fu 
 
 'Ji
 
 JOJRNAL 
 
 OF A 
 
 <reat Britain, 
 
 DURING THE YEARS 1810 AND 1811, 
 
 BY 
 
 LOUIS SIMOND. 
 
 VOLUME SECOND. 
 
 SECOND EDITION, CORRECTED AND ENLARGED I 
 TO WHICH IS ADDED 
 
 AN APPENDIX ON^ FRANCE, 
 
 WRITTEN IN DECEMBER 1815, AND OCTOBER 1816. 
 
 EDINBURGH: 
 
 Printed by James Ballantyne and Company, 
 
 FOR ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND COMPANY, EDINBURGH ; AND 
 LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN, LONDON. 
 
 1817.
 
 I 1 
 
 S \ -S I -5 

 
 JOURNAL, 
 
 Edinburgh, January 1, 1811. 
 
 1* ROM metaphysics, which are rather out of fa- 
 shion, the learned Scotch have lately passed to 
 geology, from mind to stones, subjects, per- 
 haps, alike impenetrable. The system of the 
 earth, which made its appearance here some 
 years ago, under the title of Illustrations of the 
 Huttonian Theory of the Earth, by John Playfair, 
 deserves, in many respects, the high celebrity it 
 soon acquired. An inventor, who did not pos- 
 sess the talent of writing, could not be happier 
 in a commentator. Mr Playfair writes as well as 
 Buffon, but with more solidity, more prudence, 
 and more modesty. In a country where elo- 
 quence is scarcely deemed admissible in scien- 
 tific subjects, his passes for simplicity. 
 
 VOL. II. A 
 
 2000210
 
 2 EDINBURGH HUTTONIAN THEORY. 
 
 Hutton's theory may be unknown to the ge- 
 nerality of foreign readers, and the most proba- 
 ble of any existing explanation of the awful re- 
 volutions our world has evidently undergone, 
 must be of sufficient interest to its inhabitants, 
 to encourage an expectation that the short and 
 simple account I shall give of it to the unlearn- 
 ed may be found acceptable. 
 
 The solid crust of our globe is formed of rocks 
 in great irregular masses, as granite, and of hard 
 substances, arranged in beds parallel to each 
 other. The latter are composed of fragments of 
 other rocks more or less broken and attenuated, 
 united by a common cement, as sand-stone, for 
 instance, of hardened earths, or of calcareous 
 substances, containing often shells and bones, as 
 well as remains of known and unknown plants 
 and fruits. Fossile coals, with indications of 
 vegetable substances in their formation, form 
 some of these beds ; and, finally, sea-salt is found 
 also in alternate and parallel strata. These, and 
 many other appearances, afford irresistible evi- 
 dences of the mode of formation of stratified 
 rocks. Rains and torrents, frost and moisture, 
 are constantly wasting the surface of the conti- 
 nents to an extent, proved, by incontrovertible 
 facts, to be wonderfully great. Mr Playfair very 
 justly compares such insulated mountains as 
 shew, by the undisturbed horizontally of their 
 strata, that they retain their original level, to the
 
 EDINBURGH HUTTONIAN THEORY. 5 
 
 jpillars of earth which workmen leave behind 
 them, to afford a measure of the whole quantity 
 of earth which they have removed. The appa- 
 rent slowness of the progress affords no presump- 
 tion against its reality, and only marks the com- 
 parative evanescence of our own duration. The 
 materials of the surface of continents, and of 
 their shores, are thus incessantly washed away 
 into the ocean, and form, in the undisturbed re- 
 pose of its unfathomed depths, strata similar to 
 those of a prior formation which we see around 
 us. The various theories of the earth agree near- 
 ly in this respect. The strata, although parallel 
 to each other, are scarcely ever found to pre- 
 serve the level of their original formation, but 
 are more or less inclined to the horizon, are 
 broken, and sometimes bent, every appearance 
 indicating the action of an irresistible force act- 
 ing from below, and capable of disturbing and 
 changing the whole level of the surface of the 
 globe. These changes may have been slow or 
 local. There are numerous instances of land in- 
 vaded by the sea, and of sea receding from the 
 land, which suppose either an elevation or depres- 
 sion of the local level. They may have been sud- 
 den and general, or extend to great portions of 
 the globe ; and the universal traditions of de- 
 luge seem to refer to catastrophes of this sort. 
 Thus far Hutton and his disciples, called Plu-
 
 4 EDINBURGH HUTTONIAN THEORY. 
 
 tonists, do not differ altogether from the disciples 
 of Werner or Neptunists ; for the latter suppose, 
 in some limited degree, the breaking and sink- 
 ing of the external crust of our globe into cer- 
 tain internal caverns, explaining by that means 
 the derangements and inequalities of the strata. 
 But the Huttonians, pursuing the investigation 
 of terrestrial appearances, say, that although the 
 agency of water might be sufficient for the for- 
 mation of the strata, yet it could not have indu- 
 rated them into rocks, and still less bent, broken, 
 and overturned them ; and that it is inadequate 
 to explain many other phenomena. Some other 
 cause must have joined in the operation, and it 
 can be no other than fire, at least an internal 
 heat, disengaged by causes far from inexplicable, 
 at certain periods, generally or locally, which 
 heat they suppose capable of producing a fusion 
 of the whole or of certain parts of the internal 
 substance of the globe at an unknown depth, into 
 which the continents, or elevated parts of the 
 outward crust, pressed down by their own weight, 
 would sink, while the lower and thinner parts, 
 forming the bottom of the seas, would be buoyed 
 up, and, discharging the weight of the superin- 
 cumbent waters into their new bed, would be 
 suddenly elevated to the original height of the 
 old continents. They suppose that the crust 
 thus elevated, breaking and opening in some
 
 EDINBURGH HUTTONIAN THEORY. 5 
 
 parts, let the fused or softened matter force its 
 passage upward, which, hardening as it cooled, 
 formed the highest ridges of granitic and other 
 mountains, called primary, although in some re- 
 spects secondary. The following figure will ren- 
 ,der the relative situation of both stratified and 
 erupted rocks more intelligible : 
 
 (A) Represents rocks in parallel strata, form- 
 ing the plain or level country ; broken and 
 turned up at the base of its highest mountains. 
 (B) Granitic erupted mass, forming the highest 
 mountains, as well as the base of the stratified 
 rocks. (D) Fragments of the stratified rocks 
 
 found occasionally on the highest granitic sum- 
 mits, as if carried up, at the time of their erup- 
 tion, through the strata. (E) Inferior mountains, 
 over which the strata bend, without eruption of 
 the granitic matter. (F) Clefts through the 
 strata, produced by their violent bending ; and 
 it is extremely remarkable, that such of these clefts 
 as have their openings downwards, are filled by
 
 6 EDINBURGH HUTTONIAN THEORY. 
 
 a continuation of the granitic matter, as injected 
 in its liquid state, or with metallic substances, 
 forming the veins of mines, which are generally 
 found in such clefts, diminishing upwards, in- 
 clined to the horizon, across, and never in the 
 direction of the strata ; sometimes disposed in 
 steps, (G) where there has been a sliding of the 
 strata one against the other, the sections of the 
 veins in such cases not corresponding. The 
 miners often find in these clefts small fragments, 
 or even large blocks, of a nature totally different 
 from the strata into which they appear to have 
 penetrated from below. 
 
 This figure is not in the work of Mr Playfair j 
 I have introduced it in order to facilitate the ex- 
 planation, but without pretending that the rela- 
 tive order of the different substances is generally 
 found so exactly defined in nature. 
 
 Dr Hutton guessed at a new principle esta- 
 blished since by experiments. The effect of com- 
 pression on substances exposed to the action of 
 heat, answering before-hand the objections he 
 anticipated. He conjectured, that the strata of 
 calcareous substances, shells and madrepores for 
 instance, lying under a great depth of sea or 
 land, and exposed to the action of heat, instead 
 of losing their carbonic gas, and being calcined 
 into lime, would fuse, and, in cooling, would crys- 
 tallize into marble and other calcareous rocks,
 
 EDINBURGH HUTTONIAN THEORY. 7 
 
 or form nodules and veins of spar insulated into 
 other rocks, preserving not only the impression 
 of plants and animals, mixed with the strata, but 
 frequently the substance itself, which could not 
 be volatilized. He conjectured that sea-salt and 
 other substances penetrated and dissolved by 
 heat, under the same circumstances of great su- 
 perincumbent weight, would likewise undergo, 
 in their respective prisons, a local decomposition 
 and new combination, without loss of any of 
 their elements. 
 
 Dr Hutton was asked, what sort of thing this 
 internal fire could be ? how it was kindled, 
 and how supported ? whether it burned always, 
 or was lighted and went out, and burned again, 
 as he happened to want it, to bake his remould- 
 ed worlds ? He might have answered, and pro- 
 bably did answer, that the action of fire is quite 
 as distinguishable as that of water on the face of 
 our globe ; that if the existence of a subterra- 
 nean fire is difficult to understand, that of the 
 ocean on the tops of high mountains, where it 
 has deposited entire strata of shells and marine 
 plants, 15,000 feet above its present level, * is no 
 less so ; that, uncertain as the respective modes 
 of action of the two agents certainly are, that 
 
 * Mount Rosa in the north of Italy, and the Andes.
 
 8 EDINBURGH HUTTONIAN THEORY. 
 
 action is not the less evident ; and that we are 
 not to reject what is known, merely because 
 more is not known. 
 
 Some conception of an internal fire under large 
 sections of the crust of our globe, or under the 
 whole of it, may be formed, if we consider that 
 a very analogous phenomenon is continually go- 
 ing on under our eyes. The volcanoes of Etna 
 and Vesuvius have simultaneous eruptions, and 
 consequently internal communications ; more- 
 over, this communication seems to extend to 
 Hecla. The tremendous eruption of 1783, 
 which shook the south of Italy to its foundations, 
 whole towns and villages being swallowed up 
 in yawning gulfs, suddenly opening in the earth, 
 was accompanied with similar convulsions in 
 Iceland. Its volcanoes vomited lava and ashes 
 in unprecedented quantities j islands arose from 
 the sea, forty miles from the coasts ; and for 
 three successive years the inhabitants did not 
 see the sun.* At the time of the memorable 
 earthquake of Lisbon in 1755, the lakes of Scot- 
 land, Loch-Ness in particular, f were strangely 
 
 * This great eruption of 1783, was attended with a haziness 
 of the atmosphere, very perceivable over the greatest part of 
 Europe, of which the writer retains a distinct recollection. 
 
 f Pennant and Gilpin. The latter mentions the circum-
 
 EDINBURGH VOLCANOES EARTH QUAKES. 9 
 
 agitated ; pouring their waters alternately from 
 one extremity to the other, as if the earth under 
 them had changed its level. Many more in- 
 stances of simultaneous eruptions and earth- 
 quakes, in places very distant from each other, 
 might be adduced to prove internal communica- 
 tions ; and when it is considered that there are 
 at present, according to Werner,* 193 volcanoes 
 known to be in activity on the surface of the 
 earth, besides a much greater number extin- 
 guished or dormant, it seems as if there was not 
 such a distance between this and a universal 
 conflagration, that the one might not enable us 
 to conceive the possibility of the other, t 
 
 Notwithstanding what I have said of volca- 
 noes, it is but fair to state, that the Huttonians, 
 in the plenitude of their faith in a central fire, 
 seek no assistance from such skin-deep means as 
 these ; and they are even anxious to distinguish 
 between the productions of common volcanoes, 
 
 stance of a boat in Loch Tay being thrown up twenty fathoms 
 above the usual level of the water. 
 
 * Professor Jameson's Geognosy. 
 
 f Since this was written, all that part of North America, 
 through which the Mississippi flows, has been convulsed by 
 earthquakes, felt simultaneously in the West Indies ; a tract of 
 near 3000 miles. These earthquakes recurred with little inter- 
 mission during several months, till a volcanic eruption in one 
 of the West India Islands relieved the internal dilatation.
 
 1O EDINBURGH VOLCANOES EARTHQUAKES. 
 
 lava, and that of their volcano, par excellence, 
 viz. granite, and all the unstratified rocks. Of 
 all these, the rocks called in Scotland whin, are 
 most like lava. They are a sort of basalt in great 
 masses, often flattened at top, with perpendicu- 
 lar sides in the terrace shape, and frequent indi- 
 cations of prismatic pillars. The environs of 
 Edinburgh, as I have observed before, abound 
 with abrupt protuberances of this sort of rock. 
 That of Calton-Hill* presents, in its composi- 
 tion, a striking resemblance to the lava of Etna, 
 with a single point of difference still more re- 
 markable j in the whin or basalt, the calcareous 
 fragments have retained their carbonic gas, and 
 are crystallized into spar ; while in the lava they 
 have lost it, and are calcined into lime. This 
 fact affords, undoubtedly, a most curious confir- 
 mation of the Huttonian theory. The great 
 depth, and mass, and consequent pressure, ha- 
 ving, in one case, prevented the escape of the 
 carbonic gas, and vice versa, 
 
 Whin-rock. . Lava. 
 
 Contains Silex - - 50 parts Silex - - 51 parts 
 
 Argil - - 18.50 Argil - - 19 
 
 Oxide of iron, 16.75 Oxide of iron, M.50 
 
 Spar . - 3 Lime - - 9.50 
 
 * Analysed by Sir James Hall,
 
 EDINBURGH VOLCANOES-^EARTHQUAKES. 1 1 
 
 Whin-rock. Lava. 
 
 Water - - 5 parts. Soda - - 4, parts. 
 
 Soda - - 4- Muriatic acid 1 
 
 Muriatic acid 1 
 
 98.25 99 
 
 The fracture of both these substances is of a 
 bluish or greenish black, strewed with light 
 specks. Both are decomposed by long- continued 
 contact with the atmosphere. 
 
 Unfriendly critics chose to understand the re- 
 sult of the system to be, a constant increase of 
 the dimensions of the globe, puffed up by the 
 repeated action of heat, without ever subsiding ; 
 and they expressed a fear that the earth, thus 
 distended, must at last come in contact with the 
 moon, and derange the system of the universe ! 
 It is to the Edinburgh Review of October 1 802, 
 that the Huttonians are indebted for this gratui- 
 tous supposition. Mr Playfair does not say any 
 where, I think, that the parts raised never sub- 
 side again. His book did not suggest the idea 
 to me. I did not understand that the general 
 level of the surface of the globe was permanently 
 elevated, or its dimensions at all increased by the 
 Huttonian process, continued ever so long. The 
 greatest depth of the sea, according to La Place, 
 is eleven miles, and the greatest height of moun- 
 tains three or four miles ; therefore the extreme 
 points of the inequalities of the solid surface of 
 
 10
 
 3 2 EDINBURGH VOLCANOES EARf HQUAKES. 
 
 our globe may be estimated at fourteen or fifteen 
 miles.* Its diameter being 9000 miles, these 
 greatest inequalities are l-6OOth of that diameter, 
 which is probably less than the wrinkles on the 
 skin of the smoothest orange. Now, let us sup- 
 pose that orange subject to an internal heat, 
 capable of liquifying its pulp, and very consider- 
 
 * There is a very extraordinary instance mentioned by Pal- 
 las, of the depth of stratified formation being traced to the in- 
 credible depth of 61 perpendicular miles ! a range of hills, on 
 the south-east side of the Tauride, which is cut down perpen- 
 dicularly towards the sea, and offers a complete section of pa- 
 rallel beds, inclined at an angle of 45 to the horizon, and 80 
 miles in length, as regular as the leaves of a book. Allowing 
 for the slope, this shews as much of the formation of the strata 
 as if a shaft of 61 miles was sunk perpendicularly into the earth. 
 Mr Playfair seems, however, to suppose, that there had been 
 some considerable shifting or sliding of the strata, one against 
 the other, unperceived by Pallas, which would alter the calcu- 
 lation entirely ; and, upon the whole, the fact is too improba- 
 ble to be admitted. What wearing of continents could there 
 have been, capable of supplying the materials of such a depth 
 of strata formed at the bottom of the sea, and what prodigious 
 depth does it not suppose to the sea ? The difficulty, however, 
 is not peculiar to the Huttonian theory, but applies equally to 
 all those which suppose the agency of water in the formation 
 of the strata. The separation of the different materials in dis- 
 tinct beds, instead of being confusedly mixed together, or ar- 
 ranged entirely according to their respective weight, seems to 
 be a very great difficulty, also common to all these water 
 theories.
 
 EDINBURGH HUTTONIAN THEORY. 13 
 
 ably softening and distending the skin, and com- 
 municating to the whole heated body considera- 
 ble agitation, and some sort of boiling-up motion. 
 Suppose, after a while, the cause of the internal 
 heat, whatever it might be, subsiding, and the 
 pulp rapidly cooling and hardening, the shrunk 
 skin would be found to have contracted new 
 wrinkles and inequalities, greater, perhaps, than 
 those it had before, although not the same ; 
 parts that were high having sunk in, and others 
 that were low having been raised, but without 
 increase of bulk upon the whole. It would, no 
 doubt, be very difficult to understand how the 
 orange came to be so hot all at once, to melt and 
 boil up of itself in that manner ; but, suppose it 
 to have been an orange so strangely constituted, 
 that it had been in the habit of emitting at times, 
 from 193 little openings on its surface, streams 
 of fire and brimstone, then the great fire would 
 undoubtedly occasion much less surprise ; very 
 little more, indeed, than its diminutive proto. 
 types, the volcanoes. 
 
 It must be acknowledged that the Huttonian 
 theory, ingenious as it is, rested in a great degree 
 on assumptions and conjectures. It was a fine 
 building on slight foundations ; but a patient in- 
 vestigator undertook to strengthen it sous ceuvre, 
 and has added several stout props and abutments. 
 The theory owes as much to the very important 
 11
 
 14 EDINBURGH BUTTON JAN THEORY. 
 
 series of experiments of Sir James Hall as to the 
 inventor himself; and it will be a consequence 
 of this, as of all other systems, that, whether they 
 stand or fall, they promote experiments and re- 
 searches, and leave after them an invaluable trea- 
 sure of facts. Sir James Hall found that fused 
 rocks, instead of passing to the state of glass by 
 rapid cooling, become rocks again, and precisely 
 what they were before, when cooled slowly ; very 
 large masses must be a long time in cooling, 
 therefore such fused masses as were thrown up 
 from the interior of the earth became rocks again, 
 and not glass. It is indeed true that he has 
 
 only thus reproduced whin, a more homogeneous 
 "substance than granite. Should he succeed in 
 making granite, incredulity must yield to the 
 
 I* felfc miracle.* Granite, however, is far from forming 
 exclusively the substance of the highest moun- 
 
 \uf& tains. The Cordilleras of South America, which 
 \fjr are tne highest mountains in the world, and 
 
 some other very high mountains in the Sandwich 
 Islands, are mostly, as I understood Professor 
 Jameson to say, of the clink-stone, which is 
 nearly similar to the Scotch whin or basalt. 
 
 * Sir James Hall has approached this miracle. Felspar and 
 quartz, reduced to a powder and mixed, were fused together, 
 the one serving as a flux to the other ; but the two substances 
 crystallized distinctly in cooling, and the crystals were closely 
 adapted, and set one within another, as in granite.
 
 EDINBURGH HUTTONIAN THEORY. 15 
 
 Sir James Hall obtained a still more important 
 result, by melting calcareous substances. What 
 neither the fire of volcanoes, nor the burning lens 
 could do, has been effected by a very moderate 
 degree of heat under great compression. This 
 chemist made marble with shells, and actually 
 did what Hutton had said could be done ! 
 
 The Huttonians, not contented with the degree 
 of probability which belongs of right to their 
 system, see everywhere dikes and junctions ; 
 that is to say, the places where their central lava, 
 tearing up the solid pavement of the earth, has 
 insinuated itself among the strata, and turned up 
 their broken edges in the manner I have endea- 
 voured to explain in the preceding figure, leaving 
 indications of heat and calcination in those parts 
 of the strata nearest to the fiery injections.* 
 Some of these phenomena are satisfactory, but 
 the greatest part require the eye of faith to dis- 
 cover in them what they are supposed to indicate. 
 
 * Mr Allan of Edinburgh, a learned amateur of mineralogy, 
 and who has formed a very valuable collection of specimens, 
 had the goodness to shew me, among other instances of this 
 kind, nodules of flint decomposed into red earth, where they 
 happened to tcfUch or come near whin dikes, or veins of erupted 
 matter in fusion, while, a few inches farther, the flint had un- 
 dergone no such decomposition. Beds of coal thus traversed 
 by veins of whin exhibit, in the adjacent parts, the appearance 
 and properties of coke or charcoal.
 
 10 EDINBURGH HUTTONIAN THEORY. 
 
 The great rocky mass of Salisbury Craig, close to 
 Edinburgh, presents some appearances certainly 
 less inexplicable by the Huttonian theory than 
 by any other. The general form of this mass is 
 that of a stupendous terrace, the top of which 
 dips towards the north-east, presenting to the 
 west a perpendicular face about 300 feet high, 
 one-half of which is masked by an accumulation 
 of earth and stony fragments, on a very steep 
 declivity. This is the appearance a part of this 
 face of rock presents. 
 
 (A) Perpendicular whin or basalt of a greenish 
 black, said to be a porphyritic aggregate of horn- 
 blend and felspar. (B) Thin parallel strata of in- 
 durated, and apparently baked clay, interrupted 
 in (C) by the basaltic mass which has penetrated 
 between and round the broken and disturbed 
 edges of the strata, which it seems to have split, 
 and penetrated as a wedge. (D) Mass of basalt 
 en boule, which has made its way through the
 
 EDINBURGH HUTTONIAN THEORY. 17 
 
 strata of indurated clay. (E) Parallel strata of 
 the same indurated clay and sand-stone, about 
 twenty feet thick, diminishing towards the top, 
 and in (F) leaving the surface of the basalt co- 
 vered only by the mould produced by its decom- 
 position. There is, on the perpendicular face 
 of Arthur's Seat, a very large fragment, fifteen 
 or sixteen feet in length, of the same sand-stone, 
 forming the stratum at the base, which seems 
 to have been carried up the ascending mass of 
 basalt. 
 
 Dr Hutton, as we have seen, supposes the ac- 
 tion of two opposite principles, in his theory of 
 the earth ; one of destruction, and the other of 
 regeneration, like the good and the bad principles 
 of the Persians. But the entire destruction and 
 regeneration are the extreme terms of his theory, 
 and do not form a necessary condition of it. 
 The internal fusion may take place before the 
 old continents are entirely worn down ; raising 
 or sinking old and new formations indifferent- 
 ly; crossing, and mixing them, and throwing 
 on the details of the mineral world an appear- 
 ance of disorder, confusion, and want of design, 
 quite opposite to the general character of all the 
 other works of nature. This theory, however, far 
 from suffering from these apparent irregularities, 
 is confirmed by them ; they are the signs of the 
 very revolutions it supposes, world after world 
 
 VOL, ir. B
 
 18 EDINBURGH HUTTONIAN THEORY. 
 
 succeeding each other, and a circulation of ruins. 
 The imagination stands appalled on the brink of 
 this abyss of time, where human reason dares to 
 lead us ! 
 
 The remains of plants and animals, so pro- 
 fusely scattered over regions quite foreign to 
 their species, seem to point out, still more forci- 
 bly than the appearances of the mineral world do, 
 some sudden, general, and tremendous revolu- 
 tion of our globe. Plants and fruits of India 
 found in France and all over Europe ; skeletons 
 of crocodiles in England, of elephants in Sibe- 
 ria ; whole islands composed of the ivory of their 
 teeth under the pole ; the entire carcass of a rhi- 
 noceros, in regions of perpetual frost,* still cover- 
 ed with the greatest part of its hide ; and many 
 other examples of this sort, speak a language 
 which it is impossible to misunderstand. These 
 s: animals never could have lived where their re- 
 mains are now lying ; the plants still less, if pos- 
 sible. These wonderfully curious and interest- 
 ing facts are accounted for in no other way, with 
 half so much probability, as by one of the over- 
 
 * The head of this rhinoceros was carried by Pallas to the 
 museum of St Petersburgh, where it is preserved. The acci- 
 dental thawing of the frozen earth, in which the carcass had 
 been preserved during countless ages, occasioned the dis- 
 covery. 
 
 HJL fM&b JMM
 
 EDINBURGH HUTTONIAN- THEORY. 19 
 
 whelming floods of the Huttonian theory, for 
 which a very inconsiderable change of level 
 would suffice. The ocean, pouring from its hea- 
 ving bed over the sinking land, tearing up 
 mountains by the roots, furrowing the strata 
 into profound vallies, and scattering the ponder- 
 ous materials of the earth, like chaff in the wind ! 
 plants and animals, yielding without resist- 
 ance, would be swept off at the first onset, with 
 the first terrible wave, to the extremities of the 
 earth ; from the torrid zone to the plains of Sibe- 
 ria, or of North America, and, whirling in heaps, 
 would fill holes and caverns,* or remain scat- 
 tered among the earthy sediment subsiding in 
 strata. 
 
 The commentator of Hutton has not made 
 use, I think, of this obvious means of account- 
 ing for the strange situation in which the wrecks 
 
 * A very remarkable collection of bones is found in the caves 
 of Bayreuth, in Franconia, of vast size, and mostly of carnivor- 
 ous animals, and having very little affinity to any now known. 
 Incredible quantities of bones, the broken and confused relics 
 of various animals, concreted with fragments of marble, are 
 found in various parts of the coasts of the Mediterranean ; lea- 
 ving it doubtful, says Mr Playfair himself (page 459.) whether 
 they are the work of successive ages, or of some sudden catas- 
 trophe, that has assembled in one place, and overwhelmed with 
 immediate destruction, a vast multitude of the inhabitants of 
 the earth.
 
 20 EDINBURGH HUTTONIAN THEORY. 
 
 of the organized creation are found ; he seems 
 even to have adopted the unreasonable, and, I 
 must say, extravagant idea, that elephants and 
 rhinoceroses, lions, tigers, and crocodiles, might 
 formerly have lived under the pole, where, no 
 doubt, their native groves of palms and mangoes 
 flourished likewise ! I take some merit to myself 
 for having been able to point out to the Hutto- 
 nians one of their own overlooked resources, di- 
 ligent as they have obviously been in mustering 
 all their strength. Thus unexpectedly associa- 
 ted to the fame of the system, I shall, of course, 
 quite believe in it myself; and really it appears 
 to me already infinitely superior to the water- 
 crystallization system of the German geologists. 
 Dr Hutton admitted the agency of water in alt 
 the extent warranted by facts and experiments ; 
 but thought heat, acting under particular circum- 
 stances of pressure and time, indispensable to 
 account for the whole of geological appearances. 
 He thought its effects plainly discernible to the 
 eye in many instances, and its presence in the 
 interior of the globe explicable by existing phe- 
 nomena. This system has also the great merit 
 of accounting satisfactorily for the oblate figure 
 of the earth. That this hard and unyielding 
 mass should have precisely such a form as a li- 
 quid under similar circumstances would assume, 
 was a fact so very remarkable in itself, that Bu
 
 
 EDINBURGH HUTTONIAN THEORY. 21 
 
 fon and Werner supposed it must have been in a 
 state of fluidity, the one by fire, the other by 
 water. Hutton, in this, as in other instances, 
 retains the advantages of both their systems, 
 without the same difficulties. 
 
 Werner's nomenclature is founded on the mere 
 external appearances of the substances, without 
 any regard to their composition. For instance, 
 it places sapphire in the flint genus, although it 
 contains /^ of alumina, and opal in the clay 
 genus, although it contains iVo of silica, or mat- 
 ter of flints. * 
 
 Mineralogy, in its present state, is really a very 
 barren and uninviting science. We have names 
 of substances ; but as to their relative situation, 
 and other facts leading to the true theory of their 
 formation, contrary assertions are brought for- 
 ward and denied with equal positiveness on either 
 side : 
 
 " And all a rhetorician's rules 
 Teach nothing but to name his tools." 
 
 Werner and Hutton differ on a most material 
 point of fact. The former insists that the wide 
 extremity, or openings, of mineral veins, are all 
 
 * Jameson's Mineralogy.
 
 
 22 EDINBURGH HUTTONIAN THEORY. 
 
 turned upwards, and the latter all downwards. 
 They agree that these veins are accidental breaks 
 or rents through the strata, and nearly perpen- 
 dicular to them, clefts open at one end, and 
 closed at the other ; but it suits one of the sys- 
 tems to have the opening below, in order to ad- 
 minister with convenience their hot subterranean 
 injection ; while the other system requires the 
 mouths to be turned up, ready to take in a cer- 
 tain solution of minerals in water ; and the rocks 
 seem willing to accommodate both parties. The 
 situation of Werner is, however, much the most 
 critical ; for a single vein filled from below over- 
 turns his theory irrevocably ; while every vein 
 filled from above, save one, answers every pur- 
 pose of Hutton. Therefore the Wernerians 
 spare no pains to maintain their ground ; and 
 being better stored with mineralogical details, 
 they come forward in great strength, and fur- 
 nish abundance of facts. They tell you, for in- 
 stance, of an enormous cleft in a schistous moun- 
 tain in Germany, opened upward of course, and 
 filled with wakke ; in this wakke, at the depth of 
 150 fathoms, trees are found, with their bark, 
 their branches, and even their leaves, in a state 
 of half petrifaction. Wakke is a sort of argilla- 
 ceous basalt, and precisely one of those substances 
 the Huttonians are in the habit of injecting from
 
 EDINBURGH HUTTONIAN THEORY. 23 
 
 below. The latter may say, there has been some 
 eruption of our wakke in a state of fusion, and 
 the overflowing stream meeting your cleft, fell 
 into it. But the trees would they not have 
 been charred instead of petrified ? O ! the trees 
 might be petrified already, before the introduc- 
 tion of the melted wakke. Well, but the leaves 
 how could the leaves, petrified or not, resist 
 the shock of such a tremendous cataract of melt- 
 ed mineral ? From this there is but one escape, 
 which is, to question the fact, or hint at exagge- 
 rations. But the Wernerians are inexhaustible ; 
 and if this does not do, they are ready to pro- 
 duce hundreds of other facts, still stronger, and 
 which you cannot reject absolutely, without a 
 previous examination of the mines of Germany, 
 from which they were obtained. This puts me 
 in mind of a story-teller, who used to relate very 
 strange anecdotes. At the first intimation of 
 doubt, or incredulous look, he never failed to 
 add some new circumstance still more wonder- 
 ful, in order to make the first appear less im- 
 probable ; and used to introduce this corrobora- 
 tion by et meme, &c. and his hearers could 
 always make him say " et meme" at pleasure. 
 
 Geological zeal induced a Scotch gentleman, 
 Sir George Mackenzie, accompanied by two Eng- 
 lish students of this college, full of ardour and 
 
 '''
 
 24 EDINBURGH HUTTONIAN THEOIIY. 
 
 science, Mr Holland* and Mr Bright, to per- 
 form, last summer, a voyage to Iceland, which, 
 after all, is but a step from this northern region. 
 They have collected many curious specimens, 
 and made interesting observations, some of them 
 very favourable to the Huttonian theory. Their 
 tour will shortly be before the public. One of 
 the mineralogical wonders of that extraordinary 
 country is the petrified wood, known by the name 
 ofsuturbrand, of which I have seen a piece about 
 18 inches wide by three feet in length. Trunks 
 of trees are found arranged in strata between 
 other strata of rocks ; they are flattened by the 
 superincumbent weight, partly petrified, yet ca- 
 pable of burning, and the fibres and circles of 
 annual growth perfectly visible, as well as the 
 bark, and even the leaves in some instances. 
 There is not a tree grows in Iceland of more 
 than four inches in diameter, and eight feet high ; 
 and if there were, it would not render the fact at 
 all less inexplicable, for the beds of rocks over 
 the beds of trees were not formed in their pre- 
 sent elevated situation j and the revolution which 
 brought them there, might as well bring the 
 trees. It is evident, that, between the times 
 
 * Mr Holland, now Dr H., had the goodness to share with 
 me his Iceland specimens.
 
 EDINBURGH MINERALOGY. 25 
 
 when these trees grew and the present, revolu- 
 tions have taken place, of which nothing we 
 have experienced, or know, can give us the least 
 conception. 
 
 The space of sea between Iceland and the con- 
 tinent of America has, it seems, become perma- 
 nently blocked up by ice within the memory of 
 man, so as to be no longer navigable any part of 
 the year. This singular phenomenon may serve 
 to explain why islands of ice,* of such prodigi- 
 ous height and extent, are now seen as far south 
 as the 40th degree of latitude every spring, and a 
 great part of the summer, by vessels navigating 
 between the United States and Europe. 
 
 * The British packet Lady Hobart ran against one of these 
 floating islands, higher than the mast-head, and of great extent, 
 in June 1803, and foundered ; the crew and passengers saved 
 themselves with great difficulty in two boats. The American 
 ship Jupiter perished likewise the same summer, with a great 
 part of the people in her. Since that time, the danger being 
 known, there have been fewer accidents. Deep seas are free 
 from ice ; for as the surface cools the water sinks, and is repla- 
 ced by other of a higher temperature, till the whole is brought 
 down to about 40, when it remains stationary. The coasts of 
 Holland are choaked with ice every winter, while those of Nor- 
 way, so much farther north, are not. Possibly the unusual for- 
 mation of ice on the coast of America, near Iceland, might be 
 occasioned by an elevation of the bottom, and consequent di- 
 minution of depth of that sea, at the time of the tremendous 
 earthquakes of 1783, during which islands arose from the sea.
 
 26 EDINBURGH MINERALOGY. 
 
 Before I dismiss the subject of mineralogy, 
 upon which I have perhaps dwelt longer than the 
 patience of my readers will endure, or my super- 
 ficial knowledge warrants, I shall only mention 
 the singular appearances presented by the shore 
 of the Frith of Forth a few miles west of Leith, 
 where Dr T., Professor of Surgery of the college 
 of Edinburgh, and a man of very general infor- 
 mation, had the goodness to walk with me. The 
 constant erosion of the tides has left bare the 
 loose stones of the upper stratum, mostly green- 
 stone and amygdaloid, fine pieces of yellow and 
 white quartz, and some stones, the surface of 
 which is perforated with innumerable holes, said 
 to be by fish ; the under-stratum is a bed of blue 
 slate clay, nearly horizontal, but dipping slightly 
 to the east, soft enough for the end of a stick to 
 make a dint in it. This clay contains a great 
 number of nodules of iron-stone, of a lenticular 
 shape, hard, heavy, full of pyrites and coaly mat- 
 ter, and bright metallic ramifications. These 
 x^stones are the ore of Scotland, and yield much 
 iron. Very thin layers of sand-stone and of lime- 
 stone alternate with the clay. The stratum ter- 
 minates abruptly, about one mile west of the lit- 
 tle fishing village of Newhaven, presenting its 
 upright section to the west, composed of crumb- 
 ling slate clay and iron-stone, resting on a thin 
 bed of perfect coal, about eight inches in thick-
 
 
 
 EDINBURGH THE EDINBURGH REVIEW. 27 
 
 ness, and this on a thin bed of dark-gray lime- 
 stone. 
 
 It is impossible to consider this country in a li- 
 terary and scientific point of view, without noti- 
 cing a work, the celebrity of which has made its 
 way to the Continent, notwithstanding the jea- 
 lous vigilance with which the opinions and the 
 merchandise of a people, alike philosophic and 
 commercial, are shut out. The Spectator, known 
 all over Europe for a century past, was probably 
 the first \vork which taught philosophy in perio- 
 dical sheets. It contained a series of ingenious 
 essays on life and manners, amusing and moral 
 tales, and discussions on popular subjects, fitted 
 for light readers, men of the world, women, and 
 young people. Addison, its principal author, 
 contributed essentially to fix the English lan- 
 guage ; and the simplicity, purity, and elegance 
 of his style have constituted it a standard. The 
 great success of the Spectator encouraged imita- 
 tors j and several works on the same plan, and of 
 considerable merit, appeared successively. About 
 forty years ago, Scotland entered the field. A 
 company of men of letters at Edinburgh publish- 
 ed the Mirror, and afterwards the Lounger. They 
 professed, as the Spectator had done before, " To 
 hold as it were the mirror up to nature, to shew ^ 
 virtue her own features, vice her own image, and 
 the very age and body of the time its form and 
 
 C4
 
 28 EDINBURGH THE EDINBURGH REVIEW. 
 
 pressure." Time, in its flight, has now brought 
 other manners, and men's minds are cast in a dif- 
 ferent mould ; the same mental food would no 
 longer agree with them, nor the same frame fit 
 the picture. Whatever may be said of the pre- 
 sent times, and this generation has not much rea- 
 son to speak well of them, the human mind has 
 advanced with giant strides in the career of know- 
 ledge ; and the price of wisdom, and perhaps of 
 virtue, has not been paid quite in vain. Great 
 as the absolute gain in point of knowledge has 
 certainly been, its general diffusion is most re- 
 markable. The line between men of the world 
 and men of letters, narrowing before, is now al- 
 most effaced. The field is open to all ; and if all 
 do not sow, yet all reap, women particularly.^ 
 How many women see their lives pass away with- 
 out establishment, in solitude and poverty, bear- 
 ing with patience and cheerfulness all the evils 
 of their situation, the privation of the happiness 
 of being loved, and of joys estimated perhaps be- 
 x^ yond their value by being only imagined. They 
 advance towards old age, unregarded, unpitied, 
 without hope in this world, yet preserving univer- 
 sal benevolence, a warm and a generous heart. 
 Cultivation of mind, and the habit of other and 
 higher thoughts than mere self, can alone give us 
 the courage to bear with the daily miseries of 
 life, or, what is better, make us forget
 
 EDINBURGH THE EDINBURGH REVIEW. 29 
 
 The original of that ridiculous and hateful being, 
 who is made to act so conspicuous a part on the 
 English stage and in English novels, under the 
 name of old maid, is now scarcely ever met with, 
 at least I have not met with it ; and the odious 
 distinction between an old woman and an old 
 man is becoming obsolete. The little stories, 
 light polemics, and every-day philosophy, which 
 formed nearly the whole range of the Spectator 
 and his school, would no longer afford sufficient 
 interest. Readers of both sexes understand now 
 something of arts and sciences ; they are stran- 
 gers in none of the walks of literature ; they wish 
 to know what is going on in the mental as well 
 as the practical world, what discoveries are made 
 in their own and other countries, and to laugh 
 at higher follies than formerly. 
 
 Such was the state of the public mind when 
 the Edinburgh Review made its first appearance, 
 eight years ago. Its object was to give an ac- 
 count of such works as afforded most scope for 
 criticism, without pretending to take notice of 
 every publication that might deserve it, but of 
 such only as happened to suit the taste, the incli- 
 nation, or views of the co-operators, or furnish- 
 ed an occasion, often a mere pretence, to in- 
 troduce their own opinions on the subject of the 
 book, if not on the book itself. These opinions 
 are those of eight or ten men of various know-
 
 50 EDINBURGH THE EDINBURGH REVIEW. 
 
 ledge and tempers, and several of them of first- 
 rate talents ; from the keen satirist, who tears 
 to pieces a poor author, and hangs him up to ri- 
 dicule and contempt, to the grave sgavant, and 
 to the man of sure taste and exquisite sensibility, 
 who partakes of the inspiration of genius and kin- 
 dles at its fire, at the same time that he sits in 
 judgment upon its deeds, and gives a dispassion- 
 ate account of their merits. I well remember the 
 lively impression of pleasure and surprise I expe- 
 rienced when one of the first numbers of this 
 work fell into my hands in America, without ha- 
 ving ever heard of it before, and entirely divested 
 of the prestige of reputation. 
 
 Power, however, is the great corruptor of man- 
 kind, and its allurements are known to be irresis- 
 tible. Success, and none was ever greater or 
 more sudden than that of the * Edinburgh Re- 
 view, cannot well be expected to remain altoge- 
 ther free from arrogance. The gallery, besides, 
 must be amused, and have its due allowance of 
 such jokes as do not suit all ranks of spectators ; 
 but posterity, who undoubtedly will mark this 
 work for its own, may pass over, with compara- 
 tive indifference, what makes the delight of the 
 young ladies and young gentlemen of the present 
 
 * The Edinburgh Review has upwards of 12,000 subscribers.
 
 EDINBURGH THE EDINBURGH REVIEW. 31 
 
 day. In this ambitious age, when letters are 
 threatened with an inundation of books, and the 
 good ones are in danger of being lost in the 
 crowd, a severe censure is certainly most useful 
 to repress presumptuous folly, to inflict due 
 punishment on trespassers, in terrorem, and to 
 guide, in some degree, the taste of the great bo- 
 dy of readers. Our critics, it is true, pursue fre- 
 quently their timid prey with something of a fe- 
 line ardour, and are apt to lift the club of Her- 
 cules to crush a fly. Such is the superabundance 
 of their strength, or the disproportionate weak- 
 ness of the antagonists they select. 
 
 One of the best articles begins in this manner : 
 " Mr B. is a good sort of man, who has not writ- 
 ten a very bad book, on a very important sub- 
 ject," &c. Then, without any further notice of 
 the book, the critic goes on with an essay of his 
 own, on this same important subject ; and it re- 
 quires nothing less than the very great merit of 
 the Essay on Female Education, to make good 
 sort of readers forget this unwarrantable liberty 
 taken with a man who had committed no literary 
 offence. At the same time, I admit that I have 
 known young readers enticed by the very flip- 
 pancy of the introduction ; but for such a pre- 
 paratory stimulus, the draught would not have 
 gone down. 
 
 In a country like this, and in the extraordinary
 
 32 EDINBURGH THE EDINBURGH REVIEW. 
 
 times in which we live, there is scarcely any sub- 
 ject quite unconnected with politics, or any man 
 free from party-spirit. The most honest thinks 
 truth stands in need of a little heightening, and 
 candour itself exaggerates. The Edinburgh cri- 
 tics are decided whigs of the Fox school ; friends 
 of a moderate reform in Parliament ; not after 
 the fashion of the absolute reformers, but simply 
 by a better composition of the legislature, which 
 they do not think is to be obtained by a system 
 of unmixed popular elections. They think the 
 scale preponderates too much on the side of the 
 crown, and want to throw a little weight on the 
 other side. They preach the Irish Catholic eman- 
 cipation, as it is called ; and really I have not 
 heard any very satisfactory reason against it. 
 The slave-trade has found in them irreconcilable 
 enemies. They recommend peace, and repro- 
 bate paper money. Sound as these opinions seem 
 to me, the ministers happen to think otherwise 
 on almost all these points. A radical difference 
 of opinion, united to power, excludes not only 
 - cordiality, but candour ; and the opposition in 
 England make it a rule to disapprove, en masse, 
 of every measure of the administration, whatever 
 it may be, at home or abroad. Their general ab- 
 horrence of despotism is even considerably sof- 
 tened or heightened in favour or against foreign 
 despots, according as they happen to be on terms 
 
 11
 
 EDINBURGH THE EDINBURGH REVIEW. 33 
 
 of hostility or of friendship with their political 
 opponents in power at home. The public sus- 
 pects, I presume, some partiality of this kind ia 
 the judgment the Edinburgh Review passed re- 
 cently, on a certain book of travels through Rus- 
 sia, boldly recommended, as being precisely in 
 form and substance what a Journal of Travels 
 should be. , 
 
 It may be presumptuous to speak of a work . 
 so justly celebrated, otherwise than with praise. X^ 
 But amidst so much excellence, blemishes are the 
 more conspicuous. I think myself nationally 
 bound to proffer another charge. One of the 
 early numbers of the Edinburgh Review, contain- 
 ed an account of Black's Lectures by Dr Robison 
 of Edinburgh, in which de Luc and Lavoisier 
 were accused of certain scientific usurpations 
 against the British chemist, and the following 
 anecdote introduced on the authority of a Pro- 
 fessor Lichtenberg of Gottingen : " When the 
 Parisian chemists had finished their grand expe- 
 riment on the composition of water, they held a 
 sort of festival at which Madame Lavoisier, in 
 the habit of a priestess, burnt StahP& Fundamen- 
 ta on an altar, while solemn music played a re- 
 quiem to the departed system j upon which the 
 German and Scotch professors did not fail to ob- 
 serve, that if Newton or Black had so exulted 
 over Des Cartes and Meyer, their countrymen 
 
 VOL. n. c
 
 34 EDINBURGH THE EDINBURGH REVIEW. 
 
 would have concluded they were out of their sen- 
 ses." Then came the following remark of our 
 critics, forming the body and front of their offend- 
 ing : " We give the fact to our readers, as an 
 amusing instance of that universal charlatanerie 
 (the word cannot be translated by a people so 
 destitute of the thing) which renders the French 
 national character the least respectable of any in 
 the civilized world!" The first thing which strikes, 
 in this sweeping observation, is the singular ab- 
 sence of mind which made them overlook the 
 word quackery, answering to a nicety to the 
 French charlatanerie -, both in the literal and figu- 
 rative sense ; and as the thing itself was as likely 
 to have escaped notice as the name, their own 
 people might, after all, not be so destitute of or 
 rather exempt from charlatanerie as they suppo- 
 sed. 
 
 A quack or charlatan is a false and mercenary 
 pretender to abilities he does not possess ; it is 
 for gain, not amusement, that he harangues the 
 populace in the market-place. Now, the chemi- 
 cal celebration denounced by the German pro- 
 fessor, did not impose upon any body, the par- 
 lies concerned had no views of emolument, it 
 might be childish, but assuredly nothing more, 
 and does not by any means warrant the feroci- 
 ous attack in question, against my unoffending 
 countrymen. Aspatia held also her festivals at
 
 EDINBURGH THE EDINBURGH REVIEW. 35 
 
 Athens, to which philosophers did not disdain 
 to assist for their amusement. Suppose the re- 
 viewers of Sparta, informed of this circumstance, 
 had come out with a grave charge of universal 
 charlatanerie against the whole Athenian race, 
 while they (Spartans) declared themselves wholly 
 free from this same sin, and had proceeded to 
 stigmatize the Athenian character, as the least 
 respectable of any in Greece, which was then 
 the civilized world, might not the Athenians 
 have remonstrated with some justice against 
 this opprobrious decision, and have pointed out 
 many practices of their demure neighbours, more 
 directly to be accounted for by the calculations 
 of interest, than the allurements of pleasure ; 
 more coldly designing, more akin, in short, to 
 the genuine motives of charlatans, than any thing 
 that was done in thoughtless Athens ; and might 
 they not have retorted, by declaring the charac- 
 ter of the Lacedemonian critics the least modest 
 and liberal of any in Greece ? 
 
 The French were undoubtedly a very frivo- 
 lous people (I do not know what they are now, 
 possibly worse,) condemned by the nature of 
 their social institutions, to employ their own rest- 
 less activity on objects of pure personal gratifi- 
 cation, or on futile pursuits, prescribed by mere 
 fashion. The very same propensities and pas-
 
 36 EDINBURGH THE EDINBURGH REVIEW. 
 
 skms which would have been, or would have 
 looked like a noble pride and generous elevation 
 of character, under such a state of things as ex- 
 ists in England, were there brought down to the 
 level of vanity and petty intrigue, by their appli- 
 cation to small objects, and trifling interests. 
 The French have been accused of being drama- 
 tic, fond of representation, theatrical ; and so 
 they were. Having no great part to fill in real 
 life, they were reduced to act feigned ones ; " to 
 ( strut their hour upon the stage, and be heard of 
 no more ;" and admitting this theatrical display 
 not to have had always the mere gratification of 
 momentary vanity for its object, such is the effect 
 of situation, that the same principle, which is 
 thus stigmatized as charlatanerie in France, might, 
 on the hustings at an English election, have ap- 
 peared like love of the people j -in Parliament, 
 attachment for the person of the sovereign, or 
 respect for the constitution ; or, in the shape 
 of a loud cry of no popery, at the foot of the 
 throne, might have passed for pure zeal for re- 
 ligion. The more vain, fickle, and fond of plea- 
 sure the French might be, the less they were like- 
 ly to be guilty of charlatanerie. Our critics must 
 allow them to be as wise and considerate as their 
 own countrymen, before the charge can be ap- 
 plicable.
 
 EDINBURGH THE EDINBURGH REVIEW. 37 
 
 . The plan of the Edinburgh Review embraces, 
 as we have seen, the whole range of the human 
 mind ; while the Spectator, and his school, had 
 only belies lettres and practical ethics for their 
 object. Morality gains much by being introdu- 
 ced only incidentally, and coming in unannoun- 
 ced ; and theirs, I must say, is always independ- 
 ent, firm, and pure, always on the honourable 
 and virtuous side. The productions of the school 
 of the Spectator, with all their merit, smell of the 
 lamp a little. There is an appearance of difficulty 
 in finding subjects ; the writer has nothing to 
 say, and labours hard at a story to S\\ his sheets. 
 You think you hear at every new one, the " Di- 
 nazarde, my dear sister, are you asleep," of the 
 Arabian Tales. The Edinburgh critics, on the 
 contrary, come in with their hands full of new 
 books, discoveries, and objects of curiosity, of 
 all sorts; and as they arrange their materials, 
 questions arise of themselves, ideas unfold, and 
 truths are unexpectedly struck out, which the 
 writer himself little thought of when he took up 
 the pen, or at least such is the appearance to 
 the reader, and the greatest charm of the work. 
 The writers of the modern school have their sub- 
 ject before them, and draw from nature ; those 
 of the old one from memory only, and the images 
 it presents are fainter and fewer. The former 
 have the public treasury of mind open to them,
 
 38 EDINBURGH THE EDINBURGH REVIEW. 
 
 the latter their private purse only. Addison ap- 
 peared to much less advantage in conversation 
 than in his writings, and said once of himself, 
 " I have no small change, but I can draw on 
 my banker for a thousand pounds whenever I 
 please." Our critics can do even better than 
 that ; for all the gold of Europe is at their abso- 
 lute disposal. 
 
 The anonymous writers of the Edinburgh Re- 
 view are mostly all known, or guessed at. They 
 are men of independent and liberal professions, 
 lawyers, physicians, clergymen, professors, mem- 
 bers of Parliament, residing in different parts of 
 the British empire, and not at Edinburgh only, 
 where, however, the editor and principal co-ope- 
 rator resides. His talents and character are in- 
 timately known to me ; but I am, for that very 
 reason, precluded from speaking of them as I 
 should otherwise do, and must not depart from 
 the general rule I have prescribed to myself, on 
 the subject of those who have honoured me with 
 their friendship. The philosophic and political 
 adversaries of the Edinburgh Review, have set 
 up a similar work in London, (the Quarterly Re- 
 view,) an imitation as to plan and manner, but, 
 at the same time, in direct opposition on almost 
 every subject. This new meteor did not blaze 
 forth at once upon the world with the splendour 
 of the first, although a work of very great merit,
 
 
 EDINBURGH - MUSICIANS - HE W. 39 
 
 and improving. A very witty statesman, the 
 cutting irony of whose diplomatic correspond- 
 ence has not a little contributed to inflame the 
 dispute with America, is said to be among its co- 
 operators ; two eminent poets are also mention- 
 ed. The Edinburgh reviewers, however, must 
 be allowed the merit of having founded a new 
 school, destined to be the model for the critics 
 of the nineteenth century. Friends or enemies 
 must follow the line they have traced, and tread 
 in their illustrious footsteps. 
 
 There are here several eminent musical ama- 
 teurs, who have made their art fashionable this 
 winter. We have heard one of them ; the com- 
 pany was numerous, too numerous as he signi- 
 fied ; and it was found necessary to clear his at- 
 mosphere, by opening an adjacent room, where 
 Mr W. sat down to the piano. I was prepared 
 for the usual conceit and showy execution of 
 fine performers ; instead of which, he rose by de- 
 grees from a simple recitative, to a melodious 
 chant* in a sonorous bass voice, taken in its me- 
 dium ; therefore neither forced nor sepulchral ; 
 the accompaniment voluntary, and all his own, 
 simply supporting his voice, and never permit- 
 ting the charms of mechanical harmony to out- 
 strip and efface expression and melody. We were 
 told the poetry was also of his composition. 
 Those who listened to it did not report favour-
 
 4O EDINBURGH MUSICIANS MR W. 
 
 ably ; for myself, I heard only the music, which 
 was profoundly affecting, and suggested to me 
 what I should think the music of the Greeks may 
 have been. I was sorry to hear that Mr W., 
 otherwise an excellent man, shows, his art ex- 
 eepted, hardly common sense ; but I was not 
 much surprised, having found the ease not very 
 uncommon among the particular votaries of mu- 
 sic, I mean those who unite to a fine taste, 
 great skill of execution. This execution is ne- 
 cessarily the result of a whole life's practice, ac- 
 quired almost entirely by the fingers, with little 
 agency of the understanding. The artist, how- 
 ever, who, like Mr W., knows how to inspire 
 sentiments and kindle enthusiasm, cannot be a 
 mere organized machine. Without feelings, he 
 could not make others feel ; he must be a poet, 
 but in a language wholly sentimental and impas- 
 sioned, and not at all dialectic. The reasoning 
 and spoken language is little known to him ; he 
 is not only unskilled in it, but he has scarcely 
 any of the conceptions of which it is the organ 
 among men. Such a being may well appear a 
 r child, or a fool. " For all I see," said the great 
 Dr Johnson, (the rudest great man that ever 
 was,) " all foreigners are fools !" Musicians are 
 foreigners in the world, and Dr Johnson has pro- 
 nounced their sentence. The celebrated Bra- 
 ham is here also, and we have heard him several
 
 EDINBURGH WEATHER BLACKFORD HILL. 41 
 
 times without change of opinion. It is not mu- 
 sic you hear, but only fine sounds. 
 
 Jan. 14, 1811. The winter has been felt se- 
 verely in England ; there has been much snow 
 there, and the Thames has been frozen over ; 
 while here, in the latitude of Moscow, we have 
 no snow ; the grass is still green ; the ground has 
 scarcely been hard the whole winter, and skait- 
 ers have had but a few days amusement, on the 
 piece of water at the foot of Arthur's Seat. 
 
 Two of the remarkable protuberances which 
 mark the country round Edinburgh, Blackford 
 hill 50O feet high, and Braid hill 30O feet high, 
 situated side by side, form between them a ro- 
 mantic valley, enveloped in shade, and watered 
 by a murmuring stream of the clearest water. 
 It is a short distance from town ; and we took 
 advantage of a little cold and dry walking to vi- 
 sit the spot. The thermometer has been at 24 
 in the evening, and 20* is considered here as ex- 
 treme cold. 
 
 Jan. 25. Dr T. having proposed to me to go 
 to the anniversary dinner on Fox's birth-day ; 
 and wishing to see how these things are mana- 
 ged here, I went yesterday. The company was 
 numerous ; and the table filled a very large hall. 
 Mr Gillies, an eminent advocate,* presided. The 
 
 * The profession of the law was not, by any means, so re-
 
 -y 
 
 EDINBURGH - TOXs ANNIVERSARY DINNER. 
 
 lawyer, brother of Lord Erskine, chancellor du- 
 
 \y 
 
 Honourable Henry Erskine^ another celebrated 
 highest at the Scotch bar, assisted the president. 
 
 ^ , , - 
 
 ! ring the ministry of Mr ~Fox, considered as the 
 
 
 
 After dinner several persons spoke successively. 
 Among others, Mr E., in the simple tone of 
 conversation. The necessity of a regency in the 
 y present state of the king's health ; the hopes en- 
 tertained from the political principles of the pre- 
 
 | ^ 
 
 sumptive heir ; parliamentary reform ; emanci- 
 pation of Ireland ; and the other tenets of the 
 party, were touched upon without violence ; and 
 the ministers themselves, notwithstanding the 
 present crisis, were spoken of quite civilly. All 
 party heat seemed to vent itself in mirth, Ion 
 mots, songs, and even puns, " tout comme chez 
 nous." Voltaire could not have said here, 
 
 " Chez les Anglois sombres et durs esprits 
 
 Toute folie est noire, atrabilaire, 
 
 Chez les Frangois elle est vive et legere." 
 
 The whigs, indeed, believe they are on the eve 
 of a great victory ; and success puts people in 
 good humour, in England as elsewhere. I must 
 mention one of the puns, not perhaps on account 
 of its particular excellence, but to give an idea 
 
 spectable in France as it is in England. The army had the pre 
 cedence there over every thing else.
 
 EDINBURGH FOX'S ANNIVERSARY DINNER. 43 
 
 of the sort of thing, and of the easy, good-natu- 
 red tone of the meeting. Mr N., a very good 
 landscape painter, being cooped up in a corner, 
 was obliged to jump over the table to get out. 
 Mr E. saw him, and the grave man of law called 
 out, " Ah ! N., this is one of your land- skips 1" 
 (landscapes). 
 
 The name of Fox was, as of right, the first 
 toast ; then, very loyally, his majesty ; the seven 
 unanimous brothers ; the young princess,<brought 
 up in the principles of Fox j the catholics of Ire- 
 land. On this last, Lord Fingall, a distinguished 
 catholic of Ireland, now at Edinburgh for the 
 education of his son, made an appropriate speech, 
 modest, and, to appearance, unstudied. Lord 
 Maitland merely thanked the company when 
 Lord Lauderdale was given. Lord P., a very 
 young man, sneaked away for fear of being obli- 
 ged to make a speech when the catholics were 
 drank. Whitbread, and all the individuals of the 
 projected ministry ; George Washington, but 
 no mention whatever of American affairs ; Pro- 
 fessor Millar ; Dugald Stewart. Lord N., the 
 only judge present, being named, I looked with 
 some degree of anxiety at the learned lord, in 
 appearance a true por^eau d* epicure, of a mon- 
 strous size, face of a blue raw colour, breath- 
 ing hard, his eyes shut, he appeared stupified 
 with good cheer, and ready to fall under the ta-
 
 44 EDINBURGH FOX'S ANNIVERSARY DINNER. 
 
 ble ; but the unwieldy mass soon stood up, and 
 in a powerful, though broken and faltering voice, 
 addressed the meeting in a short, moderate, sen- 
 sible speech, hinting delicately at his being the 
 only judge appointed by Mr Fox. Lord Erskine, 
 and the trial by jury, was another of the toasts 
 I remember. H enry Erskine, and the 37 inde- 
 pendent barristers who sided with him in 1793. 
 Songs became more frequent, as the company 
 began to feel 
 
 " Ces esprits aniraaux, 
 Qui vont au cceur, et qui font les heros." 
 
 One of them, by an old country gentleman, was, 
 I am bound to suppose, excellent, for it set the 
 whole company in a roar, but being in the 
 Jt Scotch dialect, I did not understand a word of 
 it. Three professional singers (the Elliots,) plea- 
 sed me much more ; they sung catches and glees 
 delightfully. 
 
 When I left the house, about eleven at night, 
 there was not the smallest appearance of intoxi- 
 cation ;* about one-third of the company had re- 
 tired before me ; the rest followed soon after, 
 
 * This dinner cost 25s. to each person, which did not quite 
 defray the expences. There was Port and Madeira during din- 
 ner, and a bottle of Claret before each person after ; those who 
 called for more, I believe, paid for it.
 
 EDINBURGH ANECDOTE OF LORD N. WHIGS. 45 
 
 except, as I understood this morning, a knot of 
 bons vivants, the big judge at their head, who did 
 not separate till break of day, drinking all the 
 time ; and, what is most remarkable, this same 
 judge was seen this morning going to Court, in 
 as full possession of his faculties of body and 
 mind as if he had spent the night in bed ! This 
 is a sample of the old northern manners. I had 
 met this judge a few days before at a private din- 
 ner. The son of one of his old associates (Mr F.) 
 dining there also, was in mourning for his father. 
 " Ah !" said the judge, "your father would not 
 believe me ; I told him he would kill himself; 
 what ! to reduce himself in his old age to a sin- 
 gle bottle of wine at his dinner, it was certain 
 death !'* Lord N., I must do him the justice 
 to say, has the reputation of being an excellent 
 judge. 
 
 The hopes of the whigs are not without some 
 mixture of apprehensions j whatever the princi- 
 ples of a presumptive heir may have been, au- 
 tres temps, autres mceurs, and a whig king 
 would be an unexampled thing. The business 
 of a king (and the ministers are the king,) is to 
 draw to himself as much power as he can, that 
 of the Parliament is to hold back. The texture 
 of the British constitution is of a yielding and 
 elastic nature ; it extends easily the way it is 
 pulled, and takes, in a great degree, the shape
 
 46 EDINBURGH POLITICAL PARTIES. 
 
 and dimensions you please ; and, unless it had 
 been possible to determine beforehand its exact 
 sense, and proper application to every possible 
 circumstance and combination of events, each 
 party must defend what will always be disputed, 
 and assert the extreme of its right, in order to 
 preserve what is reasonable and necessary : in 
 short, a whig king would be in the situation of a 
 nation of Quakers, surrounded with neighbours 
 who were not of that persuasion. There is here 
 a Scotch lord, very communicative, who shews a 
 letter of seven pages from one of the princes, 
 (the Duke of K.,) informing him that the Duke 
 of Y. will be reinstated general in chief, and 
 i> otherwise promising nothing good to the whigs ; 
 a ci-devant chancellor has written also that the 
 /Ififffr regency will not produce what was expected 
 from it". 
 
 It is now fifteen years since the revolutionary 
 impulse given by France was felt here with con- 
 siderable violence ; that is to say, since certain 
 questions of metaphysical politics divided the 
 inhabitants of Edinburgh into two irreconcileable 
 parties. The heat is now subdued ; not a spark 
 of the fire remains alive ; and the controversialists 
 of that time meet now very sociably, and seem 
 to retain no remembrance of the mortal hatred 
 they once bore to each other. I have been as- 
 sured, that, in 1794, only thirteen persons durst
 
 EDINBURGH A STORM ROYAL SOCIETY. 47 
 
 meet to celebrate the anniversary dinner of Mr 
 Fox, and the names of the thirteen patriots taken 
 down at the door, were sent to the high-handed 
 minister of the day as suspected persons. There 
 were one hundred and fifty guests at this same 
 celebration last year ; yesterday, fifty more j 
 this accession is suspected to be composed of 
 that description, of persons denominated rats ; 
 * the little animals of that name having the in- 
 stinctive sagacity of abandoning old buildings 
 when they are going to fall down. 
 
 Feb. 1. There has been a snow storm in the 
 night, and it blows a hurricane ; tiles fly across 
 the streets, and tops of chimneys fall on the 
 pavement, to the great annoyance of passengers, 
 and danger of their lives. The house we inha- 
 bit, built of stone, is sensibly shaken by the 
 wind. There is at the end of our street, on the 
 mound, an itinerant menagerie built of boards ; 
 if it should be blown down, the people of Edin- 
 burgh might see at large in the streets two lions, 
 two royal tigers, a panther, and an elephant, 
 besides monkies, and other underlings of the 
 savage tribe. 
 
 Feb. 5. I attended yesterday a meeting of the 
 Royal Society of Edinburgh ; one of the judges, 
 Lord Meadowbank, presided. Mr Playfair read 
 a paper presented by Dr Brewster, on the disap-
 
 4.8 EDINBURGH ROYAL SOCIETY. 
 
 pearance of the comet of 177O. Its orbit was 
 very small, not beyond our planetary system, 
 performed its revolutions in five years, and should 
 have appeared again seven times, but has not 
 been seen since. In the mean time a cluster of 
 five very small planets, supposed, with some pro- 
 bability, to be fragments of a larger one, have 
 been discovered in a track which intersects that 
 of the comet in question ; two of these fragments, 
 Ceres and Pallag, have immense atmospheres, as 
 much as the atmospheres of all the other planets 
 of our system put together, 600 miles high, I 
 think $ the other three fragments have no visible 
 atmospheres. There is certainly a remarkable 
 coincidence between the disappearance of the 
 comet and the appearance of the planets ; the 
 latter, however, are not the former in a new 
 shape, for comets are not solid bodies, stars 
 ^being seen through them. 
 # Sir George Mackenzie read a paper on two 
 alternating hot springs of Iceland, one of which 
 throws its water twelve feet high during five mi- 
 nutes, the other five feet high for three minutes, 
 thus alternating incessantly ; and proposed the 
 problem of a mechanism that would account 
 for the phenomenon, without the supposition of 
 valves, or of the water coming from a higher 
 spot.
 
 EPINBURGH BANNISTER THE COMEDIAN. 49 
 
 Feb. 6^-^-Banmster, an excellent English actor, 
 is here. We saw him yesterday in one of their 
 wretched modern plays, The Baffle of Hwham ; 
 the plot most absurd, and with a total want of 
 taste ; yet his inimitable acting covered all faults, 
 and I was certainly much amused. He appeared 
 also in The Devil to Pay, overcharged a good 
 deal, but still excellent. The house was empty, 
 not a single person in most of the boxes j and all 
 this because of a concert where Braham sings, 
 a more fashionable amusement than the thea- 
 tre, which is deemed, all over Great Britain, 
 rather a vulgar amusement ; and so their theatre 
 certainly is. 
 
 The following days we have again partaken of 
 the pleasures of the vulgar, Bannister always 
 animated, and full of his part. The last time, he 
 gave us The fiold Stroke for a Wife> a low and 
 improbable play, although a little better than 
 the modern ones. The great merit of Bannister, 
 in this was, the harlequin activity with which he 
 shifted his dress half a dozen times, and assumed 
 new and different characters ; he was very much 
 applauded, but pjeased me less than usual. 
 
 Between the play and the farce the public often 
 calls for some favourite song ; Bannister treated 
 us twice with these lyric pieces, in the genuine 
 national taste. I do not suppose that any thing 
 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 D
 
 50 EDINBURGH ANECDOTE OF DR MOORE. 
 
 at all comparable is to be met with in any other 
 country or language ; the style is unique ; and if 
 it were possible to give any idea of it by a transla- 
 tion, the etourdis on the other side of the channel 
 would hardly believe that these things could di- 
 vert their sage neighbours so much, and make 
 the thinking nation laugh so heartily. I have 
 ventured (in the French Journal) upon a transla- 
 tion of Caleb Quotem, as a sample, and it is one 
 of the most rational of these songs. Wit does not 
 enter necessarily into the composition of laugh- 
 able things, and might possibly spoil them ; but 
 here there is not even a meaning of any sort, 
 only unconnected words, or mere uncouth sounds, 
 the extreme absurdity of which is set off by the 
 comic talents or buffoonery of the singer. In 
 matters of mirth there is, however, no disputing 
 about taste, and it well may be "folly to be wise." 
 J i^A celebrated traveller, Dr Moore, has described, 
 with infinite humour, a stuttering scene on the 
 Italian stage, and the highly laughable coup-de- 
 thcdtre which terminates it ; the strong preju- 
 dices he had entertained against Italian jokes 
 yielding at once to the force of this one. He 
 and the Duke of Hamilton, the companion of his 
 travels, laughed so heartily, and the fits returned 
 with such violence, as to turn the attention of 
 the audience from the stage to their box, and 
 occasioned a renewal of the mirth all over the
 
 EDINBURGH OLD TOWN. 51 
 
 playhouse. " When we returned to the inn, the 
 Duke of Hamilton asked me," said Dr Moore, 
 " if I was as much convinced as ever, that a man 
 must be perfectly devoid of taste who could con- 
 descend to laugh at an Italian comedy." 
 
 I have already mentioned the extreme unclean- 
 liness of the old town of Edinburgh. Cloacina 
 has there no temples ; every sort of filth is thrown 
 out at the window, just as in the old town of 
 Marseilles. Passing through the narrow streets, 
 morning and evening, you scarcely know where 
 to tread, and your head is as much in danger as 
 your feet ; a certain cry of gardy loo is the warn- 
 ing of any thing coming down ; a derivation, I 
 am told, of gardez Veau* Mr L., who was am- 
 bassador in Spain, and resided there many years, 
 told us that Madrid was formerly much in the 
 same state as his " own romantic town" of Edin- 
 
 * The author is sorry to find that this account of old Edin- 
 burgh's uncleanliness has given offence ; it is but fair to ac- 
 knowledge that the cry of gardy loo never was actually heard 
 by him ; he is now informed and believes that it has not been 
 in use time out of mind. It is indeed true, that the side-walls 
 of bye-streets, lanes, and closes, exhibit a melancholy spectacle; 
 but how they come to be in that state, and whether in a way 
 that would render the old warning necessary or otherwise, the 
 author cannot precisely tell. As to the comparison with the 
 alleged state of the streets of Madrid, it certainly may be deem- 
 ed a gross exaggeration. Note to the Second- Edition.
 
 62 EDINBUHG PRISONERS OF WAR. 
 
 burgh. The filth continually thrown out of' win- 
 dows used to meet in the middle of the narrow 
 streets of Madrid, forming a high ridge, which 
 remained till a heavy rain washed it partly away, 
 these streets being generally on a slope. The 
 minister d'Aranda declared he would make Ma- 
 drid from the dirtiest the cleanest city in the 
 >^ world, and he succeeded. He introduced com- 
 mon- sewers, and a large pipe against the front, 
 and from top to bottom of each house. The dif- 
 ficulties he had to encounter were great ; and, 
 among other objections, it was stated, that the 
 x^^ir of Madrid was naturally much too sharp, and 
 that the effluvia of its immense dunghill was a 
 necessary corrective, and, by softening that keen- 
 ness, made it wholesome. 
 
 Feb. 14. New depots of prisoners of war are 
 forming in the environs of Edinburgh, and de- 
 tachments of these unfortunate people, transport- 
 ed by sea from the south of England to Leith, 
 have arrived here ; they are first lodged in the 
 Castle. I had been informed, that a great num- 
 ber of them had been seen marching barefooted 
 in the half-frozen mud. Wishing to ascertain 
 the fact, and, if possible, to alleviate their suf- 
 ferings, I procured an introduction to Colonel 
 Maghee, commanding at the fort, who had the 
 goodness to go with me among the prisoners. I 
 found 3 or 40O men, nearly all seafaring-people,
 
 EDINBURGH PRISONERS OF WAR. 53 
 
 in a small court, surrounded with palisadoes, in 
 front of that part of the building where they 
 lodge at night; this esplanade, about 10O or 120 
 feet every way, had a very beautiful view of the 
 town and country over the brow of the hill. I 
 do not suppose, however, these unfortunate peo- 
 ple were much disposed to enjoy it. I found 
 them walking to and fro in their narrow in- 
 closure, most of them talking merrily enough, 
 poorly clad, although not in rags. Those who 
 have no clothes of their own receive certain yel- 
 low jackets, which, by their remarkable appear- 
 ance, render an escape more difficult ; instead of 
 shoes, they had most of them a sort of galoches, 
 the sole of wood and top of list. I understood 
 that many had lost their shoes in the muddy 
 road, and that 15O of them were really in great 
 want of that important article, which Colonel M. 
 assured me was to be supplied before they left 
 the castle to go to the depot. The daily ration 
 is 1^ Ib. of bread, at 3d. ; J Ib. of meat, at 6^d. 
 per Ib. ; once or twice a-week they have fish in- 
 stead of meat ; each man is provided with a ham- 
 mock and two blankets. Many supplicating hands 
 offered for sale the produce of their industry ; 
 watch-chains made of hair, and other trifling 
 articles, most of them very ingeniously manu- 
 factured. A young man, his countenance all 
 radiant with good-humour, informed me he had
 
 54 EDINBURGH PRISONERS OF WAR. 
 
 . * 
 
 been seven years thus encaged, having been one 
 of the first taken at the renewal of the war. If 
 he is proof against such a fate as this, he need 
 not envy any one. The richest gifts of fortune 
 are poor indeed, compared to an indestructible 
 power of happiness. 
 
 I observed, on the other hand, several prison- 
 ers traversing slovvJy, apart from the rest, the nar- 
 row and muddy area, or leaning back against 
 the paling, with sunken eyes, fixed and dull 
 looks, and earthy complexions, wrapt in me- 
 ditation upon nothing j upon time, which does 
 not pass for them ; upon these eternal hours, 
 which bring no other change than that of light 
 and darkness ; short light, at long and frightful 
 intervals of night ; dreaming on an existence, 
 of which nothing marks the duration, and which 
 consumes, nevertheless, the best years of their 
 lives,-^-and on the final annihilation of a momen- 
 tary hope of liberation. It is shocking to think, 
 that fifty or sixty thousand human beings should 
 be in this deplorable situation ! Not so many, 
 however, feel it. The abject crowd was seen here 
 pressing with eagerness and loud clamour, all 
 speaking at the same time, round a spot where 
 some game was going on, with the same bursts 
 of laughter, the same oaths and frantic gestures, 
 as if their dearest interests had been in question. 
 An aristocrat a la lanterne, the execution of
 
 EDINBURGH - PRISONERS OF WAR. 55 
 
 Kobespierre, or the news of a cartel for the ge- 
 neral exchange of prisoners, could not have ex- 
 cited more bustle and agitation ! This is the best 
 possible school for idleness and vice, as well as 
 an abode of unspeakable wretchedness, to all 
 those whose feelings are not blunted. If the per- 
 sons on whom the liberation of so many miser- 
 able men depends could be placed for a little 
 while in the midst of them, it is scarcely possi- 
 ble to suppose that the negociation for the ex- 
 change should not be facilitated thereby. Many 
 of the prisoners seemed too old to be worth keep- 
 ing, and might be sent back without any acces- 
 sion of strength to the enemy. I have heard of 
 an East India captain, who was taken in 1793, 
 liberated in 1802 ; taken again the following 
 year, and now a prisoner with a wife and family 
 in France. 
 
 Officers are allowed their parole, and receive 
 Is. 6d. a-day from the British government for 
 their support ; the common men, either soldiersor 
 sailors, cost about lOd. exclusive of houses and 
 other contingent expences ; is. sterling a-head 
 is probably the lowest computation, which, for 
 50,OOO prisoners, is L.25OO per day, or nearly 
 one million a-year, besides the ex pence of the 
 troops necessary to guard this army of prisoners. 
 An exchange on any terms would be better 
 
 f**H. & / 1 

 
 56 EDINBURGH PRISONERS OF WAR. 
 
 than this.* I cannot help thinking that some 
 useful employment might be found for these men, 
 such as roads and canals, or the tillage of wast6 
 lands. The greatest part of them would prefer 
 the lowest salary, with some degree of liberty, to 
 their present confinement ; the difference of dress 
 and language, and the insular situation of the 
 country, would, with certain precautions, ren- 
 der their escape very difficult ; and in a coun- 
 try so often short of grain, it cannot be a mat- 
 ter of indifference, whether 5O,OOO strangers shall 
 be fed out of the public store, or whether their 
 labour shall contribute to fill it. 
 
 A women died in the upper story of the house 
 in which we lodged, rather poor, and but little 
 addicted during her life to the luxury of a car- 
 riage ; but it has been made up to her at last, 
 
 * Since writing this, I have found, in Mr Rose's observa- 
 tions on public expenditure, &c. that the number of prisoners 
 (before those from Walcheren,) was 
 
 4-7,050 men, at 6|d. a-day . . L.4G5,050 a-year. 
 
 Buildings, clothes, guards, clerks, &c. 235>000 
 
 700,000 
 3065 prisoners out of England, at Is, 56,000 
 
 L.756,000 sterling. 
 
 The number of prisoners is probably now greater, and their in- 
 dividual expence also increased, so as to reach nearly a million 
 a-year.
 
 EDINBURGH-^FUNEHALS. {ft 
 
 and she has just taken her departure from the 
 door in a coach and six covered with black cloth, 
 and surmounted with plumes of feathers of the 
 same colour, followed by more carriages, with a 
 number of hired mourners on foot, before and 
 behind, in black, and carrying likewise black 
 plumes of feathers. You meet these processions 
 of funeral vehicles every day, here and in Eng- 
 land, on the high roads, and in the crowded 
 streets of great cities. Their solemnity forms, at 
 the same time, a sad and a ridiculous contrast with 
 the light and rapid motion of the carriages of the 
 living splashing them as they drive by, and the 
 indifference of the passing throng, who heed not 
 this last effort of the vanity of man, and hurry on 
 without bestowing a single look on the show. 
 Some of the friends of the deceased follow in the 
 carriages. The lower people perform their fune- 
 rals on foot, and the nearest relatives walk in the 
 train. A husband follows the body of his wife, 
 a wife of her husband, parents their children, 
 and the lover his mistress. This custom is 
 still kept up in the largest cities of the United 
 States, as well as in the country. It is making 
 grief a show, or indifference a scandal, and vio- 
 s lating the sacredness of feeling. 
 
 Some persons of rank have come here lately 
 on purpose to effect very odd transfers of matri- 
 monial partners. Lady Charlotte W. bad the 
 
 10
 
 58 EDINBURGH SINGULAR MARRIAGES. 
 
 misfortune of falling violently in love with Lord 
 P., who has the reputation of being irresistible 
 in love as well as in war, and ran away with him. 
 The husband of this lady, who is a reasonable 
 man, offered to receive her again if she would 
 come back before the step she had taken became 
 public ; but she chose to be constant in her in- 
 constancy, and finally a divorce was the conse- 
 quence. It is not the fashion to fight for a wife 
 it seems, but only for a sister ; the brother of 
 Lady C. W. challenged the gallant, who, with 
 true delicacy of honour, and the confidence of a 
 man whose courage could not be doubted, avoid- 
 ed, as long as he could, placing himself in a si- 
 tuation where he might have to shed the blood 
 of the brother, after having dishonoured the sis- 
 ter. 'This couple are come to Scotland to be 
 married. There were, however, difficulties in the 
 way, Lord P. being already a married man ; but 
 as infidelity on the male side is a legitimate cause 
 of divorce in Scotland, he took care to furnish 
 his wife with the plea. She might have played 
 her rival the trick of not suing for a divorce ; 
 but love furnished a remedy to the evils he had 
 caused, and the Duke of A. intervening, lien- 
 a-propos, persuaded the forsaken lady to part 
 with her husband, and become a duchess. The 
 parties, therefore, changing sides, Lady C. W. 
 has married Lord P., and Lady P, the Duke of
 
 EDINBURGH SINGULAR MARRIAGES. 59 
 
 A. The former is said to have lost by this ar- 
 rangement an amiable and a handsome woman, 
 for one who wants one at least of these advan- 
 tages ; a wife he loved, for another he does not 
 care about ; without any apparent motive ex- 
 cept pure dtvouement. It is remarkable enough, 
 that one of these new couples has already a fa- 
 mily of fourteen children ; the present Lady P. 
 having had eight before her divorce, and Lord 
 P. six. 
 
 These singular marriages . have occasioned 
 some speculations as to their legality. It ap- 
 pears, that a marriage made in conformity to 
 the laws of the country where it is contracted is 
 valid everywhere ; and if dissolved by the laws 
 of that same country, is likewise null everywhere; 
 but if it is dissolved in another country, it re- 
 mains binding everywhere else ; and, finally, 
 that a marriage contracted in one place accord- 
 ing to the forms of another is valid nowhere, not 
 even in the latter place.* Consequently, the di- 
 vorce of Lady C. W. is valid everywhere, that 
 
 * The children of a Scotchman, who had lived a number of 
 years in the United States with a woman whom he acknow- 
 ledged as his wife, in a manner which would have been bind- 
 ing in Scotland, have not been allowed to inherit the property 
 he left in Scotland, because his marriage was not legal in Ame- 
 rica. 
 
 7
 
 60 EDINBURGH SINGULAR MARRIAGES. 
 
 of Lord and Lady P. only in Scotland, in Eng- 
 land they are still husband and wife. Neither 
 of the marriages is legitimate out of Scotland, 
 although Lady C. W. might have married legally 
 in England any other man but her present hus- 
 band. The descendants of these marriages will 
 be legal heirs in Scotland only ; and the English 
 children will not only inherit the whole of the 
 English property, but will come in for their share 
 of the Scotch property, if their parents should 
 die possessed of any there. I have heard this 
 opinion given by very high authority. 
 
 The public of Edinburgh have been amused 
 and scandalized by another strange marriage, 
 divorced lady of a Scotch lord, ci-devant 
 ambassador at the Porte, has just been married 
 to her lover. This happy man has paid ten 
 thousand pounds sterling damages to the hus- 
 band, and looks so pleased, that it is evident he 
 would not relinquish his acquisition for double 
 the money. 
 
 Shocking as the publicity of these things must 
 be to a woman, it is nevertheless certain, that 
 those only who have some delicacy left expose 
 themselves to it. The woman who leaves her 
 husband to follow her lover, shews at least that 
 she could not bear the indelicacy of a double 
 connection ; when she sacrifices her rank in so- 
 ciety, her fortune, every pleasure in life but one,
 
 EDINBURGH ANNUAL EXHIBITION. 61 
 
 -this one must be deemed a passionate attach- 
 ment, and such have always something mental 
 which ennobles them ; the heart in which they 
 can be found is not quite corrupt. Rousseau 
 said very justly, that love was the remedy of li- 
 centiousness. 
 
 Although the idleness of wealth leads here to 
 many intrigues, in the higher ranks particularly, 
 if such things had been brought forward in courts 
 of justice in France, as they are here, and been 
 published in the newspapers, the number would 
 have appeared, I presume, rather more consider- 
 able. Divorces are certainly commoner here 
 than they were formerly. The parties, thirty or 
 forty years ago, were pointed at, as objects of 
 wonder and curiosity. It is, however, the reme- 
 dy, and not the evil itself, which is become more 
 common. The court of the two last Stuarts,^ 
 where this remedy was unknown, can scarcely 
 be said to have been less in need of it than that 
 of George III. 
 
 There is an annual exhibition of pictures at 
 Edinburgh, and better in proportion than that of 
 London. Mr Raeburn is really a very eminent 
 painter (of portraits of course,) and would paint 
 history with success I am sure, if the taste of his 
 countrymen permitted him ; his children have 
 the grace and nature of those of Sir Joshua Rev-
 
 62 EDINBURGH-^-MUSICAL GLASSES* 
 
 nolds, and a better colouring. Mr Williams 
 paints landscape in water-colours, in the manner 
 of the great artists in London, where this branch 
 of the art is carried to an admirable degree of 
 perfection. He had the goodness to give me 
 some directions for doing chalk-etching en soft 
 ground ; an easy and agreeable mode of engra- 
 ving, and which I intend to use for some of the 
 sketches taken during this journey. Another 
 eminent artist of Edinburgh, MrNasmyth, paints 
 landscapes in oil. 
 
 Speaking of the arts, I must be allowed to 
 mention an artist who excels on a very uncom- 
 mon instrument. Mr Cartwright slightly passes 
 the end of his finger along the edges of a num- 
 ber of glass bowls, partly filled with water, and 
 forming an harmonic series like that of a harpsi- 
 chord ; this touch produces sounds of heavenly 
 sweetness, and surprising strength, melting into 
 each other, and in perfect harmony. It is im- 
 possible to play with more skill, purer taste, or 
 a better expression, than Mr Cartwright does. 
 Dr Franklin had invented an instrument in many 
 respects similar, called the Harmonica j it also 
 was composed of glass bowls, but without water. 
 
 Feb. 2O. Great complaints of commercial dis- 
 tress, felt all over the kingdom, but particularly 
 in the manufacturing towns, have reached even 

 
 "EDINBURGH FARMERS BANKERS. 63 
 
 this place, which is so independent of trade ; and 
 the despondency about public affairs is visible. 
 Glasgow is, indeed, so near, and suffers so parti- 
 cularly under it, that individual cases of ruin and 
 failure cannot but excite sympathy here. The 
 causes are, in a great degree, the commercial re- 
 strictions on the whole continent of Europe and 
 the United States, to which the re-action of the 
 extravagant speculations in Spanish America 
 must be added. Among the many failures of 
 which we hear every day, I was much surprised 
 to find there were some farmers ; one gentleman 
 only has thirteen of his tenants bankrupts ! Now 
 the bankruptcy of a farmer would appear in 
 France just as ridiculous as the bankruptcy of 
 an apple-woman or a chimney-sweeper ; but an 
 English farmer, as I have remarked before, is 
 properly a great manufacturer, and not a pea- 
 sant ; he is a man of business, who has his books 
 regularly kept, and makes his payments on the 
 appointed day. I did not know till lately that 
 he has his banker also, who enables him to pay 
 with this punctuality, by making occasional ad- 
 vances, on his personal responsibility, on the 
 notes of the person to whom he has sold his 
 produce, or on that produce itself, reserved 
 a better market. The advantages resulting 
 from these banking facilities are no less evident 
 in regard to agriculture than to trade, but
 
 64i EDINBURGH FARMERS BANKERS. 
 
 equally liable to abuses and inconveniences. 
 When any embarrassment occurs in any of the 
 many branches of the great system of public ere- 
 dit, all the minor institutions are obliged to check 
 their discounts, and draw in their advances ; and 
 the farmer, with notes or acceptances in his pock- 
 et-book, may, as well as the merchant, not be 
 able to meet his engagements j but this failure is 
 only an exception to his habitual punctuality ; 
 and if the farmers in France do not fail, it is only 
 because they are never punctual. Capitalists, 
 being certain of their rents on the day, are the 
 more disposed to undertake the draining of 
 marshes, bringing waste lands into cultivation, 
 and other extensive agricultural undertakings, 
 requiring large advances. They are contented 
 with a lower rent, and grant longer leases ; there- 
 fore the punctuality of the farmer turns to his 
 advantage, as well as to that of his landlord, and 
 industry is everywhere encouraged and active. 
 The present distresses have occasioned several 
 forced sales of lands, at low prices. Ap estate 
 of 620 acres, between Glasgow and Edinburgh, 
 with a vein of coal estimated at L.60OO, the 
 buildings not in very good order, has just been 
 sold for L.35,OOO j in prosperous times it was 
 estimated at L.57,OOO. 
 
 After a residence of three months, we are go- 
 ing to leave Edinburgh, with feelings of regret
 
 DUNBAR- SEA-COAST. 65 
 
 and gratitude for the many marks of good-will 
 and kindness we have received. Taken altoge- 
 ther, I do not know any town where it would be 
 
 x^pleasanter to live. It is, in a great degree, the 
 Geneva of Britain. 
 
 Feb. 24. Dunbar, 28 miles from Edinburgh. 
 In our way here we passed by the field of battle 
 of Prestonpans, the first battle of the Pretender 
 after his landing in 1745 ; 240O Highlanders* 
 defeated a body of troops of the line much more 
 numerous, carried off their artillery sword in 
 hand, killing or taking the whole of the infantry. 
 If with less than 6000 men the Pretender was af- 
 terwards able to penetrate into the very heart of 
 England, and maintain himself in Scotland for 
 nine months, what might he not have done, if, 
 instead of landing alone, France had given him 
 10,000 men to encourage his adherents ? and yet 
 this prince does not seem to have been a man of 
 much talent. England, although this was just 
 after Marlborough's wars, had not then the mi. 
 litary organization it has at present ; such a 
 
 f thing could not happen now. 
 
 As we approached Dunbar, we saw at a dis- 
 tance a fine foaming beach, and, taking advan- 
 tage of the little remaining light, we hastened to 
 
 * Home's History of the Rebellion. 
 VOL. II. E
 
 66 DUNBAR ROCKS CASTLE. 
 
 it. It is the first time since we have been in this 
 sea-girt empire that we have seen the surf raging 
 on the coast, although we have travelled so long 
 in sight of the sea. 
 
 Feb. 26. We paid yesterday morning another 
 visit to the beach, and discovered such magnifi- 
 cent ruins of rocks, saw such a promising storm 
 approaching, the spring-tide also was to be so 
 high in the afternoon, that we could not with- 
 stand the temptation, and determined to stay all 
 day, to contemplate at leisure the beauties of the 
 gale : 
 
 I saw thee seek the sounding shore, 
 Delighted with the dashing roar, 
 Or where the North his fleecy store 
 
 Drove through the sky. 
 
 A great mass of basalt forms here a bold pro- 
 montory in the sea, very black and broken, and 
 shewing distinctly in many places their prismatic 
 columns. This basalt rests on a stratum of red 
 sand-stone and indurated clay. The rocks are 
 worn by the sea into the most fantastic forms, 
 and pierced through into arches. Extensive ruins, 
 in the last stage of decay, appear on the outer- 
 most extremity of the promontory, uniting ex- 
 tremely well with the rocks, and seeming in fact 
 a part of them ; they belong to the castle where 
 Bothwell took Queen Mary when she became his
 
 DUNBAR SEA-COAST. 67 
 
 wife. Between three and four o'clock the tide 
 was at the highest, about 1 6 feet, and the wind 
 east, and right on shore. The sea rushed with 
 inconceivable fury among the rocks, making a 
 fair breach over some insulated ones, forty or fifty 
 feet high, with blows like the discharge of heavy 
 artillery fully equal to the resounding of Nia- 
 gara. Alternately covered and uncovered, they 
 rose every time from underneath the sea, huge, 
 immoveable, and dark, amidst the retiring foam. 
 The entrance of the little port of Dunbar, open- 
 ing directly to the wind, received now and then 
 such mountains of water, as threatened to over- 
 whelm all within it. The strand, north of this 
 rocky promontory, presented another aspect. 
 Here the lengthened surge was seen advancing 
 slow along an even beach, curving its green top 
 into an arch, and pouring over in a foaming ca- 
 taract ; each immense line of waves succeeded by 
 another, with grace, ever new and inimitable : 
 
 When mountain surges bellowing deep, 
 With an uncouth monster leap 
 
 Plunged foaming on the shore. 
 
 It seemed as if we could not have enough of this 
 magnificent view ; and notwithssanding the cold 
 damp mist, the high wind, and spray of the sea, 
 we did not leave the spot till night. Being over- 
 taken by the tide in a nook of the shore, from
 
 
 68 DUNBAR SEA-COAST. 
 
 which the retreat was difficult, my portfolio dropfc 
 in the water,, and I was near losing all the 
 sketches of the journey. I annex here three of 
 this spot. Two frigates were lost on this danger- 
 ous coast, three miles from Dunbar, last Decem- 
 ber. I cannot resist the temptation of giving 
 here a few lines by Mr Coleridge, very descrip- 
 tive of English scenery, and of its insular situa- 
 tion : 
 
 O, Albion ! O my mother isle ! 
 Thy vallies, fair as Eden's bowers, 
 Glitter green with sunny showers ; 
 T^y grassy uplands, gentle swells, 
 Echo to the bleat of flocks ; 
 (Those grassy hills, those glittering dells, 
 Proudly ramparted with rocks ;) 
 And Ocean, 'mid his uproar wild, 
 Speaks safety to his island-child. 
 
 Feb. 26. We have travelled to-day along the 
 sea-shore. The surf was moderate, meeting with 
 fewer rocks than about Dunbar. Beyond the 
 broad expanse of mild blue, a mist hung over the 
 horizon, through which a white sail was faintly 
 seen here and there, gliding along peacefully 
 between two hostile shores. The country ap- 
 peared highly cultivated, in large farms, as in 
 Norfolk : immense turnip-fields, with flocks of 
 sheep feeding on the green part, and scooping 
 out as much of the fresh root as they can, the.
 
 DUNGLASS FARMING. 69 
 
 deeper part remaining in the ground for manure. 
 The frost is entirely out of the ground, and the 
 grass shews already a tinge of green. Farmers 
 ^are at work everywhere ; five or six ploughs to- 
 gether in the same field, each with a fine pair of 
 horses. Farm-houses in good repair, and cot- 
 tages tolerably neat, but inferior to those of Eng- 
 land. This scene of industry and rich agricul- 
 ture was suddenly interrupted near the Press 
 Inn by a heath of several miles, appearing just as 
 fit for cultivation as the rest of the country, 
 where farms rent at the exorbitant price of eight 
 or ten pounds the Scotch acre. The house of 
 Sir James Hall, (Dunglass,) is seen on a woody 
 height, commanding an extensive view of the 
 sea. The road crosses soon after a deep and nar- 
 row glen, by means of a bridge (Peas Bridge), 
 thrown across it, at a frightful height ; the mid- 
 die arch, for it has three, rests on two piers, or 
 pilasters, 170 feet high $ a zigzag path takes you 
 to the bottom of the ravine, where the prospect 
 of the bridge above your head is as wonderful as 
 the bird's-eye view from it. The road, lately put 
 in complete order, was,' for that very reason, the 
 worst possible to travel on, being covered with a 
 rough bed of broken whin, much in want of a 
 roller, or broad wheels, to smooth it down. We 
 meet every instant with troops of jaded and dirty
 
 7O BERWICK ALNWICK WINDMILLS. 
 
 soldiers, travelling north, bound, we are told, to 
 Musselburgh, to guard the depot of French pri- 
 soners formed there. Carts full of wfcmen and 
 children follow in the rear. All this is undoubt- 
 edly very unprofitable labour, and should be 
 avoided by all means. 
 
 L> . Berwick passes for a fortified place, although, 
 jyt|W' I presume, quite incapable of resistance. Its 
 walls afford at any rate a dry and airy walk, of 
 about a mile, to the inhabitants. The troops 
 were exercising ; they seemed to perform well, 
 
 ^ and had a good band of music. 
 
 Feb. 27. We are come to Alnwick, 29 miles 
 from Berwick, the greatest part of the way in 
 view of the sea, still glassy and blue, and dotted 
 over with white sails. Farms in the best possi- 
 ble order, and on a great scale ; immense stacks 
 of hay and straw, and out-houses without num- 
 ber. Windmills also innumerable, for grain and 
 for oil ; most of the large farms have one. Each 
 of these mills has a small windmill, or rather 
 wind-wheel, behind, to work the cap round to 
 the wind ; and not as in France, by means of a 
 long lever, or tail, moved round by the miller to 
 suit the wind. Some of the mills are so construct- 
 ed, as to reef their sails by the mere force of the 
 wind, when it reaches a certain strength, or fea- 
 ther their arms of themselves.
 
 ALNWICK CASTLE. 71 
 
 The hay or straw stacks, sliced down all round 
 during the winter, are now reduced to the ap- 
 pearance of polygonal towers or pillars, 30 or 40 
 feet high, which still resist the wind and rain very 
 well. These slices are cut with surprising neat- 
 ness, from top to bottom of the stack, thatched 
 roof and all, by means of a very sharp instrument. 
 The ploughs and harrows, carriages and harness, 
 tools and instruments of all sorts, are constructed 
 .Xh ere with a mechanical sagacity, which avoids all 
 superfluous weight, applies the strength precisely 
 where there is to be resistance, and, with true 
 economy, spares no expence in securing conve- 
 nience and duration. Man in England is indeed 
 a tool-making animal. 
 
 The first appearance of the castle of Alnwick 
 is certainly very striking, and yet ridiculous. Its 
 walls are defended by a garrison of stone figures, 
 shewing themselves between the battlements in 
 threatening attitudes ; some of them armed cap-a- 
 pee, others stark naked, recruited indifferently 
 from antiquity and from modern times. Hercules 
 brandishes his club, and Apollo shoots his arrows, 
 while British crossbow-men and arquebusiers le- 
 vel their pieces at the assailants, and menials 
 throw stones. We shall visit this puppet-show 
 castle to-morrow, more at leisure. 
 
 Feb. 28. We went to the castle early this 
 morning j the apartments not visible on account
 
 72 ALNWICKr CASTLE PARKS. 
 
 of the recent birth of a grand-daughter of the 
 Duke of Northumberland's. They must be dull, 
 surrounded as they are by high walls, and the 
 view from the windows being confined to a court- 
 yard. The chapel is highly gilt, and gaudily 
 ornamented ; the pedigree of the Percies is in- 
 scribed on its walls, beginning by Charlemagne, 
 800, the Conqueror, 1O60, &c. A place of Chris- 
 tian worship seems the most unfit imaginable for 
 this display of worldly greatness. Not far from 
 the gay chapel are the dungeons, with their 
 grated trap-doors and loop-holes. In a recess of 
 the wall we observed a wheel with iron teeth and 
 a chain, and shuddered at the sight of what we 
 took for an instrument of torture ! on enquiry, 
 however, it turned out to be only an appendage 
 ^x"of the dinner-bell. Some of the stone figures 
 already mentioned are corroded by long exposure 
 to the air, and worn to half their original size, 
 while others appear quite whole and fresh. This 
 led to the discovery, that this apparently old 
 castle was in fact built only sixty years ago, but 
 on the exact model of the old castle. Such of 
 the old figures as could at all stand on their legs 
 returned to their former station on the walls, while 
 the others w r ere made new from the chisel of 
 an eminent stone-cutter of the neighbourhood. 
 The Percies of the eighteenth century seem to 
 have been bent upon shewing that they had not
 
 ALNW1CK PARKS NEWCASTLE. 73 
 
 
 degenerated from those of the ninth in point of 
 taste in the fine arts. The park and grounds 
 were Jaid out by one Brown, as the gardener told 
 us ; they are traversed by a stream of water, 
 magnified into a river by being dammed up ; 
 a magnificent bridge is thrown over it. The 
 ground slopes to the river on both sides, and is 
 covered with the usual green carpeting of smooth 
 turf, and sprinkled over with clumps of trees, 
 which are small, and make no great figure. The 
 Duke of Northumberland's landed estate is said 
 to yield the prodigious income of L. 150,000 - 
 sterling a-year. 
 
 From Alnwick to Newcastle, 33 miles ; a con- 
 tinuation of the same rich, well-cultivated coun- 
 try, but bare of trees, and without any beauty. 
 The inhabitants strike us as better-looking than 
 in Scotland ; the women certainly are handsomer; 
 the men have smaller features, are more plump 
 and rosy than the Scotch. The houses are much 
 cleaner. The children we meet on the road stop 
 and make a bow, which is not the custom in-" 
 Scotland. The whin also, of which the roads are 
 still composed, is broken in smaller pieces ; 
 every thing thus bearing the marks of more ad- 
 vanced civilization. 
 
 March 1. Mr T. of Newcastle, for whom our 
 friend Dr H. of Edinburgh had given us a letter, 
 had the goodness to shew us the curiosities of
 
 74 NEWCASTLE LANCASTERIAN SCHOOL. 
 
 this town ; the glass-houses, and other manu- 
 factures ; a school on Lancaster's plan, recently 
 established, for 500 male children, and already 
 full. The master conveys his directions by means 
 of a telegraph. This mode of education is be- 
 coming more and more general. The number 
 of scholars under a principal master is almost 
 unlimited, and therefore the expence much re- 
 duced, and within reach of anybody's means ; 
 the scholars are all employed at the same time, 
 equally, and in concert, without crowd, confu- 
 sion, or loss of time ; and, to sum up the advan- 
 tages of the method, children love the school, 
 which accounts sufficiently for their progress. 
 
 The clergy of the established church is said not 
 to like this novelty, and to see in it the means of 
 aggrandizement for the different dissenting sects 
 who have introduced or adopted it ; yet these are 
 only the means of instruction, equally applicable 
 to any doctrine, and not particularly to those of 
 their adversaries. The King, who is the head 
 of that church, and all the royal family, have 
 shewn more liberality, and protect, with laudable 
 zeal, Mr Lancaster and his system. Instead of 
 illuminating the town on the occasion of the late 
 jubilee, in commemoration of the fiftieth year of 
 his Majesty's reign, with the rest of the kingdom, 
 the inhabitants of Newcastle resolved to appro- 
 priate to this establishment the sum which would
 
 NEWCASTLE COAL-MINES. 75 
 
 have been expended in oil and tallow, and gave 
 it, in consequence, the name of the Jubilee 
 School, inscribed on the door in compliment to 
 the King, and the meritorious wish he is said to 
 have expressed ; not exactly that of our great 
 Henry the Fourth, who wished every peasant 
 might be able to put la poule au pot every Sun- 
 day, but, what may not be different in its con- 
 sequences, that each peasant might be able to 
 ^ read his Bible. 
 
 The name of Newcastle is identified with that 
 
 of coals, the country about containing immense 
 
 strata of this mineral, which is the object of a 
 
 great trade. There are farms under ground as 
 
 well as on the surface, and leased separately. I 
 
 know of a subterranean farm of this kind of 5OOO 
 
 acres, for which the rent of L. 3000 sterling a- 
 
 year is paid, and a per centage besides depending 
 
 on the quantity of coals extracted, which may 
 
 S double that rent. It is remarkable enough, that 
 
 when the estate in which this mine is situated was 
 
 sold, thirty years ago, the purchaser, refusing to 
 
 pay a trifling consideration for the right of mining, 
 
 it was reserved by the proprietor, who receives 
 
 now L.SOOO a-year, possibly six or more, for what 
 
 was not deemed worth buying at any rate so few 
 
 years ago. Not that either party were ignorant 
 
 of the existence of coals, but the steam-engine 
 
 was not then so generally applied to mining, and 
 
 * *,
 
 7t> NEWCASTLE COAL-MINES. 
 
 the other branches of the art had not reached 
 their present improved state ; the consumption, 
 likewise, was much less. 
 
 I accepted with pleasure an invitation to de- 
 scend in a coal-mine. The mode is rather alarm- 
 ing. The extremity of the rope which works up 
 and down the shaft being formed into a loop, 
 you pass one leg through it, so as to sit, or to be 
 almost astride on the rope ; then, hugging it with 
 both arms, you are turned off from the platform 
 over a dark abyss, where you would hardly ven- 
 ture if the depth was seen. This was 63 fathoms 
 deep (378 feet). One of the workmen bestrode 
 the loop by the side of me, and down we went 
 with considerable rapidity. The wall of rock 
 seemed to rush upwards, the darkness increa- 
 sed, the mouth above appeared a mere speck of 
 light. I shut my eyes for fear of growing giddy ; 
 the motion soon diminished, and we touched the 
 ground. Here we stopped for two other persons. 
 Each of us had a flannel dress and a candle, and 
 thus proceeded through a long passage, rock 
 above, rock below, and a shining black wall of 
 coal on each side ; a rail-way in the middle for 
 horses (for there are fifty or sixty horses living 
 in this subterraneous world), to draw two four- 
 wheel carriages, with each eight large baskets of 
 coal ; these baskets are brought one at a time 
 by diminutive waggons, on four little wheels,
 
 NEWCASTLE COAL-MINES. 77 
 
 drawn or pushed by boys along other rail-ways, 
 coming down the side streets to this main horse- 
 road, the ceiling of which is cut in the main 
 rock, high enough for a man to stand upright, 
 while the side streets are no higher than the 
 stratum of coals (4j feet), therefore you must 
 walk stooping. 
 
 The whole extent of the mine is worked in 
 streets intersecting each other at right angles, 24 
 feet wide and 36 feet asunder, leaving therefore 
 solid blocks 36 feet every way. The miners have 
 two enemies to contend with, air and water; that 
 air is hydrogen gas, continually emitted by the 
 coals, with an audible hissing noise. The con- 
 tact of the lights necessary to be used would in- 
 fallibly set fire to the hydrogen gas, if allowed to 
 accumulate, and either blow up or singe the mi- 
 ners severely ; it is therefore necessary that there 
 should be a continual current of air going in and 
 out by two different issues. At the beginning of 
 the works, and while there is only one shaft, this 
 is effected by means of a wooden partition, car- 
 ried down the middle of the shaft, then along the 
 fkst street opened, and so disposed afterwards, 
 that the air which comes down the shaft on one 
 side of the partition, may circulate successively 
 through each and every street before it returns 
 up the other division of the shaft, a small fire es- 
 tablishing and keeping up the draught. As to
 
 78 NEWCASTLE COAL-MINES. 
 
 water, the dip, or inclination of the stratum of 
 coals being known, all the art consists in making 
 the first shaft in the lowest part of the tract ; a 
 steam-engine at the top drains up the water, and 
 draws up the coals. Wherever the shaft traver- 
 ses any stratum yielding water, it must be kept 
 out by means of a drum, or lining of timber, 
 made tight round the inside of the shaft. I saw 
 a small spring of clear water issuing from the bed 
 of coal below, near the stables where the horses 
 are kept, and serving to water them. These hor- 
 ses are in very good order ; their coats soft and 
 glossy, like the skin of a mole : they are convey- 
 ed down, or taken out, with ease and expedition, 
 by means of a great net or bag. 
 
 Some of the mines are more extensive than the 
 city of Philadelphia, and their streets are as re- 
 gular. When the whole area is thus excavated 
 in streets, it must not be supposed that the solid 
 blocks are abandoned ; but, beginning at the fur- 
 thest extremity, the miners proceed to pull down 
 all the blocks one after the other. When a space 
 of two or three hundred feet square has been thus 
 left unsupported, the ceiling of solid rock begins 
 to sag and crack, with a hideous noise ; the work- 
 men go on notwithstanding, trusting that the ceil- 
 ing will not break down close to the blocks, but 
 some way behind j and such is the case, the 
 cracks grow wider and wider, the rock bends
 
 NEWCASTLE COAL-MINES. 79 
 
 down, coming at last in contact with the floor, 
 and the whole extent is thus filled up. On the 
 surface of the ground, however, nothing is per- ., 
 ceived ; the rocks are left to manage the business 
 among themselves below. Houses, and stone 
 houses too, remain standing, and their inhabi- 
 tants sleep in peace all the while. 
 
 The miners know, by the nature of the rocks 
 they meet while sinking the shaft, when they ap- 
 proach the coal, which is generally found between 
 two beds of white sand stone. They sink the shaft 
 at the rate of about two fathoms a-week. 
 
 The consumption of London has increased one- 
 fourth in the course of the few last years ; it 
 amounts now to about 1,OOO,OOO chaldrons, or*,, 
 1 ,200,OOO tons annually, forming 600O cargoes of V ^ v 
 vessels of 200 tons each ; and as they perform 
 twelve voyages a-year, the trade employs 5OO ^ ' 
 ships j the crews consist of two old sailors, for 
 captain and mate, and seven or eight apprentices, 
 all protected from impressment; the two old men 
 have L. 9 each a voyage. The mere coal-trade 
 between Newcastle and London is, therefore, a 
 nursery for 4000 young sailors, and a preferment 
 for 1000 old ones. The celebrated navigator, 
 Captain Cook, had served his time on board a 
 collier. $*/+* ffjiipi fl/ fa*j /&*&&& / ' 
 
 The coal drawn to the surface of the soil is con- 
 veyed to the lighters by means of low carriages,
 
 
 SO NEWCASTLE COAL-MINES. 
 
 on four small wheels fixed to their axis, that their 
 motion may be perfectly equal. They travel on 
 rail- ways, which are composed of two bars of iron, 
 upon which the wheels, which have grooves at 
 their circumference, run without impediment. 
 Ninety two bushels, weighing about two tons, be- 
 sides the waggon, are drawn by a single horse, 
 with so much ease, that the driver is obliged, on 
 the least descent of the road, to press on the wheel 
 with a sort of lever, to retard its motion by the 
 friction, that the carriage may not run too much 
 on the horse. The lighters, called keels, of about 
 fifteen tons, carry the coals on board vessels wait- 
 ing in deep water. It is remarked, that the men' 
 employed under ground enjoy better health than 
 those on the surface ; the regularity of tempera- 
 ture securing them against many disorders, and 
 the air constantly renewed being sufficiently pure. 
 Farming land leases here at L. 4 or L, an 
 acre for the best quality, and 30s. for the worst ; 
 poor's-rates 5s. in the pound, or 25 per cent, on 
 the rental ! This institution of the poor's-rates is 
 an unwholesome excrescence, which preys upon 
 the vitals of society, and undermines its very ex- 
 istence ; yet a certain native vigour of constitu- 
 tion has enabled it so far to bear with the disease, 
 or it finds somewhere a sufficient corrective. 
 There is not certainly any perceivable decay of 
 industry j vices and poverty arc less apparent
 
 NEWCASTLE COAL-MINES. 81 
 
 than in any country I know, without excepting 
 the United States. The poor's-rates, as well as 
 the income-tax on the rent, are advanced by the 
 farmer, who pays also the same income-tax on 
 his own profits as a farmer. Timber is dearer 
 here than in any other part of England or Scot- 
 land, owing to the great consumption in the coal- 
 mines. The stratum of coals in the county of 
 Stafford is much thicker than here ; SO feet, I 
 understand, for an extent of 28 square miles.* 
 The quantity extracted every week was estimated 
 some years ago at 16,20O tons ; while, one hun- 
 dred years before, the whole annual produce of 
 that district was only45,OOO tons, scarcely more 
 than one- twentieth part. Miners say there is no 
 advantage in this great thickness of the stratum; 
 the process is more expensive, and large pillars 
 must be left ; a great quantity of small coals is 
 abandoned, and in that state they are apt to catch 1f ^ 
 fire. It is calculated, that, at the present rate of 
 mining, the strata of Staffordshire must be ex- 
 hausted in less than SOO years ; those about Nefr- 
 castle will not last near so long ; and at no very 
 distant period, England will find it necessary to 
 
 * There are beds of coals in Bohemia 90 feet in thickness, 
 (Jameson's Geognosy.) It would be impossible probably to 
 work this depth, unless the coal should happen to be very near 
 the surface. 
 
 VOL. II. F
 
 82 COAL-MINES IRON-BRIDGE. 
 
 restrict the exportation of coals, which are cer- 
 tainly the mainspring of its manufactures. The 
 immense saving of manual labour by the steam- 
 engine gives England a surplus of men for the 
 navy and army, much more considerable than its 
 population could otherwise afford without ex- 
 haustion. The continent of Europe draws from 
 England, notwithstanding the war, a quantity of 
 coals, necessary to some processes of the useful 
 arts,* said to amount to L.500,000 or L.600,000 
 a-year ; some are exported to the West India 
 islands ; and the inhabitants of the larger sea- 
 port towns of the United States warm themselves 
 almost entirely with English coals, cheaper than 
 the wood of their forests, ten leagues of land- 
 carriage being more expensive than a thousand 
 leagues by sea. 
 
 March 2. Between Newcastle and Castle 
 Eden we passed over the iron bridge at Sunder- 
 land, which is certainly a wonderful object, from 
 its lightness and boldness; vessels with masts 10O 
 feet high can pass under it. It was built fifteen 
 years ago, and cost L.36,OOO ; a very small sum 
 
 * At Hamburgh only, there are 500 sugar-houses which 
 have stopped working for want of coal (perhaps also a little for 
 want of sugar). The last of English coals, which used to be 
 worth there 32 dollars, sells now at 300 dollars, Oddy's Ca- 
 nal Navigation.
 
 IRON-BRIDGES GUNNER*S POOL RIPPON. 83 
 
 I think. A similar bridge was made and put to- 
 gether here, then taken down and sent to Ja- 
 maica, where it now stands, between Kingston 
 and Spanish Town. The wind, which had been 
 high ever since we left Edinburgh, blew to-day 
 a perfect' hurricane, and when we crossed the 
 bridge it was really terrifying. The white crests 
 of the waves of the ocean were visible all day in 
 the distance on our left ; the country good and 
 fertile, but not interesting. 
 
 March 3. Before we set out this morning, we 
 walked to a very romantic spot called Gunner's 
 Pool. It is an irregular valley, with fine crum- 
 bling rocks on each side, torn from each other 
 by some violent convulsion of the earth ; the ap- 
 pearance of the whole being that of a wide rent 
 of the earth across an extensive plain. A -beau- 
 tiful little stream winds along the vale, and very 
 fine evergreens grow among the rocks. The si- 
 tuation is so sheltered, that grass is quite green, 
 and many plants begin to shoot ; the buds of 
 hazel-bushes shew already their beautiful little 
 / tassels of bright red. The wind is still so high, 
 that many of the windmills, which are very nu- 
 merous, are turning fast under bare poles, yet it 
 was calm in the valley. Ploughs are at work 
 everywhere, many with four horses in a line. 
 
 March 4. To Rippon, 22 miles. We have 
 visited to day the ruins of Fountaine's Abbey ;
 
 84 RIPPON THE MINSTER STUDLY PARK. 
 
 they cover about five acres of ground, at the far- 
 thest extremity of a peaceful and sequestered 
 valley, perhaps 400 yards in breadth, and one 
 mile in length, bounded on either side by rocks 
 and trees, with a clear stream of water winding 
 along it. A high tower remains entire ; too 
 much so for beauty. The chapel, of which I took 
 a drawing, is fine. The style of the ruins is, upon, 
 the whole, heavy ; but their extent, and particu- 
 larly their situation, render them the most stri- 
 S king thing of the kind we have seen. There are 
 six or seven immense yew-trees behind the ab- 
 bey, one is 28 feet in circumference ; they were 
 there, and recorded as large trees before it was 
 built (1150)! 
 
 This beautiful valley and ruins are a mere ap- 
 pendage of Studly Park, in which they are situa- 
 ted. The grounds are varied, and planted with 
 great judgment, principally with ever-greens, 
 which at this season appear in full glory ; seve- 
 ral, however, lay prostrate, broken down or up- 
 rooted by the wind. The silver firs are the finest 
 trees here. The house itself does not correspond 
 to the magnificence of the place. It seems as if 
 a Gothic front had been tacked to it, so as to let 
 a Grecian pediment peep over ; yet it looks well. 
 The fine stream of the Abbey is, after leaving 
 the valley, disfigured into some awkward, old- 
 fashioned square ponds, in very bad tastet
 
 XEWBT HALL. 85 
 
 March 5. York, by Newby Hall, 28 miles. 
 Newby Hall is one of those innumerable fine 
 houses, scattered over this country, which are al- 
 lowed to be shewn to strangers. This one, how- 
 ever, is distinguished from the crowd, by a col- 
 lection of antique marbles of much reputation. 
 Mr W., the last proprietor, took the trouble of 
 collecting himself abroad, at a vast expence, 
 these remains of Grecian art. His Venus alone, 
 we were told, costLl5,OOO sterling ; a great price, 
 undoubtedly ; but the satire of Voltaire will not 
 apply here, for although achcte chtr, this is not 
 a moderne antique. The attitude and size are those 
 of the Medicean Venus, but the head is not 
 good, shockingly stained besides, and the neck 
 even bad ; in other respects it is a fine statue. 
 A large draped figure is next to this most admi- 
 red ; the attitude nearly that of the Flora ; the 
 weight of the body resting on one leg, twists 
 up the left hip too high, while the right hangs 
 too low, an affected sort of easy indolence, 
 which would be in fact painful contortion. The 
 drapery is well enough j the head has no beau- 
 ty. The artists of antiquity have necessarily pro- 
 duced many statues which were not chefs-d'oeuvre* 
 and I cannot help thinking, that most of those 
 which have been brought into England were of 
 that number.
 
 SO YORK THE MINSTER. 
 
 The garden of the inn we slept at last night 
 had mezereon in full bloom, snow-drops, crocus- 
 ses, and primroses ; lilacs are nearly out, as also 
 rose-bushes. This is just six weeks earlier than 
 .Xat New York, although the latter place is farther 
 south than Rome and Naples. We have had for 
 the last ten days the finest weather possible, only 
 too windy. 
 
 York is an old town, and of course very ugly, 
 containing about 15,OOO inhabitants. Its Min- 
 f // > If" * ster is one of the wonders of England, fifty feet 
 3 H ^longer than Westminster Abbey, which is, I 
 . HHhink, 520 feet. The main tower over the cen- 
 1 * If* * tre is heavy ; the two lesser ones are much bet- 
 ter 5 the rest of the exterior is light and beauti- 
 ful. The interior is very striking indeed, and 
 superior to any thing we have yet seen, as to 
 boldness, lightness, and prodigious high finish of 
 the carving, quite sharp and d jour. The fi- 
 gures introduced are in the usual barbarous gro- 
 tesque style. The outside carving, originally as 
 highly finished, having been much injured by 
 time, is now undergoing thorough repairs, or ra- 
 ther an entire new facing ; the modern carving 
 is fully equal to the old, and made like in colour 
 by oiling the stones. Beautiful as the inside of 
 the Minster undoubtedly is, I think it less stri- 
 king than the inside of St Paul's j the latter is 
 6
 
 YORK JUDG ES ASSIZES UNITARIANS. 8 7 
 
 something less in size, but its vast airy dome, and 
 the wide area under it, produce a greater effect. 
 The tower of a small Gothic church near the 
 Minster is remarkably light and beautiful. The 
 windows of the Minster are too large, and admit 
 " too much light. 
 
 On Sunday the judges, just arrived for the as- 
 sizes, came to church en grand costume, with 
 their huge powdered wigs, and black robes ; but 
 all their smartness was lost upon us, who had 
 just seen the Scotch judges dressed in white and 
 pink satin. The mayor and corporation swelled 
 the train, and in the rear footmen and white live- 
 ries, and large nosegays at the button -hole ; the 
 whole town was in motion. The assizes in a coun- 
 try town are an event ; and it puts me in mind 
 of Madame de Stael's witty remark, " On ne s'y 
 amuse une fois, que pour d^couvrir que Ton s'y 
 ennuie tous les jours." The chanting was very 
 good, and the voices of some of the young cho- 
 risters admirable, but the organist flourished too 
 much. The same day we went to the Unitarian 
 chapel, where we expected to hear Mr W. preach; 
 but the New-England tone and pronunciation. 
 soon informed us that our godly instructor came 
 from the other side of the Atlantic. Travelling 
 as well as ourselves in this distant country, 
 chance had thus brought us together, he to 
 give, and we to receive edification. The mode of
 
 S YORK FRENCH PROTESTANTS -REV. 8. S. 
 
 worship of the Unitarians has the defect of be- 
 >? ing too rational ; their service resembles in its 
 extreme simplicity that of the French Protest- 
 ants, among whom I was born. The English 
 sectaries, however, have greatly the advantage 
 in other respects ; they profess openly, in per- 
 fect liberty and peace, the faith of their con- 
 science, and sing the praises of God to the sound 
 of the organ r in their own town, while those of 
 Prance were obliged to meet by stealth, in secret 
 and lonely places. I have seen in the mountains 
 of the Vivarois a Protestant minister preach from 
 the hollow trunk of an old chesnut tree, and 
 heard the rocks of the wilderness re-echo the 
 psalms of King David, sung with the fervour of 
 primitive zeal, in language piously barbarous. 
 
 We had the pleasure of seeing here a preacher 
 of another sort, the Rev. S. S., who has been the 
 delight of the devout fashionables of the capital ; 
 it is not, however, in this character we have 
 known him, but in his own house, where, among 
 his friends, he is a most agreeable companion. 
 He has the reputation of being one of the most 
 lively writers of the Edinburgh Review, and se- 
 rious too when he pleases. His countenance 
 struck me as very like that of the unfortunate 
 Louis XVI,, with more vivacity in the eye. 
 
 There is near York a retreat for lunatics, 
 which appears admirably managed, and almost
 
 YORK LUNATIC ASYLUM. 89 
 
 entirely by reason and kindness ; it was institu- 
 ted by the Quakers. Most of the patients move 
 about at liberty, without noise and disorder, and 
 by their demure and grave deportment shew 
 they have not quite forgotten to what sect they 
 belong. We observed, however, in a great gar- 
 den or court, some men in broad brim hats, walk- 
 ing about in a hurried, agitated manner, with 
 their hands in their coat-pockets, where we found 
 at last they were confined. The lowest only of 
 the patients are allowed to be seen ; for the 
 Quakers recognize in practice some inequalities 
 of rank. It is impossible, however, to blame 
 those who wish not to expose the infirmities of 
 their friends to the idle gaze of the curious. 
 The matron of the house is a very handsome 
 woman, with the most pleasing manners, and is in 
 every respect admirably suited to her situation. 
 Mr Jepson, her husband, is the superintendant 
 of the Retreat, and it is to his ability, firmness^, 
 and distinguished humanity, that it is chiefly in- 
 debted for the mild and judicious treatment of 
 lunacy, which is now beginning to be followed 
 in other parts of the island : a reform for which 
 there was the most deplorable necessity.* Many 
 
 * The character and merits of Mr Jepson had been misun- 
 derstood, and unintentionally misrepresented, in the first edition 
 of this Journal.
 
 )O YORK QUAKER LUNATIC ASYLUM. 
 
 years ago, the Quakers had proposed a mild sys- 
 tem of management, but it was very imperfectly 
 understood when Mr Jepson undertook the su- 
 perintendence of the Retreat. He has since been 
 indefatigable in his endeavours to ascertain the 
 best means of treating the disease, and his efforts 
 have been attended with the happiest effects. It 
 is, however, much to be regretted, that a man of 
 his zeal and judgment should be so much em- 
 ^X ployed in the subordinate offices to which his si- 
 tuation there subjects him, as not to have full 
 leisure for that uninterrupted observation, and ex- 
 ercise of skill, which might afford a knowledge of 
 the disease that has hitherto remained unknown.' 
 He is beloved by his patients, and revered by 
 every person who has had an opportunity of ob- 
 serving his conduct ; and, as his salary is ex- 
 tremely small, he may be justly regarded as one 
 of those rare and exalted characters, who, from 
 the purest benevolence, devote their life to soften 
 the afflictions and improve the condition of man- 
 kind. The frame of the windows is of iron, 
 which saves the appearance of grates. Some of 
 the patients are allowed to go out of the pre- 
 mises, and even to town alone. The directress 
 told us, that, having been indisposed in conse- 
 quence of a fall, and some little dispute having 
 arisen some time afterwards with one of the fe- 
 male patients, the latter said to her, " I am sorry
 
 YORK QUAKER LUNATIC ASYLUM. 91 
 
 to see that since thy fall thee hast not been quite 
 right, and if it should last we shall be obliged to 
 take care of thee !" We heard some other curi- 
 ous traits ; I shall mention only the following. A 
 young and stout female patient, displeased with 
 one of the servants, threw her down on the floor, 
 and holding her there said, " What should hinder 
 me from strangling thee ? I am mad ; they could 
 not hang me for it !" 
 
 In fourteen years 154 patients have been ad- 
 mitted ; of which 73 have been cured, 24 have 
 died (three by suicide,) and 57 remain. There 
 are more women than men. The most ordinary 
 causes are love, religion, pride, and reverses in 
 fortune ; two of these causes apply more parti- 
 cularly to the sex, the other two are equally 
 divided. I have been told by a well-informed 
 Quaker, that there are more instances of insanity 
 among the people of that persuasion than among 
 others j the rich particularly are most exposed 
 to this calamity. Commerce and manufactures 
 are nearly the only professions from which Qua- 
 kers do not exclude themselves ; but the sons 
 of rich merchants care little about trade ; almost 
 all kinds of amusements, the fine arts, and certain 
 departments of literature, falling under the same 
 interdiction, nothing remains but ennui, nervous- 
 ness, and at last insanity. Dr Johnson, who was
 
 92 YORK MADNESS. 
 
 well qualified to judge of mental maladies, said 
 of one of his friends, " He would not have drown- 
 ed himself if he had known how to hem a pocket- 
 handkerchief." The circumstance of the Qua- 
 kers building this lunatic asylum entirely for 
 themselves, recalled to my mind what happened 
 to me once in travelling through a back- settle- 
 ment of America. Observing in the house of a 
 settler an apparatus to distil spirits, I asked him 
 how he could expect a sale for the liquor in so 
 remote a situation ? " Oh !" he answered* " it is 
 s only for family use." 
 
 The Rev. S. S., who had the goodness to ac- 
 company us, said he understood there was an 
 undue proportion of tailors among mad people. 
 I would not answer that this remark was to be 
 taken seriously. The profession has a certain 
 ^ degree of ridicule attached to it in England^ and 
 is obnoxious to certain jokes, which, although 
 neither very new nor very refined, genuine mirth 
 /is not so fastidious as to disdain. 
 
 Madness appears to be fatally common in Great 
 Britainj and among the higher ranks, as well as 
 among quakers and tailors. I have heard of 
 three families of Scotch dukes, in which there 
 have been, from time to time, a succession of ., 
 cases of this kind, and eleven earls' families./ 
 My informant, who was not so well acquainted
 
 YORK SCORBUTIC AFFECTIONS. 93 
 
 with the state of noble brains in the southern 
 section of the island, could not name more than 
 three families of mad English dukes j and the 
 case of an illustrious personage belongs by blood 
 rather to Scotland than to England : Yet the 
 Scotch talk of this calamity as afflicting pecu- 
 liarly England, seeing the mote in their bro- 
 
 x ther's eye, and not the beam in their own. It 
 has long been my opinion, said Horace Wai- 
 pole, that the out-pensioners of bedlam are so 
 numerous, that the shortest and cheapest way 
 would be to confine in Moorfields the few that 
 remain in their senses, who would then be safe, 
 and let the rest go out at large. 
 
 Scorbutic affections, the scrofula ad pulmo- 
 nary consumptions, seem more general here than 
 in most other countries. If the first of these 
 disorders is occasioned by the gradual abstrac- 
 tion of oxygen producing prostration of strength, 
 and at last the extinction of the spontaneous 
 motion of the muscles of the heart ; while, on 
 the contrary, consumption is produced by too 
 much oxygen in the blood, it seems strange that 
 these two disorders should be equally prevalent 
 at the same time, and in the same place. An 
 ingenious English physician, Dr Beddoes, obser- 
 ved that the scurvy raged with more violence at 
 
 S sea after a storm or a battle ; while the motion
 
 94 YORK MINSTER RENT OF LAND, & c . 
 
 of the sea, and exercise in general, are, on the 
 contraiy, favourable to consumptions. 
 
 We were shown, at the Minster, gold-rings 
 of tolerable workmanship, with stones in them, 
 found in coffins of prelates, lately broken up ; 
 one had the date of 1410 upon it, another } 245. 
 /York is very old. It was a considerable town in 
 the time of the Romans. The fort was built by 
 William the Conqueror, and the heavy tower, on 
 a mound, is of much more remote antiquity. 
 
 Over the gates of the town, and indeed at the 
 entrance of most towns or villages, you see writ- 
 ten a notice, " To vagrants, and other idle and 
 disorderly persons ; that such as may be found 
 i / in it will be proceeded against with the utmost 
 rigour of the law ;" that is to say, of the poor- 
 laws, of which an account has been given. 
 
 Land rents at the exorbitant rate of L.7 or L.8 
 an acre near York, and a few miles farther, at 
 L.4 or L.5, but farmers complain, and some of 
 them fail. 
 
 March 11. We are just returned from Castle 
 Howard. Traversing York this morning, in our 
 way there, we met the judges going to open the 
 sessions, with the same wigs and the same train 
 as yesterday. The whole town was in motion, 
 the streets full of misses in white muslin, citi- 
 zens in dark-blue coats, carefully brushed, glos-
 
 YORK ENGLISH HUMANITY. 95 
 
 sy hats, and shining boots, and military people 
 in red. It seemed a day of rejoicing; and, in 
 fact, the whole time of the sessions is a period of 
 amusement ; yet we learn that the prisons here 
 are unusually full. There are eight cases of 
 murder, and among them a young couple for 
 beating their own child, an infant, to death. 
 One might be disposed to judge unfavourably, 
 at first sight, of people who take this time for re- 
 joicing ; but the extraordinary concourse of peo- 
 ple, and not their purpose, is the occasion of it. 
 The English think very highly of their own hu- 
 manity ; I am willing to admit they are humane ; 
 although their history is undoubtedly very san- 
 guinary. More blood has been spilt here by the 
 sword of the law than anywhere else in France 
 by the hands of the mob, or mob tribunals. There 
 is nothing in the English history to match the 
 French St Barthelemy, or the late phrenetic pe- 
 riod of revolution. But England, in times of 
 good order, and regular government, was in the 
 habit of shedding on the scaffold, reign after 
 reign, the blood of her noblest and most illus- 
 trious citizens. The French have shown, per- 
 haps, more genuine ferocity, the English a 
 and more inexorable character. 
 
 The road to Castle Howard is uninteresting ; 
 we saw nothing but flat waste lands, where " the 
 furze" and nothing else, " its rugged aspect rear-
 
 . I 96 CASTLE HOWARD LAND. 
 
 / fW V 
 
 ill ed," although to appearance perfectly fit for cul- 
 
 tivation, and farms so very dear in the neigh- 
 bourhood. What an immense proportion of 
 waste land must there have been a century ago, 
 when the population was little more than half 
 what it is now.* 
 
 You first see Castle Howard at the distance of 
 about a mile ; it presents a wide and magnificent 
 front, with a dome over it a dark back-ground 
 of wood, and a whole country evidently its do- 
 * i main ; it has the appearance of a French royal re- 
 sidence of Louis the Fourteenth's time. The ap- 
 proach, however, is poor and neglected. Paltry 
 wooden barricades cross the road at every 20O 
 yards, without any apparent use, and now and 
 then a clumsy arch or gateway of massy stone, 
 with certain pyramidal ornaments in bad taste. 
 Within half a mile of the house carriages stop at 
 the last gateway, where there is an inn. You 
 then walk on through an irregular avenue of 
 beeches, moderately fine, and planted too close 
 together, to an obelisk, on the face of which a 
 versified inscription informs you that an Earl of 
 Carlisle, of the Howard family, made these plan- 
 
 * The population of England and Scotland was, in 1700, 
 6,500,000; in 1750,7,870,000; and in 1801, the last census, 
 11,314,138.
 
 CASTLE HOWARD PICTURES. 9/ 
 
 tations between the years 1703 and 1731, and 
 lays an injunction on his posterity to be very 
 thankful for the same. You then turn to the 
 right, still under an avenue of beech-trees ; fat 
 deer lying lazily all about the lawns, undisturbed 
 by your approach, even by the noise of a pack of 
 hounds in full cry at no great distance. The 
 house, when seen near, loses much of its magni- 
 ficence as a whole, and gains nothing in point of 
 details. It is too low, there are too many win- 
 dows, in fact it does not look well. It is es- 
 teemed, however, one of the best works of Van- 
 brugh. On one side there is a fine wood, in 
 front an artificial piece of water of considerable 
 extent, but not of the least beauty, the banks 
 being flat and naked. 
 
 The inside of the house has nothing worthy 
 of notice but the pictures. One of the first seen 
 is covered with a curtain, which; when drawn 
 aside, shews you an adoration of the wise men of 
 the East, by Mabeuge, a Flemish painter, whose 
 name I never heard of before, nor wish to hear 
 again. It is decidedly a bad picture, curious, 
 perhaps, on account of its freshness, smoothness, 
 and wonderful state of preservation, although 
 300 years old ; just like (in that respect only) 
 Leonardo da Vinci's pictures. A portrait of 
 Henry VIII. by Holbein, very bad, as every- 
 
 VOL. II. . G 
 
 l/t fr*4 40$ M
 
 98 CASTLE HOWARD PICTURES. 
 
 thing is of his which I have seen.* A portrait 
 of Lady Carlisle, by Sir Joshua Reynolds, quite 
 faded. A full-length one of Omai by the same 
 artist ; less faded, with a good expression. Then 
 comes a room hung with pictures from the Or- 
 leans gallery ; one of them has the honour of the 
 curtain the three Maries, very famous, and most 
 justly so ; I never saw any thing comparable to 
 it. The dead body of Christ is partly supported 
 by the Virgin Mary, who, fainting, reclines back 
 on Mary the mother of James ; Mary Magdalen 
 looks over with an expression of distress quite 
 wonderful, while the mother of the Virgin appears 
 divided between her own affliction and appre- 
 hension for her daughter. All here is grandeur, 
 correctness, profound and just feeling. Next to 
 this chef d'&uvre of Annibal Caracci, is another 
 picture by him, really very bad. Above that is 
 a good picture of Ludovico Caracci again our 
 Saviour's sepulchre A good Dominichino. A 
 portrait of Snyder, the painter of animals, by 
 Vandyke, excellent. There are many more pic- 
 tures of less note ; and in an unfinished adjoin- 
 ing gallery such a collection of daubs ready to 
 
 * Holbein died of the plague in 1554-. He is particularly 
 known for his Death-dance at Schaf Osen ; it is said to have 
 been destroyed during the war, and then it was no great loss. 
 Note to the Second Edition.
 
 CASTLE HOWARD PICTURES LEEDS. 99 
 
 be hung up, as I never saw before ; with the ex- 
 ception of two good cattle-pieces by Rosa de 
 Tivoli, and a large picture by Sarrazin. There 
 are many antique busts and small statues, very 
 few above mediocrity. A Persian tapestry de- 
 corates one of the rooms in the Chinese taste, 
 bad enough ; also some Gobelins still worse, 
 and bad taste is less excusable there : shepherds 
 and shepherdesses in the old-fashioned absurd 
 celadonic costume of hoops and flounces, wasp 
 shapes, and powdered heads. The bad taste of 
 a distant country is far less insupportable than 
 that of your own. 
 
 March 12. We took leave of our friends after 
 dinner, and are settled at Leeds for the night, 
 22 miles, through a rich and highly- cultivated 
 country, farm-houses in sight everywhere, with 
 their usual appendages, in great order, and the 
 polygonal pillars of hay already mentioned. Large 
 fields fresh ploughed, black and smooth, others 
 ploughing, always with horses, never with oxen. 
 Farmers riding among their workmen, great 
 flocks of sheep confined by net-fences in turnip 
 fields. The meadows are of the most vivid green, 
 and the trees are budding, much as about New 
 York a month later ; the weather so fine and 
 mild as to travel with the glasses down. Stage- 
 coaches pass us continually with their absurd 
 Jading of passengers on the top, twelve or fi.
 
 100 LEEDS CLOTHIERS' HALL. 
 
 teen nodding heads. The night had closed when 
 we approached Leeds, and from a height, north 
 of the town, we saw a multitude of fires issuing, 
 no doubt from furnaces, and constellations of 
 illuminated windows (manufactories) spread over 
 the dark plain. We soon reached streets of good- 
 looking shops, and stopped at the door of the 
 inn, a large bustling one, always less comfort- 
 able than those of lesser towns. 
 
 March 13. After breakfast a lady (Mrs R.), 
 for whose nephew we had a letter, called on us 
 in his absence, and offered very obligingly to 
 shew us the lions of the place, which she did with 
 equal good nature and intelligence. 
 
 The clothiers' hall is a vast quadrangular fire- 
 proof building round a court-yard ; it is the joint 
 property and warehouse of 2OOO private manu- 
 facturers, half farmers, who have only a loom or 
 two kept going at leisure times. Twice a-week, 
 for one hour, they appear each at his stand, two 
 and a half feet wide, and perhaps ten feet deep, 
 with their stock piled up behind them, and sam- 
 ples in their hands. These stands are arranged 
 on each side of a long gallery, with a passage 
 between. 
 
 The merchants walk along the double line 
 comparing their orders with the samples, and 
 making purchases, generally at a uniform price. 
 There is a great deal of business done in a very
 
 LEEDS BROAD-CLOTH HOSPITAL. 101 
 
 short time, and with very few words, although 
 many of the stands are occupied by women, as - 
 our conductress informed us. This is a respect- 
 able set of people, and a pleasing instance of do- 
 mestic manufactures, so preferable to the crowds 
 and depravity 'of great establishments. Cloth 
 has lately fallen in price from 33 to 25 shillings, 
 in consequence of the increasing obstructions to 
 the British trade. 
 
 The men, whose business is the combing and 
 shearing the cloth, work by the piece, and earn 
 5s. a-day, by working from four in the morning 
 to eight at night. They are described as very 
 extravagant and very poor ; brutified, vicious, and 
 troublesome to their employers. They see, with 
 an evil eye, a machine about to be set up, to do 
 this work by the steam-engine, and disturbances 
 are apprehended. We have observed the mark 
 of JournauxfrereS) de Sedan, on pieces of broad- 
 cloth destined for the continent. 
 
 The hospital, or infirmary , is remarkable for 
 the good order and cleanliness of its interior; 
 the patients are placed in rooms, not wards, from 
 four to eight in each. The only improvement 
 the philanthropic Howard, visiting this hospital, 
 could suggest, was, that there ought to be a suf- 
 ficient number of apartments for some of them, in 
 rotation, to remain unoccupied for some weeks, 
 /' vthicli was done accordingly.
 
 102 LEEDS SHEFFIELD. 
 
 This town has doubled in the last 20 years, 
 therefore a great part of the buildings are modern 
 and comfortable, with gardens, planted squares, 
 and flowers in every window. We were shewn a 
 good library and reading-room 5 the librarian is 
 a lady. 
 
 We left Leeds late in the day, and, in conse- 
 quence of a scarcity of horses on the road, we 
 could not proceed farther than Barnsley (20 
 miles) ; and here we are in the worst inn which 
 we have met with in this country. Such as it is, 
 I have not the least doubt it would be deemed 
 excellent in the interior of France. The country 
 we have passed is rich, unequal, and affording 
 fine views. There is a coal-mine at Barnsley, 
 the stratum of which is ten feet thick at the 
 depth of 1OO yards, a cart-load costs 14s. 
 . March 14. Sheffield is another steam-engine 
 town, all iron, and steel, and smoke, but we shall 
 see enough of all this at Birmingham. These Cy- 
 clops, however, have very pretty country-houses, 
 all fresh and green, round their smoky work- 
 shop, mostly on the slope of a hill, from which 
 the view is very extensive, over a rich and fertile 
 country. Wentworth Castle, apart from these 
 plebeian boxes, overlooks, from an elevated situ- 
 ation, its extensive domains ; dark woods, and 
 lawns, and grazing herds of deer. An obelisk, a 
 mile and a half off, shews that the grounds cover 
 
 "
 
 SHEFFIELD MINES CASTLETON. 103 
 
 a whole country. Distant views opened every 
 moment, covered with a grey mist, and here and 
 there columns of smoke rising slow in lazy 
 folds, from iron-works and steam-engines over 
 coal-pits. The sky was pale blue, without a cloud; 
 larks sung over our heads, and all the birds of 
 the spring swarmed about the hedges, where the 
 woodbine was out in leaf. Soon after Sheffield, 
 the landscape became very wild. Immense beds 
 of sand-stone, nearly horizontal, break suddenly 
 into spacious gaps, as if the surface or crust of 
 the earth had sunk into some internal cavities ; 
 the sides correspond to each other, and split into 
 enormous square blocks. Next came extensive 
 moors of brown heath and peat lands. Heaps of 
 rubbish on the slope of hills indicate the opening 
 of iron-mines. 
 
 On approaching Castleton, our quarters for the 
 night, the very old castle, from which it derives 
 its name, appeared behind, on the brow of a high 
 perpendicular rock. It was a ruin at the time 
 of the Romans, who called it Arx Diaboli, and its 
 origin was then unknown.* With a guide, who 
 introduced himself on our arrival, we proceeded 
 immediately to the renowned cavern, called the 
 
 * The Romans worked the Derbyshire mines. A bar of lead 
 has been found in one of them, with the name of one of the 
 Emperors. Male's Derbyshire.
 
 104 CASTLETON PEAK'S HOLE. 
 
 Peak's Hole, at the foot of the rock of the castle. 
 I was struck, on approaching it, with its resem- 
 blance to the rock of the J on tame de Vaucluse. 
 The entrance is ISO feet wide, and 70 feet high. 
 Advancing under the spacious dome, we were 
 surprised to see several small houses lost in its 
 immensity, and a number of twine-makers, who 
 have been in possession of this work-shop time 
 immemorial. These objects, instead of degrading 
 the majesty of the place, add to it by their low- 
 liness. Here we received each of us a lighted 
 candle, and, descending by a narrow passage at 
 the extremity of the first cavern, we soon came 
 to a little lake of very clear water, covering the 
 area of a second cav.ern, the ceiling of which was 
 so low, that, crossing the water in a boat, you are 
 obliged to lie down. On landing on the other 
 side, we found ourselves in the third division of 
 this subterranean suite of apartments. This one, 
 still more vast than the first, is 250 feet square, 
 and 120 feet high. The guides, who understand 
 their business, prepare here a little coup-de-thedtre 
 for the curious under their protection. Some 
 children, brought up to the part they are to act, 
 reach the spot before-hand, and, ascending a sort 
 of natural circular gallery at a great height, place 
 themselves in picturesque attitudes, with lights 
 in their hands, and sing. The effect produced 
 by these angels of darkness is undoubtedly very
 
 CASTLETON PEAK's-HOLE,. 
 
 striking. You next come to a long- passage, and 
 a slippery descent of 150 feet, so low that ^ou 
 cannot stand upright without danger for your 
 head against sharp inequalities of the rock j and, 
 however fatal a place of this sort ;may be to the 
 lustre of a new hat, I would not advise any body 
 to leave it at the entrance of the cavern, as I had 
 
 > s 
 
 done. You meet here with a stream of water 
 flowing rapidly along, which must be crossed 
 several times by means of stepjping-stones, or 
 upon the ready back of the guid/a. The stream 
 soon finds its way through a side>opening in the 
 rock, where it is lost. At last, after a toilsome 
 journey of perhaps half a mile, you reach nearly 
 the farthest extremity of the cavern, and must 
 make haste to turn back before the candles are 
 burnt out, which would leave you in a distressing 
 plight. The children and their lights surprise 
 you again on your return in a new and beauti- 
 ful situation ; but the most striking part of the 
 whole is, the distant reappearance of day-light 
 illuminating the arch of the great entrance. The 
 whole interior cavern is at times full of water. 
 An internal stream rushes ont of the rock, and 
 in again at another place, but never reaches the 
 great entrance. After the waters have subsided, 
 stones are found of a nature totally different from 
 the surrounding rock, as well as plants and sticks.
 
 ]06 CASTLETON SPEEDWELL LEAD-MINE. 
 
 The body of a snake, or some long-shaped fish, 
 is shewn in the rock, which is calcareous; 
 
 After a hasty dinner, we set out again with 
 our guide for another subterraneous expedition 
 bent upon fulfilling to the utmost our duties as 
 tourists. The night was beautifully clear, starry, 
 and cool, and the hills illuminated with fires of 
 furze and broom. 
 
 At the entrance of the Speedwell lead-mine* 
 we were provided each with a candle, and de- 
 scended 1O6 slippery steps in the rock ; at the 
 bottom of which we found a boat, and embarked 
 on a subterranean canal seven feet wide, filling 
 a horizontal gallery wholly cut in the rock, with 
 about two feet of water. The long narrow boat 
 glided along swiftly, impelled by the men giving 
 a shove now and then against the rock on either 
 side. A noise, as of a distant cataract, soon at- 
 tracted our attention, and, increasing every mo- 
 ment, would certainly have occasioned great ter- 
 ror, if we had not been confident that our con- 
 ductors knew what they were about. At last, 
 when the noise was at the loudest, we emerged 
 suddenly from the narrow gallery into open 
 space and darkness ; a cavern of immeasurable 
 height above, and close to us on the left, an 
 abyss, into which the water of our canal, and a 
 pretty considerable stream, coming from higher
 
 CASTLETON SPEEDWELL LEAD-MINE. 107 
 
 parts of the cavern, fell over a low stone wall, 
 which alone prevented our boat from sliding in. 
 It was rather a frightful sight. One of the mi- 
 ners, climbing up the rocks on the right a good 
 way with some dry wood, provided for the pur- 
 pose, lighted a fire, which discovered to us vast 
 recesses ; but there was still a space above which 
 reflected no light. Sky-rockets have been sent 
 up in the vast void without meeting the top* 
 Miners have been let down the water-fall by a 
 rope, and found, at 9O feet depth, an immense 
 reservoir, into which they threw the lead, which 
 touched only at 300 feet. An old miner who 
 was in the boat told us of their surprise and ter- 
 ror, when, after years of labour, (five or six years* 
 I think) and piercing about 900 yards into the 
 rock in search of veins of lead, of which they 
 found now and then specimens, they broke sud- 
 denly into this great cavern, and heard the tre- 
 mendous rushing of water. They soon, however, 
 not only familiarized themselves with the cata- 
 ract, but thought of profiting by it ; and building 
 the low wall already mentioned, across the very 
 brink of the fall, threw two feet of water into their 
 gallery, which made it navigable. They then be- 
 gan another gallery in a line with the first, on the 
 other side of the cavern. Five or six years more 
 and a progress of another half mile, brought them 
 to a second cavern, not so high or deep as the 
 first, but extending infinitely further. They ex-
 
 1O8 CASTLETON SPEEDWELL LEAD-MINE. , 
 
 plored it for tliree miles without finding the ex- 
 tremity. The area is very rugged and irregular, 
 and there is no knowing exactly where it ends ; 
 but there is a sensible current of air through it ; 
 the flame of candles pointing always to one side 
 and burning bright, and the respiration of men 
 quite free. All the stones and rubbish of the 
 second gallery were thrown into the waterfall 
 without any perceivable diminution of depth. 
 The whole work lasted eleven years. No vein 
 sufficiently rich to indemnify for the expence 
 was discovered ; but the gallery will remain a 
 lasting monument of industry and perseverance, 
 though unhappily not rewarded ; affording a cu- 
 rious insight into the interior state of calcareous 
 rocks, all more or less intersected with such im- 
 mense caverns, and reservoirs of springs and ri- 
 vers. Beautiful crystals of the fluor spar, known 
 by the name of Derbyshire spar, and remains of 
 fish and plants, are discovered every day in ex- 
 cavating the mines of this neighbourhood. There 
 are several other level galleries in Derbyshire 
 longer than that of the Speedwell mine ; one 
 is four miles long. On our return, one of our 
 miners, a dwarfish old man, regaled us with a song, 
 " Black- eyed Susan," in a voice of thunder, as 
 little harmonious as it was powerful. 
 
 March 15. Our first stage this morning was 
 Chatsworth. The road, on leaving Castleton, as- 
 cends for half an hour, affording fine views.
 
 CHATSWORTH STONY MIDDLETON. 109 
 
 Pounded marble and calcareous spar sparkled 
 everywhere in the sun. It is the finest weather 
 imaginable ; not a cloud in the horizon. 
 
 We observed a number of men peeling off the 
 surface of a heath by the laborious process de- 
 scribed before, burning it in heaps, and scatter- 
 ing the ashes. This does not answer, we are 
 told, for peat land, which requires lime. 
 
 Our road lay through a romantic glen called 
 Stony Middleton. The rocks stand insulated 
 like ruins of castles, and walls covered with ivy, 
 multitudes of rooks flying among them. A ra- 
 pid stream of very clear water runs through the 
 glen. At the extremity of this beautiful solitude 
 we found ourselves face to face with a huge cot- 
 ton manufactory, six stories high, presenting 
 a front of nearly 200 windows ; an old-fashion- 
 ed parterre, with box borders and clipt trees be- 
 fore it. This was a striking contrast with what 
 we had just left. The steam-engine is a good se- 
 curity against similar profanations of picturesque 
 beauties in future. 
 
 From the inn of Chatsworth, we walked across 
 the park to the house, which is extremely hand- 
 some and palace-like, more so indeed than any 
 house we have seen in England, although not 
 so large as some others. It is built half way up 
 a sloping lawn, terminated at the bottom by a 
 very pretty lively stream, and above, behind the 
 house, by lofty woods. Fine single trees disper-
 
 1 10 CHATSWORTH CHATSWORTH- HOUSE. 
 
 sed over the lawn j a good-looking stone-bridge 
 over the river. 
 
 The domestics of these noble houses are gene- 
 rally as obsequious as innkeepers, and from the 
 same motives. Porters, footmen, gardeners, wait- 
 ed upon us immediately. The apartments have 
 nothing remarkable ; goblin tapestry, old, faded, 
 and in wretched taste ; and numerous pictures 
 still worse. It is quite inconceivable, that a per- 
 son of so cultivated a taste as the last Duchess 
 should have been able to bear the sight of these 
 daubs. We hear, indeed, that, for many years, 
 she did not come here. The household seemed 
 to have great hopes from their young master, who, 
 the gardener informed us, cares more about the 
 beauties of the place than his father. Exactly 
 behind the house, and looking up towards the 
 top of the hill, you see, between two lines of lof- 
 ty wood, a flight of colossal stone steps, straight 
 like Jacob's ladder, terminated at the top by a 
 temple with a metal cupola. The gardener made 
 a sign, and water flowed over this cupola and 
 down the sides of the temple, and burst from the 
 ground before it, then began to fall from step to 
 step, sweeping off and carrying along the accu- 
 mulated dirt of the winter, covering the whole 
 in due time with a sheet of foam, and sparkling 
 in the sun. Water falling from a height among 
 trees and verdure must be a pretty sight at any 
 rate j but it is impossible to have the thjng with
 
 CHATSWORTH CHATSWORTH-HOUSE. 1 1 1 
 
 less effect than here. Were I the Duke of Devon- 
 shire, however, I do not believe I should demo- 
 lish the steps ; they are the curious, and perhaps 
 unique remains of the bad taste and magnificence 
 of the beginning of the last century; precisely 
 like the royal cascade of St Cloud, which used 
 to play on Sundays for the amusement of the 
 badauds de Paris, in the times of good Louis. 
 There is here another hydraulic curiosity, still 
 more absurd, yet strictly classical ; our old royal 
 houses had many suc]i ; it is a metal tree, of 
 which every branch is a pipe, every leaf and every 
 bud a syringe ; the very grass round the tree hides 
 ends of pipes, ready to sprinkle the curious un- 
 expectedly. This practical joke is fallen into dis- 
 use, which our conductor seemed to regret. The 
 waters of Chatsworth are finally tortured into 
 several jets d'eau, rising together from the same 
 basin, abundantly, vigorously, and in spite of bad 
 taste, with a very good grace. The gardener was 
 anxious that we should place ourselves at the 
 right point, to see a double rainbow in the spray. 
 The lawn is in some places a thick moss, so deep 
 and elastic, that you seem to walk on a mattress ; 
 this is quite disagreeable. The gardener told 
 us, it was not meant to be so ; and that the mere 
 application of lime would soon destroy the moss, 
 and revive the grass, without ploughing. 
 
 The house has two or three rooms, called the 

 
 112 MATLOCK SCENERY. 
 
 apartment of Queen Mary, although built only a 
 hundred years ago j but the old mansion, on the 
 same spot, had been one of her prisons, and the 
 furniture of her apartment was transferred to these 
 rooms. The bed in which she slept is silk, and 
 in tolerable preservation. The edifice is built of 
 a very beautiful cream-coloured stone, quarried 
 on the spot ; carving is not spared ; the chisel 
 has been at work everywhere ; and there is here 
 a little of that overcharge of ornaments, obser- 
 vable in the architecture of the beginning of the 
 last century. In other respects it is very good. 
 Our second stage has been Matlock, (28 miles 
 to-day ;) the country varied, cultivated like a gar- 
 den, and covered with gentlemen's houses ; ele- 
 gant cottages and farm-houses ; spires and towers 
 of small Gothic churches, some of them very 
 beautiful, peeping over groves of trees : The ge- 
 neral appearance of things certainly much supe- 
 >* rior to that of Scotland. There are poor people 
 here undoubtedly at 2s. 6 % d. a-day ; and the 4s. 
 or 5s. in the pound of the poor's-rates are not 
 paid for nothing ; yet, I do not know how it is, 
 these poor are not seen j and if it were not for 
 the usual threatening notices, at the entrance of 
 towns and villages, against " vagrants found loi- 
 tering" &c. a traveller would not suspect there 
 were such persons. The expedient the great 
 Frederick had adopted, to prevent dragoons fall-
 
 VALE OF MATLOCK. 113 
 
 ing from their horses, is well known ; he had 
 them flogged. And " certain it is." an officer 
 said to Dr Moore, " they no longer fall." Per- 
 haps the fear of overseers prevents the English 
 falling into poverty. "-> fC&& &fr&fy //(* 
 
 We see, with regret, the finest hedge-row trees 
 falling under the axe everywhere, and yet, if it 
 had not been for the use made of them, they 
 never would have been planted. There is still a 
 sufficient number remaining to give to the coun- 
 try that woody appearance peculiar to English 
 landscape. A large piece of timber is a mine ; 
 and, in order to dispose of it to the best advan- 
 tage, a temporary shed is sometimes erected by 
 it, particularly if it is an ash, to work it on the 
 spot into pieces fitted for various purposes, cal- 
 culating and combining so exactly as to waste 
 nothing. 
 
 The vale of Matlock is renowned for its beauty. 
 It presents, on the opposite side of a boisterous 
 stream, vertical cliffs of calcareous rocks, worn, 
 broken, and cavernous, edged with trees above 
 and below. Several mineral springs flow down 
 to the river ; and this is one of the places of ge- 
 neral resort for people who want to be cured, or 
 for those who want to be amused ; but this is not 
 the season ; it is empty, and we have our choice 
 of hotels. The one where we are has a tepid bath, 
 or at least not quite cold, 20 feet wide, 40 feet 
 
 TOL. IT. H
 
 1 14 VALE OF MATLOCK ASHBORN. 
 
 long, and four feet deepen cessantly renewed by 
 a natural spring bubbling up in the middle ; the 
 temperature of which is always 68 or 69 of Fah- 
 renheit, and perfectly clear and pure. 
 
 The whole country about is honey-combed, or 
 perforated with mines of lead, of coals, and other 
 minerals. Their galleries have led to the disco- 
 very of innumerable grottoes and caverns. We 
 penetrated half a mile into one of them, which 
 extends horizontally to a- much greater distance, 
 branching out in many directions ; several of the 
 passages have been walled up, to prevent some 
 of the keener tourists being lost in the intricate 
 mazes, and all their discoveries along with them. 
 The rocks yawn in frightful rents above and be- 
 low, and enormous blocks lie about detached, no- 
 body can tell from where. The sides are in 
 many places resplendent with bright incrustations 
 and rhomboidal crystals of calcareous spar ; in 
 low places, you may get honourable wounds from 
 their sharp projections, if you forget to stoop. 
 This cavern was quite dry and clean. We have 
 seen several goitres, although not large, since we 
 entered Derbyshire ; we did not observe any 
 in the Highlands of Scotland. 
 
 March 16. To Ashborn, 12 miles. On leav- 
 ing Matlock, we saw, on the left, across the lit- 
 tle river, and in a beautiful and commanding 
 situation, a good house, which we were told is
 
 ASHBORN ILAM. 115 
 
 the residence of Sir Richard Arkwright, whose 
 name is associated with the ingenious invention 
 of spinning-jennies. We then ascended a very 
 long hill, treading on specimens of spar, and 
 tempted to pick up every bright fragment we 
 saw, till the weight of our pockets, and the im- 
 possibility of keeping all, made us throw away 
 nearly the whole. From the top of the hill, we 
 looked down upon the high rocks of Matlock 
 and Sir Richard Arkwright's house, the woody 
 valley and river at bottom, all sunk together far 
 below the horizon and intervening landscape. 
 
 From Ashborn we went to Ham, a show-place, 
 from which we did not expect much pleasure 5 
 we found it, however, very beautiful ; rocks, 
 S wood, water, all is admirable. Two large springs 
 burst out of the earth, forming by their junction 
 the river Manifold. Five or six miles above this 
 place, and about the same distance from each 
 other, these two springs are lost under ground ; 
 and, after travelling through some of the nume- 
 rous subterranean cavities, so common in this 
 part of the country, reappear here. Light bodies 
 thrown in where they disappear, come out here. 
 Congreve sometimes inhabited Ham; and a stone- 
 seat and table are shown in the grounds where 
 he wrote his Old Bachelor. 
 
 There is here an hydraulic contrivance, so sim- 
 ple and ingenious that I am tempted to give the 
 description of it.
 
 116 
 
 ILAM HYDRAULIC MACHINE. 
 
 The point d'appui, or centre of gravity (A), 
 of the scale (D E), rests on the transverse beam 
 (B C). The arms (AD) and (A E) extend about 
 six or seven feet on each side of the centre. The 
 basins or tubs (G) and (H), hanging from the 
 two extremities of the arms, have each a hole at 
 the bottom, covered by a valve or lid, (1) and 
 (K), attached to rods kept steady in their per- 
 pendicular position by braces in (L) and (Y), 
 through which, and through other holes in cross 
 bars (M) and (N), the rods or tails of the valves 
 play freely up and down. The arm (D) being 
 ielevated, the water of A spring pouring at (F) 
 runs down the inclined channel (F D), and falls 
 into the tub (H), which filling, its weight (ten or 
 fifteen gallons) brings down arm (D) j but just 
 before the tub touches the ground, the lid or 
 
 ft , K
 
 ASHBORN DOVE-DALE. 1 17 
 
 valve (I) is lifted by means of its rod, which 
 having a button at the top, is stopped in its pass- 
 age through bar (M) ; the water therefore runs 
 out. In the mean time, tub (G) having been 
 lifted up and filled by its own inclined plane 
 (F E), it now goes down and is emptied in the 
 same manner as the other, and so on alternately. 
 The water is received by the two forcing pumps 
 (P) and (Q), which are worked alternately by the 
 motion of the scale-beam, as the figure shews. 
 The water is forced up to the house about 3O or 
 40 feet, in a constant stream. This machine has 
 been in action for the last 4O years with very 
 little repair ; and, to appearance, the original 
 cost could not well exceed iO guineas, exclusive 
 of the pipes. 
 
 Returning from Ham to Ashborn (five miles), 
 we stopped, and walked up Dove-Dale, about 
 one mile and a half; night coming on prevent- 
 ed our penetrating farther. It is a narrow irre- 
 gular dale, with a fine clear rapid stream, the 
 river Dove running through it j the two sides 
 are herisses with insulated rocks, standing up on 
 end like towers and spires. At the place where 
 we stopped, and from whence we turned back, a 
 high rock, thin and perpendicular like a wall, 
 and perforated, appeared before us similar to a 
 vast triumphal arch. Twenty paces behind that, 
 the mouths of two caverns were seen, so dark, 
 

 
 1 1 8 DOVE-DALE LICHFIELD. 
 
 solitary, and desolate, as really to excite involun- 
 tary terror at the approach of night. Farther up 
 the dale, as far as we could see, it seemed to con- 
 tract more and more, and to improve in horrors. 
 The triumphal arch was quite insulated, situated 
 far above the water, full a hundred feet, and it 
 is impossible to conjecture how it was formed. 
 We regret having had only a glimpse of this ex- 
 traordinary scenery, which is more Scotch than 
 any thing we saw in Scotland. The name had 
 deceived us, but it has much more of the charac- 
 ter of the eagle than of the dove. 
 
 March 17. Birmingham, by Lichfield, 45 
 miles. The approach to Lichfield is marshy and 
 disagreeable. Its cathedral, 1OO feet shorter than 
 York Minster, is, however, magnificent ; the car- 
 ving inside as perfect ; the light better, that is, 
 higher and less of it, and the painted windows 
 vastly superior to any thing we have seen in 
 brightness of colour, drawing, and composition. 
 I saw the dates of 1532, 1537, 1538, and 1539, 
 in different parts of the windows. They belong- 
 ed originally to a church in the Netherlands, and 
 were brought to England upwards of 20O years 
 ago. The cathedral itself was begun in the year 
 657, and finished in the 12th and 13th century. 
 We assisted at the evening-service (Sunday). 
 The chanting and organ were extremely fine. 
 
 Lichfield is become classic ground, by the il-
 
 LICHFIELD BIRMINGHAM MANUFACTORIES. 1 19 
 
 lustrious names of Johnson and Garrick, and very 
 recently the lesser ones of Darwin and Seward. 
 I was surprised to find Johnson's, that is, his 
 father's house, so respectable-looking ; it is a 
 corner house, four windows in one street, six in 
 another, and two stories above the ground-floor ; 
 the windows rather small, and near together : 
 a sort of awkward pilaster ornament at the angle. 
 Garrick's paternal house is also a corner one, 
 smaller, but with a garden behind, and in a gen- 
 teeler part of the town j both houses white- 
 washed on the outside. Miss Seward lived in 
 what is called the Palace, (the episcopal residence 
 formerly I suppose,) a good large old house, in a 
 high and pleasant situation, separated from the 
 cathedral by a double row of fine trees. We did 
 not see Dr Darwin's house. 
 
 March J9. At Birmingham, where we have 
 been two days, we have been employed in seeing 
 wonders of ingenuity and skill applied to the 
 most trifling, as well as to the most important 
 objects, with Mr W., a merchant of this place, 
 who was so obliging as to be our guide. The 
 manufactories are mostly of hardware and glass, 
 and are less unhealthy, although more dirty, than 
 those of Manchester and Glasgow, which require 
 heat and confined air, and clog the lungs with 
 floating particles of cotton. By means of late 
 improvements, the smoke of innumerable coal
 
 120 BIRMINGHAM MANUFACTORIES. 
 
 fires is consumed, and the atmosphere much 
 clearer than formerly. I do not know how far 
 the improvement is applicable to common house 
 fires ; if it was, London would gain much by its 
 adoption. 
 
 1 shall certainly not undertake to give a cir- 
 cumstantial account of all we have seen, having 
 a very confused recollection of it. In one place, 
 50O persons were employed in making plated 
 ware of all sorts, toys and trinkets. We saw there 
 patent carriage steps, flying down and folding up 
 of themselves as the door opens or shuts ; chairs 
 in walking-sticks, pocket-umbrellas, extraordi- 
 nary cheese- toasters, and a multitude of other 
 wonderful inventions, upon which much inge- 
 nuity seems wasted. In another place, 300 men 
 produce i O,OOO gun-barrels in a month ; we saw 
 a part of the process, enormous hammers, wield- 
 ed by a steam-engine, of the power of 12O horses, 
 crushing in an instant red-hot iron bars, convert- 
 ed them into thin ribbons. In that state they 
 were wrapped round a rod of iron, which deter- 
 mines the calibre, and the edges welded together. 
 Bars of iron for different purposes, several inches 
 in thickness, presented to the sharp jaws of gi- 
 gantic scissars, moved also by the steam-engine, 
 are clipped like paper. Iron wire, from an inch 
 to the tenth of an inch, is spun out with as little 
 effort, and less noise than cotton threads on the
 
 BIRMINGHAM IRON SHIPS. 121 
 
 jennies. Large mill-stones, employed to polish 
 metals, turn with so great a velocity as to come 
 to pieces by the mere centrifugal force, and the 
 fragments have been known to pierce the walls 
 or break through the roof; some means have 
 lately been invented to prevent these accidents. 
 Streams of melted metal are poured into moulds 
 of all sorts ; and copper is spread into sheets for 
 sheathing vessels under rollers, moved also by 
 the steam-engine, like paste under the stick of 
 the pastry-cook. 
 
 I have often thought that a time may come 
 when metal ships will be cast in a mould, like 
 kettles, or more probably built of bands of forged 
 metal, welded together like those of gun-barrels, 
 and lined with other bands contrary- wise, the 
 double tissue either welded or rivetted to the 
 other ; the bands of the internal tissue to be 
 placed up and down like the ribs of a ship ; and 
 the external ones fore and aft like the planks ; 
 the masts to be tubes, formed of longitudinal or 
 spiral bands, no wood in the construction but 
 for the decks. These metal ships might be built 
 on any model without the difficulties arising from 
 the shape of timbers ; any particular part might 
 be strengthened at pleasure by additional bands. 
 The metal ships would have that flexibility and 
 elasticity so essential to fast sailing j they would 
 not come to pieces so easily in taking the ground;
 
 122 BIRMINGHAM FLINT-GLASS. 
 
 and the forged metal would probably yield to 
 a cannon-ball without being pierced. The ship 
 would not leak, it would require no careening, 
 and the greatest part of the thickness of the frame 
 and planking would be gained, adding probably 
 as much as one-tenth to the internal capacity of 
 the vessel. Finally, it appears to me that the 
 iron ship would not cost a great deal more than 
 the wooden ship, certainly not in proportion to, 
 its advantages. 
 
 Flint glass is a curious manufactory. It is in- 
 conceivable with what facility -so hard a substance 
 is cut, or rather ground, by the simple friction 
 of a wheel turning with great velocity. The 
 workman presents a decanter, or one of the glass 
 drops of a lustre, to this wheel, and almost as fast 
 as he can move his hand, the parts are indent- 
 ed, forming, by the dexterity and justness of his 
 motions, those regular figures we see on the use- 
 ful or ornamental articles made of that substance. 
 As we stood near the furnace, we observed a 
 stranger approach it, and with an instrument at 
 the end of a long rod of iron, gauge the melted 
 matter in the crucibles. This was, we were told, 
 the exciseman, and his visits are repeated several 
 times aday. No mark of ill-humour was percei- 
 vable. These people are well broken to taxation, 
 they complain indeed, but it is just as they Ljft 
 complain of their climate, from habit, or as we
 
 BIRMINGHAM FLINT-GLASS. 123 
 
 see children continue crying, long after they have 
 forgotten the cause of their tears. 
 
 This manufactory was lighted by hydrogen gas, 
 and absolutely as light as day. A leaden tube 
 ran round the apartments, with a number of 
 cocks, which, being opened more or less, let off 
 a little stream of gas, which is set on fire, and 
 continues burning as long as the cock is open, 
 presenting a bright flame of several inches in 
 length. I counted 12O of these. The gas is 
 obtained from common sea-coals, by mere heat, 
 in a close vessel. This vessel or retort is a cy- 
 linder of iron, of about nine inches in diameter, 
 and thirty inches in length ; a bushel of coal 
 only is consumed each day. The gas is made to 
 pass through a reservoir of water, which retains 
 bitumen or coal-tar, and with it the bad 
 smell. Here, however, the smell remained, and 
 was certainly most offensive, but the workmen 
 did not seem to mind it. The reservoir was evi- 
 dently too small, and the water in it quite satu- 
 rated ; I was told the gas would lose its inflamma- 
 bility in traversing a greater mass of water, which 
 is, I presume, an error. The expence of this 
 magnificent illumination is only 4s. 6d. each 
 night, allowing for interest and repairs of the 
 apparatus ; 240 candles, affording certainly less 
 light, would cost about twenty times as much ;
 
 124 BIRMINGHAM MANUFACTORIES. 
 
 yet this method is not generally adopted, I have 
 not been able to discover why. The manufac- 
 tory of cut glass has suffered more than most 
 others from the interruption of the trade with 
 the United States ; a greater quantity of this 
 showy article being consumed by the nowveaux 
 riches of that country than here, where there is 
 certainly much less disposition to extravagance 
 in proportion. Other manufactories suffer more 
 or less by this interruption j for the demand for 
 the United States was undoubtedly very great 
 and increasing. A single house in Birmingham 
 shipped more goods to the United States last 
 year, than was shipped by the whole trade ten 
 years ago j it was indeed after a suspension for 
 eighteen months by the embargo. Merchants 
 now have wholly ceased having goods manufac- 
 tured for the United States. 
 
 Workmen earn from 16 to 60 shillings a week, 
 and even L.4, according to their skill. They 
 work by the piece, live well and comfortably, 
 have separate houses of three rooms for about 
 L.5 a year, firing for about one-fifth the price 
 of New- York, provisions nearly double. The 
 people look healthy, and the women, of whom 
 many are employed, remarkably well. I obser- 
 ved in neither sex the green hair of which Espri- v 
 ella speaks. This remark of his seems to have
 
 BIRMINGHAM MANUFACTORIES. 125 
 
 made a greater impression on the good people 
 of Birmingham, than all the other unfriendly 
 things he said of them. 
 
 Notwithstanding the great scale on which ma- 
 nufactories are conducted, the immense power 
 and high perfection of the machines employed, 
 which shew that nothing really necessary has 
 been spared, and that there is no want of capital, 
 yet the buildings themselves are, for the most 
 part, poor and shabby, and evidently added to 
 at different times, as if they had grown round a 
 common centre. It is plain they have been ex- 
 tended successively, and with the gradual in- 
 crease of the business, and that the means have 
 not been exhausted on external appearances. 
 Prudence is a pledge of success, not merely by 
 the direct saving resulting from it, but by the 
 good sense it evinces. The exciseman I have 
 mentioned may certainly be considered as a blot 
 in the picture of national prosperity ; what an 
 army employed in collecting the money neces- 
 sary to pay the army ! 
 
 Nothing could exceed the good-nature and po- 
 liteness with which the chief persons at the prin- 
 cipal manufactories showed and explained the 
 processes ; and, what is more extraordinary, the 
 workmen stopt in many instances their work, 
 (paid by the piece) to give us some practical ex-
 
 1 26* BIRMINGHAM FREE SCHOOLS. 
 
 planation and answer questions. No money ask- 
 ed, and very little given. 
 
 There are two free schools at Birmingham, 
 endowed in the reign of Edward VI., each with 
 L.30 per annum, one in money, the other in land ; 
 (they had their choice at the time) the land of 
 the one brings now an annual income of L.30OO, 
 likely to double soon, being close, to the town ; 
 the other institution is of course destitute, and 
 supported by private contributions. L.30 in 
 1550, were equal to about L.30O in 1811 ; that 
 is to say, that these two sums would have pur- 
 chased the same things at their respective pe- 
 riods ; but the land appears to be worth now ten 
 times, or even twenty times more than it ought 
 at the above rate ; therefore a great part of this 
 appreciation must be owing to local ^circum- 
 stances. 
 
 March 20. We went to-day to the Leasowes, 
 and to Hagley, six miles, and twelve miles from 
 Birmingham, places rendered famous by poetry 
 and virtues. The Leasowes lies in a hollow, 
 nearly surrounded with moderate hills, and has 
 very little view ; the country pleasing and fruit- 
 ful, rather than picturesque ; the grounds them- 
 selves consist of 150 acres, with swells and inter- 
 vening hollows, and good trees scattered about. 
 We were introduced by a hollow way, descend-
 
 LEASOWES SCENERY. 127 
 
 ing and buried in trees, and soon came to a piece 
 of water of no extent, dull and greenish. Ha- 
 ving crossed it by a bridge, we followed the side 
 of it, to a little lake of perhaps six or eight acres, 
 its banks partly woody, partly naked and tame. 
 The house appeared then on our left, at the top 
 of an ascending lawn, with a back-ground of 
 trees, looking like something between a mansion- 
 house and a cottage, and more of the first than 
 we expected ; but we found it had been rebuilt 
 since Shenstone's time. Following a pretty path 
 among trees, we came to a damp and forlorn 
 root-house, in a hollow, where the gardener met 
 us ; a poor, old, sickly-looking man, whose un- 
 combed hair was stuck full of feathers. Little 
 able to lead us the round, he gave the key and 
 directions ; and then, with a piteous look and 
 low voice, asked " what we pleased for the poor 
 gardener." His appearance seemed to suit the 
 neglected state of the place, and his age made 
 me think he might have seen the days of glory 
 of the Leasowes, and assisted in the improve- 
 ments, and that we might find in him " the sad 
 historian of the pensive plain ;" but he had been 
 there only ten years. He told us that the place 
 had been sold or had belonged to thirteen suc- 
 cessive owners since Shenstone, most of whom 
 had been ruined j a sad prospect this for impro- 
 vers and men of taste. I do not see, however, 
 
 7
 
 128 LEASOWES HAGLEY. 
 
 what there should be here so expensive as to 
 ruin any body ; it may produce less than a mere 
 farm, and that is all. Before thevgardener left 
 us we were treated with water-works. Some un- 
 seen lock being opened, the water rushed through 
 a hollow tree, and down a stony declivity, wind- 
 ing about naturally enough, and passing at last 
 under the root-house where we were. The water 
 was extremely dirty, but would be cleaner we 
 were told after a few minutes. It came from the 
 little lake we had past. Upon the whole this is 
 rather a pretty place, and nothing more. 
 
 You enter Hagley by a noble avenue of elms 
 leading to the house, a respectable-looking build- 
 ing, quadrangular, with slight projections at each 
 corner like towers. The path, through a very 
 pretty inclosure of laurels and holly, brought us 
 to the gardener's house ; and, provided with a 
 guide, we began our tour by a gentle ascent, to 
 a piece of water, rather formal, but pretty enough, 
 then up hill again amongst the finest trees ima- 
 ginable, not single on a lawn, as in parks, but 
 like a forest ; mostly oaks, with vast limbs, mossy 
 and fantastic, and bulging roots, anchored among 
 rocks. Many of the stems were twelve or fifteen 
 feet in circumference, with dark masses of ivy 
 mantling over both rocks and trees. By degrees 
 we came to a steeper ascent, less covered with 
 trees, and the path led us to a ruin on the top,
 
 HAGLEY RUIN. 1 29 
 
 which is entered from behind through a spacious 
 gateway ; then a small court, and a second arch- 
 way, all grey and ivy-grown. Here we found 
 ourselves on a sort of terrace or irregular knoll, 
 extending far in front, but narrow ; the woods 
 we had just left filling all below on our right, and 
 on the left nearly the same sort of declivity, with 
 equally fine trees, rather more distant from each 
 other, and a verdant lawn below, with some very 
 large cedars of Lebanon. The walk along this 
 terrace or ridge, and the views from it on every 
 side, are wonderfully fine, perhaps more so now 
 than in summer j the thin lace-work of the trees 
 being almost as beautiful as leaves, and hiding 
 nothing of the prospect, which is very extensive, 
 of the rich, cultivated, inhabited kind in the fore- 
 ground, and lost in the blue waves of distant 
 hills. 
 
 The ruin we had past, if, as I suppose, fictiti- 
 ous, is certainly a very good imitation, and I 
 must observe that mock ruins are very rarely in- 
 troduced in the English gardens of England j I 
 recollect indeed but two instances, Hagley and 
 Mount Edgecombe. Art does little more in ge- 
 neral than simply to protect nature and give her 
 fair play. The ground immediately round the 
 house is indeed sodded, gravelled, and rolled, 
 but farther, art is hardly perceivable, except by 
 
 VOL. ir. i
 
 ]30 WARWICK CASTLE. 
 
 convenient paths leading to the most beautiful 
 spots, where plain rustic seats are often placed. 
 Sheep and deer seem the chief gardeners. 
 
 At the extremity of the ridge, we had below 
 in front of us the house and pleasure-grounds, 
 with the fine avenue already mentioned, a* Gothic 
 church and parsonage-house. I cannot conceive 
 it possible that the owner of Hagley could ever 
 have been jealous of the Leasowes, so far below 
 this in natural advantages, and in quite another 
 and inferior style of beauty. This is really a 
 wonderfully beautiful place. 
 
 We returned to Birmingham, and pursued our 
 journey to Warwick, 20 miles. The road conti- 
 
 nues improving as we advance south, and instead 
 A*1'pf stones in coarse fragments, is covered with 
 A ,Jt gravel, always winding about like a stream of 
 water, diverted from its strait course by the 
 slightest obstacle. The English, it is plain, are 
 fond of travelling, and make the pleasure last as 
 long as they can. Gentlemen's grounds, man- 
 sions, and genteel cottages, numerous every- 
 where, seem more so here than ever. 
 
 March 21. Warwick Castle is upon the list 
 of every tourist. We stopped therefore to see it 
 as a matter of duty rather than inclination, and 
 without any very great expectations. The ave- 
 nue to this castle is cut through a bed of rocks, 
 forming a streight wall on each side ; the ef-
 
 WARWICK CASTLE. 131 
 
 feet singular, and rather good than otherwise. 
 You soon come to a spacious gateway, through 
 a thick old wall covered with ivy, with a high 
 tower at each end ; then a vast court, the first 
 view of which is most striking. On the left you 
 see a long range of Gothic buildings, low and 
 irregular ; in front a sort of mound covered with 
 trees, intermixed with walls, towers, and old fa- 
 shioned fortifications, just such as a painter 
 would group together for effect, with a grated 
 hole through it all, and a fine landscape behind. 
 On the right, a huge tower, and an old wall 
 overflowing with ivy. The area inclosed by this 
 romantic frame, about two acres, is covered with 
 the smoothest and freshest lawn imaginable, con- 
 trasting with the asperity and rough antiquity of 
 all around. Two or three immense pines, with 
 outstretched arms and bare tops, shade the walls. 
 We were received at the door by an ancient 
 housekeeper, very courteous and of respectable 
 appearance, and introduced into an immense 
 hall, perhaps 60 feet by 35, hung round with 
 antique armour, swords, and lances, and stags" 
 horHs. We remarked in particular the head and 
 gigantic antlers of an extinct species of quadru- 
 ped, the remains of which are found sometimes 
 in the bogs of Ireland. The horns are full ten 
 feet from tip to tip, flat and broad, like the ori- 
 ginal of America.
 
 ] 32 WARWICK CASTLE PICTURES. 
 
 The middle of this hall was occupied by a 
 chimney in the old style, with a huge wood fire, 
 the first we have seen in England. On each side 
 were four handsome rooms in a line, forming al- 
 together a suite of full 300 feet. We admired, 
 as we were conducted through these rooms, the 
 beauty and suitableness of the furniture and pic- 
 tures, all old, but all perfect of the kind. A 
 piece of inlaid furniture, like a bureau, attract- 
 ed our attention j it appeared a beautiful paint- 
 ing representing flowers, a cock, a dog, &c. so 
 perfect as to drawing, light and shade, and ex- 
 pression, that we could scarcely credit our eyes 
 when we saw the effect was produced solely by 
 means of pieces of black and yellow wood, ar- 
 ranged side by side, and highly polished. The 
 damask bed in which Queen Elizabeth and 
 Queen Anne slept, and in which his present ma- 
 jesty was to have slept, on an intended visit 24 
 years ago, prevented by his first illness. A great 
 deal of highly- valued old china ; 500 guineas, I 
 think, we were told, were offered for an old jar 
 there. Some of the windows are finely painted. 
 Brussels tapestry, older than Gobelin, made of 
 silk, not good. Most of the pictures are fine. I 
 noticed two of the best Rubens I had ever seen, 
 one a portrait of the Earl of Arundel, and two 
 good sketches by the same. Some excellent Van- 
 dykes, particularly a portrait of Ricardo. A
 
 WARWICK CASTLE PICTURES. 133 
 
 Guido very inferior to him. A portrait by Sir 
 Joshua Reynolds, the colouring uncommonly 
 good, in Murillo's manner. Good sea- views by 
 Vandervelt. Excellent sea-fight by Louther- 
 bourg. Several very fine Rembrandts. A por- 
 trait of Queen Elizabeth by Holbein, very shock- * 
 ing, as usual. I must except, however, a por- 
 trait of Luther by the same. An excellent Vir- 
 gin and dead Christ by Annibal Carracci. Seve- 
 ral indifferent Salvator Rosas. Wortley Montague 
 in a Turkish dress by Romney. The worst pic- 
 ture there, in my opinion, Holbein excepted, 
 was, I am sorry to say it for my own credit, by 
 Raphael, the portrait of a queen of Naples. Be- 
 yond the suite of apartments is a chapel just as 
 it ought to be, with a mild religious light, and 
 no Percy pedigree. 
 
 Our conductress took occasion to speak, not 
 indelicately however, of the taste and virtues of 
 her master. The fortune of the Earl of Warwick 
 
 . tf ff'f J 
 
 (L.2 1,000 per annum,) has been deranged by a 
 taste for improvements and a generous disposi- 
 tion, and for the last five years his estate has 
 been, what is called in England, at nurse ; that 
 is to say, in the hands of trustees for the pay- 
 ment of his debts. There is, however, it seems, 
 a liberal allowance made to keep up the esta- 
 blishment. The house, gardens, conservatories, 
 &c. are in perfect order.
 
 134 WARWICK CASTLE PICTURES. 
 
 Although the buildings are low on the side of 
 the court, and the apartments very little above 
 the ground, the windows of that same apart- 
 ment, on the outward side of the castle, are as 
 high as a fourth or a fifth story might be, being 
 built on a vertical bank of rocks, at the bottom 
 of which runs a sluggish river, and beyond that 
 an extent of country, rich, but riot particularly 
 beautiful. There is a Gothic mill on the river, 
 with the ruins of a bridge. 
 
 The grounds have nothing very remarkable in 
 them, except a few magnificent yew-trees and 
 spruce-firs. The conservatory is really beautiful ; 
 the plants having sufficient space, and being per- 
 fectly accessible. We took notice of a beautiful 
 plant in flower, Sparmannia Afrkana. Those 
 who, like myself, have the misfortune of being no 
 botanists, may have experienced something of 
 the reverential awe, awkwardness, and fear, with 
 which a collection of exotics never fail to inspire 
 me ; the learned gardener going through their 
 names unmercifully, and your ignorance painted 
 / all the while in your looks. Such is also a gal- 
 lery of pictures for those who are not connois- 
 seurs. 
 
 An old porter at the lodge insisted on our look- 
 ing at the giant Guy of Warwick's great sword, 
 eight feet long, and at the armour of his horse, 
 a giant also.
 
 WOODSTOCK BLENHEIM. 1 35 
 
 From Warwick we proceeded to Woodstock, 
 87 miles ; a fine fruitful country avenues of 
 fine elms,- large oaks and ash cutting down for 
 timber. I remarked in this part of England, for 
 the first time, the walls of houses and inclosures 
 made of hardened earth ; a mode of building very 
 common in the environs of Lyons in France, 
 and called pise. These walls, plastered or rough- 
 cast, last as long as brick. We saw here a com- 
 pany of gypsies, encamped under some ragged 
 canvas stretched on poles. This race, formerly 
 spread all over Europe under the name of Bohe- 
 mians, is now quite extinct in France, and near- 
 ly so in England. 
 
 March 22. Blenheim. This monument of the 
 military glory of Marlborough is close to Wood- 
 stock. The entrance to the park is a triumphal 
 arch, and the coup-d'ceil, as soon as you have 
 passed it, is certainly very fine. On the other 
 side of a lake, and sufficiently above it, you see 
 a long range of colonnades, towers, cupolas, and 
 fine trees, with a magnificent stone bridge thrown 
 across a narrow part of the lake, leading to a stu- 
 pendous column, 15Ofeet high, bearing a colos- 
 sal statue of John Churchill, first Duke of Marl- 
 borough. 
 
 We were first conducted to a small house on 
 the left, containing a humble appendage to the 
 glory of the Marlboroughs, viz. a cabinet or gal-
 
 136 BLENHEIM' -CHINA, 
 
 lery of old china ; and were made to undergo the 
 sight of a whole series of dishes and teapots, from 
 the earliest infancy of the art in modern Europe, 
 among the Romans, and in China : the specimens 
 are, as may be supposed, mostly very coarse, 
 S rude, and ugly. Of all con*9wcur*ktp* this is per- 
 haps the most childish. The guardian of these 
 treasures is, very properly, a female. Whether 
 she perceived our unworthiness, I do not know, 
 but there seemed to be a sort of tacit agreement 
 between us to dispatch the business as quickly 
 as possible. Having paid our fees, we drove on, 
 among very fine trees, and, passing between the 
 palace and the water, had a full view of its front. 
 I had heard much of its magnificence, and of its 
 heaviness ; but I saw nothing of either. The 
 pediment of the main body is too high and nar- 
 row ; the colonnade of the wings is interrupted by 
 awkward projections. Multitudes of low towers, 
 pointed pinnacles, and other ornaments litrissent 
 the top of the edifice, which seems to want sim- 
 plicity and grandeur, some extensive surface or 
 large parts for the eye to rest upon. The main 
 body on this side extends about 350 feet from 
 wing to wing. 
 
 Crossing the bridge, we admired the finely in- 
 dented and woody banks of the piece of water, 
 which is very clear, and appears to cover about 
 200 acres. We drove to the column already men-
 
 BLENHEIM PICTURES. 137 
 
 tioned, then across a plain, with meagre planta- 
 tions, and herds of lazy over-tame deer round the 
 western extremity of the lake/ We had been 
 overtaken by a gardener, who came after us au, 
 grand gallop, mounted on an ass, to direct our 
 admiration to particular spots (all tame enough), 
 and get his 2s. 6d. On the limits of his jurisdic- 
 tion, the park, he delivered us over to another 
 cicerone, an old servant, who descanted on the 
 architecture, and, among other things, made us 
 take notice of a colossal bust of Louis XIV., ta- 
 ken at Tournay, and placed here over the pedi- 
 ment, with this inscription, 
 
 Europe hac-c vindex genio decora alta Britanno, 
 
 and below, the British lion clawing the Gallic 
 cock to pieces ;* adding, with a sigh, that things 
 were much altered since that time. He commit- 
 ted us to the charge of another domestic, our 
 fifth guide, (a great division of labour), who 
 opened to us a small theatre, used formerly by 
 the family and their friends. In an adjoining 
 room are numbers of original Titians, very large, 
 without frames, and but lately put up, after lying 
 for near a century in a garret, being a present of 
 
 * This allegory of Vanbrugh has been called a pun in archi- 
 tecture*
 
 138 BLENHEIM GROUNDS. 
 
 the King of Sardinia to the great Marlborough, 
 who was no virtuoso. These Titians appeared to 
 me very bad pictures ; incorrect drawing, no 
 shades, and vulgar expression. A sixth man 
 took us round the pleasure-grounds, and these 
 were certainly well worth seeing ; delightfully 
 gituated on a bank sloping to the lake, which ap- 
 pears from thence to most advantage, its termi- 
 nations being lost behind various woody promon- 
 tories. The outlet of the lake is an artificial fall 
 (also in the pleasure-grounds,) 18 feet high, over 
 large rocks, brought there j the water, and plen- 
 ty of it, breaking beautifully over them ; too 
 well ; in fact it is too good to be true. A slight 
 iron bridge thrown across the stream in front of 
 the fall shews it to most advantage. We noticed 
 two Portugal laurels of prodigious dimensions ; 
 their branches, touching the ground all round, 
 cover each of them a surface of 100 feet in cir- 
 cumference. Brown laid out these grounds about 
 fifty years ago, and succeeded perfectly as to the 
 water ; a dam, twenty feet high, thrown across 
 the narrowest part of a deep and irregular val- 
 ley, with a considerable stream of water, has con- 
 verted it into a lake. It is now impossible to 
 tell how much of the beauty of the banks is the 
 work of art, it is hid so well. I understood here 
 that Brown peeled off the surface of the valley 
 before he laid it under water j this is, I have no
 
 BLENHEIM LIBRARY. 1 39 
 
 doubt, the cause of its remarkable purity, and 
 confirms the opinion I had already formed of 
 the advantages of such a process. The improver 
 has not succeeded so well in his plantations. 
 There are very fine trees east of the house, but 
 they were there before Blenheim had a name, 
 and belonged to the old park of Woodstock, 
 which was a royal residence of great antiquity. 
 On this spot the great Alfred translated Boetius 
 de Consolatione Philosophise. Henry I. and Hen. 
 ry II. resided here ; and a spring of water is 
 shewn bearing still the name of the fair Rosa- - 
 mond, mistress of the latter prince in the twelfth 
 century. * 
 
 The seventh guide was a coxcomb of an up- 
 per servant, who hurried us through the house. 
 The entrance- hall is very fine. The apartments 
 exhibit Gobelin tapestry, in very bad taste, as 
 usual j a multitude of indifferent pictures, and 
 some good ones. I recollect an excellent Van- 
 dyck, Time dipping the wings of Love, and a very 
 
 * " M. le Marquis n'a pas besoin de $9avoir la geographic, 
 les postilions S9auront bien le conduire dans i^es terres," said 
 Voltaire ; in England you need not know more than Monsieur 
 le Marquis about the geography and history of the places you 
 visit, the little guide-book you find at every place is quite suffi- 
 cient ; and the Blenheim Guide furnished me with all the learns- 
 ing displayed on this occasion.
 
 
 140 OXFORD - UNIVERSITY. 
 
 indifferent portrait of some mistress of Charles 
 II. by the same ; a huge family picture, by Sir 
 Joshua Reynolds,, in which the present duke is 
 conspicuous for the beauty of his person ; an ex- 
 
 cellent Death of Seneca by Lucca Jordano ; but 
 we had really no time to see them properly. No- 
 
 I .L thing can be more magnificent than the library. 
 It is about 200 feet long, by 32 feet wide ; the 
 ^ coved ceiling is richly worked and painted, and 
 supported by a row of columns of the rarest mar- 
 bles, each of a single block ; the entablature and 
 base also of marble. This library contains 20 or 
 
 iJLj/ 25,000 volumes. We remarked a statue of Queen 
 Anne by Rysbrack, the dress finished with ex- 
 treme care, The fees of all our different guides 
 ^ amounted to nineteen shillings. The annual in- 
 come of the Duke of Maryborough is estimated 
 at L, 70,OOO. There are eighty house-servants ; 
 one hundred out of doors, of whom thirty are for 
 the pleasure-grounds. Blenheim was built at the 
 public expence, Parliament having voted for that 
 purpose, in 1705, L.500,000, a sum equal to 
 about two millions now; that is, twenty times 
 as much as was voted for Lord Nelson. Heroism 
 is come to a fallen market. 
 
 From Blenheim to Oxford, eight miles. The 
 first sight of this great university, the antique 
 seat of science, renowned for the splendour of its 
 public edifices, did not answer our expectations.
 
 OXFORD UNIVERSITY, ] 4 1 
 
 It looked old, dusty, and worm-eaten the streets 
 silent and deserted, a few students walking lazi- 
 ly, dressed in black gowns and black caps, over- 
 shaded with a singular sort of ornament, a thin 
 board, about a foot square, covered with black, 
 and with tassels designating the rank of the 
 scholars. We sent immediately for our ready 
 friend, the little book or guide of the place, 
 which, for two shillings, furnished us a compe- 
 tent allowance of science. Oxford, says the lit- 
 tle book, was consecrated to the muses before the 
 Roman conquest. That is certainly going far 
 back ; and I should not have supposed that the 
 native Britons knew any thing about the muses 
 ^ before Caesar taught them. However that may 
 be, we find that Alfred founded a college here in. 
 872, suppressed afterwards by William the Con- 
 queror ; yet we find, that, under Henry III., 
 (13th century) only 200 years after the Con- 
 queror, this university contained 30,000 students ; 
 and, after the civil wars of that reign, still 15,OOO. 
 I do not know what sort of students these might 
 be ; such, probably, as filled the monasteries in 
 barbarous and turbulent times j the idle and the 
 timid, seeking an asylum against labour and 
 dangers. At present Oxford does not reckon 
 more than 200O or 3000 students ; and that is a 
 great many. Our little book describes at full 
 
 li /&/-#*! to "
 
 142 OXFORD BODLEIAN LIBRARY. 
 
 length all the public edifices, colleges, libraries, 
 &c., but we shall judge to-morrow by our own 
 eyes. 
 
 March 23. Sir C. P., for whom we had a let- 
 ter, was absent, but Mr W., master of arts, and 
 librarian of Christ-Church, was so good as to 
 take us under his protection. I shall endeavour 
 to give some account of what we heard and saw. 
 
 The principal library is called Bodleian, from 
 the name of one of its founders, who devoted 
 fifteen years of his life, (from 1597 to 16 12,) in 
 collecting over all Europe a great number of va- 
 luable works. He was, however, not the first ; 
 Humphrey, Duke of Glocester, had begun the 
 building and the collection of books as early as 
 the year 1440. This edifice, in the shape of the 
 letter H, is considered as a model of Gothic 
 architecture, and contains a greater nnmber of 
 books than any library in Europe, that of the 
 Vatican excepted. We saw here a portrait of 
 Charles XII. of Sweden, very like the cast I drew 
 at Cambridge ; also a picture of the death of 
 Wolfe, so like in many respects to the celebrated 
 picture of Mr West, that I had no doubt at first 
 of its being a copy, notwithstanding some slight 
 differences, such as the absence of the Indian 
 chief; but we were told that this had been paint- 
 ed by a Mr Penny one year before Mr West
 
 OXFORD RATCLIFFE'S LIBRARY. 143 
 
 produced his own picture, and that the latter 
 had seen Penny's picture before he composed 
 his. This is an anecdote probably repeated to 
 most of those who visit the Bodleian library, and 
 which it seems incumbent on Mr West to explain 
 or contradict. 
 
 Dr Ratcliffe's library is a more modern esta- 
 blishment, bearing likewise the name of its found- 
 er, and a model of the Grecian, as the other is of 
 the Gothic style. It is a rotunda of eighty feet 
 diameter inside, about as much in height, and 
 covered with a dome ; the interior, decorated 
 with Corinthian columns, is, altogether, one of 
 the most beautiful objects I ever saw. This edi- 
 fice was finished in 1749, and cost L.40,OOO. The 
 founder appropriated, besides, an annual sum of 
 L.15O for a librarian, L.lOO for the purchase of 
 books, and L.lOO for repairs. The collection of 
 books is by no means numerous, and it is not 
 probably very rich in rare and valuable manu- 
 scripts, but very possibly contains more readable 
 books in proportion than the Bodleian. Thig 
 most munificent founder was a physician. The 
 public is indebted to him besides for an hospital 
 we have not seen, and for a very fine observa- 
 tory. He has also appropriated an income of 
 L.600 a.year to defray the expences of young 
 physicians sent successively to travel in foreign 
 countries.
 
 144* OXFORD THEATRE. 
 
 The theatre is an edifice appropriated to cer- 
 tain public acts and showy celebrations ; its plan 
 is very much what I had conceived as the best 
 for a theatre, that is to say, a semicircle ; in this 
 one, however, the respective order of the spec- 
 tators and actors is reversed ; the chancellor, 
 doctors, &c. &c., in their proper dresses, being 
 arranged on the circular side, while the lookers- 
 on occupy the chord of the arc, which is about 
 SO feet. This room contained last year, at the 
 installation of the new Chancellor of the Univer- 
 sity, 4000 persons. The roof over it is curious- 
 ly constructed, being composed of short pieces 
 of timber bearing against each other, on the prin- 
 ciple of an arch, like the covering of the Halle 
 au Ble at Paris, although on a very reduced scale, 
 the latter being 200 feet in diameter instead of 
 SO. The semicircular shape does not look very 
 well on the outside. 
 
 It is impossible to give any idea of the beauties 
 of detail of all the Gothic carving lavished so 
 profusely everywhere. A certain hall or chapel, 
 however, struck us particularly, by the exquisite 
 finish of its internal ornaments. I do not recol- 
 lect its name, but understood it to have been used 
 for those scholastic disputations of former times, 
 which 
 
 Were held much learning to display, 
 When learning in her cradle lay.
 
 OXFORD NEW COLLEGE. 145 
 
 The chapel of New College, which has the 
 dimensions of a cathedral, is equally remarkable 
 for the wonders of the chisel lately brought to 
 light, having remained covered over during some 
 centuries, by a thick coat of mortar. It contains 
 also some beautiful modern basso-relievos by 
 Westmacott, and the finest painted windows we 
 have seen yet, without excepting those of the 
 Lichfield cathedral. They were painted by Jar- 
 vis, only 27 years ago, from the designs of Sir 
 Joshua Reynolds. The figures are large, and 
 correctly drawn, the expression perfect, and co- 
 louring very bright and strong, without gaudi- 
 ness, and in perfect harmony. Some of the win- 
 dows are old, and very good also. There is an 
 excellent picture in the Chapel of All Souls col- 
 lege, Christ appearing to Mary Magdalen, by 
 Mengs. The mild and tranquil majesty of Christ, 
 the expression of doubt and grief, of pleasure and 
 surprise in Mary, are admirable, and give a very 
 high idea of that artist's talents ; this is the 
 first picture I ever saw of his. The windows of 
 this chapel are not painted, but the glass only 
 roughened, and the light they admit finely tem- 
 pered. 
 
 We saw, in some one of the colleges, a fine 
 marble statue of Blackstone, by Bacon. At 
 Christ- Church, one of Locke by Roubiliac j not 
 
 VOL. n. K
 
 146 OXFORD COLLEGES PICTURE. 
 
 equal to the statue of Newton by the same artist, 
 at Cambridge. Locke had been expelled from 
 Oxford in his youth ! Christ- Church, the largest, 
 I believe, and the most magnificent of all the 
 colleges, is mostly in the Gothic style. Some 
 idea may be formed of its extent, in hearing that 
 one of its four courts is upwards of 260 feet every 
 way. It contains a very fine library J40 feet 
 long, and an anatomical theatre j the chapel is 
 in fact the cathedral of the diocese, very old, 
 and Gothic of course. I observed a row of Sax- 
 on pillars, the capitals of which are all different 
 from each other. 
 
 Most of the colleges have large gardens or 
 planted walks belonging to them. One of those 
 walks, on the banks of the Isis, which is here a 
 very moderate river, is composed of elms ten or 
 twelve feet in circumference. 
 
 I shall close here this very imperfect, and yet 
 very long description, by mentioning an admi- 
 rable picture in Magdalen college, by Guido, of 
 Christ bearing his cross, taken at Vigo, and 
 brought to England by the Duke of Ormond. 
 This busy day has proved to us what I do not 
 think is very apparent at first sight, the archi- 
 tectural splendour of Oxford i 
 
 " Majestic in the moss of time."
 
 OXFORD UNIVERSITY. 
 
 Of its system of education I know very little. 
 A great historian, who had spent here some years 
 of his youth, has spoken of it very unfavourably. 
 It was in his time little else than a monkish com- 
 munity, sunk in ease and indolence, and the facts 
 disclosed, in the course of a sharp controversy 
 lately carried on between a champion of the uni- 
 versity, and a certain illustrious literary associa- 
 
 tion, tend, upon the whole, to confirm Gibbon's 
 charges. This splendid university seems to have 
 slumbered on since the revival of letters, ignorant j If^f 
 or unmindful of the discoveries of modern times. 
 It remained Aristotelian and scholastic for cen- 
 turies after the rest of the world, and when it 
 ceased to teach exploded doctrines, it taught no- 
 thing at all in their stead. 
 
 It appears, however, that important changes 
 and improvements have been introduced within 
 a few years, and the obstacles of antiquated forms 
 and practices once removed, the establishment 
 may work its own perfect regeneration. The 
 ancient universities of Europe, founded in [the 
 times of the universal dominion of the church of 
 Rome, have preserved, even in Protestant coun- 
 tries, that languor and that pride which the long 
 possession of undisturbed power is apt to gene- 
 rate ; which, at the same time that it clings to* 
 prerogative, knows not how to maintain real as- 
 cendancy. Considering the manifest state of
 
 1 48 HENLEY PARK PLACE. 
 
 imperfection of establishments, and methods of 
 education in general, and that of all professions, 
 that of tutor is, perhaps, the most difficult, and 
 the most negligently attended to, it is a matter 
 ^ of surprise that so many people should, after all, 
 be well educated. But it will be found that, in 
 general, they recommenced their education anew 
 after it was finished, naturally, and without any 
 formed design. The grain of corn which the un- 
 friendly frosts of the winter have thrown out of 
 the ground where it had been sown, strives to 
 regain, in the spring, the situation it has lost, 
 and its elevated root taking a short turn, dives 
 back again into its genial element in search of 
 food ; but there has been a loss of time and 
 substance, and the young plant does not always 
 attain afterwards the full growth and maturity to 
 which its natural constitution had destined it. 
 
 March 24. From Henley, where we slept, we 
 walked this morning to Park Place (Marshal 
 Conway's,) which "VValpole's letters had given us 
 a wish to see, and we were surprised at the very 
 great, beauty of the situation and improvements. 
 You see a very high bank over the Thames, in- 
 terrupted by a deep valley at right angles with 
 it and the river ; the sides well wooded, and a 
 fine ascending lawn, terminated at the upper end 
 by a ruin, half hidden in trees, and by a bridge 
 of large rough stones at the lower. We found,
 
 DRUIDICAL MONUMENT HENLEY. 149 
 
 on the highest part of the grounds, a Druidical 
 structure, like Stonehenge in miniature. The 
 highest pillars not eight feet high, and the dia- 
 meter of the circle not twenty feet. This trifling, 
 and at the same time very heavy curiosity, was 
 sent from the island of Jersey to General Con- 
 way, as a present from the inhabitants to their 
 bien aime gouvemeur, with a long address in 
 French verse, very complimentary, of course ; 
 and in fact it was a flattering proof of the good- 
 will of the people, to whom this could not fail 
 to be a costly present. The house has nothing 
 remarkable ; the trees are very fine, and nothing 
 can be more cheerful and riant 9 and noble at the 
 same time, than the view, and the path along the 
 bank, and over the fine lawn of the valley. The- 
 Druidical monument seems to have been disco- 
 vered the 25th August, 1 785. 
 
 For some days past we are come to the chalk 
 country, no more coal-mines. At Henley, coals 
 are 14s. a chaldron dearer than in London, whence 
 they come. We meet now with immense wag- 
 gons, on enormous conical wheels, drawn by 
 eight, or even ten horses, and often a poney for 
 the driver to ride. That singular production, 
 the nodules of flints, in heaps along the road, and 
 stuck over the walls of houses and inclosures. 
 The inns are finer than in the north, but not
 
 150 WINDSOR CASTLE THE KING. 
 
 X 
 
 better, and wax-candles /are forced upon travel- 
 lers, whether they choose or not this piece of 
 luxury, for which 2s. 6d. a-night is added to the 
 bill. Gentlemen's houses and good farms more 
 numerous than ever, if possible. 
 
 The first approach of Windsor, on a height, is 
 very great and striking. It looks like a castle 
 of Mr Scott's own building, and that is saying 
 ^ } enough in its praise. Terraces and towers on 
 high, with banners floating in the wind, sketch 
 their outlines on the sky, while the blast of war- 
 like music comes at intervals on the ear. The 
 Thames, which is here large and navigable, flows 
 at the feet of this royal residence ; and the park 
 covers its banks and the surrounding country. 
 This fine ensemble loses, however, on a near view. 
 You find a small town filled with the valetaille of 
 the court ; a crowded and uncomfortable inn, 
 where none of your wants are supplied, except 
 a guide, who came readily on our first call, and 
 with him we proceeded up the hill to the castle. 
 Being informed the King was walking, we went 
 that way. His majesty was on the terrace, but 
 the public was not allowed to approach, with a 
 gentleman (General Manners,) holding him un- 
 der the arm. He was dressed in a plain blue 
 coat, his hat flapped over his eyes, stooped a 
 little, looked thin, and walked fast j talked con-
 
 WINDSOR PICTURES LONDON. 151 
 
 tinually, and with an appearance of earnestness. 
 We could at times distinguish his voice at twen- 
 ty yards distance j this does not look like reco- 
 very. 
 
 The park is fine, I believe, but we saw very 
 little of it. The apartments have nothing very 
 remarkable in them. A great number of pictures. 
 I shall mention very few of them. A bad por- 
 trait of Lady Digby, by Vandyke, which is an 
 uncommon case. Two bad figures by Guido, a 
 thing by no means so uncommon ; they are fe- 
 male academies, colossal, ill-drawn, and without 
 shadows. A good Judith, by the same. Another 
 very fine Judith, by Carlo Dolce, carrying the 
 head of her Holophernes ; the heroine is young 
 and pretty, she looks quite soft and gentle, and 
 seems to avert her looks from the sad trophy in 
 her hands. There is a row of Charles II. J s beau- 
 ties, still more deserving their reputation than 
 those of James II. we have seen elsewhere. 
 
 March 25. London. Here we are once more, 
 after an absence of nine months. This second 
 first sight made much the same impression as the 
 first. London does not strike with admiration ; 
 it is regular, clean, convenient, (I am speaking 
 of the best part,) but the site is flat ; the plan 
 monotonous ; the predominant colour of objects 
 dingy and poor. It is altogether without great 
 faults and without great beauties. Suppose your-
 
 152 LONDON. 
 
 self in one of the best streets, it extends a pertc 
 de vue before you, in an undeviating straight line; 
 the side walks wide and smooth ; every door with 
 its stone steps, its iron railing, and its lamp ; one 
 house differing from its neighbour in no one thing 
 but the number on the door and the name of the 
 occupapt. Turn the next corner and you have 
 another street as long, as wide, and as straight, 
 and so on from street to street. At night you 
 have eternal rows of lamps, making the straight- 
 ness of the streets still more conspicuous and 
 tiresome. This palpable immensity has some- 
 thing in it very heavy and stupjfying. The best 
 houses in Edinburgh are very inferior certainly 
 to those of the same rank in London, yet the 
 difference of the materials, a bright crystallized 
 stone, instead of dingy bricks, gives them a look 
 of superior consequence and cheerfulness ; the 
 variety of views also, and the proximity to the 
 country, without the fag-end of suburbs, are inva- 
 luable advantages. There is, no doubt, in London 
 a greater choice of society, the best probably, 
 and the pleasantest ; but it is, in general, out of 
 xHhe reach of a stranger, and of no sort of conse- 
 quence to him. 
 
 April 4. We returned yesterday from Rich- 
 mond, where we have spent a few days. The 
 spring, which appeared so early, lingers on, and 
 seems at a stand. An easterly wind, dry, arid, and
 
 TWICKENHAM CHISWICK. 153 
 
 cold, suspends vegetation. The horse-chesnuts 
 are only just out, unfolding their rich gummy 
 bunches of cottony leaves and green pyramids of 
 blossoms in the bud. The hawthorn, larches, 
 and weeping willows, just shooting j neither the 
 latter nor the Lombardy poplar grow nearly so 
 fine as in America. 
 
 The walk from Richmond to Twickenham by 
 the meadows, along the Thames, is pleasant ; but 
 the retrospect of the hill is very inferior indeed 
 
 / to the view from it. After all we have seen in 
 the course of this long tour, this latter view ap- 
 pears to us as beautiful as ever ; quite perfect of 
 the kind. 
 
 Our friend Mrs D. had the goodness to ac- 
 company us to Chiswick, the favourite residence 
 of the Duke of Devonshire, half way between 
 London and Richmond, and consecrated by the 
 
 / death of Mr Fox. This miniature of a palace 
 was built after the model of another near Vicenza, 
 erected by Palladio, to which, however, wings 
 have been added. A short avenue of very fine 
 cedars of Lebanon leads to it ; one of the trunks, 
 not larger than the rest, measured full twelve 
 feet in circumference ; they are only about 
 eighty years old. Three rooms in the centre, 
 lighted by sky-lights, are filled, as almost all the 
 other rooms, with an excellent collection of pic- 
 tures, as if to make amends for the shocking
 
 154 CHISW1CK PICTURES. 
 
 daubs hanging about the walls of Chatsworth. 
 One of the first things which attracted my at- 
 tention, was the livid countenance and piercing 
 eagle-eye of one of the Popes, by Carlo Maratti, 
 who, I am well aware, does not rate very high 
 among the great masters ; two most excellent 
 candle-light pieces, by Schalkin, an artist of whom 
 I had not seen any thing before ; a very, good 
 Guido, (one feels safe in praising Guido,) repre- 
 senting two figures, Painting and Drawing ; a 
 large landscape by Salvator Rosa, better than 
 usual ; two or three excellent Rembrandts ; se- 
 veral Vandykes, none good, and one positively 
 bad, a very uncommon thing ; a crude, green, 
 heavy, and bad Gaspar Poussin ; a warm rich 
 landscape by Both ; a shocking Albano, with a 
 raw blue landscape, and a clumsy naked figure 
 of a woman, and Cupids innumerable, under size, 
 and certainly without grace ; another Albano, 
 two large naked figures half length, Joseph and 
 Lady Potiphar, or something of the sort, cer- 
 tainly a very indifferent picture ; the foot of the 
 cross by Bassano, very fine ; another fine Bassano, 
 the good Samaritan ; two children, by Leonardo 
 da Vinci, not so good as usual ; an Andrea del 
 Sarto, with soft outlines, and vigorous light and 
 shade ; Velasquez, Pope Alexander IX., in a 
 rugged vigorous style ; a Carlo Maratti, copied 
 from Guido, preciously finished with a pale bluish
 
 'cms WICK SCENERY. 155 
 
 and cold colouring ; a long Venetian procession, 
 by Paul Veronese, very poor ; a curious picture 
 of the year 1470, in the manner of Leonardo da 
 Vinci, although very bad, and in the same state 
 of high preservation, by John of Bruges, There 
 were many other pictures worth mentioning, but 
 our cicerone, the housekeeper, was a stately old 
 dame, very cross and surly, and we were unwill- 
 ing to make her repeat the names of the painters 
 when they were not remembered. The furniture 
 and arrangement of every thing about the house 
 is in the best taste. There are fifty acres of park, 
 with 300 deer, and thirty acres of garden, all on 
 a dead flat. By digging the bed of a pieee of 
 water, and throwing up the ground into a long 
 narrow ridge, perhaps 15 or 20 feet high, an effect 
 has been produced much superior to what might 
 have been expected from the paltriness of the 
 means. This is quite a mountain^ from which the 
 view plunges into the deep shades of the valley 
 and lake on one side, and on the other is lost in 
 the blue distance. The trees here are majestic, the 
 lawn smooth and green ; and these two things 
 constitute at once a terrestrial paradise. We 
 found in the garden many cedars of Lebanon, of 
 the age and size of those of the avenue. Their 
 dark boughs sweep the lawn. There are some 
 few marble statues, antique, I believe, about the 
 garden j but the deep shades, and moist northern
 
 156 LONDON WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 
 
 climate, do not agree with an exposure to the 
 weather ; and the marble is covered with mossy 
 stains. The figures are colossal, and have fine 
 draperies, but are noseless, and otherwise muti- 
 lated. Two good lions, modern, and likewise 
 overgrown with moss. The rose-garden has, I 
 think the gardener said, 12O varieties of roses. 
 The piece of water is miserably muddy >nd stag- 
 nant, yet the lawn and plantations about it, the 
 swans and foreign birds swimming gracefully on 
 its surface, make it a very pretty object. There 
 is a very handsome stone arch thrown over it. 
 Altogether, this is a beautiful place, without any 
 advantage of situation. 
 
 April 7. We went to Westminster Abbey this 
 , morning, and found it, with all its merits, infe- 
 rior to York Minster, both inside and out. The 
 painted windows are not good ; and although I 
 should not wish to white-wash the walls, yet I 
 think them too dark and sooty. The chanting 
 was very fine, and the organ accompaniment sim- 
 ple and beautiful. Of all human inventions to 
 elevate the mind, and excite enthusiasm, I know 
 of none so powerful as church-music. The place 
 adds undoubtedly to its effect. Whatever sen- 
 timents of elevation and piety the music might 
 have produced, were soon unfortunately brought 
 down to the ordinary worldly level by the sermon 
 it was our fortune to hear. The preacher was a
 
 LONDON WEST'S NEW PICTURE. 
 
 purple-faced short-necked man, forcing his hol- 
 low, vulgar, insincere voice through a fat narrow 
 passage. He told us, or rather read out of a 
 paper in his hand, that it was wrong to wish to 
 die, yet not right to be afraid neither ; and that 
 St Paul taught us to keep a happy medium. 
 Among many words he pronounced in a peculiar 
 manner, I recollect acknowledge and innocence, 
 like wo in noble, which is not unusual, I think, on 
 the stage ; perfody instead of perfidy ; sun-sine 
 instead of sun-shine. 
 
 April 1 8. Mr West's new picture at the Bri- 
 tish Institution is all the fashion at present ; every- 
 body goes to see it, and it is considered as his 
 chtf-d 'tfuvre after his Regulus. The society has 
 bought the picture for L. 30OO. The subject is 
 Christ healing the sick. They, (the sick) form 
 the prominent part of the picture, and certainly 
 they are what they ought to be, very sick. But 
 that is an effect easily produced ; and is only an 
 exact likeness of a few wretched objects uncon- 
 nected and passive. Christ is coming forth, his 
 hands extended towards them all, doing good like 
 Providence, not like a common mortal, without 
 emotion and without effort. This may, at least, 
 be fancied to have been the intention of the 
 artist. Our Saviour seemed to me, however, to 
 have only the countenance of a very handsome 
 with a clear skin, trim beard, and rather
 
 158 LONDON COVENT-GARDEN HAMLET. 
 
 more genteel than their tribe usually are, yet not 
 divine at all. The extended hands are delicate; 
 fingers tapering to an affectation, and finically 
 graceful ; the colouring is bluish and cold, and 
 the outlines of all the objects as sharp and distinct 
 as cut tin. The only figure which struck me as 
 fine, is that of a young man who has just laid 
 down his dying father at the feet of Christ, 
 and with one knee on the ground, outstretched 
 hands, and earnest looks, seems to pray with per- 
 fect faith. The Christ of Michael Angelo, at 
 Mr Angerstein's, with all its defects, is far other- 
 wise divine than this;* and, without disparage- 
 ment to Mr West's reputation, I think he might 
 have improved his colouring by the study of 
 Rembrandt, Vandyke, or Murillo. 
 
 April 21. Hamlet was acted yesterday at Co- 
 vent-Garden, and Kemble, the reigning prince of 
 the English stage, filled the principal part. He 
 understands his art thoroughly, but wants spirit 
 and nature. His manner is precise and artificial ; 
 his voice monotonous and wooden ; his features 
 are too large, even for the stage. Munden in the 
 
 * The Christ of Mr Trumbull, in his picture of the Woman 
 taken in Adultery, which I have just seen on the easel, (10th 
 September,) appears to me to approach much nearer than Mr 
 West's to that peculiar character of ineffable goodness and 
 sublime meekness which belongs to our Saviour alone.
 
 LONDON COVENT- GARDEN HAMLET. 159 
 
 part of Polonius, and Fawcett in the grave-dig- 
 ger, played charmingly. It is enough to mention 
 the grave-diggers, to awaken in France the cry 
 of rude and barbarous taste ; and, were I to say 
 how the part is acted, it might be still worse. Af- 
 ter beginning their labour, and breaking ground 
 for a grave, a conversation begins between the 
 two grave-diggers. The chief one takes off his 
 coat, folds it carefully, and puts it by in a safe 
 corner ; then, taking up his pick-axe, spits in his 
 hand, gives a stroke or two, talks, stops, 
 strips off his waistcoat, still talking, folds it with 
 great deliberation and nicety, and puts it with the 
 coat, then an under-waistcoat, still talking, 
 another and another. I counted seven or eight, 
 each folded and unfolded very leisurely, in a man- 
 ner always different, and with gestures faithfully 
 copied from nature. The British public enjoys 
 this scene excessively, and the pantomimic vari- 
 ations a good actor knows how to introduce in 
 it, are sure to be vehemently applauded. The 
 French admit of no such relaxation in the digni- 
 te tragigue: 
 
 L'etroite bienseance y veut etre gardee ; 
 
 and Boileau did not even allow Moliere to have 
 won the prize of comedy, because he had 
 
 Quitte pour le bouffon 1'agreable et le fin 
 Et sans honte a Terence allie Tabarin ;
 
 160 LONDONTHE DRAMA. 
 
 much less would he or his school have appro- 
 ved of an alliance between tragedy and farce. 
 Yet it may well be questioned whether the inte- 
 rest is best kept up by an uninterrupted display 
 of elevation. For my part, I am inclined to think 
 that the repose afforded by a comic episode reno- 
 vates the powers of attention and of feeling, and 
 prepares for new tragical emotions more effectu- 
 ally than an attempt to protract these emotions 
 during the whole representation could have done. 
 It is by no means usual for the different actors of 
 the same scene, in real life, to be all equally af- 
 fected. The followers of a hero do not feel as 
 magnanimous as himself, and are even apt to 
 laugh among themselves at his vices or his virtues. 
 The hero himself is not always a hero, and does 
 not speak invariably in the same tone. Indeed 
 I do not know that it is unnatural for the same 
 person to laugh and cry, within the same half 
 hour, at the very same thing, or at least various 
 views of the same thing ; nor that this incon- 
 sistency of the human mind might not furnish 
 stronger dramatic touches than the contrary qua- 
 lity. Poetical excitement cannot be maintained 
 long at a time ; you must take it up and lay it 
 down like a flower, or soon cease to be sensible 
 of the fragrance. If real illusion could ever take 
 place in dramatic representation, it would cer- 
 tainly be produced rather by that diversity of
 
 LONDON DRAMA HAM LET. 1 6 1 
 
 tone and character which exists in nature, than 
 by an artificial unity. But nobody does, in point 
 of fact, forget for a moment, that what he sees is 
 a fable, and, if he did, the effect of a tragedy 
 would hardly be pleasure. We look on poetical 
 terrors as \ve do from the brink of a precipice 
 upon the yawning chasm below ; it makes our 
 head turn, and takes off our breath for very fear ; 
 but, leaning on the parapet-wall, we feel all safe. 
 Looking on the verdure and mild beauties around 
 us, we enjoy the contrast ; and, meeting the eye 
 of our companion, exchange a smile. 
 
 Voltaire, D'Alembert, and many other foreign 
 critics, agree in reproving this scene of the grave- 
 diggers as horribly low, while they extol the 
 soliloquy of Hamlet. Supposing, however, the 
 sentiments of the prince had been put into the 
 mouth of the peasant, and those of the peasant 
 given to the pdnce, I question whether these 
 critics would not still have taken part with the 
 latter against the former. It is the spade and the 
 jests which discredit the philosophy, yet there is 
 a certain coarse but energetic fitness between the 
 one and the other, and the tone of buffoonery 
 does not ill accord with the contempt of life, its 
 vanities, and empty greatness. I have made 
 free translation of these two scenes, endeavour- 
 ing to convey the ideas rather than the words, 
 
 VOL. II. L
 
 162 LONDON DRAMA HAMLET. 
 
 that my French readers may judge for them- 
 selves.* 
 
 The tragedy of Hamlet is much more objec- 
 tionable on other points, being, in my opinion, 
 one of the most ill conceived and inexplicable of 
 Shakespeare's plays, which are all of them little 
 else than mere frames for his ideas, comic or phi- 
 losophical, gloomy or playful, as they occurred, 
 without much attention to time and place ; ex- 
 pressed with a vigour, a richness, and originality, 
 quite wonderful in the original, but nearly lost in 
 any translation. We might apply to Shakespeare 
 what has been said of our Montaigne : " Que 
 personne ne savoit moins que lui, ce qu'il alloit 
 dire, ni mieux ce qu'il disoit." I have remarked 
 before, that the style of Shakespeare is not old ; 
 and the inartificial texture of his plays appears 
 the more strange on that account : this style, 
 just as it is, might be applied to the best con- 
 ducted fable and most regular argument. Of 
 the dramatic writers who followed him, some 
 avoided his irregularities, but missed his style, or 
 rather had not his depth, his strength and genius j 
 while others, and there is a recent example, ap- 
 proached the style, and had some sparks of the 
 genius, but adopted, in their zeal, the inconsist- 
 
 * This relates to a French version of the Journal.
 
 LONDON THEATRE BLUE-BEARD. 163 
 
 encies, the coarseness, and even the puns. You 
 can excuse, in a Gothic cathedral of five or six 
 hundred years standing, those monkish figures 
 carved on the walls, lolling their tongues out, or 
 pointing the finger of scorn at each other, in low 
 derision, and others still more indecent, in favour 
 of the wonderful art, which, in such an age of 
 darkness and ignorance, durst conceive and could 
 execute the idea of building this religious grove, 
 rearing its arched boughs, and lofty shades of 
 hewn stones 150 feet above your head ; while 
 the country-house of the wealthy citizen of Lon- 
 don, mimicking that taste of architecture, excites 
 a smile, and if he should carry the imitation 
 beyond the pointed arch, and painted windows, 
 to the very indecencies I have mentioned, the 
 ridicule would be complete. 
 
 The after-piece was Blue-Beard, which outdoes, 
 in perversion of taste, all the other showy stupi- 
 dities of the modern stage. A troop of horse 
 (real horse) is actually introduced, or rather two 
 troops, charging each other full speed, the floor 
 is covered with earth, the horses are Astley's, 
 and well drilled j they kick, and rear, and bite, 
 and scramble up walls almost perpendicular, and 
 when they can do no more, fall, and die as 
 gracefully as any of their brethren, the English 
 tragedians. All this might do very well at Ast- 
 ley's, but what a pity and a shame that horses
 
 LONDON PARTIES. 
 
 should be the successors of Garrick, and bring 
 fuller houses than Mrs Siddons ! 
 
 April 28. The English have had, for some 
 weeks past, an overflowing of good news from 
 their army in the Peninsula. The house of the 
 Portuguese ambassador has been magnificently 
 illuminated during several nights. These suc- 
 cesses are very important in more respects than 
 one, they establish the reputation of the army, 
 heretofore doubtful, and put an invasion of these 
 islands out of the question. The Spanish cause 
 is highly popular in this country, it is a cause 
 to which every generous feeling is associated, 
 and it has excited a great degree of enthusiasm. 
 Yet such is the influence of party-spirit, that the 
 liberty-people of this country are quite discon- 
 , certed and out of temper about this news. The 
 ^j^^y Spaniards, they say, are fighting for the mainte- 
 nance of the worst possible government, and 
 none half so bad could be imposed upon them 
 L. I* by the conqueror. We are shedding our best 
 blood for an ungrateful people who detest us, 
 and once freed from the French, whom they 
 scarcely hate more, they will quarrel with us. 
 The great and the rich there, it is said, fear the 
 people nearly as much as they do the enemy, 
 and that people is a wild beast thirsting for any 
 foreign blood. This language of the opposition 
 not without some truth ; but if it were the
 
 LONDON LYRIC SONGS OPERA. 165 
 
 Spaniards who had invaded their neighbours, in- 
 stead of their neighbours invading them, I sus- 
 pect that they would not reason so coolly on the 
 subject ; and, instead of considering whether 
 the people of the north of the Pyrenees have a 
 good or a bad government, they would decide 
 at once that those of the south have no business 
 with it. 
 
 April 30. I have given in the French Journal 
 a literal translation of one of those lyric pieces 
 which are introduced in many English farces, 
 and are often sung between the play and the 
 farce. At Edinburgh we heard Bannister, and 
 here Mathews, sing some of these select pieces 
 with a great deal of true comic, and what is call- 
 ed here dry humour. Yesterday, particularly, 
 Mathews delighted the public of the Lyceum 
 in a new play, called the Bee- hive, played forty 
 times running. The song of an innkeeper, who 
 enumerates the contents of his larder and kit- 
 chen, was encored again and again, with frantic 
 applause. Other songs, however, which happen- 
 ed to be less in the popular taste, were received 
 with coolness, and we heard some men behind us 
 exclaim, among themselves, " Italian squalls ! 
 What a shame on a British theatre, Just like 
 the opera by G !" Whenever I have expressed 
 any surprise at the state of the English stage, I 
 have been told that it was only the amusement
 
 166 LONDON TALKERS BOOKS. 
 
 of the vulgar, and that if I chose to partake of 
 it, I must not complain. Admitting that people 
 of fashion scarcely ever go to the theatre, yet 
 the lowest of the people do not frequent it more 
 than they do ; it is in fact filled by the middle 
 class, neither the highest nor the lowest, and 
 that is precisely the class where I should look 
 for the true and legitimate national taste. Be- 
 sides, if the theatres of Covent-Garden and 
 Drury-Lane are for the vulgar, what other is 
 there left for those who rank themselves above 
 the vulgar ? The opera j in other words, there 
 is no national theatre. 
 
 The bulk of those who compose the society of 
 any country, and of this, certainly, full as much 
 as any other, are persons of very moderate na- 
 tural abilities, rather dull and stupid, or whose 
 sense and liveliness are of that passive sort, which 
 can receive amusement, but imparts none ; 
 they are capable of relishing a joke, understand 
 a good thing, have feelings even and enthu- 
 siasm, when put into them, by an adept in the 
 social art of conversation. It is a gift which few 
 possess, in an eminent degree, although there 
 are many pretenders who try and think they suc- 
 ceed ; and whether they do or not, they never 
 fail to enjoy themselves a great share of the 
 amusement they mean to bestow on others. I 
 have observed that these amusing persons do not
 
 LONDON TALKERS BOOKS. 167 
 
 like the theatre, and for obvious reasons, since 
 it deprives them of their advantages ; but the 
 interest of the amused lies another way. The 
 actors of the theatre are professors of the art ; 
 those of society, amateurs only : 'the actors of 
 the stage know their part better, and it has been 
 composed for them by abler men, and at leisure. 
 You are there for your money, may withdraw 
 when you are tired, are not obliged to answer 
 or to appear attentive, you are at liberty to 
 hiss or to applaud. The general interest of so- 
 ciety is clearly in favour of a good theatre. *^ 
 One word more on talkers ; they pretend 
 they do not like books, and go the length of say- 
 ing that nobody reads now-a-days. It is the lan- 
 guage of those even who write books, which 
 serves to place the paradox in a stronger light, 
 and marks the contradiction. Whatever they 
 may. say, nobody talks so well or so agreeably 
 as a book, and they would allow it themselves, 
 in regard to their own book. Where can you 
 find so easy and discreet a friend and compa- 
 nion ? You may interrupt the conversation when 
 you please, take a nap, renew it again where 
 you left it, go back to what interests you, 
 skip what does not, and shut yourself up with 
 .that friend, sure of never having more of him 
 than you like. This consciousness of safety is 
 inestimable. To judge of it, consider only with
 
 168 LONDON NATIONAL CHARACTER. 
 
 what avidity the printed letters of eminent per- 
 sons are read, and reflect on- the dread and con- 
 sternation the sight of these same letters in the 
 original manuscript would have produced ; 
 just drawn from the pocket of the person to 
 whom they were written, and about to be read 
 to you in confidence ! One of these readings is 
 a task, from which you would anticipate con- 
 straint and ennui, the other is your free act, 
 which can be productive of pleasure only, and 
 exposes you to no danger. The wolf does not 
 even touch the lamlr fallen with him in the same 
 pit, which he would have devoured in the open 
 field. 
 
 This nation is probably somewhat more think- 
 ing, grave, solid, and taciturn than their neigh- 
 bours on the other side of the channel. Less, 
 however, than is 'generally supposed, for men 
 of all countries are not extremely unlike. In 
 the choice of their amusements, people choose 
 naturally something very different from their ha- 
 bitual state, the tedium of which they intend to 
 relieve ; and this explains the English taste for 
 buffoonery and broad humour. I have often 
 observed, that gay and lively people find no 
 pleasure in tales of humour, Cowper's John 
 Gilpin for instance. I have not met with a per- 
 son of the disposition above-mentioned, to whom 
 its excellent pleasantry did not appear insipid or
 
 LONDON LANCASTERI AN SCHOOL. 169 
 
 worse. On the other hand, these happy persons 
 will generally be found to delight in the picture 
 of sentimental distresses, which they never expe- 
 rienced, their feelings turning always to the 
 gratification of the mind or the senses ; while, to 
 the wounded in spirit, such fictions come too near 
 the sad reality for pleasure. It is the probe search- 
 ing a deep and inflamed wound, instead of the 
 hand gently rubbing the scar of one which is 
 healed to allay the itching of the new skin. 
 
 The same cause, national gravity and solidi- 
 ty, has a tendency to produce the affectation of 
 thoughtless vivacity ; and I have seen men of 
 distinguished talents so praised and fetes for 
 their liveliness and legerete, that I have been apt 
 to suppose that if they did not affect, at least 
 they encouraged this their natural disposition 
 and happy faculty of being different from other 
 people. In France, on the contrary, how many 
 solemn coxcombs I have known, who affected 
 d* etre profonds, et de pexser ! 
 
 May 1. Having provided ourselves with a let- 
 ter of introduction to Mr Lancaster, the celebra- 
 ted inventor of the new plan of education bearing 
 his name, we drove this morning to his school in 
 the borough. We sent in our letter, which was 
 open, and a young monitor coming out, inform- 
 ed us Mr L. was not at home, and we could not 
 be admitted. We represented that we were stran-
 
 170 LONDON LANCASTERIAN SCHOOL* 
 
 gers, and could not possibly come again ; and afe 
 last, after consulting with other monitors, we 
 were allowed to enter. We found ourselves un- 
 der a spacious shed, lighted by a sky-light, about 
 30 or 35 feet wide, and 100 feet long. There 
 was at one end of the extremities a platform, twa 
 or three feet above the general level ; the rest 
 of the room was paved, and benches arranged 
 one behind the other, fronting the platform, the 
 back .of each bench having a shelf serving for a 
 desk for the boy behind ; a narrow passage led 
 along the wall, all round the room. Seven or 
 eight hundred boys, from six to twelve years old, 
 filled these benches. They were all talking to- 
 gether, and making a great noise. They seemed 
 divided into classes or sections, distinguished 
 by small flags j some of the classes writing on 
 sand, others on slates, that is to say, had writ- 
 ten, or might have written, for none were do- 
 ing any thing but playing. Out of compli- 
 ment to us, for the good of his scholars, or to 
 show his authority, one of the monitors made 
 a sign, and at the instant the eight hundred 
 little heads bowed down, showing, instead of a 
 field of white faces, one of dark crops. We ask- 
 ed what the object of this evolution was, and 
 were answered that it was light and shade, but 
 what for ? Before we could receive a reply, an- 
 other signal had been given, and all the styles
 
 LONDON LANCASTERIAN SCHOOL. 171 
 
 or pencils were brandished in the air, those who 
 had none pointed their finger j at another sign 
 they all came down again. Several other evolu- 
 tions took place of as little obvious use : a great 
 buz and talking all over the room, and the mo- 
 nitors vociferating. Two boys were lying under 
 a sort of hamper or hen-coop, placed upon the 
 platform ; they are there, we were told, for play- 
 ing chicken, that is to say, for leaving their places, 
 or playing during the lesson ; they did not 
 seem to mind the punishment. Observing some 
 young soldiers with the monitors, we were in- 
 formed they were sent there to learn the method 
 of the school (not to much purpose this morn- 
 ing j) one of the princes, the Duke of Kent, I 
 believe, having formed the laudable design of a 
 school for the children of soldiers. Thirty or 
 forty new scholars are admitted every week, and 
 they stay two or three years. Such is the infor- 
 mation we received from one of the monitors, 
 who did not shew himself a good calculator, for 
 there would be at that rate always a permanent 
 number of 4500 scholars in the school, which is 
 nearly six times what it can hold. There is a se- 
 parate school for girls, less numerous, but we did 
 not see it. It struck twelve, a monitor gave 
 the order to clear the school, the boys rose and 
 filed off by benches, making as much noise and 
 as much dust with their feet as they could.
 
 172 LONDON LANCASTERIAN SCHOOL. 
 
 This is an account of what we saw faithfully 
 reported. I regret it, for it lowers (not much, 
 however,) the very favourable opinion I had 
 formed of the good order, the economy of time, 
 the general application, and prodigious utility of 
 a mode of teaching, by which a single master 
 may direct 1000 scholars, better and more effec- 
 tually than he could have done ten by any form- 
 er method. It is obvious that this was not in- 
 tended as a day to receive visits j but should not 
 all days be equal, and might not there be here a 
 little of that charlatanerie, for which certain cri- 
 tics, in the simplicity of their own hearts, did 
 not know there existed any name in their langu- 
 age ? Mr Lancaster was gone, we were told, 
 somewhere to organize a new school, his own, 
 no doubt, might suffer in his absence. The build- 
 ing was undergoing some repairs when we were 
 there, and the school was just breaking up, which 
 circumstances may account for some of the ap- 
 parent disorder, i have heard some of the best 
 friends of Mr Lancaster say, that his prodigious 
 success had a little turned his head, better ones 
 have not alway been proof against the trial. The 
 merit of the invention, however, is of more im- 
 portance than the merit of the inventor, and 
 the former is fully ascertained. 
 
 Mr Lancaster, like other heroes, owes some-
 
 LONDON CHURCH SECTARIES. '173 
 
 thing to chance, to the evident struggle for 
 power between the established church and the 
 different sects of non-conformists, who have a 
 common interest of jealousy. The established 
 church enjoys all the worldly advantages ; wealth, 
 consideration, and supremacy ; its dignitaries 
 throw generally their weight on the ministerial 
 side, no wonder they should be hated by their 
 opponents ! That spirit of inquiry, boldness, and xjx 
 originality of thinking, for which this country is 
 distinguished, the liberty of the press, arid a cer- 
 tain degree of seriousness which has been deno- 
 minated gloom and melancholy, have long made 
 it the hot- bed of religious sects and of political 
 factions. New apostles of the gospel rise up 
 from time to time, who explain it different ways, 
 and kindle at the fire of their own enthusiasm 
 the imagination of their followers. The nature 
 of the particular dogma is of little importance, 
 any thing very enthusiastic succeeds ; and 
 those who address themselves to the terrors of' 
 superstition, more certainly than those who in- 
 culcate a rational confidence, grounded on the 
 attributes of the Supreme Being. The sect of 
 the Methodists, who preach hell and damnation, 
 and place faith before works, has made astonish- 
 ing progress ; while that of the Unitarians, who 
 see in Christ little more than a wise man, extends 
 very little. Enthusiasm, however, like other
 
 174 LONDON ENGLISH CLERGY* 
 
 passions, subsides in time, and none of these sects 
 have a very long duration. The presbyterians, the 
 independants, and the quakers, do not increase, 
 and perhaps diminish. Very probably these sects, 
 even the most extravagant, are not an evil, new 
 converts being generally remarkable for the pu- 
 rity and simplicity of their morals. Sectaries, 
 indeed, do not, in general, cultivate the fine arts 
 nor the belles lettres ; you meet with little ele- 
 gance or polish among them j they are not men 
 of taste ; but they are generally honest and re- 
 spectable, notwithstanding a slight tincture of 
 pride and hypocrisy, mixed with Christian low- 
 liness. The pastor among them, holding his te- 
 nure upon the good pleasure of his congrega- 
 tion, must exert himself, and show some zeal ; 
 while the clergy of the established church being 
 independent, have come at last, I am told, to ful- 
 fil their functions, merely as a professional duty, 
 strictly perhaps, but coldly. Auricular confes- 
 sion, and all the practices of the Roman Catho- 
 lic church, keep up an habitual intercourse be- 
 tween the clergy and the people. There is com- 
 paratively none in the English church, and the 
 episcopal clergy are little else than an aristocra- 
 tical body in the state. Returning from Scotland, 
 where the clergy are particularly grave and de- 
 corous, we are the more struck with the smart 
 appearance of the English clergy. I observed a
 
 LONDON ENGLISH CLERGY CHURCH. 
 
 few days ago, at the house of one of these reve- 
 rend persons, a pair of sparring-gloves ; and the 
 sight put me in mind of Dr Moore's anecdote 
 about the young man who thought he had a vo- 
 cation for the church, " because he liked field- 
 sports so much." You meet in the best society 
 a number of young clergymen, brought up in 
 the expectancy of some good living, of which 
 their families or friends have the presentation. 
 Those young men have received an education 
 which sets any talents they may have off to the 
 best advantage, they are idle enough to be 
 aimable, and welcome everywhere, like our Abbes; 
 formerly. A well-brushed suit of black forms 
 the essential of their establishment ; nobody in- 
 quires where they lodge nor at what ordinary 
 they eat their meal. We have in the upper part 
 of the house where we lodge one of these young 
 expectants of the good things of the church. 
 From his garret he went the other day to Carle- 
 ton-house to be presented, he dines out .every 
 day, is of all the parties, -and comes home at 
 two o'clock in the morning. 
 
 The church of England is exclusively that of 
 the upper ranks, but the middle ranks and lower 
 people are seceding from it by degrees. The 
 clergy have taken the alarm, and with some rea- 
 son ; they saw with jealousy a new system of po- 
 pular education, invented by a non-conformist, 
 JO
 
 176 LONDON DISSENTERS. 
 
 supported by all the different sects, and patron- 
 ized by the royal family, and by most liberal- 
 minded persons, on account of its extraordinary 
 advantages, threatening them with a desertion 
 en masse of the whole present generation. They 
 first wrote against Mr Lancaster ; his right to 
 the invention was disputed ; and it was proved 
 that a method nearly similar to his own had been 
 put in practice with great success, at Madras, by 
 another person, Dr Bell, who published it on his 
 return to England in a pamphlet, little attended 
 to at the time, precisely one year before Mr Lan- 
 caster began. The latter does not seem to have 
 known any thing of this publication, and has at 
 any rate the merit of having first done in Eng- 
 land what Dr Bell had done in India, and in a 
 much more economical manner. 
 
 Mr Lancaster is a quaker, and will not teach 
 any other religious opinions than those of his 
 sect, but he does not refuse to organize neutral 
 schools where religion is not touched upon at all. 
 This neutrality is, however, looked upon as only 
 apparent, and in fact as war in disguise. The 
 only safe course remaining, is for the church to 
 lay aside dignity, and indolence, and, imitating 
 their adversaries, try who can do most good, for 
 the sake of self-preservation at least. They have 
 in consequence actually begun to establish their 
 
 own schools on Dr Bell's plan. That organiza- 
 5
 
 LONDON EDUCATION OF THE POOR. 177 
 
 tion of society is probably the happiest which, 
 leaving thus to human passions their vivifying 
 influence, only furnishes the means of control- 
 ling their excess, and contrives, in general, to 
 guide, by yielding before all power of resistance 
 is lost. 
 
 The opinion, that it is dangerous to instruct 
 the people, has been maintained, and not with- 
 out great plausibility. Such shallow information 
 as the multitude can possibly attain is only cal- 
 culated to make them more discontented with 
 their lot. The labourer has no inclination nor 
 time for reading ; and no books that he can un- 
 derstand, not even the Bible, in the opinion of 
 the clergy of the three-fourths of Christian Eu- 
 rope ! The odium of this doctrine is chargeable 
 to nature itself, to the wants it has given us. 
 No state of society, even the most perfect, can 
 exempt more than a very small number of men 
 from constant manual labour. The answer to 
 this is, firsty as to the danger, that if, as will al- 
 ways happen, some means of information remain 
 within the reach of more individuals than there 
 is room for in the upper ranks of society, or more 
 than the labour of the rest of the people can main- 
 tain, that surplus of educated men is necessarily 
 thrown back again into the labouring class : That, 
 thus placed between a state of enjoyment, from 
 
 VOL. n. M
 
 178 LONDON EDUCATION OF THE POOR. 
 
 which they are excluded, an$ a state of labour 
 which they think beneath them, they are precise- 
 ly in that desperate situation which renders men 
 dangerous : That the less information there is 
 among the generality of labourers, the easier it 
 is for the small number of men of their class who 
 have some information to mislead the others, as 
 to their rights, the supposed injustice of socie- 
 ty towards them, the means of redress, and, 
 finally, to make them the blind instruments of 
 their own ambition. That such has been, at all 
 times, and in all countries, and particularly in 
 France, the great cause of revolutions, is abun- 
 dantly proved ; when, on the contrary, all know 
 how to read and write, it is no longer a distinc- 
 tion, it confers no superiority and exclusive in- 
 fluence. One of the writers in the Edinburgh 
 Review asked energetically. Whether it was sup- 
 posed the disciples of Lancaster or of Bell would 
 no longer feel hunger and thirst, or cease to dread 
 the gallows ? Will they not have the same incen^ 
 tive to labour, and motives for obedience to the 
 laws, as their forefathers had, who did not know 
 their letters ? Is it not evident, on the contrary, 
 that they will sooner discern that industry, so- 
 briety, and good order, are the safest means to 
 secure the comforts of life ? The question, more- 
 over, is no longer, whether it is desirable the 
 people should be instructed, but whether they 
 
 /( 
 
 ?-
 
 LONDON EDUCATION OF THE POOR. 179 
 
 should be instructed partially, all, or a few; 
 and whatever doubts might remain as to the first 
 proposition, there cannot be any as to the last. 
 Second, As to utility to the common people, I 
 own it does not clearly appear how the labouring 
 class are to avail themselves to any purpose of 
 their knowledge of reading, both for want of 
 time and want of books. The latter want alone 
 admits of a remedy ; and even that does not, 
 unless persons as public-spirited, and as able, as 
 Miss H. More and Miss Edgeworth, would con- 
 descend to write expressly for the common peo- 
 ple ; an undertaking of more difficulty than is 
 readily imagined, and for which no adequate re- 
 / ward of fame can be expected. Moral essays 
 may easily be above the capacity and practical 
 use of lower life ; yet the intention of accommo- 
 dating them expressly to the ignorant and the 
 low must not be made apparent. A story must 
 be simple, but not silly, told in earnest, and 
 not with the air of a lesson to inferior readers, 
 which they would feel as an insult to their un- 
 derstanding. Whether the lower people are ever 
 to read or not, it is a great point gained, that 
 the years of their infancy should be employed in 
 some sort of exercise of the mind ; a laudable 
 ambition be excited ; habits of order and disci- 
 pline acquired ; and lessons of morality and pie- 
 ty early imparted. It is worthy of remark, that
 
 180 LONDON EDUCATION OF THE POOR. 
 
 the lower people in Scotland are well-informed 
 and orderly,* the lower people of Ireland igno- 
 rant and seditious. There is an ambition in pa- 
 rents, to give a better education to their children 
 than they have received themselves, more appa- 
 rent here than perhaps any where else ; the de- 
 sire and the hope of ameliorating their situation 
 are general ; and such is the proper sense every 
 individual entertains of his rank as a man, that 
 there is not one so low as to suffer the treatment 
 he would have borne in former times. The usual 
 language of masters to servants, and superiors to 
 inferiors, is infinitely more guarded and consi- 
 derate than it used to be ; blows and abusive 
 epithets are only known in old novels and on the 
 stage, the pictures of obsolete manners. The 
 poor are become less ignorant, and less abject ; 
 and that they are not less industrious, is suffi- 
 ciently apparent from the progress which agri- 
 culture, manufactures, and all the useful arts, 
 have made. We may therefore conclude it is 
 
 
 A 
 
 * The people of Scotland were in the seventeenth century 
 in a more savage state than even the worst of the Irish of the 
 present day. A contemporary writer (1698) stated, that there 
 were 200,000 people begging from door to door, living toge- 
 ther promiscuously, and guilty of all sorts of crimes. A system 
 of parochial education established shortly afterward, made of 
 one of the most barbarous countries in Europe one of the most 
 orderly. Quarterly Review, No. XVI. page 331. 
 

 
 LONDON LANCASTERIAN SCHOOL. 181 
 
 not necessary to the well-being of society that 
 the people should be ignorant. Poor they will 
 always necessarily be, for poverty is a compa- 
 rative state. If all were rich all would be poor, 
 for nothing would either be done or enjoyed. 
 The only palliative to poverty is industry and 
 frugality, and the only specific is not to multiply 
 too fast. 
 
 To return to the Lancasterian school, not 
 such as we have seen it at Mr Lancaster's, but as 
 we know it to exist all over England. A certain 
 number of children, perhaps 1000, is divided in- 
 to classes of about 2O, the lowest learning their 
 letters, the highest arithmetic. The scholars who 
 distinguish themselves most become monitors of 
 their respective classes, and repeat to them the 
 instructions of the master. Prizes are distribu- 
 ted, slight punishments inflicted, and the well- 
 organized mass moves forward with unity and vi- 
 gour. The improvement of the scholars has been 
 unusually rapid ; and thus employed during two 
 or three years, pleasantly to themselves, and free 
 from bad habits, they are found to have gained 
 as much by the harm avoided as by the good ac- 
 tually obtained. Finally, the whole of this edu- 
 cation costs about fifteen shillings sterling a- 
 head.* It is asserted, that of 4000 children 
 
 * I must refer the reader for ample details to two excellent
 
 182 LONDON BARCLAY'S BREWERY. 
 
 brought up in Mr Lancaster's own school (the 
 very one we visited,) from its origin, belonging 
 to the lower class of people, in a suburb of Lon- 
 don, not one individual has, up to this period, 
 been found guilty of any crime, or even brought 
 before a court of justice. On our return from 
 this school we passed by another, a free-school, 
 established under the walls of the prison of the 
 Borough, for the very judicious and benevolent 
 purpose of providing for the education of detain, 
 ed debtors' children. 
 
 The breweries of London may justly be rank- 
 ed among its greatest curiosities, and the esta- 
 blishment of Messrs Barclay and Company is one 
 of the most considerable : A steam-engine of the 
 power of 3O horses does the greatest part of the 
 work ; for although there are nearly 200 men 
 employed, and a great number of horses, these 
 are mostly for the out-door-work ; the interior 
 appears quite solitary. Large rakes with chains 
 moved by an invisible power, stir to the very 
 bottom the immense mass of malt in boilers 12 
 feet deep ; elevators which nobody touches carry 
 up to the summit of the building 2500 bushels of 
 malt a day, thence distributed through wooden 
 w $e 4t-r4 6 "/- 
 
 articles on the subject in the Edinburgh Reviews of October 
 1807 and November 1810.
 
 LONDON BARCLAY'S BREWERY. 183 
 
 channels to the different places where the pro- 
 cess is carried on. Casks of truly gigantic sizes 
 are ready to receive the liquors. One of them 
 contains 3000 barrels. Now, at eight barrels to 
 a ton, this is equal to a ship of 375 tons. By the 
 side of this are other enormous vessels, the small- 
 est of which, containing about 800 barrels, are 
 worth, when full, L.300U sterling each. This fleet 
 of ships is hung up upon a frame of timbers so as 
 to walk freely under them, and render all parts 
 accessible, the whole under a common roof. The 
 stock of liquor is estimated at L. 300,000 ; the 
 barrels alone in which it is carried about to the 
 consumers cost L.80,OOO ; and the whole ca- 
 pital is not less than half a million sterling : 
 &5O,000 barrels of beer are sold annually, which 
 would load a fleet of 150 merchantmen of the 
 burden of 20O tons each. The building is in- 
 combustible 5 walls of brick and floors of iron. 
 Messrs Barclay and Company are the successors 
 of Thrale, whose name is associated to the im- 
 mortality of Johnson ; and the words of the phi- 
 losopher occurred naturally to us at sight of the 
 very objects by which they had been suggested : 
 " This is not merely an assemblage of vats and 
 boilers," he exclaimed, " but the potentiality of 
 becoming rich beyond the dreams of avarice." 
 More than 10O horses are employed in carrying 
 the beer to the consumers. We saw a number
 
 184 LONDON BARCLAY'S BREWERY. 
 
 of them in a long range of stables. These colos- 
 susses are fed with a mixture of clover-hay, 
 straw, and oats, chopped together very fine, so 
 as to enable horses ever so old to feed without 
 difficulty. They are often sixteen hours in har- 
 ness out of the twenty-four. There was not one 
 sick. They looked prodigiously square and hea- 
 vy ; more so, I should think, than is best for use. 
 We took notice that the steam-engine did not 
 make the least noise, not more than a clock ; 
 you might have heard a pin drop all over the 
 building. 
 
 This establishment pays annually to the excise 
 the prodigious sum of L.400,000. The principal 
 branch of the revenue of the United States is the 
 duty on importations of rum, brandy, gin, and 
 other spirituous liquors from the West Indies and 
 Europe, yielding annually, if I remember right, 
 two millions of dollars. Here*we find an indivi- 
 dual establishment for the use of a mere suburb, 
 (for there are twelve other principal breweries in 
 London, besides a number of lesser ones) yield- 
 ing to the government a revenue about equal to 
 the principal branch (about the sixth part) of the 
 revenue of a nation ! 
 
 Notwithstanding the great increase of the ex- 
 cise duty, the rise of wages, and of the raw ma- 
 terials estimated at ISO per cent, in a given time 
 (I have forgotten the number of years, which,
 
 LONDON MR WAITHMAN. ] 85 
 
 however, makes no difference), the price of beer 
 has advanced only 50 per cent. Such is the ad- 
 vantage of a well-understood division of labour, 
 the improvements in machinery, and particularly 
 the introduction of the steam-engine. The saving 
 of money resulting from this is the least national 
 advantage, or rather is the index of an important 
 saving in men, which gives to England a dispo- 
 sable force so much greater than its nominal po- 
 pulation seems capable of affording. This econo- 
 my of men in the useful arts accounts likewise 
 for the extraordinary number of footmen all over 
 England. I am told there are always 50,000 
 men-servants out of place in London ; this is 
 not among the best results of the steam-engine. 
 There are in other countries as many servants U 
 
 kept in some houses j but the number of families -',jj &* 
 who keep one or more men-servants is far greater 
 
 1-iorA than in anv ntlipr r*rimfrv. 
 
 On our return from the Borough, we were 
 shewn at the corner of a street, near Blackfriar's 
 
 1 1 
 
 fiL 
 
 here than in any other country. 
 
 L Jfr 
 Bridge, a very smart shop, ornamented with silks 
 
 and shawls, and other finery, the shop of Mr 
 Waithman, whose patriotic speeches at city 
 ings make such a conspicuous figure in the pa- 
 pers. This tribune of the people, who measures 
 calicoes by the yard to the ladies, possesses con- 
 siderable weight among the reformers of the city. 
 He speaks energetically, and with that degree of
 
 186 LONDON WEST'S PICTURE OF NELSON'S DEATH. 
 
 earnestness which commands belief, and, exagge- 
 ration apart, reasons very well. In other coun- 
 tries, the exercise of these qualities shakes or 
 overturns empires ; here, the impression is short- 
 lived ; the violence of a demagogue evaporates 
 in words, and his exaggerated opinions work 
 their way very slowly and temperately into the 
 public mind. 
 
 The annual exhibition of pictures at Somerset- 
 House, just open, seems still poorer than last 
 year. West's famous picture of the death of Nel- 
 
 son is there. You see, on the deck of his ship, 
 ^'JMI a crowd of busy men, in the middle of whom the 
 hero is stretched at full length, too nearly dead 
 WV for any expression, and his friends around him, 
 very little more animated than himself. The co- 
 i louring is harsh, and, at the same time, without 
 
 strength ; a sort of dull brick-dust hue pervades 
 the whole. The artist seems to have aimed at 
 getting as many heads into his canvas as it could 
 hold, every one a portrait, I dare say. This taste 
 for portraits in historical pictures, peculiar, I be- 
 lieve, to England, is not without an excuse ; it 
 creates certainly a new and powerful interest ; 
 and, provided composition and expression are not 
 sacrificed to it, I think individual likeness is a 
 merit. The English cast of countenance, too, is 
 rather less at variance with heroic expression, 
 
 than that of most other modern races of men, be- 
 ll
 
 ' 
 
 WEST'S PICTURE OF NELSON'S DEATH. 
 
 ing distinguished by an oval outline, and often 
 regular features, witli a certain calmness and dig- 
 nified composure, which suits historical subjects, 
 and may be carried to the canvas with very little 
 alteration. This calmness extends to the com- 
 position of English pictures, and forms a great 
 contrast with the show and bustle of the French 
 school, called \\erejlutter. Voltaire marked the 
 opposition of national temper and manners in the 
 following lines : 
 
 
 Vous connoissez 1'impatiente ardeur 
 
 De nos Francois, ces fous sont pleins d'honrieur, 
 
 Ainsi qu'au bal ils vont tous aux batailles. 
 
 / Then, speaking of an Englishman, 
 
 Son maintien sec, sa froide indifference, 
 Donnoient du prix a son courage altier. 
 Sans dire un mot ce sourcilleux guerrier 
 Examinoit comme on se bat en France, 
 Et Ton eut dit a son air d'importance 
 Qu'il ctoit la pour se desennuyer. 
 
 The ancients did not make actors of their he- 
 roes ; ours are always represented in a picture, 
 as on the stage, with an exaggerated expression ; 
 and, to their natural impatiente ardeur , the French 
 artist thinks he must add artificial demonstra- 
 tions of dramatic feelings beyond nature. A great 
 revolution has taken place in the manner of the 
 French school within a few years j the austere
 
 188 WEST'S PICTURE OF NELSON'S DEATH. 
 
 simplicity of the antique is now exclusively the 
 fashion, (I judge entirely from the Annales du 
 Musec,) and, as it appears to me, is affectedly 
 caricatured. Their figures, well set, accurately 
 poized, and inveterately Grecian, give you the 
 idea of statues and basso-relievos ; and, in order 
 to make their contempt of the trivial merit of 
 variety more apparent, the French artists arrange, 
 with unmerciful simplicity, leg behind leg, and 
 nose behind nose, in endless profiles, like files of 
 soldiers, and every head is cast on the antique 
 mould of the modern Alexander. This antique 
 mania prevails here likewise j but, as the native 
 taste is not so far removed from it as the French 
 was, British artists have less to assume, and are 
 simple, with more simplicity. As to Mr West's 
 picture of Lord Nelson, it is more remarkable for 
 a total absence of expression, than for calmness 
 and simplicity j all in it is coldness and bustle. 
 The dead body of a hero is too like that of ano- 
 ther man, to characterize his death : you want 
 his last look and his last words, and wish to see 
 their immediate effect on those who witnessed 
 them, and to whom they were addressed. Wolfe's 
 death is much more heroical. 
 
 Under this picture was placed a small one of 
 Wilkie, the first we have seen of this celebrated 
 artist; an old man, with a woman's cap and cloak, 
 playing with a child, who is half- afraid, half-di-
 
 LONDON PICTURES. 1 89 
 
 verted with the disguise. The colouring is rich 
 and vigorous. The exhibition was full of por- 
 traits, the great staple of this market ; a few 
 very good ones by Lawrence, Philips, Raeburn, 
 Owen ; a very indifferent one of Sir Francis 
 Burdett and Magna Charta by Northcote. We 
 remarked a glowing landscape by G. Nasmyth ; 
 several by female artists of considerable merit, 
 Miss Reinagle, Mrs White, Miss Rhodes. A 
 singular bird's-eye view in India by Daniell, true 
 to nature, and beautiful in itself, but scarcely fit 
 for a picture. A demoniac by Dawes, very stout 
 and furious. Two or three light-headed compo- 
 sitions by Fuseli, who seems to have an indiges- 
 tion of genius. A good landscape by Wilson.* 
 This Wilson, whose pictures sell now very high, 
 was suffered to die in great poverty. Artists, 
 like saints, are not canonized till a long while 
 after their death. The exclusive taste for old 
 pictures affords very little encouragement to li- 
 ving painters ; and the English particularly seem 
 unwilling to believe in native and contemporary 
 talents, which is one of the reasons of their pau- 
 city. 
 
 * Understanding that the pictures of living artists only are 
 admitted, I think this picture of Wilson's must have been a 
 mistake. 
 
 6
 
 1<K) LONDON PICTURES. 
 
 The water-colour artists are proportionally 
 much superior to those who paint in oil. There 
 are two exhibitions wholly appropriated to the 
 former. Heaphy is admirable ; his subjects are 
 of the memoire kind described last year, in speak- 
 ing of Cossets picture ; but his selections are not 
 always equally good. He is a most fruitful artist. 
 I counted seven or eight of his productions at 
 the Spring-Garden exhibition, and all sold very 
 high. Glover is a very good paysagiste, but his 
 leafing is too spotty, and wants breadth. I like 
 Reinagle better. The figures of men and animals 
 he introduces are also much superior. His Fur- 
 ness Abbey is excellent. I observed some good 
 things by Havell, by Nicholson, and by Payne ; 
 the interior of a library by Pugin, of a prodigious 
 effect ; some good sea-pieces by Pocock, al- 
 though of a very cold colouring. The superiority 
 of the water-colour branch of the art in England 
 may be accounted for by the influence of female 
 amateurs, who encourage it in preference to oil- 
 painting, being their own style. They use body- 
 colours and wash, and the effect is wonderfully 
 vigorous, except the dark shades, which are poor 
 and dusty. It is a desideratum in painting to find 
 some menstruum having the advantages of oil, but 
 not liable to be transformed into an absolute coal 
 by age ; and the matter is well worth the atten- 
 tion of chemists.
 
 LONDON LORD STAFFORD'S PICTURES. 191 
 
 Knowing, from experience, the conditions of 
 admittance to see Lord Stafford's collection of 
 pictures, we procured the requisite introduction^ 
 and received not only the common ticket of ad- 
 mission, but a more general permission, liberally 
 granted to artists. This is one of the finest col- 
 lections in England ; the best pictures are from 
 the Orleans gallery. We remarked eight of Nich. 
 Poussin, No. 68 to 75 of the catalogue, much 
 superior to any we have seen of that artist, ex- 
 cept the one of the Plague of Athens, at Mr 
 Hope's. The Extreme Unction is the best. The 
 grief of the friends of the dying man is wonder- 
 fully well expressed. The Eucharist has some 
 very fine figures, but they eat their God too 
 heartily and irreverently ; the colouring is fine. 
 
 Nos. 9 and 1O. Two Raphaels. One is ranked 
 among his chefs d'ceuvre, the other is acknow- 
 ledged to be not in his good manner ; the latter 
 is the holy family, as hard as cut tin, and the 
 figure of St Joseph positively very bad. As to the 
 chef d'&uvre, known by the name of the Belle 
 Vierge, of which there are numerous copies, I am 
 astonished, and truly mortified, to find myself so 
 totally blind to its merit. The infant Christ has 
 the forms and the attitude of a plump little man, 
 and the infant St John is likewise a miniature of 
 a man, and not a child. The Virgin herself is
 
 ]0,2 LONDON LORD STAFFORD'S PICTURES. 
 
 perfectly insipid, the landscape through the 
 window is shocking, as usual. This picture cost 
 4000 guineas. 
 
 No. 11. A descent from the cross, by Lud. 
 Carracci. The mother of Christ fainting is quite 
 wonderful. 
 
 A Vandyke (not numbered), the Virgin and 
 child, admirable. The Virgin looks up with 
 sublime piety, and the child is an infant God. 
 
 No. 7. Annibal Carracci. A great colossal 
 Danae, in bad taste. 
 
 No. 14. Giulio Romano. An infant Hercules, 
 certainly bad. 
 
 No. 30. Guido. A very beautiful child asleep. 
 
 No. 31. Carlo Maratti. The Virgin learning 
 to read ; fine expression, and rich colouring. 
 
 No. 49. Tintoretto. A fine portrait in Rem- 
 brandt's manner. 
 
 No. 5O. Claude Loraine. A highly esteemed 
 landscape, which appeared to me very cold, and 
 the trees singularly lumpish. 
 
 No. 94. Titian. Venus coming out of the sea j 
 ill drawn, and the colouring of a dull white. 
 
 No. 255. Two fine Vernets. 
 
 No. The finest Berghem I ever saw. The 
 colouring, a prevailing tint of olive green, glazed 
 over with a rich warm haze. Several good Rem- 
 brandts and Vanderveldens, and the inside of a
 
 LONDON LORD STAFFORD'S PICTURES. 193 
 
 cottage, excellent, by Victor, a name unknown 
 to me.* 
 
 When I speak unfavourably of French artists, 
 I may depend on having those of England on 
 my side j and against the latter, those of France 
 would join readily, for artists are very national, 
 and do not, in general, spare each other. But, to 
 fail in respect to Raphael, to Titian, and Guido, 
 is indeed an offence, the heinousness of which is 
 sure to meet with general >and unqualified cen- 
 sure. I do not mean to defend my taste ; but I 
 cannot help suspecting that it is not so singular 
 as might be supposed, and that many think as I 
 do, without being so rash and imprudent as to 
 confess it. 
 
 The windows of the Marquis of Stafford's house 
 look over the Green Park, most delightfully fresh 
 and luxuriant at this season of the year. A friend 
 of mine, describing his house at Paris, in a letter 
 I received here a few days ago, and the prospect 
 from his terrace over the distant country, added, 
 " Viola une vue que vous chercheri^z vainement 
 
 * The writer has since seen at the Marquis of Stafford's 
 (1815), and admired extremely, a picture of the Death of Eli, 
 by a living artist, Mr Bird, which he is astonished he did not 
 observe formerly. It is a wonderful picture as to variety, truth, 
 and vigour of expression ; each head, and there are many, is a 
 chefd'ceuvre. Note to Second Edition. 
 VOL. II, N
 
 LONDON ANTIQUE MARBLES. 
 
 dans toute laville de Londres." I could not 
 help wishing my friend, who has never seen Eng- 
 land, had been before these windows, to cure him 
 of his prejudices. 
 
 English travellers, shut out of their accustom- 
 ed track, have been obliged to shift their ground, 
 and the shores of the Mediterranean are come 
 into fashion. There is not a classical nook un- 
 explored by these restless wanderers : they dis- 
 pute with each other for the remains of Greece 
 and Egypt, purchase antique marbles for their 
 weight in gold, pack up and ship home a Gre- 
 cian temple as other people would a set of china. 
 We have just visited one of the learned cargoes, 
 recently landed from Athens, no less than the 
 spoils of the Parthenon, brought by Lord Elgin, 
 late ambassador to the Porte. The first object 
 It J#5^ mc h commanded our attention was a colossal 
 head of a horse, full of life and fire, and superior 
 to any antique horse I ever saw. This indeed 
 is not saying enough, for the antique model of a 
 fine horse had more of the bull make in it than 
 of the stag. The eyes of this head are, however, 
 far too prominent. We saw next a headless co- 
 lossal group of two women seated, and leaning 
 upon each other, the draperies very fine, and a 
 noble simplicity in the attitudes. Mrs Siddons 
 is said to have burst into tears in contemplating 
 this group. She may have been so affected,
 
 LONDON ANTIQUE MARBLES. 
 
 there is no knowing what ideas might arise in 
 her mind, but certainly it was more what she 
 thought than what she saw : Phidias, the Par- 
 thenon, so many centuries, and those precious 
 remains of the arts of Greece transported into re- 
 gions which had hardly a name in the days of the 
 glory of Athens ! Another female group, colossal 
 likewise; seated, leaning, without heads, yet 
 very beautiful. Two single statues of men re- 
 clining, and colossal, much mutilated, but equal, 
 I think, to any remains of antiquity we possess, 
 and shewing a perfect knowledge of anatomy. 
 All these statues were taken down from the pe- 
 diment of the temple of Minerva at Athens, and 
 are thought to be the work of Phidias. They 
 are finished in all their parts with infinite care, 
 although placed against a wall, and one side, at 
 least, entirely out of sight. This temple was 
 nearly entire only 150 years ago, when the Turks, 
 using it as a powder-magazine, it blew up ; but 
 the portico and the two ends of the pediment 
 remained standing. Stuart has given a view of 
 the temple as it had been, and as it was in his 
 time, where the statues taken down by Lord Elgin 
 are seen. There are, besides, many marble basso- 
 relievos taken down from the architrave, and 
 many more casts of those which could not be re- 
 moved, but none of them appeared to me very 
 good. The Turks are in the habit of burning
 
 LONDON MARBLES MR DAVY. 
 
 into lime such marbles as they can reach, and 
 by degrees will destroy the whole. To impress 
 these barbarians with a high opinion of their 
 value, is the most effectual means of stopping 
 the work of destruction ; and a statue, a vase, or 
 a column, bought and carried away, save many 
 from the lime-kiln ; yet Lord Elgin is blamed 
 as a despoiler. There are also some Egyptian 
 specimens, such as a colossal beetle of green 
 porphyry, and two or three barbarous heads of 
 gigantic size. A great part of Lord Elgin's mar- 
 bles was lost by a shipwreck. 
 
 Mr Davy's lectures at the Royal Institution 
 are still more crowded than they were last year, 
 and the lecturer himself more than ever sought 
 after by the great and the fair. It would be a 
 matter of great regret if the allurements of sci- 
 ence should at last prove inferior to those of 
 fashion, and if future fame should be sacrificed 
 to ephemeral successes. The elocution of this 
 celebrated chemist is very different from the 
 usual tone of men of science in England ; his 
 lectures are frequently figurative and poetical ; 
 and he is occasionally carried away by the natural 
 tendency of his subject, and of his genius, into 
 the depths of moral philosophy and of religion. 
 The peculiarities of great and original writers, or 
 speakers, have often introduced a vicious affec- 
 tation in the language of their numerous follow-
 
 LONITON ROYAL INSTITUTION. 197 
 
 ers, and English simplicity runs some such risk 
 at the amphitheatre of the Royal Institution. 
 The voice and manner of Mr Davy are rather 
 gentle, than impressive and strong ; he knows 
 what nature has given him, and what it has with- 
 held, and husbands his means accordingly. You 
 may always foresee by a certain tuning or pitch- 
 ing of the organ of speech to a graver key, thrust- 
 ing his chin into his neck, and even pulling out 
 his cravat, when Mr Davy is going to be elo- 
 quent, for he rarely yields to tfye inspiration till 
 he is duly prepared. It is impossible to study 
 nature, and penetrate into the secret of its pro- 
 ceedings, without discovering at every step such 
 evidence of a plan, such fitness of things to a 
 general purpose, and that purpose so benevolent, 
 that conviction flashes at once on the mind of an 
 omnipotent intelligence, and further hopes are 
 inseparable from that conviction. If ordinary 
 spectators experience an involuntary impulse of 
 enthusiasm, what must be the feelings of him, 
 who, penetrating the first into regions hitherto 
 unknown, has raised a corner of the thick veil, 
 and untied one of the last knots of the great tissue 
 of wonders ? I have heard the moral digressions- 
 of the illustrious naturalist, and his solemn ap- 
 peals to the Supreme Wisdom, severely criticised ; 
 but the greatest part of his audience hears them 
 with delight and applause, and I think Mr Davy
 
 198 LONDON CONCERTS. 
 
 would disarm criticism, if he abandoned himself 
 more naturally to his spontaneous feelings, which 
 are legitimately called forth by the occasion. I 
 must say, however, that I think the satisfaction 
 of Mr Davy's audience is sometimes expressed 
 with more zeal than delicacy. Where clapping 
 is allowed, hissing may follow. 
 
 May 7. Although artists enjoy here very little 
 personal consideration, and pride is a principal 
 feature of the English manners and character, yet 
 we find a copartnership actually existing between 
 certain persons of fashion and a company of public 
 singers. The Duchess of D., Lady C,, Lady K., 
 and Lady S. B., allow a concert for money to be 
 performed in each of their houses successively. 
 In return for the trouble, refreshments, wear and 
 tear of the house, lights, &c. &c. the ladies dis- 
 tribute a certain number of tickets on their re- 
 spective nights, all given away I should hope j 
 but I would not answer for that, for shabbiness 
 and gentility are often found together. The last 
 night was Lady S. B.'s night ; constables and 
 door-keepers received the tickets at the door, just 
 like any other public concert. The crowd was 
 prodigious, few could reach the room where the 
 singers were, (Bianchi, Bertinotti, Tramezzani, 
 &c.) but music was not what they came for ; 
 and the true enjoyment does not, in fact, begin 
 till the concert is over. The going away is the 
 5
 
 LONDON CONCERTS OPERA. 199 
 
 thing, that is, seeing other people go away, not 
 going away one's self. Therefore, although there 
 is a general heaving and rolling of the well-dress- 
 ed mob towards the door, the tide returns many 
 a time, " loth to leave such scenes." Meanwhile, 
 as carriages drive successively to the door, the 
 names are vociferated, but vociferated in vain ; 
 none will go first ; they drive away empty to 
 take their turn again ; the footmen swear and 
 scold, and speak rudely to the mob of masters ; 
 at last some of them depart, but it is hours be- 
 fore the house is empty. The prime situation 
 all that time is at the top of the stairs, whence 
 you have a full view of all the heads, four-fifths 
 are women. Men have not the same keen relish 
 for this sort of pleasure. The Bishop of B. and 
 W. was distinguishable among them, and seemed 
 to enjoy it all, calling aloud, " /Fe//, well, only 
 build churches" * 
 
 Those persons who have a box at the opera 
 by the year, may fill it with whom they please ; 
 and they actually retail out their seats when they 
 do not go themselves. There is a bookseller's 
 shop in Bond Street, where tickets of private 
 boxes are always to be had, sometimes below, 
 and sometimes above the standing price, as it 
 
 * There is some subscription going forward for building a 
 church in this part of the town.
 
 200 LONDON OPERA. 
 
 happens to be a good or a bad clay. Saturday, 
 for instance, is a fashionable day, and you arc 
 asked sometimes two guineas for a ticket, while, 
 on a vulgar day, it is eight shillings only, (the 
 established price is 10s. 6d.). On benefit nights 
 every body pays ; fashionable people do not go 
 then, and their boxes are filled with plebeians. 
 Luxury, to use an apt expression of the Essay on 
 Population, seems to multiply in a geometrical 
 ratio, while riches increase only in an arithmetical 
 ratio, and the former treads incessantly on the 
 heels of the latter. There is another sort of 
 shabby saving sanctioned by fashion. It is not 
 uncommon for fine people going out of town to 
 let their houses furnished for the time of their 
 absence. This profanation of the household gods 
 furnishes a few guineas more to spend in vain 
 ostentation the following season. Nobody thinks 
 , of writing to a friend without a frank, and let- 
 ters are received with a perceivable expression of 
 surprise, at least, when there is postage to pay. 
 You may pay the postage of your own letters ; 
 and I had availed myself of the expedient, as in- 
 finitely preferable to that of begging a frank, but 
 I found it was considered as a great impropriety. 
 The last time we were at the opera, we had 
 Cosi Fati tut ti t or Soglia Degli Amanti, a most 
 stupid composition : the music by Mozart, very 
 excellent 5 the actors equally so, particularly
 
 LONDON OPERA MASQUERADE. 20 1 
 
 Naldi. When listening to this delightful music, 
 to which words have been tacked bon gre mal 
 gre, the remark of Corinne recurred to me ; " les 
 musiciens (Italien) disposent des poetes ; 1'un 
 declare qu'il ne peut chanter s'il n'a dans son 
 ariette le parole felicitd, le tenor demande la 
 tomba, et la troiseme ne sauroit faire des roulades 
 que sur le mot catene" Vestris, Deshayes, and 
 his fat lady, danced a ravir, elevating repeatedly 
 the proud limb, majestic and slow, to a perfect 
 horizontal position, absolutely at right angles 
 with the other leg, and describing a circle in the 
 air with a stiffened foot, pointing successively to 
 the whole circumference of admiring spectators ; 
 this lop-sided attitude is a tour deforce t without 
 grace or elegance, and particularly ludicrous 
 when exhibited by a woman. 
 
 May 9. There was yesterday a masked-ball at 
 Lady W.'s, where only part of the company were 
 masked ; little dancing ; it was like most other 
 parties, a mere collection of people, without ap- 
 parent object, and, to judge by their looks, en- 
 joying but little pleasure. The masks of Miss 
 Burney (Madame d'Arblay) are the only ones 
 who know how to act their parts. A real mas- 
 querade is every where a most dull and insipid - 
 amusement. 
 
 Astley's is an equestrian spectacle. I supposed 
 that a thing of that sort would be particularly
 
 202 ASTLEY'S WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 
 
 good in England, which is a sort of island of the 
 Houyhnhnms. I found, however, that the horses 
 were but indifferently trained, and the men per- 
 formed only common feats j and, instead of equi- 
 tation, we had dramatic pieces and Harlequin 
 tricks, battles and assaults, Moors and Sara- 
 cens. The horses performed as actors, just as at 
 Covent Garden j they galloped over the pit, and 
 mounted the boards of the stage covered with 
 earth, storming walls and ramparts. The inter- 
 val between the exhibitions being very long, a 
 parcel of dirty boys (ama (curs'), in rags, perform- 
 ed awkward tricks of tumbling, raising a cloud 
 of dust, and shewing their nakedness to the ap- 
 plauding audience ; the vociferations from the 
 gallery were perfectly deafening, and the hoarse 
 vulgar voice of the clown eagerly re-echoed by 
 them. Looking round the room, meanwhile, I 
 saw the boxes filled with decent people, grave 
 and demure citizens, with their wives and child- 
 , . ren, who seemed to take pleasure in all this. It 
 iLl^ is really impossible not to form an unfavourable 
 opinion of the taste of the English public, when 
 j we find them in general so excessively low and 
 , vulgar in the choice of their amusements. 
 
 May 1 1 . Wishing to see the lions of West- 
 minster Abbey, we went there this morning. It 
 was near the end of the service ; there was only 
 one person in the church, a woman. After the
 
 LONDON WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 203 
 
 service, a sexton collected the curious, who had 
 come on the same errand as ourselves, and led us 
 the accustomed round, enumerating the various 
 monuments in his way, ancient and modern, in 
 marble, in wood, in brass, most of them very 
 bad indeed. The one of Sir Isaac Newton, by 
 Rysbrack, is fine. Some genii under his reclining 
 statue are employed in suspending the different 
 planets, at stated distances, upon the long arm 
 of a lever, forming an equilibrium, with the sun 
 at the end of the short arm. Addison, by West- 
 macott, is a good statue, the attitude rather af- 
 fected. There are two good figures in front 
 of the Duke of Argyll's monument. Gay's, by 
 Rysbrack, is only remarkable by the two follow- 
 ing lines engraved on the marble : 
 
 Life is a jest, and all things shew it ; 
 I thought so once, but now I know it. 
 
 However contemptible worldly cares and pursuits 
 might appear to the poet, life itself could not well 
 be deemed a mere jest by him, since he found it 
 to lead to a place, whence he looked down with 
 so much contempt upon the world he had just 
 left ! To affect levity on such a subject, if not 
 absolutely criminal, is at least in very bad taste ; 
 and, like other affected sentiments, tend to esta- 
 blish their opposites. I should therefore sup- 
 pose the poet to have been a very worldly man
 
 204 LONDON WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 
 
 himself, and, moreover, exceedingly afraid of 
 dying. 
 
 Two old coffins are shewn in a corner, an the 
 pavement of the church. They contain the re- 
 mains of ambassadors, one Spanish and the other 
 Sardinian, seized for debts, and left there unbu- 
 ried for the benefit of their creditors. A singular 
 custom and privilege ; half-solemn, half-ridicu- 
 lous. 
 
 We were also shewn the two chairs of state in 
 which the Kings and Queens of England sit at 
 their coronation ; one of them contains a stone 
 brought from Scotland by Edward I. The curi- 
 ous, in whose company we were, indulged them- 
 selves in merry speculations on the ceremonies 
 at the next coronation. 
 
 There is an odd collection of antique person- 
 ages of illustrious fame or royal rank, of their 
 natural size, in wood and wax, and covered with 
 tawdry and tattered garments, as shabby as pos- 
 sible ; the whole quite barbarous. At last, how- 
 ever, the door of one of the presses being open- 
 ed, shewed us Lord Nelson, his size and make 
 and habitual attitude well imitated, dressed in 
 the clothes he had worn, to the very shoes and 
 buckles on them, and a perfect likeness. We 
 had just been reading his life by Clarke and 
 Macarthur, and this figure of the hero was so 
 like life, so much more so than sculpture or
 
 LONDON THE TOWER. 205 
 
 painting could make it, that it struck us deeply. 
 There was in that little body, so worn out and 
 mutilated, in the shrunk, furrowed countenance 
 and melancholy aspect, something wonderfully 
 impressive. 
 
 In an obscure part of the church, on a stone 
 of the pavement, the letters C. J. F. are seen 
 rudely engraved, and not far off W. P. ; no other 
 monument to PITT and FOX I They lie un- 
 der these stones. Near them we peceived the 
 name of Parr, who died at the age of 152 years, 
 literally of old age ; the arterial system having 
 been destroyed by ossification. 
 
 In the crowd of illustrious names we distin- 
 guished Pascal Paoli, the Corsican patriot, who 
 died here only three years ago, at the advanced 
 age of 82. His bust in marble is there ; a bald 
 head, large and regular features marked coun- 
 tenance, and good expression. 
 
 Sir Francis Burdett had made us miss the 
 Tower last year, and, proverbially vulgar as it is 
 to see the Tower and its lions, we set off to go 
 there early this morning, being a journey of full 
 six miles through the whole length of the town. 
 The Tower is an irregular assemblage of build- 
 ings of various sorts, surrounded by a wall and 
 large moat full of water, in a circumference of 
 about 1200 feet, forming an area of three or four 
 acres. The principal tower, which gives its name
 
 206 LONDON THE TOWER. 
 
 to all the rest, was built by William the Con- 
 queror, as a place of safety in case of insurrec- 
 tion. Its site being rather elevated, it overlooks 
 the town and river. Since that time state crimi- 
 nals have been put there. When condemned to 
 death they were executed on Tower-Hill, and 
 buried in the chapel, but without their heads, 
 which were reserved to sweeten the air of Tem- 
 ple-Bar. If ever the tradition of this was lost, 
 and ages hence the place should be dug up, peo- 
 ple would be surprised to find so many skeletons 
 without heads, and there would be speculations 
 innumerable on this curious fact. The last trai- 
 tors who paid here the forfeit of unsuccessful re- 
 bellion were the Scotch lords who joined the 
 Pretender in 1745. 
 
 The armoury is certainly a striking sight, from 
 the admirable order of the arms ; 10O,OOO mus- 
 kets, each in sight, and comeatable, without 
 touching the rest, with the least possible space 
 lost ; it is 345 feet long, and has b'een emptied 
 six times in the course of this long war. The 
 ground-floor contains chests of artillery tools and 
 implements, ready for use, and the contents 
 written on each. The spoils of the Invincible 
 Armada are preserved here. Banners and cruci- 
 fixes, instruments of torture, and strings of beads, 
 battle-axes, and poisoned daggers, &c. The axe 
 which struck off the head of the beautiful Anna
 
 LONDON TOWER GUILDHALL. 207 
 
 Boleyn, the mother of Elizabeth, in 1526, and 
 afterwards that of the Earl of Essex, the favour- 
 ite of the same queen. One whole side of a gal- 
 lery is occupied by a long line of warriors on 
 horseback, armed cap-a-pie, neither more nor 
 less than the sovereigns of Great Britain, from 
 William the Conqueror to George II., in their 
 real armour. This chronological series of mili- 
 tary accoutrements is not without some interest. 
 The jewels of the crown or regalia are kept in a 
 strong room by themselves : we escaped them, 
 
 and our last station was the menagerie, which is 
 
 i ; /** 
 small, ill- contrived, and dirty. The animals look 
 
 sick and melancholy. The most curious of them 
 was a white tiger, lately brought from India by F^T*- 
 Sir Edward Pellew, and so tame, that the sailors 
 used to pare his claws regularly during the 
 voyage, and on his landing, he was led through 
 some of the streets of London, or rather follow- 
 ed like a dog. 
 
 Returning from the Tower, we stopped at 
 Guildhall. The entrance-hall is disfigured by the 
 two huge barbarous figures, called Gog and Ma- 
 gog, and not much ornamented by a recent mo- 
 nument to the memory of Lord Nelson. How 
 many monuments to this hero have we met in 
 England, and not one in America to the memo- 
 ry of Washington ! This one to Lord Nelson is 
 composed of a great colossal figure of Neptune
 
 208 LONDON HOUSE OF COMMONS. 
 
 lying down ; another huge figure of a woman 
 holding a small medallion of Nelson in her hand, 
 " and looking at it as at a bad penny" somebody 
 said ; then a third female figure, her back turn- 
 ed, and writing on the wall, Nile, Copenhagen, 
 Trafalgar, like the artist who wrote under his 
 picture, " tfiis is a cock." It certainly would be 
 difficult otherwise to understand the object of 
 this monument. Lord Chatham has one in the 
 same hall by Bacon, 1802, overloaded likewise 
 with threadbare allegories, but you have at leas 
 here the figure of the illustrious man whose me- 
 mory is intended to be honoured, which is cer- 
 tainly better than the bad penny of Nelson. 
 
 One of the city courts was open, and the re- 
 corder sitting, strikingly like Mr Fox in counte- 
 nance, in person also, I believe, and voice. It 
 was a paltry-looking court, better, however, than 
 the high courts of Westminster Hall. Justice 
 does not pique itself upon its exterior in this 
 country. 
 
 May 16. Mr Brand's motion for Parliament- 
 ary reform was to come before the House of 
 Commons yesterday. I went there very early 
 (12 o'clock) with Mr S. We took our stand on 
 the stairs, expecting a crowd. A postponement 
 of the question being, however, soon after whis- 
 pered about, many of the expectants went away, 
 and at near four we got in without much diffi-
 
 LONDON HOUSE OP COMMONS- 209 
 
 culty. I had an order of admission from a Mem- 
 ber of Parliament, but it was easy to perceive 
 that a bank-token (a silver piece worth 5s. 6d.) 
 was more welcome to the door-keeper. This pay- 
 ment is done openly, and you may change a 
 bank-note at the door of the gallery of the 
 House of Commons as you would at the door of 
 the playhouse. There is in this an appearance of 
 indelicacy certainly, but the object is to throw 
 some difficulty in the way of mere idle curiosity, 
 and check the concourse of the lower class. 
 This payment of money answers the purpose 
 nearly as well as the necessity of obtaining an 
 order from a member. Mr B. did, as was ex- 
 pected, postpone his motion till next month. 
 After some previous business, a short debate 
 took place respecting public schools in Ireland. 
 Adapper little man, with a very sharp nose and 
 chin, spoke most, and in a confused manner, 
 from behind the treasury-bench, he stated some 
 curious facts about a shameful evasion on the 
 part of the English clergy in Ireland, who, al- 
 though bound to have schools in each parish, got 
 off' by paying 40s. a-year to some person, unable 
 often to read himself, who pretended to keep a 
 school. This disclosure seemed candid on the 
 part of a supporter of the English hierarchy. 
 Another little man, as thin as a shadow, and 
 drawing one side of his body after him, as if pa- 
 VOL. ir. o
 
 filO LONDON HOUSE OF COMMONS BULLION. 
 
 ralytic, hurried across the floor with a tottering 
 brisk step, and awkward bow, and said in sub- 
 stance, that schools in Ireland were most desira- 
 ble, and should be organized by all means. These 
 few words were extremely well spoken, with pe- 
 culiar energy of feeling, and in a manner grace- 
 ful and impressive. This was Mr Wilberforce. 
 Nothing can surpass the meanness of his appear- 
 ance, and he seems half blind. Next, another 
 shadow (and well they may be shadows, who 
 work all day in the cabinet, and wrangle all 
 night, baited like bears at the stake,) the Chan- 
 cellor of the Exchequer, very small features, 
 and sallow complexion, his voice low, but dis- 
 tinct, and flowing smoothly on without hesitation, 
 and without warmth, the subject indeed requi- 
 red none (something about duties on foreign 
 spirits.) Lord C,, as thin as his colleague, and 
 something taller, sat near him, but did not speak. 
 The bullion business came next, a worn-out 
 subject, upon which I did not expect any thing 
 new, nor, in fact, did I hear much new argu- 
 ment. I was, however, much pleased with the 
 moderation and great good sense of what 1 was 
 said* Mr T. spoke most, in an easy, fluent man- 
 ner, with a slight degree of irony, mixed with 
 good humour. In his opinion, the malady is 
 over-issues ; and he wanted the bank to be made 
 to regulate their issues on the same principles us
 
 LONDON-CHOUSE OF COMMONS. 21 1 
 
 before the restrictions on cash-payments. Mr M., 
 a bank-director, shewed, with clearness, in a 
 speech of much matter of fact, that, the former 
 regulator of their issues being removed (the calls 
 for gold), they had no certain rules left, and 
 would be much obliged to the House for one ; 
 but that the injunction proposed would be of no 
 practical use, and had, in fact, no meaning. Ano- 
 ther bank-director, Mr B., spoke next, with great 
 awkwardness, great hesitation, and tugging hard 
 for words, but ably, and even with some humour. 
 He said nearly the same things, only more dis- 
 posed to allow the fact of some degree of over- 
 issue. Mr H., who has written a very good pam- 
 phlet on the subject, went through the arguments 
 of his book, on the over-issue side. He spoke at 
 great length, and much in the drawling tone and 
 manner of our yankee orators. A Scotch mem- 
 ber put the honourable house in good humour, 
 by a fanciful speech, in which he maintained that 
 paper is as much better than gold, as it is lighter, 
 and that they cannot have too much of it. I saw 
 with pleasure, Mr W. rise on this question ; it 
 was to say, that they who wanted to guard against 
 over-issues were the true friends of a paper-cur- 
 rency. This, and a few more things to the same 
 purpose, were delivered in a manner which plea- 
 sed me extremely.
 
 212 LONDON HOUSE OF COMMONS. 
 
 Parliamentary oratory is a thing totally differ- 
 ent from the style of public speaking in France, 
 not at all haranguing or reciting, but rather like 
 an argumentative and uninterrupted conversa- 
 tion. Eloquent appeals to the imagination or 
 the passions, seem to arise spontaneously from 
 the subject, without being sought for, a mo- 
 mentary burst, rather checked than encouraged. 
 The speaker returns, as soon as possible, to a 
 simple unimpassioned style, and to the business 
 before the House, or rather never loses sight of 
 it. Plain facts are the elements of his eloquence. 
 He brings them together, places them in a strong 
 light, and lets them speak for themselves. He 
 aims at a vigorous and correct sketch : not 
 a laboured picture. Mr Whitbread made a sor- 
 tie against the Scotch member. I was glad of an 
 opportunity of hearing one of the most formi- 
 dable champions of liberty in the British senate. 
 He spoke, of course, against the excessive issue 
 of paper-money, and in favour of specie-pay- 
 ments, which are the dogma of the party. I found 
 Mr W. much as I expected, a stout man, brisk, 
 rather rough, with more force than taste. His 
 irony borders on invective. 
 
 The house was very thin. I counted several 
 times only 0, never more than 7O members ; 
 the quorum is forty j but the deficiency is not
 
 ^-- LONDON HOUSE OF COMMONS. 213 
 
 * 
 
 noticed by the chair, unless a member points it 
 out. The two clerks of the House, in black 
 gowns and powdered wigs, sat at the table before 
 the speaker. Full half the time of one of them 
 was taken up in placing the mace upon the table 
 when the speaker of the House took the chair, 
 and under the table when he left it ; the chair- 
 man of the committee then taking his seat at the 
 table by the clerks. When he does this, first 
 leaving his seat at the treasury-bench r he goes 
 half-way down to the door of the House, then, 
 turning back, makes a bow to the chair, and, 
 retracing his steps, reaches his chairman's seat 
 at the table, close to his other seat, as member, 
 which -he had just left. Seen from the gallery, 
 this looks much like a boy practising before the;^ 
 dancing -master. Members moving or going 
 away, but not on coming in, make bows also, 
 generally very awkward ones. A message was 
 brought from the upper house by two personages 
 in gowns and wigs. One of the clerks took the 
 mace and went to receive them at the door, and/^ 
 brought them to the table, bowing j when, after 
 delivering some papers, they retreated backwards 
 the whole way, and bowing, clerk, mace, and ail. 
 It was a great relief to me to see them reach the 
 door in safety, for I half-expected they would, 
 by treading back upon their trains, tumble down
 
 2 1 4 LONDON HOUSE OF COMMONS. 
 
 upon the floor ; but they went through their ex- 
 ercise like practised Jiguranti at the opera. 
 
 About half after two in the morning, the gal- 
 lery was cleared j that is to say, the public or. 
 dered out, which we could not be very sorry for, 
 after eleven hours of the same constrained atti- 
 tude. We adjourned to the kitchen, a very clean 
 and spacious one, much frequented by the ho- 
 nourable members. Small tables stood along the 
 wall ; a cloth was laid for us on one of them. 
 Three successive beef-steaks were broiled under 
 our eyes, over a clear strong fire, incessantly turn- 
 ed, and served hot and hot, tender, delicate, and 
 juicy. This is a national dish, rarely good ; but 
 
 JU/ under this national roof it proved excellent. Duly 
 restored by this and a bottle of port wine, we were 
 
 .^ v about returning to the House, when we found it 
 had adjourned, after negativing Mr T.'s recom- 
 
 Jjj^ mendatory amendment to Mr Vansittart's resolu- 
 tions. In fact, there will be nothing done about 
 the resumption of cash payments by the Bank. 
 All parties agree that it is impossible for the pre- 
 sent. Gold in sufficient quantity cannot be had, 
 or rather cannot be kept ; it disappears as soon 
 as it comes out of the mint, and must necessarily 
 do so as long as there is a profit of 1 5 or 20 per 
 cent, in melting it. The party in opposition 
 maintains that there is too much paper, and that 
 
 ( Kfo InAfa fa Jww*' f^& rt&/ifi.~/-t*fy
 
 LONDON DEPRECIATION OF CURRENCY. 215 
 
 it is depreciated ; the ministerial party, that gold 
 is dear as merchandise. J shall give a short ac- 
 count of what has been said and written on that 
 subject, which those to whom it is familiar, and 
 still more those who feel no interest in it, will 
 skip, of course, whether I advise them to do so 
 or not. 
 
 When bank-paper is first issued in any coun- 
 try, and circulates freely and generally like gold 
 or silver, the precious metals which were in cir- 
 culation before are soon exported to foreign 
 countries, for the purchase of foreign produce 
 or manufactures, which are brought home, and 
 may be considered as a gratuitous accession of 
 property ; a dead capital having been exchan-^< 
 ged for an active one. Paper is a cheap tool, 
 and gold a dear one ; but if every nation had 
 banks, and a paper circulation instead of specie, 
 the advantage would cease for all, for it is mere- 
 ly comparative. The substitution of paper for 
 gold, of a promissory engagement for the thing 
 itself, supposes the most implicit confidence, - 
 it rests on the conviction resulting from long ex- 
 perience, that Government will respect private 
 property, and that the state of public morals se- 
 cures a faithful administration of the establish- 
 ment. Public credit is, in every respect, like ^ 
 individual credit, and is productive of the same 
 advantage, io all transactions in life, which the 
 
 u /a* /"
 
 216 LONDON DEPRECIATION OP CURRENCY. 
 
 man who is trusted has over the one who is not. 
 Gold is hidden under-ground in Turkey, in- 
 France it is used as a pledge between man and 
 man, and is the necessary medium of exchange. 
 In England no such pledge is required, the mere 
 faith of a public institution proves sufficient. 
 
 Trade, or rather traders, are ever greedy of 
 capital, and inclined to draw from the bank more 
 paper than the circulation requires. Their ob- 
 ject is to speculate, that is to say, to purchase 
 commodities, and the result must be, that there 
 are more purchasers than things for sale ; thence 
 a competition, and a rise of prices. Under such 
 circumstances the produce of other countries 
 will quickly find its way to the one where it bears 
 high prices. The gold alone, however, and not 
 the merchandize of the dear country will be ta- 
 ken in payment ; bank-notes will be returned 
 to the bank to be exchanged for gold to be ex- 
 ported. The bank, when exhausted of specie, 
 must purchase bullion, and have it coined to an- 
 swer the demand, and must draw in its capital. 
 Both paper and specie being thus diminished, 
 and the sum in circulation reduced to its due 
 proportion, while, on the contrary, the stock of 
 commodities is increased, prices will fall, of 
 /course. Some commodities may still remain 
 above the rate of other countries, while others 
 jiiay descend below ; this being the usual and
 
 . 
 
 ON DEPRECIATION 
 
 natural state of things which occasions the trans- 
 fers of commerce ; balances will then be liqui- 
 dated by the medium of bills of exchange, with- 
 out any more exportations of specie. 
 
 The first symptom of an exportation of specie, 
 is an unfavourable exchange with foreign coun- 
 tries ; and the bank knowing, from experience, 
 that this state of the exchange is the forerunner 
 of a call for specie, and that the remedy is a re- 
 duction of discounts, acts accordingly in its own 
 defence. Thus a paper circulation is without 
 any danger or inconvenience ; it is evidently be- 
 neficial, and the abuse carries with it its remedy, 
 provided that paper is exchangeable for specie 
 at the will of the bearer, and provided Govern- 
 ment does not meddle with the management of 
 the institution. It may, indeed, be a customer 
 of the bank like any individual, with much mu- 
 tual advantage ; but even this sort of connection 
 is liable to danger, and threatens the credit of 
 bank under an arbitrary government, or un- 
 der a very popular one. 
 
 The immediate consequence to England of 
 the general war kindled all over Europe, at the 
 beginning of the French revolution, was, an in- 
 crease of expenditure abroad, far beyond all for- 
 mer example. The only possible mode of pro- 
 viding the requisite funds in foreign countries 
 was, a commensurate excess of exports over im-
 
 218 LONDON DEPRECIATION OF CURRENCY. 
 
 ports ; but the circumstances of the times tend- 
 ed to reduce the one, while inveterate habits of 
 luxury continued to encourage the other. Gold 
 being the readiest mode of remittance, was, of 
 course, exported, lawfully or not, and by Go- 
 vernment itself, if not by individuals. The Bank, 
 under such circumstances, would find its notes 
 returning as soon as emitted, to be exchanged 
 for specie, and might think itself reduced to the 
 alternative of bankruptcy, if it did not immedi- 
 ately draw in its capital by a great and sudden, 
 retrenchment of discounts, or of occasioning a 
 universal suspension of payment if it did. Such 
 was the crisis, hastened, probably, by an alarm- 
 ing insurrection in the fleet, and fears of an im- 
 pending invasion, which determined Parliament, 
 in 1797, to restrict or suspend the payment of 
 specie by the Bank of England.* The possible 
 consequences of this measure seemed at the time 
 to appal Mr Pitt himself, who carried it j yet for 
 
 * There was a sum of two millions sterling coined in 1797; 
 three millions in 1798; and during the two preceding years 
 less than a quarter of that sum. But in 1787 and 1788, a pe- 
 riod of profound peace, greater sums passed through the mint 
 than in these very years of extraordinary demand, 1797 and 
 1796. It seems as if the crisis of the run was met very early 
 by the restrictions on cash payments, before any absolute ne* 
 cessity could probably exist.
 
 LONDON DEPRECIATION OF CURRENCY. 219 
 
 ten years afterwards no real inconvenience was 
 felt, no difference between paper and specie. 
 It is not more than three or four years since the 
 depreciation complained of began at all. 
 
 There is something apparently inexplicable in 
 this memorable event ; for if the increasing de- 
 mand for specie in 1797 was occasioned by the 
 want of the means to provide for expences abroad, 
 how have these expences been met during the 
 thirteen succeeding years, with all their enormous 
 increase If a want of confidence produced the 
 run on the Bank, how could the failure of pay- 
 ment, the very confirmation of all fears, restore 
 confidence ? The obvious answer to the first part 
 of the dilemma is, that there was no real want of 
 means, as the event has proved ; since armies 
 have continued to be maintained abroad, subsi- 
 dies paid, &c. &c. The demand for specie arose 
 from the circumstance of gold being the most 
 convenient mode of remittance, but not from its 
 s?- being the only one. It seems, likewise, that the 
 call for specie in 1797 was not occasioned by any 
 doubt of the ultimate solvency of the Bank, of 
 its possessing property fully equal to the amount 
 of its notes in circulation, but from an apprehen- 
 sion that gold could not be procured in sufficient 
 quantity, and every one wished not to be the last. 
 The intervention of Government stopped this ge-
 
 220 LONDON DEPRECIATION OF CURRENCY. 
 
 neral rout. The public saw that there would be 
 neither first nor last ; no inequality ; no salva- 
 tion, but in the salvation of all ; and made a ge- 
 neral stand, This perilous situation revived pub- 
 lic-spirit ; and, by universal consent, the paper 
 of the Bank was held equal to specie. This ener- 
 getic act alone would not have upheld the credit 
 of the Bank for any length of time, without a ge- 
 neral conviction of its ultimate solvency ; which, 
 in fact, was not questioned. No country exists, 
 or probably ever existed, where such a stretch of 
 power, as that of suspending by law the perform- 
 ance of private contracts, would not have de- 
 stroyed at once all confidence ; none, where the 
 most serious alarm and jealousy would not have 
 been excited by the singular fact, of a company 
 of merchants being vested with the power of 
 coining money with their simple sign-manual for 
 its standard ; and the extent of this coinage, so 
 easy at once, and so profitable to themselves, 
 without any other limitation but their own dis- 
 cretion and honest forbearance. It must be ac- 
 knowledged, that this confidence does honour to 
 all ; to those who trust, and to those who are 
 trusted j to the people, to the Bank, and to the 
 Government. The act of Parliament of 1797 f re- 
 stricting the cash payments of the Bank, did not 
 constitute its notes exactly a legal tender j but
 
 LONDON DEPRECIATION OF CURRENCY. 221 
 
 as the tender of bank-notes precludes an arrest 
 of the person of the debtor till the period arrives 
 when the Bank shall pay specie, there is in fact 
 no very great difference. The measure was con- 
 sidered at first, by the minister, the Parliament, 
 and the people, as a temporary expedient ; and 
 it was not until after a certain time, and no ma- 
 terial inconvenience appearing to result from it, 
 that its permanency ceased to excite any terror. 
 Merchants, indeed, were easily reconciled to a 
 state of things, under which the Bank might 
 oblige them by liberal discounts, without appre- 
 hension of a call for specie ; and the directors 
 yielded to the pleasure, almost a duty, of enrich- 
 ing the institution confided to their management; 
 a duty which has been faithfully discharged, since 
 the stock of the Bank is now nearly three times 
 the price it was in 1797. 
 
 From the year 1797 to 1806 no material dif- 
 ference existed between specie and bank-notes ; 
 foreign exchanges were but little against Eng- 
 land, not more than the expence of transport, 
 ing specie, which is estimated at 6 or 7 per cent. ; 
 and the price of bullion remained about L.3, l?s. 
 lOd. an ounce. In 1806-7, however, it rose to 
 L.4. ; and, towards the end of 1 808, continu- 
 ing to rise, the Bank ceased to buy any more ; 
 it is now arrived at L.4, 14s. There is a profit 
 of 20 per cent, in melting guineas, and they have
 
 232 LONDON DEPRECIATION OF CURRENCY. 
 
 accordingly disappeared. A state of things so 
 alarming determined the Parliament, last year* 
 to appoint a committee of twenty-one members 
 to examine into the cause, and the committee 
 reported, that there was a real depreciation of 
 bank-notes, occasioned by over-issues, the direct- 
 ors having fallen into the error of supposing 
 that they may safely discount all the mercantile 
 acceptances offered to them, provided the signa- 
 tures are good, and the paper issued in conse- 
 quence of real purchases and sales ; and also 
 that they may discount all those promissory- 
 notes of the Government, called Exchequer-bills, 
 which may be offered to them, without any limits ; 
 a doctrine of which the committee has shewn 
 the fallacy. The directors of the Bank admit, 
 that, prior to 1797, they did not discount all the 
 paper which was offered to them, but were obli- 
 ged to restrict their discounts whenever there was 
 a demand for gold ; yet they do not perceive that 
 this restriction had any salutary effect. The re- 
 port of the committee advised fixing a period for 
 the resumption of payments in specie, say two 
 years, but the Parliament did not concur. No- 
 thing was done, and, according to appearan- 
 ces, nothing will be done. The administration 
 dreads meddling with a copious spring, for fear 
 of drying it up ; the loans are filled, and that is 
 the main point.
 
 LONDON DEPRECIATIO OF CURRENCY. 223 
 
 If it were possible to ascertain in all cases the 
 origin and circumstances of a commercial accept- 
 ance, offered for discount, this knowledge would 
 furnish the Bank with a perfectly safe rule, even 
 in the absence of the natural check, of a call for 
 gold. Every promissory-aote, issued in conse- 
 quence of a real purchase of some commodity, 
 about to be consumed or exported, or remaining 
 deposited, and at any rate not sold again till after 
 the time of payment of the first sale, might be 
 discounted, without any other limitation than the 
 solvency of the parties. This is an anticipation 
 of capital, made active, not created, and the very 
 object of the institution of banks. But when the 
 same commodity is resold ten or twenty times 
 in the interval between the date and the pay*. 
 ment of the first promissory-note, it is evident, 
 that, if all the notes resulting from all these sales 
 were discounted (and the rule acknowledged by 
 the directors of the Bank extends to that), a fic- 
 titious capital, ten times, or twenty times great- 
 er than the thing it represents, would at once be 
 thrown into circulation ; and this must neces- 
 sarily happen, more or less. As to exchequer- 
 bills, the bank may also throw a great deal too 
 much capital into the market by discounting 
 them indiscriminately ; yet, immense as their 
 sum total is, it is at least known, and represents a 
 productive stock, while the amount of commercial
 
 224} LONDON DEPRECIATION OF CURRENCY. 
 
 acceptances is indefinite ;* and, whenever issued 
 for resales of the same article, they represent in 
 fact nothing at all. The fictitious capital thus crea- 
 ted, and increasing continually, produces a gra- 
 dual rise of price, and all purchases payable at 
 distant periods are sure of affording profits ; a 
 system of gambling is encouraged, in which the 
 first sellers and the last purchasers must neces- 
 sarily be ruined. 
 
 The sum of notes of the Bank of England in 
 circulation, compared to what it was in 1797, 
 seems much less than might have been supposed 
 under existing circumstances ; considering, 1 st, 
 The mass of property accumulated in England 
 during the last thirteen years ; 2d, The increase 
 of the national debt forming so much commercial 
 property in the market j 3d, The lessening of 
 value of the circulating medium all over Europe, 
 by the gradual influx of gold and silver ; 4th, The 
 disappearance of the gold and silver in circula- 
 tion in 1797, which must have been replaced by 
 an equal sum in bank-notes. Sir William Petty 
 
 * The bank of England holds generally fifteen or sixteen 
 millions of Exchequer-bills, and three or four millions of com- 
 mercial notes. By its constitution it cannot hold more than 
 three millions of government securities. I do not understand 
 how Exchequer-bills come not to be considered as government 
 securities.
 
 LONDON DEPRECIATION OF CURRENCY. 225 
 
 ' J J 
 
 * lL4*4 
 
 estimated the specie in circulation 10 years ago, 
 
 at six millions. Dr Price in 1773, at sixteen mil- 
 lions. This latter sum, added to the ten or eleven 
 millions of bank-notes then in circulation, would 
 alone give 26 or 27 millions for the sum total re- 
 quired for the circulation of the country at that 
 period, and much more now ; whereas the cir- 
 culation of the Bank of England is now only 21 
 millions. The fact is, that tne sum of bank-notes 
 issued, affords no criterion of the real circulation 
 of the country. The checks drawn on banks are, 
 to all intents and purposes, part of the circula- 
 ting medium, as well as those transfers of ba- 
 lances among merchants and bankers, which have 
 been so extended of late years. The sum of dis- 
 counts affords better data by which to estimate 
 the real circulation of the country. There are 
 about fifty banking-houses in London. Clerks 
 from each of them meet every evening at a par- 
 ticular place, where the checks they have receiv- 
 ed upon each other, in the course of the day, are 
 exchanged, and payments to the amount of five 
 or six millions are effected in an hour, without 
 touching a guinea or a bank-note. The number 
 of private banks all over the kingdom is not less 
 than eight hundred ; an accurate estimate of the 
 grand total of paper they furnish to the circula- 
 tion can hardly be formed. It is well known 
 VOL. n. p
 
 gg6 LONDON DEPRECIATION OF CURRENCY. 
 
 however, that they are very industrious in extend- 
 ing it to the very utmost, and by every species 
 of contrivance. These private banks contribute 
 more than the Bank of England to the excess of 
 circulation ; but it is from the latter only that a 
 remedy can be expected ; for every time the 
 Bank of England restricts its discounts, corre- 
 spondent restrictions must follow in all the others 
 which are bound to give Bank of England notes 
 whenever required, in exchange for their own ; 
 this check operates upon them in the way the 
 call for gold did formerly. The board of direct- 
 ors of the Bank of England have been elevated, 
 since 1797, to the functions of statesmen; a 
 most important branch of the Government is 
 confided to their care ; no less than that of re- 
 gulating at pleasure the standard of the currency 
 of the realm. They may, if they think fit, lower 
 it to half its nominal value, or to no value at all, 
 and cause all public and private debts to be dis- 
 charged with a worthless piece of paper, at the 
 risk of relaxing the bonds of society, and of ma- 
 terially impairing public morals. The nation has 
 a right to expect from these directors more en- 
 larged views and higher motives than the mere 
 consideration of profit and loss. 
 
 The directors confess their ignorance of any 
 safe rule by which they can regulate their issues, 
 and call on Parliament for one. Is the price of 
 
 7
 
 LONDON DEPRECIATION OF CURRENCY. 227 
 
 bullion to be that rule ? No, says the ministerial 
 party, gold, like any other commodity, is liable 
 to be more or less in demand ; it may be rare 
 and dear, and bear a higher price than the par* 
 in bank-notes ; the contingencies of an army in 
 foreign countries cannot be discharged with 
 bank-notes, nor grain imported without gold in fa ^ 
 time of scarcity, and when trade is abridged of 
 its usual channels. 
 
 To this the party of the opposition answers, 
 (for all is party here, and truth itself is told some- Lfl 
 
 * . v A letgfts 
 
 times without veracity,) we do not admit that 
 gold is scarce, and dear, or can ever be so for f* 
 any continuance j it preserves its level through- 
 out the world. If it was scarce in England, i 
 for instance, an ounce of gold could buy in Eng- 
 land what would sell for two ounces of gold in 
 another country, gold w r ould come so fast as 
 quickly to raise prices to the par of the other 
 country. You cannot maintain that foreign mar- 
 kets being shut against your commodities, gold 
 cannot be procured, for there is plenty of bullion 
 
 * 4-1 guineas, weighing 12 ounces, are equal to L.46, 14s. 
 6d., therefore one ounce of gold should sell for L 3, 17s. 10d; 
 and whenever more than that sum in bank-paper is required to 
 pay for the ounce of gold, the paper is certainly not worth as 
 much as it is meant to represent ; it is under par. 
 
 o 
 
 ; 
 
 to litfA j^D &U /fa ^
 
 228 LONDON DEPRECIATION OF CURRENCY. 
 
 to be had in England, although not at the par 
 price. 
 
 If gold alone was above par, above its usual 
 price, it might be called dear ; but when every 
 thing else bears an advanced price, we must con- 
 clude that it is the currency which is in fact 
 cheap, by an excess of quantity. The univer- 
 sality of this advance of prices is indeed disputed. 
 West India produce, for instance, is very low, as 
 also cotton goods, and other articles of exporta- 
 tion. On the other hand, the commodities con- 
 sumed in England are high ; all the necessaries 
 of life, and the wages of labour, have risen higher 
 in proportion, than the stated advance of about 
 20 per cent, on gold. The price of gold alone 
 does not appear to me to afford a much surer 
 > test to regulate the issues of bank-paper than the 
 price of cloth or of wheat ; that test is not to be 
 found in the price of any single commodity, but 
 in the average price of all commodities. Finally, 
 I would venture to propose the prices-current 
 once a month, as a rule for the sum of circula- 
 ting medium required. In order to be under- 
 stood, I shall first suppose that, in consequence 
 of bad crops, the price of grain has doubled, and 
 assuming that the value of the stock of grain is 
 one-fifth of the value of the stock of all other 
 commodities, I would in that case diminish the
 
 LONDON DEPRECIATION OF CURRENCY. 229 
 
 issues * of paper one-tenth, and vice versa in ease 
 and plenty, and consequent low prices.! The 
 less the quantity of exchangeable commodities 
 is, the less the sum of currency, or medium of 
 exchange, ought to be. Such a diminution pre- 
 cisely would have taken place, if, instead of pa- 
 
 * By issues of paper I mean discounts, for a credit given to 
 an individual produces an issue of checks, just as if the bank it- 
 self had issued notes. 
 
 f I may be told that, if an article is doubled in price, in con- 
 sequence of its quantity at market being diminished one-half^ 
 it requires exactly the same sum of currency to represent it. 
 Also, that by diminishing the sum of currency, the rise of 
 prices resulting from scarcity would be prevented, importations 
 discouraged, and the natural remedy to scarcity counteracted. 
 A moment's reflection must, however, shew, that, as the with- 
 drawing of a part of the currency would operate on the prices 
 of all commodities equally, the relative dearness of the scarce 
 article would not be altered, and the inducement to importa- 
 tions of that article remain the same, as also the inducement to 
 reduce its consumption. 
 
 I am aware that it does not follow from an article doubling 
 in price, that its quantity at market is reduced one-half in 
 quantity, and it is very probable that a deficiency of one quar- 
 ter, one-eighth, or even less, in the crop of grain for instance, 
 would prove sufficient to occasion a rise in the price of 100 per 
 cent. Therefore, the doubling of price of wheat in the case 
 assumed, might not require a reduction of one -tenth in the sum 
 of currency in circulation, perhaps not more than one-twen- 
 tieth, or even less. I only meant to indicate the general prin- 
 ciple I had in view.
 
 230 LONDON DEPRECIATION OF CURRENCY. 
 
 per, gold had been in circulation ; for the high 
 price of grain would have caused the gold to be 
 exported to purchase supplies in foreign coun- 
 tries. In case of stagnation of trade, let us sup- 
 pose the merchant's warehouse full of sugar and 
 coffee, and the manufacturer overstocked with 
 cloth and calico, I would then increase the issues 
 in the twofold ratio of the depression of price of 
 these articles, and the proportion they bear to 
 the estimated value of the general stock of com- 
 modities. Such again would have been the na- 
 tural course of things, as in the case of grain 
 above stated, if the currency had been gold in- 
 stead of paper. It is worthy of remark, that the 
 British government had recourse to a temporary 
 expedient, similar in principle to the permanent 
 rule I propose, in several cases of great commer- 
 cial distress ; when loans of exchequer bills were 
 made to merchants and manufacturers with the 
 most salutary effect. The bullion committee it- 
 self recommended these extraordinary issues of 
 exchequer bills in such cases of commercial dis- 
 tress. There is only one step from the tempo- 
 rary expedient to the permanent rule of the 
 prices-current I propose. 
 
 I am far from imagining that the sum of paper 
 in circulation, or its depreciation by over-issues, 
 lias any influence on foreign trade. Whether an
 
 LONDON DEPRECIATION OF CURRENCY. 231 
 
 ounce of gold is worth L. 3, 17s. lOd. in bank- 
 paper, one half more, or one half less, exporta- 
 tionsand importations of both gold and merchan- 
 dise will not be interrupted in the least by that 
 circumstance ; and the notion that a dear coun- 
 try is undersold in foreign markets, must be an 
 error.* As long as a bale of cloth, exported to 
 Portugal for instance, shall command there a cask 
 of wine, it matters not what the nominal amount 
 of the invoice and of the sales may be, the name 
 of the vessel in which these articles were trans, 
 ported could not be of less consequence. The 
 bale of cloth in question cost formerly in Eng- 
 land L. 5O, we will suppose the cask of wine 
 bought in Portugal, out of the proceeds of its 
 sale, used to sell in England for L.7O. Now, 
 perhaps, the cloth costs L.10O, and the cask of 
 wine sells for L. 140, therefore the operation 
 yields 40 per cent, in either case. If, instead of 
 wine, the merchant brings back gold, it will make 
 no difference, for gold will have advanced in the 
 same proportion as wine. A bill of exchange, 
 likewise, will bear a proportionate premium. This 
 is supposing importations equal to exportations, 
 and, in point of fact, they must be, and are al- 
 
 * See the note, page 220 of first volume, on the natural 
 limits of taxation, and the effect of high prices on the gold 
 circulation. 
 
 ...
 
 232 LONDON DEPRECIATION OF CURRENCY. 
 
 ways so. A permanent balance of trade in favour 
 of any country is impossible, or would be in real- 
 ity a permanent loss. Commerce, said very justly,, 
 an intelligent writer, is nothing but the inter- 
 change of reciprocal and equivalent benefits.* 
 
 As the preceding position respecting the ba- 
 lance of trade may appear paradoxical, I shall 
 explain it as shortly as I can. The ultimate 
 balance of trade is usually estimated in money, 
 and its profits reckoned by that scale. Yet, as 
 the accumulation ot money never fails to raise 
 prices, the annual returns in specie of a balance 
 of trade permanently favourable, would become 
 quite nugaton . Supposing the quantity of specie 
 was doubled every year, the price of every thing 
 doubling likewise, no real advantage whatsoever 
 would result from the imaginary profit ; and the 
 labour required to produce the surplus of com- 
 modities exported over those imported, forming 
 this balance called favourable, would, in fact, be 
 just so much labour lost. 
 
 It may indeed be urged, that this accumula- 
 tion of money affords the means of commanding 
 the labour of a proportionate number of men in 
 foreign countries whenever you choose to send it 
 there. But what is to be done with the produce 
 
 Huskisson on Depreciation, p. 69.
 
 LONDON DEPRECIATION OF CURRENCY. 233 
 
 of this foreign labour ? is it to be brought home 
 in the shape of commodities, and consumed ? I 
 grant that something real would, in this case, 
 have been obtained by the former favourable 
 balance of trade, but then it would be only by 
 ceasing to be a favourable balance. As perma- 
 nent, it was a positive loss, a loss of labour for 
 which no return was made. 
 
 This command of labour may be applied to the 
 support of military establishments abroad, or sub- 
 sidies to foreign princes, and contribute to the 
 aggrandizement, or to the safety of the state; but 
 the accumulation of money in the country, from 
 a preceding favourable balance of trade, would 
 go a very little way towards such an object. I 
 do not suppose that in England, for instance, the 
 accumulation of treasure would have been able 
 to defray the expense of a single year of the last 
 eighteen or twenty years war. The future favour- 
 able balance of trade may, indeed, be mortgaged 
 by means of loans ; but here again, 1 should 
 think, lurks a fallacy. If the loans were filled by 
 foreigners, the future balance of trade, or future 
 surplus of exports over imports, might indeed be 
 applied directly and effectually to the discharge 
 of interest, and extinction of principle ; but, if 
 the lenders are English, and you distribute among 
 them annually this money brought home in con* 
 

 
 234 LONDON DEPRECIATION OF CURRENCf . 
 
 sequence of a favourable balance of trade, you 
 give them a nominal value, representing less and 
 less every year. If you import foreign com- 
 modities instead of money, and, with these or 
 their proceeds, pay the public creditors, the ope- 
 ration will indeed have been productive of po- 
 sitive benefit ; but, in as far only as it was a 
 direct relinquishment of the favourable balance 
 of trade, as defined above, and generally under- 
 stood. 
 
 Unimportant as the state of the currency must 
 be, as to external relations, the permanency of its 
 standard is of the utmost consequence in all in- 
 ternal concerns. Gambling, mistrust, breach 
 of faith, individual distress, and ruin of those 
 who live on small fixed incomes, are among the 
 obvious consequences of the depreciation of the 
 currency. People of capital dare not lend, nor 
 the owners of land grant long leases, and industry 
 is discouraged. 
 
 The rule of the prices current appears to me 
 to meet the difficulty at all points ; yet it is an 
 expedient liable to errors and mismanagement, 
 while the exigibility of gold for paper, at the 
 pleasure of the bearer, is an absolute specific 
 against over-issues, participating of the simpli- 
 city and certainty of the laws of nature, com- 
 pared to the fallibility of those of man.
 
 LONDON DEPRECIATION OF CURRENCY. 235 
 
 It has lately been made penal to pay or re- 
 ceive more than twenty-one shillings in paper 
 for a guinea, this is the French maximum over 
 again ! I cannot help thinking that if two prices 
 were freely allowed, one for gold, the other for 
 paper, the melting and exporting of guineas 
 would immediately stop of itself, and such hoards 
 of money would be brought to light, and thrown 
 into the circulation, as might enable the bank to 
 resume its cash payments in a very short time.* 
 
 Whether parliament will interfere or not in 
 the bank's issues of paper, or restrict their dis- 
 counts, the discussions called forth, both in and 
 out of doors, have thrown such light on the 
 subject, awakened the attention of the public 
 so thoroughly, and put the bank so much on 
 their guard, that there is every reason to hope 
 that the progress of the depreciation will be 
 checked in time. 
 
 * While I was on a visit to a gentleman in the country a few 
 weeks since, we went to a small shopkeeper in the neighbour- 
 hood, on purpose to try whether he had a hoard, and pretended 
 to want a few guineas. The petty dealer enquired how many : 
 twenty, my friend said. In a few minutes he brought the gold 
 from a back-room, and in all probability might have produced 
 more. These hoards are not, perhaps, the consequence of 
 alarm, but of an idea (not wholly unfounded) that guineas are 
 really worth more than twenty-one shillings. 
 
 , rr~r**A* 
 
 ^
 
 /a 
 
 / 
 
 $36 LONDON LOANS. 
 
 May 16. The loan for the present year is to 
 fc~ X- b e contracted for on Monday next. The busi- 
 ness is managed as follows. Yesterday the chan- 
 cellor of the exchequer informed the parties in- 
 tending to bid for the same, that the sum of 12 
 millions would be required ; that for every 
 L. 100 lent, the Government would give L.I 00 in 
 3 per cent, reduced, L.20 in the three per cent, 
 consols, and L.2O in the 4 per cent, (all these are 
 new stock, issued under old names ; it would cer- 
 tainly be simpler to offer L.1OO of a stock, bear- 
 ing 4 per cent, interest, or L.I 46, 13s. 4d. at 3 
 per cent.*) the bidders will have to signify how 
 much more they require of a stock called long- 
 annuities, and those who require the least will be 
 entitled to the loan. The L.1OO in money to be 
 paid at the following periods : 
 
 24th May, 1811, L. 10 deposited at once. 
 12th July, 10 22d Nov. L.10 
 
 16th August, 15 20th December, 10 
 
 20th September, 10 14-th Jan. 1812. 10 
 16th October, 15 21st February, 10 
 
 The offer of the minister comes to this : 
 
 * For an explanation of the system of funding at a nomi- 
 nally low rate of interest, see Mr Hamilton's National Debt, 
 Section VI.
 
 LONDON LOANS. 237 
 
 L.I 00 7 3 per cent. producing annually L.S, 12s. 
 
 203 and worth, at the present market-price, 
 
 (L.64- sterling) L.76 16 
 
 20 4 per cent, producing annually 16s. and 
 worth, at the present market-price (L.80 
 sterling) - - 16 
 
 L.140 L.92 16 
 
 Therefore the lenders are to receive for every 
 L. !OO they pay, a stock which yields L.4, 8s. in- 
 terest, and would sell in the market for L.92, l6s. ; 
 they must have therefore as much in long annui- 
 ties as would sell for L.7, 4s. before they get the 
 par of what they are to lend. 
 
 May 2O. The bidding took place at 6s. lid.; 
 that is, the lowest offer was to take an annuity 
 of 6s. lid. besides the stock offered by the mi- 
 nister ; and, as the long annuities sell at the rate 
 of L.18 for every 2Os. annual interest, this bid- 
 ding of 6s. l id. is equal to L.6, 4s. 6d. Finally, 
 the lenders are to receive altogether, 
 
 Stock producing annually L.4 8 as explained above, 
 and 611 long annuities, 
 
 L.4- 14< 11 or very nearly 5 per 
 
 cent, and as that same stock 
 would sell in the market 
 
 for L.92 16 as explained above, 
 
 and 646 long annuities, 
 
 L.99 6
 
 . . 
 
 238 LONDON LIBELS. 
 
 they will lose very near one per cent, equal to 
 L.1 17,OOO, on a capital of twelve millions, unless 
 the price of stock rises, which they no doubt ex- 
 pect. Mr Perceval boasted in Parliament of ha- 
 >^.ving made a very good bargain ; and it certainly 
 does seem so. 
 The profit of these wholesale lenders to Go- 
 
 M.Vp i vernment was formerly very considerable, (8 or S, 
 9 per cent. ;) but the method devised by Mr Pitt 
 of disposing of the loan to the lowest bidder, has 
 reduced the ordinary profit to one or two per 
 cent, at most. The proposals of the bidders are 
 delivered under seal, and are all opened at the 
 same time. 
 
 The attention of the public has been occupied 
 lately by various criminal prosecutions for libels ; 
 and it is observed that these sort of prosecutions 
 have been uncommonly frequent the two or three 
 last years. There is a sort of half-prosecution 
 more particularly obnoxious. The attorney-ge- 
 jjU neral informs, e.v officio, against the author or 
 publisher of any writing deemed a libel against 
 jj the government. The accused is obliged to give 
 p. |f a heavy bail j he is put to considerable expense 
 and inconvenience j has to retain counsel, arid 
 prepare his defence. Meanwhile, the attorney- 
 general, by not bringing the trial to an issue, 
 leaves the sword of the law hanging over the
 
 LONDON LIBERTY OTf THE PRESS. 239 
 
 head of the culprit. If he went on with his pro- 
 secution, the judge, or at least the jury, might 
 clear the prisoner ; but this sort of prospective 
 punishment, depending merely on his will, an- 
 swers his purpose completely, which is to silence 
 troublesome writers. Of seventy libellers against 
 whom informations were filed by the attorney- 
 general, in three years, seventeen only have been 
 prosecuted to judgment ; and it is asserted that 
 the thirty years preceding had not produced any 
 more. Lord Holland, in the upper house, and 
 Lord Folkestone, in the lower, introduced some 
 motions, the object of which was, to restrict ar- 
 bitrary proceedings, so contrary to the spirit and 
 general practice of the criminal law of England,^ 
 but they were rejected. 
 
 The liberty of the press is the palladium of 
 English liberty, and, at the same time, its curse j 
 a vivifying and decomposing principle, inces- 
 santly at work in the body-politic. The censor- 
 ship of the Romans was not half so efficacious as 
 this modern one of the press ; but its abuse is in- 
 tolerable ; and it is quite right that those who 
 undertake the office should be made responsible 
 for their acts. Nothing can be more vague and 
 variable than the laws, or rather the customs, re- 
 stricting the publication of those defamatory 
 writings called libels, and consequently nothing 
 more defective in English legislation. The con-
 
 240 LONDON- LIBERTY OF THE PRESS. 
 
 stitution, or at least the oldest charter and sta- 
 tutes, are silent respecting a thing hardly known 
 x^in former times. And, when the invention of 
 printing gave rise to frequent libels, the Roman 
 law became naturally the first guide of the courts 
 of justice respecting them. They might find 
 there precedents of great severity ; but, as proof 
 of the imputations contained in the libel was ad- 
 mitted in justification among the Romans, it ap- 
 pears to have been so likewise among the Eng- 
 lish to the time of Elizabeth, and even under her 
 _M successors. The arbitrary court, known by the 
 name of the Star-chamber, established censors of 
 the press, without whose permission nothing 
 could be printed ; and offenders were punished 
 with the greatest rigour, and without a jury. 
 \fyA These regulations continued till after the Revolu- 
 tion, which brought William III. to the throne ; 
 and the liberty of the press was established in 
 England in 1694, by the simple expiration of the 
 laws which repressed it. Since that time, it has 
 had no other limits but those resulting from the 
 gross abuse of this liberty. To define the abuse 
 is, however, a nice and difficult undertaking ; 
 and there is on this subject an interminable con- 
 troversy between the party attached to power 
 and the party attached to liberty. In every cri- 
 minal trial the jury decide not only on the act, 
 but on the intention of the act, which alone con- 
 
 
 ,
 
 LONDON LIBELS. 241 
 
 criminality ; for homicide itself may, ac- 
 cording to circumstances, not be a crime ; yet, 
 in cases of libel, the judges, in their zeal against 
 an offence particularly obnoxious to power, avail* * l.j^ 
 ing themselves of a precedent furnished by the 
 Star-Chamber, introduced a strange distinction : 
 They charged the jury to look to the simple 
 
 fact of publication, without inquiring into any 
 of the circumstances tending to ascertain the in- 
 tention, reserving to themselves aloae to judge * /,( 
 
 of that, and consequently of the criminality. ><ti/i^ 
 
 tention, reserving to themselves aloae to judge 
 of that, and consequently of the criminality. >< 
 The jury have not always submitted implicitly 
 to the arbitrary dictates of the bench, and, in * 
 
 many instances, have acquitted the author of an ^j) ' 
 
 injurious publication, justified by circumstances. 
 At last, Parliament put an end to this scandal- 
 ous conflict of power, by deciding, on a motion fa /r 
 of Mr Fox, that the jury should proceed in cases 
 of libels as in other criminal cases. 
 
 The individual accused of publishing a libel 
 is not admitted, however, to plead the truth 
 in his defence. The greater the truth the great- 
 er the libel, seems to be an axiom in law ; and 
 there are some very good reasons in support 
 of it. The public has nothing to do with the 
 weaknesses, the infirmities, or even the vices of 
 private individuals, and those who suffer from 
 them have their remedy in law, Great vices are 
 
 VOL. II, Q 
 
 U s, (e*p
 
 242 LONDON LIBELS DUELS. 
 
 sufficiently known, and inferior ones had better 
 remain in obscurity ; all men have their share of 
 them, and the knowledge of those of others has 
 a tendency to reconcile us with our own. Pub- 
 licity degrades, but does not amend. Should the 
 legal remedy against libellers be rendered more 
 difficult to obtain, and the truth be allowed to 
 be given in evidence, the party aggrieved, in- 
 stead of seeking protection from the law, would 
 protect himself by personal violence, and perhaps 
 assassination. The first object of the laws is the 
 safety of the individual ; they are a sort of treaty 
 of peace between enemies, rather than a system 
 of pure morality, and their test is public utility 
 alone. Possibly the characters of public men, 
 or candidates for places, should be excepted, and 
 a libel against them deemed no libel, if true, 
 provided the criminality was made the greater if 
 the truth was not fully made out. The jury 
 knows very well the state of the case as to peo- 
 ple in conspicuous situations ; and in reality the 
 accused runs very little risk if he has spoken the 
 J^ t truth with good motives, and may trust to the 
 unanimity of twelve disinterested men. ^ 
 
 
 The English constitution is pliable in its na- 
 ture j it yields to circumstances, and has not al- 
 u i [0 * t t i>. ways held the same language respecting libels as 
 
 we have seen. Duels, which are another kind 
 of extra-judicial process between individuals, 
 
 / 
 
 ****
 
 LONDON DUELS LIBELS. 245 
 
 were rigorously punished with death in the six- 
 teenth and seventeenth centuries, because they 
 were then too extravagantly common to be tole- 
 rated ; in the nineteenth the law is suffered to 
 sleep, it is disregarded ; and if the motives of 
 the duel are such as public opinion sanctions, 
 they are tacitly admitted likewise by the law ; 
 and a premeditated duel passes now for an acci- 
 dental rencontre, or any thing but murder, be- 
 cause the cases are few, and are deemed a useful 
 corrective of manners. Libels, on the contrary, 
 are at their maximum ; they form the main de- 
 pendence of the public papers, -an important 
 branch of the book-trade ; and there is scarcely 
 a political pamphlet published which is not a 
 down-right libel. What is to be done in a crowd, 
 where everybody throws stones ? Shall we suffer 
 the innocent to be bruised and knocked down 
 because there are some who have deserved the 
 pelting ? And is it not better to stop all hands, 
 without distinction, or at least those who fling 
 the largest stones, than to listen to the reasons 
 they may allege for their proceedings, which, 
 however good they may be, do not prevent the 
 abuse ? 
 
 The most enlightened lawyer and the greatest 
 statesman of whom the United States have to 
 boast, as well as the purest patriot after Wash-
 
 LONDON LIBELS. 
 
 iiigton, defined the liberty of the press, " The 
 right of publishing the truth, with good motives, 
 and to a useful end, whether it inculpates the 
 government, the magistrates, or private indivi- 
 duals," &c. &c.* This right of insulting public- 
 ly private individuals, and subjecting them to 
 this ordeal of the press, at the good-will and 
 pleasure of any adventurer of the pen, appears 
 to me extremely questionable in itself, and, at 
 ; ., J #' any rate, very likely to do more harm than good. 
 
 to me extremely questionable in itself, and, at 
 any rate, very likely to do more harm than good. 
 ft' Consulting Hume respecting the practice of old 
 times as to libels, I happened to meet with the 
 
 r fa r** 
 
 following very curious passage.^ It is a conver- 
 fty * ^V^ sation between two most illustrious personages ; 
 no less than Queen Elizabeth and Lord Bacon, 
 told in the words of the latter. " The Queen 
 was mightily incensed against Haywarde, on ac- 
 
 count of a book he dedicated to Lord Essex, be- 
 ing a story of the first years of King Henry IV., 
 thinking it a seditious prelude, to put into the 
 
 * Hamilton had studied the law too late in life to be pro- 
 perly a learned lawyer ; but he possessed eminently the spirit 
 of the law, soon mastered by his comprehensive genius. His 
 definition of the liberty of the press may be seen in Johnson's 
 Reports, vol. III. People v. Ooswell. 
 
 J The writer of this Journal would not have thought it ne- 
 cessary to extract these passages from Hume, if he had origi- 
 nally intended to offer his book to the English public.
 
 LONDON LIBELS. 245 
 
 people's heads boldness and faction. She said, 
 she had an opinion that there was treason in it, 
 and asked me if I could not find places in it that 
 might be drawn into the case of treason. Where- 
 to I answered, for treason sure I found none, 
 but for felony very many. And when her Ma- 
 jesty hastily asked me, Wherein ? I told her the 
 author had committed very apparent thefts ; for 
 he had taken most of the sentences of Cornelius 
 Tacitus, and translated them into English, and 
 put them into his text. And another time, when 
 the Queen could not be persuaded that it was 
 his writing whose name was to it, but that it had 
 some more mischievous author, and said, with 
 great indignation, that she would have him rack- 
 ed to produce his author, I replied, ' Nay, Ma- 
 dam, he is a doctor, never rack his person, but 
 rack his style ; let him have>pen, ink, and paper, 
 and help of books, and be enjoined to continue 
 the story where it breaketh off, and I will under- 
 take, by collating the styles, to judge whether 
 
 was the author or not.'" 
 
 Hume was not an esprit fort in matters of go- 
 vernment as in religion ; his object here was to 
 shew that the English constitution had no very 
 ancient claim to liberty, and he must not be 
 trusted implicitly on the subject. He observes 
 further, that the English government of that pe- 
 riod resembled much that of Turkey in our days.
 
 246 LONDON LIBELS. 
 
 " The sovereign," he says, 6 possessed every 
 
 f ii 
 
 power, but that of imposing taxes ; and in both 
 yl I countries, this limitation, unsupported by other 
 privileges, appears rather prejudicial to the. peo- 
 ple. In Turkey, it obliges the Sultan to permit 
 
 
 
 the extortions of the bashaws and governors of 
 provinces, from whom he afterwards squeezes 
 presents, or takes forfeitures. In England, it 
 
 engaged the Queen to erect monopolies, and to 
 grant patents for exclusive trade ; an invention 
 so pernicious, that had she gone on, during a 
 tract of years, at her own rate, England, the seat 
 of riches, and arts, and commerce, would have 
 /iA contained at present as little industry as Moroc- 
 co, or the coast of Barbary." The historian is, 
 
 , however, obliged to admit, that this very neces- 
 
 \glff sity of obtaining the consent of Parliament to 
 raise subsidies, had been the means of extorting 
 
 \l tot successively all the privileges which constitute 
 y^ the liberty of the people ; and notwithstanding 
 the complaints of corruption and ministerial ma- 
 noeu\Ting in Parliament, the people share in all 
 the victories of its representatives in Parliament \ 
 they cannot extort for themselves, without ha- 
 ving first made themselves of consequence by 
 extorting for the people, in the sense of Hume. 
 And however paradoxical the position may ap- 
 pear, the corruption, or rather the selfish views 
 of the representatives of the people, are in fact,
 
 LONDON - MR UOSE*S PAMPHLET. 247 
 
 taking mankind as they are in general, and with 
 few exceptions, the best pledge of the faithful 
 discharge of their duty. 
 
 I cannot take leave of this subject, barren as -^ 
 it must appear to those who do not interest them- 
 selves particularly in the curious mechanism of -> 
 
 this singular government, without mentioning a 
 
 
 late pamphlet, already quoted, on the influence/^ j/y 
 of the Crown as connected with public expendi- 
 ture and public patronage, and comparing the ff 
 past and present times. The great anger of op- 
 position writers against this book, induced me to 
 >Tead it, suspecting a work so disliked !>y the con- 
 trary party must have some merit. Mr Rose, a 
 member of several successive administrations, is 
 
 the author, of course well acquainted with his 
 subject ; and although this is ex parts evidence, ///'' 
 yet the zeal of his antagonists is to be trusted, 
 and what they do not 
 
 granted. This author , , 
 
 great corrupt or, instead of disposing of the loans & ML^- 
 
 $ 
 
 , 
 
 disprove may be taken for 
 shews, that Mr Pitt, the 
 
 to his friends by private contracts, as had been 
 
 the custom with his predecessors, put them up *i&/lr 
 
 to the highest bidder, in the manner already sta- 
 
 ted, and the savings resulting from this change 
 
 are estimated at half a million sterling a year. 
 
 . 
 
 Another improvement of Mr Pitt's brought the 
 revenue of the crown-lands from L.4000, in 17^4, $*'
 
 248 
 
 LONDON MR ROSE*S PAMPHLET. 
 
 to L.63,OOO, fifteen years after ; and now proba- 
 bly L400,CXX), there being, in 17^4, eighty 
 j<f/vx^ members ot Parliament who held leases of these 
 lands ! Finally, Mr Rose presents to the public 
 t a grand total of two millions and a half of annu- 
 
 /U J( \f 1 1 
 
 al savings, resulting immediately from the great 
 
 f, . . 
 
 financier s measures. 
 
 He next shows that, by certain reforms in the 
 civil list in 1782, nine members of the House of 
 Peers lost places they held before ; and 37 mem- 
 bers in the House of Commons, including 15 
 
 *.A 
 
 
 places during the pleas 
 while in 173*^ there were 72, and in 1762, 96. 
 
 Notwithstanding the prodigious increase of the 
 army and navy, he enumerates only 44 persons 
 in the army, and 19 in the navy, as members of 
 Parliament, being about the same number as for- 
 merly. 
 
 The public revenue of 10 millions in 1783, em- 
 ployed 0.068 persons ; in 1808, 54 millions em- 
 ployed only !O,4.v5 persons ; these 1427 new 
 clerks cost L.880,OOO, which, for 44 millions of 
 additional revenue, makes the expence of collec- 
 tion less than two per cent. 
 
 Finally, " The whole revenue of Great Britain 
 is more than 60 millions a-year j the charge on
 
 LONDON MR ROSE*S PAMPHLET. 249 
 
 which, of L.242,OOO for pensions and sinecure 
 employments at home and abroad, is between 
 three farthings and one penny in the pound ; by . 
 their extinction, therefore, a person who pays 
 L.5O a-year taxes would save only 4s."* Mr Rose 
 finishes his pamphlet by an anecdote honourable 
 to Mr Pitt. When, in 1?89, he was about reti- 
 ring from the ministry, without fortune, and in 
 debt, a number of gentlemen of the city resolved 
 to raise a sum of L.I 00,000 to be presented to 
 him as a free gift, the well-earned reward of 
 his meritorious exertions ; each subscriber en- 
 gaging never to divulge the name of himself, or 
 of any other person contributing. Mr Pitt re- 
 fused this magnificent present ; and his reply 
 was, that if he should at any future period of his 
 life return to office, he should never seef a gen- 
 tleman from the city without its occurring to him 
 that he might be one of his subscribers.^ 
 
 The oppositionists, admitting these savings in 
 whole or in part, say that the annual expenditure 
 of 70 millions a year, the fruit of a war wantonly 
 
 * The very words of Mr Rose are here quoted, but I can- 
 sot help thinking there must be some mistake in this very small 
 total. 
 
 J- See must have been meant on official business, otherwise, 
 instead of a sentiment of delicacy, it would have been one of ' - 
 mere pride.
 
 
 $50 LONDON MR ROSE J S PAMPHLET. 
 
 provoked by Mr Pitt, creates at any rate an in- 
 fluence vastly greater than the former expendi- 
 ture of 24 millions. It is almost all for salaries, 
 securing a more extended and absolute depend- 
 ence than any other expenditure could do. Ad- 
 fitting, likewise, that there are not a greater 
 
 tfc number of army and navy members in Parlia- 
 ment, they maintain that the immense war-esta- 
 1 \Mn fid^^lishment enlists under the banners of govern- 
 ment an infinitely greater number of individuals 
 than it did formerly. They enumerate, besides, 
 several new departments of police, half-a-dozen 
 
 innovations, as threatens to overwhelm Mr Rose 
 and his pamphlet. Mr Cobbett and Mr Waith- 
 man, joining in the cry, tell us that one out of 
 every five persons you meet in the streets, is in 
 the pay of government, and this is of course a 
 fine text for them to preach a thorough reforma- 
 tion. I am not, however, at all sure that this 
 state of things would secure necessarily the in- 
 fluence of government ; the greater the number 
 of favoured individuals is, the more discontented 
 those who are left out must be. Every friend 
 gained creates four enemies ; and unless govern- 
 ment, reversing the present system, should re- 
 solve on retaining in future four men out of
 
 LONDON THEATRE MUSEUM. 251 
 
 every five, its influence must still be precarious j 
 jealousy being a much stronger and more active 
 stimulant than gratitude. 
 
 May 16. -The Hay- Market Theatre is pre- 
 cisely of the proper dimensions to hear and see. 
 Elliston, who is an excellent actor, filled the prin- 
 cipal part in an indifferent play, the subject of 
 which is taken from the story of Cardenio in 
 Don Quixote. There is, however, a very affect- 
 ing scene in it, that in which the unfortunate 
 madman meets the mistress he had lost, without 
 knowing her. Some faint recollections seem 
 excited by.her presence, and awaken his atten- 
 tion ; he contemplates her long in uneasy si- 
 lence ; remembrance, at last, and reason beam 
 upon his disordered mind ; he rushes towards 
 his mistress and falls senseless at her feet. The 
 shades of returning intelligence and sentiment, 
 the passage from stupid indifference to passi- 
 onate feelings, have been represented with great 
 skill. The hysterical laugh is a legitimate means 
 of expressing what could not be expressed half 
 so well otherwise ; but that heart rending sound 
 must be introduced very sparingly, and may ea- 
 sily become ridiculous instead of affecting. El- 
 liston repeated it three different times: it was 
 once, at least, too often. 
 
 Among the curiosities of London, the cabinet
 
 252 LONDON MUSEUM PANORAMAS. 
 
 of Natural History, known under the name of 
 the Liverpool Museum, deserves to be mention- 
 ed. The boa constrictor is a gigantic snake, 
 which makes the story of Laocoon quite proba- 
 ble. This one crushes a deer in its ample folds, 
 and tears it to pieces with its teeth ; it is about 
 35 feet in length, and as large as a man's thigh. 
 The giraffe is another prodigious animal. A 
 quadruped J 6 feet high, with a very pretty head 
 like a horse, and mild innocent look, at the top 
 of an immensely long, yet graceful, crane neck. 
 This animal is singularly gifted to discover all 
 approaching danger from his tower of observa- 
 tion, and to fly from it with his seven-league 
 boots. A moderate-sized elephant near him 
 looked quite small. 
 
 There are new panoramas this year at Mr Bar- 
 ker's, as admirable as those he exhibited the last. 
 / ^^ We have just seen Malta. The gairish light of 
 day, white and dazzling ; the strong and per- 
 pendicular shadows ; the dusty land ; the calm 
 /.J; and glassy sea, paint heat to the eye. The inha- 
 1 bitants overcome, lie about in the shade of nar- 
 row streets ; a centinel alone is seen pacing his 
 watch before the gate of the arsenal. The small- 
 est details are characteristic, and represented 
 with perfect truth, and, at the same time, with 
 poetical taste and feeling. We learned, with 
 
 A ,/U*L/L lit .hnl^n ./,, // *^ 'Ij&J 
 
 0*4
 
 LONDON MOLINEUX AND RIMMER. 253 
 
 much regret, that the panorama of Dover, which 
 we admired so much last year, was painted on 
 this identical cloth. Malta is laid over Dover, 
 and Dover covers half-a-dozen more chefs-d'oeu- 
 vre ! I should be much tempted to rescue a few 
 of them if I could, and carry off some of Mr Bar- 
 ker's canvas as Lord Elgin has done Phidias's 
 marbles. The circumference of the panorama is 
 about 270 feet, the height 30 feet, the surface 
 about 90O square yards. Unfortunately the Ame- 
 rican government is brouille just now with Bri- 
 tish arts and manufactures, and, void of sympathy 
 for my feelings on the occasion, would lay violent 
 hands on Malta. 
 
 May 22. The expected meeting between Mo- 
 lineux, the black, from America, and a Lanca- 
 shire pugilist (Ilimmer), took place yesterday. 
 These sorts of combats being peculiar to the 
 country, I wished to be present at one of them, 
 and repaired early to the field, (Molesey Hurst, 
 near Hampton Court, 15 miles from London,) 
 with Mr S., who had the goodness to accompany 
 me. \Ve found an immense ring already formed, 
 a sort of Scythian entrenchment of carts and 
 waggons, arranged side by side in double and 
 treble rows, without horses. This is a contri- 
 vance of the country people, who speculate on 
 the curiosity of the Londoners, and let their ele- 
 vated vehicles to the amateurs of the fist. We
 
 254 LONDON MOLINEUX AND RIMMER. 
 
 made our bargain, and mounted a cart, whence 
 we had a full view of the immense crowd already 
 assembled inside the ring of carts, in the centre 
 of which we could see a smaller ring, perhaps 4O 
 feet across, surrounded with stakes and a rope. 
 About half after twelve o'clock, Rimmer appear- 
 ed in the ring, a tall, good-looking young man, 
 with a high colour. The black arrived soon after, 
 mounted on the box of a barouche and four, 
 with some young men of fashion ; he was muf- 
 fled up in great-coats, and seemed a clumsy-look- 
 ing fellow. Here began a scene quite unexpect- 
 ed to me, the clearing of the ring. All the box- 
 ers in town, professional and amateurs, charged 
 the mob at once, which giving way in confusion, 
 formed a sort of irregular circle outside the rope- 
 ring, but not large enough. With sticks and 
 whips applied, sous ctrtimonic, these champions 
 of the fist pressed back the compact mass. I ex- 
 pected every moment a general engagement, 
 nothing of the kind ; the mob shrunk from the 
 flogging, but without resentment. ' J is true, the 
 blows appeared to be directed mostly over the 
 heads or' the first ranks, and fell on those five or 
 six deep ; the weapons being mostly coachmen's 
 or carters' long whips. These rear ranks, assail- 
 ed by an invisible hand, had no resource but a 
 retreat, and made way for those in front ; the 
 latter, squatting down on the turf, formed, at
 
 LONDON MOLINEUX AND R1MMER. 255 
 
 last, a sort of barrier over which the crowd could 
 see. The combatants soon stripped ; the black 
 exhibiting the arms, breast, and shoulders of 
 Hercules, with the " head, scarce more exten- 
 sive than the sinewy neck j" his legs also ex- 
 tremely muscular, and not much of the negro 
 make. The Lancashire man, taller and broader, 
 but not so deep,* square, and muscular, appear- 
 ed undaunted, and had lost none of his colour. 
 They shook hands and stood on their defence, 
 shy to begin for some minutes. I could not tell 
 who gave the first blow, so quickly was it return- 
 ed. The Lancashire man fell and fell again. 
 One of the rounds he closed with the black, 
 threw him, and fell over himself. Twice more, I 
 think, he attempted to wrestle, with various suc- 
 cess, but was often knocked down. His left eye 
 appeared closed, and he was all stained with 
 blood ; I could not well distinguish where it 
 came from. The blood was not so visible on the 
 skin of the black, but I observed that he was 
 much more out of breath than his adversary. 
 
 C'est un plaisir de les voir se baisser, 
 Se relever, ivculer, avancer, 
 Parer, sauter, se menager des feintes, 
 Et se porter les plus vives atteintes. 
 
 * Pugilists consider the depth of the chest as a surer indi- 
 cation of strength than the breadth.
 
 256* LONDON MOLINEUX AND RIMMER. 
 
 At every round, which is generally terminated 
 by a fall, the seconds raise their friend, wipe 
 the blood, bathing his temples with a sponge 
 dipped in vinegar and water. The champion 
 who did not fall sits in the meantime on the bend- 
 ed knee of one of his seconds, leaning upon him, 
 to take as much rest as he can, and is refreshed 
 also by sponging. The battle had lasted half an 
 hour, about twenty rounds, the Lancashire- 
 man always thrown ; when all at once the bar- 
 rier was broken, an irruption of the mob took 
 place, and soon became general, rushing towards 
 the centre, and overwhelming the ring and its 
 occupants. I lost sight of the combatants. Whips 
 and sticks were lifted up in vain, there was not 
 even room to strike. All was clamour, and strug- 
 gle, and confusion, for 20 minutes. At last we 
 saw the ropes and stakes taken away, as if any 
 further battle was out of the question, or an ad- 
 journment intended to some other spot. Unwil- 
 ling to lose their sport, the mob seemed to give 
 way a little, and had no sooner made an open- 
 ing, than a desperate charge drove them back to 
 their former situation, where squatting again, or- 
 der was restored, and the combatants stood. The 
 white man seemed still able and stout, but fell 
 like an ox under the club of the butcher at the 
 first round, at the second, and so on, from 
 bad to worse, rising each time with more diffi- 
 
 7
 
 LONDON MOLINEUX AND RIMMER. 257 
 
 culty. It became a shocking sight. Victory 
 was out of the question, and had been so almost 
 from the beginning. His better wind might have 
 afforded him a chance, he had lost it by the in- 
 termption. The black was now fresh, he press- 
 ed his exhausted adversary, retreating before 
 him. At last a knock-down blow laid him pro- 
 strate near the ring of spectators (for the rope- 
 ring was gone). In vain his seconds, exerting 
 themselves about him, raised him from the 
 ground ; his head hung on his breast, he could 
 not stand, he appeared kors de combat, and the 
 prescribed time to face his adversary having ex- 
 pired (two or three minutes), victory was decla- 
 red on the other side. Hats flew, -cries rent the 
 air ; the black, meantime, grinning over his fallen 
 adversary in Homeric triumph ! The mob rushed 
 in from all parts ; and we rushed out, not wish- 
 ing to see any more, and, finding our vehicle, 
 drove back to London. 
 
 This was not deemed a good battle. Young 
 Rimmer over-rated his own strength, and has 
 been punished for his temerity. The black will 
 not meet with many pugilists equal to him in 
 point of muscle, but he wants wind and cool- 
 ness ; he puts himself in a passion, and will be 
 beat by the professors, if he dares try them.* A 
 
 * In October following, after we had left England, this black 
 VOL. II. U
 
 2,58 LONDON MADAME CATALANI. 
 
 pleasing reflection softened the brutality of this 
 sight ; it was the impartiality with which the po- 
 |i gkjffypulace observed the lot du combat, and saw one 
 of their own people thus mauled and bruised by 
 ^ ,/w/ ) a foreigner and a negro, suffering him to enjoy 
 his triumph unmolested ; for the interruption 
 had been a mere ebullition of curiosity and en- 
 thusiastic admiration for the art, not ill-will or 
 unfair interference. When I call this collection 
 of people populace, I do not mean that they 
 were aU low people ; there were no ragged coats 
 in sight, and half the mob were gentlemen. ^ 
 
 Passing from one extreme to the other, I went 
 the same evening to hear Madame Catalani in a 
 comic opera, for the first time, 11 Fanatico per 
 la Musica, something like the French Melo- 
 manie, but not comparable as a composition. It 
 is dull, and too long, but Naldi is an excellent 
 comedian, and Madame Catalani is much greater 
 in the comic than in the tragic department. Her 
 voice, so full, so strong, and so sweet, is the 
 least of her charms ; the modest playfulness of 
 her action, the tenderness and sweetness of her 
 expression, are bewitching beyond any thing I 
 had imagined. I have not seen the character of 
 a gentleman introduced on the English stage j 
 
 man fought with the champion of England, Cribb, and was well 
 
 punished. 
 
 /it ^
 
 LONDON HOUSES. 259 
 
 there are rakes, humourists, philosophers, and 
 odd gentlemen of all sorts, but a mere finished* 
 gentleman has not, I believe, been introduced, 
 and there would not be any body to act the part. 
 Now Madame Catalani was to-night a finished 
 lady, polite, delicate, and refined, without any 
 eccentricity or originality to disturb the harmony 
 of her expression. 
 
 We have spent a few days with some of our 
 friends in Hertfordshire, 20 miles north of Lon- 
 don. For half that distance you travel between 
 two rows of brick houses, to which new ones are 
 added every day ; their walls are frightfully thin, 
 a single brick of eight inches, and, instead of 
 beams, mere planks lying on an edge. I am in- 
 formed, it is made an express condition in the 
 leases of these shades of houses, that there shall 
 be no dances given in them ; and, as if to de- 
 stroy the little solidity of which such thin walls 
 are susceptible, they generally place a window 
 above the pier below, and a pier above the win- 
 dow below. London extends its great polypus- 
 arms over the country around. The population 
 is not increased by any means in proportion to 
 
 
 * Lord Ogleby, in the excellent comedy of the Clandestine 
 Marriage, approaches the character ; yet he is too much what 
 would be called in France an original. Sir Charles Easy, in the 
 Careless Husband, comes nearer to it.
 
 260 LONDON HOUSES BRICK-KILNS. 
 
 these appearances, only transferred from the 
 centre to the extremities. This centre is be- 
 come a mere counting-house, or place of busi- 
 ness. People live in the outskirts of the town in 
 better air, larger houses, and at a smaller 
 rent, and stages passing every half hour faci- 
 litate communications. Certain parts of these 
 extremities of the town are, however, exposed to 
 a great nuisance ; the air is poisoned by the ema- 
 nation from brick-kilns, exactly like carrion, to 
 such a degree, as to excite nausea, and the ut- 
 most disgust, till the cause of the smell is known ; 
 when the immediate relief experienced, shews 
 Ss how much imagination and association have to do 
 with what seems mere sensation. As soon as we 
 got beyond the sight and the smell of bricks the 
 country appeared to great advantage. We had 
 on the right, at some distance, a range of very 
 pretty hills, well wooded, and with gentlemen's 
 
 fojtt^ houses here and there on the slope. These hills 
 are, I believe, part of the site of Epping Forest, 
 as it is called ; of which, as of most other Eng- 
 
 [\tf lish forests, (the New Forest excepted,) not a 
 vestige seems to remain. The groves we saw 
 were modern plantations, made by London citi- 
 zens round their country-boxes. Mr Gilpin, who 
 was very fond of the New Forest, describing it, 
 said exultingly, that it was " not like a French 
 forest, planted in rows." Mr Gilpin did not
 
 HERTFORDSHIRE THE NIGHTINGALE. 261 
 
 know that there are forests in France as large as 
 two or three English counties, and as old as the 
 creation. This is an instance, certainly rare here, 
 of that ignorance of foreign countries so common 
 in France. 
 
 The environs of Hertford present really some 
 appearances of forest, though without the name, 
 and the surface of the country is very agreeably 
 diversified with woody hills and grassy dales, of- 
 fering fine distant prospects. We have heard 
 here the nightingale for the first time in Eng- 
 land. Fancy had embellished the faded recol- 
 lection in my mind. I imagined it a long unin- 
 terrupted tale of woe, the note deep and strong, 
 but soft, tender, and melancholy j instead of 
 which, it is a quick succession of strong, sharp, 
 brisk notes. Shrill whistling occurs very often, 
 not unlike the blackbird. There is indeed a sort 
 of water-note, which is very beautiful, approach- 
 ing what I had imagined, but it is so soon inter- 
 rupted by another quite different, that you have 
 not time to enjoy it. Upon the whole it is a live- 
 ly, pleasing, vulgar sort of melody, inferior per- 
 haps to the singing of other birds of less fame. 
 The circumstances of night and silence, and the 
 trite allusions of the poets, have contributed to 
 this adventitious fame of Philomel. Contrary to 
 what I should have supposed, the nightingale is 
 heard to more advantage near than far off.
 
 2fi2 HERTFORD COLLEGE. 
 
 The East India Company formed here a few 
 years ago a magnificent establishment, for the 
 education of young men destined to its service. 
 The college is a quadrangle, about 40O feet every 
 way, inclosing an area of four acres of lawn ; 
 around which the apartments of the students and 
 halls for the lectures are distributed. The prin- 
 cipal front presents a long low line, adorned with 
 three pediments ; the one in the middle, support- 
 ed by six columns, is tacked to a dead wall, and 
 leads to nothing, which has not a good effect ; 
 the two end ones are, on the contrary, all open, 
 and the light is seen through. This edifice is 
 built of Portland-stone, on a rising ground, with 
 a gravelled terrace before it, a sloping lawn, 
 and a back ground of trees. 
 
 There are at present ninety young men in the 
 college, from 15 to 1H years of age, and the num- 
 ber increasing, who all have an appointment in 
 the Company's service. They pay L. 1OO a-year : 
 board and lodging in the house, and even wash- 
 ing, are included. They have each a small room 
 with a fire-place, and a recess for a bed ; no 
 fees to the professors, whose lectures they at- 
 tend three hours a-day. The rest of their time 
 is taken up with reading and preparing them- 
 selves for the lectures, or lessons, which seem to 
 be very strict and effectual. There are besides, 
 two general examinations each year, when they
 
 HERTFORD COLLEGE. 263 
 
 have to answer questions on their different stu- 
 dies in writing, without leaving the room, with- 
 out consulting any books, and without knowing 
 before-hand the precise questions, although they 
 know the subjects in general upon which they 
 are to be examined. I saw in the hands of one 
 of the professors, (the author of the celebrated 
 Essay on Population,) a number of these manu- 
 scripts passing every day under his eyes, contain- 
 ing often twenty or thirty pages, on political 
 economy and history, some of them extremely 
 good. There are eight professors, besides the 
 principal. The professor of oriental languages, 
 Mr Hamilton, is first-cousin of our General Ha- 
 milton, the most distinguished character in the 
 United States after Washington. ^ 
 
 The first cost of this establishment was one 
 hundred thousand pounds. It is connected with 
 another establishment in India, to which the stu- 
 dents are sent from this college to finish their 
 education in the essential branch of the oriental 
 languages. They remain there till they are suf- 
 ficiently perfect in them, which takes from one 
 to three, or even more years. * The East India 
 directors begin to think it very expensive, and 
 
 * The annual expence of the college at Calcutta is said to 
 exceed L.I 00,000 sterling, and every student costs the Com- 
 pany nearly L. 1 000 sterling a-ycar.
 
 264- BRITISH EMPIRE IN INDIA. 
 
 the parents of the young men complain also of 
 the loss of three years in the race of fortune 
 which their children are destined to run, as a 
 great hardship ; but all parties are gone too far 
 to recede, and they will continue to do good, and 
 to receive it, in spite of themselves. The good 
 is undoubted ; and India will have in future ma- 
 gistrates and legislators better fitted for their si- 
 tuation, by their general education and know- 
 ledge of the Eastern languages, than they were 
 formerly. The power of this singular empire is, 
 more than any other, founded on opinion, and 
 it would not long survive the contempt of the 
 people. 
 
 The English empire in the East Indies is a po- 
 litical phenomenon, so recent in its present ex- 
 tent, that little is known about it out of Eng- 
 land ; and there never was, perhaps, any event 
 half so important, or half so extraordinary, about 
 which the contemporary generation were equally 
 ignorant. The wonderful events of the last 20 
 years, nearer us, and of such paramount interest, 
 have taken off our attention from what passed in 
 the antipodes. 
 
 About a hundred years ago, the Mogul em- 
 pire had reached the summit of greatness under 
 Aurung Zeb ; it included the whole peninsula 
 of India between the Ganges and the Indus, 
 that is to say, nearly the present dominions of 

 
 BRITISH EMPIRE IN INDIA. 265 
 
 England in the East. The revenue of that prince 
 amounted to thirty-two millions sterling, equal 
 to four times that sum in our days, and he 
 commanded an army of 1,200,000 men.* The 
 Tartar dynasty was overthrown thirty years after 
 the death of Aurung Zeb, by 100,000 Persians ; 
 and after them, the Mahrattas became, in a great 
 degree, masters of the peninsula of India. Alex- 
 ander, with his 30,000 Greeks, over-ran it for. 
 merly without difficulty. Adetachment of French 
 troops made a revolution in the Decan with less 
 than a tenth part of the forces of Alexander. In 
 1756, Colonel Clive avenged his countrymen 
 smothered in the black-hole of Calcutta, and with 
 50O men dethroned the tyrant of Bengal. India 
 belongs to whoever chooses to take it. M$ /i&j /in 
 The English began their establishment in India 
 
 t/w ffl*^*W* 
 
 later than the other European powers, yet they 
 possessed, in 1 792, a province of about \ 00 leagues 
 square, at the mouth of the Ganges, the capital ^ 
 of which (Calcutta,) has acquired, under their 
 empire, a population of half a million of inha- 
 bitants. Thence to Madras they had only a strip 
 along the sea, interrupted in two different places, 
 but, since 1792, they have quintupled their ac- 
 
 * Histoire Philosophique et Politique, &c.
 
 266 BRITISH EMPIRE IN INDIA. 
 
 quisitions, either by absolute conquest, or by sub- 
 sidiary treaties leading to possession ; and have 
 at last found themselves masters of a territory 
 > peopled by sixty millions of subjects. The first 
 step has generally been, granting a permanent 
 assistance of troops for a certain annual payment 
 or tribute. The friendly power, thus released 
 from the care of self-defence, was detached from 
 any other alliances. The enemies of that friend 
 were in due time subjugated, next himself, be- 
 cause of his ingratitude. He had been asked for 
 an increase of tribute, or a security for the re- 
 gular payment of it ; or for a compensation in 
 territory, or a formal cession for a valuable con- 
 sideration ; and these terms being rejected, the 
 friend was forthwith dispossessed. The inter- 
 course of the British government in India with 
 the native powers, whether it began in friendship 
 or enmity, seems to have ended uniformly in this 
 manner. A very intelligent writer in the oppo- 
 sf sition (Lord Lauderdale,) compares the accusa- 
 tions against the native princes, which have ge- 
 nerally preceded the seizure of their possessions, 
 to the libels of the French government against 
 the oppressed powers of Europe during the very 
 same period. This awkward and contemptible 
 juggling, by which a semblance of right is at- 
 tempted to be given to mere might, is, how- 
 , much older than our own times j and even
 
 BRITISH EMPIRE IN INDIA. 267 
 
 wolf and lamb, probably, did not furnish 
 the original precedent. 
 
 The fact, of a country becoming permanently 
 the master of another, situated on the other side 
 of the globe, and the population of which is four 
 times its own,* is quite without an example in 
 history ; and the astonishment increases, when 
 we consider that it is not even a sovereign state, 
 a prince, or a people, but a mere company of 
 merchants, which became possessed of this vast 
 empire without intending it, without their know- 
 ledge, and almost against their orders. 
 
 Parliament established, in J7S4, a Board of 
 Control, to superintend the measures of the Com- 
 pany, and declared solemnly, that it was repug- 
 nant to the wish, the honour, and the policy of 
 the British nation, to pursue schemes of con- 
 quest, and to extend the possessions of the Com. 
 pany in India, enjoining, at the same time, the 
 strictest observance of moderation and justice 
 towards the native princes. It is notorious, that 
 the Company itself has always been averse to a 
 system of conquest, yet conquests have been 
 made by their governors and generals, and sanc- 
 tioned by this very Board of Control, appointed -_ 
 
 * The population of British India is estimated at one man to 
 fourteen acres; in England there are five acres to a roan ; in 
 China, according to Barrow, two acres and a half.
 
 268 BRITISH EMPIRE IN INDIA. 
 
 as a check j once made, they have been kept, 
 and no inquiry instituted into the proceedings. 
 In a complicated government, like this of Eng- 
 land, it is often difficult to trace irregularities to 
 their true cause, and find where responsibility is 
 to rest. 
 
 Conquests are very expensive. The British 
 had in India, in 1803, an army of 125,OOO men ; 
 viz. 25,OOO Europeans, 9O,OOO native troops, and 
 1O,OOO invalids, irregulars, and Lascars. The 
 consequence of this enormous establishment has 
 been a twofold debt, in Europe and in India, 
 amounting altogether to thirty-five millions ster- 
 ling. The annual revenue of the country (fifteen 
 millions,) is more than absorbed by the civil and 
 military establishment, and the debt increases 
 annually. The Company has necessary remit- 
 tances to make to Europe, for the fitting out of 
 vessels, shipping of troops, salary of agents and 
 officers, pensions, presents,* dividends to the 
 stockholders, and finally, for the half million they 
 are bound to pay annually to the government. 
 Therefore they are obliged to import annually 
 from India a certain quantity of merchandise, 
 greater than the consumption of England re- 
 
 * The pensions allowed by the Company exceed L. 40,000 
 sterling a-vear ; and the presents to various persons, from 1794- 
 to 1806, amounted to L.359,000.
 
 BRITISH EMPIRE IN INDIA. 269 
 
 quires, its own manufactures supplying the same 
 goods cheaper, and the vent being otherwise 
 very much reduced by the circumstance of the 
 ports of the continent being shut against Bri- f]\i ft 
 tish commerce. The amount of the annual j k 
 importation of India goods, which had been, 
 in 1798, L.4,667,OOO, was, in 1808, reduced to 
 L. 1 , 1 9 1 ,OOO ; that is to say, reduced three-fourths 
 
 t\ Ml*' 
 
 
 
 
 in ten years ; and the declension of prices was 
 still more remarkable, since the importation of 
 1798 gave L.298,OOO profits, while that of 1808 > /^ 
 
 gave L.264,OOO loss ! The Company sends no 
 more silver to India for the purchase of goods, V 
 as it did formerly. These sovereign merchants 
 do not in fact carry on any trade, or at least it is > 
 a trade of pure remittance.* They merely bring 
 
 * Lord Lauderdale mentions in his work on India, already 
 quoted, two traditional anecdotes of the Gentoos, in proof of 
 the former perfection and present degeneracy of Indian manu- 
 factures, ascribed, of course, to the exclusive regimen of the 
 Company. There was a sort of muslin, called abrovan, which 
 was manufactured solely for the use of the Emperor's seraglio, 
 a piece of which, costing 400 rupees, or L.50 sterling, is said , A $ 
 to have weighed only five sicca- rupees, and, if spread upon 
 wet grass, to have been scarcely visible. The Emperor Aurung A ttj^ 
 Zeb was angry with his daughter for shewing her skin through 
 her clothes: whereupon the young princess remonstrated in 
 her justification, that she had seven jamahs, or suits, on. An- / ^J^. < 
 other of the tales was, that a weaver was chastised, and turned 
 out of the city of Decca, for his neglect, in not preventing hit foftr 
 cow from eating up a piece of the same sort of muslin whick 
 lie had spread, and carelessly left on the grass.
 
 2/0 BRITISH EMPIRE IN INDIA. 
 
 home a portion of their territorial revenue ne- 
 cessary to defray their disbursements in Europe, 
 shipping for that purpose Indian goods to a losing 
 market. That loss is such, that the Company 
 finds its interest in borrowing at 8 per cent, in 
 India, rather than at 5 per cent, in England. 
 The sum of interest, at 8 per cent., invested in 
 goods in India, and shipped to England, would 
 not net there a sum equal to the payment of in- 
 terest at 5z per cent, j which shews a loss of 
 about three-eighths, or 37 \ per cent. Exclusive 
 of the indispensable remittances of the Company, 
 its agents have remittances to make on their own 
 account to an amount not much inferior. One 
 out of ten of the young adventurers going to 
 India every year as Company's servants, survives 
 the climate and returns. Of this tenth a few in- 
 dividuals realize large fortunes. These fortunes 
 are brought to England ; and, as private con- s, 
 cerns are conducted with more activity and care 
 than public ones, these rich men find generally 
 indirect means for the transfer of their property, 
 less chargeable than those of the Company's 
 ships, under the flag of the United States, or 
 other neutrals. These private remittances swell, 
 however, ultimately, the quantity, already too 
 ^s great, of Indian goods in Europe. 
 
 If we consider the East India Company under 
 the point of view of trade, we have already seen
 
 BRITISH EMPIRE IN INDIA. 271 
 
 that it is worse than nothing. As a means of 
 bringing home the territorial revenue, the charges 
 attending the operation absorb or exceed that 
 revenue ; and, as to physical force, so far from 
 England deriving any from her sixty millions of 
 Indian subjects, she has to ship European troops s 
 annually, to keep up the complement of 20,OOO S 
 or 30,OOO men, whose ranks are rapidly thinned 
 by the climate. India enables a few individuals 
 to amass large fortunes, which are brought home, 
 and help to fill the loans. That seems to me the 
 extent of the benefit derived from its possession. 
 The Company employs and feeds, it is true, 
 5O,OOO persons in the city of London 5 but, if it 
 should be shewn that they are employed unpro- 
 fitably, then, in fact, they are fed at the expence 
 of the public. 
 
 Such is then that mine of wealth and power 
 from which England is supposed to draw her re- 
 sources ; the object of so much jealousy on the 
 part of her enemies, and of which they would 
 deprive her at any cost. Should they succeed, 
 they might find, after all, they had achieved little 
 against her, and still less for themselves. The 
 natives of India would be, as far as I can see, 
 the only losers by the expulsion of their present 
 masters, their condition being undoubtedly im- : 
 proved. Liberty is out of the question with them, 
 at least what is understood in Europe by that
 
 272 BRITISH EMPIRE IN INDIA, 
 
 name ; but they live at least under a government 
 of laws, administered impartially, and strong 
 enough to keep out foreign invaders. These are 
 the essentials of liberty, and much more than 
 India ever enjoyed before. The country has not 
 been brought to its present state of peace and 
 security without bloodshed and misery ; and some 
 individuals among the new masters of India have 
 been accused of great enormities. The charges 
 brought forward for party purposes were proba- 
 bly partly true and partly false ; but the acci- 
 dental and transient evils they exhibited were but 
 the habitual state of the country under its former 
 conquerors. Revolutions were so frequent, that 
 thirteen years had seen thirteen successive em- 
 perors dethroned and murdered ; and Reynal 
 quotes, on that occasion, an atrocious but ener- 
 getic line of an oriental poet : " Fathers, during 
 the lives of their sons, give all their affection to 
 their grandsons, because they see in them the 
 enemies of their enemies !" Sir Thomas Row, 
 traversing some of the provinces to go to Surat, 
 about 200 years ago, observed that he had met 
 more rebels than subjects, and that the roads 
 were lined with the heads of victims to an irre- 
 gular and ferocious policy.* Those barbarous 
 and profligate military despots, known by the 
 
 * Tennant's India.
 
 BRITISH EMPIRE IN INDIA. 273 
 
 name of Mahrattas, raised tributes on the people 
 by force of arms. They once overran the pro- 
 vince of Bengal with 80,000 horse, committing 
 the most horrid cruelties, under pretence of col- 
 lecting the tax called chout ;* and such inroads 
 were generally followed by famine and pestilence. 
 The country was at all times so infested with 
 banditti, that the husbandman durst not go to 
 his labour in the fields without arms to defend 
 himself. 
 
 This disgusting enumeration of calamities and 
 wretchedness might be extended much farther ; 
 but it is already sufficient to shew, that the un- 
 fortunate natives of India could not but gain by 
 the change of dominion ; and, notwithstanding 
 their prejudices, I understand they are sensible of 
 European superiority in general.^ Christianity 
 has hitherto made very little progress among 
 them ; but they rather wish their children to be 
 taught reading and writing in English, and this 
 may, in time, work great improvements. On the 
 other hand, the late confederacy of the Mahrattas 
 shews that the Indian princes have but too well 
 profited by the lessons of European tactics, which 
 
 * Tennant's India. 
 
 \ The governors-general of the Indian empire have been 
 very extraordinary men. It is enough to name Cornwallis, 
 Wcllesley, and, certainly, Hastings. 
 VOL. II, 
 
 trie
 
 274 BRITISH EMPIRE IN INDIA. 
 
 the English have given them of late years;* 
 and, to use the words of the celebrated Governor- 
 general Hastings, " the tou-ch of chance, or the 
 breath of opinion, might overthrow the British 
 power in India.'* It would not, however, be any 
 great misfortune. The British North-American 
 colonies, forming now the United States, were 
 likewise supposed of vital importance to the 
 power and commerce of the mother country be- 
 fore their separation, yet that power never was 
 so great before as it has shewn itself since, nor 
 that trade any thing like so extensive.t The navy 
 of Great Britain has doubled since it lost 40,000 
 American sailors. Her revenue has increased 
 fourfold since she relinquished for ever the right 
 of taxing America. If England has shewn itself 
 so little vulnerable on that memorable occasion, 
 it cannot reasonably be supposed that the loss of 
 a far more distant territory, furnishing neither 
 
 * Edin. Review, April 1810. 
 
 t At the close of the American war, the amount of the ex- 
 portation of domestic produce and manufactures from England 
 was about nine millions sterling ; at the commencement of the 
 French revolution fifteen millions ; and the average of the 
 three last years (1807 to 1810) has been twenty-six millions 
 sterling, in official, or about forty-two millions in actual value, 
 notwithstanding the recent obstacles. The part of these ex- 
 portationa to the United States was, in 1807, L7,264.,000, and, 
 in 1808, L. 3,798,000. 
 
 '/&"/***' 4
 
 BRITISH EMPIRE IN INDIA. 275 
 
 men nor money, and consuming none of her 
 manufactures,* could be felt essentially. 
 
 It is extremely probable that the importance 
 of the general foreign commerce of England has 
 been likewise exaggerated. I have under my 
 eye an official report of the inward and outward 
 tonnage of the port of London in one year. 
 The two-thirds of this tonnage appear to have 
 been employed in the coasting trade, that is, 
 1,250,OOO tons out of 1,779,826 tons. One-fifth 
 of the value of the goods shipped appear also to 
 have belonged to the coasting trade, and when 
 
 
 
 * The adversaries of the Company assert, that if the trade 
 of India were thrown open, individual industry would soon find 
 a market for British manufactures, and would know how to lead 
 the people of that country into temptations, and create a con- 
 sumption for new articles. They say also, that " ship-timber 
 of a quality vastly superior to any that grows in Europe, and 
 ships themselves, would form valuable remittances." The evi- 
 dence of the persons examined before the committee of th 
 House of Commons in 1809, confirms, in a great degree, these 
 opinions. 
 
 
 
 Since this was written the East-India trade has at last been 
 thrown open (1813), and after the 10th of April, 1814-, private 
 British ships will proceed to India under licences from the jJfo'] 
 Company, which cannot be refused, the goods brought to 
 particular ports in Great Britain. The Company may trade to 
 India like any other corporate body, and to China still exclu- 
 sively, and will retain the government and administration of 
 India, under the Board of Control, for twenty years longer. 
 HAMILTON'S National Debt. 

 
 276 BRITISH EMPIRE IN INDIA. 
 
 it is considered that the colonial trade employs 
 170,000 tons, or one-tenth of the above total of 
 1,779,826 tons, and in value |, or nearly the 
 two-fifths, the conclusion is, that the internal 
 trade of England and its colonies (supposing the 
 trade of other ports to be similar to that of Lon- 
 don,) employs about four-fifths of English ton- 
 nage, and three-fifths of English capital. It is 
 true that a part of the coasting trade is occasion- 
 ed by the foreign trade j but, as a very consider- 
 able part of the transportation of commodities is 
 effected by canals, of which no notice is taken 
 here, we may still suppose the coasting trade be- 
 longing solely to internal consumption not to 
 have been overrated. 
 
 I find, from another official document, that 
 from sixty to eighty * thousand tons of shipping 
 are built annually in Great Britain, and that two- 
 thirds of that tonnage are composed of vessels 
 from three tons to two hundred. Most of the 
 vessels employed in the coal trade for internal 
 consumption, exceed 2OO tons ; and I believe 
 the generality of coasting vessels are between 
 one and two hundred tons, therefore we may 
 
 * In 1790, 745 vessels were built, amounting to 63,285 tons. 
 
 1791,672 60,588 
 
 1804,714- 80,146 
 
 1805,713 . . . 71,256 
 
 . - r $
 
 \ 
 
 BRITISH EMPIRE IN INDIA. 277 
 
 fairly suppose the above two-thirds to be exclu- 
 sively applicable to the coasting trade ; a calcu- 
 lation which agrees nearly with the preceding. 
 
 These data are certainly not sufficiently pre- 
 cise and accurate to authorize alone any decided 
 opinion j yet they contribute to shew the supe- 
 rior extent and importance of the internal trade, 
 compared to the external. As to the revenue 
 accruing to the state from foreign trade,* as it 
 comes ultimately from the pockets of the con- 
 sumers, it might undoubtedly be drawn from the 
 same repositories by a direct instead of an indi- 
 rect tax, although with more unwillingness on 
 their part, if this foreign trade did not exist. The 
 revenue it affords is not very different from that 
 of lotteries, which assuredly do not give the peo- 
 ple the power of paying, but only the inclination. 
 The wealthy Englishman, who drinks claret and 
 Burgundy, would have been able to pay the duty 
 equally, although the wine had never been im- 
 ported j he would have been able indeed to pay 
 more in that case, viz. the first cost of the wine 
 remitted to France. 
 
 * The duties on importations, forming the direct revenue 
 from foreign trade, amount to nine or ten millions sterling 
 a-year only, while the excise, a tax wholly internal, produces 
 alone twice that revenue. 
 
 
 vi 
 
 C*JL*tj4)'
 
 278 BRITISH EMPIRE IN INDIA. 
 
 f *K-fr*4*l ,/hiL 
 
 * The wealth of England is due essentially to an 
 active internal circulation, a judicious division 
 of labour, and an extensive application of in- 
 genious and powerful machines to almost every 
 purpose requiring strength. A plentiful stock 
 of commodities of all sorts is produced by these 
 means. Comforts and enjoyments are diffused 
 among the people in greater abundance, and 
 with less inequality than in any other country in 
 the world. Great Britain might nearly do with- 
 out any external trade ; even without that of her 
 colonies, if her defence did not require a nursery 
 of sailors for the navy to be kept up. Colonies 
 are wanted for the navy, and a navy for the colo- 
 nies, as husbandmen for the fields, and fields for s 
 the husbandmen. A population of fifteen mil- 
 lions of men, on a territory capable of support- 
 ing, with proper management, double that num- 
 ber, living under a government of laws, de- 
 fended by the sea, and by the most powerful 
 navy in the world, may exist and prosper, al- 
 though it should not manufacture cloth and ca- 
 licoes for all its neig hbours, nor consume their 
 wine, their oil, and their silk. It is invincible, 
 however numerous its enemies, and solvent, what- 
 ever the amount of its debt be, if due to its own 
 citizens. 
 
 The examination of witnesses, now going on 
 before a committee of the House of Commons,
 
 LONDON DISTRESSES OF MANUFACTURERS. 279 
 
 respecting the causes of the distresses of manu- 
 facturers, and the means of relief, has produced 
 the disclosure of some curious facts. For in- 
 stance, the wages of weavers at Glasgow are 
 now reduced to one-fourth of what they were 
 nineteen years ago, although the price of provi- 
 sions and other necessaries has doubled in the 
 mean time ! This is not wholly occasioned by 
 the late interruptions of trade, but has been gra- 
 dually coming on. The system of throwing a 
 number of small farms into a few large ones, 
 the various improvements in agriculture, saving 
 labour, and above all, sheep farming, had, for 
 many years past, tended to reduce the demand 
 in the country, while the rapid increase of ma- 
 nufactures created a demand in the towns, and 
 a consequent rise of wages. At last the extend- 
 ed application of machinery, particularly the 
 steam-engine to manufactures, and the continual 
 influx of population from the country to the town, 
 reduced successively the great difference there 
 was nineteen years ago, between the respective 
 salaries of town and country, and the late cri- 
 sis of commerce has added to the existing causes 
 of distress, but has not been the only one. La- 
 bourers, placed between the steam-engine in 
 town, and sheep in the country, are threatened 
 with starvation amid systems of real plenty. The 
 remedies proposed by the deputations of work-
 
 280 LONDON DISTRESSES OF MANUFACTURERS. 
 
 men are all absurd, such as a minimum of prices 
 for their labour,-^taxes on machines, &c. &c. 
 The fact is, there are too many labourers ; and 
 the only remedy is, for a less number of young 
 men to take to the loom, and a greater number 
 to shoulder the musket, and to go on board ship. 
 These commercial difficulties have an evident 
 tendency to increase the effectual force of Eng- 
 land. 
 
 J am far from being disposed to " mock the 
 misery of a stinted meal," or to treat with levity 
 any particular class of men. It is no doubt very 
 easy to tell a weaver to chose another profession 
 for himself or his children ; What other is there 
 that is not full already ? Nor is it any great al- 
 leviation to his distress to point out to him the 
 recruiting officer ready to put the king's money 
 into bis hand, as a fair compensation for the 
 liberty of his whole life ; and the sea-service may 
 appear to him a still worse alternative. These 
 forced migrations of individuals from one profes- 
 sion to another, indifferent in a national point of 
 view, and even salutary at times, never take 
 ^Xx- place without inflicting severe distress upon those 
 individuals. The evil may be balanced by good 
 to the nation at large, but it bears, without alle- 
 viation or equivalent, upon the individual thrown 
 out of employment, the whole loss is his, the 
 whole benefit another's. No profession is so lia-
 
 HERTFORD* HATFIELD HOUSE PICTURES. 281 
 
 ble to vicissitudes of this sort as that of a ma- 
 nufacturer. 
 
 The Marquis of Salisbury has a fine house, or 
 rather palace, about ten miles west of Hertford 
 (Hatfield house). Its first appearance is quite 
 baronial, and very striking. Elizabeth resided 
 there some time before she came to the throne, 
 and the architecture is in the taste of that age. 
 A great brick quadrangle, with windows innu- 
 merable, round, square, or in a bow, and of all co- 
 lours ; the top herisse with turrets and belfrys ; 
 but, upon the whole, and although there is a 
 want of breadth of surface and simplicity, it is a 
 magnificent edifice. As we reached the door 
 and looked back, the vast lawn descending every 
 way, and the prodigiously fine trees, the remains 
 of an avenue, and dispersed everywhere, had 
 as great and pleasing an effect as any thing of the 
 sort we have yet seen in England. There was 
 some doubt whether we should be admitted, as 
 the Duke of Clarence was expected next day on 
 a visit, the Marquis of S. being already come to 
 receive his noble visitor, and the whole house in 
 the full tide of preparation. But the servants, 
 good souls, are very unwilling to disappoint 
 strangers, and we saw all. The apartments are 
 good, and there are some very handsome rooms ; 
 but I never saw such a collection of miserable 
 sign-post pictures any where before. A good
 
 282 HERTFORD TREES LONDON. 
 
 many of Albert Durer's, very hard and flat as 
 usual. Some of Leonardo da Vinci's nearly as 
 bad, and of Vandyke's hardly better. Portraits 
 by Sir Godfrey Kneller very bad also. One would 
 suppose the object of the collection had been to 
 show how badly great artists could paint. We 
 read the name of Mabeuse on the frames of a 
 number of very old and very shocking pictures, 
 purporting to be portraits of Henry VI., Henry 
 VII., and Queen Elizabeth. I do not know who 
 
 ^ Mabeuse was ; a wretched artist at any rate, who 
 seems to have been the painter in ordinary of 
 the court during about a century ! We walked 
 afterwards about the lawn and among the fine 
 old trees. One of them, an oak, was quite hol- 
 low, a mere shell j we stood, six of us, round the 
 inside, and there would have been room, besides, 
 for a small table in the centre between us. Out- 
 side it measured 24 feet in circumference. On 
 our return, we walked through Lord Cowper's 
 grounds. The sloping lawn before the house 
 and overhanging woods are highly beautiful. 
 There is an oak there, the trunk of which is 18 
 feet in circumference, noenormoussize,butthen 
 
 ^ it is quite a young subject, retaining still the co- 
 nical shape, and likely to grow for centuries to 
 come. The boughs cover 28 yards across, and 
 the height of the tree, guessed at by comparing 
 it with the known breadth, is about 140 feet.
 
 OSTERLEY HOUSE ANECDOTE. 285 
 
 May 30. We spent yesterday in London. 
 The heat was intense, and proceeding late to 
 Richmond, I arrived there quite ill, with a great 
 headach and fever. It could not have happened 
 to me in a better place than where skill and friend- 
 ship unite to hasten my recovery. Another of 
 our party was attacked with an intermittent fever 
 last year. It is somewhat singular, that, after 
 living more than twenty years in the country of 
 the yellow-fever with impunity, we should not be 
 proof against the heat of this northern climate. 
 
 June 2. We had the pleasure of being present 
 to-day when the widow of a hero (Sir Ralph A.) 
 received the news of the safety of her son, after 
 the dreadful battle of Badajos, where every fourth 
 man, and more than that proportion of officers, 
 were killed or wounded. This happy mother 
 heard, at the same time, of her son having greatly 
 distinguished himself in this his first action. The 
 English are in a fair way of showing to the rest 
 of Europe that they are not that nation bouti- 
 quitre they were taken for. Their enemies have 
 dechalandc the shop, and its courtands have turn- 
 ed soldiers. I have often thought, that, if France 
 had been allowed, at a certain period, to take to 
 the shop again, that is to say, to resume the arts 
 and occupations of peace, it might have proved 
 the best security for the rest of Europe. 
 
 June 8. Our friends have conducted us to Os-
 
 284- OSTERLEY HOUSE ANECDOTE. 
 
 terley House ; the country-house of the first 
 banker of his time (Robert Child) t and before 
 him that of the most eminent English merchant, 
 Sir Thomas Gresham. Queen Elizabeth paid a 
 visit to Sir Thomas, and slept in this house. The 
 following anecdote is recorded in Mr Nicholas 
 progress of that queen, copied into the Ambulator, 
 or Pocket Companion, for the circuit of twenty- 
 five miles round London, and from this humble 
 source I draw it. " Her Majesty found fault 
 with the court of the house, affirming it would 
 appear more handsome if divided with a court in 
 the middle. What does Sir Thomas, but, in the 
 night time, sends for workmen to London, who 
 so speedily and silently apply to their business, 
 that the next morning discovered the court dou- 
 ble, which the night had left single before. It is 
 questionable whether the queen, next day, was 
 more contented with the conformity to her fancy, 
 or more pleased with the surprise and sudden per- 
 formance thereof. Her courtiers disported them- 
 selves, with their several expressions j some avow- 
 ing it was no wonder he could so soon change a 
 
 * Francis Child, a goldsmith, and an ancestor of Robert, was 
 the father of English bankers. He began the profession soon 
 after the restoration of Charles II. amassed a great fortune, and 
 enjoyed the most respectable character. Pennant. 
 
 t
 
 OSTERLEY HOUSE PICTURES. 285 
 
 /building who could build a change. Others, re- 
 flecting on some known differences in the knight's 
 family, affirmed, that a house was sooner divided 
 than united." Such was the punning spirit of the 
 time, of which Shakespeare himself caught the 
 fashion. 
 
 The house has been rebuilt very magnificently 
 since the days of its glory under Queen Elizabeth. 
 The great court (not divided now) is surrounded 
 by a gallery leading to all the apartments, and to 
 a very handsome stair-case of white marble, the 
 ceiling of which was painted by Rubens, and re- 
 presents the apotheosis of the Prince of Orange, 
 (the one who was shot by Bait Gerard) with a 
 profusion of allegorical figures, as usual. It is 
 quite wonderful how many pictures of Rubens 
 you meet with everywhere, mostly of the largest 
 size. If they were all measured, I really believe 
 they would make up a surface exceeding what a 
 common house-painter would be able to daub over 
 with his big brushes in the course of a long and 
 industrious life. 
 
 Tables, sofas, and chairs, were studiously deran- 
 ges about the fire-places, and in the middle of the 
 rooms, as if the family had just left them, although 
 the house has not been inhabited for several years. 
 Such is the modern fashion of placing furniture, 
 carried to an extreme, as fashions are always, that 
 the apartments of a fashionable house look like an
 
 286 OSTERLEY HOUSE PICTURES. 
 
 upholsterer's or cabinet-maker's shop. All around 
 the house a level green spread far and wide, sha- 
 ded with lofty trees. I never envied those who 
 possess several beautiful houses in the country. 
 It seems to me I should regret extremely not to 
 be able to enjoy the beauties of them all ; and it 
 would be quite a relief if any body would but in- 
 habit them for me, smell my flowers, and sit un- 
 der my shades. 
 
 There are some good pictures in this house. A 
 large one, (Abel, piping) which we were told was 
 Mich. Angelo's, in the broad and vigorous man- 
 ner of Rembrandt, and certainly a very fine pic- 
 ture. Two good Vandykes. Two good Murillos, 
 boys, as usual, of the ingrat age of twelve or 
 fifteen ; it is nature itself, Spanish nature, spare 
 and dark ; the expression always so simple, spirit- 
 ed, and true, that I am never tired of looking at 
 them. A Correggio, (Jupiter and lo) bad draw- 
 ing, bad colouring, and worse expression. I can- 
 not comprehend the reputation of Correggio. 
 Two or three very indifferent Rubens. A good pic- 
 ture by one Lorenzo Lippe, much in Rembrandt's 
 style. One or two of the rooms are hung with 
 much-admired Gobelin tapestry, which appeared 
 to me gaudy, and in wretched taste, as are, in fact, 
 all the Gobelins I have seen in England, and yet 
 I think I recollect having seen in France, some 
 Gobelins admirably executed : perhaps I should
 
 OSTERLEY HOUSE PICTURES REVIEW. 287 
 
 think otherwise now. There is in one of the bed- 
 rooms a small picture of a little girl, with bilberries 
 in a basket ; her hands crossed before her, her face 
 down, yet trying to look up, with such an exqui- 
 site expression of shame, and simplicity, and 
 graceful awkwardness, as none but Sir Joshua 
 Reynolds could have hit. Our cicerone could 
 not tell who it was by. 
 
 June 1O. Grand review on Wimbledon Com- 
 mon. The Prince Regent was to be on the ground 
 at eleven o'clock. We arrived a little after nine, 
 and wedged in our carriage among innumerable 
 others, which, with carts and waggons, formed a 
 circle of full six or eight miles in circumference. 
 The troops were drawn up in two parallel lines 
 across it, of about two miles in length. The Prince 
 did not appear till near twelve. He was on horse- 
 back, looked fat and fair, but was too far offto be 
 seen distinctly. The sun being extremely hot, 
 and some heavy clouds portending rain, the peo- 
 ple were impatient, and murmured at the delay. 
 The effect of the running fire beginning at one 
 end of the line ending two miles off, and return- 
 ing, and then again repeated, had a fine effect ; 
 the review was not otherwise worth seeing, the 
 distance being too great, and no manoeuvring. 
 The troops were about 20,000, and the specta- 
 tors full 200,000. Some light- horsemen rode
 
 
 88 WIMBLEDON COMMON REVIEW. 
 
 continually around the circle, and repressed the 
 intruding multitude with some degree of una- 
 voidable rudeness, though much less than the 
 keepers of the ring at the boxing-match the 
 other day, nor would the people have borne so 
 patiently similar discipline. The idea of military 
 power appears here very revolting, while, with 
 other people, 
 
 Such as do build their faith upon 
 The holy text of pike and gun, 
 
 it is the sort of power they submit to most cheer- 
 fully. 
 
 The general orders for the review, printed and 
 published, enjoined the troops to avoid as much 
 as possible giving any offence to individuals. There 
 were a few accidents from horses taking fright 
 at the firing. 
 
 June . . . Albury. We have been here for 
 some days, in a very pretty country, already de- 
 scribed last year, and where the kind attention 
 of other friends, and the virtue of strawberries, 
 are likely to complete my recovery. Before a 
 stranger ventures to pass final sentence on the 
 anti-social manners of the English, he should see 
 them at home in the country. London is not 
 their home j it is an encampment for business
 
 ALBURY SHEEP-SHEARING. 289 
 
 and pleasure, where every body thinks of him- 
 self. You might as well look for humanity in a 
 field of battle, as for urbanity and attentions in 
 a busy crowd. 
 
 This is sheep-shearing time, which in England 
 is a sort of festivity, like the moisson in the north 
 of France, and the vendange in the south, and the 
 principal harvests in all countries. The sack of 
 wool, on which the Chancellor sits in Parliament, 
 is well known to be emblematic of the import- 
 ance of this production. The mirth and festivity 
 of the people here is quite calm, and a. fete after 
 their manner might, in Languedoc, be mistaken 
 for a funeral. If the country people dance, it is 
 without elasticity, vivacity, or ardour ; if they 
 sing, it is far worse. Nothing ever was less mu- 
 sical than the indigenous English music, with 
 its jerks and starts, jolting along its rugged way, 
 without either dignity, liveliness, or tenderness ; 
 so different from the native Scotch music, 
 which possesses at least one of these modes of 
 expression, and from the Italian music, which 
 unites them all. Italian music is now natural- 
 ized in England ; but it will not supersede the 
 old tavern music so entirely as it did in France 
 the flat old style ; and, so far as it is connected 
 with naval enthusiasm, it is perhaps better it 
 should be so. The native music of the southern
 
 2()0 ALBURY AGRICULTURE. 
 
 extremity of France formed an exception to the 
 dulness of the national musical taste, as that of 
 North compared to South Britain. 
 
 A good sheep-shearer dispatches four or five 
 sheep in an hour, or forty in a day ; three pounds 
 is an average fleece, five or six pounds a very 
 large one. The sheep is not tied during the ope- 
 ration, and does not struggle much. The body 
 is placed in such a situation as to stretch the skin 
 of the parts under the shears, which might other- 
 wise inflict wounds. The animal is kept cover- 
 ed for a few nights afterwards. The people abu- 
 sed Merino sheep, and said they would not do 
 with them. There is probably a great deal of 
 prejudice in this opinion, which must, however, 
 have gained ground, as the price of that breed 
 has fallen as much too low as it had perhaps ri- 
 
 jiS\ 
 
 l^rjjfcO sen too high before. 
 
 I shall not undertake to describe the rural taste 
 of the country, the beauties and the comforts, the 
 luxury and the magnificence. Pine-apples and 
 grapes at this season from the forcing-house; 
 abundance of cherries and strawberries from the 
 garden ; the green lawns and tufted trees ; the 
 woods and fountains, having already said per- 
 haps too much on the subject. The passive 
 beauties of nature and art are not to be described 
 successfully, at least the description cannot be 
 varied.
 
 ALBURY AGRICULTURE. g9l 
 
 Agriculture is here a universal pursuit, and 
 either a passion or a fashion with all country 
 gentlemen, even with those who inhabit the 
 country only part of the year. Every one has 
 planted, or is planting, his thousands and his ,j^ 
 millions of timber trees ; has his flocks ; talks of 
 
 i j i i i i ok fa\A 
 
 turnips, clover, and lucerne, drams, and mclo-P'^* 
 sures. These labours may not always be most 
 conducive to private advantage, but they are so 
 to the country at large ; and the emulation leads 
 to a state of society and manners eminently re- 
 spectable and happy. I have seen here larches, 
 planted only sixty years ago, the trunks of which 
 were nine feet in circumference, and 80 feet in j 
 
 height, the sweeping boughs extending full 3O 
 feet every way. An oak, 45 or 3O years old, is 
 worth L.3, at the rate of four or five shillings a 
 cubic foot, and in 15 years doubles its value. I 
 have seen an oak for which the sum of L. 140 has 
 been refused. *fa4/&ii& fr ^fry /*; #n* J*k/ * 
 
 The soil is chalk, and not very fertile, renting 
 on an average at 20s. an acre ; good meadows fWi/Vw 
 rent at three times that price. Estates sell at 
 thirty years purchase. Labourers earn as. 3d. 
 and 2s. 6d. in summer, tts. in winter. Poor's ^^H^"' 
 rates 4s. in the pound ! The peasants look very ^t&M^j 
 decent in their manners, dress, and appearance. 
 No marks of poverty about them ; but they are 
 certainly very diminutive in stature, and thin.
 
 292 ALBURY PRICE OP BREAD, &c. 
 
 They seem better clothed than fed. One might 
 suspect that a certain native pride in them dis- 
 dains to wear the livery of poverty, although 
 they suffer in secret. The quartern loaf of bread 
 (4 Ib. 5 oz.) costs Is. 2 d. ; it was, in 17)4 and 
 1795, Js. lO^d. ; that is, nearly double the pre- 
 sent high price ! The highest price of bread in 
 scarce years in France has been, I believe, six 
 sous a-pound, equal to about half the highest 
 price above-mentioned, yet the people suffered 
 more there j they were, and they are, poorer 
 than here. 
 
 June . . . This is hay making- time. Hay is 
 worth L.6 a load of ] 8 cwt. The sky is clear, 
 and the air dry ; the thermometer 76* to 78 in 
 the shade at noon, 60 to 65 morning and even- 
 ing. There are strawberries in abundance ; cher- 
 ries are beginning ; gooseberries not ripe yet ; 
 green peas in season ; roses blooming, and Por- 
 tugal laurels, covered with their fine conical clus- 
 ters of flowers, perfume the air. We have seen 
 here, for the first time in England, the glow-worm, 
 which recalls to our mind the American fire-fly, 
 but is, however, very inferior in beauty. 
 
 The pursuit of agriculture does not occupy so 
 exclusively the minds of the people in the coun- 
 try, as not to admit of a very keen relish for town 
 news. The Prince Regent has given a very mag- 
 nificent fete, which was the object of general con-
 
 THE PRINCE REGENT'S FETE. 293 
 
 versation for a fortnight. It was computed that 
 1600 persons invited, supposed, at least, 400 car- 
 riages ; and that allowing two minutes for each, 
 more than ] 3 hours would be required for the 
 whole number to be delivered at the door ; and 
 that beginning at eleven o'clock at night, it would 
 take till twelve the next day ! His Majesty ha- 
 ving heard of the intended fete, is said to have 
 asked whether he might not be permitted to go 
 as a private gentleman. This raillery is in the 
 same spirit with another bon-mot of this august 
 patient. " Here you see me" he said, to a per- 
 son who approached him, in a moment of personal 
 restraint, indispensable in his situation, " check' 
 mated" 
 
 June 21. The fete went off very well. The 
 difficulties had been obviated by opening several 
 avenues ; the Prince was most gracious, he 
 spoke to all, and delighted every body by the 
 courtesy of his manners, although courtesy is 
 out of fashion. He is said to have received, 
 with marked attention, the Duchess of Angou- 
 leme, who seemed the queen of the fete. This 
 princess expressed herself highly gratified ; the 
 more so, she said, from her long habit of retire- 
 ment, and newness to honours. 
 
 A sort of decoration, on the good taste of which 
 I shall not pronounce, led to a tragi-comic oc-
 
 291 THE PRINCE REGENT'S FETE. 
 
 currence. There was a stream of water, real 
 water, which had been made to flow, I do not 
 know by what means, along the middle of the 
 table, in a meandering channel, with proper ac- 
 companiments of sand, moss, and rocks, in mini- 
 ature, and bridges across. Gold and silver fishes 
 frisking about in the stream, exhibited the bright- 
 ness of their scales, reflecting the light of 5OO 
 flambeaux, to the infinite delight of the guests. 
 When at the height of their honours and glory, 
 the greatest any of their kind ever attained be- 
 fore, they were seen, with astonishment and dis- 
 may, to turn on their backs, the one after the 
 other, and to expire, without any body being able 
 to guess at. the cause. We have heard a minis^- 
 terial person, present at the fete, tell the story in 
 a sneering manner, which we construed into a 
 symptom of imperfect conversion on the part of 
 the Prince, and that he is not yet deemed quite 
 theirs. His party (the opposition) will not be- 
 lieve, or own, at least, that he has abandoned 
 them ; but the ministerial party observe, signifi- 
 cantly, that the delay occasioned by the uncer- 
 tainty of the state of health of his Majesty, has 
 afforded time for the Prince to become acquaint- 
 ed with people he did not know before, with a 
 party who had been misrepresented to him ; and 
 to get rid of the prejudices of his youth. It is
 
 THE PRINCE REGENT'S FETE. 
 
 plain he wavers ; a woman who wavers (on her 
 virtue) is deemed lost ; a prince who does so 
 (on the article of power) cannot remain long in 
 suspense. Whatever the decision of this Prince 
 may be, he is sure of hatred and determined op- 
 position from one of the parties ; from his former 
 friends, particularly, if he abandons them. The 
 people seem pretty indifferent between the two 
 parties, and not to have much faith in the patri- 
 otism of the most patriotic ; but there is an idea 
 that if the whigs were in power, they might, with 
 a better grace, adopt pacific measures about Ame- 
 rica and Ireland. People are consistent out of 
 pride and out of obstinacy ; therefore the whigs 
 are bound to conciliate, and the ministerialists 
 to be proud and intractable. I am not at all sur- 
 prised that hatred should beget hatred. America 
 and Ireland have manifested theirs towards Eng- 
 land unequivocally ; but that of the first appears 
 to me without an adequate motive, while that of 
 the last seems but too well justified ; the latter 
 may have very fatal consequences, while the 
 other is, for the present, nearly impotent ; the 
 most urgent case every way is Ireland. 
 
 The apartments where the fete was given, were 
 open to the public the next day. Curiosity was 
 extreme, quite as much so as it might have been 
 at Paris. The people, and not the low people, 
 went in crowds to Carleton- House, This afflu-
 
 296 WINCHESTER. 
 
 ence had not been foreseen, nor any precautions 
 taken ; and there have been many very serious 
 accidents. People have been trodden down and 
 trodden under foot, arms and legs have been 
 fractured, ribs forced in ; and, it is said, some 
 lives lost. Many a delicate female was extrica- 
 ted from the melee, nearly in naturalibus, and 
 obliged to hide herself in a corner till petticoats 
 could be procured ; as to shoes no lady pretend- 
 ed to keep them ; and after the event, they were 
 swept in heaps, and filled, we have been told, se- 
 veral hogsheads. 
 
 June 26. Winchester, We took leave of our 
 friends this morning, and are come here to sleep, 
 Y^ (42 miles). I am astonished at the prodigious 
 extent of waste grounds in a country depending 
 for food on the granaries of its enemies, and ha- 
 ving SO or 60 thousand idle prisoners of war to 
 support, who, I dare say, would be very glad to 
 work for a small salary, besides innumerable 
 paupers, supported by means of an enormous tax 
 
 LtM ^*en the public. We traversed to-day several ex- 
 tensive downs, used only as sheep pastures. The 
 , chalk stratum is covered with a few inches of 
 vegetable mould, and would be well worth cul- 
 tivating. When the general inclosure bill was 
 
 , ftf r before parliament in 1793, the quantity of waste 
 yU 1 , land was estimated at 22 millions of acres, about 
 two-fifths of the surface of the whole island, 

 
 WINCHESTER. 297 
 
 Supposing one-half to have been inclosed and 
 cultivated since that time, there would still be 
 one-fifth waste. If the present population was 
 perfectly at their ease on the other four fifths, I 
 certainly would not wish to see these fine green 
 downs furrowed by the plough, and vulgar lines 
 of property disfigure their surface ; but if the ge- 
 neration wants bread, it seems very absurd not 
 to let them grow it here. I know the next ge- 
 neration will not be better off, and that twenty 
 years hence they would again want space ; but 
 for the men of the present day, the palliative is 
 a complete cure. 
 
 The first stage after Albury was along a high 
 ridge, like an immense causeway, with a very 
 extensive and beautiful view on each side. We 
 took notice of a large number of fine old yew 
 trees growing wild on Lord Onslow's estate. 
 The large knobs or protuberances on the sides 
 of the trunks, have been cut off for the purpose 
 of cabinet-makers work, having beautiful veins 
 and a hard grain, which takes a fine polish. It 
 does not injure the trees. 
 
 Near Winchester, we passed several dep6ts of 
 French prisoners, the officers on their parole, 
 wandering desoeuvres and tired about the streets 
 and roads. Winchester is of course old and ugly j 
 the cathedral is fine.
 
 (j> 
 
 - 
 
 J 3 K 
 
 298 SOUTHAMPTON CASTLE. 
 
 June 27. Southampton. The country near 
 this place begins to look forest-is h. Cottages, as 
 usual, neat, and overgrown with roses and honey- 
 ,i^tJ J suckle, though ever so poor ; a bit of lawn and 
 gravel-walk to the door, in imitation of gentle- 
 men's cottages. Southampton has only one street 
 ,j^ of any consequence, and a walk planted with 
 stunted trees along the bay. Nothing can sur- 
 pass the dirt and bad smells of the bye streets ; 
 the tide leaving putrescent quagmires all about 
 the lower parts. A very singular edifice proudly 
 overlooks this dirty town. It is a castle, large, 
 Gothic, prodigiously high, surrounded by lofty 
 walls of hewn stones. It cost L.40,000, and is 
 not finished. Not an inch of ground beyond 
 these walls. The meanest hovels crowd around 
 ./) them, and the view extends over a field of red- 
 tile roofs and chimneys, to the slimy banks of 
 Southampton bay ; the New Forest, forming a 
 long, low, unpicturesque strait line beyond it. 
 Lord Lansdown, lately dead, built this castle.* 
 He was a very tall and thin man, riding on a 
 long lean horse, and had following him a very 
 little page, called his dwarf, mounted on a dimi- 
 nutive poney. The knight, the dwarf, and the 
 
 
 * I understand there was a castle there already, and that 
 Lord L only repaired it with great additions. 
 
 *_>f7L tr*> Sto'Mi' IIX^ A /Jfcti CfiJutfCb
 
 LYMINGTON SCENERY. 299 
 
 castle, seemed made for each other. He must, 
 in the main, have been a good sort of man, as the 
 people about here, although they laugh at the ',$/)& 
 castle and castle-builder, all speak well of him, 
 and are hardly willing to admit that he was mad ; 
 but then, as I have observed before, the qualifi- 
 cations required for acknowledged insanity, are . /,, 
 by no means easily attained in England, where a iwV 
 greater latitude is granted for whims, fancies, lyk/v 
 and eccentricities, than in other countries. 
 
 June 28. Leaving our carriage at Southamp- 
 ton, where we intend to return, we proceeded /,J^/ * 4 
 this morning in a common post-chaise through 
 the New Forest to Lymington, turning round 
 the head of the bay by Redbridge, Cadnam, fa&ffo 
 Bramble Hill Lodge, Castle Malwood, and Lynd- 
 hurst : the road, a perfect gravel walk ; the soil 
 being, in fact, a bed of hungry gravel. This cir- 
 cumstance is visible enough in the growth of the 
 trees, mostly oaks, which are stunted and twist- 
 ed into all sorts of picturesque sharp elbows and 
 fine knees for the navy, moss and ivy mantled 
 over most of their stems. Clusters of wild roses, 
 broom, and sweet-briar, perfumed the air. Tufts 
 of luxuriant fern, surmounted by the showy 
 spires of the foxglove, waved their green plumes 
 over the smooth lawn, for the trees leave great 
 spaces between them of fine pasturage, close
 
 LYMINGTON SCENERY. 
 
 shorn, and of the liveliest green. The distant 
 sound of the bells of grazing cattle alone inter- 
 rupted the profound silence of this solitude. 
 About Castle Malwood there are fine extensive 
 views to the east and south, over the tops of the 
 trees of the forest, and " boundless contiguity of 
 shade." 
 
 A shower prevented our stopping to see the 
 monument, erected a few years ago, over the re- 
 mains of the oak, against which the arrow glan- 
 ced which killed Rufus, the son of the Con- 
 queror. From Lyndhurst to Lymington, the 
 road is quite strait, and has very little beauty. 
 The trees standing are poor, the best having 
 been felled for the navy, as the stumps, level 
 with the soil (not breast-high as in America,) 
 sufficiently show ; and many of the trees them- 
 selves lying about ready for use. There is still, 
 however, an immense stock of timber standing, 
 and enough, I should think, to serve the pur- 
 poses of the navy for many years. There are, 
 however, extensive tracts quite bare, and no new 
 plantations. It is living on the capital instead of 
 the revenue. 
 
 Just before we reached Lymington, we stop- 
 ped at the Buckland ring, or Roman camp, a 
 square entrenchment in great preservation ; it is 
 situated on a hill, the ground thrown up on each 
 
 fitfo J i m**&- 

 
 VICARS HILL LYMINGTON. 301 
 
 side of the ditch, and enclosing about six acres. 
 The country-woman, our guide, told us that this 
 was the work of the French. 
 
 From Lymington we made a short excursion 
 east, to finish the day, which ended fine ; first, 
 to Vicarshill, Gilpin's parsonage-house, which is 
 an extremely pretty spot ; then by St Leonards, 
 where we saw the ruins of a building said to have 
 been a barn of the monks of Beaulieu, 6O paces 
 in length, and 20 broad j one corner of it is still 
 used as a barn, and makes a very large one. Our 
 ride extended as far as Bucklershard, through a 
 very pretty country, with many gentlemen's 
 houses and cottages, and very little remains of 
 forest. From Bucklershard, back to Lymington, 
 through a very uninteresting, flat, heathy tract, 
 where we observed a little enclosure for the pur- 
 pose of planting oaks, the only instance of re- 
 novation in this decaying New Forest. Lyming- 
 ton, as indeed almost every place in England, is 
 full of troops ; but these are, it seems, foreign- 
 ers, and mostly French. I could hardly believe 
 my ears when I heard all these red-coats speak- 
 ing French among themselves, officers as well as 
 men. They are embarking every day for foreign 
 service. The people of the town complain bit- 
 terly of this quartering of troops, which, as a wa- 
 tering-place, prevents the usual resort of com-
 
 "v 
 h&J 
 
 
 302 
 
 ISLE OF WIGHT - THE NEEDLES. 
 
 /* 
 
 
 
 pany. There are salt-works here which we have 
 not seen. 
 
 June 29. We set out this morning in a wher- 
 ry rowed by two men (no wind,) for the Needles, 
 and Yarmouth, in the Isle of Wight, the distance 
 about 12 miles ; the direct passage across would 
 have been only four. The sea was as smooth as 
 a mill-pond. We boarded a vessel (a large and 
 good-looking schooner,) full of crabs and lob- 
 sters ; it had a double bottom, tlie inside one 
 tight, the other with holes, and the interval of 
 course full of water, acting as ballast, and as a 
 reservoir for the crabs, taken in and out by 
 means of a well. This vessel had been cruizing 
 as far as the Land's-End for crabs, and was 
 bound to London with her prize. We bought 
 two live crabs, larger and heavier than American 
 lobsters, for two bottles of porter. Rain com- 
 pelled us soon after to put into Yarmouth, where, 
 after dining plentifully on one of our crabs (the 
 other given to our boatmen), and a basket of 
 strawberries, raspberries, and cherries, and the 
 weather clearing up, we resumed our navigation 
 to the Needles, where we arrived about seven in 
 the evening. They appear at a distance more 
 like thimbles than needles. These famous rocks 
 are arranged on a line with the extremity of the 
 island, of which they were formerly a part. They 
 
 /
 
 ISLE OF WIGHT THE NEEDLES. 
 
 303 
 
 are perfectly white, with a black base, and streak- 
 ed with black dots, from the alternate strata of 
 flints. The sea was so calm, that we could pass 
 through the rocks and touch them. The chalk 
 is rather more compact than usual, yet soft 
 enough to break under the nail, and whiten your 
 coat. It is difficult to conceive how they can re- 
 sist the assaults of the sea in a storm. They are 
 in fact continually undermined, and the fallen 
 fragments, soon dissolved, leave behind only the 
 nodules of flints, forming the black base already 
 mentioned, en talus^ sloping to an angle of 45. 
 As the work of destruction proceeds, the talus of 
 course rises higher, and retards the destruction 
 of the rest. One of the needles, the farthest out, 
 (C.) about 10O feet high, fell about forty years 
 ago j the base is still visible, and forms a danger- 
 ous shelf in bad weather. Our boatmen pointed 
 out some lesser changes within their time, such 
 as the gateway (A,) being repeated in (B.). The
 
 304 ISLE OF WIGHT THE NEEDLES BIRDS. 
 
 sketch is taken broadside ; but turning the point, 
 or passing between the rocks, they appear like 
 mere walls, tapering upwards, and so thin at the 
 top, as to be perces a jour in many places ; the 
 sharp edge at top covered with birds, who make 
 it their resting-place. Beyond the Needles, and 
 turning the westernmost point of the Isle of 
 Wight, we rowed along chalk cliffs of prodigious 
 height, nearly 700 feet perpendicular, overhang- 
 ing in some places ; perfectly white, with nar- 
 row streaks of black flints, much inclined to the 
 horizon. These cliffs absolutely swarmed with 
 birds. Not only the white sea-gull, but a black 
 bird, apparently about the size of a duck, with a 
 longish neck and red head, said to yield the 
 eider-down. We pursued a young one swim- 
 ming ; he could not fly, but dived so dexterous- 
 ly, and stayed so long under water, as to evade 
 all pursuit, although under our hand all the time. 
 Flights of these birds skimmed the air in endless 
 circles around our heads, on wings that seemed 
 xvithout motion, and with a cry like a horse- 
 laugh. The perfect calm of the sea enabled us 
 to push the boat into a cave at the bottom of the 
 cliffi so low that the least surf dashes against the 
 roof. It appeared to penetrate 5O or 60 yards 
 into the chalky rock. The water, as clear as 
 possible, allowed us to see the bottom of black
 
 ISLE OF WIGHT THE NEEDLES. 305 
 
 pebbles, being rolled flints, polished by the fric- 
 tion of ages. Our boatmen wanted us to visit 
 Hurst Castle, at the entrance of the channel, 
 which, understanding it to be garrisoned by fo- 
 reign troops, I thought had better be avoided. 
 We arrived late at Yarmouth (a small neat place), 
 and made a bargain for a light carriage to go 
 round the island to-morrow. 
 
 June SO. First to the Needles point, where our 
 situation of yesterday being reversed, we looked 
 down upon the spot from which we looked up 
 yesterday. This point is extremely narrow, re- 
 sembling, on a larger scale, the Needle rocks 
 below, and destined to become insulated, like 
 them, when the ocean, at work on both sides, 
 shall have quite broke through the narrow parti- 
 tion. We observed, with some terror, a long 
 crack along the margin of the cliff, cutting off a 
 slice of the downs (sheep were quietly feeding 
 upon it,) of full one acre. This slice has settled 
 down already two or three feet, and must soon 
 fall. The next heavy rain, or frost, or high wind, 
 may detach it, and down it slips* 660 feet per- 
 pendicular. We had landed yesterday on the 
 flinty beach precisely under this cliff, twice as 
 lofty probably as those of Dover, and more ex- 
 posed to an open sea. They have samphire, too, 
 growing in fine green tufts, inaccessible but by 
 a rope from the top : 
 VOL, n. t?
 
 306 ISLE OF WIGHT NEEDLES LIGHT-HOUSE. 
 
 murmu " n s sur g e 
 
 That on the unnumber'd idle pebbles chafes, 
 Cannot be heard so high. 
 
 ^ 
 
 The Needles light-house is built on the high- 
 ifycst spot of the point, 715 feet above the sea. 
 The building is a truncated cone, only 20 feet 
 high ; the top, glazed all round, contains eight 
 argand lamps, very little larger than those com 
 
 t 
 
 monly used in apartments, arranged in a vertical 
 j$ t circle j each has a plated copper reflector of 26 
 inches in diameter. There is an iron stove to 
 
 fM^.-jl. 
 
 preserve the oil liquid in cold weather. The light 
 ' is seen 1 1 leagues at sea from the deck of a ship, 
 ' tJL i like a large star, and is visible much farther from 
 
 the masthead. An old man and woman, who 
 
 
 live in the light-house, and sit up by turns all 
 night, afford a good proof of the salubrity of the 
 spot, having never been hindered a single night 
 by sickness from attending in the space of 19 
 
 f * 
 
 years. 
 
 
 Returning from the point, we passed by bar- 
 i racks full of soldiers, mostly foreigners. Then 
 by Fresh-water-gate ; soldiers there too, and we 
 heard them speaking French. Then by Compton- 
 down, Westbrook, Mottestow, Briaton, to Niton, 
 where we slept (22 miles to-day). Fine views of 
 '^*|. ; t the sea on the right the whole way. Our track 
 was mostly over extensive sheep-walks, fragrant 
 with thyme, crushed under the wheels of the 
 
 / - . i f 
 
 >;
 
 ISLE OF WIGHTS-NEEDLES LIGHT- HOUSE. 307 
 
 carriage. Rich farms and neat cottages adorned 
 the vallies. The meanest of the cottages, and 
 those inhabited by the poorer class, were buried 
 in roses, jessamine, and honeysuckle ; and often 
 large myrtles, which, on this southern coast, 
 bear the winter out of doors. Vines everywhere 
 against the houses, and often fig-trees. We 
 thought the women remarkably good-looking. 
 Children and grown people took off their hats, 
 or gave us a nod, as we passed along. 
 
 Near Niton begins a very singular track of 
 country, called the Under-cliff. A strip of about 
 five miles in length by half a mile in breadth, 
 seems to have settled down, and slipped towards 
 the sea, exhibiting a jumble of rocks, overturned 
 and broken, mounds of earth,-^deep hollows, 
 and numerous springs, forming falls of water, 
 collecting into pools, and hurrying, to the sea. 
 The land side presents an abrupt steep, or cliftj 
 two or three hundred feet high, composed of 
 horizontal beds of sand- stone ; precisely the same 
 stone seen on the broken surface below. It is 
 evident that the sunken track was formerly a 
 continuation of the high cliff. A new land-slip 
 took place in 1799. Part of the high cliff, per- 
 haps twenty acres, was seen sinking and sliding 
 towards the sea, the surface breaking into strange 
 shapes and yawning chasms, closing and open- 
 ing again. We walked to this spot from Niton, 
 about one mile south of it. It gives a very good
 
 308 ISLE OF WIGHT UNDER-CLIFF. 
 
 idea of a country overturned by a dreadful earth- 
 quake. We were shewn the remains of a house 
 which had been partly swallowed up. It appears 
 probable, that the numerous springs which run 
 now over the surface of this sunken tract, from 
 the high cliff to the sea, must have flowed under 
 it formerly, and may have; worn wide passages 
 through some soft under-strata to the sea, which, 
 penetrating into these passages, may easily have 
 Undermined the foundation of the superincum- 
 bent mass, so as to make it give way, partly set- 
 f f tr(U * nn g down, partly spreading out into the sea. 
 
 July 1. From Niton (the troops quartered 
 here are English,) we proceeded along the Un- 
 der-cliff, by Mirables, St Laurence, Steep- Hill, 
 Bon-Church, a succession of very beautiful 
 spots. 
 
 The crisis of this part of the Under-cliff is evi- 
 dently of no recent date, and the earth has had 
 time to grow young again ; for, contrary to the 
 laws of organized life, inert nature loses with 
 age its original deformity and barrenness, and is 
 indebted to the very dissolution of its substance 
 for beauty and fecundity. The hand of art has 
 indeed come here in aid of nature. A few rich 
 >^ citizens have built their marine villas, and plant- 
 ed their groves, removed the littery debris? spread 
 their green carpets among the rocks, and made 
 them accessible by convenient paths. Yet the 
 pleasure of improving once over, they are be-
 
 ISLE OF WIGHT MARINE VILLAS TREES. 309 
 
 come indifferent about the improvements them- 
 selves, and most of the masters of these beautiful 
 places are absent at this season, either in London, 
 or spending their time at public places, or tra- 
 velling about. All England for a country -home, 
 is an expression in vulgar use among them. The 
 arrangements of the road, and giving directions 
 to the servants, settling the bills, and looking 
 at the map, have in them a semblance of business 
 and occupation, and the slight jolting of the car- 
 riage creates at least something like a sensation, 
 and more pleasure than the passive contempla- 
 tion of the Under-cliff : 
 
 And little cares avail 
 
 To case the mind when rest and reason fail. 
 
 It is a singular circumstance that the trees, al- 
 though planted so near the sea, along this Under- 
 clift) have succeeded perfectly. I had observed 
 before, that a screen, a high one at least, placed 
 on the land-side of trees, protects them nearly 
 as effectually as one between them and the sea. 
 It seems as if the sea air, forced by the obstacle 
 beyond the trees to take a direction upwards, 
 passed over their heads without injuring them. 
 
 Shanklin chine came next j a pretty place, 
 with a deep ravine cut through the cliff, by an 
 inconsiderable little rill. Then Sandown bay, 
 where extensive barracks are built and building, 
 and soldiers all about, basking lazily in the sun.
 
 310 ISLE OF WIGHT WILKEs's HOUSE. 
 
 They wore dark-green dresses and mustaches. 
 We enquired for the house that ha.d been Mr 
 John Wilkes's, and were shewn, under some very 
 shabby apple-trees, a low square wooden build- 
 ing, then a little farther, an old little brick 
 building, with a wooden addition turned from 
 the prospect. We saw the interior of the first 
 building, which the woman in it told us had been 
 W , Mr Wilkes's smoaking room, or Truscan room, as 
 she expressed it, and which used to be hung 
 with fine tapestry, &c. &c. If the place had 
 been ever so beautiful, it would be now quite 
 destroyed by the barracks close by, and the road 
 ' j } between it and the beach. But 1 am sorry to 
 say (my companions being near relations of the 
 i/0 patriot) that it can never have been otherwise 
 than extremely paltry, and in the worst possible 
 
 1 I/ ' ^i * as * e * ^e beach is flat, and it seems in fact the 
 . s A '' only part of the shore quite divested of beautiful 
 s accompaniments. From this to Ride, the coun- 
 
 V> * u j -i i J i e 
 
 .jdflp try is rich and varied, a good deal or wood, 
 ft i and many gentlemen's residences. Ride is a 
 
 neat little town, from which you see Portsmouth 
 at seven miles distance, and the road full of ships 
 Wj ' jrf of war. There is a good shore to bathe in, co- 
 vered carts, and warm- baths also. 
 .\yv$*v July 2. Cowes and Newport. We learnt here 
 the unfortunate rencontre between the American < 
 frigate President and the Little Belt. This event, 
 and the condemnation of the American ship the 
 
 Ad t A"I t 
 
 /*- ' s Mf
 
 COWES GOTHIC COTTAGE. 
 
 311 
 
 Fox, deciding the fate of a great number of other 
 prizes under the orders in council, seem to ren- 
 der war inevitable. It is not a new remark, that 
 those great political measures, upon which the 
 fate of nations depends, are rarely determined by 
 the common rules of reason, or the obvious in- 
 terest of the parties. If that is really the case, 
 we may indeed have war. 
 
 Cowes is a pretty place, with many gentle- 
 men's houses near it as usual. One of them is 
 a Gothic castle, bran-new, stuck round with 
 towers and battlements. Not far from it a poorer 
 neighbour has erected his own Gothic thatched 
 cottage.* 
 
 * This poor neighbour is, I understand, the architect of the 
 great castle.
 
 312 co WES FISHERMAN'S COTTAGE* 
 
 The Gothic style is considered here as na- 
 tional, and certainly they use it freely, and as 
 their own. Horace Walpole contributed, I fancy, < 
 to spread the taste and the misapplication of it. 
 
 Traversing the island through the middle of 
 it, we are returned to our beautiful Under-clif 
 with an intention of spending a few days there. 
 The middle of the island by Newport, its capital, 
 is, like all the rest, woody, fertile, and flourish. 
 ing. 
 
 July 6. Steephill. We have taken lodgings 
 for a week in a fisherman's cottage, a sort of 
 an alehouse. It has been a perfect calm at sea 
 for some days, which is unfavourable for fishing. 
 Five or six boats have, in consequence, come to 
 an anchor near here, and the men, who are idle, 
 have spent their time in a room adjoining ours, 
 drinking, or near the house playing at bowls. 
 They sung frequently, two or three voices toge- 
 ther, sea-songs in the true sailor style, some- 
 times extremely well, oftener very badly : alto- 
 gether it was not to be borne long, and we were 
 going away, when the wind arose, and they dis- 
 appeared. This gave us, however, an opportu- 
 nity of observing a new class of people, and, 
 much to their credit, we found them remarkably 
 well-behaved and decent, although noisy j no 
 quarrels among themselves, and no absolute 
 drunkenness. I was surprised to find their fish-
 
 STEEPHILL LORD D/S COTTAGE. 313 
 
 ing-tackle were made of osier, but not exactly 
 the sort with which baskets are made, the withy 
 rope, as they call it, lasts good two years, although 
 continually wet and dry j a hempen rope would 
 hardly last so long, would cost ten times the 
 price, and be much heavier. It makes also very 
 good cables for light boats, and fastened to posts, 
 makes inclosures. Taking advantage of the op- 
 portunity, I learnt the art of withy rope-making, 
 and shall carry a sample of this economical ma- 
 nufacture to America. 
 
 July 7. Lord D. has a beautiful cottage with- 
 in a short mile of us, buried in trees and rocks, 
 towering above the house in successive natural 
 terraces, each carpeted over with short green 
 turf, and edged with trees and shrubs, and creep- 
 ing plants, clematis I think mostly, in wild luxu- 
 riance, just a drest wilderness, terminating 
 above in a perpendicular wall of rocks. A short 
 avenue of large old elms, leading to the house, 
 forms a pointed arch, dark and lofty, of great effect. 
 We observed a lamp placed under the trees, the 
 light of which, in a dark night, on the trunks and 
 branches, must be extremely fine. The rooms 
 are hung with sea views, some of them from the 
 pencil of the noble owner ; which shew him to be 
 a painter among lords undoubtedly. We might 
 have quarrelled with him for neglecting this 
 beautiful place for years, as we understood be
 
 314 STEEPHILL LORD D/S COTTAGE. 
 
 had ; but his servant suggested a motive which 
 does honour to his feelings. There is a seat 
 upon Lord D/s grounds, at a distance from the 
 house, on the brink of an abrupt declivity over 
 the sea, with a retrospect of all the lofty rocks, 
 and tufted groves on the land-side, terminated 
 by a terrace five or six hundred feet in height ; 
 the sheep grazing on the very edge of it, and 
 thus seen " athwart the sky," look as large as 
 cows or horses. The ocean exhibited to-day, be- 
 sides the usual fishing-smacks, a fleet of men-of- 
 war, near enough to distinguish the port-holes ; 
 all sails set, and gliding gently over the blue ex- 
 panse. Their course was west, Sir Joseph 
 Yorke's squadron perhaps, bound for the coast 
 of America ; and it may be our fate to meet 
 these very ships at Sandy Hook, and to be cap- 
 tured by them ! The serene and harmless coun- 
 tenance of the ocean is, however, a tranquillizing 
 sight to us on the eve of a long voyage* 
 
 The idea that this Under-cliff is liable to un- 
 dergo a new bouleversement, spoils a little the en- 
 joyment of it. The inhabitants appear, however, 
 very easy on the subject. Our landlord, the 
 fisherman, remarked on the subject, that all about 
 appeared firm and strong ! There was, notwith- 
 standing, a tremendous land-slip last winter, at 
 the eastern extremity of this district, very like 
 
 the one of which we had seen the effects at the 
 
 11
 
 STEEPHILL FERTILITY, & c . 315 
 
 western extremity ; This one extends over forty 
 or fifty acres. The rents are frightful ; and the 
 rocks are in some places ground to fragments, 
 by their friction against each other. The old sur- 
 face, with its vegetation, seems to have been 
 swallowed up, and new soil, white and barren, 
 substituted. We have seen the roots of trees, 
 actually standing up in the air, while their 
 branches were buried in the soil ! a poetical si- 
 tuation assuredly, which put us in mind of that 
 picture of the deluge, in which two human feet 
 only appear on the surface of the waters. This 
 chaos of debris forms a promontory into the sea. 
 The phenomenon of the land-slip, thus going on 
 at the two extremities of the track, and not in 
 the middle, seems to indicate that this middle 
 has reached a solid basis, and is really now quite 
 firm. 
 
 Wheat grows extremely well on this perturbed 
 soil, mostly chalk ; it is in many places a man's 
 height. Potatoes and all other crops seem to suc- 
 ceed equally well. The low pastures are covered 
 with fine Alderney cows, and the steep downs 
 with sheep. Our guide-book informs us that this 
 fortunate island yields seven times as much as 
 its inhabitants consume. It enumerates all the 
 cheeses, and all the sheep and cattle exported to 
 London market ; and tells of a butcher who 
 bought 1500 lambs at one purchase. However
 
 M 
 
 316 STEEPHILL PICTURES, &c. 
 
 that may be, our fare here is very much confined 
 to crabs, lobsters, and mackerel ; there is neither 
 milk nor fruit to be had, and no butcher within 
 some miles. Coals are 50s. a chaldron. Land 
 rents at little more than 30s. per acre, the best ; 
 the average, including the high downs for sheep- 
 
 pasture, is much less. The farms are so contri- 
 *^^ 
 
 ved, as to have a portion of arable and pasture ; 
 
 -T-there is but little land for sale. This spot 
 unites the pastoral wildness of Scotland, the 
 luxuriant vegetation, verdure, and shade of the 
 middle parts of England, with a bold shore, and 
 an unbounded sea, continually traversed by ships. 
 We went to see, about two or three miles in- 
 land, a house of the honourable Mr - , which 
 has some good pictures. St John watching Christ, 
 asleep, by Guido, very natural and good. Berg- 
 hem's own portrait as a sportsman, by himself, 
 something larger than Teniers' own portrait; 
 much the same dress, and as natural and good. 
 A fine St Peter, by Annibal Carracci. Two good 
 Titians. A bad Joseph and the Lady, by Al- 
 bano. Two very large and good landscapes by 
 Zucarelli. Salvator's Thieves. A Claude. I 
 have hardly ever met with any picture of Claude's 
 distinguished by that warmth of colouring, for 
 which he is so celebrated. There is sometimes 
 a hazy indistinctness in his pictures, which is 
 very beautiful, but no glow. This is one of those 
 4
 
 STEEPHILL. 317 
 
 things which pass current on trust, without any 
 body caring to examine whether there is any 
 foundation for it. The trees of Claude are gene- 
 rally heavy lumps. Our conductress brought out 
 of a dark closet a man's head in a platter (Crom- 
 well's,) represented with sufficient truth to make 
 one shudder. This house has likewise a collec- 
 tion of Greek marbles, the object of universal 
 ambition in England. These are a little weather- 
 beaten, as usual, and not the worse for that, it 
 being the test of antiquity. A bust of Mrs Pel- 
 ham, by Nollekin, gave us more pleasure than 
 any of the antiques. It is no disparagement to 
 Athens to say, that there were some bad artists 
 there, or that the best were not born so. We 
 took notice, particularly, of a very indifferent an- 
 tique bull. 
 
 July 8. We have been to see, and regret not 
 to have discovered sooner, a very beautiful place 
 near us, the lease of which belongs to Mr A. B. 
 of London. The cottage is buried in trees, some 
 of them very fine. It stands on a rising ground, 
 among broken terraces of rocks, verdure, and 
 shade, most beautifully intermixed, giving an 
 idea of the Chinese hanging-gardens, without 
 their affected irregularity ; and, at the top of all, 
 the stupendous wall of the high cliff, as at Lord 
 D.'s, but still better. This little paradise is 
 blooming unseen j the owner never comes to it,
 
 3 1 8 STEEPHILL-r-CAI,ABRIAN PONEY. 
 
 but I dare say finds time for a tour every sum- 
 mer. 
 
 Walking over another very pretty place in the 
 neighbourhood, we saw, below some trees, an in- 
 scription, informing us, that, under the sod hard 
 by, lay the remains of a horse, a favourite Cala- 
 brian poney, who, after carrying his master, a 
 Mr Bowdler, to the top of Vesuvius, farther than 
 any horse had ascended before, all over the Alps, 
 ad a great part of Europe, had been permitted 
 to die of pure old age, in peace and plenty, on 
 this very spot. 
 
 The maid-servant of our lodgings, a simple, 
 good-natured, honest creature, who was born on 
 this spot, and never was out of sight of the land- 
 slip, has a child ; but it turned out, on enquiry, 
 that she never had a husband j and I am inform- 
 ed that the landlady, a very pretty young wo- 
 man, just married, has remarked on the occasion, 
 that it was no uncommon case. She blamed the 
 practice as unsafe, observing with great appear- 
 ance of simplicity, that, for her part, she thought 
 
 was better to secure a husband first. We had 
 much the same information in Cumberland, and 
 in other parts of the country j and 1 really think 
 the facility of American manners, about which 
 travellers have made ill-natured remarks, has pre- 
 cedents here to go by. 
 
 We have taken leave of crabs and mackerel,
 
 SOUTHAMPTON NETLEY ABBEY. 319 
 
 and, re-crossing the island by a new road, we 
 have met again with the same scenery of gentle- 
 men's houses, and opulent farms, green pastures^ 
 and flourishing fields j the trees in all sheltered 
 places very fine ; and as uniformly stunted and 
 bent to the ground, oaks particularly, in open 
 places, although eight or ten miles inland. 
 
 The passage from Cowes to Southampton is 14 
 miles ; we performed it in two hours, in a good 
 sea-boat, a sloop, of which the master was tole- 
 rably drunk ; the fare only one shilling a-head, 
 the tenth part of the toll of some of the English 
 rivers. Spithead, full of ships at anchor, appear- 
 ed at about ten miles distance. Southampton 
 bay itself is uninteresting, the shores being low ; 
 they are well-wooded, however, in many places, 
 and diversified with gentlemen's houses. The 
 ruins of Netley Abbey showed themselves to ad- 
 vantage above the trees. 
 
 July 11. We left Southampton yesterday 
 morning, and went first to Netley Abbey, about 
 four miles out of the direct road to Portsmouth. 
 The approach is fine ; a vast grey pile buried in 
 trees and overgrown with ivy j dark shades be- 
 hind and on both sides. We entered a large 
 square court full of lofty trees (ash) ; this must 
 have been the cloisters j thence through ruined 
 arches to the chapel, the two great east and west 
 windows still entire, and properly clothed with
 
 '320 NETLEY ABBEY. 
 
 ivy ; one of the wings or arms of the cross is 
 down, the other standing. The centre of the 
 chapel is a heap of ruins, and trees of much 
 more than a century's growth shooting up from 
 among them. I do not know whether these are 
 not, upon the whole, the most picturesque mo- 
 nastic remains we have seen. Notwithstanding 
 the uncommon heat of the day (probably 80) it 
 was cool, as well as dark, among these ruins. 
 While we were employed in admiring and draw- 
 ing, a large company arrived in two smart car- 
 riages, preceded by a convoy of provisions for a 
 
 / picturesque dinner ; masters and servants dis- 
 persed immediately among our ruins, and the 
 solitary aisles resounded with loud and trite re- 
 marks. The young ladies spoke tastefully ; the 
 men made jokes, and thought of the dinner ; 
 the wives deplored, in accents of terror, the rash- 
 
 / ness of the dear children climbing among stones. 
 We gave up the field, and pursued our journey 
 ^thr,ough a very pretty country, particularly along 
 the little river Ilchin ; the cottages lying so 
 snug under their thick thatched roofs, and the 
 chequered casements overgrown with woodbine 
 and roses ; a smooth, short, green carpet before, 
 and tufted groves behind. I cannot say I admire 
 equally the castle style, which is nearly as preva- 
 lent ; when not great it is grotesque. One of 
 these little castellated dwellings, had its draw-
 
 NETLEY ABBEY PORTSMOUTH. 521 
 
 bridge and chains over a moat, not two yards in 
 breadth, and a portecullis of painted wood over 
 the gate, ready to fall on assailants. I recollect 
 one of those miniature castles building at Rich- 
 mond, half way up the hill, by the side of a dusty 
 street, with " flanking wall-that round it sweep," 
 and embattled towers also, so small that a chim- 
 ney-sweeper could hardly ascend into them, the 
 whole built of hewn stone, and at great ex- 
 pence.* 
 
 The entrance of the peninsula, upon which 
 Portsmouth is situated, is protected against land- 
 attacks by fortifications; but no questions are 
 asked of travellers in passing them, or at the 
 gates. The inns were full, and it was not with- 
 out great difficulty that we could secure shelter 
 for the night. That done, we took a walk along 
 the walls, which are the resort of the beau monde 9 
 and from which there is a fine sea-view, Spit- 
 head and all the ships at anchor. The ladies 
 
 j 
 
 seemed, in general, no better than they should 
 be. Booths for a fair '.were building in the prin- ? 
 cipal street where we lodged, and the crowd and 
 noise were such, all night, as to render it impos- Af-j,/ 
 
 * I was fairly taken in by the appearance of hewn stone ; 
 this is, I understand, composition, and certainly very good of 
 the kind. 
 
 VOL. II. X
 
 j^/f 
 
 /' 
 
 322 PORTSMOUTH DOCK-YARD. 
 
 sible to sleep. Early this morning we went to 
 the beach, where there are convenient little carts 
 for bathing ; the water clean, warm, and plea- 
 sant, price Is. 
 
 Being informed that the dock-yard was shewn 
 to any body applying, we went there. It was 
 dinner time, and we were desired to wait till the 
 return of the workmen, whom we saw passing 
 in review before us ; in number three or four 
 thousand men. Having been required to enter 
 my name and residence in a book, kept for that 
 purpose, and, having written of New York, our 
 conductor reported the circumstance to a grave 
 personage, called the governor of the works, who 
 declared that I could not proceed, but that the 
 ladies might. Not choosing, however, to avail 
 themselves of the permission, we went away. As 
 a woman properly instructed would answer the 
 purpose of a spy just as well as a man, and as 
 there would be no difficulty in procuring any 
 information through the natives themselves, the 
 degree of precaution now used is evidently insuf- 
 ficient ; and if there really is any secret worth 
 keeping, it would certainly be safer not to en- 
 trust it to any one, and refuse admittance alto- 
 gether. 
 
 We proceeded next to Petworth, by Chiches- 
 ter, which has nothing remarkable but its cathe- 
 dral. We did not stop to see it. A few miles
 
 PET WORTH PICTURES. 323 
 
 (ft 
 
 south of Petworth, coming down a hill, through 
 a fine wood of lofty trees, we had a very grand 
 view of the rich extensive plain below, dark with 
 trees and evening shades. The sky was without 
 a cloud, and in the west, " a line of insufferable 
 brightness." 
 
 July 12. Petworth belongs to Lord E. 
 a great edifice, too plain and simple for its size. 
 The main front, 25O feet in length, is pierced 
 
 with 21 windows in a line, level with the ground. 
 
 e 
 
 Inside the suite of apartments is certainly very 
 fine, and one of the rooms is adorned with Gib- 
 bon's best carved ornaments. Nothing can be 
 lighter, and truer to life ; birds and fish, flowers 
 and fruit ; but we had with us an antiquated 
 housekeeper, who made us dwell rather longer 
 than we liked on the details. The pictures had / L 
 nothing remarkable. Henry VIII. broad and 
 bulky, with straddling legs, and brutal mien, 
 hangs on the wall in many places, painted by 
 Holbein, and others, all in the same attitude. 
 Three or four good Vandykes ; some inferior 
 portraits by him and Sir Peter Lely, the old sub- 
 ject of the old beauties. Many busts and statues, 
 each with its pedigree, straight from Greece, 
 Herculaneum, or the Tiber. Most of them are 
 so defaced and mutilated, have been repaired in 
 so many essential parts, and accommodated with 
 entire new members, as to put me in mind of
 
 32* PETWORTH PICTURES. 
 
 Mr Peak's mammoth's skeleton, with just bone 
 enough to give it a name. I distinguished, how- 
 ever, some good drapery figures, particularly a 
 colossal one of a middle-aged man, sitting pen- 
 sively. A very excellent portrait of Buonaparte, 
 by Phillips, hollow cheeks, extremely sallow, a 
 melancholy and very mild eye ; it was painted 
 during the short peace. A very good portrait of 
 the late Duke of Bedford, perfectly handsome, 
 but not remarkably sensible. Turenne by the 
 side of him, rather plain, but full of spirit and 
 intelligence. A great regularity of features sup- 
 poses an habitual tranquillity of mind, rarely dis- 
 turbed by strong emotions of any sort. When the 
 energy of the passions, and of genius, is united 
 to perfect beauty, and animates the features with- 
 out disturbing their regularity, the expression 
 may be called divine, and such is that of the 
 str Belvidere Apollo; a degree of perfection artists 
 have rarely attained. The traces of human feel- 
 ings are but the traces of death ; wear and decay 
 are written in the lines of an expressive counte- 
 nance ; and it belongs to the immortals only to 
 burn without being consumed. The death of 
 Cardinal Beaufort, by Sir Joshua Reynolds. The 
 cardinal is too strong for a dying man, and seems 
 writhing under bodily, rather than mental pain. 
 A Lady Craven also, by Sir Joshua, not very 
 good ; not at all the expression one should ex-
 
 PETWORTH FLOWERS LORD E. 325 
 
 pect ; rather that of a good-natured, sober, mo- 
 dest mother of a family, caressing a little boy. 
 
 We were next conducted to the finest conserva- 
 tory imaginable j the plants in the open ground, 
 and not crowded; they remain there of course 
 in summer, and the lights only are taken away. 
 I never saw plants in such health and vigour ; a 
 heliotrope ten feet high, full of leaves and flowers, 
 from the earth to the top, and perfuming the air. 
 The scarlet fuchsia, eighteen feet high, also full 
 of flowers. A scarlet geranium, covering a frame 
 of fifteen feet by eight. One plant of the passion 
 flower, running along the whole frame of the 
 building, with a stem six inches round. No rare 
 plants, all for beauty and smell. We remarked 
 a magnolia out of doors, against the house, thirty- 
 six feet high, full of large white flowers. The 
 kitchen-garden, all divided into espalier walls, 
 covers thirteen acres, not an inch of which 
 seems unoccupied. 
 
 Lord E. is represented by the people of the 
 country as a plain man, rather shy, odd, and 
 whimsical ; which is saying a great deal in a 
 country where this disposition is common enough 
 to escape observation. He suffers the peasants 
 of his village to play bowls and cricket on the 
 lawn before the house j to scribble on the walls, 
 and even on the glass of his windows j yet he
 
 Sfitf PETWORTH LORD E. TREES. 
 
 has just turned away a gardener for selling some 
 vegetables out of a garden which might supply 
 the country ten miles round, and I dare say 
 does. This nobleman had a numerous family of 
 children, the last two, only, legitimate ; the latter 
 died, and the title will pass to a collateral heir, 
 
 N fl * 
 
 with as small a portion as he can of an income 
 of L. 80,000 a- year. There are many men in 
 England who are libertines out of modesty, or 
 rather mauvaise honte, unable to control their awe 
 of modest women ; and I understand this dispo- 
 i/g -4 f sition is particularly common among the nobility. 
 It is probably the consequence of a late univer- 
 sity education, and being kept too long out of 
 general society. The contrary custom prevailing 
 in France, had produced that universal polish 
 by which the individual stamp of character was 
 worn out and effaced. A worthless pebble might 
 thus acquire some little lustre, while in England 
 the richest diamond is apt to remain a rough 
 stone. 
 
 The pleasure-grounds of Petworth, different 
 ^j) from any we have seen in England, are planted 
 with the largest trees, close together, something 
 'like a heavy-timbered American forest, of which 
 they suggest the idea. Many of the trees were 
 indeed American. We found here our old ac- 
 quaintances the hemlock, the black spruce, the
 
 PETWORTH TREES A CLUB DINNER. 
 
 tulip-tree, the occidental plane, the acacia,* and 
 several kinds of oaks. All these trees seem to 
 accommodate themselves extremely well with the //^//^ 
 climate of England, and not to feel, while grow- 
 ing within the inclosed grounds of a peer of a 
 monarchy, the loss of American liberty/ Under 
 their shade we observed the rhododendrum, the 
 fragrant and the common azalia, and other Ame- 
 rican plants, finer and more luxuriant than in 
 their native soil. In some places the trees, ha- 
 ving sufficient space, grow in the English taste ; 
 and the spruce, thus civilized, extends. its mighty 
 limbs over the green lawn with the grace and 
 majesty of a park oak. 
 
 Of the two nights we spent at Petworth, in a 
 very good inn, the first afforded us all the rest of 
 which we had been deprived at Portsmouth ; the 
 second was of a very different character. There 
 xxhappened to be a club-dinner in the room next 
 to us, still sitting, and rather noisy when we went 
 to bed. The company soon became so much 
 more boisterous, as to destroy all hopes of sleep, 
 and getting up, I procured a light, and took a 
 
 * The acacia succeeds better in England than in America, 
 where it is injured, and often destroyed, by a particular kind 
 of worm. This tree affords a most valuable timber for ship- 
 building, and grows very fast; yet it i" never met with in 
 England planted on a large scale for timber.
 
 328 PETWORTH PLOUGHS HORSES AND OXEN. 
 
 book, but reading was also impossible. The con- 
 versation, of which very little was lost, became 
 more and more foolish every moment ; the sing- 
 ing, breaking wine-glasses and chairs, and vocife- 
 rating, lasted till three o'clock in the morning, 
 that is, until broad day-light, when most of 
 these convivial gentlemen staggered home one 
 after the other, and those remaining were too 
 far gone to give us any farther annoyance. This 
 scene is, I believe, quite English, though less 
 common than formerly. 
 
 The ploughs about here, and in Hampshire, 
 have wheels in front to regulate the dip of the 
 ploughshare ; and, as one of the wheels runs in 
 a furrow and the other not, the latter is made 
 smaller. Horses are used universally. Farmers 
 buy them very young, and sell them again when 
 six years old, well broke, and" at a considerable 
 advance of price. They say that horses are nicer 
 in their food, but consume less than oxen, and 
 work faster. A pair of oxen, however, harnessed 
 like horses, properly shod, and with bits in their 
 mouths, will plough an acre every day in less 
 than eight hours. It were to be wished that 
 ho;se-fle*h was brought to market like that of 
 horned-cattle ; and horses would gain by it more 
 than men. An old ox is sent to the pasture for 
 a couple of years ; he does not labour, grows 
 fait and falls at last under the club of the but- 

 
 PETWORTH HUMANITY TO ANIMALS. 329 
 
 cher, without previous suffering : a horse, on 
 
 the contrary, the less spared as he is least able to 
 
 I ij 
 
 labour, descends lower and lower as he grow* 
 old, is ill used, starved, and given to the 
 dogs. The fine cream-coloured horses of his 
 l Majesty have actually been seen in a vile hack- 
 ney-coach. Were it not for the absurd prejudice- 
 against horse-flesh, the noble animals might have 
 passed from the stable to the table of their mas- 
 ter. I understand that horse-flesh is an article of 
 food in Denmark. t4-f$ i*, : $ty4,>p4sft 
 
 The English boast of their humanity to ani- 
 mals, and may comparatively ; but although ani- 
 mals are treated less cruelly here than in France, 
 and are for that reason much more docile and 
 manageable, yet there is still much to be shocked 
 at. If you have a mind to travel with any com- 
 fort, you must not venture to look under the col- 
 lars or saddles of post-horses, as you might there 
 meet with sights to make the best post-chaise 
 uneasy. Between Petworth and Weston- House 
 we perceived that one of the horses was stream- 
 ing with blood about the neck ; he had been put 
 in harness too soon after a bleeding. The post- 
 boy stopped on the road, and went through the 
 operation of fresh twisting of the skin, tying, and 
 pinning, very clumsy and painful, but una- 
 voidable : he agreed with me that it was very 
 'wrong to work horses too soon after bleeding, -
 
 330 HUMANITY TO ANIMALS. 
 
 for, said he, this is the third we have had in this 
 situation, and the two others died of a mortifica- 
 tion, and they cost L.37 a-piece ! If you makj 
 any remark on a horse being lame or tired, they 
 never fail to apply the whip instantly, by way of 
 shewing the horse can go : something like the 
 consequence of Don Quixote's interfering in fa- 
 vour of the shepherd's boy. It is a strange, but 
 certainly a happy dispensation of Providence, 
 that the impression of these sort of things should 
 weaken so rapidly, as soon as the object is out 
 of sight, otherwise, as new ones presented them- 
 selves, such an accumulation of misery would at 
 last render the situation of the traveller worse 
 than that of his horses. The Supreme Author of 
 good and evil has wisely ordered, that a scratch, 
 or a drop of blood shed under our eyes, should 
 awaken a more lively sympathy, than all the hor- 
 rors of a field of battle, where we are not ; and 
 that distance of time should also come in aid of 
 local distance, to blunt unavailing pity. I can- 
 not help thinking, however, that if this organi- 
 zation of human nature had been trusted to me, 
 I should have wished to make distant evils, and 
 c: others' woes," somewhat more present to our 
 imagination and feelings. A distinct impression 
 of the details of war, for instance ; the agonies 
 of the drenched field of honour, and the prolong- 
 ed miseries of the military hospital ; the horrors 
 
 .
 
 GENTLEMEN'S HOUSES. 331 
 
 of endless captivity, of famine, and of pestilence ; 
 the hopeless despair of wives and mothers, 
 might then have damped that idiot admiration of 
 ours for splendid deeds of desolation, and check- 
 ed heroic ambition, by withdrawing a part at 
 least of the' recompense ; for 
 
 Great heroes, howsoe'er inclined 
 To harass and destroy mankind, 
 Ne'er flesh the steel, or roll the thunder, 
 Without some hopes of fame or plunder. 
 
 After spending a few days with our friends ia 
 Surrey, we returned to London the latter end of 
 July. The road from Weston to Esher, by Dor. 
 king and Leatherhead, lies through a very pretty 
 country, full of gentlemen's houses, either simple 
 or magnificent, all in good taste. We paid a vi- 
 sit at one of them, and found a house spreading, 
 broad and low, on a level lawn, and buried in 
 fine trees and shrubs. Inside, the principal room 
 furnished witli prints pasted on a yellow wall, 
 with a very narrow paper border, and prettily 
 arranged ; books, busts, bronze figures, and ele- 
 gant furniture in that and every other room, 
 the windows very large and few, opening like 
 folding doors d la Fran false, and glazed diagon- 
 ally, made of mahoir-iny, and not painted. The 
 river Mole crept sluggishly at a little distance 
 from the house, and beyond it rose Boxhill, in
 
 332 NORBURY PARK LONDON MISS L.'s FETE. 
 
 barren majesty, and covered with white chalk 
 patches. It had been till lately clothed with an 
 evergreen grove of box-trees, but they were sold 
 last year, for the prodigious sum of L.12,OOO, 
 and the hill remains shorn of its honours for 
 some years at least. 
 
 Magnificent elms are felling on all sides for 
 timber, the straightest for keel-pieces. We were 
 shown Norbury Park on a height, Mr Locke's 
 residence, whose talents are well known to us. 
 I had seen and copied at VVeston, the day be- 
 fore, a sketch of his composition, which would 
 do honour to any artist, (Joseph explaining the 
 dream of Pharaoh's officers). It is a great pity 
 Mr Locke should have been born in a situation 
 s which makes him independent of his talents. 
 
 We found the inhabitants of London taken up 
 with two recent occurrences. The splendid fete 
 
 It' firJ 
 
 given by Miss L., a young lady, sole mistress of 
 a fortune of half a million sterling. The supper 
 is said to have fallen rather short, and it is no 
 wonder, for Mr Gunter (the fashionable mana- 
 ger of fetes) had only 2000 guineas for this same 
 supper, exclusive of lights ! The other object of 
 public interest is, the late failure of the cow-pox- 
 preservative property in two instances, in the 
 space of a month. The son of Lord Grosvenor, 
 vaccinated ten years ago, by the celebrated l)r 
 Jenner himself, has taken the small-pox in a na-
 
 LONDON VACCINATION. 333 
 
 tural way ; it was of a confluent sort, and the pa- 
 tient was in great danger. A few days after, the 
 
 son of Sir was likewise attacked with the 
 
 natural small-pox, less violently, but also ten 
 years after vaccination. Can it be possible that -"' 
 the preservative property should not last beyond 
 a certain number of years, and that it should be 
 necessary to recur to vaccination every ten 
 years ? It might be worth while to try innocula- 
 tion of the small-pox at distant periods, with a 
 view to ascertain the permanency of the preser- 
 vative quality. So far, the efficacy of the cow- 
 pox in preserving from the small pox, has failed 
 only in one case out of a thousand. The inocu- 
 lation for the small-pox itself missed three times 
 as often, and was sometimes fatal ; while vacci- 
 nation is without any danger whatsoever, and is 
 attended with little or no sickness. s^' 
 
 The persons with whom I have been lately, 
 were theorists on the side of the -depredation of 
 paper ; here I have conversed with men of busi- 
 ness, who are against it, that is, do not, or will 
 not, believe in it. Passing thus from one me- 
 dium of opinions to another, you experience a 
 sort of electrical shock of surprise ; and if the 
 experiment is frequently repeated, it destroys at 
 last, in a great degree, all confidence in one's 
 self, and in others, in the principles and in the 
 ?/ XJ
 
 334 LONDON DEPRECIATION OF CURRENCY. 
 
 reason of men, all respect for mankind, all 
 enthusiasm, and even seriousness : 
 
 Tout animal re$ut de la nature, 
 
 Certain instinct dont la conduite est sure, 
 
 Et les humains n'orit que de la raison. 
 
 This humiliating experiment, however, is calcu- 
 lated to inculcate the best possible lesson of for- 
 bearance and toleration. It is not to be wonder- 
 ed at that women, with so few opportunities of 
 observing these varieties of views, and contradic- 
 tory reasonings, unaccustomed to doubt, and car- 
 ried away by their feelings, should be so gene- 
 rally intemperate in their zeal, and exaggerated 
 in their opinions. 
 
 A wealthy individual, a great landholder, and 
 a peer of the realm, has lately taken upon him- 
 self to sound the alarm of the depreciation in 
 good earnest, and put it to the test ; having sent 
 a notice to his tenants, in which he tells them 
 $j' that bank paper representing no longer the real 
 value stated in their leases, he means to call upon 
 
 1H them for payment of their rents in the legal coin 
 of the realm ; and as gold was worth L.4 per 
 
 //V * Tf <> unce at tne ^ me tn e se leases were granted, 
 while its present value in the market is L.4, 14s. 
 
 in default of gold coin, he would be satisfied with 
 paper, at the rate of L.4, 14s. for every L.4, or
 
 LONDON DEPRECIATION OF CURRENCY. 335 
 
 16\ per cent, difference, being the actual depre- 
 ciation. The tenants are protected by law against 
 the arrest of their persons, provided they tender 
 bank-notes, but are liable to be ejected from 
 their farms ; and Parliament will have to protect 
 them further. It is undeniable that the rent 
 agreed upon in 1 804? does not represent now the 
 same value ; and that the farmer, while selling 
 his produce at an advanced price, proportioned 
 to the depreciation, discharges his rent at the old 
 or reduced price, what he pays is nominal, and 
 what he receives real. The landlord has a fair 
 right, therefore, to come in for his share of the 
 advanced price, and the interference of the legis- 
 lature is hardly defensible on the ground of jus- 
 tice, although necessity may be pleaded in its fa- 
 vour. This is, however, to be said, that the rise 
 of prices was in part foreseen in 1 8O4, and that 
 a farmer obtaining a long lease, might be indu- 
 ced to give a higher price than he could afford 
 at first, in consideration of the advantages to ac- 
 crue to him from the successive rise of prices 
 during the course of his lease. It is like ^Esop's 
 basket, too heavy at setting out, and too light 
 for the latter part of the journey ; but which it 
 would not be fair to fill up again at the half way. 
 The zeal of the champions for the integrity of 
 the currency, is not unlike that of the surgeon 
 in Gil Bias, who, after wounding passengers in
 
 336 LONDON HAY-MARKET THEATREi 
 
 the street, and retreating into his house, sallied 
 forth through another door to proffer his services 
 
 /Sn the way of his profession. 
 The comedy called the Cure for the Heart-ache 
 was acted yesterday at the Theatre of the Hay- 
 Market. Elliston and Munden appeared in it, 
 and gave us great pleasure, although they exag- 
 . i gerated the exaggerations of the play. But the 
 taste of the English public requires this, as 
 j/l /thistles alone have power to stimulate the palate 
 of certain animals. The object of the petite piece 
 ^. called the Quadrupeds of Quedlinburghj was to 
 ridicule the perverted morality and sentiments 
 of the German drama, and at the same time the 
 exhibition of horses on the stage. One of the 
 personages has two wives, and one of the wives 
 two husbands. One of the husbands, a prisoner 
 jrhrf "in the castle of a merciless tyrant (Duke of Saxe 
 Weimar), is liberated by the other husband, for 
 no other apparent purpose but to get rid of one 
 of his wives. He besieges the castle with a troop 
 of horse, and batters down its walls with pistol- 
 shot. The horses consist of a head and a tail, 
 fastened before and behind the performers, with 
 two sham legs of the rider, dangling about on 
 each side, and a deep housing hiding the real 
 legs. All the cant, childishness, grossness, and 
 crude philosophy of the German drama, was, of 
 course, mustered together, and excited much ri- 
 
 7
 
 LONDON HYDE PARK IRISH CANAILLE. 337 
 
 sibility ; the horses climbed walls, leapt, kicked, 
 fought, lay down, and died, as Mr Kemble's 
 horses might have done. All this was very ridi- 
 culous, but I am not sure that the laugh of the 
 audience was not more with the thing ridiculed, 
 than at it. The English public is not easily bur- 
 lesqued out of its pleasures, and to it a caricature 
 is still a likeness. Some friends of the real qua. 
 drupeds hissed, but clapping got the better. The 
 pale face and nares acutissimce of the ex-minister 
 Mr Canning was pointed out to us in the next 
 box, in company with Lord M. j he laughed very 
 heartily, and the nature of the laugh of the au- 
 thor of the Antijacobin could not be mistaken, 
 
 London is less empty than we expected, and 
 the wheels of numerous carriages are still rattling 
 over the pavement of Portman Square, near 
 which we occupy the house of an absent friend, 
 obligingly lent to us. Hyde Park is much fre- 
 quented, and still green. The deer are so tame 
 as to graze near the walks, and suffer the children 
 to play with their horns. The swans, equally 
 tame, come with their young ones, which are not 
 white yet, to the margin of the Serpentine River, 
 and take bread out of your hand. 
 
 We have in our neighbourhood one of those 
 no-thoroughfare lanes or courts of which Vol- 
 taire wanted to change the indelicate name they 
 bear in French into that of impasse. This one is 
 
 VOL. II. Y
 
 338 LONDON IRISH LABOURERS. 
 
 inhabited by a colony of Irish labourers, who fill 
 every cellar and every garret, a family in each 
 room ; very poor, very uncleanly, and very tur- 
 bulent. They give each other battle every Sa- 
 turday night particularly, when heroes and he- 
 roines shew their prowess at fisty-cuffs, and roll 
 together in the kennel, precisely as at Paris in 
 the Fauxbourg St Ma^eau. We should never 
 have known that there were such wretches as 
 these in London, if we had not happened to re- 
 side in Orchard Street, Portman Square, which 
 is one of the finest parts of the town. The uproar 
 
 continued all last night, from Saturday to Sun- 
 day (5th August), and it was as impossible to 
 sleep as at Petworth. A watchman called for as- 
 
 / MJIr 
 
 day (5th August), and it was as impossible to 
 
 sistance with his rattle. One or more of his bre- 
 thren assembled ; and I overheard from the win- 
 dow one of them say, " If I go in I know I shall 
 have a shower of brick-bats." To which another 
 replied, very considerately, " Wdl> never mind, 
 let them murder each other if they please" This 
 shews what sort of a mild police there is in this 
 immense town, and yet there are as few crimes, 
 or violence of any kind, committed here as at 
 Paris, where the guet-^-pied and guet-d-cheval pa- 
 rade the streets, or at least used to do so, all 
 night long, and even during the day, full armed. 
 I have never heard any thing similar to the noise 
 of these neighbours of ours in any other part of
 
 LONDON HIGHGATE TUNNEL. 339 
 
 the town at any hour of the night, even in St 
 Giles's, which lies in the way to several of the 
 playhouses. 
 
 We have spent a few days at East JBarnet, 
 eight miles from London. Half the distance is 
 through a track of waste-land, called Finchley 
 Common, the existence of which, at the very 
 gates of the capital, is to me very surprising. It 
 was formerly a favourite stand for robbers j but 
 the war has provided for these bold spirits, and 
 you may travel at present all over England in 
 perfect safety. The road passes over a small 
 ridge of hills, perhaps 30O feet in height, through 
 which a subterraneous passage is now construct- 
 ing ; it is indeed pierced nearly through, and is 
 10OO feet in length j it will be secured by a cy- 
 linder of brick, 1 8 feet in diameter. This is the 
 direct road to Scotland, and all the northern 
 counties, and it is supposed that a light toll will 
 easily defray the expence. Marine remains of 
 various sorts have been discovered in digging 
 this tunnel, and a new substance resembling 
 amber, scattered in small masses. These hills 
 (Hampstead and Highgate,) being the highest 
 spots for some miles round London, enjoy a very 
 fine prospect, and are covered with inns and 
 country-houses. 
 
 On our return to town we stopped at Hack- 
 ney, to see the ascension of a balloon. The
 
 S'K) LONDON BALLOON. 
 
 crowd on foot and in carriages was prodigious. 
 An uninterrupted stream poured from all the 
 avenues towards the spot (the garden of the Mer- 
 maid public-house), covering whole fields, the 
 ^ roofs of houses, and the highest trees, like a 
 swarm of locusts, in order to see better what 
 could not possibly escape their sight from any 
 place. After waiting some hours, the balloon 
 rose at last from its hiding-place, with two ad- 
 venturers suspended in its gallery, Mr Sadler, 
 a professor in that line, and Captain Paget, a 
 candidate for fame,- waving their flags. There 
 was a short burst of applause, then a profound 
 silence, and some time elapsed before shouts 
 burst again from the immense multitude. The 
 novelty to most people, the gracefulness of the 
 sight, and the boldness of the deed, are calcula- 
 ted to excite very powerful emotions, which are 
 felt simultaneously by every body, for a moment 
 at least. The very circumstance of such an assem- 
 blage of men, animated with the same thought, 
 and employed in the same pursuit, would be suf- 
 ficient to produce a momentary enthusiasm, even 
 if the object were still more insignificant than a 
 balloon, and a couple of fool-hardy adventurers 
 choosing to run the risk of their necks for the 
 sake of being stared at by the multitude. The 
 balloon rose nearly perpendicularly, inclining 
 from us eastward. It was visible for twentv-two
 
 LONDON RIVER BRIDGES. 341 
 
 minutes, and in about an hour descended near 
 Tilbury Fort ; distance thirty miles. 
 
 I have already mentioned certain basins, or 
 docks, situated below London, into which whole 
 fleets of merchantmen are laid up under lock and 
 key. We provided ourselves with a letter of in- 
 troduction for the Captain of the West-India 
 docks, and taking a boat at the Whitehall Stairs, 
 towards the latter part of the ebbing tide, we 
 descended swiftly through the whole length of 
 the town. The Adelphi and Somerset House on 
 the left, looked extremely well ; the latter indeed 
 magnificent, with the same black and white stains 
 as at St Paul's, and on all other stone buildings 
 in London ; it has a singular effect and not a bad 
 one. The bridge opposite Somerset House is 
 just begun ; it will be only the fourth bridge, and 
 not enough for this overgrown town. Paris has 
 six or seven bridges. Blackfriars bridge is de- 
 caying rapidly. The stones are too soft, and 
 scale off near the water's edge. The ornamental 
 columns at each pier will not stand many years. 
 It is a very handsome bridge. From all parts 
 of the river the head and shoulders of St Paul's 
 tower over every thing else, and its bright dome 
 reflects the rays of the sun, invisible to the inha- 
 bitants of the busy world around its base, enve- 
 loped as they are in their own atmosphere of
 
 342 LONDON FALL AT LONDON BRIDGE. 
 
 smoke. Not far from it the monument rears its 
 bold and light form in just proportions. And 
 farther down, the old tower of London, which, 
 although without beauty in itself, sets off the dull 
 mass of private buildings. Nothing can well be 
 uglier than London bridge ; every arch is of a 
 size different from its next neighbour ; there are 
 more solid than open parts ; it is in fact like a 
 thick wall, pierced with small unequal holes here 
 and there, through which the current, dammed 
 up by this clumsy fabric, rushes with great velo- 
 city, and in fact takes a leap, the difference be- 
 tween high and low water being upwards of 15 
 feet. Passengers are generally landed above, and 
 taken up below the bridge ; but being desirous 
 of trying this little Niagara, which cannot be 
 very dangerous, since so many boats pass it eve- 
 
 ry day in safety, and being quite sure of reach- 
 ing the shore by swimming, I remained with the 
 boatman. He took the third arch, placed his 
 boat in a direct line, then rested on his oars. The 
 boat shot along an inclined plane, through the 
 narrow hole, not 2O feet wide I believe, as- 
 cended a little, then descended an abrupt step, 
 the prow straight down, and up again in a 
 moment, lifting some water into the boat, which 
 turned several times round in the eddy below the 
 bridge, before it got into the straight current. I
 
 LONDON BOAT-RACE, 343 
 
 am astonished this fall, repeated twice a day for 
 some hours, has not undermined the bridge long 
 ago. 
 
 Below London Bridge, the Thames begins to 
 assume the appearance of a sea-port. You see 
 shipping at anchor on both sides, many Dutch, 
 Danes, and Swedes, with licences, I suppose, and 
 many Americans ; two or three seventy-fours on 
 the stocks, and some East Indiamen ; Admiral 
 de Winter's ship afloat, dismantled. We soon 
 found ourselves in a crowd of boats, very gaily 
 attired, full of rowers, and in great activity. It 
 was a rowing-match, they appeared ready to 
 start, and we took our station among the specta- 
 tors. A shot fired was the signal. Three very 
 light boats like the one we were in, 20 feet long, 
 -41 feet beam, 16 inches deep, the greatest 
 breadth in the middle, sharp, fore and aft, like 
 a shuttle, clinker-built, one man in each, with 
 sculls. One of the champions was orange all 
 over, the other yellow, the third red. In a few 
 minutes there was a great cry of Foul ! foul ! an- 
 swered equally loud with Fair ! fair ! The friends 
 on both sides interfered and stopped the boats. 
 What it was exactly we could not make out, 
 some nice point, no doubt, as there was much 
 vehement argumentation on both sides ; but ap- 
 parently, without abuse or quarrelling ; things 
 were adjusted and the race resumed. The con-
 
 344 LONDON VEST-INDIA DOCKS* 
 
 tending oarsmen passed very swiftly by us, strain- 
 ing every nerve, amidst shouts and acclamations. 
 We saw them turn half a mile above, around a 
 large boat stationed there for the purpose, deco- 
 rated with streamers, and covered with the beau 
 sexe all in white. The orange man, who had the 
 lead at first, seemed now to be overtaken by the 
 red ; the yellow far behind. Returning, they 
 soon passed us again, on the other side, followed 
 by a fleet of boats, and were out of sight in a 
 few minutes, down the river j a band of music 
 playing all the while. 
 
 1 fafi^ We now landed at the West-India docks, and 
 
 the captain of the docks gave us a guide. The 
 river forms here a great bend, round a low head 
 of land called the Isle of Dogs, through which 
 a canal and several large basins have been dug, 
 , . fa covering about sixty acres, and kept always full 
 by means of locks, so that the largest ships may 
 
 be always afloat. These basins are divided into 
 
 j 
 
 districts of imports and exports, and surrounded 
 by ranges of warehouses to a prodigious extent, 
 like a town. An open shed along the whole line 
 of the water, in front of the warehouses, receives 
 the cargoes ; and the coopers, weighers, measu- 
 rers, &c. attend to their several departments un- 
 der cover. Cranes with chains are ready to hoist 
 up the goods into the various warehouses. Whole 
 fleets unload at the same time j repair, and load
 
 LONDON WEST-INDIA DOCKS. 345 
 
 again. No damage, no pilfering, no risk of ^ 
 fire in the warehouses, which are incombustible. x 
 This is the establishment of a giant trade. At 
 present, indeed, the giant receives, but sends no- 
 thing away. The warehouses are so full, that it 
 has been found necessary to hire temporary ones 
 out of the docks. The export district is literally 
 deserted. We went on board the largest ship in 
 the West-India trade, (626 tons,) and another 
 just arrived, the cabin hung round with naked 
 swords and pikes, muskets with fixed bayonets, 
 and pistols ; four great guns looking out of the 
 cabin windows. There has been lately some re- 
 
 * ~4/^ 
 
 laxation in the system of continental exclusion j 
 a number of licensed vessels have sailed over 
 with cargoes, -nine last week only. The power- 
 ful adversary of England, in his struggle to keep jfofi 
 the head of his enemy down under water, has 
 got his own in the same situation, and must come 
 to the surface again to breathe awhile himself, 
 finding the other harder to die than he expect- 
 ed. It appears to me, that the too much sugar 
 is not likely to prove more fatal to England than 
 the too little to France ; and that both sides- 
 have formed an exaggerated idea of the effect of 
 this mode of warfare. They may inconvenience, 
 but cannot destroy each other by such means. "^ 
 
 In order to give some idea of the extent of the 
 branch of commerce to which alone this basin is
 
 34-6 LONDON COMMERCE. 
 
 appropriated, I shall copy here a statement of the 
 cargoes discharged since the beginning of the in- 
 stitution, from a report of their committee, in- 
 serted in Gobbet's Political Register, vol. XV., 
 p. 115: 
 
 In 1803, 363 vessels. In 1806, 477 vessels. 
 
 1804-, 354 1807, 503 
 
 1805, 421 1808, 598 
 
 In the course of five months of the last year 
 there were 460 vessels discharged, and their car- 
 goes consisted of the following articles : 16O,OOO 
 hogsheads of sugar, 32,000 casks and 125,000 
 bags of coffee, 11,000 bales of cotton, besides a 
 quantity of pimento, ginger, cocoa, and wine. 
 The wine is shipped from Madeira to the West 
 Indies, by way of improving it, and thence to 
 England. 
 
 Nearer town, and on the same side of the ri- 
 ver, is another basin, the London docks, nearly as 
 extensive, and others less so, each appropriated 
 to different branches of trade, and for the use of 
 British vessels only. Strangers have no hospitali- 
 ty to expect, and must sleep in the street, that 
 is to say, remain at anchor in the stream of the 
 river, exposed to various inconveniences, acci- 
 dents, and dangers, and to thefts, which were 
 formerly very audacious and frequent. The 
 Thames police, however, established within a
 
 LONDON BRIDGE ANECDOTE. 347 
 
 few years, has effectually checked the latter ; % 
 and the river being disencumbered of British 
 vessels by the use of the docks, foreign ones have 
 also been benefited by them. The port of Lon- 
 don, however, is still deemed expensive and in- 
 convenient for foreign shipping. 
 
 On our return to London bridge, we found 
 the scene quite altered ; the channel below had 
 filled up, by the tide flowing in, level with the 
 channel above, and began to be even higher ; 
 and the stream ran up through the bridge very 
 swiftly. We landed at the Adelphi, and went 
 up to the terrace, which has an extensive view 
 over the river, but not a beautiful one. The river 
 here is navigated by few other vessels besides 
 coal-barges, and the opposite side (South vvark,) 
 presents a confused heap of mean buildings, un- 
 relieved by a single object of greatness or ele- 
 gance. Over the door of a house on this terrace, 
 we read Mrs Gar rick ; the very house and the 
 very widow of the great Garrick ! 
 
 The news of the day among the beau rnonde of 
 the capital is rather a bad story. An eminent pa- 
 triot, the head of the reformers, had, it seems, a 
 love affair, years ago, with a lady of quality. The 
 lady became pregnant, she was a married wo- 
 man. But, as there were some reasons to sup- 
 pose her husband would not consider himself as 
 
 the father of the child, and might turn the ladv 
 
 5
 
 348 LONDON ANECDOTE; 
 
 and her progeny out of doors, the patriot, who isf 
 very rich, was induced to execute a bond for 
 L.20,OOO, to be paid in that event only ; the 
 bond to be deposited in the hands of the brother 
 of the lady, as trustee. The child is said to be 
 the patriots tout crach6 ; and the latter paid, on 
 account of his bond, L.500O into the hands of 
 the trustee. Yet, as the contemplated separation 
 did not in fact take place, he now claims that 
 sum back again, and has begun a suit at law. 
 The consequent publicity of all the facts gives 
 rise, of course, to a great deal of scandal. And 
 it is not the least disgusting "part of the story, 
 that the lady of quality is said to have herself 
 instigated the suit, in order to be revenged of 
 her brother, who had pocketed the L.5000, with- 
 out giving her any of it. It is difficult to say 
 which of the parties appears in the most ridicu- 
 lous and contemptible light ; the brother chosen 
 confidant of such a transaction, and cheating 
 both the parties ; the patriot avaricious, and a 
 dupe ; the lady of quality vindictive, and de- 
 bauched ; or the contented husband ! These 
 sorts of things are done, no doubt, in other 
 countries but they are kept secret. Here, the 
 habit of seeing every thing published in the 
 newspapers seems to have blunted, at least, the 
 very sense of honourable shame. I have heard, 
 indeed, some persons, considerable among the
 
 LONDON AMERICAN LITERATURE. S49 
 
 whigs, pronounce the patriot to be a lost man ; 
 and assert that he never would get over the scan- 
 dal of this affair. But all the inference to be 
 drawn from this declaration is, that the patriot 
 does not stand better with whigs than with to- 
 ries ; had it been otherwise, they would have 
 contrived to make out a better case for him. 
 
 America and the Americans take up very little 
 of the attention of Europe; and, even here, 
 where there are so many points of contact with 
 the people of the United States, they would be 
 surprised to find their feelings of partiality or of 
 hatred so faintly reciprocated. An official letter 
 of the officer who had the late unfortunate ren- 
 contre with the Little Belt, as published in the 
 newspapers, was, however, mentioned at a din- 
 ner where I happened to be lately ; and the 
 matter and style of that letter were given as an 
 instance of the want of temper and manners, and 
 the bad tone altogether, so conspicuous in most 
 productions of that sort in America. The wri- 
 ter of this letter was charged with having pub- 
 lished, many years before, a still more objection- 
 able account of an action between a French and 
 an American frigate. It was remarked, at the 
 same time, that the narrator of the commonest 
 incident inserted in a newspaper, nearly the only 
 specimen of American literature known in Eu- 
 rope, seemed to think it a fit opportunity to esta- 
 
 10
 
 LONDON UNITED STATES. 
 
 blish his claim to pathetic eloquence, or liveli- 
 ness and wit ; which was always so utterly man- 
 gu6, and in such inveterate bad taste, as to excite 
 the astonishment of European readers ; and must 
 necessarily lead them to suppose the state of 
 manners in the United States, and general in- 
 formation, very inferior to what it certainly is. 
 Ample justice was done to the talent for abuse 
 of the political writers of that country, the 
 force, if not the originality, of their invective, 
 shewing them to have profited by the long resi- 
 ^ dence of Mr Gobbet among them. 
 
 A friend of America mentioned, as an excep- 
 tion to this general prevalence of bad taste, the 
 practice of the American bar, which, he main- 
 tained, was vastly more becoming the dignity of 
 the law, and better fitted to the end of justice, 
 the pert, flippant, and insolent mode of 
 examining witnesses, and handling the reputa- 
 tion and character of adverse parties, which pre- 
 vails in England to a disgusting degree, and may 
 well afford to an American the opportunity of 
 retorting the accusation of bad taste. He sug- 
 gested also, that the legislature of the United 
 States was not so deficient in talents, liberality, 
 and information, as the very imperfect report 
 of their speeches and proceedings, given in the 
 newspapers, might induce European readers to 
 vsuppose. The bad taste of their jokes, when they 

 
 LONDON UNITED STATES. 351 
 
 attempted any, was, to be sure, very striking ; 
 their invective was coarse, and their elevation 
 commonly bombastic and frothy. But when 
 they relinquished imagination, and kept to plain 
 sense and reason, it was maintained that some of 
 the members of the Congress would do honour to 
 a British Parliament. One, indeed, who is said to 
 have taken Chatham for his model, was noticed 
 for the peculiar vigour and originality of his elo- 
 quence j yet it was thought to be generally too 
 high, or too low, either turgid or trivial, and, with 
 superior advantages of fortune and education, 
 often vulgar, both in the language and ideas. . 
 
 The style of an illustrious personage who ranks 
 among the few literati of the United States, and 
 has been their first magistrate, was mentioned as 
 another instance of vicious taste, involved, over- 
 fine, affectedly philosophical, ingenious rather 
 than sound, and corrupted by the mixture of fo- 
 reign idioms. An instance of perfect purity of 
 taste, of justness of conception and expression, 
 was at last unanimously acknowledged, in a man 
 who stands equally pre-eminent in the old and 
 in the new world, as a hero, a patriot, and a sage. 
 It belongs to Washington alone to be thus held 
 a model of all that is great and good. Another 
 of the heroes of American independence,* and 
 
 Hamilton.
 
 S52 LONDON AMERICAN MANNERS POLITICS. 
 
 a man of more genius, as much purity, but less 
 unerring sense than Washington, was supposed 
 to have lent his pen to him. He might, in some 
 instances, and certainly did, in the most memo- 
 rable, and the last ; but Washington's style was 
 too uniformly good, and on all occasions, public 
 or private, not to have been essentially his own. 
 From American taste and manners, the con- 
 versation naturally turned to American politics ; 
 and a gentleman, distinguished by his legal and 
 legislative eloquence, a statesman who has been 
 denominated the British Cicero, disapproved the 
 haughty tone of the British government in regard 
 to that country. The Americans, he said, shew 
 a provoking partiality for our enemy, and an of- 
 fensive dislike of ourselves, without any adequate 
 cause, let it be so ; the surest way to remove 
 these prejudices would be, to act as if we were 
 not sensible that they exist. We can be magna- 
 nimous with impunity, now that we are the 
 strongest, and might hope to effect a cure before 
 the time comes when we shall be compelled to 
 be proud in our own defence. Lord Erskine, 
 ex-chancellor, for I have already sufficiently de- 
 signated him, is about sixty years of age, of a 
 noble, frank, and expressive countenance, ? 
 ^ speaking well, freely, and without pretensions, 
 and with the utmost good humour. Faithful to 
 the doctrines of his party, he expressed himself
 
 LONDON LORD ERSKINE PLANTING. 353 
 
 n the consequences of the war with great de- 
 spondency. The country is brought to the brink 
 of ruin, in fact it is ruined, -land is the only 
 safe property, stick to acres, &c. &c. Farming 
 was talked of; and. in proof of the universality 
 of the taste for agriculture as a pursuit here, I 
 shall state, that Lord E., who was, early in life, 
 in the army, and I believe in the navy also, fol- 
 lowed afterwards the law as a profession, became 
 chancellor, and was all his life a man of the 
 world as well as a man of business, seemed as 
 much an fait on the subject, as if he had spent 
 his whole life on the family estate in Scotland. 
 Any body may secure, he told us, L.I 0,000 a- 
 year, by planting 400 acres with larches and 
 Scotch pines, only twenty acres each year. 
 At the end of twenty years, the first twenty 
 acres, at the rate of 4000 saplings to an acre, 
 and at 2s^ 6d. a-piece, would produce just 
 ^ 1 0,000. , The second year's planting would, 
 of course, come to perfection the next year after 
 this ; and thus every year " twenty more, kill 
 them," or rather cut them down, and let them 
 grow again ; for new shoots would continue to 
 spring up from the old stumps for ages. I do not 
 know, however, how far this calculation would 
 do in practice, if many people went upon the same 
 scheme. 
 
 Peat-lands, I understood, were drained by 
 
 VOL. II. 35
 
 354 LONDON NEWGATE PRISON. 
 
 means of ditches, tent feet deep. The peat 
 spread upon other land as manure, had been 
 known to raise the rent from 30s. to L.3 an acre ; 
 while the peat-land itself, thus drained and co- 
 vered with lime, became highly fertile. This 
 process has been followed in Ireland with great 
 success. But the Irish love their bogs, and do 
 not approve of their being encroached on in this 
 manner. 
 
 Sept. 5. Wishing to see, or rather thinking it 
 incumbent on me to see, something of the pri- 
 sons of this capital, I called to-day at the most 
 considerable of them, Newgate. A turnkey took 
 me up a back stair-case to the leads, from which, 
 like Asmodeus in the Diable Boiteuv, I had a 
 view into the interior, and could see what was 
 doing in the different divisions of this melancholy 
 abode. We first perched upon the debtors' ward, 
 they sat and walked about in two courts, pa- 
 ved with flag-stones, and very clean ; the women 
 separated from the men. Some of the women, 
 (they were few) held up their hands to me for 
 alms. I observed written on the wall, in very 
 large letters, Lord Moirafor ever.* Then we 
 went to the felons under sentence of death. 
 They were playing fives against the wall of a 
 narrow court ; their irons fastened on one leg 
 
 * He has made some motions in Parliament in favour of in- 
 solvent debtors.
 
 LONDON NEWGATE PRISON. 355 
 
 only, from the knee to the ankle, over a sort of 
 cushion, and so arranged as to make no noise, 
 and to be no impediment at all to their motions ; 
 in fact a mere matter of form, -and so is also, in 
 a great degree, the sentence of death itself. Not 
 one of these people appeared to believe it seri- 
 ous. One of them, whose companions were late- 
 ly executed for forgery, * had been reprieved the 
 day before, having turned evidence, and they were 
 all playing with great briskness and glee. In one 
 of the courts, the one, I think, for felons under 
 sentence of transportation, I was shewn the man 
 who fired a pistol at the king twelve or fifteen 
 years ago, at the theatre. He stood picking his 
 teeth in a corner very composedly, well dressed, 
 and looking young (he must have been quite > 
 young at the time.) I asked whether the man ^ 
 was insane ; Not at ally said the turnkey, no more 
 than you, only very cunning. But what is there 
 so cunning in getting himself shut up here for, 
 life ? They have made him foreman of the ward, 
 he has a good salary, a guinea a-week, I think 
 he said, happy as a king, eats the best of every 
 thing , what can he want more ! The transporta- 
 tion ladies, crowded in a small court, were much 
 more disorderly than the men. They threatened 
 
 * There is no pardon for forgery.
 
 356 LONDON NEWGATE PRISON. 
 
 and wrangled among themselves, singing, vocife- 
 rating, and, as much as the narrow space allowed, 
 moving about in all sorts of dresses, one of them 
 in men's clothes. They are not in irons like the 
 men. In a more spacious court, separated from 
 these women by a high wall, were state prisoners, 
 as my guide called them, playing fives (the fa- 
 vourite pastime of Newgate it seems.) One of 
 them, well dressed, and wearing powder, about 
 forty years of age, was pointed out to me, as Ast- 
 lett of the bank. He was playing merrily with 
 .another gentleman., as my guide, a most vulgar 
 wretch, called them. This other gentleman was 
 .a printer, who had been there two years for stri- 
 king for wages, and has one or two more years to 
 
 stay. Three or four years confinement in New- 
 
 r 
 eir wa o es raised, seems to me most excessive, 
 
 II 
 
 gate, for a confederacy of journeymen to have 
 
 
 especially as their employers may confederate as 
 much as they please among themselves for the re- 
 ; ^ duction of wages. The associations of workmen, 
 and raising a fund among themselves under cer- 
 tain officers, have been thought a contrivance of 
 revolutionary tendency j and there may have been 
 something of that sort in the present case. I en- 
 quired for Mr Cobbett, expecting to see him 
 among the gentlemen. Oh ! no, said my turnkey, 
 he is too great for that. Where is he then ? 
 Why he is in the governor's house, I'll shot you t
 
 LONDON NEWGATE PRISON. 357 
 
 Aplenty of money , and that is every thing you 
 know. Then walking farther on the leads, he 
 shewed me a grated door, through which I could 
 see a carpeted room, Mr Cobbett's room. He 
 has the key of the grated door, and therefore, free 
 access to this leaden roof, which is extensive, high, 
 and airy, with a most beautiful view of St Paul's, 
 and over great part of the city. His family is 
 with him, and he continues to pour out his tor- 
 rent of abuse as freely as ever, on every thing and 
 every body in turn. Mr Cobbett seems to me to 
 furnish, without intending it, the same sort of 
 evidence in favour of the existence of the liberty 
 of the press in his own country, as a philosopher 
 of antiquity gave of the existence of motion. 
 
 The strange medley of licentiousness and legal 
 restraint, of freedom and confinement, of pu- 
 nishment for what is done, and liberty to do the 
 same again, is really very curious. An heteroge- 
 neous compound it seems at first; complex, arti- 
 ficial, inconsistent, and laboriously insufficient ; 
 but, I think, best upon the whole. The consti- 
 tution has provided certain civil ingredients; they 
 are thrown together, and left to ferment, and 
 struggle, and combine, abandoned to their che- 
 mical affinities. The chemist, to be sure, is ac- 
 cused of not giving always fair play to the expe- 
 riment, and meddling with the process, as his 
 views incline to particular results. But, upon the
 
 358 LONDON BUEYING-GROUNDS. 
 
 whole, how much nearer it comes to the immuta- 
 bility of general laws, than the simple arbitrary 
 processes of other countries I 
 
 During a visit we lately made at East Barnet, 
 about eight miles from London, the beautiful si- 
 tuation of the burying-ground attracted my at- 
 tention. I had observed before that this last 
 home of the English was generally pleasantly si- 
 tuated ; and in South Wales we found the graves 
 often covered with growing flowers, carefully cul- 
 tivated by the friends of the individual whose bo- 
 dy lies underneath ; the idea does credit to 
 ^/x Welch feelings. English feelings shew themselves 
 in a different manner. The little comforts of the 
 dead are carefully attended to ; and, as dampness 
 is a thing most dreaded in this moist climate, 
 there are drains to keep the vaults dry, and air- 
 holes through plates of iron to give them fresh 
 air j a universal endeavour is also observable to 
 put off the parfait oubli, into which obscure names 
 fall so soon after death, by an urn, an iron rail- 
 ing, a stone, a simple board, all bearing in- 
 scriptions, where something more than|mere name 
 and date is recorded. Rank and titles stand first, 
 and require nothing else ; these wanting, virtues 
 are told of, and some ambitious quotation from 
 the poets is made to vouch for them ; the decea- 
 sed was either great or good. I have noticed, 
 however, inscriptions boasting of obscurity, as if
 
 RICHMOND BANKS OF THE THAMES. 359 
 
 it had been a matter of choice, like Piron's epi- 
 taph, Ci git Piron t qui ne Jilt rien> pas mme 
 acadtmicien. 
 
 Sept. #. We are just returned from Richmond, 
 where we went two days ago to take leave of our 
 friends, with a hope that it will not prove for ever. 
 We went by water, and returned the same way, 
 in order to see more of the banks of the Thames, 
 and to avoid the dust, the weather being dry and 
 warm; that is, 76 to 78 of Fahrenheit's in the 
 shade at noon, and 70 at night ; a delightful 
 temperature ; it is in fact never too warm here 
 in the house. We performed the thirty miles to 
 and from Richmond in one of the small boats al- 
 ready described, with one rower only ; fare 12s. 
 each time, and 1 s. gratuity. The greatest part 
 of the banks of the river are quite flat, too many 
 houses, and the immediate water edge muddy, 
 reeds and sedge. The river itself is clear. You 
 see here and there a number of beautiful spots, 
 beautiful from the luxuriance of the vegetation, 
 neat lawns, and large trees, but without much 
 play of ground, or any thing properly picturesque. 
 We noticed the cedar of Lebanon, the American 
 tulip-tree and plane, wonderful fine elms, and un- 
 trimmed willows, in their natural state, which they 
 hardly ever retain in Europe. We were shewn 
 on the south bank of the river, near Putney, the 
 house of Mrs Clarke, of impudent fame j and our 
 
 4
 
 / 
 
 360 RICHMOND SUNDAY PLEASURE-BOATS. 
 
 boatman, as much au fail of the news of the court 
 as that of Henry IV., informed us, that the illus- 
 , hj trious lover still saw his siren j a most extraordi- 
 nary circumstance, if true. The country-house 
 of Mr Hoare, the banker (the same gentleman, I 
 I \jr presume, who does not suffer his visitors at Stour- 
 head to sit down), looks very well. A small place 
 belonging to Mrs Braham (Signora Storace,) ap- 
 pears very pretty. The Margravine of Anspach's 
 (Lady Craven,) is a house ^ pretensions. There 
 is a ruin, which seems ready to tumble down only 
 because it is ill built ; it was erected for a theatre. 
 The ruin, the house, the summer-house, and other 
 picturesquenesses, are all huddled together, as 
 in French -English gardens. The Duke of Buc- 
 cleuch's, under the hill at Richmond, looks per- 
 haps better than any other place on the river ; 
 but then the grounds are very small, and crowd- 
 ed between the highroad and the river ; another 
 sort of highroad without dust. I own I can hardly 
 forgive the Lord of the Esk for preferring the 
 banks of the Thames as a residence. This latter 
 river makes the delight of the cockneys of Lon> 
 don ; and, on Sunday particularly, the number 
 of pleasure-boats plying between Richmond and 
 the capital is prodigious ; they are generally co- 
 vered with an awning, and decorated with flags 
 and streamers. The custom of stopping on the 
 lawns along the river, and making a repas cham-
 
 LONDON SHAVING-POWDER. 361 
 
 pttre with provisions brought in the boat, proves, 
 I suppose, a great nuisance to the refined pro- 
 prietors of these favourite spots ; for I have ob- 
 served on several of them boards put up, with 
 writing, forbidding such trespasses and vulgar 
 sports on their premises. The Bishop of London, 
 wanting to put a stop to this profanation of the 
 Sabbath, thought it necessary to ascertain first 
 the extent of the evil ; and to that end htrd the 
 number of boats passing under the bridge in the 
 course of one Sunday taken down, but finding 
 it to exceed 40OO, he gave it up in despair. Dif- 
 ficult as it should seem to be drowned in so in- 
 considerable a river as the Thames above Lon- 
 don, accidents are frequent, from the imprudence 
 of the city navigators, who carry sail in these 
 small boats, flat, and without ballast. I have seen 
 some of them sitting or lying over the awning, 
 with the true temerity of inexperience. 
 
 No trade is inconsiderable in London for the 
 man who is in vogue ; it is a condensed world, 
 where the smallest attraction finds multitudes in 
 its sphere. Observing one day the admirable 
 facility with which a friend of mine shaved him- 
 self, I enquired how he contrived to keep his ra- 
 zors in such good order ? Mr Clarke of Exeter 
 Change, he told me, furnishes the requisite. 
 This ingenious person has amassed a fortune of 
 L. 100,000 by selling powder to sharpen ra-
 
 362 LONDON HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT. 
 
 zors. Being curious to know a person so dis- 
 tinguished in his line, I repaired to Exeter Change 
 the very next day, and was shewn, at the extre- 
 mity of the double row of shops, which all be- 
 long, I found, to Mr Clarke, that gentleman him- 
 self, established in a little nook behind the gate. 
 He received me very civilly, presented the 
 only chair he could command, and, at my re- 
 quest, gave me a lesson of razor-strapping, pro- 
 nouncing the word razor like ra in ra$p t which, 
 from such a high authority, must be considered 
 as settling the pronunciation. For the sum of 
 two shillings I have acquired all the skill, toge- 
 ther with the materials, necessary to secure for 
 the rest of my life a blessing I had wished for du- 
 ring thirty years, to wit, a constantly sharp ra- 
 zor. While I was there a gentleman called on 
 business, and Mr Clarke talked about bonds and 
 mortgages, lands and houses, strapping all 
 the while. A young girl, meantime, brought 
 him his frugal dinner in a small basket, and he 
 sleeps, I believe, in the loft above his shop. Mr 
 Clarke conversed upon politics and America with 
 very good sense. 
 
 No females of any rank are admitted into 
 either House of Parliament during the sittings, 
 but are admitted to see it at other times as well 
 as men, and we availed ourselves of this one 
 morning. Some of the attendants are always
 
 LONDON WATER EAST INDIANS. 363 
 
 within call ; the settled price is a shilling for 
 the House of Lords, and half price for the Com- 
 mons. The upper house is rather the shabbiest 
 of the two, the seats are of dirty red cloth, 
 the walls hung round with an old tarnished ta- 
 pestry, representing the Armada and the fa- 
 mous woolsack, in tatters, is only a sort of deal 
 bench, stuffed with hay. The temporary inclo- 
 sure, made for the reception of the witnesses in 
 the late trial on the Berkely peerage, was still 
 standing. The scandal of the evidence adduced 
 on that trial is fresh in the memory of the public. 
 
 An acquaintance of ours occupies the house 
 that was Richardson's at Hammersmith ; it is irre- 
 gular, rather small, a little way from the road, 
 has an excellent garden behind, of about two 
 acres, walled round, and plenty of fine fruit, 
 green gages, nectarines, pears and grapes, 
 some of which may very well have been planted 
 by the author of Clarissa. The greatest part of 
 the ground is occupied by a neat lawn and a few 
 trees. This, I should suspect, was probably a 
 trim parterre in his time, with box borders. 
 
 The water with which London is supplied, was, 
 it seems, conveyed by means of wooden pipes or 
 logs, perforated, lying under ground, from which 
 small leaden pipes branched out to each house. 
 Workmen are now employed in taking up these 
 logs, which appear mostly decayed, and substi-
 
 364 LONDON ANECDOTE LICHFIELD. 
 
 ^X luting cast-iron pipes. Those in the main streets, 
 such as Oxford Street and Holborn, are enor- 
 mously large ; upwards of two feet diameter, 
 branching out, down the side streets, into 
 pipes of the diameter of six inches. The water 
 must acquire a ferruginous quality in its passage 
 through so much iron. I think glass pipes might 
 be made sufficiently thick to bear moving ; and 
 once in the ground, would last for ever, and com- 
 municate no impurity to the water. 
 
 There are many native East Indians lately land- 
 ed. They walk about the town with immense 
 umbrellas, particoloured, red and white, in al- 
 ternate ribs, and a deep fringe all round. Who 
 will say now that there is no sun in London, 
 x/ when tropical people are obliged to screen them- 
 ' selves from its beams ! These men, who seem to 
 be people of some consequence, are extremely 
 small and meagre. It must seem to them as if 
 they were among Patagonians, although the in- 
 habitants of London have no particular claim to 
 size. They are much stared at, but not insulted. 
 An English mob is not that rude unmannerly 
 thing it is generally taken for. It is difficult to 
 conjecture what idea an East Indian may form, 
 beforehand, of the mighty company and its au- 
 gust court ; but 1 should think he must experi- 
 ence some surprise as he approaches the foot of 
 his sovereign's throne, in Leaden- Hall Street
 
 LONDON ANECDOTE LICHFIELD. 36.5 
 
 A singular cause came lately before the court, 
 characteristic of the manners and government of 
 this country. Education has been, for some time 
 past, much in fashion, and there are schools or- 
 ganizing everywhere, not only for the people in 
 general, but for the army. The colonel of a re- 
 giment of local militia caused a school to be es- 
 tablished for his men ; one of them, however, 
 refused to attend, and, in consequence of gene- 
 ral orders from the colonel, was put into con- 
 finement. The man has since sued the officer 
 who executed the colonel's orders, recovered 
 L.134, iOs. lOd., and will probably recover fur- 
 ther damages against the colonel himself who gave 
 the order. A soldier may disobey orders which 
 are not authorised by the articles of war, he 
 may even encourage his fellows to disobey the 
 same ; and the officer who receives an order from 
 his superior officer, is liable to be prosecuted by 
 the civil authority, if the order should happen 
 to be irregular ; at the same time that he is lia- 
 ble to punishment, by the articles of war, if he 
 should refuse to obey, under a mistaken idea 
 the order being irregular. Therefore, it is in- 
 cumbent on a military man of any grade to be 
 learned in the law, both civil and military. 
 
 We left London on our return to America, on 
 Sunday the J5th of September, 1811, and arrived 
 on Wednesday evening at Liverpool, four hot
 
 366 LICHFIELD CATHEDRAL. 
 
 and dusty days. I am convinced there is sun 
 
 and blue sky enough in England to satisfy any 
 
 reasonable person. We travelled by Coventry, 
 
 // \jk$ -Lichfield, Newcastle-under-Lyne, and Norwich, 
 
 A 226 miles ; about 2O miles more than the real 
 
 distance, owing to the custom of charging one 
 
 I A M*J^ m ^ e ^ or a fr act i n f a m ^ e at every stage. 
 
 . JjJ^r We had seen Lichfield before, and had concei- 
 ved the country round it to be flat and marshy, 
 instead of which, we found it at this time, by a 
 different road, varied and beautiful. We admi- 
 red the fine cathedral once more ; the spires, 
 three in number, and built of stone to the top, 
 are bold and light. The innumerable statues, in 
 niches, are so worn and defaced by time, as to 
 disguise the miserable execution and shocking 
 taste of burlesque and low humour, general in the 
 Gothic age : Those venerable stumps suit their 
 situation infinitely better as they are, than as they 
 were. The rude figures about the walls of Go- 
 thic churches, principally inside, lolling out their 
 tongues, and pointing scornfully with their fin- 
 gers, alluded, I understand, to the continual low 
 .^squabbles between the regular and the secular cler- 
 gy. The fine view of the Lichfield cathedral, from 
 the bridge leading to it, would be much improved 
 if the few houses between it and the water were 
 removed, and a lawn substituted. Innumerable 
 flights of rooks fill all the inaccessible holes with
 
 LICHFIELD BARRACKS. 367 
 
 tbeir nests ; they skim the air, and wheel around 
 the walls and spires of the venerable pile, like 
 the flights of sea-birds at the Needles, .x" 
 
 The country, nearly the whole way, had quite 
 a, woody appearance, from the number of large 
 hedge-row elms and ashes, each distant view 
 appeared like a forest. The land, mostly mea- 
 dows and pastures ; very few corn fields, at least, 
 compared to those on the Continent, where you 
 meet everywhere with boundless fields of waving 
 corn. This country may well require foreign 
 supplies of grain. We passed the grand junction 
 and other canals many times, on handsome stone 
 bridges, and once went under the canal, by a sort 
 of tunnel. These canals are rarely carried on in 
 a strait line for any long continuance, but wind 
 around hills, gracefully enough, with a neat track 
 path on one side, and are never offensive except 
 when carried along-side a river ; the effect being 
 in these cases very awkward. 
 
 We passed some very showy barracks, built of 
 freestone, at a vast expence, with many subdivi- 
 sions, and enclosed with high walls. The Ro- 
 mans had no such establishments for their army, 
 mud huts, and a ditch, and all done by the sol- 
 diers themselves ; who, thus trained and employ- 
 ed, bore fatigue and hardships, that now destroy 
 more men than the sword, in a British army par- 
 ticularly, I believe. The men loiter or lie about
 
 368 LICHFIELD BARRACKS MAUSOLEUM. 
 
 in the shade ; neat and good-looking, but very 
 ill prepared for a campaign in Portugal. This 
 applies also to their cavalry. The horses are cer- 
 tainly handsome ; high fed, and pampered ; 
 their charge is spirited and powerful ; but every 
 body says they are much sooner knocked up 
 than the small, lean cattle of the French cavalry. 
 Lord Stafford has built himself a fine Egyptian 
 Mausoleum, near - , by the side of a dusty 
 road, unscreened by any trees, and staring on 
 travellers, who cannot help enquiring what this 
 fine thing is for, which spoils a capital stand for 
 an inn. The house itself has before it an exten- 
 sive piece of water, artificial I presume, and fine 
 woods hanging over. Lord Anson has a fine seat 
 in the neighbourhood, and many other noblemen 
 and gentlemen ; in fact the whole country is oc- 
 cupied by the rich and the great, and my asto- 
 nishment is unabated. Where do the poor hide 
 ^ themselves ? we do not perceive their dwellings 
 anywhere. There are a few cottages to be seen, 
 but the pots of geranium inside the windows, jes- 
 samine and roses outside, seem to place them 
 above the reach of common labourers ; those of 
 America, with double pay, and provisions at half 
 
 price, have no such habitations, at least as to 
 neatness and good repair. 
 
 From Newcastle-under-Lyne, we went two 
 miles out of our way to visit Etruria, the famous
 
 NEWCASTLE-UND.-LYNE WEDGEWOOD's WARE. 369 
 
 j// 
 
 manufactory of earthen ware, founded by Wedge- 
 wood and Bentley, about fifty years ago. The 
 clay is ground by means of screws sans Jin pass- 
 ing through certain frames of the shape of fun- 
 nels, and by other processes ; then washed in a 
 quantity of water, which carries away the finest 
 parts only, obtained afterwards by the evapora- 
 tion of the water. Flints calcined and pulverized 
 are worked in the same manner. These sub- 
 stances, mixed together in certain proportions, 
 determined by the kind of ware intended to be 
 made, form a paste, which is modelled and sha- 
 ped by skilful hands. The neat, strong, light, 
 and beautiful ware, known all over Europe by 
 the name of Wedgewood, need not be described. 
 This is not, however, a simple manufactory of 
 plates and dishes : Mr Bentley, one of its found- 
 ers, was a man of taste, and had travelled in Italy. 
 He introduced the classical forms of antique 
 vases, as much as these could be applied to real 
 use in these modern times. He also imitated, 
 with great success, the fine ornamental vases of 
 Greece and Rome, as well as antique cameos. 
 
 To form an idea of the vast extent of these 
 works, it is enough to know that the force of a 
 steam-engine, of eighty horse power, is requisite 
 to set the whole in motion, and overcome the in- 
 ertia of so much clay and water. You see but 
 few workmen besides those employed in model- 
 
 VOL. II. 2 A
 
 370 NEWCASTLE-UND.-LYNE WDGEWOOD*S WARE. 
 
 ling the clay. All such processes as require the 
 mere exertion of force regularly and uniformly 
 applied, are performed by various machines, all 
 receiving their first impulse from the steam-en- 
 gine. The unerring exactness and power, ever 
 equal to a given end of these creations of human 
 intelligence, never fail to produce in me a lively 
 feeling of admiration and enthusiasm, which I 
 may have expressed before, although not half so 
 / often as it has been felt. 
 
 The coating of the Wedgewood ware was ori- 
 ginally, I believe, composed of calx of lead, silex, 
 and pounded glass. This glazing, being in some 
 degree soluble by acids, might be dangerous to 
 health ; and I believe the lead is now totally ex- 
 cluded from its composition. These substances, 
 with the addition, I believe, of some soda, are 
 ground in water to the consistency of cream. 
 The vase, already baked, is dipped into the li- 
 quor, which penetrates its pores, and leaves in 
 them, and on the surface, by drying up, an ex- 
 tremely fine powder, which is afterwards vitrifi- 
 ed by exposure to heat, and partly incorporated 
 in the substance of the ware. The flowers, and 
 other coloured ornaments, are applied by the 
 hands of female artists generally, and with much 
 dexterity and quickness. 
 
 A private canal receives the produce of the 
 manufactory at the very door, and convey* it to
 
 CHESHIRE SALT-MINES. 371 
 
 the great junction canal, by which labour and 
 breakage are saved. 
 
 When I remember the common-ware used in 
 France, coarse and heavy, with the glazing sca- 
 ling off, or full of cracks crossing each other in 
 every direction, like lace- work, and retaining in 
 their interstices the various juices of a hundred 
 successive dinners ; the vulgar blue border car- 
 ried all round an awkward scolloped edge > it 
 seems to me as if the useful arts had been then 
 comparatively in their infancy.* 
 
 The county of Cheshire, .which we have last 
 traversed, is famed for its salt-works and its 
 cheeses. The salt-springs, with which it abounds, 
 were used by the inhabitants long before they 
 understood the art of making salt by evaporation 
 and crystallization ; for we find Henry VI. invi- 
 ting Dutchmen to come over and instruct his 
 barbarous subjects in that simple art. The dis- 
 covery of the beds of fossil, or rock-salt, is of a 
 much more recent date ; the first was found in 
 1670, at the depth of 34 yards, in searching for 
 coals near Northwich. The bed was SO yards 
 in thickness. This discovery occasioned new re- 
 searches ; and the same bed was discovered to 
 extend all over the immediate neighbourhood. 
 
 * The writer has had a glimpse of France again (1815), and 
 acknowledges great improvements, in the arts at least, and par- 
 ticularly the one in question.
 
 372 CHESHIRE SALT-MINES. 
 
 In 1779 a new bed, or stratum of salt, was dis- 
 covered near Lawton, 15 or 20 miles to the 
 south-east of the first mines, at the depth of 42 
 yards, four feet thick only. Beneath the salt, 
 was a stratum of indurated clay of 10 yards j 
 then a second bed of salt of four yards ; then 15 
 yards of the same clay ; and, finally, a third bed 
 of salt, through which they penetrated to the 
 depth of 24 yards, when, finding that the centre 
 of the bed, forming about 14 yards, was of a pu- 
 rer quality than the parts above or below, they 
 stopped there. This experiment encouraged the 
 miners of Northwich to look deeper for purer 
 salt ; and, in 1781, they penetrated to a new stra- 
 tum of salt, 40 yards in thickness, separated from 
 the old one by a stratum of indurated clay of 10 
 yards. The centre of this new bed of salt was 
 found to be much more free from earthy parti- 
 cles ; and it has been worked ever since. We 
 descended into this mine. My companions, 
 dressed in the costume of the place, a flannel 
 over-all, were seated in a large tub, suspended 
 by a rope j one of the miners stood on the edge, 
 to keep the tub steady in its descent.* At the 
 
 * A miner had been precipitated, a short time before, down 
 this shaft with the tub, which had not been properly secured, 
 and, of course, killed on the spot. The particulars of this ac- 
 cident were related to us by his own father and mother.
 
 CHESHIRE SALT-MINES. S?S 
 
 depth of 330 feet, we found ourselves in a sort 
 of palace of salt. The ceiling, about 20 feet high, 
 was supported by pillars 15 feet thick, at vecy 
 bold, and, I should think, alarming distances, 
 considering the prodigious weight above. I 
 measured 53 steps (159 feet) between some of 
 them ! The area of the excavation may be equal 
 to two or three acres ; and, if the work proceeds * 
 on the same plan, there will be some accidents. 
 Other mines, indeed, have sunk in ; and corre- 
 sponding hollows, on the surface of the ground 
 above, are shewn in several places in the neigh- 
 bourhood. This rock of salt is much harder than 
 I should have expected ; and, besides the use of 
 the pick-axe, the wedge, and the crow-bar, the mi- 
 ners are obliged to blast with gunpowder. Some 
 fragments are of the pure muriate of soda, quite 
 transparent ; but the general mass is of a dull 
 reddish colour. We did not observe that it re- 
 flected the lights we carried, although that effect 
 is reported to take place. The horizontal sec- 
 tions of the bed of rock-salt present various fi- 
 gures like sections of pillars, or a sort of Mosaic 
 work, formed by concentric lines of an alternate 
 paler and darker tint ; the intervals of the figures 
 being of a whiter and purer salt, and the figures 
 themselves varying from 2 to 12 feet in diame- 
 ter. This regular arrangement supposes the 
 fluidity of the mass at the same period either bj
 
 3*74 CHESHIRE SALT-MINES. 
 
 fusion or solution. The Huttonians see, in the 
 Mosaic work, the sections of prismatic pillars, 
 like those of the basalt, and conclude that the 
 mass has been in a state of fusion by fire ; while 
 the Wernerians find, in some marks of stratifica- 
 tion, a clear indication of the agency of the 
 ocean.* The Huttonian theory, however, admit- 
 ting the double agency of water and of fire, pos- 
 sesses in this, as in other respects, more proba- 
 bility. The argillaceous strata, interposed be- 
 tween each stratum of salt, as well above as be- 
 neath them, parallel to each other, and with a 
 uniform dip of about one foot in nine, have cer- 
 tainly been formed by water ; and it is scarcely 
 possible to suppose a different origin to the in- 
 tervening salt strata. A solution by heat may, 
 however, have taken place at a subsequent pe- 
 riod, and determined the prismatic arrangement 
 above-mentioned. Some naturalists conjecture 
 that the beds, or rather masses of salt, were 
 formed originally by the evaporation of the wa- 
 ter deposited by the sea, into hollows and low 
 ground near its shores. The rock-salt of Eng- 
 land is under the level of the sea, therefore 
 
 * No marine exuviae have ever been discovered in the salt 
 strata, which is hardly reconcileable with the Neptunian forma- 
 tion, while the Huttonian theory would explain the disappear- 
 ance of marine remains.
 
 CHESHIRE SALT-MINES. 375 
 
 might have been so deposited ; but there are 
 mines of rock-salt in other parts of the world 
 above the level of the sea ; and the theory is lia- 
 ble to so many other objections, that it does not 
 seem to deserve any attention. It seems to me 
 quite as probable that the sea should owe the 
 salt it contains in solution to the mines of rock- 
 salt with which it has come into contact, as that 
 the latter should owe their formation to the eva- 
 poration of the sea- water, and precipitation of its 
 salt. 
 
 Whatever the true theory of the formation of 
 rock-salt may be, its importance as an article of 
 trade is well established. The whitest and purest 
 is consumed or exported as it comes from the 
 mine ; the red, containing more or less earth, 
 is dissolved in water ; and, after the impu- 
 rities have subsided to the bottom, the brine is 
 evaporated in boilers. The surface of the latter 
 is from 20 to 3O feet square, or even 1000 square 
 feet, the depth 12 to 16 inches ; they are madeof 
 sheet-iron, heated by coals, which cost here only 
 15s. a ton. The salt collects first on the surface 
 in a slight crust, composed of small cubic crys- 
 tals ; it is soon precipitated to the bottom, and 
 new ones form and subside in succession, accu^ 
 mulating in a mass at the bottom. The size of 
 the crystals varies with the different uses for 
 which the salt is intended, and is determined by
 
 3?6 CHESHIRE SALT-MINES. 
 
 the degree of heat. The slower the evaporation 
 the larger the crystals. 
 
 Fifty or sixty thousand tons of rock-salt are 
 extracted annually ; one-third dissolved in water, 
 and crystallized by evaporation, and two-thirds 
 exported in its native state ; more than half to 
 Ireland, and the rest to the Baltic. The quan- 
 tity of purified salt, made from salt-springs, is 
 estimated at 160,000 tons; two thirds of that 
 quantity consumed in Great Britain, and one- 
 third in foreign countries, principally in the Bal- 
 tic. There is then about 74,OOO tons of salt, of 
 all sorts, exported annually to foreign countries, 
 and principally in British ships, equal to 370 
 cargoes of vessels, of the burthen of 20O tons 
 each : so much for the direct trade. But, as 
 has been seen before, nearly twice that quantity 
 of salt is used in Great Britain, and its depen- 
 dencies ; that is to say, in Ireland, for the salt- 
 ing of beef; in Scotland, of herrings; and on 
 the banks of Newfoundland, of cod-fish ; there- 
 fore salt contributes indirectly to other branches 
 of trade, infinitely more considerable than the 
 direct salt-trade. I am, however, speaking of 
 what it was, only, for at present the exportations 
 to the Baltic and to the United States are at a 
 stand, to such a degree, that salt is fallen from 
 7d. or ad. to 3d. a bushel. It is remarkable that 
 the salt consumed in England pays 15s. duty per 
 
 /iu 
 
 fa sty*
 
 CHESHIRE EXPORTATION OF SALT. 377 
 
 bushel as it comes out of the mine ; that is to 
 say, sixty times the first cost. The quantity 
 actually consumed in Englandis 17,000 tons, pro- 
 ducing a revenue to the state of half a million 
 sterling. A hundred years ago, Cheshire made 
 salt only for its own consumption. 
 
 It is a strange and melancholy spectacle to see 
 the nations of Europe endeavouring, by every 
 means in their power, to destroy that admirable 
 system of exchanges, the effect and cause of their 
 own superior civilization, a system which ren- 
 ders each peculiar advantage common to all, and 
 with the means, extends the very faculty of en- 
 joyment. They may, by mutual repulsion, force 
 each other back many steps towards their an- 
 cient poverty and rudeness ; but, for some years 
 at least, and until population shall have been 
 checked by poverty, they will only increase mu- 
 tually their military power. Miners and weavers, 
 clerks and citizens, are driven by thousands to 
 the army and navy ; and the capital, hitherto 
 kept in activity by their industry in the various 
 useful arts, is lent to government, and feeds the 
 war. 
 
 I am indebted for most of the facts above sta- 
 ted, respecting salt-mines, to a valuable work* 
 
 * General View of the Agriculture of Cheshire, with Obser- 
 vations, drawn up for the consideration of the Board of Agri- 
 culture, by Henry Holland, vol. I. Oct. 1808.
 
 
 378 CHESHIRE AGRICULTURE. 
 
 of Henry Holland, M.D., whom we had the plea- 
 sure of knowing at Edinburgh, one of the two 
 young gentlemen who accompanied Sir George 
 Mackenzie to Iceland. The principal object of 
 the work being agricultural, I have likewise ex- 
 tracted a few facts on the subject, to make up 
 for my own ignorance. Cheese-making is a prin- 
 cipal object of rural economy in Cheshire. There 
 seems to be a great diversity of opinion among 
 the farmers of that county, respecting the best 
 breeds of milch cows, and the most promising 
 make and colour. Upon the whole, it rather ap- 
 pears that the least handsome are the best ; a 
 lesson of morality is thus unexpectedly furnished 
 by the cow-stable. The average quantity of 
 cheese obtained per cow annually, is estimated 
 at SOO Ib. * Stall-feeding seems, in general, to 
 prevail. The ox-cabbage, sugar-loaf cabbage, 
 and Swedish turnip, are the kind of green food 
 most esteemed. The turnips (ruta baga) called 
 
 * In Sir William Petty's time, upwards of 100 years'ago, an 
 Irish cow, fed upon two acres of pasture, and half an acre of 
 meadow, was reckoned to yield three gallons of milk a-day du- 
 ring three months, one all on during the three successive 
 months, a quarter of a gallon during the three next months, 
 and nothing more till it had a calf again. The rent of the pas- 
 ture was 5s., the meadow 3s. ; the advance of money and risk, 
 as much as the feed altogether, 16s. for 384> gallons, or a half- 
 penny a gallon.
 
 -CHESHIRE AGRICULTURE. 
 
 Swedish, are kept, during winter, on the ground, 
 in a heap of about six feet base, covered with 
 straw. Turnips do not exhaust the soil, and 
 yield as much as 20 or 24 tons per acre, and such 
 a crop is worth L.45 ; but half that quantity is 
 a common crop. Turnips communicate a dis- 
 agreeable taste to the milk, and are only given 
 to the cows in winter, when the season of cheese- 
 making is over. The large cabbage, and also the 
 turnip-cabbage, (rohlrabi) are deemed better 
 food than turnips, producing more milk, and of 
 a superior quality. 
 
 The crop of potatoes is of most importance, 
 both for men and cattle ; and to the extensive 
 cultivation of that root, more than to any other 
 cause, the great increase of population, during 
 the last century, is to be ascribed. Dr Holland as- 
 serts, that many labouring families, and not parti- 
 cularly poor, consume six or seven pounds of po- 
 tatoes to one of bread. They are given to cattle 
 and horses, raw, and mixed with cut straw, or 
 boiled, or rather steamed. The cattle prefer them '" 
 boiled to raw. They are thought to be more nu- 
 tritive when they have begun to sprout, owing 
 to the saccharine principle secreted at that pe- 
 riod, as is the case with malt. A farm is men- 
 tioned, upon which no less than 2000 bushels of 
 potatoes were consumed annually. An acre 
 
 '
 
 S80 CHESHIRE AGRICULTURE COTTAGES. 
 
 yields generally from 150 to 250 bushels, of 90 
 Ibs. each ; the price is from Is. 6d. to 2s. per 
 bushel, sometimes 3s. in the spring. The sea- 
 muc * deposited by the fide is an excellent manure ; 
 and they put as many as O to 30 tons on an acre, 
 procured at the rate of 6s. or 7s. per ton. A 
 single parish (Frodsham), advantageously situa- 
 ted to procure that manure, at the mouth of the 
 Weaver, has been estimated to grow annually 
 100,000 bushels. Potatoes are kept like turnips 
 during the winter, in a heap, covered slightly. 
 
 The rent of cottages varies in this county from 
 L.4 to L.9 ; the lowest have a small garden, 
 the highest land sufficient for the keep of a cow. 
 This practice, of attaching a small portion of 
 land to the cottages of labourers, is often depre- 
 cated as injurious. The disadvantage of small 
 farms cannot be doubted ; they require, in a 
 great degree, the same implements and stock as 
 large ones, do not admit of a proper division 
 of labour, and of a steady and regular employ- 
 ment of time. But the few acres of the cottager 
 require, on the contrary, no stock, and take up 
 only such leisure hours, or days, as he can spare 
 from his regular calling, while his young family 
 are furnished with an employment fitted to their 
 strength. It would not answer as a main depen- 
 dence, but it is a valuable auxiliary. Consider-
 
 CHESHIRE COTTAGES DRAINS. 381 
 
 ed in the point of view of domestic comfort, the 
 advantage is undeniable. And even if it were 
 true, that a given number of labourers would 
 raise somewhat less produce under the comfort- 
 able than the uncomfortable system, surely the 
 happiness of so many individuals is to come in 
 for something in the calculation. I own I like 
 the idea of an honest labourer coming home to 
 his little garden-ground, with the pleasurable 
 feel of ownership, reaping where he has sown : 
 
 Warm'd as he works, and casts his look around 
 On every foot of that improving ground ; 
 It is his own he sees : his master's eye 
 Peers not about, some secret fault to spy ; 
 Nor voice severe is there, nor censure known, 
 Hope, profit, pleasure they are all his own. 
 
 I was struck with the following ingenious me- 
 thod of constructing covered drains, by means of 
 bricks, 9 inches long, 6 wide, and 3| inches in 
 thickness. On one of the sides is pressed in, at 
 making the bricks, half a cylindrical piece of 
 wood, of 3 inches in diameter. Two bricks of 
 this form, laid face to face, leave of course a 
 circular hole of three inches between them for 
 the passage of water, placed end to end at the 
 bottom of a ditch, and, covered with earth, they 
 form a permanent drain, not liable to go out of 
 order.
 
 332 PLAN OF A FARMING ESTABLISHMENT. 
 
 Here is the plan of a good farming-establish- 
 ment of this country, which, although not uni- 
 formly that of all the farms, yet gives an idea of 
 that good order, and finish of utility, so general- 
 ly observable in this country. 
 
 4 
 
 *& 
 
 ( **J 
 
 /^tfafytfrfc 3fc 
 
 J A 
 
 /U fat-. 
 

 
 Sc&teoFFeet 
 
 _L- ii..-' 
 
 5 10 2O 39 
 
 HouscDooi' 
 
 e-. 
 
 ~\ 
 
 Parlour 
 
 Dairy 
 
 Cheese 
 
 House Couri 
 
 Court 
 
 DucKPond 
 
 DuiyPtt. 
 
 llouse 
 
 Corn 
 Loft 
 
 Threshing 
 
 Floor 
 
 r 
 
 Loft
 
 384- CHESHIRE LANDS LIVERPOOL. 
 
 The average rate of lands is 20s. an acre. Dr 
 Holland informs us, that the county of Cheshire 
 (a spot of 35 miles, perhaps, by 2 ,5,) reckons fifty 
 fortunes from L.SOOO to L. 10,000 a-year, and the 
 same number from L.1000 to L.SOOO. 
 
 There is visibly less bustle of trade, and less 
 display of wealth now, at Liverpool, than when 
 we first saw it. Failures have been very nume- 
 rous ; there are but few now : all the tottering 
 houses have fallen j the others do nothing, and 
 live upon their means. The merchants appear 
 singularly well reconciled to their new situation. 
 In fact, a general calamity which does not threat- 
 en life or health, and does not deprive us of real 
 necessaries, is scarcely a calamity. It is of very 
 little consequence whether a man keeps his car- 
 riage, or is waited on by one servant or ten, pro- 
 vided his neighbours are not better off than him- 
 self. There are but few private carriages to.be 
 seen here at present, and hardly any parties last 
 winter, but no perceivable gloom and despon- 
 dency. Buildings, public and private, go on 
 briskly, and even ship-building is not abandon- 
 ed. Few people seem to consider peace as pos- 
 sible, and they look forward to a continuation of 
 the present system of things as a necessary evil. 
 Money, for want of employment, bears a low in- 
 terest j good notes or acceptances at six months 
 can be discounted at 2? per cent. 5 hence Go- 
 
 8
 
 LIVERPOOL ASYLUM FOR THE BLIND. 585 
 
 vernment finds little difficulty in filling loans, and 
 the same cause fills the army and navy. Commer- 
 cial distress is felt more severely in manufactu- 
 ring towns. Asingle house of Manchesterdischar- 
 ged last Saturday 1200 workmen ; another 500! 
 These poor people must live, and in some pa- 
 rishes the poor rates are already 6s. in the pound ! 
 Live they may certainly, for there is not less food 
 in the country. The rich will have to pay them 
 to be soldiers, or to do nothing, instead of pay- 
 ing for the luxuries imported from foreign coun- - 
 tries, in exchange for articles of home manufac- 
 tures. 
 
 We have visited the asylum for the blind ; a 
 most humane establishment, by which a number 
 of unfortunate individuals are made happy by 
 employment and independence.* They learn a 
 trade, are supported for three or four years, 
 and dismissed with a little fund. They weave 
 
 * This establishment began in 1791, since which 311 persons 
 have been admitted. Twenty-two were admitted last year, and 
 26 left it. Of the latter, six died, five were dismissed for mis- 
 conduct, six went away before their time. There are five men. 
 to one woman. The annual expence is about L.5000. The 
 sale of the articles manufactured amounts to L.2000, and the 
 difference, L.3000, comes from subscriptions and donations. 
 Many of the blind, after serving their regular time, are able 
 not only to support themselves, but even a family, from the 
 proceeds of their industry. 
 
 VOL. II. 2 B
 
 386 LIVERPOOL- ASYLUM FOR THE BLIND. 
 
 cloth very well, make neat pretty baskets, ele- 
 gant rugs for fire-places, bed-side carpets, &c, 
 &c. and some of them are good musicians. They 
 give weekly concerts, and the correctness, vi- 
 gour, and expression of their singing are surpri- 
 sing. There were some fine voices, and the or- 
 gan was played by the blind. Unconscious of 
 looks, and totally unable to modulate their fea- 
 tures, the expression of their countenances had 
 no guide but inward feelings, which lead them 
 /Bright in some instances, and wrong in others. 
 We observed some of the women smiling sweet- 
 ly at each other ; and at other times, but mostly 
 the men, making hideous grimaces, with odd un- 
 couth attitudes and gestures, particularly when 
 singing. Some of these poor people, traversing 
 a court to go to dinner, turned to the sun, look- 
 ing up to it, much pleased with seeing some 
 glimmering of light. I asked one of the women 
 how long it was since she had lost her sight ? 
 .Since she was a year old, she said. " You have 
 of course no idea of what light is ; you do not 
 think of it, I suppose ?" " Indeed I do but too 
 much !" Others declared they cared very little 
 about it. 
 
 Sept. 25, 1811 . We are waiting only for a 
 change of wind to go on board the ship which is 
 to carry us away, for ever perhaps, from a coun- 
 try, where we have been received with kindness, 
 
 10
 
 LIVERPOOL CHARACTER OF THE ENGLISH. 887 
 
 and where we leave a few friends. There is a se- 
 riousness in the thought, and the near prospect 
 of a long voyage, and all its hazards, is not like- 
 ly to dissipate the gloom. If I were asked, at this 
 moment, for a summary opinion of what I have 
 seen in England, I might probably say, that its 
 political institutions present a detail of corrupt 
 practices, of profusion, and of personal ambi- 
 tion, under the mask of public spirit very care- 
 lessly put on, more disgusting than I should have 
 expected : the workings of the selfish passions 
 are exhibited in all their nakedness and deformi- 
 ty. On the other hand, 1 should admit very rea- 
 dily, that I have found the great mass of the peo- 
 ple richer, happier, and more respectable, than 
 any other with which I am acquainted. I have 
 seen prevailing, among all ranks of people, that 
 emulation of industry and independence, which 
 characterize a state of advancing civilization, 
 properly directed. The manners, and the whole 
 deportment of superiors to inferiors, are marked 
 with that just regard and circumspection, which 
 announce the presence of laws equal for all. By 
 such signs I know this to be the best govern- 
 ment that ever existed. I sincerely admire it in 
 its results, but I cannot say I particularly like 
 the means. What I dislike here, I might be told, 
 belongs to human nature in general ; to the 
 world, rather than to England particularly. It
 
 388 LIVERPOOL BRITISH GOVERNMENT. 
 
 may be so, and I shall not undertake the pane- 
 gyric of either the one or the other. 
 
 The government of'England is eminently prac- 
 tical. The one under which I have lived many 
 years might be defined, on the contrary, a go- 
 vernment of abstract principles. Certain opi- 
 nions have taken possession of men's minds, and 
 they cling to them, as to the religion in which 
 they were born, without examination. The mea- 
 sures of the government have the prejudices of 
 the multitude for their bases, always the same 
 under any change of circumstances and to be 
 obeyed, in defiance of the better judgment of 
 that very government. Were the people left to 
 themselves, they might come to a right judgment 
 of things j but they are encompassed by news- 
 papers, conducted by the mercenary pens of 
 men, often foreigners, who find it more conve- 
 nient to flatter prejudices, and inflame passions, 
 than to rectify and enlighten ; they follow the 
 stream of public opinion, yet they swell the 
 tide, giving it its headlong violence ;* and the 
 
 * The principal distinction in the United States is that of 
 poor and rich. The poor, being more numerous, are, by virtue 
 of the universality ofVufrage, the sovereign, whom government 
 must obey, or be dismissed. The rich are naturally an object 
 of jealousy to the poor, particularly when neither birth, nor 
 aetircely any other superiority, softens the inequality, and ren
 
 LIVERPOOL GOVERNMENTS. 339 
 
 j*4t 
 
 people believe themselves free under an oligar- 
 ch}' of newspaper writers. 
 
 The different governments of the Continent of iL^ 
 Europe, old and infirm, are half-factious halt-des- 
 potic ; one alone, purely despotic, overpowers 
 the others by its unity and its energy. This 
 state of things, which considers the people as a 
 
 
 j 
 
 ders it respectable. Therefore the measures of government 
 must be unfavourable to the rich ; that is, to commerce, the 
 only road to wealth in the United States. It is observed, that 
 almost every individual who becomes wealthy enters ipso facto 
 the ranks of opposition, and vice versa those of faiien fortunes. 
 Talents are to be found in opposition to government in Ame- 
 rica as in England, because it is the brilliant side; but wealth. 
 in England is arrayed on the side of government, with whom 
 it teels safe, while in America it feels the ill-will of a govern- 
 ment dependent on the poor, and seeks the protection of the 
 talents in the opposition. A little more poverty in the multi- 
 tude, and property will fall an easy prey by such means as an 
 income-tax assessed arbitrarily by commissioners in support of 
 any popular measures, by the establishment of a national pa- 
 per money, by a maximum perhaps. The insecurity of pro- 
 perty will then operate, as it lias done everywhere, in Turkey, 
 in Persia, for instance, and, in a less degree, in those parts of 
 Europe, where the government could raise arbitrary taxes on 
 industry, and where the administration of justice was depend- 
 ent. The insecurity of propei ty is invariably followed by re- 
 laxation of industry and improvements, ignorance and rude- 
 ness : and, finally, the establishment of a simple arbitrary go- 
 vernment. It is no new observation, that every revolution 
 contains the seeds of another, most opposite in its nature, and 
 scatters them behind it. We have to see what is to spring up 
 in America from a purely popular revolution.
 
 390 LIVERPOOL BRITISH CHARACTER. 
 
 mere instrument, and has the prince for its sole 
 object; makes, of course, secret enemies of all 
 those who do not share in his greatness, and are 
 out of the sphere of his splendour. England, af- 
 ter all, is the only country in the world, where 
 chance perhaps, as much as human wisdom, com- 
 pounding with the vices and the virtues of our 
 species, has effected a treaty between them, as- 
 signing to each their respective and proper shares, 
 and, framing its political constitution on the con- 
 stitution of human nature, has reared an edifice 
 of mixt and irregular architecture, equally dis- 
 tant from the Grecian and the Gothic, with lit- 
 tle beauty and outward graces, but solid, con- 
 venient, and easy to repair. 
 
 As to the nation itself, its distinctive and na- 
 tional character, it would be difficult to give any 
 but a comparative opinion. No national charac- 
 ter is, I fear, very excellent in itself, and the 
 least bad must be deemed good. Among the na- 
 tions of Europe, the two most conspicuous in ci- 
 vilization, in arts, and in arms, the nearest pro- 
 bably in their tastes and manners, yet so distant, 
 capable of understanding one another so well, 
 yet so different in their respective tempers and 
 turn of mind, present themselves naturally as fit 
 objects of comparison. I know them well, I think j 
 and feel an equal interest for both. I once call- 
 ed one of the two countries my own, and spent
 
 LIVERPOOL BRITISH CHARACTER. 391 
 
 in it my early youth. I have visited the other 
 in my maturer age, and the best friends I have 
 on earth were born there. 
 
 The pretensions of the two parties are certain- 
 ly comprehensive. The English, for instance, lay 
 claim to a certain superiority of moral rectitude, 
 of sincerity, of generosity, of humanity, of judg- 
 ment, of firmness and courage ; they consider 
 themselves as the grown men of Europe, and 
 their neighbours as sprightly children, and that 
 is the character they give them when in their 
 best humour, -for othervvi;se they might be dis- 
 posed to take Voltaire at his word, who said they 
 were moitie singes et moitie tigre*. 
 
 The French, on the other hand, admit of no 
 comparison as to nicety of taste, versatility of 
 genius, and perfection in all the arts of civiliza- 
 tion. In high honour, in generosity, in courage, 
 they yield to none. 
 
 The lower people in England hold other na- 
 tions in thorough contempt. The same rank in 
 France, in the interior of the country at least, 
 scarcely know* there are other nations; their 
 geography is that of the Chinese. 
 
 Of all the various merits claimed by the proud 
 Islanders, I believe none is less disputed than that 
 ofgenerosity. It is not only a received thing that 
 
 Scarcely knew ; for they have of late learned to know ! 
 
 /
 
 39S LIVERPOOL BRITISH CHARACTER. 
 
 an Englishman has always plenty of money, and 
 gives it away very freely, but no sacrifice of a 
 h her kind is supposed to be above his magnani- 
 mity. I have to remark, on this subject, that 
 those who give a little, after promising much, ap- 
 pear to have given nothing, while those who, 
 without promising any thing, give a little, have 
 credit, on the contrary, for giving a great deal. 
 This accounts, in part, for the two opposite repu- 
 tations, the one for unmeaning politeness and 
 mere show of sentiment, the other for simple and 
 blunt generosity. The fact is, as to giving sub- 
 stantially, that it is much easier for the English 
 to do than the French, and accordingly much 
 more is given in money by the former than by 
 the latter ; but I doubt extremely whether the 
 English are more disposed than their neighbours 
 to bestow their time and personal attention upon 
 their friends in sickness or misfortune, and upon 
 the distressed in general. There is in England 
 a sort of fastidious delicacy,' coldness, or pride, 
 which stands a good deal in the way of active be- 
 nevolence. The ties of blood are also, I think, 
 weaker than in France. People seem to calcu- 
 late with more strictness how far the claim of 
 kindred extends, and even the highest degree of 
 consanguinity, that of parents and children, seems 
 to command rather less deference and respect. A 
 cousin may certainly not be more to you than an- 
 other man, yet it is an amiable error, and a useful
 
 LIVERPOOL BRITISH CHARACTER. 393 
 
 one, to think yourself obliged to show some kind. 
 ness, and feel some particular sympathy for the 
 man, whom nature has placed nearly in the same 
 rank or lite with yourstlf, and whom you are like- 
 ly to meet of tenest in your journey through life. 
 
 The English are better reasoners than the 
 French, and therefore more disposed to be just, 
 the first of moral qualities ; and yet the pro- 
 pcusity to luxury and ostentation is so strong, as 
 well as so general here, as to expose this same 
 sense of justice to hard trials. I never knew a 
 prodigal who was just, nor indeed truly generous, 
 -he never has it in his power. 
 
 I do not conceive it possible for some of the ! /V 
 most horrible scenes of the French Revolution to 
 be acted here, in any event. The people of 
 France are capable of greater atrocities than those 
 of England, but 1 should think the latter sterner, 
 less prone to cruelty, but less susceptible of 
 
 Pity- 
 There are perhaps, at this moment, more dis- 
 tinguished men of science at Paris than in Lon- 
 don, and I think it is admitted by the English 
 themselves. But there are certainly better scien- 
 tific materials here, and in the long-run, accura- 
 cy and depth should prevail over quickness of 
 parts. However the account may stand between 
 the two nations, as to the higher sciences, 1 am 
 convinced that cultivation of mind is more gene-
 
 S94- JLIVERPOOL BRITISH CHARACTER. 
 
 ral in England than in France : It is indeed the 
 bright side of English society. That conceited 
 ignorance, forward loquacity, heedless and loud 
 argumentation, which fill the common inter- 
 course of men in France, is comparatively un- 
 known here ; and with so much better reasoning 
 faculties, 1 do not think there are half so many lo- 
 gical attempts. A man of sense once remarked 
 that he never heard the concluding formula Done 
 introduced in a Parisian conversation, without ex- 
 pecting something excessively absurd to follow 
 immediately. 
 
 There are undoubtedly in the English abord a 
 coldness and reserve which discourage and repel 
 at first sight ; in the French, on the contrary, a 
 warmth and an openness which invite confidence, 
 and put you at ease instantly. The historian, 
 Gibbon, said once, in speaking of French society, 
 " 1 know that generally there is no depending 
 much on their professions, yet, as far as I was 
 concerned, I really believe they were sincere/' 
 This exception the historian made in his own fa- 
 vour may well excite a smile ; yet his error was 
 in the general opinion he had formed, not in the 
 individual one. The kindness shown to strangers, 
 and expressions of interest lavished upon them, 
 are really felt at the moment. Their feelings 
 might not last long, nor bear the test of any 
 great sacrifice of private interest or convenience.
 
 LIVERPOOL BRITISH CHARACTER. S95 
 
 Those who express them are inconsiderate and 
 frivolous, but not insincere. I do not know 
 whether I might not choose to live with the Eng- 
 lish, but 1 should undoubtedly find more pleasure 
 in visiting the French. The reserve and cold- 
 ness of the former wear off in time j the warmth 
 ot the latter cools, and the two manners meet at 
 last, a la tt&teur, which is the common and usual 
 degree of interest, and all you can really hope to 
 inspire in general and mixt society. The advan- 
 tage of superior and more general cultivation, of 
 a greater range ot ideas and surer taste, must, how- 
 ever, remain on the side of the English. Taste ! 
 I think i hear the French exclaim, what a con- 
 tradiction, after what yourself have said of the 
 grossness and rudeness of the English stage ; the 
 indecent abuse of their newspapers, their libels, 
 and so many offensive habits and customs ! Per- 
 fectly consistent characters, I might answer, are 
 only to be met with in novels. Nature does not 
 produce any ; and such a picture might be drawn 
 of departures from good taste in French manners, 
 and in French literature, as might show the pro- 
 priety of toleration to similar ones in foreign coun- 
 tries, 
 
 I have introduced occasionally in this Journal, 
 desultory remarks on several branches of English 
 literature, as my attention was called to them by 
 the occasion. A deeper examination of the sub-
 
 396 LIVERPOOL BRITISH CHARACTER. 
 
 ject would not have suited the plan of this work. 
 I can only say for myself, that I prefer the Eng- 
 lish literature to the French, upon most of those 
 subjects with which I am acquainted. 1 am aware 
 of the danger to which I expose myself by this 
 rash declaration ; and shall not deprecate the na- 
 tional resentment of my French readers, by com- 
 mon-place confessions of my own unfrness to 
 judge. Many undoubtedly have a more general 
 knowledge than I have of the literature, not only 
 of their own country, but of both countries. 
 Few, however, of my countrymen choose to make 
 any foreign language so far their own, as to be 
 fair judges ; and on this last qualification mostly, 
 I venture to rest my right to form an opinion of 
 my own, and avow it. My French readers being 
 now informed that the English have du Gout 
 will hear with less surprise than they would other- 
 wise have felt, that tney have de la Gaiete. They 
 do not certainly possess the gaiete of manners of 
 their neighbours ; they have not the happy fa- 
 s^- culty of being amused without amusement. I 
 think also that English spirits would not have 
 survived the trials to which the French have been 
 exposed ; the latter have this buoyancy in their 
 blood, the former in their mind only; but mirth 
 is by no means so foreign to English manners as 
 is supposed in France. Indeed I do not know 
 whether a laugh, a true joyous laugh, is not as
 
 LIVERPOOL BRITISH CHARACTER. 397 
 
 common in the one as in the other country ; and 
 although there is infinitely less animation, I doubt 
 whether there is less cheerfulness. 
 
 Upon the whole, I believe the national differ- 
 ences to have less reality than appearance. The 
 same vices, and the same virtues, the same pro- 
 pensities and views, under very different forms, 
 are found in both countries, more nearly alike 
 than is generally supposed, y 
 
 I have said nothing of our first voyage across 
 the Atlantic ; and little that is new or interest- 
 ing can be said on the second. Other travellers 
 have informed the public of the dangers, the dul- 
 ness, and the amusements of a sea life, which ad- 
 mits of little variety. Traversing the ocean from 
 x the new to the old world, you may calculate upon 
 favourable winds nearly the whole passage, and 
 the reverse, of course, on your return. Accord- 
 ingly our first voyage was of twenty two days, 
 and the second fifty-seven. Between the 5Oth 
 and 60th degrees of latitude, the wind blows west 
 the three-fourths of the year. After we had been 
 at sea five wet ks, we might have returned to Eng- 
 X land in five days ; lying-to a great part of the 
 time, and losing one day what we had gained the 
 day before. 

 
 398 ATLANTIC OCEAN WAVES. 
 
 Those who have not been at sea, form an ex- 
 aggerated idea of the height of the waves. It is 
 not uncommon for seamen themselves to speak 
 of them as being mountains high,* as high as the 
 mast-head sometimes, this is a prodigious exag- 
 geration. The waves in a gale of wind do not 
 exceed ten or twelve feet above the common 
 level, and as the depression is equal to the eleva- 
 tion, the greatest inequalities scarcely exceed 
 twenty feet : therefore, when the vessel lies in 
 the hollow, or in the trough of the sea, the sum- 
 mit of the highest waves is but a few feet above 
 the eye of the spectator on the deck ; which is 
 sufficient, however, to hide objects at some dis- 
 tance, such as the hull of another ship, and even 
 its masts, and make him fancy that the interme- 
 diate ridges of water are as high as the mast-head 
 which they hide. Every one knows that a low 
 wall or hedge often hides a mountain. 
 
 The wrinkles on the surface of a fish-pond, ad- 
 vancing in an extended line abreast before the 
 
 * In a great storm, the velocity of the wind is estimated at 
 fifty or sixty miles an hour, while the hurricanes of the torrid 
 zone, which unroof houses, and demolish trees, suppose a velo- 
 city of eighty or one hundred miles an hour ; bnt it does not 
 follow that the height of the waves of ten or twelve feet in a 
 storm, is increased in that proportion in a hurricane,
 
 ATLANTIC BIRDS. 399 
 
 wind, are an exact representation, on a small 
 scale, of the great waves of the ocean. It is real- 
 ly impossible to see, without surprise and admi- 
 ration, the facility with which these liquid ridges, 
 advancing successively, as it' to overwhelm the 
 ship, pass under it, or rather lift it up, and let it 
 slide down gently behind them ; a good ship runs 
 really very little risk in an open sea, however agi- 
 tated it may be. If you strike one of the largest 
 chords of an instrument, and observe its vibra- 
 tions, you will have an exact idea of the motion 
 of the sea during a storm, the water rises and 
 falls alternately, with very little change of place, 
 although it seems to fly before the wind. The 
 summit alone of the waves, bent over and broke 
 by the violence of the wind, is carried away in 
 the shape of spray. A piece of wood floating on 
 the surface drifts very little, and if a ship, lying- 
 to, drifts two or three miles an hour, it is only 
 because the masts and rigging, even without sails, 
 give so much hold to the wind ; and, far from 
 the ship drifting with the sea, it is evident that 
 it moves against it, since a vessel lying- to, that 
 is to say, very near broad-side to the direction of 
 the wind and waves, drifts much less than before 
 the wind, although in this last situation it gives 
 so much less hold to the wind. 
 
 It is a pleasure to see that small blackish bird,
 
 40O ATLANTIC - LUNAR DISTANCE. 
 
 called by the sailors Mother Carey's chicken, and 
 a larger bird quite white, fly round and round the 
 ship in a storm, gliding through the air with as- 
 tonishing rapidity, without any seeming motion 
 of their own, cutting the top of the waves, now 
 and then, with a sudden dip of the extremity of 
 one of their wings. Whether they move with 
 the wind, or against it, makes no perceptible dif- 
 ference in the ease and rapidity of their move- 
 ments. 
 
 Wishing to practice taking the lunar distance 
 at sea, I had provided myself with a sextant, and 
 took observations whenever it was practicable, 
 both passages. Seamen have the reputation of 
 being very jealous of all that relates to their bu- 
 siness, and displeased with passengers who med- 
 die with it. 1 must do the justice to the captains 
 with whom we sailed both times, one English, and 
 the other American, to say, that I experienced 
 nothing of the kind from them ; they joined, on 
 the contrary, with perfect good-humour, in work- 
 ing the lunar distance ; being better acquainted 
 with it than I was myself, they were, of course, 
 ^ above jealousy on the subject. The lunar obser- 
 vation requires too much exactness to be easily 
 taken on the boisterous seas of northern latitudes, 
 where much practice is necessary to succeed. 
 Notwithstanding the inevitable errors attending 

 
 ATLANTIC LUNAR DISTANCE. 401 
 
 the agitation of the vessel, it gave us our longi- 
 tude much nearer than the dead reckoning, so 
 liable to error, particularly from the effect of the 
 gulf-stream,* and received from the sight of land 
 a pleasing confirmation. 
 
 Nw* 2O. Latitude 39 1 8% longitude 67 59'. 
 The wind at last perfectly favourable, and near 
 the end of our voyage. About noon a sail was 
 descried from the mast-head, north-west twelve 
 or fifteen miles, standing towards us. At two 
 o'clock the ship was within hail, and we shorten- 
 ed sail ; it was a British frigate, the Belvidere, 
 
 * The waters of the ocean between the tropics have a gene- 
 ral motion from east to west, which produces an accumulation 
 in the bay of Mexico ; whence the} are forced back, and pass- 
 ing between the Bahama islands and Florida, in a direction 
 nearly parallel to the coast of North America, form that great 
 / current called the Gulf-stream, which flows in a north-east di- 
 rection, inclining east towards the southern extremity of the 
 great bank of Newfoundland ; whence it pursues its course di- 
 rectly towards Europe, broader and weaker as it advances, and 
 expires at last on the western coast of Scotland and Norway. 
 Seeds from the West Indies are deposited on these coasts every 
 year,' such as the seeds of cassia, cashew-nuts, bottle-gourd, mi- 
 mosa, scandeus, logwood, and cocoa, often in such a state of 
 preservation, as with ease to vegetate. 
 
 Long lines of floating weeds and seeds are observed on the 
 ocean, extending north and south, and travelling slowly towards 
 Europe. 
 
 TOL. II. 2 C
 
 402 ATLANTIC BRITISH RIGHT OF SEARCH. 
 
 w 
 
 , * Captain Byron. After the usual questions and an- 
 swers, we were ordered to heave to, and an offi- 
 cer soon came on board, who, after examining 
 the ship's paper; below, and the crew on deck, 
 returned to the frigate. We looked with anxiety 
 for the signal to make sail, which, however, was 
 not given, and we were soon boarded again by 
 another officer, sent to examine more particular- 
 ly a young man without a protection, but styling 
 himself a midshipman in the American navy, al- 
 though before the mast on board a merchant- 
 man ; which, however, proved all correct. And, 
 after a detention of two hours and a half of the 
 first easterly wind we had since we left England, 
 the wished-for signal was made, (lowering the 
 colours) and we instantly filled, and resumed our 
 course, at the rate of nearly ten knots an hour, 
 direct on New York for the first time. The offi- 
 cers behaved civilly, and informed us that they 
 had spoken, a few hours before, a British packet 
 four days from New York, reporting that the 
 negociation with Mr Foster was going on, and 
 that an American minister would be sent shortly 
 to England : the news altogether peaceful. 
 
 Notwithstanding this strict examination, our 
 cook, a British negro, without a protection, had 
 remained undiscovered in the smoke of his ca- 
 bouse, and I have reason to believe that our sail-
 
 ATLANTIC BRITISH RIGHT OP SEARCH. 405 
 
 ors were not all in conscience what their protec- 
 tions stated them to be. The danger to which a 
 real American sailor is exposed, of being forcibly 
 taken away by the first English man of war met 
 at sea, is certainly in the highest degree revolt- 
 ing, and will lead to interminable wars as soon 
 as there is more equality of strength between the 
 two nations, unless some better mode should be 
 devised, of securing the British the right they 
 undoubtedly have to the services of their own 
 men. Some, I have no doubt, might be found, 
 if they were sought in the true spirit of peace, 
 from which the present irritation is unfortunate- 
 ly very distant. 
 
 IfiiCi !HJ l^ 
 
 *. fa** &&' 
 
 
 /a- fa
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 IRELAND.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 IRELAND. 
 
 IRELAND, divided into small principalities, hostile 
 to each other, was conquered, without difficulty, 
 by the English, in a single campaign under Hen- 
 ry II. (1 172.) He founded his right on a bull of 
 the Pope Adrian III. obtained a few years be- 
 fore. The inhabitants were left in possession of 
 their lands ; a small number of Englishmen re- 
 mained among them, too few to bind the two na- 
 tions together, but enough to recall to the Irish 
 their subjugation. To the time of Henry VIII. 
 " an Englishman was not punishable for killing 
 an Irishman, and lived in Ireland as the Euro- 
 peans do in America." * Reciprocal hatred, vio- 
 
 * Sir William Petty, page 375.
 
 408 IRELAND EPITOME OF HISTORY, 
 
 lence, and revenge, perpetuated the national dis- 
 tinctions ; and four centuries of oppression, sedi- 
 tion, and anarchy, confirmed the native ferocity 
 of the people. Ireland was not really subdued 
 till the latter part of the reign of Queen Eliza- 
 beth (Ib03.) The Spaniards, who had repeated- 
 ly, during this long reign, landed troops in Ire- 
 land, to assist the natives in their insurrections, 
 did not fail to represent the Queen as an heretic, 
 who had forfeited the throne ; and the Irish, who 
 had remained Catholics, principally because Eng- 
 land was protestant, readily adopted these ideas. 
 To show in what manner this colonial war was 
 conducted, the following fact, selected from many 
 others reported by Hume, is sufficient. After 
 the taking of a fort in Kerry, (1580) Gray, a ge- 
 neral of Elizabeth, " who was attended by a very 
 small force, finding himself embarrassed with so 
 many prisoners, put all the Spaniards and Italians 
 to the sword without mercy, and hanged about 
 150O Irish, a cruelty which gave great displea- 
 urt to Elizabeth ;" * but it does not appear that 
 the general was either punished or disgraced. 
 
 Thus pacified, this miserable people soon 
 revolted again ; and, finally, in 1641, we find 
 them abandoning themselves to a delirium of 
 
 * Hume's History. 
 
 7
 
 IRELAND EPITOME OF HISTORY, 409 
 
 revenge, for which a precedent could scarcely 
 be found in any age or country. It was an uni- 
 versal St Bartholomew, but of a cruelty far more 
 recherchee. Neither age nor sex were spared ; 
 children at the breast ; the very cattle ! All 
 that bore the name of English were surprised, 
 tortured, slaughtered, burnt alive, with circum- 
 stances of cruelty, from the recital of which the 
 mind turns with astonishment and horror. Pro- 
 mises of safety, confirmed by the most solemn 
 oaths, were employed to disarm, by capitulation, 
 those victims who had reached places capable of 
 defence ; but they had no sooner surrendered, 
 than, with savage taunts and derision, they were 
 made to share the fate of their countrymen, 
 and all in the name of God and the Catholic 
 church ! The city of Dublin alone escaped. 
 
 Charles I. was then on bad terms with his Par- 
 liament ; they suspected him of being concerned 
 in this outrage of the Catholics j and, instead of 
 sending to Ireland forces adequate to the protec- 
 tion of the miserable remains of the English po- 
 pulation, the rage of party made them listen with 
 a sort of satisfaction to the recital of every enor- 
 mity, in which they hoped the king might be 
 implicated ! This unfortunate Prince was forced 
 to conclude a truce with the Irish rebels, or ra- 
 ther with those ferocious beasts, unworthy of the
 
 41O IRELAND UNDER CROMWELL. 
 
 name of men ; but the Parliament were highly 
 offended, and refused to ratify it. Catholicism 
 was certainly a sort of bond of union between 
 the king and the Irish ; therefore we find them 
 negociating with the Lord-Lieutenant, Ormond, 
 for the support of the royal cause ; then betray- 
 ing him at the instigation of the Pope's Nuncio ; 
 then making new advances ; but always with- 
 out virtue, without union or constancy, and even 
 without courage ; at least without that courage 
 of the mind, which distinguishes men from brute 
 animals. Hence, Ireland never succeeded in any 
 scheme of emancipation, and has always been 
 defeated in a body, notwithstanding the consti- 
 tutional bravery of Irishmen, which is almost 
 proverbial. 
 
 The establishment of the republic in England, 
 brought with it the hour of retribution. Crom- 
 well laid his iron hand on the rebels ; with that 
 sagacity and prompt decision which characteri- 
 zed him, he disconcerted the measures of their 
 chiefs ; the barbarous punishments he inflicted 
 spread terror and consternation ; his very name 
 conquered before his arms. In three months 
 (from August to November ] 649,) all this revo- 
 lutionary organization was crushed and dissipa- 
 ted, and the country subdued. He allowed, in 
 his clemency, 40,000 Irish soldiers, (about dou-
 
 IRELAND UNDER CROMWELL. 411 
 
 ble his own number,) to banish themselves for 
 ever from their own country.* There were still, 
 during the following years, some slight commo- 
 tions, promptly repressed, and rigorously punish- 
 ed by Ireton, the inflexible lieutenant of Crom- 
 well, and by Ludlow, and the government was 
 finally placed in the hands of commissioners. 
 
 A contemporary writer, Sir William Petty, says 
 this rebellion cost the lives of 1J2,OOO English, 
 and 504,000 Irish by the sword, famine, and pes- 
 tilence, in 1 1 years. He estimates the popula- 
 tion of Ireland, at the close of these 1 1 years 
 (1652) at 850,000 ; therefore more than one- 
 third of the population had been destroyed. 
 " The cause of this war, he says, was a desire of 
 the Romists to recover the church revenue, 
 worth about L.110,OOO per annum, and of the 
 common Irish to get all the Englishmen's estates ; 
 and of the ten or twelve grandees of Ireland to 
 get the empire of the whole. But the English 
 won, and have (besides other pretences) a game- 
 ster's right at least to their estates. As to the 
 blood shed in the contest, God best knows who 
 did occasion it." 
 
 After the restoration of the monarchy, the af- 
 
 * Sir William Petty. A
 
 412 IRELAND AT THE RESTORATION. 
 
 fairs of Ireland were found still more difficult to 
 manage than they ever had been. The Irish Pro- 
 testants, and the English, dispossessed by the as- 
 sassins of ]64J, had just claims on their former 
 properties. These assassins had, however, recei- 
 ved their pardon from Charles I. in consideration 
 of the assistance they had engaged to give him, 
 and they thought themselves entitled to retain 
 what they possessed at the period of their treaty. 
 Cromwell had since driven away, without distinc- 
 tion, all the inhabitants of the provinces of Mun- 
 ster, Leinster, and Ulster, and disposed of' their 
 lands. It was dangerous to disturb again this 
 new body of proprietors, and besides all these 
 claims, there were others for military services 
 against the rebels from 1641 to 1652. It was 
 impossible to satisfy every body, or to adopt any 
 measure which should not occasion discontents ; 
 and, as if they were not sufficiently numerous, 
 the English Parliament, blinded by its hatred 
 against Papists, thought fit to prohibit, in 1668, 
 the importation of cattle from Ireland, the only 
 article a poor country, without industry, could 
 furnish in exchange. Subdued by misfortune, 
 the Irish did not rise, but the parliament seemed 
 to urge them to it, by accusations of imaginary 
 plots. Men of respectability and peaceable dis- 
 position were condemned and executed upoq
 
 IRELAND RELIGIOUS DISSENTIONS. 413 
 
 the testimony of suborned witnesses.* All this 
 was about 1681. A few years after (1687,) we 
 find the new king, James II., coercing his Irish 
 subjects in a contrary direction. By the favour 
 of the short popularity he enjoyed at the begin- 
 ning of his reign, he persecuted the Protestants 
 as vigorously as the Catholics had been under 
 the preceding reign. No Roman province, sub- 
 jects of Lacedemon, or Athens, or ally of mo- 
 dern France, were ever plundered so systemati- 
 cally as the Irish. They made a struggle for li- 
 berty under Charles I., and were plundered ; 
 for royalty under Cromwell, and were plunder- 
 ed ; they fought for James II., and were plun- 
 dered. The plunders of the rebellion were sanc- 
 tioned by the Restoration ; those of the Revo- 
 lution confirmed since by numerous penal laws. 
 Sir William Petty, already quoted, was physi- 
 cian of the army which had suppressed the re- 
 bellion of 1641, and wrote, in 1672, an account 
 of what had taken place in his time, and under 
 his eyes. The testimony and opinions of this 
 very intelligent contemporary writer, are calcu. 
 lated to excite great interest j and when he 
 speaks in favour of the Irish, or at least against 
 the treatment they have experienced, he may be 
 
 Hume's History, rol. VIII.
 
 414 IRELAND CATHOLICS IN 1672. 
 
 the more credited, as, having made his fortune at 
 their expence,* he cannot be supposed to have 
 felt any particular kindness for them. " Some 
 furious spirits," he says, " have wished that the 
 Irish should rebel again, that they might be put 
 to the sword ; but I declare that motion to be 
 not only impious and inhuman, but withal frivo- 
 lous and pernicious, for the Irish will not easily 
 rebel again. The British Protestants and church 
 possess the three-fourths of the lands, nine-tenths 
 of all the houses in wall towns, two-thirds of all 
 the foreign trade. There are now in Ireland 
 300,000 English, and 800,000 Papists, whereof 
 600,000 live in a brutish nasty condition, in ca- 
 bins with neither chimney, door, stairs, or win- 
 dows, so stinking and full of vermin, that they 
 cannot even keep eggs that they do not get a bad 
 taste ; and so small that there is not room to 
 work either wool or flax. There are about 20 
 gentlemen of the Irish and popish religion, who, 
 by reason of their families, good parts, courtly 
 education and carriage, are supported by the 
 Irish to negociate their concernments at the 
 court of England, and of the viceroy in Ireland. 
 These men raise their contributions by the priests, 
 
 * He stated in his will that he had begun his fortune by a con- 
 tract he had obtained for the admeasurement of lands forfeited 
 by the rebellion.
 
 IRELAND CATHOLICS IN 1672. 415 
 
 who actually and immediately govern the people. 
 The priests are governed by at least twenty-four 
 Romish bishops, all of whom have a long time 
 been conversant in France, Spain, Italy, Ger- 
 many, England, as chaplains, almoners, &c. They 
 made an interest with the governing men in those 
 kingdoms, and obtained preferment from them ; 
 so that the body of the Irish Papists are govern- 
 ed by about 1000 secular priests, and 2500 friars 
 and regulars of several orders, principally Fran- 
 ciscans ; these, I say, are governed by their re- 
 spective bishops, and superiors, whom the minis- 
 ters of foreign states do also govern and direct ; 
 and they do also exert a temporal power by pre- 
 vailing with Papist justices of the peace, to send 
 such to jail as are disobedient to the clergy, upon 
 feigned and frivolous complaints. The common 
 priests have few of them been out of Ireland, 
 and have humble opinions of English and Pro- 
 testants, and of the mischiefs of setting up ma- 
 nufactures and trade ; they also comfort their 
 flocks by prophecies of restoration from the Old 
 Testament. They make little esteem of an oath 
 xTupon a Protestant Bible, but will more devoutly 
 take up a stgne and swear upon it, calling it a 
 book, than by the said book of books, the Bible ; 
 but of all oaths, they think themselves at much 
 liberty to take a land oath, as they call it, which 
 is to prove a forged deed, a possession, &c. &c.,
 
 416 IRELAND STATE IN 1762. 
 
 in order to recover from their countrymen the 
 lands which they had forfeited.* The people of 
 Ireland are all in factions and parties, all Eng- 
 lish and Irish, Protestants and Papists, though 
 indeed the real distinction is vested and divested 
 of the land belonging to Papists, anno 16'4i ; 
 and the chief pique of the Popish clergy against 
 the Protestant is, that they have the church li- 
 vings and jurisdictions.'* " One fourth of the 
 proprietors live in England, drawing their reve- 
 nue without return. The greatest part of the 
 Irish army, paid by Ireland, is employed out of 
 Ireland. All commerce between the two king. 
 JHV* doms being prohibited, produce must, for exam- 
 ple, go into the Barbadoes, and there are sold 
 for sugars, which, brought into England, are sold 
 for money to pay there what Ireland owes ; 
 which tedious way raises the exchange 15 per 
 cent. ; whereas the lands of Ireland have, within 
 150 years, been most of them forfeited, or for- 
 feitable, at various times, and several grants gi- 
 ven for the same. Under one condition or ano- 
 ther, most titles to lands are disputable. A prin- 
 cipal trade in Ireland is to find out these flaws 
 and defects, and procure commissions for enqui- 
 
 * Thinking probably with Hudibras, that 
 
 He that imposes an oath makes it, 
 Not he that for convenience takes it.
 
 IRELAND GRIEVANCES OF THE PEOPLE. 417 
 
 ries, and vex the possessors into composition ; 
 being a trade, or rather calamity upon the na- 
 tion. A second trade is the farming of the re- 
 venue, and levying it in a most oppressive man- 
 ner ; and a third arises from the badness and con- 
 fusion of the coins. A fourth is, trepanning poor 
 men into crimes, indictments, bishops' courts, 
 &c. and compounding of trespasses, not without 
 making benefit by the office of justice of peace, 
 &c. &c. Of 200,000 houses in Ireland, only 
 16,OO() have chimnies, doors, and windows ; the 
 two-thirds of those are occupied by persons who 
 exercise the above trades and are the locusts 
 and caterpillars of the commonwealth. Ireland 
 contains jy,0 : .)(), On of English acres of land in 
 good cultivation ; of pasturage, 2,000,000, pro- 
 ducing a little ; the rest rock, marshes, and waste, 
 that is, more than ten acres to every man, instead 
 of four as in France or England, and one, as in 
 Holland. The houses within the city and liber- 
 ties of Dublin are under 50OO, and the alehouses 
 about 1200 ; in country towns the proportion is 
 yet greater, about one-third of the whole. The 
 lazing of the Irish seems to me to proceed from 
 want of encouragement to work ; for what need 
 they work who are content with potatoes, with 
 which the labour of one man can feed forty, and 
 with milk, whereof one cow will, in summer time, 
 give meat and drink enough for three men, 
 
 VOL. II. 2 D
 
 418 IRELAND GRIEVANCES OF THE PEOPLE, 
 
 when they can everywhere gather cockles, oys- 
 ters, muscles, and crabs, and build a house in 
 three days ? Why should they breed more cattle, 
 since 'tis penal to import them into England ? 
 Why should they raise more commodities, since 
 there are not merchants sufficiently stocked to 
 take them off them, nor provided with other more 
 pleasing foreign commodities to give in ex- 
 change, trade being so fettered and prohibited 
 by the statutes of England ? And why should 
 men endeavour to get estates where the legisla- 
 tive power is not agreed upon, and where tricks 
 and Words destroy natural rights and property ? 
 They are accused of much treachery, falseness, 
 and thievery j none of which, I conceive, is na- 
 tural to them, &c. If it be just that men of Eng- 
 lish birth and estates, living in Ireland, should 
 be represented in the legislative power, and that 
 the Irish should not be judged by those who 
 they pretend do usurp their estates, it then seems 
 just and convenient that both kingdoms should 
 be united, and governed by one legislative power. 
 Nor is it hard to show how this may be practica- 
 ble, nor to satisfy or silence those who are inte- 
 rested or affected, to the contrary," &c. 
 
 These abstracts are sufficient to give an idea 
 of the sort of government existing in Ireland from 
 the times of the Conquest to those of Sir William 
 Petty, and a more monstrous one never exist-
 
 IRELAND EFFECTS OF THE REVOLUTION. 419 
 
 cd. The illustrious British historian, who gave 
 to the world an affecting account of the enormi- 
 ties committed by the Spaniards in America, 
 had no need to go farther than Ireland, a con- 
 quest of his own countrymen, for a subject upon 
 which to exert his eloquence, and pass the seve- 
 rest censure. The Irish were undoubtedly a far 
 worse race than the Peruvians, and less deserving 
 of pity ; but there is no knowing how much 
 of their detestable vices were owing to the con- 
 duct of their conquerors, who, to use an apt ex- 
 pression of Mr Fox, speaking of the French,^/** 
 baited them mad, and then complained that they 
 were so. 
 
 The happy revolution (as it is deservedly call- 
 ed), which placed the Prince of Orange on the 
 throne, brought no relief to Ireland. William 
 carried his victorious arms to that ill-fated conn- 
 try. He made a treaty with the Irish in 1691, 
 the conditions of which were ill observed. Pro- 
 testant intolerance visited on the Catholics of 
 Ireland the evils which Catholic intolerance was 
 then inflicting on their brethren in France. Every 
 year of the reign of the boasted restorer of Eng- 
 lish liberty, and his immediate successors, added 
 some new oppressive law to those already in ope- 
 ration. Forfeitures of lands, and other penalties, 
 against parents or guardians sending a child to 
 any foreign Popish university or place of educa-
 
 420 IRELAND EXTRAORDINARY ANECDOTE. 
 
 tion ; the obligation to attend service in the Pro- 
 testant church every Sunday ; incapacity of vo- 
 ting for members of Parliament ; incapacity of 
 executing any public trust, of practising nt the 
 bar, and almost of working at the lowest trades j 
 for a petition to Parliament from the coal-por- 
 ters of Dublin, complaining that " Papists em- 
 ployed men of their own persuasion," &c. was 
 received, read, and referred to the committee of 
 grievances. The Presbyterians, less obnoxious 
 than the Papists, and whose zeal against the lat- 
 ter was little less violent than that of the Eng- 
 'lish church, finding themselves included in the 
 sacramental test, began immediately to complain 
 of persecution in their turn. " Persecution, it 
 seems," said the English Rabelais on that occa- 
 sion, * " is every thing that will not leave it in 
 men's power to persecute others." The spirit of 
 intolerance and extravagant cruelty was carried 
 to such a pitch, that, in ] 723, a member of the 
 Irish Parliament seriously moved, that the Go- 
 thic penalty of castration might be added as a 
 clause to a bill before them against certain ene- 
 mies of the Protestant faith, to which the House, 
 after a short debate, agreed ; and ordered it to 
 be laid before his Grace the Lord Lieutenant, to 
 
 * Swift's letters concerning the Sacramental Test.-
 
 IRELAND CATHOLIC ADDRESS OF 1775. 42 J 
 
 be transmitted to England, with this remarkable 
 request on their part, " that he would recom- 
 mend the same in the most effectual manner to 
 his Majesty," which his Grace was pleased to 
 promise. The bill was accordingly transmirU'd 
 to England, but rejected there, by the humane 
 and earnest interposition of Cardinal Henry with 
 Mr Walpole. * This most extraordinary anecdote 
 is reported by an author evidently partial, yet it 
 is impossible to suppose it an invention. 
 
 It is remarkable, that the Irish took no part in 
 the Scotch rebellion in favour of the Pretender, 
 in i74-5 ; and yet we find them accused of revo- 
 lutionary proceedings, in 1759, in favour of this 
 same Pretender, and of France. Sir Richard 
 Musgrave,t a writer still more partial than the 
 preceding on the opposite side, says, that these 
 troubles were in a great degree owing to the ex- 
 tortions of their own clergy ; and, in all proba- 
 bility, the grievances of which they co nplained 
 were partly real and partly feigned, to furnish a 
 pretence to the national disposition to riot and 
 disorder. The white boys, an association of ban- 
 ditti, so called from their white uniforms, were 
 
 * John Curry's Civil Wars in Ireland. 
 J- Sir Richard Musgrave, Bart, member of the Irish Parlia- 
 ment, High-sheriff.
 
 422 IRELAND CATHOLIC ADDRESS OP 
 
 at this period very troublesome. The atrocious 
 cruelties which they committed are characteris- 
 tic of the people and country ; for instance, the 
 practice of hamstringing men and animals, and 
 another ingenious invention, that of burying ob- 
 noxious persons alive in a hole full of furze, with 
 their heads only out. This, however, must have 
 been deemed a state of comparative good order 
 and tranquillity for Ireland, as we see an humble 
 address of the Roman Catholics, presented to 
 his Majesty in 1775, stating their grievances,* 
 and praying for relief expressly on the ground 
 
 * The grievances stated in this petition form, undoubtedly, 
 a monstrous catalogue. We are disqualified, they said, not only 
 to purchase, but hold land, even as a farm, except on a tenure 
 very unfavourable ; for, if by our industry and improvement we 
 acquire property, we cannot, as the law stands, retain posses- 
 sion. We are dragged into courts, and there compelled to con- 
 fess on oath, whether we have, in any instance, acquired a pro- 
 perty in the smallest degree exceeding what the rigour of the 
 Jaw has admitted ; and the informer becomes entitled not only 
 to the surplus, but to the whole, &c. A son, however profli- 
 gate and undutiful, shall, merely by the merit of conforming 
 to the established religion, deprive his Roman Catholic father 
 of the liberty of disposing of the estate, while he himself can 
 mortgage the reversion, &c. At the death of a father, his pro- 
 perty goes to the first of his children who conforms^ to the ex- 
 clusion of the others, &c. The violation of the right of proper- 
 ty was the least objection to these laws, which seem to have 
 been devised for the express purpose of Ibosening all the bond* 
 tf morality and social virtues. 
 

 
 IRELAND - AGRICULTURE. 423 
 
 of their dutiful, peaceable, submissive behaviour, jbr 
 more than fourscore years. The government seem- 
 edto admit of their merits on that head, for there 
 was, about that period, a relaxation of severity, 
 and a sort of system of conciliation adopted, to 
 which the last author quoted ascribes the rebel- 
 lious and sanguinary contests of the latter end 
 of the century. 
 
 Notwithstanding these most unfavourable cir- 
 cumstances for the happiness of the people, Mr 
 Arthur Young, who visited the country, and view- 
 ed it at leisure and with attention, in the years 
 1776, 1777, 1778, and 1779, seems to have found 
 the people in a much better situation than could 
 have been supposed. He represents them as li- 
 ving in the very same huts, without windows or 
 chimnies, described by Sir William Petty one 
 hundred years before, amidst dirt and vermin ; 
 yet possessing a cow, often a small horse, hogs 
 and poultry, children in abundance, with as many 
 potatoes as their live stock or themselves could 
 consume 5 all that on a piece of ground, the rent 
 of which was only 40s. or 60s. a-year ; and turf 
 as much as they pleased to steal. I cannot re- 
 sist the temptation of extracting a passage of Mr 
 Young, relating to an agricultural undertaking 
 of a private gentleman, which appears to me to 
 afford an instructive example of the best mode of 
 reclaiming Ireland. " The whole country, tra- 
 
 - 

 
 424 IUELAND AGRICULTURE. 
 
 versed by the road to Cullen, (county of Louth) 
 was, 22 years ago, a waste sheep-walk, covered 
 with furze and fern ; the cabins and people as 
 miserable as can be conceived j not a Protestant 
 in the country ; not a road passable ;- and the 
 revenue 3. or 4s. an acre. Lord Chief Baron 
 Foster undertook the improvement of an estate 
 of 500O acres, till then deemed irreclaimable, and 
 began by 20OO or 3OOO acres. Far from turning 
 out the people, he kept them in to see the effect 
 of his operations. During several years, he had 
 27 lime-kilns burning stone brought from Milford 
 Haven, and 60 to 80 workmen. The lime alone 
 cost him L. 700 a-/ear. In the meantime, he 
 constructed roads, inclosed fields often acres with 
 a ditch seven feet wide and six feet deep, at is. 
 a perch, the banks planted with quick and forest 
 trees. Of these fences, 70,OOO perches were 
 done, and he drained all that required it. In or- 
 derto create a new race of tenants, he fixed upon 
 the most active and industrious labourers, bought 
 them cows, and advanced them money, to begin 
 with little farms, leaving them to pay it as they 
 could. These men he nursed up in proportion 
 to their industry, and some of them are now good 
 farmers, with L. 40O or L. 5no each in their poc- - 
 kets. He fixed a colony of French and English 
 Protestants on the land. His process was as fol- 
 lows : He stubbed the furze, &c. and ploughed
 
 IRELAND AGRICULTURE. 425 
 
 it, upon which he spread from 1 40 to 1 7O barrels 
 of lime per acre, proportioning the quantity to 
 the mould or clay which the plough turned up. 
 This experiment he tried as far as 300 barrels, and . 
 always found that the greater the quantity the ' 
 better. The lime cost him 9d. a barrel on the 
 land ; his usual quantity was 160, at the expence 
 of L.6 an acre, and the total was an expence of 
 L.30,000 ! After the liming, fallowed the land 
 for rye ; and, after the rye, took two crops of 
 oats. Without lime, he got three or four barrels 
 an acre of oats, but with it, 20 or 32 of barley. 
 With white marie, he obtained 300 Ibs. of flax ; 
 with lime 1000 Ibs. His great object was to con- 
 vince the inhabitants of the great advantage of 
 his process. He sold them the corn crops on the 
 ground at 40s. an acre ; the three crops paid him 
 therefore the expence of the liming, giving, at the 
 ^ame time, a great profit to the purchasers. With 
 the third corn crop, the land was laid down to 
 grass, when the old tenants very readily hired it, 
 and went on with similar improvements on their 
 own account, for which he advanced them the 
 money, and trusted to their success and honesty 
 for the payment, and was not deceived. This 
 change of their sentiments induced him to build 
 new farm-houses, of which he has erected above 
 SO, all of lime and stone, at the expence of L.40
 
 4-36 1BELAND AGRICULTURE. 
 
 a house. The farms are, in general, of 80 acres 
 each. 
 
 " After six or seven years, the Baron spread 
 more lime over the sod, and the benefit of it was 
 very great ; it is all let now on an average at 20s. 
 an acre," &c. &c. His lordship has made a barren 
 wilderness smile with cultivation, planted it witli 
 people, and made those people happy, &c. &c. 
 He assured Mr Young, that, while making his 
 improvements, he had lived in a house without 
 shutters, bolts, or bars, and half full of spalpeens, 
 yet never lost the least trifle, nor has he met with 
 any depredations among his fences or plantations. 
 
 In conversation about the Popery laws, Mr 
 Young expressed his surprise at their seventy, but 
 he was assured they never were executed. This 
 brought to his mind an admirable expression of 
 Mr Burke's, in the House of Commons, " Con- 
 nivance is the relaxation of slavery, not the de- 
 finition of liberty." 
 
 The human mind is so constituted, that, to 
 know exactly how you are to understand any 
 .^ man's account of what he saw, let him be ever so 
 good and true, you must first know his party, or 
 the prejudices of his country, and situation. Mr 
 Young was, at the period of his visit to Ire- 
 land, in the opposition, disposed, consequently, 
 to think more favourably of the Irish than they
 
 IRELAND WHITE BOYS 1?78, 427 
 
 deserved ; yet, as we have seen him since, about 
 the beginning of the French revolution, form a 
 tolerably just opinion of its tendency, I feel the 
 more inclined to suppose his judgment to have 
 been correct, and to confide in it. He admits 
 the detestable conduct of the white boys, but 
 does not believe them to have been directed by 
 any foreign influence. These worthless wretches 
 were, he said, guilty of far greater abuses of power 
 than those of whom they complained ; to such a 
 degree, indeed, as to unite against them the Ca- 
 tholic inhabitants themselves, who opposed them 
 by force of arms at Kilkenny, and other places^ 
 and had some sanguinary contests with them. 
 At the same time, he describes the despotism of 
 the great proprietors, and of the aristocracy, 
 of the tithe-men, of the justices of the peace, 
 of the military, &c. &c. in such a manner, as 
 to justify, or at least fully to account for, any dis- 
 contents and revolt of the people.* 
 
 During the American war, and while the com- 
 bined fleets of France and Spain threatened the 
 coasts of Great Britain and Ireland, the Irish 
 formed, at the invitation of government, volun- 
 
 * There were, besides the white boys t several other associa- 
 tions of banditti, under the name of right boys, peep-of-day 
 boys, &c. &c. ; these in the north of Ireland, and among the 
 manufacturers ; the first in the south, and among the peasantry.
 
 428 IRELAND VOLUNTEER ASSOCIATION OF 1783 
 
 teer corps for their own defence. They evinced 
 at first great submission to government, but to- 
 wards i the end of the war, they began to feel 
 their strength, and to remember they had arms 
 in their hands. A sort of national convention 
 \\asformedin 1783, J7^4, many of \vh >se mem- 
 bers were persons of high characters, and great 
 talents, and the presbyterians made common 
 cause with the catholics to obtain the right of 
 election. A new constitution was proposed to 
 the Irish parliament, but rejected wi h indigna- 
 tion. The government had already revoked, in 
 most of the old laws against Catholics, 
 those at least relating to property, and the re- 
 strictions still subsisting did not affect the peo- 
 ple so directly. There was far less reason in 
 fact to complain, than at any preceding period, 
 a great revolution had taken place in men's 
 minds ; it was no longer with material advanta- 
 ges that they were taken up, but rather with ab- 
 stract rights ; and the people of Ireland, together 
 with the great body of the people in Europe, had 
 began to set a greater value on the ibriri than on 
 the substance ot liberty. 
 
 Our new world has generally the credit of ha- 
 ving first lighted the torch which was to illu- 
 minate, and soon set in a blaze, the finest part of 
 Europe ; yet I think the flint was struck, and 
 the first spark elicited, by the patriot John Wilkes,,
 
 IRELAND REPUBLICANISM. 429 
 
 a few years before. In a time of profound peace, 
 the restless spirits of men, deprived of other ob- 
 jects of public curiosity, seized with avidity on 
 those questions which were then agitated with 
 so much violence in England, touching the 
 rights of the people, and of the government, and 
 the nature of power. The end of the political 
 drama was in favour of what was called, and in 
 some respect was, the liberty of the people. En- 
 couraged by the success of this great comedian, 
 the curtain was no sooner dropt oh the scene of 
 Europe, than new actors hastened to raise it 
 again in America, and to give the world a new 
 play, infinitely more interesting and more bril- 
 liant than the first. I am far from supposing 
 that the sole motive of active patriots is personal 
 ambition, and the vanity of acting a part; but 
 the sad experience of all ages, and especially 
 that of our own times, teaches us to believe that 
 such motives have always a considerable influ- 
 ence. There is as much danger in believing too 
 much, as too little, in the virtue of patriots j 
 one of these errors makes dupes and fanatics, 
 and the other lukewarm men and slaves. 
 
 After the peace of 1782, which established the 
 independence of the United States, there was 
 scarcely a young soldier returning from Ame- 
 rica who did not think himself destined to be- 
 come a Washington, and did not consider his
 
 43O IRELAND INSTANCE OF SAVAGE CRUELTY. 
 
 own country, or any other country, just as well 
 fitted for the establishment of a republic, as the 
 country of Washington j not a young philoso- 
 pher who did not know by heart his contrat so- 
 cial ; at least / knew it was so in France. Re- 
 publican ideas a toute out ranee failed not to gain 
 ground in Ireland, as elsewhere, particularly 
 among the military associations, which had been 
 formed for the defence of the country. The meta- 
 physical refinements of the new political doctrines 
 were by no means lost on the common people ; 
 for the less they were understood, the greater 
 their power was of creating a sort of blind en- 
 thusiasm, about they did not know what, united 
 in their ignorant and ferocious minds with the 
 bigotry of old habits and prejudices. I shall 
 mention only one instance of wanton atrocity, 
 perhaps unequalled in any other country. A 
 Mr R. Jackson of Forkhill, in the county of Ar- 
 magh, who died in 1787, had bequeathed, by his 
 will, 3000 acres of land as a foundation for a sort 
 of Protestant colony, and four schools for the 
 education of children of every persuasion gratis. 
 In 1789, the trustees obtained an act of parlia- 
 ment to carry the provisions of the will into exe- 
 cution ; but the Catholics of the country soon 
 shewed themselves hostile to the establishment ; 
 they denounced vengeance against their new 
 neighbours, fired at them, hunted them li,ke
 
 IRELAND- INSTANCE OF SAVAGS CRUELTY. 
 
 wild beasts, burnt their mill, from which the 
 miller escaped with great difficulty. At last, in 
 January 179 1, a number of villains assembled at 
 the house of Alexander Barclay, one of the 
 schoolmasters, appointed to instruct, indiscrimi- 
 nately, the children of the poor of the parish. 
 They rapped at the door, which he opened, hear- 
 ing the voice of one of his neighbours ; they 
 rushed in, threw him on his face, three of them 
 stood upon him, and stabbed him repeatedly. 
 They put a cord round his neck, which they tight- 
 ened so as toforce his tongue out, and cut it off. 
 They then cut oft* the four fingers and thumb of 
 his right hand j and leaving him, proceeded to 
 use his wife in the same manner ; which, from a 
 refinement of cruelty, they did with a blunt in- \,L 
 strument. They then battered and beat her in 
 a dreadful manner. Her brother, a boy of thir- 
 teen years of age, had come from Armagh that 
 morning to see her. They cut out his tongue, 
 and cut off the calf of his leg, and left them all 
 three in that situation ! This frightful anecdote 
 is related by the same Sir Richard Musgrave, al- 
 ready quoted, with every appearance of authen- 
 ticity ; and although people capable of an enor- 
 mity, compared to which murder sinks into in- 
 significance, might be few, yet the idea could 
 not have come into any one's mind, unless the 
 manners of the bulk of the people had been emi- 
 nently ferocious.
 
 432 IRELAND ANECDOTE OF A HIGH-SHERIFF* 
 
 I have found, in the same author, another anec- 
 dote, remarkable in its way (volume I. page 53)* 
 The conspirators of Munster had bound them- 
 selves by oath, to resist the laws, and obey none 
 but their chiefs ; and they adhered to this so 
 strictly, that the High-sheriff of the county of 
 Waterford could not find a person willing to exe- 
 cute the sentence of the law upon a miscreant, 
 condemned to be whipped, although he offered 
 a considerable sum of money for that purpose ; 
 therefore he was obliged to perform the duty 
 himself at last, in the face of an enraged popu- 
 lace j and the writer tells us in a note, that he 
 sf? himself was this High-sheriff! I know that the 
 execution of the sentence of the law belongs to 
 this magistrate ; he is considered as performing 
 the office himself, but never does in point of fact. 
 Here we have Mr High-sheriff, a baronet, mem- 
 ber of the Irish Parliament, and an author, ta- 
 king t ; ie whip in his own hand, and applying 
 some hundreds of lashes on the bare flesh of an 
 offender, in the face of his enraged accomplices ! 
 He certainly must have been well supported, 
 otherwise they would not have suffered him to 
 proceed. Is it credible, then, that he could not 
 have found among his numerous and faithful 
 guard some one, willing to be his deputy for love 
 or money ? His zeal in the business appears to 
 me more apparent than the necessity. We have
 
 IRELAND UNITED IRISHMEN 1 79 1 . 433 
 
 been accustomed to hear of such things in Rus- 
 sia, where imperial hands used to strike off heads 
 and ply the knout, at least formerly j but I own 
 I should not have expected to meet with similar 
 manners in this age and country. This took 
 place in 17*2, twelve or fourteen years before 
 the last rebellion. Were these the best means 
 to prevent or produce it ? 1 think I should pre- 
 fer the method of the respectable magistrate 
 mentioned by Mr Young ; and I should be glad 
 to know who behaved bes* during the subsequent 
 rebellion, the people of Cullen or those of Wa- 
 terford. 
 
 The republican ideas imported from America, 
 found the people of France particularly well pre- 
 pared for their reception. They spread wonder- 
 fully, and seven or eight years after the final con- 
 clusion of the transatlantic revolution, the great 
 explosion took place. Ireland caught the spirit 
 immediately ; clubs, and political meetings of 
 various denominations were instituted. In i79l, 
 the famous society of the United Irishmen. In 
 17y2, the national guards. Kabaud de St Etienne 
 visited at this period the neophytes of Ireland. 
 It was the French Revolution in embryo ; and 
 however wrong the government might have been 
 on former occasions, it appears to me quite evi- 
 dent that it had at that mad period no alterna- 
 tive, but was obliged to defend itself, or expect 
 
 VOL. II. 2 E
 
 IRELAND INSURRECTION IN 1798. 
 
 to be treated d la Louis XVI. It might have 
 been wiser, as well as more just, first to grant to 
 the Catholics the equality of political rights 
 which they claimed. It is certain, indeed, that 
 the insurgents would not have remained satisfied 
 with that j for their chiefs wanted a republic ; 
 but the government would have put them com- 
 ^^ pletdy in the wrong, without giving up any 
 thing of its means of repression. The conse- 
 quences might have been, that the government 
 party in Ireland would have shewn themselves 
 less active against the Catholic rebels ; but the 
 latter being more divided among themselves, 
 the civil war would have assumed a less desperate 
 character, and much blood, as well as many 
 crimes, would have been spared. Mr Burke, 
 who cannot be accused of revolutionary princi- 
 ples, wrote, and spoke, at that time, in favour of 
 the emancipation of the Catholics. Fox, Erskine, 
 and almost all the men of talents in the English 
 parliament, pleaded their cause ; but the govern- 
 ment chose to come at once to the ultima ratio. 
 The Protestant aristocracy of Ireland was let 
 loose, * and proved as violent and furious as their 
 
 * It seems as if the English government wished to make it 
 appear, at the time, that this Protestant aristocracy were the 
 chief opposers of the Catholics, and that they themselves were
 
 485 
 
 Catholic adversaries. They organized their forces 
 immediately, under the name of Orangemen, 
 that is to say, organized the civil war. The se- 
 quel can easily be imagined ; insults, t cruelty, 
 revenge j and amidst the fury of contending pas- 
 sions, individual ambition, calculating deliberate- 
 ly the chances of its infernal game, and pushing 
 forwards its thousands of men, by way of count- 
 ers.. The sword once drawn, and the social-knot 
 .cut through, it is difficult to say what is legiti- 
 mate or what is criminal. The Catholic party 
 corresponded with France ; they had emissaries 
 and ambassadors there, and negociated for sue* 
 cours of men and arms. They did not probably 
 want to give themselves up to France ; they 
 wished to be free j but the great object was re- 
 venge, at any cost, and they might have submit- 
 
 mare disposed to concession. This weak and cruel policy is 
 said, by Gordon, to have been pursued ever since the reign p/ 
 Elizabeth. 
 
 f A cropt head being considered at that time as a mark of 
 jacobinism, the soldiers made it a practice, and an amusement, 
 to^eize upon such individuals as were crept, and carry them 
 to the guard-house, where they kept paper caps in readiness, 
 pitched inside, which, being heated, and stuck on the head, the 
 sufferer, burnt and blinded by the melted pitch, which had run 
 among his hair, and jn his eyes, was let loose among the rab- 
 ble waiting for him at the door
 
 436 IRELAND INSURRECTION. 
 
 ted to France, if necessary, out of pure hatred 
 for England. 
 
 The insurrection, long organized in secret, un- 
 der the whip of executioners, amidst torture and 
 assassination, by fire and the sword, and by poi- 
 son, was at last near a general explosion in May 
 1798, when the arrest of Lord Edward Fitzge- 
 rald and of several of the principal confederates 
 , ( disconcerted the plan, and broke the thread of 
 the conspiracy. The insurrection took place not- 
 withstanding, on the appointed day, in several 
 places, but the effort was not general, and only 
 exposed this miserable people to all the terrors 
 of military execution. It must be confessed that 
 \ their conduct at Wexford, and wherever they 
 became masters for a little while, was so detest- 
 able, as to diminish very much that pity which 
 their sufferings would otherwise have inspired. 
 Undisciplined, without arms or experienced of- 
 ficers, a vast number of them were killed in the 
 numerous actions and encounters they had with 
 the king's troops in the course of that year. It 
 cost the lives of one hundred thousand men, says 
 Gordon,* of whom two-thirds were Catholics or 
 
 * A contemporary author, and a clergyman of the English 
 
 fctiwtn 
 
 church.
 
 IRELAND REBELLION UNION. 437 
 
 patriots, one-third royalists. Almost all the chiefs 
 were put to death, or sent into exile ; and the 
 ill-concerted descent of a small body of French 
 troops under General Humbert the following 
 year (1799,) served only to increase the number 
 of wretched individuals, involved in the crimi- 
 nality of ill success, and its necessary conse- 
 quence, exile, or the scaffold. 
 
 It is difficult to say whether the Irish have been 
 most ill governed, or ungovernable j but they 
 have at any rate been too much injured not to 
 excite sympathy with their resentment, and a dis- 
 position to forgive even their desire of revenge. 
 It is impossible, however, to approve of their pro- 
 ject of separation. They were not strong enough 
 to maintain their independence ; and, therefore, 
 had no right to separate, according to the just 
 definition of political right given by Paley, expe- 
 diency. 
 
 Two years after this rebellion, the great mea- 
 sure of the union of the two kingdoms was adopt- 
 ed. Instead of a national legislature, which was 
 little else than the committee of a faction under 
 the orders of the English minister, Ireland sends 
 now a certain number of members, one hundred i 
 I believe, to the British or Imperial parliament ; 
 and it seems to me they have gained much by 
 the change. The opposers of the measure say, 
 that they were deceived, having been promised
 
 438 IRELAND RELIGION THE CLEBGY, 
 
 the emancipation of the Catholics as the price of 
 the union. I really think that, if the emancipa- 
 tion had been granted on condition of preserving; 
 their separate government, they would have had 
 /more reason to complain of their bargain. How- 
 ever that may be, Catholic emancipation is now 
 the great subject of Irish claims, and the theme 
 of all their remonstrances. It seems strange* 
 in these times, that the Pope should still be an 
 object of fear, or of attachment 5 yet such is the 
 main obstacle to a complete union of the two* 
 countries, in the same degree as with Scotland, 
 which is as perfect as can be wished. It may 
 well be questioned whether religion is the true 
 ^ obstacle. The established religion is a consider- 
 able source of power and influence, for the go- 
 vernment of England and its hierarchy extend 
 to Ireland, which has a primate, several bishops, 
 and a Protestant clergy. This forms a ministe- 
 rial militia, which the government does not wish 
 to disband ; but, far from this sacrifice being re- 
 / tt (jU^ quired of them, the Catholic clergy would, on 
 f *jfa *^ e contrary, become auxiliaries* Being taken 
 in pay, and receiving a political and legal exist- 
 ence, they would in time become friends instead 
 of enemies. The Catholic clergy are, I under- 
 stand, extremely poor, ignorant, and fanatical. 
 Placed on a level with the low Irish, they have 
 that constant intercourse together which enables
 
 IRELAND RELIGION THE CLERGY. 439 
 
 them to keep up their influence ; but a decent 
 competency and independence would throw them 
 at a distance, and diminish their influence. The 
 British government seemed very lately on the 
 point of yielding the boon of emancipation, but 
 required a negative voice in the nomination of 
 bishops, which, considering the unbounded influ- 
 ence of these bishops over the opinions and the 
 purse of the Irish of their persuasion, seemed a 
 very reasonable check for the government to re- 
 tain. Very improper appointments might other- 
 wise be made by the Catholics, or their foreign 
 head the Pope. The Irish bishops had agreed ix^ 
 to concede this veto to the government ; but cer- 
 tain chiefs of influence among the Irish, as if they 
 did not really wish a perfect reconciliation, inter- 
 posed, and obliged them to withdraw their assent. 
 Of four oaths tendered to them, they were will- 
 ing to take three, but rejected the fourth, which 
 they said would be renouncing the spiritual com- 
 munion with Rome. If forty were tendered to 
 them instead of four, they might probably take 
 thirty-nine, but would take care to find some ob- 
 jection to the last. Mr Pitt said of the insurrec- 
 tion of 1791, that it was not Catholic, and the re- 
 mark would apply as justly to the present diffi- 
 culties. This question is stated with great clear- 
 ness, and, as it seems to me, with great impartiali- 
 ty, in the Edinburgh Review of November 1810, 
 ' -tt ''
 
 440 IRELAND - POPULATION. 
 
 and I would refer my French readers to this work, 
 if I did not recollect that it would be in vain, 
 under existing circumstances. 
 
 Much has been said of the danger of giving 
 commands in the army and navy, to disaffected 
 Catholic officers, without considering that they 
 would cease to be disaffected if they were employ- 
 ed. The introduction of Catholic members in 
 Parliament also has been supposed to threaten 
 the church, but they are in point of numbers only 
 one out of six or seven members, and would never 
 be able to carry any improper measures against 
 the church. 
 
 It is worthy of remark, that the population of 
 Ireland has increased more than fourfold since 
 167*. It consisted of 80O.OOO Catholics and 
 30O.OCO Protestants at the time of Sir William 
 Petty, and now of four millions of the former, and 
 one million of the latter, of whom one-half only 
 are Episcopalians, and the rest Presbyterians. 
 The comparative proportion of the number of 
 Catholics and Protestants, shows the truth of the 
 old adage, that the blood of martyrs is the best 
 seed of religion, since the persecuted sect has in- 
 creased so much more than the other. The ab- 
 solute increase shows likewise, that nations are 
 tenacious of life, and that there is, in milk and 
 potatoes, an energy superior to the destructive 
 influence of war and pestilence. The capital of 
 
 - 
 
 '- t> 
 
 l>& I * -
 
 //J/* 
 
 IRELAND CLIMATE. 441 
 
 Ireland is one of the finest cities in Europe. It 
 contains 30O,OOO inhabitants, and increases ra- 
 pidly in commerce and population. The climate 
 of the island seems to that of England what Eng- 
 land is to the continent, still milder, more moist, 
 and green; its verdure surprises the English 
 themselves, and it is varied with lakes and 
 mountains of singular beauty. 
 
 The political malady of Ireland appears to be 
 at present in a great degree ideal ; and to con- 
 sist in the traditional recollection of all the mise- 
 ries suffered and inflicted, producing a sort of 
 alienation of mind, and making the Irish an in- 
 sane people, as far as political parties are con- 
 cerned. If the recollection of the past could be 
 obliterated at once on both sides, all the difficul- 
 ties standing in the way of that perfect union, 
 which should prevail between the different parts 
 of the same empire, would vanish at once. The 
 great aim should be, to introduce new ideas, by 
 a liberal system of education for all ranks of 
 people ; and the best army to send to Ireland, 
 would be one commanded by Bell and Lancaster, 
 and composed of their disciples. 
 
 Ju rn/i w 
 
 .'t 

 
 FRANCE.
 
 STATE OF FRANCE, 
 
 IN 1815 AND 1816. 
 
 THE Author of this JOURNAL visited France twice 
 since its publication ; he was at Paris in Fe- 
 bruary and March 1815, and in October fol- 
 lowing, at the beginning, and soon after the 
 close of the last and most brilliant scene of 
 Buonaparte's showy drama. His sources of 
 information were various, perhaps not gene- 
 rally accessible ; and he might have been 
 tempted to give an account of what he obser- 
 ved during that period, if he had not been so 
 early anticipated. Conceiving the subject to 
 be nearly exhausted, he will merely introduce 
 here a few observations. 
 
 JUST returned from the New World, after an ab- 
 sence of twenty-six years, a stranger to all local 
 interests, passions, and views, I judged of France
 
 446 STATE OF FRANCE. 
 
 /by the suggestions of common sense and proba- 
 bility alone. After a round of revolutions, du- 
 ring which every extreme had been tried, I saw 
 France returned to a monarchical form of govern- 
 ment, tempered by many salutary checks which 
 certainly did not exist before the revolution, and 
 whether they were sufficient or not, was a ques- 
 tion the very complaints made by both parties 
 seemed to decide ; contradictory assertions of 
 too much and too little indicating generally just 
 enough. At any rate, the conscription was at an 
 end, and so palpable a benefit seemed alone 
 sufficient to outweigh every other consideration, 
 yet the people, just escaped from what appear- 
 ed to me a frightful military despotism, were 
 cold and indifferent ! They alluded to the late 
 changes, with a mixture of regret, at the past 
 glories of Buonaparte's reign, and reflections on 
 its miseries, feelings of shame at the catastrophe, 
 and consciousness of present ease and comfort. 
 Their praises of Buonaparte's government were 
 generally summed up with the following remarks : 
 " Au moins, il faisoit tout aller droit !" or " Sous 
 lui il ne falloit pas broncher !" A strong arm, on 
 the part of government, always was in France 
 the necessary requisite not only to be obeyed, 
 but to be willingly obeyed, It is the genuine 
 military instinct ! 
 
 The army, I understood from the first, was
 
 STATE OP TRAKCE. 447 
 
 nearly all Buonapartist ; the younger part of the 
 people participated more or less in the feelings 
 of the military, but the middle-aged and the old, 
 and most of the women, were on the other side ; 
 yet I cannot say that the cry of Five L'ennemi, 
 which I had been taught to believe had resound- 
 ed through the streets of Paris on the entrance 
 of the allies, in March 1814, was any where re- 
 peated in my hearing. 
 
 Neither Paris, nor the country at large, appear- 
 ed much changed in appearance, the Carousel 
 w r as enlarged and adorned, the Louvre was in 
 part scraped white, three bridges had been built, 
 and quays extended. The galerie du Muse"e was - 
 indeed a creation, and a most wonderful one; 
 and the Salon, just then open, exhibited suffi- 
 cient evidence of improvements in the French 
 school of painting, although David's faults, as 
 well as beauties, were every where apparent ; a 
 neatness of finishing, leading to hardness and 
 want of harmony, some affectation in the com- 
 position, but great correctness of drawing and 
 strong expression. 
 
 The very day of my arrival in Paris (17th Fe- 
 bruary, 18i5), a gentleman, deservedly high in 
 the confidence of the French government, * in- 
 
 * The gentleman here alluded to is Mr Hyde de Neuville, 
 who lived an exile in the United States during the last eight
 
 448 STATE OF FRANCE. 
 
 formed me that Buonaparte had certainly a 
 scheme on foot for returning to France, having 
 
 years of Buonaparte's reign, and where the author became in- 
 timately acquainted with him. He takes this opportunity of no- 
 ticing a misrepresentation industriously circulated respecting 
 that gentleman ; not that it can be of much consequence to his 
 friend, that the English public, by whom he is not personally 
 known, who have at most heard of his name, and may soon 
 forget it again, should attach any very correct idea to that 
 name ; and to the public itself the misrepresentation is of still 
 less consequence : the author has another object in view in cor- 
 recting it. 
 
 Mr Hyde de Neuville is a descendant of one of the follow- 
 ers of James II.; born in France, and a thorough Frenchman, 
 in heart and in mind, (not that sort of heart and mind English 
 tourists have of late thought fit to represent as forming exclu- 
 sively the national character of the people of France,) gay, 
 frank, brave, generous, and humane, to a romantic degree, a 
 mere boy at the beginning of the French Revolution, he devo- 
 ted himself to the defence of persecuted individuals ; he plead- 
 ed their cause before the tribunals of blood, rescued them by 
 force and address when he failed otherwise ; and risked his life 
 every day without even the stimulant of party spirit, as he 
 scarcely knew any thing, and cared less, about the abstract po- 
 litical questions of the time. A redresser of wrongs, without 
 any regard to persons, rather than a politician or a philosopher, 
 what he was at eighteen he has again shewn himself at forty. 
 
 Wholly unconnected with the court, he embarked, from a 
 mere sense of justice and humanity, in the cause of the much- 
 injured Louis XVI., and after his death threw himself among 
 the royalists of Brittany, he was frequently employed in 
 their communications with the French princes, and through 
 8
 
 STATE OF FRANCE. 449 
 
 acquired, when on a public mission in Italy, such 
 information as placed the thing beyond a doubt, 
 
 them was well known and highly considered by Mr Pitt. When 
 Buonaparte became too firmly established to leave any rational 
 hopes to the cause, he was one of the commissioners who treat- 
 ed with him for the pacification of the province, but refused 
 for himself the most pressing offers of a commission in his army. 
 The proffered favours of Buonaparte were not rejected with 
 impunity. Mr Hyde de Neuville denounced, persecuted, was 
 obliged to hide himself for years, and his hair-breadth escapes 
 were innumerable disposed to submit sincerely to a power he 
 could not oppose, and enjoy in peace and obscurity an ample 
 fortune, and the society of an amiable wife, Buonaparte forced 
 him to be his enemy. He certainly was afterwards concerned in 
 several bold undertakings, either for the relief of persecuted in- 
 dividuals, Sir Sidney Smith among others; or for the overthrow 
 of Buonaparte, who at last fancied he saw the hand ofcejbu de 
 Hyde, as he chose to call him, (enthusiasm for any thing but 
 ambition appeared madness to him, ) in every enterprise against 
 him. At the moment of the explosion of the infernal machine, 
 he was publicly accused by the government as the invisible con- 
 triver. Whether a Frenchman, deprived arbitrarily of the com- 
 mon benefits of society, in his own country, by a ruler whose 
 authority, to say the least of it, he never acknowledged, had, or 
 had not, the right to defend himself with any weapon, and in 
 any way, might well be a question. It was not, howevar, a 
 question with Mr Hyde, who declared immediately his abhor- 
 rence of this mode of defence in any case ; and proved to the 
 satisfaction of Fouchc, then minister of police, and of Buona- 
 parte himself, that he had no concern whatever in the infernal 
 machine. A subsequent negociation with Buonaparte, person- 
 ally, ended in his voluntary exile to the United States, as a con- 
 VOL. If. 2 F
 
 450 STATE OF FRANCE. 
 
 yet the ministers of the day, well apprized of 
 the danger, took no precautions against it. It 
 
 dition for the restoration of his property under sequestration* 
 Mr Hyde lived ever since in the neighbourhood of New York, 
 where his constitutional humanity and passion for usefulness 
 taking a new turn, he became conspicuous by the establishment 
 S of schools on the Lancaster plan, and various other underta- 
 kings of public utility. The French colonists, flying from St 
 Domingo, had for some years transplanted their industry to the 
 island of Cuba, whence they were suddenly expelled with un- 
 justifiable rigour at the first news of the Spanish rupture with 
 France. Thrown in shoals on the coasts of North America, 
 without any means of subsistence, any knowledge of the lan- 
 guage or customs, Mr Hyde de Neuville stepped forth to assist 
 them ; and his own means, together with those readily put into 
 his hands by the magistrates and inhabitants of New York, his 
 time and personal exertions were applied with such zeal and 
 judgment, as to rescue some thousands of innocent individuals 
 from the most distressing situation. He more than once ex- 
 tended his humane exertions, in various ways, to persons of co- 
 lour, and received, on a particular occasion, an address of 
 / thanks from the blacks of Haity. 
 
 Meantime, the brother of Mr Hyde de Neuville, who had 
 followed him in his exile,, being obliged to return to France to 
 settle some family affairs, was arrested shortly after his arrival 
 at Paris, and kept three years a close prisoner at Chateau d'lf, 
 (a fortress on an insulated rock in the sea, near Marseilles,) 
 without the shadow of an accusation, but merely because he 
 bore the name of Hyde, and had followed his brother to Ame- 
 rica. Most of his fellow-prisoners had been detained for a 
 longer period than himself, some of them in dungeons, all with- 
 out a trial. By a singular, but characteristic accident, the body
 
 STATE OF FRANCE. 45J 
 
 was then supposed that Buonaparte would land 
 secretly, and arrive at Paris incog., where, finding 
 
 of the celebrated general, Kleber, was one of the detenus ! 
 Every body knows how he succeeded in the command of the 
 French army in Egypt, and perished afterwards by assassina- 
 tion. The body was sent to Marseilles, and deposited on the 
 rock of the Chateau d'lf, till preparations could be made for 
 its reception at Marseilles with all the military honours due 
 to so great a general. But as soon as information of this 
 event reached the court, orders were sent immediately to for- 
 bid paying the intended marks of respect to the remains of a 
 man who had publicly reprobated Buonaparte's desertion of his 
 
 
 army The body of General Kleber was therefore left on the 
 rock of Chateau d'lf, where his bones remain bleaching at this 
 day. 
 
 Mr Hyde de Neuville returned to France in July 1814, 
 blessed by many in the country he had left, respected and ho- 
 noured by all who knew him, and of all parties ; he has been 
 elected since, in his native department, a member of the cham- 
 ber of deputies, and there declining all title, place, or pension, 
 served his country to the best of his abilities, and, whether 
 right or wrong in his politics, in perfect purity and sincerity, 
 and, 1 am sure, without the slightest feeling of personal re- 
 venge. He is now about returning to America, a public mini- 
 ster, and his country could not be more respectably represented. 
 
 Such is the man, held up in the English newspapers as boast- 
 ing of the infernal machine, a White Jacobin^ a Royal Terrorist, 
 &c., all on the authority of those factious travellers with which 
 Paris is so abundantly supplied from England. Knowing, as I 
 do, the utter falsehood of these charges, 1 felt from the first 
 considerably relieved from the apprehensions I had entertained 
 of the dangerous principles and feelings of the party denomina-
 
 
 452 STATE OF FRANCE. 
 
 his adherents ready, a revolution might burst out 
 any moment. It was notorious that the king had 
 no force organized, or upon which he could in 
 the least depend. All the young officers, parti- 
 cularly, were disaffected ; more so than the com- 
 mon men or the marshals. The king's ministers 
 were not men of business, they were not united 
 under one head, there was no cabinet. The 
 men of Buonaparte's government, still employed 
 in various branches of the administration, despi- 
 sed and hated such chiefs, by whom they were 
 in their turn feared and suspected, they were 
 just sufficiently trusted to be dangerous, and not 
 enough to be conciliated. With a disaffected 
 army, an administration either weak or treacher- 
 ous, and a lukewarm or passive people, it was 
 scarcely possible for the government to stand ; 
 and it stood only because all public spirit, either 
 good or bad, was so far extinguished, that the 
 faction did not feei confident of receiving that 
 little support they might require from the people. 
 Under such circumstances, the journey of the 
 ex-emperor to Paris was perhaps an easy triumph ; 
 
 ted Ultra- Royalist. If Mr Hyde de Neuville is really one of the 
 worst of them, I cannot be much afraid of the rest ; and the 
 hope that my readers may be induced to form the same conclu- 
 sion, is the motive, and I trust will be deemed n sufficient apo- 
 logy, for the insertion of this very long note.
 
 STATE OF FRANCE. 453 
 
 but if he met no opposition from the people, he 
 certainly met with no encouragement. It is re- 
 markable, although a proclamation of Buonaparte, 
 issued on his way to Paris, enjoined the wearing 
 of the tri-coloured cockade by the citizens as well 
 as soldiers, yet no one, except soldiers, wore it at 
 Paris ; on his arrival there was not a house illumi- 
 nated, nor any visible sign of joy. I saw the white 
 flag taken down from the dome of the Tuileries, 
 and the tri-coloured flag substitute.!, the morn- 
 ing after the departure of the king ; some of 
 Buonaparte's advance guards were drawn up in 
 the Carousel, and a crowd of citizens was assem- 
 bled ; no cries ofvive Cempertur were heard, ex- 
 cept from the military, the citizens looked at each 
 other with an expression of wonder and curiosi- 
 ty, with dejection rather than joy. It could not 
 have been surmised, by the general appearance 
 of Paris on that memorable day, that any thing 
 extraordinary had happened, had it not been for 
 the king's proclamation, branding Buonaparte a 
 traitor, posted up at the corners of the streets, 
 being now half covered with a fresh one from his 
 imperial majesty, expressive of his joy at finding 
 himself again in the middle of his loving subjects, 
 the very same criers now vociferating the name 
 of this new majesty with expressions of respect 
 and obedience, who but yesterday bawled out in 
 the same tone their reviling epithets against him-
 
 STATE OF FRANCE. 
 
 The Moniteur exhibited the same barefaced trans- 
 formation, and the people looked upon these 
 things much as they would have done upon the 
 change of dress of comedians performing a new 
 part. 
 
 The conduct of Buonaparte immediately on 
 his return astonished every body ; the dread ty- 
 rant was a lamb, and crouched to the jacobins. 
 The people at large thought him afraid, the army 
 became jealous of the jacobins, and did not hide 
 their disgust ; I heard it expressed with great bit- 
 terness by officers. The middle and higher ranks 
 anticipated nothing less than the repetition of the 
 scenes of 1793-4, while the rabble were not suf- 
 ficiently encouraged to hope the good old times 
 again at hand. When Buonaparte found the Euro- 
 pean coalition was not dissolved, it seems that his 
 true policy should have been to denounce at once 
 the upper classes as enemies of the country, in- 
 vaders of the common stock of wealth and power, 
 &c. ; to declare the day of reckoning come, when 
 an equal division of property, founded on the na- 
 tural rights of man, must be made ; in short, to re- 
 organize the revolution at any risk. He might 
 then hope to rebuild his throne on the wrecks of 
 that social order which it was evident could no 
 longer afford him any safety ; instead of being 
 dragged on reluctantly by the old republicans, 
 he should have taken the lead, gone faster and
 
 STATE OF FRANCE. 
 
 farther than them, and left them behind. Un- 
 der a new reign of terror every town would have 
 furnished a legion of soldiers, and Paris itself, 
 reduced to ashes, was worth an army ! The 
 same materials were there that did wonders 25 
 years before ; not exactly with the same incite- 
 ments, there was less idiologie afloat; the old 
 dogmas of the revolution had lost some of their 
 novelty and attraction, fewer good sort of people 
 would have been taken by them, none perhaps j 
 but that would have been no loss. Good sort of 
 people soon leave the ranks of a revolution at 
 any rate, the vicious and desperate are after all 
 the true spirits, blood and plunder would have 
 brought enough of them into the field, fear of the 
 guillotine as many more ; the intoxication of mi- 
 litary glory would soon have pervaded the whole, 
 and I really believe that all the crowned heads of 
 Europe would have been no match for Dictator 
 Buonaparte with a red liberty cap on. 
 
 This gentleness availed him nothing, the peo- 
 ple could not be induced to fight his battle ; far 
 from any levy en masse, not an individual joined 
 the ranks who was not compelled to do so, and 
 the jacobins, lately admitted to a share in the im- 
 perial adventure, proved, with few exceptions, 
 only sleeping partners. One of the most distin- 
 guished of them, Mr Carnot, has solemnly decla- 
 red in a late publication, his belief in the sin-
 
 456 STATE OF FRANCE. 
 
 cerity of Buonaparte's conversion to principles 
 of civil liberty ! not one of his associates * has 
 ventured to give the same pledge of honest cre- 
 dulity, or bold defiance of the common sense of 
 the world, as this avowal contains. Not one man 
 in a hundred doubted that Buonaparte, after the 
 first battle won, and the first recruits obtained 
 in consequence of it, would laugh at any civil 
 restraint on his power, and would resume his mad 
 career of conquest with the more keenness and 
 relish, for the temporary abstinence he had been 
 made to undergo. There was not any other part 
 of his character so marked and invariably display, 
 ed, as that iron will which never yielded to any 
 consideration but that of immediate personal 
 safety. 
 
 The total overthrow of Buonaparte at Water- 
 loo, his extraordinary exit, and the return of the 
 king, are events present to every one's recollec- 
 tion. The two great parties which divided France 
 before the return of Buonaparte, resumed their 
 former attitude as soon as he was gone, far more 
 inveterate than ever, and nothing wiser for the 
 danger they had both run of losing all they ever 
 pretended to contend for. It was clear the one 
 
 * The author means associates in France, for in England 
 many go the length of M< Carnot.
 
 STATE OF FRANCE. 4.57 
 
 could not forgive, nor the other consent to be 
 forgiven. When considering their respective 
 claims, it is probably of little use to examine who 
 was right, and who was wrong, twenty-five years 
 ago. The opinions and acts of those times apper- 
 tain to the dead, and history will do justice ; yet 
 both parties have shewn an unfortunate disposi- 
 tion to refer to the origin of the revolution. 
 
 It is very true, that the nobility of France, by 
 resisting obstinately necessary reforms, honestly 
 proposed by Louis XVI., provoked the convoca- 
 tion of the States-General, which opened the first 
 door to the revolution. Their resistance had been 
 unjust and imprudent, and their general emigra- 
 
 tion might be deemed ill-judged and cowardly. It 
 cannot be denied that the refusal of the noblesse to 
 grant the commons a due share of consideration 
 and power, furnished a fair pretence to the exor- 
 bitant demands of democracy. But the men of the 
 revolution go farther ; the revolution, they say, 
 once begun, could not be stopped ; its violence 
 was not to be controlled, and the royalists have 
 no right to complain we did not do what they 
 themselves found impossible. The revolution, 
 however, is nothing but the men of the revolution, 
 and Mr Carnot's argument comes to this, that 
 he and his associates could not stop themselves; 
 a convenient apology undoubtedly ! They obey, 
 ed the national impulse, but they themselves had
 
 458 STATE OF FRANCE. 
 
 i 
 
 given it ; those addresses of felicitation and ad- 
 hesion, those stimulating petitions from two mil- 
 lions of citizens, calling for more blood and more 
 plunder, were well known to have been dictated 
 by the jacobin leaders themselves, and signed most 
 of them under the terror of the guillotine ; for, 
 long before the revolution had reached its acme 
 of extravagance and cruelty, the far greater part 
 of the nation was heart-sick with it. 
 
 I think myself borne out by facts and proba- 
 bility, in saying, that the number of those who 
 loathe the very name of liberty, for its having 
 been so often taken in vain, forms a large and in- 
 creasing majority of the people of France ; there 
 are now comparatively few liberty men, but there 
 are many Buonapartists * from the natural attrac- 
 tion of military glory, from resentment at having 
 
 * Buonapartists means here men attached to a military sys- 
 tem of government, under the men raised by the revolution, 
 who composed Buonaparte's government. I do not know that 
 the Buonapartists were much attached to Buonaparte. I heard 
 a general officer say when he was on his way to Paris, " Vous 
 savez comme je le hais, mais les autres ! il n'y avoit pas assez 
 de boue dans le ruisseau pour^nous jeter." The latter part of 
 the speech showed their enmity to the king's government, but 
 the first part evinced no greater predilection for the person of 
 the emperor. They liked in him war and military promotion ; 
 the constitutionalists liked in him the circumstances of his ele- 
 vation ; they liked him as typical of the revolution, as illegiti- 
 in short.
 
 STATE OF FRANCE. 459 
 
 been conquered at last, and from disappointment 
 at finding their individual prospects blasted. 
 War had long been a flourishing trade, crowds of 
 apprentices had been articled to it ; but just as 
 their time was out, and they were going to be 
 put upon wages, the master workman became a 
 bankrupt, the concern given up at once as good 
 for nothing, and the men, turned out by credi- 
 tors, were left to seek their bread in the streets ; 
 under such circumstances, it is to be expected that 
 they will be violent and riotous. These unfortu- 
 nate and deluded men should be soothed and as- 
 sisted till they can get into other ways of earn- 
 ing a livelihood, a strict watch kept over them, 
 the disorderly, who break windows, should be ta- 
 ken into custody, and severe punishment inflict- 
 ed on those who infest the highways and stop 
 travellers ; but it were in vain to hope reclaim- 
 ing or quieting such persons by any appeal to 
 their reason. 
 
 As to the constitutionalists, they are in an er- 
 ror, I believe, if they think themselves very strong ; 
 their party is but small out of Paris, and compo- 
 sed of those mental sort of persons who do not 
 work revolutions with their own hands ; they are 
 dangerous only as auxiliaries of the Buonapar- 
 tists, and in that situation they must be dealt 
 with as Buonapartists, that is to say, kept at arm's 
 length j alone they are entitled to every atten-
 
 460 STATE OF FRANCE. 
 
 tion, and the untaught proceedings of the exclu- 
 sive royalists, all at once transformed into legis- 
 lators, might undoubtedly be improved by these 
 theorists. I know there is a numerous class of 
 people who claim the rank of constitutionalists, 
 because they are willing to admit the charter, as 
 they admitted the first restoration, and Buona- 
 parte during the hundred days, and Louis again 
 at the second restoration, all for the sake of pub- 
 lic peace and private comfort 5 recalling L' Abb6 
 Sieves' famous saying, " Je approuve tout ce 
 que Pon a fait, tout ce que 1'on fait, et tout ce 
 que Pon fera 1" I cannot, indeed, blame them 
 much, and rather wish on principle, the majori- 
 ty of the people of France may be in a great de- 
 gree of their way of thinking ; but as to their pre- 
 tending to belong to a faction, I fancy they must 
 relinquish that honour. 
 
 Much has been said about concessions and 
 conciliation. Let us see upon what points the par- 
 ties profess to differ, and what their alledged 
 grievances are : 
 
 The Royalists say, " The king was betrayed 
 by the Buonapartists, imprudently trusted during 
 the first restoration ; for whether there was or 
 not a plot to bring back Buonaparte, there was 
 undoubtedly one to overturn the Bourbons, and 
 substitute to them anything, or any body, chance 
 might offer. The very same scheme is now carry-
 
 STATE OF FRANCE. 461 
 
 *ng on, a systematic denigration of the royal fa- 
 mily, the king excepted, to avoid the appearance 
 of indiscriminate hostility, thus postponing the 
 immediate overthrow that it may be the better 
 effected at his death. If that event should find 
 the crafty enemy in possession of power (places 
 of trust and emolument), the intended revolu- 
 tion will be ready made to their hands. 
 
 " As, in point of fact, nothing but a hollow 
 peace can ever be made with these people, why 
 should we, the faithful servants of the king, be 
 sacrificed uselessly ? The grant of a charter was 
 another sacrifice uselessly made to them (the 
 Buonapartists), or to their friends and associates 
 the constitutionalists, who, although they speak 
 a different language, mean, in common with the 
 others, war to legitimacy and religion. The} 7 
 hate that very charter because the king gave it 
 them, and although its object is to protect what 
 they call the interests created by the revolution. 
 The people at large know little, and care less, 
 about charters ; they want peace and a paternal 
 government, with us they shall have both, 
 what is this new charter after all but a scrap 
 of the revolution ? Have we not the ancient 
 constitutions of the monarchy tried by time, the 
 only safe law-maker, suited to the genius and in- 
 clinations of the people, and which made France
 
 462 STATE OF FRANCE. 
 
 happy and glorious under Louis XIV. ? With 
 our ancient institutions we demand the restora- 
 tion of the church. The boasted liberty of wor- 
 ship has ended in the annihilation of worship, 
 it is notorious that religion has disappeared from 
 the country, the whole revolutionary genera- 
 tion is demoralized, it is at least without set- 
 tled principles and habits of morality, this is 
 the moment to turn the tide, discard, reject the 
 men and the things of the revolution, remove 
 the example and temptation to do wrong. An 
 experiment of twenty-five years is long enough ; 
 the result warrants a return to former institutions. 
 
 " As to ourselves, our fidelity and our suffer- 
 ings are assuredly natural claims to favour and 
 confidence from the legitimate government. 
 Common justice entitles us to the restitution of 
 our estates unjustly forfeited ; that public opi- 
 nion, as well as the opinion of the present pro- 
 prietors themselves, is with us on that point, is 
 sufficiently shewn by the difference of price be- 
 tween national and patrimonial land. We do not, 
 however, mean to claim all that is strictly our 
 own, and are willing to compound with the pre- 
 sent proprietors on moderate terms government 
 need not interfere. 
 
 " We abhor persecution, and wish to forgive 
 injuries ; but the marked men of the revolution,
 
 STATE OF FRANCE. 46$ 
 
 the regicides, those who bathed in blood, must , t $ ^L^ 
 not any longer pollute the soil of our regenera- 
 ted country." 
 
 " We disclaim," reply the constitutionalists, 
 " the name you choose to give us ; and if by 
 Buonapartists, we are to understand men who 
 served the tyrant, they may be found in 'your 
 own ranks, in as great numbers at least, as in 
 ours. 
 
 " That there was not any conspiracy to bring 
 back Buonaparte from Elba, appears from the 
 remarkable circumstance, that no one claimed 
 distinctly any merit on that account, during the 
 hundred days, when treason to the last govern- 
 ment was fidelity to the new. You alone, the 
 discontents your errors created, were the safe* 
 guard of Buonaparte from Cannes to Paris, you 
 prepared his triumph, at any rate do not ac- 
 cuse us. 
 
 " Many of you have been stripped of your 
 estates by revolutionary laws, not exactly so j 
 the laws against emigration existed before the 
 revolution, pronouncing forfeiture of property j 
 the revolutionary government, indeed, applied 
 the law with unwarrantable cruelty, your losses 
 have been great, but you have not suffered 
 alone, stockholders, and the whole mass of cre- 
 ditors who were paid in assignats, lost their pro- 
 1
 
 464 STATE OF FRANCE. 
 
 perty likewise. Some compensation at public 
 expence might be allowed, in your case at least, 
 for the sake of peace ; but you want entire resti- 
 tution : you want at least the new proprietors to 
 be left at your mercy with a doubtful title, 
 that is impossible without risking a new revolu- 
 tion. Who then are the revolutionists ? Material 
 interests might be reconciled, but pride and re- 
 venge cannot ; yet pride itself might deem the 
 acquisition of legislative rank and influence cheap- 
 ly purchased by a loss of money and honorary 
 privileges. 
 
 " We lament the monstrous abuse made of 
 just and wholesome principles during the mad- 
 ness of the revolution, but we see no reason to 
 ^condemn the principles themselves. We still 
 claim equal rights before the law, equal admission 
 to all employments, and consequent abolition of 
 aristocratic privileges, liberty of worship (which 
 we do not admit, is subversive of religion), in- 
 violability of persons and property, indepen- 
 dence of the judges, the whole secured by the 
 great check of a representative government. 
 You say you want to put an end to revolutions, 
 so do we ; but there is this difference between 
 us : that what we claim is a common benefit to 
 all, and what you want is for yourselves only, 
 being what you call your own. Which of the
 
 4 
 
 STATE OF FRANCE. 465 
 
 two claims, if successful, is likely to lead to the 
 establishment of permanent peace and tranquil- 
 lity ? The men of blood may be banished, we do 
 not defend them ; but you cannot banish twenty. 
 five millions of men, a whole generation born 
 under the tyrant cannot be expelled, nor stig- 
 matized either. And consider, besides, that many 
 of you breathed by choice the air the tyrant 
 breathed ; they solicited and obtained the per- 
 mission to return, and lived silently and obedi- 
 ently under him ; submitting without a murmur 
 to the loss of that property and those privileges 
 they now claim with such violence. Why should 
 they exact more from the king, more at least 
 than he declares he can do ? Is it as a reward for 
 his restoration ? We are not aware that he is 
 much indebted to them on that score, except 
 for their good wishes." 
 
 . The men of the revolution used to talk as 
 you do precisely," rejoin the royalists ; " they 
 professed the same principles of civil liberty, but 
 soon infringed every principle, and violated eve- 
 ry feeling. Did not Buonaparte himself talk of 
 principles, and philosophize about justice, huma- 
 nity, and even religion ? We believe no profes- 
 sions, and trust to experience." 
 
 The following specific charges are brought 
 forward against the king himself:* 
 
 VOL. ir.
 
 466 STATE OF FRANCE. 
 
 1 . He is accused of having said to the Prince 
 X^ Regent of England, when taking leave, that, af- 
 ter Divine Providence, the restoration of his house 
 to the throne of France ', ivas due to him t a speech 
 which inflicted, Mr Carnot said, and, I believe, 
 both Buonapartists and constitutionalists say like- 
 wise, le plus sanglant des outrages, upon a feeling 
 people. In truth, as neither the Prince of Eng- 
 land, nor the people of France, had much to do 
 with the restoration of the Bourbons in 1814, 
 which was rather brought about by a concurrence 
 of unforeseen circumstances, this unguarded 
 speech might have been referred simply to a very 
 natural and praiseworthy feeling of gratitude for 
 personal obligations, without any deeper mean- 
 ing ; it was nothing else. 
 
 2. Louis denominated himself the Eighteenth, 
 and, by the grace of God, King of France, and he 
 called the first year of his return to France, the 
 nineteenth of his reign, thereby disavowing the 
 whole proceedings of the revolution, which, they 
 say, knows no Louis XVI I., and assuming divine 
 right as the sole tenure of the crown. 
 
 3. He withdrew the charter constituted by the 
 senate, and accepted by Monsieur, the king's bro- 
 ther, and gave one of his own in lieu of it. 
 
 4. The Bourbons cannot, any more than their 
 friends, wish and intend sincerely that the eon-
 
 STATE OF FRANCE. , 467 
 
 fiscated estates should remain to the present pos- 
 sessors, and are suspected of mental reservation. 
 
 Let us enquire, in the first instance, whether 
 Louis was elected king, and by whom ? The only 
 semblance of election was an act of the senate, 
 stipulating certain conditions to the return of the 
 king, under the form of a charter. But what was 
 the senate ? A body organized by Buonaparte 
 for purposes quite foreign, assuredly, to the func- 
 tion of giving a new sovereign to France, and 
 dissolved by the very act of his abdication. At 
 any rate, it had no powers from the French peo* 
 pie, and the circumstance of the senate exacting 
 Stipulations in favour of its own members, gave 
 the transaction much of the appearance of a bar- 
 gain ; this political instrument puts me in mind 
 of the liberal bequests of the legataire universel, 
 pendant sa Itthargit. 
 
 It cannot be pretended that the people were 
 bound by the act of the senate, and although the 
 king might be more so by the act of his brother, 
 yet it were a strange contract that bound one 
 side only. Under such circumstances, the king 
 might surely be allowed to make alterations which 
 are deemed by most judicious men to have been 
 quite necessary, and we have the authority of 
 Mr Carnot himself, to say that the charter so 
 amended contains rt assez des garanties pour nous
 
 468 STATE OF FRANCE. 
 
 sauver tons ;" finally, the late assent of the two 
 houses gives it, for the first time, something like 
 a popular sanction. 
 
 There were memorials presented to the king's 
 brother at Paris, by persons in the administration 
 of Buonaparte's government, under the form of 
 official notes, bearing date J3th, 15th, 16th, and 
 19th of April, 1814, which I have seen ; they ex- 
 pressed opinions generally at variance with the 
 charter of the senate. Surely the executive branch 
 of Buonaparte's government had just as good a 
 right to stand forth in behalf of the French peo- 
 ple, as Buonaparte's senate, and were, at least, 
 as well qualified to know what suited the nation j 
 at any rate, I did not see in these notes, any sti- 
 pulations for the members themselves. 
 
 It is difficult to consider the charge of par la 
 grace de Dieu without a smile, and the good-hu- 
 rrioured feeling it is apt to excite cannot be inju- 
 rious to the cause of royalism. " Tout est par la 
 gract de Dieu," said Mr de Chateaubriand, "Jran- 
 chement tachons si nous pouvons d'etre libres et 
 Imureux par la grace de Dieu ccla est unpeu dur, 
 il est vrai, mais enjin on n'a pas tonjours tout ce 
 que Con veut / Seriously, if we admit a heredita- 
 ry form of monarchy to be the least susceptible 
 of inconveniences, and acknowledge it in France, 
 the king then reigns by the right of his birth, and
 
 STATE OF FRANCE. 469 
 
 may well make use of the above expressions. We 
 have the authority of an author, deservedly high 
 among the constitutionalists, (Mr Constant) to 
 say, that " Ce qw preserve de I'arbitraire, c'est 
 I* observance des formes. Let formes sont Its divini- 
 tes tuttlaires de-s associations humaines ; les formes 
 sont les settles prof ect rices de i 1 innocence ; les formes 
 sont les seules relations des hommes entr'eux. Tout 
 est obscitr d'ailleurs ; tout est livre a la conscience 
 vacillante. Lesjbrmes seule sont en evidence, c'est 
 auT formes Denies que I'opprime peut en appeler."* 
 
 Now the forme of par la grace de Dieu having 
 been for many centuries the designative title of 
 heredity in the monarchy, if we admit the prin- 
 ciple, why quarrel with the name ? Let us beware 
 how we entangle ourselves again in the Ideologies 
 de droits et de devoirs, which have so fatally and 
 so long bewildered mankind. 
 
 It is now very generally admitted that the con- 
 demnation of Louis XVI. was unjust and illegal ; 
 his son did not, by the fact of this condemnation, 
 forfeit the crown at his death ; therefore there was 
 a Louis XVII., and consequently a LouisXVIII., 
 even if we should admit the intermediate reign 
 of Buonaparte to have been legitimate. 
 
 As to the propriety of calling the first year of 
 Louis's restoration the l9th of his reign, it must 
 
 * Principes politiques, &c. par Mr Benjamin Constant, page
 
 470 STATE OF FRANCE. 
 
 be admitted to depend altogether on the nice and 
 probably idle question, whether Buonaparte, ac- 
 knowledged by all Europe, (England excepted,) 
 was really Emperor of France, and the difficulty 
 had better have been avoided if possible. 
 
 The question of emigres 1 property is one upon 
 which it is enough to say, that while the balance 
 of equity leans on the side of the old proprietors, 
 sound policy forbids the forcibly displacing of 
 such an enormous mass of property j particular- 
 ly if the resumption was to revive seignorial rights, 
 exemptions of taxation, and other obnoxious and 
 really injurious privileges ; public tranquillity 
 and general safety and welfare being paramount 
 reasons of state. Without going at all into the 
 question of legality and rights, and embarking 
 on the wide sea of opinions, I would practically re- 
 concile interests, by declaring the present posses- 
 sion inviolable, and at the same time compensa- 
 tion due to the old proprietors at public expence. 
 There is reason to believe that the sum requisite 
 to satisfy reasonable claims, would not be so con- 
 siderable as might be supposed ; the commission- 
 ers instituted to investigate such claims, being 
 instructed to enquire into the compensations al- 
 ready obtained in many cases under the succes- 
 sive revolutionary governments, by places and 
 emoluments, and the scale of valuation being fix- 
 ed low, something much short of full compensa-
 
 STATE OF FRANCE. 47 1 
 
 tion would answer the ends of practical justice, 
 and extinguish a powerful cause of alarm and 
 discontents on both sides. 
 
 The men of the revolution cannot endure, with 
 any patience, that the stately fabric, reared by 
 them with such ingenuity and labour, should be 
 considered at last as a mere nonentity or worse, 
 and themselves treated as pardoned criminals or 
 tolerated fanatics. 
 
 The constitutionalists are very unwilling to let 
 slip an opportunity of just showing the world 
 how kings can be made and unmade, and might 
 not think the memory of one of the most virtu- 
 ous monarchs that ever lived, too great a sacri- 
 fice to establish the useful precedent of kingly 
 felony and punishment.* 
 
 * Louis XVI., during a period of profound peace, internal 
 as well as external, some years before the French Revolution, 
 listened voluntarily to the suggestions of philosophical states- 
 men (I mean no sneer at such men as Necker, Turgot, and 
 Malesherbe, and believe they were sincere) ; he wished and at- 
 tempted the reform of many abuses the Leltrcs de Cachet, 
 the unequal mode of taxation, and several aristocratical pri- 
 vileges. The opposition of the parliaments, whose members 
 were interested in the continuation of these privileges, led to 
 the convocation of the Notables, a popular assembly, in whose 
 arms the king fairly and frankly threw himself f hey did no- 
 thing, but the enthusiasm of every honest patriot was awaken- 
 ed, as well as the ardour of every . mbitious politician, and the 
 States-General followed. The king soon found that he was going 
 
 * 
 
 
 

 
 
 472 STATE OF FRANCE. 
 
 The pure royalists do not, of course, sympa- 
 thize with any such feelings ; and are no less 
 anxious to establish on this memorable occasion 
 the contrary precedent of the indefeasibility of 
 things, and the other dogmas of the old English 
 tories. 
 
 Precedents, on either side, appear to me of 
 very little use in such extreme cases as stand ob- 
 viously beyond all law and all rule. No prece- 
 dent will ever bear out unmakers of kings, and 
 save their necks from the halter or the block, un- 
 less they are successful. What has been said of 
 the Turkish constitution, viz., that it was a mo- 
 narchy tempered by the bow-string, can be said of 
 all monarchies ; but less so infinitely as they are 
 subjected to other checks, acting with more re- 
 gularity and constancy, as well as less violence. 
 Let the constitutionalists be content with the lat- 
 
 to be carried away further than he had intended, he was fright- 
 ened, hesitated, drew back, ceased to be sincere,' and fell under 
 the ungovernable engine he had himself set in motion. He fell 
 because he was not warlike and did not attach the army, be- 
 cause he had no political courage, because he was humane to 
 a weakness, and with upright intentions had not the talents 
 of his situation ; and thus the most favourable opportunity that 
 ever was for the establishment of a really free constitution was 
 completely thrown away. The precedent of Louis XVI. 's con- 
 demnation had better be disavowed altogether by the friends of 
 liberty ; it can do no good to the cause. 
 
 *'
 
 STATE OF FRANCE. 473 
 
 ter checks, and leave the other to itself. Homi- 
 cide is excusable, or even justifiable, in extreme 
 cases; and the exceptions commanded by cir- 
 cumstances, se defendendo, may be considered as 
 resumptions of the natural right of self-defence, 
 yet it never came into any body's mind to kill a 
 man, once in a while, just to see how far natural 
 right would bear him out. The right of depo- 
 sing kings, or more properly the feasibility, has 
 been fully evinced in the case of Louis XVI., and 
 as far as the precedent can be useful as an inti- 
 midating check, it is certainly fully established. 
 But as it is now generally admitted that there 
 was no necessity for, and therefore no justice in, 
 this violent measure, since all the essential points 
 had been obtained, and as it was therefore an 
 abuse of the alledged right, surely a corrective 
 precedent, a precedent of restoration, may 
 now be deemed both just and expedient. X* 
 
 A very intelligent French writer has drawn a 
 curious parallel, and I think a very true one, be- 
 tween those disputes which bear upon real inte* - 
 rests, and those which have speculative opinions 
 for their object. * History shews," he says, " that 
 the former are always terminated without much 
 difficulty j the parties have a clear conception of 
 what they want ; they come to an understanding 
 at last, and are often perfectly reconciled,- while
 
 474- STATE OF FRANCE. 
 
 intellectual quarrels often end in civil war and a 
 general subversion of the whole edifice of socie- 
 ty, or, at any rate, leave a wound which is never 
 perfectly healed; whenever those great interests 
 upon which social order depends come to be at 
 the mercy of opinions, force is the only truth 
 which survives. Suppose the ruling power of the 
 state failing at once, in this emergency let one 
 hundred men of property be called together, 
 either landed proprietors, merchants, or stock- 
 holders, and one hundred men distinguished 
 solely by their talents and learning,- let each of 
 these two sets of men devise means for the pre- 
 vention of disorder and future management of 
 public affairs, and you will soon see the difference 
 there is in politics between opinions and inte- 
 rests. This was exemplified by the opinions 
 which led Charles I. to the scaffold, and the iw- 
 terests which called William Prince of Orange to 
 the throne of England, -an event the more re- 
 markable by its exhibiting a great shifting of 
 power without any shifting of property. The 
 gradual progress of time is easily perceivable in 
 'it (the British constitution), every thing seeming 
 the result of some present and positive interest. 
 Thus it was constitutions were formed before the 
 domain of politics had been invaded by litera- 
 ture, and before theoretical men (les penseurs,}
 
 STATE OF FRANCE. 475 
 
 had taken the lead of professional men and pro- 
 prietors. It belongs exclusively to learned na- 
 tions (peuples savants,) to give themselves ab- 
 surd constitutions."* 
 
 Legitimacy has been much derided of late, and 
 the natural rights of men triumphantly confront- 
 ed with the pretended birth-right of kings ; yet 
 no objection can be urged against this which 
 does not apply to any other social institution. 
 The exclusive and hereditary right of property, 
 for instance, has assuredly no foundation in na- 
 ture, nor the duty of submitting to laws enacted 
 before we were born, nor the indissolubility of 
 marriage. The right to a throne and the right 
 to an estate are alike founded on public expedi- 
 ency, and reasons not the less valid for their be- 
 ing entirely out of nature. Royalists and repub- 
 licans dogmatize angrily, and with equal bigotry, 
 about something sacredly obscure, which they 
 call divine rights and natural rights ; whereas 
 there are, probably, no rights at all on either 
 side, but just a convenient arrangement by which 
 the lesser evil is submitted to in order to avoid 
 greater.f Civil institutions are but worldly 
 
 * Des opinions et ties interets pendant la Kevolution, par J. 
 Fievee, Conseiller d'Etat. Paris 1809. 
 
 t Natural rights are probably little else than natural strength 
 and civil rights ; the substitution of social strength equalizing 
 
 individual strength, 
 
 10
 
 476 STATE OF FRANCE. 
 
 things, and should be considered in the light of 
 a mechanism, surely not in the light of a religion. 
 It seems idle to recur to principles so long and 
 so well established as these, yet it has become the 
 fashion to overlook them altogether. 
 
 The French have now such an assembly of pro- 
 prietors as Mr Fievee supposed ; whose assent is 
 necessary to the passing of any law, or raising 
 any money by taxes. The members may be too 
 loyal at present ; the house may be more kingly 
 than the king himself and his ministers ; yet 
 there is, I believe, genuine opposition, founded 
 on principles not corruption, and although the 
 mode of election may not be very good, an as- 
 sembly of proprietors invested with such powers 
 jmust work liberty in time. 
 
 This assembly seems to think (correctly or not 
 I shall not say,) the safety of France to require, 
 that capital punishment or exile should extend 
 to a greater number of individuals than the 
 king's government had selected from among the 
 late conspirators ; they wish also to send away 
 from the country the few remaining regicides, 
 the few remaining slayers of men, whose frightful 
 names were seen by the side of RoberspierreV 
 signature, to daily lists of men, women, and chil- 
 dren, sent promiscuously to feed the reeking 
 shears of the republic ; and who say, forsooth, 
 that they signed these lists deconjiance, trusting tp
 
 STATE OF FRANCE. 477 
 
 the discretion of their colleagues ! No conside- 
 ration of justice can be urged in their favour; 
 every human feeling rises against them ; and, as 
 to policy, I should think the state of France des- 
 perate indeed, if they were really protected by 
 public opinion. 
 
 They talk at their ease those compassionate 
 persons, who, from the safe side of the channel, 
 have been in the habit of looking on the horrid 
 scenes acting on the other side, as at a deep tra- 
 gedy exciting strong poetical horror and distress, 
 contrasted with personal safety, and affording 
 the grateful consciousness of feeling for others 9 
 woes, without any tax on their own comforts, or 
 call for any painful effort or sacrifice. They have 
 no patience at the actors presuming to appear 
 again on the stage after the fifth act is over, 
 which they conceived had been finally closed by 
 a most happy catastrophe. 
 
 They talk at their ease, likewise, those specu- 
 lative politicians, who looked upon the French 
 revolution as the dawn of emancipation for man- 
 kind and illustration for themselves. It was from 
 imprudent zeal, they say, from an excess of da- 
 ring in a good cause, and a loftiness of mind 
 above the common reach, that their fellow-la- 
 bourers in the great work missed the laudable 
 end. They cannot bear that ill success should 
 7
 
 478 STATE OF FKANCE. 
 
 now be visited upon them as a crime, to the utter 
 discouragement of better directed efforts in fu- 
 ture. 
 
 Those unconcerned lookers-on do not consi- 
 der, however, that there were other spectators of 
 the long tragedy, actors themselves by compul- 
 sion, and victims, whose feelings must be very 
 different. The first scene is still acting, the cur- 
 tain can never drop, for the miserable wife and 
 mother, deprived at once of all that was dear to 
 her on earth, husband, son, brother, all all 
 gone together, swept into the vortex of patri- 
 /^ otic carnage ! That man can never forget his in- 
 juries, whose wife, refusing to inform his pursu- 
 ers where he was hid, seized in his stead, perish- 
 ed by the noyades. The fiends thought death 
 might not be dreadful enough for timid inno- 
 cence ! In hellish sport they stretched female 
 modesty on the rack, and made shame and de- 
 gradation instruments of torture,* that every hu- 
 man feeling might be assailed at once, and die in 
 the same agonies ! 
 
 That distracted mother is not calm yet, who 
 saw the fingers of the child at her breast chop- 
 
 Women and men stripped naked, and bound together in 
 pairs, were thus thrown into the Loire and drowned ; and this 
 was called, by way of merriment, republican marriages.
 
 STATF OF FRANCE. 479 
 
 ped off, and stuck (a civic wreath,) into the hat. 
 band of the man who sat upon the revolutionary 
 bench as her judge ! An unexpected burst of in- 
 dignation, even from the horrid crew of assassins 
 who filled the court, saved her own life, but the 
 mother has not forgiven the judge I These were 
 
 marked cases, no doubt, the victims did not all 
 
 experience such refinements of cruelty,- some 
 
 were only imprisoned for months or years, in 
 
 daily expectation of being slaughtered, many 
 
 only deprived of their property, forced to fly, 
 
 and throw themselves upon the charity of the 
 
 world in a foreign land. Most of the perpetra- yt% 
 
 tors of the monstrous deeds of the revolution 
 
 went the way of their victims ; the generation 
 
 that inflicted and suffered has in a great degree 
 
 disappeared together ; yet some of the guilty ! ^M 
 
 remain ; and, I own, I cannot admit their claim 7ffH#^ 
 
 to protection from the laws as a right, much less 
 
 to rank and power. Let them hide themselves in 
 
 obscurity, or fly the land they desolated and dis- 
 
 honoured. 
 
 Much vulgar rant about priests and priestcraft .. 
 has been indulged in of late, by men who call 
 themselves liberal. The priests, they say, breathe J /ft < 
 nothing but revenge against the revolutionists, 
 they are exciting a re-action all over France j 
 yet as it is now more than a quarter of a cen-
 
 480 STATE OF FRANCE. 
 
 tury since priesthood has been recruited, the 
 body must be nearly extinct j there is certainly 
 very little inducement for any young man in 
 Trance to go into orders. The priests of Buona- 
 parte's making are, of course, not friendly to the 
 king's cause ; and it appears to me that this pre- 
 tended priest-influence must be at this moment 
 nearly imaginary. That priests, corrupted by 
 prosperity, had their days of pride and ambition, 
 that they have been tyrannical and persecutors, 
 is undoubted, for they were men and in power ; 
 but philosophers are men likewise. We need not 
 go far back into history, the page is scarcely dry 
 where we may learn that when they also bore 
 .sway, it was not so irreproachable as to entitle 
 :them now to throw the first stone. Whatever I 
 might have done fifty years ago, or might do fifty 
 years hence, and although not a Roman Catholic 
 jnyselfi I would rather trust to the gentle virtues 
 of a French priest of our days, than to those of 
 a French philosopher. We all know that the 
 names men go by, and what they profess, do not 
 necessarily indicate what they are, and that it is 
 safer to judge of them by their situation in life 
 and circumstances.* Those indiscriminate de- 
 
 * Since writing this, the author has learned with regret, that 
 few remaining individuals of the ok! clergy of France, joined
 
 STATE OF FRANCE. 48 1 
 
 tractors of priests know little what I have reason 
 to believe some of them are now inculcating to 
 the few who listen to them in France, forgiveness 
 of injuries, patience under sufferings, moderation 
 in prosperity, and Christian charity towards all 
 men. 
 
 I am aware that a certain class of liberal politi- 
 cians in this country, deem it indispensable for the 
 reigning branch of the Bourbon family to shake 
 hands (a homely but strong expression,) with the 
 
 with a powerful party of well-meaning, but mistaken lay-men, 
 want not only to provide for the temporal independence of the 
 clergy, but to restore either the whole church property confis- 
 cated and sold, or such part as remains unsold ; yet as the pro- 
 perty of the church exceeded very much the amount of emi- 
 grants' property, the danger of displacing an immense mass of 
 property applies here with still greater force. The individuals 
 composing the clergy and religious orders of France at the 
 beginning of the revolution, being mostly dead, the orders per- 
 manently extinct, and the clergy to be created anew, this is a 
 sort of abstract claim in behalf of what may be called an etre 
 de raison % wholly different from the claims of existing indivi- 
 duals or their families, whether we admit the legality of the 
 eeizure or not. The question of church property seems one of 
 policy simply, in which the maintenance of religion and mo- 
 rality is alone to be considered. The clergy is, no doubt, to be 
 abundantly and respectably provided for ; but if the former 
 provision exceeded all wholesome bounds, there is no reason 
 why any should be made again for a future clergy, either tu 
 the same extent, or in the same shape, by a fixed salary or ao 
 appropriation of land* 
 
 VOL ' 
 
 
 '
 
 482 STATE OF FRANCE. 
 
 men of the revolution, as these men are, they say, 
 too strong to be slighted with impunity : but con- 
 sidering the thing as impossible,* having, perhaps, 
 also unknown to themselves, a certain bias in fa- 
 vour of these men, some sort of fellow feeling, 
 they would wish it were possible for another 
 branch to be substituted to the legitimate one, 
 provided, indeed, the change could be effected 
 without any very great opposition. Admitting 
 that a considerable part of the population of 
 France would submit with more willingness to 
 be ruled by the younger branch, and that part 
 the most active and enterprising, yet I am con- 
 vinced that the fair and uninfluenced votes of 
 the whole population would give a great majori- 
 ty in favour of the reigning branch, and that ma- 
 jority composed of the most respectable indivi- 
 duals as to experience, character, and property. 
 
 * The truth is, that the royalists hate the revolution per se, 
 as their opponents love it per se. I do not think the bar be- 
 tween them can ever be removed, 
 
 For never can true reconcilement grow 
 
 Where wounds of deadly hate have pierced so deep. 
 
 The question is now simply, who is the strongest ? and al- 
 though I have objections to both extremes, I own frankly I 
 would rather side with the exclusive Waters of the revolution, 
 than the exclusive loren.
 
 STATE OF FRANCE. 48S 
 
 Any change effected against a majority, or even 
 a minority so composed, is surely to be depreca- 
 ted. It could not be effected without a new 
 stirring up of the whole political mass, and set- 
 ting the dregs and sediment afloat again. Nor 
 can it be doubted that the re-action attending 
 every new change would be much more violent 
 in that case, than the one complained of at pre- 
 sent. This unfortunate leaning towards the 
 younger branch has not only been manifested by 
 a certain class of English politicians in England, 
 but on the spot, and by men in very high stations 
 from whom an unfriendly word is a stab ; they 
 have not, perhaps, expressed a preference, but a 
 beliejl a decided opinion, that the legitimate 
 branch could not stand ! When the whole social 
 edifice, over the heads of twenty-five millions of 
 men, rests apparently upon a base so frightfully 
 narrow that a mere breath of wind shakes it, the 
 hand which wantonly directs an unnecessary 
 blow against it, must be deemed cruelly impru- 
 dent at least. Allow time to build props and 
 abutments, do not at any rate undermine the 
 foundations which you say are already deficient 
 in solidity ! 
 
 Upon the whole, it appears to me, that the very 
 
 weakness of the present government of France 
 
 presents the best possible chance the friends of 
 
 ^ civil liberty could wish for. France has tried a 
 
 & 
 
 *K*
 
 484 STATE OF FRANCE. 
 
 very popular government, and was covered with 
 prisons and scaffoJds,-^-one half of its inhabitants 
 jailors and executioners of the other half! A 
 very strong military government came next ;- 
 under it France was a vast camp,-r-whole gene- 
 
 > rations of soldiers were wantonly sacrificed in 
 succession to the mad ambition of one man, and 
 all this to be at last completely conquered, and 
 subdued themselves. Now, they have a govern- 
 ment, neither popular nor strong, essentially mild 
 and temperate, balanced by an assembly of pro- 
 prietors, which, however formecj, must in time 
 become very powerful ; with every inducement 
 for each individual member to keep the peace 
 
 ^ and prevent abuses, 
 
 Of all the unfortunate results of the French 
 revolution, none, perhaps, is more deplorable 
 than the strange misconception of all principles 
 of public justice, and prodigious conceit about 
 themselves, generated in the mind of the French 
 people, by that uninterrupted course of military 
 successes with which they were cursed under 
 Buonaparte. The theatrical character of that 
 extraordinary man was most fatally adapted to 
 the genius of the people. He fed their vanity, 
 talked of their destiny, and his .star, and the great 
 nation^ reciprocated in a language of affectation 
 and bombast, which would appear more revolt- 
 ing if it were not so ridiculous. 1 found circula*
 
 STATE OF FRANCE. 485 
 
 tirig at Havre, when I landed there in February, 
 }815, a manuscript memorial of Mr Carnot, con- 
 taining the following curious passages, which I 
 found to be, with a few necessary alteration?, 
 exactly the language held at Paris by both royal- 
 ists and Buonapartists. " Nous uvuns sacr<jie a 
 Pavantage de les posseder (the Bourbons), toutes 
 nos conquetes, renonce a nos timites natureiles^ 
 a cettejlorissanfe Belgigue, &c., s'il nous fut reste* 
 quelque chose de tant de travau.v et de tant de 
 victoires, nous 1'eussions regarde comme un 
 trophe"e auquel nous eussions a/me a rattacher r.os 
 souvenirs la gloire etoit notre idole, &c. Nous 
 trouvons dans nos cceurs, said again tenderly Mr 
 Carnot, and with him every Parisian, un vide 
 semblable a celui qu'eprouve un amant qni a 
 perdu L'objet de sa passion, (this is quite les beaux 
 yeux de ma cassette in Moliere's Avare,) tout ce 
 qu'il voit, tout ce qu'il entend, renouvelle sa don- 
 leur. Ce sentiment rend notre situation vague et 
 penible, chacun cherche a se dissimuler iaplaie 
 qu'il sent aufond de son coeur, &c." 
 
 The conduct of the allied powers was at that 
 period (February, 1815,) the object of as much 
 blame and detestation as it is at this day. Yet 
 France, vanquished and defenceless, had the first 
 time (1814,) escaped from the clutches of the 
 victors, on terms which, by the Napoleon code 
 of conquest, might surely not be deemed exor-- 
 
 ^
 
 486 STATE OF FRANCE. 
 
 bitant. Foreigners were, undoubtedly, the ob- 
 jects of universal hatred and contempt ; and the 
 victors in possession of the capital were ridicu- 
 led to their faces, and that not wholly from ill- 
 will, but from a real conviction of superiority, 
 and in the perfect candour of vanity. The King 
 of Prussia had expressed some regret at the sight 
 of, I do not know what classical bauble, a bronze 
 statue, I believe, formerly taken from him ; the 
 regret was expressed with great delicacy, yet no 
 offer was made to restore 1 and this anecdote was 
 told by the Parisians as reflecting credit on their 
 x^sp/rzV and intrepidity. 
 
 The second appeal to arms in 1815, has led to 
 a very different result, a severe one, undoubted- 
 ly ; and although such as might well be ex- 
 pected, a people, spoiled by twenty years of un- 
 paralleled triumphs, may be allowed some impa- 
 tience and ill humour under reverses equally un- 
 /Pffo 1 - paralleled. The inhabitants of London would 
 not bear with better grace a camp of cossacks 
 or imperial guards in Hyde Park, than the Pa- 
 /, risians did the bivouacs of the Tuileries and 
 Champs Elisees. There is, however, this stri- 
 king distinction between French and English 
 feelings in regard to nationality j that in Eng- 
 land the utmost difference exists between indivi- 
 dual Englishmen according to parties, none in 
 France between Frenchmen, whenever national
 
 STATE OF FRANCE. 487 
 
 pride or national vanity is concerned ; and in 
 all controversy, or all comparison between France 
 and a foreign country, they all speak exactly the 
 same language. 
 
 In England some impartial men, and very 
 many party men, are ready to join in any blame 
 against the ministry, the form of government, the 
 climate, the people, not as a painful confession, 
 but exultingly, tauntingly, with positive delight ; 
 and I am not at all sure, that, with some few 
 Englishmen, it would not have been carried the 
 length of seeing, with secret pleasure, the very 
 extreme case alluded to of Buonaparte's imperial 
 guards encamped in Hyde Park. I feel no sort 
 of sympathy with exclusive patriotism and geo- 
 graphical morality ; yet if it is the fate of men 
 to enumerate certain local prejudices among 
 their social virtues, I own I should give the pre- 
 ference to the exclusive love of country over the 
 exclusive love of faction ; and if the French car- 
 ry the one very far, it must be allowed that the 
 English cany the other still further. 
 
 I have heard a very clever man make, what 
 might be deemed a very conceited speech for an 
 Englishman to make, namely, " that you meet 
 in London at every corner of a street, a man fit 
 to govern an empire." For my part, I join in 
 the opinion ; I do believe you may indeed meet 
 at every corner of a street in that metropolis, a
 
 483 STATE OF FRANCE. 
 
 man fit to govern an empire ; but for that one, 
 there are ten either able, or at least exceedingly 
 desirous, of overturning an empire. 
 
 Swarms of youthful and active politicians, out 
 of the overflowing bee-hive of Great Britain, 
 have passed over to the continent, and there, 
 settling upon the unfortunate natives of France, 
 prick and torment them into new ways of build- 
 ing combs and making honey a I* Angloise. They 
 do not teach only, but predict for them, and, 
 like other prophets, assist as far as they can in 
 the accomplishment of their own predictions. It 
 is hard for the French to have been beat, yet it 
 \vas at least by Wellington, and they might af- 
 ford to lose one game after winning so many ; 
 but to be taught and tutored by school-boys, 
 their government meddled with, and attempted 
 to be controlled by third-rate demagogues out of 
 employ, out of reputation, or quite unknown in 
 S^ their own country, seems to me more humilia- 
 ting ! An impartial spectator might wish France 
 humiliated, hard as the feeling would appear in 
 that country, for France had humiliated all Eu- 
 rope, and mankind is more than France ; but I 
 really think it is almost time to cry out enough, 
 and, before the cup is quite drained, that impar- 
 tial spectator might form the wish to see it pass 
 to the lips of the insolent oppressor. It is half 
 ludicrous, half revolting, to see France stretched
 
 STATE OF FRANCE. 48$ 
 
 like a dead subject on the anatomical table, with 
 a parcel of raw students playing tricks with its 
 bones and sinews, and mimicking a lecture in 
 the absence of legitimate professors. 
 
 It remains for the friends of humanity to hope 
 that misfortune will have its usual salutary ef- 
 fect, and suggest to the French a more rationab 
 estimation of themselves and others, disgust them 
 with offensive wars, induce a better system of 
 education,* sounder information and principles, 
 and a less pertinacious confidence in their own 
 customs and opinions. To a dispassionate spec- 
 tator, their views of things at present appear 
 certainly very strange, while his opinions seem 
 to them equally unreasonable and shockingly de- 
 void of feeling I am sensible it has been my 
 misfortune, and must continue to be so. This 
 morbid sensibility does not appear to extend 
 much beyond the capital, and even there, not 
 much beyond the higher classes of society. The 
 common people seemed very indifferent about 
 the statues, for instance, and I presume equally 
 so about the conditions of the treaty in general, 
 although they cared much about the inconveni- 
 ence of troops quartered upon them. That they 
 
 * It is, I believe, generally admitted, that schools in France 
 are, or were, mere military nurseries.
 
 49O STATE OF FRANCE. 
 
 X^ should feel palpable grievances more than ab- 
 stract ones, appears to me a most favourable 
 symptom, being the very reverse of the disposi- 
 tion which produced the revolution. Certain it 
 is, that those parts of France I saw, west and 
 nonh, exhibited no signs of irritation. I was 
 told by some of the English prophets that the ir- 
 ritation was latent, and would burst out I But I 
 stiil insist upon it, that I am a better judge of 
 Fiench countenances than they can be, and I 
 saw no revolutionary spirit in the looks of the 
 country people. I do not know" whether experi- 
 ence has taught them wisdom, or its melancholy 
 substitute apathy, probably a little of both. 
 . The long probation imposed by the treaty may 
 serve to direct into better channels the overflow- 
 ing activity of the people of France, hitherto so 
 
 .Ss dreadfully misapplied. The conditions once per- 
 formed on the one part, it remains to be seen 
 whether they will be so likewise on the other. 
 France should be sobered down, not destroyed 
 .. ,fi or enslaved ; yet plausible pretences will not be 
 wanting at the end of five years to occupy her 
 fortresses and her territory, and a recourse to 
 < arms may become necessary. Justice having 
 then changed sides, a new national spirit may be 
 created in France, a sound and just one, and uni- 
 ting all parties into one general determination 
 to repel oppression at any hazard. The world 

 
 STATE OF FRANCE. 491 
 
 awaits in awful suspense an event which is to 
 give the present great confederacy its moral 
 stamp and lasting character. 
 
 Many of the opinions here expressed have al- 
 ready been published to the world by late wri- 
 ters j and it would be scarcely worth while to 
 join in the cry against revolutionary France, 
 merely to evince my impartiality, if, by doing 
 so, an opportunity were not offered of entering 
 my protest against an unjust charge, indiscrimi- 
 nately proffered and admitted on trust, against 
 the private morals and manners of the people of 
 France. 
 
 Every one knows the French notions respect- 
 ing English spleen and propensity to suicide. It 
 has been gravely asserted, and in print too, that 
 such was the irresistible penchant of Londoners to 
 drowning, whenever they caught a glimpse of 
 the Thames, that it had been found necessary to 
 provide Westminster Bridge with a balustrade, 
 ten feet high, that the melancholy passenger 
 might not so easily jump over. Spanish jealousy 
 is still held poetical truth, notwithstanding mo- 
 dern observation to the contrary. Irishmen will 
 be deemed blunderers to the end of time, and 
 North Britons remain for ever obnoxious to the 
 itch. 
 
 Akin with these sweeping national character- 
 istics, are the assertions so often repeated of late,
 
 493 STATE OF FRANCE.' 
 
 and by men of talents too, but who could not 
 have any opportunities of observing the interior 
 of French families, that the French evidently want 
 deep domestic feeling?. They have broadly pro- 
 nounced every young married woman who is with- 
 nut a paramour an exception to the general cus- 
 tom / The mysteries of Hie boudoir have been 
 minutely described by such as: never approached 
 one, and its inviolability against all husband rights 
 lias been affirmed by six weeks travellers, with 
 the authority of persons long initiated in the 
 wicked purposes of this supposed sanctuary, and 
 accustomed to trespass upon those rights. Ob- 
 servations are not made, and facts collected, 
 without time and patient investigation ; but any 
 body, who has a style, may write with poignancy 
 and effect by his fire-side upon popular notions, 
 indite a new joke, or original dissertation, on 
 trite grounds, 
 
 To form an idea of the opportunities strangers 
 in France, and particularly English travellers, 
 have of observing domestic life ami manners, it 
 cannot be irrelevant to describe the general 
 mode of employing their time in Paris, for the 
 benefit of those few inhabitants of Britain who 
 have not visited that celebrated capital. The 
 morning begins late in the day ; it is usually 
 spent in seeing sights, pictures, and statues, 
 when there were such things palaces, antiqui- 
 
 jp
 
 STATE OF FRANCE. 4 1 JS 
 
 ties, and gardens, scientific institutions, and ca- 
 binets of natural history. The travellers are 
 
 seen every where sauntering on, arm in arm, in ^ t 
 pairs or trios,.- English all, listlessly looking on, 
 blaming or praising superciliously as party pre- 
 judices and humour lead, and conversing with no / Mf^^ 
 mortal but their own countrymen. About six. 
 o'clock they adjourn to Very's, and to Beauvil- 
 lier's, or other fashionable restaurateurs ; there 
 establishing themselves at a side-table, the bill 
 of fare duly investigated, they call the garsoon 
 (gallon) and order some taking dishes and high- 
 priced wines, which are duly criticised, and form 
 the subject of conversation during the noisy and 
 uncomfortable meal,- no such thing as good 
 soup in France, or sound wines, and grapes are 
 sour ! From the restaurateur's our British obser- 
 vers repair in haste to some of the theatres ; r- 
 there, alas ! tragedy is dull and monotonous,-: 
 comedy flat and vulgar, the opera a cursed 
 l )0 re, to stay it out is declared impossible ; and 
 yawning, they repair, still arm in arm,* to the 
 Palais Royal, the favourite place of all, there 
 they go, the dull, idle, and profligate round of 
 the At tile colonnes, Moittansier, and the Cellars, 
 sipping ice-creams, and conversing with the un- 
 
 Frenchmen never take each other's arms.
 
 
 49 1 STATE OF FRANCE. 
 
 chaste nymphs of the place, strolling at inter- 
 vals round the piazzas, crowded with whiskered 
 men of all nations except French.* The gaming 
 rooms are not forgotten, where a set of sober 
 men, (mostly French, I must allow,) and some 
 women, all grave and well behaved persons, are 
 assembled round the E O tables, intent on heaps 
 of gold which ebb and flow. At a late hour, and 
 when quite weary with those and similar plea- 
 sures, our travellers retire to their hotel, where 
 some of them sit a while at their journal, and re- 
 cord such observations as the passing day has 
 suggested ; setting down to the account of the 
 natives those anti-domestic habits, that heartless 
 frivolity and profligacy which are all their own,f 
 and excite at Paris, in no inconsiderable degree, 
 ^ the wonder and scandal of the inhabitants. After 
 a few weeks, rarely more than six, they retrace 
 their steps homewards as fast as post-horses can 
 carry them j and, in candour, they must acknow- 
 ledge, that during the whole tour their tailor, 
 ^/ their banker, and the valets de place, waiters 
 
 * When the author was at Paris the allied troops were still 
 in possession of that city. 
 
 f I do not say, by any means, that these are the manners of 
 England, but the mariners of most Englishmen in foreign coun- 
 fries.
 
 STATE OF FRANCE. 4-95 
 
 and postboys, were nearly the only reputable na- 
 tives with whom they had any intercourse. 
 
 Great fortunes, and even easy fortunes, are not 
 common at Paris, and are possessed exclusively 
 by the nouveaujc riches of Buonaparte's court; 
 these are the only people who can afford to en- 
 tertain strangers, and the only ones English tra- 
 vellers, mixing at all in French society, have an 
 opportunity of knowing, as their general politi- 
 cal bias, as well as notions of national morality, 
 sufficiently show. These are surely not a fail- 
 sample of the nation. 
 
 The old school, with its politeness, its ridicules, 
 its errors, and refinements, is nearly extinct, and 
 poverty has driven the remaining insulated fami- 
 lies of that class into obscure apartments on a 
 third or fourth floor in the cheapest part of the 
 town. An English traveller would feel little in- 
 clined to go (if he were invited,) and spend an 
 evening there in well-bred dullness ; with still 
 greater horror would he shrink from a family 
 party at a creditable bourgeois de Paris. The 
 idea of an early dinner, tete a tete, with the wor- 
 thy man, his wife and children, of his soupe and 
 bouilli, his gigot baked in the oven, and sallad, 
 and of the maid servant who dressed it all, wait- 
 ing at table, would be quite insupportable. 
 
 English observers may rest assured that they 
 would find no boudoirs in either of these houses,
 
 496 STATE OF FRANCE. 
 
 nor hear of paramours and love intrigues j school- 
 ed by hard necessity to close economy and un- 
 remitting industry, excluded by their situation 
 from the example and temptations of idleness and 
 folly, and from any other enjoyments but those 
 they may derive from each other, the different 
 members of the family may acquire reciprocal 
 importance, and the natural ties of kindred re- 
 sume all their influence ; thus it is that, even 
 when unconscious of virtue and principle, the 
 /s unfortunate become virtuous. I am convinced 
 on the testimony of persons on whom I rely per- 
 fectly, (I do not pretend to have observed it my. 
 self in my six weeks tour,) that a decided im- 
 provement of domestic manners or morals, has 
 taken place in France during the revolution, not- 
 withstanding the utmost depravity of political 
 morals. 
 
 The power that rules nature has, it seems, set 
 bounds to the corruption, as well as to the per- 
 fectibility of men in body and in mind. Our 
 very weaknesses, our very wants, our very faults, 
 errors, and vices, recal us to wisdom, by the suf- 
 ferings they bring in their train ; natural feelings 
 are the point of rest where all oscillations bring 
 us back, and from which we cannot fly perma- 
 nently. Idle fashions and unwholesome habits 
 may distort the human form, beauty may disap- 
 pear under their absurd disguises for a while, but
 
 STATE OF FRANCE. 497 
 
 each new generation begins at the same point, 
 and continues to produce, undeviatingly, the 
 same unalterable model of grace and just propor- 
 tion, till, after a round of folly, we return to this 
 standard of excellence, astonished at our having 
 left it. 
 
 Do they really think, these English observers, 
 that mothers on the soil of France feel otherwise 
 than those of England do for c the babe that 
 milks them," that fathers are less intent upon pro- 
 viding for the support of their family, and that 
 the sight of that family, round the humble board, 
 is less dear to parental affection ? Do they think . 
 that parents in France wish less ardently than 
 they do in England, for the advancement of their 
 children, or do not see that it depends upon their 
 previous education, and are not eager to procure 
 the best within their reach ? Do they think the 
 tears French women shed for brothers, and sons, 
 and husbands, that lay " side by side in their gore" 
 on the promiscuous field of carnage of Waterloo, 
 were less bitter than those the same field cost to 
 English mothers, or wives, or sisters ? If these 
 observers * of French feelings have formed such 
 
 * Among other remarks which the love of generalization has 
 
 suggested either to praise or to blame, it has been said, in proof 
 
 of the universal taste for literature, asserted to he diffused among 
 
 all ranks of people in France, that shop-women bad been seen 
 
 VOL. II. '2 I
 
 
 . . _ % &frty&/t+* s/ 
 
 opinions, I apprehend they have calumniated 
 human nature at large, and supreme wisdom, no 
 less than France. However much men may err 
 in point of principles and opinions, they swerve 
 * little from natural feelings ; if the people of 
 France failed in that, all would be lost indeed, 
 for they have little else left at present. 
 Edinburgh, December 1815. 
 
 /7/ h*i " " -S <*"***** *'* 
 
 
 Between party spirit and genuine humanity, 
 much interest has been excited in England re- 
 /; lit/fd^ specting the protestant sufferings at Nismes, and 
 IM..IA, facts have been very diversely represented. The 
 following statement, made in October 1816, may 
 fiJk be relied upon as essentially correct. 
 
 The protestant population of Nismes, in the 
 ; department of Gard, as well as that of the Avey- 
 
 with the Henriade and Racine in their hands behind the coun- 
 ter. So might the general diffusion of the French language in 
 France be adduced to prove this same taste for literature! 
 What are these good women to read but French books ? Ten 
 London shop-women, I dare say, have read the Lady of the 
 Lake, to one in France the Henriade ; and I certainly do not 
 wonder at it, being by far the most amusing, as well as the best 
 poem of the two.
 
 PROTESTANTS OF NISMES. 499 
 
 ron, the Lozere, and the Ardeche, was more 
 nearly balanced by the catholic population than 
 in any other part of France ; and at the begin- 
 ning of the revolution the protestants reckoned 
 110,000 persons of their communion, out of a 
 departmental population of 322,000 inhabitants ; 
 the capital alone (Nismes) contained 15,000 pro- 
 testants, and 25,OOO catholics. 
 
 The persecutions of Louis XIV., mitigated 
 under his successor, had been gradually softened 
 into toleration under Louis XVI. ; the protes- 
 tants met publicly in their temples, but were still 
 disqualified from most public employments ; this 
 exclusion was got over without great difficulty, 
 yet the pursuits of the protestants were mostly 
 confined to trade and manufactures ; they were 
 generally in independent circumstances, and from 
 this and other causes, their children received a 
 better education. The catholics, on the contra- 
 ry, were either among the lower order, and sunk 
 in poverty and ignorance, or among the higher, 
 that is, were feudal proprietors of small estates, 
 (petites gentilhommes de campagne,) very nume- 
 rous, very proud, and generally needy, jealous of 
 the wealth and despising the pursuits of the re- 
 ligionists ; a considerable degree of traditional 
 hatred subsisted between these people, but with 
 scarcely any remains of religious fanaticism. It 
 may easily be conjectured how the two popula-
 
 500 PROTESTANTS OF NISMES. 
 
 tions, so situated, divided on the breaking out 
 of the revolution ; the protestants embraced its 
 cause with zeal, the catholics opposed it. 
 
 The two parties came to an open rupture in 
 June 17^0 ; the protestants of Nismes had form- 
 ed themselves into splendid patriotic corps of vo- 
 lunteer cavalry ; they won over to their cause the 
 troops of the line stationed there, and are accused 
 of distributing money among the soldiers, and 
 giving them entertainments at which their wives 
 and daughters danced the Jarandole (a south- 
 ern dance,) with the common men. The ar- 
 rest of a catholic soldier, claimed by his com* 
 panions, was the signal of violence ; the catho- 
 lics were fired upon although unarmed, seven 
 are stated to have been killed, and many wound- 
 ed, a battle followed in which the regular soldiers 
 >^" and the protestants united were victorious, and 
 scenes of great violence and wanton cruelty fol- 
 lowed. 
 
 During the frantic period of the revolution, 
 when all social order was subverted, and safety 
 at an end for all parties, the protestants drew 
 back, but it was too late ; as long as it had been 
 directed against those above them they were for 
 it, but no longer so when it reached themselves. 
 The catholic rabble became the principal instru- 
 ment of the jacobins ; of 1 4? persons who pe- 
 rished on the scaffold, in the department of Gard,
 
 PROTESTANTS OF NISMES. 501 
 
 113 were protestants ; only one protestant sat 
 among the revolutionary judges, and a Roman 
 
 ^^catholic priest was one of the most furious of 
 them ; yet the whole credit of having made the 
 revolution remained with the protestants because 
 they began. 
 
 Under Buonaparte the liberty of worship and 
 a sort of religious equality prevailed ; the nobles, 
 or feudal proprietors, tired of contending for their 
 old privileges, were gradually attracted by the 
 splendour of the imperial court ; the protestants 
 were pleased with what they had obtained, the 
 jacobins were intimidated, order returned under 
 a strong government, and time cooled the ani- 
 mosity of parties. But as the despotism of Buo- 
 naparte increased, the protestants excited his 
 suspicions more than the catholics, their politi- 
 
 ^* cal opinions were obnoxious to him, and at the 
 period of his fall, the Cour Royale (the high judi- 
 cial court of the department,) of Nismes, com- 
 posed of more than thirty members, had only 
 three protestant members j catholics filled most 
 of the places of the different administrations. 
 Nevertheless, at the restoration of the king in 
 1814, the catholics, that is, the nobles and the 
 rabble in their train, affected to complain of the 
 system of oppression they, particularly, had en- 
 dured, congratulating themselves on their pre- 
 sent emancipation, and the hope of an entire
 
 502 PROTESTANTS OF NISMES. 
 
 counter revolution. The protestants, reproach- 
 ed, insulted, and derided in popular songs, some 
 of which contained the most savage threats, saw 
 much to fear and little to hope from the late 
 change. The year 1814 passed amidst these agi- 
 tations, they were greatest in the department of 
 the Gard ; the protestants of Montauban, Laro- 
 chelle, &c. less rich, less numerous, more disper- 
 sed, did not attract so much notice, and were not 
 molested, but even in the department of the Gard 
 not a drop of blood was shed. 
 
 The king's government made some efforts to 
 allay the ferment, but they were not sufficient 
 either to dispel the fears of the one party, or 
 the hopes of the other ; the local authorities par- 
 ticipated too much in the feelings of the parties, 
 while they were altogether overlooked at Paris. 
 
 On the 20th of March, the protestants decla- 
 red generally for Buonaparte ; his return, which 
 moderate men among them saw with pain, ap- 
 peared generally a happy deliverance. Few pro- 
 testants joined the volunteers of the Duke of 
 Angouleme, and most of them feeling themselves 
 mistrusted by their comrades, and perhaps by 
 the duke himself, soon left him ; the son of a 
 protestant minister, (Oliver Desmont,) remained 
 attached to his cause. After the capitulation of 
 the Duke of Angouleme, these volunteers, deno- 
 minated miquelets, were attacked while on their
 
 PROTESTANTS OF NISMES. 503 
 
 return to their homes through protestant villages, 
 and at the very gates of Nismes; some were 
 thrown over the bridge of Esprit into the Rhone, 
 or killed in different ways, wounded, plundered, 
 reduced to fly for shelter into woods and morasses. 
 The protestants admit nine murders. 
 
 At the next change, after the hundred days, 
 the catholics were eager to improve the oppor- 
 tunity ; the protestants strove to keep off the 
 hour of retaliation or turn the tide. In July 1815, 
 tumultuous assemblies proclaimed young Napo- 
 leon II., his bust was carried about the streets 
 escorted by the gardes urbaims, (protestant vo- 
 lunteers,) calling out A basics Bourbons, and affect- 
 ing to stop at those resting places (reposoirs) of 
 the priests when they carry the Holy Ghost at 
 processions, in derision of the Roman catholic 
 ceremonies.* A protestant minister is said to 
 have been seen at the head of these deluded peo- 
 ple, sword in hand. So late as the 24th of Au- 
 gust, 1815, nearly two months after the restora- 
 tion of the king, a detachment of cavalry sent by 
 the government, had an encounter with the pro- 
 
 * There was a coffee-house at Nismes to which the protes- 
 tants mostly resorted, called Caff'e de I 1 Isle {TElbe, the sign of 
 which represented Buonaparte's landing, with these words, il 
 a entendu nos vaux ; a royalist could not pass the place with 
 impunity.
 
 504? PROTESTANTS OF NISMES. 
 
 testants of the commune of Ners, several of the 
 men were wounded, a magistrate was killed in 
 attempting to restore order ; some Austrian 
 troops routed the rebels with the loss of four men 
 killed and nine wounded on their side, and sixty 
 on the side of the rebels ; four protestants taken 
 with arms in their hands were shot at Nismes 
 the same evening by Comte Staremberg. 
 
 The catholic rabble, now the strongest, took 
 ample revenge ; their chiefs who had excited 
 them, in order to crush the opposite faction, 
 would probably have restrained them now, but 
 were unable, sixty houses were burnt or demo- 
 lished, one hundred murders committed in the 
 course of the few following months.* I am aware 
 that a much greater number of murders has been 
 stated in parliament, and in several English pub- 
 lications, to have taken place ; but my infbrma* 
 -tion upon this fact comes from a very distinguish- 
 ed protestant, extremely well informed, and as 
 impartial as a protestant and a humane man can 
 be upon such an occasion, certainly not dispo- 
 sed to side with the catholics. The murderers 
 indulged in every refinement of cruelty ; defence- 
 
 * Nearly one hundred and fifty protestants lost their lives; 
 but of this absolute number of deaths, only about one hundred 
 were murders, the rest were the consequence of sudden quar- 
 rels and personal encounters
 
 PROTESTANTS OF NISMES. 505 
 
 less women were subjected to dreadful treatment, 
 and died under the hands of furies of their own 
 sex. The thirst of plunder rose with the thirst 
 of revenge. Many protestants rescued their lives 
 or their houses by sums of money, one of the 
 assassins boasted of having amassed two hundred 
 thousand francs by his extortions, and of having 
 dispatched with his own hand eleven victims. 
 
 The government, taken up with affairs of more 
 immediate importance to themselves, and under 
 the pressure of difficulties, considered this at first 
 as a momentary re-action, and a re-action too in 
 favour of friends against enemies. The party in 
 power on the spot had every means and every 
 wish to stifle the truth, the oppressed dared not 
 speak j when at last the attention of govern- 
 ment was seriously directed towards the disor r 
 ders of the south, and General Lagarde sent to 
 restore order, his assassination, instead of rousing 
 the government to greater exertions, seemed to 
 paralize their efforts. Some arrestations took 
 place, and some trials, but legal evidence could 
 not be obtained, fear silenced witnesses, it in- 
 fluenced the judges themselves, and even the 
 man of the eleven murders, notorious as they 
 were, was acquitted ! The protestants, likewise, 
 were guilty of some murders at that period j 
 those of the Abb de Grigny and Mr Jerrin, in 
 11
 
 506 PROTESTANTS OF NISMES. 
 
 October 1815, were proved against them ; but 
 the perpetrators of these crimes, the protestant 
 murderers, were convicted and executed ! 
 
 By degrees these excesses diminished, they 
 have ceased, there are at least no murders, nor 
 plunder of houses. The exercise of worship is 
 restored. At the last elections for the new cham- 
 ber, a part of the protestant electors came for- 
 ward, and although fear kept back sixty of them, 
 which prevented their influence at the election, 
 yet those who came were not molested. The 
 
 ost beneficial effects are to be expected from 
 time, and the conviction that government means 
 to be faithful to the charter, and to do impartial 
 justice : the wounds are healing. 
 
 It may be worthy of notice, that when the first 
 contributions of 1815 were raised by a forced 
 loan of one hundred millions, assessed by the lo- 
 cal authorities, the share of the protestants was 
 by no means equal ; a protestant worth twelve 
 thousand francs a-year is known to have been as- 
 sessed at four thousand, while his catholic neigh- 
 bour, of three times his income, was made to pay 
 only four hundred francs ; yet most of the pro- 
 testants have declined reimbursement, while few 
 among the catholics have. 
 
 It appears from this statement that the blame 
 is by no means unmixed, each party had its
 
 PROTESTANTS OF NISMES. 50? 
 
 share. The criminality of the catholics in the 
 late proceedings is somewhat diminished by the 
 aggressions of the protestants during the hundred 
 days, aggressions which the provocations of the 
 catholics during their preceding ascendency of 
 ten months did not sufficiently justify. The songs 
 and reproaches of the first period provoked the 
 nine murders of the second, these nine produ- 
 ced one hundred in the third, one thousand 
 would be a moderate anticipation for the fourth, 
 unless government stops all hands by force at 
 once, and then calms all minds by justice and 
 moderation. There was evidently a remissness 
 on their part at first ; but, far from instigating or 
 permitting the excesses committed, they deplo- 
 red them sincerely, and laboured earnestly and 
 successfully, though late, to check them. 
 
 ti ft-
 
 INDEX. 
 
 ABERCpNWAY Castle, i, 288 
 
 Aberystwith, i. 278 
 
 Abury, druidical monument at, i. 256 
 
 Achray, Loch, i. 421 
 
 Actors, how estimated in England, i. 118 
 
 Addison, Mr, ii. 27 
 
 Adelphi buildings, ii. 341, 347 
 
 Alfred, King, monument erected to, i. 262 
 
 Aliens, restrictions imposed on, i. 249 
 
 Allan, Mr, i. 43 
 
 Alnwick Castle, description of, ii. 71 
 
 Ambleside, i. 341 
 
 America, United States of, commerce, &c. of, i. 320 ; divided 
 
 into two parties, attached to England and France, 327 ; 
 
 chief complaints of against Britain, 332 ; how best remedied, 
 
 335 
 
 Anecdotes of his Majesty, i. 193 
 Angerstein's, Mr, collection of paintings, i. 203 
 Angouleme, Duchess of, ii. 293 
 Anson, Lord, ii. 368 
 
 Antique, prevalence of the taste for, at present, ii. 189 
 Ardincaple, i. 384 
 Argyll, Duke of, i. 385, 390 
 
 Arkwright, Sir Richard, inventor of spinning-jennies, ii. 115 
 Armoury, in the Tower of London, described, ii. 206 
 Army, English, no danger to liberty to be apprehended from, 
 
 i. 153 
 
 Asaph's, St, i. 288 
 Ashborn, ii. 117 
 Astlett, Mr, ii. 356
 
 51O INDEX. 
 
 Astley's amphitheatre, ii. 201 
 
 Asylum for the blind at Liverpool, ii. 385 
 
 Athol, Duke of, i. 409, 418 
 
 Auctioneers, i. 112 
 
 Avon river, i. 20, 263 
 
 Awe, Loch, i. 393 
 
 Bacon, Lord, i. 184- 
 
 Ball, masked, ii 200 
 
 Balloon, ascent of a, ii. 339 
 
 Bangor ferry, i. 283 
 
 Bannister, Mr, ii. 49 
 
 Banks, country, i. 308 
 
 Banks, Sir Joseph, i. 39, 107 
 
 Barclays, Messrs, description of their brewery, ii. 182. Im- 
 mense sum it yields to government, 183 
 
 Barnet, East, ii. 339 
 
 Barouche club, i. 166 
 
 Bassenthwaite, lake of, i. 451 
 
 Bath, city, i. 18 
 
 Bayreuth, remarkable collection of bones at, ii. 19 
 
 Beaufort, Duke of, i. 269 
 
 Beaulieu, ruins of a building belonging to the monks of, ii. 300 
 
 Beddoes, Dr, i. 43 Observation of, on the scurvy, ii. 93 
 
 Belcher, the pugilist, i. 161 
 
 Bell, Dr, schools on his plan established in opposition to Mr 
 
 Lancaster's, ii. 160 
 Benlawers mountain, i 401 
 Benledi mountain, i. 420 
 Benlomond mountain, i. 385 
 Benmore mountain, i. 401 
 Benvenue mountain, i. 423 
 Bentley, Mr, ii. 284 
 Berwick, town, ii. 54 
 Binean mountain, i. 421 
 
 Birmingham, town of, ii. 120. Manufacturers of hardware 
 described, 120. Flint-glass, 122. Wages of workmen, 124. 
 Free- schools. 126 
 
 Birth-day, i. 208. Dresses, &c. ib. 
 Blackford-hill, ii. 41 
 Blackfriars-bridge, ii. 341 
 Blanc, Mont, i. 195
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Blenheim, the seat of the Duke of Marlborough, descr bed, ii. 
 
 135 
 
 Blind, asylum for the at Liverpool, ii. 385 
 Blue Beard performance of, at Covent-Garden, ii. 163 
 Boa constrictor, ii. 252 
 Bodleian library, ii. 14-2 
 Book clubs, i. 244- 
 Boroughs, rotten, i. 146 
 Borrowdale, valley of, i. 451 
 Boswell s, Mr, Life of Dr Johnson, i. 496 
 Botany Hay, objections to the banishing of criminals to, i. 187 
 Bothwell castle, the seat of Lord Douglas, i. 371 
 Bourgeois, Sir Francis, his collection of paintings, i. 202 
 Bowder-stone, near Keswick, i. 451 
 Boxhill, ii. 306 
 Braham, Mr, i. 492 
 Braid-hill, ii. 41 
 
 Breadalbane, estate of the Earl of, i. 395 
 Breweries, immense scale of, in Lopdon, ii. 182 
 Brewster, Dr, ii. 47 
 
 Bridgewater, Duke of, canal constructed by, i. 337 
 Bristol city, i. 16,263 
 British Museum, i. 106 
 Brown, Dr, i. 498 
 
 Bruce, Mr, the Abyssinian traveller, residence of, i. 420 
 Buccleuch, Duke of, i. 344 
 
 Buckland-ring, a Roman camp near Lymington, ii. 230 
 Bucklershard, ii. 301 
 
 Bullion business, debates in Parliament on, ii. 210 
 Buonaparte, his journey to Paris an easy triumph, ii. 452. En- 
 joins the wearing of the tri-coloured cockade, 453. Asto- 
 nishing conduct on his arrival in France, 454. His total over- 
 throw at Waterloo, and extraordinary exit, 456. The ex- 
 istence of a conspiracy to bring him from Elba denied, 463. 
 
 Buonapartists, meaning of, ii. 463 
 
 Burdett, Sir Francis, i. 69. Riots at his imprisonment, 99. 
 Traits of his character, 179. Institutes a suit against the 
 Speaker of the House of Commons, &c. 189 
 
 Burke, Mr, political character of, i. 73 
 
 Burns, Robert, i. 428 
 
 Bury St Edmonds, i. 238 
 
 Burying grounds, ii. 358 
 
 Butler, Lady ., i. 309 
 
 Buttermere, lake of; i. 457
 
 512 INDEX. 
 
 Cader Idris mountain, i. 279 
 
 Cairndow, i. 390 
 
 Caithness, treatment of the women in, i. 362 
 
 Calknder, village of, i. 419. Roman camp at, 4-20 
 
 Cambridge city and university, i. 245 
 
 Campbell, Mr, i. 428 
 
 Canals. Duke of Bridgewater*s, i 336 ; of Languedoc, 387 ; 
 
 Forth and Clyde, 382 ; Caledonian, 383 
 Canning, Mr, i. 51, 71, ii. 337 
 Caricatures, i. 26 
 
 Carleton House, magnificent fete at, ii. 292 
 Carlisle city, i. 343 
 Carlisle, Earl of, ii. 96 
 Carnot, Mr, his solemn declaration respecting Buonaparte, ii. 
 
 457- His MS. memorial circulated at Havre, 485 
 Cartmell- sands, i. 342 
 Cartoons of Raphael, i. 156 
 Cartwright's, Mr, musical glasses, ii. 62 
 Castle Acre, abbey of, i. 237 
 Castle Malwood, ii. 299 
 Castleton in Derbyshire, ii. 103. Description of Peake's Hole, 
 
 near, 104 ; of Speedwell lead-mine, 106 
 Catalani, Madame, ii. 258 
 
 Catholics, incapacities, &c. of, in Ireland, ii. 419 
 Charles I., situation of, with regard to Ireland, ii. 409 
 Charles XII., curious cast of, in the library at Cambridge, i. 247 
 Chatelherault, i. 370 
 Chatham, Lord, i. 86 
 
 Chatsworth, a seat of the Duke of Devonshire, described, ii. 109 
 Chelsea, military asylum at, founded by the Duke of York, 
 
 i. 166 
 
 Chepstow, i. 270 
 
 Cheshire, account of the salt-works in, ii. 371. Immense quan- 
 tities of salt annually extracted, 376. State of agriculture 
 in, 378 
 
 Chester, city of, i. 312 
 Chiltern Hundreds, i. 148 
 Chirk Castle, i. 309 
 Chiswick, the favourite residence of the Duke of Devonshire, 
 
 ii. 153 
 
 Christ Church College, ii. 146 
 Clarke, Dr, i 246 
 Clarke, Mrs, ii. 359
 
 INDEX. 513 
 
 Clarke, Mr, inventor of a razor-powder, ii. 361 
 
 Give, Colonel, dethrones the Nabob of Bengal, ii. 265 
 
 Clwydd, valley of, i. 288 
 
 Clyde, falls of, i. 363 
 
 Coal-mine, accident in, i. 361 
 
 Coal-mines, near Newcastle, described, i. 75 ; quantity export- 
 ed from to London, ii. 79 ; must at no very distant period 
 be exhausted, 81 
 
 Cobbett, Mr, i. 103, 273, ii. 357 
 
 Coleridge, Mr, i. 463 
 
 Collingwood, Lord, i. 181 
 
 Colquhoun, Mr, i. 4-5 
 
 Comedy, English, strictures on, i. 130 
 
 Comet, remarkable coincidence between the disappearance of, 
 and the discovery of several new planets, ii. 47 
 
 Commons, House of, described, i. 30. Account of some of the 
 chief members of, 69- Tragi-comic scene in, 82 
 
 Concerts, singular, given by people of quality in London, ii. 
 198 
 
 Congelation in vacuo, a discovery of Mr Leslie, i. 500 
 
 Congreve, Mr, i. 1S1 
 
 Congreve rockets, i. 98 
 
 Comston water, i. 446 
 
 Constitution, British, remarks on, i. 142 
 
 Constitutionalists, French, err in supposing themselves strong, 
 ii. 459. 
 
 Constant, Mr, his opiniou respecting hereditary monarchy, ii. 
 469. 
 
 Conversation, criminal, how prosecuted, i. 44 
 
 Cook, Capt. ii. 79 
 
 Cooke, Mr, i. 133, 497 
 
 Copley, Mr, i. 164 
 
 Cornwall, general aspect of the county of, i. 6 
 
 Cosse, Mr, i. 54 
 
 Cotton manufactory, at Lanark, i. 365 ; at Glasgow, 372 
 
 Covent Garden Theatre, riots at, i. 116. Boxes in, how occ- 
 pied, 1 19 
 
 Coventry, Mr, i. 498 
 
 Court- dress, lady's, described, i. 208 
 
 Cowbridge, i. 274 
 
 Cowes, ii. 311 
 
 Cow-pox inoculation, instances of its failure, ii. 332 
 
 Cradle-scythe used in America described, i. 435 
 VOL If. 2 K
 
 514 INDEX. 
 
 Cribb, the pugilist, i. 181 
 
 Crieff, village, i. 418 
 
 Crummock-water, i. 457 
 
 Crowcastle, i. 309 
 
 Currency, remarks on and the depreciation of, ii. 333 
 
 Curwen, Mr, i. 444 
 
 Cromwell subdues the Irish rebels, ii. 410 
 
 Dalmally, i. 393 
 
 Danton, anecdote of, i. 462 
 
 Darwin, Dr, ii. 119 
 
 Davy, Mr, popularity of his lectures, i. 42 ; peculiarities of his 
 manner, &c. ii. 196 
 
 Debateable lands, i. 343 
 
 Debt, national, table of the progress of, i. 213 
 
 De Lolme, his opinion of the stability of the British constitu- 
 tion, i. 155 
 
 Denbigh, i. 288 
 
 Derwentvvater, residence of the Lords, i. 462 
 
 Devil's Beef-tub, near Moffat, i. 475 
 
 Diderot, Mons. i. 132 
 
 Dinner, English, described, i. 55 
 
 Dolgelly, i. 279 
 
 Dol-y-Mullen waterfalls, i. 281 
 
 Dovedale, curious perforated rock at, ii. 117 
 
 Drains, ingenious mode of constructing, ii. 381 
 
 Druidical circle, near Dunkeld, i. 408 ; at Park Place, ii. 145 
 
 Duddingston, i. 431 
 
 Dumbarton castle, i. 383 
 
 Dumbreck's hotel, i. 476 
 
 Dunbar, coast near, described, ii. 65 
 
 Dunglass, the seat of Sir James Hall, ii. 69" 
 
 Dunkeld, i. 404 
 
 Earn, Loch, i. 419 
 
 Earth, how far geologists agree in their theories of, ii. 2. Par- 
 ticular opiniorfs of Dr Hutton and his followers, 3, Sup- 
 ported by experiments of Sir James Hall, 14. Remark- 
 able point of difference between the theories of Hutton and 
 Werner, 21 
 
 Edgeworth, Miss, ii. 179 
 
 Edinburgh, general description of, i. 348. Population, 349. 
 Environs of, 350. Alterations in dwellings, &c. of the in- 
 habitants, 351. Earthen Mound, 353. Castle, 354. Holy-
 
 INDEX. 
 
 roodhouse, 355. Register office, 358. Bridewell, ib. Va- 
 lue of houses, 359. Fish-women, 361. Questions recently 
 agitated among the literati, ii. 1. Periodical publications, 27. 
 Mr Fox's birth-day, 41. Meeting of the Royal Society, 47. 
 Theatre, 48. Uncleanliness of the Old Town, 51. Depots 
 of prisoners of war, 52. Funeral procession, 56. Affairs of 
 gallantry, 57. Annual exhibition of pictures, 61. Com- 
 mercial distresses, 62 
 
 Education, remarks on the system of, at Oxford, ii 146 
 
 Elgin, Lord, imports a collection of antiquities- from Greece, 
 ii. 194 
 
 Elizabeth, Queen, anecdote of, ii. 284 ; Irish subdued by, 408 
 
 Elliots, Messrs, ii. 44 
 
 Elliston, Mr, ii. 251, 336 
 
 Emigrants' property, question respecting, ii. 470 
 
 English, general character of, ii. 390. Spleen and suicide, French 
 notions of, ii. 491. Travellers, mode of employing their time 
 in Paris, 492. 
 
 Engraving, excellence of the art in Britain, i. 52 
 
 Equity, remarks on courts of, i. 484 
 
 Erskine. Lord, i. 191 ; ii. 353 
 
 Erskine, Honourable Mr, bon-mot of, ii. 43 
 
 Esk rivers, i. 343, 433 
 
 Etna, Mount, ii. 8 
 
 Etruria, the manufactory of Messrs Wedgewood and Bentley, 
 described, ii. 386 
 
 Executions, criminal, amount of, in England, at different pe- 
 riods, i. 184 
 
 Exeter, city and cathedral, i. 14 
 
 Exhibition of pictures in Pail-Mall, i. 51 ; at Edinburgh, ii. 
 61 
 
 Falkirk, i. 430 
 
 Falmouth, i. 1 
 
 Fanners, bankruptcies of, ii. 62 
 
 Festiniog, vale of, i. 281 
 
 Finances of England, remarks on, i. 210 
 
 Finchley common, ii. 339 
 
 Fine, Loch, i. 390 ; Herring-fishery in, 391 
 
 Fingal, tomb of, i. 401 
 
 Fingal, Lord, ii. 43 
 
 Fitzgerald, Lord Edward, ii. 436 
 
 Fire of London, i. 250
 
 516 INDEX. 
 
 Flint-glass, manufactory at Birmingham, described, ii. 122 
 
 Flushing, i. 1 
 
 Flushing, panorama of, i. 157 
 
 Footmen, number of, out of place in London, ii. 185 
 
 Forster, Lord Chief Baron, mode of improvement adopted by 
 on an Irish estate, ii. 4-24? 
 
 Forth river, t. 431 
 
 Fountaine's Abbey, ruins of, ii. 83 
 
 Fox, Mr, his character as a statesman, i. 73. Anniversary ce- 
 lebration of his birth-day at Edinburgh, ii. 41 
 
 France, state of, in 1815 and 1816, ii. 445. Return of to a mo- 
 narchy, 446. The army all nearly Buonapartists, ib. The 
 middle-aged, the old, and most of the women, on the other 
 side, 447- Specific charges brought against the King, 465. 
 Cruelties committed in during the revolution, 478. Priest* 
 and priestcraft, 479. 
 
 Frankfield, i. 433 
 
 Franklin's Harmonica, ii. 62 
 
 French accused by the English of uncleanliness, i. 63 
 
 French and English feelings, distinction between, ii. 486 
 
 Frogs not generally eaten in France, i. 124 
 
 Funeral processions, ii. 57 
 
 Fuseli, Mr, i. 164 
 
 Gare, Loch, i. 385 
 
 Garrick, Mr, i. 129, ii. 119 
 
 Garrick, Mrs, ii. 347 
 
 Gentoos, traditional anecdotes of, ii. 269 
 
 Giant, i. 24-8 
 
 Gillies, Mr, ii. 41 
 
 Gilpin, Mr, i, 369, 392, 431, ii. 260 
 
 Giraffe, ii. 252 
 
 Glasgow city, i. 371. Reforming spirit more prevalent in than 
 
 at Edinburgh, 379 
 
 Glenbucket, laird of, assassinated, i. 414 
 Glencroe, pass of, i. 388 
 Glenkinglas, i. 389 
 Globe, dimensions of, ii. 11 
 Gold rings, ancient, ii. 94- 
 Gong, Chinese, i. 467 
 Goodrich Castle, i. 272 
 Gordon, Mr, i. 376
 
 INDEX. 517 
 
 Grassmere, lake, i. 448, 472 ; Melancholy occurrence near, 450 
 
 Grattan, Mr, i. 70 
 
 Green, Mr, i. 473 
 
 Greenock, port of, i. 381 
 
 Greenwich Hospital, i. t99 
 
 Gregory, Dr, his mode of lecturing, i. 499 
 
 Gresham, Sir Thomas, ii. 284 
 
 Greville's, Mr, collection of paintings, i. 114 
 
 Gretna Green, smuggled weddings celebrated at, i. 474 
 
 Grosvenor, Lord, his collection of paintings, i. 230 ; Son of, 
 seized with the natural small-pox, after having been vacci- 
 nated, ii. 332 
 
 Guards, band of music of, i. 205 
 
 Guildhall, description of, ii. 207 
 
 Gulley, the pugilist, i. 161 
 
 Gunners Pool, ii. 8:i 
 
 Gunter, Mr, a fashionable manager of fetes, ii. 332 
 
 Gypsies, ii. 135 
 
 Habitation, Highland, described, i. 398 
 
 Hackney, ascent of a balloon at, ii. 339 
 
 Hackney-coaches, i. 23 
 
 Haco, King of Norway, i. 388 
 
 Hagley Park, ii. 128 
 
 Hall, Sir James, experiments of, illustrative of the Huttonian 
 
 theory, ii. 14 
 
 Hamilton, Sir William, i. 109 
 Hamilton Palace, i. 368 
 
 Hamlet, remarks on the grave-digging scene in, ii. 158 
 Hampton Court, palace of, i. 156 
 Handel, Mr, i. 183 
 
 Hardware manufactories at Birmingham, described, ii. 120 
 Hatfield-house, ii. 281 
 Hay-Market Theatre, ii. 251, 336 
 Hecla, Mount, eruptions of, ii. 8 
 Helm Crag, i. 46 
 Helvellyn mountain, i. 468 
 Henley, ii. 148 
 
 Henry VIII. remarks on the tragedy of, i. 168 
 Herring-fishery, i. 391 
 
 Hertford, environs of, described, ii. 260. Magnificent establish- 
 ment of the East India Company there, 261 
 Highlands of Scotland, scenery in, described, i. 394, 397. Po-
 
 ,518 INDEX. 
 
 pulation, &c. 410. Power of the chiefs formerly, 411. In- 
 stances of the fidelity of the people, and their attachment to 
 their chiefs. 413. Their loyalty at present not easily ac- 
 counted for, 416 
 
 Hore, Sir Richard, seat of, i. 260 
 
 Holland, Dr, ii. 24, 378 
 
 Holloway, Mr, i. 156 
 
 Hope's, Mr, collection of pictures, i. 109 
 
 Hopetoun House, i. 432 
 
 Horse flesh, recommended for food, ii. 329 
 
 Hospital, scene in an, described, i. 95 
 
 Houses in London, plan and description of, i. 63 
 
 Howard, Mr, the philanthropist, i. 312 
 
 Howard Castle, description of, ii. 96 
 
 Hudson river compared with the Wye, i. 271 
 
 Hughes, Mr, i. 302 
 
 Humbert, General, descent of, on Ireland, ii. 437 
 
 Hume, Mr, i. 80 184. Anecdote of, 377 
 
 Humour, French falsely said to be destitute of, i. 77 
 
 Hunter, Mr William, i. 376 
 
 Hutton's, Dr, theory of the earth, ii. 1. In what different 
 from that of Werner, 3 
 
 Hyde Park, i. 29 
 
 Hydrogen gas, employed to light manufactories, ii. 123 
 
 Jackson, General, argument of, against the abolition of slavery 
 in the United States, i. 327 
 
 Jackson, the pugilist, i. 162 
 
 Iceland, great volcanic eruptions in, ii. 9. Visited by Sir George 
 Mackenzie, &c. 23. Sea between and America now block- 
 ed up by ice, 25 
 
 Jeffrey, Mr, i. 480 
 
 Ham, formerly the residence of Congreve, ii. 115. Curious hy- 
 draulic contrivance at, ib. 
 
 Immortality, reflections on, i. 378 
 
 Income-tax, i. 380 
 
 India, Company, English, establishment of at Hertford, for 
 the education of young men destined for their service, ii. 261. 
 Origin and progress of their power in the east, 265. Esta- 
 blishment oi the Board of Control, 267. Military force, 268. 
 National advantage to England of the India commerce ex- 
 amined, ib. Loss of, of much less importance than is gene- 
 rally supposed, 271. Situation of the natives, however, im- 
 proved, ib.
 
 INDEX. ,5 1C) 
 
 Indians, native, curiosity excited by, in London, ii. 364 
 
 Influenza, i. 32 
 
 Instruction, popular, utility, &c. of examined, ii. 177 
 
 Inverary, a seat of the Duke of Argyll, i. 390 
 
 Jones, Gale, denounced in Parliament, i. 135. Defended by 
 Sir Francis Burdett, ib. 
 
 Johnson, Dr, i. 63, 86, 151 
 
 Johnson's dictionary, i. 303 
 
 Ireland, early state of, ii. 407. Great Rebellion, 408. Irish 
 severely chastised by Cromwell, 410. Number of lives that 
 rebellion cost, 41 1 . State of Ireland at the Restoration, ib. 
 Sir William Petty's account of it about that period, 413. 
 Effects of the revolution, 419. Extraordinary act of the 
 Irish parliament, 420. White boys, 421. State of agriculture 
 in. when visited by Arthur Young, 423. United Irishmen, 
 433. Insurrection in 1798, 434. Union, 437- Catholic 
 emancipation considered, 438. Population of the country, 
 440 
 
 Irish labourers, colony of, in London, described, ii. 338 
 
 Iron-bridge at Sunderland, ii. 82 
 
 Iron ships proposed, ii. 121 
 
 Jubilee, how celebrated at Newcastle, ii. 74 
 
 Justiciary, trial before the court of, described, i. 4-76 
 
 Ivy-bridge, i. 12 
 
 \ 
 
 Kames, Lord, i. 131 
 
 Katrine, Loch, i. 422 
 
 Kemble. Mr, i, 175, ii. 158 
 
 Kemble, Mr C., i. 133 
 
 Kendal, i. 336 
 
 Kensington Gardens, 5. 29 
 
 Kent, Duke of, ii. 171 
 
 Kent, Duke of, institutes a school for the children of soldiers, 
 
 ii. 171 
 
 Keswick, i. 450. Lake of, 462. Museum, 467 
 Kew, new Gothic palace at, i. 198 
 Killin, i. 400 
 
 King of Great Britain, his powers and prerogatives, i. 92 
 Knox, John, i. 355 
 
 Lanark cotton-mills, i. 365 
 
 Lancaster, Mr, his plan of education, ii. 74. Opposed by the 
 clergy of the established church, ib. Description of his
 
 520 INDEX. 
 
 school in the Borough, 169. Circumstances to which he 
 owes much of his success, 172. Schools on Dr Bell's plan, 
 established in opposition to his, 176 
 Lancaster, town of, i. 338 
 Landaff, seat of the Bishop of, i. 444 
 Langdale, valley of, i. 442 
 Language, English, remarks on, i. 305 
 Languedoc, canal of, i. 337 
 Lansdown, Lord, ii. 298 
 Lavoisier, Madame, ii. 33 
 Lawns, English, how formed, i. 198 
 Lawrence, Mr, i. 50 
 
 Leasowes, formerly the seat of Mr Shenstone, ii. 126 
 Leathes water, i. 468 
 Leeds, town of, ii. 99 
 Leith-hill, view from, i. 189 
 Leith port, i. 353 
 Leonards, St, ruin at, ii. 301 
 Leslie, Mr, i. .500. Dispute of with the clergy of Edinburgh 
 
 on the subject of causation, 501 
 Lichfield, city and cathedral, ii. 118, 366 
 Lighthousej Needle.?, ii. 302 
 Lincoln's Inn, benchers exclude the reporters of debates from 
 
 their society, i. 85 
 Lisbon, earthquake at, ii. 8 
 Liston, Mr, i. 488 
 
 Liver, remarks on diseases of the, i. 499 
 Liverpool, city of, i. 317. Museum, 252 
 Llangollen, valley of, i. 309 
 Lomond, Loch, i. 385 
 
 London, i. 22. Description of St Paul's, 23. Lincoln's Inn 
 Fields, 24. General plan of the town, ib. Shops, 26. In- 
 habitants, 27. Public walks, '28. Serpentine River, '/9. In- 
 fluenza, 32. Picture of a day at the west end of the town, 
 33. A rout described, 35. Royal Society, 39. Royal In- 
 stitution, 41. Criminal conversation, 44. Royal Academy, 
 49. An English dinner, 55. Houses, 64. House of Com- 
 mons, 67. Powers and privileges of the King, 91. Persian 
 Ambassador, 94. Scene in an hospital, 95. Congreve roc- 
 kets, 98. Riots at the imprisonment of Sir Francis Burdett, 
 99. Biitish museum, 106. Auctions, 112. Opera-house, 114. 
 Coveir:-Garden Theatre, 116. Reformers, 136. British con- 
 stitution, 141. Pugilism, 160. Exhibition, Somerset house, 
 164. Westminster Abbey, ii. 156. British Institution, 193,
 
 INDEX. 521 
 
 Performance at Co vent- Garden, 158. Lancastrian schools, 
 169. Breweries, 182. Annual exhibition, 186. Astley'i 
 amphitheatre, 201 . Tower, 205. Guildhall, 207. Debates 
 in the House of Commons, 2O8. Hay-market theatre, 251. 
 Cabinet of natural history, 251. Panoramas, 2.52. Madame 
 Catalan!, 258. Suburb-, 259. Prince Regent's fete, 292. 
 London Bridge, docks, &c. 341. Newgate, 354. Supply of 
 water, 363 
 
 Locke, Mr, ii. 332 
 
 Loch-Earn Head, i. 419 
 
 Lolme, De, i. 154 
 
 Long, Loch, i. 386 
 
 Louis XVI. his condemnation now generally admitted to have 
 been unjust and illegal, ii. 469. His conduct examined, 
 471 
 
 Louis XVII. and XVII. the legality of their claim to the 
 throne asserted, ii. 469 
 
 Loughrigg, fine view from, i. 472 
 
 Lowdore, waterfall of, i. 448 
 
 Lubnaig, Loch, i. 419 
 
 Luss, i. 385 
 
 Macbeth, remarks on the tragedy of, i. 171 
 
 Mackenzie, Sir George, visits Iceland, ii. 23, 48 
 
 Macnab of Macnab, i. 400 
 
 Maddock, Mr, great embankment undertaken by, i. 282 
 
 Madness, prevalence of, in Britain, ii. 92 
 
 Madrid, extreme dirtiness of, formerly, ii. 52 
 
 Maghee, Colonel, ii. 52 
 
 Magna Charta, i. 108 
 
 Mahrattas, become masters of India, ii. 265 
 
 Maitland, Lord, ii. 43 
 
 Maladie du pays, English, i. 4 
 
 Malta, panorama of, ii. 25 L 
 
 Malthus, Mr, i. 29*, 296 
 
 Mann, Mr, wooden-leg invented by, i. 159 
 
 Manners, General, ii. 1 f.O 
 
 Manufacturers, causes of the distresses of, ii. 278 
 
 Marbles, antique, imp: r.ed from Greece, ii. 194 
 
 Marlborough, Duke of, ii. 135 
 
 Marriages, singular, ii. 57 
 
 Mary of Buttermere, i. 460 
 
 Mary, Queen, i. 356
 
 522 BNDEX. 
 
 Maskeline, Dr, astronomer royal, i. 202 
 
 Masquerade, ii. 202 
 
 Mathews, Mr, i. 166, ii. 165 
 
 Matlock, mineral springs at, ii. 113 
 
 Maw river, i. 280 
 
 Meadowbank, Lord, i. 477, ii. 47 
 
 Melrose Abbey, i. 4-36 
 
 Melville, Lord, seat of, near Crieff, i. 419 
 
 Members of Parliament, i. 140 
 
 Merino sheep, said to be originally from Gloucestershire i. 464 
 
 Methodists, ii. 173 
 
 Mi hael Angelo, strictures on his picture of the Resurrection 
 
 of Lazarus, i 203 
 Milford Haven, i. 277 
 Milk-women, London, i. 33 
 Millar, Professor, i. 371 
 
 Minerva, ruins of the temple of, at Athens, ii. 195 
 Mirabeau, anecdote of, i. 489 
 
 Mogul empire, extent, &c. of, under Aurung Zeb, ii. 264 
 Mole river, ii. 331 
 Molineux, the black, combat of, with Rimmer, described, ii. 
 
 253 
 
 Moness, waterfall at, i. 405 
 Monmouth, vale of, i. 269 
 Montague, Duke of, i. 108 
 Moore, Dr, anecdote of, ii. 50 
 More, Miss H., ii. 179 
 Mount Edgecumbe, i. 8 
 Mouse river, i. 367 
 Munden, Mr, ii. 158, 336 
 Museum, British, i. 106. Hunterian, 286. Liverpool, ii. 252 
 
 Naldi, Signor, ii. 258 
 
 Nasmyth, Mr, ii. 62 
 
 Necessity, dispute on the subject of, excited by Mr Leslie, i. 
 501 . Consequences of the doctrine of, 503 
 
 Needles, rocks near the Isle of Wight, described, ii. 302. Light- 
 house, 306 
 
 Nelson, Lord, his distinguished foible, i. 182. Obelisk erected 
 to his memory at Glasgow, 381 
 
 Neptunists, followers of Werner, so called, ii. 4 
 
 Ness, Loch, waters of, strangely agitated, during the earth- 
 quake at Lisbon, ii. 8
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Netley Abbey, ruins of, ii. 319 
 
 Neuvill, Mr Hyde de, account and character of, ii. 4.4.7. Is 
 
 acquainted with Buonaparte's intention to return to France, 
 
 44-8. 
 
 Newby Hall, ii. 85 
 Newcastle, town of, ii. 73. Jubilee, how celebrated at, 74. 
 
 Coal-mines in the neighbourhood described, 76 
 Newcastle-under-Line, ii. 368 
 New College, Oxford, described, ii. 14-5 
 New Forest, ii. 299 
 Newmarket, i. 235 
 Newgate prison, ii. 35* 
 Newport, ii. 310 
 Newton, Sir Isaac, i. 4O 
 Niagara, cataract of, described, i. 284 
 Nightingale, song of, ii. 261 
 
 Nismes, account of the sufferings of the protestanti at, ii. 49* 
 Nollekins, Mr, i. 50 
 Norbury Park, ii. 332 
 Norfolk, state of agriculture in, i. 235 
 
 Observatory in Richmond Park, i. 193 
 
 Opera-house, k 114 
 
 Opposition party, i. 46 
 
 O. P. riots at Covent-Garden, i. 116 
 
 Orange, Prince of, i. 157 
 
 Oratorio, grand, at St Paul's, i. 182 
 
 Orleans collection of paintings, i. 48 
 
 Ormskirk, i. 335 
 
 Osterley House, anecdote of Queen Elizabeth relating to, ii. 
 234 
 
 Ousely, Sir Gore, i. 206 
 
 Owen, M r , i. 50 
 
 Oxborough, town of, i. 235 
 
 Oxen, comparative advantages of employing, in agriculture, ii. 
 328 
 
 Oxford, Lord, i. 109 
 
 Oxford university, ii. 140. Bodleian library, 142. Dr Rat- 
 cliff's library, 143. Theatre, 144. New college chapel, 145. 
 Christ Church, ib. Remarks on the system of education 
 there, 147 
 
 Paget, Captain, ii. 340
 
 524 INDEX. 
 
 Painting, British school of, i. 48 
 
 Paintings, collections of, described. Mr Hope's, i. 109. 
 Hampton Court, 156. Somerset House, 164. Sir Franci* 
 Bourgeois's, 202. Mr Angerstein's, 203. Lord Grosvenor's, 
 230. Marquis of Stafford's, 233. Mr Roscoe's, 316- Ha- 
 milton Palace 368. Castle Howard, ii. 97. Warwick Cat- 
 tie, 132. Blenheim House, J37. Chiswirk, 153. Somer- 
 set House, 186. Hat field House, 281. Osterley Houie, 
 285. Hon. Mr H.'s, 323. Petworth, 326 
 
 Paley, D ', i. 104 
 
 Panorai.ia of Flushing, i. 157- Of Malta, ii. 251 
 
 Park Place, the seat of Marshal Conway, ii. 148 
 
 Parker, Admiral, fleet of, i. 352 
 
 Parthenon, spoils of, brought to England by Lord Eljjin, ii. 
 194 
 
 Patriot, eminent, intrigue of, ii. 347 
 
 Patterdale, i. 342, 438 
 
 Paul's, St, Cathedral, i. 23, 181 
 
 Peake's Hole in Derbyshire described, ii. 10$ 
 
 Peas bridge, ii. 69 
 
 Pendennis castle, i. 1 
 
 Pennant, Mr, i 408 
 
 Penrith. town of, i, 343 
 
 Perceval, Mr, i. 95, ii. 238 
 
 Persian ambassador, i. 94, 206 
 
 Petty, Sir William, i. 252. Speculations respecting the popu- 
 lation, &c. of London, i. 251. Account of the state of Ire- 
 land, ii. 413 
 
 Petworth. House, conservatory, c. described, ii. 325 
 
 Phillips, Mr, i. 50 
 
 Piercefield, i. 267 
 
 Pillory, an injudicious punishment, i. 470. Reprobated by one 
 of the Scotch judges, 494 
 
 Pinckney, Mr, i. 209 
 
 Piozzi, Mrs, i. 301 
 
 Pitt, Mr, i. 73, 74, 94, ii. 250 
 
 Plague, occurrences of, in London, i. 250 
 
 Planets, new, discovered, ii. 48 
 
 Players, how considered in England, i. 118 
 
 Play fair, Mr, i. 498. Illustrates Dr Hutton's theory of the 
 earth, ii. 1 
 
 Plays, modern English, account of some, i. 121 
 
 Plumbagine, mine of, i. 453 
 
 Plum-pudding, composition of, i. 58 
 
 2
 
 INDEX. 525 
 
 Plutonists, disciples of Hutton, so called, ii. $ 
 
 Plymouth dock, i. 8 
 
 Poetry, French, remarks on, i. 424 
 
 Pond, Mr, i. 43 
 
 Ponsonby, Miss, i. 309 
 
 Poor laws, i. 290 
 
 Pope, Mr, residence of, at Twickenham, i. 198 
 . Population of England, i. 252. Comparative effective of, in 
 France and England, 298 
 
 Porter, Mr Walsh, i. 112 
 
 Portraits, taste of the English for, in historical paintings, ii. 186 
 
 Portsmouth dock-yard, ii. 322 
 
 Prestonpans, battle of, ii. 65 
 
 Press, remarks on the freedom of, i. 78 
 
 Pretender, anecdote of, i. 412 
 
 Price, Dr, sinking-fund of, i. 213 
 
 Prince Regent, magnificent fete given by, ii. 292 
 
 Princes, attempt to assassinate one of the, i. 207 
 
 Prisoners of war, treatment of, ii. 52. Great annual expence 
 of, 55 
 
 Publications, periodical, remarks on, ii. 27 
 
 Pugilism, i. 160. Caricatured on the French stage, 164. Bat- 
 tle between Molineux and Rimmer, ii. 253 
 
 Quakers, i. 327. Retreat for lunatics instituted by, ii. 88. Anec- 
 dotes of some of the patients, 89 
 
 Raeburn, Mr, ii. 61 
 
 Ragland castle, i. 270 
 
 Rail-ways, i. 276, ii. 80 
 
 Raphael's cartoons, i. 156 
 
 RatclifF library, ii. 143 
 
 Rattlesnake, i. 287 
 
 Reformers, object of. investigated, i. 136- What, in their 
 nion, the origin of all abuses, 147 
 
 Rent of land, great increase of, i. 222 
 
 Reporters in parliament, their employment, i. 75. Disputes on 
 the subject of their exclusion from the House, 85 
 
 Restoration, state of Ireland, at, ii. 411 
 
 Reynolds, Sir Joshua, the founder of the English school of 
 painting, i. 49 
 
 Review, Edinburgh, object, &c. ii. 29. Political principles of, 
 32. Has, on some occasions, been biassed by political par- 
 tialities, 33. Account of the principal writers in, 38
 
 ,526 INDEX. 
 
 Review, military, on Wimbledon common, ii. 28? 
 Richardson, Mr, house of, at Hammersmith, ii. 363 
 Richmond park and hill, &c. i. 193, ii. 158, 359 
 Ride, town of, ii. 310 
 Rippon, ii. 83 
 
 Rizzio, David, murder of, i. 356 
 Robison, Dr, ii. 26 
 
 Romilly, Sir Samuel, improvement on the criminal law propo- 
 sed by, i. 183 
 Roscoe, Mr, i. 317 
 
 Rose, Mr, writes in vindication of Mr Pitt's measures, ii. 24-7 
 Roscius, the infant, i. 165 
 Roseberry, Lord, i. 432 
 Roseneath castle, i. 385 
 Roslin castle and chapel, i. 433 
 Ross, i. 270 
 
 Rotten boroughs, i. 146 
 
 Rousseau, his opinion of English liberty, i. 143 
 Rout, description of a, i. 35 
 Royal Academy, i. 48 
 Royal Institution, i. 41 
 
 Royal Society of London, i. 39. Of Edinburgh, ii. 47 
 Royalists, French, their alleged grievances, ii. 460 
 Rowing-match on the Thames, ii. 343 
 Rumbling Bridge, i. 409 
 Rumford, Count, i. 41 
 Rydall park and house, i. 472 
 
 Sadlr, Mr, ascends in a balloon at Hackney, ii. 339 
 
 Salisbury plain, i. 215. City, 254. Marquis of, ii. 257 
 
 Salt, fossil, mines of, in Cheshire, ii. 371 
 
 Sandown bay, ii. 309 
 
 Scarlet -fever, i. 473 
 
 School, regimental, curious cause relating to, ii. 365 
 
 Scorbutic affections common in Britain, ii. 93 
 
 Scott, Mr Walter, i. 490 
 
 Sectaries, English, ii. 173 
 
 Selkirk's, Lord, observations on the Highlands, i. 410, 417 
 
 Serpentine River, i. 29 
 
 Severn River, i. 267 
 
 Seward, Miss, ii. 119 
 
 Shanklin Chine, ii. 309
 
 INDEX. 527 
 
 Shakespeare, criticism on some of his tragedies, i. 168 
 
 Shee, Mr, i. 51 
 
 Sheep-shearing, ii. 289 
 
 Sheffield, town of, ii. 102 
 
 Sheridan, Mr, i. 75, 81, 86 
 
 Ships, metal, proposed, ii. 121 
 
 Siddons, Mrs, i. 132, 168, 174- 
 
 Sieyes, Abbe, famous saying of, ii. 460 
 
 Sinclair, Sir John, i. 211, 4-08 
 
 Sinking-fund, plan and operation of, i. 214- 
 
 Sion-house, a seat of the Percies, i. 198 
 
 Skaiting, i. 3O 
 
 Skiddaw mountain, i. 451, 454 
 
 Sloane, Sir Hans, i. 108 
 
 Smith, Dr James E., i. 43 
 
 Smith, Dr Adam, i. 349 
 
 Smith, Miss E., i. 446 
 
 Smith, Sir Sidney, i. 468 
 
 Snowdon mountain, i. 287 
 
 Society, English, remarks on, i. 241 
 
 Society, Royal, of London, i. 39. Of Edinburgh, ii. 47 
 
 Somerset-house, annual exhibition at, i. 164, ii. 186 
 
 Southampton town and castle, ii. 298. Bay, 319 
 
 Southey, Mr, i. 463 
 
 Spaniards, seeming inconsistency of the opposition with regard 
 
 to their cause, ii. 164 
 Spectator, plan and object of that and similar periodical works, 
 
 ii. 27 
 
 Speedwell lead-mine, ii. 106 
 St James's Park, i. 28. Palace, 29 
 St Stephen's WalbrOok, church of, i. 183 
 Stafford's, Marquis of, collection of paintings, c. i. 233, ii. 191 
 Stage coaches, i. 25, 167 
 Stanhope, Lord, proposes the introduction of the civil jury ia 
 
 Scotland, i. 483 
 Steam-engine, i. 366, 372 
 Stephens, Air, i. 86 
 Steephill, ii, 308 
 
 Stewart, Mr Dugald, i. 498. Character of his writings, 507 
 Stewart, James, at the Trosachs, i. 430 
 Stirling, town and castle, i. 430 
 Stonehenge, i. 254 
 
 Stony Middleton, cotton manufactory at, ii. 109 
 Stourhead, the seat of Sir Richard Hoare, i. 263
 
 528 INDEX. 
 
 Strawberry-hill, the seat of Horace Walpole, i, 191 
 
 Studly Park, ii. 84 
 
 Sunderland, iron bridge at, ii. 82 
 
 Surry, view of the country in, i. 188 
 
 Surturbrand, a singular production of Iceland, ii. 24 
 
 Swansey, copper and iron works near, i. 276 
 
 Tan-y-Bwlch, i. 281 
 
 Taunton, i. 14 
 
 Tay, Loch, i. 400 
 
 Tay river, i. 397, 4dO, 433 
 
 Taymouth, the seat of the Earl of Breadalbane, i. 402 
 
 Temple-Bar, state criminals formerly executed at, ii. 206 
 
 Tenby, town and rocks of, i. 277 
 
 Theatres, Covent Garden, i. 116, 119, ii. 158. Edinburgh, ii. 49. 
 Hay-Market, 251 
 
 Thomson, Dr, i. 498 
 
 Thrale, Mr, i. 301, ii. 183 
 
 Thrashing-machine, i. 432 
 
 Tickets for boxes at the theatres in London, retailed, ii. 199 
 
 Tintern Abbey, i. 273 
 
 Tippoo Saib, curious story of some British officers made prison- 
 ers by, i. 499 
 
 Tower of London, i. 180, ii. 205 
 
 Townly, Mr A., i. 109 
 
 Tragedy, French and English, comparative merits of, i. 177 
 
 Trosachs, i. 421 
 
 Tunnel in Finchley Common, ii. 339 
 
 Ulswater, i. 342, 438 
 
 Undercliff, a singular tract of ground in the Isle of Wight, ii. 
 
 307 
 
 Unitarians, ii. 67, 173 
 United Irishmen, society of, ii. 4~3 
 Usk, vale of, i. 270 
 Uxbridge, Lotd, i. 302 
 
 Vaccination, ii. 332 
 
 Valle Crucis abbey, i. 309 
 
 Venachoir, Loch, i. 421 
 
 Vestris, Mons., ii. 201 
 
 Vesuvius, Mount, ii. 8 
 
 Vicarshill, Mr Gilpin' parsonage-house, ii. 301
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Villeterque, his definition of immortality, i. 378 
 Voltaire, Mons., i. 57, 60, 118, 131 
 
 Waithman, Mr, ii. 185 
 
 Walcheren question, i. 84 
 
 Wales, general appearance of the country and circumstances of 
 
 the inhabitants, i. 274 
 Walpole, Horace, i. 132, 191 
 Walpole, Sir Robert, i. 61, 151 
 Warwick Castle, ii. 130 
 Warwick, Earl of, ii. 133 
 Washington, General, i. 270, ii. 376 
 Waterfalls at Lanark, i. 363 ; at Taymouth, 402 ; at Moness, 
 
 405 
 
 Water-pipes, by which London is supplied, ii. 363 
 Water-press, new invented, i. 374 
 Waves of the sea, common idea of the height of, erroneous, H. 
 
 397 
 
 Wedgewood ware, excellence of, ii. 370 
 Wentworth Castle, ii. 102 
 Werner's theory of the earth, ii. 3 
 West, Mr, ii. 120 
 West-India docks, ii. 264 
 Westminster Abbey, i. 31, ii. 156, 202 
 Westminster-hall, i. 70 
 Westminster electors, meeting of, i. 105 
 Weston, i. 189 
 Wheel-ploughs, ii. 328 
 
 Whigs and Tories, distinctive character of, i. 104 
 Whitbread, Mr, ii. 163, i. 71 
 White boys, ii. 421 
 Wight, isle of, described, ii. 302 
 Wilberforce, Mr, ii. 210 
 Wilkie, Mr, i. 54 
 William Rufus, monument erected in memory of the accidental 
 
 death of, ii. 300 
 Williams, Mr, ii. 62 
 William III., remarkable similarity between the complaints and 
 
 opinions of his time and the present, i. 21 1 
 Wilton, a seat of Lord Pembroke, i. 257 
 Wimbledon common, review at, ii. 287 
 Winchester, ii. 296 
 Winder-mere, lake of, i, 340, 440, 444 
 VOL. II. 2 I,
 
 530 INDEX, 
 
 Windham, Mr, i. 71, 139, 187, 207 
 
 Windmills, ii. 70 
 
 Windsor Castle, ii. 150 
 
 Winter day in London, i. 47 
 
 Witches not long since punished in England, i. 470 
 
 Woodfall, Mr, i: 76 
 
 Woodstock, ii. 135 
 
 Wordsworth, Mr, i. 448, 463 
 
 Wren, Sir C., i. 181, 183 
 
 Wyatt, Mr, i. 198 
 
 Wye river, i. 268, 271 
 
 Yarmouth, ii. 302 
 
 Year, new, how celebrated at Edinburgh, i. 494 
 
 Yew-trees, remarkable, i. 438, ii 84 
 
 York, City and Minster, described, ii. 86. Retreat for lunatics, 
 
 88. Assiz?s ; 94. 
 York, Duke of, i. 81 
 Yorke, Mr, i. 135 
 Young, Arthur, his account of the agricultural state of Ireland, 
 
 ji. 423 
 
 THE END. 
 
 EDINBURGH : 
 Printed by James Baliantyne & Ce.
 
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 Welsh Girl .... 276 
 
 Welsh Shepherd ... 28G 
 
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 Highlanders - - 39*
 
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