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spots (all tame enough), and get his 2s. 6d. On the limits of his jurisdiction, 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. taken at Tournay, and placed here over the pediment, with this inscription,

< 'Europæ hæc 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 committed 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 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." Vol. ii. P. 104.

"The seventh guide was a coxcomb of an upper servant, who hurried us through the house. The entrance-hall is very fine. The apartments exhibit Gobelin tapestry, in very bad taste, as usual; a multitude of indifferent pictures, and some good ones. I recollect an excellent Vandyck, Time clipping the wings of Love, and a very 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 excellent Death of Seneca by Lucca Jordano; but we had really no time to see them properly. Nothing 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 marbles, each of a single block; the entablature and base also of marble. This library contains 20 or 25,000 volumes. We remarked a statue of Queen Anne by Rysbrack, the dress finished with extreme care. The fees of all our different guides amounted to nineteen shillings. The annual income of the Duke of Marlborough is estimated at 70,000l." Vol. ii. P. 107.

The reader will now be curious to hear the summary of our author's observations upon the general character of the English "nation.

"If I was asked, at this moment, for a summary opinion of what I have seen in England, I might probably say, that its poli

"This allegory of Vanbrugh has been called a pun in architecture."

.

tical institutions present a detail of corrupt practices,-of profusion, --and of personal ambition, under the mask of public-spirit very carelessly put on, more disgusting than I should have expected: the workings of the selfish passions are exhibited in all their nakedness and deformity. On the other hand, I should admit very readily, that I have found the great mass of the people 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 government 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 may be so, and I shall not undertake the panegyric of either the one or the other.

"The government of England is eminently practical. The one under which I have lived many years might be defined, on the contrary, a government of abstract principles. Certain opinions have taken possession of men's minds, and they cling to them, as to the religion in which they were born, without examination. The measures 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; but they are encompassed by newspapers, conducted by the mercenary pens of men, often foreigners, who find it more convenient to flatter prejudices, and inflame passions, than to rectify and enlighten; they follow the stream of public opinion,-yet they swell the tide, and give it its headlong violence; and the people believe themselves free, under an oligarchy of newspaper writers. Vol. ii. p. 297.

Between the French and the English he draws the following comparison, which, considering that he is a native of the country of the former, is tolerably fair.

"The English, for instance, lay claim to a certain superiority of moral rectitude, of sincerity, of generosity, of humanity, of judgment, 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 otherwise they might be disposed to take Voltaire at his word, who said they were moitié singes et moitié tigres.

"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 civilization. In high honour, in generosity, in courage, they yield to none.

"The

The lower people in England hold other nations in thorough contempt. The same rank in France, in the interior of the country at least, scarcely know there are other nations;—their geogra phy is that of the Chinese.

"Of all the various merits claimed by the proud Islanders, I beHeve none is less disputed than that of generosity. It is not only. a received thing that an Englishman has always plenty of money and gives it away very freely, but no sacrifice of a higher kind is supposed to be above his magnanimity. I have to remark, on this subject, that those who give a little, after promising much, appear 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 reputations, the one for unmeaning politeness and mere show of sentiments, the other for simple and blunt generosity. The fact is, as to giving substantially, 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 benevolence. The ties of blood are also, I think, weaker than in France. People seem to calculate 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 another man, yet it is an amiable error, and a useful one, to think yourself obliged to show some kindness, and feel some particular sympathy for the man, whom nature has placed nearly in the same rank of life with yourself, and whom you are likely to meet oftenest 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 propensity 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 most horrible scenes of the French Revolution to be acted here, in any event, The people in France are capable of greater atrocities than those of England, but I should think the latter sterner,-less prone to cruelty, but less susceptible of pity.

"There are perhaps, at this moment, more distinguished men of science at Paris than in London, and I think it is admitted by the English themselves. But there are certainly better scientific materials here, and in the long-run, accuracy and depth should prevail over quickness of parts. However the account may stand

against

against the two nations, as to the higher sciences, I am convinced that cultivation of mind is more general 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 intercourse of men in France, is comparatively unknown here; and with so much better reasoning faculties, I do not think there is half so many logical attempts. A person of sense once remarked that he never heard the concluding formula Donc introduced in a Parisian conversation, without expecting something excessively absurd to follow immediately.

"There is 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, "I 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 makes in his own favour 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. Those who express them are inconsiderate and frivolous, but not insincere. I do not know whether I might not choose to live with the English, but I should undoubtedly find more pleasure in visiting the French. The reserve and coldness of the former wear off in time; the warmth of the latter cools, and the two manners meet at last, à la tiédeur, which is the common and usual degree of interest, and all you can really hope to inspire in general and mixt society. The advantage of superior and more general cultivation, of a greater range of ideas and surer taste, must, however, remain on the side of the English." Vol. ii. p. 300.

In giving our readers an account of these volumes, we have purposely abstained from entering into the merits of the long financial and political discussions which they contain. Though of many of the principles which they involve, we certainly approve, some are still rather too American to suit our taste. It cannot reasonably be expected that a native of France, who has resided for twenty years in the United States, should enter into the composition or the spirit of our English constitution, or of our English politics.

In some of his expressions our author is peculiarly happy; one in particular caught our attention, where he speaks of the laborious simplicity" of Mr. Fox's attempt at history. He has also well conceived the views of Shakespeare in the Tragedy of Macbeth, acknowledging, that on the French stage they have

ne

no such terrific beings as the Weird Sisters: to this part of the Tragedy he does not unaptly apply the term of "low sublimity."

We do not conceive that he possesses a deep insight into human nature, nor a very extensive power of analysing the motives and principles of the heart. He observes appearances quickly, and notes them with accuracy; but into the causes he rarely enters. Still there is much merit in the volumes before us, and we can recommend them as an entertaining and enlarged portrait of the manners and customs of the country as they appear depicted upon the eye of a stranger and a foreigner; and excepting a few occasional blemishes in the national character, the existence of which we must confess, every Englishman will feel proud of the picture, which is thus impartially drawn.

ART. III. Hora Pelasgica. An Inquiry into the Origin and Language of the Pelasgi, &c. By Herbert Marsh, D.D. Margaret Professor of Divinity in the University of • Cambridge. 8vo. pp. 146. Murray. 1815.

IF it be the duty of a literary tribunal to detect the fallacies of imposture, and to expose the absurdities of ignorance, much more is it within its province to assert the claims of genuine scholarship, and to defend the cause of injured merit. It is not our practice on any common occasion to drop the character of a judge, and to enter the lists with our cotemporaries; it is sufficient for us simply to declare our opinion, and to state the grounds upon which it is formed. Controversial criticism is always intricate, often tedious. There are cases, however, of unwarrantable oppression, in which some interference appears to be demanded at our hands; in those especially, where the diguity of the tribunal adds weight to the injustice of the decision, and where the interest of the subject will repay the reader for the labour of his attention.

Our review of the Horæ Pelasgica was scarcely finished, when our attention was arrested by an article upon the same subject in a literary journal, which, both for the principles which it inculcates, and the ability with which it is conducted, stands deservedly high in the estimation of the public. It is not, however, because we disagree upon the merits of an indifferent work, that we would constitute an appeal from that tribunal to

Quarterly Review, No. XXVI.

our

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