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The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre filmAs A des toux de rAduction diff Arents. Lorsque ie document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul clichA, 11 est filmA A partir da Tangle supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut an bas, an pranant ie nombre d'images nAcessaira. Las diagrammas sulvants INustrant la mAthoda. by errata ned to lent une pelure. fa9on A f. , . 1 I • 1 2 3 4 5 6 32X HIS] JOHI ESSAYS ON HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, GEOGRAPHY, ENGINEERING, &c. CONTRIBUTED TO THE 'QUARTERLY REVIEW.' BY THE LATE EARL OF ELLESMERE 536G3 LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. INIVERSITY OF WAURLitt CHB LIBRARY The right of Tratithtion is reterveil. WJtDON : PRINTED BT W. CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STBEET, AND CHARING CROSS. CONTENTS. ESSAY I. PAOK Manners and Usages of Japan i 1. Japan, voorgestdd in Schetsen over de Zeden en Oebruiken van dat liijk ; byzonder over de Ingezetenen der Stad Nagataky, Door G. F. Meijlan, OpperhooW aldaar. Amsterdam. 1830. 2. Bijdrage tot de Kennis van het Japansche liijk. Door J. F. van Ovcrmeer Fiioher, Ambtccnaar van Neerlandach Indie. Amster- dam. 1833. ESSAY 11. Becollections op Japan 30 Herinneringen uit Japan. Van Hendnk DoeflF, end Opperhoofd der Nederlaudurs in Japan, op bet Eilaud Decima. Uaarlcm, 1835. Quarto. (Recottectuma of Japan. By Hendrik DoeflF, formerly President of the Dutch Factory at Decima.) ESSAY III. Life and Letters of Wallenstein 66 1. Albrechti von Wallenstein dcs Herzogs von Friedland und Meck- lenburgh, ungedruckte, eigcnhdndige, vertrauliche Brie/e und amtliche Schreiben aus den Jahren 1627, bis 1634, an Arnheim, Aldringer, Oallas, Ficcdomini, und andere Fiircten und Feld- herrn seiner Zeit : mit einer Charakteristik des Lebens und der Feldziige Wallensteins : herausgegeben von Friedrich Forster. Berlin, 1828. (^Letters and Biography of Albert von Wallenstein, Duke of Friedland and Mecklenburgh. Comprising autograph and confidential letters, and official correspondence hitherto unpublished, from 1627 to 1634, addressed to Arnheim, Aldringer, Qallas, Piccolo- mini, and other contemporary Princes and Commanders. Edited by F. Forster. 2 vols. 8vo,) 2. Wallenstein als regierender Jlerzog mid Landesherr, von Friedrich Forster. Art. J. Ballmer's Historisches Taschenbuch. 1837. Leipzig. (Wallenstein, as Reigning Sovereign and Landed Proprietor. By Friedrich Forster. Published in Paumer's Historical Pocket- book for 1837. 12mo.) 3. The Life of Wallenstein, Duke of Friedland. By Lieutenant- Colonel Mitchell. 8vo. London, 1837. 'IT CONTENTS. PAQK ESSAY IV. Art and Artists in Enolanm lOi 1. Works of Art and Arfisfn in h'nyland. Wy G. F. Waa};;t'n, Director of the Rt>vftl »Jallcry at Berlin. London. 3 vols. 12mo. 1838. 2. Painting and the Fine Arts; beiny t/ia Articles tinder those heads contributed to the tifveuth Edition of the Kncyclopcedia liritan- nica. By B. R. Haydon and William Ilazlitt, Esi|r8. Edin. 12mo. 1838. 3. Report from the Select Committee on Arts, and their Connexion with Munvfactiirca. 183(5. 4. Ilistoire de TArt Moderne en Allemagne, Par Ic Comte A. Raczynski. Paris, 1836. ESSAY V. Life of Bluchek 137 Marschal' Vorn'drts ; oder Leben, Thaten, und Character des FUrstcn Blilcher von Wahlatadt. Von Dr. Raushnick. {Marshal For- imrds ; or. Life, Actions, and Character rf Prince Blilcher von Wuhhtadt.) Leipzig, 183G. ESSAY VI. Hudson's Bay CoMP^iiy 182 Narrative of the Discoveries art the North Coast of America, effected by the Officers of the 7/udsoti's Bay Company during the Tears 1836-39. By Thomas Simpson, Esq. Bvo. London, 1843. ESSAY VIT. Aqueducts and Canals ^01 1. Nismes et ses Environs a vinyt Lieues a la ronde. Par E. B. D. Fro:;sard, Pasteur. Nismes, 1834. 2 vols. 8vo. 2. Illustrations of ^'st bvo. London, 1845. ESSAY X. Voyage to the Antarctic Regions 324 1. A Voyage of Discovei-y and Research in the Southern and Ant- arctic Regions during the Years 1839-43. By Captain Sir James Clark Ross, R.N. 2 vols. Bvo. London, 1847. 2. Notes on the Botany of the Antarctic Voyage conducted by Captain Sir ./. C. Ross. By Sir W. J. Hooker. London, 1843. ESSAY XI. Borneo and Celebes 348 1. Narrative of Events in Borneo and Celebes, down to the Occupation of Labucn, from the Journals of James Brooke, Esq., Rajah of Sarawak and Governor of Labuun ; together with a Narrative of the Operations of 11. M. S. Iris. By Captain Rodney Mundy, R.N. 2 vols. Bvo. London, 1848. 2. Sarawak, its Inhabitants and Productions : being Notes daring a Residence in that Country with H. H. the Rajah Brooke. By Hugh Low, Colonial Secretary at Labuan. Bvo. London, 1848. ESSAY XII. The Skerry' ore Lighthouse . . . 371 1. Account of the Skerryvore Lighthouse, with Notes on the Illu- mination of Lighthouses. By Alan Stevenson, Engineer to the Northern Lighthouse Board. Edinburgh and London. 4to. 1848. b CONTENTS. PAOK 2. An Account of the Dell Hack Lit/hthonae. By Robert Stevenson, Civil Engineer. Edinburj^h. 4to. 1824. 3. Narrative of the liuitUinij and Ikscrijitiun of the Construction of the Kddijutone Liyhthonsc with stone. By John Snicaton, Civil Engineer, E.U.S. Second Edition. Folio. 1813. I.-Af ESSAY XIII. KussiAN AND German Campaions 394 It \ 1 1 1. Au8 meinem Lehen, u. «. w. — Passnges of my Life, Jn/ Frederick Charles Ferdinand, liaron of Milffliny, otherwise by name Weiss, Berlin, 1851. 2. Mtmorien, ti, s. ?y. — Memoirs of the Prussian General of Infantry, Louis Baron of Wohogen. From his Jl/.SVV. Leipzig, 1851. 3. Erinnerungcn, u. s. w. — JiccoUections of the War Times of 1806- 1813. By Frederick von MuUer. Brunswick, 1851. 4. Commentaries on the War in Russia and Germany in 1812 and 1813. By Colonel the Hon. George Cathcart. London, 1850. ESSAY XIV. Diary op General Gordon 433 Tagebuchdes Generals Patrick Gordon, wahrend seiner Kriegsdienste, u, s, w. — Diary of General Patrick Gordon, during his Military Services with the Swedes and Poles from 1655 to 1661, and his Residence in Russia from 1661 to 1699. For the first time published in full by the Prince M. A. Obolenski and M. C. Posselt, Doctor in Philosophy. Vols. 1 and 2. University Press, Moscow : 1849-1861. ESSAY XV. Travels among the Laps 465 Mathias Alexander Castren, Travels in the North : containing a Journey in Lapland in 1838 ; Journey in Russiai Karelia in 1839 ; Journey m Lapland, Northern Russia, and Siberia, in 1841 44. Translated into German (from the Swedish), by Henrik Helms. Leipzig : Avenarius and Mendelsohn. 1853. ■^ It is hurt " 10*.') 7, will nations ol til*' p-oiip exdiiMivo ^o knew 41io Works Imvo 1)0011 trado wliic courugonio booonie rai profit to t) and must t communioi yet think t •atisihotion howovor .so{ *lone onaM to remaiii o .-is * It i" 'vortl •1st access to jBiat coast in 1 fcteresting adv building proem iyoyages, vol. i. ^iscovery and o ""civilization. (») 1. Japan, vyzonder over de fcldaar. Amster 2. Bijdrage U Piacher, Anibtee Hon of V Civil I.-MANNERS AND USAGES OF JAPAN. Fk(»u tiih; (iUAiiTKULY Kkview, NovEMnKii, lft;»4.(*) 394 'rederick le \Vei»». fv/antry, 1851. 0/1806- 1812 and ,n. 1850. . 433 iegsdienste. Military 1, and his first time md M. C. lUniveraitj 455 \ntaining a \ Karelia in {Siberia, in by Henrik It is liiinlly ncc'cssiiry to rciuiud our roii(l«^r.s tluit. from tlio y*^ftr KiilT, wlicii tlio J*ortn;;u(,'so wore cxim'IIl'cI from .lajtim, of all tho nations of Kurojxs tlu^ ]>ut<-h aUmo havo been allowed access to tin; p'oiipc of islands which coiistituto that ompiro. That this exclusive jirivilc^jft; has Ijoou over confined within narrow limits %e knew from Kfompfer and all tho older authorities. From ,^he works now "nder consideration we learn that these limits liavo been profj^'ossively and recently nan'owed, and that tho trade which they still permit has so far decHned under tho dis- couragement and increasing jcnilousy of the natives, as to havo become rather matter of curiosity and habit than of commercial profit to the Hollander. Uncoimected as our own country is, iand must expect long to remain, by any bond of intercourse or communion with this extensive empire and singular people, wo yet think that the majority of our readers \ull share with us tho latisfaction and interest with which we receive any information, Jiowever scanty and imperfect, on this subject, from those who are Jllone enabled to afford it. We say advisedly that we are likely Id remain excluded from all means of investigation of our own.* * It i" "voi'thy of remark that to Euglish skill and courage the Dutch owe their 4v8t access to Japau. The Erasmus, the first Dutch ship which ever reached |liat coast in 1599, was piloted by William Adams. For his most curious and intercHtiug adventures in that country, where his skill in mathematics and ship- Imilding procured him a long but honourable detention, see Harria'g Collection of jFoya^es, vol. i. p. 850. He deserves a high place in the list of the heroes of navnl ^discovery and enteqirise, and equally so among the diplomatists of commerce and ^iviliziition. (») 1. Japan, voorgesteld in Schetsen over de Zeden en Gehruihen van dat Rijk ; ^yzonder over de Ingezetenen der Stad Nagasaki/. Door G, F. Meijlan, Opperhoofd Mdaar. Amsterdam. IS'M, 2. Bijdrage tqf de Kcnnis van het Japansche Rijk. Door J. F, van Overmeer ^'ischer, Ambteenaar van Neerlaudsch Indie. Amsterdam. 1833. B MANNERS AND USAGKS OF JAPAN. KSHAY T. Essay In ono instanco. iinloi'd, in tlio prosont pcntun', onr flnjij Ims wavf'd ill the luirlxxir of \ajj;iisaki, as wo sliall licrcaft/T state, and with what result. We are aware also that Sir Stamford Itallles, that j^'reat jaouioter of Oriental enterprise, had his yearninjjjs in that direction, and ihat tlm instnietions for the hito expedition to th<^ (Miineso sojis enihraeed th(< eontinf^eney of an attempt at intereiiurse witli .lapan. We think it, liow«ner, much more likely that the solo remaininfjf link hetween Europe and Japan, the J)nteli ecmnexion, should bo severed hy vioh nee or obliterated by disuse, than that either forti prob basei ascri whic centi ratcil has (* out nates tinuoi found legisli baubl empe; in one subtle them the p broker Mr. betwef can an politic) not ex bring i existeij the fra picion ; "d and th '4 their t permits adoptee espionn not onl self, bui of five i duced i populati petual I Kbsay I. ould have tri- omewhat late I, we own our )t, porliaps, as ) a statement e than in the isually classed lad once been ablance in its by the Portu- Its doctrines resurrection of ler essential of If this be a hen add to it iced under the I the throne in J avoid admit- }d the eastern Japan ? person of the lal emperor of ament ; and it lore than two 1 of men the Lty of property worldly pro- plation. For pean readers, ate of things on, we cannot as Koeboe at )ayrie of Can- Protestant, (8, to be held however, that 3 to the result in Japan on a Essay T. DISTRUST AND ESPIONNAGP]. 9 le footing which seems to set at defiance all speculation as to its probable continuance. The system, indeed, is not, we are told, based on long prescription, and its apparent stability is to bo ascribed solely to the success of its working and the wisdom with which its foundations were laid. From tlie close of tlie sixteenth century, when the Japanese maire du palais Tayko Sama sei)a- rated the empire into its two lay and spiritual divisions, civil war has ceased, the pageant of government has been jjlayed on with- out interruption by tlie two principal actors and their subordi- nates, and the operations of the real executive have been con- tinued with all the regularity and precision of macliinery. The founder of these institutions must surely have been no ordinary legislator. The sceptre which he wielded has indeed become a bauble in the hands of liis descendants, for the koeboe, or lay emperor, equally Avith his spiritual counterpart, wears out his life in one long dream of ideal sovereignty ; and so profound and subtle is the spell of habit, custom, and etiquette which wraps them in that charmed sleep, that it is imi)ossible to anticipate the period of its dissolution, or the process by which it can be broken. Mr. Fischer, indeed, hazards the conjectiu-e, that by a quarrel between the koeboe and the dajTie, and by such an event alone, can any innovation or revolution ever take place in the existing political institutions of Japan. His conjecture, however, does not extend to the nature of the contingency which could ever bring about the coUision. If apprehension, indeed, imply the existence of danger, and if caution indicate that apprehension, the frailty of those institutions might well be inferred ; for sus- picion and distnist prevail through every link of the social chain, and the precautions against foreign aggression, so apparent in their treatment of the only nations with whom intercourse is permitted, the Dutch and Chinese, are fully equalled by those adopted against innovation or disturbance witliin. A system of espionnage extends itself throughout the empire, which embraces not only every public functionary, including the emperor him- self, but every component part of society, down to the divisions of five families, into which — somewhat after the fashion intro- duced into England by our own great Saxon legislator — tlie population is everywhere divided. The Dayrie lesides a per- petual prisoner in his palace in the city of Miako, except on the 10 MANNERS AND USAGES OF JAPAN. Essay I. Essay ■A rare occasion of a visit to the temple of Tsiwoinjo. Mr. Fischer doubts the tales in circulation of his bsing precluded from setting his foot to the eartli, or allowing the sun to shine upon him ; but that so old a sojourner and so close an observer should only doubt on such a subject, and not be able at once to contrachct these stories, seems to us confirmation strong that such, or still closer, restrictions prevail. He is allowed, we are glad to learn, the solace — shall we call it ? — of a wife and ^welve concubines, and such diversion as music, poetiy, and study can afford. His pipe is smoked but once, and the dishes from which he has eaten are broken, like the teacup which Dr. Johnson tlirew into the fire ; but IMr. Fischer adds, that these articles are economically provided of the simplest manufacture, and it is reported that no great substantial expense is permitted for the support of this shadow of sovereignty. When he dies, the event is sedulously concealed till his successor is fully installed in office, and the cry is raised of " Live the Dayrie !" without even the preliminary half of the old French formula, " the Dayrie is dead." The court is formed of a long hierarchy of spiritual officials. Among these are the kwanbakf, who represents the dayrie's person and executes his functions. From this office the koeboe is excluded. To the third spiritual office in rank, or sadayzin, he — the tem- poral sovereign — is sometimes admitted, as was the case with the reigning koeboe in 1822, on the occasion of his having completed fifty years of sovereignty. It ranks him with the gods, and no layman, from the time of Tayko Sama, had been before so honoured. This lay emperor is, like the dajTie, shut up in the palace of Jeddo, in itself a city equal in size to Amsterdam. On the supposition that the aifairs of his subjects are Ijeneath his notice and dignity, he is surrounded by a circle of guards and cere- monies, which effectually prevent him from employing his royal leisure in any such ignominious pursuit. All other places of residence must appear mean and unworthy in comparison with the royal palace, and he is therefore never allowed to leave it. The real executive is in the hands of seven councillors or ministers of the first class, six of the second, and two other mi- nisters of the nature of inquisitors, whose peculiar province it is to guard against the slightest revival of the Christian religion in the empire. This council is presided over by a prime mi- nister its mf of tL( alwav! goven divid(? goven nomin some £ of com at yea comrai secreta of thei faitiilie in thei] tions o all int( eating, variabh with tl] a certai to simil from e\ might ] secret h reports have CO most ir [place, w we find § of societ f country " Not answeral his gates every me others, a ideas, wo every ma Esi»A7 I. THE EXECUTIVE. 11 Mr. Fischer from setting e upon him ; should only to contradict such, or still flad to learn, 3 concubines, afford. His he has eaten rew into the sconomically rted that no >port of this 18 sedulously fice, and the } preliminary dead." The als. Among s person and is excluded, e — the tem- ase with the g completed gods, and no in before so m. he palace of On the h his notice s and cere- ng his royal er places of jarison with leave it. uncillors or other mi- (rovince it is iian religion prime mi- nister, and, in case of irreconcileable difference of oj)inion among its members, the question is submitted to the arbitration — not of tLe emperor, but — of his three nearest relations, including always the heir apparent. With this eouiK'il {onimunicate tlie governors of the sixty-eight provinces into which Tayko Sania divided the empire, or rather tlio two secretaries of tlie said governors, to whom the real administration is confided. Tlio nominal governments are hereditary, and are usually so burtlien- some and expensive to the occupant, that he takes the opportunity of committing his office to liis son, the moment tlie latter aiTives at years of discretion. It is necessary, therefore, in practice, to commit the real power to more experienced hands. The two secretaries take alternate turns of annual residence at the seat of their government and at the palace of Jeddo, their wives and families constantly remaining as hostages in the latter. While in their provinces, they are surrounded by the strictest precau- tions of etiquette and ceremony, are compelled to abstain from all intercourse with the other sex, and their hours of rising, eating, sleeping, going out, &c., are prescribed by rigid and in- variable rule. Besides these provincial governments or counties with their lord-lieutenants and secretaries, the empire contains a certain number of royal cities under separate governors subject to similar regulations. The spies of the government are selected from every class of society, and it is said that Fouch^ or Savary might have studied with advantage in this vast seminary of secret intelligence. Mr. Meylan, who professes to confine his reports principally to the city of Nagasaki, and to facts which have come under his personal observation, devotes one of his most interesting sketches to the local administration of that place, which is one of the above-mentioned imperial cities. Here we find the system of espionnage pervading the minuter divisions of society, to an extent, perhaps, never paralleled in any other country of the globe. " Not only," says Mr. Meylan, " is the head of every family answerable for his children, his servants, and the stranger within his gat-^s, but, the city being divided into collections of five families, every member of such division is responsible for the conduct of the othei-s, and in consequence, that which, according to European ideas, would be the height of indiscretion, becomes here the duty of every man, for every extraordinary occurrence which falls out in 12 MANNERS AND USAGES OF JAPAN. Essay I. lu an household is reported by four curious witnesses to the members of tho cJvil administration, llouso arrest is usually the penalty of the irregularities thus reported, and a severe one. The doors and windows of the offender's house are closed, generally for a hundred davK, his employments are suspended, salary, if any, stopped, and the friend and tho barber alike forbidden entrance. Everj' house- hold is held bound to produce a man oapablo of bearing arms ; a division of five constitutes a company ; hventy-fivo such companies are ariayod under an officer, and constitute a b ijrade of six or seven thousand men ; and thus the force of tho city, apart from tho regular military, or police, can be })resontlv mustered. Guard-houses are established in every street, in which a ipiard is on duty eveiy night, and, on occasions of festivity or other Ci^upQ of popular concourse, by day ; each street has a rail or barrier at its issues, and can conse- quently be cut off from communication with the rest of the city at a moment's notice." On the effects of this highly artificial system as to tlie pre- vention of crime, IMr. IMeylan does not profess to decide, but lie states that property and person are singularly secure, and that corporal punishment is rare. The latter (drcumstauce, however, he is inclined to attribute to three causes ; viz. to the severity of the law, its strict execution where guilt is proved, and the reluctance — there being no public prosecu+or— of individuals to come forward as complainants in cases of a graver description. The national character of the Japanese, as represented by our authors, is such as we might anticipate of a people largely en- dowed with the good thi gs of this world, and utterly secluded from the remainder of the globe. Pride, sensuality, and igno- rance are its marking features, and this people and the Chinese reverse our western adage oiomne ignotumpro magnijico, or substi- tute for the latter the word ignohili: for the profound ignorance of the rest of the world which involves these two great branches of tlie Tartar family appears to produce nothing but a complaisant assurance of their own superiority, and the most unmitigated contempt for the nations whose existence is darkly known to tliem. Over the Chinese, indeed, the Japanese possess one great advantage, in the access, which their learned men obtain and cultivate, to one language at least of modern Europe, the Dutch, which we suspect is better understood at Jeddo than in Paris ; but in every other respect their communications with that nation Essay T. the members he penalty of iQ doors and for a himdred stopped, and Every house- ing arms ; a eh companies f six or seven m the regular rd-houses are r evei-y night, concourse, by nd can conse- f the city at a 8 to the pre- ecide, but he ire, and tliat [ice, however, the severity ved, and tlie ndividuals to escription. lented by our largely en- rly secluded y, and igno- the Chinese Ico, or substi- igmorance of branches of complaisant unmitigated ly known to less one great [1 obtain and I, the Dutch, in in Paris; that nation Essay I. DUTCH RESIDENTS. 13 can only tend to exalt their national arrogance, by the contoni- platioti of the humble and abject posture which the Dutch are satisfied to assume in their dealings with them. It is probable, also, that the information their curiosity may occasionally extract from such a source as tt) other nations, tends to mislead rather than instruct. This national attribute of pride is also based on the univei-sal belief that they are directly descended from the gods. With respect to their sensuality, it appears such as might be expected from a country which affords every means of indul- gence, and where religion presents no check, nor custom any impedii nit of disguise. Nagasaki affords, we are told, for a population of 70,000 souls, sixty temples, and seven hundred tea-houses or public brothels : but were we to aj.jjly the same relative statistical test to the Christian capitals of l^Lolland and England — we say nothing of the more decorous but extensive profligacy of Paris — would the result be more favourable ? In Japan, at least, custom admits, after a season, the female inmates of these haunts into the bosom of society, and they become, it is said, exemplary wives and mothers. From this source, also, the inhabitants of the European factory obtain a certain class of female servants, who are said to attach themselves with strict fidelity to their masters for the time being. Our readers are probably aware that the life of the Dutch resident is otherwise one of professed celibacy, no female being allowed to arrive on board of the annual vessel. Neither are . any of the Japanese, who may be hired as male servants, allowed to remain in the factory between sunset and sunrise. " How then," asks Mr. Meylan, with innocent na'iveU, " could the Dutch resident otherwise manage to procure any domestic comfort in the long nights of winter, his tea- water, for instance, were it not for these inmates .^" The argument is, we admit, unanswerable as to mere menial ofiSces, but, as to the more tender services which are hinted at, we suspect that the wives left behind in Holland or Batavia would not concur in its cogency — nor do wo suppose that Mr. Meylan would extend to those ladies a similar indulgence, even though they could aifect a similar excuse. The great feature of the social polity of Japan is the here- ditary nature of all employments, avocations, and situations in life, and the consequent absence of most of those incentives of ambition which form the life-blood of European society. The 14 MANNERS AND USAGES OF JAPAN. Ehhay 1. population is divided into eip^ht classes : — 1. The reigning princes or governors. 2. The nobility. 3. The priests. 4. I'he mili- tary. 5. The civil officers, in which class I^lr. Meylan im-ludes the iW*' ■ ^les, &c. fi. The traders. 7. The hancUcraftsnien. 8. Th jurcrs. Among all these there is but one profession which, like the Purias of India, appears to remain under ban or stigma, viz. that of the tanners. All intercourse with these is shunned and forbidden, and the executioners are chosen exclu- sively from their ranks. The three first lay classes claim the honourable but somewhat cumbrous privilege of wearing two sabres ; the fifth, which includes surgeons, physicians, and gene- rally those who practise what we call a liberal profession, are obliged to content themselves with one sample of that favourite weapon. Their soldiers for the two last centuries have fortu- nately had little occasion to try its edge, but they, in common with the great mass of the classes who wear it, are said to bo tremendously expert in its use. The manufacture of the article is also brought to a degree of excellence whi{;h Damascus itself in its best days could hardly surpass, and which Birmingham may despair to equal. This may be judged of from sjiecimens in the museum of the Hague. If the Turk boast of being able to cut off the head of a camel with his two-handed engine, it is said that the Japanese professors can divide a fellow-creature through the middle at a blow. A favourite weapon is preserved as an heirloom for ages, and a good one on sale frequently reaches the price of a thousand florins, or little short of a hun- dred pounds. This weapon is regarded with a kind of super- stitious reverence. It is the constant companion of every indi- vidual of the classes entitled to wear it, even from his fifth year, when the Japanese youth is solemnly invested with it. When laid aside at meals or on other domestic occasions, it is always deposited close to the person of the o^vner, and he is careful neither to stumble against nor step over it. Fencing, the ma- nege, and archery, are a part of the education of the upper classes, and in the latter they excel. With respect to " other appliances of war," they are said to have acquired little know- ledge or- use of artillery previous to the general pacification of the empire, and little advance can have been since made in the art of the gunner, the engineer, or the tactician. Their forti- fied defences are hence far superior to any means of attack Essay I. FREQUENCY OF SUICIDE. 15 which, in the event of renewed civil war, could ho hrouplit against thorn. Tho specimens of their arms which the Dutch have found means to cxi)ort have been so ohtaiiuid in evasion of a strict prohibitory law. The museum at the llajjuo contains a very fine suit of mail, witli a vizor or mask of steel, the exact resemblance of thefacnu'- t'lHvd by tluMu to an extraordinary (U'greo.* ^Ir. ^li'ylan spniUs iiM an «'yt'-witn<\ss of a box oiVoroil for wilo to the Dutch governor, tlirt'O inches loiij^ by oni^ wide, in which wore Mourishiii^jj a lir- trce, a banilwu), and a |»hnu-tr«'o, tho Inttor in blossom. 'I Im |»ric(! denuuuh'd wtw twelve hunth-cd tloriiis. Sliarin;; with the Indian tho reli^'ious prejudice against the sluu;i:hter t)f the cntth) tribes, and imh'ed aj^ainst the and all its |>rovhich reach Europe are rarely such as would be considered of anything but very inferior quality in Japan. The royal collec- tion at the Hague bears witness equally to the dexterity of their artisans in many vai'ious departments. We remember observing that the common chests whidi had been used to pack the particles for conveyance to Europe, and made of camphor- wood, Avere equal in the finish of their execution to the finer cubinet- Avork of the Gillows and Morells of London. Theatrical entertainments are much followed, and they are fur superior to those of the Chinese in resi)ect to scenery and 000 French feet in altitude, and as a volcano which has been for not more than a century quiescent. It is held in great affection by the Japanese, and constantly figures in the works of their artists and the pages of their poets and romance-writers : a distinction well merited by the beauty of its scenery and the fer- tility of its environs. ESBAT I. VISIT TO THE CAPITAL. 27 m The embassy, which had left Nagasaki on the Gth of February, on the 27th of Mareli reached Sinagawa, the Kensington or ]ventish-tovvn of the Japanese capital ; which reminds the author, by the animation of its streets, and the multitude and splendour of its shops, of London. " Long before we reached Sinagawa we advanced, through the press of a crowded population, along broad streets, which may all be considered as belonging to Jeddo ; and our progress to our resting place occupied about two hours, at a steady and rapid pace. Nagasakkya, tlio place appointed for our lodging, is situated close to the imperial palace, which forms the centre of the city. The diameter of the latter may bo reckoned at from five to six leagues in extent." Oni^e arrived here, the travellers found themselves much in the situation of state-prisoners — permitted, indeed, to receive official visits, but allowed to issue from their residence only on the occasion of their audience of the emperor, and surrounded in their abode by spies in various shapes and disguises. Among these visiters were some who understood Dutch — viz. the imperial under-interpreter, several physicians, and tlie imperial astrologer, who rejoiced in the apposite name of Globius. These eagerly availed themselves of the opportunity affoi led them for obtaining scraps of European information, and the strangers doubtless equally laboured to increase their knowledge of Japan. This intercourse with the natives, although under constant supervision and regulation on the part of the government, was so far unrestrained, that the lodging of the embassy was usually crowded with guests till a late hour of the night ; and thougli the letter of the Japanese law forbade the female sex to enter its precincts, that ingenuity of curiosity which in England has pene- trated behind the throne in the House of Peers, and insinuated itself into the ventilator of the Commons, triumphed equally at Jeddo. It sometimes happened that a single male visiter came attended by six ladies — a circumstance which Mr. Fischer states by no means tended to protract the consumption of certain stores of liqueurs and confectionery which such occasions brought into play. Presents were interchanged according to the rank of the parties. A Dutch word or two written on the fan, as a substitute for an album, satisfied many of small prete ..sions. The secretaries of the government of Sadsuma brought an 28 MANNERS AND USAGES OF JAPAN. E8SAY I. Essay offering of twelve beautiful birds, fifteen rare plants, two Inpdogs, two rabbits, with silks and oilier artit'les, conveyed in cages aiul cases which in value and beauty far exceeded their contents. On the 0th of April the great purpose of the mission was accomplished in the formal audience — to which the head of the embassy alone is admitted — of the emperor. The president is, however, attended to the threshold of sovereignty by his two European companions. After entering the palace, and waiting for an liour in a saloon, where they were exposed to the only cir- cumstances savouring of impertinence or insult of which Mr. Fischer has, in his entire narrative, to complain, they entered the hall of audience, wliich he thus describes : — "It is very large, but simple, and without pomp of decoration. They pointed out to us, facing the entrance, an elevated spot des- tined for the appearance of the emperor ; on its left hand, the places for the princes of the blood, and the imperial councillors, according to their rank. Although every part of the palace, seen by us, is remarkable for elaborate and beautiful construction, as well as for a general air of grandeur in comparison with other buildings, this paii of it is too particularly set apart for public occasions to allow of much display of pomp and luxury. The proportions of the doors and shutters are colossal, and the Japau work, gilding, and carving, rich, yet simple. When we returned to the antechamber a heavy storm arose, which fortunately lasted but for a moment, as otherwise the audience would probably have been postponed, seeing that his imperial majesty has a great dread of thunder. At eleven o'clock the president was summoned to his audience, from which he returned in about half an hour. The whole ceremony consisted in his making his compliment in the Japanese fashion from the spot appointed, and remaining, fur a few seconds, with his head bowed to the matted floor, till the words ' Capitan HoUanda ' were cried aloud. A deep silence reigned, only interrupted by a gentle murmur, with which the Japanese express profound reverpnce. The governor of Naga- saki, and the chief interpreter, were the only persons who accom- panied the president, and gave him the signal of permission to depart, which is effected, like his entrance, in an inclined posture, so that the party is aware indeed of the presence of a number of persons, but, without violating the rules of Japanese politeness, cannot look about him, or indulge his curiosity as to surrounding objects which might deserve it." On the whole, though occasionally oppressed with visits, and ;i once ( royal hours' Fisclie pitalit; Some com])li ancien We E88AY I. SUMMARY OF CIIAHACTER. 29 two lapdogs, ill cages and contcMits. iiiission was head of the ii>re8ideiit is, f by his two , and waiting the only cir- )f wliich Mr. they entered of decoration, ited spot des- jid, the places ors, according seen by us, is 18 well as for a lings, this pai*t ns to allow of s of the doors , and carving, ruber a heavy , as otherwise once exposed to a scientific examination from a whole faculty of royal astrologers (as was the physician of tlio embassy to a five hours' interrogatory from sixteen of his brother professors), INIr. Fischer speaks in the highest terms of tlio kindness and hos- pitality with wliich he was treated during his stay at Jeddo. Some of his friends put his risible faculties to the test by the compliment of appearing at his quarters in Dutch apparel, of ancient and various date and fashion. We wish we could afford more of our pages to this remote and remarkable people ; but for the present we must stop. We leave them to the complacent enjoyment of the conviction that they are tlie first of nations, and the eldest descendants of the Deity. We leave them satisfied of their absolute and universal excellence, wanting no change—" least of all, such change as wo could give them," — and tenacious of the maxim, "that tho commands of their emperor are like the sweat of man's body, whidi, once exuded, returns rot again to its source ;" and we only further subjoin the well-balanced summary of their character with which Mr. Meylan closes his interesting volume : — "Cunning, polite, suspicious, reserved, sensual, impatient, haughty, superstitious, revengeful, cruel in cold blood, on the one side ; on the other, just and honest, patriotic, exemplary in the relations of parent and child, firm friends, and probably not deficient in courage." 30 RECOLLECTIONS OF JAPAN. Ehsay II. II.-RECOLLECTIONS OF JAPAN, FnOM THE QUAUTERLY REVIEW, JULV, 1836.(*) Altiiouoh two works upon the .Tapanese Empire have been recently brought under tlie notice of our readers, we think our- selves warranted in drawing for their use some further informa- tion on the same subject from that som-ce wliich alone can supply it, — the contemporary literature of our Dutch neighbours, lie- viewing Mr. Fischer's narrative, we made some allusion to his account of the Japanese and Dutch Lexicon of the writer now before us : — " If was," says Fischer, " Mr. Dooff's chief employment in the solitary Decima, during the war in Europe, and the occupation of the Dutch colonies by the English. For several years, thus sepa- rated from the rest of the world, without the sight of a sail or the receipt of a despatch from Europe, he devoted to this undertaking his long experience, his talents, and his diligence. A combination of circumstances could alone make such a task feasible : the frien'^ ship of I A, natives, a knowledge of their manners and usages, and an advanced instruction in the language, all were necessary, and all were his. Above all, however, patience and assiduity were requisite, as must appear, when we consider that this work, follow- ing the Dutch and French dictionary of Halma, is illustrated by examples wherever a word of double meaning occurs, and comprises an amount of 2500 pages. The original exists in Japan ; but the copy privately written out by Mr. DoeiF was lost on his return to Europe, by the foundering of the ship in which he had sailed. An accident led me to discover the traces of this work in 1823, and procured me opportunity for making a copy, which, in 1829, I (■") Herinneringen uit Japan. Van Hendiik Doeff, ond Opperhoofd der Neder- landers in Japan, op het Eiland Decima. Haarlem, 1835. Quarto. (Recollections of Japan. By Hendrik Doeff, formerly President of the Dutch Factory at Decima.) Uctin in a (h.s( the vnwf litcrafur saw tli»' his cxil( ho had the cata to the g aatluir o • Kcniini,' (I'greo, t rials for merely as of literat subject o some con our know to EurojM that the accessible in the ll( even loot when the exchange shall enga could hard whatever : depths, wc Fischer's ^ have save( Mr. Dot Japanese j (or reignir terference him in the an import iuformatio: KflHAY II. LOSS OF Mn. DOEFFS LEXICON. 81 fd der Neder- of the Dutch l)r(»ujrht to ft cIoho— but which m Iuhh comploto than the ori^nol. It in uow in tho library of tho U()yal IiiNtitutiou at Aiuhtordam." K(>tnniiii;X t<' Europo after niiu'tecn years of arduous service in a distant r('arent in public by the accustomed, but forbidden title. The i)resident of the council, ]\[atsoe Dairi Isoe no Cami, instantly remonstrated, and in so doing was himself guilty of a violation of the rule which forbids any one to gainsay or rebuke his superior in rank. He immediately quitted the council, placed liimsclf in arrest in his own house, and besought his associates in writing to lay the case before the emperor. The latter, by acknowledging his error, followed without hesitation the example of submission to usage thus set him by his minister, and soon released the president from his voluntary coufinement. Essay II. ESriONNAGE. 33 H apportioned, from tlio emperor down to the humblest func- tionary, all are subject to that rifjid code of usage and precedent which attained its tiual establishment under the (longe. Two otlicers are resident at the Coiu't of Jeddo, whose functions would be bettor expressed perhaps by the title of grand inqui- sitors than that of directors of police, which ]\[r. ]Joefl* applies to them. Tlu^y are charged to watch over and report the minutest infraction of the sacred code, even on the part of tho emperor himself. Their agents are spread through the empire, and especially at the courts of the sixty-eight ])rovincial sove- reigns, who are under constant suspicion of an avspiration to indejtendence, only attainable by revolution. The mode of operation is curious. The spy, usually of an inferior class, is des})atched to his ]>ost, to remain there till ho receives a signal of recall, which consists in a report of some extraordinary occurrence set in circulation by his aj)j)()inted successor. Whe- th(?r these posts are coveted in Japan on th(i princi[)le which in our service })rocures candidates for forK)rn hopes and judges and governors for Sierra Let^ue, W(; do not learn, but certain assassi- nation awaits the detected s[)y. From the province of Satsoema, in particular, it is said that none have been known to return. The invariable impunity of these murders exhibits a singular feature of weakness in the central government and indej)endeneo in the provincial, but the despotism of usage overrules both. A further and formidable check on this independences of tho governors is, however, to be found in their own compulsory residence at Jeddo <^ach alternate year, and tho perpetual con- liiKnnent of their wives and chihlren, natural and legitimate, in that city. Goveruoi's suspected of undue acciunulation of wealth are mulcted by an ingenious proc«^ss. Tho Dayrie (or Spiritual l^iUiperor) is employed to bestow on such a title of honour, accompanied by fees of installation, which speedily reduce tho means of the roeciiver of the Japanese darter or (ruc^lph to ])ro}ter limits. The slightest domtu" would, as Mr. Doeff states, bo immediately overrided by tho assistance of the neighl)ouring l>rinces, whoso nnitual jealonsi«\s he considers lus, after all, the main security for that general submission which for two centnrios has secured the peace of so vast an empire. Mr. Doell' spends a good many pag(js on the defence of his il, Si RECOLLECTIONS OF JAPAN. Essay U. countrymen from the old imputation, so w-ittily adverted to by Swift in his Laputa, of subraittinj^ to trample on the emblem of the Cliristian faith. The falsity of the accusation has, wo believe, long been acknowledged.* We think our autlior less successful in relieving his countrymen from all participation in the struggle wliich ended in the extirpation of the last remnant of the votaries of Christianity in Japan. That the contest, indeed, was not a purely religious one he shows ; but it is equally clear that the Christian remnant was engaged on the "side of the revolters in the bay of SimabaiTa, and that the Dutch Captain Koekebakker did, in obedience, doubtless, to a very significant request from the reigning powers, fire from his vessel some four hundred and twenty-five shots on the stronghold of the revolters. To these the Zumalacarreguy of the period replied by an an'ow, with a letter attached, containing tlie not unnatural interrogatory, whether native soldiers were not to be found to subdue him, and whether his countrymen were not ashamed to call in the assistance of strangers. Koekebakker was allowed hereupon to retire, and exempt himself fi'om any share in the final and bloody catastrophe. It appears, however, that the ceremony of trampling on the cross is still exacted from the Cliinese who visit Japan, the Jesuits having diffused originally among the traders of that nation a large assortment of crucifixes, rosaries, &c., and witli their usual zeal and ingenuity endeavoured to introduce their missionaries in Chinese vessels. Even in t! . Dutch ships careful search is made for all such emblems of Christianity, and books on religious subjects, which are taken possession of by the authorities, and only restored on the departure of the vessel. The important exception, however, is made of bibles and psalm-books. Mr. Doeff describes the journey to the capital, which he has performed more than once, in his capacity of president, the only individual who is admitted for the one minute's audience to the presence of the emperor. The appointment of a Japanese treasurer or purse-bearer, for the expenses of the journey, * Sir Stamford Raffles represents the Dutch as themselves the authors of this unfounded allegation. See his despatch to Lord Minto, included in Lady Raffles's very interesting Memoir. The three works we have noticed repel it with indig- nation. Essay II. FIRE AT JEDDO. 35 rendered necessary by the extortion of the purveyors of horses, proves that the family features of the tribe of postmasters are similar over the world, wherever unmodified by compe- tition, and that human nature is the same on the road from Nagasaki to Jeddo as on that between Calais and Paris. The following passage will afford some notion of Japanese commer- cial opulence, and the extent of the loss to which it is sometimes subject by fire. Speaking of his residence at Jeddo, our author says : — " There is here an extensive dealer in silks, by name Itsigoja, who has large establishments besides iii all the other great cities of the empire. Any customer who conveys his purchase to another of these cities, Nagasaki, for example, and there tires of his acqui- sition, may give it back and receive the price in full. The wealth of his man must be enormous, as the following will show : Luring my residence at Jeddo there occurred a vast fire, which consumed everj'thing within a space three leagues in length and a mile and a half in breadth ; among the rest our lodging. Itsigoja lost his entire shop, and a warehouse containing more than one hundred thousand bales of silk thread, which loss was unmitigated, fur the Japanese know nothing of insurance. He nevertheless sent to our assistance forty of his servants, who stood us in great stead ; and on the second day he was already actively engaged in rebuilding his premises, paying every carpenter six florins per diem." Mr. Doeff proceeds thus to describe this conflagration : — " On April 22, 1806, at about ten in the morning, we heard that a fire had broken out about two leagues from our lodging. We paid little attention to the intelligence, the inhabitants of Jeddo being so practised in the extinction of fires ; in fine weather there is gene- rally a fire every night, and, as this happens seldomer in rainy weather, the citizens generally wish one another joy of a wet evening. In this instance, however, the fire made rapid approaches, and towards three in the afternoon the flame, excited by a strong breeze, broke out in four places in our neighbourhood. We had, since one o'clock, employed ourselves in packing up our efiects, so that we were able to take immediate flight, for the danger was pressing. On issuing into the street, we saw everything in flames ; there was great danger in endeavouring to escape before the wind, and in the same direction with the fire. We therefore took a slanting direction through a street already burning, and thus suc- ceeded, by following the flame, in gaining an open field called Hara. D 2 36 RECOLLECTIONS OF JAPAN. Essay IL '■ i;i It was studded over with the standards of princes whose palaces had been destroyed, and whose wives and children had fled thither for refuge. We followed their example, and marked out a spot with our Dutch flags which we had Tised on our journey. We had now a full \iew of the fire, and never have I seen anything so tenific. The terrors of this ocean of flame were enhanced by the heart- rending cries of the fugitive women and children." This fire, after raging for twelve hours, was extiiiguislied by raiii. Fifty-seven palaces of princes were destroyed, and 1200 persons (among wliom was a daughter of the Prince of Awa) either burnt or di'owned. The young lady met this fate by the giving way of the Nipon Bas, a famous bridge in Jeddo, under the weight of the flying multitude. Thin walls of clay, timbers, and partitions of deal, matted floors, and roofs of shingle, suf- ficiently account for catastrophes which must far Exceed in fre- quency and violence even those of New York or Constantinople. We cannot help thinking that a fire-engine would be the most appropriate present the Dutch could make to the government which sets store by their gifts.* It would certainly deserve a better reception than the wild Persian horse which broke the neck of an heir to the throne, or the elephant which was once brought to Nagasaki, but, not being transportable in a litter to Jeddo, was wisely declined by the Ja^mnese. The relief which such an incident afforded to the monotony of a residence at Jeddo, and this emancipation from their state of imprisonment, however brief, must have repaid the Dutch for some fright and danger, more especially as their new temporary residence afforded them a more extended prospect than that from the usual abode of the mission. They seem to have received much attention and kindness from the authorities. The Governor of Jeddo, however, took alarm at the opportu- nities for observation, though not extending to intercourse, which their i^osition afforded them. From an outbuilding attached to tneir residence they could see and be seen by the multitude wmon. equally cuiious with themselves, was speedily attracted to the spot, and the governor sent orders through an interpreter to prohibit any further exhibition of their persons. * On looking into Abel's account of Lord Amherst's Embassy to China, we find that two of these machines were among tlie presents offered by the British govern- ment to the Chinese sovereign on that occasion. Essay IT. KNOWLEDGE OF ASTRONOMY. 37 Here i\rr. DoeflTs knowledge of the Japanese code stood liim in good stead. The governor had outstepped his province. The Dutch party were in all respects under the orders, not of the Governor of Jeddo, but of him of Nagasaki, who attends the mission to the ca2)ital, and during its entire progress, residence, and return, has the exclusive control of its motions. The laws of Japanese etiquette are as impartial as they are strict. DoeflTs a}>peal to usage was as eftectual as if preferred l)y a native. Tlie prohibition was instantly pronounced invalid, and their friend of Nagasaki, pleased with their assertion of his right and dignity, not only continued to them the enjoyment of their inte- resting prospect, but caused an eminence which impeded it to be levelled for their convenience. Our author's description of his audience of the emperor con- tains no new particulars. The days which intervened between his reception at court and the departure of the mission were made fatiguing by the visits of the curious, and the inquiries of the savans of Jeddo, especially the physicians and astronomers, who during this limited interval of three or four days have access to the strangers. The burthen of tlie former naturally fell on the physician of the embassy, and, as the questions had been carefully prepared in anticipation, his task was not a light one. Mr. Doeff's situation, however, was more embarrassing, for, albeit no astronomer, he had the choice of confessing his ignorance, or of inventing answers to the questions of men able to calculate eclipses, and who possess and use a translation of Lalande's Astronomy. That eminent man, when from his ob- servatory in the ancient Hotel de Cluny at Paris he "out- watched the Bear," little thought that his labours would enable his brother sages of Japan to perplex an unfortunate Dutchman. The knowledge of this extension of celebrity would not have been ungrateful to the man who pronounced himself a '• toile cirtie pour leg injures et une eponge pour la louange.'' These visits generally lasted from two till nightftill, and were relieved by an active circulation of liqueurs and comfits, Mr. Doeflf speaks with much affection and regard of the chief astronomer, Taka- liaso Sampei, whose friendship he had subsequent occasion to cultivate, and on whom he bestowed at his earnest request the name of Glohius, as mentioned in our review of Mr. Fischer's work. This person was held in such estimation by the govern- 38 RECOLLECTIONS OF JAPAN. Essay IL w ment for other qualifications besides those of science, that he was sent as commissioner to Matzmai in the affair of Golownin. The first physician of tlie emperor received in like manner from our author the name of Johannes Botanicus, under which appel- lation he held for some time a correspondence with the learned Mynheer Keinwardt, then resident at Batavia. This man's grandfather had held an intercourse of the same nature with Thunberg. It is not unpleasing to trace these links, however slender, in the intercourse of human intellect, which connects nations so distant, and communicates some of the advantages of European cultivation to those who repel with contempt from their coasts the material products of our industiy and the dan- gerous benefits of our commerce. Mr. Doeff positively contra- dicts the assertion of Golownin, that a Dutchman of the name of Laxman had been encoui'aged or permitted to establish himself at Jeddo. In his three visits to the capital Mr. Doeff never heard mention of such a name or occurrence, and the whole tenor of Japanese policy, in o\u* judgment, sufficiently proves the negative in the case of an alleged infraction of law and usage so gross and palpable. On his return from Jeddo, in 1806, Mr. DoefF, suffering under a cholic, underwent the operation of acupuncturation described by Ksempfer and others as commonly practised in Japan. The pain was trifling ; but a slight and temporary alleviation of the malady, how far attributable to imagination it might be perhaps hard to decide, wp'^ the only result. Tlie remaining portion of Mr. Doeffs volume is almost exclu- sively a narrative of events which took place at Nagasaki during his residence as president of the factory. Those who peruse it will be little suiprised at the strong tone of hostility to England which pervaded its pages. There is one passage in particular, of the conduct of our countrymen, of which we, on every ground, lament the ti'agical consequences, and specially on that ground which we suspect has supplied a topic of consolation to Mr. Doeff, — to wit, that those results have tended to place at further distance than ever the prospect of opening, an interc-ourse be- tween our Indian dependencies and Japan. We believe that, from the period of 1814, tvhen Sir Stamford Raffles made an atte!npt of this nature on which Mr. Doeff throws some curious lights, no actual experiment has been revived in that quarter. ^ « Essay II. ATTEMPTS AT INTEIICODRSE. 89 some curious We know, however, tlmt witli that able and excellent man, whose spirit of enterprise and talent for execution we should be the last to depreciate, the project was a favourite one ; his autliority is high; and the report on the coasting voyage of the Amherst printed for the House of Commons in 1833 leads us to suppose that his plan has agaui been contemplated. We think it a hopeless and dangi^rous one ; and as the ground of this conclusion is bonowed from works winch in their present shape and language are little likely to engage attention in England, we have no scruple in briefly laying the principal facts before our readers. The views of Sir Stamford EafBes, and those who have shared them, with regard to Japan, have been founded on circumstances not unworthy, we admit, of due consideration. Our accounts of that nation have been gathered exclusively from the Dutch, whose interest it miglit be supposed would lead them to magnify every difficulty and to interpose every obstacle in the way of a nation long their enemy and ever their rival in the eastern sets. Various circumstances, and especially the recent voyage of the Amherst, have satisfied, certain persons that something in the way of smuggling, bullying, and bribing may be effected on the coasts of an empire which in many respects bears great affinity to that of Japan. The failure of the llussian attempt under ResanofF might be accounted for by the sanguine on the supposition that the neighbourhood of the Kurde Islands and Kamschatka, in this uistance, had induced a peculiar jealousy on the part of the Japanese. We are satisfied, however, that tliese considerations are overruled by others which, however founded on partial tes- timony, are borne out by all the probabilities of the case, and by every actual occurrence wliich has come to our knowledge. That the English should rank iiext at least to the Portuguese, and equally with the Hussians, among the least favoured nations in the Japanese code of restriction, or rather exclusion, is but too probable. The rumour of our vast Eastern power, and Dutch descriptions of the mode in which we had extended and exercised it, would justify superabundant caution. The Dutch, during the war in which their subjection to France involved them with this country, were compelled to prosecute their usual intercourse in American hired vessels. It might at first appear that an incident which accustomed the Japanese to the sound of the 40 RECOLLECTIONS OF JAPAN. Essay II. English language, and some acquaintance with English customs, would be favourable to intercourse with the mother country. The Dutch, however, would have risked the continuance of their privileges by the expedient, if they had not succeeded in making the Japanese comprehend the distinction between the English proper, and the English (as they are called in China) of the second chop-stick. Once impressed with the distinction between King Jefferson and King George, they made no difficulty in admitting American vessels and crews under the Dutch flag and the usual regulations. An American, however, attempting to trade on his own account in 1807 was instantly repulsed. The failure of the Russian enterprise in 1804 is well known. In 1808 occurred, in the harbour of Nagasaki, that act on the part of an English frigate to which we adverted in our former article, and of which we must now state our conviction that, if the project of opening a British intercourse with Japan had ever been feasible, this incident alone would have blasted it, perhaps for centuries to come. We also greatly fear, with reference to the future, that, should any English crew fall into the hands of the Japanese, they woidd find themselves, as Englishmen, ex- empted from the benefit of that code of mercy and hospitality in which these sturdy rebutters of intrusion embrace the visiters whom shipwreck or starvation drives upon their coast, and which has not yet we believe been violated, even where that plea of necessity was doubtful. Mr. Doeff, bringing under the notice of his readers, perhaps under his own, only those circumstances of the case which national prejudice and commercial hostility would select, endeavours to stamp with the impression of deliberate criminality an act, on the part of a British officer, which we con- sider as a casual accident of naval service, creditable to that officer's zeal and courage, and involving no real impeachment of his humanity or discretion, though it led to consequences which humanity must deplore, and which calm discretion, as- sisted by an acquaintance with Japanese usages, might perhaps have obviated. It was in the October of 1808 that an European vessel under Dutch colours appeared off the coast. The usual Dutch trader was expected ; and when the governor of Nagasaki requested Mr. Doeff, then president, to send as usual two of his subordinates with the banjoosts (the accustomed Japanese officers) on board, Essay IT. SEIZURE OF DUTCH TRADERS. 41 lie complied without suspicion. The Dutchmen preceding the Japanese were met by a boat from the vessel. A petty officer of tlie latter desired them in Micir own language to come into their boat, and, the Dutchmen requesting time to wait for the Ja})anese officer who was following, the strangers boarded them with drawn cutlasses, and forced them on board an English frigate, the Phaeton. The Japanese rowed back, and communi- cated the strange occurrence which he had witnessed to the authorities. Mr. Doeff thus describes the effect of the intel- ligence : — " In the town everything was in frightful embarrassment and confusion. The governor especially was in a state of indescribable wrath, which fell in the first instance on the two upper banjoosts because they had returned without our countrymen, and without having leanit, on their own knowledge, to what nation the ship belonged. Before I could ask him a question, he said to me with fury in his countenance — 'Be quiet, Mr. President; I shall take care that your people arts lestored.' The interpreters also assured me of his determination in this particular, even at the cost of bieaking through some law or usage. I saw everything was pre- paring for defence, and even for attack, if necessary. The governor now learnt to his consternation that at the imperial guard-house (bituated between the Papenberg island and Nagasaki, and at which one thousand men are by regidation stationed) only sixty or seventy were forthcoming, and the commanders absent. The governor shud- dered at the intelligence, for he foresaw his inevitable lot — the knife. Towards twelve came a letter written on board by my assistant, Schimel, whose writing I recognised, with these words only — *A ship is arrived from Bengal. The captain's name is Pellew ; he asks for water and provisions.' " The president was consulted as to compliance with this request, which he declined to sanction. " It was midnight," he pursues, " before I heard again from the governor. His first secretary then visited me, and informed me that he had orders to rescue the Hollanders. On my questioning him as to the mode, he replied, 'Your countrymen hav9 been seized by treachery; I shall therefore go alone, obtain admission on board by every de- monstration of friendship ; seek an interview with the captuin, and, on liis refusal to deliver liis prisoners, stab him first, and then myself.' " The president naturally dissuaded him from an enterprise hopeless in itself, and dangerous to those he proposed to 42 RECOLLECTIONS OF JAPAN. Essay IT. Hi liberate. The governor, adopting the same view, was obliged to interfere to prevent the attempt. The plan now adopted was to detain the ship till all the vessels and forces of the neiglibonring princes should be collected for attack, and the night passed away in military preparation whicli, as Mr. Doeff says, bore some marlcs of a want of practice of two centuries' duration. In the afternoon of the following day, Gozeman, one of the detenus, was landed. His report was that he had been treated with gross insult, and threatened with death if it should turn out that he had violated truth in denying the presence of Dutch vessels in the harbour. The English captain, however, having verified his statement by personal inspection in his own boat, ultimately sent liim on shore with the following epistle : — *' I have ordered my own boat to set Gozeman on shore, to pro- cure me water and provisions ; if he does not return with such before evening, I will sail in to-moiTow early and bum the Japanese and Chinese vessels in the harbour." Doeff states that a threat was added, that, unless Gozeman should return on board in the evening, with the provisions, the other Dutch prisoner, Schimel, should be hanged without mercy. We have very strong doubts as to the accuracy of these state- ments, but none at all that the Japanese were made to believe that such threats had been uttered. The governor was unwilling to allow of Gozeman's return to the vessel ; but was persuaded by the president, who considered that measure the only means of securing the safety of both. He did return on board with the provisions, and shortly afterwards the Japanese authorities were enraptured by the appearance of both the detenus, which to some of themselves, alas not to all ! was a release from the choice between honourable suicide and the lasting infamy of public execution. The Dutchmen admitted that, after the arrival of the provisions, they had been treated with every civility by the English captain. It was now the object of the governor to execute, if possible, to the letter, that passage of his commission which enjoins him to detain, till the pleasure of the Provincial Government be known, any vessel which commits any act of violence or illegality on the coast. The president was again consulted : — KshayII. I^ESULTS OF CAFTAIN PELLEW'S OUTRAGE. 48 " I considered," ho said, " the Japanese as not strong enough to detain by force a frigate well armed and prepared, and told theni so phiinly ; but I advised them to detain the vessel by other means, long enough to permit a number of vessels laden with stones to bo sunk in the nan'owest ])art of the passage, between the Papenberg and the Caballes. In the course of the next day these might be got ready, and the scheme might be executed in the night following. The Japanese harbour-master, present at the discussion, demon- strated the feasibility of the scheme, and received orders to make all the preparations. I warned the governor that the east wind, which had blown for some hours, was fair for the Englishman's escape; but it was expected that he would wait for a further supply of fresh water, which had been promised him. " About daylight arrived the Prince of Omura, at the head of his troops, and proposed to the governor to endeavour, with three hun- dred boats, each manned with three rowers, and filled with straw and reeds, to bum the frigate. The men were to escape by swim- ming. He oflfered to lead the enterprise in person. During this consultation the frigate weighed, and sailed out of the harbour with a fresh breeze." Thus far we have pursued the Dutchman's narrative ; and did it end here, some of our readers, and specially those who, like ourselves, take pleasure in the mirthful pages of Marryatt, Cha- mier, and Glasscock, might think that little harm was done. A frightened Dutchman, and an outwitted governor in petticoats, might be considered as excellent dramatis personae for a marine farce ; and we might smile at the credulity of the men who really believed that an English officer would execute on their persons a threat, for the performance of wliich he would himself have been liable to capital punishment at home. The coi' se- quences, however, were such as undoubtedly the captain of the Pliaeton could not have anticipated, and such as he, or any Bri- tish officer, would deplore. Within half an hour of the Phaeton's departure Mie governor had redeemed himself from impending disgrace, and his family from an inheritance of infamy, by the terrible expedient wliich Japanese custom dictates on such occa- sions. The officers of the neglected post, to the number we believe of six or seven, followed his example, and at once stabbed themselves in the abd jraen. These men were under the orders, not of the governor oV Nagasaki, but of the governor of the pro- vince of Fizcn, then lesident at Jeddo ; and that high functionary 1^1 I •I 44 HECOLLECTIONS OF JAPAN. Essay II. expiated the (h.'liuqiieiiey of liis subordinates by an imprisonment of on«', Inuub-ed days. licfore we (bsmiss tliis subject it may be well to advert to the circumstances under which the JJritish Ihij; aj)pcar('d in these unfrequented seas. That we were at war with llolhind, tlieu a dependency of France, it is hardly necessary to mention. Cap- tain l^ellew of the IMiaeton (the second Lord ICxmouth) was ordered by Admiral Drury, commander of our fleets in tlm Eastern seas, to cruise off the Japanese islands, for the jjurposo of intercepting the Dutch traders to Nagasaki. Wliethor a nation which, like Japan, refuses all intercourse with the rest of the world may claim all those privileges of neu- trality for its harbours, which other civilized nations have sanc- tioned for their mutual convenience, is a point of international law which we are not aware has been formally mooted or de- cided. We have reason at least to believe that Captain Pellew's instructions contained no direction on this h»3ad, nor any infor- mation as to the peculiar usages of the people with whom his mission might bring him into contact. With reference to the Dutch, that mission was of course couched in the usual formula — take, burn, or destroy. After cruising in vain for a month in those tempestuous seas, the captain, thinking that the Dutch traders had probably reached the harbour, determined to look for them there. The skill and boldness with wliich this was accomplished is evident from the Dutch accounts, wliich also throw light on its hazard and difficulty. We are enabled, on good authority, to state our belief that the Dutch have misrepresented the conduct of the English captain, in those jiassages which impute to him hostile demeanour or ex- pressions with regard to the Japanese, with whom no actual col- lision or intercourse took place. On the same authority we can further state that the caj)tain, failing to discover the enemy he looked for, desired the Dutch factors who boarded him, and whom he claimed the right to consider as prisoners of war, to represent his vessel to the Japanese as an English Indiaman. The consequences of a more accurate designation must therefore rest, lamentable as they were, with those who communicated it to the native authorities. Our readers, however, may make what allowance they please for Dutch misrepresentation or exaggeration of the occurrence I";>HAV in its from dt'iiiiM of Sir perfect (|Uurte The p Fisclie forget f those 'A E.-.8AY 11. INTERCOURSK WITH TFIK DT'TCII INTKRIMTTED. I') ill its (Ictuils, jiiul wo Hus[)c<'t ciiir antlior's imrrutivj? is not froo from t'itlior; tin- I'licts stated of its conscfjiicnccs luivn iievt'r lu'cii denied or doid^ted, and uro alluded to as notorious in the [lassaj^o of Sir Stamford liaflles' Minnoirs wWu'h contnins a brief and ini- jM'rfect aof'ount of his own sul)se(iiient proeoedinj^s in tho same (|nai"ter — to which wo shall luivo occasion presently to advert. The prelude was certainly inauspicious. Jf Messrs. Meylan and Fischer had told us that the Japanese were the most forj^ivinj^and forjjjetful nation of their acquaintance, we, who know how seldom those qualities helonji; to nations [irofessing a relif^ion which enjoins them, mij^ht douht tho veracity of those authors. They do toll us that vindictivoness is a strikinj^ feature of their cha- racter ; and that tho forgiveness of an injury is considered as a sp(.'cimon of disgraceful pusillanimity. From this period up to 1810, in tho spring of which year 3[r. Doeft" made one of liLs j(jurneys to the capital, as i)rosident of tho factory, the intercourse between Batavia and Nagasaki was ])unctual. It was now destined to a total intoiTuption of more than three years, the consequence of maritime war, and our occu- pation of tho Dutch East Indian possessions : — " No one," says Mr. DooflF, " but a resident of this period at tho factory can form a conception of our state of mind. Separated from all intercourse, close prisoners in a spot which ships scarcely over pass, much loss touch at, knowing nothing, gtiessing nothing of events in the remainder of the globe ; uncertain whether for the next ten or twenty years, or to the end of our lives, a ship of our country would ever greet our sight ; living under the constant inspection of a suspicious nation which, treating us it is true with kindness, and allowing us to want for nothing which they could supply, could yet never consider us as countrymen : this was a sad lot, and sadder prospect." In 1811 the capture and detention of Golownin occurred, and the Japanese authorities paid Mr. Doeflf the compliment of call- ing for his opinion on the circumstances of that transaction. He seems to have done his best to recommend merciful counsels, and to smooth the way for the release of the Russian. " Our hope," he continues, " was now fixed on the year 1812, but, alas ! it passed away without relief, and without intelligence either from Europe or Batavia ! All our provision from Java was by this time consumed; butter we had not seen since 1807 (for the ship, the 4G RECOLLECTIONS OF JAPAN. EbSAY II. , if I'M 1 (• Gcede Frouw, had brought us none in 1809). To the honour of the Japanese, I must acknowledge that they did everything in their power to supply our particular deficiencies The police agent or inspector, Sige Dennozen, among others, gave himself much trouble to distil gin for us, for which purpose I supplied him with a still- kettle and a tin worm which I chanced to possess. He had tolerable success, but could not remove the resinous flavour of the juniper ; the corn spirit, however, which he also managed to distil, was pro- duced in perfection. As we had been deprived of wine since 1807, with the exception of a small quantity brought by the Goede Frouw, he likewise endeavoured to press it for us from the wild grape of the country, but with less success. He obtained, indeed, a red and fermented liquid, but it was not wine. I, for my own part, endea- voured to make beer. With the help of the domestic dictionaries of Chanel and Buys, I got so far as to produce a whitish liquor, with something of the flavour of the whi+e beer (mol) of Haerlem, but which would not keep above four days ; seeing that I could not make it work sufficiently, nor had I any hope of imparting to it its duo bitter, so as to remain longer drinkable." We sympathise with tliis unaffected narrative of a Hollander's distresses, his hopes and his resources, and we are cheered by the picture of Japanese good nature, while we lament over the pitchy flavour of the Schiedam of Nagasaki and the perishable excellence of Doeff 's Entire ; but further privations and embar- rassments equally national remain : — "Our greatest deficiency was in the articles of shoes and winter clothing ; we procured Japanese slippers of straw, and covered the instep with undressed leather, and thus diaggled along the street. Long breeches made we with an old carpet which I had by me. Thus we provided for our wants as well as we could contrive. There was no distinction among us. Every one who had saved any- thing threw it into the common stock, and we thus lived under a literal community of goods." With the spring of 1813 began the fourth year of their sepa- ration from the world, and great was their delight in July to witness the approach of two vessels bearing the Dutch flag, and hoisting a private signal agreed upon in 1809. A letter was brou^jht on shore, announcing the arrival of Mr. W. Waarde- naar, formerly president of the factory, as commissary, and Mr. Cassa appointed to replace Mr. Doeff as president, with throe assistants or clerks on board the second vessel. No suspicion EbSAT II. Essay II. TROCEEDINGS OF SIR STAMFORD RAFFLES. 47 honour of the thing in their 3olice agent or ■ much trouble na with a still- 3 had tolerable f the juniper ; istil, was pro- ne since 1807, Goede Frouw, wild grape of leed, a red and ^n part, endea- dictionaries of sh liquor, with F Haerlem, but at I could not Darting to it its a Hollander's re cheered by iment over the the perishable riis and embar- oes and winter nd covered the ong the street. I had by me. ould contrive, lad saved any- lived under a of their sepa- jht in July to utch flag, and A letter was W. Waarde- sary, and Mr. ut, with three No suspicion crossed the mind of our author: he had himself exceeded by many years the usual period of service ; the reinforcement of clerks was gi'eatly required. Mr. Waarcienaar was an old ac- quaintance, friend, and protector. An officer and clerk of tlio factory were sent on board ; the former returned, saying that lio liad recognised Waardenaar and the captain, Voorman, but that appearances were strange on board the vessel, and Waardenaar had informed him that he could only deliver the papers with which he was charged to Mr. Doeff in person. It was remarked by the Japanese that all the officers on board spoke English, and they thence considered the vessels as hired Americans. To remove all suspicion, Mr. Doefi* went on board. He was re- ceived with evident erabaiTassment by Waardenaar, who handed him a letter, which Doeff declined to open till he should return to liis residence, M'hither he was accompanied by Waardenafir and his clerk. The letter, there being opened, presented to the eyes of the astonished president an announcement of the mission of the two vessels, and the appointment of Waardenaar as Com- missary in Japan, with supreme command over the factory, signed " Eaffles, Lieutenant-Governor of Java and its depen- dencies." In reply to the question, "Who is Eaffles?" Mr. Doeff was informed that Java was in possession of the English, Holland incorporated with France ; and that Waardenaar, together with an Englishman, Mr. Ainslie, were appointed by the British Government as Commissioners in Japan. Doeff's reply was prompt ; he refused all compliance with the orders set forth in the letter, as coming from the government of a colony in possession of the enemy. Waardenaar tried every expedient to shake this resolution ; he appealed to the capitulation of Java, of which, however, he could produce no copy, and which, as Mr. Doeff says, would at all events have been unavailing to convince him that Japan was to be considered a dependency of Java. This bold stroke of Sir Stamford Eaffles may be considered by many as a favourable specimen of that spirit of enterprise which distinguished his proceedings to the last; but, making every allowance for the partiality of the account of the transaction now before us, we cannot but think that his zeal in this instance overstepped his discretion. Success could only be gained by entire acquiescence and collusion on the part of Mr. Doeff, and 48 RECOLLECTIONS OF JAPAN. Essay II. the lives of the two ships' companies were placed in the hands of that functionary, who by a word could have given them over as Englishmen and enemies to the vengeance of a recently insulted nation. This course he appears at first to have contem- plated ; for after coolly acquainting his former friend with the circumstances of the situation in which he had placed himself, and his own determination to resist the appointment of any nominee of England to the chair of the factory, he called in the five chief native interpreters, and, acquainting them with the facts, demanded their instant communication of them to the authorities. They at once foresaw the terrific consequences of such an announcement, and, whether from mere humanity, or apprehending that the circumstance of the ships having efttered the harbour, though by deceptive means, yet unopposed, might include themselves or some of their countrymen in the cata- strophe, they paused for consideration. Waardenaar was known and respected in Japan ; the ships bore the Dutch flag ; no suspicion that the English had a Dutch agent in their service had yet reached the authorities. AD these circumstances they pointed out to the president, and prevailed on him to keep the secret and retain his independent government, formally consent- ing to take upon themselves the entire responsibility in case of discovery. The further details of the arrangement, and of Mr. DoefTs measures for turning the transaction to the commercial profit of liis country, may best be found in the following extracts from a document, of which Mr. Doeff inserts a copy in his work. TL y will also show how completely the perilous nature of their posi- tion was admitted by the parties. The act in question purports to be an agi*eement between H. Doeff, president, on the one side, and W. Waardenaar and D. Ainslie, chief surgeon in Batavia, on the other. The first undersigned, having communicated to the second and third his refusal to obey the instruction of the Lieutenant-Governor of Java, dated June 4, 1813 (for reasons specified), represents in consequence the dangerous circumstances in which the ships, Charlotte and Mary, with their crews, are placed, in the event of his making known to the Japanese (however indirectly) to what nation those sliips belong; inas- much as the said ships would be forthwith burned, and all on board massacred, the which he (Doeff) could in no wise do any- Essay II. SUCCESS OF MR. DOEFF. 49 thing to prevent, seeing the hate which the Japanese have con- ceived towards the English nation, especially since the affair of the Phaeton, &c. Then foliow the conditions agreed upon, the principal being, that, in order to prevent all suspicion on the part of the Japanese, the entire cargoes of the two ships shall be dehvered to Doeff, who shall treat them according to the usual practice, and account for them to Waardenaar and Ainslie ; that the two latter shall undertake, on account of their government, the debt and obligations, &c., contracted by the factory from 1809 to this year inclusive, to be paid out of the produce of the lading, &c. The ships were permitted on these conditions to discharge their goods and receive their return in copper under the usual regulations. The secrecy of the interpreters was sufficiently secured by a regard to their own safety ; and Mr. DoefTs retention of his functions, and the departure of the English agents from their dangerous errand, were accounted for on various ingenious pretexts to the satisfaction of the Japanese. We cannot but concede to Mr. Doeff his claim to total sucj.'ess in this struggle, and we must reluctantly, not merely on his statement, but on all the probabilities of the case, deny to Sir Stamford Eaifles all claim and pretension to the having in this transaction smoothed the way for future intercourse. Preten- sions to that effect are, in his memoirs and despatches to Lord Minto, founded on the admitted collusion of the five interpreters ; and it is also suggested that, though the ships passed in the first instance for American, the fact that they were English was ascertained by the Japanese during their stay in harbour ; more- over that presents of English manufacture had been compla- cently received at court. Mr. Doeff's reply to these allegations — viz. that the parties were too well aware of their danger to neglect any conceivable precaution against discovery ; that, of the Japanese, the interpreters alone were in the secret ; and that the presents mentioned as received at Jeddo were forwarded in the name of the Dutch government — appears to us conclu- sive. The presents, he tells us, were represented as an acknow- ledgment for the kindness with which the Dutch had been treated during the interruption of intercourse. Two of them, a clock and an elephant, were refused, — the former because orna- mented with classical images, the elephant for the reason already mentioned. Query, Did those who sent it know the 50 RECOLLECTIONS OF JAPAN. Essay II. relative positions of Nagasaki and Jeddo ? Dr. Ainslie was in some danger of discovery. It was thought strange that Mr. Waardenaar should be attended by an American surgeon. Mr. Doeff reminded the Japanese of the Swedish Thunberg, and asserted that his countrymen looked rather to the skill than the birthplace of their medical attendants. At the court of Jeddo was established, at this period, in great splendour and favour, the son of tliat governor of Nagasaki who, in 1808, had com- mitted suicide in con? ^uence of an English visit. At Nagasaki itself the garrison consisted of the troops of the Prince of Fizen, who had suffered one hundred days' arrest for his imputed negli- gence in the same affair ; and doubtless the friends and relations of the other victims of the transaction were extant there, eager for vengeance, and with no conceivt Ae motive for mercy. In Sir Stamford Raffles's own Memoirs, indeed, we find that not only the prince, but many of the principal Japanese, had sworn to kill every Englishman that fell in their way. We cannot but think that Mr. Doeff might have revenged the insult he suffered in 1808 by at once obeying the order of Sir Stamford Ilafifles, and leaving his appointed successor and the English surgeon Ainslie to explain as they miglit to the Japanese the authority under which they were appointed. The destruction of the factory, the execution of its ofiicers, and the final cessation of all intercourse with Europe, would probably have been the consequence, wliich the prudent course adopted by Mr. Doeff appears to have averted. Having stated the principal circumstances, and the result of Sir Stamford Raffles's expedition of 1813, we content ourselves with a mere brief allusion to the renewal of his attempt in the following year, when the Dutch agent Cassa was sent in the Charlotte to supersede Mr. Doeff. This attempt appears to have been conducted with more skill and circumspection than the former, and Mr. Cassa succeedei at one moment in bringing over two out of the five Japanese interpreters to his interest. Doeff, however, kept the vantage ground on which the affair of the Phaeton had placed him, and still refused to acknowledge the capitulation of Java as affecting the situation of the factory. With the help of his majority in the body of interpreters be overruled the minority, and attained the imperial sanction to his own continuance in office and the reshipment of his appointed t -'1 .'l Essay II. MR. BLOMHOFF PRESIDENT. 51 snccessor. His difficulties were certainly greater in this instance than in tiie foruier, but his pertinacity equally triumphed. We rejjret to add that he attributes to Sir Stamford Raffles the in- fraction of some conditions which he had stipulated to his own pecuniary advantage on the former occasion. That he is mis- taken in attributing to that excellent man any such unworthy mode of punisliing him for adherence to his country's interests we firmly believe ; but if from oversight or any other cause he has really suffered by the non-performance of such conditions, we are satis '^3d that even at this distant period the justice of tiie English Government would afford him rech'ess. He opposed and foiled us, but he miglit by a word have procured tlie destruction of our vessels and the massacre of our countrymen. The presidenc bought his advantage dear. From the de- parture of the Charlotte another dreary interval of cessation of all intercourse ensued till thu year 1817, when two vessels arrived, bearing the welcome intelligence of the restoration of Java to the Dutch, and having on board the author's friend Jan Cock Blomhoff, appointed to succeed him as president, and at the same time to convey to him the full approbation of his pro- ceedings, and the order of the Lion of the Netherlands. Scarcely less welcome, after a nine years' abstinence, was a supply of butter, and of wine, in which they drank to the restoration of the House of Orange. Mr. Blomhoff was destined to illustrate the tenacity with which the Japanese adhere to their regulations. His ariival, and the news of the cessation of hostilities, were hailed with great delight by the Japanese, but all his influence and ex- ertions were vain to procure from the court of Jeddo, in favour of his wife and child, a relaxation of the rule which excludes foreign females from Decima, not indeed as such, but as coming under the larger category of all persons not expressly necessary for the purposes of the trade. ** No one may land except for spe- cial reason in Japan" — is the maxim of that empire, to which the Dutch are, equally with other foreigners, compeller' to submit. On the 6th of December, ] 817, ]\lr. Doeff handed over to his successor the guardianship of those interests which he had de- fended with so much pertinacity and success. The appendix to his narrative is a melancholy one. He embarked for Europe in 1819, in the ship of war the Admiral Evertsen. She proved not £ 2 52 RECOLLECTIONS OF JAPAN. Essay IL sea-worthy, and from the 30th of March to the 8th of April was only kept afloat by unremitting exertion at the pumps. The Mauritius, the nearest inhabited land, was nine hundred miles distant, two companions had outsailed them, and the fate of Troubridge awaited them in the same seas. They were saved by an American brig when within sight of the uninhabited island of Diego Garcia; but as three hundred and ninety persons were to be transferred to this small vessel, none were allowed to take with them their effects, and a few shirts and some papers of small bulk were aU that our author could save of his collections accumulated with cost and diligence during his long residence at Decima. The fate of his most valuable manu- script has been already xuentioned. Half the party were left on the island ; the other portion, including our author and his wife, sailed for the Mauritius on board the friendly and humane American. His lady died early on the passage. It is impossible to dismiss this curious subject without advert- ing to the statements set forth in Sir Stamford Raflfles* * Memoirs,' and in his own despatch to Lord Minto, not only as a justification of his measures, but as involving a claim to partial success and an encouragement to future proceedings. We find in his ' Memoirs' the following passage : — " The character of the Jajanese it was evident had been subject to the misrepresentation whic i the jealousy of the Dutch had indus- triotjsly spread over the whole of their eastern possessions. They appeared to the commissioners to be a race remarkable for frankness of manner and disposition, for intelligence, inquiry, and freedom from prejudice. They are in an advanced state of civilization, in a climate where European manufactures are almost a necessary comfort, and where long use has accustomed them to many of its luxuries." We know not how far the Batavian colonists may have mis- represented the Japanese to the English governor, but certainly their three countrymen whose works we have brought under notice most entirely acquiesce in the description thus given by men whose authority in itself was worth little, as they had neither a knowledge of the language nor opportunity for observation. With regard, however, to the assertion that European manufac- tures are almost a necessary comfort to a nation wliich Sir Stamford Eaffles rates at twenty-four, Mr. Fischer at thirty-six ESSAT II. TRADE WITH RUSSIA REFUSED. 53 millions, we must say that the Japanese have satisfied themselves M'ith a very small allowance of such objects of necessity, and have taken very singular methods to increase the supply. The fact is, that their disposition to luxury and expense in dress, which doubtless would recommend foreign commerce if once established, is constantly checked by severe and arbitrary sumptuary laws. " The trade," says Sir Stamford in his despatch, " was just as extensive as it suited the personal interest of the Resident to make it." We have seen that the trade was limited and rigidly defined by successive orders from Jeddo. Sir Stamford points out the advantages to be derived by both parties from British intercourse, and to us especially, as a resource in the event of any interruption in the trade with China. With respect to the article of tea, the accounts both of Mr. Fischer and Mr. Doeff would lead us to doubt whether the produce of Japan would answer as a substitute for that of Cliina. Mr. Doeff describes the decoction in common use as villanous. Mr. Fischer con- siders the Japanese tea as a useful sudorific, but so inferior in flavour to the Chinese as to malce its success in an European market very doubtful. Nothing, indeed, can be clearer than that an interchange of commodities wtli Japan would be profit- able to both nations. The Japanese answer to Eussiau pro- posals of a similar nature proves, however, that such advantages can be appreciated by a nation which rejects them : — "With regard to the trade in commodities of many kinds of which each may be in want, possible advantage appears, yet we have maturely considered, and found that, if all our useful commo- dities were exchanged, we might possibly find a deficiency in such of our own production, and thus it would appear as though we knew not how to govern our country. Moreover, if trade be increased, there would be more occasion for people of the lower orders to trans- gress the usages of our country, and thereto we therefore cannot agree. This is the imperial decision, and therefore must the navi- gation to Japan be no more attempted. Signed at Nagasaki — Nango Bolugna (with a great red seal attached)." We have said and quoted thus much in deference to an au- thority so justly respected as that of Sir Stamford Raflfles; enough, we trust, to show that we do not lightly or irreverently venture to criticise the speculations of such a man. His repu- tation is one wliich can suffer no sensible diminution by an im- peachment of Lis reasonings on a particular subject, treated by 54 RECOLLECTIONS OF JAPAN. £h»aY if. him with tliat ardour in his country's service which belonged to his cliaracter. Ho seems to us to have failed to perceive that the very qualities of superiority, for which he gives just credit to Japan, opposed an impenetrable obstacle to his views ; that meanness, ignorance, coniiption, and cowardice may justify by the result the aggression they invite, but that courage and intel- ligence are not rashly to be insulted or tampered with ; and that a spirit of independence may be proof against the trivial impulses of curiosity and the more degrading motives of gain. Neglecting these considerations, he argued that, because the Japanese, by a fortunate accident, had forborne to close an intercourse with a nation which submitted to purchase its continuance by abject submission and humiliation, they would break through the most sacred laws and usages of their empire, sanctified by antiquity, and rigidly enforced by a strong executive, to admit one by which they had been threatened and insulted, and which was only known to them by partial and malignant statements of its power and ambition, illustrated by a calamitous example. We are as anxious as Sir Stamford Raffles could be for the ubiquity of our flag and the expansion of our commerce. For ourselves, indeed, being neither governors, merchants, nor missionaries, we have no higher motive than that which actuated the Fatima of the nursery tale in sigliing for a peep into the blue chamber of the eastern sea. That motive of curiosity is a strong one. But the key of British enterprise which has unlocked the treasure- chambers of the world has no power when applied to the steel- clenched postern of Japan. It has been shivered in the attempt, and there is blood on the fragments. We should be sorry to learn that the directors of Eastern enterprise, undeterred by former failures, or inspired by a few paltry successes on the maritime frontier of China and its corrupted dependencies, were about to renew experiments on Japan. Nothing, we are satisfied, can be more unwise than to argue from Chinese or Corean premises to Japanese conclusions ; nothing more wanton and unprofitable than to risk, by any attempt to force an intercourse, tlie disruption of the last link which yet connects that singular country with the European family. Some great and sweeping revolution must disorganize her government, and obliterate her institutipus, before we can approach her coasts in any other guise than that of invaders of au unoflFending, we wish we could add unofifended, nation. III.-LIFE AND LETTERS OF WALLENSTEIN. FnoM TiiK Quarterly Revikw, January, 18y8.(») Few of tliose wlio love to loiter in the picture-gallery of history, " amid the painted forms of other times," but have felt their march arrested and their attention charmed by two great figures iu the compartment of the seventeenth c tury, Gustavus Adolplius and Wallenstein. There is in the former a simple sublimity — a diffused and holy lustre — which sets criticism at defiance, and the glory of tho saint is distinguishable around the cascjue of the Protestant warrior. There is a gloom in the grandeur of thr- other, — a shadow of pride, and passion, and evil destiny, — wliich pains while it fascinates ; yet, turning from both or either, we may wander with quickened step and unobservant eye " through rows of warriors and through ranlcs of kings," an host of crowned and helmeted and peruked nonentities, before we look on the like of either again. Of the works now enumerated, those from the German press had engaged our attention before that of Colonel Mitchell had been ennoimced for publication ; and as we could hardly hope (") 1. Albrechis von Wallenstein des Hevzogs von Friedland und Mecklenhurgh, unge- druckte, eigenhdndige, vertrauliche Briefe und amtUche Schreiben aua den jahren l*iJ7, bis 1634, an Anilieim, Aldringer, Gallaa, Piccohniini, und andere Fiirsten und Feldherrn seiner Zeit : mit einer Charakteristik des Lebens und der Feldziige Wallen- steins: hernusgegeben von Friedrich Forster. Berlin, 1828. (Letters and Biography of Albert von Wallenstein, Duke of Friedland and Meck- lenburgh. Comprising autograph and confidetdial letters, and official corresponds tiee hitherto unpublished, from 1627 to 1634, addressed to Arnheim, Aldringer, Gallas, Piccolomini, and other contemporary Princes and Commanders. Edited by F. Forster. 2 vols. 8vo.) 2. Wallenstein dls regierender Herzog und Landesherr, vmi Friedrich Fdrster. Art. I. Raumer's Historisches Taschenbuch. 1837. Leipzig. ( Wallenstein, as Reigning Sovereign and Landed Proprietor. By Fidedrich Forster. Published in Raumer's Historical "Pocketbook for 1837. 12mo.) 3. r/te Life of Wallenstein, Duke of Friedland. By Lieutenant-Colonel Mitchell. 8vo. Loudon. 1837. 56 LIFE AND LETTEKS OF WALLENSTEIN. Essay III. tliat tlio former would be communicated to the English public in the shape of translation, we were subsequently the more satisfied to find that they had furnished materials for one who, as a soklier and a linguist, was well qualified for the task of Wallen- stoin's biography. From the nitherto unedited documents communicated in his own volumes of 1828, collated with others before extant, Mr. Forster has undertaken to relieve tlie memory of Wallenstein from the heavy imputations by which the court of Vienna endea- voured to justify his assassination, and which the historian and the dramatist have joined in accumulating upon his name. The act of accusation, supported by advocates so numerous and so various, has been for two centuries unanswered before the tri- bunal of Europe. We cannot, however, think that the labours of either the civilian or the soldier, in their vocation of awarding tardy justice to a great and injured man, have been bestowed in vain. It seldom happens that the minuter researches of posterity tend otherwise than to detract from the lustre of popular repu- tations ; still seldomer that we can lift a corner of the veil from the personal and private dealings of the authors of mighty achieve- ments without displaying the littleness of the instruments used by Providence for great purposes. Wise and humble men will draw moral and religious conclusions from the exposure which they must lament ; but it is not to folly alone that the martyrdom of fame is d(^ar, and profligacy loves to see the warrior and the sage degraded to its own level of sensuality or coiTuption. It is something gained to the cause of virtue and the strength of good example, to find some spots of verdure between the Dans and Beershebas of modem historical geography, — to find civil and military greatness united in a character wliicli gains by every investigation into its qualities ; and such, after the perusal of the works before us, we pronounce the character of the Fried- lander, whose epitaph has been hitherto written either by his assassins, or by men who should have paused before they followed implicitly in the track of his interested accusers. The satellites of a court which paid the price of his blood, on whom the task devolved of justifying his murder, were not likely to be candid in its execution ; and proofs of their distortion and misrepre- sentation of facts abound in Mr. Forster's volumes. Still that Csesar was ambitious, the Antony who now recites his funeral EfWAY TIT. IMPUTATIONS ON HIS MEMORY. 67 oration cannot dony : — that he was altogother a placid subject for the exercise of court intrif^ues, the arts of the civilian and the Jesuit, the Spanish diplomatist, and Italian mercenary, who worried their noble prey to his end, his admirers can hardly assert. It is not wonderfid that at this distance of time the question should remain unsolved as to how far ambition lured or injury goaded their victim into any positive though tardy be- trayal of his trust — or into any of those schemes of undue per- sonal advancement wliich have been so lavishly imputed to him. On tlie most sj)eciou8 of these accusations we have little hesi- tation in passing the verdict of not proven, while we leave others to tlie infamy of their own palpable falsehood. It may be well to remark that, though Schiller, throughout his brilliant but unequal narrative, seems to admit, with little question, the series of charges against Wallenstein, the conclud- ing passage of his fourth book is strangely inconsistent with all that precedes it. IVEr. Forster quotes, in his Preface, p. xv., from Schiller, the expressions " perjured traitor and death-worthy criminal,"* which we have no doubt he somewhere uses, though we have failed to hit on the passage which contains them. After a detail of crimination which would go far to justify such expres- sions, it is strange to find him summing up in these words : — " It must, after all, in justice be admitted that the pens which have handed down the history of this extraordinary man are not tiiose of truth ; that the treason of Wallenstein and his project for attaining the crown of Bohemia rest, not on acts strictly proved, but merely on probable conjectures. No document has yet been disco- vered which has displayed the secret springs of his conduct so as to merit the confidence of history ; and among his actions, publicly known and accredited, there is none which in the main might not have proceeded from a guiltless source. Many of his most vilified proceedings prove nothing more than his earnest disposition towards a peace. Most of the others are cleared up and excused by a justi- fiable mistrust of the emperor, and a pardonable anxiety for the maintenance of his own importance. It is true that his conduct towards the Elector of Bavaria exhibits an unworthy spirit of revenge and an unappeasable temper; but no one of his actions jus- tifies us in considering him as convicted of treason. If necessity and despair finally drove him to deserve the sentence passed upon * MeineidigeD Verrather und todeswIirdigoD Verbrecher. 58 LIFE AND LETTKllS OF WALLENSTEIN. Essay III. him when yot innocent, tliiH cannot Buffii-o for iho justification of that Kontencu : in thin case W'allcnKtciii fell not bocaiiHo ho was u rohol, but ho rehclled becauHO ho fell. It was his misfortune in life to have made an enemy of a victoriouw i>arly, — in death, that this enemy survived to write his histoiy." — Schiller's Ilistury of the Thirty Years' War. Conclusion of Fourth Book. The mass of tho orij^inal corrosj)oiul<3iioe in Mr. Forstor's volumes emanates from tne iirehives of Jioitzonbur^li, now in the possession of tlie Counts of Arnheim, lineal descendants of Hans George von Arnlieim, a man whose talents both for war and diplomacy made him cons])icuous oven at a period so fertih; in great reputations. as that of the Thirty Yeai's' War. We find him, at the commencement of 1(527, servhig as second in command under Wallenstein, and we trace, tlirongli a corres})ondence con- tinued with little interruption to the summer of 1021), i)roofs of the unlimited confidence which his chief reposed in him. Arn- heim's transference of his services at this period to the Saxon wrought a total change in his relations to \N'allenstein, and their correspondence is only occasionally renewed in the shape of negotiation between rival commanders, l^liis cliange appears, however, in no respect to ha\ e diminished the mutual esteem which had gro^vn out of their former intimacy, and their inter- course was among the grounds of accusation subsequently pre- ferred against Wallenstein, and, as we think, among the most unjust of them. In addition to the principal mass of corre- spondence, hitherto unpublished, these volumes contain much information, extracted from the archives of Vienna and other sources, which, with the comments of the editor, bear upon many principal events of the time ; among others, tlie discrepant statements respecting the deatli of Gusta\'us, and the proceed- ings against Wallenstein's surviving associates. The editor's own portion of the work consists in a biogiaphical and historical account of liis hero, which, after attending him from his birth to the period when the correspondence commences, forms a com- mentary on the latter, and is closed by a biogi-aphy of Arnheim. Colonel Mitchell has profited by a subsequent work of Mr. Eorster's, a Life of W allenstein, which we have failed to obtain ; in which we learn, however, he has corrected divers errors wliicli have obtained popularity respecting the earlier career of Wal- Icnstem, and which had found a place in the volumes of 1828. r. EflSAT III. Emay III. ins RAPID EI.EVATIOX. 59 Tho smaller treatise, publisliod in Kaumer's Animal, is eii- riouHJy illustrative of the man and the numners of tlu* time, and jterhaps more entertaining than the graver materials for historieal diH(juisition contained in the larger work. After having devoted our attention to these German publica- tions, we wei'e pleased to find that our conclusions on the main ])()ints at issue were in accordance with those of Colonel IMitchell. That author has endeavoured to compress into one volume a gr'ueral view of the war, together with the biography which forms the attractive title to his work. His qualifications for his task are considerable. To a profession which makes his subject a congenial one he unites, we believe, an intimate acquaintance with the language, the people, and the topography of the great theatre of the achievements he records. With these api)liance8 he has produced a book, in our judgment, of sterling merit, bearing evidence of the cultivation of that valuable and often neglected material, a soldier's leisure, and which can scarcely be perused without communicating to its reader the author's enthu- siasm on behalf of his hero. The Colonel has resisted with de- termination all temptation to prolixity or diffuseness of extract, and has shown skill and good taste in the condensation of his materials. It would be difficult to find in modern liistory, previous to the French Revolution, a parallel to the rapid elevation of " Albert Weuzel Eusebius von Waldstein, born at the castle of Hermanie in 1588." It is true that he started with the advantages of noble birth and the education of a gentleman, which the heroes of revolutionized France were able to dispense with in their pro- gress to fieldmarshalships and thrones. In virtue, however, of the Bohemian law of inheritance, Albert's father had shared the family possessions with thiiteen brothere, and in his own case the estate was further frittered down tlu'ough two brothers and tlu'ee sisters. Like the Scmlts and Murats, however, he was tlu*own upon times when wealth as well as fame was the reward of mili- tary exploit — to those at least who chose the stronger side in the great religious struggle which, commencing in Bohemia at the period of his adolescence, rapidly drew the rest of Germany into its bloody vortex. We have said that Mr. Forster s most recent researches have disproved some of the popular anecdotes of W^allenstein's early 60 LIFE AND LETTERS OF WALLENSTEIN. Essay IIL 1 in life. Among these are the stories of his turbulence at the Alt- dorf College — one of which has been popularized by the dramatic pen of Schiller — and the Jesuits' version of his conversion to Komanisra. These being dismissed from the record, we must be content to remain in ignorance of any early peculiarities or indi- cations of his future character, and to ascribe his departure from the faith of his Protestant parents to causes more probable than a fall from a window, which may but too easily be found in the worldly advantages likely to be derived from his adoption of a dominant religion. We know, however, that the talents destined to play so conspicuous a part in war and politics were previously matured by travel and study. He was attended in his pere- grinations through France, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands, by Paulus Yirdingus, a correspondent of Kepler, who probably first directed his attention to those astrological studies which, like the wizard namesake of Sir Walter Scott, he pursued " in Padua far beyond the sea," under Argoli, a professor of reputation in that pretended science. It would perhaps be difficult to find among the great men of that day an exception to its votaries — even among those who rejected not only the evidence of revealed but of natural religion. Wallenstein's first military service was performed under Ro- dolph, King of Hungary, against the Turks, in 1606. On the peace which took place in that year he returned to Bohemia, to enter on his small inheritance, and shortly to increase it by a marriage of prudence with an elderly and widowed heiress, Lucretia Nikessin von Landeck, who at her death in 1614 left him rich possessions in Moravia, and a considerable personalty. The cultivation of these resources appears for some years to have distracted his attention from the opportunities for military advancement which the troubles of the time and the fraternal feuds between the Emperor Matthias and Rodolph might have afforded him. It is not till the year 1617 that we find him again in arms, at the head of two hundred cavalry, raised by himself, for the service of the Archduke Ferdinand of Styria against the Venetians. The campaign was insignificant, but the siege of Gradisca afforded the young leader some opportunities of dis- tinction under the eye of Ferdinand, the future Emperor, and thus laid the foundation of his relations to that Sovereign. His appointment to a military command in Olmutz, and his second N". Essay III. ESSAT III. HIS VAST POSSESSIONS. 61 marriage to the daughter of a favourite of Ferdinand, the Count Harrach, soon followed. The religious contest in Bohemia now assumed a character which could no longer have pennitted one less interested than Wallenstein in the fortunes of that country to remain a mere observer of its progress. If we may judge of Wallenstein by the whole tenor of the correspondence before us and of his conduct, no Romanist of his age was less fitted than himself to become a persecutor. No passage, indeed, of his life or writings indicates fanaticism, or even strong personal opinion on any doctrinal question, while many argue enlarged and liberal views as to matters of conscience ; but it would have required the zeal of a Zisca to have emancipated him from the influence of ambition and obligation which at this period bound him to the service of the Emperor and Popery ; his lot was cast with the oppressor and the bigot, and his sword thrown into the balance against his countrymen struggling for religious freedom. It is not true, indeed, that he assisted at the battle of the White Mountain, which, in 1620, sealed the fate of Protestantism and liberty in Bohemia; but he did good service on the Danube against the Hungarian allies of the revolted Bohemians; and in 1G22 received from the Emperor Ferdinand the brilliant guerdon of the Dukedom of Friedland. Not less substantial, indeed, than brilliant was his reward, for the favour of the Emperor, the assistance of his father-in-law, and the means accumulated by his first marriage, enabled him to purchase, at half their value, a share of the confiscated Protestant estates, such as made his wealth more than adequate to his title, and enabled him to appear, in 1625, in the Emperor's service, and in the battle-field of Northern Germany, at the head of 60,000 men, raised by the influence of his name, and equipped and main- tained by advances from his own purse ! The items of these purchases are specified in Mr. Forster's minor work. The Duke's landed possessions in 1623 are esti- mated by him at some twenty millions of florins in value, or about two millions sterling. The ducal territory of Friedland alone contained nine towns and fifty-seven villages and castles. To this were afterwards added the principalities of Sagan and Grossglogau, and, for a time at least, Mecldenburgh. The affairs of all these extensive possessions were administered with the utmost vigilance and accuracy of account, and the care with 62 LIFE AND LETTERS OF WALLENSTEIN. Essay IH. which he cultivated his resources was equal to the profuse liberality with wliich he applied them to elevating the fabric of his own greatness. The campaign of 1626, opening with the destruction of IMans- field's array at Dessau, was further distinguished by the expul- sion of that persevering but luckless adventurer from Germany, who, followed into Hungary by Wallenstein and deserted by Bethlem Gabor, ended his singular career in a Dalmatian village. During Wallenstein's absence in his pursuit, the Protestant con- federates rallied in Silesia under Bernard of Saxe Weimar, and it was not till June of the following year that Wallenstein, whose winter-quarters had been established on the Danube, mustered his forces at Prague with the immediate object of recovering Silesia. It is in January of this year, 1627, that the cor- respondence with Arnheim, now published, commences. The first letter of the series, dated Prague, January 17, confers a vacant regiment on that officer, and its postscript contains a pressing summons to join Wallenstein in the province about to be invaded, the reduction of wliich was in some six weeks com- pleted by these commanders. In August Wallenstein crossed its frontier for the execution of his designs upon Mecklenburgh. These extended beyond its simple reduction to civil or religious submission, inasmuch as its sovereignty had been promised hhw in reward of his own services, and in retribution for the conduct of its reigning princes. In the promotion of this project we find Arnheim Wallenstein's principal instrument. It was the interest of Wallenstein to preserve from military ravage and exaction the territory he intended to appropriate, and his letters and orders, written with that view, show with what firmness he held the reins of discipline, in the guidance of a force raised by means which must have been unpropitious to its establishment. The dates of the letters in many instances evince the extraordinary activity of their author. In some cases the amount of eight are addressed in the same day to Arnheim alone. One out of tliree so addressed of the 15th November, after noticing certain irre- gularities, proceeds : — " The officers and soldiers convicted of such practices are to be punished in life or limb, without any respect to rank or condition ; the officers who allow such are to be suspended from their charge, placed in an-est, and reported to ourself, for we are determined to Essay III. DESIGNS UPON DENMARK. 63 proceed with the utmost rigour against them, that they may serve for a mirror to others, seeing that, if the insolencies practised by the soldier, under connivance of the officer, be overlooked, the country must be thereby ruined, and the army be destroyed for want of subsistence.'' This is as like the logic of a Wellington, and as little like the rhetoric of the leader of an heterogeneous force hastily collected under tlie prestige of a popular name, as possible. It strikes us, however, that there is something fidgety and undignified in the rapid repetition of orders on the same subject, addressed to one so able and so trusted as Arnlieim. We should be sm*prised to find in Colonel Gurwood's volumes any such specimens of itera- tion addressed to Hill or Murray. In a letter of December 13, 1G27, endorsed ^* cito citissinie," Wallonstein adverts to a project which we believe has not come under the observation of historians, viz. one for [)lacing the Em- peror on the throne of Denmark. Wallenstein's restless spirit appears to have been excited to this scheme by nothing better than vague rumours of a disposition on the part of the Danes to revolt against and expel their reigning dynasty. He directs Arnheim t(- intimate that, if the Emperor gains that sovereignty by force, he will establish his own laws ; but if he be elected by the popular voice, on the expected vacancy, religious liberty shall be secured to his Danish subjects. (Forster, vol. i. p. 167.) This letter, dated from Brandeis, in Bohemia, is the result of immediate communication with the Emperor, who about this period celebrated at Prague the coronation of his wife as Queen of Bohemia. Wallenstein adds that Arnheim may expect bril- liant recompense in the event of success, for that he had the day before 3poken with the Emperor on the subject, and that Arnheim is high in the Emperor's opinion. W^e learn notliing of any proceedings of Arnheim in consequence, but, from a post- script to a letter of January 3, 1G28, we gather that the crown which Wallenstein still proposes to place on the head of his imperial master had by some been intended for his own. " I beg you (he writes) to see how we may practise to procure the election of oui Emperor by the Danes. Parties at the court, indeed, would fain have done myself this grace, and his Majesty himself; but I have made it my compliments, for I could not have maintained myself there, but will meanwhile betake myself to the other [Meck- lenburgh, doubtless], fur that is safer." Ml >: • 1 4 ■A . I 64 LIFE AND LETTERS OF WALLENSTEIN. Ebsat IIL t ■ Vi in ] ) In one out of nine letters, dated from Leutschin, January 6tli, four of which are autographs to Arnheim, he alludes indistinctly to the same subject. " Seeing that no answer comes from Sweden on the subject of our liga, I wish you to write your opinion upon it. 1 would for my own part willingly see a junction with them, for we might the better make ourselves masters of the remaining Danish islands, and then might I with the greater speed and security take in hand the scheme suggested by the court." — Ibid. p. 269. A project which rested on the co-operation of Sweden, for such a purpose as the one in question, must have been visionary. It could at no period have entered into the policy of such heads as those of Oxenstiern and Gustavus to join in removing the barrier which the sea opposed to Austrian ambition. The anxiety which Wallenstein entertained to establish himself in command of the Baltic is constantly evinced in these letters. It was fortunate for Europe that he failed in endeavours, the suc- cess of which would have made of Stralsund the Ostend, instead of the Leyden, of the north, and might have subjected Denmark and Northern Germany to the fate of Bohemia and "Hungary. In the commencement of 1628 we find Wallenstein in his Bohemian winter-quarters, but directing in the minutest detail the affairs of his army, scattei'ed over the provinceF* of Holstcin, Pomerania, and Mecklenburgh • the possession of which last was about this period formally ratified to him by the Emperor as the reward of his services. There was good reason at this time to expect that the successes of Wallenstein and Tilly might be crrwned by a peace advan- tageous to Austria. The King of Denmark, driven from Jut- land and Holstein to his insular fastnesses, and alarmed lest Wallenstein should employ for their conquest the maritime resources of the Ilanse Towns, evinced an earnest desire for the termination of hostilities. Wallenstein has been accused of fore- going this opportunity. His personal wishes and policy are dis- played in the following letter of January 23rd ; — " I inform you that the council in Denmark is exerting itself to procure a peace, which might also be satisfactory to the Elector of Saxony. Nor would the Emperor be adverse, if anything reasonable could be expected from the enemy. The Emperor and the Ministers are eager to turn their arms hereafter against the Turk I will I: [. Essay III. Essay III. HIS STRICT DISCIPLINE. 05 January 6th, 3 indistinctly subject of our d for my own ht the better (ids, and then id the scheme den, for such isionary. It f such heads •emoving the 3ition. The h himself iu e letters. It 3urs, the suc- itend, instead ted Denmark Qd 'Tungary. stein in his nutest detail of Holstcin, hich last was iperor as the Lhe successes eace ad van- In from Jut- tlarmed lest lie maritime ;sire for the lused of fore- )licy are dis- cing itself to ie Elector of [g reasonable |he Ministers I will • • • • assuredly help with hand and foot towards a peace, but Mecklon- burgh I must keep and abide by, for otherwise no peace do I choose to have."— 7'»/. p. 250. This language, which is in accordance with numerous passages in other letters, proves that Wallenstein's investiture with the outlying and exposed province of IMecklenburgh was as great a political mistake, on the part both of giver and receiver, as it was an outrage on justice and national law. It vitiated the position of Wallenstein, and interposed motives of self-protectioa and interest, where every consideration of his honour and permanent advantage called for independence of action. All his letters, however, show that a peace, involving the essential condition of security on tliis point, was '.is object at this moment, and that all liis further am- bition was directed to that legitimate field of military action, the Turkish frontier. The following letter is indicative of Wallenstein's attention to matters of discipline, and is worthy of notice, as it relates to an individual who was afterwards his bitter and in all senses mortal enemy : — " Prague, Jan. 22, 1628. " riccolomini has sent and informed me that the town where he is quartered has offered 14,000 dollars to him to relieve them by quartering in the villages. He adds that they are mutinous and rebellious against him. Now I have given him a rebuke for not having recourse to you who hold the command, for where I am I cannot know whether it is advisable to quarter on the villages or not. I now learn that he has imposed a ransom on the same town, on the score of a comet whom they have slain, of 30,000 dollars. Now I am resolved not to ratify this, and I therefore beg you to take information on the matter, and report your opinion to me, for, if Pic- colomini be wrong, then he oan in nowise justify this extortion, and I am determined that he shall be punished." — Ibid. p. 280. If we consider Piccolomini's rank and reputation, we shall be satisfied that the writer of this letter was no respecter of persons in matters of discipline. It may be matter of conjecture liow far this particular incident may have led to Piccolomini's subsequent conduct towards his general. Piccolomini was one of the numerous Italian adventurers who carried their talents to the market of the Thirty Years' War ; and the one who reaped the greatest advantage from the speculation. At this period, indeed, he had not long quitted his native country, F 66 LIFE AND LETTERS OF WALLE^'STEIN. Essay IlL and the services of Spain and Tuscany, for that of the Emperor ; but his family connexions were of the first rank, and Wallen- stein seems to have placed a confidence in his talents and courage which was fully justified in the battle of Lutzen. He was after- wards a prime agent in the assassination of Wallenstein ; and after serving conspicuously through the war, down to its close at the peace of Westphalia, was then rewarded by the title of a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire. The following extract from another letter is characteristic of the haughty spirit which continually exposed Wallenstein tO the intrigues of the courtiers, whose enmity it raised and perliaps justified. The Emperor had confided to Count Schwarzenbergh the conduct of a negotiation with the Hanse Towns for a com- mercial and maritime league with Spain against England, France, Holland, and Sweden. Wallenstein had at first favoured this project, with the view of gaining for his purposes against Denmark the use of the maritime resources of those towns. As soon, liowever, as he ascertained that the Dane was really desirous of j)eace, and so alarmed as to offer to relinquish all opposition to his own establishment in Mecklenburgh, on condition that the projected league should be abandoned, Wallenstein coolly in- sisted with the Emperor on Schwarzenbergh's immediate recall. He writes to Arnheim from Hogitz, May 2, 1628 : — " I send you in oonfidence an extract from despatches of the court, on the negotiation commenced by Schwarzenbergh with the Hanse Towns. Now he is a man, by reason of his violence, not to be endured. I therefore give you to understand for your information that I have caused the Emperor to be told that, if they do not choose to recall him, I will not join the army so long as he remains where he is. I am of opinion that he will shortly be recalled." — Hid. p. 333. Wallenstein's earlier notices of his future antagonist Gustavus are usually couched in terms of contempt, which frequently indi- cate in those who use them anything but real indifference to their object. The following, besides affording an amusing illustration of Wallenstein's devotion to his favourite science, exhibits, per- haps, some indication of a presentiment of the course of that luminary which was destined to surpass the splendours of his own star: — Ef Essay III. Essay III. SIEGE OF STRALSUND. 07 le Emperor ; and Wallen- and courage [e was after- in ; and after close at the B of a Prince racteristif^ of nstein io the and perliaps warzenbergh 8 for a com- land, France, 'avoured this nst Denmark 3. As soon, Ly desirous of opposition to tion that the in coolly in- jdiate recall. i of the court, th the Hanse ce, not to he information they do not IS he remains recalled." — ist Gustavus uently indi- ence to their illustration xhibits, per- arse of that dours of his " Git«kin, May 21, 1628. " I thank you for having sent me the notice of the King of Sweden's birthday. 2s ow I have further need to know the place of his birth, for it is necessary on accouHt of the elemtio poU. I pray you to forward this as sondence, which shows that Wallen- stein's influence at Vienna was exerted with effect in procuring liim the settlement of a demand on the Austrian exchequer for 15,000 florins. The usurper of iMecklenbm'gh was exposed to the enmity of two dangerous neighbours, Denmark and Sweden. The peace of Lubeck, of which he dictated the conditions, signed on the 12tli of May, 1029, secur'^d him for the present agauist the former. His policy was therefo ^ ('^ected to the finding occupation be- yond the German frontier .. r Sweden, all accommodation with that power being checked in limine by the determination of Gus- tavus to retain Stralsund. For this purpose Wallenstein deter- mined to despatch a strong contingent under Arnlieim to the assistance of the Pc 'li King against Gustavus. Arnaeim, lately elevated to the ranK of an Austrian Field-Marshal (which, as Colonel Mitchell remarks, has little analogy to a Field-]\Iar- shalship of the present day, being far inferior, and more like a Major-Generalship), shared the reluctance of hit, troops to ex- change the field of Germany, ever a favourite with the soldier, for the Sclavonic barbarism of Polish quarters. The King of Poland was suspected of aversion to his intended auxiliaries ; but Wallenstein's energetic will spurned at such obstacles, and overcame for a while the mutual repulsion of all these conflict- ing particles. The King of Poland was treated as a refractory patient. Wallenstein writes, April 14, 1629 : — " I understand that the Pole is making a truce with Sweden : it were well that you moved forward all the sooner into Prussia. I beg you to lose no time." — Forster, vol. ii. p. 37. * This injunction is repeated and enforced in a letter of the next day. These measures, however, only delayed^ the termination of these distant hostilities. Tlie corps of Arnheim, after performing some good service, met with the treatment which proffered aid usually receives. Indiscipline followed neglect and maltreatment. Arnheim abandoned his command in July, on the score of ill health; and Sigismuiid, pressed by a victorious opponent, accepted 70 LIFE AND LETTERS OF WALLENSTEIN. Essay IIL conditions of peaco which enabled Gustavus to turn his undivided attention to Germany. In Germany itself the storm had meanwhile been gathering which was to shake Wallenstein in his new elevation. The system of profusion in reward and punishment, by which he had main- tained discipline in the face of an enemy, failed him during tlie cessation of liostilities. On the march and in quarters the ex- cesses of his troops had become scandalous, and afforded ground for the intrigues of an host of enemies. The Protestant party were to a man hostile to the great advocate of the Edict of Resti- tution promulgated by the Emperor. Richelieu threw the weight of French policy at this juncture into the scale against Wallen- stein ; and his arch-enemy in Germany, the Elector of Bavaria, was unceasing in his hostility. It was under such threatening circumstances that the Diet of Ratisbon, in June 1630, brought to a focus all these intrigues for the removal of Wallenstein from his alleged dictatorship. He soon became aware that the few statesmen, such as Count Harrach, the Bishop of Vienna, and others, who supported him at the Court, were no match for the host of his adversaries. The Bohemian Chancellor, Slawata, writes to warn him of a report that Tilly had received orders for liis arrest, and even his assassination. He replies, July 20 {ibid. p. 67), after thanking him for his good intentions : — " I must, however, wonder that you can occupy yourself with such childish things. My master the Emperor is a just and grateful master, who rewards faithful service in a diiferent fashion from that which you describe. Tilly is also a cavalier, who understands how to lead the boute-feux in couples, but not to assaissinate." Though Wallenstein received with this contemptuous dignity such intimations as these, he did not venture to play the danger- ous game of personally confronting his enemies at the Diet. It appears that Ferdinand, in aU his actions a coward, adopted with the utmost fear and hesitation the measure of removing Wallen- stein from his command ; and it is probable that his craven fear would have induced his consent to a measure for the assassina- tion of one whose presence would have so embarrassed his councils. The great man's cousin, Maximilian von Wallenstein, remaining at Ratisbon, kept him acquainted with the transac- tions of the Diet. It was at Memmingen, in Bavaria, that Wal- I6ft9t6in, thus prepared for the event, received the Count 6f I litSMAY III. HIS PUUSUITS IN HETIKEMKNT. 71 :^t \\vn\on\>crff ntid the Buron of Quostonborj:^, clmrfj;ed by tlio l^inporor t<» tiniioimce it with all possible dclioncy and procautioii. Tlio injunction wuh sni)erflnons. Whetlier doceivinfi; himself, or, as is more prohaMo, for the purpose of imposing on their rro- didity, Wallensteiu coolly showed them a sheet of astrological calculations, from which he jjrofessed to have derived a fore- knowledge of the purport of their mission, reueived its intin)atiou without a nuirmur or remonstrance, and dismissed the one envoy with a present of a splendid tent of Neapolitan manufacture, and the otlier with two coaches and six. Schiller's description of Wallenstein's stately retirement at Pratrue is well known to the German reader, and his details of its magnificence are not overcharged. That eloquent AVTitcr omits, however, in his description of Wallenstein's courtly mag- nificence, to trace the direction of his active mind to other peace- ful pursuits than those of mere ostentation. Mr. Forster has supplied this omission, and some extracts from his work towards the close of this article will show what these pursuits were, and make it credible that they might have supplied the place, even to Wallenstein's ardent and indefatigable spirit, of the mad schemes of undue advancement and projects of frantic treason which have been imputed to him. We do not find, indeed, that, like the vast majority of petty German sovereigns, he entertained any passion for the chase, or sacrificed to it the welfare of his subjects. We find no mention of forest laws in his correspondence with his agents. Debauchery of any kind had apparently no charms for him. His wife enjoys on the record that distinction which I*ericles, as Thucydides tells us, pronounced " an excellent thing in woman," for little is said of her, but that little argues that they lived in the strictest affection ; and his enemies have favoured us with no scandalous chronicle of amours or intrigues. It will be seen that the pursuits of his privacy were planting, architecture, agriculture, the encouragement of trade, of manufacture, of edu- cation, religion, the happiness of his people in this world and the next. The satellites of Ferdinand might w^ell be unable to credit that such occupations could be a substitute for the excitement of the field and the pursuits of vulgar ambition. In other respects we are glad to find that Colonel Mitchell concurs with us in thinking that Scliiller at this period of his history is to be read with caution and distrust. 72 LIFE AND I.KTTERS OF WALLENSTKIN. Eshav III. *' In thiH OHtontatioUH rotiroraont," says Subiller, " WallonMtein awaited quietly, but not inactively, the hour of glory and the day doHtined to vengeance. Seni, an Italian aHtrologer, had road in the stavH that tlio brilliant career of Friedland wa« not yet ended ; and it was easy to foresee, without the aid of astrology, that an advernary I'ko GuHtavuH Adolphus would Hoon render the servicoH of a general like Wallenstein indispensable. Not one of all his lofty projects bad been abandoned ; the ingratitude of the Emperor had, on the contrary, released him from a galling and oppressive curb. The dazzling brilliancy of his retirement announced the full altitude of his ambitious projects ; and, liberal as a monarch, he seemed to look upon his coveted possessions as already within his grasp, and fully at his disposal." — TAiWy Years' War, b. ii. p. 994. Colouol Mitchell says : — " In none of Wallenstein's letters, in no document which histo- I'ians have yet produced, is there the slightest indication to show that he entertained the sentiments of hatred towards the Emperor, or ever formed those projects of vengeance, which have been so uni- versally, and, being vrithout proof, so unjustly, ascribed to him. Even Schiller, instead of taking, as a great man should have done, the part of a great man who had been condemned without being convicted, joined the unworthy cry against Wallenstein. The his- torian of the Thirty Years' War, not satisfied with representing him as a ' mad, extravagant, and bloodthirsty tyrant,' describes him also as brooding, in his retirement, over dark and dangerous plans of treason, the existence of which have never yet been established by the slightest shadow of evidence ; while we shall see the suspected traitor giving Ferdinand the best advice that could possibly have been followed. " Wallenstein was proud, haughty, and ambitious ; he had been injured and treated with ingratitude, and it is unfortunately too congenial to ordinary human nature to suppose that hatred and plans of revenge woiild spring up in such a heart in return for such treatment. There are so few men capable of rising tiSove the feelings of resentment occasioned by wounds inflicted on tLeir self- love, so few really able to burst asunder the chains by which the meaner passions of our nature drag us down to earth, that we hasten to condemn as guilty all those who come within the range of sus- picion. We are slow to believe that there are minds capable of rising altogether above injuries, though we cannot deny the exist- ence of such noble pride. If, in the present case, for instance, we reason only from what we know, and put merely a liberal, not even a partial, construction on what appears obscure, we shall be forced I EtMAY III, UIS HUFFKUINCIS FROM CiOUT. 78 tf> confoHH that tho man of whom wo arc Hpcaltinp, the accused, con- domiUMl, and bntchored WallcHHtcin, whoso name and moinory have, for two centurieH, boon loaded with reproacli and obh) his own princely establishment, departed for his possessions in Moravia, whither liis wife had preceded him. In a few days, as if to illustrate the versatility of the military profession in this age of Dalgettys, the dragoons of Arnheim were mounting a guard of honour before the deserted [)ala('e of his late commander and correspondent. ]Mr. Forstci' here (l('V()t(!.s a clia})ter to the subject of that sys- tematic falsification of Wallenstein's liistorv, which he alleuos to have coninienced on the part of his accusers from about this period. Their main charges connected with tliis time are com- Essay III. Essay III. CHARGES AGAINST HIM. 75 resting, as stein's po- [6 wnhappy od to relate lias on this I was the lope I have could, and it no other , it is true, Y (Tilly) is irstenbergh 8, 1 see no id religion, 3uld under- eitn's allu- in which, tU mention it he had } enemy. n allies of corner of le tide of aded and estitute of jplieations allenstein. rs to give, princely a, whither istrate the ^ettys, the our before ondent. that syf?- allegos to ibout this are com- m ;«; prised in the Annales Ferdinandicae of Wallenstein's cotempo- rary, the privy-councillor Khevenhliller ; and his account rests almost exclusively on the evidence furnished by a Bohemian adventurer, Scheschina Raschin. It is upon his testimony that Khe^enhUller accuses Wallenstein of a long-continued and traitoious correspondence with Gustavus. The discussion of the question far exceeds our limits ; but we think it clear that no well-constituted court of historical justice would give an atom's weight to the testimony of the miserable pamphleteer in question. It would appear, however, that on no other or better authority a writer so able as Schmidt * follows blindly in the track of the cotemporary accusers, and repeats the calumny which charges Wallenstein with undertaking, on certain specified conditions, to besiege the Emperor in Vienna. Schmidt, when he wrote, was director of the archives in that city, but has failed to produce from them an item of matter confirmatory of the charge which he has thus repeated. While therefore he misleads the cursory reader to their implicit belief, he assuredly affords the critic and investigator much ground for the utter incredulity which Mr. Forster entertains as to W^allenstein's treason so far as this period is concerned. Schiller, Becker, and the Con- versations Lexicon, are equally blamed by Mr. Forster, for popularizing, on the same defective grounds, the tale of ^\'allen- stein's early, systematic, and continuous treason. That Wallen- stein should have been a subject of constant and unremitting suspicion during his retirement at Prague was «n inevitable consequence of the position in which his own ambition and his enemies had placed him. A letter of Tilly's affords a specimen of the imputations to which he was exposed. — (F(.'bruary 21, 1031, ibid. p. 149.) This letter was \\Titten to accompany some French newspapers, containing allegations of A\'allenstein's cor- respondence with Sweden, and the tone of friendly and sincere good-will in which it is written does honour to the terrible hero who drove three kings out of the field, and between whom and Wallenstein no great mutual esteem existed His answer to Tilly is civil : — his comment to Questenberg less so : — *• I am not," he says, " in the lea«t offended with the Emperor. Heaven preserve mo from such projects ever entering my brain I I • Schmidt'i! ' History of Qermany,' vol. v. chap. 8. li 76 LIFE AND LETTERS OP^ WALLENSTEIN. Essay IH. conjecture that this springs from another quarter, and it has been put into the hands of Tilly. For piensa il ladron que todos son de su condition." Tliis quotation of a Spanish proverb probably marks the quar- ter to which Wallenstein attributed the origin of these calumnies. It was tliat to which the first suggestion of his assassination has been with much probability traced. Mr. Forster and Colonel Mitchell may be tliought by some to give somewliat too implicit credence to Wallenstein 's disclaimer of oifence. It is difficult to speculate upon the degree of dis- crimination with which he may have apportioned his indignation between the Emperor who yielded, and the courtiers who origin- ated, the measure of his removal. His correspondence at least supplies no proof that he belied at any moment the dignified, however haughty, demeanour v ith which he in the first instance submitted to the exercise of the imperial prerogative. The Emperor on his part maintained with him a correspondence on the most intimate and honourable footing, and committed to him the conduct of a delicate negotiation, having for its object the separation of Denmark from the interests of Sweden. It is remarked by Forster that Wallenstein's accusers have avoided aU allusion to this negotiation — whict omission he attributes very plausibly to the circumstance that : proves, inconveniently for their purpose, that Wallenstein addressed himself with zeal and fidelity to a task inimical to Swedish interests at the very moment when, according to his enemies, he was tampering with Gustavus. This mppressio veri, on the part of those who had access to all documentary evidence, is certainly in his favour. Again Khevenhiiller asserts that Wallenstein refused at this period to visit Vienna, befcase the title of Duke had been refused liim. So far is this from the fact, that we find the emperor's letters all superscribed to the Duke of Friedland, &c. The same title was recognised by England and Sweden. We are aware that these marks of imperial favour may be as probably attributed to the hypocrisy of fear and mistrust as to any other source more honourable to both parties. No one has, at least, ventured to extract any ground of impeachment from the Danish negotiation. This has been attempted in the case of Wallenstein's communications with Ai'nlieim, which, after some interruption, were now renewed Essay III. CHARGES AGAINST HIM. 77 under novel circumstances. Their former correspondence had ceased \vithout a rupture, but with some coldness, for Wallenstein complains that Arnheim had neglected tc communicate to him tlie transference of his services to Saxony. In the early part of 1631 Arnheim had procured Wallenstein's good offices for the settlement of a large pecuniary claim on the Austrian exchequer. In a letter of Questenberg to Wallenstem of the 8th of October (No. cccxxix. p. 168) is this expression : — " His Majesty has commanded me to contrive an overture for this pui-pose [viz. to detach Saxony from Sweden], and to write to your Excellency, should you still be in correspondence with Arnheim, to learn whether you could not, as from yourself, make an opening." It is plain from this that the Arnheim negotiation, which has been dragged into the file of charges against Wallenstein, was begun at least at the direct command of the Emperor ; and that his previous correspondence with Arnheim was anything but a secret. The ornis lies on his accusers of proving that, in the conduct of a transaction so begun, he swerved from its legitimate object. All the documentary evidence, which cannot amount to an absolute negative, tends to show that every subsequent step was taken by him with the full knowledge and approbation of the Emperor. The style of the correspondence between the former fellow-soldiers, by a natural transition, becomes that of two high contracting parties ; and we see no ground to suspect, much less a right to cocdude, that under the secrecy of a per- sonal conference, which took place equally with the Emperor's knowledge, their communications assumed in any respect the character which was subsequently imputed to them. The hour of humiliation to Wallenstein's enemies and sup- planters had now arrived, — the hour of danger and of need, when those who had cashiered the pilot were reduced to implore him with lowly suit and undignified imprecations to resume the lielm wliich no hand but his could master and direct. The magic of Ills name to raise, the energies of his will to control, his talent and experience to guide, a force capable of stemming the advancing Swede, were indispensable to the existence of the empire, and Wallenstein was in a position to dictate the terms of the contract which was to secure them. The cup was sweet. He sipped it for awhile at leisure, then drank to tlie dregs, and those were poison. He began by spurning tlio proposal of a w 78 LIFE AND LCTTK'^ft OF WALLE> -Tl'lK, Essay III. divided comraand, tlumgli a kii g; of Hungary was to share it. Command in any shano he long-, indeed, rejected, and confined his undertaking to the mere levy of a force which, ut the end of three months, he insisted on delivering to another. We may, perhaps, suspect his sincerity in assuming that the armed hordes Avho, from all Germany, and ever from Poland and Lithuania, flocked around his banner, would ever serve under that of another. It is unquestionable, Jiowever, that he pushed his nolo episcopari to an extremity which would have deprived him of the sliadow of a pretext for complaint, had the Emperor, in his difficulties, adopted the expedient of placing the king of Hungary in command. We know also that his constitution was shattered by that disease which tliose who have suifered by it can easily imagine to have been the sufficient cause of Charles V.'s abdica- tion. Colonel Mitchell's views of this subject are contained in the following passage : — " \\ allenstein had fulfilleii his promise : the army was formed ; but the three monthis for -'vl ich he had taken the command had expired, and he now declared his intention to retire from the scene, notwithstanding the piessing requests of the Emperor and of the imperial council. All historians, and Schiller among the rest, assert that this was a mere piece of acting, devised for the purpose of obtaining absolute and dictatorial power over this newly-raised force, which he was well aware could only be wielded and kept together by the power which had called it into existence. " .Nowhere in there any proof to bear out these statements, Wal- lev.oL In pleaded ill health and want of money as reasons for wishing to rcLre into private life. We know that he suifered severely from the goiit. His signature, which before was a large, bold flourish, begins to dwindle down to a raeagrt Mcrawl ; and the hand, which historians describe as grasping at a crown, was scarcely, at the time of the pretended conspiracy, able to hold a pen. '^hat he was in want of money may also be €• 'njectured : the troops had been raised principally at his own expense, and at the expense of the officern who had levied corps and regiments, for it does not appear that the Emperoi contributed anything towards the armament ; and, of course, the Spanish subsidy never arrived." — Mitchell, p. 214. The intervention of a man of influence with Wallenstein, Eggenberg, was long exerted in vain. The Bishop of Vienna, wliose mission has been suppressed by Khevenhliller, at firat obtained nothing more than a promise that he would exercise th^ coi E88AY III. HIS CONTRACT WITH TTIE E^iT'E'N. li. 70 command till he could speak with Eggenberg, who vras Ictahied on his road by the same disease whioh Wallcn;teiii; wan enabled to ])lead in his own excuse. At length, on the 15th of April, Eggenberg b .giif, > itck the contract which has entailed on Wallenstein £ ^n so many- quarters the reproach of rapacious and overweening ambition. Its terms were these : — Wallenstein's appointment as General- issimo, not only in the service of the Emperor, but in that of the House of Austria, including the King of Spain ; the second was a matter of punctilio, that this commission was to be drawn in optima forma. The Emperor was neither to command nor remain with the army, but, in the event of the recovery of Bohemia, to reside at Prague with a guard of 12,000 men, under IMaradas, at his orders. It is strange, as ]\Ir. Forster remarks, that from this very stipulation Wallenstein's accusers shoidd have argued that he had designs on the crown of Bohe- mia. A stipulation for the Emperor's retirement to Vienna would have been here germane to the matter. A landed estate to be secured to Wallenstein in Austria as an ordinary recom- pense ; upon the occupation of any hostile territory, its feudal superiority to be secured to him in the Holy Rom^.n Empire as an extraordinary recompense ; the power of confiscation within the empire, in absolntissimd forma, and n(>t to be in<^erfered with by the Emperor, his council, or the chsimbor :,t >Spire; full power in all such matters of confiscation, '^. hhc, of pardon, so tliat neither pardon nor safe-conduct fr . i the Emperor should have eftect without the Duke's approval, ex ept as to life, seeing that the Emperor would be too indulg nt nnd due means thereby be wanting of i awarding the trcops; in case of any negociations for peace, tlie Duke's claims on Mccklenburgh to be secured in the treaty ; all means and expen«ies to be provided for the war ; all the Emperor's hereditary dominions to be open to the Duke, whether for advance or retreat. JMr. Forster conjectures that these conditions savoured of a policy such as Thucydides attributes to Nicias in his demands for the Syracusan expedition, and that they were framed for the purpose of thvir rejection on the part of the Emperor. This writer further justifies them on the ground that Wallenstein was not merely a general dealing with his sovereign, but a sovereign and inde- pendent prince dyaling »,ith anotiier, superior, indeed, in rank, 80 LIFE AND LEITEKS OF WALLENSTEIN. Essay III. \ ' ! i H but in other respects at his mercy. Such a tone of princely independence had been before assumed by William of Nassau in liis dealings with the tyrant of Spain ; but Wallenstein's pre- tensions to assume it were, we think, more questionable than those of a Prince of Orange. Be this as it may, Wallenstein was at least justified in taking good security against the Spanish confessors and other intriguers of the court. In point of policy, he may be blamed for an extravagance in his conditions dan- gerous to the interests they were intended to secure. In respc^'t of plain dealing, none can impeach him. That extravagance nothing but success could justify. It placed his existence on the fall of that iron die which had won him hitherto the prize of many a game. The present stake was as noble an one as war could offer, and he set, without further hesitation, fame, fortune, and life on the hazard. The despatches of Wallenstein, written during this campaign with Gustavus, might bear comparison with those of the Duke of Wellington for simplicity and the absence of exaggeration. At no period, indeed, of the correspondence do the natural topics of comparison between the writings of the two commanders, penned on the field and despatched on the spur of the moment, moT-f) forcibly suggest themselves. His words and actions alike indicate that he was duly sensible of the qualities of the great antagonist in whose presence he now for the first time found himself. He sought no rash encounter in the field. So far from flinging liiinself against the vast fabric of field-defences which Gustavus had raised around his position near Nurem- burgh, he called to his own aid the art of the engineer — and no recollections of former successes could divert him from his defensive plan of operations, or lure him from his own entrench- ments, which, with skill and judgment equal to that of his adversary, he had thrown up at Altenburgh. Masses of hewn rock stUl mark on the height of Burgstall the spot \\ hich formed the key of his position, and from the attack of which Gustavus was fain to retire witli heavy loss after eleven hours' fighting. When difficulties of subsistence, foremen by Wallenstein, finally compelled the Swede to retire from Nuremburgh, Wallenstein thus comments on his retreat in a letter to the Emperor, of Sep- tember 18 (vol. ii. p. 245). After indicating his own plan of operation and pursuit, he proceeds : — hi: Essay III. IIIS SUCCESS AGAINST GUSTAVUS. 81 "Tie has made a fine retreat, and proves certainly, hy this and all his other actions, that ho (more's the pity) understands his buKiness." Siu'li IttHj^uage well expresses " The stem joy which waiTiors feel In foomen worthy of their steel." Whatever may have been the criticisms of Wallen stein's enemies at the court, it is impossihle for posterity to refuse to his opera- tions up to this period the highest credit of well-earned success. Acting in conjunction with an insincere ally, the Elector of Bavaria, and in command of raw levies, he had repulsed an enemy who had twice def(,'atod in pitched battle his predecessor in command, Tilly, and wliose march on German soil had been a succession of victories. Y(!t these very operations have been subjected to obloquy by Klievenhiiller and liis followers, who piously attribute the bloody r(;j)ulse of Gustavus at Altenburgh to the interposition of Heaven, and, omitting all mention of Wallenstein in that affair, charge him with neglecting other opportunities for the destruction of Ids antagonist. Two letters of this period, addressed by Wallenstein to the Austrian field-marshal Gallas, will be interesting to military readers, as illustrating his operations previous to the battle of Lutzen. The following extract exliibits his views as to the maintenance of discipline : — " Coburg, Oct. 13. *' I pray you to hold sharp justice, and see that the least thing ho no more taken from the peasant, for we must have our winter quarter there [in Saxony], and live ixpon it. *' F.S. — Take measures that the peasants be brought to return to their homes."— (Vol. ii. p. 2G7). The following is addressed to Pappenheim on the eve of the battle. The original, in tue archives of Vienna, is steeped in the blood of that officer, having been on his person when the shot struck him which deprived Wallenstein of his trustiest friend, and the military galaxy of the age of one of its brightest luminaries. This officer, born in 1599, was thus cut off in the prime of his life. He was the Murat of his day for the boldness and brilliancy of his exploits at the head of his mailed cavalry, but is said to have surpassed his commander, Tilly, in cruelty at G 82 LIFE AND LETTERS OP WALLENSTEIN. Essay IIL tho storm of MncT'loLnrji^h. He expirncl exnltinp at tlie report, liifli rciirlicd liiin in his last moineMts, of the full of Giis- tuvus. l*ai)[)(Miht'iiu hud Let ii (hitiiclu'd for tlu^ oi.'cupation of JIiillij at a nioinc'.it when Walleiisteiu did not expect the attack of (irustavus. This letter, hreatliinp^ hot haste, speaks better than volnnies of description the exigency of the hour, and the value of Pa[)[)enheini's presence where blows were to be ex- changed : — "Lutzen, Nov. 15, 1G32. " Tho enemy marches hitherwards. You must let all stand and lie, and make your way (incaminire) hither with all your people and guns, so as to bo witli us by to morrow early. " 1*.S. — lie is already at the pass where the bad road was yesterday." Mr. Forster, in his account of tho battle, investigates the widely-conflicting statements as to the relative numbers of the ])artie8 engaged. He rates the united force of Sweden and Saxony at 27,000, of which 11,000 were cavalry: other accounts reduce it to 22,000. The estimates of the Austrian force are more conflicting. Diodati, who served under Wallenstein in the battle, gives him only 12,000 men previous to the arrival of Pai)penheim, whose detachment has been estimated at the same number. The accounts which give Wallenstein 40,000 and even 50,000 men are doubtless greatly exaggerated. Gallas, who figures in some of these narratives as commanding a strong division, was unquestionably absent. Mr. Forster gives us a fac-simile of a sketch of the Austrian order of battle, curious as being drawn and coloured by Wallenstein's o\vn hand, but con- veying little certainty as to the actual position of his brigades, as it is probably a preliminary rough draft of his ideas, subject to contingencies. Some names of commanders occur twice, and it is uncertain whether this indicates changes in the plan or divisions of regiments. Wallenstein, as we have before ob- served, was suffering from gout. He exchanged, however, for a time his litter for the saddle, his stirrups being wadded with silk to protect his feet, from which portions of flesh had been actually removed by the knife of the surgeon. v There are some features of this great action which seem to us analogous to those of one of the most remarkable feats of arms of our own times, the battle of Salamanca. It may seem pre- Essay III. LUTZEN AND SALAMANCA. 83 d road was sumptuous in us to instituto a conipiiriHon wliicli 1ms not bron suggested by Colonel ]Miteliell, but we an; jiretty confident tluit this biographer, had he thought it worth while, might have; made out a strong case of similarity, and that military read(>rs will admit the comparison. The pn^vious objects of the Swede and the Ji^nglishman were not indeed precisely similar. Gus- tavus was intent on joining the Saxon, Wellington on retii-ing into Portugal. jMarmont, on the other hand, was pressing his opponent ; Wallenstein, as it apjx^ars, had made up his mind to retire into winter-quarters without an action. It was, however, equally the policy of trustavus and Wellington to refrain from a general onset, unless on some such contingency as that which in the case of both gave them that decided advantage which fortune may present to all, but which givat men alone know how to seize. W'allenstein's detachment of Pa}>penheim, as affording such occasion, may be conqtared with that extension of Marmont to his left which enabled Wellington to turn on his former pursuers, and, in the emphatic phrase which we have heard attributed to him, to beat 40,000 French in forty minutes.* The circumstances, however, of Salamanca were more striking, and the result more complete, than those of Lutzen. The operations of the Swede, rapid as they we.-e, were spread over a larger surface of space and time. He read his letters and marched. Wellington saw, shut his telescope, and charged. An intervening night and day made Wallenstein aware of liis danger, and enabled him to bring up Pappenheim's detachment to the conflict. Thomiferes was slain, and his division rolled up, before Marmont was well aware of his error. Both were certainly instances of that rapid coup d'ceil which appears to be the distinguishing feature and the test of the highest order of military talent. It is true that such exploits require a high degree of perfection in the machine which is to execute them ; but such perfection is in most cases the creation ♦ ' ' Marmont ought to have given me a pont d'or, and he would have made a handsome operation of it ; but instead of that, after manccuvring all the morning in the usual French style, nobodv knew with what object, he at last pressed upon my right in such a manner, at tn^ :^ame time without engaging, that he would have either carried our Arapiles, or he would have confined us entirely to our position. Thifl was not to be endured, and we fell upon him, turning his left tlank, and I never saw an army receive such a beating." — Letttr of the Earl of Wellington to Sir T. Graham, Flores de Avila, 2oth July, 1812. Giirwood, vol. ix. p. 310 (^second edition). G 2 84 LIFE AND LETTERS OF WALLENSTEIN. Essay III. )l of the master-spirit who uses it, and this was especially true in botli the instances in (juestion. Tiio loss of Gnstavus, however great, was not tliat of the battle. lEis young and ardent successor in command, Btirnard of Saxe Weimar, simrned the suggestion of retreat. His au- no\mcoment of the fatal event to the troops resembled tliat which the Highland leader in J 715 addr(!ssed to the IMacdonakls on the fall of their chief — " To-day is the day for revenge, to- morrow for mourning;" and well was the call answered by those yellow brigades which Diodati describes as annihilated in their ranks by the fire of Piccolomini. Papptmheim's fall, on tlie contrary, was fatal ; the cavalry which he had flung so fiercely on the Swedish right turned and fled. The behaviour of Wal- lonstein's army in general bespoke the haste with which it had been collected, and justified the wisdom which had prevented him from courting a trial of strength in the field. Its resistance was partial ; that of some brigades was desperate — the conduct of others was afterwards expiated on the scaffolds of Prague. The corps of Picoolomini was among the former. He had five horses shot under him, and was himself six times wounded before he left the field. It is a painful part of an historian's duty to award the meed of military renown to a base and rapa- cious assassin, but it cannot be refused to Piccolomini. Among those whom devotion to Wallenstein brought into the fire on this occasion was a churchman, the abbot of Fulda. We find him, in a letter dated Neumarkt, October 25th, thus proffering his services : — " My wish is zealously and obediently to live after your High- ness's wishes and commands, humbly praying your Highness, trusting me in this, to incur on behalf of my poor person no incon- venience or difficulty. I ask nothing more than to be accommodated as the meanest of your soldiers or servants." He was accommodated with more than he desired, a soldier's grave. This eager prelate, having given his benediction to the troops, instead of considering his vocation exhausted, indulged in a caracole on the field, and, like Gnstavus, fell in the fog into a body of the enemy's cavalry, who despatched him without compunction. This and many other incidents of the battle are mentioned in the report of Diodati, drawn up by the Emperor's command, and extant in the archives of Vienna. This narra- L ebbav hi. ially true in tliat of tlio lid, Bernard it. His aii- 3ral)led tlmt IVraedoiiaUls revenge, to- red by tlioso ted in their full, on tlie g so fiercely iour of Wal- wliic'li it had ,d prevented [ts resistance -the conduct 3 of Prague, er. He had nes wounded n historian's se and rapa- Among the fire on We find IS proffering your High- Highness, ion no incon- commodated a soldier's ction to the d, indulged in the fog lim without battle are > Emperor's This narra- Ebhav III. HIS SEVERITY. 85 ni tive, inserted in ]\[r. Forster's publication, and of which Colonel JMitehell has made excellent use, fully justifies the eulogy be- stowed ui)()n it by both authors, not only as an account of the action itself, but as a strategic detail of the operations which led to it. Among other particulars, it shows that the death of (iiis- tavus WHS reported tc W'allenstein soon after its occurrence, and that a trumi>etor of Hoik's corps pnuhuvMl one of the spurs of the fallen monan-h. It would seem, however, that doubt did, as has been generally statcnl, exist in \Vallei)st(un's mind for some days as to the truth of the rei)ort. Ho writes in the postscript of a letter of the 2M\, nine days after the battle, that the death of the King is certain. AN'allenstein's well-hnown propensity to ])rofusion in roward, and severity hi itnnishment, were both displaycnl after this action. OlHcers of all ranks who had distinguished themselves received sums varying from 12,000 to 100 crowns, and regi- ments in like manner received pecuniary gi-atifications Fear- ful, on the other hand, was the example made of those who had shrunk from their duty. Eleven officers and four privates were beheaded, seven hanged, and the names of forty officers, sen- tenced par contumace, aHlxed to the gallows at I'ragvie. This tremendous chastisfiment was not the result of momentary indig- nation at defeat. The proceedings did not take place till the 2l8t January, 1G33, and the execution followed on the 4th Feb- ruary. Wallenstein probably judged rightly, that the moral effect on the army at large would be increased by the character of deliberate and dispassionate justice with which delay invested the transaction. His severity is hardly reconcilable with the designs attributed to him. An indulgent policy would surely ha\ e been more consistent with the intention of transferring to his own person the allegiance which the soldier owed the sove- reign, and of setting his own popularity against the influence of the Emperor — in the desperate game of treason which he is accused of having at this period contemplated. Be this as it may, fear and hatred were doubtless widely generated among those whose defection was necessary to the accomplishment of his alleged pur[)Oses. For a detail of the events of the following year, the last of AVallcnstein's career, down to its tragical termination, we can but refer the reader to Mr. T'orster's third volume. Its perusal has ^. AS^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I UilM 125 IL25 i 1.4 niii^s 1.6 Hiotographic Sciences Corporation \ #^ \ \ o** 4 ^.\ 4^ "^v ^ ';^V \ 23 WIST MAIN STREIT WIBSTER.N.Y. MSSO (7T6) 872-4.'S03 '%"■ ► .^% 80 LIFE AND I>ETTERS OF WALLENSTEIN. Essay HI. scarcely led us, through the complicated labyrinth of negotiations and intrigues to which it adverts, to any more positive conclusion tlian to that verdict of Not Proven which we are inclined to pass on nine-tentlis of the charges adduced against Wallenstein. To effect more than this with respect to many allegations wliicli relate to conversations, and even to whispens, is hardly within the power of mortal advocacy. Mr. Forster's defence of his client is minute and elaborate. He endeavours with much ability to show that the questionable negotiations of Wallenstein with Saxony, Sweden, and France, were all intended to deceive and overreach the enemies of Austria, and to procure a peace advantageous to that power, though on terms of liberality to the Protestants. He considers AA'^allenstein's opposition to the views of the Emperor, for the separation and mutilation of the force under his com- mand, as justified by sound and unanswerable military argu- ments; and that his own attempted and forestalled defection sprung from the impulse of self-preservation alone. With these views he also acquits him of all blame in tiie matter of the famous declaration of his officers at Pilsen. He considers him as sentenced without evidence, and executed without proof of guilt. In favour of these views it undoubtedly appears that, Avhile Richelieu panegyrizes him as a fallen and honourable foe, Oxenstieru and Bernhard congratulated themselves on the ex- tinction of an enemy they feared, and a negotiator on whose treason to an hostile cause they to the last had not relied. There is much naivete in the observatims of Richelieu on his faU :— " Whether, however, the Emperor may have been a bad master, or Wallenstein an unfaithful servant, it is always a proof of the misery of this life, in which, if it be difficult for a master to find a servant he can entirely trust, it is still more so for a good servant totally to trust his Tr>dster, inasmuch as a thousand enviers of his glory are about him, and as many enemies whom he has made such for that master's sei-vice and that to please the latter ever)' one disguises under the name of justice the actions of his cruelty or unjust jealousy." This language comes naturally enough from the minister who had been marked for assassination by the royal slave he served. (See Memoirs of HicJielieu, lib. xxv.) It must be remembered that the fear of capital punishment L. r. Essay III. Essay III. COMBINATION OF PILSEN. 87 ' negotiations re conclusion ;lined to pass lenstein. To ations wliich ily within the F his client is biiity to show with Saxony, nd overreach antageous to testauts. He he Emperor, der his com- lilitary argu- led defection With these Qatter of the considers him lout proof of appears that, nourable foe, on the ex- or on whose not relied, lelieu on his bad master, proof of the iter to find a good servant Qviers of his as made such latter every lis cruelty or ninister who 3 he served. punishment long hung over many of Wallenstein's principal adherents ; that to one of them, the Count Hhafgotsh, in consonance with the savage practice of the time, the torture was unsparingly ajiplicd, and that it failed to produce not only any proof, but any admis- sion, of guilt. Colonel Mitchell thus givos his verdict on these questions : — " It is now evident that Wallenstein fell a victim to some dark plot, the thread of which has not yet been discovered, though its machinations are amply attested by the letters of the Italian faction, and by those of the elector of Bavaria. Maximilian, Ticcdloraini, Diodati, Grana, Gallasso, and others, worked skilfully on the jealous fears of the Emperor, and hurried him into measures, of which he so far repented as to declare, some years afterwards, that NN'allenstein was less guilty than his enemies had represented. " The combination of Pilsen was, no doubt, reprehensible, and would now be criminal ; but it was less so at a period when the just principles of subordination were almost unkuown ; and the Court of Vienna, so far from looking upon the trannaction as a serious oifence, thought It advisable to give a false acccinf of the proceeding, when they brought it forward as a treasonable ciiarge. It is said, in the imperial statement, that the paper signed by the officers had been fraudulently substituted for the one which contained the resolutions actually agreed upon, and that the clause contained in the first — suppressed paper, — by which the officers bound themselves to remain faithful to the Emperor, had been purj)osely omitted in the second paper, to which the signatures were obtained. These imperial assertions bear falsehood on their verj' face : no man would think himself bound by a signature out of which he had been defrauded ; nor did any of the officers tried allege in their defence that so moan a deception had been practised upon them. " But allowing that precedent and the opinion of the times pal- liated, in some degree, this military combination, it must stiU be a question whether Wallenstein really intended to resign the command of the army when he called the officei-s together : whether the most ambitious of men was willing to descend from dictatorial power to the retirement of private life, at the very moment when France was tendering crowns, annies, and millions for his acceptance. History is bound to acquit the Duke of Friedland of treason ; for all the power and influence of the court of Vienna failed to make out a case against him. From beyond the grave the might}' spirit of the man still overawed his enemies, and confounded their counsels : it was in vain that bribes and tortures were employed to prove him guilty ; these criminal efforts only recoiled upon their authors, and laid bare . ( It LIFE AND LETTERS OF WALLENSTEIN. Essay III, to tho world the full infamy of their conduct. But the guilt of one party cannot establish the innocence of another ; and strongly as this presumptive evidence tells in Wallenstein's favour, the suspi- cions caused by his eccentric conduct still remain. What were the plans engendered in that lofty and aspiring mind, — what the hopes cherished in that ambitious and not ignoble heart, — are questions never likely to be answered ! Oxenstiem declared, even in the last years of his lite, that he never could comprehend the object Wallen- stein really had in view : and as the ablest and best-informed man of the time failed to unravel the secret, it will be in vain that we attempt to fathom a mystery over which the gloom of two centuries has now been gathered. " If we too often sec the best and most generous qualities of our nature crushed beneath the chilling influence of adversity, so wo expect, on the other hand, to find them called forth and cherished by the genial sunshine of power and prosperity. We naturally feel disposed to combine the idea of high qualities with high station; and the want of noble and generous feeling, which in the humbler ranks of life is but an absence of virtue, augments to criminality in proportion as we ascend in the scale of society ; and we can only fancy such deficiency to exist upon a throne, when the crowned occupant is composed of the meanest materials of which human nature is ever put together. Ferdinand II. was such an occupant of a throne. In the hour of danger, and when pressed by the victo- rious arms of the Swedes, he conferred almost dictatorial power on the man from whose aid he alone expected safety. But no sooner was the first peril over, than the imagination of the terrified sovereign magnified into treason and rebellion the exercise of the power which he had before delegated. In his base and unkingly fear — to acquit him even of envy and avarice — he condemned without a trial or hearing ; and not only handed over the man who had t«vice saved the monarchy to the halberts of hired assassins, but rendered himself an active party to the crime by the treachery of his conduct. In order to deceive his ii. tended victim, and to render the blow more certain, he remained in constant and confidential cor- respondence with Wallenstein for twenty days after the betrayed general had been outlawed as a rebel. True it is, that he afterwards caused 3000 masses to be said for the soul of the slain : and courtiei's and confessors may, by such means, have silencod the feeble voice of the royal conscience. But the voice of history will not be so silenced ; and the naro^ of Ferdinand II. will be handed down to latest posterity, as the name of a sovereign in whose callous heart not even imperial sway could raise one spark of noble fire ; who, while crawling in the dust befoi-e images and reliques, remained Ebsay III. HIS ASSASSINS. 89 doaf to the duties of Christianity ; and repaid the greatest services ever rendered to a prince, by one of the foulest deeds of treason and of murder recorded in the dark annals of human crime." — Lift of Wallenstein, p. 342. If we descend from the court of Vienna to the agents of its bloody mandate, we shall be at no loss to collect the motives for that subservient zeal which converted soldiers into assassins. Those motives are sufficiently apparent in the speed with which the vultures gathered round the carcase. From Gallas and Piccolomini, down to Leslie and Butler, one spirit of active and clamorous rapacity inspired tliera all, and liberally were their claims acknowledged. The hand of an archbishop hung the gold chain, the gift of the Emperor, round the neck of the prin- cipal butcher, Butler ; and chamberlainships, regiments, and con- fiscated estates, were showered on his fellow-assassins. Gallas obtained for his share the lordships of Friedland and Kechen- berg. It appears tliat Piccolomini, who had distinguished him- self by execrable insults towards the corpse of his former com- mander, was for a time dissatisfied with his share of the spoil ; but we fear that this prime scoundrel too was finally appeased by a donation of territory. We know not whether we have succeeded in communicating to our readers some of the interest which the perusal of these records has excited in our minds. We think we have said enough to coavince them that Mr. Forster's contribution to the materials for the history of the Thirty Years' War is of considerable value. His minor work, published in Ilaumer's Annual for the year 1834, is scarcely of less interest to us, and Avill certainly be more amusing to many. In military greatness Wallenstein had rivals of his own day, and has been perhaps surpassed by champions of elder and later times. The successes which led to his *' pride of place " were in g.. jat part achieved in a bad cause, and against overmatched foes. Those singular features of character, which in their combination bring out his portrait in such strong relief on the canvas of history, are perhaps more palpably to be traced in the records of his private life and domestic relations than in the annals of his campaigns. His unwearied diligence in the administration of his vast possessions; his elevation above the superstition and the intolerant bigotry of his age, of the court he served, and the Jesuits' school in which he had been trained ; LIFE AND LETTERS OF WALLENSTEIN. Essay III. -f A his fostering care for the physical and moral welfare, the worldly prosperity, and the education of his subjects, v^nild have made him one of the greatest men of his time if he had never fought a battle, and could have won by any otlier channel than that of military exploit the means of displaying these qualities and pro- pensities. The proofs of his possession of them are copiously furnished by this unpretending tract of Mr. Forster's. As an illustration of a remarkable character, of a singular government, and the curious position of a subject elevated to sovereign power, it is at least derived from the best of sources — the correspondence, the legal documents, and the account-books of the party it describes. Could Schiller have enjoyed the opportunity, and condescended to use it, of consulting such docu- ments, many pages of his brilliant work might have presented an aspect not less brilliant, but more true. Not even Schiller's descriptive felicity, however, could well have afforded so lively an idea of the peculiarities of the Friedlander'a genius and tem- perament, as some of Mr. Forster's extracts from his own hurried and confidential communications to the agents of his power. The realms of nature and of art have supplied to philosophers instances, often cited, of the various application of the same instrument to a wide range of objects. The variety of the topics embraced in Wallenstein's letters, and the strange activity of the grasp which seizes them, might almost justify us in comparing his mind to the trunk of the elephant, to which the invention of Watt has bt;en likened in Lord Jeffrey's eloquent doge of our great mecii.inician. The rapid repetition of his orders, the foreign words, and especially the favourite Furia, which he presses into Ids service, evince the fierce impatience with which he darted to his ends in civil affairs as in battle. We remember hearing with astonishment, long ago, from a member of the legal profession in Ireland, that he received the heads of the Dublin Police Bill from the then Irish Secretary, Sir A. Wellesley, dra>vn up by him when tossing off the mouth of the Mondegc, with Junot waiting for him on the shore. The volumes of Gurwood have now revealed a thousand traits not less wonderful of that illus- trious mind's easy versatility ; but even Wellington could hardly surpass, in that respect, the Friedlander, Avho from the head- quarters of 60,000 men could dictate iiie medical treatment of his poult ly-yard. Essay Ilf. WALLENSTEIN AND WELLINGTON. i)l We have cited the honoured name of our own great Duke perhaps iireverently in connexion with such a topic ; but there are other matters in which the comparison might be perhaps to some extent pursued. Of relative military renown we here say nothing, being disqualified by national feeling and something more for entertaining for a moment any such comparison. If Colonel ^litchell's estimate, however, of his hero's military quahties be a sound one, Wallenstein holds a rank of which few could take precedence. The correspondence of both has been brought to light nearly at the same time. That of Wallenstein will find few readers but the antiquary and biographer. Pub- lished two centuries afte\- the death of the writer, it leaves, after all, the most interesting of the historical questions which afiect his character unsolved, and throws perhaps little new light even on the military history of the time. The Duke of Wellington has been more -fortunate ; he has lived to read, digest, and enjoy the best record of his own achievements, one which we prophesy, less on our own, perhaps, partial authority, than on that of the wisest and most eminent of his fervent political opponents, will live when we with its author are dust — a source of wonder, and praise, and admiration to late, very late generations. There are, however, points of similarity between these publications, of other- wise unequal interest and pretensions, which naturally arise out of the resemblance between the relative positions of the two men. Either compilation is perhaps equally calculated to disabuse the popular mind of the impression that a general in command of an army is a gentleman in a helmet or cocked hat, as the case may be, mounted on a horse with two legs in the air, or standing in the neighbourhood of a 29-pounder, and directing certain move- ments of bodies of men, after the fashion of a review in Hyde Park. Both present a pretty faithful picture of the cares of providing food, raiment, and lodging for the said men and their horses, and roads whereon to drag the said piece of ordnance and its fellows. The volumes of Colonel Gurwood present perhaps as many instances as compilation ever showed of the kindness, the caution, the delicacy towards subordinates, which are rare in all despotisms, but rarer perhaps in none than in that shape of despotism which must in the nature of things always form the character of military command, however responsible for the exercise of its functions to a ix)pular government, and tempered 92 LIFE AND LETTERS OF WALLENSTEIN. Eshay IIL I 9 ii V) I' 'I by regulation. Nor are instances of this kindness to inferiors of all classes wanting in the correspondence, official and private, of Wallenstein. That his impatient spirit could have endured \or an instant the infliction of Spanish or Portuguese co-operation we do not believe ; but, taking into consideration the intoxicating circumstances of his rapid elevation to wealth and power, and contrasting him with his own contemporaries, we find on tlio record traces of a gentleness of disposition, of kindness, and humanity, which have long been neglected by historians, and which seem to soften down the lurid light in wliich his character has often been portrayed. It has been said that in Ireland some of the best-managed estates belong to permanent absentees. Wallenstein's visits to his numerous pnd scattered possessions were necessarily few and far between ; but we question whether any resident proprietor of his day did so much for the welfare of his feudatories and dependents. He entered on the management of his Bohemian estates at a period when a civil war of religion had wreaked its worst upon the soil. He began by checking religious persecution ; he built churches, he endowed schools, he fostered manufactures and agriculture ; and labours such as these were never for a mo- ment interrupted by the duties which *lie command of 60,000 men in the field entailed upon him. imperious by nature, and despotic by vocation, he was the framer o* a liberal constitution, and the organizer of a systent of three estates for the government of his little realm. This constitution is directed to be reduced to \vritiDg in a letter to his chancellor, dated from Znaim, in March, 1632. It was forwarded to him in his quarters after the opening of the campaign of that year. The following extracts from Mr. Forster's work will show the zeal and liberality with which he encouraged religious and edu- cational institutions, and the sagacity with which he penetrated the character, and controlled the conduct, of the instruments he was compelled to employ. He had established some of the Au- gustines at Leippa for purposes of public instruction. The bre- thren, abusing his munificence, claimed an alleged promise of exemption from certain contributions, which they accordingly withlield. The collector appealed to Wallenstein, wlio Avrites in answer : — " Jst erlogen. It is a lie. 1 have promised them nothing, nor vji*> Essay III. HIS RELIGIOUS ENDOWMENTS. 93 remitted them anything ; seo that they pay, or stop tho funds j^ivon for their buildingH ; for the more they get, the more they g. -up." In another letter, adverting: to the wune parties, lie suys (Au- gust 11), 1<)1>7):— " That the monkn at Loipp liave within tliis year applied tho 20'^') florins, surprises me ; I do not doubt that it will turn out they have applied them but to w — s and bjid company, as is their wont." There follow some minute and busiuess-livce directions for the future cijutrol of the parties in this matter. With the Carthu- sians, whom he had also in two localities richly established, he was not more fortunate. Their endowment rested on the interest of money ; they demanded a landed foundation, which Wullen- stein repeatedly in his letters refuses. In Gitschin he founded two convents for Dominicans and Capuchins, and a Jesuits' Colloge. Nothing escapes his attention. He writes to his prin- cipal agent. Taxis, from Segan, June 14, 1028 : — " I have received tho plan for the palace at Gitschin. Now it strikes me that, when I was last in the Carthusian house, the prior's master-mason told me that the cells for the monks were not to bo more than 2i ells in height. It occurs to mo that this would be too low." He repeats his injunctions on this subject, which seems to have much excited him, and desires, in a letter of August following, that the building may be prosecuted with furia. September 13th, he acknowledges receiving two plans for the improvement of the cells, says he is satisfied, and has other things to tliink of — but returns, nevertheless, to the subject, and gives some minute directions for bas-reliefs and paintings in the said cells — (p. 36). The Jesuits were objects of Walleiistein's special bounty, gave him more trouble in return than any of his other proteges, and were watched by him with a vigilant eye, and re- straiud d 'vith a strong hand when they strayed beyond the voca- tion he had assigned them, and attempted to convert Protestants, instead of instructinp' Catholics : — " Could I (he writes to Taxis in June, 1626) be quit of the foun- dation I made for them for 100,000 florins, I would willingly make the bargf'in." Over the schools for the young nobility, which he placed under their c&re, he maintained a strict and constant inspection, and 04 LIBE AND LETTERS OF WAfJ.ENSTEIN. Essay III. t his great ol>jeet apppars to have been to prevent the system of instruction from degenerating]; into a confined and monkish form, but to organize it on a general and comprehensive scale adapted to the purposes of the higher classes. Ho writes from Egra, August, U)2') : — "I am resolved to place eight or more of the genlry under the Jesuits at Qitschin. See that they ride out with the riding-master once a-weok, that they accustom themselves to sit an horse, that they apply diligently to arithmetic, and to some musical instrument. The organist may teach them on his organ, or you may buy them an harpsichord (clavicordium)." His care was not confined to the moral advancement of his young nobility; it condescended to personal externals. He writes, in 1628, from the camp before Stralsund, giving directions for the dress of the students at Gitschin ; and adds : — " See that the Doctor be provided with everything which is pre- scribed in the foundation for the treatment of the sick, and that what goes out of the apothecaries' store be paid for. And inasmuch as they are wont, from mere want of cleanliness, to come by the itch, see that they be cleaner than before, and him that has the ualady let the Doctor treat with baths, and other necessary remedies," Wallenstein was much irritated with the ungrateful attempts of the Jesuits to gain over to their own body pupils whom he had destined for other purposes. He writes from the camp at Krempe, 1628, to Taxis : — " I learn that the Jesuits have talked over Franz von Harrack to join their order ; but his father gave him to me to make him, not a Jesuit, but a soldier. It pains me to the heart that they should make me such return of gratitude as this for so many benefits received, and should thus circumvent this unlucky youth." He adds the most pressing directions for the immediate removal of the young student and three of his companions : — " Lose not a minute, for I trust this to you. Whatever my wife may reply, pay it no attention, for she understands nothing of this matter, and it stands on your own responsibility. Keep it quiet, and bring it to bear without the loss of a single hour, for this is my final resolution." From Gustrow, May, 1629, he writes to Taxis: — ♦' Constantine [one of the superintendents of the College] has cut L Emay III. HIS POLICY AS TO RELIC. lOUS MArrEPt*. or. ate removal '■.if an \]w liair of the youths so short that those who have oomo here looked like Jews. Give careful attentiou to all this yourHcIf, and, if thoy will not f«)llow my orders, advi»40 me thereof; as, namely, that the pupils keep tliomselvoH clean, attend school early, acquire the Latin tonjTue, learn in the afternoon to writ© German and Italian, as also arithmetic, dancing, and the lute." In spite of these causes of dissatisfaction, ho did not ceaso to favour tlie Jesuits; and he took measures, which bo perhaps fortunately did not live to complete, for their establishment in Mecklenburgh. June, 1020, be writes to an agent in Bohemia, from Mecklen- burgh : — " You will see from the appendix what is the petition of the woman Haschimin. Now I have understood, as far as I have learnt as yet fiom my visits to Bohemia, that it was settled that widows should not be so strictlv proceeded against. You will, therefore, see that she be allowed to remain on her property, till the Lord may give her better notions, and she be won to the true faith." This injunction is a fair illustration of Wallenstein's general policy in the matter of religion — a policy so diametrically op- I)08ed to that of the Court, that its observance certainly did honour to his independence of character, as well as to bis heart and understanding. Nor can it be ascribed to mere religious indiflference. While he avoided all violent measures, he omitted no opportunity of endeavouring to restore what be considered as the better form of Christianity by milder proceedings. lie writes to an agent at Sagan, in 1627 : — " As the time now serves, you may begin to move again for the conversion of the people to the Catholic faith." While he declined to win favour at the Court by following the example of religious persecution, he took every measure to create an influence with the Pope. Like other sovereign princes, he maintained a paid agent at the Vatican. Artists from Italy were employed by him in the decoration of churches and chapels, as well as that of his o>vn residences. After the battle at Dessau, he orders Taxis to write to Aldringen to have a copper-plate engraving made of the actiouj that a painting may be made from it for the chapel. Of his own habits with respect to religious observances there seems to be no record. Four chaplains were on the list of liis attendants. I ! h. 90 LIFK AND LKTTKUS OF WAI.LKNSTEIN. Kh»ay III, Mr. ForstiT obsorveH, tliat out of 150 letters ftiul onlors, ad- dressed bcjtween the years 1()*23 and Ul'^'Z by Walleiistein to the managers of his Hohemian property, most of them written from the camp, and autographs, there are scarcely more than two whi(;li do not advert to some topic connected with the improve- ment of tlie soil, or the advancement and welfare of its t(nuints, in some re8[)ect or other. The same activity which we have seen displayed in his military correspondence, amounting, iii the ca'so of Arnheim, to eight letters in a single day, distinguishes his communications with his land-bailiffs ; and with tho same furia he rei)eat8 in successive letters his ordei-s for tho planting of mulberry-trees, the establishment of breweries, mill-forges, jww- der-mills, and saltpetre-works. Tho latter items are connected with one of liis principal objects, which was to give his subjects a preference, in the great market of tho war which ho conducted, for tho fabric and supply of its articles of consumption. In his batteries at Stralsuml, the bullet, tho powder, and the gun, were thus furnished from his dcmiinions, and tho bread consumed hi his camp had been baked in Bohemian ovens. "You must seo (bo writes from Egra, August, 1625) that fabrics of all descriptions may be introduced into Gitschin, with respect to silk and woollen. In tho interval, before the mulberry-trees attain their proper growth, you may import raw silk (soda cruda) froro Italy. Hides must also be worked at Gitschin : in short, i;ll arts must be introduced there, by which the town can be peopled." — (Sept. 25, 1625, p. 55.) He writes to Taxis — " I hear with pleasure that the Jew wishes to traffic at Gitschin. Let him, by all means." — (I*. 56.) Matters such as these have somewhat, as is very usual, escaped the notice of the historian and the commentator. The magni- ficence of his palaces and attendance has found more favour in their sight. Temperate in his diet and simple in his dress, in all those items of luxury and expenditure which less concerned liis own person, and the enjoyment of which the rich man must share with others, his habits were indeed princely. His own garments of sober brown or ash-colour distinguished him from the brilliant tlirong of nobles and gentlemen who were proud to do him service as chamberlains, &c. The arts of the painter, the architect, and the gardener found in him a Medicean patron. i_ Kmhay III. Ills COURT AND EXPENPITURE. 1)7 at Gitschin. If Wullenstoiirs corrcsjMmdencc) wore not fortlu'«)inin<;, it would 1)0 difficult to credit the nuturc and extent of the niinutiu; of domestic (economy to which his obwrvation dcaccnch'd. His letters on the subject of his breeding studs contain hints worthy the attention of the veterinary college. Cattle, swine, sheep, all are subjected to his dinsctions for their nmnagenitMit ; and on8cri[)tion of his sumptuous buildings and gardens at Prague and Gitschin, we refer the readier to Mr. Forster's pag«'s. These works of taste and magnificence were prosecuted without remission during his absence on military service, and the artificers were guided and stimulated by the unceasing exhortations of his pen. During his short tenure of jMecklenburgh, he was making every preparation to erect at (liustrow a residence which would have vied with the other two wo have mentioned — but hero tho Swede interposed. In tho management of tho expenditure of a court and house- hold, the magnificence of which has been celebrated by every biographer and historian of the time, a splendid profusion was combined with the most searching supervision and tlio strictest system of record and account. The smallest items of expendi- ture, with their causes, are noted ; as, for oxam|)le, the drinkgeld to tho gardeners who sent for the use of the duchess " to her garde- robe some fine sweet blue violets," and to the vineyard-keeper who at the vine-cutting in spring was ordered (for some medi- cinal purpose, we presume) to collect in bottles the juice of tho white grapes, as also the ashes of the dried and burnt red ones, for the duchess. Expenses for attendance on christenings and marriages of liLs i)ooror dependents are numerous : — e. g. to Sa- muel Smitschka, forester, at his child's christening, 100 florins : to a cup for a present at the marriage of the under-cook, 150 florins. His donations on greater occasions kept pace and pro- portion with his domestic liberality. When Isolani brought him H ;i ■T* >' ; i 98 LIFE AND LETTERS OF WALLENSTEIN. Essay III. into the camp before Niiromburgli two Swedish standards, he gave him a repast. 4000 dollars, and a charger. Learning in the morning that Isolani had lost the wliole sum at play m the course of the night, he sent him by a page 2000 ducats more. Isolani wished to thank him : he turned the conversation from tlio subject to that of the reported approach of a Swedish convoy. Isolani took sudden leave, and returned in a few days with the Swedish waggons and 400 prisoners. Even Wallenstein's possessions could not suffice to furnish so perennial and continuous a flow of pecuniary supply as his habits required ; and it must be remembered, that, in addition to thai private profusion, the army w.is frequently supported by advances from his purse. His military and private correspondence equally show that he was frequently in difficulties. These roused his imperious nature to expressions which must liave counteracted the natural effects of his liberality and munificence. In January, 1G32, he writes to Kunesch, tlie successor to Taxis, who had been dismissed for malversation — '• You have sent me the amount of 18,000 florins, but you should know that for the ensuing month I must have 3(5,000 florins. Sec that the overlookers on my estates collect this, with notice of the remaining contributions, of which some thousands are still out- standing, as also the newly-imposed land-tax, and send mo the money to Znaim, unless you prefer that I should have the heads of the overlookers first, and then your own, c\it off; as I see that you look through your fingore at them, and make a jest of my orders." — p. 113. This tlu:eat, which hardly admits of a literal construction, is frequently repeated. His whole deportment for the last two years of his life is that of a man made irritable by difficulty and annoyance, and both in the army and at home he appeara to have sacrificed Ids personal popidarity precisely at the moment when its influence was essential to liis existence. This harshness probably assisted the court of Vienna in stifling the voice of sorrow, of aftection, or gi-atitude, the accents of which, had they been elicited by Wallenstein's death, might have resounded, un- gratefully to the Emperor, through Europe. That voice was silent ; and no hand " of all his bounty fed " took up the pen to vindicate his memory. We cannot, however, but believe that, if the teiTor of his bloody doom had not operated to produce this Essay III. Essay III. NOTICE OF COLONEL MITCHELL. 90 andards, he ueariiing in play in the ucats more, sation from iish convoy. lys with the I furnish 8o IS his habits tion to thai by advances mce equally I roused his ounteractcd In January, s, who had t you should florins. See lotice of the e still out- md me the the heads of loe that you orders." — |truction, is last two iculty and [appeal's to le moment harshness le voice of L had they inded, un- voice was he pen U) ive that, if »duce this silonee, tlie wailing would have been general among those who wore transferred to the cam of his rapacious muiderers. We liear nothing of manufaci os encouraged by Gallas, or schools established by Piccolomini. We have lingered on these minuter particulars because wo con- sider them as throwing a new light on one of the most remarkable characters in modem history. If the course of liis troubled destiny liad allowed Iiim to lay deeper the foundations of his power, he could hardly have failed to become the Mehemet All of Bohemia. The readers of Marshal Marmont's Travels, lately jniblished, will understand tliis allusion. We cannot but fear that, in the case of modem Eg^T^t, the improvements introduced by the Pacha may be as dependent on the life of their author as those of Wallenstein, and that the wheels of his factories will stop on the first derangement of tlie despotic engine which now gives them motion. We can assure Colonel Mitchell that it is neither from dis- respect nor ingratitude tl.it we have been led to bestow on Mr. Forster a larger share of our attention than on himself. In our judgment he luis executed with eloquence, ability, and good taste, a task for which his studies qualified him, and one congenial to an honourable mind and an honourable profession. Failing more active employment, as for the sake of Europe we hope it may, wo trust that he will continue to make the most of the advan- tages which, as a soldier and a scholar, he possesses, and resume his researches in the history of the country and the period to which his studies and his observation have been specially di- rected.* There are but few passages of his work with wliich we are disposed to quarrel — but those we have no doubt whatever are favourites of the author, as embod}'ing peculiar tenets of his own. The Colonel evidently ranks the bayonet with the toasting- fork as a weapon of offence. This may be a sound conclusion, but we think that a theory so likely to be disputed is ill placed where it cannot be argued. His low appreciation of Buonaparte's military talent appears to us unsound and paradoxical. That the Ct)lonel will not abate a jot of his expressions in deference to us we are satisfied, and equally so that he is prepared to receive as a compliment the stronger vituperation which they will call • The lives of Bernhard of Saxe Weimar, or Toi-etenaolm, would be fit subjects for his peu. H 2 I <. ;,! / 100 LIFE AND LETTERS OP WALLENSTEIN. Essay HI. down from French commentators. We think, however, his pro- position indefensible and the sentence unjust. The time is per- haps hardly yet arrived when Napoleon's military reputation can be weighed in an impartial balance, and when a just estimate can be drawn of his performances as compared w Ith the resources at his disposal at the various periods of his career. Great as those were, we still believe it will be found that something beyond accident placed them at his disposal, and that there was greatness in the application. The subject, however, is a wide one ; and having discharged our critical functions by touching the Colonel on the two points on which he probably considers himself as least assailable, but on which others will surely assail him, we conclude with thanks for his labours and our best wishes for their success. ' r. Essay III. IV. -ART AND ARTISTS IN ENGLAND. From the Quarterly Review, June, 1838.' The title of Mr. Waagen's book is perhaps calculated to excite more curiosity than will be gratified by its contents. As far as contemporary art and its professors are concerned, the author is not only gentle in criticism but sparing in remark. Whatever be the merit of modem productions, his experienced eye found metal more attractive in the ancient vein which it was his pecu- liar purpose to explore; and in this he has delved with a German assiduity, which probably left him little leisure to expa- tiate in the regions of Somerset House. Candidates for praise he sends supperless to bed ; and others, who might expect and desire to find in his volumes a free dispensation of wholesome but unpalatable truths from a foreign and impartial hand, will be no less disappointed. His visit to the exhibition of 1836 is comprised, as far as painting is concerned, in four pages : and if to these we add a few observations on the deceased masters of the English school, and some scattered remarks on contempora- ries, we shall have exhaustod nearly all that concerns us in a national point of view, and shall look in vain for any compre- hensive estimate of the state of art in this country, as compared with its progress and condition on the Continent. With the modern French school we believe, indeed, Mr. Waagen was little acquainted at the period of his visit to England, for Paris ■ 1. Work8 of Art and Artists in England. By G. F. Waagen, Director of the Royal Gallery at Berlin. London. 3 vols. 12mo. 1838. a. Painting and the Fine Arts ; being the Articles under those heads contribtited to the Seventh Edition of tlie Encyclopxdia Britannica. By B. R. Haydon and William Hazlitt, Esqrs. Edin. 12mo. 1838. 3. Report from the Select Committee on Arts, and their Connexion with Manu- factures. 1836. 4. Hittoire de VArl Modeme en AUemagne, Par le Conite A. Raczynski. Paris, 1836. 102 ART AND ARTISTS IN ENGLAND. Essay IV. had not lain on his route ; but tho risinj^ school of Dusseldorf, and those of his native Berlin and of IMunich, might have afiforded him fertile and instructive topics of comparison. We suspect that IMr. Waagen's reserve on such themes may, in part, be attributable to the cordiality (which he acknow- ledges) of his reception, at the hands both of lovers and pro- fessors of art, in this country. The severer functions of criticism are also, perhaps, in some respects, more painful in the matter of the fine arts of painting and sculptiu-e, as practised by the living, than in the departments of science or literature. Tho painter or 8Culj)tor has, generally speaking, from the nature of liis pursuit, a more obvious claim on forbearance than the man of letters. The publication of a volume is seldom evidence in itself of the choice of a profession, or that devotion to a particular career, which hazards on success the means of subsistence, as well as the attainment of reputation. The race of Avriters in these days is not, as in those of Johnson, a class apart, fed by the pro- ceeds of dedications to noblemen, or looking for a dinner to the pot-luck of Mr. Lintot's back room. Such authors, doubtless, still there are ; but a large proportion of the volumes which now issue from the press are written by men who have resources, private and professional, to fall back upon — who have something else, and frequently, as there is every reason from the result to con- jecture, something better, to do. The garrets of Grub-street, such as Hogarth painted, have now, we believe, few inspired tenants. The shaded lamp sheds its light on many a IVES. ; the morocco chair lends its aid to meditation ; and well-filled book-shelves supply those means of reference and extract which the " sub-dio " book-stall once afforded to starving industry and genius out-at- elbows. On the other hand, the atelier of many a pallid student in this country, and still more perhaps on the Continent, could tell, as we believe, a tale which, if disclosed at the moment, would freeze the ink on the pen of a ZoUus. It is therefore painful to endeavour to aid the less discerning to the discovery of imperfections wliicli may damp their disposition to purchase, or to wield in matters of taste the rod which we apply without compunction where immorality calls for censure, or false reason- ing for refutation. We have been led to these passing observations by the perasal of a recent volume, entitled * Notice of the Life and Works of E88AY IV. CHARACTER OF WA AG EN'S ROOK. 103 lieopold Robert,' a Frenoh artist — not one of tlioso, indood, who 8tru;j:gled and f'ailcHl, Imt wlio, in tlie plenitude of siiocesa (wo know not liow fair jnstilied l>y liis works), lately committed suicide. The brief record of his life, however, drawn up by a surviving? brother, presents a touchinfj^ picture of the early difficulties of a professional career. Hopeless love led to its early termination ; but we learn in how many a dark hour of un- rewarded toil the demon which ultimately prevailed over a stronii^ sense of religion had suggested the sad resource to which tho victim at last resorted. Whether considerations of this descrip- tion, or mere economy of time, may have induced ]\[r. Waagen to adopt the French motto, "Glissez, mortels, n'appuyez pas," in his passage over a somowliat delicate surface, ho has skated so lightly as to leave few or no cracks in any modern reputation. The observations on contemporary English art in these volumes will therefore be found entirely subordinate to their staple, which amounts to a sort of catalogue raisonn^ of the principal works of ancient art which the powerful agencies of wealth and insular security have attracted to this favoured country, scattering them tlu-ough many collections, instead of concentrating them, like the ])roceeds of French conquest, in one great and accessible reposi- tory. Viewed as such, ]\[r. Waagen's work, like other catalogues, is one rather of reference than continuous perusal : as such, how- ever, we consider it as in some respects bearing out the authority with which he came among us as guardian of the Berlin collec- tion. This distinction with us has its value, not because it emanates from a king or a minister, or that Mr. Waagen wears, as we calictures to national or private collections. We are given to understand that a flourishing manufactory of Raphaels exists at tliis day in Florence, wliich finds a perennial market — we hope not among our countrymen. Mr. Waagen prefaces his observations on the numerous collec- tions to which he had access by an historical summary of the process of acquisition on the part of sovereigns and private indi- viduals in tliis country, which, commenced by the royal patron of Holbein, was prosecuted on a more extended scale by Charles I. He notices with just commendation not only the munificence, but the refined and exalted taste, which distinguished that sovereign, and enriched liis residences with so many works of Raphael, Correggio, and Titian. The troubles of the Continent, which have restored to us some of these works, dispersed by our bar- barous Commonwealth, in company with many others, have nevertheless but partially repaired the havoc of that dispersion ; particularly if we consider the large proportion which Charles I.'s galleries contained of the three above-mentioned giants of old time, and that some of them wliich Charles II. had again col- lected perished in the fire of Whitehall, in 1697. Of the period which intervened between our revolution and that of France, Mr. Waagen says : — ' 'When the taste for collecting pictures revived after the com- mencement of the eighteenth century, it was not encouraged either by the succeeding kings, or by the parliament, but solely by private amateurs, who at tlie same time introduced the custom of placing their collections for the most part at their countiy seats. . . , These *-. lOG ATIT AND ARTISTS IN ENGLAND. Essay IV. collections, which were formed by the end of the eighteenth century, are however of a very ditferent chanicter from thoise of tlie time of Chailis I. They betray a far less puio and elevated taste, and in maTiy parts show a Icks profound knowledge of art. We indeed often tind the names of l{aj)hael, Correggio, Andrea del Sarto, but voiy seldom their works. The Venetian school is better, so thai there arc often fine pictures by Titian, Paul Veronese, Tintoretto, and the Bassanos. Still more frequent are the pictures of the Car- ra:^ci and their school, of Domenichino, Ciuido, Guereino, Aibano; but there are among them but few works of the first rank. T'nliap- pily the pictures of the period of the decline of art in Italy are particularly numerous ; for instance, by B. Castigiiono, P. F. IMola, Filippo Lauri, Carlo Cignani, Andrea Sacchi, Pietro da Cortona, Carlo Maratti, Luca Giordano. In this period wo observe a parti- cular predilection for the works of cert^.in masters. Among these are, of the Italian school, Carlo Dolce, Sasso Ferrato, Salvator Kosa, Claude Lorraine, and Gaspar Ponssin ; and the pictures by the two latter are frequently the brightest gems of these galleries. Of the French school Kicholas Poussin and Bourguignon are esteemed beyond all others. Of the Flemish school, Pubens and Vandyck, and, though not in an equal degree, Bcmbrandt. Of all these favourite masters we see the most admirable works. Here and there are found fine sea-pieces by William A'an de Velde, chosen landscapes by J. Ruysdael and Ilobbema, and pretty pictures by Teniers. On the other hand, wo seldom meet with a genuine IIol- bc lU, still more rarely a Jan Van Eyck, or other masters of the old Flemish and German schools. Aa the only collection that is an honourable exception, and has been formed in the elevated taste of Charles I., I must here mention that of Lrrd Cowper, at his country- seat, Panshanger, in Heitfordshire. l-^is collection, which v/,is formed towards the close of this century, contains chiefly pictures by Raphael, Andrea del Sarto, and Fra Bartolomeo."— vol. i. pp. 38-40. i Tliis summary of the leading features of our provincial collec- tions appears to us accurate on the whole. We apprehend that our autiioi hardly intends to adduce C. Lorraine aud G. Poussin as names connected with the decline of Italian art ; we should also hesitate in including A. Sacchi and P. da Cortona as such with the Carlo Maratti and Giardanos. The fresco of the Bar- berini palace, and a portrait in the Borghese, by the former, and the dream of St. Bruno, by the latter, in the Vatican, might almost we think plead their exemption. Nor do we concci^•(3 that the works of A. Sacchi are of very frequent occurrence Essay IV. E»SAY IV. RUSSIAN ARTISTS. 107 cnih ccntnrv, jf tlie time (.if taste, and in Wc inilcc'd lei Sarto, but etter, so thai, 0, Tintoretto, ;s of the Car- ino, A i banc ; ink. T'iihap- in Italy are ), P. F. :\Iola, da Cortona, ervo a parti- Among these lalvator Eosa, 8 by the two ries. Of the are esteemed nd Vandyck, Of all these Here and '^elde, chof^en pictures by [genuine IIol- s of the old that is an ated taste of lis country- "which v/us pictures by pp. 38-40. icial collec- reliend that Gr. Poussiu we should na as such of the Bar- brmer, an for the fine arts ever, like goi, skips a generation, such was not the ease with him. The exertions of private collectors, during the perio(- under consideration, were perhaps nearly counterbalanced l)y the loss of the Houghton collection, transferred to a countiy where jjictures are as yet little appreciated. The acquisition has hardly we be- lieve as yet led to any attempt at imitation among a peojde cele- brated for an imitative disposition, still less to any more generous emulative effort. These ])ictures will probably continue as they are, mere appendages to royal state apartments, unless they should become by an ukase capable of military rank — like tho fourteen elephants recorded by Itulhieres, who, having been presented to the Czar by the Schah of I'ersia, were gazetted, in compliment to that potentate, as major-generals. We remember, however, to have been struck with a picture of the destruction of Pompeii, by a Eussian artist, which, having we believe been refused at tho Louvre, had taken refuge in the jMilan exhibition. It had the merit oi originality, being unlike any previous per- formance, either of nature or art, which ever came under our notice. As a work of imagination it offered jierhaps some ana- logy to the magnificent creations of ]Mr. jMartin, but with more knowledge of anatomical design. Orloffsld, a deceased Russian artist, is known in Em-ope by a few coarse lithographs of national subjects. He was, we believe, no painter, but we have seen chalk and crayon studie-^ by him at Petersburg, showing a genius wluch with line cultivation might have made him a sort of Genghis Khan among artists. Our own countryman, Dawe, was the Vandyck on whom the favours of the coiu-t of Alexander and Nicholas and its followers were shoM'ered. His studio was adorned when we saw it with five hundred kitcats of Russian generals ; the accuracy of his ribbons and crosses was never ex- t'«* 108 AllT AND ARTISTS IN ENGLAND. Essay IV. 'I Mi' % codod in painting?. Sir Josluia's Hercules, meanwhile, was se- cluded in a vault at the Hermitage, wliich we endeavoured in vain to discovc^r and penetrate. Mr. Waagen pror notice the great influx of works of art into this count., ...lich took place in consequence of the French Revolution, and the apprehension of French conquest and plunder. This portion of history, as regards paintings, is familiar to all who take an interest here in such matters, and we forbear to dwell upon it. After noticing the various collections of draw- ings, miniatures, and niellos, which occupy a less ostentatious po- sition, and attract the notice rather of the learned few than the public, Mr. Waagen proceeds — " Compared with this great extension of taste for works of design in all the various branches, that for works of sculpture appears in England, since the revolution, only in individual instances. The taste for modora sculpture is the most prevalent, and the works of Canova, Thorwaldsen, and the English sculptors are, therefore, very numerous in P]ngland. On the other hand, hardly more than a single English jirivate person is known to have acquired works of ancient sculpture of very great importance." — p. 63. This is undoubtedly true, and many reasons may be assigned for the fact. The first is nearly identical with that which the French magistrate assigned out of many for not receiving Henry IV. with a royal salute — D'abord nous n'avons nipoudre ni canons. Specimens of ancient sculpture are not to be obtained, at least by the ordinary means of acquisition. The few objects of this class, which are not in royal or princely collections, are 'still guarded with much jealousy both by governments and private proprietors. One such work indeed has recently found its way from Rome to Munich, the Barberini Faun ; but, though a king was the purchaser, he was obliged to smuggle his purchase over the wall of the Eternal City under the cloud of night. Few private individuals would incur the risk of smuggling on so cum- brous a scale. There is also much in our climate and habits unpropitious to scidpture. A statue gallery is more appropriately warmed by an Italian sun than a register stove ; with us it seldom fails to convey to our sensations some of the attributes of the monumental caves of death in Congreve's Mourning Bride. A few great proprietors, such as the Duke of Devonshire, may succeed in the judicious disposal of such objects, and in placing Essay IV. THE ELdIN MARBLKH. 100 tliciii hoyond tho rcaoh of tlio thousand ills which marl.lo is heir to in oiir utnio.s[)]iero ; but ( 'luitsworth and llolkhani aro rather hothouso protlnctions than natural p-owths of our soil, aiul tho samo habits of comfort and convenience which have restrained the encoura«j;cmont of histori(;al painting on a large scale, are, in our judgment, almost equally adverse to any wide difl'usiou of a tasto for sculpture. ^Ir. Waagen, however, i)roceeds to specify liis exception, and it is an important one : — " liut then this has boon done on so grand a scale that this one may be comited for many ; nay, his actpiisitions may be very well laid in the balance against all tliose splendid treasures of pictures which we liavo just reviewed. This one man is T.ord Klgin, and these acquisitions consist in nothing less than in the principal works which have come down to us from tho brightest era of Greek sculp- ture, and are known to every person of education in Europe by tho name of the Elgin Marbles." — pp. 63, 04. We quote this as an impartial tribute to the individual who saved these works, not only for his country but the world, from tlie kilns and pestles of Turkish plaster-makers. The satire of Byron falls pointless when aimed at such service. The following are among the observations which Mr. Waagen appends to his deserij)tion of the marbles : — " The many reflections which I had before made in the study of the plaster casts of these works appeared now perfectly clear, when I had the originals before me. The peculiar excellence which dis- tinguishes the works of the Parthenon from almost all other sculp- ture of antiquity arises chiefly, in my opinion, from the just balance which they hold in all respects between the earlier and later pro- ductions of art. Sculpture was in Egypt, as well as in Greece, a daughter of architecture. In Egypt the mother never released her from the strictest subordiii^tion, the greatest dependence ; in Greece, on the other hand, Sculpt ure, after a similar very long education, which was very favourable to her growth, was at length past her nonage. Yet, notwithstanding her acquired independence and liberty, she was never entirely alienated from the mother, even to the latest period of antiquity, but in the earliest time she still clung to her with the greatest filial attachment. To this period the sculptures of the Parthenon belong. The general arrangement is still entirely determined by the architecture, and even the several groups correspond, as masses, with architectonic symmetry ; but in the execution of them there is the greatest freedom, in manifold Hi 1 '.1 'M' \i fi ) no AllT AND AUTISTS IN ENdLAND. Kmay IV. (liversitios and conirustH of the attitudos, wliich aro po ca»ty, uncon- Ht'uiuod, uiul niiturul, that wo inij^lit iK'litve that tlio architecturo liiid boon udopttnl as a tVamo to tho HcMilpluics, and nut, on tho con- trary, tho Mculpturef; suited to tlio art-hituctnro. Nor waa it only in tho local anangrnu'iit, but alHo in tho t'once[)tion of tho Hubjcct, that architecturo had an influence. For in all circunihtanccM, even in thoHo which occaMicjn tho niowt lively cxprosHion of paHwion and of action, as, for instance, in tho combats of tho Greeks and Cen- tjiurH in the Metopes, these requisites are most delicately combined with a certain calm di^nit}' and solemnity. It is in this prevalence of the element of architecture, as the predominating law in general, with tho greatest freedom and animation in the single parts, that the peculiar sublimity of these monuuients consists. But they derive their highest charm, like the poems of Homer, from their simplicity. As tho authors of them, by the enthusiiustic endeavour to treat their subjects with the greatest i)ossible perspicuity and beauty, had attained the most profound study of nature, and an absolute command of all tho means of representing their ideas, and had thereby thrown aside everything conventional in earlier art, it never occurred to them to iiso those advantages, except for those objects. Nothing was more remote from their minds than, as in subsequent times, to display and make a show of them for their o a sake. Hence all the characters of the bodies are so perfectly adapted to the subjects ; hence in all tho motions such simple, natural grace. Equally rare is the refined manner in which the imitation of nature, of which the noblest models have everywhere been selected, is combined with the conditions necessary to produce the due effect in art. The execution is so detailed, that even the veins and folds of the skin are represented, by which the impression of truth to nature is produced in a very high degree. Yet all is so subordinate to the main forms, that the effect is imposing, and represses every thoiight of their being portraits. Thus these works are in a happy mean between the two individual forms of earlier times (for instance tho statues of Egina) and the mostly too general ones of later ages. The healthy energy and life which these forms breathe have besides a particular foundation in tho decided contrast of the management of the more solid and the softer parts. Where bones or sinews ai'o seen under tho skin, they are indicated with the greatest sharpness and precision ; where, on the contrary, the larger muscles appear, they are kept indeed stiff and flat, biit at the same time their softness and elasticity are repiesented in the most sur- prising manner." — pp. 83-86. The British Institution, at the period of Mr. Waagen's visit, was fortunately open for one of those admirable and well-con- Krt8AY IV. TIIK NATIONAL GALLKUY 111 ct'ivcd ('xliil>iti()nH t.f \\w uorks of olil masters with which it haa <»f hit*' yr.irs (l(li«rht((l the itiihlic Uy a cuiioiis nuHtak*' he* re- pn-scMts ('liantrcy's hunt of the late itn'sitlcnt, the hito Duko of Suthcilaiid, as an adinirahh) likeness of tho present. We men- tion this as the only instanci; of l>osltivo inut.cnraey we Imvo do- tectcd in the reeord of his hd)ours. TIjo (h'seiiption of tlie national eoUeetion is, as niiglit bo cx- IM'cted, elaborate. ]\[r. Waajjfen saw it nnder all the disudvan- ta;^'es of its recent h)cality and condition in I'all ^laU. Wo should be curious for his verdict on its present appearance. Wo an- dis[)osed to think that in what has been done in the delicato task of reparation, the nrgency of which is admitted by IMr. AVaagen, i\Ir. Se^uier has not exceeded tho limits of }>nidence. In respect of ])osition, a closet lighted from tho ceiling is certainly preferal)le to one lighted by an ordinary window, and this advantage has accrued from the nnited excrtionH of Mr. AN'ilkins and the gt»vernnient. The following bears upon a (piestion of some imj»ortanci>, mooted before the committee of the House of Commons : — " I was sini^rised, hero, whoro there are so many genuine and fine works of Claude, to see a copy from tho celebrated Mill, iu tho Doria Palace, given out as an original." Tho entire concnrrenco of IMr. Solly and the more quahfied acquiescence of Mr. Woodburn in his verdict, when examined before the committee of the Ilonse of Commons, are cer^nly formidable counterpoises to the opinion of j\[r. Seguier. With respect to the principal works in the National Gallery, l\Ir. Waagen's remarks are perhaps interesting on the question of the deductions to be made from their present value, on the score of injury from time and maltreatment — on their merits, apart from such considerations, most opinions are made up, and wo l)eruse with more interest his observations on the English school, which are elicited by the few specimens of it which have found theii- way into the National Gallery : — " The moral humorous department," says Mr. Waagen, " is the only one in which the English have enlarged the domain of painting in general ; for, with the exception of a few pictures by Jan Steen, I know nothing similar of an earlier period. In all other branches they are more or less excelled by the other schools. Portrait- M •tii 112 ART AND ARTISTS IN ENGLAND. Essay IV. //: painting is the branch which they have cultivated with the most i.mccess, and the best portraits of Sir Joshua Reynolds take a high rank, even when' comjiared with the performances of other schools. Next to this are the painters of what the French call pieces de genre, scenes of eveiy-day life, and still life, and especially their animal- painters. Their landscapes are far lower in the scale, in such a comparison. But they are weakest of all in historical painting, where inventive and creative fancy is most called for. Having thus viewed the intellectual region of the art, let us briefly consider their progress in the scientific parts. Their drawing is on the whole indifferent ; the forms often suifer from incoiTcctness, and still more by want of precision ; on the other hand, most English painters have great brilliancy, fulness, and depth of coloiir, which make much show, and charm the eye, often, it is true, at the expense of fidelity to nature and of delicately-balanced harmony. For the mode of execution, it is a misfortune for the English school that it at once began where other scjhools nearly leave oft'. From the most scrupulous execution of the details, which seeks to bring eveiy object as near as possible to the reality, even for close inspection, the older schools but very gradually acquired the conviction that the same ofifect might be produced, at a moderate distance, with fewer strokes of the pencil, and thus attained a broader handling. But the English school began at once with a very great freedom and breadth of handling, where, in the works of Hogarth and Reynolds indeed, every touch is seen in nature, and expresses something posi- tive ; but, in most of the later painters, degenerated into a flimsiness and negligence, so that but a very superficial and general image is given of every object, and many pictures have the glaring effect of scene-painting, while others are lost in misty indistinctness. As no good technical rules had been handed down to them by tradition, the English painters endeavoured to establish some for themselves, but with such ill success, that many pictures have very much changed ; many are so faded that they have quite the appearance of corpses, others have tui-ned black ; the colour has broad cracks in it, nay, in some cases, it has become fluid, and then, fi-om the excessively thick impasto, has run down in single drops." — pp. 231, 232. Sir Joshua Reynolds is so inadequately represented in this collection, except by Ijord Heathfield's portrait, tliat Mr. Waagen's criticisms may be omitted. His condemnation of West is as severe as might be expected from one conversant with Italian art, and we certainly prefer his judgment to that delivered before the committee by Sir M. A. Slice, which pro- nounces West the greatest master since the time of the Car- Essay IV. Essay IV. WEST— WILKIE. 113 vith the most 8 take a high other schools. pieces de genre, their animal- ile, in such a ical painting, Ifaving thus consider their on the whole and still more glish painters , which make he expense of ny. For the school that it From the most ) bring every Dse inspection, onviction that distance, with ider handling, it freedom and and Eeynolds jmething posi- .to a flimsiness neral image is aring effect of tness. As no tradition, the emselves, but jch changed ; e of corpses, in it, nay, in essively thick inted in this |t, that Mr. lemnatioii of conversant lent to that [, which pro- of the Car- racois, a period wliich, as Mr. Haydon observes, includes Rubens, Vandyok, and Rembrandt! We do not add Gucreino, as j\[r. Haydon does, because the president, wo conceive, meant to incl'v'de liim with the Canaccis ; but we might add fairly Poussin, IMurillo, and Velasquez. We have always entertained a respect for West, as one who, urged to the choice of a professio i by strong natural propeiLsity, pursued the object of his youthful atlection with energy and perseverance. If the studies for his works had alone been preserved to us, we might have recognised in tiieni the indication of talents which, in our judgment, were never exemplified in his finished i)ictures. The latter unfor- tunately remain to attest how little study, rules, and labour can effect, where an eye for colour, and grace, at least, of design, are wanting. Of all we have seen, we know but one we could have wished to see placed in the National Gallery, the ' Death of General Wolfe,' in which the subject seems to have fired the artist, and a felicitous arrangement, and trutli and force of expression, make us forget or forgive the solution of brickdust in which his pencil was steeped. In justice to him we quote a passage which qualifies Mr. Waagen's severe strictures on his ' Last Supper ' and ' Clirist Healing th5 Sick.' " ' Orestes and Pylades brought before Iphigenia,' an early work of this artist, has not only something noble and simple in the com- position and the forms, but is likewise painted in a tolerably clear, waiTU, harmonious tone." " I am happy," says Mr. Waagen, " at being able to conclude my observations on the pictures of the English school in this gallery as worthily as I commenced them with Hogarth, for Wilkie is in his department not only the first painter of our times, but, together with Hogarth, the most spirited and original master of the whole English school. In the most essential particulars, Wilkie has the same style of art as Hogarth. With him he has great variety, refinement, and acuteness in the obsei-vation of what is characteristic in nature ; and in many of his pictmes the subject is strikingly dramatic. Yet iri many respects he is different from him ; he does not, like Hogarth, exhibit to us moral dramas in whole series of pictures, but contents himself with representing, more in the manner of a novel, on(^ ' inglo striking scene. His turn of mind is besides very diffeient. If I might compare Hogarth with Swift, in his biting satire, with which he contemplates mankind only on the dark side, and takes special delight in representing them in a state of the most profound cor- 1 114 ART AND ARTISTS IN ENGLAND. Essay IV. n <1 niption, of the most frightful misery, I find in Wilkie a close affinity with his celebrated countryman, Sir Walter Scott. Both have in common that genuine, refined delineation of character which extends to the minutest particulars. In the soul of both there is more love than contempt of man ; both afford us the most soothing views of the quiet, genial happiness which is sometimes found in the narrow circle of domestic life, and understand how, with masterly skill, by the mixture of delicate traits of good-natured humour, to heighten the charm of such scenes ; and if, as poets should be able to do both in language and colours, they show us man in his manifold weak- nesses, errors, afflictions, and distresses, yet their humour is of such a kind that it never revolts our feelings. Wilkie is especially to be commended, that in such scenes as the Distress for Eent he never falls into caricature, as has often happened to Hogarth, but with all the energy of expression remains within the bounds of truth. It is affirmed that the deeply impressive and touching character of this picture caused an extraordinary sensation in England when it first appeared. Here we first learn duly to prize another feature of his pictures, namely, their genuine national character. They are in all their parts the most spirited, animated, and faithful representations of the peculiarities and modes of life of the English. In many other respects Wilkie reminds me of the great Dutch painters of common life of the seventeenth century, and likewise in the choice of many subjects, for instance, the Blind Man's Buff; but particularly by the careful and complete making out of the details, in which he is one of the rare exceptions among his countrymen. If he does not go so far in this respect as Douw and Franz Mieris, he is nearly on an equality with the more carefully executed paintings of Teniers and Jan Steen. His touch, too, often approaches the former in spirit and freedom, especially in his earlier pictures. One of them, the Blind Fiddler, is in the gallery. You know this admirable compo- sition from the masterly engraving by Burnet. The effect of the colouring is by no means brilliant, yet the tone of the flesh is warm and clear. The colours, which, as in Hogarth, are veiy much broken, have a very harmonious effect, the light and shade being very soft, and carried through with great skill. From the predomi- nance of dead colours, the whole has much the appearance of dis- temper. As well in the above respects as in the naivete aiid close observation of nature, and the good-natured humour of the subject, this picture is a real masterpiece, which deserves the more admi- ration since we find, by the date affixed, that it was painted in 1806, when Wilkie was not more than twenty-one years of age." — pp. 239-41. The annals of art certainly present few instances of an earlier KSSAY IV. Essay IV. WILKIE. 115 a close affinity Both have in ■which extends re is more love ithing views of . in the narrow aterly skill, by ur, to heighten able to do both manifold weak- nour is of such jspecially to be Eent he never th, but with all of truth. It is laracter of this ad when it firist r feature of his They are in all representations In many other ters of common shoice of many icularly by the vhich he is one does not go so s nearly on an of Teniers and )rmer in spirit of them, the inirable compo- effect of the flesh is warm Ire very much shade being the predomi- larance of dis- .ivete axid close if the subject, e more admi- as painted in ,rs of age."— of an earlier I ft attainment of eminence, and this in many of the qualities of finished execution which are usually the last results of practice and study. We own that, in contemplating the later productions of this distinguished artist, we revert with a sigh to such works as the Blind Fiddler and the Highland Still — to all we may say which preceded liis journey to the Continent. We know not what " cantrip sleight " was cast upon liim at Rome or Madrid, but, as to us it seems, he went there one of Nature's most accomplished votaries, and returned, comparatively speaking — for genius still shines in his least successful works — an eclectic imitator of painters, especially perhaps of Rembrandt, one of the greatest of his tribe, but as dangerous a model as artist can select. With such guidance, some of his pictures, the Cotter's Saturday Night, for instance, of last year's exhibition, is little better than a study in one colour, and that colour after all as little like the rich brown of Rembrandt, as General Wolfe's smallclothes in West's picture are like the crimson vestments of a Titian cardinal. That Sir 13. Wilkie was ever attracted to portrait-painting by the lucrative considerations which divert so much talent into that channel, we do not for a moment suspect. That caprice should have led him to batten on that field, we hold to be a national misfortune. Of all the portraits we have seen by him, we know but of three which we can contemplate with patience — those of Lord Tankerville and the late Lord Kelly, and the striking like- ness of two sheathed swords in the small picture of the Duke of York. We speak thus freely of what we consider a misapplica- tion of powers of the first order, because we can do so without fear of prejudice either to the fortunes or character of one whose reputation is established on great achievements. Aware, as we are, that Sir D. Wilkie has suffered much from ill health, and that the quantityof his works has probably been much restrained by that circumstance, we should have been utterly silent if we believed that the change wliich we lament in their quality were attributable to that or any cause beyond the artist's control. We see no signs of decay of power, but every indication of an experimental but deliberate change of system. The part we endeavour to support is rather that of Molifere's old woman than of the Archbishop of Grenada's secretary. If we venture thus to speak of Sir D. Wilkie, what can we say of him who some thirty-five years since painted the sea-piece I 2 '11 IIG ART AND ARTISTS IN ENGLAND. ESHAY IV. which liung as a companio". to one of Van de Velde's best works in last year's exliibition of old masters at the British Institution ? Is it possible that the painter of this picture, of the Italian land- scape in Lord Yarborough's possession, which Wilson never ex- ceeded, and of other works which might be cited, can be tlie perpetrator of those strange patches of clu-ome, ultramarine, and whiting, which Mr. Turner is wont to exhibit in these days? That tliese extravagancies have their admirers (purchasers \vo. believe they have few), especially among professional men, we are well aware, and believe that none but artists can fully appre- ciate the difficulties which this Paganini of the pallette deals with — and overcomes, but after a fashion which makes us devoutly say, with Dr. Johnson, we wish the triumph were impossible. We are also much inclined to believe that as mucli labour, mental at least, is lavished on such works as on his earlier and most admirable performances ; that the exertion of painting the ebullition of cotton, which Mr. Turner was pleased to call an avalanche last year, was as great as would be required for the representation of something in rerum naturd ; that the orange-coloured boat in a pictiu-e lately in the British Gallery, or the strange phantom of a three-decker in his Battle of Trafalgar, cost him as much trouble as the fishing-vessels in the Bridgewater Gallery. We doubt whether Sir D. Wilkie's apparently least-finished pictures do not involve as much labour and contrivance as those which made him the rival of Ostade, in every quality but that of warmth, and far superior in moral and intellectual respects to either Ostade or Tan Steen, and we can but lament over a perversion of powers, in themselves unim- paired, which every succeeding exhibition forbids us to believe is accidental or attribut«,ble to any rational cause or motive. Wlien such are the examples set to younger men by th'^ir most dis- tinguished elders, it is the less surprising that the ma&s of our artists should afford such constant instances of the struggle for effect, the search for new and eccentric paths to success, the scorn of labour and finish, which never yet led to excellence, and which annually disfigure the walls of our exhibition-rooms. There are, doubtless, names to be excepted from any such sweeping condem- nation. Stanfield, Calcott, and Landseer will occur as such to every one. We tremble to enter on the invidious task of speci- fying further exceptions. Fielding in describing his Sophia Essay IV. BRITISH ARTISTS. 117 desires his reader to attribute to her the attractiuns ot the lady of that reader's own affections ; we wish each of ours to consider liis own favourite artist as one of those whom our limits forbid us to enumerate. For the honour of America, however, we must have the elegant and thoughtful Leslie — and, for the honour of Scotland, we must name Sir Walter Scott's friend and favourite, William Allan. His Circassian Captives and his pictures of National History fully justify the poet's predilection. The grandeur and originality of Mr. Martin's conceptions, the Oriental magnificence of his architectural designs, and the magi- cal execution of his distances, plead forgiveness for that unfortu- nate deficiencv in anatomical design which appears whenever his ficrures exceed the fraction of an inch in their dimensions. We wish he coidd design one man as well as he does a million. Genius and profuse fertility non^ can deny to Maclise. We could cut fifty cabinet pictures, many of them exquisitely beautiful, out of one of his larger works, which as a whole displeases us. The Basing Hall of the younger Landseer was a passport to academical honours wliich public appreciation has ratified. Etty, Collins, Eastlake, require no comment. Others may adduce other favourite exceptions, and we gainsay them not. Many more artists may be cited with whom talent is in various shapes associated, but there are few indeed of whom a fair critic, imbued with no more fastidiousness than belongs to decent know- ledge and rational admiration of ancient art, would pronounce that the talent had been effectually brought into action. If there be one painter of our own time who deserves praise for the example of labour united with genius, it is ]\Ir. Landseer. In his principal department he can hardly be said to have a rival, ancient or modern : even Snyders fails in the comparison ; and Eubens has not done enough in this way for us to dwell upon — though undoubtedly his Spanish Hunt, in Bath House, is a thing per se. To the power of expression which he shows in his pictures of the brute creation, Mr. L. adds a felicity and truth in the imitation of surface and texture which few have equalled of any school or country ; but, above all, the patronage and ready sale which such qualities have secured to liim have not rendered him careless, hasty, or slovenly, and every succeeding work appears to us more conscientiously elaborated than its predecessor. Few will controvert the remark applied by Mr. Waagen to ■(U ■ Mil J i 118 ART AND ARTISTS IN ENGLAND. E88AY IV. the exhibition of Somerset House of the year 1836, — that of the higher order of lustorical painting it contained no specimen. With the exception perhaps of Sir D. WUkie's John Knox, we remember but little reason for not extending this remark gene- rally to the exhibitions within our recollection. At all events, historical painting is certainly at its lowest ebb in this country. Many reasons are assigned for the fact by those who admit and lament it. Some attribute it to the existence of an academy ; others, such as Mr. Stanley, the auctioneer, an intelligent wit- ness before the House of Commons Committee, to the want of encouragement and taste in patrons. If these were the true and only causes of the deficiency, the remedy would be obvious. Mr. Hume would demolish the actidemy, and charge nothing for the operation ; and the Chancellor of the Exchequer may raise Michael Angelos by an annual grant. We believe the cause to be different, and not removable by either of these simples. England, in its habits, its people, its faces, its costume, is essen- tially unpicturesque. The eye of its inhabitant is not familiar- ised with forms and combinations, such as historical painting requires. We suspect there is no remedy for this. Excellent imitations of Italian masters may jfrom time to time occur, but we do not anticipate that the time will ever arrive when the class of art, tlie absence of which is so much lamented, will flourish as an indigenous product of our soil. Heaven has cast our lot in a land where Michael Angelo would have been a master-builder, Kaphael a fashionable portrait-painter with a sky-blue watch-ribbon at liis button-hole, and Lionardo a civil engineer in great practice, annually baited before raiboad com- mittees by Messrs. Austen and Talbot. In speaking thus of historical painting and its prospects we wish to be understood as intending more especially, though not exclusively, to designate that class of works which, from dimensions as well as style and subject, are rather ornaments for the temple and the palace than the cabinet of the private individual. Strictly speaking, it is certainly not necessary that an historical subject, sacred or profane, should be treated on a scale which should make it, like the Vicar of Wakefield's family picture, too large for admission into the latter. The cabinet works of Raphael, the three Marys at Castle Howard, Correggio's Christ in the Garden, could derive little increase of dignity and none of expression by K88AY IV. PUBLIC PATRONAGE. 119 kl, the three any ej^pansion of their dimensions. Ic must, however, be re- membered that the painters of such works were masters of tlieir art upon its largest scale, and that the hands whicli elaborated these miniature illustrations of grace, beauty, and expression, could sweep the walls of the Vatican, the ceilings of the Farnese, and the cupolas of Parma with a more rapid pencil and a fuller brush. We suspect that the one class of works cannot exist in entire independence of the other, and that great excellence in design will seldom, if ever, be attained under circumstances, and in a condition of society, which prevent its professors from cultivating the grander course of study and practice pursued by nearly all the gieat masters of Italy. With the exception . perhaps of Poussin, we recollect at the moment none whose claims to that character are not established on works either colossal or of the full dimensions of life. We have reason to think that the truth and importance of this theory are felt by most artists, and that there is a general desire on the part of men, conscious of talent, to work on a large scale, which is only checked by the notorious fact that in this country there is for many and obvious reasons no market for the large commodity. Patronage on the part of individuals being practically out of the question, the next consideration is, whether, in accordance with the suggestions of Mr. Waagen and many othei-s, it can be afforded by the public. Public encouragement to the arts has, generally speaking, been derived from two distinct sources. The first and most prevalent has been the influence of religious feeling brought into action by Catholicism. That source of encouragement and inspiration to the artist is neutralised in this country. Apart from this, as well as in concert with it, encou- ragement has been often supplied by the depositaries of public power. If, however, Ave investigate instances, we shall perhaps find that, where the advance of art can be traced to such adven- titious aid, it was usually afforded by individuals in high station, whom lucky accident had invested not only with taste for the beautiful, but with tolerably uncontrolled means of gratifying it : — by kings and princes who dipped ad libitum in the public piu'se, and not by ministers overloaded with business and bur- tliened with responsibilities, movers of estimates, and defenders of items — and stUl le«s by public assemblies, whose deliberations f :, I I, I v>! 120 ART AND ARTISTS IN ENGLAND. Essay IV. on such iiuitters were iiifluencod by heads, hearts, and under- standings of the capacity and temper of Mr. Joseph Hume. That a country so governed may be the most fortunate and flourishing on the face of the eartli, far be it from us to dispute ; but we venture respectfully to profess an oj)inion that the less its government has to 3ay to the fine arts the better. In this point of view, therefore, as well as for the other equally power- ful considerations we have mentioned, we are inclined to despair of the progi'ess of the English school in this direction. We do not, therefore, complain of the absence of " I^ast Suppers," or *' Battles of Constantino." We could be well content with less. AVhat we do complain of is, that the nature v/e have around us is misrepresented, that we have no Kuysdael for tiie gloom of our skies and the deep foliage of our woods, no Cuyp for our sunshine. We complain of the want of truth and repose, of the glare of contrasted colours, the struggle for effect, the ever- lasting attempt of man to improve on God's works, arguing the insane vanity of the sovereign who thought he could have somewhat improved the arrangement of the solar and sidereal system. Since the above observations were penned, adverting to the probabilities of the creation of a school of historical painting in this country, Mr. Hazlitt's clever treatise, Avritten for the * Encyclopaedia Britannica,' has come under our notice. We have read no work of that author with anything approaching to the same gTatiflcation : the fact is, that he had been educated for painting as a profession, and, though his pencil is said to have been a poor one, he certainly understood the subject well theoretically. The whole tendency of the treatise is to show that the perfection attained by all the great masters arose from the study of the nature which surrounded them, and not from that imagined improvement upon nature which has been called the ideal. Hear ]\Ir. Hazlitt on the subject of the Elgin Marbles and Raphael : — " The great works of art at present extant, and which may be regarded as models of perfection in their several kinds, are the Greek statues, the pictures of the celebrated Italian masters, those of the Dutch and Flemish schools, to which we may add the comic productions of our own countryman Hogarth. These all stand unri- valled in the history of art ; and they owe their pre-eminence and Kbsay IV. HAZLITT ON THE ELGIN MAUBLKS. 121 perfection to one and the same principle, the immediate imitation of nature. This principle predominated equally in the classical forms of the antique, and in the grotescpie figures of Hogarth : the i)er- fection of art in each arose from the truth and identity of the imita- tion with the reality; the difference was in the suhjccts— there was none in the mode of imitation. Yet the advocates for the ideal system of art would persuade their disciples that the difference between Hogarth and the antique does not consist in the different forms of nature which they imitated, but in this, that the one is like and the other unlike nature. This is an error, the most detrimental perhaps of all others, both to the theory and practice of aii. As, however, the prejudice is very strong and general, and supported by the highest atithority, it will be necessary to go somewhat elabo- rately into the question, in order to produce an impressicm on the other side. What has given rise to the common notion of the ideal, as something quite distinct from actual nature, is probably the per- fection of the Greek statues. Not seeing among ourselves anything to correspond in beauty and grandeur, either with the features or form of the limbs in these exquisite remains of antiquity, it was an obvious but a supei-ficial conclusion that they must have been cre- ated from the idea existing in the artist's mind, and could not have been copied from anything existing in nature. The contrary, how- ever, is the fact. The general foiin, both of the face and fi<3cure, which we observe in the old statues, is not an ideal abstraction, is not a fanciful invention of the sculptor, biit is as completely local and national (though it happens to be more beautiful) as the figures on a Chinese screen, or a copperplate engraving of a negro chieftain in a book of travels. It will not be denied that there is a difference of physiognomy, as well as of complexion, in different races of men. The Greek form appears to have been naturally beautiful, and they had, besides, every advantage of climate, of dress, of exercise, and modes of life to improve it. The artist had also every facility afforded him in the study and knowledge of the human form ; and their religious and public institutions gave him every encouragement in the proseciition of this art. All these causes contributed to the perfection of these noble productions; but we should be inclined principally to attribute the superior symmetry of form common to the Greek statues, in the first place to the superior symmetry of the models in nature, and in the second to the more constant opportuni- ties for studying them. If we allow, also, for the superior genius of the people, we shall not be wrong ; but this superiority consisted in their peculiar susceptibility to the impressions of what is beau- tiful and grand in nature. It may be thought an objection to what has just been said, that the antique fixnires of animals, &c., are as ■ $1 122 ART AND ARTISTS IN ENGLAND. KWSAY IV. ^1 fiiio, and procood on tho same principles, cs thoir statues of gods or men. But all that follows from this seems to be, that their art had been perfected in the study of the human form, the test and proof of power and skill ; and was then transferred easily to the general imitation of all other objects, according to their true character)., prtj- portions, and appearances. As a confirmation of these remarks, tho antique portraits of individuals were often superior even to the per- sonifications of their gods. We think that no unprejudiced spectator of real taste can hesitate for a moment in preferring the head of the Antinous, for example, to that of tho Apollo. And in general it may bo laid down as a rule, that the most perfect of the antiques are the most simple, — those which affect the least action, or violence of passion, — which repose the most on natural beauty of form, and a certain expression of sweetness and dignity, that is, which remain most nearly in that state in which they could be copied from nature without straining the limbs or features of the individual, or racking the invention of the artist. This tendency of Greek art to repose has indeed been reproached with insipidity by those who had not a true feeling of beauty and sentiment. We, hcwever, prefer these models of habitual grace or internal grandeur to the violent dis- tortions of sufiering in the Laocoon, or even to the supercilious air of the Apollo. The Niobe, more than any other antique head, com- bines truth and beauty with deep passion. But here the passion is f xed, intense, habitual ; it is not a sudden or violent gesticulation, but a settled mould of features ; the grief it expresses is such as might almost turn the human countenance itself into marble. " In general, then, we would be understood to maintain that the beauty and grandeur so much admired in the Greek statues were not a voluntary fiction of the brain of the artist, but existed substan- tially in the forms from which they were copied, and by which the artist was surrounded. A striking authority in support of these observations, which has in some measure been lately discovered, is to be found in the Elgin Marbles, taken from the Acropolis at Athens, and supposed to be the works of the celebrated Phidias. The process of fastidious refinement and indefinite abstraction is certainly not visible there. The figures have all the ease, the sim- plicity, and variety of individual nature. Even the details of the subordinate pai-ts, the loose hanging folds in the skin, the veins under the belly, or on the sides of the horses, more or less swelled, as the animal is more or less in action, are given with scrupulous exactness. This is time nature and true art. In a word, these inva- luable remains of antiquity are precisely like casts taken from life. The ideal is not the preference of that which exists only in the mind to that which exists in nature ; but the preference of that which is KhSAY IV. IIAZLITT ON UAPHAEL'S WoKKS. 123 fine in nature to that which is loss so. Thoro is nothing fine in art but what \h t-iikon almost immediately, and juj it wore in the mii.sH, from what is finer in nature. Where there have been the finest models in nature, there have been the finest works of art. " As the Greek statups were copied from Greek forms, so Haffaelle's expressions wore taken from Italian faces ; and we have heard it remarked, that the women in the streets of Rome seom to have walked out of his pictures in the Vatican. " Sir Joshua Reynolds constantly refers to RaflFaello as the highest example in modem times (at least with one exception) of the grand or ideal style ; and yet he makes the essencse of that style to consist in the embodying of an abstract or general idea, formed in the mind of the artist by rejecting the peculiarities of individuals, and retain- ing only what is common to the species. Nothing can be more inconsistent than the style of Raifaelle with this definition. In his Cartoons, and in his groups in the Vatican, there is hardly a face or figure which is anything more than fine individual nature finely disposed and copied. The late Mr. Barry, who could not be sus- pected of prejudice on this side of the question, speaks thus of them : — ' In Rafiaelle's pictures (at the Vatican) of the Dispute of the Sacrament, and the School of Athens, one sees all the heads to be entirely copied from particular characters in nature, nearly proper for the persons and situations which he adapts them to ; and he seems to me only to add and take away what may answer his purpose in little parts, features, &c. ; conceiving, while he had the head before him, ideal characters and expressions, which he adapts these features and peculiarities of face to. This attention to the par- ticulai-8 which distinguish all the different faces, persons, and cha- racters, the one from the other, gives his pictures quite the verity and unaffected dignity of nature, which stamp the distinguishing differences betwixt one man's face and body and another's.' " — pp. 8-13. We may here remark, in confirmation of Hazlitt and Barry, that the head of the Joseph in the Vierge au Palmier of tlie Bridgewater Gallery is the likeness of Eaffaelle's friend Bra- mante, wliieh is reproduced in the School of Athens. We think that there never was a theory more strongly made out by instances than that of Mr. HazLitt ; but if it be a somid one, it increases our doubt and apprehension as to the possible success of any endeavours, public or private, to raise a plant to which the soil of this country is, in our opinion, manifestly un- congenial. The government, if Mr. Hume consent, may cover 'I ' k \\) ) H.,1 121 AUT AND AUTISTS IN ENGLAND. Khhay IV. tlu) walls of tho now TTouai^s of PjirlMmotit with subjects from our imtioiml luMtory. Loni.s Pliilippo is j^ivin^ this sort of cncoanip'- mont to nrt iit ^^'rsuilh's. Tiic result, wlicii nu'iisured by tli(( ytml or the mile, niuy l)e iim;;iiilieeiit, but wo doubt its success when measured by another standard. With respect, however, to tho humbler departments of art — humbler, but scarcely less deli|L,ditful as ehfmcnts of hunniu enjoyment and adjuncts of civilisation — wo can see no reast)n why thoy are what now we find them, and why they should remain so far in tho rear of Holland. Wo use this expression advisedly ; for, without any invidious specification of names, our best works, either of landscape or interior, are still far behind those of the Dutch school. They are often superior, at least equal, in qualities which depend on tho fancy and imagination, in choice of subject and composition, but this very superiority makes their defects of execution the more apparent. Take one first-class picture by any one of a dozen masters we could name from tho Queen's, the Bridgowater, or Sir Robert Peel's collec- tion, i)lace it in our exhibition, and let those who doubt or misunderstand us abide the result. The hackneyed cry of want of encouragement cannot be raised in answer to our complaint. We do not believe there ever existei a community in which the pecimiary stimulus was more laigely applied than in ours to the class of works now in question. Let any one who doubts visit the British Gallery two days after its opening, and count how many pictures of r n" fair pretension to merit remain unsold, and let it be remembered that the modern picture is not, like the old one, the subject either of a bidding at Christie's, or of bargain and abatement. The price is fixed for ready money, and the purchaser takes it at the artist's valuation. Whether the said artist be remunerated or not, the fact remains that the price is usually one which the purchaser cannot hope to recover, should caprice or necessity induce him thereafter to part with it. We can at this moment obtain for 50?. a picture Avhich cost 1000?. There are exceptions to tins. We should have no objec- tion, were we capitalists instead of reviewers, to purchase from Landseer and Calcott on mere speculation, at their usual prices, as fast as they could paint.* W^e have applied these observa- * We think it but just to mention tiiat the latter artist has suffered some injustice from accidental false report in the newspapers as to his demand in one Khhav IV. TFIK noYATi ACADKMY. 12.1 tions to tho British fijiUcry. The ruh's of thi* Ac'julomy cxhilii- tidU pvc lu) fuciUty f(»r the disposal of pictun's. Tlu; dipiity of timt society prevents tlie uinuteiir from ohtuiiiir.jif a ready know- ledge of th«5 terms on which ho may gratify his taste, or want of • it. From ex[)erienee, as well as theory, we are eonvinoerizes a vii'gin purity and undebauched vigour of mind and bot •. , he must shun every sensual stimulus, and banish, as far as possible, the influences of earthly passion, or else, like Sir E}>icure Mammon in Jonson's play, must submit to forfeit his chances of success. It is in vain that the advocates of a laxer creed would oppose to such theories the example of him in whose studio the Fornarina was domiciled. These enthusiasts are wor- shippers, indeed, of Raphael, but of the young pupil of Perugino, not of the painter of the Transfiguration. If it be true, as we have heard, that doctrines such as these have practical influence on the lives and habits of men in the prime of life, the fact is curious and striking ; and, for our own part, we are not disposed to censure the theory till we have better means than at present we possess of estimating the results. Count Raczynski, in his Introduction, mentions Thorwaldsen as one of four great men who have principally contributed to the opening the new (era of the arts in Germany. That country mi ]m he Essay IV. THOllWALDSEN AND CANOVA. 131 may acknowledge hira as the leader in tlie art of sculpture, but his influence has not been confined to its limits. In our appre- hension the services he has rendered to art as the leader of his own school have been scarcely equal to those which he has per- formed as the rival and antidote to Canova. We shall, pernaps, startle the numerous admirers of the latter by the expression of an opinion that no influence except that of David has been in our time more dangerous than that wliich he exerted, and that, if the effect of it was less extensively pernicious than in the case of the painter, the escape may be mainly attributed to Thorwaldsen. In the manipulation of marble, and in the finished effect produced by the last touches of the chisel, Canova far ex- ceiled all liis contemporaries. These qualities, aided by the influence of a pure and amiable private character, placed hira at the head of an host of admirers ; but the direction of his taste was essentially vicious. From his early work of Dasdalus and Icarus, wliich might pass for a group of the elder Vestris and his son dressing for rehearsal, down to his Hebe, his inspiration appears to us to have been drawn at least as much from the French opera as from the Vatican or the Tribune. To this theory there are doubtless exceptions, and the principal among them, perhaps the Piet&, the last he modelled, but which he did not live to execute in marble. Against this divergence from the true standard Thor- waldsen appeai-s to us on the other hand to have opposed the force of his Icelandic shoulders, and to have compensated by the example of a purer and grander style for any trifling inferiority in the humbler department of elaborate execution. The long list of collections visited by Mr. Waagen proves the diligence with which he availed himself of his opportunities. We see no reason to question the general soundness and good sense of his criticisms; and his nomenclature, wliich, as may be ex- pected, especially in the case of provincial collections, frequently differs from that of the catalogue, is often worthy the attention of those who wish to be correct in such matters, and are unwill- ing invariably to ascribe the work of the follower of any particular school to its leader. H-is observations on this point, and on the minuter features of pictures which affect the questions of their condition and authenticity, may have interest, in particular in- stances, for proprietors and visitors; beyond tliis, we cannot perceive that liis labours have much value, or, indeed, any de- K 2 132 ART AND ARTISTS IN ENGLAND. Essay IV. E!^ li, finite purpose in which the public is concerned. His work is almost as diifuse as a catalogue, but far too incomplete to serve the ordinary purposes of one to succeeding travellers, who can surely derive little advantage from such items as these, which may be selected ad libitum : — " J. Ruysdael— a rude country, thickly grown with trees, in which a brook forms a waterfall ; very carefully executed." And— " Baekhuysen — dark clouds cast their shadows over the sea, which is running very high, and is covered with several ships. Far more true than usual ; very harmonious in the cool tone, and of admirable eflfect." It seems to us that annotations of this description, unaccompa- nied by the usual appliances for identification and accurate re- ference; can have value for none but the author, who may find them most us'"''il for refreshing his own memory, but has no pretence for e; xptying the note-book that contains them on the heads of the public. Neither do we think that Mr. Waagen has been particularly successful in directing the attention of his readers to the works of principal merit and interest in the collec- tions he visited. I'or this we hardly blame liim. Criticism has no method of algebraical notation by which relative value can be strictly calculated and recorded. To make amends for this deficiency, his pages, at least, have the negative and rare merit of being free from the cant of afi jcted enthusiasm, and vapid attempts at descriptive eloquence. Mr. Waagen's provincial excursion comprised a triangle, of which the base extended from London to Bath, and the apex was Castle Howard. In the performance of a journey of this extent, without a companion, his spirits seem to have been sup- ported by minor aids, extrinsic to the numerous objects of curiosity which attracted him to tho undertaking. Few foreigners have given so favourable a report of the appliances of the English kitchen, which often, on the contrary, fall under the severest lash of the continental tourist. Not only the turtle of Blackwall, and the grouse of Chatsworth, but the mutton-chops of the road-side inn, obtain his warm approbation ; and, what we confess we have rarely been so fortunate as to meet with on this side of the Irish Channel — co| P. Essay IV. DINNER AT COKSHAM HOUSE. 133 " potatoes of the best kind, so boiled as to manifest all the valuable liualities with which nature has endowed them." At Corsham House lie partakes of the Sunday dinner of the courteous and excellent lady who officiates as guardian to Mr. P. Methuen's extensive collection, and is in absolute raptures with lamb, apple-tart, and custard. " To give you an idea," says he to his friend at Berlin, " of a Sunday dinner among this class of people, I will tell you in what it consisted. First of all there was a joint of lamb admirably roasted — on which I must observe that the lambs in England do not, as with us, consist of hardly anything but skin and bone, but have, besides, plenty of tender and sound flesh and fine fat. As for vegetables, wo had the best potatoes and beans. After this came an apple-pie with custard ; to which a very delicate taste was imparted by the juice of some flower unknown to me. Gloucester cheese and very good ale concluded the whole." — vol. iii. pp. 8, 9. We hate a false conclusion like an unfilled can, and are propor- tionally satisfied with that of Mr. Waagen. There are many reasons why the lambs of England should have plenty of sound fat. We suspect, however, though the above passage gives us reviewers a most favourable impression of Mr. Methuen's esta- blishment, that it conveys a very inadequate idea of either a Sunday or week-day dinner among " this class of people ;" and that, if the good professor had condescended to initiate himself into the mysteries of the steward's room in some of the other mansions on his route, his professorial eyes would have been further opened, and other items have been recorded in his note- book, beside which, lamb, apple-tart, and ale, would cut a most contemptible figure. " This class of people, indeed !" " MaiTy, come up ! no more people than yourself, Mr. Waagen !" Among the best specimens of Mr. Waagen's detailed criticism on an old subject we may mention his visit to the Cartoons at Hampton Court, where, by Ijord Howe's intervention, he enjoyed the privilege of seeing these, and the other objects of art in that palace, at his leisure, instead of being goaded onward, amid an herd of bleating cockneys, by an inexorable dro-er. He, of course, notices the judicious arrangement by which these works, the most valuable which England possesses, enjoy the distinction of being lighted from below instead of from above, like vulgar 134 ART AND ARTISTS IN ENGLAND. Essay IV. collections, and by which two of retired habits are allowed almost to shun observation altogether. Mr. Waagen's national enthusiasm for music will make some passages in his volumes interesting to its lovers. We, albeit of the profane, are tempted to extract the following criticism on Kubini, arising out of that professor's performance at the Concert of Ancient Music. If the attorney-general be moved to prosecute Mr. Waagen for a libel, or worse, we are ready to share the costs and damages in case of conviction. •' I was extremely desirous to hear, for the first time, the cele- brated Malibran, and the first tenor singer, Eubini. My expecta- tions of the latter were satisfied only in part. His voice certainly has an extraordinary charm ; it combines great force with melting softness ; and is so highly cultivated that it most delicately marks the variations even in pianissimo. But his mode of executing Mozari's two celebrated airs, ' II mio Tesoro ' and ' Diess Bildniss ist bezaubornd schiin,' in an Italian translation, could not please anybody who is familiar with the spirit of Mozart's music. Without paying the slightest attention to the sense of the words, a violent forcing of the tone was succeeded at once by a scarcely audible, murmuring pianissimo — so that the enchanting flow, the peculiar blending, of the melody, were wholly lost. It was as if one would attempt to copy a picture of Correggio by putting white close to black ; whereas, the charm of such a work is, that these extremes are never close to each other, but that the whole is connected by a series of insensible gradations." We have mentioned the gratification we have experienced from the perusal of Mr. Hazlitt's essay ; we must add a similar testi- mony in favour of his fellow-labourer, Mr. Haydon. His treatise seems to us the result of study and observation extensive and profound. Some evidence of these qualities was necessary to give weight and authority to the freedom and decision of his style of criticism. We recommend to our readers a very inge- nious theory on a passage of Pliny which has puzzled all com- mentators — the anecdote of the visit of Apelles to the studio of Protogenes (p. 107) ; and which seems to us to offer as rational a solution of the difficulty as, at this distance of time, can be sup- plied. His opinions on the subject of our own, and all other pos- sible academies, are well known ; and liis indignation against them in this treatise occupies fewer of its pages than we should have Essay IV. ^ed almost aake some 5, albeit of iticism on le Concert I prosecute e the costs ), the cele- [y expecta- le certainly ith melting itely marks ■ executing )8S Bildniss not please 5. Without 8, a violent )ly audible, be peculiar one would te close to |e extremes ected by a meed from lilar testi- [is treatise ?nsive and ;essary to Ion of his rery inge- all com- studio of rational |in be sup- )ther pos- ^inst them )uld have Essay IV. IIAYDON. 135 expected. We cannot controvert the fact that few men of emi- nence have been formed by arademiea ; nor can we, at the same time, understand why or how sterling genius and talent should suffer itself to be depressed by any circumstances incident to the existence of an academy. Having under review this volume of Mr. Haydon, we should apologise for not Iiaving sooner noticed as an artist the painter of the Judgment of Solomon, of which, were we to say that it is superior to any contemporary English picture on a sacred subject, he would hardly take the assertion as a compliment. Few painters have been more unequal, and few we fear less fortunate ; but his talents have been recognised by the most illustrious of liia contemporaries in other departments — and the enthusiastic eulogies of Wordsworth in particular will have due weight hereafter.* While hastening to our conclusion, the opening of the first Exhibition in Trafalgar-square interrupts us with matter for com- ment — which might well delay us longer than most readers would approve of. Whether it affords us any reason for modifying our observations on the two great artists against whose present system we have taken up our humble but sincere testimony, we leave to the learned to decide. If such should be disposed to tliink that Sir D. Wilkie's Queen in Council only corroborates our criticism, we have no fear of tlieir drawing a contrary con- clusion from the lady whom Mr. Turner is pleased to call Phryne. We have been, nevertheless, gratified by various features in tlie display of 1838 ; and especially, it affords more promise on the part of some of the younger artists than many of its predecessors. * The following sonnet ou 'Buonaparte at St. Helena/ in Sir R. Peel's collec- tion, is not in our copy of Wordsworth's poems, and may be new to many of our readers : — H.VVDON ! let worthier judges praise the skill Here by thy pencil shown, in truth of lines And charm of colours : T applaud those signs Of thought that give the true poetic thrill — That uuincumber'd whole of blani*. ar.d still — Sky without cloud— ocean without a wave ; And the one man that laboured to enslave The world, sole standing high on the bare bill — Back turned, ai'nis folded — the uuapparent fice Tinged (we may fancy) in this dreary place, With lisb'u reflected from the invisible sun - 5et, itke his fortunes; but not set for aye Like them : the unguilty power pursues his way, And before Him doth dawn perpetual run. 136 ART AND ARTISTS IN ENGLAND. Ebsay IV. 1 ' , We have complained of the want of English Cuyps and Ruys- daels — meaning thereby, of accomplished and faithful imitators of the features of English landscape. If any one be likely to rebuke us for this complaint it is Mr. Lee — who indeed bids fair to become the Hobbema of his time and country. The Young Giotto of Mr. Simpson, and the Italian Inn of Mr. Cope, give us the greater pleasure, inasmuch as we were not familiar with the names of these two artists. We know not whether any bye-law of the Academy forbids that body to reject works pre- sented for admission by its own members — if so, there are pic- tures, statues, and busts in this exhibition which indicate an urgent necessity for the repeal of the provision. Since, however, we have alluded at all to sculpture, we must be allowed to express our heartfelt admiration of one article in that depart- ment — the Paolo and Francesca of the younger Westmacott. The most beautiful Episode of Dante never had such an inter- preter and illustrator as it has found in this most graceful and touching relievo — a work which at once places Mr. W. in the highest rank of his profession. UlS v.— LIFE OF BLUCHER. From the Quarterly Review, Seitemher, 1842." The unjust apportionment of present and posthumous fame to military eminence has often been the subject of grave remon- strance on the part of the aspirants to civil and literary dis- tinction. Helvetius, in his work * Sur I'Esprit,' once famous, now little read, attempts the solution of this standing riddle in human affairs : — "If we can in any instance imagine that we perceive a rallying point for the general esteem of mankind — if, for example, the mili- tary be considered among all nations the first of sciences — the reason is, that the great captain is in nearly all countries the man of greatest utility, at least up to the period of a convention for general peace. This peace once confirmed, a preference over the greatest captain in the world would unquestionably be given to men celebrated in science, law, literature, or the fine arts. From whence," says Hel- vetius, with an eye to the pervading theory of his fallacious treatise, " I conclude that the general interest is in every nation the only dispenser of its esteem ! " Unfortunately for the French sage, that which he calls esteem, which we should rather term renown, is indiscriminately enough bestowed upon the destroyers as well as the saviours of nations — upon the selfish aggrc ^or who amuses himself with the bloody game of foreign conquest, as well as upon the patriot who resists him. Philosophers may draw distinctions in the study, but Caesar will share the meed with Leonidas. To give a sounder solution of the evident fact — ^to investigate the principle on which society seems agreed to furnish the price for the combination ■ YartchalX Vorw'drts; oder Lehen, T laten, und Character des Fiirsten Blucher von Wahlstadt. Vou Dr. Ratishnick. ^Marshal Forwards ; or Life, Actions, and Character of Prince Blucher von WahUfadt.) Leipsig, 1836. i i;w T-irK OF ULtJciir: R. KSSAY V. Khsa U" of moral and pliysicnl qualities, essential to the composition of military (.'minenoo, would load na beyond our limits, if not beyond our doptli. So far, wo fear, Helvctius is ri<^lit, that till the millennium shall arrivti it will be vain to stru^' against the pc.Tvading tendencies in which the alleged abuse or igi mites'; and that the injured parties must still be content to look upon those whose trade it is to die, under the feelings with which a young clergyman at a county-ball beholds the lady of his affec- tions in active flirtation with a newly-arrived pair of epaulettes — feelings which the author of ' Hamilton's Bawn ' has wedded to immortal doggrel. For the moment wo can offer them no con- solation ; for we camiot enter on tho discussion of the manifold circumstances which might bo enumerat(Kl as a set-oflf to tho advantages enjoyed by the soldier during a lease of existence, of which tho tenure is as uncertain as the conditions are severe. To those, however, who moan over the posthumous part of the reward, which Falstaff in his slirewder philosophy rated so low, Ave might suggest as matter of reflection that the number of those who are destined to enjoy it is so limited as to leave ami)le room for competitors of all classes, whether poets, philosophers, statesmen, or writers of novels in three volumes, or of histories in a dozen. Survey the military annals of Europe from the French Revolution : Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Russia, Belgium, have formed the vast theatre of one huge and con- tinuous scramble for such distinction. Every species of cotem- porary reward, from kingdoms down to the Guelphic order, has indeed been showered on the combatants ; but how many names will outlive their owners ? How many of tlie meteors will leave a track of light behind their rapid and explosive course ? Some half-dozen of all countries. We are speaking, be it remembered, of general celebrity, not of the just estimation in wliich the memory of individuals may be held in their own countries, or by tho scientific. Two of the mightiest, by land and sea, are our own. Russia, perhaps, may claim some duration for Suwaroif. In the case of France who but a decipherer of gazettes will trouble his head fifty years hence about any of Buonaparte's marshals ? The crisis of Valmy may ensure an historical notoriety to Dumouriez ; but no nurse will frighten children with his name or that of Moreau. There is something solid and unpretending about the reputation of the Archduke Charles, whi( the the to like wor four folio be who: It is nati K«flAY V. ins YOUTH. I'M) wliii'h, c'oiiplod with his writinps, will secnro him resi^ct from tlio ivviToi of times to como ; but the only iinmo connected witli the fT^eut wars of our own time, which we can add without scnipK^ to those of Buoiuipjirte, Wellington, Nelson, and Snwaroff, as likely to bo permanently one of the household words of the world, is that of a man longo intervallo inferior to three of the four — BlUcher. If wo are right in this supposition, it docs not follow that in respect of military skill and genius he can justly be ranked even with several of those lieutenants of Napoleon whom wo have ventured to condemn to comparative oblivion. It is rather on the moral ground of his identification with a great national movement, of which he was the ostensible header and representative, that he seems to us one of the legitimate " heirs of Fame." We have two lives of this commander before ns, of which, however, the one seems borrowed almost verbatim from the other. We shall ground our observations on the first which came int our hands, that of Dr. llaushnick. The Duke of Wellington received his first military education at a French college — a natural consequence of the deficiency of all appliances for that purjwse in England at the period of his youth. It is rather more singular that his Grace's illustrious comrade, whose enthusiastic devotion to the cause of Prussia formed the stimulus to his exploits and the basis of his repu- tation, should have borne his first arms against that country — the land, not indeed of his birth, but of his adoption. Gerhard Leberecht von Blucher was born in 1742 at Eostock, in Mecklenburgh-Schwerin, in which province his family had been established for some centuries, having given a bishop to Lubeck in the thirteenth. His father had retired from the military service of Hesse-Cassel upon a small landed inheritance. Three elder sons having been impartially, but at some expense out of scanty means, distributed among the Russian, Prussian, and Danish services, it was this gentleman's anxious desire to devote the two younger to the only other occupation to which the landed gentry of his day condescended, the cultivation of the soil. For this a simple home-education was deemed sufficient, and was all the parental resources could afford. In 1756 the Seven Years' War broke out, and to remove his sons from the temptation of military scenes, the father sent them to the care 140 TJFE OF nLUCHEll. Essay Y. ESSA^ "■I f.:i 'ever, prevailed, and on the 15th of March, 1813. Blucher's long /Stream was real- ized by finding himself at the liead of the Silesian army. We have dwelt, perhaps at some length, on the earlier portion of Blucher's career— as affording illustrations of his character from that part of his biography with which general readers are probably the least familiar. The subsequent incidents of his military life are so well known as to make summary revision superfluous. It is impossible, however, for any one, scientific or otherwise, to review the great struggle of 1813 and '14 with- out admitting that, if to the Emperor Alexander belonged the political influence, and to Schwarzenberg the address, /hich mainly kept together the discordant elements of the coalition, Bliicher was the fighting element which inspired the mass with a spirit of enterprise in action and endurance under defeat of which few coalitions have presented an example. In ordinary times, or with ordinary objects, Bliicher's character and disposi- tion would have ill fitted liim for acting with the subtle and jealous Russian, or the lukewarm Swede, to whom the Germans applied the weU-knc wn line from Schiller's Song of the BeU, " Ach ! ihm fehlt kein theures haupt." Neither the amiability of Schwarzenberg, nor the patient tact of Wellington, which neither Portuguese nor Spanish could exhaust, were natural to Bliicher; but for his two great purposes, the liberation of his country and the humiliation of France, he could assume both. Defeat indeed he suffered often: — ^to compare him with that great captain from whom throughout his cam- paigns in India and Europe no enemy ever carried off a gun and kept it would be preposterous. Few victories, however, have been more fairly won, to say nothing of their consequences, than the great battle of the Katzbach. No mere hussar inspired his troops with that sterling enthusiasm whicli could enable them to pursue every advantage and rally after every failure, which could retrieve Montmirail on the heights of Montmartre, and keep steadily to a programme of combined movement after Ligny. Bliicher must have possessed real and high skill as a tactician, though probably not as a strategist, to which, indeed, he does 150 LIFE OF BLUCIIKU. Essay V. EH^ inl not seem ever to have pretended. At the same time his supremo contempt of donger and constant recklessness of personal ex- posure had doubtless very much to do with his success. He posseased with Marmion and Napoleon the art " To win the hardy soldier's heart, Who loves a captain to obey, Boisterous as March, yet fresh as May." His jests, frequently of a description ill calculated for chaste ears, extorted giim smiles from lips black with the cartridge, and sent laughter through the column while grapesho*^^ was tearing its ranks. Wlien he checked his horse in the hottest cannonade to light his pipe at the linstock of the gunner, the piece was pro- bably not the worse served. Towards the close of the campaign in France the infirmities of age at one moment almost induced him to contemplate the abandonment of his command, and to retire into the Netherlands, but the spirit triumphed over the flesh, and, though unable to remain in the saddle for the last attack on Montmartre, he gave his orders with calmness and pre- cision from a carriage. His appearance on this occasion must have taxed the gravity of his staff, for, to protect his eyes, then in a state of violent inflammation, the grisly veteran had replaced his cocked-hat by a French lady's bonnet and veil. His health prevented him from sharing the triumphal entry of the sovereigns into Paris, and on the 2nd of April, 1814, he resigned the burthen of his military command. The peace of Paris by no means satiated his tliirst for the hu- miliation of France. After enjoying the reward for his services in the enthusiastic congratulations of London and Berlin, he divided for awhile his residence between the latter city and Breslau, at all times and in all places exhaling his discontent at the concessions of the allies. Unmeasured in his language, mix- ing freely in society of all classes, and venting his spleen on all diplomatists, but specially on Hardenberg, he became, without any personal object of aggrandizement or political ambition, but in the mere indulgence of his ill-humour, the nucleus of a little Fronde, calculated to offend without influencing the sovereign and his ministers. That Bliicher looked forward to another trial of strength between his countrymen and the French is evident, but it is hni pre the Khsay V. CAMl'AKiN OF ISlo. 151 liardly i)OSHibk' that at his ago ho shoiikl liavo fontomphitcd the jirobability of onco more in person diriicting tlie fortunes of the contest, and of at hist feeding fat tlie ancient grudge ho bore not only to Naj)oleon, but to tlie nation. His speeuhitions were probably more the offspring of his feelings than of any profound observation of the political state of Europe. A letter of the Duke of Wellington, however, to his brother Sir Henry VVel- lesley {Q-urwood, December 17th, 1814), shows that his views were shared by one whose calmer judgment and nearer observa- tion were not subject to such influences, and who had neither defeats to retrieve in his own person, nor insults io avenge in that of his country : — " I believe the truth to be, that the people of this coimtry (France) are so completely ruined by the revolution, and they are now suifer- ing so severely from the want of the plunder of the world, that they cannot go on without it ; and they cannot endure the prospect of a peaceable government. If that is the case, we should take care how we suffered the grand alliance to break up, and we ought to look to our alliance with the powers of the Peninsula as our sheet- anchor." Blucher might have long gone on smoking, gaming, and scold- ing, without interruption, if the great event had not occurred wliich restored him to his more legitimate vocation. The news of Napoleon's escape found him accidentally at Berlin. His first impulse was to call on the English ambassador, to twit him with the negligence of his countrymen : his next to exhibit himself in the principal street of the capital in his field-marshal's uniform, a significant hint to younger generals not to expect that he would concede to them his place in the approaching fray. His nomi- nation to that post of honour and danger soon ensued, and his old companion and adviser, Gneisenau, was once more at his side. The Duke of Wellington reached Brussels from Vienna on the 5th of April, 1815, and found Kleist in command of the Prussian force, for Blucher only arrived at Liege on the 17th. It appears from the Duke's letter to Lord Clancarty, of the 6th, that he found Kleist disposed to retire, in case of being attacked, behind Brussels, a plan which the Duke waimly opposed, in spite of his own opinion expressed in liis letter to Lord Bathurst, of the same date, of the insufficiency of the force at his disposal. From Bliicher's temper and turn of mind, as well as from the event, we 152 LIFE OF BLUCHER. Essay Y. I may infer that tho Diiko had little difficulty in recoramendinp to the former his own viows, based, no doubt, as much on political as military considerations, in favour of a position in advance of Brussels. From the Duke's letter to Lord Clancarty of the 10th of April, it appears that he contemplated, in the firat instance, taking the initiative by the end of that month or the beginning of May, at which period he conceived that the allies might tlirow into Franco a force of 270,000 men to be opposed by some 180,000 (Gitr- wood, xii. p. 297). We find, however, that, three days afterwards, his intelligence of Buonaparte's state of preparation had already led him to abandon this prospect. In enclosing a memorandum founded on his original ideas, he says : — "Since I Mrrote to your Lordship some important events have occurred in France, which will leave Napoleon's army more at his disposal than was expected at that time, and he has adopted mea- sures which will certainly tend to increase it at an early period. You will see by the enclosed papers that it is probable that the Due d'Angouleme will be obliged to quit France, and that Buonaparte, besides having called for the soldiers recently discharged, amounting as I understand to about 127,000, of which 100,000 may be deemed immediately disposable, has organised 200 battalions of Grenadiers of the National Guards. I imagine that the latter will not be a very formidable force ; but still numbers were too nearly equal, according to the estimate I gave you in my letter of the 10th, for me to think it advisable, under present circumstances, to attempt to caiTy into execution what is proposed in the enclosed memorandum." Tlie subsequent correspondence shows that neither the condi- tion of his own force nor that of his allies could have justified the experiment. The mutinous state of the Saxon troops might alone have been sufiicient to derange such a plan of action. Some officers indeed of both nations have been of opinion that it was from the beginning far more in the power of Napoleon than of the allies to take the aggressive course ; and that by crossing the frontier, which it is said he might have done with 40,000 men, very soon after his reinstalment in the Tuileries, he would have had more chances in his favour than he found in June. It is evident that, with all his exertions the Duke of Wellington at least had full occupation for the interval which elapsed in col- lecting and adjusting the component parts of an army which at iri.> cipti full pruj ovci well Nail the tho hav^ was I and of A ESHAY V. CAMI'AKiN OF 1«15. 153 at its best was far inferior to any ho had ooniinaiided in Eiiropo. His concMjKmdenco at onco sliows liis un('eaHin<; anxiety to anti- ripato the ofl'ensivo movement of the enemy, in whieli JilUehcT fully shared (see Gurwood, 2nd Juno, 1815), and justifies the prudence which forbach; any forward movement. It shows, more- over, that the dilKculties of his })osition were not confined to the well-known deficiencies and imperfections of liis army on whi(;h Napoleon so much relied, its raw and hetero}T;en«;ou8 composition, the absence of tlie flower of the English infantry, the refusal of the Portuguese, &c. Even the article of material, which it might have been supposed \Voolwi(!h would have supplied in profusion, was slowly and scantily doled out to his pressing remonstrances ; and instead of 150 British pieces, for wliich he applies on the Gth of April, we find him on the 2l8t in expectation of only 42, making up, with the German guns, some 84 pieces ; wliile he states, from the Prussian returns, that their corps on the Meuse are to take the field with 200, and their whole force with no less than (JOO. With respect to drivers, horses, the heavy artillery, pontoons, &c., his difficulties are shown to liave been equally embarrassing (see Ghirwood, 2l8t April, 1815). But in Pildition to all these lets and hindrances, it is evident that the Duke's scheme for offensive operations was throughout kept steadily dependent upon the movements of tfte allies on the Lower and Upper Rhine. Tliis is strikingly evident from a letter to Schwarzenberg, diiied 2nd of June, 1815,* and from the one of the same date wliich follows it to Sir Henry Wellesley.f Napoleon, however, took the game into his own hands, and played it, in the first instance at least, with a skill and energy worthy of his best days and reputation. It is probable that no extensive military operation was ever conducted to its issue, whatever that issue might be, without many derangements of the original conceptions of its leaders, arising from the casualties of the busy moment, the failure of despatches, * " Sous ces circonstanoes il esttrfes important que je sache aussitdt que poaaible quand vous pourrez commencer vob operations ; et de quelle nature elles seront, et vers quel terns nous pouvons atteudre que vous serez arrive 2i une hauteur quelconque, afin que je puisse commencer de ce c6t^-ci de maniere a avoir I'appui de V08 operations. Le Marechal Bliicher est prepare et trfes impatient de commencer ; mais je lui ai fait dire anjourd'hui qu'il me paraissait que nous ne pouviotis rien /aire jusqu'a ce que nous fussions certain du jour auquel vous cotnmeneeriez, et en general de vos idees sur vos operations." — Gurwood, xii. p. 4o7. t " The whole of Schwarzenberg's army will not be collected on the Upper Bhine till towards the 16th, at about whicli time I liope we sluM begin." — Chtrwood, xii, p. 438. 154 LIFE OF BLUCHER. Essay V. ■■\' tlio misconstruction of orders, the misdirection of columns, &c. I'lie operations now in question were certainly no exception to this rule on either side. As to Napoleon, if his own account of them he believed, few commanders in critical circumstances have been worse seconded, as far as prompt obedience and punctuality were concerned. If Ney and Grouchy are to be credited in their defence, no subordinates ever suffered more from tardy and con- tradictory orders on the part of their chief. Captain Pringle, in his excellent remarks on the campaign of 1815, published in the appendix to Sir Walter Scott's Life of Napoleon, truly observes that, in French military wo "ks, the reader never finds a French army beaten in the field without some plausible reason, or, as Las Casas terms it, a concurrence of unheard-of fatalities, to account for it. " Non nostrum tantas componere lites." To an ordinary reader Grouchy's defence of himself appears difficult to answer. It is evident that in this, as probably in every other similar trans- action, chance reigned arbiter over many important occurrences ; nor were such accidents confined to the French army and opera- tions. The English were not exempt ; and that the fate of the contest at Ligny on the 16th of June was seriously influenced by the absence of Bulow's corps, the fourth, is known to every one. In Plotho's very circumstantial account we find the fact men- tioned, that orders were forwarded to Bulow from Sombref, on the 15tli, which were expected to secure his junction for the next day. The despatch was sent to Hannut, where it was presumed that it would find his head-quarters established. These were still, however, at Liege, and the despatch, appearing to be of no consequence, unwichtig scheinend, lay at Hannut unopened, and was found there by Bulow only on his arrival at ten o'clock the next morning. We shall have a word or two more to say by and by as to the circumstances under wliich Blucher was brought into action at Ligny. That his infantry fought admirably against great odds on that occasion has never been disputed ; with respect to the cavalry and the artillery BlUcher expressed some dissatisfaction. What- ever were the merits of the position, it is clear that Napoleon was tasked to the utmost to wrest it before nightfall from the old warrior who held it. Few English narratives of the cam- paign have recorded the fact that it was visited by the Duke of Wellington shortly b-.^fore the commencement of the action, ou ESSAV V. LIGNY. 155 wliich occasion the two generals concerted in person their future measiu-es for mutual co-operation, in whatever mamier the first collision might end. The German accounts have not failed to record the interview, nor how the attention of the well-girded Prussians was drawn to the white neckcloth of the gi-eat com- mander, who, but for his cocked hat, with the cockade by its four colours bespeaking the field-marshal of four kingdoms — England, Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands — might have been taken for an English gentleman on his morning ride. We believe it to be the opinion of most Enghsh officers acquainted with the ground at Ligny, that the Duke under similar circum- stances would have defended it in a different manner from that adopted by the Prussians, for that the locality admitted of a dis- position which would have less exposed the masses not imme- diately engaged to the murderous fire of the French artillery.* We have heard that Gneisenau was sensible of the objections to this feature in his own arrangements, but had adopted his course from knowledge and experience of the habits and morale of his own troops, who, as he is reported to have expressed himself, liked to see the enemy. In illustration of the Duke of Wel- lington's opposite practice in this particular, we are tempted to quote the following passage from a French military writer. It is from an article in the ' Bulletin Universelle des Sciences ' for 1825, on a history of the Russian expedition, by the ]\[arquis de Chambray : — " The author," says the reviewer, " compares the English and French methods of fighting, and the operations of the generals Mas- sena and Wellington in 1811, Among the remarkable propositions to which the author is led by the results of this inquiry, we select the following for notice : — To defend a height, the English infantry did not crown the crest, after the practice of the infantry of other nations. Massena was repulsed, because the English employed for the defence of the heights they occupied the manosuvre I have spoken of before (that of placing themselves some fifty paces in rear of the crest, and leaving only tirailleurs on the slope), which is preferable to that hitherto in use." " This manner of defending heights," continues the reviewer, " is not new. It has been some- times employed, but it had been adopted generally by the English * This view ia borne ovit by the roiiiiirks of a very able Prussian critic of the campaign, the late General Claueowitz. ili-W. I 156 LIFE OF BLUCHER. Essay V during the Spanish war. It had even been taught their troops in lime of peace. The infantry of other nations places itself usually on the crest in sight of the assailant. French infantry remains rarely on the defensive ; and when it has overthrown the enemy, pursues with such impetuosity as not always to presei'vt its ranks. Hence the reverses it has suffered on some of the occasions, which are few, when it has defended heights. For on most occasions, such as Corunna, Busaco, Fuentes de Onoro, and Albuera, it attacked." There is doubtless great difference between the local features of Ligny and Busaco, between a Flemish slope and a Portuguese sierra, and we are aware that the " brunt of the former action lay in the low villages of Ligny " and St. Amand ; but the principle of non-exposure is the same. It has been stated that, when Napoleon mounted his horse on the morning of the 18th, seeing few signs of the British force in his front, he began to vent his disappointment at their presumed escape, but that Foy, who had much Peninsular experience, warned him not to rely on appear- ances. " Wellington," he said, " never shows his troops. A patrole of dragoons will soon ascertain the fact, but, if he is yonder, I warn your Majesty que Vinfanterie Anglaise en duel est le diahle" The incident of BlUcher's fall under his expiring horse at Ligny, and of the memorable act of devotion on the part of his aide-de-camp, is well known. Modem warfare could probably hardly furnish a parallel case, and Froissart has recorded no more chivalrous exploit than that of Nostitz. From the Prussian accounts of this cavalry charge, at the head of which Blticher had thus exposed his person in vain, we coUect that it was repulsed, not at the sword-point, but by the carbine fire of the French cavalry, who stood firm in their ranks. This we imagine our officers would consider as rather an old-fashioned proceeding, and worthy of the cuirassiei's of the sixteenth rather than of the present century. We find, however, that same method was again resorted to with success by the French cavalry under Grouchy in an affair near Namur on the 19th. The victory remained with Napoleon; but Bliicher, instead of obliging liim by retiring on Namur, clung with tenacity to his communications with the English, and, exactly as had been agreed upon, directed liis retreat on Wavres. No beaten army ever rallied quicker or to better purpose. Bliicher was conveyed ESSA to ordf the linii Essay V. CAMPAIGN OF 181.-. 157 to a cottage, whence he dictated his despatches and issued his orders, unshaken in spirit, though sorely bruised in body. While the surgeon was rubbing his bruises he asked the nature of the liniment, and, being told it was brandy, stated his opinion that an internal application would be far more efficacious. This was applied in the mitigated shape of champagne ; and he said to the messenger who was on the point of departure with his despatch, " Tell His Majesty das ich hdtte kalt nachgetrunken, and that aU will do well." His order of the day for the 17th, after some reflections on the conduct of the cavalry and artillery, concluded with these words : — " I shall lead you again against the enemy ; we shall beat him, for we must." We find in the ' Life of Napoleon,' published in the Family Library, a story of a second interview between the Duke and Bliicher on the 17th, stated as a fact well known to many supe- rior officers in the Netherlands. The author and his informants, however superior, are mistaken. The Duke, in the early part of the 17th, had enough to do to conduct his unexampled retreat to Wa'*:8rloo, from before Napoleon's united force and superior cavalry — a movement which but for the trifling affair of Genappe would have been accomplished without the loss of a man. He remained at Quatre Bras so occupied till half-past one p.m., and then retired by the high road to the field of next day's battle, which he thoroughly examined, and was proceeding to dinner at Waterloo when he was overtaken by an aide-de-camp of Lord Anglesey, with the intelligence that the 7th hussars had been engaged with the French lancers, and that the enemy was press- ing his rear. He immediately returned to the field, and remained on the ground till dark. Bliicher, on the other hand, was forced to keep his bed during this day. The 18th, however, saw liim again in the saddle, at the head of Bulow's newly-arrived division, urging its onward course, and his own, like Milton's griffin through the wilderness, cheering the march-worn troops till the defile of St. Lambert rang to his old war-cry and sobriquet " Forwards " — reminding them of the rain which had spared so much powder at the Katzbach, and telling them of the promise of assistance which he stood pledged to redeem to the English. Nobly indeed was that promise re- deemed, and the utter ruin of the French army is to be ascribed to that assistance. Ungrateful we should be not to acknowledge i* 158 LIFE OF BLUCHER. Essay V. if' such service, tliougli we cannot subscribe to the theories, whether French or Prussian, which give it the full merit of saving from destruction an army which had, while as yet unsupported, re- pulsed every attack and annihilated the French cavalry. We know that no thought of so disastrous a result crossed tLe minds of those about the Duke's person, and that officers of his staff, who left the field wounded towards the close of the action, did so with no other feeling of anxiety than for the personal safety of him they left behind. His servants, who, in the village of Waterloo, had the opportunity of witnessing the incidents of the rear of such a battle — which try the nerves more than those of the fray itself — knew their master well. The manoouvres of the kitchen were conducted with as much precision as those of the Foot-Guards at St. James's. Keign what confusion there might in the avenue of Soigries, there was none in the service of the Duke's table, and the honour of the Vattel of his establishment was preserved free from stain as his own. That he ever returned to eat the dinner so prepared was cer- tainly not due to any avoidance of personal exposure on his own part. Of Buonaparte's conduct in that respect on this his last field-day we have seen no account on which we could rely. We have no doubt of his sang-froid under fire ; but whether Wa- terloo witnessed its conspicuous display we are ignorant. On divers celebrated occasions he is known to have abundantly ex- posed himself; but in general he would seem fo have been as free as our own commander from the vulgar ostentation of courting danger, and in most of his greater battles there was little call for it. We have heard that Bertrand, at St. Helena, set much store by an opera-glass through which Napoleon had discovered the English general at Waterloo. W^e believe tliat neither the Duke nor his staff succeeded at any moment of the action in identifying the person or exact position of his great opponent, though few great battles have brought rival leaders so near. That our chief was everywhere except in the rear is well known ; and the casualties among his own staff, of whom many were liit at his side, bespeak the hot service he went througli. Danger pursued him to the last. After sixteen hours in the saddle, he was alighting at his own quarters, when the spirited animal, long afterwards a pensioner in the paddocks of Strath- fieldsaye, as if conscious of the termination of his labours, jerked Essay V. WATER I.OO. IDO out his heels in a fashion wliich a slight change of direction might have made fatal +o his late rider. Such an exploit would have rendered poor Copenhagen rather more famous than the little gentleman in black velvet, so often toasted in our Jacobite revels of the last century. That the two allied nations should be altogether agreed as to the apportionment of the glory of the day was not to be expected. It is clear, to the lasting honour of both, that, what- ever feelings may have since grown up on this subject, none interfered for a moment with the cordiality of their subsequent operations. Bliicher had none of the jealousies to contend with which had frequently embarrassed him when acting with Rus- sians and Swedes ; and ^nj difficulties arising out of the diverg- ing lines of communication with their resources, only served to show th" good will and determination with which they were met by the commanders of the two armies. The following passage from a Prussian pen will show that just national pride is not always inconsistent with candour : — " Upon the question, who really fought and won the battle of the 18th, no discussion, much less contention, ought to have arisen. Without in the slightest degree impeaching the just share of Prussia in the victory, or losing sight for a moment of the fact that she bore a great share of the danger, and drew much of it from her allies and upon herself at a decisive moment, no unprejudiced peison can con- ceal from himself that the honour of the day is due to the Anglo- Netherlandish army, and to the measures of its great leader. The struggle of Mount St. Jean was conducted with an obstinacy, ability, and foresight of which history affords few examples. The great loss of the English also speaks the merit of their sei-vices. More than 700 officers, among them the first of their army, whether in rank or merit, and upwards of 10,000 soldiers, fell or retired wounded from the field."* We may here remai'k, in justice to the Prussians, that their loss on the 18th has been greatly underrated by many writers. Pringle, among others, coimts it at 700 men. The Pnissian returns rio given in Plotho's Appendix if that of killed and wounded for the 4th corps alone shows a loss of 5000, of which * Qeschichte des Preussischen Staates, 1763-1815. Frankfort, 1820, Vol. iii., p. :$74. t War of the Allied Powers, &c. Berlin, 1818. IGO LIFE OF BLUCHER. Essay V. ESSA h^,' UJ 1250 were killed. This bloody struggle occurred principally in the village of Planchenoit, the capture of which is compared by the Prussians with that of Blenheim in the battle of Hochstett. It is a part of the action which has been little noticed, but was creditable alike to French and Prussians. The village was stormed and retaken three times. We think that the entire loss of the Prussian army on the 18th could hardly have been less than 7000, at which their authorities compute it. Especial credit is due to Thielman, who, during the day of the 18 th, resisted the obstinate endeavours of Grouchy's far superior force to cross the Dyle at Wavres. Grouchy, indeed, eflfected towards evening the passage of that river at Limales, but too late for his purpose of dividing the Prussian army, or forcing Bliicher to concentrate his force and abandon his allies. We know not which most to admire, the determination of Bliicher to redeem his pledge of succour to Wellington, or the gallantry with which Thielman enabled Bliicher to carry this resolution mto effect, protecting at once the flank and rear of the Prussian army, guarding one road of direct access to Brussels itself, and prevent- ing Grouchy from marching to the assistance of Napoleon. This struggle, so unequal in point of numbers, was continued for some hours on the 19th. It was not till Vandamme had advanced on the direct road to Brussels, as far as Rossiferes, on the verge of the wood of Soignies, thereby turning the right flank of Thielman, that the latter abandoned the defence of Wavres, and began an orderly retreat on Louvain. He had pre- viously learned the extent of the success of the allies on the 18th, and must have been easy as to the result of any further advance of Grouchy. The news reached the Frenchman a little later, and he forthwith commenced a retreat, which, perhaps, in its execution did him even more honour than his previous ex- ploits. The above remarks, which we think calculated to render bare justice to the conduct of our Prussian allies, are founded on the minute and authentic official reports of Plotho's fourth volume. That some caution is requisite in dealing with the numerous nar- ratives which have been published of these transactions may be proved from such an instance as the following passage, which is to be found in a History of Napoleon, by a M. de Norvins, pub- lished for military readers, and beautifully illustrated by the Essay V. ALISON ON THE BELGIAN CAMPAIGN. IGl pencil of Eaflfet. Speaking of Wellington's position at Waterloo, he says: — "The post of Hoiigomoiit, on the hjt of the English, became to them of the last importance, for it was there that the Prussians were to join them." This is only to be equalled by the change in the relative positions of the heart and liver adopted by Moliere's impromptu physician. Errors so flagrant as this are, indeed, of rare occurrence, but the subject is a dangerous one to unprofessional writers, unless they enjoy the advrntage, and condescend to use it, of communication with sound military authorities. An accomplished civilian of our own has lately closed with an account of this final struggle a voluminous History, which has, we know, enjoyed in its progress a very high share of popularity. Agi*eeing as we do \\\\\\ many of Mr. Alison's political opinions, and appro^^ng the spirit of his moral reflec- tions, we have no disposition to question the general merits of a work which is at all events entitled to a formal and separate article, and which we hope to make the subject of one in duo season. Meanwhile, however, since the subject of the Waterloo campaign has come in our way, we may be pardoned for remark- ing in general that a writer of Mr. Alison's particular qualifi- cations would have acted wisely in compressing the military narratives and disquisitions which abound in his volumes, and in abstaining from certain conclusions, which, coming from him, possess, indeed, no other authority than that with which his mere powers of language can invest them, but may be quoted by interested persons for their own pm-poses — persons who would otherwise pay little attention to ]\Ir. Alison or liis work. In his account of the Belgian campaign, he has, in our opinion, only added one to a long list of imperfect narratives,* fitter for the pages of a magazine than for a compilation of the dignity a ad importance to which he aspires. Mr. Alison {History of Europe, &c., vol. x. p. 991) speaks of " Buona^ dvte's favourite military manoeuvre of inteii)osing between his adversaries, and striking with a superior force first on the right hand, and then on the left," as having been attempted by him and baffled in this campaign. * Among the battles on which Mr. Alison has, we think, most unfortunately laboured, we must notice particularly those of Assye and Toulouse. As to both, his rashness and inaccuracy are, as we shall probably have occasion to show in detail by and by, most flagrant and, after the publication of Colonel Gurwood's book especially, most inexcusable, M 1G2 LIFE OF BI.UCUER. Essay V, I Wo doubt whether tlie expression of interposinpj between two adversaries eun bo correctly upi)lied to any of Ihionaparte's suc- cessfid ('auii)ai^ns, and we almost suspect that, if he had in con- tenijtlation a raancjouvre of so much hazard on this occasion, it was tile first on which he can be said to have attempted it. Hear Clausewitz on this matter : — •' All writers who have treated of this campaign set out by saying that Buonaparte threw himself between the two armies, in order to scpnrate them. This expression, however, which has become a t'/miu'is tcc/ihicus in military phrasseology, has no clear idea for its i "ur ' tion. The space intervening between two armies caimot be ;a ojj. (it of operation. It woidtl have been very unfortunate if a eomman '• like Buonaparte, having to deal with an enemy of twice his force, instead of falling on tlie one half with his uixited strength, had lighted on the empty interval, and thus made a blow in the air, losing his time whilst ho can only double his own force by the strictest economy of that commodity. Even the fighting the one army in a direction by which it will be pressed away from the other, even if it can be effected without loss of time, incurs the great danger of being attacked in the rear by the other. If the latter, therefore, be not far enough removed to put this risk out of question, a commander will scarcely venture on such a line of attack. Buona- parte, therefore, chose the direction between the two armies, not in order to separate them by wedging himself between, but because ho expected to find and fall on Bliicher's force in this direction, either united or in separate bodies." — Feldzug von 1815, &c., p. 54. In the particular instance Mr. Alison's supposition is so far supported, that Buonaparte's main attack was on the right and centre of the Prussian position rather than the left. The battle of Ligny began late in the day, and it was perhaps only want of time Avhich prevented Buonaparte from pushing a column further on their right flank at Wagnelies. Wliatever liis purpose, he certainly was under the conviction after his success that Blilcher had retreated towards Namur, and his neglect in ascertaining this fact would appear to have been a singular and fatal eiror. But his main object was evidently to find the Prussian army, and beat it. "This position," says the historian, speaking of Ligny, "was good and well chosen, for the villages in front afforded an admirable shelter to the troops." — p. 924. The position, as occupied by the Prussians, has been con- FSRAY V. ALISON ON THE BELQIAN CAMPAION. 1G3 sitlered very defective by better mitliorities than i\Ir. Alison.* English oflicers are, wo believe, pretty well agreed on this point ; but if their judgment be questioned, no writer In" pointed out some of its defects more clearly than (.fenenv Clausewitz, who, having served as chief of tl.e staff to the tlui ' corps of the Prussian army, writes m ith greater authority on tliis part of the campaign than perhaps on any other. 1 le particu- larly censures the occupation and defence of St. Aniand, one of j\Ir. Alison's admirable villages, as a pernicious hors d'auvre. It was too far advanced, and the Prussians as the action pro- ceeded were exposed to greater loss than the assaulting enemy, in moving successive battalions down the slope to its dt^fence. Their strength was thus consumed b' re Napoleon made his final attack with his reserves. Posts wav cost the defenders more outlay of life than the assailant thoagh sometimes neces- saiy evils, can hardly deserve the epithet admirable. (See Feldzug von 1815, p. 91.) The cavalry action of the 17th t Genappe is briefly but in- correctly described in the following passage : — " So roughly had the French been handled on the field of battle the preceding day that no attempt was made by them to disturb the letreat of either army, except by a body of French cuirassiers, wliich, about four o'clock in the afternoon, charged the English cavalry, who were covering the retreat between Genappe and Waterloo." — Alison, p. 932. For cuirassiers read lancers. They did not in the first instance charge the English cavalry, but, pressing rather close on our rear, were charged gallantly but ineff(3ctually by the 7th Hussars, who could make no impression on the front of their column in the defile, and lost many officers and men, wounded and prisoners. When the lancers, flushed with success, debouched on a wider sjmce, they were ridden over by the 1st Life Guards. In discussing the vexata qucestio of Grouchy 's conduct on the 18tli, Mr. Alison, p. 995, speaks of his force as fully matched by the Prussian corps opposed to him at Wavres. No account, French or other, which we have seen, rates Grouchy's corps at seen con- * We believe we may safely state that in the course of their previous interview, already noticed, the Duke of Wellington did not conceal from Mai'sbal Bliichor his apprehensions as to the choice of tho position near Ligny. M 2 i 1G4 LIFE OF BLtJCHEH. Essay V. li less than 32,000 men. The third Prussian corps, nnder Thiel- man, — instead oi rising, as Mr. Alison says, to 35,000 — tapoleun Napoleon so managed matters that he was superior to either at the points of attack at Ligny and Quatre Bras. This is the most decisive test of superior generalship The allied Generals were clearly out- genoralled." &c. &c. — Ihid. When the Duke of Wellington was summoned from Vienna to take the command in the Netherlands, the armies of our con- tinental allies were distributed in different parts of Europe, while the greater part of that of England had been detached to North America ; and, though peace liad been concluded with the United States, were not yet returned. On his arrival from Elba, Buona- parte had found a French army in France completely organized, consisting of 250,000 men, with cannon and all requisites, and capable of increase from a number of old soldiers and returned prisoners, dispersed tln'ougli the country. It is obvious that, under such circumstances, the first measures which the Generals of the allied armies could take must be defensive. The armies in the Belgian provinces and on the left bank of the liliine must have been strictly directed on this principle. Tliey vvere at the outposts ; it was their office to protect the march of the other armies of the allies to the intended basis of combined operations. Each of these armies, indeed, liad particular interests to attend to besides those which were common to all ; but the peculiar objects intrusted to ours were of supreme and paramount im- portance. The force under tlie Duke's command, consisting of British, Dutch, and Hanoverians, had to preserve its communi- cations with England, Holland, and Germany ; to maintain its connexion with the Prussian army ; and to lu'otect Brussels, the seat of government of the Netherlands. Napoleon had great advantages, whether for offensive or de- fensive operations, in the number, position, and strength of the fortresses on the N.E. frontier of France. These enabled him to ) 170 LIFE OF BLUCIIER. Essay V. '■.H n organize his forces and arrange their movements beyond the power of detection on the part of the allies, even to the last moment. They put it out of the power of the allies to under- take any offensive operation which should not include the means of carrying on one or more sieges, possibly at the same time. The country occupied by the Duke and his immediate allies was comparatively open, for the ancient strongholds of Flanders had been found in very bad condition, and, though liis measures were as active as judicious to put them in a state of defence, no activity could repair their deficiencies in a very brief space of time. No general ever .occupied a defeusive position of greater difficulty and inconvenience, and the uncertainty of the length of time during which it was to be so occupied was an aggravation of that difficulty. It is clear, from numerous passages in Colonel Gur- wood's 12th volume, that the Duke could do nothing to terminate that period till the other armies of the allied powers should have entered on the basis of combined operations. The Duke could only occupy himself, as he did, in strengthening his position by pushing on the works of Charleroi, Namur, Mons, Ath, Tournay, Ypres, Oudenarde, Courtray, Menin, Ostend, Nieuport, and Antwerp. Reports of an intended attack by Napoleon had been frequent before June : and previous to the IStli of that mn-^th it was known at Brussels that Buonaparte had left Paris . take the command on the northern frontier. This certaint]), how- over, could make no immediate change in the position of the allied armies ; it could not invest them with the power of taking the initiative. All the usual precautions for the forwarding of orders to the troops in their respective cantonments had been already adopted, but any decisive drawing together of the forces, founded on any hypothesis which could as yet be formed, might have been destructive to some one or other of the interests which it was the business of the Duke to preserve inviolate. IVlr. Alison, however, decides that the Duke was surprised because he did not know that Buonaparte would attack by the valley of the Sambre, and did not coli«;ct his troops to meet the enemy in that direction. "It is vain," says Mr. Alison, " to say that it was necessary to watch every by-road to Brussels." Does Mr. Ahson know that among the said by-roads there ha})- pened to be four great roads leading on Brussels Irom the depart- ments of the North and the fortresses on the French frontier — Essay V. eyond tlie J the last to iindor- tlie means ime time, allies was mders had 3iires were 10 activity time. No • difficulty ;h of time on of that onel Gur- terminate ould have uke could osition by Tournay, port, and had bcieii ; mo-^th it . take it} , how- ion of the of taking- arding of ad been ;he forces, d, might :sts wliich surprised •k by the meet the ' to say h'ussels." lere hap- e depart- ontior — • r Essay V. ALISOX ON THE BELGIAN CAMPAIGN. 171 one from Lisle, by Menin, and Courtray, and Ghent ; one from Lisle, on Tournay, Oudenarde, and Ghent ; one from Conde, on To.irnay ; one from Conde, by Valenciennes, on jMons ? Each of these were great paved roads, presenting no other obstacle than the unfiuished works to which we have before adverted. On any or all of them Buonaparte might have moved his columns witli the same secrecy with which he poured them on the Prussian right ; and with greater ease and r.apidity — for the fact is re- markable, though little noticed, that Nanoleon had, at an earlier period, broken up the roads by which he ultimately advanced on Charleroi, and wliich he was in consequence obliged partially to repair for that advance. It was highly probable up to the last moment that Napoleon would make his main attack by one or more of these hy-roads : and it is now the opinion, not perhaps of Mr. Alison, but of somewhat higher strategical authorities, that, if the Duke of Wellington liad concentrated his troops pre- maturely to the left, Buonaparte would have so acted. Would it have been no advantage to him to have opened the campaign by throwing himself on the line of the English communications with Ostend, driving the Court of Louis XVIII. from Ghent, and probably occui)ying Brussels? We may, with General Clausewitz, think it probable that even such "^^ start of succ^ess would have failed to avert Napoleon's ultimate ruin ; — but the Duke had a complicated task to perform — it was his busi- ness to throw away no chances : he had to watch over the in- clinations as well as the real interests of different populations : he had to watch over the great danger of any sudden revival of the Buonapartean prestige — he had sacrifices to avoid as well as objects to compass. Let us consider what would have been his position at the best, had any one of the interests intrusted to his care been sacrificed. He might liave effected his junction with Bliicher, and have answered a French [)roclamation from the palace of Lacken by the Gazette of a victory on some other field than that of Waterloo ; but how many Alisons would have arisen to tell us how in the first instance he had allowed liis right Hunk to be turned ! The victory must, indeed, have been rajjid and decisive, which would have silenced the opposition orators of England, and repaired the shattered morale of Belgium — with a French army between the Duke and the coast, and Brussels the head-(piarters of Napoleou. ;! %-, • 172 LIFE OF BL'jr'HlU?. Essay V . m *'V We may further suggest to Mr. Alison that tlicngh troops do not eat more when together than when >opartJ.(e, it is rather more difficult for the commissary to bring their necessary supplies to one point than to many, especially as respects cavalry. IMr. Alison must be aware that these troops, quartered, and, as it was, crowded, on the territories of an ally, were not fed ')y the Napo- leonic process of compulsory requisition. Those who were re- sponsible for their discipline, physical condition, and efficiency, had good reasons for not collecting them an hour sooner than was necessary. A nervous and incompetent commander, having the fear of such critics as Mr. Alison before his eyes, would pro- bably have been distracting his subordinates and harasshig his tro()i)s by marclies and countermarches as profitable as those of Major Sturgeon in Foote's farce, while the Duke was keep- ing his men in hand and his counsels to himself. Such a general would assuredly not have gone to the Duchess of liichmond's ball. We should like to know Mr. Alison's defihition of a sm'priso. We do not ourselves profess to furnish any compendious formula including all the conditions which collccti\ ely or separately may justify the use of a term so derogatory to the reputation of any commander. We apprehend, however, tha{ these conditions are most completely fultilled when the party ai^sailed is not expect- ing to be attacked at all. Lord Hill's attack of the French at Arroyo ]\Iolinos is an iustaiic*- of tliis rare class of exploits. Another fair condi^' > of a surprise is when the party attacked is prepared for di Ju^v , but when the line of the hostile ap- proach 01- the point of attack is one svhic'h he has overlooked or neglected : in this way Soult was surprised ai C)})orto, Jourdain at Vitoria. The affair of Culm aftbrds an instance in which two hostile bodies surprised one another, for the Prussians no more expected to find Vandamme in their fi-ont than he did to find them on his rear. We presume j\[r. Alison^ hardly means to bring the Duke of Wellington under the first of these categories. As to the latter, we contend that Napoleon's line of attack was one embraced and provided for in the Duke's calculations, but which the circumstances of his position made it impossible for him, up to tlie last moment, to anticipate with precision. It i> probable that even riiormio, who lectured Hannibal at Ess/ EplI two] leac Net! %% Essay Y. Essay V. ALISON ON THE BELC.TAN nAMfAlON 1 r'> I a •oops do ler more oplies to y. ]\[r. s it was, e Napo" were re- ficiency, lian was ving the lid pro- isiiig his as those IS Iceep- Such a L'hess of surprise, formula ely may p of any :ious are expect - 11 eh at xploits. ittacked til<^ ap- rlooked Ojiorto, ustauce for the ir fi'ont Alison first of oleon's Duke's made te with kibal at Ej)hesus,* was uware that the initiative of operations between two armies en presence is a great advantage, of whieh eithov leader would be too happy to avail himself. The allies in the Netherlands and on the Mouse in 1815 were, as we have shown necessarily on the defensive. They were waiting for the jurio- tion and co-operation of other large armies, destined for the attainment of a common ultimate object. This defensive posi- tion did not necessarily preclude all idea or plan of attack upon the enemy. The enemy might have so placed himself as to have rendered the attacking his army advisable, even necessary. In that case the English and Prussians should and would have taken the initiative ; but the enemy did not assume any such position. On the contrary, he took one in which his numbers, liis movements, his designs could be concealed, protected, and supported, do^vn to the very moment of execution. Tlie allies, therefore, could not have the initiative in the way of attack. But they might have, and they had it, in the way of defensive movement ; and with submission we maintain that they availed themselves of that opportunity the instant that it was within their power. Their original position having been calculated for the defence and protection of certain objects coniided to then- care, any alteration in that position previous to the first move- ment of the enemy, and the certainty that that wa>' a 7'eal movement, must have exposed some important interest to an^ger; and therefore no movement was made until the initiati' h.t'l been taken by Buonaparte, and the precise design of I.: move- ment was obvious. Any movement on the part of tlu^ .'ilies, previous to his ascertained march and puipose, Avould hav* bcMi what is commonly called a "fake movemevf,'" and we beh'o^.o the Duke of Wellington has never hesitated to avow his opinion, that, of all the chiefs of armies in the world, the one in whose presence it was most hazardous to make a false movement >>as Nupoleon Buonaparte. We have not the Duke's detailed jocts of tin's iiatnro. Mr. Alison will find in that work, an hciiutifiil l>ii(Ifi;o of Jena.* Hi'h wrath oxliiilcd us usual in bitter sarcasms against the wliolc triho of i)t'ii-aii(l-iiil< men ami politicians, lie i'ouiid also sonic liicher, uttciuding on(f of these festivities at St. (Moud, fell heavily hors(! and man over a rope which he was too blind to perceive in his [)ath, and it is said that the (effects (»f this fall were perceptil»l(! in some very curious forms of hallucination, such as extort a smile even from those who are contemplating the melancholy spectacle of the ruin of a noble mind. The attractions of Paris were insuOicient to overcome his aversion for its inhabitants. His head-quarters were lor the * We are tempted to place here part of the last of the Duke of Wollington's long aeries of letters to Bliicher on tlie suhject of this bricl;^e, and the whole of the immediately subsequent communication : — " Miin lieher Fiirsf, " PariH, 9(h July, 1815. " The subjects on which Lord Castleieagh and T conversed with your Highness and General Comte Oni'isenau this morning, viz. the destruction of the bridge of Jena and the levy of the contribution of one hundred millions of francs upon the city of Paris, appear to me to be so important to the Allies in general, that I cannot allow myself to omit to draw ytniv Highness's attention to them again in this shape. " The destruction of the bridge of Jena is highly disagreeable to the King and to the people, and may occasion disturbance in the ciiy. It is not merely a military measure, but is one likely to attach to the character of our operations, and is of political importance. It is adopted solely becatise the bridge is con- sidered a monument of the battle of Jena, notwithstanding that the Government are willing to change the name of the bridge. " Considering the bridge as a monument, I beg leave to observe that its imme- diate destruction is inconsistent with the promise made to the Commissioners on the part of the French army, during the negotiation of the convention, viz. that the monuments, museums, &c., should be reserved for the decision of the Allied Sovereigns. " All that I ask is, that the execution of the orders given for the destruction of the bridge may be suspended till the Sovereigns shall arrive here, when, if it should be agreed by coumion accord that the bridge ought to be destroyed, I shall have no objection," &c. &c. — Gurwood, vol. xii. p. 552. "A Paris, ce 10 Jiiillet, 1815, " Mein lieher Fiirnt, a y heiircs du matin. " Le diner est chez Very aujourd'hui h 6 heures, et j'esp^re que nous passerona une jouru^e agrfoble. " Je viens de recevoir la nouvelle que les Souverains arrivent aujourd'hui h, Bondy, et des ordres d'y envoyer des gardes, &c., ce que je fais. Je crois qu'ils ne s'arreteront que quelques beurea k Bondy, et qu'ils pourront arriver ce soir. " Agreez, &c. " Le Marechal Prince Bliicher." " VVkli,inoton. N 2 IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) / y /A 1.0 I.I |50 ^^" ■■■ IS B^ 12.0 I 11.25 IE 14 tt Hiotographic Sdences Cbrporation 23 WIST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) t72-4S03 ^ 180 LIFE OF BLUCHER. Essay V. most part established at 8t. Cloud, and occasionally transferred to Kambouillet and Cluirtres. The arrangement of the con- ditions of the peace of Paris afforded him the opportunity, of which he gladly availed himself, even before its final signature, to depart for I'russia. His farewell address to the army bore date tlie 31st of October, 1815. The retiring forces began their march, but before Blucher himself crossed the frontier, hearing of some furtlier diplomatic difficulties, he took upon liimself to halt them as suddenly and peremptorily as if they had been a regiment on parade. The confusion produced by this parting act of authority wag excessive, and was only put an end to by positive orders from Paris. Bliicher reached Aix-la-Chapelle in a broken state of health on November 20, the day on which the peace was signed. Hence, with frequent delays, and harassed by the noisy demonstrations of respect with which he was every- where received, he slowly made his way to Berlin. The light seemed burning to the socket, but it was destined still to shine, though with enfeebled and tremulous lustre, some four years longer. He resided chiefly at Kriblowitz, in Silesia, on an estate with which, in 1814, he had been rewarded by the King, but paid occasional visits to Breslau and Berlin. A journey, dictated by medical advice, to the sea-baths of Dob- beran, afforded liim an occasion to visit the place of liis birth, Rostock, where he recognised and received with toucliing amiability some surviving acquaintances of ids earliest youth. Hamburgh and Altoua were also gratified by glimpses of the veteran. He passed on liis route the churchyard of Ottensen, in which repose the ashes of Klopstock. He had been personally acquainted with the poet, and as he passed he uncovered his grey head, a soldier's tribute of respect to the German muse, which his early patron Frederick the Great would have sneered at. He also visited Klo}"^i'>ck's widow, who opened on the occasion a bottle of tokay, which her husband thirty years before had charged her to reserve for some occasion of singular joy and festivity. These little incidents have their value. Napoleon's esteem for Ossian, and BlUcher's for the poem of the * Messiah,* remind us of the veneration for female chastity which has been attributed to the King of Beasts. Of the honours showered upon him from all quarters, sovereigns, burgomasters, and muni- cipalities, it is unnecessary to speak. E88AY V. ESBAV V. HIS DEATH. 181 ansferred the cou- tunity, of dgnature, rmy bore ;gan their r, hearing liinself to ad been a is parting 3nd to by bapelle in which the d harassed was every- 18 destined istre, some , in Silesia, ded by the Berlin. A IS of Dob- f liis birth, i toucliing iest youth. )8es of the ttensen, in personally ivered his lan muse, ve sneered bd on the 3ars before lar joy and fapoleon's ■ Messiah,* 1 has been showered land muni- We have elsewhere mentioned that BlUcher was a nervous and fluent writer ; his intimates also asserted that ho was b(tru an orator. At the festive meetings of the table, in which, when his health allowed him, he delighted to the last, he was Nesto- rian in liis harangues and narrations, but failure of memory lus to the order of dates made the latter very confused. He never failed to do justice to the participation of Gneisenau hi all his greater military exploits. On one occasion he puzzled tlie society by gravely announcing his intention of kissing his own head; he solved the riddle by rising and embracing that of Gneisenau. Tliis was an exploit wliich his English ccmraile in arms could not imitate. His last illness came upon him in S«^p- tember, 1819, at l{jiblo>vitz. His deathbed was attended by the King, and he died calm and resigned in the arms of his faithful aide-de-camp Nostitz. 182 HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY. Essay VT. Vr.-HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY. FuoM rm; Quautkiily Hevikw, DiiCEMUiiu, 1843.(*) This, tlio last paf^o in tlio liistory of tlio British Arctic explora- tion, is a melancholy one ; for thongh the task undertaken was gallantly and succi^asfully accomplished, the jmblication is l)osthumons, and the adventurous author lived not to wear the launsls so licjuourably won. His own recital is one which must be read by his countrymen with satisfaction, only hni)aired by regret for his melancholy and mysterious ftite. Its style, remarkable even beyond that of his recent predecessors for con- cision, is, like theu's, of that simple and unpretending character which best becomes the narrative of real enterprise and en- durance. The achievements it records place the author's name on the long list of British worthies which begins with Frobisher. The utility of such achievements may indeed be questioned. To what purpose are the realms of all but eternal winter invaded by such rei)eated incursions ? Why expose the nose of man to the blast of the barrens, with the thermometer at 00^ below zero : and when Government, weary of its efforts, abandons the task, why should oilicials of the Hudson's Bay Company exchango their })roper functions as purveyors of ptliry for those of navi- gators and geographers? The answer to all such utilitarian interrogaturit!s rises spontaneously to the lips c*f every one who takes an interest either iu the advancement of science or the honour of England. We are indeed no longer lured, like our ancestors, by the })rospect of commercial advantages from a north-westtn'u communication with Ja})an or Cathay : but, without condescending to argue the question, we regret no past, (") Nan-alive nf the Disroveries on the North Coast of A iiwrica, effected hy the Ofircn of thi- 1lu(hoH'» Bay Company durlntf the Years l«;J0-39. By Thomas bitn^jKuii, l-^sij. 8vo. Loudon. 1843. Essay V[. EXPKDITIOX OF BEECIIEY AXI) FRANKLIN. is:5 wo slinll grndj^o no future oxpondituro, wliothor of money or lioroism, whicli may Imve eontrilmtcd or hcroivftor may cnntri- bute to the final tlisoharge of one of (Jroat Britain's jmiper func- .tions, the survey of the eoast-line of North America. This ])rimary object attained, it will yet remain to be shown tliat th(^ North Pole itself is ina(!cessil)le, and tliat the diniculties of a north-west p»wssago are insurmountable by Ihitish navi2' W. ; and on the 17th the weather eleared sulHeiently to allow liim, as he believed, to ascertain the position of a point of land to the westward, which he named after Cap- tain lieechey ; at which point he writes, longitude 149^ 27', " our discoveries terminated." " Could I have known," he con- timies, " or by any possibility imagined, that a party from the lilossom had been at the distance of only 160 miles from me, no difliculties, no dangers, no discouraging circumstances, should lave prevailed upon me to return." It is a satisfaction to know that, in Sir John Franklin's own opinion, founded on subsequent information, the attempt would have been fruitless, and probably fatal to all concerned. This interval, therefore, of somewhat less than 7° of longitude (averaging 23 miles to a degree), was all that, since 182(5, remained to complete the survey from IMackenzie Kiver westward to the Pacific ; and that completion was indicated in the instructions as the first object of the expe- dition. It will be seen that it was effectually and speedily ac- complished. To the eastward a wider field was open to conjecture and dis- covery. In 1826, while Franklin was working to the west, his admirable coadjutor Richardson had surveyed the interval between the IVIackenzie and Coppermine rivers. In 1834 Cap- tain Back had deaoendod the Tlewocho, or Great Fish River, to its estuary; but iie had been able to survey but little of the neighbouring coast in either direction ; and, with the exception of this point, the region between the 115th and 83rd degrees of longitude, from the Coppermine River to the offshoot called JMelville Peninsula, was still unexplored. It would appear from the instructions that the exploration of this interval to its full eastward extent did not enter into the immediate contemplation of the directors. The party is merely instructed, starting; from the Coppermine, to reach, if possible, the scene of Captain Back's discoveries ; deciding, as in case of success it must, on its way, the question at issue between Sir John Ross and Sir Ceorge Back, whether Boothia, the land so named by the former officer, be a peninsula joined on to tlie main land to the west of tlio Tlewocho, or wh(jther, as Back opined, a strait Essay VI. MR. SIMPSON'S CAREER. 1 S." cxisttul wliicli luul o.seui>ed lloss's obsorviition. It will \>o seen that 3Ir. Siin[»sou luoro than iM'rlormcd the service iiKiiriilrd in this ijistruction. Tlmt after discoveriiij:; and j)assin«^ through the strait suspeetod by Sir (». i>aek, and thus disposing; of thr })rosnnied peninsula, and of Sir J. Jvoss's famous discovery ol'a diflferonee of level between the seas on either side, he followed the coast-lino to some little extent beyond the })oint where J3aek was re[)elled by the advanced state of the season. From this summary it will be seen that, for some ten degrees of longitude, the coast of the continent still [)resents a lield for further adventure. We liave been robbed of one peninsula, but it appears nearly certain tl.at a considerable tract of land, of which the eastern continuous coast has been ascertainerl by Parry and Franklin, • (|^serves the name it bears of j\Ielviile Peninsula, that it shoots out to the north for some 5° of lati- tude, and is joined to the main land by a narrow isthmus near Repulse Bay. This latter fact does not indeed rest as yet on actual observation, I,at there is every reason to put faith ui the Esquimaux dccounts, which bring a gulf of the Polar Sea to within 40 or 50 miles of Repulse Bay. Our author's narrative is prefaced by an interesting though meagre sketch of liis biography, by the pen of a surviving bro- ther. The boy is not always father to the man. The trans- formation of a sickly and timid youth, educated for the Scottish church, into the hardy man who walks fifty miles a-day in snow-shoes, is one of those phenomena which we believe to be (piite as common as the instances of juvenile promise and i)re- cocious aptitude for a particular career so often traced out by the biographers of eminent men. In 1829, at the age of twenty-one, Mr. Simpson, despairing of early advancement in the Kirk, and averse from the usual resource of private tuition, accepted from the Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, Mr., now Sir George Simpson — (a relative, we presume, but in what degree is not stated) — an offer of employment under the Company, and sailed for North America. By the same power- ful interest it appears that he was appointed, in 1830, to the second station in command of the expedition which forms the subject of the present narrative. There can be no doubt that during his apprenticeship he showed qualities which justified his 18<] HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY. KSHAY VI. selection, mid no oio wlio poruscs the record will accuse the governor of nepotism. To imy one ucfjUiiintctl with the numerous Morks of 'Mr. Simpson's pn'd«ii'ossors, liis vohuno caji of course present little attraction in the way of novelty. The incidents, whether of the summer journey or tluf winter's residence at one of the Com- j)any's forts, admit of little variety, as descrihed either by a liack or a Simpson. The same exertions of fortitude and endurance, the same devices of skill and ingenuity to meet danger in its various forms of river-rapid, of marine ice, of fog, and squall, and current, are required of each successive Arctic adventurer; but the simplicity and concision of tne j)resent narrative prevents weariness even with these details. Then* is one fact, evidence of which pervades the volume, and which makes us rise from its i)erusal with peculiar satisfaction: wo moan the truly humanising and Christian effect of the operations of the Hudson's Bay Company on the aboriginal tribes. The period is not distant when the "' bella plusquam civilia," which raged between the Hudson's Bay (company and a rival associa- tion, reddened the desert with other blood than that of the beaver ornnisk-ox. The blessings, indeed, usually bestovcd by the white Christian on the red heathen are soon enumerated — fire-urms, fire-water, and the small-pox; but ^)robably in no part of the world had the European invadera &et a vorse example to the native tribes than here, or enlisted them in .o more savage contests than those which raged, within the present century, within the dominions and between the subjects of the British Cro>Mi in North America. It is perhaps useless now to inquire into the relative guilt of the parties engaged, and to attempt to discriminate between aggression and lawful resistance. The true history of such contests would rival in unprofitable tedium the Florentine and Pisan wars of Guicciardini. We know no better picture of the character of the struggle than is to bo found in the work of Mr. Boss Cox, a gentleman who from an adventurous trader has become an efficient and trusted officer of the Irish police. His narrative, published in 1830, lias scarcely an equal for incident and adventm-e, unless it be in IMr. Irvine's charming volume, the ' Adventiu'es of the Followers of Co- lumbus.' We shall have occasion to remark that some of his Essay VI. TIIKIU IITMANE KFFOin'S. 1S7 ohs-^rviitions on tlio liiil»its of native trihos (h'rivc coiitirnmtiou from tlu; voliinuj under n-vicw. It is •gratifying to Wfi, as J'^n^lislnncn and Chris.'ianH, to l)e nblo to show the reverse of such a i)icture. Snhse(jnently to tlie coalition (^fleeted l)etween the two coinpanii s in IH'2\, their system towards the natives ajjpears to have been one whicli Howard and Wilberforei' would hav(! approved, and might liave (h'rected. SuHieient proofs of this fact appear at tlie outset of ,AIr. Simj^son's vohnne, even in his description, tliougli cursory, of tlio Red Kivei setth'uient, from which ho startcnl for his journey. The untiring elViDrts of the ('ompany's Clnu'cli establishjuent, Protestant and lioman ( atliolic, extend from Lal>rador to the ]*acitlc — from wliere the ratthsnake basks in the liot sunnner of climes westward of the Rocky mountains, to where the Indian ceases to roam, and the Esquinuiux becomes the sole represen- tative of Inimanity. Those exertions are not the less creditable if, as Mr. 8imj)sou, we fear truly, 8tiites,.they are often unre- warded ; not always however. In the maritime districts of thf^ far West the Indian character is softened, as he states, by the influences of the Pacific, food is abundant, man congregates in villages, and here the labours of the IMissionaries promise every success. Even among the wandering hunters of the North the endeavours of the Company to check the supply of spirituous liquors and to instil morality have not been unavailing. Mr. Simpson says : — " Xo stronger proof of the sahitary effect of the injunctions of the (Company's officers can be adduced than that, while i)eace and deccnun mark the general character of the xSoiiliern tribes, blood- shed, rapine, and unbridled nist are the characteristics of the fierce ^ordes of Assiniboines, Pigeons, lilackfeet, Circees, Fall and Blood Indians who inhabit the plains between the Saskatchewan and ^[is- souri, and are v.'ithout the pale of the Company's influence and authority." — p. 19. Mr. Simpson goes on to describe a reconciliation effected by the sole influence of the Company between the Saulteaux and Sioux nations, till lately inveterate and bloody enem'os. On the 1st of December, 1830, iMr. Simpson quitted the lied River settlement for Athabasca. This preliminary journey, of lliTT statute miles, was completed with singular precision on the very day prehxed for its termination, the 1st of February. For iss III'DSON'S DAY COMrANY. ESHAY VI. tlu' first thrcp ilnys, ns fur as the ^raiiifoltnh Liil^c, flic imtiirc of the coniitry imd the state of the wcatlicr pcrniitti'd tliu use of liorsrs aii'l wlii'cl-carria^cs. The rcinaiiidfr of the journey was iM-rforincd on loot, tlie l>n^^revention of the sale of spirits, and for the supply of necessaries to the Indian, seem admirable in effect as well as intention. Tho expedition set sail from Athal)asca on the 1st of June. On the 10th it reached the Great Slave Lake, where for eleven weary days it suffered provoking detention by the ice, and it was not till the 2ntli that it entered the great River Mackenzie. Fort Good Hope, situated in lat. ()()" 16', the most northerly station of the Conpany, was reached on the 'ith of July, and at 4 P.M. of the 9th the Arctic Ocean burst on the view of the party. The expedition plodded its westward way along the coast surveyed by Franklin in 1826, meeting and overcoming the usual difficulties of such a route, and holding friendly but cautious intercourse with various families of Esquimaux, till it reached Franklin's Return Reef on the 23rd. The weather here became stormy, and the temperature such as to bring the winter- dresses of the party into requisition. The ice drove them occa- sioj'.iilly almost beyond sight of the coast, but one hap})y run of KhhAY VI. KXI'KDITION OF DEASE AND SIMTSoN. IS!» *Jw hours clVcctcd nnirly hull' the distimcr Ixtwt'cn the ii(»iiit iTuchcd l>y Franklin and the Point lian'ow, tVoni \vliirli Captnin JJet'du'y'H harp' n'turncd in \i<'Hi. In this intrrval the mouths of two considfrahh' rivers wiTo discovi'n'd. Of one of tlusc, nauH'd hy the party tho Colvilh', Mr. Simpson remarks (p. 171): "That it separates the Fraidvlin and I'elly mountains, the last stu'U l>y us, and [)rol)ably Hows in a lone Spencer is leased to the (-ompany. On the 28th they hauled up their boats on a cai»e, in lonj^itude 154"^, which they named after Governor Simpson. Tlu; ice now rapidly accumulated, and on the 81st jMr. Sim[)Son writes: — '• From tiie extreme coldness of the weather and the interminabh! ice, the further advance of our boats api)eared ho[)eless. in four days we had only made good as many miles, and in the event of a late return to the IMackenzie wc had every reason to api)re- hend being set fast in Bear Lake river, or at least at F'ort Franklin, which would have been ruinous to our future i>lans. I therefore lost no time in imparting to ^Mr. ]>'ase my desire of exploring the rema'nder of the coast to Point ]Jarrow on foot. In order to secure the safe retreat of the party, he handsomely consented to remain with the boats; and as l*oint IJarrow was still distant only two degiees of longitude, ten or twelve days were considered sufficient for my return." The author, there- fore, selecting five companions, started on his pedestrian expe- dition on the 1st of August. While the boats had been forcing their way through the shore ice to Cape Simpson, the appearance of the ice to seaward had been so smooth and solid that the party had longed for horses and carioles to drive at once to I'oint Barrow. Our author could not, indeed, resort to this expedient I!)ll IU'DSON'S HAY COM TAN Y. KhHAY VI. h to facilitate the inter* 'stiiifj: lilmnr of tlio retiialiiitijr interval of nn(!X|»lon>(l coast, lie conlil not call n coach, hut he did hetter, for findiii;; the Hca open he called an oonnak — onc^ of the larijje family hoats of the Ks(|\iiinau\ which hear that nanu>. The in- cident of his nieetin<^ with th(> family which su|>|)lie(l him with tin* loan of this invaluahle conveyance was certaiidy one of the most fortunate of his journey. The tust<' for tohacco acipiired from intercourse with the liussians was a jjassport to their ^'ood jj;races. Amon^ other mutual civilities Mr. Simpson eX(han;L!;ed his travellin<; service of plate, conslstinj; <»f a tin pan, for a jdatter made out of a mammotli tusk, as appropriate to his daily mess of jKinmican as jiewter to the drauf^ht hcloved hy metro- jiolitan i'oalheavers. TIk! I"]s<(uimaux suffered him without Hcrupio to select the hest of threi? oomiaks for his puri)ose. 'J'heso hoats lloat in half a foot of water, and the one Hc'le<'ted hounded gallantly over tlu; hi^h waves of an inlet five miles Mido, which would have cost him a weary march to circunivt'iit by land. Disn'pmhnfx the i)orti'ntotis ai)[)earance of yomi<^ ice? and tlu! landward flight of wild fowl, omens of approaching; winter, and occasionally carrying tlieir light craft over the older ice, they hurried onward to their goal, and reached it with tri- umph and gi'atitudo on the morning of the 4tli. Toint liarrow, henceforth famous as the focus to which Jiritish enter[)ris«i from west and east has successfully oonvergetl, is de- scrihed as a long, low spit of gravel, some five miles across. It appear, to be a jtlace of considerable resort : a kind of Brighton to the Esquimaux, a summer camp, a winter burrow, and a fashionable burying-place. j\rr. Elson, in 1820, had been d<'- terred, by the hostile demeanoiu* of the natives, from attemi)ts at intercourse ; but Mr. Simpson was bolder, and though the nativt!S wens numerous, and their demonstrations at first susjti- cious, he opened w ith them a brisk and friendly intcrcom'se, ex- changing the ever-current coin of tobacco for seal-skin boots, waterproof shirts of seals' entrails, ivory toys, &e. Dances fol- lowed, performed by Ceritos in deer-skin unmentionables ; and it was not till Mr. Simpson launclied again on the ocean, averting his prv llio imrtv iVniii wlimii he hud • • • • • 1 • iHtiTowt'd his Iniil l»ut hiiovant uiid rnrctivc cnnvcvaiicc ; and as ho n'(|uin'd its lurlh^T uso, four of them readily «tiny iiiin in tlioir (-ano<'s. Those peoph' dis))hiveil acute sensibility to tlie power of music, lisleniii;; with n{jj their nei^hhours the ( hipewayan^. These distinctive |)eculiarities jinioiij; races in juxtaposition an- interesting^, and not confined to savaj;e trihes. We dcad»t whether, in this ri'spect of nujsical i'aculty, the l.(Micheux dilVer more from the ( hipewavuns than n one o-' difficulty, conducted be- tween impending walls of ice, in some instances forty feet high. Thu-ty miles of such navigation had cost afortniglit's labour, and the passage of the lake itself was scarcely less difficult. It was not till the 17th of August, the day on which the coasting party re-entered the IMackenzie lliver, that the building party reached the scene of its labours, named Fort Confidence. Mr. Simpson's arrival here occurred on the 29th of September. They found their simple and diminutive log dwellings finished as well as the scanty materials of the coimtry allowed, but miserably inadequate to the climate. An express soon after reached them, conveying, among other intelligence, that of Sir G. Back's intended expedi- tion to Wager Inlet, and affording hopes of a meeting with that officer in the course* of the summer, which were frustrated by the well-known failure of his gallant efforts. Tht; incidents of the winter residence demand little comment. From the 11th of November to the end of January the temperature ranged from 32° to 33° below zero. Occasionally, however, it descended to - 50° ; and when at — 49° the author cast a bullet of quick- silver, which, iired from a pistol at ten paces, passed tlirough an inch plank. The students of Liebig will not be surprised to hear that, when abundance permitted, the daily ration of an in- dividual was from eight to twelve pounds of venison. On some occasions it appears that the allowance to the Company's servants has been fom*teen pounds of moose or buffalo. We apprehend that bone is included, but the amount is yet enormous, as com- l)ared with the consumption of man in temperate climates. The great chemist clearly explains why this large amount of solid and nitrogenized food should be not only innocent but salutary Essay VT. MR. SIMPSON'S VriNTEU EXCURSIONS. 193 under an Arctic temperature. How far, liowever, it be necesssary, and how gi'cat the addition desirahk^ for (hie enjoyment, or essential to tlie heahliy conditio' of tlie frame, apart from the adventitious consequences of habit, may be doubted. We have at k^ast reason to doubt that tlie officers of these expcsditions, whose education and habits removed them from the influences of idleness and mere sensuality, have felt and had occasion 'o satisfy any inordinate cravings. Experience and theory alike condemn the use of spirituous liquors as aids to exertion in these climates.* The 11th of March exhibited the greatest degree of cold ob- served. A spirit thermometer, more scrupulcus than its fellows, stood at - 60°, an older one at - 66°. Had Mr. Simpson's ardent mind and powerful frame been totally unoccupied during his long and wearisome detention, he might have been driven to the remedy which our French neigh- bours accuse us of adopting for low spirits, and have committed an appropriate suicide with a quicksilver bullet. He was not, however, driven to this resource. His winter excursions, on Great Bear Lake and the neighbouring barrens, exceeded a thousand miles. On the 27th of March he set out, with two men and four dogs, to explore the country between Bear Lake and the Copper- mine, their intended pathway to the sea. Buried in the snow- drift of a north-easter, scarcely broken by the screen of a few dwarf spruces, the author naturally felt it difficult to comprehend how people could perish in an English snow--storm in the hot desert of Salisbury Plain, or the tropical regions of Shap Fc.'ll. Indian education begins early. Lewis and Clarke describe equestrians of some two years old using both whip and bridh; with vigour and effect. An unweaned nicmber of an Indian family reached Fort Confidence on snow-shoes two feet in length : — " I must not," says Mr. Simpson, " close this part of tho narrative without bectowing a just encomium on the generally docile character of the natives of Great Bear Lake. They soon become attached to white men, and are fond of imitating their manners. In our little hall I have repeatedly seen tha youngsters who wore most about us * We have been assured that, in the Russian expedition to Khiva, those who, avoiding the use of spirits, confined themselves to tea, alone survived. O J 94 HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY. Essay V I . I' I \ get up from tlieir chairs, and politely hand them to any of our people who happened to enter. Some of them even learned to take off their caps in the house, and to wash instead of greasing their faces. Their indulgent treatment of their women, who indeed possess the mastery, was noticed hy Sir J. Franklin. I wish I could speak as favourably of their honesty and veracity." — p. 243. The next great object of Mr. Simpson's instructions was, as we have stated, to trace the unexplored interval from Franklin's Point Turnagain to the Tlewocho Estuary. For this object he was to reach the coast by the Coppermine River, with the choice, as far as his instructors could give it, of spending one or two seasons on the attempt, and of returning by whichever of the two rivers he might prefer. He started on the Gth of June, ascended the Dease River, crossed the Dismal Lake on the still solid ice partly with the assistance of sails, and launching on the Kendal River reached the confluence of that stream with the Coppermine on the 20th. The rapids of the Coppermine made of the descent and ascent of that river perhaps the two most critical operations of the expedition. Franklin had descended them in July, when at their summer level ; they were now in spring flood, but skill and nerve brought the party through. We extract the following passage : — " The day was bright and lovely as we shot down rapid after rapid ; in many of which we had to pull for our lives to keep out of the sucti(;n of the precipices, along whoso base the breakers raged and foamed with overwhelming fury. Shortly before noon we came in sight of the Escape Eapid of Franklin, and a glance at the over- hanging cliffs told us that there was no alternative but to nm down with full cargo. In an instant we were in the vortex ; and, before we were aware, my boat was boiiio towards an isolated rock which the boiling surge almost concealed. To clear it on the outside was no longer possible ; our only chance of safety was to run between it and the lofty eastern cliff. The word was passed, and every breath was hushed. A stream, which dashed down upon us over the brow of the precipice more than a hundred feet in height, mingled with the spray that whirled upwards from the rapid, fonning a terrific shower-bath. The pass was about eight feet wide, and the enor of a single foot on either side would have been instant destmction. As, guided by Sinclair's consummate skill, the boat shot safely through those jaws of death, an involuntary cheer arose." — p. 258. If it had appeared strange to Mr. Simpson, with his ther- Essay VI. Essay VI. VICTORIA LAND. 10.3 our people :e off their les. Their e mastery, favourably QS was, as Franklin's object he the choice, >ne or two of the two }, ascended 11 solid ice the Kendal yoppermine the descent [ operations July, when d, but skill le following rapid after to keep out jakers raged on we came at the over- :o run down and, before rock which [outside was between it svery breath ler the brow jingled with icr a terrific he error of lestniction. [shot safely -p. 268. Ii his ther- mometer at - 50°, that people should perish of cold in England, during this performance he must liave been equally at a loss to account for the destruction of life which so often used to attend the shooting of Old London Bridge. From the 1st to the 17th of July the party were detained by the ice at the mouth of the Coppermine. From the latter date to the 19th of August they were occupied in struggling along the coast to the point reached by Franklin in 1821, and here the pro- spect before them showed that they had drawn a blank in the lottery of Arctic summers. On the 16th of August Franklin had seen a perfectly open sea from this point. Before them now to the eastward lay an unbroken barrier of ice, glittering with snow, evidently destined soon to unite with the new formation of ap- proaching winter. Behind them the disjointed masses through which they had forced their way kept closing in under the pres- sure of violent gales. Mr. Simpson, under these discouraging circumstances, again decided on the experiment of a pedestrian journey of exploration for some ten days with seven of the party, to be followed by Mr. Dease with the remaining five men in one of their two boats, should wind and weather so far change as to permit. This enterprise was well rewarded. FrankUn's furthest point was passed on the 2l8t. From a cape named after that officer, a little beyond that point, land was seen twenty or twenty- five miles to the northward, and stretching from west to north-east. Was this land insular or continental, — were the party coasting a bay or the shore of a continuous sea ? This interesting question was solved on the 23rd, on wliicli day Mr. Simpson writes : — " The coast led somewhat more to the northward. The travelling Avas exceedingly painful. We, however, advanced with spirit, all hands being in eager expectation respecting the great northern land, which seemed interminable. Along its distant shore the beams of the declining sun were reflected from a broad channel of open water ; while on the coast we were tracing the ice lay still immovable, and extended many miles to seaward. As we drew near in the evening an elevated cape, land appeared all roimd, and oin* worst fears seemed confirmed. With bitter disappointment 1 ascended the height, from whence a vast and splendid prospect burst suddenly upon me. The sea, as if transformed bj' enchantment, rolled its free waves at my feet, and beyond the range of vision to the east- ward. Islands of various shape and size overspread its surface ; and the northern land terminated to the eye in a bold and hifty cape, O 2* lOG HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY. Eksay VI. -< hearing east-north-east, thirty or forty miles distant, while the con- tinental coast trended away south-east. I stood in fact on a remark- able headland at the eastern outlet of an ice -obstructed strait. On the extensive land to the northward I bestowed the name of our most gracioiis sovereign Queen Victoria. Its eastern visible extre- mity I called Cape Telly, in compliment to the Governor of the ITudson's Bay Company, and the promontory where we encamped Cape Alexander, after an only brother, who would give his right hand to be the sharer of my journeys." With these discoveries Mr. Simpson for this season was forced to content himself: — '•They were not in themselves," he observes, "unimportant; but their value was much enhanced by the disclosure of an open sea to the eastward, and the suggestion of a new route — along the southern coast of Victoria Land — by which that open sea might be attained while the shores of the continent were yet environed by an impenetrable barrier of ico, as they were this season." — p. 300. On the 29th they rejoined Mr. Dease and his party, who had continued ice-bound till the day previous, when he wisely judged it too late to attempt progress by sea to the eastward. The course now adopted by the party is best explained and vindicated in Mr. Simpson's own words : — " The bad weather and advanced season now rendered every one anxious to return to winter-quarters, and I reluctantly acquiesced in the general sentiment ; but for doing so I had reasons peculiar to myself. I considered that we could not now expect to reach Back's Great Fish River ; that by exploring a part only of the unknown coast intervening, our return to the Coppermine ruust be so long protracted as to preclude the possibility of taking the boats up that bad river ; and that by abandoning them on the coast to the Esqui- maux we excluded the prospect of accomplishing the whole by a third voyage, with the benefit perhaps of a more propitious season. Three great travellers, Heai*ne, Franklin, and Richardson, had successively pronounced the ascent of the Coppennine, above the Bloody Fall, to be impracticable with boats ; and our people, recollecting only the violence and impetuosity of our descent, entertained the same opinion. Fully aware of the great importance of this point to any future opeiations, I had with a careful eye inspected every part of the river, and formed in my own mind the following conclusions respecting the upward navigation : — Ist. That in a river of that size there must always be a lead somewhere, of depth enough for light Essay VI. Essay YT. DISCOVERIES OF 1839. 107 the con- a remark- rait. On me of our ible extre- lor of tlio encamped his right vaa forced mportant ; if an open -along the I might be jned by an . 300. , who had ely judged ained and every one acquiesced peculiar to lach Back's unknown be so long ats up that the Esqui- by a third [on. Three iccessively |dy Fall, to only the the same lint to any iry part of sonclusions )f that size ;h for light boats. — 2nd. That the force of the rapids would bo found much abated, and that with strong ropes the worst of them might be sur- mounted. — 3rd. From the fury of the breakers in June I infened the existence at no great depth of a narrow projecting ledge of rock that, bared by the falling of the waters, would afford footing to the towing-party, witliout which the ascent indeed must have baffled all our efforts." — p. 303. These views proved in the sequel to be just and well-founded- AVe refer our readers to the naiTative to learn liow highly indeed tlie skill and courage of the party were taxed to demonstrate the soundness of the above conclusions. Every danger, however, was baffled, and every difficulty surmounted ; and on the 14th tlie party regained Fort Confidence in safety. The summer of 1839 i)roved more favourable to the task of discovery than its predecessor. On reaching the Coppermine on the 19th of June the party found that the ice had ceased to drift down on the IGth, ten days earlier than the last year. The rapids were passed with far greater facility ; and on reaching Cape Barrow, on the 18th of July, they found the wide extent of Coronation Gulf partially open, Threading the ice across the inlet to Cape Franklin, they met with, instead of the unbroken bari'ier which had foiled them last year, an open channel two miles wide along the main. On the 8th of August they had followed the coast as far as the 99th degree of longitude, ^. e. some 11 degrees to the eastward of their point of departure. On the 10th Mr. Simpson writes : — "We proceeded north-eastward all day among the islands, and some began to apprehend that we had lost the continent altogether, till in the evening we opened a strait running in to the southward of east, while the rapid nish of the tide from that quarter left no longer any room to doubt the neighbourhood of an open sea leading to the mouth of Back's Great Fish River. ... 1 must candidly acknowledge," he continues, " that we were not prepared to find so southerly a strait leading to the estuary of the Great Fish River, but rather expected Jirst to double Cape Felix of Captain James Ross, towards which the coast had been latterly trending. The extensive land on which that conspicuous cape stands forms the northern shore of the strait through which we passed on the 11th; and which led us, the same afternoon, by an outlet only three miles wide to the much-desired eastern sea. That glorious sight was first beheld by myself from the top of one of the high limestone islands ; and I had the satisfaction of announcing it to some of the men, who, 198 HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY. KSSAY VI. incited by curiosity, followed 7ne thither. The joyful news was soon conveyed to Mr. Dease, who was with the boats at the ond of the island, about half a mile off; and even the most desponding of our people forgot for the time the great distance we should have to return to winter-quarters, though a wish that a party had been appointed to meet us somewhere on the Great Fish Kiver, or even at Fort Reliance, was frequently oxpressed." A strong wind from the westward rapidly extricated the party from the labyrinth of islands which had long impeded theii voyage ; and on the 13th, says Mr. Simpson, " On doubling a very sharp point, that offered a lee spot for the boats, I landed, and saw before me a perfect sandy desert. It was Back's Point Sir C. Ogle that we had at length reached ! " Here then the author's performance of his duty, as designated by his ir structions, was complete ; but he was naturally desirous to push his exploration as far to the eastward beyond Sir G. Back's limit as the season would permit. He still considered it possible that the isthmus, the existence of which, in the region assigned to it by Sir John Ross, he had disproved, might be found further eastward. The men assented witi out a murmur to the unexpected prolongation of their hard service — a circumstance which says much for them, and for the commanders who had won their attachment. The Great Fish River and the other streams which reach this coast Aovj through unwooded regions, a fact which much aggravates the condition of the coast navigator, who finds no drift-wood for fuel, and on liis shivering bivouac is reduced to uncooked pemmican and cold water for his diet. The latter luxury itself was scarce among the islands ; strong north-east winds prevailed, and one of Sir G. Back's stores on Montreal Island, to which they were directed by M'Kay, one of that officer's expedition, afforded nothing but pemmican alive with maggots, and chocolate rotten with five years' decay. In the teeth of all these difficulties they persevered, running over from Montreal Island to the eastern coast, to a cape somewhat north of Cape Hay, the extreme point seen by Sir G. Back, to which they gave the name of Cape Britannia. Hence, with a fair wind and tossing sea; they made a nui of thirty miles to a cape which they christened after the name of Lord Selldrk ; and some three miles further, on the 20th, the return of the north- east wind forced them into the mouth of a small river. KSSAY VI. IIKTURN TO THK COrPERMIXE. 1!»{) ** It was now," says Mr. Simpson, "quite evident to us, even in our most sangiiiue mood, that the time was come for commencing our retreat to the distant Copiicrmine ]{iver, and that any further foolhardy perseverance could only lead to the loss of the whole party, and also of the great object which we had so successfully achieved. The men were therefore directed to construct another monument in commemoration of our visit ; while Mr. J)ease and I walked to an eminence three miles off, to see the further trending of the coast. Oar view of the low main shore was limited to about five miles, whon it seemed to turn off more to the right. Far without lay several lolty islands, and in the north-east, more distant still, appeared some high blue land ; this, which we designated Cape Sir J. Koss, is in all probability one of the south-easteni promontories of Boothia. We could therefore hardly doubt being now arrived at that large gulf uniformly described by the Esquimaux as containing many islands, and, with numerous indentations, running down to the southward till it approaches within forty miles of Repulse and Wager Bays. The exploration of siich a gulf to the strait of the Fury and Hecla would necessarily demand the whole time and energies of another expedition, having some point of retreat much nearer to the scene of operations than Great Bear Lake ; and we felt assured that the Honourable Company, who had already done so much in the cause of discoveiy, would not abandon their munificent work till the precise limits of this great continent were fully and finally established."— p. 876. After all that has been accomplished, the ?w7 actum reputans of Juvenal would be an exaggeration, but we confess we sym- pathise with the hope here expressed, and are satisfied that tlio Company might easily accomplish the remaining task, probably by making one of their establishments on the eastern coast, Fort Churchill for instance, the starting-place or base of their opera- tion. The mouth of the stream which bounded the last career of the admirable little boats, and received their name, the Castor and Pollux, lies in hit G8° 28' 23" N., long. 94° 14' W. ; or, adopting Back's longitude, which for some reason Simpson could not reconcile with liis own, in long. 93° 7' 30". Tlie expedition on its return, instead of pursuing the shores of the mainland, coasted the southern shores of Boothia, and their new discovery, V'^ictoria Land : the former for nearly sixty-seven miles, to within fifty-seven miles of Koss's pillar, and within ninety miles of the magnetic pole. Their run along Victoria Land amounted to upwards of 170 miles. Their winds were 200 HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY. Essay VI. favourablo, their ravigation, tliough sometimes rough for craft so light, was prosperous, and ou the 10th, having triumphantly crossed the ^tr*'it of fifty miles to Cape Barrow, they revelled once more in the luxury of a drift-wood fire, to which they had been strangers since July. The party regained the Coppermine River on the IGth of September, after the longest voyage yet performed by boats in the Polar Sea — in all 1631 statute milts. It would remain for us to notice the sad and mysterious termi- nation of a life so distinguished by enterprise and honourable service, but the task is distressing ; and, as we could do rothing towards elucidating the truth, we leave our readers to read for themselves in the preface the few ascertained particulars of t'-ie occurrence. It is more than enough for us to know that Mr. Simpson perished by violence on his way from the Red River settlement towards England. It is just possible that some tardy confession, or some word spoken in the veracity of intoxication, may confirm our own impression that, after killing two of his half-breed companions in self-defence, he was murdered in re- venge. Till then the possibility may be, however reluctantly, admitted of the tale as told by the survivors, that insanity was the cause of the catastrophe. More fortunate in one sense than Parke or Fudson, he has left behind him his own record of his own achievements. And we cannot close the volume without once more remarking on its literary merit. For judicious selec- tion of topics and incidents, for clearness and simplicity of description, it is the model of a diary, and, like ' le mascaline and modest character of the man, reflects honour on. Mr. Simpson's venerable Alma Mater, King's College, Aberdeen. Essay VI. p:rt8AV VII. CHARACTER OF MR. FROSSARD'S WORK. 201 ir craft so mphantly f revelled they had (ppermine oyage yet ite milfcs. ous termi- lonourable lo rothing o read for ars of t'-ie N that Mr. Red River some tardy itoxication, two of his ered in re- reluctantly, nsanity was sense than jcord of his me without Lcious selec- implicity of iscaline and k Simpson's VII.— AQUEDUCTS AND CANALS. From thr Quarterly Review, March, 1844.(«) We h'ive included in our list the work of ]\Ir. Frossard, rather for the sake of recommending it to notice as one of tlie most interesting topographical publications we have met with, tlian with any purpose of detailed review. As a handbook for the antiquarian who visits a district scarcely rivalled in Italy itself for its wealth of Roman remains, or for tlie naturalist who ex- plores the scorched rocks where the mason-spider builds his guarded domicile, and those marshes of the Rhone still colonized by the beaver and haunted by the ibis and flamingo, this work will be found invaluable. Nor will the moralist find matter less interesting in the reflections derived by the Protestant pastor from a state of society which, scarcely less than Ireland itself, displays the open wounds of yet unexhausted religious strife. Let no traveller decline to purchase the volumes, if still procurable at Nismes. The purchaser will thank us for our advice, and, reading, will learn, among other things, the curious fact that there exist in that city many respectable persons who have never once paid a visit to the neighbouring and wondrous relic of Ro- man magnificence, the Pont du Gard. Let him equally avoid the example of the French resident who, as he lounges about some Protestant or Romish cafe — (for in Nismes these resorts Par E. B. D. Frossard, By F. B. Tower, of the Engineer (') 1. Nismes et ses En^nrons a viru,l Lieues a la ronde. Pasteur. Nismes, 183''-. 2 vols. 8vo. 2. Illustrations of the Croton Aquedtict. Department. New York, 1843. 3. Eistoire du Canal du Midi. Par le General Andreossi. Paris, 1 804. 4. Memoir of James Bvindley. By Samuel Hughes, O.E. Published in Weale's ' Quarterly Papers on Engineering.' Part I. London, 1843. 5. A Description of the Canals and Railroads of the United States. By H. S. Tanner. New York, 1840. 202 AQIKDIJCTS AND CANALS. KhHAY Vll. \ nro as rij^idly (listinp^ii.sliod us tho chnivlios) — rnros to sco no- thing Itcyoiul tlio Hinoko of Isis cigfar, and of tlit; British traveller, \\lio sees ovcrythiii;^ Jiiul uotliinu: avoU. Even should his after rcsidonco at Itomo ho oiirtr' ^ a day, that period of tiini^ will havo hoen well oniployo-o in exploring this most gru(!oful nioinirnent. Scarcely from tho Coliseum or from the surviving aipieducts of tho Campagna will ho derive a deeper impression of tho hygone greatness of Jiome. When indeed, referring perhaps to the guide we have recom- mended, lie finds that this massive pile, with its triple tier of arches, from whose summit he has looked down on the Gard heueath at the risk of vertigo, was reared to convey a rill to the town of Nismes, and this probably for the holiday purposes of the Naumachia rather than for domestic uses, he may be at first disposed to cavil at tho insignificance of the result as compared with the means. If practised, as English gentlemen are wont to be, in directing provincial public works in his OAvn country, he will perhaps wonder at the oversight of those who neglected to combine in a structure of such labour and expense the usual purposes of a bridger with the original intention of an aqueduct ; an omission which modern utilitarian skill has supplied with a vengeance, and to the great detriment of the picturesque. If he possess a smattering of hydraulics, he will perhaps talk to his wife or daughter of pipes and syphons, and pity the ignorance of Agrippa and his forgotten architect. Now with respect to iron pipes, our countryman will have it all his own way — but if he comes to lead, let him beware. We, or any other Martinus Scriblerus who stands up for antiquity, will brain him with the inverted syphon used in the Claudian aqueduct of Lyons, a frag- ment of which is preserved in the Museum of that city. Nearer too at hand, in the Museum of Aries, he will find a most respect- able length of leaden pipe fished up from the Ehone by the anchor of a trading vessel, and with the name of the Roman plumber who made it at every juncture. It is supposed to have been used to convey >vater across the bed of the Rhone, there some 600 feet wide and 40 feet deep, from a source at Trinque- taillade to Aries. It was not then entirely from ignorance of hydraulics, but partly at least from choice, that the Romans em- ployed the mason at such expense, and that choice was perhaps wisely governed by their knowledge of the dangerous properties Ehsay VII. I'ONT Dll GAIU). 20:? )man8 em- of loud wbon iiHGtl for the tmnaport of wntor for lonpf * w and other recent travellers, as well as of the more modern Babers and Shah Jehauns. The remains of many of these great works, choked and neglected as they are, have sufficed to disclose to the observant officers of our Indian army the secret of the former wealth and popidation of districts now abandoned to sterility. Could the influence of British power have been consolidated either directly, or through the medium of some docile sovereign, in the plains of Aflfghanistan, a trifling outlay on the restoration of some of these v^orks would have sufficed to spread ovpr those plains the fertility they once enjoyed ; and the mountain chiefs are so dependent on the plain for their support, that tlieir submission would have followed without the necessity of storming their strongholds. A sliort time before the insurrection against the British and Shah Souja broke out, one of our officers. Captain Drummond of the Bengal cavalry, em- ployed on a mineralogical survey of Affghanistan, made a report to the Envoy, strongly urging the measure of restoring a canal of irrigation in the Kohistan district, north of Caubul, which in the palmy days of the Bactrian empire had watered the plain of Begram, one of the districts most remarkable for the evidences of former wealth and population, but now an arid desert. The rumour of the project reached Meer Musjidi, one of the moun- tain chiefs, whose fastness commanded the neighbouring valley of Nijerow, and who had been conspicuous among the most impla- cable opponents of our arms. He was, however, dependent upon Caubul for every supply, except that of corn and sheep alone, which the vaUey under his control produced, and which he exchanged with the city for aU other articles of necessity. He was so alarmed at tlie prospect of a new and intervening soui-co of supply about to compete with that of liis own valley in the market, but also attracted by a hope of a share in the profits, that he immediately sent in proposals of friendship and zealous eo-operation in the project to the officer in question, who had planned a journey to confer with him on the subject, when the insurrection broke out wliich doomed Captain Drummond to a long and memorable captivity in the hands of barba- rians. Barbarians as they were, it is but justice to them as well as to their captive to add, that he owed his life on more than one occasion to well-earned feelings of good will and the appreciation of his good offices towards them, which in his Essay VII. ORIGIN OF THE LOCK. tai previous intercourse lie had contrived to instil into their rugged bosoms. With reference to the application by man of inland water to purposes of commercial transport, modern superiority is more incontestable. The invention of locks alone has left SesoL'tris and Drusus at an immeasurable disiance. To men living in an age of steam-engines and Daguerreotypes it may appear strange that an invention so simple in itself as the canal-lock, and founded on properties of fluids little recondite, should have escaped the acuteness of Egypt, Greece, and Home. ^Vhen we reflect, however, for how many centuries the principle of the printing-press lay dormant, yet alive, in the stamped brick of Babylon, and the signet-rings of kings and senators, we shall cease to wonder. Some have supposed that locks were used, before they were known to Eui'ope, in China — that vast repo- sitory of ideas partially carried out, and ixiventions unimproved ; but it is not certain, even if the locks described by Nieidioff", a follower of a Dutch embassy in the seventeenth century, were such as are in use in Europe, that they were coeval with the construction of the canal, which dates frouj 1289. AVe doubt whether at this time the double-gated lock exists in China ; but, if it does, we think it was probably introduced there by mission- aries from Europe. In the article of embankment we might indeed possibly take a lesson of the Cliinese. Some of their canals carried through extensive lakes by this contrivance have no parallel in Europe. In Europe the two great modern subsidiaries to inland navi- gation, the navigable aqueduct and the lock, have been very generally ascribed to Italy and the fifteenth century. By more recent authorities the lock has been claimed for Holland. The first instance we can trace of the aqueduct is that of the canal of Martesana in the Milanese, which in 14G0 was conducted over the torrent of Molgora by means of a bridge of tluree arches of some tliirty feet span. It has been usually supposed that the double-gated lock was invented by the brothers Domenico of Viterbo, and first applied by them in 1481. This supposition originates with Zendrini — one among the most distinguished on the long list of Italian mathematicians. Zendrini, born in 1G71) near Brescia, was placed in 1720, by r 2 !■• - ' i I E! . « 212 AQUEDUCTS AND CANALS. Ebsay VII. the united suffrages of Ferrara, Modena, and Venice, at the liead of a commission of engineers appointed to settle several im- portant hydraulic questions between these conterminous states. Of all legislation that for running vvati'rs is perhaps the most difficult, whether it affect the rights of different states or of sub- jects under one sovereignty. Let him who doubts this try his hand on a general drainage and bog improvement bill for Ire- land. Such an appointment speaks the acknowledged eminence of the man. Venice at the same time gave him the permanent office of mathematician to the republic, and superintendent of the Avaters belonging to that commonwealth of beavers, as Buonaparte was wont to call that state. In Zendrini's ' Treatise on the Laws, Phenomena, Eegulation, and Uses of Running Waters,' the following passage occurs : — " One of the most efficacious methods of compelling rivers to submit to navigation, when naturally unfitted for it by reason of their rapid descent, is that of sostegni." We cannot satisfy ourselves with a translation of this word. In this particular passage the word lock would answer the sense ; but in others it admits a more extended interpretation, and may indicate almost any of the older contrivances by which water is alternately sustained and liberated, weir, lasher, &c. Such were the contrivances mentioned by Mr. Telford as in use till lately on the Thames : — " The first expedient which occurred was to thrust the boat as nearly as possible to the rapid, and, having well fastened her there, to await an increase of water by rain ; and this was sometimes assisted by a collection of boats, which, by forming a kind of floating dam, deepened the water immediately above, and threw part of the rapid behind themselves. This simple expedient was still in practice at Sunbury, on the Thames, since the beginning of the present century ; and elsewhere the custom of building bridges almost always at fords, to accommodate ancient roads of access, as well as to avoid the difficulty of founding piers in deep water, aiForded opportunity for improvement in navigating the rapid formed by the shallow water or ford ; for a stone bridge may be formed into a lock or stoppage of the river by means of transverse timbers from pier to pier, sustaining a series of boards called paddles, opposed to the strength of the current, as was heretofore seen on the same River Thames where it passes the city of Oxford at Friar Bacon's Bridge, on the road to Abingdon. Such paddles are there Ebsay VII. at the head several im- tious states. )S the most IS or of sub- this try his bill for Ire- 3(1 eminence 3 permanent ntendent of beavers, as Regulation, s occurs : — ing rivers to by reason of >f this word. 3r the sense ; ion, and may ch water is Such were ise till lately Ebsay VII. ORIGIN OF THE LOCK. 213 r the boat as led her there, as sometimes g a kind of and threw xpedient was beginning of Iding bridges of access, as deep water, g the rapid idge may be of transverse lied paddles, >fore seen on ford at Friar les are there in use to deepen the irregular river channels above that bridge ; and the boat or boats, of veiy considerable tonnage, thus find pas- sage upwards or downwards, a single arch being occasionally cleared of its paddles, to afford free passage through the bridge. In this sense of the word, the arches of old London Bridge were designated as locks, some of the widest of them being purposely closed up to low-water mark by sheet-piling, which (with the sterlings of frame- work filled with rubble-stones for protection of the piers) retained the river navigable for some hours to Richmond at high water, some- times quite to Kingston. The next degree of improvement was the introduction of modem locks, at first for distinction called pound- locks, wherein water was impounded for the reception of the boat ; and these poiind-locks, improved by modem accuracy with side walls and convenient sluices, have not only rendered the Thames and most of our other English rivers navigable, but, by economizing the water requisite for the transit of boats shaped to the lock, have given rise and scope to canal navigation ; that is, to water carriage where no river or stream existed or does exist." — Telford's Narrative, p. 57. The word sostegno seems peculiarly applicable to the original contrivance, intended rather to bear up and sustain the weight of water than to enclose and impound it. The word conca, also in use in Italy, might appear to answer more closely to our pound- lock : it is, however, constantly used in the same sense as the simple sostegno. A scientific correspondent, whose opinion is entitled to much deference, and who is disposed to attribute to tlii? "ountry an early, perhaps an independent, application of the pounu lock, partly founds that conclusion on the fact that the English term lock is pm-ely national. It is, as he has suggested to us, not the Italian sostegno, or conca, the Dutch slui/s, tlie French Muse, but the Anglo-Saxon he, enclosure ; and he infers, if, as usually supposed, we had borrowed the invention, we should have borrowed the name. We are inclined to doubt the force of this philological argument. Our term is at least an exact translation of the Dutch slui/s and the German sehleusse, which, whether to be traced through the French ecluse and Italian chiusa to the Latin claudo and cludo, or to the nearer source of the Teutonic schliessen, has the same signification, to enclose, shut up. Till we have positive evidence to the contrary, we shall be inclined to believe that the pound-lock came to us through Hol- land in the seventeenth century, and that the word lock, loc, or II I I 211 AQUEDUCTS AND CANALS. Ehsay VII. lokko, when used b(ifore this period, signified nothing more tlian the sostegno did in Italy previously to the fifteenth century. Zendrini continues : — " By means of these (^sost'^gnf) even rivulets can be made available for boats ; and this not only on level plains, but even in hilly coun- tries. For this reason their inventor has certainly great claims of merit on society at large. I have made much research to discover his name, and to certify the date of so valuable a discovery, but without success, unless certain information, derived from private papers, afford some light towards recognising the meritorious con- triver. I have found then that Denis and i'eter Donienico, brothers, of Viterbo, acquired in 1481, September 3rd, from Sign* r Contarini a certain site in the bastion of Stra, near Padua, in order to form in it a channel from the Tiovego, the canal which comes from Padua to the aforesaid place, Stra ; and in a certain memorial from these brothers, dated the same year, calling themselves Maestri di Oro- loggio, they set forth that they will enable boats and barges to pass through the sluice of Stra without danger, without being unloaded, and without being dragged ; contriving at the same time that the waters shall issue with facility. . . . To these then, at least within the Venetian States, we may ascribe the honour of this invention, not finding any one else who had previously conceived or put in practice the idea." So far, then, we have Zendrini's opinion that the achievement of lifting or lowering a loaded vessel, without traction, from one water level to another, was first accomplished by the brothers of Viterbo, though he gives it with some hesitation. This opinion, embraced by many, derived for a time confirmation from its adoption by Frisi. Frisi was born at Milan in 1729, and, having obtained an European reputation for his illustrations of the sublimest branches of the Newtonian pliilosophy, gave much of his attention to hy- draulics. He travelled more than is usual with men of his pur- suits and ecclesiastical profession ; and in the latter period of his life made liimself in England personally acquainted with the works of Brindley. We have not seen the two earlier editions of Frisi's book on navigable canals published in 1762 and 1770 ; — but it is plain, from the translation by Major-General Garstin, that at that period Frisi fully concurred in the views of Zendrini. Frisi, however, revised and republished his work in 1782 ; and from Ehsay VII. Essay VII. CONSTRUCTION OF SOSTEGNI. 215 more than li century. le available hilly coun- at, claims of to discover covery, but om private ;oriou8 con- !o, brothers, r Contarini r to form in from Padua from thfse stri di Oro- rges to pass g unloaded, ne that the least within 3 invention, d or put in jhievement from one brothers of lis opinion, n from its btained an 3t branches ion to hy- of his pur- 3riod of his with the 8 book on it is plain, it at that ni. Frisi, and from some passages of this last edition it is clear to us tliut ho had tlien found roa> his opinion, and to ascribe the in- vention to a greater man than either of the brothers of Viterbo. " The ancients," ho says, " understood the method of moderating the excessive descent uf rivers, of maintaining the nocossary supply of water, of absorbing it into reservoirs, and using it both for the defence of places and the irrii';ation of country, by means of certain sluices, which cuuld bo lifted up for the passage of boats. Bolidor has described them in the 4th book of his ' Aichitectura Idraulicu,' These had no spaces divided off in their interior, and were of the kind called Concha plane. Such precisely were the two sostegui com- menced in 1188 and finished in 1198, under the direction of Alberto I'itentino, architect ; the one before the gate of Mantua, called the Cepeto gate, and the other at Goveruolo, twelve miles distant — the first to dam up the waters of the IMincio, and to form the upper lake of Mantua ; and the second to form the under lake so called, and to continue the navigation of the Mincio to the To. Such also viust have been the old Sostegno of Stra, the work of two engineers of Viterbo in 1481, to facilitate the passtige of barges from the canal of I'adua, commonly called the I'iovego canal, into the IJrenta; a sostegno now in disuse, and which does not seem to have been constructed with any difference of level beticeen the upper and inferior beds (fondo) as far as we can judge from the hinges of the gates, which are still extant. The most ancient staircase locks (^sostegni a gradino) of which I have found notice are those of the canal of the navigation of Venice, those of the canal of l^ologna, and those which form the communication of the two canals of Milan. All these aie very nearl}' of the same date ; and I should be inclined to believe that the invention of them may be attributed to Lionardo da Vinci." After describing the merits and properties of the invention, and some peculiarities of various si)ecimens of it, Frisi proceeds, speaking of two locks on the navigation of the Brenta : — " The construction of these sostegni, and the present system of the navigation of the Brenta into the laguna of Venice, is posterior to the diversion of the Brentone, which was commenced in 1484. In the canal of Bologna the sostegno of Battifero has the area of the interior G^ Bolognese feet lower than the threshold of the upper gates. And this work was constructed in 1484, according to Masini in his ' Bologna Perlustrata.' The six sostegrn which fonri the com- munication between our two canals were projected and executed by Lionardo da Vinci, and were completely finished in 1497, as we learn from a public inscription. From all which, not having been 216 AQUEDUCTS AND CANALS. E88AY VII. V \ •I i able to verify with precision either how much the sostegni of the Venetian navigation are posterior to 1484, or how much the idea of ours at Milan was anterior to 1497, I should be inclined to believe that the finst invention of sostegni a gradim may be attributed to Lio- nardo da Vinci." — P. Frisii Opera^ vol. ii. Mediol. 1783. Ventiiri, a more recent writer, and one of scarcely less repute than the two above quoted, throws back the invention to an earlier period. He writes : — " It has been said that Vinci was the inventor of the double-gated lock, that ingenious machine which has opened so many issues to internal commerce among the modems. But it is not he who first imagined them. The Venetians had constructed some on the Pio- vego in 1481 ; and Philip Maria Visconti had caused some to be executed about 1440. I believe that some were constriicted even in the fourteenth century." The quotation from the * Reruin Italicarum Scriptores * of Muratori, on which Venturi seems to rely for the achievements of Visconti, is rather vague, — " Meditatus est et aquae rivum, per quern ab Abiate Vighianum usque sursum veheretur, aquis altiora scandentibus machinarum arte quas conchas appellant." Visconti did, however, more than meditate somo contrivance by which a communication was effected between two canals of a different level. Much information on these works of Visconti is to be found in the preface to Lionardo's * Trattato della Pittura,' by Carlo Amoretti, librarian to the Ambrosian Library, Milan, 1804. A canal of irrigation, derived from the Ticino, had, it appears, been commenced by the Milanese so far back as 1179. This canal was then onlv carried from Abiate on the Ticino, as far as Gagiano, about half the distance to Milan. In 1227 it was prolonged to Milan ; and was probably then first converted to purposes of navigation, for the various streams which traversed or flowed near the city were then directed into it ; and in 1296 a project was conceived of uniting it with the Lambro, and through that river with the Po, which, however, was not then executed. In 1438 one of those incidental stimuli was applied to the ingenuity of the Milanese engineers which so often lead to unforeseen consequences. The construction of St. Peter's in- directly assisted the Reformation ; — that of the Duomo of Milan led to some step in advance in hydraulics, whicn, if not amount- ing to the double-gated lock, was shortly followed by that II KssAY VIT. EARLY USK OF LOCKS. 217 invention. It was to overcome the difficulty of conveying the materials for the Duomo, furnished from the Alpine quarries of Candoglia, that some contrivance became necessary for lifting vessels from one level to another. The Ticino and the canal had brought the marble to the suburbs of the city, but there it remained, till the ditch of the city, having been rendered navi- gable, but at a higher level, certain catiche were devised for passing the vessels by an alternate increase and decrease of the water. " Pro fuciendo creseere et decrescere aquam." These are the words used in an account of the expenses of the work existing in the archives of Milan. One of these, the Conca di Viarena, constructed in 1439, raised vessels to a height of four Italian hraccie. We think these facts and dates make Visconti and his engineers formidable rivals to Zendrini's brothers of \iterbo; but, in the absence of any design or other certain description of the conca of this period, we still doubt whether it can be classed with the pound-lock, or was, in fact, much more than the application of the sostegno — long used in rivers — to effect a junction between two artificial lines of navigation under circumstances which gave a considerable command of water. It appears that the raising of the lower level was obtained by stopping, at a fixed hour, and for a considerable time together, the apertures established along the length of the canal for pur- poses of irrigation. Amoretti, speaking of the machinery for regulating the issue at these apertures, uses the surgical word otturamento, a styptic application. It is" probable that these issues, and that by which the canals were connected, were of the simple and clumsy construction still used in Cliina — bars of wood resting on one another in tv/o vertical grooves of masonry, and elevated in succession as occasion requires. For these the improvement of a sliding flood-gate was in time substituted, which is said to have been borrowed from our masters in the art of military engineering, the Turks. But none perhaps of the Italian writers who have discussed these matters had better opportunities of investigating the Milanese archives, or took more pains to do so with reference to the works of Visconti, than Fumagalli. The following passage from his book on the antiquities of Milan (1792) will show that his inquiries left him a warm, though not an unreasonable or uncompromising advocate of the claims of Lionardo — if not to 218 AQUEDUCTS AND CANALS. Ehhay VII. tlio absolute invention, at least to the praetieal application oi the lock to j)urp()s«!s of inland navigation : — " For tho re«t, in asKcrting for Liunardo the boust of tho invention of tho tvnai, wo do not pretend (hut it witf entirely hi8 own, or that it isHUod an entire novelty from his brain, ^^'e know fur certain that before his time other omrhe and so.sti'f/iii, and the like con- trivancoB, had boon constnicted on rivers and canals, and Kpecially on our own. Wo have Hoen above that at Viarena a conca liad served since tho year 14:{!) to facilitate tho passage of barges from tho great canal to tho ditch of the city, in which latter there was also a second amca near the sidjurb of tho Porta V'ercoUina. The existence of other conc/in in the little canal near tho Benaglio, in the year 1471, is apparent from a despatch of that year of tho magis- tracy, one of which conc/ie was probably the one at the spot called Corla, which, in a decree of 15315, Francis Sfurza tho Second ordered to bo removed, probably as having been rendered iiseless by tho construction, in 149(», of tho one situated at the Cassina do' ronii. ]f, in tho designs of coiicIk' in tho Ambrosian ISISS., Lionardo's object was to delineate that aluno which was of his own invention, in such case we should have to attribute to him throe particularities at once among the most beautiful and the most singular, inasmuch as all three aro discemible, slightly sketched by his hand. The first is that of tho gates turning on hinges, for the purpj^e of the more easily opening and shutting. The second is the closing of tho same at an obtuse angle, the construction best adapted to sustain the pressure of tho water, and for management against a current. The third has reference to the little doors or sluices in tho gates for the rapid filling or emptying of tho conca. And the fashion so sketched by Litinardo is the one since practised in the rest of Italy, in Holland, and in Fi'anco, in the formation of conchs on rivers and canalo, all posterior in date to ours."* Our readers will hardly fail to observe that, in a passage which we have quoted from Frisi, there is distinct mention of hinges in the case of the sostegno constructe'^1 at Stra by the brothers of Viterbo. We have also to remark that the term sostegni a gradino, as used by the advocates of Lionardo, must bo taken to imply merely a system of locks applied at various distances to the same canal, but not in immediate connexion, like those of the Bridgewater canal at Runcorn, or those of Mr. Telford at the * Delle Anticbit^ Longobardico-Milanesi, torn. ii. p. 126. Kksay vir. ition of the invention wn, i)r that fur certain ) like con- id specially L concu had jarges from r tlierc vvaH llina. The iglio, in the the magis- spot called und ordered less by the m de' romi, irdo's object ion, in snch ities at once much as all The first is 1 more easily ) same at an he pressure le third has r the rapid sketched by in Holland, 1 canaln, all sage which of hinges brothel's of sostegni a •0 taken to istances to ce those of brd at the E«rtAY VII. LIONAKDO DA VIXCI. 219 western tcimination of the CaltMloniiin. Trisi is distinct on this point. " Above all." he says, " that invention deserves to bo kiinwn in Jtdhj which unites together dift'erent sostei/ui, so as to efl'ect an inuuo- diato passage from one to the other. With us the soste/jni are all isolated, and separated one from the other by a portion of the canal. In France, in S\ve«len, in Flanders, and in other countries, wherever it is necessary to partition oif a considerablo tall in a tract of no great extent, the sostegiii a (jnuliuo are conHtnicfed in such a manner that the descent takes place immediately out of one into the other, and thus the intervening gates belong equally to the two ctmtiguous chambei's." Frisi, who luul scon the works of l^rituUey at Kiincorn, might have addc*], that it would bo the object and boast of an cnirineer 80 to construct his oaiml as to force together as much as possible in this manner the lockage which it n^qnircd. Tho mn'nter- nipted level of the Bridgewater canal from Leigh and ^lancliester to Runcorn, and the concentration of its descent to tlie Mersey at the latter place, have always been considered as among the most striking evidences of the genius and skill of Brindley. From all these disquisitions we are led to infer that some doubt exists whether the brothers of Viterbo really effected any material improvement in certain clumsy contrivances which ex- isted in Italy in the fourteenth century, perhaps even so far back as the twelfth. One fact only seems certain, that the first appli- cation of a series of locks, by which water and what it floats is made to walk up and down stairs, A^as the work of that master- mind which for variety of accomplishment has no equal perhaps in the records of human genius and acquirement — of one who had the hand of Apelles and the head of Archimedes — who with the first could with equal feli(nty give their respective expression to the countenances of our Lord and his betrayer, and trace the intricacies of wheel- work and the perspective of machinery — with the second could all but anticipate, in an age of comparative darkness, the discoveries of Copernicus, Newton, and Cuvier. Those who think these terras exaggerated may refer to the pages of Mr. Hallam's ' History of Literature ' for the confirmation of such part of oiu* eulogy as is not to be found in the MS. folio of the Ambrosian library, or on the wall of the Dominican refectory. It is strange that in such a city as Paris the works of such a man 220 AQUEDUCTS AND CANALS. Essay VI I. Es r I ) " f ;l t| should be allowed to remain imprinted and unedited. A Vinci Society at Paris would be a worthy rival to our Bannatyne, Shakspeare, Camden, Spalding, et hoc genus omne in Britain. Lionardo's work, whi(!h still exists, was inspected as a model in 1(300 by F. Audreossi, for whom the honour has been claimed by his descendants of the scheme for the great canal of Lan- guedoc. It is rather remarkable that so early a work should so long have maintained so high a reputation in such a school of hydraulic art as Northern Italy. It is perhaps to be accounted for by the circumstance that the territorial divisions of the district so copiously watered from the Alps and Apennines presented political obstacles to continuous lines of artificial navigation : hence the skill of the engineer was rather directed to puqioses of c'^ainage, irrigation, and security, to " tame the torrent's thunder-shock," or fertilise the marsh, than to malce tlie best of friends and the worst of enemies (as the Duke of Bridge- water was wont to call water) subservient to purely commercial purposes. For the claim of Holland to priority in the application of the lock, we refer our readers to the article on Inland Naviga- tion in Brewster's ' Edinburgh Encyclopaedia,' attributed to the authorship of Messrs. Telford and Nimmo. Their researches led them to the conclusion that the invention Avas known in Holland at least a century before its application in Italy. With the utmost deference for these two eminent names, we are yet inclined to doubt whether the instances they quote in support of this position are sufficient to establish it. The plaeeat granted so far back as a.d. 1253, by William Count of Holland, to the city of Haerlem, for the construction of certain sluices at Spaa- rendam, ordaining " transmeatum quemdam aquarum qui Spoya vulgariter appellatur, vel foramen .... per quod majores naves cum suis oneribus possint de fac'li pertransire in Dampuo apud Spamam," is, we think, inconclusive, and we doubt whether either this or the other examples quoted of Dutch works anterior to the fifteenth century establish anything further than the application of some form of the early sostegno or single-sluice, more or less improved. We consider, however, tliat the con- clusions of such writers make this branch of the subject well worthy of further investigation. It is not in our judgment at all improbable that, in an age when ideas travelled more slowly Essay VII. ;cl. A Vinci Bannatyne, Britain. 1 as a model been claimed anal of Lan- ark should so 1 a school of be accounted isions of the d Apennines of artificial ther directed o " tame the L to make the ke of Bridge- y commercial ipplication of iland Naviga- [•ibuted to the ;ir researches as known in taly. With !S, we are yet in support of aceat granted land, to the ices at Spaa- m qui Spoya Qajores naves )ampuo apud ubt whether orks anterior er than the single-sluice, lat the con- subject well judgment at more slowly Essay VII. SPANISH CANALS. 221 and precariously than at present, the engineers of the two countries may have worked in complete independence each of the other. The artificial navigation of Italy was doubtless more exclusively of an inland character, and the invention of the Dutch had the additional stimulus of tlie natural circumstances which lead to the necessity of the tidal-sluice and lock-gate in its arious forms. in Mr. Prescott's notice of the canal constructed by Cortez in 1521, for the military purpose of conveying his brigantines from Tezcuco to the neighbouring lake, we find mention of dams and locks. As indeed the distance was half a league, and as the operation appears to liave been that of rendering a mere brook or ravine (fossata) navigable for vessels of some burthen, it would be difficult to conceive how some such contrivances could have been dispensed with ; but we have to regret that, among the extracts cited in Mr. Prescott's notes from Spanish authori- ties, there is no passage which describes them. (8ee * History of the Conquest of Mexico,' vol. iii. p. 78.) The description of the work by Cortez himself in his tliird relation, addressed to Charles V., does not condescend to many particulars, but he gives the depth by the rough measiu'ement of the human stature, " quanto saria la statura di due homini." (Itamusio, vol. iii. p. 266.) The countrymen of Cortez in Old Spain have achieved but little in this line. The canals of Aragon and Segovia are their only works of any consequence, and both are unfinished. The former, commenced by Charles V. in 1529, but remodelled and extended in the latter part of the last century, is described by a recent traveller. Captain S. Cook, R.N., as presenting pu unnecessary width of surface to tlie sun — a great mistake in a warm climate, — and as more used for irrigation than traffic. The aqueduct by which it crosses the valley of the Rio Zabon is said to be a magnificent work of the kind, and to have cost about 130,000?. Should Spain ever enjoy the advantage of a govern- ment, its attention might be usefully direcied to eflecting the junction of the two seas by the extension of this canal from Tudela to some point on the coast of Biscay. Of two locks in Sweden, Mr. Telford says, " Near Wenernsborg two connected locks have long existed, each 182 feet in length and 39 feet wide. They were constructed about the year 1600> in the reign of Charles IX., by Dut(.'h engineers, probably under 909 AQUEDUCTS AND CANALS. Essay VII. I ] ]•■{ the direction of John of Ostrogotha, v>hohad travelled much and seen such inventions. He died in 1G18." The first locks constructed in France, it is supposed, were the seven adjacent locks at Rogny, on the Canal de Briare, com- menced by Henry IV. in 1005, and conducted during the five following years of liis reign under the superintendence of Sully. The work was interrupted by the assassination of Henry, and not resumed till 1038. As, however, the main difficulties of the line were dealt with under his reign, and as its completion in 1642 only carried out tlie original plan, the credit due to the sovereign and the minister of having set an early example in the improvement of inland intercourse remains unaffected. That example produced brilliant consequences in the reign of Louis XIV. The canal of Orleans, begun in 1682 and finished in 1G92, saved eighteen leagues of difficult and precarious river navigation between Orleans and Briare. The Canal de Loing, finished in 1724, completed the junction of these two canals with the Seine. Further south, meanwhile, the power and enterprise of Louis had been displaying itself on a far greater scale. The Canal of Languedoc, begun in 1G67 and finished in 1G81, had realised a project which for centuries had inspired the fancy of the greatest rulers of France — Charlemagne, Francis L, and Riche- lieu — the junction of the ocean with the Mediterranean, For any detailed description of this undertaking wp must content ourselves with referring our readers to the numerous works extant and accessible on the subject, such as those of De la Lande, the Chevalier AUent, and General Andreossi. The latter author sets forth the evidence on which he founds tlie claim of his ancestor, F. Andreossi, as the original inventor of the plan wliich he certainly assisted to execute, to the exclusion of the pretensions of Riquet, as asserted in an inscription on the lock of Toulouse, and admitted for many years without question. We are ill qualified to decide on the merits of a controversy which still has its warm and enlightened partizans on cither side in France. It is more to our purpose — that of noting a few leading facts and features of the rise and progress of inland navi- gation — to call attention to its relative state at this period in England. We are indebted to Mr. Hughes for a quotation inserted in liis interesting * Memoir of James Brindley,' which Essay VII. 1 much and cl, were the Iriare, com- ng the five ee of Sully. Henry, and ilties of the mpletion in due to the example in unaffected, he reign of ,nd finished ;arious river 1 de Loing, canals with ise of Louis The Canal lad realised mcy of the and Riche- ,nean. For ust content rous works of De la eossi. The founds the inventor of e exclusion tion on the it question. controversy cither side )ting a few aland navi- period in Quotation ley,' which Essay VII. FRANCIS MATIIEW. 223 bears upon this subject. It is from a work of one Francis Mathew, who, in the year 16o6, addiessed the Protector Crom- well on the advantage of a water communication between London and Bristol : — " Mathew in his clay," says Mr. Hughes, " was probably con- sidered a bold and daring speculator ; and what was the extent of the plan by which he proposed to elfeet his object ? It was this : to make the rivers Isis and Avon navigable to their sources by means of sasses, and to connect their heads by a short canal of three miles, across the intervening ridge of countiy. It is amusing enough to follow the argument of this primitive amateur, for he ventures not to call himself an engineer, in his endeavour to convince the world that his project, novel and gigantic as ho admits it to be, is not beyond the capacity of the state to execute. As for private enter- prise, whether by individuals or by a corporation, he considers it quite out of the question for such a work ; but he ventures to think that the state might execute it with a reasonable prospect of success. " The condition," says Mr. Hughes, " of engineering science in the time of Mathew may be inferred from the following extract from his book, relating to the general subject of inland navigation. He recommends- " ' To rise as high, in opening the said rivers, as they shall bo found feazible, there to make a wharf, magazine, or warehouse, for all such commodities as are useful to those parts of the countiy, both for trade and merchandizing, and service in time of war with far greater expedition. If any other river, practicable for boats, lye near the head or side of the said river, and that the ground favour the opening of a still river to be drawn between them, then to joyn them with sasses or otherwise. But should the ground be repugnant, then a fair stone causey, not exceeding one little day's journey for horses or carts, to be raised between the said rivers. By the like industry many mediterranean passages by water, with the help of such causeys, would be formed from one f>ea to the other, and not to have the old channel of any river to be forsaken for a shorter passage ; for, as hath been said, rivers are never out of their way.' " It is hardly fair to look down from the height of modern achievement with contempt on a man who, at all events, did his bfst to call public attention to a neglected subject. Had Mathew succeeded in fixing upon it the vigorous mind of the Protector, his feeble suggestion might have fructified, and Bridge- 224 AQUEDUCTS AND CANALS. Essay YII. water and Brindley might have been anticipated by a century. It is true that, while such a representative of the engineering science of England was addressing the English Government, Colbert, Riquet, and Andreossi were digesting the scheme for the junction of the Atlantic with the Mediterranean, and dealing with elevations and volumes of water from which Mathew \yould have shrunk in dismay. It is perhaps strange that Louis XIV.'s grandiloquent and characteristic proclamation, which made so many French bosoms beat high, should have had no echo in England. It is, however, far stranger that the example of the great work, accomplished in 1681, with its 100 locks, its 36 aqueducts, and its elevation of some 600 feet above the level of the Mediterranean, should for eighty years have been lost upon England ; and that, when the hour and the man at last arrived, a scheme more substantial, but far less gigantic, should have been treated as the dream of a madman. We cannot even find that the Canal of Languedoc was ever cited by Brindley or his employer in reply to the wise men who questioned their sanity. It is true that the Canal of Languedoc afibrds no example of a navigable aqueduct, the piers of which stand in the bed of a navi- gable river, and constructed on a scale which leaves the navi- gation of that river luiimpeded; but even the Pont du Gard might have sufficed to strip Brindley's project of the Barton Aqueduct of its supposed impracticability. If Brindley, however, was acquainted '• \ the existence of such works at this period, he was assuredly so ignorant of their details as to be utterly inujcent of plagiarism. With regard to the Duke of Bridge- water himself there is more room for doubt. He certainly visited France and Italy in his youth ; and hence Mr. Hughes, while defending zealously, and we think most justly, his claim as the originator of navigable canals in England, infers that " undoubt- edly he had seen and studied the great canal-works oi Italy, Holland, and other countries." The question is one of more curiosity than importance, but there is at least no proof of the truth of the assumption. The liistory of Francis Duke of Bridgewater is engraved in intaglio on the face of the country he helped to civilize and enrich. His memory is held in veneration in his own country, and beyond it ; and, we may add, in affection as well as respect by the population of his own Lancashire neighbourhood, a race SSHAY VII. Essay VII. FRANCIS DUKE OF BRIDGEWATET!. 225 century, ^neering ernment, heme for d dealing ew would lis XIV.'s made so 3 echo in ale of the ks, its 36 e level of lost upon it arrived, ould have even find lley or his Bir sanity, imple of a of a navi- ; the navi- ; du Gard he Buxton r, however, his period, be utterly 3f Bridge- nly visited ;hes, while ,im as the undoubt- 01 Italy, of more lof of the [graved in i'ilize and |n country, IS respect lod, a race zealous in its attachments, and not indisposed to wliat Mr. Carlyle calls " hero worship." The best records of an eminent man are certainly his works. The ' Principia ' and tlie ' Transfigu- ration ' are more substantial memorials of Newton and Eaphael than the pages of any biogi-apher ; but yet few are altogether indifferent to even the pettiest minutia) of the lives and habits of such men. We love to hear of Ne\vton's untasted and forgotten dinner, and .to trace in Vasari Eaphaers morning progi'css to the Vatican suiTounded by enthusiastic pupils. In this instance our curiosity for such details has been but slenderly gratified. Correspondence to ransack there is none. It is not strictly true to say, as has been said, that Brindley could not vrite ; but it is true to say of his employer that he would not : he had at least an aversion to the use of the pen. We know not that, with tlie exception of meagre articles in foreign works, any one has at- tempted to discharge for the Duke the task of biography ; wliicli in the case of Brindley has been more than once performed.* These remarks are no preface to any sucli deliberate attempt of ours ; yet a few scattered notices of so remarkable a benefactor to his country may be worth collection and admission into these pages : — " Hif> saltern accumulem donis'^ Francis, sixth Earl and third and last Duke of Bridgewater, was born in 1736, the youngest of five childreri. His father died when he was eleven years old ; and one only of the four elder brothers had lived to enjoy for a short time the title. On the death of this brother, Francis succeeded to the dukedom. Though the loss of a mother, usually a far greater misfortune than that of a father, was spared him, it is said that he met with little attention from one whose affections in the first year of her widowhood were trahsferred to a second husband. It is certain that his education was much neglected ; and we have heard that some attempt was contemplated to set him altogether aside on the score of mental deficiency. Horace Walpole writes to liis Florentine Pylades, Sir Horace Mann, in 1701, — " You will be happy in Sir Richard Lyttlaton and his duchess — they are the best-humoured people in the world." We have reason to believe that little of this valuable quality was dispensed to the benefit of ■* The notices of the duke in those two valuable works, the Frenoli ' Biographie Universelle ' and the Oerman ' Conversations Lexicon,' have antedated his birth by ten years. Q 226 AQUEDUCTS AND CANALS. Essay VIT. the sickly boy, who probably gave little promise of long surviving his consumptive brothers, and less of future eminence in any department. The field of exertion which he lived to select could hardly be foreseen by wiser people than his worldly relatives. His guardians, the Duke of Bedford and his brother-in-law, Lord Trentham, sent him, at the age of seventeen, to make the tour of Europe. They selected for his companion a man of the highest distinction for talent and acquirement, the scholar, the traveller, and the antiquarian, Robert. Wood, author of the well- known works on Troy, Baalbeck, and Palmyra. The usual con- sequences of this Mezentian connexion between an accomplished and matured man and a backward and unruly boy did not fail to show themselves, and evidence exists that Wood often wished himself back in the desert he had so lately left. His work on Palmyra, which was published immediately after his return from the East, bears date 1752, and in March of the following year he started with his ] oil. To a man so gifted his new com- panion must have been a bad exchange for Bouverie and Daw- kins : and who ever yet felt the luxuries of European travelling a compensation for the delights of the desert ? Wood, indeed, w'as no college pedagogue, but a man of the world — of that world which acknowledges a Chesterfield as its guide in morals as well as behaviour. He was induced with some difficulty to persevere in his undertaking* It is probable that during their residence in Italy he may have communicated to his pupil some taste for the arts, wliich afterwards displayed itself in the formation of the Bridgewater Gallery. He sat for liis portrait to Mengs, probably by the duke's desire, for the picture is now in the Bridgewater collection. The duke made also some purchases of marbles, tables of Egyptian granite, such as still tempt EngUsh purses in the shops of the Eomau scarpeUini. These, however, remained in their original packing-cases till after his death. We much regret that we have been unable to find any trace of the duko's route beyond Lyons, except his visit to Rome. It is possible that the works of Lionardo on the Milan canal may have engaged his attention ; and equally so that, on his return homeward, he may have taken a route through the south of France, which, at Narbonne, Toulouse, or elsewhere, may have brought the greater works of Louig XIV. under his obser- vation ; but we have nothing but conjecture to guide us, and Essay VII. FRANCIS DUKP] OP BRIDGEWATER. 227 we have no reason to believe that he passed through any part of Holland. We have little record of the duke's habits between the period of this journey and the attainment of his majority. The Kaoing Calendar bears witness that from 1756 to 1770 he kept race- horses. He had also for some time a house at Newmarket. The bulky man of after -years was once so light and slender of frame that he occasionally rode races in person ; and, on one such occasion, we have heard a bet was jokingly proposed that he would be blown off his horse. He rode a race in Trentham park against a jockey of royal blood, the Duke of Cumberland. Whatever were his pursuits, or the degree to which he indulged in them, they soon merged into the one occupation of his re- maining life. It will sometimes happen, as Dryden tells us, — " That when some proud usurper Heaven provides, To scourge a country with his lawless sway, Kis birth perhaps some petty village hides, And sets his cradle out of fortune's way ! " If men occasionally rise from obscurity to such perilous eleva- tion, it fortunately also sometimes occurs that others bom to coronets on their cradles, and scutcheons on their cofiBns, will descend from the dignity of doing nothing to the office of think- ing and acting for the benefit of their fellow-creatures. As England is not a country of Spanish grandees, and the blood of her aristocracy is, in sporting phrase, continually crossed, there are no physical reasons why the higher faculties of the mind should not be pretty equally distributed among aU her classes. With reference, however, to that portion of her arig'^3cracy which has been compared to the Trinity House, in that it is composed of elder brethren, *t may be said that political ambition is the incentive wliich most usually calls its powers into conspicuous action. The fact is, that politics are the most social of serious pursuits ; and though real distinction in this sphere, as in others, is only to be gained by great sacrifices of ease and pleasure, it is still compatible with a large indulgence in the social excitements which wealth and inherited station hold out for acceptance, ..nd which even, to some extent, form part of the business of a poli- tical leader, and become agents of his influence. If Sir Isaac Q 2 !''l. ■: "'I! 228 AQUEDUCTS AND CANALS. P:8say VII. Newton had been bom to an earldom and a rent-roll, his parents or guardians might have warned liim that Euclid was very well, but that fluxions did not become a gentleman ; and the sacred fire within him might have burnt out in the calculations of poli- tical finance, or, more unprofitably, on the course of Newmarket or at the gaming-table. The self-exile from the circle we are ticketed from birth to enter, the brooding over one design, the indomitable perseverance which can alone master success in such objects as those of the Duke of Bridgewater's manhood, can, in the nature of things, seldom be exhibited by tlie nobles by in- heritance of any country. It is well known that they were con- spicuously exhibited by the Duke of Bridgewater. Perseverance was in his nature, but we believe that accident had a share in its development — that a disappointment in love first alienated him from what is called the world — and that this affair of the heart was the cardinal passage of his existence. We mention it not merely as having influenced his destiny, but also as having afiforded a signal illustration of that determination of character and resolute will which afterwards carried him tlu*ough all liis difficulties. Deeply smitten with the charms of one of two sisters famous for their beauty, he had sued and been accepted ; and the pre- liminaries of the marriage were in progress when an obstacle occurred. The reputation of the other sister, more renowned for beauty of the two — though hardly with justice, if the engravings of the day be faithful— but undoubtedly more fair than wise, had suffered from evil reports. The duke, who had heard and (as men of the world usually do where female reputation is con- cerned) believed, announced to his intended bride his resolution against a continuance of intimacy : we know not whether the prohibition extended to intercourse. Sisterly affection revolted at this condition, but he persevered to the extent of breaking off the marriage. Such scruples in an age not remarkable for rigid aristocratic morality, and on the part of a pupil of Wood> might be suspected to indicate want of ardour in the attachment. The circumstances, however, refute this suspicion. The charms of the lady alore had attracted the suitor — charms which had, previously to the duke's suit, placed one ducal coronet on her brow, and speedily replaced the one she now sacrificed to sisterly affection, by another. ""^ 89AV VII. 5 parents ery well, e sacred s of poli- wmarket e we are jsign, the IS in such d, can, in es by in- were con- severance share in alienated lir of the ! mention t also as ination of ai tlu:ough 3rs famous d the pre- obstacle Lowned for iigravings wise, had d and (as m is con- resolution lether the revolted breaking •kable for of Wood, ichment. le charms [hich had, t on her sisterly Essay VII. FRANCIS DUKK OF liRIDGEWATER. 22!) Their impression was in tliis instance so deep, and the sacrifice so painful, that he who made it to a great extent abandoned society, and is said never to have spoken to another woman in the language of gallantry. A Koman Catholic might have built a monastery, tenanted a cell, and died a saint. The duke, at the age of twenty-two, betook himself to his Lancashire estates, made Brindley his confessor, and died a benefactor to commerce, manu- factures, and mankind. While upon this subject it may be worth while to remark that our account of this episode in the duke's life may serve to supply the readers of Horace Walpole with the explanation of a pas- sage in one of his letters to Marslial Conway. He writes, Jan. 28, 1759:— " You and Mr. de Baroil may give j'-oiirselves what airs you please of settling cartels with expedition. You do not exchange prisoners with half so much alacrity as Jack Campuoll and the Duchess of Hamilton have exchanged hearts It is the prettiest match in the world since yov.is, and everybody likes it but the Duke of Bridgewater and Lord Coventry. What an extraordinary fate is attached to these two women ! Who could have believed that a Gunning would unite the two great houses of Campbell and Hamilton? For my part, I expec t to see my Lady Coventry Queen of Pioissia. I would not venture to marry either of them these thirty years, for fear of being shuffled out of the world prematurely to make room for the rest of their adventures." We do not profess to know why Lord Coventry should have objected to his sister-m-law's second marriage. We have ex- plained why the Duke of Bridgewater may have done so. Was it to conceal his chagrin, and carry off his disaj^pointment with a good grace, that he performed a feat very inconsistent with his after habits, alluded to in the subsequent letter of March 9 to Sir Horace Mann ? — " Colonel Campbell and the Duchess of Hamilton »to married. My sister, who was at the Opera last Tuesday, and went from thence to a great ball at the Duke of Bridgewater's, where she stayed till three in the morning, was brought to bed in less than four hours aftervards." Beyond the allusion quoied above from Horace Walpole, we have met with no written notice of this incident in the duke's life ; but our oral authority is such as to leave us no djubt en 230 AQUEDUCTS AND CANALS. Essay VII. m Ji I' ; I; the subject, And we caunot think that wo have over-estimated its importance. We are aware that the validity of his claim to the title which by very general consent has been bestowed upon him, of Father of British Inland Navigation, has been cavilled at on two gi'ounds — first, on that of an act obtained by liis father, Scroop, first Duke of Bridgewater, and others in 1737, for ren- dering Worsley brook navigable ; and secondly, on the stronger instance of the Sankey navigation, the act for which was obtained in 1755, and which was opened in 1760, whereas the duke's first act received the royal assent in March, 1759, and the Barton aqueduct was opened in July, 1761. The first ground of im- peachment we consider hardly worth notice, unless to illustrate the difference between a vague and timid conception, the execu- tion of which was never attempted, and the brilliant realizations of Brindley. On the second Mr. Hughes makes the following remarks, p. 8 : — " The credit of the Duke of Bridgewater having been denied by some, who contend the Sankey Brook Canal in Lancashire was con- structed and designed before his, it may be proper to examine the truth of this assertion. In the year 1755 an act was obtained for making the Sankey Brook navigable from St. Helens to the river Mersey, but the proprietors of the navigation afterwards determined to abandon the stream and make an entirely new canal, using the water of the stream merely to feed the canal. Accordingly the canal was dug as close along the side of the stream as practicable, and opened for navigation in the year 1 760. In the mean time the Duke of Bridgewater applied to I'arliament in 1758 for power to construct a canal, not in the bed of any stream, nor near or parallel with the course of any stream, but entirely across the dry land, and quite irrespective of the position of streams, except in so far as they might be made to afford supplies of water to his canal. Upon a consider- ation of these facts, 1 confess myself unable to see any ground what- ever for putting the merit of any other person in this respect in competition with that of his grace, who undoubtedly deserves the whole credit of planning, at the time of attaining his majority, a work which reflects immortal honour on his memory, and confers a rank upon him greater, immeasurably greater, than all that which is due to his title and his station. Undoubtedly he had seen and studied the great canal- works of Italy, Holland, and other countries, and he deserves undivided credit for having so perseveringly deter- mined to see them imitated in his own country and through his own means." ESBAY VII. Essay VII. FUANCIS PUKE OF BRIDGEWATER. 231 imated its lim to the upon him, led at on lis father, ', for ren- 3 stronger 3 obtained luke's first he Barton md of im- > illustrate the execu- ealizations following denied by re was con- icamine the btained for } the river determined , using the y the canal icable, and e the Duke construct b1 with the , and quite they might a consider- )und what- respect in iserves the majority, a d confers a that which d seen and • countries, ngly deter- :h his own We have given elsewhere our reasons for doubting the assump- tion of Mr. Hughes as to the effect of the duke's continental tour. With his other observations we concur, and, doing so, wo are in- clined to lay the greater stress on the probability that, if the duko had become the husbaud of the most beautiful woman of her day, he might indeed have become the father of a race of Kgertons, but not of inland navigation. This title could hardly have been won, unless circumstances had allowed of the complete and con- tinued concentration of the whole energies of the man on the one object. Under the influence of eyes not inferior to tJiose of the duke's ancestress, Churcljill's loveliest daughter, immortalized by Pope, when he writes in his epistle to Jervas, how — " Beauty waking all her forms supplies An angel's sweetness, or Bridgcwater's eyes " — he would have been more likely to have protracted his lioney- moon in the myrtle-shades of Ashridge than to have adopted the course by which alone his canal schemes could have readied success — namely, fixed his residence in the coal-field of Worsley and on the confines of Chat Moss. In the lady's opinion, at least, Brindley and G'lbert might have been unwelcome additions to a connubial tete-a-tete, and uncouth appendages to circles re- cruited from White's and Almack's. Eventual Egertons might also have been strong prudential checks on speculations whidi as things turned out could involve no ruin but his own, but which at one time brought him so near its verge that almost any one but a childless enthusiast would have retreated in dismay. We must take into account that, if the duke started on his foreign travel under disadvantage from neglected education, he returned from Paris, in the modern phraseology of Christ Church and Trinity, a fast young man, on which point we have evidence as satisfac- tory as that on wliicli we ha re relied for the fact of his intended marriage. The following communication, furnished by the kind- ness of a surviving contemporary of his latter years, will show the pitch of slowness to which he afterwards retrograded. So little is recorded of his personal habits that we make no apology for minutisB not strictly relative to our ma'n subject : — " It was in the summer of 1797 that I passed a few weeks at Trentham with his grace. He was every day (as who in that eventful period was not?) very anxiou'. for the arrival of the news- I 2.S2 AfiCEDUCTS AND CANALS. Ebbay VII. K» I M papers and intelligonuo from London, and, when there waH no London bag, which was then the case on TuesdayH, he called it emphatically a dm non. At t^iblo he rejected with a kind of anti- pathy all poultry, veal, &c., calling them 'white meats,' and won- dering that every one, like himself, did not prefer the brown. Ho ro])uked any one who happened to say port-wine, saying, ' Do you ever talk of claret-wine, Burgundy-wine?' &c. In person he was largo and unwieldy, and seemed careless about his diess, which was uniformly a suit of brown, something of the cut of Dr. Johnson's. Mr. of passed some days with us, and during his stay the duke was every evening planted with him on a distant sofa in earnest conversation about canals, to the amusement of some of the party. I can confirm the race with the Duke of Cumberland ; — it was in allusion to the altered appearance and dress of the Duke of Bridgewater that the Marquis of Stafford mentioned to the late Chief-Baron Macdonald and myself what a change there was in his person and apparel since his grace rode that mce in blue silk and silver with a jockey-cap ; and 1 believe the ground on which it took place was the terrace at the back of the wood. Apropos of the Duke of Cumberland's visit to Trentham, the old greenhouse (fuit Ilium, and Mr. Barry has levelled these things) was hastily built just before that visit as a skittle-ground for his royal highness to play in. There was also prison-bars and other games of the villagers for his amusement." If any of the fast young men of the present day are readers of this Review, these passages may serve as a warning to them to resist the first inroads of business, the seduction of the improba syren, occupation, lest peradventure tliey live to build steeples instead of (chasing them, or to dig ditches instead of leaping them, and sink in dress, habits, and occupations to the level of Dr. Johnson or the Duke of Bridgewater. For ourselves, we have d\\elt thus long on this passage of the duke's life for the same reason and with the same interest with which travellers trace great rivers to their sources, and historians great events to their obscure causes. We are far from supposing that if he had never lived England could long have remained contented with primi- tive modes of intercourse inadequate to her growing energies. Brindley himself might have found other patrons, or, if he had pined for want of such, Smeatons, Fultons, and Telfords might have arisen to supply his place. But for the happy conjunction, however, of such an instrument with such a hand to wield it, inland navigation might long have had to struggle with the Ehhay vn. FltANCIS DUKE OF imiDOKWATKU. 2'X\ timidity of capitalists, aiul for a time at It'ast would iM'rhaps liavo crept aU)iig, obse([ui<)rt8 to inecjualitioH of Hurface and the sinu- osities of natural watercourses. VVhen wo trace on the map tlie present artificial arterial system of Britain — some 110 lines of canal, amounting in length to 2100 miles — when we reflect on the rapidity of the creation, how soon the junction of the Worsley coal-field with its IManchester nuirket was followed by that of Liverpool with Hull, and Lancashire with liondon — we catinot but think that tiio duke's matrimonial disappointment ranks with other cardinal passages in the lives of eminent men, — with the majority of nine which prevented the })rqjected emigration of Cromwell, and tlus hurricane which scattered Admiral Christian's ileet and drove back to the Downs the vessel freighted with Sir Arthur Wellesley and his fortiuies. If we had any reason to suppose that, previously to this affair, the duke differed from other young men in respect of su8ce])ti- bility to female attraction, the follow ing paragraj)!! from a news- paper of the day would furnish an indication at least to the con- trary. Its date is October 11, 1705 : — "A marriage will soon be consummated between his Grace the Duke of Bridgewater and Miss Revel, his Grace having just arrived from his travels in foreign parts." Such a paragraph leaves a wide field for con- jecture. If, as we have reason to believe, the lady in question was the daughter of Thomas Revel, of Fetcham in Surrey, who married in 1758 George Warren, of Pointon in Cheshire, afterwards Sir G. Warren, K.B., she Avas a considerable heiress. I'lie news- papers ore certainly prone to bestowing young dukes and great heiresses on one anotlier upon slight provocation, and without any consent or collusion of the parties. Still we may reasonably hope that the report was at least founded on the solid basis of a flirtation. We wish we could ascertain whether it went the length of dancing. In France we know that his grace resisted an infusion of that accomplishment with the usual tenacity of a young Englishman. Like other boys, he was more amenable to the fencing-master. His habits of riding continued to a late period of his life, and a groom and two horses formed part of his reduced establishment at Worsley, when he is said to have brought his personal expenses within 400/. per annum. By the members of the circles he thus abandoned, by those I '^ ' i . i 234 AQUEDUCTS AND CANALS. Essay VII. who missed him at the betting-stand, the club, or the assembly, he was probably considered a lost man. They were mistaken, but not unreasonable. When certain stars shoot thus madly fror« their spheres, they seldom shine in any other. When a man of birth and wealth, sensible of the effect of a deficient education, shrinks from the toil of self-improvement, which can alone raise him to his pro;' Dr level, and flies from contact with his equals in rank because they are superior in cultivation, it is terribly pro- bable that low company and sensual indulgence will be the sub- stitute for that hti quits. To the co-operation of such causes with his love disappointment the duke's abrupt secession was probably attributed ; and if so, his friends and relatives must have considered their worst anticipations confirmed when rumours reached theiL from Lancashire that his two cliief associates were a land-agent and a millwright. There >>as, however, a work to be done. The hour was at hand when the latent manufacturing and commercial energies of England were to be set loose by the inventions of Watt, and Arkwright, and Crorapton. To their development the improve- ment of internal intercourse was an essential preliminary. The instruments for this great work were selected by Providence from the highest the j middle, and the humblest classes of society, and Bridgewate:, Gilbei't. and Brindley formed the remarkable trio to whom the tack was delegated. Of these, Gilbert, whose func- tions as a coadjalor were ^,he least distinct, has attracted least notice ; but if his shiiio in the transaction could be certified, we doubt whether it would be found that he contributed much less to its success than the other two. We are unable to trace with positive certainty the circum- stances which introduced John Gilbert to the notice of the duke ; but as the elder brother Thomas was agent to the duke's brother- in-law, Lord Gower, by whose influence he sat for the borough of Lichfield, there can be little doubt that this was the channel of the introduction. John Gilbert was much engaged in mining speculations. In some of these it is probable that he became cognizant of the merits of Brindley, who so far back as 1753 had engaged in the draining of some mines at Clifton, near Man- chester. We have no doubt that it was Gilbert who introduced Brindley to the duke, but we have no positive evidence of inti- macy between Gilbert and Brindley eailior than 1760, when the i EbSAY VII. Essay VII. JOHN AND THOMAS GILBERT. 2So brothers Brindley, and Henshall, the brother-in-law of James, purchased the Golden Hill estate, full of minerals, in partner- ship with Gilbert. Gilbert was also an active promoter of the Trent and Mersey canaJ, of which Brindley became the engineer, and is said to a trifling degree to have turned his influence with the latter to his own advantage, by procuring a slight deviation from the original scheme of the Harecastle Tunnel, and bringing it through his o>vn estate. J. Gilbert is described to us by a sur- viving friend as a " practioal, persevering, out-door man. He loved mines and under- ground works ; had like to have been killed at Donnington Wood, when he was down in the work, by holding his candle too near the roof. The foul air went oflf with a loud explosion, and blew ihe gearing at the pit eye into atoms. He was saved by a collier throwing him flat down and lying on him in the drift, but had his stock burnt partly off his neck, and the crown of his head scorched. The collier was badly burned, but Mr. Gilbert provided for him and his family." We may mention that the elder brother Thomas was the author of those parochial unions which bear his name, and which, having been unquestionable improvements on the old system of poor-lav^, have been much used as engines of resistance to the introduction of the new. It is certain that in J. Gilbert's energy, perseverance, and firmness the duke found a spirit kindred to his own. It has been said that, when the moment arrived for admitting the water into the Barton aqueduct, Brindley's nerve was unequal to the interest of the crisis, that he ran away and hid himself in Stretford, Avhile Gilbert remained cool and collected to superintend the operation which was to confirm or to confute the clamour with which the project had been assailed. On some important points of engi- neering connected with this aqueduct he successfully maintained his opinions against those of Brindley. One anecdote connected with Gilbert illustrates the extent of the pecuniary difficulties which the duke experienced in the progress of his undertaking, by the nature of the expedients to which he was compelled to resort. It is well known that at one period the duke's credit was so low that his bill for 5C0^. could scarcely be cashed in Liver- pool. Under such difficulties Gilbert was employed to ride round the neighbouring districts of Cheshire, and borrow from farmers f t^ 236 AQUEDUCTS AND CANALS. Essay VII. such small sums as could be collected from such a source. On one of these occasions he was joined by a horseman, and after some conversation the meeting ended with an exchange of their respective horses. On alighting afterwards at a lonely inn, which he had not before frequented, Gilbert was surprised to be greeted with evident and mysterious marks of recognition by the land- lord, and still more so when the latter expressed a hope that his journey had been successful, and that his saddle-bags were weU filled. He was unable to account for the apparent acquaintance of a total stranger with the business and object of his expedition. The mystery was solved by the discovery that he had exchanged horses with a highwayman who had infested the paved lanes of Cheshire till his horse had become so well known that its owner had found it convenient to take the first opportunity of procuring one less notorious. It would be difficult to imagine a greater contrast than the origin and progress of the Bridgewater Canal presented to that of the Canal du Midi. No turgid proclamation heralded the former, " written" — as Andreossi avers of that of Louis XIV. — " in that elevated style, and bearing the impress of that firm and noble character, which marks alike the projects and the pro- ductions of the age of Louis XIV." There was no Colbert to find the funds, no Riquet to receive the magnificent entailed reward of the profits, no Corneille to furnish the flattery. To these and such as these, armed with all the paraphernalia of maps and sections and calculations, Louis gave audience in his sumptuous chamber at Versailles. Round the humble hearth of the black and white timbered manor-house of Worsley, or of the still huml)ler village inn, three hard-headed men, of simple manners and attu*e, discussed a project unnoticed by governments, and deemed hopeless by the few besides themselves who gave any attention to the matter. To fill the place of a sovereign, the uncontrolled master of vast revenues, there was an English nobleman, proprietor of extensive but somewhat encumbered estates ; and if to conceive and direct the work there was a greater original genius than Riquet or Andreossi, that genius could barely read and write, and was hired in the first place at two and sixpence a day. Such at least is the statement of one who had enjoyed opportunities of information, Francis Egertou, the last Earl of Bridgewater, who died at Paris in the odour of EsJ ec(| ex^ inci Fr| is CI liisi inti imj poti yigc in strid Itisl with S8AY VII. ce. On nd after of their n, which I greeted he land- I that his fere well laintance :pedition. cchanged lanes ol its owner procuring than the 3d to that dded the sXIV.— that firm d the pro- ^lolbert to , entailed ;ery. To jmalia of ice in his I hearth of or of the \i simple ^mments, ^ho gave )vereign, English lumbered re was a It genius place at of one ^gertou, I odour of Essay VII. BRINDLEY. 231 eccentricity. He adds that Brindley offered to engage himself exclusively to the duke for a guinea a week, — but a slight increase on the former sum. If this be true, it confirms the French proverb that the vrai is not always the vraisemhlahle. It is clear that at the time when Brindley entered the duke's service liis fame as a mechanician was considerable. He had already introduced inventions of his own for the drainage of mines, the improvement of silk-machineiy, and the grinding of flints for the potteries of Staffordshire, and in 1756 he had begun to apply his vigorous intellect to the steam-engine. It is said, however, that in all or most of these matters he had been thwarted and re- stricted by the jealousy of rivals and the stupidity of employers. It is probable enough that disgust with his late patrons, sympathy with the new, the nature of the task before him, and conscious- ness of power to accomplish it, may have combined to make him court the duke's service on the lowest terms. For his own interest the speculation, perhaps, was not a bad one; for it appears that very speedily after the commencement of the Bridgewater Canal, Brindley was employed by Earl Gower and Lord Anson to survey a line for a projected canal between the Trent and the Mersey. There can be little doubt, as Earl Gower was the duke's brother-in-law, that the selection of Brindley was at the duke's recommendation. As the materials for Brindley's life in the * Biographia Britan- nica' were famished by his brother-in-law, Mr. Henshall, it could ha Uy be expected that at this distance of time his present biographer, Mr. Hughes, could add much to the little there recorded of liis personal peculiarities. The following remarks on his professional character appear to us in the main well foimded. After giving a summary of the great works on which Brindley was engaged, which comprises some dozen of the principal lines of navigation in the kingdom, Mr. Hughes proceeds : — " In taking a hasty retrospect of Brindley's engineering career, it is important to observe that all the works he projected, planned, and executed, are comprised within a period of twelve years, and by far the greater part of them within the last seven years of his life. It is amazing to reflect that the man who had to struggle, without precedent or experience to guide him, with all the difficulties which attended the early history of canals, should himself have effected \ 238 AQUEDUCTS AND CANALS. Essay VII. and originated bo mnch. There can be no doubt that he possessed an intellect of the highest order, that his views were most compre- hensive, and his inventive faculties extremely fertile. Brindley was wholly without education, and it has even been asserted that he was unable to read and write, the utmost extent of his capacity in the latter accomplishment extending no further than that of signing his name. This, however, has been disputed, on the authority of his brother-in-law, who stated that he could both read and write, though he was a poor scribe. However this may be, it is certain that he was quite ignorai; ' in the vulgar sense t the word Educa- tion, and perfectly unacquainted with the literature of his own or any other country. It may be a bold assertion, and yet I believe it to be one with strong presumptions in its favour, that Brindley 's want of education was alike fortunate for himself, for the world, and for posterity. There was no lack of scholars in his day more t^an in our own ; nay, the literary coxcomb had then a more flourisL .ng soil in which to vegetate. But where were the Brindleys among those scholars ? Where were the men capable of the same original {.nd comprehensive views, the same bold unprecedented experiments up(m matter and the forces of nature, which the illiterate Derbyshire ploughboy dared to entertain and undertake? If we range the annals of the whole world, and include within our survey even those examples of sacred history where divinely-appointed ministers were raised to work out great designs, we shall find no instance more remarkable, nor one which more completely violates the ordinary expectations and probabilities of mankind, than this, in which the uneducated millwright of a country village became the instrument of improving beyond the bounds of sober belief the condition of a great nation, and of increasing to an incredible amount her wealih and resources. But, it may be asked, why would Brindley have been less fit or less likely to accomplish all he did, if at the same time he had been educated ? The answer is, that a mind like Brind- ley's would have lost much of its force, originality, and boldness, if it had been tied down by the rules of science, his attention diverted by the elegancies of literature, or his energy diluted by imbibing too much from the opinions of others. Alone he stood, alone he struggled, and alone he was proof against all the assaults of men who branded him as a madman, an enthusiast, and a person not to be trusted." — p. 42. This passage, and more in the same style, shows the estimation in which Brindley's talents are still held by men conversant with all recent improvements, and competent by their own profes- sional studies to judge of his achievements. Mr. Hughes's Essay VII. ) possessed ist com pre - indley was )d that he 3apacity in of signing uthoiity of and write, ; is certain 3rd Educa- hiis own or [ believe it Brindley's world, and more t^an flourisL .ng eys among ne original xperiments Derbyshire range the even those isters were ance more 3 ordinary which the instrument iition of a her wealth idley have bt the same ike Brind- )oldness, if n diverted ' imbibing , alone he ts of men rson not to jstimation reant with ra profes- Hughes's Essay VII. BRINDLEY. 239 comparipon of him with IMoses and Joshua we consider ill-judged and not in point ; inasmuch as ciAil er^neering had nothing to do with the passage either of the Red Sea or the Jordan. That Brindley at a cert^'n period of his life could write, rests upon better testimony even than the report of his relation, as speci- mens of his writing were furnished not long since from the office at Worsley, for the use of IVIr. Baines, author of that excellent work ' The History of Lancashire.' Of a singular scheme attributed to Brindley, that of a bridge over the Irish Channel between Portpatrick and Donaghadee, Mr. Hughes remarks — " We know nothing, except that it was said to have been a very favourite scheme of Brindley's, and was to have been effected by a floating road and canal, which he was confident he could execute in such a manner as to stand the most violent attacks of the waves." We know of no better authority than a newspaper paragraph for attributing anything so fool'sh as tliis idea to Brindley. If he ever entertained it, two things are certain — that his head was turned by success and adulation, and that he had never been in the Irish Channel in a gale of wind. The latter is likely enough ; we are slow to believe the former of a man so eminently practical and so simple-minded Of Brindley apart from his works little then can be said, be- cause little is now known. With regard to the personal habits and character of his great employer, it may be neither superfluous nor inappropriate to mention that, if he declined to fill, in the House of Lords or elsewhere, the place assigned to him by birth and wealth, as a resident landlord and employer he left behind him a deep impression not only of power and authority, but of the kindly virtues, which in his case, as in many others, lurked under a somewhat rough exterior. If he preferred the conversa- tion of a few friends and confidants of his schemes to the gossip of London circles, his interciourse mth the poor man and the labourer was frequent and famih'ar, and his knowledge of their persons and characters extensive. His surviving contemporaries among this class mention his name with invariable affection and reverence. Something like his phantom presence still seems to pervade his Lancashire neighbourhood, before v/hich those on whom his heritage has fallen shrink intn comparative insignifi- cance. The Duke's horses still draw the Duke's boats. The Duke's coals still issue from the Duke's levels; and when a s ; .Jl 240 AQUEDUCTS AND CANALS. Essay VII. question of price is under discussion — What will the Duke say or do ? is as constant an element of tlie proposition, as if he were forthcoming in tlie body to answer the question. He had certainly "no taste for the decorations which lighten and adorn existences less engrossed by serious pursuits. The house he built commanded a wide view of the works he constructed and the country he helped to fertilize, but it was as destitute during his life of garden and shrubbery, as of pineries, conservatories, and ornamental pigsties. Rising one morning after his arrival from London at this place, he found that some flowers had been planted in Irs absence, which he demolished with his cane and ordered to be rooted up. The labourer who received the order, and who in Lancashire phrase was jiytten for this transgression of the Duke's tastes, adds that he was fond enough however of some Turkey oaks which had been brought down from a London nursery-garden, and took much interest in their proper disposal. His nature had certainly more of the oak than the flow-er in its composition, though not, in Johnson's phrase, the nodosity without the strength. While resident in London his social intercourse was limited within the circle of a few intimate friends, and for many years he avoided the trouble of a main part of an establishment suited to his station, by an arrangement with one of these, who for a stipulated sum undertook to provide a daily dinner for his Grace and a certain number of guests. This engagement lasted till a late period of the Duke's life, when the death of the friend ended the contract. These were days when men sat late, even if they did not drink hard. We believe the Duke's habits were no exception to the former practice ; but if we may judge from a Worsley cellar-book, which includes some years of his residences there, his home consumption of wine was very moderate. He is said to have smoked more than he talked, and was addicted to rushing out of the room every five minutes to look at the barometer. We have conjectured that the Duke's early association with Wood might possibly have generated the taste for old pictures which ultimately displayed itself in the formation of the Bridge- water collection : an accident, however, laid the foundation of that collection. Dining one day with his nephew Lord Gower, afterwards Duke of Sutherland, the Duke saw and admired a picture which the latter had picked up a bargain for some 10^. Essay VII. Duke say if he were He had md adorn e he bailt I and the luring his ories, and •ival from had been cane and the order, nsgression owever of a London r disposal, wer in its ) nodosity his social ite friends, aart of an with one e a daily its. This when the ays when ilieve the |ce ; but if [des some wine was le talked, [e minutes ition with pictures le Bridge- Idation of rd Gower, [dmired a Isome 10?. Essay VII. EXPERIMENT WITH A STEAM-TUG. 241 at a broker's in the morning. " You must take me," he said, "to that d — d fellow to-morrow." Whether this impetuosity produced any immediate result we are not informed, but plenty of d — d fellows were doubtless not wanting to cater for the tasto thus suddenly developed : such advisers as Lord Ftirnborougli and his nephew lent him the aid of their judgment. His pur- chases from Italy and Holland were judicious and important, and finally, the distractions of France pouring tlie treasures of the Orleans Gallery into this country, he became a principal in the fortunate speculation of its purchase. A conversation recorded with Lord Kenyon, father to the present lord, illustrates his sagacity in matters connected with his main pursuit. At a period when he was beginning to reap the profits of his perse- verance and sacrifices. Lord Kenyon congratulated him on tlie result. " Yes," he replied, " we shall do well enough if we can keep clear of those d — d tramroads." Nothing was more remarkable in the operations of the duke and his great engineer than the rigid economy with wliich they were conducted. It is well known that the ingenuity of Brind- ley, as his novel task rose before him, was constantly displaying itself in devices for the avoidance or the better distribution of labour. It was perhaps fortunate that the duke possessed no taste for those luxuries of architectural embellishment with whic'h the wealth of modern railroad companies enables them, w ithout imprudence, to gratify the public eye. The indulgence of such a taste might have risked the success of his undertaking, and the fame of a ruined speculator might have been his lot. Ho shnmlc, however, from no expense and no experiment which, to use a phrase of liis own, had utility " at the heels of it ;" nor was his one of those ordinary minds which are contented with a single success, and incapable of pushing a victory. About the end of the last centiury, at a moment when other men would have been contented with results obtained, before Bell or Fulton had shown the availability of the steam paddle-wheel for navigation, he made an attempt to substitute the steam-tug for horse towage on his canal. The following notice from one of his surviving servants substantiates this interesting fact : — " I well remember the steam-tug experiment on the canal. It was between 1790 and 1799. Captain Shanks, E.N.,from Deptford, was at Worsley many weeks preparing it, by the duke's own orders and R 212 AQUEDUCTS AND CANALS. Ebsa-v VII. undor his own eye. It was sot going, and tried with coal-boats ; but it went slowly, and the paddles made sad woik with the bottom of tho canal, and also throw the water on the bank. The Worsley folks called it Buonaparte." It may be presumed that the failure was complete, for no second trial appears to have been made. Eight coal-boats were, however, dragged to Manchester, of twenty-five tons each, at a little more than a mile an hour. We find in Mr. Priestley's volume that a similar experiment was made on the Sankey Canal in 1797, when a loaded barge was worked up and down by a steam-engine for twenty miles ; but, singular as it may appear, says IVlr. Priestley, to tliis time vessels have continued on this canal to be towed by manual labour. The application of steam- power to haulage on canals, has, by the invention of the sub- merged screw propeller, been rendered a mere question of com- parative expense, as all detriment, either to banks or bottom, from the propelling machinery, is obviated. In the case, however, of heavy goods, we apprehend that no material increase in the rate of speed can be obtained, as tho mere displacement, independent of the cause of motion, generates, at a slight increase of velocity, a wave sufficient to destroy any banks not fenced with masonry. Mr. Houston's beautiful discovery has indeed shown, that if the speed can be increased to a considerable extent, fhe evil ceases— at least with boats of a particular con- struction ; and the fast passage-boats, long used on the Glasgow and Lancaster canals, and lately adppted on the Bridgewater, havG proved the merit of his invention. The labour to the horses is somewhat painful to witness, though the stages are short. In other respects we scarcely know any aquatic pheno- menon more agreeable to the eye than the appearance of one of these ves&els at her full speed. In grace of form and smoothness of motion they rival the swan-like gondola itself of Venice. Descriptions, more or less detailed, of the duke's works are to be foimd in many publications. It may be sufficient here to state that the line of open navigation constructed under his acts, beginning in Manchester, and branching in one direction to llimcorn, in another to Leigh, amounts in distance to some thirty-eight miles, all on one level, and admitting the large boats which navigate the estuary of the IMorsey. Of this the six miles from Worsley to Leigh were constructed after Brin'ilcy's decease. Essay VI I. SUBTERRANEAN CANALS. 2i:{ We use the expression open, beeause to this we liave to tuUl the extent of subterranean navigable canals by which the main pro- duce of the Worsley coal-field is brought out in boats, to be conveyed on the open canal to its various destinations. This singular work was commenced in 1759, and has been gradually pushed on, as new coal-workings were opened and old ones became exhausted. Frisi speaks of them with much admiration at a period when they extended for about a mile and a half: — at the time we write, the total length of tunnels amounts to forty-two miles and one furlong, of which somewhat less than two-thirds are in disuse, and rendered inaccessible. There arc in all four different levels. The main line, which commences at Worsley, is nine feet wide and nine high, including four feet depth of water. The others are the same height, but only eight feet Avide. Two are respectively at fifty-six and eighty-three yards below the main line : the fourth is thirty-seven yards above it. The communication with the latter was formerly conducted by means of an inclined plane, which has however been disused since 1822, the coal being now brought by shafts to the surface. Distinguished visitors have visited this curious nether w^orld. The collective science of England was shut up in it for some hours, rather to the discomfiture of some of its members, when the British Association held its meeting at IManchestor in 1843. Heads, if not crowned, destined to become so, have bowed them- selves beneath its arched tunnels : among others, that of the present Emperor of Eussi% The Due de Bordeaux is the last on the hst. In his testamentary dispositions for the entail of his Lancashire estates, it is well known, at least to conveyancing lawyers, that he ev;".iced extreme anxiety to carry power beyond the grave. As this desire in its excess becomes often a subject of animadversion, it is just to observe that the main object he had in view in this portion of his will was to secure to the public the continuance, the perpetuity, as far as human things can be perpetual, of the advantage of liis undertakings. Whether in devising a scheme for this purpose, by wliich powder was to be dissociated from pro- perty, he adopted the best means for liis end may be doubted. The purpose is the more unquestionable, as he left the other portion of his magnificent possessions without a single condition of entail. R 2 ■v 244 AQUEDUCTS AND CANALS. Eshay VII. •' Thoro ''s a Providoncc that shapes our ends, Rough how them b:j wo may." The gentlemen of Liverpool and IMannhester, who originated tlie railroad between those towns, will ^^qW understand us when we say that one effect of his peculiar dispositions for the ma- nagement of his canal property after his death was to acce- lerate the introduction of "those d — d tramroads," in which his sagacity taught him to foresee dangerous rivals to the liquid highway. In 18?9 the time was doubtless ripe for the introductioi? of that wonderful contrivance, the locomotive engine, and from obvioiis local circumstances it was abnost inevitable that Liver- pool and Manchester should take the lead in its adoption. Tlie fact is nevertheless notorious that the manner in which irre- sponsible power had for some time been exercised, wiih reference to the public, in the management of the Bridgewater line of navigation, accelerated a crisis which under other circumstances might for a time have been delayed. Great fear and confusion of mind fell upon canal proprietors. The invention wliich, in the opinion of many practical men, was to supersede their craft, started like Minerva full armed from the brains of its various contrivers. Few machines in the records of human ingenuity have attained such early perfection as the locomotive engine. It placed the powers of fire at once at issue with those of water : — " Old Father Thames reared up his reverend head, And fear'd the fate of Simois would return ; Deep in his sedge he sought his oozy bed, And half his waters shrunk into his urn." It was vain to raise the cry, " Great is Diana of the Ephc- sians." The progi'ess of anterior improvements was appealed to, and with justice. The Yorkshire fox-hunter going to or returning from his sport will occasionally find himself on a flagged pathway, flanked on either side with an abyss of mud, and only wide enough to admit of progi-ess in single file. This is thepackhorse road of our ancestors, nnd, except the occasional iriemblance of the animal itself with its load displayed on village- signs, things as retentive of odd bygone facts as the picture- writing of the Mexicans, is now the only memorial of a mode of iAV VIT. EhbAY VII. FUTURE DISCDVEUY. 245 ^nated [8 when he ma- acce- i which liquid ctioT) of id from t Livcv- Q. The ch irrc- Bferenco line of nstanccs onfusion y^liich, in eir craft, various igenuity engine, hose of Ephc- Lppealed Ig to or llf on a |of mud, This Icasional Jvillage- Ipicture- lode of conimiuiication which in tlie memoiy of man was hardly super- seded by the waggon and the coacli. The latter machines, doubtless, still survive ; but many a tinkling peal of bells was silenced, many a set of dock-tailed horses with their accoutre- ments of tinted worsted put in abeyance, by Brindley, as many a four-horse coach has since been slajjped into flies and station omnibuses by the Harlequin wands of the Brunels and Steven- sous. Even their inventious begin to tremble. We can hardly expect that in our time the disembodied spirit of Bishop Wilkins, if it revisit the glimpses of the luminary it proposed wliile in the body to invade, will be gratified by the triumph of some aerial macliine over the railroad. Ho must be a bold man, however, who would now predict how long the capital vested in the pre- sent system of railroads may continue undisturbed and unaffected by some new application of power. While we write, it is possible that nothing but the mass of the investment and the pre-occupa- tion of lines of country (and even these are but feeble impedi- ments to British enterprise and ingenuity) prevent it frcmi being so interfered with by the atmospheric railroad Perhaps some still simpler scheme of galvanism, or gaseous explosion, is fermenting in the cranium of some unknown mechanician, wliich may sup- plant the invention of Watt. Of the relative prospects, then, of railroad and water-carriage it would be presumptuous to speak ; but some dozen years of experience enable us to say that there is an inlierent force of vitality in the latter, wliich will at letist secure it an honourable death and respect from its conquerors. As such an euthanasia is, we trust, for the present postponed, we would fain leave not altogether unnoticed one or two topics wliich we consider worthy the deep attention of all in any way connected with the administration either of canals or railroads. The former have raised, the latter are raising, witliin the sphere of their influence, a population wliich by its numbers and its exi- gencies ought to remind us of a great truth — a truth quite as often lost sight of amid the pursuits of peaceful gain as in the hot cliace of military fame and conquest — more often, we fear, forgotten in Protestant than in Roman Catholic countries — *' Man does not live by bread alone." We are not now on the subject of raih'oads, and we forbear addressing to that quarter considerations to which we believe and trust that corporate bodies comprising the elite of the land for wealth and iutelUgence X 21(J AQUKDUCTS AND CANALS. Ehsay VII. 'U nro tilrc^ady Jilivo. Tlio case of eunals, also, wo consider in somo roHpcc'ts mori^ poouliar and nioro [)r('8sinf^. The floating popnla- tion of the Uitt(T is by its avocations and its migratory habits rendered in some respects almost as distinct a race as tluit of tlio sea, without being accessible to tho religions imj)re88ion8 which afiect those who see tho wondi^rs of the great deep. It is coni- j)arativcly an easy task for tho wise and good to take advantage of those natural circumstances whic^h render tho mariner pecu- liarly susceptible to religious influences, and this duty has in many instances not been neglected. On board the vessel of Columbus all hands were invariably mustered for the evening hymn, and with that ritual sound was hailed the appearance of tho shifting light which first betrayed tho existence of the New World to its discoverer.* It was for tho special use of tlio mariner of his country that Grotius composed his treatise on the truth of the Christian religion.t In our own service many have laboured in this sacred cause, and when the morning rose on tho bay of Aboukir, what spectacle was it which most astonished the French survivors of that awful night on board the vessels of their captors ? Not merely that of energy unimpaired by slaughter, and discipline unrelaxed by triumph ; it was that of the general celebration of divine service tlu"oughout Nelson's fleet. Wo fear that tho inland navigator has many of the rough vices of tho regular mariner, and if his opportunities of religious instruction, warning, and consolation have hitherto been far scantier, it be- hoves those who derive profit from his toil to be the more con- siderate and active in devising the mitigation of such an evil. Nor do we mean to aver that the employer has been universally neglectful. In many quarters exertion has been made, and, we will venture to say, wherever made — rewarded. All honour to those who carried in the British parliament, against a vexatious, we trust a penitent opposition, the Weaver Churches Bill. * " Puesto que el Amirante d los diez de la noche vido lumbre . . . y era como una candelilla de cem que ae alzaba y levantaba, lo qual a pocos pareciera ser iudicio de tierra. Pero el Amirante tuvo per cierto estar junto d la tierra. Por lo qual cuando dijeron la ' Salve,' que la acostumbran decir e cantar d su manera todos los marineros, y se hallan todos, rogo y amonestolos el Amirante que hiciesen buena guarda al Castillo de proa, y mirnsen bien por la tierra." — Diary of Columbus, First Voyage, 11th of October. f "Propositum euim mihi erat, omnibus quidem civibus meis, sed prwsertini namgantihue, operam navare utilem, ut in longo mariuo otio impenderent potius tenipus, quam, quod nimium multi faciuut, fallerent." — Preface to the treatise De Veritate Fidei Cbristianw. L ■^^ Essay VIT. SUN'DAY CANAL TllAFFIC. 'J 17 Thoro arc, liowovcr, Htutions of resort on lines of iiavipition iit which, for varioiiH reasons, it mi^ht bo neither oasy nor (»x|t(;(lirnt to plant and endow rej^nlar |)laees of worsliip, to whieh another and very eflfeotivo expedient may Iw adapted. On the hroader canals at least a condemned hargc, vuhjo a flat, may he converted at a trillinjjf expense into a floating chapel, suitable for a con^*e- pition of some IHO adults. We can hear witness that such have been filled by zealous and j^ateful worshipp<'rs, many of whom had never before with " lioly bell been tolled to church," many of whom would never have been tem})ted within the pre- cincts of one on dry hind, some from indolenc(>, others perhajis from the scarcely censurable shyness and pride which so often prevent the poor man from contrasting his worn habiliments with those of richer neighbours. We think the sternest o]»po- nent of cheap churches, the greatest stickler for spires, chancels, and roodlofts, would forego Lis objections in favour of these urks of refuge, if he could witness their eflfects. There is another subject, of far greater complexity, which has engaged the attention of Parliamentary committees, as yet without any decided result, — that of Sunday canal tralHc. W^o are not of the sterner school of Scotch Calvinism in this par- ticular, but we certainly think that the more consideration of gain to proprietors ought everywhere to give way to the great object of procuring rest for man and beast on that day, aiul opportunity for worship and for relaxation of every innocent kind to the former. We doubt, however, whether the religious or moral interests of Manchester would be advanced by a sudden stoppage of all the passage-boats which often convey at present the clergyman, established or dissenting, to the scene of his liibours, or the artisan and his familv to Lord Stamford's noble park. Sure we feel that the immediate effect of su(^h stoppage A\ ould be to multiply the few horses and drivers who do thus labour on the Sabbath, by an enormous figure, in the shape of all descriptions of hired land conveyance. "Stop them too," would reply the zealous and sincere (champion of stri(^t obser- vance. We cannot make of England the Hebrew ennip in the wilderness, and we doubt the obligation U) attempt it. It is, in our humble judgment, far better in this and other analogous cases to keep in view such an arrangement of hours as may not 248 AQUEDUCTS AND CANALS. Essay VII. only not obstruct, but multiply the opportunities of attending divine service, and thus attract peoj^le to rural churches and chapels, rather than drive them into suburban public-houses. We have now touched, albeit discursively, on tlu-ee principal species of the genus Canal : the canal of supply for domestic consumption, the canal of irrigation, and the canal for inland conveyance of merchandise. It might be expected that wo should say something on a class of works exceeding these in magnitude, and of great antiquity — the Ship Canal. Though a legitimate branch of our subject, however, it would be impossible for us to go into either its history or its prospects, without swelling this article beyond all due bounds. With reference to remote antiquity — whether originating in military schemes, like the Velifif^atus Athos of Xerxes, and the artificial river of Drusus uniting the Rhine and the Issel, or in more pm'ely commercial purposes, like that projected by Sesostris and finished by the Ptolemies, from the Nile to the Red Sea — it deserves an ample discussion. In more modern instances the results have not always been such as to invest the subject with an interest pro- portionate to its grandeur. In this point of view the most splendid of our own undertakings in c(>nception and execution (the Call (Ionian) has hitherto turned out a failure. Its eminent author, Mr. Telford, was engaged in a sounder and more success- ful operation of the same class, though of less dimensions, in the Swedish canal of Gotha, of which he revised the survey, and superuitended the execution. With some exceptions, we may almost assert that neither the sea-risk of the shipowner, nor the toil of the mariner, has been as yet materially diminished by this class of works. There is something specious and attractive in the notion of cutting isthmuses and connecting oceans by a direct communication for sea-going vessels, which has in all ages excited the imagination of sovereigns ; but while subjects have counted the cost, governments have more frequently talked and deliberated than acted. Even Louis XIV. resisted the temptation of the eclaty and the suggestions of Vauban, in the instance of the (^anal of Languedoc. In spealdng thus, however, of the jiast and present, we insinuate no prognostications as to the iiiture. 'i'lie straw, wo are aware, is stirring. It is possible that wliilo we write, under the patronage of such men as the Bridge- w \ Essay VII. MEUEMET ALL 219 water of Modern Egypt, IVIeliemet Ali, schemes may be aj)- })roacliiiig maturity which, if executed, will leave their traces not only on Ordnance maps of six inches to the mile, but on ]\[ercator's projection, and the school atlases of rudimental geography. Cadets now studying at Addiscombe may live to lock down into the Red Sea on their way to Calcutta, and the steamer from Hong Kong may bring our despatches through Panama ; but with our present degree of information tlio dis- cussion' of su{;h projects would bo premature. The mention of the name f^f JMehemet Ali makes it impossible to pass without notice the achievements in hydraulics of that re- markable man, who lias summoned European science to co- operate with the physical force of numbers, marshalled under a more than Oriental despotism. The Canal of ]\Iahmoudieh, con- necting Alexandria with the Nile, is but one of forty-five works in pari materia constructed under his auspices. According to Clot Bey's description, it is twenty-five leagues in length, and was completed in ten months by the labour of 313,000 men. If the reputation of sovereigns could be measured by the number of cubic feet of eartli removed in their respective reigns, Mehemet Ali s name will be tolerably conspicuous on the record. In tho article of canals alone, exclusive of bridges, dams, and other enormous works of construction and excavation, tlie accoimt in 1840 stood at nearly 105,000,000 of cubic metres. Taking one of these as the average day's work of an Egyptian labourer, and considering that, except in special cases, these works only proceed during four months of tho year. Clot Bey calculates that, for some years past, the number of individuals annually employed on hydraulic works in Egypt lias been 355,000. In an article of our Aj)ril Number for 1837, on Mr. IMichel Chevalier's * Letters (m North America,' will be found some notice of the then comparative state of internal intercourse in France, England, and the United States. The condition of these three countries, both relative and positive, with respect to rail- roads, has doubtless been much altertxl in the years which have since elapsed, while inland navigation has probably more nearly preserved its proportions. Additions to the latter have been pcrliaj)s little called for in England. In France, as Mr. Chevalier then observed, the want of works to make her existhig I i 250 AQUEDUCTS AND CANALS. Essay VII. S' '/ ; . < canals available by improving the access to them from her rivers, as in the signal case of the Canal de Languedoc and the Ga- ronne, was more pressing than that of new lines of navigation, though there is doubtless room for remunerative undertakings of both descriptions. In all three countries capital and enterprise have been attracted by preference to the railroad. In Mr. Tanner's summary of the canals and railroads of the United States, published in 1840, we find a list of proposed railroads for the State of New York alone to the number of eighty-four, with an authorized capital of 26,000,000 dollars. We find no mention of any new canal company, as bread to this intolerable quantity of sack. In 1837 Mr. Chevalier estimated the number of miles of railroad and canal in the United States at 7350. In 1840, by Mr. Tanner's summary, they would approach 9000, of which water claims for its share about 4300. If, however. North America claim the superiority natural to youth in respect of activity of enterprise, the luxuriance of her virgin soil has in many instances been rank and deceptive, and many of her schemes have doubtless lacked the solidity which in the main has characterized the proceedings of England and the Continent. Mr. Tanner writes : — " With regard to the abstract question of revenue, it is obvious that a large portion of the immense sums invested in canals and railroads in the United States will fail in producing the anticipated results. Visionary enterprises of all sorts are the distinguishing characteristics of the times, and the almost infinite variety of schemes which of late have been pressed upon public attention, and adopted without due caution, have in some instances resulted in the diversion of funds from objects of nndoubted utility and advantage to schemes of an opposite character. The mode of improvement, and its fitness for the purposes to which it is designed, are consider- ations to which little regard has been paid in deciding upon the location of some of the public works in the United States. Hence the numerous failures, and the consequent withdrawal of public confidence in such investments generally." — p. 23. It is sufiieiently notorious that certain other considerations, besides the choice of " location," have been overlooked in the public works of North America, the neglect of which would con- siderably impede the further march of improvement in any other Essay VII. RAILROADS AND CANALS IN AMERICA. 251 community. We leave, however, this topic in the abler hands to which of right it belongs. We of the Quarterly have no money to invest in foreign stocks. Our indignation would be tame, and our satire pointless, in comparison with that of others. We content ourselves with saying to our insolvent relations on the other side of the Atlantic what, in virtue of the length and discursiveness of this article, our readers will ere now have been tempted to say to us — " Claudite jam rivos, pueri, sat prata biberunt." i^ Essl U VIII.-PAINTING IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. FuoM THE Quarterly Review, Decemhbik, 1844.(») ' /, 1 I', In Asiatic countries the success of most human undertakings is still supposed to depend upon the choice of the hour for their commencement. The Shah in council may have decided upon an expedition of war or chase, but neither horse nor hound may leave the royal stables till the court astrologer shall have an- nounced a fortunate conjunction of the heavenly bodies. An author of the Western World has no astrologer at his elbow ; and if he had, the stars in their courses could hardly be expected to follow or govern the sliifting taste of the reading and pur- chasing public. If we, however, had been called in to sanction the publication of Mrs. Morrifield's volume, we should wii^Iiout hesitation have told her to go on and prosper, for we rtmember no instance of a work which has made its appearance under more felicitous circumstances, as far as the moment is concerned. At a period when public attention is directed to the decorative arts in general, but most especially to a branch of them till lately nearly extinct in the civilized world — when ingenuity is on the stretch to recover the forgotten processes by which the miracles of Italian art, especially its frescoes, were produced — a per- formance containing authentic notices of the methods pursued by the decorators of the Campo Santo cannot fail to be welcome. It is true that since the year 1822, when an Italian editor rescued the MS. from its repose in the Vatican, it has been available to such of our artists as were fortmiate enough to meet with the volume and competent to deal with the difficulties of (■*) I. A Treatise on Painting, loritten by Cennino Ccnnini in the Year 1437, loHh an Introdtustion and Notes by Signor Tambroni. Translated by Mrs. Merrifield. Loudon. 1844. -'. Lectures on Painting and Design. By B. R. Haydon, Historical Painter. London. 8vo. 1844. ;nth kings is or their 3d upon md may lave an- es. An elbow ; sxpected md pur- sanction I wi Jiout member or more ed. At ive arts Q lately on the niracles -a per- jursued elcome. editor h,s been o meet ties of 437, ioHh errifield. Painter. Essay VJII. CENNINI'S TREATISE. 253 its antiquated terminology. It is now, however, by foniinino interposition and accomplishment, for the first time made avail- able to the mass of English readers. Many even of those likely to take a professional interest in its contents are riot as well qualified to profit by them in their original language as ]\Ir. Eastlake, who cites the work in the appendix to the first report of the Royal Commission, or Mr. Haydon, who also quotes it. The man too is the veiy man we love to meet, the ghost of a thousand we should wish to summon. An artist, an enthusiast, a Mariolater with Roman Catholic piety enough for Lord J. Manners or the hagiologists of Littlemore, but no mystical discourser on aesthetics. A twelve years' apprentice of Agnolo Gaddi — the son of Taddeo, th^ pupil of Giotto — who, in times when the atelier was a laboratory, had ground his master's colours and his own on porphyry slabs for many a weaiy hour, had boiled his glues and primed his panels, and made liis pencils of baked minever and bristles of the white pig, and finally put on record all these and a thousand other minutise of his art for the benefit of students to come. Truly the public is indebted to < '*»rdinal Mai, to Signer Tambroni, and to Mrs. IMerrifiold. (Jome what may of the "recent impulse given by the Royal Commission to fresco, like Hamlet tin's trio — we must avoid the classicality triumvirate in deference to Mrs. Merrifield — have placed the pipe in our hands ; and if we cannot make it discourse the eloquent music it produced of old, the fault is ours, not tlieirs, or poor old Cennini's. Yes, poor and old ; for, less fortunate than his master, who died worth 60,000 florins, and sleeps under a sumptuous monument of his own design, Cennini composed liis ' Treatise ' at the age, or on the verge, of eighty, a prisoner for debt in the Stinche or Fleet-prison of Florence, tlie refuge of his extreme years, and probably his tomb. The actual value of the technical information which the work contains, it is not within our province or ability accurately to estimate. Its precepts are, however, with some exceptions, as clear as the occasional obscurity of so ancient a nomenclatm-e can permit ; and tnere is a conversational tone, and a grave and quaint simplicity in its style, which remind us strongly of Izaak Walton. Few modem professors of angling, from Mr. Scrope to the gudgeon-fisher of the Thames, would now resort to dear old Izaak or Juliana Berners for serious instruction in their art. 254 PAINTING IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. Essay VIII. They do not now cut their own hickory sticks for rods, nor are they curious in the purchase of Spanish needles wherewith to make their own fish-hooks. If, however, for the last two cen- turies the angler's art had been as little cultivated in England as it has been in most other countries, and if, meanwhile, Izaak's treatise had remained in MS. in the Bodleian, its discovery in the present day might be pregnant with results to the fishes of our rivers. It must be remembered that, with respect to fresco, the simplest record of ancient practice may possibly be of importance, even if only confirmatory of doubtful traditions — how much more 80 if suggestive of any process lost in the long interval during which fresco painting has been virtually in abeyance ! Cennini, indeed, lays his foundation deep, and ascends from the most elementary technicalities to the higher chemical secrets of his art ; from making a pen, and rubbing out a design with bread, to the preparation of ultramarine — an operation so delicate, that he describes it as less suitable for grown men than for striplings — for the somewhat incomprehensible reason that they remain continually in the house, and their hands are more delicate. Beware, especially, he says, of preparing it in old age. His directions for making brushes, or pencils, of minever, show that the artists of his time did not use them with long handles. Wo suspect that Cennini would allow himself far surpassed in this article by the Parisian manufacturers of the present day, of whom Mrs. Merrifield informs us there are but four first-rate, and these of the female sex. We know of nothing which comes nearer perfection for its purpose than a Paris pinceau de martre ; and, though high priced, it is cheap, from its durability as well as its excellence. Viewing, however, for the moment, Cennini's work merely as a literary fossil, apart from the technical value of its precepts, w( venture to pronounce that neither the Camden nor the Spalding have contributed any more agreeable addition to our fast increasing stock of records of former ages. If after some centuries of oblivion the old Florentine has been fortunate in the moment of his resuscitation, he has been at least equally so in the literary excavators who have brought his pages to b'ght. The preface and comments of his Italian editor. Signer Tam- broni, academician of St Luke's, are of high value ; and the English translation is further recommended by notes which i I Essay VIII. VASARI'S NOTICE OF CENNINI. 25.1 evince much research and knowledge, and by grapliio illustrations drawn on stone by Mrs. IMerrifield, which tempt us to say to her in the words of Cennini's 13th chapter, there applied to drawing Avith the pen : *' Do you know what will be the consequence of this practice ? It will make you expert, skilful, and capable of making original designs." This lady is not, we believe, an artist by profession, but her outlines prove her to be one by love and accomplishment, and her notes show a familiarity with the masteries of the painter's laboratory, which the rapid coverers of modern canvas in their breathless haste for exhibition seldom condescend to acquire. In the opinion of Signer Tambroni, the cause of the obUvion which so long covered Cennini's work is to be found in the shortness and supercilious nature of the remarks which Vasari condescended to bestow upon it, and which are just sufficient to show that he had seen but not read it. Of the latter fact Vasari affords double evidence in attributing to the work notices of subjects, such as mosaic, on which it does not touch, and in accusing it of omitting others which it distinctly notices. Others, however, have set a juster value on the work, of which tlu'ee MS. copies are known to exist ; and it has been occasionally investi- gated by Italian writers on art, but still apparently with less attention and accuracy than it deserved. Bottari, in his notes on Vasari, did the good service of exciting Signer Tambroni's more effective curiosity on the subject, who, in his own words, " hoped to find in it some information relative to the mode of colouring practised in the fourteenth century, and also relative to the natm'O of the colours which we see still existing in great bril- liancy, to the extreme regret [we should rather have said envy] of the painters of the present day, who have lost all remembrance of the vehicles and of the mode of using them." With such liopfis he applied to the learned librarian of the Vatican, Angelo Mai, of palimpsest notoriety ; and by his inter- vention among the Ottobonian MSS. the text of Cennini was before long discovered. It indeed is but a transcription of the year 1737 from one of the older copies. The initials of the transcriber's name, V. A. W., bespeak a foreigner's hand, as do many blunders, according to Tambroni, his negligence or igno- rance ; but the editor, with the assistance of literary friends, has 256 TAINTINa IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTUKY. Eh«ay VIH. I laboured to repair these defocts, and there is no reason to believe that any portion of the original has been suppressed or omitted. Before we proceed to any notice of the contents we must briefly extract from the editor's preface what little appears to be known of the author. As a painter he seems to have left beliind him to the present day but one specimen, a fresco of the Virgin and Saints, mentioned with commendation by Vasari, and whicli, having boen, by order of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Leopold, tran ^erre>i to ct^nvas, is still extant in the Florentine Gallery. Cenv '> jmisnedhis treatise, as he states at its close, on the 31st of Ju, 1 Ic : and in his exordium he writes : — "I, Cunnino, -. . of Andrea Cennini, born in the Cello di Val- dolsa, was instructed in these arts by Agiiolo, son of Tadc'oo of Florence, my master, who learned the art from Taddeo, his father, the godson of Giotto, whose disciple he had been for twenty-four years." — p. 2. As Agnolo Gaddi died in 1387, if we suppose Cennino to have been in his service at that time, his apprenticeship, which, ho says, occupied twelve years, must have commenced in 1375 at the latest. The usual age for such commencement varied from twelve to eighteen. The latest date we can therefore assign for his birth is 1303 ; but, as it is a mere assumption that he con- tinued with Agnolo till the death of that master, he may have been bom as far back as 1350. In any case it is clear that the knowledge which he has embalmed for the use of posterity was conveyed to him in direct and continuous transmission from Giotto. We know nothing further of the fortunes of Cennino but the melancholy fact, already mentioned, that liis treatise was composed and finished in a debtors' prison, when, at the lowest computation, its author was in the seventy-fifth year of a life of ill-rewarded toil. From this sad retreat, in a strain of cheerful piety, which argues no discreditable origin to his mis- fortunes, he proceeds to invocate the persons of the Trinity — that most delightful advocate of all sinners the Virgin Mary — St. Luke the Evangelist, the first Christian painter — his own advocate St. Eustachius — and generally all saints, both male and female, of Paradise — not for his liberation from prison, but for their blessing on his endeavours to instruct posterity in the pro- cesses of the art he loved. <:BSAy Vlll. Essay VIlI. FRESCO-rAINTING. 2:.7 to believe omitted. we must Bars to bo }ft behind lie Virgin nd whioli, Leopold, B Gallery. a the 31st lie di Val- Tadc'oo of his father, wonty-four o to have which, ho n 1375 at iried from [assign for he con- may have r that the iterity was sion from Cennino B treatise |n, at the ;h year of strain of ;o his mis- I Trinity — Mary— -his own I male and , but for the pro- With the exception of mosaic, encaustic, and painting on glass, there is hardly a j)rocess of the limner's art with respect to wliich the curious in such matters will not find some account of the practice of the fourteenth century, with directions simple and minute, though, as miglit bo expected, occasionally rendered obscure by uncertainty as to the precise value and import of Italian terms of so old a date. Signor Tambroni, we may ob- serve, is of opinion that tlie practice of painting in encanstic had been discontinued previous to the time of (liotto. Cennini only mentions wax in two places, neither of whicli has any refer- ence to painting. Nor does he mention essential oils. For reasons to which we have adverted, it is prohablo that the portion of the work which wdl attract most neml attention is the third, whicli treats of fresco, designated b^ t aut'.ior us the most agreeable of all kinds of painting. \Vit!i regard to the preparation of the wall for fresco, including the mixing of the plaster and the mode of its api»lication, Ci nini's instructi(His a})poar to accord generally with the met) ')ds laid down by other authorities, of which the curious will fin, a detail in the Keport of the Fine Arts Commission. He makes no tlistinction in lan- guage between the first rough coat, by other writers commt)nly called the arrieciato, and the intonaco, or final layer, which received the colour, applying the latter term to both. With respect to the whole process of the design, we apprehend that any difference existing between the method of Giotto and that of later masters was to the advantage of the latter. From Cennini's text we might almost infer that the design was sketched out on the arrieciato without the assistance of a car- toon ; but, from other accounts, and especially from a passage in Vasari's Life of Simon JVIemmi, quoted in the translator's notes, we have no doubt that a finished origijial design was prepared on paper, but of small dimensions, and copied off on the dry arrieciato by the usual device of proportional squares. I'liis copy was traced in the first instance with charcoal, and after- wards elaborated with a fine brush, in water-colour. Over this the intonaco was laid piecemeal, and in quantities calculated as sufficient for the day's work ; for though Cennini admits that in the damp weather of spring the plaster may be kept wot for the next day, he deprecates the attempt, and says that whieli is finished in one day is the firmest, best, and most beautiful s 258 PATNTTNO IX THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. Essay VITT. work. Wo aro a little pnzzlod to jiulgo from Ccnnini's toxt how the traces of the design were preserved through the iiitonaco sufficiently to guide the painter's hand. W'ci infer thiit at this period tlio practice was not introduced of i>re]iaring a working drawing, traced from a full-sized cartoon, and iiKhnting through it the design on the surface of the moistened plaster. In this respect, if our inferences be just, tiie later practice was a decided improvement on that of Cennini's time and school. The largo cartoon was noble pra(;tice towards subsequent ope- rations, and th(! result was often in itself a work of the highest value — witness the cartoons by Agostino CaiTacci in the National Gallery (prepared for the ceiHng of the Farnese palace) — and even those of Hampton Court, which, tliough prepared for the looms of Flanders, would have been cfpuilly a})plicable to the walls of the Vatic .n. \\e may here also mention, in preference to many other instances better known, the designs of l^eccafumi for the pavement of the Sienna cathedral, a work which in our estimation has hardly its parallel for grace, tenderness, and sublimity. IMany travellers are too idle, too careless, or too economical, to procure the removal of the boards which, except on certain feast-days, preserve this work from the hobnailed shoes of rustic devotees ; and there is a popular travellers' error that a large sum is required for this purpose ; two dollars is, or lately was, the fee, and the sight is cheap at the mdney. The discovery of the cartoons is, we believe, a recent one, and they were once purchasable at a low price. They are now beyond the reach of collectors, in their proper place, the Sienna academy, where we commend them to the attention of all travellers. We suspect that among the careless of this class — economical he never was — we must reckon the late Mr. Beckford, who, in a cursory notice, calls the designs of Beccafumi gro- tesque. He might as well have applied that epithet to the Madonna della Seggiola, or Titian's Venus of the Tribune. We suspect that he never saw them, or had their operculum removed, and that when he wrote the passage he was thinking of the older works in pari materia, and in the same cathedral, of Duccio, whose Jewish warriors in their Italian costume are both stiff and grotesque enough. Forsyth, in his terse manner, does Beccafumi better, but fleeting and imperfect justice. Accidents of travel brought us, not long since, by a brief transit from Seville to fii bl KhKAY viir. FHKSCO-rAlNTLNT!. 2'>\) Sienna, and IJeccafnnii's Moses striking the Ilock oamo un(l(>r onr notico, whon Murillo's mjistcTpioee on tlio same Hnl)jet't was frosli in recollection. We prefi^rred the mastic ontlinos and grey and white marbles of the Italian to all the magic of the Spaniard's colour, with his fidelity to Spanish nature. With r«;s})cct to the colours used in fresco, Cennini's directions can hardly fail to excite much interest among our eager stu- dents ; and we venture to direct their notice to the followine: passage of the 37th chapter : — "Some painters wash over the whole face witli the flosh-colonr first ; on that they put the verdaccio [a greenish Cdlonr, one part of black and two of oohro— p. 5.'iJ, and rotonch the lights; and tlio work is finished. This jdan is adopted by those only who know little of the art: but do yon pursue the method of colouring which I shall point out to you, because it was adopted by Giotto, the groat master, who had Taddeo Gaddi, his godson, for his dis- ciple for twenty-four years: his disciple was Agnolo, his son. I was Agnolo's disciple for twelve years, and he showed me this method, with which Agnolo coloured more agreeably and brilliantly than did Taddeo his father." — p. 42. We suggest a careful comparison of the instructions which fol- low this passage, with various portions of the Report of the Royal Commission, which detail the practice of the present day at Munich and elsewhere. The main point in which the process recommended by Cennini differs from that which he condemns is in the avoidance of superposition of one tint upon another ; the main difficulty would appear to be to blend separate tints into one another without positive commixture, which he strongly deprecates, especially with the flesh-tints. Cennini pursues the subject of painting walls, both in fresco and secco, with much minuteness, distinguishing the materials common to both methods, or appropriate to either, and stating their applicability to the various different objects required from painters of his day and country — old men's beards, angels' draperies, &c. The following passage (chap. 87) argues the limited and unscientific degree of acquaintance with perspective possessed by the masters of this early period : — " Let the cornice which you make at the top of the Iiohro incline downwards towards the obscure [i. e. as it recedes from the eye], and let the middle cornice of the building facing you be quite even ; let S 2 .■• •:;:, 260 PAINTING IN THK FOUUTEENTH CENTURY. Ebsav VIII. the cornice at the base of the building asoend in a dircctit)n quite contrary to that of tho comico at the top of the buihling." The oxample of the (^hinoso, as well as of individual bogin- nera in design, proven that rules oven apparently so obvious as these are not superfluoi;s, but their vagueness indicates that Ccuinini know of no m(;thod empirical or scientific for fixing with exactitude the points of sight and distance, and tho degree of inclination of the lines converging to them. Chap. 88 recommends for landscape, in its (diaracter of a subordinato and accessory, a practice which was employed as an aid to composition by our Uainsborougii : — " How to draw a mountain naturally. — If you would have a good model for mountains, so that they should appear natural, procure some largo and broken pieces of rock, and draw from those, giving them lights and shades as you see them on the stones before you." If we pass from fresco and distemper to oil, we shall, as might be expected, find that subject treated with less detail than otliers, but still in a manner which shows that it was no novelty to tlie author, and which enables Signer Tambroni to repudiate with severity the theory of Vasari as to the date of the intro- duction of oil-painting into Italy. We apprehend that the notion attributed to Vasari, for there is some doubt whether he really held it, that Van Eyck, alias John of Bruges, was the discoverer of oil as a vehicle for colour, hardly requires refutation, as, however once popular, it has ceased to be entertained by those who have investigated the subject. It seems, however, still more certain that his account of the introduction of that process into Italy at so late a period as 1470 is disproved by the very existence of Cennini's work, finished in 1437, and which contains such a sentence as the following (chap. 89) : — " Before we proceed further I will teach you to paint in oil, on walls, or in pictures (which is much practised by the Geimans), and also on iron or stone." Here it is to be remarked that he speaks of it as a process familiar to another nation, in which he probably includes the Flemings. According, however, to the story of Vasari, Van Eyck's discovery, which he dates at 1410, was kept by him as a ■mf- Ehhay viir. OIL-rAIXTIN'O. 201 viiliml)!*' socrct from lii.s countrvrnon and all otJKTs till lio sold it to an Italian, Antondlo da ^Fcssina, who iH known to liavo Ihmmi l)orn Hoino noarly forty years later, and ten years al'tcr the date of Oonnini's treatise, viz. in 144J) or 1447. The ^toss chronolo- pical imjiossihilities of this statement — which wonld hring Van Kyek to the a'^o of 104 at th(; j)oriod of his alleged transaction with Anton(41o — wonld sntlice to show that some vital error was involved in it, even withont the assistance of Cennini's treatise. Without entering further into the dlscussicm, we may say that two results appear to us, as to Mrs. IMerritield, to come pretty clearly out of a consideration of the whole question : one, that Van Eyck did not invent the use of oil as a vehicle ; the other, that he did discover some signal improvement in its application, which, being at some period of the fifteenth century introduced into Italy, led to the advance of that branch of art, and which, we fear, is now lost, without having been replaced by any nostrum as effective. We ground this latter o{)inion upon mere observation of facts. We ^v^ite under serious apprehension that, for the works of many painters of the present century, Time will not perform that office of improvement described in Dryden's exquisite lines, and wliich he seems not yet to have wearied in performing for such works as the Van Eyck and Bellini's Doge in our National Gallery. Of these it might, indeed, have been said with more prophetic justice than of Kneller — " For Time shall with his ready pencil stand, Eotouch your figures with his ripening hand, Mellow your colours, and embrown each tint, Add every grace which Time alone can grant ; To future ages shall your fame convey, And give more beauties than he takes away." Many instances have come under our notice in which the lapse of some twenty years has reduced pictures, of price and merit when they left the easel, to a condition which would make it difficult to account for the satisfaction they once afforded to our eye. We know that the anticipation, or something more, )f premature decay is entertained on the other side the Cha I with respect to some contemporary works of the highest excel- lence. Is it want of skill, or care, or labour in manipulation, 202 AINTING IN THE FOURTKENTIl CENTURY. Essay VUI. wliich makes lights turn to chalk, and shadows to black ? Men have been careless and sketchy in Italy of old, and the result has been painful as any now to be witnessed, but not, as seems to us, the same in kind. We believe that a secret has been lost, and that it is well worth inquiry whether we are to look for its reco- very to the pigment or the vehicle, or both. As far as the pig- ment is concerned, Cennini's list of twenty-four, twelve only of which he approves and recommends, probably contains none of importance which are not known and appreciated at present. Were we to make an exception it would probably be in favour of amatito, a colour prepared by pounding a crystal, which Mrs. Merrifield thinks was native cinnabar. " It makes," says Cennini, " such a colour as cardinals wear, and is proper for fresco, but not for any other use." His directions, however, for the preparation of each show the care with which that preparation was con- ducted. Speaking of cinnabar, he says, "If you were to grind it for twenty years it would be but the better and more perfect ;" and with regard to many of the others he enforces a similar precept. We are inclined to believe that any essential difference between ancient and modern practice consists in the vehicle rather than the colour. The Translator remarks in her preface, p. xiii. : — " The propriety of using different vehicles on the same picture has lately been much discussed, and the general opinion appears to bo unfavourable to it. Under these circumstances the practical directions of (^'ennino will bo read with much interest. In chapter o5 ho informs ii.s that some colours must be nsetl with one vehicle, some with another, &c. — (p. xxi.) It may be proper to obxerve that Cennino does not mention the practice of mixing liquid vaniisli with colours, except in that remarkable chapter (161) in which ho speaks of the custom of paiiifing the Ikimj fa<:e with oil colours, or colours mixed with varnish, in order t« make the complexion brilliant ; and to suggest to the artists who paint with the composition called mcgelp (mtistic varnish and boiled oil), whether that can be a good vehicle which had been tried and rejected by the painters who flourished previous to and during the age of Van Eyck. The addition of the litharge on whieh the modern drying oil is boiled is known to liavc a deleterious effect on colours, by causing them to change. It is somewhat curious that the painters of the nineteenth ceiitiny should have revived and practised as a new invention what those of the fourteenth century tried and rejeclcd; and more oxtraoidinary still, Essay A^ll. Essay VI 1 1. ArPRENTICESIUP TO THE ART. 2G3 that, unwarned by experience, they should continue to use it, in spite of the awful gashes and cracks that disfigure the pictures painted with this vehicle." Mr. IlayJon is of opinion (see page 271 of liis liectures) that the old masters had no advantage over ourselves in their mate- rial, and that, if Titian were to enter an atelier in Newman- Street, he would be able to paint the Diana and Actajon with the colours and vehicles he would find to his hand. We think this may be true, and we hope it is so, but the question is whether the picture so painted would stand the test of three centuries. If Cennini were writing now, we believe he would call on all his saints to save liim from megelp. " Know," says Cennini (chap. 109), " that you cannot learn to paint in less time than that which I shall name to you. In the fii-st place, you must study drawing fur at least one year ; then you must remain with a master at the workshop for the space of six years at lea^t, that you may learn all the parts and members of the art,— to grind colours, to boil down glues, to gi-ind plaster (gesso), to acquin- the practice of laying grounds on pictures {infjessare le ancona), to work in relief (j'demra), and to scrape (or smooth) tlie surface (radire), and to gild ; afterwards to practise colouring, to adorn with mordants, paint cloths of gold, and paint on walls, for six more years : drawing without intermission on holidays and workdays." — A formidable catalogue of mechanical processes for six years, which the modern discovery of the division of labour has spared to the student. We believe, however, that the intimate acquaint- ance with the materials and instruments of his art, which ho purchased at so large a sacrifice in the fourteenth century, con- tributed much to the durability of his work, — to the lasting brilliancy of those colours which, after the lapse of foiu* centu- ries, still speak the first intention of the master. It is probable, indeed, that there was a good deal of pedantry in tlie teachers, and of slavish submission in the pupils of these times ; that the secrets of art were doled out with a reluctant hand by those who saw future rivals in their apprentices, and that some wore hoarded to the last. Still, if genius occasionally had to endure trammels which must have cramped, perhaps impaired, its ener- gies, it secured for itself the benefit of accumulated experience and uninterrupted tradition ; and though we sliould not wish to M:,^ 2G4 PAINTING IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. Essay VIII. condemn our youthful Jacobs to fourteen years' service under Labans of the Academy, we could wish to see something like the relation of the Giottos and Agnolos to their pupils more pre- valent than it has yet been in England — more of the emeriti Avilling to teach— and more of the young willing to wait and loarn. Cennini, at the moment when he is doing his best to enable the student to dispense with tuition, thus proceeds : — " There are many who say that you may learn the art without the assistance of a master ; do not believe them ; let this book be your example, studying it day and night. And if you do not study under some master you will never be fit for anything, nor will you be able to show your face among the masters." Cennini is very minute in his instructions for the use of gold in all its various applications, and of tin ; but deprecates the use of silver, except as a cheap substitute for gold for begiiniers in miniature. The following directions are characteristic of the man, and of the feelings in which Italian art had its origin (chap. 96):— " It is \isual to adorn walls with gilded tin, because it is less expensive than gold. Nevertheless I give you this advice, that you endeavour always to use fine gold and good coloiu's, particularly in painting representations of our Lady. And if you say that a poor person cannot afford the expense, I answer that, if you work well, and give sufficient time to your works, and paint with good colours, you will acquire so much fame that from a poor person you will become a rich one ; and your name will stand so high for using good colours that, if some masters receive a ducat for painting one figure, you will certainly be offered two, and your wishes will be fulfilled according to the old proveib, Good work, good pay. And, even should you not be well paid, God and our Lady will reward your soul and body for it." Cennini's body was rewarded by the caption of a sheriif's officer, or his Florentine equivalent ; but who shall say what consolation the old prisoner's soul, while yet in the body, derived from snch devotional feelings as shine fortli from this and similar passages si-attered through his volume ? Saintly faces may have smiled ujjon him through the stanchions of his dungeon, and gracious images have irradiated its inner gloom, such as shine not for solvent and sueeossrul men. to' * E>SAY VIII. ARTIFICIAL LAPIS LAZZULI. 265 Of equal rank with gold in Cennini's estimation, and probably, in point of expense, even a greater tax on the resources of tlie struggling artist, was ultramarine, for the preparation of which he gives copious directions. The precious mineral of which this pigment is composed, lapis lazzuli, has lately been the subject of one of the most signal triumphs of modern chemistry, which is thus spoken of by Liebig : — " Of all the achievements of inorganic chemistrj', the artifi<'!ial foimiition of lapis lazzuli was the most brilliant and the most con- clusive The analj'sis of lapis lazzuli lepresented it to be com- posed of silica, alumina, and soda, three colourless bodies, with sulphur, and a trace 't)f iron. Nothing could be discovered in it of the nature of a pigment, nolhing to which its blue colour could be referred, the cause of which was searched for in vain. It might therefore have been supposed that the analyst was here altogether f.t fault, and that, at any rate, its artificial production was impossible. Nevertheless this has been accomplished, and simply by combiuiug, in the proper proportions, as determined by analysis, silica, alumina, soda, iron, and sulphur. Thotisands of pounds' weight are now manufactured from these ingredients, and this artificial ultramarine is as beautiful as the natural, while for the price of a single ounce of the latter we may obtain many pounds of the former. With the production of artificial lapis lazzuli the formation of mineral bodies by synthesis ceased to be a scientific problem to the chemist ; he has no longer sufficient 'uterest to pursue the subject." — Letters on Chemistry. 1844. Vol. i. p. 9. So far the great German. ^Yith all deference, however, for his authority as a philosoi)her, we doubt whether tlic painter will yet accept his manufacture as a perfect equivalent to the arti(de used by the old painters, at least for the more delicate works of the pencil. For such expanses of colour as the roof of that church of Assisi, for which royal piety and munificence supplied the lapis lazzuli, it would probably fulfil every condition required of brilliancy and durability, at the comparatively trifling expense described in the above passage. We find in tlic translatt)r'8 notes, on the authority of Dr. Ure, tluit an ultramarine of very superior quality, discovered in 1S28 by a French chemist, "SI. Guimet, has been sold at about two guineas the English pound. We think we can recoUect i)urchasing souie fabricated from the natural lapis lazzuli some years before this discovery at about 2GG PAINTING IN THE F0U11TEE:NTH CLMTCHY. E.^sax VIII. I* ^4i I I four guineas the ounce. If M. Guimet's seort^t lu •, uofcu truly detected by a brother chemist, his compound app 'oacl'. s to a synthesis of the elements of Liebig's analysis, but is not a com- plete one. He has four of the elements, but the iron is not mentioned. For those who can afford the experiment, and prefer stare super antiquas vias, and to resort to the native mate- rial, it may bo worth wliile to study Cennini's process. 1+ differs from tlit^ present in not subjecting the stone to the action of fire, in the use of lixivia, and other particulars. Successive extracts, decreasing in quality, were produced, the first two of which Cennini values at eight ducats the ounce. The result has stood the test of centuries, and the methods which produced it must be wortli investigation. Mrs. Merrifield remarks that there is no brown pigment on Cennmi's list, whereas modern painters are in possession of fif- teen. He recommends burnt and pulverized bones for the priming of panels, and we learn, incidentally, from h\v (hrections, that it was the practice of the diners of his day tr> throw the bones under the table. In chap. 7 he says, — " You must now knoAv what bones are proper. For this purpose take the bones of the ribs and wings of fowls or capi'iis, and the older they are the better. When you find them under the table put them into the fire ; and when you see they are become whiior than ashes, take them out and grind them well on a porphyry slal), and keep the powder for use." There is a tradition in ]\1 niHo's birthplace that he was in the habit of manufacturing one ox his rich browns by a similar process from the beef-bones of his daily olla, and, as we have heard, tliis tradition has been turned to account by an artist well known at ])resent in Seville as a successful copyist of IVIurillo.* Adverting to the great Spaniard, we may add, on the authority which fur- nished us with this anecdote, that the purple which so often charms the eye in his works, and is one, p(;rhaps, of their most charactei'istie features, was imitated from the stained fingers of * We .are inclined to believe tlmtsonie of Cennini's blacks would on examination iiiove to be browns. Pure blacli Klmuld never be admitted on wall or canvas, for the 8im[)le reason that it hardly exists in any de})artnient of nature which can con)e within the sp'iere of imitation. In vegetable nature we have heard it stated that it is only to 'le found in the flower of the kidiiey-beau. De Caudolle or Mr. laxton might perhaiis bring other instances. tlie woi was 8'i'> I EbSAY Vlll. IIAYDON ON PAINTING AND DEj.IG^^I. 2G7 the mulbem j^atherers of the neighbourhood of Seville. It would be more to our purpose to be able to tell how the imitation was effected, but, tht)ugh tradition is silent on this j)oint, the slightest traces of the operations of such an eye as Murillo's are worth recording. "We derive," says Signer Tambroni, p. xliii., " no small advan- tage from chap. 157 and the three following, where he speaks of ])ainting in miniature, and of laying gold on paper and in books. For we despaired of discovering the method of gilding in that beau- tiful and brilliant manner practised by the ancients, with which they illuminated their manuscripts ; and we are under great obli- gations to Cennino, who has rescued the secret of the art from oblivion." Before we bestow our concluding remarks on tliis amusing ancient, we must step aside for a little to the new work of an English veteran of the pencil and the pen, Mr. Hay don's Lec- tures on Painting and Design. The various performances of the painter of Solomon and Lazarus v/ith the former of the above- mentioned instruments, it does not come witliin the scope of this article to criticise. Of his literary contribution to art our esti- mate is favourable ; — we must avow a very general concurrence in views and opinions which come recommended by the vigorous language and manly style of one who could not so express ^\ hat he did not believe, feel, and miderstand. On many important particulars affecting the education of the hand and eye Mi Haydon's sentiments have been much before the public. He is known for an enthusiastic but profound and discriminating wor- shipper of Phidias and Kaphael, and also as • iie who, in his admiration of the past, has faith and hope in the prospects of England. Though, for this reason, many of his views as detailed here will not be new to his readers, the form of Lectures into which he has tlirown them is one which will bring them under notice in convenient compass and agreeable succession. The practical mode in which he treats and illustrates with a strong hand a favourite portion of his subject, the anatomical, will make his treatise, in the case of the young student, a valuable appen- dage to Albinus or Lizars. Mr. Haydon thinks the (J reeks dissected. V/hile contemplat- ing the Theseus, or passing the hand over the palpable excel- 2G8 PAINTIX(J IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. Essay VHI. hn\co. of those licroic shoulders, wliich toll even to the touch how l*hi(liiis lavished the treasiires of his skill on objects destined in their position for concealment from other eyes than those of the gods he strove to represent, we should find it difficult to contra- dict ]\[r. Ilaydon's theory. We think, however, the fact he cites, that Hippocrates dissected apes, rather a stumbling-block than an assistance to it. "Will you believe," says Mr. H., "that a man of gcniius stopped short at an ape ?" Perhaps not ; but if prejudice, custom, or religion had not made the interval between the ape and the human subject a wide one, the medical man of genius would hardly have troubled the ape at all ; and if either H ijjpocrates or Phidias went further, they probably did so in secret, and never admitted human dissection to its proper place as part of a system of instruction. The question, however, is one of mere curiosity. It is clear that in times when, thanks to l\[r. Warburton, the obstacles are removed, it would be madness for us to neglect a corrective wliich, if Phidias did not possess it, gives us a chance the more of diminishing the distance between that master and ourselves. Having spoken (p. 17G) with due and discriminating praise of lieynolds, Fuseli, and Opie, ]\Ir. Hay don continues, " All these had one irremediable defect ; they had never dissected man or animal — they trusted to their caj)aci- ties and practice ; and all these have left nothing behind them but vague generalities." These are JMr. Haydon's English instances, negative, but sound, in support of his views. Let us stray to Italy, and substi- tute for ?.[r. Haydon's respectable trio M. Angelo, Kaphael, and Lioiiardo. Of those M. Angelo dissected ab initio ; Raphael, ■\\ hose apprenticeship in art was devoted to draped Madonnas, did noc. What was the consequence ? As years and self-know- Lulge increased he felt his disadvantage, and studied anatomy, 1)0 late to redeem, in iiis own oi)inion, an inferiority he felt and acl il !^^ * ^ 272 PAINTING IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. Ebsay VIII. side. And if this paste take the impression well, you must extricate yourself from it dexterously, so fis not to disturb it." We doubt if cither Sir IMartiu Shoe or Mr. Ilayilon would second Ceuniiii'.s ])roposal as to the use of a dinner-table, and we iiuinbly confess that, wantinj:^ confidence in our (nvn dexterity, we had rather throw somebody else than ourselves into half u braccio of wax or paste — for any purpose — in any attitude. We cannot better conclude this article than by the expression of our cordial participation in the praytjr with which the vener- able Cennini conchules his treatise, that Heaven, and the favour- ite saints he particularises, " may give us grace and strength to sustain and bear in peace the cares and labours of this world, and that those who study this book may find grace to study it and well to retain it, so that by the sweat of their brows they may live peaceably and maintain their families in this world with grace, and finally, in that which is to come, live with glory for ever and ever. Amen." R88AY VIII. it extricato L'SSAY IX. MARMONT, RIBORNE, AND ALISON. 273 loll would lo, and wo dexterity, iito ludf II, tiido. expression the voner- tlie favour- in peace the ly this hook )y the sweat leir families J come, live IX. MARMONT, SIBORNE, AND ALISON. From the Qt'ARTERLV Review, June, 1845.(») " The work which I publish is the last contribution I can offer, at the close of my life, to the profit of a science which I have cultivated always with ardour, and a profession T have pursued with passion." — Mai^mont, Preface, p. vi. These are the words of one whose name occupies a place in the military history of tlie age sufficiently conspicuous to entitle the work they announce to high consideration. Of the Marshal's professional career we have heard nothing which can diminish the respect due to the twenty campaigns which he proudly refers to as the groundwork of his present lucubrations. In a national point of view we have no rccoUectious to disturb the satisfaction with which we can " Smile to see reflection's genial ray Gild the calm close of valour's various day." If in the eyes of some of his countrymen three days of unmerited misfortune are to be balanced against yeais of unquestioned devotion, we can only wish to recognise in that stormy sunset the light of a soldier's fidelity to the standard to which he had pledged the sacramentum militare. It is therefore in no hostile or wrangling spirit, and, as we trust we shall show, on no idle grounds, that in the course of observations which the authority of his name and the literary merits of his work invite from us, (*) I. Esprit des Institutions Militairee. Raguse. Paris. 1845. 2. History of the War in France and Belgium in 1815. 2 vols. 8vo. (with Plans). London. 1844. 3. The Fall of Napoleon : an Historical Memoir. 3 vols, post 8vo. London. 1845. Par le Mardchal Marmont, Due de By Captain W. Siborne. By Lieut.-Colonel Mitchell, ^ ^^^. ir \GE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I Uit2^ 125 ■ 50 ^^~ jijj^^l ^ ^ |2.2 J& ||i.25||U |,.6 ^ 6" ► VI Va .V V /; '/ a Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14SS0 (716) 872-4503 274 MARMONT, SIBORNE, AND ALISON. Essay IX. / and which will be consistent with the respect due to that autho- rity in matters of opinion, we shall give an unceremonious con- tradiction to one misstatement of fact which disfigures the volume. The work opens with a brief essay on the subject of military literature, in which the Marshal disposes of the ancients as pro- found, indeed, but utterly inapplicable to the purposes of modem instruction, and of the moderns as, with few exceptions, superfi- cial and deficient. It would appear that in France at least military Boyles and Temples are still to be found, who are fond enough of classical antiquity to indulge in the reveries of Folard and other military antiquarians of the reign of Louis XIV. We must ourselves plead guilty to a boyish affection for the illustrated edition of Folard, with its pictured legions and elephants, and Cannse's crescent, and the paraphernalia of Punic war. We admit, however, that these are ruminations for boys or professors, and that men of action will hardly now go farther back than to Frederick the Great, or at most to Turenne, Marlborough, and Eugene for practical purposes. The classical antiquarian is more likely to obtain from the present some light which he may reflect upon the past, as Gibbon brouj^ht the experience of a militia drill to bear upon the formation of the legion. ]\[arshal Marmont specifies but few exceptions to his general condemnation of the modern >vriters on the art of war. The Memoires de Montholon, dictated by Napoleon, Gouvion St. Cyr, Segur's Russian Campaign, and the Strategy of the Arch- duke Charles, compose his list. Of the Royal Austrian's treatise he speaks, as do all the qualified judges we have ever met with, as a work " qu'on ne saurait trop etudier." Of the Marquis de Segur he says : — " I have read on the ground the three well-known narratives of Segur, de Chambray, and Bouturlin ; in my opinion it is the first alone which gives an exact account of the manner in which things must have passed." A hiixh tribute from a soldier to tlio merits of a civilian's work. No mention whatever is made of Jomini — pronounced by Mr. Alison to be the first military writer of the age that produced the Archduke Charles. The Marshal, we suppose, has, like our- Essay IX. STRATEGY AND TACTICS. 275 selves, the misfortune to differ from IMr. Alison. Cleared of the pompous charlatancrie of Jomini, and of the profound but useless disquisitions of the school wliicli would take us back with the Baron of Bradwardine to the prcelium equestre of Titus Livius, and the array regulations of Vegetius, the soldier's library is thus reduced to a narrow compass. We incline to the opinion that the present volume will be considered an addition of some value. It is a condensed summary of the experience of twenty cam- paigns, free from verbiage and the parade of science, which may be perused in an hour, but is suggestive of much meditation, and in some instances tlirows the light of a competent opinion on points of character interesting to the biographer and the historian. An example of this is to be found in the author's remarks upon Moreau and Napoleon. After ascribing to the latter the very highest pre-eminence as a strategist, he says — " Moreau, on the contrary, whose talents have been so much extolled, knew nothing of strateg,'. His skill displayed itself in tactics. Personally very brave, he handled well, in the presence of the enemy, troops occupying a ground within the limits of his vision ; but he delivered his principal battles with a portion only of his force." — p. 15. Marshal Marmont cites Hohenlinden as a case in point. No better illustration is to be found of the military character and resources of the two men than may be derived from a studious comparison of the simultaneous operations of the two French armies of the Rhine and Italy in 1800. In the chapter on Tactics, p. 20, the Marshal proceeds : — " This kind of merit was incomplete with Napoleon, which is accounted for by the circiunstances of his early career. Simple officer of artillery, up to the moment when he arrived at the com- mand of armies, he never commanded either regiment, brigade, division, or corps d'armee. He had not been able to acquire that facility of moving troops in a given space, which is developed by daily habit and the perpetual variety of combinations. The wars of Italy afforded him scarcely any apjjlication of this nature, their habitual actions reducing themselves in general to affairs of postw, the attack and defence of defiles, and to operations in the mountains. Later, when he had attained to supreme power, the force of the armies he conducted requiring their organization in corps d'armee, rendered less necessary the habit of manoeuvring. A general at the T 2 270 MARMONT, RIBORNE, AND ALISON. Ebsay IX. ;' head of 80,000, 100,000, or ir)O,000 men, gives merely the impulsion. Tlio generals who manceuvro and fight are those who command ;{0,0U0 men, and tlieir subordinates. They should bo familiar with tactics. If I have enjoyed some reputation in this particular, I owe it to my long residence in the camp of Zeist, where for more than a year I was constantly occupied in instructing excellent troops and myself." We have no doubt of the accuracy of this distinctive criticism. It leads us to reflect on our good fortune, in the fact that the gradations of our service pikI the campaign of Holland gave our OAvn great captain the means of laying deep the foundation of his knowledge in the practice of inferior but responsible command. To such practice as that of the Colonelcy of the 33rd in Holland we may attribute the fact that the same head which planned the advance on Vittoria could preserve its self-possession in the parallel march of the two armies which preceded Salamanca, — that three days' agony of tactical skill to which his antagonist now justly refers as the most remarkable instance of its display, and wliicli we know the victor in that trial of fence considers as unique, at least since the time of Frederick. The chapter on marches and countermarches brings us to the ground on which, with respect to no matter of opinion, but one of fact, wc are compelled to do battle with the Marshal. Speak- ing of marches in the presence of an enemy, he says : — " The army of Portugal, in 1812, under my command, made such a march with success. The French and English armies were encamped on the two sides of the Duero : the Jirst icas inferior to the latter by 6000 infantry and 4000 horse. Despite this disproportion of force I had found fit to resume the offensive The passage of the Puero was therefore resolved upon and executed." The Marshal then describes an operation on Tordesillas, in which the English retired before liis attack, and escaped destruc- tion by one of those miracles which alone ever saved from it an army opposed to the French. In tliis instance the inter- posing cause was the superiority of the British in cavalry, and we may add that the French were roughly handled. Ho proceeds : — " The two armies found themselves on the evening of this pursuit in face of each other, and separated by the Guarena, a marshy Essay IX. MARCHES AND COUNTERMARCHES. 2' < t amauca, — stream. July 20th, the French army, all formed in order of battle, rompiie par pehtons, made a flank manccuvre by its left to remount the stream ; arrived at a ford reconnoitred beforehand and rapidly improved, it transferred its head to the left bank, seized, at its com- mencement, a table-land which extends itself indefinitely in a direc- tion whicL menaced the retreat of the enemy, and debouched upon it imder tht protection of a powerful battery which covered its movements. The Duke of Wellington at first thought himself able to oppose this ofiensive march, but it was executed so briskly and with so much ensemble, that he soon gave up the idea of attacking us. lie then put in motion the English army, marching it along a tiiblo- land parallel to the one we occupied. Tlie two armies continued their march, separated by a narrow valley, always ready to accept battle ; several hundred cannon-shots were exchanged, according to the circumstances more or less favourable arising from the sinuosities of the table-land, for each of the generals wished to accept battle and not to give it. They arrived thus, after a march of five leagues, at the respective positions which they wished to occupy, the French on the heights of Aldea Rubia, the English on those of St. Chris- toval. This remarkable march is, it remains to say, the only fact of the kind which to my knowledge has occurred in our time." — p. 153. With the exception of the one passage marked in italics we liave nothing to say against the general tonor of this description. We could carry it a little further; but as it conveys by obvious and necessary implication an equal share of the credit to those who equally deserved it, we say nothing now of the ensuing day's continuance of this trial of skill and its result. The Marshal's statement of the relative numbers of the two armies we cannot so pass over. The intention of it is sufficiently obvious. It is put forward as the solution of a fact ever inexpli- cable to the understandings of the Marshal's c juntrymen, but in tliis instance incontrovertible in itself, the defeat of a French army. The loss of eagles, guns, and prisoners, the rapid conver- sion of an orderly and menacing pursuit to more than retreat, to hurried and tumultuous flight, the loss of a capital, and the published strictures of Buonaparte, hav(; left no room for cavil as to the fact. Toulouse may be claimed as a victory ; French biographers may insert in the Life of Massena such sentences as " batttt le gSnhal Anglais Wellington a Busaco ;" but no French arch of triumph will have the name of Salamanca inscribed on it. H 278 MAKMONT, SIBORNE, AND ALISON. Ebsat IX. II /» I We object to the explanation now attempted on several grounds. In the first place it is not fair with respect to the manner in which it is brought forward — in the second it is not true. We cannot expect in modem times that either common consent or the chances of recruiting should bring two armies to that precise condition of equality wliich, by the assistance of the blacksmith of Perth, was realized in the strife of the clans described by Sir Walter. No action in Mr. James's six volumes of Naval History presents a mathematical equiponderance of pounds of metal, size of scantling, or number of men. Blades of grass, armies, and frigates at jver exact counterparts of each other. It has, however, hithei'to been considered that, if any action of tlie later wars of I]urope by sea or land presented more than another the unusual feature of an approximation to numerical equality, it Avas the battle of Salamanca. As far as our knowledge extends, tliis fact is now controverted for the first time since the occur- rence. We find in the Marshal's ovm narrative of 1812, which is neither more nor less than a laboured apology addressed to a rigid taskmaster — a narrative into which every conceivable gi'ound of excuse has been introduced — no mention whatever of any disparity but that which existed in the one article of cavalry. We could point out more than one instance of the mppressio veri in this same document of 1812 — as to the attack of Bock's German horse, for instance, in mentioning which the Marshal totally suppresses the fact that the two squares of infantry on which they fell were broken and cut to pieces by those intrepid swordsmen. But can we believe that the writer of this elaborate and not very scrupulous apology, dated nine days after the battle, could have failed to ancertain, or would have forborne to allege, the grand arithmetical fact wliich he now, after a lapse of thirty-three years, discloses ? It is not, in our opinion, fair to endeavour, in any matter of history, to disturb its accepted version of important facts by sudden, tardy, and incidental assertion imsupported by other evidence than the authority of the asserter. The reputation of individuals or of nations won in fair fight is their property, and once acquired shouW be sacred, unless they can be deprived of it by legal process, which implies due notice to tlie defendant, and something like evidence, for which the ipse dixit of the party above all others interested in the cause will hardly be accepted. Essay IX. BATTLE OF SALAMANCA. 279 On the second head of our indictment we should, till the Marshal brings forward something in the shape of evidence, be perfectly justified in resting on the general acceptance of our own view of the facts, but we have no objection to substantiate it by document. The process in this instance is very simple, but we take the opportunity of cautioning military authors on the other side of the water that the Peninsula in general is dangerous ground. With their theories and lucubrations in matters of opinion we have nothing to do ; but with regard to questions of fact and detail they will do wisely to remember that the French armies in that country possessed nothing beyond the line of their camp fires, that then* communications were constantly inter- rupted, their messengers waylaid, and their despatches of all descriptions, including military returns, deciphered, read, and digested at the British head-quarters. Litera scripta manet, and some of these documents preserved in the British archives are now before us, and will be at the service of truth and fair-dealing whenever required. For our present purpose we require no assistance from recondite sources. The Marshal ascribes to the British a superiority of force to the amount of 10,000 men, 6000 infantry and 4000 cavalry. The French return of the strength of Marshal Marmont's aimy for the 15th June gives a rough total of 54,500 men under arms ; but it is added that when the necessary deductions are made for artillery, engineers, non- combatants, and losses in the course of the five weeks intervening between that period and the 22nd July, the result will be about 42,000 sabres and bayonets for the battle. This return has been published, without being questioned, by the French translator of Colonel Napier's work. We have before us the morning state of the Anglo-Portuguese army under the Duke's command on July 12th. It gives a total of 44,500 sabres and bayonets — a superiority therefore of just 2500 men, instead of the 10,000 now claimed by the Marshal. Of this excess more than three- fourths were Spanish, whose commander, Carlos d'Espafia, per- formed the memorable feat of abandoning tl;e castle of Alba de Tormes, and of concealing the fact from the Duke, thereby saving the French army from a destruction which, in all human probability, would have thrown the rout of Vittoria into the shade. We know of no other service performed on the occasion by Don Carlos and his division. We admit, then, a general i i I J 280 MAIIMONT, SIBORNE, AND ALISON. Ebbay IX. superiority to the above amount. It has never been disputed that we were superior in cavalry ; we probably had 2000 more horse in the field, instead of the 4000 claimed by the Marshal, and we used them well. The Frentth, on the other hand, had 74 guns opposed to 60 of ours — six of which were Spanish — under circumstances which brought that arm into as formidable and continued employment as in any affair of the Peninsular war. These relative numbers are, we trust, sufficient to show that there were no such unequal weights in the balance as could account for the event, and thus confirm the insinuation intended by the Marshal's paragraph. As the question is one ot numbers, we forbear to notice the moral points of comparison between an army of one brave and military nation, speaking one language, and moving under its master's eye, as he justly boasts, like a regiment, and the heterogeneous compound of four nations wielded by his rival. 10,000 men, where such numbers as 40,000 are concerned, might probably have been sufficient to neutralize the obvious advantages on the French side ; 2500, principally ^jpanish, were quite inadequate to do so. In the absence of all uocumentary evidence in support of the Marshal's assertion, we at first almost entertained the conjecture that he had forgotten that his force had been increased since the commencemeit of active operations by the arrival of General IBonet's corps from the Asturias ; but as that junction took place so long before a i the 8th June, and as General Bonet's corps was distinguished hy its services at Salomanca, it is hardly possible that the Marshal can have been misled by hasty reference to some older return. We have not provoked the controversy, and here we must leave it — certainly with unimpaired admiration for the valour and tenacity with which in this bloody field the French army endea- voured to retrieve its fortunes. On the subject of the equ'pment of cavalry the Marshf J gives his adhesion to an opinion wliieh, we think, has gained ground of late years, but wliich has not yet been submitted to the test of warlike experience, — that the lance should be the weapon of heavy, but by no means of light cavalry. " All things equal," he says, p. 48, " it is certain that a hussar or a chasseur will beat lancer." If by " toutes choses ^gales " it be meant that the a parties opposed shall have had nothing but the usual regimental instruction in the use of their respective weapons, we have no KtiMAY IX. FORTIFICATIONS. 281 7e have no doubt that the Marsual is right ; but we also believe that tho lance i^ by far the supeT-'or weapon in the hands of a horseman bred and ti'aiued to its use. We believe that by a recent regu- lation the lance is now the weapon of the heavy cavalry in tho liussian service. Among other speculative views of the Marshal, we may cite ns deserving attention his notions as to the eventual application of the Congreve rocket, which he thinks is destined to effec. in the field and in infantry contests an alteration as extensive as that which in naval warfare and coast defence may bo expected from hollow shot and the Paixhans gun. The first campaign in which Austria may be engaged is likely to exhibit an extensive application of the rocket. The Marshal's chapter on fortifications is perhaps more inte- resting to continental readers than ourselves, for, as far tw England is concerned, the subject is lunited, or nearly so, to the protection of our principal ai'senals, Vs'e see no cliance of a detached fort on Primrose Hill. The Marshal treats it princi- pally with reference to those great works which in France and Austria have been constructed, not for the mere defence of insulated points, but for the purpose of influencing the decision of contingent campaigns and the fate of conflictiig empires. In France we know that tliis mode of defence has been applied, cert .tinly with a brave disregard of economy, to the capital itself. It is less notorious that in Austria the same great object — the protection of the capital — has been i)rovided for by the more distant intrenched camp of Lintz, which receives the unqualified approbation of the Marshal (p. 88) as a good nnd grand military conception. If, as he supposes, this work will ellectually prevent the march of a Freiish invading army on Vienna, and thus serve both as a protection from the storm and a conductor to divert it from that capital, it deserves his praise, for a rigid system of fortification is always a nuisance to the to>vn it embraces. We may observe that the Marshal's approbation of the great works for the defence of Paris is confined to the detached forts, and that he condemns the enceinte continue as an useless super- fluity. In a chapter headed " General Considerations on Wars, offen- sive and defensive," the Marshal bestows a due meed of admira- tion on the operations of the Archduke Charles in 1796, as I i /Il 282 MAUMONT, SinORNE", AND ALISON. Essay IX. " the fiidt example of operations Rystematically combined on a vast scale. All the great piincii>lc8 of war are deduced in that prince's Work tin the subject, while at the Kume time their application is found in the facts which are related." — p. 130. The Italian campaigns of Buonaparte in 1796 and 1797 are however the Marshal's favourites : — ♦' Never," he says, " was war so admirable — so profound. It was art reduced to practice in a fashion the most sublime." — p. 131. Hia admiration follows Buonaparte to the close of 1809. From that period he considers that the spell of success was broken, because the magician violated the conditions of its efficacy. He excepts only Lutzen and Bautzen, and the un- equal but energetic struggle of 1814. Wo fully believe, with respect to the great cause of his fall, the llussian expedition, that, from Smolensko at least, that campaign was the gi'eatest military mistake on record. Up to that period of his operations he had a military chance of success, but even this chance was confined to the bare possibility of inducing the Eussians to accept battle at the outset, either in the field or in the iutrenclied camp of Drissa — that miserable imitation of Torres Vedras, which so nearly made the example of the Duke of Wellington fatal to liis northern admirers. Better counsels, however, pre- vailed, Barclay declined to play the part of Mack. After Smolensko success became impossible, and the advance on Moscow was a measure which no calculation could justify. Nothing but what we short-sighted mortals call chance could have prevented the failure which ensued ; and that failure was not due to chance, either in the shape of ]\Io8cow's conflagration or any premature severity of winter, but was the natural and clearly calculable consequence of the misapplication of vast means, and the misdirection of irresponsible power. We doubt, however, whether the genius of the man or the moral influence of his name was ever more conspicuous than in the passage of the Beresina. With these views on the Russian campaign, we nevertheless hesitate before we quite concur in the Marshal's comparative estimate of Napoleon's earlier and later military career. Does he not somewhat overlook the fact that the earlier successes of Italy were in the nature of a surprise, in which the old equilibrium of numerical force was suddenly Essay IX. RECON"NAISHANCES. 283 10 of 1809. Avever, pre- upset by the application of a new and unprecedented system ? Is it not fair to Napoleon to remcml>cr that in later years ho was in fact fighting his own pupils, upon whom, by many a bloody lesson, he had inculcated his own method, and whom, like Captain Bobadil, he had taught to play nearly or altogether as well as himself? Upon the subject of reconnaissanceg the IMiirshal says but little, and merely illustrates, by a failure of his own at El Bodon, the expediency, in the case of lea grandes reconnaisaancea, of pro- viding for circumstances under whioli the jn-occss of feeling a sensitive enemy may be converted into a general action. IIo might have added that, throughout the jieriod of lhionai)art<''8 career, the French amiies were notoriously negligent with respect to this particular service. It has been supposed by the Germans, who are more punctilious in these matters, that this defect sprung from a certain contempt "or the pedantry of minutiae, of which the example was set at liead-quarters, and which was exaggerated by its imitators in separate and inferior commands. In the German campaign of 181.3 some excuse was to be found in Napoleon's deficiency in cavalry. So far back, however, as Marengo, we find the French commanders neglect- ing to ascertain the all-important fact that the Austriaus had means of passing tlie Bonnida, and debouehing on the famous plain afterwards so fiercely contested. It may seem scarcely credible, but it is known and confessed, that after the success of Ligny no rational precaution was adopted to ascertain Blucher's line of retreat, which might have been certified by a squadron of light horse, but, if otherwise, was worth ascertaining at any expense of detachment. In this particular we doubt if so great a game was ever played in so sloveniy a fasliion. On the reputation of Generals the Marshal thus delivers himself : — " I shall anange Generals in four categories. In the first 1 ih:» up tho Snlle de Diane ni tlio Ttiilt^rios for Ium own rpcpption with tho biirttH of tlu) pj(.'iit men In* Hspin-d to rivnl, oiio En^lishmim's iimi^o was hiiioii^ the fiivniircd i\'w ; and it is just poHsildc that tho Kinporor rcTiu'iulKTcd a passu<;^e in Voltaire's Lii'c of ( 'harloH XII., wliich (hisi^iiatos " h> famijux Joan Duo do ^larlhoronj^h " as *' oet hommo (pii ii'a jamais assiogo do vilio (pi'il n'ait priso, ni donno do bataillo (pi'il n'ait gagno*'." It is true that whon we havo estahlinla'd Marlborongh's claim we shall havo takon littlo hv our motioi, for Franco would instantly act on the hint to bo found ols«Mvhoro in Voltairo, and claim him for a Fronohman, on tho scoro that his military appronticoship was passed undor Turonno. Wo havo no doubt, indeed, that, should the time over arrive when any sort of merit shall bo conceded by French writers to tho Duke of Wellington, a similar claim will bo preferred on tho ground of his education at Angiers. Meanwhile tho name of Niebuhr is sutliciont to show that whore patriotic prejudices do not intervene, and for such wo must make allowance, the verdict of wise and acute men can even already make amends for the silence of interested antagonists. We have indeed no wish to give undue weight in these matters to unprofessional authority, but general results and comparative criticism we do consider fair ground for tho historian who can tread it with caution and a due sense of his own deficiencies. Of all the men in modern times worthy of that name, it is probable that Gibbon was the only one who could, at any period of his life, have told off a company, or marched it round a barrack-yard ; yet we suspect that many a grizzled moustache is by tliis time ploasurably and profitably engaged in IM. Tliiers' narrative of JVIoreau's cautious career on the Danub.>, and Napoleon's dazzling exploits on the Bormida. A great follower of Niebuhr (Dr. Arnold) has, in his ' Lectures on Modern History,' some remarks on the privileges of unprofes- sional writers in this matter, and their limits, wliich we think it worth while to quote : — " The writer of history," he says, " must speak of wars, of legis- lation, of religious disputes, of political economy, yet he cannot bo at once soldier, seaman, &c. Clearly then there is a distinction to be drawn somewhere : there must be a point up to which an unpro- fessional judgment of a professional subject may be not only com- petent but of high authority, although beyond that point it cannot i 1 28G MARMONT, SlBOllNE, AND ALISON. Essay IX. venture without presumption and folly. The distinction seems to lie originally in the difference between the power of doing a thing and that of perceiving whether it be well done or not It would appear that what we understand least in the profession of another is the detail of the practice. Applying this to the art of war, we shall see, T think, that the part which unprofessional men can least under- stand is what is technically called tactics. Let a man be as versed as he will in military history, he must well know that in these essential points of the last resort he is helph^ss ; and the commonest Serjeant, or the commonest soldier, knows infinitely more of the matter than he does. But in proportion as we recede from these details to more general points — first to what is technically called strategy, that is to say the directing of the movements of an army with a view to the accomplishment of the object of a campaign, and next to the whole conduct of the war, as political or moral questions may affect it— in that proportion general knowledge and powers of mind come into play ; and an unprofessional person may, without blame, speak and write on military subjects, and may judge of them sufficiently." I w/ So far Dr. Arnold, whose authority we are unwilling on this subject to dispute. His readers will, however, do well to re- member that in this passage the Doctor is pleading his own cause, for it is well known that military transactions had for him the attraction which they often exercise on studious men. He might have added that the cases must after all be very few in which the strategical lucubrations of la^vyers or divines can deserv^e or meet with from the initiated more than the indulgence which amateur actors receive from a polite audience. It is pro- bably not often that unprofessional men are so unconscious of their own deficiencies as seriously to infringe on the limits traced out by tliis judicious gaiide. The late Rev. Sydney Smith, indeed, once informed us that he had been occupied with the perusal of a technical military work ; and we found on inquiry that the attraction consisted not certainly in the subject or its treatment, but in the circumstance that it was written by a brother clergy- man. If our in-">>'^ry be faithful — would it were more so for the convivial dicta of our departed friend — the title of the work was ' Dealtry on the Pike Exercise.' It was composed, we believe, at that period of expected invasion when curates were corporals, and Oxford tutors exercised ' in Christ Chiirch meadow, and was described to us as bristling with such terms as * to the left, push,' ESSAT IX. CAPTAIN SIBORNE'S WOUK. 28( &c. Such works are rare ; but details of all kinds are dan- gerous ; and wlien the uniu'ot'essional liistorian crowds his pages with attenijits at vivid description of scenes in tli< ke of which he never mingled, the result is very usually bulU witliout value and minuteness without accuracy. The sphere of action and scope of judgment which is claimed by such men as Arnold and Niebuhr, we nevertheless cheerfully concede to another writer with whom we are reluctantly compelled to renew a controversy commenced in a former number of this Journal. We are far from complaining of ]\[r. Alison for the unrestrained and frank expression of his opinions in matters of war and strategy. Wo do not object to him as a strategist. On this point we oily reserve to ourselves the liberty of proving that he is a very bad one, and that he has totally misunderstood the subject which he has treated. W^e do complain of him as a historian. As such we have before objected to him the careless, rash, and credulous acceptance of statements which he ought to have suspected, and which we knew to be untrue : we now accuse him of inexcusable perseverance in error and other minor delinquencies, which, pace tanti virt, we shall by-and-by venture to specify. But before we do so, the work of Captain Siborne demands a portion of our space. This officer's acquirements in a scientific branch of his profession, of which he has given evidence in his models of the ground of Waterloo, entitle his views of that con- flict to much higher consideration than those of IVlr. Alison. With great respect, however, for his zeal and honesty in the search for truth, and admitting that professional knowledge has saved him from the presumptuous blunders whicli disfigure Mr. Alison's chapters on Waterloo, still we must say that, viewed as a history, and not as a collection of anecdotet-, his work is defective in one iniportant particular. It seems to us, as far as the British operations are concerned, drawn from every source except from the commander-in-chief and the few officers attached at the time to head-quarters who really knew or could know anything of value about the great features of the business. This imperfection is in our opinion very observable in one or two passages, ^vliich we shall shortly have occasion to quote. W^e have, however, in the first instance to thank Captain Siborne for some passages in a note to his fifth chapter, page 1G4, 288 MAEMONT, SIBORNE, AND ALISON. Espay IX. suggestive of a point of one of the main questions at issue between Mr. Alison and ourselves, which in our former remarks on that learned magistrate's Waterloo lucubrations we omitted to notice. If anything could add to the credit which the Duke deserves for those arrangements for the collection and movement of the force under his own command, which were calculated to meet every contingency and overcome every difficulty of his defensive position, it would be that, in a matter entirely beyond his control, these essential and unavoidable difficulties should have been aggravated by one of those accidents to which all military operations, but especially those of allied armies, are exposed. At five o'clock in the morning of the 15th it was apparent to the Prussians that the attack upon the advanced corps of General Ziethen was a, serious one, a bond fide move- ment of Napoleon by Charleroi. This certainty was the one thing needful in the eyes of the Duke of Wellington ; with it his course was clear, and without it he was, as we have seen, determined not to move a regiment from its cantonments. We cannot explain how it happened, but we are certain that it was by no fault of the British commander-in-chief, that no Prussian report of the transaction reached Brussels till five in the after- noon. The distance being about forty miles, there can be no question that the intelligence on which he acted might and ought to have reached him by ten a.m. As it was, the Prince of Orange, as we have stated in our former article, was the first to bring the news, soon after three o'clock p.m., having ridden in from the advanced posts at Binche to dine with the Duke. The latter was well aware, by accounts received from the direction of Mons, that the enemy was in motion, and for that reason had taken care to remain during the day at his head-quarters, or within a few yards of them, having declined a proposal to accom- pany His Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland on a visit to the Duchess of Eichmond, without, however, spreading prema- ture alarm by assigning the true reason. Orders for the move- ment of the troops were issued on the receipt of these first accounts from the Prince of Orange, and further orders were issued at about five, after an interview with the Prussian General Muffling, who was stationed at Brussels, and had at length received his reports from General Ziethen. It is clear that — if a circum- stance over which the Duke had no control had not thus KSSAY IX. liELCJIAX CAMPAIGN. operated to his disadvantage, and directly in favour of his adversary — the orders which were issued at 5 p.m. miglit have been given out at JO in the morning. We sliall not follow the example of Mr. Alison and others, by indulging in worthless speculations as to what might then have occurred. It is suHi- cient to know that in spite of adverse accidents the Duke's arrangements for the collection of his troops were such as to enaJ le him to inflict the next day a bloody defeat upon the force in his front. The accident in itself was a purely Prussian one ; for the intelligence to be received was to come, not from Sir H. Hardinge and Blucher's head-quarters to the Duke, but from General Zietheu, at the advanced posts of the Prussian lines, to General IMutfling ; and the 1 >u]ce is to be blamed for it precisely as much as lie is for tlie more famous failure of the despatch to General I>ulow von Dennewitz, wliich led to the absence of the 4th Prussian corps from the field of Liguy. After all it is desirable to see whetlier, after this failure of communi- cation, there was cause for blame on account of delay in col- lecting the troops, or indeed at all, considering that the French army was not itself collected — that is to say, its columns closed up and in a state to commence an operation — till late in the day of the 16th, as is stated by Captain Siborne, writing from information from the French staff; and that even Marshal Ney had not joined the army and had not his horses and equipages, and had been under the necessity of purchasing horses from Marshal the Due de Treviso, who was sick. We find in chap. vii. vol. i. p. 247, a passage which indicates the defect we have noticed as pervading the volumes of Captain Siborne. It represents the Duke on the morning of the 17th as sharing the ignorance which probably prevailed in his army as to tlie condition, prospects, and intentions of his allies consequent on the affair of Ligny, and as obtaining after all very imperfect information on material points. " The Duke had received no intelligence of Blucher, and probably judging from the advanced position of the (French) vedette in ques- tion, that, whatever might have been the result of the battle of Ligny, the Prussians coidd not haA'^e made anj' forward moveraent likely to endanger ^iey's right, he came to the conclusion that it was quite possible that on the other hand Napoleon might have crossed the Namur road and cut oft" his communication with Blucher. His U 290 MARMONT, SIBOHNE, AND ALISON. FesAY IX Grace therefore desired Vivian to send a strong patrole along ihe Namur road to gain intelligence respecting the Prussian army. A troop of the 10th Hussars, under Captain Grey, was accordingly despatched on this duty, accompanied by T.ieut.-Colonel Sir Alex- ander Gordon, one of the Duke's aides-de-camp. As the patrole advanced along the road, the vedette before mentioned began to circle, evidently to give notice of the approach of an enemy. This induced the patrole to move forward with great caution, so as to guard against the possibility of being cut off. Nevertheless, it advanced four or five miles along the road, and Sir A. Gordon brought back word that the Prussians had retreated towards Wavre ; that the French occupied the ground on which the battle had been fought ; but that thoy had neither crossed nor even possessed them- selves of the high road, along which the patrole had proceeded almost into the immediate vicinity of their advanced posts." It is a mist.ike to suppose, as Captain Siboriie does, that on tlie morning of the 17tli (or even on tiie night of the IGth) the Duke was uninformed of what had occurred on tlie Prussian field of battle. He liad at tlie Prussian head-quarters a staff- officer, the present Governor-General of India, then Colonel Sir Henry Hardinge, wlio sent him repeated reports during the battle. He had written one after he was himself severely wounded, which was brought to the Duke by his brother. Cap- tain Hardinge of the Artillery, with a verbal message given after nightfall. Till nightfall, moreover, the Duke could see ; and, need it be added, did see with his own eyes from Quatre Bras what passed on the Prussian field of battle. With his glass he saw the charge and failure of the Prussian cavalry, Blucher's disaster, and tlie retreat of the Prussian army frora the field of battle. Captain ^^'ood of the 10th Hussars, then at the outposts, pushed a patrole towards the Prussian field of battle at daylight, and ascertained and immediately reported to the Duke that the Prussians were no longer in possession of it. The Duke then sent, as Captain Siborne narrates, with another squadron of the 10th under Captain Grey, Sir A. Gordon, who had been with his Grace on the Prussian field of battle the preceding day, and therefore knew the ground, in order to com- municate with the rcLr-guard of the Prussian army, and to ascertain their position and designs. Sir A. Gordon found the field of battle deserted, except by a few French vedettes : these were driven in, and Gordon with his squadrons crossed the field FSSAY IX e along the 11 army. A ficcordingly ;1 Sir Alex- the patrole d began to eniy. This )n, so as to srthcless, it A. Gordon irds Wavre ; le had been sensed them- 1 proceeded ts." )es, that on e IGth) the le Prussian ;Gr8 a staff- Colonel Sir during the plf severely other, Cap- sage given could see; rom Quatre With his an cavalry, army from irs, then at d of battle rted to the ssion of it. ith another ordon, who battle the der to com- tny, and to found the ittes: these ed the field Essay IX. BELGIAN CAMPAIGN. 2!)1 of battle unmolested, and communicated verbally with (ienerul Ziethen, commanding the Pnissian rear-guard, at Sombref, on the road to Namur, where the Prussian left had rested in the battle of the preceding day. Having accomplished this service, the Duke's aide-de-camp returned as he had gone, unmolested, to Quatre Bras. If Sir A. Gordon had lived, probably Captain Siborne miglit have learned tlie real account of the transaction from him, and would then have known that the patrole moved the whole way to Sombref, and l>rought back, not a vague report that the Prussians had retreated towards Wavre, but the most positive accounts of their movements and intentions. As soon Jis Gordon returned with his jiatrolc, the Puke gave orders for the army to occupy the position in front of W aterloo, of which he had a perfect knowledge, having seen it frequently, and of wliich no knowledge could have been had by any other officer in the army. The road to an»! tlu'ough the village of Genappes having been cleared of all liosjjital and store carriages, and of every impediment, the infantry and artillery were put in motion in broad daylight in different columns, to cross the diflferent bridges over the Dyle. These movements were as regular as on a parade. The outposts, particularly those of the riflemen, were kept standing, and movements were made by the British cavalry so as to attract the enemy's attention, and conceal the retrogade movement of the infantry. The cavalry remained on the ground, and the commander-in-chief with them, till between three and four of the afternoon. In this position he saw more than Captain Siborne ai)pears to be aware of. He saw all that was done on and near the lately- contested ground of Ligny, the detachment of Grouchy's corps towards Wavre, fol- lowing the retreat of Blucher, and the march of the main mass of the French army along the great road from Sombref. No movement was made in his front, and he did not order the retreat of his cavalry till the advanced patroles of the enemy had touched the vedettes on the high roud on his left. Tne retreat of our cavalry was undoubtedly facilitated by a storm, which made it difficult for either party to manoeuvre off the main roads. With the single exception, however, of the affair at Genappes with the French lancers, it was conducted with as much security as that of the infantry, and the army found itself u 2 202 MAIiMONT, RII^OHNK, AND AF.ISOX. Essay IX. in tlie evening collected from every quarter on that fninons and well-chosen ground, with every feature of which the Duke was familiar. The Duke was on the fii^ld at daybreak, in sjnte of weather, after having written some letters to the Kiug of France and others. He visited the posts in Hougomont, and gave orders for the dcfeusive works for musketry, which were foruied in the garden. He rode thence to La Hnye Saiute, and on to the extreme left of his position. It is a curious ciicumslauce, not mentioned by the historians, tliat, having throughout the night, from the 17th to the 18th, communicated by patroles, through Oliain, with the Prussian corps d'armde on its raarcli from Wavre, he saw the Prussian cavalry collected in a mass on the high ground on the Waterloo side of the defile of St. liambert at an early hour of the day, at least an hour before the commence- ment of the battle — tlie very cavalry that is represented to have been seen from the French head-quarters in a letter written by Mar6chal Soult to IVIarechal Grouchy, dated at half-past one, which letter is pririted by Grouchy in a pamphlet published in the United States, and given in a note to page 400 of Captain Siborne's first volume. The course of our observations, which have insensibly almos:t degenerated into narrative, has brought us to a critical period of the drama. If we look back through the preceding acts we shall see that no passage of the Duke's campaigns is more pregnant with evidence of the omnipresent, indefatigable, personal activity, and imperturbable coolness which distinguislied him, than the period which has come under our notice. We have seen that on the morning of the ICtli, while Ney was preparing his attack and closing up his columns, which, when he took their command, extended for some twelve miles to his rear, the Duke found time for an interview with the Prussian General at T^igny. He returned to Quatre Bras in time for the opening of that con-ict. He reconnoitred in person the wood of Bossu, and was indeed the first to discover that the attack was about to be made by a very large body of troops. A straggling fire had been going on since morning, but the officers whom he found on the spot still doubted whether a serious attack was impending. The Duke's quick eye, however, detected an officer of high rank reviewing a strong body, and his ear caught the sound, familiar to it as the precursor of such scenes, " L'Empereur recompensera celui qui KSSAY IX. BELGIAN CAMPAIGN. 293 s'aviiiirom." He instantly roeominonded the Prince of Orange to witlidraw his advanced i)artios> and the few Belgian gnns, which were in an advanced and exposed position. The attac-k instiintly ensued, not to cease till nightfall. According to his uniform practice, and certainly with not less than his nsual care, tlie ])uke pose ?d all the troops himself, and no movement was made hut by his order. He was on the tield till after dark, as long as any contest lasted, ^^'hen at the close of that weary day others were sinking t.) rest on the ground they had so bravely maintained, and while the chain of British outposts was being formed for the night, far in advance of the ground ori- ginally occupied, one of the cavalry regiments, which were then arriving in rai)id succession, reached the spot where the Duke was sitting. It was commanded by an intimate friend of the Duke — by one of the gentlest, the bravest, and most accom- plished soldiers who ever sat in an English saddle, the late General Sir Frederick Ponsonby. He found the Duke reading some English newspapers which had just reached him, joking over their contents, and making merry with the lucubrations of London politicians and speculators on events. The condition meanwhile of the said politicians at home, including the cabinet, was past a joke. It was one which the profundity of their ignorance alone made endurable. If hos- tilities were now in prog';ess in Belgium and a British army in the field, steamers would be plying between Ostend and London or Dover, frequent and punctual as those wliich crowd the river flora London-bridge to Greenwich in Wliitsun week. A fresh lie and a new exaggeration would reach the Stock Exchange at intervals of a quarter of an hour. With such means of commu- nication, Blucher's losses on the 16th would have been operating on the funds within a few hours of their report at Brussels, and the Prussian retreat from Ligny would have more than counter- balanced, in public opinion, the maintenance of our pcsition at Quatre Bras. To a late hour of the 20th of June, however, tiie smuggler had been the only organ of intelligence to the English cabinet, and nothing but \ qgue accounts that the French army was in motion had been conveyed by these lug-sailed messengers. It was thus that the first authentic intelligence, though it con- tained the bane of a serious disaster to the Prussian arms, was (qualified not merely by the antidote of the Duke's success at If « ii 201 MAUMONT, SlUORNE, AND ALlSoX. KSSAY TX. Quatre Bras, but by the following atUlitionai facts; — that tho Duke was at the head of his own army collected in a position of his own choice, in liigh C( n^iJence and spirits, in military com- munication with Blucher, and on the point of engaging with Napoleon. The bearer of this stirring intelligence, which the nerves of Lord Castlereagh were better stnmg to receive than those of Lord liiverpool, was the Kight Honourable IMaurice Fitzgerald, the Knight of Kerry. Like many other civilians he had been attracted by the interest of the scene and hour to Brussels about a fortnight previous to the commencement of hos- tilities. As an old and valued friend of his illustrious country- man, he had been a constant guest at head-quarters; among other adventures of some interest, had visited the ground of Quatre Bras on the 17th, and had remained there till the com- mencement of the retreat of the cavalrv, when he had returned to Brussels. Having been favoured by him with a memorandum of liis recollections, we can now present, in words better than our own, the circumstances under which he became entrusted with such a communication, and the effect it produced on those who received it. Not being able, wth reference to our limits, to insert the memorandum in extenso, we must premise that our friend had been induced by circumstances to leave Brussels at a very early hour on the 18th with the intention not of returning to England, but of endeavouring to reach the head-quarters of General Sir C. Colville, whose division was on the right of tlip British army. (Thent was his first object, but being ad\ sed that the direct route was encumbered, he proceeded thither by Antwerp. The Knight was accompanied by the late IVIarquis of Ormonde : and he says — " We arrived at Antwerp about five in the morning, and, after refreshing ourselves and looking at the cathedral for about an hour, we proceeded to Ghent as fast as we could, and arrived there about two o'clock. We dined with the commanding officer of the 29th regiment, who had been an old acquaintance of Lord Ormonde, ^,\e engaged a carriage and arranged to inoceed after luidnight for the division of the array luider General Colville. I was just entering the hotel between six and seven, in order to go to bed, wlien Sir r. Malcolm drove up from Brussels. 1 told him our phm, when he earnestly entreated me to w^ait till he had returned from the King of Fiance, then at Ghent, to whom ho was going to convey a message Essay IX. Khsay IX. THE KNIGHT OF KKUrvV'S NARUA'lIVE. 295 — tlmt tlio position of iitary com- iging with which the ceive than ie IMaurice •ivihans he id hour to lent of hos- iis country- rs; among ground of 11 the com- xd returned 3morandura er than our rusted with I those who r limits, to ge that our I'ussels at a »f returning jiuirters of ight of the ng ad\ sed ihithei by Marquis of and, after out an hour, there about of the 29th mondo. We light for the mt onteiing d, wlien Sir II V, when he the King of y a message f'oni the Duke uf \\'e]lin0 of volume ii. he states the fact that (ieneral Ziethen refused to detach any portion of his troo[)s for the purjmso of strengthening, by their partial aid, the JJritish line of battle at a moment certainly of great pressure. We doubt not that Ziethen's orders on this head were strict. We believe them to liave been dictated by a wise caution, and we look \ipon the conduct of the l*russians and their commander on the 18th with no feeling but that of admiration for the energy with whicli they had rallied after discomfiture, and the boldness with wliich they loft General Thielman to make the best he could of it against Grouchy 's superior force at Wavre. Before the retreat on the morning of the ITtli speculation was busy among our oflHcers on the outposts at Quatre Bras as to the pro- bable results of the affair of the previous day to the l*russian force. A party of them was joined by Cap'ain, now Colonel, Wood, who had just returned from the patrole ?drvice mentioned above. W^ill they stop before they reach tiie Bliine? was a question started by one. Captain W'ood, who had seen much service with the Prussians, hav'^ig been on the staff of Sir C. Stewart (now Lord Londonderry) in 1813 and 1814, replied, " If Blucher or Bulow be alive, you may depend upon it they will stop at no great distance." The young officer was right, as Napoleon found to his cost. We know that, whatever incom- petent critics may say, the liighest testimony to the co-operation \ N. 2{)8 III I',!?'! MAUMONT, SmoilNK, AND AL».S()N. Kshay IX. of tlio l*niHHiaTi^ in ovory ]iartii*ulur, tliut (»f tlu» Diikis lias Ixoti ever since imvurird aiul uncoiuproiiiisin^ ; nor lias he ever Ht(>pi»i'(l or Htno|K'(l to consider wlictluT l»y doiiijj; juslict; to tlio fumo of his allies he might givo a handlu to his enemieb to dt'tra't from his own. Wo do not on this occasion choose to enter upon any formal criticism of Najioleon as a general. We must, however, Huy that, if Ihiglish writ»'rs were as much disposed to detract from Ills re[»utation a.s they are to cavil at the con«luet o^'tho J)uke and Bhicher, some dociunents under his own hand would afl'ord them matt(,'r for animadversion. Take, for instance. Napoleon's two letters to ]\rarslml Noy, written early on the Kith from Char- leroi. They are adilrossed to a man who had just b«.\Y IX. Wi.M.INOTOX'S AILMY AT WA'I K I! LUO. liUl) But Nnttin;j,li(lm has iirdu'is ^oi>{\, And YdilxNliiro men aro storn of mood. And many a hainwr >.liall lio toni, And many a knight to p;riiund bo borno, And many a shraf of hhat'ts bo spent Kio Sootlamrw king slmll erobs tho Trent." Ulnnnion's reply, by the nmiv, rominds us of one of (Jcncrul Ahiva's to un ui(h-(h'-('inup of .fuuot who, unch'r u ihi^ J)uke's table in Portugal at a period when Lisbon wax in our possession. The Frenchirnm took oeeasi(»n to observe that the 1 )uehesso d'Abrantes, then at Ciudad Kodrij^o, comptalt /aire Hi's courhe^ at Lisbon in tho autumn. '* I'ri'vencz In," said (ieneral Ahiva, *' ([Ui'lle (rotve blen (janlc de ccs trcrde ni'dlc di(ihlc» ddccoiic/wurs en r<>tiijc nuille trouvera en chemin." nowu\er, Xap(deou had not loufj; to wait for an opportunity of estimating, in his own person, the dilliculty of tho task which, in his oft-hand manner, he had suggested to his lieutenant. Numerically superior to his antagonist in cavalry and artillery, morally superior in tho lioraogeneous composition and warlike expiu'ience of his army, he yet found himself unable, with the single exception of the capture of the farm of La Hayo Hainte, to gain an inch of gi'ound from some thirty thousand English and (Jerman infantry. Of tliis very body, which bore the brunt of the whole contest, be it romeui- bered that not above six or seven thousand had seen a sliot fired before. It was composed of second battalions to so great an extent that we cannot but imagine that this disadvantag(3 would have been felt had the Duke attacked the Trench army, as he would have attacked it, at C^uatre Bras on tho 17tli, if the Prussians had maintained their position at Ligny — as he would have attacked it on the LSth at A\'aterloo if the army with which he entered the south of France had been at his disposal. For purposes of resistance the fact is unquestionable that these raw British battalions were found as effective as the veterans of the Peninsula ; but it might liave been hazardous to manoeuvre under fire, and over all contingencies of ground, with some of the very regiments which, while in i»osition, never flinched from the cannonade or cavalry charges tlirough the livelong day of Waterloo. We find little occasion for remark on Cajitain Siborne's 300 MAllMONT, SmOllNK, AND ALISON. Espay IX. ESSA minute naiTative of that conflict. His positive additions of any importance to the I'acts stated by former writers consist chiefly in evidences of the incapacity of the greater part of the Dutch and Belgian, and some of the Hanoverian contingents, to face the storm of tire to wliich our line was exposed, or even to make a decent show of support to those engaged, 'i'ruth has demanded of Captain Siborne that tliese evidences shoukl not be suppressed ; but, with Captain Siborne, we are disposed to make every allow- ance for men whose introduction to such scenes had not been gradual, for regiments which, in many instances, were little better than militia, and who could not be ex})ected to share that moral confidence in the skill and fortune of their commander-in- chief, which never for an instant forsook those who had served under him in the Peninsula — and which the electricity of pa- triotic pride conveyed entire to the British soldiers who first fleshed their steel at Waterloo. It would be difficult to imagine a more varied test than that to wliich the resolution of those troops was subjected who really played their part in the action. Throughout the day the fire of the Frencli batteries was only interrupted to give place to the most desperate attacks of infantry and cavalry. The groat attack of thirty-seven squadrons of the latter force, described in page 77 of Cai)tain Siborne's second volume, was unquestionably tlie least murderous, but perhaps, in the first instance, the most formidable ; for it succeeded so far as to place the French squadrons in actual possession of the whole line of our advanced batteries, from where our right rested on Hougomont to our left centre. Much blame was afterwards thrown on Marshal Ney by ^Napoleon for the failure of this great and gallant attempt. We are not competent to settle the question between such liti- gants. It is possible that Napoleon may have been justified in r(q)udiating its responsibility. It is certain that the French cavalry was sacrificed ; and it may be true, as the Emperor asserts, that it was sent forward without his direct sanction. It is certain, however, that this great mass of horsemen was em- }»loyed in a manner which had often, under Napoleon, decided the fate of battles — nay, that it actually effected an object which had hitherto, in the Imperial campaigning, been con- sidered equivalent to tlie gain of a victory. 'J'lie operation was one which, neither in intention nor executi(»n, should be con- fouii are insti tlie Le the the mass an ir| ol)j(H to a up prise KSSAY IX. BATTr.E OF \VATEIU,nO. 801 founded with tlie sudden and rnpid exertions of cavalry, wliicli are tlie inspiration of the moment, descending at some critical instant upon bodies of men unpn^pared for the shock — such as the charge of the 'i.lrd and German dragoons at Talavera — f)f Le IMarchant, under Lord Comhermere, at Salamanca — or of the heavy brigades at Waterloo. The operation wo allude to is the steady, the organised, and not verj' rapid advance of a largo mass of cavalry for the physical jiurpose of establishing iord A|)sley, tlie present Earl Bathurst, who had assisted at tlie battle as an amateur from its commencement, and who followed its fortunes to the last. " ]k'fore the first shot was fired his Lordship had fallen in at the right of our line with Lord Hill, who in his own quiet and comfortable manner addressed him, " Well, my liOrd, I think your Lordship will see a great battle to-day." *' Indeed !" " Yes, indeed, my Lord ; and I think the French will get such a thrashing as tliey have seldom had." A fair specimen of the s})irit in which our old campaigners met the j)restige of Napo- leon's presence. It was the sim]»le (onfession of faith and con- viction fonnded on experience ; for who ever heard boast or bravado from the lips of the Shi-opshire farmer? Lord Apsley, having ultimately ridden to the extreme of the English pursuit, was, we believe, on returning to liead-qwarters, the first to com- municate to the Duke that the whole of the Fieneh artillery was in our possession. The illustrative plates which accom[)any Captain Siborne's volumes are agi-eeable specimens of the anaglyptograpliic pro- cess ; but we miss their assistance at one or two important periods of the transaction. An engraving of which Genappes should be the centre, is much wanted to illustrate the retreat of the 17th; and it would be well to mark distinctly the bridges and fords of the Dyle which were used in that operation. It might be more difficult to bring within compass the ground over which Blucher brought the three corps of his army to our assist- ance on the 18th, and their various routes might recfuire more than one engraving for the purpose ; but these additions, if attainable, would add much to the value of the work. In matters of criminal legislation we are no advocates of the principle that the main object of punishment is the reformation of the offender. In the case of Mr. Alison, w hom we have now to consider as coming before us, in French legal i)hraseology, en recidioe, it is a satisfaction to us to refh?et that, for special reasons, we never dreamt of such a result as that. Throughout his ten volumes there runs a serene satisfaction with his own dicta on military matters — an entire reliance on the dignity of an office held by self-appointment — and a more than Tliucy- [ ! I,;: 111' ! r ! i 304 MARMONT, SIBORNE, AND ALISON. Essay IX. didean conviction of the value of a xm/jiae. es au collected from such sources as ' Fouche''s Memoirs,' which forbade the slightest apprehension of disturbing his complacency, or extracting from him any tardy confession of fallibility in matters of opinion. In this respect we have sufterod no disappointment. Where de- monstrable errors of fact were concerned we might, however, have expected that IMr. Alison would have pursued, in a revised edition, a com-se different in some particulars from that which he has adopted. Several were open to him with regard to the observations on his narrative of the Belgian campaign, contained in the 140th number of this Journal. Intreiiclied in the dignity of his high functions, he might have refused to read, or ne- glected to notice, the remarks of an anonymous, and, as he seems to believe, a youthful censor. He might have adopted our corrections where he found them valid, with a due acknow- ledgment of his obligations to the quarter from which they pro- ceeded. Lastly, where he still found room for doubt, he might have applied ordinary industry and accuracy to the verification of the points in question, and thus have avoided a perseverance in certain errors — one of them, at least, not unimportant — which still deface the record. We regret, for 3[r. Alison's own sake, that he has followed none of these modes. In most instances he has silently ado})ted our corrections ; in the remainder he has persevered in his errors for wfmt of information, wliich he might have had from ourselves for the asking, or, by common diligence, might have procured elsewhere. We are unwilling to trouble our readers with a detailed comparison of the several passages in the two editions in esta- blishment of our assertion that Mr. Alison has borrowed our corrections without acknowledgment. We can easily anticipate the apology, that the incidents so treated are minutiae ; and, as such, of no great importance. Such an apology would be quite conclusive if Mr. Alison's pretensions to accuracy and minuteness of detail, as a narrator of battles, were less ostentatiously put forward. If he had dealt with his subject-matter more in the style of Thucydides, and less in that of Captain Siborne, in the manner of that which he assumes to be, a contributor to general history, rather than of a contributor to the 'United Service Gazette,' he would probably have avoided liability to correction, and certainly would have escaped our censure. When Titian Essay IX. MR. ALISON'S MISSTATEMENTS. 'SOo painted flowers in his foreground he took the trouble to design them with Linnean accuracy. The author who cites Captain this and Major tluit for the res gestce of individual regiments, ought to have known that, in the cavalry affair of the 17th, the 7th British hussars were engaged not with cuirassiers, but with lancers. The distinction may appear trifling, but the novelty and peculiarity of the circumstances make it of interest to a large class of readers, for whose special edification Mr. Alison has laboured. That we no longer hear of the T)uke flinging himself occasionally into a square, is an amendment of small consequence on our credit side of the account; but it is of some importance to find Lord Hill restored to his fnn(^tions as commander of the second corps in tlie action, and no longer detaclied, by the learned Sheriff's special order, to Hal, in charge of a body of 7000 men. We are happy also to find that Mr. Alison has seen reason to qualify liis eulogies of the Prussian position at Ligny, and to a})i)reciate the distinction between its strategical and tactical merits. For these, and one or two other rectifications of small moment, having received no thanks from i\[r. Alison, we respectfully claim those of his innu- merable readers. We now proceed to a case in which ]\Ir. Alison, after due warning, has acknowledged, indeed, our notice of his error, but only to repeat it and insist upon it. As it is one which involves gross injustice to a Prussian officer of great merit, we make no apology for dwelling upon it. In Mr. Alison's former edition he describes Marshal Grouchy as probably matched in force by the Prussians under Thielman, when he combated at Wavre. We took the liberty of telling him in our remarks, tliat he was mistaken to the amount of some 15,000 men ; for that, in fact, Thielman had but 16,000 to oppose to Grouchy's 32,000. In Mr. Alison's revised edition he repeats liis statement, with the appendage of the following note : — " This has been denied as to the over-matching; and it has been said, the third Prussian coi-ps, instead of rising, as Mr. Alison says, to 33,000, did not exceed 16,000 (Quart. Eev. Ixx. 469, 470). In answer to this, it is only necessary to give the official return of the Prussian coi^ps under Thielman, as given by IMotho : — Third corps d'annce, Thielman, 30,000 men, 96 guns. Thielman, it is tnic, wms engaged at Ligny, but so was Grouchy, and the loss there could not X I 306 MARJIONT, SIBOUNE, AND ALISON. Essay IX. have materially altered their relative proportions. — Flotho, iv. 55, Appendix." What has been said we now say again ; and the only excnse we can suggest for Mr. Alison's perseverance in so gross a mis- statement is, that having been helped by us to tlie existence of Plotho's work, lie has bv some sad accident stumbled on a defective copy thereof. Whatever was the original force of tlie tliird corps, it would liave been Arorth while for Mr. Alison, before he contradicted his guardia angel, the ' Quarterly,' in this matter, to have inquired whether Thielman, when in position at Wavre, retained that corps in its integrity. We prefer to state the circumstances, with their explanation, in Captain Siborne's language. Speaking of Thieh nan's position at Wavre on the 18th, he says (vol. ii. p. 278) : — •' Thielman intended that the 0th brigade should be posted in rear of this general position of his troops, so that its services might be made available according as circumstances might require ; but, through some misunderstanding in the transmission of the order, General von Borcke was induced, after having moved along the Brussels road iintil near La Bavette, thence to turn off to his left, and continue his march, according to his original instructions, in the direction of Fromont, Bourgeois, and St. Lambert., towards Couture ; being under the impression that the whole corps had already commenced this march in pursuance of the general plan, and that his brigade was destined to cover the movement. The departure of this brigade was not immediately discovered, and thus by this misunderstanding Thielman's force suffered an unexpected reduction of six battalions and the foot battery No. 18, and consisted therefore of only 15,200 men, with which number he had now to contend against Marshal Grouchy's force, amounting altogether to 32,000 men." AVhen we recollect that, under such circumstances of dispro- portion as these, Thielman maintained his position througli the 18 ' , repelling thirteen different assaults on the town of Wavre, and that he did not retire until ten o'clock on the fol- lowing morning, effecting his retreat with order and deliberation, and consoled by the knowledge of the result at Waterloo, ^e shall not fear contradiction when we reassert that no passage of the campaign did greater honour to the general and troops con- cerned than tliis defence of Wavre. If Mr. iVlison's statement Essay JX. Ml?. ALISON'S MISSTATEMENTS. 307 of numbers were con-ect, few on the otlier liand would have been less creditable, beoause the position was strong and the l*ru8sian was at last forced to retire. Tliat statement, therefore, being, as it is, absolutely unfounded, involves a palpable injustice to a meritorious officer. In a note to i)age 932 Mr. Alison writes : — " It has been said (Quaii. Rev, Ixx. 4G6) that the Prussian loss at Waterloo is to be found in Plotho, and that the statement in the text on this point is erroneous ; but this is a mistake. Plotho gives no separate account of the loss on the 18th, but the ichole kss of each corps from the 15th of June to the 3rd of July, and it amounts to," &c. It is no mistake. We have the tables before us as wo write. Our copy of Plotho is dated Berlin, 1818. We are quite ready to lend it to Mr. Alison if he desires it, for his 4tli or 40tli edition. Facing pages lit) and 117 of the Appendix to the 4tli volume, he will find tabular statements of tlie loss of the three Prussian corps, tiie first, second, and fourth, not only for the whole campaign, but distinguishing that incurred in their several actions, among them "the loss on the 18th." These tables are very minute, as they specify not only non-commissioned officers and privates, but the spieUeute or musicians of the regiments, and horses. The only list wanting is that of the third corps, wliich, as even jMr. Alison probably knows, was not engaged at Waterloo. W^e may as well add that, though Mr. Alison's courtesy forbids n i to substitute the word falsehood for mistake in this instance, we can hardly accept his indulgence. Our assertion, past or present, that the returns exist in Plotho's Appendix, miglit be a falsehood — it could hardly be a mistake. In sucli dry matters of fact, at least, a reviewer asserting the existence of a document which he had not seen, and whicli should turn out not to exist, would deserve harder language than that of Mr. Alison. It would have been easy for Mr. Alison to have done full historical justice to the Duke of Brunswick by tlie simple state- ment that he fell gallantly fighting at the head of his troops. Mr. Alison's passion for particulars has, however, again led him astray in saying that " he nobly fell while heading a charge of his death's-head hussars in the latter part of the day." If there X 2 no8 MAHMONT, SIBOHNi;, AND ALISON. l"]H8Ay IX. is truth in Captain Siborne the facts are these : — " The Duke had personally superintended a ehanp^e of position, not a ehar<:;e, of his hussars. He had tlicn headed a char<>:e of his lancers which failed, and was accompanying; a movement in retreat of the guard battalion of his infantry, and endoavourini^ to rally it when hard 'pressed, when the fatal shot struck him from his liorse." (Siborne, vol. i. p. 110.) The " deatli's-head " hussars sounds bett(!r. Having dismissed these matters, of small account perhaps, but some of them of importance to us, for our own vin- dication from something worse than ina(!curacy, we arrive at a topic which compels us to inflict on our readers a collation of certain passages as they stand in the second and third editions of his work. In the second (that formerly handled by us) ]\[r. Alison's lau'jnay'e is this : — •' Wellington and Blucher, at this critical period, wore relying almost entirely upon secret intelligence, which was to be foncavded to tliem hy Foitche. This extraordinary delay in collecting the troops, when the enemy was close at hand, cannot be altogether vindicated, and it was well-nigh attended with fatal consequences ; but the secret cause which led to it is explained in Fouchd's Memoirs. That unpa- ralleled intriguer," &c. He then goes on to cite that authentic and veracious compilatic »n in the manner we have before noticed. In the tliird and revised edition of Mr. Alison's " History " we read : — " Wellington and Blucher, at this critical period, wero either without correct information as to the enemy's real designs, or reljnng upon secret intelligence, which was to be forwarded to them from Paris, as to his movements. This delay in collecting the troops, &c., would furnish ground for a serious imputation on the Duke's mili- tary conduct, were it not that it is now apparent he had been misled by false information, perfidiously furnished, or as perfidiously with- held, bi/ his correspondents at Paris, who, unknown to him, had been gained by Fouche." A juxtaposition of these two passages will show that Mr. Alison has retired before our attack from one position, as quietly as possible, in order to take up another. The manner in which this manoeuvre is executed is further illustrated by a note to p. 881. After requoting the story of the female spy, from the pro- duction impudently called Fouohe's Memoirs, Mr. Alison then proceeds : — KSSAV IX. m\. ALISON'S MISSTATEMENTS. 309 " Extraordinarv as this story is, it derives confirmation from the following stutoment of Sir Walter Scott, who had access to the best sources of information, which lie obtained at Paris a few weeks after the battle. ' 1 have understood,' says he, ' on good authority, that a person, bearing for Lord Wellington's information a detailed and autlicntic account of Buonaparte's plan for the campaign, was actually despatched from Paris in time to have reached P>russel8 before the commencement of hostilities. This communication was entrusted to a female, who was furnished witli a pass from Fouche himself, and who travelled with all despatch in order to accomplish her mission ; but, being stopped for two days on the frontiers of France, did not arrive till after the battle of the 16th. This fact, for such J believe it to be, seems to countenance the opinion that Fouche maintained a correspondence with the allies, and may lead, on the other hand, to the suspicion that, though he despatched the intelligence in question, he contrived so to manage that its arrival should be too late for the purpose which it was calculated to serve. At all events, the appearance of the French on the Sambre was at Brussels an unexpected piece of intelligence.' (^Paul's Letters.^ It is remarkable that Scott's sagacity had in this instance divined the very solution of the question which Fouche afterwards stated in his Memoirs as a fact. On the other hand, Wellington says : ' Avant mon arrivee a Paris au mois de Juillet, je n'avais jamais vu Fouche, ni eu avec lui communication quelconque, ni avec aucun de ceux qui sont lies avec lui.' (Letter to Dumouriez, Gurwood, vol. xii. p. 649.) If this statement was inconsistent with the former, the Duke's high character for truth and accuracy would have rendered it deci- sive of the point ; but in reality it is not so. It only proves that the English general had had no communication with Fouche, or those whom he knew to be his agents." ]\[r. Alison then goes on to show, from various passages of the Duke's letters, that he was in commimieation at various periods with persons at Paris, and cites one letter to a Mr. Henoul, in which a lady is mentioned. It will appear from all the above that Mr. Alison lias, in one of his tacit corrections, borrowed without acknowledgment from the Quarterly, withdrawn from his assertion that the Duke was knowingly in correspondence with Fouche. He now shapes his imputation in another form. He asserts that the Duke was not only in communication with certain puppets of Fouch^'s at Paris, but that he actually governed his own military schemes, the posi- tion and movements of his army, and rested the fate of Europe ,'UO MAllMONT, SI BORN K, AND ALISON. KhSAY IX. on the expectation or possession of intoUigonee from sufh quar- ters. If, as Burko said, a man cannot live down tliose c(>ntcm[)t- il)le calumnies, he must put up with them. If the Duke's life and exploits cannot actpiit him of such miserable simplicity in the eyes of Englishmen, wo can give him little assistance, liecanse the Duke says, on the 13th of June, " I have accounts from Paris of the 10th, on which day Buonaparte was still there," it is seriously argued that he was very likely to believe that par- ties who supplied intelligence of a circumstance so recoiidite as the presence of Buonaparte at the Tuileries, could and would also supply the programme of Buonai)arte'8 intended campaign. ]\[r. Alison, however, still resting the weight of his structure on Fouch^'s Memoirs, props up the rubbish of such a foundation by the authority of ' PauVs Letters to Jus KinsfolJc.' AVhat does the extract from such a work as * Paul's Letters ' prove ? It proves that, when occupied in the agreeable pastime of picking up anecdotes for a volume of slight structure and momentary interest, Sir W. Scott gave a rash credence to one then current at Paris, which was afterwards elaborated by the literary forger of Foueh^'s name. It is on such authorities as these that the author of a work of tw nty years fastens on the Duke of Wel- lington a charge of credulous imbecility. Whatever be the pro- babilities of the case, we have one sufficient answer, which we can give on authority — it is totally and absolutely false. We repeat, and are enabled and bound to say that we repeat on authority, that not one single passage of the Duke's conduct at this period was in the remotest degree influenced by such causes as those invented at Paris, and adopted by Mr. Alison. But the Duke had communications with Paris. To be sure he had. Common sense would indicate, if the despatches did not, that the Duke used what means the iron frontier in his front per- mitted to obtain all obtainable intelligence from Paris. He would have been wanting in his duty if he had neglected such precau- tion. Such facts as the Emperor's continued presence in Paris, the strength of mustering corps, their reputed desthiation, — these, and a thousand such particulars, he doubtless endeavoured to get at, when he could, through channels more rapid, if not more to be relied on, than the 'Moniteur.' It could strike nobod-; as improbable that in some of those transactions an agent of the softer sex might have been employed ; though we happen to K»8AY IX. IXOIDF.NT J'-KrolIE llOLICIA. nil know for cortuiu tlmt nono siuli playod a part of importance cnoup^h to secure her services a })ltt<'e in the recollection of any l'iim:lishinan at head-tpiarters. Kven for obtainin<>: such iuforma- tiou as this, the Duke was placcnl in a position which must have contrasted singularly with the advantages he had in these respects enjoyed in the IVninsula. It were but common fairness to scan for a moment the points of difterence, and to observe how completely the relative positions of the two antagonists were reversed. The grounds of comparison are, however, pretty obvious, and an illustration may serve the purpose better than a disquisition. On the night which preceded Sir Arthur Wellesley's first ] 'as- sage, of arms in Portugal, the affair of Koliqa, he was roused from his sleep in his tent by an urgent request for admittance on the part of a stranger. The request was granted, and a moidt was nitroductd, "1 am come," he said, "to give you intelligence that Gercial Thomi^re, who commands the French corps in your front, intends to retiie before daylight ; and if you wish to catch him you must be quick." Such news, if true, jus- tified the intrusion ; and it occurred to Sir Arthur, who had not then attained the degree of drivelling which the Duke of Wel- lington had reached in 1815, to inquire, " How do you know the fact you acquaint me with ?" The monk replied, " When Junot's army first entered Portugal, he was quartered in our convent, that of Alcobaqa, and one of his staff shared my cell. The same officer is again my lodger; we are on intimate terms. This evening he was busily engaged in writing. I stole behind him and placed my hands over his eyes, as boys do in play, while he struggled to get loose, and held them there till I had read the contents of the paper he was writing. It was an order to General Thomifere to move his column at such an hour and in such a direction. I have stolen from the convent, and made my way to your quarters, to tell you my discovery." We have sometimes thought that this incident would have made a good subject for Wilkie. For our purpose, it is not an inapt illustration of the facilities for information at the command of a general moving in a countiy where the peasantry and priesthood are heart and soul with the cause he serves. Such at least are not at the disposal of a commander compelled by circumstances to remain rooted for a period in the face of a hostile nation, fenced by a triple line ai2 MAHMONT, SIIJOIJNM, AND ALISON. EhHAY IX. i:n~ of fortrpssos, and tlioir |»liico is ill suj>i)1i»'(l by pjuldod potticoate and tlu! gossip of a nu>troj)olis. Tim plan of IJuonapartu's (.'ani- {tai more childish than to snjtpose that tiio Dnko t'oidd have relied, for this is tho question, on French traitors for such a, document? When a fhiet is about to sail on u secret expedition a thousand circumstances are open to tlie inquiries of active agents. Tlie very nature of the stores em- barked, the name of some oHicer ordered to join, will often indi- cate its destination. The consequence generally is, that by the time the sealed orders are opened in a sjjecified latitude, the enemy has enjoyed for weeks a full knowledge of the object of the expedition. Wo well remember, in the summer of 1840, hearing that certain intrenching tools were to be embarked for the Mediterranean, and that a certain officer, famous for his application of such materials at St. Sebastian and elsewhere, was to be picked up at Gibraltar. We wanted no paid spy or treacherous clerk to tell us tlmt Acre, or possibly Alexandria, would feel the effect of these preparations. With respect to the general plan and scheme of the Duke's operations, as far as they depended on himself, they were open enough to discovery, if missed by conjecture. They were necessarily subjects of com- munication and concert with a dozen friendly i)owcrs mustering their forces on different jioints from Ostend to the confines of Switzerland. It so haj)pened that the plan of Buonaparte's cam- })aign, which could consist in nothing else but a choice of roads, was one which it was unnecessary for him .o communicate to a single human being till he gave his orders from head-quarters for its prompt execution. We have, however, to apologize to our readers for delaying them so long on such a subject, for endea- vouring to show the probability of a negative, which, probable or not, we assert without reserve, and with the confidence of positive knowledge. Since the above was written we have found reason to believe that we can trace to its source the absurd figment of the Fouche correspondence. In our former article we avowed our belief, founded on a passage in the Dispatches, that a female had at some period or other been employed as a messenger. We have now learned that some ten days or more before the commence- ment f hostilities the Kniglit of J\crry, on his way to lirussels, fell in with an acquaintance of his own country who had just left K^sAY 1\. STOUV OF THK FOUClfK COUKKSl'ONDENCK. 'M'.) Pun's, and ohtiiinod fr(>;n him soiik^ iiilurmutidn us to tlio amount of \u|)()l<'(>ii's Ibrco, os|K'cially in cavuliy, which, on arriving at niMisscls, ho reported to tho Duko. We may remark that the inlorniation in this instance was precisely of tiie deHcn[ition which may b(> ohtaincd hy clever nyents, mercenary or (»ther. It stated that at this period Napoleon had ('((Uected al»ont !>U,()()() int'antrv, and that he had dismounted some I'J.UOO iicndarmes in order to mount his rejjjular cavalry. There was more dilliculty ])erhaps in conveyini:; than in ccdlectin^' such intellif^'cnce as this. Nothing sluat of i\Iesmerism ct)uld have ohtaincd a plan of Napoleon's campaijjjn. The Duke avowi'd that the information of the Knij^ht of Kerry's acquaintance tallied with some he had fately received. The J\ni^ht states that he understood at tho time that the Duke allud(>(l to sonu' intelligenct; which had been conveyed over tlie frontier by a female. Having less to remem- ber, he has thus preserved the record of a fact which had been forgotten by those who were more busily oceu} ied at the time. We have little doubt that this is the trilling incident which has been magnified into a circumstance decisive of the Duke's move- ments, — the petticoat which amused I'aul, and obfuscated the solemn judgment of Mr. Alison. It requires some knowletlge of human nature to beMeve that a respectable man, in possession of his senses, can, on a review of the facts, continue to entertain the notion that surprise is a term applicable to the position and conduct of the Duke. Let us suppose the case of a country-house in 'J'i])perary, a period of Eockite disturbance, and a family which has received intelligence tliat an attack is to be made upon it. The windows are barri- caded as well as circumstances will admit, but the premises are extensive, and the hall door, the kitchen, and the pantry remain weak and assailable. The trampling of footsteps is heard in the shrubbery. There would be advisers enough and confusion enough in consequence, if the head of the family were a man who invited advice, but he is an old soldier whom few would venture to approach with suggestions, llis nerves are abso- lutely impassive to the fact that the assault is conducted by Rock in person, but he knows that Rock has the initiative and the choice of at least three eligible points of attack. He makes such disposition of his force as leaves no point unwatched ; he keeps it well in hand, and refuses to move a man till the sledge-hammer 314 MAllMONT, SIBOIINE, AND ALISON. Kbsay IX. I m Iff is heard at tlie point soleeted. Tlio attack is repulsed — all the obji^ets of the defene(? are aceomplished, not a silver s})oon is missing — most of the assailants are killed, the gang dispersed, and its leader, who had escaped down the avenue, is ultimately captured, and transported for life — tranquillity is restored to the liarony — the master of the house is knighted for his gallant defence, and made a chief inspector of police by the Govern- ment, but is deprived of his oftice when the Whigs come into power. Thirty years afterwards an attorney of the county town, who has lived in tlie main street all his life, and has never handled a blunderbuss, writes an account of the transaction, col- lected from some surviving nnder-servnnts, to show, first that the master was surprised, and next that his force ought from the first to have been concentral" ' in the pantry, because it was there that the main assault was ultimately made. His informers have also succeeded in bamboozling him with an absurd tale of an old woman who had been hired to deceive the master by making him believe that the attack was postponed. It is not matter of theory and speculation, but of absolute demonstration, tliat whatever were the merits or demerits of the Duke's proceedings, they were not an accident of the moment, the offspring of haste and surprise, but strictly in accordance with and part of a preconceived system of action, adopted, in concert with his allies, on deep study and full knowledge of every circumstance of his position. ]Mr, Alison has formetl and persists in the opinion that he could have managed the whole thing a great deal better. We do not believe that any officer exists in her Majesty's service who will not rate that opinion at its proper value. It is not for such readers that, in spite of virtuous reso- lutions, ve have been tempted to notice it further, than will be thought justifiable by those whose duty it has often been in the field to checdc and restrain an unnecessary waste of powder and shot. Such men will perhaps have less patience with an article w 1 '^ h they must think superfluous, than with the History which pro\ . >kes it. By others, however, and especially by those who are willing to believe any nonsense which can tend to lower the hard-won reputation of the Duke and elevate that of Napoleon, this English Historian's theories and visions will be caught up and quoted — ^just as th(^ testimony of a reluctant, and only so far an important witness is made the most of by an Old Bailey Essay IX. I'd — all tlie 3r spoon is ^ dis})ersed, ultimately ored to the his gallant he Govern- come into mnty town, has never taction, col- rst that the it from the ;Uise it was is informers surd tale of master by of absolute erits of the le moment, accordance adopted, in Ige of every and persists ole thing a er exists in t its proper [•tuous reso- lan will be )een in the )owder and 1 an article tory which those who lower the Napoleon, caught up only so far Old Bailey i:ssAV IX. WEL-MNGTON'S rOSlTION A'V WATEliLOO. 315 counsel.' If Mr. Alison were a forcigiKM*, or, bt'ing our country- man, were anything less respectable than he is — if we had less fiiith in his good intentions, and more distaste for his politics — if we could have traced his detraction to any source more disrc- ])utal)le than a desire laudable in itself, but morbid in its excess, for the cred't of im[)artiality, we should not liave taken the trouble to poiut out his errors and rebuke his stolid per- severance in their support. The duty of vindicating our own accuracy in particulars in which it has been directly impugned has led us to this renewed notice of ]\[r. Alison's statements of fact. On matters of opinion and inference we shall be more brief. We are sensible that our conclusions on strategics are Avortii, as ours, no more than Tur. Alison's, and such arguments as we can ^•enture on such a sub- ject have been set forth in a former article at some lengtli. We shall, therefore, now content ourselves with one more quotation from Mr. Alison. It seems to us to embody the pervading fallacy which he has so raslJy adopted and pertinaciously maintained. " It results from these considerations that in the outset of the Waterloo campaign, >t'apoleon, by the sccieoy and rapidity of his movements, gained the advantage of Wellington and Blucher." — p. 939. We have but one objection to the language of this passage : the word gained obviously implies that the advantage specified was one not ready made to Napoleon's hands, and one of which iiuman precaution on the part of his adversaries could have deprived him. It must not be forgotten, though we shall look in vain through IVEr. Alison's and other superficial narratives for any distinct notice of the fact, that paramount political consi- derations had condemned the Duke to a position which, in a military point of view, no one but an idiot would have chosen, and no one but a master of his art could have maintained. The history of the wars of the Frencli He volution perhapr pre- sents no instance in which so many circumstances, beyond the control of the one party, combined in favour of the other, to compensate for the single though important deficiency in nu- merical force. No man perhaps ever lived whose nervous system was less likely to be afiected by the mere prestige of Napoleon's name than the Duke's ; but we have reason to believe that in one attribute the Duke considered him pre- 31 G MARMONT, SlUOllNE, AND ALISON. Essay IX. It eminent over every one who could by poi3siliility come under any comparison — that of promptitude and dexterity in taking advantage of a false move. We may be permitted to doubt whether this quality was ever, in any single instance, more brilliantly exemplified by Napoleon than by Wellington at Salamanca ; but at all events we know that it was considered by the English commander to be the leading characteristic of his opponent of 181i3. The man to whom the Duke attributed this particular pre-eminence had collected an army of veterans on the frontier of the department of the North, one bristling with fortresses in which he might cover and protect, and through which he might in safety and secrecy move, hundreds of thou- sands of troops ; while the allies, whether to correct or improve a position erroneously taken up, must have moved along the front of this formidable position, no part of which could have been attacked by them. Up to a given moment at least — the moment when the allied powers on the Rhine should be ready to move off in concert, and keep the step — Napoleon had the indis- putable advantage of the first move. Secrecy, rapidity, and choice of direction on vulnerable points, were equally at his command with priority of movement. To rush at the centre, or to throw himself on the communications of a force which leant not on the country in its rear, but on Namur on the one hand, and Ostend on the other, were modes of action equally practi- cable. We are inclined to think that if by any magic the Duke could suddenly, with his own knowledge of his own difficulties, have been transformed into the adviser of Napoleon, he would have suggested an attack by the line of Hal on his own right. It is very certain that he considered such an operation as one which, from its advantages, might veil have attracted his opponent's choice. We know this from the caution with which, even at Waterloo, he provided against s ich a contingency. With a view to this danger, also, every possible exertion had been made to put into a condition of defence Mens, Ath, Tournay, Ypres, Ostend, Nieuport, and Olient. The state in which the Duke found these ])laces had been such as to make it impossible, in the time allowed him, to complete their defences. Still such pro- gress had been made as to justify him in endeavouring to compass the great object of the j)re8ervation of the Belgian cai)ital by occupying a position in advance of it, which without the support Essay IX. Essay IX. MR. ALISON'S CIll'ilCISM. VA come under y ill taking Dcl to doubt tance, more ellington at i considered ■acteristic of le attributed f of veterans )ne bristling and through •eds ofthou- or improve d along the I could have it least — the i be ready to lad the indis- 'apidity, and [ually at his ;he centre, or which leant le one hand, [ually practi- ^ic the Duke n difficulties, on, he would own right, ■ation as one ittracted his with which, ency. With id been made irnay, Ypres, h the Duke ssible, in the 1 such pro- g to compass n capital by the support of those places he would, as we liave reason to believe, not have ventm-ed to take up. The Duke and Bluclier certainly agreed to occupy this outpost of the armies of coalizod Europe on a system of their own — one whicli they thouglit best calculated to meet tlie impending storm in each and every of its possible directions. In the moment of impending conflict the Duke certainly did not depart from it. The lirst breathless courier — who might perhaps have brought intelligence of a false attack — did not shake his calm and settled jiurpose. It is Mr. Alison's decision that a diflc'rent system altogether should have been adopted — that the Duke and Blucher might have neutralised all the advantages on the side of Napoleon by a concentration of their forces at a certain point or points, which 3[r. Alison, if consulted, would doubtless have cheerfully under- taken to select at the time. It was the opinion of the two inex- perienced men charged with the responsibility of the transaction, that by doing this, while the precise point of attack was yet un- certain, defeat and disaster would have been hazarded. jMr. Alison was not at hand ; and they were obliged to do as well as they could without him. It may weU be, and wr believe it, that no other man living could have retained the iinjierturbable coolness which the Duke exhibited during the 1 5th at Brussels, and still less could have put off to the last the moment of general alarm by going to a baU after ^^ ~,ving given his orders. Nothing was more likely at the moment to generate the idea of a surprise than the circum- stance of this ball, from which so many dancers adjourned to that supper of Hamlet, not where men eat, but where they are eaten. The delusion, however, fades before the facts of the General Orders to be found in Colonel Gurwood's volume, and is not now worth further notice for purposes of refutation. The details of the case, however, are but partially known, and they are worth recording. The late Duke of Richmond, an attached and inti- mate friend of the Commander-in-chief, was at Brussels. He was himself a general officer ; had one son, the present Duke of Kichmond, on the staiF of the Prince of Orange, one on that of the Duke, and another in the Blues, and was at the battle of Waterloo, but not m any military capacity.* The brother of i^ * The Duke of Richmond was seen riding about the field, sometimes in situa- tions of imminent danger, in plain clothcR, with his groom behind him, exactly aa 318 MAiniONT, SUIOI^NP], AND ALISON. Essay IX. the Duchess, the late (and hist) Duke of Gordon, was colonel of the 92nd or Gordon Highlanders, which, with the 42nd and 70th Highland regiments, formed part of the reserve corps stationed at Brussels. The Duchess hpd issued invitations for a ball for the 15th. Among other preparations for the evening she had engaged tlie attendance of some of the non-commissioned oflicers and privates of lier brother's regiment and tlie 42nd, wishing to sliow lier continental guests the real Highland dances in per- fection. When the news of the French advance reached head- quarters, it became matter of discussion whether or not the ball should be allowed to proceed. The deliberate judgment of the Duke decided that it should. There were reasons good for this decision. It is sufficient on this head to say that the state of public feeling in the Netherlands generally, and in Brussels in particular was more than questionable. It was a thing desir- able in itself to postpone to the last the inevitable moment of alarm — to shorten so far as possible that critical interval which must occur between the acting of a dreadful thing and the first motion, between the public announcement of actual hostilities and their decision in the field. Every necessary order had been issued ; and such was that state of preparation and arrangement which wise men have since questioned and criticised, that this operation had been the work of minutes, and before the festal lamps were lighted the fiery ' . -^ss was on its way through tlie cantonments. The general criicers then in Brussels had their instructions to attend and to drop off singly and without Mat, and join their divisi(ais on the march. The Duke himself remained later, occupied the place of honour at the supper, and returned thanks for the toast to himself and the allied army, which was proposed by General Alava. At about eleven a dispatch arrived from the Prince of Orange, shortly after reading which the Duke retired, saluting the company graciously. On that countenance, cheerful and disengaged as usual, none could read the workings of the calm but busy mind beneath. The state of things, however, most awful to those who could least distinctly be informed of it, had partially transpired, and the fete had assumed that complexion which has been perpetuated on the if taking an airing in Hyde Park. His Grace's appearance at one remaikable moment is picturesquely enough described by Captain Siborne. Essay IX. g colonel of ad and TOtli ps stationed )r a ball for ing she had 3ned officers , wishing to ices in per- ached heod- not the ball ment of the ^ood for this the state of L Brussels in thing desir- > moment of iterval which and the first lal hostilities der had been arrangement icd, that this re the festal through tlie s had their without Mat, luke himself supper, and allied army, ut eleven a after reading ciously. On none could iueath. The could least and the fete uated on tlie one remaikttble Essay IX. GENERAL ALAVA. 'AM lUb canvas of BjTon. The bugle had sounded before tlie orchestra had ceased. Before the evening of the following day some of the Duchess's kilted corps de ballet were stretcliod in the rye of Quatre Bras, never to dance again. Bough transitions those — moralists may sigh — poets may sing — but they are the Btm- brandt lights and shadows of the existence of the soldier, whose l)hilosophy must always be that of Wolfe's favourite song — " Why, soldiers, why, Should we be melancholy then, Whose trade it is to die ? " In this instance they were results of a cool self-possession and control, for a parallel instance of which biography may be searched in vain. And yet tliis ball was a symptom and remains evidence of surprise. We remember some years ago finding ourselves in company with General Alava and a very distinguished naval officer who had borne high command in the Tagus at the period of the occu- pation of the lines of Torres Vedras. The latter had been a guest at a ball v/hicli was given by Lord Wellington at i\Iafra in November, 1810, and he described the surprise with which the gentlemen of the navy witnessed a numerous attendance of officers some twenty miles from those advanced posts in front of which lay Masse ua and the French army. General Alava's Spanish impatience broke out at this want of faith, more suo — that is in a manner much more amusing to his friends than complimentary to the excellent sailor whose ignorance of the habits of land service under the Duke had provoked liis indig- nation. General AlaAa is gone, and has left behind him nothing simile aut secundum for qualities of social intercourse. We could have wished to have put him upon the subject of some passages in Mr. Alison's History. Tlie " work of twenty years " would have been consigned without ceremony to the quatro clen mil demonios, who figured on such occasions in the many-languaged prose of our inimitable friend. Less eloquently, but in the same spirit of just indignation, will one volume of it be always spoken of by the men, while one of them is left to speak, who stand on tiptoe when the 18tli of June recurs. Since the preceding pages were penned, and at a moment when they had become roo numerous to admit of any serious M -320 MARMONT, SIBORNE, AND ALISON. EtJSAY IX. addition, Colonel Mitcliell's new book, * Tiie Fall of Napoleon,' has reached us. Although an extended notice of it is, under such circumstances, impossible, an old and not unfriendly re- viewer's acquaintance with the author of tlie Life of Wallenstoin has forcibly attracted our attention to that section of his tln'rd volume which bears the title of Waterloo. After stating that on all points of controversy discussed in this and our former article we have been happy to find ourselves in entire accordance witli Colonel Mitchell, any praise of ours may be received with sus- picion ; but if our limits permitted, we could sliow cause for our general and decided approbation of this portion of the Colonel's labours. It is more to our present purpose, while we demonstrate the identity of sentiment of which we claim tlie advantage as againsi Mr. Alison, to complain that the Colonel's services to the cause of truth have in one point been less effectually rendered than we had a right to expect. At vol, iii. p. 157, we find the fo ^wing passage : — " After what has been said in the present book, it should, perhaps, be needless to take any notice of the idle tale contained in the so- called Memoirs of Fouche. Nor should ve do so, had not foreign writers, enemies of the glory of England, and General Gvollman among the rest, endeavoured to give general circulation to this poor fable." v\ This passpge, followed by observations much in the spirit of our own on the "poor fable," is not quite fair to General Grollman, Professor Arndt, and other continentai writers who, without being necessarily enemies of the glory of England, have given rash credence to the nonsense which we have now for a second time exposed. In justice to them, but far more in justice to the English reading public, which is more likely to read Alison than Grollman, the Colonel should have added that an English wTiter of large volumes and vast pretensions had not only shared the delusion in the fii'st instance, but had persisted in it ^vith culpable obstinacy after due notice of his error. The Colonel's preface is dated from Edinburgh. We think it possible that personal acquaintance, followed, as we have no doubt it would be, by persuiuil regard, may ha\'e induced this veniam corvis, this leniency to the (Caledonian crow, which is quite inconsistent with his ceusm'e of the Prussian dove. Essay IX. COLONEL MITCHELL'S WORK. 321 Colonel Mitchell was the more bound to notice Mr. Alison's delinquency, because he more than once quotes the History as a work of grave authority. The equally unfounded, but less malignant and mischievous invention, by which the desertion of the French General Bour- mont has been magnified into an event of importance, meets with brief and proper notice from the Colonel. Blucher's contemptuous rejection of all intercourse with Bourmont is matter of history. The Duke of Wellington has no recol- lection of having heard the name or rank of the personage from whom, as French writers would make us believe, lie obtained the plan of Napoleon's campaign. He did hear that some French officer had deserted, but no intercourse of any kind ensued. We purposely avoid entering into any detailed discussion of certain leading theories which Colonel Mitchell omits no opportunity of bringing forward, and of incidentally supporting by inferences from facts in his narrative. In support, however, of one of these theoiies, the inadequacy of infantry as now armed to resist a home charge of cavalry, the Colonel, speaking of Waterloo, mentions a curious negative fact, vol. iii. p. 119 : — "Fifteen thousand cavalry were defeated in the course of this long day's battle, mostly by the fire of infantry, yet was not there a 'single French horseman — soldier or officer — who perished on a Bri- tish bayonet ; not one from first to last." The Colonel's inference, that cavalry attacks so feebly conducted do not prove the power of resistance which he denies to infantry, is logical enough. It ought, however, to be mentioned in any discussion of the question, and for the credit of the British cavalry, that their attacks have not always been so feebly con- ducted. They have charged .lorne, and the records of the Peninsular wur show with various success. At Waterloo, the attack of the 10th Hussars on a square of the French Guard, in which Major Howard fell, is certainly not a conclusive instance. The failure was that of a handful of men, hastily collected, and exhausted by previous attacks. If it had succeeded, there would have been much excuse for infantry so surrounded as were the French by confusion and defeat. The conditions of the Colonel's theorem are evidently an open plain, a formed square, men on Y 322 MARMONT, SIBORNE, AND ALISON. Essay IX. two portfMitous names, whatever be the fate of the vessels which own them, are asscx'iated witli services as brilliant and discoveries as strikinosition of the country visited, if not discovered, by De Gonneville. It was reported extensive and well inhabited, and he brought away with him a son of its sovereign, an article of export which could hardly be obtained from the neighbourhood of the Antarctic circle. This prince was adopted by the Frenchman who had imported or kidnapped liim, married, and had descendants in France, one of whom, a grandson, became a canon of Lisieux and an ambassador. It is to this person we owe an account of the voyage of De Gonneville. He was, however, unable to bring any evidence of the position of the land in question, which, having long been traced ad libitum on the maps of the Southern Ocean, remains still uncertain, though the probabilities of the ease appear to be in favour of IMadagascar. It was mainly in pursuit of this land, of which distance and uncertainty had mag- nified the extent and resources, that the Breton Kerguelen in 1772 embarked on the expedition which led to the discovery, three years afterwards acknowledged and confirmed by Cook, of Kerguelen Island. Of Captain Cook's expedition, thumbed as its record has been, and, we hope, continues to be, by schoolboy hands, it is unnecessary to speak in detail. Down to 1840 we believe that no navigator of any country 328 VOYAGE TO THK ANTARCTIC REGIONS. Essay X. but his own liad jxmotrated beyond tlio point marked as Cook's farthest on the maj)s, or, with the exception of the llussian Bel- lin<2;hausen, made any material addition to his discoveries in those hititudes. Indeed of onr own countrymen one only had fuliilled tlie former of these conditions. This was Captain Weddell, who, in the year 1822, in a small vessel fitted for the whale and seal fishery ratlur than for discovery, first disjyroved the existence of a continental ranp^e whicli had been supposed to extend itself immediately to the south of the islands discovered by Gerritz and rediscovered by Smith, and then, pursuing his fortunes between the 30th and iOth degrees of longitude, ran down to the highest southern latitude yet attained by man, 74° 1.")'. A passage hi Weddtdl's narrative, in which he takes occasion to lament that ]■' was ill providcKl with instruments of scientific observation, may have given a pretext for the doubts which some foreign nuiliorities have entertained as to the reality of this exploit. H'- told the world, however, that he had spent 2-iOl. on the purchase of three chronometers, all of whicli per- formed well ; nnd the whole tone of his naiTativo and of his observations on the subject of polar navigation, seemed to us to bespeak the man of instvuction and research as well as entei-jirise. Taking into account all vlie ^'ircumstances of his expedition, we venture to })run()unce that }us pgrf' .inance comes nearer to those of the giants of old time, rhe liafiins, the Davises, and the Hudsons, than any voyage rvf the picsent age accomplished without the assistance of governments. We endeavoured at the time to set him in a proper light before his countrymen :* — if it be true, as we fear it is, that a man of such achievement died in neglected poverty, let others bear the blame. A Russian expedition was fitted out from Cronstadt in 1819, consisting of two ships, the Vostock and the IMirui, under the command of Captains Bellinghausen and Lazarew. An account of this expedition, in two volumes, with an atlas, was published at St. Petersburgh ; but, as far as we know, it still remains locked up in the Ivussian language. In January, 1821, they reached the latitude of 70" HO', which, in the ' llnssian Ency- clopanlia.' is stated to be tlu; highest hitherto attained — but the stHtement is incorrect, for it falls short of Cook's farthest. An * See Quai'terly Review, vol. xxxiii. p. 280. Essay X. DISCOVEKTES OF CAPTAIN BISCOE. 329 island was discovered in latitude (18° 57' and loncjitndo 90" 4(V W., I and called the island of Peter I. Floating ice preventt>d the vessels from ai)proaching this land nearer tlian fourteen miles, but it« insular character ap})ears to have been ascertained, and the height of its summits was calculated at 1200 feet. Their next discovery appears on the maps as Alexandm-'s Island, in latitude 08° h', longitude 73° 10' ^^'. It would appear, how- ever, that Bellinghauson was unable to trace the prolongation of this land to the south, and it has been considered as not imi)ro- bable that it is continuous with the land afterwards discovered by Captain Biscoe, and designated as (4raham's liand. lielling- hausen himself took care to call it Alexander's Land, not Alex- ander's Island. Be this as it may, to the Russian undoubtedly belonged the honour, previous to 1840, of having discovered the southernmost known land. In 1830 and 1831 the brig Tula, of 148 tons, eonnnanded by Captain Biscoe, prosecuted the task of discoviu'y under sjiecial instructions from its enterprising owner, the griMit promoter of tiie southern whale-fisluMy, J\lr. C. Enderliy. Biscoe did not, like Wcddell, succeed in i)assing beyond t\u) degree of south latitude which had foruKMl the limit of Cook's progress, but, to use the words of tin* Journal of the Geographical Socii^ty, vol. iii. p. 122, he "made two distinct discoveries, at a gi'eat distance the (me from the other, and ea(4i in the highest southern lati- tudes whi(4i, with a few exceptions, had yet been attainiMJ, or in whi(4i land had yet been discovered." These were, iirst, that of Enderby's Land, in hit. 0.")° 57', and long. 47° 20' east; and next, that of a range of islands, and of land of unknown extent, situated between the ()7th and ()3rd degret^s of south latitude, and between the 03rd and 71st degn^es of west longitude. The principal range '^f these islands bears the name of Biscoe. We find the distinguished name of Mr. Enderby again asso- ciated with Antarctic discovery in the case of Balleny's voyage, 1839. This voyage demands our more particular notice, because its track was followed by Sir James Boss for special reasons in his two first cruises; Ixvause some (pi(>sti(»ns have aris(Mi be- tween the American and Lnglish expeditions, in which thv pre- cise position of the islands discovered by Balleny is coneiM'Jied ; and lastly, because there is <'very reason to su[)pose that laud which D'Urville, in ignorance of Balleny's voyage, claims to 330 VOYAGE TO THE ANTARCTIC REGIONS. Essay X. 4 have discovered, had been in fact seen by Balleny. We have, indeed, little doubt that should subsequent researches prove that the south pole is the centre of a vast continent, the outworks of which in some longitudes are to be found in the neighbourhood of the 70th degree of south latitude, but indented by at least one bay to the height of the 79th, the iirst and second claimants to its discovery will be the gallant agents of Mr. Enderby, Captains Biscoe and Balleny. The schooner Eliza Scott, of 154 tons, commanded by Mr. John Balleny, and the dandy-rigged cutter Sabrina, of 54 tons, Mr. H. Freeman, master, sailed from the southern end of New Zealand, January 7, 1839, fitted for sealing purposes, but with Mr. Enderby 's usual liberal instructions to lose no opportunity of pushing as far as possible to the south. They crossed the track of Bellinghausen on the 24th, and con- tinued without material impediment a southward course over the very spot where the Russian navigator in lat. 63° had been compelled by ice to alter his course to the eastward in 1820. On the 1st of February they had reached the parallel of 69° in long. 172° east, 220 miles to the southward of the extreme point which Bellinghausen had been able to attain in this meridian. This evidence of the shifting character of the ice in this direc- tion was the circumstance which induced Sir James Ross to select this quarter for his first attempts. Here the packed ice compelled them to work to the north-west ; and on attaining the 6(Jth degree, in long. 163° east, they discovered a group of islands, which turned out to be five in number. A landing was with much risk effected by Mr. Freeman on one of these, the summit of which, estimated to rise to the height of 12,000 feet, emituod smoke, as if to cori'oborate the evidence of volcanic origin furnished by the fragments of scoriae and basalt mixed with crystals of olivine collected from the beachless base of its perpendicular clifis. In their further progress the vessels must have passed within a- short distance of Cape Clairce, a projection of the land to which M. D'Urville in the following year gave the name of Adelie, in right of his supposed discovery. On the 2nd of March, in lat. 69° 58', long. 121° 8', land was again disco- vered, which now figures on the map by the name of Sabrina. We cannot omit to mention that on this voyage a phenomenon was observed, which strikingly illustrated that transporting power of ice to which so extensive an influence has been attri- Essay X. VOYAGES OF SIR JAMES ROSS. 331 lomenon biited by some eminent geologists. At a distance of 1400 miles from the nearest known land, though possibly within 300, or even 100, miles from land which may hereafter be discovered, an iceberg was seen with a block of rock, some twelve feet in height, attached to it at nearly a hundred feet from the sea-line. We cannot here pursue the train of reflection and theory which the appearance of this luggage-van of the ocean is calculated to suggest. Mr. Darwin on this, and other similar evidence, ob- serves that " if one iceberg in a thousand, or ten thousand, trans- ports its fragment, the bottom of the Antarctic sea, and the shores of its islands, must already be scattered with masses of foreign rock, the counterpart of the eiTatic bouklers of the northern hemisphere." It must be gratifying to the writer in the Journal of the Geographical Society, vol. ix. p. 517, to whom we are indebted for what we know of Balleny's voyage, to find that his anticipations of its proving useful to the success of Sir James Ross's greater expedition have been so fully borne out. The services of Ross and his gallant companions covered a space of three years, exclusive of the passages to and from the Cape of Good Hope. During this period three distinct voyages were accomplished. Their first departure from Simon's Bay took place on tlie 6th of April, 1840, and pursuing a course to the northward of, and nearly parallel to, the 50th degree of south latitude, they reached Van Diemen's Land on the Kith of August, after hnving passed two months and a half of the winter season at Kergu len's Island. On the 12th of November, 1840, they left Hobart ToAvn, and, after some stay at the Auckland Islands, finally sailed in a direct course towards those entirely unexamined regions which were the main points of their ambi- tion. They returned to Hobart Town late in the autumn of that latitude, April 7, 1841. During this cruise was accomplished the discovery of the vast extent of mountainous continent which now bears the gracious name of Victoria; the active volcano, ]\[ount Erebus, and the extinct one, IVIount TeiTor ; and the icy barrier, probably an outwork of continued land, which, running east and Avest for some hundred miles in the 78th degree of south latitude, prevents all approach to the pole on eitlier side of the 180th degree of longitude. Between July and November the vessels visited Sydney and New Zealand, remaining three mouths at the latter. 332 VOYAGE TO IHE ANTARCTIC REGIONS. Essay X. The second voyage commenced on tlie 15th of November, 1841, and was pursued towards the region explored in the former trip, and with nearly the same success. From the 18th of IJecember to the 2nd of February, the ships were employed inj forcing their way tlu-ough pack-ice from the 62nd to the 08th degree of soutli latitude ; and when, on the 23rd of Febmary, they at length reached the icy barrier, in long. 162° west, the season was too far advanced to admit of further attempts to find an opening. Having approached within a mile and a V If of the barrier, in lat. 78° 10' south, some six miles farther to the southward than the limit of their former voyage, they com- menced their reluctant retreat, and, not liaving seen land for 138 days, gained a winter anchorage in Berkeley Sound, off the Fallvland Islands, on the 6th of April, 1842. The spring season of this year, between September and .December, was occupied by 0, cruise to Cape Horn, and back to Berkeley Sound. The third polar 'oyage was commenced on the 17th of De- cember, 1842, in a direction nearly opposite to that of the two former years, and towards the region explored by Weddell. The difficulties and dangers encountered in this last attempt appear to have exceeded those of the two former voyages, and the lat. 71° 30', long. 15° west, formed tlie limit of their south- ward cruise. The ships gauied the Cape of Good Hope on the 4th of April, 1843, within two days of thi*ee years after they had first quitted tliose parts. We do not profess in the above summary to have enumerated aU the commanders who, between tlie period of Coolc's expedi- tion and the year 1840, had attained high southern latitudes in various directions, or even made discoveries of land. We believe, however, that from it our readers may derive a correct general notion of the condition and progress of Antarctic discovery down to the period when the French and American expeditions, under D'Urville and Wilkes, gained, nearly simultaneously, some ten months' start of Ross in these seas. The result of these expedi- tions, so far as concerns our present subject, may best be given in the following passages from Sir James Ross's work : — " The most interesting news that awaited us on our arrival at Van Diemen's Land [Augi^st, 1840] related to the discoveries made, during the last summer, in the southern regions by the French expe- dition, consisting of the Astrolabe and Zel^e, under the command of Essay X. FKENCH AND AMERICAN. EXPEDITIONS. 333 Captain Dumont D'Urville, and by the United States expedition, under Lieutenant Charles Wilkes, in the frigate ViTicennes. " The accounts published, by the authority of Captain D'Urville, in the local papers, stated, that the French ships sailed from Ilobart Town on the 1st of Januaxy, 1840, and discovered land on the evening of the 19th ; and on the 21st some of the officers landed upon a small islet lying some distance from the mainland, and pro- cured some specimens of its granitic rock. D'Urville traced the land in a continuous line one hundred and fifty miles, between the longitudes of 136° and 142° cast, in about the latitude of the Antarctic circle. It was entirely covered with snow, and there was not the least appearance of vegetation : its general height was esti- mated at about one thousand three hundred feet. M. D'Urville named it Terre Adelie. Proceeding to the westward, they disco- vered and sailed about sixty miles along a solid wall of ice, one himdred and fifty feet high, which he, believing lo be a covering or crust of a more solid base, named Cote (Jlairee. It must have been extremely painful to the enterprising spirit of D'Urville to be obliged to relinquish a more extended exploration of this new-discovered land ; but the weakly condition of his crews imperatively demanded of him to discontinue their laborious exertions, and return to a milder climate to restore the health of his enfeebled people, upon finding that the western part of the Cote Clairee turned away sud- denly to the southward. He accordingly bore away on the Itst of Febrnaiy, and reached Hobart Town on the 17th of the same month, after an absence of only seven weeks. Although the western point of Cote Clairee had been seen by Balleny in the preceding summer, it was mistaken by him for an enormous iceberg, ard the land he at first imagined he saw behind it he afterwards thought might only be clouds. These circumstances are mentioned in the log-book of the Eliza Scott, but aie not inserted here with the least intention of dis- puting the unquestionable right of the French to the honour of this very important discovery. " The result of the American expedition was, in compliance with the instructions of the government, kept profoiindly secret on their return to Sydney, and nothing appeared in the local papers respecting their extensive operations but uncertain conjectures and contradic- tory statements. I felt, therefore, the more indebted to the kind and generous consideration of Lieutenant Wilkes, the distinguished commander of the expedition, for a long letter on various su'ojects, which his experience had suggested as likely to prove serviceable to me, under the impression that I should still attempt to penetrate to the southward on some of the meridians he had visited ; a tracing of his original chart accompanied his letter, showing the great extent 334 VOYAGE TO THE ANTAKCTIC REGIONS. Essay X. of his discoveries, and pointing out to me those parts of the coast which he thought we should find most easily accessible. These documents would indeed have proved of infinite value to me had 1 felt myself compelled to follow the strict letter of my instructions ; and I do not the lef-> appreciate the motives which prompted the communication of those papers because they did not eventually prove so useful to me as the American commander had hoped and expected : and I avail myself of this opportunity of publicly ex- pressing the deep sense of thankfulness I feel to him for his friendly and highly honourable conduct. " The arduous and persevering exertions of this expedition, con- tinued throughout a peiiod of more than six weeks, under circum- stances of gieat peril and hardship, cannot fail to reflect the highest credit on those engaged in the enterprise, and excite the admiration of all who are in the smallest degree acquainted with the laborious and difficult nature of an icy navigation : but I am grieved to be obliged to add, that at the present time they do not seem to have received either the approbation or reward their spirited exertions merit. The narrative of their comprehensive labours is now in the hands of the public ; I need, therefore, make no further remark here on the subject. " That the commanders of each of these great national under- takings should have selected the very place for penetrating to the southward, for the exploration of which they were well aware at the time that the expedition under my command was expressly pre- paring, and thereby forestalling our purposes, did certainly grealy surprise me. I should have expectec their national pride would have caused them rather to have chosen any other path in the wide field before them, than one thus pointer! out, if no higher consider- ation had power to prevent such an interference. They had, how- ever, the unquestionable right to select any point they thought proper at which to direct their efforts, without considering the • embarrassing situation in which their conduct might have placed Fortunately, in my instructions, much had been left to my me. judgment under unforeseen circumstances ; and, impressed with the feeling that England had ever led the way of discover}- in the southern as well as in the northern regions, I considered it woTild have been inconsistent with the pre-eminence she has ever maintained if we were to follow in the footsteps of the expedition of any other nation. I therefore resolved at once to avoid all interference with their dis- coveries, and selected a much more easterly meridian (170° E.), on which to endeavour to penetrate to the southward, and, if possible, reach the magnetic pole. " My chief reason for choosing this particular meridian, in prefer- Essay X. CAPTAINS D'URVILLE AND WILKES. 335 ence to any other, was its being that upon which Balleny had, in the summer of 1839, attained to the latitude of 69", and there found an open sea ; and not, as has been asserted, that I was deterred from any apprehension of an equally unsuccessful issue to any attempt we might make whore the Americans and French had so signally failed to get beyond even the 67° of latitude. For I was well aware how ill-adapted their ships were for a service of that nature, from not being fortified to withstand the shocks and pressure they must have been necessarily exposed to had they ventured to penetrate any extensive body of ice. They would have equally failed had they tried it upon the meridian I had now chosen, for it will be seen we met with a broad belt of ice, upwards of two hundred miles across, which it would have been immediate destruction to them to have encoimtered; but which, in our fortified vessels, we could confi- dently run into, and push our way through into the open sea beyond. Without such means it would be utterly impossible for any one, under such circumstances, however bold or persevering, to attain a high southern latitude." — vol. i. pp. 113-118. Any detailed notice of the published voyages of the two able and distinguished navigators with whom the pursuit of a common object brouglit Captain Ross into a generous and peaceful rivalry, is beside our present purpose. Wo must pay, however, our tri- bute of admiration to the skill of French artists and the liberality of French Government patronage, as illustrated in the splendid atlas of D'Urville. Nor can we omit to lament the dreadful and untimely death, by the catastrophe on the Versailles railroad, of the man whose genius and enterprise furnished the materials for such a work. To Captain Wilkes we must also acknowledge our obligations for many agreeable hours of pleasant reading, which have left upon us a strong impression of the professional merits of the author and his gallant associates. We are, more- over, bound to say, on the evidence which he does not scruple to furnish, that we consider the merits of his exploits much en- hanced by the circumstance that the naval departments of his country appear to have acted with negligence, at the least, towards the brave men whom it sent on the service in question. Between the officers and men of the United States and Eng- land, respectively, we are as incompetent as we should be reluc- tant to draw any comparison which should strike a balance in favour of either. We rest satisfied with the general conviction that there is no service, warlike or scientific, which they will not 336 VOYAGE TO THE ANTARCTIC REGIONS. Essay X. be found qualified and zealous to discharge to the extreme limit of human ability. We cannot, however, but entertain, on the evidence of Captain Wilkes' own pages, a complacent conviction that, however rivalled by our Anglo-Saxon relations in blue water, we as yet manage matters better in the dockyard. If, with respect to an isolated occurrence in this instance, a contro- versy has arisen in which the evidence appears to us conclusive in favour of Sir J. Ross, we are the less inclined to leave un- noticed the fact that the American ships appear to have been not only insufficiently strengtliened for this Polar navigation — which in their case, as in that of Captain Cook, formed but an ei)isode of their instructions — but ill-found for an extensive voyage of discovery in any direction. It was on tlie 11th of January, 1841, and in that 71st degree of south latitude which formed the limit of Cook's southward course, that the first distinct vision was obtained by Ross's ex- pedition of the vast volcanic continent whicli bars access to the southern magnetic polo, and probably to tlie pole of the eartli. Appearances of land there had been some days e.i^lier, suffi- ciently plausible to have deterred less experienced navigators, and perhaps to have left spurious traces on maps wliich might have waited long for correction. On tliis day, however, Mount Sabine rose conspicuous in the view, attaining, as was afterwards ascertained, the iieight of nearly 10,000 feet, at a distance of some thirty miles from the coast, A long range of mountains of scarcely less elevation was perceived towards the north-west. The magnetic observations taken here placed the magnetic pole in lat, 7G°, long. 145° 20' E., therefore in the direction true south-west from the position of the sliips, and distant some 500 miles. The land, however, Su* James says — "interposed an insuperable obstacle to our direct approach to it; and we had to choose whether we should trace the coast to the north-west, with the hope of turning the western extreme of the land, and thence proceed to the south, or follow the southerly coast- line, and thence take a more westerly course. The latter was pre- ferred, as being more likely to extend our researches into higher latitudes, and as aifording a better chance of afterwards attaining one of the principal objects of our voyage ; and although we could not but feel disappointed in our expectation of shortly reaching the m& ^etic pole, yet these mountains, being in our way, restored to Essay X. me limit , on the mvietion in blue ard. If, Et contro- jnclusive eave nn- ave been gation — id but an 3xtensive it degree outhward loss's ex- ss to the he eartli. [ier, suffi- avigators, ch might sr, Mount fterwards stance of mtains of )rth-west. letic pole tion true ome 500 ich to it; ,st to the ae of the liy coast- was pre- to higher attaining we could ching the itstored to Essay X. DIRCOVKTIY {)V LAND. .'IHT England the honour of the discovery of the southernmost known land, which had been nobly won by the intrepid Bellinghausen, and for more than twenty years retained by Russia."— p. 187. Tlie mainland, fenced by a projecting barrier of ice, on which a tremendous sui-f was breaking, defied all attempts at access, btit at mu(di risk a hasty landing was effected on one of a group of idands situated in lat. 71° 5G', and long. 171° 7' E. The usual ceremonies of taking possession were solemnized under a lieavy assault from the aboriginal inhabitants, the penguins, wlio dis- puted with their beaks the title of Queen Victoria. Not a trace of vegetation was perceived ; but that of our Australasian colonies may one day profit by the accumulated guano of ages, which annoyed the stoutest of the invaders by its stench. Whales were swarming in all directions, unconscious that the spell of that long security which they had enjoyed in this remote region was probably broken; thirty were counted at one time. We can hardly, however, share Sir James's anticipations as to the future success of our whale-fishers in this quarter. For the present, at least, we believe that in such distant regions the ^^ hale-fishing can only be pursued with profit in conjunction with the chase of the seal. The precipitous cliffs of the circumpolar continents, or islands, would appear in no instance to afford that line of beach which is essential for the capture of the seal ; and we cannot believe that underwriters would insure on moderate terms against the chances of packed ice, beyond a certain latitude. From this date the ships struggled on to the southward, generally against adverse winds, to the 73rd degree, discovering and naming, after various official and scientific individuals, new mountains and islands. In a -aoment of calm the dredge was let down in 270 fathoms ; and the result was a variety of living plunder, the Captain's remarks whereupon must be quoted : — " It was interesting among these creatures to recognise several that I had been in the habit of taking in equally high northern lati- tudes ; and, although contrary to the general belief of naturalists, I have no doubt that from however great a depth we may be enabled to bring up the mud and stones of the bed of the ocean, we shall find them teeming with animal life ; the extreme prest;ure at the greatest depth does not appear to affect these creatures. Ilitheito we have not been able to determine this point beyond a thousand 338 VOYACJK TO Tin: ANTAHC'I'IC Itl-KilONS. Kshay X. • I Ik fathoms; but from tliat dcpt'i several shpllfiish have been brought up with the mud.— p. 202. On the 22n(l of January the rockoniuf* of the ships gave the latitude 74° 20' soutli, and a doubh) allowance ,u gro«? was issued to celebrate the first attainment of a higher latitude than that accomplished by Weddell. After struggling through the heavy packed ice which fringed the coast for 50 miles, they gained clear water on the 20th ; Mount I\[elbourne, a peak some 12,000 feet high, being visible at a distance of perhaps eighty miles. A landing was with much dilTiculty effected on an island twelve miles long, honoured with the name of Franklin ; and tliis pro- ceeding led l?oss to the conclusion that the vecretable kinijdom has no representative whatever in tliose latitudes. Animal vitality, however, trium})lis here over all obstacles, b(jth on land and in the ocean ; and the petrel, the gull, and the seal swarm about precipices of igneous rock, which leave no ledge on which the footboard of a captain's gig can be planted. In the night of January 27, the ship stood in clear weatlier towards some land which at first seemed an island, but which turned out to be the peak of a volcano 12,000 feet in height, in full activity, ui)on the continent. This magnificent and impressive object was named Mount Erebus ; and an extinct, or at least inactive neighbour, of about 11,000 feet in elevation, was called Mount Terror. We find what follows in the Notes to the ' Botany of the Antarctic Expedition,' drawn up by 8ir W. Hooker, from the journal of his son, the accomplished naturalist to the expedition : — " It was on the following day, Jan. 28, in lat 76" 57', long. 1 69° 25', that was first descried that active volcano which could not fail to fonn a spectacle the nn)st stupendous and imposiug that can be imagined ; whether consideied in regard to its position, 77° S. lat., or in reference to the fact that no human eye had gazed on it before, or to its elevation of 12,000 feet above the level of the sea. "What increased the wonder is, that i^ is but one of a stupendous chain of mountains — a portion of a nev^ continent, of vast but imde- fined extent — the whole mass, from its highest point to the ocean's edge, covered with everlasting snow and ice ; the sun at that season never setting, but day and night exhibiting the same spectacle of the extremes of nature's heat and cold. In mentioning such a phe- nomenon I may be allowed to make the following extract fiom my son's letter : — ' The water and Ihe sky were both as blue, or rather KhHAY X. n brought I gavo tlio was issued than that the heavy ley gained mo 12,000 ;hty miles. ukI twelve d this pro- 3 kingdom Animal th on land ;cal swurm on ^Yhi<'h lie night of some land , to be the ;ivity, ui)on was named neighbour, error. Wo e Antarctic journal of 57', long. 1 could not ing that can itiou, 77° S. gazed on it of the sea. stupendous st but unde- the ocean's that season spectacle of such a phe- act fiom my le, or rather E»8AY X. PAUIIY MOr.NTAlNS. 3:10 more intensely blue, thiin I have over seen thorn in the tropics, aiid all the coast one nnss of da/zlingly beautiful peaks of snow, whidi, when the sun apiiruached the horizon, roflccted the most brill iiint tints of golden yellow and scarlet; and then to see the dark cloud of smoke, tinged with flame, rising from the volcano in a perfectly unbroken column, one side jet-black, the other giving back the colours of the sun, sometimes timiing off at a right angle by some current of wind, and stretching many miles to leeward. This was a sight 80 surpassing everything that can be imagined, and so heightened by the consciousness that wo had penetrated into regions far beyond what was ever deemed practicable, tliat if i-eally caused a feeling of awe to steal over us at the consideration of our own com- parative insignificance and helplessness, and, at the same time, an indescribable feeling of the greatness of the Creator in the works of his hand.' " Another great natural feature of these regions was met with on the ft)llowing day, and is thus described by Cajttain Koss : — " As we approached the land under all studding-sails, we per- ceived a low white line extending from its extreme eastern point as far as the eye could discern to the eastward. It presented an extra- ordinary appearance, gradually increasing in height as we got nearer to it, and proving at length to be a perpendicular cliff of ice, between 150 and 200 feet above the level of the sea, peifectly flat and level at the top, and without any fissures or promontories on its even sea- ward face. \\ hat was beyond it we could not imagine ; for, being much higher than our mast's head, we could not see anything except the summit of a lofty range of mountains, extending to the south- ward as far as the 79th degieo of latitude. These mountains, being the southernmost land hitherto discovered, I felt gi'cat satisfaction in naming after Captain Sir William Edward Parry, R.N., in grateful remembrance of the honour he conferred upon me by calling the northernmost knowm land on the globe b}' my name \\ bother 'Parry jMountains' again take an easterly trending, and form the base to which this extraordinary mass of ice is attached, must be loft to future navigators to determine. If there be land to the south- ward, it must be very remote, or of much less elevation than any other part of the coast we have seen, or it would have appealed above the barrier. Meeting with such an obstruction was a gi-eat disappointment to us all, f )r we had already, in expectation, passed far beyond the 80th degree, and had even appointed a rendezvous there in case of the ships separating. It was, however, an obstruc- tion of such a character as to leave no doubt upon my mind as to V. 2 310 VOYAOE TO THE ANTAIJCTIC URniONS. Essay X. our fntnro procooclings, for wo mij?ht with equal chance of huccchh try to sail through Dover oIIIVm um penetrate such a mabH," — j). 217. Ill tho courso of this and tho followin^jf voyugo thi.s Imrrior wus traced through some thirty degrees of hwigitude, or for nearly 450 miles ; the vessels taking every op[)ortunity which winds, currents, and icebergs permitted of standing in towards it. Uut no symptojn of indentation, save one, presented itself in tho compact and even precipice. In long. 187° east, the appearanc^e of a bay invited investigation, and the barrier was approached on February 9, to the distance of a quarter of a mile. Gigantic icicles pendent from tlie cliffs proved that the operation of thaw- ing was not absolutely unknown to tlie locality. Still the ther- mometer, at a season of the year equivalent to an English August, ranged at noon no higher than 14°, and in this sheltered recess young ice was forming so rapidly, that the ships had the narrowest possible escape from being frozen up. On the 14th of February tho main pack of ice was reported in every direction, except to windward, and the ships were hauled to the wind to make their retreat — amid blinding snow, and with frozen decks and rigging — from a chain of icebergs, probably aground, one of which was nearly four miles long. The wind afterwards changed to the eastward, and the ships sailed before it with the intention of making another attempt to reach the magnetic pole, and of seeking a winter harbour in its vicinity. But hopes, which none but such navigators as Koss could now have had the fortitude to entertain, were frustrated. The only position observed which would have answered the latter purpose was found to be fenced by an outwork of 15 miles of solid ice, and on February 17 the two commanders reluctantly concurred in tlie impossibility of making a nearer approach to the magnetic pole, from which at tliis moment they were distant 160 miles : — " Had it been possible to have found a place of security upon any part of this coast where we might have entered, in sight of the bril- liant burning mountain, and at so short a distance from the magnetic pole, both of these interesting spots might have been reached by travelling parties in the following spring ; but all our efforts to effect that object proved qixite unsuccessful. Although our hopes of com- plete attainment were not realized, yet it was some satisfaction to know we had approached the pole some hundreds of miles nearer E»- Ebray X. )f HtlCPCRS p. 217. irrirr was )r nearly h winds, it. But If in the ipearanee lached on Gigantic; of thaw- the tlier- English sheltered ) had the e 14th of direction, ) wind to en decks id, one of I changed intention e, and of licli none •titude to d which e fenced y 17 the ibility of which at upon any the bril- niagnetic ached by 5 to effect s of cora- action to 38 nearer E««AY X. EHUOIl OF CAI'TAIX WILKKS. 3U than any of our prodccosHorH ; and, from the nndtitudo of obBcrva- tions that wore made in ho many different direcliouH from it, its pf)Hition may be determined with nearly as mucli accuracy as if we had actually reached the Hjtot itMclf. It was neverthelcsH i)ainful to behold, at a distance, easily accessible under other circtunstances, the range of mountains in which the pole is jdaced, and few ean understand the deep feelings of regret with which I felt myself com- pelled to abandon the, perhaps, too ambitious hope I bad so long cherished of being permitted to plant the flag of my country in both the magnetic poles of our globe."— p. 24G. In the course of liis northward jtrogross, Sir J. Ross takes occasion to notice a circumstance whicli must make the task of a navigator of tlieso seas far more unenviable than that of the Arctic explorer ; — this is, the more constant prevalence of a swell so heavy as to make the calm, in the vicinity of land or iceberg, mure dangerous even than the gale, preventing the use of boats to tow the ship from danger, and frustrating the effects of such feeble airs as would give her steerage-way in the smooth water of the Arctic seas. The dangers of gale and calm wore alike over- come by the admirable management and unllinching perseverance of officers and men. On March 2, for instance, while the Ter- ror's bows and rigging were encrusted with ice, some of the hands were slung over tlie latter for two hours, drenched at every plunge of the ship, while repairing the shackle of the bob- stay, broken by rough contact with the j)ack-ice. At this date tliey fell in with some of the islands discovered by Balleny, and had the satisfaction of verifying the accuracy of his observa- tions. On the 16th they sailed over the precise spot which, on the chart furnished by the kindness of Captain Wilkes, had been marked as mountainous land. It is unfortunate that the liberality with which that officer communicated to liis British competitors the information which he conceived might be useful for their guidance, should have led to a result which has occasioned him some annoyance. For the details of the con- troversy which has arisen, we must refer our readers to Sir James Ross's volumes. We cannot doubt tliat Captain Wilkes was mistaken, and that his mistake originated in a too ready accept- ance of a supposed observation of land by one of his subordinates, — an accident to which the deception of fog and the intcrnii)tions of ice must often expose even experienced and scrupulous i ' HI t \ I i VOYAGE TO THE ANTARCTIC REGIONS. Essay X. navigators. On the 6th !jf April the ships were moored in safety in tlie Derwent, Van Diemen's Land, bringing back in health and safety every individual who had embarked in them there in November of the former year. The second cruise of the expedition was directed towards the eastern extremity of that icy barrier which had repelled the attempt of the preceding year. The barrier was again reachea, and the extreme southern limit of the former voyage was passed ; but the track now followed led to no such discoveries of land as had immortalised that voyage, and a detention of fifty-six days in packed ice from the 60th to the 67th degree oi south latitude lost them the best part of the season for the prosecution of their intended survey, or for penetrating or turning, perchance, the flank of tlie icy barrier. Their detention in the pack-ice was not merely one of those trials of patience of wliich Arctic voyages of discovery present so many examples, but of the strength of timber and iron, of rope and canvas, and still more of every resource of human courage, skill, and nautical experience. T^he narrow pools in which the vessels floated were no mill-ponds protected by the surrounding ice from the fury of the Antarctic tempests. Tlieso narrow spaces combined the mountain-swell of the open ocean with all the horrors of a lee shore and an intricate navigation. Lifted by ice one moment, and thrown on their beam-ends the next by sudden squalls — exposed in one instance for twenty-eight hours to a combination of influences, which at any instant of those weary hours would have crushed to frag- ments any ship of ordinary construction — the gallant vessels still held their own. The hawsers snajDped by which at the com- mencement of the gale they endeavoured to moor themselves to the nearest floe. The rudders were torn from the stern-posts — the masts quivered to every collision with the grinding masses of ice — the storm-sails, by backing and filling wliich they could alone avoid or mitigate such collision, strained to the gale — the vessels were tossed in dangerous proximity to each other ; but Providence helped those who helped themselves, and the gale had scarcely abated when the spare rudders had been fixed and due examination liad shown that the skilful construction of the vessels and the compact stowage of their holds had enabled them to ride through every danger without any vital injury. At length, on tlie 1st of February, in latiiude 67° 20' b\ and Essay X. K SSAY X. SECOND CnUIZE. 343 I in safety in health Q there in wards the jelled the 1 reachea, as passed ; of land as y-six days ;h latitude )n of their lance, the ek-ice was ic voyages trength of ) of every nee. The mill-ponds 1 Antarctic in-swell of n intricate on their e instance which at i to frag- essels still the com- mselves to rn-posts — masses of hey could gale — the tther; but the gale fixed and uu of the bled them jury. At [)' S. and longitude 150'^ W., tht^y emerged from thoir stormy prison into a comparatively clear sea. Under ordinary circumstances the appearance of stars to men, mIio for five weeks had scarcely seen the bowsprit from the quarter-deck through fog and blinding snow, would have been welcome enough, but this apparition told them that the season for navigating those seas was fast drawing to a closer On tlie ICth of February, in latitude 75°, though cheered by the prospect of a clear sea, they could not but remember that two days anterior to this date in the former year the young ice had enforced a retreat. The present temperature, indeed, indicated a milder season than the last, but on the 21st, with the thermometer at 19° and a clear sea, the waves froze as they fell on the decks and rigging, and while the people of the Terror were cutting it away from her bows, a small fish was found in tlie mass, which must have been dashed against the ship and instantly frozen fast. Being laid aside for p veservation, it was unfortunately pomiccd upon by an unscientific cat. On the 23rd the great barrier was seen from tlie mast-head. It Avas approached within a mile and a half, but young ice pre- vented a nearer approach, and every indentation was frozen up. In latitude 78° i)', six miles in advance of the former year, with strong indications of land, but without that certainty required by such an observer as Sir James Ross, he was again compelled by the advanced state of the season to close Ins oi)erations — which, but for their unlooked-for detention, and the time spent m forcing their way through more than a thousand miles of pack-ice, might have led to far greater results. It was now determined to shape the most direct course the pack would admit for the Falkland Islands, at which Sir James proposed to refit previous to a third trial of his fortunes on that meridian of 35° W. longitude, on which Captain Weddell had reached the 75th degree of latitude. It was found impossible to effect a short passage through any opening in the body of the ice, but the flank of the pack was successfully turned, and, in latitude 64°, on the 7th of March, the first specimen of the vegetable kingdom \\as hailed in the ap- pearance of small pieces of sea-weed. An awful moment of danger yet remained to try the skill and corn-age of both ships' comoanies. It is due to them to quote entire the vivid descrip- tion of their commander : — , 314 VOYAGE TO THP] ANTALCTIC REGIONS. Essay X. *' During the next three days we made rapid progress to the east- ward, experiencing strong southerly winds and severe weather, but we met only four or five bergs during a run of several hundred miles, and began to think we had got to the northward of their latitude. On the afternoon of the 12th, however, several were seen during thick weather, and whilst we were running, under all the sail we could carry, to a strong north-westerly breeze. In the evening the wind increased so much, and the snow- showers became so incessant, that we were obliged to proceed under more moderate sail. Numerous small pieces of ice were also met with, warning us of the presence of bergs, concealed by the thickly falling snow. Before midnight I directed the topsails to be close-reefed, and every arrangement made for rounding-to until daylight, deeming it too hazardous to run any longer. Our people had hardly completed these operations when a large berg was seen ahead, and quite close to us ; the ship was immediately hauled to the wind on the port tack, with the expectation of being able to weather it ; but just at this moment the Terror was ob.served running down upon us, under her topsails and foresail, and as it was impossible for her to clear both the berg and the Erebus, collision was inevitable. We instantly hove all aback to diminish the violence of the shock ; but the concussion when she struck us was such as to throw almost every one ofiF his feet : our bowsprit, fore-topmast, and other smaller spars, were carried away ; and the ships, hanging together, entangled by their rigging, and dashing against each other with fearful violence, were falling down upon the weather-face of the lofty berg under our lee, against which the waves were breaking and foaming to near the summit of its pei-pendicTilar cliffs. Some- times she rose high above us, almost exposing her keel to view, and again descended as we in our turn rose to the top of the wave, threatening to bury her beneath us, whilst the crashing of the breaking upperworks and boats increased the horror of the scene. Providentially they giadually forged past each other and separated before we drifted down amongst the foaming breakers — and we had the gratification of seeing her clear the end of the berg and of feeling that she was safe. But she left us completely disabled ; the wreck of the spars so encumbered the lower yards, that we were unable to make sail, so as to got headway on the ship ; nor had we room to wear round, being by this time so chjse to the berg that the waves, when they strnck against it, threw back their sprays into the ship. The only way left to us to extiicate oni'selves from this awful and appalling situation was by resorting to the hazardous expedient of a stern-board, which nothing could justify during such a gale and with so high a sea mnning, but to avert the danger which every Essay X. Eiinw X. DANGER OF THE SHIPS. 345 ) the east- ither, but hundred L of their were seen sr all the . In the rs became moderate irning us ng snow. and every ing it too 3ompleted uite close the port lit just at us, under r to clear ble. We lock; but iw almost 3r smaller together, ther with ce of the breaking Some- i'iew, and le wave, ig of the le scene. separated d we had of feeling le wreck unable to room to le waves, the ship. wfnl and liont of a giilo and ell every moment threatened us of being dashed to pieces. The heavy- rolling of the vessel, and the probability of the masts giving way each time the lower yard-arms struck against the cliffs, which were towering high above our mast-heads, rendered it a service of extreme danger to loose the mainsail ; but no sooner was the order given than the daring spirit of the British seaman manifested itself. The men ran up the rigging with as much alacrity as on any ordinary occasion ; and although more than once driven off the yard, they, after a short time, succeeded in loosing the sail. Amidst the roar of the wind and sea, it was difficult both to hear and to execute the orders that were given, so that it was three-quarters of an hour before we could get the yards braced bye, and the maintack hauled on board sharp aback — an expedient that, perhaps, had never before been resorted to by seamen in such weather ; but it had the desired effect. The ship gathered stem-way ; plunging her stern into the sea, washing away the gig and quarter-boats, and with her lower yard-arms scraping the rugged face of the berg, we in a few minutes reached its western termination. The ' under tow,' as it is called, or the reaction of the water from its vertical cliffs, alone preventing us being driven to atoms against it. No sooner had we cleared it, than another was seen directly astern of us, against which we were running ; and the difficulty now w .s to get the ship's head turned round and pointed fairly through between the two bergs, the breadth of the intervening space not exceeding three times her own breadth ; this, however, we happily accomplished ; and in a few minutes after getting before the wind, she dashed through the narrow channel, between two perpendicular walls of ice, and the foaming breakers which stretched across it, and the next moment we were in smooth water under its lee. " The Terror's light was immediately seen and answered : she had rounded-to, waiting for us, and the painful state of suspense her people must have endured as to our fate could not have been much less than our own ; for the necessity of constant and energetic action to meet the momentarily varying circumstances of our situation left us no time to retiect on our imminent danger. " We hove-to on the port tack, under the lee of the berg, which now afforded us invaluable protection from the fury of the storm, which was still raging above and around us ; and commenced clearing away the wreck of the broken spars, saving as much of the rigging as possible ; whilst a party were engaged preparing others to replace them. " As soon as day broke we hud the gratification of learning that the Terror had only lost two or three small spars, and had not suffered ^y serious damage ; the signal of ' all's well,' which we 31G VOYAGE TO THE ANTARCTIC REGIONS. Essay X. hoisted before there was light enough for them to see it, and kept flying until it was answered, served to relieve their mindy as speedily as possible of any remaining anxiety on our account. " A cluster of bergs was seen to windward, extending as far as the eye could discern, and so closely connectvid, that, except the small opening by which we had escaped, they appeared to form an un- broken continuous line ; it seems, therefore, not at all improbable that the collision with the Terror was the means of our preservation, by forcing us backwards to the only practicable channel, instead of permitting us, as we were endeavouring, to run to the eastward, and become entangled in a labyrinth of heavy bergs, from which escape might have been impracticable." — vol. ii. pp. 217-221. The harbour of Port Sims was readied on the 7th of April ; and the interval from this date to the close of the year was occu- pied in the refitting of the ships, in the prosecution of scientific occupations, and in a voyage to and from Cape Horn. We shall not at present offer any detailed remarks on the last and least successful of the three voyages. The lottery, in which Weddell had drawn the prize of a mild season and an open sea, presented to Ross nothing but the blank of pack-ice, contrary gales, and, in one quarter, a barrier much resembling that of the 78tli degree, though of inferior altitude. Before these obstacles, and the near approach of the Antarctic winter, the ships were finally Dut about in the 71st degree, on the 7tli March. They came safely to anchor at the Cape of Good Hope on the 4th of April, 1848. One s. *lor, washed overboard near Kerguelen Island, and a quartermaster, James Angelly, who fell from the mainyard on their return from the second cruise, make up the whole list of fatal casualties for the three years of toil and danger. The sick list is equally compendious — a single officer and sailor invalided, and since recovered. These statistics are the best commentary on the management, as well as the outfit, of the expedition. One important branch of the commission intrusted to it has been admirably carried out by its botanist, Mr. S. D. Hooker, a worthy son of the learned Director of the Kew Gardens. It must be remembered that the operations of the expedition, though they were extended beyond the regions of vegetable life, were not confined to sucli barren latitudes. The ships were in no instance frozen up, and the long intervals of nauticqi inaction Essay X. k, and kept as speedily s far as the i the small rm an un- improbable eservation, instead of I eastward, [rom which -221. 1 of April ; • was occu- f scientific on the last r, in which L open sea, ), contrary ;hat of the obstacles, ships were 3h. They the 4th of iid, and a inyard on ole list of Tlie sick invalided, mmentary ition. to it has Hooker, Gardens. xpedition, table life, 8 were in I inaction E,S8.VV X. IMI'OIJTANCE OF THESE DISCOVEIJIES. 317 were fertile in employment for Mr. Hooker, in such localities as the Falkland Islands and New Zealand. We believe that a moderate government grant was never more scrupulously and ably applied than the 500Z. allotted for his publication of the ' Flora Antarctica ' — a book which must find its place in every botanist's library, and which contains much matter interesting to other classes of readers. The extracts which we have given may save us the trouble of commenting on Sir James lloss's work, as respects literary exe- cution. They will speak better than we could for the f»lain, modest, and manly taste of the author — which seems entirely worthy of his high professional character and signal services. We must beg a parting word with tho^e who persevere in asking the old utilitarian question, What good is to result from these discoveries ? What interest shall we receive for the expense of outfit, pay, and allowances ? We are not about to make a flourish about national reputation, the advance of science, or other topics of small interest to such questioners. Let them study the pamphlet of Mr. C. Enderby in connexion with the description of the Auck -nd Islands given in the sixth chapter of Sir James Ross's first volume. They will learn that this little group is singularly adapted, by position and other natural features, to assist the revi' al of a must important, though at jiresent, to all appear- ance, moribund department of British industry, the Southern Wliale-flshery. We care not whether the term be used in that extensive sense which it has derived from the circumstance that the vessels destined for it take a southern departure from Eng- land, or 'hether it be used with more limited reference to the southern circumpolar regions. In the former sense, it may be said to embrace the whole extent of ocean minus the Greenland If the time should arrive, perhaps some symptoms of its seas. approach are discernible, when Englislnnen can find capital, ' leisiu*e, and intellect, for any object and any enterprise other than that of connecting points in sj^ace by intervening bars of iron, we believe that few speculations will be found more sound, more profitable, and more congenial to our national habits than that suggested by the present grantee of the Auckland Islands, which were discovered under his auspices — the industrious, the liberal, and the eminently sagacious and practical jVIr. Enderby. I*' II ! t 348 BORNEO AND CELEBES. Essay XI. XI. -BORNEO AND CELEBES. From the Quauterly Review, September, 1848. (■). The Poet of Madoc has expressed in language more elevated than we could summon, but not more faithful than our humblest prose, the feelings with which we a few months ago witnessed the departure from Spithead of H. M. S. Meander : — Now go your way, ye gallant company ; God and good angels guard ye as ye go ! Blow fairly, winds of heaven ; ye ocean leaves, Swell not in anger to that fated fleet ! For not of conquest greedy, nor of gold, Seek they the distant world. Blow fairly, winds ; Waft, waves of ocean, well your blessed load ! Most of our readers will be aware that this vessel conveys back from a brief sojourn in England, to the scene of those exploits which have been noticed in a recent number of this Journal, the Rajah of Sarawak and Governor of Labuan, and that she is com- manded by his gallant associate Captain Keppell, whose work we then reviewed. A worthy successor of Captain Keppell has taken up the wondrous tale of Bornean adventure. We would fain hope thnt our appreciation of the miexhausted interest of the subject will be shared by our readers — not excepting those who have honoured with their attention our previous endeavours to bring it under public notice. What it has lost in novelty (") 1. Narrative of Events in Borneo and Celebes, down to the Occupation of Lalman, from the Journals of Jtuiuis Brooke, Esq., linjah of Sarawak and Governor of Labuan ; together with a Narrative of the Operutioiu of H. M. S. Iris. By Captaiu lloduey Mundy, K.N. Two volumes, 8vo. London, 1848. 2. Santimik, its Inhabitants and Productions : being Notes during a Residence in that Country with H. II. tlie liajah Broolx. By Hugh Low, Colonial Secretary at Labuau. 8vo. London, 1848. Essay XI. Essay XI. MR. BROOKE'S JOURNAL. 849 S. ■e elevated r humblest witnessed iveys back 3e exploits mrnal, the he is cora- lose work eppell has We would interest of ting those ndeavours n novelty Occupation of ind Governor By Ciiptaiu Residence in al Secretary it has gained in importance. Tliose who have watched through Captain Keppell's pages the establishment of the strange do- minion of the solitary English adventurer, will recognise with satisfaction in Captain IMundy's continuation of the narrative of occurrences down to a later period, the evidence of its healthful progress, and the confirmation of tliose impressions of the cha- racter of Mr. Brooke (now Sir James Brooke, K.C.B.), and the value of his achievements, which we and all derived from the woik of Captain Mundy's predecessor in naval command and authorship. The personal narrative of Captain Mundy occupies only a latter portion of liis two volumes; the whole of the first and four chapters of the second consist of the English Rajah's Journal. We believe that it has required strong persuasion to induce him to give to the public those memoranda of his actions and his thoughts which were intended for no eye but his own. It often happens that authors have little reason to thank the friends by whose mild compulsion they have been induced to forego their original intentions ; and we have but to look through the columns of any critical journal to see how often such persuasion has been alleged as an apology for acts of desperate publication which no such plea could justify. The absence of art and deliberation is in itself no recommendation, and the record of insignificant ad- venture or superficial observation can derive no claim on our respect even from the valuable qualities of truth and simplicity which belong, or ought to belong, to a diary. Where, however, the field of observation is new and remote, where the diarist has to record not only strange sights but strong actions, we then re- cognise an obligation to those who bring to light the unadorned log of his career, and are glad that the distinction between the writer and the maker of history is for the moment obliterated. The earlier part of the Journal in question is occupied by a voyage in the Royalist schoc ler to Celebes, justly designated by Sir Stamford Raffles as " that whimsically-shaped island." Since the date of Sir Stamford's address to the Batavian Society, 1813, we believe that little has been added to our knowledge of the extensive seaboard presented by its fantastic indentations, and still less to that of its interior. The account given in that address of the curious and somewhat Polish elective monarchy, with a Venetian council, prevalent among the numerous inde- '^**» 350 B01{NK(» AND CELEr,KR. FtsSAY XI. I". » pendent states into which the island is divided, is confirmed l)y Sir J. Brooke : — "The state of T?oni;" he writes (vol. i. p. 39), "now the most powerful in Telebes, is of recent origin, and presents the entious speetacle of an aristocratic elective monarchy. The king is chofen by the ara pitn, or rajah j)itn, or seven men or rajahs ; the ara pitii, besides being the elective body, hold the great offices of state, and thns, during the life-i ime of a king of their own choice, contimie the responsible rulers of the coui-try ; the tomarilalan is prime minister and treasurer, fii * though no* a member of the elective body, is the sole medium of 1:1 '^'^os'-'ation with the king. T'pon the death of one of the ara piti ' is s a 'essor is appointed by the remaining six ; so that, in fact, the u,ristocj , . i.. '' body not only elects a king, but is likewise self-elective." It appears that the king so elected has only a deciding voice where tlie council is not unanimous : — " We perceive," ^ays Brooke, " the rudiments of improvement— a glimmering of better things — in this constitution of Boni ; but we must upt for an instant suppose that it works any benefit to the community generally ; an irresponsible and self-elective aristocracy rules with as despotic and (jomipt a sway as any monarch ; and, from my information, I am led to conclude that life and wealth are as insecure as in any other Malayan state, and the people as greatly oppresv^ed." It might have been difficult to make, the authorities of coun- tries more frequented by strangers comprehend and credit the motives and objects of the appearance of an English gentleman in their harbours. War, commerce, or piracy could probably alone suggest themselves to the Malay mind, and none of these were professed or practised by the visitor. His real object, the gratification of a legitimate and enlightened curiosity, was hence at first somewhat impeded by the very natural jealousy of govern- ment officials; but this obstacle once removed by a judicious system of speaking the truth, Mr. Brooke's reception seems generally, as he crept along the coast, to have done credit to the goodnature and hospitality of the natives. We cannot but sus- pect that, if his views had permitted him to choose Celebes us the scene of his longer residence, his singular ]iower of fasci- nation would have been exercised at Boni or Bajow with the success which has elsewhere attended it. When he left the Kbbay XI. ifirmod l>y V the most the cm ions SC is chof on iie ara pitu, f state, and iontiiine the me minister body, is the lie death of laining six ; king, but is siding voice ovement— a »iii ; but we neiit to the aristocracy riarcli ; and, [ wealth are as greatly ies of coun- credit tlie ^eutleinaii probably ne of these object, the was hence of govern- a judicious tion seems edit to the ot but sus- Celebes us jr of fasci- v witli the e left the Ehsay XI. A MALAY SOVEUEKiN. '351 country a civil war was im|>(Midiiig; a few liours sufhecd to afiord him a clear insight into the bearings of the wrangle and a de- cided opinion as to the best mode of settling the dil'iicnltics of Bugis politics. A faith in the English character and a taste for English protection seem to have sonielu)w been generated in these regions, so seldom visited by the ]hitish flag. The nra pitu, for which the qualification is hereditary, can hardly bo open to one of foreign extraction. Possibly the same positive bar to the pretensions of a foreigner may not exist in the case of the tomarilalan; and if not, tlie candidature of jMr. Brooke would have been as reasonable — and, to say tiie least, as hop(;ful — as that of Lord Brougham for the department of the Yar. Fate, however, and the good fortune of Borneo, decreed it other , se. The following description of one of Mr. Brooke's prh.,cei " entertainers sho\vs that Royal Malay nature is as suscep .l>le ol the passion for the chase as that of Bourbon sovereigns or Iiiug- lisli squires : " The late ara-matouh visited us after breakfiis+ : an eh "ly good- looking sa ,uge, whose propensity for^wild life find the pleasures of the chase is so strong that he cannot bring liimself to bear tlio restraint of an occasional residence at Tesora for the discharge of liis kingly functions. He resides entirely in this wild country, holding little communication with the other chiefs, and, with his followers, devotes himself solely to the chase and opium-smoking. His habils are eccentric, and he despises all the luxuries and conveniences of life: his fare is homely, and derived fi'om his favourite, pinsnit : home he has none, a temporary shed or an adjacent hut serving him as occasion requires. The manners of this old man, like those of fox-hunting squires of our own country, have a degree of frankness and bluntness, mixed with an expression of sovereign contenqit for all other men and all other pursuits save those attached to the sports of the field. On the inherent obtuseness of his own nature he seems to have engrafted some portion of the sagacity of the dog and the generosity of the horse ; and as his affection is centred in these animals, they are the objects of admiration and imitation. A mistress, young and beautiful, follows the foilunes of this old sport- ing chief, and peihaps the link which binds him to her is her participation in his pursuits; hhe hunts willi him, lives with him, and even smokes opium with him. It grieved me to see so pretty a creature lost to better thing.!, for the expression of her face bespoke so much sweetness and good temper that I ain sure she was intended for a happier, a better, fate." — Mn.idij, vol. i. p. 127. 352 m)RNRO AND CELEBES. Essay XI. Tlie praf'tioe of tliose Kastorn Niinrods appeal's to rosemblo that of Grerman princes and nobles so far as it consists in en- closing large districts of forest to [trevent the escape of the game. Instead, however, of driving the deer within range of a pavilion erected for the jjnrpose, the Ihigis chief ado[>ts the method, more congenial to our notions, of pursuing them on horseback witli a sp(^ar and noose. It is on these occasious tliat a practice prevails which has exposed the lUigis race of Celebes to the imputation of cannibalism. The heart and some other ])ortions of the slaughtered animal are eaten raw with chilies and their own blood. It has been imagined that this, th(3 lor dara, or feast of blood, is occasionally practised on the field of battle with human victims — a supposition which IMr. Brooke rejects as quite unfounded. lie partook of the lor dara without difficulty or disgust. It must, however, be admitted that the practice savours of a barbarous origin, particularly as the climate affords no such natural reason for its observance as in those countries of Northern Asia in which ]VIr. Erman observes that severe cold tends to favour the adoption of raw animal food. There is no doubt that among the Battas of Sumatra the practice still exists of eating their near relations when dead, and of devouring criminals alive and piece- meal. The lor dara may proliably be but a mitigated form of worse practices which prevailed among the aborigines of the country previous to that unknown period when the civilization of the Indian continent was partially communicated to the island. The etiquette of the court of Boni is inconvenient ; for it exacts a servile imitation of every action of the sovereign, or pataman- kowe. If he fall from his horse, all about him must do so like- wise ; and if he bathe, all within sight must rush into the water without undressing. This potentate was attended by a body- guard, uniformly attired, of between three and four thousand men. A six months' cruise, rendered anxious by the reefs and shoals of an unknown coast, exhausted the provisions, and with them the patience, of the Royalist's crew, if not that of their commander. She arrived at Singapore in May, 1840, and she conveyed Mr. Brooke for a second time to Sarawak. He found his friend the Bajah Muda Hassim closely pressed by rebel subjects and hostile tribes, and disposed to court the assistance and accept the counsels of his adventurous guest. It is unnecessary here to recur to the Essay XI. rosnmljlo ats in en- tile p;amo. a ])avili<)n hod, more it'k with a ?e prevails niputation )ns of the own blood. )f blood, is I victims — nded. He It must, , barbarous iral reason ni Asia in favour the lat among : their near and piece- pd form of les of the ilization of le island. 3r it exacts [• pataman- do so like- the water )y a body- ' thousand and shoals 1 them the mmander. veyed Mr. friend the md hostile le counsels jcur to the Ehsay XI. Mil. BROOKE AT SARAWAK. 353 events which confirmed the influence so happily acquired over the mind and affections of the weak and amiable ]\[uda Hassim and his brother Budruddeen. Captain Kenpell has chronicle