Page images
PDF
EPUB

afforded him of surpassing all his former works. These remarks, we repeat, are made on a mere general view of the subject; and in the full conviction that they are liable to qualification by many circumstances which may have attended the transaction, and may have made it imperative on Mr. Chantrey, from regard to his own reputation, and to the interests of artists and the arts in general, to act as he has done.

He has declined the commission however; and the next question is, who is to be honoured with so noble an opportunity of acquiring distinction and fame? It would be a delicacy of the falsest kind, it would be a dereliction of a duty we owe to friendship, were we, from the consideration of being actuated in some degree by private regard, to abstain, on such an occasion, from calling to mind an absent artist, whose acknowledged genius and talent would acquit the most intimate friend of partiality in referring to him :-we mean Gibson, the author of the beautiful group of Psyche and the Zephyrs, included in the last year's exhibition at the Royal Academy, whom all who have had opportunities of comparing his now numerous works executed in Rome with the most successful efforts of modern art, regard as second to Thorwaldsen alone, The princes and nobles who flock to that capital from other countries, no less than the liberal and discriminating patrons of art who arrive there from our own, vie with each other for the possession of the productions of this sculptor's chisel; while artists of all nations there congregated are emulous in acknowledging his talents and genius, not less than the modesty and unassuming simplicity which Besides the group of accompany and adorn them. Psyche before alluded to, a Mars and Cupid, at Chatsworth; a figure, executed for Lord George Cavendish; a beautiful statue of Paris, in the possession of Mr. Watson Taylor, are now in this country, to attest the genius of Gibson, not less for what is grand than for what is graceful. The splendour of his talents, however, is only to be appreciated by those who have enjoyed his intimacy, and have had opportunities of witnessing the constant interesting workings of an imagination replete with ideas of nobleness and grace, delineated by a bold and ready pencil. We hesitate the less to make these observations, as distance has long since interrupted our communications with this our talented countryman; and as our former acquaintance with him was occasioned by no private connection, but originated solely in admiration of his genius and character. We are confident that, if entrusted with the execution of Mr. Canning's monument, he would produce a work honourable to himself and to his country. He is of Liverpool; and the popularity of the late Minister amongst his townsmen would be an additional excitement to enthusiasm.

VALLEY OF ANDORRA.

kind, and extremely delicate flavour. Most of the surrounding mountains, constituting part of the mighty frontier of the Peninsula, which cannot be passed without mingled emotions of awe and pleasure, are almost inaccessible, and consequently have only been imperfectly explored. The highest and most remarkable of them are, the Iron Mine Mountain; the Cazamana, Saturria, Monclár, San Juliá de Loria and Juglar, all of which may be considered as prolongations of the Pyrenees. The Valley and surrounding declivities contain several fine forests, which might furnish good shiptimber and masts, easily floated down the rivers Balira and Segre, as far as Tortosa, situated on the left bank of the Ebro, and only four leagues from the Mediterranean. The district of Andorra abounds in minerals of various kinds, which, with the exception of the Iron Ore, are almost neglected. The jaspars are beautifully variegated, and the colours extremely brilliant. The foot of the scientific mineralogist, in fact, has scarcely trodden this secluded spot. Wild goats, boars, bears, wolves, and several smaller quadrupeds, are frequently seen, as well as game of all kinds, more particularly a species of moor-game, called there, gallo-silvestre.

The pasture-grounds, throughout the whole valley, are of an extremely rich and luxuriant nature, and the sheep-walks highly valued. Transparent streamlets, supplied by cascades and water-falls, descending from the mountains, skirt the meadows, on which a considerable number of fine cattle continually graze. The six parishes are divided into four wards, or quarters, the term used there, each one having a particular range of forests and commons, allotted for the use of the inhabitants, and the local affairs of each ward are conducted by an alderman. The breed of horses is particularly esteemed, and a considerable trade carried on in this, as well as other species of cattle. The tobacco-plant, so highly contraband in all Spain, is very generally cultivated in the Valley of Andorra. The growers take it clandestinely to La Seo De Urgel and other parts of Catalonia, where they exchange it for cloathing and such other manufactures as they require, which they then convey to their own territory, free of duties. The inhabitants are hardy and industrious; in their appearance superior to those of the neighbouring mountains. The few iron-mines, imperfectly worked, afford rough ore for the supply of four furnaces; and one establishment, called Moles, is considered as a most eligible situation for the manufacture of arms, according to the reports of several military officers, not only on account of the goodness of the ore, but also the abundance of fuel.

[ocr errors]

IT is a fact, very little known, that, within the Spanish territory and contiguous to France, there has existed for ages a small Republic, perfectly independent of the two neighbouring kingdoms, and owing allegiance to neither. This is the Valley of Andorra, situated in the County of Spanish Cerdane, and inclosed between two branches of the Pyrenean mountains, facing Urgel. On the east and south, this Valley confines with the district of Puigcerdá; on the west, partly with the same district, and that of Talaru; and on the north, with the Compté de Foix, where the French territory commences. This Valley is situated in Lat. 43. 35, and Lon. 45, from the meridian of Paris, and is seven leagues long, six wide, and fifteen in circumference. It contains twenty small towns and villages, divided into six parishes, having fifty suffragan churches, with a popu-thorizing the said bishop to hold the same for his own lation of about ten thousand souls, Andorra la Bella is the capital, called so from the peculiar beauty of its appearance. San Juliá de Loria, formerly Lauredia; Encamp, anciently Encap; Canillo, once Canillaus; Ordino, formerly Ordinavi; and Masana-Matrana; are the names of the other principal places. There are, besides, several sanctuaries, or chapels, containing miraculous images, the most frequented of which are, Our Lady of Merichell, Canolich and St. Anton, usually called La Grella.

This interesting Valley, embosomed among mountains, and from every point of which the traveller beholds all the romantic wildness of picturesque scenery, is watered by several rivers, the largest of which are the Balira, Ordino, and Hos, the first two of which have their immediate origin in the Valley, whilst the source of the latter descends from the contiguous Spanish territory. These and the other minor streams abound in fish, more particularly the trout, of a large

Respecting the origin of the Republic of Andorra, which may really be considered as a political phenomenon, the records are numerous and curious. In 1748, D. Antonio Fiter y Rossell, a native and magistrate of Ordino, by orders of the general council, constructed, in the Catalonian language, aManual Digesto, in 2 vols., in which he enumerates the privileges of the Andorrese, defends their independence, and gives a complete out line of the manner in which they administer their own affairs. Most of the Spanish historians have also mentioned this secluded spot; and from their united testimony, it appears that the French, under Louis the Pious, entered Spain with a powerful army, on pretext of assisting the Spaniards to drive out the Moors, when the auxiliary forces took possession of the province of Catalonia and kingdom of Navarre. The city of Barcelona surrendered to them in the year 801, at which time it was commanded by Zadi, a Moor; and during the reign of Hemur or Gamir, when in 819, by a solemn act, dated Nov. 2, Louis yielded up and conveyed over to Sisisbutus, Bishop of Urgel, all the parishes and other dependencies of the Valley of Andorra, as well as the dominions, rights and possesions thereof; auuse, in a sovereign and independent manner,' &c. This is the origin of the independence of the Valley of Andorra, which the subsequent kings of France have always had under thelr immediate protection, successively granting to the inhabitants various important privileges. The above grant was confirmed by Charles the Bold, who, as king of France, made over to the said bishop, as the act states, talem potestatem qualem nos habere conabamur.' Bernald Castelló, the fiftieth Bishop of Urgel, and twenty-sixth possessor and lord of the Valley of Andorra, afterwards conveyed his right and title thereto, to Ramon Bernat, first Count de Foix, as a remuneration for his services in taking up arms, in the bishop's favour, against the Count de Urgel, in 1194. This conveyance was not, however, at that time carried into effect, the Valley remaining in the hands of six successive bishops of Urgel, and till the year 1259, when Roger Bernat, second Count de Foix, declared war against the existing bishop, besieged

the city of Urgel, and laid waste a large portion of the surrounding country, demanding the restoration of his rights to the Valley of Andorra, by virtue of the transfer made to his grandfather. The matter in dispute was left to arbitration, when, by a legal award, Count de Foix was declared to be the rightful lord, pro indiviso, of the Valley of Andorra.

Subsequently, the Infante Don Pedro and Ferdinand of Arragon conquered the Counts de Foix, in 1334 and 1513, and Philips II. and III., annexed the Valley of Andorra to their own dominions, declaring themselves to be the lords thereof. The compté de Foix was incorporated with the crown of France, at the commencement of the 16th century, and during the reign of Louis XIII.; but, so unceasing have been the intrigues of the bishops of Urgel, so great the influence of the French monarchs, and so immediate the interest of the latter in excluding Spain from any exercise of power in the Valley, that they have always maintained its neutrality and independence, and prevented the ancient rights and privileges of the inhabitants, bestowed upon them by their predecessors, from being impaired. Various disputes subsequently took place between the kings of Spain and France, respecting the sovereignty of this secluded spot, when, at length, the latter, sensible of the difficulty of retaining military possession of a district of country that had always been considered as an integral part of Catalonia, and in opposition to the boundaries fixed by nature, as well as established and acknowledged from the time of Julius Cæsar; yet, at the same time, anxious that it should be free from the control of the Castilian crown, agreed that it should be governed as an independent state, with the semblance only of allegiance paid to its primitive lords, who, in other respects, waived their ancient rights. By this means, future collisions were prevented, and Andorra assumed an anomalous form of government, under the immediate protection of the French monarchs. Their real object in this protection was, always to have the means of an easy access into Spain at their command. The four passes, or defiles through the Pyrenees, leading into the valley, and called Fra Miguel, Saldeu, Fontargent, and Siguer, are inacces sible on the side of Spain, although extremely practicable when advancing from the valley. Through these passes, a French army may, therefore, easily enter Spain, whereas a body of troops, moving forwards, from an opposite direction, can easily be repulsed, in consequence of the good defence afforded by the circle of mountains surrounding the valley. This is the real motive that has uniformly induced the kings of France to favour the independence of the Andorrese Republic, and prevent it from being annexed to the Spanish crown; and in the two last invasions, their armies have certainly derived material advantages from this circumstance, through the facilities thereby obtained.

A court, called the Cortes, takes cognisance of all crimes committed within the district. Its member are, two Commissioners, or representatives of the Sovereign Lords, viz. the King of France and Bishop of Urgel, and by them respectively appointed. On the part of his Most Christian Majesty, the choice usually falls on a Frenchman, whereas the Bishop selects his representative from among the most distinguished natives of the Valley. This Board has supreme authority in every thing relating to government and justice, and is assisted by two delegates, named by the General Council of the Valley. Dubious and legal matters are previously submitted to an assessor, who is the Judge of Appeals, in civil causes; and the Supreme Board is besides attended by lawyers, called rohonadors, who are specially commissioned to watch over the privileges of the inhabitants, intercede for criminals, and promote the ends of justice. A sentence, corporis afflictiva, pronounced by this Court, is executed on the spot; but if it ordains hard labour, the criminal is sent to the galleys or presidios of Spain.

Civil matters are decided, in the first instance, by a baylle or bailiff, alternately appointed by the King of France and Bishop of Urgel, from a list of six persons, being one for each parish, formed by the General Council out of the higher classes, and this nomination lasts three years. The sentences pronounced by this Court are carried before the Judge of Appeals, and thence to the respective Lords, in which case the King of France confides the matter to the Parliament of Thoulouse, or the Council of Roussillon, and the Bishop usually to his vicar. The salaries of the judge and his officers absorb a large portion of the contested property, as they receive 15 per cent. on the amounts of all verdicts, and 5 per cent. on provisional and interlocutory proceedings.

The General Council is composed of twenty-four Members, or Aldermen, chosen by the parishes, half of whom are renewed every year. This Court takes cog

nizance of all minor disputes, breaches of the peace, and matters relating to public lands, forests, waters, fisheries, commons, roads, paths, weights, measures, taverns, markets, assessments, taxes, &c. It also fixes the price of wheat, meat, wine, and other provisions, and presides over the economical administration of the district. Each parish also constitutes a separate ward, and has a municipal body of its own. There are, besides, a Judge of appeals, and public notary, alternately named, for life, by the King of France and Bishop of Urgel. In his official papers, he first styles himself, auctoritate condominorum Vallium Andorra Judex ordinarius ;' and the second,' auctoritate ordinaria et condominorum Vallium Andorræ, illustrissimorum Episcopi Urgelli et Comitis Fuxi notarius publicus,' &c.

Hence it appears, that the Kings of Spain exercise no sovereignty or power whatsoever, within the jurisdic tion of the Valley; indeed, from several passages in the • Manual Digesto,' it would seem, that the local authorities are extremely jealous of the slightest interference on their part. In the levies for troops made in the surrounding districts, it has sometimes happened that a youth, on whom the lot had fallen, has taken refuge within the Andorra disfrict, in order to avoid being dragged away to the army, when a Spanish party has pursued him in the night and conducted him back. These acts have always given rise to complaints, and the representative of his most Christian Majesty, at the Spanish court, has usually befriended the authorities of Andorra. A participation in all acts of interference on the part of another power, is declared to be a crime of high treason, and the magistrates are commanded to bring such culprits to justice, 'it being their duty to preserve the prerogatives, neutrality, sovereignty, and freedom of the Valley, unimpaired. This privilege of neutral ground is, however, attended with one misfortune; and this is, deserters, smugglers, and other persons, escaping from justice in the neighbouring kingdoms, there find a ready and secure asylum. In matters of religion, Andorra, as depending on the bishopric of Urgel, was subject to the inquisition of Barcelona, and the branch of this tribunal established in the Valley, retained its authority there, even after that monstrous edifice had been dashed to the ground by the decrees of the general Cortes of Spain. The ancient arms, as well as numerous authentic records, denote that, in ancient times, the Valley of Andorra formed an integral part of Catalonia, and as such the natives, up to the present day, have all the rights of Spaniards, and without any act of naturalization, obtain in Spain prebendships, benefices, as well as all civil and military appointments.

When Philip V., at the close of the war of succession, deprived the Catalonians of their rights and privileges, he formed a project to do the same with the Valley of Andorra; but the exhausted state of his realm, and the dread of offending France, prevented him from carrying his intentions into execution. Charles IV. entertained views of a similar kind, and, as a preliminary measure, actually addressed a requisition, under his own sign manual, to D. José Boltas, Bishop of Urgel, calling upon him to prove, by historical records and charters, his right to the title of Sovereign Prince of the Valley of Andorra,' of which he made use in his public acts. The bishopric of Urgel is one of the most important in Spain, as well on account of its extent, as the riches and industry of the districts of which it is composed It consists of 548 parishes, fifteen cathedrals, eight collegiate churches, nine communities of beneficed clergy, twenty-five convents of friars, and three of nuns. The idea of allowing a church dignitary to wield a temporal power over an independent state, and at the same time, one of the keys of the realm to which he himself owes allegiance, is in itself preposterous. A plan was laid before the Cortes of Spain, in 1820, to put an end to this anomalous form of government, by asserting the rights of the Spanish crown, and annexing the Valley of Andorra to the Principality of Catalonia; but the French invasion, and subsequent dissolution of the national Legislature, prevented this project from being carried into execution. This district, evidently confined within the natural demarcation of Catalonia, as it now stands, is no other than a sad and lasting memento of French conquest and usurpation, undertaken by Charlemagne and Louis the Pius, under pretext of defending their own dominions from the yoke of infidels, when they took possession of Catalonia and Navarre, at a time when the Pelayos and Alphonsos of Spain, entrenched on the mountains of Asturias, contended for the freedom and independence of their country. Under the government of the Gothic kings, the Valley of Andorra formed part of Spain; and Cæsar himself prescribed the permanent boundaries of the two kingdoms, by declaring, that all the territory extending

[ocr errors]

nich, and the conversion of the Duke of Brunswick to the Roman Church, have each, and either, been adverted to in the Netherlands, as the cause and effect of the late movement of Mother Earth; until La Bataille de Navarin, ou le Renegat,' a Romance by

to the south of the Pyrenees, as well as the waters running from the south and west therefrom, should belong to Spain, and that the opposite side should be France. In the arms of Andorra are seen the four bars, or arms of Catalonia, denoting that, in ancient times, it was an integral part of this province. How, therefore, our Ga-M. Moke, a native of that highly intellectual and zetteers, even the last edition of the Edinburgh one, pub- lively city of Bruges, was given to the press, when it lished in the present year, can have described the Valley was at once admitted, (at least by his compatriots,) of Andorra as belonging to the Compté de Foix, and that all those speculations had been hitherto erroneous. consequently forming part of the French territory, is We must take shame to ourselves in confessing that matter of astonishment. Zurita, in his Annals of A1- we have not had sufficient fortitude to sit down to the ragon, (lib. x, cap. 63,) says, That the Counts de Foix perusal of this modern Homer; but, with our friends long held the principality of Catalonia, the county of in England, we shall in some degree stand excused, Castelló and Valley of Andorra, separated from France on the ground of national pride and patriotic feeling; by the summits of the Pyrenees; but this dominion admirers, as we must be, of our own transcendant poets, ceased from the moment they were expelled from the when they learn that the production of M. Moke Spanish territory. The venerable author of the Marca has been decided by his impartial and enlightened Hispanica,' and no less a personage than the Archbishop countrymen, completely to eclipse all that Lord of Paris, describes the Valley of Andorra as being con- Byron, Sir Walter Scott, or Campbell, have hitherto tiguous to the Compté de Foix ;' and Aparici, Nolin, been induced to offer to the world. De Fer, as well as Boune, in his map of Foix and Roussillon, (1771,) and Roussel, in his geographical map of the Pyrenees, all place it within the Spanish boundary. The French geographers of a more recent date uniformly do the same, even those whose maps were published during the reign of Napoleon. In the seventh century, the Kings of Spain governed not only the whole of their territory inclosed by the line of the Pyrenees, but also a part of France, known as Galia Narbonense, and continued to do so till the Moorish invasion. The Spaniards, anxious to expel their infidel oppressors, implored the aid of the French; but, coming only in the character of auxiliaries, the success of the latter against the common enemy could never have entitled them to territorial rights; and consequently, the original grant on which the independence of the Valley of Andorra is founded, was defective. This district, at our time, must have been of much greater importance than it is at present; as Ferdinand the Catholic, in his last will, left a legacy to Marcos Almogabar, and his five thousand soldiers, so renowned in the wars of those times, who had their origin in the Valley of Andorra, and were reputed as Catalonians. At all events, the views of the French, in upholding the independence of the Andoresa republic, in opposition to the rights of the Spanish Crown, and so clearly evinced during the two last invasions, cannot now be mistaken; and it is matter of astonishment, that an usurpation of so glaring a nature, as well as dangerous on the score of precedent, did not enter into the deliberations of the Allied Sove reigns, either at Paris, Verona, or Vienna.

VARIETIES.

SELECTED FROM RECENT LETTERS OF CONTINENTAL CORRESPONDENTS.

FRENCH GAMBLING.

THAT able, enlightened, and patriotic individual, Casimir Perrier, on the 8th instant, presented to the Chamber of Deputies a petition, most largely signed by the inhabitants of Paris, for the suppression of lotteries and Maisons de Jeu. This is truly melioris ævi auspicium: may he succeed in his generous and patriotic purpose, even if it be left to London to be more particularly distinguished hereafter from Paris, by the disgraceful and infamous establishment in St. James's Street!

LA MUETTE DE PORTICE.

Is an opera, in five acts, the poetry of which is written by Messieurs Scribe, and Germain de la Vigne, and the music composed by M. Amber. It has been received with great applause at the Academie Royale de Musique. Its resemblance in no trifling degree to Massaniello, and the late production of Casimer de la Vigne, La Princesse Aurelie, detracts, in a great measure, from its claims to originality, although talent and address have been liberally accorded in its preparation. The celebrated Lazzarone rebel is the hero of the new piece, and his character is rendered so highly interesting, in addition to its other excellent qualities, that it is likely to become a stock piece with the managers.

A NEW STAR.

It was a vulgar prejudice of former times, not yet wholly done away with, that the unusual visitation of an earthquake was connected with the rise or fall of mighty men; or, that it portended extraordinary events in regard to the nations of the earth. The threatened war with Turkey, (and if it occur its consequences may haply well justify the prognostic,) the nomination of the Duke of Wellington to the Premier ship of Great Britain, the marriage of Prince Metter

DUVERGIER DE LA HAURANNE. THIS gentleman, who is a member of the present Chamber of Deputies, has just published a second part of his work, intitled 'L'Ordre Legal,' in which he has treated of individual liberty, the prevention of crimes, freedom of worship, of the press and of industry, and of the pre-eminence of the civil authority, as it is said, in a remarkably able manner, that has awakened general attention at Paris to his production. Such publications must be decidedly offensive to those who advocate a legitimate order of things; and we can scarcely be surprised that the bishop of Hermopolis should have thrown up his office in disgust, as wholly opposed to a system profanely regulated by constitutional and liberal principles. Whether the career of the present Ministry in France be or be not brief as that of Mr. Canning with ourselves, its effect on the public mind, and its ultimate advantage to the best interests of the country, will be equally important. These angel visits, if 'few and far between,' are at least sufficient for the exposure of long-endured error and abuses. If natural blindness excludes us from a sight of the world and the world's concerns, from our very births, we may as little regret the privation we submit to, as we are disabled to estimate the enjoyments of others; but, the infliction removed, even for a moment, we writhe under the bitter agony of remembrance, and the mind dwells with tenacious fondness on the beauties of this visible world, which were destined for our gratification and enjoyment. It may not be difficult to interpose between us and knowledge; but when once the fruit of that tree of good and evil has been tasted, it would be vain to induce us to forget either its flavour or its zest.

TRAVELLING IN THE NETHERLANDS. PERHAPS in no country could one travel, but lately, at a price so moderate as in the Netherlands, owing to the spirit which actuated the rival establishments of Lafitte, (brother of the celebrated banker,) and the more ancient society of 'Directeurs des Messageries Royales; and when we state that for seven shillings and four pence British, a journey from Brussels to Paris might be accomplished, some idea of the excessive cheapness of the diligences may be formed. If Mr. Huskisson can digest an association with the Duke of Wellington-another Duke refuse not an alliance with a female banker-Catholics and Dissenters meet half way on the road to union-Mr. Peel applaud Mr. Brougham-it can scarcely surprise as that the bitter enmity of the coach proprietors was appeased to their own profit and the public injuryfor the restoration of harmony was announced by an increase of prices in the diligences to more than double the amount of what they had been. That was bad enough; but all T. G.'s, with a larger share of curiosity than cash, have yet more to deplore an augmentation of the tax upon barriers, (the Netherland legal fiction of a material English turnpike gate, but in number far exceeding our road impediments,) proportioned to the dimensions of carriages and number of horses by which they are drawn, of such considerable amount as likely to deprive us of the pleasure of perusing many a stage coach tour to the Rhine, and flaming evidences of things not seen,' but through the port-holes of a Flemish voiture. Were this the extent of ill, we might endure it with Christian patience; but it is a measure that acts as forcibly against the interests of commerce as that liberal communication with our neighbours we have of late years so greatly enjoyed.

THE TUNNEL,

THE accomplishment of a tunnel, on the plan of that of the Thames, to pass beneath the Vistula, has been

proposed to the people of Warsaw, and largely coincided in. Like our M. Brunel, the architect is a foreigner, and the Poles may soon have to boast of as great a bore as any we possess in England.-Poland.

M. DE FONGERAŸ.

THE author of Les Soirées de Neuilly' has now

published the second volume of his work, which fairly justifies the continuance of those eulogiums which the first so largely obtained. The dramatic sketches now given are intitled, Malet,' 'Dieu et le Diable,' and Les Stationnaires,' and are less remarkable for force of expression than a rigid adherence to the truth of the scene he attempts to describe. The subject of the first mentioned piece is undoubtedly well known in England, but has been so ably adverted to by a French writer, in allusion to M. de Fongeray's production, that we may probably be pardoned in offering it to our readers. Under a Government, no less absolute than faithfully served by those engaged in its administration, a man without reputation, friends, or resources, in the cell of a prison, proposed to effect a revolution in his country, unaided and by his own means. From the solitude of his confinement, where he was exposed to the severest watchfulness and restraint, with an almost idiotic corporal, unable to comprehend the writings he was employed to copy, for his agent,-a Royalist Abbé, with only less sense than pusillanimity, who, with the intent of serving the Bourbons, was as profuse of boasting as timid in acting, and a Spanish priest who allowed the use of his chamber to the solitary conspirator, under the idea that the liberation of Ferdinand was his aim ;-without a franc, an accomplice, or the slightest connection with the army or administration,-at midnight, Malet declared himself against Napoleon, aad dared the execution of the most gigantic project ever conceived by man. Five short hours after, and the same individual was master of the Garrison, the Ministry, and the Police. The Prefect of the latter, and the Premier, were his captives who were as instantly replaced by two prisoners of state; while all Paris on awaking, beheld the establishment of a new and unknown Government. Never did the imaginings of a poet go beyond this simple fact; and had it not occurred, its extravagance as an invention would not have been endured." Truth is strange-stranger than fiction,

M. F. BARRIere.

THE clever editor of the Mémoires de Madame Campan,' has just given to the world a work scarcely less interesting, in the Mémoires inédits de L. H. de Lomence, Comte de Brienne, Secretaire d'Etat sous Louis XIV.; publiés sur les Manuscrits autographes; avec un Essai sur les Mœurs et les Usages du 17me Siècle,' in two volumes, octavo. If ever the events of any period of history have been adequately detailed, or the manners and customs of any court fully illustrated, we would have deemed that the reign of Le Grand Monarque' had found annalists usque ad nauseam.' M. Barrière's publication is, nevertheless, highly interesting and extremely well written in all that regards his labours as an editor; such parts as he has, to our regret, left to other hands, are easily distinguished by their evident inferiority. His account of Les Solitaires de Port Royal,' 'is entitled to much praise. We have heard that M. Barrière possessed two manuscripts of Madame Campan's Memoirs,' both prepared by herself, with the slight distinction of one being adapted for the press under the Napoleon dynasty, and the other to suit the taste of the Bourbons. This plan is, however, defective in ingenuity, compared to that adopted by the chief personage in a Mediterranean island who, on the arrival of a British Governor, addressed to him the very speech he had before used, on his country having been taken possession of by the French authorities, merely substituting 'Le Royaume de la Grande, Bretagne,' for L'Empire Français;' and George troisieme,' for L'Empereur Napoleon.' As economy is the order of the day in England, it is on the same principle, we presume, that the speeches of Mr. Peel in the one, and of Lord Bathurst in the other House, To have been so ably dittoed by their subalterns. confess the truth, it is scarcely possible to have too much of a good thing.

DR. CIVIALE.

THE Emperor of Austria and the King of the Netherlands have both recently presented a handsome gold medal to Dr. Civiale, of Paris, the inventor of the method of breaking or crushing stones in the bladder, by which a most important benefit has been conferred upon humanity; and the dreadful sufferings of those affected by one of the most grievous maladies we know of, wholly relieved, From his name, we presume

[blocks in formation]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

THE marriage of the heir of the 'Brave des Braves,' (for with his many faults and his one crime, such he was,) is nearly forgotten; or that pretty word, siècle,' applied to it by prettier lips; if some Gothic aspirant for favour dares to breathe it in the ear of beauty, in fond anticipation that a similar delightful result may yet attend his devoirs, and that his Eau-deCologne impregnated sighs may win their fragrant way to his mistress's heart. There has been, I have ever learnt, much of the genuine romantic in the loves of the young chevalier and his virtuous bride. Somewhat of sorrow and disappointment once, and much of care; which, in its visitations of youth, is far more keenly felt, than when time has blunted the edge of hope, or subdued the force of passion. Be it as it may, there is no one who remembers his father's fate, and knows her father's virtues, who must not wish them happy, and believe me, my dear Miss, (I address one of the prettiest and most accomplished girls in England,) do not hide your sweet face behind The Athenæum;' believe me, on the word of a traveller and a man, that as much of truth and constancy, of virtue and of honour, are to be found in France, as in any country under the sun. But better things have led me wide of my subject. The eternal Madame de Genlis has just saved all Paris from despair, by giving them something to talk of. An addition to the ten heavy volumes lately published has appeared from the pen of Madame la Comtesse, and, if the steam-engine of The Times' be not contracted for, notwithstanding her age and her infirmities, she bids fair to make the printers toil after her in vain.' If he be the only one she fears, 'tis well; and, in truth, if the church may effectually step in between her and peril, she has, as far as possible, assured its aid, by a diatribe against all that favours the increase of information, the progress of knowledge, or the amelioration of the state of man; in short, of all that militates against the church, as constituted in France, and as contradistinguished to religion itself. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; and if we behold one in grief and penitence, even after a lengthened career of crime and error, preparing, in sorrow and humanity, for a near arraignment at that bar at which we must all appear, we can but look with interest, respect, and reverence at her going, and, in very charity, refrain ;---but we are, happily or unhappily for ourselves, so constituted, that we turn with disgust from the culprit who, instead of imploring mercy of his Judge, turns from his own vindication, to lecture his fellow-men on their duties, and to reprobate their faults, with a degree of boldness and of zeal that might well become an apostle, but is wholly misplaced in a sinner. It has been the glory of England to possess women who have employed their time and talents largely and effectually in promoting the cause of virtue and religion; but how different would have been the result even of their labours, if, with all their other claims to attention and esteem, they had assumed the tone of Madame de Genlis, in the attempt of instructing and improving their fellowcreatures. Madame la Comtesse, however, soars on higher wing; she-and she of all God's creatures!takes a larger view of her subject, and, grown dizzy by the height to which she has elevated herself, deems the still small voice' of persuasion or entreaty as little likely to prevail as her distant cry,-and employs, instead, all Jove's thunders;' dealing ana

thema and damnation around with fearful effect. In one of her pretended reports to Napoleon, when he occupied the throne, she has solemnly and unblushingly stated, in comparing the state of religion in Protestant Britain and Switzerland with that of France,-and Bonaparte's France too!-that in the former countries it did not exist, while, in the latter, it had taken up its domicile. Age seems but to have hardened these impressions; and, although Madame has condescended to confine her more recent observations to the land of her birth, they are, in regard to it, still more true or just. The French are a gallant and a noble people, they have ever been so ; but, of late years, they have changed greatly, and greatly for the better;-there is much of virtue, and religion is reviving rapidly, amongst them. If what we state be deemed apocryphal, we beg not to be judged by such only as have consorted with

them at Very's,' or the 'Rochers de Cancale,'-at the Palais Royale,' or the inns on the road. In a similar point of view, we, at home, are little better. Madame de Genlis possesses wit and information; she has contributed greatly to the world's amusement in her historical romances,-in the romance of her life,-in her romantic (the term is not impolitic) statements on the moral condition of France, and of other countries; but she may rely upon it, that her homilies are somewhat, although tardily, infected with the Archbishop of Grenada's feebleness. Let her imitate Monsignore, in closing the door upon her secretary; and, in the recesses of her closet, reflect, more in sorrow than in anger,' on the world, and the world's vanities. Let her give to herself that time which we may not be disposed further to claim, and which can no longer be

meant for mankind.'

To **

[ocr errors]

THOU hast met him!-he's blest !-in thy absence he ne'er
Forgot thee how could he, a creature so fair?.
Such a jewel to send him, the mine of the sea
I defy. Art thou happy-as happy as he
Did the welcome he gave thee no farewell recal
Were the feelings it waked in thee ecstacy all?
When he circled thy waist, did no memory rise

Of the arms that were there, and press'd fonder than his?
Can he love thee as I do he cannot-the glow
Of a breast such as mine he's forbidden to know;
"Tis the son of the Muse thou canst love-of his frame
Not a fibre but 's fire, he's the offspring of flame!
You felt it-you own'd it ;-forget not the day,
'Twas the eve of that parting, you bade me delay-
A parting to duty, to happiness due :-
They pleaded in vain when they pleaded 'gainst you.
Now choose thee a lover-thou must not have twain-
Is it I?-as you met, meet him never again;
Nor the NEXT place nor first, it contents me to own,
I must reign in thy bosom-a monarch-alone-
But if his be the fortune, God speed and farewell!
Why you cherished my passion you only can tell-
Till it twined round the root of my life-Think it o'er;
Though I lose thee for ever-I'll breathe it no more!
I'll breathe it no more!-Oh, thou sweet one! how vain
Is the pride of the lover that once wears thy chain;
While the matchless perfection adoring I see,
Of all that is lovely in woman, in thee-
Can I speak of a virtue, a charm, or a grace
Of thy sex, but thy mind or thy image I trace.
I'll breathe it no more-my whole life shall remain,
I must breathe it, or never praise woman again!

To the Editor of the Athenæum. SIR,-There has this moment been pointed out to me a paragraph in The Examiner' of yesterday, severely animadverting upon what it is pleased to call an almost incredible blunder,' in the notice of The Jurist' which appeared in your pages. The passage in question ought to have run thus:

"The Reviewer exposes, in a style full of vivacity and vigour, the absurd and cruel fallacy embodied in the well-known expression of the noble offspring of a late Chief Justice,' &c.

The omission of the words in Italics was an error, whether of the pen or of the press, it is now, I presume, impossible to ascertain,

I should have thought it unnecessary to do more than indicate the mistake for your next list of errata, were it not for the high character of the Journal into which this critical fling has found admission. It is very like the fleshing of a maiden sword;' the first essay in the field of a young author, who piques himself upon the fineness of his scent, and who does indeed appear to be a puppy blood-hound of no small promise. Some discreet friend might have reminded him, that mere blunder-hunting is not criticism; that it argued but little sagacity to adopt an almost incredible' solution of the difficulty, while the plain truth was staring him in the face; and that in the vocation which he seems inclined to adopt, knowledge itself is hardly a more essential requisite than candour.

THE REVIEWER OF THE JURIST.

SOPHOCLES.

A translation of this author has just appeared in France. It is said to be effected with much fidelity to the original, and written in a style of tasteful simpl:city, but is neither so inspired, bright, or dramatic as the latter. We are much pleased with the concluding sentence of the critique on its merits: Espérons qu'elle (the Translation) fera lire et comprendre le Théatre Grec; comme Shakspeare est lu et compris

[graphic][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][ocr errors][ocr errors][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed]

No. 22.

London Literary and Critical Journal.

LONDON, TUESDAY, APRIL 8, 1828.

PERIODICAL LITER ATURE.

UNPUBLISHED LECTURES ON PERIOD ICAL LITERATURE.
By the Rev. Henry Stebbing, M.A.
No. III.

The Public Press-Magazines-The New Monthly
Blackwood's-The Old Monthly--The Gentleman's
-and The London.

In the last Lecture, I took a general view of our literature, as divided into its three great branches of Imaginative, Moral, and Scientific. I next considered periodical literature, first, in itself, and, secondly, in its relation to the abovementioned divisions of gene ral literature. It is my present purpose to examine the origin of that passion for public information which is so generally prevalent, and to which may be ascribed the existence of Newspapers as at present constituted. I shall then proceed to consider the present condition of our Magazine literature, which is an off-set from the public journals, and the state of which will be shown by an inquiry into the character of some of our principal and most popular periodicals of that class.

Man is essentially . social being, but his social character is to be traced in his mind.rather than in his necessities; in his moral, more than in his physical, nature. There may be found instances of men's living in solitude, and being satisfied with what their own hands might gather from the field, and with the vvater of the brook; but no record can be found of one whose heart had forgotten its yearnings after his kind, whose memory or hope bound him not in some manner to the world, or who, let his state have been what it might, felt himself free from the impulse given to his spirit at its very birth among mankind. Our wants and necessities, it is true, form one of the links which bind us together, but it is not the strongest; and could each individual purchase for himself the greatest luxuries, the highest individual gratification, by complete estrangement from society, the price would be considered too high by the least happy of our race. We shall be nearer being right, perhaps, if we regard our physical wants, our inheritance of pain and helplessness, and all the cravings of our frame, but as the outward and visible signs of a moral necessity binding us together; the characters of our inner man written on fleshly tablets, and made legible by the waning of years, and the circumstances of a changing existence. But if it be thus, if there be a stronger principle cementing men into societies than their physical wants, and that principle be the moral constitution of their nature, it is in the development and manifestation of this, we shall see SOciety in its proper light, be able to estimate its weakness or energy, the strength or decay of the living soul which animates it, and see the spring and foundation of its exhibited powers. The intercourse, therefore, of mind with mind, the combination of individual thought into one mighty mass of intellect, the gathering of private judgments and experiences, in their infinite diversities of form and colouring, into that vast embodied essence of society called Public Opinion, is but a consequence of the laws and constitution of our moral nature,-of the fate and necessity which ordained man's existence and progressive improvement as a social being. It is to the acting of this principle I would attri

bute the origin of societies, rather than to any other which has been derived from our want of mutual aid. This is insufficient to explain a single phenomenon of life; but the former avails us, at whatever period we begin our examination of man's history. It exists, though too closely blended with feelings of sonship or brotherhood to be distinguished, in the simple patriarchal state; it is found, strong and active, in the rude clan and savage tribe, which, but for this, would have no gathering-cry against the enemy, and no compass over the desart, or through the trackless forest. It is seen breaking forth in every stage of civilisation, manifesting its existence in times of tumult and confusion, as well as in the deepest calm, and employing, as its agents or its channels of circulation, whatever the accidents of the age, or the inventions of art, may afford for the purpose.

Into this principle we may resolve the general passion for public information, as it exists in the community at large; and which, taking its strength partly from curiosity, and partly from the anxiousness of personal interest, is increased a thousand fold, by the deep-rooted, changeless power of a universal sympathy, and the desire of a common good. In the fluctuations of society, the mingling together of pursuits and interests, the varying excitements and recognised principles, and the alternations of passion and their corresponding prejudices, an almost unlimited scope is given to speculation, and events occur calculated to awaken by turns every feeling of the human heart. It is hence public journals derive their interest, and the mixed character of their contents. They answer the queries which are put respecting the world at large; they speak of the evil and the good which have invaded or blessed the homes of our fellowcountrymen, and they represent, or affect to represent, the views which the master-minds of the age take on the great subjects of human interest. There ever has been, and ever will be, an eager desire after publications of this nature, and there would be no surer sign that the life and spirit of a people were gone, than the loss or diminution of their passion for general news. The state of the public press, as answering to this universal want and desire, will, of course, vary with the government, and, in some measure, with the condition of a nation; but it can then only fully discharge its office when it is perfectly unrestricted in its operations; when its machinery is so free that it will answer to the slightest touch, and act as an index to the different variations in the social body. That it will ever be that perfect agent in the diffusion of political knowledge, or in conveying information on the actual state of mankind, which it might be, is scarcely to be expected. To perfect it in this manner would require a great alteration in the present system of its management, the removal of circumstances, which, as it is now constituted, diminish its freedom, independent of any foreign control, and the addition of supports, without which it could never put forth its full strength and remain standing. It is evident, that every part of a public print which has been the work of private judgment ought to be received but as such; and it is evident, that, in whatever degree that judgment has been biassed by personal motives or prejudices, it has perverted the purpose of the paper, and committed an error against the common

Price 7d.

good of society. While, therefore, public Journals are under a control which can, by any possibility, by any subterfuges, or cloak of secrecy, elude the force with which its false opinions could be attacked if otherwise propounded, they must, of themselves, be very uncertain guides in any inquiry whatever. On the other hand, when they have not the aid of wealth, popularity, and very powerful and self-trusting talent to support them; if they speak truth, they will either never make themselves heard, or never be able to resist the opposition awakened. The greatest cause, however, and that which is most reprobated, of corruption in the public press, is the misrepresentations caused by party enmities, and the sinister designs of dishonest and factious partisans. But in this there is less cause for fear than is generally imagined. No great or dangerous falsehood was ever broached and acted upon in times of strong party agitation, and I apprehend, that, as things are at present with regard to the public press, and as we cannot look for its very rapidly becoming a perfectly uncorrupted medium of public information, that there is no time in which it may be more safely trusted, or in which, taking it all together, it better performs its office, than when party is most active against party, and every inch of debateable ground is fought for with the most determined eagerness.

Both the Constitution of England, and the national character of the people, have been long eminently favourable to the extended action of the public press; and to whatever circumstances its original establishment may be traced, it seems certain, had it been unknown in other countries, or had no policy of the court, or individual adventurer, contributed to its invention, that society would have proceeded but a very little longer in its accelerated course without the employment of this great engine of public opinion. It is, I believe, generally known, that the first Newspaper established in England appeared in the time of Elizabeth, and was, it is said, employed by her minister, Lord Burleigh, to prevent the circulation of false intelligence during the Spanish war. At their commencement, however, newspapers could hardly be considered in the light in which they are now to be viewed, for both the one I have just mentioned, and the earlier Italian ones, were mere calendars of Court proceedings, or bulletins framed and worded to suit the present purposes of the Government. It was during the time of Cromwell they took the character which has since distinguished them, and became those vehicles for the bold and unmeasured expression of opinion, which, in every period of agitation, they have subsequently been. Since their taking the form in which they have appeared of late years, they have been divided into two classes, answering to the different parties whose opinions they represent, or whose rights they pretend to advocate. One very important benefit resulting from this is, that, whatever party-virulence may do in misrepresenting facts, or unfairly depicting the character of a public man, the world is sure to be made acquainted with the strongest arguments that can be brought in support of or against any particular opinion, is secured from any danger of being led blind-fold into harm, or of having its interests tampered with, either by the suspected opposers of them, or the connivance of unstable advocates. This useful quality of the public

« PreviousContinue »