nothing about the historical association +and constitutional truths embodied +in the ancient appendages of +royalty. How should they? They want +somebody to look after the police, and +take care that no one robs their till; +that is their idea of government. They +want a man (some of them being +willing to allow him a small salary, +though others think that it does not +pay) to preach to the masses, and tell +them not to steal, and to be content +with their wages; that is their idea of +the church. We do not think, however, +that the tone of thought prevalent +among the Manchester school is +destined yet to lead the mind of England. +And we are the less inclined to +look forward to such a national debasement +when we find so enlightened an +advocate of free-trade policy as Mr +M'Culloch—the advocate of a theory +which we hold to be erroneous, but not +the selfish and greedy clamourer for +the gain of himself and his class—thus +coming forward to vindicate the laws +which preserve the hereditary character +of our aristocracy, which lend so +efficient an aid in shielding us from +the crushing tread of mammonism, +and in preventing "commercial principles" +from introducing the ledger +and day-book into our manor houses, +and the counter into our farmers' +parlours. In this view we most heartily +thank our author for his noble and +energetic contribution to our National +Defences at the present time; and as +there is a wide field open in connexion +with the subject he has so +powerfully handled, we cannot take +leave of him without expressing a +hope that we may before long listen +to him again "on the same side."</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>LIFE IN THE "FAR WEST."</h2> + +<h3>PART II.</h3> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="hanging">[The reader is informed that "Life in the Far West" is <em>no fiction</em>. The scenes and +incidents described are strictly true. The characters are real, (the names being +changed in two or three instances only,) and all have been, and are, well known +in the Western country.]</p></blockquote> + + +<p>"And Mary Brand herself,—what +is she like?"</p> + +<p>"She's 'some' now; that <em>is</em> a fact, +and the biggest kind of punkin at +that," would have been the answer +from any man, woman, or child, in +Memphis County, and truly spoken +too; always understanding that the +pumpkin is <em>the</em> fruit to which the +<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">ne-plus-ultra</i> of female perfection is +compared by the figuratively speaking +westerns.</p> + +<p>Being an American woman, of +course she was tall, and straight and +slim as a hickory sapling, well formed +withal, with rounded bust, and neck +white and slender as the swan's. +Her features were small, but finely +chiselled; and in this, it may be remarked, +the lower orders of the +American women differ from, and far +surpass the same class in England, +or elsewhere, where the features, +although far prettier, are more +vulgar and commonplace. She had +the bright blue eye, thin nose, and +small but sweetly-formed mouth, +the too fair complexion and dark +brown hair, which characterise the +beauty of the Anglo-American, +the heavy masses (hardly curls) +which fell over her face and neck +contrasting with their polished whiteness. +Such was Mary Brand: and to +her good looks being added a sweet +disposition, and all the good qualities +of a thrifty housewife, it must be allowed +that she fully justified the eulogiums +of the good people of Memphis.</p> + +<p>Well, to cut a love-story short, in +the which not a little moral courage +is shown, young La Bonté fell desperately +in love with the pretty Mary, +and she with him; and small blame +to her, for he was a proper lad of +twenty—six feet in his moccassins—the +best hunter and rifle-shot in the +country, with many other advantages +too numerous to mention. But when +did the course, &c. e'er run smooth? +When the affair had become a recognised +"courting," (and Americans +alone know the horrors of such prolonged +purgatory,) they became, to +use La Bonté's words, "awful fond," +and consequently about once a-week +had their tiffs and makes-up.</p> + +<p>However, on one occasion, at a +"husking," and during one of these +tiffs, Mary, every inch a woman, to +gratify some indescribable feeling, +brought to her aid jealousy—that old +serpent who has caused such mischief +in this world; and by a flirtation +over the corn-cobs with Big +Pete, La Bonté's former and only +rival, struck so hard a blow at the +latter's heart, that on the moment his +brain caught fire, blood danced before +his eyes, and he became like one +possessed. Pete observed and enjoyed +his struggling emotion—better +for him had he minded his corn-shelling +alone; and the more to annoy +his rival, paid the most sedulous attention +to the pretty Mary.</p> + +<p>Young La Bonté stood it as long +as human nature, at boiling heat, +could endure; but when Pete, in the +exultation of his apparent triumph, +crowned his success by encircling the +slender waist of the girl with his arm, +and snatched a sudden kiss, he +jumped upright from his seat, and +seizing a small whisky-keg which +stood in the centre of the corn-shellers, +he hurled it at his rival, and +crying to him, hoarse with passion, +"to follow if he was a man," he left +the house.</p> + +<p>At that time, and even now, in the +remoter states of the western country, +rifles settled even the most trivial +differences between the hot-blooded +youths; and of such frequent occurrence +and invariably bloody termination +did they become, that they +scarcely produced sufficient excitement +to draw together half a dozen spectators +of the duel.</p> + +<p>In the present case, however, so +public was the quarrel, and so well<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> +known the parties concerned, that +not only the people who had witnessed +the affair, but all the neighbourhood +thronged to the scene of action, where, +in a large field in front of the house, +the preliminaries of a duel between +Pete and La Bonté were being arranged +by their respective friends.</p> + +<p>Mary, when she discovered the +mischief her thoughtlessness was +likely to occasion, was almost beside +herself with grief, but she knew how +vain it would be to attempt to interfere. +The poor girl, who was most +ardently attached to La Bonté, was +carried, swooning, into the house, +where all the women congregated, +and were locked in by old Brand, +who, himself an old pioneer, thought +but little of bloodshed, but refused to +let the "women folk" witness the affray.</p> + +<p>Preliminaries arranged, the combatants +took up their respective positions +at either end of a space marked +for the purpose, at forty paces from +each other. They were both armed +with heavy rifles, and had the usual +hunting-pouches, containing ammunition, +hanging over the shoulder. +Standing with the butts of their rifles +on the ground, they confronted each +other, and the crowd drawing away a +few paces only on each side, left one +man to give the word. This was the +single word "fire;" and after this +signal was given, the combatants were +at liberty to fire away until one or the +other dropped.</p> + +<p>At the word both the men quickly +raised their rifles to the shoulder, and +as the sharp cracks rung instantaneously, +they were seen to flinch, as +either felt the pinging sensation of a +bullet entering his flesh. Regarding +each other steadily for a few moments, +the blood running down La Bonté's +neck from a wound under the left jaw, +whilst his opponent was seen to place +his hand once to his right breast, as if +to feel the position of his wound, they +commenced reloading their rifles. As, +however, Pete was in the act of forcing +down the ball with his long hickory +wiping-stick, he suddenly dropped his +right arm,—the rifle slipped from his +grasp,—and, reeling for a moment like +a drunken man,—he fell dead to the +ground.</p> + +<p>Even here, however, there was law +of some kind or another, and the consequences +of the duel were, that the +constables were soon on the trail of +La Bonté to arrest him. He, however, +easily avoided them, and taking +to the woods, lived for several days in +as wild a state as the beasts he hunted +and killed for his support.</p> + +<p>Tired of this, however, he resolved +to quit the country, and betake himself +to the mountains, for which life he +had ever felt an inclination.</p> + +<p>When, therefore, he thought the +officers of justice had tired of seeking +him, and the coast was comparatively +clear, he determined to start on his +distant expedition to the Far West.</p> + +<p>Once more, before he carried his +project into execution, he sought and +had a last interview with Mary Brand.</p> + +<p>"Mary," said he, "I'm about to +break. They're hunting me like a fall +buck, and I'm bound to quit. Don't +think any more about me, for I shall +never come back." Poor Mary burst +into tears, and bent her head on the +table near which she was sitting. +When again she raised it, she saw La +Bonté, with his long rifle on his shoulder, +striding with rapid steps from the +house; and year after year rolled on, +and he never returned.</p> + +<p>A few days after this he found himself +at St Louis, the emporium of the +fur trade, and the fast rising metropolis +of the precocious settlements of +the west. Here, a prey to the agony +of mind which jealousy, remorse, and +blighted love mix into a very puchero +of misery, La Bonté got into the company +of certain "rowdies," a class +which every western city particularly +abounds in; and anxious to drown +his sorrows in any way, and quite +unscrupulous as to the means, he +plunged into all the vicious excitements +of drinking, gambling, and fighting, +which form the every-day amusements +of the rising generation of St +Louis.</p> + +<p>Perhaps in no other part of the +United States, where indeed humanity +is frequently to be seen in many curious +and unusual phases, is there a population +so marked in its general character, +and at the same time divided into such +distinct classes, as in the above-named +city. Dating, as it does, its foundation +from yesterday,—for what are thirty +years in the growth of a metropolis?—its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> +founders are now scarcely passed +middle life, regarding with astonishment +the growing works of their hands; +and whilst gazing upon its busy quays, +piled with grain and other produce of +the west, its fleets of huge steamboats +lying tier upon tier alongside the +wharves, its well-stored warehouses +and all the bustling concomitants of +a great commercial depot, they can +scarcely realise the memory of a few +short years, when on the same spot +nothing was to be seen but the few +miserable hovels of a French village—the +only sign of commerce the unwieldy +bateaux of the Indian traders, +laden with peltries from the distant +regions of the Platte and Upper Missouri. +Where now intelligent and +wealthy merchants walk erect, in conscious +substantiality of purse and +credit, and direct the commerce of a +vast and numerously-populated region, +but the other day stalked, in dress of +buckskin, the Indian trader of the +west; and all the evidences of life, +mayhap, consisted of the eccentric +vagaries of the different bands of +trappers and hardy mountaineers, who +accompanied, some for pleasure and +some as escort, the periodically arriving +bateaux, laden with the beaver +skins and buffalo robes collected during +the season at the different trading +posts in the Far West.</p> + +<p>These, nevertheless, were the men +whose hardy enterprise opened to commerce +and the plough the vast and fertile +regions of the West. Rough and +savage though they were, they alone +were the pioneers of that extraordinary +tide of civilisation which has +poured its resistless current through +tracts large enough for kings to +govern; over a country now teeming +with cultivation, where, a few short +years ago, countless herds of buffalo +roamed unmolested, the bear and +deer abounded, and where the savage +Indian skulked through the woods +and prairies, lord of the unappreciated +soil which now yields its prolific +treasures to the spade and plough of +civilised man. To the wild and half-savage +trapper, who may be said to +exhibit the energy, enterprise, and +hardihood characteristic of the American +people, divested of all the false +and vicious glare with which a high +state of civilisation, too rapidly attained, +has obscured their real and +genuine character, in which the above +traits are eminently prominent—to +these men alone is due the empire +of the West—destined in a few short +years to become the most important +of those confederate states which compose +the mighty union of North +America.</p> + +<p>Sprung, then, out of the wild and +adventurous fur trade, St Louis, still +the emporium of that species of commerce, +preserves even now, in the +character of its population, many of +the marked peculiarities which distinguished +its early founders, who were +identified with the primitive Indian +in hardiness and instinctive wisdom. +Whilst the French portion of the population +retain the thoughtless levity +and frivolous disposition of their original +source, the Americans of St +Louis, who may lay claim to be native, +as it were, are as particularly distinguished +for determination and energy +of character as they are for physical +strength and animal courage; and +are remarkable, at the same time, for +a singular aptitude in carrying out +commercial enterprises to successful +terminations, which would appear to +be incompatible with the love of adventure +and excitement which forms +so prominent a feature in their character. +In St Louis, nevertheless, +and from her merchants, have emanated +many commercial enterprises of +gigantic speculation, not confined to +its own locality or the distant Indian +fur trade, but embracing all parts of +the continent, and even a portion of +the Old World. And here it must be +remembered that St Louis is situated +inland, at a distance of upwards +of one thousand miles from the sea, +and three thousand from the capital of +the United States.</p> + +<p>Besides her merchants and upper +class, who form a little aristocracy +even here, she has a large portion of +her population still connected with the +Indian and fur trade, who preserve all +their characteristics unacted upon by +the influence of advancing civilisation, +and between whom and other classes +there is a marked distinction. There is, +moreover, a large floating population +of foreigners of all nations, who must +possess no little amount of enterprise +to be tempted to this spot, from +whence they spread over the remote +western tracts, still invested by the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> +savage; and, therefore, if any of their +blood is infused into the native population, +the characteristic energy and +enterprise is increased, and not tempered +down, by the foreign cross.</p> + +<p>But perhaps the most singular of her +casual population are the mountaineers, +who, after several seasons spent in +trapping, and with good store of +dollars, arrive from the scene of their +adventures, wild as savages, determined +to enjoy themselves, for a time, +in all the gaiety and dissipation of the +western city. In one of the back +streets of the town is a tavern well +known as the "Rocky Mountain +House," and here the trappers resort, +drinking and fighting as long as their +money lasts, which, as they are generous +and lavish as Jack Tars, is for +a few days only. Such scenes as are +enacted in the Rocky Mountain House, +both tragical and comical, are beyond +the powers of pen to describe; +and when a fandango is in progress, +to which congregate the coquettish +belles from "Vide Poche," as the +French portion of a suburb is nicknamed,—the +grotesque endeavours of +the bear-like mountaineers to sport a +figure on the light fantastic toe, and +their insertions into the dance of the +mystic jumps of Terpsichorean Indians +when engaged in the "medicine" +dances in honour of bear, of buffalo, +or ravished scalp,—are such startling +innovations on the choreographic art +as would cause the shade of Gallini to +quake and gibber in his pumps.</p> + +<p>Passing the open doors and windows +of the Mountain House, the +stranger stops short as the sounds of +violin and banjo twang upon his ears, +accompanied by extraordinary noises—which +sound unearthly to the greenhorn +listener, but which the initiated +recognise as an Indian song roared +out of the stentorian lungs, of a mountaineer, +who, patting his stomach with +open hands, to improve the necessary +shake, choruses the well-known Indian +chant:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Hi—Hi—Hi—Hi,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Hi-i—Hi-i—Hi-i—Hi-i<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Hi-ya—hi-ya—hi-ya—hi-ya<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Hi-ya—hi-ya—hi-ya—hi-ya<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Hi-ya—hi-ya—hi—hi,<br /></span> +<span class="i5">&c. &c. &c.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noind">and polishing off the high notes with +a whoop which makes the old wooden +houses shake again, as it rattles and +echoes down the street.</p> + +<p>Here, over fiery "monaghahela," +Jean Batiste, the sallow half-breed +voyageur from the north—and who, +deserting the service of the "North-West," +(the Hudson's Bay Company,) +has come down the Mississippi, +from the "Falls," to try the sweets +and liberty of "free" trapping—hobnobs +with a stalwart leather-clad +"boy," just returned from trapping on +the waters of Grand River, on the +western side the mountains, who interlards +his mountain jargon with +Spanish words picked up in Taos +and California. In one corner a +trapper, lean and gaunt from the starving +regions of the Yellow Stone, has +just recognised an old companyero, +with whom he hunted years before in +the perilous country of the Blackfeet.</p> + +<p>"Why, John, old hos, how do you +come on?"</p> + +<p>"What! Meek, old 'coon! I thought +you were under?"</p> + +<p>One from Arkansa stalks into the +centre of the room, with a pack of +cards in his hand, and a handful of +dollars in his hat. Squatting cross-legged +on a buffalo robe, he smacks +down the money, and cries out—"Ho, +boys, hyar's a deck, and hyar's +the beaver, (rattling the coin,) who +dar set his hos? Wagh!"</p> + +<p>Tough are the yarns of wondrous +hunts and Indian perils, of hairbreadth +'scapes and curious "fixes." Transcendant +are the qualities of sundry rifles, +which call these hunters masters; +"plum" is the "centre" each vaunted +barrel shoots; sufficing for a hundred +wigs is the "hair" each hunter has +"lifted" from Indians' scalps; multitudinous +the "coups" he has "struck." +As they drink so do they brag, first of +their guns, their horses, and their +squaws, and lastly of themselves:—and +when it comes to that, "ware steel."</p> + +<p>La Bonté, on his arrival at St. +Louis, found himself one day in no +less a place than this; and here he +made acquaintance with an old trapper +about to start for the mountains +in a few days, to hunt on the head +waters of Platte and Green River. +With this man he resolved to start, +and, having still some hundred dollars +in cash, he immediately set about +equipping himself for the expedition. +To effect this, he first of all visited the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> +gun-store of Hawken, whose rifles are +renowned in the mountains, and exchanged +his own piece, which was of +very small bore, for a regular mountain +rifle. This was of very heavy +metal, carrying about thirty-two balls +to the pound, stocked to the muzzle +and mounted with brass, its only ornament +being a buffalo bull, looking exceedingly +ferocious, which was not +very artistically engraved upon the +trap in the stock. Here, too, he laid in +a few pounds of powder and lead, and +all the necessaries for a long hunt.</p> + +<p>His next visit was to a smith's store, +which smith was black by trade and +black by nature, for he was a nigger, +and, moreover, celebrated as being the +best maker of beaver-traps in St +Louis, and of whom he purchased six +new traps, paying for the same twenty +dollars—procuring, at the same time, +an old trap-sack, made of stout buffalo +skin, in which to carry them.</p> + +<p>We next find La Bonté and his +companion—one Luke, better known +as Grey-Eye, one of his eyes having +been "gouged" in a mountain fray—at +Independence, a little town situated +on the Missouri, several hundred miles +above St Louis, and within a short +distance of the Indian frontier.</p> + +<p>Independence may be termed the +"prairie port" of the western country. +Here the caravans destined for Santa +Fé and the interior of Mexico, assemble +to complete their necessary equipment. +Mules and oxen are purchased, +teamsters hired, and all stores and +outfit laid in here for the long journey +over the wide expanse of prairie +ocean. Here, too, the Indian traders +and the Rocky Mountain trappers +rendezvous, collecting in sufficient +force to ensure their safe passage +through the Indian country. At the +seasons of departure and arrival of +these bands, the little town presents +a lively scene of bustle and confusion. +The wild and dissipated mountaineers +get rid of their last dollars in furious +orgies, treating all comers to galore +of drink, and pledging each other, in +horns of potent whisky, to successful +hunts and "heaps of beaver." +When every cent has disappeared +from their pouches, the free trapper +often makes away with rifle, traps, +and animals, to gratify his "dry," (for +your mountaineer is never "thirsty;") +and then, "hos and beaver" gone, is +necessitated to hire himself to one of +the leaders of big bands, and hypothecate +his services for an equipment of +traps and animals. Thus La Bonté +picked up three excellent mules for a +mere song, with their accompanying +pack saddles, <i>apishamores</i>,<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> and lariats, +and the next day, with Luke, +"put out" for Platte.</p> + +<p>As they passed through the rendezvous, +which was encamped on a little +stream beyond the town, even our +young Mississippian was struck with +the novelty of the scene. Upwards +of forty huge waggons, of Connestoga +and Pittsburg build, and covered with +snow-white tilts, were ranged in a +semicircle, or rather a horse-shoe +form, on the flat open prairie, their +long "tongues" (poles) pointing outwards; +with the necessary harness for +four pairs of mules, or eight yoke of +oxen, lying on the ground beside +them, spread in ready order for "hitching +up." Round the waggons groups +of teamsters, tall stalwart young Missourians, +were engaged in busy preparation +for the start, greasing the +wheels, fitting or repairing harness, +smoothing ox-bows, or overhauling +their own moderate kits or "possibles." +They were all dressed in the +same fashion: a pair of "homespun" +pantaloons, tucked into thick boots +reaching nearly to the knee, and confined +round the waist by a broad +leathern belt, which supported a strong +butcher knife in a sheath. A coarse +checked shirt was their only other +covering, with a fur cap on the head.</p> + +<p>Numerous camp-fires surrounded +the waggons, and by them lounged +wild-looking mountaineers, easily distinguished +from the "greenhorn" +teamsters by their dresses of buckskin, +and their weather-beaten faces. Without +an exception, these were under +the influence of the rosy god; and one, +who sat, the picture of misery, at a +fire by himself—staring into the blaze +with vacant countenance, his long +matted hair hanging in unkempt +masses over his face, begrimed with +the dirt of a week, and pallid with the +effects of ardent drink—was suffering<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span> +from the usual consequences of having +"kept it up" beyond the usual point, +and now was paying the penalty in a +fit of "horrors"—as <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">delirium tremens</i> +is most aptly termed by sailors and +the unprofessional.</p> + +<p>In another part, the merchants of +the caravan and Indian traders were +superintending the lading of the waggons, +or mule packs. These were +dressed in civilised attire, and some +bedizened in St Louis or Eastern +City dandyism, to the infinite disgust +of the mountain men, who look upon +a bourge-way (bourgeois) with most +undisguised contempt, despising the +very simplest forms of civilisation. +The picturesque appearance of the +encampment was not a little heightened +by the addition of several Indians +from the neighbouring Shawnee settlement, +who, mounted on their small +active horses, on which they reclined, +rather than sat, in negligent attitudes, +quietly looked on at the novel scene, +indifferent to the "chaff" which the +thoughtless teamsters indulged in at +their expense. Numbers of mules +and horses were picketed at hand, +while a large herd of noble oxen were +being driven towards the camp—the +wo-ha of the teamsters sounding far +and near, as they collected the scattered +beasts in order to yoke up.</p> + +<p>As most of the mountain men were +utterly unable to move from camp, +Luke and La Bonté, with three or +four of the most sober, started in +company, intending to wait on "Blue," +a stream which runs into the Caw or +Kanzas River, until the "balance" of +the band came up. Mounting their +mules, and leading the loose animals, +they struck at once into the park-like +prairie, and were out of sight of civilisation +in an instant.</p> + +<p>It was the latter end of May, towards +the close of the season of +heavy rains, which in early spring +render the climate of this country +almost intolerable, at the same time +that they serve to fertilise and thaw +the soil, so long bound up by the +winter's frosts. The grass was every +where luxuriously green, and gaudy +flowers dotted the surface of the +prairie. This term, however, should +hardly be applied to the beautiful +undulating scenery of this park-like +country. Unlike the flat monotony +of the Grand Plains, here well wooded +uplands clothed with forest trees of +every species, and picturesque dells +through which run clear and bubbling +streams belted with gay-blossomed +shrubs, every where present themselves; +whilst on the level meadowland, +topes of trees with spreading +foliage afforded a shelter to the game +and cattle, and well-timbered knolls +rise at intervals from the plain.</p> + +<p>Many clear streams dashing over +their pebbly beds intersect the country, +from which, in the noonday's +heat, the red-deer jump, shaking their +wet sides, as the noise of approaching +man disturbs them; and booming +grouse rise from the tall luxuriant +herbage at every step. Where the +deep escarpments of the river banks +exhibit the section of the earth, a +rich alluvial soil of surprising depth +appears to court the cultivation of +civilised man; and in every feature +it is evident that here nature has +worked with kindliest and most bountiful +hand.</p> + +<p>For hundreds of miles along the +western or right bank of the Missouri +does such a country as this extend, +to which, for fertility and natural resources, +no part of Europe can offer even +feeble comparison. Sufficiently large +to contain an enormous population, it +has, besides, every advantage of position, +and all the natural capabilities +which should make it the happy +abode of civilised man. Through this +unpeopled country the United States +pours her greedy thousands, to seize +upon the barren territories of her +feeble neighbour.</p> + +<p>Camping the first night on "Black +Jack," our mountaineers here cut each +man a spare hickory wiping-stick for +his rifle, and La Bonté, who was the +only greenhorn of the party, witnessed +a savage ebullition of rage on +the part of one of his companions, +exhibiting the perfect unrestraint +which these men impose upon their +passions, and the barbarous anger +which the slightest opposition to the +will excites. One of the trappers, on +arriving at the camping-place, dismounted +from his horse, and, after +divesting it of the saddle, endeavoured +to lead his mule by the rope up to +the spot where he wished to deposit his +pack. Mule-like, however, the more<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> +he pulled the more stubbornly she +remained in her tracks, planting her +fore-legs firmly, and stretching out +her neck with provoking obstinacy. +If truth be told, it does require the +temper of a thousand Jobs to manage +a mule; and in no case does the wilful +mulishness of the animal stir up +one's choler more than in the very +trick which this one was playing, and +which is a daily occurrence. After +tugging ineffectually for several +minutes, winding the rope round his +body, and throwing himself forward +and suddenly with all his strength, +the trapper actually foamed with +passion; and although he might have +subdued the animal at once by fastening +the rope with a half-hitch round +its nose, with an obstinacy equal to +that of the mule itself he refused to +attempt it, preferring to vanquish her +by main strength. However, this +failed, and with a volley of blasphemous +imprecations the mountaineer +suddenly seized his rifle, and, levelling +it at the mule's head, shot her dead.</p> + +<p>Passing the Wa-ka-rasha, a well-timbered +stream, they met a band of +Osages going "to buffalo." These +Indians, in common with some tribes +of the Pawnees, shave the head, with +the exception of a ridge from the +forehead to the centre of the scalp, +which is "roached" or hogged like the +mane of a mule, and stands erect, +plastered with unguents, and ornamented +by feathers of the hawk and +turkey. The naked scalp is often +painted in mosaic with black and red, +the face with shining vermilion. +They were all naked to the breech-clout, +the warmth of the sun having +caused them to throw their dirty +blankets from their shoulders. These +Indians not unfrequently levy contributions +on strangers whom they may +accidentally meet; but they easily +distinguish the determined mountaineer +from the incautious greenhorn, +and think it better to let the former +alone.</p> + +<p>Crossing Vermilion, they arrived +on the fifth day at "Blue," where they +encamped in the broad timber which +belts the creek, and there awaited the +arrival of the remainder of the party.</p> + +<p>It was two days before they came +up; but the day after, fourteen in +number, they started for the mountains, +striking a trail which follows +the "Big Blue" in its course through +the prairies, which, as they advance to +the westward, are gradually smoothing +away into a vast unbroken expanse +of rolling plain. Herds of antelope +began to show themselves, and some +of the hunters, leaving the trail, soon +returned with plenty of their tender +meat. The luxuriant but coarse grass +they had hitherto seen now changed +into the nutritious and curly buffalo +grass, and their animals soon improved +in appearance on the excellent +pasture. In a few days, without +any adventure, they struck the Platte +River, its shallow waters (from which +it derives its name) spreading over a +wide and sandy bed, numerous sand +bars obstructing the sluggish current, +and with nowhere sufficient water to +wet the forder's knee.</p> + +<p>By this time, but few antelope +having been seen, the party became +entirely out of meat; and, one whole +day and part of another having passed +without so much as a sage rabbit +having presented itself, not a few +objurgations on the buffalo grumbled +from the lips of the hunters, who +expected ere this to have reached +the land of plenty. La Bonté killed +a fine deer, however, in the river +bottom, after they had encamped, +not one particle of which remained +after supper that night, but which +hardly took the rough edge off their +keen appetites. Although already in +the buffalo range, no traces of these +animals had yet been seen; and as +the country afforded but little game, +and the party did not care to halt and +lose time in hunting for it, they +moved along hungry and sulky, the +theme of conversation being the well +remembered merits of good buffalo +meat,—of "fat fleece," "hump rib," +and "tender loin;" of delicious +"boudins," and marrow bones too +good to think of. La Bonté had +never seen the lordly animal, and +consequently but half believed the +accounts of the mountaineers, who +described their countless bands as +covering the prairie far as the eye +could reach, and requiring days of +travel to pass through; but the +visions of such dainty and abundant +feeding as they descanted on set his +mouth watering, and danced before<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span> +his eyes as he slept supperless, night +after night, on the banks of the hungry +Platte.</p> + +<p>One morning he had packed his +animals before the rest, and was +riding a mile in advance of the party, +when he saw on one side the trail, +looming in the refracted glare which +mirages the plains, three large dark +objects without shape or form, which +rose and fell in the exaggerated light +like ships at sea. Doubting what it +could be, he approached the strange +objects; and as the refraction disappeared +before him, the dark masses +assumed a more distinct form, and +clearly moved with life. A little +nearer, and he made them out—they +were buffalo. Thinking to distinguish +himself, the greenhorn dismounted +from his mule, and quickly hobbled +her, throwing his lasso on the ground +to trail behind when he wished to +catch her. Then, rifle in hand, he +approached the huge animals, and, +being a good hunter, knew well to +take advantage of the inequalities of +the ground and face the wind; by +which means he crawled at length to +within forty yards of the buffalo, who +were quietly cropping the grass, unconscious +of danger. Now, for the +first time, he gazed upon the noble +beast of which he had so often heard, +and longed to see. With coal-black +beard sweeping the ground as he fed, +an enormous bull was in advance of +the others, his wild brilliant eyes +peering from an immense mass of +shaggy hair, which covered his neck +and shoulder. From this point his +skin was bare as one's hand, a sleek +and shining dun, and his ribs well +covered with shaking flesh. As he +leisurely cropped the short curly +grass he occasionally lifted his tail +into the air, and stamped his foot as +a fly or musquito annoyed him—flapping +the intruder with his tail, or +snatching at the itching part with his +ponderous head.</p> + +<p>When La Bonté had sufficiently +admired the animal, he lifted his rifle, +and, taking steady aim, and certain of +his mark, pulled the trigger, expecting +to see the huge beast fall over at the +report. What was his surprise and +consternation, however, to see the +animal flinch as the ball struck him, +but gallop off, followed by the others, +and apparently unhurt. As is generally +the case with greenhorns, he +had fired too high, not understanding +that the only certain spot to strike a +buffalo is but a few inches above the +brisket, and that above this a shot is +rarely fatal. When he rose from the +ground, he saw all the party halting +in full view of his discomfiture; and +when he joined them, loud were the +laughs, and deep the regrets of the +hungry at his first attempt.</p> + +<p>However, they now knew that they +were in the country of meat; and a +few miles farther, another band of +stragglers presenting themselves, +three of the hunters went in pursuit, +La Bonté taking a mule to pack in +the meat. He soon saw them crawling +towards the band, and shortly +two puffs of smoke, and the sharp +cracks of their rifles showed that +they had got within shot; and when +he had ridden up, two fine buffaloes +were stretched upon the ground. +Now, for the first time, he was initiated +into the mysteries of "butchering," +and watched the hunters as +they turned the carcass on the belly, +stretching out the legs to support it +on each side. A transverse cut was +then made at the nape of the neck, +and, gathering the long hair of the +boss in one hand, the skin was separated +from the shoulder. It was then +laid open from this point to the tail, +along the spine, and the skin was +freed from the sides and pulled down +to the brisket, but, still attached to +it, was stretched upon the ground to +receive the dissected portions. Then +the shoulder was severed, the fleece +removed from along the backbone, +and the hump-ribs cut off with a +tomahawk. All this was placed upon +the skin; and after the "boudins" had +been withdrawn from the stomach, +and the tongue—a great dainty—taken +from the head, the meat was +packed upon the mule, and the whole +party hurried to camp rejoicing.</p> + +<p>There was merry-making in the +camp that night, and the way they +indulged their appetites—or, in their +own language, "throw'd" the meat +"cold"—would have made the heart +of a dyspeptic leap for joy or burst +with envy. Far into the "still +watches of the tranquil night" the +fat-clad "depouille" saw its fleshy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> +mass grow small by degrees and beautifully +less, before the trenchant blades +of the hungry mountaineers; appetising +yards of well-browned "boudin" +slipped glibly down their throats; rib +after rib of tender hump was picked +and flung to the wolves; and when +human nature, with helpless gratitude, +and confident that nothing of +superexcellent comestibility remained, +was lazily wiping the greasy +knife that had done such good service,—a +skilful hunter was seen to chuckle +to himself as he raked the deep ashes +of the fire, and drew therefrom a pair +of tongues so admirably baked, so +soft, so sweet, and of such exquisite +flavour, that a veil is considerately +drawn over the effects their discussion +produced in the mind of our greenhorn +La Bonté, and the raptures they +excited in the bosom of that, as yet, +most ignorant mountaineer. Still, +as he ate he wondered, and wondering +admired, that nature, in giving him +such profound gastronomic powers, +and such transcendent capabilities of +digestion, had yet bountifully provided +an edible so peculiarly adapted +to his ostrich-like appetite, that after +consuming nearly his own weight in +rich and fat buffalo meat, he felt as +easy and as incommoded as if he had +been lightly supping on strawberries +and cream.</p> + +<p>Sweet was the digestive pipe after +such a feast, and soft the sleep and +deep, which sealed the eyes of the +contented trappers that night. It felt +like the old thing, they said, to be +once more amongst the "meat;" and, +as they were drawing near the dangerous +portion of the trail, they felt at +home; although not a night now +passed but, when they lay down on +their buffalo robes to sleep, they could +not be confident that that sleep was +not their last—knowing full well that +savage men were hovering near, thirsting +for their lives.</p> + +<p>However, no enemies showed themselves +as yet, and they proceeded +quietly up the river, vast herds of +buffaloes darkening the plains around +them, affording them more than abundance +of the choicest meat; but, to +their credit be it spoken, no more was +killed than absolutely required,—unlike +the cruel slaughter made by most +of the white travellers across the +plains, who wantonly destroy these +noble animals, not even for the excitement +of sport, but in cold-blooded +and insane butchery. La Bonté had +practice enough to perfect him in the +art, and, before the buffalo range was +passed, he was ranked as a first-rate +hunter. One evening he had left the +camp for meat, and was approaching +a band of cows for that purpose, +crawling towards them along the bed +of a dry hollow in the prairie, when +he observed them suddenly jump away +towards him, and immediately after a +score of mounted Indians appeared in +sight, whom, by their dress, he at +once knew to be Pawnees and enemies. +Thinking they might not discover +him, he crouched down in the +ravine; but a noise behind causing +him to turn his head, he saw some +five or six advancing up the bed of +the dry creek, whilst several more +were riding on the bluffs. The cunning +savages had cut off his retreat to +his mule, which he saw in the possession +of one of the Indians. His +presence of mind, however, did not +desert him; and seeing at once that +to remain where he was would be like +being caught in a trap, (as the Indians +could advance to the edge of the bluff +and shoot him from above,) he made +for the open prairie, determined at +least to sell his scalp dearly, and make +"a good fight." With a yell the +Indians charged, but halted when +they saw the sturdy trapper deliberately +kneel, and, resting his rifle +on the wiping-stick, take a steady +aim as they advanced. Full well the +Pawnees know, to their cost, that a +mountaineer seldom pulls his trigger +without sending a bullet to the mark; +and, certain that one at least must +fall, they hesitated to make the onslaught. +Steadily the white retreated +with his face to the foe, bringing the +rifle to his shoulder the instant that +one advanced within shot, the Indians +galloping round, firing the few guns +they had amongst them at long distances, +but without effect. One young +"brave," more daring than the rest, +rode out of the crowd, and dashed at +the hunter, throwing himself, as he +passed within a few yards, from the +saddle, and hanging over the opposite +side of his horse,—presenting no +other mark than his left foot,—discharged<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> +his bow from under the animal's +neck, and with such good aim, +that the arrow, whizzing through the +air, struck the stock of La Bonté's +rifle, which was at his shoulder, and, +glancing off, pierced his arm, inflicting, +luckily, but a slight wound. Again +the Indian turned in his course, the +others encouraging him with loud +war-whoops, and once more passing +at still less distance, drew his arrow +to the head. This time, however, +the eagle eye of the white caught sight +of the action, and suddenly rising from +his knee as the Indian was approaching, +hanging by his foot alone over +the opposite side of the horse, he +jumped towards the animal with outstretched +arms and a loud yell, causing +it to start so suddenly, and swerve +from its course, that the Indian lost +his foot-hold, and, after in vain struggling +to regain his position, fell to the +ground, but instantly rose upon his +feet and gallantly confronted the +mountaineer, striking his hand upon +his brawny chest and shouting a loud +whoop of defiance. In another instant +the rifle of La Bonté had poured +forth its contents; and the brave +Indian, springing into the air, fell +dead to the ground, just as the other +trappers, who had heard the firing, +galloped up to the spot, at sight +of whom the Pawnees, with yells +of disappointed vengeance, hastily +retreated.</p> + +<p>That night La Bonté first lifted +hair!</p> + +<p>A few days after they reached the +point where the Platte divides into +two great forks:—the northern one, +stretching to the north-west, skirts +the eastern base of the Black Hills, +and sweeping round to the south rises +in the vicinity of the mountain valley +called the New Park, receiving the +Laramie, Medicine Bow, and Sweet-Water +creeks. The other, or "South +Fork," strikes towards the mountains +in a south-westerly direction, hugging +the base of the main chain of the +Rocky Mountains, and, fed by several +small creeks, rises in the uplands of +the Bayou Salado, near which is also +the source of the Arkansa. To the +forks of the Platte the valley of that +river extends from three to five miles +on each side, being enclosed by steep +sandy bluffs, from the summits of +which the prairies stretch away in +broad undulating expanse to the north +and south. The "bottom," as it is +termed, is but thinly covered with +timber, the cotton-woods being scattered +only here and there; but some +of the islands in the broad bed of the +stream are well wooded, which leads +to the inference that the trees on the +banks have been felled by Indians who +formerly frequented this river as a +chosen hunting-ground. As during +the long winters the pasture in the +vicinity is scarce and withered, the +Indians feed their horses on the bark +of the sweet cotton-wood, upon which +they subsist, and even fatten. Thus, +wherever a village has been encamped, +the trunks of these trees strew the +ground, with their upper limbs and +smaller branches peeled of their bark, +and looking as white and smooth as if +scraped with a knife.</p> + +<p>On the forks, however, the timber +is heavier and of greater variety, some +of the creeks being well wooded with +ash and cherry, which break the monotony +of the everlasting cotton-wood.</p> + +<p>Dense masses of buffalo still continued +to darken the plains, and +numerous bands of wolves hovered +round the outskirts of the vast herds, +singling out the sick and wounded +animals, and preying upon the calves +whom the rifles and arrows of the +hunters had bereaved of their mothers. +The white wolf is the invariable attendant +upon the buffalo; and when one +of these persevering animals is seen, it +is certain sign that buffalo are not +far distant. Besides the buffalo wolf, +there are four distinct varieties common +to the plains, and all more or less +attendant upon the buffalo. These +are the black, the gray, the brown, +and last and least the <em>coyote</em>, or +<i>cayeute</i> of the mountaineers, the +"<i>wach-unkamănet</i>," or "medicine +wolf" of the Indians, who hold the +latter animal in reverential awe. This +little wolf, whose fur is of great thickness +and beauty, although of diminutive +size, is wonderfully sagacious, and +makes up by cunning what it wants +in physical strength. In bands of +from three to thirty they will not unfrequently +station themselves along +the "runs" of the deer and the antelope, +extending their line for many +miles,—and the quarry being started,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> +each wolf will follow in pursuit until +tired, when it relinquishes the chase to +another relay, following slowly after +until the animal is fairly run down, +when all hurry to the spot and speedily +consume the carcass. The cayeute, +however, is often made a tool of by +his larger brethren, unless, indeed, he +acts from motives of spontaneous charity. +When a hunter has slaughtered +game, and is in the act of butchering +it, these little wolves sit patiently at +a short distance from the scene of +operations, while at a more respectful +one the larger wolves (the white or +gray) lope hungrily around, licking +their chops in hungry expectation. +Not unfrequently the hunter throws a +piece of meat towards the smaller +one, who seizes it immediately, and +runs off with the morsel in his mouth. +Before he gets many yards with his +prize, the large wolf pounces with a +growl upon him, and the cayeute, +dropping the meat, returns to his former +position, and will continue his +act as long as the hunter +pleases to supply him.</p> + +<p>Wolves are so common on the +plains and in the mountains, that the +hunter never cares to throw away a +charge of ammunition upon them, although +the ravenous animals are a +constant source of annoyance to him, +creeping to the camp-fire at night, +and gnawing his saddles and <i>apishamores</i>, +eating the skin ropes which +secure the horses and mules to their +pickets, and even their very hobbles, +and not unfrequently killing or entirely +disabling the animals themselves.</p> + +<p>Round the camp, during the night, +the cayeute keeps unremitting watch, +and the traveller not unfrequently +starts from his bed with affright, as +the mournful and unearthly chiding of +the wolf breaks suddenly upon his +ear: the long-drawn howl being taken +up by others of the band, until it dies +away in the distance, as some straggler +passing within hearing answers to the +note, and howls as he lopes away.</p> + +<p>Our party crossed the south fork +about ten miles from its juncture with +the main stream, and then, passing the +prairie, struck the north fork a day's +travel from the other. At the mouth +of an ash-timbered creek they came +upon Indian "sign," and, as now they +were in the vicinity of the treacherous +Sioux, they moved along with additional +caution, Frapp and Gonneville, +two experienced mountaineers, always +heading the advance.</p> + +<p>About noon they had crossed over +to the left bank of the fork, intending +to camp on a large creek where some +fresh beaver "sign" had attracted the +attention of some of the trappers; and +as, on further examination, it appeared +that two or three lodges of that animal +were not far distant, it was determined +to remain here a day or two, +and set their traps.</p> + +<p>Gonneville, old Luke, and La Bonté, +had started up the creek, and were +carefully examining the banks for +"sign," when the former, who was in +front, suddenly paused, and looking +intently up the stream, held up his +hand to his companions to signal them +to stop.</p> + +<p>Luke and La Bonté both followed +the direction of the trapper's intent +and fixed gaze. The former uttered +in a suppressed tone the expressive +exclamation, Wagh!—the latter saw +nothing but a wood-duck swimming +swiftly down the stream, followed by +her downy progeny.</p> + +<p>Gonneville turned his head, and +extending his arm twice with a forward +motion up the creek, whispered—"Les +sauvages."</p> + +<p>"Injuns, sure, and Sioux at that," +answered Luke.</p> + +<p>Still La Bonté looked, but nothing +met his view but the duck with her +brood, now rapidly approaching; and +as he gazed, the bird suddenly took +wing, and, flapping on the water, +flew a short distance down the stream +and once more settled on it.</p> + +<p>"Injuns?" he asked; "where are +they?"</p> + +<p>"Whar?" repeated old Luke, +striking the flint of his rifle, and opening +the pan to examine the priming. +"What brings a duck a-streakin it +down stream, if humans aint behint +her? and who's thar in these diggins +but Injuns, and the worst kind; and +we'd better push to camp, I'm thinking, +if we mean to save our hair."</p> + +<p>"Sign" sufficient, indeed, it was to all +the trappers, who, on being apprised +of it, instantly drove in their animals, +and picketed them; and hardly had +they done so when a band of Indians +made their appearance on the banks<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> +of the creek, from whence they galloped +to the bluff which overlooked the +camp at the distance of about six +hundred yards; and crowning this, in +number some forty or more, commenced +brandishing their spears and +guns, and whooping loud yells of +defiance. The trappers had formed a +little breast-work of their packs, forming +a semicircle, the chord of which +was made by the animals standing in +a line, side by side, closely picketed +and hobbled. Behind this defence +stood the mountaineers, rifle in hand, +and silent and determined. The Indians +presently descended the bluff on +foot, leaving their animals in charge of +a few of the party, and, scattering, +advanced under cover of the sage +bushes which dotted the bottom, to +about two hundred yards of the whites. +Then a chief advanced before the rest, +and made the sign for a talk with +the Long-knives, which led to a consultation +amongst the latter, as to the +policy of acceding to it. They were +in doubts as to the nation these Indians +belonged to, some bands of the +Sioux being friendly, and others bitterly +hostile to the whites.</p> + +<p>Gonneville, who spoke the Sioux +language, and was well acquainted +with the nation, affirmed they belonged +to a band called the Yanka-taus, well +known to be the most evil-disposed +of that treacherous nation; another +of the party maintaining that they +were Brulés, and that the chief advancing +towards them was the well-known +Tah-sha-tunga or Bull Tail, a +most friendly chief of that tribe. The +majority, however, trusted to Gonneville, +and he volunteered to go out to +meet the Indian, and hear what he +had to say. Divesting himself of all +arms save his butcher-knife, he advanced +towards the savage, who +awaited his approach, enveloped in +the folds of his blanket. At a glance +he knew him to be a Yanka-tau, +from the peculiar make of his moccassins, +and the way in which his face +was daubed with paint.</p> + +<p>"Howgh!" exclaimed both as they +met; and, after a silence of a few moments, +the Indian spoke, asking—"Why +the Long-knives hid behind +their packs, when his band approached? +Were they afraid, or were they +preparing a dog-feast to entertain +their friends? That the whites were +passing through his country, burning +his wood, drinking his water, and killing +his game; but he knew that they +had now come to pay for the mischief +they had done, and that the mules and +horses they had brought with them +were intended as a present to their +red friends.</p> + +<p>"He was Mah-to-ga-shane," he +said, "the Brave Bear: his tongue +was short, but his arm long; and he +loved rather to speak with his bow +and his lance, than with the weapon +of a squaw. He had said it: the Long-knives +had horses with them and +mules; and these were for him, he +knew, and for his 'braves.' Let the +White-face go back to his people and +return with the animals, or he, the +'Brave Bear,' would have to come +and take them; and his young men +would get mad and would feel blood +in their eyes; and then he would have +no power over them; and the whites +would have to 'go under.'"</p> + +<p>The trapper answered shortly.—"The +Long-knives," he said, "had +brought the horses for themselves—their +hearts were big, but not towards +the Yanka-taus: and if they had to +give up their animals, it would be to +<em>men</em> and not <em>squaws</em>. They were not +'wah-keitcha,'<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> (French engagés) but +Long-knives; and, however short +were the tongues of the Yanka-taus, +theirs were still shorter, and their +rifles longer. The Yanka-taus were +dogs and squaws, and the Long-knives +spat upon them."</p> + +<p>Saying this, the trapper turned his +back and rejoined his companions; +whilst the Indian slowly proceeded to +his people, who, on learning the contemptuous +way in which their threats +had been treated, testified their anger +with loud yells; and, seeking whatever +cover was afforded, commenced +a scattering volley upon the camp of +the mountaineers. The latter reserved +their fire, treating with cool +indifference the balls which began to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> +rattle about them; but as the Indians, +emboldened by this apparent inaction, +rushed for a closer position, and +exposed their bodies within a long +range, half-a-dozen rifles rang from +the assailed, and two Indians fell +dead, one or two more being wounded. +As yet, not one of the whites had +been touched, but several of the animals +had received wounds from the +enemy's fire of balls and arrows. +Indeed, the Indians remained at too +great a distance to render the volleys +from their crazy fusees any thing like +effectual, and had to raise their pieces +considerably to make their bullets +reach as far as the camp. After having +lost three of their band killed +outright, and many more being wounded, +their fire began to slacken, and +they drew off to a greater distance, +evidently resolved to beat a retreat; +and retiring to the bluff, discharged +their pieces in a last volley, mounted +their horses and galloped off, carrying +their wounded with them. This +last volley, however, although intended +as a mere bravado, unfortunately +proved fatal to one of the whites. +Gonneville, at the moment, was +standing on one of the packs, in order +to get an uninterrupted sight for a +last shot, when one of the random +bullets struck him in the breast. La +Bonté caught him in his arms as he +was about to fall, and, laying the +wounded trapper gently on the +ground,—they proceeded to strip him +of his buckskin hunting-frock, to examine +the wound. A glance was +sufficient to convince his companions +that the blow was mortal. The ball +had passed through the lungs; and in +a few moments the throat of the +wounded man began to swell, as the +choking blood ascended, and turned +a livid blue colour. But a few drops +of purple blood trickled from the +wound,—a fatal sign,—and the eyes of +the mountaineer were already glazing +with death's icy touch. His +hand still grasped the barrel of his +rifle, which had done good service in +the fray. Anon he essayed to speak, +but, choked with blood, only a few +inarticulate words reached the ears +of his companions, who were bending +over him.</p> + +<p>"Rubbed—out—at—last," they +heard him say, the words gurgling in +his blood-filled throat; and opening +his eyes once more, and looking upwards +to take a last look at the bright +sun, the trapper turned gently on his +side and breathed his last sigh.</p> + +<p>With no other tools than their +scalp-knives, the hunters dug a grave +on the banks of the creek; and whilst +some were engaged in this work, +others sought the bodies of the Indians +they had slain in the attack, and +presently returned with three reeking +scalps, the trophies of the fight. The +body of the mountaineer was then +wrapped in a buffalo robe, the scalps +being placed on the dead man's breast, +laid in the shallow grave, and +quickly covered—without a word of +prayer, or sigh of grief; for, however +much his companions may have felt, +not a word escaped them; although +the bitten lip and frowning brow told +tale of anger more than sorrow, and +vowed—what they thought would +better please the spirit of the dead +man than sorrow—lasting revenge.</p> + +<p>Trampling down the earth which +filled the grave, they placed upon it +a pile of heavy stones; and packing +their mules once more, and taking a +last look of their comrade's lonely +resting-place, they turned their backs +upon the stream, which has ever since +been known as "Gonneville's Creek."</p> + +<p>If the reader casts his eye over any +of the recent maps of the western +country, which detail the features of +the regions embracing the Rocky +Mountains, and the vast prairies at +their bases, he will not fail to observe +that many of the creeks or smaller +streams which feed the larger rivers,—as +the Missouri, Platte, and Arkansa—are +called by familiar proper +names, both English and French. +These are invariably christened after +some unfortunate trapper, killed there +in Indian fight; or treacherously +slaughtered by the lurking savages, +while engaged in trapping beaver on the +stream. Thus alone is the memory of +these hardy men perpetuated, at least +of those whose fate is ascertained: +for many, in every season, never +return from their hunting expeditions, +having met a sudden death +from Indians, or a more lingering fate +from accident or disease in some of +the lonely gorges of the mountains, +where no footfall save their own, or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> +the heavy tread of grizzly bear, disturbs +the unbroken silence of these +awful solitudes. Then, as many winters +pass without some old familiar +faces making their appearance at the +merry rendezvous, their long protracted +absence may perhaps occasion +such remarks, as to where such and +such a mountain worthy can have +betaken himself, to which the casual +rejoinder of "Gone under, maybe," +too often gives a short but certain +answer.</p> + +<p>In all the philosophy of hardened +hearts, our hunters turned from the +spot where the unmourned trapper +met his death. La Bonté, however, +not yet entirely steeled by mountain +life to a perfect indifference to human +feeling, drew his hard hand across +his eye, as the unbidden tear rose +from his rough but kindly heart. He +could not forget so soon the comrade +they had lost, the companionship in +the hunt or over the cheerful camp-fire, +the narrator of many a tale of +dangers past, of sufferings from hunger, +cold, and thirst, and from untended +wounds, of Indian perils, and +of a life spent in such vicissitudes. +One tear dropped from the young +hunter's eye, and rolled down his +cheek—the last for many a long year.</p> + +<p>In the forks of the northern branch +of the Platte, formed by the junction of +the Laramie, they found a big village +of the Sioux encamped near the station +of one of the fur companies. +Here the party broke up; many, finding +the alcohol of the traders an impediment +to their further progress, remained +some time in the vicinity, +while La Bonté, Luke, and a trapper +named Marcelline, started in a few +days to the mountains, to trap on +Sweet Water and Medicine Bow. +They had leisure, however, to observe +all the rascalities connected with the +Indian trade, although at this season +(August) hardly commenced. However, +a band of Indians having come +in with several packs of last year's +robes, and being anxious to start +speedily on their return, a trader +from one of the forts had erected his +lodge in the village.</p> + +<p>Here, he set to work immediately +to induce the Indians to trade. First, +a chief appointed three "soldiers" to +guard the trader's lodge from intrusion; +and who, amongst the thieving +fraternity, can be invariably trusted. +Then the Indians were invited to +have a drink—a taste of the fire-water +being given to all to incite +them to trade. As the crowd presses +upon the entrance to the lodge, and +those in rear become impatient, some +large-mouthed possessor of many +friends, who has received a portion of +the spirit, makes his way, with his +mouth full of the liquor and cheeks +distended, through the throng, and +is instantly surrounded by his particular +friends. Drawing the face of +each, by turns, near his own, he +squirts a small quantity into his open +mouth, until the supply is exhausted, +when he returns for more, and repeats +the generous distribution.</p> + +<p>When paying for the robes, the traders, +in measuring out the liquor in a +tin half-pint cup, thrust their thumbs +or the four fingers of the hand into the +measure, in order that it may contain +the less, or not unfrequently fill +the bottom with melted buffalo fat, +with the same object. So greedy are +the Indians, that they never discover +the cheat, and once under the influence +of the liquor, cannot distinguish +between the first cup of comparatively +strong spirit, and the following +ones diluted five hundred per cent, +and poisonously drugged to boot.</p> + +<p>Scenes of drunkenness, riot, and +bloodshed last until the trade is over, +which in the winter occupies several +weeks, during which period the Indians +present the appearance, under +the demoralising influence of the +liquor, of demons rather than men.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>AMERICAN THOUGHTS ON EUROPEAN REVOLUTIONS.</h2> + + +<p class="sig"> +<em>Boston, May 1848.</em> +</p> + +<p>A thousand leagues of ocean, my +Basil, are indeed between us, but it +is no longer right to reckon distances +by leagues. Time is your only measure. +I know of a gentleman who had a +home in Paris, while Paris was capable +of homes, and he came every year +across the Atlantic, only to fish for +trout. Why do you stare? You +know very well that you have often +waited a fortnight for a good day to +go a-fishing. Come, then, pack up +your slender reed, and spend such a +fortnight in a steamer. By God's +favour you shall be the better for sea +air; and in two weeks from Liverpool, +you shall find yourself on the shores +of a lake in the interior of the State +of New York, where, since the fifth +day of the creation, the trout have +apparently been multiplying in a +manner that would astonish a Malthus. +Such is now that dissociable +ocean, which was once thought too +great a waste of waters to be passed +by colonial members of parliament +representing the provinces of America. +"<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Opposuit Natura</i>;" said Burke, "I +cannot remove the eternal barriers of +the creation." But Burke forgot his +Greek:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>"Πολλὰ τὰ δεινὰ, κοὐδεν ανθρώπου +δεινότερον πελει·τοῦτο καὶ πολιοῦ πέραν +πόντου χειμερίῳ νοτῳ χωρεί, περιβρυχίοισι +περῶν ἐρ' oἴδμασι·"</p></blockquote> + +<p>I know it is an old saw, but it is so +freshened by the modern instance of +steamers every week, that it has become +quotable once more; and I have +almost a mind to go on with the +chorus, and show that Sophocles may +be fairly rendered in favour of railways +and iron-steeds. But the telegraph, +Basil! I must even quote a bit +of English for that. As gentle Cowper +saith:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"The tempest itself lags behind,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">And the swift-wing'd arrows of light!"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noind">The wires are already stretched from +Massachusetts, and almost from Halifax +to the Gulf of Mexico. A spark +here, and the lettered bulletin is reeling +off in Louisiana! The fresh news +will, hereafter, be hawked in the +streets of Boston and along the +wharves of New Orleans in the same +hour. It will soon be sent farther +still; and a British fleet in the Pacific +may be served with orders from +the Admiralty Board, not two weeks +old. We are fairly in hand-shaking +neighbourhood. I remember when +European intelligence came to us rather +as history than as news. It is +not so now. While emotion is yet +warm with you, it sets our own hearts +throbbing. We, too, are, in the present +tense, with Europe; for the revolutions +of peace have been more wonderful +than those of warfare. They +have reunited what strife had sundered, +and rendered England and America +again one family.</p> + +<p>Talking of revolutions,—how hot +the noon of the century is growing! +You will allow, dear Basil, that we in +America, are well situated to be lookers +on. With all the security of distance, +we have the advantages of nearness. +You are on the stage—we are in the +boxes. You go behind the scenes, and +see the wire-working and machinery, +but we get the effect of the spectacle. +The great revolutionary drama is before +us, and we can behold it calmly; +interested, but not involved. For a +devout or philosophical spectator, +America is the true observatory. +Here we can watch "the great Babel, +and not feel the crowd." It is our +own fault if, with such advantages, +we do not anticipate the judgment of +future ages, and arrive instinctively +at conclusions which those who share +the tumult itself must ordinarily learn +in the soberness of after-thoughts, or, +perhaps, by a dear experience.</p> + +<p>Did you ask how the doings in +France appear in republican eyes? +And pray what do you expect me to +answer? You appear to think republicanism +a specific instead of a generic +term, and to expect us to hail the +French as our kindred. As well +might I suppose that your monarchical +sympathies deeply interest you in +the autocracy of Dahomey and Dârfur. +A boy may play with a monkey,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> +without admiring him; and although +the monkey is a biped without feathers, +the boy would not like to have him +taken for a younger brother. Believe +me, we are not yet ready to claim fraternity +with the Provisional Government. +<em>How we apples swim</em>, seems +to be their salutation to America; but, +for one, I reject the odorous impeachment. +No one is very cordial, as yet, +in returning it. There is a general +gaping and staring; but the prevailing +disposition towards France is to +wait and see if she will be decent. +You will agree with me, that this caution +is creditable to the <em>Model Republic</em>.</p> + +<p>In the spectacle before us, believe +me, then, we know how to distinguish +the harlequin from the hero, and are +not in danger of clapping hands at the +buffoonery of Paris, when we have +just been charmed by the solemn +buskin in which London came upon +the stage—reluctant to play her part, +but prepared to go through it nobly. +A French melodrama, of men in +smocks chanting <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Mourir pour la Patrie</i>, +or priests, in defiled surplices, +asperging and incensing May-poles, +must of course suit the tastes of the +groundlings; but such inexplicable +dumb-shows are generally understood +to be only the prelude to something +tragic that is coming. For one, I look +for solemn monologues from Pio Nono +and Lamartine; and, by-and-by, expect +a scene between the Soldan and +the Czar. I do not look without feelings +of awe, for I am sure it is the +shadow of <span class="smcap">God's</span> own hand that is +now passing over the nations. It is +He that says, as of old, "remove the +diadem and take off the crown; exalt +him that is low, and abase him that +is high." I am glad that others recognise +his footsteps in the earth, and +therefore was pleased with that motto +lately quoted in Maga, from St Augustine—"<span class="smcap">God</span> +is patient, because He is +eternal."</p> + +<p>For seventeen years we have been +watching the great political Humpty-Dumpty, +in his efforts to come to an +equilibrium, and to stand firm in his +place; and the end is, that Humpty-Dumpty +is fallen, according to the +oracular rhyme of Mother Goose. +What shall we say of him, except +that he was barricaded in, and has +been barricaded out? Laugh as we +may at the undefinableness of legitimacy, +one feels that the lack of it +makes a great difference in our disposition +towards a discrowned king. +Still, Louis-Philippe is treated with +much forbearance, and men think of +his hoar hairs and his eventful life. +In one of our newspapers, a generous +word has been spoken for his government, +as about the best that France +deserved, and his best measures have +been reviewed with praise. Still, he +is much disliked in America. One of +his earliest Claremonts was with us; +and when Lafayette made him a king, +Americans felt as if they had a right +to be pleased with his accession. But +his quarrel with his benefactor turned +the feeling strongly against him, for +Lafayette was revered among us to +the hour of his death. I think there +is a general satisfaction with the fall +of the Orleans dynasty; but it certainly +has not been malicious or spiteful. +An eminent American, who has +lived long in Paris, has written two +letters in the leading democratic newspaper +of New York, in which the fallen +monarch is more severely handled +than he has been elsewhere. He is +there said to be a much overrated +man—possessed of no great talents, +except those which enable him to dissimulate +with the utmost cunning, +and to manage with the basest perfidy. +The writer, nevertheless, has +no confidence in the revolution as +having destroyed the monarchy; and +quotes with approbation a sentiment +which he says was advanced in conversation +with himself, so long ago as +1830, by Odillon Barrot,—"<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Enfin, +monsieur, la France a besoin de se sentir +gouvernée</i>." He thinks two things +will work against the Duc de Bordeaux—that +he has married an Austrian, +and grown fat; yet he confidently +predicts that Henry V. will +one day ascend the throne of his ancestors. +"As for a republic that is to +go on harmoniously, and with any +thing like tolerable quiet, law, and +order," he concludes, "I hold it to be +just as impracticable as it would be +to set up a Doge of Venice and a +Council of Ten in the State of New +York. <em>We hear only the voices of the +revolutionists</em>, the rest of the nation +being temporarily mute. The day<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> +will come, however, when the last +will speak."</p> + +<p>These sentiments are not singular +among us. I am agreeably surprised +by the great moderation of our people +and of our press. When the tidings +of the outbreak reached us, it produced +excitement, of course; but there was +no echo of the French howl, and remarkably +little enthusiasm, all things +considered. You have seen reprinted +in England some of the most foolish +things that were said in our most +worthless prints. The press in general +behaved with great reserve and +caution. Successive steamers brought +continual abatements to the degree of +confidence, or hope, that had been +inspired in the minds of the more +ardent; and so general was the candour +of the newspapers, that when +those of the Clay party were pettishly +accused of a sympathy with +tyranny, the charge was easily met +by quotations from democratic newspapers, +equally liable to the imputation, +if a manly reprobation of revolutionary +misrule and excess be sufficient +to prove it. The truth is, our country +was caught in the trap in 1792. Then, +the pulpit and the press strove together +in glorifying France; and the remorse +and burning shame that were the consequence, +have left a very salutary +impression.</p> + +<p>In fact, the violent democracy of +Paris is exerting a beneficial effect +upon our people. We see the degrading +spectacle, and learn to value +ourselves for a love of law and order. +There is a reluctance to reduce ourselves +to the level of such a republic as +has sprung up like a mushroom in a +night, and is likely to perish in the same +way. Our own revolution was not +one of drunken riot, and street-singing +blouse-men: our constitution is not +a mere poetical theory of liberty and +equality, nor a socialist's dream of +brotherhood. We now learn the +secret of our strength, and of that +comparative durability which has +almost surprised ourselves. We are, +after all, a transplanted slip of old +England; nor are we so essentially +changed, my Basil, as even you +imagine. The spirit of our people is +indeed democratic; but the spirit of +our constitution is imbued with a +stronger element. The facts concerning +it will enable you to see one secret +of our comparative success, and to +judge whether France can possibly +come to any thing as good. The +founders of this republic were not +Frenchmen, but Englishmen; I mean +they were of English stock, and had +learned all their notions of liberty +from the history of England. Each +province of America had taken shape +under the British constitution; and +when the provinces became independent, +the general government was +organised in such wise as to supply +the place of that constitution. Its +founders did not frame a new and +untried constitution, a <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">priori</i>, according +to their own schemes; they simply +modified the great principles of British +constitutional law to suit a new state +of things, and a peculiar people. A +monarchy was out of the question; +but they did not intend to make a +democracy. They only made a republic. +The democratic spirit came in +with Jefferson and French politics at +the beginning of the present century. +It has become dominant, but by no +means triumphant; and its great obstacle +has been the constitution. In +the several states it has changed the +constitutions one after the other, introducing +universal suffrage, and +other democratic features. But the +national constitution has not been so +easily reached; and it is the strength +of the great party with which Clay +and Webster are identified, and which +is a constant check on the popular +party. It is republican, but not +simply democratic. The executive +magistracy is elective; but the electors +are not the people, directly, but electoral +colleges, appointed by the several +states; and the office itself is endowed +with prerogatives, some of which are +more unlimited than the corresponding +rights of the British crown. Our senate +is a mere modification of the House of +Lords: it is a body more select than +the lower house, and not so immediately +responsible to constituents; and +its practical working shows the great +importance of such a balance-wheel +in any government. There is no working +without it, in spite of what your +Roebucks may say. The House of +Commons reappears in our House of +Representatives, which, like its great +original, is the safety-valve of popular<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> +feeling, and gives sonorous vent to a +mighty pressure of steam and vapour, +which would otherwise blow us to +atoms, with a much less endurable +noise. The whole fabric of our law +is a precious patrimony derived, with +our blood, from England. Our new +states are filling up with emigrants +from the continent of Europe, but +they all adopt the law of their older +sisters; and thus the institutions of +the immortal Alfred may be found +among the Swedes and Danes of +Wisconsin. These, then, are the +elements of our strength; and you +observe they partake of the strength +of the British empire, which has been +legitimately and naturally imparted +to us, like the mother's life-blood to +the daughter of her womb. We have +indeed characteristic peculiarities. +We have tried some new experiments; +but let not France suppose she can +imitate them. We are a new country, +a sparse population, and our people +have their heads full of subduing +the soil, and setting water-wheels in +streams, and making roads and canals. +We have no natural taste for insurrection +and confusion, for we have +nobody that is idle enough to want +such work. Our new wine, then, has +been put into new bottles; and the +fool that attempts to decant it into +the old vessels of Europe, will ruin it +and them together.</p> + +<p>Our newspapers have pointed out +another secret of our strength, which +France cannot possibly enjoy. In +spite of that wild prophecy of Lady +Hester Stanhope to Lamartine—so +much of which has come true—Paris +is France, and will be France while +France holds together. The city of +Washington is not America; and its +great acres of unoccupied building +lots are the best thing about it. The +State governments, which could not +have been planned beforehand, but +are a natural product of old events—which +dispose of all local matters, and +prevent sectional jealousies, which +divide and balance power, and <em>satisfy +small ambition</em>,—these are the helps, +without which our national existence +could not have been prolonged beyond +the lifetime of Washington himself. +The threatened disturbance of the admirable +equilibrium which has heretofore +been maintained between North +and South, and East and West, by the +introduction of Mexican and Texan +states, and the power which it will +throw into the hands of a few persons +at the seat of government, is even +now our most alarming danger. We +know, from what we see among ourselves, +that governments must take +form, not from human devices, but +from <span class="smcap">God's</span> providences. We ourselves +are the results of circumstances: +no scheming patriot could have made +us what we are; and no imitative +Frenchman can give to his country a +government like ours; nor, if he could, +would it survive beyond the lifetime +of some individual, whose popularity +would supply a temporary strength +to its essential weakness. An imported +constitution must be a sickly +one, in any country on earth.</p> + +<p>For us, then, there is a legitimacy +in our institutions which makes them +durable, and dear to all classes of our +people. But to be loyal to our own +republic is by no means to be committed +to universal republicanism, far +less to be delighted with universal +anarchy. You must pardon our tastes. +We are young, and we think a jacket +and shako becoming. We wear our +appropriate costume as gracefully as +we can. We are yet the growing, +perhaps the awkward, but still the +active boy. But when Europe befools +itself, in its dotage, with republican +attire, we lads have a right to laugh. +It will do for us to play leap-frog, or +cut any other caper that we choose; +but who can restrain derision when +corpulent imbecility assumes an unskirted +coat, and submits its uncovered +proportions to hootings and to kicks, +or throws a ponderous summersault +that less demonstrates agility than +exposes nakedness!</p> + +<p>I speak for myself, and for many, very +many of my countrymen. Our mere +populace are of course possessed with +the idea that a universal Yankee-doodle +is the panacea for all the miseries +of the world. It has been told them +so often by demagogues, that they are +pardonable. But even they would +probably allow that the <em>Chinese</em>, for +instance, are not yet quite ready for +liberty-poles and ballet-boxes, and by +degrees might be brought to confess +as much for any country less remarkable +and astonishing than our own.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> +But there is a solid mass of good sense +among us that is not so deceived. It +consists of those who would rejoice to +see a rational republic in France, or +in any other country; but who know +that, with the exception perhaps of +Holland, such a thing is impossible, +and that, in France, reason is more +likely to reappear as the divinified harlot +of Notre Dame than in any more +respectable form. As to Great Britain, +even our schoolboys have learned +that, with all the stability of empire, +it unites the freedom of a republic; +and in spite of some feeling against +John Bull, I scarcely know the man +who would not be sorry to see it +suddenly or violently revolutionised. +On Irish affairs opinion is not so sane +among us. Few of us know any +thing about them; and for the sake of +the starving peasantry of Ireland, +there is some sympathy with its turbulent +Gracchi. Believe it, the general +tone of sentiment on this side the +Atlantic, among reflecting men, is far +more conservative than you imagine. +Indeed, all classes stand amazed at +the democracy of Europe. Our wildest +enthusiasts are outdone, even by +some who sit in the House of Commons; +and the rampant socialism of +Paris is as unlike the worst excesses +of our elections, as the ferocity of a +tiger is unlike the playfulness of a +kitten. Young as we are, we are +better mannered; and I must say, +dear Basil, that when the older nations +of the world are allowing themselves +such license, we have a right to regard +ourselves as taking new rank, and +deserving more credit than has heretofore +been given us, as, after all, a law-loving +and law-maintaining people.</p> + +<p>You will say, as was said to the trumpeter +in Æsop—"No, no,—you make +all the mischief; others cut throats, +but you have set them on." But +is the democratic spirit really of American +origin? Our Plymouth orators—the +men who annually glorify our +earliest colonists—usually trace it to +the Puritans, and through them to +Geneva. At all events, it now infects +the world, and those are the happy +and the permanent governments which +are prepared for its violence, by constitutional +vents and floodgates. It +is not to be stifled, or dammed up. +We believe, therefore, that our own +government is the best for ourselves, +and few of us have any fear for that of +England. On British matters we do +not feel bound to judge by our own +experiences. We are free to theorise +on broader principles; and many of +us form our own opinions, not as cool +and critical foreigners, but as having +a deep interest in the preservation of +the institutions of our ancestors. Why +should we not? The study of history +carries us, at once, beyond the narrow +limits of threescore years and ten, +which is the age of our national existence, +and as soon as we pass that +boundary we too are Britons. The +blood of our forefathers ran in English +veins, or flowed for British freedom +and sovereignty. This fact is +enough to make our educated and +reflecting men speculatively conservative +as to British politics. We +know the past, and do not feel the +party-heats of the present in England. +Hence I am far from being alone +among my countrymen, in looking at +English matters with an English heart. +Even our commercial class have a +reason for wishing internal peace and +prosperity to England; and I believe +there is generally something better +than selfishness in the prevalent good-will +toward her. I wish you could +have watched, as I did, the feelings of +our whole people, while lately, between +the arrivals of two steamers, +there was a solemn feeling of surprise +as to what would be the results of +the Chartist demonstration! Till the +news came, the stoutest of us held +our breath. I assure you, Basil, the +peril of England was observed with a +deep anxiety. During all that time I +met not a respectable man who wished +to see a revolutionary result. It was +the talk of all circles. Our merchants +trembled for England; our scholars +hoped for her; a clerical gentleman +assured me that he daily prayed for +her. The press very generally predicted +a triumph of order, but there +were some specimens of newspaper +literature that ventured an opposite +augury. I wish you could have seen +this city when the result was known. +The news was received with a thrill. +There was some laughing at the parturient +mountain and the still-born +mouse, but a graver cheerfulness was +the reigning emotion. We deeply<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> +felt that, by the mercy of God, the +world had been spared from a conflagration +which the match of a madman +could light, but which only +another deluge could extinguish. For +one, I was as a watcher by the sea-side, +who, after a night of tempest, +waits for the fog to rise, and then +thanks God to see the good old ship +coming home, in season, her masts all +standing, and her flag untorn.</p> + +<p>I had felt fears, my Basil. What was +not imaginable, when Europe presented +the appearance of a table on which +empires had fallen in a day, like card-houses +blown down by the breath of +children! I knew that neither France, +nor Prussia, nor Austria, nor Italy, +were any thing like England, which is +founded on a rock, and knit together +by joints and bands: but I felt that +England is no longer what she was. +With a Whig government she is never +herself.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> The Whigs are more than half +Frenchmen. I tell you you seem to me +not half enough afraid of your Whigs; +they are worse than your Radicals. +You show some uneasiness under the +Jewish Disabilities Bill, but I wish +you could see it as it strikes a looker-on. +If time has on you the effect +which distance has on me, you will yet +look back on that measure as you now +look back on the great mistake of 1829. +It will haunt you like a nightmare, and +you will regard it with less of anger +than of shame and remorse; with +the deep conviction that, if the friends +of the constitution had done their +duty, it never would have disgraced +a Christian state. True, the Whigs +are responsible for inflicting the blow; +but what has been done to avert it? +So far as I know, nothing commensurate +with the greatness of the evil. +You seem to give way to it as only +one of many inroads upon old proprieties, +which are inevitable, and cannot +be withstood. But is the unchristianising +of the state to be spoken of +side by side with even the destruction +of colonies, and the discouragement +of agriculture? As it strikes +me, it is not a thing of a class, it +stands out a portent, a harbinger, +a phenomenon of its own kind. Not +that it surprises me. From Lord +John Russell nothing that argues +fatuity and lack of political principle +should surprise any one. To carry out +the plans to which he has committed +himself, he must consistently pander to +infidels, foster heretics, and subsidise +Jews. To the reforms of the last +score of years, there could be no more +fitting sequel than this coalition +with a people loaded with the +hereditary burthen of the saving +blood of the Crucified. I only marvel +that the bill goes on so slowly. The +Baron should have been long since in +his place, and the Easter holidays +should have been disregarded, out of +respect to his feelings. It is astonishing +that he is not already an ecclesiastical +commissioner. The times are +not now as during a former French +revolution, when a British statesman +could say<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a>—"the Jews in Change +Alley have not yet dared to hint their +hopes of a mortgage on the revenues +belonging to the see of Canterbury." +You are always praising your church, +Basil, but allow me to ask, Why you +may not live to see a Jewish rabbi +nominated to a bishopric. As I understand +it, the obsequious chapter +would be obliged to perform the election, +and close all by anthems to +Almighty <span class="smcap">God</span>, ascribing to Him the +glory of a gift so felicitous and so +auspicious to the church! It would +not be the first time, I believe, that +Lord John has set the <em>Te Deum</em> of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> +cathedrals going, like the whistles of a +juggler's barrel-organ. Forgive me, +Basil; I am not mocking the agonies +of your church, but I am scorning a +British minister that can use for her +destruction the powers confided to him +for her nourishment and defence. I +have learned my notions of your politics +from Edmund Burke, and I remember +what he said in his <cite>Reflections +on the French Revolution of 1792</cite>—for, +by the way, revolutions in France +must be always referred to by dates, +and will soon be known, like policemen, +by letters and numbers. "The +men of England," said that great and +honest man, "the men I mean of +light and leading in England, would be +ashamed, as of a silly deceitful trick, to +profess any religion in name which, by +their proceedings, they appear to contemn." +Does not Lord John profess to +be a Christian? I must caution you, +too, against supposing that I dislike +the Israelites. Far from it. In my +own country I am glad that they +labour under no disabilities, and I can +testify to their good order, decency, +and propriety of behaviour as citizens. +But we have "no past at our back," +and nothing in our system which demands +a prior consideration. No, +Basil—I honour a Jew, however much +I may pity him. Crying old clothes, +or lolling in a banker's chariot, the +Jew is to me a man of sacred associations. +And then—a Jewish gentleman—he +makes me think at once of +the sons of Maccabæus and all the +Asmoneans; those Hebrews of the +Hebrews, those Tories of Israel! What +natural sympathy has a Jewish gentleman +with a Whig? Were I merely +covetous of votes I would say—let the +Jews in! I could trust <em>their</em> conscience; +I could appeal to their own feelings; +I would put it to them whether their +liberalism would consent to eat pork +with the Gentiles, or to call in the +uncircumcised to make laws for the +synagogue. We pity the blindness of +the Jews that offered their thirty +pieces of silver—but we do not despise +them. Our contempt settles on the +head of the Christian who consented +to take them at the bargain.</p> + +<p>You speak of this Jew bill as the +first step! Why, yes, the first step in +tragedy; there was a former one in +farce. There is Sir Moses Montefiore! +Who made him a knight? "A Jewish +knight," said I, at the time—"hear +it, ye dry bones,—ye cross-legged +effigies—ye Paladins—ye Templars! +Hear it, Du-Bois-Gilbert,—hear +it, Richard Cœur-de-Lion! Yes, +and thou, too, old Roger de Coverley! +Hear it, thou true old English knight; +for they that bought thine old clothes +now come for thine old spurs!" So +said I—wondering that no one seemed +to wonder. The nineteenth century +had not time to stare. There was not +even a London <em>Punch</em> to laugh at such +a <em>Judy</em>, and so Moses was belted and +spurred, no man gainsaying; and +knighthood, that was Sidney's once, +is just the thing for Sir Peter Laurie +now.</p> + +<p>And if a Jewish knight, why not a +Jewish senator! True, there is something +grand in the idea of a nation +that never, since the Wittenagemote, +has seen a lawgiver unbaptised; and +then there is still a red cross in the +flag of England; and there has been +a pleasing notion that the Christian +faith was part and parcel with the +British constitution; and even we in +America, averse to church and state, +have long allowed ourselves to admire +one exception to the rule, and to confess +the majestic figure made among +the nations by a Christian empire, +shining forth in splendid contrast to +surrounding kingdoms, some of them +infidel and some of them superstitious, +but she alone the witness to reasonable +faith, and faithful reason. But +who regards it in this light? Who +among you stands up to warn his +country of the glory that is departing? +Who has said any thing in parliament +at all adequate to the turning-point of +a nation's religion? I have looked for +some one to speak as Burke would have +spoken, of "uncovering your nakedness, +by throwing off that Christian +religion which has hitherto been your +boast and comfort." I have longed +to see his promise made good,—"<em>we +shall never be such fools</em> as to call in an +enemy to the substance of any system, +to remove its corruptions, to supply +its defects, or to perfect its construction." +I read <cite>The Times</cite>, but as yet I +have looked in vain. A few honest +remonstrances have indeed been ventured +amid cries of <em>oh, oh!</em> and vociferations +of buck-toothed laughter<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> +from the benches that support the +honourable members from Cottonburgh +and Calicopolis. But who has +stood up as for altars and fires? I +hope, ere this reaches you, the question +will be creditably answered. I +hope the Christianity of England will +not die without a struggle. I suspect +it will be of no use, but I look yet for +some John of Gaunt in the House of +Lords. Imagine him, my Basil:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i18">"This sceptred isle,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Renownèd for her deeds as far from home<br /></span> +<span class="i0">(For <em>Christian service</em> and <em>true chivalry</em>)<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As is the sepulchre in stubborn Jewry<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of the world's ransom, blessed Mary's Son;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">This land of such dear souls, this dear, dear land,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"><em>Dear for her reputation through the world</em>,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"><em>Is now—paun'd out to Jews!</em>"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>This is what ought to be said; and +I look for it, if not from lords spiritual, +then even from lords temporal. But +surely it would well become the primate's +mouth! Of course, it would +do little good; but then the religion +of England would fall at least dramatically. +It would make a picture +quite as good as the death of Chatham. +Do you remember the lawn-sleeves in +that picture? The bishops are "in at +the death,"—but nothing more.</p> + +<p>But another steamer has come in +with news; and France is all the +talk. The elections are over; the +<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Modérés</i> have triumphed; the National +Assembly has convened, and the Provisional +Government is at an end. +<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Vive Lamartine!</i> Of course the stock +of the republic takes a rise, but +holders are not firm. The bloodshed +at Rouen, the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">émeutes</i> at Elbœuf and +Limoges, and the threats of the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Communistes</i>, +do not precisely inspire confidence. +Still, we are so far surprised, and +those who have predicted favourably +for France grow a little more sanguine +in their hopes. I am glad to say that +Louis Blanc has no sympathisers +here. All are convinced that Lamartine +will make the best of it, and that, +if he fails, the republic will be suffocated +and expire in a stench. For +one, it seems to me that Lamartine is +not bad enough to encounter successfully +the frantic malice of his opponents, +and that their eventual success is certain. +Already, things have very likely +taken a decisive turn, and by the time +this letter reaches you, the doings of +the Assembly will have enabled you +to conjecture whether the nation is +going by the long way, or the short +cut, to Henry Fifth. As all will be +stale before you can read what I now +write, I will not presume to predict +the immediate results; but I am sure +that the assembling of such a set as +have been returned to the legislature, +would be enough to blow up the +strongest government on earth. Jew, +Dominican, pastor and bishop, poet +and butcher, all in their tricoloured +sashes—was there ever such a full-blown +tulip-bed of liberty, equality, +and fraternity!</p> + +<p>The announcement of several clergymen +as members of the Assembly +reminds me that there has been some +sickly sentiment among us, about the +<em>piety</em> that has been displayed in this +revolution. In Boston we are favoured +with some strange types of +religions enthusiasm; in fact, the +type of Christianity that prevails +among us is peculiarly our own; and like +our improvements in machinery, deserves +the proverbial name of a "Boston +notion." Emerson, who is now +illuminating England, may give you +some idea of what I mean; and a +queer story that is told of one of his +disciples, may furnish you with an explanation +of the fact, that some men +see religion in the sacking of the Tuileries. +The youth was at the Opera +to see a celebrated <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">danseuse</i>, and excited +general attention by his somewhat +extraordinary applause. His +enthusiasm so transported him, that +the emotions of his heart became unconsciously +audible. As the dancer began +to whirl, he cried, "<em>Ah, that is +poetry!</em>" As she stretched her toe to the +horizontal, he exclaimed, "<em>That's divinity!</em>" +but when she proceeded to an +evolution that forced the ladies to pay +attention to their fans, he burst into the +climax—"<em>That's religion!</em>" If this be +caricature, the Emersonians richly deserve +it. They are laughed at even in +Boston. But they are not alone in thinking +well of the piety of Paris, and arguing +from it that there will be no reign +of terror; as if there was not vastly +more show of religion in the first revolution! +If there is an archbishop<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> +of Paris now, there was formerly a +Talleyrand for high-priest and master +of ceremonies. Oh, but they rejoin +with a story! When the blouses were +gutting the palace of its pictures and +marbles, they found, among other +works of art, an image of the Crucified. +As a blouseman was about to dash it +to atoms, there was a cry, "Save it—save +the great teacher of fraternity!" +The crucifix was accordingly saved, +and borne about the streets amid +songs and curses, and, very appropriately, +"with lanterns and torches." +"<em>Ah, that's religion!</em>" says your Emersonian. +So, when recreant priests +baptise a liberty-pole, or join a procession +of blouses, with crosses and +censers, <em>that's divinity</em>, at least. Was +ever hypocrisy so revolting! The +nauseous mockery has its only parallel +in the writings of George Sand, who +makes a favourite hero and heroine +betake themselves to an adulterous +bed, after duly reciting their prayers, +in which the absent husband is very +affectionately remembered. If a revolution +thus begun is not destined to +go speedily through all the ripening +and rotting of a godless anarchy, it is +to be accounted for only on the principle +that "He who is Eternal can +wait." The old scene at Notre Dame +may not be actually revived, and the +Bible may not be literally dragged +through Paris again tied to an ass's +tail; but the undisguised atrocities of +the first revolution may, after all, be +exceeded by the smooth-faced blasphemies +of that which has already degraded +the world's Redeemer into the +patron saint of insurrection, and the +father of infidel fraternity.</p> + +<p>Poor Lamartine! Is this the man, +my Basil, whom you once likened to +Chateaubriand? <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Quantum mutatus!</i> +I knew him, till lately, only as a poet +and a traveller. He certainly went +to Palestine with the spirit of a +palmer. He bathed in Siloa with enthusiasm, +and almost expired of feeling +under the venerable olive-trees of +Gethsemane.</p> + +<p>How Frenchy—how intensely +French! mass in the morning, and +weeping and sighing,—a revel before +nightfall, and desperate gaming. And +this man to be the Cromwell of the +commonwealth? He could hardly +have been the Milton, though it would +have been more becoming. And what +will be his career? It is a pity Lady +Hester Stanhope was not permitted to +consult his stars in full when he met +her on Mount Lebanon, when she +praised his handsome foot and arched +instep, and told him he should be very +important in the history of the world. +Ah, how certainly he will yet lament, +if he does not lament already, the fulfilment +of the oracle! Such weird +sisters as Lady Hester generally tell +<em>only half</em>, leaving the rest to imagination +and to time. But whether this +Phaeton, who has grasped the reins, +is to set the world on fire; whether +he, in turn, is only to try the game of +Humpty-Dumpty and to fall; or whether, +even as I write this, he be not +already under the foot of Louis Blanc +and his <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Communistes</i>,—what probabilities +or improbabilities shall aid my conjecture? +This thing only will I venture +as my surmise, though not my +hope, that kings shall reign again in +France, as if Lamartine never lived: +that tricoloured cockades shall be +made no more, and lilies be cultivated +again: that there will soon be longings +for a sight of the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">drapeau blanc</i>, and +a prince of the sons of St Louis: and +that, fat as he is, and Bourbon as he +is, and half Austrian as he has made +himself, Henry Duke of Bordeaux +will soon be known as <span class="smcap">Henri le +Désiré</span>.</p> + +<p> +Yours ever, my dear Basil,</p> +<p class="sig"> +<span class="smcap">Ernest</span>. +</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>THE CAXTONS—PART IV.</h2> + +<h3>CHAPTER IX.</h3> + + +<p>I was always an early riser. Happy +the man who is! Every morning, +day comes to him with a virgin's +love, full of bloom, and purity, and +freshness. The youth of nature is +contagious, like the gladness of a +happy child. I doubt if any man +can be called 'old' so long as he +is an early riser, and an early +<em>walker</em>. And oh, youth!—take my +word of it,—youth in dressing-gown +and slippers, dawdling over breakfast +at noon, is a very decrepid ghastly +image of that youth which sees the sun +blush over the mountains, and the dews +sparkle upon blossoming hedgerows.</p> + +<p>Passing by my father's study, I +was surprised to see the windows unclosed—surprised +more, on looking in, +to see him bending over his books—for +I had never before known him +study till after the morning meal. +Students are not usually early risers, +for students, alas! whatever their age, +are rarely young. Yes; the great +work must be getting on in serious +earnest. It was no longer dalliance +with learning: this was work.</p> + +<p>I passed through the gates into the +road. A few of the cottages were +giving signs of returning life; but it +was not yet the hour for labour, and +no "Good morning, sir," greeted me +on the road. Suddenly at a turn, +which an overhanging beech-tree had +before concealed, I came full upon my +Uncle Roland.</p> + +<p>"What! you, sir? So early? Hark, +the clock is striking five!"</p> + +<p>"Not later! I have walked well +for a lame man. It must be more +than four miles to —— and back."</p> + +<p>"You have been to ——: not on +business? No soul would be up."</p> + +<p>"Yes, at inns there is always some +one up. Ostlers never sleep! I have +been to order my humble chaise and +pair. I leave you to day, nephew."</p> + +<p>"Ah, uncle, we have offended you. +It was my folly—that cursed print—"</p> + +<p>"Pooh!" said my uncle, quickly. +"Offended me, boy! I defy you!" +and he pressed my hand roughly.</p> + +<p>"Yet this sudden determination! +It was but yesterday, at the Roman +Camp, that you planned an excursion +with my father to C—— Castle."</p> + +<p>"Never depend upon a whimsical +man. I must be in London to-night."</p> + +<p>"And return to morrow?"</p> + +<p>"I know not when," said my uncle, +gloomily; and he was silent for some +moments. At length, leaning less +lightly on my arm, he continued—"Young +man, you have pleased me. I +love that open saucy brow of yours, on +which nature has written 'Trust me.' +I love those clear eyes that look man +manfully in the face. I must know +more of you—much of you. You must +come and see me some day or other in +your ancestor's ruined keep."</p> + +<p>"Come! that I will. And you shall +show me the old tower—"</p> + +<p>"And the traces of the out-works;" +cried my uncle, flourishing +his stick.</p> + +<p>"And the pedigree—"</p> + +<p>"Ay, and your great-great-grandfather's +armour, which he wore at +Marston Moor—"</p> + +<p>"Yes, and the brass plate in the +church, uncle."</p> + +<p>"The deuce is in the boy! Come +here—come here; I've three minds to +break your head, sir!"</p> + +<p>"It is a pity somebody had not +broken the rascally printer's, before he +had the impudence to disgrace us by +having a family, uncle."</p> + +<p>Captain Roland tried hard to frown, +but he could not. "Pshaw!" said he, +stopping, and taking snuff. "The +world of the dead is wide; why should +the ghosts jostle us?"</p> + +<p>"We can never escape the ghosts, +uncle. They haunt us always. We +cannot think or act, but the soul of +some man, who has lived before, +points the way. The dead never die, +especially since—"</p> + +<p>"Since what, boy? you speak well."</p> + +<p>"Since our great ancestor introduced +printing," said I, majestically.</p> + +<p>My uncle whistled "<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Malbrook +s'en va-t-en guerre</i>."</p> + +<p>I had not the heart to plague him +further.</p> + +<p>"Peace!" said I, creeping cautiously +within the circle of the stick.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No! I forewarn you—"</p> + +<p>"Peace! and describe to me my +little cousin, your pretty daughter—for +pretty I am sure she is."</p> + +<p>"Peace," said my uncle, smiling. +"But you must come and judge for +yourself."</p> + + +<h3>CHAPTER X.</h3> + +<p>Uncle Roland was gone. Before he +went, he was closeted for an hour with +my father, who then accompanied +him to the gate; and we all crowded +round him as he stepped into his +chaise. When the Captain was gone, +I tried to sound my father as to +the cause of so sudden a departure. +But my father was impenetrable in +all that related to his brother's +secrets. Whether or not the Captain +had ever confided to him the cause +of his displeasure with his son,—a +mystery which much haunted me,—my +father was mute on that score, +both to my mother and myself. For +two or three days, however, Mr +Caxton was evidently unsettled. He +did not even take to his great work; +but walked much alone, or accompanied +only by the duck, and without +even a book in his hand. But by +degrees the scholarly habits returned +to him; my mother mended his pens, +and the work went on.</p> + +<p>For my part, left much to myself, +especially in the mornings, I began +to muse restlessly over the future. +Ungrateful that I was, the happiness +of home ceased to content me. I +heard afar the roar of the great world, +and roved impatient by the shore.</p> + +<p>At length, one evening, my father, +with some modest hums and ha's, and +an-unaffected blush on his fair forehead, +gratified a prayer frequently +urged on him, and read me some portions +of "the great Work." I cannot +express the feelings this lecture +created—they were something akin +to awe. For the design of this book +was so immense—and towards its +execution, a learning so vast and +various had administered—that it +seemed to me as if a spirit had +opened to me a new world, which had +always been before my feet, but which +my own human blindness had hitherto +concealed from me. The unspeakable +patience with which all +these materials had been collected +year after year—the ease with which +now, by the calm power of genius, +they seemed of themselves to fall into +harmony and system—the unconscious +humility with which the scholar +exposed the stores of a laborious +life;—all combined to rebuke my +own restlessness and ambition, while +they filled me with a pride in my +father, which saved my wounded +egotism from a pang. Here, indeed, +was one of those books which embrace +an existence; like the Dictionary of +Bayle, or the History of Gibbon, or +the <cite>Fasti Hellenici</cite> of Clinton,—it +was a book to which thousands of +books had contributed, only to make +the originality of the single mind more +bold and clear. Into the furnace all +vessels of gold, of all ages, had been +cast, but from the mould came the +new coin, with its single stamp. And +happily, the subject of the work did +not forbid to the writer the indulgence +of his <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">naïve</i>, peculiar irony of humour—so +quiet, yet so profound. My +father's book was the "History of +Human Error." It was, therefore, +the moral history of mankind, told +with truth and earnestness, yet with +an arch unmalignant smile. Sometimes, +indeed, the smile drew tears. +But in all true humour lies its germ, +pathos. Oh! by the goddess Moria or +Folly, but he was at home in his theme! +He viewed man first in the savage +state, preferring in this the positive +accounts of voyagers and travellers, +to the vague myths of antiquity, and +the dreams of speculators on our +pristine state. From Australia and +Abyssinia, he drew pictures of mortality +unadorned, as lively as if he +had lived amongst Bushmen and +savages all his life. Then he crossed +over the Atlantic, and brought before +you the American Indian, with his +noble nature, struggling into the +dawn of civilisation, when friend +Penn cheated him out of his birthright, +and the Anglo-Saxon drove +him back into darkness. He showed +both analogy and contrast between<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> +this specimen of our kind, and others +equally apart from the extremes of +the savage state and the cultured. +The Arab in his tent, the Teuton +in his forests, the Greenlander in his +boat, the Fin in his rein-deer car. +Up sprang the rude gods of the north, +and the resuscitated Druidism, passing +from its earliest templeless belief +into the later corruptions of crommell +and idol. Up sprang, by their side, +the Saturn of the Phœnicians, the +mystic Budh of India, the elementary +deities of the Pelasgian, the +Naith and Serapis of Egypt, the +Ormuzd of Persia, the Bel of Babylon, +the winged genii of the graceful +Etruria. How nature and life shaped +the religion; how the religion shaped +the manners; how, and by what influences, +some tribes were formed for +progress; how others were destined +to remain stationary, or be swallowed +up in war and slavery by their +brethren, was told with a precision +clear and strong as the voice of Fate. +Not only an antiquarian and philologist, +but an anatomist and philosopher—my +father brought to bear on all +these grave points, the various speculations +involved in the distinctions of +race. He showed how race in perfection +is produced, up to a certain +point, by admixture: how all mixed +races have been the most intelligent—how, +in proportion as local circumstance +and religious faith permitted the +early fusion of differing tribes, races +improved and quickened into the refinements +of civilisation. He tracked +the progress and dispersion of the +Hellenes, from their mythical cradle in +Thessaly; and showed how those who +settled near the sea-shores, and were +compelled into commerce and intercourse +with strangers, gave to Greece +her marvellous accomplishments in arts +and letters—the flowers of the ancient +world. How others, like the Spartans, +dwelling evermore in a camp, on guard +against their neighbours, and rigidly +preserving their Dorian purity of extraction, +contributed neither artists, nor +poets, nor philosophers to the golden +treasure-house of mind. He took the +old race of the Celts, Cimry, or Cimmerians. +He compared the Celt who, +as in Wales, the Scotch Highlands, +in Bretagne, and in uncomprehended +Ireland, retains his old characteristics +and purity of breed, with the Celt +whose blood, mixed by a thousand +channels, dictates from Paris the manners +and revolutions of the world. He +compared the Norman in his ancient +Scandinavian home, with that wonder +of intelligence and chivalry which he +became, fused imperceptibly with the +Frank, the Goth, and the Anglo-Saxon. +He compared the Saxon, stationary +in the land of Horsa, with the +colonist and civiliser of the globe, as he +becomes, when he knows not through +what channels—French, Flemish, +Danish, Welch, Scotch, and Irish—he +draws his sanguine blood. And out +from all these speculations, to which I +do such hurried and scanty justice, +he drew the blessed truth, that carries +hope to the land of the Caffre, the hut +of the Bushman—that there is nothing +in the flattened skull and the ebon +aspect that rejects God's law, improvement; +that by the same principle +which raises the dog, the lowest of +the animals in its savage state, to the +highest after man,—viz. admixture +of race—you can elevate into nations +of majesty and power the outcasts of +humanity, now your compassion or +your scorn. But when my father got +into the marrow of his theme—when, +quitting these preliminary discussions, +he fell pounce amongst the would-be +wisdom of the wise; when he dealt +with civilisation itself, its schools, and +porticos, and academies; when he bared +the absurdities couched beneath the colleges +of the Egyptians, and the Symposia +of the Greeks;—when he showed +that, even in their own favourite pursuit +of metaphysics, the Greeks were +children; and in their own more practical +region of politics, the Romans +were visionaries and bunglers;—when, +following the stream of error through +the middle ages, he quoted the puerilities +of Agrippa, the crudities of +Cardan; and passed, with his calm +smile, into the <em>salons</em> of the chattering +wits of Paris in the eighteenth century, +oh, then his irony was that of Lucian, +sweetened by the gentle spirit of Erasmus. +For not even here was my +father's satire of the cheerless and Mephistophelian +school. From this record +of error he drew forth the grand eras +of truth. He showed how earnest men +never think in vain, though their +thoughts may be errors. He proved<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span> +how, in vast cycles, age after age, the +human mind marches on—like the +ocean, receding here, but there advancing. +How from the speculations +of the Greek sprang all true philosophy; +how from the institutions of the +Roman rose all durable systems of government; +how from the robust follies of +the North came the glory of chivalry, +and the modern delicacies of honour, +and the sweet harmonising influences +of woman. He tracked the ancestry +of our Sidneys and Bayards from the +Hengists, Genserics, and Attilas. Full +of all curious and quaint anecdote—of +original illustration—of those niceties +of learning which spring from a taste +cultivated to the last exquisite polish—the +book amused, and allured, and +charmed; and erudition lost its pedantry +now in the simplicity of Montaigne, +now in the penetration of La +Bruyère. He lived in each time of +which he wrote, and the time lived +again in him. Ah, what a writer of +romances he would have been, if—if +what? If he had had as sad an experience +of men's passions, as he had +the happy intuition into their humours. +But he who would see the mirror of +the shore, must look where it is cast +on the river, not the ocean. The narrow +stream reflects the gnarled tree, +and the pausing herd, and the village +spire, and the romance of the landscape. +But the sea reflects only the +vast outline of the headland, and the +lights of the eternal heaven.</p> + + +<h3>CHAPTER XI.</h3> + +<p>"It is Lombard Street to a China +orange," quoth Uncle Jack.</p> + +<p>"Are the odds in favour of fame +against failure so great? You do not +speak, I fear, from experience, brother +Jack," answered my father, as he +stooped down to tickle the duck under +the left ear.</p> + +<p>"But Jack Tibbets is not Augustine +Caxton. Jack Tibbets is not a +scholar, a genius, a wond—"</p> + +<p>"Stop," cried my father.</p> + +<p>"After all," said Mr Squills, +"though I am no flatterer, Mr Tibbets +is not so far out.... That part of your +book which compares the crania or +skulls of the different races is superb. +Lawrence or Dr Pritchard could not +have done the thing more neatly. +Such a book must not be lost to the +world; and I agree with Mr Tibbets +that you should publish as soon as +possible."</p> + +<p>"It is one thing to write and another +to publish," said my father irresolutely. +"When one considers all +the great men who have published; +when one thinks one is going to intrude +one's-self audaciously into the company +of Aristotle and Bacon, of +Locke, of Herder—of all the grave +philosophers who bend over nature +with brows weighty with thought—one +may well pause, and—"</p> + +<p>"Pooh!" interrupted Uncle Jack; +"science is not a club, it is an ocean. +It is open to the cockboat as the frigate. +One man carries across it a +freightage of ingots, another may fish +there for herrings. Who can exhaust +the sea? who say to intellect, the deeps +of philosophy are preoccupied?"</p> + +<p>"Admirable!" cried Squills.</p> + +<p>"So it is really your advice, my +friends," said my father, who seemed +struck by Uncle Jack's eloquent illustration, +"that I should desert my +household gods; remove to London, +since my own library ceases to supply +my wants; take lodgings near the +British Museum, and finish off one +volume, at least, incontinently."</p> + +<p>"It is a duty you owe to your +country," said Uncle Jack, solemnly.</p> + +<p>"And to yourself," urged Squills. +"One must attend to the natural evacuations +of the brain. Ah! you may +smile, sir; but I have observed that if +a man has much in his head, he must +give it vent or it oppresses him; the +whole system goes wrong. From +being abstracted, he grows stupefied. +The weight of the pressure affects the +nerves. I would not even guarantee +you from a stroke of paralysis."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Austin!" cried my mother +tenderly, and throwing her arms round +my father's neck.</p> + +<p>"Come, sir, you are conquered," +said I.</p> + +<p>"And what is to become of you, +Sisty?" asked my father. "Do you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> +go with us, and unsettle your mind +for the university?"</p> + +<p>"My uncle has invited me to his +castle; and in the meanwhile I will +stay here, fag hard, and take care of +the duck."</p> + +<p>"All alone?" said my mother.</p> + +<p>"No. All alone! Why Uncle +Jack will come here as often as ever, +I hope."</p> + +<p>Uncle Jack shook his head.</p> + +<p>"No, my boy—I must go to town +with your father. You don't understand +these things. I shall see the +booksellers for him. I know how these +gentlemen are to be dealt with. I +shall prepare the literary circles for +the appearance of the book. In short, +it is a sacrifice of interest I know. My +Journal will suffer. But friendship +and my country's good before all +things!"</p> + +<p>"Dear Jack!" said my mother affectionately.</p> + +<p>"I cannot suffer it," cried my +father. "You are making a good +income. You are doing well where +you are; and as to seeing the +booksellers—why, when the work is +ready, you can come to town for a +week, and settle that affair."</p> + +<p>"Poor dear Austin," said Uncle +Jack, with an air of superiority and +compassion. "A week! Sir, the +advent of a book that is to succeed +requires the preparation of months. +Pshaw! I am no genius, bu I am a +practical man. I know what's what. +Leave me alone."</p> + +<p>But my father continued obstinate +and Uncle Jack at last ceased to urge +the matter. The journey to fame and +London was now settled; but my +father would not hear of my staying +behind.</p> + +<p>No; Pisistratus must needs go +also to town and see the world; the +duck would take care of itself.</p> + + +<h3>CHAPTER XII.</h3> + +<p>We had taken the precaution to +send, the day before, to secure our +due complement of places—four in all +(including one for Mrs Primmins)—in, +or upon, the fast family coach called +the Sun, which had lately been set up +for the special convenience of the +neighbourhood.</p> + +<p>This luminary, rising in a town +about seven miles distant from us, +described at first a very erratic orbit +amidst the contiguous villages before +it finally struck into the high-road of +enlightenment, and thence performed +its journey, in the full eyes of man, at +the majestic pace of six miles and a +half an hour. My father, with his +pockets full of books, and a quarto +of "Gebelin on the Primitive World" +for light reading under his arm; my +mother, with a little basket, containing +sandwiches and biscuits of her +own baking; Mrs Primmins, with a +new umbrella, purchased for the occasion, +and a bird-cage containing a +canary, endeared to her not more by +song than age, and a severe pip through +which she had successfully nursed it—and +I myself, waited at the gates to +welcome the celestial visitor. The +gardener, with a wheel-barrow full of +boxes and portmanteaus, stood a little +in the van; and the footman, who was +to follow when lodgings had been +found, had gone to a rising eminence +to watch the dawning of the expected +planet, and apprise us of its approach +by the concerted signal of a handkerchief +fixed to a stick.</p> + +<p>The quaint old house looked at us +mournfully from all its deserted windows. +The litter before its threshold, +and in its open hall; wisps of straw +or hay that had been used for packing; +baskets and boxes that had been +examined and rejected; others, corded +and piled, reserved to follow with the +footman: and the two heated and +hurried serving-women left behind +standing half-way between house and +garden-gate, whispering to each other, +and looking as if they had not slept +for weeks—gave to a scene, usually so +trim and orderly, an aspect of pathetic +abandonment and desolation. The +genius of the place seemed to reproach +us. I felt the omens were against us, +and turned my earnest gaze from the +haunts behind with a sigh, as the +coach now drew up in all its grandeur. +An important personage, who, despite +the heat of the day, was enveloped +in a vast superfluity of belcher, in the +midst of which galloped a gilt fox, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span> +who rejoiced in the name of "guard," +descended to inform us politely that +only three places, two inside and one +out, were at our disposal, the rest +having been pre-engaged a fortnight +before our orders were received.</p> + +<p>Now, as I knew that Mrs Primmins +was indispensable to the comforts of +my honoured parents, (the more so, +as she had once lived in London, and +knew all its ways,) I suggested that +she should take the outside seat, and +that I should perform the journey on +foot—a primitive mode of transport +which has its charms to a young man +with stout limbs and gay spirits. The +guard's outstretched arm left my mother +little time to oppose this proposition, +to which my father assented +with a silent squeeze of the hand. +And, having promised to join them at +a family hotel near the Strand, to +which Mr Squills lad recommended +them as peculiarly genteel and quiet, +and waved my last farewell to my poor +mother, who continued to stretch her +meek face out of the window till the +coach was whirled off in a cloud like +one of the Homeric heroes, I turned +within, to put up a few necessary articles +in a small knapsack, which I +remembered to have seen in the lumber-room, +and which had appertained +to my maternal grandfather; and with +that on my shoulder, and a strong +staff in my hand, I set off towards the +great city at as brisk a pace as if I +were only bound to the next village. +Accordingly, about noon, I was both +tired and hungry; and seeing by the +wayside one of those pretty inns yet +peculiar to England, but which, thanks +to the railways, will soon be amongst +the things before the Flood, I sate +down at a table under some clipped +limes, unbuckled my knapsack, and +ordered my simple fare, with the +dignity of one who, for the first +time in his life, bespeaks his own +dinner, and pays for it out of his own +pocket.</p> + +<p>While engaged on a rasher of bacon +and a tankard of what the landlord +called "No mistake," two pedestrians, +passing the same road which I had +traversed, paused, cast a simultaneous +look at my occupation, and, induced +no doubt by its allurements, seated +themselves under the same lime-trees, +though at the farther end of the table. +I surveyed the new-comers with the +curiosity natural to my years.</p> + +<p>The elder of the two might have +attained the age of thirty, though +sundry deep lines, and hues formerly +florid and now faded, speaking of +fatigue, care, or dissipation, might +have made him look somewhat older +than he was. There was nothing +very prepossessing in his appearance. +He was dressed with a pretension ill +suited to the costume appropriate to a +foot-traveller. His coat was pinched +and padded; two enormous pins, connected +by a chain, decorated a very +stiff stock of blue satin, dotted with +yellow stars; his hands were cased +in very dingy gloves which had once +been straw-coloured, and the said +hands played with a whalebone cane +surmounted by a formidable knob, +which gave it the appearance of a "life-preserver." +As he took off a white napless +hat, which he wiped with great +care and affection with the sleeve of +his right arm, a profusion of stiff +curls instantly betrayed the art of +man. Like my landlord's ale, in +that wig there was "no mistake:" +it was brought—(in the fashion of the +wigs we see in the popular effigies of +George IV. in his youth)—low over +his forehead and raised at the top. +The wig had been oiled, and the oil +had imbibed no small quantity of dust; +oil and dust had alike left their impression +on the forehead and cheeks +of the wig's proprietor. For the rest, +the expression of his face was somewhat +impudent and reckless, but not +without a certain drollery in the corners +of his eyes.</p> + +<p>The younger man was apparently +about my own age, a year or two +older perhaps—judging rather from +his set and sinewy frame than his boyish +countenance. And this last, boyish +as it was, could not fail to demand +the attention even of the most careless +observer. It had not only the darkness +but the character of the gipsy +face, with large brilliant eyes, raven +hair, long and wavy, but not curling; +the features were aquiline but delicate, +and when he spoke he showed +teeth dazzling as pearls. It was impossible +not to admire the singular +beauty of the countenance; and yet, +it had that expression at once stealthy +and fierce, which war with society<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> +has stamped upon the lineaments of +the race of which it reminded me. +But, withal, there was somewhat of +the air of a gentleman in this young +wayfarer. His dress consisted of a +black velveteen shooting-jacket, or +rather short frock, with a broad +leathern strap at the waist, loose +white trousers, and a foraging cap, +which he threw carelessly on the table +as he wiped his brow. Turning round +impatiently and with some haughtiness +from his companion, he surveyed +me with a quick observant flash of his +piercing eyes, and then stretched himself +at length on the bench, and appeared +either to doze or muse, till, in +obedience to his companion's orders, +the board was spread with all the cold +meats the larder could supply.</p> + +<p>"Beef!" said his companion, screwing +a pinchbeck glass into his right +eye. "Beef;—mottled, cowey—humph. +Lamb;—oldish—rawish—muttony, +humph. Pie;—stalish, +veal?—no, pork. Ah! what will +you have?"</p> + +<p>"Help yourself," replied the young +man peevishly, as he sat up, looked +disdainfully at the viands, and after a +long pause, tasted first one, then the +other, with many shrugs of the shoulders +and muttered exclamations of discontent. +Suddenly he looked up and +called for brandy; and to my surprise, +and I fear admiration, he drank nearly +half a tumblerful of that poison undiluted, +with a composure that spoke +of habitual use.</p> + +<p>"Wrong!" said his companion, +drawing the bottle to himself, and +mixing the alcohol in careful proportions +with water. "Wrong! coats +of stomach soon wear out, with that +kind of clothes' brush. Better stick +to 'the yeasty foam' as sweet Will +says. That young gentleman sets you +a good example," and therewith the +speaker nodded at me familiarly. Inexperienced +as I was, I surmised at +once that it was his intention to make +acquaintance with the neighbour thus +saluted. I was not deceived. "Any +thing to tempt <em>you</em>, sir?" asked this +social personage after a short pause, +and describing a semicircle with the +point of his knife.</p> + +<p>"I thank you, sir, but I have dined."</p> + +<p>"What then? 'Break out into a +second course of mischief,' as the swan +recommends—swan of Avon, sir! +No? 'Well then, I charge you with +this cup of sack.' Are you going far, if +I may take the liberty to ask?"</p> + +<p>"To London, when I can get there!"</p> + +<p>"Oh!" said the traveller—while +his young companion lifted his +eyes; and I was again struck with +their remarkable penetration and +brilliancy.</p> + +<p>"London is the best place in the +world for a lad of spirit. See life +there; 'glass of fashion and mould +of form.' Fond of the play, sir?"</p> + +<p>"I never saw one!"</p> + +<p>"Possible!" cried the gentleman, +dropping the handle of his knife, and +bringing up the point horizontally: +"then, young man," he added solemnly, +"you have, but I won't say what +you have to see. I won't say—no, not +if you could cover this table with +golden guineas, and exclaim with the +generous ardour so engaging in youth +'Mr Peacock, these are yours, if you +will only say what I have to see!'"</p> + +<p>I laughed outright—may I be forgiven +for the boast, but I had the reputation +at school of a pleasant laugh. +The young man's face grew dark at +the sound: he pushed back his plate +and sighed.</p> + +<p>"Why," continued his friend, "my +companion here, who I suppose is +about your own age, <em>he</em> could tell you +what a play is! he could tell you what +life is. He has viewed the manners +of the town: 'perused the traders,' +as the swan poetically remarks. +Have you not, my lad, eh?"</p> + +<p>Thus directly appealed to, the boy +looked up with a smile of scorn on +his lips. "Yes, I know what life is, +and I say that life, like poverty, has +strange bedfellows. Ask me what +life is now, and I say a melodrama; +ask me what it is twenty years hence, +and I shall say—"</p> + +<p>"A farce?" put in his comrade.</p> + +<p>"No, a tragedy—or comedy as +Congreve wrote it."</p> + +<p>"And how is that?" I asked, interested +and somewhat surprised at the +tone of my contemporary.</p> + +<p>"Where the play ends in the triumph +of the wittiest rogue. My friend hee +has no chance!"</p> + +<p>"'Praise from Sir Hubert Stanley,' +hem—yes—Hal Peacock maybe witty, +but he is no rogue."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span></p> + +<p>"That was not exactly my meaning," +said the boy dryly.</p> + +<p>"'A fico for your meaning,'" as the +swan says. "Hallo, you, sir! Bully +Host, clear the table, fresh tumblers—hot +water—sugar—lemon, and the +bottle's out! Smoke, sir?" and Mr +Peacock offered me a cigar.</p> + +<p>Upon my refusal, he carefully +twirled round a very uninviting specimen +of some fabulous havannah—moistened +it all over, as a boa-constrictor +may do the ox he prepares +for deglutition; bit off one end, and +lighting the other from a little machine +for that purpose which he drew from +his pocket, he was soon absorbed in +a vigorous effort (which the damp +inherent in the weed long resisted) +to poison the surrounding atmosphere. +Therewith, the young gentleman, +either from emulation or in self-defence, +extracted from his own pouch +a cigar-case of notable elegance, being +of velvet, embroidered apparently by +some fair hand, for "From Juliet" +was very legibly worked thereon—selected +a cigar of better appearance +than that in favour with his comrade, +and seemed quite as familiar with the +tobacco as he had been with the +brandy.</p> + +<p>"Fast, sir—fast lad that!" quoth +Mr Peacock, in the short gasps which +his resolute struggle with his uninviting +victim alone permitted—"nothing +but—(puff, puff)—your true—(suck—suck,) +syl—syl—sylva—does +for him. Out, by the Lord! 'the jaws +of darkness have devoured it up;'" and +again Mr Peacock applied to his phosphoric +machine. This time patience +and perseverance succeeded, and the +heart of the cigar responded by a dull +red spark (leaving the sides wholly +untouched) to the indefatigable +ardour of its wooer.</p> + +<p>This feat accomplished, Mr Peacock +exclaimed triumphantly, "And now +what say you, my lads, to a game at +cards?—three of us—whist and a +dummy?—nothing better—eh?" As +he spoke, he produced from his coat-pocket +a red silk handkerchief, a +bunch of keys, a nightcap, a toothbrush, +a piece of shaving-soap, four +lumps of sugar, the remains of a bun, +a razor, and a pack of cards. Selecting +the last, and returning its motley +accompaniments to the abyss whence +they had emerged, he turned up, with +a jerk of his thumb and finger, the +knave of clubs, and, placing it on the +top of the rest, slapped the cards emphatically +on the table.</p> + +<p>"You are very good, but I don't +know whist," said I.</p> + +<p>"Not know whist—not been to a +play! not smoke! Then pray tell me, +young man," (said he majestically, and +with a frown,) "what on earth you <em>do</em> +know!"</p> + +<p>Much consternated by this direct +appeal, and greatly ashamed of my +ignorance of the cardinal points of +erudition in Mr Peacock's estimation, +I hung my head, and looked down.</p> + +<p>"That is right," renewed Mr Peacock, +more benignly; "you have the +ingenuous shame of youth. It is promising, +sir—'lowliness is young ambition's +ladder,' as the swan says. +Mount the first step, and learn whist—sixpenny +points to begin with."</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding my newness in +actual life, I had had the good fortune +to learn a little of the way before me, +by those much-slandered guides called +novels—works which are often to the +inner world what maps are to the +outer; and sundry recollections of +"Gil Blas" and the "Vicar of Wakefield" +came athwart me. I had no +wish to emulate the worthy Moses, +and felt that I might not have even +the shagreen spectacles to boast of, in +my negotiations with this new Mr +Jenkinson. Accordingly, shaking my +head, I called for my bill. As I took +out my purse—knit by my mother—with +one gold piece in one corner, and +sundry silver ones in the other, I saw +that the eyes of Mr Peacock twinkled.</p> + +<p>"Poor spirit, sir! poor spirit, young +man! 'This avarice sticks deep,' +as the swan beautifully observes. +'Nothing venture, nothing have.'"</p> + +<p>"Nothing have, nothing venture," +I returned, plucking up spirit.</p> + +<p>"Nothing have!—Young sir, do +you doubt my solidity—my capital—my +'golden joys?'"</p> + +<p>"Sir, I spoke of myself. I am not +rich enough to gamble."</p> + +<p>"Gamble!" exclaimed Mr Peacock, +in virtuous indignation—"Gamble! +what do you mean, sir? You insult +me!" and he rose threateningly, and +slapped his white hat on his wig.</p> + +<p>"Pshaw! let him alone, Hal,"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> +said the boy contemptuously. "Sir, +if he is impertinent, thrash him." +(This was to me.)</p> + +<p>"Impertinent!—thrash!" exclaimed +Mr Peacock, waxing very red; but +catching the sneer on his companion's +lip, he sat down, and subsided into +sullen silence.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile I paid my bill. This +duty, rarely a cheerful one, performed, +I looked round for my knapsack, and +perceived that it was in the boy's +hands. He was very coolly reading +the address which, in case of accidents, +I had prudently placed on it—Pisistratus +Caxton, Esq., —— Hotel, +—— Street, —, Strand.</p> + +<p>I took my knapsack from him, more +surprised at such a breach of good +manners in a young gentleman who +knew life so well, than I should have +been at a similar error on the part of +Mr Peacock. He made no apology, +but nodded farewell, and stretched +himself at full length on the bench. +Mr Peacock, now absorbed in a game +of patience, vouchsafed no return to +my parting salutation, and in another +moment I was alone on the high-road. +My thoughts turned long upon the +young man I had left: mixed with a +sort of instinctive compassionate foreboding +of an ill future for one with +such habits, and in such companionship, +I felt an involuntary admiration, +less even for his good looks +than his ease, audacity, and the careless +superiority he assumed over a +comrade so much older than himself.</p> + +<p>The day was far gone when I saw +the spires of a town at which I intended +to rest for the night. The +horn of a coach behind made me +turn my head, and, as the vehicle +passed me, I saw on the outside Mr +Peacock, still struggling with a cigar—it +could scarcely be the same—and +his young friend stretched on the roof +amongst the luggage, leaning his +handsome head on his hand, and +apparently unobservant both of me +and every one else.</p> + + +<h3>CHAPTER XIII.</h3> + +<p>I am apt—judging egotistically, perhaps, +from my own experience—to +measure a young man's chances of +what is termed practical success in +life, by what may seem at first two +very vulgar qualities; viz., his inquisitiveness +and his animal vivacity. A +curiosity which springs forward to +examine every thing new to his information—a +nervous activity, approaching +to restlessness, which rarely +allows bodily fatigue to interfere with +some object in view—constitute, in +my mind, very profitable stock in +hand to begin the world with.</p> + +<p>Tired as I was, after I had performed +my ablutions, and refreshed +myself in the little coffee-room of the +inn at which I put up, with the pedestrian's +best beverage, familiar and +oft-calumniated tea, I could not resist +the temptation of the broad bustling +street, which, lighted with gas, shone +on me through the dim windows of +the coffee-room. I had never before +seen a large town, and the contrast of +lamp-lit, busy night in the streets, +with sober, deserted night in the lanes +and fields, struck me forcibly.</p> + +<p>I sauntered out, therefore, jostling +and jostled, now gazing at the windows, +now hurried along the tide of +life, till I found myself before a cook' +shop, round which clustered a small +knot of housewives, citizens, and +hungry-looking children. While contemplating +this group, and marvelling +how it comes to pass that the staple +business of earth's majority is how, +when, and where to eat, my ear was +struck with "'In Troy there lies the +scene,' as the illustrious Will remarks."</p> + + +<p>Looking round, I perceived Mr Peacock +pointing his stick towards an open +doorway next to the cook's shop, +the hall beyond which was lighted +with gas, while, painted in black letters +on a pane of glass over the door, +was the word "Billiards."</p> + +<p>Suiting the action to the word, the +speaker plunged at once into the aperture +and vanished. The boy-copanion +was following more slowly, +when his eye caught mine. A slight +blush came over his dark cheek; he +stopped, and leaning against the door-jambs, +gazed on me hard and long +before he said—"Well met again, +sir! You find it hard to amuse yourself +in this dull place; the nights are +long out of London."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh," said I, ingenuously, "every +thing here amuses me; the lights, the +shops, the crowd; but, then, to me +every thing is new."</p> + +<p>The youth came from his lounging-place +and moved on, as if inviting me +to walk; while he answered, rather +with bitter sullenness, than the melancholy +his words expressed—</p> + +<p>"One thing, at least, cannot be new +to you; it is an old truth with us +before we leave the nursery—'Whatever +is worth having must be bought; +<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">ergo</i>, he who cannot buy, has nothing +worth having.'"</p> + +<p>"I don't think," said I, wisely, +"that the things best worth having +can be bought at all. You see that +poor dropsical jeweller standing before +his shop-door,—his shop is the finest +in the street,—and I dare say he would +be very glad to give it to you or me in +return for our good health and strong +legs. Oh no! I think with my father—'All +that are worth having are given +to all;—that is, nature and labour.'"</p> + +<p>"Your father says that; and you +go by what your father says! Of +course, all fathers have preached that, +and many other good doctrines, since +Adam preached to Cain; but I don't +see that the fathers have found their +sons very credulous listeners."</p> + +<p>"So much the worse for the sons," +said I bluntly.</p> + +<p>"Nature," continued my new acquaintance, +without attending to my +ejaculation—"nature indeed does give +us much, and nature also orders each +of us how to use her gifts. If nature +gave you the propensity to drudge, +you will drudge; if she gives me the +ambition to rise, and the contempt +for work, I may rise—but I certainly +shall not work."</p> + +<p>"Oh," said I, "you agree with +Squills, I suppose, and fancy we are +all guided by the bumps on our foreheads?"</p> + +<p>"And the blood in our veins, and +our mother's milk. We inherit other +things besides gout and consumption. +So you always do as your father tells +you! Good boy!"</p> + +<p>I was piqued. Why we should +be ashamed of being taunted for +goodness, I never could understand; +but certainly I felt humbled. +However I answered sturdily—"If +you had as good a father as I have, +you would not think it so very extraordinary +to do as he tells you."</p> + +<p>"Ah! so he is a very good father, +is he! He must have a great trust +in your sobriety and steadiness to let +you wander about the world as he +does."</p> + +<p>"I am going to join him in London."</p> + +<p>"In London! Oh, does he live +there?"</p> + +<p>"He is going to live there for some +time."</p> + +<p>"Then, perhaps, we may meet. I, +too, am going to town."</p> + +<p>"Oh, we shall be sure to meet +there!" said I, with frank gladness; +for my interest in the young man was +not diminished by his conversation, +however much I disliked the sentiments +it expressed.</p> + +<p>The lad laughed, and his laugh was +peculiar. It was low, musical, but +hollow and artificial.</p> + +<p>"Sure to meet! London is a large +place: where shall you be found?"</p> + +<p>I gave him, without scruple, the +address of the hotel at which I expected +to find my father; although his +deliberate inspection of my knapsack +must already have apprised him of that +address. He listened attentively, and +repeated it twice over, as if to impress +it on his memory; and we both +walked on in silence, till, turning up +a small passage, we suddenly found +ourselves in a large churchyard,—a +flagged path stretched diagonally +across it towards the market-place, +on which it bordered. In this churchyard, +upon a grave-stone, sat a +young Savoyard; his hurdy-gurdy, or +whatever else his instrument might be +called, was on his lap; and he was +gnawing his crust, and feeding some +poor little white mice (standing on +their hind-legs on the hurdy-gurdy) +as merrily as if he had chosen the +gayest resting-place in the world.</p> + +<p>We both stopped. The Savoyard, +seeing us, put his arch head on one +side, showed all his white teeth in +that happy smile so peculiar to his +race, and in which poverty seems to +beg so blithely, and gave the handle +of his instrument a turn.</p> + +<p>"Poor child!" said I.</p> + +<p>"Aha, you pity him! but why? +According to your rule, Mr Caxton, +he is not so much to be pitied; the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span> +dropsical jeweller would give him as +much for his limbs and health as for +ours! How is it—answer me, son of +so wise a father—that no one pities +the dropsical jeweller, and all pity +the healthy Savoyard? It is, sir, +because there is a stern truth which +is stronger than all Spartan lessons—Poverty +<em>is</em> the master-ill of the world. +Look round. Does poverty leave its +signs over the graves? Look at that +large tomb fenced round; read that +long inscription:—'virtues'—'best of +husbands'—'affectionate father'—'inconsolable +grief'—'sleeps in the +joyful hope,' &c., &c. Do you suppose +these stoneless mounds hide no +dust of what were men just as good? +But no epitaph tells their virtues; +bespeaks their wives' grief; or promises +joyful hope to them!"</p> + +<p>"Does it matter? Does God care +for the epitaph and tombstone?"</p> + +<p>"<i lang="it" xml:lang="it">Date qualche cosa!</i>" said the +Savoyard, in his touching patois, still +smiling, and holding out his little +hand.</p> + +<p>Therein I dropped a small coin. +The boy evinced his gratitude by a +new turn of the hurdy-gurdy.</p> + +<p>"That is not labour," said my companion; +"and had you found him at +work, you had given him nothing. I +too have my instrument to play upon +and my mice to see after. Adieu!"</p> + +<p>He waved his hand, and strode irreverently +over the graves back in the +direction we had come.</p> + +<p>I stood before the fine tomb with +its fine epitaph; the Savoyard looked +at me wistfully.</p> + + +<h3>CHAPTER XIV.</h3> + +<p>The Savoyard looked at me wistfully. +I wished to enter into conversation +with him. That was not easy. +However, I began:—</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Pisistratus.</span>—"You must be often +hungry enough, my poor boy. Do the +mice feed you?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Savoyard</span> puts his head on one +side, shakes it, and stroked his mice.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Pisistratus.</span>—"You are very +fond of the mice; they are your only +friends, I fear."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Savoyard</span>, evidently understanding +Pisistratus, rubs his face gently +against the mice, then puts them softly +down on a grave, and gives a turn to +the hurdy-gurdy. The mice play unconcernedly +over the grave.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Pisistratus</span>, pointing first to the +beasts, then to the instrument.—"Which +do you like best, the mice or +the hurdy-gurdy?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Savoyard</span> shows his teeth—considers—stretches +himself on the grass—plays +with the mice—and answers +volubly.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Pisistratus</span>, by the help of Latin +comprehending that the Savoyard +says, that the mice are alive and the +hurdy-gurdy is not—"Yes, a live +friend is better than a dead one. +Mortua est hurda-gurda!"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Savoyard</span> shakes his head vehemently.—"Nô—nô! +Eccellenza, non +ê mortu!" and strikes up a lively air +on the slandered instrument. The +Savoyard's face brightens—he looks +happy: the mice run from the grave +into his bosom.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Pisistratus</span>, affected.—"Have you +a father—An vivat pater?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Savoyard</span>, with his face overcast.—"Nô—eccellenza!" +then pausing a +little, he says briskly, "Si-Si!" and +plays a solemn air on the hurdy-gurdy—stops—rests +one hand on the +instrument, and raises the other to +heaven.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Pisistratus</span> understands.—"The +father is like the hurdy-gurdy, at once +dead and living. The mere form is a +dead thing, but the music lives." +Pisistratus drops another small piece +of silver on the ground, and turns +away.</p> + +<p>"God help and God bless thee, +Savoyard. Thou hast done Pisistratus +all the good in the world. Thou +hast corrected the hard wisdom of +the young gentleman in the velveteen +jacket; Pisistratus is a better lad for +having stopped to listen to thee."</p> + +<p>I regained the entrance to the +churchyard—I looked back—there +sate the Savoyard, still amidst men's +graves, but under God's sky. He was +still looking at me wistfully, and when +he caught my eye, he pressed his hand +to his heart, and smiled. "God help +and God bless thee, young Savoyard."</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>REPUBLICAN FRANCE.</h2> + +<h3>JUNE 1848.</h3> + + +<p>How far is the application to France, +of the epithet employed in the title +that heads these pages, a misnomer? +This is a question that would be answered +very differently by those who +study its state of feeling, and those +who judge its position by mere established +fact. That the fact and the +feeling are completely at issue throughout +the country, is undoubted, indisputable. +A republican government +has been established by the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">coup de +main</i> of a small minority in France—has +been accepted by the hesitation of +surprise—has been maintained by the +desire of peace and order:—so far goes +fact. Republican principles were +hateful to the immense majority of +the country at large in the past, uncongenial +to its habits and sentiments, +impossible according to its views; they +are productive, as yet, of nothing but +confusion, distress, ruin, riot, and +mistrust, in the present; they are +looked upon with alarm as regards +their results in the future:—so much +for feeling. Fact and feeling, then, +are at variance and in collision. The +result of the conflict lies hidden in the +mysteries of that future, the issue of +which, at no epoch of history, perhaps, +clearseeing eyes and wise foreseeing +heads could less pretend to predict, +than in the present chaotic hurly-burly +of European society. The politicians +who declared that the general +spirit of the country in France was, in +their vague and fantastic language of +the Chamber, <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">centre-gauche</i>, or the +advocate of liberal progress, may have +been very right,—but republican it +never was, republican it is not. Republican—without +pretension to the +audacity of a prediction but just +stated as impossible—it certainly does +not as yet appear ever likely to become.</p> + +<p>In its present state of feeling, then, +France—that is to say, the country, +the provinces, the departments, or +whatever France, out of Paris, may +be called—is about as much genuine +republican, as a white man who suddenly +finds his face smeared over with +the contents of a blacking-bottle is a +genuine negro. But, for the sake of +avoiding that confusion of terms and +ideas in which the French themselves +are so fond of indulging, to an extent +that proves the deification of "the +vague" to take far higher flights among +them, especially in their republican +tenets, than any flown by confused +German head,—let it be taken as a +rule, that fact is to have the precedence +of feeling, as in most matters in +the world,—and let it be supposed that +the misnomer is no misnomer, that +there has been no mistake, in truth, in +the title of "Republican France."</p> + +<p>Between France out of Paris and +France in Paris, a great distinction, +in speaking of the country, must always +be drawn; although, in the +matter of republicanism in the feelings +of the mass, the same blacking-bottle +remark might be applied to the +majority of the citizens of the capital, +as to the country at large. No family +of grown-up daughters, who have been +tyrannically kept in the nursery like +children when they no longer felt +themselves such, and made to wear +mamma's worn-out dresses scantily +cut down to their shapes, could be +more sundered in feeling from their +lady-mother, and jealous of her overgrown +charms, her gaiety, her splendour, +and her power, than the +departments,—kept in the nursery +upon centralisation system, and +fed upon the bread-and-milk of +insignificance,—are of the tyrannical +supremacy, the overweening superiority, +and the disdainful airs, affected +to her despised progeny +by Mother Paris. The pursuance of +the concentrating system has thus +produced an estrangement in the +family,—a jealousy and spite on the +one hand, a greater and increasing +assumption of airs of supremacy on +the other. The family ties between +Paris and France are as wholly disunited +as family ties can be, in the +necessities of a more or less intimate +connexion: the mother has isolated, +in her despotism, herself from her children, +the children have imbibed distrust +and envy of the mother. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span> +consequence is, that there are two +distinct families in feeling,—there +are two Frances; there is the France +of Paris, of Paris that asserts its +right to be all France, and the France +of the departments, that, in spite +of the assertions of Paris, desire +to put in their little claim for a +small share in the name, and would +like to have their own little fingers in +the pies of revolutions, and changes of +government in the family, that mamma +cooks up. True, they are supposed +to eat at the same table, but mamma +has all the tit-bits. They have a voice +in the family council, but it is when +mamma has already issued her <em>dictum</em>, +and declared that such and such things +shall be as she has decided it. They +help to support the family establishment +with the moneys which mamma +declares they must contribute out +of their heritage; but then mamma, +they declare, spends a most undue +proportion upon herself, in dressing +herself out with finery, keeping up an +unnecessary state, and throwing away +the sums confided to her to overpay +a throng of unruly onhangers, with all +the prodigality of fear; while they, the +poor daughters, are made to put up +with cast-off finery, and to be thwarted +and twitted by harsh governesses, +and to fight, as best they may, with +an obstreperous herd of unpaid pensioners, +which mamma's mismanagement +has excited to uproar; and then, +after all, to kiss hands and thank +mamma for whatever they can get,—scanty +sugar-plums and many cuffs. +Is this to be endured? The children +grumble much, and particularly since +mamma has chosen to make changes +in the direction of the household +establishment of which they by no +means approve, and has only produced +confusion and disorder in it. But at +present they can do no more than +grumble; mamma has the rod, and +they know that she will use it; +mamma has the supreme influence, +and habit makes them think they +must abide by it. There is no doubt, +at the same time, that the children +and parent would unite in a common +bond of union were the family honour +to be asserted against an attack from +any adversary to the family out of +the house. Their intestine jealousies +would be forgotten for the time, for +the maintenance of the common +good—a fancied good; for, after +all, mother and daughters have +the same blood, the same temperr +and character, the same vain-glory, +conceit, and irritability, the same +strong prejudices of ignorance; and +they would join hands and clamour +together in the same opposition to the +stranger. But this common-cause +making, upon occasions of extraordinary +pressure from without, detracts +nothing, at other times, from the mistrust, +jealousy, and angry susceptibility +of the children in internal affairs. +In moments of family crisis, will +matters always go on as heretofore?</p> + +<p>Nurseries will be obstreperous sometimes, +and children will revolt, and +mammas may pass very uncomfortable +moments in the face of angry +daughters in rebellion. Will the +children take upon themselves, at +last, to protest against mamma's disdainful +commands, and assert a will +of their own, and a right to think for +themselves? This question is one +upon the solution of which depends +the fate of France, as well as upon the +many thousand chances which the +capricious and ever-shifting gales of +a revolutionary atmosphere may, at +any moment, suddenly blow, like a +spark into a powder barrel, shattering +the face of the past, and changing +the direction of the future. Twice +already, since the revolution of February, +has the question been nearly +answered in the affirmative. The +last instance, of which more anon, +may be taken as a striking proof +that the children may possibly not +always submit to the dictates of +the mother,—that family mistrust +may break out into family quarrel, +and family quarrel in nations is +civil war. Who again, however, +may venture to predict what shall be +the destinies of Republican France,—what +web of darkness or of light, of +blood-streaked stuff or of gold-threaded +tissue, it may be weaving +with its agitated and troubled hands, +or what force it may interpose to +tear the work to shreds before +it be even yet completed? Most +may fear, none may say. But prediction, +upon whatever cunning foresight +it may be based, must always +call a sort of feeling of inspiration,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> +nearly allied to superstition, to its +aid: and thus the fanciful mind may, +without taking upon itself the airs of +a Pythoness, give way to a little superstition, +and yet, perhaps, be not too +strongly condemned of folly. There exists +an old prophecy in France, emanating +from a monk of the middle ages, +the authenticity of which cannot be +doubted, or, at all events, cannot be +disputed, in as far as it was in well-known +existence at the commencement +of this century. It predicts, in +mystic language,—dark, it is true, but +wonderfully clear after its verification,—all +the many revolutionary changes +that have taken place in France, and +now once more proclaims the reign +of the "sons of Brutus." "Armed +men," it distinctly says, "will march +upon the doomed city," "sword and +fire will prevail against it," "the +wolves will devour each other." May +the seeming superstition of a fantastical +question be pardoned! May not +these words refer to the future outbreak +of the provinces of France +against the capital? If they do, in +what sense, with what tendencies, to +forward the views of what party, may +it be? Be that as it may, however, +it is not the obscure future that is +dealt with here, but the present confused +and uncertain state of Republican +France.</p> + +<p>As it may be inferred from what has +been said, Paris, then, has put on its +crown, as capital, to some purpose. +Never did despot assert his right to +dictate his autocratic will to serfs and +slaves more authoritatively than does +revolutionary and republican Paris +to the provinces of France. No +three-tailed Bashaw of old melodrams +could be more imperative in +his ordinances, more arrogant in +the conviction of the indisputability +of his will. The bare supposition +that the provinces could have a will +of their own would strike Paris dumb +with astonishment. Paris has been +accustomed to consider itself not only +as the heart, but the head, and the +arms and legs to boot, of the whole +country. The inert body has no more, +in its consideration, to do, than allow +itself to be fed with what scanty morsels +of bounty and importance Paris +may choose to afford, and then not to +dare to grumble afterwards if the food +prove unsavoury to its tastes, or indigestible +to its susceptibilities. Paris +is "Sir Oracle," and, when it speaks, +no provincial "dog dare bark." +Paris, thus, is the great type of +the mainspring of the national character,—which +works sometimes, +we allow, for good as well as for +evil:—namely, of that mixture of +vanity and overweening conceit, which +may be found at the bottom of almost +every action of the French. It calls +itself "the great capital of the +civilised world;" and thus considers +that, although the departments may be +admitted to the reflected rays of lustre +that emanate from its superior glory, +they must look upon themselves as +mere satellites, created to revolve at its +liking and its high will, and perform +their revolutions in whatever direction +it deems fit to make its own revolution. +Let it not be supposed that this +representation is exaggerated, or that +it proceeds from the distorted views +of a foreigner. Hear the Parisian himself +speak; list to his expressions of +contempt for those unknown and barbarous +regions called departments; +mark how he asserts the unutterable +superiority of his Parisian essence; +see how he tosses his head and curls +his lip with an infinitely aristocratic air, +when he condescends to notice them +with a word; and never was Paris more +eager in the maintenance of its tyrannical +supremacy; never was it more +despotically and autocratically disposed; +never more aristocratic, to use +the pet phrase of the day, than under +the rule of <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">soi-disant</i> liberty, and of +liberty of opinion, above all other +liberties proclaimed by the French +republic.</p> + +<p>What were the expressions of the +first republican minister of the interior, +that type of republican exclusiveness +and despotism, in his famous and +rather too famous <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">bulletins de la republique</i>, +issued to all France as the +language and opinions of the government +of the day? Paris, they informed +the world, was the heart of France, +from which all life and living principle +emanated, through which every drop +of the country's blood must flow, in +order that it might beat in unison, and +be refreshed with true republican +vitality. Paris, they said again, was +the hand that had created and fashioned<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> +the republic, and that was to direct its +steps, lead it vigorously forward in its +way—as it was the head that conceived, +it was the hand that executed: it +was more than all this, it was the <em>soul</em> +of France—the pure and true essence +emanating from the new deity, the republic. +Paris, they asserted in as +many direct words, was the mistress +whose will was to be obeyed. It is +unnecessary to point out how little +such declarations were in accordance +with republican principles, what little +affinity they had with the three great +watchwords of the day, "Liberty, +Equality, and Fraternity." Republicanism +in France, according to those +old traditions, to which those who call +themselves the only true and pure republicans +seem always to be looking +back as the only true and pure models +for their admiration and imitation, +was always based upon despotism, +supported by constraint, compulsion, +violence, and even terrorism; and the +first efforts of modern republicanism +were evidently exerted to place their +old, newfangled, statue of bastard +liberty upon the same heterogeneous +pedestal. The instructions of the same +Bashaw-minister to the emissaries +whom he despatched as Bashaws of +lesser and fewer tails into the provinces, +to see that they were duly disposed to +fall down and worship the Goddess Republic, +that had been set up, were +modelled after the same and still +rougher fashion.</p> + +<p>The missionaries were invested with +autocratic powers to make and unmake +according to their own autocratic will; +to send away functionaries who might +appear lukewarm in the cause; to put +in their places such acolytes as might +better serve the altars of the goddess, +and to offer up sacrifices to her, civil +and military, judicial and political, as +they might think pleasing to the divinity, +or convenient and agreeable to +their own hates and prejudices. They +were particularly requested to <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">travailler</i> +the country, to torture it, as the +French phrase goes; and were taught, +if they could not hammer the hard and +unbending metal of departmental +feeling to the shape they fancied, just +gently to make the iron red-hot with +the fire of terrorism, and then twist it +to the suitable form. How well the +workmen, in many instances, performed +the task—how well they employed +the fiery passions of the mob to +produce the desired red-hot effect, and +then strike—is a matter of historical +fact.</p> + +<p>In the elections for the National +Assembly, the same dogmas of republican +religion were strenuously enforced. +No emissaries of the Inquisition +ever used more moral violence +to propagate a faith among suspected +schismatics, than did these ministers +of republican despotism to enforce the +full, entire, and uttermost doctrines of +their creed, even to the minutest +articles. Where the moral influence appeared +unlikely to penetrate as deeply +into men's hearts as was desired, other +and more direct methods were adopted +to make entire converts; and, when +these methods were found too mild to +work the intended effect, and purge the +land of moderatism and anti-whole-hog-ism, +another stronger and more +racking dose was administered: the +mob was excited to overawe with +threat and terrorism, and, where it +could not prevent, to destroy. How +should the departments dare to have a +will of their own? The rebellious +children were to be whipped like +schoolboys into learning their lessons +of pure and undefiled republicanism, +and reciting them as Master Commissioner +taught them; there was no +better rod in pickle for such naughty +urchins than the scourge of the fury +of a mob, carefully taught another +lesson, and one it was not slow of +learning—namely, that it was master, +and must constrain obedience to its +will; while, in fact, itself obeyed the +influence, and was the instrument of +the master-spirit that ruled up above, +and made the best, or rather the worst +use of its rule. That all these measures +failed in a great measure—those +of violence as well as those of moral +constraint—is attributable to a variety +of complicated reasons, connected with +the present state of the departments; +and the how and why they failed, +will be the subject of a few considerations +presently.</p> + +<p>What, again, were the expressions +of the more violent and so-called only +true republican party in the capital, +proceeding from its organs, the clubs, +upon the same occasion of the elections? +To all the candidates who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span> +presented themselves before them, the +same question was propounded. If, +when the votes of all France were +taken, it should be found that the +departments declared themselves +averse to the establishment of a republic, +what would be the duty they +would have to perform,—what steps +would they take? Those who did not +declare that they would turn against +that National Assembly, of which +they themselves might then be members, +and take up arms to march upon +it, were denounced as traitors to their +country, unworthy of the votes of true +men, and hooted from the tribune, in +which they had dared to stand forward +as future representatives of the people. +It would have been in vain to insinuate +to these good gentlemen, that, in +the application of the principle of +universal suffrage, in which every man +was not only an elector, but eligible +as representative, the voice of the majority +would be the voice of all France; +and that it was for all France, by the +voice of its majority, to decide upon +the form of government best suited to +all France. In vain, indeed. The +ready answer would invariably have +been—that Paris was the mistress of +France, and had a right to dictate +its will; that Paris had made the +revolution, and that, consequently, +Paris was privileged to support the +principles of that revolution, and to +arrogate to itself all its advantages: +that the country at large, in fact, had +nothing to do but to give in its approval, +and be happy that its concurrence +was so far demanded, and that, +should it dare to have an opinion of +its own, woe betide it! All this insolent +bombast of the ultra party in +Paris might have been spared, however; +the cause of "Paris <em>v.</em> the Departments" +was never called into the +court of the country. The departments +had accepted the establishment of the +republic as a <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">fait accompli</i>: they never +desired to subvert the new order of +things by another convulsion, that +would have plunged the country, already +so miserable, into an increase of +misery; but they protested in favour +of a republic of peace and order, upon +moderate principles; and, lo and behold, +Paris itself combined with them +in this desire. The disappointed party +of the directing master-spirits of Paris +have been none the less furious in +their expressions of contempt for the +openly declared will of all France. +They had long kicked down their idol +of universal suffrage with disdain, as +soon as they had found that, in spite +of all the hidden machinery they had +set to work in it, the idol had not +obeyed their will, or declared their +oracles. Universal suffrage they pronounced +a hoax: constraint, tyranny, +anarchy, conspiracy, civil war, were +proclaimed by them the only true +elements of the only true republic. +Frantic with disappointment at the +result of their own manœuvres, by +which they had been caught in their +own toils, they seized upon the pretext +of sympathy in the sorrows of +another country; and, aided by the +treachery of certain of their own party +in authority, invaded the obnoxious +Assembly, overthrew the government +for an hour, and proclaimed a terrorist +government of their own. Foiled +again in this audacious attempt, <em>foiled +at least for the time being</em>, they now +endeavoured to patch up the shaking +soil that has given way beneath their +feet, and plunged their leaders into a +quagmire, and to build new foundations +for fresh aggressions upon the discontent +of a part of the working-classes. +For this purpose they have taken two +newfangled tools into their hands, the +one of impulsion, the other of repulsion—the +one of enthusiasm, the +other of alarm; and both are so +vaguely fashioned, and of so unintelligible +a nature, that the real +fact of their existence can never +be proved, although their use, +their purpose, and their design, in +the hands of these men, are very +clear. The one of these tools is a +bugbear, a phantom, a bogie, to which +they endeavour to give as terrific an +aspect as possible, in order to fright +ignorant men over into their own +ranks. This evil spirit, they declare, +has an existence, although no one +ever saw it, no one ever felt it, no one +ever knew where it dwells. No superstitious +people was ever endeavoured +to be worked up into a more irrefragable +belief of some mysterious +demon that haunts them in dark +woods and obscure places to devour +them—nor, generally, with more complete +success over the credulous; for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span> +fear is the most powerful agent over +the minds of the masses, and more +especially when the fear is of the unknown +and mysterious: and certainly +no demon was ever described with a +more hideous or blacker face. This +bogie, phantom, bugbear, is a supposed +influence called "Reaction." No +precise form is given to it, for that +would be to deprive it of more than +half its terrors. No! <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">onme ignotum +pro terribili</i> is the policy. Nothing +can be more vague or indefinite than +this same monster, Reaction; it remains +an Ossianic cloudlike spectre, +floating no one knows whence, but +bringing death and pestilence in its +train. If the working-classes suffer, +it is the Reaction, they are told, that +is the cause of all their sufferings. If +all their exactions, however exorbitant +and impossible, <em>are not conceded +at once</em>, it is because that horrible Reaction +labours that their just demands +should be withheld. If the most violent +of their own body are not elected +as the true representatives of the +people, it is because that pestilential +Reaction has cast a spell over the +minds of all the electors. The Reaction +has also, potent demon although it be, +all the freaks and caprices of a lesser +imp; it performs the strangest and +most incomprehensible feats,—for if a +discontented mass of workmen revolt +unsuccessfully, and gain not their ends, +it was the Reaction again that was the +cause of all. The Reaction, for its own +vile reactionary purposes, it was, that +treacherously induced them to revolt, +when they themselves were naturally +inclined to be the most peaceable, +contented, and the least exorbitant +people on the earth. See how perfidious, +Machiavelic, and Jesuitical, is +this horrible monster Reaction! Pity +it is that, in order to establish the +fact of its real existence, it should not +as yet have made itself visible to +mortal eyes in any incarnate form! +The Reaction is, however, no less, +men are told, the enemy of the republic, +the adversary of all true republican +principles, labouring ever to overthrow +it; above all, the enemy of the people +and the people's interests, their undermining +serpent, their secret assassin. +It is already sapping, unseen, the foundations +of the republic, and it intends +to pull down the ruins of that august +structure upon the heads of the people, +and crush it for ever beneath them. +In spite of the infinite harm worked +upon the spirit of the lower classes by +the establishment of the belief in this +phantom, there would, perhaps, be +no real danger in the effect produced +by the clamours of insensate ultra +journals, the preachings of agitating +demagogues, and the insidious insinuations +of anarchist <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">meneurs</i> among the +crowd, did not certain members of the +government itself, and some of those +in authority, render themselves parties +concerned to the propagation of +the belief, either genuinely, from having +been themselves carefully inoculated +with the <em>virus</em> of false fear, until +they have really taken the disease, or +designedly, for the advancement of +their own purposes—did they not, +in fact, throw a sop continually to +mob-lecturers, by insinuating their +own conviction in the existence of +"bogie" by their decrees, edicts, and +proclamations, and, when they are +called to put down anarchy, never +obey without crying "Reaction" at +the same time, and vainly giving the +phantom a slap on the face. As it is—and +herein lies the evil—the people +are taught that the National Assembly, +as it is now constituted, is the +concentrated essence of the spirit of +Reaction—that the representatives of +the people, with but few exceptions, +are the ministering imps in a visible +form of the invisible demon. If a +word of reason is spoken in the Assembly +against the clamours of unreasonable +demand—"Look ye there! reaction!" +is the cry; if it prepares safe +measures of repression against the +open efforts of anarchy—"reaction;" +if it defends its own existence against +the subversive attempts of conspirators—"reaction;" +if it attempts to +establish the republic upon a firm +and solid, but moderate basis—"reaction;" +if it does any thing—"reaction;" +if it does nothing—"reaction;" +if it cannot perform impossible +wonders for the amelioration and prosperity +of the lower working-classes,—at +which, however, it labours most +hard,—"reaction—reaction—reaction; +the reaction of aristocratic feeling—the +reaction of ill will—the reaction +of indifference and indolence;" thereby +always meaning reaction against the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> +true republic, and its true representatives, +the lower classes. The phantom +Reaction is thus used as a tool by a +wild and violent party against the +present order of things; against the +moderate majority of the Assembly +more particularly; against all things +and all men not suiting its views, its +schemes, its dreams, and its ambitions; +and the bugbear is not ill got +up to scare the credulous of the lower +classes more completely into the toils +of the malcontents, with the fear that +reaction really may destroy that idol +from which they have been taught to +expect all the good gifts of "roasted +larks," for which they have only to +open their mouths, and "showers of +gold," for which they have only to +stretch forth their hands—that idol +that has been lacquered over with +the false gilding of delusive promises +by imprudent rulers, and +which the many still fancy to be +all of solid gold—in a word, the Republic. +The reaction, in truth, exists +not, or exists not in the manner that +people would be led to believe. If it +exists, it is in the disgust of the more +laborious and less tumultuous of the +lower classes themselves, who, in their +increasing misery, would be happy to +accept the Lama of Thibet, or any +other abstraction, with an absolute +government, in the place of the false +idol of their hopes, that has as yet +only deluded them into greater misery— +it is in the reactionary cry of the +wretched, who call for "King Log," or +any other senseless ruler that would +bring with it peace, and order, and a +hope of well-being.</p> + +<p>The other tool employed by the +designing malcontents—that of impulsion—is +the banner upon which is inscribed +"<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Republique Democratique</i>." +We have a republic, it is true, they +say, but not the republic of our wishes. +This is only a mere republic like +any other: we want a democratic republic, +and the democratic republic is +taken from us; but the democratic +republic we must and will have. Ask +them what they mean by their "<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">republique +democratique</i>," they will not +be able to inform you. They launch +into phrases which are but phrases: +they lose themselves in a cloudy confusion +of terms and ideas: they pretend +to give you vague and chaotic +explanations, that are no explanations +at all: they know not themselves +what they mean. Universal suffrage +upon its broadest basis, with all the +rights and privileges thereto attached, +in their most democratic sense, is no +democratic republic according to their +view. What is? Who can tell?—certainly +not they. "They have clamoured +for the moon," says a wit of +the day, "and the moon has been +given them; and now they cry, 'we +are betrayed; we wanted the sun, +and the sun we will have.' But have +a care! the sun will blind your eyes, +my friends, and you will stagger in +still greater darkness; the sun will +burn your fingers, and you will smart +beneath the blisters. But they heed +not; they still clamour for the sun." At +all events, the banner on which flaunts +aloft the words—"<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Republique démocratique</i>" +is a good rallying banner for +all malcontents, a good banner under +which to enlist the unwary among +their ranks. It is a cry, a clamour, +and all the more enticing because it +is vague, unexplained, mysterious in +its fresh promises of some fancied +good that has not yet arrived, full of +the great and alluring unknown. Thus +it serves a purpose.</p> + +<p>But to return from this long digression +upon the efforts of subversive +parties, to the state of feeling that +subsists in Republican France between +its now well-sorted and divided elements—Paris +and the provinces.</p> + +<p>What are, again, the expressions +used by the lower classes with regard +to the departments? what the +feelings they express? Ever the +same. Paris, they declare, makes, has +made, and will make all the revolutions +of the country. Paris, consequently, +is all in all in France: Paris +is the mistress, and the queen, the +supreme arbitress of the destinies of +France: Paris must be obeyed in all +its wishes and its high will. What +were the words of the workmen of the +national workshops, in a late revolt, to +the Minister of Public Works? They +were told that there was no longer +any work for them in the capital, that +their pretended labour was an irony +of labour, that the country paid them +for doing nothing, and that they were +eating the bread of idleness under the +name of work: they were told that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span> +they were to be dispersed in the provinces, +to be employed upon great +works of public utility—upon railroads +and canals, that stood still for +want of hands: while money was +lavishly promised them for this +work, which the treasury could +no longer afford upon unproductive +labour. What was their answer? +That they, the people, had made the +revolution in Paris, that they were +the masters of Paris, that Paris was +theirs, to work in it their work; that, +as masters of Paris, they were not to +be bid leave it; that leave it they +would not; that if labour failed, money +must be found them at all events, +or they would find means of taking it; +in short, that they would not be <em>degraded</em> +by being sent into the provinces. +The workmen of Paris claim, +then, to be the masters of the capital, +and still more, in their esteem, the +masters of all France. The people of +Paris, then, is <em>the</em> people; it owns no +other. Now the people, in modern +republican phrase, and alas! in government +decrees also, is by no means +the nation; it means the lower classes +alone. The people, it has been previously +declared, is the sovereign people, +whose voice is the voice of God; then, +they reply, by the simplest reasoning, +the sovereign people, whose voice is +the voice of God—it is alone we: it is +the lower classes. But there is still +another deduction to be drawn. +Among the lower classes it is only the +active, the stirring, the discontented, +the disorderly and tumultuous, who +come forward in evidence as the representatives +of this people. And +thus it is very clear that the sovereign +people, whose voice is the voice +of God, the sovereign of France, is a +small body of uneducated, misled, and +wrong-headed men in the capital. So +stands the account in theory. And +who can deny that, in theory, they are +in truth the masters? Who shall say +when the chances of revolutionary +struggles may not make them so in fact?</p> + +<p>So stands the state of feeling on the +side of Paris—how stands it on the +other side?</p> + +<p>When the revolution of February +broke out, the departments scarcely +knew themselves, their wishes, or +their feelings. They had no mutual +understanding. They were taken by +surprise. They had not the time to +consult their sentiments. Notoriously +anti-republican as has been shown to +have been the spirit of all France +in the departments, they accepted, +however, from old habit, the <em>dictum</em> +of Paris: they accepted, as has been +before remarked, from that species of +resignation shown in France to a <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">fait +accompli</i>: they accepted from a wish +to avoid all further convulsion, from +a love of established order in whatever +shape it might come—from a hope +that, whatever the form of government +proclaimed and imposed upon +the country, all would "go well." +And besides, the republic, they were +told, was only a provisional form of +government at a moment of crisis, +when no other could be adopted: +upon its future form of government, +the country, it was said, was to be +freely consulted: the provinces were +not prepared for the ulterior <em>dictum</em> of +Paris, that, without consulting the +nation at all, the republic was to be +considered as definitive; and that those +who desired a change would be regarded +as traitors to their country. +But France is not what it was; it is +enlightened by the experience of +successive revolutions. The jealousy +of the departments, towards despotic +Paris had long been boiling in men's +hearts: it did not at first boil over; +but when, instead of order and peace, +the provinces found that the new +government produced only results of +disorder, animosity, and ruin, the +departments began to grumble and +murmur openly—for the first time +they seemed determined to show that +they ought to have, and would have, a +will of their own. In the commencement +all was tranquil. In some parts +of France the republic was accepted, +if not with that enthusiasm which +lying Parisian papers would have +induced the world to believe, at all +events with a species of contentment, +arising from the trust that a more +equitable popular government would +relieve the mass from some of those +charges which weighed so heavily +upon them under the former government, +and remove constraints that +were painful to them. In other parts, +there prevailed a sort of sullen resignation +to the establishment of a +<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">régime</i> which was dreaded from an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span> +experience of a hateful past, and was +repulsive to its tastes—but it was a +resignation to the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">fait accompli</i>. Some +thus hoped, and others feared; but +all combined in assuming an attitude +of quiet expectation.</p> + +<p>In this state was France, when an +imprudent Minister of the Interior, +pushed on by ambitious, designing, +misguided, and reckless men, sent +down as a scourge upon the country +those commissaries of obnoxious +memory, who were publicly charged +to work their will upon the departments +as they pleased, by the means +they pleased, by whatever oppressive +or repressive measures they pleased, +provided they worked the suspected +and mistrusted departments into a +proper feeling of true republican principle, +according to the most ultra +traditional doctrines of old republicanism. +Down upon the country +came the autocratic commissaries with +these instructions; and, in too many +instances, with the best intentions of +torturing and tormenting the country, +after their own fashion and according +to their own views, to their heart's +content. Down they came, with their +history of the first republic in their +heads, and the desire in their hearts +of emulating the zeal of those fearful +representatives of the people of the +last century, who ruled in the departments, +each a petty, but a bloody +tyrant. To all alike the same violence +of disposition must not be attributed: +there were a few more prudent and +better-thinking men among the number—although +they, in certain instances, +were afterwards accused in high +quarters of mild laxity, and recalled +as suspected of moderatism; but the +many were evidently disposed to play +the tyrant to the life, in their desperate +measures to twist the country to their +will. The times, however, were +changed; the spirit of the age no +longer permitted of the same violence. +<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Messieurs les Commissaires</i> could not +well proceed by the old-established +and expeditious method of cementing +the foundations of republics, one and +indivisible, by blood, or erecting the +scaffolding of the edifice on scaffolds. +Shootings, drownings, and guillotinings +were instruments rather too +rough to be accepted by the manners +of the time. But they had +other means in their power, and +according to the tenor of their instructions, +which they thought to use, +and attempted to use, with just as +much effect. They dismissed functionaries +in wholesale numbers—put their +creatures, or those who cringed and worshipped, +in their places, with orders to +brow-beat and bully the recalcitrant, +and with the exhibition of high +example before their eyes. They +threatened and accused; and when +these means failed, according to their +fancy, or when they were too mild +for the taste of Master Commissary, +the other underhand instruments of +terrorism, already mentioned, were +employed to make men crouch and +tremble. The manner in which mobs +have been excited against the better +classes, or those who were suspected +of moderatism, by manœuvres unequivocally +traced to the agency of the +commissaries themselves, and the +frightful excesses committed, are +matters of common notoriety and of +newspaper history. The scenes of +the old Revolution were resorted to, +although in another form; and not +only supposed anti-republican sentiment, +but moderatism, was endeavoured +to be kept down by agents of +terror, and the ever-ready riotous +populations of the great towns. It +would be an endless and a useless task +to re-transcribe all the scenes of the +violence of an insensate mob, secretly +got up by the republican agents in +authority, more than secretly connived +at, and openly and avowedly excused +and applauded. The rod that the commissary +himself could not prudently +employ, he placed in the hands of a +designedly inflamed and infuriated +people, to scourge the country to his +will. One of the strongest instances, +however, may be found in that state +of continual terror on the one hand, and +violence on the other, which for +many long weeks hung over the head +of the doomed city of Lyons. See +there the mob constituting itself into +illegally armed bodies, sundered from +and inimical to the national guards, +assuming names, such as <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">les voraces</i> +and <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">les dévorants</i>, by which they +themselves marked their character, +ruling the whole city of Lyons by fear; +exacting, spoliating, arresting +<em>suspects</em> at will; searching the houses +of quiet inhabitants under the pretext +of conspiracies against the republic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> +that did not exist, and of concealed +arms, such as they themselves illegally +bore, that never could be found; +dragging trembling priests from the +altar to be confined in cellars, because +they were suspected of anti-republicanism; +laying their hands upon +church plate as the property of traitors; +liberating prisoners arrested for +revolt and disorder—arresting the +magistrates who had condemned +them; dictating their orders to military +officers for the release of soldiers +put under restraint; pulling a general +from his horse, and nearly immolating +him to the wrath of their high justice +in the streets; commanding the fortresses, +making barricades at the least +opposition to their will, domineering +over the whole city as masters—a herd +of power-intoxicated savages—and the +commissary looking on, applauding, +sanctioning their deeds, rubbing his +hands with satisfaction, and approving +them with the words "<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Allez, mes +enfans! vous faites bien!</i>" Such scenes +as these, carried to the utmost limits +of anarchy and excess in Lyons, have +been exhibited also in almost all the +great towns of France, with all the +effect of well-applied terrorism. There +is scarcely one that has not similar +outrages, from the violence of an excited +mob, to lay to the charge of him +who was set in authority over them—to +work his will, so said the letter of +his instructions—but to preserve +peace and order, in a country where +convulsions, collisions, and commotions +were so infinitely to be dreaded +and avoided—so should his duty have +told him. It ought to be said, at the +same time, that the acknowledged +authorities of the government were +aided in their high revolutionary +mission, and in the extraordinary +means they employed in its execution, +by less acknowledged agents, in the +persons of emissaries from the violent +ultra clubs of Paris; who, arrogating +to themselves the right to the true +expression of the only true feeling of +Paris—and consequently, <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">à fortiori</i>, of +all France—racked the country with +their manœuvres, their excitements +to violence, their bullying threats and +intimidations. Unacknowledged by +government authority as they were, +however, their missions were bestowed +on them by the quondam friends and +fellow-conspirators, under the former +reign of the Minister of the Interior; +their expenses were supported by +funds, supplied no one could say by +what hand, although most might divine; +their measures were evidently +taken in accordance, and in perfectly +good understanding, with the departmental +commissary.</p> + +<p>What, however, was the result? +The very reverse from that intended +by <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Messieurs les Commissaires</i> and +their supporter, the Minister of the +Interior. They over-reached themselves, +and worked the very effect +they attempted to exterminate. Instead +of subjugating the departments +to their will of ultra-republicanism by +the violence of terrorism, they almost +roused the whole better feeling of the +country, at first quietly disposed and +resigned, against the very principles +of republicanism in general. The sentiment +at first accepted was soured +and embittered; the discontent and +aversion daily increased; and it was +more than once openly affirmed that +the departments were ready to revolt, +and formed the design of marching +upon Paris. That this subject was +actually discussed in large, and not +even secret meetings in the provinces—and +even in such as had been always +considered ultra-liberal and democratic +in their opinions, as parts of Normandy, +for instance—admits of but +little doubt; and this feeling, although +it was never actually embodied in any +living and active fact of resistance, +may be taken as one example in support +of the opinion, that the children +may not always prove so submissive +to the dictates of the mother, and may +one day raise their voices and hold +forth their hands to dispute her will. +The open and general outbreak of the +provinces, which was at one time expected, +and was the common topic of +conversation in Paris, was suppressed, +however, by the influence of the better-thinking +and more prudential men in +the country. But the feeling of opposition +and resistance did not fail to +manifest itself in minor demonstrations. +Expostulations were at first +made against the tyranny and the inflammatory +manœuvres of the government +commissaries; then broke out +angry remonstrances on the part of the +<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">bourgeoisie</i>, backed by the better and +quieter of the working-classes; and +at last, when all these more legitimate<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span> +means failed, the populations of several +of the larger towns rose against +the provisional despot, who played the +autocrat and the tyrant in the name of +"Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity."</p> + +<p>The national guards took up arms +to demand the revocation and the departure +of the obnoxious commissary. +The commissary, in opposition, acted +the self-same part of which a despotic +king has since been so violently accused +by the republican journals. As Ferdinand +of Naples is said to have excited +the dregs of the populace, the +lazzaroni, to aid him in a reactionary +movement in his favour, so did even +the republican commissary after the +self-same system. He caused the mob +to be roused to his assistance, as to that +of the only true democratic friend of +the people; he called upon them to take +up arms and combat in his defence: the +lazzaroni mob of the departments was +the weapon he wielded to overcome the +resistance of the majority to his will. +In most instances the recalcitrant part +of the provincial populations prevailed. +In several of the larger towns, as in +Bordeaux, Bourges, and many others, +the commissary was obliged to take to +flight: in some the palace of the little +tyrant was stormed, he himself was +made prisoner, and was taken to the +railroad, and "packed off" back to +that Paris which had sent him. In a +very few instances only the influence +of the commissary gained the day: in +still less was he again returned, to be +enforced upon the department from +which he had been driven; and in one +case he was sent back by the powers +that were, only to be again ignominiously +expelled.</p> + +<p>In the department of the Ariège, at +the town of Foix, a journal, founded +under the auspices of the commissaries +of the government, and professing the +most violent ultra-republican doctrines, +was publicly burnt by the +magistrates and most influential persons +of the place, to show their contempt +and abhorrence of the principles +and actions of the authority set over +them. Other instances of the general +opposition, either to the commissaries +themselves or to the agents they had +appointed and supported, on account +of their violence, their tyrannical measures, +and their anarchical principles, +are too numerous to quote; and, generally +speaking, the feeling was so +strong, that the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Messieurs les Commissaires</i>, +or rather, <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">les Citoyens Commissaires</i>, +were obliged to give way before +the expression of popular indignation.</p> + +<p>The departments then, for the first +time, have begun to show that they +are determined not to be treated as +the mere humble serfs of the capital,—that +they are resolved to have a will +and an action of their own. The results +have been such that, even among +the staunch republicans in the provinces, +and among those who look to +the republic as the only form of government +at present suitable to France, +symptoms of a tendency to a federal +system have indubitably sprung up,—of +a tendency, in fact, to that system +in opposition to which, under the first +revolution, the title of "one and indivisible,"—so +little understood at the +present day, so constantly repeated by +the herd without any real meaning being +attached to it,—was bestowed upon +the republic. The fear of a powerfully +organised resistance to the sacred +principles of French republicanism,—unity +and indivisibility,—is, at this +very time, one of the bugbears by which +those in power are terrified and haunted. +But, whether this fear be well +founded or not, it suffices for the present +purpose, to show that a disunited +feeling exists to a great extent between +the departments and the capital; +and that, while on the one hand +the former begin to show a disposition +to resist the overweening influence and +tyrannical importance of the former, +on the other, a dread is beginning to +be expressed of their growing discontent, +and a suspicion is constantly +expressed of their increasing tendency +to reactionary principles, likely to +prove eventually subversive to the +republic. Among those "lookers-on," +who proverbially "see the most +of the game," there are some who, +in their exceptional and impartial +position as foreigners, are able to see +expressed in letters from the provinces +"curses, not loud, but deep," against +"that detestable, unruly, and insolent +Paris, that has made alone a hateful +revolution, which it imposes on all +France." It cannot, however, be said, +at the same time, that any reactionary +feeling against the republic itself, and +a republican form of government, +prevails in the country at large. That +which is thought to be stigmatised by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> +the ultra party with the term of +"reaction," appears, as yet, to be +nothing but the acceptation of a republic +based upon the principles of +peace and order; but, at the same +time, an opposition to all views and +doctrines likely to produce disorder +and anarchy. And yet still, in another +sense, the feeling of the country at +large cannot be said to be strictly +republican: the "true men" might be +in vain sought except in the disorderly, +tumultuous, excitable, and +easily stirred populations of the great +manufacturing towns.</p> + +<p>Shortly after the appointment of +the obnoxious commissaries, several +causes arose to increase the discontent +of the departments, not only among +the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">ci-devant</i> upper and middling +classes, but among the lower classes,—particularly +in the agricultural districts, +and more especially among that +peasant population that has so universally +in France acquired a little property +in land. One of these causes +was the imposition of the new taxes. +Under the former <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">régime</i>, France had +been crushed down by the weight of its +impositions. One of the first advantages +of the republic was announced, +in official proclamations, to consist in +the removal of taxes, and in the enormous +diminution of state expenses +necessarily attendant upon a republican +form of government. Already +the country people looked to a release +from the greater part of their obligations: +the system of "no taxes at all," +they thought, in their <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">naïveté</i>, was to +follow; instead of which came very +shortly the decree, begging the country +for the loan of a certain proportion +of the taxes for the ensuing year +beforehand, in order to meet the deficiencies +in the finances, followed +up almost immediately by the more +imperative ordinance, imposing the +additional 45 per cent in support +of the increased, not diminished, expenses +of the republican government. +In many parts of the country the peasant +population refused to pay this +additional tax, or responded only to +the demand with that equivocal answer, +so characteristic of the French +peasant, "We'll see about it." It +nevertheless, however, refused to pay +at the same time the rents of its landlords, +upon the pretext that it was +ruined by the revolution, and the +exactions of the republic. It was in +vain that the government protested +that these measures were necessitated +by the financial dilapidations of the +dethroned dynasty. Clear-sighted +enough where their own interests are +concerned, the French peasants in the +provinces replied by denunciations of +that odious Paris. Paris, they declared, +had chosen to make for the +nonce a revolution in which they had +not aided, and which they had not +desired; and then Paris turned to its +own advantage alone the results of +that revolution. It had imposed upon +all France, by calling for resources +from a country already drained, to be +lavishly squandered in rewarding the +idleness of its own tumultuous and +unruly inhabitants among the working-classes, +which it dreaded, by the +establishment of its expensive so-called +<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">ateliers nationaux</i>, and by paying +fresh troops under the name +<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">gardes mobiles</i>,—when the standing +army was already such a burden +the country,—for the sake of draining +off and regularising the worst dregs +of its own population, and satisfying +the caprices of a riotous Parisian mob, +that chose to object to the presence of +the old military force among it, while +it accepted a new defensive and repressive +force, in addition to the +former, under a new title. Upon +such questions, of vital importance to +their own interests, the country people +of the provinces were not disposed to +listen to argument or reason; and +in the discontent at the exorbitant +exactions of the capital the jealousy +of the departments towards Paris +waxed stronger and stronger.</p> + +<p>Another cause, which added greatly +to the increasing apprehension and +aversion was the preaching of the communist +doctrines in Paris, upon the first +establishment of republican principles, +and the support apparently given to +these wild and spoliating principles by +certain members of the Provisional +Government itself. If there be any +feeling more alive than any other in +the breast of the French peasant, it is +that attached to the acquirement and +the possession of landed property in +however humble a form, be it but a +small field or a tiny vineyard. If he has +any hope, any ambition, any sentiment, +which he thinks worth living for, +it is the extension, by any and every<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span> +means, of his small domain. On the +fact of this possession are concentrated +all the mainspring motives and agencies +of his whole existence—in this, his +industry, his talent, his cunning, his +thoughts, his affections, his very love +for his children, to whom he hopes to +transmit it. The great <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">mobile</i> of the +character of the French peasant is +self-interest in this respect. The +doctrines, then, which preached that +the possession of all landed property +by individuals is an infamous spoliation +of the <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">res publica</i>, filled the country +people in the provinces with the liveliest +alarm, and contributed to establish +a still greater hatred to a state of +things that tended to produce results so +fatally detrimental to all that they held +dear. The Parisian, almost as blindly +ignorant of the state of his own country—which, +in his theory that Paris is +all France, he looks upon with indifference, +if not contempt—as he is +proverbially utterly ignorant of every +other country beyond the frontiers +of France, even the most neighbouring—and, +in fact, of every thing that +touches upon geography or the state +of nations, of which he has only the +vaguest and most incorrect notions—thought +that all his wild fraternity +schemes, developed and accepted by +those who possessed nothing, in the +capital, would be received with enthusiasm +also by the "miserable, +oppressed, and tyrannised inhabitant +of the fields and plains;"—such was +the language used, and eagerly caught +up. The Parisian soon found, by experience, +that he had made a gross +mistake. The emissaries sent down +into the provinces by the professors and +high-priests of communism, or by the +ultra clubs, and supported, there is +every reason to believe, by the members +of the government before alluded +to, met only with the most active +repulsion. Their Utopian ideas of +universal fraternity and spoliation of +property were scorned, scouted, and +opposed: themselves were hooted, +pelted, almost lapidated as incendiary +enemies of the peasant. "The innocent +and humble inhabitant of the +fields" was indignant, insulted, aggrieved, +that he should be so contemptuously +considered "miserable and +oppressed:" he showed himself in the +light of the landed proprietor, the +most avariciously interested in the +possession of property, and by no +means the <em>naif</em> individual the Parisian +had been accustomed to believe him, +according to his text-books of <em>vaudevilles</em> +and melodramas. The agents +of communistic doctrines were forced +to retreat in dudgeon, to declare the +French peasant the most ignorant and +pig-headed animal upon earth, still +under the yoke of the tyrants, and +<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">endoctriné</i> by the aristocrats; and to +avow that the departments were not +ripe for the enlightenment of communism, +perhaps even to denounce them +as infamously reactionary. Certain +it is that communistic doctrines found +no enthusiastic disciples in the country; +or, if the propagandism made +any steps, it was after the fashion so +characteristically depicted in a caricature +published by the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Charivari</i>, in +which a peasant appears before the +mayor of his <em>commune</em> to say, that, +since a general <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">partage des biens</i> is to +take place, he puts down his name for +the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">château</i>, but makes a most wofully +wry face upon hearing that his own +field has been already divided among +the paupers of the village. The propagation +of communism, then, only excited +fears instead of hopes, consternation +instead of joy, and tended still +more to indispose the country people, +and excite their aversion and discontent +towards a state of things likely to +become so prejudicial to their interests: +more than ever, they were disposed to +revolt.</p> + +<p>In this state was the feeling of the +country at large when the general +elections came on, accompanied by all +the violence of party manœuvre to +support the principles of ultra-republicanism, +advocated by the unscrupulous +minister of the nation; but all these +efforts tended only to indispose it still +more, and to call forth, in spite of the +desperate opposition made, its sense +in favour of respect of property, order, +and moderatism of views in the republic, +if republic there was to be. +As is well known, an immense majority +of those men of moderate principles, +whom all the ill-judged and +hateful efforts of the violent and reckless +republicans at the head of affairs +had so greatly contributed to form +into a decided, self-conscious, and +compact party of opponents, was returned +to the Assembly. Most of the +leading men of the liberal party under<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> +the former dynasty, who had stood +forward as friends of progressive reform, +but not as opponents to the +constitutional monarchy principle, +were likewise elected, with great majorities, +by the suffrages of the people. +The country declared its will to be +against the views of the principal and +stirring influence which emanated from +the reckless man who governed the +interior affairs of the country in the +capital. But it did not forget, at the +same time, and it still bears an inveterate +grudge to the violent agents +of that ultra-republicanism, chiefly +concentrated in Paris, who had filled +the country with disorder, tumult, +terror, and, in some cases, bloodshed, +by the atrocious and outrageous means +it placed in the hands of a riotous mob +to overawe them, and sway the direction +of the elections, and by the base +manœuvres employed to attain their +ends. It does not forget the despotism +of certain commissaries, who, after +having their own lists of ultra-democratic +candidates, whom they intended +to force down the throats of the electors, +printed, threatened the printer, +who should dare to print any other, +with their high displeasure, and caused +them to shut up their press. It does +not forget the seizure of those papers +that proposed moderate candidates, +with every attempt to strangle in +practice that liberty of the press which +was so clamorously claimed in theory. +It does not forget the voters' lists torn +from the hands of voters by a purposely +excited mob. It does not forget +the odious manœuvre by which agents +were largely paid and sent about to +cry "<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Vive Henri V.</i>" in the streets of +towns, in order to induce the belief +in a Bourbonist reactionary party, +and thus rouse the passions and feelings +of the flattered and declamation-intoxicated +mob against the moderates, +regardless of the consequences—of +the animosity and the bloodshed. It +does not forget the intimidation, the +threat of fire and sword, the opposition +by force to the voting of whole villages +suspected of moderatism—the collision, +the constraint, the conflict, the violence. +It does not forget all this, +nor also that it owes the outrage, +the alarm, and the suffering, the +ruin to peace and order, to commerce, +to well-being, to fortune, to that +central power which turned a legion +of demons upon it, in the shape of revolutionary +emissaries and agents. It +forgets still less the scenes of Limoges, +where a mob were turned loose into +the polling-house to destroy the votes, +drive out the national guards, disarm +these defenders of order and right, and +form a mob government, to rule and +terrorise the town, while Master Commissary +looked on, and told the people +that it did well, and laughed in his +sleeve. It forgets still less the fury +of the disappointed upon the result of +the elections, their incitements to insurrections, +their preachings of armed +resistance for the sake of annulling the +elections, obtained, it must never be +forgotten, by <em>universal suffrage</em>, in face +of their culpable manœuvres: the +emissaries again sent down from the +clubs, and with an apparent connivance +of certain ultra-members of the +government, from the charge of which, +now more than ever since the conspiracy +of the 15th May, they will scarcely +be able to acquit themselves: the +efforts of these emissaries to make the +easily excited and tumultuous lower +classes take up arms, and the bloody +conflicts in the streets of Rouen: the +complicity of the very magistrates appointed +by these members of the government—the +terror and the bloodshed, +and then the cry of the furious +ultras that the people had been treacherously +assassinated—the conspiracies +and incendiary projects of the vanquished +at Marseilles, the troubles of +Lisle, of Amiens, of Lyons, of Aubusson, +of Rhodez, of Toulouse, of Carcassonne—why +swell the list of names?—of +almost every town in France, all +with the same intent of destroying those +elections of representatives which the +country had proclaimed in the sense +of order and of moderatism. It +forgets still less the dangers of that +same 15th May, when the government +was for a few hours overthrown, +by the disorderly, the disappointed, +the discontented, the violent ultra +republicans, the conspirators of Paris,—when +some of those, who had +been formerly their rulers, were +arrested as accomplices, and others +still in power can scarcely yet again +avoid the accusation and conviction +of complicity.</p> + +<p>All the other troubles of this distracted +country, since the revolution +of February, may be passed over—the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span> +ruin to commerce, the poverty, misery, +and want, the military revolts excited +by the same emissaries to cause divisions +in the army, as likewise the +unhappy troubles of Nismes, where +the disturbances took a religions tendency—as +a conflict of creeds between +Roman Catholics and Protestants, +rather than a political or even a +social character,—although they still +bore evidence of the disorder of the +times and the disturbance of the +country. The elections, then, contributed +more powerfully than ever to +the fermentation, the discontent, the +mistrust, and the ill-will of the +country.</p> + +<p>In this state of France, with the +feeling of impatient jealousy and +irritation against tyranny and despotism +expressed by the departments +towards the capital, with the evident +disunion between the provinces and +Paris, what are likely to be the destinies +of the Republic hereafter? +Again it must be said—who can tell, +who foresee, who predict? The Republic +has been accepted, and is maintained, +from a love of order and the +<em>status quo</em>: but there is no enthusiasm, +no admiration for the republican form +of government throughout the country +at large; there is, at most, indifference +to any government, whatever +it may be, provided it but +insure the stability and prosperity of +the country. If an opinion may be +hazarded, however, it is, that the +danger to the present established form +of things will not arise so much from +the conflict of contending parties in +the capital, as from the discontent, +disaffection, jealousy, and, perhaps, +final outbreak and resistance of the +departments. Terrorism has had its +day; and it would be difficult, if not +impossible, to apply the system once +again to the country in its present +state. What other means will the +violent possess—what coercive measures, +if, when parties come to an +issue, the wearied and disgusted +country should rise to protest against +the disorders of Republican Paris? +There seem at present to be none. +The result of such an outbreak would +be inevitable civil war. The strong +instance before alluded to, of the determination +of the departments to +assert a will of their own, was given +in a very striking manner in the affair +of the 15th May. One of the conspirators +got possession of the electric +telegraph at the Home Office, and +sent down despatches into all the provinces, +to inform the country that the +Assembly was dissolved, and the new +government of the ultra-anarchist +party had taken the reins of power. +Instead of being awed into submission +as heretofore, instead of calmly and +resignedly accepting the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">fait accompli</i> +as was their wont, the departments +immediately rose to protest against +the new revolution of Paris. Before +a counter-despatch could be sent down +into the provinces, to let them know +that the former order of things was +restored, the national guards of all +the great towns were up and out, with +the cry "to arms!" and it was resolved +to march upon Paris. It was not only +in the towns within a day's journey +of the capital that the movement was +spontaneously made. In the furthest +parts of the country, from the cities of +Avignon, Marseilles, Nismes, and all +the south of France, the national +guards were already on their way +towards the capital, before the information +that declared the more +satisfactory result of the day could be +made public. It is more than probable, +then, that, should a desperate +faction ever seize upon the power, or +even should a close conflict of parties +further endanger the safety of the +country and its tottering welfare, +that the provinces would again take +up arms against Paris, and that a +civil war would be the result.</p> + +<p>This is rather a suggestion hazarded, +than a prediction made, as to the +future fate of the French republic. +Whatever that future may be, an +uneasy submission on the part of a +great anti-republican majority to the +active agency of a small republican +minority—but, at the same time, a +desire of maintaining a government, +whatever it may be, if supportable, +for tranquillity's sake; a feeling of +humiliation and degradation in this +utter submission to the will of Paris +throughout the country—but, at the +same time, an apparent growing determination +eventually to resist that +will, should it at last prove intolerable—such +is the present state of Republican +France.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>COLONISATION.</h2> + +<p><cite>Journal of an Expedition into the Interior of Tropical Australia</cite>, &c. By Lieut.-Colonel +Sir <span class="smcap">T. Mitchell</span>, Surveyor-General, &c. 1 vol. London: Longmans.</p> + + +<p>Australia is the greatest accession +to substantial power ever made +by England. It is the <em>gift</em> of a <em>Continent</em>, +unstained by war, usurpation, +or the sufferings of a people. But +even this is but a narrow view of its +value. It is the addition of a territory, +almost boundless, to the possessions +of mankind; a location for a new +family of man, capable of supporting a +population equal to that of Europe; +or probably, from its command of the +ocean, and from the improved systems, +not merely of commercial communication, +but of agriculture itself, capable +of supplying the wants of double +the population of Europe. It is, in +fact, the virtual future addition of three +hundred millions of human beings, who +otherwise would not have existed. +And besides all this, and perhaps of a +higher order than all, is the transfer +of English civilisation, laws, habits, +industrial activity, and national freedom, +to the richest, but the most +abject countries of the globe; an imperial +England at the Antipodes, +securing, invigorating, and crowning +all its benefits by its religion.</p> + +<p>Within the last fifty years, the +population of the British islands has +nearly tripled; it is increasing in +England alone at the rate of a thousand +a day. In every kingdom of the +Continent it is increasing in an immense +ratio. The population is becoming +too great for the means of +existence. Every trade is overworked, +every profession is overstocked, +every expedient for a livelihood +threatens to be exhausted under +this vast and perpetual influx of life; +and the question of questions is, How +is this burthen to be lightened?</p> + +<p>There can be but one answer,—Emigration. +For the last century, common +sense, urged by common necessity, +directed the stream of this +emigration to the great outlying regions +of the western world. North +America was the chief recipient. +Since the conquest of Canada, annual +thousands had directed their emigration +to the British possessions: the +conquest of the Cape has drawn a large +body of settlers to its fine climate; +but Australia remained, and remains +for the grand future field of British +emigration.</p> + +<p>The subject has again come before +the British public with additional interest. +The Irish famine, the British +financial difficulties, and the palpable +hazard of leaving a vast pauperism to +grow up in ignorance, have absolutely +compelled an effort to relieve the +country. A motion has just been +made in Parliament by Lord Ashley, +giving the most startling details of +the infant population; and demanding +the means of sending at least its +orphan portion to some of those colonial +possessions, where they may be +trained to habits of industry, and +have at least a chance of an honest +existence. We shall give a few of +these details, and they are of the very +first importance to humanity. On the +6th of June Lord Ashley brought in a +resolution, "That it is expedient that +means be annually provided for the +voluntary emigration, to some one of +her Majesty's colonies, of a certain +number of young persons of both +sexes, who have been educated in the +schools, ordinarily called 'ragged +schools,' in and about the metropolis."</p> + +<p>In the speech preparatory to this +resolution, a variety of statements +were made, obtained from the clergy +and laity of London. It was ascertained +that the number of children, +either deserted by their parents, or +sent out by their parents to beg and +steal, could not be less than 30,000 in +the metropolis alone. Their habits +were filthy, wretched, and depraved. +Their places of living by day were the +streets, and by night every conceivable +haunt of misery and sin. They had +no alternative but to starve, or to +grow up into professional thieves, +perhaps murderers. Of the general +population, the police reports stated, +that in 1847 there had been taken +into custody 62,181 individuals of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span> +both sexes and all ages. Of these, +20,702 were females, and 47,479 males. +Of the whole, 15,693 were under +twenty years of age, 3,682 between +fifteen and ten, and 362 under ten. +Of the whole, 22,075 could neither +read nor write, and 35,227 could read +only, or read and write imperfectly.</p> + +<p>The average attendance last year in +the "ragged schools" was 4000. Of +these 400 had been in prison, 600 +lived by begging, 178 were the children +of convicts, and 800 had lost one or +both their parents, and of course were +living by their own contrivances. Out +of the 62,000, there were not less than +28,113 who had no trade, or occupation, +or honest livelihood whatever!</p> + +<p>The statement then proceeded to +consider the expense to which the +nation was put to keep down crime. +It will perhaps surprise those readers +who object to the expenses of emigration.</p> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="crime"> +<tr><td align="left">In 1847.</td><td align="left">The expense of Parkhurst Prison was</td><td align="right">£14,349</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">Of Pentonville Prison,</td><td align="right">18,307</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">In 1846.</td><td align="left">Of County Gaols,</td><td align="right">147,145</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">Of County Houses of Correction,</td><td align="right">160,841</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">Of Rural Police,</td><td align="right">180,000</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">Of Prosecutions for Coining,</td><td align="right">9,000</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">In 1847.</td><td align="left">Of Metropolitan Police,</td><td align="right">363,164</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p class="noind">The whole but a few items, yet amounting +to a million sterling annually. In +this we observe the Millbank Penitentiary, +an immense establishment, +Newgate, the Compter, and the various +places of detention in the city, +are not included; and there is no notice +of the expenses of building, which in +the instance of the Penitentiary alone +amounted to a million.</p> + +<p>Yet, to dry up the source of this +tremendous evil, Lord Ashley asks +only an expenditure of £100,000 annually, +to transform 30,000 growing +thieves into honest men, idlers into +cultivators of the soil, beggars into +possessors of property, which the generality +of settlers become, on an +average of seven years.</p> + +<p>There can be no rational denial of +the benefit, and even of the necessity, +of rescuing those unfortunate +creatures from a career which, beginning +in vice and misery, must go on in +public mischief, and end in individual +ruin. Lord Ashley's suggestion is +that the plan shall be first tried on the +moderate scale of sending 500 boys, +and 500 girls, chosen from the ragged +schools of London, under proper superintendents, +to the most fitting of +the colonies; by which we understand +Australia. The plan may then be +extended to the other parts of the +kingdom, to Scotland and Ireland. +He concluded by placing his motion +in the hands of government, who, +through the Home Secretary, promised +to give it all consideration.</p> + +<p>It is certainly lamentable that such +statements are to be made; and we +have little doubt that the foreign journalist +will exult in this evidence of +what they call "the depravity of +England." But, it is to be remembered +that London has a population +of nearly two millions—that all the +idleness, vice, and beggary of an island +of twenty millions are constantly +pouring into it—that <em>foreign</em> vice, idleness, +and beggary contribute their +share, and that what is abhorred and +<em>corrected</em> in England, is overlooked, +and even cherished abroad. It is also +to be remembered, that there is a continual +temptation to plunder in the +exposed wealth of the metropolis, and +a continual temptation to mendicancy +in the proverbial humanity of the +people.</p> + +<p>Still, crime must be punished wherever +it exists, and vice must be reformed +wherever man has the means; +and, therefore, we shall exult in the +success of any judicious plan of emigration.</p> + +<p>It happens, at this moment, that there +is an extraordinary demand for emigration; +that every letter from Australia +calls for a supply of human life, +and especially for an emigration of +females,—the proportion of males to +females in some of the settlements +being 9 to 1, while the number of +females predominates, by the last +census in England.</p> + +<p>There is a daily demand for additional +labourers, artificers, and household +servants, and with offers of wages +which in England neither labourer +nor artisan could hope to obtain. +Thousands are now offered employment, +comfort, and prospective wealth +in Australia, who must burthen the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span> +workhouse at home. The advantages +are so evident, the necessity is so +strong, and the opportunity is so +prompt and perfect, that they <em>must</em> +result in a national plan of constant +emigration, until Australia can contain +no more—an event which may not +happen for a thousand years.</p> + +<p>It happens, also, by a striking coincidence, +that Australian discovery has +just assumed new vigour; and that +instead of the barrenness and deformity +which were generally supposed +to form the principal characteristics +of this vast territory, +immense tracts have been brought to +European knowledge for the first +time, exhibiting remarkable fertility, +and even the most unexpected and +singular beauty. We now give a +sketch of the journey in which those +discoveries were made.</p> + +<p>To explore the interior of this great +country has been the object of successive +expeditions for the last five-and-twenty +years. But such was the +want of system or the want of means, +that nothing was done, except to increase +the tales of wonder regarding +the middle regions of Australia. The +theorists were completely divided; +one party insisting on the existence of +a mediterranean or mighty lake in the +central region, <em>because</em> there was a +tendency in some of the small rivers +of the coast to flow inward. Others, +with quite as much plausibility, laughed +at the idea; and, from having felt +a hot wind occasionally blowing from +the west, had no doubt that the central +region was a total waste, a desert +of fiery sand, an Australian Sahara! +while both parties seem to have been +equally erroneous, so far as any actual +discovery has been made.</p> + +<p>But it seems equally extraordinary, +that even the only two expeditions +which within our time have added +largely to our knowledge, alike should +have neglected the most obvious and +almost the only useful means of discovery. +The especial object of exploration +must be, to ascertain the +existence of considerable rivers pouring +into the sea, because it is only +thus that the government can effectively +form settlements. The especial +difficulty of the explorers is, to +find provisions, or carry the means of +subsistence along with them. Both +difficulties would be obviated by the +steam-boat, and by nothing else. The +natural process, therefore, would be, +to embark the expedition in a well appointed +and well provisioned steamer; +to anchor it at the necessary distance +from the coast, which in general has +deep and sheltered water, within the +great rocky ridge; and then send out +the explorers for fifty or a hundred +miles north and south, making the +steamer the headquarters. Thus they +might ascertain every feature of the +coast, inch by inch, be secure of subsistence, +and be free from native hostility.</p> + +<p>Yet all the expeditions have been +overland, generally with the most imminent +hazard of being starved, and +occasionally losing some of their +number by attacks from the natives. +Thus also the present expedition of +the surveyor succeeded but in part, +though it had the merit of discovering +that the reports of Australian barrenness +belonged but to narrow tracts, +while the general character of the +country towards the north was of +striking fertility. The purpose of +Sir T. Mitchell's late expedition was, +to ascertain the probability of a route +from Sydney to the Gulf of Carpentaria. +But as this route was to be +made dependent on a presumed river +flowing into the gulf, the actual object +was to reach the head of that +river—an object which could have +been more effectually attained by +tracing it upward from the gulf; and, +in consequence of not so tracing it, +the expedition ultimately failed.</p> + +<p>To establish an easy connexion between +the colony of New South Wales +and the traffic of the Indian Ocean +had long been a matter of great interest. +Torres Strait, the only channel +to the north, is a remarkably dangerous +navigation; while, by forming an +overland communication directly with +the Gulf of Carpentaria to the west of +the strait, the commerce would find +an open sea. A trade in horses had +also commenced with India, which +was impeded by the hazards of the +strait. There had also been a steam +communication with England by Singapore, +and there was a hope that this +line might be connected with a line +from the gulf.</p> + +<p>The idea of tracing a river towards<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> +the north was a conjecture of several +years' standing, in some degree founded +on the natural probability that an +immense indentation of the land could +not but exhibit some outlet for the +course of a considerable fall of waters, +and also that there had been a report +by a Bushman, of having followed its +course to the sea.</p> + +<p>After some difficulties with the governor, +which were obviated by a vote +of the Colonial Legislature of £2000 +for the expenses of the expedition, it +set out from Paramatta on the 17th +of November 1845. The expedition +consisted of Sir Thomas Mitchell; E. +B. Kennedy, Esq., assistant-surveyor; +William Stephenson, Esq., surgeon +and naturalist; twenty-three convicts, +who volunteered for the sake of a free +pardon, which was to be their only +payment; and three freemen. They +had a numerous list of baggage conveyances, +&c. &c.; eight drays, +drawn by eighty bullocks; two boats, +thirteen horses, four private horses, +three light carts, and provisions for a +year, including two hundred and fifty +sheep, which travelled along with +them, constituting a chief part of their +animal food. They had also gelatine +and pork. The surveyor-general +preferred light carts, and horses in +place of bullocks; but it was suggested +that the strong drays were +necessary, and that bullocks were +more enduring than horses—the latter +an opinion soon found to be erroneous. +It is rather singular, that +either opinion should not have been +settled fifty years ago.</p> + +<p>Some natural and well-expressed +reflections arise, in the course of this +volume, on the lonely life of the +settler. Its despondency, and its inutility +to advance his moral nature, +are in some measure attributed to the +absence of the "gentler sex."</p> + +<p>"At this sheep station," says Sir +Thomas, "I met with an individual +who had seen better days, and had +lost his property amid the wreck of +colonial bankruptcies; a 'tee-totaller,' +with Pope's 'Essay on Man' for his +consolation, in a <em>bark hut</em>. This man +spoke of the depravity of shepherd life +as excessive.... The pastoral life, +so favourable to the enjoyment of nature, +has always been a favourite with +the poets. But here it appears to be +the antipodes of all poetry and propriety, +simply because man's better +half is wanting. Under this unfavourable +aspect the white man comes before +the aboriginal. Were they intruders, +accompanied with wives and children, +they would not be half so unwelcome. +In this, too, consists one of the most +striking differences between settling +and squatting. Indeed, if it were an +object to <em>uncivilise</em> the human race, I +know of no method more likely to +effect it, than to isolate a man from the +gentler sex and children. Remove +afar off all courts of justice and means +of redress of grievances, all churches +and schools, all shops where he can +make use of money, and then place +him in close contact with savages. +'What better off am I than a black +native!' was the exclamation of a +shepherd to me."</p> + +<p>A general description of the aspect +of New South Wales would be difficult, +from its extreme diversity in +parts; but the general face of the +country is marked by lines of granite +hills; short water-courses, which in +summer are dry, or retain the water +only in pools; clumps of trees, generally +dotted over the soil, and occasional +<em>prairies</em>. But the soil is generally +fertile, and, in the spring, +exhibits a great variety of flowers. +Thus the land is every where fit for +European life, though in the same +latitude with the hottest portions of +Africa. It has occasional gushes of +intense heat, but they seem not to +have affected the health of the expedition; +and with that progress of comforts +which follows all civilisation, the +heat and cold alike may be successfully +mitigated. We have not heard +of any endemic in Australia; the epidemic +has never visited its shores. The +chief want in the pasture-grounds is +water, but even that is merely the result +of the rudeness of early settling; +for vast quantities of water run to +waste, or are lost in swamps, which +future colonists will receive in tanks, +and check with dams. The capricious +abundance and deficiency of this prime +necessary of life, for it is more essential +than food, is shown in a striking, +passage of this picturesque Journal. +They were still within the sheep-feeding +country. Water was much +wanted. Mr Stephenson, the naturalist,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span> +was sent out on the inquiry. +He returned soon, having met two of +the mounted police, who told him that +"a flood was coming down from the +Turon Mountains."</p> + +<p>"But the little encampment was +held in suspense. Still, the bed of the +Macquarie continued so dry, that the +report could scarcely be believed. Towards +evening, a man was stationed +with a gun, to give a signal on the appearance +of the flood. The shades of +evening came, but no flood; and the +man returned. This was a period of +considerable anxiety, for the need of +water was urgent.</p> + +<p>"Some hours later, and after the +moon had risen, a murmuring sound, +like that of a distant waterfall, mingled +with occasional cracks, as of breaking +timber, drew our attention." They +then returned to the river bank. Still +no flood appeared, though they continued +to hear the sounds of the +crashing timber. At length an increase +of the sounds told them that +the water was in the next bend. All +this, in a serene moonlight night, was +new. At length it came, and came +in power and beauty.</p> + +<p>"It rushed into our sight, glittering +in the moonbeams, a moving <em>cataract</em>; +tossing before it ancient trees, and +snapping them against its banks. It +was preceded by a <em>point</em> of meandering +water, picking its way, like a +thing of life, through the deepest parts +of the dark, dry, and shady bed of +what thus again became a flowing +river." The phenomenon might make +a fine subject for the pencil, if our +artists were not divided between the +palace and the pigstye. The noble +river rolling along under a <em>tropical</em> +moon; the wild country around, with +its forests and hills touched by the +light; the bronzed faces and bold +figures of the men of the expedition, +gazing with natural surprise and gladness +at this relief, and at the majestic +object before them; and even the +cattle hurrying up from the encampment, +to cool the thirst which had +pressed so severely on them during +the day, all were made for the finest +efforts of the pencil.</p> + +<p>"By my party," says Sir T. Mitchell, +"situated as we were at the +time—beating about the country, and +impeded in our journey solely by +the almost total absence of water—suffering +excessively from thirst and +extreme heat,—I am convinced the +scene can <em>never</em> be forgotten! <em>There</em> +came abundance at once, the product +of storms in the far-off mountains, +that <em>overlooked our homes</em>! My first +impulse was to have welcomed this +flood on our knees; for the scene was +sublime in itself, while the subject, an +abundance of water sent to us in a +desert, greatly heightened the effect +to our eyes. I had witnessed nothing +of the kind in all my Australian travels."</p> + +<p>But the writer is an accomplished +man of science, and he leads the contemplation +to still more glorious things, +"Even the heavens presented something +new, at least uncommon, and +therefore in harmony with this scene. +The variable Star of Argol had increased +to the first magnitude, just +above the beautiful constellation of +the Southern Cross, which slightly +inclined over the river, in the only +portion of sky seen through the trees. +That very red star, thus increasing +in magnitude, might, as characteristic +of her rivers, be recognised as the +'Star of Australia,' when Europeans +cross the line. The flood gradually +filled up the channel nearly bank high, +while the living cataract travelled onward +much slower than I had expected +to see it; so slowly, indeed, +that more than an hour after its first +arrival, the <em>sweet music</em> of the head of +the flood was distinctly audible from +my tent, as the murmur of waters and +crash of logs travelled slowly through +the tortuous windings of the river bed. +I was finally lulled to sleep by that +melody of waters."</p> + +<p>It has been often remarked, that +Europeans once accustomed to a life +of wandering, can never return to the +life of cities; and even the clever journalist +before us appears to have been +a little captivated with this life of the +wilderness. It may be easily admitted, +that vigorous health, and active exercise, +variety of objects, even if those +objects are no more than new ridges +of mountains or new rills of water; with +keen appetite and sound sleep, are all +excellent things in their style. But, +is life given to man only to eat, gaze, +and sleep? What is the life of the wilderness +above that of the brute? The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> +true improvement of man, and, therefore, +the especial employment intended +for man, is, that increase of +knowledge, of command over the +powers of nature, and of the various +means of adding to the conveniences, +comforts and value of human existence, +which, delivered down to us by +our forefathers, it is our part to deliver +with increase to our posterity. +But the savage improves in nothing; he +is as much a brute this year as he was +a thousand years ago. Savagery is, +in practice, a total defeat and denial of +all the original purposes for which our +nature was made. And it is with some +regret and more surprise, that we +quote, from such a source, such language +as the following:—</p> + +<p>"We set out, guided by our native +friend," (a savage whom they had hired +to lead them to some water-courses.) +"He was a very perfect specimen of +the <em>genus</em> homo, and such as is <em>never</em> to +be seen, except in the precincts of savage +life, <em>undegraded</em> by any scale of +<em>graduated classes</em>; and the countless +<em>bars</em> these present to the free enjoyment +of existence." Whether this is +actually a recommendation that we +should throw off our clothes and walk +in nudity, for the purpose of recovering +the original elegance of our shapes, +or whether it is the borrowed rapture +of some savage in person which the +gallant officer has transplanted into +his pages, to vary his more rational +conceptions, we know not; but he has +<em>not</em> made us converts to the pleasures +of cold, hunger, filth, and bloodshed, +which furnish the realities of savage +life, even in the paradisaic solitudes +of Australia.</p> + +<p>The savage, in his original state, is +simply an animal, superior to his own +dog only in sharpness of intellect; but +wholly inferior to his dog in fidelity +and affection. All savages are tyrannical—cruel +to their wives, if wives +they can be called—and in general +cheating and plundering wherever +they can. As to their bodily organs, +of course, they cannot be perverted +where they cannot reach temptation; +but no savage comprehends moral restraint, +and he gets drunk whenever +he has the opportunity, and robs +wherever he finds any thing to steal. +On the other hand, civilisation necessarily +enfeebles no man, and what the +gallant Colonel regards as its "degradation +of man by classes," produces +quite the contrary effect; for the humbler +the class, generally the more vigorous—as +the peasant is a stronger +man than the artisan, and the artisan +than the nobleman. Even the idea +that savage limbs can do more than +civilised, is equally erroneous. A well +clothed and well fed Englishman, if +well formed, and with some training, +will outwork, outrun, and outwrestle +any savage from pole to pole. +A ropedancer, a tumbler, or a horserider, +at any of our theatres, though +bred in the very heart of civilisation, +or even in the hotbed of its temptations, +will perform feats of activity +which would defy all the muscles of +a generation of savages. The truth is, +that civilisation improves the features, +the form, and the powers of the human +frame. Men in society may be indolent, +and throw away their advantages; but +society is the place for man. Rousseau, +once made a noise by talking +nonsense on this subject; but Rousseau +<em>knew</em> that he was talking nonsense. +Whether his imitators are equally +cognisant of their own performances, +is another question; but we come to +better things.</p> + +<p>This journey settled the disputed +point of "horses or bullocks, light +carts, or heavy drays." The bullocks +and the drays were a perpetual annoyance; +to feed and water the one, and +to drag the other, soon became the grand +difficulty of the expedition. We find +the Colonel perpetually leaving them +to follow, when any peculiar object +of exploration was in view. At length +the whole "park" was left to take its +rest, under the second in command; and +the Colonel, with eight men, two native +boys, fourteen horses, and two light +carts, with provisions for ten weeks, +moved to the northward, to trace +where the division of the waters was +to be found, and then follow some of +them down to the Gulf.</p> + +<p>We were not prepared for the beauty +sometimes exhibited by the Australian +landscape. The Journal compares it +to a succession of Ruysdaels. "The +masses of rock, lofty trees, shining +sands, and patches of water in wild +confusion; the mimosæ, the Anthistiria-grass, +of a red brown, contrasting +most harmoniously with the light<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> +green bushes; all those again so +opposed to the dark hues of the casuarinæ, +mimosæ, and rifted rocks, that +a Ruysdael or a Gainsborough might +have found an inexhaustible stock of +subjects for the pencil."</p> + +<p>This wild travelling has its discomforts, +and now and then its dangers; +but it is a perpetual source of exciting +sensations. Every step is new, and +every day's journey may place the +traveller within some region of unexpected +value or beauty. One of the +hopes of the Journalist, on commencing +this portion of his travels, was to +discover a chain of hills to the northwest, +from which he might trace the +course of a river to the Gulf. At last +this chain rose before his eyes.</p> + +<p>"The most interesting sight to me +was that of blue pics at a great distance +to the northwest, the object of +all my dreams of discovery for years. +<em>No white man had before seen them.</em> +There we might hope to find the +division of the waters still undiscovered—the +pass to Carpentaria still +unexplored. I called this hill Mount +First-View, and descended, delighted +with what I had seen from its rocky +crest." The latitude was 27°, yet the +thermometer at sunrise was but at +45°, at noon 68°, and at 9 <small>P.M.</small> 45°.</p> + +<p>The captivations of the scenery were +equal to the delights of the temperature, +though so near the tropics.—"An +Australian morning is always +charming. Amid those scenes of primæval +nature it seemed exquisitely so. +The barita or gymnoskina, the organ-magpie, +was here represented by a +much smaller bird, whose notes, resembling +the softest breathings of a +flute, were the only sounds that met +the ear. What the stillness of evening +adds to such sounds in other climes, +is felt more intensely in the stillness +of morn in this."</p> + +<p>The forms of the vegetation, both +tree and shrub, are picturesque, and +the colours are finer still:—"Instead +of autumnal tints, there is a perpetual +blending of the richest hues of autumn +with the most brilliant verdure of +spring; while the sun's welcome rays +in a winter's morning, and the cool +breath of the woods in a summer +morning, are equally grateful. This +was in the depth of the Australian +winter, and, which sounds oddly to +the European ear, in the 'merry month +of June.'"</p> + +<p>Advancing still to the north, a +country of an extraordinary kind was +reached in July; and they had now +found, that most important of all objects +in a wilderness, a fine "flowing +stream, full of sparkling water to the +margin." The Journalist seems quite +enamoured with the surrounding scene, +a miniature Australian Switzerland:—"The +hills overhanging it surpassed +any I had ever seen, in picturesque +outline. Some resembled Gothic cathedrals +in ruins; some forts; other +masses were perforated; and being +mixed and contrasted with the flowing +outlines of evergreen woods, and +having a fine stream in the foreground, +gave a charming appearance to the +whole country. It was a vision worthy +of the toils of a pilgrimage. Those +beautiful recesses of unpeopled earth +could no longer remain unknown. +The better to mark them out on any +map, I gave to the valley the name of +Salvator Rosa. The rocks stood out +sharply and sublimely from the thick +woods, just as John Martin's fertile +imagination would dash them out in +his beautiful landscapes. I never saw +any thing in nature come so near those +creations of genius and imagination." +But this river, which they followed for +some time, ran so far to the east, that +they justly began to doubt its being +the one of which they were in search +and they turned again to the north. +They now passed into a fine level +country, incomparably formed for settlement. +"An almost boundless extent +of the richest surface in a solitude +corresponding to that of (southern) +China, yet still unoccupied by man. +A great reserve provided by Nature +for the extension of his race."</p> + +<p>They left the Salvator between the +21st and 22d degrees of latitude, and +moved to the north-west. There at +length their aspirations, though only +partially, were probably realised. +In the middle of September they +reached some heights, from which lay +before them a vast extent of open +downs traversed by a river, traceable +to the utmost verge of the horizon, +and falling to the <em>north-west</em>! "Ulloa's +delight at the first view of the Pacific +could not have surpassed mine," is the +natural exclamation of the Journalist.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span> +"Nor could the fervour with which +he was impressed have exceeded my +sense of gratitude for being allowed to +make such a discovery. From that +rock the scene was so extensive as to +leave <em>no room for doubt</em> as to the +course of the river, which, then and +there revealed to me alone, seemed like +a reward direct from Heaven for perseverance, +and as a compensation for +the many sacrifices which I had made, +in order to solve the question as to +the interior rivers of tropical Australia."</p> + +<p>From the 16th to the 24th of September +the course of the river was +followed, which still was north-west, +but at this period the party returned. +The reason stated is the failure of provisions. +This must have been a most +vexatious disappointment—so vexatious, +that we cannot comprehend how it +could have been submitted to without +some more remarkable effort than any +thing that we find recorded in these +pages. That an expedition equipped +for a four months' journey should have +turned back at the very moment when +a few days', perhaps a few hours', +march, might have completed its +object, is altogether incomprehensible, +while it had any conceivable means of +subsistence. In such a condition of +things, the traveller ought to have +eaten his horse, if he could get nothing +else. But there was actually, at no +great distance behind, a depôt of their +own bullocks and sheep, all feeding +comfortably, and, as the party found +on marching back to them, "Sheep +and cattle fat, the whole a sort of +farm." A good stackyard had been +set up, a storehouse had been built, +a garden had been fenced in, and contained +lettuce, radishes, melons, and +cucumbers. Indeed, the whole establishment +exhibited the effects of good +order and discipline.</p> + +<p>Why, then, did not the Journalist +return on his track, and establish the +discovery which was the express +object of his mission? This exceeds +our knowledge. The only direct intimation +of his necessities in these pages +is, "our provisions were nearly out, +the sun having reduced the <em>mess sugar +and melted the bacon</em>, which had been +boiled before we set out." Whether the +<em>lean</em> of Australian bacon may liquefy +in the sun is more than our European +experience can tell, but we presume it +must be ranked among the wonders of +a new country; at all events, the Journalist +returned without having done +the very thing for which his expedition +had been fitted out, and left the +object to be completed by his subordinate, +who was subsequently despatched +in the direction of the north-west. +Thus, though probabilities are in favour +of the river, which the Colonel named +the Victoria, the point is by no means +settled, and Australian curiosity may +be disappointed after all.</p> + +<p>As the party approached the river, +they saw considerable numbers of +the natives. On reaching one of the +lagoons, the shrieks of many women +and children, and the angry voices of +men, apprised them that they had at +length overtaken the tribe, and unfortunately +had come on them by surprise. +"Aya, minya!" was vociferated +repeatedly, and was understood +to mean, "What do you want?" I +steadily adhered to my own tactics +towards the aborigines, and took not +the slightest notice of them, but rode +on according to my compass-bearing. +On looking back for my men, I saw +one beckoning me to return. He had +observed two natives with spears and +clubs hide themselves behind a bush +in the direction in which I was advancing. +On my halting, they stole +away. The whole seemed to have +been amusing themselves in the water +during the noonday heat, which was +excessive, and the cool shades round +the lagoon looked most luxuriant. +Our position, on the contrary, was +any thing but enviable. Even there, +in the heart of the interior, on a river +utterly unheard of by white men, an +iron tomahawk glittered in the hand +of a chief. The anxious care of the +females to carry off their children +seemed the most agreeable feature of +the scene. Some had been digging in +the mud for worms, others searching +for fresh-water mussels, and if the +whole could have been witnessed unperceived, +such a scene of domestic +life among the aborigines had been +worth a little more risk. The strong +men assumed a strange attitude, which +seemed very expressive of surprise, +having the right knee bent, the left leg forward—the +right arm dropping, but +grasping clubs—the left arm raised,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span> +and the fingers spread out. "Aya, +aya, minya," they continually shouted. +However, the party rode on, and the +shouts died away.</p> + +<p>The Journalist occasionally recovers +from his enthusiasm for savagery. We +have no more bursts in his earlier style, +"Such truth and exemption from disease, +such <em>intensity</em> of existence, in +short, must be far beyond the <em>enjoyments +of civilised men</em>, with all that +art can do for them. And the proof +of this is to be found, in the failure of +all attempts to persuade these free +denizens of uncultivated earth to forsake +it for the tilled ground. They +prefer the land, unbroken and free +from the earliest curse pronounced +against the first banished and first +created man." All this unfortunately +shows nothing, but that the gallant +Colonel would be the wiser for going +back to his Bible, where he would find +the words, "I will not again curse the +ground any more for man's sake." +But at last (page 328) we have a sketch +of the reality. "It would appear +that, the finer the climate and the +fewer man's wants, the more he sinks +towards the condition of the lower +animals. Where the natives had +passed the night, no huts, even of +bushes, had been set up. A few tufts +of dry grass only marked the spot, +where, beside a small fire, each person +had sat, folded up like the capital +letter N. Their occupation during +the day was only wallowing in a +muddy hole, in no respect cleaner +than swine. They have no idea of +any necessity for washing themselves +between their birth and the grave, +while groping in mud for worms." +After admitting the filth, the indolence, +and the uselessness of the savage; +contrasting, however, his teeth and +tongue favourably with those of the +civilised man or child, of which he +pronounces it to be "ten to one but +he should find <em>only impurity and decay</em>," +(a point in which we are wholly +at issue with him,) he asks, "what +then is civilisation in the economy of +the human animal?" He answers, +"Cultivated man despises the perishable +substance, and pursues the immortal +shadow." We are but little +satisfied with the language of this solution, +nor is its meaning much more +intelligible. In the first place, man, +in a civilised state, does not necessarily +injure his bodily organs. The +fool who cannot stir, or even sit, without +a cigar in his mouth, or the drunkard +who continually sacrifices health +and understanding to intoxication, +has only to condemn himself. But, +give the savage tobacco and rum, and +he will as speedily destroy his organs, +and bring himself to the grave, as the +most civilised profligate in existence. +And as to the grand supposed use of +civilisation—the fixing our minds on +"immortal shadows"—if by this he +meant giving us ideas of religion, +there are many highly civilised nations +which think but very little of religion, +and many highly civilised persons who +think of it nothing at all. Yet, it is only +justice to the gallant Colonel to quote +this sentence. "Animal gratification +is transient and dull compared to the +acquisition of knowledge, the gratification +of mind,—the raptures of +the poet, or the delight of the enthusiast, +however imaginary. Such were +my reflections on this day of rest, in +the heart of a desert, while protected +from the sun's rays by a blanket."</p> + +<p>But even his metaphysics are entirely +a misconception. The original purpose +of civilisation is, to enable man +to live in society; that is, in peace, +with the advantages of mutual assistance. +That those objects are powerfully +aided by religion is true, and +that science may be best cultivated in +settled life, is equally true; but those +are merely collateral. Civilisation +means the work of law, of safe intercourse, +of secure property, and of all +the safeguards of society which ultimately +enable man to polish the general +manners, and to improve the +general mind. Religion is not the +consequence, but the origin of Civilisation.</p> + +<p>We now take leave of the journey, +with the sketch of the rivers. After +moving for some distance between +two streams, they approached the junction, +which formed—"the broad, deep, +and placid waters of a river as deep +as the Murray. Pelicans and ducks +floated upon it, and mussel shells of +extraordinary size lay in such +quantities, where the natives had +been in the habit of eating them, as +to resemble snow covering the ground. +But even that reach seemed diminutive,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span> +when compared with the vast +body of water of which traces had +been left there; affording evidence, +that though wide, they must have +been impetuous in their course. +Verdure alone shone now, over the +wide extent to which the waters +sometimes rose. Beyond that channel +lay the almost boundless plains; +the whole together forming the finest +region I had ever seen in Australia."</p> + +<p>Still the luckless character of the +Australian rivers appears; and after +expecting that this fine channel, which +there seemed navigable for steamers, +would continue, in a few miles more +it exhibited only ponds. Whether the +great central stream may not exhibit +the same caprice, is still the question.</p> + +<p>The party returned to Sydney in +January 1847; and in March, Mr +Kennedy, the second in command, +was sent, as has been already stated, +to explore the course of the Victoria.</p> + +<p>There are some valuable observations +on the aborigines. It is said +that they have good natural faculties, +all one of them named Uranigh, an +attendant on the expedition, obtains +especial praise for sagacity, fidelity, +and courage. But, from inevitable circumstances, +it appears to be the fate of +the natives to waste away before the +European blood, and, even without any +violence or oppression, gradually to +vanish. To teach them to earn their +bread, to adopt European habits of +any kind, or even to live with any +sense of comfort in the vicinity of +European settlers, seems impossible, +and thus they gradually retire into +the interior. This process has so +uniformly occurred in all colonised +countries, where a new civilisation has +been introduced, that it may be regarded +as almost a law of nature. +"Fire, grass, and kangaroos," are +essential to native life; and when the +pastures are no longer suffered to be +burned, and when the kangaroos disappear, +the savage <em>must</em> retire. Sir +T. Mitchell's favourite project would +be, to send away a young married +pair to the south of Europe, where +they might learn the cultivation of the +grape and olive, fig, &c.; then to +bring them back with their children. +But we are afraid they would make +but few converts; that the benevolent +experiment would be totally thrown +away; and that the poor, idle, and +useless being, whom Sir Thomas will +persist in calling the noble savage, +must be left to eat rats and mice, to +live in misery and wretchedness, and +to be inevitably pushed into the wilderness, +to make way for a superior +class of human capability.</p> + +<p>But, regarding the condition of the +natives as utterly beyond European +influence, except so far as it may and +ought to be exerted to protect them +from all injury,—there are other +questions of high importance, relative +to the condition of the convicts. The +preamble of the Transport Act made +the reformation of the culprit a primary +object. There never was any use of +forced labour so effective. The galley-slaves +of France and Italy were in +general made more wicked, if possible, +by their imprisonment and work. We +think it also next to an impossibility +that any culprit, punished by temporary +imprisonment, and then thrown +out again among his associates, <em>can</em> +change his habits. Who will employ +a known felon? A single act of +robbery may give him more means of +gross gratification, than he could +obtain by the severest toil in a twelvemonth. +The temptation is too strong. +The only hope of his recovery, is in +his being sent where his bad character +will not utterly prevent his getting a +good one; where he will have profitable +work, (let the profit be more or +less;) where he will have few temptations, +and none of his old ones; and +where he may have a prospect of +bettering his condition among his +fellows. All these he had, and has, +in New South Wales.</p> + +<p>But it is remarkable and unfortunate, +that we seldom have a new head of the +colonial department who does not bring +with him some new theory; and the +fashionable theory now is, to try the +effect of prison discipline. We have +no hesitation in denouncing this theory, +as ineffectual, intolerably costly, +highly dangerous, and even actually +cruel. We take the points in succession: +we doubt whether it has really +reformed one prisoner out of a thousand. +Its expense is enormous: the single +prison at Millbank cost a million sterling, +and probably £100,000 a-year +for its support. The model prison at +Pentonville is an architectural <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">bijou</i>,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span> +but terribly expensive. Men cannot +be reformed by turnkeys in the most +moral costume, or by locks of the most +exquisite invention.—It is dangerous: +because those felons, once let loose, +almost invariably become felons +again; and a general jail-delivery +once a year, from handcuffs and +shackles, may people the streets with +ruffianism.—It is even cruel. The +prisoners are not merely deprived, for +a long succession of years, of all +healthful exercise—for who ever could +take healthful exercise within prison +walls?—but shut out from all the +view and enjoyment of nature, and especially +from matrimony; they cannot +be husbands or fathers. It is true, that +the felon forfeits all rights, if they are +found incompatible with the public +safety; but we have no <em>right</em> to inflict +on him any suffering beyond that +which is absolutely necessary. If by +sending him to Australia we can accomplish, +without cruelty, those objects +which we <em>cannot</em> accomplish +without cruelty at home, it is our +duty to send him to Australia.</p> + +<p>We know that a middle system of +imprisonment, to be followed by transportation, +has been attempted, but we +have no faith in its operations. The +true place is Australia.</p> + +<p>Sir Thomas Mitchell, the very best +authority on such subjects, tells us, +"There is no country in which labour +appears to be more required to render +it available to, and habitable by civilised +man, than New South Wales. +<em>Without</em> labour, the inhabitants must +be savages, or such helpless people as +we find the Aborigines. With +equal truth, it may be asserted that +there is <em>no region</em> of earth susceptible +of so much improvement solely by +the labour and ingenuity of man." +There are no unwholesome savannahs; +the rocky ranges afford the means of +forming reservoirs, &c., of water, +which, under the tropics, is life, abundance, +and health; there is an immensity +if it be properly used, and +Australia might be made the finest +scene of vegetation and luxuriance in +the world.</p> + +<p>We take our leave of this volume +with regret. It is strikingly written; +it excites and rewards curiosity, and +(a few rambling ideas excepted) it +powerfully increases our interest in +Australian discovery, and in that +whole mighty region of the Pacific, +which God's providence has given into +the hands of England, for the happiness +of mankind.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2>SIBERIA.</h2> + +<p><cite>Travels in Siberia: including Excursions Northwards, down the Obi to the Polar +Circle, and Southwards to the Chinese Frontier.</cite> By <span class="smcap">Adolph Erman</span>. Translated +from the German by <span class="smcap">W. R. Cooley</span>. Two vols. London, 1848.</p> + + +<p>Of no important portion of the +dominions of the five great European +powers are such vague and imperfect +notions entertained, as of the vast +tract comprised between Russia in +Europe and the Kamschatkan sea, +between the Chinese empire and the +Arctic Ocean. Courageous explorers +have not been wanting, of the inclement +steppes and rugged mountains +forming Europe's bulwark against the +Mongul and the Tartar. Men of +enterprise and distinction have undertaken +the task, and executed it well. +But their journeys, usually performed +with special objects and scientific +views, have been recorded for the most +part in a similar spirit. Either an ardent +love of science and zeal for its +advancement, or the strong encouragement +and liberal subsidies of an enlightened +government, are requisite +inducements to brave the perils and +hardships of Siberian travel. The +mere inquisitive and speculative traveller +has difficulty in persuading +himself, that the country can reward +him for the discomfort and inconvenience +he must endure in traversing it. +Not that Siberia is entirely devoid of +wild attractions and romantic associations. +To the adventurous hunter, its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span> +vast forests and thinly-peopled plains +give assurance of sport. The motley +character of its native and immigrant +population affords to the philosopher +curious matter of consideration. A +place of deportation for traitors and +criminals—and not unfrequently for +the innocent—its name is inseparably +connected with the memory of innumerable +unfortunates who have there +pined out their existence in expiation +of crime, or in obedience to mandates +often as unjust as arbitrary. Fallen +favourites of the Czars, rebels against +their tyranny, traitors to their person, +murderers, and other malefactors, +and even prisoners of war, have +here found a living grave till released by +death, clemency, or flight. Did the +tears of exiles fertilise, Siberia should +be a teeming land. Since its first subjugation +by Ivan the Terrible, how many +a Russian magnate, lord of thousands +of serfs, owner of millions of rubles, +proud of his position, and confident of +imperial favour, has suddenly found +himself travelling eastward under +escort, banished and a beggar. How +many mournful trains of minor offenders +have plodded their weary way +across the Uralian chain, guarded by +barbarian Bashkirs, to labour in the +mines of Nerchinsk, or to lead a +peasant's toilsome life on the margin +of the Frozen Sea. From those vast and +ice-bound regions, escape can rarely be +accomplished. But at intervals, during +the last five-and-thirty years, bearded +and toil-worn men of martial aspect +have crossed the German frontier, and +astonished those they accosted by wild +tales of suffering, and ignorance of the +most notorious events. Some have +inquired for Napoleon, and wept when +they learned he was a captive, or +dead. Circumstances of current history, +known to each child and peasant, +were to them a mystery and a marvel. +These strange wanderers, escaped +from long bondage in Siberia, were +amongst the last survivors of that +countless host led northwards by a +Corsican's ambition, and whose funeral +pile was lighted in Moscow's city.</p> + +<p>Amongst the delineators of Siberia +and its inhabitants, of the produce, +customs, and peculiarities of the country +and its people, one of the most +successful is the German gentleman +and scholar whose admirable work +has just now appeared in a clever +English dress. The son of a man +of great learning and high attainments, +Mr Adolph Erman treads +nobly in his father's footsteps. Still +young, he has done much to increase +the lustre of the honourable +name transmitted to him. Born in +the year 1806, he was but two-and-twenty +years of age when he undertook, +at his own cost, a journey round +the world, having for its chief object +a series of magnetical observations. +The expedition was completely successful. +Starting from Berlin to St +Petersburg, he crossed northern Asia, +with occasional digressions of a few +hundred leagues, took ship at Okhotsk +for Kamschatka, thence proceeded to +California, visited Otaheite, and came +round by Cape Horn and Rio Janeiro +to Europe and Berlin. Then he sat +down to write of what he had seen, +entitling his work—"Journey round +the Earth, across North Asia and both +Oceans." But the tale of travel so +extensive takes time to tell; and, up +to the present date, he has not protracted +his narrative beyond Okhotsk. +What he has done, however, is complete +in itself, very interesting, and +withal somewhat voluminous, since +its abridged translation forms two +heavy octavos, heavy in amount of +paper and print, but not, we must in +justice admit, in the nature of their +contents. Whilst recording scientific +investigations, the author does not +neglect subjects more generally interesting. +Upon all he brings to bear +an extraordinary amount of reading +and research. The result is a book of +travels of no ephemeral nature, but +that will long be esteemed as a standard +work, and respected as a valuable +authority.</p> + +<p>Mr Erman commences his narrative +of travel on the day of his departure +from Berlin; but its earlier portion +has been compressed by the translator, +in order to escape as soon +as possible from Europe, and get +upon the less trodden ground east +of Tobolsk. Much has been written +of late years concerning European +Russia and its inhabitants, and it was +hardly to be expected that even so +acute an observer as Mr Erman +should find any thing particularly +novel to say about them. He takes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> +a sensible and practical view of the +condition, character, and disposition +of the population; and is happy in +his detection and indication of national +peculiarities. He does not, +like the majority of travellers in +Russia, enter the country with a +settled determination to behold nothing, +from the White Sea to the +Black, but oppression and cruelty on +the one hand, slavery and suffering +upon the other. He does not come +to a premature decision, that because +Russia is ruled by an absolute +monarch, all happiness, prosperity, +and justice are essentially banished +from the land. It is really pleasant +to find a deviation from the established +routine of books about Russia. These +are now nearly all concocted upon one +and the same plan. The recipe is as +exact as any in Mrs Rundell: and is +as conscientiously adhered to by +literary cooks, as that great artist's +invaluable precepts are by knights +and ladies of the ladle. Tyranny, +misery, and the knout are the chief +ingredients of the savoury dish. +We are shown a nation of cretins, +crushed under the boot-heel of an imperial +ogre; whilst a selfish, servile +aristocracy salaam their admiration, +and catch greedily at the titles and +gewgaws thrown to them as a sop +by their terrible master. This is the +substance of the mess, which, being +handsomely garnished with lying +anecdotes of horrible cruelties practised +upon the unfortunate population, +is deemed sufficiently dainty to set +before the public, and is forthwith +devoured as genuine and nutritive +food by the large body of simpletons +who take type for a guarantee of +veracity. Mr Erman despises the +common trick and claptrap resorted +to by vulgar writers. Avoiding +anecdotage, and abuse of the powers +that be, he gives, in brief shrewd paragraphs, +glimpses of Muscovite character +and feelings, which clearly prove +the people of that vast empire to +be far happier, more prosperous, and +more practically free, than the inhabitants +of many countries who boast +of liberty because anarchy has replaced +good government. Judging +less from any distinct assertions or +arguments advanced in these volumes, +than from their general tenor, and +by the inferences to be gleaned from +them, we must consider the Russians +a contented and flourishing nation, +likely to make the larger strides in +civilisation that they are unimpeded +by revolutionary agitation. Propagandists +meet little encouragement +amongst the loyal and light-hearted +subjects of the autocrat. +"We have often observed at Moscow," +says Mr Erman, "birch-trees hewn +for fencing, yet still alive in the horizontal +position, and throwing out +shoots. The great distinction of +the vegetable nature in this region is +its tenacity of life; and, singularly +enough, the same capability of existing +under oppression, and of +withstanding stubbornly every revolutionising +influence, is here the +characteristic of man also. The ear +of the stranger is sure, at every turn +of conversation, to catch the sounds—'Kak +ni bud,' (no matter how,) +with which the Russians are used to +give expression to their habitual indifference, +and renunciation of all +care.... Notwithstanding the +great variety of condition which the +population exhibit, every thing has +the stamp of nationality, and an +obstinate adherence to established +usage may be plainly recognised as a +fundamental principle. Some foreign +customs, indeed, are adopted from +strangers residing in Moscow; but +they are, at the same time, so changed +as to be assimilated to the national +manners. Russian nationality may +be compared to a river, which receives +other streams without changing its +name; or, still better, to a living +organism, which, while devouring +every variety of food, continues still +the same."</p> + +<p>It was on the 29th of July that +Mr Erman, who travelled in company +with the Norwegian professor +Hansteen, left Moscow, and moved +eastwards, passing through a productive +country, strewn with populous +and comfortable villages. At Pokròf, +his first halting-place, his chamber +walls were adorned with rude carvings +and paintings, whose subjects were +taken from the events of 1812, and +represented the valiant deeds of the +peasantry. Buikova, a village forty +miles east of Moscow, was the farthest +point to which the French penetrated.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span> +Their invasion has left but a faint +impression upon the popular mind in +Russia—even in Moscow, which suffered +so much at their hands. Conflagrations +have been common occurrences +in that city, and the inhabitants +are accustomed to be burned out. +We read of seven such events, from +the thirteenth to the beginning of the +nineteenth century, in all of which +the destruction was complete, or very +nearly so. The fire of 1812 spared +many of the stone churches, on whose +towers "the Mahomedan crescent +rises above the cross, a monument of +earlier revolutions. The yoke of the +Tatars was so lasting and oppressive, +that later events of a similar kind +seem comparatively unimportant; +and even the French invasion is here +thought little of, being usually compared +with the irruptions of the +Pechenegues and that of the Poles in +later times, but never set on a level +with the Tatar domination." The +French have little prestige in Russia. +Whatever respect they previously +enjoyed there, was completely annihilated +by the pitiful figure they cut in +the Moscow campaign; retreating, as +they did, a ragged, disorderly, frost-bitten +remnant, before a swarm of +armed peasants and irregular horse. +And Muscovite sign-painters and saint-carvers +decorate village walls with episodes +of the disastrous overthrow of an +army, probably the most powerful and +really efficient ever got together. Any +notion entertained by the Russians +of French invincibility was as completely +dissipated in that country by +the events of 1812, as it was in Germany +by the ensuing, and scarcely +less important, campaign of 1813.</p> + +<p>Passing Murom, where a sort of +Yankee tradition exists of a "robber-nightingale," +which entices travellers +into the woods by its song, and then +kills them by the power of its notes, +Mr Erman reached Nijni Novgorod at +the moment of the great annual fair. +The mixture of European and Asiatic +produce and manufactures gives the +Russian fairs an appearance singularly +striking to the foreigner's eye. Things +the most opposite are there brought +together. <i>Obrasá</i>, or Greek holy +images, amulets, and other objects +used in the solemnities of the Græco-Russian +church, are seen in juxtaposition +with the elegant luxuries and +superfluities of extreme European +civilisation. The clumsy carvings of +Uralian peasants are found in the +next warerooms to the fragile and +fashionable masterpieces of a Parisian +milliner. The chief part of the goods +come from great distances. Amongst +the important articles of traffic are +tea from China, horse-hides from +Tatary, iron bars from Siberia, shawls +of camel's-down from Bokhara. The +Bokharians also import large quantities +of cotton, partly raw and partly +spun. This is one of the principal +objects of trade at Nijni. Concerning +the origin of this useful substance, +curious fables were current in +Russia not quite a century ago. "It +appears to me certain," says Mr Erman, +"that the story of the zoophytic +plant called Baránez, or lamb-plant +(formed as a diminutive from Barán, +a sheep,) originated in some embellished +account of the cotton plant. +Herberstein relates it at full length +and unchanged, just as he had heard +it. 'There has been seen, near to +the Caspian Sea, a seed, rather larger +and rounder than that of a melon, +from which, when set in the ground, +is produced something similar to a +lamb, of the altitude of five palms, +having a very fine fleece, &c., &c. The +German edition of Herberstein (Basel, +1563) adds that the Baránez has +a head, eyes, ears, and all the limbs, +like a sheep. But it mentions correctly +'<em>the very fine fleece which the +people of that country commonly made +use of to pad their caps withal</em>.' This +is the ordinary use which the Tatar +tribes in general make of cotton at +the present day." The fair at Nijni +lasts two months, and brings together +six hundred thousand persons of different +nations and tribes, or about +thirty-three times the number of the +stationary population. It produces a +large revenue to the imperial treasury,—the +letting of the wooden booths, and +of two thousand five hundred and +twenty-two stone storerooms, (to +each of which latter is attached a +chamber for the owner of the goods +to live in) alone yielding, so far back +as 1825, nearly four hundred thousand +rubles; whilst the population of the +government, or district, amounting to +nearly a million of souls, paid taxes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span> +to the amount of fourteen millions of +rubles.</p> + +<p>Nijni Novgorod is the point of rendezvous +for criminals from the western +provinces of the empire, condemned +to Siberian exile. They arrive there +in small detachments, to pursue their +journey in large bodies. In the vicinity +of every post-house along the +road is another building known as the +Ostrog or fort, which is merely a +large barrack divided into numerous +small chambers, and surrounded by a +fence of palisades, where the convicts +are lodged upon the journey. From +various passages scattered through +Mr Erman's book, it appears that +these Siberian exiles are by no means +so badly treated as has frequently +been stated and believed. In most +instances the punishment derives its +severity less from any painful toil or +cruel discipline imposed upon them, +than from the rigidity of the climate, +the separation from friends, and the +mortal ennui those accustomed to +civilisation and society cannot but +experience, whilst leading the monotonous +life of a peasant or Cossack in +regions as dreary as any the globe's +surface affords. The first caravan of +prisoners encountered by Mr Erman, +at about a hundred versts beyond +Nijni, were well clothed and cared +for, and seemed neither dissatisfied +with their past journey, nor overwhelmed +with care about the future. +"With every train of them are several +waggons, drawn by post-horses, to +carry the women and the old and +infirm men; the rest follow in pairs, +in a long train, after the waggons, +escorted by a militia established in +the villages. It is but rarely that +one sees special offenders with fetters +upon their legs during the march." +The majority of tales circulated by +romancing travellers, with reference +to Siberian exile, have little foundation +save in the imagination of the +narrators. Amongst these fictions is +to be reckoned the statement that +certain classes of the banished are +compelled to pass their lives in hunting +the sable, and other animals. The +great majority of the delinquents are +condemned only to settle in Siberia; +and when hard labour in the Uralian +mines, and in certain manufactories, +is superadded, it is generally for a +year or other limited period. Those +of the peasant class have to support +themselves, whilst offenders of a +higher rank, and unused to manual +labour, have an allowance made them +by the government. In various places +Mr Erman met with exiles, from some +of whom he obtained curious information. +They are usually known by +the mild name of "<em>the unfortunates</em>," +and are held in no particular disfavour +by the natives, with whose families +they intermarry. By a remarkable +enactment of the Russian law, serfs, +when transported to Siberia, become +in all respects as free as the peasants +in western Europe. Mr Erman refers +to this with strong approval, and +attributes to it the happiest results. +"I have often," he says, "heard intelligent +and reflecting Russians mention, +as an almost inexplicable paradox, +that the peasants condemned to become +settlers, all, without exception, +and in a very short time, change their +habits and lead an exemplary life; +yet it is certain that the sense of the +benefit conferred on them by the gift +of personal freedom is the sole cause +of this conversion. Banishment subservient +to colonisation, instead of +close imprisonment, is, indeed, an +excellent feature in the Russian code; +and though the substitution of forced +labour in mines for the punishment of +death may be traced back to Grecian +example, yet the improving of the +offender's condition by bestowing on +him personal freedom, is an original +as well as an admirable addition of a +Russian legislator." It is of course +by the higher class of exiles that the +banishment is most severely felt; but +these live in the towns, that the succour +received from government may +reach them the more easily, and submit, +for the most part, with great +equanimity to the startling change +from the luxury of Moscow or St +Petersburg, to the dulness and simplicity +of Tobolsk, and even of worse +places. Some of them have to do +penance in church for a certain time +after their arrival, and a portion of +these continue the practice when it is +no longer compulsory. At Beresov, +a town in western Siberia, which Mr +Erman passed through on an excursion +northwards from Tobolsk, the +oral chronicles of the inhabitants<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span> +furnish curious details of the numerous +illustrious exiles who have there +ended their days. Menchikoff, the +well-known favourite of Peter I., was +one of these. "After his political +extinction, he prepared himself, by +devout penitence, for his natural decease. +He worked with his own +hands in erecting the little wooden +church, now fallen to decay, which +stands thirty or forty feet above the +bank of the Sosva, at the southern +extremity of the town: he then +served in it as bell-ringer, and was +finally buried by the grateful inhabitants +of Beresov, immediately before +the door of the building." It was +here, at Beresov, that Mr Erman fell +in with a number of unlucky conspirators, +who had lost fortune, rank, +and home, by their association in a +recent abortive revolutionary attempt. +Amongst them were a M. Gorski, at +one time a count and general of cavalry, +and the ex-chieftains Focht +and Chernilov. They usually wore +the costume of the country, but upon +holidays they donned European coats, +<em>in order to display the vestiges of the +orders which had once been sewed upon +them</em>. A curious instance of vanity, +traceable, perhaps, to a desire to distinguish +themselves from persons +condemned to the same punishment +for crimes of a more disgraceful +nature.</p> + +<p>In the streets of Yekaterinburg, the +first town of importance after crossing +the Asian boundary, parties of exiles are +a frequent spectacle; the number passing +through in a year being estimated +at five thousand, or about two-fifths of +the annual export of convicts to +Siberia, as stated by Mr Stepanov, +whose statement, however, Mr Erman +seems disposed to consider exaggerated. +The detachments are usually +guarded by Kosaks of the Ural, and +by a company of Bashkir militia. +These Uralian Kosaks are well uniformed, +armed, and mounted, and +enjoy the same privileges as the +Kosaks of the Don. They are allowed +an immunity from every impost, but +are bound to devote themselves to +the public service. Touching the +Bashkirs, another irregular and half-savage +militia, serving to swell the +ranks of Russia's enormous army, Mr +Erman, who made some stay at Yekaterinburg, +the northern limit of +their residence, gives curious particulars. +They are the only aboriginal +Siberian tribe whose mode of life +regularly alternates from the nomadic +to the fixed. Their winters are passed +in permanent villages of wooden huts, +erected usually upon the skirt of a +forest. But when spring approaches, +they collect their flocks and herds, +strap hair tent-cloths upon their +saddles, and are off to the plains. +They appear to live upon horseback, +and are indolent, indocile, and useless +out of the saddle. The only thing the +men do, is to drive home the mares at +milking-time; all other domestic toil +is left to the women. And although +grass abounds in the summer pastures, +hay is unknown amongst them. The +cattle sustain life in winter as best +they may, on stunted or decayed herbage, +sought under the snow and +gathered on the dunghills. Fermented +mare's milk is the favorite drink of +the Bashkirs, who live chiefly upon +mutton and fish, and upon the fruit +of the bird-cherry (<i>Prunus padus</i>) +kneaded into a sort of cake. In the +chase they make use of hawks, which +they are particularly skilful in training. +The smaller species of these +birds are used to take hares, whilst +the greater will strike foxes, and even +wolves. The roving careless life of the +Bashkirs possesses a peculiar charm, +admitted even by the civilised Russians; +and it is with no good will that, +on the return of winter, the tribes re-enter +their settled habitations. "They +approach them with reluctance, and believe +that Shaitan, or the evil spirit, +has taken up his abode in the huts +that oppress them with such a sense +of restraint. The men accordingly +remain at some distance from the +settlement, and send the women forward, +armed with staves, with which +they strike the door of every hut, +uttering loud imprecations; and it is +not till they have made the rounds +with their noisy exorcisms, that the +men ride forward at full speed and +with terrific shouts, to banish the +dreaded demon from his lurking-place." +The chief weapon of these +Bedouins of the north is the same +which so forcibly excited Captain +Dalgetty's risibility upon his visit to +the Children of the Mist. But although<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> +in these days of Paixhans and +percussion, bows and arrows certainly +appear rather anomalous, they +are by no means contemptible weapons +in the hands of some of the Siberian +tribes. Of this Mr Erman had +abundant opportunity to convince +himself, especially when his ramble +northwards from Tobolsk brought +him amongst the Ostyaks of the river +Obi. The ordinary hunting weapons +of these people are bows six feet long, +of very slight curve, and from which +four-feet arrows are discharged with +murderous effect. Much practice and +strength are required to draw these +bows; and our scientific traveller, +who, not having taken the necessary +precaution of shielding the left arm +with a piece of horn, from the recoil +of the string, had been unable to +draw his bow to more than one third +of the arrow's length, was not a little +astounded to see an Ostyak pigmy, +with sore eyes and a sickly aspect, +send a blunt arrow one hundred and +sixty feet, and strike the object aimed +at, the stem of a larch, near its summit, +fully sixty feet from the ground. +Blunt arrows, headed with flattened +iron balls, are used to kill sables and +squirrels, that the skin may not be +injured; the sharp ones are a settler +for any quadruped the country produces.</p> + +<p>After many days' journey through +Tatar villages of wooden huts, and +towns that are little better, the first +view of Tobolsk, obtained some miles +before reaching the place, is quite imposing; +and the traveller, who might +think he had got a few stages beyond +civilisation, is cheered and encouraged +by the sight of church-towers, lofty +monasteries, and well-built houses. +In vain does he seek an inn. Such +things are unknown in Siberia; and, +if he has no acquaintance in the town, +he must apply to the police-master, +who recommends him to the hospitality +of an inhabitant, by whom he is +made welcome during his stay, without +demand for remuneration, although, +if proffered, it will sometimes +be accepted. In this manner Mr +Erman and his companions were accommodated +in the upper storey of a +well-built wooden house; and here +their progress eastward was arrested +by the character of the weather. It +was the commencement of October, +the period of transition from summer +to winter, and the traveller's entrance +into the town was rendered memorable +by a heavy fall of snow—"white +flies," as the postilions called the +flakes, which they beheld with much +pleasure. Their satisfaction was probably +owing to the fact that in +Siberia the coldest part of the year is +the most favourable for travelling, +a matter of interest to people of +their profession. But the moment of +transition, whilst the struggle lasts +between summer and winter, when +snow encumbers the ground, and +frost has not yet hardened it, is known, +as well as the similar period at the +close of winter, as "the time of the +unroading," (spoiling of the roads;) +and the Russians have even manufactured +a verb "to be unroaded." +The snow obstructs wheeled carriages, +and forbids the use of the sledge; and, +unless peremptorily compelled to move +forward, the Russian merchants—the +most experienced of Siberian travellers—await, +in some convenient resting-place, +the hardening of the winter +road. From Mr Erman's account, a +better place than Tobolsk could +scarcely be found, in those wild regions, +wherein to pass a few weeks of compulsory +inaction. Nevertheless, and +although cordially received by the +governor-general, Velyaminov, from +whom, and from other Russian officers, +he got much useful information, +our traveller was impatient to be off. +He had a pet scheme in view. From +the very commencement of the journey +he had planned an excursion to the +mouth of the Obi, within the Arctic +circle. To this he was partly induced +by the desire of tracing certain magnetic +lines, and partly by "the alluring +prospect of enjoying, on the northern +part of the Obi, the first undisturbed +intercourse with the aboriginal possessors +of the land, where they are +little changed by foreign influence." +Accordingly, towards the middle of November, +the drifting ice upon the Irtuish +having united into a solid sheet, Mr +Erman joyfully made final preparations +for his journey to Obdorsk. They were +few, and soon completed. A Kosak +guide and interpreter, a fur dress, a +copper kettle, bread and ham, salted +salmon and caviar, were stowed in a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span> +couple of sledges, one of which was +light enough to be drawn by dogs or +reindeer. It was held advisable also +to take out a fresh passport, signed +by the governor of Tobolsk, in lieu of +the one delivered at St Petersburg, +for, in places far removed from the +great road across Siberia, people have +confused and indistinct notions of the +power which issues from the capital +of the empire. The larger sledge was +provided with otvódi or guides—two +strong bars placed lengthways on +either side the carriage to prevent an +upset. "Towards the end of winter, +the snow-ways, which are constantly +travelled upon, have an undulating +surface, like that of a stormy sea, and +give the sledge a motion so like that +of a ship tossed on the waves, that +travellers unused to it often grow sea-sick +on the road, and the use of otvódi +is a very necessary precaution." +Russian travelling, delightfully rapid, +has many drawbacks. Upon the log-roads, +(formed of tree-trunks,) the +violent and incessant jolting is said to +have even worse effects than the excessive +undulations of the sledge. +After a few years, it not only brings +on a complete paralysis of the mental +faculties of the Russian postilions, +but also occasions spinal disease, to +such an extent as to have obtained +for those roads the significant name +of spine-crushers.</p> + +<p>On the 22d November, when Mr +Erman began his slide northwards, +traffic had not yet given the road that +wavy configuration so uncomfortable +to the bilious traveller. The post +from Tobolsk to Beresov had made +but one journey on the winter-track, +and the sledges glided rapidly and +smoothly on the almost virgin snow-way. +Beyond Tugalova, a village +140 miles from Tobolsk, they travelled +on the frozen Irtuish, and frequently +passed the self-acting machinery used +for the winter fishing. This consists +of a strong pole in an inclined position, +with its lower extremity frozen fast in +the ice. "At the upper end of this +pole was a continuation made of +switches, which, bending down, reached +to the surface of the ice; at that +point was a hole through which was +let down the hook and line. The +upper part of the apparatus is seen +bent down more or less according as +the bait is still untouched, or as a fish +pulling at it has freed a check put to +the elasticity of the rod, and is thus, +in consequence of its own efforts, +drawn nearer to the surface of the +water." The ingenuity of this contrivance +would avail little, however, +were not means found of rousing the +sleepy sturgeon from their winter +slumbers. They lie in muddy hollows +in the bed of the river, quite motionless, +and clustered together for the +sake of warmth. To awaken them, +hard balls of clay, heated in the fire, +are thrown from time to time into the +water, below the line. Driven from +their resting-place, they swim up +stream, according to their custom, and +come upon the bait. This mode of +fishing is very productive. Fishing, of +one kind or other, is the principal occupation +of the Ostyaks, in the heart +of whose country, after three or four +days' journey, Mr Erman found himself. +The rivers abound with excellent +fish—eels, especially, being very +abundant, but not much eaten, although +their skins are in great request +as window-panes. These are rubbed +with fat, to make them more transparent, +but there are small roundish +swellings in the skin which refract and +confound the rays of light. A better +substitute for glass is a flake of ice, +used by the Sosnovian Ostyaks, a +tribe further north. The flakes are +about a foot thick, and are propped +from without by a pole, whose lower +end bears obliquely against the ground. +The fire, kept burning in the hut, +thaws the inner surface of the ice, +rendering it smooth as a mirror. A +whiter and brighter light penetrates +through these windows than through +the fish-skins, which the Sosnovians +use for boots, and even for clothes. +Strong and air-tight, and well rubbed +with fat, they are almost as warm as +fur, and better against the wet.</p> + +<p>The commencement of a fishing +season or expedition is celebrated by +the Ostyaks with all manner of +queer saturnalia. Although nominally +Christians, and accustomed to +attend church once a-year, they are +very heathenish in some of their +rites and ceremonies, and make a +strange jumble of their old superstitions +and their new faith. The priests +do not invariably set them a good<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span> +example. "Our Russian informant +complained bitterly of the priest in his +neighbourhood, who came into the village +on holidays so drunk, that the congregation +assembled to no purpose." +With such pastors, no wonder if the +sheep cleave to some of their ancient +usages. Those who are departing on +an expedition, slaughter a tame animal, +and smear their faces with its blood, accompanying +the sacrifice with a carousal. +In one village Mr Erman found +the huts remarkably empty, and was +told that the men had just gone a-fishing, +and that their wives were +drinking brandy in the kabak or +public-house. The sale of spirits in +Siberia, as in all the Russian dominions, +is a government monopoly, +and brandy is only to be had in certain +houses, to whose keepers the +privilege is farmed. In a small dark +room, scarcely ten paces wide, Mr +Erman found ten or twelve Ostyak +dames clustered round the bottle, and +benevolently drunk. His account of +their maudlin state is amusingly grave +and sentimental. "A number of short +corpulent figures, with black sparkling +eyes, could be just seen, moving and +mingling together, in the narrow +space. They all talked with animation, +and with remarkably delicate +voices, which now gave expression +only to soft and joyous emotions. +They embraced, one after the other, +the Yamschik, who entered with us; +and their soft voices, now almost +whining, seemed attuned, not so much +to words of old acquaintance, as to the +endearments of young and growing +love." The ladies having emptied +their purses without quenching their +thirst, the good-natured German, who +observed that "the pleasure of drinking +had but just risen to its highest +pitch," opened them a credit with the +kabak-keeper. "They now took +especial pains to show themselves deserving +of the European treat, by +good Christian observance. Devout +Russians are in the habit of neutralising +the Satanic operation of spirituous +liquors by a rapid movement of +the right hand, intended to describe +the cross, or by a softly-ejaculated +prayer, or merely by blowing the +breath upon the glass. But the good-humoured +Ostyaks, novices in Christian +prayer as in drinking, made the +sign of the cross to such an extent, so +slowly and with such deep bowing of +the body, as would be required by the +church only on the most solemn occasions."</p> + +<p>Although much engrossed by fishing, +the Ostyaks do not neglect the +chase. Their thick woods abound in +the better kinds of fur animals, and +the annual tribute of two sable skins, +payable by each family to the Russian +government, is not very difficult to +obtain. It is seldom found necessary +to pay an equivalent in other skins. +Although quite the beginning of +winter, Mr Erman's host, in an +Ostyak village, showed him a fine +sable skin, which he kept in a strong +box, like a treasure, concealed in a +corner of his dwelling. Its value +was diminished by a yellowish tinge, +ascribed to the animal's having lived +in a wood where there was too much +light. Besides sable and squirrel, the +reindeer, the fox, the glutton, and the +elk, are objects of chase. Mr Erman +tried to get at the fact of the enmity +said to exist between the two latter animals. +The reply to his inquiries was +the old story current in Europe—how +the glutton leaps from a branch on the +elk's neck, and keeps his seat till the +death of his steed. No one, however, +had seen any thing of the kind: it was +matter of tradition, handed down from +their dead fathers. The ermine is +taken in traps. The fox is in great +variety, the most esteemed being the +crossed stone fox, whose colour is +partly a grayish yellow, partly white, +so distributed that the grayish parts +unite prettily to form a cross, one bar +of which extends along the back, +whilst the other stretches obliquely +down the middle ribs to the belly. +The fur of this animal is greatly prized +by the Russian clergy, for whom +pelisses, covered with natural crosses, +are made from it. The latitude of the +town of Beresov is the headquarters +of the Siberian beaver, hunted not +for the fur but for the precious castoreum +or beaver-stone, to which such +great medical virtues are ascribed. +Attempts have been made in Germany +to obtain from the beavers of +that country a product which might +replace that of Siberia; but all in +vain. The fine quality is only to be +had in the far north, where, as Mr<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span> +Erman fancifully observes, nature +scatters animal perfumes in place of +fragrant flowers. "The Kosaks and +Russian traders have exalted the +beaver-stone into a panacea.... +To the sentence, 'God arose, and +our enemies were scattered,' the +Siberians add, very characteristically, +the apocryphal interpolation, 'and +we are free from headache.' To ensure +this most desirable condition, +every one has recourse, at home or on +his travels, and with the firmest faith, +to two medicines, and only two, viz., +beaver-stone, or beaver-efflux, as it is +here called, and sal-ammoniac." From +the strength of the castoreum, the +Siberians infer that other parts of the +animal must possess peculiar virtues. +Gouty swellings are said to subside +rapidly when rubbed with the fat, +and the beaver's teeth are popularly +believed to cure toothach.</p> + +<p>The beaver is the only fur animal +in these latitudes that does not change +its colour in the course of the year. +This is probably owing to the circumstance, +that in winter it dwells wholly +in the water, thus enjoying a comparatively +equable temperature. In the +river Obi, at Beresov, the water does +not usually freeze below the depth of +four feet eight inches, and the beaver +always has two entrances to his dwelling, +one high on the bank above the +stream, the other below the freezing +limit. The architectural and wood-cutting +habits of the animal are the +same here as in America; but two +assertions, new to Mr Erman, were +made respecting it by the Beresov +hunters. He was assured that +"among beavers, as with bees and +men, there are distinctions of ranks; +each chief keeping a number of labourers, +the toils of which he oversees +and directs without taking part in +them; and, again, it was stated that +the contents of the castoreum bags depend +on the moon." It was impossible +to verify the veracity of these +two statements. As regards the +moon's influence, however, there is +ground for a suspicion that its advantages +are rather felt by the hunter, +than essential to the virtues of the +drug. Full moon is maintained, both +by Ostyaks and Russians, to be the +propitious time.</p> + +<p>The most northern tribe of Ostyaks, +who dwell between the rivers Obi and +Yenisei, surpass their southern neighbours +in venatorial skill, as they, in +their turn, are surpassed by the +Samoyedes, who live in the northernmost +regions of Siberia. The men of +the Yenisei kill wolves, which, on account +of their long soft hair, are +reckoned greatly superior to the forest +and steppe wolves of middle Siberia. +They are also famed for their dexterity +in killing and capturing reindeer. +"Tying leathern cords between the +tops of the antlers of their tame deer, +they turn the animals loose, one by +one, in the neighbourhood of a wild +herd: these do not fail to attack the +strangers, and their antlers becoming +entangled in the cords during the contest, +they are held fast by the tame +deer till the men arrive. These +Ostyaks know also how to plant +spring-bows, which send the arrow +against the animal's breast." But +the Samoyedes, besides these ordinary +artifices, have other and ingenious +ways, peculiar to themselves, of ensnaring +and slaying the brute creation, +by putting themselves as much as +possible on an equality with the animals +pursued, going on all-fours, and +imitating them in voice and clothing. +The Polar bear is a common victim to +their cunning devices, and even to +their open attacks; for their intimate +acquaintance with the formidable +beast makes them regard him as an +easy prey. "The Samoyedes assert +that the white bear far exceeds the +black bear in ferocity and strength, +whilst fully equal to it in cunning; yet, +owing to his unwieldiness, they encounter +it without fear, and always +reckon on victory as certain. A man +will often go singly against a Polar bear, +eight feet long, without any other +weapon than his knife, which he fastens +to the end of a pole. In spring and +autumn these animals are found upon +the ice, near the hole, whence the seals +come forth to breathe. There the +bear covers himself up with snow, +facing the hole, and with one paw +stretched into the water." The Samoyede +seal-hunters imitate the bears, +and when the seal walks out upon the +ice, they shove a board over the hole +and capture the phoca. Concerning<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> +the bear the Ostyaks entertain peculiar +notions, viewing it with a sort of +superstitious respect. "A member of +the court of justice told me that, in +suits between Russians and Ostyaks, +it is still the custom here (at Beresov) +to bring, into court the head of a bear, +and that this animal, which is supposed +to be omniscient, is there appealed +to as a witness by the Ostyaks. +In swearing, they make the gesture of +eating, and call upon the bear to devour +them in like manner if they do not tell +the truth." Some similar reverence +for Bruin exists, we believe, amongst +certain North American tribes.</p> + +<p>The draught-dogs, so faithful and +useful to the northern Siberians, often +receive but scurvy treatment at their +masters' hands. The Ostyaks, who +are honesty personified, and who +laugh at the common European precautions +of locking up valuables and +bolting doors, cannot endure the predatory +propensities of their canine +allies, and fly into a passion whenever +an unlucky dog sneaks into their +dwelling in search of warmth or food. +The poor brute is immediately a mark +for the blows and kicks of every body +present, the storm of abuse being +justified by the cunning and greediness +of its object, who, if allowed to +abide in the house, would soon reduce +its inmates to short commons. There +is some excuse for the dogs' voracity, +however; for, according to Mr Erman's +account, they are considerably more +than half-starved, and are rarely admitted +to the fire to be fed, save when +they return weary and distressed from +a long journey. Severe as is the cold +in those regions, protection from it is +not essential to the existence, or even +to the health of these hardy dogs. +They sleep outside the houses, in holes +which they thaw in the snow by their +own warmth. At Obdorsk, where +there are no pastures, and consequently +no horses, four hundred dogs +are kept by sixty inhabitants, and each +of them is estimated to draw five poods' +(two hundred pounds) weight in the +loaded sledge. About eight o'clock in +the evening these four hundred brutes +set up a hideous howling, by way of +claiming their daily meal, consisting +invariably of fish, which, for them as +well as for their owners' consumption, +is first dried in the sun and then +pounded, bones and all. Except this +evening concert, a bark or a cry is +rarely uttered by these dogs, unless at +first starting when yoked to the sledge, +or on coming across a reindeer team +upon the road. Hydrophobia would +be a terrible scourge in this dog-district, +but the disease is fortunately +unknown there. Steller has stated +the same thing of the dogs of Kamschatka, +and Mr Erman concludes that +the malady is a result of the European +system of living in towns. And as the +Siberian dogs are so very moderately +fed, he infers that excess, not want, +generates the morbid habit. We are +inclined to attribute more importance +to the quality than to the quantity of +the food. A fish diet may be more +conducive to a wholesome state of the +animals' blood than the masses of +horse-flesh, paunch, and other rank +and unclean offal commonly given to +dogs in Europe, and especially in +England, where the carnivorous addictions +of the bipeds induce a belief in +the propriety of unlimited flesh-feeding +for quadrupeds.</p> + +<p>The large annual importation of +exiles, the system of conscription, +and the advantages offered to public +officers volunteering for Siberian service, +are the most important and +efficacious measures by which Russia +proceeds gradually but steadily with +the colonisation and civilisation of +her Asiatic dominions. The conscripts +are sometimes drawn, not +only from Tobolsk, but from the remotest +parts of Siberia, and the term +of military service being twenty-eight +years, it is probable that only a small +proportion return to their native villages. +Those who do are looked up +to as oracles by their countrymen. +They are objects of pride to their +families and of respect to every body +else; the place of honour is theirs by +right, and they are addressed by the +title of Master Soldier.<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> The ferry<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span> +of the Irtuish, by Tobolsk, whose +passage is considered the symbol of +political death to the numerous exiles +who each year cross it—bestows a +step of rank on all public servants +offering themselves for duty in Siberia +Proper. The passion for rank, +stronger in Russia than in any other +country, drives hosts of officers across +this important boundary; but as they +are not obliged to remain more than +three years, most of them return +home at the end of that time. Far +nearer to St Petersburg than the +Asiatic frontier, civilisation is still at +a very low ebb amongst the aboriginal +tribes. Close to Nijni Novgorod, +and within a very short distance of +Moscow, the prevailing population +consists of Cheremisses and Chuvashes, +two tribes many of whose +customs are nearly as barbarous as +their names. These people are shy +and timid, very slow in acquiring +industrious habits, and addicted to +sundry practices stamping them as +semi-savages. In some places they +cling to paganism, and offer up +horned beasts, fruit, and vegetables +to their various deities. The +Chuvash ladies wear a sort of bustle +of sheet copper, hanging from the +girdle backwards over the hips, and +having appended to it all manner of +metal ornaments, making a perpetual +clatter in walking. But these tribes +are the pink of refinement by comparison +with those in the northern +portion of the Muscovite empire,—with +the Ostyaks, who eat out of the same +trough with their dogs, or with the +Samoyedes who tear with their teeth, +and swallow with infinite relish, huge +lumps of raw and reeking flesh. The +women of the latter people wear, as their +favourite decoration, (certainly no inappropriate +one) a glutton's tail, +hanging down the back of their pelisse. +Their hair is plaited in tails, to which +all manner of lumber, brass and iron +rings, and rusty musket-locks, are +attached. Mr Erman's account of +"Life in the <i>Chum</i>" (the skin tent +of the Samoyedes) is quaint and +graphic.</p> + +<p>"The reindeer calf, which we had +got on the way, was killed and cut up +in front of the tent a few minutes, +after our arrival. The men now +brought the bleeding flesh into the +tent, and began devouring it immediately, +quite raw, with the heartiest +appetite. The old man was satisfied +with sucking the brain from the head, +whilst each of our younger comrades +gnawed away at a limb of the animal, +even to the bone. They laughed at +the amazement which my good-humoured +Esthonian attendant expressed +at their blood-stained faces; +and when he gave them to understand, +through the interpreter, that +they were no better than wolves, they +seemed quite unprepared for such +reproof; replying gravely, that they +were at the same time no worse +than the wolves, since they shared +honestly with them, and left the bones +and some scraps of flesh merely for +their sake." In this same tent there +was a little monster of a boy named +Peina, whom one reads of with a sort +of shudder, and with a strong suspicion +that the creature was not <em>canny</em>. +Mr Erman himself seems to write of +him with peculiar reserve, stating +facts, but evidently unwilling to give +an opinion as to the exact nature of +the beast. Peina, who had first-rate +masticators, got his share of the raw +meat, which did not prevent his +drawing on his mother's lacteal resources, +and thumping her brutally +till she honoured the draft, or +handed him the pot-ladle, with which +he supped scalding porridge to his +great internal contentment. The +travellers' bread, although frozen +hard and not easy eating for adult +jaws, disappeared by wholesale within +those of Peina. At night the +anomalous urchin was laid naked in +a canoe-shaped basket, and covered +up so thickly with furs that his cries +seemed to come from the depths of +the earth. In the morning his +mother took him from his bed and +set him up, still naked, before the fire +to warm himself. Sugar, when first +presented to him, he called snow, and +threw away, but when once he had +tasted the dainty, his demands for it +were unceasing and peremptory. +Taking into consideration the uncomfortable +and uncleanly peculiarities of +the Samoyedes, both young and old, +we cannot feel surprised that Mr +Erman's interpreter conceived an intense +dislike to their society, and so +managed matters that one morning,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> +whilst the man of science was busy +measuring a base-line to ascertain +the heights of some mountains, his +Samoyede companions suddenly disappeared +with their tent and their +reindeer, leaving him with three ill-equipped +sledges and a few Ostyak +attendants, and with no choice but to +make the best of his way back to +Obdorsk, whence he soon afterwards +returned to Tobolsk. There he +passed his Christmas, and then resumed +his journey; but this time in a +southerly direction. After having +penetrated to sixty-seven degrees +north, the region of eternal frost, he +struck southwards to the latitude of +the Land's End, making a dip into +China, which furnishes some of the +best chapters in his book.</p> + +<p>Irkutsk, the last town of importance +north of the Chinese frontier, consists +of nineteen hundred houses, fifty being +of brick, and the remainder of wood, +and is probably the cheapest place in +the civilised world as regards articles +of food. We say "civilised," because, +although situate in a barbarous region, +and possessing a population of a very +motley character, the town has much +that is European in its aspect and +usages. It possesses an exchange, +government factories, where newly-arrived +convicts are employed, a +school of medicine, a gymnasium, and +a handsome parade-ground. In the +market, formed of wooden booths, the +stores of food were enormous. Beef +cost about a halfpenny a pound; of +flour one penny would purchase nearly +eight and a half pounds; partridges +and heathfowl were sold at five +farthings a-piece. But we are in +haste to get amongst the Celestials. +First comes a gallop across More +Baikal, a large lake just beyond +Irkutsk, on which the Russian government +maintains an armed flotilla. +This gallop is a fine bit of helter-skelter, +over ice brilliant as glass. +"There was no snow upon the ice, so +that its surface shone like a polished +mirror in the moonlight. The horses +that were put under our sledges in +Kadilnaya had to be held on each side +till the very moment of starting, when +they broke at once into full gallop, +which they kept up till we landed on +the further shore. We completed +seven German miles in two hours and +a quarter, undoubtedly the most extraordinary +as well as the most +speedy stage upon any route in Russia." +Thence, onwards to the frontier line. +"We followed the crowd that pressed +forward towards a narrow door in the +front of a long wooden building. +This admitted us into the inner quadrangle +of a Russian warehouse. A corresponding +door, at the opposite side of +this court, opens just upon a wooden +barricade, which constitutes the barrier +of China. In this there is a +wide portal, ornamented with pillars, +and displaying the Russian +eagle above it, along with the cipher +of the reigning emperor, Nicholas +the First, by whom it was erected." +On passing through this gate, the +change is immediate and striking,—from +Russian sobriety of aspect and +hue to the gaudy finery of China. +Maimachen, the name of the Chinese +town visited by Mr Erman, has a very +masquerading air to a European eye. +The walls on either side of the streets +do not look like house walls, the roofs +being flat and invisible from the street. +"Indeed, they are nearly altogether +concealed by the gay-coloured paper +lanterns and flags, with inscriptions +on them, hung out on both sides of +the way. Cords, with similar scrolls +and lanterns, are likewise stretched +from roof to roof across the street. +These dazzling decorations stand out +in glaring contrast with the dull yellow +of the ground and walls. In the open +crossings of the streets, which intersect +each other at right angles, stood +enormous chafing-dishes of cast-iron, +like basins, upon a slender pedestal +four feet in height. The benches by +which they were surrounded were +occupied by tea-drinkers, who sat +smoking from the little pipes they +carry at their girdles, whilst their +kettles boiled at the common fire." +Mr Erman had the good fortune to be +on the frontier at the period of the +Chinese festival of the White Moon, +which is in fact the celebration of the +new-year, and he had the still +greater luck to be invited to share +in it at Maimachen. He found the +town in its gayest costume. The expenditure +of flags and lanterns was +prodigious. The scrolls usually contained +the names of the families before +whose houses they were hung out,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span> +coupled with words of auspicious import, +as gladness, riches, wisdom, &c. +There was a great firing of crackers +and rockets, partly to celebrate the +day, but chiefly in honour of the +guests. Before dinner the latter were +diverted by a theatrical representation. +Maimachen boasts a regular +company of actors, and upon this +great occasion they did their best. +Their orchestra was of a rather violent +description, consisting of "wooden +drums, shaped like casks, brass cymbals, +and plates of the same metal, +or gongs, held by a string and beaten +with knockers, and wooden truncheons, +of different sizes, which they used as +castanets." There were no actresses; +but the deficiency was not to be detected, +the younger and more delicate +men personating women to the life by +the aid of wigs and long tresses of +black hair, but especially by curls +pressed flat upon the forehead. Masks +were not used, but paint was in abundance; +in some cases with a view to +represent spectacles, mustachios, &c.; +in others to conceal the human features, +or give them a monstrous aspect. "One +face was covered with coloured rays, +issuing from the mouth. The same +actor had also a feather on his head—in +Chinese comedy the conventional +mark of a ghost or apparition. Another +wore a golden helmet, which +constituted him a warrior. Several +kept beating themselves incessantly +on the hip with a cane, and by so +doing intimated that they were on +horseback." The play itself was more +like a game of romps than any regular +dramatic representation. Little was +said; but, on the other hand, there was +a deal of dancing, drumming, and +running about. Mr Erman could make +neither head nor tail of the proceedings. +By way of experiment, however, +he made some tender gestures +to one of the pseudo-ladies, who acknowledged +them in the most amiable +manner, and after that the horsemen +without horses paid him much attention, +pointing with their sticks to his +spectacles, and trying to touch them +as they passed. All this greatly diverted +the Mongol audience, evidently +delighted to see a real counterpart to +the painted spectacles of some of the +actors.</p> + +<p>The play over, Mr Erman and the +other guests, preceded by the uproarious +orchestra, marched off to dinner +at the house of the sarguchei or chief +officer of Maimachen. This gentleman, +a tall, thin person of stern countenance, +dressed in gray velvet, had a +white button on the crown of his +black felt hat, indicating his rank, and +a chalcedony ring, an inch wide, upon +his right-hand thumb, this being a +mark of official dignity. "His nails," +says our traveller, "did not extend +above half an inch beyond the tips of +his fingers, his personal vanity being +in this respect subdued, as might be +expected in a man of sober mind and +mature years." The man of short +nails and sober mind was exceeding +hospitable, welcomed his guests in a +soft and sonorous voice, and sat down +with them to dinner at tables covered +with scarlet cloth. The regale that +followed might have caused a European +<em>chef</em> to pale his ineffectual fires +from sheer envy. It began, oddly +enough, with fruits, sweetmeats, and +tea. These discussed, a piece of fine +paper, for a napkin, and a pair of +ivory chopsticks, were laid before each +guest, and the tables, which were six +feet wide, were covered over thickly +with small porcelain plates full of all +manner of complicated edibles. Fat +abounded in the dressing, to neutralise +which weak vinegar was used. The +first series of saucers duly honoured, +a second was brought in and put on +the top of its predecessor. Others +followed, and as the previous stratum +was never removed, there soon arose +upon the table a lofty pile of gastronomical +curiosities. Pipes and <i>chowsen</i>, +a Chinese spirit distilled from rice, +concluded the feast, as the strangers +thought;—but they were vastly mistaken. +The soup course had still to +come, and that was followed by an +infusion of cabbage-leaves, drawn out +of an urn by a cock, and drunk steaming +hot. How a dinner commencing +with preserved apricots, and concluding +with cabbage water, agreed with +German stomachs, Mr Erman does +not inform us. After managing to +taste upwards of a hundred dishes, he +went to visit the temple of Fo, whose +court was guarded by two clay lions +painted green, whilst at his shrine +were deposited, on account of the +festive season, a prodigious heap of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span> +delicacies. Whole sheep without the +skin, plucked chickens, pheasants, and +guinea-fowls, in their natural positions, +and glistening with fat, lay in +hillocks at the feet of half-a-dozen +grotesque and indecent idols. On a +long table, a wall of offerings was +built up, consisting of dressed meat +and cakes of every kind, the whole +surrounded with an elaborate lattice-work +of white dough, five or six feet +high, the openings of which were +filled with dried fruits and confectionary +of the finest kind. Perfumed +candles burned before the disgusting +idols, and brass discs hung from the +ceiling, and were struck with clappers +when any bearing offerings approached.</p> + +<p>The contents of the shops at Maimachen +gave Mr Erman a very high +opinion of Chinese skill and ingenuity. +He saw scientific instruments of great +merit, very clever clockwork, paintings +drawn and finished with the +greatest care, (although highly objectionable +by the indelicacy of their +subjects,) porcelain, sculpture, bowls, +vases, and figures of various kinds of +stone. "There were large spherical +bowls, and oval vases, of chalcedony +and agate, and reliefs cut in cornelians, +nephrit, and other coloured +stones. Of the latter kind, the most +common are flowers, the several parts +of which are formed of various and +tastefully selected stones, and then +cemented with mastic on a foundation +of stone. For many of these articles, +highly elaborate, and at the same +time quite useless, the merchants of +Maimachen asked four thousand tea-bricks, +(a standard of currency,) or +about two thousand five hundred +Russian dollars. In this we saw a +proof of luxury and profuse expenditure +amongst the Chinese. Many +other branches of industry indicated +enervation and effeminacy of manners:" +musk, for instance, and other +perfumes, enclosed in little bags, and +considered indispensable appendages +to a young man's dress. A curious +plaything, considered equally essential, +is composed of two polished balls, +about an inch in diameter, which the +men always carry with them. "These +are taken in the right hand, at idle +times, and rolled and rubbed one over +the other with the fingers; the noise +they make amuses, and perhaps there +is something agreeable also in the +feel of them. Here, in Maimachen, I +saw some of these balls made of glass, +striped green and white, and, hollow, +containing within them a little lump +of clay, which rattled with every +motion." The musk and perfumes, +however abundantly used, are all +insufficient to counteract a very peculiar +and unpleasant smell attributed +by Mr Erman to the Chinese. He +first perceived it at the theatre, and +took it to arise from an inordinate +addiction to leeks on the part of +actors and audience, whose breath +and clothes were infected with the +disagreeable odour of that bulb. But +he was subsequently induced to regard +it as a national taint, a Chinese exhalation, +not to be overcome by any +amount of artificial perfume, and +whose cause is matter of inquiry for +the chemist. Doubtless the Chinese +would get rid of it, were it possible so +to do, for the care they bestow on +personal beauty and elegance is very +great. Another striking defect in the +inhabitants of Maimachen is to be +found in their black and decayed +teeth. The cause of this Mr Erman +suspects to be the solution of copper, +produced by the empyreumatic oil of +tobacco in the bronze mouth-pieces +of their pipes.</p> + +<p>At a post-house upon his road back +to Irkutsk, Mr Erman and his party +were met by a deputation from no +less a personage than the Khamba +Lama, the high-priest of the Buraets, +a Mongolian tribe closely allied in +language and customs to the natives +of the northern provinces of China. +The embassy consisted of four lamas +or priests attired in scarlet robes and +bright yellow hats. They brought +an invitation to a grand festival, +which was readily accepted,—and a +very remarkable business it proved to +be. The discordant theatrical music +at Maimachen was a mere trifle compared +to the monstrous noise made +by the Buraet kettle-drums, so large +that they were dragged upon four +wheels, and by copper trumpets ten +feet long, borne by one man and +blown by another. "The grave prelude +of the wind instruments was like +a roaring hurricane, and the chorus +of brass gongs, drums, &c., resembled +the crash of a falling mountain." In<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span> +this place we find some curious and +interesting details respecting the +Buddhist religion and priesthood, +after which Mr Erman returns to +Irkutsk, and resumes his journey +eastward, through the valley of the +Lena, to the land of the Tunguzes +and Yakuts. The chief town of the +latter people, Yakutsk, is two degrees +to the south of Beresov, which Mr Erman +had visited on his way to Obdorsk; +but, nevertheless, the cold is far more +severe at the former place, where +frozen earth is found near the surface +all the year round, and the same condition +of the ground continues to the +depth of six hundred feet. "The +inhabitants of the Swiss Alps would +not unjustly think themselves lost if +they were compelled to live at the +height of ten thousand feet, or two +thousand three hundred feet above +the hospital of the great St Bernard, +and there to support and clothe themselves +by keeping cattle, and with the +productions of the surrounding mountains; +yet they would then, and not +until they arrived at that height, be +settled on ground having the same +temperature which I found here +amongst the Yakuts, who are rich +in cattle. It would seem, therefore, +as if that succeeded in Siberia which +was impossible in Europe, if we did +not take into account that the same +constant temperature of the ground +may be made up at different places of +very different elements." Notwithstanding +the severity of their climate +and resistance of their frozen soil, the +Yakuts are a prosperous people, having +attained a considerable degree of +civilisation, and amongst whom crime +is rare, although the influence of +Russian example and contact daily +renders it less so. There is much +interest in Mr Erman's account of +them, and of the wandering Tunguzses, +the last tribe with whom he consorted +before his arrival at Okhotsk. Here +his reception was not very flattering. +"We were looked at with much +curiosity from all the house-doors on +the way, for the devout elders of the +place had been filled with anxious +forebodings by the accounts of the +arrival of a foreigner. They signed +themselves with the cross whenever +he was mentioned. And I learned +to-day that they had fears of war, +conscription, and other calamities." +Nor was their alarm abated by learning +that "the heathen foreigner wore +snow-shades (spectacles) even in thick +weather, and that he carried a dog in +the sledge with him. Thus the return +to civilised man was marked in the +first instance by the encounter of +intolerant superstition, and it was +necessary to forget the nobler traits +of the wilderness before we could +become reconciled to the Russians of +Okhotsk." At which place Mr Erman's +narrative ceases. We await with +interest its promised continuation—an +account of his adventures in Kamschatka, +California, and the Pacific.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>THE SCOTTISH DEER FORESTS.</h2> + +<p><cite>Lays of the Deer Forest, with Sketches of Olden and Modern Deer Hunting, &c. +&c.</cite> By <span class="smcap">John Sobieski</span> and <span class="smcap">Charles Edward Stuart</span>. 2 vols., post 8vo. William +Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh and London.</p> + + +<p>We would that, like stout Lord +Percy of yore, it were in our power at +this present moment to chronicle a +vow that we should forthwith take +our pastime for three summer days on +the pleasant hills of Scotland. Alas +for us, that we are doomed, from +divers causes, to absent ourselves from +felicity awhile, and, amidst the heat +and noise of London, listen with intense +disgust to the brutal bayings of +the Chartists! This very night, we +hear, the ignoble hunt is to be up in +Bishop Bonner's fields. Crowds of +dirty, unshaven, squalid ruffians, who +have not the strength to use the pike, +but the will to employ the knife of the +assassin—fellows whom even Cobden +would be chary to recognise as his +<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">quondam</i> supporters, defenders, and +dupes—not unmingled with foreign +propagandists, whom even France, in +the fury of her revolutionary tornado, +repudiates—are thronging to the place +of rendezvous, where, doubtless, their +souls will be worthily regaled by the +ravings of some rascally vendors of +sedition, blasphemy, and treason. Then +will ensue the usual scene which for +nights has disgraced the metropolis. +Some unfortunate tradesman, whose +curiosity has been stronger than his +prudence, will be fixed upon as a +"special" or a spy—the cowards, presuming +upon their numbers, and the +apparent absence of all executive +power, will attempt a deliberate murder—the +police will sally from their +hiding-place to the rescue—there will +be a storm of brickbats, a determined +charge with the baton, a shop or two +will be gutted, some score of craniums +cracked, and to-morrow morning the +greasy patriots, at the bar of Bow +Street, will read their recantation, and, +in the face of overwhelming evidence +to the contrary, protest their loyalty +to the Queen. Such are the pastimes +of merry England in the month of +June, and such the results of that +enlightened policy which yields every +thing to popular clamour, adopts the +most fatal delusions as distinct principles +of right, and then shrinks, trembling +and aghast, from the inevitable +result of their development!</p> + +<p>We do not want—in this article, at +least—to be political, and we vow that +we took up our pen three minutes ago +in a spirit of perfect good-will and +harmony towards all manner of men. +But the hoarse bawling of these cannibals +has somewhat ruffled our temper, +dispelled for the moment our dreams +of the mountains, and forced us back +to the sterner realities of popular +tumult and the truncheon. If this +sort of thing lasts, we shall indubitably +emigrate. Assassination, as recommended +by the modern Hamilcar, +is by no manner of means to our +taste. Our opinion coincides with +that of the gracious Captain of Knockdunder, +and, were we promoted to a +judicial function, "the chiel they ca' +the Fustler" should ere long fustle in +a tow. Neither are we at all disposed +to fraternise with the milder Cuffey—a +fellow, by the way, who is not without +some redeeming scintillations of +humour. We have no wish to be +introduced to him even at a mesmeric +soiree; and, acting upon the principle +of Jacquey, we shall pray heaven to +decrease our acquaintance, and put +the Tweed as speedily as possible between +ourselves and the partisans of +O'Connor. We hope the Lord Provost, +though discomfited in his Police +Bill, has been looking after the tranquillity +of the Calton. If not, we +must move further north, and finally +locate ourselves somewhere in the +vicinity of Dalnacardoch. The +deuce is in it, if the revolutionary +mania has penetrated to that sequestred +region! No son of the mountains +has ever yet given in his adhesion to +the Charter—treason hath not stained +the tartan, and no republican pins +have ever been exposed beneath the +checkered margin of the kilt. There +is loyalty at least in the land which +was traversed by Montrose and Dundee;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span> +and without the slightest fear +that any of the numerous points of +that interesting but incomprehensible +public document, which Mr Joseph +Hume proposes to condense, shall be +unduly obtruded on our notice, we +shall at once exchange our London +dwelling for the more pleasant bothy +of the hills.</p> + +<p>As for a companion, we shall seek +none better—for we could not find +one—than this last publication of the +Stuarts. And here, once for all, let +us draw a line of distinction betwixt +the poetry and the prose of these very +remarkable brothers. We have not +the remotest intention of sitting in +judgment on the "Lays," or of testing +the poetical merits of John Sobieski +and Charles Edward, either +by the canons of Longinus, or by +that superior code of literary laws +which Maga has promulgated to the +world. The poems, which occupy +exclusively the first of these volumes, +are, with one exception, fugitive in +their nature, and appear to have been +penned rather from occasional impulse, +than from any deliberate intention of +publication. Accordingly, we find that +most of them relate to topics personal +to the authors themselves—and with +these we do not meddle. In others, +there are flashes of the deep national +spirit which still survives—though our +rulers do not seem to mark it—in +Scotland: indignation at the neglect +with which too many of our national +institutions have been treated, and +mournful lamentings over the misfortunes +of a former age. But the impulse +which leads to the composition +of poetry does not always imply +its accomplishment. Poetry, as an +art in which excellence can only be +obtained by a combination of the +simple and the sublime, requires a +study far more intense and serious +than the mere critic is apt to allow. +In a former Number we devoted an +article to an exposition of those principles, +which are absolutely invariable +in their application, and which must +be thoroughly understood, if they are +not intuitive to the poet; and, being +in no mood for repetition, we shall +simply say that we adhere to our +recorded doctrines. The Stuarts, it +must be confessed, are more successful +with the rifle than the lyre. We +would far rather meet them in the +garb of the forester, than in the more +fantastic fashion of the minstrel: be +theirs the lot of Ryno the hunter, not +the darkened destiny of the bard.</p> + +<p>Do, therefore, what you please with +the first volume—pack it up in your +portmanteau, or place it on the shelf +beside Chambers' History and the +collections of good old Bishop Forbes. +But if you profess to be a deer-stalker—though +we fear your profession to +be false—or if you are but an aspiring +neophyte, and hankerer after that +proud position—or if you merely +bound your aspirations towards the +compassing of the death of a roebuck—or +if simply you have a keen and a +kindly eye for nature, and are a lover +of the sylvan solitudes—in one or +other, or all of these characters, we +pray you to deal more leisurely with +the other tone, which is the Hunter's +Vade-Mecum, the best guide ever yet +published to the haunts of the antlered +monarch.</p> + +<p>We are fond of Mr Scrope, and +we have an excessive partiality for +St John. Two finer fellows never +shouldered a rifle; and our conscience +does not accuse us of having used too +superlative, in epithet in their praise. +This was the more creditable on our +part, because we knew them both to +be Southrons; and while freely admitting +the sportsman-like qualities +of the one, and the strong picturesque +style and spirit of the other, we felt a +slight, passing, but pardonable pang +of jealousy, that they should have +stepped in, and pre-occupied the +native field. Where, thought we, are +our Scottish deer-stalkers? Can the +lads not handle a pen as well as +touch a trigger? Will none of them, +who have been trained to the hills +since they were striplings, stand +forth for the honour of Albyn, and +try a match with these fustian-coated +circumventers of the stag? By the +shade of Domhnull Mac-Fhionnlaidlhnan +Dan, we blush for the literary +reputation of our country, and almost +wish that we were young enough +ourselves to take the hill against the +invading Sassenach! At length—and +we are delighted to see it—the reproach +has been swept away. Two +stalwart champions of the forest have +risen in the persons of the Stuarts—they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> +have encountered the Englishmen +with their own weapons, and, in +our opinion, beaten them hollow.</p> + +<p>Mr Scrope had the merit of producing +the earliest work in which deer-stalking +was treated as a distinct and +peculiar branch of the art venatory. +We speak of it now from recollection; +for our copy, somewhat frayed and +worn by the fingers of ambitious +sportsmen, is in the snug corner of a +library some hundred miles to the +northward. But we remember well +the Waltonian character of the book—the +professional style in which the +elder practitioner enforced his precepts +upon the dawning intellect of his +companion; and the adventures, +neither few nor feeble, which were +depicted in the heart of the Atholl +forest. Taken as the production of +an English sportsman, Mr Scrope's +book is highly creditable: considered +as the manual of a deer-stalker, it is +at the best indifferent. Nor, indeed, +could it well be otherwise. Not until +middle age, if we are informed rightly, +did Mr Scrope first send a ball into +the ample shoulder of a hart: his +young blood never beat tumultuously +in his veins at the sight of the mighty +creature rolling over upon the heather, +and its antlers buried in the moss. +His boyish enthusiasm, we fear, was +expended upon game of less mark and +likelihood—partridges, perchance, as +they whirred from the turnips, or +possibly he was "entered" with the +hare. Wordsworth's maxim, that the +boy is the father of the man, is peculiarly +applicable in sporting matters. +Upon the character of the country in +which the latent spirit of the hunter +is earliest developed, depends, in a +great degree, his future success, and +certainly his accomplishment as an +Orion. The young squire, who has +been brought up in the faith of Sykes, +who never stirs abroad without a +keeper, and who is accustomed to see +his delicate pointers execute their +manœuvres with almost mathematical +precision on the flat stubbles of Norfolk, +labours under a huge disadvantage +in the higher branches of his +science, compared with the Highland +boy who has received his education +on the hill. What though the single +barrel of the latter be a clumsy implement +indeed in competition with the +Purdie which decorates the shoulder +of the former—though the hound that +sometimes attends him, though oftener +he is alone, never slept a single night +in a kennel, and is the ruggedest specimen +of his kind—still he is in the +enjoyment of advantages incomparably +superior for the development of +all his faculties, and the sharpening of +every sense. The triumph of the +sportsman does not lie so much in the +killing as in the finding of his game. +Were it otherwise, the pigeon-slayer +of Battersea or the Red-house would +have just claims to the honours of Sir +Tristram, and the annihilator of +poultry to rank with the Nimrods of +the world. Our young friend the +Squire shoots well—that is to say, he +can kill with reasonable precision: +but, after all, what is he save an instrument? +Take Ponto away from +him, tie up Juno, send a bullet through +the brain of Basta, and a pretty beggarly +account you will have of it in +the evening when we come to the +emptying of the bags! Or lead him +down to the sea-shore, and show him +a whaup, which in the English tongue +is denominated a curlew; request him +to use all his possible skill to compass +possession of the bird; but do not set +your heart on having it, else, as sure +as fate, you are doomed to disappointment. +Whaup is quite alive to his +own interests, and by no means unsuspicious +of the Saxon, who advances +straight towards him with a hypocritical +air of unconcern. Had the +Highland lad been there, what a difference! +He would have dropped like +a stone behind that rock, wriggled +like a serpent over the sand, kept the +bird between himself and the sea, +taken advantage of every inequality +in the ground, discerned from the +attitude of his quarry whether its +suspicions were aroused or not, and +in ten minutes a pluff of white smoke +and a report would have announced +its extermination. As it is, the curlew +remains apparently unconcerned until +the Lord of the Manor has reduced +the intermediate distance to a hundred +and twenty yards, and then, with a +shrill whistle, takes flight along the +margin of the tide. Or set him to +stalk a blackcock, perched high of an +Autumn morning on a dyke. How +clumsily he sets about it! how miserable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span> +is his stoop! how wretchedly he +calculates his distance! That wide-awake +hat, which, for the sake of +symmetry, he has been pleased to +surmount with a feather, is as conspicuous +to the country for miles round, +and of course to the blackcock, as +was the white plume of Murat in the +field of battle, and as potent to effect +a clearance, of which we presently +have ocular demonstration.</p> + +<p>We contend, therefore, that it is extremely +difficult for the man, be he ever +so addicted to field-sports, who has been +educated in a cultivated country, to +disembarrass himself of the artificial +habits which he is tolerably sure to acquire. +His trolling may be excellent—indeed, +English gentlemen are, generally +speaking, first-rate shots—but he +will be deficient in the science of the naturalist, +and in that singular acuteness +of perception which can hardly be +gained save by an early intimacy with +nature, on the mountain, the moor, or in +the glen. No subsequent education or +experience can make up for the normal +deficiency, least of all in the pursuit +of an animal so wary, so instinctive, +and so peculiar in its habits as the +deer. Of course we do not mean to +deny that there is much which may +be learned. What a pointer is to +partridges, some wary and experienced +forester may often be made to the +deer; and if you put yourself under +his tuition, and scrupulously obey his +orders, you may very possibly succeed +in attaining the object of your desires. +Nor indeed can you do better, up to a +certain point, notwithstanding the +strictures of the Stuarts, who are, we +think, unnecessarily wroth at the +system which would call in the aid +of any supplementary assistance. We +hope no gentleman who has rented a +forest for the ensuing season will be +deterred from following the feet of a +Highland Gamaliel on account of any +ridicule which may be attached to the +fact of his having been "taken up" +to a deer. If he should rashly attempt +stalking at his own hand, without any +preliminary instruction, we should be +sorry to found our hopes of dinner on +the chance of his acquisition of a +haunch.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"When advancing upon deer [say +our authors]—except in strange ground—the +forester, or any other attendant, +should be left behind a stone, or in +some covert, before the stalker commences +his approach; not from any +recognition of the false reproach made +against the guides by Mr Scrope, but +because there is no occasion for an assistant, +and the action of one has more +celerity, independence, and security from +discovery, than when a greater number +are in motion. The charge made by the +author of 'The Art of Deer-stalking,' +that the forester is often in the way, and +sometimes obstructs the shot, is not true, +unless in instances of inexperienced and +awkward individuals, who are not to be +found among that class of foresters of +whom the guest of the <em>Atholl Forest</em> proposes +his remarks. With a MacKenzie, +or a MacDonald, a Catanach, and a MacHardie, +the asserted inconvenience must +proceed from the ignorance or maladroitness +of the gray worm which crawls +at his back, and who often does not know +what he is doing, or where he is going, +with his ideas <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">égaré</i> on his sensitive +knees and varnished Purdie, unconscious +of what he ought to do and nervous for +what he ought not, flurried with eagerness +and disgusted with his posture, and +who, never seeing a deer except once in +the year, is led up to him like a 'blind +burraid,' by one whose language he +scarcely understands. In general, therefore, +the embarrassments of the 'creep' +are those of the superior, who is frequently +so ignorant, unpractised, and +dependent upon the guidance of the forester, +that to be '<em>taken up to the deer</em>' +has become the modern forest phrase for +the approach of the sportsman. This contemptible +term, and its contemptible practice, +has only been introduced within the +last quarter century, since the prevalence +of stalking gentlemen utterly unacquainted +with the ground and pursuit of deer. +Of old, the '<i lang="ga" xml:lang="ga">Seàlgair uasal nam bèann</i>' +was initiated to the hill when yet but a +'<i>biorach</i>' of a stalker; and when he +became a matured hill-man, he should no +more have suffered himself to be—'<em>taken +up</em> to his deer' by an attendant, than a +Melton fox-hunter to be trained after the +hounds by a whipper-in with a leading +rein.—What should have been the sentiments +of the old chiefs and Uaislean of +the last century—the Dukes of Atholl +and Gordon—Glengarrie—John Aberardar—Iain +dubh Bhail-a-Chroäin—to hear +a deer-hunter speak of being '<em>taken up +to his deer</em>!'—Certainly that he was +a noble 'amadan' or 'gille-crùbach,' +who had not the faculties or the limbs to +act for himself.—But this is only one of +the many instances for which the hills of +Gael may mourn with the mountains of +Gilboa—'<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Quomodo ceciderunt robusti!</i>'"</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span></p> + +<p>Far are we from insinuating that +Mr Scrope is at all liable to the remarks +contained in the foregoing +extract. On the contrary, we hold +him to be a man of vigorous mind +and acute eye, and any thing but a +contemptible foe to the stags, after the +measure of his own experience. If he +is deficient at all, it is in the poetry +and higher mysteries of the art, which +hardly would be expected from a +stranger, whose initiation was necessarily +late. Waverley, though a respectable +shot, and a man of literary +taste, would, we apprehend, have +described the driving and disposition +of the tainchel less effectively, and +certainly far less truly, than Fergus +M'Ivor; so great a difference is there +betwixt the craft of the master and +his pupil. Let Mr Scrope, therefore, +rest content with the laurels he has +won, and the trophies he has taken +from the forest. Not unforgotten is +his name in Atholl, nor unloved. Let +him be a guide to the Southren, but +he must not dream of rivalling the +Stuarts in woodcraft, or Stoddart in +the science of piscation.</p> + +<p>Of Mr St John's "Wild Sports of the +Highlands," we have already spoken +in terms of unqualified praise. A +more delightful volume was never +adapted for the pocket of the sportsman: +a more truthful or observant +work has seldom issued from the pen +of the naturalist. His sketches and +pictures of deer-stalking we allow to +be as perfect in their way as the compositions +of Landseer; and having +said so much, we shall not make any +further call upon that gentleman's +blushes. Still, even his experience is +limited, and his knowledge imperfect. +He has given us a brilliant account +of his own exploits upon the hill, but +he has not lived long enough in the +wilder haunts of the deer accurately +to understand their habits. Not so +our authors, who for years have been +denizens of the mountains, speaking +the tongue of the Gael, wearing the +native garb, and following the chase +with an ardour and enthusiasm unparalleled +in these degenerate days.</p> + +<p>Gentlemen who complain of the inferior +accommodation afforded by some +of the more distant hostelries of Scotland—who +are shocked at the absence +of warming-pans, and tremulously +nervous about your sanatory condition, +when subjected to the enormity of +damp sheets—how would you like to +spend a few nights on the misty hill-side, +or even in the hut of the hunters? +We shall take you if you please to the +latter spot, merely premising that, in +order to reach it, we must cross the +Findhorn, now roaring down in spate. +A terrible stream is that Findhorn, as +Mr St John well knows; but we +question whether he ever ventured to +ford it on the rise, as was done by one +of the Stuarts. For the information +of distant friends, we beg to put our +imprimatur to the following description +of this furious Highland flood, +which rolled between the residence of +the hunters and their favourite +ground.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"That stream, however, which was so +calm, and bright, and sunny, when the +otters floated down its current in a still +summer's morning, was a fierce and +terrible enemy in its anger; and, for a +great part of the year, the dread of its +uncertainty and danger was a formidable +cause for the preservation of that profound +solitude of the forest which so long +made it the sanctuary of deer, roe, and +every kind of wild game. The rapidity +with which the river comes down, the +impassable height to which it rises in an +incredibly short time, its incertitude and +fury, would render it an object of care +to bold forders and boatmen; but with +the peasants of the 'laich,' unaccustomed, +like the Highlanders, to wrestle +with a mountain torrent, and, excepting +in rare instances, unable to swim or +manage a coble, it inspires a dread, almost +amounting to awe, and none except +ourselves ventured to keep a boat above +the fishing-station of Slui. Pent within +a channel of rocks from fifty to a hundred +and eighty feet in height, the rise +of the water is rapidly exaggerated by +the incapability of diffusion; and the +length of its course sometimes concealing +beyond the horizon the storms by which +it is swelled at its source, its floods then +descend with unexpected violence. Frequently +when, excepting a low wreath +upon Beann-Drineachain, the sun is shining +in a cloudless sky, and the water +scarce ripples over the glittering ford, a +deep hollow sound—a dull approaching +roar may be heard in the gorges of the +river; and almost before the wading +fisherman can gain the shore, a bank of +water, loaded with trees, and rocks, and +wreck, will come down three—four—five +feet abreast—sweeping all before it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> +in a thunder of foam and ruin. In +ordinary cases, after two days of rain, +the stream will rise twenty or thirty feet—it +<em>has</em> risen nearly ten fathoms in its +rocky gulf; and once upon this occasion +it mounted fifteen feet in a quarter of an +hour. When the dawn broke, it appeared +sweeping through the trees, which the +evening before hung fifty feet above its +brink—a black roaring tempest loaded +with ruins and debris, from which were +seen to rise at times the white skeletons +of trees peeled of their bark, beams and +couples of houses—a cart—a door—a +cradle, hurrying and tilting through the +foam and spray, like the scattered 'floatsome' +of a wreck.</p> + +<p>"It may be judged how far it was convenient +in winter to hunt a forest separated +by such a boundary, of which the +nearest certain passage was by a bridge +two miles to the west, with frequently +the view of hunting three miles to the +east. Often we have gone out in a clear +sapphire morning, when there was scarce +a ripple on the pools, and the water on +the ford was not over our 'glunachan,' +and when we returned at evening, and +approached through the dark veil of pines +which descended to the river, have heard +a roar as if the world was rolling together +down the black trough before us, and +as we came out on the bank, found a furious +tempest of water, tumbling, and +plunging, and leaping, over stock and +rock twenty feet upon the clatach, where +we had left it whimpering among the +pebbles in the morning; while, in the +far, deep, birch-embowered channel, where +the stream was then so still and placid +that you could only guess its course by +the bright glistening eye which here and +there blinked between the trees and +stones,—now it came yelling, and skirling, +and clamouring down the rocks and +falls, as if all the air was full of gibbering, +babbling, laughing demons, who were +muttering, and yammering, and prophesying, +and hooting, at what you were going +to do, if you attempted to cross."</p></blockquote> + +<p>We pray you at your leisure to +read on, and you will presently see +what peril our authors underwent at +the fearful fords of the Findhorn. +Once or twice in our life we have +been in similar jeopardy, and we can +testify with unction to the singular +sensations which beset a man in the +midst of a roaring river, when the +rapids are shooting away below, and +the boulder-stones rolling beneath +his feet. We pass over some perilous +instances of adventure, which at +length became so frequent as to lead +to the construction of the hut.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"Such continually and unexpectedly +were the ferries of the Findhorn, and +many such escapes we had, in daylight +and in darkness.—Twice I have been +swamped, often nearly upset, and more +than once carried off my legs in the fords; +and—I say it with humility, and always +under the mercy of heaven—that I owed +rescue either to actual swimming, or to +the confidence inspired by that power +when struggling with the strong and +terrible enemy.</p> + +<p>"This continual exposure to battle and +disappointment, however, became at +length too vexatious an abridgment of +sport and certainty; and as I would—and +often—have made my bed under a +fir tree rather than go round by the +bridge of Daltullich, I resolved upon +another alternative—to build in the forest +a '<i lang="ga" xml:lang="ga">bothan an t-sealgair</i>,' or 'hunter's +hut,' where we might lodge for the night +when it was impossible to cross the +water.</p> + +<p>"There is a high and beautiful craig at +the crook of the river near the 'Little +Eas,'—a precipice eighty feet in height, +and then like a vast stone helmet crowned +with a feathery plume of wood, which +nodded over its brow. From its top you +might drop a bullet into the pool below, +but on the south side there is an accessible +woody bank, down which, by planting +your heels firmly in the soil and +among the roots of the trees, there is a +descent to a deep but smooth and sandy +ford. Upon the summit of the rock there +is, or there was—my blessing upon it!—a +thick and beautiful bird-cherry, which +hung over the craig, and whose pendant +branches, taking root on the edge of the +steep, shot up again like the banana, and +formed a natural arbour and close trellis +along the margin of the precipice. Behind +its little gallery, there is a mighty +holly, under which the snow rarely lays +in winter, or the rain drops in summer. +Beneath the shelter of this tree, and +within the bank at its foot, I dug a little +cell large enough to hold two beds, a +bench, a hearth, a table, and a 'kistie.' +The sides were lined with deals well +caulked with moss, and the roof was constructed +in the same manner, but covered +with a tarpauling, which, lying in the slope +of the surrounding bank, carried off any +water which might descend from thaw +or rain, and, when the autumn trees shook +off their leaves, could not be distinguished +from the adjoining bank. Its door was +on the brink of the craig, veiled by the +thick bird-cherries on the edge of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> +precipice; and the entrance to the little +path, which ascended from either side +upon the brow of the rock, was concealed +by a screen of birch and hazel, beneath +which the banks were covered with primroses, +wood-anemones, and forget-me-not. +Bowers of honeysuckle and wild-roses +twined among the lower trees; and even +in the tall pines above, the rose sometimes +climbed to the very top, where all its +blossoms, clustering to the sun, hung in +white tassels out of the dark-blue foliage. +There the thrush and the blackbird sang +at morning and evening, and the owl +cried at night, and the buck belled upon +the Torr.—Blessed, wild, free, joyous +dwelling, which we shall never see +again!"</p></blockquote> + +<p>A lovely place indeed must that +have been in the pleasant days of +summer! We do not wonder at the +fondness with which the Stuarts speak +of that lodge in the wilderness, reared +as it was in the midst of the most +beautiful and romantic scenery which +exists within the compass of the seas +of Britain, or, for aught we know, +elsewhere. Years have rolled by since +we last set foot upon the banks of +Findhorn; but never shall we forget +the glories of that deep ravine, or the +noble woods of Altyre, still possessed +by the descendants of the princely +Comyns. Did we not expect to be +summoned out within half an hour to +contribute to the safety of the realm +by breaking the head of a Chartist, +we should ourselves launch out into +description, and try conclusions with +Horatio M'Culloch. But, after all, +it would be a work of supererogation. +Mr St John has already illustrated +most charmingly that abode of the +faithful; and he will not be displeased +to see that, even in painting, he has +met with formidable rivals. Rarely, +indeed, have we met with any thing +so perfect as the following sketch:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"Near Slui on the Findhorn there is a +range of precipices and wooded steeps +crowned with pine, and washed by a clear +and rippling stream of the river, through +which there is an excellent ford, very well +known to the roe, for escaping to the +woods of Slui when pressed by the hounds. +This reach is called the Ledanreich, from +a remarkable craig, a sheer naked even +wall of sandstone, lying in horizontal +strata eighty or ninety feet high: At the +eastern extremity of this rock there is a +great division, partly separated from the +main curtain by a deep woody slope, which +dips into the precipice with little more +inclination from the perpendicular than to +admit of careful footing. In the face of +the divided craig, the decomposition of +the softer stone between the courses of +the strata has wasted it away into narrow +galleries, which, passing behind the +tall pillars of the pines growing from the +rifts and ledges, extend along the face of +the precipice, veiled by a deep tapestry of +ivy, which spreads over the mighty wall +of rock, and hangs from shelf to shelf over +the covered ways. Beyond the craigs, +the bank of the forest, an abrupt steep, +covered with oak and copsewood, slopes +down to the river, its brow darkened with +a deep-blue cloud of pines, and its descent +carpeted with moss, primroses, and pyrolas, +here and there hollowed into quaint +'cuachs,' filled with hazels, thorns, and +giant pines. Along this woody scarp, and +through its thick copse, the roe had made +narrow galleries, which communicated +with the ivy corridors on the face of the +craig, to which there were corresponding +ways upon the opposite side. In that +fortress of the rock, for shelter from the +sun and flies, and seclusion from the stir +of the world during the day in the heat +of summer, the red-deer and roe made their +secret haunt, concealed behind the deep +dim veil of leaves, unseen and unsuspected +in the cool hollows of the cliff. The prying +eye might search the craig from below, +and the beaters or the woodmen might +whistle, and whoop, and shout above, but +nothing appeared or moved except the +gray falcon, which rose channering out of +the rifts. Above the craig the wooded +bank was so abrupt, that to the front view +there was no indication of a slope, and +any who passed quickly over the brow +was immediately out of sight. At each +descent beyond the extremities of the +whole range of rocks there was a common +roe's run and pass, which was supposed +to be 'deadly sure' if the deer took the +path, since the precipice below was believed +to be an infallible barrier against +any intermediate escape. Often, however, +when pressed upon the terrace above, the +deer neither went through the passes nor +turned against the beaters, but vanished +as if by magic—nobody could tell where; +and it was the common opinion of the +drivers and fishermen, that, when forced +near the river, they threw themselves over +the craigs 'for spite,'—a belief often +confirmed by old Davie Simpson, who +declared that he had often found their +bodies beneath the rocks, and in the +Cluach, the Clerk's Pool, and the 'Furling +Hole.' He did not, however, relate +what <em>wounds</em> they had, and the truth was,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> +that those which disappeared at the brow +of the Ledanreich dashed down the sudden +dip of the bank between the precipices, +and, turning through the ivy corridors, +went out through the copse galleries upon +the other side, and either descended to +the water or skirted below the pass, and +went back into the forest. Those which +were found dead were such as had been +mortally wounded at some in-wood pass, +and, unable to take, or cross the water, +had died on the beach, or been carried +down by the river. In the same mysterious +passages which gave concealment +and escape to the stags and bucks, the +does were used to lay with their kids, +and from thence at morning and evening +they brought them out to pluck the tender +grass upon the green banks beyond. Often +from the brow above, or from behind the +ivy screen, we have watched their 'red +garment' stealing through the boughs, +followed by their little pair drawing their +slender legs daintily through the wet dew, +and turning their large velvet ears to +catch every passing sound upon the breeze +as it brought the hum of the water, or +the crow of the distant cock—now +trotting before, now lingering behind +their dam, now nestling together, now +starting off as the gale suddenly rustled +the leaves behind them—then listening +and re-uniting in a timorous plump, pricking +their ears, and bobbing their little +black noses in the wind,—then, as the +doe dropped on her knees in the moss, +and laid her side on the warm spot where +the morning sun glanced in through the +branches, they gambolled about her, leaping +over her back, and running round in +little circles, uttering that soft, wild, plaintive +cry like the treble note of an accordion, +till, weary of their sport, they lay +down at her side, and slept while she +watched as only a mother can. No marvel +it was that they loved that safe and +fair retreat, with all its songs and flowers, +its plenty and repose. All around was +sweet, and beautiful, and abundant, such +as the poetical imagination of the painter +can rarely compose, and <em>never</em>, unless like +Salvator he has lived in the wilderness +with its free denizens. Upon the summit +above the craig there was a broad and +verdant terrace surrounded by ivied pines +and feathering birches, and upon a little +green glade in the midst grow two of the +most beautiful objects ever produced by +art or nature. These were a pair of twin +thorns exactly similar in size, age, and +form, and standing about three yards +from each other: their stems as straight +as shafts, and their round and even heads +like vast bushes of wild thyme, but each +so overgrown with ivy and woodbine, that +their slender trunks appeared like fretted +columns, over which the thorny foliage +served as a trellis to suspend the heavy +plumes of the ivy and the golden tassels +of the woodbine. Many a 'ladye's bower' +we have seen, and many a rich and costly +plant reared by the care of man, but none +so beautiful as those lonely sisters of the +forest, planted by His hand in His great +garden, where none beheld but those for +whom He made it lovely—the ravens of +the rock, the deer who couched under its +shade by night, and the birds who sang +their matins and their even-song out of its +sweet boughs."</p></blockquote> + +<p>If we go on quoting at this rate, we +shall never reach the hill, and as yet +we have not started from the hut. +To say the truth, we are in no hurry, +and neither, we suspect, upon many +occasions were the Stuarts, indomitable +huntsmen as they are. What +though at night the river swept with +the sound of thunder below, making +the solid rock vibrate to its deep +foundation,—what though the wind +swept mightily down the ravine, +swaying the trees like saplings, and +threatening to tear them away,—what +though the windows of heaven were +open, and the deluge came down, and +the bark of the hill-fox sounded +sharp above the roaring of the water +and the wood,—yet within that little +bothy that rests upon the face of the +craig, the wearied huntsmen slept +peacefully; and in the morning, says +one of them,—"I was awakened as +usual by the whistle of the robin in +the bird-cherry, and the sharp note of +the blue bonnet sharpening his little +saw on the top of the holly. I went +out to the narrow terre-plain over the +craig. The wind was gone, and the +sun smiling on the still leaves and +dewy grass—the flood torrent of the +river dancing and laughing in its light, +and the calm bright air breathing +with the sweet perfume of the damp +plants, and all the freshness and +fragrance of the forest wilderness." +We back it against the forest of +Ardennes!</p> + +<p>Every true hunter is humane. +What! you say—do you call it humane +to persecute the unfortunate stag, the +monarch of the wilds, to the death?—to +drive rifle-bullets into the target +of the harmless roe? to murder otters +by the dozen, and to slaughter seals<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> +by the score? Indubitably we do. +Let us reason a little upon this. Yesterday, +you recollect that you dined +upon very juvenile veal, smothered in +a mess of dingy vegetable matter +which we apprehend to have been +sorrel, after the beastly fashion of the +Gauls. Posterior to that, you devoured +the larger moiety of a duckling. +This morning we saw you, with our +own eyes, regaling yourself at the +club, between the intervals of muffin, +with what assuredly were cutlets of +lamb. After all this, can you have +the face to stand up and defend your +own humanity? For how many days +had the sun dawned upon that luckless +calf, the mangled fragments of +which upon your platter rather resembled +the rags of a kid-glove, +than food meet for the stomach +of a Christian? How long had +the feeble quackle of Draco been +heard round the row of peas +near which he unsuspiciously perambulated, +little dreaming how much +the pods thereof were mixed up +with his future destiny? How many +races were run upon the meadow by +that perished daughter of the sheep? +Three infantine lives cut off simply +for your sole gormandising! This is +but a slight case. Set you down to a +rook-pie, and you will engulf a dozen +unfortunates before you bury your +visage in the pewter. Pay for you at +Blackwall, and the whitebait will disappear +by the thousand. It is in vain +that you attempt to shift the atrocity +of your inordinate appetite from your +own shoulders to those of the grazier, +the butcher, the poulterer, or the +fisherman. Cobden, or Joe Hume, +or any other of the political economists +belonging to the tribe who would +starve the workman in order that they +may guzzle themselves, will tell you +that invariably the demand regulates +the supply. You, therefore, are the responsible +party: the young have fallen +into your Scylla—the immature of +days have been swept into the vortex +of your Charybdis! Moreover, if you +were a sportsman—which you are not—our +minds would be grievously +troubled for the future safety of the +singing-birds. Welford, the friend of +Bright, as we all remember, proposed +a grand crusade throughout Britain +against the feathered tribe; and you +are not at all unlikely to join in a +general St Bartholomew of the sparrows. +Do you venture to retort upon +us? Do you think we take life unnecessarily, +or that we are base enough +to use our weapons until the quarry +has reached its prime? No calf or +fawn ever fell by the hand of the +genuine hunter—no cheeper or pout +ever sullied the interior of the sportsman's +bag. Not until the better part +of his life has been run,—till his +muscles are hard as iron, his slot deep, +and his branches towering on the +beam,—not until he has lived and +loved, do we strike down, as if with +lightning and painless death, the great +hart in the middle of the wilderness. +But to all innocent things—to the +harmless indwellers of the forest and +moor, the true hunter is a guardian +and a friend. The strong man is ever +brave, and none but the strong can +pass to where the herds of the mountain +dwell.</p> + +<p>One more scene at the Hut, and we +shall illustrate this subject further.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"But though our bothie was far from +resembling the Peri Paribanon's cell, or +the rock-palace where the old kaiser +keeps his court in the bowels of the Unterberg—we +loved it, not only for its +bucks and stags, and all its greenwood +cheer, but for the love of nature by which +it was surrounded. Beyond its 'vert +and venison,' there was a world of life +and interest for those who had the eye +to mark and the heart to read its book. +On every side we had companions; from +the passenger which came from Norway, +to the little native guest—the robin which +roosted in the holly-bush above us. '<em>The</em> +robin?'—you smile and say. Yes, there +was but one. He lived in the bush, as we +lived in the bothie, and we were his neighbours +too long not to be very well acquainted. +His species, as well as all the +small tribes, conformable to the minuteness +of their range and habits, are very +local, and may be found all the year in, +or near, the same place; and those who +feed them will rarely wait many minutes +for their appearance. There were many +robins which lived about the bothie, and +all were continually in its vicinity, and +very tame; but none so gentle and grateful +as our little neighbour in the holly. +They would, however, enter the hut, sit +on the bed or the table, and hop about +the floor, and, when I went out, follow +me to the brae. They liked very much +to see me turn up the soil, which always +provided them with a little feast; accordingly,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> +they were never absent at the +planting of a shrub or a flower; and when +I brought home, in my shooting-bag, a +tuft of primroses, pyrolas, or lilies of the +valley, they were always in attendance to +see them put into the bank. For watching +my occupation, they preferred something +more elevated than the ground, but +not so high as the branches of the trees, +which were too far from the earth to give +them a clear sight of what I turned up; +for their accommodation, therefore, I +made little crosses and crotchets, and, +when I was planting, set them up beside +me, moving them as I proceeded from +place to place. Each was immediately +occupied by an attentive observer; and, +whenever an insect or a worm was discovered, +one of the nearest darted down +and caught it, even from between my +fingers, and disappeared for a few moments +under the rock or behind the great +holly, to enjoy his success undisturbed. +At his disappearance his place was immediately +occupied by another, but at +the return of the first it was amiably resigned +by his successor. The blue-bonnets +were almost as numerous as the +robins, but they never arrived at the same +intimacy and confidence. They never +entered the bothie in my presence, and +even when I fed them they would not +approach as long as I remained outside +the door; but as soon as I went in they +descended four or five together, chattering +and fluttering about the entrance, +peeping in at the little window, and +stretching their necks as far as they could, +to see where I was, and if all was right. +Then they would begin their breakfast on +what I had left for them, talking a great +deal about it, but occasionally ogling the +door, in a manner from which I concluded +that there was but small esteem or gratitude +in their conversation.——Far different +was the friendship of our little neighbour +in the holly. In the morning he +used to come down and perch on the arm +of the bird-cherry, which stretched over +the precipice before the door, waiting for +its opening and the preparation of the +breakfast, which he always shared; and +when we were seated he would venture +over the sill, and gather the crumbs about +the table at our feet. Often when the +first blood-red streaks of the autumn morning +shone like lurid fire through the little +window, we were awakened by his sad +and solitary whistle, as he sat on his +usual branch, his jet-black eye cast towards +the door, impatient for our appearance. +Many of his little cousins there +were in the wood, with whom we were +also well acquainted, and between us +happened many an incident, which increased +our interest and familiarity.</p> + +<p>"I remember a day, one of those deep +still blue days so solemn in the forest; +the ground was covered with a foot of +snow, and all the trees were hanging like +gigantic ostrich feathers; but all the +world was blue,—the sky was a sleeping +mass of those heavy indigo clouds which +forebode a 'feeding storm,'—not a tempest, +but a fall of snow; for, in Scotland, +snow is called '<em>storm</em>,' however light and +still it falls: thus, in tracking the deer, +we say he 'has brushed the <em>storm</em> from +the heather;' and a '<em>feeding storm</em>' is +when the clouds are continually feeding +the earth with its velvet pall.—The reflection +of those deep-blue clouds cast a +delicate tint of the same colour over the +whitened world. I was standing with +my back against a huge pine—one of the +old remnant of the great forest of Moray, +which had, no doubt, heard the bell toll +for the first Stuart earl.—I counted the +rings in a smaller tree which once stood +in the same hollow;—I shunned its wreck +as I would have avoided a corpse which +I could not bury, and always, when I +passed near it, averted my face; but one +day running to cut off a buck, and just +heading him, I dropped on my knee to +receive him as he came out from a mass +of junipers, and when reloading, I found +that I had knelt by the stump of my old +friend.—I counted two hundred and +sixty-four rings in his wood!—how many +earls had he seen?—Well, I was leaning +against his elder brother, as I suppose +by the size. I had been there for a long +time, waiting to hear the dogs bring back +a buck from—I don't know now from +where.——As I had been through all the +swamps, and stripes, and wet hollows on +that side of the forest, and waded through +two and three feet of snow-wreaths, my +kilt and hose, and, as it seemed, my flesh was +saturated to the bones with 'snaw-bree,' +and I began to beat, first one foot, and then +the other, to quicken the blood, which +was warm enough in my trunk.—I had +scarce commenced this exercise, when I +heard a little 'tic!' close to my ear, +and the soft low voice of a bird—a sound, +neither a whistle nor a chirp, but which +I knew very well before I turned and +saw the robin, who sat on a dry branch +within a yard of my cheek. I guessed +what had brought him: he was very +cold, his ruffled back humped as round as +a ball, and his tail drooping almost perpendicular +with his legs, as if it was a +little brown peg to lean on, like that on +which the travelling Tyrolean merchant +rests his pack. He looked at me with +his large black eye, then, with a flirt of +his tail and a bow with his head, indicated +that, if I had no objection, he +should like to descend to the place which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span> +I occupied; the object of which he expressed, +by turning his head sidelong, +and directing one eye into the black +earth which my foot had beaten bare in +the snow. I immediately drew back a +couple of feet, and he instantly dropped +into the spot of mould, peeped and picked +under every leaf and clod of earth, and, +when there was nothing more, hopped up +on the guard of my rifle, on which I was +leaning, and, turning his head, looked at +me with his upper eye.—I again stepped +forward, and recommenced my foot-exercise, +during which he returned to his +branch, examining my progress with some +impatience. As soon as my foot was +removed, he again dropped into the hollow, +and busily collected all the little +grubs and chrysales which, though too +small for me to see as I stood, I knew +abounded beneath the sere leaves and +thatch of moss and sticks. In this manner +I repeated his supply several times, +on one of which, when I was too long, or +he too impatient, he dropped from his +perch, and hovered over the space in +which my foot was at work, and, as I +continued, lighted on the point of the +other shoe, and remained there, peeping +into the hollow, until I withdrew my foot, +and then descended to finish his repast. +When he was satisfied, he ruffed his +feathers, looked up sidelong to me, and, +after a shake of satisfaction, resumed his +perch close to my head, and, after pruning +and oiling his feathers, mounted +another branch higher, and opened his +little throat with that most sad, sweet, +and intermitting warble which gives such +a melancholy charm to a still winter's +day."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Take a picture of the roe, and you +will hardly doubt the humanity of our +sportsmen. But why talk of it thus? +No one, we hope, save a member of +the Manchester manufacturing school +could feel otherwise—certainly not a +genuine hills-man; and we quote the +passage simply for its extreme beauty +and perfect fidelity to nature. No +creature is more beautiful than the +kid of the roe-deer, especially when +seen in their rest, or moving through +the ferns, on a summer evening, beside +their gentle mother the doe.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"In the bedding season the does retire +into the most secret thickets, or other +lonely places, to produce their young, and +cover them so carefully that they are very +rarely found; we have, however, deceived +their vigilance. There was a solitary doe +which lived in the hollow below the +Bràigh-cloiche-léithe in Tarnaway. I suppose +that we had killed her 'marrow;' +but I was careful not to disturb her +haunt, for she was very fat and round, +stepped with much caution, and never +went far to feed. Accordingly, when at +evening and morning she came out to pick +the sweet herbs at the foot of the brae, or +by the little green well in its face, I trode +softly out of her sight, and if I passed at +noon, made a circuit from the black willows, +or thick junipers, where she reposed +during the heat. At last, one fine sunny +morning I saw her come tripping out +from her bower of young birches as light +as a fairy, and very gay and 'canty'—but +so thin, nobody but an old acquaintance +could have known her. For various +mornings afterwards I saw her on the +bank, but she was always restless and +anxious—listening and searching the +wind—trotting up and down—picking a +leaf here and a leaf there, and after her +short and unsettled meal, she would take +a frisk round leap into the air—dart down +into her secret bower, and appear no more +until the twilight. In a few days, however, +her excursions became a little more +extended, generally to the terrace above +the bank, but never out of sight of the +thicket below. At length she ventured +to a greater distance, and one day I stole +down the brae among the birches. In +the middle of the thicket there was a +group of young trees growing out of a +carpet of deep moss, which yielded like a +down pillow. The prints of the doe's +slender-forked feet were thickly tracked +about the hollow, and in the centre there +was a bed of the velvet 'fog,' which +seemed a little higher than the rest, but +so natural, that it would not have been +noticed by any unaccustomed eye. I +carefully lifted the green cushion, and +under its veil, rolled close together, the +head of each resting on the flank of the +other, nestled two beautiful little kids, their +large velvet ears laid smooth on their +dappled necks, their spotted sides sleek +and shining as satin, and their little delicate +legs as slender as hazel wands, shod +with tiny glossy shoes as smooth and +black as ebony, while their large dark +eyes looked at me out of the corners with +a full, mild, quiet gaze, which had not +yet learned to fear the hand of man: still +they had a nameless doubt which followed +every motion of mine—their little limbs +shrunk from my touch, and their velvet +fur rose and fell quickly; but as I was +about to replace the moss, one turned its +head, lifted its sleek ears towards me, +and licked my hand as I laid their soft +mantle over them. I often saw them +afterwards when they grew strong, and +came abroad upon the brae, and frequently +I called off old Dreadnought<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span> +when he crossed their warm track. Upon +these occasions he would stand and look +at me with wonder—turn his head from +side to side—snuff the ground again, to +see if it was possible that he could be +mistaken—and when he found that there +was no disputing the scent, cock one ear +at me with a keener inquiry, and seeing +that I was in earnest, trot heavily onward +with a sigh.</p> + +<p>"The affection of the roe for their young +is very strong; and timid and feeble as +they are by nature, inspired by the danger +of their offspring, they become brave and +daring, and, in their defence, will attack +not only animals but men. We were one +day passing along the west walk of +Eilean-Agais, and, beyond a turn in the +path, heard the sound of feet running towards +us, and immediately out shot a cat +round the corner, and, close at her heels, +a doe pursuing her with great eagerness. +Knowing that her pursuer could not overtake +her, and having no instinctive dread +of her kind, the cat did not give herself +the trouble to run faster than just sufficient +to keep beyond her reach, while the +doe pursued her with an angry scrambling +pace, and, whenever she was near overtaking +her, endeavoured to kneel on her +back. This is a mode of attack common +to deer as well as cattle, which, when +they have overthrown their object, not +only gore them with their horns, but +bruise and crush them with their knees. +At our appearance there was a pause; +the cat cantered up the brae to the top of +a little rock, where she lay down in the +sun to see what would happen between +us and her pursuer. The doe, after a few +bounds, turned round and looked indignantly +at us, and stamped and belled in +great displeasure; this she continued for +some moments, glancing occasionally at +the cat with a strong desire to resume +her chase; but being restrained by a sense +of prudence, she slowly ascended the hill, +stopping at intervals to stamp and bell at +us, who knew very well that she had two +kids in the junipers upon the craig."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Now let us up to the hill, where the +mighty herds are feeding. Scotland +will, in all probability, never see a +tainchel more; indeed, save at a royal +hunting, it were scarcely desirable +now. The feudal system has melted +away, the clans are broken and scattered, +and we care not again to see a +pageant which is indissolubly connected +in our memories with national +gallantry and misfortune. But the +deer are still on the mountain and in +the wood, and we shall seek them in +their former haunt. Wood-stalking, +though the Stuarts speak of it with +considerable enthusiasm, was never +much to our taste. It is true that the +largest stags are generally to be met +with in the wood, and we have followed +the sport ere now in the Spessart, +among the pines of Darmstadt, +and the thickets of Strath Garve; but +it must always partake more or less +of the character of driving, and we +never have felt, while engaged in it, +that enthusiasm and keenness which +sends the blood to the heart of the +hunter when he first discovers a herd +in the gorge of some solitary glen. +Then he feels that he must put forth +the whole resources of his art—that +he must baffle the acutest of all instincts +by the aid of human cunning—that +he has a thousand difficulties +to overcome before he can arrive +within reach of his quarry, and that a +single false step or miscalculation is +sufficient to destroy the labour, the +patience, and the vigilance of a day.</p> + +<p>Great, fat fallow-deer, waxing into +obesity in a park, do not seem to mind +the approach of a human being, even +were he an alderman redolent of black-currant +jelly. But the red-deer, as +many incipient stalkers know to their +cost, has a very different amount of +perception. Unless you take the wind +of him, he is off like a shot, though +your distance may be upwards of a +mile. In the words of the old stalker, +"Above all things, let not the devil +tempt you to trifle with a deer's +nose: you may cross his sight, walk +up to him in a gray coat, or, if +standing against a tree or rock near +your own colour, wait till he walks +up to you; but you cannot cross +his nose, even at an incredible distance, +but he will feel the tainted +air. Colours or forms may be deceptive +or alike; there are gray, brown, +and green rocks and stocks as well +as men, and all these may be equivocal; +but there is <em>but one scent of man</em>, +and that he never doubts or mistakes; +that is filled with danger and terror, +and one whiff of its poison at a mile +off, and, whether feeding or lying, his +head is instantly up, his nose to the +wind, and, in the next moment, his +broad antlers turn, and he is away to +the hill or the wood; and if there are +no green peas, corn, or potatoes in the +neighbourhood, he may not be seen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span> +on the same side of the forest for a +month." A word to the wise, from +the lips of a Celtic Solon!</p> + +<p>So much for your chance, if, in the +plenitude of your full flavour, you take +the hill, regardless of the currents of +the air, which, moreover, are perpetually +shifting. But there are other +difficulties. Though not impossible, +it is very ticklish work to get within +shot of a deer by any other means +save diligent creeping, and sometimes, +when the ground is unusually flat and +open, that method of approach is impracticable. +Then there are divers enemies—that +is, of yours, for in reality +they are scouts to the deer—whom +you must try particularly to avoid. This +is not easy. Sometimes when you +are sinuating like a serpent towards +the especial stag of your heart, a +blundering covey of grouse will start +from the heather, and give an effectual +alarm; sometimes the shrill whistle +of the plover will change your anticipated +triumph into mourning; and +sometimes a charge of that disagreeable +cavalry the mountain sheep, little +less sagacious and wary than the deer +themselves, will put the whole of the +glen into disorder. But the worst +enemies you have to guard against are +the hinds, who are usually so disposed +as to be out upon the feeding-grounds, +and thus to mask the stag. In such +a position, it becomes a point of honour +to circumvent the lady, which is any +thing but an easy task. The Stuarts +give us an admirable recollection of +such a scene in the forest of Glen-Fidich, +which is so exciting that, +though rather long, we make no apology +for transferring it to the columns +of Maga.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"After about an hour's stalking, we +came upon the shoulder of a long slope, +which looks into the gorges of two or +three short glens, opening to a narrow +plain, on which we saw a noble sight—a +herd of four or five hundred deer, +among which were many very fine stags. +After having feasted my eyes with this +splendid sight—the illustrious cavalry of +the hill, the crowned and regal array of +the wilderness—I began to calculate how +to make the approach, how to slip between +the chain of vidette hinds, and +numerous picquets of small stags, which +commanded almost every knoll and hollow. +In the centre of the main body, +with a large plump of hinds—which he +herded within a wide vacant circle—there +was a mighty black hart, with a +head like a blasted pine, and a cluster of +points in each crown. Though each stag +of the surrounding circle had not less +than ten points, there were none which +approached his size, and they all kept at +a respectful distance, while he marched +round and round the central group of +hinds. 'He will have them all in the +ring before long,' said MacLellan; 'yon's +one of the old heroes of the Monadh-liath; +he has not been four-and-twenty hours in +the forest.' I looked with an eager and +longing eye at his gigantic stature, but +there was no apparent possibility of approaching +even the outward circle of +stags. The herd was scattered over all +the ground between the hills, and every +little knoll and eminence had its restless +picquets, and plumps of discomfited stags, +which had been beaten by the great hart, +and were chafing about, driving off and +broding the buttocks of all the inferior +stags which came in their way, then returning +and staring with jealous disgust +at the mighty stranger, who gave them +no notice, except when one or two more +audacious, or less severely beaten, made +a few steps before his companions; upon +which he immediately charged, drove +them before him, and scattered the nearest +in every direction. Upon these occasions, +some hind of greater levity than +the rest took the opportunity of extending +her pasture, or paying her compliments +to her companions, for which she immediately +received a good prod in the +haunch, and was turned back again into +the centre.</p> + +<p>"'There is no doing any thing there,' +said I.</p> + +<p>"''Deed no', replied MacLellan, shutting +up his glass, 'we be to go down to +the foot of the burn.'</p> + +<p>"This was a stream which runs through +the middle of the narrow plain, and +empties itself into the Fidich, about four +miles below, at the east end of the forest. +Before resolving upon this, however, we +made an attempt to cross the little glen +to the north-west; but, after passing +round one hill, and nearly to the top of +another, we fell in with a small herd of +insignificant stags, but none among them +being worth the disturbance of the great +herd; and being unable to pass them unobserved, +we were obliged to adopt the +last alternative, and descend to the Fidich. +In about an hour and a half we +performed this retrogration, and, having +crossed at the forester's house, ascended +the burn till we again approached the +deer, and stealing from knoll to knoll, +again came in sight of the herd. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span> +outskirts of its wide circle had been much +broken and deranged by the jousts and +expulsions during our absence; and we +saw that it was impossible to get near the +better stags without taking the channel +of the stream. We immediately descended +into the water, and crept up the +middle, sometimes compelled to crouch +so low, that the pools reached our hips, +and, as the stones were round and slippery, +it was very uneasy to proceed without +floundering and splashing. At length, +however, we were within the circle of the +deer: there was not a breath of wind, and +the least sound was audible in the profound +stillness. We slipped through the +water like eels, till we came to a little +rock, which, crossing the burn, made a +shelving fall, which there was no means +of passing, but by drawing ourselves up +the shoot of the stream. With some +difficulty I pushed my rifle before me +along the edge of the bank, and then, +while the water ran down our breasts, we +glided up through the gush of the stream, +and reached the ledge above. The return +of the water, which I had obstructed, +made, however, a rush and plash different +from its accustomed monotonous hum, and +I had scarce time to lay flat in the burn, +when a <em>hind</em> sprung up within a few +yards, and trotted briskly away, then +another, and another. I thought that all +was over, and that, in the next moment, +we should hear all the clattering hoofs +going over the turf like a squadron of +cavalry. All remained still, however, +and, in a few seconds, I saw the first hind +wheel about, and look back steadily towards +the fall. I was rejoiced to observe +that she had not seen us, and had only +been disturbed by the unusual sound of +the water. She continued, however, +anxious and suspicious—watched and +listened—picked off the tops of the heather—then +walked on, with her ears laid +back, and her neck and step stilting away +as stiff as if she had been hung up in the +larder for a week. This, however, was +not the worst; all the surrounding <em>hinds</em> +which noticed her gait gathered here and +there, and stood on the tops of the little +knolls, like statues, as straight as pucks, +with nothing visible but their narrow +necks and two peg-legs, and their broad +ears perked immovably towards us, like +long-eared bats. MacLellan gave me a +rueful look. 'Cha n'eil comas air.' +'Never mind,' said I, 'we shall see who +will be tired first.' The forester gave a +glance of satisfaction, slid up his glass on +the dry bank, and we lay as still as the +stones around us, till the little trouts, +which had been disturbed by our convulsion, +became so accustomed to our shapes, +that they again emerged from under the +flat pebbles, and returned to their station +in the middle of the stream, skulling +their little tails between my legs with no +more concern than if I had been a forked +tree. At length the immobility of the +hinds began to give way: first one ear +turned back, then another, then they became +sensible of the flies, and began to +flirt and jerk as usual, and, finally, one +applied her slender toe to her ear, and +another rubbed her velvet nose upon her +knee;—it was more than half an hour, +however, before, one by one, they began +to steal away, perking and snuffing, and +turning to gaze at the least air that +whiffed about them. At length they all +disappeared, except one gray, lean, haggard +old grandmother of hinds, who had +no teeth, and limped with one leg, probably +from a wound which she received fifty +or perhaps a hundred years before I was +born. Her vigilance, however, was only +sharpened by age; time, and the experience +of many generations, had made her +acquainted with all the wiles and crafts +of the hill,—her eyes and ears were as +active as a kid's, and I have no doubt +she could smell like Tobit's devil.—MacLellan +looked at her through his glass, +and spit into the burn, and grinned +against the sun—as if he was lying in +the bilboes instead of cold water.—The +old sorceress continued to watch us without +relaxation, and at last lay down on +the brow of the knoll, and employed her +rumination in obstinate contemplation of +the bank under which we were ambushed. +There was now no alternative but to +recommence our progress up the burn; +and as I was determined to circumvent +the hind, I prepared for every inconvenience +which could be inflicted by the +opposite vexations of a sharp, rough, +slippery, and gravelly stream. Fortunately, +at the place where we then were, +it was so narrow, that we could hold by +the heather on both sides, and thus drag +ourselves forward through the water, between +each of which advances I pushed +my rifle on before me. In this manner we +reached the turn of the brook, where I +concluded that we should be round the +shoulder of the knoll, and out of sight of +the hind, who lay upon its east brow. +This was effected so successfully, that, +when we looked behind, we only saw her +back, and her head and ears still pointing +at the spot which we had left. One hundred +yards more would bring us within sight of +the great hart; the general position of the +herd had not changed, and I hoped to find +him near the central knoll of the flat, at +the base of which the burn circled. We +were almost surrounded by deer; but the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span> +greater number were small vigilant hinds, +the abomination and curse of a stalker. +At length, however, we reached the +knoll, and rested, to take breath, at its +foot; I examined my rifle, to see that +the lock was clean and dry. We took a +view of all around us, and, drawing ourselves +cautiously out of the burn, slid up +through the heather on the south side of +the eminence.—Scarce, however, had our +legs cleared the stream, when we discovered +a pair of ears not above fifteen +yards from the other side.—'<i lang="ga" xml:lang="ga">Mo mhallachd +ort!</i>' [My curse upon you]—whispered +MacLellan. She had not discovered +us, however, and we glided +round the base of the knoll—but on the +other side lay three hinds and a calf, +and I could see no trace of the great +hart.—On the edge of the burn, however, +further up, there were five very good +stags, and a herd of about thirty deer, +on the slope of the north brae. All round +us the ground was covered with hinds; +for the prevalence of the westerly wind, +during the last few days, had drawn the +deer to that end of the forest. Upon the +spot where I lay, though I could only see +a portion of the field, I counted four hundred +and seventy; and it was evident +that no movement could be made upon +that side. We tried again the opposite +slope of the knoll;—the hind which we +had first seen was still in the same place, +but she had laid down her head, and +showed only the gray line of her back +over the heather. We drew ourselves +cautiously up the slope and looked over +the summit. On the other side there +was a small flat moss, about seventy yards +in breadth; then another hillock; and to +the left two more, with little levels, and +wet grassy hollows between them. Upon +the side of the first knoll there were two +young stags and some hinds; but the points +of some good horns showed above the crest.—The +intervening ground was spotted +with straggling hinds, and we might lay +where we were till to-morrow morning, +without a chance of getting near any of +the good deer. While we deliberated, +MacLellan thought that, by crawling with +extreme caution up a wet hollow to the +left, we might have a chance to approach +the stags whose horns we had seen behind +the other knoll, and, as nothing better +could be done, we decided upon this +attempt. The sun was going down from +the old towers of Auchandùn, and we had +no more time than would give light for +this venture.—We slid away towards the +hollow, and, drawing ourselves, inch by +inch, though the heather and tall thin +grass, had reached the middle of the level +between the hillocks, when we heard a +stamp and a short grunt close beside us—I +had scarce time to turn my head, and +catch a glimpse of a base little gray hind +who, in crossing the hollow, had stumbled +upon us.—It was but a moment: a rapid +wheel and rush through the long grass, +and I heard the career of a hundred feet +going through the hollow. I sprung on +my knee, and skaled a dozen small stags +and hinds which came upon us full speed; +for those behind, not knowing from whence +came the alarm, made straight for the hill. +The herd were now gathering in all directions; +charging—flying—re-uniting, dispersing, +and reassembling in utter disorder, +like a rout of cavalry.—I made a run for +the middle knoll,—two stags, with pretty +good heads, met me right in the face.—I +did not stop to look at them, but rushed +up the brae.—What a sight was seen from +its top!—upwards of six hundred deer +were charging past—before, behind, +around, in all directions.—The stately +figure which I sought—the mighty black +hart, was slowly ascending an eminence +about three hundred yards off, from +whence he reconnoitred the ground below; +while the disarray of stags and hinds +gathered round him, like rallying masses +of hussars in the rear of a supporting +column. I was so intent upon the king +of the forest, that I saw nothing else.—No +other heads, forms, numbers, took any +place in my senses; all my faculties were +on the summit of that height.—At this +moment I felt my kilt drawn gently; I +took no notice—but a more decided pull +made me look round:—MacLellan motioned +up the slope, and I saw the points +of a good head passing behind a little +ridge, about eighty yards away. I looked +back at the hart—he was just moving to +the hill. What would I have given to +have diminished a hundred and fifty yards +of the distance which divided us! He +passed slowly down the back of the eminence +and disappeared, and the gathering +herd streamed after him. '<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">O Chìal! A +Chìal!</i>' exclaimed the forester—'<i lang="ga" xml:lang="ga">bithidh +è air fàlbh!</i>' The stag whose horns I +had seen had come out from behind the +ridge, and stood with his broad side towards +me, gazing at the herd; but as +they moved away, he now began to follow. +The disappearance of the great hart, and +the disappointment of MacLellan, recalled +me to the last chance. I followed the +retreating stag with my rifle, passed it +before his shoulder, whiz went the two-ounce +ball, and he rolled over headlong +in the heath, on the other side of the +knoll, which the next stretch would have +placed between us. I looked to the hill +above: the whole herd was streaming up +the long green hollow in its west shoulder<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span> +headed 'by the mighty of the desert.' +They rounded and passed the brow, and +sloped upward on the other side, till the +forest of heads appeared bristling along +the sky-line of the summit. In a few +moments afterwards, as the sun was going +down upon Scùr-na-Lapaich, and the far +western hills of Loch Duaich, the terrible +wide-forked tree came out in the clear +eastern sky on the top of the hill, and, +crowding after, at least two hundred heads—crossing, +and charging, and mingling—their +polished points flashing in the parting +sunbeams, and from many a horn, +the long steamers of the moss fluttering +and flying like the pennons and bannerolles +of lances. The herd continued to +file along the ridge of the hill, and wheeling +below the crest, countermarched along +the sky-line, till their heads and horns +slowly decreased against the light."</p></blockquote> + +<p>With such a book as this before us, +we could go on alternately commenting +and extracting until we had broken +the back of the Number. Even now +we are dying to pilfer the account of +the late Glengarry's course with +"Black Dulochan," and the no less +exciting history of the three day's ruse +with a roebuck. But abstinence is a +virtue which is forced upon us in the +present instance, rather from the lack +of space than from any exercise of +voluntary discretion; and we shall now +leave the deer without further molestation +for a season, hoping soon to encounter +them in person with our rifle +somewhere about the skirts of Cairn-Gorm.</p> + +<p>This is, we have no hesitation in +saying, the best work on deer-stalking +which has yet been written; and the +amount of information which it contains +regarding the habits of the stag +and roe, combined with the vivid pictures +of which we have made such ample +use, cannot fail to render it popular. +In an antiquarian point of view, it is +also highly interesting; for it embodies +a large amount of traditionary lore, +sketches of the clans, and fragments +of Highland song, of much superior +merit to those which have hitherto +come into our hands. The disquisitions, +too, upon the disappearance of +some animals once indigenous to +Scotland—such as the wolf, the elk, +the wild bull, and the beaver—exhibit +a great amount of research, and supply +a gap which has long been wanted +in the page of natural history.</p> + +<p>One word to the authors—though +we fear our words must travel a long +way before they can reach them in a +foreign land. Why should they not +recast and add to their second volume, +so as to make it a single and unrivalled +work upon the noblest sports of the +Highlands? If it has proved so fascinating, +as in truth we have felt it, in +the more cumbrous shape of notes, +how much better would it be if issued, +not as an appendage to the poems, +but in a distinct and articulate form? +Perpend upon this, John Sobieski and +Charles Edward, at your leisure; and +let us add, that we trust some of your +more gloomy anticipations may fall +short of reality; that the walks of +Eilean-Agais, that little Eden of the +north, may again be gladdened by +your presence; and that the sound of +your hunting-horns may once more be +heard in the woods of Tarnaway, and +on the hills near the sources of the +Findhorn.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108"> </a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>THE BURIED FLOWER.</h2> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">In the silence of my chamber,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">When the night is still and deep,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And the drowsy heave of ocean<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Mutters in its charmèd sleep,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Oft I hear the angel voices<br /></span> +<span class="i2">That have thrill'd me long ago,—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Voices of my lost companions,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Lying deep beneath the snow.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">O, the garden I remember,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">In the gay and sunny spring,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When our laughter made the thickets<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And the arching alleys ring!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">O the merry burst of gladness!<br /></span> +<span class="i2">O the soft and tender tone!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">O the whisper never utter'd<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Save to one fond ear alone!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">O the light of life that sparkled<br /></span> +<span class="i2">In those bright and bounteous eyes!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">O the blush of happy beauty,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Tell-tale of the heart's surprise!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">O the radiant light that girdled<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Field and forest, land and sea,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When we all were young together,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And the earth was new to me!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Where are now the flowers we tended?<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Wither'd, broken, branch and stem;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where are now the hopes we cherish'd?<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Scatter'd to the winds with them.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">For ye, too, were flowers, ye dear ones!<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Nursed in hope and rear'd in love,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Looking fondly ever upward<br /></span> +<span class="i2">To the clear blue heaven above:<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Smiling on the sun that cheer'd us,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Rising lightly from the rain,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Never folding up your freshness<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Save to give it forth again:<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Never shaken, save by accents<br /></span> +<span class="i2">From a tongue that was not free,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As the modest blossom trembles<br /></span> +<span class="i2">At the wooing of the bee.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">O! 'tis sad to lie and reckon<br /></span> +<span class="i2">All the days of faded youth,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">All the vows that we believed in,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">All the words we spoke in truth.<br /></span><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109"> </a></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Sever'd—were it sever'd only<br /></span> +<span class="i2">By an idle thought of strife,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Such as time might knit together;<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Not the broken chord of life!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">O my heart! that once so truly<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Kept another's time and tune,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Heart, that kindled in the spring-tide,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Look around thee in the noon.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Where are they who gave the impulse<br /></span> +<span class="i2">To thy earliest thought and flow?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Look around the ruin'd garden—<br /></span> +<span class="i2">All are wither'd, dropp'd, or low!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Seek the birth-place of the lily,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Dearer to the boyish dream<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Than the golden cups of Eden,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Floating on its slumbrous stream;<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Never more shalt thou behold her—<br /></span> +<span class="i2">She, the noblest, fairest, best:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">She that rose in fullest beauty,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Like a queen, above the rest.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Only still I keep her image<br /></span> +<span class="i2">As a thought that cannot die,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He who raised the shade of Helen<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Had no greater power than I.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">O! I fling my spirit backward,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And I pass o'er years of pain;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">All I loved is rising round me,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">All the lost returns again.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Blow, for ever blow, ye breezes,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Warmly as ye did before!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Bloom again, ye happy gardens,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">With the radiant tints of yore!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Warble out in spray and thicket,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">All ye choristers unseen,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Let the leafy woodland echo<br /></span> +<span class="i2">With an anthem to its queen!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Lo! she cometh in her beauty,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Stately with a Juno grace,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Raven locks, Madonna-braided<br /></span> +<span class="i2">O'er her sweet and blushing face:<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Eyes of deepest violet, beaming<br /></span> +<span class="i2">With the love that knows not shame,—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Lips, that thrill my inmost being<br /></span> +<span class="i2">With the utterance of a name.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And I bend the knee before her,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">As a captive ought to bow,—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Pray thee, listen to my pleading,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Sovereign of my soul art thou!<br /></span><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110"> </a></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">O my dear and gentle lady,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Let me show thee all my pain,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ere the words that late were prison'd<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Sink into my heart again.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Love, they say, is very fearful<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Ere its curtain be withdrawn,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Trembling at the thought of error<br /></span> +<span class="i2">As the shadows scare the fawn.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Love hath bound me to thee, lady,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Since the well-remember'd day<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When I first beheld thee coming<br /></span> +<span class="i2">In the light of lustrous May.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Not a word I dared to utter—<br /></span> +<span class="i2">More than he who, long ago,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Saw the heavenly shapes descending<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Over Ida's slopes of snow:<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">When a low and solemn music<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Floated through the listening grove,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And the throstle's song was silenced,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And the doling of the dove:<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">When immortal beauty open'd<br /></span> +<span class="i2">All its grace to mortal sight,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And the awe of worship blended<br /></span> +<span class="i2">With the throbbing of delight.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">As the shepherd stood before them<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Trembling in the Phrygian dell,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Even so my soul and being<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Own'd the magic of the spell;<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And I watch'd thee, ever fondly,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Watch'd thee, dearest, from afar,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With the mute and humble homage<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Of the Indian to a star.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Thou wert still the Lady Flora<br /></span> +<span class="i2">In her morning garb of bloom;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where thou wert was light and glory,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Where thou wert not, dearth and gloom.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">So for many a day I follow'd<br /></span> +<span class="i2">For a long and weary while,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ere my heart rose up to bless thee<br /></span> +<span class="i2">For the yielding of a smile,—<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Ere thy words were few and broken<br /></span> +<span class="i2">As they answer'd back to mine,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ere my lips had power to thank thee<br /></span> +<span class="i2">For the gift vouchsafed by thine.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Then a mighty gush of passion<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Through my inmost being ran;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Then my older life was ended,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And a dearer course began.<br /></span><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111"> </a></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Dearer!—O, I cannot tell thee<br /></span> +<span class="i2">What a load was swept away,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">What a world of doubt and darkness<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Faded in the dawning day!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">All my error, all my weakness,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">All my vain delusions fled:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Hope again revived, and gladness<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Waved its wings above my head.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Like the wanderer of the desert,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">When, across the dreary sand,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Breathes the perfume from the thickets<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Bordering on the promised land;<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">When afar he sees the palm-trees<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Cresting o'er the lonely well,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When he hears the pleasant tinkle<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Of the distant camel's bell:<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">So a fresh and glad emotion<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Rose within my swelling breast,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And I hurried swiftly onwards<br /></span> +<span class="i2">To the haven of my rest.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Thou wert there with word and welcome,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">With thy smile so purely sweet;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And I laid my heart before thee,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Laid it, darling, at thy feet!—<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">O ye words that sound so hollow<br /></span> +<span class="i2">As I now recall your tone!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">What are ye but empty echoes<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Of a passion crush'd and gone?<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Wherefore should I seek to kindle<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Light, when all around is gloom?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Wherefore should I raise a phantom<br /></span> +<span class="i2">O'er the dark and silent tomb?<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Early wert thou taken, Mary!<br /></span> +<span class="i2">In thy fair and glorious prime,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ere the bees had ceased to murmur<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Through the umbrage of the lime.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Buds were blowing, waters flowing,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Birds were singing on the tree,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Every thing was bright and glowing,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">When the angels came for thee.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Death had laid aside his terror,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And he found thee calm and mild,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Lying in thy robes of whiteness,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Like a pure and stainless child.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Hardly had the mountain violet<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Spread its blossoms on the sod,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ere they laid the turf above thee,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And thy spirit rose to God.<br /></span><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112"> </a></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Early wert thou taken, Mary!<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And I know 'tis vain to weep—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Tears of mine can never wake thee<br /></span> +<span class="i2">From thy sad and silent sleep.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">O away! my thoughts are earthward!<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Not asleep, my love! art thou,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Dwelling in the land of glory<br /></span> +<span class="i2">With the saints and angels now.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Brighter, fairer far than living,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">With no trace of woe or pain,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Robed in everlasting beauty,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Shall I see thee once again,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">By the light that never fadeth,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Underneath eternal skies,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When the dawn of resurrection<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Breaks o'er deathless Paradise.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i20">W. E. A.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2>HUZZA FOR THE RULE OF THE WHIGS!</h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Air</span>—"<em>Old Rosin the Beau.</em>"</h3> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">All ye who are true to the altar and throne,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Come join in this ditty with me;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And you who don't like it may let it alone,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Or listen a little and see.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">How quietly now we may sleep in our beds,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And waken as merry as grigs;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Though fears of rebellion hang over our heads,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">We're safe while we're ruled by the Whigs.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">In the 'nineties we saw (I remember the day)<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Revolution disguised as Reform;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But the country was saved in a different way,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">By the Pilot that weather'd the storm.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Our vessel was steer'd by the bravest and best,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And, except a few quality sprigs,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The whole English nation had thought it a jest<br /></span> +<span class="i2">To propose being ruled by the Whigs.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">But as matters now stand in this ill-fated realm,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">When old comrades will give us the slip,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">We are strangely compell'd to put men at the helm.<br /></span> +<span class="i2">To prevent them from scuttling the ship.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Only think, for a moment, if Russell were out,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">How wild he'd be running his rigs!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">About popular rights he would make such a rout—<br /></span> +<span class="i2">'Tis lucky we're ruled by the Whigs.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The Church—can you doubt what her danger would be<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Were Tories at present in power?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Lord John, or his friends, we should certainly see<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Attacking her posts every hour.<br /></span><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113"> </a></span> +<span class="i0">But as long as the Bishops may help out his lease,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">He won't injure a hair of their wigs;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Nay, he even proposes the list to increase—<br /></span> +<span class="i2">So huzza for the rule of the Whigs!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">If Grey were at large, how he'd lay down the law<br /></span> +<span class="i2">On the cures he for Ireland had found;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And swear that he never would rest till he saw<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Her Establishment razed to the ground.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But Grey, while in office, sits muffled and mum,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Like a small bird asleep in the twigs;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And Ward, in the Commons, is equally dumb—<br /></span> +<span class="i2">So huzza for the rule of the Whigs!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">If any of us had made war on Repeal<br /></span> +<span class="i2">With the weapons that Clarendon tries,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">What shrieks of indignant invective from Shiel<br /></span> +<span class="i2">At the wrongs of Old Erin would rise.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">By millions of noisy Milesians back'd,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">From the peer to the peasant that digs—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">How would Monaghan murmur that juries were pack'd!—<br /></span> +<span class="i2">So huzza for the rule of the Whigs!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">On Aliens or Chartists to hear them declaim,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">You'd think Castlereagh come from the dead.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Though the mixture of metaphors isn't the same,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And the courage and coolness are fled.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But the Whigs are becoming respectable men<br /></span> +<span class="i2">As any that ever kept gigs,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">They are practising <em>now</em> all they preach'd against <em>then</em>—<br /></span> +<span class="i2">So huzza for the rule of the Whigs!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Go on, my good lads—never think of retreat,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Though annoy'd by a squib or a squirt;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">You're fulfilling the fate such impostors should meet,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And eating your bushel of dirt<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Then swallow it fast, for your hour may not last—<br /></span> +<span class="i2">We shall soon, if it pleases the pigs,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Give your places to men of a different cast,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And get rid of the rule of the Whigs!<br /></span> +</div></div> +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span></p> + + + +<h2>THE NAVIGATION LAWS.</h2> + + +<p>"When the Act of Navigation," +says Adam Smith, "was made, though +England and Holland were not actually +at war, the most violent animosity +subsisted between the two nations. +It is not impossible, therefore, +that some of the regulations of this +famous act may have proceeded from +national animosity. They <em>are as wise, +however, as if they had all been dictated +by the most deliberate wisdom</em>. National +animosity, at that particular +time, aimed at the very object which +the most deliberate wisdom would +have recommended,—the diminution +of the naval power of Holland, the +only naval power which could endanger +the security of England. The +Act of Navigation is not favourable to +foreign commerce, or to the growth of +that opulence which can arise from it. +As defence, however, is of much more +value than opulence, the Act of Navigation +is perhaps the wisest of all the +commercial regulations of England."<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> +Before these pages issue from the +press, this, undoubtedly the wisest of +all the commercial regulations of Great +Britain, and under which the maritime +strength and colonial empire of England +have risen to a pitch of grandeur +unknown in any other age or country, +will be numbered among the things +which have been. The House of +Commons, by a majority, have voted +for the repeal of the Navigation Laws.</p> + +<p>Free trade will soon have done its +work, so far, at least, as the House of +Commons is concerned. It is gradually +but unceasingly advancing, and swallowing +up successively all the great +interests of the empire, save that of +the capitalists, as it moves forward. +The agricultural interests will find +themselves deprived, in February next, +of all protection; and the British cultivator +exposed to the competition, +without any shield save a nominal duty +of 1s. a quarter, of states where wheat +can be raised, with a fair profit in +average years, at 18s. a quarter, and +brought to this country for 10s. at the +very utmost of freight. As soon as +we have two fine harvests in succession, +it will be seen to what state this +system will reduce British rural production. +The West India interests +have been next assailed; and our +colonies, upon whom free labour has +been forced, upon a compensation +being given to the proprietors on an +average of a fourth of the value of +their slaves, are speedily to be exposed, +with no protection but a differential +duty of 5s. 6d. a hundredweight, diminishing +1s. 6d. a-year, till, in 1854, it +disappears, to the competition of slave +colonies, where sugar can be raised for +£4 a ton, while in the British colonies +the measures of government have precluded +its being raised for less than +£10 a ton. As a natural consequence, +cultivation is about to cease in those +noble settlements; the forest and the +jungle will speedily supplant the +smiling plantations, and £100,000,000 +worth of British property will be lost +beyond redemption.</p> + +<p>Domestic manufactures were at +the same time assailed, though +with a more gentle hand than rude +produce. Protective duties on them +were lowered, though not entirely +removed; and the consequence is, +that at this time there are 8000 +hands wholly unemployed at Manchester, +and above 10,000 at Glasgow, +and distress to an unparalleled extent +pervades the whole commercial +and manufacturing classes. Nothing +daunted by these calamitous results, +so exactly what the opponents of free +trade predicted would ensue, so diametrically +the reverse of the unbounded +prosperity which they promised +the nation as the consequence +of their changes, the Free-traders, in +pursuance of their usual system of +preferring their own opinions to the +evidence of facts, are preparing to +apply the same system to the commercial +navy of the country, and, by +the repeal of the Navigation Laws, +against the opinion of Adam Smith, to +depress our shipping interest as much +as they encourage that of foreign +states, and endanger our national +existence, by crippling our own means<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span> +of defence as much as they augment +the means of attack in the hands of +our enemies. Not content with rendering +us dependent for a large part +of our bread on foreign nations, they +are determined on measures calculated +to deprive us of the means of maintaining +our naval superiority, or upholding +the national independence. +They are set upon saying the nation +a few millions a-year in freight, though +the consequence is, that we shall be +alike unable to withstand a pacific +blockade or hostile aggression.</p> + +<p>Many estimable and thoughtful persons +in the country, struck with astonishment +at the adoption and determined +adherence to such a suicidal +policy—alike by our rulers and a +powerful party in the country—in the +face of the decisive evidence afforded +by facts, and the universal distress of +the nation, as to its ruinous tendency, +have come to the opinion, that we +have been struck with a judicial blindness, +and that Providence, as a just +punishment for our sins, and for the +furtherance of its mysterious designs +in the general government of mankind, +has rendered our own infatuation the +means of working out our destruction. +They think it affords a marvellous +proof of the weakness of the +human mind, and the impotence of +man against the arm of his Creator, +that this vast empire, which has done +such mighty things in the annals of +history, and which has stood proof +against the hostility of the combined +world, directed by consummate ability, +when its rule was that of justice, +should thus crumble away and perish, +not from external violence or foreign +aggression, but solely from domestic +infatuation, when that rule has +passed away. And observing that this +country has already suffered greater +losses, and been more severely crippled +in its resources by the effects of three +years of free trade and fettered currency +policy, than by the whole efforts +of France during a war of twenty +years—and still the same course is +blindly persevered in—they draw the +conclusion that the evil is irremediable +by human means, and that the +nation, if not absolutely shipwrecked, +will approach as near the verge of +ruin as the providence of God will +permit human infatuation to effect.</p> + +<p>Without denying that there is much +truth in these observations, and humbly +acknowledging a Divine superintendence +alike in the rise and the decline, +the prosperity and decay, of nations, +it yet appears more reasonable to trace +the extraordinary obstinacy of the +ruling party in the nation to the causes +which, humanly speaking, seem to +have been mainly instrumental in producing +it. The fanaticism of the political +economists, who, like all other +fanatics, are inaccessible to reason or +experience, is, without doubt, a main +cause of the disastrous policy to which +the nation seems now irrevocably +pledged. But a still more powerful +agent in producing the determined +adherence to this system, in the face of +the most conclusive evidence of its +pernicious tendency, is to be found in +the <em>class</em> government which it is now +apparent the Reform Bill has imposed +upon the nation. It is now unhappily +proved that the <em>trading</em> interest, in +whom a decisive majority both in the +constituency and the number of seats +in parliament has been vested by the +Reform Bill, are alive, like all other +classes, mainly to the suggestions of +their own advantage; and that advantage +they think is, to buy cheap and sell +dear. Whatever we were in the days +when Napoleon said it, we are now, if +not a nation of shopkeepers, at least a +nation <em>ruled by shopkeepers</em>. The +colonies are entirely unrepresented. +Schedules A and B, sixteen years ago, +cut off all their representatives. The +landed interest is in a minority, from +two-thirds of the seats in the Commons +being for boroughs; and those +boroughs, owing to the depression of +the producing classes by the currency +laws, and the vast increase of the trading +interests from the same cause, being +for the most part under the direction of +the commercial part of the community. +It is in these circumstances that we +are to look for the real causes of the +adoption of free-trade principles of +late years by our statesmen, and the +determined adherence to it, in spite of +all experience, by a majority of the +House of Commons. Such conduct is +the inevitable result of every <em>uniform</em> +system of representation, because that +lands the government in the class government +of the majority, composed of +a particular interest. The evil was +not felt under the old constitution, +because it was <em>not</em> a class government,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span> +being based on a multifarious, not a +uniform representation. Its <em>defects</em>, as +they are now called, <em>i. e.</em> its nomination +boroughs, combined with the extension +of our colonial and shipping +interests, had let in a most efficient +representation of <em>all</em> the interests in +the empire, as well as that of the inhabitants +of those islands, into the +House of Commons. It is to this +cause that the protection of <em>all</em> interests +by the old House of Commons +is to be ascribed. Doubtless, under +the old system the Corn Laws would +have been upheld; but the West Indies +would have been saved from ruin, +domestic industry rescued from bankruptcy +and the Navigation Laws, the +palladium of our national independence, +preserved from destruction.</p> + +<p>That the Navigation Laws have been +a great advantage to our shipowners +and seafaring interests is self-evident. +They afforded superior advantages in +conducting the trade of the empire to +British over foreign shipowners; and +they nursed up, accordingly, the immense +and hardy body of British +seamen, who have founded and protected +our colonial empire, and rendered +Great Britain the terror and +admiration of the world. What, then, +is the great benefit which is anticipated +from the repeal of laws, the +practical operation of which has been +attended with such uniform and unparalleled +benefits? The benefit is, +that it will save our merchants some +millions a-year in the payment of +freights. It is calculated by the Free-traders +that £30,000,000 yearly is paid +by Great Britain for freights; and of +this sum, it is thought a fourth, or +£7,500,000 yearly, may be saved by +the employment of foreign instead of +British sailors in the conducting of our +commerce, or the reduction of freight +and seamen's wages in these islands, +which will result from their unrestrained +competition. This is the +benefit to attain which our Navigation +Laws, the nursery of our seamen, +are to be sacrificed. And the question +to be considered is,—Is the gain real, +or apparent only; and, supposing it is +real, is it worth the risk with which +it is attended?</p> + +<p>Is the advantage real, or apparent +only? Concede to the Free-traders +all they contend for: call the saving +to the nation annually in freights, to +be effected by free trade in shipping, +not £7,500,000 but £10,000,000 annually. +The strength of the argument +will admit of almost any concession. +Admit this, and consider +what it is worth, and on whom it is +made. It is not worth a <em>fiftieth part</em> +of the revenue of the nation, which, +in the produce of land and manufactures +alone, is above £500,000,000 +annually. A week of sunshine in +autumn, a favourable set of Fall orders +from America, the stoppage of a revolution +in Europe, are each worth more +to the nation. But, such as it is, from +whom is it gained? Why, it is all +<em>gained from our own people</em>: it is a +saving effected to <em>one class of our inhabitants +by impoverishing another class</em>. +If our merchants and the purchasers +from them pay £20,000,000 a-year for +freight of goods sea-borne, instead of +£30,000,000 as formerly, undoubtedly +there is a saying of £10,000,000 <em>to +them</em>, or the consumers who buy from +them. But of whom is this saving +made? From whom is it derived? +Is it not from our shipbuilders, shipowners, +and seamen, who get so much +the less: either by being driven out +of the market by foreign mercantile +navies, or by getting their own profits +or wages reduced by external competition +to that amount? Ten millions +now earned by shipowners and sailors +in Great Britain, is, on the most +favourable supposition for the Free-traders, +<em>taken from them</em>, and given to +the dealers in or consumers of the +commodities which they transport. +Is the nation, as a whole, any gainer +by that transfer? If ten pounds are +taken from John and given to James, +are John and James, taken together, +any gainers by the transfer? And is +not the great family of the nation +composed of all its members, not of +John only, but of John and James +taken together? Is not the repeal of +the Navigation Laws, in this view +robbing Peter to pay Paul? This is +the mighty advantage, for the attainment +of which we are going to crush +by external competition our mercantile +shipping; and endanger the +national independence, by withering +the nursery of the navy, by which it +can alone be maintained! Can there +be a stronger proof of how completely, +by the operation of the Reform Bill, +we have fallen under the influence of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span> +class government; and how entirely +such class government blinds the +vision even of the most clear-sighted, +to any thing but the perception of its +own immediate interests?</p> + +<p>The evidence taken before the Commons' +committee, on the comparative +cost of building and navigating ships +in the north of Europe and in this +country, comes to this, that both are +about <em>twice</em> as expensive in this +country as on the shores of the +Baltic. A copper-sheathed vessel, +which there costs £4500, cannot here +be constructed for less than £9000: +a master's wages there, which are +£2, 11s. a month, are here £5 for the +same period: seamen's, there 7d. a +day, besides provisions, &c., are here +1s. 2d. Every thing else is in the +same proportion. Shipbuilding and +ship-navigating are twice as costly +in Great Britain as they are in Norway +and Denmark. How could it be +otherwise, when they have the materials +of ships and rigging at their +doors, while we have to transport +them to the British shores from +Canada or the Baltic; and they are +the poor nations, whose money being +scarce goes far, and we are the rich +one, whose money being comparatively +plentiful goes but a little way. +Compare the cost of living in London +during the season, with what it is in +Aberdeen or Inverness, and you will +at once see the main cause of the extraordinary +difference in the value of +money, and consequently in the +money-price of articles, in the two +situations. The difference in the cost +of shipbuilding and seamanship, viz. +one half, is nearly the same as the +difference in the cost of raising sugar +in our free-labour colonies and the +foreign slave ones, which is £10 a +ton in the former situation, and +£4 in the latter. And it is in the +perfect knowledge of the entire ruin +which the approach even to a free +trade in sugar has brought, under +these circumstances, upon the British +West India islands, that government +are prepared to force a similar disastrous +competition upon the British +shipowners, and through them on the +palladium of British independence, +the royal navy.</p> + +<p>Mr Labouchere said, in the debate +on this subject in the House of Commons, +that the Protection Party +seemed to consider every importation +as in itself an evil, inasmuch as it +displaced a corresponding amount of +native industry; but that till he found +that goods were brought by merchants +into the country for nothing, he never +could see how importation did not encourage +domestic industry as much as +home orders. This is manfully spoken: +it comes home to the kernel of the question. +It is pleasing to have to contend +with such an antagonist. We will answer +him equally briefly, and, as it seems +to us, decisively. The difference between +home orders and foreign orders +is this, that the one encourages industry +at <em>both ends</em>, viz., in the consumers +and the producers; the other, at <em>one +end only</em>, viz., in the consumer. This +difference, however, may become vital +to the national fortunes. If a London +merchant pays £20,000 a-year to +British shipowners and seamen, he +keeps in motion at once the industry +of the consumers, by whose produce +the freights are ultimately paid, and +the industry of the seafaring classes +by whom they are earned. But if he +pays the £20,000 a-year not to British +but foreign shipowners, the only +industry put in motion, so far as we +are concerned, is that which raises the +produce which is to pay the freight. +The other end of the chain is placed +in Norway or America, and any encouragement +to industry there afforded +is wholly lost to England. It is just +the difference between rents spent in +Great Britain, and rents spent in +Paris or Naples.</p> + +<p>Doubtless they are the same thing, +so far as the whole world is concerned; +but are they the same thing so far as +that portion of the world in which we +are interested, viz., the British Islands, +is concerned? Unquestionably they +are not. What the Protectionists say +is, not that no British industry is encouraged +when importation takes +place: they know perfectly it is encouraged +at <em>their end</em> of the line; +what they say is, that it is not encouraged +at the <em>other end</em>, because that +other end rests in foreign states; and +that it is unwise to encourage industry +at <em>one end</em> only, when it is possible +to do so at <em>both</em>. Adam Smith saw this +perfectly when he so well explained the +difference between the home trade and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> +foreign trade, and said the former was +"worth all foreign trade put together." +But his observations on this head are +as much forgotten by the majority of +our legislators as those he made on the +great wisdom of our Navigation Laws, +as the only security for our national +independence.</p> + +<p>Mr M'Gregor said in debate on the +same subject, that "he admitted our +naval strength had co-existed with +the Navigation Laws, but he denied +that they were cause and effect. They +had about as much to do with each other +as the height of the Pyramids had with +the floods of the Nile."<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> We agree with +the honourable member for Glasgow +in one part of this observation. The +Navigation Laws have had as much to +do with our maritime prosperity as the +Pyramids had with the floods of the +Nile; and we will tell the ex-secretary +of the board of trade what the relation +was—it was that of cause and effect. Mr +M'Gregor is too well informed not to +know that there exists in Cairo a +<em>Nilometer</em>, and that, during the period +of the inundation, the spirits of the +people and the animation of commerce +rise and fall with the rise or fall of +the prolific stream. It is no wonder +they do so, for it is the source of life +and prosperity to the whole community. +Raised by the power of the +Pharaohs from the riches produced by +the inundations of former times, the +Pyramids are the Nilometer of antiquity, +as much as the tower of Babel +and the ruins of Babylon were the monument +of the opulence of the plain +of Shinar; or as Waterloo Bridge is of +the wealth produced by the favourable +maritime situation of London, or York +Cathedral of the agricultural riches of +the plains of Yorkshire. In all these +causes there is a relation between the +natural advantages which produce the +riches and the durable monument to +the construction of which they lead, +and that relation is that of cause and +effect. We entirely concur with the +member for Glasgow in thinking that +the same connexion, and no other, +subsists between the Navigation Laws +and the maritime greatness of England +as existed formerly between the +Pyramids of Egypt and the fertilising +floods which encircle their base.</p> + +<p>To prove that these remarks are +not made at random, but that the Navigation +Laws really are the foundation +of the maritime greatness of England, +and that, when they are repealed, +it must of necessity languish and +ultimately expire, we subjoin three +tables: one showing the progress +of British as compared with foreign +shipping, from 1801 to 1823, when +the protection of the Navigation Laws +was first infringed upon by the adoption +of the reciprocity system with the +Baltic powers; and another showing +the comparative progress of our +foreign and home shipping with +Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and +Prussia, the countries with whom +reciprocity treaties were first concluded, +from 1823 to the end of 1847, +when the reciprocity system had been +a quarter of a century in operation.</p> + +<p class="hanging"><span class="smcap">Table</span> showing the comparative progress of British and Foreign Tonnage inwards, +from 1821 to 1847, both inclusive, with Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Prussia.</p> + +<p class="center"><br /> +[Transcriber's note: Column headings: Y=Year. Bt=Brit. tons. Ft=For. tons.]</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="compare tonnage"> +<tr><td align="right"> </td><td align="center" colspan="2">SWEDEN.</td><td align="center" colspan="2">NORWAY.</td><td align="center" colspan="2">DENMARK.</td><td align="center" colspan="2">PRUSSIA.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">Y</td><td align="center">Bt</td><td align="center">Ft</td><td align="center">Bt</td><td align="center">Ft</td><td align="center">Bt</td><td align="center">Ft</td><td align="right">Bt</td><td align="center">Ft</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1821</td><td align="right">23,005</td><td align="right">8,508</td><td align="right">13,855</td><td align="right">61,342</td><td align="right">5,312</td><td align="right">3,969</td><td align="right">79,590</td><td align="right">37,720</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1822</td><td align="right">20,799</td><td align="right">13,692</td><td align="right">13,377</td><td align="right">87,974</td><td align="right">7,096</td><td align="right">3,910</td><td align="right">102,847</td><td align="right">58,270</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1823</td><td align="right">20,986</td><td align="right">22,529</td><td align="right">13,122</td><td align="right">117,015</td><td align="right">4,413</td><td align="right">4,795</td><td align="right">81,202</td><td align="right">86,013</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1824</td><td align="right">17,074</td><td align="right">40,092</td><td align="right">11,419</td><td align="right">135,272</td><td align="right">6,738</td><td align="right">23,689</td><td align="right">94,664</td><td align="right">151,621</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1825</td><td align="right">15,906</td><td align="right">53,141</td><td align="right">14,825</td><td align="right">157,916</td><td align="right">15,158</td><td align="right">50,943</td><td align="right">189,214</td><td align="right">182,752</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1826</td><td align="right">11,829</td><td align="right">16,939</td><td align="right">13,603</td><td align="right">90,726</td><td align="right">22,000</td><td align="right">56,544</td><td align="right">119,060</td><td align="right">120,589</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1827</td><td align="right">11,719</td><td align="right">21,822</td><td align="right">13,945</td><td align="right">96,420</td><td align="right">10,825</td><td align="right">52,456</td><td align="right">150,718</td><td align="right">109,184</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1828</td><td align="right">14,877</td><td align="right">24,700</td><td align="right">10,826</td><td align="right">85,771</td><td align="right">17,464</td><td align="right">49,293</td><td align="right">133,753</td><td align="right">99,195</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1829</td><td align="right">16,536</td><td align="right">25,046</td><td align="right">9,985</td><td align="right">86,205</td><td align="right">24,576</td><td align="right">53,390</td><td align="right">125,918</td><td align="right">127,861</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span>1830</td><td align="right">12,116</td><td align="right">23,158</td><td align="right">6,459</td><td align="right">84,585</td><td align="right">12,210</td><td align="right">51,420</td><td align="right">102,758</td><td align="right">139,646</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1831</td><td align="right">11,450</td><td align="right">38,689</td><td align="right">4,518</td><td align="right">114,865</td><td align="right">6,552</td><td align="right">62,190</td><td align="right">83,908</td><td align="right">140,532</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1832</td><td align="right">8,335</td><td align="right">25,755</td><td align="right">3,789</td><td align="right">82,155</td><td align="right">7,268</td><td align="right">35,772</td><td align="right">62,079</td><td align="right">89,187</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1833</td><td align="right">10,009</td><td align="right">29,454</td><td align="right">5,901</td><td align="right">98,931</td><td align="right">6,840</td><td align="right">38,620</td><td align="right">41,735</td><td align="right">108,753</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1834</td><td align="right">15,353</td><td align="right">35,911</td><td align="right">6,403</td><td align="right">98,303</td><td align="right">5,691</td><td align="right">53,282</td><td align="right">32,021</td><td align="right">118,711</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1835</td><td align="right">12,036</td><td align="right">35,061</td><td align="right">2,592</td><td align="right">95,049</td><td align="right">6,007</td><td align="right">49,008</td><td align="right">25,514</td><td align="right">124,144</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1836</td><td align="right">10,865</td><td align="right">42,439</td><td align="right">1,573</td><td align="right">125,875</td><td align="right">2,152</td><td align="right">51,907</td><td align="right">42,567</td><td align="right">174,439</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1837</td><td align="right">7,608</td><td align="right">42,602</td><td align="right">1,035</td><td align="right">88,004</td><td align="right">5,357</td><td align="right">55,961</td><td align="right">67,566</td><td align="right">145,742</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1838</td><td align="right">10,425</td><td align="right">38,991</td><td align="right">1,364</td><td align="right">110,817</td><td align="right">3,466</td><td align="right">57,554</td><td align="right">86,734</td><td align="right">175,643</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1839</td><td align="right">8,359</td><td align="right">49,270</td><td align="right">2,582</td><td align="right">109,228</td><td align="right">5,535</td><td align="right">106,960</td><td align="right">111,470</td><td align="right">229,208</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1840</td><td align="right">11,953</td><td align="right">53,337</td><td align="right">3,161</td><td align="right">114,241</td><td align="right">6,327</td><td align="right">103,067</td><td align="right">112,709</td><td align="right">237,984</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1841</td><td align="right">13,170</td><td align="right">46,795</td><td align="right">977</td><td align="right">113,045</td><td align="right">3,368</td><td align="right">83,009</td><td align="right">88,198</td><td align="right">210,254</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1842</td><td align="right">15,296</td><td align="right">37,218</td><td align="right">1,385</td><td align="right">98,979</td><td align="right">5,499</td><td align="right">59,837</td><td align="right">87,202</td><td align="right">145,499</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1843</td><td align="right">6,435</td><td align="right">44,184</td><td align="right">1,814</td><td align="right">97,248</td><td align="right">4,148</td><td align="right">82,940</td><td align="right">70,164</td><td align="right">163,745</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1844</td><td align="right">12,806</td><td align="right">59,835</td><td align="right">1,315</td><td align="right">125,011</td><td align="right">7,423</td><td align="right">123,674</td><td align="right">108,626</td><td align="right">220,202</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1845</td><td align="right">15,157</td><td align="right">89,923</td><td align="right">1,215</td><td align="right">129,897</td><td align="right">4,528</td><td align="right">84,566</td><td align="right">49,334</td><td align="right">256,711</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1846</td><td align="right">12,625</td><td align="right">80,649</td><td align="right">3,313</td><td align="right">113,738</td><td align="right">9,531</td><td align="right">105,973</td><td align="right">63,425</td><td align="right">270,801</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1847</td><td align="right">7,037</td><td align="right">117,918</td><td align="right">2,318</td><td align="right">128,075</td><td align="right">20,462</td><td align="right">116,382</td><td align="right">88,390</td><td align="right">303,225</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>—<span class="smcap">Porter's</span> <cite>Parliamentary Tables</cite>; and <cite>Parliamentary Report, 3d April 1848</cite>.</p> + +<p><br />Thus, while our shipping with the +whole world <em>quadrupled</em>, as compared +with the foreign employed in the same +trade, under the protective system, +from 1801 to 1823; it declined under +the reciprocity system of equal duties, +in the countries to which that system +was applied in the next twenty years, +till it had dwindled to a perfect fraction;—our +tonnage with Sweden being, +in 1847, not more than a <em>sixteenth</em> part +of the foreign; with Norway, a <em>fiftieth</em> +part; with Denmark somewhat above +a <em>sixth</em>; with Prussia somewhat under +a <em>fourth</em>.</p> + +<p>But then it is said these are <em>selected</em> +states which do not give a fair average +of the reciprocity system, or afford a +correct criterion of its probable effects +when applied, as it is about to be by a +general repeal of the Navigation Laws, +to the whole world. If they are +"selected states," we can only say +they were selected by Mr Huskisson +and the Free-traders themselves +as likely to afford the best specimen of +the effect of their principles, and therefore +as the first on which the experiment +was to be made. But we are quite +willing to take the general tonnage of +the empire as the test; and we shall +commence with a quotation from the +tables of the great statistical apostle of +free trade, Mr Porter, to show the +effect of free trade in shipping on the +comparative growth of our whole tonnage, +as compared with that of foreign +states, from 1801 to 1823, when the +reciprocity system began; and again +from thence lo 1847, when free trade +in shipping was in full operation by +the temporary suspension of the Navigation +Laws, from the effect of the Orders +in Council in March 1847 suspending +the Navigation Laws under the +pressure of the Irish famine:—</p> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="tonnage"> +<tr><td align="right"></td><td align="center">Tons inward,</td><td align="center">Tons inward</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Year.</td><td align="center">British.</td><td align="center">Foreign.</td><td align="center"><span class="smcap">Total.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1801 </td><td align="right">922,594 </td><td align="right">780,155 </td><td align="right">1,702,749 </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1802 </td><td align="right">1,333,005 </td><td align="right">480,251 </td><td align="right">1,813,256 </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1803 </td><td align="right">1,115,702 </td><td align="right">638,104 </td><td align="right">1,753,806 </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1804 </td><td align="right">904,932 </td><td align="right">607,299 </td><td align="right">1,512,231 </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1805 </td><td align="right">953,250 </td><td align="right">691,883 </td><td align="right">1,645,138 </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1806 </td><td align="right">904,367 </td><td align="right">612,904 </td><td align="right">1,517,271 </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1807 </td><td align="left">Records lost</td><td align="center">.......</td><td align="center">.......</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1808 </td><td align="left">Records lost</td><td align="center">.......</td><td align="center">.......</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1809 </td><td align="right">938,675 </td><td align="right">759,287 </td><td align="right">1,697,692 </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1810 </td><td align="right">896,001 </td><td align="right">1,176,243 </td><td align="right">2,072,244 </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1811 </td><td align="center">.......</td><td align="center">.......</td><td align="center">.......</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1812 </td><td align="left" colspan="3">Records destroyed by fire.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1813 </td><td align="center">.......</td><td align="center">.......</td><td align="center">.......</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1814 </td><td align="right">1,290,248 </td><td align="right">599,287 </td><td align="right">1,889,535 </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1815 </td><td align="right">1,372,108 </td><td align="right">746,985 </td><td align="right">2,119,093 </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1816 </td><td align="right">1,415,723 </td><td align="right">379,465 </td><td align="right">1,795,188 </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1817 </td><td align="right">1,625,121 </td><td align="right">445,011 </td><td align="right">2,070,132 </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1818 </td><td align="right">1,886,394 </td><td align="right">762,457 </td><td align="right">2,648,851 </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1819 </td><td align="right">1,809,128 </td><td align="right">542,684 </td><td align="right">2,351,812 </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1820 </td><td align="right">1,668,060 </td><td align="right">447,611 </td><td align="right">2,115,671 </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1821 </td><td align="right">1,599,274 </td><td align="right">396,256 </td><td align="right">1,995,530 </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1822 </td><td align="right">1,664,186 </td><td align="right">469,151 </td><td align="right">2,133,337 </td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p class="center">—<span class="smcap">Porter's</span> <cite>Progress of the Nation</cite>, 407.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span></p> + +<p>It appears from this most instructive +table that, under the protection system, +from 1801 to 1823, the British +shipping employed in conducting our +commerce had gained so decisively +on the foreign employed in the same +commerce, that it had increased, from +having been on an average of five years, +at the commencement of the second, +about two British tons to one foreign, +to be, on the last five years, about +<em>four</em> British tons to one foreign: in +other words, during these twenty-two +years, the proportion of British to +foreign shipping had <em>doubled</em>.</p> + +<p>Turn now to the contrast afforded +by the comparative progress of British +and foreign shipping from 1823, when +the reciprocity system was introduced +with certain states, to 1847, when it +was made universal by the suspension +of the Navigation Laws in March of +that year:—</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="reciprocity"> +<tr><td align="center">Year.</td><td align="center">Tons inward,</td><td align="center">Tons inward,</td><td align="center"><span class="smcap">Total.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"> </td><td align="center">British.</td><td align="center">Foreign.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1823</td><td align="right">1,740,859</td><td align="right">582,996</td><td align="right">2,323,855</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1824</td><td align="right">1,797,320</td><td align="right">759,441</td><td align="right">2,556,761</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1825</td><td align="right">2,144,598</td><td align="right">958,132</td><td align="right">3,102,730</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1826</td><td align="right">1,950,630</td><td align="right">694,116</td><td align="right">2,644,746</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1827</td><td align="right">2,086,898</td><td align="right">751,864</td><td align="right">2,839,762</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1828</td><td align="right">2,094,357</td><td align="right">634,620</td><td align="right">2,728,977</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1829</td><td align="right">2,184,525</td><td align="right">710,303</td><td align="right">2,894,828</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1830</td><td align="right">2,180,042</td><td align="right">758,828</td><td align="right">2,938,870</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1831</td><td align="right">2,367,322</td><td align="right">874,605</td><td align="right">3,241,927</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1832</td><td align="right">2,185,980</td><td align="right">639,979</td><td align="right">2,825,959</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1833</td><td align="right">2,183,814</td><td align="right">762,085</td><td align="right">2,945,899</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1834</td><td align="right">2,298,263</td><td align="right">833,905</td><td align="right">3,132,168</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1835</td><td align="right">2,442,734</td><td align="right">866,990</td><td align="right">3,309,724</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1836</td><td align="right">2,505,473</td><td align="right">988,899</td><td align="right">3,494,372</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1837</td><td align="right">2,617,166</td><td align="right">1,005,940</td><td align="right">3,623,106</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1838</td><td align="right">2,785,387</td><td align="right">1,211,666</td><td align="right">3,997,053</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1839</td><td align="right">3,101,650</td><td align="right">1,331,365</td><td align="right">4,433,015</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1840</td><td align="right">3,197,501</td><td align="right">1,460,294</td><td align="right">4,657,795</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1841</td><td align="right">3,361,211</td><td align="right">1,291,165</td><td align="right">4,652,376</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1842</td><td align="right">3,294,725</td><td align="right">1,205,303</td><td align="right">4,500,028</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1843</td><td align="right">3,545,346</td><td align="right">1,301,950</td><td align="right">4,847,296</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1844</td><td align="right">3,647,463</td><td align="right">1,402,138</td><td align="right">5,049,601</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1845</td><td align="right">4,310,639</td><td align="right">1,735,079</td><td align="right">6,045,718</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1846</td><td align="right">4,294,733</td><td align="right">1,806,282</td><td align="right">6,101,015</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1847</td><td align="right">4,942,094</td><td align="right">2,253,939</td><td align="right">7,196,033</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p class="center"> +—<span class="smcap">Porter's</span> <cite>Progress of the Nation</cite>, 407, 2d edition;<br /> +and <cite>Parliamentary Paper, 3d April 1848</cite>. +</p> + +<p><br />Thus it appears that under the +reciprocity system with some countries +since 1823, and free trade in shipping +with all in 1847, the foreign shipping +employed in carrying on the British +trade had so rapidly grown upon the +British, that, while at the commencement +of the period the British stood +to the foreign as 174 to 58, or <em>3 to 1</em> +exactly, at the close they stood as 49 +to 22, or <em>somewhat above 2 to 1 only</em>. +And observe the vast start of foreign +shipping as compared with British, +since free trade was introduced by Sir +R. Peel in 1846. For while the British +tonnage was to the foreign in 1845 as +43 to 17, or as 2<sup><small>1</small></sup>⁄<sub><small>2</small></sub> to 1; in the year +1847 it was as 49 to 229, or 2<sup><small>1</small></sup>⁄<sub><small>3</small></sub> to 1 only. +So rapid has been the growth of foreign +shipping over British in eighteen +months of general free trade. In +ten years of such a system, it is +easy to see that the foreign tonnage +employed in carrying on our trade +will be equal to the British; and then +our national independence is gone for +ever, for we have nursed up in our +harbours a body of foreign seamen +equal to our own.</p> + +<p>But we have not yet done with the +parliamentary returns. From the +return 3d April 1848, it appears that +the total tonnage, British and foreign, +employed in carrying on our trade +was—</p> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Third April"> +<tr><td align="right">British Islands.</td><td align="center">Foreign.</td><td align="center">Total.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">4,942,094</td><td align="right">2,253,939</td><td align="right">7,196,033 tons.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">4,942,094</td><td align="right">2,253,939</td><td align="right">7,196,033 tons.</td></tr> +</table></div> + + + +<p> +Deduct British and foreign tons employed +in the colonial trade, viz.—</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="deduct"> +<tr><td align="right"> </td><td align="right">Tons Brit.</td><td align="right">Tons For.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"> </td><td align="right">inward.</td><td align="right">inward.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Brit. N. Amer. colonies</td><td align="right">953,466</td><td align="right">3,274</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">West Indies</td><td align="right">243,388</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Channel islands</td><td align="right">131,899</td><td align="right">3,049</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Gibraltar</td><td align="right">11,623</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Malta</td><td align="right">33,554</td><td align="right">3,789</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Ionian islands</td><td align="right">13,101</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Africa</td><td align="right">203,812</td><td align="right">6,983</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Asia and Australia</td><td align="right">379,529</td><td align="right">2,774</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Total to colonies</td><td align="right">1,970,372</td><td align="right">19,847</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p>Thus the British trade to our colonial +settlements is about <em>a hundred +times</em> the foreign, and constitutes +nearly a <em>third</em> of the whole tonnage +employed in carrying on our commerce, +and about two-fifths of the +total British tonnage,—(1,970,372 out +of 4,942,094.)</p> + +<p>But it is important to discover +what proportion the British tonnage +employed in conducting our trade +with all the world, <em>except our colonies</em>, +bears to the foreign tonnage employed +in the same work. That is easily +found:—</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span></p> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="world"> +<tr><td align="right"> </td><td align="right">Tons Brit.</td><td align="right"> </td><td align="right">Tons For.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1847. Total British Tonnage,</td><td align="right">4,942,094</td><td align="right">Total For. ton.</td><td align="right">2,253,939</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Deduct British colonial tonnage,</td><td align="right">1,970,372</td><td align="right">Foreign do.</td><td align="right">19,847</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Remains in trade with all the world except colonies,</td><td align="right"><span class="bt">2,971,722</span></td><td align="right"> </td><td align="right"><span class="bt">2,233,092</span></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>So that, setting aside our colonial +trade, the British tonnage is to the +tonnage with all the rest of the world +as 29 to 22, or as 4 to 3 only! Considering +the rapid strides which, under +the reciprocity system established +only with a limited number of countries +in 1823, the foreign shipping is +making in encroachment upon the +British, this fact affords room for the +most serious reflections. It is clear, +from the great advance of foreign over +British shipping in the single year of +temporary suspension of the Navigation +Laws, under the pressure of famine +in 1847—viz. from 1,735,679, to +2,253,979; while the British in the +same period advanced only from +4,310,639, to 4,942,094,—that two or +three years of free trade in shipping +will bring the foreign vessels employed +in conducting our trade, exclusive of +those engaged in the colonial, to an +<em>equality with the British</em>. The moment +that period arrives, our maritime +superiority, and with it our national +independence, hang entirely on our +colonial trade, which, and which alone, +strikes the balance at present in our +favour. And yet, the colonial trade +is the precise thing which it is the +object of the repeal of the Navigation +Laws to throw open to foreign nations! +In their anxiety to cheapen every +thing, the Free-traders would gladly +expose our shipping interest engaged in +the colonial trade to the same competition, +which has already proved so disastrous +to that part of it which is engaged +in the traffic with foreign nations.</p> + +<p>Observe how one false step in policy +by nations, like one deviation from +virtue in private life, leads by natural +consequences to a repetition of errors +and crimes, till irreparable ruin ensues. +The agricultural interest at +home was first attacked; and by the +cry of cheap bread, and the weight of +class legislation, its protection was +taken away. The West India islands +were the next victims; because, if +the farmer in England raises his +wheat with nothing but a nominal +protection, it was plausible to say the +West India planter must raise his +sugar on the same terms. The ruinous +competition to which this exposed the +West India planters naturally produced +in them a desire to be liberated +from any burdens to which they were +subjected for the benefit of the mother +country; and in this demand the +Canadians, exposed to the competition +of American grain, for a similar +reason concurred. Thus the cry for +cheap freights, originating in free-trade +principles in England, came to be +responded to from the British colonies +on the other side of the Atlantic; and +the Navigation Laws began to be repudiated +by the colonies—the very thing +which formerly it was their most +anxious desire to uphold. The firm +though unseen bond of mutual interest, +founded on protective principles, +which has hitherto held together the +vast and widely separated dominions +of the British empire, is dissolved. +Being deprived of the benefit of +protection, they very naturally wished +to be relieved of its burdens. Such +is the maze of error and danger into +which we have been led by the +sophistry of free trade; and such the +way in which the greatest and best +consolidated empires are first loosened, +and then destroyed, by the delusions +of those entrusted with their guidance.</p> + +<p>The manner in which foreign shipping +has encroached upon British, since +the reciprocity system began in 1823, is +clearly proved by the centesimal proportions +of each, published by Mr Porter, +from 1820 to 1844, both inclusive.</p> + +<p>It will be seen from the following +table, that, since 1820, the centesimal +proportion of British shipping employed +in conducting our trade has +<em>declined</em> from 78 to 72, while that of +foreign nations has <em>increased</em> from 21 +to 27. But this proportion, such as +it is, is solely upheld by our colonial +trade, which, as already shown, employs +nearly 2,000,000 tons of our +shipping. But for it, the encroachment +of foreign on British shipping would +appear in such alarming colours as to +strike the most inconsiderate. It is +the rapid growth of our colonial trade +under the protective system which has +alone concealed the ravages effected +on it by free trade under the reciprocity.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span></p> + +<p>Centesimal Proportions of the British and Foreign Tonnage employed in the Import +Trade of the United Kingdom from 1820 to 1844.</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Centesimal"> +<tr><td align="center">Year.</td><td align="center">Brit. inward.</td><td align="center">For. inward.</td><td align="center">Year.</td><td align="center">Brit. inward.</td><td align="center">For. inward.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1820</td><td align="right">78·84</td><td align="right">21·16</td><td align="right">1834</td><td align="right">73·37</td><td align="right">26·63</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1821</td><td align="right">80·14</td><td align="right">19·86</td><td align="right">1835</td><td align="right">73·85</td><td align="right">26·15</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1822</td><td align="right">78·00</td><td align="right">22·00</td><td align="right">1836</td><td align="right">71·41</td><td align="right">28·59</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1823<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a></td><td align="right">74·91</td><td align="right">25·09</td><td align="right">1837</td><td align="right">72·23</td><td align="right">27·77</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1824</td><td align="right">70·29</td><td align="right">29·71</td><td align="right">1838</td><td align="right">69·68</td><td align="right">30·32</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1825</td><td align="right">69·12</td><td align="right">30·88</td><td align="right">1839</td><td align="right">69·96</td><td align="right">30·04</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1826</td><td align="right">73·75</td><td align="right">26·25</td><td align="right">1840</td><td align="right">68·64</td><td align="right">31·36</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1827</td><td align="right">73·51</td><td align="right">26·49</td><td align="right">1841</td><td align="right">72·24</td><td align="right">27·76</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1828</td><td align="right">76·74</td><td align="right">23·26</td><td align="right">1842</td><td align="right">73·21</td><td align="right">26·79</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1829</td><td align="right">75·46</td><td align="right">25·54</td><td align="right">1843</td><td align="right">73·14</td><td align="right">26·86</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1830</td><td align="right">74·18</td><td align="right">25·82</td><td align="right">1844</td><td align="right">72·23</td><td align="right">27·77</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1831</td><td align="right">73·02</td><td align="right">26·98</td><td align="right">1845</td><td align="right">...</td><td align="right">...</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1832</td><td align="right">77·35</td><td align="right">22·65</td><td align="right">1846</td><td align="right">...</td><td align="right">...</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1833</td><td align="right">74·13</td><td align="right">25·87</td><td align="right">1847</td><td align="right">...</td><td align="right">...</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p class="center">—<span class="smcap">Porter's</span> <cite>Progress of the Nation</cite>, 416, 2d edition.<br /> + +</p> + +<p><br />Mr Porter himself tells us that +the centesimal proportion of our trade +with the European powers has <em>declined</em> +(p. 410) from 65 to 52·38, while +that of our colonies has increased +thus,—</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="colonies"> +<tr><td align="right"> </td><td align="center" colspan="2">1802.</td><td align="center" colspan="2">1814.</td><td align="center" colspan="2">1835.</td><td align="center" colspan="2">1844.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"> </td><td align="center">Tons.</td><td align="center">Cent. prop.</td><td align="center">Tons.</td><td align="center">Cent. prop.</td><td align="right">Tons.</td><td align="right">Cent. prop.</td><td align="right">Tons.</td><td align="right">Cent. prop.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">America</td><td align="right">336,344</td><td align="right">18·54</td><td align="right">343,658</td><td align="right">19·32</td><td align="right">886,524</td><td align="right">26·21</td><td align="right">984,850</td><td align="right">19·50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Africa</td><td align="right">7,270</td><td align="right">0·40</td><td align="right">13,514</td><td align="right">0·76</td><td align="right">40,131</td><td align="right">1·21</td><td align="right">157,364</td><td align="right">3·12</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">India, &c.</td><td align="right">67,627</td><td align="right">3·72</td><td align="right">74,117</td><td align="right">4·16</td><td align="right">161,473</td><td align="right">4·88</td><td align="right">264,978</td><td align="right">5·25</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Australia</td><td align="right">...</td><td align="right">...</td><td align="right">488</td><td align="right">·02</td><td align="right">16,019</td><td align="right">0·48</td><td align="right">36,454</td><td align="right">0·74</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"> </td><td align="right">411,241</td><td align="right">19·66</td><td align="right">431,727</td><td align="right">24·26</td><td align="right">1,104,147</td><td align="right">32·78</td><td align="right">1,443,646</td><td align="right">28·61</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p><br />Such has been the working of the +reciprocity system, as compared with +the protective and colonial—in other +words, free trade in shipping with +some particular nations—in twenty +years. And it is from this experience +of the effects of the partial adoption of +these principles that the Free-traders +now propose to make it universal!</p> + +<p>America is the country to which, +in comparison with Great Britain, the +Free-traders constantly refer for a +demonstration of the justice and beneficial +operation of their principles. We +accept the instance, and proceed to +inquire into the comparative value of +the American protected trade with +our own colonies, and the American +free trade with the United States, both +at this time and in the respective progress +of each for the last twenty-five +years.</p> + +<p>The foreign and British tonnage +with the United States, Canada, and +the West Indies, in the year 1847, +stood thus, viz.:—</p> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="British"> +<tr><td align="right"> </td><td align="right"><span class="bb">British tons.</span></td><td align="right"><span class="bb">Foreign tons.</span></td><td align="right"><span class="bb">Total.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">British North American Colonies</td><td align="right">953,466</td><td align="right">3,724</td><td align="right">954,190</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">British West Indies</td><td align="right"><span class="bb">243,388</span></td><td align="right"><span class="bb">.......</span></td><td align="right"><span class="bb">243,388</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Total protected</td><td align="right">1,196,854</td><td align="right">.......</td><td align="right">1,197,578</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">United States of America (unprotected)</td><td align="right">437,095</td><td align="right">651,189</td><td align="right">1,088,284</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p class="center">—<cite>Parliamentary Paper, 3d April 1848.</cite> +</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span></p> + +<p><br />So that, while our West India and +North American colonies, under this +Protective system, support 1,196,854 +tons of British shipping against 3,724 +of foreign, or 300 to 1 nearly; the +American trade with the United States +only maintains 437,095 of British +against 651,189 of foreign; in other +words, about 2 to 3 nearly! But the +Free-traders think it better to adopt +the system which makes the foreign +shipping to the British as 3 to 2, than +uphold the one which has brought the +foreign shipping to the British, in the +colonial trade, as 1 to 300!</p> + +<p>Observe, too, the decisive proof +which the same return affords of the +vast superiority, in every point of +view, of our colonial trade to our +foreign, even in the hands of our best +free-trade customers, the Americans. +For while less than 3,000,000 of souls +between the West India and North +American colonies furnished employment +to 1,197,000 tons of British and +foreign shipping, of which 1,193,000 +was British; twenty millions of Americans +in the United States only furnished +employment to 1,088,284 tons +of shipping, in all of which no more +than 437,095 were British! And this +is the pet instance of the Free-traders—their +favourite <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">cheval de bataille</i>—to +demonstrate the great superiority of +free and foreign over protected and +colonial trade!</p> + +<p>Again, if we take the comparative +progress of British and American tonnage +in conducting the trade of the +United States, since the reciprocity +system was begun in 1823, the same +conclusion is forced upon the mind. +Not only is the American shipping, +throughout the whole period, superior +to the British in the proportion generally +of 3 to 1, but this superiority +in their favour remains undiminished +in any material degree. We take the +following returns from Mr Porter:—</p> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="inwards"> +<tr><td align="right">Year.</td><td align="center">British</td><td align="center">American</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"> </td><td align="right">tons inwards.</td><td align="right">tons inwards.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1823</td><td align="right">63,606</td><td align="right">165,699</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1826</td><td align="right">47,711</td><td align="right">151,765</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1829</td><td align="right">64,343</td><td align="right">162,367</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1832</td><td align="right">95,203</td><td align="right">167,359</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1835</td><td align="right">86,383</td><td align="right">226,483</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1838</td><td align="right">83,203</td><td align="right">357,467</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1841</td><td align="right">121,777</td><td align="right">294,170</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1844</td><td align="right">206,183</td><td align="right">338,737</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1845</td><td align="right">224,089</td><td align="right">444,609</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1846</td><td align="right">205,123</td><td align="right">435,399</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p><br />It is easy to see how it has happened +that, in competition with the +shipowners of every country, the British +shipowners have suffered so much +under the partial operation of the +free-trade principles which the reciprocity +system has afforded. It is the +inevitable fate of the old and the +rich state, in shipbuilding and agriculture, +to be undersold by the young +and the poor one. The reason is, +that the old state, by the very magnitude +of its wealth, the amount of its +transactions, the number of its inhabitants, +the multitude of its fabrics, +is obliged to pay much higher for +labour and materials of all sorts than +the young and the poor one. Machinery +and the steam-engine compensate, +and more than compensate, +this superiority in regard to manufactured +articles. England undersells +Hindostan, where wages are a penny +or twopence a day, by the work of +steam-power looms working on cotton +raised on the banks of the Ganges. +But there is no steam-power loom in +shipbuilding any more than in agriculture. +Great things in nautical +affairs, as in rural economy, can be +effected only by the labour of man's +hands and the sweat of his brow, in +the last ages of civilisation, as in the +first. It would appear to be a permanent +law of nature, to which there +is no exception in any age of the +world, or any stage of human progress, +that the chief branches of industry on +which the subsistence and defence of +nations rest—agriculture, and the +naval and military arts—are pursued +more cheaply, and with more success +by young and rising than old and +opulent states. History is full of examples +in which the manufactures of +rich and ancient nations have obtained +an undisputed supremacy over the +fabrics of poor and rising ones; but it +presents still more examples of the +encroachments made on the industry +and power of old nations by the agricultural +produce, or naval and military +efforts, of young ones. It is this +law of nature which provides for the +decay and ruin of nations when they +are approaching the limit of their +allotted space of existence, and should +give place to others entering on the +career which they have terminated. +No efforts of human energy or virtue +can prolong, for any considerable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span> +period, this allotted space. But it is +the peculiar reproach of free trade, +whether applied to agriculture or +nautical affairs, that it tends to +shorten, instead of prolonging, the +life of the nation to which it is applied, +by oppressing instead of relieving +those vital branches of industry +on which its existence depends, and +thus both aggravates the natural evils +incident to old age, and accelerates +the approach of the political society +to the tomb.</p> + +<p>When Mr Huskisson, in 1823, introduced +the Reciprocity System, he did +not dispute that it would injure our +maritime interests; but he contended +that it would open a new field for our +manufactures,—that the time had now +arrived when the Protective System +could no longer be maintained, and it +had become indispensable to sacrifice +to a certain extent our maritime interests, +in order to preserve the chief +vents on Continental Europe for the +industry of our artisans. The sacrifice +was made, and the tables already +given show with what fatal effect to +our shipping interest. Has it extended +the market for our manufactures, or +diminished the jealousy with which +they are regarded by the states of +Continental Europe? Let the Zollverein +league, at the head of which +Prussia has placed herself, and which +has imposed duties to an amount, in +practical operation, of fifty per cent +on our manufactures, give the answer. +The exports which we send to the +states of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, +and Prussia, are still, after a quarter +of a century's experience of the immense +impulse it has given to their +maritime interests, and corresponding +depression to ours, a perfect trifle.<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> +Our exports to America are less than +they were fifteen years ago, despite +the boasted conciliatory effect of +twenty years' reciprocity.<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> What can +be more injudicious, therefore, than to +persist in, and even extend, a system +which, without diminishing in the +slightest degree the jealousy of Continental +nations at our manufacturing +superiority, has inflicted a serious and +gratuitous wound on the naval resources +by which alone that superiority +can be maintained?</p> + +<p>We have recently made a very great +stride in free-trade principles, by the +sacrifice of our agricultural protection, +and the throwing open the English +markets to cultivators of all nations. +In the three last months of 1846 and +even of 1847, in consequence of the +import duties being removed, above +£30,000,000 sterling was sent out +of the country to purchase foreign +grain; and the moderate duty of eight +shillings a quarter has since been reimposed +on wheat,—yet it terminates +in February next, and corn from all +quarters will then be admitted for the +nominal duty of one shilling a quarter. +We have abandoned the protection +of our colonies to conciliate the slave-growing +states, and augment the market +for Manchester goods in Cuba and +Brazil. With what disastrous effects +these changes have been attended, +upon the best interests of the empire, +need be told to none who are familiar +with the total ruin which has in consequence +overtaken our West India +colonies, and the unprecedented distress +which prevails in all the great +seats of our manufacturing industry. +The loss of half the realised wealth of +Liverpool, Manchester, and Glasgow, +and the creation of nearly a hundred +thousand persons, including dependants, +in a state of pauperism, in each +of those once rich and prosperous +cities, is the price which, in a year and +a half, we have paid for the adoption +by Sir R. Peel of Mr Cobden's principles +of free trade, and Mr Jones +Loyd's principles of a fettered currency. +Have we, in consequence, +reaped any countervailing advantage,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span> +or does the increase of our export +and import trade show any benefit +derived to the nation, to compensate +such dreadful wounds inflicted on its +internal prosperity, in the attempt to +disarm the jealousy of foreign manufacturers? +So far from it, our exports +and imports have steadily +<em>declined</em> since free-trade principles +were introduced. All the main sources +of our strength have diminished since +Sir R. Peel abandoned protection in +July 1846.<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> In adopting these principles, +we have gratuitously inflicted +a grievous wound on our own people, +without having obtained for them the +shadow even of a benefit to compensate +the evil.</p> + +<p>Such have been the effects of free-trade +principles on the comparative +prosperity of British and foreign shipping, +on the showing of the Free-traders +themselves, and according to +the figures which their great statistician, +Mr Porter, has prepared and +published at the Board of Trade. We +were unwilling to mix up a great national +question, such as the repeal of +the Navigation Laws, with any subordinate +examination as to the accuracy +or inaccuracy of the view of our maritime +affairs which these figures exhibit. +Such is the strength of the case, that +it will admit of almost any concession; +and the opponents of their repeal have +no occasion to go farther than to the +statistics of their adversaries for the +most decisive refutation of their principles. +But there are two observations +on the tables published by the +Board of Trade, so important that +they cannot be passed over in silence. +The first is, that in 1834, when Mr +Poulett Thomson was president of +the Board of Trade, a regulation was +made by the Board as to the measurement +of vessels, which had the effect +of adding <em>a fifth</em> to the apparent tonnage +of all British vessels, subsequent +to that date. This change was clearly +proved by the witnesses examined +before the Commons' committee; but +though Mr Porter, in his last edition +of the <cite>Progress of the Nation</cite>, mentions +the change, (p. 368,) he makes +no allusion to it in comparing the +amount of British and foreign tonnage +since 1834. Of course a fifth must +be deducted from British tonnage, as +compared with foreign, since that +time; and what overwhelming force +does this give to the facts, already +strong, in regard to the effect of the +reciprocity system on our maritime +interests!</p> + +<p>The second is, that the tonnage +with countries near Great Britain, +such as France, Belgium, and Holland, +<em>includes steam vessels</em> carrying +passengers, and their repeated voyages. +In this way a boat, measuring +148 tons, and carrying passengers +chiefly, comes to figure in the returns +for 24,000 tons! It is evident that +this important circumstance deprives +the returns of such near states of all +value in the estimate of the comparative +amount of tonnage engaged in +the trade with different countries. +That with France will appear greatest +in spring 1848, in consequence of the +number of large vessels then employed +in bringing back English residents +expelled by, or terrified at, the Revolution—though +that circumstance was +putting a stop to nearly all the commercial +intercourse between the two +countries. As steam navigation has +so immensely increased since 1834, +when the changes in the measurement +was introduced—and Great Britain, +from its store of coal and iron, enjoys +more of that traffic than all Europe put +together—this is another circumstance<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span> +which militates against the returns as +exhibiting a fair view of our trade, +compared with that of foreign nations, +especially with near countries, and +fully justifies Mr Porter's admission, +when examined before the Lords' +committee, that "considerable fallacy +is to be found in the returns." Unfortunately +for the Free-traders, however, +who had the preparation of them +in their hands, these fallacies all point +one way—viz. to augment the apparent +advantages of free trade in shipping.</p> + +<p>Such as free-trade principles are, +they are evidently not likely to remain, +if these islands are excepted, +long in the ascendant either in the +Old or the New World. The American +tariff shows us how little we have to +expect from Transatlantic favour to +our manufactures: the savage expulsion +of English labourers from France, +how far the principles of "Liberty, +Equality, and <em>Fraternity</em>," are likely +to be acted upon by our enthusiastic +and democratic neighbours on the +Continent of Europe. It is clear +from the communist and socialist +principles now in the ascendant, both +at Paris, Berlin, and Vienna, that +the interests of <em>labour</em> will above all +things be considered by their governments +in future times, and that the +most rigorous measures, in the form +of fiscal regulations, if not <em>absolute +prohibition</em>, may shortly be expected +in France, Italy, and Germany, +against manufactures of any sort +which interfere, or seem to interfere, +with the interests of the dominant +multitude of operatives. Why does our +government adhere so strongly, in the +face of the clearest evidence of their +ruinous tendency, to the present system +of free trade and a fettered currency? +Because it works well for the great +capitalists, who desire to have money +dear, and the great manufacturers, +who wish to have labour cheap, and +because a majority of the House of +Commons has been placed by the Reform +Bill under their influence. Give +the operatives the majority, and the +opposite interest will instantly prevail. +A successful Chartist revolt +would at once send the whole free +trade and fettered currency measures +by the board in three months. In truth, +it is the disasters they have produced +which has revived Chartism, and +rendered it so menacing in the land. +We should like to see how long a +legislature, elected by universal suffrage, +would allow Spitalfields and +Macclesfield to be pauperised by Lyons +silks, and Manchester invaded by +Rouen cottons, and the shipwrights of +Hull and Sunderland to be ruined by +Baltic shipbuilders. As the operative +classes have obtained the ascendency +in the principal Continental states, a +similar jealousy of foreign interference +with industry may with certainty be +looked for in Continental Europe. Can +any thing be more insane, therefore, +than to persist in a policy fraught, as +every thing around us demonstrates, +with such ruinous social injury to ourselves, +and which the progress of political +change on the Continent renders +incapable of producing the ultimate +benefits, in exchange for those evils +which their authors hold out as the inducing +causes of the measures which +have produced them?</p> + +<p>While the political changes which +have recently occurred on the Continent +of Europe have rendered any reciprocity +of advantages utterly hopeless +from the most violent adoption of +free-trade principles, they have augmented +in a proportional degree the +dangers to this country of foreign aggression, +and the risk to be apprehended +from any diminution of our +naval resources. The days have +gone by when the dream of a free-trade +millenium, in which a reciprocity +of advantages is to extinguish all +feelings of hostility, and war is to be +looked back to as a relic of the pre-Adamite +world, can with safety be indulged. +It is rather too late to think +of the termination of the angry passions +of men, when Europe, in its +length and breadth, is devastated alike +by civil dissension and foreign warfare; +when barricades have so recently +been erected in all its chief capitals; +when bloodshed is hourly expected in +Paris and Berlin; when the Emperor +of Austria has fled to Innspruck; when +every station in London was, only a +few days ago, occupied by armed battalions; +and when a furious war, +rousing the passions of whole races +of men, is raging on the Mincio and +the Elbe. Threatened by a raging +fire in all the countries by which we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span> +are surrounded, uncertain whether we +are not slumbering on the embers of a +conflagration in our own, is this the +time to relax in our warlike preparations, +and, by crippling the nursery of +our seamen, expose ourselves, without +the means of resistance, to the assaults +of hostile nations, envious of our fame, +jealous of our manufactures, covetous +of our wealth, desirous of our ruin?</p> + +<p>While Western Europe is torn by +revolutionary passions, and the seeds +of a dreadful, because a popular and +general war, are rapidly springing to +maturity from the Seine to the Vistula, +Russia is silently but unceasingly +gathering up its giant strength, and +the Czar has already 300,000 men, +and 800 pieces of cannon, ready to take +the field against the revolutionary enthusiasts +of France and Germany. +Sooner or later the conflict must arrive. +It is not unlikely that either a +second Napoleon will lead another +crusade of the western nations across +the Niemen, or a second Alexander +will conduct the forces of the desert +to the banks of the Seine. Whichever +proves victorious, England has equal +cause for apprehension. If the balance +of power is subverted on Continental +Europe, how is the independence of +this country to be maintained? How +are our manufactures or revenue to +be supported, if one prevailing power +has subjugated all the other states of +Europe to its sway? It is hard to +say whether, in such circumstances, +we should have most to dread from +French fraternity or Russian hostility. +But how is the balance of power to be +preserved in Europe amidst the wreck +of its principal states? when Prussia +is revolutionised, and has passed over +to the other side; when Austria is +shattered and broken in pieces, and +Italy has fallen under the dominion of +a faction, distinguished beyond any +thing else by its relentless hatred of +the aristocracy, and jealousy of the +fabrics of England? What has Great +Britain to rely on in such a crisis but +the energy of its seamen and the might +of its navy, which might at least enable +it to preserve its connexion with +its own colonies, and maintain, as +during the Continental blockade, its +commerce with Transatlantic nations? +And yet this is the moment which our +rulers have selected for destroying the +Navigation Laws, so long the bulwark +of our mercantile marine, and permitting +all the world to make those inroads +on our shipping, which have already +been partially effected by the nations +with whom we have concluded reciprocity +treaties!</p> + +<p>The defence of Great Britain must +always mainly rest on our navy, and +our navy is almost entirely dependent +on the maintenance of our colonies. +It is in the trade with the colonies +that we can alone look for the means +of resisting the general coalition of +the European powers, which is certain, +sooner or later, to arise against our +maritime superiority, and the advent +of which the spread of democratic +principles, and the sway of operative +jealousy on the Continent, is so evidently +calculated to accelerate. But +how are our colonies to be preserved, +even for a few years, if free-trade +severs the strong bond of interest which +has hitherto attached them to the +mother country, and the repeal of the +Navigation Laws accustoms them to +look to foreigners for the means of +conducting their mercantile transactions? +Charged with the defence of +a colonial empire which encircles the +earth, and has brought such countless +treasures and boundless strength to +the parent state, Great Britain at +land is only a fourth-rate power, at +least for Continental strife. At Waterloo, +even, she could only array forty-five +thousand men to contend with +the conqueror of Europe for her existence. +It is in our ships we must +look for the means of maintaining our +commerce, and asserting our independence +against manufacturing jealousy, +national rivalry, and foreign +aggression. Is our navy, then, to be +surrendered to the ceaseless encroachments +of foreigners, in order to effect +a saving of a few millions a-year on +freights, reft from our own people, +and sapping the foundations of our +national independence?</p> + +<p>How can human wisdom or foresight, +the energy of the Anglo-Saxons, +or the courage of the Normans, maintain, +for any length of time, our independence +in the perilous position into +which free-trade policy has, during the +short period it has been in operation, +brought us? The repeal of the Corn +Laws has already brought an importation<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span> +of eight or ten millions of foreign +quarters annually upon our people—a +full sixth of the national subsistence, +and which will soon become indispensable +to their existence. A simple +non-intercourse act will alone enable +Russia or America, without firing a +shot, to compel us to lower the +flag of Blake and Nelson. Stern +famine will "guard the solitary coast," +and famished multitudes demand +national submission as the price of +life. The repeal of the Navigation +Laws will ere long bring the foreign +seamen engaged in carrying on our +trade to a superiority over our own, as +has already taken place in so woful +a manner with the Baltic powers. +Hostile fleets will moor their ships of +the line across our harbours, and +throw back our starving multitudes +on their own island for food, and their +own market for employment. What +will then avail our manufacturers and +our fabrics,—the forges of Birmingham, +the power-looms of Manchester, +the iron-works of Lanarkshire,—if +the enemies' squadrons blockade the +Thames, the Mersey, and the Clyde, +and famished millions are deprived +alike of food and employment, by the +suicidal policy of preceding rulers? +Our present strength will then be the +measure of our weakness; our vast +population, as in a beleaguered town, +the useless multitude which must be +fed, and cannot fight,—our wealth, +the glittering prize which will attract +the rapacity of the spoiler. With indignant +feelings, but caustic truth, +our people will then curse the infatuated +policy which abandoned the +national defences, and handed them +over, bound hand and foot, to the +enemy, only the more the object of rapacity +because such boundless wealth +had accumulated in a few hands +amongst them. Then will be seen, +that with our own hands, as into the +ancient city, we have admitted the enemies' +bands; we have drawn the horse +pregnant with armed men through our +ramparts, and our weeping and dispersed +descendants will exclaim with +the Trojans of old—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4">"Fuimus Troës, fuit Ilium, et ingens<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Gloria Teucrorum."<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<p class="center space-above"><em>Printed by William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh.</em></p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<h2>FOOTNOTES:</h2> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> We suspect this custom may be traced in the Scythian legends of Herodotus. +See his 4th book, chapters v., vi., and x.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> See Erskine's <cite>Institutes</cite>, B. iii. tit. 8, §§ 21-25.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Saddle-blanket made of buffalo-calf skin.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> The French Canadians are called <i>wah-keitcha</i>—"bad medicine"—by the Indians, +who account them treacherous and vindictive, and at the same time less daring than +the American hunters.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> We fully agree with our correspondent as to the danger of Whiggery in our +councils, but are so far reconciled to the Whigs being in office at the present crisis, by +the knowledge that, had they been in opposition, they would, to a certain extent, have +fraternised with French Republicans and English Chartists. Who could doubt that +such would have been the conduct of the men who headed physical force processions, +and hounded on window-breaking vagabonds in the Reform riots of 1830? What +amount of profligate partisanship might not be expected from the men who, when +thirsting for office, solemnly denounced as unconstitutional and unjust the course +pursued by a conservative government towards O'Connell, which identical course they +now, when in power, adopt towards Mitchell, a much less dangerous criminal?</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> Burke's <cite>Reflections on the French Revolution</cite>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> <i>Gospodin Slujivui.</i> Gospodin is equivalent to the French Monsieur or Seigneur, +and Slujivui means literally one who has served in the army.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> <cite>Wealth of Nations</cite>, iv. c. 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> <cite>Times</cite>, June 9, 1848.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> Reciprocity System introduced.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> +</p> + +<p>Exports from Great Britain—to</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="exports from"> + +<tr><td align="left">1844</td><td align="left">Sweden</td><td align="right">£108,475</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">.......</td><td align="left">Norway</td><td align="right">152,824</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">.......</td><td align="left">Denmark</td><td align="right">286,679</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">.......</td><td align="left">Prussia</td><td align="right">505,384</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p class="center"> +<span class="smcap">Porter's</span> <cite>Progress of the Nation</cite>, p. 366, 2d edition.<br /> + +</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +Exports to United States of America:— +</p> + + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="exports to"> +<tr><td align="left">1836</td><td align="right">£12,425,605</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1844</td><td align="right">7,938,079</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="center"><span class="smcap">Porter</span>, <em>ibid.</em></td></tr> +</table></div></div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="center"><span class="smcap">Exports.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="center">British Produce and</td><td align="center"><span class="smcap">Imports.</span></td><td align="center"><span class="smcap">Revenue.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="center">Manufactures.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="center">Declared Value.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1845</td><td align="right">£53,227,451</td><td align="right">£85,281,958</td><td align="right">£52,009,324</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1846</td><td align="right">51,227,060</td><td align="right">75,953,579</td><td align="right">54,473,762</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1847</td><td align="right">50,897,790</td><td align="left">Not yet made up,</td><td align="right">52,082,757</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p class="center"><br /> +—<cite>Porter's Parl. Tables</cite>; and <i>Parl. Paper, 3d April 1848</i>.<br /> + +</p></div> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<div class="tn"><h3>Transcriber's note:</h3> + +<p>Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained as printed.</p> + +<p>Mismatched quotes are not fixed if it's not sufficiently clear where the missing quote should be placed.</p> + +<p>The cover for the eBook version of this book was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.</p> + +<p>Page 11: There is a closing parenthesis missing in the following—(the blank left for the number +was filled up with the word "three" +in committee of the House of Commons. +Nothing said about the issue +in tail, as before ...</p> + +<p>Page 22: The transcriber has inserted "the" ... rope up to the spot where he ... +</p> +</div> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44533 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/44533-h/images/buchanan.jpg b/44533-h/images/buchanan.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..eaa498b --- /dev/null +++ b/44533-h/images/buchanan.jpg diff --git a/44533-h/images/coverpage.jpg b/44533-h/images/coverpage.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0a3c4c9 --- /dev/null +++ b/44533-h/images/coverpage.jpg |
