I 30 > *>'> >x E , > ,' .:> > > . JE> ; *>> a :> >> > i > > ~ > 13 , > = f > O _ -> > > - : > x ^ > >, 2* */' : J. J*I } .HU THE WORKS THE REV. SYDNEY SMITH, VOLUME L LONDON : PBISTKD BV 8POTTISWOODE AND CO. NKVV-STEEET SQVARK. THE WORKS THE KEY. SYDNEY SMITH INCLUDING HIS CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE EDINBURGH BEVIEW. IN TWO VOLS. VOLUME THE FIRST. LONDON LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, LONGMANS, AND ROBERTS. 1859 Annex PREFACE. WHEN first I went into the Church, I had a curacy in the middle of Salisbury Plain. The Squire of the parish took a fancy to me, and requested me to go with his son to reside at the University of Weimar ; before we could get there, Germany became the seat of war, and in stress of politics we put into Edinburgh, where I re- mained five years. The principles of the French Revolution were then fully afloat, and it is impossible to conceive a more violent and agitated state of society. Among the first persons with whom I became acquainted were, Lord Jeffrey, Lord Murray (late Lord Advocate for Scotland), and Lord Brougham ; all of them maintain- ing opinions upon political subjects a little too liberal for the dynasty of Dundas, then exercising supreme power over the northern division of the island. One day we happened to meet in the eighth or ninth story or flat in Buccleugh-place, the elevated residence of the then Mr. Jeffrey. I proposed that we should set up a Eeview ; this was acceded to with acclamation. I was appointed Editor, and remained long enough in Edinburgh to edit the first number of the Edinburgh Eeview. The motto I proposed for the Review was, " Tenui musam meditamur avena " " We cultivate literature upon a little oatmeal." But this was too near the truth to be admitted, and so we took our present grave motto from Publius Syrus, of whom none of us had, I am sure, ever read a single line ; and so began what has since turned out to be a very important and able journal. When I left Edin- burgh, it fell into the stronger hands of Lord Jeffrey and Lord Brougham, and reached the highest point of popularity and success. vi PKEFACE. I contributed from England many articles, which I have been foolish enough to collect, and publish with some other tracts written by me. To appreciate the value of the Edinburgh Eeview, the state of England at the period when that journal began should be had in remembrance. The Catholics were not emancipated the Corpora- tion and Test Acts were unrepealed the Game Laws were horribly oppressive Steel Traps and Spring Guns were set all over the country Prisoners tried for their Lives could have no Counsel Lord Eldon and the Court of Chancery pressed heavily upon man- kind Libel was punished by the most cruel and vindictive im- prisonments the principles of Political Economy were little understood the law of Debt and of Conspiracy were upon the worst possible footing the enormous wickedness of the Slave Trade was tolerated a thousand evils were in existence, which the talents of good and able men have since lessened or removed ; and these effects have been not a little assisted by the honest boldness of the Edinburgh Review. I see very little in my Reviews to alter or repent of: I always endeavoured to fight against evil ; and what I thought evil then, I think evil now. I am heartily glad that all our disqualifying laws for religious opinions are abolished, and I see nothing in such measures but unmixed good and real increase of strength to our Establishment. The idea of danger from the extension of the Catholic religion in England I utterly deride. The Catholic faith is a misfortune to the world, but those whose faith it conscientiously is, are quite right in professing it boldly, and in promoting it by all means which the law allows. A physician does not say, " You will be well as soon as the bile is got rid of ; " but he says, " You will not be well until after the bile is got rid of." He knows, after the cause of the malady is removed, that morbid habits are to be changed, weakness to be supported, organs to be called back to their proper exercise, subordinate maladies to be watched, secondary and vicarious symp- toms to be studied. The physician is a wise man but the anse- rous politician insists, after 200 years of persecution, and ten of emancipation, that Catholic Ireland should be as quiet as Edmonton or Tooting. Not only are just laws wanted for Catholic Ireland, but the just PKEFACE. vii administration of just laws ; such as they have in general experienced under the Whig government : and this system steadily persevered' in will, after a lapse of time, and O'Connell quiet, conciliate and civilise that long-injured and irritable people. I have printed in this Collection the Letters of Peter Plymley. The Government of that day took great pains to find out the author ; all that they could find was, that they were brought to Mr. Budd, the publisher, by the Earl of Lauderdale. Somehow or another, it came to be conjectured that I was that author : I have always denied it ; but finding that I deny it in vain, I have thought it might be as well to include the Letters in this Collection : they had an immense circulation at the time, and I think above 20,000 copies were sold. From the beginning of the century (about which time the Review began) to the death of Lord Liverpool, was an awful period for those who had the misfortune to entertain liberal opinions, and who were too honest to sell them for the ermine of the judge, or the lawn of the prelate : a long and hopeless career in your profession, the chuckling grin of noodles, the sarcastic leer of the genuine political rogue prebendaries, deans, and bishops made over your head reverend renegadoes advanced to the highest dignities of the Church for helping to rivet the fetters of Catholic and Protestant Dissenters, and no more chance of a Whig administration than of a thaw in Zembla these were the penalties exacted for liberality of opinion at that period ; and not only was there no pay, but there were many stripes. It is always considered as a piece of imper- tinence in England, if a man of less than two or three thousand a year has any opinions at all upon important subjects ; and in addition he was sure at that time to be assailed with all the Billingsgate of the French Revolution Jacobin, Leveller, Atheist, Deist, Socinian, Incendiary, Regicide, were the gentlest appellations used : and the man who breathed a syllable against the senseless bigotry of the two Georges, or hinted at the abominable tyranny and persecution exercised upon Catholic Ireland, was shunned as unfit for the relations of social life. Not a murmur against any abuse was permitted ; to say a word against the suitorcide delays of the Court of Chancery, or the cruel punishments of the Game Laws, or against any abuse which a rich man inflicted, or a poor man viii PEEFACE. suffered, was treason against the Plousiocracy, and was bitterly and steadily resented. Lord Grey had not then taken off the bearing- rein from the English people, as Sir Francis Head has now done from horses. To set on foot such a Journal in such times, to contribute towards it for many years, to bear patiently the reproach and poverty which it caused, and to look back and see that I have nothing to retract, and no intemperance and violence to reproach myself with, is a career of life which I must think to be extremely fortunate. Strange and ludicrous are the changes in human affairs. The Tories are now on the treadmill, and the well-paid Whigs are riding in chariots: with many faces, however, looking out of the windows, (including that of our Prime Minister,) which I never remember to have seen in the days of the poverty and depression of Whiggism. Liberality is now a lucrative business. Whoever has any institution to destroy, may consider himself as a commissioner, and his fortune as made ; and, to my utter and never-ending astonishment, I, an old Edin- burgh Reviewer, find myself fighting, in the year 1839, against the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London, for the existence of the National Church. SYDNEY SMITH. Juiie, 1839. CONTENTS THE PIEST VOLUME. ARTICLES ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE " EDINBURGH REVIEW." Page DR. PARR ........< 1 DR. RESNEL . . . . . . . .6 JOHN BOWLE3 ........ Du. LANGFOBD . . . . . . . .12 PUBLIC CHARACTERS OP 1801, 1802 . . . . . .13 ARCHDEACON XAEES . . . . . ... .13 MATTHEW LEWIS . . . . . . . .14 NECKAB'S LAST VIEWS . . . . . . .16 AUSTRALIA . ' . . . . . . .26 FIEVEE'S LETTERS OK ENGLAND . . . . . .84 ISLAND 01 CEYLON . . . . . . . .37 DELPHINB ......... 44 THOUGHTS ON THE RESIDENCE op THB CLERGY . . . .48 CATTEAU, TABLEAU DES ETATS DANOIB . . . . .60 "WiiTjiAN's TRAVELS . . . . . . . .64 EDGEWOETH ox BULLS . . * . . . .69 ACCOUNT OF SIERRA LEONE . . * . . . .71 TRIMMER AND LANCASTER . . . . . . .75 PAENELL AND IRELAND . . . . . . .80 TRAVELS FROM PALESTINE . . . . . . .85 METHODISM . . . . . . . . .87 INDIAN MISSIONS . . . . . . . .102 LETTER os THE CURATE'S SALARY BILL . . . . .121 CATHOLICS ......... 127 PROCEEDINGS OP THE SOCIETY FOB THE SUPPRESSION OP VICE . . 131 METHODISM ......... 138 HANNAH MORE . . . . . . . .145 CHARACTERS OP Fox . ... 149 x CONTENTS. Pa^e OBSERVATIONS ON THE HISTORICAL WOSK OF THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES JAMES Fox . . . . . . . . .153 PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION . . . . . . .166 FEMALE EDUCATION . . . . . . . .175 PUBLIC SCHOOLS . .- . . . . . 180 DISTURBANCES AT MADRAS . . . . . . .191 TOLERATION . . - ,;', " . . . . . .201 CHARLES Fox . . '. J ' . . . . . 207 BISHOP OF LINCOLN'S CHARGE . ." . . . .219 LETTERS WRITTEN IN A MAHRATTA CAMP DURING THE YEAR 1809 . . 223 MAD QUAKERS .-. . . . . . .228 MADAME D'EPINAY . * <.; ; - . 231 AMERICA . ...... 239 GAME LAWS . . . . . . . . - 230 BOTANY BAY . . . . . . . .260 CHIMNEY SWEEPERS . . . . . . . .272 MISSION TO ASHANTEE . ,' . . . . .279 AMERICA . . . . . . . . 28 i POOR LAWS ......... -.'> IRELAND ......... 01 ANASTASIUS . ," . . . . . 316 SPRING GUNS ".'.. . . . . .322 PRISONS .'-.;'. . . . . . .330 MAN TRAPS AND SPRING GUNS . . . . . .340 SCARLETT'S POOH BILL . . . . . . . 3 18 PRISONS . ...... S^j ARTICLES oai&nrixLT PUBLISHED i.v DR. PARR.* (E. REVIEW, 1802.) Spital Sermon, preached at Christ Church upon Easter-Tuesday, April 15, 1800. To which are added, Notes by Samuel Parr, LL.D. Printed for J. Mawman in the Poultry. 180L WHOEVER has had the good fortune to see Dr. Parr's wig, must have observed, that while it trespasses a little on the orthodox magnitude of perukes, in the anterior parts, it scorns even Episco- pal limits behind, and swells out into boundless convexity of frizz, the nrya. Savfjia. of barbers, and the terror of the literary world. After the manner of his wig, the Doctor has constructed his sermon, giving us a discourse of no common length, and subjoining an im- measurable mass of notes, which appear to concern every learned thing, every learned man, and almost every un- learned man since the beginning of the world. For his text, Dr. Parr has chosen Gal. vi. 10. As we have tlierefore op- portunity, let us do good to all men, especially to those who are of the house- hold of faith. After a short preliminary comparison between the dangers of the * A great scholar, as rude and violent as most Greek scholars are, unless they hap- pen to be Bishops. He has left nothing behind him worth leaving: he was rather fitted for the law than the church, and would have been a more considerable man, if he had been more knocked about among his equals. Helivedwithcountrygentlemeri and clergymen, who flattered and teared him. VOL. L selfish system, and the modern one of universal benevolence, he divides his sermon into two parts : in the first ex- amining how far, by the constitution of human nature, and the circumstances of human life, the principles of par- ticular and universal benevoience are compatible : in the last, commenting on the nature of the charitable insti- tution for which 'he is preaching. The former part is levelled against the doctrines of Mr. Godwin ; and, here, Dr. Parr exposes, very strongly and happily, the folly of making uni- versal benevolence the immediate motive of our actions. As we consider this, though of no very difficult execution, to be by far the best part of the sermon, we shall very willingly make some extracts from it "To me it appears, that the modern ad- vocates for universal philanthropy have fallen into the error charged upon those who are fascinated by a violent and extra- ordinary fondness for what a celebrated author calls ' some moral species.' Some men, it has been remarked, are hurried into romantic adventures, by their excessive admiration of fortitude. Others are actu- ated bja headstrong zeal for disseminating the true religion. Hence, while the only properties, for which fortitude or zeal can be esteemed, are scarcely discernible, from the enormous bulkiness to which they are swollen, the ends, to which alone they can be directed usefully, are overlooked or de- feated ; the public good is impaired rather than increased: and the claims that other virtues equally obligatory have to our B DR. PARR. notice, are totally disregarded. Thus, too, when any dazzling phantoms of universal philanthropy have seized our attention, the objects that formerly engaged it shrink and fade. All considerations of kindred, friends, and countrymen drop from the mind, during the struggles it makes to grasp the collective interests of the species ; and when the association that attached us to them has been dissolved, the notions we have formed of their comparative insig- nificance will prevent them from recover- ing, I do not say any hold whatsoever, but that strong and lasting hold they once had upon our conviction and our feelings. Uni- versal benevolence, should it, from any strange combination of circumstances, ever become passionate, will, like every other passion, 'justify itself:' and the importu- nity of its demands to obtain a hearing will be proportionate to the weakness of its cause. But what are the consequences? A perpetual wrestling for victory between the refinements of sophistry, and the re- monstrances of indignant nature the agi- tations of secret distrust in opinions which gain few or no proselytes, and feelings which excite little or no sympathy the neglect of all the usual duties by which social life is preserved or adorned ; and in the pursuit of other duties which are un- usual, and indeed imaginary, a succession of airy projects, eager hopes, tumultuous efforts, and galling disappointments, such in truth as every wise man foresaw, and a good man would rarely commiserate." In a subsequent part of his sermon, Dr. Parr handles the same topic with equal success. " The stoics, it has been said, were more successful in weakening the tender affec- tions than in animating men to the stronger virtues of fortitude and self-command ; and possible it is, that the influence of our modern reformers may be greater in fur- nishing their disciples with pleas for the neglect of their ordinary duties, than in stimulating their endeavours for the per- formance of those which are extraordinary, and perhaps ideal. If, indeed, the repre- sentations we have lately heard of universal philanthropy served only to amuse the fancy of those who approve of them, and to communicate that pleasure which arises from contemplating the magnitdfce and grandeur of a favourite subject, we might be tempted to smile at them as groundless and harmless. But they tend to debase the dignity, and to weaken the efficacy of those particular affections, for which we have daily and hourly occasion in the events of real life. They tempt us to substitute the ease of speculation and the pride of dog matism, for the toil of practice. To a class of artificial and ostentatious sentiments, they give the most dangerous triumph over the genuine and salutary dictates of nature. They delude and inflame our minds with Pharisaical notions of superior wisdom and superior virtue ; and, what is the worst of all, they may be used as ' a cloke to us ' for insensibility, where other men feel ; and for negligence, where other men act with visible and useful, though limited, effect." In attemptingto show the connexion between particular and universal be- nevolence, Dr. Parr does not appear to us to have taken a clear and satis- factory view of the subject. Nature impels us both to good and bad actions ; and, even in the former, gives us no measure by which we may prevent them from degenerating into excess. Rapine and revenge are not less natural than parental and filial affection ; which latter class of feelings may themselves be a source of crimes, if they overpower (as they frequently do) the sense of justice. It is not, therefore, a sufficient justification of our actions, that they are natural. We must seek, from our reason, some principle which will en- able us to determine what impulses of nature we are to obey, and what we are to resist : such is that of general utility, or, what is the same thing, of universal good; a principle which sanc- tifies and limits the more particular affections. The duty of a son to a parent, or a parent to a son, is not an ultimate principle of morals, but de- pends on the principle of universal good, and is only praiseworthy, because it is found to promote it At the same time, our spheres of action and intelligence are so confined, that it is better, in a great majority of instances, to suffer our conduct to be guided by those af- fections which have been long sanc- tioned by the approbation of mankind, than to enter into a process of reasoning, and investigate the relation which every trifling event might bear to the general interests of the world. In his principle of universal benevolence, Mr. Godwin is unquestionably right. That it is the grand principle on which all morals rest that it is the corrective for the excess of all particular affections, we DR. PARR. relieve to be undeniable : and he is only erroneous in excluding the par- ticular affections, because, in so doing, he deprives us of our most powerful means of promoting his own principle of universal good ; for it is as much as to say. that all the crew ought to have the yeveral welfare of the ship so much at heart, that no sailor should ever pull any particular rope, or hand any indi- vidual sail. By universal benevolence, we mean, and understand Dr. Parr to mean, not a barren affection for the species, but a desire to promote their real happiness ; and of this principle, he thus speaks : " I admit and I approve of it, as an emotion of which general happiness is the cause, but not as a passion, of which, according to the usual order of human affairs, it could often be the object. I approve of it as a disposition to wish, and, as opportunity may occur, to desire and do good, rather than harm, to those with whom we are quite unconnected." It would appear, from this kind of language, that a desire of promoting the universal good were a pardonable weakness, rather than a fundamental principle of ethics ; that the particular affections were incapable of excess ; and that they never wanted the correc- tive of a more generous and exalted feeling. In a subsequent part of his sermon, Dr. Parr atones a little for this over- zealous depreciation of the principle of universal benevolence ; but he nowhere states the particular affec- tions to derive their value and their limits from their subservience to a more extensive philanthropy. He does not show us that they exist only as virtues, from their instrumentality in promoting the general good ; and that, to preserve their true character, they should be frequently referred to that principle as their proper criterion. In the latter part of his sermon, Dr. Parr combats the general objections of ilr. Turgot to all charitable institutions, with considerable vigour and success. To say that an institution is necessarily bad, because it will not always be ad- ministered with the same zeal, proves a little too much ; for it is an objection to political and religious, as well as to charitable institutions ; and, from a lively apprehension of the fluctuating characters of those who govern, would leave the world without any government at all. It is better there should be an asylum for the mad, and a hospital for the wounded, if they were to squander away 50 per cent, of their income, than that they should be disgusted with sore limbs, and shocked by straw-crowned monarchs in the streets. All institu- tions of this kind must suffer the risk of being governed by more or less of probity and talents. The good which one active character effects, and the wise order which he establishes, may outlive him for a long period ; and we all bate each other's crimes by which we gain nothing, so much, that in pro- portion as public opinion acquires as- cendency in any particular country, every public institution becomes more and more guaranteed from abuse. Upon the whole, this sermon is rather the production of what is called a sen- sible, than of a very acute man; of a man certainly more remarkable for his learn- ing than his originality. It refutes the very refutable positions of Mr. Godwin, without placing the doctrine of bene- volence in a clear light ; and it almost leaves us to suppose, that the particular affections are themselves ultimate prin- ciples of action, instead of convenient instruments of a more general principle. The style is such as to give a general impression of heaviness to the whole sermon. The Doctor is never simple and natural for a single instant. Every thing smells of the rhetorician. He never appears to forget himself, or to be hurried by his subject into obvious language. Every expression seems to be the resuh of artifice and intention ; and as to the worthy dedicatees, the Lord Mayor and Aldermen, unless the sermon be done into English by a person of honour, they may perhaps be flattered by the Doctor's politeness, but they can never be much edified by his meaning. Dr. Parr seems to think, that eloquence consists not in an exuberance of beau- tiful images not in simple and sublime conceptions not in the feelings of the passions ; but in a studious arrange- ment of sonorous, erotic, and sesquipedal B 2 DR. PARR. words : a very ancient error, which corrupts the style of young, and wearies the patience of sensible men. In some of his combinations of words the Doctor is singularly unhappy. We have the din of superficial cavillers, the prancings of giddy ostentation, flattering vanity, hissing scorn, dank clod, &c. &c. &c. The following intrusion of a technical word into a pathetic description renders the whole passage almost ludicrous. "Within a few days, mute was the tongue that uttered these celestial sounds, and the hand which signed your indenture lay cold and motionless in the dark and dreary chambers of death." In page 16, Dr. Parr, in speaking of the indentures of the Hospital, a sub- ject (as we should have thought) little calculated for rhetorical panegyric, says of them " If the writer of whom I am speaking had perused, as I have, your indentures and your rules, he would have found in them seriousness without austerity, ear- nestness without extravagance, good sense without the trickeries of art, good language without the trappings of rhetoric, and the firmness of conscious worth, rather than the prancings of giddy ostentation." The latter member of this eloge would not be wholly unintelligible, if applied to a spirited coach-horse ; but we have never yet witnessed the phe- nomenon of a prancing indenture. It is not our intention to follow Dr. Parr through the copious and varied learning of his notes; in the perusal of which we have been as much delighted with the richness of his acquisitions, the vigour of his understanding, and the genuine goodness of his heart, as we have been amused with the ludi- crous self-importance, and the mira- culous simplicity of his character. We would rather recommend it to the Doctor to publish an annual list of worthies, as a kind of stimulus to literary men ; to be included in which, will unquestionably be considered as great an honour, as for a commoner to be elevated to the peerage. A line of Greek, a line of Latin, or no line at all, subsequent to each name, will distin- guish, with sufficient accuracy, the shades of merit, and the degree of im- mortality conferred. Why should Dr. Parr confine this eulogomania to the literary characters of this island alone? In the university of Benares, in the lettered kingdom of Ava, among the Mandarins at Pekin, there must, doubtless, be many men who have the eloquence of* Boppouoy, the feeling of TcuAayw, and the judg- ment of fiK-rtpos, of whom Dr. Parr might be happy to say, that they have profundity without obscurity per- spicuity without prolixity ornament without glare terseness without bar- renness penetration without subtlety comprehensiveness without digres- sion and a great number of other things without a great number of other things. In spite of 32 pages of very close printing, in defence of the University of Oxford, is it, or is it not true, that very many of its professors enjoy ample salaries, without reading any lectures at all ? The character of particular colleges will certainly vary with the character of their governors ; but the University of Oxford so far differs from Dr. Parr in the commendation he has bestowed upon its state of public edu- cation, that they have, since the publi- cation of his book, we believe, and forty years after Mr. Gibbon's resi- dence, completely abolished their very ludicrous and disgraceful exercises for degrees, and have substituted in their place a system of exertion, and a scale of academical honours, calculated (we are willing to hope) to produce the happiest effects. We were very sorry, in reading Dr. Parr's note on the Universities, to meet with the following passage : "111 would it become me tamely and silently to acquiesce in the strictures of this formidable accuser upon a seminary to which I owe many obligations, though I left it, as must not be dissembled, before the usual time, and, in truth, had been almost compelled to leave it, not by the want of a proper education, for I had ar- * nacre? uev Sc 'flKTjpov ficv tre'jSco, Oavjuacjio 5e Bappovov, KO.\ 4>i\u> Tat'Aw- pov. See Lucian in Vita Dseinonact. vol. ii. p. 394. (Dr. Parr's note.) DR. REXNEL. rived at the first place in the first form of Harrow School, when I was not quite four- teen not by the want of useful tutors, for mine were eminently able, and to me had been uniformly kind not by the want of ambition, for I had begun to look up ardently and anxiously to academical dis- tinctions not by the want of attachment to the place, for I regarded it then, as I continue to regard it now, with the fondest and most unfeigned affection but by another want, which it were necessary to name, and for the supply of which, after some hesitation, I determined to provide by patient toil and resolute self-denial, when I had not completed my twentieth year. I ceased, therefore, to reside with an aching heart : I looked back with mingled feelings of regret and humiliation to ad- vantages of which I could no longer par- take, and honours to which I could no longer aspire." To those who know the truly honour- able and respectable character of Dr. Parr, the vast extent of his learning, and the unadulterated benevolence of his nature, such an account cannot but be very affecting, in spite of the bad taste in which it is communicated. How painful to reflect, that a truly devout and attentive minister, a stre- nuous defender of the church establish- ment, and by far the most learned man of his day, should be permitted to lan- guish on a little paltry curacy in War- wickshire ! Dii meliora, &c. &c.* DR RENNEL. (E. REVIEW, 1802.) Discourses on Various Subjects. By Tho- mas Rennel, D.D., Master of the Temple. Bivington, London. WE have no modern sermons in the English language that can be consi- dered as very eloquent. The merits of JBlair (by far the most popular writer of sermons within the last century) are plain good sense, a happy application of scriptural quotation, and a clear har- monious style, richly tinged with scrip- tural language. He generally leaves his readers pleased with his judgment, * The courtly phrase was, that Dr. Parr was not a producible man. The same phrase was used for the neglect of Paley. and his just observations on human conduct, without ever rising so high as to touch the great passions, or kindle any enthusiasm in favour of virtue. For eloquence we must ascend as high as the days of Barrow and Jeremy Taylor ; and even there, while we are delighted with their energy, their co- piousness, and their fancy, we are in danger of being suffocated by a redun- dance which abhors all discrimination; which compares till it perplexes, and illustrates till it confounds. To the Oases of Tillotson, Sherlock, and Atterbury, we must wade through many a barren page, in which the weary Christian can descry nothing all around him but a dreary expanse of trite sentiments and languid words. The great object of modern sermons is to hazard nothing : their character- istic is, decent debility ; which alike guards their authors from ludicrous errors, and precludes them from strik- ing beauties. Every man of sense, in taking up an English sermon, expects to find it a tedious essay, full of common-place morality ; and if the fulfilment of such expectations be meritorious, the clergy have certainly the merit of not disappointing their readers. Yet it is curious to consider, how a body of men so well educated, and so magnificently endowed as the English clergy, should distinguish themselves so little in a species of com- position to which it is their peculiar duty, as well as their ordinary habit, to attend. To solve this difficulty, it should be remembered, that the elo- quence of the Bar and of the Senate force themselves into notiq^, power, and wealth that the penalty which an individual client pays for choosing a bad advocate, is the loss of his cause that a prime minister must infallibly suffer in the estimation of the public, who neglects to conciliate eloquent men, and trusts the defence of his mea- sures to those who have not adequate talents for that purpose : whereas, the only evil which accrues from the pro- motion of a clergyman to the pulpit, which he has no ability ta fill as he ought, is the fatigue of the audience, and the discredit of that species of u 3 DR. KENNEL. public instruction ; an evil so general, that no individual patron would dream of sacrificing to it his particular in- terest. The clergy are generally ap- pointed to their situations by those who have no interest that they should please the audience before whom they speak-, while the very reverse is the case in the eloquence of the Bar and of Par- liament. We by no means would be understood to say, that the clergy should owe their promotion principally to their eloquence, or that eloquence ever could, consistently with the con- stitution of the English Church, be made a common cause of preferment. In pointing out the total want of con- nexion between the privilege of preach- ing, and the power of preaching well, we are giving no opinion as to whether it might, or might not, be remedied ; but merely stating a fact. Pulpit dis- courses have insensibly dwindled from speaking to reading ; a practice, of itself, sufficient to stifle every germ of eloquence. It is only by the fresh feelings of the heart that mankind can be very powerfully affected. What can be more ludicrous, than an orator de- livering stale indignation, and fervour of a week old ; turning over whole pages of violent passions, written out in German text ; reading the tropes and apostrophes into which he is hurried by the ardour of his mind ; and so affected at a preconcerted line, aud page, that he is unable to proceed any further ! The prejudices of the English nation have proceeded a good deal from their hatred to the French ; and, because that country is^ the native soil of elegance, animation, and grace, a certain patriotic solidity, and loyal awkwardness, have become the characteristics of this ; so that an adventurous preacher is afraid of violating the ancient tran- quillity of the pulpit; and the audience are commonly apt to consider the man who tires them less than usual, as a trifler, or a charlatan. Of British education, the study of eloquence makes little or no part. The exterior graces of a speaker are de- spised ; and debatirfg societies (ad- mirable institutions, under proper re- gulations) would hardly be tolerated either at Oxford or Cambridge. It is commonly answered to any animad- versions upon the eloquence of the English pulpit, that a clergyman is to recommend himself, not by his elo- quence, but by the purity of his life, and the soundness of his doctrine ; an objection good enough, if any con- nexion could be pointed out between eloquence, heresy, and dissipation: but if it is possible for a man to live well, preach well, and teach well, at the same time, such objections, resting only upon a supposed incompatibility of these good qualities, are duller than the dulness they defend. The clergy are apt to shelter them- selves under the plea, that subjects so exhausted are utterly incapable of novelty ; and, in the very strictest sense of the word novelty, meaning that which was never said before, at any time, or in any place, this may be true enough of the first principles of morals ; butthe modes of expanding, illustrating, and enforcing a particular theme, are capable of infinite variety; and, if they were not, this might be a very good reason for preaching common -place sermons, but is a very bad one for publishing them. We had great hopes, that Dr. Kennel's Sermons would have proved an exception to the character we have given of sermons in general ; and we have read through his present volume with a conviction rather that he has misapplied, than that he wants, talents for pulpit eloquen.ce. The subjects of his sermons, fourteen in number, are : 1. The consequences of the vice of gaming: 2. On old age : 3. Benevo- lence exclusively an evangelical virtue ; 4. The services rendered to the English nation by the Church of England, a motive for liberality to the orphan children of indigent ministers : 5. On the grounds and regulation of national joy: 6. On the connexion of the duties of loving the brotherhood, fearing God, and honouring the king: 7. On the guilt of bloodthirstiness : 8. On atone- ment : 9. A visitation sermon: 10. Great Britain's naval strength, and insular situation, a cause of gratitude DR. RENXEL. to Almighty God: 11. Ignorance pro ductive of atheism, anarchy, and super stition: 12, 13, 14. On the sting o death, the strength of sin, and th< victory over them both by Jesus Christ Dr. Kennel's first sermon, upon th consequences of gaming, is admirabl for its strength of language, its sounc good sense, and the vigour with whicl it combats that detestable vice. From this sermon we shall, with great plea sure, make an extract of some length. "Further, to this sordid habit the game- ster joins a disposition to FBAUD, and that of the meanest cast. To those who soberlj and fairly appreciate the real nature o human actions, nothing appears more in- consistent than that societies of men, who have incorporated themselves for the ex- press purpose of gaming, should disclaim fraud or indirection, or atfeet to drive from their assemblies those among their asso- ciates whose crimes would reflect disgrace on them. Surely this, to a considerate mind, is as solemn and refined a banter as can well be exhibited : for when we take into view the vast latitude allowed by the most upright gamesters, when we reflect that, according to their precious casuistry, every advantage may be legitimately taken of the young, the unwary, and the inebri- ated, which superior coolness, skill, address, and activity can supply, we must look upon pretences to honesty as a most shameless aggravation of their crimes. Even if it were possible that, in his own practices, a man might be a FATE GAMESTEE, yet, for the result of the extended frauds com- mitted by his fellows, he stands deeply ac- countable to God, his country, and his conscience. To a system necessarily im- plicated with fraud; to associations of men, a large majority of whom subsist by fraud; to habits calculated to poi- son the source and principle of all inte- grity, he gives efficacy, countenance, and concurrence. Even his virtues he suffers to be subsidiary to the cause of vice. He sees with calmness, depredation committed daily and hourly in his company, perhaps under his very roof. Yet men of this de- scription declaim (so desperately deceitful is the heart of man) against the very knaves they cherish and protect, and whom, per- haps, with some poor sophistical refuge for a worn-out conscience, they even imitate. To such, let the Scripture speak with em- phatical decision When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him." The reader will easily observe, in this quotation, a command of language, and a power of style, very superior to what is met with in the great mass of sermons. We shall make one more extract. "But in addition to fraud, and all its train of crimes, propensities and habits of a very different complexion enter into the composition of a gamester; a most ungo- vernable FEEOCITY OF DISPOSITION, how- ever for a time disguised and latent, is invariably the result of his system of con- duct. Jealousy, rage, and revenge, exist among gamesters in then: worst and most frantic excesses, and end frequently in con- sequences of the most atrocious violence and outrage. By perpetual agitation the malignant passions spurn and overwhelm every boundary which discretion and con- science can oppose. From what source are we to trace a very large number of those murders, sanctioned or palliated indeed by custom, but which stand at the tribunal of God precisely upon the same grounds with every other species of murder ? From the gaming-table, from the nocturnal recep- tacles of distraction and frenzy, the duellist rushes with his hand lifted up against his brother's life ! Those who are as yet on the threshold of these habits should be warned, that however calm their natural tempera- ment, however meek and placable their disposition, yet that, by the events which every moment arise, they stand exposed to the ungovernable fury of themselves and others. In the midst of fraud, protected by menace on the one hand, and on the other, of despair ; irritated by a recollection of the meanness of the artifices and the baseness of the hands by which utter and remediless ruin has been inflicted; in the midst of ;hese feelings of horror and distraction it is, that the voice of brethren's blood ' crieth unto God from the ground ' ' and now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from, thy hand.' Not only THOU who actually sheddest that blood, but THOU who art the artificer of death thou who administerest incentives to these habits vho disseminatest the practice of them mprovest the skill in them sharpenest he propensity to them at THY hands will it be required, surely at the tribunal if God in the next world, and' perhaps, in most instances, in his distributive and awful dispensations towards thee and hine here on earth." Having paid this tribute of praise to )r. Kennel's first sermon, we are sorry o soon to change our eulogium into B 4. 8 DR. RKNNEL censure, and to blnme him for having selected for publication so many sermons touching directly and indi- rectly upon the French Revolution. We confess ourselves long since wearied with this kind of discourses, bespattered with blood and brains, and ringing eternal changes upon atheism, canni- balism, and apostasy. Upon the enor- mities of the French Revolution there can be but one opinion; but the sub- ject is not fit for the pulpit. The public are disgusted with it to satiety ; and we can never help remembering, that this politico-orthodox rage in the mouth of a preacher may be profitable as well as sincere. Upon such subjects as the murder of the Queen of France, and the great events of these days, it is not possible to endure the draggling and the daubing of such a ponderous limner as Dr. Rennel, after the ethereal touches of Mr. Burke. In events so truly horrid in themselves, the field is so easy for a declaimer, that we set little value upon the declamation ; and the mind, on such occasions, so easily outruns ordinary description, that we are apt to feel more, before a mediocre oration begins, than it even aims at inspiring. We are surprised that Dr. Rennel, from among the great number of sub- jects which he must have discussed in the pulpit (the interest in which must tte permanent and universal) should have published such an empty and frivolous sermon as that upon the vic- tory of Lord Nelson ; a sermon good enough for the .garrulity of joy, when the phrases, and the exultation of the Porcupine, or the True Briton, may pass for eloquence and sense; but ut- terly unworthy of the works of a man who aims at a place among the great teachers of morality and religion. Dr. Rennel is apt to put on the ap- pearance of a holy bully, an evangelical swaggerer, as if he could carry his point against infidelity by big words and strong abuse, and kick and cuff men into Christians. It is a very easy thing to talk about the shallow im- postures, and the silly ignorant sophisms of Voltaire, Rousseau, Condorcet, D'Alembert, and Volncy, and to say that Hume is not worth answering. This affectation of contempt will not do. While these pernicious writers have power to allure from the Church great numbers of proselytes, it is better to study them diligently, and to reply to them satisfactorily, than to veil insolence, want of power, or want of industry, by a pretended contempt ; which may leave infidels and wavering Christians to suppose that such writers are abused, because they are feared; and not answered, because they are unanswerable. While every body was abusing and despising Mr. Godwin, and while Mr. Godwin was, among a certain description of understandings, increasing every day in popularity, Mr. Malthus* took the trouble of refuting him ; and we hear no more of Mr. Godwin. We recommend this example to the consideration of Dr. Rennel, who seems to think it more useful, and more pleasant, to rail than to fight. After the world has returned to its sober senses upon the merits of the ancient philosophy, it is amusing enough to see a few bad heads bawling for the restoration of exploded errors and past infatuation. We have some dozen of plethoric phrases about Aris- totle, who is, in the estimation of the Doctor, et rex et sutor bonus, and every thing else ; and to the neglect of whose works he seems to attribute every moral and physical evil under which the world has groaned for the last century. Dr. Rennel's admiration of the ancients is so great, that he considers the works of Homer to be the region and depo- sitary of natural law, and natural reli- gion.f Now, if by natural religion is meant the will of God collected from his works, and the necessity man is under of obeying it ; it is rather ex- traordinary that Homer should be so good a natural theologian, when the * I cannot read the name of Malthus without adding rny tribute of affection for the memory of one of the best men that ever lived. He loved philosophical truth more than any man I ever knew, was full of practical wisdom, and never indulged in contemptuous feelings against his in- feriors in understanding. t Page 318. DR REXNEL. divinities he has painted are certainly a more drunken, quarrelsome, adulterons, intriguing, lascivious set of beings, than are to be met with in the most profli- gate court in Europe. There is, every now and then, some plain coarse mo- rality in Homer ; but the most bloody revenge, and the most savage cruelty in warfare, the ravishing of women, and the sale of men, &c. &c. &c., are cir- cumstances which the old bard seems to relate as the ordinary events of his times, without ever dreaming that there could be much harm in them ; and if it be urged that Homer took his ideas of right and wrong from a barbarous age, that is just saying, in other words, that Homer had very imperfect ideas of natural law. Having exhausted all his powers of enlogium upon the times that are gone, Dr. Rennel indemnifies himself by the very novel practice of declaiming against the present age. It is an evil age an adulterous age an ignorant age an apostate age and a, foppish aye. Of the propriety of the last epithet, our readers may perhaps be more con- vinced, by calling to mind a class of fops not usually designated by that epithet men clothed in profound black, with large canes, and strange amorphous hats of big speech, and imperative presence talkers about Plato great affecters of senility despisers of women, and all the graces of life fierce foes to common sense abusive of the living, and approving no one who has not been dead for at least a century. Such fops, as vain and as shallow as their fraternity in Bond Street, differ from these only as Gorgonius differed from Rufillus. In the ninth Discourse (p. 226), we read of St. Paul, that he had "an he- roic zeal, directed, rather than bounded, by the nicest discretion a conscious and commanding dignity, softened by the meekest and most profound hu- mility." This is intended for a fine piece of writing ; but it is without meaning : for, if words have any limits, it is a contradiction in terms to say of the same person, at the same time, that he is nicely discreet, and heroically zealons; or that he is profoundly hum- ble, and imperatively dignified : and if Dr. Rennel means, that St. Paul dis- played these qualities at different times, then could not any one of them direct or soften the other. Sermons are so seldom examined with any considerable degree of critical vigilance, that we are apt to discover in them sometimes a great laxity of as- sertion ; such as the following: " Labour to be undergone, afflictions to be borne, contradictions to be endured, danger to be braved, interest to be despised in the best and most flourishing ages of the church, are the perpetual badges of far the greater part of those who take up their cross and follow Christ." This passage, at first, struck us to be untrue ; and we could not imme- diately recollect the afflictions Dr. Ren- nel alluded to, till it occurred to us, that he must undoubtedly mean the eight hundred and fifty actions which, in the course of eighteen months, have been brought against the clergy for non-residence. Upon the danger to be apprehended from Roman Catholics in this country, Dr. Rennel is laughable. We should as soon dream that the wars of York and Lancaster would break out afresh, as that the Protestant religion in Eng- land has anything to apprehend from the machinations of Catholics. To such a scheme as that of Catholic emancipation, which has for its object to restore their natural rights to three or four millions of men, and to allay the fury of religious hatred, Dr. Rennel is, as might be expected, a very stre- nuous antagonist. Time, which lifts up the veil of political mystery, will inform us if the Doctor has taken that side of the question which may be as lucrative to himself as it is inimical to human happiness, and repugnant to enlightened policy. Of Dr. Rennet's talents as a rea- soner, we certainly have formed no very high opinion. Unless dogmatical assertion, and the practice (but too common among theological writers) of taking the thing to-be proved for part of the proof, can be considered as evi- dence of a logical understanding, the specimens of argument Dr. Rennel has 10 JOHN BOWLES. afforded us are very insignificant. For putting obvious truths into vehement language ; for expanding and adorning moral instruction; this gentleman cer- tainly possesses considerable talents ; and if he will moderate his insolence, steer clear of theological metaphysics, and consider rather those great laws of Christian practice, which must interest mankind through all ages, than the petty questions which are important to the Chancellor of the Exchequer for the time being, he may live beyond his own days, and become a star of the third or fourth magnitude in the English Church. JOHN BOWLES. (E. KEVIEW, 1802.) Reflections at the Conclusion of the War : Being a Sequel to Reflections on the Political and Moral State of Society at the Close of the Eighteenth Century. The Third Edition, with Additions. By John Bowles, Esq. IF this peace be, as Mr. Bowles as- serts *, the death-warrant of the liberty and power of Great Britain, we will venture to assert, that it is also the death- warrant of Mr. Bowles's literary repu- tation ; and that the people of this island, if they verify his predictions, and cease to read his books, whatever they may lose in political greatness, will evince no small improvement in critical acumen. There is a political as well as a bodily hypochondriasis ; and there are empirics always on the watch to make their prey, either of the one or of the other. Dr. Solomon, Dr. Brodum, and Mr. Bowles, have all com- manded their share of the public atten- tion : but the two former gentlemen continue to flourish with undiminished splendour ; while the patients of the latter are fast dwindling away, and his drugs falling into disuse and contempt. The truth is, if Mr. Bowles had begun his literary career at a period when superior discrimination and pro- * It is impossible to conceive the mis- chievous power of the corrupt alarmists of those days, and the despotic manner in vhich they exercised their authority. They were fair objects for the Edinburgh Eeview- found thought, not vulgar violence and the eternal repetition of rabble-rousing words, were necessary to literary reputa- tion, he would never have emerged from that obscurity to which he will soon return. The intemperate passions of the public, not his own talents, have given him some temporary reputation; and now, when men hope and fear with less eagerness than they have been lately accustomed to do, Mr. Bowles will be compelled to descend from that moderate eminence, where no man of real genius would ever have conde- scended to remain. The pamphlet is written in the genu- ine spirit of the Wyndham and Burke school ; though Mr. Bowles cannot be called a servile copyist of either of these gentlemen, as he has rejected the logic of the one, and the eloquence of the other, and imitated them only in their head- strong violence, and exaggerated abuse. There are some men who continue to astonish and please the world, even in the support of a bad cause. They are mighty in their fallacies, and beautiful in their errors. Mr. Bowles sees only one half of the precedent ; and thinks, in order to be famous, that he has nothing to do but to be in the wrong. War, eternal war, till the wrongs of Europe are avenged, and the Bourbons restored, is the master-principle of Mr. Bowles's political opinions, and the ob- ject for which he declaims through the whole of the present pamphlet. The first apprehensions which Mr. Bowles seems to entertain, are of the boundless ambition and perfidious cha- racter of the First Consul, and of that military despotism he has established, which is not only impelled by the love of conquest, but interested, for its owu preservation, to desire the overthrow of other states. Yet the author informs us, immediately after, that the life of Buonaparte is exposed to more dangers than that of any other individual in Europe, who is not actually in the last stage of an incurable disease ; and that his death, whenever it happens, must involve the dissolution of that machine of government, of which he must be considered not only as the sole director, but the main spring. Confusion of JOHN BOWLES. 11 thought, we are told, is one of the truest indications of terror; and the panic of this alarmist is so very great, that he cannot listen to the consolation which he himself affords : for it appears, upon summing up these perils, that we are in the utmost danger of being de- stroyed by a despot, whose system of government, as dreadful as himself, cannot survive him, and who, in all human probability, will be shot or hanged, before he can execute any one of his projects against us. We have a good deal of flourishing, in the beginning of the pamphlet, about the effect of the moral sense upon the stability of governments : that is, as Mr. Bowles explains it, the power which all old governments derive from the opinion entertained by the people of the justice of their rights. If this sense of ancient right be (as is here confidently asserted) strong enough ultimately to restore the Bourbons, why are we to fight for that which will be done without any fighting at all ? And, if it be strong enough to restore, why was it weak enough to render restoration necessary? To notice every singular train of rea- soning into which Mr. Bowles falls, is not possible ; and, in the copious choice of evils, we shall, from feelings of mercy, take the least. It must not be forgotten, he observes, that " those rights of government, which, because they are ancient, are recognised by the moral sense as lawful, are the only ones which are compatible with civil liberty." So that all questions of right and wrong, between the governors and the governed, are determinable by chronology alone. Every political in- stitution is favourable to liberty, not according to its spirit, but in proportion to the antiquity of its date ; and the slaves of Great Britain are groaning under the trial by jury, while the free men of Asia exult in the bold privi- lege transmitted to them by their fathers of being trampled to death by elephants. In the 8th page, Mr. Bowles thinks that France, if she remain without a king, will conquer all Europe : and, in the 19th page, that she will be an object of Divine vengeance till she takes one. In the same page, all the miseries of France are stated to be a judgment of heaven for their cruelty to the king; and, in the 33rd page, they are discovered to proceed from the perfidy of the same king to this country in the American contest. So that certain misfortunes proceed from the maltreatment of a person, who had himself occasioned these identical mis- fortunes before he was maltreated ; and while Providence is compelling the French, by every species of affliction, to resume monarchical government, they are to acquire such extraordinary vigour, from not acting as Providence would wish, that they are to trample on every nation which co-operates with the Divine intention. In the 60th page, Mr. Bowles ex- plains what is meant by Jacobinism; and, as a concluding proof of the jus- tice with which the character is drawn, triumphantly quotes the case of a cer- tain R. Mountain, who was tried for damning all kings and all governments upon earth ; for, adds R. Mountain, " I am a Jacobin." Nobody can more thoroughly detest and despise that restless spirit of political innovation, which, we suppose, is meant by the name of Jacobinism, than we ourselves do ; but we were highly amused with this proof, ab ebriis sutoribus, of the prostration of Europe, the last hour of human felicity, the perdition of man, discovered in the crapulous eructations of a drunken cobbler. This species of evidence might cer- tainly have escaped a common obser- ver : But this is not all r there are other proofs of treason and sedition, equally remote, sagacious, and pro- found. Many good subjects are not very much pleased with the idea of the Whig Club dining together ; but Mr. Bowles has the merit of first calling the public attention to the alarming practice of singing after dinner at these political meetings. He speaks with a proper horror of tavern dinners, " where conviviality is made a stimulus to disaffection where wine serves only to inflame disloyalty where toasts are con- verted into a vehicle of sedition and where 12 DR r LANGFORD. the powers of harmony are called forth in the cause of Discord by those hireling singers, who are equally ready to invoke the Divine favour on the head of their King, or to strain their venal throats in chanting the triumphs of his bitterest enemies." All complaint is futile, which is not followed up by appropriate remedies. If Parliament, or Catarrh, do not save us, Dignum and Sedgwick will quaver away the Bang, shake down the House of Lords, and warble us into all the horrors of republican government. When, in addition to these dangers, we reflect also upon those with which our national happiness is menaced, by the present thinness of ladies' petticoats (p. 78), temerity may hope our sal- vation, but how can reason promise it ? One solitary gleam of comfort, indeed, beams upon us in reading the solemn devotion of this modern Curtius to the cause of his King and country " My attachment to the British monarchy, and to the reigning family, is rooted in my ' heart's core.' My anxiety for the British throne, pending the dangers to which, in common with every other throne, it has lately been exposed, has embittered my choicest comforts. And I most solemnly vow, before Almighty God, to devote my- self, to the end of my days, to the mainte- nance of that throne." Whether this patriotism be original, or whether it be copied from the Up- holsterer in Foote's Farces, who sits up whole nights watching over the British constitution, we shall not stop to inquire ; because, when the practi- cal effect of sentiments is good, we would not diminish their merits by in- vestigating their origin. We seriously commend in Mr. Bowles this future dedication of his life to the service of his King and country ; and consider it as a virtual promise that he will write no more in their defence. No wise or good man has ever thought of either, but with admiration and respect. That they should be exposed to that ridicule, by the forward imbecility of friendship, from which they appear to be protected by intrinsic worth, is so painful a con- sideration, that the very thought of it, we are persuaded, will induce Mr. Bowles to desist from writing on po- litical subjects. DR. LANGFORD. (E. REVIEW, 1802.) Anniversary Sermon of tlie Royal Humane Society. By "W.Langford,D.D. Printed for P. and C. Rivington. AN accident, which happened to the gentleman engaged in reviewing this sermon, proves, in the most striking manner, the importance of this charity for restoring to life persons in whom the vital power is suspended. He was discovered, with Dr. Langford's* dis- course lying open before him, in a state of the most profound sleep ; from which he could not, by any means, be awakened for a great length of time. By attending, however, to the rules prescribed by the Humane Society, flinging in the smoke of tobacco, ap- plying hot flannels, and carefully re- moving the discourse itself to a great distance, the critic was restored to his disconsolate brothers. The only account he could give of himself was, that he remembers read- ing on, regularly, till he came to the following pathetic description of a drowned tradesman ; beyond which, he recollects nothing. " But to the individual himself, as a man, let us add the interruption to all the tem- poral business in which his interest was engaged. To him indeed now apparently lost, the world is as nothing ; but it seldom happens, that man can live for himself alone : society parcels out its concerns in various connexions ; and from one head issue waters which run down in many channels. The spring being suddenly cut off, what confusion must follow in the streams which have flowed from its source ? It may be, that all the expectations reason- ably raised of approaching prosperity, to hose who have embarked in the same occupation, may at once disappear ; and ;he important interchange of commercial 'aith be broken off, before it could be brought to any advantageous conclusion." This extract will suffice for the style of the sermon. The charity itself is above all praise. * To this exceedingly foolish man, the irst years of Etonian Education were in- trusted. How is it possible to inflict a greater misfortune on a country, than to 111 up such an oflice with such an otfker ? PUBLIC CHARACTERS. ARCHDEACON NARES. 13 PUBLIC CHARACTERS OF 1801, 1802. (E. REVIEW, 1802.) Public Characters 0/1801 1802. Richard Phillips, St. Paul's. 1 vol. 8vo. THE design of this book appeared to us so extremely reprehensible, and so capable, even in the hands of a block- head, of giving pain to families and individuals, that we considered it as a fair object of literary police, and had prepared for it a very severe chastise- ment. Upon the perusal of the book, however, we were entirely disarmed. It appears to have been written by some very innocent scribbler, who feels himself under the necessity of dining, and who preserves, throughout the whole of the work, that degree of good humour, which the terror of indictment by our Lord the King is so well cal- culated to inspire. It is of some im- portance, too, that grown-up country gentlemen should be habituated to read printed books ; and such may read a story book about their living friends, who would read nothing else. We suppose the booksellers have authors at two different prices. Those who do write grammatically, and those who do not; and that they have not thought fit to put any of their best hands upon this work. Whether or not there may be any improvement on this point in the next volume, we request the biographer will at least give us some means of ascertaining when he is comical, and when serious. In the life of Dr. Rennel, we find this passage : " Dr. Rennel might well look forward to the highest dignities in the establishment ; but, if our information be right, and we have no reason to question it, this is what he by no means either expects or courts. There is a primitive simplicity in this ex- cellent man, which much resembles that of the first prelates of the Christian church, who were with great difficulty prevailed upon to undertake the episcopal office." ARCHDEACON NARES.* (E. REVIEW, 1802.) A Thanksgiving for Plenty, and Warn- ing against Avarice. A Sermon. By the Reverend Robert Nares, Archdeacon of Stafford, and Canon Residentiary of Lich- field. London : Printed for the Author, and sold by Rivingtons, St. Paul's Church- yard. FOR the swarm of ephemeral sermons which issue from the press, we are principally indebted to the vanity of popular preachers, who are puffed up by female praises into a belief, that what may be delivered, with great pro- priety, in a chapel full of visitors and friends, is fit for the deliberate attention of the public, who cannot be influenced by the decency of a clergyman's private life, flattered by the sedulous politeness of his manners, or misled by the fal- lacious circumstances of voice and ac- tion. A clergyman cannot be always considered as reprehensible for preach- ing an indifferent sermon; because, to the active piety, and correct life, which the profession requires, many an ex- cellent man may not unite talents for that species of composition : but every man who prints, imagines he gives to the world something which they had not before, either in matter or style; that he has brought forth new truths, or adorned old ones; and when, in lieu of novelty and ornament, we can discover nothing but trite imbe- cility, the law must take its course, and the delinquent suffer that mortification from which vanity can rarely be ex- pected to escape, when it chooses dul- ness for the minister of its gratifica- tions. The learned author, after observing that a large army praying would be a much finer spectacle than a large army fighting, and after entertaining us with the old anecdote of Xerxes and the flood of tears, proceeds to express his sentiments on the late scarcity and the present abundance: then, stating the manner in which the Jews were governed by the immediate interference of God, and informing us, that other * This was another gentleman, of the alarmist tribe. 14 ARCHDEACON NAKES. people expect not, nor are taught to look for, miraculous interference, to punish or reward them, he proceeds to talk of the visitation of Providence, for the purposes of trial, warning, and cor- rection, as if it were a truth of which he had never doubted. Still, however, he contends, though the Deity does interfere, it would be presumptuous and impious to pro- nounce the purposes for which he in- terferes ; and then adds, that it has pleased God, within these few years, to give us a most awful lesson of the vanity of agriculture and importation without piety, and that he has proved this to the conviction of every thinking mind. " Though he interpose not (says Mr. Nares) by positive miracle, he in- fluences by means unknown to all but himself, and directs the winds, the rain, and glorious beams of heaven to ex- ecute his judgment, or fulfil his mer- ciful designs." Now, either the wind, the rain, and the beams, are here re- presented to act as they do in the ordi- nary course of nature, or they are not. If they are, how can their operations be considered as a judgment on sins; and if they are not, what are their extraordinary operations, but positive miracles ? So that the Archdeacon, after denying that any body knows when, how, and why, the Creator works a miracle, proceeds to specify the time, instrument, and object of a miraculous scarcity; and then, assuring us that the elements were employed to execute the judgments of Providence, denies that this is any proof of a positive miracle. Having given us this specimen of his talents for theological metaphysics, Mr. Nares commences his attack upon the farmers; accuses them of cruelty and avarice; raises the old cry of mo- nopoly; and expresses some doubts, in a note, whether the better way would not be, to subject their granaries to the control of an exciseman; and to levy heavy penalties upon those, in whose possession corn, beyond a cer- tain quantity to be fixed by law, should be found. This style of reasoning is pardonable enough in those who argue from the belly rather than the brains; but in a well fed and well educated cler- gyman, who has never been disturbed by hunger from the free exercise of cultivated talents, it merits the severest reprehension. The farmer has it not in his power to raise the price of corn ; he never has fixed, and never can fix it. He is unquestionably justified in receiving any price he can obtain: for it happens very beautifully, that the effect of his efforts to better his fortune, is as beneficial to the public, as if their motive had not been selfish. The poor are not to be supported, in time of famine, by abatement of price on the part of the farmer, but by the sub- scription of residentiary canons, arch- deacons, and all men rich in public or private property; and to these sub- scriptions the farmer should contribute according to the amount of his fortune. To insist that he should take a less price when he can obtain a greater, is to insist upon laying on that order of men the whole burden of supporting the poor; a convenient system enough in the eyes of a rich ecclesiastic ; and objectionable only because it is im- practicable, pernicious, and unjust.* The question of the corn trade has divided society into two parts those who have any talents for reasoning, and those who have not. We owe an apo- logy to our readers, for taking any notice of errors that have been so fre- quently, and so unanswerably exposed; but when they are echoed from the bench and the pulpit, the dignity of the teacher may perhaps communicate some degree of importance to the silliest and most extravagant doctrines. No reasoning can be more radically erroneous than that upon which the whole of Mr. Nares's sermon is founded. The most benevolent, the most Chris- tian, and the most profitable conduct the farmer can pursue, is, to sell his * If it is pleasant to notice the intel- lectual growth of an individual, it is still more pleasant to see the public growing wiser. This absurdity of attributing the high price of corn to the combinations <>f farmers, was the common nonsense talked in the days of my youth. I remember when ten judges out of twelve laid down this doctrine in their charges to the various grand juries on the circuits. The lowest attorney's clerk is now better instructed. MATTHEW LEWIS. 15 commodities for the highest price he can possibly obtain. This advice, we think, is not in any great danger of being rejected : we wish we were equally sure of success in counselling the Reverend Mr. Nares to attend, in future, to practical, rather than theore- tical questions about provisions. He may be a verv hospitable archdeacon; but nothing short of a positive miracle can make him an acute reasoner. MATTHEW LEWIS. (E. REVIEW, 1803.) Alfonso, King of Castile. A Tragedy, in Five Acts. By M.G.Lewis. Price 2s. 6d. ALFOXSO, King of Castile, had, many years previous to the supposed epoch of the play, left his minister and general Orsino to perish in prison, from a false accusation of treason. Caesario, son to Orsino, (who by accident had liberated Amelrosa, daughter of Alfonso, from the Moors, and who is married to her, unknown to the father,) becomes a great favourite with the King, and avails himself of the command of the armies with which he is intrusted, to gratify his revenge for his father's misfortunes, to forward his own ambi- tious views, and to lay a plot by which he may deprive Alfonso of his throne and his life. Marquis Guzman, poi- soned by his wife Ottilia, in love with Cffisario, confesses to the King that the papers upon which the suspicion of Orsino's guilt was founded, were forged by him : and the King, learning from his daughter Amelrosa that Orsino is still alive, repairs to his retreat in the forest, is received with the most im- placable hauteur and resentment, and in vain implores forgiveness of his in- jured minister. To the same forest, Caesario, informed of the existence of his father, repairs, and reveals his in- tended plot against the King. Orsino, convinced of Alfonso's goodness to his subjects, though incapable of for- giving him for his unintentional in- juries to himself, in vain dissuades his son from the conspiracy ; and at last, ignorant of their marriage, acquaints Amelrosa with the plot formed by her husband against her father. Amelrosa, already poisoned by Ottilia, in vain attempts to prevent Caesario from blow- ing up a mine laid under the royal palace ; information of which she had received from Ottilia, stabbed by Caesa- rio to avoid her importunity. In the mean time, the King had been removed from the palace by Orsino, to his ancient retreat in the forest : the people rise against the usurper Ccesario ; a battle takes place : Orsino stabs his own son, at the moment the King is in his son's power ; falls down from the wounds he has received in battle ; and dies in the usual dramatic style, repeating twenty-two hexameter verses. Mr. Lewis says in his preface, " To the assertion, that my play is stupid, I have nothing to object ; if it be found so, even let it be so said ; but if (as was most falsely asserted of Adelmorn) any anony- mous writer should advance that this Tra- gedy is immoral, I expect him to prove his assertion by quoting the objectionable pas- sages. This I demand as an act of justice." We confess ourselves to have been highly delighted with these symptoms of returning, or perhaps nascent, purity in the mind of Mr. Lewis ; a delight somewhat impaired, to be sure, at the opening of the play, by the following explanation which Ottilia gives of her early rising. "ACT I. SCENE TL. The palace-garden. Day-break. "OTTILIA enters in a night-dress: her hair flows dishevelled. "OiTU. Dews of the morn, descend! Breathe, summer gales : My flushed cheeks woo ye ! Play, sweet wantons, play 'Mid my loose tresses, fan my panting breast, Quench my blood's burning fever! Vain, vain prayer ! Not Winter throned 'midst Alpine snows, whose will Can with one breath, one touch, con- geal whole realms, And blanch whole seas: not that fiend's self could ease This heart, this gulph of flames, this purple kingdom, Where passion rules and rages ! " Ottilia at last becomes quite furious, 16 MATTHEW LEWIS, from the conviction that Cajsario has been sleeping with a second lady, called Estella ; whereas he has really been sleeping with a third lady, called Amelrosa. Passing across the stage, this gallant gentleman takes an oppor- tunity of mentioning to the audience, that he has been passing his time very agreeably, meets Ottilia, quarrels, makes it up ; and so end the first two or three scenes. Mr. Lewis will excuse us for the liberty we take in commenting on a few passages in his play which appear to us rather exceptionable. The only information which Caesario, imagining his father to have been dead for many years, receives of his existence, is in the following short speech of Melchior. The Count San Lucar, long thought dead, but saved, It seems, by Amelrosa's care. Time presses I must away : farewell." To this laconic, but important, in- formation, Coesario makes no reply ; but merely desires Melchior to meet him at one o'clock, under the Royal Tower, and for some other purposes. In the few cases which have fallen under our observation, of fathers re- stored to life after a supposed death of twenty years, the parties concerned have, on the first information, appeared a little surprised, and generally asked a few questions ; though we do not go the length of saying it is natural so to do. This same Csesario (whose love of his father is a principal cause of his conspiracy against the King) begins criticising the old warrior, upon his first seeing him again, much as a vir- tuoso would criticise an ancient statue that wanted an arm or a leg. " OESINO enters from tlie cave. " C.SSABIO. Now by my life A noble ruin ! " Amelrosa, who imagines her father to have banished her from his presence for ever, in the first transports of joy for pardon, obtained by earnest inter- cessions, thus exclaims : " Lend thy doves, dear Venus, That I may send them where Coesario strays : And while he smooths their silver wings, and gives them For drink the honey of his lips, I'll bid them Coo in his ear, his Amelrosa's happy! " What judge of human feelings does not recognise in these images of silver wings, doves and honey, the genuine language of the passions ? If Mr. Lewis is really in earnest in pointing out the coincidence between his own dramatic sentiments and the Gospel of St. Matthew, such a refer- ence (wide as we know this assertion to be) evinces a want of judgment, of which we did not think him capable. If it proceeded from irreligious levity, we pity the man who has bad taste enough not to prefer honest dulness to such paltry celebrity. We beg leave to submit to Mr. Lewis, if Alfonso, considering the great interest he has in the decision, might not interfere a little in the long argument carried on between Caesario and Orsino, upon the propriety of put- ting him to death. To have expressed any decisive opinion upon the subject, might perhaps have been incorrect ; but a few gentle hints as to that side of the question to which he leaned, might be fairly allowed to be no very unna- tural incident. This tragedy delights in explosions. Alfonso's empire is destroyed by a blast of gunpowder, and restored by a clap of thunder. After the death of Caesario, and a short exhortation to that purpose by Orsino, all the conspi- rators fall down in a thunderclap, ask pardon of the King, and are forgiven. This mixture of physical and moral power is beautiful ! How interesting a water-spout would appear among Mr. Lewis's kings and queens ! We anxiously look forward, in his next tragedy, to a fall of snow three or four feet deep ; or expect that a plot shall gradually unfold itself by means of a general thaw. All is not so bad in this play. There is some strong painting, which shows, every now and then, the hand of a master. The agitation which Caisario exhibits upon his first joining the conspirators in the cave, previous NECKAR'S LAST VIEWS. 17 to the blowing tip of the mine, and immediately after stabbing Ottilia, is very finp. " C.ESARIO. Ay, shout, shout, And kneeling greet your blood-anointed king, This steel his sceptre ! Tremble, dwarfs in guilt. And own your master! Thou art proof, Henriquez, 'Gainst pity ; I once saw thee stab in battle A page who clasped thy knees : And Melchior there Made quick work with a brother whom he hated. But what did 7 this night ? Hear, hear, and reverence ! There was a breast, on which my head had rested A thousand times; a breast which loved me fondly As heaven loves martyred saints ; and yet this breast I stabbed, knaves stabbed it to the heart ! Wine ! wine there ! For my soul's joyous ! " p. 86. The resistance which Amelrosa op* poses to the firing of the mine, is well wrought out : and there is some good poetry scattered up and down the play, of which we should very willingly make extracts, if our limits would permit. The ill success which it has justly experienced, is owing, we have no doubt, to the want of nature in the characters, and of probability and good arrangement in the incidents, objec- tions of some force. JTECKAR'S LAST VIEWS. (E. REVIEW, 1803.) Dernieres Vues de Politigues, et de Fi- nance. Par M. Neckar. An 10, 1802. IP power could be measured by terri- tory, or counted by population, the inveteracy, and the disproportion which exists between France and England, must occasion to every friend of the latter country the most serious and well-founded apprehensions. Fortu- nately however for us, the question of power is not only, what is the amount of population ? but, how is that popu- lation governed ? How far is a con- VOL.L fidence in the stability of political in- stitutions established by an experience of their wisdom? Are the various in- terests of society adjusted and protected by a system of laws thoroughly tried, gradually ameliorated, and purely ad- ministered ? What is the degree of general prosperity evinced by that most perfect of all criteria, general credit ? These are the considerations to which an enlightened politician, who specu- lates on the future destiny of nation?, will direct his attention, more than to the august and imposing exterior of territorial dominion, or to those brilliant moments, when a nation, under the influence of great passions, rises above its neighbours, and above itself, in military renown. If it be visionary to suppose the grandeur and safety of the two nations as compatible and co-existent, we have the important (though the cruel) con- solation of reflecting, that the French have yet to put together the very elements of a civil and political consti- tution ; that they have to experience all the danger and all the inconvenience which result from the rashness and the imperfect views of legislators, who have everything to conjecture, and every- thing to create ; that they must submit to the confusion of repeated change, or the greater evil of obstinate perseverance in error; that they must live for a century in that state of perilous uncer- tainty in which every revolutionised nation remains before rational liberty becomes feeling and habit as well as law, and is written in the hearts of men as plainly as in the letter of the statute ; and that the -opportunity of beginning this immense edifice of human happi- ness is so far from being presented to them at present, that it is extremely problematical whether or not they are to be bandied from one vulgar usurper to another, and remain for a century subjugated to the rigour of a military government, at once the scorn and the scourge of Europe.* To the more pleasing supposition, that the First Consul will make use of his power to give his country a free * All this is, unfortunately, as true now as it was when written thirty years ago. c 18 NECKAR'S LAST VIEWS. constitution, we are indebted for the work of M. Neckar now before us ; a work of which good temper is the cha- racteristic excellence : it everywhere preserves that cool impartiality which it is so difficult to retain in the discus- sion of subjects connected with recent and important events ; modestly pro- poses the results of reflection ; and, neither deceived nor wearied by theo- ries, examines the best of all that mankind have said or done for the attainment of rational liberty. The principal object of M. Neckar's book is to examine this question : " An opportunity of election supposed, and her present circumstances considered, what is the best form of government which France is capable of receiving ? " and he answers his own query by giving the preference to a Republic, One and Indivisible. The work is divided into four parts. 1. An Examination of the present constitution of France. 2. On the best form of a Republic, One and Indivisible. 3. On the best form of a Monarchical Government. 4. Thoughts upon Finance. From the misfortune which has hitherto attended all discussions of pre- sent constitutions in France, M. Neckar has not escaped. The subject has proved too rapid for the author; and its existence has ceased before its pro- perties were examined. This part of the work, therefore, we shall entirely pass over : because, to discuss a mere name is an idle waste of time ; and no man pretends that the present constitu- tion of France can, with propriety, be considered as anything more. We shall proceed to a description of that form of a republican government which appears to M. Neckar best calculated to promote the happiness of that country. Every department is to be divided into five parts, each of which is to send one member. Upon the eve of an elec- tion, all persons paying 200 livres of government taxes in direct contribu- tion, are to assemble together, and choose 100 members from their own number, who form what M. Neckar calls a Chamber of Indication. This Chamber of Indication is to present five candidates, of whom the people are to elect one ; and the right of voting in this latter election is given to every body engaged in a wholesale or retail business ; to all superintendents of manufactures and trades ; to all com- missioned and non-commissioned offi- cers and soldiers who have received their discharge ; and to all citizens paying in direct contribution, to the amount of twelve livres. Votes are not to be given in one spot, but before the chief magistrate of each commune where the voter resides, and there in- serted in registers ; from a comparison of which the successful candidate is to be determined. The municipal officers are to enjoy the right of recommending one of these candidates to the people, who are free to adopt their recommen- dation or not, as they may think proper. The right of voting is confined to quali- fied single men of twenty-five years of age ; married men of the same descrip- tion may vote at any age. To this plan of election we cannot help thinking there are many great and insuperable objections. The first and infallible consequence of it would be, a devolution of the whole elective fran- chise upon the Chamber of Indication, and a complete exclusion of the people from any share in the privilege ; for the Chamber, bound to return five candi- dates, would take care to return four out of the five so thoroughly objection- able, that the people would be compelled to choose the fifth. Such has been the constant effect of all elections so con- stituted in Great Britain, where the power of conferring the office has al- ways been found to be vested in those wlio named the candidates, not in those who selected an individual from the candidates named. But if such were not the conse- quences of a double election; and if it were so well constituted as to retain that character which the Legislature meant to impress upon it, there are other reasons which would induce us to pronounce it a very pernicious in- stitution. The only foundation of political liberty is the spirit of the people; and the only circumstance XECKAR'S LAST VIEWS. 19 which makes a lively impression upon their senses, and powerfully reminds them of their importance, their power, and their rights, is the periodical choice of their representatives. How easily that spirit mny be totally ex- tinguished, and of the degree of abject fear and slavery to which the human race may be reduced for ages, every man of reflection is sufficiently aware; and he knows that the preservation of that feeling is, of all other objects of political science, the most delicate and the most difficult. It appears to us, that a people who did not choose their representatives, but only those who chose their representatives, would very soon become indifferent to their elections altogether. To deprive them of their power of nominating their own candidate, would be still worse. The eagerness of the people to vote is kept alive by their occasional expulsion of a. candidate who has rendered himself objectionable, or the adoption of one who knows how to render himself agreeable, to them. They are proud of being solicited personally by a man of family or wealth. The uproar, even, and the confusion and the clamour of a popular election in Eng- land, have their use : they give a stamp to the names, Liberty, Constitution, and People; they infuse sentiments which nothing but violent passions and gross objects of sense could infuse ; and which would never exist, perhaps, if the sober constituents were to sneak, one by one, into a notary's office to deliver their votes for a representa- tive, or were to form the first link in that long chain of causes and effects which, in this compound kind of elec- tions, ends with choosing a member of Parliament. " Above all things (says M. Jfeckar) lan- guor is the most deadly to a republican government ; for when such a political as- sociation is animated neither by a kind of instinctive affection for its beauty, nor by the continual homage of reflection to the happy union of order and liberty, the public spirit is half lost, and with it the republic. The rapid brilliancy of despotism is pre- ferred to a mere complicated machine, from which every symptom of life and organisa- tion is flsd." Sickness, absence, and nonage would (even under the supposition of universal suffrage) reduce the voters of any country to one fourth of its population. A qualification much lower than that of the payment of twelve livres, in direct contribution, would reduce that fourth one half, and leave the number of voters in France three millions and a half, which, divided by 600, gives between five and six thousand con- stituents for each representative ; a number not amounting to a third part of the voters for many counties in England, and which certainly is not so unwieldly as to make it necessary to have recourse to the com plex mechanism of double elections. Besides, too, if it could be believed that the peril were considerable of gathering men together in such masses, we have no hesitation in saying that it would be infinitely preferable to thin their numbers, by in- creasing the value of the qualification, than to obviate the apprehended bad effects, by complicating the system of election. M. Neckar (much as he has seen and observed) is clearly deficient in that kind of experience which is gained by living under free govern- ments : he mistakes the riots of a free, for the insurrections of an enslaved, people; and appears to be impressed with the most tremendous notions of an English election. The difference is, that the tranquillity of an arbitrary government is rarely disturbed but from the most serious provocations, not to be expiated by any ordinary vengeance. The excesses of a free people are less important, because their resentments are less serious ; and they can commit a great deal of apparent disorder with very little real mis- chief. An English mob, which, to a foreigner, might convey the belief of an impending massacre, is often con- tented by the demolition of a few windows. The idea of diminishing the number of constituents rather by extending the period of nonage to twenty-five years than by increasing the value of the qualification, appears to us to be new and ingenious. No person considers C 2 20 NECKAR'S LAST VIEWS. himself as so completely deprived of a share in the government, who is to enjoy it when he becomes older, as he would do, were that privilege deferred till he became richer; time comes to all, wealth to few. This assembly of representatives, as M. Neckar has constituted it, appears to us to be in extreme danger of turning out to be a mere collection of country gentlemen. Every thing is determined by territorial extent and population ; and as the voters in towns must, in any single division, be almost always inferior to the country voters, the candidates will be returned in virtue of large landed property ; and that infinite advantage which is derived to a popular assembly from the variety of characters of which it is composed, would be entirely lost under the system of M. Neckar. The sea- ports, the universities, the great commercial towns, should all have their separate organs in the parliament of a great country. There should be some means of bringing in active, able, young men, who would submit to the labour of business, from the stimulus of honour and wealth. Others should be there expressly to speak the sentiments and defend the interests of the executive. Every popular assembly must be grossly im- perfect that is not composed of such heterogeneous materials as these. Our own parliament may, perhaps, contain within itself too many of that species of representatives who could never have arrived at the dignity under a pure and perfect system of election ; but, for all the practical purposes of go- vernment, amidst a great majority fairly elected by the people, we should always wish to see a certain number of the legislative body representing in- terests very distinct from those of the people. The legislative part of his constitution M. Neckar manages in the following manner. There are two councils, the great and the little. The great council is composed of five members from each department, elected in the manner we have just described, and amounting to the number of six hundred. The as- sembly is re-elected every five years. No qualification* of property is neces- sary to its members, who receive each a salary of 12,000 livres. No one is eligible to the assembly before the age of twenty-five years. The little national council consists of one hundred mem- bers, or from that number to one hun- dred and twenty ; one for each department. It is re-elected every ten years ; its members must be thirty years of age, and they receive the same salary as the members of the great council. For the election of the little council, each of the five Chambers of Indication, in every department, gives in the name of one candidate; and, from the five so named, the same voters who choose the great council select one. The municipal officers enjoy, in this election, the same right of recommending one of the candidates to the people ; a privilege which they would certainly exercise indirectly, without a law, wherever they could exercise it with any effect, and the influence of which the sanction of the law would at all times rather diminish than increase. The grand national council com- mences all deliberations which concern public order and the interest of the state, with the exception of those only which belong to finance. Nevertheless, the executive and the little council have it in their power to propose any law for the consideration of the grand council. When a law has passed the two councils, and received the sanction of the executive senate it becomes binding upon the people. If the executive senate disapprove of any law presented to them for their adoption, they are to send it back to the two councils for their reconsidera- tion ; but if it pass these two bodies again, with the approbation of two- thirds of the members of each assembly, the executive has no longer the power of withholding its assent. All mea- sures of finance are to initiate with government. We believe M. Neckar to be right in his idea of not exacting any qualifica- tion of property in his legislative as- * Nothing can be more absurd than our qualification for parliament : it is nothing but a foolish and expensive lie on parchment. NECKAR'S LAST VIEWS. 21 semblies. When men are left to choose their own governors, they are guided in their choice by some one of those motives which has always commanded their homage and admiration : if they do not choose wealth, they choose birth or talents, or military fame ; and of all these species of pre-eminence, a large popular assembly should be constituted. In England, the laws requiring that members of parliament should be possessed of certain property are (except in the instance of mem- bers for counties) practically repealed. In the salaries of the members of the two councils, with the exception of j the expense, there is, perhaps, no great balance of good or harm. To some men it would be an inducement to be- come senators ; to others, induced by more honourable motives, it would af- ford the means of supporting that si- tuation without disgrace. Twenty-five years of age is certainly too late a period for the members of the great council. Of what astonishing displays of eloquence and talent should we have been de- prived in this country under the adop- tion of a similar rule ! The institution of two assemblies constitutes a check upon the passion and precipitation by which the resolu- tions of any single popular assembly may occasionally be governed. The chances that one will correct the other do not depend solely upon their divi- duality, but upon the different ingre- dients of which they are composed, and that difference of system and spirit which results from a difference of conformation. Perhaps M. Neckar has not sufficiently attended to this con- sideration. The difference between his two assemblies is not very material; and the same popular fury which marked the proceedings of the one would not be very sure of meeting with an adequate corrective in the dignified coolness and wholesome gravity of the other. All power which is tacitly allowed to devolve upon the executive part of a government, from the experience that it is most conveniently placed there, is both safer, and less likely to be com- plained of, than that which is conferred upon it by law. If M. Neckar Lad placed some agents of the executive in the great council, all measures of finance would, in fact, have originated in them, without any exclusive right to such initiation ; but the right of ini- tiation, from M. Neckar's contrivance, is likely to excite that discontent in the people, which alone can render it dangerous and objectionable. In this plan of a republic, everything seems to depend upon the purity and the moderation of its governors. The executive has no connection with the great council ; the members of the great council have no motive of hope, or interest, to consult the wishes of the executive. The assembly, which is to give example to the nation, and enjoy its confidence, is composed of six hun- dred men, whose passions have no other control than that pure love of the public, which it is hoped they may possess, and that cool investigation of interests, which it is hoped they may pursue. Of the effects of such a constitution, everything must be conjectured ; for experience enables us to make no as- sertion respecting it. There is only one government in the modern world, which from the effects it has produced, and the time it has endured, can with justice be called good and free. Its constitution, in books, contains the description of a legislative assembly, similar to that of M. Neckar's. Hap- pily, perhaps, for the people, the share they have really enjoyed in its election, is much less ample than that allotted to them in this republic of the closet. How long a really popular assembly would tolerate any rival and co-existing power in the state for what period the feeble executive, and the untitled, unblazoned peers of a republic, could stand against it whether any insti- tutions compatible with the essence and meaning of a republic, could pre- vent it from absorbing all the dignity, the popularity, and the power of the state, are questions that we leave for the resolution of wiser heads : with the sincerest joy, that we have only a theoretical interest in stating them.* The executive senate is to consist of * That interest is at present not quite so theoretical as it was. C 3 22 NECKAR'S LAST VIEWS. seven ; and the right of presenting the candidates, atid selectingyran the can- didates alternately from one assembly to the other, i.e. on a vacancy, the great council present three candidates to the little council, who select one from that number ; and on the next vacancy, by the inversion of this process, the little council present, and the great council select ; and so alternately. The members of the executive must be thirty-five years of age. Their mea- sures are determined by a majority. The president, called the Consul, has a casting vote; his salary is fixed at 300,000 livres ; that of all the other senators at 60,000 livres. The office of consul is annual. Every senator en- joys it in his turn. Every year one senator goes out, unless re-elected ; which he may be once, and even twice, if he unite three fourths of the votes of each council in his favour. The exe- cutive shall name to all civil and mili- tary offices, except to those of mayors and municipalities. Political negotia- tions, and connections with foreign countries, fall under the direction of the executive. Declarations of war or peace, when presented by the executive to the legislative body, are to be adopted, the first by a majority of three fifths, the last by a simple majority. The parade, honours, and ceremonies of the executive, devolve upon the consul alone. The members of the senate, upon going out of office, become mem- bers of the little council, to the number of seven. Upon the vacation of an eighth senator, the oldest ex-senator in the little council resigns his seat to make room for him. All respon- sibility rests upon the consul alone, who has a right to stop the proceedings of a majority of the executive senate, by declaring them unconstitutional ; and if the majority persevere, in spite of this declaration, the dispute is re- ferred to and decided by a secret com- mittee of the little council. M. Neckar takes along with him the same mistake through the whole of his constitution, by conferring the choice of candidates on one body, and the election of the member on another : so that though the alternation would take place between the two councils, it would turn out to be in an order directly op- posite to that which was intended. We perfectly acquiesce in the rea- sons M. Neckar has alleged for the preference given to an executive con- stituted of many individuals, rather than of one. The prize of supreme power is too tempting to admit of fair play in the game of ambition ; and it is wise to lessen its value by dividing it : at least it is wise to do so under a form of government that cannot admit the better expedient of rendering the exe- cutive hereditary ; an expedient (gross and absurd as it seems to be) the best calculated, perhaps, to obviate the ef- fects of ambition upon the stability of governments, by narrowing the field on which it acts, and the object for which it contends. The Americans have determined otherwise, and adopted an elective presidency: but there are innumerable circumstances, as M, Neckar very justly observes, which render the example of America inap- plicable to other governments. Ame- rica is a federative republic, and the extensive jurisdiction of the individual States exonerates the President from so great a portion of the cares of do- mestic government, that he may almost be considered as a mere minister of foreign affairs. America presents such an immediate, and such a seducing species of provision to all its inhabi- tants, that it has no idle discontented populace ; its population amounts only to six millions, and it is not condensed in such masses as the population of Europe. After all, an experiment of twenty years is never to be cited in politics ; nothing can be built upon such a slender inference. Even if America were to remain stationary, she might find that she had presented too fascinating and irresistible an ob- ject to human ambition : of course, that peril is increased by every aug- mentation of a people, who are hasten- ing on, with rapid and irresistible pace, to the highest eminences of human grandeur. Some contest for power there must be in every free state : but the contest for vicarial and deputed power, as it implies the presence of a NECKAE'S LAST VIEWS. 23 moderator and a master, is more pru- dent than the struggle for that which is original and supreme. The difficulty of reconciling the responsibility of the executive with its dignity, M. Neckar foresees ; and states, but does not remedy. An ir- responsible executive, the jealousy of a republic would never tolerate ; and its amenability to punishment, by de- grading it in the eyes of the people, diminishes its power. All the leading features of civil liberty are copied from the constitution of this country, with hardly any variation. Having thus finished his project of & republic, M. Neckar proposes the government of this country as the best model of a temperate and hereditary monarchy ; pointing out such altera- tions in it as the genius of the French people, the particular circumstances in which they are placed, or the abuses which have crept into our policy, may require. From one or the other of those motives he re-establishes the salique law * ; forms his elections after the same manner as that previously described in his scheme of a republic ; and excludes the clergy from the House of Peers. This latter assembly M. Neckar composes of 250 hereditary peers, chosen from the best families in France, and of 50 assistant peers en- joying that dignity for life only, and no- minated by the Crown. The number of hereditary peers is limited as above; the peerage goes only in the male line ; and upon each peer is perpetually en- tailed landed property to the amount of 30,000 livres. This partial creation of peers for life only, appears to remedy a very material defect in the English constitution. An hereditary legislative aristocracy not only adds to the dignity of the throne, and establishes that gra- dation of ranks which is perhaps abso- lutely necessary to its security, but it transacts a considerable share of the business of the nation, as well in the framing of laws as in the discharge of its juridical functions. But men of * A most sensible and valuable law, ban- ishing gallantry and chivalry from Cabinets, and preventing the amiable antics of grave statesmen. rank and wealth, though they are in- terested by a splendid debate, will not submit to the drudgery of business, much less can they be supposed con- versant in all the niceties of law ques- tions. It is therefore necessary to add to their number a certain portion of novi homines, men of established cha- racter for talents, and upon whom the previous tenor of their lives has neces- sarily impressed the habits of business. The evil of this is that the title descends to their posterity, without the talents and the utility that procured it ; and the dignity of the peerage is impaired by the increase of its numbers : not only so, but as the peerage is the re- ward of military, as well as the earnest of civil services, and as the annuity commonly granted with it is only for one or two lives, we are in some danger of seeing a race of nobles wholly de- pendent upon the Crown for their sup- port, and sacrificing their political freedom to their necessities. These evils are effectually, as it should seem, obviated by the creation of a certain* number of peers for life only ; and the increase of power which it seems to give to the Crown is very fairly coun- teracted by the exclusion of the episco- pacy, and the limitation of the hereditary peerage. As the weight of business in the Upper House would principally devolve upon the created peers, and as they would hardly arrive at that dignity without having previously acquired great civil or military reputation, the consideration they would enjoy wonld be little inferior to that of the other part of the aristocracy. When the noblesse of nature are fairly opposed to the noblesse created by political institu- tions, there is little fear that the former should suffer by the comparison. If the clergy are suffered to sit in the Lower House, the exclusion of the episcopacy from the Upper House is of less importance : but in some part of the legislative bodies, the interests of * The most useless and offensive tumour in the body politic, is the titled son of a great man whose merit has placed him in the peerage. The name, face, and perhaps the pension remain. The daemon is gone : or there is a slight flavour from the cask, but it is empty. C 4 24 NECKAR'S LAST VIEWS. the church ought unquestionably to be represented. This consideration M. Neckar wholly passes over.* Though this gentleman considers an hereditary monarchy as preferable in the abstract, he deems it impossible that such a government could be established in France, under her present circumstances, from the impracticability of establishing with it an hereditary aristocracy : because the property, and the force of opinion, which constituted their real power, is no more, and cannot be restored. Though we entirely agree with M. Neckar, that an hereditary aristocracy is a necessary part of tem- perate monarchy, and that the latter must exist upon the base of the former, or not at all we are by no means converts to the very decided opinion he has expressed of the impossibility of restoring them both to France. We are surprised that M. Neckar should attempt to build any strong ar- gument upon the durability of opinions in nations that' are about to undergo, or that have recently undergone, great political changes. What opinion was there in favour of a republic in' 1780 ? Or against it in 1794? Or, what opinion is there now in favour of it, in 1802 ? Is not the tide of opinions, at this moment, in France, setting back with a strength equal to its flow ? and is there not reason to presume, that, for some time to come, their ancient institutions may be adored with as much fury as they were destroyed ? If opinion can revive in favour of kings (and M. Neckar allows it may), why not in favour of nobles ? It is time their property is in the hands of other persons ; and the whole of that species of proprietors will exert themselves to the utmost to prevent a restoration so pernicious to their interests. - The ob- stacle is certainly of a very formidable nature. But why this weight of pro- perty, so weak a weapon of defence to * The parochial clergy are as much unre- presented in the English Parliament as they are in the parliament of Brobdignag. The bishops make just what laws they please, and the bearing they may have on the happiness of the clergy at large never for one moment comes into the serious con- sideration of Parliament. its ancient, should be deemed so irresist- ible in the hands of its present, posses- sors, we are at a loss to conceive ; unless, indeed, it be supposed, that antiquity of possession diminishes the sense of right and the vigour of retention ; and that men will struggle harder to keep what they have acquired only yesterday, than that which they have possessed, by themselves or their ancestors, for six centuries. In France, the inferiority of the price of revolutionary lands, to others, is im- mense. Of the former species, church land is considerably dearer than the forfeited estates of emigrants. Whence the difference of price, but from the estimated difference of security ? Can any fact display, more strongly, the state of public opinion with regard to the probability of a future restoration of these estates, either partial or total ? and can any circumstance facilitate the execution of such a project, more than the general belief that it will be exe- cuted ? M. Neckar allows, that the impediments to the formation of a republic are very serious ; but thinks they would all yield to the talents and activity of Bonaparte, if he were to dedicate himself to the superintendence of such a government during the period of its infancy: of course, therefore, he is to suppose the same power dedicated to the formation of an hereditary monarchy: or his parallel of difficulties is unjust, and his preference irrational. Bonaparte could represent the person of a monarch, during his life, as well as he could represent the executive of a republic ; and if he could overcome the turbulence of electors, to whom freedom was new, he could appease the jealousy that his generals would enter- tain of the returning nobles. Indeed, without such powerful intervention, this latter objection does not appear to us to be by any means insuperable. If the history of our own restoration were to be acted over again in France, and royalty and aristocracy brought back by the military successor of Bonaparte, it certainly could not be done without a very liberal distribution of favours among the great leaders of the army. Jealousy of the executive is one NECKAR'S LAST VIEWS. 25 feature of a republic ; in consequence, that government is clogged with a multiplicity of safeguards and restric- tions, which render it unfit for investi- gating complicated details, and manag- ing extensive relations with vigour, consistency, and despatch. A republic, therefore, is better fitted for a little stage than a large one. A love of equality is another very strong principle in a republic ; there- fore it does not, tolerate hereditary honour or wealth; and all the effect produced upon the minds of the people by this factitious power, is lost, and the government weakened : but in proportion as the government is less able to command, the people should be more willing to obey ; therefore, a re- public is better suited to a moral than an immoral people. A people who have recently experi- enced great evils from the privileged orders and from monarchs, love repub- lican forms so much, that the warmth of their inclination supplies, in some degree, the defect of their institutions. Immediately, therefore, upon the de- struction of despotism, a republic may be preferable to a limited monarchy. And yet, though narrowness of ter- ritory, purity of morals, and recent escape from despotism, appear to be the circumstances which most strongly recommend a republic, M. Neckar pro- poses it to the most numerous and the most profligate people in Europe, who are disgusted with the very name of liberty, from the incredible evils they have suffered in pursuit of it. Whatever be the species of free go- vernment adopted by France, she can adopt none without the greatest peril. The miserable dilemma in which men livingunder bad governments are placed, is, that.without a radical revolution, they may never be able to gain liberty at all, and, with it, the attainment of liberty appears to be attended with almost insuperable difficulties. To call upon a nation, on a sudden, totally destitute of such knowledge and experience, to perform all the manifold functions of a free constitution, is to entrust valuable, delicate, and abstruse mechanism, to the rudest skill and the grossest ignor- ance Public acts may confer liberty ; but experience only can teach a people to use it; and, till they have gained that experience, they are liable to tumult, to jealousy, to collision of powers, and to every evil to which men are ex- posed, who are desirous of preserving a great good, without knowing how to set about it. In an old-established system of liberty, like our own, the en- croachments which one department of the State makes on any other are slow, and hardly intentional ; the political feelings and the constitutional know- ledge, which every Englishman pos- sesses, creates a public voice, which tends to secure the tranquillity of the whole. Amid the crude sentiments and new- born precedents of sudden liberty, the Crown might destroy the Commons, or the Commons the Crown, almost before the people had formed any opinion of the nature of their contention. A nation grown free in a single day is a child born with the limbs and the vigour of a man, who would take a drawn sword for his rattle, and set the house in a blaze, that he might chuckle over the splendour. Why can factions eloquence pro- duce such limited effects in this country ? Partly because we are ac- customed to it, and know how to ap- preciate it. We are acquainted with popular assemblies ; and the language of our Parliament produces the effect it ought upon public opinion, because long experience enables us to conjec- ture the real motives by which men are actuated ; to separate the vehemence of party spirit from the language of principle and truth ; and to discover whom we can trust, and whom we cannot. The want of all this, and of much more than this, must retard, for a very long period, the practical enjoy- ment of liberty in France, and present very serious obstacles to her prosperity; obstacles little dreamed of by men who seem to measure the happiness and future grandeur of France by degrees of longitude and latitude, and who believe she might acquire liberty with as much facility as she could acquire Switzerland or Naples. M. Neckar's observations on the sr, AUSTRALIA. finances of France, and on finance in general, are useful, entertaining, and not above the capacity of every reader. France, he says, at the -beginning of 1781, had 438 millions of revenue; and, at present, 540 millions. The State paid, in 1781, about 215 millions in pensions, the interest of perpetual debts, and debts for life. It pays, at present, 80 millions in interests and pensions, and owes about 12 millions for anticipations on the public revenue. A considerable share of the increase of the revenue is raised upon the con- quered countries ; and the people are liberated from tithes, corvees, and the tax on salt. This certainly is a mag- nificent picture of finance. The best informed people at Paris, who would be very glad to consider it as a copy from life, dare not contend that it is so. At least, we sincerely ask pardon of M. Neckar, if our information as to this point be not correct ; but we believe he is generally considered to have been misled by the public financial reports. In addition to the obvious causes which keep the interest of money so high in France, M. Neckar states one which we shall present to our readers : "There is one means for the establish- ment of credit (he says) equally important with the others which I have stated a sentiment of respect for morals, sufficiently diffused to overawe the government and intimidate it from treating with bad faith any solemn engagements contracted in the name of the state. It is this respect for morals which seems at present to have dis- appeared : a respect which the Revolution has destroyed, and which is unquestionably one of the firmest supports of national faith." The terrorists of this country are so extremely alarmed at the power of Bonaparte, that they ascribe to him resources, which M. Neckar very justly observes to be incompatible despotism and credit. Now, clearly, if he be so omnipotent in France as he is repre- sented to be, there is an end of ail credit; for nobody will trust him whom nobody can compel to pay ; and if he estab- lishes a credit, he loses all that tem- porary vigour which is derived from a revolutionary government. Either the despotism or the credit of France di- rected against this country would be highly formidable ; but, both together, can never be directed at the same time. In this part of his work, M. Neckar very justly points out one of the most capital detects of Mr. Pitt's administra- tion ; who always supposed that the power of France was to cease with her credit, and measured the period of her existence by the depreciation of her assignats. Whereas, France was never more powerful than when she was to- tally unable to borrow a single shilling in the whole circumference of Europe, and when her assignats were not worth the paper on which they were stamped. Such are the principal contents of M. Neckar's very respectable work. Whether, in the course of that work, his political notions appear to be de- rived from a successful study of the passions of mankind, and whether his plan for the establishment of a repub- lican government in France, for the ninth or tenth time, evinces a more sanguine, or a more sagacious mind, than the rest of the world, we would rather our readers should decide for themselves, than expose ourselves to any imputation of arrogance by de- ciding for them. But when we con- sider the pacific and impartial dispo- sition which characterises the Last Views on Politics and Finance, the serene benevolence which it always displays, and the pure morals which it always inculcates, we cannot help en- tertaining a high respect for its vene- rable author, and feeling a fervent wish that the last views of every pub- lic man may proceed from a heart as upright, and be directed to objects as good. AUSTRALIA. (E. REVIEW, 1803.) Account of tlie English Colony of New South Wales. By Lieutenant-Colonel Collins, of the Royal Marines. Vol. II. 4to. Cadell and Davies, London. To introduce an European population, and, consequently, the arts and civili- sation of Europe into such an un- trodden country as New Holland, is to AUSTRALIA. confer a lasting and important benefit upon the world. If man be destined for perpetual activity, and if the proper objects of that activity be the subjuga- tion of physical difficulties, and of his own dangerous passions, how absurd are those systems which proscribe the acquisitions of science and the re- straints of law, and would arrest the prcjrress of man in the rudest and earliest stages of his existence! In- deed, opinions so very extravagant in their nature must be attributed rather to the wantonness of paradox than to sober reflection, and extended inquiry. To suppose the savage state perma- nent, we must suppose the numbers of those who compose it to be stationary, and the various passions by which men have actually emerged from it to be extinct ; and this is to suppose man a very different being from what he really is. To prove such a permanence beneficial (if it were possible), we must have recourse to matter of fact, and judge of the rude state of society, not from the praises of tranquil literati, but from the narratives of those who have seen it through a nearer and better medium than that of imagination. There is an argument, however, for the continuation of evil, drawn from the ignorance of good ; by which it is contended, that to teach men their si- tuation can be better, is to teach them that it is bad, and to destroy that hap- piness which always results from an ignorance that any greater happiness is within our reach. All pains and pleasures are clearly by comparison; but the most deplorable savage enjoys a sufficient contrast of good, to know that the grosser evils from which civi- lisation rescues him are evils. A New Hollander seldom passes a year with- out suffering from famine; the small- pox falls upon him like a plagne ; he dreads those calamities, though he does not know how to avert them; but, doubtless, would find his happiness in- creased, if they were averted. To deny this, is to suppose that men are recon- ciled to evils, because they are inevit- able ; and yet hurricanes, earthquakes, bodily decay, and death, stand highest in the catalogue of human calamities. Where civilisation gives birth to new comparisons unfavourable to savage life, with the information that a greater good is possible, it generally connects the means of attaining it. The savage no sooner becomes ashamed of his nakedness, than the loom is ready to clothe him ; the forge prepares for him more perfect tools, when he is disgusted with the awkwardness of his own : his weakness is strengthened, and his wants supplied, as soon as they are discovered ; and the use of the discovery is, that it enables him to derive from comparison the best proofs of present happiness. A man born blind is ignorant of the pleasures of which he is deprived. After the restoration of his sight, his happiness will be increased from two causes ; from the delight he ex- periences at the novel accession of power, and from the contrast he will always be enabled to make between his two situations, long after the plea- sure of novelty has ceased. For these reasons, it is humane to restore him to sight. But, however beneficial to the gene- ral interests of mankind the civilisation of barbarous countries may be con- sidered to be, in this particular instance of it, the interest of Great Britain would seem to have been very little consulted. With fanciful schemes of universal good we have no business to meddle. Why we are to erect peni- tentiary-houses and prisons at the distance of half the diameter of the globe, and to incur the enormous ex- pense of feeding and transporting their inhabitants to and at such a distance, it is extremely difficult to discover. It certainly is not from any deficiency of barren islands near our own coast, nor of uncultivated wastes in the interior; and if we were sufficiently fortunate to be wanting in such species of accommo- dation, we might discover in Canada, or the West Indies, or on the coast of Africa, a climate malignant enough, or a soil sufficiently sterile, to revenge all the injuries which have been inflicted on society by pickpockets, larcenists, and petty felons. Upon the founda- tion of a new colony, and especially one peopled by criminals, there is a 28 AUSTRALIA. disposition in Government (where any circumstance in the commission of the crime affords the least pretence for the commutation) to convert capital pun- ishments into transportation ; and by these means to hold forth a very dan- gerous, though certainly a very unin- tentional, encouragement to offences. And when the history of the colony has been attentively perused in the parish of St. Giles, the ancient avoca- tion of picking pockets will certainly not become more discreditable from the knowledge that it may eventually lead to the possession of a farm of a thou- sand acres on the river Hawkesbury. Since the benevolent Howard attacked our prisons, incarceration has become not only healthy but elegant; and a county-jail is precisely the place to which any pauper might wish to retire, to gratify his taste for magnificence, as well as for comfort. Upon the same principle there is some risk that trans- portation will be considered as one of the surest roads to honour and to wealth; and that no felon will hear a verdict of " not guilty" without con- sidering himself as cut off in the fairest career of prosperity. It is foolishly believed, that the colony of Botany Bay unites our moral and commercial inte- rests, and that we shall receive here- after an ample equivalent, in bales of goods, for all the vices we export. Un- fortunately, the expense we have in- curred in founding the colony, will not retard the natural progress of its emancipation, or prevent the attacks of other nations, who will be as desirous of reaping the fruit, as if they had sown the seed. It is a colony, besides, begun under every possible disadvantage ; it is too distant to be long governed, or well defended; it is undertaken, not by the voluntary association of individuals, but by Government, and by means of compulsory labour. A nation must, indeed, be redundant in capital, that will expend it where the hopes of a just return are so very small. It may be a curious consideration, to reflect what we are to do with this colony when it comes to years of dis- cretion. Are we to spend another hundred millions of money in dis- covering its strength, and to humble ourselves again before a fresh set of Washingtons and Franklins ? The moment after we have suffered such serious mischief from the escape of the old tiger, we are breeding up a young cub, whom we cannot render less fero- cious, or more secure. If we are gradually to manumit the colony, as it is more and more capable of protecting itself, the degrees of emancipation, and the periods at which they are to take place, will be judged of very differently by the two nations. But we confess ourselves not to be so sanguine as to suppose, that a spirited and commercial people would, in spite of the example of America, ever consent to abandon their sovereignty over an important colony, without a struggle. Endless blood and treasure will be exhausted to support a tax on kangaroos' skins ; faithful Commons will go on voting fresh supplies to support a just a?id necessary war ; and Newgate, then be- come a quarter of the world, will evince a heroism, not unworthy of the great characters by whom she was originally peopled. The experiment, however, is not less interesting in a moral, because it is objectionable in a commercial point of view. It is an object of the highest curiosity, thus to have the growth of a nation subjected to our examination ; to trace it by such faithful records, from the first day of its existence ; and to gather that knowledge of the progress of human affairs, from actual experi- ence, which is considered to be only accessible to the conjectural reflections of enlightened minds. Human nature, under very old go- vernments, is so trimmed, and pruned, and ornamented, and led into such a variety of factitious shapes, that we are almost ignorant of the appearance it would assume, if it were left more to itself. From such an experiment as that now before us, we shall be better able to appreciate what circumstances of our situation are owing to those permanent laws by which all men are influenced, and what to the accidental positions in which we have been placed. AUSTRALIA. 29 New circumstances will throw new light upon the effects of our religious, political, and economical institutions, if we cause them to be adopted as models in our rising empire ; and if we do not, we shall- estimate the effects of their presence, by observing, those which are produced by their non-ex- istence. The history of the colony is at present, however, in its least interesting state, on account of the great preponderance of depraved inhabitants, whose crimes and irregularities give a monotony to the narrative, which it cannot lose, till the respectable part of the community come to bear a greater proportion to the criminal. These Memoirs of Colonel Collins resume the history of the colony from the period at which he concluded it in his former volume, September, 1796, and continue it down to August, 1801. They are written in the style of a journal, which, though not the most agreeable mode cf Conveying informa- tion, is certainly the most authentic, and contrives to banish the suspicion (and most probably the reality) of the interference of a book-maker a species of gentlemen who are now almost be- come necessary to deliver naval and military authors in their literary labours, though they do not always atone, by orthography and grammar, for the sacrifice of truth and simplicity. Mr. Collins's book is written with great plainness and candour : he appears to be a man always meaning well ; of good, plain, common sense; and com- posed of those well- wearing materials, which adapt a person for situations where genius and refinement would only prove a source of misery and of error. We shall proceed to lay before our readers an analysis of the most impor- tant matter contained in this volume. The natives in the vicinity of Port Jackson stand extremely low, in point of civilisation, when compared with many other savages, with whom the discoveries of Caprain Cook have made us acquainted. Their notions of re- ligion exceed even that degree of ab- surdity which we are led to expect in the creed of a barbarous people. In politics, they appear to have scarcely advanced beyond family-government. Huts they have none; and, in all their economical inventions, there is a rude- ness and deficiency of ingenuity, un- pleasant, when contrasted with the in- stances of dexterity with which the descriptions and importations of oar navigators have rendered us so familiar. Their numbers appear to us to be very small : a fact, at once, indicative either of the ferocity of manners in any people, or, more probably, of the ster- ility of their country ; but which, in the present instance, proceeds from both these causes. " Graining every day (says Mr. Collins) some further knowledge of the inhuman habits and customs of these people, their being so thinly scattered through the country ceased to be a matter of surprise. It was almost daily seen, that from some trifling cause or other, they were con- tinually living in a state of warfare : to this must be added their brutal treatment of their women, who are themselves equally destructive to the measure of population, by the horrid and cruel custom of en- deavouring to cause a miscarriage, which their female acquaintance effect by pressing the body in such a way, as to destroy the infant in the womb; which violence not unfrequently occasions the death of the unnatural mother also. To this they have recourse to avoid the trouble of carrying the infant about when born, which, when it is very young, or at the breast, is the (Juty of the woman. The operation for this destructive purpose is termed Mee-bra. The burying an infant (when at the breast) with the mother, if she should die, is an- other shocking cause of the thinness of po- pulation among them. The fact that such an operation as the Mee-bra was practised by these wretched people, was communi- cated by one of the natives to the prin- cipal surgeon of the settlement." (p. 124, 125.) It is remarkable, that the same paucity of numbers has been observed in every part of New Holland which has hitherto been explored ; and yet there is not the smallest reason to conjecture that the population of it has been very recent ; nor do the people bear any marks of descent from the inhabitants of the numerous islands by which this great continent is surrounded. 30 AUSTRALIA. The force of population can only be resisted by some great physical evils ; and many of the causes of this scarcity of human beings, which Mr. Collins refers to the ferocity of the natives, are ultimately referrible to the difficulty of support. We have always considered this phenomenon as a symptom ex- tremely unfavourable to the future destinies of this country. It is easy to launch out into eulogiums of the fertility of nature in particular spots ; but the most probable reason why a country that has been long inhabited, is not well inhabited, is, that it is not calculated to support many inhabitants without great labour. It is difficult to suppose any other causes powerful enough to resist the impetuous tendency of man to obey that mandate for in- crease and multiplication, which has certainly been better observed than any other declaration of the Divine will ever revealed to us. There appears to be some tendency to civilisation, and some tolerable notions of justice, in a practice very similar to our custom of duelling ; for duelling, though barbarous in civilised, is a highly civilised institution among barbarous people ; and when compared to assassination, is a prodigious victory gained over human passions. Whoever kills another in the neighbourhood of Botany Bay, is compelled to appear at an appointed day before the friends of the deceased, and to sustain the attacks of their missile weapons. If he is killed, he is deemed to have met with a de- served death ; if not, he is considered to have expiated the crime for the commission of which he was exposed to the danger. There is in this institu- tion a command over present impulses, a prevention of secrecy in the gratifi- cation of revenge, and a wholesome correction of that passion, by the effects of public observation, which evince such a superiority to the mere animal passions of ordinary savages, and form such a contrast to the rest of the history of this people, that it may be considered as altogether an anomalous and inex- plicable fact. The natives differ very much in the progress they have made in the arts of economy. Those to the North of Port Jackson evince a con. siderable degree of ingenuity and con- trivance in the structure of their houses, which are rendered quite impervious to the weather, while the inhabitants at Port Jackson have no houses at all. At Port Dalrymple, in Van Diemen's Land, there was every reason to believe the natives were unacquainted with the use of canoes ; a fact extremely em- barrassing to those who indulge them- selves in speculating on the genealogy of nations ; because it reduces them to the necessity of supposing that the progenitors of this insular people swam over from the main land, or that they were aboriginal ; a species of dilemma which effectually bars all conjecture upon the intermixture of nations. It is painful to learn, that the natives have begun to plunder and rob in so very alarming a manner, that it has been repeatedly found necessary to fire upon them ; and many have, in conse- quence, fallen victims to their rash- ness. The soil is found to produce coal in vast abundance, salt, lime, very fine iron ore, timber fit for all purposes, excellent flax, and a tree, the bark of which is admirably adapted for cordage. The discovery of coal (which, by the by, we do not believe was ever before dis- covered so near the Line) is probably rather a disadvantage than an advan- tage ; because, as it lies extremely favourable for sea carriage, it may prove to be a cheaper fuel than wood, and thus operate as a discouragement to the clearing of lands. The soil upon the sea-coast has not been found to be very productive, though it improves in partial spots in the interior. The cli- mate is healthy, in spite of the prodi- gious heat of the summer months, at which period the thermometer has been observed to stand in the shade at 107, and the leaves of garden vegetables to fall into dust, as if they had been con- sumed with fire. But one of the most insuperable defects in New Holland, considered as the future country of a great people, is the want of large rivers penetrating very far into the interior, and navigable for small craft. The Hawkesbury, the largest river yet dis- AUSTEALTA. covered, is not accessible to boats for more than twenty miles. This same river occasionally rises above its natural level, to the astonishing height of fifty feet ; and has swept away, more than once, the labours and the hopes of the new people exiled to its banks. The laborious acquisition of any good we have long enjoyed is apt to be forgotten. We walk and talk, and run and read, without remembering the long and severe labour dedicated to the cultivation of these powers, the formidable obstacles opposed to our progress, or the infinite satisfaction with which we overcame them. He who lives among a civilised people may estimate the labour by which society has been brought into such a state, by reading in these annals of Botany Bay, the account of a whole nation exerting itself to new floor the government- house, repair the hospital, or build a wooden receptacle for stores. Yet the time may come when some Botany Bay Tacitus shall record the crimes of an emperor lineally descended from a London pick-pocket, or paint the valour with which he has led his New Hol- landers into the heart of China. At that period, when the Grand Lahma is sending to supplicate alliance; when the spice islands are purchasing peace with nutmegs; when enormous tributes of green tea and nankeen are wafted into Port Jackson, and landed on the quays of Sydney, who will ever re- member that the sawing of a few planks, and the knocking together of a few nails, were such a serious trial of the energies and resources of the nation? The government of the colony, after enjoying some little respite from this kind of labour, has begun to turn its attention to the coarsest and most neces- sary species of manufactures, for which their wool appears to be extremely well adapted. The state of stock in the whole settlement, in June 1801, was about 7,000 sheep, 1,300 head of cattle, 250 horses, and 5,000 hogs. There were under cultivation at the same time, between 9 and 10,000 acres of corn. Three years and a half before this, in December 1797, the numbers were as follows : Sheep, 2,500 ; cattle, 350 ; horses, 100 ; hogs, 4,300 ; acres of land in cultivation, 4,000. The temptation to salt pork, and to sell it for Government store, is probably the reason why the breed of hogs has been so much kept under. The increase of cultivated lands between the two periods is prodigious. It appears (p. 319) that the whole number of con- victs imported between January 1788 and June 1801 (a period of thirteen years and a half), has been about 5,000, of whom 1,1 57 were females. The total amount of the population on the continent, as well as at Norfolk Island, amounted, June, 1801, to 6,500 persons; of these, 766 were children born at Port Jackson. In the returns from Norfolk Island, children are not dis- criminated from adults. Let us add to the imported population of 5,000 con- victs, 500 free people, which (if we consider that a regiment of soldiers has been kept up there) is certainly a very small allowance; then, in thirteen years and a half, the imported population has increased only by two-thirteenths. If we suppose that something more than a fifth of the free people were women, this will make the total of women 1,270 ; of whom we may fairly presume that 800 were capable of child-bearing; and if we suppose the children of Nor- folk Island to bear the same proportion to the adults as at Port Jackson, their total number at both settlements will be 9 1 3 ; a state of infantine population which certainly does not justify the very high eulogiums which have been made on the fertility of the female sex in the climate of New Holland. The Governor, who appears on all occasions to be an extremely well-dis- posed man, is not quite so conversant in the best writings on political economy as we could wish: and indeed (though such knowledge would be extremely serviceable to the interests which this Eomulus of the Southern Pole is super- intending), it is rather unfair to exact from a superintendent of pickpockets, that he should be a philosopher. In the 18th page we have the following information respecting the price of labour: " Some representations having been made 82 AUSTRALIA. to the Governor from the settlers in diffe- rent parts of the colony, purporting that the wages demanded by the free labouring people whom they had occasion to hire was so exorbitant as to run away with the greatest part of the profit of their farms, il was recommended to them to appoint quarterly meetings among themselves, to be held in each district, for the purpose < >l settling the rate of wages to labourers in every different kind of work ; that, to this end, a written agreement should be entered into, and subscribed by each settler, a breach of which should be punished by a penalty, to be fixed by the general opinion, and made recoverable in a court of civil judicature. It was recommended to them to apply this forfeiture to the common benefit j and they were to transmit to the head-quarters a copy of their agreement, with the rate of wages which they should from time to time establish, for the Gover- nor's information, holding their first meet- ing as early as possible." And again, at p. 24, the following arrangements on that head are enacted : " In pursuance of the order which was issued in January last, recommending the settlers to appoint meetings, at which they should fix the rate of wages that it might be proper to pay for the different kinds of labour which their farms should require, the settlers had submitted to the Governor the several resolutions that they had entered into, by which he was enabled to fix a rate that he conceived to be fair and equitable between the farmer and the labourer. "The following prices of labour were now established, viz. f.d. Polling forest timber, per acre - 9 Ditto in brush ground, ditto - 10 6 Burning off open ground, ditto - 1 5 Ditto brush ground ditto 1 10 Breaking up new ground, ditto - 1 4 Chipping fresh ground ditto 12 3 Chipping in wheat, ditto -070 Breaking up stubbleor corn ground Ijrf. per rod, or per acre - - 16 8 Planting Indian corn, per acre -070 Hilling ditto, ditto -070 Reaping wheat, ditto - 10 Thrashing do., per bushel, ditto - 9 Pulling and husking Indian corn, per bushel 006 Splitting paling of seven feet long, per hundred - - . - 8 Ditto of five feet long, per hundred 016 Sawing plank, ditto 070 Ditching per rod, three feet wide and three feet deep - - - 10 s. d. Carriage of wheat, per bushel, per mile - - - - - -002 Ditto Indian corn, neat - - - 3 Yearly wages for labour, with board 10 00 Wages per week, with provisions, consisting of 4 lib. of salt pork, or 6 lib. of fresh, and 21 lib. of wheat, with vegetables - 6 A day's wages with board - - 1 Ditto without board - - - 2 6 A government-man allowed to officers or settlers in their own time - - - - - -00 10 Price of an axe - - - - 2 New steeling ditto - - - -006 A new hoe 019 A sickle 016 Hire of a boat to carry grain, per day 050 "The settlers were reminded, that, in order to prevent any kind of dispute be- tween the master and servant, when they should have occasion to hire a man for any length of time, they would find it most convenient to engage him for a quarter, half- year, or year, and to make their agreement in writing ; on which, should any dispute arise, an appeal to the magistrates would settle it." This is all very bad ; and if the Governor had cherished the intention of destroying the colony, he could have done nothing more detrimental to its interests. The high price of labour is the very corner-stone on which the prosperity of a new colony depends. It enables the poor man to live with ease ; and is the strongest in- citement to population, by rendering children rather a source of riches than of poverty. If the same difficulty of subsistence existed in new countries as in old, it is plain that the progress of population would be equally slow in each. The very circumstances which cause the difference are, that, in the latter, there is a competition among the labourers to be employed ; and, in the former, a competition among the oc- cupiers of land to obtain labourers. In the one, land is scarce, and men plenty; in the other, men are scarce, and land is plenty. To disturb this natural order of things (a practice injurious at all times) must be particularly so where the predominant disposition of the colonists is an aversion to labour, pro- AUSTRALIA. 33 duced by a long course of dissolute habits. In such cases the high prices of labour, which the Governor was so desirous of abating, bid fair not only to increase the agricultural prosperity, but to effect the moral reformation of the colony. We observe the same un- fortunate ignorance of the elementary principles of commerce in the attempts of the Governor to reduce the prices of the European commodities, by bulletins and authoritative interference, as if there were any other mode of lowering the price of an article (while the demand continues the same) but by increasing its quantity. The avaricious love of gain, which is so feelingly deplored, appears to us a principle which, in able hands, might be guided to the most salutary purposes. The object is to encourage the love of labour, which is best encouraged by the love of money. We have very great doubts on the policy of reserving the best timber on the estates as go- vernment timber. Such a reservation would probably operate as a check upon the clearing of lands, without attaining the object desired ; for the timber, instead of being immediately cleared, would be slowly destroyed, by the neglect or malice of the settlers whose lands it encumbered. Timber is such a drug in new countries, that it is at any time to be purchased for little more than the labour of cutting. To secure a supply of it by vexatious and invidious laws, is surely a work of supererogation and danger. The greatest evil which the Government has yet had to contend with is, the in- ordinate use of spirituous liquors; a passion which puts the interests of agriculture at variance with those of morals : for a dram-drinker will con- sume as much corn, in the form of alcohol, in one day, as would sup- ply him with bread for three ; and thus, by his vices, opens an admirable market to the industry of a new set- tlement. The only mode, we be- lieve, of encountering this evil, is by deriving from it such a revenue as will not admit of smuggling. Be- yond this it is almost invincible by authority ; and is probably to be cured VOL. I. only by the progressive refinement of manners. To evince the increasing commerce of the settlement, a list is subjoined of 140 ships, which have arrived there since its first foundation, forty only of which were from England. The colony at Norfolk Island is represented to be in a very deplorable situation, and will most probably be abandoned for one about to be formed on Van Diemen's Land*, though the capital defect of the former settlement has been partly obviated, by a discovery of the harbour for small craft. The most important and curious infi r- mation contained in this volume, is the discovery of straits which separate Van Diemen's Land (hitherto considered as its southern extremity) from New Holland. For this discovery we are indebted to Mr. Bass, a surgeon, after whom the straits have been named, and who was led to a suspicion of their existence by a prodigious swell which he observed to set in from the westward, at the mouth of the opening which he had reached on a voyage of discovery, prosecuted in a common whale-boat. To verify this suspicion, he proceeded afterwards in a vessel of 25 tons, accompanied by Mr. Flinders, a naval gentleman ; and, entering the straits between the latitudes of 39 J and 40 south, actually circumnavigated Van Diemen's Land. Mr. Bass's ideas of the importance of this discovery we shall give from his narrative, as re- ported by Mr. Collins. "The most prominent advantage which seemed likely to accrue to the settlement from this discovery was, the expediting of the passage from the Cape of Good Hope to Port Jackson : for, although a line drawn from the Cape to 44 of south latitude, and to the longitude of the South Cape of Van Diemen's Land, would not sensibly differ from one drawn to the latitude of 40 to the same longitude ; yet it must be allowed, * It is singular that Government are not more desirous of pushing their settlements rather to the north than the south of Port Jackson. The soil and climate would probably improve, in the latitude nearer the equator; and settlements in that po- sition would be more contiguous to our Indian colonies. D 34 that a ship will be four degrees nearer to Port Jackson in the latter situation than it would be in the former! But there is, per- haps, a greater advantage to be gained by making a passage through the strait, than the mere saving of four degrees of latitude along the coast. The major part of the ships that have arrived at Port Jackson have met with N. E. winds, on opening the sea round the South Cape and Cape Pillar ; and have been so much retarded by them, that a fourteen days' passage to the port is reckoned to be a fair one, although the dif- ference of latitude is but ten degrees, and the most prevailing winds at the latter place are from S. E. to S. in summer, and from W. S. W. to S. in winter. If, by going J. FIEVEE. Such nre the most important con- ents of Mr. Collins's book, the style >f which we very much approve, be- ause it appears to be written by him- elf; and we must repeat again, that lothing can be more injurious to the pinion the public will form of the authenticity of a book of this kind, han the suspicion that it has been ricked out and embellished by other lands. Such men, to be sure, have ixisted as Julius Crcsar ; but, in gene- ral, a correct and elegant style is hardly utninable by those who have passed heir lives in action : and no one has through Bass Strait, these N. E. winds can be avoided, which in many cases would pro- bably be the case, there is no doubt but a week or more would be gained by it ; and the expense, with the wear and tear of a ship for one week, are objects to most owners, more especially when freighted with convicts by the run. "This strait likewise presents another advantage. From the prevalence of the N. K. and easterly winds off the South Cape, many suppose that a passage may be made from thence to the westward, either to the Cape of Good Hope, or to India ; but the fear of the great unknown bight between the South Cape and the S. W. Cape of Lewen's Land, lying in about 35 south and 113 east, has hitherto prevented the trial being made. Now, the strait removes a part of this dan- per, by presenting a certain place of retreat, should a gale oppose itself to the ship in the first part of the essay : and should the wind come at S. W. she need not fear making a good stretch to the W. N.W., which course, if made good, is within a few degrees of going clear of all. There is, besides, King George the Third's Sound discovered by Captain Vancouver, situate in the latitude of 35 3i' south, and longi- tude 118 12' east; and it is to be hoped, that a few years will disclose many others upon the coast, as well as the confirmation or futility of the conjecture, that a still larper than Bass Strait dismembers New Holland." (p. 192, 193.) We learn from a note subjoined to this passage, that in order to verify 01 refute this conjecture, of the existence of other important inlets on the west coast of New Holland, Captain Flinders has sailed with two ships under his command, and is said to be accom panied by several professional men o considerable ability. such a pedantic love of good writing, as to prefer mendacious finery to rough and angrammatical truth. The events which Mr. Collins's book records, we lave read with great interest. There s a charm in thus seeing villages, and churches, and farms, rising from a wilderness, where civilised man has never set his foot since the creation of the world. The contrast between fertility and barrenness, population and solitude, activity and indolence, fill the mind with the pleasin; piness and increase. images of hap- Man seems to move in his proper sphere, while he is thus dedicating the powers of his mind and body to reap those rewards which the bountiful Author of all things has assigned to his industry. Neither is it any common enjoyment, to turn for a while from the memory of those dis- tractions which have so recently agi- tated the Old World ; and to reflect, that its very horrors and crimes may have thus prepared a long asra of opu- lence and peace for a people yet in- volved in the womb of time. J. FIEVEE. (E. REVIEW, 1803.) Lettres sur VAngleterre. Par J. Fiev6e. 1802. OF all the species of travels, that which has moral observation for its object is the most liable to error, and has the greatest difficulties to overcome, before it can arrive at excellence. Stones, and roots, and leaves, are sub- jects which may exercise the under- standing without rousing the passions. J. FIEVEE. 35 A mineralogical traveller will hardly fall foul upon the granite and the feldspar -of other countries than his own ; a botanist will not conceal its nondescripts ; and an agricultural tourist will faithfully detail the average crop per acre ; but the traveller who observes on the manners, habits, and institutions of other countries, must have emancipated his mind from the extensive and powerful dominion of association, must have extinguished the agreeable and deceitful feelings of national vanity, and cultivated that patient humility which builds general inferences only upon the repetition of individual facts. Everything he sees shocks some passion or natters it ; and he is perpetually seduced to distort facts, so as to render them agreeable to his system and his feelings. Books of travels are now published in such vast abundance, that it may not be useless, perhaps, to state a few of the reasons why their value so commonly happens to be in the inverse ratio of their number. 1st. Travels are bad, from a want of opportunity for observation in those who write them. If the sides of a building are to be measured, and the number of its windows to be counted, a very short space of time may suffice for these operations ; but to gain such a knowledge of their pre- valent opinions and propensities, as will enable a stranger to comprehend (what is commonly called) the genius of a people, requires a long residence among them, a familiar acquaintance with their language, and an easy cir- culation among their various societies. The society into which a transient stranger gains the most easy access in any country, is not often that which ought to stamp the national character ; and no criterion can be no more falli- ble, in a people so reserved and inac- cessible as the British, who (even when they open their doors to letters of introduction) cannot for years over- come the awkward timidity of their nature. The same expressions are of so different a value in different coun- tries, the same actions proceed from such different causes, and produce such different effects, that a judgment of foreign nations, founded on rapid obser- vation, is almost certainly a mere tissue of ludicrous and disgraceful mistakes ; and yet a residence of a month or two seems to entitle a traveller to present the world with a picture of manners in London, Paris, or Vienna, and even to dogmatise upon the political, reli- gious, and legal institutions, as if it were one and the same thing to speak of abstract effects of such institutions, and of their effects combined with all the peculiar circumstances in which any nation may be placed. 2ndly. An affectation of quickness in observation, an intuitive glance that requires only a moment, and a part, to judge of a perpetuity, and a whole. The late Air. Petion, who was sent over into this country to acquire a know- ledge of our criminal law, is said to have declared himself thoroughly in- formed upon the subject, alter remain- ing precisely two and thirty minutes in the Old Bailey. 3rdly. The tendency to found obser- vation on a system, rather than a system upon observation. The fact is, there are very few original eyes and ears. The great mass see and hear as they are directed by others, and bring back from a residence in foreign conn- tries nothing but the vague and cus- tomary notions concerning it, which are carried and brought back for half a century, without verification or change. The most ordinary shape in which this tendency to prejudge makes its appearance among travellers, is by a disposition to exalt, or, a still more absurd disposition, to depreciate their native country. They are incapable of considering a foreign people but under one single point of view the re- lation in which they stand to their own ; and the whole narrative is fre- quently nothing more than a mere triumph of national vanity, or the os- tentation of superiority to so common a failing. But we are wasting our time in giving a theory of the faults of tra- vellers, when we have such ample means of exemplifying them all from the publication now before us, in which 36 J. FIEVEE. Mr. Jacob Fierce, with the most sur- prising talents for doing wrong, has contrived to condense and agglomerate every species of absurdity that has hitherto been made known, and even to launch out occasionally into new regions of nonsense, with a boldness which well entitles him to the merit of originality in folly, and discovery in impertinence. We consider Mr. Fievee's book as extremely valuable in one point of view. It affords a sort of limit or mindmark, beyond which we conceive it to be impossible in future that pertness and petulance should pass. It is well to be acquainted with the oonnaaries of our nature on both sides ; and to Mr. Fievee we are in- debted for this valuable approach to pessimism. The height of knowledge no man has yet scanned ; but we have now pretty well fathomed the gulf of ignorance. We must, however, do justice to Mr. Fievee when he deserves it. He evinces, in his preface, a lurking un- easiness at the apprehension of ex- citing war between the two countries, from the anger to which his letters will give birth in England. He pretends to deny that they will occasion a war; but it is very easy to see he is not convinced by his own arguments; and we confess ourselves extremely pleased by this amiable solicitude at the probable effu- sion of human blood. We hope Mr. Fievee is deceived by his philanthropy, and that no such unhappy consequences will ensue, as he really believes, though he affects to deny them. We dare to say the dignity of this country will be satisfied, if the publication in question is disowned by the French government, or, at most, if the author is given up. At all events, we have no scruple to say, that to sacrifice 20,000 lives, and a hundred millions of money, to resent Mr. Fievee's book, would be an un- justifiable waste of blood and treasure ; and that to take him off privately by assassination would be an undertaking hardly compatible with the dignity of a great empire. To show, however, the magnitude of the provocation, we shall specify a few of the charges which he makes against the English. That they do not under- stand fireworks as well as the French; that they charge a shilling for admis- sion to the exhibition ; that they have the misfortune of being incommoded by a certain disgraceful privilege, called the liberty of the press ; that the opera band plays out of tune : that the English are so fond of drinking, that they get drunk with a certain air called the gas of Paradise ; that the privilege of electing members of Parliament is so burthensome, that cities sometimes petition to be exempted from it ; that the great obstacle to a parliamentary reform is the mob ; that women some- times have titles distinct from those of their husbands, although, in England, anybody can sell his wife at market, with a rope about her neck. To these complaints he adds that the English are so far from enjoying that equality of which their partisans boast, that none but the servants of the higher nobility can carry canes behind a carriage ; that the power which the French Kings had of pardoning before trial, is much the same thing as the English mode of pardoning after trial ; that he should conceive it to be a good reason fur rejecting any measure in France, that it was imitated from the English, who have no family affections, and who love money so much, that their first question, in an inquiry con- cerning the character of any man, is, as to his degree of fortune. Lastly, Mr. Fievee alleges against the English, that they have great pleasure in con- templating the spectacle of men de- prived of their reason. And indeed we must have the candour to allow, that the hospitality which Mr. Fievee experienced seems to afford some pre- text for this assertion. One of the principal objects of Mr. Fievee's book, is to combat the Anglo- mania, which has raged so long among his countrymen, and which prevailed at Paris, to such an excess, that even Mr. Neckar, a foreigner (incredible as it may seem), after having been twice minister of France, retained a consider- able share of admiration for the English government. This is quite inexplicable. But this is nothing to the treason of ISLAND OF CEYLON. 37 the Encyclopedists, who, instead of attributing the merit of the experi- mental philosophy and the reasoning by induction to a Frenchman, have shown themselves so lost to all sense of the duty which they owed their country, that they have attributed it to an Englishman*, of the name of Bacon, and this for no better reason, than that he really was the author of it. The whole of this passage is written so entirely in the genius of Mr. Fievee, and so completely exemplifies that very caricature species of Frenchmen from which our gross and popular notions of the whole people are taken, that we shall give the passage at full length, cautiously abstaining from the sin of translating it. "Quand je reproche aux philosophes d'avoir vante FAngleterre, par haine pour les institutions qui soutenoient la France, je ne hasarde rien, et je foumirai une nou- velle preuve de cette assertion, en citant les encyclopedistes, chefs avou6s de la phi- losophic moderne. " Comment nous ont-ils pr6sent6 1'En cyclopedic? Comme un monument im- mortel, comme le depot precieux de toutes les connoissances humaines. Sous quel par tronage 1'ont-ils 61ev6 ce monument im- mortel ? Est-ce sous 1'egide des ecrivains dont la France s'honoroit? Non, Us ont choisi pour maitre et pour idole, un Anglais, Bacon; ils lui on fait dire tout ce qu'ils ont voulu, parce que cet auteur, extraordi- nairemeut volumineux, n'etoit pas connu en France, et ne Test guere en Angleterre que de quelques hommes studieux; mais les philosophes sentoient que leur succes, pour introduire des nouveautes, tenoit faire croire qu'elles n'etoient pas neuves pour les grands esprits; et comme les grands esprits francais, trop connus, ne se pretoient pas & un pareil dessein, les philo- sophes ont eu recours & 1' Angleterre. Ainsi un ouvrage fait en France, et offert d, 1'ad- miration de 1'Europe comme 1'ouvrage par excellence, fut mis par des Francais sous la protection du g6nie anglais. O honte ! Et les philosophes se sont dit patriotes, et la France, pour prix de sa degradation, leur a eleve des statues ! Le siecle qui commence plus juste, parce qu'il a le sentiment de la veritable grandeur, laissera ces statues e' * " Gaul was conquered by a person o: the name of Julius Caesar," is the firs' phrase in one of Mr. Newberry's little books. 'Encyclopedic s'ensevelir sous la meme poussiere." When to this are added the com- mendations that have been bestowed on Newton, the magnitude and the originality of the discoveries which lave been attributed to him, the ad- miration which the works of Locke aave excited, and the homage that has jeen paid to Milton and Shakspeare, the treason which lurks at the bottom of it all will not escape the penetrating _lance of Mr. Fievee ; and he will discern that same cause, from which every good Frenchman knows the de- feat of Aboukir and of the first of June to have proceeded the monster Pitt, and his English guineas. ISLAND OF CEYLON. (E. REVIEW, 1803.) An Account of the Island of Ceylon. By Robert Percival, Esq. of his Majesty's Nineteenth Regiment of Foot. London. C. and R. Baldwin. IT is now little more than half a cen- tury since the English first began to establish themselves in any force upon the peninsula of India ; and we at pre- sent possess, in that country, a more extensive territory, and a more nume- rous population, than any European power can boast of at home. In no instance has the genius of the English, and their courage, shone forth more conspicuously than in their contest with the French for the empire of India. The numbers on both sides were always inconsiderable ; but the two nations were fairly matched against each other, in the cabinet and the field ; the strug- gle was long and obstinate ; and, at the conclusion, the French remained masters of a dismantled town, and the English of the grandest and most ex- tensive colony that the world has ever seen. To attribute this success to the superior genius of Clive, is not to di- minish the reputation it confers on his country, which reputation must of course be elevated by the number of great men to which it gives birth. But the French were by no means deficient in casualties of genius at that period, 38 ISLAND OF CEYLON. unless Bussy is to be considered as a man of common stature of mind, or Dupleix to be classed with the vulgar herd of politicians. Neither was Clive (though he clearly stands forward as the most prominent figure in the group) without the aid of some military men of very considerable talents. Clive ex- tended our Indian empire ; but General Lawrence preserved it to be extended ; and the former caught, perhaps, from the latter, that military spirit by which he soon became a greater soldier than him, without whom he never would have been a soldier at all. Gratifying as these reflections upon our prowess in India are to national pride, they bring with them the painful reflection, that so considerable a portion of our strength and wealth is vested upon such precarious foundations, and at such an immense distance from the parent country. The glittering frag- ments of the Portuguese empire, scat- tered up and down the East, should teach us the instability of such do- minion. We are (it is true) better capable of preserving what we have obtained, than any other nation which has ever colonised in Southern Asia ; but the object of ambition is so tempt- ing, and the perils to which it is ex- posed so numerous, that no calculating mind can found any durable conclu- sions upon this branch of our commerce, and this source of our strength. In the acquisition of Ceylon, we have obtained the greatest of all our wants a good harbour. For it is a very singular fact, that, in the whole peninsula of India, Bombay is alone capable of affording a safe retreat to ships during the period of the mon- soons. The geographical figure of our possessions in Ceylon is whimsical enough; we possess the whole of the sea-coast, and enclose in a periphery the unfortunate King of Candia, whose rugged and mountainous do- minions may be compared to a coarse mass of iron, set in a circle of silver. The Popilian ring, in which this votary of Buddha has been so long held by the Portuguese and Dutch, has infused the most vigilant jealousy into the government, and rendered it as diffi- cult to enter the kingdom of Candia, as if it were Paradise or China ; and yet, once there, always there ; for the difficulty of departing is just as great as the difficulty of arriving ; and his Candian Excellency, who has used every device in his power to keep them out, is seized with such an affection for those who baffle his defensive artifices, that he can on no account suffer them to depart. He has been known to detain a string of four or five Dutch embassies, till various mem- bers of the legation died of old age at his court, while they were expecting an answer to their questions, and a re- turn to their presents *: and his Majesty once exasperated a little French am- bassador to such a degree, by the various pretences under which he kept him at his court, that this lively member of the Corps Diplomatique, one day, in a furious passion, attacked six or seven of his Majesty's largest elephants sword in hand, and would, in all probability, have reduced them to mince-meat, if the poor beasts had not been saved from the unequal combat. The best and most ample account of Ceylon is contained in the narrative of Robert Knox, who in the middle of the 17th century, was taken prisoner there (while refitting his ship) at the age of nineteen, and remained nineteen years on the island, in slavery to the King of Candia. During this period, he learnt the language, and acquired a thorough knowledge of the people. The account he has given of them is extremely entertaining, and written in a very simple and unaffected style ; so much so, indeed, that he presents his reader with a very grave account of the noise the devil makes in the woods of Candia, and of the frequent oppor- tunities he has had of hearing him. Mr. Percival does not pretend to deal with the devil ; but appears to have used the fair and natural re- sources of observation and good sense, to put together an interesting descrip- tion of Ceylon. There is nothing in the book very animated, or very pro- * Kuox's Ceylon. ISLAND OF CEYLON. 39 found, but it is without pretensions ; and if it does not excite attention by any unusual powers of description, it never disgusts by credulity, wearies by prolixity, or offends by affectation. It is such an account as a plain military man of diligence and common sense might be expected to compose; and narratives like -these we must not despise. To military men we have been, and must be, indebted for our first acquaintance with the interior of many countries. Conquest has ex- plored more than ever curiosity has done; and the path for science has been commonly opened by the sword. We shall proceed to give a very summary abstract of the principal con- tents of Mr. PercivaPs book. The immense accessions of territory which the English have acquired in the East Indies since the American AVar, rendered it absolutely necessary that some effort should be made to obtain possession of a station where ships might remain in safety during the violent storms incidental to that climate. As the whole of that large tract which we possess along the Coro- mandel coast presents nothing but open roads, ail vessels are obliged, on the approach of the monsoons, to stand out in the open seas ; and there are many parts of the coast that can be approached only during a few months of the year. As the harbour of Trin- comalee, which is equally secure at all seasons, afforded the means of obviating these disadvantages, it is evident that, on the first rupture with the Dutch, our countrymen would attempt to gain possession of it. A body of troops was, in consequence, detached in the year 1795, for the conquest of Ceylon, which (in consequence of the indis- cipline which political dissension had introduced among the Dutch troops) was effected almost without opposition. Ceylon is now inhabited by the English ; the remains of the Dutch and Portuguese, the Cinglese or natives, subject to the dominion of the Europeans ; the Candians, subject to the king of their own name ; and the Vaddahs, or wild men, subject to no power. A Ceylonese Dutchman is a coarse, grotesque species of animal, whose native apathy and phlegm is animated only by the insolence of a colonial tyrant : his principal amuse- ment appears to consist in smoking ; but his pipe, according to Mr. Percival's account, is so seldom out of his mouth, that his smoking appears to be almost as much a necessary function of animal life as his breathing. His day is eked out with gin, ceremonious visits, and prodigious quantities of gross food, dripping with oil and butter ; his mind, just able to reach from one meal to another, is incapable of further ex- ertion ; and after the panting and de- glutition of a long protracted dinner, reposes on the sweet expectation, that, in a few hours, the carnivorous toil will be renewed. He lives only to digest, and, while the organs of gluttony perform their office, he has not a wish beyond ; and is the happy man which Horace describes : in seipso totus, teres, atque rotundus. The descendants of the Portuguese differ materially from the Moors, Malabars, and other Mahometans. Their great object is, to show the world they are Europeans and Christians. Unfortunately, their ideas of Chris- tianity are so imperfect, that the only mode they can hit upon of displaying their faith is by wearing hats and breeches, and by these habiliments they consider themselves as showing a proper degree of contempt, on various parts of the body, towards Mahomet and Buddha, They are lazy, trea- cherous, effeminate, and passionate to excess ; and are, in fact, a locomotive and animated farrago of the bad qualities of all tongues, people, and nations on the face of the earth. The Malays, whom we forgot before to enumerate, form a very considerable portion of the inhabitants of Ceylon. Their original empire lies in the pe- ninsula of Malacca, from whence they have extended themselves over Java, Sumatra, the Moluccas, and a vast number of other islands in the penin- sula of India. It has been many years customary for the Dutch to bring them D 4 40 ISLAND OF CEYLON. to Ceylon, for the purpose of carrying on various branches of trade and ma nufacture, and in order also to employ them as soldiers and servants. The Malays are the most vindictive and ferocious of living beings. They set little or no value on their own existence, in the prosecution of their odious passions; and having thus broken the great tie which renders man a being capable of being governed, and fit for society, they are a constant source of terror to all those who have any kind of connection or relation with them. A Malay servant, from the appre- hension excited by his vindictive dis- position, often becomes the master of his master. It is as dangerous to dismiss him as to punish him; and the rightful despot, in order to avoid assassination, is almost compelled to exchange characters with his slave. It is singular, however, that the Malay, incapable of submission on any other occasion, and ever ready to avenge insult with death, submits to the severest military discipline with the utmost resignation and meekness. The truth is, obedience to his officers forms part of his religious creed ; and the same man who would repay the most insignificant insult with death, will submit to be lacerated at the halbert with the patience of a martyr. This is truly a tremendous people ! When assassins and blood- hounds will fall into rank and file, and the most furious savages submit (with no dihiinution of their ferocity) to the science and dis- cipline of war, they only want a Malay Bonaparte to lead them to the con- quest of the world. Our curiosity has always been very highly excited by the accounts of this singular people ; and we cannot help thinking, that, one day or another, when they are more full of opium than usual, they will run a-muck from Cape Comorin to the Caspian. Mr. Percival does not consider the Ceylonese as descended from the con- tinentals of the peninsula, but rather from the inhabitants of the Maldive Islands, whom they very much resemble in compkxjon, features, language, and manners. " The Ceylonese (says Mr. Percival) are courteous and polite in their demeanour, even to a degree far exceeding their civi- lisation. In several qualities they are greatly superior to all other Indians who have fallen within the sphere of my obser- vation. I have already exempted them from the censure of stealing and lying, which seem to be almost inherent in the nature of an Indian. They are mild, and by no means captious or passionate in their in- tercourse with each other; though, when once their anger is roused, it is proportion- ably furious and lasting. Their hatred is indeed mortal, and they will frequently destroy themselves to obtain the destruc- tion of the detested object. One instance will serve to show the extent to which this passion is carried. If a Ceylonese cannot obtain money due to him by another, he goes to his debtor, and threatens to kill himself if he ia not instantly paid. This threat, which is sometimes put in execution, reduces the debtor, if it be in his power, to immediate compliance with the demand: as, by their law, if any man causes the loss of another man's life, his own is the forfeit. ' An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,' is a proverbial expression continually in their mouths. This is, on other occasions, a very common mode of revenge among them ; and a Ceylonese has often been known to contrive to kill himself in the company of his enemy that the latter might suffer for it. " This dreadful spirit of revenge, so in- consistent with the usually mild and hu- mane sentiments of the Ceylonese, and much more congenial to the bloody temper of a Malay, still continues to be fostered by the sacred customs of the Candians. Among the Cinglese, however, it has been greatly mitigated by their intercourse with Europeans. The desperate mode of obtain- ing revenge which I have just described has been given up, from having l>een dis- appointed of its object ; as, in all those parts under our dominion, the European modes of investigating and punishing crimes are enforced. A case of this nature occurred at Caltura in 1799. A Cinglese peasant happening to have a suit or con- troversy with another, watched an oppor- tunity of going to bathe in company with him, and drowned himself, with the view of having his adversary put to death. The latter was upon this taken up, and sent to Columbo to take his trial for making away with the deceased, upon the principle of having been the last seen in his company. There was, however, nothing more than presumptive proof against the culprit, and he was of course acquitted. This deci- ISLAND OF CEYLON. 41 sion, however, did not by any means tally with the sentiments of the Cinglcse, who are as much inclined to continue their ancient barbarous practice as their breth- ren the Candians, although they are de- prived of the power." (pp. 70 72.) The warlike habits of the Candians make them look with contempt on the Cinglese, who are almost entirely unacquainted with the management of arms. They have the habit and character of mountaineers warlike, hardy, enterprising, and obstinate. They have, at various times, proved themselves very formidable enemies to the Dutch ; and, in that kind of desultory warfare, which is the only one their rugged country will admit of, have cut off large parties of the troops of both these nations. The King of Candia, as we have before mentioned, possesses only the middle of the island, which nature, and his Candian Majesty, have rendered as in- accessible as possible. It is traversable only by narrow wood-paths, known to nobody but the natives, strictly watched in peace and war, and where the best troops in the world might be shot in any quantities, by the Candian marks- men. without the smallest possibility of resisting their enemies, because there would not be the smallest possibility of finding them. The King of Candia is. of course, despotic ; and the history of his life and reign presents the same monotonous ostentation and baby-like caprice which characterise Oriental governments. In public audiences he appears like a great fool, squatting on his hams ; far surpassing gingerbread in splendour; and, after asking some such idiotical question as, whether Europe is in Asia or Africa, retires with a flourish of trumpets very much out of tune. For his private amuse- ment, he rides on the nose of an elephant, plays with his jewels, sprinkles his courtiers with rose-water, and feeds his gold and silver fish. If his tea is not sweet enough, he impales his foot- man; and smites off the heads of half- a-dozen of his noblemQn if he has a pain in his own. wfl<- mildness ; and sanctifies, in a certain degree, its exe- crable constitution, by the moderation with which it is administered. We re- gret extremely that Mr. Catteau has given us, upon this curious subject of the Danish government, such a timid and E 3 54 TABLEAU DES ETATS DANOIS. sterile dissertation. Many govern- ments are despotic in law, which are not despotic in fact ; not because they are restrained by their own modera- tion, but because, in spite of their theo- retical omnipotence, they are com- pelled, in many important points, to respect either public opinion or the opinion of other balancing powers, which without the express recognition of law, have gradually sprung up in the state. Russia, and Imperial Rome, had its praetorian guards. Turkey has its uhlema. Public opinion almost always makes some exceptions to its blind and slavish submission ; and in bowing its neck to the foot of a sultan, stipulates how hard he shall tread. The very fact of enjoying a mild go- vernment for a century and a half must, in their own estimation, have given the Danes a sort of right to a mild go- vernment. Ancient possession is a good title in all cases ; and the King of Denmark may have completely lost the power of doing many just and many unjust actions, from never hav- ing exercised it in particular instances. What he has not done for so long a period, he may not dare to do now ; and he may in vain produce constitu- tional parchments, abrogated by the general feelings of those whom they were intended to control. Instead of any information of this kind, the au- thor of the Tableau has given us at full length the constitutional act of 1660, and has afforded us no other knowledge than we could procure from the most vulgar histories ; as if state papers were the best place to look for constitutions, and as if the rights of king and people were really adjusted, by the form and solemnity of covenant and pacts ; by oaths of allegiance, or oaths of coronation. The King has his privy council, to which he names whom he pleases, with the exception of the heir apparent, and the princes of the blood, who sit there of right It is customary, also, that the heads of colleges should sit there. These colleges are the offi- ces in which the various business of the state is carried on. The chan- celry of Denmark interprets all laws which concern privileges in litigation, and the different degrees of authority belonging to various public bodies. It watches over the intcre?ts of church and poor : issues patents, edicts, grants, letters of naturalisation, legitimacy, and nobility. The archives of the state are also under its custody. The German chancelry has the same powers and privileges in Sleswick and Hoi- stein, which are fiefs of the empire. There is a college for foreign affairs ; two colleges of finance ; and a college of economy and commerce ; which, divided into four parts, directs its at- tention to four objects : 1. Manufac- turing industry : 2. Commerce : 3. Productions : 4. Possessions in the East Indies. All projects and specu- lations, relative to any of these objects, are referred to this college ; and every encouragement given to the prosecu- tion of such as it may chance to ap- prove. There are two other colleges, which respectively manage the army and navy. The total number is nine. The Court of Denmark is on a foot- ing of great simplicity. The pomp in- troduced by Christian IV., who mo- delled his establishments after those of Louis XIV., has been laid aside, and a degree of economy adopted, much more congenial to the manners of the people, and the resources of the coun- try. The hereditary nobility of Den- marl; may be divided into those of the ancient, those of the modern fiefs, and the personal nobility. The first class are only distinguished from the second by the more extensive privi- leges annexed to their fiefs ; as it has been the policy of the Court of Den- mark, in latter times, not to grant such immunities to the possessors of noble lands as had been accorded to them at earlier periods. Both of these classes, however, derive their nobility from their estates, which are inalienable, and descend according to the laws of primogeniture. In the third class, nobility derives from the person, and not from the estate. To prevent the female noblesse from marrying beneath their rank, and to preserve the dignity of their order, nine or ten Protestant nunneries have been from time to time TABLEAU DES ETATS DANOIS. endowed, in each of which about twelve noble women are accommo- dated, who, not bound by any vow, find in these societies an economical and elegant retirement. The nobility of Norway have no fiefs. The nobility of Holstein and Sleswick derive their nobility from their fiefs, and are pos- sessed of very extensive privileges. Everything which concerns their com- mon interests is discussed in a conven- tion held periodically in the town of Kiel ; during the vacations of the con- vention, there is a permanent deputa- tion resident in the same town. Inter- ests so well watched by the nobles themselves, are necessarily respected by the Court of Denmark. The same institution of free nunneries for the fe- male lability prevails in these pro- vinces. Societies of this sort might perhaps be extended to other classes, and to other countries, with some util- ity. The only objection to a nunnery is, that those who change their mind cannot change their situation. That a number of unmarried females should collect together into one mass, and subject themselves to some few rules of convenience, is a system which might afford great resources and ac- commodation to a number of helpless individuals, without proving injurious to the community ; unless, indeed, any very timid statesman shall be alarmed at the progress of celibacy, and imagine that the increase and multiplication of the human race may become a mere antiquated habit. The lowest courts in Denmark are composed of a judge and a secretary, both chosen by the landed proprietors within the jurisdiction, butconfirmed by the King, in whose name all their pro- ceedings are carried on. These courts have their sessions once a week in Den- mark, and are attended by four or five burgesses or farmers, in the capacity of assessors, who occasionally give their advice upon subjects of which their particular experience may entitle them to judge. From this jurisdiction there is appeal to a higher court, held every month in different places in Denmark, by judges paid by the Crown. The last appeal for Norway and Denmark is to the Hoieste lie ft. or supreme court, fixed at Copenhagen, which is occupied for nine months in the year, and composed, half of noble, half of plebeian judges. This is the only tri- bunal in which the advocates plead viva voce; in all the others, litigation is carried on by writing. The King takes no cognisance of pecuniary suits determined by this court, but reserves to himself a revision of all its sentences which affect the life or honour of the. subject. It has always been the policy of the Court of Denmark to render justice as cheap as possible. We should have been glad to have learnt from Mr. Catteau, whether or not the cheapness of justice operates as an en- couragement to litigation ; and whe- ther (which we believe is most com- monly the case) the quality of Danish justice is not in the ratio of the price. But this gentleman, as we have before remarked, is so taken up by the formal part of institutions, that he has neither leisure, nor inclination, to say much of their spirit. The Tribunal of Con- ciliation, established since 1795, is composed of the most intelligent and respectable men in the vicinage, and, its sessions are private. It is com- petent to determine upon a great num- ber of civil questions ; and if both parties agree to the arrangement pro- posed by the court, its decree is regis- tered, and has legal authority. If the parties cannot be brought to agree- ment by the amicable interference of the mediators, they are at full liberty to prosecute their suit in a court of justice. All the proceedings of the Tribunal of Conciliation are upon unstamped paper, and they cannot be protracted longer than fifteen days in the country, and eight days in the towns, unless both parties consent to a longer delay. The expenses, which do not exceed three shillings, are not payable, but in case of reconciliation. During the three years preceding this institution, there came before the courts of law, 25,521 causes; and, for the three years following, 9653, making the astonishing difference of fifteen thousand eight hundred and sixty-three lawsuits. The idea of this court was taken from E 4 56 TABLEAU DES ETATS DANOIS. the Dutch, among whom it likewise produced the most happy effects. And when we consider what an important point it is, that there should be time for disputants to cool, the strong pro- bability there is, that four or five im- partial men from the vicinage will take a right view of the case, and the reluctance that any man must feel to embark his reputation and property in opposition to their opinion, we cannot entertain a doubt of the beauty and importance of the invention. It is hardly possible that it should be bad justice which satisfies both parties, and this species of mediation has no va- lidity but upon Such condition. It is curious, too, to remark, how much the progress of rancour obstructs the na- tural sense of justice ; it appears that plaintiff and defendant were both satis- fied in 15,868 causes: if all these causes had come on to a regular hearing, and the parties been inflamed by the ex- pense and the publicity of the quarrel, we doubt if there would have been one single man out of the whole num- ber who would have acknowledged that his cause was justly given against him. There are some provisions in the criminal law of Denmark, for the per- sonal liberty of the subject, which can- not be of much importance, so long as the dispensing power is vested in the Crown ; however, though they are not much, they are better than nothing ; and have probably some effect in of- fences merely criminal, where the pas- sions and interests of the governors do not interfere. Mr. Catteau considers the law which admits the accused to bail, upon finding proper security, to be unjust, because the poor cannot avail themselves of it. But this is bad reasoning ; for every country has a right to impose such restrictions and liens upon the accused, that they shall be forthcoming for trial ; at the same time, those restrictions are not to be more severe than the necessity of the case requires. The primary and most obvious method of security is imprison- ment. Whoever can point out any other method of effecting the same ob- ject, less oppressive to himself and as satisfactory to the justice of the country, has a right to require that it be adopted ; whoever cannot, must remain in prison. It is a principle that should never be lost sight of, that an accused person is presumed to be innocent ; and that no other vexation should be imposed upon him than what is absolutely necessary for the purposes of future investigation. The imprisonment of a poor man, be- cause he cannot find bail, is not a gra- tuitous vexation, but a necessary seve- rity ; justified only, because no other, nor milder mode of security can, in that particular instance, be produced. Inquisitorial and penal torture is, in some instances, allowed by the laws of Denmark : the former, after having been abolished, was re-establislu'd in 1771. The corporations have been gradually and covertly attacked in Denmark, as they have been in Great Britain. The peasants, who had be- fore been attached to the soil, were gradually enfranchised between 1788 and 1800 ; so that, on the first day of the latter year, there did not remain a single slave in the Danish dominions ; or, to speak more correctly, slavery was equalised among all ranks of people. We need not descant on the immense importance of this revolution ; and if Mr. Catteau had been of the same opinion, we should have been spared two pages of very bad declamation ; beginning, in the true French style, with " oh toi," and going on with what might be expected to follow such a beginning. The great mass of territorial pro- prietors in Denmark are the signiors, possessing fiefs with very extensive privileges and valuable exemptions from taxes. Many persons hold land under these proprietors, with interests in the land of very different descriptions. There are some cultivators who possess freeholds, but the number of these is very inconsiderable. The greater number of farmers are what the French call Metayers, put in by the landlord, furnished with stock and seed at his expense, and repaying him in product, labour, or any other manner agreed on in the contract. This is the first, or lowest stage of tenantry, and is the TABLEAU DES ETATS DANOIS. 57 surest sign of a poor country. The feudal system never took root very deeply in Norway : the greater part of the lands are freehold and cultivated by their owners. Those which areheld under the few privileged fiefs which still exist in Norway, are subjected to less galling conditions than farms of a similar tenure in Denmark. Mar- riage is a mere civil contract among the privileged orders : the presence of a priest is necessary for its celebration among the lower orders. In every large town, there are twopublic tutors appointed, who, in conjunction with the magistrates, watch over the in- terests of wards, at the same time that they occupy themselves with the care of the education of children within the limits of their jurisdiction. Natural children are perhaps more favoured in Denmark, than in any other king- dom of Europe; they have half the portion which the law allots to legiti- mate children, and the whole if there are no legitimate. A very curious circumstance took place in the kingdom of Denmark, in the middle of the last century, relative to the infliction of capital punishments upon malefactors. They were attended from the prison to the place of execu- tion, by priests, accompanied by a very numerous procession, singing psalms, &c. &c. : which ended, a long discourse was addressed by the priest to the culprit, who was hung as soon as he had heard it. This spectacle, and all the pious cares bestowed upon the criminals, so far seduced the imagina- tions of the common people, that many of them committed murder purposely to enjoy such inestimable advantages, and the government was positively obliged to make hanging dull as well as deadly, before it ceased to be an object of popular ambition. In 1796, the Danish land forces amounted to 74,654, of which 50,880 were militia.* Amongst the troops on the Norway establishment is a regi- ment of skaters. The pay of a colonel in the Danish service is about 1740 * The militia is not embodied in regi- ments by itself, but divided among the various regiments of the line. rix-dollars per annum, with some per- quisites ; that of a private 6 schellings a day. The entry into the Danish states from the German side is natu- rally strong. The passage between Lubeck and Hamburg is only eight miles, and the country intersected by marshes, rivers, and lakes. The straits of the Baltic afford considerable secu- rity to the Danish isles : and there are very few points in which an army could penetrate through the Norway moun- tains to overrun that country. The principal fortresses of Denmark are Copenhagen, Rendsbhurg, Gluchstadt, and Frederickshall. In 1801, the Danish navy consisted of 3 ships of 80 guns, 12 of 74, 2 of 70, 3 of 64, and 2 of 60 ; 4 frigates of 40, 3 of 36, 3 of 24, and a number of small vessels ; in all 22 of the line, and 10 frigates.* The revenues of Denmark are de- rived from the interest of a capital formed by the sale of crown lands ; from a share in the tithes; from the rights of fishing and hunting let to farm ; from licences granted to the farmers to distil their own spirits ; from the mint, post, turnpikes, lotteries, and the passage of the Sound. About the year 1750, the number of vessels which passed the Sound both ways was annually from 4000 to 5000 ; in 1752, the number of 6000 was considered as very extraordinary. They have in- creased since in the following ratio : 1770 - 1777 - 1783 - 1790 - 1796 1800 - - 7,736 - 9,047 - 11,166 - 9,734 - 12,113 - 9,048 In 1770, the Sound duties amounted to 459.890 rix-dollars ; and they have probably been increased since that period to about half a million. To * In 1791, the Swedish army amounted to 47,000 men, regulars and militia; their navy to not more than 16 ships of the line: before the war it was about equal to the Danish navy. The author of Voyage des deux Fran^ais places the regular troops of Russia at 250,000 men exclusive of guards and garrisons ; and her navy, as it existed in 1791, at 30 frigates, and 50 sail of the line, of which 8 were of 110 guns. This is a brief picture of the forces of the Baltic powers. 8 TABLEAU DES these sources of revenue arc to be added a capitation tax, a land tax, a tax on rank, a tax on places, pensions, and the clergy ; the stamps, customs, and excise ; constituting a revenue of 7,270,172 rix-dollars.* The follow- ing is a table of the expenses of the Danish Government : Rix-dollars. The Court - - - 260,000 The minor branches of the Royal family - - 180.000 Civil servants - - - 707,500 Secret service money and pensions - - - 231,000 Army .... 2,080,000 Navy .... 1,200,000 East India colonies - - 180,000 Bounties to commerce and manufactures - - 300,000 Annuities ... 27,000 Buildings and repairs 120,000 Interest of the public debt - 1,100,000 Sinking fund - - - 150,000 Total - 6,525,500 ETAT5 DANOIS. Copenhagen, export Danish ducats to a large value. The court of Denmark has no great credit out of its own dominions, and has always experienced a considerable difficulty in raising its loans in Switzerland. Genoa, and Hol- land, the usual markets it has resorted to for that purpose. In the census taken in 17 69, the return was as follows : The state of the Danish debt does not appear to be well ascertained. Voyage des devx Franqais makes it amount to 13,645,046 rix-dollars. Catteau seems to think it must have been above 20.000,000 rix-dollars at that period. The Danish government has had great recourse to the usual expe- dient of issuing paper money. So easy a method of getting rich has of course been abused ; and the paper was, in the year 1790, at a discount of 8, 9, and 10 per cent. There is, in general, a great want of specie in Denmark ; for, though all the Sound duties are paid in gold and silver, the government is forced to export a considerable quantity of the precious metals, for the payment for its foreign debts and agents ; and, in spite of the rigid prohibitions to the contrary, the Jews, who swarm at * Upon the subject of the Danish reve- nues, see Toze's Introduction to the Sta- tistics, edited and improved by Heinze, 1799, torn. xi. From this work Mr. Catteau has taken his information concerning the Danish revenues. See also the 19th cap. vol. ii. of Voyage des deux Frantfais, which is admirable for extent and precision of information. In general, indeed, this work cannot be too much attended to by those who wish to become acquainted with the statistics of the north of Europe. In Denmark Norway - Iceland - Faroe Isles Sleswick Holstein - - 785,690 - 722,141 - 46,201 4,754 - 243,605 - 134,665 Oldeubourg and Dehneuhurst 79,071 2,016,127 This census was taken during the summer, a season in which great numbers of sailors are absent from their families ; and as it does not in- clude the army,the total ought, perhaps, to be raised to 2,225,000. The pre- sent population of the Danish states, calculating from the tables of life and death, should be about two millions and a half; the census lately taken has not yet been published. From registers kept for a number of years, it appears that the number of marriages were, to the whole population, as 1 to 125 ; and the number of births to the whole population were as 1 to 32 or 33 ; of deaths, as 1 to 38. In 1797, in the diocese of Vibourg, out of 8600 children, 80 were bastard : in the diocese of Fionia, 280 out of 1146. Out of 1356, dead in the first of these dioceses, 100 had attained the age of 80, and one of 100. In 1769, the population of the towns was 144,105; in 1787, it was 142,880. In the first of these years, the population of the country was 641,485 ; and in the latter, 667,165. The population of Copenhagen consisted, in the year 1799, of 42,142 males, and 4l",476 females. The deaths exceeded the births, says Mr. Catteau ; and, to prove it, he exhibits a table of deaths and births for six years. Upon calcu- lating this table, however, it appears, that the sum of the births, at Copen- hagen, during that period, exceeds the TABLEAU DES ETATS DANOIS. 59 sum of the deaths by 491, or nearly 82 per annum; about -^ m of the whole population of the city. The whole kingdom increases T t g, or nearly T j 5 in a year.* There is no city in Denmark Proper, except Copenhagen, which has a population of more than 5000 souls. The density of population in Denmark Proper is about 1300 to the square mile.f The proportion of births and deaths in the duchies is the same as in Denmark ; that of marriages, as 1 to 115. Altona, the second city in the Danish Dominions, has a population of 20,000. The density of population in Marschland is 6000 per square mile. The paucity of inhabitants in Norway is not merely referrible to the difficulties of subsistence, but to the administrative system established there, and to the bad state of its civil and economical laws. It has been more than once ex- posed to the horrors of famine, by the monopoly of the commerce of grain established there, from which, however, it has at length been delivered. The proportion of births to the living, is as 1 to 35 ; that of deaths to the living, as 1 to 49.J So that the whole Danish dominions increase, every year, by about 5^5 ; and Norway, which 'has the worst climate and soil, by about ^ ; exceeding the common increase by nearly 3 ^, of the whole population. Out of 26,197 persons who died in Denmark in 1799, there were 165 be- tween 80 and 100; and out of 18,354 who died in Norway the same year, there were 208 individuals of the same ad- vanced age. The country population is to the town population in the ratio of 13 to 137. In some parts of Nordland and Finmarken, the population is as low as 1 5 to the square mile. Within the last twenty or thirty years the Danes have done a great deal for the improvement of their country. The peasants, as we have before mentioned, are freed from the soil. The greater part of the clerical, and much of the lay tithes, are redeemed ; and the cor- * The average time in which old countries double their population is stated by Adam Smith to be about 500 years. t The same rule is used here as in p. 28. $ This proportion is a very remarkable proof of the longevity of the Norwegians. vees and other servile tenures begin to be commuted for money. A bank of credit is established at Copenhagen, for the loan of money to persons engaged in speculations of agriculture and min- ing. The interest is 4 per cent., and the money is repaid by instalments in the course of from 21 to 28 years. In the course of 1 2 years the bank has lent about three millions of rix- dollars. The external and domestic commerce of grain is now placed upon the most liberal footing. The culture of potatoes (ce fruit modeste) has at length found its way into Denmark, after meeting with the same objections which it ex- perienced at its first introduction from every nation in Europe. Hops are a good deal attended to in Fionia, though enough are not yet grown for the supply of the country. Tobacco is cultivated in the environs of Fredericia.in Jutland, by the industrious descendants of a French colony planted there by Frede- rick IV. Very little hemp and flax is grown in the Danish dominions. They had veterinary schools previous to the present establishment of them in Great Britain : indeed, there was a greater necessity for them in Denmark ; as no country in Europe has suffered so severely from diseases among its ani- mals. The decay of the woods begins to be very perceptible ; and great quan- tities, both for fuel and ccnstruction, are annually imported from the other coun- tries bordering the Baltic. They have pit-coal; but, either from its inferior quality, or their little skill in working it, they are forced to purchase to a con- siderable amount from England. The Danes have been almost driven out of the herring market by the Swedes. Their principal export of this kind is dried fish ; though, at Altona, their fisheries are carried on with more ap- pearance of enterprise than elsewhere. The districts of Hedemarken, Hodeland, Toten, and llomerige, are the parts of Norway most celebrated for the culti- vation of grain, which principally con- sists of oats. The distress in Norway is sometimes so great, that the inhabi- tants are compelled to make bread of various sorts of lichens, mingled with their grain. It has lately been dis- GO TABLEAU DES ETATS DANOIS. covered that the lichen rangiferus, or reindeer's moss, is extremely well cal- culated for that purpose. The Norway fisheries bring to the amount of amillion and u half of rix-dollars annually into the country. The most remarkable mines in Norway are, the gold mines of Edsvold, the silver mines of Konigs- bcrg, the copper mines of Rasraas, and the iron mines of Arendal and Kragerse, the cobalt mines of Fossum, and the black-lead mines of Englidal. The Court of Denmarkis notyetcured of the folly of entering into commercial specu- lations on its own account. From the year 1769 to 1792, 78,000 rix-dollars per annum have been lost on the royal mines alone. Norway produces marble of different colours, very beautiful gra- nites, mill and whetstones, and alum. The principal manufactures of Den- mark are those of cloth, cotton-printing, sugar-refining, and porcelain ; of which latter manufactures, carried on by the Crown, the patient proprietors hope that the profits may at some future period equal the expenses. The manu- factories for large and small arms are at Frederickwaerk and Elsineur ; and, at the gates of Copenhagen, there has lately been erected a cotton spinning- mill, upon the construction so well known in England. At Tendern, in Sleswick, there is a manufacture of lace : and very considerable glass manufac- tories in several parts of Norway. All the manufacturing arts have evidently travelled from Lubeck and Hamburg"; the greater part of the manufacturers are of German parentage ; and vast numbers of manufacturing Germans are to be met with, not only in Denmark, but throughout Sweden and Russia. The Holstein Canal, uniting the Bal- tic and the North Sea, is extremely favourable to the interior commerce of Denmark, by rendering unnecessary the long and dangerous voyage round the peninsula of Jutland. In the year 1785, there passed through this canal 409 Danish, and 44 foreign ships. In the year 1798, 1086 Danish, and 1164 foreign. This canal is so advantageous, and the passage round Jutland so very bad, that goods, before the creation of the canal, were very often sent by land from Lubeck to Hamburg. The amount of cargoes despatched from Copenhagen for Iceland, between the years 1 764 and 1784, was 2,560,000 rix-dollars; that of the returns, 4.665,000. The com- merce with the isles of Faroe is quite inconsiderable. The exports from Greenland in the year 1787 amounted to 168,475 rix-dollars; its imports to 74,427. None of these possessions are suffered to trade with foreign na- tions but through the intervention of the mother-country. The cargoes de- spatched to the Danish West Indies con- sist of all sorts of provisions, of iron, of copper, of various Danish manufactures, and of some East India goods. The returns are made in sugar, rum, cotton, indigo, tobacco, and coffee. There are about 75 vessels employed in this com- merce, from the burden of 40 to 200 tons. If the slave trade, in pursuance of the laws to that effect, ceases in the Danish colonies, the establishments on the coast of Africa will become rather a burthen than a profit. What measures have been taken to insure the abolition, and whether or not the philanthropy of the mother-country is likely to be de- feated by the interested views of the colonists, are delicate points, which Mr. Catteau, who often seems to think more of himself than of his reader, passes over with his usual timidity and caution. The present year is the period at which all further importation of negroes ought to cease ; and if this wise and noble law be really carried into execution, the Danes will enjoy the glory of having been the first to erase this foulest blot in the morality of Europe, and to abolish a wicked and absurd traffic, which purchases its luxuries at the price of impending massacre and present oppression. De- ferred revenge is always put out to compound interest, and exacts its dues with more than Judaical rigour. The Africans have begun with the French : -Jam proximus ardet Ucalegon. Tea, rhubarb, and porcelain are the principal articles brought from China. The factories in the East Indies send home cotton cloths, silk, sugar, rice, TABLEAU DES ETATS DANOIS. ei pepper, ginger, indigo, opium, and ar- rack. Their most important East Indian settlement is Fredericksnager.* Den- mark, after having been long over- shadowed by the active industry of the Hanseatic towns, and embarrassed by its ignorance of the true principles of commerce, has at length established important commercial connections with all the nations of Europe, and has regulated those connections by very liberal and enlightened principles. The regulations for the customs, published in 1791, are a very remarkable proof of this assertion. Everything is there arranged upon the most just and simple principles ; and the whole code evi- dences the striking progress of mer- cantile knowledge in that country. In looking over the particulars of the Danish commerce, we were struck with the immense increase of their freightage during the wars of this country ; a circumstance which should certainly have rendered them rather less disposed to complain of the vexations imposed upon the neutral powers during such periods.! In the first six months of the year 1796, 5032 lasts of Danish shipping were taken up by strangers for American voyages only. The com- mercial tonnage of Denmark is put at about 85.000 lasts. There appears to exist in the king- dom of Denmark, according to the account of Mr. Catteau, a laudable spirit of religious toleration ; such as, in some instances, we might copy, with great advantage, in this island. It is not. for instance, necessary in Denmark that a man should be a Lutheran before he can be the mayor of a town ; and, in- credible as it may seem to some people, there are many officers and magistrates who are found capable of civil trusts * "We should very willingly have gone through every branch of the Danish com- merce, if we had not been apprehensive of extending this article too far. Mr. Catteau gives no general tables of the Danish ex- ports and imports. A German work places them, for the year 1768, as follows: Exports, 3,067,051 rix-dollars; imports, 3,215,085. Ur. Kunden,par Gatgpari. t To say nothing of the increased sale of Norway timber, out of 86,000 lasts exported from Norway, 1799, 76,000 came to Great Britain. though they do not take the sacraments exactly in the forms prescribed by the established church. There is no doubt, however, of the existence of this very extraordinary fact; and, if Mr. Catteau's authority is called in question, we are ready to corroborate it by the testimony of more than one dozen German stat- ists. The Danish Church consists of 13 bishops, 227 archpriests, and 2462 priests. The principal part of the bene- fices are, in Norway, in the gift of the Crown. In some parts of Denmark the proprietors of the privileged lands are the patrons; in other parts, the parishes. The revenues of the clergy are from the same sources as our own clergy. The sum of the church revenues is computed to be 1,391,895 rix-dollars ; which is little more than 500 for each clergyman. The Court of Denmark is so liberal upon the subject of sectaries, that the whole Eoyal Family and the Bishop of Seland assisted at the worship of the Calvinists in 1 789, when they celebrated, in the most public manner, the centenary of the foundation of their church.* In spite of this tolerant spirit, it is com- puted that there are not more than 1800 Calvinists in the whole Danish dominions. At Christianfield, on the frontiers of Sleswick and Jutland, there is a colony of Northern Quakers, or Hernhutes, of which Mr. Catteau has given a very agreeable account. They appear to be characterised by the same neatness, order, industry, and absurdity as their brethren in this country; taking the utmost care of the sick and desti- tute, and thoroughly persuaded that by these good deeds, aided by long pockets and slouched hats, they are acting up to the true spirit of the Gospel. The Greenlanders were con- verted to Christianity by a Norwegian priest, named John Egede. He was so eminently successful in the object of his mission, and contrived to make himself so very much beloved, that his memory is still held among them in the highest veneration ; and they actually date their chronology from the year of his arrival, as we do ours from the birth of our Saviour. * The Jews, however, are still prohibited from entering the kingdom of Norway. 62 TABLEAU DES ETATS DANOIS. There are, in the University of Co- penhagen, seven professors of Theology, two of Civil Law, two of Mathematics, one of Latin and Rhetoric, one of Greek, one of Oriental Languages, one of History, five of Medicine, one of Agriculture, and one of Statistics. They enjoy a salary of from 1000 to 1500 rix-dollars, and are well lodged in the University. The University of Copenhagen is extremely rich, and enjoys an income of 3,000,000 rix- dollurs. Even Mr. Catteau admits that it has need of reform. In fact, the reputation of universities is almost always short-lived, or else it survives their merit. If they are endowed, pro- fessors become fat-witted, and never imagine that the arts and sciences are anything else but incomes. If uni- versities slenderly endowed are ren- dered famous by the accidental occur- rence of a few great teachers, the number of scholars attracted there by the reputation of the place makes the situation of a professor worth intriguing for. The learned pate is not fond of ducking to the golden fool : he who has the best talents for getting the office has most commonly the least for filling it ; and men are made moral and mathematical teachers by the same trick and filthiness with which they are made tide-waiters and clerks of the kitchen. The number of students in the Uni- versity of Copenhagen is about 700 : they come not only from Denmark, but from Norway and Iceland : the latter are distinguished as well for the regularity of their manners as for the intensity of their application ; the in- struments of which application are furnished to them by a library con- taining 60,000 volumes. The Danes have primary schools established in the towns, but which have need of much reform before they can answer all the beneficial ends of such an in- stitution. We should have been happy to have learned from Mr. Catteau the degree of information diffused among the lower orders in the Danish do- minions ; but upon this subject he is silent. In the University of Kiel there is an institution for the instruction of schoolmasters; and in the list of students in the same university we were a good deal amused to find only one student dedicating himself to Belles Lettres. The people of Holstein and Sleswick are Dutch in their manners, character, and appearance. Their language is in general the Low German ; though the better sort of people in the towns begin to speak High German.* In Jutland and the isles, the Danish language is spoken : within half a century this language has been cultivated with some attention : before that period, the Danish writers preferred to make use of the Latin or the German language. It is in the island of Finland that it is spoken with the greatest purity. The Danish character is not agreeable. It is marked by silence, phlegm, and reserve. A Dane is the excess and extravagance of a Dutchman ; more breeched, more ponderous, and more saturnine. He is not often a bad member of society in the great points of morals, and seldom a good one in the lighter requisites of manners. His understanding is alive only to the useful and the profitable : he never lives for what is merely gracious, courteous, and ornamental. His faculties seem to be drenched and slackened by the eternal fogs in which he resides ; he is never alert, elastic, nor serene. His state of animal spirits is so low, that what in other countries would be deemed dejection, proceeding from casual misfortune, is the habitual tenour and complexion of his mind. In all the operations of his understanding he must have time. He is capable ot' undertaking great journeys ; but he travels only a foot pace, and never leaps nor runs. He loves arithmetic better than lyric poetry, and affects Cocker rather than Pindar. He is slow to speak of fountains and amorous maidens : but can take a spell at porisms as well as another ; and will make profound and extensive com- binations of thought, if you pay him * Mr. Catteau's description of Heligo- land is entertaining. In an island contain- ing a population of 2000, there is neither horse, cart, nor plough. \Ve could not have imagined the possibility of such a fact iu any part of Europe. TABLEAU DES ETATS DANOIS. 63 for it, and do not insist that he shall either be brisk or brief. There is some- thing, on the contrary, extremely pleasing in the Norwegian style of character. The Norwegian expresses firmness and elevation in all that he says and does. In comparison with the Danes, he has always been a free man ; and you read his history in his looks. He is not apt, to be sure, to forgive his enemies ; but he docs not deserve any, for he is hospitable in the extreme, and prevents the needy in their wants. It is not possible for a writer of this country to speak ill of the Norwegians ; fur, of all strangers, the people of Norway love and admire the British the most. In reading Mr. Catteau's tic-count of the congealed and blighted Laplanders, we were struck with rhe infinite delight they must have in dying; the only circumstance in which they can enjoy any superiority over the rest of mankind ; or which tends, in their instance, to verify the theory of the equality of human con- dition. If we pass over Tycho Brahe, and the well known history of the Scaldes, of the Chronicles of Isleif, Saemunder, Hiinfronde, Snorro, Sturleson, and other Islandic worthies, the list of Danish literati will best prove that they have no literati at all. Are there twenty persons in Great Britain who have ever heard of Longomon- tanus, Nicholas Stcnonis, Sperling Lau- renberg, Huitfeild, Gramn, Holberg, Langebeek, Carstens, Suhm, Kofod, Anger? or of the living Wad, Fabri- cius, Hanch, Tode, and Zffiga ? We do not deny merit to these various personages ; many of them may be much admired by those who are more conversant in Danish literature than we can pretend to be : but they are certainly not names on which the learned fame of any country can be built very high. They have no classical celebrity and diffusion : they are not an universal language : they have not enlarged their original dominion, and become the authors of Europe, instead of the authors of Denmark. It would be loss of time to speak of the fine arts in Denmark; they hardly exist. We have been compelled to pass over many parts of Mr. Catteau's book more precipitately than we could have wished ; but we hope we have said and exhibited enough of it, to satisfy the public that it is, upon the whole, a very valuable publication. The two great requisites for his undertaking, modera- tion and industry, we are convinced this gentleman possesses in an eminent degree. He represents everything -with- out prejudice, and he represents every- thing authentically. The same cool and judicious disposition, which clears him from the spirit of party, makes him perhaps cautious in excess. We are convinced that everything he says is true ; but we have been sometimes in- duced to suspect that we do not see the whole truth. After all, perhaps, he has told as much truth as he could do, compatibly with the opportunity of telling any. A person more disposed to touch upon critical and offensive subjects might not have submitted as diligently to the investigation of truth, with whiih passion was not concerned. How few writers are, at the same time, laborious, impartial, and intrepid ! We cannot conclude this article with- out expressing the high sense we enter- tain of the importance of such re- searches as those in which Mr. Catteau has been engaged. They must form the basis of all interior regulations, and ought principally to influence the con- duct of every country in its relations towards foreign powers. As they con- tain the best estimate of the wealth and happiness of a people, they bring theory to the strictest test ; and mea- sure,, better than all reasoning, tho wisdom with which laws' are made, and the mildness with which they are ad- ministered. If such judicious and elaborate surveys of the state of this and other countries in Europe had been made from time to time for the last two centuries, they would have quickened and matured the progress of knowledge, and the art of governing, by throwing light on the spirit and tendency of laws ; they would hav& checked the spirit of officious inter- ference in legislation ; have softened persecution, and expanded narrow con- WITTMAN'S TRAVELS. ceptions of national policy. The hap- piuess of a nation would have been proclaimed by the fulness of its gamers, and the multitudes of its sheep and oxen ; and rulers might sometimes have sacrificed their schemes of am- bition, or their unfeeling splendour, at the detail of silent fields, empty har- bours, and famished peasants. WITTMAN'S TRAVELS. (E. REVIEW, 1803.) Travels in Turkey, Asia Minor, Syria, &c. and into- Egypt. By William Wittman, M.D. 1803. London. Phillips. DR. WITTMAN was sent abroad witli the military mission to Turkey, towards the spring of 1799, and remained attached to it during its residence in the neighbourhood of Constantinople, its march through the Desert, and its short operations in Egypt. The military mission, consisting of General Koehler, and some officers and privates of the artillery and engineers, amounting on the whole to seventy, were assembled at Constantinople, June, 1799, which they left in the same month of the fol- lowing year, joined the Grand Vizier at Jaffa in July, and entered Egypt with the Turks in April, 1801. After the military operations were concluded there, Dr. Wittman returned home by Constantinople, Vienna, &c. The travels are written in the shape of a journal, which begins and con- cludes with the events which we just mentioned. It is obvious that the route described by Dr. Wittman is not new: he could make no cursory and superficial observations upon the people whom he saw, or the countries through which he passed, with which the public are not already familiar. If his travels were to possess any merit at all, they were to derive that merit from accurate physical researches, from copious in- formation on the state of medicine, surgery, and disease in Turkey; and above all, perhaps, from gratifying the rational curiosity which all inquiring minds must feel upon the nature of the plague, and the indications of cure. Dr. Wittman, too, was passing over the same ground trodden by Bonaparte in his Syrian expedition, and had an ample opportunity of inquiring its pro- bable object, and the probable success which (but for the heroic defence of Acre) might have attended it; he was on the theatre of Bonaparte's imputed crimes, as well as his notorious defeat; and might have brought us back, not anile conjecture, but sound evidence of events which must determine his cha- racter, who may determine our fate. We should have been happy also to have found in the Travels of Dr. Wittman a full account of the tactics and manoeuvres of the Turkish army ; and this it would not have been difficult to have obtained through the medium of his military companions. Such appear to us to be the subjects, from an able discussion of which, Dr. Wittman might have derived con- siderable reputation, by gratifying the ardour of temporary curiosity, and adding to the stock of permanent knowledge. Upon opening Dr. Wittman's book, we turned, with a considerable degree of interest, to the subject of Jaffa; and, to do justice to the Doctor, we shall quote all that he has said upon the subject of Bonaparte's conduct at this place. " After a breach had been effected, the French troops stormed and carried the place. It was probably owing to the obsti- nate defence made by the Turks, that the French commander-in-chief was induced to give orders for the horrid massacre which succeeded. Four thousand of the wretched inhabitants who had surrendered, and who iad in vain implored the mercy of their conquerors, were, together with a part of the late Turkish garrison of El-Arish (amounting, it has been said, to five or six hundred) dragged out in cold blood, four days after the French had ob- tained possession of Jaffa, to the sand hills, about a league distant, in the way to Gaza, and there most inhumanly put to death. [ have seen the skeletons of these unfortu- nate victims which lie scattered over the lills ; a modern Golgotha, which remains a Asting disgrace to a nation calling itself civi- iised. It would give pleasure to the author of this work, as well as to every liberal mind, to hear these facts contradicted WITTMAN'S TRAVELS. 65 on substantial evidence. Indeed, I am sorry to add, that the charge of cruelty against the French generally does not rest here. It having been reported, that, previously to the retreat of the French army from Syria, their commander-in-chief had ordered all the French sick at Jaffa to be poisoned, I was led to make the inquiry to which every one who should have visited the spot would naturally have been directed, respecting an act of such singular, and, it should seem, wanton inhumanity. It concerns me to have to state, not only that such a circum- stance was positively asserted to have hap- pened, but that, while in Egypt, an indi- vidual was pointed out to us, as having been the executioner of these diabolical commands." (p. 128.) Now, in this passage, Dr. "VVittman offers no other evidence whatever of the massacre, than that he had seen the skeletons scattered over the hills, and that the fact was universally be- lieved. But how does Dr. Wittman know what skeletons those were which he saw? An oriental camp, affected by the plague, leaves as many skeletons behind it as a massacre. And though the Turks bury their dead, the Doctor complains of the very little depth at which they are interred ; so that jackals, high winds, and a sandy soil, might, with great facility, undo the work of Turkish sextons. Let any one read Dr. Wittman's account of the camp near Jaffa, where the Turks re- mained so long in company with the military mission, and he will imme- diately perceive that, a year after their departure, it might have been mis- taken, with great ease, for the scene of a massacre. The spot which Dr. Witt- man saw might have been the spot where a battle had been fought. In the turbulent state of Syria, and amidst the variety of its barbarous inhabitants, can it be imagined that every bloody battle, with its precise limits and cir- cumscription, is accurately committed to tradition, and faithfully reported to inquirers ? Besides, why scattered among hills ? If 5000 men were marched out to a convenient spot and massacred, their remains would be heaped up in a small space, a mountain of the murdered, a vast ridge of bones and rottenness. As the Doctor has described the bones scenery, it has VOL. L much more the appearance of a battle and pursuit than of a massacre. After all, this gentleman lay eight months under the walls of Jaffa ; whence comes it he has given us no better evidence ? Were 5000 men murdered in cold blood by a division of the French army a year before, and did no man remain in Jaffa, who said, I saw it done I was present when they were marched out I went the next day, and saw the scarcely dead bodies of the victims ? If Dr. Wittman re- ceived any such evidence, why did he not bring it forward? If he never inquired for such evidence, how is he qualified to write upon the subject ? If he inquired for it and could not find it, how is the fact credible ? This author cannot make the same excuse as Sir Robert Wilson, for the suppression of his evidence; as there could be no probability that Bonaparte would wreak his vengeance upon Soli- man Aga, Mustapha Cawn, Sidi Ma- homet, or any given Turks, upon whose positive evidence Dr. Wittman might have rested his accusation. Two such wicked acts as the poisoning and the massacre have not been committed within the memory of man; within the same memory, no such extra- ordinary person has appeared, as he who is said to have committed them ; and yet, though their commission must have been public, no one has yet said, Vidi ego. The accusation still rests upon hearsay. At the same time, widely dissemi- nated as this accusation has been over Europe, it is extraordinary that it has not been contradicted in print; and, though Sir Robert Wilson's book must have been read in France, that no officer of the division of Bon has come forward in vindication of a criminal who could repay incredulity so well. General Andreossi, who was with the First Consul in Syria, treats the accu- sations as contemptible falsehoods. But though we are convinced he is a man. of character, his evidence has certainly less weight, as he may have been speaking in the mask of diplomacy. As to the general circulation of the report, he must think much higher of F 66 WITTMAX'S TRAVELS. the sagacity of multitudes than we do, who would convert this into a reason of belief. Whoever thinks it so easy to get at truth in the midst of passion, should read the various histories of the recent rebellion in Ireland; or he may, if he chooses, believe, with thousands of worthy Frenchmen, that the infernale was planned by Mr. Pitt and Lord Melville. As for us, we will state what appears to us to be the truth, should it even chance to justify a man in whose lifetime Europe can know neither hap- piness nor peace. The story of the poisoning is given by Dr. Wittman precisely in the same desultory manner as that of the mas- sacre. "An individual was pointed out to us as the executioner of these diaboli- cal commands." By how many persons was he pointed out as the executioner? by persons of what authority ? and of what credibility? Was it asserted from personal knowledge, or merely from rumour? Whence comes it that such an agent, after the flight of his em- ployer, was not driven away by the general indignation of the army? If Dr. Wittman had combined this species of information with his stories, his conduct would have been more just, and his accusations would have carried greater weight. At present, when he, who had the opportunity of telling us BO much, has told us so little, we are rather less inclined to believe than we were before. We do not say, these accusations are not true, but that Dr. Wittman has not proved them to be true. Dr. Wittman did not see more than two cases of plague : he has given them both at full length. The symptoms were thirst, headache, vertigo, pains in the limbs, bilious vomitings, and pain- ful tumours in the groins. The means of cure adopted were, to evacuate the primae viae; to give diluting and re- freshing drinks; to expel the redundant bile by emetics; and to assuage the pain in the groin by fomentations and anodynes; both cases proved fatal. In one of the cases, the friction with warm oil was tried in vain ; but it was thought useful in the prevention of plague : the immediate effect produced was, to throw the person rubbed into a very copious perspiration. A patient in typhus, who was given over, recovered after this discipline was administered. The boldness and enterprise of medical men is quite as striking as the courage displayed in battle, and evinces how much the power of encountering danger depends upon habit. Many a military veteran would tremble to feed upon pus ; to sleep in sheets running with water ; or to draw up the breath of feverish patients. Dr. White might not, perhaps, have marched up to a battery with great alacrity ; but Dr. White, in the year 1801, inoculated himself in the arms, with recent matter taken from the bubo of a pestiferous patient, and rubbed the same matter upon different parts of his body. With somewhat less of courage, and more of injustice, he wrapt his Arab servant in the bed of a person just dead of the plague. The Doctor died ; and the Doctor's man (perhaps to prove his master's theory, that the plague was not contagious) ran away. The bravery of our naval officers never produced anything superior to this therapeutic heroism of the Doctor's. Dr. Wittman has a chapter which he calls An Historical Journal of the Plague; but the information which it contains amounts to nothing at all. He confesses that he has had no ex- perience in the complaint ; that he has no remedy to offer for its cure, and no theory for its cause.* The treatment of the minor plague of Egypt, Oph- thalmia, was precisely the method common in this country ; and was generally attended with success, where the remedies were applied in time. Nothing can be conceived more dreadful than was the situation of the military mission in the Turkish camp ; exposed to a mutinous Turkish soldiery, to infection, famine, and a scene of the most abominable filth and putrefaction ; and this they endured for a year and a half, with the patience of apostles of * One fact mentioned by Dr. Wittman appears to be curious; that Constanti- nople was nearly free from plague during the interruption of its communication with Egypt. WITTMAN'S TRAVELS. G7 peace, rather than -war. Their occupa- tion was to teach diseased barbarians, who despised them, and thought it no small favour that they should be per- mitted to exist in their neighbourhood. They had to witness the cruelties of despotism, and the passions of armed and ignorant multitudes ; and all this embellished with the fair probability of being swept off, in some grand en- gagement, by the superior tactics and activity of the enemy to whom the Turks were opposed. To the filth, irregularity, and tumult of a Turkish camp, as it appeared to the British officers in 1800, it is curious to oppose the picture of one drawn by Busbequius in the middle of the sixteenth century: "Turcse inproximis campis tendebant; cnm vero in eo loco tribus mensibus vixerim, fuit mihi facultas videndorum ipsorum castrorum, et cognoscendoe aliqua ex parte discipline; qua de re nisi pauca attingam, habeas fortasse quod me accuses. Sumpto habitu Christianis hominibus in illis locis usitato, cum uno aut altero comite qua- cnnque vagabar ignotus: primum videbam summo ordine cujusque cor- poris milites snis locis distributes, et, quod vix credat, qui nostratis militiae consuetudinem novit, summum erat ubique silentium, summa quies, rixa nulla, nullum cujusquam insolens fac- tum: sed ne nox quidem aut vitulatio per lasciviam aut ebrietatem emissa. Ad hcec summa mundities, nulla ster- quilinia, nulla purgamenta, nihil quod oculos aut nares offenderet. Quicquid est hujusmodi, aut defodiunt Tume, aut procul a conspectu submovent. Sed nee ullas compotationes aut con- vivia, nullum aleas genus, magnum nostratis inilitiffi flagitium, videre erat: nulla ' lusoriarium chartarum, neque tesserarum damna norunt Turcse." Augeri Susbequii, Epist. 3. p. 187. HanovicE. 1622. There is at present, in the Turkish army, a curious mixture of the severest despotism in the com- mander, and the most rebellious in- solence in the soldier. When the soldier misbehaves, the Vizier cuts his head off, and places it under his arm. When the soldier is dissatisfied with the Vizier, he fires his ball through his tent, and admonishes him, by these messengers, to a more pleasant exercise of his authority. That such severe punishments should not confer a more powerful authority, and give birth to a better discipline, is less extraordinary, if we reflect, that we hear only that the punishments are severe, not that they are steady, and that they are just ; for if the Turkish soldiers were always punished with the same severity when they were in fault, and never but then, it is not in human nature to suppose that the Turkish army would long remain in as contemptible a state as it now is. But the governed soon learn to distinguish between systematic energy and the excesses of casual and capricious cruelty; the one awes them into submission, the other rouses them to revenge. Dr. Wittman, in his chapter on the Turkish army, attributes much of its degradation to the altered state of the corps of Janissaries ; the original con- stitution of which corps was certainly both curious and wise. The children of Christians made prisoners in the predatory incursions of the Turks, or procured in any other manner, were exposed in the public markets at Con- stantinople. Any farmer or artificer was at liberty to take one into his ser- vice, contracting with government to produce him again when he should be wanted ; and in the meantime to feed and clothe him, and to educate him to such works of labour as are calculated to strengthen the body. As the Janis- saries were killed off, the government drew upon this stock of hardy orphans for its levies ; who, instead of hanging upon weeping parents at their depar- ture, came eagerly to the camp, as the situation which they had always been taught to look upon as the theatre of their future glory, and towards which all their passions and affections had been bent, from their earliest years. Arrived at the camp, they received at first low pay, and performed menial offices for the little division of Janissa- ries to which they were attached : "Ad Gianizaros rescriptus primo meretmen- struo stipendio, paulo plus minus, unius ducati cum dimidio. Id enim militi F 2 63 WITTMAN'S TRAVELS. novitio, et rudi satis esse ccnsent. Sed tamen nc quid victus necessitati desit, cum ea decuria, in cujus contubernium adscitus est, gratis cibum capit, ea con- ditione, ut in culina reliquoque minis- terio ei dccurize serviat ; usum armorum adeptus tyro, necdum tamen suis con- tubernalibus honore neque stipendio par, unam in sola virtute, se illis sequan- di, spem habet : utpote si militia? qua? prima se obtulerit, tale specimen sui dederit, ut dignus judicetur, qui tyro- cinio exemptus, honoris gradu et sti- pendii magnitudine, reliquis Gianizaris par habeatur. Qua quidem spe plerique tyrones impulsi, multa prseclare audent, et fortitudine cum veteranis certant." Buslequius, De He Mil. cant. Tare. Instil. Consilium.* The same author observes, that there was no rank or dignity in the Turkish army to which a common Janissary might not arrive by his courage or his capacity. This last is a most powerful motive to exer- tion, and is perhaps one leading cause of the superiority of the French arms. Ancient governments promote, from numberless causes, which ought to have no concern with promotion : revolu- tionary governments, and military des- potisms, can make generals of persons who are fit for generals : to enable them to be unjust in all other instances, they are forced to be just in this. What, in fact, are the sultans and pachas of Paris, but Janissaries raised from the ranks? At present, the Janissaries are procured from the lowest of the people, and the spirit of the corps is evaporated. The low state of their armies is in some degree imputable to this : but the principle reason why the Turks are no longer as powerful as they were is, that they are no longer enthu- siasts, and that war is now become more a business of science than of per- sonal courage. The person of the greatest abilities in the Turkish empire is the Capitan Pacha. He has disciplined some ships * This is a very spirited appeal to his countrymen on the tremendous power of the Turks ; and, with the substitution of France for Turkey, is so applicable to the present times, that it might be spoken in parliament with great effect. and regiments in the European fashion, and would, if he were well seconded, bring about some important reforms iu the Turkish empire. But what has become of all the reforms of the famous Gazi Hassan ? The blaze of partial talents is soon extinguished. Never was there so great a prospect of im- provement ns that afforded by the ex- ertions of this celebrated man, who, in spite of the ridicule thrown upon him by Baron de Tott, was such a man as the Turks cannot expect to see again once in a century. He had the whole power of the Turkish empire at his disposal for fifteen years ; and, after repeated efforts to improve the army, abandoned the scheme as totally im- practicable. The celebrated Bonneval, in his time, and DC Tott since, made the same attempt with the same suc- cess. They are not to be taught ; and six months after his death, everything the present Capitan Pacha has done will be immediately pulled to pieces. The present Grand Vizier is a man of no ability. There are some very enter- taining instances of his gross ignorance cited in the 133d page of the Travels. Upon the news being communicated to him that the earth was round, he ob- served that this could not be the case ; for the people and the objects on the other side would in that case fall off ; and that the earth could not move round the sun ; for if so, a ship bound from Jaffa to Constantinople, instead of proceeding to the capital would be earned to London, or elsewhere. We cannot end this article without confess- ing with great pleasure the entertain- ment we have received from the work which occasions it. It is an excellent lounging-book, full of pleasant details, never wearying by prolixity, or offend- ing by presumption, and is apparently the production of a respectable, worthy roan. So far we can conscientiously recommend it to the public ; for any- thing else, Non cuivis homini contingit adire, &c. &c. &c. EDGEWORTH ON BULLS. 69 EDGEWORTH ON BULLS. (E. REVIEW, 1803 ) Essay on Irish Bulls. By Richard Lovell Edgeworth, and Maria Edgeworth. Lon- don, 1802. WE hardly know what to say about this rambling scrambling book ; but that we are quite sure the author, when he began any sentence in it, had not the smallest suspicion of what it was about to contain. We say the author, be- cause, in spite of the mixture of sexes in the title page, we are strongly in- clined to suspect that the male contri- butions exceed the female in a very great degree. The Essay on Bulls is written much with the same mind, and in the same manner, as a school- boy takes a walk : he moves on for ten yards on the straight road, with surprising perseverance ; then sets out after a butterfly, looks for a bird's nest, or jumps backwards and forwards over a ditch. In the same manner, this nimble and digressive gentleman is away after every object which crosses his mind. If you leave him at the end of a comma, in a steady pursuit of his subject, you are sure to find him, before the next full stop, a hundred yards to the right or left, frisking, capering, and grinning in a high pa- roxysm of merriment and agility. Sir. Edgeworth seems to possess the senti- ments of an accomplished gentleman, the information of a scholar, and the vivacity of a first-rate harlequin. He is fuddled with animal spirits, giddy with constitutional joy ; in such a state he must have written on, or burst. A discharge of ink was an evacuation absolutely necessary, to avoid fatal and plethoric congestion. The object of the book is to prove, that the practice of making bulls is not more imputable to the Irish than to any other people ; and the manner in which he sets about it, is to quote ex- amples of bulls produced in other countries. But this is surely a singular way of reasoning the question : for there are goitres out of the Valais, extortioners who do not worship Moses, oat cakes south of the Tweed, and balm beyond the precincts of Gilead. If nothing can be said to exist pre- eminently and emphatically in one country, which exists at all in another, then Frenchmen are not gay, nor Spaniards grave, nor are gentlemen of the Milesian race remarkable for their disinterested contempt of wealth in their connubial relations. It is pro- bable there is some foundation for a character so generally diffused ; though it is also probable that such foundation is extremely enlarged by fame. If there were no foundation for the common opinion, we must suppose national characters formed by chance ; and that the Irish might, by accident, have been laughed at as bashful and sheepish ; which is impossible. The author puzzles himself a good deal about the nature of bulls, without coming to any decision about the matter. Though the question is not a very easy one, we shall venture to say, that a bull is an apparent congraity, and real incongruity of ideas, suddenly discovered. And if this account of bulls be just, they are (as might have been supposed) the very reverse of wit ; for as wit discovers real relations, that are not apparent, bulls admit apparent relations that are not real. The pleasure arising from wit proceeds from our surprise at suddenly discovering two things to be similar, in which we sus- pected no similarity. The pleasure arising from bulls proceeds from our discovering two things to be dissimilar, in which a resemblance might have been suspected. The same doctrine will apply to wit, and to bulls in action. Practical wit discovers con- nection or relation between actions, in which duller understandings discover none ; and practical bulbs originate from an apparent relation between two actions, which more correct under- standings immediately perceive to have no relation at alL Louis XIV., being extremely ha- rassed by the repeated solicitations of a veteran officer for promotion, said one day, loud enough to be heard, " That gentleman is the most trouble- some officer I have in my service." " That is precisely the charge (said i" 3 70 EDGEWORTH ON BULLS. the old man) which your Majesty's enemies bring against me." " An English gentleman (says Mr. Edge- worth, in a story cited from Joe Miller) was writing a letter in a coffee-house ; and per- ceiving that an Irishman stationed behind him was taking that liberty which Parmenio used with his friend Alexander, instead of putting his seal upon the lips of the cw- riout impertinent, the English gentleman thought proper to reprove the Hibernian, if not with delicacy, at least with poetical j ust ice. He concluded writing his letter in these words: .'I would say more, but a damned tall Irishman is reading over my shoulder every word I write.' "'You lie, you scoundrel,' said the self- canvicted Hibernian." (p. 29.) The pleasure derived from the first of these stories proceeds from the dis- covery of the relation that subsists between the object he had in view, and the assent of the officer to an obser- vation so unfriendly to that end. In the first rapid glance which the mind throws upon his words, he appears, by his acquiescence, to be pleading against himself. There seems to be no re- lation between what he says and what he wishes to effect by speaking. In the second story, the pleasure is directly the reverse. The lie given was apparently the readiest means of proving his innocence, and really the most effectual way of establishing his guilt. There seems for a moment to be a strong relation between the means and the object ; .while, in fact, no irre- latioc can be so complete. What connection is there between pelting stones at monkeys and gather- ing cocoa-nuts from lofty trees ? Ap- parently none. But monkeys sit upon cocoa-nut trees ; monkeys are imitative animals ; and if you pelt a monkey with a stone, he pelts yon with a cocoa- nut in return. This scheme of gather- ing cocoa-nuts is very witty, and woulc be more so, if it did not appear useful for the idea of utility is always inimica' to the idea of wit.* There appears It must be observed, that all the great passions, and many other feelings, extin guish the relish for wit. Thus lympha pudica Deum vidit et erebuit, would be witty, were it not bordering on the sublime The resemblance between the sandal tree imparting (while it falls) its aromatic fla- n the contrary, to be some relation >etween the revenge of the Irish rebels igainst a banker, and the means which hey took to gratify it, by burning all lis notes wherever they found them ; vhereas, they could not have rendered rim a more essential service. In both these cases of bulls, the one verbal, the other practical, there is an apparent congruity and real incongruity of ideas, [n both the cases of wit, there is an apparent incongruity and a real rela- >n. It is clear that a bull cannot depend upon mere incongruity alone ; for if a man were to say that he would ride to London upon a cocked hat, or that he would cut his throat with a pound of 3ickled salmon, this, though completely incongruous, would not be to bulls, but to talk nonsense. make The stronger the apparent connection, and the more complete the real discon- nection Of the ideas, the greater the surprise and the better the bull. The less apparent, and the more complete the relations established by wit, the liigher gratification does it afford. A great deal of the pleasure experienced from bulls proceeds from the sense of superiority in ourselves. Bulls which we invented, or knew to be invented, might please, but in a less degree, for want of this additional zest. As there must be apparent connec- tion, and real incongruity, it is seldom that a man of sense and education finds any form of words by which he is conscious that he might have been deceived into a bull. To con- ceive how the person has been de- vour to the edge of the axe, and the bene- volent man rewarding evil with good, would be witty, did it not excite virtuous emotions. There are many mechanical contrivances which excite sensations very similar to wit ; but the attention is absorbed by their util- ity. Some of Merlin's machines, which have no utility at all, are quite similar to wit. A small model of a steam engine, or mere squirt, is wit to a child. A man spe- culates on the causes of the first, or on its consequences, and so loses the feelings of wit : with the latter he is too familiar to be surprised. In short, the essence of every species of wit is surprise ; which, yi termini, must be sudden ; and the sensations which wit has a tendency to excite, are impaired or destroyed, as often as they are mingled with much thought or passion. ACCOUNT OF SIERRA LEOXE. ceived, he must suppose a degree of information very different from, and a species of character very heterogeneous to, his own ; a process which diminishes surprise, and consequently pleasure. In the ahove-mentioned story of the Irish- man overlooking the man writing, no person of ordinary sagacity can sup- pose himself betrayed into such a mis- take : but he can easily represent to himself a kind of character that might have been so betrayed. There are some bulls so extremely fallacious, that any man may imagine himself to have been betrayed into them ; but these are rare : and, in general, it is a poor con- temptible species of amusement; a de- light in which evinces a very bad taste in wit. Whether the Irish make more bulls than their neighbours is, as we have before remarked, not a point of much importance ; but it is of considerable importance that the character of a nation should not be degraded : and Mr. Edgeworth has great merit in his very benevolent intention of doing justice to the excellent qualities of the Irish. It is not possible to read his book, without feeling a strong and anew disposition in their favour. Whether the imitation of the Irish manner be accurate in his little stories we cannot determine ; but we feel the same con- fidence in the accuracy of the imita- tion, that is often felt in the resem- blance of a portrait of which we have never seen the original. It is no very high compliment to Mr. Edgeworth's creative powers, to say, he could not have formed anything, which was not real, so like reality ; but such a re- mark only robs Peter to pay Paul ; and gives everything to his powers of ob- servation which it takes from those of his imagination. In truth, nothing can be better than his imitation of the Irish manner : it is first-rate painting. Edgeworth and Co. have another faculty in great perfection. They are eminently masters of the pathos. The Firm drew tears from us in the stories of little Dominick, and of the Irish beggar who killed his sweetheart : never was auy grief more natural or simple. The first, however, ends in a. very foolish way ; formosa superne Desinit in piscem. We are extremely glad that our avocations did not call us from Bath to London, on the day that the Bath coach conversation took place. We except from this wish the story with which the conversation terminates ; for as soon as Mr. Edgeworth enters upon a story he excels. We must confess we have been much more pleased with Mr. Edgeworth in his laughing, and in his pathetic, than in his grave and reasoning moods. He meant, perhaps, that we should ; and it certainly is not very necessary that a writer should be profound on the subject of bulls. Whatever be the deficiencies of the book, they are, in our estimation, amply atoned for by its merits ; by none more, than that lively feeling of compassion which pervades it for the distresses of the wild, kind-hearted, blundering poor of Ireland. ACCOUNT OF SIERRA LEONE. (E. RETIBW, 1804.) An Account of Native Africans in the Neighbourhood of Sierra Leone. To which is added, An Account of the pre- sent State of Medicine among them. By Thomas "Winterbottom, Physician to the Colony of Sierra Leone. Hatchard, Pic- cadilly. VoL L IT appears from the Preface of this book, that the original design of Dr. Winterbottom was to write only on the medical knowledge of the Africans in the neighbourhood of Sierra Leone ; but as he had lived among them some time in quality of physician to the colony, and had made many observa- tions on the genius and manners of the various African nations which surround it, it was thought fit (i. e. profitable) that he should write one volume for general, and one for therapeutic readers. The latter has not yet come to our hands. The former we have read with pleasure. It is very sensibly and agreeably drawn up ; and the only F 4 ACCOUNT OF SIERRA LEONE. circumstance we regret is, that, upon the whole, it must be rather considered as a compilation from previous writers, than as the result of the author's ex- perience : not that he is exactly on a footing with mere compilers : because every account which he quotes of scenes to which he is familiar, he sanctions by his authority ; and, with the mass of borrowed, there is a certain portion of original matter. It appears also, that a brother of the author, in com- pany with a Mr. Watt, penetrated above 400 miles into a part of Africa totally unknown to Europeans ; but there are very few observations quoted from the journal kept in this excursion ; and the mention of it served for little more than to excite a curiosity which is not gratified by further communica- tion. By the neighbourhood of Sierra Leone, Mr. Winterbottom means the windward coast, or that portion of the western shore of Africa which extends from the river Senegal to the latitude of nearly five degrees north, where the coast quits its easterly direction, and runs away to the south, or a little to the east of south. The whole of this coast is inhabited by a great number of independent nations, divided by different shades of barbarism and disputed limits of terri- tory, plunged in the darkest igno- rance and superstition, and preyed upon by the homicide merchants of Europe. The most curious passage in this section of the work, is an extract which Mr. Winterbottom has given us from a report made to a Committee of the House of Commons by the Directors of the Sierra Leone Company ; and which (as we conjecture, from Dr. Winterbottom's mode of expressing himself, it has never been printed) we shall extract from his book. " A remarkable proof (say the Directors) exists in the neighbourhood of Sierra Leone, of the very great advantages of a permanent, though very imperfect, system of govern- ment, and of the abolition of those African laws which make slavery the punishment of almost every offence. Not more than seventy years ago, a small number of Ma- hommedans established themselves in a country about forty miles to the northward of Sierra Leone, called from them the Man- dingo country. As is the practice of the professors of that religion, they formed schools in which the Arabic language and the doctrines of Mahomet were taught: and the customs of Mahommedans, part icu- larly that of not selling any of their own religion for slaves, were adopted ; laws founded on the Koran were introduced; those practices which chiefly contribute to depopulate were eradicated ; and, in spite of many intestine convulsions, a great com- parative idea of civilisation, unity, and security, was introduced: population, in, consequence, was rapidly increased; and the whole power of that part of the country in which they are settled has gradually fallen into their hands. Those who have been taught in their schools are succeeding to wealth and power in the neighbouring countries, and carry with them a consider- able portion of their religion and laws ; other chiefs are adopting the names as- sumed by these Mahommedans, on account of the respect with which it is attended; and the religion of Islam seems to diffuse itself peaceably over the whole district in which the colony is situated, carrying with it those advantages which seem ever to haveattended its victory over African super- stition." Agriculture, though in a rude infant state, is practised all along this coast of Africa. AH the lands must be strictly appropriated in a country, and the greater part tultivated, before any can be cultivated well. Where land is of little value, it is cheaper and better to till it slightly than perfectly ; or rather, perfection, under such circum- stances, consists in idleness and neglect. The great impediment to be removed from the fresh land which the Africans mean to cultivate, are those trouble- some weeds called trees ; which are first cut down, and then, with the grass, set fire to at a particular season of the year. This operation is performed when the Pleiades, the only stars they observe, are in a certain position with respect to the setting sun. At that season the fires are seen rolling in every direction over the parched and inflammable herbage ; and the blazing provinces are discerned at an immense distance in the night by ships approaching the coast. At this period of arson, it is not safe to travel without a tinder-box ; for, if a traveller is surprised by the ACCOUNT OF SIERRA LEONE. 73 pursuit of the flame, his only safety consists in propagating the same evil before, by which he is menaced behind ; and, in trudging on amidst the fiery hyphen, multiplying destruction in order to avoid it. The Foolahs, who seem to have made the greatest ad- vances in agriculture, are, however, still ignorant of the use of the plough, though Dr. Winterbottom is quite per- suaded they might easily be taught to use cattle for that purpose. "There came, (says the Doctor) during my residence at the colony, a chief of con- siderable importance, from the river Gam- bia, attracted by curiosity, and a desire of information. The man, whose appearance instantly announced a mind of no common cast, was so much struck with what he saw there, that before he went away he engaged in his service two of the most ingenious mechanics in the colony, one of whom, a carpenter, among other things, was to make a plough, and the other was to teach his people the art of training oxen for the draught, and fixing them to the yoke. For a further account of this person, see the Report of the Directors of the Sierra, Leone Company. London, 1795. It is curious to remark, that where any instance of civilisation and refine- ment is discovered in the manners of a barbarous people, it exists in a much higher degree than the same virtue iu nations generally refined. There are many single points of barbarous cour- tesy much more rigidly adhered to than the rules of European politeness would require- We have often remarked this in the voyages of Captain Cook, among the islands of the Indian Archipelago ; and there is a very remarkable instance of it among the natives of this coast. The houses (says Dr. Winterbottom) have seldom any other opening than the door, of which there are usually two opposite to each other. These serve the purpose of keeping up a current of air ; they also admit the light ; and afford an exit to the smoke of the fire, which is made in the middle of the floor. The entrance of a house is seldom closed by anything but a mat, which is occasionally let down, and is a sufficient barrier against all intruders. The most intimate friend will uot presume to lift the mat and enter, unless his salutation is returned. Nay, when the door is thus slightly closed, a woman, by pronouncing the word Mooradee (I am busy), can pre- vent her husband from entering, even though he is assured she is entertaining her gallant. His only remedy is to wait for their coming out. The explanation of these insulated pieces of superlative refinement among savages, frequently is, that they are not mere ceremonies, but religious ob- servances ; for the faith of barbarous people commonly regulates all the fri- volous minutiae of life, as well as its important duties : indeed, generally considers the first as of greater conse- quence than the last. And it must be a general fact, at all times, that gross ignorance more tenaciously adheres to a custom once adopted, because it respects that custom as an ultimate rule, and does not discern cases of ex- ception by appealing to any higher rule upon which the first is found. The Africans are very litigious ; and display, in their law-suits or palavers, a most forensic exuberance of images, and loquacity of speech. Their cri- minal causes are frequently terminated by selling one of the parties into sla- very; and the Christians are always ready to purchase either the plaintiff or defendant, or both ; together with all the witnesses, and any other human creature who is of a dusky colour, and worships the great idol Boo-Boo-Boo, with eleven heads. No great division of labour can of course be expected in such a state of society. Every man is a city in him- self, and is his own tailor, hairdresser, shoemaker, and every thing else. Among the Foolahs, however, some progress has been made in the division of em- ployments. The tanner and the black- smith are distinct trades ; and the ingenuity which they evince in over- coming obstacles, by means so inade- quate to those which Europeans pos- sess, may convince us what a stock of good qualities human nature has in store for cases of emergency. They put to sea canoes of ten tons' burthen hollowed from a single tree ; and al- though they are ignorant of the use of 74 ACCOUNT OF SIERRA LEONE. the potter's wheel, make earthen pots fit for every domestic use. Dr. Win- terbottom thinks they may have learnt their pottery from Europeans ; but if this is true, it is rather singular they were not instructed by the same masters in the use of the potter's most conve- nient and most prominent instrument. The common dress of the men consists in a shirt, trowsers, woollen cap or hat, which they buy of Europeans. Those who can afford it, are fond of deco- rating themselves in all the second- hand splendour they can purchase at the same market ; and Monmouth Street embarks its decayed finery for the coast of Africa, where Soosoo rakes and loungers nre joyfully vested in the habiliments of their Bond Street pre- decessors. The dress of the Pagan African is never thought complete, un- less a variety of greegrees, or amulets, be superadded ; these are to guard against every possible accident ; but, as Dr. Winterbottom observes, are such very cumbersome protectors, that in all real dangers they are commonly thrown away. The Mahommedan religion is inimical to dancing, singing, and all the lighter species of amusement. Riding on horseback is the only exercise of those Africans who have adopted this dull faith. Sedentary amusements, such as reading and writing, which flatter the literary pride with which they are puffed up, are most congenial to their habits. The collation of manu- scripts, which they perform with indus- try and accuracy, takes up much of their time. The Pagan African, on the contrary, is commonly a merry, dancing animal, given to every species of antic and apish amusement ; and as he is unacquainted with the future and promised delights of the Arabian pro- phet, he enjoys the bad music, and im- perfect beauty of this world, with a most eager and undisturbed relish. There is something so natural, and so closely derived from human govern- ments, in the notion of the immediate interference of Providence, that man- kind are only weaned from it by centu- ries of contradiction and discussion. In all cases, where crime is alleged, the accused is obliged to prove his inno- cence by submitting to an ordeal. If he is burnt by red-hot iron, or scalded by boiling oil, he is immediately hur- ried to the gallows, with a zeal propor- tioned to the force and perspicuity of the evidence. In the neighbourhood of Sierra Leone, a curious species of pharmaceutical tyranny is resorted to for the purpose of ordeal. The bark of a particular tree, of purgative and emetic qualities, is infused into a large quantity of water, of which the pri- soner is to drink about six calabashes quite full. If this judicial and inquisi- tive drink take a superior direction, and return by the aperture through which it is admitted, all is well ; but if the least honourable and elegant of its powers predominate over the other, and it evince a disposition to descend, all opportunity of changing its line of egress is prevented, by the immediate elevation of the accused person to the gibbet. The desire of penetrating into futu- rity, and the belief that some persons are capable of doing it, is as difficult; to eradicate from the human mind, as is the belief in an immediate Providence; and consequently, the Africans not only have their ordeal, but their conjurors and magicians, who are appealed to in all the difficulties and uncertainties of life, and who always, of course, preserve their authority, though they are per- petually showing, by the clearest evi- dence of facts, upon what sort of foun- dation it rests. But the most singular circumstance in the history cf barbarians is, that tendency to form interior so- cieties, comprehending a vast r.nmber of members, and rivalling the govern- ment in their influence upon public opinion. Such is the Areoy Society at Otaheite, and such the Society of the Purra in Africa. Every person, on entering into this Society, lays n.side his former name, and takes a new one. They have a superior, whose commands are received wich the most profound veneration. When the Purra comes into a town, which is always at night, it is accompanied with the most horrid screams, howlin-js, and every kind of awful noise. The inhabitants, who are not members, are obliged to secure TRIMMER AND LANCASTER. themselves within doors. Should any one be discovered without, or peeping to see what was going forwards, he would infallibly be put to death. Mere seclusion of females is not considered by the Society as a sufficient guarantee against their curiosity ; but all the time the Purra remains in town, the women are obliged to clap their hands, to show they are not attempting any private indulgence of espionnage. Like the Secret Tribunal which formerly existed in Germany, it punishes the guilty and disobedient, in so secret a manner, that the perpetrators are never known, and, from the dread of the Tribunal, not often inquired for. The natives about Sierra Leone speak of the Purra men with horror, and firmly believe that they have all strict and incessant intercourse with the devil. This account of Africa is terminated by a single chapter on Sierra Leone ; a subject on which we cannot help re- gretting that Dr. Winterbottom has not been a little more diffuse. It would derive a peculiar interest from the present state of St. Domingo, as the perils with which West India property is now threatened must naturally aug- ment curiosity respecting the possibility of a pacific change of that system ; and we should have read with pleasure and instruction the observations of so intel- ligent and entertaining a writer as Dr. Winterbottom, who is extensively ac- quainted with the subjects on which he writes, and has a talent of selecting important matter, and adorning it. Dr. Winterbottom says he has been in Africa some years, and we do not doubt the fact ; he might, however, have written this book without giving him- self that trouble ; and the only diffe- rence between him and a mere compiler is, that he sanctions his quotations by authority, and embellishes them by his ingenuity. The medical volume we have not yet seen, but this first volume may be safely purchased. TRIMMER AND LANCASTER* (E. REVIEW, 1806.) A Comparative view of the New Plan of Education promulgated by Mr. Joseph Lancaster, in his Tracts concerning the Instruction of the Children of the La- bouring Part of the Community; and of the System of Christian Education founded by our pious Forefathers for the Initiation of the Young Members of the Established Church in the Principles of the Reformed Religion. By Mrs. Trimmer. 1805. THIS is a book written by a lady who has gained considerable reputation at the corner of St. Paul's Churchyard ; who flames in the van of Mr. Newberry's shop ; and is, upon the whole, dearer to mothers and aunts than any other author who pours the milk of science into the mouths of babes and sucklings. Tired at last of scribbling for children, and getting ripe in ambition, she has now written a book for grown-up people, and selected for her antagonist as stiff a controversialist as the whole field of dispute could well have supplied. Her opponent is Mr. Lancaster, a Quaker, who has lately given to the world new and striking lights upon the subject of Education, and come forward to the notice of his country by spreading order, knowledge, and innocence among the lowest of mankind. Mr. Lancaster, she says, wants method in his book ; and therefore her answer to him is without any arrangement. The same excuse must suffice for the desultory observations we shall make upon this lady's publication. The first sensation of disgust we ex- perienced at Mrs. Trimmer's book, was from the patronising and protecting air with which she speaks of some small part of Mr. Lancaster's plan. She seems to suppose, because she has dedi- * Lancaster invented the new method of education. The Church was sorely vexed at its success, endeavoured to set up Dr. Bell as the discoverer, arid to run down poor Lancaster. George the Third was irritated by this shabby conduct, and always protected Lancaster. He was delighted with this Review, and made Sir Herbert Taylor read it a second time to him. 76 TRIMMER AND LANCASTER. cated her mind to the subject, that her opinion must necessarily be valuable upon it ; forgetting it to be barely pos- sible, that her application may have made her more wrong, instead of more right. If she can make out her case, that Mr. Lancaster is doing mischief in so important a point as that of na- tional education, she has a right, in common with every one else, to lay her complaint before the public ; but a right to publish praises must be earned by something more difficult than the writing sixpenny books for children. They may be very good; though we never remember to have seen any one of them; but if they be no more re- markable for judgment and discretion than parts of the work before us, there are many thriving children quite capable of repaying the obligations they owe to their amiable instructress, and of teaching, with grateful retaliation, " the old idea how to shoot." In remarking upon the work before us, we shall exactly follow the plan of the authoress, and prefix, as she does, the titles of those subjects on which her observations are made ; doing her the justice to presume, that her quotations are fairly taken from Mr. Lancaster's book. 1 . Mr. Lancaster's Preface. Mrs. Trimmer here contends, in opposition to Mr. Lancaster, that ever since the establishment of the Protestant Church, the education of the poor has been a national concern in this country ; and the only argument she produces in sup- port of this extravagant assertion, is an appeal to the Act of Uniformity. If there are millions of Englishmen who cannot spell their own names, or read a sign-post which bids them turn to the right or left, is it any answer to this deplorable ignorance to say, there is an Act of Parliament forpublic instruction? to show the very line and chapter where the King, Lords, and Commons, in Parliament assembled, ordained the universality of reading and writing, when, centuries afterwards, the plough- man is no more capable of the one or the other than the beast which he drives ? lu point of fact, there is no Protestant country in t'ue world where the educa- tion of the poor lias been so grossly and infamously neglected as in England. Mr. Lancaster has the very high merit of calling the public attention to this evil, and of calling it in the best way, by new and active remedies ; and this uncandid and feeble lady, instead of using the influence she has obtained over the anility of these realms, to join that useful remonstrance which Mr. Lancaster has begun, pretends to deny that the evil exists ; and when you ask where are the schools, rods, pedagogues, primers, histories of Jack the Giant- killer, and all the usual apparatus for education, the only things she can pro- duce is the Act of Uniformity and Com- mon Prayer. 2. The Principles on which Mr. Lan- caster's Institution is conducted. " Happily for mankind," says Mr. Lancaster, "it is possible to combine precept and practice together in the education of youth : that public spirit, or general opinion, which gives such strength to vice,, may be rendered serviceable to the cause of virtue ; and in thus directing it, the whole secret, the beauty and simplicity of national education consists. Suppose, for in- stance, it be required to train a youth to strict veracity. He has learnt to read at school : he there reads the de- claration of the Divine will respecting liars; he is there informed of the per- nicious effects that practice produces on society at large : and he is enjoined, for the fear of God, for the approbation of his friends, and for the good of his schoolfellows, never to tell an untruth. This is a most excellent precept ; but let it be taught, and yet, if the contrary practice be treated with indifference by parents, teachers, or associates, it will either weaken or destroy all the good that can be derived from it. But if the parents or teachers tenderly nip the rising shoots of vice; if the as- sociates of youth pour contempt on the liar ; he will soon hide his head with shame, and most likely leave off the practice." (pp. 24, 25.) The objection which Mrs. Trimmer makes to this passage is, that it is exaltiny the fear of man above tliefear of God. This observation is as mis- TRIMMER AND LANCASTER. 77 cliievous as it is unfounded. Un- doubtedly, the fear of God ought to be the paramount principle from the very beginning of life, if it were possible to make it so; but it is a feeling which can only be built up by degrees. The awe and respect which a child enter- tains for its parent and instructor, is the first scaffolding upon which the sacred edifice of religion is reared. A childs begins to pray, to act, and to abstain, not to please God, but to please the parent, who tells him that such is the will of God. The religious prin- ciple gains ground from the power of !i.-.-ociation and the improvement of reason ; but without the tear of man the desire of pleasing, and the dread of offending those with whom he lives it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to cherish it at all in the mind of children. If you tell (says Mr. Lancaster) a child not to swear, because it is forbidden by God, and he finds everybody whom he lives with addicted to that vice, the mere precept w ill soon be obliterated ; which would acquire its just influence if aided by the effect of example. Mr. Lancaster does not say that the fear of man ever ought to be a stronger motive than the fear of God, or that, in a thoroughly formed character, it ever is : he merely s;iys that the fear of man may be made the most powerful mean to raise up the fear of God ; and nothing, in our opinion, can be more plain, more sensible, or better expressed, than his opinions upon these subjects In cor- roboration of this sentiment, Mr. Lan- caster tells the following story : "A benevolent friend of mine (says he), who resides at a village near London, where he has a school of the class called Sunday Schools, recommended several lads to me for education. He is a pious man, and these children had the advantage of good precepts under his instruction in an eminent degree, but had reduced them to very little practice. As they came to my school from some dis- tance, they were permitted to bring their dinners ; and, in the interval between the morning and afternoon school hours, spent their time with a number of lads under similar circumstances, in a play-ground ad- joiningthe school-room. In this play-ground the boys usually enjoy an hour's recreation ; tops, balls, races, or what best suits their inclination or the season of the year ; but with this charge, ' Let all be kept in inno- cence.' These lads thought themselves very happy at play with their new associates ; but on a sudden they were seized and over- come by numbers, were brought into school just as people in the street would seize a pickpocket, and bring him to the police office. Happening at that time to be within, 1 inquired, 'Well, boys, what is all this bustle about ? ' ' Why, Sir,' was the general reply, 'these lads have been swearing.' This was announced with as much emphasis and solemnity as a judge would use in pass- ing sentence upon a criminal. The cul- prits were, as may be supposed, in much terror. After the examination of witnesses and proof of the facts, they received admo- nition as to the offence ; and, on promise of better behaviour, were dismissed. No more was ever heard of their swearing; yet it was observable, that they were better acquainted with the theory of Christianity, and could give a more rational answer to questions from the Scripture, than several of the boys who had thus treated them, on comparison, as constables would do a thief. I call this," adds Mr. Lancaster, "practical religious instruction, and could, if needful, give many such anecdotes." (pp. 26, 27.) . All that Mrs. Trimmer has to ob- serve against this very striking illus- tration of Mr. Lancaster's doctrine is, that the monitors behaved to the swearers in a very rude and un- christianlike manner. She begins with being cruel, and ends with being silly. Her first observation is calculated to raise the posse comitatus against Mr. Lancaster, to get him stoned for im- piety ; and then, when he produces the most forcible example of the effect of opinion to encourage religious precept, she says such a method of preventing swearing is too rude for the GospeL True, modest, unobtrusive religion charitable, forgiving, indulgent Chris- tianity, is the greatest ornament and the greatest blessing that can dwell in the mind of man. But if there be one character more base, more infamous, and more shocking than another, it is he who, for the sake of some paltry distinction in the world, is ever ready to accuse conspicuous persons of irre- ligion to turn common informer for the Church and to convert the most beautiful feelings of the human heart TRIMMER AND LANCASTER to the destruction of the good and great, by fixing upon talents the in- delible stigma of irreligion. It matters not how trifling and how insignificant the accuser ; cry out that the Church is in danger, and your object is accom- plished -, lurk in the walk of hypocrisy, to accuse your enemy of the crime of atheism, and his ruin is quite certain ; acquitted or condemned, is the same thing ; it is only sufficient that he be accused, in order that his destruction be accomplished. If we could satisfy ourselves that such were the real views of Mrs. Trimmer, and that she were capable of such baseness, we would have drawn blood from her at every line, and left her in a state of martyr- dom more piteous than that of St. Uba. Let her attribute the milk and mildness she meets with in this review of her book, to the conviction we entertain, that she knew no better that she really did understand Mr. Lancaster as she pretends to understand him and that if she had been aware of the extent of the mischief she was doing, she would have tossed the manuscript spelling-book in which she was en- gaged into the fire, rather than have done it. As a proof .that we are in earnest in speaking of Mrs. Trimmer's simplicity, we must state the objections she makes to one of Mr. Lancaster's punishments. "When I meet," says Mr. Lancaster, " with a slovenly boy, I put a label upon his breast ; I walk him round the school with a tin or a paper crown upon his head." " Surely," says Mrs. Trimmer (in reply to this), " surely it should be remembered, that the Saviour of the world was crowned with tlwrns in derision, and tfiat this is a reason why crowning is an improper punishment for a slovenly boy 11!" Rewards and punishments. Mrs. Trimmer objects to the fear of ridicule being made an instrument of education, because it may be hereafter employed to shame a boy out of his religion. She might, for the same reason, object to the cultivation of the reasoning faculty, because a boy may hereafter be reasoned out of his religion : she surely does not mean to say that she woulc make boys insensible to ridicule, the ear of which is one curb upon the follies and eccentricities of human na- ure. Such an object it would be im- possible to effect, even if it were useful. Put a hundred boys together, and the "ear of being laughed at will always be a strong influencing motive with every ndividual among them. If a master can turn this principle to his own use, and get boys to laugh at vice, instead of the old plan of laughing at virtue, is ie not doing a very new, a very diffi- cult, and a very laudable thing ? When Mr. Lancaster finds a little boy with a very dirty face, he sends for a little girl, and makes her wash off the dirt before the whole school ; and she is directed to accompany her ablu- tions with a gentle box of the ear. To us, thispunishment appears well adapted to the offence ; and in this, and in most other instances of Mr. Lancaster's inter- ference in scholastic discipline, we are struck with his good sense, and de- lighted that arrangements apparently so trivial, really so important, should have fallen under the attention of so ingenious and so original a man. Mrs. Trimmer objects to this practice, that it destroys female modesty, and incul- cates in that sex a habit of giving boxes on the ear. " When a boy gets into a singing tone in reading," says Mr. Lancaster, "the best mode of cure that I have hitherto found effectual, is by the force of ridicule. Deco- rate the offender with matches, ballads, (dying speeches if needful) ; and in this garb send him round the school, with some boys before him crying matches, &c., ex- actly imitating the dismal tones with which such things are hawked about London streets, as will readily recur to the reader's memory. I believe many boys behave rudely to Jews more on account of the manner in which they cry ' old clothes," than because they are Jews. I have always found excel- lent effects from treating boys, who sing or tone in their reading, in the manner de- scribed. It is sure to turn the laugh of the whole school upon the delinquent ; it pro- vokes risibility, in spite of every endeavour to check it, in all but the offender. I have seldom known a boy thus punished once, for whom it was needful a second tune. It is also very seldom that a boy deserves both a log and a shackle at the same time. Most boys are wise enough, when under one TRIMMER AND LANCASTER. 79 punishment, not to transgress immediately, lest it should be doubled." (pp. 47, 48.) This punishment is objected to on the part of Mrs. Trimmer, because it inculcates a dislike to Jews, and an in- difference about dying speeches ! Toys, she says, given as rewards, are worldly things ; children are to be taught that there are eternal rewards in store for them. It is very dangerous to give prints as rewards, because prints may hereafter be the vehicle of indecent ideas. It is, above all things, perilous to create an order of merit in the Bo- rough School, because it gives the boys an idea of the origin of nobility, ' espe- cially in time : (we use Mrs. Trimmer's own words) which furnish instances of the extinction of a race of ancient nobility, in a neighbouring nation, and the eleva- tion of some of tlie lowest people to the highest stations. Soys accustomed to consider themselves the nobles of the school, may, in their future lives, from a conceit of tfteir own merits (unless they have very sound principles'), aspire to be nobles of the land, and to take place of the hereditary nobility." We think these extracts will suffi- ciently satisfy every reader of common sense, of the merits of this publication. For our part, when we saw these ragged and interesting little nobles, shining in their tin stars, we only thought it pro- bable that the spirit of emulation would make them better ushers, tradesmen, and mechanics. We did, in truth, imagine we had observed, in some of their faces, a bold project for procuring better breeches for keeping out the blasts of heaven, which howled through those garments in every direction, and of aspiring hereafter to greater strength of seam, and more perfect continuity of cloth. But for the safety of the titled orders we had no fear ; nor did we once dream that the black rod which whipt these dirty little dukes would "one day be borne before them as the emblem of legislative dignity, and the sign of noble blood. Order. The order Mr. Lancaster has displayed in his school is quite astonishing. Every boy seems to be the cog of a wheel the whole school a perfect machine. This is so far from being a burden or constraint to the boys, that Mr. Lancaster has made it quite pleasant and interesting to them, by giving to it the air of military arrange- ment ; not foreseeing, as Mrs. Trimmer foresees, that, in times of public danger, this plan furnishes the disaffected with the immediate means of raising an army ; for what have they to do but to send for all the children educated by Mr. Lancaster, from the different corners of the kingdom into which they are dispersed, to beg it as a particular favour of them to fall into the same order as they adopted in the spelling class twenty-five years ago ; and the rest is all matter of course Jamqve faces ef sax a volant. The main object, however, for which this book is written, is to prove that the Church Establishment is in danger from the increase of Mr. Lancaster's institutions. Mr. Lancaster is, as we have before observed, a Quaker. As a Quaker, he says, I cannot teach your creeds ; but I pledge myself not to teach my own. I pledge myself (and if I deceive you, desert me, and give me up) to confine myself to those points of Christianity in which all Christians agree. To which Mrs. Trimmer replies, that, in the first place, he cannot do this ; and, in the next place, if he did do it, it would not be enough. But why, we would ask, cannot Mr. Lan- caster effect his first object ? The prac- tical and the feeling parts of religion are much more likely to attract the attention and provoke the questions of children, than its speculative doctrines. A child is not very likely to put any questions at all to a catechising master, and still less likely to lead him into subtle and profound disquisition. It appears to us not only practicable, but very easy, to confine the religious in- struction of the poor, in the first years of life, to those general feelings and principles which are suitable to the Established Church, and to every sect ; afterwards, the discriminating tenets of each subdivision of Christians may be fixed upon this general basis. To say that this is not enough, that a child should be made an Antisocinian, or an 80 PARNELL AND IRELAND. Antipelagian, in his tenderest years, may be very just ; but what prevents you from making him so ? Mr. Lancaster, purposely and intentionally, to allay all jealousy, leaves him in a state as well adapted for one creed as another. Begin ; make your pupil a firm advo- cate for the peculiar doctrines of the English Church ; dig round about him, on every side, a trench that shall guard him from every species of heresy. In spite of all this clamour yon do nothing; you do not stir a single step ; you educate alike the swineherd and his hog; and then, when a man of real genius and enterprise rises up, and says, Let me dedicate my life to this ne- glected object, I will do everything but that which must necessarily devolve upon you alone, you refuse to do your little, and compel him, by the cry of Infidel and Atheist, to leave you to your ancient repose, and not to drive you by insidious comparisons, to any system of active utility. We deny, again and again, that Mr. Lancaster's instruction is any kind of impediment to the propagation of the doctrines of the Church ; and if Mr. Lancaster were to perish with his system to- morrow, these boys would positively be taught nothing ; the doctrines which Mrs. Trimmer considers to be prohibited would not rush in, but there would be an absolute vacuum. We will, however, say this in favour of Mrs. Trimmer, that if every one who has joined in her clamour had laboured one hundredth part as much as she has done in the cause of national education, the clamour would be much more rational, and much more consistent, than it now is. By living with a few people as active as herself, she is perhaps somehow or another persuaded that there is a na- tional education going on in this coun- try. But our principle argument is, that Air. Lancaster's plan is at least better than the nothing which preceded it. The authoress herself seems to be a lady of respectable opinions, and very ordinary talents ; defending what is right without judgment, and believing what is holy without charity. PARNELL AND IRELAND.* (E. REVIEW, 1807.) Historical Apology for the Irisli Catho- lics. By William Farnell, Esquire. Fitzpatrick, Dublin, 1807. [F ever a nation exhibited symptoms of downright madness, or utter stu- pidity, we conceive these symptoms may be easily recognised in the conduct of this country upon the Catholic ques- tion. A man has a wound in his great toe, and a violent and perilous fever at the same time ; and he refuses to take the medicines for the fever, because t will disconcert his toe ! The mourn- ful and folly-stricken blockhead forgets that his toe cannot survive him ! that if he dies, there can be no digital life apart from him ; yet he lingers and fondles over this last part of his body, soothing it madly with little plaster*', and anile fomentations, while the neg- lected fever rages in his entrails, and burns away his whole life. It' the com- paratively little questions of Establish- ment are all that this country is capable of discussing or regarding, for God's sake let us remember, that the foreign conquest which destroys all, destroys this beloved toe also. Pass over freedom, industry, and science and look upon this great empire, by which we are about to be swallowed up, only as it affects the manner of collecting tithes, and of reading the liturgy still, if all goes, these must go too ; and even, for their interests, it is worth while to con- ciliate Ireland, to avert the hostility, and to employ the strength of the Catholic population. We plead the question as the sincerest friends to the Establishment; as wishing to it all the prosperity and duration its warmest * I do not retract one syllable (or one iota) of what I have said or written upon the Catholic question. What was wanted for Ireland was emancipation, time and justice, abolition of present wrongs ; time for forgetting past wrongs, and that con- tinued and even justice which would make such oblivion wise. It is now only difficult to tranquillise Ireland, before emancipa- tion it was impossible. As to the danger from Catholic doctrines, I must leave such apprehensions to the respectable anility of these realms. I will not meddle with It. PARXELL AND IRELAND. 81 advocates can desire, but remember- ing always, what these advocates seem to forget, that the Establishment cannot be threatened by any danger so great as the perdition of the kingdom in which it is established. We are truly glad to agree so entirely with Mr. Parnell upon this great ques- tion ; we admire his way of thinking ; and most cordially recommend his work to the attention of the public. The general conclusion which he at- tempts to prove is this : that religious sentiment, however perverted by bigotry or fanaticism, has always a tendency to moderation ; that it seldom assumes any great portion of activity or enthu- siasm, except from novelty of opinion, or from opposition, contumely, and persecution, when novelty ceases; that a government has little to fear from any religious sect, except while that sect is new. Give a government only time, and, provided it has the good sense to treat folly with forbearance, it must ultimately prevail. When, therefore, a sect is found, after a lapse of years, to be ill-disposed to the Go- vernment, we may be certain that Government has widened its separation by marked distinctions, roused its re- sentment by contumely, or supported its enthusiasm by persecution. The particular conclusion Mr. Parnell attempts to prove is, that the Catholic religion in Ireland had sunk into torpor and inactivity, till Government roused it with the lash : that even then, from the respect and attachment which men are always inclined to show towards Government, there still remained a large body of loyal Catholics ; that these only- decreased in number from the rapid increase of persecution ; and that, after all, the effects which the resentment of the Roman Catholics had in creating rebellions had been very much exag- gerated. In support of these two conclusions, Mr. Parnell takes a survey of the history of Ireland, from the conquest under Henry, to the rebellion under Charles the First, passing very rapidly over the period which preceded the Re'orma- tion, and dwelling principally upon the various rebellions which broke out in VOL. I Ireland between the Reformation and the grand rebellion in the reign 01 Charles the First. The celebrated con- quest of Ireland by Henry the Second, extended only to a very few counties in Leinster ; nine-tenths of the whole kingdom were left, as he found them, under the dominion of their native princes. The influence of example was as strong in this, as in most other in- stances ; and great numbers of the English settlers who came over under various adventurers, resigned their pre- tensions to superior civilisation, cast off their lower garments, and lapsed into the nudity and barbarism of the Irish. The limit which divided the possessions of the English settler from those of the native Irish, was called the pale ; and the expressions of inhabitants within the pale, and without the pale, were the terms by which the two nations were distinguished. It is almost superfluous to state, that the most bloody and pernicious warfare was carried on upon the borders sometimes for something sometimes for nothing most com- monly for cows. The Irish, over whom the sovereigns of England affected a sort of nominal dominion, were entirely go- verned by their own laws ; and so very little connection had they with the jus- tice of the invading country, that it was as lawful to kill an Irishman as it was to kill a badger or a fox. The instances are innumerable, where the defendant has pleaded that the deceased was an Irishman, and that therefore defendant had a right to kill him ; and upon the proof of Hibernicism, acquittal fol- lowed of course. When the English army mustered in any great strength, the Irish chieftains would do exterior homage to the Eng- lish Crown ; and they very frequently, by this artifice, averted from their coun- try the miseries of invasion : but they remained completely unsubdued, till the rebellion which took place in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, of which that politic woman availed herself to the complete subjugation of Ireland. In speaking of the Irish about the reign of Elizabeth or James the First, we must not draw our comparisons from England, but from New Zealand ; they were not G PARNELL AND IRELAND. civilised men, but savages ; and if we ' reason about their conduct, we must reason of them as savages. "After reading every account of Irish history (says Mr. Parnell), one great per- plexity appears to remain : How does it happen, that from the first invasion of the English, till the reign of James L, Ireland seems not to have made the smallest pro- gress in civilisation or wealth? " That it was divided into a number of small principalities, which waged constant war on each other, or that the appoint- ment of the chieftains was elective, do not appear sufficient reasons, although these are the only ones assigned by those who have been at the trouble of consider- ing the subject : neither are the confisca- tions of property quite sufficient to account for the effect. There have been great con- fiscations in other countries, and still they have flourished ; the petty states of Greece were quite analogous to the chiefries (as they were called) in Ireland ; and yet they seemed to flourish almost in proportion to their dissensions. Poland felt the bad effects of an elective monarchy more than any other country; and yet, in point of civilisation, it, maintained a very respect- able rank among the nations of Europe; but Ireland never, for an instant, made any progress in improvement till the reign of James I. " It is scarcely credible, that in a climate like that of Ireland, and at a period so far advanced in civilisation as the end of Eliza- beth's reign, the greater part of the natives should go naked. Yet this is rendered certain by the testimony of an eye-witness, Fynes Moryson. ' In the remote parts (he says), where the English laws and manners are unknown, the very chief of the Irish, as veil men as women, go naked in the winter time, only having their privy parts covered with a rag of linen, and their bodies with a loose mantle. This I speak of my own ex- perience ; yet remember that a Bohemian baron coming out of Scotland to us by the north parts of the wild Irish, told me in great earnestness, that he coming to the house of O'Kane, a great lord amongst them, was met at the door by sixteen women all naked, excepting their loose mantles, whereof eight or ten were very fair; with which strange sight his eyes being dazzled, they led him into the house, and then sitting down by the fire with crossed legs, like tailors, and so low as could not but offend chaste eyes, desired him to sit down with them. Soon after, O'Kane, the lord of the country, came in all naked, except a loose mantle and shoes, which he put off as soon as he came in ; and, entertaining the Baron after his best manner in the Latin tongue, desired him to put off his apparel, which he thought to be a burden to him, and to sit naked. " ' To conclude, men and women at night going to sleep, lie thus naked in a round circle about the fire, with their feet towards it. They fold their heads and their upper parts in woollen mantles, first steeped in water, to keep them warm : for they say that woollen cloth, wetted, preserves heat (as linen, wetted, preserves cold), when the smoke of their bodies has warmed the woollen cloth.' " The cause of this extreme poverty, and of its long continuance, we must conclude arose from the peculiar laws of property which were in force under the Irish dynas- ties. These laws have been described by most writers as similar to the Kentish cus- tom of gavelkind; and, indeed, so little attention was paid to the subject, that were it not for the researches of Sir J. Davis, the knowledge of this singular usage would have been entirely lost. " The Brehon law of property, he tells us, was similar to the custom (as the English lawyers term it) of hodge-podge. When any one of the sept died, his lands did not descend to his sons, but were divided among the whole sept : and, for this pur- pose, the chief of the sept made a new divi- sion of the whole lands belonging to the sept, and gave every one his part according to seniority. So that no man had a pro- perty which could descend to his children ; and even during his own life, his posses- sion of any particular spot was quite uncer- tain, being liable to be constantly shuffled and changed by new partitions. The con- sequence of this was, that there was not a house of brick or stone, among the Irish, down to the reign of Henry VII. ; not even a garden or orchard, or well-fenced or im- proved field ; neither village or town, or in any respect the least provision for posterity. This monstrous custom, so opposite to the natural feelings of mankind, was probably perpetuated by the policy of the chiefs. In the first place, the power of partitioning being lodged in their hands, made them the most absolute of tyrants, being the dis- pensers of the property as well as of the liberty of their subjects. In the second place, it had the appearance of adding to the number of their savage armies ; for, where there was no improvement or tillage, war was pursued as an occupation. " In the early history of Ireland, we find several instances of chieftains discounte- nancing tillage ; and so late as Elizabeth's reign, Morysou says, that ' Sir Neal Garve PARNELL AND IRELAND. restrained his people from ploughing, that they misrht assist him to do any mischief.' " (pp. 98 102.) These quotations and observations will enable us to state a few plain facts for the recollection of our English readers : 1st, Ireland was never sub- dued till the rebellion in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. 2nd, For four hundred years before that period, the two nations had been almost constantly at war ; and, iu consequence of this, a deep and irreconcilable hatred existed between the people within and without the pale. 3rd, The Irish at the accession of Queen Elizabeth, were unquestionably the most barbarous people in Europe. So much for what had happened previous to the reign of Queen Elizabeth ; and let any man, who has the most superficial knowledge of human affairs, determine whether national hatred, proceeding from such powerful causes, could pos- sibly have been kept under by the de- feat of one single rebellion, whether it would not have been easy to have fore- seen, at that period, that a proud, brave, half-savage people, would cherish the memory of their wrongs for centuries to come, and break forth into arms at every period when they were particu- larly exasperated by oppression, or in- vited by opportunity. If the Protestant religion had spread in Ireland as it did in England, and if there never had been any difference of faith between the two countries, can it be believed that the Irish, ill-treated, and infamously go- verned as they have been, would never have made any efforts to shake off the yoke of England? Surely there are causes enough to account for their im- patience of that yoke, without endea- vouring to inflame the zeal of ignorant people against the Catholic religion, and to make that mode of faith responsible for all the butchery which the Irish and English for these last two centuries have exercised upon each other. Everybody, of course, must admit, that if to the causes of hatred already specified there be added the additional cause of reli- gious distinction, this last will give greater force (and, what is of more consequence to observe, give a name) to the whole aggregate motive. But what Mr. Parnell contends for, and clearly and decisively proves is, that many of those sanguinary scenes attributed to the Catholic religion, are to be partly imputed to causes totally disconnected from religion ; that the unjust invasion, and the tyrannical, infamous policy of the English, are to take their full share of blame with the sophisms and plots of Catholic priests. In the reign of Henry the Eighth, Mr. Parnell shows that feudal submission was readily paid to him by all the Irish chiefs ; that the Reformation was received without the slightest opposition : and that the troubles which took place at that period in Ireiand are to be entirely attributed to the ambition and injustice of Henry. In the reign of Queen Mary there was no recrimination upon the Protestants ; a striking proof, that the bigotry of the Catholic religion had not, at that period, risen to any great height in Ireland. The insurrections of the va- rious Irish princes were as numerous during this reign, as they had been in the two preceding reigns; a cir- cumstance rather difficult of explana- tion, if, as is commonly believed, the Catholic religion was at that period the main spring of men's actions. In the reign of Elizabeth, the Catholic in the pale regularly fought against the Catholic out of the pale. O'Sullivan a bigoted Papist, reproaches them with doing so. Speaking of the reign of James the First, he says," And now the eyes even of the English Irish (the Ca- tholics of the pale) were opened ; and they cursed their former folly for helping the heretic." The English Government were so sensible of the loyalty of the Irish English Catholics, that they en- trusted them with the most confidential services. The Earl of Kildare was the principal instrument in waging war against the chieftains of Leix and Offal. William O'Bourge, another Catholic, was created Lord Castle Connel for his eminent services; and MacGully Patrick, a priest, was the state spy. We presume that this wise and manly conduct of Queen Elizabeth was utterly unknown both to the Pastrycook and the Secretary of State, who have pub- lished upon the dangers of employing 2 84 PARNELL AND IRELAND. Catholics even against foreign enemies ; and in those publications have said a great deal about the wisdom of our ancestors the usual topic whenever the folly of their descendants is to be defended. To whatever other of our ancestors they may allude, they may spare all compliments to this illustrious Princess, who would certainly have kept the worthy confectioner to the composi- tion of tarts, and most probably fur- nished him with the productions of the Right Honourable Secretary, as the means of conveying those juicy deli- cacies to ahungry and discerning public. In the next two reigns. Mr. Parncll shows by what injudicious measures of the English Government the spirit of Catholic opposition was gradually formed ; for that it did produce power- ful effects at a subsequent period, he does not deny ; but contends only (as we have before stated), that these effects have been much overrated and ascribed solely to the Catholic religion when other causes have at least had an equal agency in bringing them about. He concludes with some general remarks on the dreadful stale of Ireland, and the contemptible folly and bigotry of the English*; remarks full of truth, of good sense, and of political courage. How melancholy to reflect, that there would be still some chance of saving England from the general wreck of empires, but that it may not be saved, because one politician will lose two thousand a year by it, and another three thousand a third a place in reversion, and a fourth a pension for his aunt ! Alas ! these are the powerful causes which have always settled the destiny of great kingdoms, and which may level old England, with all its boasted freedom, and boasted wisdom, to the dust. Nor is it the least singular among the political phenomena of the present day, that the sole consideration which seems to in- fluence the unbigoted part of the Eng- lish people, in this great question of Ireland, is a regard for the personal feelings of the Monarch. Nothing is It would be as well, in future, to say no more of the revocation of the Edict of said or thought of the enormous risk to which Ireland is exposed, nothing of the gross injustice with which the Catholics are treated, nothing of the lucrative apostasy of those from whom they experience this treatment : but the only concern by which we all seem to be agitated is, that the King must not be vexed in his old age. We have a great respect for the King ; and wish him all the happiness compatible with the happiness of his people. But these are not times to pay foolish compli- ments to kings or the sons of kings, or to any body else : this journal has al- \\ ays preserved its character for courage and honesty ; and it shall do so to the last. If the people of this country are solely occupied in considering what is personally agreeable to the King, with- out considering what is for his perm:i- ment good, and for the safety of his dominions ; if all public men, quitting the common vulgar scramble for emolu- ment, do not concur in conciliating the people of Ireland ; if the unfounded alarms, and the comparatively trifling interests of the clergy, are to supersede the great question of freedom or slavery, it does appear to us quite impossible that so mean and so foolish a people can escape that destruction which is ready to burst upon them ; a destruction so imminent, that it can only be averted by arming all in our defence who would evidently be sharers in our ruin, and by such a change of system as may save us from the hazard of being ruined by the ignorance and cowardice of any general, by the bigotry or the ambition of any minister, or by the well-meaning scruples of any human being, let his dignity be what it may. These minor and domestic dangers we must endea- vour firmly and temperately to avert as we best can ; but, at all hazards, we must keep out the destroyer from among us, or perish like wise and brave men iu the attempt. TRAVELS FROM PALESTINE. TRAVELS FROM PALESTINE. (E. REVIEW, 1807.) The Travels of Eertrandon de la Broc- quiere, First Esquire-Carter to Philip le Bon, Duke of Burgundy, during the Tears 1432, 1433. Translated from the French, by Thomas Johnes, Esq. IK the year 1432, many great lords in the dominions of Burgundy, holding offices under Duke Philip le Bon, made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Among them was his first esquire-carver La Brocquiere, who, having performed many devout pilgrimages in Palestine, returned sick to Jerusalem, and, during his convalescence, formed the bold scheme of returning to France over land. This led him to traverse the western parts of Asia and Eastern Europe ; and during the whole jour- ney, except towards the end of it, he passed through the dominions of the Mussulman. The execution of such a journey, even at this day, would not be without difficulty; and it was then thought to be impossible. It was in vain that his companions attempted to dissuade him ; he was obstinate ; and, setting out, overcame every obstacle ; returned in the course of the year 1433, and presented himself to the Duke in his Saracen dress, and on the horse which had carried him during the whole of his journey. The Duke, after the fashion of great people, conceiving that the glory of his esquire-carver was his own, caused the work to be printed and published. The following is a brief extract of this valiant jrersou's peregrinations. " After performing the customary pil- grimages, we went (says La Broc- quiere) to the mountain where Jesus fasted forty days ; to Jordan, where he was baptized ; to the church of St. Martha, where Lazarus was raised from the dead ; to Bethlehem, where he was born ; to the birth-place of St John the Baptist ; to the house of Zechariah ; and, lastly, to the holy cross, where the tree grew that formed the real cross." From Jerusalem the first gentleman-carver betook himself to Mount Siuai, paying pretty hand- somely to the Saracens for that privi- lege. These infidels do not appear to. have ever prevented the Christian pil- grims from indulging their curiosity and devotion in visiting the most in- teresting evangelical objects in the Holy Land ; but, after charging a good round price for this gratification, con- tented themselves with occasionally kicking them, and spitting upon them. In his way to Mount Sinai, the esquire- carver passed through the Valley of Hebron, where, he tells us, Adam was created ; and from thence to Gaza, where they showed him the columns of the building which Samson pulled down ; though, of the identity of the building, the esquire seems to entertain some doubts. At Gaza five of his companions fell sick, and returned to Jerusalem. The second day's journey in the desert the carver fell ill also, returned to Gaza, where he was cared by a Samaritan, and finding his way back to Jerusalem, hired some plea- sant lodgings on Mount Sion. Before he proceeded on his grand expedition over land, he undertook a little expedition to Nazareth, hearing, first of all, divine service at the Corde - liers, and imploring, at the tomb of our Lady, her protection for his journey. From Jerusalem their first stage was Acre, where they gave up their in- tended expedition, and repaired to Banith, whence Sir Sampson de La- laing and the author sallied afresh, under better auspices, to Damascus. He speaks with great pleasure of the valley where Noah built the ark, through which valley he passed in his way to Damascus ; upon entering which town he was knocked down by a Saracen for wearing an ugly hat, as he probably would be in London for the same offence in the year 1807. At Damascus, he informs us the Chris- tians are locked up every night, as they are in English Workhouses, night and day, when they happen to be poor. The greatest misfortune attendant upon this Damascene incarceration, is the extreme irregularity with which the doors are opened in the morning, their janitor having no certain hour of quit- ting his bed. At Damascus, he saw G 3 86 TRAVELS FROM PALESTINE. the place where St. Paul had a vision. "I saw also (says he) the stone from which St. George mounted his horse, when he went to combat the dragon. It is two feet square ; and they say that, when formerly the Saracens at- tempted to carry it away, in spite of all the strength they employed, they could not succeed." After having seen Damascus, he returns with Sir Sampson to Baruth ; and -communicates his in- tentions of returning over land to France to his companions. They state to him the astonishing difficulties he will have to overcome in the execution of so extraordinary a project; but the admirable carver, determined to make no bones, and to cut his way through every obstacle, persists in his scheme, and bids them a final adieu. He is determined, however, not to be baffled in his subordinate expedition to Naza- reth ; and, having now got rid of his timid companions, accomplishes it with ease. We shall here present our readers with an extract from this part of his journal, requesting them to admire the naif manner in which he speaks of the vestiges of ecclesiastical history. " Acre, though in a plain of about four leagues in extent, is surrounded on three sides by mountains, and on the fourth by the sea. I made acquaintance there with a Venetian merchant called Aubert Franc, who received me well, and procured me much useful information respecting my two pilgrimages, by which I profited. With the aid of his advice I took the road to Nazareth : and, having crossed an extensive plain, came to the fountain the water of which our Lord changed into wine at the marriage of Arch6tr6clin ; it is near a village where St. Peter is said to have been born. " Nazareth is another large village, built between two mountains; but the place where the angel Gabriel came to announce to the Virgin Mary that she would be a mother, is in a pitiful state. The church that had been there built is entirely de- stroyed ; and of * he house wherein our Lady was when the angel appeared to her, not the smallest remnant exists. " From Nazareth I went to Mount Tabor, the place where the transfiguration of our Lord, and many other miracles, took effect. These pasturages attract the Arabs, who come thither with their beasts ; and I was forced to engage four additional men a* an escort, two of whom were Arabs. The ascent of the mountain is rugged, because there is no road; I performed it on the back of a mule, but it took me two hours. The summit is terminated by an almost circular plain of about two bow-shots in length, and one in width. It was formerly enclosed with walls, the ruins of which, and the ditches, are still visible : within the wall, and around it, were several churches, and one especially, where, although in ruins, full pardon for vice and sin is gained. " We went to lodge at Samaria, because I wished to see the lake of Tiberias where it is said St. Peter was accustomed to fish; and by so doing, some pardons may be gained, for it was the ember week of Sept- ember. The Moucre left me to myself the whole day. Samaria is situated on the ex- tremity of a mountain. We entered it at the close of the day, and left it at midnight to visit the lake. The Moucre had proposed this hour to evade the tribute exacted from all who go thither, but the night hindered me from seeing the surrounding country. " I went first to Joseph's Well, so called from his being cast into it by his brethren. There is a handsome mosque near it, which I entered with my Moucre, pretend- ing to be a Saracen. " Further on is a stone bridge over the Jordan, called Jacob's Bridge, on account of a house hard by, said to have been the residence of that patriarch. The river flows from a great lake, situated at the foot of a mountain to the north-west, on which Namcardin has a very handsome castle." (pp. 122128.) From Damascus, to which he returns after his expedition to Nazareth, the first carver of Philip le Bon sets out with the caravan for Bursu, Before he begins upon his journey, he expa- tiates with much satisfaction upon the admirable method of shoeing horses at Damascus, a panegyric which cer- tainly gives us the lowest ideas of that art in the reign of Philip le Bon ; for it appears that out of fifty days, his horse was lame for twenty-one, owing to this ingenious method of shoeing. As a mark of gratitude to the leader of the caravan, the esquire presents him with a pot of green ginger ; and the caravan proceeds. Before it has advanced one day's journey, the esquire, however, deviates from the road, to pay his devoirs to a miraculous image of our Lady of Serdenay, which always sweats not ordinary sudorific matter METHODISM. 87 but an oil of great ecclesiastical effi- cacy. While travelling with the cara- van, he learnt to sit cross-legged, got drunk privately, and was nearly mur- dered by some Saracens, who disco- vered that he had money. In some parts of Syria, M. de la Brocquiere met with an opinion, which must have been extremely favourable to the spirit of proselytism, in so very hot a country an opinion that the infidels have a very bad smell, and that this is only to be removed by baptism. But as the baptism was according to the Greek ritual, by total immersion, Bertrandon seems to have a distant suspicion that this miracle may be resolved into the simple phenomenon of washing. He speaks well of the Turks, and repre- sents them, to our surprise, as a very gay, laughing people. We thought Turkish gravity had been almost pro- verbial. The natives of the countries through which he passed pray (he says) for the conversion of Christians ; and especially request that there may be never sent among them again such another terrible man as Godfrey of Boulogne. At Couhongue the caravan broke up ; and here he quitted a Mame- luke soldier, who had kept him com- pany during the whole of the journey, and to whose courage and fidelity Eu- rope, Philip le Bon, and Mr. Johnes of Hafod, are principally indebted for the preservation of the first esquire-carver. " I bade adieu (he says) to my Mameluke. This good man, whose name was Moham- med, had done me innumerable services. He was very charitable, and never refused alms when asked in the name of God. It was through charity he had been so kind to me; and I must confess that, without his assistance, I could not have performed my journey without incurring the greatest danger ; and that, had it not been for his kindness, I should often have been exposed to cold and hunger, and much embarrassed with my horse. " On taking leave of him, I was desirous of showing my gratitude; but he would never accept of anything except a piece of our fine European cloth to cover his head, which seemed to please him much . He told me all the occasions that had come to his knowledge, on which, if it had not been for him, I should have run risks of being assassinated, and warned me to be very circumspect in my connections with the Saracens, for that there were among them some as wicked as the Franks. I write this to recall to my readers' memory, that the person who, from his love to God, did me so many and essential kindnesses, was a man not of our faith." (pp. 196, 197.) For the rest of the journey, he tra- velled with the family of the leader of the caravan, without any occurrence more remarkable than those we have already noticed ; arrived at Constan- tinople, and passed through Germany to the court of Philip le Bon. Here his narrative concludes. Nor does the carver vouchsafe to inform us of the changes which time had made in the appetite of that great prince, whether veal was now more pleasing to him than lamb, if his favourite morsels were still in request, if animal succu- lence were as grateful to him as before the departure of the carver, or if this semisanguineous partiality had given way to a taste for cinereous and torre- fied meats. All these things the first esquire-carver might have said, none of them he does say, nor does Mr. Johnes of Hafod supply, by any anti- quarian conjectures of his own, the dis- tressing silence of the original. Saving such omissions, there is something plea- sant in the narrative of this arch-divider of fowls. He is an honest, brave, libe- ral man ; and tells' his singular story with great brevity and plainness. We are obliged to Mr. Johnes for the amusement he has afforded us ; and we hope he will persevere in his gentle- manlike, honourable, and useful occu- pations. METHODISM. (E. PLEVIEW, 1808.) Causes of the increase of Methodism and Dissension. By Robert Acklem Ingram, B.D. HatcharcL THIS is the production of an honest man, possessed of a fair share of under- standing. He cries out lustily (and not before it is time) upon the increase of Methodism ; proposes various reme- dies for the diminution of this evil ; and speaks his opinions with a free- dom which does him great credit, and convinces us that he is a respectable G 4 S3 METHODISM. man. The clergy are accused of not exerting themselves. What temporal motive, Mr. Ingram asks, have they for exertion ? Would a curate, who had served thirty years upon a living in the most exemplary manner, secure to him- self by such a conduct, the slightest right or title to promotion in the Church ? What can you expect of a whole profession, in which there is no more connection between merit and reward than between merit and beauty, or merit and strength? This is the snbstance of what Mr. Ingram says upon this subject ; and he speaks the truth. We regret, however, that this gentleman has thought fit to use against the dissenters the exploded clamour of Jacobinism ; or that he deems it neces- sary to call in to the aid of the Church the power of intolerant laws in spite of the odious and impolitic tests to which the dissenters are still subjected. We believe them to be very good sub- jects ; and we have no doubt but that any further attempt upon their religious liberties, without reconciling them to the Church, would have a direct ten- dency to render them disaffected to the State. Mr. Ingram (whose book, by the bye, is very dull and tedious) has fallen into the common mistake of supposing his readers to be as well acquainted with his subject as he is himself; and has talked a great deal about dissen- ters, without giving us any distinct notions of the spirit which pervades these people the objects they have in view or the degree of talent which is to be found among them. To remedy this very capital defect, we shall endea- vour to set before the eyes of the reader, a complete section of the tabernacle ; and to present him with a near view of those sectaries, who are at present at work upon the destruction of the ortho- dox churches, and are destined here- after, perhaps, to act as conspicuous a part in public affairs, as the children of Sion did in the time of Cromwell. The sources from which we shall derive our extracts are the Evangelical and Methodistical Magazines for the year 1807 ; works which are said to be circulated to the amount of 18,000 or 20,000 each, every month ; and which contain the sentiments of Armi- nian and Calvinistic methodists, and of the evangelical clergymen of the Church of England. We shall use the general term of Methodism, to designate these three classes of fanatics, not troubling ourselves to point out the finer shades and nicer discriminations of lunacy, but treating them all as in one general conspiracy against common sense, and rational orthodox Christianity. In reading these very curious pro- ductions, we seemed to be in a new world, and to have got among a set of beings, of whose existence we had hardly before entertained the slightest concep- tion. It has been our good fortune to be acquainted with many truly reli- gious persons, both in the Presbyterian and Episcopalian churches ; and from their manly, rational, and serious cha- racters, our conceptions of true prac- tical piety have been formed. To these confined habits, and to our want of proper introductions among the chil- dren of light and grace, any degree of surprise is to be attributed, which may be excited by the .publications before us ; which, under opposite circum- stances, would (we doubt not) have proved as great a source of instruc- tion and delight to the Edinburgh re- viewers, as they are to the most melo- dious votaries of the tabernacle. It is not wantonly, or with the most distant intention of trifling upon serious subjects, that we call the attention of the public to these sorts of publica- tions. Their circulation is so enormous, and so increasing, they contain the opinions, and display the habits of so many human beings, that they can- not but be objects of curiosity and importance. The common and the middling classes of people are the pur- chasers; and the subject is religion, though not that religion certainly which is established by law, and encouraged by national provision. This may lead to unpleasant consequences, or it may not ; but it carries with it a sort of aspect, which ought to insure to it serious attention and reflection. It is impossible to arrive at any know- ledge of a religious sect, by merely METHODISH. 80 detailing the settled articles of their ! sirable companion': he would sometimes belief: it may be the fashion of such a sect to insist upon some articles very slightly ; to bring forward others pro- minently ; and to consider some por- tion of their formal creed as obsolete. As the knowledge of the jurisprudence venture to profane the day of God, by turning it into a season of carnal pleasure , and would join in excursions on the water, to various parts of the vicinity of London. But the time was approaching, when the Lord, wlw had designs 'of mercy for him, and for many others by his means, was of any country can never be obtained | about to stop him in his vain career of sin by the perusal of volumes which con- tain some statutes that are daily en- forced, and others that have been si- lently antiquated : in the same manner, the practice, the preaching, and the writing of sects, are comments abso- lutely necessary to render the perusal of their creed of any degree of utility. It is the practice, we believe, with the orthodox, both in the Scotch and the English churches, to insist very rarely, and very discreetly, upon the particular instances of the interference of Divine Providence. They do not contend that the world is governed only by general laws that a Super- intending Mind never interferes for particular purposes ; but such purposes are represented to be of a nature very awful and sublime, when a guilty people are to be destroyed when an oppressed nation is to be lifted up, and some remarkable change introduced into the order and arrangement of the world. With this kind of theology we can have no quarrel ; we bow to its truth ; we are satisfied with the mode- ration which it exhibits ; and we have no doubt of the salutary effect which it produces upon the human heart. Let us now come to those special cases of the interference of Providence as they are exhibited in the publica- tions before us. An interference with respect to the Rev. James Moody. " Mr. James Moody was descended from pious ancestors, who resided at Paisley : Ins heart was devoted to music, dancing, and theatrical amusements: of the latter lis was so fond, that he used to meet with some men of a similar cast to rehearse plays, and used to entertain a hope that he should make a figure upon the stage. To improve himself in music, he would rise very early, even in severely cold weather, and practise on the German flute: by his skill in music and singing, with his general powers of entertaining, he became a de- and folly. There were two professing ser- vants in the house where he lived; one of these was a porter, who, in brushing his clothes, would say, ' Master James, this will never do you must be otherwise employed you must be a minister of the gospel.' This worthy man, earnestly wishing his conversion, put into his hands that excellent book which God hath so much owned, Alleine's Alarm to the Unconverted. " About this time it pleased God to visit him with a disorder in his eyes, occasioned, as it was thought, by his sitting up in the night to improve himself in drawing. The apprehension of losing his sight occasioned many serious reflections; his mind was impressed with the importance and neces- sity of seeking the salvation of his soul, and he was induced to attend the preaching of the gospel. The first sermon that he heard with a desire to profit was at Spa-fields Chapel; a place which he had formerly frequented, when it was a temple of vanity and dissipation. Strong convictions of sin fixed on his mind; and he continued to attend the preached word, particularly at Tottenham-Court Chapel. Every sermon increased his sorrow and grief that he had not earlier sought the Lord. It was a con- siderable time before he found comfort from the gospel. He has stood in the free part of the chapel hearing, with such emo- tion, that the tears have flowed from his eyes in torrents ; and when he has returned home, he has continued a great part of the night on his knees, praying over what he had heard. "The change effected by the power of the Holy Spirit on his heart now became visible to all. Nor did he halt between two opinions, as some persons do; he became at once a decided character, and gave up for ever all his vain pursuits and amusements ; devoting himself with as much resolution and diligence to the service of God, as he had formerly done to folly." Ev. Mag. p. 194. An interference respecting Cards. "A clergyman not far distant from the spot on which these lines were written, was spending an evening not in his closet, wrestling with his Divine Master for the communication of that grace which is so 90 METHODISM. peculiarly necessary for the faithful dis- charge of the ministerial function not in his study, searching the sacred oracles of divine truth for materials wherewith to prepare for his public exercises and feed the flock under his care, not in pastoral visits to that flock, to inquire into the state of their souls, and endeavour, by his pious and affectionate conversation, to conciliate their esteem, and promote their edification, but at the card table." After stating that when it was his turn to deal, he dropt down dead, " It is worthy of remark (says the writer), that within a very few years this was the third character in the neigh- bourhood which had been summoned from the card table to the bar of God." Ev. Mag. p. 262. Interference respecting Swearing, a See the instrument. " A young man is stung by a bee, upon which he buffets the bees with his hat, uttering at the same time the most dreadful oaths and imprecations. In the midst of his fury, one of those little combatants stung him upon the tip of that unruly member (his tongue), which was then em- ployed in blaspheming his Maker. Thus can the Lord engage one of the meanest of His creatures in reproving the bold trans- gressor who dares to take His name in vain." Ev. Mag. p. 363. Interference with respect to David Wright, who was cured of Atheism and Scrofula by one Sermon of Mr, Coles. This case is too long to quote in the language and with the evidences of the writers. The substance of it is what our title implies. David Wright was a man with scrofulous legs and atheis- tical principles ; being with difficulty persuaded to- hear one sermon from Mr. Coles, he limped to the church in extreme pain, and arrived there after great exertions; during church time he was entirely converted, walked home with the greatest ease, and never after experienced the slightest return of scrofula or infidelity. Ev. Mag. p. 444. The displeasure of Providence is ex- pressed at Captain Scott's going to preach in Mr. JRomaine's Chapel. The sign of this displeasure is a vio- lent storm of thunder and lightning just as he came into town. Ev. Mag. p. 537. Interference with respect to an Innkeeper, who was destroyed for having ap- pointed a cock-fight at the very time that the service was beginning at the Methodist Chapel. " ' Xever mind," says the innkeeper, ' I'll get a greater congregation than the Me- thodist parson; we'll have a cock-fight.' Eut what is man! how insignificant his designs, how impotent his strength, how ill-fated his plans, when opposed to that Being who is infinite in wisdom, boundless in power, terrible in judgment, and who frequently reverses, and suddenly renders abortive, the projects of the wicked! A few days after the avowal of his intention, the innkeeper sickened," &c. &c. And then the narrator goes on to state, that his corpse was carried by the meeting-house "on the day and exactly at tlie time, the deceased had fixed for the cock-fight." Meth. Mag. p. 126. In p. 167. Meth. Mag., a father, mother, three sons, and a sister, are destroyed by particular interposition. In p. 222. Meth. Mag., a dancing- master is destroyed for irreligion, another person for swearing at a cock- fight, and a third for pretending to be deaf and dumb. These are called recent and authentic accounts of God's avenging providence. So much for the miraculous inter- position of Providence in cases where the Methodists are concerned : we shall now proceed to a few specimens of the energy of their religious feelings. Mr. Roberts' s feelings in the month of May, 1793. " But, all this time, my soul was stayed upon God : my desires increased, and my mind was kept in a sweet praying frame, a going out of myself, as it were, and taking shelter in him. Every breath I drew, ended in a prayer. I felt myself helpless as an infant, dependent upon God for all things. I was in a constant daily expectation of receiving all I wanted; and, on Friday, May 31st, under Mr. Rutherford's sermon, though entirely independent of it (for I could not give any account of what he had been preaching about), I was given to feel that God was waiting to be very gracious to me ; the spirit of prayer and supplication was given me, and such an assurance that I was accepted in the Beloved, as I cannot METHODISM. 91 describe, but which I shall never forget." Meth. Mag. p. 35. Mrs. Elizabeth Price and her attendants hear sacred music on a sudden. "A few nights before her death, while some neighbours and her husband were sitting up with her, a sudden and joyful sound of music was heard by all present, although some of them were carnal people; at which time she thought she saw her crucified Saviour before her, speaking these words with power to her soul, ' Thy sins are forgiven thee, and I love thee freely.' After this she never doubted of her acceptance with God ; and on Christmas day following was taken to celebrate the Redeemer's birth in the Paradise of God. MICHAEL COUSIN." Meth. Mag. p. 137. T. L., a Sailor on board the Stag frigate, has a special revelation from our Saviour. " October 26th, being the Lord's day, he had a remarkable manifestation of God's love to his soul. That blessed morning he was much grieved by hearing the wicked use profane language, when Jesus revealed himself to him, and impressed on his mind those words, 'Follow Me." This was a precious day to him." Meth. Mag. p. 140. The manner in which Aft: Thomas Cook was accustomed to accost S. B. " Whenever he met me in the street, his salutation used to be ' Have you free and lively intercourse with God to day? Are you giving your whole heart to God ? ' I have known him on such occasions speak in so pertinent a manner, that I have been astonished at his knowledge of my state. Meeting me one morning, he said, ' I have been praying for you ; you have had a sore conflict, though all is well now.' At another time he asked, ' Have you been much exer- cised these few days, for I have been led to pray that you might especially have suf- fering grace? ' "Meth. Mag. p. 247. Mr. John Kestin on his death-bed. " ' Oh, my dear, I am now going to glory, happy, happy, happy. I am going to sing praises to God and the Lamb : I am going 'to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I think I can see my Jesus without a glass between. I can, I feel I can, discern ' my title cleai to mansions in the skies.' Come, Lord Jesus, come! why are thy chariot- wheels so long delaying ? ' "Ev. Mag. p. 124. The Rev. Mr. Mead's sorrow for his sins. " This wrought him up to temporary des- peration; his inexpressible grief poured itself forth in groans : ' Oh that I had never sinned against God ! I have a hell here upon earth, and there is a hell for me in eternity ! ' One Lord's day, very early in the morning, he was awoke by a tempest of thunder and lightning : and, imagining it to be the end of the world, his agony was great, supposing the great day of divine wrath was come, and he unprepared; but happy to find it not so." Ev. Mag. p. 147. Similar case of Mr. John Robinson. "About two hours before he died, he was in great agony of body and mind : it ap- peared that the enemy was permitted to struggle with him ; and being greatly agi- tated, he cried out, ' Ye powers of darkness begone ! ' This, however, did not last long : ' the prey was taken from the mighty, and the lawful captive delivered,' although he was not permitted to tell of his deliverance, but lay quite still and composed." Ev. Mag. p. 177. The Reverend William Tennant in a heavenly trance. "'While I was conversing with my brother,' said he, ' on the state of my soul, and the fears 1 had entertained for my future welfare, I found myself in an instant in another state of existence, under the di- rection of a superior being, who ordered me to follow him. I was accordingly wafted along, I know not how, till I beheld at a distance an ineffable glory, the impression of which on my mind it is impossible to communicate to mortal man. I immediately reflected on my happy change ; and thought, Well, blessed be God ! I am safe at last, notwithstanding all my fears. I saw an in- numerable host of happy beings surrounding the inexpressible glory in acts of adoration and joyous worship; but I did not see any bodily shape or representation in the glo- rious appearance. I heard things unutter- able. I heard their songs and hallelujahs of thanksgiving and praise with unspeakable rapture. I felt joy unutterable, and full of glory. I then applied to my conductor and requested leave to join the happy throng." " Ev. Mag. p. 251. The following we consider to he one of the most shocking histories we ever read. God only knows how many uch scenes take place in the gloomy annals of Methodism. " A young man of the name of S C , grandson to a late eminent dissenting min- ister, and brought up by him, came to reside at K g, about the year 1803. He attended at the Baptist place of worship, not only on the Lord's day, but frequently at the week- METHODISM.. clay lectures and prayer meetings. He was supposed by some to be seriously inclined ; but his opinion of himself was, "that he had uever experienced that divine change, with- out which no man can be saved. " However that might be, there is reason to believe he had been for some years under powerful convictions of his miserable con- dition as a sinner. In June, 1806, these con- victions were observed to increase, and that in a more than common degree. From that time he went into 110 company, but, when he was not at work, kept in his chamber, where he was employed in singing plaintive hymns, and bewailing his lost and perishing state. "He had about him several religious people ; but could not be induced to open his mind to them, or to impart to any one the cause of his distress. Whether this contributed to increase it or not, it did in- crease, till his health was greatly affected by it, and he was scarcely able to work at his business. " While he was at meeting on Lord's day, Septmber 14th, he was observed to labour under very great emotion of mind, espe- cially when he heard the following words : Sinner, if you die without an interest in Christ, you will sink into the regions of eternal death.' " On the Saturday evening following, he intimated to the mistress of the house where he lodged, that some awful judgment was about to come upon him ; and as he should not be able to be at meeting next day, requested that an attendant might be procured to stay with him. She replied that she would herself stay at home, and wait upon him : which she did. " On the Lord's day he was in great agony of mind. His mother was sent for, and some religious friends visited him ; but all was of no avail. That night was a night dread- ful -beyond conception. The horror which he endured brought on all the symptoms of raring madness. He desired the atten- dants not to come near him, lest they should be burnt. He said that ' the bed curtains were in flames. that he smelt the brim- stone, that devils were come to fetch him, that there was no hope for him, for that he had sinned against light and con- viction, and that he should certainly go to hell." It was with difficulty he could be kept in bed. " An apothecary being sent for, as soon as he entered the house, and heard his dread' ful bowlings, he inquired if he had not been bitten by a mad dog. His appearance, like- wise, seemed to justify such a suspicion, his countenance resembling that of a wild beast more than that of a man. " Though he had no feverish heat, yet his pulse beat above 150 in a minute. To abate the mania, a quantity of blood was taken from him, a blister was applied, his head was shaved, cold water was copiouslypoured over him, and fox-glove was administered. By these means his fury was abated ; but his mental agony continued, and all the symptoms of madness, which his bodily strength, thus reduced, would allow, till the following Thursday. On that day he seemed to liave recovered his reason, and to be calm in his mind. In the evening he sent for the apothecary, and wished to speak with him by himself. The latter, on his coming, desired every one to leave the room, and thus addressed him: 'C , have you not something on your mind?' ' Ay,' answered he, ' that is it!' He then acknowledged that, early in the month of June, he had gone to a fair in the neigh- bourhood, in company with a number of wicked young men ; that they drank at a public house together, till he was in a measure intoxicated ; and that from thence they went into other company, where he was criminally connected with a harlot. ' I have been a miserable creature,' con- tinued he, ' ever since ; but during the last three days and three nights, I have been in a state of desperation.' He intimated to the apothecary, that he could not bear to tell this story to the minister : ' But,' said he, ' do you inform him that I shall not die in despair : for light has broken in upon me : I have been led to the great Sacrifice for sin, and I now hope in him for salvation.' "From this time his mental distress ceased, his countenance became placid, and his conversation, instead of being taken up as before with fearful exclamations con- cerning devils and the wrath to come, was now confined to the dying love oi Jesus ! The apothecary was of opinion, that if his strength had not been so much exhausted, he would now have been in a state oi reli- gious transport. His nervous system, how- ever, had received such a shock, that his recovery was doubtlal; and it seemed cer- tain, that it he did recover, he would sink into a state of idiocy. He survived this interview but a few days." Eu. Mag. pp. 412, 413. A religious observer stands at a turnpike-gate on a Sunday, to witness the profane crowd passing by ; he sees a man driving very clumsily in a gig ; the inexperience of the driver provokes the following pious observations. " ' What (I said to myself) if a single untoward circumstance should happen ! METHODISM. 93 Should the horse take fright, or the wheel on either side get entangled, or the gig upset, in either case what can preserve them ? And should a morning so fair and promising bring on evil before night, should death on his pale horse appear, what follows?' My mind shuddered at the images I had raised." Ev. Mag. pp. 558, 559. Miss Louisa Cook's rapturous state, "From this period she lived chiefly in retirement, either in reading the sacred volume on her knees, or in pouring out her soul in prayer to God. While thus em- ployed, she was not unfrequently indulged with visits from her gracious Lord; and sometimes felt herself to be surrounded, as it were, by his glorious presence. After her return to Bristol, her frame of mind became so heavenly, that she seemed often to be dissolved in the love of God her Saviour." Ev. Mag. pp. 576, 577. Objection to Almanacks. "Let those who have been partial to such vain productions only read Isaiah xlvii. 13, and Daniel ii. 27 ; and they will there see what they are to be accounted of, and in what company they are to be found ; and let them learn to despise their equivocal and artful insinuations, which are too fre- quently blended with profanity ; for is it not profanity in them to attempt to palm their frauds upon mankind by Scripture quotations, which they seldom fail to do, especially Judges v. 20, and Job xsxviii. 31? neither of which teaches nor warrants any such practice. Had Baruch or Deborah consulted the stars? No such thing." Ev. Mag. p. 600. This energy of feeling will be found occasionally to meddle with and dis- turb the ordinary occupations and amusements of life, and to raise up little qualms of conscience, which, in- stead of exciting respect, border, we fear, somewhat too closely upon the ludicrous. A Methodist Footman. " A gentleman's servant, who has left a good place because he was ordered to deny his master when actually at home, wishes something on this subject may be intro- duced into this work, that persons who are in the habit of denying themselves in the above manner maybe convinced of its eviL" Ev. Hag. Doubts if it is right to take any interest for money. " Usury. Sir, I beg the favour of you to insert the following case of conscience. I frequently find in Scripture, that Usury is particularly condemned ; and that it is re- 1 presented as the character of a good man. that ' he hath not given forth upon usury, | neither hath taken any increase," Ezek. ! xviii. 8., &c. I wish, therefore, to know how 1 such passages are to be understood ; and 1 whether the taking of interest for money, as is universally practised among us, can be reconciled with the word and will of God ? Q." Ev. Mag. p. 74. Dancing ill-suited to a creature on trial for eternity. " If dancing be a waste of tune ; if the precious hours devoted to it may be better employed; if it be a species of trifling ill suited to a creature on trial for eternity, and hastening towards it on the swift wings of time; if it be incompatible with genuine repentance, true faith in Christ, supreme love to God, and a state of entire devoted- ness to him, then is dancing a practice utterly opposed to the whole spirit and temper of Christianity, and subversive of the best interest of the rising generation." Meth. Mag. pp. 127, 128. The Methodists consider themselves as constituting a chosen and separate people, living in a land of atheists and voluptuaries. The expressions by which they designate their own sects, are the dear people the elect the people of God. The rest of mankind are carnal people the people of this world, &c. &c. The children of Israel were not more separated, through the favour of God, from the Egyptians, than the Methodists are, in their own estima- tion, from the rest of mankind. We had hitherto supposed that the disci- ples of the Established churches in England and Scotland had been Chris- tians ; and that after baptism duly per- formed by the appointed minister, and participation in the customary worship of these two churches, Christianity was the religion of which they were to be considered as members. We see, how- ever, in these publications, men of twenty or thirty years of age first called to a knowledge of Christ under a ser- mon by the Rev. Mr. Venn, o'r first admitted into the church of Christ un- der a sermon by the Rev. Mr. Romaine. The apparent admission turns out to have been a mere mockery ; and the pseudo-christian to have had no religion 94 METHODISM. of Launton near Bicester, in the year 1807. " A very general spirit of inquiry having appeared for some time in the village of Launton, near Bicester, some serious per- sons were excited to communicate to them the word of life." Ev. Mag. p. 380. We learn in page 128, Melh. Mag. that twelve months had elapsed from the time of Mrs. Cocker's joining the people of God, before she obtained a clear sense of forgiveness. A religious Hoy sets off every week for Margate. " Religious Passengers accommodated. To the Editor. Sir, it afforded ine consider- at all, till the business was really and [ able pleasure to see upon the cover of your effectually done under these sermons by Mr. Venn and Mr. Romaine. An awful and general departure from the Christian faith in the Church of England. "A second volume of Mr. Cooper's ser- mons is before us, stamped with the same broad seal of truth and excellence as the former. Amidst the awful and general de- parture from the faith, as once delivered to the saints in the Church of England, and sealed by the blood of our Reformers, it is pleasing to observe that there is a remnant, according to the election of grace, who continue rising up to testify the gospel of the grace of God, and to call back their fellows to the consideration of the great and leading doctrines ou which the Reformation was built, and the Church of England by law established. The author of these ser- mons, avoiding all matters of more doubtful disputation, avowedly attaches himself to the great fundamental truths ; and on the two substantial pillars, the Jachin and Boaz of the living temple, erects his super- structure. 1. Justification by faith, without works, free and full, by grace alone, through the redemption which is in Jesus Christ, stands at the commencement of the first volume ; and on its side rises in the beauty of holiness," &c. Ev. Mag. p. 79. Mr. Robinson called to the knowledge of Christ under Mr. Venn's sermon. " Mr. Robinson was called in early life to the knowledge of Christ, under a sermon at St. Dunstan's, by the late Rev. Mr. Venn, from Ezek. xxxvi. 25, 26 ; the remembrance of which greatly refreshed his soul upon his deathbed." Ev. Mag. p. 176. Christianity introduced into the Parish e for the present month, an adver- tisement, announcing the establishment of a packet, to sail weekly between London and Margate, during the season, which appears to have been set on foot for the, accommodation of religious characters ; and in which ' no profane conversation is to be allowed.' " To those among the followers of a cru- cified Redeemer, who are in the habit of visiting the Isle of Thauet in the summer, and who, for the sea air, or from other con- siderations, prefer travelling by water, such a conveyance must certaiuiy be a desi- deratum, especially if they have experienced a mortification similar to that of tlie writer, in the course of the last summer, when shut up in a cabin with a mixed multitude, who spake almost all languages but that of Canaan. Totally unconnected with the concern, and personally a stranger to the worthy owner, I take the liberty of recom- mending this vessel to the notice of my fellow-Christians; persuaded that they will think themselves bound to patronise and encourage an undertaking that has the honour of the dear Redeemer for its pro- fessed object. It ought ever to be remem- bered, that every talent we possess, -whether large or small, is given us in trust to be laid out for God; and I have often thought that Christians act inconsistently with their high profession, when they omit, even in their most common and trivial expendi- tures, to give a decided preference to the friends of their Lord. I do not, however, anticipate any such ground of complaint in this instance, but rather believe, that the religious world in general will cheerfully unite with me, while I most cordially wish success to the Princess of Wales Yacht, and pray that she may ever sail under the divine protection and blessing; that the humble followers of Him who spoke the storm into a calm, when crossing the lake of Gennesareth, may often feel their hearts glowing with sacred ardour while in her cabins they enjoy sweet communion with their Lord and with each other; and that strangers, who may be providentially brought among them, may see so much of the beauty and excellency of the religion of Jesus exemplified in their conduct and con- versation, that they may be constrained to say, ' We will go with you, for we perceive that God is with you. Your God shall be our God, and his people shall henceforth be our chosen companions and associates.' I am, Mr. Editor, your obliged friend and sister in the gospel, E. T." Ev. Mag. p. 268. A religious newspaper is announced in the Ev. M. for September. It is METHODISM. 95 said of common newspapers, "that they are absorbed in temporal concerns, while the consideration of those which are eter- nal is postponed : the business of this life has superseded the claims of im- mortality ; and the monarchs of the world have engrossed an attention which would have been more properly de- voted to the Saviour of the universe." It is then stated, "that the columns of this paper ( The Instructor, Price Gd.~) will be supplied by pious reflections ; suitable comments to improve the dis- pensations of providence will be intro- duced ; and the whole conducted with an eye to our spiritual, as well as temporal welfare. The work will contain the latest news up to four o'clock on the day of publication, to- gether with the most recent religious occurrences. The prices of stock, and correct market-tables, will also be ac- curately detailed." Ev. Mag. Sept- ember Advertisement The Eclectic lieview is also understood to be carried on upon Methodistical principles. Nothing can evince more strongly the influence which Methodism now exercises upon common life, and the fast hold it has got of the people, than the advertisements which are circulated every month in these very singular publications. On the cover of a single number, for example, we have the following : "Wanted, by Mr. Turner, shoemaker, a steady apprentice; he will have the privilege of attending the ministry of the gospel; a premium expected, p. 3. Wanted, a serious young woman, as a servant of all work, 3. Wanted a man of serious character, who can shave, 3. Wanted, a serious woman, to assist in a shop, 3. A young person in the millinery line wishes to be in a serious ^family, 4. Wants a place, a young man who has brewed in a serious family, 4. Ditto, a young woman or evangelical principles, 4. Wanted, an active serious shopman, 5. To be sold, an eligible residence, with 60 acres of land; gospel preached in three places within half a mile, 5. A single gen- tleman may be accommodated with lodging in a small serious family, 5. To let, a penteel first floor in an airy situation near the Tabernacle, 6. Wanted, a governess, of evangelical principles and corresponding character, 10." The religious vessel we have before spoken of, is thus advertised : "The Princess of Wales Yacht, J. Chap- man, W. Bourn, master, by divine per- mission, will leave Ralph's Quay every Friday, 11." &c. &c.Julj/ Ev. Mag. After the specimens we have given of these people, anything which is said of their activity can very easily be credited. The army and navy appear to be particular objects of their atten- tion. "British Navy. It is with peculiar pleasure we insert the following extract of a letter from the pious chaplain of a man- of-war, to a gentleman at Gosport, intimat- ing the power and grace of God manifested towards our brave seamen. ' Off Cadiz, Nov. 26. 1806. My dear friend A fleet for England found us in the night, and is just going away. I have only time to tell you that the work of God seems to prosper. Many are under convictions; some, I trust, are converted. I preach every night, and am obliged to have a private meeting afterwards with those who wish to speak about their souls. But my own health is suffering much, nor shall I probably be able long to bear it. The ship is like a tabernacle ; and really there is much ex- ternal reformation. Capt. raises no objection. I have near a hundred hearers every night at six o'clock. How unworthy am I ! Pray for us.' " Ev. Mag. p. 84. The Testimony of a profane Officer to the worth of pious Sailors. "Mr. Editor In the mouth of two or three witnesses a truth shall be established. I recently met with a pleasing confirmation of a narrative stated some time since in your Magazine. I was surprised by a visit from an old acquaintance of mine, the other day, who is now an officer of rank in his Majesty's navy. In the course of conversa- tion, I was shocked at the profane oaths that perpetually interrupted his sentences ; and took an opportunity to express my regret that such language should be so common among so valuable a body of men. 'Sir,' said he, still interspersing many solemn imprecations, ' an officer cannot live at sea without swearing ; not one of my men would mind a word without an oath ; it is common sea-language. If we were not to swear, the rascals would take us for lubbers, stare in our faces, and leave us to do our commands ourselves. I never knew but one exception; and that was extra- ordinary. I declare, believe me 'tis true (suspecting that I might not credit it); 96 METHODISM. there was a set of fellows called Methodists, on board the Victory, Lord Nelson's ship (to be sure he was rather a religious man himself!) and those men never wanted swearing at. Tho dogs were the best sea- inen on board. Every man knew his duty, and every man did his duty. They used to meet together and sing hymns; and nobody dared molest them. The commander would not have suffered it, had they attempted it. They were allowed a mess by themselves; and never mixed with the other men. I have often heard them singing away my- self; and 'tis true, I assure you, but not one of them was either killed or wounded at the battle of Trafalgar, though they did their duty as well as any men. No, not one of the psalm-singing gentry was even hurt; and there the fellows are swimming away in the Bay of Biscay at this very time, sing- ing like the d . They are now under a new commander ; but still are allowed the same privileges, and mess by themselves. These were the only fellows that I ever knew do their duty without swearing ; and I will do them the justice to say they do it.' J. C." Ev. Mag. pp. 119, 120. These people are spread over the face of the whole earth in the shape of missionaries. Upon the subject of missions we shall say very little or nothing at present, because we reserve it for another article in a subsequent dumber. But we cannot help re- marking the magnitude of the collec- tions made in favour of the missionaries atthe Method istical chapels, when com- pared with the collections for any com- mon object of charity in the orthodox churches and chapels. " Religious Tract Society. A most satis- factory Report was presented by the Com- mittee; from which it appeared, that, since the commencement of the Institution in the year 1799, upwards of Four Millions of Religious Tracts have been issued under the auspices of the Society; and that con- siderably more than one fourth of that number have been sold during the last year." Eo. Mag. p. 284. These tracts are dropped in villages by the Methodists, and thus every chance for conversion afforded to the common people. There is a proposal in one of the numbers of the volumes before us, that travellers, for every pound they spent upon the road, should fling one shilling's worth of these tracts out of the chaise window ; thus taxing his pleasures at 5 per cent, for the pur- poses of doing good. " Every Christian who expects the pro- tection and blessing of God, ought to take with him as many shillings' worth, at least, of cheap Tracts to throw on the road ami leave at inns', as he takes out pounds to expend on himself and family. This is really but a trifling sacrifice. It is a highly reasonable one ; and one which God Will accept." Eo. Mag. p. 405. It is part of their policy to have a great change of Ministers. " Same day, the Rev. "W. Haward, from Hoxton Academy, was ordained over tho Independent church at Rendham, Suffolk. Mr. Pickles, of "Walpole, began with prayer and reading: Mr. Price, of Woodbridge, delivered the introductory discourse, and asked the questions; Mr. Deunant, of Halesworth, offered the ordination prayer; Mr. Shufflebottom, of Hungay, gave the charge from Acts, xx. 28 ; Mr. Vincent, of Deal, the general prayer; and Mr. Walford, of Yarmouth, preached to the people from 2 Phil. ii. 16." Ev. Mag. p. 429. "Chapels opened. Hambledon, Bucks, Sept. 22. Eighteen months ago, this parish was destitute of the gospel : the people have now or.e of the Rev. G. Collison's students, the Rev. Mr.Eastmead, settled among them. Mr. English of Wooburn, and Mr. Frey, preached on the occasion; and Mr. Jones, of London, Mr. Churchill, of Henley, Mr. Redford, of Windsor, and Mr. Barratt, now of Petersfield, prayed." Ev. Mag. p. 533. Methodism in his Majesty's ship Ton- nant a Letter from the Sail-ma/ter. " It is with great satisfaction that 1 can now inform you God has deigned, in a yet greater degree, to own the weak efforts of his servant to turn many from Satan to himself. Many are called here, as is plain to be seen, by their pensive looks and d; .-i> sighs. And if they would be obedient to the heavenly call instead of grieving the Spirit of grace, I dare say we should soon have near half the ship's company brought to God. I doubt not, however, but, as I have cast my bread upon the waters, it will be found after many days. Our 13 are now increased to upwards of 30. Surely the Lord delighteth not in the death of him that dieth." Meth. Mag. p. 188. It appears also from p. 193., Meth. Mag., that the same principles prevail on board his Majesty's ship Sea-horse, 44 guns. And in one part of the Evan. Mag. great hopes are enter- METHODISM. 97 tained of the 25th regiment. We believe this is the number : but we quote this fact from memory. We must remember, in addition to these trifling specimens of their active disposition, that the Methodists have found a powerful party in the House of Commons, who, by the neutrality which they affect, and partly adhere to, are courted both by ministers and oppo- sition ; that they have gained complete possession of the India House; and under the pretence, or perhaps with the serious intention, of educating young people for India, will take care to in- troduce (as much as they dare without provoking attention) their own par- ticular tenets. In fact, one thing must always be tuken for granted resp cting these people, that, wherever they gain afooting, or whatever be the institutions to which they give birth, proselytism will be their main object; everything else is a mere instrument this is their principal aim. When every proselyte is not only an addition to their tem- poral power, but when the act of con- version which gains a vote, saves (as they suppose) a soul from destruction, it is quite needless to state, that every faculty of their minds will be dedicated to this most important of all temporal and eternal concerns. Their attack upon the Church is not merely confined to publications ; it is generally understood that they have a very considerable fund for the purchase of livings, to which of course, ministers of their own profession are always presented. Upon the foregoing facts, and upon the spirit evinced by these extracts, we shaL make a few comments. 1. It is obvious, that this description of Christians entertain very erroneous and dangerous notions of the present judgments of God. A belief, that Pro- vidence interferes in all the little actions of our lives, refers all merit and demerit to bad and good fortune ; and causes the successful man to be always con- sidered as a good man, and the unhappy man as the object of divine vengeance. It furnishes ignorant and designing men with a power which is sure to be abused : the cry of, A judgment, a. judgment, it VOL. L is. always easy to make, but not easy to resist. It encourages the grossest superstitions ; for if the Deity rewards and punishes on every slight occasion, it is quite impossible, but that such a helpless being as man will set himself at work to discover the will of Heaven in the appearances of outward nature, and to apply all the phenomena of thunder, lightning, wind, and every striking appearance to the regulation of his conduct; as the poor Methodist, when he rode into Piccadilly in a thun- der storm, and imagined that all the uproar of the elements was a mere hint to him not to preach at Mr. Romaine's chapel. Hence -a great deal of error, and a great deal of secret misery. This doctrine of a theocracy must necessarily place an excessive power in the hands of the clergy ; it applies so instantly and so tremendously to men's hopes and fears, that it must make the priest omni- potent over the people, as it always has done where it has been established. It has a great tendency to check human exertions, and to prevent the employ- ment of those secondary means of effect- ing an object which Providence has placed in our power. The doctrine of the immediate, and perpetual inter- ference of Divine Providence, is not true. If two men travel the same road, the one to rob, the other to relieve a fellow-creature who is starving ; will any but the most fanatic contend, that they do not both run the same chance of falling over a stone, and breaking their legs? and is it not matter of fact, that the robber often returns safe, and the just man sustains the injury ? Have not the soundest divines of both churches always urged this unequal distribution of good and evil, in the present state, as one of the strongest natural argu- ments for a future state of retribution ? Have not they contended, and well, and admirably contended, that the supposi- tion of such a state is absolutely neces- sary to our notion of the justice of God, absolutely necessary to restore order to that moral confusion which we all observe and deplore in the present world ? The man who places religion upon a false basis is the greatest enemy to religion. If victory is always to the H 98 METHODISM. just and good, how is the fortune ol impious conquerors to be accounted for? Why do they erect dynasties, and found families which last for centuries ? The reflecting mind whom you have in- structed in this manner, and for present effect only, naturally comes upon you hereafter with difficulties of this sort ; he finds he has heen deceived ; and you will soon discover that, in breeding up a fanatic, you have unwittingly laid the foundation of an atheist. The honest and the orthodox method is to prepare young people for the world, as it actually exists; to tell them that they will often find vice perfectly suc- cessful, virtue exposed to a long train ol afflictions ; that they must bear this patiently, and look to another world for its rectification. 2. The second doctrine which it is necessary to notice among the Metho- dists is, the doctrine of inward impulse and emotions, which, it is quite plain, must lead, if universally insisted upon, and preached among the common peo- ple, to every species of folly and enor- mity. When a human being believes that his internal feelings are the moni- tions of God, and that these monitions must govern his conduct ; and when a great stress is purposely laid upon these inward feelings in all the discourses from the pulpit ; it is, of course, impos- sible to say to what a pitch of extrava- gance mankind may not be carried, under the influence of such dangerous doctrines. 3. The Methodists hate pleasure and amusements ; no theatre, no cards, no dancing, no punchinello, no dancing dogs, no blind fiddlers; all ihe amuse- ments of the rich and of the poor must disappear, wherever these gloomy peo- ple get a footing. It is not the abuse of pleasure which they attack, but the interspersion of pleasure, however much it is guarded by good sense and mode- ration ; it is not only wicked to hear the licentious plays of Congreve, hut wicked to hear Henry the Filth, or the School for Scandal ; it is not only dis- sipated to run about to all the parties in London and Edinburgh, but dancing is not fit for a being who is preparing himself for Eternity. Ennui, wretched- ness, melancholy, groans and sighs, are the offerings which these unhappy men make to a Deity who has covered the earth with gay colours, and scented it with rich perfumes ; and shown us, by the plan and order of his works, that he has given to man something better than a bare existence, and scattered over his creation a thousand superfluous joys which are totally unnecessary to the mere support of life. 4. The Methodists lay very little stress upon practical righteousness. They do not say to their people, Do not be deceitful ; do not be idle ; get rid of your bad passions ; or at least (if they do say these things) they say them very seldom. Not that they preach faith without works ; for if they told the people that they might rob and murder with impunity, the civil magis- trate must be compelled to interfere with such doctrine: but they say a great deal about faith, and very little about works. What are commonly called the mysterious parts of our reli- gion are brought into the fore-ground, much more than the doctrines \vhich lead to practice ; rand this among the lowest of the community. The Methodists have hitherto been accused of dissenting from the Church of England. This, as far as relates to mere subscription to articles, is not true; but they differ in their choice of the articles upon which they dilate and expand, and to which they appear to give a preference, from the stress which they place upon them. There is nothing heretical in saying that God sometimes intervenes with his special providence ; but these people differ from the Estab- lished Church, in the degree in which they insist upon this doctrine. In the hands of a man of sense and education, it is a safe doctrine; in the management of the Methodists, we have seen how ridiculous and degrading it becomes. In the same manner, a clergyman of the Church of England would not do his duty if he did not insist upon the necessity of faith as well as of good works ; but as he believes that it is much more easy to give credit to doc- trines than to live well, he labours most in those points where humau METHODISM. 9.) nature is the most liable to prove defec- tive. Because he does so, he is accused of giving up the articles of his faith, by men who have their partialities also in doctrine; but partialities, not founded upon the same sound discretion, and knowledge of human nature. 5. The Methodists are always de- sirous of making men more religious than it is possible, from the constitution of human nature, to make them. If they could succeed as much as they wish to succeed, there would be at once an end of delving and spinning, and of every exertion of human industry. Men must eat, and drink, and work ; and if you %vish to fix upon them high and elevated notions, as the ordinary furniture of their minds, you do these two things ; you drive men of warm tempera- ments mad, and you introduce, in the rest of the world, a low and shock- ing familiarity with words and images, which every real friend to religion would wish to keep sacred. The friends of the dear Redeemer who are in the habit of visiting the hie of Tlutnet (as in the extract we have quoted) Is it possible that this mixture of the most awful, with the most familiar images, so common among Methodists now, and with the en- thusiasts in the time of Cromwell, must not. in the end, divest religion of all the deep and solemn impressions which it is calculated to produce ? In a man of common imagination (as we have before observed), the terror, and the feeling which it first excited, must necessarily be soon separated : but, where the fervour of impression is long preserved, piety ends in Bedlam. Ac- cordingly, there is not a madhouse in England, where a considerable part of the patients have not been driven to insanity by the extravagance of these people. We cannot enter such places without seeing a number of honest ar- tisans, covered with blankets, and calling themselves angels and apostles, who, if they had remained contented with the instruction of men of learning and edu- cation, would still have been sound masters of their own trade, sober Chris- tians, and useful members of society. 6. It is impossible not to observe how directly all the doctrine of the Methodists is calculated to gain power among the poor and ignorant. To say, that the Deity governs this world by general rules, and that we must wait for another and a final scene of existence, before vice meets with its merited punishment, and virtue with its merited reward ; to preach this up daily would not add a single votary to the Tabernacle, nor sell a number of the Methodistical Magazine : but, to publish an account of a man who was cured of scrofula by a single ser- mon of Providence destroying the innkeeper at Garstang for appointing a cock-fight near the Tabernacle ; this promptness of judgment and im- mediate execution is so much like human justice, and so much better adapted to vulgar capacities, that the system is at once admitted, as soon as any one can be found who is impudent or ignorant enough to teach it ; and, being once admitted, it produces too strong an effect upon the passions to be easily relinquished. The case is the same with the doctrine of inward im- pulse, or, as they term it, experience. If you preach up to ploughmen and artisans, that every singular feeling which comes across them is a visitation of the Divine Spirit can there be any difficulty, under the influence of this nonsense, in converting these simple creatures into active and mys- terious fools, and making them your slaves for life ? It is not possible to raise up any dangerous enthusiasm, by telling men to be just, and good, and charitable ; but keep this part of Christianity out of sight and talk long and enthusiastically, before igno- rant people, of the mysteries of our religion, and you will not fail to attract a crowd of followers : verily the Tabernacle loveth not that which is simple, intelligible, and leadeth to good sound practice. Having endeavoured to point out the spirit which pervades these people, we shall say a few words upon the causes, the effects, and the cure of this calamity. The fanaticism so prevalent in the present day, is one of those evils from which society is never wholly exempt : but which bursts out at different periods, H 2 100 METHODISM. with peculiar violence, and sometimes overwhelms everything in its course. The last eruption took place about a century and a half ago, and destroyed both Church and Throne with its tre- mendous force. Though irresistible, it was short : enthusiasm spent its force the usual reaction took place ; and England was deluged with ribaldry and indecency, because it had been worried with fanatical restrictions. By degrees, however, it was found out, that orthodoxy and loyalty might be secured by other methods than licentious conduct and immodest conversation. The public morals improved ; and there appeared as much good sense and moderation upon the subject of religion as ever can be expected from mankind in large masses. Still, however, the mischief which the Puritans had done was not forgotten ; a general suspicion prevailed of the dangers of religious enthusiasm ; and the fanatical preacher wanted his accustomed power among a people recently recovered from a re- ligious war, and guarded by songs, ' proverbs, popular stories, and the general tide of humour and opinion, against all excesses of that nature. About the middle of the last century, however, the character of the genuine fanatic was a good deal forgotten ; and the memory of the civil wars worn away; the field was clear for extrava- gance in piety ; and causes, which must always produce an immense in fluence upon the -mind of man, were left to their own unimpeded operations. Religion is so noble and powerful a consideration it is so buoyant and so insubmergib'.e that it may be made, by fanatics, to carry with it any degree of error and of perilous absurdity. In this instance Messrs. Whitfield and Wesley happened to begin. They were men of considerable talents; they ob- served the common decorums of life, they did not run naked into the streets, or pretend to the prophetical character; and therefore they were not com- mitted to Newgate. They preached with great energy to weak people ; who first stared then listened then be- lieved then felt the inward feeling of grace, and became as foolish as their teachers could possibly wish them to be: in short, folly ran its ancient course, and human nature evinced itself to be what it always has been under similar circumstances. The great and permanent cause, therefore, of the increase of Methodism, is the cause which has given birth to fanati- cism in all ages. the facility of mingling human errors with the funda- mental truths of religion. The formerly imperfect residence of the clergy may, perhaps, in some trifling degree, have aided this source of Methodism. But unless a man of education, and a gentleman, could stoop to such disin- genuous arts as the Methodist preach- ers, unless he hears heavenly music all of a sudden, and enjoys sweet ex- periences, it is quite impossible that he can contend against such artists as these. More active than they are at present the clergy might perhaps be ; but the calmness and moderation of an Establishment can never possibly be a match for sectarian activity. If the common people are cnnui'd with the fine acting of Mrs. Siddons, they go to Sadler's Wells. The subject is too serious for ludicrous comparisons: but the Tabernacle really is to the Church, what Sadler's Wells is to the Drama. There, popularity is gained by vaulting and tumbling, by low arts, which the regular clergy are not too idle to have recourse to, but too dignified: their institutions arecliaste and severe, they endeavour to do that which, upon the whole, and for a great number of years, will be found to be the most admirable and the most use- ful: it is no part of their plan to descend to small artifices, for the sake of pre- sent popularity and effect. The religion of the common people under the go- vernment of the Church may remain as it is for ever ; enthusiasm must be progressive, or it will expire. It is probable that the dreadful scenes which have lately been acted in the world, and the dangers to which we are exposed, have increased the numbers of the Methodists. To what degree will Methodism extend in this country? This question is not easy to answer. That it has rapidly in- METHODISM. 101 creased within these few years, we have no manner of doubt ; and we confess we cannot see what is likely to impede its progress. The party which it has formed in the Legislature ; and the artful neutrality with which they give respectability to their small number, the talents of some of this party, and the unimpeached excel- lence of their characters, all make it probable that fanaticism will increase rather than diminish. The Methodists have made an alarming inroad into the Church, and they are attacking the army and navy. The principality of Wales, and the East India Company they have already acquired. All mines and subterraneous places belong to them ; they creep into hospitals and small schools, and so work their way upwards. It is the custom of the re- ligious neutrals to beg all the little livings, particularly in the north of England, from the minister for the time being ; and from these fixed points they make incursions upon the happiness and common sense of the vicinage. We most sincerely depre- cate such an event ; but it will excite in us no manner of surprise, if a period arrives when the churches of the sober and orthodox part of the English clergy are completely deserted by the middling and lower classes of the community. We do not prophesy any such event ; but we contend that it is not impos- sible, hardly improbable. If such, in future, should be the situation of this country, it is impossible to say what political animosities may not be in- grafted upon this marked and dangerous division of mankind into the godly and the ungodly. At all events, we are quite sure that happiness will be de- stroyed, reason degraded, sound religion banished from the world ; and that when fanaticism becomes too foolish and too prurient to be endured (as is at last sure to be the case), it will be sue ceeded by a long period of the grossest immorality, atheism, and debauchery. We are not sure that this evil admits of any cure, or of any considerable palliation. We most sincerely hope that the government of this country will never be guilty of such indiscretion as to tamper with the Toleration Act, or to attempt to put down these follies by the intervention of the law. If ex- perience has taught us anything, it is the absurdity of controlling men's notions of eternity by acts of Parlia- ment. Something may perhaps be done, in the way of ridicule, towards turning the popular opinion. It may be as well to extend the privileges of the dissenters to the members of the Church of England; for, as the law now stands, any man who dissents from the Established Church may open a place of worship where he pleases. No orthodox clergyman can do so, without the consent of the parson of the parish, who always refuses, because he does not choose to have his monopoly dis- turbed ; and refuses, in parishes where there are not accommodations for one half of the persons who wish to frequent the Church of England, and in instances where he knows that the chapels from which he excludes the established worship will be immediately occupied by sectaries. It may be as well to encourage in the early education of the clergy, as Mr. Ingram recommends, a better and more animated method of preaching ; and it may be necessary, hereafter, if the evil gets to a great height, to relax the articles of the English Church, and to admit a greater variety of Christians within the pale. The greatest and best of all remedies, is perhaps the education of the poor ; \ve are astonished, that the Esta- blished Church in England is not awake to this mean of arresting the progress of Methodism. Of course, none of these things will be done ; nor is it clear, if they were done, that they would do much good. Whatever hap- pens, we are for common sense and orthodoxy. Insolence, servile politics, and the spirit of persecution, we con- demn and attack, whenever we observe them ; but to the learning, the modera- tion, and the rational piety of the Es- tablishment, we most earnestly wish a decided victory over the nonsense, the melancholy, and the madness of the Tabernacle.* * There is one circumstance to which we have neglected to advert in the proper H 3 102 INDIAN MISSIONS. God send that our wishes be not in vain. INDIAN MISSIONS. (E. KEVIEW, 1808.) Considerations on the Policy of communi- cating the Knowledge of Christianity to the Natives in India. By a late Resident in Bengal. London. Hatchard, 1807. An Address to the Chairman of the East India Company, occasioned by Mr. Twi- ning's Letter to that Gentleman. By the Rev. John Owen. London. Hat- chard. A Letter to the Chairman of the East India Company, on tlie Danger of interfering in the religious Opinions of the Natives of India. By Thomas Twining. London. Ridgeway. Vindication of the Hindoos. By a Bengal Officer. London. Rodwell. Letter to John Scott Waring. London. Hatchard. Cunningham's Christianity in India. Lon- don. Hatchard. Answer to Major Scott Waring. Extracted from the Christian Observer. Observations on the present State of the East India Company. By Major Scott Waring. Ridgeway. London. AT two o'clock in the morning, July the 10th, 1806, the European barracks, at Vellore, containing then four com- plete companies of the 69th regiment, were surrounded by two battalions of Sepoys in the Company's service, who poured in a heavy fire of musketry, at every door and window, upon the sol- diers ; at the same time the European sentries, the soldiers at the main-guard, and the sick in the hospital, were put to death ; the officers' houses were ran- sacked, and everybody found in them murdered. Upon the arrival of the 19th Light Dragoons under Colonel Gillespie, the Sepoys were immediately attacked ; 600 cut down upon the spot ; and 200 taken from their hiding-places, and shot. There perished, of the four place, the dreadful pillage of the earnings of the poor which is made by the Metho- dists. A case is mentioned in one of the numbers of these two magazines for 1807, of a poor man with a family, earning only twenty-eight shillings a week, who has made two donations of ten guineas each to the missionary fund I European companies, about 164, be- sides officers ; and many British offi- cers of the native troops were mur- dered by the insurgents. Subsequent to this explosion, there was a mutiny at Nundydroog ; and, in one day, 450 Mahomedan Sepoys were disarmed, and turned out of the fort, on the ground of an intended massacre. It appeared, also, from the information of the commanding officer at Tritchinopoly, that, at that period, a spirit of disaffection had manifested itself at Bangalore, and other places ; and seemed to gain ground in every direction. On the 3rd of December, 1806, the government of Madras issued the following proclamation : "A PROCLAMATION. " The Right Hon. the Governor in Coun- cil, having observed that, in some late in- stances, an extraordinary degree of agita- tion has prevailed among several corps of the native army of this coast, it lias been his Lordship's particular endeavour to ascertain the motives which may have led to conduct so different from that which formerly distinguished the native army. From this inquiry it has appeared that many persons of evil intention have endea- voured, for malicious purposes, to impress upon the native troops a belief that it is the wish of the British government to convert them by forcible means to Christianity; and his Lordship in Council has observed with concern, that such malicious reports have been believed by many of the native troops. " The Right Hon. the Governor in Coun- cil, therefore, deems it proper, in this public manner, to repeat to the native troops his assurance, that the same respect which has been invariably shown by the British government for their religion and for their customs will be always continued; and that no interruption will be given to any native, whether Hindoo or Mussul- man, in the practice of his religious cere- monies. " His Lordship in Council desires that the native troops will not give belief to the idle rumours which are circulated by ene- mies of their happiness, who endeavour, with the basest designs, to weaken the con- fidence of the troops in the British govern- ment. His Lordship in Council desires that the native troops will remember the constant attention and humanity which have been shown by the British govern- ment in providing for their comfort, by INDIAN MISSIONS. 103 augmenting the pay of the native officers and Sepoys ; by allowing liberal pensions to those who have done their duty faithfully ; by making ample provision for the families of those who may have died in battle ; and by receiving their children into the service of the Honourable Company, to be treated with the same care and bounty as their lathers had experienced. " The .Right Hon. the Governor in Coun- cil trusts, that the native troops, remem- bering these circumstances, will be sensible of the happiness of their situation, which is greater than what the troops of any other part of the world enjoy ; and that they will continue to observe the same good conduct for which they were distinguished in the days of (Sen. Lawrence, of Sir Eyre Coote, and of other renowned heroes. "The native troops must, at the same time, be sensible, that if they should fail in the duties of their allegiance, and should show themselves disobedient to their offi- cers, their conduct will not fail to receive merited punishment, as the British go- vernment is not less prepared to punish the guilty, than to protect and distinguish those who are deserving of its favour. " It is directed that this paper be trans- lated with care into the Tamul, Telinga, and Hindoostany languages; and that copies of it be circulated to each native battalion, of which the European officers are enjoined and ordered to be careful in making it known to every native officer and Sepoy under his command. " It is also directed, that copies of the paper be circulated to all the magistrates and collectors under this government, for the purpose of being fully understood in all parts of the country. " Published by order of the Right Hon. the Governor in Council. " G. BUCHAK, " Chief Secretary to Government. " Dated in Fort St. George, 3rd Dec. 1806. Scott Waring 's Preface, iii. v. So late as March, 1807, three months after the date of this proclamation, so universal was the dread of a general revolt among the native troops, that the British officers attached to the na- tive troops constantly slept with loaded pistols under their pillows. It appears that an attempt had been made by the military men at Madras, to change the shape of the Sepoy tur- ban into something resembling the helmet of the light infantry of Europe, and to prevent the native troops from wearing on their foreheads the marks characteristic of their various castes. The sons of the late Tippoo, with many noble Mussulmans deprived of office at that time, resided in the fortress of Vellore, and in all probability contri- buted very materially to excite or to inflame those suspicions of designs against their religion, which are men- tioned in the proclamation of the Madras Government, and generally known to have been a principal cause of the insurrection at Vellore. It was this insurrection which first gave birth to the question upon missions to India; and before we deliver any opinion upon the subject itself, it will be necessary to state what had been done in former periods towards disseminating the truths of the Gospel in India, and what new exertions had been made about the period at which this event took place. More than a century has elapsed since the first Protestant missionaries appeared in India. Two young divines, selected by the University of Halle, were sent out in this capacity by the King of Denmark, and arrived at the Danish settlement of Tranquebar in 1706. The mission thus begun, has been ever since continued, and has been assisted by the Society for the Promo- tion of Christian Knowledge estab- lished in this country. The same Society has, for many years, employed German missionaries, of the Lutheran persuasion, for propagating the doc- trines of Christianity amongst the na- tives of India, In 1799, their number was six ; it is now reduced to five. The Scriptures translated into the Tamulic language, which is vernacular in the southern parts of the peninsula, have, for more than half a century, been printed at the Tranquebar press, for the use of Danish missionaries and their converts. A printing press, in- deed, was established at that place by the two first Danish missionaries ; and, in 1714, the Gospel of St. Matthew, translated into the dialect of Malabar, was printed there. Not a line of the Scriptures, in any of the languages current on the coast, had issued from the Bengal press on September 13, 1806. It does appear, however, about the H 4 104 INDIAN MISSIONS. period of the mutiny at Vcllore, and a few years previous to it, that the num- ber of the missionaries on the coast had been increased. In 1804, the Mis- sionary Society, a recent institution, sent a new mission to the coast of Coro- mandel ; from whose papers, we think it right to lay before our readers the following extracts*: " March Slst, 1805. Waited on A. B. He says, Government seems to be very willing to forward our views. We may stay at Madras as long as we please ; and when we intend to go into the country, on our ap- plication to the governor by letter, he would issue orders for granting us pass- ports, which would supersede the necessity of a public petition. Lord's Day." Trans, of Miss. Society, Vol. II. p. 365. In a letter from Brother Ringletaube to Brother Cran, he thus expresses himself : " The passports Government has promised you are so valuable, that I should not think a journey too troublesome to obtain one for myself, if I could not get it through your interference. In hopes that your application will suffice to obtain one for me, I enclose you my Gravesend passport, that will give you the particulars concerning my person." Trans, of Miss. Society, Vol. II. p. 369. They obtain their passports from Government ; and the plan and objects of their mission are printed, free of ex- pense, at the Government press. " 1805. June 27. Dr. sent for one of us to consult with him on particular business. He accordingly went. The Doc- tor told him that he had read the publica- tions which the brethren lately brought from England, and was so much delighted with the report of the Directors, that he wished 200 or more copies of it were printed, together with an introduction, giving an account of the rise and progress of the Missionary Society, in order to be distributed in the different settlements in India. He offered to print them at the * There are six societies in England for converting Heathens to the Christian reli- gion. 1. Society for Missions to Africa and the East ; of which Messrs. Wilber- force, Grant, Ferry, and Thorntons, are the principal encouragers. 2. Methodist Society for Missions. 3. Anabaptist Society for Missions. 4. Missionary Society. 5. Society for Promoting Christian Know- ledge. 6. Moravian Missions. They all publish their proceedings. Government press free of expense. On his return, we consulted with our two brethren on the subject, and resolved to accept the Doctor's favour. We have begun to pre- pare it for the press." Trans, of Miss. Society, Vol. II. p. 394. In page 89. of the 18th Number, Vol. III., the missionaries write thus to the Society in London, about a fortnight before the massacre at Vel- lore : " Every encouragement is offered us by the established government of the country. Hitherto they have granted us every re- quest, whether solicited by ourselves or others. Their permission to come to this place; their allowing us an acknowledg- ment for preaching in the fort, which sanctions us in our work, together with the grant which they have lately given us to hold a large spot of ground every way suited for missionary labours, are objects of the last importance, and remove every impedi- ment which might be apprehended from this source. We trust not to an arm of flesh ; but when we reflect on these things, we cannot but behold the loving-kindness of the Lord." In a letter of the same date, we learn, ' from Brother Ringletaube, the follow- ing fact : " The Dewan of Travancore sent me word, that if I despatched one of our Christians to him, he would give me leave to build a church at Magilandy. Accordingly, I shall send in a short time. For this important service, our Society is indebted alone to Colonel , without tvJwse determined and fearless interposition, none of their missionaries would have been able to set afoot in that country." In page 381. Vol. II., Dr. Kerr, one of the chaplains on the Madras estab- lishment, baptizes a Mussulman who had applied to him for that purpose : upon the first application, it appears that Dr. Kerr hesitated ; but upon the Mussulman threatening to rise against him on the day of judgment, Dr. Kerr complies. It appears that in the Tinevelly dis- trict, about a year before the massacre of Vellore, not only riots, but very serious persecutions of the converted natives had taken place, from the jea- lousy evinced by the Hindoos and Mussulmen at the progress of the Gos- pel. INDIAN MISSIONS. 105 " ' Rev. Sir, I thought you sufficiently acquainted with the late vexations of the Christians in those parts, arising from the blind zeal of the Heathen and Mahometans ; the latter viewing with a jealous eye the progress of the gospel, and trying to destroy, or at least to clog it, by all the crafty means in their power. I therefore did not choose to trouble you ; but as no stop has been put to those grievances, things go on from bad to worse, as you will see from what has happened at Hickadoe. The Catechist has providentially escaped from that out- rageous attempt, by the assistance of ten or twelve of our Christians, and has made good his flight to Palamcotta; whilst the exasperated mob, coming from Padecke- palloe, hovered round the village, plunder- ing the houses of the Christians, and ill- treating their families, by kicking, flogging, and other bad usage ; these monsters not even forbearing to attack, strip, rob, and miserably beat the Catechist Jesuadian, who, partly from illness and partly through fear, had shut himself up in his house. I have heard various accounts of this sad event ; but yesterday the Catechist himself called on me, and told me the truth of it. From what he says, it is plain that the Manikar of Wayrom (a black peace-officer of that place) has contrived the whole affair, with a view to vex the Christians. I doubt not that these facts have been re- ported to the Rev. Mr. K. by the country- priest ; and if I mention them to you, it is with a view to show in what a forlorn state the poor Christians hereabout are, and how desirable a thing it would be, if the Rev. Mr. Ringletaube were to come hither as soon as possible ; then tranquillity would be restored, and future molestations prevented. I request you to communicate this letter to him with my compliments. I am, Sir, &c. Manapaar, June 8, 1805.' "This letter left a deep impression on my mind, especially when I received a fuller account of the troubles of the Chris- tians. By the Black underlings of the collectors, they are frequently driven from their homes, put in the stocks, and exposed for a fortnight together to the heat of the raging sun, and the chilling dews of the night, all because there is no European Missionary to bring their complaints to the ear of Government, who, I am happy to add, have never been deficient in their duty of procuring redress, where the Christians have had to complain of real injuries. One of the most trying cases mentioned in a postscript of the above letter, is that of Christians being flogged till they consent to hold the torches to the Heathen Idols. The letter says, ' The Catechist of Collesig- rapatuam has informed me, that the above Manikar has forced a Christian, of the Vill- ally caste, who attends at our church, to sweep the temple of the Idol. A severe [logging was given on this occasion.' From such facts, the postscript continues, ' You may guess at the deplorable situation of our fellow-believers, as long as every Manikar thinks he has a right to do them what vio- lence he pleases.' "It must be observed, to the glory of that Saviour who is strong in weakness, that many of the Neophytes in that district have withstood all these fiery trials with firmness. Many also, it is to be lamented, have fallen off in the evil day, and at least so far yielded to the importunity of their persecutors, as again to daub their faces and bodies with paint and ashes, after the manner of the Heathen. How great this falling off has been, I am not yet able to judge. But I am happy to add, that the Board of Revenue has issued the strictest orders against all unprovoked persecution." Trans, of Miss. Society, Vol. II. pp. 431 433. The following quotations evince how far from indifferent the natives are to the progress of the Christian religion in the East : " 1805. Oct. 10. A respectable Brahman in the Company's employ called on us. We endeavoured to point out to him the important object of our coming to India, and mentioned some of the great and glo- rious truths of the gospel, which we wished to impart in the native language. He seemed much hurt, and told us the Gentoo religion was of a divine origin, as well as the Christian; that heaven was like a palace which has many doors, at which people may enter; that variety is pleasing to God, &c. and a number of other arguments which we hear every day. On taking leave, he said, ' The Company has got the country (for the English are very clever), and perhaps, they may succeed in depriving the Brahmans of their power, and let you have it.' " November 16th. Received a letter from the Rev. Dr. Taylor ; we are happy to find he is safely arrived at Calcutta, and that our Baptist brethren are labouring with in- creasing success. The natives around us are astonished to hear this news. It is bad news to the Brahmans, who seem unable to account for it. They say the world is going to ruin." Trans, of Miss. Society, Vol. II. pp. 442 and 446. " While living in the town, our house was watched by the natives from morning to night, to see if any persons came to converse 106 INDIAN MISSIONS. about religion. This prevented many from coining, who have been very desirous of hearing of the good way." Trans, of Miss. Society, No. 18. p. 87. " If Heathen, of great influence and con- nections, or Brahmans, were inclined to join the Christian Church, it would probably cause commotions, and even rebellions, either to prevent them from it, or to en- danger their life. In former years, we had some instances of this kind at Tranquebar ; where they were protected by the assist- ance of Government. If such instances should happen now in our present times.we don't know what the consequence would be." Trans, of Miss. Society, Vol. II. p. 185. This last extract is contained in a letter from Danish Missionaries at Tranquebar to the Directors of the Missionary Society in London. It is hardly fair to contend, after these extracts, that no symptoms of jealousy upon the subject of religion had been evinced on the coast, except in the case of the insurrection at Vellore; or that no greater activity than common had prevailed among the missionaries. We are very far, how- ever, from attributing that insurrection exclusively, or even principally, to any apprehensions from the zeal of the missionaries. The rumour of that zeal might probably have more readily dis- posed the minds of the troops for the corrupt influence exercised upon them; but we have no doubt that the massacre was principally owing to an adroit use made by the sons of Tippoo, and the high Mussulmen living in the fortress, of the abominable military foppery of our own people. After this short sketch of what has been lately passing on the coast, we shall attempt to give a similar account of missionary proceedings in Bengal ; and it appears to us, it will be more satisfactory to do so as much as pos- sible in the words of the missionaries themselves. In our extracts from their publications, we shall endeavour to show the character and style of the men employed in these missions, the ex- tent of their success, or rather of their failure, and the general impression made upon the people by their efforts for the dissemination of the gospel. It will be necessary to premise, that the missions in Bengal, of which the public have heard so much of late years, are the missions of Anabaptist dissenters, whose peculiar and distin- guishing tenet it is to baptize the mem- bers of their church by plunging them into the water when they are grown up, instead of sprinkling them with water when they are young. Among the ubscribers to this society, we perceive the respectable name of the Deputy- Chairman of the East India Company, who, in the. common routine of office, will succeed to the Chair of that Com- pany at the ensuing election. The Chairman and the Deputy- Chairman of the East India Company are also both of them trustees to another reli- gious society for missions to Africa and the East. The first Number of the Anabaptist Missions informs us that the origin of the Society will be found in lite icoi kings of Brothtr Carey's mind, whose heart appears to have been set upon the conver- sion of the Heathen in 1786, before he came to reside at Moulton. (No. I. p. 1 .) These workings produced a sermon at Northampton, and the sermon a sub- scription to convert 420 millions of Pagans. Of the subscription we have the following account : " Information is come from Brother Carey, that a gentleman from Northumberland had promised to send him 20/. for the So- ciety, and to subscribe four guineas annually." "At this meeting at Northampton two other friends subscribed, and paid two guineas apiece, two more one guinea each, and another half a guinea, making six guineas and a half in all. And such mem- bers as were present of the first subscribers paid their subscriptions into the hands of the treasurer, who proposed to put the sum now received into the hands of a banker, who will pay interest for the same." Bap- tist Miss. Soc. No. I. p. 5. In their first proceedings they are a good deal guided by Brother Thomas, who has been in Bengal before, and who lays before the Society a history of his life and adventures, from which we make the following extract : " On my arrival in Calcutta, I sought for religious people, but found none. At last INDIAN MISSIONS. 107 how was I rejoiced to hear that a very reli- gious man was coming to dine with me at a house in Calcutta ; a man who would not omit his closet hours, of a morning or even- ing, at sea or on land, for all the world. I concealed my impatience as well as I could till the joyful moment came : and a moment it was, for I soon heard him take the Lord's name in vain, and it was like a cold dagger, with which I received repeated stabs in the course of half an hour's conversation ; and he was ready to kick me when I spoke of some things commonly believed by other hypocrites, concerning our Lord Jesus Christ; and with fury put an end to our conversation, by saying I was a mad enthu- siast to suppose that Jesus Christ had any- thing to do in the creation of the world, who was born only seventeen hundred years ago. When I returned, he went home in the same ship, and I found him a strict observer of devotional hours, but an enemy to all religion, and horribly loose, vain and intemperate in his life and conver- sation. " After this, / advertised for a Christian; and that I may not be misunderstood, I shall subjoin a copy of the advertisement, from the Indian Gazette of November 1. 1783, which now lies before me." Baptist Miss. Soc. No. I. pp. 14, 15. Brother Thomas relates the Conversion of a Hindoo on the Malabar Coast to the Society. " A certain man, on the Malabar coast, had inquired of various devotees and priests how he might make atonement for his sins; and at last he was directed to drive iron spikes, sufficiently blunted, through his sandals, and on these spikes he was to place his naked feet, and walk (if I mistake not) 250 cos, that is, about 480 miles. If, through loss of blood, or weakness of body, he was obliged to halt, he might wait for healing and strength. He undertook the journey ; and while he halted under a large shady tree where the gospel was sometimes preached, one of the missionaries came, and preached in his hearing from these words, The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin. While he was preaching, the man rose up, threw off his torturing sandals, and cried out aloud, ' This is what I want I ' " Baptist Miss. Soc. No. I. p. 29. On June 13. 1793, the missionaries set sail, carrying with them letters to three supposed converts of Brother Thomas, Parbottee, Earn Ram Boshoo, and Mohuri Chund. Upon their ar- rival in India, they found, to their inexpressible mortification, that Ram Ram had relapsed into Paganism : and we shall present our readers with a picture of the present and worldly misery to which a Hindoo is subjected, who becomes a convert to the Christian religion. Everybody knows, that the population of Hindostan is divided into castes, or classes of persons ; and that when a man loses hiscaste, he is shunned by his wife, children, friends, and rela- tions : that it is considered as an abomi- nation to lodge or eat with him ; and that he is a wanderer and an outcast upon the earth. Caste can be lost by a variety of means, and the Protestant missionaries have always made the loss of it a previous requisite to admission into the Christian church. "On our arrival at Calcutta, we found poor Ram Boshoo waiting for us ; but, to our great grief, he has been bowing down to idols again. When Mr. T. left India, he went from place to place ; but, forsaken by the Hindoos, and neglected by the Euro- peans, he was seized with a flux and fever. In this state he says, ' I had nothing to support me or my family; a relation offered to save me from perishing for want of necessaries on condition of my bowing to the idol ; I knew that the Roman Catho- lic Christians worshipped idols ; I thought they might be commanded to honour images in some part of the Bible which I had not seen; I hesitated, and complied; but I love Christianity still.' " Bapt. Hiss. Soc. Vol. I. pp. 64, 65. " Jan. 8. 1794. We thought to write you long before this, but our hearts have been burthened with cares and sorrows. It was very afflicting to hear of Ram Boshoo's great persecution and fall. Deserted by Englishmen, and persecuted by his own countrymen, he was nigh unto death. The natives gathered in bodies, and threw dust in the air as he passed along the streets in Calcutta. At last one of his relations offered him an asylum on condition of his bowing down to their idols." Bapt. Miss. Soc. Vol. I. p. 78. Brother Carey's Piety at Sea. " Brother Carey, while very sea-sick, and leaning over the ship to relieve his stomach from that very oppressive complaint, said his mind was even then filled with con- solation in contemplating the wonderful goodness of God." Bapt. Miss. Soc. Vol. I. p. 76. 108 INDIAN MISSIONS. Extracts from Brother Carey s and Brother Thomas's Journals, at Sea and by Land. "1793. June 16. Lord's Day. A little recovered from my sickness ; met for prayer and exhortation in my cabin ; had a dispute with a French deist." Ibid, p. 158. " June 30. Lord's Day. A pleasant and profitable day : our congregation composed of ten persons." Ibid. p. 159. "July 1. Another pleasant and profit- able Lord's day : our congregation increased with one. Had much sweet enjoyment with God." Ibid. " 179-1. Jan. 26. Lord's Day. Found much pleasure in reading Edwards's Ser- mon on tlie Justice of God in the Damna- tion of Sinners." Ibid. p. 165. "April 6. Had some sweetness to-day, especially in reading Edwards's Sermon." Ibid. p. 171. " June 8. This evening reached Bowlea, where we lay-to for the Sabbath. Felt thankful that God had preserved us, and wondered at his regard for so mean a crea- ture. I was unable to wrestle with God in prayer for many of my dear friends in Eng- land." Ibid. p. 179. " 16. This day I preached twice at Malda, where Mr. Thomas met me. Had much enjoyment ; and though our congre- gation did not exceed sixteen, yet the plea- sure I felt in having my tongue once more set at liberty I can hardly describe. Was enabled to be faithful, and felt a sweet af- fection for immortal souls." Ibid. p. 180. " 1796. Feb. 6. I am now in my study ; and oh, it is a sweet place, because of the presence of God with the vilest of men. It is at the top of the house ; I have but one window in it." Ibid. p. 295. "The work to which God has set his hand will infallibly prosper. Christ has begun to bombard this strong and ancient fortress, and will assuredly carry it." Ibid. p. 328. "More missionaries I think absolutely necessary to the support of the interest. Should any natives join us, they would become outcast immediately, and must be consequently supported by us. The mis- sionaries on the coast are to this day obliged to provide for those who join them, as I learn from a letter sent to Brother Thomas by a son of one of the mission- aries." Jitd. p. 334. In the last extract our readers will perceive a new difficulty attendant upon the progress of Christianity in the East. The convert must not only be subjected to degradation, but his degradation is so complete, and his means of providing for himself so entirely destroyed, that he must he fed by his instructor. The slightest success in Hindostan woukl eat up the revenues of the East India Company. Three years after their arrival these zealous and most active missionaries give the following account of their success : "I bless God, our prospect is consider- ably brightened up, and our hopes are more enlarged than at any period since the com- mencement of the mission, owing to very pleasing appearances of the gospel having been made effectual to FOUR poor labour- ing Mussulmans, who have been setting their faces towards Zion ever since the month of August last. I hope their bap- tism will not be much longer deferred ; and that might encourage Mohun Chund, Par- bottee, and Cassi Naut (who last year ap- peared to set out in the ways of God), to declare for the Lord Jesus Christ, by an open profession of their faith in him. Seven of the natives, tee hope, are indeed converted." Bapt. Miss. Vol. I. pp. 345, 346. Effects of preaching to an Hindoo Con- gregation. " I then told them, that if they could not tell me, I would tell them ; and that God, who had permitted the Hindoos to sink into a sea of darkness, had at length com- miserated them ; and sent me and my col- leagues to preach life to them. I then told them of Christ, his death, his person, his love, his being the surety of sinners, his power to save, // a spirit of importunate prayer. The brethren had all along committed their cause to God; but in the autumn of 1800 they had a special weekly prayer meeting for a blessing on the work of the mission. At these assemblies, Mr. Thomas, who was then present on a visit, seems to have been more than usually strengthened to wrestle for a blessing; and, writing to a friend in America, he speaks of 'the holy unction appearing on all the missionaries, espe- lally of late ; and of times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord, being solemn, frequent, and lasting.' In con- necting these things, we caunot but re- INDIAN MISSIONS. 113 member that previous to the outpouring of the Spirit in the days of Pentecost, the disciples 'continued with one accord in prayer and supplication.'" Bapt. Miss. Pref. Vol. IIL p. 7. What this success is, we shall see by the following extract : " The whole number baptized in Bengal since the year 1795 is forty-eight. Over many of these we rejoice with great joy ; for others we tremble ; and over some we are compelled to weep." Bapt. Miss. Vol. III. pp. 21, 22. Hatred to (he Gospel. " April 2. This morning, several of our chief printing servants presented a petition, desiring they might have some relief, as they were compelled, in our Bengalee wor- ship, to hear so many blasphemies against their gods ! Brother Carey and I had a strong contention with them in the print- ing-office, and invited them to argue the point with Petumber, as his sermon had given them offence; but they declined it; though we told them that they were ten, and he was only one ; that they were Brah- mans, and he was only a sooder ! " Ibid. p. 36. " The enmity against the gospel and its professors is universal. One of our bap- tized Hindoos wanted to rent a house : after going out two or three days, and wandering all the town over, he at last persuaded a woman to let him have a house : but though she was herself a Feriuga, yet when she heard that he was a Brahman who had become a Christian, she insulted him, and drove him away ; so that we are indeed made the offscouring of all things." Ibid. p. 38. " I was sitting among our native brethren, at the Bengalee school, hearing- them read and explain a portion of the word in turn, when an aged, grey-headed Brahman, well- dressed, came in ; and, standing before me, said, with joined hands, and a supplicating tone of voice, ' Sahib ! I am come to ask an alms.' Beginning to weep, he repeated these words hastily ; ' I am come to ask an . . . an alms.' He continued standing, with his hands in a supplicating posture, weep- ing. I desired bin to say what alms ; and told him, that by his looks, it did not seem as if he wanted any relief. At length, being pressed, he asked me to give him his son, pointing with his hand into the midst of our native brethren. I asked which was his son. He pointed to a young Brahman, named Soroop ; and setting up a plaintive cry, said, that was bis son. We tried to VOL.!. comfort him, and at last prevailed upon him to come and sit down upon the veran- dah. Here he began to weep again ; and said that the young man's mother was dy- ing with grief." Ibid. p. 43. " This evening Buxoo, a brother, who is servant with us, and Scroop,- went to a market in the neighbourhood, where they were discovered to be Yesoo Khreestare Loke (Jesus Christ's people). The whole market was all in a hubbub ; they clapped their hands, and threw dust at them. Buxoo was changing a rupee for cowries, when the disturbance began ; and in the scuffle the man ran away with the rupee without giving the cowries." Ibid. p. 55. "Nov. 34. This day Hawnye and Bam Khunt returned from their Tillage. They relate that our Brother Fotick, who lives in the same village, was lately seized by the chief Bengalee man there; dragged from his house ; his face, eyes, and ears clogged with cow-dung his hands tied, and in this state confined several hours. They also tore to pieces all the papers, and the copy of the Testament, which they found in Fotick's house. A relation of these persecutors being dead, they did not molest Hawnye and Bam Khunt ; but the townsfolk would not hear about the gospel : they only in- sulted them for becoming Christians." Ibid. p. 57. " Cutwa on the Ganges, Sept. 3, 1804. This place is about seventy miles from Serampore, by the Hoogley river. Here I have procured a spot of ground, perhaps about two acres, pleasantly situated by two tanks, and a fine grove of mango trees, at a small distance from the town. It was with difficulty I procured a spot. I was forced to leave one, after I had made a beginning, through the violent opposition of the people. Coming to this, opposition ceased; and, therefore, I called it BEHO- BOTH; for Jehovah hath made room for us. Here I have raised a spacious bunga- low." Ibid. p. 59. It would perhaps be more prudent to leave the question of sending mis- sions to India to the effect of these extracts, which appear to us to be quite decisive, both as to the danger of insur- rection from the prosecution of the scheme, the utter unfitness of the per- sons employed in it, and the complete hopelessness of the attempt while pur- sued under such circumstances as now exist. But, as the Evangelical party who have got possession of our Eastern empire have brought forward a great deal of argument upon the question, it 114 INDIAN MISSIONS. may be necessary to make to it some sort of reply. We admit it to be the general duty of Christian people to disseminate their religion among the Pagan nations who are subjected to their empire. It is true they have ngt the aid of miracles ; but it is their duty to attempt such con- version by the earnest and abundant employment of the best human means in their power. We believe that we are in possession of a revealed religion ; that we are exclusively in possession of a revealed religion ; and that the pos- session of that religion can alone con- fer immortality, and best confer present happiness. This religion, too, teaches us the duties of general benevolence : and how, under such a system, the conversion of Heathens can be a mat- ter of indifference, we profess not to be able to understand. So much for the general rule : now for the exceptions. No man (not an Anabaptist) will, we presume, contend that it is our duty to preach the natives into an insurrec- tion, or to lay before them, so fully and emphatically, the scheme of the Gos- pel, as to make them rise up in the dead of the night and shoot their in- structors through the head. If conver- sion be the greatest of all objects, the possession of the country to be con- verted is the only mean, in this in- stance, by which that conversion can be accomplished ; for we have no right to look for a miraculous conversion of the Hindoos ; and it would be little short of a miracle, if General Oudinot was to display the same spirit as the jtm'owspart of the Directors of the East India Company. Even for missionary purposes, therefore, the utmost discre- tion is necessary ; and if we wish to teach the natives a better religion, we must take care to do it in a manner which will not inspire them with a pas- sion for political change, or we shall inevitably lose our disciples altogether. To us it appears quite clear, from the extracts before us, that neither Hindoo nor Mahomedan are at all indifferent to the attacks made upon their religion ; the arrogance and irritability of the Mahomedan are universally acknow- ledged ; and we put it to our readers, whether the Brahmans seem in these extracts to show the smallest disposi- tion to behold the encroachments upeu their religion with passiveness and un- concern. A missionary who converted only a few of the refuse of society, might live for ever in peace in India, and receive his salary from his fanatical masters for pompous predictions of universal conversion, transmitted by the ships of the season ; but, if he had any marked success among the natives, it could not fail to excite much more dangerous specimens of jealousy and discontent than those which we have extracted from the Anabaptist Journal. How is it in human nature that a Brahman should be indifferent to en- croachments upon his religion ? His reputation, his dignity, and in great measure his wealth, depend upon the preservation of the present supersti- tions ; and why is it to be supposed that motives which are so powerful with all other human beings, are in- operative with him alone ? If the Brahmans, however, are disposed to excite a rebellion in support of their own influence, no man, who knows anything of India, can doubt that they have it in their power to effect it. It is in vain to say that these at- tempts to diffuse Christianity do not originate from the government in In- dia. The omnipotence of government in the East is well known to the na- tives. If government does not prohibit, it tolerates ; if it tolerates the conver- sion of the natives, the suspicion may be easily formed that it encourages that conversion. If the Brahmans do not believe this themselves, they may easily persuade the common people that such is the fact ; nor are there wanting, besides the activity of these new mis- sionaries, many other circumstances to corroborate such a rumour. Under the auspices of the College at Fort William, the Scriptures are in a course of translation into the languages of almost the whole continent of Oriental India, and we perceive, that in aid of this object the Bible Society has voted a very magnificent subscription. The three principal chaplains of our Indian INDIAN MISSIONS. 115 settlements are (as might be expected) of principles exactly corresponding with the enthusiasm of their employers at home ; and their zeal upon the sub- ject of religion has shone and burnt with the most exemplary fury. These circumstances, if they do not really im- pose upon the minds of the leading natives, may give them a very power- ful handle for misrepresenting the in- tentions of government to the lower orders. We see from the massacre of Vellore what a powerful- engine attachment to religion may be rendered in Hindostan. The rumours might all have been false ; but that event shows they were tremen- dously powerful when excited. The object, therefore, is not only not to do anything violent and unjust upon sub- jects of religion, but not to give any strong colour to jealous and disaffected natives for misrepresenting your inten- tions. All these observations have tenfold force, when applied to an empire which rests so entirely upon opinion. If physical force could be called in to stop the progress of error, we could afford to be misrepresented for a season ; but 30,000 white men living in the midst of 70 millions of sable subjects, must be always in the right, or at least never represented as grossly in the wrong. Attention to the prejudices of the subject is wise in all governments, but quite indispensable in a govern- ment constituted as our empire in India is constituted ; where an unin- terrupted series of dexterous conduct is not only necessary to our prosperity, but to our existence. Those reasonings are entitled to a little more consideration at a period when the French threaten our exist- ence in India by open force, and by every species of intrigue with the native powers. In all governments, every- thing takes its tone from the head : fanaticism has got into the government at home ; fanaticism will lead to pro- motion abroad. The civil servant in India will not only not dare to exer- cise his own judgment, in checking the indiscretion of ignorant missionaries ; bat he will strive to recommend him- self to his holy masters in Leadenhall Street by imitating Brother Cran and Brother Kingletaube, and by every species of fanatical excess. Methodism at home is no unprofitable game to play. In the East it will soon be the infallible road to promotion. This is the great evil : if the management was in the hands of men who were as dis- creet and wise in their devotion, as they are in matters of temporal wel- fare, the desire of putting an end to missions might be premature and inde- corous. But the misfortune is, the men who wield the instrument ought not, in common sense and propriety, to be trusted with it for a single instant. Upon this subject, they are quite in- sane and ungovernable ; they would deliberately, piously, and conscienti- ously expose our whole Eastern empire to destruction, for the sake of convert- ing half a dozen Brahmans, who, after stuffing themselves with rum and rice, and borrowing money from the mis- sionaries, would run away and cover the Gospel and its professors with every species of impious ridicule and abuse. Upon the whole, it appears to us hardly possible to push the business of proselytism in India to any length, without incurring the utmost risk of losing our empire. The danger is more tremendous, because it may be so sudden ; religious fears are a very probable cause of disaffection in the troops ; if the troops are generally disaffected, our Indian empire may be lost to us as suddenly as a frigate or a fort ; and that empire is governed by men who, we are very much afraid, would feel proud to lose it in such a cause. " But I think it my duty to make a solemn appeal to all who still retain the fear of God, and who admit that religion and the course of conduct which it prescribes are not to be banished from the affairs of na- tions now when the political sky, so long overcast, has become more lowering and black than ever whether this is a period for augmenting the weight of our nationa sins and provocations, by an exclusive TOLERATION of idolatry; a crime which, unless the Bible be a forgery, has actually drawn forth the heaviest denunciations of I 2 116 INDIAN MISSIONS. vengeance, and the most fearful inflictions of the Divine displeasure." Considera- tions, &c. p. 98. Can it be credited that this is an ex- tract from a pamphlet generally sup- posed to be written by a noble Lord at the Board of Control, from whose official interference the public might have expected a corrective to the pious temerity of others ? The other leaders of the party, in- deed, make at present great profes- sions of toleration, and express the strongest abhorrence of using violence to the natives. This does very well for a beginning ; but we have little confidence in such declarations. We believe their fingers itch to be at the stone and clay gods of the Hindoos ; and that in common with the noble Controller, they attribute a great part of our national calamities to these ugly images of deities on the other side of the world. We again repeat, that upon such subjects, the best and ablest men, if once tinged by fanaticism, are not to be trusted for a single moment. Zdly. Another reason for giving up the task of conversion is the want of success. In India, religion extends its empire over the minutest actions of life. It is not merely a law for moral conduct, and for occasional worship ; but it dictates to a man his trade, his dress, his food and his whole behaviour. His religion also punishes a violation of its exactions, not by eternal and future punishments, but by present infamy. If a Hindoo is irreligious, or, in other words, if he loses his caste, he is de- serted by father, mother, wife, child, and kindred, and becomes instantly a solitary wanderer upon the earth : to touch him, to receive him, to eat with him, is a pollution producing a similar loss of caste : and the state of such a degraded man is worse than death itself. To these evils a Hindoo must expose himself before he becomes a Christian ; and this difficulty must a missionary overcome before he can ex- pect the smallest success ; a difficulty which, it is quite clear, that they them- selves, after a short residence in India, consider to be insuperable. As a proof of the tenacious manner in which the Hindoos cling to their religious prejudices, we shall state two or three very short anecdotes, to which any person who has resided in India might easily produce many parallels. "In the year 1766, the late Lord Clive and Mr. Verelst employed the whole in- fluence of Government to restore a Hindoo to his caste, who had forfeited it, not by any neglect of his own, but by having been compelled, by a most unpardonable act of violence, to swallow a drop of cow-broth, The Brahmans, from the peculiar circum- stances of the case, were very anxious to comply with the wishes of Government ; the principal men among them met once at Kishnagur, and once at Calcutta ; but after consultations, and an examination of their most ancient records, they declared to Lord Clive. that as there was no precedent to justify the act, they found it impossible to restore the unfortunate man to his caste, and he died scon after of a broken heart." Scott Waring' s Preface, p. Ivi. It is the custom of the Hindoos to expose dying people upon the banks of the Ganges. There is something peculiarly holy in that river ; and it soothes the agonies of death, to look upon its waters in the last moments. A party of English were coming down in a boat, and perceived upon the bank a pious Hindoo, in a state of the last imbecility about to be drowned by the rising of the tide, after the most approved and orthodox manner of their religion. They had the curiosity to land ; and as they per- ceived some more signs of life than were at first apparent, a young English- man poured down his throat the greatest part of a bottle of lavender-water, which he happened to have in his pocket. The effects of such a stimulus, applied to a stomach accustomed to nothing stronger than water, were in- stantaneous and powerful. The Hin- doo revived sufficiently to admit of his being conveyed to the boat, was carried to Calcutta, and perfectly re- covered. He had drank, however, in the company of Europeans; no matter whether voluntary or involun- tary the offence was committed : he lost caste, was turned away from his home, and avoided, of course, by every INDIAN MISSIONS. J17 relation and friend. The poor man came before the police, making the bitterest complaints upon being re- stored to life ; and for three years the burden of supporting him fell upon the mistaken Samaritan who had rescued him from death. During that period, scarcely a day elapsed in which the degraded resurgent did not appear before the European, and curse him with the bitterest curses as the cause of all his misery and desolation. At the end of that period he fell ill, and of course was not again thwarted in his passion for dying. The writer of this article vouches for the truth of this anecdote ; and many persons who were at Calcutta at the time must have a distinct recollection of the fact, which excited a great deal of conversa- tion and amusement, mingled with compassion. It is this institution of castes which has preserved India in the same state in which it existed in the days of Alex- ander ; and which would leave it without the slightest change in habits and manners, if we were to abandon the country to-morrow. We are aston- ished to observe the late resident in Bengal speaking of the fifteen millions of Mahomedans in India as converts from the Hindoos ; an opinion, in support of which he does not offer the shadow of an argument, except by ask- ing, whether the Mahomedans have the Tartar face ? and if not, how they can be the descendants of the first con- querors of India? Probably, not al- together. But does this writer imagine, that the Mahomedan empire could exist in Hindostan for 700 years without the intrusion of Persians, Arabians, and every species of Mussulman adventurers from every part of the East, which had embraced the religion of Mahomed ? And let them come from what quarter they would, could they ally themselves to Hindoo women, without producing in their descendants an approximation to the Hindoo features ? Dr. Robertson, who has investigated this subject with the greatest care, and looked into all the authorities, is expressly of an oppo- site opinion ; and considers the Mus- sulman inhabitants of Hindostan to be merely the descendants of Mahomedan adventurers, and not converts from the Hindoo faith. " The armies (says Orme) which made the first conquests for the heads of the respective dynasties, or for other invaders, left behind them numbers of Mahomedans, who, seduced by a finer climate, and a richer country, forgot their own. ' The Mahomedan princes of India naturally gave a preference to the ser- vice of men of their own religion, who, from whatever country they came, were of a more vigorous constitution than the stoutest of the subjected nation. This preference has continually encou- raged adventurers from Tartary, Persia, and Arabia, to seek their fortunes under a government from which they were sure of receiving greater encouragement than they could expect at home. From these origins, time has formed in India a mighty nation of near ten millions of Mahomedans." Orme's Indostan, Vol. I. p. 24. Precisely similar to this is the opinion of Dr. Robertson, Note xl. Indian Disquisition. As to the religion of the Ceylonesc, from which the Bengal resident would infer the facility of making converts of the Hindoos ; it is to be observed, that the religion of Boudhou, in ancient times, extended from the north of Tar- tary to Ceylon, from the Indus to Siam, and (if Foe and Boudhou are the same persons) over China. That of the two religions of Boudhou and Drama, the one was the parent of the other, there can be very little doubt ; but the compara- tive antiquity of the two is so very dis- puted a point, that it is quite unfair to state the case of the Ceylonese as an instance of conversion from the Hindoo religion to any other ; and even if the religion of Brama is the most ancient of the two, it is still to be proved, that the Ceylonese professed that religion before they changed it for their present faith. In point of fact, however, the boasted Christianity of the Ceylonese is proved, by the testimony of the mis- sionaries themselves, to be little better than nominal. The following extract from one of their own communications, I 3 118 INDIAN MISSIONS. dated Columbo, 1805, will set this mat- ter ip its true light ; "The elders, deacons, and some of the members of the Dutch congregation, came to see us, and we paid them a visit in re- turn, and made a little inquiry concerning the state of the church on this island, which is, in one word, miserable ! One hundred thousand of those who are called Christians (because they are baptized) need not go back to heathenism, for they never have been anything else but heathens, wor- shippers of Budda : they have been induced, for worldly reasons, to be baptized. O Lord have mercy on the poor inhabitants of this populous island." Trans. Miss. Soc. Vol. II. p. 265. What success the Syrian Christians had in making converts ; in what degree they have gained their numbers by victories over the native superstition, or lost their original numbers by the idola- trous examples to which for so many centuries they have been exposed ; are points wrapt up in so much obscurity, that no kind of inference, as to the facility of converting the natives, can be drawn from them. Their present num- ber is supposed to be about 150,000. It would be of no use to quote the example of Japan and China, even if the progress of the faith in these empires had been much greater than it is. We do not say, it is difficult to convert the Japanese, or the Chinese ; but the Hin- doos. We are not saying, it is difficult to convert human creatures; but difficult to convert human creatures with such institutions. To mention the example of other nations who have them not, is to pass over the material objection, and to answer others which are merely imaginary, and have never been made. 3dly. The duty of conversion is less plain, and less imperious, when conver- sion exposes the convert to great present misery. An African, or an Otaheite proselyte, might not perhaps be less honoured by his countrymen if he became a Christian ; a Hindoo is in- stantly subjected to the most perfect degradation. A change of faith might increase the immediate happiness of any other individual ; it annihilates for ever all the human comforts which a Hindoo enjoys. The eternal happi- ness which you proffer him, is therefore less attractive to him than to any other heathen from the life of misery by which he purchases it. Nothing is more precarious than our empire in India. Suppose we were to be driven out of it to-morrow, and to leave behind us twenty thousand con- verted Hindoos ; it is most probable they would relapse into heathenism ; but their original station in society could not be regained. The duty of making converts, therefore, among such a peo- ple, as it arises from the general duty of benevolence, is less strong than it would, be in many other cases ; because, situ- ated as we are, it is quite certain we shall expose them to a great deal of misery, and not quite certain we shall do them any future good. 4thly. Conversion is no duty at all, if it merely destroys the old religion, without really and effectually teaching the new one. Brother Ringletaube may write home that he makes a Christian, when, in reality, he ought only to state that he has destroyed a Hindoo. Fool- ish and imperfect as the religion of a Hindoo is, it is at least some restraint upon the intemperance of human pas- sions. It is better a Brahman should be respected, than that nobody should be respected. A Hindoo had better be- lieve, that a deity, with an hundred legs and arms, will reward and punish him hereafter, than that he is not to be punished at all. Now, when you have destroyed the faith of a. Hindoo, are you quite sure that you will graft upon his mind fresh principles of action, and make him anything more than a no- minal Christian ? You have 30,000 Europeans in India, and 60 millions of other subjects. If pro- selytism were to go on as rapidly as the most visionary Anabaptist could dream or desire, in what manner are these peo- ple to be taught the genuine truths and practices of Christianity ? Where arc the clergy to come from ? Who is to defray the expense of the establish- ment ? and who can foresee the im- mense and perilous difficulties of bend- ing the laws, manners, and institutions of a country, to the dictates of a new religion ? If it were easy to persuade the Hindoos that their own religion was INDIAN MISSIONS. 119 folly, it would be infinitely difficult effectually to teach them any other. They would tumble their own idols I into the river, and you would build j them no churches : you would des- j troy all their present motives for doing right and avoiding wrong, with- out being able to fix upon their minds the more sublime motives by which you profess to be actuated. What a missionary will do hereafter with the heart of a convert, is a matter of doubt and speculation. He is quite .certain, however, that he must accustom the man to see himself considered as im- famous; and good principles can hardly be exposed to a ruder shock. Who- ever has seen much of Hindoo Chris- tians must have perceived, that the man who bears that name is very commonly nothing more than a drunken reprobate, who conceives himself at liberty to eat and drink any thing he pleases, and annexes hardly any other meaning to the name of Christianity. Such sort of converts may swell" the list of names, and gratify the puerile pride of a mission- ary: but what real discreet Christian can wish to see such Christianity pre- vail ? But it will be urged, if the present converts should become worse Hindoos and very indifferent Chris- tians, still the next generation will do better ; and by degrees, and at the expiration of half a century, or a cen- tury, true Christianity may prevail. We may apply to such sort of Jacobin converters what Mr. Burke said of the Jacobin politicians in his time, " To such men a whole generation of human beings are of no more consequence I than a frog in an air-pump." For the distant prospect of doing, what most probably, after all, they will never be ! able to effect, there is no degree of j present misery and horror to which they will not expose the subjects of their experiment. As the duty of making proselytes springs from the duty of benevolence, there is a priority of choice in conver- sion. The greatest zeal should plainly be directed to the most desperate misery and ignorance. Now in com- parison to many other nations who are equally ignorant of the truths of Christianity, the Hindoos are a civilised and a moral people. That they have remained in the same state for so many centuries, is at once a proof, that the in- stitutions which established that state could not be highly unfavourable to human happiness. After all that has been said of the vices of the Hindoos, we believe that a Hindoo is more mild and sober than most Europeans, and as honest and chaste. In astronomy the Hindoos have certainly made very high advances ; some, and not an un- important, progress in many sciences. As manufacturers, they are extremely ingenious and as agriculturists, in- dustrious. Christianity would improve them ; (whom would it not improve ?) but if Christianity cannot be extended to all, there are many other nations who want it more.* The Hindoos have some very savage customs, which it would be desirable to abolish. Some swing on hooks, some run kimes through their hands, and widows burn themselves to death : but these follies (even the last) are quite voluntary on the part of the sufferers. We dislike all misery, vo- luntary or involuntary ; but the dif- ference between the torments which a man chooses, and those which he en- dures from the choice of others, is very great. It is a considerable wretched- ness, that men and women should be shut up in religious houses ; but it is only an object of legislative interfer- ence, when such incarceration is com- pulsory. Monasteries and nunneries with us would be harmless institutions ; because the moment a devotee found he had acted like a fool, he might avail himself of the discovery and run away ; and so may a Hindoo, if he repents of his resolution of running hooks into his flesh. The duties of conversion appear to be of less importance, when it is im- possible to procure proper persons to undertake them, and when such re- * We are here, of course, arguing the question only in a worldly point of view. This is one point of view iu which it must be placed, though certainly the lowest and least important. 14 120 INDIAN MISSIONS. ligious embassies, in consequence, de- volve upon the lowest of the people. Who wishes to see scrofula and atheism cured by a single sermon in Bengal ? who wishes to see the religious hoy riding at anchor in the Hoogley river? or shoals of jumpers exhibiting their nimble piety before the learned Brah- mans of Benares ? This madness is disgusting and dangerous enough at home : Why are we to send out little detachments of maniacs to spread over the fine regions of the world the most unjust and contemptible opinion of the gospel ? The wise and rational part of the Christian ministry find they have enough to do at home to combat with passions unfavourable to human happi- ness, and to make men act up to their professions. But if a tinker is a devout man, he infallibly sets off for the East. Let any man read the Anabaptist missions ; can he do so, without deeming such men pernicious and ex- travagant in their own country, and without feeling that they are benefiting us much more by their absence, than the Hindoos by their advice? It is somewhat strange, in a duty which is stated by one party to be so clear and so indispensable, that no man of moderation and good sense can be found to perform it. And if no other instruments remain but visionary en- thusiasts, some doubt may be honestly raised whether it is not better to drop the scheme entirely. Shortly stated, then, our argument is this : We see not the slightest prospect of success ; we see much danger in making the attempt ; and we doubt if the conversion of the Hin- doos would ever be more than nominal. If it is a duty of general benevolence to convert the Heathen, it is less a duty to convert the Hindoos, than any other people, because they are already highly civilized, and because you must infal- libly subject them to infamy and present degradation. The instruments em- ployed for these purposes are calculated to bring ridicule and disgrace upon the gospel ; and on the discretion of those at home, whom we consider as their patrons, we have not the smallest reliance ; but, on the contrary, we are convinced they would behold the loss of our Indian empire, not with the humility of men convinced of erroneous views and projects, but with the pride, the exultation, and the alacrity of martyrs. Of the books which have handled this subject on either side, we have little to say. Major Scott Waring's book is the best against the Missions ; but he wants arrangement and pru- dence. The late resident writes well ; but is jniserably fanatical towards the conclusion. Mr. Cunningham has been diligent in looking into books upon the subject : and though an evangelical gentleman, is not uncharit- able to those who differ from him in opinion. There is a passage in the publication of his reverend brother, Mr. Owen, which, had we been less accustomed than we have been of late to this kind of writing, would appear to be quite incredible. " I have not pointed out the comparative indifference, upon Mr. Twining's princi- ples, between one religion and another, to the welfare of a people ; nor the impos- sibility, on those principles, of India being Christianised by any human means, so long as it shall remain under the dominion of the Company ; nor the alternative to which Providence is by consequence reduced, of either giving up that country to everlasting superstition, or of working some miracle, in order to accomplish its conversion." Owen's Address, p. 28. This is really beyond anything we ever remember to have read. The hoy, the cock-fight, and the religious newspaper, are pure reason when com- pared to it. The idea of reducing Providence to an alternative!! and, by a motion at the India House, carried by ballot ! We would not insinuate, in the most distant manner, that Mr. Owen is not a gentleman of the most sincere piety ; but the misfortune is, all extra superfine persons accustom themselves to a familiar phraseology upon the most sacred subjects, which is quite shocking to the common and inferior orders of Christians. Providence reduced to an alterna- tive!!!!! Let it be remembered, this phrase comes from a member of a reli- gious party, who are loud in their com- CURATE'S SALARY BILL. 121 plaints of being confounded with en- thusiasts and fanatics. We cannot conclude without the most pointed reprobation of the low mischief of the Christian Observer ; a publication which appears to have no other method of discussing a question fairly open to discussion, than that of accusing their antagonists of in- fidelity. No art can be more unmanly, or, if its consequences are foreseen, more wicked. If this publication had been the work of a single individual, we might have passed it over in silent disgust ; but as it is looked upon as the organ of a great political religious party in this country, we think it right to notice the very unworthy manner in which they are attempting to extend their influence. For ourselves, if there were a fair prospect of carrying the gospel into regions where it was before unknown, if such a project did not expose the best possessions of the country to extreme danger, and if it was in the hands of men who were discreet as well as devout, we should consider it to be a scheme of true piety, benevolence, and wisdom : but the baseness and malignity of fanaticism shall never prevent us from attacking its arrogance, its ignorance, and its activity. For what vice can be more tremendous than that which, while it wears the outward appearance of reli- gion, destroys the happiness of man, and dishonours the name of God? LETTER ON THE CURATE'S SALARY BELL.* (E. REVIEW, 1808.) A Letter to the Right Honourable Spencer Perceval, on a Subject connected with his Bill, now under Discussion in Parlia- ment, for improving the Situation of Stipendiary Curates. 8vo. Hatchard. London. 1808. THE poverty of curates has long been a favourite theme with novelists, senti- * Now we are all dead, it maybe amusing to state that I was excited to this article by Sir William Scott, who brought me the book in his pocket; and begged I would attend to it, carefully concealing his name ; my own opinions happened entirely to agree with his. mental tourists, and elegiac poets. But, notwithstanding the known ac- curacy of this class of philosophers, we cannot help suspecting that there is a good deal of misconception in the popu- lar estimate of the amount of the eviL A very great proportion of all the curacies in England are filled with men to whom the emolument is a matter of subordinate importance. They are filled by young gentlemen who have recently left college, who of course are able to subsist as they had subsisted for seven years before, and who are glad to have an opportunity, on any terms, of acquiring a practical familiarity with the duties of their pro- fession. They move away from them to higher situations as vacancies occur ; and make way for a new race of ecclesiastical apprentices. To those men, the smallness of the appointment is a grievance of no very great magni- tude ; nor is it fair, with relation to them, to represent the ecclesiastical order as degraded by the indigence to which some of its members are con- demned. With regard, again, to those who take curacies merely as a means of subsistence, and with the prospect of remaining permanently in that situa- tion, it is certain that by far the greater part of them are persons born in a very humble rank in society, and accustomed to no greater opulence than that of an ordinary curate. There are scarcely any of those persons who have taken a degree in an university, and not very many who have resided there at all Now, the son of a small Welsh farmer, who works hard every day for less than 40i. a year, has no great reason to complain of degrada- tion or disappointment, if he get from 50/. to 100/. for a moderate portion of labour one day in seven. The situation accordingly, is looked upon by these people as extremely eligible ; and there is a great competition for curacies, even as they are now provided. The amount of the evil, then, as to the curates themselves, cannot be con- sidered as very enormous, when there are so few who either actually feel, or are entitled to feel, much discontent on the subject. The late regulations 122 CURATE'S SALARY BILL. about residence, too, by diminishing the total number of curates, will ob- viously throw that office chiefly into the hands of the well-educated and comparatively independent young men, who seek for the situation rather for practice than profit, and do not complain of the want of emolument. Still we admit it to be an evil, that the resident clergyman of a parish should not be enabled to hold a respect- able rank in society from the regular emoluments of his office. But it is an evil which does not exist exclusively among curates ; and which, wherever it exists, we are afraid is irremediable, without the destruction of the Episcopal Church, or the agumentation of its patrimony. More than one half of the livings in England are under SO/, a year ; and the whole income of the Church, including that of the bishops, if thrown into a common fund, would not afford above ISO/, for each living. Unless Mr. Perceval, therefore, will raise an additional million or two for the Church, there must be poor curates, and poor rectors also ; and unless he is to reduce the Episcopal hierarchy to the republican equality of our Pres- byterian model, he must submit to very considerable inequalities in the distribu- tion of this inadequate provision. Instead of applying any of these remedies, however, instead of pro- posing to increase the income of the Church, or to raise a fund for its lowest servants by a general assessment upon those who are more opulent, instead of even trying indirectly to raise the pay of curates, by raising their qualifica- tions in respect of regular education, Mr. Perceval has been able, after long and profound study, to find no better rare for the endemic poverty of curates, than to ordain all rectors of a certain income to pay them one fifth part of their emoluments, and to vest certain alarming powers in the bishops for the purpose of controlling their appoint- ment. Now, this scheme, it appeal's to us, has all the faults which it is possible for such a scheme to have. It is un- just and partial in its principle, it is evidently altogether and utterly in- efficient for the correction of the evil in question, and it introduces other evils infinitely greater than that which it vainly proposes to abolish. To this project, however, for increas- ing the salary of curates, Mr. Perceval has been so long and so obstinately partial, that he returned to the charge in the last session of Parliament, for the third time ; and experienced, in spite of his present high situation, the same defeat which had baffled him in his previous attempts. Though the subject is gone by once more for the present, we cannot abstain from bestowing a little gentle violence to aid its merited descent into the gulf of oblivion, and to extinguish, if pos- sible, that resurgent principle which has so often disturbed the serious business of the country, and averted the attention of the public from the great scenes that are acting in the world to search for some golden medium between the sel- fishness of the sacred principal, and the rapacity of the sacred deputy. If church property is to be preserved, that precedent is not without danger which disposes at once of a fifth of all the valuable livings in England. We do not advance this as an argument of any great importance against the bill, but only as an additional reason why its utility should be placed in the clearest point of view, before it can attain the assent of well-wishers to the English establishment. Our first and greatest objection to such a measure, is the increase of power which it gives to the bench of Bishops, an evil which may produce the most serious effects, by placing the whole body of the clergy under the absolute control of men who are themselves so much under the influence of the Crown. This, indeed, has been pretty effectually accomplished by the late Residence bill of Sir William Scott ; and our objection to the present bill is, that it tends to augment that excessive power before conferred on the prelacy. If a clergyman lives in a situation which is destroying his constitution, he cannot exchange with a brother clergyman without the consent of the bishop ; in whose hands, under such circumstances, his life and death are CURATE'S SALARY BILL. 123 actually placed. If he wishes to culti- vate a little land for his amusement or better support, he cannot do it with- out the licence of the bishop. If he wishes to spend the last three or four months with a declining wife or child, at some spot where better medical as- sistance can be procured, he can- not do so without permission of the bishop. If he is struck with palsy, or racked with stone, the bishop can confine him in the most remote village in England. In short, the power which the bishops at present possess over their clergy is so enormous, that none but a fool or a madman would think of compromising his future happiness, by giving the most remote cause of offence to his diocesan. We ought to recollect, however, that the clergy con- stitute a body of 12 or 15,000 educated persons ; that the whole concern of edu- cation devolves upon them ; that some share of the talents and information which exist in the country must na- turally fall to their lot ; and that the complete subjugation of such a body of men cannot, in any point of view, be a matter of indifference to a free country. It is in vain to talk of the good cha- racter of bishops. Bishops are men ; not always the wisest of men ; not always preferred for eminent virtues and talents, or for any good reason whatever known to the public. They are almost always devoid of striking and indecorous vices ; but a man may be very shallow, very arrogant, and very vindictive, though a bishop ; and pursue with unrelenting hatred a sub- ordinate clergyman, whose principles he dislikes*, and whose genius he fears. Bisftops, besides, are subject to the in- firmities of old age, like other men ; and in the decay of strength and under- standing, will be governed, as other men are, by daughters and wives, and whoever ministers to their daily com- forts. We have no doubt that such cases sometimes occur, and produce, wherever they do occur, a very capri- cious administration of ecclesiastical affairs.f As the power of enforcing * Bold language for the year 1803. t I have seen in the course of my life, as residence must be lodged somewhere why not give the bishop a council, consisting of two thirds ecclesiastics, and one third laymen : and meeting at the same time as the sessions and deputy sessions ; the bishop's licence for non- residence to issue, of course, upon their recommendations ? Considering the vexatious bustle of a new and the laxity of an aged bishop, we cannot but think that a diocese would be much more steadily administered under this system, than by the present means. Examine the constitutional effects of the power now granted to the bench. What hinders a bishop from becoming, in the hands of the Court, a very im- portant agent in all county elections ? what clergyman would dare to refuse him his vote ? But it will be said that no bishop will ever condescend to such sort of intrigues: a most miserable answer to a most serious objection. The temptation is admitted, the ab- sence of all restraint ; the dangerous consequences are equally admitted; and the only preservative is the personal character of the individual. If this style of reasoning were general, what would become of law, constitution, and every wholesome restraint which we have been accumulating for so many centuries? We have no intention to speak disrespectfully of constituted au- thorities-; but when men can abuse power with impunity, and recommend themselves to their superiors by abus- ing it, it is but common sense to suppose that power will be abused ; if it is, the country will hereafter be convulsed to its very entrails, in tearing away that power from the prelacy which has been, so improvidently conferred upon them. It is useless to talk of the power they anciently possessed. They have never possessed it since England has been what it now is. Since we have en- joyed practically a free constitution, the bishops have, in point of fact, possessed little or no power of oppression over their clergy. It must be remembered, however, that we are speaking only of proba- the mind of the prelate decayed, wife bishops, daughter bishops, butler bishops, and even cook and housekeeper bishops. 124 CURATE'S SALARY BILL. bilitics : the fact may turn out to be quite the reverse ; the power vested in the Bench may be exercised for spiritual purposes only, and with the greatest moderation. We shall be extremely happy to find that this is the case ; and it will reflect great honour upon those who have corrected the impro- vidence of the Legislature by their own sense of propriety. It is contended by the friends of this law, that the respectability of the clergy depends in some measure on their wealth ; and that, as the rich bishop reflects a sort of worldly consequence upon the poor bishop, and the rich rector upon the poor rector ; so, a rich class of curates could not fail to confer a greater degree of importance upon that class of men in general. This is all very well, if you intend to raise up some new fund in order to enrich curates : but you say that the riches of some constitute the dignity of the whole ; and then you imme- diately take away from the rector the superfluous wealth which, according to your own method of reasoning, is to decorate and dignify the order of men to whom he belongs ! The bishops constitute the first class in the church ; the beneficed clergy the second ; the curates the last. Why are you to take from the second to give to the last ? Why not as well from the first* to give to the second, if you really mean to contend that the first and second are already too rich ? It is not true, however, that the class of rectors is" generally either too rich, or even rich enough. There are 6000 livings below 80/. per annum, which is not very much above the average allow- ance of a curate. If every rector, how- ever, who has more than 500/. is obliged to give a fifth part to a curate, there seems to be no reason why every bishop who has more than 1000/. should not give a fifth part among the poor rectors in his diocese. It is in vain to say this assessment upon rectors is reason- able and right, because they may reside and do duty themselves, and then they will not need a curate; that their * The first unfortunately make the laws. non-residence, in short, is a kind of delinquency for which they compound by this fine to the parish. If more than half of the rectories in England are under 80/. a year, and some thou- sands of them under 40?., pluralities are absolutely necessary; and clergy- men, who have not the gift of ubiquity, must be non-resident at some of them. Curates, therefore, are not the deputies cf negligent rectors ; they are an order of priests absolutely necessary in the present form of the Church of England : and a rector incurs no shadow of delinquency by employing one, more than the King does by ap- pointing a Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, or a Commissioner to the General As- sembly of the Church of Scotland, instead of doing the duty of these offices in person. If the Legislature, therefore, is to interfere to raise the natural, i.e., the actual wages of this order of men, at the expense of the more opulent ministers of the Gospel, there seems to be no sort of reason for exempting the bishops from their share in this piods contribution, or for re- fusing to make a similar one for the benefit of all rectors who have less than 100/. per annum. The true reason, however, for ex- empting my Lords the Bishops from this imposition, is, that they have the privilege of voting upon all bills brought in by Mr.- Perceval, and of materially affecting his comfort and security by their parliamentary control and influence. This, however, is to cure what you believe to be unjust, by means which you must know to be unjust ; to fly out against abuses which may be remedied without peril, and to connive at them when the attempt at a remedy is attended with political danger ; to be mute and obsequious towards men who enjoy church pro- perty to the amount of 18 or 19,000/. per annum ; and to be so scandalised at those who possess as many hundreds, that you must melt their revenues down into curacies, and save to the eye of political economy the spectacle of such flagrant inequality ! In the same style of reasoning it .may be asked, why the lay impropriatois CURATE'S SALARY BILL. 125 arc not compelled to advance the salary of their perpetual curacies, up to a fifth of their estates ? The answer, too, is equally obvious Many lay impropriators have votes in both Houses of Parliament ; and the only class of men this cowardly reformation attacks, is that which has no means of saying anything in its own defence. Even if the enrichment of curates were the most imperious of all duties, it might very well be questioned whether a more unequal and pernicious mode of fulfilling it could be devised than that enjoined by this bill. Curacies are not granted for the life of the curate ; but for the life or incumbency or good-liking of the rector. It is only rectors worth 500i a-year who are compelled by Mr. Perceval to come down with a fifth to their deputy ; and these form but a very small proportion of the whole non-resident rectors ; so that the great multitude of curates must remain as poor as formerly, and probably a little more discontented. Suppose, however, that one has actually entered on the enjoyment of 250/. per annum. His wants, and his habits of expense, are enlarged by this increase of income. In a year or two his rector dies, or exchanges his living; and the poor man is reduced, by the effects of comparison, to a much worse state than before the operation of the bill. Can any person say that this is a wise and effectual mode of ameliorating the con- dition of the lower clergy ? To us it almost appears to be invented for the express purpose of destroying those habits of economy and caution, which are so indispensably necessary to their situation. If it be urged that the curate, knowing his wealth only to be temporary, will make use of it as a means of laying up a fund for some future day, we admire the good sense of the man : but what becomes of all the provisions of the bill ? what becomes of that opulence which is to confer respectability upon all around it, and to radiate even upon the curates of Wales ? * The money was expressly given to blacken his coat, to render him convex and rosy, to give him a sort of pseudo-rectorial appearance, and to dazzle the parishioners at the rate of 250/. per annum. The poor man, actuated by those principles of common sense, which are so contrary to all the k provisions of the bill, chooses to make a good thing of it, because he knows it will not last; wears his old coat, rides his lean horse, and defrauds the class of curates of all the advantages which they were to derive from the sleekness and splendour of his ap- pearance. It is of some importance to the wel- fare of the parish, and the credit of the church, that the curate and his rector should live upon good terms together. Such a bill, however, throws between them elements of mistrust and hatred, which must render their agree- ment highly improbable. The curate ivould be perpetually prying into every little advance which the rector made upon his tithes, and claiming his pro- portionate increase. No respectable man could brook such inquisition ; some, we fear, would endeavour to prevent its effects by clandestine means. The church would be a perpetual scene of disgraceful animosities ; and the ears of the bishop never free from the clamours of rapacity and irritation. It is some slight defect in such a bill, that it does not proportion reward to the labour done, but to the wealth of him for whom it is done. The curate of a parish containing 400 persons, may be paid as much as another person who has the care of 10,000; for, in England, there is very little proportion between the value of a living, and the quantity of duty to be performed by its clergy- man. The bill does not attain its object in the best way. Let the bishop refuse to allow of any curate upon a living above 500/. per annum, who is not a Master of Arts of one of the universities. Such curates will then be obtained at a price which will render it worth the while of such men to take curacies; and such a degree and situation in society will secure good curates, much more effectually than the complicated provisions, of this bill: for, prima facie, it appears to us much more probable, that a curate should be respectable 126 CURATE'S SALARY BIL.L. who is a Master of Arts in some English university, than if all that we knew about him was, that he had a fifth of the profits of the living. The object is, to fix a good clergyman in a parish. The law will not trust the non-resident rector to fix both the price and the person ; but fixes the price, and then leaves him the choice of the person. Our plan is, to fix upon the description of person, and then to leave the price to find its level ; for the good price by no means implies a good person, but the good person will be sure to get a good price. Where the living will admit of it, we have commonly observed that the English clergy are desirous of putting in a proper substitute. If this be so, the bill is unnecessary ; for it proceeds on the very contrary supposition, that the great mass of opulent clergy con- sult nothing but economy in the choice of their curates. It is very galling and irksome to any class of men to be compelled to disclose their private circumstances ; a provision contained in and abso- lutely necessary to this bill, under which the diocesan can always compel the minister to disclose the full value of his living. After all, however, the main and conclusive objection to the bill is, that its provisions are drawn from such erroneous principles, and betray such gross ignorance of human nature, that though it would infallibly produce a thousand mischiefs foreseen and not foreseen, it would evidently have no effect whatsoever in raising the salaries of curates. We do not put this as a case of common buyer and seller ; we allow that the parish is a third party, having an interest* ; we fully admit the right of the Legislature to interfere for their relief. We only contend, that such interference would be necessarily altogether ineffectual, so long as men can be found capable of doing the duty * "We remember Horace's description of the misery of a parish where there is no resident clergyman. " Illacrymabiles TTrgentur, ignotique longi Nocte, carent quia vate sacro." of curates, and willing to do it for less than the statutory minimum. If there be a competition of rectors for curates, it is quite unnecessary and absurd to make laws in favour of curates. The demand for them will do their business more effectually than the law. If, on the contrary (as the fact plainly is), there is a competition of curates for employment, is it pos- sible to prevent this order of men from labouring under the regulation price ? Is it possible to prevent a curate from pledging himself to his rector, that he will accept only half the legal salary, if he is so fortunate as to be preferred among an host of rivals, who are willing to engage on the same terms ? You may make these contracts illegal : What then ? Men laugh at such pro- hibitions ; and they always become a dead letter. In nine instances out of ten, the contract would be honourably adhered to; and then what is the use of Mr. Percival's law ? Where the con- tract was not adhered to, whom would the law benefit? A man utterly devoid of every particle of honour and good faith. And this is the new species of curate, who is to reflect dignity and importance upon his poorer brethren ! The law encourages breach of faith between gambler and gambler ; it arms broker against broker : but it cannot arm clergyman against clergyman. Did any human being before, ever think of disseminating such a prin- ciple among the teachers of Chris- tianity ? Did any ecclesiastical law, before this, ever depend for its success upon the mutual treachery of men who ought to be examples to their fellow- creatures of everything that is just and upright ? We have said enough already upon the absurdity of punishing all rich rectors for non-residence, as for a pre- sumptive delinquency. A law is al- ready passed, fixing what shall be legal and sufficient causes for non-residence. Nothing can be more unjust, then, than to punish that absence which you admit to be legal. If the causes of absence are too numerous, lessen them ; but do not punish him who has availed himself of their existence. We deny, CATHOLICS. however, that they are too numerous. There are 6000 livings out of 11,000 in the English church under SOl.per annum: many of these 20/., many 30/. per annum. The whole task of education at the university, public schools, private families, and in foreign travel, devolves upon the clergy. A great part of the literature of their country is in their hands. Eesidence is a very proper and necessary measure ; but considering all these circumstances, it requires a great deal of moderation and temper to carry it into effect without doing more mischief than good. At present, how- ever, the torrent sets the other way. Every lay plunderer, and every fanati- cal coxcomb, is forging fresh chains for the English clergy ; and we should not be surprised, in a very little time, to see them absenting themselves from their benefices by a kind of day-rule, like prisoners in the King's Bench. The first bill, which was brought in by Sir William Scott, always saving and excepting the power granted to the bishops, is full of useful pro- visions, and characterised throughout by great practical wisdom. We have no doubt but that it has, upon the whole, improved the condition of the English church. Without caution, mildness, or information, however, it was pecu- liarly unfortunate to follow such a leader. We are extremely happy the bill was rejected. We have seldom witnessed more of ignorance and error stuffed and crammed into so very narrow a compass. Its origin, we are confident, is from the Tabernacle ; and its consequences would have been, to have sown the seeds of discord and treachery in an ecclesiastical constitu- tion, which, under the care of prudent and honest men, may always be ren- dered a source of public happiness. One glaring omission in this bill we had almost forgotten to mention. The Chancellor of the Exchequer has entirely neglected to make any provision for that very meritorious class of men, the lay curates, who do all the business of those offices, of which lazy and non- resident placemen receive the emolu- ments. So much delicacy and con- science, however, are here displayed on the subject of pocketing unearned emoluments, that we have no doubt the moral irritability of this servant of the Crown will speedily urge him to a species of reform, of which he may be the object as well as the mover. CATHOLICS. (E. KEVIEW, 1808.) History of the Penal Laws against the Irish Catholics, from the Treaty of Limerick to the Union. By Henry Par- nell, Esq. M.P. THE various publications which have issued from the press in favour of re- ligious liberty, have now nearly silenced the arguments of their opponents ; and, teaching sense to some, and in- spiring others with shame, have left those only on the field who can neither learn nor blush. But, though the argument is given up, and the justice of the Catholic cause admitted, it seems to be generally conceived, that their case, at present, is utterly hopeless ; and that to ad- vocate it any longer, will only irritate the oppressed, without producing any change of opinion in those by whose influence and authority that oppression is continued. To this opinion, unfor- tunately too prevalent, we have many reasons for not subscribing. We do not understand what is meant in this country by the notion, that a measure, of consummate wisdom and imperious necessity, is to be deferred for any time, or to depend upon any contingency. Whenever it can be made clear to the understandings of the great mass of enlightened people, that any system of political conduct is necessary to the public welfare, every obstacle (as it ought) will be swept away before it ; and as we conceive it to be by no means improbable, that the country may, ere long, be placed in a situation where its safety or ruin will depend upon its (Conduct towards the Catholics, we sincerely believe we are doing our duty in throwing every pos- sible light on this momentous question. Neither do we understand where this passive submission to ignorance and 128 CATHOLICS. error is to end. Is it confined to re- ligion ? or does it extend to war and peace, as well as religion ? Would it be tolerated, if any man were to say, " Abstain from all arguments in favour of peace ; the court have resolved upon eternal war ; and, as you cannot have peace, to what purpose urge the ne- cessity of it ? " We answer, that courts must be presumed to be open to the influence of reason ; or, if they were not, to the influence of prudence and discretion, when they perceive the public opinion to be loudly and clearly against them. To lie by in timid and indolent silence, to suppose an in- flexibility, in which no court ever could, under pressing circumstances, perse- vere, and to neglect a regular and vigorous appeal to public opinion, is to give up all chance of doing good, and to abandon the only instrument by which the few are ever prevented from ruining the many. It is folly to talk of any other ultimatum in government than perfect justice to the fair claims of the subject. The concessions to the Irish Catholics in 1792 were to be the ne plus ultra. Every engine was set on foot to induce the grand juries in Ireland to petition against further concessions ; and, in six months afterwards, government were compelled to introduce, them- selves, those further relaxations of the penal code, of which they had just before assured the Catholics they must abandon all hope. Such is the ab- surdity of supposing, that a few in- terested and ignorant individuals can postpone, at their pleasure and caprice, the happiness of millions. As to the feeling of irritation with which such continued discussion may inspire the Irish Catholics, we are con- vinced that no opinion could be so pre- judicial to the cordial union which we hope may always subsist between the two countries, as that all the efforts of the Irish were unavailing, that argu- ment was hopeless," that their case was prejudged with a sullen inflexi- bility which circumstances could not influence, pity soften, or reason subdue. We are by no means convinced, that the decorous silence recommended upon the Catholic question would he rewarded by those future concessions, of which many persons appear to be so certain. We have a strange incredulity where persecution is to be abolished, and any class of men restored to their indisputable rights. When -we see it done, we will believe it. Till it is done., we shall always consider it to be highly improbable much too impro- bable to justify the smallest relaxa- tion in the Catholics themselves, or in those who are well-wishers to their cause. When the fanciful period at present assigned for the emancipation arrives, new scruples may arise fresh forbearance be called for and the operations of common sense be deferred for another generation. Tole- ration never had a present tense, nor taxation a future one. The answer which Paul received from Felix, he owed to the subject on which he spoke. When justice and righteousness were his theme, Felix told him to go away, and he would hear him some other time. All men who have spoken to courts upon such disagreeable topics, have received the same answer. Felix, however, trembled when he gave it ; but his fear was ill directed. He trembled at the subject he ought to have trembled at the delay. Little or nothing is to be expected from the shame of deferring what it is so wicked and perilous to defer. Pro- fligacy in taking office is so extreme, that we have no doubt public men may be found, who, for half a century, would postpone all remedies for a pestilence, if the preservation of their places depended upon the propagation of the virus. To us, such kind of conduct conveys no other action than, that of sordid avaricious impudence : it puts to sale the best interests of the country for some improvement in the wines and meats and carriages which a man uses and encourages a new political morality which may always postpone any other great mea- sure and every other great measure, as well as the emancipation of the Catholics. We terminate this apologetical pre- amble with expressing the most earnest CATHOLICS. 129 hope that the Catholics will not, from any notion that their cause is effectu- ally carried, relax in any one constitu- tional effort necessary to their purpose. Their cause is the cause of common sense and justice : the safety of Eng- land and of the world may depend upon it. It rests upon the soundest principles ; leads to the most important consequences ; and therefore cannot be too frequently brought before the notice of the public. The book before us is written by Mr. Henry Parnell, the brother of Mr. William Parnell, author of the His- torical Apology, reviewed in one of our late Numbers ; and it contains a very well-written history of the penal laws enacted against the Irish Catholics, from the peace of Limerick, in the reign of King William, to the late Union. Of these we shall present a very short, and, we hope even to loungers, a read- able abstract. The war carried on in Ireland against King William cannot deserve the name of a rebellion : it was a struggle for their lawful Prince, whom they had sworn to maintain ; and whose zeal for the Catholic religion, whatever effect it might have produced in England, could not by them be con- sidered as a crime. This war was terminated by the surrender of Lime- rick, upon conditions by which the Catholics hoped, and very rationally hoped, to secure to themselves the free enjoyment of their religion in future, and an exemption from all those civil penalties and incapacities which the reigning creed is so fond of heaping upon its subjugated rivals. By the various articles of this treaty, they are to enjoy such privileges in the exercise of their religion, as they did enjoy in the time of Charles II. : and the King promises, upon the meetingof Parliament, " to endeavour to procure for them such further security in that particular, as may preserve them from any disturbance on account of their said religion." They are to be re- stored to their estates, privileges, and immunities, as they enjoyed them in the time of Charles II. The gentlemen are to be allowed to carry arms : and VOL. I. no other oath is to be tendered to the Catholics who submit to King William, than the oath of allegiance. These and other articles, King William rati- fies for himself, his heirs and successors, as far as in him lies; and confirms the same, and every other clause and matter therein contained. These articles were signed by the English general on the 3d of October, 1 69 1 ; and diffused comfort, confidence, and tranquillity among the Catholics. On the 22d of October, the English Parliament excluded Catholics from the Irish Houses of Lords and Com- mons, by compelling them to take the oaths of supremacy before admis- sion. In 1695, the Catholics were deprived of all means of educating their children, at home or abroad, and of the privilege of being guardians to their own or to other persons' children. Then all the Catholics were disarmed and then all the priests banished. After this (pro- bably by way of joke), an act was passed to confirm the treaty of Lime- rick, the great and glorious King William totally forgetting the contract he had entered into, of recommending the religions liberties of the Catholics to the attention of Parliament. On the 4th of March, 1704, it was enacted, that any son of a Catholic who would turn Protestant, should succeed to the family estate, which from that moment could no longer be sold, or charged with debt and legacy. On the same day, Popish fathers were debarred, by a penalty of 500/., from being guardians to their own children. If the child, however young, declared himself a Protestant, he was to be delivered immediately to the custody of some Protestant relation. No Pro- testant to marry a Papist No Papist to purchase land or take a lease of land for more than thirty-one years. If the profits of the lands so leased by the Catholic amounted to above a certain rate settled by the act, farm to belong to the first Protestant who made the discovery. No Papist to be in a line of entail ; but the estate to pass on to the next Protestant heir, as if the Papist were dead. If a Papist dies 130 CATHOLICS. intestate, and no Protestant heir can be found, property to be equally divided among all the sons ; or if he has none, among all the daughters. By the 16th clause of this bill, no Papist to hold any office civil or military. Not to dwell in Limerick or Galway, except on certain conditions. Not to vote at elections. Not to hold aclrowsons. In 1 709, Papists were prevented from holding an annuity for life. If any son of a Papist chose to turn Protes- tant and enrol the certificate of his conversion in the Court of Chancery, that court is empowered to compel his father to state the value of his property upon oath, and to make out of that pro- perty a competent allowance to the son, at their own discretion, not only for his present maintenance, but for his future portion after the death of his father. An increase of jointure to be enjoyed by Papist wives, upon their conversion. Papists keeping schools to be prose- cuted as convicts. Popish priests who are converted to receive 30/. per annum. Rewards are given by the same act for the discovery of Popish clergy ; 50/. for discovering a Popish bishop ; 20t for a common Popish clergyman ; 10/. for a Popish usher ! Two justices of the peace can compel any Papist above 18 years of 'age to disclose every particular which has come to his knowledge respecting Popish priests, celebration of mass, or Papist schools. Imprisonment for a year if he refuses . to answer. Nobody can hold property in trust for a Catho- lic. Juries, in all trials growing out of these statutes, to be Protestants. No Papist to take more than two ap- prentices, except in the linen trade. All the Catholic clergy to give in their names and places of abode at the quarter- sessions, and to keep no cu- rates. Catholics not to serve on grand juries. In any trial upon statutes for strengthening the Protestant interest, a Papist juror may be peremptorily challenged. In the next reign. Popish horses were attacked and allowed to be seized for the militia. Papists cannot be either high or petty constables. No Papists to vote at elections. Papists in towns to provide Protestant watchmen ; and not to vote at vestries. In the reign of George II., Papists were prohibited from being barristers. Barristers and solicitors marrying Papists, considered to be Papists, and subjected to all penalties as such. Persons robbed by privateers, during a war with a Popish prince, to be in- demnified by grand jury presentments, and the money to be levied on the Catholics only. No Papist to marry a Protestant ; any priest celebrating such a marriage to be hanged. During all this time there was not the slightest rebellion in Ireland. In 1715 and 1745, while Scotland and the north of England were up in arms, not a man stirred in Ireland ; yet the spirit of persecution against the Catholics continued till the 18th of his present Majesty ; and then gradually gave way to the increase of knowledge, the humanity of our Sovereign, the abilities of Mr. Grattan, the weakness of England struggling in America, and the dread inspired by the French revolution. Such is the rapid outline of a code of laws which reflects indelible disgrace upon the English character, and ex- plains but too clearly the cause of that hatred in which the English name has been so long held in Ireland. It would require centuries to efface such an im- pression ; and yet, when we find it fresh, and operating at the end of a few years, we explain the fact by every cause which can degrade the Irish, and by none which can remind us of our own scandalous policy. With the folly and the horror of such a code before our eyes, with the conviction of recent and domestic history, that mankind are not to be lashed and chained out of their faith, we are striving to teaze and worry them into a better theology. Heavy oppression is removed ; light insults and provoca- tions are retained ; the scourge does not fall upon their shoulders, but it sounds in their ears. And this is the conduct we are pursuing, when it is still a great doubt whether this country alone may not be opposed to the united efforts of the whole of Europe. It is SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF VICE. 131 really difficult to ascertain which is the most utterly destitute of common sense, the capricious and arbitrary stop we have made in our concessions to the Catholics, or the precise period we have chosen fur this grand effort of obstinate folly. In whatsoever manner the contest now in agitation on the Continent may terminate, its relation to the eman- cipation of the Catholics will be very striking. If the Spaniards succeed in establishing their own liberties, and in rescuing Europe from the tyranny under which it at present labours, it will still be contended, within the walls of our own Parliament, that the Catho- lics cannot fulfil the duties of social life. Venal politicians will still argue that the time is not yet come. Sacred and lay sycophants will still lavish upon the Catholic faith their well-paid abuse, and England still passively submit to such a disgraceful spectacle of ingratitude and injustice. If, on thte contrary (as may probably be the case), the Spaniards fall before the numbers and military skill of the French, then are we left alone in the world, without another ray of hope ; and compelled to employ, against in- ternal disaffection, that force which, exalted to its utmost energy, would in all probability prove but barely equal to the external danger by which we should be surrounded. Whence comes it that these things are universally ad- mitted to be true, but looked upon in servile silence by a country hitherto accustomed to make great efforts for its prosperity, safety, and independence ? PROCEEDINGS OF THE SO- CIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF VICE. (E. REVIEW, 1809.) Statement of the Proceedings of the Society for the Suppression of Vice, from July 9 to November 12, read at their General Meeting, held November 12, 1804. With an Appendix, containing the Plan of the Society, &c. &c. &c. London. 1804. An Address to the Public from the Society for the Suppression of Vice, instituted in London, 1802. Part the Second. Con- taining an Account of the Proceedings of the Society from its original Institution. London. 1804. A SOCIETY, that holds out as its object the suppression of vice, must at first sight conciliate the favour of every re- spectable person ; and he who objects to an institution calculated apparently to do so much good, is bound to give very clear and satisfactory reasons for his dissent from so popular an opinion. We certainly have, for a long time, had doubts of its utility ; and now think ourselves called upon to state the grounds of our distrust. Though it were clear that individual informers are useful auxiliaries to the administration of the laws, it would by no means follow that these informers should be allowed to combine, to form themselves into a body, to make a public purse, and to prosecute under a common name. An informer, whether he is paid by the week, like the agents of this society or by the crime, as in common cases, is, in general, a man of a very indifferent character. So much fraud and deception are neces- sary for carrying on his trade it is so odious to his fellow-subjects, that no man of respectability will ever un- dertake it. It is evidently impossible to make such a character otherwise than odious. A man who receives weekly pay for prying into the trans- gressions of mankind, and bringing them to consequent punishment, will always be hated by mankind ; and the office must fall to the lot of some man of desperate fortunes and ambiguous character. The multiplication, there- fore, of such officers, and the extensive patronage of such characters, may by the management of large and opulent societies, become an evil nearly as great as the evils they would suppress. The alarm which a private and dis- guised accuser occasions in the neigh- bourhood, is known to be prodigious, not only to the guilty, but to those who may be at once innocent, and ignorant, and timid. The destruction of social confidence is another evil, the conse- quence of information. An informer gets access to my house or family, k 2 132 SOCIETY FOR THE worms my secret out of me, and then betrays me to the magistrate. Now, all these evils may be tolerated in a small degree, while, in a greater degree, they would be perfectly intolerable. Thirty or forty informers roaming about the metropolis, may frighten the mass of offenders a little, and do some good: ten thousand informers would either create an insurrection, or totally de- stroy the confidence and cheerfulness of private life. Whatever may be said, therefore, of the single and insulated informer, it is quite a new question when we come to a corporation of in- formers supported by large contribu- tions. The one may be a good, the other a very serious evil ; the one legal the other wholly out of the contempla- tion of law, which often, and very wisely, allows individuals to do, what it forbids to many individuals assem- bled. If once combination is allowed for the suppression of vice, where are its limits to be ? Its capital may as well consist of 100,000/. per annum, as of a thousand ; its numbers may increase from a thousand subscribers, which this society, it seems, had reached in its second year, to twenty thousand : and in that case, what accused person of an inferior condition of life would have the temerity to stand against such a society ? Their mandates would' very soon be law ; and there is no com- pliance into which they might not frighten the common people, and the lower orders of tradesmen. The idea of a society of gentlemen, calling themselves an Association for the Suppression of Vice, would alarm any email offender, to a degree that would make him prefer any submission to any resistance. He would consider the very fact of being accused by them as almost sufficient to ruin him. An individual accuser accuses at his own expense ; and the risk he runs is a good security that the subject will not be harassed by needless accusa- tions, n security which, of course, he cannot have against such a society as this, to whom pecuniary loss is an object of such little consequence. It must never be forgotten, that this is not a society for punishing people who have been found to transgress the law, but for accusing persons of transgressing the law ; and that before trial, the accused person is to be considered as innocent, and is to have every fair chance of establishing his innocence. He must be no common defendant, however, who does not contend against such a society with very fearful odds ; the best counsel engaged for his opponents, great practice in the par- ticular court and particular species of cause, witnesses thoroughly hack- neyed in a court of justice, and an unlimited command of money. It by no means follows, that the legislature, in allowing individuals to be informers, meant to subject the accused person to the superior weight and power of such societies. The very influence of names must have a considerable weight with the jury. Lord Dartmouth, Lord Radstock, and the Bishop of Durham, versus a Whitechapel butcher or a publican ! Is this a fair contest before a jury ? It is not so even in London ; and what must it be in the country, where a society for the suppression of vice may consist of all the principal persons in the neighbourhood ? These societies are now established in York, in Reading, and in many other large towns. Wherever this is the case, it is far from improbable that the same persons at the Quarter or Town Sessions, may be both judges and accusers ; and still more fatally so, if the offence is tried by a special jury. This is already most notoriously the case in societies for the preservation of game. They prosecute a poacher ; the jury is special ; and the poor wretch is found guilty by the very same persons who have accused him. If it be lawful for respectable men to combine for the purpose of turning informers, it is lawful for the lowest and most despicable race of informers, to do the same thing ; and then it is quite clear that every species of wicked- ness and extortion would be the conse- quence. We are rather surprised that no society of perjured attorneys and fraudulent bankrupts has risen up in this metropolis for the suppression of SUPPRESSION OF VICE. vice. A chairman, deputy-chairman, subscriptions, and an annual sermon, would give greac dignity to their pro- ceedings ; and they would soon begin to take some rank in the world. It is true that it is the duty of grand juries to inform against vice ; but the law knows the probablenumberof grand jurymen, the times of their meeting, and the description of persons of whom they consist. Of voluntary societies it can know nothing, their numbers, their wealth, or the character of their members. It may therefore trust to a grand jury what it would by no means trust to an unknown combination. A vast distinction is to be made, too, between official duties and voluntary duties. The first are commonly car- ried on with calmness and moderation ; the latter often characterised, in their execution, by rash and intemperate zeal. The present Society receives no mem- bers but those who are of the Church of England. As we are now arguing the question generally, we have a right to make any supposition. It is equally free, therefore, upon general principles, for a society of sectarians to combine and exclude members of the Church of England; and the suppression of vice may thus come in aid of Methodism, Jacobinism, or of any set of principles, however perilous, either to Church or State. The present Society may perhaps consist of persons whose sentiments on these points are rational and respect- able. Combinations, however, of this sort may give birth to something far different ; and such a supposition is the fair way of trying the question. We doubt if there be not some mis- chief in averting the fears and hopes of the people from the known and constituted authorities of the country to those self-created powers; a Society that punishes in the Strand, another which rewards at Lloyd's Coffee-house ! If these things get to any great height, they throw an air of insignificance over those branches of the government to whom these cares properly devolve, and whose authority is by these means as- sisted, till it is superseded. It is sup- posed that a project must necessarily be good, because it is intended for the aid of law and government. At this rate, there should be a society in aid of the government, for procuring intel- ligence from foreign parts, with ac- credited agents all over Europe. There should be a voluntary transport board, and a gratuitous victualling office. There should be a duplicate, in short, of every department of the State, the one appointed by the King,and the other by itself. There should be a real Lord Glenbervie in the woods and forests, and with him a monster, a voluntary Lord Glenbervie, serving without pay, and guiding gratis, with secret counsel, the axe of his prototype. If it be asked, who are the constituted authorities who are legally appointed to watch over morals, and whose functions the Society usurp ? our answer is, that there are in England about 12,000 clergy, not un- handsomely paid for persuading the people, and about 4000 justices, 30 grand juries, and 40.000 constables, whose duty and whose inclination it is to compel them to do right. Under such circumstances, a voluntary moral society does indeed seem to be the purest result of volition ; for there certainly is not the smallest par- ticle of necessity mingled with its existence. It is hardly possible that a society for the suppression of vice can ever be kept within the bounds of good sense and moderation. If there are many mem- bers who have really become so from a feeling of duty, there will necessarily be some who enter the Society to hide a bad character, and others whose object it is to recommend themselves to their betters by a sedulous and hustling in- quisition into the immoralities of the public. The loudest and noisiest sup- pressors will always carry it against the more prudent part of the community ; the most violent will be considered as the most moral ; and those who see the absurdity will, from the fear of being thought to encourage vice, be reluctant to oppose it. It is of great importance to keep public opinion on the side of virtue. To their authorised and legal correctors, mankind are, on common occasions, ready enough to submit ; but there is K 3 134 SOCIETY FOR THE something in the self-erection of a vo- luntary magistracy which creates so much disgust that it almost renders vice popular, and puts the offence at a premium. We have no doubt but that the immediate effect of a volun- tary combination for the suppression of vice, is an involuntary combination in favour of the vices to be suppressed ; and this is a very serious drawback from any good of which such societies may be the occasion ; for the state of morals, at any one period, depends much more upon opinion than law ; and to bring odious and disgusting auxiliaries to the aid of virtue, is to do the utmost possible good to the cause of vice. We regret that mankind are as they are ; and we sincerely wish that the species at large were as completely devoid of every vice and infirmity as the President, Vice-Presi- dent, and Committee of the Suppressing Society ; but, till they are thus regene- rated, it is of the greatest consequence to teach them virtue and religion in a manner which will not make them hate both the one an d the other. The greatest delicacy is required in the application of violence to moral and religious sen- timent. We forget, that the object is, not to produce the outward compliance, but to raise up the inward feeling, which secures the outward compliance. You may drag men into church by main force, and prosecute them for buying a pot of beer, and cut them off from the enjoyment of a leg of mutton; and you may do all this, till you make the common people hate Sunday, and the clergy, and religion, and everything which relates to such subjects. There are many crimes, indeed, where persuasion cannot be waited for, and where the untaught feelings of all men go along with the violence of the law. A robber and a murderer must be knocked on the head like mad dogs ; but we have no great opinion of the possibility of indicting men into piety, or of calling in the Quarter Sessions to the aid of religion. You may produce outward conformity by these means ; but you are so far from producing (the only thing worth producing) the inward feeling, that you incur a great risk of giving birth to a totally opposite sentiment. The violent modes of making men good, just alluded to, have been re- sorted to at periods when the science of legislation was not so well understood as it now is ; or when the manners of the age have been peculiarly gloomy or fanatical. The improved knowledge, and the improved temper of later times, push such laws into the back ground, and silently repeal them. A Suppressing Society, hunting every- where for penalty and information, has a direct tendency to revive ancient ignorance and fanaticism, and to re- enact laws which, if ever they ought to have existed at all, were certainly calculated for a very different style of manners, and a very different degree of information. To compel men to go to church under a penalty appears to us to be absolutely absurd. The bitterest enemy of religion will neces- sarily be that person who is driven to a compliance with its outward ceremonies, by informers and justices of the peace. In the same manner, any constable who hears another swear an oath has a right to seize him, and carry him before a magistrate, where he^is to be fined so much for each execration. It is impos- sible to carry such laws into execution ; and it is lucky that it is impossible, for their execution would create an infinitely greater evil than it attempted to remedy. The common sense, and common feeling of mankind, if left to themselves, would silently repeal such laws ; and it is one of the evils of these societies, that they render absurdity eternal, and ignorance indestructible. Do not let us be misunderstood : upon the object to be accomplished, there can be but one opinion; it is only upon the means employed, that there can be the slightest difference of senti- ment. To go to church is a duty of the greatest possible importance ; and on the blasphemy and vulgarity of swearing, there can be but one opinion. But such duties are not the objects of legislation ; they must be left to the general state of public sentiment; which sentiment must be influenced by ex- ample, by the exertions of the pulpit and SUPPRESSION OF VICE. the press, and, above all, by education. The fear of God can never be taught by constables, nor the pleasures of religion be learnt from a common informer. Beginning with the best intentions in the world, such societies must in ali probability degenerate into a receptacle for every species of tittle-tattle, imper- tinence, and malice. Men whose trade is rat-catching, love to. catch rats ; the bug-destroyer seizes on his bug with delight ; and the suppressor is gratified by finding his vice. The last soon becomes a mere tradesman like the others ; none of them moralise, or la- ment that their respective evils should exist in the world. The public feeling is swallowed up in the pursuit of a daily occupation, and in the display of a technical skill. Here, then, is a society of men, who invite accusation, who receive it (almost unknown to them- selves) with pleasure, and who, if they hate dulness and inoccupation, can have very little pleasure in the in- nocence of their fellow-creatures. The natural consequence of all this is, that (besides that portion of rumour which every member contributes at the weekly meeting) their table must be covered with anonymous lies against the cha- racters of individuals. Every servant discharged from his master's service, every villain who hates the man he has injured, every cowardly as- sassin of character, now knows where his accusations will be received, and where they cannot fail to produce some portion of the mischievous effects which he wishes. The very first step of such a Society should be, to declare, in the plainest manner, that they would never receive any anony- mous accusation. This would be the only security to the public, that they were not degrading themselves into a receptacle for malice and falsehood Such a declaration would inspire some species of confidence ; and make us believe that their object was neither the love of power, nor the gratification of uncharitable feelings. The Society for the Suppression, however, have done no such thing. They request, indeed, the signature of the informers whom they invite ; but they do not (as they ought) make that signature an indis- pensable condition. Nothing has disgusted us so much in the proceedings of this Society, as the control which they exercise over the amusements of the poor. One of the specious titles under which this legal meanness is gratified is, Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Of cruelty to animals, let the reader take the following specimens : Running an iron hook in the intes- tines of an animal; presenting this first animal to another as his food; and then pulling this second creature up and suspending him by the barb in his stomach. Riding a horse till he drops, in order to see an innocent animal torn to pieces by dogs- Keeping a poor animal upright for many weeks, to communicate a peculiar hardness to his flesh. Making deep incisions into the flesh of another animal while living, in order to make the muscles more firm. Immersing another animal, while living, in hot water. Now we do fairly admit, that such abominable cruelties as these are worthy the interference of the law: and that the Society should have punished them, cannot be matter of surprise to any feeling mind. But stop, gentle reader! these cruelties are the cruelties of the Suppressing Committee, not of the poor. You must not think of punishing these. The first of these cruelties passes under the pretty name of angling; and therefore there can be no harm in it the more particularly as the Pre- sident himself has one of the best pre- served trout streams in England. The next is hunting; and as many of the Vice-Presidents and of the Committee hunt, it is not possible there can be any cruelty in hunting.* The next is, a * " How reasonable creatures," says the Society, " can enjoy a pastime which is the cause of such sufferings to brute animals, or how they can consider themselves en- titled, for their own amusement, to stimu- late those animals, by means of the anti- pathies which Providence has thought proper to place between them, to worry and tear, and often to destroy each other, it is difficult to conceive. So inhuman a practice, by a retribution peculiarly just* K 4 136 SOCIETY FOR THE process for making brawn a dish never tasted by the poor, and therefore not to be disturbed by indictment. The fourth is the mode of crimping cod ; and the fifth, of boiling lobsters ; all high-life cruelties, with which a justice of the peace has no business to meddle. The real thing which calls forth the sympathies, and harrows up the soul, is to see a number of boisterous artisans baiting a bull, or a bear ; not a savage hare, or a carnivorous stag, but a poor, innocent, timid bear ; not pursued by magistrates, and deputy lieutenants, and men of education, but by those who must necessarily seek their relaxation in noise and tumultuous merriment, by men whose feelings are blunted, and whose understanding is wholly devoid of refinement. The Society detail, with symptoms of great complacency, their detection of a bear- baiting in Blackboy Alley, Chick Lane, and the prosecution of the offenders before a magistrate. It appears to us, that nothing can be more partial and unjust than this kind of proceedings. A man of ten thousand a year may worry a fox as much as he pleases, may encourage the breed of a mis- chievous animal on purpose to worry it ; and a poor labourer is carried before a magistrate for paying sixpence to see an exhibition of courage between a dog and a bear ! Any cruelty may be practised to gorge the stomachs of the rich, none to enliven the holidays of the poor. We venerate those feelings which really protect creatures suscep- tible of pain, and incapable of com- plaint. But heaven-born pity, now-a- days, calls for the income-tax, and the court guide ; and ascertains the rank and fortune of the tormentor before she weeps for the pain of the sufferer. It is astonishing how the natural feel- ings of mankind are distorted by false theories. Nothing can be more mis- chievous than to say, that the pain inflicted by the dog of a man of quality tends obviously to render the human cha- racter brutal and ferocious," Ac. Ac. (Ad- dress, pp. 71, 72.) \Ve take it for granted, that the reader sees clearly that no part of this description can possibly apply to the cose of hunting. is not (when the strength of the two animals is the same) equal to that pro- duced by the cur of a butcher. Haller, in his Pathology, expressly says, that the animal bitten knows no difference in the quality of the biting animal's master; and it is now the universal opinion among all enlightened men, that the misery of the brawncr would be very little diminished, if he could be made sensible that he was to be eaten up only by persons of the first fashion. The contrary supposition seems to us to be absolute nonsense ; it is the deser- tion of the true Baconian philosophy, and the substituiion of mere unsup- ported conjecture in its place. The trespass, however, which calls forth all the energies of a suppressor, is the sound of a fiddle. That the common people are really enjoying themselves, is now beyond all doubt : and away rush Secretary, President, and Com- mittee, to clap the cotillon into the Compter, and to bring back the life of the poor to its regular standard of decorous gloom. The gambling houses of St. James's remain untouched. The peer ruins himself and his family with impunity; while the Irish labourer is privately whipped for not making a better use of the excellent moral and religious education which he has re- ceived in the days of his youth ! It is not true, as urged by the So- ciety, that the vices of the poor are carried on in houses of public resort, and those of the rich in their own houses. The Society cannot be ig- norant of the innumerable gambling houses resorted to by men of fashion. Is there one they have suppressed, or attempted to suppress? Can any- thing be more despicable than such distinctions as these ? Those who make them seem to have for other persons' vices all the rigour of the ancient Puritans without a particle of their honesty or their courage. To suppose that any society will ever attack the vices of people of fashion, is wholly out of the question. If the Society con- sisted of tradesmen, they would infal- libly be turned off by the vicious customers whose pleasures they inter* rupted: and what gentleman so fond of SUPPRESSION OF VICE. 137 suppressing, as to interfere with the vices of good company, and inform against persons who were real! genteel ? He knows very well that th consequence of such interference woulc be a complete exclusion from elegan society ; that the upper classes couk not, and would not, endure it ; anc that he must immediately lose his rank in the world, if his zeal subjectec fashionable offenders to the slightest inconvenience from the law. therefore, remains, but to rag Nothing against the Sunday dinners of the poor, and to prevent a bricklayer's labourer from losing, on the seventh day, that beard which has been augmenting the other six. We see at the head of this Society the names of several noblemen, and of other persons moving in the fashionable world. Is it possible they can be ignorant of the innumerable offences against the law and morality which are committed by their own acquaintances and connections ? Is there one single instance where they have directed the attention of the Society to this higher species of suppression, and sacrificed men of consideration to that zeal for virtue which watches so acutely over the vices of the poor ? It would give ns very little pleasure to see a duchess sent to the Poultry Compter ; but if we saw the Society flying at such high game, we should at least say they were honest and courageous, whatever judg- ment we might form of their good sense. At present they should de- nominate themselves a Society for suppressing the vices of persons whose income does not exceed 500t per annum; and then, to put all classes upon an equal footing, there must be another society of barbers, butchers, and bakers, to return to the higher classes that moral character, by which they are so highly benefited. To show how impossible it is to keep such societies within any kind of bounds, we shall quote a passage respecting circulating libraries, from their Pro- ceedings. " Tour Committee have good reasons for believing, that the circulation of their notices among the priutsellers, warning tlic.n against the sale or exhibition of in- decent representations, has produced, and continues to produce, the best effects. " But they have to lament that the ex- tended establishments of circulating libra- ries, however useful they may be, in a variety of respects, to the easy and general diffusion of knowledge, are extremely inju- .rious to morals and religion, by the indis- criminate admission which they give to works of a prurient and immoral nature. It is a toilsome task to any virtuous and en- lightened mind, to wade through the cata- logues of these collections, and much more to select such books from them as have only an apparent bad tendency. But your Committee being convinced that their at- tention ought to be directed to those insti- tutions which possess such powerful and numerous means of poisoning the minds of young persons, and especially of the female youth, have therefore begun to make some endeavours towards their better regula- tion." Statement of the Proceedings for 1801, pp. 11, 12. In the writing same spirit we see them to a country magistrate in Devonshire, respecting a wake adver- tised in the public papers. Nothing can be more presumptuous than such conduct, or produce, in the minds of impartial men, a more decisive impres- sion against, the Society. The natural answer from the mem- bers of the Society (the only answer they have ever made to the enemies of ;heir institution) will be, that we are overs of vice, desirous of promoting ndecency, of destroying the Sabbath, and of leaving mankind to the unre- strained gratification of their passions. We have only very calmly to reply, hat we are neither so stupid nor so wicked as not to concur in every scheme which has for its object the ireservation of rational religion and sound morality ; but the scheme must >e well concerted, and those who are o carry it into execution must deserve our confidence, from their talents and heir character. Upon religion and morals depends the happiness of mankind ; but the fortune of knaves .nd the power of fools is sometimes made to rest on the same apparent jasis; and we will never (if we can lelp it) allow a rogue to get rich, T a blockhead to get powerful, under he sanction of these awful words. 138 METHODISM. We do not by any means intend to apply these contemptuous epithets to the Society for the Suppression. That there arc among their numbers some very odious hypocrites, is not impos- sible ; that many men who believe they come there from the love of virtue, do really join the Society from the love ol power, we do not doubt : but we see no reason to doubt that the great mass of subscribers consists of persons who have very sincere intentions of doing good. That they have, in some in- stances, done a great deal of good, we admit with the greatest pleasure. We believe, that in the hands of truly honest, intrepid, and, above all, discreet men, such a society might become a valuable institution, improve in some degree the public morals, and increase the public happiness. So many quali- ties, however, are required to carry it on well, the temptations to absurdity and impertinence are so very great,- that we ever despair of seeing our wishes upon this subject realised. In the present instance, our object has been to suppress the arrogance of sup- pressers, to keep them within due bounds, to show them that to do good requires a little more talent and reflec- tion than they are aware of, and, above all, to impress upon them that true zeal for virtue knows no distinc- tion between the rich and the poor ; and that the cowardly and the mean can never be the true friends of morality, and the promoters of human happiness. If they attend to these rough doctrines they will ever find in the writers of this Journal their warmest admirers, and their most sincere advocates and friends. METHODISM. (E. REVIEW, 1809.) Strictures on two Critiques in the Edin- burgh Review, on tlie Subject of Method- ism and Missions; with Remarks on the Influence of Reviews, in general, on Morals and Happiness. By John Styles. 8vo. London, 1809. IN routing out a nest of consecrated cobblers, and in bringing to %ht such a perilous heap of trash as we were obliged to work through, in our articles upon the Methodists and Missionaries, we are generally conceived to have rendered an useful service to the cause of rational religion. Every one, how- ever, at all acquainted with the true character of Methodism, must have known the extent of the abuse and misrepresentation to which we exposed ourselves in such a service. All this obloquy, however, we were very will- ing to encounter, from our conviction of the necessity of exposing and cor- recting the growing evil of fanaticism. In spite of all misrepresentation, we have ever been, and ever shall be, the sincere friends of sober and rational Christianity. We are quite ready, if any fair opportunity occur, to defend it, to the best of our ability, from the tiger-spring of infidelity; and we are quite determined, if we can prevent such an evil, that it shall not be eaten up by the nasty and numerous vermin of Methodism. For this purpose, we shall proceed to make a few short remarks upon the sacred and silly gentleman before us, not, certainly, because we feel any sort of anxiety as to the effect of his strictures on our own credit or reputation, but because his direct and articulate defence of the principles and practices which we have condemned, affords us the fairest op- portunity of exposing, still more clearly, both the extravagance and the danger of these popular sectaries. These very impudent people have one ruling canon, which pervades every- thing they say and do. Whoever w unfriendly to Methodism, is an infidel and an atheist. This reasonable and amiable maxim, repeated in every form of dttlness, and varied in every attitude of malignity, is the sum and substance of Mr. Styles's pamphlet. Whoever wishes to rescue religion from the hands of didactic artisans whoever prefers a respectable clergyman for his teacher to a delirious mechanic whoever wishes to keep the intervals between churches and lunatic asylums as wide as possible all such men, in the esti- mation of Mr. Styles, are nothing better than open or concealed enemies of Christianity. His catechism is very METHODISM. 139 simple. In what hoy do you navigate? By what shoemaker or carpenter are you instructed? What miracles have you to relate ? Do you think it sinful to reduce Providence to an alternative, &c. &c. &c. Now, if we were to con- tent ourselves with using to Mr. Styles, while he is dealing about his imputa- tions of infidelity, the uncourtly lan- guage which is sometimes applied to those who are little curious about truth or falsehood, what Methodist would think the worse of him for such an attack ? Who is there among them that would not glory to lie for the tabernacle ? who that would not believe he was pleasing his Maker, by sacri- ficing truth, justice, and common sense to the interests of his own little chapel, and his own deranged instructor ? Something more than contradiction or confutation, therefore, is necessary to discredit those charitable dogmatists, and to diminish their pernicious in- fluence ; and the first accusation against us is, that we have endeavoured to add ridicule to reasoning. We are a good deal amused, indeed, with the extreme disrelish which Mr. John Styles exhibits to the humour and pleasantry with which he admits the Methodists to have been attacked ; but Mr. John Styles should remember, that it is not the practice with destroyers of vermin to allow the little victims a veto upon the weapons used against them. If this were otherwise, we should have one set of vermin banishing small- tooth combs ; another protesting against mouse-traps ; a third prohibiting the finger and thumb ; a fourth exclaiming against the intolerable infamy of using soap and water. It is impossible, how- ever, to listen to such pleas. They must all be caught, killed, and cracked, in the manner, and by the instruments which are found most efficacious to their destruction ; and the more they cry out, the greater plainly is the skill used against them. We are convinced a little laughter will do them more harm than all the arguments in the world. Such men as the author before us, cannot understand when they are out-argued ; but he has given us a specimen, from his irritability, that he fully comprehends when he has become the object of universal contempt and derision. We agree with him, that ridicule is not exactly the weapon to be used in matters of religion ; but the use of it is excusable, when there is no other which can make fools tremble. Besides, he should remember the par- ticular sort of ridicule we have used, which is nothing more than accurate quotation from the Methodists them- selves. It is true, that this is the most severe and cutting ridicule to which we could have had recourse ; but, whose fault is that ? Nothing can be more disingenuous than the attacks Mr. Styles has made upon us for our use of Scripture lan- guage. Light and grace are certainly terms of Scripture. It is not to the words themselves that any ridicule can ever attach. It is from the preposterous application of those words, in the mouths of the most arrogant and ignorant of human beings ; it is from their use in the most trivial, low, and familiar scenes of life ; it is from the illiterate and un- grammatical prelacy of Mr. John Styles, that any tinge of ridicule ever is or ever can be imparted to the sacred language of Scripture. We admit also, with this gentleman, that it would certainly evince the most vulgar and contracted heart, to ridicule any religious opinions, methodistical or otherwise, because they were the opinions of the poor, and were conveyed in the language of the poor. But are we to respect the poor, when they wish to step out of their province, and be- come the teachers of the land ? when men, whose proper " talk is of bullocks," pretend to have "wisdom and under- standing," is it not lawful to tell them they have none ? An ironmonger is a very respectable man, so long as he is merely an ironmonger, an admir- able man, if he is a religious iron- monger ; but a great blockhead, if he sets up for a bishop or a dean, and lectures upon theology. It is not the poor we have attacked but the writ- ing poor, the publishing poor the limited arrogance which mistakes its own trumpery sect for the world : nor have we attacked them for want of 140 METHODISM. talent, but for want of modesty, want of sense, and want of true rational religion for every fault which Mr. John Styles defends and exemplifies. It is scarcely possible to reduce the drunken declamations of Methodism to a point, to grasp the wriggling lubricity of these cunning animals, and to fix them in one position. We have said, in our review of the Methodists, that it is extremely wrong to suppose that Pro- vidence interferes with special and ex- traordinary judgments on every trifling occasion of life ; that to represent an innkeeper killed for preventing a Me- thodist meeting, or loud claps of thun- der rattling along the heavens, merely to hint to Mr. Scott that he was not to preach at a particular tabernacle in Oxford Road, appeared to us to be blasphemous and mischievous nonsense. With great events, which change the destiny of mankind, we might sup- pose such interference, the discovery of which, upon every trifling occasion, we consider to be pregnant with very mis- chievous consequences. To all which Mr. Styles replies, that, with Provi- dence, nothing is great, or nothing little nothing difficult, or nothing easy ; that a worm and a whale are equal in the estimation of a Supreme Being. But did any human being but a Methodist, and a third or fourth rate Methodist, ever make such a reply to such an argument ? We are not talking of what is great or important to Pro- vidence, but to us. The creation of a worm or a whale, a Newton or a Styles, are tasks equally easy to Omnipotence. But are they, in their results, equally important to us ? The lightning may as easily strike the head of the French emperor, as of an innocent cottager ; but we are surely neither impious nor obscure, when we say, that one would be an important interference of Provi- dence, and the other comparatively not so. But it is a loss of time to reply to such trash ; it presents no stimulus of difficulty to as ; nor would it offer any of novelty to our readers. Kotzebue, who can plead in behalf of the theatre ; that, at fashionable ball- rooms and assemblies, seduction is drawn out to a system ; that dancing excites the fever of the passions, and raises a delirium too often fatal to in- nocence and peace ; and that, for the poor, instead of the common rough amusements to which they are now addicted, there remain the simple beauties of nature, the gay colours, and scented perfumes of the earth." These are the blessings which the common people have to expect from their Me- thodistical instructors. They are pil- fered of all their money shut out from all their dances and country wakes and are then sent penniless into the fields, to gaze on the clouds, and smell to dandelions ! Against the orthodox clergy of all descriptions, our sour devotee pro- claims, as was to have been expected, . the most implacable war ; declaring, that, " in one century they would have obliterated all the remaining practical religion in the church, had it not been for this new sect, everywhere spoken against." Undoubtedly, the distinction of mankind into godly and ungodly if by godly is really meant those who apply religion to the extinction of bad passions would be highly desirable. But when, by that word, is only in- tended a sect more desirous of possess- ing the appellation than of deserving it, when, under that term, are compre- hended thousands of canting hypocrites and raving enthusiasts men despicable from their ignorance, and formidable from their madness the distinction may hereafter prove to be truly terrific; and a dynasty of fools may again sweep away both church and state in one hideous ruin. There may be, at tendency of Methodism, Mr. Styles re- plies, " that a man must have studied in the schools of Hume, Voltaire, and the head of these maniacs, who would insanify them with some degree of prudence, and keep them only half mad, if they could. But this won't do ; Bedlam will break loose, and over- power its keepers. If the preacher sees visions, and has visitations, the clerk will come next, and then the congregation ; every man will be his own prophet, and dream dreams for METHODISM. 141 himself: the competition in extrava- gance will be hot and lively, and the whole island a receptacle for incurables. There is, at this moment, a man in London who prays for what garments he wants, and finds them next morning in his room, tight and fitting. This man, as might be expected, gains between, two and three thousand a year from the common people, by preaching. Anna, the prophetess, en- camps in the woods of America, with thirteen or fourteen thousand followers, and has visits every night from the prophet Elijah. Joanna Southcote raises the dead, &c. &c. Mr. Styles will call us atheists, and disciples of the French school, for what we are about to say ; but it is our decided opinion, that there is some fraud in the prophetic visit ; and it is but too pro- bable, that the clothes are merely human, and the man measured for them in the common way. When such blasphemous deceptions are prac- tised upon mankind, how can remon- strance be misplaced, or exposure mischievous ? If the choice rested with us, we should say, Give us back our wolves again restore our Danish invaders curse us with any evil, but the evil of a canting, deluded, and Methodistical populace. Wherever Methodism extends its baneful in- fluence, the character of the English people is constantly changed by it. Boldness and rough honesty are broken down into meanness, prevarication, and fraud. While Mr. Styles is so severe upon the indolence of the Church, he should recollect that his Methodists are the ex-party ; that it is not in human nature, that any persons who quietly possess power, can be as active as those who are pursuing it. The fair way to state the merit of the two parties is, to estimate what the exertions of the lachrymal and suspirious clergy would be, if they stepped into the endow- ments of their competitors. The mo- ment they ceased to be paid by the groan the instant that Easter offer- ings no longer depended upon jumping and convulsions Mr. Styles may as- sure himself, that the character of his darling preachers would be totally changed ; their bodies would become quiet, and their minds reasonable. It is not true, as this bad writer is perpetually saying, that the world hates piety. That modest and unob- trusive piety, which fills the heart with all human charities, and makes a man gentle to others, and severe to himself, is an object of universal love and vene- ration. But mankind hate the lust of power, when it is veiled under the garb of piety; they hate canting and hypo- crisy ; they hate advertisers, and quacks in piety ; they do not choose to be insulted; they love to tear folly and impudence from that altar, which should only be a sanctuary for the wretched and the good. Having concluded his defence of Methodism, this fanatical writer opens upon us his Missionary battery, firing away with the most incessant fury, and calling names, all the -time, as loud as lungs accustomed to the eloquence of the tub usually vociferate. In speak- ing of the cruelties which their religion entails upon the Hindoos, Mr. Styles is peculiarly severe upon us for not being more shocked at their piercing their limbs with kimes. This is rather an unfair mode of alarming his readers with the idea of some unknown instru- ment. He represents himself as hav- ing paid considerable attention to the manners and customs of the Hindoos ; and, therefore, the peculiar stress he lays upon this instrument is naturally calculated to produce, in the minds of the humane, a great degree of myste- rious terror. A drawing of the kime was imperiously called for ; and the want of it is a subtle evasion, for which Mr. Styles is fairly accountable. As he has been silent on this subject, it is for us to explain the plan and na- ture of this terrible and unknown piece of mechanism. A kime, then, is neither more nor less than a false print in the Edinburgh Review for a knife; and from this blunder of the printer has Mr. Styles manufactured this Dseda- lean instrument of torture, called a kime ! We were at first nearly per- suaded by his arguments against kimes; we grew frightened ; we stated to 142 METHODISM. ourselves the horror of not sending missionaries to a nation which used /times ; we were struck with the nice and accurate information of the Taber- nacle upon this important subject : but we looked in the errata, and found Mr. Styles to be always Mr. Styles always cut off from every hope of mercy, and remaining for ever him- self. Mr. Styles is right in saying we have abolished many practices of the Hindoos since the establishment of our empire ; but then we have always consulted the Brahmins, whether or not such practices were conformable with their religion ; and it is upon the authority of their condemnation that we have proceeded to abolition. To the whole of Mr. Styles's obser- vations upon the introduction of Chris- tianity into India, we have one short answer : it is not Christianity which is introduced there, but the debased mummery and nonsense of Methodists, which has little more to do with the Christian religion than it has to do with the religion of China. We would as soon consent that Brodum and Solomon should carry the medical art of Europe into India, as that Mr. Styles and his Anabaptists should give to the Eastern World their notions of our religion. We send men of the highest character for the administration of jus- tice and the regulation of trade nay, we take great pains to impress upon the minds of the natives the highest ideas of our arts and manufactures, by laying before them the finest specimens of our skill and ingenuity why, then, are common sense and decency to be for- gotten in religion alone ? and so foolish a set of men allowed to engage them- selves in this occupation, that the natives almost instinctively duck and pelt them ? But the missionaries, we are told, have mastered the languages of the East. They may also, for aught we know, in the same time, have learnt perspective, astronomy, or anything else. What is all this to us? Our charge is, that they want sense, con- duct, and sound religion ; and that, if they are not watched, the throat of every European in India will be cut : the answer to which is, that their pro- gress in languages is truly astonishing ! If they expose us to imminent peril, what matters it if they have every virtue under heaven ? We are not writing dissertations upon the intellect of Bro- ther Carey, but stating his character so far as it concerns us, and caring for it no further. But these pious gentle- men care nothing about the loss of the country. The plan, it seems, is this: We are to educate India in Christianity as a parent does his child ; and, when it is perfect in its catechism, then to pack up, quit it entirely, and leave it to its own management. This is the evangelical project for separating a colony from the parent country. They see nothing of the bloodshed, and massacres, and devastations, nor of the speeches in parliament, squandered millions, fruitless expeditions, jobs and pensions, with which the loss of our Indian possessions would necessarily be accompanied ; nor will they see that these consequences could arise from the attempt, and not from the com- pletion, of their scheme of conversion. We should be swept from the penin- sulaby Pagan zealots ; and should lose, among other things, all chance of ever really converting them. What is the use, too, of telling us what these men endure ? Suffering is not a merit, but only useful suffering. Prove to us that they are fit men, doing a fit thing, and we are ready to praise the missionaries ; but it gives us no pleasure to hear that a man has walked a thousand miles with peas in his shoes, unless we know why, and wherefore, and to what good purpose he has clone it. But these men, it is urged, foolish and extravagant as they are, may be very useful precursors of the estab- lished clergy. This is much as if a regular physician should send a quack doctor before him, and say, Do you go and look after this disease for a day or two, and ply the patient well with your nostrums, and then I will step in and complete the cure ; a more notable expedient we have seldom heard of. Its patrons forget that these self-or- dained ministers, with Mr. John Styles METHODISM. 143 at their head, abominate the established clergy ten thousand times more than they do Pagans, who cut themselves with cruel kimes. The efforts of these precursors would be directed with in- finitely more zeal to make the Hindops disbelieve in Bishops, than to make them believe in Christ The darling passion in the soul of every missionary is, not to teach Mie great leading truths of the Christian faith, but to enforce the little paltry modification and dis- tinction which he first taught from his own tub. And then what a way of teaching Christianity in this ! There are five sects, if not six, now em- ployed as missionaries, every one in- structing the Hindoos in their own particular method of interpreting the Scriptures ; and when these have com- pletely succeeded, the Church of Eng- land is to step in, and convert them all over again to its own doctrines. There is, indeed, a very fine varnish of proba- bility over this ingenious and plausible scheme. Mr. John Styles, however, would much rather see a kime in the flesh of a Hindoo, than the hand of a Bishop on his head. The missionaries complain of in- tolerance. A weasel might as well complain of intolerance when he is throttled for sucking eggs. Toleration for their own opinions toleration for their domestic worship, for their private groans and convulsions they possess in the fullest extent; but who ever heard of toleration for intolerance? Who ever before heard men cry out that they were persecuted, because they might not insult the religion, shock the feelings, irritate the passions of their fellow-creatures, and throw a whole colony into bloodshed and confusion ? We did not say that a man was not an object of pity who tormented himself from a sense of duty, but that he was not so great an object of pity as one equally tormented by the tyranny of another, and without any sense of duty to support him. Let Mr. Styles first inflict forty lashes upon hims. If, then let him allow an Edinburgh Reviewer to give him forty more he will find no comparison between the two flagel- lations. These men talk of the loss of oar possessions in India, as if it made the argument against them only more or less strong ; whereas, in our estima- tion, it makes the argument against them conclusive, and shuts up the case. Two men possess a cow, and they quarrel violently how they shall manage this cow. They will surely both of them (if they have a particle of common sense) agree, that there is an absolute necessity for preventing the cow from running away. It is not only the loss of India that is in question but how will it be lost ? By the massacre of ten or twenty thousand English, by the blood of our sons and brothers, who have been toiling so many years to return to their native country. But what is all this to a ferocious Methodist? What care Brothers Barrel and Ringle- tub for us and our colonies ? If it were possible to invent a method by which a few men sent from a distant country could hold such masses of people as the Hindoos in subjection, that method would be the institution of castes. There is no institution which can so effectually curb the ambition of genius, reconcile the individual more completely to his station, and reduce the varieties of human character to such a state of insipid and monotonous tame- ness ; and yet the religion which de- stroys castes is said to render our empire in India more certain ! It may be our duty to make the Hindoos Christians that is another argument : but, that we shall by so doing strengthen our empire, we utterly deny. What signifies identity of religion to a ques- tion of this kind ? Diversity of bodily colour and of language would soon overpower this consideration. Make the Hindoos enterprising, active, and reasonable as yourselves destroy the eternal track in which they have moved for ages and, in a moment, they would sweep you off the face of the earth. Let us ask, too, if the Bible is universally diffused in Hindostan, what must be the astonishment of the natives to find that we are forbidden to rob, murder, and steal ; we who, in fifty years, have extended our empire from a few acres about Madras, over the 144 METHODISM. whole peninsula and sixty millions of people, and exemplified in our public conduct every crime of which human nature is capable ! What matchless impudence to follow up such practice with such precepts ! If we have com- mon prudence, let us keep the gospel at home, and tell them that Machiavel is our prophet, and the god of the Manicheans our god. There is nothing which disgusts us more, than the familiarity which these impious coxcombs affect with the ways and designs of Providence. Every man, now-a-days, is an Amos or a Malachi. One rushes out of his chambers, and tells us we are beaten by the French, because we do not abolish the slave trade. Another assures us that we have no chance of victory till India is evangelised. The new Christians are now come to speak of the ways of their Creator with as much confidence as they would of the plans of an earthly ruler. We remember when the ways of God to man were gazed upon with trembling humility when they were called inscrutable when piety looked to another scene of existence for the true explanation of this ambiguous and distressing world. We were taught in oar childhood that this was true re- ligion ; but it turns out now to be nothing but atheism and infidelity. If anything could surprise us from the pen of a Methodist, we should be truly surprised at the very irreligious and presumptuous answers which Mr. Styles makes to some of our arguments. Our title to one of the anecdotes from the Methodist Magazine is as follows : " A sinner punished a Bee the instru- ment; " to which Mr. Styles replies, that we might as well ridicule the Scriptures, by relating their contents in the same ludicrous manner. An interference with respect to a travelling Jew; blindness the consequence. Acts, the ninth chapter, and first nine verses. The account of PauPs conversion, Sfc. fyc. ifc.page 38. But does Mr. Styles forget, that the one is a shameless falsehood, introduced to sell a two- penny book, and the other a miracle recorded by inspired writers ? In the same manner, when we express our surprise that sixty millions of Hindoos should be converted by four men and sixteen guineas, he asks what would have become of Christianity if the twelve Apostles had argued in the same way ? It is impossible to make this infatuated gentleman understand that the lies of the Evangelical Magazine are not the miracles of Scripture ; and that the Baptist Missionaries are not the Apostles. He seriously expects that we should speak of Brother Carey as we would speak of St. Paul ; and treat with an equal respect the miracles of the Magazine and the Gospel, Mr. Styles knows very well that we have never said, because a nation has present happiness, that it can therefore dispense with immortal happiness ; but we have said that, where of two nations both cannot be made Christians, it is more the duty of a missionary to convert the one, which is exposed to every evil of barbarism, than the other possessing every blessing of civilisation. Our argument is merely comparative : Mr. Styles must have known it to be so: but who does not love the Taber- nacle better than truth ? When the tenacity of the Hindoos on the subject of their religion is adduced as a reason against the success of the missions, the friends of this undertaking are always fond of reminding us how patiently the Hindoos submitted to the religious persecution and butchery of Tippoo. The inference from such citations is truly alarming. It is the imperious duty of Government to watch some of th'ese men most narrowly. There is nothing of which they are not capable. And what, after all, did Tippoo effect in the way of conversion ? How many Mahometans did he make? There was all the carnage of Medea's Kettle, and none of the transformation. He deprived multitudes of Hindoos of their caste, indeed ; and cut them off from all the benefits of their religion. That iie did, and we may do, by violence : but, did he make Mahometans ? or shall we make Christians ? This, how- ;ver, it seems, is a matter of pleasantry. To make a poor Hindoo hateful to simself and his kindred, and to fix a curse upon him to the end of his days ! HANNAH MORE. 145 we have no doubt but that this' is very entertaining ; and particularly to the friends of toleration. But our ideas of comedy have been formed in another school. We are dull enough to think, too, that it is more innocent to exile pigs, than to offend conscience, and destroy human happiness. The scheme of baptizing with beef-broth is about as brutal and preposterous, as the as- sertion that you may vilify the gods and priests of the Hindoos with safety, pro- vided you do not meddle with their tur- bans and toupees (which are cherished solely on a principle of religion), is silly and contemptible. After all, if the Mahometan did persecute the Hindoo with impunity, is that any precedent of safety to a government that offends every feeling both of Mahometan and Hindoo at the same time ? You have a tiger and a buffalo in the same en- closure ; and the tiger drives the buffalo before him ; is it therefore prudent in you to do that which will irritate them both, and bring their united strength upon you ? In answer to all the low malignity of this author, we have only to reply, that we are, as we always have been, sincere friends to the conversion of the Hindoos. We admit the Hindoo re- ligion to be full of follies, and full of enormities; we think conversion a great duty ; and should think it, if it could be effected, a great blessing ; but our opinion of the missionaries and of their employer is such, that we most firmly believe, in less than twenty years, for the conversion of a few degraded wretches, who would be neither Me- thodists nor Hindoos, they would in- fallibly produce the massacre of every European in India* ; the loss of our settlements ; and, consequently, of the chance of that slow, solid, and tem- perate introduction of Christianity, which the superiority of the European character may ultimately effect in the Eastern world. The Board of Control * Every opponent says, of Major Scott's book, " What a dangerous book ! the arrival of it at Calcutta may throw the whole Indian empire into confusion ; " and yet these are the j>eople whose religious pre- judices may be insulted with impunity. VOL. L (all Atheists, and disciples of Voltaire, of course) are so entirely of our way of thinking, that the most peremptory orders have been issued to send all the missionaries home upon the slightest appearance of disturbance. Those who have sons and brothers in India may now sleep in peace. Upon the trans- mission of this order, Mr. Styles is said to have destroyed himself with a kime. HANNAH MORE. (E. REVIEW, 1809.) Ccelebsin Search of a Wife; comprehend- ing Observations on, Domestic Habits and Manners, Religion and Morals. 2 Vote. London, 1809. THIS book is written, or supposed to be written (for we would speak timidly of the mysteries of superior beings), by the celebrated Mrs. Hannah More ! We shall probably giv^ great offence by such indiscretion ; but still we must be excused for treating it as a book merely human an uninspired pro- duction the result of mortality left to itself, and depending on its own limited resources. In taking up the subject in this point of view, we solemnly disclaim the slightest inten- tion of indulging in any indecorous levity, or of wounding the religious feelings of a large class of very res- pectable persons. It is the only method in which we can possibly make this work a proper object of criticism. We have the strongest possible doubts of the attributes usually ascribed to this authoress ; and we think it more simple and manly to say so at once, than to admit nominally superlunary claims, which, in the progress of our remarks, we should virtually deny. Coelebs wants a wife ; and, after the death of his father, quits his estate in Northumberland to see the world, and to seek for one of its best productions, a woman, who may add materially to the lappiness of his future life. His first ourney is to London, where, in the midst of the gay society of the metro- polis, of course, he does not find a wife ; and his next journey is to the family of Mr. Stanley, the head of the Me- 146 HANNAH WORE. thodists, a serious people, where, o course, he does find a wife. The exaltation, therefore, of what the au- thoress deems to be the religious, anc the depreciation of what she considers to be the worldly character, and the influence of both upon matrinwnial happiness, form the subject of this novel rather of this dramatic sermon. The machinery upon which the dis- course is suspended is of the slightest and most inartificial texture, bearing every mark of haste, and possessing not the slightest claim to merit. Events there are none ; and scarcely a cha- racter of any interest. The book is in- tended to convey religious advice ; and no more labour appears to have been bestowed upon the story, than was merely sufficient to throw it out of the dry, didactic form. Lncilla is totally uninteresting ; so is Mr. Stanley ; Dr. Barlow still worse ; and Calebs a mere clod or dolt. Sir John and Lady Belfield are rather more interesting and for a very obvious reason : they have some faults; they put us in mind of men and women ; they seem to belong to one common nature with ourselves. As we read, we seem to think we might act as such people act, and therefore we attend; whereas imitation is hopeless in the more perfect cha- racters which Mrs. More has set before us ; and therefore they inspire us with Tery little interest. There are books, however, of all kinds; and those may not be unwisely planned which set before us very pure models. They are less probable, and therefore less amusing, than ordinary stories; but they are more amusing than plain, unfabled precept. Sir Charles Grandison is less agreeable than Tom Jones; but it is more agree- able than Sherlock and Tillotson; and teaches religion and morality to many who would not seek it in the productions of these professional writers. But, making every allowance for the difficulty of the task which Mrs. More has prescribed to herself, the book abounds with marks of negligence and want of skill; with representations of life and manners which are either false or trite. Temples to friendship and virtue must be totally lai$ aside, for many years to come, in novels. Mr. Lane, of the Minerva press, has given them up long since ; and we were quite sur- prised to find such a writer as Mrs. More busied in moral brick and mortar. Such an idea, at first, was merely juvenile ; the second time a little nau- seous, but the ten-thousandth time it is quite intolerable Calebs, upon his first arrival in London, dines out meets with a bad dinner supposes the cause of that bad dinner to be tho erudition of the ladies of the house talks to them upon learned subjects, and finds them as dull and ignorant as if they had piqued themselves upon all the mysteries of housewifery. We humbly submit to Mrs. More, that this is not humorous, but strained and un- natural. Philippics against frugivorous children after dinner are too common. Lady Melbury has been introduced into every novel for these four years last past. Peace to her ashes! The characters in this novel which evince the greatest skill are unques- tionably those of Mrs. Ranby and her daughters. There are some scenes in this part of the book extremely well painted, and which evince that Mrs. More could amuse, in no common degree, if amusement was her object. At tea I found the- young ladies took no more interest in the conversation than they had done at dinner, but sat whispering and laughing, and netting white silk gloves, till they were summoned to the harpsichord. Despairing of getting on with them in com- pany, I proposed a walk in the garden. I now found them as willing to talk as desti- tute of anything to say. Their conversation was vapid and frivolous. They laid great stress on small things. They seemed to lave no shades in their understanding, but used the strongest terms for the com- monest occasions ; and admiration was ex- cited by things hardly worthy to command attention. They were extremely glad and extremely sorry, on subjects not calculated excite affections of any kind. They were animated about trifles, and indifferent on hinirs of importance. They were, I must confess, frank and good natured; but it was evident that, as they were too open to lave anything to conceal, so they were too uninformed to have anything to produce ; HANNAH MORE. 147 and I was resolved not to risk my happiness with a woman who could not contribute her full share towards spending a wet winter cheerfully in the country." (Vol. 1. pp. 54, 55.) This trait of character appears to us to be very good. The following pas- sage is still better. "In the evening, Mrs. Ranby was lament' ing in general, in rather customary terms, her own exceeding sinfulness. Mr. Ranby said, 'You accuse yourself rather too heavily, my dear ; you have sins to be sure.' ' And pray what sins have I, Mr. Ranby ? ' said she, turning upon him with so much quickness that the poor man started. ' Nay,' said he meekly, ' I did not mean to offend you; so far from it, that, hearing you condemn yourself so grievously, I intended to comfort you, and to say that, except a few faults ' ' And pray what faults?' interrupted she, continuing to speak, however, lest he should catch an interval to tell them. ' I defy you, Mr. Ranby, to produce one." ' My dear,' replied he, 'as you charged yourself with all, I thought it would be letting you off cheaply, by naming only two or three, such as ' Here, fearing matters would go too far, I interposed ; and, softening things as much as I could for the lady, said, ' I conceive that Mr. Ranby meant, that though she partook of the general corruption ' Here Ranby, interrupting me with more spirit than I thought he possessed, said, ' General corruption, sir, must be the source of particular corruption. I did not mean that my wife was worse than other women.' ' "Worse, Mr. Ranby, worse ? ' cried she. Ranby, for the first time in his life, not minding her, went on, ' As she is always insisting that the whole species is corrupt, she cannot help allowing that she herself has not quite escaped the infection. Now, to be a sinner in the gross, and a saint in the detail that is, to have all sins, and no faults is a thing I do not quite compre- hend.' "After he had left the room, which he did as the shortest way of allaying the storm, she, apologising for him, said, ' He was a well-meaning man, and acted up to the little light he had ; ' but added, ' that he was unacquainted with religious feel- ings, and knew little of the nature of con- version.' " Mrs. Ranby, I found, seems to consider Christianity as a kind of free-masonry; and therefore thinks it superfluous to speak on serious subjects to any but the initiated. If they do not return the sign, she gives them up as blind and dead. She thinks she can only make herself intel- ligible to those to whom certain peculiar phrases are familiar: and though her friends may be correct, devout, and both doctrinally and practically pious; yet, if they cannot catch a certain mystic mean- ing if there is not a sympathy of intel- ligence between her and them if they do not fully conceive of impressions, and can- not respond to mysterious communications, she holds them unworthy of intercourse with her. She does not so much insist on high and moral excellence as the criterion of their worth, as on their own account of their internal feelings." (Vol. I. pp. 60 63.) The great object kept in view, throughout the whole of this introduc- tion, is the enforcement of religious principle, and the condemnation of a life lavished in dissipation and fashion- able amusement. In the pursuit of this object, it appears to us that Mrs. More is much too severe upon the ordi- nary amusements of mankind, many of which she does not object to in this or that degree, but altogether. Ccelebs and Lucilla, her optimus and optima, never dance, and never go to the play. They not only stay away from the comedies of Congreve and Farquhar, for which they may easily enough be forgiven ; but they never go to see Mrs. Siddons in the Gamester, or in Jane Shore. The finest exhibition of talent and the most beautiful moral lessons, are interdicted at the theatre. There is something in the word Playhouse which seems so closely connected, in the minds of these people, with sin and Satan, that it stands in their vocabulary for every species of abomination. And yet why ? Where is every feeling more roused in favour of virtue than at a good play ? Where is goodness so feelingly, so enthusiastically learnt? What so solemn as to see the excellent passions of the human heart called forth by a great actor, animated by a great poet ? To hear Siddons repeat what Shakspeare wrote ! To behold the child and his mother the noble and the poor artisan the monarch and his subjects, all ages and all ranks convulsed with one common passion wrung with one common anguish, and, with loud sobs and cries, doing in- voluntary homage to the God that L 2 148 HANNAH MORE. made their hearts ! What wretched infatuation to interdict such amuse- ments as these ! What a blessing that mankind can be allured from sensual gratification, and find relaxation and pleasure in such pursuits ! But the excellent Mr. Stanley is uniformly paltry and narrow always trembling at the idea of being entertained, and thinking no Christian safe who is not dull. As to the spectacles of impro- priety which are sometimes witnessed in parts of the theatre, such reasons apply, in a much stronger degree, to not driving along the Strand, or any of the great public streets of London, after dark; and, if the virtue of well educated young persons is made of such very frail materials, their best resource is a nunnery at once. It is a very bad rule, however, never to quit the house for fear of catching cold. Mrs. More practically extends the eame doctrine to cards and assemblies. No cards because cards are employed in gaming ; no assemblies ^-because many dissipated persons pass their lives in assemblies. Carry this but a little further, and we must say, no wine because of drunkenness ; no meat because of gluttony ; no use, that there may be no abuse ! The fact is, that Mr. Stanley wants not only to be re- ligious, but to be at the head of the religious. These little abstinences are the cockades by which the party are known the rallying points for the evangelical faction. So natural is the love of power, that it sometimes becomes the influencing motive with the sincere advocates of that blessed religion, whose very characteristic ex- cellence is the humility which it incul- cates. We observe that Mrs. More, in one part of her work, falls into the common error about dress. She first blames ladies for exposing their persons in the present style of dress, and then says, if they knew their own interest if they were aware how much more allu- ring they were to men when their charms are less displayed, they would make the desired alteration from mo- tives merely selfish. "Oh! if womeu in general knew what was their real interest, if they could guess with what a charm even the appearance of modesty invests its possessor, they would dress decorously from mere self-love, if not from principle. The designing would as- sume modesty as an artifice; the coquet would adopt it as an allurement ; the pure as her appropriate attraction; and the voluptuous as the most infallible art of seduction." (Vol. I. p. 189.) If there is any truth in this passage, nudity becomes a virtue ; and no de- cent woman, for the future, can be seen in garments. We have a few more of Mrs. More'a opinions to notice. It is not fair to attack the religion of the times, because, in large and indiscriminate parties, religion does not become the subject of conversation. Conversation must and ought to grow out of materials on which men can agree, not upon subjects which try the passions. But this good lady wants to see men chatting together upon the Pelagian heresy to hear, in the afternoon, the theological rumours of the day and to glean polemical tittle-tattle at a tea-table rout. All the disciples of this school uniformly fall into the same mistake. They are per- petually calling upon their votaries for religious thoughts and religious conver- sation in everything ; inviting them to ride, walk, row, wrestle, and dine out religiously ; forgetting that the being to whom this impossible purity is re- commended, is a being compelled to scramble for his existence and support for ten hours out of the sixteen he is awake ; forgetting that he must dig, beg, read, think, move, pay, receive, praise, scold, command, and obey ; forgetting, also, that if men conversed as often upon religious subjects as they do upon the ordinary occurrences of the world, they would converse upon them with the same familiarity and want of respect ; that religion would then produce feelings not more solemn or exalted than any other topics which constitute at present the common furni- ture of human understandings. We are glad to find in this work some strong compliments to the efficacy of works some distinct admissions that it is necessary to be honest and just, before we cau be considered as CHAEACTEES OF FOX. 149 religious. Such sort of concessions are very gratifying to us ; but how will they be received by the children of the tabernacle ? It is quite clear, indeed, throughout the whole of the work, that an apologetical explanation of certain religious opinions is intended ; and there is a considerable abatement of that tone of insolence with which the improved Christians are apt to treat the bungling specimens of piety to be met with in the more ancient churches. So much for the extravagances of this lady. With equal sincerity, and with greater pleasure, we bear testimony to her talents, her good sense, and her real piety. There occur, every now and then, in her productions, very original, and very profound observa- tions. Her advice is very often cha- racterised by the most amiable good sense, and conveyed in the most brilliant and inviting style. If, instead of belong- ing to a trumpery faction, she had only watched over those great points of re- ligion in which the hearts of every sect of Christians are interested, she would have been one of the most useful and valuable writers of her day. As it is, every man would wish his wife and his children to read Calebs; watching himself its effects; separating the piety from the puerility; and showing that it is very possible to be a good Christian, without degrading the human understanding to the trash and folly of Methodism. CHABACTEES OF FOX. (E. EEVIEW, 1809.) Characters of the late Charles James Fox. By Philopatris Varvicensis. 2 vols. 8vo. THIS singular work consists of a col- lection of all the panegyrics passed up&n Mr. Fox, after his decease, in periodical publications, speeches, ser- mons, or elsewhere, in a panegyric npon Mr. Fox, by Philopatris himself, and in a volume of notes by the said Philopatris upon the said panegyric. Of the panegyrics, that by Sir James Mackintosh appears to us to be by far the best. It is remarkable for good sense, acting upon a perfect knowledge of his subject, for simplicity, and for feeling. Amid the languid or turgid efforts of mediocrity, it is delightful to notice the skill, attention, and resources of a superior man, of a man, too, who seems to feel what he writes, who does not aim at conveying his meaning in rhetorical and ornamented phrases, but who uses plain words to express strong sensations. We cannot help wishing, indeed, that Sir James Mack- intosh had been more diffuse upon the political character of Mr. Fox, the great feature of whose life was the long and unwearied opposition which he made to the low cunning, the profligate ex- travagance, the sycophant mediocrity, and the stupid obstinacy of the English Court. To estimate the merit, and the diffi- culty of this opposition, we must re- member the enormous influence which the Crown, through the medium of its patronage, exercises in the remotest corners of the kingdom, the number of subjects whom it pays, the much greater number whom it keeps in a state of expectation, and the fero- cious turpitude of those mercenaries whose present profits and future hopes are threatened by honest, and exposed by eloquent men. It is the easiest of all things, too, in this country, to make Englishmen believe that those who oppose the government wish to ruin the country. The English are a very busy people ; and, with all the faults of their governors, they are still a very happy people. They have, as they ought to have, a perfect confidence in the administration of justice. The rights which the different classes of mankind exercise the one over the other are arranged upon equitable principles. Life, liberty, and property are protected from the violence and caprice of power. The visible and immediate stake, therefore, for which English politicians play, is not large enough to attract the notice of the people, and to call them off from their daily occupations, to investigate tho- roughly the characters and motives of men engaged in the business of legis- lation. The people can only under- L| 150 CHARACTERS OF FOX. stand, and attend to, the last results of a long series of measures. They are impatient of the details which lead to these results ; and it is the easiest of all things to make them believe that those who insist upon such details are actu- ated only by factious motives. We are all now groaning under the weight of taxes : but how often was Mr. Fox followed by the curses of his country for protesting against the two wars which have loaded us with these taxes ? the one of which wars has made America independent, and the other rendered France omnipotent. The case is the same with all the branches of public liberty. If the broad and palpable question were, whether every book which issues from the press should be subjected to the licence of a general censor, it would be impossible to blacken the character of any man who, so called upon, defended the liberty of publishing opinions. But, when the Attorney-General for the time being ingratiates himself with the Court, by nibbling at this valuable privilege of the people, it is very easy to treat hos- tility to his measures as a minute and frivolous opposition to the Government, and to persuade the mass of mankind that it is so. In fact, when a nation has become free, it is extremely diffi- cult to persuade them that their free- dom is only to be preserved by per- petual and minute jealousy. They do not observe that there is a constant, perhaps an unconscious, effort on the part of their governors to diminish, and so ultimately to destroy, that freedom. They stupidly imagine that what is, will always be; and, contented with the good they have already gained, are easily persuaded to suspect and vilify those friends the object of whose life it is to preserve that good, and to in- crease it. It was the lot of Mr. Fox to fight this battle for the greater part of his life; in the course of which time he never was seduced, by the love of power, wealth, nor popularity, to sacrifice the happiness of the many to the interests of the few. He rightly thought, that kings and all public officers were in- stituted only for the good of those over f whom they preside ; and he acted as if this conviction was always present to his mind; disdaining^ and withstanding that idolatrous tendency of mankind, by which they so often not only suffer, but invite, ruin from that power which they themselves have wisely created for their own happiness. He loved, too, the happiness of his countrymen more than their favour ; and while others were exhausting the resources by flat- tering the ignorant prejudices and foolish passions of the country, Mr. Fox was content to be odious to the people, so long as he could be useful also. It will be long befere we witness again such pertinacious opposition to the alarming power of the Crown, and to the follies of our public measures, the necessary consequence of that power. That such opposition should ever be united again with such extra- ordinary talents, it is, perhaps, in vain to hope. One little exception to the eulogium of Sir James Mackintosh upon Mr. Fox, we cannot help making. We are no admirers of Mr. Fox's poetry. His Vers de Societt appears to us flat and insipid. To write verses was the only thing which Mr. Fox ever attempted to do without doing it well In that single instance he seems to have mis- taken his talent Immediately after the collection of panegyrics which these volumes con- tain, follows the eulogium of Mr. Fox by Philopatris himself; and then a volume of notes upon a variety of topics, which this eulogium has suggested. Of the laudatory talents of this War- wickshire patriot, we shall present our readers with a specimen. , "Mr. Fox, though not an adept in the use of political wiles, was very unlikely to be the dupe of them. He was conversant in the ways of men, as well as in the con- tents of books. He was acquainted with the peculiar language of states, their pecu- liar forms, and the grounds and effects of their peculiar usages, From his earliest youth, he had investigated the science of politics in the greater and the smaller scale i ho had studied it in the records of history, both popular and rare in the con- ferences of ambassadors in the archives of royal cabinets in the minuter detail of CHARACTERS OF FOX. 151 memoirs and in collected or straggling anecdotes of the wrangles, intrigues, and cabals, which, springing up in the secret recesses of courts, shed their baneful in- fluence on the determinations of sovereigns, the fortune of favourites, and the tran- quillity of kingdoms. But that statesmen of all ages, like priests of all religions, are in all respects alike, is a doctrine the propa- gation of which he left, as an inglorious privilege, to the mjsanthrope, to the recluse, to the factious incendiary, and to the un- lettered multitude. For himself, he thought it no very extraordinary stretch of pene- tration or charity, to admit that human nature is everywhere nearly as capable of emulation in good, as in evil. He boasted of no very exalted heroism, in opposing the calmness and firmness of conscious integ- rity to the shuffling and slippery movements, the feints in retreat and feints in advance, the dread of being over-reached, or detected in attempts to over-reach, and all the other humiliating and mortifying anxieties of the most accomplished proficients in the art of diplomacy. He reproached himself for no guilt, when he endeavoured to obtain that respect and confidence which the human heart unavoidably feels in its intercourse with persons who neither wound our pride, nor take aim at our happiness, in a war of hollow and ambiguous words. He was sensible of no weakness in believing that politicians, who, after all, 'know only as they are known,' may, like other human beings, be at first the involuntary creatures of circumstances, and seem incorrigible from the want of opportunities or incite- ments to correct themselves; that, bereft of the pleas usually urged in vindication of deceit, by men who are fearful of being de- ceived, they, in their official dealings with him, would not wantonly lavish the stores they had laid up for huckstering in a traffic, which, ceasing to be profitable, would begin to be infamous. ; and that, possibly, here and there, if encouraged by example, they might learn to prefer the shorter process, and surer results, of plain dealing, to the delays, the vexations, and the uncertain or tran- sient success, both of old-fashioned and new-fangled chicanery." (VoL I. pp. 209 211.) It is impossible to read this singular book without being everywhere struck with the lofty and honourable feelings, the enlightened benevolence, and ster- ling honesty with which it abounds. Its author is everywhere the circum- spect friend of those moral and religious principles upon which the happiness of society rests. Though he is never timid, nor prejudiced, nor bigoted, his piety, not prudish and full of antiquated and affected tricks, presents itself with an earnest aspect, and in a manly form; obedient to reason, prone to investiga- tion, and dedicated to honest purposes. The writer, a clergyman, speaks of himself as a very independent man, who has always expressed his opinions without any fear of consequences, or any hope of bettering his condition. We sincerely believe he speaks the truth ; and revere him for the life which he has led. Political independence discouraged enough in these times among all classes of men is sure, in the timid profession of the church, to doom a man to eternal poverty and obscurity. There are occasionally, in Philo- patris. a great vigour of style, and felicity of expression. His display of classical learning is quite unrivalled his reading various and good ; and we may observe, at intervals, a talent for wit, of which he might have availed himself to excellent purpose, had it been compatible with the dignified style in which he generally conveys his sentiments. With all these excellent qualities of head and heart, we have seldom met with a writer more full of faults than Philopatris. There is an event recorded in the Bible, which men who write books should keep constantly in their remembrance. It is there set forth, that, many centuries ago, the earth was covered with a great flood, by which the whole of the human race, with the exception of one family, were destroyed. It appears, also, that from thence a great alteration was made in the longevity of mankind, who, from a range of seven or eight hundred years, which they enjoyed before the flood, were confined to their present period of seventy or eighty years. This epoch in the history of man gave birth to the two-fold division of the antediluvian and the postdiluvian style of writing ; the latter of which naturally contracted itself into those inferior limits which were better accommodated to the abridged duration of human life and literary labour. Now, to forget thig L 4 152 CHARACTERS OF FOX. event, to write without the fear of the deluge before his eyes, and to handle a subject as if mankind could lounge over a pamphlet for ten years, as before their submersion, is to be guilty of the most grievous error into which a writer can possibly fall. The author of this book should call in the aid of some brilliant pencil, and cause the distressing scenes of the deluge to be portrayed in the most lively colours for his use. He should gaze at Noah, and be brief. The ark should con- stantly remind him of the little time there is left for reading; and he should leart), as they did in the ark, to crowd a great deal of matter into a very little compass. Philopatris must not only condense what he says in a narrower compass, but he must say it in a more natural manner. Some persons can neither stir hand nor foot without making it clear that they are thinking of them- selves, and laying little traps for ap- probation. In the course of two long volumes, the Patriot of Warwick is perpetually studying modes and pos- tures : the subject is the second consideration, and the mode of ex- pression the first. Indeed, whole pages together seem to be mere exercises upon the English language, to evince the copiousness of our synonymes, and to show the various methods in which the parts of speech can be marshalled and arrayed. This, which would be tire- some in the ephemeral productions of a newspaper, is intolerable in two closely printed volumes. Again : strange as it may appear to this author to say so, he must not fall into the frequent mistake of rural politicians, by supposing that the understandings of all Europe are occu- pied with him and his opinions. His ludicrous self-importance is perpetually destroying the effect of virtuous feeling and just observation, leaving his readers with a disposition to laugh, where they might otherwise learn and admire. " I have been asked, why, alter pointing out by name the persons who seemed to me most qualified for reforming our Penal Code, I declined mentioning such ecclesiastics as might with propriety be employed in pre- paring for the use of the churches a grave and impressive discourse on the authority of human laws ; and as other men may ask the same question which my friend did, I have determined, after some deliberation, to insert the substance of my answer in this place. "If the public service of our church should ever be directly employed in giving effect to the sanctions of our Penal Code, the office of drawing up such a discourse as I have ventured to recommend would, I suppose, be assigned to more than one per- son. My ecclesiastical superiors will, I am sure, make a wise choice. But they will hardly condemn me for saying, that the best sense expressed in the best language may be expected from the Bishops of Llan- daff, Lincoln, St. David's, Cloyne, and Nor- wich, the Dean of Christchurch, and the President of Magdalen College, Oxford. I mean not to throw the slightest reproach upon other dignitaries whom I have not mentioned. But I should imagine that few of my enlightened contemporaries hold an opinion different from my own, upon the masculine understanding of a Watson, the sound judgment of a Tomline, the extensive erudition of a Burgess, the exquisite taste and good nature of a Bennet, the cahn and enlightened benevolence of a Bathurst, the various and valuable attainments of a Cyril Jackson, or the learning, wisdom, integrity and piety of a Martin Eouth." (pp. 524, 525.) In the name of common modesty, what could it have signified whether this author had given a list of eccle- siastics whom he thought qualified to preach about human laws ? what is his opinion worth? who called for it? who wanted it ? how many millions will be influenced by it? and who, oh gracious Heaven ! who are a Burgess, a Tomline, a Bennet, a Cyril Jackson, a Martin Routh? A Tom, aJack, a Harry, a Peter? All good men enough in their generation, doubtless they are. But what have they done for the broad a ? what has any one of them perpetrated which will make him, be remembered out of the sphere of his private virtues six months after his decease? Surely, scholars and gentle- men can drink tea with each other, and eat bread and butter, without all this laudatory cackling! Philopatris has employed a great deal of time upon the subject of capital punishments, and has evinced a great RIGHT HONOURABLE CHARLES JAMES FOX. 153 deal of very laudable tenderness and humanity in discussing it. We are scarcely, however, converts to that system which would totally abolish the punishment of death. That it is much too frequently inflicted in this country, we readily admit ; but we suspect it will be always necessary to reserve it for the most pernicious crimes. Death is the most terrible punishment to the common people, and therefore the most preventive. It does not perpetually outrage the feelings of those who are innocent, and likely to remain innocent, as would be the case from the spectacle of convicts working in the high roads and public places. Death is the most irrevocable punishment, which is in some sense a good ; for, however neces- sary it might be to inflict labour and imprisonment for life, it would never be done. Kings and Legislatures would take pity after a great lapse of years ; the punishment would be remitted, and its preventive efficacy, therefore, de- stroyed. We agree with Philopatris, that the executions should be more solemn; but still the English are not of a very dramatic turn, and the thing must not be got up too finely. Philo- patris, and Mr. Jeremy Bentham before him, lay a vast stress upon the pro- mulgation of laws, and treat the in- attention of the English Government to this point as a serious evil. It may be so but we do not happen to remember any man punished for an offence which he did not know to be an offence ; though he might not know exactly the degree in which it was punishable. Who are to read the laws to the people ? who would listen to them if they were read ? who would comprehend them if they listened ? In a science like law there must be technical phrases, known only to pro- fessional men: business could not be carried on without them : and of what avail would it be to repeat such phrases to the people ? Again, what laws are to be repeated, and in what places ? Is a law. respecting the number of threads on the shuttle of a Spitalfields weaver to be read to the corn-growers of the Isle of Thanet? If not, who is to make the selection? If the law cannot be comprehended by listening to the viva voce repetition, is the reader to explain it, and are there to be law lectures all over the kingdom ? The fact is, that the evil does not exist. Those who are likely to commit the offence soon scent out the newly- devised punishments, and have been long thoroughly acquainted with the old ones. Of the nice applications of the law they are indeed ignorant ; but they purchase the requisite skill of some man whose business it is to acquire it ; and so they get into less mischief by trusting to others than they would do if they pretended to inform themselves. The people, it is true, are ignorant of the laws ; but they are ignorant only of the laws which do not concern them. A poacher knows no- thing of the penalties to which he exposes himself by stealing ten thou- sand pounds from the public. Com- missioners of public boards are un- acquainted with all the decretals of our ancestors respecting the wiring of hares ; but the one pockets his extra per-centage, and the other his leveret, with a perfect knowledge of the laws the particular laws which it is his business to elude. Philopatris will excuse us for differing from him upon a subject where he seems to entertain such strong opinions. We have a real respect for all his opinions : no man could form them who had not a good heart and a sound understanding. If we have been severe upon his style of writing, it is because we know his weight in the commonwealth : and we wish that the many young persons who justly admire and imitate him should be turned to the difficult task of imi- tating his many excellences, rather than the useless and easy one of copying his few defects. OBSERVATIONS ON THE HIS- TORICAL WORK OF THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES JAMES FOX. (E. REVIEW, 1809.) Observations on the Historical Work of the Sight Honourable Charles James Fox, By the Right Honourable George Rose 154 HISTORICAL WORK OF THE pp. 215. With a Narrative of the Events which occurred in the Enterprise of the Earl of Argyle in 1685. By Sir Patrick Hume. London, 1809. THIS is an extraordinary performance in itself ; but the reasons assigned for its publication are still more extra- ordinary. A person of Mr. Rose's consequence incessantly occupied, as he assures us, " with official duties, which take equally," according to his elegant expression, " from the disem- barrassment of the mind and the lei- sure of time," thinks it absolutely necessary to explain to his country the motives which have led him to do so idle a thing as to write a book. He would not have it supposed, however, that he could be tempted to so ques- tionable an act by any light or ordi- nary consideration. Mr. Fox and other literary loungers may write from a love of fame, or a relish for litera- ture ; but the official labours of Mr. Rose can only be suspended by higher calls. All his former publications, he informs us, originated in " a sense of public duty ; " and the present, in " an impulse of private friendship." An ordinary reader may perhaps find some difficulty in comprehending how Mr. Rose could be " impelled by pri- vate friendship " to publish a heavy quarto of political observations on Mr. Fox's History : and for our own parts, we must confess, that after the most diligent perusal of his long expla- nation, we do not in the least compre- hend it yet. The explanation, however, which is very curious, it is our duty to lay before our readers. Mr. Rose was much patronised by the late Earl of Marchmont, who left him his family papers, with an injunc- tion to make use of them, " if it should ever become necessary." Among these papers was a narrative by Sir Patrick Hume, the Earl's grandfather, of the occurrences which befell him and his associates in the unfortunate expedi- tion undertaken by the Earl of Argyle in 1685. Mr. Fox, in detailing the history of that expedition, has passed a censure, as Mr. Rose thinks, on the character of Sir Patrick ; and, to ob- viate the effects of that censure, he now finds it "necessary" to publish this volume. All this sounds very chivalrous and affectionate ; but we have three little remarks to make. In the first place, Mr. Fox passes no censure on Sir Patrick Hume. In the second place, this publication does by no means ob- viate the censure of which Mr. Rose complains. And, thirdly, it is utterly absurd to ascribe Mr. Rose's part of the volume, in which Sir Patrick Hume is scarcely ever mentioned, to any anxiety about his reputation. In the first place, it is quite certain that Mr. Fox passes no censure on Sir Patrick Hume. On the contrary, he says of him, that " he had early distin- guished himself in the cause of liberty ; " and afterwards rates him so very highly, as to think it a sufficient reason for construing some doubtful points in Sir John Cochrane's conduct favour- ably, that " he had always acted in conjunction with Sir Patrick Hume, who is proved by the subsequent events, and indeed by the whole tenor of his life and conduct, to have been uniformly sincere and zealous in the cause of Ids country" Such is the deliberate and unequivocal testimony which Mr. Fox has borne to the character of this gentleman ; and such the historian, whose unjust censures have compelled the Right Honourable George Rose to indite 250 quarto pages, out of pure regard to the injured memory of this ancestor of his deceased patron. Such is Mr. Fox's opinion, then, of Sir Patrick Hume ; and the only opinion he anywhere gives of his cha- racter. With regard to his conduct, he observes, indeed, in one place, that he and the other gentlemen engaged in the enterprise appear to have paid too little deference to the opinion of their noble leader ; and narrates, in another, that, at the breaking up of their little army, they did not even stay to reason with him, but crossed the Clyde with such as would follow them. Now, Sir Patrick's own narrative, so far from, contradicting either of these state- ments, confirms them both in the most remarkable manner. There is scarcely a page of it that does not show the EIGHT II OX. CHARLES JAMES FOX. 155 jealous and controlling spirit which was exercised towards their leader ; and, with regard to the concluding scene, Sir Patrick's own account makes infinitely more strongly against himself and Sir John Cochrane, than the general statement of Mr. Fox. So far from staying to argue with their general before parting with him, it appears that Sir Patrick did not so much as see him ; and that Cochrane, at whose suggestion he deserted him, had in a manner ordered that unfor- tunate nobleman to leave their com- pany. The material words of the narrative are these : " On coming down to Kilpatrick, I met Sir John (Cochrane), with others accom- panieing him ; who takeing mee by the hand, turned mee, saying, My heart, goe you with mee? "Whither goe you, said I ? OverClide by boate, said he. I : Wher is Argyle? I must see him. He : He is gone away to his owne countrey, you cannot see him. I: How comes this change of resolution, and that wee went not together to Glasgow? He : It is no time to answer questions, but 1 shall satisfy you afterward. To the boates wee came, filled 2, and rowed, over." &c. "An honest gentleman who was present told mee afterward the manner of his part- ing with the Erie. Argyle being in the room with Sir John, the gentleman coming in, found confusion in the Erie's counte- nance and speach. In end he said, Sir John, I pray advise mee what shall I doe ; shall I go over Clide with you, or shall I goe to my owne countrey ? Sir John an- swered, Sly Lord, I have told you my opinion ; you have some Highlanders here about you; it is best you goe to your owne countrey with them, for it is to no purpose for you to go over Clid-e. My Lord, faire you well. Then call'dthe gentleman, Come away, Sir; who followed him when I met with him." Sir P. Hume's Narrative, pp. 63,61. Such are all the censures which Mr. Fox passes upon this departed worthy; and such the contradiction which Mr. Rose now thinks it necessary to ex- hibit. It is very true that Mr. Fox, in the course of his narrative, is tinder the necessity of mentioning, on the credit of all the historians who have treated of the subject, that Argyle, after his capture, did express himself in terms of strong disapprobation both of Sir Patrick Hume and of Sir John Cochrane ; and said, that their igno- rance and misconduct was, though not designedly, the chief cause of his failure. Mr. Fox neither adopts nor rejects this sentiment. He gives his own opinion, as we have already seen, in terms of the highest encomium on the character of Sir Patrick Hume, and merely re- peats the expressions of Argyle as he found them in Woodrow and the other historians, and as he was under the necessity of repeating them, if he was to give any account of the last words of that unfortunate nobleman. It is this censure of Argyle, then, perhaps, and not any censure of Mr. Fox's, that Mr. Rose intended to obviate by the publication before us. But, upon this supposition, how did the appearance of Mr. Fox's book constitute that necessity which compelled the tender conscience of Lord Marchmont's executor to give to the world this long-lost justification of his ancestor ? The censure did not appear for the first time in Mr. Fox's book. It was repeated, during Sir Patrick's own life, in all the papers of the time, and in all the historians since. Sir Patrick lived nearly forty good years after this accusation of Argyle was made public ; and thirty- six of those years in great credit, honour, and publicity. If he had thought that the existence of such an accusation constituted a kind of moral necessity for the publication of his narrative, it is evident that he would himself hare published it ; and if it was not necessary then, while he was alive to suffer by the censure of his leader, or to profit by its refutation, it is not easy to understand how it should be necessary now, when 130 years have elapsed from the date of it, and the bones of its author have reposed for nearly a century in their peaceful and honoured monument. That the narrative never was pub- lished before, though the censure, to which it is supposed to be an antidote, had been published for more than a century, is a pretty satisfactory proof that those who were most interested and best qualified to judge, either did not consider the censure as very deadly, or the antidote as very effectual. We 156 HISTORICAL WORK OF THE are very well contented to leave it doubtful which of these was the case ; and we are convinced that all the readers of Mr. Rose's book will agree that it is still very doubtful. Sir Pat- rick, in his narrative, no doubt, says that Argyle was extremely arrogant, self-willed, and obstinate; but it is equally certain, that the Earl said of him, that he was jealous, disobedient, and untractable. Both were men of honour and veracity ; and, we doubt not, believed what they said. It is even possible that both may have said truly ; but, at this distance of time, and with no new evidence but the averment of one of the parties, it would be alto- gether ridiculous to pretend to decide which may have come nearest to an impartial statement. Before the publi- cation of the present narrative, it is plain from Woodrow, Burnet and other writers, that considerable blame was generally laid on Argyle for his peremp- toriness and obstinacy ; and, now that the narrative is published, it is still more apparent than ever that he had some ground for the charges he made against his officers. The whole tenor of it shows that they were constantly in the habit of checking and thwarting him ; and we have already seen that it gives a very lame and unsatisfactory account of their strange desertion of him, when their fortunes appeared to be desperate. It is perfectly plain, therefore, we conceive, that the publication of Mr. Fox's book constituted neither a neces- sity nor an intelligible inducement for the publication of this narrative ; and that the narrative, now that it is pub- lished, has no tendency to remove any slight shade of censure that history may have thrown over the temper or prudence of Sir Patrick Hume. But, even if all this had been otherwise, if Mr. Fox had, for the first time, insinuated a censure on this defunct Whig, and if the narrative had contained the most complete refutation of such a censure this might indeed have accounted for the publication of Sir Patrick's narra- tive ; but it could not have accounted at all for the publication of Mr. Rose's book the only thing to be accounted for. The narrative is given as an ap- pendix of 65 pages to a volume of upwards of 300. In publishing the narrative, Mr. Rose did not assume the character of an " author," and was not called upon, by the responsibility of that character, to explain to the world his reasons for " submitting himself to their judgment." It is only for his book, then, exclusive of the narrative, that Mr. Rose can be understood to be offering any apology ; and the apology he offers is, that it sprung from the impulse of private friendship. When the matter is looked into, however, it turns out, that though private friend- ship may, by a great stretch, be sup- posed to have dictated the publication of the appendix, it can by no possibility account, or help to account, for the composition of the book. Nay, the tendency and tenor of the book is such as this ardent and romantic friendship must necessarily condemn. It contains nothing whatever in praise or in defence of Sir Patrick Hume ; but it contains a very keen, and not a very candid, at- tack upon his party and his principles. Professing to be published from anxiety to vindicate and exalt the memory of an insurgent revolution Whig, it con- sists almost entirely of an attempt to depreciate Whig principles, and openly to decry and vilify such of Mr. Fox's opinions as Sir Patrick Hume constantly exemplified in his actions. There never was an effect, we believe, imputed to so improbable a cause. Finally, we may ask, if Mr. Rose's view, in this publication, was merely to vindicate the memory of Sir Patrick Hume, why he did not put into Mr. Fox's hands the information which would have rendered all vindication unnecessary ? It was known to all the world, for several years, that Mr. Fox was engaged in the history of that period ; and if Mr. Rose really thought that the papers in his custody jjave a different view of Sir Patrick's conduct from that exhibited in the printed authorities, was it not his duty to put Mr. Fox upon his guard against being misled by them, and to com- municate to him those invaluable docu- ments to which he could have access EIGHT HON. CHARLES JAMES FOX. 157 in no other way ? Did he doubt that Mr. Fox would have the candour to state the truth, or that he would have stated with pleasure anything that could exalt the character of a revolu- tion Whig ? Did he imagine that any statement of his could ever obtain equal notoriety and effect with a statement in Mr. Fox's history ? Or, did he poorly withhold this information, that he might detract from the value of that history, and have to boast to the public that there was one point upon which he was better informed than that illustrious statesman ? As to the pre- posterous apology which seems to be hinted at in the book itself, viz. that it was Mr. Fox's business to have asked for these papers, and not Mr. Rose's to have offered them, we shall only ob- serve, that it stands on a point of etiquette, which would scarcely be permitted to govern the civilities of tradesmen's wives ; and that it seems not a little unreasonable to lay Mr. Fox under the necessity of asking for papers, the very existence of which he could have no reason to expect. This narrative of Sir Patrick Hume has now lain in the archives of his family for 130 years, unknown and unsuspected to all but its immediate proprietor ; and, distinguished as Sir Patrick was in his day in Scotland, it certainly does not imply any extraordinary stupidity in Mr. Fox, not to know, by intuition, that there were papers of his in existence which might afford him some lights on the subject of his his- tory. We may appear to have dwelt too long on these preliminary considera- tions, since the intrinsic value of Mr. Rose's observations certainly will not be affected by the truth or the fallacy of the motives he has assigned for publishing them. It is impossible, how- ever, not to see that, when a writer assigns a false motive for his coming forward, he is commonly conscious that the real one is discreditable ; and that to expose the hollowness of such a pretence, is to lay the foundation of a wholesome distrust of his general fairness and temper. Anybody cer- tainly had a right to publish remarks on Mr. Fox's work and nobody a better right than Mr. Rose ; and if he had stated openly, that all the habits and connections of his life had led him to wish to see that work discredited, no one would have been entitled to com- plain of his exertions in the cause. When he chooses to disguise this motive, however, and to assign another which does not at all account for the phenomenon, we are so far from forget- ting the existence of the other, that we are internally convinced of its being much stronger than we should other- wise have suspected ; and that it is only dissembled, because it exists in a degree that could not have been decently avowed. For the same rea- son, therefore, of enabling our readers more distinctly to appreciate the in- tellect and temper of this Right Hon- ourable author, we must say a word or two more of his Introduction, be- fore proceeding to the substance of his remarks. Besides the edifying history of his motive for writing, we are favoured, in that singular piece, with a number of his opinions upon points no way connected with Mr. Fox or his history, and with a copious account of his labours and studies in all kinds of juridical and con- stitutional learning. In order to confirm an opinion that a minute knowledge of our ancient history is not necessary to understand our actual constitution, he takes an unintelligible survey of the progress of our government, from the days of King Alfred, and quotes Lord Coke, Plowden, Doomsday Book, Lord Ellesmere, Rymer's Foedera, Dugdale's Origines, the Rolls of Parlia- ment, Whitelock, and Abbott's Re- cords : but, above all, " a report which I made several years ago on the state of the records in my custody." He then goes on, in the most obliging manner, to inform his readers that " Vertot's Account of the Revolutions of Rome has been found very useful by persons who have read the Roman History ; but the best model that I have met with for such a work as appears to me to be much wanted, is a short History of Poland, which I translated nearly forty years ago, but did not 158 HISTORICAL WORK OF THE Siblish ; the manuscript of which is Majesty at the time did me the honour to accept ; and it probably is still in His Majesty's library." In- troduction, pp. xxiv. xxv. Truly all this is very interesting, and very much to the purpose : but scarcely more so than eight or nine pages that follow, containing a long account of the conversations which Lord March- mont had with Lord Bolingbroke, about the politics of Queen Anne's ministers, and which Mr. Rose now gives to the world from his recollec- tion of various conversations between himself and Lord Marchmont. He tells us, moreover, that " accustomed as he has been to official accuracy in state- ment," he had naturally a quick eye for mistakes in fact or in deduction ; that " having long enjoyed the confi- dence and affectionate friendship of Mr. Pitt," he has been more scrupulous than he would otherwise have been in ascertaining the grounds of his ani- madversions on the work of his great rival ; and that, notwithstanding all this anxiety, and the want of " disem- barrassment of mind " and " leisure of time," he has compiled this volume in about as many weeks as Mr. Fox took years to the work on which it comments! For the Observations themselves, we must say that we have perused them with considerable pleasure not cer- tainly from any extraordinary gratifi- cation which we derived from the justness of the sentiments, or the ele- gance of the style, but from a certain agreeable surprise which we experi- enced on finding how few pans of Mr. Fox's doctrine were considered as vulnerable, even by Mr. Rose ; and in how large a proportion of his freest and strongest observations that jealous ob- server has expressed his most cordial concurrence. The Right Honourable George Rose, we rather believe, is commonly considered as one of the least whiggish or democratical of all the public characters who have lived in our times ; and he has himself acknow- ledged, that a long habit of political opposition to Mr. Fox had perhaps given him a stronger bias against his favourite doctrines than he might other- wise have entertained. It was there- fore no slight consolation to us to find that the true principles of English liberty had made so great a progress in the opinions of all men in upper life, as to extort such an ample admission of them, even from a person of Mr. Rose's habits. and connections. As we fear, however, that the same justness and liberality of thinking are by no means general among the more obscure retainers of party throughout the coun- try, we think it may not be without its use to quote a few of the passages to which we have alluded, just to let the vulgar Tories in the provinces see how much of their favourite doctrines has been abjured by their more enlightened chief and leaders in the seat of govern- ment In the first place, there are all the passages (which it would be useless and tedious to recite) in which the patriot- ism arrd public virtue of Sir P. Hume are held up to the admiration of pos- terity. Now, Sir P. Hume, that true and sincere lover of his country, whose " talents and virtues his Sovereign acknowledged and rewarded," and "whose honours have been attended by the suffrage of his country, and the approbation of good men," was, even in the reign of Charles, concerned in de- signs analogous to those of Russell and Sydney ; and, very soon after the accession of James, and (as Mr. Rose thinks) before that monarch had done anything in the least degree blameable, rose upopenly in arms, and endeavoured to stir up the people to overthrow the existing government. Even Mr. Fox hesitates as to the wisdom and virtue of those engaged in such enterprises ; and yet Mr. Rose, professing to see danger in that writer's excessive zeal for liberty, writes a book to extol the patriotism of a premature insurgent. After this, we need not quote our author's warm panegyrics on the Revo- lution "that glorious event to which the measures of James necessarily led," or on the character of Lord Somers, "whose wisdom, talents, political cou- rage and virtue, would alone have been sufficient to insure the success of that measure." It may surprise some of his EIGHT HOX. CHARLES JAMES FOX. 159 political admirers a little more, how- ever, to find him professing that he " concurs with Mr. Fox as to the expe- diency of the Bill of Exclusion " (that boldest and most decided of all Whig measures) ; and thinks "that the events which took place in the next reign afford a strong justification of the con- duct of the promoters of that measure." When his Tory friends hare digested that sentiment, they may look at his patriotic invectives against the de- grading connection of the two last of the Stuart Princes with the Court of France; and the "scandalous profligacy by which Charles and his successor be- trayed the best interests of their country fo/miserable stipends." There is some- thing very edifying, indeed, though we should fear a little alarming to courtly tempers, in the warmth with which our author winds up his diatribe on this interesting subject. "Every one," he observes, " who carries on a clandestine correspondence with a foreign power, in matters touching the interests of Great Britain, is prima facie guilty of a great moral, as well as political, crime. If a subject, he is a traitor to his King and his country ; and if a Monarch, he is a traitor to the Crown which he wears, and to the empire which he governs. There may, by possibility, be circum- stances to extenuate the former ; there can be none to lessen our detestation of the latter." (pp. 149, 150.) Conformably with these sentiments, Mr. Rose expresses his concurrence with all that Mr. Fox says of the arbi- trary and oppressive measures which distinguished the latter part of Charles's reign ; declares that " he has mani- fested great temperance and forbear- ance in the character which he gives of Jeffries; and understated the enor- mity of the cruel and detestable pro- ceedings of the Scottish government, in its unheard-of acts of power, and the miseries and persecutions which it inflicted ; " admits that Mr. Fox's work treated of a period " in which the tyranny of the Sovereign at home was not redeemed by any glory or success abroad ;" and speaks of the Revolu- tion as the era "when the full measure of the Monarch's tyrannical usurpations made resistance a duty paramount to every consideration of personal or public danger." It is scarcely possible, we conceive, to read these, and many other passages which might be quoted from the work before us, without taking the author for a Whig; and it certainly is not easy to comprehend how the writer of them could quarrel with anything in Mr. Fox's history, for want of deference and veneration for the monarchical part of our constitution. To say the truth, we have not always been able to satisfy ourselves of the worthy author's consis- tency ; and holding, as we are inclined to do, that his natural and genuine sen- timents are liberal and manly, we can only account for the narrowness and unfairness of some of his remarks by supposing them to originate from the habits of his practical politics and of that long course of opposition, in which he learned to consider it a duty to his party to discredit everything that came from the advocate of the people. We shall now say a word or two on the remarks themselves, which, as we have already noticed, will be found to be infinitely fewer, and more insignificant, than any one, looking merely to the bulk of the volume, could possibly have conjectured. The first of any sort of importance, is made on those passages in which Mr. Fox calls the execution of the King " a far less violent measure than that of Lord Strafford;" and says, " that there was something in the splendour and magnanimity of the act, which has served to raise the character of the nation in the opinion of Europe in general." Mr. Rose takes great offence at both these remarks; and says that the constitution itself was violated by the execution of the King, while the case of Lord Strafford was but a private injury. We are afraid Mr. Rose does not perfectly understand Mr. Fox, otherwise it would be difficult not to agree with him. The grossness of Lord Stafford's case consisted in this, that a bill of attainder was brought in, after a regular proceeding by impeachment had been tried against him. He was substantially acquitted, by the most 160 HISTORICAL WORK OF THE unexceptionable process known in our law, before the bill of attainder came to declare him guilty, and to punish him. There was here, therefore, a most flagrant violation of all law and justice, and a precedent for endless abuses and oppressions. In the case of the King, on the other hand, there could be no violation of settled rules or practice ; because the case itself was necessarily out of the purview of every rule, and could be drawn into no precedent. The constitution, no doubt, was necessarily destroyed or suspended by the trial ; but Mr. Rose appears to forget that it had been destroyed or suspended before, by the war, or by the acts of the King which brought on the war. If it were lawful to fight against the King, it must have been lawful to take him prisoner : after he was a prisoner, it was both lawful and necessary to con- sider what should be done with him ; and every deliberation of this sort had all the assumption, and none of the fairness, of a trial. Yet Mr. Rose has himself told us, that " there are cases in which resistance becomes a para- mount duty ; " and probably is not prepared to say, that it was more violent and criminal to drive King James from the throne in 1688, than to wrest all law and justice to take the life of Lord Strafford in 1641. Yet the con- stitution was as much violated by the forfeiture of the one Sovereign, as by the trial and execution of the other. It was impossible that the trial of King Charles might have terminated in a sentence of mere deprivation ; and if James had fought against his people, and been conquered, he might have been tried and executed. The con- stitution was gone for the time, in both cases, as soon as force was mutually appealed to ; and the violence that followed thereafter, to the person of the Monarch, can receive no aggravation from any view of that nature. With regard, again, to the loyal horror which Mr. Rose expresses, when Mr. Fox speaks of the splendour and magnanimity of the proceedings against the King, it is probable that this zealous observer was not aware that his favourite "prerogative writer," Mr. Hume, had used the same, or still loftier expressions, in relation to the same event. Some of the words of that loyal and unsuspected historian are as follow : "the pomp, the dignity, the ceremony of this transaction, correspond to the greatest conceptions that are suggested in the annals of human kind ; the delegates of a great people sitting in judgment upon their supreme magistrate, and trying him for his mismanagement and breach of trust."* Cordially as we agree with Mr. Fox in the unprofitable severity of this ex- ample, it is impossible, we conceive, for any one to consider the great, grave, and solemn movement of the nation that led to it, or the stern and dis- passionate temper in which it was con- ducted, without feeling that proud contrast between this execution and that of all other deposed sovereigns in history, which led Mr. Fox, in com- mon with Mr. Hume, and every other writer on the subject, to make use of the expressions which have been alluded to. When Mr. Rose, in the close of his remarks upon this subject, permits him- self to insinuate, that if Mr.Fox thought such high praise due to the publicity, &c., of King Charles's trial, he must have felt unbounded admiration at that of Lewis XVI., he has laid himself open to a charge of such vulgar and uncandid unfairness, as was not to have been at all expected from a person of his rank and description. If Lewis XVI. had been openly in arms against his people if the Convention had re- quired no other victim and had settled into a regular government as soon as he was removed, there might have been more room for a parallel, to which, as the fact actually stands, every Briton must listen with indignation. Lewis XVI. was wantonly sacrificed to the rage of an insane and bloodthirsty fac- tion, and tossed to the executioner among the common supplies for the guillotine. The publicity and parade of his trial were assumed from no love of justice, or sense of dignity ; but from a low principle of profligate and cla- * Hume's History, vol. vii. p. 111. EIGHT HOK CHARLES JAMES FOX. 161 tnorcus defiance to everything that had become displeasing: and ridiculous and incredible as it would appear of any other nation, we have not the least doubt that a certain childish emulation of the avenging liberty of the English had its share in producing this paltry copy of our grand and original daring. The insane coxcombs who blew out their brains, after a piece of tawdry declamation, in some of the provincial assemblies, were about as like Cato or Hannibal, as the trial, and execution of Lewis was like the condemnation of King Charles. Our regicides were se- rious and original at least, in the bold, bad deeds which they committed. The regicides of France were poor theatrical imitators, intoxicated with blood and with power, and incapable even of forming a sober estimate of the guilt or the consequences of their actions. Before leaving this subject, we must remind our readers that Mr. Fox un- equivocally condemns the execution of the King ; and spends some time in showing that it was excusable neither on the ground of present expediency nor future warning. After he had finished that statement, he proceeds to say, that notwithstanding what the more reason- able part of mankind may think, it is to be doubted, whether that proceeding has not served to raise the national character in the eyes of foreigners, &c. ; and then goes on to refer to the con- versations he had himself witnessed on that subject abroad. A man must be a very zealous royalist, indeed, to dis- believe or be offended with this. Mr. Rose's next observation is in favour of General Monk ; upon whom he is of opinion that Mr. Fox has been by far too severe, at the same time that he fails utterly in obviating any of the grounds upon which that severity is justified. Monk was not responsible alone indeed, for restoring the King, without taking any security for the people ; but, as wielding the whole power of the army, by which that re- storation was effected, he is certainly chiefly responsible for that most criminal omission. As to his indifference to the fate of his companions in arms, Mr. Rose does indeed quote the testimony VOL.!. of his chaplain, who wrote a compli- mentary life of his patron, to prove that, on the trial of the regicides, he behaved with great moderation. We certainly do not rate this testimony very high, and do think it far more than com- pensated by that of Mrs. Hutchinson, who, in the life of her husband, says, that on the first proceedings against the regicides in the House of Commons, " Monk sate still, and had not one word to interpose for any man, but was as forward to set vengeance on foot as any one." * And a little afterwards she adds, apparently from her own personal knowledge and observation, that " be- fore the prisoners were brought to the Tower, Monk and his wife came one evening to the garden, and caused them to be brought down, only to stare at them, which was such a behaviour for that man, who had betrayed so many of those that had honoured and trusted him, &c. as no story can parallel the inhumanity of." f With regard again to Mr. Fox's charge of Monk's tamely acquiescing in the insults so meanly put on the illustrious corpse of his old commander Blake, it is perfectly evident, even from the authorities referred to by Mr. Rose, that Blake's body was dug up by the King's order, among others, and removed out of the hallowed precincts of Westminster, to be reinterred with twenty more, in one pit at St. Mar- garet's. But the chief charge is, that on the trial of Argyle, Monk spontaneously sent down some confidential letters, which turned the scale of evidence against that unfortunate nobleman. This statement, to which Mr. Fox is most absurdly blamed for giving credit, is made on the authority of the three historians who lived nearest to the date of the transaction, and who all report it as quite certain and notorious. These historians are Burnet, Baillie, and Cunningham ; nor are they con- tradicted by any one writer on the subject, except Dr. Campbell, who, at a period comparatively recent, and with- out pretending to have discovered any * Life of Colonel Hutchinson, p. 372. t Ibid. p. 378. M 162 HISTORICAL WORK OF THE new document on the subject, is pleased to disbelieve them upon certain hypo- thetical and argumentative reasons of his own. These reasons Mr. Laing has examined and most satisfactorily obviated in his history ; and Mr. Rose has exerted incredible industry to defend. The Scottish records for that period have perished ; and for this reason, and because a collection of pamphlets and newspapers, of that age, in Mr. Rose's possession, make no mention of the circumstance, he thinks fit to discredit it altogether. If this kind of scepticism were to be indulged, there would be an end of all reliance on history. In this particular case, both Burnet and Baillie speak quite positively, from the information of con- temporaries, and state a circumstance that would very well account for the silence of the formal accounts of the trial, if any such had been preserved, viz. that Monk's letters were not pro- duced till after the evidence was finished on both sides, and the debate begun on the result ; an irregularity, by the way, by much too gross to have been charged against a public pro- ceeding without any foundation. Mr. Rose's next observation is di- rected rather against Judge Blackstone than against Mr. Fox; and is meant to show that this learned person was guilty of great inaccuracy in repre- senting the year 1679 as the era of good laws and bad government. It is quite impossible to follow him through the dull details and feeble disputations by which he labours to make it appear that our laws were not very good in 1679, and that they, as well as the administration of them, were much mended after the revolution. Mr. Fox's, or rather Blackstone's remark is too obviously and strikingly true in sub- stance, to admit of any argument or illustration.* * Mr. Rose talks a great deal, and justly, about the advantages of the judges not being removable at pleasure; and, with a great air of erudition, informs us, that after 6 Charles, all the commissions were made quamdiu nobis placuerit. Mr. Rose's re- searches, we fear, do not often pro beyond the records in his custody. If he had looked into Rushworth's Collection, he The next charge against Mr. Fox is for saying, that if Charles IL's ministers betrayed him, he betrayed them in. return ; keeping, from some of them at least, the secret of what he was pleased to call his religion, and the state of his connections with France. After the furious attack which Mr. Rose has made in another place upon this Prince and his French connections, it is rather surprising to see with what zeal he undertakes his defence against this very venial sort of treachery, of concealing his shame from some of his more res- pectable ministers. The attempt, how- ever, is at least as unsuccessful as it is unaccountable. Mr. Fox says only, that some of the ministers were not trusted with the secret ; and both Dai- would have found that, in 1641, King Charles agreed to make the commissions quamdiu se bene gesserint ; and that some of those illegally removed in the following reign, though not officiating in court, still retained certain functions in consequence of that appointment. The following is the passage, at p. 1265, vol. iii. of Rushworth : "After the passing of these votes (16th December, 1640) against the judges, ami transmitting them to the House of Peers, and their concurring with the House of Commons therein, an address was made unto the King shortly after, that his Majesty, for the future, would not make any judge by patent during pleasure ; but that they may hold their places hereafter, quamdiu se bene gesserint: and his Majesty did really grant the same. And in his speech to both Houses of Parliament, at the time of giving his royal assent to two bills, one to take away the High Com- mission Court, and the other the Court of Star-Chaml>er, and regulating the power of the Council Table, he hath this passage : 'If you consider what I have done this parliament, discontents will not sit in your hearts; for I hope you remember, that I have granted, that the judges hereafter shall hold their places quamdiu se bene gesserint.' And likewise, his gracious Majesty, King Charles the Second, observed the same rule and method in granting patents to judges, quamdiu se bene gesserint; as appears upon record in the rolls : viz. to Sergeant Slide to be Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench, Sir Orlando Bridgman to be Lord Chief Baron, and afterwards to be Lord Chief Justice of Common Pleas ; to Sir Robert Forster, and others. Mr. Sergeant Archer, now living, notwithstanding his removal, still enjoys his patent, being quamdiu se bene gesserint ; and receives a share in the profits of the court, as to fees and other proceeding, by virtue of his said patent : and his name is used iu those flues, &c., as a judge of that court." EIGHT HON. CHARLES JAMES FOX. 163 rymple and Macpherson say, that none but the Catholic counsellors were ad- mitted to this confidence. Mr. Rose mutters, that there is no evidence of this; and himself produces an abstract of the secret treaty between Lewis and Charles, of May, 1670, to which the subscriptions of four Catholic ministers of the latter are affixed ! Mr. Fox is next taxed with great negligence for saying that he does not know what proof there is of Clarendon's being privy to Charles receiving money from France ; and very long quotations are inserted from the correspondence printed by Dalrymple and Macpherson, which do not prove Clarendon's knowledge of any money being received, though they do seem to establish, that he must have known of its being stipu- lated for. After this comes Mr. Rose's grand attack; in which he charges the his- torian with his whole heavy artillery of argument and quotation, and makes a vigorous effort to drive him from the position, that the early and primary object of James's reign was not to es- tablish Popery in this country, but in the first place to render himself abso- lute : and that, for a considerable time, he does not appear to have aimed at anything more than a complete tole- ration for his own religion. The grounds upon which this opinion is maintained by Mr. Fox are certainly very probable. There is, in the first place, his zeal for the Church of Eng- land during his brother's life, and the violent oppressions by which he en- forced a protestant test in Scotland ; secondly, the fact of his carrying on the government and the persecution of nonconformists by protestant ministers; and, thirdly, his addresses to his Par- liament, and the tenor of much of his correspondence with Lewis. In op- position to this, Mr. Rose quotes an infinite variety of passages from Baril- lon's correspondence, to show in general the unfeigned zeal of this unfortunate Prince for his religion, and his constant desire to glorify and advance it. Now, it is perfectly obvious, in the first place, that Mr. Fox never intended to dispute James's zeal for Popery ; and, in the second place, it is very remark- able, that in the first seven passages quoted by Mr. Rose, nothing more is said to be in the King's contemplation than the complete toleration of that religion. "The free exercise of the Catholic religion in their own houses," the abolition of the penal laws against Catholics, "the free exercise of that religion," &c. &c. are the only objects to which the zeal of the King is said to be directed; and it is not till after the suppression of Monmouth's rebellion, that these phrases are ex- changed for " a resolution to establish the Catholic religion" or " to get that religion established;" though it would be fair, perhaps, to interpret some even of these phrases with reference to those which precede them in the correspon- dence; especially as, in a letter from Lewis to Barillon, so late as 20th August, 1685, he merely urges the great expediency of James establishing " the free exercise " of that religion. After all, in reality, there is not much substantial difference, as to this point, between the historian and his observer. Mr. Fox admits most explicitly, that James was zealous in the cause of Popery ; and that after Monmouth's execution, he made attempts equally violent and undisguised to restore it. Mr. Rose, on the other hand, admits that he was exceedingly desirous to render himself absolute ; and that one ground of his attachment to Popery probably was, its natural affinity with an arbi- trary government. Upon which of these two objects he set the chief value and which of them he wished to make subservient to the other,it is not perhaps now very easy to determine. In ad- dition to the authorities referred to by Mr. Fox, however, there are many more which tend directly to show tha one great ground of his antipathy to the reformed religion was, his convic- tion that it led to rebellion and re- publicanism. There are very many passages in Barillon to this effect ; and, indeed, the burden of all Lewis's letters is to convince James that " the exist- ence of monarchy" in England de- pended on the protection of the Catho- lics. Barillon says (Fox, App. p. 125. M 2 164 HISTORICAL WORK OF THE that "the King often declares publicly, that all Calvinists are naturally enemies to royalty, and above all, to royalty in England." And Burnet observes (vol. i. p. 73.), that the King told him, "that among other prejudices he had against the Protestant religion, this was one, that his brother and himself being in many companies in Paris incognito (during the Commonwealth), where there were Protestants, he found they were all alienated from' them, and great admirers of Cromwell ; so he believed they were all rebels in their hearts." It will not be forgotten either, that in his first address to the Council, on his accession, he made use of those memo- rable words : "I know the principles of the Church of England are for mon- archy, and therefore I shall always take care to defend and support it." While he retained this opinion of its loyalty, accordingly, he did defend and support it ; and did persecute all dissidents from its doctrine, at least as violently as he afterwards did those who opposed Popery. It was only when he found that the orthodox doctrines of non- resistance and jus divinum would not go all lengths, and that even the bishops would not send his proclama- tions to their clergy, that he came to class them with the rest of the heretics, and to rely entirely upon the slavish votaries of the Roman superstition. The next set of remarks are intro- duced for the purpose of showing that Mr. Fox has gone rather too far, in stating that the object both of Charles and James, in taking money from Lewis, was to render themselves inde- pendent of Parliament, and to enable them to govern without those assem- blies. Mr. Rose admits that this was the point which both monarchs were desirous of attaining ; and merely says, that it does not appear that either of them expected that the calling of Parliaments could be entirely dispensed with. There certainly is not here any worthy subject of contention. The next point is, as to the sums of money which Barillon says he dis- tributed to the Whig leaders, as well as to the King's ministers. Mr. Rose is rery liberal and rational on this subject; and thinks it not unfair to doubt, the accuracy of the account which this minister renders of his dis- bursements. He even quotes two pas- sages from Mad. de Sevigne, to show that it was the general opinion that he had enriched himself greatly by his mission to England. In a letter written during the continuance of that mission, she says, "Barillon s'en va, &c. ; son emploi est admirable cette annec ; il mangera cinquante mille francs; mais il sail bien ou les prendre" And after his final return, she says he is old and rich, and looks without envy on the brilliant situation of M. D'Avaus. The only inference he draws from the dis- cussion is, that it should have a little shaken Mr. Fox's confidence in his accuracy. The answer to which obvi- ously is, that his mere dishonesty, where his private interest was con- cerned, can afford no reason for doubt- ing his accuracy, where it was not affected. In the concluding section of his re- marks, Mr. Rose resumes his eulogium on Sir Patrick Hume, introduces a splendid encomium on the Marquis of Montrose, brings authority to show, that torture was used to extort con- fession in Scotland even after the Revolution, and then breaks out into a high Tory rant against Mr. Fox, for supposing that the councillors who condemned Argyle might not be very easy in their consciences, and for calling those who were hunting down that nobleman's dispersed followers, "au- thorised assassins." James, he says, was their lawful sovereign; and the parties in question having been in open rebellion, it was the evident duty of all who had not joined with them, to sup- press them. We are not very fond of arguing general points of this nature ; and the question here is fortunately special, and simple. If the tyranny and oppression of James in Scotland the unheard-of enormity of which Mr. Rose owns that Mr. Fox has understated had already given that country a far juster title to renounce him than England had in 1688, then James was not "their lawful sovereign" in any sense in which that phrase can RIGHT HOX. CHARLES JAMES FOX. 165 be understood by a free people ; and those whose cowardice or despair made them submit to be the instruments of the tyrant's vengeance on one who had armed for their deliverance, may very innocently be presumed to have suffered some remorse for their compliance. With regard, again, to the phrase of " authorised assassins," it is plain, from the context of Mr. Fox, that it is not applied to the regular forces acting against the remains of Argyle's armed followers, but to those individuals, whether military or not, who pursued the disarmed and solitary fugitives, for the purpose of butchering them in cold blood, in their caverns and moun- tains. Such is the substance of Mr. Rose's observations ; which certainly do not appear to us of any considerable value though they indicate, throughout, a laudable industry, and a still more laud- able consciousness of inferiority, to- gether with (what we are determined to believe) a natural disposition to liberality and moderation, counter- acted by the littleness of party jealousy and resentment. We had noted a great number of petty misrepresenta- tions and small inaccuracies ; bat in a work which is not likely either to be much read, or long remembered, these things are not worth the trouble of correction. Though the book itself is very dull, however, we must say that the appendix is very entertaining. Sir Patrick s nar- rative is clear and spirited ; but what delights us far more., is another and more domestic and miscellaneous narra- tive of the adventures of his family, from the period of Argyle's discomfiture till their return in the train of King William. This is from the hand of Lady Murray, Sir Patrick's grand- daughter, and is mostly furnished from the information of her mother, his favourite and exemplary daughter. There is an air of cheerful magna- nimity and artless goodness about this little history, which is extremely en- gaging ; and a variety of traits of Scottish simplicity and homeliness of character, which recommend it, in a peculiar manner, to our national feel- ings. Although we have already en- larged this article beyond its proper limits, we must give our readers a few specimens of this singular chronicle. After Sir Patrick's escape, he made his way to his own castle, and was concealed for some time in a vault under the church, where his daughter, then a girl under twenty, went alone, every night, with an heroic fortitude, to comfort and feed him. The gaiety, however, which lightened this perilous intercourse, is to us still more admirable than its heroism. "She went every night by herself, at midnight, to carry him victuals and drink ; and stayed with him as long as she could to get home before day. In all this time my grandfather showed the same constant composure, and cheerfulness of mind, that he continued to possess to his death, which was at the age of eighty-four; all which good qualities she inherited from him in a high degree. Often, did they laugh heartily in that doleful habitation, at different accidents that happened. She at that time had a terror for a churchyard, especially in the dark, as is not uncommon at her age, by idle nursery stories ; but when engaged by concern for her father, she stumbled over the graves every night alone, without fear of any kind entering her thoughts, but for soldiers and parties in search of him, which the least noise or motion of a leaf put her in terror for. The minister's house was near the church. The first night she went, his dogs kept such a barking as put her in the utmost fear of a discovery. My grandmother sent for the minister next day, and, upon pretence of a mad dog, got him to hang all his dogs. There was also difficulty of getting victuals to carry him, without the servants suspecting : the only way it was done, was. by stealing it off her plate at dinner into her lap. Many a diverting story she has told about this, and other things of the like nature. Her father liked sheep's head ; and, while the children were eating their broth, she had conveyed most of one into her lap. When her brother Sandy (the late Lord Marchmont) had done, he looked up with astonishment and said, ' Mother, will you look at Grizzel ; while we have l<,-on eating our broth, she has eat up the whole sheep's head.' This occasioned so much mirth among them, that her father at night was greatly enter- tained by it, and desired Sandy might have a share in the next." App. p. [v.] They then tried to secrete him in a low room in his own house; and, for M 3 166 TOO MUCH LATIN AND GKEEK. this purpose, to contrive a bed concealed under the floor, which this affectionate and light-hearted girl secretly excavated herself, by scratching up the earth with her nails, " till she left not a nail on her fingers," and carrying it into the garden at night in bags. At last, however, they all got over to Holland, where they seem to have lived in great poverty, but in the same style of magnanimous gaiety and cordial affec- tion, of which some instances have been recited. This admirable young woman, who lived afterwards with the same simplicity of character in the first society in England, seems to have exerted her- self in a way that nothing but affection could have rendered tolerable, even to one bred up to drudgery. "All the time they were there (says his daughter), there was not a week my mother did not sit up two nights, to do the busi- ness that was necessary. She went to market; went to the mill to have their corn ground, which, it seems, is the way with good managers there; dressed the Hi ii-ii; cleaned the house; made ready dinner; mended the children's stockings, and other clothes; made what she could for them, and, in short, did everything. Her sister Christian, who was a year or two younger, diverted her father and mother, and the rest, who were fond of music. Out of their small income they bought a harpsichord for little money (but is a Rucar *) now in my custody, and most valuable. My aunt played and sung well, and had a great deal of life and humour, but no turn to business. Though my mother had the same qualifications, and liked it as well as she did, she was forced to drudge ; and many jokes used to pass betwixt the sisters about their different occupations." p. [ix.] "Her brother soon afterwards entered into the Prince of Orange's guards; and her constant attention was to have him ap- pear right in his linen and dress. They wore little point cravats and cuffs, which many a night she sat up to have in as good order for him as any in the place ; and one of their greatest expenses was in dressing him as he ought to be. As their house was always full of the unfortunate banished people, like themselves, they seldom went to dinner without three or four, or five of them, to share with them; and many a hundred tunes I have heard her say, she could never look back upon their manner An eminent maker of that time. of living there, without thinking it a miracle. They had no want, but plenty of everything they desired, and much con- tentment ; and always declared it the most pleasing part of her life, though they were not without their little distresses ; but to them they were rather jokes than griev- ances. The professors, and men of learning in the place, came often to see my grand- father. The best entertainment lie could give them, was a glass of alabast beer, which was a better kind of ale than com- mon. He sent his son Andrew, the late Lord Kimmerghame, a boy, to draw some for them in the cellar: he brought it up with groat diligence ; but in the other hand the spiket of the barrel. My grandfather said, ' Andrew, what is that in your hand ? ' "When he saw it he run down with speed ; but the beer was all run out before he pot there. This occasioned much mirth; though perhaps they did not well know where to get more." pp. [x. xi.] Sir Patrick, we are glad to hear, re- tained this kindly cheerfulness of cha- racter to the last ; and, after he was an Earl and Chancellor of Scotland, and unable to stir with gout, had himself carried to the room where his children and grandchildren were dancing, and insisted on beating time with his foot. Nay, when dying, at the advanced ago of eighty-four, he could not resist his old propensity to joking, but uttered various pleasantries on the disappoint- ment the worms would meet with, when, after boring through his thick coffin, they would find little but bones. There is, in the Appendix, besides these narrations, a fierce attack upon Burnet, which is full of inaccuracies and ill temper ; and some interesting particulars of Monmouth's imprison- ment and execution. We dare say Mr. Hose could publish a volume or two of very interesting tracts ; and can. venture to predict that his collections will be much more popular than his observations. PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION. (E. REVIEW, 1809.) Essays on Professional Education. By E, L. Edgeworth, Esq. F.E.S. &c. Lon- don. 1809. THEKE are two questions to be asked respecting every new publication 1 TOO MUCH LATIN AND GREEK. 167 it worth buying ? Is it worth borrow- ing ? and we would advise our readers to weigh diligently the importance of these interrogations, before they take any decided step as to this work of Mr. Edgeworth ; the more especially as the name carries with it considerable authority, and seems, in the estimation of the unwary, almost to include the idea of purchase. For our own part, we would rather decline giving a direct answer to these questions ; and shall content ourselves for the present with making a few such slight observations as may enable the sagacious to conjec- ture what our direct answer would be, were we compelled to be more explicit. One great and signal praise we think to be the eminent due of Mr. Edgeworth : in a canting age he does not cant; at a period when hypocrisy and fanati- cism will almost certainly insure the success of any publication, he has con- stantly disdained to have recourse to any such arts; without ever having been accused of disloyalty or irreligion, he is not always harping upon Church and King, in order to catch at a little popularity, and sell his books ; he is manly, independent, liberal and main- tains enlightened opinions with discre- tion and nonesty. There is also in this work of Mr. Edgeworth, an agree- able diffusion of anecdote and example, such as a man acquires who reads with a view to talking or writing. With these merits, we cannot say that Mr. Edgeworth is either very new, very profound, or very apt to be right in his opinion. He is active, enterprising, and unprejudiced ; but we have not been very much instructed by what he has written, or always satisfied that he has got to the bottom of his subject. On one subject, however, we cor- dially agree with this gentleman ; and return him our thanks for the courage with which he has combated the ex- cessive abuse of classical learning in England. It is a subject upon which we have long wished for an opportunity of saying something ; and one which we consider to be of the very highest importance. "The principal defect," says Mr. Edge- worth, " in the present system of our great schools, is, that they devote too large a jortion of" time to Latin and Greek. It is rue, that the attainment of classical litera- ture is highly desirable ; but it should not, or rather it need not, be the exclusive object of boys during eight or nine years. " Much less time, judiciously managed, would give them an acquaintance with the 'lassies sufficient for all useful purposes, and would make them as good scholars as gentle- men or professional men need to be. It is not requisite that every man should make Latin or Greek verses ; therefore a knowledge of prosody beyond the structure of hexameter and pentameter verses is as worthless an acquisition as any which folly or fashion has introduced amongst the higher classes of mankind. It must indeed be acknow- ledged that there are some rare exceptions ; but even party prejudice would allow, that the persons alluded to must have risen to eminence though they had never written saphics or iambics. Though preceptors, parents, and the public in general, may be convinced of the absurdity of making boys spend so much of life in learning what can be of no use to them ; such are the diffi- culties of making any change in the ancient rules of great establishments, that masters themselves, however reasonable, dare not, and cannot, make sudden alterations. "The only remedies that can be sug- gested might be, perhaps, to take those boys, who are not intended for professions in which deep scholarship is necessary, away from school before they reach the highest classes, where prosody and Greek and Latin verses are required. " In the college of Dublin, where an ad- mirable course of instruction has been long established, where this course is super- intended by men of acknowledged learning and abilities, and pursued by students of uncommon industry, such is the force of example, and such the fear of appearing inferior in trifles to English universities, that much pains have been lately taken to introduce the practice of writing Greek and Latin verses, and much solicitude has been shown about the prosody of the learned languages, without any attention being paid to the prosody of our own. " Boarding houses for the scholars at Eton and Westminster, which, are at present mere lodging houses, might be kept by private tutors, who might, during the hours when the boys were not in their public classes, assist them in acquiring general literature, or such knowledge as might be advantageous for their respective professions. " New schools, that are not restricted to any established routine, should give a fair M 4 TOO MUCH LATIN AND GEEEK. 168 trial to experiments in education, which afford a rational prospect of success. If nothing can be altered in the old schools, leave them as they are. Destroy nothing injure none but let the public try whether they cannot have something better. If the experiment do not succeed, the public will be convinced that they ought to acquiesce in the established methods of instruction, and parents will send their children to the ancient seminaries with increased con- fidence." (pp. 4749.) We are well aware that nothing very new can remain to be said upon a topic so often debated. The complaints we have to make are at least as old as the time of Locke and Dr. Samuel Clarke ; and the evil which is the subject of these complaints has certainly rather increased than diminished since the period of those two great men. A hundred years, to be sure, is a very little time for the duration of a national error ; and it is so far from being rea- sonable to look for its decay at so short a date, that it c,an hardly be expected, within such limits, to have displayed the full bloom of its imbecility. There are several feelings to which attention must be paid, before the question of classical learning can be fairly and temperately discussed. We are apt, in the first place, to re- member the immense benefits which the study of the classics once conferred on mankind ; and to feel for those models on which the taste of Europe has been formed, something like senti- ments of gratitude and obligation. This is all well enough, so long as it continues to be a mere feeling ; but as soon as it interferes with action, it nourishes dangerous prejudices about education. Nothing will do in the pursuit of knowledge but the blackest ingratitude ; the moment we have got up the ladder, we must kick it down as soon as we have passed over the bridge, we must let it rot ; when we have got upon the shoulders of the ancients, we must look over their heads. The man who forgets the friends of his childhood in real life is base ; but he who clings to the props of his child- hood in literature, must be content to remain as ignorant as he was when a child. His business is to forget, dis- own, and deny to think himself above everything which has been of use to him in time past and to cultivate that exclusively from which he expects future advantage : in short, to do everything for the advancement of his knowledge, which it would be infamous to do for the advancement of his for- tune. If mankind still derive advan- tage from classical literature propor- tionate to the labour they bestow upon it, let their labour and their study proceed : but the moment we cease to read Latin and Greek for the solid utility we derive from them, it would be a very romantic application of hu- man talents to do so from any feeling of gratitude, and recollection of past service. To almost every Englishman up to the age of three or four and twenty, classical learning has been the great object of existence ; and no man is very apt to suspect, or very much pleased to hear, that what he has done for so long a time was not worth doing. His classical literature, too, reminds every man of the scenes of his child- hood, and brings to his fancy several of the most pleasing associations which we are capable of forming. A certain sort of vanity, also, very naturally, grows among men occupied in a com- mon pursuit. Classical quotationsare the watchwords of scholars, by which they distinguish eachotherfrom the ignorant and the illiterate ; and Greek and Latin are insensibly become almost the only test of a cultivated mind. Some men through indolence, others through ignorance, and most through necessity, submit to the established education of the times ; and seek for their children that species of distinction which happens, at the period in which they live, to be stamped with the ap- probation of mankind. This mere question of convenience every parent must determine for himself. A poor man, who has his fortune to gain, must be a quibbling theologian, or a classical pedant, as fashion dictates ; and he must vary his error with the error of the times. But it would be much more fortunate for mankind, if the public opinion, which regulates the pursuits of TOO MUCH LATIN AXD GREEK. 169 individuals, were more wise and en- lightened than it at present is. All these considerations make it ex- tremely difficult to procure a candid hearing on this question ; and to refer this branch of education to the only proper criterion of every branch of education its utility in future life. There are two questions which grow ont of this subject : 1st, How far is any sort of classical education useful ? 2d, How far is that particular classical education, adopted in this country, useful ? Latin and Greek are, in the first place, useful, as they inure children to intellectual difficulties, and make the life of a young student what it ought to be, a life of considerable labour. We do not, of course, mean to confine this praise exclusively to the study of Latin and Greek ; or to suppose that other difficulties might not be found which it would be useful to overcome : but though Latin and Greek have this merit in common with many arts and sciences, still they have it ; and, if they do nothing else, they at least secure a solid and vigorous application at a period of life which materially influences all other periods. To go through the grammar of one language thoroughly is of great use for the mastery of every other grammar ; because there obtains, through all languages, a certain analogy to each other in their grammatical construction. Latin and Greek have now mixed themselves etymologically with all the languages of modern Europe and with none more than our own ; so that it is necessary to read these two tongues for other objects than themselves. The two ancient languages are as mere inventions as pieces of mechan- ism incomparably more beautiful than any of the modern languages of Europe; their mode of signifying time and case, by terminations, instead of auxiliary verbs and particles, would of itself stamp then" superiority. Add to this the copiousness of the Greek language, with the fancy, majesty, and harmony of its compounds ; and there are quite sufficient reasons why the cla-sics should be studied for the beauties of language. Compared to them, merely as vehicles of thought and passion, all modern languages are dull, ill contrived, and barbarous. That a great part of the Scriptures have come down to us in the Greek lan- guage, is of itself a reason, if all others were wanting, why education should be planned so as to produce a supply of Greek scholars. The cultivation of style is very justly made a part of education. Everything which is written is meant either to please or to instruct. The second object it is difficult to effect, without attending to the first ; and the cultiva- tion of style is the acquisition of those rules and literary habits which saga- city anticipates, or experience shows to be the most effectual means of pleasing. Those works are the best which have longest stood the test of time, and pleased the greatest number of. exer- cised minds. Whatever, therefore, our conjectures may be, we cannot be so sure that the best modern writers can afford us as good models as the ancients; we cannot be certain that they will live through the revolutions of the world, and continue to please in every climate under every species of government through every state of civilisation. The moderns have been well taught by their masters ; but the time is hardly yet come when the necessity for such instruction no longer exists. We may still borrow descriptive power from Tacitus ; digni- fied perspicuity from Livy ; simplicity from Cassar ; and from Homer some portion of that light and heat which, dispersed into ten thousand channels, has filled the world with bright images and illustrious thoughts. Let the cul- tivator of modern literature addict him- self to the purest models of taste which France, Italy, and England could supply, he might still learn from Virgil to be majestic, and from Tibullus to be tender ; he might not yet look upon the face of nature as Theocritus saw it ; nor might he reach those springs of pathos with which Euripides softened the hearts of his audience. In short, it appears to us, that there are so many excellent reasons why a certain number 170 TOO MUCH LATIN AND GREEK. of scholars should be kept up in this and in every civilised country, that we should consider every system of educa- tion from which classical education was excluded, as radically erroneous, and completely absurd. That vast advantages, then, may be derived from classical learning, there can be no doubt The advantages which are derived from classical learning by the English manner of teaching, involve another and a very different question ; and we will venture to say, that there never was a more complete instance in any country of such extravagant and overacted at- tachment to any branch of knowledge, as that which obtains in this country with regard to classical knowledge. A young Englishman goes to school at six or seven years old ; and he remains in a course of education till twenty- three or twenty-four years of age. In all that time, his sole and exclusive occupation is learning Latin and Greek* ; he has scarcely a notion that there is any other kind of excellence ; and the great system of facts with which he is the most perfectly ac- quainted, are the intrigues of the Hea- then Gods : with whom Pan slept ? with whom Jupiter ? whom Apollo ravished ? These facts the English youth get by heart the moment they quit the nursery ; and are most sedu- lously and industriously instructed in them till the best and most active part of life is passed away. Now, this long career of classical learning, we may, if we please, denominate a foundation ; but it is a foundation so far above ground, that there is absolutely no room to put anything upon it. If you occupy a man with one thing till he is twenty-four years of age, you have ex- hausted all his leisure time: he is called into the world and compelled to act ; or is surrounded with pleasures, and thinks and reads no more. If you have neglected to put other things in him, they will never get in afterwards ; * Unless he goes to the University of Cam' riiljre ; and then classics occupy him entirely for about ten years; and divide him with mathematics for four or five if you have fed him only with words, lie will remain a narrow and limited being to the end of his existence. The bias given to men's minds is so strong, that it is no uncommon thing to meet with Englishmen, whom, but for their grey hairs and wrinkles, wo might easily mistake for school-boys. Their talk is of Latin verses ; and it is quite clear, if men's ages are to be dated from the state of their mental progress, that such men are eighteen years of age, and not a day older. Their minds have been so completely possessed by exaggerated notions of classical learning, that they have not been able in the great school of the world, to form any other notion of real greatness. Attend, too, to the public feelings look to all the terms of ap- plause. A learned man ! a scholar ! a man of erudition ! Upon whom are these epithets of approbation bestowed ? Are they given to men acquainted with the science of government ? thoroughly masters of the geographical and com- mercial relations of Europe : to men who know the properties of bodies, and their action upon each other ? No : this is not learning ; it is chemistry, or political economy not learning. The distinguishing abstract term, the epithet of Scholar, is reserved for him who writes on the JEolic reduplication, and is familiar with the Sylburgian method of arranging defectives in a and /in. The picture which a young English- man, addicted to the pursuit of know- ledge, draws his beau ideal, of human nature his top and consummation of man's powers is a knowledge of the Greek language. His object is not to reason, to imagine, or to invent ; but to conjugate, decline, and derive. The situations of imaginary glory which he draws for himself, are the detection of an anapaest in the wrong place, or the restoration of a dative case which Cranzius had passed over, and the never-dying Ernesti failed to observe. If a young classic of this kind were to meet the greatest chemist or the greatest mechanician, or the most profound poli- tical economist of his time, in company with the greatest Greek scholar, would the slightest comparison between them TOO MUCH LATIN AND GREEK. 171 ever come across his mind? would he ever dream that such men as Adam Smith and Lavoisier were equal in dignity of understanding to, or of the same utility as, Bentley and Heyne ? We are inclined to think, that the feel- ing excited would be a good deal like that which was expressed by Dr. George about the praises of the great King of Prussia, who entertained considerable doubts whether the King, with all his victories, knewhow to conjugate a Greek verb in fu. Another misfortune of classical learn- ing, as taught in England, is, that scholars have come, in process of time, and from the effects of association, to love the instrument better than the end ; not the luxury which the difficulty encloses, but the difficulty; not the filbert but the shell ; not what may be read in Greek, but Qreek itself. It is not so much the man who has mastered the wisdom of the ancients, that is valued, as he who displays his know- ledge of the vehicle in which that wis- dom is conveyed. The glory is to show I am a scholar. The good sense and ingenuity I may gain by my acquaint- ance with ancient authors is matter of opinion ; but if I bestow an immensity of pains upon a point of accent or quantity, this is something positive ; I establish my pretensions to the name of Scholar, and gain the credit of learn- ing, while I sacrifice all its utility. Another evil in the present system of classical education is the extraordi- nary perfection which is aimed at in teaching those languages ; a needless perfection ; an accuracy which is sought for in nothing else. There are few boys who remain to the age of eighteen or nineteen at a public school, with- out making above ten thousand Latin verses ; a greater number than is con- tained in the <3Zneid : and after he has made this quantity of verses in a dead language, unless the poet should happen to be a very weak man indeed, he never makes another as long as he lives. It may be urged, and it is urged, that this is of use in teaching the deli- cacies of the language. No doubt it is of use for this purpose, if we put out of view the immense time and trouble sacrificed in gaining these little delica- cies. It would be of use that we should go on till fifty years of age making Latin verses, if the price of a whole life were not too much to pay for it. We effect our object ; but we do it at the price of something greater than our object. And whence comes it, that the expenditure of life and labour is totally put out of the calculation, when Latin and Greek are to be attained? In every other occupation, the question is fairly stated between the attainment and 'the time employed in the pursuit : but, in classical learning, it seems to be sufficient if the least possible good is gained by the greatest possible exertion; if the end is anything, and the means everything. It is of some importance to speak and write French ; and in- numerable delicacies would be gained by writing ten thousand French verses : but it makes no part of our education to write French poetry. It is of some importance that there should be good botanists ; but no botanist can repeat by heart the names of all the plants in the known world ; nor is any astronomer acquainted with the appellation and magnitude of every star in the map of the heavens. The only department of human knowledge in which there can be no excess, no arithmetic, no balance of profit and loss, is classical learning. The prodigioushonourin which Latin verses are held at public schools is surely the most absurd of all absurd distinctions. You rest all reputation upon doing that which is a natural gift, and which no labour can attain. If a lad won't learn the words of a language, his degradation in the school is a very natural punishment for his disobedience, or his indolence ; but it would be as reasonable to expect that all boys should be witty, or beautiful, as that they should be poets. In either case, it would be to make an accidental, unat- tainable, and not a very important gift of nature, the only, or the principal test of merit. This is the reason why boys, who make a considerable figure at school, so very often make no figure in the world ; and why other lads, who are passed over without notice, turn out to be valuable important men. The 172 TOO MUCH LATIN AND GREEK. test established in the world is widely different from that established in a place which is presumed to be a preparation for the world ; and the head of a public school, who is a perfect miracle to his contemporaries, finds himself shrink in- to absolute insignificance, because he has nothing else to command respect or regard, but a talent for fugitive poetry in a dead language. The present state of classical educa- tion cultivates the imagination a great deal too much, and other habits of mind a great deal too little ; and trains up many young men in a style of elegant imbecility, utterly unworthy of the talents with which nature has en- dowed them. It may be said, there are profound investigations, and subjects quite powerful enough for any under- standing, to be met with in classical literature. So there are ; but no man likes to add the difficulties of a lan- guage to the difficulties of a subject ; and to study metaphysics, morals, and politics in Greek, when the Greek alone is study enough without them. In all foreign languages, the most popular works are works of imagination. Even in the French language, which we know so well, for one serious work which has any currency in this country, we have twenty which are mere works of imagi- nation. This is still more true in clas- sical literature ; b&cause what their poets and orators have left us is of infinitely greater value than the remains of their philosophy ; for, as society advances, men think more accurately and deeply, and imagine more tamely ; works of reasoning advance, and works of fancy decay. So that the matter of fact is, that a classical scholar of twenty- three or twenty-four years of age is a man principally conversant with works of imagination. His feelings are quick, his fancy lively, aud his taste good. Talents for speculation and original inquiry he has none ; nor has he formed the invaluable habit of pushing things up to their first principles, or of collect- ing dry and unamusing facts as the materials of reasoning. All the solid and masculine parts of his understand- ing are left wholly without cultivation ; he hates the pain of thinking, and suspects every man whose boldness and originality call upon him to defend his opinions and prove his assertions. A very curious argument is some- times employed in justification of the learned minutiae to which all young men are doomed, whatever be their propensities in future life. What are you to do with a young man up to the age of seventeen ? Just as if there were such a want of difficulties to over- come, and of important tastes to in- spire, that, from the mere necessity of doing something, and the impossibility of doing anything else, you were driven to the expedient of metre and poetry ; as if a young man within that period might not acquire the modern languages, modern history, experimental philoso- phy, geography, chronology, and a con- siderable share of mathematics ; as if the memory of things were not more agreeable, and more profitable, than the memory of words. The great objection is, that we are not making the most of human life, when we constitute such an extensive, and such minute classical erudition, an indispensable article in education. Up to a certain point we would educate every young man in Latin and Greek ; but to a point far short of that to which this species of education is now. carried. Afterwards, we would grant to classical erudition as high honours as to every other department of knowledge, but not higher. We would place it upon a footing with many other objects of study ; but allow to it no superiority. Good scholars would be as certainly pro- duced by these means, as good chemists, astronomers, and mathematicians are now produced, without any direct pro- vision whatsoever for their production. Why are we to trust to the diversity of human tastes, and the varieties of hu- man ambition, in every thing else, and distrust it in classics alone ? The pas- sion for languages is just as strong as any other literary passion. There are very good Persian and Arabic scholars in this country. Large heaps of trash have been dug up from Sanscrit ruins. We have seen in our own times, a clergyman of the University of Oxford complimenting their Majesties in Cop- TOO MUCH LATIN AND GREEK. 173 tic and Syro-phcenician verses ; andyet we doubt whether there will be a suffi- cient avidity in literary men to get at the beauties of the finest writers which the world has yet seen ; and though the JBayvat Gheeta has (as can be proved) met with human beings to translate, and other human beings to read it, we think that, in order to secure an attention to Homer and Virgil, we must catch up every man whether he is to be a clergyman or a duke, begin with him at six years of age, and never quit him till he is twenty ; making hirn conjugate and decline for life and death; and so teaching him to estimate his pro- gress in real wisdom as he can scan the verses of the Greek tragedians. The English clergy, in whose hands education entirely rests, bring up the first young men of the country as if they were all to keep grammar schools in little country towns ; and a noble- man, upon whose knowledge and libe- rality the honour and welfare of his country may depend, is diligently wor- ried, for half his life, with the small pedantry of longs and shorts. There is a timid and absurd apprehension, on the part of ecclesiastical tutors, of let- ting out the minds of youth upon diffi- cult and important subjects. They fancy that mental exertion must end in religious scepticism ; and, to preserve the principles of their pupils, they con- fine them to the safe and elegant imbe- cility of classical learning. A genuine Oxford tutor would shudder to hear his young men disputing upon moral and political truth, forming and pulling down theories, and indulging in all the boldness of youthful discussion. He would augur nothing from it, but im- piety to God, and treason to kings. And yet, who vilifies both more than the holy poltroon who carefully averts from them the searching eye of reason, and who knows no better method of teaching the highest duties, than by ex- tirpating the finest qualities and habits of the mind? If our religion is a fable, the sooner it is exploded the better. If our government is bad, it should be amended. But we have no doubt of the truth of the one, or of the excel- lence of the other ; and are convinced that both will be placed on a firmer basis, in proportion as the minds of men, are more trained to the investigation of truth. At present, we act with the minds of our young men, as the Dutch did with their exuberant spices. An infinite quantity of talent is annually destroyed in the Universities of England by the miserable jealousy and littleness of ecclesiastical instructors. It is in vain to say we have produced great men under this system. We have pro- duced great men under all systems. Every Englishman must pass half his life in learning Latin and Greek ; and classical learning is supposed to have produced the talents which it has not been able to extinguish. It is scarcely possible to prevent great men from rising up under any system of educa- tion, however bad. Teach men dtemon- ology or astrology, and you will still have a certain portion of original ge- nius, in spite of these or any other branches of ignorance and folly. There is a delusive sort of splendour in a vast body of men pursuing one ob- ject, and thoroughly obtaining it ; and yet, though it be very splendid, it is far from being useful. Classical literature is the great object at Oxford. Many minds so employed have produced many works, and much fame in that depart- ment ; but if all liberal arts and sci- ences useful to human life had been taught there, if some had dedicated themselves to chemistry, some to ma- thematics, some to experimental philo- sophy, and if every attainment had been honoured in the mixt ratio of its difficulty and utility, the system of such an University would have been much more valuable, but the splendour of it name something less. When an University has been doing useless things for a long time, it ap- pears at first degrading to them to be useful. A set of lectures upon poli- tical economy would be discouraged in Oxford*, probably despised, probably not permitted. To discuss the en- closure of commons, and to dwell upon imports and exports, to come so near to common life, would seem to I * They have since been established. 174 TOO MUCH LATIN AND GREEK be undignified and contemptible. In the same manner, the Parr, or the Bent- ley of his day, would be scandalised in an University to be put on a level with the discoverer of a neutral salt ; and yet, what other measure is there of dignity in intellectual labour, but usefulness and difficulty ? And what ought the term University to mean, but a place where every science is taught which is liberal, and at the same time useful to mankind? Nothing would so much tend to bring classical literature within proper bounds as a steady and invariable appeal to these tests in our appreciation of all human knowledge. The puffed up pedant would collapse into his proper size, and the maker of verses and the rememberer of words, would soon assume that station, which is the lot of those who go up unbidden to the upper places of the feast We should be sorry, if what we have said should appear too contemptuous towards classical learning, which we most sincerely hope will always be held in great honour in this country, though we certainly do not wish to it that ex- clusive honour which it at present en- joys. A great classical scholar is an ornament and an important acquisition to his country ; but, in a place of edu- cation, we would give to all knowledge an equal chance for distiuction ; and would trust to the varieties of hu- man disposition, that every science worth cultivation would be cultivated. Looking always to real utility as our guide, we should see, with equal plea- sure, a studious and inquisitive mind arranging the productions of nature, investigating the qualities of bodies, or mastering the difficulties of the learned languages. We should not care whether he were chemist, natu- ralist, or scholar, because we know it to be as necessary that matter should be studied, and subdued to the use of man, as that taste should be gratified, and imagination inflamed. In those who were destined for the church, we would undoubtedly en- courage classical learning, more than in any other body of men ; but if we had to do with a young man going out into public life, *we would exhort him to contemn, or at least not to affect the reputation of a great scholar, but to ducate himself for the offices of civil life. He should learn what the consti- tution of his country really was, how it had grown into its present state, the perils that had threatened it, the malignity that had attacked it, the :ourage that had fought for it, and Jhe wisdom that had made it great. We would bring strongly before his mind the characters of those Englishmen who have been the steady friends of the public happiness ; and, by their examples, would breathe into him a pure public taste, which should keep him untainted in all the vicissitudes of political fortune. We would teach him to burst through the well paid, and the pernicious cant of indiscrimi- nate loyalty; and to know his Sovereign only as he discharged those duties, and displayed those qualities, for which the blood and the treasure of his people are confided to his hands. We should deem it of the utmost importance, that his attention was directed to the true prin- ciples of legislation, what effect laws can produce upon opinions, and opinions upon laws, what subjects are tit for legislative interference, and when men may be left to the management of their own interests. The mischief ccasioned by bad laws, and the per- plexity which arises from numerous laws, the causes of national wealth, the relations of foreign trades, the en- couragement of manufactures and agri- culture, the fictitious wealth occa- sioned by paper credit, the laws of population, the management of po- verty and mendicity the use and abuse of monopoly, the theory of taxation, the consequences of the public debt. These are some of the subjects, and some of the branches of civil education, to which we would turn the minds of future judges, future senators, and future noblemen. After the first period of life had been given up to the cultivation of the classics, and the reasoning powers were now beginning to evolve themselves, these are some of the propensities in study which we would endeavour to inspire. Great FEMALE EDUCATION. 175 knowledge at such a period of life, we could not convey ; but we might fix a decided taste for its acquisition, and a strong disposition to respect it in others. The formation of some great scholars we should certainly prevent, and hinder many from learning what, in a few years, they would necessarily forget ; but this loss would be well repaid, if we could show the future rulers of the country that thought and labour which it requires to make a nation happy, or if we could inspire them with that love of public virtue, which, after religion, we most solemnly believe to be the brightest ornament of the mind of man. FEMALE EDUCATION. (E. REVIEW, 1809.) Advice to Young Ladies on the Improve- ment of the Wind. By Thomas Broad- hurst. 8vo. London, 1808. MR. BROADHPRST is a very good sort of a man, who has not written a very bad book upon a very important sub- ject. His object (a very laudable o is to recommend a better system o: female education than at present pre- vails in this country to turn the atten- tion of women from the trifling pursuits to which they are now condemned and to cultivate faculties which, under the actual system of management, migh: almost as well not exist. To the ex- amination of his ideas upon these points we shall very cheerfully give up a por tion of our time and attention. A great deal has been said of th< original difference of capacity between men and women ; as if women weri more quick and men Ynore judicious as if women were more remarkable fo delicacy of association, and men fo stronger powers of attention. Al this, we confess, appears to us ven fanciful. That there is a difference in the understandings of the men and the women we every day meet with, every body, we suppose, must perceive ; bu there is none surely which may not b accounted for by the difference of cir cumstances in which they have been placed, without referring to any conjee ural difference of original conforma- of mind. As long as boys and girls run about in the dirt, and trundle loops together, they are both precisely alike. If you catch up one half of these reatures, and train them to a particular et of actions and opinions, and the ither half to a perfectly opposite set, of :ourse their understandings will differ, as one or the other sort of occupations las called this or that talent into action. There is surely no occasion to go into any deeper or more abstruse reasoning, n order to explain so very simple a phe- nomenon. Taking it, then, for granted, that nature has been as bountiful of understanding to one sex as the other, it is incumbent on us to consider what are the principal objections com- monly made against the communica- tion of a greater share of knowledge to women than commonly falls to their lot at present : for though it may be doubted whether women should learn all that men learn, the immense disparity which now exists between their knowledge we should hardly think could admit of any rational defence. It is not easy to imagine that there can be any just cause why a woman of forty should be more ignorant than a boy of twelve years of age. If there be any good at all in female ignorance, this (to use a very colloquial phrase) is surely too much of a good thing. Something in this qnestion must de- pend, no doubt, upon the leisure which either sex enjoys for the cultivation of their understandings: and we can- not help thinking, that women have fully as much, if not more, idle time upon their hands than men. Women are excluded from all the serious busi- ness of the world ; men are lawyers, physicians, clergymen, apothecaries, and justices of the peace sources of exertion which consume a great deal more time than producing and suckling children ; so that if the thing is a thing that ought to be done if the attain- ments of literature are objects really worthy the attention of females, they cannot plead the want of leisure as an excuse for indolence and neglect. The lawyer who passes his day in exaspe- 176 FEMALE EDUCATION. rating the bickerings of Eoe and Doe, is certainly as much engaged as his lady, who has the whole of her morn- ing before her to correct the children and pay the bills. The apothecary, who rushes from an act of phlebotomy in the western parts of the town to in- sinuate a bolus in the east, is surely as completely absorbed as that fortunate female who is darning the garment or preparing the repast of her JEsculapius at home ; and in every degree and situation of life, it seems that men must necessarily be exposed to more serious demands upon their time and attention, than can possibly be the case with respect to the other sex. We are speaking always of the fair demands which ought to be made upon the time and attention of women ; for, as the matter now stands, the time of women is considered as worth nothing at all. Daughters are kept to occupations in sewing, patching, mantua-making, and mending, by which it is impossible they can earn tenpence a day. The intellectual improvement of women is considered to be of such subordinate importance, that twenty pounds paid for needle-work would give to a whole family leisure to acquire a fund of real knowledge. They are kept with nim- ble fingers and vacant understandings, till the season for improvement is ut- terly past away, and all chance of forming more important habits com- pletely lost. We do not therefore say that women have more leisure than men, if it be necessary they should lead the life of artisans ; but we make this assertion only upon the supposition that it is of some importance women should be instructed ; and that many ordinary occupations, for which a little money will find a better substitute should be sacrificed to this considera^ tion. We bar, in this discussion, any ob- jection which proceeds from the mere novelty of teaching women more than they are already taught. It may be useless that their education should be improved, or it may be pernicious ; and these are the fair grounds on which the question may be argued. But those who cannot bring their minds to con- sider such an unusual extension of knowledge, without connecting with it some sensation of the ludicrous, should remember, that, in the progress from absolute ignorance, there is a period when cultivation of the mind is new to every rank and description of persons. A century ago, who would have be- lieved that country gentlemen could be brought to read and spell with the ease and accuracy which we now so fre- quently remark, or supposed that they could be carried up even to the ele- ments of ancient and modern history ? Nothing is more common, or more stupid, than to take the actual for the possible to believe that all which is, is all which can be ; first to laugh at every proposed deviation from practice as impossible then, when it is carried into effect, to be astonished that it did not take place before. It is said, that the effect of knowledge is to make women pedantic and affected ; and that nothing can be more offensive, than to see a woman stepping out of the natural modesty of her sex. to make an ostentatious dis- play of her literary attainments. This may be true enough ; but the answer is so trite and obvious, that we are almost ashamed to make it. All affectation and display proceed from the suppo- sition of possessing something better than the rest of the world possesses. Nobody is vain of possessing two legs and two arms ; because that is the precise quantity of either sort of limb which every body possesses. Who ever heard a lady boast that she understood French ? for no other reason, that we know of, but because everybody in these days does understand French; and though there may be some disgrace in being ignorant of that language, there is little or no merit in its acqui- sition. Diffuse knowledge generally among women, and you will at once cure the conceit which knowledge occasions while it is rare. Vanity and conceit we shall of course witness in men and women as long as the world endures : but by multiplying the at- tainments upon which these feelings are founded, you increase the difficulty of indulging them, and render them FEMALE EDUCATION. 177 much more tolerable, by making them the proofs of a much higher merit. When learning ceases to be uncommon among women, learned women will cease to be affected. A great many of the lesser and more obscure duties of life necessarily de- volve upon the female sex. The arrangement of all household matters, and the care of children in their early infancy, must of course depend upon them. Now, there is a very general notion, that the moment you put the education of women upon a better footing than it is at present, at that moment there will be an end of all domestic economy : and that, if you once suffer women to eat of the tree of knowledge, the rest of the family will very soon be reduced to the same kind of aerial and unsatisfactory diet. These, and all such opinions are referable to one great and common cause of error ; that man does everything, and that nature does nothing ; and that everything we see, is referable to posi- tive institution, rather than to original feeling. Can anything, for example, be more perfectly absurd than to sup- pose, that the care and perpetual solici- tude which a mother feels for her chil- dren depends upon her ignorance of Greek and Mathematics ; and that she would desert an infant for a quadratic equation ? We seem to imagine, that we can break in pieces the solemn in- stitutions of nature by the little laws of a baarding-school ; and that the existence of the human race depends upon teaching women a little more or a little less ; that Cimmerian ignor- ance can aid parental affection, or the circle of arts and sciences produce its destruction. In the same manner, we forget the principles upon which the love of order, arrangement, and all the arts of economy depend. They depend not upon ignorance nor idle- ness ; but upon the poverty, confusion, and ruin which would ensue from neglecting them. Add to these prin- ciples the love of what is beautiful and magnificent, and the vanity of display ; and there can surely be no reason- able doubt but that the order and economy of private life is amply VOL. L secured from the perilous inroads of knowledge. We would fain know, too, if know- ledge is to produce such baneful effects upon the material and the household virtues, why this influence has not al- ready been felt ? Women are much better educated now than they were a century ago ; but they are by no means less remarkable for attention to the arrangements of their household, or less inclined to discharge the offices of parental affection. It would be very easy to show, that the same ob- jection has been made at all times to every improvement in the education of both sexes, and all ranks and been as uniformly and completely refuted by experience. A great part of the objections made to the education of women are rather objections made to human nature than to the female sex : for it is surely true, that knowledge, where it produces any bad effects at all, does as much mischief to one sex as to the other, and gives birth to fully as much arrogance, inattention to common affairs, and eccentricity among men, as it does among women. But it by no means follows, that you get rid of vanity and self-conceit, be- cause you get rid of learning. Self- complacency can never want an excuse; and the best way to make it more tolerable, and more useful, is to give to it as high and as dignified an object as possible. But, at all events, it is un- fair to bring forward against a part of the world an objection which is equally powerful against the whole. When foolish women think they have any distinction, they are apt to be proud of it ; so are foolish men. But we appeal to any one who has lived with culti- vated persons of either sex, whether he has not witnessed as much pedantry, as much wrongheadedness, as much arrogance, and certainly a great deal more rudeness, produced by learning in men than in women : therefore, we should make the accusation general or dismiss it altogether ; though, with respect to pedantry, the learned are certainly a little unfortunate, that so very emphatic a word, which is occa- sionally applicable to all men em- 178 PEMALE EDUCATION. barked eagerly in any pursuit, should be reserved exclusively for them : for, as pedantry is an ostentatious obtru- sion of knowledge, in which those who hear us cannot sympathise, it is a fault of which soldiers, sailors, sportsmen, gamesters, cultivators, and all men en- gaged in a particular occupation, are quite as guilty as scholars ; but they have the good fortune to have the vice only of pedantry, while scholars have both the vice and the name for it too. Some persons are apt to contrast the acquisition of important knowledge with what they call simple pleasures ; and deem it more becoming % that a woman should educate flowers, make friendships with birds, and pick up plants, than enter into more difficult and fatiguing studies. If a woman have no taste and genius for higher occupations, let her engage in these, rather than remain destitute of any pursuit. But why are we necessarily to doom a girl, whatever be her taste or her capacity, to one unvaried line of petty and frivolous occupation? If she be full of strong sense and elevated curiosity, can there be any reason why she should be diluted and enfeebled down to a mere culler of simples, and fancier of birds ? why books of his- tory and reasoning are to be torn out of her hand, and why she is to be sent, like a butterfly, to hover over the idle flowers of the field? Such amuse- ments are innocent to those whom they can occupy ; but they are not innocent to those who have too power- ful understandings to be occupied by them. Light broths and fruits are in- nocent food only to weak or to infant stomachs ; but they are poison to that organ in its perfect and mature state. But the great charm appears to be in the word simplicity simple pleasure ! If by a simple pleasure is meant an innocent pleasure, the observation is best answered by showing, that the pleasure which results from the acqui- sition of important knowledge is quite as innocent as any pleasure whatever : but if by a simple pleasure is meant one, the cause of which can be easily analysed, or which does not last long, or which in itself is very faint ; then simple pleasures seem to be very nearly synonymous with small pleasures; and if the simplicity were to be a little increased, the pleasure would vanish altogether. As it is impossible that every man should have industry or activity suffi- cient to avail himself of the advantages of education, it is natural that men who are ignorant themselves, should view, with some degree of jealousy and alarm, any proposal for improving the education of women. But such men may depend upon it, however the system of female education may be exalted, that there will never be want- ing a due proportion of failures ; and that after parents, guardians, and pre- ceptors have done all in their power to make everybody wise, there will still be a plentiful supply of women who have taken special care to remain otherwise ; and they may rest assured, if the utter extinction of ignorance and folly be the evil they dread, that their interests will always be effectually pro- tected, in spite of every exertion to the contrary. We must in candour allow, that those women who begin, will have something more to overcome than may probably hereafter be the case. We cannot deny the jealousy which exists among pompous and foolish men, re- specting the education of women. There is a class of pedants, who would be cut short in the estimation of the world a whole cubit, if it were gene- rally known that a young lady of eighteen could be taught to decline the tenses of the middle voice, or ac- quaint herself with the ^Eolic varieties of that celebrated language. Then women have, of course, all ignorant men for enemies to their instruction, who being bound (as they think), in point of sex to know more, are not well pleased, in point of fact, to know less. But, among men of sense and liberal politeness, a woman who has successfully cultivated her mind, with- out diminishing the gentleness and propriety of her manners, is always sure to meet with a respect and atten- tion bordering up^n enthusiasm. FEMALE EDUCATION. 179 There is in either sex a strong and permanent disposition to appear agree- able to the other : and this is the fair answer to those who are fond of sup- posing, that a higher degree of know- ledge would make women rather the rivals than the companions of men. Pre-supposing such a desire to please, it seems much more probable, that a common pursuit should be a fresh source of interest than a cause of con- tention. Indeed, to suppose that any mode of education can create a general jealousy and rivalry between the sexes, is so very ridiculous, that it requires only to be stated in order to be refuted. The same desire of pleasing secures all that delicacy and reserve which are of such inestimable value to women. We are quite astonished, in hearing men converse on such subjects, to find them attributing such beautiful effects to ignorance. It would appear, from the tenor of such objections, that igno- rance had been the great civiliser of the world. Women are delicate and re- fined only because they are ignorant ; they manage their household, only because they are ignorant ; they at- tend to their children, only because they know no better. Now, we must really confess, we have all our lives been so ignorant, as not to know the value of ignorance. We have always attributed the modesty and the refined manners of women, to their being well taught in moral and religious duty, to the hazardous situation in which they are placed, to that perpetual vigilance which it is their duty to exercise over thought, word, and ac- tion, and to that cultivation of the mild virtues, which those who culti- vate the stern and magnanimous vir- tues expect at their hands. After all, let it be remembered, we are not say- ing there are no objections to the diffusion of knowledge among the female sex. We would not hazard such a proposition respecting any- thing ; but we are saying, that, upon the whole, it is the best method of em- ploying time ; and that there are fewer objections to it than to any other method. There are, perhaps, 50,000 females in Great Britain, who are exempted by circumstances from all necessary labour : but every human being must do something with their existence ; and the pursuit of know- ledge is, upon the whole, the most innocent, the most dignified, and the most useful method of filling up that idleness, of which there is always so large a portion in nations far advanced in civilisation. Let any man reflect, too, upon the solitary situation in which women are placed, the ill treatment to which they are sometimes exposed, and which they must endure in silence, and without the power of complaining, and he must feel con- vinced that the happiness of a woman will be materially increased in pro- portion as education has given to her the habit and the means of drawing her resources from herself. There are a few common phrases in circulation, respecting the duties of women, to which we wish to pay some degree of attention, because they are rather inimical to those opinions which we have advanced on this subject. Indeed, independently of this, there is nothing which requires more vigilance than the current phrases of the day, of which there are always some resorted to in every dispute, and from the sove- reign authority of which it is often vain to make any appeal. " The true theatre for a woman is the sick cham- ber ; " " Nothing so honourable to a woman as not to be spoken of at all." These two phrases, the delight of Noodledom, are grown into common- places upon the subject ; and are not unfrequently employed to extinguish that love of knowledge in women,"whicb, in our humble opinion, it is of so much importance to cherish. Nothing, cer- tainly, is so ornamental and delightful in women as the benevolent affections; but time cannot be filled up, and life employed, with high and impassioned virtues. Some of these feelings are of rare occurrence all of short duration or nature would sink under them. A scene of distress and anguish is an occasion where the finest qnalities of the female mind may be displayed; but it is a monstrous exaggeration to tell women that they are born only for N 2 180 FEMALE EDUCATION. scenes of distress and anguish. Nurse father, mother, sister, and brother, if they want it ; it would be a violation of the plainest duties to neglect them. But, when we are talking of the common occupations of life, do not let us mis- take the accidents for the occupations; when we are arguing how the twenty -three hours of the day are to be filled up, it is idle to tell us of those feelings and agitations above the level of common existence, which may em- ploy the remaining hour. Compassion, and every other virtue, are the great objects we all ought to have in view ; but no man (and no woman) can fill up the twenty-four hours by acts of virtue. But one is a lawyer, and the other a ploughman, and the third a merchant ; and then, acts of goodness, and intervals of compassion and fine feeling, are scattered up and down the common occupations of life. We know women are to be compassionate ; but they cannot be compassionate from eight o'clock in the morning till twelve at night : and what are they to do in the interval? This is the only question we have been putting all along, and is all that can be meant by literary educa- tion. Then, again, as to the notoriety which is incurred by literature. The cultivation of knowledge is a very distinct thing from its publication ; nor does it follow that a woman is to be- come an author, merely because she has talent enough for it. We do not wish a lady to write books, to defend and reply, to squabble about the tomb of Achilles, or the plain of Troy, any more than we wish her to dance at the opera, to play at a public concert, or to put pictures in the Exhibition, because she has learned music, dancing, and drawing. The great use of her knowledge will be that it contributes to her private happiness. She may make it public : but it is not the principal object which the friends of female edu- cation have in view. Among men, the few who write bear no comparison to the many who read. We hear most of the former, indeed, because they are, in general, the most ostentatious part of literary men ; but there are innumer- able persons who, without ever laying themselves before the public, have made use of literature to add to the strength of their understandings, and to improve the happiness of their lives. After all, it may be an evil for ladies to be talked of: but we really think those ladies who are talked of only as Mrs. Marcet, Mrs. Somerville, and Miss Martineau are talked of, may bear their misfor- tunes with a very great degree of Christian patience. Their exemption from all the neces- sary business of life is one of the most powerful motives for the improvement of education in women. Lawyers and physicians have in their professions a constant motive to exertion ; if you neglect their education, they must in a certain degree educate themselves by their commerce with the world ; they must learn caution, accuracy, and judg- ment, because they must incur respon- sibility. But if you neglect to educate the mind of a woman, by the speculative difficulties which occur in literature, it can never be educated at all : if you do not effectually rouse it by education, it must remain for ever languid. Unedu- cated men may escape intellectual de- gradation ; uneducated women cannot. They have nothing to do ; and if they come untaught from the schools of edu- cation, they will never be instructed in the school of events. Women have not their livelihood to gain by knowledge; and that is one motive for relaxing all those efforts which are made in the education of men. They certainly have not ; but they have happiness to gain, to which knowledge leads as probably as it does to profit ; and that is a reason against mistaken indulgence. Besides, we conceive the labour and fatigue of accomplishments to be quite equal to the labour and fatigue of knowledge ; and that it takes quite as many years to be charming as it does to be learned. Another difference of the sexes is, that women are attended to, and men attend. All acts of courtesy and polite- ness originate from the one sex, and are received by the other. We can see no sort of reason, in this diversity of condition, for giving to women a trifling FEMALE EDUCATION. 181 and insignificant education ; but we see in it a very powerful reason for strength- ening their judgment, and inspiring them with the habit of employing time usefully. We admit many striking differences in the situation of the two sexes, and many striking differences of understanding, proceeding from the different circumstances in which they are placed ; but there is not a single difference of this kind which does not afford a new argument for making the education of women better than it is. They have nothing serious to do; is that a reason why they should be brought up to do nothing but what is trifling ? They are exposed to greater dangers ; is that a reason why their faculties are to be purposely and indus- triously weakened ? They are to form the characters of future men ; is that a cause why their own characters are to be broken and frittered down as they now are ? In short, there is not a single trait in that diversity of circum- stances, in which the two sexes are placed, that does not decidedly prove the magnitude of the error we commit in neglecting (as we do neglect) the education of women. If the objections against the better education of women could be overruled, one of the great advantages that would ensue would be the extinction of innu- merable follies. A decided and pre- vailing taste for one or another mode of education there must be. A century past, it was for housewifery now it is for accomplishments. The object now is, to make women artists, to give them an excellence in drawing, music, painting, and dancing, of which, per- sons who make these pursuits the oc- cupation of their lives, and derive from them their subsistence, need not be ashamed. Now, one great evil of all this is, that it does not last. If the whole of life were an Olympic game, if we could go on feasting and dancing to the end, this might do; but it is in truth merely provision for the little interval between coming into life and settling in it ; while it leaves a long and dreary expanse behind, devoid both of dignity and cheerfulness. No mother, no woman who has passed over the few first years of life, sings, or dances, or draws, or plays upon musical instru- ments. These are merely means for displaying the grace and vivacity of youth, which every woman gives up, as she gives up the dress and the manners of eighteen : she has no wish to retain them ; or, if she has, she is driven out of them by diameter and derision. The system of female educa- tion, as it now stands, aims only at embellishing a few years of life, which are in themselves so full of grace and happiness, that they hardly want it ; and then leaves the rest of existence a miserable prey to idle insignificance. No woman of understanding and re- flection can possibly conceive she is doing justice to her children by such kind of education. The object is, to give to children resources that will endure as long as life endures habits that time will ameliorate, not destroy, occupa- tions that will render sickness tolerable, solitude pleasant, age venerable, life more dignified and useful, and therefore death less terrible : and the compensa- tion which is offered for the omission of all this, is a short-lived blaze, a little temporary effect, which has no other consequence than to deprive the remainder of life of all taste and relish. There may be women who have a taste for the fine arts, and who evince a decided talent for drawing, or for music. In that case, there can be no objection to the cultivation of these arts; but the error is, to make such things the grand and universal object, to insist upon it that every woman is to sing, and draw, and dance, with nature, or against nature, to bind her appren- tice to some accomplishment, and if she cannot succeed in oil or water colours, to prefer gilding, varnishing, burnish- ing, box-making, to real and solid improvement in taste, knowledge, and understanding. A great deal is said in favour of the social nature of the fine arts. Music gives pleasure to others. Drawing is an art, the amusement of which does not centre in him who exercises it, but is diffused among the rest of the world. This is true ; but there is nothing, after all, so social as a cultivated mind. We V 3 J82 FEMALE EDUCATION. do not mean to speak slightingly of the tine arts, or to depreciate the good humour with which they are sometimes exhibited ; but we appeal to any man, whether a little spirited and sensible conversation displaying, modestly, useful acquirements and evincing rational curiosity, is not well worth the highest exertions of musical or graphical skilL A woman of accomplishments may entertain those who have the plea- sure of knowing her for half an hour with great brilliancy ; but a mind full of ideas, and with that elastic spring which the love of knowledge only can convey, is a perpetual source of ex- hilaration and amusement to all that come within its reach ; not collecting its force into single and insulated achieve- ments, like the efforts made in the fine arts but diffusing, equally over the whole of existence, a calm pleasure better loved as it is longer felt and suitable to every variety and every period of life. Therefore, instead of hanging the understanding of a wo- man upon walls, or hearing it vibrate upon strings, instead of seeing it in clouds, or hearing it in the wind, we would make it the first spring and ornament of society, by enriching it with attainments upon which alone such power depends. If the education of women were im- proved, the education of men would be improved also. Let any one consider (in order to bring the matter more home by an individual instance) of what immense importance to society it is, whether a nobleman of first-rate fortune and distinction is well or ill brought up ; what a taste and fashion he may inspire for private and for political vice ! and what misery and mischief he may produce to the thou- sand human beings who are dependent on him ! A country contains no such curse within its bosom. Youth, wealth, high rank, and vice, form a combina- tion which baffles all remonstrance and beats down all opposition. A man of high rank who combines these qualifi- cations for corruption, is almost the master of the manners of the age, and has the public happiness within his grasp. But the most beautiful posses- sion which a country can have is a noble and rich man who loves virtue and knowledge ; who without being feeble or fanatical is pious and who without being factious is firm and in- dependent ; who, in his political life, is an equitable mediator between king and people ; and, in his civil life, a firm promoter of all which can shed a lustre upon his country, or promote the peace and order of the world. But if these objects are of the importance which we attribute to them, the educa- tion of women must be important, as the formation of character for the first seven or eight years of life seems to depend almost entirely upon them. It is certainly in the power of a sensible and well educated mother to inspire, within that period, such tastes and pro- pensities as shall nearly decide the destiny of the future man ; and this is done, not only by the intentional exer- tions of the mother, but by the gradual and insensible imitation of the child ; for there is something extremely con- tagious in greatness and rectitude of thinking, even at that age ; and the character of the mother with whom he passes his early infancy is always an event of the utmost importance to the child. A merely accomplished woman cannot infuse her tastes into the minds of her sons ; and, if she could, nothing could be more unfor- tunate than her success. Besides, when her accomplishments are given up, she has nothing left for it but to amuse herself in the best way she can ; and, becoming entirely frivolous, either de- clines altogether the fatigue of attend- ing to her children, or, attending to them, has neither talents nor know- ledge to succeed ; and, therefore, here is a plain and fair answer to those who ask so triumphantly, Why should a woman dedicate herself to this branch of knowledge ? or, why should she be attached to such science ? Because, by having gained information on these points, she may inspire her son with valuable tastes, which may abide by him through life, and carry him up to all the sublimities of knowledge ; because she cannot lay the foundation of a great character if she is absorbed FEMALE EDUCATION. 183 in frivolous amusements, nor inspire her child with noble desires when a long course of trifling has destroyed the little talents which were left by a bad education. It is of great importance to a country that there should be as many under- standings as possible actively employed within it. Mankind are much happier for the discovery of barometers, ther- mometers, steam-engines, and all the innumerable inventions in the arts and sciences. We are every day and every hour reaping the benefit of such talent and ingenuity. The same observation is true of such works as those of Dry- den, Pope, Milton, and Shakspeare. Mankind are much happier that such individuals have lived and written ; they add every day to the stock of public enjoyment and perpetually gladden and embellish life. Now, the number of those who exercise their understandings to any good purpose is exactly in proportion to those who exercise it at all ; but as the matter stands at present, half the talent in the universe runs to waste, and is totally unprofitable. It would have been almost as well for the world, hitherto, that women, instead of pos- sessing the capacities they do at present, should have been born wholly destitute of wit, genius, and every other attribute of mind of which men make so eminent an use : and the ideas of use and pos- session are so united together, that, because it has been the custom in almost all countries to give to women a different and a worse education than to men, the notion has obtained, that they do not possess faculties which they do not cultivate. Just as, in breaking up a common, it is sometimes very difficult to make the poor believe it will carry corn, merely because they have been hitherto accustomed to see it produce nothing but weeds and grass they very naturally mistake present condition for general nature. So completely have the talents of wo- men been kept down, that there is scarcely a single work, either of reason or imagination, written by a woman, which is in general circulation, either in the English, French, or Italian litera- ture ; scarcely one that has crept even into the ranks of our minor poets. If the possession of excellent talents is not a conclusive reason why they should be improved, it at least amounts to a very strong presumption ; and, if it can be shown that women may be trained to reason and imagine as well as men, the strongest reasons are cer- tainly necessary to show us why we should not avail ourselves of such rich gifts of nature ; and we have a right to call for a clear statement of those perils which make it necessary that such talent should be totally extin- guished, or, at most, very partially drawn out. The burthen of proof does not lie with those who say. Increase the quantity of talent in any country as much as possible for such a propo- sition is in conformity with every man's feelings : but it lies with those who say, Take care to keep that understanding weak and trifling which nature has made capable of becoming strong and power- ful. The paradox is with them, not with us. In all human reasoning, know- ledge must be taken for a good, till it can be shown to be an evil. But now, Nature makes to us rich and magnificent presents ; and we say to her You are too luxuriant and munificent we must keep you under, and prune you ; we have talents enough in the other half of the creation ; and, if you will not stupify and enfeeble the minds of women to our hands, we ourselves must expose them to a narcotic process, and educate away that fatal redundance with which the world is afflicted, and the order of sublunary things deranged. One of the greatest pleasures of life is conversation ; and the pleasures of conversation are of course enhanced by every increase of knowledge : not that we should meet together to talk of alkalis and angles, or to add to our stock of history and philology, though a little of these things is no bad ingre- dient in conversation; but let the sub- ject be what it may, there is always a prodigious difference between the con- versation of those who have been well educated and of those who have not enjoyed this advantage. Education gives fecundity of thought, copiousness 184 FEMALE EDUCATION. of illustration, quickness, vigour, fancy, words, images, and illustrations; it decorates every common thing, and gives the power of trifling without being undignified and absurd. The subjects themselves may not be wanted upon which the talents of an educated man have been exercised ; but there is always a demand for those talents which his education has rendered strong and quick. Now, really, no- thing can be further from our inten- tion than to say anything rude and un- pleasant ; but we must be excused for observing, that it is not now a very common thing to be interested by the variety and extent of female knowledge, but it is a very common thing to lament that the finest faculties in the world have been confined to trifles utterly unworthy of their richness and their strength. The pursuit of knowledge is the most innocent and interesting occupation which can be given to the female sex ; no'r can there be a better method of checking a spirit of dissipation, than by diffusing a taste for literature. The true way to attack vice, is by setting up something else against it. Give to women, in early youth, something to acquire, of sufficient interest and im- portance to command the application of their mature faculties, and to excite their perseverance in future life ; teach them, that happiness is to be derived from the acquisition of know- ledge, as well as the gratification of vanity ; and you will raise up a much more formidable barrier against dissipa- tion, than an host of invectives and ex- hortations can supply. It sometimes happens that an un- fortunate man gets drunk with very bad wine not to gratify his palate but to forget his cares: he does not set any value on what he receives, but on account of what it excludes ; it keeps out something worse than itself. Now, though it were denied that the acquisi- tion of serious knowledge is of itself important to a woman, still it prevents a taste for silly and pernicious works of imagination ; . it keeps away the horrid trash of novels ; and, in lieu of that eagerness for emotion and adven- ture which books of that sort inspire, promotes a calm and steady tempera- ment of mind. A man who deserves such a piece of good fortune, may generally find an excellent companion for all the vicissi- tudes of his life ; but it is not so easy to find a companion for his understand- ing, who has similar pursuits with himself, or who can comprehend the pleasure he derives from them. We really can see no reason why it should not be otherwise ; nor comprehend how the pleasures of domestic life can be promoted by diminishing the number of subjects in which persons who are to spend their lives together take a common interest. One of the most agreeable conse- quences of knowledge, is the respect and importance which it communicates to old age. Men rise in character often as they increase in years; they are venerable from what they have ac- quired, and pleasing from what they can impart. If they outlive their faculties, the mere frame itself is re- spected for what it once contained; but women (such is their unfortunate style of education) hazard everything upon one cast of the die ; when youth is gone, all is gone. No human crea- ture gives his admiration for nothing ; either the eye must be charmed, or the understanding gratified. A woman must talk wisely or look well. Every human being must put up with the coldest civility, who has neither the charms of youth nor the wisdom of age. Neither is there the slightest commiseration for decayed accomplish- ments ; no man mourns over the fragments of a dancer, or drops a tear on the relics of musical skill. They are flowers destined to perish ; but the decay of great talents is always the subject of solemn pity ; and, even when their last memorial is over, their ruins and vestiges are regarded with pious affection. There is no connection between the ignorance in which women are kept, and the preservation of moral and religious principle ; and yet certainly there is, in the minds of some timid and respectable persons, a vague, inde- FEMALE EDUCATION. 185 finite dread of knowledge, as if it were capable of producing these effects. It might almost be supposed, from the dread which the propagation of know- ledge has excited, that there was some great secret which was to be kept in im- penetrable obscurity, that all moral rules were a species of delusion and imposture, the detection of which, by the improvement of the understanding, would be attended with the most fatal consequences to all, and particularly to women. If we could possibly un- derstand what these great secrets were, we might perhaps be disposed to concur iu their preservation ; but believing that all the salutary rules which are imposed on women are the result of true wisdom, and productive of the greatest happi- ness, we cannot understand how they are to become less sensible of this truth in proportion as their power of dis- covering truth in general is increased, and the habit of viewing questions with accuracy and comprehension esta- blished by education. There are men, indeed, who are always exclaiming against every species of power, because it is connected with danger : their dread of abuses is so much stronger than their admiration of uses, that they would cheerfully give up the use of fire, gunpowder, and printing, to be freed from robbers, incendiaries, and libels. It is true, that every increase of know- ledge may possibly render depravity more depraved, as well as it may in- crease the strength of virtue. It is in itself only power ; and its value de- pends on its application. But, trust to the natural love of good where there is no temptation to be bad it operates nowhere more forcibly than in educa- tion. No man, whether he be tutor, guardian, or friend, ever contents him- self with infusing the mere ability to acquire ; but giving the power, he gives with it a taste for the wise and rational exercise of that power ; so that an educated person is not only one with stronger and better faculties than others, but with a more useful propensity a disposition better cultivated and associations of a higher and more im- portant class. In short, and to recapitulate the main points upon which we have insisted, Why the disproportion in knowledge between the two sexes should be so great, when the inequality in natural talents is so small ; or why the under- standing of women should be lavished upon triflae, when nature has made it capable of higher and letter things, we profess ourselves not able to understand. The affectation charged upon female knowledge is best cured by making that knowledge more general : and the economy devolved upon women is best secured by the ruin, disgrace, and in- convenience which proceeds from neg- lecting it. For the care of children, nature has made a direct and powerful provision ; and the gentleness and ele- gance of women is the natural conse- quence of that desire to please which is productive of the greatest part of civilisation and refinement, and which rests upon a foundation too deep to be shaken by any such modifications in education as we have proposed. If you educate women to attend to dignified and important subjects, you are multi- plying, beyond measure, the chances of human improvement, by preparing and medicating those early impressions, which always come from the mother ; and which, in a great majority of in- ] stances, are quite decisive of character and genius. Nor is it only in the busi- ness of education that women would influence the destiny of men. If wo- men knew more, men must learn more for ignorance would then be shame- ful and it would become the fashion to be instructed. The instruction of women improves the stock of national talents, and employs more minds for the instruction and amusement of the world; it increases the pleasures of society, by multiplying the topics upon which the two sexes take a common in- terest, and makes marriage an inter- course of understanding as well as of affection, by giving dignity and impor- tance to the female character. The education of women favours public morals ; it provides for every season of life, as well as for the brightest and the best; and leaves a woman when she is stricken by the hand of time, not as she now is, destitute of everything, and 186 PUBLIC SCHOOLS. neglected by all ; but with the full power and the splendid attractions of know- ledge, diffusing the elegant pleasures of polite literature, and receiving the just homage of learned and accom- plished men. PUBLIC SCHOOLS. (E. REVIEW, 1810.) Remarks on the System of Education in Public Schools. 8vo. Hatchard. Lon- don, 1809. THERE is a set of well-dressed, pros- perous gentlemen, who assemble daily at Mr. Hatchard's shop; clean, civil personages, well iu with people in power, delighted with every existing institution and almost with every ex- isting circumstance : and, every now and then, one of these personages writes a little book ; and the rest praise that little book expecting to be praised, in their turn, for their own little books : and of these little books, thus written by these clean, civil personages, so expecting to be praised, the pamphlet before us appears to be one. The subject of it is the advantage of public schools ; and the author, very cre- ditably to himself, ridicules the absurd clamour, first set on foot by Dr. Rennel, of the irreligious tendency of public schools : he then proceeds to an investi- gation of the effects which public schools may produce upon the moral charac- ter ; and here the subject becomes more difficult and the pamphlet worse. In arguing any large or general question, it is of infinite importance to attend to the first feelings which the mention of the topic has a tendency to excite ; and the name of a public school brings with it immediately the idea of brilliant classical attainments : but, upon the importance of these studies, we are not now offering any opinion. The only points for consideration are, whether boys are put in the way of becoming good and wise men by these schools ; and whether they actually gather, there, those attainments, which it pleases mankind, for the time being, to consider as valuable, and to decorate by the name of learning. By a public school, we mean an en- dowed place of education of old stand- ing, to which the sons of gentlemen resort in considerable numbers, and where they continue to reside, from eight or nine, to eighteen years of age. We do not give this as a definition which would have satisfied Porphyry or Dun-Scotus, but as one sufficiently accurate for our purpose. The charac- teristic features of these schools are, their antiquity, the numbers and the ages of the young people who are educated at them. We beg leave, how- ever, to premise, that we have not the slightest intention of insinuating any- thing to the disparagement of the pre- sent discipline or present rulers of these schools, as compared with other times and other men : we have no reason whatever to doubt that they are as ably governed at this, as they have been at any preceding period. Whatever objections we may have to these insti- tutions, they are to faults, not depending upon present administration, but upon original construction.* At a public school (for such is the system established by immemorial cus- tom), every boy is alternately tyrant and slave. The power which the elder part of these communities exercises over the younger, is exceedingly great very difficult to be controlled and accompanied, not unfrequently, with cruelty and caprice. It is the common law of the place, that the young should be implicitly obedient to the elder boys; and this obedience resembles more the submission of a slave to his master, or of a sailor to his captain, than the common and natural deference which would always be shown by one boy to another a few years older than himself. Now, this system we cannot help con- sidering as an evil, because it inflicts upon boys, for two or three years of * A public school is thought to be the best cure for the insolence of youthful aristocracy. This insolence, however, is not a little increased by the homage of masters, and would soon meet with its natural check in the world. There can be no occasion to bring 500 boys together to teach to a young nobleman that proper demeanour which he would learn so much better from the first English gentleman whom he might think proper to insult. PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 187 their lives, many painful hardships, and much unpleasant servitude. These sufferings might perhaps be of some use in military schools ; but to give to a boy the habit of enduring privations to which he will never again be called upon to submit to inure him to pains which he will never again feel and to subject him to the privation of comforts, with which he will always in future abound is surely not a very useful and valuable severity in education. It is not the life in miniature which he is to lead hereafter nor does it bear any relation to it : he will never again be subjected to so much insolence and caprice ; nor ever, in all human proba- bility, called upon to make so many sacrifices. The servile obedience which it teaches, might be useful to a me- nial domestic ; or the habits of en- terprise which it encourages, prove of importance to a military parti- san ; but we cannot see what bearing it has upon the calm, regular, civil life, which the sons of gentlemen, destined to opulent idleness, or to any of the three learned professions, are destined to lead. Such a system makes many boys very miserable ; and pro- duces those bad effects upon the temper and disposition, which unjust suffering always does produce ; but what good it does, we are much at a loss to con- ceive. Reasonable obedience is ex- tremely useful in forming the disposi- tion. Submission to tyranny lays the foundation of hatred, suspicion, cun- ning, and a variety of odious passions. We are convinced that those young people will turn out to be the best men, who have been guarded most effectually, in their childhood, from every species of useless vexation : and experienced, in the greatest degree, the blessings of a wise and rational indul- gence. But even if these effects upon future character are not produced, still, four or five years in childhood make a very considerable period of human existence: and it is by no means a trifling consideration whether they are past happily or unhappily. The wretchedness of school tyranny is trifling enough to a man who only contemplates it, in ease of body and tranquillity of mind, through the medium of twenty intervening years ; but it is quite as real, and quite as acute, while it lasts, as any of the sufferings of mature life : and the utility of these sufferings, or the price paid in com- pensation for them, should be clearly made out to a conscientious parent, before he consents to expose his chil- dren to them. This system also gives to the elder boys an absurd and pernicious opinion of their own importance, which is often with difficulty effaced by a consider- able commerce with the world. The head of a public school is generally a very conceited young man, utterly ignorant of his own dimensions, and losing all that habit of conciliation to- wards others, and that anxiety for self- improvement, which result from the natural modesty of youth. Nor is this conceit very easily and speedily gotten rid of ; we have seen (if we mistake not) public-school importance lasting through the half of after-life, strutting in lawn, swelling in ermine, and dis- playing itself, both ridiculously and offensively, in the haunts and business of bearded men. There is a manliness in the athletic exercises of public schools, which is as seductive to the imagination as it is utterly unimportant in itself. Of what importance is it in after-life, wjfether a boy can play well or ill at cricket ; or row a boat with the skill and preci- sion of a waterman ? if our young lords and esquires were hereafter to wrestle together in public, or the gentlemen of the Bar to exhibit Olympic games iu Hilary Term, the glory attached to these exercises at public schools would be rational and important. But of what use is the body of an athlete, when we have good laws over our heads, or when a pistol, a post-chaise, or a porter can be hired for a few shil- lings ? A gentleman does nothing but ride or walk ; and yet such a ridi- culous stress is laid upon the manliness of the exercises customary at public schools exercises in which the greates blockheads commonly excel the most which often render habits of idleness inveterate and often lead to foolish 188 PUBLIC SCHOOLS. expense and dissipation at a more ad- vanced period of life. One of the supposed advantages of a public school, is the greater know- ledge of the world which a boy is con- sidered to derive from those situations; but if, by a knowledge of the world, is meant a knowledge of the forms and manners which are found to be the most pleasing and useful in the world, a boy from a public school is almost always extremely deficient in these particulars ; and his sister, who has remained at home at the apron-strings of her mother, is very much his superior in the science of manners. It is pro- bably true, that a boy at a public school has made more observations on human character, because he has had more opportunities of observing, than have been enjoyed by young persons edu- cated either at home or at private schools : but this little advance gained at a public school, is so soon overtaken at college or in the world, that, to have made it, is of the least possible conse- quence, and utterly Undeserving of any risk incurred in the acquisition. Is it any injury to a man of thirty or thirty- five years of age to a learned serjeant or venerable dean that at eighteen they did not know so much of the world as some other boys of the same standing? They have probably es- caped the arrogant character so often attendant upon this trifling superiority; nor is there much chance that they have ever fallen into the common and youth- ful error of mistaking a premature initiation into vice, for a knowledge of the ways of mankind: and, in addition to these salutary exemptions, a winter in London brings it all to a level ; and offers to every novice the advantages which are supposed to be derived from this precocity of confidence and polish. According to the general prejudice in favour of public schools, it would be thought quite as absurd and super- fluous to enumerate the illustrious cha- racters who have been bred at our three great seminaries of this description, as it would be to descant upon the illus- trious characters who have passed in and out of London over our three great bridges. Almost every conspi- cuous person is supposed to have been educated at public schools ; and there are scarcely any means (as it is ima- gined) of making an actual comparison; and yet, great as the rage is, and long has been, for public schools, it is very remarkable, that the most eminent men in every art and science have not been educated in public schools ; and this is true, even if we include, in the term of public schools, not only Eton, Win- chester, and Westminster, but the Charterhouse, St. Paul's School, Mer- chant Taylors', Rugby, and every school in England, at all conducted upon the plan of the three first. The great schools of Scotland we do not call pub- lic schools ; because, in these, the mix- ture of domestic life gives to them a widely different character. Spenser, Pope, Shakspearc, Butler, Rochester, Spratt, Parnell, Garth, Congreve, Gay, Swift, Thomson, Shenstone, Akenside, Goldsmith, Samuel Johnson, Beaumont and Fletcher, Ben Jonson, Sir PhHip Sidney, Savage, Arbuthnot and Burns, among the poets, were not educated in the system of English schools. Sir Isaac Newton, Maclaurin, Wallis, Flamsteed, Saunderson, Simpson, and Napier, among men of science, were not edu- cated in public schools. The three best historians that the English language has produced, Clarendon, Hume and Robertson, were not educated at public schools. Public schools have done little in England for the fine arts as in the examples of Inigo Jones, Van- brugh, Reynolds, Gainsborough, Gar- rick, &c. The great medical writers and discoverers in Great Britain, Har- vey, Cheselden, Hunter, Jenner, Meade, Brown, and Cullen, were not educated at public schools. Of the great writers on morals and metaphysics, it was not the system of public schools which pro- duced Bacon, Shaftesbury, Hobbes, Berkeley, Butler, Hume, Hartley, or Dugald Stewart. The greatest disco- verers in chemistry have not been brought up at public schools : we mean Dr. Priestley, Dr. Black, and Mr. Davy. The only Englishmen who have evinced a remarkable genius, in modern times, for the art of war, the Duke of Marlborough, Lord Peter- PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 189 borough, General Wolfe, and Lord Clive, were all trained in private schools. So were Lord Coke, Sir Matthew Hale, and Lord Chancellor Hardwicke, and Chief Justice Holt, among the lawyers. So also, among statesmen, were Lord Burleigh, Wal- singham, the Earl of Strafford, Thurloe, Cromwell, Hampden, Lord Clarendon, Sir Walter Raleigh, Sydney, Russell, Sir W. Temple, Lord Somers, Burke, Sheridan, Pitt. In addition to this list, we must not forget the names of such eminent scholars and men of letters, as Cudworth, Chillingworth, Tillotson, Archbishop King, Selden, Conyers Middleton, Bentley, Sir Thomas More, Cardinal Wolsey, Bishops Sherlock and Wilkins, Jeremy Taylor, Isaac Hooker, Bishops Usher, Stillingfleet and Spel- man, Dr. Samuel Clarke, Bishop Hoad- ley, and Dr. Lardner. Nor must it be forgotten, in this examination, that none of the conspicuous writers upon political economy which this country has as yet produced, have been brought up in public schools. If it be urged that public schools have only assumed their present character within this last century, or half century, and that what are now called public schools partook, before this period, of the nature of pri- vate schools, there must then be added to our lists the names of Milton, Dry- den, Addison, &c. &c. : and it will fol- low, that the English have done almost all that they have done in the arts and sciences, without the aid of that system of education to which they are now so much attached. Ample as this catalogue of celebrated names already is, it would be easy to double it ; yet, as it stands, it is obviously sufficient to show that great eminence may be attained in any line of fame, without the aid of public schools. Some more striking inferences might perhaps be drawn from it ; but we content ourselves with the simple fact. The most important peculiarity in the constitution of a public school is its numbers, which are so great, that a close inspection of the master into the studies and conduct of each individual is quite impossible. We must be al- lowed to doubt whether such an arrange- ment is favourable either to literature or morals. Upon this system, a boy is left almost entirely to himself, to impress upon his own mind, as well as he can, the distant advantages of knowledge, and to with- stand, from his own innate resolution, the examples and the seductions of idleness. A firm character survives this brave neglect; and very exalted talents may sometimes remedy it by subsequent diligence : but schools are not made for a few youths of pre- eminent talents and strong characters : such prizes can, of course, be drawn but by a very few parents. The best school is that which is best accommo- dated to the greatest variety of charac- ters, and which embraces the greatest number of cases. It cannot be the main object of education to render the splen- did more splendid, and to lavish care upon those who would almost thrive without any care at all. A public school does this effectually ; but it commonly leaves the idle almost as idle, and the dull almost as dull, as it found them. It disdains the tedious cultivation of those middling talents of which only the great mass of human beings are possessed. When a strong desire of improvement exists, it is encouraged ; but no pains are taken to inspire it. A boy is cast in among five or six hundred other boys, and is left to form bis own character if his love of know- ledge survive this severe trial, it, in general, carries him very far : and, upon the same principle, a savage who grows up to manhood is, in general, well made, and free from all bodily defects ; not because the severities of such a state are favourable to animal life, but because they are so much the reverse that none but the strongest can survive them. A few boys are incor- rigibly idle, and a few incorrigibly eager for knowledge ; but the great mass are in a state of doubt and fluc- tuation ; and they come to school for the express purpose, not of being left to themselves for that could be done anywhere but that their wavering tastes and propensities should be de- cided by the intervention of a master. In a forest, or public school for oaks 190 PUBLIC SCHOOLS. and elms, the trees are left to themselves ; the strong plants live, and the weak ones die ; the towering oak that remains is admired ; the saplings that perish around it are cast into the flames, and forgotten. But it is not, surely, to the vegetable struggle of a forest, or the hasty glance of a forester, that a botanist would commit a favourite plant ; he would naturally seek for it a situation of less hazard, and a cultivator whose limited occupations would enable him to give to it a reasonable share of his time and attention. The very meaning of education seems to us to be, that* the old should teach the young, and the wise direct the weak ; that a man who professes to instruct, should get among his pupils, study their characters, gain their affections, and form their inclina- tions and aversions. In a public school, the numbers render this impossible ; it is impossible that sufficient time should be found for this useful and affectionate interference. Boys, therefore, are left to their own crude conceptions and ill- formed propensities ; and this neglect is called a spirited and manly education. In by far the greatest number of cases, we cannot think public schools favourable to the cultivation of know- ledge ; and we have equally strong doubts if they be so to the cultivation of morals, though we admit, that upon this point the most striking arguments have been produced in their favour. It is contended by the friends to public schools, that every person before he comes to man's estate, must run through a certain career of dissipation ; and that if that career is, by the means of a private education, deferred to a more advanced period of life, it will only be begun with greater eagerness and pursued into more blameable excess. The time must, of course, come, when every man must be his own master ; when his conduct can be no longer regulated by the watchful superintendence of another, but must be guided by his own discretion. Emancipation must come at last ; and we admit, that the object to be aimed at is, that such emancipation should be gradual, and not premature. Upon this very invidious point of the discus- sion, we rather wish to avoid offering any opinion. The manners of great schools vary considerably from time to time ; and what may have been true many years ago is very possibly not true at the present period. In this instance, every parent must be governed by his own observations and means of information. If the licence which pre- vails at public schools is only a fair increase of liberty, proportionate to advancing age, and calculated to pre- vent the bad effects of a sudden tran- sition from tutelary thraldom to perfect self-government, it is certainly a good, rather than an evil. If, on the contrary, there exists in these places of education a system of premature debauchery, and if they only prevent men from being corrupted by the world, by corrupting them before their entry into the world, they can then only be looked upon as evils of the greatest magnitude, how- ever they may be sanctioned by opinion, or rendered familiar to us by habit. The vital and essential part of a school is the master ; but, at a public school, no boy, or, at the best, only a very few, can see enough of him to derive any considerable benefit from his cha- racter, manners, and information. It is certainly of eminent use, particularly to a young man of rank, that he should have lived among boys ; but it is only so when they are all moderately watched by some superior understanding. The morality of boys is generally very im- perfect ; their notions of honour ex- tremely mistaken ; and their objects of ambition frequently very absurd. The probability then is, that the kind of discipline they exercise over each other will produce (when left to itself ) a great deal of mischief ; and yet this is the discipline to which every child at a public school is not only neces-/ sarily exposed, but principally confine'd. Our objection (we again repeat) is not to the interference of boys in the for- mation of the character of boys ; their character, we are persuaded, will be very imperfectly formed without their assistance ; but our objection is to that almost exclusive agency which they exercise in public schools. DISTURBANCES AT MADRAS. 191 After having said so much in oppo- sition to the general prejudice in favour of public schools, we may be expected to state what species of school we think preferable to them ; for if public schools, with all their disadvantages, are the best that can actually be found, or easily attained, the objections to them are certainly made to very little but if the object be to induce the young to love knowledge and virtue, we are inclined to suspect, that, for the average of human talents and charac- ters, these are the situations in which of a parent who is blest with a child of strong character and pre-eminent abili- ties : to be the first scholar of an ob- scure master, at an obscure place, is no very splendid distinction ; nor does it afford that opportunity, of which so many parents are desirous, of forming great connections for their children : such tastes will be the most effectually formed. purpose. We have no hesitation, however, in saying, that that education seems to us to be the best which mingles a domes- tic with a school life, and which gives to a youth the advantage which is to be derived from the learning of a master, and the emulation which re- sults from the society of other boys, together with the affectionate vigilance which he must experience in the house of his parents. But where this species of education, from peculiarity of cir- cumstances or situation, is not attain- able, we are disposed to think a society of twenty or thirty boys, under the guidance of a learned man, and, above all, of a man of good sense, to be a seminary the best adapted for the edu- cation of youth. The numbers are sufficient to excite a considerable degree of emulation, to give to a boy some in- sight into the diversities of the human character, and to subject him to the observation and control of his supe- riors. It by no means follows, that a judicious man should always interfere with his authority and advice, because he has always the means ; he may con- nive at many things which he cannot approve, and suffer some little failures to proceed to a certain extent, which, if indulged in wider limits, would be attended with irretrievable mischief : he will be aware that his object is to fit his pupil for the world ; that constant control is a very bad preparation for complete emancipation from all con- trol ; that it is not bad policy to expose a young man, under the eye of superior wisdom, to some of those dangers which will assail him hereafter in greater number, and in greater strength when he has only his own resources to de- pend upon. A private education, con- ducted upon these principles, is not calculated to gratify quickly the vanity j by Mr. Petrie, and we most Cordially DISTURBANCES AT MADRAS. (E. REVIEW, 1810.) Narrative of the Origin and Progress of the Dissensions at the Presidency of Madras, founded on Original Papers and Correspondence. Lloyd, London, 1810. Account of the Origin and Progress of the late Discontents of the Army on the Ma- dras Establishment. Cadell and Davies, London, 1810. Statement of facts delivered to the Right Honourable Lord Minto. By William Petrie, Esq. Stockdale, London, 1810. THE disturbances which have lately taken place in our East Indian posses- sions would, at any period, have ex- cited a considerable degree of alarm ; and those feelings are, of course, not a little increased by the ruinous aspect of our European affairs. The revolt of an army of eighty thousand men is an event which seems to threaten so nearly the ruin of the country in which it happens, that no common curiosity is excited as to the causes which could have led to it, and the means by which its danger was averted. On these points, we shall endeavour to exhibit to our readers the information afforded to us by the pamphlets whose titles we have cited. The first of these is un- derstood to be written by an agent of Sir George Barlow, sent over for the express purpose of defending his mea- sures ; the second is most probably the production of some one of the dismissed officers, or, at least, founded upon their representations ; the third statement is 192 DISTURBANCES AT MADRAS. recommend it to the perusal of our readers. It is characterised, through- out, by moderation, good sense, and a feeling of duty. We have seldom read a narrative, which, on the first face of it, looked so much like truth. It has, of course, produced the ruin and dis- missal of this gentleman, though we have not the shadow of doubt, that if his advice had been followed, every unpleasant occurrence which has hap- pened in India might have been effec- tually prevented. In the year 1 802, a certain monthly allowance, proportioned to their re- spective ranks, was given to each officer of the Coast army, to enable him to provide himself with camp equi- page ; and a monthly allowance was also made to the commanding officers of the native corps for the provision of the camp equipage of these corps. This arrangement was commonly called the tent contract. Its intention (as the pamphlet of Sir George Barlow's agent very properly states) was to combine facility of movement in military opera- tions with views of economy. In the general revision of its establishments, set on foot for the purposes of economy by the Madras Government, this con- tract was considered as entailing upon them a very unnecessary expense ; and the then commander-in-chief, General Craddock, directed Colonel Munro, the quarter-master-general, to make a re- port to him upon the subject. The re- port, which was published almost as soon as it was made up, recommends the abolition of this contract ; and, among other passages for the support of this opinion, has the following one: "Six years' experience of the practical effects of the existing system of the camp equipage equipment of the native army, has afforded means of forming a judgment relative to its advantages and efficiency, which were not possessed by the persons who proposed its introduction; and an attentive examination of its operations during that period of time has suggested the following observations regarding it " : After stating that the contract is needlessly expensive that it subjects the Company to the same charges for troops in garrison as for those in the field the report proceeds to state tlie following observation, made on the authority of six years' experience and attentive examination. " Thirdly. By granting the same allow- ances in peace and war for the equipment of native corps, while the expenses inci- dental to that charge are unavoidably much greater in war than in peace, it places the interest and duty of officers commanding native corps in direct opposition to one another. It makes it their interest that their corps should not be in a state of effi- ciency fit for field service, and therefore furnishes strong inducements to neglect their most important duties." Accurate afid Authentic Narrative, pp. 117, 118. Here, then, is not only a proposal for reducing the emoluments of the prin- cipal officers of the Madras army, but a charge of the most flagrant nature. The first they might possibly have had some right to consider as a hardship ; but, when severe and unjust invective was snperadded to strict retrenchment when their pay and their reputation were diminished at the same time it cannot be considered as surprising, that such treatment, on the part of the Government, should lay the foundation for a spirit of discontent in those troops who had recently made such splendid additions to the Indian empire, and established, in the progress of these acquisitions, so high a character for discipline and courage. It must be remembered, that an officer on Euro- pean and on Indian service, are in very different situations, and propose to themselves very different objects. The one never thinks of making a fortune by his profession, while the hope of ultimately gaining an independence is the principal motive for which the Indian officer banishes himself from his country. To diminish the emoluments of his profession is to retard the period of bis return, and to frustrate the pur- pose for which he exposes his life and health in a burning climate, on the other side of the world. We make these observations, certainly, without any idea of denying the right of the East India Company to make any re- trenchments they may think proper, but to show that it is a right which ought to be exercised with great DISTURBANCES AT MADRAS. 193 delicacy and with sound discretion that it should only be exercised when the retrenchment is of real impor- tance and, above all, that it should always be accompanied with every mark of suavity and conciliation. Sir George Barlow, on the contrary, com- mitted the singular imprudence of stig- matising the honour, and wounding the feelings of the Indian officers. At the same moment that he diminished their emoluments, he tells them, that the Indian Company take away their allow- ances for tents, because those allowances have been abused in the meanest, most profligate, and most usoldier-like manner : for this, and more than this. is conveyed in the report of Colonel Munro, published by order of Sir George Barlow. If it were right, in the first instance, to diminish the emo- luments of so vast an army, it was cer- tainly indiscreet to give such reasons for it. If any individual had abused the advantages of the tent-contract, he might have been brought to a court- martial ; and, if his guilt had been established, his punishment, we will venture to assert, would not have occa- sioned a moment of complaint or dis- affection in the army ; but that a civilian, a gentleman accustomed only to the details of commerce, should begin his government, over a settlement with which he was utterly unacquainted, by telling one of the bravest set of officers in the world, that, for six years past, they had been, in the basest manner, sacrificing their duty to their interest, does appear to us an instance of indis- cretion which, if frequently repeated, would soon supersede the necessity of any further discussion upon Indian affairs. The whole transaction, indeed, ap- pears to have been gone into with a disregard to the common professional feelings of an army, which is to us utterly inexplicable. The opinion of the Commander-in-chief, General Mac- dowall, was never even asked upon the subject ; not a single witness was exa- mined ; the whole seems to have de- pended upon the report of Colonel Munro, the youngest staff- officer of the army, published in spite of the earnest VOL. L remonstrance of Colonel Capper, the adjutant-general, and before three days had been given him to substitute his own plan, which Sir George Barlow had promised to read before the publi- cation of Colonel Mu nro's report. Nay, this great plan of reduction was never even submitted to the Military Board, by whom all subjects of that description were, according to the orders of the Court of Directors, and the usage df the service, to be discussed and di- gested, previous to their coming before Government. Shortly after the promulgation of this very indiscreet paper, the Commander- in-chief, General Macdowall, received letters from almost all the officers com- manding native corps, representing in. terms adapted to the feelings of each, the stigma which was considered to attach to them individually, and ap- pealing to the authority of the Com- mander-in-chief for redress against such charges, and to his personal experience for their falsehood. To these letters the General replied, that the orders in question had been prepared without any reference to his opinion, and that, as the matter was so far advanced, he deemed it inexpedient to interfere. The officers commanding corps, finding that no steps were taken to remove the obnoxious in- sinuations, and considering that, while they remained, an indelible disgrace was cast upon their characters, pre- pared charges against Colonel Munro. These charges were forwarded to General Macdowall, referred by him to the Judge Advocate General, and returned with his objections to them, to the officers who had preferred the charges. For two months after this period, General Macdowall appears to have remained in a state of uncertainty, as to whether he would or would not bring Colonel Munro to a court-martial upon the charges preferred against him by the commanders of corps. At last, urged by the discontents of the army, he determined in the affirmative ; and Colonel Munro was put in arrest, preparatory to his trial. Colonel Munro then appealed directly to the Governor, Sir George Barlow, and was released by a positive order from him. It is 194 DISTURBANCES AT MADRAS. necessary to state, that all appeals of officers to the Government in India always pass through the hands of the Commander-in-chief; and this appeal, therefore, of Colonel Munro, directed to the Government, was considered by General Macdowall as a great in- fringement of military discipline. We have very great doubts whether Sir George Barlow was not guilty of another great mistake in preventing this court-martial from taking place. It is undoubtedly true, that no servant of the public is amenable to justice for doing what the Government order him to do ; but he is not entitled to pro- tection under the pretence of that order, if he have done something which it evidently did not require of him. If Colonel Munro had been ordered to report upon the conduct of an in- dividual officer, and it could be proved that, in gratification of private malice, he had taken that opportunity of stating the most infamous and* malicious falsehoods, could it be urged that his conduct might not be fairly scrutinised in a court of justice, or a court-martial ? If this were other- wise, any duty delegated by Govern- ment to an individual would become the most intolerable source of oppres- sion : he might gratify every enmity and antipathy indulge in every act of malice vilify and traduce every one whom he hated and then shelter himself under the plea of the public service. Everybody has a right to do what the supreme power orders him to do ; but he does not thereby acquire a right to do what he has not been or- dered to do. Colonel Munro was directed to make a report upon the state of the army : the officers whom he has traduced, accuse^him of report- ing something utterly different from the state of the army something which he and everybody else knew to be different and this for the mali- cious purpose of calumniating their re- putation. If this were true, Colonel Munro could not plead the authority of Government ; for the authority of Government was afforded to him for a very different purpose. In this view of the case, we cannot see how the dignity of Government was attacked by the proposal of the court-martial, or to what other remedy those who had suffered from his abuse of his power could have had recourse. Colonel Munro had been promised, by General Mac- dowall, that the court-martial should consist of king's officers : there could not, therefore, have been any rational suspicion that his trial would have been unfair, or his judges unduly in- fluenced. Soon after Sir George Barlow had shown this reluctance to give the com- plaining officers an opportunity of re- establishing, their injured character, General Macdowall sailed for England, and left behind him, for publication, an order, in which Colonel Munro was reprimanded for a violent breach of military discipline, in appealing to the Governor otherwise than through the customary and prescribed channel of the Commander-in-chief. As this paper is very short, and at the same time very necessary to the right comprehension of this case, we shall lay it before our readers. " G. O. by the Commander-in-chief. " The immediate departure of Lieutenant- General Macdowall from Madras will pre- vent his pursuing the design of bringing Lieutenant-Colonel Munro, Quarter-Mas- ter-General, to trial, for disrespect to the Commander-in-chief, for disobedience of orders, and for contempt of military au- thority, in having resorted to the power of the Civil Government, in defiance of the judgment of the officer at the head of the army, who had placed him under arrest, on charges preferred against him by a number of officers commanding native corps, in consequence of which appeal direct to the Honourable the President in Council, Lieutenant-General Macdowall has received positive orders from the Chief Secretary to liberate Lieutenant-Colonel Munro from arrest. " Such conduct, on the part of Lieutenant- Colonel Munro, being destructive of sub- ordination, subversive of military disci- pline, a violation of the sacred rights of the Commander-in-chief, and holding out a most dangerous example to the service. Lieutenant-General Macdowall, in support of the dignity of the profession, and his own station and character, feels it incumbent ou him to express his strong disapprobation of Lieutenant-Colonel Munro's unexampled DISTURBANCES AT MADRAS. 195 proceedings, and considers it a solemn duty imposed upon him to reprimand Lieu- tenant-Colonel Munro in general orders; and he is hereby reprimanded accordingly. (Signed) T. BOLES, D. A. a." Accurate and Authentic Narrative, pp. 68, 69. Sir George Barlow, in consequence of this paper, immediately deprived General Macdowall of his situation of commander-in-chief, which he had not yet resigned, though he had quitted the settlement ; and as the official signature of the deputy adju- tant-general appeared at the paper, that officer also was suspended from his situation. Colonel Capper, the adjutant-general, in the most honour- able manner informed Sir George Bar- low, that he was the culpable and responsible person ; and that the name of his deputy only appeared to the paper in consequence of his positive order, and because he himself happened to be absent on shipboard with General Macdowall. This generous conduct on the part of Colonel Capper involved himself in punishment without extri- cating the innocent person whom he intended to protect. The Madras Government, always swift to condemn, doomed him to the same punishment as Major Boles ; and he was suspended from his office. This paper we have read over with great attention ; and we really cannot see wherein its criminality consists, or on what account it could have drawn down upon General Macdowall so severe a punishment as the privation of the high and dignified office which he held. The censure upon Colonel Munro was for a violation of the regular etiquette of the army, in appealing to the Governor otherwise than through the channel of the Commander-in-chief. This was an entirely new offence on the part of Colonel Munro. Sir George Bar- low had given no opinion upon it ; it had not been discussed between him and the Commander-in-chief; and the Com- mander-in-chief was clearly at liberty to act in this point as he pleased. He does not reprimand Colonel Munro for obeying Sir George Barlow's orders ; for Sir George had given no orders upon the subject ; but he blames him for transgressing a well-known and important rule of the service. We have great doubts if he was not quite right in giving this reprimand. But at all events, if he were wrong if Colonel Munro were not guilty of the offence imputed, still the erroneous punishment which the General had in- flicted, merited no such severe retribu- tion as that resorted to by Sir George Barlow. There are no reflections in the paper on the conduct of the Gover- nor or the Government. The reprimand is grounded entirely upon the breach of that military discipline which it was undoubtedly the business of General Macdowall to maintain in the most perfect purity and vigour. Nor has the paper any one expression in it foreign to this purpose. We were in- deed, not a little astonished at reading it. We had imagined that a paper, which drew after it such a long train of dismissals and suspensions, must have contained a declaration of war against the Madras Government an exhortation to the troops to throw off their allegiance, or an advice to the natives to drive their intrusive masters away, and become as free as their fore- fathers had left them. Instead of this, we find nothing more than a common reprimand from a Commander-in-chief to a subordinate officer, for transgress- ing the bounds of his duty. If Sir George Barlow had governed king- doms six months longer, we cannot help thinking he would have been a little more moderate. But whatever difference of opinion there may be respecting the punishment of General Macdowall, we can scarcely think there can be any with regard to the conduct observed towards the adju- tant-general and his deputy. They were the subordinates of the Com- mander-in-chief, and were peremptorily bound to publish any general orders which he might command them to publish. They would have been liable to very severe punishment if they had not ; and it appears to us the most flagrant outrage against all justice, to convert their obedience into a fault. It is true, no subordinate officer is bound to obey any order which is plainly, and O 2 196 DISTURBANCES AT MADRAS. to any common apprehension, illegal ; but then the illegality must be quite manifest : the order must imply such a contradiction to common sense, and such a violation of duties superior to the duty of military obedience, that there can be scarcely two opinions on the subject. Wherever any fair doubt can be raised, the obedience of the inferior officer is to be considered as proper and meritorious. Upon any other principle, his situation is the most cruel imaginable : he is liable to the severest punishment, even to instant death, if he refuses to obey ; and if he does obey, he is exposed to the anim- adversion of the civil power, which teaches him that he ought to have canvassed the order, to have remon- strated against it, and, in case this opposition proved ineffectual, to have disobeyed it. We have no hesitation in pronouncing the imprisonment of Colonel Capper and Major Boles to have been an act of great severity and great indiscretion, and such as might very fairly give great offence to an army, who saw themselves exposed to the same punishments, for the same ad- herence to their duties. " The measure of removing Lieutenant- Colonel Capper and Major Boles," says Mr. Petrie, "was universally condemned by the most [respectable officers in the army, and not more so by the officers in the Company's service, than by those of his Majesty's regi- ments. It was felt by all as the introduction of a most dangerous principle, and setting a pernicious example of disobedience and insubordination to all the gradations of military rank and authority ; teaching in- ferior officers to question the legality of the orders of their superiors, and bringing into discussion questions which may endanger the very existence of Government. Our proceedings at this tune operated like an electric shock, and gave rise to combina- tions, associations, and discussions, preg- nant with danger to every constituted authority in India. It was observed that the removal of General Macdowall (admit- ting the expediency of that measure) suffi- ciently vindicated the authority of Govern- ment, and exhibited to the army a memo- rable proof that the supreme power is vested in the civil authority. " The offence came from the General, and he was punished for it ; but to suspend from the service the mere instruments of office, for the ordinary transmission of an order to the army, was universally condemned as an act of inapplicable severity, which might do infinite mischief, but could not accom- plish any good or beneficial purpose. It was to court unpopularity, and adding fuel to the flame, which was ready to burst forth in every division of the army ; that to vin- dicate the measure on the assumed ille- gality of the order, is to resort to a prin- ciple of a most dangerous tendency, capable of being extended in its application to pur- poses subversive of the foundations of all authority, civil as well as military. If sub- ordinate officers are encouraged to judge of the legality of the orders of their superiors, we introduce a precedent of incalculable mischief, neither justified by the spirit or practice of the laws. Is it not better to have the responsibility on the head of the authority which issues the order, except in cases so plain, that the most common capacity can judge of their being direct violations of the established and acknow- ledged laws ? Is the intemperance of the expressions, the indiscretion of the opinions, the inflammatory tendency of the order, so eminently dangerous, so evidently calcu- lated to excite to mutiny and disobedience, so strongly marked with features of crimi- nality, as not to be mistaken? Was the order, I beg leave to ask, of this description, of such a nature as to justify the adjutant- general and his deputy in their refusal to publish it, to disobey the order of the Com- mander-in-chief, to revolt from his autho- rity, and to complain of him to the Govern- ment? Such were the views I took of that unhappy transaction: and, as I foresaw serious mischief from the measure, not only to the discipline of the army , but even to the security of the civil Government, it was my duty to state my opinion to Sir G. Bar- low, and to use every argument which my reason suggested, to prevent the publication of the order. In this I completely failed : the suspension took effect ; and the match was laid that has communicated the flame to almost every military mind in India. I recorded no dissent ; for, as a formal oppo- sition could only tend to exonerate myself from a certain degree of responsibility, without effecting any good public purpose, and might probably be misconstrued or misconceived by those to whom our proceed- ings were made known, it was a more hon- ourable discharge of my duty to relinquish this advantage, than to comply with the mere letter of the order respecting dissents. I explained this motive of my conduct to Sir G. Barlow." Statement of Facts, pp. 20-23. After these proceedings on the part DISTURBANCES AT MADRAS. 197 of the Madras Government, the dis- affection of the troops rapidly increased ; absurd and violent manifestoes were published by the general officers ; Go- vernment was insulted ; and the army soon broke out into open mutiny. When the mutiny was fairly begun, the conduct of the Madras Government in quelling it, seems nearly as objection- able as that by which it had been excited. The Governor, in attempting to be dignified, perpetually fell into the most puerile irritability ; and, wishing to be firm, was guilty of injustice and violence. Invitations to dinner were made an affair of state. Long negotia- tions appear, respecting whole corps of officers who refused to dine with Sir George Barlow ; and the first persons in the settlement were employed to persuade them to eat the repast which his Excellency had prepared for them. A whole school of military lads were sent away, for some trifling display of partiality to the cause of the army ; and every unfortunate measure recurred to, which a weak understanding and a captious temper could employ to bring a Government into contempt. Officers were dismissed ; but dismissed without trial, and even without accusation. The object seemed to be to punish somebody ; whether it was the right or the wrong person was less material. Sometimes the subordinate was selected, where the principal was guilty ; some- times the superior was sacrificed for the ungovernable conduct of those who were under his charge. The blows were strong enough; but they came from a man who shut his eyes, and struck at random ; conscious that he must do something to repel the danger, but so agitated by its proximity that he could not look at it, or take a proper aim. Among other absurd measures re- sorted to by this new Eastern Emperor, was the notable expedient of imposing a test upon the officers of the army, expressive of their loyalty and attach- ment to the Government ; and as this was done at a time when some officers were in open rebellion, others fluc- tuating, and many almost resolved to adhere to their duty, it had the very natural and probable effect of uniting them all in opposition to Government. To impose a test, or trial of opinions, is at all times an unpopular species of inquisition ; and at a period when men were hesitating whether they should obey or not, was certainly a very dan- gerous and rash measure. It could be no security; for men who would other- wise rebel against their Government, certainly would not be restrained by any verbal barriers of this kind ; and, at the same time that it promised no effectual security, it appeared to increase the danger of irritated combination. This very rash measure immediately produced the strongest representations and remonstrances from king's officers of the most unquestionable loyalty. w Lieutenant-Colonel Veaey, commanding at Palamcotah, apprehends the most fatal consequences to the tranquillity of the southern provinces, if Colonel Wilkinson makes any hostile movements from Trichi- nopoly. In different letters he states, that such a step must inevitably throw the Company's troops into open revolt. He has ventured to write in the strongest terms to Colonel Wilkinson, entreating him not to march against the southern troops, and pointing out the ruinous consequences which may be expected from such a mea- sure. "Lieutenant-Colonel Stuart in Travan- core, and Colonel Forbes in Malabar, have written, that they are under no appre- hension for the tranquillity of those pro- vinces, or for the fidelity of the Company's troops, if Government does not insist on enforcing the orders for the signature of the test ; but that, if this is attempted, the security of the country will be imminently endangered. These orders are to be en- forced; and I tremble for the conse- quences." Statement of Facts, pp. 53, 64. The following letter from the Ho- nourable Colonel Stuart, commanding a king's regiment, was soon after re- ceived by Sir George Barlow: " The late measures of Government, as carried into effect at the Presidency and Trichinopoly, have created a most violent ferment among the corps here. At those places where the European force was so far superior in number to the native, the measure probably was executed without difficulty ; but here, where there are seven battalions of sepoys, and a company and a O 3 198 DISTURBANCES AT MADRAS. half of artillery, to our one regiment, I found it totally impossible to carry the business to the same length, particularly as any tumult among our own corps would certainly bring the people of Travancore upon us. " It is in vain, therefore, for me, with the small force I can depend upon, to attempt to stem the torrent here by any acts of violence. " Most sincerely and anxiously do I wish that the present tumult may subside, without fatal consequences ; which, if the present violent measures are continued, I much fear will not be the case. If blood is once spilt in the cause, there is no knowing where it may end ; and the probable conse- quence will be, that India will be lost for ever. So many officers of the army have gone to such lengths, that unless a general amnesty is granted, tranquillity can never be restored. " The Honourable the Governor in council will not, I trust, impute to me any other motives for having thus given my opinion. I am actuated solely by anxiety for the public good and the benefit of my country; and I think it my duty, holding the respon- sible situation I now do, to express my sentiments at so awful a period. " Where there are any prospects of suc- cess, it might be right to persevere ; but, where every day's experience proves, that the more coercive the measures adopted the more violent are the consequences, a different and more conciliatory line of con- duct ought to be adopted. I have the honour, &c." Statement of Facts, pp. 65, 56. "A letter from Colonel Forbes, com- manding in Malabar, states, that to prevent a revolt in the province, and the probable march of the Company's troops towards Seringapatam, he had accepted of a modifi- cation in the test, to be signed bythe officers on their parole, to make no hostile move- ments until the pleasure of the Government was known. Disapproved by Government, and ordered to enforce the former orders." -Statement of Facts, p. 61. It can scarcely be credited, that in spite of these repeated remonstrances from officers, whose loyalty and whose knowledge of the subject could not be suspected, this test was ordered to be enforced, and the severest rebukes in- flicted upon those who had presumed to doubt of its propriety, or suspend its operation. Nor let any man say that the opinionative person who persevered in this measure saw more clearly and deeply into the consequence of his own measures than those who were about, him ; for unless Mr. Petrie has been guilty, and repeatedly guilty, of a most downright and wilful falsehood, Sir George Barlow had not the most distant conception, during all these measures, that the army would ever venture upon revolt. " Government, or rather the head of the Government, was never correctly informed of the actual state of the army, or I think he would have acted otherwise; he was told, and he was willing to believe, that the discontents were confined to a small part of the troops ; that a great majority dis- approved of their proceedings, and were firmly and unalterably attached to Govern- ment." Statement of Facts, pp. 23, 24. In a conversation which Mr. Petrie had with Sir George Barlow upon the subject of the army and in the course of which he recommends to that gentle- man more lenient measures, and warns him of the increasing disaffection of the troops he gives us the following ac- count of Sir George Barlow's notions of the then state of the army " Sir G. Barlow assured me I was greatly misinformed ; that he could rely upon his intelligence; and would produce to council the most satisfactory and unequivocal proofs of the fidelity of nine-tenths of the army; that the discontents were confined almost exclusively to the southern division of the army; that the troops composing the subsidiary force, those in the ceded dis- tricts, in the centre, and a part of the northern division, were all untainted by those principles which had misled the rest of the army." Statement of Facts, pp. 27, 28. All those violent measures, then, the spirit and wisdom of which have been so much extolled, were not measures of the consequences of which their author had the most distant suspicion. They were not the acts of a man who knew that he must unavoidably, in the discharge of his duty, irritate, but that he could ultimately overcome that irri- tation. They appear, on the contrary, to have proceeded from a most gross and. scandalous ignorance of the opinions of the army. He expected passive submission, and met with universal revolt. So far, then, his want of Intel- DISTURBANCES AT MADRAS. 199 ligence and sagacity are unquestionably proved. He did not proceed with useful measures, and run the risk of a revolt, for which he was fully prepared ; but he carried these measures into execution, firmly convinced that they would occa- sion no revolt at all.* The fatal nature of this mistake is best exemplified by the means recurred to for its correction. The grand expe- dient relied upon was to instigate the natives, men and officers, to disobey their European commanders ; an ex- pedient by which present safety was secured at theexpense of every principle upon which the permanence of our In- dian empire rests. There never was in the world a more singular spectacle than to see a few thousand Europeans governing so despotically fifty or sixty millions of people, of different climate, religion, and habits forming them into large and well-disciplined armies and leading them out to the further subjugation of the native powers of In- dia. But can any words be strong enough to paint the rashness of provok- ing a mutiny, which could only be got under by teaching these armies to act againsttheir European commanders, and to use their actual strength in overpowering their officers? or, is any man entitled to the praise of firm- ness and sagacity, who gets rid of a present danger by encouraging a prin- ciple which renders that danger more frequent and more violent. We will venture to assert, that a more unwise, or a more unstatesmanlike action was never committed by any man in any country ; and we are grievously mis- taken, if any length of time elapse before the evil consequences of it are felt and deplored by every man who deems the welfare of our Indian colonies of any importance to the prosperity of the mother-country. We cannot help con- trasting the management of the discon- tents of the Madras army, with the manner in which the same difficulty was got over with the army of Bengal. * We should have been alarmed to have seen Sir G. Barlow, junior, churchwarden of St. George's Hanover Square, an office so nobly filled by Giblet and Leslie : it was a huge affliction to see so incapable a man at the head of the Indian Empire. A little increase of attention and emolu- ment to the head of that army, under the management of a man of rank and talents, dissipated appearances which the sceptred pomp of a merchant's clerk would have blown up into a rebellion in three weeks ; and yet the Bengal army is at this moment in as good a state of discipline, as the English fleet to which Lord Howe made such abject concessions and in a state to be much more permanently depended upon than the army which has been so effectually ruined by the inconveniently great soul of the present Governor of Madras. Sir George Barlow's agent, though faithful to his employment of calum- niating those who were in any degree opposed to his principal, seldom loses sight of sound discretion, and confines his invectives to whole bodies of men except where the dead are concerned. Against Colonel Capper, General Mac- dowall, and Mr. Roebuck, who are now no longer alive to answer for them- selves, he is intrepidly severe ; in all these instances he gives a full loose to his sense of duty, and inflicts upon them, the severest, chastisement. In his at- tack upon the civilians, he is particu- larly careful to keep to generals ; and so rigidly does he adhere to this prin- ciple, that he does not support his assertion, that the civil service was disaffected as well as the military, by one single name, one single fact, or by any other means whatever, than his own affirmation of the fact. The truth (as might be supposed to be the case from such sort of evidence) is diame- trically opposite. Nothing could be more exemplary, during the whole of the rebellion, than the conduct of the civil servants ; and though the courts of justice were interfered with- though the most respectable servants of the Company were punished for the ver- dicts they had given as jurymen though many were dismissed for the slightest opposition to the pleasure of Government, even in the discharge of official duties, where remonstrance was absolutely necessary though the greatest provocation was given, and the greatest opportunity afforded, to O 4 200 DISTURBANCES AT MADRAS. the civil servants for revolt there is not a single instance in which the shadow of disaffection has been proved against any civil servant. This we say, from an accurate examination of all the papers which have been pub- lished on the subject ; and we do not hesitate to affirm, that there never was a more unjust, unfounded, and pro- fligate charge made against any body of men ; nor have we often witnessed a more complete scene of folly and vio- lence, than the conduct of the Madras Government to its civil servants, exhi- bited during the whole period of the mutiny. Upon the whole, it appears to us, that the Indian army was ultimately driven into revolt by the indiscretion and violence of the Madras Govern- ment ; and that every evil which has happened might, with the greatest pos- sible facility, have been avoided. We have no sort of doubt that the Governor always meant well ; but, we are equally certain that he almost always acted ill ; and where incapacity rises to a certain height, for all practi- cal purposes the motive is of very little consequence. That the late General Macdowall was a weak man, is unques- tionable. He was also irritated (and not without reason), because he was deprived of a seat in council, which the commanders before him had commonly enjoyed. A little attention, however, on the part of the Government the compliment of consulting him upon subjects connected with his profession any of those little arts which are taught, not by a consummate political skill, but dictated by common good nature, and by the habit of mingling with the world, would have produced the effects of conciliation, and em- ployed the force of General Mac- dowall's authority in bringing the army into a better temper of mind. Instead of this, it appears to have been almost the object, and if not the object, cer- tainly the practice, of the Madras Gov- ernment to neglect and insult this officer. Changes of the greatest im- portance were made without his advice, and even without any communication with him ; and it was too visible to those whom he was to command, that he himself possessed no sort of credit with his superiors. As to the tour which General Macdowall is supposed to have made for the purpose of spreading dis- affection among the troops,' and the part which he is represented by the agents to have taken in the quarrels of the civilians with the Government, we utterly discredit these imputations. They are unsupported by any kind of evidence ; and we believe them to be mere inventions, circulated by the friends of the Madras Government. General Macdowall appears to us to have been a weak, pompous man ; ex- tremely out of humour ; offended with the slights he had experienced ; and whom any man of common address might have managed with the greatest ease : but we do not see, in any part of his conduct, the shadow of disloyalty and disaffection ; and we are persuaded that the assertion would never have been made, if he himself had been alive to prove its injustice. Besides the contemptuous treatment of General Macdowall, we have great doubts whether the Madras Govern- ment ought not to have suffered Colonel Munro to be put upon his trial ; and to punish the officers who solicited that trial for the purgation of their own characters, appears to us (whatever the intention was) to have been an act of mere tyranny. We think, too, that General Macdowall was very hastily and unadvisedly removed from his situation; and upon the unjust treat- ment of Colonel Capper and Major Boles there can scarcely be two opinions. In the progress of the mutiny, instead of discovering in the Madras Govern- ment any appearances of temper and wisdom, they appear to us to have been quite as much irritated and heated as the army, and to have been betrayed into excesses nearly as criminal, and infinitely more contemptible and pue- rile. The head of a great kingdom bickering with its officers about invita- tions to dinner the Commander-in- chief of the forces negotiating that the dinner should be loyally eaten the obstinate absurdity of the test the total want of selection in the objects of TOLEEATION. 201 punishment and the wickedness, or the insanity, of teaching the sepoy to rise against his European officer the contempt of the decision of juries in civil cases and the punishment of the juries themselves ; such a system of conduct as this would infallibly doom any individual to punishment, if it did not, fortunately for him, display pre- cisely that contempt of men's feelings, and that passion for insulting multi- tudes, which is so congenial to our pre- sent Government at home, and which passes now so currently for wisdom and courage. By these means, the liberties of great nations are frequently de- stroyed and destroyed with impunity to the perpetrators of the crime. In distant colonies, however, governors who attempt the same system of tyranny are in no little danger from the indignation of their subjects; for though men will often yield up their hap- piness to kings who have been always kings, they are not inclined to show the same deference to men who have been merchants' clerks yesterday, and are kings to-day. From a -danger of this kind, the Governor of Madras appears to us to have very narrowly escaped. We sincerely hope that he is grateful for his good luck ; and that he will now awake from his gorgeous dreams of mercantile monarchy, to good nature, moderation, and common sense. TOLERATION. (E. REVIEW, 1811.) Hints on Toleration, in Five Essays, &c. suggested, for the consideration of Lord Viscount Sidmouth, and the Dissenters. By Philagatharches, London. 1810. IF a prudent man see a child playing with a porcelain cup of great value, he takes the vessel out of his hands, pats him on the head, tells him his mamma will be sorry if it is broken, and gently cheats him into the use of some less precious substitute. Why will Lord Sidmouth meddle with the Toleration Act, when there are so many other subjects in which his abilities might be so eminently useful when enclosure bills are drawn up with such scandalous negligence turnpike roads so shame- fully neglected and public convey- ances illegitimately loaded in the face of day, and in defiance of the wisest legislative provisions ? We confess our trepidation at seeing the Toleration Act in the hands of Lord Sidmouth ; and should be very glad if it were fairly back in the statute-book, and the sedulity of this well-meaning nobleman diverted into another channel. The alarm and suspicion of the Dissenters npon these measures are wise and rational. They are right to consider the Toleration Act as their palladium ; and they may be certain that in this country, there is always a strong party ready, not only to prevent the further extension of tolerant prin- ciples, but to abridge (if they dared) then- present operation within the narrowest limits. Whoever makes this attempt will be sure to make it under professions of the most earnest regard for mildness and toleration, and with the strongest declarations of respect for King William, the Revolution, and the principles which seated the House of Brunswick on the throne of these realms ; and then will follow the clauses for whipping Dissenters, im- prisoning preachers, and subjecting them to rigid qualifications, &c. &c. &c. The infringement on the militia acts is a mere pretence. The real object is, to diminish the number of Dissenters from the Church of England, by abridging the liberties and privileges they now possess. This is the project which we shall examine ; for we sin- cerely believe it to be the project in agitation. The mode in which it is proposed to attack the Dissenters, is first, by exacting greater qualifications in their teachers ; next by prevent- ing the interchange or itinerancy of preachers, and fixing them to one spot. It can never, we presume, be in- tended to subject dissenting ministers to any kind of theological examination. A teacher examined in doctrinal opinions, by another teacher who differs from him, is so very absurd a project, that we entirely acquit Lord Sidmouth of any intention of this sort. We rather presume his Lordship to 202 TOLERATION. mean, that a man who professes to teach his fellow creatures should at least have made some progress in human learning; that he should not be wholly without education ; that he should be able at least to read and write. If the test is of this very ordinary nature, it can scarcely exclude many teachers of religion ; and it was hardly worth while, for the very insignificant dimi- nution of numbers which this must occa. sion to the dissenting clergy, to have raised all the alarm which this attack upon the Toleration Act has occa- sioned. But, without any reference to the magnitude of the effects, is the principle right? or, What is the meaning of reli- gious toleration ? That a man should hold without pain or penalty any reli- gious opinions and choose for his in- struction in the business of salvation any guide whom he pleases ; care being taken, that the teacher, and the doctrine, injure neither the policy nor the morals of the country. We maintain, that perfect religious toleration applies as much to the teacher as the thing taught ; and that it is quite as intole- rant to make a man hear Thomas, who wants to hear John, as it would be to make a man profess Arminian, who wished to profess Calvinistical prin- ciples. What right has any Govern- ment to dictate to any man who shall guide him to heaven, any more than it has to persecute the religious tenets by which he hopes to arrive there ? You believe that the heretic professes doc- trines utterly incompatible with the true spirit of the Gospel; first you burnt him for this, then you whipt him, then you fined him, then you put him in prison. All this did no good ; and, for these hundred years last past, you have let him alone. The heresy is now firmly protected by law ; and you know it must be preached: What matters it then, who preaches it ? If the evil must be communicated, the organ and instrument through which it is communicated cannot be of much consequence. It is true, this kind of persecution, against persons, has not been quite so much tried as the other against doctrines; but the folly and inexpediency of it rest pre- cisely upon the same grounds. Would it not be a singular thing, if the friends of the Church of England were to make the most strenuous efforts to render their enemies eloquent and learned ? and to found places of edu- cation for Dissenters ? But, if their learning would not be a good, why is their ignorance an evil ? unless it be necessarily supposed, that all increase of learning must bring men over to the Church of England ; in which suppo- sition, the Scottish and Catholic Uni- versities, and the College at Hackney, would hardly acquiesce. Ignorance surely matures and quickens the pro- gress, by insuring the dissolution of absurdity. Rational and learned Dis- senters remain : religious mobs, under some ignorant fanatic of the day, be- come foolish overmuch, dissolve and return to the Church. The Unitarian, who reads and writes, gets some sort of discipline, and returns no more. What connection is there (as Lord Sidmouth's plan assumes) between the zeal and piety required for religious instruction and the common attain- ments of literature ? But, if know- ledge and education are required for religious instruction, why be content with the common elements of learning? why not require higher attainments in dissenting candidates for orders ; and examine them in the languages in which the books of their religion are conveyed ? A dissenting minister, of vulgar as- pect and homely appearance, declares that he entered into that holy office because he felt a call ; and a clergy- man of the Establishment smiles at him for the declaration. But it should be remembered, that no minister of the Establishment is admitted into orders, before he has been expressly interro- gated by the bishop, whether he feels himself called to that sacred office. The doctrine of calling, or inward feel- ing, is quite orthodox in the English church; and, in arguing this sub- ject in Parliament, it will hardly be contended, that the Episcopalian only is the judge when that call is genuine, and when it is only imaginary. TOLERATION. 203 The attempt at making the dissent- ing clergy stationary, and persecuting their circulation, appears to us quite as unjust and inexpedient as the other measure of qualifications. It appears a gross inconsistency to say " I admit that what you are doing is legal, but you must not do it thoroughly and ef- fectually. I allow you to propagate your heresy, but I object to all means of propagating it which appear to be useful and effective." If there are any other grounds upon which the circula- tion of the dissenting clergy is objected to, let these grounds be stated and ex- amined ; but to object to their circula- tion, merely because it is the best method of effecting the object which you allow them to effect, does appear to be rather unnatural and inconsistent. It is presumed, in this argument, that the only reason urged for the prevention of itinerant preachers is the increase of heresy ; for, if heresy is not increased by it, jt must be immaterial to the feelings of Lord Sidmouth, and of the Imperial Parliament, whether Mr. Shufflebottom preaches at Bungay, and Mr. Ringletub at Ipswich ; or whether an artful vicissitude is adopted, and the order of insane predication reversed. But, supposing all this new interfer- ence to be just, what good will it do ? You find a dissenting preacher, whom you have prohibited, still continuing to preach, or preaching at Baling when he ought to preach at Acton ; his number is taken, and the next morning he is summoned. Is it believed that this description of persons can be put down by fine and imprisonment ? His fine is paid for him ; and he returns from imprisonment ten times as much sought after and as popular as he was before. This is a receipt for making a stupid preacher popular, and a popular preacher more popular, but can have no possible tendency to prevent the mischief against which it is levelled. It is precisely the old history of perse- cution against opinions turned into a persecution against persons. The prisons will be filled the enemies of the Church made enemies of the State also, and the Methodists ren- dered ten times more actively mad than they are at present. This Is the direct and obvious tendency of Lord Sidmouth's plan. Nothing dies so hard and rallies so often as intolerance. The fires are put out, and no living nostril has scented the nidor of a human creature roasted for faith ; then, after this, the prison- doors were got open, and the chains knocked off; and now Lord Sid- mouth only begs that men who disagree with him in religious opinions may be deprived of all civil offices, and not be allowed to hear the preachers they like best. Chains and whips he would not hear of; but these mild gratifications of his bill every orthodox mind is surely entitled to. The hardship would indeed be great, if a churchman were deprived of the amusement of putting a dissent- ing parson in prison. We are convinced Lord Sidmouth is a very amiable and well-intentioned man : his error is not the error of his heart, but of his time above which few men ever rise. It is the error of some four or five hundred thousand English gentlemen, of decent education and worthy characters, who conscientiously believe that they are punishing, and continuing incapacities, for the good of the State ; while they are, in fact (though without knowing it), only gratifying that insolence, hatred, and revenge, which all human beings are unfortunately so ready to feel against those who wUl not conform to their own sentiments. But, instead of making the dissent- ing Churches less popular, why not make the English Church more popu- lar, and raise the English clergy to the privileges of the Dissenters ? In any parish of England, any layman, or clergyman, by paying sixpence, can open a place of worship, provided it be not the worship of the Church of England. If he wishes to attack the doctrines of the bishop or the incum- bent, he is not compelled to ask the consent of any person ; but if, by any evil chance, he should be persuaded of the truth of those doctrines, and build a chapel or mount a pulpit to support them, he is instantly put in the spiritual court ; for the regular incumbent, who has a legal monopoly of this doctrine 204 TOLERATION. does not choose to suffer any interloper; and without his consent, it is illegal to preach the doctrines of the Church within his precincts.* Now this appears to us a great and manifest absurdity, and a disadvantage against the Estab- lished Church, which very few establish- ments could bear. The persons who preach and who build chapels, or for whom chapels are built, among the Dissenters, are active clever persons, with considerable talents for that kind of employment. These talents have, with them, their free and unbounded scope ; while in the English Church they are wholly extinguished and de- stroyed. Till this evil is corrected, the Church contends with fearful odds against its opponents. On the one side, any man who can command the attention of a congregation to whom nature has given the animal and intel- * It might be supposed that the general interests of the Church would outweigh the particular interests of the rector; and that any clergyman would be glad to see places of worship opened within hisjparish for the doctrines of thaEstablished Church. The fact, however, is directly the reverse. It is scarcely possible to obtain permission from the established clergyman of the parish to open a chapel there; and, when it is granted, it is granted upon very hard and interested conditions. The parishes of St. George of St. James of Marylebpne and of St. Anne's, in London may, in the parish churches, chapels of ease, and mer- cenary chapels, contain, perhaps, one hundredth part of their Episcopalian in- habitants. Let the rectors, lay and clerical, meet together, and give notice that any clergyman of the Church of England, ap- proved by the bishop, may preach there; and we will venture to say, that places of worship, capable of containing 20,000 persons, would be built within ten years. But, in these cases, the interest of the rector and of the Establishment are not the same. A chapel belonging to the Swedenborgians, or Methodists of the New Jerusalem, was offered two or three years since, in London, to a clergyman of the Establishment. The proprietor was tired of his irrational tenants, and wished for better doctrine. The rector (since a dig- nitary), with every possible compliment to the fitness of the person in question, posi- tively refused the application; and the church remains in the hands of Method- ists. No particular blame is intended, by this anecdote, against the individual rector. He acted as many have done be- fore and since; but the incumbent clergy- man ought to possess no such power. It is his interest, but not the interest of the Establishment. lectual qualifications of a preacher such a man is the member of every corporation ; all impediments are re- moved : there is not a single position in Great Britain which he may not take, provided he is hostile to the Esta- blished Church. In the other case, if the English Church were to breed up a Massillon or a Bourdaloue, he finds every place occupied , and everywhere a regular and respectable clergyman ready to put him in the spiritual court, if he attract, within his precincts, any attention to the doctrines and worship of the Established Church. The necessity of having the bishop's consent would prevent any improper person from preaching. That consent should be withheld, not capriciously, but for good and lawful cause to be assigned. The profits of an incumbent proceed from fixed or voluntary contributions. The fixed could not be affected ; and the voluntary ought to vary according to the exertions of the incumbent and the good-will of the parishioners ; but, if this is wrong, pecuniary compen- sation might be made (at the discretion of the ordinary) from the supernu- merary to the regular clergyman.* Such a plan, it is true, would make the Church of England more popular in its nature; and it ought to be made more popular, or it will not endure for another half century. There are two methods; the Church must be made more popular, or the Dissenters less so. To effect the latter object by force and restriction is unjust and impos- sible. The only remedy seems to be, to grant to the Church the same privi- leges which are enjoyed by the Dis- senters, and to excite in one party that competition of talent which is of such palpable advantage to the other. A remedy, suggested by some well- wishers to the Church, is the appoint- ment of men to benefices who have talents for advancing the interests of re- ligion ; but, till each particular patron can be persuaded to care more for the general good of the Church than for the particular good of the person whom All this has been since placed on a better footing. TOLERATION. 205 he patronises, little expectation of im- provement can be derived from this quarter. The competition between the Es- tablished Clergy, to which this method would give birth, would throw the in- cumbent in the back-ground only when he was unKt to stand forward im- moral, negligent, or stupid. His income would still remain ; and, if his in- fluence were superseded by a man of better qualities and attainments, the general good of the Establishment would be consulted by the change. The beneficed clergyman would always come to the contest with great advan- tages; and his deficiencies must be very great indeed if he lost the esteem of his parishioners. But the contest would rarely or ever take place, where the friends of the Establishment were not numerous enough for all. At pre- sent, the selfish incumbent, who cannot accommodate the fiftieth part of his parishioners, is determined that no one else shall do it for him. It is in such situations that the benefit to the Es- tablishment would be greatest, and the injury to the appointed minister none at all. We beg of men of sense to reflect, that the question is, not whether they wish the English Church to stand as it now is, but whether the English Church can stand as it now is ; and whether the moderate activity here recom- mended is not the minimum of exertion necessary for its preservation. At the same time, we hope nobody will rate our sagacity so very low, as to imagine we have much hope that any measure of the kind will ever be adopted. All establishments die of dignity. They are too proud to think themselves ill, and to take a little physic. To show that we have not mis-stated the obstinacy or the conscience of sect- aries, and the spirit with which they will meet the regulations of Lord Sid- mouth, we will lay before our readers the sentiments of Philagatharches a stern subacid Dissenter. " I shall not here enter into a compre- hensive discussion of the nature of a call to the ministerial office; but deduce my proposition from a sentiment admitted equally by conformists and nonconformists. It is essential to the rature of a call to preach ' that a man be moved by the Holy Ghost to enter upon the work of the ministry ;' and, if the Spirit of God operate powerfully upon his heart, to constrain him to appear as a public teacher of religion, who shall command him to desist? "We have seen that the sanction of the magistrate can give no authority to preach the gospel; and if he were to forbid our exertions, we must persist in the work : we dare not relinquish a task that God has required us to perform; we cannot keep our consciences in peace, if our lips are closed in silence, while the Holy Ghost is moving our hearts to pro- claim the tidings of salvation: ' Tea, woe is unto me,' saith St. Paul, ' if I preach not the gospel.' Thus, when the Jewish priests had taken Peter and John into custody, and, after examining them concerning their doctrine, ' commanded them not to speak at all, nor to teach in the name of Jesus/ these apostolical champions of the cross undauntedly replied, ' Whether it be right in the sight of God, to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye: for we can- not but speak the things which we have seen and heard.' Thus, also, in our day, when the Holy Ghost excites a man to preach the gospel to his fellow sinners, his message is sanctioned by an authority which is 'far above all principality and power ; ' and, consequently, neither needs the approbation of subordinate rulers, nor admits of revocation by their counter- manding edicts. " Srdly, He who receives a license should not expect to derive from it a testimony of qualification to preach. "It would be grossly absurd to seek a testimony of this description from any single individual, even though he were an experienced veteran in theservice of Christ: for all are fallible ; and, under some un- favourable prepossession, even the wisest or the best of men might give an erroneous decision upon the case. But this observa- tion will gain additional force, when we suppose the power of judging transferred to the person of the magistrate. We can- not presume that a civil ruler understands as much of theology as a minister of the gospel. His necessary duties prevent him from critically investigating questions upon divinity ; and confine his attention to that particular department which society has deputed him to occupy; and hence to ex- pect at his hands a testimony of qualifica- tion to preach, would be almost as ludicrous as to require an obscure country curate to fill the office of Lord Chancellor. " But again admitting that a magistrate, 206 TOLERATION. who is nominated by the sovereign to issue forth licenses to dissenting ministers, is competent to the task of judging of their natural and acquired abilities, it must still remain a doubtful question whether they are moved to preach by the influences of the Holy Ghost ; for it is the prerogative of God alone to ' search the heart and try the reins' of the children of men. Conse- quently, after every effort of the ruling powers to assume to themselves the right of judging whether a man be or be not qualified to preach, the most essential property of the call must remain to be determined by the conscience of the indi- vidual. " It is further worthy of observation, that the talents of a preacher may be acceptable to many persons, if not to him who issues the license. The taste of a person thus high in office may be too refined to derive gratification from any but the most learned, intelligent, and accomplished preachers. Yet, as the gospel is sent to the poor as well as to the rich, perhaps hundreds of preachers may be highly acceptable, much esteemed, and eminently useful in their respective circles, who would be despised as men of mean attainments by one whose mind is well stored with literature, and cultivated by science. From these remarks, I infer, that a man 's own judgment must be the criterion, in determining what line of conduct to pursue before he begins to preach; and the opinion of the people to whom he ministers must determine whether it be desirable that he should continue to fill their pulpit." (pp. 168 173.) The sentiments of Philagatharches are expressed still more strongly in a subsequent passage. "Here a question may arise what line of conduct conscientious ministers ought to pursue, if laws were to be enacted, for- bidding either all dissenting ministers to preach, or only lay preachers; or forbidding to preach in an unlicensed place; and, at the same time, refusing to license persons and places, except under such security as the property of the parties would not meet, or under limitations to which their con- sciences could not accede. What has been advanced ought to outweigh every con- sideration of temporal interest; and, if the evil genius of persecution were to appear again, I pray God that we might all be faithful to Him who hath called us to preach the gospel. Under such circum- stances, let us continue to preach ; if fined, let us pay the penalty, and persevere in preaching; and, when unable to pay the fine, or deeming it impolitic so to do, let us submit to go quietly to prison, but with the resolution still to preach upon the first opportunity, and, if possible, to collect a church even within the precincts of the gaol. He, who, by these zealous exertions, becomes the honoured instrument of con- verting one sinner unto God, will find that single seal to his ministerial labours an ample compensation for all his sufferings. In this manner the venerable apostle of the Gentiles both avowed and proved his sin- cere attachment to the cause in which he had embarked: 'The Holy Ghost wit- nesseth, in every city, that bonds and afflic- tions abide me. But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.' " In the early ages of Christianity mar- tyrdom was considered an eminent honour; and many of the primitive Christians thrust themselves upon the notice of their heathen persecutors, that they might be brought to suffer in the cause of that Re- deemer whom they ardently loved. In the present day, Christians in general incline to estimate such rash ardour as a species of enthusiasm, and feel no disposition to court the horrors of persecution ; yet.if such dark and tremendous days were to return in this age of the world, ministers should retain their stations; they should be true to their charge ; they should continue their minis- trations, each man in his sphere, shining with all the lustre of genuine godliness, to dispel the gloom in which the nation would then be enveloped. If this line of conduct were to be adopted, and acted upon with decision, the cause of piety, of noncon- formity, and of itinerant preaching, must eventually triumph. All the gaols in the country would speedily be filled; those houses of correction, which were erected for the chastisement of the vicious in the com- munity, would be replenished with thou- sands of the most pious, active, and useful men in the kingdom, whose characters are held in general esteem. But the ultimate result of such despotic proceedings is be- yond the ken of human prescience : pro- bably, appeals to the public and the legisla- ture would teem from the press, and, under such circumstances, might diffuse a revo- lutionary spirit throughout the country." (pp. 239 243.) We quote these opinions at length, not because they are the opinions of Philagatharches, but because we are confident that they are the opinions of CHARLES FOX. 207 ten thousand hot-headed fanatics, and that they would firmly and conscien- tiously be acted upon. Philagatharches is an instance (not uncommon, we are sorry to say, even among the most rational of the Pro- testant Dissenters) of a love of tolera- tion combined with a love of persecu- tion. He is a Dissenter, and earnestly demands a religious liberty for that body of men ; but as for the Catholics, he would not only continue their pre- sent disabilities, but load them with every new one that could be conceived. He expressly says, that an Atheist or a Deist may be allowed to propagate their doctrines, but not a Catholic ; and then proceeds with all the custom- ary trash against that sect which nine schoolboys out of ten now know how to refute. So it is with Philagatharches ; so it is with weak men in every sect. It has ever been our object, and (in spite of misrepresentation and abuse) ever shall be our object, to put down this spirit to protect the true interests, and to diffuse the true spirit of tolera- tion. To a well-supported national Establishment, effectually discharging its duties, we are very sincere friends. If any man, after he has paid his con- tribution to this great security for the existence of religion in any shape, choose to adopt a religion of his own, that man should be permitted to do so without let, molestation, "or disqualifi- cation for any of the offices of life. We apologise to men of sense for sen- timents so trite ; and patiently endure the anger which they will excite among those with whom they will pass for original. CHARLES FOX. (E. REVIEW, 1811.) A Vindication of Mr. Fox's History of the early Part of the Reign of James the Second. By Samuel Heywood, Serjeant- at-Law. London, Johnson and Co. 1811. THOUGH Mr. Fox's history was, of course, as much open to animadversion and rebuke as any other book, the task, we think, would have become any other person better than Mr. Rose. The whole of Mr. Fox's life was spent in opposing the profligacy and expos- ing the ignorance of his own court. In the first half of his political career, while Lord North was losing America, and in the latter half while Mr. Pitt was ruining Europe, the creatures of the Government were eternally ex- posed to the attacks of this discerning, dauntless, and most powerful speaker. Folly and corruption never had a more terrible enemy in the English House of Commons one whom it was so im- possible to bribe, so hopeless to elude, and so difficult to answer. Now it so happened, that during the whole of this period, the historical critic of Mr. Fox was employed in subordinate offices of Government ; that the detail of taxes passed through his hands ; that he amassed a large fortune by those occu- pations ; and that, both in the mea- sures which he supported, and in the friends from whose patronage he re- ceived his emoluments, he was com- pletely and perpetually opposed to Mr. Fox. Again, it must be remembered, that very great people have very long me- mories for the injuries which they re- ceive, or which they think they receive. No speculation was so good, therefore, as to vilify the memory of Mr. Fox, nothing so delicious as to lower him in the public estimation, no service so likely to be well rewarded ' so emi- nently grateful to those of whose fa- vour Mr. Rose has so often tasted the sweets, and of the value of whose patronage he must, from long expe- rience, have been so thoroughly aware. We are almost inclined to think that we might at one time have worked ourselves up to suspect Mr. Rose of being actuated by some of these mo- tives : not because we have any reason to think worse of that gentleman than of most of his political associates, but merely because it seemed to us so very probable that he should have been so influenced. Our suspicions, however, were entirely removed by the fre- quency and violence of his own pro- testations. He vows so solemnly that he has no bad motive in writing his critique, that we find it impossible to 208 CHARLES FOX. withhold our belief in his purity. But Mr. Rose does not trust to his protes- tations alone. He is not satisfied with assurances that be did not write his book from any bad motive, but he in- forms us that his motive was excellent, and is even obliging enough to tell us what that motive was. The Earl of Marchmont, it seems, was Mr. Rose's friend. To Mr. Rose he left his manu- scripts ; and among these manuscripts was a narrative written by Sir Patrick Hume, an ancestor of the Earl of Marchmont, and one of the leaders in Argyle's rebellion. Of Sir Patrick Hume Mr. Rose conceives (a little erroneously to be sure, but he assures us he does conceive) Mr. Fox to have spoken disrespectfully ; and the case comes out, therefore, as clearly as pos- sible, as follows. Sir Patrick was the progenitor, and Mr. Rose was the friend and sole exe- cutor, of the Earl of Marchmont ; and therefore, says Mr. Rose, I consider it as a sacred duty to vindicate the cha- racter of Sir Patrick, and, for that pur- pose, to publish a long and elaborate critique upon all the doctrines and statements contained in Mr. Fox's his- tory ! This appears to us about as satisfactory an explanation of Mr. Rose's authorship as the exclamation of the traveller was of the name of Stony Stratford. Before Mr. Rose gave way to this intense value for Sir Patrick, and re- solved to write a book, he should have inquired what accurate men there were about in society ; and if he had once received the slightest notice of the existence of Mr. Samuel Heywood, serjeant-at-law, we are convinced he would have transfused into his own will and testament the feelings he derived from that of Lord Marchmont, and devolved upon another executor the sacred and dangerous duty of vin- dicating Sir Patrick Hume. The life of Mr. Rose has been prin- cipally employed in the painful, yet perhaps necessary, duty of increasing the burdens of his fellow-creatures. It has been a life of detail, onerous to the subject onerous and lucrative to himself. It would be unfair to expect from one thus occupied any great depth of thought, or any remarkable graces of composition ; but we have a fair right to look for habits of patient research and scrupulous accuracy. We might naturally expect industry in col- lecting facts, and fidelity in quoting them ; and hope, in the absence of commanding genius, to receive a com- pensation from the more humble and ordinary qualities of the mind. How far this is the case, our subsequent re- marks will enable the reader to judge. We shall not extend them to any great length, as we have before treated on the same subject in our review of Mr. Rose's work. Our great object at present is to abridge the observations of Serjeant Heywood. For Serjeant Heywood, though a most respectable, honest, and enlightened man, really does require an abridger. He has not the talent of saying what he has to say quickly ; nor is he aware that brevity is in writing what charity is to all other virtues. Righteousness is worth nothing without the one, nor author- ship without the other. But whoever will forgive this little defect will find in all his productions great learning, im- maculate honesty, and the most scru- pulous accuracy. Whatever detections of Mr. Rose's inaccuracies are made in this Review are to be entirely given to him ; and we confess ourselves quite astonished at their number and extent. " Among the modes of destroying persons (says Mr. Fox, p. 14) in such a situation (i. e. monarchs deposed), there can be little doubt but that adopted by Cromwell and his adherents is the least dishonourable. Edward II., Richard II., Henry VI., Edward V., had none of them long survived their deposal ; but this was the first instance, in our history at least, when of such an act it could be truly said it was not done in a corner." What Mr. Rose can find in this sentiment to quarrel with, we are utterly at a loss to conceive. If a hu- man being is to be put to death un- justly, is it no mitigation of such a lot that the death should be public ? Is any thing better calculated to pre- vent secret torture and cruelty ? And would Mr. Rose, in mercy to Charles, CHARLES FOX. 209 have preferred that red-hot iron should have been secretly thrust into his en- trails? or that he should have disap- peared as Pichegru and Toussaint have disappeared in our times ? The periods of the Edwards and Henrys were, it is true, barbarous periods : but this is the very argument Mr. Fox uses. All these murders, he contends, were im- moral and bad ; but that where the manner was the least objectionable, was the murder of Charles the First because it was public. And can any human being doubt, in the first place, that these crimes would be marked by less intense cruelty if they were public, and, secondly, that they would become less frequent, where the perpetrators incurred responsibility, than if they were committed by an uncertain hand in secrecy and concealment ? There never was, in short, not only a more innocent, but a more obvious sentiment ; and to object to it in the manner which Mr. Rose has done, is surely to love Sir Patrick Hume too much, if there can be any excess in so very commendable a passion in the breast of a sole exe- cutor. Mr. Fox proceeds to observe, that "he who has discussed this subject with foreigners, must have observed, that the act of the execution of Charles, even in the minds of those who con- demn it, excites more admiration than disgust." If the sentiment is bad, let those who feel it answer for it. Mr. Fox only asserts the fact, and explains, without justifying it. The only ques- tion (as concerns Mr. Fox) is, whether such is, or is not, the feeling of foreign- ers ; and whether that feeling (if it exist) is rightly explained ? We have no doubt either of the fact or of the explanation. The conduct of Crom- well, and his associates, was not to be excused in the main act ; but in the manner, it was magnanimous. And among the servile nations of the Con- tinent, it must naturally excite a feeling of joy and wonder, that the power of the people had for once been felt, and so memorable a lesson read to those whom they must naturally consider as the great oppressors of mankind. The most unjustifiable point of Mr. VOL. I. Rose's accusation, however, is still to come. " If such high praise," says that gentleman, " was, in the judgment of Mr. Fox, due to Cromwell for the publicity of the proceedings against the King, how would he have found language sufficiently commendatory to express his admiration of the magnani- mity of those who brought Lewis the Sixteenth to an open trial ? " Mr. Rose accuses Mr. Fox, then, of approv- ing the execution of Lewis the Six- teenth : but on the 20th December, 1792, Mr. Fox said, in the House of Commons, in the presence of Mr. Rose, " ' The proceedings with respect to the royal family of France are so far from being magnanimity, justice or mercy, that they are directly the reverse ; they are injustice, cruelty, and pusillanimity.' And afterwards declared his wish for an address to his Majesty, to which he would aad an expres- sion, ' of our abhorrence of the proceedings against the royal family of France, in which, I have no doubt, we shall be supported by the whole country. If there can be any means suggested that will be better adapted to produce the unanimous concurrence of this House, and of all the country, with respect to the measure now under consi- deration in Paris, I should be obliged to any person for his better suggestion upon the subject.' Then, after stating that such address, especially if the Lords joined in it, must have a decisive influence in France, he added, ' I have said thus much in order to contradict one of the most cruel misre- presentations of what I have before said in our late debates; and that my language may not be interpreted from the manner in which other gentlemen have chosen to answer it. I have spoken the genuine sentiments of my heart, and I anxiously wish the House to come to some resolution upon the subject.' And on the following day, when a copy of instructions sent to Earl Gower, signifying that he should leave Paris, was laid before the House of Com- mons, Mr. Fox said, ' he had heard it said, that the proceedings against the King of France are unnecessary. He would go a great deal further, and say, he believed them bo be highly unjust; and not only repugnant to all the common feelings of mankind, but also contrary to all the fundamental prin- ciples of law.' "(pp. 20, 21.) On Monday, the 28th January, he said, ' With regard to that part of the com- P 210 CHARLES FOX. munication from his Majesty which related to the late detestable scene exhibited in a neighbouring country, he could not suppose there were two opinions in that House ; he knew they were all ready to declare their abhorrence ot that abominable proceeding." -(p. 21.) Two days afterwards, in the debate on the message, Mr. Fox pronounced the condemnation and execution of the King to be " an act as disgraceful as any that history recorded : and whatever opinions he might at any time have expressed in private con- versation, he had expressed none certainly in that House on the justice of bringing kings to trial : revenge being unjustifiable, and punishment useless, where it could not operate either by way of prevention or example ; he did not view with less detes- tation the injustice and inhumanity that had been committed towards that unhappy monarch. Not only were the rules of criminal justice rules that more than any other ought to be strictly observed violated with respect to him ; not only was he tried and condemned without any existing law, to which he was personally amenable, and even contrary to laws that did actually exist, but the degrading circumstances of his imprisonment, the unnecessary and insulting asperity with which he had been treated, tlie total want of republican mag- nanimity in the whole transaction (for even in that House it could be no offence to say, that there might be such a thing as magnanimity in a republic,) added every aggravation to the inhumanity and in- justice." t That Mr. Fox had held this language in the House of Commons, Mr. Rose knew perfectly well, when he accused that gentleman of appro ving % the mur- der of the King of France. Whatever be the faults imputed to Mr. Fox, duplicity and hypocrisy were never among the number ; and no human being ever doubted but that Mr. Fox, in this instance, spoke his real senti- ments : but the love of Sir Patrick Hume is an overwhelming passion ; and no man who gives way to it can ever say into what excesses he may be hurried. Non simvl cuiquam conceditur, amare et sapere. The next point upon which Serjeant Heywood attacks Mr. Rose, is that of General Monk. Mr. Fox says of Monk, " that he acquiesced in the in- sult so meanly put upon the illustrious corpse of Blake, under whose auspices and command he had performed the most creditable services of his life." This story, Mr. Rose says, rests upon the authority of Neale, in his History of the Puritans. This is the first of many blunders made by Mr. Rose upon this particular topic : for Anthony Wood, in his Fasti Oxoniensis, enume- rating Blake among the bachelors, says, " His body was taken up, and, with others, buried in a pit in St. Margaret's churchyard adjoining, near to the back door of one of the prebendaries of Westminster, in which place it now re- maineth, enjoying no other monument but what is reared by its valour, which time itself can hardly efface. But the difficulty is to find how the denial of Mr. Rose affects Mr. Fox's assertion. Mr. Rose admits, that Blake's body was dug up by an order of the King, and does not deny that it was done with the acquiescence of Monk. But if this be the case, Mr. Fox's position, that Blake was insulted, and that Monk acquiesced in the insult, is clearly made out. Nor has Mr. Rose the shadow of an authority for saying that the corpse of Blake was reinterred with great decorum. Kennet is silent upon the subject. We have already given Ser- jeant Heywood's quotation from An- thony Wood ; and this statement, for the present, rests entirely upon the assertion of Mr. Rose ; and upon that basis will remain to all eternity. Mr. Rose, who, we must say, on all occasions through the whole of this book, makes the greatest parade of his accuracy, states, that the bodies of Cromwell, Ireton, and Blake, were taken up at the same time ; whereas the fact is, that those of Cromwell and Ireton were taken up on the 26th of January, and that of Blake on the 10th of Sep- tember, nearly nine months afterwards. It may appear frivolous to notice such errors as these ; but they lead to very strong suspicions in a critic of history and of historians. They show that those habits of punctuality, on the faith of which he demands implicit confidence from his readers, really do not exist ; CHARLES FOX. 211 they prove that' such a writer will be exact only when he thinks the occasion of importance ; and, as he himself is the only judge of that importance, it is necessary to examine his proofs in every instance, and impossible to trust him anywhere. Mr. Rose remarks, that, in the weekly paper entitled Mercurius Rusticus, No. 4., where an account is given of the disinterment of Cromwell and Ireton, not a syllable is said respecting the corpse of Blake. This is very true ; but the reason (which does not seem to have occurred to Mr. Rose) is, that Blake's corpse was not touched till six months afterwards. This is really a little too much. That Mr. Rose should quit his usual pursuits, erect himself into an historical critic, perch upon the body of the dead lion, impugn the accuracy of one of the greatest, as well as most accurate men of his time, and himself be guilty of such gross and unpardonable negligence, looks so very much like an insensibility to shame, that we should be loth to characterise his conduct by the severe epithets which it appears to merit, and which we are quite certain Sir Patrick, the defendee, would have been the first to bestow upon it. The next passage in Mr. Fox's work, objected to, is that which charges Monk, at the trial of Argyle, "with having produced letters of friendship and confidence to take away the life of a nobleman, the zeal and cordiality of whose co-operation with him, proved by such documents, was the chief ground of his execution." This ac- cusation, says Mr. Rose, rests upon the sole authority of Bishop Burnet ; and yet no sooner has he said this, than he tells us, Mr. Laing considers the bishop's authority to be confirmed by Cunning- ham and Baillie, both contemporary writers. Into Cunningham or Baillie, Mr. Rose never looks to see whether or not they do really confirm the au- thority of the bishop ; and so gross is his negligence, that the very misprint from Mr. Laing's work is copied, and page 431. of Baillie is cited, instead of 451. If Mr. Rose had really taken the trouble of referring to these books, all doubt, of the meanness and guilt of Monk must have been instantly re- moved. "Monk was moved," says Baillie, " to send down four or five of Argyle's letters to himself and others, promising his full compliance with them, that the King should not reprieve him." (Baillie's Letters, p. 451.) "He endeavoured to make his defence," says Cunningham ; "but, chiefly by the dis- cover ies of Monk, was condemned of high treason, and lost his head." Cunningham's History, Vol. 1. p. 13. Would it have been more than com- mon decency required, if Mr. Rose, who had been apprised of the existence of these authorities, had had recourse to them, before he impugned the accu- racy of Mr. Fox? Or is it possible to read, without some portion of contempt, this slovenly and indolent corrector of supposed inaccuracies in a man, not only so much greater than himself in his general nature, but a man who, as it turns out, excels Mr. Rose in his own little arts of looking, searching, and comparing ; and is as much his superior in the retail qualities which small people arrogate to themselves, as he was in every commanding faculty to the rest of his fellow-creatures ? Mr. Rose searches Thurloe's State Papers ; but Serjeant Hey wood searches them after Mr. Rose : and, by a series of the plainest references, proves the probability there is that Argyle did receive letters which might have mate- rially affected his life. To Monk's duplicity of conduct may be principally attributed the destruction of his friends, who were prevented, by their confidence in him, from taking measures to secure themselves. He selected those among them whom he thought fit for trial sat as a commis- sioner upon their trial and interfered not to save the lives even of those with whom he had lived in habits of the greatest kindness. " I cannot," says a witness of the most unquestionable authority, " I cannot forget one passage that I saw. Monk and his wife, before they were removed to the Tower, while they were yet prisoners at Lambeth House, came one evening to the garden, aud caused them to be brought down, only P 2 212 CHARLES FOX. to stare at them ; which was such a bar- barism, for that man who had betrayed so many poor men to death and misery, that never hurt him, but had honoured him, and trusted their lives and interests with him, to glut his bloody eyes with beholding them in their bondage, as no story can parallel the inhumanity of." (p. 83.) Hutchinsoris Memoirs, p. 378. This, however, is the man whom Mr. Fox, at the distance of a century and a half, may not mark with infamy, without incurring, from the candour of Mr. Rose, the imputation of republican principles; as if attachment to mon- archy could have justified, in Monk, the coldness, cruelty, and treachery of his character, as if the historian became the advocate, or the enemy of any form of government, by praising the good, or blaming the bad men which it might produce. Serjeant Hey wood sums up the whole article as follows: " Having examined and commented upon the evidence produced by Mr. Rose, than which ' it is hardly possible," he says, ' to conceive that stronger could be formed in any case, to establish a negative," we now safely assert, that Mr. Fox had fully in- formed himself upon the subject before he wrote, and was amply justified in the con- demnation of Monk, and the consequent severe censures upon him. It has been already demonstrated, that the character of Monk had been truly given, when of him he said, 'the army had fallen into the hands of one, than whom a baser could not be found in its lowest ranks." The transac- tions between him and Argyle for a certain period of time, were such as must naturally, ?f not necessarily, have led them into an epistolary correspondence; and it was in exact conformity with Monk's character and conduct to the regicides, that he should betray the letters written to him, in order to destroy a man whom he had, in the latter part of his command in Scotland, both feared and hated. If the fact of the production of these letters had stood merely on the testimony of Bishop Burnet, we have seen that nothing has been pro- duced by Mr. Rose and Dr. Campbell to impeach it; on the contrary, an inquiry into the authorities and documents they have cited strongly confirms it. But, as before observed, it is a surprising instance of Mr. Rose's indolence, that he should state the question to depend now, as it did in Dr. Campbell's time, on the bishop's authority solely. But that authority is, in itself, no light one. Burnet was almost eighteen years of age at the time of Argyle's trial ; he was never an unobserving spectator of public events ; he was probably at Edin- burgh, and, for some years afterwards, remained in Scotland, with ample means of information respecting events which had taken place so recently. Baillie seems also to have been upon the spot, and expressly confirms the testimony of Burnet. To these must be added Cunningham, who, writing as a person perfectly acquainted with the circumstances of the transaction, says it was owing to the interference of Monk, who had been his great friend in Oliver's time, that he was sent back to Scotland, and brought to trial; and that he was con- demned chiefly by his discoveries. We may now ask where is the improbability of this story, when related of such a man? and what ground there is for not giving credit to a fact attested by three witnesses of veracity, each writing at a distance, and separate from each other? In this instance Bishop Burnet is so confirmed, that no reasonable being, who will attend to the subject, can doubt of the fact he relates being true ; and we shall hereafter prove, that the general imputation against his accuracy, made by Mr. Rose, is totally without foundation. If facts so proved are not to be credited, historians may lay aside their pens, and every man must content himself with the scanty pittance of know- ledge he may be able to collect for himself in the very limited sphere of his own im- mediate observation." (pp. 8688.) This, we think, is conclusive enough : but we are happy to be enabled, out of our own store, to set this part of the question finally to rest, by an authority which Mr. Rose himself will probably admit to be decisive. Sir George Mackenzie, the great Tory lawyer of Scotland in that clay, and Lord Advo- cate to Charles II. through the greater part of his reign, was the leading counsel for Argyle on the trial alluded to. In 1678, this learned person, who was then Lord Advocate to Charles, published an elaborate treatise on the criminal law of Scotland, in which, when treating of Probation, or Evi- dence, he observes, that missive letters, not written, but only signed by the party, should not be received in evi- dence ; and immediately adds, " And yet, the Marquis of Argyle was convict of treason, UPON LETTEKS WRITTEN BY HIM TO GENERAL MONK; these letters CHARLES FOX. 213 being only subscribed by him, and not holograph, and the subscription being proved per coryparationem literarum ; which were very hard in other cases," &C. (Mackenzie's Criminals, first edit. p. 524. Part II. tit. 25. 3.) Now this, we conceive, is nothing more nor less than a solemn professional report of the case, and leaves just as little room for doubt as to the fact, as if the original record of the trial had been recovered. Mr. Rose next objects to Mr. Fox's assertion, that " the King kept from his Cabal Ministry the real state of his connection with France and from some of them the secret of what he was pleased to call his religion ;" and Mr. Fox doubts whether to attribute this conduct to the habitual treachery of Charles, or to an apprehension, that his ministers might demand for themselves some share of the French money ; which he was unwilling to give them. In answer to this conjecture, Mr. Rose quotes Barillon's Letters to Lewis XIV. to show that Charles's ministers were fully apprised of his money transactions with France. The letters so quoted were, however, written seven years after the Cabal Ministry were in power for Barillon did not come to England as ambassador till 1677 and these letters were not written till after that period. Poor Sir Patrick It was for thee and thy defence this book was written!!!! Mr. Fox has said, that from some of the ministers of the Cabal the secret of Charles's religion was concealed. It was known to Arlington, admitted by Mr. Rose to be a concealed Catholic; it was known to Clifford, an avowed Catholic : Mr. Rose admits it not to have been known to Buckingham, though he explains the reserve, with respect to him, in a different way. He has not, however, attempted to prove that Lauderdale or Ashley were con- sulted ; on the contrary, in Colbert's Letter of the 25th August, 1670, cited by Mr. Rose, it is stated that Charles had proposed the traite simule, which should be a repetition of the former one in all things, except the article relative to the King's declaring himself a Catholic, and that the Protestant Min- isters, Buckingham, Ashley Cooper, and Lauderdale, should be brought to be parties to it: "Can there be a stronger proof (asks Serjeant Hey- wood), that they were ignorant of the same treaty made the year before, and remaining then in force?" Historical research is certainly not the peculiar talent of Mr. Rose ; and as for the official accuracy of which he is so apt to boast, we would have Mr. Rose to re- member, that the term official accuracy has of late days become one of very ambiguous import. Mr. Rose, we can see, would imply by it the highest possible accuracy as we see office pens advertised in the window of a shop, by way of excellence. The public reports of those, however, who have been appointed to look into the manner in which public offices are conducted, by no means justify this usage of the term; and we are not without apprehen- sions, that Dutch politeness, Cartha- ginian faith, Boeotian genius, and official accuracy, may be terms equally current in the world; and that Mr. Rose may, without intending it, have contributed to make this valuable addition to the mass of our ironical phraseology. Speaking of the early part of James's reign, Mr. Fox says, it is by no means certain that he had yet thoughts of obtaining for his religion anything more than a complete toleration ; and if Mr. Rose had understood the meaning of the French word etablissement, one of his many incorrect corrections of Mr. Fox might have been spared. A system of religion is said to be established when it is enacted and endowed by Parlia- ment ; but a toleration (as Serjeant Heywood observes) is established when it is recognised and protected by the supreme power. And in the letters of Sarillon, to which Mr. Rose refers for the justification of his attack upon Mr. Fox, it is quite manifest that it is in this latter sense that the word etablisse- ment is used ; and that the object in view was, not the substitution of the Catholic religion for the Established Church, but merely its toleration. In the first letter cited by Mr. Rose, James says, that " he knew well he should never be in safety unless liberty of con- P 3 CHARLES FOX. science for them should be fully esta- blished in England." The letter of the 24th of April is quoted by Mr. Rose, as if the French King had written, the establishment of the Catholic religion.; whereas, the real words are, the esta- blishment of the free exercise of the Ca- tholic religion. The world are so in- veterately resolved to believe, that a man who has no brilliant talents must be accurate, that Mr. Rose, in referring to authorities, has a great and decided advantage. He is, however, in point of fact, as lax and incorrect as a poet ; and it is absolutely necessary, in spite of every parade of line, and page, and number, to follow him in the most minute particular. The Serjeant, like a bloodhound of the old breed, is always upon his track ; and always looks if there are any such passages in the page quoted, and if the passages are accu- rately quoted or accurately translated. Nor will he by any means be content with official accuracy, nor submit to be treated, in historical questions, as if he were hearing financial statements in the House of CommonSk Barillon writes, in another letter to Lewis XIV. "What your Majesty has most besides at heart, that is to say, for the establishment of a free exercise of the Catholic religion." On the 9th of May, Lewis writes to Barillon, that he is persuaded Charles will employ all his authority to establish ihefree exer- cise of the Catholic religion : he men- tions also, in the same letter, the Par- liament consenting to the free exercise of our religion. On the 15th of June he writes to Barillon "There now remains only to obtain the repeal of the penal laws in favour of the Catholics, and the free exercise of our religion in all his states." Immediately after Mon- mouth's execution, when his views of success must have been as lofty as they ever could have been, Lewis writes " It will be easy to the King of England and as useful for the security of his reign as for the repose of his conscience, tore-establish the exercise of the Catho- lic religion." ID a letter of Barillon, July 16th, Sunderland is made to say, that the King would always be exposed to the indiscreet zeal of those who would inflame the people against the Catholic religion, so lony as it should not be more fully established. The French expression is, tant qu'elle ne sera pas plus pleinement iitablie; and this Mr. Rose has had the modesty to translate, till it shall be completely established, and to mark the passage with italics, as of the greatest importance to his argu- ment. These false quotations and translations being detected, and those passages of early writers, from which Mr. Fox had made up his opinion, brought to light, it is not possible to doubt, but that the object of James, before Monmouth's defeat, was, not the destruction of the Protestant, but the toleration of the Catholic, religion; and, after the execution of Monmouth, Mr. Fox admits, that he became more bold and sanguine upon the subject of reli- gion. We do not consider those observa- tions of Serjeant Heywood to be the most fortunate in his book, where he attempts to show the republican tend- ency of Mr. Rose's principles. Of any disposition to principles of this nature, we most heartily acquit that right honourable gentleman. He has too much knowledge of mankind to believe their happiness can be promoted in the stormy and tempestuous regions of re- publicanism ; and, besides this, that system of slender pay, and deficient perquisites, to which the subordinate agents of Government are confined in. republics, is much too painful to be thought of for a single instant. We are afraid of becoming tedious by the enumeration of blunders into which Mr. Rose has fallen, and which Serjeant Heywood has detected. But the burthen of this sole executor's song is accuracy his own official accuracy and the little dependence which is to be placed on the accuracy of Mr. Fox. We will venture to assert, that, in the whole of his work he has not detected Mr. Fox in one single error. Whether Serjeant Heywood has been more fortunate with respect to Mr. Rose, might be determined, perhaps, with sufficient certainty, by our pre- vious extracts from his remarks. But for some indulgent readers, these may CHARLES FOX. 215 not seem enough : and we must proceed in the task, till we have settled Mr. Rose's pretensions to accuracy on a still firmer foundation. And if we be thought minutely severe, let it be re- membered that Mr. Rose is himself an accuser ; and if there be justice upon earth, every man has a right to pull stolen goods out of the pocket of him who cries, " Stop thief!" In the story which Mr. Rose states of the seat in Parliament sold for live pounds (Journal of the Commons, vol. v. ), he is wrong, both in the sum and the volume. The sum is four pounds ; and it is told, not in the fifth volume, but the first. Mr. Rose states, that a perpetual excise was granted to the Crown, in lieu of the profits of the Court of Wards ; and adds, that the question in favour of the Crown was carried by a majority of two. The real fact is, that the half only of an excise upon certain articles was granted to Government in lieu of these profits ; and this grant was carried without a division. An attempt was made to grant the other half, and this was nega- tived by a majority of two. The Jour- nals are open ; Mr. Rose reads them ; he is officially accurate. What can the meaning be of these most extra- ordinary mistakes ? Mr. Rose says that in 1679, the writ de h&retico comburendo had been a dead letter for more than a century. It would have been extremely agreeable to Mr. Bartholomew Legate, if this bad been the case ; for, in 1612, he was burnt at Smithfield for being an Arian. Mr. Wightman would probably have participated in the satisfaction of Mr. Legate ; as he was burnt also, the same year, at Lichfield, for the same offence. With the same correctness, this scourge of historians makes the Duke of Lau- derdale, who died in 1682, a confi- dential adviser of James IL after his accession in 1689. In page 13. he quotes, as written by Mr. Fox, that which was written by Lord Holland. This, however, is a familiar practice with him. Ten pages afterwards, in Mr. Fox's history, he makes the same mistake. " Mr. Fox added," whereas it was Lord Holland that added. The same mistake again in p. 147. of his own book ; and after this, he makes Mr. Fox the person who selected the Appendix to Barillon's papers; whereas it is particularly stated in the Preface to the History, that this Appendix was selected by Mr. Laing. Mr. Rose affirms, that compassing to levy war against the King was made high treason by the statute of 25 Edward IIL; and, in support of this affirmation, he cites Coke and Black- stone. His stern antagonist, a pro- fessional man, is convinced he has read neither. The former says, "a compassing to levy war is no treason" (Inst. 3. p. 9.); and Blackstone, "a bare conspiracy to levy war does not amount to this species of treason." (Com. iv. p. 82.) This really does look as if the Serjeant had made out his assertion. Of the bill introduced in 1685 for the preservation of the person of James II., Mr. Rose observes " Mr. Fox has not told us for which of our modern statutes this bill was used as a model ; and it will be difficult for any one to show such an instance." It might have been thought, that no prudent man would have made such a challenge, without a tolerable certainty of the ground upon which it was made. Serjeant Heywood answers the chal- lenge by citing the 36 Geo. III. c. 7., which is a mere copy of the act of James. In the fifth section of Mr. Rose's work is contained his grand attack upon Mr. Fox for his abuse of Sir Patrick Hume ; and his observations upon this point admit of a fourfold answer. 1st, Mr. Fox does not use the words quoted by Mr. Rose ; 2dly, He makes no mention whatever of Sir Patrick Hume in the passage cited by Mr. Rose ; 3dly, Sir Patrick Hume is attacked by nobody in that history ; 4thly, If he had been so attacked he would have deserved it. The passago from Mr. Fox is this : " In recounting the failure of his expe- dition, it is impossible for him not to touch upon -what he deemed the misconduct of his friends; and this is the subject upon which, of all others, his temper must have i- 4 216 CHARLES FOX. been most irritable. A certain description of friends (the words describing them are omitted) were all of them, without excep- tion, his greatest enemies, both to betray and destroy him ; and and (the names azain omitted) were the greatest cause of his rout, and his being taken, though not designedly, he acknowledges, but by ignorance, cowardice, and faction. This sentence had scarce escaped him, when, notwithstanding the qualifying words with which his candour had acquitted the last- mentioned persons of intentionaltreachery, it appeared too harsh to his gentle nature ; and, declaring himself displeased with the hard epithets he had used, he desires that they may be put out of any account that is to be given of these transactions." Hey- wood, pp. 365, 366. Argyle names neither the description of friends who were his greatest enemies, nor the two individuals who were the principal cause of the failure of his scheme. Mr. Fox leaves the blanks as he finds them. But two notes are added by the editor, which Mr. Rose might have observed are marked with an E. In the latter of them we are told, that Mr. Fox observes, in a private letter, " Cochrane and Hume certainly filled up the two principal blanks." But is this communication of a private letter any part of Mr. Fox's history ? And would it not have been equally fair in Mr. Rose to have commented upon any private conversation of Mr. Fox, and then to have called it his history ? Or, if Mr. Fox had filled up the blanks in the body of his history, does it follow that he adopts Argyle's censure, because he shows against whom it is levelled ? Mr. Rose has described the charge against Sir Patrick Hume to be, of faction, cowardice, and treachery. Mr. Rose has more than once altered the terms of a proposition before he has proceeded to answer it ; and, in this instance, the charge of treachery against Sir Patrick Hume is not made either in Argyle's letter, Mr. Fox's text, or the editor's note, or anywhere but in the imagination of Mr. Rose. The sum of it all is, that Mr. Rose first supposes the relation of Argyle's opinion to be the expression of the relator's opinion, that Mr. Fox adopts Argyle's insinuations because he ex- plains them ; then he looks upon a quotation from a private letter, made by the editor, to be the same as if in- cluded in a work intended for publi- cation by the author ; then he re- members that he is the sole executor of Sir Patrick's grandson, whose blank is so filled up ; and goes on blunder- ing and blubbering grateful and in- accurate teeming with false quota- tions and friendly recollections to the conclusion of his book. Multa gemcns ignominiam. Mr. Rose came into possession of the Earl of Marchmont's papers, containing, among other things, the narrative of Sir Patrick Hume. He is very severe upon Mr. Fox, for not having been more diligent in searching for original papers ; and observes that if any appli- cation had been made to him (Mr. Rose), this narrative should have been at Mr. Fox's service. We should be glad to know, if Mr. Rose saw a person tumbled into a ditch, whether he would wait for a regular application till he pulled him out ? Or, if he happened to espy the lost piece of silver for which the good woman was diligently sweeping the house, would he wait for formal interrogation before he im- parted his discovery, and suffer the lady to sweep on till the question had been put to him in the most solemn forms of politeness ? The established practice, we admit, is to apply, and to apply vigorously and incessantly, for sinecure places and pensions or they cannot be had. This is true enough. But did any human being ever think of carrying this practice into literature, and compelling another to make in- terest for papers essential to the good conduct of his undertaking ? We are perfectly astonished at Mr. Rose's con- duct in this particular ; and should have thought that the ordinary exer- cise of his good-nature would have led him to a very different way of acting. " On the whole, and upon the most attentive consideration of every thing which has been written upon the subject, there does not appear to have been any intention of applying torture in the case of the Earl of Argyle." (Rose, p. 182.) If this every thing had included CHARLES FOX. 217 the following extract from Barillon, the above cited, and very disgraceful, inaccuracy of Mr. Rose would have been spared. " The Earl of Argyle has been executed at Edinburgh, and has left a full confession in writing, in which he discovers all those who have assisted him with aided his designs. money, and have This has saved him from the torture." And Argyle, in his letter to Mrs. Smith, confesses he has made discoveries. In his very inaccu- rate history of torture in the southern part of this island, Mr. Rose says, that except in the case of Felton, in the attempt to introduce the civil law in Henry VI.'s reign, and in some cases of treason in Mary's reign, torture was never attempted in this country. The fact, however, is, that in the reign of Henry VIII. Anne Askew was tortured by the Chancellor himself. Simson was tortured in 1558 ; Francis Throg- morton in 1571 ; Charles Baillie, and Banastie, the Duke of Norfolk's servant, were tortured in 1581 ; Campier, the Jesuit, was put upon the rack ; and Dr. Astlow is supposed to have been racked in 1558. So much for Mr. Rose as the historian of punishments. We have seen him, a few pages before, at the stake, where he makes quite as bad a figure as he does now upon the rack. Precipitation and error are his foibles. If he were to write the history of sieges, he would forget the siege of Troy ; if he were making a list of poets, he would leave out Virgil : Cassar would not appear in his catalogue of generals; and Newton would be over- looked in his collection of eminent mathematicians. In some cases Mr. Rose is to be met only with flat denial. Mr. Fox does not call the soldiers who were defend- ing James against Argyle authorised assassins ; but he uses that expression against the soldiers who were murder- ing the peasants, and committing every sort of licentious cruelty in the twelve counties given up to military execu- tion ; and this Mr. Rose must have known, by using the most ordinary diligence in the perusal of the text and would have known it in any other history than that of Mr. Fox. " Mr. Rose, in his concluding paragraph, boasts of his speaking ' impersonally,' and he hopes it will be allowed justly, when he makes a general observation respecting the proper province of history. But the last sentence evidently shows that, though he might be speaking justly, he was not speak- ing impersonally, if by that word is meant, without reference to any person. His words are 'But history cannot connect itself with party, without forfeiting its name ; without departing from the truth, the dignity, and the usefulness of its func- tions.' After the remarks he has made in some of his preceding pages, and the apology he has offered for Mr. Fox, in his last preceding paragraph, for having been mistaken in his view of some leading points, there can be no difficulty in concluding, that this general observation is meant to be applied to the historical work. The charge intended to be insinuated must be, that, in Mr. Fox's hands, history has forfeited the name by being connected with party; and has departed from the truth, the dignity, and the usefulness of its functions. It were to be wished that Mr. Rose had explained himself more fully; for, after assuming that the application of this ob- servation is too obvious to be mistaken, there still remains some difficulty with respect to its meaning. If it be confined to such publications as are written under the title of histories, but are intended to serve the purposes of a party ; and truth is sacrificed, and facts perverted, to defend and give currency to then* tenets, we do not dispute its propriety ; but, if that be the character which Mr. Rose would give to Mr. Fox's labours, he has not treated him with candour, or even common justice. Mr. Rose has never, in any one instance, intimated that Mr. Fox has wilfully de- parted from truth, or strayed from tha proper province of history, for the purpose of indulging his private or party feelings. But, if Mr. Rose intends that the observa- tion should be applied to all histories, the authors of which have felt strongly the influence of political connections and prin- ciples, what must become of most of the histories of England? Is the title of historian to be denied to Mr. Hume? and in what 'class are to be placed Echard, Kennet, Rapin,Dalrymple,or Macpherson? In this point of view the principle laid down is too broad. A person, though con- nected with party, may write an impartial history of events which occurred a century before ; and, till this last sentence, Mr. Rose has not ventured to intimate that Mr. Fox has not done so. On the contrary, he has declared his approbation of a great portion 218 CHAELES FOX. of the work ; and his attempts to discover material errors in the remainder have uniformly failed in every particular. If it might be assumed that there existed in the book no faults, besides those which the scrutinising eye of Mr. Rose has discovered, it might be justly deemed the most perfect work that ever came from the press ; for not a single deviation from the strictest duty of an historian has been pointed out; while instances of candour and impartiality pre- sent themselves in almost every page ; and Mr. Rose himself has acknowledged and applauded many of them." (pp. 422 424.) These extracts from both books are sufficient to show the nature of Serjeant Heywood's examination of Mr. Rose the boldness of this latter gentleman's assertions and the extreme inaccuracy of the researches upon which these assertions are founded. If any credit could be gained from such a book as Mr. Rose has published, it could be pained from accuracy alone. Whatever the execution of his book had been, the world would have remembered the infinite disparity of the two authors, and the long political opposition in which they lived if that, indeed, can be called opposition, where the thunder- bolt strikes, and the clay yields. They would have remembered also that Hec- tor was dead ; and that every cowardly Grecian could now thrust his spear into the hero's body. But still, if Mr. Rose had really succeeded in exposing the inaccuracy of Mr. Fox if he could have fairly shown that authorities were overlooked, or slightly examined, or wilfully perverted the incipient feel- ings to which such a controversy had given birth must have yielded to the evidence of facts ; and Mr. Fox, how- ever qualified in other particulars, must have appeared totally defective in that laborious industry and scrupulous good faith so indispensable to every historian. But he absolutely comes out of the con- test not worse even in a single tooth or nail unvilified even by a wrong date without one misnomer proved upon him immaculate in his years and days of the month blameless to the most musty and limited pedant that ever yellowed himself amidst rolls and re- cords. But how fares it with his critic ? He rests his credit with the world as a man of labour and he turns out to be a careless inspector of proofs, and an historical sloven. The species of talent which he pretends to is humble and he possesses it not. He has not done that which all men may do, and which every man ought to do, who rebukes his superiors for not doing it. His claims, too, it should be remembered, to these every-day qualities are by no means enforced with gentleness and humility. He is a braggadocio of mi- nuteness a swaggering chronologer ; a man bristling up with small facts prurient with dates wantoning in obsolete evidence loftily dull, and haughty in his drudgery ; and yet all this is pretence. Drawing is no very unusual power in animals ; but he cannot draw : he is not even the ox which he is so fond of being. In at- tempting to vilify Mr. Fox, he lias only shown us that there was no labour from which that great man shrunk, and that no object connected with his his- tory was too minute for his investiga- tion. He has thoroughly convinced us that Mr. Fox was as industrious, and as accurate, as if these were the only qualities upon which he had ever rested his hope of fortune or of fame. Such, indeed, are the customary results when little people sit down to debase the characters of great men, and to exalt themselves upon the ruins of what they have pulled down. They only provoke a spirit of inquiry, which places every thing in its true light and magnitude shows those who appear little to be still less, and displays new and unexpected excellence in others who were before known to excel. These , are the usual consequences of such attacks. The fame of Mr. Fox has stood this, and will stand much ruder shocks. Non hiemes illam, nonflabra neque imbres Convellunt ; immota manet, multosque per annos Multa vir&m votvens durando scecula vincit. BISHOP OF LINCOLN'S CHARGE. 219 BISHOP OF LINCOLN'S CHARGE* (E. REVIEW, 1813.) A Charge delivered to the Clergy of the Diocese of Lincoln, at the Triennial Visitation of that Diocese in Nay, June, and Jt%,1812. By George Tomline, D.D. F.R.S. Lord Bishop of Lincoln. London. Cadeli and Co. 4to. IT is a melancholy thing to see a man, clothed in soft raiment, lodged in apublic palace, endowed with a rich portion of the product of other men's industry, using all the influence of his splendid situation, however conscientiously, to deepen the ignorance, and inflame the fury of his f Mow creatures. These are the miserable results of that policy which has been so frequently pursued for these fifty years past, of placing men of mean or middling abilities in high ecclesias- tical stations. In ordinary times, it is of less importance who fills them ; but when the bitter period arrives, in which the people must give up some of their darling absurdities ; when the senseless clamour, which has been carefully handed down from father fool to son fool, can be no longer indulged; when it is of incal- culable importance to turn the people to a better way of thinking; the greatest impediments to all amelioration are too often found among those to whose coun- cils, at such periods, the country ought to look for wisdom and peace. We will suppress, however, the feelings of in- dignation which such productions, from such men, naturally occasion. We will give the Bishop of Lincoln credit for being perfectly sincere ; we will sup- pose, that every argument he uses has not been used and refuted ten thou- sand times before ; and we will sit down as patiently to defend the re- ligious liberties of mankind, as the Reverend Prelate has done to abridge them. . We must begin with denying the main position upon which the Bishop of Lincoln has built his reasoning The Catholic religion is not tolerated in * It is impossible to conceive the mischief which this mean and cunning prelate did at this period. England. No man can be fairly said to be permitted to enjoy his own wor- ship who is punished for exercising that worship. His Lordship seems to have no other idea of punishment than lodging a man in the Poultry Compter, or flogging him at the can's tail, or fining him a sum of money ; just as if incapacitating a man from enjoying the dignities and emoluments ttrwhich men of similar condition, and other faith, may fairly aspire, was not fre- quently the most severe and galling of all punishments. This limited idea of the nature of punishment is the more extraordinary, as incupacitation is ac- tually one of the most common punish- ments in some branches of our law. The sentence of a court-martial fre- quently purports that a man is ren- dered for ever incapable of serving his Majesty, &c. &c. ; and a person not in holy orders, who performs the func- tions of a clergyman, is rendered for ever incapable of holding any prefer- ment in the Church. There are indeed many species of offence for which no punishment more apposite and judi- cious could be devised. It would be rather extraordinary, however, if the Court, in passing such a sentence, were to assure the culprit, " that such incapacitation was not by them consi- dered as a punishment ; that it was only exercising a right inherent in all governments, of determining who should be eligible for office and who ineligible." His Lordship thinks the toleration complete, because he sees a permission in the statutes for the ex- ercise of the Roman Catholic worship. He sees the permission but he does not choose to see the consequences to which they are exposed who avail themselves of this permission. It is the liberality of a father who says to a son, " Do as y ou please, my dear boy ; follow your own inclination. Judge for yourself, you are free as air. But remember, if you marry that lady, I will cut you off with a shilling." We have scarcely ever read a more solemn and frivolous statement, than the Bi- shop of Lincoln's antithetical distinction between persecution and the denial of political power. 220 BISHOP OF LINCOLN'S CHARGE. " It is sometimes said, that Papists, being excluded from power, are conse- quently persecuted; as if exclusion from power and religious persecution were con- vertible terms. But surely this is to con- found things totally distinct in their nature. Persecution inflicts positive pu- nishment upon persons who hold certain religious tenets, and endeavours to accom- plish the renunciation and extinction of those tenets by forcible means : exclusion from power is entirely negative in its ope- ration it only declares that those who hold certain opinions shall not fill certain situations ; but it acknowledges men to be perfectly free to hold those opinions. Per- secution compels men to adopt a prescribed faith, or to suffer the loss of liberty, pro- perty, or even life : exclusion from power prescribes no faith ; it allows men to think and believe as they please, without molest- ation or interference. Persecution requires men to worship God in one and in no other way : exclusion from power neither com- mands nor forbids any mode of Divine worship it leaves the business of religion where it ought to be left, to every man's judgment and conscience. Persecution proceeds from a bigoted and sanguinary spirit of Intolerance; exclusion from power is founded in the natural and rational principle of self-protection and self-pre- servation, equally applicable to nations and to individuals. History informs us of the mischievous and fatal effects of the one, and proves the' expediency and necessity of the other." (pp. 16, 17.) We will venture to say, there is no one sentence in this extract which does not contain either a contradiction, or a mis-statement. For how can that law acknowledge men to be perfectly free to hold an opinion, which excludes from desirable situations all who do hold that opinion? How can that law be said neither to molest nor inter- fere, which meets a man in every branch of industry and occupation, to institute an inquisition into his reli- gions opinions? And how is the busi- ness of religion left to every man's judgment and conscience, where so powerful a bonus is given to one set of religious opinions, and such a mark of infamy and degradation fixed upon all other modes of belief? But this is comparatively a very idle part of the question. Whether the present condi- tion of the Catholics is or is not to be denominated a perfect state of tolera- tion, is more a controversy of words than things. That they are subject to some restraints, the Bishop will admit : the important question is, whether or not these restraints arc necessary ? For his Lordship will of course allow, that every restraint upon human liberty is an evil in itself ; and can only be jus- tified by the superior good which it can be shown to produce. My Lord's fears upon the subject of Catholic emancipation are conveyed in the fol- lowing paragraph : " It is a principle of our constitution that the King should have advisers in the dis- charge of every part of his royal functions ; and is it to be imagined, that Papists would advise measures in support of the cause of Protestantism ? A similar observa- tion may be applied to the two Houses of Parliament : would Popish peers, or Popish members of the House of Commons, enact laws for the security of the Protestant government? Would they not rather re- peal the whole Protestant code, and make Popery again the established religion of the country ? " (p. 14.) And these are the apprehensions which the clergy of the diocese have prayed my Lord to make public. Kind Providence never sends an evil without a remedy: and arithmetic is the natural cure for the passion of fear. If a coward can be made to count his enemies, his terrors may be reasoned with, and he may think of ways and means of counteraction. Now, might it not hlave been expedient that the Reverend Prelate, before he had alarmed his Country Clergy with the idea of so large a measure as the repeal of Protestantism, should have counted up the probable number of Catholics who would be seated in both Houses of Parliament ? Does he believe that there would be ten Catholic Peers, and thirty Catholic Commoners ? But, admit double that number (and more, Dr. Duigenan himself would not ask,) will the Bishop of Lincoln seriously assert, that he thinks the whole Pro-" testant code in danger of repeal from such an admixture of Catholic legis- lators as this? Does he forget, amid the innumerable answers which may be made to such sort of apprehensions, what a picture he is drawing of the BISHOP OF LINCOLN'S CHARGE. 221 weakness and versatility of Protestant principles ? that a handful of Catho- lics, in the bosom of a Protestant legis- lature, are to overpower the ancient jealousies, the fixed opinions, the in- veterate habits of twelve millions of people ? that the King is to apostatise, the Clergy to be silent, and the Parlia- ment be taken by surprise ? that the nation are to go to bed over night, and to see the Pope walking arm in arm with Lord Castlereagh the next morn- ing ? One would really suppose, from the Bishop's fears, that the civil defences of mankind were, like their military bulwarks, transferred, by superior skill and courage, in a few hours, from the vanquished to the victor that the destruction of a church was like the blowing up of a mine deans, preben- daries, churchwardens, and overseers, all up in the air in an instant. Does his Lordship really imagine, when the mere dread of the Catholics becoming legislators has induced him to charge his clergy, and his agonised clergy to extort from their prelate the publication of the Charge, that the full and mature danger will produce less alarm, than the distant suspicion of it has done in the present instance? that the Pro- testant writers, whose pens are now up to the feather in ink, will, at any future period, yield up their Church, without passion, pamphlet, or pug- nacity ? We do not blame the Bishop of Lincoln for being afraid : but we blame him for not rendering his fears intelligible and tangible for not cir- cumscribing and particularising them by some individual case for not showing us how it is possible that the Catholics (granting their intentions to be as bad as possible) should ever be able to ruin the Church of England. His Lordship appears to be in a fog ; and, as daylight breaks in upon him, he will be rather disposed to disown his panic. The noise he hears is not roaring but braying; the teeth and the mane are all imaginary ; there is nothing but ears. It is not a lion that stops the way, but an ass. One method his Lordship takes, in handling this question, is, by pointing out dangers that are barely possible, and then treating of them as if they de- served the active and present attention of serious men. But if no measure is to be carried into execution, and if no provision is safe in which the minute inspection of an ingenious man cannot find the possibility of danger, then all human action is impeded, and no human institution is safe or com- mendable. The King has the power of pardoning, and so every species of guilt may remain unpunished : he has a negative upon legislative acts, and so no law may pass. None but Presbyterians may be returned to the House of Commons and so the Church of England may be voted down. The Scottish and Irish members may join together in both Houses, and dissolve both Unions. If probability is put out of sight and if, in the enumeration of dangers, it is sufficient to state any which, by remote contingency, may happen, then is it time that we should begin to provide against all the host of perils which we have just enume- rated, and which are many of them as likely to happen, as those which the Reverend Prelate has stated in his Charge. His Lordship -forgets that the Catholics are not asking for election, but for eligibility not to be admitted into the Cabinet, but not to be excluded from it. A century may elapse before any Catholic actually becomes a mem- ber of the Cabinet ; and no event can be more utterly destitute of probability, than that they should gain an ascen- dency there, and direct that ascendency against the Protestant interest If the Bishop really wishes to know upon what our security is founded ; it is upon the prodigious and decided superi- ority of the Protestant interest in the British nation, and in the United Par- liament. No Protestant King would select such a Cabinet, or countenance such measures ; no man would be mad enough to attempt them ; the English Parliament and the English people would not endure it for a moment. No man indeed, but under the sanctity of the mitre, would have ventured such an extravagant opinion. Woe to him, if he had been only a Dean. But, in spite of his venerable office, we must 222 BISHOP OF LINCOLN'S CHARGE. express our decided belief, that his sense, a dread of sacerdotal ambition. Lordship (by no means averse to a Those feelings, so generally diffused, good bargain) would not pay down j and so clearly pronounced on all occa- five pounds, to receive fifty millions for his posterity, whenever the majority of the Cabinet should be (Catholic emancipation carried) members of the Catholic religion. And yet, upon such terrors as these, which, when put singly to him, his better sense would laugh at, he has thought fit to excite his clergy to petition, and done all in his power to increase the mass of hatred against the Catholics. It is true enough, as his Lordship remarks, that events do not depend upon laws alone, but upon the wishes and intentions of those who administer these laws. But then his Lordship totally puts out of sight two considera- tions the improbability of Catholics ever reaching the highest offices of the state and those fixed Protestant opinions of the country, which would render any attack upon the Established Church so hopeless, and therefore so improbable. Admit a supposition (to us perfectly ludicrous, but still neces- sary to the Bishop's argument) that the Cabinet-Council consisted entirely of Catholics, we should even then have no more fear of their making the English people Catholics, than we should have of a Cabinet of Butchers making the Hindoos eat beef. The Bishop has not stated the true and great security for any course of human actions. It is not the word of the law, nor the spirit of the Government, but the general way of thinking among the people, especially when that way of thinking is ancient, exercised upon high interests, and connected with striking passages in history. The Pro- testant Church does not rest upon the little narrow foundations where the Bishop of Lincoln supposes it to be placed : if it did, it would not be worth saving. It rests upon the general opinion entertained by a free and re- flecting people, that the doctrines of the Church are true, her pretensions moderate, and her exhortations useful. It is accepted by a people who have, from good taste, an abhorrence of sacerdotal mummery ; and from good sions, are our real bulwarks against the Catholic religion ; and the real cause which makes it so safe for the best friends of the Church to diminish (by abolishing the Test Laws) so very fertile a source of hatred to the State. In the 15th page of his Lordship's Charge, there is an argument of a very curious nature. "Let us suppose," says, the Bishop of Lincoln, " that there had been no Test Laws, no disabling statutes, in the year 1745, when an attempt was made to over- throw the Protestant Government, and to place a Popish sovereign upon the throne of these kingdoms ; and let us suppose that the leading men in the Houses of Parlia- ment, that the ministers of state, and the commanders of our armies, had then been Papists. Will any one contend, that that formidable rebellion, supported as it was by a foreign enemy, would have been re- sisted with the same zeal, and suppressed with the same facility, as when all the measures were planned and executed by sincere Protestants?" (p. 15.) And so his Lordship means to infer that it would be foolish to abolish the laws against the Catholics now, because it would have been foolish to have abolished them at some other period ; that a measure must be bad, because there was formerly a combination of circumstances, when it would have been bad. His Lordship might, with almost equal propriety, debate what ought to be done if Julius Caesar were about to make a descent upon our coasts ; or lament the impropriety of emancipating the Catholics, because the Spanish Armada was putting to sea. The fact is, that Julius Ccesar is dead the Spanish Armada was defeated in the reign of Queen Elizabeth for half a century there has been no dis- puted succession the situation of the world is changed and, because it is changed, we can do now what we could not do then. And nothing can be more lamentable than to see this res- pectable Prelate wasting his resources in putting imaginary and inapplicable cases, and reasoning upon their solu- tion, as if it had any thing to do with present affairs. BISHOP OF LINCOLN'S CHARGE. 223 These remarks entirely put an end to the common mode of arguing a Gulielmo. "What did King William do? what would King William say ? &c. King William was in a very different situa- tion from that in which we are placed. The whole world was in a very differ- ent situation. The great and glorious Authors of the Revolution (as they are commonly denominated) acquired their greatness and their glory, not by a superstitious reverence for inapplicable precedents, but by taking hold of pre sent circumstances to lay a deep foun- dation for Libeity ; and then using old names for new things, they left the Bishop of Lincoln, and other good men, to suppose that they had been thinking all the time about ancestors. Another species of false reasoning, which pervades the Bishop of Lincoln's Charge, is this : He states what the interests of men are, and then takes it for granted that they will eagerly and actively pursue them ; laying totally out of the question the probability or improbability of their effecting their object, and the influence which this balance of chances must produce upon their actions. For instance, it is the interest of the Catholics that our Church should be subservient to theirs. There- fore, says his Lordship, the Catholics will enter into a conspiracy against the English Church. But, is it not also the decided interest of his Lordship's butler that he should be Bishop, and the Bishop, his butler ? That the cro- zier and the corkscrew should change hands, and the washer of the bottles which they had emptied become the diocesan of learned divines ? What has prevented this change, so beneficial to the upper domestic, but the extreme improbability of success, if the attempt were made ; an improbability so great, that we will venture to say, the very notion of it has scarcely once entered into the understanding of the good man. Why then is the reverend. Prelate, who lives on so safely and contentedly with John, so dreadfully alarmed at the Catholics ? And why does he so com- pletely forget, in their instance alone, that men do not merely strive to obtain a thing because it is good, but always mingle with the excellence of the ob- ject a consideration of the chance of gaining it ? The Bishop of Lincoln (p. 19.) states it as an argument against concession to the Catholics, that we have enjoyed " internal peace and entire freedom, from all religious animosities and feuds since the Revolution." The fact, how- ever, is not more certain than conclusive against his view of the question. For, since that period, the worship of the Church of England has been abolished in Scotland the Corporation and Test Acts repealed in Ireland and the whole of this King's reign has been one series of concessions to the Catho- lics. Relaxation then (and we wish this had been remembered at the Charge) of penal laws, on subjects of religious opinion, is perfectly compati- ble with internal peace, and exemption from religious animosity. But the Bi- shop is always fond of lurking in gene- rals, and cautiously avoids coming to any specific instance of the dangers which he fears. " It is declared in one of the 39 Articles, that the King is head of our Church, without being subject to any foreign power; and it is expressly said that the Bishop of Rome has no jurisdiction within these realms. On the contrary, Papists assert that the Pope is supreme head of the whole Christian Church, and that al- legiance is due to him from every indi- vidual member, in all spiritual matters. This direct opposition to one of the funda- mental principles of the ecclesiastical part of our constitution, is alone sufficient to justify the exclusion of Papists from all situations of authority. They acknow- ledge, indeed, that obedience in civil mat- ters is due to the King. But cases must arise, in which civil and religious duties will clash ; and he knows but little of the influence of the Popish religion over the minds of its votaries, who doubts which of these duties would be sacrificed to the other. Moreover, the most subtle casuistry cannot always discriminate between tem- poral and spiritual things; and in truth the concerns of this life not unfrequently partake of both characters." (pp. 21, 22.) We deny entirely that any case can occur, where the exposition ot'adoctrine purely speculative, or the arrangement of a mere point of Church discipline, 224 BISHOP OF LINCOLN'S CHARGE. can interfere with civil duties. The Roman Catholics are Irish and English citizens at this moment ; but no such case has occurred. There is no instance in which obedience to the civil magis- trate has been prevented, by an acknow- ledgment of the spiritual supremacy of the Pope. The Catholics have given (in an oath which we suspect the Bishop never to have read) the most solemn pledge, that their submission to their spiritual ruler should never interfere with their civil obedience. The hypo- thesis of the Bishop of Lincoln is, that it must very often do so. The fact is, that it has never done so. His Lordship is extremely angry with the Catholics, for refusing to the Crown a veto upon the appointment of their Bishops. He forgets that in those countries of Europe where the Crown interferes with the appointment of Bishops, the reigning monarch is a Ca- tholic, which makes all the difference. We sincerely wish that the Catholics would concede this point ; but we can- not be astonished at their reluctance to admit the interference of a Protestant Prince with their Bishops. What would his Lordship say to the interference of any Catholic power with the appoint- ment of the English sees? Next comes the stale and thousand times refuted charge against the Catholics, that they think the Pope has the power of dethroning heretical Kings ; and that it is the duty of every Catholic to use every possible means to root out and destroy heretics, &c. To all of which may be returned this one conclusive answer, that the Catho- lics are ready to deny these doctrines upon oath. And as the whole contro- versy is, whether the Catholics shall, by means of oaths, be excluded from certain offices in the State : those who contend that the continuation of these excluding oaths are essential to the public safety, must admit, that oaths are binding upon Catholics, and a security to the State that what they swear to is true. It is right to keep these things in view and to omit no opportunity of exposing and counteracting that spirit of intolerant zeal or intolerable time- serving, which has so long disgraced and endangered this country. But the truth is, that we look upon this cause as already gained ; and while we warmly congratulate the nation on the mighty step it has recently made to- wards increased power and entire secu- rity, it is impossible to avoid saying a word upon the humiliatingand disgust- ing, but at the same time most edifying spectacle, which has lately been ex- hibited by the Anticatholic addressers. That so great a number of persons should have been found with such a pro- clivity to servitude (for honest bigotry had but little to do with the matter), as to rush forward with clamours in favour of intolerance, upon a mere surmise that this would be accounted as acceptable service by the present possessors of patronage and power, affords a more humiliating and discouraging picture of the present spirit of the country, than any thing else that has occurred in our remembrance. The edifying part of the spectacle is the contempt with which their officious devotions have been received by those whose favour they were intended to purchase, and the universal scorn and derision with which they were regarded by in- dependent men of all parties and per- suasions. The catastrophe, we think, teaches two lessons ; one to the time- servers themselves, not to obtrude their servility on the Government, till they have reasonable ground to think it is wanted; and the other to the nation at large, not to imagine that a base and interested clamour in favour of what is supposed to be agreeable to Government, however loudly and extensively sounded, affords any indi- cation at all, either of the general sense of the country, or even of what is actu- ally contemplated by those in the ad- ministration of its affairs. The real sense of the country has been proved on tlt>4 occasion, to be directly against those who presumptuously held them- selves out as its organs; and even the Ministers have made a respectable figure, compared with those who as- sumed the character of their champions. LETTERS FROM A MAIIRATTA CAMP. 225 LETTERS WRITTEN IN A MAH- RATTA CAMP DURING THE YEAR 1809. (E. REVIEW, 1813.) Letters written in a Ndhratta, Camp during the Year 1809. By Thomas Duer Broughton. 1813. Murray, Albemarle Street. THIS is a lively, entertaining, well- written book ; and we can conscien- tiously recommend it to our readers. Mr. Thomas Duer Broughton does not, it is true, carry any great weight of metal; but, placed in a curious and novel scene, he has described what he saw from day to day, and preserved, for the amusement of his readers, the impressions which those scenes made upon him, while they were yet strong and fresh. The journals of military men are given to the public much more frequently than they used to be; and we consider this class of publications as one of great utility and importance. The duties of such men lead them into countries very little known to Euro- peans, and give to them the means of observing and describing very striking peculiarities in manners, habits, and governments. To lay these before the public is a praiseworthy undertaking; and if done simply and modestly (as is the case with this publication), deserves great encouragement. Persons unac- customed to writing, are prevented from attempting this by the fear of not writing sufficiently well; but where there is any thing new and entertaining to tell, the style becomes of compara- tively little importance. He who lives in a Mahratta camp, and tells us what he hears and sees, can scarcely tell it amiss. As far as mere style is con- cerned, it matters very little whether he writes like Casar or NuUus. Though we praise Mr. Broughton for his book, and praise him very sincerely, we must warn him against that dreadtiil propen- sity which young men have for writing verses. There is nothing of which Nature has been more bountiful than poets. They swarm like the spawn of cod-fish, with a vicious fecundity, that invites and requires destruction. To publish verses is become a sort of evi- VOL. L dence that a man wants sense; which is repelled not by writing good verses, but by writing excellent verses; by doing what Lord Byron has done; by displaying talents reat enough to overcome the disgust which proceeds from satiety, and showing that all things may become new under the reviving touch of genius. But it is never too late to repent and do well: we hope Mr. Broughton will enter into proper securities with his intimate friends to write no more verses. The most prominent character in the narrative of Mr. Broughton, seems to be that of Scindia, whom he had every op- portunity of observing, and whose cha- racter he appears perfectly to have understood; a disgraceful liar, living with buffoons and parasites unsteady in his friendships a babbling drunkard equally despised by his enemies and his pretended friends. Happy the people who have only to contemplate such a prince in description, and at a distance. The people over whom he reigns seem, by the description of Mr. Broughton, to be well worth y of such a monarch. Treacherous, cruel, false robbing, and robbed deceiving and deceived ; it seems very difficult to understand by what power such a society is held together, and why every thing in it is not long since resolved into its primitive elements. "A very distinguished corps in this motley camp," says Mr. Broughton, " is the Shohdas literally the scoundrels. They form a regularly organised body, under a chief named Fazil Khan ; to whose orders they pay implicit obedience. They are the licensed thieves and robbers of the camp; and, from the fruits of then 1 in- dustry, their principal derives a very con- siderable revenue. On marching days they are assembled under their leader, and act as porters for the Muha Eaj's baggage. At sieges they dig the trenches, erect the batteries, and carry the scaling ladders. But their grand concern is the rambling houses, which are placed under their imme- diate control and superintendence, and where they practise all the refinements of accomplished villany to decoy and im- pose upon the unwary, which you perhaps fondly flatter yourself are the distinguished excellencies of these establishments ia Europe. Baboo Khan, a Mahratta chief of Q 226 LETTERS FROM A MAHRATTA CAMP. some rank and consideration, is an avowed peared to bo starving, was sure to find a patron of this curious society; and is, in fact, though in a higher sphere, as accom- plished a Shohda as any of the band. About a year ago, a merchant came to the camp with horses for sale. The Khan chose out some of the most valuable, and paid down the merchant's own price for them on the spot ; desiring him, at the same time, to bring more, as he was about to increase the numbers of his own Risalti. Such unheard- of honesty and liberality induced other merchants to bring their horses also for sale. The Mahratta took them all at the prices demanded; but, when the owners came for payment, he scoffed at them for their credulity, and had them actually beaten away from his tent by the rascally crew who always attend upon him. The merchants carried their complaint to the Muha Raj ; and after waiting for several months in expectation of justice being done them, were paid at the rate of seven annas in the rupee ; besides a deduction for the Buniyas, with whom the unfortunate fellows had been obliged to run in debt for subsistence during their stay in camp. The whole transaction lasted about a twelve- month; at the end of which time they were obliged to decamp, with less than one third of what was strictly their due. "Where such acts of injustice and op- pression are committed with impunity, it is not wonderful that there should be much misery among the poorer orders of the community. When grain is dear, hundreds of poor families are driven to the most distressing shifts to obtain a bare sub- sistence. At such times I have often seen women and children employed in picking out the undigested grains of corn from the dung of the different animals about the camp. Even now, when grain is by no means a^ high price (wheat being sold in the market for thirteen seers for the rupee,) it is scarcely possible to move out of the i mits of our own camp, without witnessing the most shocking proofs of poverty and wretchedness. I was returning from a ride the other morning, when two mise- rable-looking women followed me for charity; each had a little infant in her arms; and one of them repeatedly offered to sell hers for the trifling sum of two rupees. Many of our Sipahees and servants have children, whom they have either pur- chased in this manner, or picked up begging among our tents. In adopting these little wretches, however, they have so often been taken in, that they are now more cautious in indulging their charitable propensities. The poor people of the army, finding that a child who told a piteous tale, and ap- protector in our camp, used, in hard times, to send their children out to beg; and, when better able to support them them- selves, would pretend to discover their lost infants, and reclaim them." (pp. 3284.) The passage of a Mahratta army over an hostile country, seems to be the greatest curse which can happen to any people where French armies are unknown. We are always glad to bring the scenery of war before the eyes of those men who sit at home with full stomachs and safe bodies, and are always ready with vote and clamou.- to drive their country into a state of warfare with every nation in the world. " We observed several fine villages on the Kota side of the river, situated upon level spots among the ravines which intersect the country for a mile from the bank. By the route we went, our march was pro- tracted to nearly twenty-two miles; the road lay over a continued plain, covered with fields of young corn, affording fine forage for the Mahrattas, who were to be seen in every direction, men, women, and children, tearing it up by the roots ; while their cattle were turned loose to graze at liberty, and make the most of such an abun- dant harvest. We also fell in with large ricks of Kurbee, the dried stalks of Bajiru and Jooar, two inferior kinds of grain ; an ex- cellent fodder for the camels. To each of these three or four horsemen immediately attached themselves, and appropriated it to their own use : so that when our cattle went out for forage after the march, there was as much difficulty in procuring it as if we had halted near the spot for a month."- " The villages around the camp are all in ruins; and in some of them I have seen a few wretched villagers, sheltered under the mud walls or broken roofs, and watching over an herd of miserable half-starved cattle. They assured me that the greatest part of the peasantry of the province had been driven to Kota or Boondee, to seek shelter from the repeated ravages of dif- ferent Mahratta armies ; and that, of those who remained, most had perished by want and variety of misery. Their tale was truly piteous, and was accompanied with hearty curses invoked upon the whole Mahratta race, whom they justly regard as the authors of all their misery. You, my dear brother, will, I dare say, ere this, be in- clined to join these poor people in detesta- tion of a tribe, whose acts I have endea- voured to make you acquainted with throughout one whole year. Unless we LETTERS FROM A MAHRATTA CAMP. 227 should go to Ajmeer, of which, by the by, there is now some prospect, I shall, with that year, close my regular communications. To continue them would only be to go over again the same unvaried ground; to re- trace the same acts of oppression and fraud ; detail the same chicanery, foliy, and intrigues ; and to describe the same festivals and ceremonies. If I may judge of your feelings by my own, you are already heartily sick of them all; and will hail the letter that brings you the conclusion of their history, as I shall the day when 1 can turn my back on a people, proud and jealous as the Chinese, vain and unpolished as the Americans, and as tyrannical and perfidious as the French." (pp. 53, 336, 337.) The justice of these Hindoo high- waymen seems to be as barbarous as their injustice. The prime minister himself perambulates the bazaar or market ; and when a tradesman is de- tected selling by false weightormeasure, this great officer breaks the culprit's head with a large wooden mallet kept especially for that purpose. Their mode of recovering debts is not less ex- traordinary. When the creditor cannot recover his money, and begins to feel a little desperate, he sits dhurna upon his debtor ; that is, he squats down at the door of the tent, and becomes in a certain degree the master of it. No- body goes in or comes out without his approbation : he neither eats himself, nor suffers his debtor to eat ; and this hungry contest is carried on till the debt is paid, or till the creditor begins to think that the want of food is a greater evil than the want of money. " This curious mode of enforcing a de- mand is in universal practice among the Mahrattas; Seendhiya himself not being exempt from it. The man who sits the dhurna, goes to the house or tent of him whom he wishes to bring to terms, and remains there till the affair is settled: during which tune the one under restraint is confined to his apartment, and not suf- fered to communicate with any persons but those whom the other may approve of. The laws by which the dhurna is regulated are as well defined and understood as those of any other custom whatever. When it is meant to be very strict, the claimant carries a number of his followers, who surround the tent, sometimes even the bed, of his adversary, and deprive him altogether of food; in which case, however, etiquette prescribes the same abstinence to himself: the strongest stomach of course carries the day. A custom of this kind was once so prevalent in the province and city of Benares, that Brahmuns were trained to remain a long time without food. They were then sent to the door of some rich individual, where they made a vow to re- main without eating till they should obtain a certain sum of money. To preserve the life of a Brahmun is so absolutely a duty, that the money was generally paid; but never till a good struggle had taken place to ascertain whether the man was staunch or not : for money is the life and soul of all Hindoos. In this camp there are many Brahmuns, who hire themselves out to sit dhurna for those who do not like to expose themselves to so great an inconvenience.'' (pp. 42, 43.) Amidst the villanies of this atrocious and disgusting people, we were agree- ably surprised with this virtuous ex- ception in a young Mahratta female. " It was in one of these battalions that an interesting young girl was discovered, about a twelvemonth ago, who had served with it for two or three years as a Sipahee; in which capacity she had acquired the favour of her superiors, and the regard of all her comrades, by her quiet and inoffensive behaviour, and regular attention to the duties of her station. It was observed that she always dressed her own dinner, and ate it, and performed her ablutions by herself: but not the slightest suspicion of her sex was entertained, till about the tune I men- tioned, when it was discovered by the curiosity of a young Sipahee, who followed her when she went to bathe. After this she continued to serve for some months, re- solutely declining the patronage of the Baee, who proposed to receive her into her own family, as well as the offers of the Muha Raj to promote her in the corps she belonged to. The affair soon became the general subject of conversation in camp; and I having expressed a strong wish to see Juruor SingTi, the name by which this Indian D'Eon went, one of our Sipahees, who was acquainted with her, brought her to my tent. She appeared to be about twenty-two years of age, was very fair, and, though not handsome, possessed a most in- teresting countenance. She spoke freely of her profession and her immediate situ- ation: bat betrayed neither the affected bashfulness nor forward boldness which such a situation was likely to have pro- duced : and let it be recorded, to the honour of every party concerned, that from the moment when her sex was discovered, she Q 2 228 MAD QUAKERS. met only with increased respect, and atten- tion from her comrades ; not an individual ] 'resuming to utter a word that might insult her, or breathing a doubt that could affect her reputation. "At length, her motive for enlisting and remaining in the service was discovered. An only brother was confined for debt at Bopal ; and this interesting young creature had the courage to enrol herself as a com- mon soldier, and afterwards persisted in exposing her person to the dangers and difficulties of a military life, with the generous idea of raising money sufficient to liberate this loved relation from confine- ment." (pp. 261266.) These extracts will give a good idea of the sort of entertainment which this book affords. We wish the Row (when they get hold of a young man who has made notes for a book) would be less splendid in their productions; leave out pictures, lessen margins, and put books more within the power of those who want them most, and use them best.* * I am sorry that I did not, in the execu- tion of my self-created office as a reviewer, take an opportunity in this, or some other military work, to descant a little upon the miseries of war ; and I think this has been unaccountably neglected in a work abound- ing in useful essays, and ever on the watch to propagate good and wise principles. It is not that human beings can live without occasional wars, but they may live with fewer wars, and take more just views of the evils which war inflicts upon mankind. If three men were to have their legs and arms broken, and were to remain all night exposed to the inclemency of weather, the whole country would be in a state of the most dreadful agitation. Look at the wholesale death of a field of battle, ten acres covered with dead, and half dead, and dying ; and the shrieks and agonies of many thousand human beings. There is more of misery inflicted upon mankind by one year of war, than by all the civil peculations and oppressions of a century. Yet it is a state into which the mass of mankind rush with the greatest avidity, hailing official mur- derers, in scarlet, gold, and cocks' feathers, as the greatest and most glorious of human creatures. It is the business of every wise and good man to set himself against tliis passion for military glory, which really seems to be the most fruitful source of human misery. What would be said of a party of gentle- men who were to sit very peaceably con- versing for half an hour, and then were to fight for another half hour, then shake hands, and at the expiration of thirty minutes fight again? Yet such has been the state of the world between 1714 and 1815, a period in which there was in .England as many years of war as peace. HAD QUAKERS. (E. REVIEW, 1814.) Description of the Retreat, an Institution near York, for Insane Persons of the Society of Friends. Containing an Ac- count of its Origin and Progress, the Modes of Treatment, and a Statement of Cases. By Samuel Tuke. York, 1813. THE Quakers always seem to succeed in any institution which they undertake. The gaol at Philadelphia will remain a lasting monument of their skill and patience ; and, in the plan and conduct of this retreat for the insane, they have evinced the same wisdom and perse- verance. The present account is given us by Mr. Tuke, a respectable tea-dealer, living in York and given in a manner which we are quite sure the most opulent and important of his customers could not excel. The long account of the subscription, at the beginning of the book, is evidently made tedious for the Quaker market ; and Mr. Tuke is a little too much addicted to quoting. But, with these trifling exceptions, his book does him very great credit ; it is full of good sense and humanity, right feelings and rational views. The re- treat for insane Quakers is situated about a mile from the city of York, upon an eminence commanding the adjacent country, and in the midst of a garden and fields belonging to the in- stitution. The great principle on which it appears to be conducted is that of kindness to the patients. It does not appear to them, because a man is mad upon one particular subject, that he is to be considered in a state of complete mental degradation, or insensible to the feelings of kindness and gratitude. When a madman does not do what he is bid to do, the shortest method, to be sure, is to knock him down ; and straps and chains are the species of prohi- bitions which are the least frequently disregarded. But the Society of Friends seems rather to consult the Societies have been instituted for the pre- servation of peace, and for lessening the popular love of war. They deserve every encouragement. The highest praise is due to Louis Philippe for his efforts to keep Europe in peace. MAD QUAKERS. interest of the patient than the ease of his keeper ; and to aim at the govern- ment of the insane, by creating in them the kindest disposition towards those who have the command over them. Nor can any thing be more wise, hn- mane, or interesting, than the strict attention to the feelings of their patients which seems to prevail in their institu- tions. The following specimens of their disposition upon this point we have great pleasure in laying before our readers : " The smallness of the court," says Mr. Tuke, " would be a serious defect, if it was not generally compensated by taking such patients as are suitable into the garden; and by frequent excursions into the city, or the surrounding country, and into the fields of the institution. One of these is surrounded by a walk, interspersed with trees and shrubs. "The superintendent has also endea- voured to furnish a source of amusement to those patients whose walks are neces- sarily more circumscribed, by supplying each of the courts with a number of ani- mals, such as rabbits, sea gulls, hawks, and poultry. These creatures are generally of the moral remedies employed. 229 It is therefore used very sparingly; and the superintendent has often assured me, that he would rather run some risk than have recourse to restraint where it was not absolutely necessary, except in those cases where it was likely to have a salutary moral tendency. " I feel no small satisfaction in stating, upon the authority of the superintendents, that during the last year, in which the number of patients has generally been sixty-four, there has not been occasion to seclude, on an average, two patients at one time. I am also able to state, that although it is occasionally necessary to restrain, by the waistcoat, straps, or other means, several patients at one time, yet that the average number so restrained does not exceed four, including those who are se- cluded. "The safety of those who attend upon the insane is certainly an object of great importance; but it is worthy of inquiry whether it may not be attained without materially interfering with another object the recovery of the patient. It may also deserve inquiry, whether the extensive practice of coercion, which obtains in some institutions, does not arise from erroneous views of the character of insane persons; very familiar with the patients ; and it is I from indifference to their comfort ; or from believed they are not only the means of | having rendered coercion necessary by pre- innocent pleasure, but that the intercours! with them sometimes tends to awaken the social and benevolent feelings." (pp. 95, 96.) Chains are never permitted at the Ectreat ; nor is it left to the option of the lower attendants when they are to impose an additional degree of re- straint upon the patients ; and this compels them to pay attention to the feelings of the patients, and to attempt to gain an influence over them by kindness. Patients who are not dis- posed to injure themselves are merely confined by the strait waistcoat, and left to walk about the room, or lie down on the bed at pleasure ; and even in those cases where there is a strong tendency to self-destruction, as much attention is paid to the feelings and ease of the vious unkind treatment. " The power of judicious kindness over this unhappy class of society is much greater than is generally imagined. It is, perhaps, not too much to apply to kind treatment the words of our great poet ' She can unlock The clasping charm, and thaw the numbing spelL' MttTOH. . "In no instances has this power been more strikingly displayed, or exerted with more beneficial effects, than in those de- plorable cases in which the patient refuses to take food. The kind persuasions and ingenious arts of the superintendents have been singularly successful in overcoming this distressing symptom; and very few instances now occur in which it is neces- sary to employ violent means for supplying the patient with food. " Some patients, who refuse, to partake of the family meals, are induced to eat by patient as is consistent with his safety. ?V** muuw; f '\ being taken into the larder, and there " Except in cases of violent mania, which allowed to help themselves. Some are is far from being a frequent occurrence at the Retreat, coercion, when requisite, is considered as a necessary evil ; that is, it is found willing to eat when food is left with them in their rooms, or when they can ob- tain it unobserved by their attendants. thought abstractedly to have a tendency to ' Others, whose determination is stronger, retard the cure, by opposing the influence j are frequently induced, by repeated per- Q 3 230 MAD QUAKEKS. suasion, to take a small quantity of nutri- tious liquid ; and it is equally true in these, as in general cases, that every breach of resolution weakens the power and dis- position to resistance. " Sometimes, however, persuasion seems to strengthen the unhappy determination. In one of these cases, the attendants were completely wearied with their endeavours ; and, on removing the food, one of them took a piece of the meat, which had been repeatedly offered to the patient, and threw it under the fire-grate ; at the same time exclaiming that she should not have it. The poor creature, who seemed governed by the rule of contraries, immediately rushed from her seat, seized the meat from the ashes, and devoured it. For a short time she was induced to eat, by the atten- dants availing themselves of this contrary disposition ; but it was soon rendered un- necessary by the removal of this unhappy feature of the disorder." (pp. 166, 167, 168, 169.) When it is deemed necessary to apply any mode of coercion, such an over- powering force is employed as precludes all possibility of successful resistance ; and most commonly, therefore, extin- guishes every idea of making any at all. An attendant upon a madhouse exposes himself to some risk and to some he ought to expose himself, or he is totally unfit for his situation. If the security of the attendants were the only object, the situation of the patients would soon become truly desperate. The business is, not to risk nothing, but not to risk too much. The gene- rosity of the Quakers, and their courage in managing mad people, are placed, by this institution, in a very striking point of view. This cannot be better illustrated than by the two following cases : " The superintendent was one day walk- ing in a field adjacent to the house in com- pany with a patient who was apt to be vindictive on very slight occasions. An ex- citing circumstance occurred. The maniac retired a few paces, and seized a large stone, which he immediately held up, as in the act of throwing at his companion. The superintendent, in no degree ruffled, fixed his eye upon the patient, and in a resolute tone of voice, at the same time advancing, commanded him to lay down the stone. As he approached, the hand of the lunatic gradually sunk from its threatening po- sition, and permitted the stone to drop to the ground. He then submitted to be quietly led to his apartment." "Some years ago, a man, about thirty- four years of age, of almost herculean size and figure, was brought to the house. He had been afflicted several times before ; and so constantly, during the present attack, had he been kept chained, that his clothes were contrived to be taken off and put on by means of strings, without removing his manacles. They were, however, taken off when he entered the Retreat, and he was ushered into the apartment where the superintendents were supping. He was calm : his attention appeared to be arrested by his new situation. He was desired to join in the repast, during which he behaved with tolerable propriety. After it was concluded, the superintendent conducted him to his apartment, and told him the circumstances on which his treatment would depend ; that it was his anxious wish to make every inhabitant in the house as comfortable as possible; and that he sincerely hoped the patient's con- duct would render it unnecessary for him to have recourse to coercion. The maniac was sensible of the kindness of his treat- ment. He promised to restrain himself; and he so completely succeeded, that, during his stay, no coercive means were ever employed towards him. This case af- fords a striking example of the efficacy of mild treatment. The patient was fre- quently very vociferous, and threatened his attendants, who, in their defence, were very desirous of restraining him by the jacket. The superintendent on these oc- casions went to his apartment ; and though the first sight of him seemed rather to in- crease the patient's irritation, yet, after sitting some time quietly beside him, the violent excitement subsided, and he would listen with attention to the persuasions and arguments of his friendly visitor. After such conversations the patient was generally better for some days or a week : and in about four months he was dis- charged perfectly recovered. " Can it be doubted that, in this case, the disease had been greatly exasperated by the mode of management P or that the subsequent kind treatment had a great tendency to promote his recovery ? " (pp. 146, 147. 172, 173.) And yet, in spite of this apparent contempt of danger, for eighteen years not a single accident has happened to the keepers. In .the day- room the sashes are made of cast-iron, and give to the building MAD QUAKERS. the security of bars, without their un- pleasant appearance. With the same laudable attention to the feelings of these poor people, the straps of their strait waistcoats are made of some showy colour, and are not infrequently considered by them as ornaments. No advantage whatever has been found to arise from reasoning with patients on their particular delusions : it is found rather to exasperate than convince them. Indeed, that state of mind would hardly deserve the name of in- sanity where argument was sufficient for the refutation of error. The classification of patients accord- ing to their degree of convalescence is very properly attended to at the Re- treat, and every assistance given to returning reason by the force of exam- ple. We were particularly pleased with the following specimens of Quaker sense and humanity: "The female superintendent, who pos- sesses an uncommon share of benevolent activity, and who has the chief manage- ment of the female patients, as well as of the domestic department, occasionally gives a general invitation to the patients to a tearparty. All who attend dress in their best clothes, and vie with each other in politeness and propriety. The best fare is provided, and the visitors are treated with all the attention of strangers. The evening generally passes in the greatest harmony and enjoyment. It rarely happens that any unpleasant circumstance occurs. The patients control, in a wonderful degree, their different propensities ; and the scene is at once curious and affectingly gratify- ing. " Some of the patients occasionally pay visits to their friends in the city; and female visitors are appointed every month, by the committee, to pay visits to those of their own sei, to converse with them, and to propose to the superintendents, or the committee, any improvements which may occur to them. The visitors sometimes take tea with the patients, who are much frratified with the attention of their friends, and mostly behave with propriety. "It will be necessary here to mention, that the visits of former intimate friends have frequently been attended with disad- vantage to the patients, except when con- valescence had so far advanced as to afford a prospect of a speedy return to the bosom 231 the conversation of judicious indifferent persons greatly increases the comfort, and is considered almost essential to the re- covery, of many patients. On this account, the convalescents of every class are fre- quently introduced into the society of the rational parts of the family. They are also permitted to sit up till the usual time for the family to retire to rest, and are allowed as much liberty as their state of mind will admit." (pp. 178, 179.) To the effects of kindness in the Retreat are superadded those of con- stant employment. Thefemale patients are employed as much as possible in sewing, knitting, and domestic affairs; and several of the convalescents assist the attendants. For the men are se- lected those species of bodily employ- ments most agreeable to the patient, and most opposite to the illusions of his disease. Though the effect of fear is not excluded from the institution, yet the love of esteem is considered as a still more powerful principle. " That fear is not the only motive which operates in producing self-restraint in the inds of maniacs is evident from its being often exercised in the presence of strangers who are merely passing through the house ; and which, I presume, can only be ac- counted for from that desire of esteem which has been stated to be a powerful motive to conduct. " It is probably, from encouraging the action of this principle, that so much ad- vantage has been found in this institution, from treating the patient as much in the manner of a rational being as the state of his mind will possibly allow. The superin- tendent is particularly attentive to this point in his conversation with the patients. He introduces such topics as he knows will most interest them ; and which, at the same time, allows them to display their knowledge to the greatest advantage. If the patient is an agriculturist, he asks him questions relative to his art ; and frequently consults him upon any occasion in which his knowledge may be useful. I have heard one of the worst patients in the house, who, previously to his indisposition, had been a considerable grazier, give very sen- sible directions for the treatment of a diseased cow. "These considerations are undoubtedly very material as they regard the comfort of insane persons; but they are of far of society. It is, however, very certain i greater importance as they relate to the that, as soon as reason begins to return, cure of the disorder. The patient, feeling 232 MAD QUAKERS. himself of some consequence, is induced to support it by the exertion of his reason, and by restraining those dispositions which, if indulged, would lessen the respectful treatment lie receives, or lower his cha- racter in the eyes of his companions and attendants. 'They who are unacquainted with the character of insane persons are very apt to converse with them in a childish, or, which is worse, in a domineering manner; and hence it has been frequently remarked by the patients at the Retreat, that a stranger who has visited them seemed to imagine they were children. "The natural tendency of such treat- ment is to degrade the mind of the patient, and to make him indifferent to those moral feelings which, under judicious direction and encouragement, are found capable, in no small degree, to strengthen the power of self-restraint, and which render the resort to coercion in many cases unnecessary. Even when it is absolutely requisite to em- ploy coercion, if the patient promises to control himself on its removal, great con- fidence is generally placed upon his word. I have known patients, such is their sense of honour and moral obligation under this kind of engagement, hold, for a long time, a successful struggle with the violent pro- pensities of their disorder ; and such at- tempts ought to be sedulously encouraged by the attendant. "Hitherto, we have chiefly considered those modes of inducing the patient to con- trol his disordered propensities which arise from an application to the general powers of the mind ; but considerable advantage may certainly be derived, in this part of moral management, from an acquaintance with the previous habits, manners, and prejudices of the individual. Nor must we forget to call to our aid, in endeavouring to promote self-restraint, the mild but power- ful influence of the precepts of our holy religion. Where these have been strongly imbued in early life, they become little less than principles of our nature: and their restraining power is frequently felt, even under the delirious excitement of insanity. To encourage the influence of religious principles over the mind of the insane is considered of great consequence as a means of cure. For this purpose, as well as for others still more important, it is certainly right to promote in the patient an attention to his accustomed modes of paying homage to his Maker. " Many patients attend the religious meetings of the Society held in the city ; and most of them are assembled on a first day afternoon, at which time the superin- tendent reads to them several chapters in the Bible. A profound silence generally ensues; during which, as well as at the time of reading, it is very gratifying to ob- serve their orderly conduct, and the degree in which those who are much disposed to action restrain their different propensi- ties." (pp. 158101.) Very little dependence is to be placed on medicine alone for the cure of in- sanity. The experience, at least, of this well-governed institution is very unfavourable to its efficacy. Where an insane person happens to be diseased in body as well as mind, medicine is not only of as great importance to him as to any other person, but much greater ; for the diseases of the body are commonly found to aggravate those of the mind ; but against mere insanity, unaccompanied by bodily derangement, it appears to be almost powerless. There is one remedy, however, which is very frequently employed at the Re- treat, and which appears to have been attended with the happiest effect, and that is the warm bath, the least re- commended, and the most important, of all remedies in melancholy madness. Under this mode of treatment, the number of recoveries, in cases of melan- cholia, has been very unusual ; though no advantage has been found from it in the case of mania. At the end of the work is given a table of all the cases which have oc- curred in the institution from its first commencement. It appears that, from its opening in the year 1796 to the end of 1811, 149 patients have been admit- ted. Of this number 61 have been recent cases: 31 of these patients have been maniacal ; of whom 2 have died, 6 remain, 21 have been discharged per- fectly recovered, 2 so much improved as not to require further confinement. The remainder, 30 recent cases, have been those of melancholy madness; of whom 5 have died, 4 remain, 19 have been discharged cured, and 2 so much improved as not to require further con finement. The old cases, or, as they are commonly termed, incurable cases, are divided into 61 cases of mania, 21 of melancholia, and 6 of dementia ; af- fording the following tables: MAD QUAKERS. " Mania, "11 died. 31 remain in the house. 5 have been removed by their friends improved. 10 have been discharged perfectly re- covered. 4 so much improved as not to require further confinement." "Melancholia. "6 died. 6 remain. 1 removed somewhat improved. 6 perfectly cured. 2 so much improved as not to require further confinement." "Dementia. "2 died. 2 remain. 2 discharged as unsuitable objects." The following statement shows the ages of patients at present in the house : " 15 to 20 inclusive 2 20 to 30 30 to 40 40 to 50 60 to 70 70 to 80 80 to 90 8 12 7 11 4 2." Of 79 patients it appears that " 12 went mad from disappointed affec- tions. 2 from epilepsy. 49 from constitutional causes. 8 from failure in business. 4 from hereditary disnosition to mad- ness. 2 from injury of the skull. 1 from mercury. 1 from parturition." The following case is extremely curious ; and we wish it had been au- thenticated by name, place, and signa- ture. " A young woman who was employed as a domestic servant by the father of the re- later, when he was a boy, became insane, and at length sunk into a state of perfect idiotcy. In this condition she remained for many years, when she was attacked by a typhus fever : and my friend, having then practised some time, attended her. He was surprised to observe, as the fever ad- vanced, a development of the mental powers. During that period of the fever, when others were delirious, this patient was entirely rational. She recognised in 233 the face of her medical attendant the son of her old master, whom she had known so many years before ; and she related many circumstances respecting his family, and others which had happened to herself in her earlier days. But, alas ! it was only the gleam of reason. As the fever abated, clouds again enveloped the mind: she sunk into her former deplorable state, and re- mained in it until her death, which hap- pened a few years afterwards. I leave to the metaphysical reader further specula- tion on this certainly very curious case." (p. 137.) Upon the whole, we have little doubt that this is the best managed asylum for the insane that has ever yet been established ; and a part of the explana- tion no doubt is, that the Quakers take more pains than other people with their madmen. A mad Quaker belongs to a small and rich sect ; and is, there- fore, of greater importance than any other mad person of the same degree in life. After every allowance, however, which can be made for the feelings of sectaries, exercised towards their own disciples, the Quakers, it must be al- lowed, are a very charitable and humane people. They are always ready with their money, and, what is of far more importance, with their time and atten- tion, for every variety of human misfor- tune. They seem to set themselves down systematically before the difficulty, with the wise conviction that it is to be lessened or subdued'only by great labour and thought ; and that it is always in- creased by indolence and neglect. In this instance, they have set an example of courage, patience, and kindness, which cannot be too highly com- mended, or too widely diffused ; and which, we are convinced, will gradually bring into repute a milder and. better method of treating the insane. For the aversion to inspect places of this sort is so great, and the temptation to neglect and oppress the insane so strong, both from the love of power, and the impro- bability of detection, that we have no doubt of the existence of great abuses in the interior of many madhouses. A great deal has been done for prisons ; but the order of benevolence has been broken through by this preference ; for 234 MADAME D'EPINAY. the voice of misery may sooner come up from a dungeon, than the oppression of a madman be healed by the hand of justice.* MADAME D'EPINAY. (E. REVIEW, 1818.) Mimmres et Correspondance de Madame D'Epinay. 3 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1818. THERE used to be in Paris, under the ancient regime, a few women of bril- liant talents, who violated all the com- mon duties of life, and gave very pleasant little suppers. Among these supped and sinned Madame d'Epinay the friend and companion of Rous- seau, Diderot, Grimm, Holbach, and many other literary persons of distinc- tion of that period. Her principal lover was Grimm; with whom was deposited, written in feigned names, the history of her life. Grimm died his secretary sold the history the feigned names have been exchanged for the real ones and her works now appear abridged in three volumes octavo. Madame d'Epinay, though far from an immaculate character, has gome- thing to say in palliation of her ir- regularities. Her husband behaved abominably ; and alienated, by a series of the most brutal injuries, an attach- ment which seems to have been very ardent and sincere, and which, with better treatment, would probably have been lasting. For, in all her aberra- tions, Madame d'Epinay seems to have had a tendency to be constant Though extremely young when separated from her husband, she indulged herself with but two lovers for the rest of her life ; to the first of whom she seems to have been perfectly faithful, till he left her at the end of ten or twelve years j and to Grimm, by whom he was succeeded, she appears to have given * The Society of Friends have been ex- tremely fortunate in the choice of their male and female superintendents at the asylum, Mr. and Mrs. Jephson. It is not easy to find a greater combination of good sense and good feeling than these two persona possess: but then the merit of electing them rests with their employers. no rival till the day of her death. The account of the life she led, both with her husband and her lovers, brings npon the scene a great variety of French characters, and lays open very completely the interior of French life and manners. But there are some letters and passages which ought not to have been published ; which a sense of common decency and morality ought to have suppressed ; and which, we feel assured, would never have seen the light in this country. A French woman seems almost al- ways to have wanted the flavour of prohibition, as a necessary condiment to human life. The provided husband was rejected, and the forbidden hus- band introduced in ambiguous light, through posterns and secret partitions. It was not the union to one man that was objected, to for they dedicated themselves with a constancy which the most household and parturient woman in England could not exceed ; but the thing wanted was the wrong man, the gentleman without the ring the master unsworn to at the altar the person unconsecrated by priests " Oh! let me taste thee unexcis'd by kings." The following strikes us as a very lively picture of the ruin and extrava- gance of a fashionable house in a great metropolis. "M. d'Epinay a complete" son domes- tique. II a trois laquais, et moi deux ; je n'en ai pas voulu davantasre. II a un valet de chambre ; et il vouloit aussi que je prisse une seconde femme; mais, comrneje n'en ai que faire, j'ai tenu bon. Enfln les offlciers, les femmes, les valets se montent au nombre de seize. Quoique la vie que je mfcne soit assez uniforme, j'esp6re n'etre pas obligee d'en changer. Celle de M. d'Epinay est differente. Lorsqu'il est Iev6, son valet de chambre se met en devoir de raccominoder. Deux laquais sont debout & attendre les ordres. Le premier secretaire vient avec 1'intention de luirendre corapte des lettres qu'il a recues de son d6parte- ment, et qu'il est charge' d'ouvrir ; il doit lire les r6ponses et les faire signer ; inais il est interrompu deux cents fois dans cette occupation par toutes sortes d'esp6ces imaginables. C'est un maquignon qui a des chevaux uniques 4 vendre, mais qui sont retenus par un seigneur ; ainsi il est venu MADAME D'EPINAY. 235 pour ne pas manquer to. sa parole ; car on lui en donneroitle double, qu'on ne pourroit fairo affaire. II en fait une description seduisante, on demande le prix. Le seig- neur un tel en off re soixante louis. Je vous en donne cent. Cela est inutile, a moins qu'il ne se dedise. Cependant Ton conclut a cent louis sans les avoir vus, car le lendemain le seigneur ne manque pas de se dedire : voila ce que j'ai vu et entendu la semaine derniere. "Ensuite c'est un polisson qui vient brailler un air, et a qui on accorde sa pro- tection pur le faire entrer a 1'Opera, apres lui avoir donn6 quelques lecons de bon gout, et lui avoir appris ce que c'est que la proprete du chant francois ; c'est une demoiselle qu'on fait attendre pour savoir si je suis encore la. Je me leve et je m'en vais ; les deux laquais ouvrent les deux battans pour me laisser sortir, moi qui passerois alors par le trou d'une aiguille; et les deux estafiers orient dans 1'anti- chambre: Madame, messieurs; voila ma- dame. Tout le monde se range en haie, et ces messieurs sont des marchands d'etoffes, des marchands d'instrumens, des bijoutiers, des colporteurs, des laquais, des decroteurs, des creanciers; enfln tout ce que vous pouvez imaginer de plus ridicule et de plus affligeant. Midi ou une heure sonne avant que cette toilette soit achevee, et le secre- taire, qui, sans doute, sait par experience 1'impossibilite de rendreun compte detailie des affaires, a un petit bordereau qu'il remet entre les mains de son maitre, pour 1'instruire de ce qu'il doit dire al'assemblee. Une autre fois il sort a pied ou en fiacre, rentre a deux heures, fait comme un bruleur de maison, dine tete a tete avec moi, ou admet en tiers son premier secretaire, qui lui parle de la necessite de fixer chaque article de depense, de donner des delega- tions pour tel ou tel objet. La seulereponse est : Nous verrons cela. Ensuite il court le monde et les spectacles; et il soupe en ville quand il n'a personne a souper chez lui. Je vois que mon temps de repos est fini." (Vol. I. pp. 308-310.) A very prominent person among the early friends of Madame d'Epinay, is Mademoiselle d'Ette, a woman of great French respectability, and circulating in the best society ; and, as we are painting French manners, we shall make no apology to the serious part of our English readers, for inserting this sketch of her history and character by her own hand. "Je connois, me dit-elle ensuite, votre franchise et votre discretion: dites-moi naturellement quelle opinion on a de moi dans le monde. La meilleure, lui dis-je, et telle que vous ne pourriez la conserver si vous pratiquiez la morale que vous venez de me precher. Voila ou je vous attendois, me dit-elle. Depuis dix ans que j'ai perdu ma mere, je fus seduite par le Chevalier de Valory, qui m'avoit vu, pour ainsi dire, eiever; mon extreme jeunesse et la con- fiance que j'avois en lui ne me permirent pas d'abord de me defter de ses vues. Je fus long-temps a m'enapercevoir.et lorsque je m'en apercus, j'avois pris tant de gout pour lui, que je n'eus pas la force de lui r6sister. II me vint des scrupules ; il les leva, en me promettant de m'6pouser. II y travailla en effet ; mais voyant 1'opposition que sa famille y apportoit, a cause de la disproportion d'age et de mon peu de fortune; et me trouvant.d'ailleurs.heureuse comme j'etois, je fus la premiere a etouffer mes scrupules, d'autant plus qu'il est assez pauvre. II commencoit a faire des re- flexions, je lui proposal de continuer a vivre comme nous etions ; il 1'accepta. Je quittai ma province, et je le suivis a Paris: vous voyez comme j'y vis. Quatre fois la semaine il passe sa journ6e chez moi ; le reste du temps nous nous conteutons r6- ciproquement d'apprendrede nos nouvelles, a moins que le hasard ne nous fasse rencor.ter. Nous vivons heureux, contens ; peut-etre ne le serions-nous pas tant si nous etions maries." (Vol. I. pp. Ill, 112.) This seems a very spirited, unincum- bered way of passing through life; and it is some comfort, therefore, to a ma- trimonial English reader, to find Made- moiselle d'Ette kicking the Chevalier out of doors towards the end of the second volume. As it is a scene very edifying to rakes, and those who decry the happiness of the married state, we shall give it in the words of Madame d'Epinay. "Une nuit.dont elle avoit passe la plus grande partie dans 1'inquietude, elle entre chez le chevalier: ildormoit; elle le reveille, s'assied sur son lit, et entame une explica- tion avec toute la violence et la fureur qui 1'animoient. Le chevalier, apres avoir em- ploye vainement, pour la calmer, tous les moyens que sa bonte naturelle lui suggera, lui signifia enfin tres-precis6ment qu'il alloit se separer d'elle pour toujours, et fuir un enfer auquel il ne pouvoit plus tenir. Cette confidence, qui n'etoit pas faite pour 1'apaiser, redoubla sa rage. Puisqu'il est ainsi, dit-elle, sortez tout a 1'heure de chea moi; vous deviez partir dans quatre jours, c'est vous rendre service de vous faire 236 MADAME D'EPINAY. partir dans 1'instant. Tout ce qui est ici m'appartient ; le bail est en mon nom ; il ne me convieut plus de vous souil'rir chcz moi : levez-vous, monsieur, et songcz il ne rieri emporter sans ma permission." (Vol. II. pp. 193, 194.) Our English method of asking leave to separate from Sir William Scott and Sir John Nichol is surely better than this. Any one who provides good dinners for clever people, and remembers what they say, cannot fail to write enter- taining Memoirs. Among the early friends of Madame d'Epinay was Jean Jacques Rousseau she lived with him in considerable intimacy ; and no small part of her book is taken up with ac- counts of his eccentricity, insanity, and vice. "Nous avons debute par I'Engagement timeraire, come'die nouvelle, de M. Rous- seau, ami de Prancueil, qui nous 1'a pr6- sent6. L'auteur a jou6 un r61e dans sa piece. Quoique ce ne soit qu'une com6die de society, elle a eu un grand succes. Je doute cependant qu'elle put reussir au theatre ; mais c'est 1'ouvrage d'un homme de beau- coup d'esprit, et peut-6tre d'un, homme singulier. Je ne sais pas trop cependant si c'est ce que j'ai vu de 1'auteur ou de la piece qui me fait juger ainsi. II est cornpli- menteur sans etre poll, ou au moins sans en avoir 1'air. II paroit ignorer les usages du monde ; mais il est ais6 de voir qu'il a inflniment d'esprit. II a le teint brun, et des yeux pleins de feu animent sa physi- onomie. Lorsqu'il a par!6 et qu'on le regarde, il paroit joli ; mais lorsqu'on se le rappelle, c'est toujours en laid. On dit qu'il est d'une mauvaise sante, et qu'il a des souffrances qu'il cache avec soin, par je ne sais quel principe devanit<$; c'est apparem- ment ce qui lui donne, de temps en temps, 1'air farouche. M. de Eellegarde, avec qui il a caus6 long-temps ce matin, en est en- chante, et 1'a engag6 a nous venir voir souvent. J'en suis bien aise ; je me promets de profiter beaucoup de sa conversation." (Vol. I. pp. 175, 176.) Their friendship, so formed, pro- ceeded to a great degree of intimacy. Madame d'Epinay admired his genius, and provided him with hats and coats; and, at last, was so far deluded by his declamations about the country, as to fit him up a little hermit cottage, where there were a great many birds, and a great many plants and flowers and where Kousseau was, as might have been expected, supremely miserable. His friends from Paris did not come to see him. The postman, the butcher, and the baker, hate romantic scenery duchesses and marchionesses were no longer found to scramble for him. Among the real inhabitants of the country, the reputation of reading and thinking is fatal to character ; and Jean Jacques cursed his own successful eloquence which had sent him from the suppers and flattery of Paris to smell to daffodils, watch sparrows, or project idle saliva into the passing stream. Very few men who have gratified, and are gratifying their vanity in a great metropolis, are qualified to quit it. Few have the plain sense to perceive, that they must soon inevitably be for- gotten, or the fortitude to bear it when they are. They represent to themselves imaginary scenes of deplor- ing friends and dispirited companies but the ocean might as well regret the drops exhaled by the sun-beams. Life goes on ; and whether the absent have, retired into a cottage or a grave, is much the same thing. In London, as in Law, de non apparentibus, et non existentibus eadem est ratio. This is the account Madame d'Epi- nay gives of Kousseau soon after he had retired into the hermitage. " J'ai 616 il y a deux jours a la Chevrette, pour terminer quelques affaires avant de m'y elablir avec mcs enfans. J'avois fait pr6venir Rousseau de mon voyage : il est venu me voir. Je crois qu'il a besoiu de ma presence, et que la solitude a deja. agit6 sa bile. II se plaint de tout le moride. Diderot doit toujours aller, et ne va jamais levoir; M. Grimm le neglige; le baron d'Holbach 1'oublie; Gauffeeourt et moi seulement avons encore des egards pour lui, dit-il; j'aivoulu les justifler ; cela n'a pas r6ussi. J'espere qu'il sera beaucoup plus a la Chevrette qu'a 1'Hermitage. Je suis per- suad<5e qu'il n'y a qu'une facon de prendre cet homme pour le rendre heureux ; c'est de feindre de ne pas prendre garde a lui, et s'en occuper sans cesse ; c'est pour cela que je n'insistai point pour le retenir, lorsqu'il m'eut dit qu'il vouloit s'en retourner a 1'Hermitage, quoiqu'il fut tard et malgre' le mauvais temps." (Vol. II. pp. 253, 254.) Jean Jacques Rousseau seems, as the reward of genius and fine writing, MADAME D'EPINAY. 237 to have claimed an exemption from all moral duties. He borrowed and begged, and never paid; put his children in a poor-house betrayed his friends insulted his benefactors and was guilty of every species of mean- ness and mischief. His vanity was so great, that it was almost impossible to keep pace with it by any activity of attention ; and his suspicion of all mankind amounted nearly, if not alto- gether, to insanity. The following anecdote, however, is totally clear of any symptom of derangement, and carries only the most rooted and dis- gusting selfishness. " Rousseau vous a done dit qu'il n'avoit pas port6 son ouvrage a Paris? II en a menti, car il n'a fait son voyage que pour cela. J'ai recu hier une lettre de Diderot, qui peint votre hermite comme si je le voyois. II a fait ces deux lieues a pied, est venu s'6tablir chez Diderot sans 1'avoir preVenu, le tout pour faire avec lui la revision de son ouvrage. Au point ou ils en 6toient ensemble, vous conviendrez que cela est assez Strange. Je vois, par certains mots 6chapp6s a mon ami dans sa lettre, qu'il y a quelque sujet de discussion entre eux ; mais comme il ne s'explique point, je n'ycomprends rien. Rousseau l'a tenu im- pitoyablement a 1'ouvrage depuis le samedi dix heures du matin jusqu'au lundi onze heures du soir, sans lui donner a peine le temps de boire ni manger. La revision flnie, Diderot cause avec lui d'un plan qii'il a dans la tfcte, et prie Rousseau de 1'aider a arranger un incident qui n'est pas encore trouv6 a sa fantaisie. Cela est trop difficile, r6pond froidement rhermite; il est tard, je ne suis point accoutum6 a veiller. Bon soir, je pars demain a six heures du matin, il est temps de dormir. II se leve, va se coucher, et laisse Diderot p^trifie de son proc<; d6. Voila cet homme que vous croyez si p6u6tr6 de vos lecons. Ajoutez a cette reflexion un propos singulier de la femme de Diderot, dont je vous prie de faire votre profit. Cette femme n'est qu'une bonne femme, mais elle a le tact juste. Voyant son mari deso!6 le jour du depart de Rous- seau, elle lui en demanda la raison ; il la lui dit : C'est le manque de d61icatesse de cet homme, ajoute-t-il, qui m'afflige; il me fait travailler comme un manoeuvre; je ne rn'en serois, je crois, pas apercu, s'il ne in'avoit refus6 aussi sechement de s'occuper pour moi un quart d'henre. . . . Vous etes 6tonn6 de cela, lui r6pond sa femme, vous ne le connoissez done pas ? II est d<3vor6 d'envie; il enrage quand il paroit quelque chose de beau qui n'est pas de lui. On lui verra faire un jour quelques grands forfaits plutot que de se laisser ignorer. Tenez, je ne jurerois pas qu'il ne se rangeat du parti des J6suites, et qu'il n'entreprlt leur apologie." (VoL III. pp.60, 61.) The horror which Diderot ultimately conceived for him, is strongly ex- pressed in the following letter to Grimm, written after an interview which compelled him, with many pangs, to renounce all intercourse with a man who had, for years, been the ob- ject of his tenderest and most partial feelings. " Cet homme est un forcen6. Je 1'ai vu, je lui ai reproch6, avec toute la force que donne I'honnetet6 et une sorte d'inWret qui reste au fond du cceurd'un ami qui lui est deVou6 depuis long-temps, I'6normit6 de sa conduite ; les pleurs verses aux pieds de Madame d'Epinay, dans le moment meme ou il la chargeoit pres de moi des accusations les plus graves; cette odieuse apologie qu'il vous a envoy6e, et ou il n'y a pas une seule des raisous qu'il avoit a dire ; cette lettre projetee pour Saint-Lambert, qui devoit le tranquilliser sur des sentimens qu'il se reprochoit, et ou, loin d'avouer une passion nee dans son cceur malgr6 lui, il s'excuse d'avoir alarm6 Madame d'Houdetot sur la sienne. Que sais-je encore ? Je ne suis point content de ses rtponses ; je n'ai pas eu le courage de le lui teinoigner ; j'ai mieux aim6 lui laisser la miserable consola- tion de croire qu'il m'a tromp6. Qu'il vive ! H a mis dans sa defense un emporte- inent froid qui m'a afflige. J'ai peur qu'il ne soit endurci. " Adieu, mon ami ; soyons et continuons d'etre honnetes gens : l'6tat de ceux qui ont cesse de 1'etre me fait peur. Adieu, mon ami ; jevousembrassebien tendrement Je me jette dans vos bras comme un homme effraye' ; je tache en vain de faire de la po6sie, mais cet homme me revient tout a travers mon travail ; il me trouble, et je suis comme si j'avois a cot6 de moi un damn6 ; il est damne, cela est sur. Adieu, mon amL .... Grimm, voila. 1'effet que je ferois sur vous, si je devenois jamais un mechant : en v6rit, j'aimerois mieux etre mort. II n'y a peut- etre pas le sens commun dans tout ce que je vous ecris, mais je vous avoue que je n'ai jamais 6prouv6 un trouble d'ame si terrible que celui que j'ai. " Oh ! mon ami, quel spectacle que celui d'un homme m6chant et bourrel6 ! Brulez, d6chirez ce papier, qu'il ne retombe plus sous vos yeux ; que je ne revoie plus cet homme-la, il me feroit croire aux diables et 238 MADAME D'EPINAY. a Penfer. Si je suis jamais forc6 de re- tourner chez lui, je suis sur que je frtmirai tout le long du chemin: j'avois la fievre en revenant. Je suis fachg de ne lui avoir pas laLsse voir 1'horreur qu'il m'inspiroit, et je ne me r6concilie avec moi qu'en pensant, que vous, avec toute votre fermet6, vous ne Pauriez pas pu a ma place ; je ne sais pas s'il ne m'auroit pas tu6. On entendoit ses cris jusqu'au bout du jardin; et je le voyois! Adieu, mon ami, j'irai demain vous voir; j'irai chercher un horn me de bien, aupres duquel je m'asseye, qui me rassure, et qui chasse de mon ame je ne sais quoi d'infernal qui la tourinente et qui s'y est attached Les poetes ont bien fait de mettre un intervalle immense entre le ciel et les enfers. En verite, la main me tremble." (Vol. III. pp. 148, 149.) Madame d'Epinay lived, as we before observed, with many persons of great celebrity. We could not help smiling, among many others, at this anecdote of our countryman David Hume. At the beginning of a splendid career of fame and fashion at Paris, the historian was persuaded to appear in the cha- racter of a Sultan ; and was placed on a sofa between two of the most beauti- ful women of Paris, who acted for that evening the part of inexorables, whose favour he was supposed to be soliciting. The absurdity of this scene can easily be conceived. " Le celebre David Hume, grand et gros historiographe d'Angleterre, connu et es- time par ses ecrits, n'a pas autant detalens pour ce genre d'amusemens auquel toutes nos jolies femmes 1'avoient d6cid6 propre. II fit son debut chez Madame de T* * * ; on lui avoit destin^ le role d'un sultan assis entre deux esclaves, employant toute son eloquence pour s'en faire aimer; les trou- vant inexorables, il devoit chercher le sujet de leurs peines et de leur resistance: on le place sur un sophaentre les deux plus jolies femmes de Paris, il les regarde attentive- uient, il se frappe le ventre et les genoux a plusieurs reprises, et ne trouve jamais autre chose a leur dire que : Eh bien ! mes demoi- selles .... Eh bien ! vous voila done .... Eh bien! vous voila . . . vous voila id? . . . Cette phrase dura un quart d'heure, sans qu'il put en sortir. Une ; the deputies to Congress have 8 dollars per day, and 8 dollars for every 20 miles of journey. The First Clerk of the House of Representatives receives about 7f>0/. per annum ; the Secre- tary of State, 1200/. ; the Postmaster- General, 7501. ; the Chief Justice of the United States, 1000/.; a Minister Ple- nipotentiary, 2200/. per annum. There are, doubtless, reasons why there should be two noblemen appointed in this country as Postmasters-General, with enormous salaries, neither of whom know a twopenny post letter from a general one, and where further re- trenchments are stated to be impos- sible. This is clearly a case to which that impossibility extends. But these are matters where a prostration of understanding is called for ; and good subjects are not to reason but to pay. If, however, we were ever to indulge in the Saxon practice of looking into our own affairs, some important docu- ments might be derived from these American salaries. Jonathan, for, in- stance, sees no reason why the first clerk of his House of Commons should derive emoluments from his situation to the amount of 6000?. or 7000/. per annum ; but Jonathan is vulgar and arithmetical. The total expenditure of the United States varied between 1799 and 1811, both inclusive, from 11 to 17 millions dollars. From 1812 to 1814, both inclusive, and all these years of war with this country, the expenditure was consecutively 22, 29, and 38 millions dollars. The total expenditure of the United States, for 14 years from 1791 to 1814, was 333 millions dollars ; of which, in the three last years of war with this country, from 1812 to 1814, there were ex- pended 100 millions of dollars, of which only 35 were supplied by re- venue, the rest by loans and govern- ment paper. The sum total received by the American Treasury from the 3rd of March, 1789, to the 31st of March, 1816, is 354 millions dollars ; of which 107 millions have been raised by loan, and 22? millions by the cus- toms and tonnage : so that, exclusive . AMERICA. 291 of the revenue derived from loans, 222 parts out of 247 of the American re- venue have been derived from fo- reign commerce. In the mind of any sensible American, this consideration ought to prevail over the few splendid actions of their half dozen frigates, which must, in a continued war, have been, with all their bravery and ac- tivity, swept from the face of the ocean by the superior force and equal bravery of the English. It would be the height of madness in America to run into another naval war with this country if it could be averted by any other means than a sacrifice of proper dignity and character. They have, comparatively, no land revenue ; and, in spite of the Franklin and Guerricre, though lined with cedar and mounted with brass cannon, they must soon be reduced to the same state which has been de- scribed by Dr. Seybert, and from which they were so opportunely extricated by the treaty of Ghent. David Porter and Stephen Decatur are very brave men ; but they will prove an unspeak- able misfortune to their country, if they inflame Jonathan into a love of naval glory, and inspire him with any other love of war than that which is founded upon a determination not to submit to serious insult and injury. We can inform Jonathan what are the inevitable consequences of being too fond of glory TAXES upon every article which enters into the mouth, or covers the back, or is placed under the foot taxes upon every tiling which it is pleasant to see, hear, feel, smell, or taste taxes upon warmUi, light, and loco- motion taxes on every thing on earth, and the waters under the earth on every thing that comes from abroad, or is grown at home taxes on the raw material taxes on every fresh value that is added to it by the industry of man taxes on the sauce which pampers man's appetite, and the drug that re- stores him to health on the ermine which decorates the judge, and the rope which hangs the criminal on the poor man's salt, and the rich man's spice on the brass nails of tlie coffin, and the ribands of the bride at bed or board, couchant or levant, we must pay. The schoolboy whips his taxed top the beardless youth manages his taxed horse, with a taxed bridle, on a taxed road: and the dying Englishman, pouring his medicine, which has paid 7 per cent., into a spoon that has paid 1 5 per cent. flings himself back upon his chintz bed, which hasjaaid 22 per cent and expires in the arms of an apothecary who has paid a licence of a hundred pounds for the privilege of putting him to death. His whole property is then immediately taxed from 2 to 10 per cent Besides the probate, large fees are de- manded for burying him in the chancel; his virtues are handed down to posterity on taxed marble; and he is then gatftered to his fathers to be taxed no more. la addition to all this, the habit of deal- ing with large sums will make the Government avaricious and profuse ; and the system itself will infallibly generate the base vermin of spies and informers, and a still more pestilent race of political tools and retainers of the meanest and most odious descrip- tion ; while the prodigious patronage which the collecting of this splendid revenue will throw into the hands of Government, will invest it with so vast an influence, and hold out such means and temptations to corruption, as all the virtue and public spirit, even of republicans, will be unable to resist. Every wise Jonathan should re- member this, when he sees the rabble huzzaing at the heels of the truly re- spectable Decatur, or inflaming the vanity of that still more popular leader, whose justification has lowered the character of his Government with all the civilised nations of the world. Debt. America owed 42 millions of dollars after the revolutionary war ; in 1790, 79 millions ; in 1803, 70 mil- lions ; and in the beginning of January, 1812, the public debt was diminished to 45 millions of dollars. After the last war with England, it had risen to 123 millions ; and so it stood on the 1 st of January, 1816- The total amount carried to the credit of the commis- sioners of the sinking fund, on the 31st of December, 1816, was about 34 mil- lions of dollars. Such is the land of Jonathan and U 2 292 ' AMERICA. thus has it been governed. In his honest endeavours to better his situa- tion, and in his manly purpose of resisting injury and insult, we most cordially sympathise. We hope he will always continue to watch and sus- pect his Government as he now does remembering, that it is the constant tendency of those entrusted with power, to conceive that they enjoy it by their own merits, and for their own use, and not by delegation, and for the benefit of others. Thus far we are the friends and admirers of Jonathan. But he must not grow vain and ambitious ; or allow himself to be dazzled by that galaxy of epithets by which his ora- tors and newspaper scribblers endea- vour to persuade their supporters that they are the greatest, the most refined, the most enlightened, and the most moral people upon earth. The effect of this is unspeakably ludicrous on this side of the Atlantic and, even on the other, we should imagine, must be rather humiliating to the reasonable part of the population. The Ameri- cans are a brave, industrious, and acute people ; but they have hitherto given no indications of genius, and made no approaches to the heroic, either in their morality or character. They are but a recent offset indeed from England ; and should make it their chief boast, for many generations to come, that they are sprung from the same race with Bacon and Shakspeare and New- ton. Considering their numbers, in deed, and the favourable circumstances in which they have been placed, they have yet done marvellously little to assert the honour of such a descent, or to show that their English blood has been exalted or refined by their repub- lican training and institutions. Their Franklins and Washingtons, and all the other sages and heroes of their re- volution, were born and bred subject of the King of England and not among the freest or most valued of his subjects. And, since the period ol their separation, a far greater propor- tion of their statesmen and artists and political writers have been foreigners, than ever occurred before in the history of any civilised and educated people. During the thirty or forty years of their independence, they have done ab- solutely nothing for the Sciences, for the Arts, for Literature, or even for the statesman-like studies of Politics or Political Economy. Confining our- selves to our own country, and to the period that has elapsed since they had an independent existence, we would ask, Where are their Foxes, their Burkes, their Sheridan s, their Wind- hams, their Homers, their Wilberforces ? where their Ai kwrights, their Watts, their Davys ? their Robertsons. Blairs, Smiths, Stewarts, Paleys, and Malthuses ? their Persons, Parrs, Burneys, or Blomficlds ? their Scotts, Rogers's, Campbells, Byrons, Moores, or Crabbes ? their Siddons, Kembles, Keans, or O'Neils ? their Wilkies, Lawrences, Chantrj's ? or their paral- lels to the hundred other names that have spread themselves over the world from our little island in the course of the last thirty years, and blest or delighted mankind by their works, inventions, or examples ? In so far as we know, there is no such parallel to be produced from the whole annals of this self- adulating race. In the four quarters of the globe, who reads an American book ? or goes to an American play ? or looks at an American picture or statue ? What does the world yet owe to American physicians or surgeons ? What new substances have their che- mists discovered ? or what old ones have they analysed ? What new con- stellations have been discovered by the telescopes of Americans? What have they done in the mathematics ? Who drinks out of American glasses ? or eats from American plates ? or wears American coats or gowns ? or sleeps in American blankets ? Finally, under which of the old tyrannical govern- ments of Europe is every sixth man a slave, whom his fellow-creatures may buy and sell and torture ? When these questions are fairly and favourably answered, their laudatory epithets may be allowed : but till that can be done, we would seriously advise them to keep clear of superlatives. POOR-LAWS. 29; POOR-LAWS. (E. REVIEW, 1820) 1. Safe Method for rendering Income aris- ing from Personal Property available to tJie Poor-Laws. Lorgman & Co. 1819. Z. Summary Review of the Report and Eu idcnce relative to the Poor-La ics. By S.W. Xicol. York. 3. Essay on the Practicability of modifying tlie Poor-Laics. Sherwood. 1819. 4. Considerations on the Poor-Laws. By John Davison, A. M. Oxford. OCR readers, we fear, will require some apology fqr being asked to look at any thing upon the Poor-Laws. No subject, we admit, can be more disagreeable, or more trite. But, unfortunately, it is the most important of all the important subjects which the distressed state of the country is now crowding upon our notice. A pamphlet on the Poor- Laws gene- rally contains some little piece of fa- vourite nonsense, by which we are gravely told this enormous evil may be perfectly cured. The first gentleman recommends little gardens ; the second cows ; the third a village shop ; the fourth a spade ; the fifth Dr. Bell, and so forth. Every man rushes to the press with his small morsel of imbe- cility ; and is not easy till he sees his impertinence stitched in blue covers. In this list of absurdities, we must not forget the project of supporting the poor from national funds, or, in other words, of immediately doubling the expenditure, and introducing every possible abuse into the administration of it. Then there are worthy men, who call upon gentlemen of fortune and education to become overseers meaning, we suppose, that the present overseers are to perform the higher duties of men of fortune. Then Merit is set up as the test of relief ; and their worships are to enter into a long ex- amination of the life and character of each applicant, assisted, as they doubt- less would be, by candid overseers, and neighbours divested of every feeling of malice and partiality. The children are next to be taken from their parents, and lodged in immense pedagogueries of several acres each, where they are to be carefully secluded from those fathers and mothers they are com- manded to obey and honour, and are to be brought up in virtue by the churchwardens. And this is gravely intended as a corrective of the Poor- Laws ; as if (to pass over the many other objections which might be made to it) it would not set mankind popu- lating faster than carpenters and brick- layers could cover in their children, or separate twigs to be bound into rods for their flagellation. An extension of the Poor-Laws to personal property is also talked of. We, should be very glad to see any species of property ex- empted from these laws, but have no wish that any which is now exempted should be subjected to their influence. The case would infallibly be like that of the Income-tax, the more easily the tax was raised, the more profligate would be the expenditure. It is pro- posed also that alehouses should be diminished, and that the children of the poor should be catechised publicly in the church, both very respectable and proper suggestions, but of them- selves hardly strong enough for the evil. We have every wish that the poor should accustom themselves to habits of sobriety ; but we cannot help reflecting, sometimes, that an alehouse is the only place where a poor tired creature, haunted with every species of wretchedness, can purchase three or four times a year three pennyworth of ale, a liquor upon which wine-drinking moralists are always extremely severe. We must not forget, among other nostrums, the eulogy of small farms in other words, of small capital, and profound ignorance in the arts of agri- culture ; and the evil is also thought to be curable by periodical contribu- tions from men who have nothing, and can earn nothing without charity. To one of these plans, and perhaps the most plausible, Mr. Nicol has stated, in the following passage, objections that are applicable to almost all the rest. " The district school would no doubt be well superintended and well regulated ; magistrates and country gentlemen would be its visitors. The more excellent the establishment, the greater the mischief; u 3 294 POOR-LAWS. because the greater the expense. "We may talk what we will of economy, but where the care of the poor is taken exclusively into the hands of the rich, comparative extravagance is the necessary consequence : to say that the gentleman, or even the over- seer, would never permit the poor to live at the district school as they live at home, is saying far too little. English humanity will never see the poor in any thing like want, when that want is palpably and visibly brought before it ; first, it will give necessaries, next comforts; until its fos- tering care rather pampers, than merely relieves. The humanity itself is highly laudable ; but if practised on an extensive scale, its consequences must entail an al- most unlimited expenditure. " Mr. Locke computes that the labour of a child from 8 to 14, being set against its nourishment and teaching, the result will be exoneration of the parish from expense. Nothing could prove more decisively the incompetency of the Board of Trade to advise on this question. Of the productive labour of the workhouse, I shall have to speak hereafter ; I will only observe in this place, that after the greatest care and at- tention bestowed on the subject, after ex- pensive looms purchased, &c., the 50 boys of the Blue Coat School earned in the year 1816, 592. 10s. 3d. ; the 40 girls earned, in the same time, 402. 7s. 9c2. The ages of these children are from 8 to 16. They earn about one pound in the year and cost about twenty. " The greater the call for labour in public institutions, be they prisons, workhouses, or schools, the more difficult to be procured that labour must be. There will thence be both much less of it for the comparative numbers, and it will afford a much less price ; to get any labour at all, one school must underbid another. "It has just been observed, that 'the child of a poor cottager, half clothed, half fed, with the enjoyment of home and li- berty, is not only happier but better than the little automaton of a parish work- house:' and this I believe is accurately true. I scarcely know a more cheering sight, though certainly many more elegant ones, than the youthful gambols of a village green. They call to mind the description given by Paley of the shoals of the fry of fish : ' They are so happy that they know not what to do with themselves ; their at- titude, their vivacity, their leaps out of the water, their frolics in it, all conduce to show their excess of spirits, and are simply the effects of that excess.' "Though politeness may be banished from the cottage, and though the anxious mother may sometimes chide a little too sharply, yet here both maternal endear- ments and social affection exist in perhaps their greatest vigour: the attachments of lower life, where independent of at- tachment there is so little to enjoy, far outstrip the divided if not exhausted sen- sibility of the rich and great ; and in depriving the poor of these attachments, wo may be said to rob them of their little all. " But it is not to happiness only I here refer: it is to morals. I listen with great reserve to that system of moral instruction, which has not social affection for its basis, or the feelings of the heart for its ally. It is not to be concealed, that everything may be taught, yet nothing learned, that systems planned with care and executed with at- tention, may evaporate into unmeaning forms, where the imagination is not roused, or the sensibility impressed. " Let us suppose the children of the ' district school,' nurtured with that su- perabundant care which such institutions, when supposed to be well conducted, are wont to exhibit ; they rise with the dawn ; after attending to the calls of cleanliness, prayers follow; then a lesson; then break- fast ; then work, till noon liberates them, for perhaps an hour, from the walls of their pri- son to the walls of their prison court. Din- ner follows ; and then, in course, work, les- sons, supper, prayers ; at length, after a day dreary and dull, the counterpart of every day which has preceded, and of all that are to follow, the children are dismissed to bed. This system may construct a machine, but it will not form a man. Of what does it consist? of prayers parroted without one sentiment in accord with the words ut- tered : of moral lectures which the under- standing does not comprehend, or the heart feel ; of endless bodily constraint, intole- rable to youthful vivacity, and injurious to the perfection of the human frame. The cottage day may not present so imposing a scene; no decent uniform ; no well-trimmed locks; no glossy skin ; no united response of hundreds of conjoined voices ; no length- ened procession, misnamed exercise ; but if it has less to strike the eye, it has far more to engage the heart. A trifle in the way of cleanliness must suffice ; the prayer is not forgot ; it is perhaps imperfectly re- peated, and confusedly understood; but it is not muttered as a vain sound ; it is an earthly parent that tells of an heavenly one; duty, love, obedience, are not words with- out meaning, when repeated by a mother to her child : to God the great unknown Being that made all things, all thanks, all praise, all adoration is due. The young POOR-LAWS. 95 religionist may be in some measure be- wildered by all this ; his notions may be ob- scure, but his feelings will be roused, and the foundation at least of true piety will belaid. "Of moral instruction, the child may be taught less at home than at school, but he will be taught better ! that is, whatever he is taught he will feel -, he will not have abstract propositions of duty coldly pre- sented to his mind ; but precept and prac- tice will be conjoined ; what he is told it is right to do will be instantly done. Some- times the operative principle on the child's mind will be love, sometimes fear, some- times habitual sense of obedience; it is always something that will impress, always something that will be remembered." There are two points which we con- sider as now admitted by all men of sense, 1st, That the Poor-Laws must be abolished; 2dly, That they must be very gradually abolished.* We hardly thiiik it worth while to throw away pen and ink upon any one who is still in- clined to dispute" either of these pro- positions. With respect to the gradual aboli- tion, it must he observed, that the pre- sent redundant population of the coun- try has been entirely produced by the Poor-Laws: and nothing could be so grossly unjust, as to encourage people to such a vicious multiplication, and then, when you happen to discover your folly, immediately to starve them into annihilation. You have been call- ing upon your population for two hun- dred years to beget more children furnished them with clothes, food, and houses taught them to lay up nothing for matrimony, nothing for children, nothing for age but to depend upon Justices of the Peace for every human want. The folly is now detected; but the people, who are the fruit of it, re- * I am not quite so wrong in this as I seem to be, nor after all our experience am I satisfied that there has not been a good deal of rashness and precipitation in the conduct of this admirable measure. You have not been able to carry the law into manufacturing counties. Parliament will compel you to soften some of the more se- vere clauses. It has been the nucleus of general insurrection and chartism. The Duke of Wellington wisely recommended that the experiment should be first tried in a few counties round the metropolis. main. It was madness to call them in this manner into existence; but it would he the height of cold-blooded cruelty to get rid of them by any other than the most gentle and gradual means; and not only would it be cruel, but ex- tremely dangerous, to make the attempt. Insurrections of the most sanguinary and ferocious nature would be the im- mediate consequence of any very sud- den change in the system of the Poor- Laws ; not partial, like those which proceed from an impeded or decaying state of manufactures, but as universal as the Poor-Laws themselves, and as ferocious as insurrections always are which are led on by hunger and de- spair. These observations may serve as an answer to those angry and impatient gentlemen who are always crying out, What has the Committee of the House of Commons done? What have they to show for their labours? Are the rates lessened? Are the evils re- moved ? The Committee of the House of Commons would have shown them- selves to be a set of the most contemp- tible charlatans, if they had proceeded with any such indecent and perilous haste, or paid the slightest regard to the ignorant folly which required it at their hands. They have very properly begun, by collecting all possible in- formation upon the subject; by con- sulting speculative and practical men; by leaving time for the press to con- tribute whatever it could of thought or knowledge to the subject; and by in- troducing measures, the effects of which will be, and are intended to he, gradual. The Lords seemed at first to have been surprised that the Poor-Laws were not abolished before the end of the first session of Parliament; and accordingly set up a little rival Committee of their own, which did little or nothing, and will not, we believe, be renewed. We are so much less sanguine than those noble legislators, that we shall think the improvement immense, and a sub- ject of very general congratulation, if the Poor-rates are perceptibly dimi- nished, and if the system of pauperism is clearly going down in twenty or thirty years hence. u 4 296 POOR We think, upon the whole, that Go- vernment have been fortunate in the selection of the gentleman who is placed at the head of the Committee for the revision of the Poor-Laws; or rather, we should say (for he is a gen- tleman of very independent fortune), who has consented that he should be placed there. Mr. Sturges Bourne is undoubtedly a man of business, and of very good sense: he has made some mistakes; but, upon the whole, sees the subject as a philosopher and statesman ought to do. Above all, we are pleased with his good nature and good sense in adhering to his undertaking, after the Parliament has flung out two or three of his favourite bills. Many men would have surrendered so un- thankful and laborious an undertaking in disgust; but Mr. Bourne knows better what appertains to his honour and character, and, above all, what he owes to his country. It is a great subject ; and such as will secure to him the gratitude and favour of posterity, if he bring it to a successful issue. We have stated our opinion, that all remedies, without gradual abolition, are of little importance. With a founda- tion laid for such gradual abolition, every auxiliary improvement of the Poor-Laws (while they do remain) is worthy the attention of Parliament: and, in suggesting a few alterations as fit to be immediately adopted, we wish it to be understood, that we have in view the gradual destruction of the system, as well as its amendment while it continues to operate. It seems to us, then, that one of the first and greatest improvements of thi unhappy system would be a completi revision of the Law of Settlement Since Mr. East's act for preventing thi removal of the poor till they are ac tually chargeable, any man may livi where he pleases, till he becomes i beggar, and ask alms of the place where he resides. To gain a settlement, then is nothing more than to gain a right o begging: it is not, as it used to b before Mr. East's act, a power of re siding where, in the judgment of th resident, his industry and exertion wil be best rewarded; but a power of tax LAWS. . & the industry and exertions of other e'rsons in the place where his settle- icnt falls. This privilege produces 11 the evil complained of in the Poor- ^aws; and instead therefore of being onferred with the liberality and pro- usion which it is at present, it should e made of very difficult attainment, nd liable to the fewest possible changes. ?he constant policy of our Courts of "ustice has been, to make settlements asily obtained. Since the period we lave before alluded to, this has cer- ainly been a very mistaken policy, t would be a far wiser course to abolish all other means of settlement than hose of Birth, Parentage, and Mar- iage, not for the limited reason tated in the Committee, that it would liminish the law expenses, (though hat, too, is of importance,) but because t would invest fewer residents with he fatal privilege of turning beggars, ?xempt a greater number of labourers rom the moral corruption of the Poor-Laws, and stimulate them to exertion and economy, by the fear of removal if they are extravagant and idle. Of ten men who leave the alace of their birth, four, probably, get a settlement by yearly hiring, and four others by renting a small tenement; while two or three may return to the place of their nativity, and settle there. Now, under the present system, here are eight men settled where they have a right to beg without being removed. The probability is, that they will all beg; and that their virtue will give way to the incessant ^mptation of the Poor- Laws : but if these men had felt from the very beginning, that removal from the place where they wished most to live would be the sure consequence of their idleness and extravagance, the probability is, that they would have escaped the contagion of pauperism, and been much more useful members of society than they now are. The best labourers in a village are com monly those who are living where they are legally settled, and have therefore no right to ask charity for the plain reason, that they have nothing to de- pend upon but their own exertions : in short, for them the Poor-Laws hardly POOR-LAWS. 297 exist; and they are such as the great mass of English peasantry would be if we had escaped the curse of these laws altogether. It is incorrect to say, that no labourer would settle out of the place of his birth, if the means of acquiring a settle- ment were so limited. Many men begin the world with strong hope and much confidence in their own fortune, and without any intention of subsisting by charity; but they see others sub- sisting in greater ease, without their toil and their spirit gradually sinks to the meanness of mendicity. An affecting picture is sometimes drawn of a man falling into want in the decline of life, and compelled to remove from the place where he has spent the greatest part of his days. These things are certainly painful enough to him who has the misfortune to witness them. But they must be taken upon a large scale ; and the whole good and evil which they pro- duce diligently weighed and consi- dered. The question then will be, whether any thing can be more really humane, than to restrain a system which relaxes the sinews of industry, and places the dependence of laborious men upon any thing but themselves. We must not think only of the wretched sufferer who is removed, and, at the sight of his misfortunes, call out for fresh facilities to beg. We must re- member the industry, the vigour, and the care which the dread of removal has excited, and the number of persons who owe their happiness and their wealth to that salutary feeling. The very per- son who, in the decline of life, is re- moved from the spot where he has spent so great a part of his time, would perhaps have been a pauper half a century before, if he had been afflicted with the right of asking alms in the place where he lived. It has been objected that this plan of abolishing all settlements but those of birth, would send a man, the labour of whose youth had benefited some other parish, to pass the useless part of his life in a place for which he ex- isted only as a burthen. Supposing that this were the case, it would be quite sufficient to answer, that any given parish would probably send away as many useless old men as it received ; and after all, little inequalities must bo borne for the general good. But, in truth, it is rather ridiculous to talk of a parish not having benefited by the labour of the man who is returned upon their hands in his old age. If such parish resemble most of those in Eng- land, the absence of a man for thirty or forty years has been a great good instead of an evil ; they have had many more labourers than they could em- ploy ; and the very man whom they are complaining of supporting for his few last years, would, in all probabi- lity, have been a beggar forty years before, if he had remained among them ; or, by pushing him out of work, would have made some other man a beggar. Are the benefits derived from prosperous manufactures liihited to the parishes which contain them ? The industry of Halifax, Huddersfield, or Leeds is felt across the kingdom as far as the Eastern Sea. The prices of meat and corn at the markets of York and Malton are instantly affected by any increase of demand and rise of wages in the manufacturing districts to the west. They have benefited these distant places, and found labour for their superfluous hands by the prospe- rity of their manufactures. Where then would be the injustice, if the ma- nufacturers, in the time of stagnation and poverty, were returned to their birth settlements ? But as the law now stands, population tumours, of the most dangerous nature, may spring up in any parish : a manufacturer, con- cealing his intention, may settle there, take 200 or 300 apprentices, fail, and half ruin the parish which has been the scene of his operations. For these reasons, we strongly recommend to Mr. Bourne to narrow as much as pos- sible, in all his future bills, the means of acquiring settlements*, and to re- duce them ultimately to parentage, birth, and marriage convinced that, by so doing, he will, in furtherance of the great object of abolishing the Poor- Laws, be only limiting the right of beg- * This has been done. POOR LAWS. 298 ging, and preventing the resident and alms-man from being (as they now commonly are) one and the same per- son. But, before we dismiss this part of the subject, we must say a few words upon the methods by which settlements are n ow gained. In the settlement by hiring it is held, that a man has a claim upon the parish for support where he has laboured for a year ; and yet another, who has la- boured there for twenty years by short hirings, gains no settlement at all. When a man was not allowed to live where he was not settled, it was wise to lay hold of any plan for extending settlements. But the whole question is now completely changed ; and the only point which remains is, to find out what mode of conferring settle- ments produces the least possible mis- chief. We are convinced it is by throwing every possible difficulty in the way of acquiring them. If a settle- ment hereafter should not be obtained in that parish in which labourers have worked for many years, it will be be- cause it contributes materially to their happiness that they should not gain a settlement there; and this is a full answer to the apparent injustice. Then, upon what plea of common sense should a man gain a power of taxing a parish to keep him, because he has rented a tenement of ten pounds a year there ? or, because he has served the office of clerk, or sexton, or hog- ringer, or bought an estate of thirty pounds value? However good these various pleas might be for conferring cettlements, if it were desirable to in crease the facility of obtaining them they are totally inefficacious if it car be shown, that the means of gaining new settlements should be confined tc the limits of the strictest necessity. These observations (if they have th honour of attracting his attention) wil show Mr. Bourne our opinion of hi bill, for giving the privilege of settle ment only to a certain length of resi dence. In the first place, such a bi' would be the cause of endless vexatio to the poor, from the certainty of thei being turned out of their cottages, be fore they pushed their legal taproo nto the parish ; and, secondly, it would cipidly extend all the evils of the Poor- Laws, by identifying much more than :iey are at present identified, the esident and the settled man the very pposite of the policy which ought to >e pursued. Let us suppose, then, that we have got rid of all the means of gaining a ettlement.or right to become a beggar, xccpt by birth, parentage, and inar- iage ; for the wife, of course, must fall nto the settlement of the husband; and the children, till emancipated, must >e removed, if their parents are re- moved. This point gained, the task of regulating the law expenses of the Poor-Laws, would be nearly accom- )lished : for the most fertile causes of dispute would be removed. Every irst settlement is an inexhaustible source of litigation and expense to the miserable rustics. Upon the simple fact, for example, of a fanner hiring a Dloughman for a year, arise the follow- ing afflicting questions : Was it an ex- pressed contract ? Was it an -implied contract ? Was it an implied hiring of the ploughman, rebutted by circum- stances ? Was the ploughman's con- tract for a year's prospective service? Was it a customary hiring of the ploughman? Was it a retrospective hiring of the ploughman ? Was if. a conditional hiring ? Was it a general hiring ? Was it a special, or a special yearly hiring, or a special hiving with wages reserved weekly ? Did the farmer make it aspeciol conditional hiring with warning, or an exceptive hiring ? Was the service of the ploughman actual or constructive ? Was there any dispensa- tion expressed or implied? or was there a dissolution implied? by new agreement ? or mutual consent ? or by Justices ? or by any other of the ten thousand means which the ingenuity of lawyers has created ? Can any one be surprised, after this, to learn, that the amount of appeals for removals, in the four Quarter Sessions ending Mid- summer, 1817, wore/oM/- thousand seven hundred?* Can any man doubt that it is necessary to reduce the hydra to as few heads as possible ? or can any * Commons' Report, 1817. POOR-LAWS. 299 other objection be stated to such re- duction, than the number of attorneys and provincial counsel, whom it will bring into the poor-house ? Mr. Nicol says, that the greater number of modes of settlement do not increase litigation. He may just as well say, that the num- ber of the streets in the Seven Dials does not increase the difficulty of find- ing the way. The modes of settlement we have, are by far the simplest, and the evidence is assisted by registers. Under the head of Law Expenses, we are convinced a great deal may be done, by making some slight alteration in the law of removals. At present, removals are made without any warn- ing to the parties to whom the pauper is removed ; and the first intimation which the defendant parish receives of the projected increase of their popula- tion is, by the arrival of the father, mother, and eight or nine children at the overseer's door where they are tumbled out, with the Justice's order about their necks, and left as a spec- tacle to the assembled and indignant parishioners. No sooner have the poor wretches become a little familiarised to their new parish, than the order is ap- pealed against, and they are rccarted with the same precipitate indecency Quo fata trahunt, retrahuntque. No removal should ever take place without due notice to the parish to which the pauper is to.be removed, nor till the time in which it may be appealed against is past by. Notice to be ac- cording to the distance either by letter or personally ; and the decision should be made by the Justices at their petty sessions, with as much care and attention as if there were no appeal from their decision. An absurd notion prevails among Magistrates, that they need not take much trouble in the in- vestigation of removals, because their errors may be corrected by a superior court ; whereas it is an object of great importance, by a fair and diligent in- vestigation in the nearest and cheapest court, to convince the country people which party is right and which is wrong ; arid in this manner to prevent them from becoming the prey of Law Vermin. We are convinced that this subject of the removal of poor is well worthy a short and separate bill. Mr. Bourne thinks it would be very difficult to draw up such a bill. We are quite satisfied we could draw up one in ten minutes that would completely answer the end proposed, and cure the evil complained of. We proceed to a number of small details, which are well worth the atten- tion of the Legislature Overseers' accounts should be given in quarterly, and passed by the Justices, as they now are, annually. The office of Overseers should be triennial. The accounts which have nothing to do with the poor, such as the Constable's account, should be kept and passed separately from them ; and the vestry should have the power of ordering a certain portion of the superfluous poor upon the roads. But we beseech all specu- lators in Poor- Laws to remember, that the machinery they must work with is of a very coarse description. An overseer must always b'e a limited, un- educated person, but little interested in what he is about, and with much business of his own on his hands. The extensive interference of gentlemen with those matters is quite visionary and impossible. If gentlemen were tide-waiters, the Custom-house would be better served ; if gentlemen would be- come petty constables, the police would be improved ; if bridges were made of gold, instead of iron, they would not rust. But there are not enough of these articles for such purposes. A great part of the evils of the Poor- Laws has been occasioned by the large powers intrusted to individual Justices. Every body is full of humapity and goodnature when he can relieve mis- fortune by putting his hand in his neighbour's pocket. Who can bear to see a fellow-creature suffering pain and poverty, when he can order other fellow-creatures to relieve them ? Is it in human nature, that A should see B in tears and misery, and not order C to assist him ? Such a power must, of course, be liable to every degree of abuse ; and the sooner the power of ordering relief can be taken out of the hands of Magistrates, the sooner shall 300 POOR-LAWS. we begift to experience some mitigation of the evils of the Poor-Laws. The Special- Vestry Bill is good for this purpose, as far as it goes ; but it goes a very little way ; and we much doubt if it will operate as any sort of abridg- ment to the power of Magistrates in granting relief. A single Magistrate must not act under this bill, but in cases of special emergency. But every case of distress is a case of special emergency : and the double Magis- trates, holding their petty sessions at some little alehouse, and overwhelmed with all the monthly business of the hundred, cannot possibly give to the pleadings of the overseer and pauper half the attention they would be able to afford them at their own houses. The common people have been so much accustomed to resort to Magis- trates for relief, that it is certainly a delicate business to wean them from this bad habit; but it is essential to the great objects which the Poor- Com- mittee have in view, that the power of Magistrates of ordering relief should be gradually taken away. When this is once done, half the difficulties of the abolition are accomplished. We will suggest a few hints as to the means by which thi desirable end may be promoted. A poor man now comes to a Magis trate any day in the week, and any hour in any day, to complain of the Overseers, or of the select Committee Suppose he were to be made to wait a little, and to feel for a short time the bitterness of that poverty which, by idleness, extravagance, and hasty mar- riage, he has probably brought upon himself. To effect this object, we would prohibit all orders for relief, by Justices, between the 1st and 10th day of the month ; and leave the poor en- tirely in the hands of the Overseers, or of the Select Vestry, for that period Here is a beginning a gradual abo lition of one of the first features of th< Poor- Laws. And it is without risk o tumult ; for no one will run the risk o breaking the laws for an evil to whici he anticipates so speedy a termination This Decameron of overseers' despot ism, and paupers' suffering, is the verj thing wanted. It will teach the parishe o administer their own charity respon- ibly, and to depend upon their own udgment. . It will teach the poor the niseries of pauperism and dependence ; nd will be a warning to unmarried oung men not hastily and rashly to ^lace themselves, their wives and chil- ren, in the same miserable situation ; jid it will effect all these objects gradually, and without danger. It vould of course be the same thing on >rinciple, if relief were confined to three [ays between the 1st and the 10th of each month; three between the 10th tnd the 20th ; three between the 20th ind the end of the month ; or in any other manner that would gradually* crumble away the power, and check he gratuitous munificence, of Justices, give authority over their own affairs to the heads of the parish, and teach the joor, by little and little, that they must suffer if they are imprudent. It is un- derstood in all these observations, that ;he Overseers are bound to support their poor without any order of Justices ; and ;hat death arising from absolute want should expose those officers to very severe punishments, if it could be traced to their inhumanity and neglect. The time must come when we must do without this ; but we are not got so far yet and are at present only getting rid of Justices, not of Oversevrs. Mr. Davison seems to think that the plea of old age stands upon a different looting, with respect to the Poor-Laws, from all other pleas. But why should this plea be more favoured than that of sickness ? why more than losses in trade, incurred by no imprudence ? In reality, this plea is less entitled to in- dulgence. Every man knows he is exposed to the helplessness of age; but sickness and sudden ruin are very often escaped comparatively seldom happen. Why is a man exclusively to be protected against that evil which he must have foreseen longer than any other, and has had the longest time to guard against ? Mr. Davison's objec- tions to a limited expenditure are much * All gradation and caution have been banished since the Reform Bill rapid high pressure wisdom is the only agent in public affairs. POOK-LAWS. 301 more satisfactory. These we shall lay- before our readers ; and we recom- mend them to the attention, of the Committee. " I shall advert next to the plan of a limi- tation upon the amount of rates to be assessed in future. This limitation, as it is a pledge of some protection to the property now subjected to the maintenance of the poor against the indefinite encroachment which otherwise threatens it, is, in that light, certainly a benefit ; and supposing it were rigorously adhered to, the very know- ledge, among the parish expectants, that there was some limit to their range of expectation, some barrier which they could not pass, might incline them to turn their thoughts homeward again to the care of themselves. But it is an expedient, at the best, far from being satisfactory. In the first place, there is much reason to fear that such a limitation would not eventually be maintained, after the example of a simi- lar one having failed before, and consider- ing that the urgency of the applicants, as long as they retain the principle of depen- dence upon the parish unqualified in any one of its main articles, would probably overbear a mere barrier of figures in the parish account. Then there would be much real difficulty in the proceedings, to be governed by such a limiting rule. For the use of the limitation would be chiefly, or solely, in cases where there is some struggle between the ordinary supplies of the parish rates and the exigencies of the poor, or a kind of run and pressure upon the parish by a mass of indigence: and in circum- stances of this kind it would be hard to know how to distribute the supplies under a fair proportion to the applicants, known or expected; hard to know how much might be granted for the present, and how much should be kept in reserve for the remainder of the year's service. The real intricacy in such a distribution of account would show itself in disproportions and inequalities of allowance, impossible to be avoided; and the applicants would have one pretext more for discontent. "The limitation itself in many places would be only in words and figures. It would be set, I presume, by an average of certain preceding years. But the average taken upon the preceding years might be a sum exceeding in its real value the highest amount of the assessments of any of the averaged years, under the great change which has taken place in the value of money itself. A given rate, or assessment nominally the same, or lower, might in this way be a greater real money value than it was some time before. In many of the most distressed districts, where the paro- Mal rates have nearly equalled the rents, a nominal average would therefore be no effectual benefit ; and yet it is in those dis- tricts that the alleviation of the burthen is the most wanted. " It is manifest, also, that a peremptory restriction of the whole amount of money applicable to the parochial service, though abundantly justified in many districts by their particular condition being so im- poverished as to make the measure, for them, almost a measure of necessity, if . nothing can be substituted for it ; and where the same extreme necessity does not exist, still justified by the prudence of preventing in some way the interminable increase of the parochial burthens ; still, that such a restriction is an ill-adjusted measure in itself, and would hi many in- stances operate very inequitably. It would fall unfairly in some parishes, where the relative state of the poor and the parish might render an increase of the relief as just and reasonable as it is possible for any thing to be under the Poor-Laws at all. It would deny to many possible fair claim- ants the whole, or a part, of that degree of relief commonly granted elsewhere to persons in their condition, on this or that account of claim. Leaving the reason of the present demands wholly unimpeached, and unexplained ; directing no distinct warning or remonstrance to the parties in the line of their affairs, by putting a check to their expectations upon positive matters implicated in then- conduct ; which would be speaking to them in a definite sense, and a sense appli cable to all : this plan of limitation would nurture the whole mass of the claim in its origin, and deny the al- lowance of it to thousands, on account of reasons properly affecting a distant quarter, of which they know nothing. The want of a clear method, and of a good principle at the bottom of it, in this direct compulsory restriction, renders it, I think, wholly un- acceptable, unless it be the only possible plan that can be devised for accomplishing the same end. If a parish had to keep its account with a single dependant, the plan would be much more useful in that case. For the ascertained fact of the total amount of his expectations might set his mind at rest, and put him on a decided course of providing for himself. But, in the limita- tion proposed to be made, the ascertained fact is of a general amount only, not of each man's share in it. Consequently, each man has his indefinite expectations left to him, and every separate specific ground of expectation remaining as before." POOR-LAWS. 302 Mr. Davison talks of the propriety of refusing to find labour for able labourers after the lapse of ten years ; as if it was some ordinary bill he was proposing, unaccompanied by the slightest risk. It is very easy to make such laws, and to propose them ; but it would be of immense difficulty to carry them into execution. Done it must be, .every body knows that ; but the real merit will consist in discover- ing the gradual and gentle means by ' which the difficulties of getting parish labour may be increased, and the life of a parish pauper be rendered a life of salutary and deterring hardship. A law that rendered such request for labour perfectly lawful for ten years longer, and then suddenly abolished it, would merely bespeak a certain, gen- eral, and violent insurrection for the year 1830. The legislator, thank God, is in his nature a more cunning and gradual animal. Before we drop Mr. Davison, who writes like a very sensible man, we wish to say a few words about his style. If he would think less about it, he would write much better. It is always as plethoric and full-dressed as if he were writing a treatise de finibus bonorum et malorum. He is sometimes obscure; and is occasionally apt to dress up common-sized thoughts in big clothes, and to dwell a little too long in proving what every man of sense knows and admits. We hope we shall not offend Mr. Davison by these remarks ; and we have really no intention of doing so. His views upon the Poor-Laws are, generally speaking, very correct and philosophical ; he writes like a gentle- man, a scholar, and a man capable of eloquence ; and we hope he will be a bishop. If his mitred productions are as enlightened and liberal as this, we are sure he will confer as much honour on the Bench as he receives from it. There is a good deal, however, in Mr. Davison's book about the "virtuous marriages of the poor." To have really the charge of a family as a husband and a father, we are told, to have the privilege of laying out his life in their service, is the poor man's boast, "his home is the school of his sentiments," &c. &c. This is viewing human life through a Claude Lorraine glass, and decorating it with colours which do not belong to it. A ploughman marries a ploughwoman because she is plump ; generally uses her ill ; thinks his chil- dren an incumbrance ; very often flogs them ; and, for sentiment, has nothing more nearly approaching to it than the ideas of broiled bacon and mashed potatoes. This is the state of the lower orders of mankind deplorable, but true and yet rendered much worse by the Poor-Laws. The system of roundsmen is much complained of; as well as that by which the labour of paupers is paid, partly by the rate, partly by the master and a long string of Sussex Justices send up a petition on the subject. But the evil we are suffering under is an excess of population. There are ten men applying for work, when five only are wanted ; of course, such a redun- dance of labouring persons must depress the rate of their labour far beyond what is sufficient for the support of their families. And how is that deficiency to be made up but from the parish rates, unless it is meant suddenly and imme- diately to abolish the whole system of the Poor-Laws ? To state that the rate of labour is lower than a man can live by, is merely to state that we have had, and have Poor-Laws of which this practice is at length the inevitable con- sequence ; and nothing could be more absurd than to attempt to prevent, by Acts of Parliament, the natural depre- ciation of an article which exists in much greater abundance than it is wanted. Nor can any thing be more unjust than the complaint, that rounds- men are paid by their employers at an inferior rate, and that the difference is made up by the parish funds. A roundsman is commonly an inferior description of labourer who cannot get regularly hired ; becomes upon his parish for labour commonly at those seasons when there is the least to do ; he is not a servant of the farmer's choice, and probably does not suit him; he goes off to any other labour at a mo- ment's warning, when he finds it more profitable ; and the farmer is forced POOR-LAWS. 303 to keep nearly the same number of labourers as if there were no rounds- men at all. Is it just, then, that a labourer, combining every -species of imperfection, should receive the same wages as a chosen, regular, stationary person, who is always ready at hand, and whom the farmer has selected for his dexterity and character ? Those persons who do not, and can- not employ labourers, have no kind of right to complain of the third or fourth part of the wages being paid by the rates ; for if the farmers did not agree among themselves to take such occa- sional labourers, the whole of their support must be paid by the rates, instead of one-third. The order is, that the pauper shall be paid such a sum as will support himself and family ; and if this agreement to take rounds- men was not entered into by the farmers, they must be paid, by the rates, the whole of the amount of the order, for doing nothing. If a circulating la- bourer, therefore, with three children, to whom the Justices would order 12s. per week, receives 8s. from his em- ployer, and 4s. from the rates, the parish is not burthened by this system to the amount of 4s., but relieved to the amount of 8s. A parish manufacture, conducted by overseers, is infinitely more burthen some to the rates than any system of roundsmen. There are undoubtedly a few instances to the contrary. Zeal and talents will cure the original defects of any system ; but to suppose that average men can do what extraordinary men have done, is the cause of many silly projects and extravagant blunders. Mr. Owen may give his whole heart and soul to the improvement of one of his parochial parallelograms ; but who is to succeed to Mr. Owen's enthusiasm ? Before we have quite done with the subject of roundsmen, we cannot help noticing a strange assertion of Mr. Nicol/that the low rate of wages paid by the master is an injustice to the pauper that he is cheated, forsooth, out of 8s. or 10s. per week by this arrangement. Nothing, however, can possibly be more absurd than such an allegation. The whole country is open to him. Can he gain more any where else ? If not, this is the market price of his labour ; and what right has he to complain ? or how can he say he is defrauded ? A com- bination among farmers to lower the price of labour would be impossible, if labour did not exist in much greater quantities than was wanted. All such things, whether labour, or worsted stockings, or broad cloth, are, of course, always regulated by the proportion be- tween the supply and demand. Mr. Nicol cites an instance of a parish in Suffolk, where the labourer receives sixpence from the farmers, and the rest is made up by the rates; and for this he reprobates the conduct of the far- mers. But why are they not to take labour as cheap as they can get it? Why are they not to avail themselves of the market price of this, as of any other commodity ? The rates are a separate consideration : let them supply what is wanting; but the farmer is right to get his iron, his wood, and his labour, as cheap as he can. It would, we admit, come nearly to the same thing, if 100/. were paid in wages rather than 25l. in wages, and 75l. by rate ; but then, if the farmers were to agree to give wages above the market price, and sufficient for the support of the labourers without any rate, such an agreement could never be adhered to. The base and the crafty would make their labourers take less, and fling heavier rates upon those who adhered to the contract ; whereas the agree- ment, founded upon giving as little as can be given, is pretty sure of being adhered to; and he who breaks it, lessens the rate to his neighbour, and does not increase it. The problem to be solved is this : If you have ten or twenty labourers who say they can get no work, and you cannot dispute this, and the Poor-Laws remain, what better scheme can be devised, than that the farmers of the parish should employ them in their turns ? and what more absurd than to suppose that farmers so employing them should give one far- thing more than the market price for their labour ? It is contended, that the statute of Elizabeth, rightly interpreted, only 304 compels the overseer to assist the sick and old, and not to find labour for strong and healthy men. This is true enough ; and it would have been emi- IRELAND. mportance. Mr. Gamble's Travels in 'reland are of a very ordinary descrip- ion low scenes and low humour uakin up the principal part of the nently useful to have attended to it a century past : but to find employment for all who apply, is now, by long use, become a practical part of the Poor- Laws, and will require the same care and dexterity for its abolition as any other part of that pernicious system. It would not be altogether prudent suddenly to tell a million of stout men, with spades and hoes in their hands, that the 43rd of Elizabeth had been miscontrued, and that no more employ- ment would be found for them. It re quires twenty or thirty years to state such truths to such numbers. We think, then, that the diminution of the claims of settlement, and of the authority of Justices, coupled with the other subordinate improvements we have stated, will be the best steps for beginning the abolition of the Poor- Laws. When these have been taken, the description of persons entitled to relief may be narrowed by degrees. But let no man hope to get rid of these laws, even in the gentlest and wisest method, without a great deal of misery, and some risk of tumult. If Mr. Bourne thinks only of avoiding risk, he will do nothing. Some risk must be incurred but the secret is gradation ; and the true reason for abolishing these laws is not that they make the rich poor, but that they make the poor poorer." IRELAND. (E. REVIEW, 1820.) 1. WJiitelaw's History of the City of Dub lin. 4to. Cadell and Davies. 2. Observations on the State of Ireland principally directed to its Agriculture and Rural Population; in a series o Letters written on a Tour through tha Country. In 2 vols. By J. C. Curwen Esq. M.P, London. 1818. 3. Gamble's Views of Society in Ireland. THESE are all the late publication that treat of Irish interests in genera and none of them are of first-rat * The boldness of modern legislation ha thrown all my caution into the backgroum * narrative. There are readers, how- ever, whom it will amuse ; and the reading market becomes more and more extensive, and embraces a greater variety of persons every day. Mr. Whitelaw's History of Dublin is a book of great accuracy and research, highly creditable to the industry, good sense, and benevolence of its author. Of the Travels of Mr. Christian Curwen, we lardly know what to say. He is bold and honest in his politics a great nemy to abuses vapid in his levity and pleasantry, and infinitely too much inclined to declaim upon commonplace topics of morality and benevolence. But, with these drawbacks, the book is not ill written ; and may be advanta- ^eously read by those who are desi- rous of information upon the present state of Ireland. So great, and so long has been the misgovernment of that country, that we verily believe the empire would be much stronger, if every thing was open sea between England and the Atlantic, and if skates and codfish swam over the fair land of Ulster. Such jobbing, such profligacy so much direct ty- ranny and oppression such an abuse of God's gifts such a profanation of God's name for the purposes of bigotry and party spirit, cannot be exceeded in the history of civilised Europe, and will long remain a monument of in- famy and shame to England. But it will be more useful to suppress the in- dignation which the very name of Ire- land inspires, and to consider impar- tially those causes which have marred this fair portion of the creation, and kept it wild and savage in the midst of improving Europe. The great misfortune of Ireland is, that the mass of the people have been given up for a century to a handful of Protestants, by whom they have been treated as Helots, and subjected to every species of persecution and dis- "Was it wise to encounter such a risk ? Is the danger over ? Can the vital parts of the Bill be maintained? IRELAND. 30; grace. The sufferings of the Catholics have been so loudly chanted in the very streets, that it is almost needless to remind our readers that, during the reigns of George I. and George II. the Iri^h Roman Catholics were disabled from holding any civil or military office, from voting at elections, from admis- sion into corporations, from practising law or physic. A younger brother, by turning Protestant, might deprive his elder brother of his birth-right : by the same process, he might force his father, under the name of a liberal provision, to yield up to him a part of his landed property ; and, if an eldest son, he might, in the same way, reduce his father's fee-simple to a life estate. A Papist was disabled from purchasing freehold lands and even from holding long leases and any person might take his Catholic neighbour's house by paying 5/. for it. If the child of a Ca- tholic father turned Protestant, he was taken away from his father tfnd put into the hands of a Protestant relation. No Papist could purchase a freehold, or lease for more than thirty years or inherit from an intestate Protestant nor from an intestate Catholic nor dwell in Limerick or Gal way nor hold an advowson, nor buy an annuity for life. 50l. was given for discovering a popish Archbishop 30/. for a popish Clergyman and 10s. for a School- master. No one was allowed to be trustee for Catholics ; no Catholic was allowed to take more than two appren- tices; no Papist to be solicitor, sheriff, or to serve on Grand Juries. Horses of Papists might be seized for the militia; for which militia Papists were to pay double, and to find Protestant sub- stitutes. Papists were prohibited from being present at vestries, or from being high or petty constables ; and, when resident in towns, they were compelled to find Protestant watchmen. Bar- risters and solicitors, marrying Ca- tholics, were exposed to the penalties of Catholics. Persons plundered by privateers during a war with any Popish prince, were reimbursed by a levy on the Catholic inhabitants where they lived. All popish priests cele- VOL. L brating marriages contrary to 12 Geo. I. cap. 3., were to be hanyed ! The greater part of these incapacities are removed, though many of a very serious and oppressive nature still re- main. But the grand misfortune is, that the spirit which these oppressive Laws engendered remains. The Pro- testant still looks upon the Catholic as a degraded being. The Catholic does not yet consider himself upon an equality with his former tyrant and taskmaster. That religious hatred which required all the prohibiting vi- gilance of the law for its restraint, has' found in the law its strongest support ; and the spirit which the law first exas- perated and embittered, continues to act long after the original stimulus is withdrawn. The law which prevented Catholics from serving on Grand Juries is repealed; but Catholics are not called upon Grand Juries in the proportion in which they are entitled, by their rank and fortune. The Duke of Bad- ford did all he could to give them the benefit of those laws which are already passed in their favour. But power is seldom entrusted in this country to one of the Duke of Bedford's liberality; and everything has fallen back in the hands of his successors into the ancient division of the privileged and degraded castes. We do not mean to cast any reflection upon the present Secretary for Ireland, whom we believe to be upon this subject a very liberal poli- tician, and on all subjects an honour- able and excellent man. The Govern- ment under which he serves allows him to indulge in a little harmless liberality; but it is perfectly understood that no- thing is intended to be done for the Catholics ; that no loaves and fishes will be lost by indulgence in Protestant insolence and tyranny ; and, therefore, among the generality of Irish Pro- testants, insolence, tyranny, and exclu- sion continue to operate. However eligible the Catholic may be, he is not elected ; whatever barriers may be thrown down, he does not advance a step. He was first kept out by law ; he is now kept out by opinion and habit. They have been so long in IRELAND. 306 chains, that nobody believes they are capable of using their hands and feet. It is not however the only or the worst misfortune of the Catholics, that the relaxations of the law are hitherto of little benefit to them ; the law is not vet sufficiently relaxed. A Catholic, as every body knows, cannot be made sheriff; cannot be in Parliament ; can- not be a director of the Irish Bank ; cannot fill the great departments of the law, the army, and the navy ; is cut off from all the high objects of human ambition, and treated as a marked and degraded person. The common admission now is, that the Catholics are to the Protestants in Ireland as about 4 to 1 of which Protestants, not more than one half be- long to the Church of Ireland. This, then, is one of the most striking features in the state of Ireland : that the great mass of the population is completely subjugated and overawed by a handful of comparatively recent settlers, in whom all the power and patronage of the country is vested, who have been reluctantly compelled to desist fron still greater abuses of authority, and who look with trembling apprehension to the increasing liberality of the Par liament and the country towards thesi unfortunate persons whom they havi always looked upon as their propert; and their prey. Whatever evils may result from thes proportions between the oppressor am the oppressed to whatever dangers ! country so situated may be considere< to be exposed these evils and danger are rapidly increasing in Ireland. Th proportion of Catholics to Protestant is infinitely greater now than it wa thirty years ago, and is becoming mor and more favourable to the former By a return made to the Irish House o Lords in 1732, the proportion of Ca tholics to Protestants was not 2 to 1 It is now (as we have already observed 4 to 1 ; and the causes which have thu altered the proportions in favour of th Catholics are sufficiently obvious to an one acquainted with the state of Ire land. The Roman Catholic priest re sides; his income entirely depends upo the number of his flock ; aiid he mu: xert himself, or he starves. There is omc chance of success, therefore, in is efforts to convert ; but the Protestant lergyman, if he were equally eager, as little or no probability of persuading o much larger a proportion of the po- ulation to come over to his church, "he Catholic clergyman belongs to a eligion that has always been more de- irous of gaining proselytes than the 'rotestant church ; and he is animated }y a sense of injury and a desire of evenge. Another reason for the dis- jroportionate increase of Catholics is, hat the Catholics will marry upon means which the Protestant considers as insufficient for marriage. A few potatoes and a shed of turf, are all that uther has left for the Rgmanist ; and when the latter gets these, he instantly >egins upon the great Irish manufacture of children. But a Protestant belongs to the sect that eats the fine flour, and eaves the bran to others; he must have comforts, and he does not marry till be- ets them. He would be ashamed, if were seen living as a Catholic lives. This is the principal reason why the Protestants who remain attached to their church do not increase so fast as the Catholics. But in common minds, daily scenes, the example of the ma- jority, the power of imitation, decide their habits, religious as well as civil. A Protestant labourer who works among Catholics, soon learns to think and act and talk as they do he is not proof against the eternal panegyric which he hears of Father O'Leary. His Protestantism is rubbed away; and he goes at last, after some little resist- ance, to the chapel, where he sees every body else going. These eight Catholics not only hate the ninth man, the Protestant of the Establishment, for the unjust privileges he enjoys not only remember that the lands of their father were given to his father but they find themselves forced to pay for the support of his religion. In the wretched state of poverty in which the lower orders of Irish are plunged, it is not without considerable effort that they can pay the few shillings necessary for the sup- port of their Catholic priest : and when IRELAND. 307 this is effected, a tenth of the potatoes in the garden are to be set out for the support of a persuasion, the introduc- tion of which into Ireland they consider as the great cause of their political in- feriority, and all their manifold wretch- edness. In England, a labourer can procure constant employment or he can, at the worst, obtain relief from his parish. Whether tithe operates as a tax upon him, is known only to the poli- tical economists : if he does pay it, he does not know that he pays it; and the burthen of supporting the Clergy is at least kept out of his view. But, in Ireland, the only method in which a poor man lives, is by taking a small portion of land, in which he can grow potatoes : seven or eight months out of twelve, in many parts of Ireland, there is no constant employment of the poor : and the potato farm is all that shelters them from absolute famine. If the Pope were to come in person, and seize upon every tenth potato, the poor peasant would scarcely endure it. With what patience, then, can he see it tossed into the cart of the heretic Rector, who has a church without a congregation, and a revenue without duties ? We do not say whether these things are right or wrong whether they want a remedy at all or what remedy they want ; but we paint them in those colours in which they appear to the eye of poverty and ignorance, withoutsaying whether those colours are false or true. Nor is the case at all comparable to that of Dissenters paying tithe in Eng- land ; which case is precisely the re- verse of what happens in Ireland, for it is the contribution of a very small minority to the religion of a very large majority ; and the numbers on either side make all the difference in the ar- gument. To exasperate the poor Ca- tholic still more, the rich graziers of the parish or the squire in his parish pay no tithe at all for their grass land. Agistment tithe is abolished in Ireland ; and the burthen of supporting two Churches seems to devolve upon the poorer Catholics, struggling with plough and spade in small scraps of dearly-rented land. Tithes seem to be collected in a more harsh manner than they are collected in England. The minute subdivisions of land in Ireland the little connection which the Pro- testant clergyman commonly has with the Catholic population of his parish, have made the introduction of tithe proctors very general sometimes as the agent of the clergyman sometimes as the lessee or middleman between the clergyman and the cultivator of the land ; but, in either case, practised, dexterous estimators of tithe. The English clergymen, in general, are far from exacting the whole of what is due to them, but sacrifice a little to the love of popularity or to the dread of odium. A system of tithe-proctors established all over England (as it is in Ireland), would produce general disgust and alienation from the Established Church. During the administration of Lord Ha- lifax," says Mr. Hardy, in quoting the opinion of Lord Charlemont upon tithes paid by Catholics," Ireland was dangerously disturbed in its southern and northern regions. In the south principally, in the counties of Kilkenny, Limerick, Cork, and Tipperary, the White Boys now made their first appearance ; those White Boys, who have ever since occasionally disturbed the public tranquillity without any rational method having been as yet pursued to era- dicate this disgraceful eviL When we con- sider, that the very same district has been for the long space of seven and twenty years liable to frequent returns of the same dis- orderinto which it has continually relapsed, in spite of all the violent remedies from time to time administered by our political quacks, we cannot doubt but that some real, peculiar, and topical cause must exist ; and yet neither the removal, nor even the investigation of this cause, has ever once been seriously attempted. Laws of the most sanguinary and unconstitutional na- ture have been enacted ; the country has been disgraced, and exasperated by fre- quent and bloody executions; and the gibbet, that perpetual resource of weak and cruel legislators, has groaned under the multitude of starving criminals; yet while the cause is suffered to exist, the effects will ever follow. The amputation of limbs will never eradicate a prurient frvmorjr, which must be sought in its source, and their remedied." " I wish," continues Mr. Wakefield, " for the sake of humanity, and for the honour of the Irish character, that the gentlemen X 2 308 of that country would take this matter into their serious consideration. Let them only for a moment place themselves in the situ- ation of the half-famished cotter, sur- rounded by a wretched family, clamorous for food ; and judge what his feelings must be, when he sees the tenth part of the produce of his potato garden exposed at harvest time to public cant ; or, if he have given a promissory note for the payment of a cert, in sum of money, to compensate for such tithe when it becomes due, to hear the heart-rending cries of his offspring clinging round him, and lamenting for the milk of which they are deprived, by the cows being driven to the pound, to be sold to discharge the debt. Such accounts are not the creationsof fancy ; the facts do exist, and are but too common in Ireland. Were one of them transferred to canvass by the hand of genius, and exhibited to English hu- manity, that heart must be callous indeed that could refuse its sympathy. I have seen the cow, the favourite cow, driven away, accompanied by the sighs, the tears, and the imprecations of a whole family, who were paddling after, through wet and dirt, to take their last affectionate farewel of this their only friend and benefactor, at the pound gate. I have heard with emo- tions which I can scarcely describe, deep curses repeated from village to village as the cavalcade proceeded. I have witnessed the group pass the domain walls of the opulent grazier, whose numerous herds were cropping the most luxuriant pastures while he was secure from any demand for the tithe of their food, looking on with the most unfeeling indifference." Wakefield p. 486. In Munster, where tithe of potatoe is exacted, risings against the system have constantly occurred during th last forty years. In Ulster, where n such tithe is required, these insurrec tions arc unknown. The double church which Ireland supports, and that pain ful visible contribution towards it which the poor Irishman is compelled to mak from his miserable pittance, is one grea cause of those never-ending insurrec tions, burnings, murders, and robberies which have laid waste that ill-fatc( country for so many years. The un fortunate consequence of the civil dis abilities, and the church payment under which the Catholics labour, is rooted antipathy to this country. The hate the English Government from his toncal recollection, actual suffering IRELAND. nd disappointed hope ; and till they re better treated, they will continue o hate it. At this moment, in a period f the most profound peace, there are \venty-five thousand of the best disci- plined and best appointed troops in the vorld in Ireland, with bayonets fixed, iresented arms, and in the attitude of present war : nor is there a man too much nor would Ireland be tenable without hem. When it was necessary last year or thought necessary) to put down the children of Keform, we were forced to make a new levy of troops in this country not a man could be spared from Ire- and. The moment they had embarked, Peep-of-day Boys, Heart-of-Oak Boys, Twelve-o'clock Boys, Heart-of-Flint Boys, and all the bloody boyhood of the Bog of Allen, would have proceeded to the ancient work of riot, rapine, and disaffection. Ireland, in short, till her wrongs are redressed, and a more li- beral policy is adopted towards her, will always be a cause of anxiety and suspicion to this country ; and, in some moment of our weakness and depres- sion, will forcibly extort what she would now receive with gratitude and exultation. Ireland is situated close to another island of greater size, speaking the same language, very superior in civili- sation, and the seat of government. The consequence of this is the emigra- tion of the richest and most powerful part of the community a vast drain of wealth and the absence of all that wholesome influence which the repre- sentatives of ancient families residing upon their estates, produce upon their tenantry and dependants. Can any man imagine that the scenes which have been acted in Ireland within these last twenty years, would have taken place, if such vast proprietors as the Duke of Devonshire, the Marquis of Hertford, the Marquis of Lansdown, Earl Fitzwilliam, and many other men of equal wealth, had been in the con- stant habit of residing upon their Irish, as they are upon their English, estates? Is it of no consequence to the order, and the civilisation of a large district, whether the great mansion is inhabited by an insignificant, perhaps a mis- IRELAND. 309 chievous, attorney, in the shape of agent, or whether the first and greatest men of the United Kingdoms, after the business of Parliament is over, corne with their friends and families, to ex- ercise hospitality, to spend large re- venues, to diffuse information, and to improve manners ? This evil is a very serious one to Ireland ; and, as far as we see, incurable. For if the present large estates were, by the dilapidation of families, to be broken to pieces and sold, others equally great would, in the free circulation of property, speedily accumulate ; and the moment any pos- sessor arrived at a certain pitch of fortune, he would probably choose to reside in the better country, near the Parliament, or the Court. This absence of great proprietors in Ireland necessarily brings with it, or if not necessarily, Has actually brought with it, the employment of middlemen, which forms one other standing and regular Irish grievance. We are well aware of all that can be said in defence of middlemen ; that they stand between the little farmer and the great pro- prietor, as the shopkeeper does between the manufacturer and consumer ; and, in fact, by their intervention, save time, and therefore expense. This may be true enough in the abstract ; but the particular nature of land must be attended to. The object of the man who makes cloth is to sell his cloth at the present market, for as high a price as he can obtain. If that price is too high, it soon falls ; but no injury is done to his machinery by the superior price he has enjoyed for a season he is just as able to produce cloth with it, as if the profits he enjoyed had always been equally moderate; he has no fear, therefore, of the middleman, or of any species of moral machinery which may help to obtain for him the greatest present prices. The same would be the feeling of any one who let out a steam-engine, or any other machine, for the purposes of manufacture j he would naturally take the highest price he could get ; for he might either let his machine for a price proportionate to the work it did, or the repairs, esti- mable with the greatest precision, might be thrown upon the tenant ; in short, he could hardly ask any rent too high for his machine which a responsible person would give; dilapidation would be so visible, and so calculable in such instances, that any secondary lease, or subletting, would be rather an increase of security than a source of alarm. Any evil from such a practice would be improbable, measurable, and reme- diable. In land, on the contrary, the object is not to get the highest prices absolutely, but to get the highest prices which will not injure the machine. One tenant may offer and pay double the rent of another, and in a few years leave the land in a state which will effectually bar all future ofkrs of ten- ancy. It is of no use to fill a lease full of clauses and covenants ; a tenant who pays more than he ought tc pay, or who pays even to the last farthing which he ought to pay, will rob the land, and injure the machine, in spite of all the attorneys in England. He will rob it even if he mean to remain upon it driven on .by present distress, and anxious to put off the day of defal- cation and arrear. The damage is often difficult of detection not easily cal- culated, not easily to be proved ; such for which juries (themselves perhaps farmers) will not willingly give suffi- cient compensation. And if this be true in England, it is much more strik- ingly true in Ireland, where it is ex- tremely difficult to obtain verdicts for breaches of covenant in leases. The only method then of guarding the machine from real injury is, by giving to the actual occupier such ad- vantage in his contract, that he is un- willing to give it up that he has a real interest in retaining it, and is not driven by the distresses of the present moment to destroy the future produc- tiveness of the soil. Any rent which the landlord accepts more than this, or any system by which more rent than this is obtained, is to borrow money upon the most usurious and profligate interest to increase the revenue of the present day by the absolute ruin of the property. Such is the effect produced by a middleman : he gives high prices that he may obtain higher from the X 3 310 IRELAND. occupier; more.is paid by the ^ occupier than is consistent Wlth thc "^tthey would burn a new church, if safety and preservation of the machine ; the M one were not given for a m ass-house. the land is run out, and, in the end, Ut last they proceeded to regulate the price that maximum of rent we have described of i ands ; to raise the price of labour ; and is not obtained : and not only is the to oppose the collection of the hearth property injured by such a system, but money, and other taxes. Bodies of 5000 of quences ensue from it manufacture m Ireland; the price of labour is low, the demand tor labour irregular. If a poor man be driven, by distress of rent, from his potato earden, he has ncr other resource all is lost: he will do the impossible (as ^^ offergd fhe gmallest * udeness or offence ; O n the contrary, they had allowed persons charged with crimes to be taken from amongst them by the magistrate alone, unaided by any force. " The Attorney-General said he was well acquainted with the province of M any bond, and promise an middleman has no character to J se ; and he knew, when he took up the occupation, that it was one with which pity had nothing to do. On he drives; and backward the poor peasant recedes, and then he recoils and ^murders his oppressor, and is a White Boy or a Might Boy : the soldier shoots him, and the judge hangs him. In the debate which took place in the Irish House of Commons, upon the bill for preventing tumultuous risings and assemblies, on the 31st of January, 1 787 the Attorney-General submitted lhe followins of tha t province. The unhappy tenan- t were grou nd to powder by relentless an( ji or( j s . that, far from being able to give the clergy their just dues, they had not f 00 d or raiment for themselves the land- lord grasped the whole: ; and ^sorry was b of t eir tithes> not in order to alle- viate the dis t res ses of the tenantry, but that tbey m ; g ht add the clersry's share to the cruel rackrents they already paid. The p0 or people of Munster lived in a more abject state of poverty than human nature couldbe supposed equal to .bear. - tan's Speeches, Vol. I. p. 292.) We are not, of course, in such a dis- strongest legal restriction, as to the "The commencement," said he, "was in p r j ce he was to exact from the under- one or two parishes in the county of Kerry ; tenants an( j then he would be no more and they proceeded thus. The people as- idous to t h e estate than a steward. sembled in a Catholic chapel, and there F d mi(rht be rotected in ex- -a . then proceeded to the next parishes, on middleman ; and then, of course it the following Sunday, and there swore the would be the same thing under ano people in the same manner; with this ad- nam e. The practice to which we ob- dition, that they (the people last sworn) j ect j S) t h e too common method in should on the ensuing Sunday proceed to Ire i an( j o f extorting the last farthing the province of Munster. The first object was,ihereformation of tithes. They swore not to give more than a certain price per acre ; not to assist, or allow them to be as- sisted, in drawing the tithe, and to permit MO proctor. They next took upon them to pre- , man. It is not only that it rumstni i an( j . ft ruins the people also. They are ma( j e so poor brought so near he fr roun d that they can sink no fe_ and burs{ . Qut - ftt lagt into all ads of desperation and revenge foe IRELAND. 311 which Ireland is so notorious. Men who have money in their pockets, and find that they are improving in their circumstances, don't do these things. Opulence, or the hope of opulence or comfort, is the parent of decency, order, and submission to the laws. A landlord in Ireland understands the luxury of carriages and horses ; but has no relish for the greater luxury of surrounding himself with a moral and grateful te- nantry. The absent proprietor looks only to revenue, and cares nothing for the disorder and degradation of a country which he never means to visit There are very honourable exceptions to this charge : but there are too many living instances that it is just. The rapacity of the Irish landlord induces him to allow of the extreme division of his lands. When the daughter marries, a little portion of the little farm is broken off another corner for Patrick, and another for Dermot till the land is broken into sections, upon one of which an English cow could not stand. Twenty mansions of misery are thus reared instead of one. A louder cry of oppression is lifted up to Heaven ; and fresh enemies to the English name and power are multiplied on the earth. The Irish gentlemen, too, extremely desirous of political influence, multiply freeholds, and split votes ; and this propensity tends of course to increase the miserable redundance of living beings, under which Ireland is groan- ing. Among the manifold wretched- ness to which the poor Irish tenant is liable, we must not pass over the practice of driving for rent. A lets land to B, who lets it to C, who lets it again to D. I) pays C his rent, and C pays B. But if B fails to pay A, the cattle of B, C, D are all driven to the pound, and, after the interval of a few days, sold by auction. A general driving of this kind very frequently leads to a bloody insurrection. It may be ranked among the classical griev- ances of Ireland. Potatoes enter for a great deal into the present condition of Ireland. They are much cheaper than wheat ; and it is so easy to rear a family upon them, that there is no check to population from the difficulty of procuring food. The population therefore goes on with a rapidity approaching almost to that of new countries, and in a much greater ratio than the improving agriculture and manufactures of the country can find employment for it. All degrees of all nations begin with living in pig- styes. The king or the priest first gets out of them ; then the noble, then the pauper, in proportion as each class be- comes more and more opulent. Better tastes arise from better circumstances; and the luxury of one period is the wretchedness and poverty of another. English peasants, in the time of Henry the Seventh, were lodged as badly as Irish peasants now are; but the popu- lation was limited by the difficulty of procuring a corn subsistence. The improvements of this kingdom were more rapid ; the price of labour rose ; and, with it, the luxury and comfort of the peasant, who is now decently lodged and clothed, and would think himself in the last stage of wretchedness, if he had nothing but an iron pot in a turf house, and plenty of potatoes in it. The use of the potatoe was introduced into Ireland when the wretched ac- commodation of her own peasantry bore some proportion to the state of those accommodations all over Europe. But they have increased their population so fast, and, in conjunction with the op- pressive government of Ireland retard- ing improvement, have kept the price of labour so low, that the Irish poor have never been able to emerge from their mud cabins, or to acquire any taste for cleanliness and decency of appearance. Mr. Curwen has the fol- lowing description of Irish cottages : " These mansions of miserable existence, for so they may truly be described, con- formably to our general estimation of those indispensable comforts requisite to consti- tute the happiness of rational beings, are most commonly composed of two rooms on the groundfloor,amostappropriateterm,for theyare literally on the earth; the surfaceof which is not unfrequently reduced a foot or more, to save the expense of so much outward walling. The one is a refectory, the other the dormitory. The furniture of the former, if the owner ranks in the upper part of the scale of scantiness, will consist x 4 S12 IRELAND. of a kitchen dresser, well provided and highly decorated with crockery not less apparently the pride of the husband, than the impression of a set melancholy, tinc- tured with an appearance of ill health. The hovel which did not exceed twelve or liliv me urine ui me iiuo.ju.ii.*, * , , . , ,,, the result of female vanity in the wife: fifteen feet in length, and ten in breadth, which, with a table, a chest, a few stools, and an iron pot, complete the catalogue of conveniences generally found, as belonging to the cabin; while a spinning-wheel, fur- nished by the Linen Board, and a loom, ornament vacant spaces that otherwise would remain unfurnished. In fitting up the latter, which cannot, on any occasion, or by any display, add a feather to the weight or importance expected to be ex- cited by the appearance of the former, the inventory is limited to one, and sometimes two, beds, serving for the repose of the whole family ! However downy these may be to limbs impatient for rest, their cover- ings appeared to be very slight ; and the whole of the apartment created reflections of a very painful nature. Under such pri- vations, with a wet mud floor, and a roof in tatters, how idle the search for com forts ! " (Curwen, Vol. I. p. 112, 113.) To this extract we shall add one more on the same subject. " The gigantic figure, bare-headed before me, had a beard that would not have dis- graced an ancient Israelite he was with- out shoes or stockings and almost a sans- culottewith a coat, or rather a jacket, that appeared as if the first blast of wind would tear it to tatters. Though his garb was thus tattered, he had a manly com- manding countenance. I asked permission to see the inside of his cabin, to which I received his most courteous assent. On stooping to enter at the door I was stopped, and found that permission from another was necessary before I could be admitted A pig, which was fastened to a stake driver into the floor, with length of rope suffi cieni to permit him the enjoyment of sun anc air, demanded some courtesy, which I showed him, and was suffered to enter The wife was engaged in boiling thread and by her side, near the fire, a lovely infant was sleeping, without any covering, on a bare board. Whether the fire gave addi tional glow to the countenance of the babe or that Nature impressed on its uncon scious cheek a blush that the lot of man should be exposed to such privations, I wil not decide ; but if the cause be referable t the latter, it was in perfect unison with mj own feelings. Two or three other childrer crowded round the mother : on their rosj countenances health seemed established ii spite of filth andraggedgarments. Thedres of the poor woman was barely sufflcien to satisfy decency. Her countenance bor as half obscured by smoke, chimney or 'indow I saw none: the door served the arious purposes of an inlet to light, and tie outlet to smoke. The furniture con- sted of two stools, an iron pot, and a spin- ing wheel while asack stuffed withstraw, nd a single blanket laid on planks, served as a bed for the repose of the whole family. "Veed I attempt to describe my sensations? ''he statement alone cannot fail of con- eying, to a mind like yours, an adequate dea of them I could not long remain a witness to this acm6 of human misery. is I left the deplorable habitation, the mistress followed me, to repeat her thanks or the trifle I had bestowed.. This gave me an opportunity of observing her per- on more particularly. She was a tall igure, her countenance composed of in- eresting features, and with every appear- mce of having once been handsome. " Unwilling to quit the village without first satisfying myself whether what I had seen was a solitary instance, or a sample of ts general state or whether the extremity of poverty I had just beheld had arisen from peculiar improvidence and want of man- igementin one wretched family, I went nto an adjoining habitation, where I found a poor old women of eighty, whose miserable existence was painfully continued by the maintenance of her grand-daughter. Their condition, if possible, was more deplor- able." (Curwen, Vol. I. pp. 181183.) This wretchedness, of which all strangers who visit Ireland are so sen- sible, proceeds certainly, in great mea- sure, from their accidental use of a food so cheap, that it encourages population to an extraordinary degree, lowers the price of labour, and leaves the multitudes which it calls into exist- ence almost destitute of everything but food. Many more live, in conse- quence of the introduction of potatoes; but all live in greater wretchedness. In the progress of 'population, the potato must of course become at last as diffi- cult to he procured as any other food; and then let the political economist calculate what the immensity and wretchedness of a people must be, where the further progress of popula- tion is checked hy the difficulty of procuring potatoes. The consequence of the long mis- IRELAND. 313 management and oppression of Ireland, and of the singular circumstances in which it is placed, is, that it is a semi- barbarous country; more shame to those who have thus ill-treated a fine country, and a fine people; but it is part of the present case of Ireland. The barbarism of Ireland is evinced by the frequency and ferocity of duels, the hereditary clannish feuds of the common people, and the fights to which they give birth, the atrocious cruel- ties practised in the insurrections of the common people, and their prone- ness to insurrection. The lower Irish live in a state of greater wretchedness than any other people in Europe, in- habiting so fine a soil and climate. It is difficult, often impossible, to execute the processes of law. In cases where gentlemen are concerned, it is often not even attempted. The conduct of under-sheriffs is often very corrupt.* We are afraid the magistracy of Ireland is very inferior to that of this country; the spirit of jobbing and bribery is very widely diffused, and upon occasions when the utmost purity prevails in the sister kingdom. Military force is ne- cessary all over the country, and often for the most common and just opera- tions of Government. The behaviour of the higher to the lower orders is much less gentle and decent than in England. Blows from superiors to inferiors are more frequent, and the punishment for such aggression more doubtful. The word gentleman seems, in Ireland, to put an end to most pro- cesses of law. Arrest a gentleman ! ! ! ! take out a warrant against a gentle- man are modes of operation not very common in the administration of Irish justice. If a man strike the meanest peasant in England, he is either knocked down in his turn, or immediately taken before a magistrate. It is impossible to live in Ireland, without perceiving the various points in which it is in- ferior in civilisation. Want of unity in feeling and interest among the people, irritability, violence, and re- venge, want of comfort and cleanli- ness in the lower orders, habitual * The difficulty often is to catch the heriff. disobedience to the law, want of con- fidence in magistrates, corruption, venality, the perpetual necessity of recurring to military force, all carry back the observer to that remote and early condition of mankind, which an Englishman can learn only in the pages of the antiquary or the historian. We do not draw this picture for cen- sure, but for truth. We admire the Irish, feel the most sincere pity for the state of Ireland, and think the conduct of the English to that country to have been a system of atrocious cruelty and contemptible meanness. With such a climate, such a soil, and such a people, the inferiority of Ireland to the rest of Europe is directly charge- able to the long wickedness of the English Government. A direct consequence of the present uncivilised state of Ireland is, that very little English capital travels there. The man who deals in steam-engines, and warps, and woofs, is naturally alarmed by Peep-of-Day Boys, and nocturnal Carders ; his object is to buy and sell as quickly and quietly as he can ; and he will naturally bear high taxes and rivalry in England, or emi- grate to any part of the Continent, or to America, rather than plunge into the tumult of Irish politics and pas- sions. There is nothing which Ireland wants more than large manufacturing towns, to take off its superfluous popu- lation. But internal peace must come first, and then the arts of peace will follow. The foreign manufacturer will hardly think of embarking his capital where he cannot be sure that his ex- istence is safe. Another check to the manufacturing greatness of Ireland, is the scarcity not of coal but of good coal, cheaply raised ; an article in which (in spite of papers in the Irish Transactions) they are lamentably in- ferior to the English. Another consequence from some of the causes we have stated, is the ex- treme idleness of the Irish labourer. There is nothing of value of which the Irish seem to have so little notion as that of time. They scratch, pick, dawdle, stare, gape, and do anything but strive and wrestle with the task 314 before them. The most ludicrous of all human objects, is an Irishman ploughing. A gigantic figure a seven-foot machine for turning pota- toes into human nature, wrapt up in an immense great coat, and urging on two starved ponies, with dreadful im- precations, and uplifted shillala. The Irish crow discerns a coming per- quisite, and is not inattentive to the proceedings of the steeds. The furrow which is to be the depositary of the future crop, is not unlike, either in depth or regularity, to those domestic furrows which the nails of the meek and much-injured wife plough, in some family quarrel, upon the cheeks of the deservedly punished husband. The weeds seem to fall contentedly, know- ing that they have fulfilled their destiny, and left behind them, for the resurrec- tion of the ensuing spring, an abundant and healthy progeny. The whole is a scene of idleness, laziness, and poverty, of which it is impossible, in this active and enterprising country, to form the most distant conception ; but strongly indicative of habits, whether secondary or original, which will long present a powerful impediment to the improve- ment of Ireland. Thelrish character contributes some- thing to retard the improvements of that country. The Irishman has many good qualities : he is brave, witty, ge- nerous, eloquent, hospitable, and open- hearted ; but he is vain, ostentatious extravagant, and fond of display light in counsel deficient in perse- verance without skill in private or public economy an enjoyer, not an acquirer one who despises the slow and patient virtues who wants th< superstructure without the founda tion the result without the previou operation the oak without the acorn and the three hundred years of expec tation. The Irish are irascible, pron to debt, and to fight, and very im patient of the restraints of law. Sue! a people are not likely to keep thei eyes steadily upon the main chance like the Scotch or the Dutch. Englam strove very hard, at one period, t compel the Scotch to pay a doubl Church; but Sawney took his pe IRELAND. nd ink ; and finding what a sum it mounted to, became furious, and drew lis sword. God forbid the Irishman hould do the same ! the remedy, now, sv-ould be worse than the disease : but f the oppressions of England had been -nore steadily resisted a century ago, reland would not have been the scene poverty, misery, and distress which t now is. The Catholic religion, among other causes, contributes to the backward- ness and barbarism of Ireland. Its debasing superstition, childish cere- monies, and the profound submission ;o the priesthood which it teaches, all tend to darken men's minds, to impede the progress of knowledge and inquiry, and to prevent Ireland from becoming as free, as powerful, and as rich as the sister kingdom. Though sincere friends to Catholic emancipation, we are no advocates for the Catholic re- ligion. We should be very glad to see a general conversion to Protes- tantism among the Irish ; but we do not think that violence, privations, and incapacities, are the proper methods of making proselytes. Such then is Ireland at this period, a land more barbarous than the rest of Europe, because it has been worse Many of the incapacities and privations to which the Catholics were exposed, have been removed by law; but, in such instances, they are still incapaci- tated and deprived by custom. Many cruel and oppressive laws are still enforced against them. A ninth part of the population engrosses all the honours of the country : the other nine pay a tenth of the product of the earth for the support of a religion in which they do not believe. There is little capital in the country. The great and rich men are called by business, or allured by pleasure, into England ; their estates are given up to factors, and the utmost farthing of rent ex- torted from the poor, who, if they give up the land, cannot get employment in manufactures, or regular employment in husbandry. The common people use a sort of food so very cheap, that they can rear families, who cannot IRELAND. 315 procure employment, and who have little more of the comforts of life than food. The Irish are light-minded want of employment has made them idle they are irritable and brave have a keen remembrance of the past wrongs they have suffered, and the present wrongs they are suffering, from England. The consequence of all this is, eternal riot and insurrection, a whole army of soldiers in time of pro- found peace, and general rebellion whenever England is busy with other enemies, or off her guard ! And thus it will be while the same causes con- tinue to operate, for ages to come and worse and worse as the rapidly increasing population of the Catholics becomes more and more numerous. The remedies are, time and justice ; and that justice consists in repealing all laws which make any distinction between the two religions ; in placing over the government of Ireland, not the stupid, amiable, and insignificant noble- men who have too often been sent there, but men who feel deeply the wrongs of Ireland, and who have an ardent wish to heal them ; who will take care that Catholics, when eligible, shall be elected * ; who will share the patronage of Ireland proportionally among the two parties, and give to just and liberal laws the same vigour of execution which has hitherto been reserved only for decrees of tyranny, and the enactments of oppression. The injustice and hardship of support- ing two churches must be put out of sight, if it cannot or ought not to be cured. The political economist, the moralist, and the satirist, must com- bine to teach moderation and superin- tendence to the great Irish proprietors. Public talk and clamour may do something for the poor Irish as it did for the slaves in the West Indies. Ire- land will become more quiet under such treatment, and then more rich, more comfortable, and more civilised : and the horrid spectacle of folly and tyranny, which it at present exhibits, may in time be removed from the eyes of Europe. * Great merit is due to the Whigs for the patronage bestowed on Catholics. There are two eminent Irishmen now in the House of Commons, Lord Castlereagh and Mr. Canning, who will subscribe to the justness of every syllable we have said upon this sub- ject ; and who have it in their power, by making it the condition of their remaining in office, to liberate their native country, and raise it to its just rank among the nations of the earth. Yet the Court buys them over, year after year, by the pomp and perquisites of office ; and year after year they come into the House of Commons, feel- ing deeply, and describing powerfully, the injuries of five millions of their countrymen, and continue members of a Government that inflicts those evils, under the pitiful delusion that it is not a Cabinet Question, as if the scratchings and quarrellings of Kings and Queens could alone cement politi- cians together in indissoluble unity, while the fate and fortune of one third of the empire might be complimented away from one minister to another, without the smallest breach in their Cabinet alliance. Politicians, at least honest politicians, should be very flexible and accommodating in little things, very rigid and inflexible in great things. And is this not a great thing? Who has painted it in finer and more commanding eloquence than Mr. Canning ? Who has taken a more sensible and statesmanlike view of our miserable and cruel policy than Lord Castlereagh ? You would think, to hear them, that the same planet could not contain them and the oppressors of their country, perhaps not the same solar system. Yet for money, claret, and patronage, they lend their counte- nance, assistance, and friendship to the Ministers who are the stern and in- flexible enemies to the emancipation of Ireland ! Thank God that all is not profligacy and corruption in the history of that devoted people and that the name of Irishman does not always carry with it the idea of the oppressor or the oppressed the plunderer or the plundered the tyrant or the slave! Great men hallow a whole people, and lift up all who live in their time. What 316 Irishman does not feel proud that he has lived in the days of GUATTAN ? who has not turned to him for comfort, from the false friends and open ene- mies of Ireland ? who did not re- member him in the days of its burnings and wastings and murders? No go- vernment ever dismayed him the world could not bribe him he thought only of Ireland lived for no other object dedicated to her his beautiful fancy, his elegant wit, his manly cou- rage, and all the splendour of his astonishing eloquence. He was so born, and so gifted, that poetry, fo- rensic skill, elegant literature, and all the highest attainments of human genius, were within his reach ; but he thought the noblest occupation of a man was to make other men happy and free ; and in that straight line he went on for fifty years, without one side-look, without one yielding thought, without one motive in his heart which he might not have laid open to the view of God and man. He is gone ! but there is not a single day of his honest life of which every good Irish- man would not be more proud than of the whole political existence of his countrymen, the annual deserters and betrayers of their native land. ANASTASIUS. ism ; it is in that condition to which ve are steadily approaching a poli- ical finish; the sure result of just id necessary wars, interminable bur- hens upon affectionate people, green >ags, strangled sultanas, and murdered ANASTASIUS. (E. EEVIEW, 1821.) Anastasitis ; or, Memoirs of a Greek, vrrit- ten in thelSth Century. London. Murray. 3 vols. 8vo. ANASTASIUS is a sort of oriental Gil Bias, who is tossed about from one state of life to another, sometimes a beggar in the streets of Constantinople, and at others an officer of the highest distinction under an Egyptian Bey, with that mixture of good and evil, of loose principles and popular qualities which, against our moral feelings ant better judgment, render a novel pleas- ing, and an hero popular. Anastasiui is a greater villain than Gil Bias merely because he acts in a worst country, and under a worse govern- ment. Turkey is a country in the las stage of Castlereagh-ery and Vansittar- mobs. There are, in the world, all hades and gradations of tyranny. The Turkish, or last, puts the pistol and stiletto in action. Anastasius, herefore, among his other pranks, makes nothing oi'two or three murders ; )Ut they are committed in character, and are suitable enough to the temper and disposition of a lawless' Turkish soldier ; and this is the justification of ;he book, which is called wicked, but for no other reason than because it accurately paints the manners of a jeople become wicked from the long md uncorrected abuses of their Go- vernment. One cardinal fault which pervades this work is, that it is too long ; in spite of the numerous fine passages with which it abounds, there is too much of it ; and it is a relief, not a disappointment, to get to the end. Mr. Hope, too, should avoid humour, in which he certainly does not excel. His attempts of that nature are among the most serious parts of the book. 'With all these objections (and we only mention them in case Mr. 'Hope writes again), there are few books in the English language which contain pas- sages of greater power, feeling, and eloquence, than this novel, which delineate frailty and vice with more energy and acuteness, or describe his- torical scenes with such bold imagery, and such glowing language. Mr. Hope will excuse us, but we could not help exclaiming, in reading it, Is this Mr. Thomas Hope ? Is this the man of chairs and tables the gentleman of sphinxes the CEdipus of coalboxes he who meditated on muffineers and planned pokers? Where has he hidden all this eloquence and poetry up to this hour ? How is it that he has, all of a sudden, burst out into descriptions which would not disgrace the pen of Tacitus and displayed a depth of feeling and a vigour of imagination which Lord Byron, could not excel ? We do not ANASTASIUS. 317 shrink from one syllable of this eulo gium. The work now before us places him at once in the highest list of elo- quent writers, and of superior men. Anastasius, the hero of the tale, is a native of Chios, the son of the drogue- man to the French Consul. The dro- gueman, instead of bringing him up to make Latin verses, suffered him to run wild about the streets of Chios, where he lives for some time a lubberly boy, and then a profligate youth. His first exploit is to debauch the daughter of his acquaintance, from whom (leaving her in a state of pregnancy) he runs away, and enters as a cabin-boy in a Venetian brig. The brig is taken by Maynote pirates ; the pirates by a Turkish frigate, by which he is landed at Nauplia, and marched away to Argos, where the captain, Hassan Pacha, was encamped with his army. " I had never seen an encampment : and the novel and striking sight absorbed all my faculties in astonishment and awe. There seemed to me to be forces sufficient to subdue the whole world; and I knew not which most to admire, the endless clusters of tents, the enormous piles of armour, and the rows of threatening cannon, which I met at every step, or the troops of well-mounted spahees, who, like dazzling meteors, darted by us on every side, amid clouds of stifling dust. The very dirt with which the nearer horsemen be- spattered our humble troop, was, as I thoueht, imposing ; and everything upon which I cast my eyes gave me a feeling of nothingness, which made me shrink within myself like a snail in its celL I envied not only those who were destined to share in all the glory and success of the expedition, but even the meanest follower of the camp, as a being of a superior order to myself; and, when suddenly there arose a loud flourish of trumpets, which, ending in a concert of cymbals and other warlike instruments, re- echoed in long peals from all the surround- ing mountains, the clang shook every nerve in my body, thrilled me to the very soul, and infused in all my veins a species of martial ardour so resistless, that it made me struggle with my fetters, and try to tear them asunder. Proud as I was by nature, I would have knelt to whoever had offered to liberate my limbs, and to arm my hands with a sword or a battle-axe." (Vol. I. pp. 36, 37.) From his captive state he passes into the service of Mavroyeni, Hassan's drogueman, with whom he ingratiates himself, and becomes a person of con- sequence. In the service of this person, he receives from old Demo, a brother domestic, the following admirable lecture on masters: " ' Listen, young man,' said he, 'whether you like it or not. For my own part, I have always had too much indolence, not to make it my study throughout life rather to secure ease than to labour for distinction. It lias therefore been my rule to avoid cherishing in my patron any outrageous admiration of my capacity, which would have increased my dependence while it lasted, and exposed me to persecution on wearing out: but you, I see, are of a different metal: I therefore may point out to you the surest way to that more perilous height, short of which your ambition I doubt will not rest satisfied. When you have compassed it, you may remember old Demo, if you please. " ' Know, first, that all masters, even the least loveable, like to be loved. All wish to be served from affection rather than duty. It natters their pride, and it gratifies their selfishness. They expect from this personal motive a greater devotion to their interest, and a more unlimited obedience to their commands. A master looks upon mere fidelity in his servant as his due, as a thing scarce worth his thanks: but at- tachment he considers as a compliment to his merit, and, if at all generous, he will reward it with liberality. Mavroyeni is more open than any body to this species of flattery. Spare it not therefore. If he speak to you kindly, let your face brighten up. If he talk to you of his own affairs, ihough it should only be to dispel the tedium of conveying all day long other men's thoughts, listen with the greatest eagerness. A single yawn, and you are andone ! Yet let not curiosity appear your motive, but the delight only of being lonoured with his confidence. The more r ou appear grateful for the least kindness, ;he oftener you will receive important 'avours. Our ostentatious drogueman will 'eel a pleasure in raising your astonishment. 3is vanity knows no bounds. Give it scope therefore. When he comes home choking with its suppressed ebullitions, be heir ready and patient receptacle: do more ; discreetly help him on in venting lis conceit ; provide him with a cue ; hint what you heard certain people, not knowing ou to be so near, say of his capacity, his merit, and his influence. He wishes to persuade the world that he completely 318 rules the Pasha. Tell him not flatly he does, but assume it is a thing of general notoriety. Be neither too candid in your remarks, nor too fulsome in your flattery. Too palpable deviations from fact might appear a satire on your master's under- standing. Should some disappointment evidently ruffle his temper, appear not to conceive the possibility of his vanity having received a mortification. Preserve the exact medium between too cold a respect and too presumptuous a forwardness However much Mavroyeni may caress you in private, never seem quite at ease with him in public. A master still likes to re- main master, or, at least, to appear so to others. Should you get into some scrape wait not to confess your imprudence until concealment becomes impossible; nor try to excuse the offence. Bather than that you should, by so doing, appear to make light of your guilt, exaggerate your self- upbraidings, and throw yourself entirely. upon the drogueman's mercy. On all oc- casions take care how you appear cleverer than your lord, even in the splitting of a pen ; or if you cannot avoid excelling him in some trifle, give his own tuition all the credit of your proficiency. Many things he will dislike, only because they come not from himself. Vindicate not your inno- cence when unjustly rebuked ; rather sub- mit for the moment; and trust that, though Mavroyeni never will expressly acknow- ledge his error, he will in due time pay you for your forbearance.' " (Vol. I. pp. 43 45.) In the course of his service with Mavroyeni, he bears arms against the Arnoots, under the Captain Hassan Pacha ; and a very animated descrip tion is given of his first combat. " I undressed the dead man completely When, however, the business which en gaged all my attention wasentirely achieved and that human body, of which, in th eagerness for its spoil, I had only thus fa noticed, the separate limbs one by one, as stripped them, all at once struck my sigh in its full dimensions, as it lay naked before me . when I contemplated that fine ath letic frame, but a moment before full o life and vigour unto its fingers' ends, no\ rendered an insensible corpse by the random shot of a raw youth whom in close comba its little finger might have crushed, I coul not help feeling, mixed with my exulta tion, a sort of shame, as if for a cowardl advantage obtained over a superior being and, in order to make a kind of atonemen to the shade of an Epirote of a kinsma ANASTASIUS. -I exclaimed with outstretched hands, ursed be the paltry dust which turns the arrior's arm into a mere engine, and riking from afar an invisible blow, carries eath no one knows whence to no one nows whom ; levels the strong with the eak, the brave with the dastardly; and nabling the feeblest hand to wield its atal lightning, makes the conqueror slay ithout anger, and the conquered die ithout glory." (Vol. I. pp. 54,55.) The campaign ended, he proceeds to lonstantinople with the drogueman, /here his many intrigues and debau- heries end with the drogueman's turn- ng him out of doors. He lives for ome time at Constantinople in great nisery ; and is driven, among other xpedients, to the trade of quack - doctor. " One evening, as we were returning from he Blacquernes, an old woman threw her- elf in our way, and, taking hold of my master's garment, dragged him almost by main force after her into a mean-looking habitation just by, where lay on a couch, ipparently at the last gasp, a man of oreign features. ' I have brought a physi- cian,' said the female to the patient, ' who, perhaps, may relieve you.' ' Why will you,' mswered he faintly, ' still persist to teed die hopes ? I have lived an. outcast : suffer me at least to die in peace ; nor disturb my ast moments by vain illusions. My soul )ants to rejoin the supreme Spirit; arrest lot its flight : it would only be delaying my :ternal bliss ! ' "As the stranger spoke these words' which struck even Yacoob sufficiently to make him suspend his professional grimace the last beams of the setting sun darted across the casement of the window upon his pale, yet swarthy features. Thus visited, he seemed for a moment to revive. ' I have always,' said he, 'considered my fate as connected with the great luminary that rules the creation. I have always paid it due worship, and firmly believed I could not breathe my last while its rays shone upon me. Carry me therefore out, that I may take my last farewell of the heavenly ruler of my earthly destinies !' "We all rushed forward to obey the mandate : but the stairs being too narrow, the woman only opened the window, and placed the dying man before it so as to enjoy the full view of the glorious orb, just in the act of dropping beneath the horizon. He remained a few moments in silent ado- ration ; and mechanically we all joined him in fixing our eyes on the object of his wor- ship. It set in all its splendour ; aud when ANASTASIUS. 319 its golden disk had entirely disappeared, we looked round at the Parsee. He too had sunk into everlasting rest." (VoL I. pp. 103, 104) From the dispensation of chalk and water, he is then ushered into a Turkish jail, the description of which, and of the plague with which it is visited, are very finely written ; and we strongly recommend them to the attention of our readers. "Every day a capital fertile in crimes pours new offenders into this dread recep- tacle ; and its high walls and deep recesses resound every instant with imprecations and curses.uttered in all the various idioms of the Othoman empire. Deep moans and dismal yells leave not its frightful echoes a moment's repose. From morning till night and from night till morning, the ear is stunned with the clang of chains, which the galley-slaves wear while confined in their cells, and which they still drag about when toiling at their tasks. Linked to- gether two and two for life, should they sink under their sufferings, they still con- tinue unsevered after death ; and the man doomed to live on, drags after him the corpse of his dead companion. In no di- rection can the eye escape the spectacle of atrocious punishments and of indescribable agonies. Here, perhaps, you see a wretch whose stiffened limbs refuse their office, stop suddenly short in the midst of his labour, and, as if already impassible, defy the stripes that lay open his flesh, and wait in total immobility the last merciful blow that is to end his misery ; while there, you view his companion foaming with rage and madness, turn against his own person his desperate hands, tear his clotted hair, rend his bleeding bosom, and strike his skull, until it burst against the wall of bis dungeon." (VoL L pp. 110, 111.) A few survived. " I was among these scanty relics. I who, indifferent to life, had never stooped to avoid the shafts of death, even when they flew thickest around me, had more than once laid my finger on the livid wound they inflicted, had probed it as it festered, I yet remained unhurt : for sometimes the plague is a magnanimous enemy, and, while it sel- dom spares the pusillanimous victim, whose blood running cold ere it is tainted, lacks the energy necessary to repel the infection when at hand, it will pass him by who dares its utmost fury, and advances un- daunted to meet its raised dart." (VoL I. p. 121.) In this miserable receptacle of guilty and unhappy beings, Anastasius forms and cements the strongest friendship with a young Greek, of the name of Anagnosti. On leaving the prison, he vows to make every exertion for the liberation of his friend vows that are forgotten as soon as he is clear from the prison walls. After being nearly perished with hunger, and after being saved by the charity of an hospital, he gets into an intrigue with a rich Jewess is detected pursued and, to save his life, turns Mussulman. This ex- ploit performed, he suddenly meets his friend Anagnosti treats him with disdain and, in a quarrel which en- sues between them, stabs him to the heart. " ' Life,' says the dying Anagnosti, ' has loug been bitterness: death is a welcome guest : I rejoin those that love me, and in a better place. Already, methinks, watch- ing my flight, they stretch out their arms from heaven to their dying Anagnosti. Thou, if there be in thy breast one spark of pity left for him thou once namedst thy brother; for him to whom a holy tie, a sacred vow Ah! suffer not the starv- ing hounds in the street See a little hallowed earth thrown over my wretched corpse.' These words were his last." (Vol. I. p. 209.) The description of the murderer's re- morse is among the finest passages in the work. " From an obscure aisle in the church I beheld the solemn service ; saw on the field of death the pale stiff corpse lowered into its narrow cell, and hoping to exhaust sor- row's bitter cup, at night, when all man- kind hushed its griefs, went back to my friend's final resting-place, lay down upon his silent grave, and watered with my tears the fresh-raised hollow mound. " In vain ! Nor my tears nor my sorrows could avail. No offerings nor penance could purchase me repose. Wherever I went, the beginning of our friendship and its issue still alike rose in view ; the fatal spot of blood still danced before my steps, and the reeking dagger hovered before my aching eyes. In the silent darkness of the night I saw the pale phantom of my friend stalk round my watchful couch, covered with gore and dust : and even during the unavailing riots of the day, I still beheld the spectre rise over the festive boa.'d, glare on me with piteous look, and hand me ANASTASIUS. 320 whatever I attempted to reach. But what- ever it presented seemed blasted by its touch. To my wine it gave the taste of blood, and to my bread the rank flavour of death ! " (Vol. I. pp. 212, 213.) We question whether there is in the English language a finer description than this. We request our readers to look at the very beautiful and affecting picture of remorse, pp. 214, 215, vol. i. Equally good, but in another way, is the description of the Opium Coffee- house. " In this tchartchee might be seen any day a numerous collection of those whom private sorrows have driven to a public exhibition of insanity. There each reeling idiot might take his neighbour by the hand, and say, ' Brother, and what aileth thee, to seek so dire a cure ? ' There did I with the rest of its familiars now take my habitual station in my solitary niche, like an insen- sible motionless idol, sitting with sightless eyeballs staring on vacuity. " One day, as I lay in less entire absence than usual under the purple vines of the porch, admiring the gold-tipped domes of the majestic Sulimanye, the appearance of an old man with a snow-white beard, re- clining on the couch beside me, caught my attention. Half plunged in stupor, he every now and then burst out into a wild laugh, occasioned by the grotesque phan- tasms which the ample dose of madjoon he had just swallowed was sending up to his brain. I sat contemplating him with mixed curiosity and dismay, when, as if for a mo- ment roused from his torpor, he took me by the hand, and fixing on my countenance his dim vacant eyes, said in an impressive tone, ' Young man, thy days are yet few ; take the advice of one who, alas ! has counted many. Lose no time ; hie thee hence, nor cast behind one lingering look: but if thou hast not the strength, why tarry even here? Thy journey is but half achieved. At once go on to that large mansion before thee. It is thy ultimate destination ; and by thus beginning where thou must end at last, thou mayest at least save both thy time and thy money.' " (VoL I. pp. 215, 216.) Lingering in the streets of Constan tinople, A nastasi us hears that his mother is dead, and proceeds to claim that heritage which, by the Turkish law in favour of proselytes, had devolved upon him. " ' How often,' he exclaims (after seeing his father in the extremity of old age) how often does it happen in life, that the most blissful moments of our return to a ong-left home are those only that just precede the instant of our arrival; those during which the imagination still is al- owed to paint in its own unblended colours ;he promised sweets of our reception ! How often, after this glowing picture of the phantasy, does the reality which follows appear cold and dreary! How often do even those who grieved to see us depart, grieve more to see us return! and how often do we ourselves encounter nothing jut sorrow, on again beholding the once lappy, joyous promoters of our own hila- rity, nowrnournful.disappointed, and them- selves needing what consolation we may bring ! ' " (Vol. I. pp. 239, 240.) During his visit to Chios, lie traces and describes the dying misery of Hc- ,ena, whom he had deserted, and then debauches her friend Agnes. From thence he sails to Rhodes, the remnants of which produce a great deal of elo- quence and admirable description (pp. 275, 276, vol. i.) From Rhodes tie sails to Egypt ; and chap. 16 con- tains a short and very well written history of the origin and progress of the Mameluke government. The flight of Mourad, and the pursuit of this chief in the streets of Cairo *, would be con- sidered as very fine passages in the best histories of antiquity. Our limits pre- vent us from quoting them. Anasta- sius then becomes a Mameluke ; mar- ries his master's daughter ; and is made a Kiashef. In the numerous skirmishes into which he falls in his new military life, it falls to his lot to shoot, from an ambush, Assad, his inveterate enemy. "Assad, though weltering in his blood, was still alive; but already the angel of death flapped his dark wings over the traitor's brow. Hearing footsteps advance, he made an effort to raise his head, pro- bably in hopes of approaching succour: but beholding, but recognising only me, he felt that no hopes remained, and gave a groan of despair. Life was flowing out so fast, that I had only to stand still my arms folded in each other and with a steadfast eye to watch its departure. One instant I saw my vanquished foe, agitated by a convulsive tremor, open his eyes and dart at me a glance of impotent race ; but soon he averted them again, then gnashed * P. 325. VoL L ANASTASIUS. 321 his teeth, clenched his fist, and expired." (Vol. II. p. 92.) We quote this, and such passages as these, to show the great power of de- scription which Mr. Hope possesses. The vindictive man standing with his arras folded, and watching the blood flowing from the wound of his enemy, is very new and very striking. After the death of his wife, he collects his property, quits Egypt, and visits Mekkah, and acquires the title and prerogatives of an Hadjee. After this he returns to the' Turkish capital, re- news his acquaintance with Spiridion, the friend of his youth, who in vain labours to reclaim him, and whom he at last drives away, disgusted with the vices and passions of Anastasius. We then find our Oriental profligate fight- ing as a Turkish captain in Egypt, against his old friends the Mamelukes ; and afterwards employed in Wallachia, under his old friend Mavroyeni, against the Eussians and Austrians. In this part of the work we strongly recom- mend to our readers to look at the Mussulmans in a pastrycook's shop during the Rhamadam, vol. iii. p. 164. ; the village of beggars, vol. ii. p. 266. ; the death of the Hungarian officer, vol. ii. p. 327. ; and the last days of Mav- royeni, vol. ii. p. 356. ; not forgetting the walk over a field of battle, vol. ii. p. 252. The character of Mavroyeni is extremely well kept up through the whole of the book ; and his decline and death are drawn in a very spirited and masterly manner. The Spiridion part of the novel we are not so much struck with ; we entirely approve of Spiridion, and ought to take more in- terest in him ; but we cannot disguise the melancholy truth that he is occa- sionally a little long and tiresome. The next characters assumed by Anastasius are, a Smyrna debauchee, a robber of the desert, and a Wahabee. After serving some time with these sectaries, he returns to Smyrna, finds his child missing, whom he had left there, traces the little boy to Egypt, re- covers him, then loses him by sick- ness ; and wearied of life, retires to end his days in a cottage in Carinthia. For striking passages in this part o: VOL. I. he novel, we refer our readers to the lescription of the burial-places near Constantinople, vol. iii. pp. 11 13.; he account of Djezzar Pacha's retire- ment to his harem during the revolt, equal to anything in Tacitus ; and, above all, to the landing of Anastasius with his sick child, and the death of the infant. It is impossible not to see that this last picture is faithfully drawn 'rom a sad and cruel reality. The ac- count of the Wahabees is very interest- ng, vol. iii. p. 128.; and nothing is more so than the story of Euphrosyne. Anastasius had gained the affections of Eupbrosyne, and ruined her reputation ; le then wishes to cast her off, and to remove her from his house. " ' Ah, no ! ' now cried Euphrosyne, con- vulsively clasping my knees : 'be not so oarbarous ! Shut not your own door against tier, against whom you have barred every once friendly door. Do not deny her whom you have dishonoured the only asylum she lias left. If I cannot be your wife, let me be your slave, your drudge. No service, however mean, shall I recoil from when you command. At least before you I shall not have to blush. In your eyes I shall not be what I must seem in those of others ; I shall not from you incur the contempt, which I must expect from my former com- panions : and my diligence to execute the lowest offices you may require, will earn for me, not only as a bare alms at your hands, that support which, however scanty, I can elsewhere only receive as an un- merited indulgence. Since I did a few days please your eye, I may still please it a few days longer : perhaps a few days longer therefore I may still wish to live ; and when that last blessing, your love, is gone by, when my cheek, faded with grief, has lost the last attraction that could arrest your favour, then speak, then tell me so, that, burthening you no longer, I may retire and die ! ' "(Vol. IIL pp. 64, 65.) Her silent despair,- and patient mi- sery, when she finds that she has not only ruined herself with the world, but lost his affections also, has the beauty of the deepest tragedy. " Nothing but the most unremitting ten- derness on my part could in some degree have revived her drooping spirits. But when, after my excursion, and the act of justice on Sophia in which it ended, I re- appeared before the still trembling Euphro- 322 SPRING GUNS AND MAN TEAPS. syne, she saw too soon that that cordial of the heart must not be expected. One look she cast upon my countenance, as I sat down in silence, sufficed to inform her ol my total change of sentiments; and the responsive look by which it was met, tore for ever from her breast the last seeds of hope and confidence. Like the wounded snail she shrunk within herself, and thence- forth, cloked in unceasing sadness, never more expanded to the sunshine of joy. With her buoyancy of spirits she seemed even to lose all her quickness of intellect, nay all her readiness of speech; so that, not only fearing to embark with her in serious conversation, but even finding no response in her mind to lighter topics, I at last began to nauseate her seeming torpor and dulness, and to roam abroad even more frequently than before a partner of my fate remained at home, to count the tedious hours of my absence; while she, poor miserable creature dreading the sneers of an unfeeling world, passed her time under my roof in dismal and heart-breaking solitude. Had the most patient endurance of the most intemperate sallies been able to soothe my disappoint- ment and to soften my hardness, Euphro- syne's angelic sweetness must at last have conquered: but in my jaundiced eye her resignation only tended to strengthen the conviction of her shame r and I saw in her forbearance nothing but the consequence of her debasement, and the consciousness of her guilt. 'Did her heart,' thought I, 'bear witness to a purity on which my audacity dared first to cast a blemish, she could not remain thus tame, thus spiritless, under such an aggravation of my wrongs ; and either she would be the first to quit my merciless roof, or at least she would not so fearfully avoid giving me even the most unfounded pretence for denying her its shelter. She must merit her sufferings to bear them so meekly!' Hence, even when moved to real pity by gentleness so enduring, I seldom relented in my apparent sternness." (Vol. III. pp.72 74.) . With this we end our extracts from Anastasius. We consider it as a work in which great and extraordinary talent is evinced. It abounds in eloquent and sublime passages, in sense, in know- ledge of history, and in knowledge of human character ; but not in wit. It is too long : and if this novel perish, and is forgotten, it will be solely on that account. If it be the picture of vice, so is Clarissa Harlowe, and so is Tom Jones. There are no sensual and glowing descriptions in Anastasius, nothing which corrupts the morals by inflaming the imagination of youth; and we are quite certain that every reader ends this novel with a greater disgust at vice, and a more thorough conviction of the necessity of subju- gating passion, than he feels from read- ing either of the celebrated works we have just mentioned. The sum of our eulogium is, that Mr. Hope, without being very successful in his story, or remarkably skilful in the delineation of character, has written a novel, which all clever people of a certain age should read, because it is full of marvellously line things. SPRING GUNS. (E. REVIEW, 1821.) The SJtooter's Guide. By J. B. Johnson. 12mo. Edwards and Knibb. 1819, WHEN Lord Dacre (then Mr. Brand) brought into the House of Commons his bill for the amendment of the Game Laws, a system of greater mercy and humanity was in vain recommended to that popular branch of the Legis- lature. The interests of humanity, and the interests of the lord of the manor, were not, however, opposed to each other ; nor any attempt made to deny the superior importance of the last. No such bold or alarming topics were agitated ; but it was contended that, if laws were less ferocious, there would bemore partridges if the lower orders of mankind were not torn from their families and banished to Botany Bay, hares and pheasants would be increased in number, or, at least, not diminished. It is not, however, till after long ex- perience, that mankind ever think of recurring to humane expedients for effecting their objects. The rulers who ride the people never think of coaxing and patting till they have worn out the lashes of their whips, and broken the rowels of their spurs. The legis- lators of the trigger replied, that two laws had lately passed which would answer their purpose of preserving game : the one, an act for transporting SPRING GUNS AND MAN TRAPS. 323 men found with arms in their hands for the purposes of killing game in the night ; the other, an act for rendering the buyers of the game equally guilty with the seller, and for involving both in the same penalty. Three seasons have elapsed since the last of these laws was passed ; and we appeal to the ex- perience of all the great towns in Eng- land, whether the difficulty of procuring game is, in the slightest degree in- creased? whether hares, partridges, and pheasants are not purchased with as much facility as before the pass- ing this act? whether the price of such unlawful commodities is even in the slightest degree increased ? Let the Assize and Sessions' Calendars bear witness, whether the law for transport- ing poachers has not had the most direct tendency to encourage brutal assaults and ferocious murders. There is hardly now a jail-delivery in which some gamekeeper has not murdered a poacher or some poacher a game- keeper. If the question concerned the payment of five pounds, a poacher would hardly risk his life rather than be taken ; but when he is to go to Botany Bay for seven years, he sum- mons together his brother poachers they get brave from rum, numbers, and despair and a bloody battle ensues. Another method by which it is attempted to defeat the depredations of the poacher is, by setting spring guns to murder any person who comes within their reach; and it is to this last new feature in the supposed Game Laws, to which, on the present occa- sion, we intend principally to confine our notice. We utterly disclaim all hostility to the Game Laws in general. Game ought to belong to those who feed it. All the landowners in England are fairly entitled to all the game in Eng- land. These laws are constructed upon a basis of substantial justice ; but there is a great deal of absurdity and tyranny mingled with them, and a perpetual and vehement desire on the part of the country gentlemen to push the pro- visions of these laws up to the highest point of tyrannical severity. " Is it lawful to put to death by a spring gun, or any other machine, an unqualified person trespassing upon your woods or fields in pursuit of game, and who has received due notice of your intention, and of the risk to which he is exposed ? " This, we think, is stating the question as fairly as can be stated. We purposely exclude gar- dens, orchards, and all contiguity to the dwelling-house. We exclude, also, all felonious intention on the part of the deceased. The object of his expe- dition shall be proved to be game ; and the notice he received of his danger shall be allowed to be as complete as possible. It must also be part of the case, that the spring-gun was placed there for the express purpose of de- fending the game, by killing or wound- ing the poacher, or spreading terror, or doing anything that a reasonable man ought to know would happen from such a proceeding. Suppose any gentleman were to give notice that all other persons must ab- stain from his manors ; that he himself and his servants paraded the woods and fields with loaded pistols and blunderbusses, and would shoot any- body who fired at a partridge ; and suppose he were to keep his word, and shoot through the head some rash tres- passer who defied this bravado, and was determined to have his sport: is there any doubt that he would be guilty of murder ? We suppose no resistance on the part of the trespasser ; but that, the moment he passes the line of de- marcation with his dogs and gun, he is shot dead by the proprietor of the land from behind a tree. If this is not murder, what is murder? We will make the case a little better for the homicide squire. It shall be night ; the poacher, an unqualified person, steps over the line of demarcation with his nets and snares, and is instantly shot through the head by the pistol of the proprietor. We have no doubt that this would be murder that it ought to be considered as murder, and punished as murder. We think this so clear, that it would be a waste of time to argue it. There is no kind of resistance on the part of the deceased ; no attempt to run away ; he is not T 2 324 SPRING GUNS AND MAN TRAPS. even challenged: but instantly shot dead by the proprietor of the wood, for no other crime than the intention of killing game unlawfully. We do not suppose that any man, possessed of the elements of law and common sense, would deny this to be a case of murder, let the previous notice to the deceased have been as perfect as it could be. It is true, a trespasser in a park may be killed ; but then it is when he will not render himself to the keepers, upon a hue and cry to stand to the king's peace. But deer are pro- perty, game is not ; and this power of slaying deer-stealers is by the 21st Edward I., de Malefactoribus in Parcis, and by the 3d and 4th William & Mary, c. 10. So rioters may be killed, house- burners, ravishers, felons refusing to be arrested, felons escaping, felons break- ing jail, men resisting a civil process may all be put to death. All these cases of justifiable homicide are laid down and admitted in our books. But who ever heard that to pistol a poacher was justifiable homicide ? It has long been decided, that it is unlawful to kill a dog who is pursuing game in a manor. " To decide the contrary," says Lord Ellenborough, " would out- rage reason and sense." (Vere v. Lord Cawdor and King, 1 1 East, 386.) Pointers have always been treated by the Legislature with great delicacy and consideration. To " wish to be a dog, and to bay the moon" is not quite so mad a wish as the poet thought it. If these things are so, what is the difference between the act of firing yourself, and placing an engine which does the same thing ? In the one case, your hand pulls the trigger ; in the other, it places the wire which communicates with the trigger, and causes the death of the trespasser. There is the same intention of slaying in both cases there is precisely the same human agency in both cases only the steps are rather more nume- rous in the latter case. As to the bac effects of allowing proprietors of game to put trespassers to death at once, or to set guns that will do it, we can have no hesitation in saying, that the first method, of giving the power of ife and death to esquires, would be by ar the most humane. For, as we have observed in a previous Essay on the irame Laws, a live armigeral spring un would distinguish an accidental trespasser from a real poacher a woman or a boy from a man perhaps might spare a friend or an acquaint- ance or a father of a family with ten children or a small freeholder who voted for Administration. But this new rural artillery must destroy, without mercy and selection, every one who approaches it. In the case of Hot versus Wilks, Esq., the four judges, Abbot, Bailey, Hol- royd, and Best, gave their opinions seriatim on points connected with this question. In this case, as reported in Chetwynd's edition of Burn's Justice, 1820, vol. ii. p. 500., Abbot C. J. ob- serves as follows ; I cannot say that repeated and increas- ing acts of aggression may not reasonably call for increased means of defence and pro- tection. I believe that many of the persons who cause engines of this description to be placed in their grounds, do not do so with an intention to injure any person, but really believe that the publication of no- tices will prevent any person from sus- taining an injury; and that no person having the notice given him will be vreak and foolish enough to expose himself to the perilous consequences of his trespass. Many persons who place such engines in their grounds, do so for the purpose of prevent- ing, by means of terror, injury to their property, rather than from any motive of doing malicious injury." " Increased means of defence and protection," but increased (his Lord- ship should remember) from the pay- ment of five pounds to instant death and instant death inflicted, not by the arm of law, but by the arm of the proprietor ; could the Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench intend to say, that the impossibility of putting an end to poaching by other means would justify the infliction of death upon the offender ? Is he so ignorant of the philosophy of punishing, as to imagine he has nothing to do but to give ten stripes instead of two, a hun- dred instead of ten, and a thousand, if a hundred will not do? to substitute SPRING GUNS AND MAN TRAPS. 325 the prison for pecuniary fines, and the gallows instead of the jail ? It is im- possible so enlightened a Judge can forget, that the sympathies of mankind must be consulted ; that it would be wrong to break a person upon the wheel for stealing a penny loaf, and that gradations in punishments must be carefully accommodated to grada- tions in crime ; that if poaching is punished more than mankind in ge- neral think it ought to be punished, the fault will either escape with im- punity, or the delinquent be driven to desperation ; that if poaching and mur- der are punished equally, every poacher will be an assassin. Besides, too, if the principle is right in the unlimited and unqualified manner in which the Chief Justice puts it if defence goes on increasing with aggression, the Legislature at least must determine upon their equal pace. If an act of Parliament made it a capital offence to poach upon a manor, as it is to commit a burglary in a dwelling-house, it might then be as lawful to shoot a person for trespassing upon your manor, as it is to kill a thief for breaking into your house. But the real question is and so in sound reasoning his Lord- ship should have put it "If the law at this moment determine the aggres- sion to be in such a state, that it merits only a pecuniary fine after summons and proof, has any sporadic squire the right to say, that it shall be punished with death, before any summons and without any proof? " It appears to us, too, very singular, to say, that many persons who cause engines of this description to be placed in their ground, do not do so with an intention of injuring any person, but really believe that the publication of notices will prevent any person from sustaining an injury, and that no per- son, having the notice giving him, will be weak and foolish enough to expose himself to the perilous consequences of his trespass. But if this be the real belief of the engineer if he think the mere notice will keep people away then he must think it a mere inutility that the guns should be placed at all : if he think that many will be deterred, and a few come, then he must mean to shoot those few. He who believes his gun will never be called upon to do its duty, need set no gun, and trust to rumour of their being set, or being loaded, for his protection. Against the gun and the powder we have no complaint ; they are perfectly fair and admissible : our quarrel is with the bullets. He who sets a loaded gun means it should go off if it is touched. But what signifies the mere empty wish that there may be no mischief, when I perform an action which my common sense tells me may produce the worst mischief ? If I hear a great noise in the street, and fire a bullet to keep people quiet, I may not perhaps have intended to kill ; I may have wished to have produced quiet, by mere terror, and I may have expressed a strong hope that my object has been effected without the destruction of human life. Still I have done that which every man of sound intellect knows is likely to kill ; and if any one fall from my act, I am guilty of murder. "Further" (says Lord Coke), " if there be an evil intent, though that intent ex- tendeth not to death, it is murder. Thus, if a man, knowing that many people are in the street, throw a stone over the wall, intending only to frighten them, or to give them a little hurt, and thereupon one is killed this is murder for he had an ill intent ; though that intent extended not to death, and though he knew not the party slain." (3 Inst. 57.) If a man be not mad, he must be presumed to foresee common consequences ; if he puts a bullet into a spring gun he must be supposed to foresee that it will kill any poacher who touches the wire and to that consequence he must stand. We do not suppose all preservers of game to be so bloodily inclined that they would prefer the death of a poacher to his staying away. Their object is to preserve game ; they have no objection to preserve the lives of their fellow-creatures also, if both can exist at the same time ; if not, the least worthy of God's creatures must fall the rustic without a soul, not the Christian partridge not the iin- T 3 326 SPRING GUNS AND MAN TRAPS. mortal pheasant not the rational woodcock, or the accountable hare. The Chief Justice quotes the in- stance of glass and spikes fixed upon walls. He cannot mean to infer from this, because the law connives at the infliction of such small punish- ments for the protection of property, that it does allow, or ought to allow, proprietors to proceed to the punish- ment of death. Small means of an- noying trespassers may be consistently admitted by the law, though more severe ones are forbidden, and ought to be forbidden; unless it follows, that what is good in any degree, is good in the highest degree. You may correct a servant boy with a switch -, but if you bruise him sorely, you are liable to be indicted if you kill him, you are hanged. A blacksmith corrected his servant with a bar of iron: the boy died, and the blacksmith was executed. (Grey's Case, Kel. 64, 65.) A woman kicked and stamped on the belly oi her child she was found guilty of murder. (1 East, P. C. 261. ) Si im- moderate suo jure utatur, tune reus, ho- micidii sit. There is, besides, this ad- ditional difference in the two cases pu by the Chief Justice, that no publica tion of notices can be so plain, in the case of the guns, as the sight o' the glass or the spikes; for a tres passer may not believe in the notici which he receives, or he may think he shall see the gun, and so avoid it, o that he may have the good luck t< avoid it, if he does not see it ; 'whereas of the presence of the glass or th spikes he can have no doubt; and h has no hope of placing his hand in an} spot where they are not. In the on case he cuts his fingers upon full an perfect notice, the notice of his ow senses ; in the other case, he loses hi life after a notice which he may dis believe, and by an engine which h may hope to escape. Mr. Justice Bailey observes, in th same case, that it is not an indictabl offence to set spring guns: perhaps no It is not an indictable offence to g about with a loaded pistol, intendin to shoot anybody who grins at you but, if you do it, you are hanged any inchoate acts are innocent, the onsummation of which is a capital fence. This is not a case where the motto pplies of Volenti nonfit injuria. The lan does not will to be hurt, but he 11s to get the game; and, with that ash confidence natural to many cha- acters, believes he shall avoid the evil nd gain the good. On the contrary, is a case which exactly arranges tself under the maxim, Quando ali- uid prohibetur ex directo, prohibetur et er obliquum. Give what notice he nay, the proprietor cannot lawfully tioot a trespasser (who neither runs or resists) with a loaded pistol; he annot do it ex directo; how then an he do it per obliquum, by arrang- ng on the ground the pistol which ommits the murder ? Mr. Justice Best delivers the follow- ng opinion. His Lordship concluded ,s follows: " This case has been discussed at the bar, asif these engines were exclusively resorted to for the protection of game ; but I con- ider them as lawfully applicable to the protection of every species of property igainst unlawful trespassers. But if even they might not lawfully be used for the protection of game, I, for one, should be extremely glad to adopt such means, if they were found sufficient for that purpose ; because I think it a great object that gen- tlemen should have a temptation to reside in the country, amongst their neighbours and tenantry, whose interests must be materially advanced by such a circum- stance. The links of society are thereby better preserved, and the mutual advan- tage and dependence of the higher and lower classes of society, existing between each other, more beneficially maintained. We have seen, in a neighbouring country, the baneful consequences of the non-resi- dence of the landed gentry; and in an ingenious work, lately published by a foreigner, we learn the fatal effects of a like system on the Continent. By preserv- ing game, gentlemen are tempted to reside in the country ; and considering that the diversion of the field is the only one of which they can partake on their estates, I am of opinion that, for the purpose I have stated, it is of essential importance that this species of property should be inviolably protected." If this speech of Mr. Justice Best be SPRING GUNS AND MAN TRAPS. 327 correctly reported, it follows, that a man may put his fellow-creatures to death for any infringement of his pro- perty for picking the sloes and black- berries off his hedges for breaking a few dead sticks out of them by night or by day with resistance or without resistance with warning or without warning; a strange method this of keeping up the links of society, and maintaining the dependence of the lower upon the higher classes. It cer- tainly is of importance that gentlemen should reside on their estates in the country; but not that gentlemen with such opinions as these should reside. The more they are absent from the country, the less strain will there be upon those links to which the learned Judge alludes the more firm that de- pendence upon which he places so just a value. In the case of Dean versus Clayton, Bart, the Court of Common Pleas were equally divided upon the lawfulness of killing a dog coursing a hare by means of a concealed dog- spear. We confess that we cannot see the least difference between transfixing with a spear, or placing a spear so that it will transfix; and, therefore, if Vere versus Lord Cawdor and King is good law, the action could have been main- tained in Dean versus Clayton ; but the solemn consideration concerning the life of the pointer is highly creditable to all the judges. They none of them say that it is lawful to put a trespass- ing pointer to death under any cir- cumstances, or that they themselves would be glad to do it; they all seem duly impressed with the recollection that they are deciding the fate of an animal faithfully ministerial to the pleasures of the upper classes of so- ciety: there is an awful desire to do their duty, and a dread of any rash and intemperate decision. Seriously speak- ing, we can hardly believe this report of Mr. Justice Best's speech to be cor- rect ; yet we take it from a book which guides the practice of nine tenths of all the magistrates of England. Does a Judge a cool, calm man, in whose hands are the issues of life and death from whom so many miserable trembling human beings await their destiny does he tell us, and tell us n a court of justice, that he places such ittle value on the life of man, that he :iimself would plot the destruction of lis fellow-creatures for the preservation of a few hares and partridges? "No- thing which falls from me " (says Mr. Justice Bailey) " shall have a tendency to encourage the practice." "I con- sider them" (says Mr. Justice Best) " as lawfully applicable to the protec- tion of every species of property ; but even if they might not lawfully be used for the protection of game, /, for one, should be extremely glad to adopt them, if they were found sufficient for that purpose." Can any man doubt to which of these two magistrates he would rather entrust a decision on his life, his liberty, and his possessions? We should be very sorry to misrepre- sent Mr. Justice Best, and will give to his disavowal of such sentiments, if he do disavow them, all the pub- licity in our power; but we have cited his very words conscientiously and correctly, as they are given in the Law Report. We have no doubt he meant to do bis duty; we blame not his motives, but his feelings and his reasoning. Let it be observed that, in the whole of this case, we have put every circum- stance in favour of the murderer. We have supposed it to be in the night- time; but a man may be shot in the day * by a spring gun. We have sup- posed the deceased to be a poacher; but he may be a very innocent man, who has missed his way an unfortunate botanist, or a lover. We have sup- posed notice ; but it is a very possible event that the dead man may have been utterly ignorant of the notice. This instrument, so highly approved of by Mr. Justice Best this knitter toge- ther of the different orders of society is levelled promiscuously against the guilty or the innocent, the ignorant and the informed. No man who sets such an infernal machine, believes that it can reason or discriminate; it is * Large damages have been given for wounds inflicted by spring guns set in a garden in the day-time, where the party wounded had uo notice. T 4 328 made to murder all alike, and it does murder all alike. Blackstone says, that the law of Eng- land, like that of every other well-regu- lated community, is tender of the public peace, and careful of the lives of the subjects ; " that it will not suffer with impunity any crime to be pre- vented $y death, unless the same, if committed, would also be punislied by death." (Commentaries, vol. iv. p. 182.) " The law sets so high a value upon the life of a man, that it always intends some misbehaviour in the person who takes it away, unless by the command, or express permission of thelaw." "And as to the necessity which excuses a man who kills another se defendendo, Lord Bacon calls even that necessitas cutpabilis." (Commentaries, vol. iv. p. 187.) So far this Luminary of the law. But the very amusements of the rich are, in the estimation of Mr. Justice Best, of so great importance, that the poor are to be exposed to sudden death who interfere with them. There are other persons of the same opinion with this magistrate respecting the pleasures of the rich. In the last Session ol Parliament a bill was passed, entitled " An Act for the summary Punishment, in certain cases, of Persons wilfully or maliciously damaging, or committing Trespasses on public or private Pro- perty." Annoprimo (a bad specimen of what is to happen) Georgii IV. Regis, cap. 56. In this act it is pro- vided, that " if any person shall wilfully, or maliciously, commit any damage, injury, or spoil, upon any building fence, hedge, gate, stile, guide-post milestone, tree, wood, underwood orchard, garden, nursery-ground, crops vegetables, plants, land, or other matter or thing growing or being therein, or to or upon real or personal property o any nature or kind soever, he may be immediately seized by anybody, with- out a warrant, taken before a magistrate and fined, (according to the mischief he has done) to the extent of 5l. ; or, in default of payment, may be committee to the jail for three months." And a the end comes a clause, exempting from the operation of this act all mis chief done in hunting, and by shooter are qualified. This is surely the most impudent piece of legislation that ver crept into the statute-book ; and, oupled with Mr. Justice Best's decla- ation, constitutes the following affec- ionate relation between the different rders of society. Says the higher link o the lower, " If you meddle with my ame, I will immediately murder you ; if you commit the slightest injury upon my real or personal property, I vill take you before a magistrate, and ine you five pounds. I am in Parlia- ment, and you are not ; and I have ust brought in an act of Parliament or that purpose. But so important is t to you that my pleasures should not je interrupted, that I have exempted myself and friends from the operation of this act ; and we claim the right ^without allowing you any such sum- mary remedy) of riding over your fences, hedges, gates, stiles, guide- posts, milestones, woods, underwoods, orchards, gardens, nursery-grounds, crops, vegetables, plants, lands, or other matters or things growing or being thereupon including your children and yourselves, if you do not get out of the way." Is there, upon earth, such a mockery of justice as an act of Par- liament, pretending to protect property, sending a poor hedge-breaker to jail, and specially exempting from its ope- ration the accusing and the judging squire, who, at the tail of the hounds, have that morning, perhaps, ruined as much wheat and seeds as would pur- chase fuel a whole year for a whole village ? It cannot be urged, in extenuation of such a murder as we have described, that, the artificer of death had no par- ticular malice against the deceased ; that his object was general, and his indignation levelled against offenders in the aggregate. Everybody knows that there is a malice by implication of law. " In general, any formal design of doing mischief may be called malice ; and, therefore, not such killing only as proceeds from premeditated hatred and revenge against the person killed, but also, in many other cases, such as is accompanied with those circumstances SPRING GUNS AND MAN TRAPS. 329 that show the heart to be perversely wicked, is adjudged to be of malice prepense." (2 Haw. c. 31.) " For, where the law makes use of the term, malice aforethought, as de- scriptive of the crime of murder, it is not to be understood in that narrow restrained sense in which the modern use of the word malice is apt to lead one, a principle of malevolence to par- ticulars ; for the law, by the term ma- lice, malitia, in this instance meaneth, that the fact hath been attended with such circumstances as are the ordinary symptoms of a wicked heart regardless of social duty, and fatally bent upon mischief." (Post 256, 257.) Ferocity is the natural weapon of the common people. If gentlemen of edu- cation and property contend with them at this sort of warfare, they will pro- bably be defeated in the end. If spring guns are generally set if the common people are murdered by them, and the Legislature does not interfere, the posts of gamekeeper and lord of the manor will soon be posts of honour and danger. The greatest curse under heaven (wit- ness Ireland) is a peasantry demoralised by the barbarity and injustice of their rulers. It is expected by some persons, that the severe operation of these engines will put an end to the trade of a poacher. This has always been pre- dicated of every fresh operation of se- verity, that it was to put an end to poaching. But if this argument is good for one thing, it is good for another. Let the first pickpocket who is taken be hung alive by the ribs, and let him be a fortnight in wasting to death. Let us seize a little grammar boy, who is robbing orchards, tie his arms and legs, throw over him a delicate puff- paste, and bake him in a bun-pan in an oven. If poaching can be extirpated by intensity of punishment, why not all other crimes? If racks and gibbets and tenter-hooks are the best method of bringing back the golden age, why do we retrain from so easy a receipt for abolishing every species of wickedness? The best way of answering a bad ar- gument is not to stop it, but to let it go on in its course till it leaps over the boundaries of common sense. There is a little book called Beccaria on Crimes and Punishments, which we strongly recommend to the attention of Mr. Justice Best. He who has not read it, is neither fit to make laws, nor to administer them when made. As to the idea of abolishing poach- ing altogether, we will believe that poaching is abolished when it is found impossible to buy game ; or when they have risen so greatly in price, that none but people of fortune can buy them. But we are convinced this never can and never will happen. All the traps and guns in the world will never prevent the wealth of the mer- chant and manufacturer from com- manding the game of the landed gentleman. You may, in the pursuit of this visionary purpose, render the common people savage, ferocious, and vindictive ; you may disgrace your laws by enormous punishments, and the national character by these new secret assassinations ; but you will never separate the wealthy glutton from his pheasant. The best way is, to take what you want, and to sell the rest fairly and openly. This is the real spring gun and steel trap which will annihilate, not the unlawful trader, but the unlawful trade. There is a sort of horror in thinking of a whole land filled with lurking en- gines of death machinations against human life under every green tree traps and guns in every dusky dell and bosky bourn the ferae naturd, the lords of manors, eyeing their pea- santry as so many butts and marks, and panting to hear the click of the trap and to see the flash of the gun. How any human being, educated in liberal knowledge and Christian feel- ing, can doom to certain destruction a poor wretch, tempted by the sight of animals that naturally appear to him to belong to one person as well as another, we are at a loss to conceive. We cannot imagine how he could live in the same village, and see the widow and orphans of the man whose blood he had shed for such a trifle. We consider a person who could do this to be deficient in the very elements 330 STATE OF PRISONS. of morals to want that sacred regard to human life which is one of the corner stones of civil society. If he sacrifice the life of man for his mere pleasures, he would do so, if he dared, for the lowest and least of his passions. He may be defended, perhaps, by the abominable injustice of the Game Laws though we think and hope he is not. But there rests upon his head, and there is marked in his account, the deep and indelible sin of blood- guiltiness. PRISONS. (E. REVIEW, 1821.) 1. Thoughts on the Criminal Prisons of this Country, occasioned by tlie BUI now in the Souse of Commons, for Consolida- ting and Amending the Laws relating to Prisons; with some Remarks on the Practice of looking to the Task-Master of the Prison rather than to the Chap- lain for the Reformation of Offenders; and of purchasing the Work of those whom the Law has condemned to hard Labour as a Punishment, by allowing them to spend a Portion of their Earnings during their Imprisonment. By George Holford, Esq. M.P. Rivington. 1821. 2. Gurney on Prisons. Constable & Co. 1819. 3. Report of Society for bettering the Con- dition of Prisons. Bensley. 1820. THERE are, in every county in Eng- land, large public schools, maintained at the expense of the county, for the encouragement of profligacy and vice, and for providing a proper succes- sion of housebreakers, profligates, and thieves. They are schools, too, con- ducted without the smallest degree of partiality or favour; there being no man (however mean his birth, or obscure his situation), who may not easily procure admission to them. The mo- ment any young person evinces. the slightest propensity for these pursuits, he is provided with food, clothing, and lodging, and put to his studies under the most accomplished thieves and cut-throats the county can supply. There is not, to be sure, a formal arrangement of lectures, after the manner of our Universities ; but the petty larcenous stripling, being left destitute of every species of employ- ment, and locked up with accomplished villains as idle as himself, listens to their pleasant narrative of successful crimes, and pants for the hour of freedom, that he may begin the same bold and interesting career. This is a perfectly true picture of the prison establishments of many counties in England, and was so, till very lately, of almost all ; and the effects so completely answered the design, that, in the year 1818, there were committed to the jails of the United Kingdom more than one hun- dred and seven thousand persons ! * a number supposed to be greater than that of all the commitments in the other kingdoms of Europe put together. The bodily treatment of prisoners has been greatly improved since the time of Howard. There is still, how- ever, much to do ; and the attention of good and humane people has been lately called to their state of moral discipline. It is inconceivable to what a spirit of party this has given birth; all the fat and sleek people the enjoyers the mumpsimus, and " well as we are " people, are perfectly outrageous at being compelled to do their duty ; and to sacrifice time and money to the lower orders of mankind. Their first resource was, to deny all the facts which were brought forward for the purposes of amendment ; and the al- derman's sarcasm of the Turkey car- pet in jails was bandied from one hard-hearted and fat-witted gentleman to another: but the advocates of pri- son-improvement are men in earnest not playing at religion, but of deep feeling, and of indefatigable industry in charitable pursuits. Mr. Buxton went in company with men of the most irreproachable veracity ; and found, in the heart of the metropolis, and in a prison of which the very Turkey carpet alderman was an official visitor, scenes of horror, filth, and cruelty, which would have disgraced even the interior of a slave-ship. This dislike of innovation proceeds sometimes from the disgust excited by * Report of Prison Society, xiv. STATE OF PRISONS. 331 fake humanity, canting hypocrisy, and silly enthusiasm. It proceeds also from a stupid and indiscriminate hor- ror of change, whether of evil for good, or good for evil. There is also much party spirit in these matters. A good deal of these humane projects and insti- tutions originate from Dissenters. The plunderers of the public, the jobbers, and those who sell themselves to some great man, who sells himself to a greater, all scent, from afar, the dan- ger of political change, are sensible that the correction of one abuse may lead to that of another feel uneasy at any visible operation of public spirit and justice hate and tremble at a man who exposes and rectifies abuses from a sense of duty and think, if such things are suffered to be, that their candle-ends and cheese- parings are no longer safe: and these sagacious persons, it must be said for them, are not very wrong in this feel- ing. Providence, which has denied to them all that is great and good, has given them a fine tact for the preser- vation of their plunder : their real enemy is the spirit of inquiry the dislike of wrong the love of right and the courage and diligence which are the concomitants of these virtues. When once this spirit is up, it may be as well directed to one abuse as another. To say you must not torture a prisoner with bad air and bad food, and to say you must not tax me without my consent, or that of my representative, are both emanations of the same prin- ciple, occurring to the same sort of understanding, congenial to the same disposition, published, protected, and enforced by the same qualities. This it is that really excites the horror against Mrs. Fry, Mr. Gurney, Mr. Bennet, and Mr. Buxton. Alarmists such as we have described have no particular wish that prisons should be dirty, jailers cruel, or prisoners wretched ; they care little about such matters either way ; but all their ma- lice and meanness is called up into action when they see secrets brought to light, and abuses giving way be- fore the diffusion of intelligence, and the aroused feelings of justice and compassion. As for us, we have nei- ther love of change, nor fear of it ; but a love of what is just and wise, as far as we are able to find it. out. In this spirit we shall offer a few observations upon prisons, and upon the publications before us. The new law should keep up the distinction between Jails and Houses of Correction. One of each should exist in every county, either at a distance from* each other, or in such a state of juxtaposition that they might be under the same governor. To the jail should be committed all persons accused of capital offences, whose trials would come on at the Assizes ; to the house of correction all offenders whose cases would be cognisable at the Quarter- sessions. Sentence of imprisonment in the house of correction, after trial, should carry with it hard labour ; sen- tence of imprisonment in the jail, after trial, should imply an exemption from compulsory labour. There should be no compulsory labour in jails only in houses of correction. In using the terms Jail and House of Correction, we shall always attend to these distinc- tions. Prisoners for trial should not only not be compelled to labour, but they should have every indulgence shown to them compatible with safety. No chains much better diet than they commonly have all possible access to their friends and relations and means of earning money if they choose it. The broad and obvious distinction between prisoners before and after trial should constantly be attended to ; to violate it is gross tyranny and cruelty. The jails for men and women should be so far separated, that nothing could be seen or heard from one to the other. The men should be divided into two classes, 1st, those who are not yet tried ; 2dly, those who are tried and convicted. The first class should be divided into those who are accused as misdemeanants and as felons; and each of these into first misdemeanants and second misdemeanants, men of better and worse character ; and the same with felons. The second class should be divided into, 1st, persons condemned 332 STATE OF PRISONS. to death ; Idly, persons condemned for transportation ; 3dly, first class confined, or men of the best character under sentence of confinement ; 4th!y, second confined, or men of worse cha- racter under sentence of confinement. To these are to be added separate places for king's evidence, boys, luna- tics, and places for the first recep- tion of prisoners, before they can be examined and classed : a chapel, hospital, yards, and workshop% for such as are willing to work. The classifications in jails will then be as follows: Men before Trial. 1st Misdemeanants. 2d Ditto. 1st Felon. 2d Ditto. Men after Trial. Sentenced to death. Ditto transportation. 1st Confined. 2rcak out of, prison. The mob out- ide may, indeed, envy the wicked jnes within ; but the felon who has eft, perhaps, a scolding wife, a bat- ered cottage, and six starving children, las no disposition to escape from egularity, sufficient food, employment vhich saves him money, warmth, ven- ilation, cleanliness, and civil treat- ment. These symptoms, tipon which hese respectable and excellent men ay so much stress, are by no means )roofs to us that prisons are placed ipon the best possible footing. The Governor of Bury jail, as well as Mr. Gurney, insist much upon the ew prisoners who return to the jail a second time, the manufacturing' skill which they acquire there, and the complete reformation of manners, for which the prisoner has afterwards ;hanked him the governor. But this is not the real criterion of the cxcel- ence of a jail, nor the principal reason why jails were instituted. The great ooint is, not the average recurrence of ;he same prisoners ; but the paucity or frequency of commitments, upon the whole. You may make a jail such an admirable place of education, that it may cease to be infamous to go there. Mr. Holford tells us (and a very curious anecdote it is), that parents actually accuse their children falsely of crimes, in order to get them into the Philanthropic Charity ! and that it is consequently a rule with the Governors of that Charity never to receive a child upon the accusation of the parents alone. But it is quite obvious what the next step will be, if the parents cannot get their children in by fibbing. They will take good care that the child is really qualified for the Philanthropic, by impelling him to those crimes which are the passport to so good an education. "If, on the contrary, the offender is to be punished simply by being placed in a prison, where he is to be well lodged, well clothed, and well fed, to be instructed in reading and writing, to receive a moral and religious education, and to be brought up to a trade; and if this prison is to be within the reach of the parents, so that STATE OF PRISONS. 337 they may occasionally visit their child, and tions upon this point in Mr. Holford's have the satisfaction of knowing, from j book, who upon the whole has, we time to time, that all these advantages are ! think? best treated t h e subject of conferred upon him and that he is exposed j and best understands them . to no hardships, although the cjnniieiueiit j r and the discipline of the prison may be i "In former times, men were deterred irksome to the boy ; yet the parents may from pursuing the road that led to a prison, be apt to congratulate themslves on having by the apprehension of encountering there got him off their hands into so good a berth, disease and hunger, of being loaded with and may be considered by other parents heavy irons, and of remaining without as having drawn a prize in the lottery of clothes to cover them, or abed to lie on: we human life by then- son's conviction. This have done no more than what justice re- reasoning is not theoretical, but is founded , quired in relieving the inmates of a prison, in some degree upon experience. Those i from these hardships; but there is no reason who have been in the habit of attending the committee of the Philanthropic So- ciety know, that parents have often ac- cused their children of crimes falsely, cr have exaggerated their real offences, for the sake of inducing that Society to take them; and so frequent has been this practice, tliat it is a rule with those who manage that Institution, never to receive an object upon the representation of its parents, unless supported by other strong testimony." -* (Holford, pp. 41, 45.) It is quite obvious that, if men were to appear again, six months after they were hanged, handsomer, richer, and more plump than before execution, the gallows would cease to be an object of terror. But here are men who come out of jail, and say, "Look at us we j to make j^ do the read and write, we can make baskets and shoes, and we went in ignorant of everything : and we have learnt to do without strong liquors, and have no longer any objection to work ; and we did work in the jail, and have saved money, and here it is. " What is there of terror and detri- ment in all this ? and how are crimes to be lessened if they are thus re- warded ? Of schools there cannot be too many. Penitentiaries, in the hands of wise "men, may be rendered excel- lent institutions; but a prison mu^-t be a prison a place of sorrow and wailing; which should be entered with horror, and quitted with earnest reso- lution never to return to such misery; with that deep impression, in short, of the evil, which breaks out into perpetual warning and exhortation to others. This great point effected, all other reformation must do the greatest good. There are some very sensible observa- VOL. L all other sufferings and privations. And I hope that those whose duty it is to take up the consideration of these subjects will see, that in Penitentiaries, offenders should be subjected to separate confinement, ac- companied by such work as may be found consistent with that system of imprison- ment ; that in Gaols or Houses of Correc- tion, they should perform that kind of labour which the law has enjoined; and that, in prisons of both descriptions, instead of being allowed to cater for themselves, they should be sustained by such food as the rules and regulations of the establish- ment should have provided for them; in short, that prisons should be considered as places of punishment, and not as scenes of cheerful industry, where a compromise must be made with the prisoner's appetites work of a journeyman or manufacturer, and the labours of the spinning-wheel and the loom must be alleviated by indulgence." * * " That I ain guilty of no exaggeration in thus describing a prison conducted upon the principles now coming into fashion will be evident to any person who will turn to the latter part of the article ' Peniten- tiary, Millbank,' in Mr. Buxton's Book on Prisons. He there states what passed in conversation between himself and the Go- vernor of Bury gaol (which gaol, by the bye, he praises as one of the three best prisons he has ever seen, and .strongly recom- mends to our imitation at Millbank). Hav- ing observed, that the Governor of Bury gaol bad mentioned his having counted 3* spinning wheels in full activity when he left that gaol at 5 o'clock in the morning on the preceding day, Mr. Bnxton proceeds as follows: 'After he had seen the Miil- bank Penitentiary, I asked him what i would be the consequence, if the regulations there used were adopted by him ? consequence would-be," he replied^ "that be con- sidered as supposing that the prisoners will altogether refuse to work at Millbank they will work during the stated hours every wheel would be stonped. Buxton then adds, ' I would not 338 STATE OF PRISONS This is good sound sense; and it is a pity that it is preceded by the usual nonsense about " the tide of blasphemy and sedition." If Mr. Holford is an observer of tides and currents, whence comes it that he observes only those which set one way? Whence comes it that he says nothing of the tides of canting and hypocrisy, which are flowing with such rapidity? of ab- ject political baseness and sycophancy _ of the disposition ' so prevalent among Englishmen, to sell their con- science and their country to the Mar- quis of Londonderry for a living for the second son or a silk gown for the nephew or for a frigate for my brother the captain? How comes our loyal careerist to forget all these sorts of tides ? There is a great confusion, as the law now stands, in the government of jails. The justices are empowered, by several statutes, to make subor- dinate regulations for the government of the jails; and the sheriff supersedes those regulations. Their respective but the present incentive being wanting, the labour will, I apprehend, be languid and desultory.' I shall not, on my part, undertake to say that they will do as much work as will be done in those prisons m which work is the primary obiect; but, be- sides the encouragement of the portion of earnings laid up for them, they know that diligence is among the qualities that will recommend them to the mercy of the Crown, and that the want of it is, by the rules and regulations of the prison, an oftence to be punished. The Governor of Bury gaol, who is a very intelligent man, must have spoken hastily, in his eagerness to support his own system, and did not, I conceive, give himself credit for as much power and authority in his prison as he really possesses. It is not to be wondered at, that the keepers of prisons should like the new system: there is less trouble in the care of a manufactory than in that of a gaol ; but I am surprised to find that so much reliance is placed in argument on the declaration of some of these officers, that the prisoners are quieter where their work is encouraged by allowing them to spend a portion of their earnings. It may naturally be expected, that offenders will l>e least discontented, and consequently least turbulent, where their punishment is lightest, or where, to use Mr. Buxton's own words, 'by making labour productive of comfort or convenience, you do much towards rendering it agreeable;' but I must be permitted to doubt whether these are the prisons of which men will live in most dread." (Uolford, pp. 7880.) jurisdictions and powers should ba clearly arranged. The female prisoners should be under the care of a matron, with proper as- sistants. Where this is not the case, the female part of the prison is often a mere brothel for the turnkeys. Can anything be so repugnant to all ideas of reformation, as rf male turnkey visiting a solitary female prisoner ? Surely, women can take care of wo- men as effectually as men can take care of men ; or, at least, women can do so properly, assisted by men. This want of a matron is a very scandalous and immoral neglect in any prison system. The presence of female visitors, and instructors for the women, is so ob- viously advantageous and proper, that the offer of forming such an institution must be gladly and thankfully received by any body of magistrates. That they should feel any jealousy of such interference is too absurd a supposition to be made or agreed upon. Such interference may not effect all that zealous people suppose it will effect; but, if it does any good, it had better be. Irons should never be put upon, prisoners before trial; after trial we cannot object to the humiliation and disgrace which irons and a parti-co- loured prison dress occasion. Let them be a part of solitary confinement, and let the words " Solitary Confine- ment," in the sentence, imply permis- sion to use them. The Judge then knows what he inflicts. We object to the office of Prison Inspector, for reasons so very obvious, that it is scarcely necessary to enu- merate them. The prison inspector would, of course, have a good salary; that, in England, is never omitted. It is equally matter of course, that he would be taken from among Treasury retainers ; and that he never would look at a prison. Every sort of atten- tion should be paid to the religious instruction of these unhappy people, but the poor chaplain should be paid a little better; every possible duty is expected from him and he has one hundred per annum. STATE OF PRISONS. 339 Whatever money is given to pri- soners, should be lodged with the governor for their benefit, to be applied as the visiting magistrates point out no other donations should be allowed or accepted. If voluntary work before trial, or compulsory work after trial, be the system of a prison, there should be a taskmaster ; and it should be remem- bered, that the principal object is not profit. Wardsmen, selected in each yard among the best of the prisoners, are very serviceable. If prisoners work, they should work in silence. At all times, the restrictions upon seein friends should be very severe; and no food should be sent from friends. Our general system then is that a prison should be a place of real punish- ment ; but of known, enacted, measur- able, and measured punishment. A prisoner (not for assault, or refusing to pay parish dues, but a bad felonious prisoner; should pass a part of his three months in complete darkness ; the rest in complete solitude, perhaps in com- plete idleness (for solitary idleness leads to repentance, idleness in com- pany to vice). He should be exempted from cold, be kept perfectly clean, have sufficient food to prevent hunger ur illness, wear the prison dress and moderate irons, have no communica- tion with anybody but the officers of the prison and the magistrates, and remain otherwise in the most perfect solitude. We strongly suspect this is the way in which a bad man is to be made afraid of prisons ; nor do we think that he would be less inclined to receive moral and religious instruc- tion, than any one of seven or eight carpenters in jail, working at a com- mon bench, receiving a part of their earnings, and allowed to purchase with them the delicacies of the season. If this system be not resorted to, the next best system is severe work, ordinary diet, no indulgences, and as much se- clusion and solitude as are compatible with work; always remarking, that perfect sanity of mind and body are to be preserved. To this system of severity in jails there is but one objection. The present duration of punishments was calculated for prisons conducted upon very dif- ferent principles; and if the discipline of prisons were rendered more strict, we are not sure that the duration of imprisonmjut would be practically shortened ; and the punishments would then be quite atrocious and dispropor- tioned. There is a very great disposi- tion, both in judges and magistrates, to increase the duration of imprisonment; and, if that be done, it will be dreadful cruelty to increase the bitterness as well as the time. We should think, for in- stance, six months' solitary imprison- ment to be a punishment of dreadful severity ; but we find, from the House of Commons' Report, that prisoners are sometimes committed by county magis- trates for two years* of solitary con- finement. And so it may be doubted, whether it is not better to wrap up the rod in flannel, and make it a plaything, as it really now is, than to show how it may be wielded with effectual severity. For the pupil, instead of giving one or two stripes, will whip his patient to death. But if this abuse were guarded against, the real way to improve would be, now we have made prisons healthy and airy, to make them odious and austere engines of punishment, and objects of terror. In this age of charity and of prison improvement, there is one aid to pri- soners which appears to be wholly overlooked; and that is, the means of regulating their defence, and providing them witnesses for their trial. A man is tried for murder, or for housebreak- ing, or robbery, without a single shil- ling in his pocket. The nonsensical and capricious institutions of the Eng- lish law prevent him from engaging counsel to speak in his defence, if he lad the wealth of Crasus ; but he has no money to employ even an attorney, or to procure a single witness, or to take out a subpoena. The Judge, we are told, is his counsel, this is sufficiently absurd; but it is not pre- tended that the Judge is his witness. lie solemnly declares that he has three or four witnesses who could give a * House of Commons' Report, 355. Z 2 340 MAN TRAPS AND SPRING GUNS. completely different colour to the trans- action; but they are sixty or seventy miles distant, working for their daily bread, and have no money for such a journey, nor for the expense of a resi- dence of some days in an Assize Town. They do not know even the time of the Assize, nor the modes of tendering their evidence if they could come. When everything is so well marshalled against him on the opposite side, it would be singular if an innocent man, with such an absence of all means of defending himself, should not occasionally be hanged or transported ; and accord- ingly we believe that such things have happened.* Let any man, immediately previous to the Assizes, visit the pri- soners for trial, and see the many wretches who are to answer to the most serious accusations, without one penny to defend themselves. If it appeared probable, upon inquiry, that these pooi creatures had important evidence which they could not bring into Court for want of money, would it not be a wise application of compassionate fund? to give them this fair chance of estab- lishing their innocence? It seems to us no bad finale of the pious labours o< those who guard the poor from ill treatment during their imprisonment. to take care that they are not unjustly hanged at the expiration of the term. * From the Clonmel Advertiser it ap- pears, that John Brien, alias Captain Wheeler, was found guilty of murder at the late assizes for the county of "Waterford Previous to his execution he made the 'fol lowing confession : " I now again most solemnly aver, in the presence of that God by whom I will soor be judged, and who sees the secrets of mj heart, that only three, viz. Morgan Brien Patrick Brien , atidmy unfortunate self, com mitted the horrible crimes of murder and burning at Bally garron, and that the fou unfortunate, men who have before sufferec for them were not in the smallest degre accessary to them. I have been the cause for which they have innocently sufferer death. I have contracted a debt of justic with them and the only and least rest! tution I can make them, is thus publicly solemnly, and with death before my eyes to acquit their memory of any guilt in th crimes for which I shall deservedly suf fer ! ! 1 " (Philanthropist, No. 6. 208.) ; Pereunt et imputantur. MAN TRAPS AND SPRING GUNS. (E. REVIEW, 1821.) teports of Cases argued and determined in the Court of King's Bench, in Hilary Term, 60th Geo. III. 1820. By Richard V. Barnewall, of Lincoln's Inn, Esq. Bar- rister-at-Law, and Edward H. Aldersou, of the Inner Temple, Esq. Barrister-at- Law. Vol. III. Part II. London, 1820. iTosT of our readers will remember, hat we very lately published an article pon the use of Steel Traps and Spring Guns ; and, in the course of discussion, iad occasion to animadvert upon the leport of Mr. Justice Best's judgment, n the case of Ilott and Wilkes, as re- orted in Chetwynd's Edition of Burn's Justice, published in the spring of the >resent year. In the Morning Chro- licle, of the 4th of June, 1821, Mr. Justice Best is reported to have made he following observations in the King's 3ench: 'Mr. Justice Best said, Mr. Chetwynd's rook having been mentioned by my Learned Brother Bayley, I must take this oppor- tunity, not without some pain, of adverting 10 what I am reported in his work to have said in the case of Ilott v. Wilkes, and of correcting a most gross misrepresentation. [ am reported to have concurred with the other Judges, and to have delivered my _udgment at considerable length, and then to have said, ' This case has been discussed at the Bar, as if these engines were ex- clusively resorted to foj- the protection of game ; but I consider them as lawfully applicable to the protection of every species of property against unlawful trespassers.' This is not what I stated; but the part which I wish more particularly to deny, as ever having said, or even conceived, is this 'But if even they might not lawfully bo used for the protection of game, I, for one, should be extremely glafi to adopt such means, if they were found sufficient for that purpose.' I confess I am surprised that this learned person should suppose, from the note of any one, that any person who ever sat in a Court of Justice as a Judge could talk such wicked nonsense as I am made to talk ; and I am surprised that he should venture to give the autho- rity he does for what he has published ; for I find, that the reference he gives in the Appendix to his book is 3 Barn, and Aid. 304., where there is a correct report of that case, and where it will be found that every word uttered by me is directly contrary to what I am supposed, by Mr. Chetwynd's MAN TRAPS AND SPRING GUNS. 341 statement of the case, to have said. I don't trouble the Court with reading the whole of what I did say on that occasion, but I will just say that I said' My Brother Bayley has illustrated this case by the question which he asked, namely, Can you indict a man for putting spring guns in his enclosed field? I think the question put by Lord Chief Justice Gibbs, in the case of Dean v. Clayton, in the Common Pleas, a still better illustration, viz. Can you justify entering into enclosed lands to take away guns so set ? If both these questions must be answered in the negative, it cannot be unlawful to set spring guns in an en- closed field at a distance from any road, giving such notice that they are set as to render it in the highest degree probable that all persons in the neighbourhood must know that they are so set. Humanity re- quires that the fullest notice possible should be given ; and the law of England will not sanction what is inconsistent with hu- manity.' A popular work has quoted this Report from Mr. Chetwynd's Work, but has omitted this important line (which omission reminds one of the progress of a thing, the name of which one does not choose to mention), that I had concurred in what had fallen from the other Judges;' and omitting that line, they state, that one had said, ' It is my opinion that with notice, or without notice, this might be done.' Now, concurring with the other Judges, it is impossible I should say that. It is right that this should be corrected ; not that I entertain any angry feeling, for too much time has elapsed since then for any anger to remain on my mind; but all I claim, with respect to the observations made in that work, severe as they are (and I, for one, feel that I should deserve no mercy if I should ever entertain such doctrines), is that I may not be misrepresented. It is not necessary for me, in this place, to say, that no man entertains more horror of the doctrine I am supposed to have laid down than I do ; that the life of man is to be treated lightly and indifferently, in com- parison with the preservation of game, and the amusement of sporting ; that the laws of humanity are to be violated for the sake merely of preserving the amusement of game. I am sure no man can justly im- pute to me such wicked doctrines. It is unnecessary for me to say, that I entertain no such sentiments ; and therefore I hope I shall be excused, not on account of my own feelings, but as far as the public are inte- rested in the character of a Judge, in say- ing, that no person should blame a Judge for what has been unjustly put into his mouth." His Lordship's speech is reported in the New Times of the same date, as follows : "Mr. Justice Best said, 'My Brother Bayley has quoted Mr. Chetwynd's edition of Burn : I am surprised that the learned author of that work should have made me talk such mischievous nonsense, as he has given to the public in a report of my judg- ment in the case of Ilott and Wilkes. I am still more surprised, that he should have suffered this judgment to remain un- corrected, after he had seen a true report of the case in Barnewall and Alderson, to which report he has referred in his Ap- pendix.' Mr. Chetwynd's report has the following passage : ' Mr. Justice Best con- curred with the other Judges.' His Lordship concluded as follows : ' This case has been discussed at the Bar, as if these engines were exclusively resorted to for the pro- tection of game ; but I considered them as lawfully applicable to the protection of every species of property against unlawful trespassers. But if even they might not lawfully be used for the protection of game, I, for one, should beextremely glad to adopt such measures, if they were found sufficient for that purpose.' " A popular periodical work contains the passage just cited, with the omission of the words ' concurred with the other Judges.' Of this omission I have reason to com- plain, because, if it had been inserted, the writer of the article could not have said, ' It follows, that a man may put his fellow- creatures to death for any infringement of his property, for picking the sloes and blackberries off his hedges ; for breaking a few dead sticks out of them by night or by day, with resistance or without resist- ance, with warning or without warning.' The Judges with whom Mr. Chetwynd makes me concur in opinion, all gave their judgment on the ground of due notice being given. I do not complain of the other obser- vations contained in this work ; they would have been deserved by me had I ever ut- tered such an opinion as the report of Mr. Chetwynd has stated me to have delivered. The whole of what I said will be found to be utterly inconsistent with the state- ment by those who will read the case in 'Barnewall and Alderson.' I will only trouble the Court with the passage which will be found in the report of my judg- ment in ' 3 Baruewall and Alderson, 319. : ' ' It cannot be unlawful to set spring guns in an enclosed field, at a distance from any road, giving such notice that they are set, as to render it in the highest degree probable that all persons in the neighbour- hood must know that they are so set. Hu- z 3 3-12 MAN TRAPS AND SPRING GUNS. o be protected, at a distance from the esidence of the owner, in the night, and n the absence of his servants? It has een said, that the law has provided re- .edies for any injuries to such things by ction. But the offender must be detected efore he can be subjected to an action ; nd the expense of continual watching for his purpose would often exceed the value f the property to be protected. If we ook at the subject in this point of view, we lay find, amongst poortenants.whoare pre- ented from paying their rents by the plun- .er of their crops, men who are moreobjects manity required that the fullest notice possible should be given ; and the law of England will not sanction what is incon- sistent with humanity.' I have taken the first opportunity of saying this, because I think it of importance to the public that- such a misrepresentation of the opinion of one of the Judges should not be circulated without some notice." We subjoin the report of Messrs. Barnewall and Alderson, here alluded to, and allowed by Mr. Justice Best to be correct. " Best, J. The act of the plaintiff could only occasion mere nominal damage to the wood of the defendant. The injury that the plaintiff's trespass has brought upon himself is extremely severe. In such a case, one cannot, without pain, decide against the action. But we must not allow our feelings to induce us to lose sight of the principles which are essential to the rights of property. The prevention of intrusion upon property is one of these rights ; and every proprietor is allowed to use the force that is absolutely necessary to vindicate it. If he uses more force than is absolutely necessary, he renders himself responsible for all the consequences of the excess. Thus, if a man comes on my land, I cannot lay hands on him to remove him, until I have desired him to go off. If he will not depart on request, I cannot proceed im- mediately to beat him, but must endeavour to push him off. If he is too powerful for me, I cannot use a dangerous weapon, but must first call in aid other assistance. I am speaking of out-door property, and of cases in which no felony is to be apprehended. It is evident also, that this doctrine is only applicable to tres- passes committed in the presence of the owner of the property trespassed on. When the owner and the servants are ab- sent at the time of the trespass, it can only be repelled by the terror of spring guns, or other instruments of the same kind. There is, in such cases, no possi bility of proportioning the resisting force to the obstinacy and violence of the tres passer, as the owner of the close may anc is required to do where he is present. There is no distinction between the mode of defenc< of one species of out-door property and an other (except in cases where the taking or breaking into the property amounts tc felony). If the owner of woods cannot se spring guns in his woods, the owner of an orchard, or of a field with potatoes or tur nips or any other crop usually the object o plunder, cannot set them in such fiel( How, then, are these kinds of propert our compassion than the wanton tres- Misser, who brings on himself the injury vhich he suffers. If an owner of a close annot set spring guns, he cannot put glass iottles or spikes on the top of a wall, or ven have a savage dog, to prevent persons rom entering his yard. It has been said, n argument, that you may see the glass settles or spikes ; and it is admitted, that et was pointed out to the trespasser, tie could not maintain any action for the njury he received from one of them. As seeing the glass bottles or spikes, that must depend on the circumstance whether t be light or dark at the time of the tres- pass. But what difference does it make, whether the trespasser be told the gun is let in such a spot, or that there are guns n different parts of such a field, if he has no right to go on any part of that field ? 1 is absurd to say you may set the guns, provided you tell the trespasser exactly where they are set, because then the set- ;ing them could answer no purpose. My jrother Bayley has illustrated this case, sy the question which he asked, namely, Can you indict a man for putting spring guns in his enclosed field? I think the question put by Lord C. J. Gibbs, in the case in the Common Pleas, a still better llustration, viz. Can you justify entering into enclosed lands, to take away guns so set ? If both these questions must be an- swered in the negative, it cannot be un- lawful to set spring guns in an enclosed field, at a distance from any road, giving such notice that they are set, as to render it in the highest degree probable that all persons in the neighbourhood must know that they are so set. Humanity requires that the fullest notice possible should be given ; and the law of England will not sanction what is inconsistent with hu- manity. It has been said in argument, that it is a principle of law, that you cannot do indirectly what you are not permitted to do directly. This principle is not ap- plicable to the case. You cannot shoot a MAN TRAPS AND SPRING GUNS. 343 man that comes on your land, because you spectahle and temperate Judge mi"-ht may turn him off by means less hurtful to f air i y have utt ered. Had such been proceed on his walk, knowing that he must tread on a wire, and so shoot himself with a spring gun, you would be liable to all the consequences that would follow. The invitation to him to pursue his walk is doing indirectly, what, by drawing the trigger of a gun with your own hand, is done directly. But the case is just the reverse, if, instead of inviting him to walk on your land, you tell him to keep off, and warn him of what will follow if he does not. It is also said, that it is a maxim of law that you must so use your own pro- perty as not to injure another's. This maxim I admit ; but I deny its application to the case of a man who comes to trespass on my property. It applies only to cases where a man has only a transient property, such as in the air or water that passes over his land, and which he must not corrupt by nuisance ; or where a man has a qualified property, as in land near another's ancient windows, or in land over which another has a right of way. In the first case, he must do nothing on his land to stop the light of the windows, or, in the second, to obstruct the way. This case has been argued, as if it appeared in it that the guns were set to preserve game ; but that is not so; they were set to prevent trespasses on the lands of the defendant. Without, however, saying in whom the property of game is vested, I say, that a man has a right to keep persons off his lands in order to preserve the game. Much money is expended in the protection of game ; and it would be hard, if, in one night, when the keepers are absent, a gang of poachers might destroy what has been kept at so much cost. If you do not allow men of landed estates to preserve their game, you will not prevail on them to reside in the country. Their poor neighbours will thus loose their protection and kind offices; and the Government the support that it derives from an independent, enlightened, and un- paid magistracy " As Mr. Justice Best denies that he did say what a very respectable and grave law publication reported him to have said, and as Mr. Chetwynd and his reporter have made no attempt to vindicate their Report, of course our observations cease to be applicable. There is certainly nothing in the Term Report of Mr. Justice Best's speech j which calls for any degree of moral ! criticism ; nothing but what a re- have drawn from us one syllable of re- prehension. We beg leave, however, to observe, that we have never said that it was Mr. Justice Best's opinion, as reported in Chetwynd, that a man might be put to death without Notice, but without Warning ; by which we meant a very different thing. If notice was given on boards that certain grounds were guarded by watchmen with fire-arms, the watchmen, feeling perhaps some little respect for human life, would pro- bably call out to the man to stand and deliver himself up : " Stop, or I'll shoot you ! " " Stand, or you are a dead man ! " or some such compunc- tious phrases as the law compels living machines to use. But the trap can give no such warning can present to the intruder no alternative of death or surrender. Now, these different modes of action in the dead or the living guard, is what we alluded to in the words without warning. We meant to cha- racterise the ferocious, unrelenting na- ture of the means used and the words are perfectly correct and applicable, after all the printed notices in the world. Notice is the communication of some thing about to happen, after some little interval of time. Warning is the com- munication of some imminent danger. Nobody gives another notice that he will immediately shoot him through the head or warns him that he will be a dead man in less than thirty years. This, and not the disingenuous purpose ascribed to us by Mr. Justice Best, is the explanation of the offending words. We are thoroughly aware that Mr. Justice Best was an advocate for notice, and never had the most distant inten- tion of representing his opinion other- wise : and we really must say that (if the Report had been correct) there never was a judicial speech where there was so little necessity for having re- course to the arts of misrepresentation. We are convinced, however, that the Report is not correct and we are heartily glad it is not. There is in the Morning Chronicle an improper and 344 MAN TRAPS AND SPRING GUNS. offensive phrase, which (now we know i preliminary observations, because we Mr. Justice Best's style better) we shall had not the most distant idea of deny- - ing that Mr. Justice Best considered ample notice as necessary to the legality of these proceedings. There are passages in the Morning Chronicle already quoted, and in the Term Report, which we must take the liberty of putting in juxtaposition to each other. Mr. Justice Best in (lie Term Reports, Barnewall and Alder son. attribute to the reporters, and pass over without further notice. It would seem from thecomplaint of the learned Judge, that we had omitted something in the middle of the quotation from Chetwynd ; whereas we have quoted every word of the speech as Chetwynd has given it, and only began our quotation after the Mr. Justice Best in the Morn- ing Chronicle of the 4>th of June, 1821. It is not necessary for me in this place to say, that no man entertains more horror of the doctrine I am supposed to have laid down, than I do, that the life of man is to be treated lightly and indiffer- ently, in comparison with the preservation of game, and the amusement of sporting that the laws of humanity are to be violated for the sake merely of preserving the amusement of game. 1 am sure no man can justly impute to me such wicked doctrines ; it is un- necessary for me to say I en- tertain no such sentiments. In Barnewall and Alderson there is a correct report of that case. Morn. Chron. There is, perhaps, some little incon- sistency in these opposite extracts ; but we have not the smallest wish to in- sist upon it. We are thoroughly and honestly convinced that Mr. Justice Best's horror at the destruction of human life for the mere preservation of game is quite sincere. It is impos- sible, indeed, that any human being, of common good nature, could enter- tain a different feeling upon the subject, when it is earnestly pressed upon him ; and, though, perhaps, there may be Judges upon the Bench more remark- ablelbr imperturbable apathy, we never heard Mr. Justice Best accused of ill nature. In condescending to notice our observations, in destroying the credit of Chetwynd's Report, and in withdrawing the" canopy of his name from the bad passions of country gen- When the owner and his servants are absent at the time of the trespass, it can only be repelled by the terror of spring guns, or other instruments of the same kind. There is, in such cases, no possibility of proportioning the resisting force to the obstinacy and violence of the trespasser, as the owner of the close may, and is required to do when he is present. 317. Without saying in whom the property of game is vested, I say that a man has a right to keep persons off his lands, in order to preserve the game. Much money is expended on the protection of game ; and it would be hard if, in one night, when the keepers are absent, a gang of poachers might destroy what has been kept at so much cost. 320. If an owner of a close cannot set spring guns, he can- not put glass bottles or spikes on the top of a wall. 318. If both these questions must be answered in the ne- gative, it cannot be unlawful to set spring guns in an enclosed field, at a distance from any road ; giving such notice that they are set, as to render it in the highest degree probable that all persons in the neighbourhood must know they are so set. Humanity requires that the fullest notice possible should be ghen; and the law of England will not sanction what is inconsistent with humanity. Barnewall and Alderson, 319. tlemen, he has conferred a real favour upon the public. Mr. Justice Best, however, must ex- cuse us for saying, that we are not in the slightest degree convinced by his reasoning. We shall suppose a fifth Judge to have delivered his opinion in the case of Ilott against Wi/kes, and to have expressed himself in the following manner. But we must caution Mr. Chetwynd against introducing this fifth Judge in his next edition of Burn's Justice ; .and we assure him that he is only an imaginary personage. " My Brother Best justly observes, that prevention of intrusion upon pri- vate property is a right which every proprietor may act upon, and use force to vindicate the force absolutely ne- cessary for such vindication. If any man iutrude upon another's lands, the MAN TRAPS AND SPRING GUNS. 345 proprietor must first desire him to go off, then lay hands upon the intruder, then push him off; and if that will not do, call in aid other assistance, before he uses a dangerous weapon. If the proprietor uses more force than is ab- solutely necessary, he renders himself responsible for all the consequences of the excess. In this doctrine I cordially concur ; and admire (I am sure, with him) the sacred regard which our law everywhere exhibits for the life and safety of man its tardiness and re- luctance to proceed to extreme violence : but my learned brother then observes as follows : 'It is evident, also, that this doctrine is only applicable to tres- passes committed in the presence of the owner of the property trespassed upon. When the owner and his ser- vants are absent at the time of the tres- pass, it can only be repelled by the terror of spring guns, or other instru- ments of the same kind.' If Mr. Jus- tice Best means, by the terror of spring guns, the mere alarm that the notice excites or the powder without the bullets noise without danger it is not worth while to raise an argument upon the point ; for, absent or present, notice or no notice, such means must always be lawful But if my Brother Best means that in the absence of the proprietor, the intruder may be killed by such instruments, after notice, this is a doctrine to which I never can as- sent ; because it rests the life and secu- rity of the trespasser upon the accident of the proprietor's presence. In that presence there must be a most cautious and nicely graduated scale of admo- nition and harmless compulsion ; the feelings and safety of the intruder are to be studiously consulted ; but if busi- ness or pleasure call the proprietor away, the intruder may be instantly shot dead by machinery. Such a state of law, I must be permitted to say, is too in- congruous for this orany other country. " If the alternative is the presence of the owner and his servants or such dreadful consequences as these, why arc the owner or his servants allowed to be absent ? If the ultimate object in preventing such intrusions is pleasure in sporting, it is better that pleasure should be rendered more expensive, than that the life of man should be rendered so precarious. But why is it impossible to proportion the resisting force to the obstinacy of the trespasser in the absence of the proprietor ? Why may not an intruder be let gently down into five feet of liquid mud ? why not caught in a box which shall detain him till the next morning ? why not held in a toothless trap till the proprietor arrives ? such traps as are sold in all the iron shops in this city ? We are bound, according to my Brother Best, to inquire if these means have been previously resorted to ; for upon his own principle, greater violence must not be used, where less will suffice for the removal of the intruder. " There are crops, I admit, of essen- tial importance to agriculture, which will not bear the expense of eternal vigilance ; and if there be districts where such crops are exposed to such serious and disheartening depredation, that may be a good reason for addi- tional severity ; but then it must be the severity of the legislator, and not of the proprietor. If the Legislature enact fine and imprisonment as the punishment for stealing turnips, it is not to be endured that the proprietor should award to this crime the punish- ment of death. If the fault be not sufficiently prevented by the punish- ments already in existence, he must wait till the frequency and flagrancy of the offence attracts the notice, and sti- mulates the penalties of those who make laws. He must not make laws (and those very bloody laws) for himself. " I do not say that the setter of the trap or gun allures the trespasser into it ; but I say that the punishment he intends for the man who trespasses after notice is death. He covers his spring gun with furze and heath, and gives it the most natural appearance he can ; and in that gun he places the slugs by which he means to kill the trespasser. This killing of an unchal- lenged, unresisting person, I really cannot help considering to be as much murder as if the proprietor had shot the Trespasser with his gun. Giving it all the attention in my power, I am 346 MAN TRAPS AND SPRING GUNS. utterly at a loss to distinguish between the two cases. Does it signify whose hand or whose foot pulls the string which moves the trigger? the real murderer is he who prepares the instru- ment of death, and places it in a posi- tion that such hand or foot may touch it, for the purposes of destruction. My Brother Holroyd says, the trespasser who has had a notice of guns being set in the wood is the real voluntary agent who pulls the trigger. But I most certainly think that he is not. He is the animal agent, but not the rational agent he does not intend to put him- self to death; but he foolishly trusts in his chance of escaping, and is anything but a voluntary agent in firing the gun. If a trespasser were to rush into a wood, meaning to seek his own destruction to hunt for the wire, and when found, to pull it, he would indeed be the agent, in the most philosophical sense of the word. But, after entering the wood, he does all he can to avoid the gun keeps clear of every suspicious place, and is baffled only by the supe- rior cunning of him who planted thegun. How the firing of the gun then can be called his act his voluntary act I am at a loss to conceive. The practice has unfortunately become so common that the first person convicted of such a murder, and acting under the delusion of right, might be a fit object for royal mercy. Still, in my opinion, such an act must legally be considered as murder, " It has been asked, if it be an in- dictable offence to set such guns in a man's own ground : but let me first put a much greater question Is it murder to kill any man with such in- struments ? If it be, it must be indict- able to set them. To place an instru- ment for the purpose of committing murder, and to surrender (as in sucl: cases you must surrender) all control over its operation, is clearly an indict- able offence. "All my brother Judges have de- livered their opinions as if these guns were often set for the purposes of terror, and not of destruction. To this I can only say, that the moment any man puts a bullet into his spring gun he has some other purpose than that o: error ; and if he does not put a bullet there, he never can be the subject of argument in this Court. " My Lord Chief Justice can see no distinction between the case of tenter- tiooks upon a wall, and the placing of spring guns, as far as the lawfulness of both is concerned. But the distinctions I take between the case of tenter-hooks upon a wall, and the setting of spring guns, are founded, 1st, in the magni- tude of the evil inflicted ; 2dly, in the great difference of the notice which the trespasser receives ; 3dly, in the very different evidence of criminal intention in the trespasser ; 4thly, in the greater value of the property invaded ; Sthly, in the greater antiquity of the abuse. To cut the fingers, or to tear the hand, is of course a more pardonable injury than to kill. The trespasser, in the daytime, sees the spikes ; and by day or night, at all events, he sees or feels the wall. It is impossible he should not understand the nature of such a prohibition, or imagine that his path lies over this wall ; whereas the victim of the spring gun may have gone astray, may not be able to read, or may first cross the armed soil in the night- time, when he cannot read ; and so he is absolutely without any notice at all. In the next place, the slaughtered man may be perfectly innocent in his pur- pose, which the sealer of the walls cannot be. No man can get to the top of a garden wall without a criminal purpose. A garden, by the common consent and feeling of mankind, con- tains more precious materials than a wood, or a field, and may seem to justify a greater jealousy and care. Lastly, and for these reasons, perhaps, the practice of putting spikes and glass bottles has prevailed for this century past ; and the right so to do has be- come, from .time, and the absence of cases, (for the plaintiff, in such a case, must acknowledge himself a thief,) inveterate. But it is quite impossible, because in some trifling instances, and in much more pardonable circumstan- ces, private vengeance has usurped upon the province of law, that I can, from such slight abuses, confer upon private vengeance the power of life and death. MAN TRAPS AND SPRING GUNS. 347 On the contrary, I think it my impe- rious duty to contend, that punishment for such offences as these is to be measured by the law, and not by the exaggerated* notions which any indivi- dual may form of the importance of his own pleasures. It is my duty, in- stead of making one abuse a reason for another, to recall the law back to its perfect state, and to restrain as much as possible the invention and use of private punishments. Indeed, if this wild sort of justice is to be tolerated, I see no sort of use in the careful adap- tation of punishments to crimes, in the humane labours of the lawgiver. Every lord of a manor is his own Lycurgus, or rather his own Draco, and the great purpose of civil life is defeated. Inter nova tormentorum genera machinasque exitiahs, silent ieyes. " Whatever be the law, the question of humanity is a separate question. I shail not state all I think of that person, who, for the preservation of game, would doom the innocent or the guilty intruder, to a sudden death. I will not, however (because I am silent re- specting individuals), join in any un- deserved panegyric of the humanity of the English law. I cannot say, at the same moment, that the law of England allows such machines to be set after public notice ; and that the law of England sanctions nothing but what is humane. If the law sanctions such practices, it sanctions, in my opinion, what is to the last degree odious, un- christian, and inhumane. " The case of the dog or bull I admit to be an analogous case to this : and I say, if a man were to keep a dog of great ferocity and power, for the ex- press purpose of guarding against trespass in woods or fields, and that dog was to kill a trespasser, it would be murder in the person placing him there for such a purpose. It is indifferent to me whether the trespasser be slain by animals or machines, intentionally brought there for that purpose : he ought not to be slain at all. It is murder to use such a punishment for such an offence. If a man put a fero- cious dog in his yard, to guard his house from burglary, and that dog strays into the neighbouring field, and there worries the man, there wants, in this case, the murderous and malicious spirit. The dog was placed in the yard for the legal purpose of guarding the house against burglary; for which crime, if caught in the act of perpetra- ting it, a man may legally be put to death. There was no primary inten- tion here of putting a mere trespasser to death. So, if a man keep a ferocious bull, not for agricultural purposes, but for the express purpose of repelling trespassers, and that bull occasion the death of a trespasser, it is murder : the intentional infliction of death by any means for such sort of offences consti- tutes the murder: a right to kill for such reasons cannot be acquired by the foolhardiness of the trespasser, nor by any sort of notice or publicity. If a man were to blow a trumpet all over the country, and say that he would shoot any man who asked him how he did, would he acquire a right to do so by such notice ? Does mere publica- tion of an unlawful intention make the action lawful which follows ? If no- tice be the principle which consecrates this mode of destroying human beings, I wish my brothers had been a little more clear, or a little more unanimous, as to what is meant by this notice. Must the notice be always actual, or is it sufficient that it is probable ? May these guns act only against those who have read the notice, or against all who might have read the notice ? The truth is, that the practice is so enormous, and the opinions of the most learned men so various, that a declaratory law upon the subject is imperiously required.* Common humanity required it, after the extraordinary difference of opinion which occurred in the case of Dean and Clayton. " For" these reasons, I am compelled to differ from my learned brothers. We have all, I am sure, the common object of doing justice in such cases as these ; we can have no possible motive for doing otherwise. Where such a superiority of talents and numbers is against me, I must of course be wrong ; but I think it better to publish my own * This has been done. 348 SCARLETT'S POOR BILL. errors, than to subscribe to opinions of the justice of which I am not convinced. To destroy a trespasser with such ma- chines, I think would be murder ; to set such uncontrollable machines for the purpose of committing this murder, I think would be indictable ; and I am therefore of opinion, that he who suffers from such machines has a fair ground of action, in spite of any notice ; for it is not in the power of notice to make them lawful." SCARLETT'S POOR BELL. ("E. REVIEW, 1821.) 1. Letter to James Scarlett, Esq., M.P., on his Bill relating to Poor-Laws. By a Surrey Magistrate. London. 1821. 2. An Address to the Imperial Parliament, upon the Practical Means of gradually abolishing the Poor-Laws, and Educating the Poor Systematically. Illustrated by an Account of the Colonies of FredericTcs- Oord in Holland, and of the Common Mountain in the South of Ireland. With General Observations. Third Edition. By William Herbert Saunders, Esq. London. 1821. 3. On Pauperismand the Poor-Laws. With a Supplement. London, 1821. WE are friendly to the main principle of Mr. Scarlett's bill ; but are rather surprised at the unworkmanlike man- ner in which he has set about it. To fix a maximum for the Poor-rates, we should conceive to be an operation of sufficient difficulty and novelty for any one bill. There was no need to provoke more prejudice, to rouse more hostility, and create more alarm, than such a bill would naturally do. But Mr. Scarlett is a very strong man ; and before he works his battering ram, he chooses to have the wall made of a thickness worthy of his blow capable of evincing, by the enormity of its ruins, the superfluity of his vigour, and the certainty of his aim. Accordingly he has introduced into his bill a number of provisions, which have no necessary, and indeed no near connection with his great and main object; but which are sure to draw upon his back all the Sir John's and Sir Thomas's in the House of Commons. It may be right, or it nay be wrong, that the chargeable loor should be removed ; but why in- troduce such a controverted point into a bill framed for a much more impor- tant object, and of itself calculated to produce so much difference of opinion? Mr. Scarlett appears to us to have been not only indiscreet in the introduction of such heterogeneous matter, but very much mistaken in the enactments which that matter contains. "And be it further enacted, that from and after the passing of this Act, it shall not be lawful for any Justice of Peace or other person to remove, or cause to be re- moved, any poor person or persons from any parish, township or place, to any other, by reason of such person or persons being chargeable to such parish, township or place, or being unable to maintain him or them- selves, or under colour of such person or persons being settled in any other parish, township or place, any law or statute to the contrary notwithstanding : Provided always, that nothing in this Act shall in anywise be deemed to alter any law now in force for the punishment of vagrants, or for removing poor persons to Scotland, Ire- land, or the Isles of Guernsey, Jersey, and Man. And be it further enacted, that in all cases where any poor person, at the time of the passing this Act, shall be resi- dent in any parish, township or place, where he is not legally settled, and shall be re- ceiving relief from theOverseers, Guardians, or Directors of the Poor of the place of his legal settlement, the said Overseers, Guar- dians, or Directors are hereby required to continue such relief, in the same manner, and by the same means, as the same is now administered, until one of H is Maj esty's Justices of the Peace, in or near the place of residence of such poor person, shall, upon application to him, either by such poor person, or any other person, on his behalf, for the continuance thereof, or by the said Overseers, Guardians, or Directors of the Poor, paying such relief, for the discharge thereof, certify that the same is no longer necessary." (Sill, pp. 3, 4.) Now, here is a gentleman, so tho- roughly and so justly sensible of the evils of the Poor-laws, that he intro- duces into the House of Commons a very plain, and very bold measure to restrain them ; and yet, in the very same bill, he abrogates the few impe- diments that remain to universal men- SCARLETT'S POOR BILL. 349 dicity. The present law says, " Before you can turn beggar in the place of your residence, you must have been born there, or you must have rented a farm there, or served an office ;" but Mr. Scarlett says, " You may beg any- where where you happen to be. I will have no obstacles to your turning beg- gar ; I will give every facility and every allurement to the destruction of your independence." We are quite confident that the direct tendency of Mr. Scarlett's enactments is to produce these effects. Labourers living in one place and settled in another, are uni- formly the best and most independent characters in the place. Alarmed at the idea of being removed from the situation of their choice, and knowing they have nothing to depend upon but themselves, they are alone exempted from the degrading influence of the Poor-laws, and frequently arrive at independence by their exclusion from that baneful privilege which is offered to them by the inconsistent benevo- lence of this bill. If some are removed, after long residence in parishes where they are not settled, these examples only insure the beneficial effects of which we have been speaking. Others see them, dread the same fate, quit the mug, and grasp the flail. Our policy, as we have explained in a previous article, is directly the reverse of that of Mr. Scarlett. Considering that a poor man, since Mr. East's bill, if he ask no charity, has a right to live where he pleases, and that a settlement is now nothing more than a beggar's ticket, we would gradually abolish all means of gaining a settlement, but those of birth, parentage, or marriage ; and this method would destroy litiga- tion as effectually as the method pro- posed by Mr. Scarlett.* Mr. Scarlett's plan, too, we are firmly persuaded, would completely defeat his own intentions ; and would inflict a greater injury upon the poor than this very bill, intended to prevent their capricious removal. If his bill had passed, he could not have passed. His post-chaise on the Northern Cir- cuit would have been impeded by the * This has since been done. crowds of houseless villagers, driven from their cottages by landlords ren- dered merciless by the bill. In the mud all in the mud (for such cases made and provided) would they have rolled this most excellent counsellor. Instigated by the devil and their own malicious purposes, his wig they would have polluted, and tossed to a thousand winds the parchment bickerings of Doe and Roe. Mr. Scarlett's bill is so powerful a motive to proprietors for the depopulation of a village for pre- venting the poor from living where they wish to live, that nothing but the conviction that 'such a bill would never be suffered to pass, has prevented those effects from already taking place. Landlords would, in the contemplation of such a bill, pull down all the cot- tages of persons not belonging to the parish, and eject the tenants ; the most vigorous measures would be taken to prevent any one from remaining or coming who was not absolutely neces- sary to the lord of the soil. At pre- sent, cottages are let to anybody ; because, if they are burthensome to tho parish, the tenants can be removed. But the impossibility of doing this would cause the immediate demolition of cottages ; prevent the erection of fresh ones where they are really wanted ; and chain a poor man for ever to the place of his birth, without the possibi- lity of moving. If everybody who passed over Mr. Scarlett's threshold were to gain a settlement for life in his house, he would take good care never to be at home. We all boldly let our friends in, because we know we can easily get them out. So it is with the residence of the poor. Their present power of living where they please, and going where they please, entirely de- pends upon the possibility of their removal when they become chargeable. If any mistaken friend were to take from them this protection, the whole power and jealousy of property would be turned against their locomotive liberty ; they would become adscripti glebce, no more capable of going out of the parish than a tree is ot proceeding, with its roots and branches, to a neigh/- bouring wood. 350 SCARLETT'S The remedy here proposed for these | evils is really one of the most extraor- dinary we ever remember to have been introduced into any Act of Parliament. "And whereas it may happen, that in several parishes or townships now burdened with the maintenance of the Poor settled and residing therein, the owners of lands or inhabitants may, in order to remove the residence of the labouring Poor from such parishes or places, destroy the cottages and habitations therein now occupied by the labourers and their families: And whereas also it may happen, that certain towns and villages, maintaining their own poor, may, by the residence therein of la- bourers employed and working in other parishes or townships lying near the said towns and villages, be charged with the burden of maintaining those who do not work, and before the passing of this Act were not settled therein; For remedy thereof, be it enacted by the authority afore- said, that in either of the above cases, it shall be lawful for the Justices, at any Quarter-sessions of the peace held for the county in which such places shall be, upon the complain of the Overseers of the poor of any pansn.town, or place, that by reason of either of the causes aforesaid, the Rates for the relief of the poor of such parish, town, or place, have been materially in- creased, whilst those of any other parish or place have been diminished, to hear and fully inquire into the matter of such com- plaint ; and in case they shall be satisfied of the truth thereof, then to make an order upon the Overseers of the Poor of the parish or township, whose Bates have been dimin ished by the causes aforesaid, to pay to the complainants such sum or sums, from time to time, as the said Justices shall adjudge reasonable, not exceeding, in any case, to gether with the existing Rates, the amount limited by this Act, as a contribution to wards the relief of the poor of the parish town, or place whose Rates have been in creased by the causes aforesaid; which order shall continue in force until the sam shall be discharged by some future order o sessions, upon the application of the Over seers paying the same, and proof that th occasion for it no longer exists : Providec always, that no such order shall be mad< withoutproof of noticeinwritingof suchin tendedapplication, and of the grounds there of, having been served upon the Overseer* of the poor of the parish or place, upo: whom such order is prayed, fourteen day at least before the first day of the Quarter sessions, nor unless the Justices makin such order shall be satisfied that no mone POOR BILL. as been improperly or unnecessarily ex- ended by the Overseers of the poor praying or such order ; and -that a separate and istinct account has been kept by them of he additional burden which has been hrown upon their Rates by the causes lleged." (.BiW, pp. 4, 5.) Now this clause, we cannot help aving, appears to us to be a receipt for universal and interminable litigation, ill over England a perfect law-hurri- cane a conversion of all flesh into )laintiffs and defendants. The parish A. has pulled down houses, and bur- -hened the parish B. ; B. has demolished to the misery of C. ; which has again misbehaved itself in the same manner o the oppression of other letters of the alphabet. All run into parchment, and pant for revenge and exoneration. Though the fact may be certain enough, the causes which gave rise to it may be very uncertain ; and assuredly will not be admitted to have been those against which the statute has de- nounced these penalties. It will be alleged, therefore, that the houses were not pulled down to get rid of the poor, but because they were not worth re- pair because they obstructed the squire's view because rent was not paid. All these motives must go before the sessions, the last resource of legis- lators, the unhappy Quarter-sessions, pushed to the extremity of their wit by the plump contradictions of parish perjury. Another of the many sources of litigation in this clause is as follows : A certain number of workmen live in a parish, M., not being settled in it, and not working in it before the passing of this Act. After the passing of this Act they become chargeable to M., whose Poor-rates are increased. M. is to find out the parishes relieved from the burthen of these men, and to pro- secute at the Quarter-sessions for relief. But suppose the burthened parish to be in Yorkshire, and the relieved parish in Cornwall, are the Quarter- sessions in Yorkshire to make an order of annual payment upon a parish in Cornwall ? and Cornwall, in turn, upon Yorkshire ? How is the money to be transmitted ? What is the easy SCARLETT'S POOR BILL. 351 and cheap remedy, if neglected to be paid ? And if all this could be effected, what is it, after all, but the present system of removal rendered ten times more intricate, confused, and expen- sive ? Perhaps Mr. Scarlett means, that the parishes where these men worked, and which may happen to be within the jurisdiction of the Justices, are to be taxed in aid of the parish M., in proportion to the benefit they have received from the labour of men whose distresses they do not relieve. We must have, then, a detailed account of how much a certain carpenter worked in one parish, how much in another ; and enter into a species of evidence absolutely interminable. We hope Mr. Scarlett will not be angry with us : we entertain for his abilities and character the highest possible respect ; but great lawyers have not leisure for these trifling details. It is very fortunate that a clause so erroneous in its view should be so inaccurate in its construc- tion. If it were easy to comprehend it, and possible to execute it, it would be necessary to repeal it. The shortest way, however, of mend- ing all this will be entirely to omit this part of the bill. We earnestly, but with very little hope of success, exhort Mr. Scarlett not to endanger the really important part of his project, by the introduction of a measure which has little to do with it, and which any Quarter-session country squire can do as well, or better, than himself. The real question introduced by his bill is, whether or not a limit shall be put to the Poor-laws ; and not only this, but whether their amount shall be gradu- ally diminished. To this better and higher part of the law we shall now address ourselves. In this, however, as well as in the former part of his bill, Mr. Scarlett becomes frightened at his own enact- ments, and repeals himself. Parishes are first to relieve every person actually resident within them. This is no sooner enacted, than a provision is introduced to relieve them from this expense, tenfold more burthensome and expensive than the present system of removal. In the same manner, a max- imum is very wisely and bravely en- acted, and in the following clause, is immediately repealed. " Provided also, and be it further enacted, that if by reason of any unusual scarcity of provisions, epidemic disease, or any other cause of a temporary or local nature, it shall be deemed expedient by the Over- seers of the poor, or other persons having, by virtue of any local Act of Parliament, the authority of Overseers of the poor of any parish, township, or place, to make any addition to the sum assessed for the relief of the poor, beyond the amount limited by this Act, it shall be lawful for the said Overseers, or such other persons, to give public notice in the several churches, and other places of worship, within the same parish, township, or place, and if there be no church or chapel within such place, then in the parish church or chapel next adjoining the same, of the place and time of a general meeting to be held by the in- habitants paying to the relief of the poor within suqh^parish, township, or place, for the purpose of considering the occasion and the amount of the proposed addition ; and if it shall appear to the majority of the persons assembled at such meeting, that such addition shall be necessary, then it shall be lawful to the Overseers, or other persons having power to make assessments, to increase the assessment by the addi- tional sum proposed and allowed at such meeting, and for the Justices by whom such rate is to be allowed, upon due proof upon oath to be made before them, of the reso- lution of such meeting, and that the same was held after sufficient public notice, to allow such rate with the proposed addition, specifying the exact amount thereof, with the reasons for allowing the same, upon the face of the rate." (Bill, p. 3.) It would really seem, from these and other qualifying provisions, as if Mr. Scarlett had never reflected upon the consequences of his leading enactments till he had penned them ; and that he then set about finding how he could prevent himself from doing what he meant to do. To what purpose enact a maximum, if that maximum may at any time be repealed by the majority of the parishioners ? How will the compassion and charity which the Poor-laws have set to sleep be awak- ened, when such a remedy is at ban d as the repeal of the maximum by a vote of the parish ? Will ardent and amiable men form themselves into 352 SCARLETT'S POOR BILL. voluntary associations to meet any sudden exigency of famine and epi- demic disease, when this sleepy and sluggish method of overcoming the evil can be had recourse to ? As soon as it becomes really impossible to increase the Poor-fund by law when there is but little, and there caw be no more, that little will be administered with the utmost caution ; claims will be minutely inspected ; idle manhood will not receive the scraps and crumbs which belong to failing old age ; distress will make the poor pro- vident and cautious ; and all the good expected from the abolition of the Poor-laws will begin to appear. But these expectations will be entirely frus- trated, and every advantage of Mr- Scarlett's bill destroyed, by this fatal facility of eluding and repealing it. The danger of insurrection is a cir- cumstance worthy of the mosj; serious consideration in discussing the pro- priety of a maximum. Mr. Scarlett's bill is an infallible receipt for tumult and agitation whenever corn is a little dearer than common. " Repeal the maximum," will be the clamour in every village; and woe be to those members of the village vestry who should oppose the measure. Whether it was really a year of scarcity, and whether it was a proper season for expanding the bounty of the law, would be a question constantly and fiercely agitated between the farmers and the poor. If the maximum is to be quietly submitted to, its repeal must be rendered impossible but to the Legislature. " Burn your ships, Mr. Scarlett. You are doing a wise and a necessary thing. Don't be afraid of yourself : respect your own nest. Don't let Clause A. repeal Clause B. Be stout. Take care that the Rut Lawyers on the Treasury Bench do not take the oysters out of your Bill, and leave you the shell. Do not yield one particle of the wisdom and philo- sophy of your measure to the country gentlemen of the earth." We o! ject to a maximum which is not rendered a decreasing maximum. If definite sums were fixed for each village, which they could not exceed, that sum would in a very few years become a minimum, and an established claim. If 80s. were the sum allotted for a particular hamlet, the poor would very soon come to imagine that they were entitled to that precise sum, and the farmers, that they were compelled to give it. Any maximum established should be a decreasing, but a very slowly decreasing, maximum, perhaps it should not decrease at a greater rate than 10*. per cent, per annum. It may be doubtful, also, whether the first bill should aim at repealing more than 20 per cent, of the present amount of the Poor-rates. This would be effected in forty years. Long before that time, the good or bad effects of the measure would be fairly estimated: if it be wise that it should proceed, let posterity do the rest. It is by no means necessary to destroy in one moment, upon paper, a payment which cannot, without violating every prin- ciple of justice and every consideration of safety and humanity, be extinguished in less than two centuries. It is important for Mr. Scarlett to consider whether he will make the operation of his bill immediate, or in- terpose two or three years between its enactment and first operation. We entirely object to the following clause, the whole of which ought to be expunged : " And be it further enacted, that it shall not be lawful for any Churchwarden, Over- seer, or Guardian of the Poor, or any other person having' authority to administer re- lief to the poor, to allow or give, or for any Justice of the Peace to order, any relief to any person whatsoever, who shall be mar- ried after the passing of this Act, for him- self, herself, or any part of his or her family, unless such poor person shall be actually, at the time of askiiiir such relief, by reason of age, sickness, or bodily infirmity, unable to obtain a livelihood, and to support his or her family by work: Provided always, that nothing in this clause contained shail be construed so as to authorise the grant- ing relief, or making any order for relief, in cases where the same was not lawful before the passing of this Act." Nothing in the whole bill will occa- sion so much abuse and misrepresen- tation as this clause. It is upon this PRISONS. 353 that the Radicals will first fasten. It will, of course, be explained into a prohibition of marriage, to the poor ; and will, in fact, create a marked dis- tinction between two classes of paupers, and become a rallying point for insur- rection. In fact, it is wholly unneces- sary. As the funds for the relief of pauperism decrease under the opera- tion of a diminishing maximum, the first to whom relief is refused will be the young and the strong : in other words, the most absurd and extravagant consequences of the present Poor-laws will be the first cured. Such, then, is our conception of the bill which ought to be brought into Parliament a maximum regulated by the greatest amount of Poor-rates ever paid, and annually diminishing at the rate of 10s. per cent, till they are reduced 20 per cent, of their present value ; with such a preamble to the bill as will make it fair and consistent for any future Parliament to continue the reduction. If Mr. Scarlett will bring in a short and simple bill to this effect, and not mingle with it any other parochial improvements, and will persevere in such a bill for two or three years, we believe he will carry it ; and we are certain he will confer, by such a measure, a lasting benefit upon his country and upon none more than upon its labouring poor. We presume there are very few per- sons who will imagine such a measure to be deficient in vigour. That the Poor-laws should be stopped in their fatal encroachment upon property, and unhappy multiplication of the human species, and not only this, but that the evil should be put in a state of diminution, would be an improvement of our condition almost beyond hope. The tendency of fears and objections will all lie the other way ; and a bill of this nature will not be accused of inertness, but of rashness, cruelty, and Innovation. We cannot now enter into the question of the Poor-laws, of all others that which has undergone the most frequent and earnest discus- sion. Our whole reasoning is founded upon' the assumption, that no system of laws was ever so completely calcu- VOL. L lated to destroy industry, foresight, and economy in the poor ; to extinguish compassion in the rich ; and, by des- troying the balance between the de- mand for and the supply of labour, to spread a degraded population over a ruined land. Not to attempt the cure of this evil would be criminal indolence : not to cure it gradually and compas- sionately would be very wicked. To Mr. Scarlett belongs the real merit of introducing the bill. He will forgive us the freedom, perhaps the severity of some of our remarks. We are some- times not quite so smooth as we ought to be ; but we hold Mr. Scarlett in very high honour and estimation. He is the greatest advocate, perhaps, of his time ; and without the slightest symptom of tail or whiskers decora- tions, it is reported, now as charac- teristic of the English Bar as wigs and gowns in days of old, he has never carried his soul to the Treasury, and said, " What will you give me for this ? " he has never sold the warm feelings and honourable motives of his youth and manhood for an annual sum of money and an office. he has never taken a price for public liberty and public happiness, he has never touched the political Aceldama, and signed the devil's bond for cursing to-morrow what he has blest to-day. Living in the midst of men who have disgraced it, he has cast honour upon his honour- able profession ; and has sought dig- nity, not from the ermine and the mace, but from a straight path and a spotless life. PRISONS. (E. REVIEW, 1822.) 1. The Third Report of the Committee of the Society for the Improvement of Prison Discipline, and for the Reformation of Juvenile Offenders. London, 1821. 2. Remarks upon Prison Discipline, &c. &c., in a Letter addressed to the Lord Lieutenant and Magistrates of the County of Essex. By C. C. Western, Esq. M.P. London, 1821. THERE never was a Society calculated upon the whole to do more good than the Society for the Improvement of Prison Discipline ; and hitherto it has A A 354 PRISONS. been conducted with equal energy and prudence. If now or hereafter, there- fore, we make any criticisms on their proceedings, these must not be ascribed to any deficiency of good will or re- spect. We may differ from the Society in the means our ends, we are proud to say, are the same. In the improvement of prisons, they consider the small number of recommit- ments as the great test of amelioration. Upon this subject we have ventured to differ from them in a late Number ; and we see no reason to alter our opinion. It is a mistake, and a very serious and fundamental mistake, to suppose that the principal object in jails is the reformation of the offender. The principal object undoubtedly is, to prevent the repetition of the offence by the punishment of the offender ; and therefore it is quite possible to conceive that the offender himself may be so kindly, gently, and agreeably led to reformation, by the efforts of good and amiable persons, that the effect of the punishment maybe destroyed, at the same time that the punished may be im- proved. A prison may lose its terror and discredit, though the prisoner may return from it a better scholar, a better artificer, and a better man. The real and only test, in short, of a good prison system is, the diminution of offences by the terror of the punishment. If it can be shown that, in proportion as atten tion and expense have been employed upon the improvement of prisons, the number of commitments has been diminished, this indeed would be a convincing proof that such care and attention were well employed. But the very reverse is the case ; the num- ber of commitments within these last ten years having nearly doubled all over England. The following are stated to be the committals in Norfolk county jail. From 1796 to 1815, the number averaged about 80. In 1816 it was 134 1817 142 1818 159 1819 161 1820 223. (Report, p. 57.) In Staffordshire, the commitments have gradually increased from 195 in 1815, to 443 in. 1820 though the jail has been built, since Howard's time, at an expense of 30.000/. (Report, p. 67.) In Wiltshire, in a prison which has cost the county 40,000/., the commitments have increased from 207 in 1817, to 504 in 18'21. Within this period, to the eternal scandal and disgrace of our laws, 378 persons have been committed for Game offences constituting a sixth part of all the persons committed ; so much for what our old friend, Mr. Justice Best, would term the unspeak- able advantages of country gentlemen residing upon their own property! When the Committee was appointed in the county of Essex, in the year 1818, to take into consideration the state of the jail and houses of correction, they found that the number of prisoners annually committed had increased, within the ten preceding years, from 559 to 1993 ; and there is little doubt (adds Mr. Western) of this proportion being a tolerable specimen of the whole kingdom. We are far from attributing this increase solely to the imperfection of prison discipline. Increase of popu- lation, new statutes, the extension of the breed of pheasants, landed and mercantile distress, are very operative causes. But the increase of commit- ments is a stronger proof against the present state of prison discipline than the decrease of recommitments is in its favour. We may possibly have made some progress in the art of teaching him who has done wrong to do so no more ; but there is no proof that we have learnt the more important art of deterring those from doing wrong who are doubting whether they shall do it or not, and who, of course, will be principally guided in their decision by the sufferings of those who have previously yielded to tempta- tion. There are some assertions in tho Report of the Society to which we can hardly give credit, not that we have the slightest suspicion of any intentional misrepresentation, but that we believe there must be some unintentional error. PRISONS. 3:55 " The Ladies' Committees visiting New- gate and the Borough Compter, have con- tinued to devote themselves to the im- provement of the female prisoners,- in a spirit worthy of their enlightened zeal and Christian charity. The beneficial effects of their exertions have been evinced by the progressive decrease in the number of fe- inale prisoners recommitted, which has diminished, since the visits of the Ladies to Newgate, no less than 40 per cent." That i?, that Mrs. Fry and her friends have reclaimed forty women out of every hundred, who, but for them, would have re-appeared in jails. Nobody admires and respects Mrs. Fry more than we do ; but this fact is scarcely credible; and, if accurate, ought, in justice to the reputation of the Society and its real interests, to have been thoroughly substantiated by names and documents. The ladies certainly lay claim to no such extra- ordinary success in their own Report quoted in the Appendix ; but speak with becoming modesty and moderation of the result of their labours: The enemies of all these reforms accuse the reformers of enthusiasm and exaggera- tion. It is of the greatest possible consequence, therefore, that their state- ments should be correct, and their views practical ; and that all strong assertions should be supported by strong docu- ments. The English are a calm, reflecting people ; the'y will give time and money when they are convinced ; but they love dates, names, and certifi- cates. In the midst of the most heart- rending narratives. Bull requires the day of the month, the year of our Lord, the name of the parish, and the counter- sign of three or four respectable house- holders. After these affecting circum- stances, he can no longer hold out ; but gives way to the kindness of his nature puffs, blubbers, and sub- scribes. ' A case is stated in the Hertford house of correction, which so much more resembles the sudden conversions of the Methodist Magazine, than the slow and uncertain process by which repentance is produced in real life, that we are a little surprised the Society should have inserted it. " Two notorious poachers, as well as bad men, were committed for three months, for not paying the penalty after conviction, but who, in consequence of extreme contri- tion and good conduct, were, at the inter- cession of the clergyman of their parish, released before the expiration of their term of punishment. Upon leaving the House of Correction, they declared that they had been completely brought to their senses spoke with gratitude of the benefit they had derived from the advice of the chap- lain, and promised, upon their return to their parish, that they would go to their minister, express their thanks for his in- terceding for them; and moreover that they would, for the future, attend their duty regularly at church. It is pleasing to add, that these promises have been faith- fully fulfilled." (App. to Third Beport, pp. 29, 30.) Such statements prove nothing, but that the clergyman who makes them is an amiable man, and probably a college tutor. Their introduction, however, in the Report of a Society depending upon public opinion for success, is very detrimental. It is not fair to state the recommit- ments of one prison, and compare them with those of another, perhaps very differently circumstanced, the recom- mitments, for instance, of a county jail, where offences are generally of serious magnitude, with those of a borough where the most trifling faults are punished. The important thing would be, to give a table of recommit- ments, in the same prison, for a series of years, the average of recommitments, for example, every five years in each prison for twenty years past. If the Society can obtain this, it will be a document of some importance (though of less perhaps than they would con- sider it to be). At present they tell us, that the average of recommitments in certain prisons is 3 per cent.: in certain other prisons 5 per cent. : but what were they twenty years ago in the same prison? what were they five years ago ? If recommitments are to be the test, we must know whether these are becoming, in any given prison, more or less frequent, before we can determine whether that prison is better or worse governed than formerly Recommitments will of course be more A A 2 356 PRISONS. numerous where prisoners arc received i'rom large towns, and from the resorts of soldiers and sailors ; . because it is in these situations that we may expect the most hardened offenders. The different nature of the two noils which grow the crimes must be considered before the produce gathered into prisons can be justly compared. The quadruple column of the state f prisons for each year is a very useful and important document; and we hope, in time, the Society will give us a general and particular table of com- mitments and recommitments carried back for twenty or thirty years ; so that the table may contain (of Gloucester jail, for instance), 1st, the greatest number it can contain ; 2dly, the greatest number it did contain at any one period in each year ; 3dly, its classification ; 4thly, the greatest num- ber committed in any given year ; 5thly, four averages of five years each, taken from the twenty years preceding, and stating the greatest number of commitments ; 6thly, the greatest number of recommitments in the year under view ; and four averages of re- commitments, made in the same manner as the average of the commitments ; and then totals at the bottom of the columns. Tables so constructed would throw great light upon the nature and efficacy of imprisonment. We wish the Society would pay a little more attention to the question of solitary imprisonment, both in darkness and in light, and to the extent to which it may be carried. Mr. Western has upon this subject some ingenious ideas. " It appears to me, that if relieved from these impediments, and likewise from any idea of the necessity of making the labour of prisoners profitable, the detail of cor- rective prison discipline would not be diffi- cult for anybody to chalk out. I would first premise, that the only punishment for refractory conduct, or any misbehaviour in the gaol, should, in my opinion, be solitary confinement; and that, instead of being in a dark hole, it should be in some part of the house where they could fully see the light of day; and I am not sure that it might not be desirable in some cases, if possible, that they should see the surround- ing country and moving objects at a dis- tance, and everytliing that man delights in, removed at the same time from any intercourse or word or look with any iiuman being, and quite out of the reach of being themselves seen. I consider such confinement would be a punishment very severe, and calculated to produce a far better effect than darkness. All the feelings that are good in men would be much more likely to be kept alive ; the loss of liberty, and all the blessings of life which honesty will ensure, more deeply to be felt. There would not be so much danger of any de- linquent sinking into that state of sullen, insensible condition, of incorrigible obsti- nacy, which sometimes occurs. If he does under those circumstances, we have a ritrht to keep him out of the way of mischief, and let him there remain. But I believe such solitary confinement as I have de- scribed, with scanty fare, would very rarely fail of its effect." (Western's Remarks, pp. 59, 60.) There is a good deal in this; it is well worth the trial; and we hope the Society will notice it in their next Report. It is very difficult to hit upon de- grees; but we cannot help thinking the Society lean too much to a system of indulgence and education in jails. We shall be very glad to see them more stern and Spartan in their discipline. They recommend work, and even hard work ; but they do not insist upon it, that the only work done in jails by felons should be hard, dull, and uninteresting; they do not protest against the conversion of jails into schools and manufactories. Look, for example, to " Preston house of correction." "Preston house of correction is justly distinguished by the industry which pre- vails. Here an idle hand is rarely to be found. There were lately 150 looms in full employ, from each of which the average weekly earnings are 5s. About 150 pieces of cotton goods are worked off per week. A considerable proportion of the looms are of the prisoners' own manufacture. In one month, au inexperienced workman will be able to earn the cost of his gaol allowance of food. Weaving has these advantages over other prison labour : ttye noise of the shuttle prevents conversation, and the pro-, gressof the work constantly requires the eye The accounts of this prison contained in the Appendix deserve particular attention, as there appears to be a balance of clear profit to the county, from the labour of the PRISONS. 357 prisoners, in the year, of 1398Z . 9s. Id. This sum was earned by weaving and cleaning cotton only; the prisoners being besides employed in tailoring, whitewashing, flag' ging, slating, painting, carpentering, and labourers' work, the earnings of which are not included in the above account." (Third Report, pp. 21, 22.) " At Worcester county gaol, the system of employment is admirable. Every article of dress worn by the prisoners is made from the raw material : sacking and bags are the only articles made for sale." (Ibid. p. 23.) " In many prisons, the instruction of the prisoners in reading and writing has been attended with excellent effects. Schools have been formed at Bedford, Durham, Chelmsford, Winchester, Hereford, Maid- stone, Leicester house of correction, Shrews- bury, Warwick, Worcester, &c. Much valu- able assistance has been derived in this department from the labours of respectable individuals, especially females, acting under the sanction of the magistrates, and direc- tion of the chaplain." (Ibid. pp. 30, 31.) We again enter our decided protest against these modes of occupation in prisons ; they are certainly better than mere idleness spent in society ; but they are not the kind of occupations which render prisons terrible. We would banish all the looms of Preston jails, and substitute nothing but the tread-wheel, or the capstan, or some species of labour where the labourer could not see the results of his toil, where it was as monotonous, irksome, and dull as possible, pulling and pushing, instead of reading and writ- ing, no share of the profits not a single shilling. There should be no tea and sugar, no assemblage of female felons round the washing-tub nothing but beating hemp, and pulling oakum, and pounding bricks, no work bat what was tedious, unusual, and nn- feminine. Man, woman, boy and girl, should all leave the jails unimpaired indeed in health, but heartily wearied of their residence ; and taught by sad experience to consider it as the greatest misfortune of their lives to return to it. We have the strongest belief that the present lenity of jails, the education carried on there the cheerful assem- blage of workmen the indulgence in diet the shares of earnings enjoyed by prisoners, are one great cause of the astonishingly rapid increase of commitments. Mr. Western, who entirely agrees with us upon these points, has the fol- lowing judicious observations upon the severe system : " It may be imagined by some persons, that the rules here prescribed are too se- vere ; but such treatment is, in my opinion, the tenderest mercy, compared with that indulgence which is so much in prac- tice, and which directly tends to ruin, instead of saving, its unfortunate victim. This severity it is which in truth forms the sole effective means which imprisonment gives ; only one mitigation therefore, if such it may be termed, can be admissible, and that is, simply to shorten the duration of the imprisonment. The sooner the prisoner comes out the better, if fully impressed with dread of what he has suffered, and communicates information to his friends what they may expect if they get there. It appears to me, indeed, that one great and primary object we ought to have in view is, generally, to shorten the duration of im- prisonment, at the same time that we make it such a punishment, as is likely to deter, correct,' and reform ; shorten the du- ration of imprisonment before trial, which we are called upon, by every principle of moral and political justice, to do ; shorten also the duration of imprisonment after trial, by the means here described ; and I am satisfied our prisons would soon lose, or rather would never see, half the number of their present inhabitants. The long duration of imprisonment, where the dis- cipline is less severe, renders it perfectly familiar, and, in consequence, not only destitute of any useful influence, but obvi- ously productive of the worst effects ; yet this is the present practice -, and, I think, indeed, criminals are now sentenced to a longer period of confinement than formerly. " The deprivation of liberty certainly is a punishment under any circumstances ; but the system generally pursued in our gaols might rather be considered as a palliative of that punishment, than to make it ef- fectual to any good purpose. An idle life, society unrestrained, with associates of similar character and habits, better fare and lodgings in many cases, and in few, if any, worse than fall to the lot of the hard- working and industrious peasant; and very often much better than the prisoners were in the enjoyment of before they were ap- prehended. " I do not know what could be devised more aereeable to all the different classes AA 3 358 PRISONS. of offenders than this sort of treatment : the old hardened sinner, the juvenile of- fender, or the idle vagabond, who runs away and leaves a sick wife and family to be provided for by his parish, alike have little or no apprehension, at present, of any im- prisonment to which they may be sen- tenced; and thus are the most effective means we possess to correct and reform rendered totally unavailable, and even per- verted, to the more certain ruin of those who might be restored to society good and valuable members of it. " There are, it is true, various occupations now introduced into many prisons, but which, I confess, I think of very little use ; drawing and preparing straws, platting, knitting, heading pius, &c., weaving and working at a trade even, as it is generally carried on prisoners coaxed to the per- formance of it, the task easy, the reward immediate afford rather the means of passing away the time agreeably. These occupations are indeed better than absolute idleness, notwithstanding that imprison- ment may be rendered less irksome there- by. I am far from denying the advantage, still less would I be supposed to derogate from the merits of those who, with every feeling of humanity, and with indefatigable pains, in many instances, have established such means of employment ; and some of them for women, with washing, &c., amount to hard labour ; but I contend that, for men, they are applicable only to a house of industry, and by no means suited to the corrective discipline which should be found in a prison. Individuals are sent here to be punished, and for that sole purpose ; in many cases for crimes which have induced the forfeiture of life : they are not sent to be educated, or apprenticed to a trade. The horrors of dungeon imprisonment, to the credit of the age, no longer exist. But if no cause of dread is substituted, by what indication of common sense is it that we send criminals there at all ? If prisons are to be made into places in which persons of both sexes and all ages may be well fed, clothed, lodged, educated, and taught a trade, where they may find pleasant society, and are required not to take heed for the morrow, the present inhabitants should be turned out, and the most deserving and industrious of our poorest fellow-subjects should be invited to take their place, which I have no doubt they would be eager to do." ( Western, pp. 13 17.) In these sentiments we most cor- dially agree. They are well worth the most serious attention of the So- ciety. The following is a sketch from Mr. Western's book of what a prison lite should be. It is impossible to write with more good sense, and a more thorough knowledge of the subject. " The operations of the da5 should begin with the greatest punctuality at a given hour; and, as soon as the prisoners have risen from their beds, they should be, ac- cording to their several classes, marched to the workhouses, where they should be kept to hard labour two hours at least ; from thence they should be taken back to wash, shave, comb, and clean themselves; thence to the chapel to hear a short prayer, or the governor or deputy should read to them in their respective day-rooms; and then their breakfast, which may, altogether oc- iupy an hour and a half or more. I have stated, in a former part of my letter, that the hours of meals and leisure should be in solitude, in the sleeping cells of the prison ; but I presume, for the moment, this may not always be practicable. I will therefore consider the case as if the classes assembled at meal-times in the different day-rooms. After breakfast they should return to hard labour for three or four hours, and then take another hour for dinner ; labour after dinner two or three hours, and their supper given them to eat in solitude in their sleep- ing cells. This marching backwards and forwards to chapel and mill-house, &c., may appear objectionable, but it has not been so re- presented to me in the prisons where it actually now takes place ; and it is, to my apprehension, materially useful in many respects. The object is to keep the pri- state of constant motion, so that there shall be no lounging time or loitering, which is always favourable to mischief or cabal. For the same reason it is I propose two hours' labour the moment they are up, and before washing, &c., that there may be no time lost, and that they may begin the day by a portion of labour, which will tend to keep them quiet and obedient the remainder of it. Each interval for meal, thus occurring between labour hours, has also a tendency to render the mischief of intercourse less probable, and at the same time the evening association, which is most to be apprehended in this respect, is entirely cut off. The frequent moving of the prisoners from place to place keeps the governor and sub-officers of the prison in a similar state of activity and at- tention, which is likewise of advantage, though their numbers should be such as to prevent their duty becoming too arduous or irksome. Their situation is not pleasant, PRISONS. 359 and their responsibility is great. An able and attentive governor, who executes al his arduous duties with unremitting zea and fidelity, is a most valuable public ser- vant, and entitled to the greatest respect He must be a man of no ordinary capacity with a liberal and comprehensive mind, possessing a control over his own passions, linn and undaunted, a character that com- mands from those under him, instinctively as it were, respect and regard. In vain are our buildings, and rules, and regulations if the choice of a governor is not made an object of primary and most solicitous at- tention and consideration. " It does not appear to me necessary for the prisoners to have more than three hours' leisure, inclusive of meal-times ; anci I am convinced the close of the day rnusl be in solitude. Eight or ten hours wil have passed in company with their fellow- prisoners of the same class (for I am pre- suming that a separate compartment o1 the workhouse will be allotted to each), where, though they cannot associate to enjoy society as they would wish, no gloom of solitude can oppress them : there is more danger even then of too close an inter- course and conversation, though a ready cure is in that case to be found by a wheel put iu motion, the noise of which speedily overcomes the voice. Some time after Saturday night should be allowed to them, more particularly to cleanse themselves and their clothes, and they should have a bath, cold or warm, if necessary ; and on the Sunday they should be dressed in their best clothes, and the day should be spent wholly in the chapel, the cell, and the air- ing ground ; the latter in the presence of a day watchman, as I have described to be in practice at "Warwick, I say nothing about teaching to read, write, work, CO. K\V-Sll:KET SQUABE. 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