,,the    ,,spirit ,,of ,,the ,,age3     
,,or      ,,contemporary ,,portraits4   
,to know another well were to know one's
 self4            ,,contents4           
,,jeremy ,,bentham    ,,william ,,godwin
    ,,mr4 ,,coleridge    ,,rev4 ,,mr4   
,,irving    ,,the ,,late ,,mr4 ,,horne  
,,tooke    ,,sir ,,walter ,,scott       
,,lord ,,byron    ,,mr4                 
,,campbell--,,mr4 ,,crabbe    ,,sir     
,,james ,,mackintosh    ,,mr4           
,,wordsworth    ,,mr4 ,,malthus    ,,mr4
 ,,gifford    ,,mr4 ,,jeffrey    ,,mr4  
,,brougham--,,sir ,f4 ,,burdett         
,,lord ,,eldon--,,mr4 ,,wilberforce     
,,mr4 ,,southey    ,,mr4 ,t4            
,,moore--,,mr4 ,,leigh ,,hunt           
,,elia--,,geoffrey ,,crayon             
,,the    ,,spirit ,,of ,,the ,,age4     
99       99       99       99       99  
,,jeremy ,,bentham4        ,mr4 ,bentham
 is one of those persons who verify the 
old adage1 that ,a  prophet has no      
honour1 except out of his own country4  
,his reputation  lies at the            

circumference2 and the lights of his    
understanding are  reflected1 with      
increasing lustre1 on the other side of 
the globe4 ,his  name is little known in
 ,england1 better in ,europe1 best of   
all in the  plains of ,chili and the    
mines of ,mexico4 ,he has offered       
constitutions  for the ,new ,world1 and 
legislated for future times4 ,the people
 of  ,westminster1 where he lives1      
hardly know of such a person2 but the   
,siberian savage has received cold      
comfort from his lunar aspect1 and may  
say to him with ,caliban--,i know thee1 
and thy dog and thy bush6 ,the  tawny   
,indian may hold out the hand of        
fellowship to him across the ,,great    
,,pacific4 ,we believe that the ,empress
 ,catherine corresponded with him2  and 
we know that the ,emperor ,alexander    
called upon him1 and presented  him with
 his miniature in a gold snuff-box1     
which the philosopher1 to  his eternal  
honour1 returned4 ,mr4 ,hobhouse is a   
greater man at the  hustings1 ,lord     

,rolle at ,plymouth ,dock2 but ,mr4     
,bentham would carry it  hollow1 on the 
score of popularity1 at ,paris or ,pegu4
 ,the reason is1  that our author's     
influence is purely intellectual4 ,he   
has devoted  his life to the pursuit of 
abstract and general truths1 and to     
those  studies--      ,that waft a      
thought from ,indus to the ,pole--      
and has never mixed himself up with     
personal intrigues or party  politics4  
,he once1 indeed1 stuck up a hand-bill  
to say that he 7,jeremy  ,bentham7 being
 of sound mind1 was of opinion that ,sir
 ,samuel ,romilly was  the most proper  
person to represent ,westminster2 but   
this was the whim  of the moment4       
,otherwise1 his reasonings1 if true at  
all1 are true  everywhere alike3 his    
speculations concern humanity at large1 
and are  not confined to the hundred or 
the bills of mortality4 ,it is in moral 
as  in physical magnitude4 ,the little  
is seen best near3 the great appears  in
 its proper dimensions1 only from a more

 commanding point of view1 and  gains   
strength with time1 and elevation from  
distance6    ,mr4 ,bentham is very much 
among philosophers what ,la ,fontaine   
was among  poets3--in general habits and
 in all but his professional pursuits1  
he  is a mere child4 ,he has lived for  
the last forty years in a house  in     
,westminster1 overlooking the ,park1    
like an anchoret in his cell1  reducing 
law to a system1 and the mind of man to 
a machine4 ,he scarcely  ever goes out1 
and sees very little company4 ,the      
favoured few1 who have  the privilege of
 the entre1 are always admitted one by  
one4 ,he does  not like to have         
witnesses to his conversation4 ,he talks
 a great deal1  and listens to nothing  
but facts4 ,when any one calls upon him1
 he  invites them to take a turn round  
his garden with him 7,mr4 ,bentham is   
an economist of his time1 and sets apart
 this portion of it to air and          
exercise7--and there you may see the    
lively old man1 his mind still  buoyant 

with thought and with the prospect of   
futurity1 in eager  conversation with   
some ,opposition ,member1 some          
expatriated ,patriot1 or  ,transatlantic
 ,adventurer1 urging the extinction of  
,close ,boroughs1 or  planning a code of
 laws for some lone island in the watery
 waste1  his walk almost amounting to a 
run1 his tongue keeping pace with it in 
shrill1 cluttering accents1 negligent of
 his person1 his dress1 and his  manner1
 intent only on his grand theme of      
,,utility--or pausing1 perhaps1  for    
want of breath and with lack-lustre eye 
to point out to the stranger  a stone in
 the wall at the end of his garden      
7overarched by two  beautiful           
cotton-trees7 ,inscribed to the ,prince 
of ,poets1 which  marks the house where 
,milton formerly lived4 ,to shew how    
little the  refinements of taste or     
fancy enter into our author's system1 he
  proposed at one time to cut down these
 beautiful trees1 to convert the  garden
 where he had breathed the air of ,truth

 and ,heaven for near half  a century   
into a paltry ,chreistomathic ,school1  
and to make ,milton's  house 7the cradle
 of ,paradise ,lost7 a thoroughfare1    
like a three-stalled  stable1 for the   
idle rabble of ,westminster to pass     
backwards and  forwards to it with their
 cloven hoofs4 ,let us not1 however1 be 
getting  on too fast--,milton himself   
taught school6 ,there is something not  
altogether dissimilar between ,mr4      
,bentham's appearance1 and the          
portraits of ,milton1 the same silvery  
tone1 a few dishevelled hairs1 a        
peevish1 yet puritanical expression1 an 
irritable temperament corrected  by     
habit and discipline4 ,or in modern     
times1 he is something between          
,franklin and ,charles ,fox1 with the   
comfortable double-chin and sleek       
thriving look of the one1 and the       
quivering lip1 the restless eye1 and    
animated acuteness of the other4 ,his   
eye is quick and lively2 but it  glances
 not from object to object1 but from    

thought to thought4 ,he is  evidently a 
man occupied with some train of fine and
 inward association4  ,he regards the   
people about him no more than the flies 
of a summer4 ,he  meditates the coming  
age4 ,he hears and sees only what suits 
his purpose1  or some foregone          
conclusion2 and looks out for facts and 
passing  occurrences in order to put    
them into his logical machinery and     
grind  them into the dust and powder of 
some subtle theory1 as the miller looks 
out for grist to his mill6 ,add to this 
physiognomical sketch the minor  points 
of costume1 the open shirt-collar1 the  
single-breasted coat1 the  old-fashioned
 half-boots and ribbed stockings2 and   
you will find in ,mr4  ,bentham's       
general appearance a singular mixture of
 boyish simplicity and  of the          
venerableness of age4 ,in a word1 our   
celebrated jurist presents a  striking  
illustration of the difference between  
the philosophical and  the regal look2  
that is1 between the merely abstracted  

and the merely  personal4 ,there is a   
lackadaisical bonhommie about his whole 
aspect1  none of the fierceness of pride
 or power2 an unconscious neglect of    
his own person1 instead of a stately    
assumption of superiority2 a            
good-humoured1 placid intelligence1     
instead of a lynx-eyed watchfulness1  as
 if it wished to make others its prey1  
or was afraid they might turn  and rend 
him2 he is a beneficent spirit1 prying  
into the universe1 not  lording it over 
it2 a thoughtful spectator of the scenes
 of life1 or  ruminator on the fate of  
mankind1 not a painted pageant1 a stupid
 idol  set up on its pedestal of pride  
for men to fall down and worship with   
idiot fear and wonder at the thing      
themselves have made1 and which1        
without that fear and wonder1 would in  
itself be nothing6    ,mr4 ,bentham1    
perhaps1 over-rates the importance of   
his own theories4 ,he  has been heard to
 say 7without any appearance of pride or
 affectation7  that he should like to   

live the remaining years of his life1 a 
year at  a time at the end of the next  
six or eight centuries1 to see the      
effect  which his writings would by that
 time have had upon the world4 ,alas6   
his name will hardly live so long6 ,nor 
do we think1 in point of fact1  that    
,mr4 ,bentham has given any new or      
decided impulse to the human mind4  ,he 
cannot be looked upon in the light of a 
discoverer in legislation  or morals4   
,he has not struck out any great leading
 principle or  parent-truth1 from which 
a number of others might be deduced2 nor
 has he  enriched the common and        
established stock of intelligence with  
original  observations1 like pearls     
thrown into wine4 ,one truth discovered 
is  immortal1 and entitles its author to
 be so3 for1 like a new substance  in   
nature1 it cannot be destroyed4 ,but    
,mr4 ,bentham's forte is  arrangement2  
and the form of truth1 though not its   
essence1 varies with  time and          
circumstance4 ,he has methodised1       

collated1 and condensed all  the        
materials prepared to his hand on the   
subjects of which he treats1  in a      
masterly and scientific manner2 but we  
should find a difficulty  in adducing   
from his different works 7however       
elaborate or closely  reasoned7 any new 
element of thought1 or even a new fact  
or  illustration4 ,his writings are1    
therefore1 chiefly valuable as books of 
reference1 as bringing down the account 
of intellectual inquiry to the  present 
period1 and disposing the results in a  
compendious1 connected1  and tangible   
shape2 but books of reference are       
chiefly serviceable for  facilitating   
the acquisition of knowledge1 and are   
constantly liable  to be superseded and 
to grow out of fashion with its         
progress1 as the  scaffolding is thrown 
down as soon as the building is         
completed4 ,mr4  ,bentham is not the    
first writer 7by a great many7 who has  
assumed the  principle of ,,utility as  
the foundation of just laws1 and of all 

moral  and political reasoning3--his    
merit is1 that he has applied this      
principle more closely and literally2   
that he has brought all the  objections 
and arguments1 more distinctly labelled 
and ticketted1 under  this one head1 and
 made a more constant and explicit      
reference to it at  every step of his   
progress1 than any other writer4        
,perhaps the weak side  of his          
conclusions also is1 that he has carried
 this single view of his  subject too   
far1 and not made sufficient allowance  
for the varieties of  human nature1 and 
the caprices and irregularities of the  
human will4 ,he  has not allowed for the
 wind4 ,it is not that you can be said  
to see  his favourite doctrine of       
,utility glittering everywhere through  
his  system1 like a vein of rich1       
shining ore 7that is not the nature of  
the  material7--but it might be         
plausibly objected that he had struck   
the  whole mass of fancy1 prejudice1    
passion1 sense1 whim1 with his petrific1

  leaden mace1 that he had bound        
volatile ,hermes1 and reduced the theory
  and practice of human life to a caput 
mortuum of reason1 and dull1  plodding1 
technical calculation4 ,the gentleman is
 himself a capital  logician2 and he has
 been led by this circumstance to       
consider man as a  logical animal4 ,we  
fear this view of the matter will hardly
 hold water4  ,if we attend to the moral
 man1 the constitution of his mind will 
scarcely be found to be built up of pure
 reason and a regard to  consequences3  
if we consider the criminal man 7with   
whom the  legislator has chiefly to do7 
it will be found to be still less so4   
,every pleasure1 says ,mr4 ,bentham1 is 
equally a good1 and is to be taken  into
 the account as such in a moral         
estimate1 whether it be the pleasure  of
 sense or of conscience1 whether it     
arise from the exercise of virtue  or   
the perpetration of crime4 ,we are      
afraid the human mind does not  readily 
come into this doctrine1 this ultima    

ratio philosophorum1  interpreted       
according to the letter4 ,our moral     
sentiments are made up of  sympathies   
and antipathies1 of sense and           
imagination1 of understanding  and      
prejudice4 ,the soul1 by reason of its  
weakness1 is an aggregating  and an     
exclusive principle2 it clings          
obstinately to some things1 and         
violently rejects others4 ,and it must  
do so1 in a great measure1 or it  would 
act contrary to its own nature4 ,it     
needs helps and stages in its  progress1
 and all appliances and means to boot1  
which can raise it to  a partial        
conformity to truth and good 7the utmost
 it is capable of7 and  bring it into a 
tolerable harmony with the universe4 ,by
 aiming at too  much1 by dismissing     
collateral aids1 by extending itself to 
the farthest  verge of the conceivable  
and possible1 it loses its elasticity   
and  vigour1 its impulse and its        
direction4 ,the moralist can no more do 
without the intermediate use of rules   

and principles1 without the  'vantage   
ground of habit1 without the levers of  
the understanding1 than  the mechanist  
can discard the use of wheels and       
pulleys1 and perform  every thing by    
simple motion4 ,if the mind of man were 
competent to  comprehend the whole of   
truth and good1 and act upon it at once1
 and  independently of all other        
considerations1 ,mr4 ,bentham's plan    
would be  a feasible one1 and the truth1
 the whole truth1 and nothing but the   
truth would be the best possible ground 
to place morality upon4 ,but  it is not 
so4 ,in ascertaining the rules of moral 
conduct1 we must have  regard not merely
 to the nature of the object1 but to the
 capacity of  the agent1 and to his     
fitness for apprehending or attaining   
it4 ,pleasure  is that which is so in   
itself3 good is that which approves     
itself as  such on reflection1 or the   
idea of which is a source of            
satisfaction4  ,all pleasure is not1    
therefore 7morally speaking7 equally a  

good2 for  all pleasure does not equally
 bear reflecting on4 ,there are some    
tastes  that are sweet in the mouth and 
bitter in the belly2 and there is a     
similar contradiction and anomaly in the
 mind and heart of man4 ,again1  what   
would become of the ,posthaec meminisse 
juvabit of the poet1 if  a principle of 
fluctuation and reaction is not inherent
 in the very  constitution of our       
nature1 or if all moral truth is a mere 
literal  truism8 ,we are not1 then1 so  
much to inquire what certain things are 
abstractedly or in themselves1 as how   
they affect the mind1 and to  approve or
 condemn them accordingly4 ,the same    
object seen near strikes  us more       
powerfully than at a distance3 things   
thrown into masses give  a greater blow 
to the imagination than when scattered  
and divided into  their component parts4
 ,a number of mole-hills do not make a  
mountain1  though a mountain is actually
 made up of atoms3 so moral truth must  
present itself under a certain aspect   

and from a certain point of view1  in   
order to produce its full and proper    
effect upon the mind4 ,the laws  of the 
affections are as necessary as those of 
optics4 ,a calculation of  consequences 
is no more equivalent to a sentiment1   
than a seriatim  enumeration of square  
yards or feet touches the fancy like the
 sight of  the ,alps or ,andes6    ,to  
give an instance or two of what we mean4
 ,those who on pure  cosmopolite        
principles1 or on the ground of abstract
 humanity affect an  extraordinary      
regard for the ,turks and ,tartars1 have
 been accused of  neglecting their      
duties to their friends and next-door   
neighbours4 ,well1  then1 what is the   
state of the question here8 ,one human  
being is1 no  doubt1 as much worth in   
himself1 independently of the           
circumstances of  time or place1 as     
another2 but he is not of so much value 
to us and  our affections4 ,could our   
imagination take wing 7with our         
speculative  faculties7 to the other    

side of the globe or to the ends of the 
universe1 could our eyes behold whatever
 our reason teaches us to be  possible1 
could our hands reach as far as our     
thoughts or wishes1 we  might then busy 
ourselves to advantage with the         
,hottentots1 or hold  intimate converse 
with the inhabitants of the ,moon2 but  
being as we are1  our feelings evaporate
 in so large a space--we must draw the  
circle of  our affections and duties    
somewhat closer--the heart hovers and   
fixes  nearer home4 ,it is true1 the    
bands of private1 or of local and       
natural  affection are often1 nay in    
general1 too tightly strained1 so as    
frequently to do harm instead of good3  
but the present question is  whether we 
can1 with safety and effect1 be wholly  
emancipated from them8  ,whether we     
should shake them off at pleasure and   
without mercy1 as the  only bar to the  
triumph of truth and justice8 ,or       
whether benevolence1  constructed upon a
 logical scale1 would not be merely     

nominal1 whether  duty1 raised to too   
lofty a pitch of refinement1 might not  
sink into  callous indifference or      
hollow selfishness8 ,again1 is it not to
 exact  too high a strain from humanity1
 to ask us to qualify the degree  of    
abhorrence we feel against a murderer by
 taking into our cool  consideration the
 pleasure he may have in committing the 
deed1 and in  the prospect of gratifying
 his avarice or his revenge8 ,we are    
hardly so  formed as to sympathise at   
the same moment with the assassin and   
his victim4 ,the degree of pleasure the 
former may feel1 instead of             
extenuating1 aggravates his guilt1 and  
shews the depth of his malignity4  ,now 
the mind revolts against this by mere   
natural antipathy1 if it is  itself     
well-disposed2 or the slow process of   
reason would afford but a  feeble       
resistance to violence and wrong4 ,the  
will1 which is necessary to  give       
consistency and promptness to our good  
intentions1 cannot extend so  much      

candour and courtesy to the antagonist  
principle of evil3 virtue1  to be       
sincere and practical1 cannot be        
divested entirely of the  blindness and 
impetuosity of passion6 ,it has been    
made a plea 7half  jest1 half earnest7  
for the horrors of war1 that they       
promote trade  and manufactures4 ,it has
 been said1 as a set-off for the        
atrocities  practised upon the negro    
slaves in the ,west ,indies1 that       
without their  blood and sweat1 so many 
millions of people could not have sugar 
to  sweeten their tea4 ,fires and       
murders have been argued to be          
beneficial1  as they serve to fill the  
newspapers1 and for a subject to talk   
of--  this is a sort of sophistry that  
it might be difficult to disprove on    
the bare scheme of contingent utility2  
but on the ground that we have  stated1 
it must pass for a mere irony4 ,what the
 proportion between the  good and the   
evil will really be found in any of the 
supposed cases1  may be a question to   

the understanding2 but to the           
imagination and the  heart1 that is1 to 
the natural feelings of mankind1 it     
admits of none6    ,mr4 ,bentham1 in    
adjusting the provisions of a penal     
code1 lays too  little stress on the    
cooperation of the natural prejudices of
 mankind1  and the habitual feelings of 
that class of persons for whom they are 
more particularly designed4 ,legislators
 7we mean writers on legislation7  are  
philosophers1 and governed by their     
reason3 criminals1 for whose  controul  
laws are made1 are a set of desperadoes1
 governed only by their  passions4 ,what
 wonder that so little progress has been
 made towards a  mutual understanding   
between the two parties6 ,they are quite
 a different  species1 and speak a      
different language1 and are sadly at a  
loss for a  common interpreter between  
them4 ,perhaps the ,ordinary of ,newgate
 bids  as fair for this office as any   
one4 ,what should ,mr4 ,bentham1 sitting
 at  ease in his arm-chair1 composing   

his mind before he begins to write by a 
prelude on the organ1 and looking out at
 a beautiful prospect when he  is at a  
loss for an idea1 know of the principles
 of action of rogues1  outlaws1 and     
vagabonds8 ,no more than ,montaigne of  
the motions of his  cat6 ,if sanguine   
and tender-hearted philanthropists have 
set on foot an  inquiry into the        
barbarity and the defects of penal laws1
 the practical  improvements have been  
mostly suggested by reformed            
cut-throats1  turnkeys1 and             
thief-takers4 ,what even can the        
,honourable ,house1 who when  the       
,speaker has pronounced the well-known1 
wished-for sounds ,that this  house do  
now adjourn1 retire1 after voting a     
royal crusade or a loan of  millions1 to
 lie on down1 and feed on plate in      
spacious palaces1 know  of what passes  
in the hearts of wretches in garrets and
 night-cellars1  petty pilferers and    
marauders1 who cut throats and pick     
pockets with  their own hands8 ,the     

thing is impossible4 ,the laws of the   
country are1  therefore1 ineffectual and
 abortive1 because they are made by the 
rich  for the poor1 by the wise for the 
ignorant1 by the respectable and        
exalted in station for the very scum and
 refuse of the community4 ,if  ,newgate 
would resolve itself into a committee of
 the whole ,press-yard1  with ,jack     
,ketch at its head1 aided by            
confidential persons from the  county   
prisons or the ,hulks1 and would make a 
clear breast1 some data  might be found 
out to proceed upon2 but as it is1 the  
criminal mind of  the country is a book 
sealed1 no one has been able to         
penetrate to the  inside6 ,mr4 ,bentham1
 in his attempts to revise and amend our
 criminal  jurisprudence1 proceeds      
entirely on his favourite principle of  
,utility4  ,convince highwaymen and     
house-breakers that it will be for their
  interest to reform1 and they will     
reform and lead honest lives2  according
 to ,mr4 ,bentham4 ,he says1 ,all men   

act from calculation1 even  madmen      
reason4 ,and1 in our opinion1 he might  
as well carry this maxim  to ,bedlam or 
,st4 ,luke's1 and apply it to the       
inhabitants1 as think to  coerce or     
overawe the inmates of a gaol1 or those 
whose practices  make them candidates   
for that distinction1 by the mere dry1  
detailed  convictions of the            
understanding4 ,criminals are not to be 
influenced by  reason2 for it is of the 
very essence of crime to disregard      
consequences  both to ourselves and     
others4 ,you may as well preach         
philosophy to a  drunken man1 or to the 
dead1 as to those who are under the     
instigation  of any mischievous passion4
 ,a man is a drunkard1 and you tell him 
he  ought to be sober2 he is debauched1 
and you ask him to reform2 he  is idle1 
and you recommend industry to him as his
 wisest course2 he  gambles1 and you    
remind him that he may be ruined by this
 foible2 he  has lost his character1 and
 you advise him to get into some        

reputable  service or lucrative         
situation2 vice becomes a habit with    
him1 and you  request him to rouse      
himself and shake it off2 he is         
starving1 and you  warn him that if he  
breaks the law1 he will be hanged4 ,none
 of this  reasoning reaches the mark it 
aims at4 ,the culprit1 who violates and 
suffers the vengeance of the laws1 is   
not the dupe of ignorance1 but the      
slave of passion1 the victim of habit or
 necessity4 ,to argue with strong       
passion1 with inveterate habit1 with    
desperate circumstances1 is to talk  to 
the winds4 ,clownish ignorance may      
indeed be dispelled1 and  taught better2
 but it is seldom that a criminal is not
 aware of the  consequences of his act1 
or has not made up his mind to the      
alternative4  ,they are1 in general1 too
 knowing by half4 ,you tell a person of 
this  stamp what is his interest2 he    
says he does not care about his         
interest1  or the world and he differ on
 that particular4 ,but there is one     

point on  which he must agree with them1
 namely1 what they think of his conduct1
  and that is the only hold you have of 
him4 ,a man may be callous and          
indifferent to what happens to himself2 
but he is never indifferent to  public  
opinion1 or proof against open scorn and
 infamy4 ,shame1 then1  not fear1 is the
 sheet-anchor of the law4 ,he who is not
 afraid of being  pointed at as a thief1
 will not mind a month's hard labour4   
,he who is  prepared to take the life of
 another1 is already reckless of his    
own4  ,but every one makes a sorry      
figure in the pillory2 and the being    
launched from the ,new ,drop lowers a   
man in his own opinion4 ,the lawless    
and violent spirit1 who is hurried by   
headstrong self-will to break the  laws1
 does not like to have the ground of    
pride and obstinacy struck  from under  
his feet4 ,this is what gives the swells
 of the metropolis  such a dread of the 
tread-mill--it makes them ridiculous4   
,it must be  confessed1 that this very  

circumstance renders the reform of      
criminals  nearly hopeless4 ,it is the  
apprehension of being stigmatized by    
public  opinion1 the fear of what will  
be thought and said of them1 that deters
  men from the violation of the laws1   
while their character remains           
unimpeached2 but honour once lost1 all  
is lost4 ,the man can never be  himself 
again6 ,a citizen is like a soldier1 a  
part of a machine1 who  submits to      
certain hardships1 privations1 and      
dangers1 not for his own  ease1         
pleasure1 profit1 or even conscience1   
but--for shame4 ,what is  it that keeps 
the machine together in either case8    
,not punishment or  discipline1 but     
sympathy4 ,the soldier mounts the breach
 or stands in  the trenches1 the peasant
 hedges and ditches1 or the mechanic    
plies his  ceaseless task1 because the  
one will not be called a coward1 the    
other  a rogue3 but let the one turn    
deserter and the other vagabond1 and    
there is an end of him4 ,the grinding   

law of necessity1 which is no other     
than a name1 a breath1 loses its force2 
he is no longer sustained by  the good  
opinion of others1 and he drops out of  
his place in society1  a useless clog6  
,mr4 ,bentham takes a culprit1 and puts 
him into what he  calls a ,panopticon1  
that is1 a sort of circular prison1 with
 open  cells1 like a glass bee-hive4 ,he
 sits in the middle1 and sees all the   
other does4 ,he gives him work to do1   
and lectures him if he does not do  it4 
,he takes liquor from him1 and society1 
and liberty2 but he feeds and  clothes  
him1 and keeps him out of mischief2 and 
when he has convinced  him1 by force and
 reason together1 that this life is for 
his good1 he  turns him out upon the    
world a reformed man1 and as confident  
of the  success of his handy-work1 as   
the shoemaker of that which he has just 
taken off the last1 or the ,parisian    
barber in ,sterne1 of the buckle  of his
 wig4 ,dip it in the ocean1 said the    
perruquier1 and it will  stand6 ,but we 

doubt the durability of our projector's 
patchwork4 ,will  our convert to the    
great principle of ,utility work when he
 is from under  ,mr4 ,bentham's eye1    
because he was forced to work when under
 it8 ,will he  keep sober1 because he   
has been kept from liquor so long8 ,will
 he not  return to loose company1       
because he has had the pleasure of      
sitting  vis-a-vis with a philosopher of
 late8 ,will he not steal1 now that his 
hands  are untied8 ,will he not take the
 road1 now that it is free to him8 ,will
  he not call his benefactor all the    
names he can set his tongue to1 the     
moment his back is turned8 ,all this is 
more than to be feared4 ,the charm  of  
criminal life1 like that of savage life1
 consists in liberty1 in  hardship1 in  
danger1 and in the contempt of death1 in
 one word1 in  extraordinary excitement2
 and he who has tasted of it1 will no   
more  return to regular habits of life1 
than a man will take to water after     
drinking brandy1 or than a wild beast   

will give over hunting its prey4        
,miracles never cease1 to be sure2 but  
they are not to be had wholesale1  or to
 order4 ,mr4 ,owen1 who is another of   
these proprietors and  patentees of     
reform1 has lately got an ,american     
savage with him1 whom he  carries about 
in great triumph and complacency1 as an 
antithesis to his  ,new ,view of        
,society1 and as winding up his         
reasoning to what it mainly  wanted1 an 
epigrammatic point4 ,does the benevolent
 visionary of the  ,lanark cotton-mills 
really think this natural man will act  
as a foil  to his artificial man8 ,does 
he for a moment imagine that his        
,address  to the higher and middle      
classes1 with all its advantages of     
fiction1  makes any thing like so       
interesting a romance as ,hunter's      
,captivity  among the ,north ,american  
,indians8 ,has he any thing to shew1 in 
all the  apparatus of ,new ,lanark and  
its desolate monotony1 to excite the    
thrill  of imagination like the blankets

 made of wreaths of snow under which the
  wild wood-rovers bury themselves for  
weeks in winter8 ,or the skin of a      
leopard1 which our hardy adventurer     
slew1 and which served him for great    
coat and bedding8 ,or the rattle-snake  
that he found by his side as a          
bedfellow8 ,or his rolling himself into 
a ball to escape from him8 ,or his      
suddenly placing himself against a tree 
to avoid being trampled to death  by the
 herd of wild buffaloes1 that came      
rushing on like the sound of  thunder8  
,or his account of the huge spiders that
 prey on bluebottles and  gilded flies  
in green pathless forests2 or of the    
great ,pacific ,ocean1  that the natives
 look upon as the gulf that parts time  
from eternity1  and that is to waft them
 to the spirits of their fathers8 ,after
 all  this1 ,mr4 ,hunter must find ,mr4 
,owen and his parallellograms trite and 
flat1 and will1 we suspect1 take an     
opportunity to escape from them6    ,mr4
 ,bentham's method of reasoning1 though 

comprehensive and exact1  labours under 
the defect of most systems--it is too   
topical4 ,it  includes every thing2 but 
it includes every thing alike4 ,it is   
rather  like an inventory1 than a       
valuation of different arguments4 ,every
  possible suggestion finds a place1 so 
that the mind is distracted as  much as 
enlightened by this perplexing accuracy4
 ,the exceptions seem  as important as  
the rule4 ,by attending to the minute1  
we overlook the  great2 and in summing  
up an account1 it will not do merely to 
insist on  the number of items without  
considering their amount4 ,our author's 
page presents a very nicely dove-tailed 
mosaic pavement of legal  common-places4
 ,we slip and slide over its even       
surface without being  arrested any     
where4 ,or his view of the human mind   
resembles a map1  rather than a picture3
 the outline1 the disposition is        
correct1 but it  wants colouring and    
relief4 ,there is a technicality of     
manner1 which  renders his writings of  

more value to the professional inquirer 
than  to the general reader4 ,again1 his
 style is unpopular1 not to say         
unintelligible4 ,he writes a language of
 his own1 that darkens  knowledge4 ,his 
works have been translated into         
,french--they ought to  be translated   
into ,english4 ,people wonder that ,mr4 
,bentham has not been  prosecuted for   
the boldness and severity of some of his
 invectives4 ,he  might wrap up high    
treason in one of his inextricable      
periods1 and  it would never find its   
way into ,westminster-,hall4 ,he is a   
kind of  ,manuscript author--he writes a
 cypher-hand1 which the vulgar have no  
key  to4 ,the construction of his       
sentences is a curious framework with   
pegs  and hooks to hang his thoughts    
upon1 for his own use and guidance1  but
 almost out of the reach of every body  
else4 ,it is a barbarous  philosophical 
jargon1 with all the repetitions1       
parentheses1  formalities1 uncouth      
nomenclature and verbiage of law-,latin2

 and what  makes it worse1 it is not    
mere verbiage1 but has a great deal of  
acuteness and meaning in it1 which you  
would be glad to pick out if you  could4
 ,in short1 ,mr4 ,bentham writes as if  
he was allowed but a single  sentence to
 express his whole view of a subject in1
 and as if1 should he  omit a single    
circumstance or step of the argument1 it
 would be lost to  the world for ever1  
like an estate by a flaw in the         
title-deeds4 ,this  is over-rating the  
importance of our own discoveries1 and  
mistaking the  nature and object of     
language altogether4 ,mr4 ,bentham has  
acquired  this disability--it is not    
natural to him4 ,his admirable little   
work ,on  ,usury1 published forty years 
ago1 is clear1 easy1 and vigorous4 ,but 
,mr4  ,bentham has shut himself up since
 then in nook monastic1 conversing  only
 with followers of his own1 or with men 
of ,ind1 and has  endeavoured to overlay
 his natural humour1 sense1 spirit1 and 
style  with the dust and cobwebs of an  

obscure solitude4 ,the best of it is1 he
  thinks his present mode of expressing 
himself perfect1 and that whatever  may 
be objected to his law or logic1 no one 
can find the least fault  with the      
purity1 simplicity1 and perspicuity of  
his style4    ,mr4 ,bentham1 in private 
life1 is an amiable and exemplary       
character4  ,he is a little romantic1 or
 so2 and has dissipated part of a       
handsome  fortune in practical          
speculations4 ,he lends an ear to       
plausible  projectors1 and1 if he cannot
 prove them to be wrong in their        
premises  or their conclusions1 thinks  
himself bound in reason to stake his    
money on the venture4 ,strict logicians 
are licensed visionaries4 ,mr4  ,bentham
 is half-brother to the late ,mr4       
,speaker ,abbott,a--,proh pudor6  ,he   
was educated at ,eton1 and still takes  
our novices to task about  a passage in 
,homer1 or a metre in ,virgil4 ,he was  
afterwards at the  ,university1 and he  
has described the scruples of an        

ingenuous  youthful mind about          
subscribing the articles1 in a passage  
in his  ,church-of-,englandism1 which   
smacks of truth and honour both1 and    
does  one good to read it in an age1    
when to be honest 7or not to laugh at   
the very idea of honesty7 is to be one  
man picked out of ten thousand6  ,mr4   
,bentham relieves his mind sometimes1   
after the fatigue of study1 by  playing 
on a fine old organ1 and has a relish   
for ,hogarth's prints4 ,he  turns wooden
 utensils in a lathe for exercise1 and  
fancies he can turn  men in the same    
manner4 ,he has no great fondness for   
poetry1 and can  hardly extract a moral 
out of ,shakespear4 ,his house is warmed
 and  lighted by steam4 ,he is one of   
those who prefer the artificial to the  
natural in most things1 and think the   
mind of man omnipotent4 ,he has a  great
 contempt for out-of-door prospects1 for
 green fields and  trees1 and is for    
referring every thing to ,utility4      
,there is a little  narrowness in this2 

for if all the sources of satisfaction  
are taken  away1 what is to become of   
utility itself8 ,it is1 indeed1 the     
great  fault of this able and           
extraordinary man1 that he has          
concentrated his  faculties and feelings
 too entirely on one subject and        
pursuit1 and has  not looked enough     
abroad into universality4,b             
,footnote ,a3 ,now ,lord ,colchester4   
,footnote ,b3 ,lord ,bacon's            
,advancement of ,learning4              
99       99       99       99       99  
,,william ,,godwin        ,the ,spirit  
of the ,age was never more fully-shewn  
than in its treatment  of this          
writer--its love of paradox and change1 
its dastard submission  to prejudice and
 to the fashion of the day4             
,five-and-twenty years ago he  was in   
the very zenith of a sultry and         
unwholesome popularity2 he blazed  as a 
sun in the firmament of reputation2 no  
one was more talked of1 more  looked up 
to1 more sought after1 and wherever     

liberty1 truth1 justice  was the theme1 
his name was not far off3--now he has   
sunk below the  horizon1 and enjoys the 
serene twilight of a doubtful           
immortality4 ,mr4  ,godwin1 during his  
lifetime1 has secured to himself the    
triumphs and the  mortifications of an  
extreme notoriety and of a sort of      
posthumous fame4    ,his bark1 after    
being tossed in the revolutionary       
tempest1 now raised to  heaven by all   
the fury of popular breath1 now almost  
dashed in pieces1  and buried in the    
quicksands of ignorance1 or scorched    
with the  lightning of momentary        
indignation1 at length floats on the    
calm wave  that is to bear it down the  
stream of time4 ,mr4 ,godwin's person is
 not  known1 he is not pointed out in   
the street1 his conversation is not     
courted1 his opinions are not asked1 he 
is at the head of no cabal1 he  belongs 
to no party in the ,state1 he has no    
train of admirers1 no  one thinks it    
worth his while even to traduce and     

vilify him1 he has  scarcely friend or  
foe1 the world make a point 7as         
,goldsmith used to  say7 of taking no   
more notice of him than if such an      
individual had  never existed2 he is to 
all ordinary intents and purposes dead  
and  buried2 but the author of          
,political ,justice and of ,caleb       
,williams  can never die1 his name is an
 abstraction in letters1 his works are  
standard in the history of intellect4   
,he is thought of now like any  eminent 
writer a hundred-and-fifty years ago1 or
 just as he will be  a hundred-and-fifty
 years hence4 ,he knows this1 and smiles
 in silent  mockery of himself1 reposing
 on the monument of his fame--          
,sedet1 in eternumque sedebit infelix   
,theseus4    ,no work in our time gave  
such a blow to the philosophical mind of
 the  country as the celebrated ,enquiry
 concerning ,political ,justice4 ,tom   
,paine was considered for the time as a 
,tom ,fool to him2 ,paley an old  woman2
 ,edmund ,burke a flashy sophist4       

,truth1 moral truth1 it was  supposed1  
had here taken up its abode2 and these  
were the oracles of  thought4 ,throw    
aside your books of chemistry1 said     
,wordsworth to a  young man1 a student  
in the ,temple1 and read ,godwin on     
,necessity4 ,sad  necessity6 ,fatal     
reverse6 ,is truth then so variable8 ,is
 it one thing at  twenty1 and another at
 forty8 ,is it at a burning heat in     
#agic1 and below  zero in #ahad8 ,not   
so1 in the name of manhood and of common
 sense6 ,let  us pause here a           
little4--,mr4 ,godwin indulged in       
extreme opinions1 and  carried with him 
all the most sanguine and fearless      
understandings of  the time4 ,what then8
 ,because those opinions were           
overcharged1 were they  therefore       
altogether groundless8 ,is the very ,god
 of our idolatry all of  a sudden to    
become an abomination and an anathema8  
,could so many young  men of talent1 of 
education1 and of principle have been   
hurried away by  what had neither truth1

 nor nature1 not one particle of honest 
feeling  nor the least shew of reason in
 it8 ,is the ,modern ,philosophy 7as it 
has been called7 at one moment a        
youthful bride1 and the next a withered 
beldame1 like the false ,duessa in      
,spenser8 ,or is the vaunted edifice  of
 ,reason1 like his ,house of ,pride1    
gorgeous in front1 and dazzling to      
approach1 while its hinder parts are    
ruinous1 decayed1 and old8 ,has  the    
main prop1 which supported the mighty   
fabric1 been shaken and given  way under
 the strong grasp of some ,samson2 or   
has it not rather been  undermined by   
rats and vermin8 ,at one time1 it almost
 seemed1 that if  this failed1      ,the
 pillar'd firmament was rottenness1     
,and earth's base built of stubble3     
now scarce a shadow of it remains1 it is
 crumbled to dust1 nor is it  even      
talked of6 ,what then1 went ye forth for
 to see1 a reed shaken  with the wind8  
,was it for this that our young gownsmen
 of the greatest  expectation and       

promise1 versed in classic lore1 steeped
 in dialectics1  armed at all points for
 the foe1 well read1 well nurtured1 well
 provided  for1 left the ,university and
 the prospect of lawn sleeves1 tearing  
asunder the shackles of the free born   
spirit1 and the cobwebs of              
school-divinity1 to throw themselves at 
the feet of the new ,gamaliel1  and     
learn wisdom from him8 ,was it for this1
 that students at the bar1  acute1      
inquisitive1 sceptical 7here only wild  
enthusiasts7 neglected for  a while the 
paths of preferment and the law as too  
narrow1 tortuous1 and  unseemly to bear 
the pure and broad light of reason8 ,was
 it for this1  that students in medicine
 missed their way to ,lecturerships and 
the top  of their profession1 deeming   
lightly of the health of the body1 and  
dreaming only of the renovation of      
society and the march of mind8 ,was  it 
to this that ,mr4 ,southey's            
,inscriptions pointed8 to this that ,mr4
  ,coleridge's ,religious ,musings      

tended8 ,was it for this1 that ,mr4     
,godwin  himself sat with arms folded1  
and1 like ,cato1 gave his little senate 
laws8 ,or rather1 like another          
,prospero1 uttered syllables that with  
their enchanted breath were to change   
the world1 and might almost stop  the   
stars in their courses8 ,oh6 and is all 
forgot8 ,is this sun of  intellect      
blotted from the sky8 ,or has it        
suffered total eclipse8 ,or is  it we   
who make the fancied gloom1 by looking  
at it through the paltry1  broken1      
stained fragments of our own interests  
and prejudices8 ,were we  fools then1 or
 are we dishonest now8 ,or was the      
impulse of the mind less  likely to be  
true and sound when it arose from high  
thought and warm  feeling1 than         
afterwards1 when it was warped and      
debased by the example1  the vices1 and 
follies of the world8    ,the fault1    
then1 of ,mr4 ,godwin's philosophy1 in  
one word1 was too much  ambition--by    
that sin fell the angels6 ,he conceived 

too nobly of his  fellows 7the most     
unpardonable crime against them1 for    
there is nothing  that annoys our       
self-love so much as being complimented 
on imaginary  achievements1 to which we 
are wholly unequal7--he raised the      
standard  of morality above the reach of
 humanity1 and by directing virtue to   
the  most airy and romantic heights1    
made her path dangerous1 solitary1 and  
impracticable4 ,the author of the       
,political ,justice took abstract       
reason for the rule of conduct1 and     
abstract good for its end4 ,he places   
the human mind on an elevation1 from    
which it commands a view of the  whole  
line of moral consequences2 and requires
 it to conform its acts to  the larger  
and more enlightened conscience which it
 has thus acquired4  ,he absolves man   
from the gross and narrow ties of sense1
 custom1  authority1 private and local  
attachment1 in order that he may devote 
himself to the boundless pursuit of     
universal benevolence4 ,mr4 ,godwin     

gives no quarter to the amiable         
weaknesses of our nature1 nor does he   
stoop to avail himself of the           
supplementary aids of an imperfect      
virtue4  ,gratitude1 promises1          
friendship1 family affection give way1  
not that  they may be merged in the     
opposite vices or in want of principle2 
but  that the void may be filled up by  
the disinterested love of good1 and  the
 dictates of inflexible justice1 which  
is the law of laws1 and  sovereign of   
sovereigns4 ,all minor considerations   
yield1 in his system1  to the stern     
sense of duty1 as they do1 in the       
ordinary and established  ones1 to the  
voice of necessity4 ,mr4 ,godwin's      
theory and that of more  approved       
reasoners differ only in this1 that what
 are with them the  exceptions1 the     
extreme cases1 he makes the every-day   
rule4 ,no one  denies that on great     
occasions1 in moments of fearful        
excitement1 or  when a mighty object is 
at stake1 the lesser and merely         

instrumental  points of duty are to be  
sacrificed without remorse at the shrine
 of  patriotism1 of honour1 and of      
conscience4 ,but the disciple of the    
,new  ,school 7no wonder it found so    
many impugners1 even in its own bosom67 
is to be always the hero of duty2 the   
law to which he has bound himself  never
 swerves nor relaxes2 his feeling of    
what is right is to be at  all times    
wrought up to a pitch of enthusiastic   
self-devotion2 he must  become the      
unshrinking martyr and confessor of the 
public good4 ,if it  be said that this  
scheme is chimerical and impracticable  
on ordinary  occasions1 and to the      
generality of mankind1 well and good2   
but those  who accuse the author of     
having trampled on the common feelings  
and  prejudices of mankind in wantonness
 or insult1 or without wishing to       
substitute something better 7and only   
unattainable1 because it is  better7 in 
their stead1 accuse him wrongfully4 ,we 
may not be able to  launch the bark of  

our affections on the ocean-tide of     
humanity1 we  may be forced to paddle   
along its shores1 or shelter in its     
creeks and  rivulets3 but we have no    
right to reproach the bold and          
adventurous  pilot1 who dared us to     
tempt the uncertain abyss1 with our own 
want of  courage or of skill1 or with   
the jealousies and impatience1 which    
deter  us from undertaking1 or might    
prevent us from accomplishing the       
voyage6    ,the ,enquiry concerning     
,political ,justice 7it was urged by its
  favourers and defenders at the time1  
and may still be so1 without either     
profaneness or levity7 is a metaphysical
 and logical commentary on some  of the 
most beautiful and striking texts of    
,scripture4 ,mr4 ,godwin is  a mixture  
of the ,stoic and of the ,christian     
philosopher4 ,to break the  force of the
 vulgar objections and outcry that have 
been raised against  the ,modern        
,philosophy1 as if it were a new and    
monstrous birth in  morals1 it may be   

worth noticing1 that volumes of sermons 
have been  written to excuse the founder
 of ,christianity for not including     
friendship and private affection among  
its golden rules1 but rather  excluding 
them4,a ,moreover1 the answer to the    
question1 ,who is thy  neighbour8 added 
to the divine precept1 ,thou shalt love 
thy neighbour  as thyself1 is the same  
as in the exploded pages of our         
author1--,he to  whom we can do most    
good4 ,in determining this point1 we    
were not to be  influenced by any       
extrinsic or collateral considerations1 
by our own  predilections1 or the       
expectations of others1 by our          
obligations to them  or any services    
they might be able to render us1 by the 
climate they  were born in1 by the house
 they lived in1 by rank or religion1 or 
party1  or personal ties1 but by the    
abstract merits1 the pure and unbiassed 
justice of the case4 ,the artificial    
helps and checks to moral conduct  were 
set aside as spurious and unnecessary1  

and we came at once to the  grand and   
simple question--,in what manner we     
could best contribute to  the greatest  
possible good8 ,this was the paramount  
obligation in all  cases whatever1 from 
which we had no right to free ourselves 
upon any  idle or formal pretext1 and of
 which each person was to judge for     
himself1 under the infallible authority 
of his own opinion and the  inviolable  
sanction of his self-approbation4 ,there
 was the rub that  made philosophy of so
 short life6 ,mr4 ,godwin's definition  
of morals  was the same as the admired  
one of law1 reason without passion2 but 
with the unlimited scope of private     
opinion1 and in a boundless field of    
speculation 7for nothing less would     
satisfy the pretensions of the ,new     
,school71 there was danger that the     
unseasoned novice might substitute  some
 pragmatical conceit of his own for the 
rule of right reason1 and  mistake a    
heartless indifference for a superiority
 to more natural and  generous feelings4

 ,our ardent and dauntless reformer     
followed out the  moral of the parable  
of the ,good ,samaritan into its most   
rigid and  repulsive consequences with a
 pen of steel1 and let fall his         
trenchant  blade on every vulnerable    
point of human infirmity2 but there is a
 want  in his system of the mild and    
persuasive tone of the ,gospel1 where   
all  is conscience and tender heart4    
,man was indeed screwed up1 by mood and 
figure1 into a logical machine1 that was
 to forward the public good with  the   
utmost punctuality and effect1 and it   
might go very well on smooth  ground and
 under favourable circumstances2 but    
would it work up-hill  or against the   
grain8 ,it was to be feared that the    
proud ,temple of  ,reason1 which at a   
distance and in stately supposition     
shone like the  palaces of the ,new     
,jerusalem1 might 7when placed on actual
 ground7 be  broken up into the sordid  
styes of sensuality1 and the petty      
huckster's  shops of self-interest6     

,every man 7it was proposed--so ran the 
tenour  of the bond7 was to be a        
,regulus1 a ,codrus1 a ,cato1 or a      
,brutus--every  woman a ,mother of the  
,gracchi4      ------------,it was well 
said1    ,and 'tis a kind of good deed  
to say well4    ,but heroes on paper    
might degenerate into vagabonds in      
practice1  ,corinnas into courtezans4   
,thus a refined and permanent individual
  attachment is intended to supply the  
place and avoid the inconveniences  of  
marriage2 but vows of eternal constancy1
 without church security1 are  found to 
be fragile4 ,a member of the ideal and  
perfect commonwealth of  letters lends  
another a hundred pounds for immediate  
and pressing use2  and when he applies  
for it again1 the borrower has still    
more need of it  than he1 and retains it
 for his own especial1 which is         
tantamount to the  public good4 ,the    
,exchequer of pure reason1 like that of 
the ,state1 never  refunds4 ,the        
political as well as the religious      

fanatic appeals from  the over-weening  
opinion and claims of others to the     
highest and most  impartial tribunal1   
namely1 his own breast4 ,two persons    
agree to  live together in ,chambers on 
principles of pure equality and mutual  
assistance--but when it comes to the    
push1 one of them finds that the  other 
always insists on his fetching water    
from the pump in ,hare-court1  and      
cleaning his shoes for him4 ,a modest   
assurance was not the least             
indispensable virtue in the new         
perfectibility code2 and it was hence   
discovered to be a scheme1 like other   
schemes where there are all prizes  and 
no blanks1 for the accommodation of the 
enterprizing and cunning1 at  the       
expence of the credulous and honest4    
,this broke up the system1 and  left no 
good odour behind it6 ,reason has become
 a sort of bye-word1 and  philosophy has
 fallen first into a fasting1 then into 
a sadness1  then into a decline1 and    
last1 into the dissolution of which we  

all  complain6 ,this is a worse error   
than the former3 we may be said to have 
lost the immortal part of ourselves1 and
 what remains is beastly6  ,the point of
 view from which this matter may be     
fairly considered1 is  two-fold1 and may
 be stated thus3--,in the first place1  
it by no means  follows1 because reason 
is found not to be the only infallible  
or safe  rule of conduct1 that it is no 
rule at all2 or that we are to discard  
it  altogether with derision and        
ignominy4 ,on the contrary1 if not the  
sole1  it is the principal ground of    
action2 it is the guide1 the stay and   
anchor of our purest thoughts1 and soul 
of all our moral being4 ,in  proportion 
as we strengthen and expand this        
principle1 and bring our  affections and
 subordinate1 but perhaps more powerful 
motives of action  into harmony with it1
 it will not admit of a doubt that we   
advance to  the goal of perfection1 and 
answer the ends of our creation1 those  
ends  which not only morality enjoins1  

but which religion sanctions4 ,if with  
the utmost stretch of reason1 man cannot
 7as some seemed inclined to  suppose7  
soar up to the ,god1 and quit the ground
 of human frailty1 yet1  stripped wholly
 of it1 he sinks at once into the brute4
 ,if it cannot  stand alone1 in its     
naked simplicity1 but requires other    
props to  buttress it up1 or ornaments  
to set it off2 yet without it the moral 
structure would fall flat and           
dishonoured to the ground4 ,private     
reason  is that which raises the        
individual above his mere animal        
instincts1  appetites and passions3     
public reason in its gradual progress   
separates  the savage from the civilized
 state4 ,without the one1 men would     
resemble  wild beasts in their dens2    
without the other1 they would be        
speedily  converted into hordes of      
barbarians or banditti4 ,sir ,walter    
,scott1 in  his zeal to restore the     
spirit of loyalty1 of passive obedience 
and  non-resistance as an acknowledgment

 for his having been created a  ,baronet
 by a ,prince of the ,house of          
,brunswick1 may think it a fine thing   
to return in imagination to the good old
 times1 when in ,auvergne  alone1 there 
were three hundred nobles whose most    
ordinary actions were  robbery1 rape1   
and murder1 when the castle of each     
,norman baron was  a strong hold from   
which the lordly proprietor issued to   
oppress and  plunder the neighbouring   
districts1 and when the ,saxon peasantry
  were treated by their gay and gallant 
tyrants as a herd of loathsome          
swine--but for our own parts we beg to  
be excused2 we had rather live  in the  
same age with the author of ,waverley   
and ,blackwood's ,magazine4  ,reason is 
the meter and alnager in civil          
intercourse1 by which each  person's    
upstart and contradictory pretensions   
are weighed and approved  or found      
wanting1 and without which it could not 
subsist1 any more than  traffic or the  
exchange of commodities could be carried

 on without  weights and measures4 ,it  
is the medium of knowledge1 and the     
polisher of  manners1 by creating common
 interests and ideas4 ,or in the words  
of a  contemporary writer1 ,reason is   
the queen of the moral world1 the soul  
of the universe1 the lamp of human life1
 the pillar of society1 the  foundation 
of law1 the beacon of nations1 the      
golden chain let down from  heaven1     
which links all accountable and all     
intelligent natures in one  common      
system--and in the vain strife between  
fanatic innovation and  fanatic         
prejudice1 we are exhorted to dethrone  
this queen of the world1  to blot out   
this light of the mind1 to deface this  
fair column1 to break  in pieces this   
golden chain6 ,we are to discard and    
throw from us with  loud taunts and     
bitter execrations that reason1 which   
has been the lofty  theme of the        
philosopher1 the poet1 the moralist1 and
 the divine1 whose  name was not first  
named to be abused by the enthusiasts of

 the ,french  ,revolution1 or to be     
blasphemed by the madder enthusiasts1   
the advocates  of ,divine ,right1 but   
which is coeval with1 and inseparable   
from the  nature and faculties of       
man--is the image of his ,maker stamped 
upon him  at his birth1 the             
understanding breathed into him with the
 breath of  life1 and in the            
participation and improvement of which  
alone he is  raised above the brute     
creation and his own physical           
nature6--,the  overstrained and         
ridiculous pretensions of monks and     
ascetics were never  thought to justify 
a return to unbridled licence of        
manners1 or the  throwing aside of all  
decency4 ,the hypocrisy1 cruelty1 and   
fanaticism1  often attendant on peculiar
 professions of sanctity1 have not      
banished  the name of religion from the 
world4 ,neither can the unreasonableness
  of the reason of some modern sciolists
 so unreason our reason1 as to  debar us
 of the benefit of this principle in    

future1 or to disfranchise  us of the   
highest privilege of our nature4 ,in the
 second place1 if it is  admitted that  
,reason alone is not the sole and       
self-sufficient ground of  morals1 it is
 to ,mr4 ,godwin that we are indebted   
for having settled the  point4 ,no one  
denied or distrusted this principle     
7before his time7 as  the absolute judge
 and interpreter in all questions of    
difficulty2  and if this is no longer   
the case1 it is because he has taken    
this  principle1 and followed it into   
its remotest consequences with more     
keenness of eye and steadiness of hand  
than any other expounder of  ethics4    
,his grand work is 7at least7 an        
experimentum crucis to shew  the weak   
sides and imperfections of human reason 
as the sole law of  human action4 ,by   
overshooting the mark1 or by flying an  
eagle flight1  forth and right on1 he   
has pointed out the limit or line of    
separation1  between what is practicable
 and what is barely conceivable--by     

imposing  impossible tasks on the naked 
strength of the will1 he has discovered 
how far it is or is not in our power to 
dispense with the illusions of  sense1  
to resist the calls of affection1 to    
emancipate ourselves from  the force of 
habit2 and thus1 though he has not said 
it himself1 has  enabled others to say  
to the towering aspirations after good1 
and to the  over-bearing pride of human 
intellect--,thus far shalt thou come1   
and no  farther6 ,captain ,parry would  
be thought to have rendered a service   
to navigation and his country1 no less  
by proving that there is no             
,north-,west ,passage1 than if he had   
ascertained that there is one3 so ,mr4  
,godwin has rendered an essential       
service to moral science1 by attempting 
7in vain7 to pass the ,arctic ,circle   
and ,frozen ,regions1 where the         
understanding is no longer warmed by the
 affections1 nor fanned by the  breeze  
of fancy6 ,this is the effect of all    
bold1 original1 and powerful  thinking1 

that it either discovers the truth1 or  
detects where error  lies2 and the only 
crime with which ,mr4 ,godwin can be    
charged as a  political and moral       
reasoner is1 that he has displayed a    
more ardent  spirit1 and a more         
independent activity of thought than    
others1 in  establishing the fallacy 7if
 fallacy it be7 of an old popular       
prejudice  that the ,just and ,true were
 one1 by championing it to the          
,outrance1  and in the final result     
placing the ,gothic structure of human  
virtue  on an humbler1 but a wider and  
safer foundation than it had hitherto   
occupied in the volumes and systems of  
the learned4 ,mr4 ,godwin is an         
inventor in the regions of romance1 as  
well as a skilful and hardy  explorer of
 those of moral truth4 ,caleb ,williams 
and ,st4 ,leon are  two of the most     
splendid and impressive works of the    
imagination that  have appeared in our  
times4 ,it is not merely that these     
novels are very  well for a philosopher 

to have produced--they are admirable and
 complete  in themselves1 and would not 
lead you to suppose that the author1 who
 is  so entirely at home in human       
character and dramatic situation1 had   
ever  dabbled in logic or metaphysics4  
,the first of these1 particularly1 is  a
 master-piece1 both as to invention and 
execution4 ,the romantic and  chivalrous
 principle of the love of personal fame 
is embodied in the  finest possible     
manner in the character of ,falkland2,b 
as in ,caleb  ,williams 7who is not the 
first1 but the second character in the  
piece7  we see the very demon of        
curiosity personified4 ,perhaps the art 
with  which these two characters are    
contrived to relieve and set off each   
other1 has never been surpassed in any  
work of fiction1 with the  exception of 
the immortal satire of ,cervantes4 ,the 
restless and  inquisitive spirit of     
,caleb ,williams1 in search and in      
possession of  his patron's fatal       
secret1 haunts the latter like a second 

conscience1  plants stings in his       
tortured mind1 fans the flame of his    
jealous  ambition1 struggling with      
agonized remorse2 and the hapless but   
noble-minded ,falkland at length falls a
 martyr to the persecution of  that     
morbid and overpowering interest1 of    
which his mingled virtues and  vices    
have rendered him the object4 ,we       
conceive no one ever began ,caleb       
,williams that did not read it through3 
no one that ever read it could  possibly
 forget it1 or speak of it after any    
length of time1 but with an  impression 
as if the events and feelings had been  
personal to himself4  ,this is the case 
also with the story of ,st4 ,leon1      
which1 with less  dramatic interest and 
intensity of purpose1 is set off by a   
more  gorgeous and flowing eloquence1   
and by a crown of preternatural imagery1
  that waves over it like a palm-tree6  
,it is the beauty and the charm of  ,mr4
 ,godwin's descriptions that the reader 
identifies himself with the  author2 and

 the secret of this is1 that the author 
has identified  himself with his        
personages4 ,indeed1 he has created     
them4 ,they are the  proper issue of his
 brain1 lawfully begot1 not foundlings1 
nor the  bastards of his art4 ,he is not
 an indifferent1 callous spectator of   
the scenes which he himself pourtrays1  
but without seeming to feel them4       
,there is no look of patch-work and     
plagiarism1 the beggarly copiousness  of
 borrowed wealth2 no tracery-work from  
worm-eaten manuscripts1 from  forgotten 
chronicles1 nor piecing out of vague    
traditions with fragments  and snatches 
of old ballads1 so that the result      
resembles a gaudy1  staring             
transparency1 in which you cannot       
distinguish the daubing of the  painter 
from the light that shines through the  
flimsy colours and gives  them          
brilliancy4 ,here all is clearly made   
out with strokes of the  pencil1 by     
fair1 not by factitious means4 ,our     
author takes a given  subject from      

nature or from books1 and then fills it 
up with the ardent  workings of his own 
mind1 with the teeming and audible      
pulses of his own  heart4 ,the effect is
 entire and satisfactory in proportion4 
,the work  7so to speak7 and the author 
are one4 ,we are not puzzled to decide  
upon  their respective pretensions4 ,in 
reading ,mr4 ,godwin's novels1 we know  
what share of merit the author has in   
them4 ,in reading the ,scotch  ,novels1 
we are perpetually embarrassed in asking
 ourselves this  question2 and perhaps  
it is not altogether a false modesty    
that prevents  the editor from putting  
his name in the title-page--he is 7for  
any thing  we know to the contrary7 only
 a more voluminous sort of              
,allen-a-,dale4  ,at least1 we may claim
 this advantage for the ,english author1
 that the  chains with which he rivets  
our attention are forged out of his own 
thoughts1 link by link1 blow for blow1  
with glowing enthusiasm3 we see  the    
genuine ore melted in the furnace of    

fervid feeling1 and moulded  into       
stately and ideal forms2 and this is so 
far better than peeping  into an old    
iron shop1 or pilfering from a dealer in
 marine stores6  ,there is one drawback1
 however1 attending this mode of        
proceeding1 which  attaches generally1  
indeed1 to all originality of           
composition2 namely1  that it has a     
tendency to a certain degree of         
monotony4 ,he who draws  upon his own   
resources1 easily comes to an end of his
 wealth4 ,mr4  ,godwin1 in all his      
writings1 dwells upon one idea or       
exclusive view of a  subject1           
aggrandises a sentiment1 exaggerates a  
character1 or pushes an  argument to    
extremes1 and makes up by the force of  
style and continuity  of feeling for    
what he wants in variety of incident or 
ease of manner4  ,this necessary defect 
is observable in his best works1 and is 
still more  so in ,fleetwood and        
,mandeville2 the one of which1 compared 
with his more  admired performances1 is 

mawkish1 and the other morbid4 ,mr4     
,godwin is  also an essayist1 an        
historian--in short1 what is he not1    
that belongs  to the character of an    
indefatigable and accomplished author8  
,his ,life  of ,chaucer would have given
 celebrity to any man of letters        
possessed  of three thousand a year1    
with leisure to write quartos3 as the   
legal  acuteness displayed in his       
,remarks on ,judge ,eyre's ,charge to   
the  ,jury would have raised any        
briefless barrister to the height of his
  profession4 ,this temporary effusion  
did more--it gave a turn to the  trials 
for high treason in the year #agid1 and 
possibly saved the lives  of twelve     
innocent individuals1 marked out as     
political victims to the  ,moloch of    
,legitimacy1 which then skulked behind a
 ,british throne1  and had not yet dared
 to stalk forth 7as it has done since7  
from its  lurking-place1 in the face of 
day1 to brave the opinion of the world4 
,if  it had then glutted its maw with   

its intended prey 7the sharpness of ,mr4
  ,godwin's pen cut the legal cords with
 which it was attempted to bind  them71 
it might have done so sooner1 and with  
more lasting effect4 ,the  world do not 
know 7and we are not sure but the       
intelligence may startle  ,mr4 ,godwin  
himself71 that he is the author of a    
volume of ,sermons1 and  of a ,life of  
,chatham4,c    ,mr4 ,fawcett 7an old    
friend and fellow-student of our author1
 and who  always spoke of his writings  
with admiration1 tinctured with wonder7 
used to mention a circumstance with     
respect to the last-mentioned work1     
which may throw some light on the       
history and progress of ,mr4 ,godwin's  
mind4 ,he was anxious to make his       
biographical account as complete as  he 
could1 and applied for this purpose to  
many of his acquaintance to  furnish him
 with anecdotes or to suggest           
criticisms4 ,amongst others ,mr4        
,fawcett repeated to him what he thought
 a striking passage in a speech  on     

,general ,warrants delivered by ,lord   
,chatham1 at which he 7,mr4  ,fawcett7  
had been present4 ,every man's house    
7said this emphatic  thinker and        
speaker7 has been called his castle4    
,and why is it called  his castle8 ,is  
it because it is defended by a wall1    
because it is  surrounded with a moat8  
,no1 it may be nothing more than a      
straw-built  shed4 ,it may be open to   
all the elements3 the wind may enter in1
 the  rain may enter in--but the king   
cannot enter in6 ,his friend thought    
that the point was here palpable enough3
 but when he came to read the  printed  
volume1 he found it thus transposed3    
,every man's house is his  castle4 ,and 
why is it called so8 ,is it because it  
is defended by a wall1  because it is   
surrounded with a moat8 ,no1 it may be  
nothing more than a  straw-built shed4  
,it may be exposed to all the elements3 
the rain may  enter into it1 all the    
winds of ,heaven may whistle round it1  
but the  king cannot1 c4 ,this was what 

,fawcett called a defect of natural     
imagination4 ,he at the same time       
admitted that ,mr4 ,godwin had improved 
his native sterility in this respect2 or
 atoned for it by incessant  activity of
 mind and by accumulated stores of      
thought and powers of  language4 ,in    
fact1 his forte is not the spontaneous1 
but the voluntary  exercise of talent4  
,he fixes his ambition on a high point  
of excellence1  and spares no pains or  
time in attaining it4 ,he has less of   
the  appearance of a man of genius1 than
 any one who has given such decided  and
 ample proofs of it4 ,he is ready only  
on reflection3 dangerous only  at the   
rebound4 ,he gathers himself up1 and    
strains every nerve and  faculty with   
deliberate aim to some heroic and       
dazzling atchievement of  intellect3 but
 he must make a career before he flings 
himself1 armed1  upon the enemy1 or he  
is sure to be unhorsed4 ,or he resembles
 an  eight-day clock that must be wound 
up long before it can strike4           

,therefore1 his powers of conversation  
are but limited4 ,he has neither        
acuteness of remark1 nor a flow of      
language1 both which might be  expected 
from his writings1 as these are no less 
distinguished by a  sustained and       
impassioned tone of declamation than by 
novelty of opinion  or brilliant tracks 
of invention4 ,in company1 ,horne ,tooke
 used to make  a mere child of him--or  
of any man6 ,mr4 ,godwin liked this     
treatment,d1  and indeed it is his      
foible to fawn on those who use him     
cavalierly1  and to be cavalier to those
 who express an undue or unqualified    
admiration of him4 ,he looks up with    
unfeigned respect to acknowledged       
reputation 7but then it must be very    
well ascertained before he admits       
it7--and has a favourite hypothesis that
 ,understanding and ,virtue are  the    
same thing4 ,mr4 ,godwin possesses a    
high degree of philosophical  candour1  
and studiously paid the homage of his   
pen and person to ,mr4  ,malthus1 ,sir  

,james ,macintosh1 and ,dr4 ,parr1 for  
their unsparing attacks  on him2 but woe
 to any poor devil who had the hardihood
 to defend him  against them6 ,in       
private1 the author of ,political       
,justice at one  time reminded those who
 knew him of the metaphysician engrafted
 on  the ,dissenting ,minister4 ,there  
was a dictatorial1 captious1 quibbling  
pettiness of manner4 ,he lost this with 
the first blush and awkwardness  of     
popularity1 which surprised him in the  
retirement of his study2  and he has    
since1 with the wear and tear of        
society1 from being too  pragmatical1   
become somewhat too careless4 ,he is1 at
 present1 as easy as  an old glove4     
,perhaps there is a little attention to 
effect in this1  and he wishes to appear
 a foil to himself4 ,his best moments   
are with an  intimate acquaintance or   
two1 when he gossips in a fine vein     
about old  authors1 ,clarendon's        
,history of the ,rebellion1 or ,burnet's
 ,history of  his own ,times2 and you   

perceive by your host's talk1 as by the 
taste  of seasoned wine1 that he has a  
cellarage in his understanding6 ,mr4    
,godwin also has a correct acquired     
taste in poetry and the drama4 ,he      
relishes ,donne and ,ben ,jonson1 and   
recites a passage from either with an   
agreeable mixture of pedantry and       
bonhommie4 ,he is not one of those  who 
do not grow wiser with opportunity and  
reflection3 he changes his  opinions1   
and changes them for the better4 ,the   
alteration of his taste  in poetry1 from
 an exclusive admiration of the age of  
,queen ,anne to an  almost equally      
exclusive one of that of ,elizabeth1 is1
 we suspect1 owing  to ,mr4 ,coleridge1 
who some twenty years ago1 threw a great
 stone into  the standing pool of       
criticism1 which splashed some persons  
with the  mud1 but which gave a motion  
to the surface and a reverberation to   
the  neighbouring echoes1 which has not 
since subsided4 ,in common company1     
,mr4 ,godwin either goes to sleep       

himself1 or sets others to sleep4 ,he is
  at present engaged in a ,history of   
the ,commonwealth of ,england4--,esto   
perpetua6 ,in size ,mr4 ,godwin is below
 the common stature1 nor is his         
deportment graceful or animated4 ,his   
face is1 however1 fine1 with an         
expression of placid temper and         
recondite thought4 ,he is not unlike the
  common portraits of ,locke4 ,there is 
a very admirable likeness of him by     
,mr4 ,northcote1 which with a more      
heroic and dignified air1 only does     
justice to the profound sagacity and    
benevolent aspirations of our  author's 
mind4 ,mr4 ,godwin has kept the best    
company of his time1 but he  has        
survived most of the celebrated persons 
with whom he lived in habits  of        
intimacy4 ,he speaks of them with       
enthusiasm and with discrimination2  and
 sometimes dwells with peculiar delight 
on a day passed at ,john  ,kemble's in  
company with ,mr4 ,sheridan1 ,mr4       
,curran1 ,mrs4 ,wolstonecraft  and ,mrs4

 ,inchbald1 when the conversation took a
 most animated turn  and the subject was
 of ,love4 ,of all these our author is  
the only one  remaining4 ,frail tenure1 
on which human life and genius are lent 
us for  a while to improve or to enjoy6 
,footnote ,a3 ,shaftesbury made this an 
objection to ,christianity1 which  was  
answered by ,foster1 ,leland1 and other 
eminent divines1 on the  ground that    
,christianity had a higher object in    
view1 namely1 general  philanthropy4    
,footnote ,b3 ,mr4 ,fuseli used to      
object to this striking delineation a   
want of historical correctness1 inasmuch
 as the animating principle of  the true
 chivalrous character was the sense of  
honour1 not the mere  regard to1 or     
saving of1 appearances4 ,this1 we think1
 must be an  hypercriticism1 from all we
 remember of books of chivalry and      
heroes of  romance4    ,footnote ,c3 ,we
 had forgotten the tragedies of ,antonio
 and ,ferdinand4  ,peace be with their  
manes6    ,footnote ,d3 ,to be sure1 it 

was redeemed by a high respect1 and by  
some  magnificent compliments4 ,once in 
particular1 at his own table1 after a   
good deal of badinage and               
cross-questioning about his being the   
author  of the ,reply to ,judge ,eyre's 
,charge1 on ,mr4 ,godwin's acknowledging
 that  he was1 ,mr4 ,tooke said1 ,come  
here then1--and when his guest went     
round  to his chair1 he took his hand1  
and pressed it to his lips1 saying--,i  
can do no less for the hand that saved  
my life6                   99       99  
99       99       99            ,,mr4   
,,coleridge4        ,the present is an  
age of talkers1 and not of doers2 and   
the reason is1  that the world is       
growing old4 ,we are so far advanced in 
the ,arts and  ,sciences1 that we live  
in retrospect1 and doat on past         
atchievements4  ,the accumulation of    
knowledge has been so great1 that we are
 lost in  wonder at the height it has   
reached1 instead of attempting to climb 
or add to it2 while the variety of      

objects distracts and dazzles the       
looker-on4 ,what niche remains          
unoccupied8 ,what path untried8 ,what is
  the use of doing anything1 unless we  
could do better than all those who  have
 gone before us8 ,what hope is there of 
this8 ,we are like those who  have been 
to see some noble monument of art1 who  
are content to admire  without thinking 
of rivalling it2 or like guests after a 
feast1  who praise the hospitality of   
the donor and thank the bounteous       
,pan--perhaps carrying away some        
trifling fragments2 or like the         
spectators of a mighty battle1 who still
 hear its sound afar off1 and  the      
clashing of armour and the neighing of  
the war-horse and the shout  of victory 
is in their ears1 like the rushing of   
innumerable waters6    ,mr4 ,coleridge  
has a mind reflecting ages past3 his    
voice is like  the echo of the          
congregated roar of the dark rearward   
and abyss of  thought4 ,he who has seen 
a mouldering tower by the side of a     

chrystal  lake1 hid by the mist1 but    
glittering in the wave below1 may       
conceive  the dim1 gleaming1 uncertain  
intelligence of his eye3 he who has     
marked  the evening clouds uprolled 7a  
world of vapours71 has seen the picture 
of his mind1 unearthly1 unsubstantial1  
with gorgeous tints and  ever-varying   
forms--      ,that which was now a      
horse1 even with a thought    ,the rack 
dislimns1 and makes it indistinct    ,as
 water is in water4    ,our author's    
mind is 7as he himself might express it7
 tangential4  ,there is no subject on   
which he has not touched1 none on which 
he has  rested4 ,with an understanding  
fertile1 subtle1 expansive1 quick1      
forgetive1 apprehensive1 beyond all     
living precedent1 few traces of it  will
 perhaps remain4 ,he lends himself to   
all impressions alike2 he gives  up his 
mind and liberty of thought to none4 ,he
 is a general lover of art  and science1
 and wedded to no one in particular4 ,he
 pursues knowledge as  a mistress1 with 

outstretched hands and winged speed2 but
 as he is  about to embrace her1 his    
,daphne turns--alas6 not to a laurel6   
,hardly a  speculation has been left on 
record from the earliest time1 but it is
  loosely folded up in ,mr4 ,coleridge's
 memory1 like a rich1 but somewhat      
tattered piece of tapestry2 we might add
 7with more seeming than real           
extravagance71 that scarce a thought can
 pass through the mind of man1  but its 
sound has at some time or other passed  
over his head with  rustling pinions4   
,on whatever question or author you     
speak1 he is  prepared to take up the   
theme with advantage--from ,peter       
,abelard down  to ,thomas ,moore1 from  
the subtlest metaphysics to the politics
 of the  ,courier4 ,there is no man of  
genius1 in whose praise he descants1 but
  the critic seems to stand above the   
author1 and what in him is weak1 to     
strengthen1 what is low1 to raise and   
support3 nor is there any work of       
genius that does not come out of his    

hands like an ,illuminated ,missal1     
sparkling even in its defects4 ,if ,mr4 
,coleridge had not been the most        
impressive talker of his age1 he would  
probably have been the finest  writer2  
but he lays down his pen to make sure of
 an auditor1 and  mortgages the         
admiration of posterity for the stare of
 an idler4 ,if he  had not been a poet1 
he would have been a powerful logician2 
if he had  not dipped his wing in the   
,unitarian controversy1 he might have   
soared  to the very summit of fancy4    
,but in writing verse1 he is trying  to 
subject the ,muse to transcendental     
theories3 in his abstract  reasoning1 he
 misses his way by strewing it with     
flowers4 ,all that he  has done of      
moment1 he had done twenty years ago3   
since then1 he may be  said to have     
lived on the sound of his own voice4    
,mr4 ,coleridge is too  rich in         
intellectual wealth1 to need to task    
himself to any drudgery3 he  has only to
 draw the sliders of his imagination1   

and a thousand subjects  expand before  
him1 startling him with their           
brilliancy1 or losing  themselves in    
endless obscurity--      ,and by the    
force of blear illusion1    ,they draw  
him on to his confusion4    ,what is the
 little he could add to the stock1      
compared with the  countless stores that
 lie about him1 that he should stoop to 
pick up a  name1 or to polish an idle   
fancy8 ,he walks abroad in the majesty  
of an  universal understanding1 eyeing  
the rich strond1 or golden sky above    
him1 and goes sounding on his way1 in   
eloquent accents1 uncompelled  and free6
    ,persons of the greatest capacity   
are often those1 who for this reason  do
 the least2 for surveying themselves    
from the highest point of view1  amidst 
the infinite variety of the universe1   
their own share in it seems  trifling1  
and scarce worth a thought1 and they    
prefer the contemplation  of all that   
is1 or has been1 or can be1 to the      
making a coil about doing  what1 when   

done1 is no better than vanity4 ,it is  
hard to concentrate  all our attention  
and efforts on one pursuit1 except from 
ignorance  of others2 and without this  
concentration of our faculties1 no great
  progress can be made in any one thing4
 ,it is not merely that the mind is  not
 capable of the effort2 it does not     
think the effort worth making4  ,action 
is one2 but thought is manifold4 ,he    
whose restless eye glances  through the 
wide compass of nature and art1 will not
 consent to have  his own nothings      
monstered3 but he must do this1 before  
he can give  his whole soul to them4    
,the mind1 after letting contemplation  
have its  fill1 or      ,sailing with   
supreme dominion    ,through the azure  
deep of air1    sinks down on the       
ground1 breathless1 exhausted1          
powerless1 inactive2  or if it must have
 some vent to its feelings1 seeks the   
most easy and  obvious2 is soothed by   
friendly flattery1 lulled by the murmur 
of  immediate applause1 thinks as it    

were aloud1 and babbles in its dreams6  
,a scholar 7so to speak7 is a more      
disinterested and abstracted character  
than a mere author4 ,the first looks at 
the numberless volumes of a  library1   
and says1 ,all these are mine3 the other
 points to a single  volume 7perhaps it 
may be an immortal one7 and says1 ,my   
name is written  on the back of it4     
,this is a puny and groveling ambition1 
beneath the  lofty amplitude of ,mr4    
,coleridge's mind4 ,no1 he revolves in  
his wayward  soul1 or utters to the     
passing wind1 or discourses to his own  
shadow1  things mightier and more       
various6--,let us draw the curtain1 and 
unlock  the shrine4 ,learning rocked him
 in his cradle1 and1 while yet a child1 
,he lisped in numbers1 for the numbers  
came4    ,at sixteen he wrote his ,ode  
on ,chatterton1 and he still reverts to 
that period with delight1 not so much as
 it relates to himself 7for that  string
 of his own early promise of fame rather
 jars than otherwise7 but  as           

exemplifying the youth of a poet4 ,mr4  
,coleridge talks of himself1  without   
being an egotist1 for in him the        
individual is always merged in  the     
abstract and general4 ,he distinguished 
himself at school and at the            
,university by his knowledge of the     
classics1 and gained several prizes  for
 ,greek epigrams4 ,how many men are     
there 7great scholars1 celebrated  names
 in literature7 who having done the same
 thing in their youth1 have  no other   
idea all the rest of their lives but of 
this achievement1 of  a fellowship and  
dinner1 and who1 installed in academic  
honours1 would  look down on our author 
as a mere strolling bard6 ,at ,christ's 
,hospital1 where he was brought up1 he  
was the idol of those among his         
schoolfellows1 who mingled with their   
bookish studies the music of  thought   
and of humanity2 and he was usually     
attended round the cloisters  by a group
 of these 7inspiring and inspired7 whose
 hearts1 even then1  burnt within them  

as he talked1 and where the sounds yet  
linger to mock  ,,elia on his way1 still
 turning pensive to the past6 ,one of   
the finest  and rarest parts of ,mr4    
,coleridge's conversation1 is when he   
expatiates  on the ,greek tragedians    
7not that he is not well acquainted1    
when he  pleases1 with the epic poets1  
or the philosophers1 or orators1 or     
historians of antiquity7--on the subtle 
reasonings and melting pathos  of       
,euripides1 on the harmonious           
gracefulness of ,sophocles1 tuning his  
love-laboured song1 like sweetest       
warblings from a sacred grove2 on the   
high-wrought trumpet-tongued eloquence  
of ,aeschylus1 whose ,prometheus1  above
 all1 is like an ,ode to ,fate1 and a   
pleading with ,providence1 his  thoughts
 being let loose as his body is chained 
on his solitary rock1  and his afflicted
 will 7the emblem of mortality7         
,struggling in vain with ruthless       
destiny4    ,as the impassioned critic  
speaks and rises in his theme1 you would

 think  you heard the voice of the ,man 
hated by the ,gods1 contending with  the
 wild winds as they roar1 and his eye   
glitters with the spirit of  ,antiquity6
    ,next1 he was engaged with          
,hartley's tribes of mind1 etherial     
braid1  thought-woven1--and he busied   
himself for a year or two with          
vibrations and vibratiuncles and the    
great law of association that binds  all
 things in its mystic chain1 and the    
doctrine of ,necessity 7the  mild       
teacher of ,charity7 and the            
,millennium1 anticipative of a life to  
come--and he plunged deep into the      
controversy on ,matter and ,spirit1     
and1 as an escape from ,dr4 ,priestley's
 ,materialism1 where he felt  himself   
imprisoned by the logician's spell1 like
 ,ariel in the  cloven pine-tree1 he    
became suddenly enamoured of ,bishop    
,berkeley's  fairy-world1,a and used in 
all companies to build the universe1    
like  a brave poetical fiction1 of fine 
words--and he was deep-read in          

,malebranche1 and in ,cudworth's        
,intellectual ,system 7a huge pile of   
learning1 unwieldy1 enormous7 and in    
,lord ,brook's hieroglyphic theories1   
and in ,bishop ,butler's ,sermons1 and  
in the ,duchess of ,newcastle's         
fantastic folios1 and in ,clarke and    
,south and ,tillotson1 and all the  fine
 thinkers and masculine reasoners of    
that age--and ,leibnitz's               
,pre-established ,harmony reared its    
arch above his head1 like the  rainbow  
in the cloud1 covenanting with the hopes
 of man--and then he  fell plump1 ten   
thousand fathoms down 7but his wings    
saved him harmless7  into the hortus    
siccus of ,dissent1 where he pared      
religion down to the  standard of reason
 and stripped faith of mystery1 and     
preached ,christ  crucified and the     
,unity of the ,godhead1 and so dwelt for
 a while in the  spirit with ,john ,huss
 and ,jerome of ,prague and ,socinus and
 old ,john  ,zisca1 and ran through     
,neal's ,history of the ,puritans1 and  

,calamy's  ,non-,conformists' ,memorial1
 having like thoughts and passions with 
them--but then ,spinoza became his ,god1
 and he took up the vast chain of  being
 in his hand1 and the round world became
 the centre and the soul of  all things 
in some shadowy sense1 forlorn of       
meaning1 and around him he  beheld the  
living traces and the sky-pointing      
proportions of the mighty  ,pan--but    
poetry redeemed him from this spectral  
philosophy1 and he  bathed his heart in 
beauty1 and gazed at the golden light of
 heaven1 and  drank of the spirit of the
 universe1 and wandered at eve by       
fairy-stream  or fountain1              
------,when he saw nought but beauty1   
,when he heard the voice of that        
,almighty ,one    ,in every breeze that 
blew1 or wave that murmured--    and    
wedded with truth in ,plato's shade1 and
 in the writings of ,proclus  and       
,plotinus saw the ideas of things in the
 eternal mind1 and unfolded  all        
mysteries with the ,schoolmen and       

fathomed the depths of ,duns ,scotus    
and ,thomas ,aquinas1 and entered the   
third heaven with ,jacob ,behmen1 and   
walked hand in hand with ,swedenborg    
through the pavilions of the ,new       
,jerusalem1 and sung his faith in the   
promise and in the word in his          
,religious ,musings--and lowering       
himself from that dizzy height1 poised  
himself on ,milton's wings1 and spread  
out his thoughts in charity with  the   
glad prose of ,jeremy ,taylor1 and wept 
over ,bowles's ,sonnets1 and  studied   
,cowper's blankverse1 and betook himself
 to ,thomson's ,castle of  ,indolence1  
and sported with the wits of ,charles   
the ,second's days and  of ,queen ,anne1
 and relished ,swift's style and that of
 the ,john ,bull  7,arbuthnot's we mean1
 not ,mr4 ,croker's7 and dallied with   
the ,british  ,essayists and ,novelists1
 and knew all qualities of more modern  
writers  with a learned spirit1         
,johnson1 and ,goldsmith1 and ,junius1  
and ,burke1  and ,godwin1 and the       

,sorrows of ,werter1 and ,jean ,jacques 
,rousseau1 and  ,voltaire1 and          
,marivaux1 and ,crebillon1 and thousands
 more--now laughed  with ,rabelais in   
his easy chair or pointed to ,hogarth1  
or afterwards  dwelt on ,claude's       
classic scenes or spoke with rapture of 
,raphael1  and compared the women at    
,rome to figures that had walked out of 
his  pictures1 or visited the ,oratory  
of ,pisa1 and described the works of    
,giotto and ,ghirlandaio and ,massaccio1
 and gave the moral of the picture  of  
the ,triumph of ,death1 where the       
beggars and the wretched invoke his     
dreadful dart1 but the rich and mighty  
of the earth quail and shrink  before   
it2 and in that land of siren sights and
 sounds1 saw a dance of  peasant girls1 
and was charmed with lutes and          
gondolas1--or wandered  into ,germany   
and lost himself in the labyrinths of   
the ,hartz ,forest and  of the ,kantean 
philosophy1 and amongst the cabalistic  
names of ,ficht  and ,schelling and     

,lessing1 and ,god knows who--this was  
long after1 but  all the former while1  
he had nerved his heart and filled his  
eyes  with tears1 as he hailed the      
rising orb of liberty1 since quenched in
  darkness and in blood1 and had kindled
 his affections at the blaze of  the    
,french ,revolution1 and sang for joy   
when the towers of the ,bastile  and the
 proud places of the insolent and the   
oppressor fell1 and would  have floated 
his bark1 freighted with fondest        
fancies1 across the  ,atlantic wave with
 ,southey and others to seek for peace  
and freedom--      ,in ,philarmonia's   
undivided dale6    ,alas6 ,frailty1 thy 
name is ,genius6--,what is become of all
 this  mighty heap of hope1 of thought1 
of learning1 and humanity8 ,it has      
ended in swallowing doses of oblivion   
and in writing paragraphs in the        
,courier4--,such1 and so little is the  
mind of man6    ,it was not to be       
supposed that ,mr4 ,coleridge could keep
 on at the rate  he set off2 he could   

not realize all he knew or thought1 and 
less could  not fix his desultory       
ambition2 other stimulants supplied the 
place1 and  kept up the intoxicating    
dream1 the fever and the madness of his 
early  impressions4 ,liberty 7the       
philosopher's and the poet's bride7 had 
fallen  a victim1 meanwhile1 to the     
murderous practices of the hag1         
,legitimacy4  ,proscribed by            
court-hirelings1 too romantic for the   
herd of vulgar  politicians1 our        
enthusiast stood at bay1 and at last    
turned on the  pivot of a subtle        
casuistry to the unclean side3 but his  
discursive  reason would not let him    
trammel himself into a poet-laureate or 
stamp-distributor1 and he stopped1 ere  
he had quite passed that  well-known    
bourne from whence no traveller         
returns--and so has sunk  into torpid1  
uneasy repose1 tantalized by useless    
resources1 haunted by  vain imaginings1 
his lips idly moving1 but his heart     
forever still1 or1  as the shattered    

chords vibrate of themselves1 making    
melancholy music  to the ear of memory6 
,such is the fate of genius in an age1  
when in the  unequal contest with       
sovereign wrong1 every man is ground to 
powder who  is not either a born slave1 
or who does not willingly and at once   
offer  up the yearnings of humanity and 
the dictates of reason as a welcome     
sacrifice to besotted prejudice and     
loathsome power4    ,of all ,mr4        
,coleridge's productions1 the ,ancient  
,mariner is the only  one that we could 
with confidence put into any person's   
hands1 on whom  we wished to impress a  
favourable idea of his extraordinary    
powers4 ,let  whatever other objections 
be made to it1 it is unquestionably a   
work of  genius--of wild1 irregular1    
overwhelming imagination1 and has that  
rich1  varied movement in the verse1    
which gives a distant idea of the lofty 
or  changeful tones of ,mr4 ,coleridge's
 voice4 ,in the ,christobel1 there  is  
one splendid passage on divided         

friendship4 ,the ,translation of        
,schiller's ,wallenstein is also a      
masterly production in its kind1        
faithful and spirited4 ,among his       
smaller pieces there are occasional     
bursts of pathos and fancy1 equal to    
what we might expect from him2 but      
these form the exception1 and not the   
rule4 ,such1 for instance1 is his       
affecting ,sonnet to the author of the  
,robbers4      ,schiller6 that hour ,i  
would have wish'd to die1    ,if through
 the shudd'ring midnight ,i had sent    
,from the dark dungeon of the tower     
time-rent1    ,that fearful voice1 a    
famish'd father's cry--      ,that in no
 after-moment aught less vast    ,might 
stamp me mortal6 ,a triumphant shout    
,black horror scream'd1 and all her     
goblin rout    ,from the more with'ring 
scene diminish'd pass'd4      ,ah6 ,bard
 tremendous in sublimity6    ,could ,i  
behold thee in thy loftier mood1        
,wand'ring at eve1 with finely frenzied 
eye1    ,beneath some vast old          

tempest-swinging wood6    ,awhile1 with 
mute awe gazing1 ,i would brood1        
,then weep aloud in a wild ecstasy4     
,his ,tragedy1 entitled ,remorse1 is    
full of beautiful and striking          
passages1 but it does not place the     
author in the first rank of dramatic    
writers4 ,but if ,mr4 ,coleridge's works
 do not place him in that rank1  they   
injure instead of conveying a just idea 
of the man1 for he himself  is certainly
 in the first class of general          
intellect4    ,if our author's poetry is
 inferior to his conversation1 his prose
 is  utterly abortive4 ,hardly a gleam  
is to be found in it of the brilliancy  
and richness of those stores of thought 
and language that he pours out          
incessantly1 when they are lost like    
drops of water in the ground4 ,the      
principal work1 in which he has         
attempted to embody his general views of
  things1 is the ,,friend1 of which1    
though it contains some noble passages  
and fine trains of thought1 prolixity   

and obscurity are the most  frequent    
characteristics4    ,no two persons can 
be conceived more opposite in character 
or genius  than the subject of the      
present and of the preceding sketch4    
,mr4 ,godwin1  with less natural        
capacity1 and with fewer acquired       
advantages1 by  concentrating his mind  
on some given object1 and doing what he 
had to do  with all his might1 has      
accomplished much1 and will leave more  
than  one monument of a powerful        
intellect behind him2 ,mr4 ,coleridge1  
by  dissipating his1 and dallying with  
every subject by turns1 has done  little
 or nothing to justify to the world or  
to posterity1 the high  opinion which   
all who have ever heard him converse1 or
 known him  intimately1 with one accord 
entertain of him4 ,mr4 ,godwin's        
faculties  have kept house1 and plied   
their task in the work-shop of the      
brain1  diligently and effectually3 ,mr4
 ,coleridge's have gossipped away their 
time1 and gadded about from house to    

house1 as if life's business were  to   
melt the hours in listless talk4 ,mr4   
,godwin is intent on a subject1  only as
 it concerns himself and his reputation2
 he works it out as a  matter of duty1  
and discards from his mind whatever does
 not forward his  main object as        
impertinent and vain4 ,mr4 ,coleridge1  
on the other hand1  delights in nothing 
but episodes and digressions1 neglects  
whatever he  undertakes to perform1 and 
can act only on spontaneous impulses1   
without  object or method4 ,he cannot be
 constrained by mastery4 ,while he      
should  be occupied with a given        
pursuit1 he is thinking of a thousand   
other  things2 a thousand tastes1 a     
thousand objects tempt him1 and distract
  his mind1 which keeps open house1 and 
entertains all comers2 and after  being 
fatigued and amused with morning calls  
from idle visitors1 finds  the day      
consumed and its business unconcluded4  
,mr4 ,godwin1 on the  contrary1 is      
somewhat exclusive and unsocial in his  

habits of mind1  entertains no company  
but what he gives his whole time and    
attention to1  and wisely writes over   
the doors of his understanding1 his     
fancy1 and  his senses--,no admittance  
except on business4 ,he has none of that
  fastidious refinement and false       
delicacy1 which might lead him to       
balance between the endless variety of  
modern attainments4 ,he does not  throw 
away his life 7nor a single half-hour of
 it7 in adjusting the  claims of        
different accomplishments1 and in       
choosing between them or  making himself
 master of them all4 ,he sets about his 
task1 7whatever  it may be7 and goes    
through it with spirit and fortitude4   
,he has the  happiness to think an      
author the greatest character in the    
world1  and himself the greatest author 
in it4 ,mr4 ,coleridge1 in writing an   
harmonious stanza1 would stop to        
consider whether there was not more     
grace and beauty in a ,pas de trois1 and
 would not proceed till he had  resolved

 this question by a chain of            
metaphysical reasoning without end4     
,not so ,mr4 ,godwin4 ,that is best to  
him1 which he can do best4 ,he does  not
 waste himself in vain aspirations and  
effeminate sympathies4 ,he is  blind1   
deaf1 insensible to all but the trump of
 ,fame4 ,plays1 operas1  painting1      
music1 ball-rooms1 wealth1 fashion1     
titles1 lords1 ladies1  touch him       
not--all these are no more to him than  
to the magician in his  cell1 and he    
writes on to the end of the chapter1    
through good report  and evil report4   
,pingo in eternitatem--is his motto4 ,he
 neither envies  nor admires what others
 are1 but is contented to be what he is1
 and  strives to do the utmost he can4  
,mr4 ,coleridge has flirted with the    
,muses as with a set of mistresses3 ,mr4
 ,godwin has been married twice1 to     
,reason and to ,fancy1 and has to boast 
no short-lived progeny by each4  ,so to 
speak1 he has valves belonging to his   
mind1 to regulate the  quantity of gas  

admitted into it1 so that like the bare1
 unsightly1 but  well-compacted         
steam-vessel1 it cuts its liquid way1   
and arrives at  its promised end3 while 
,mr4 ,coleridge's bark1 taught with the 
little  nautilus to sail1 the sport of  
every breath1 dancing to every wave1    
,youth at its prow1 and ,pleasure at its
 helm1    flutters its gaudy pennons in 
the air1 glitters in the sun1 but we    
wait  in vain to hear of its arrival in 
the destined harbour4 ,mr4 ,godwin1 with
  less variety and vividness1 with less 
subtlety and susceptibility  both of    
thought and feeling1 has had firmer     
nerves1 a more determined  purpose1 a   
more comprehensive grasp of his subject1
 and the results are  as we find them4  
,each has met with his reward3 for      
justice has1 after  all1 been done to   
the pretensions of each2 and we must1 in
 all cases1  use means to ends6         
,footnote ,a3 ,mr4 ,coleridge named his 
eldest son 7the writer of some          
beautiful ,sonnets7 after ,hartley1 and 

the second after ,berkeley4 ,the  third 
was called ,derwent1 after the river of 
that name4 ,nothing can be  more        
characteristic of his mind than this    
circumstance4 ,all his ideas  indeed are
 like a river1 flowing on for ever1 and 
still murmuring as it  flows1           
discharging its waters and still        
replenished--      ,and so by many      
winding nooks it strays1    ,with       
willing sport to the wild ocean6        
99       99       99       99       99  
,,rev4 ,,mr4 ,,irving4        ,this     
gentleman has gained an almost          
unprecedented1 and not an altogether    
unmerited popularity as a preacher4 ,as 
he is1 perhaps1 though a burning  and a 
shining light1 not one of the fixed1 we 
shall take this  opportunity of         
discussing his merits1 while he is at   
his meridian  height2 and in doing so1  
shall nothing extenuate1 nor set down   
aught in  malice4    ,few circumstances 
shew the prevailing and preposterous    
rage for novelty  in a more striking    

point of view1 than the success of ,mr4 
,irving's  oratory4 ,people go to hear  
him in crowds1 and come away with a     
mixture  of delight and                 
astonishment--they go again to see if   
the effect will  continue1 and send     
others to try to find out the           
mystery--and in the  noisy conflict     
between extravagant encomiums and       
splenetic objections1  the true secret  
escapes observation1 which is1 that the 
whole thing is1  nearly from beginning  
to end1 a transposition of ideas4 ,if   
the subject  of these remarks had come  
out as a player1 with all his advantages
 of  figure1 voice1 and action1 we think
 he would have failed3 if1 as a         
preacher1 he had kept within the strict 
bounds of pulpit-oratory1 he  would     
scarcely have been much distinguished   
among his ,calvinistic  brethren3 as a  
mere author1 he would have excited      
attention rather  by his quaintness and 
affectation of an obsolete style and    
mode of  thinking1 than by any thing    

else4 ,but he has contrived to jumble   
these  several characters together in an
 unheard-of and unwarranted manner1 and 
the fascination is altogether           
irresistible4 ,our ,caledonian divine is
  equally an anomaly in religion1 in    
literature1 in personal appearance1  and
 in public speaking4 ,to hear a person  
spout ,shakspeare on the stage  is      
nothing--the charm is nearly worn       
out--but to hear any one spout          
,shakspeare 7and that not in a sneaking 
under-tone1 but at the top of  his      
voice1 and with the full breadth of his 
chest7 from a ,calvinistic  pulpit1 is  
new and wonderful4 ,the ,fancy have     
lately lost something of  their gloss in
 public estimation1 and after the last  
fight1 few would go  far to see a ,neat 
or a ,spring set-to2--but to see a man  
who is able to  enter the ring with     
either of them1 or brandish a           
quarter-staff with  ,friar ,tuck1 or a  
broad-sword with ,shaw the ,lifeguards' 
man1 stand up in  a strait-laced        

old-fashioned pulpit1 and bandy         
dialectics with modern  philosophers or 
give a cross-buttock to a cabinet       
minister1 there is  something in a sight
 like this also1 that is a cure for sore
 eyes4 ,it  is as if ,crib or ,molyneux 
had turned ,methodist parson1 or as if  
a ,patagonian savage were to come       
forward as the patron-saint of          
,evangelical religion4 ,again1 the      
doctrine of eternal punishment was one  
of the staple arguments with which1     
everlastingly drawled out1 the old      
school of ,presbyterian divines used to 
keep their audiences awake1 or  lull    
them to sleep2 but to which people of   
taste and fashion paid  little          
attention1 as inelegant and barbarous1  
till ,mr4 ,irving1 with his  cast-iron  
features and sledge-hammer blows1       
puffing like a grim ,vulcan1  set to    
work to forge more classic thunderbolts1
 and kindle the expiring  flames anew   
with the very sweepings of sceptical and
 infidel  libraries1 so as to excite a  

pleasing horror in the female part of   
his  congregation4 ,in short1 our       
popular declaimer has1 contrary to the  
,scripture-caution1 put new wine into   
old bottles1 or new cloth on old        
garments4 ,he has1 with an unlimited and
 daring licence1 mixed the  sacred and  
the profane together1 the carnal and the
 spiritual man1 the  petulance of the   
bar with the dogmatism of the pulpit1   
the theatrical  and theological1 the    
modern and the obsolete2--what wonder   
that this  splendid piece of patchwork1 
splendid by contradiction and contrast1 
has delighted some and confounded       
others8 ,the more serious part of his   
congregation indeed complain1 though not
 bitterly1 that their pastor  has       
converted their meeting-house into a    
play-house3 but when a lady of  quality1
 introducing herself and her three      
daughters to the preacher1  assures him 
that they have been to all the most     
fashionable places of  resort1 the      
opera1 the theatre1 assemblies1 ,miss   

,macauley's readings1  and              
,exeter-,change1 and have been equally  
entertained no where else1 we  apprehend
 that no remonstrances of a committee of
 ruling-elders will be  able to bring   
him to his senses again1 or make him    
forego such sweet1  but ill-assorted    
praise4 ,what we mean to insist upon is1
 that ,mr4 ,irving  owes his triumphant 
success1 not to any one quality for     
which he has  been extolled1 but to a   
combination of qualities1 the more      
striking  in their immediate effect1 in 
proportion as they are unlooked-for and 
heterogeneous1 like the violent         
opposition of light and shade in a      
picture4 ,we shall endeavour to explain 
this view of the subject more at  large4
    ,mr4 ,irving1 then1 is no common or 
mean man4 ,he has four or five          
qualities1 possessed in a moderate or in
 a paramount degree1 which1  added or   
multiplied together1 fill up the        
important space he occupies in  the     
public eye4 ,mr4 ,irving's intellect    

itself is of a superior order2 he  has  
undoubtedly both talents and            
acquirements beyond the ordinary run of 
every-day preachers4 ,these alone1      
however1 we hold1 would not account  for
 a twentieth part of the effect he has  
produced3 they would have  lifted him   
perhaps out of the mire and slough of   
sordid obscurity1 but  would never have 
launched him into the ocean-stream of   
popularity1 in  which he lies floating  
many a rood2--but to these he adds      
uncommon  height1 a graceful figure and 
action1 a clear and powerful voice1 a   
striking1 if not a fine face1 a bold and
 fiery spirit1 and a most  portentous   
obliquity of vision1 which throw him to 
an immeasurable  distance beyond all    
competition1 and effectually relieve    
whatever there  might be of common-place
 or bombast in his style of composition4
 ,put the  case that ,mr4 ,irving had   
been five feet high--,would he ever have
 been  heard of1 or1 as he does now1    
have bestrode the world like a          

,colossus8  ,no1 the thing speaks for   
itself4 ,he would in vain have lifted   
his ,lilliputian arm to ,heaven1 people 
would have laughed at his               
monkey-tricks4 ,again1 had he been as   
tall as he is1 but had wanted other     
recommendations1 he would have been     
nothing4      ,the player's province    
they but vainly try1    ,who want these 
powers1 deportment1 voice1 and eye4     
,conceive a rough1 ugly1 shock-headed   
,scotchman1 standing up in the          
,caledonian chapel1 and dealing         
damnation round the land in a broad     
northern dialect1 and with a harsh1     
screaking voice1 what ear polite1  what 
smile serene would have hailed the      
barbarous prodigy1 or not  consigned him
 to utter neglect and derision8 ,but the
 ,rev4 ,edward ,irving1  with all his   
native wildness1 hath a smooth aspect   
framed to make  women saints2 his very  
unusual size and height are carried off 
and  moulded into elegance by the most  
admirable symmetry of form and ease of  

gesture2 his sable locks1 his clear     
iron-grey complexion1 and firm-set      
features1 turn the raw1 uncouth         
,scotchman into the likeness of a noble 
,italian picture2 and even his          
distortion of sight only redeems the    
otherwise faultless monster within the  
bounds of humanity1 and1 when           
admiration is exhausted and curiosity   
ceases1 excites a new interest by       
leading to the idle question whether it 
is an advantage to the preacher  or not4
 ,farther1 give him all his actual and  
remarkable advantages of  body and mind1
 let him be as tall1 as strait1 as dark 
and clear of skin1  as much at his ease1
 as silver-tongued1 as eloquent and as  
argumentative  as he is1 yet with all   
these1 and without a little charlatanery
 to set  them off1 he had been nothing4 
,he might1 keeping within the rigid line
  of his duty and professed calling1    
have preached on for ever2 he  might    
have divided the old-fashioned doctrines
 of election1 grace1  reprobation1      

predestination1 into his sixteenth1     
seventeenth1  and eighteenth heads1 and 
his lastly have been looked for as a    
consummation devoutly to be wished2 he  
might have defied the devil and  all his
 works1 and by the help of a loud voice 
and strong-set person--      ,a lusty   
man to ben an ,abbot able2--    have    
increased his own congregation1 and been
 quoted among the godly as  a powerful  
preacher of the word2 but in addition to
 this1 he went out of  his way to attack
 ,jeremy ,bentham1 and the town was up  
in arms4 ,the thing  was new4 ,he thus  
wiped the stain of musty ignorance and  
formal bigotry  out of his style4 ,mr4  
,irving must have something superior in 
him1 to  look over the shining          
close-packed heads of his congregation  
to have a  hit at the ,great            
,jurisconsult in his study4 ,he next1   
ere the report of  the former blow had  
subsided1 made a lunge at ,mr4          
,brougham1 and glanced  an eye at ,mr4  
,canning2 mystified ,mr4 ,coleridge1 and

 stultified ,lord  ,liverpool in his    
place--in the ,gallery4 ,it was rare    
sport to see him1  like an eagle in a   
dovecote1 flutter the ,volscians in     
,corioli4 ,he has  found out the secret 
of attracting by repelling4 ,those whom 
he is likely  to attack are curious to  
hear what he says of them3 they go      
again1  to show that they do not mind   
it4 ,it is no less interesting to the   
by-standers1 who like to witness this   
sort of onslaught--like a charge  of    
cavalry1 the shock1 and the resistance4 
,mr4 ,irving has1 in fact1  without     
leave asked or a licence granted1       
converted the ,caledonian  ,chapel into 
a ,westminster ,forum or ,debating      
,society1 with the sanctity  of religion
 added to it4 ,our spirited polemic is  
not contented to defend  the citadel of 
orthodoxy against all impugners1 and    
shut himself up  in texts of ,scripture 
and huge volumes of the ,commentators as
 an  impregnable fortress2--he merely   
makes use of the stronghold of religion 

as a resting-place1 from which he       
sallies forth1 armed with modern  topics
 and with penal fire1 like ,achilles of 
old rushing from the  ,grecian tents1   
against the adversaries of ,god and man4
 ,peter ,aretine is  said to have laid  
the ,princes of ,europe under           
contribution by penning  satires against
 them3 so ,mr4 ,irving keeps the public 
in awe by insulting  all their favourite
 idols4 ,he does not spare their        
politicians1 their  rulers1 their       
moralists1 their poets1 their players1  
their critics1  their reviewers1 their  
magazine-writers2 he levels their       
resorts of  business1 their places of   
amusement1 at a blow--their cities1     
churches1  palaces1 ranks and           
professions1 refinements1 and           
elegances--and leaves  nothing standing 
but himself1 a mighty landmark in a     
degenerate age1  overlooking the wide   
havoc he has made6 ,he makes war upon   
all arts and  sciences1 upon the        
faculties and nature of man1 on his     

vices and his  virtues1 on all existing 
institutions1 and all possible          
improvements1  that nothing may be left 
but the ,kirk of ,scotland1 and that he 
may be  the head of it4 ,he literally   
sends a challenge to all ,london in the 
name of the ,,king of ,,heaven1 to      
evacuate its streets1 to disperse its   
population1 to lay aside its            
employments1 to burn its wealth1 to     
renounce its vanities and pomp2 and for 
what8--that he may enter in  as the     
,king of ,glory2 or after enforcing his 
threat with the  battering-ram of logic1
 the grape-shot of rhetoric1 and the    
crossfire of  his double vision1 reduce 
the ,british metropolis to a ,scottish  
heath1  with a few miserable hovels upon
 it1 where they may worship ,god        
according to the root of the matter1 and
 an old man with a blue  bonnet1 a      
fair-haired girl1 and a little child    
would form the flower of  his flock6    
,such is the pretension and the boast of
 this new ,peter the  ,hermit1 who would

 get rid of all we have done in the way 
of improvement  on a state of barbarous 
ignorance1 or still more barbarous      
prejudice1 in  order to begin again on a
 tabula rasa of ,calvinism1 and have a  
world  of his own making4 ,it is not    
very surprising that when nearly the    
whole mass and texture of civil society 
is indicted as a nuisance1 and          
threatened to be pulled down as a rotten
 building ready to fall on the  heads of
 the inhabitants1 that all classes of   
people run to hear the  crash1 and to   
see the engines and levers at work which
 are to effect  this laudable purpose4  
,what else can be the meaning of our    
preacher's  taking upon himself to      
denounce the sentiments of the most     
serious  professors in great cities1 as 
vitiated and stark-naught1 of relegating
  religion to his native glens1 and     
pretending that the hymn of praise or   
the sigh of contrition cannot ascend    
acceptably to the throne of grace  from 
the crowded street as well as from the  

barren rock or silent  valley8 ,why put 
this affront upon his hearers8 ,why     
belie his own  aspirations8      ,god   
made the country1 and man made the town4
    ,so says the poet2 does ,mr4 ,irving
 say so8 ,if he does1 and finds the air 
of the city death to his piety1 why does
 he not return home again8 ,but  if he  
can breathe it with impunity1 and still 
retain the fervour of his  early        
enthusiasm1 and the simplicity and      
purity of the faith that was  once      
delivered to the saints1 why not extend 
the benefit of his own  experience to   
others1 instead of taunting them with a 
vapid pastoral  theory8 ,or1 if our     
popular and eloquent divine finds a     
change in  himself1 that flattery       
prevents the growth of grace1 that he is
 becoming  the ,god of his own idolatry 
by being that of others1 that the       
glittering  of coronet-coaches rolling  
down ,holborn-,hill to ,hatton ,garden1 
that  titled beauty1 that the           
parliamentary complexion of his         

audience1 the  compliments of poets1 and
 the stare of peers discompose his      
wandering  thoughts a little2 and yet   
that he cannot give up these strong     
temptations tugging at his heart2 why   
not extend more charity to others1  and 
shew more candour in speaking of        
himself8 ,there is either a good  deal  
of bigoted intolerance with a deplorable
 want of self-knowledge in  all this2 or
 at least an equal degree of cant and   
quackery4    ,to whichever cause we are 
to attribute this hyperbolical tone1 we 
hold  it certain he could not have      
adopted it1 if he had been a little man4
  ,but his imposing figure and dignified
 manner enable him to hazard  sentiments
 or assertions that would be fatal to   
others4 ,his  controversial daring is   
backed by his bodily prowess2 and by    
bringing  his intellectual pretensions  
boldly into a line with his physical    
accomplishments1 he1 indeed1 presents a 
very formidable front to the  sceptic or
 the scoffer4 ,take a cubit from his    

stature1 and his whole  manner resolves 
itself into an impertinence4 ,but with  
that addition1 he  overcrows the town1  
browbeats their prejudices1 and bullies 
them out  of their senses1 and is not   
afraid of being contradicted by any one 
less than himself4 ,it may be said1 that
 individuals with great  personal       
defects have made a considerable figure 
as public speakers2 and  ,mr4           
,wilberforce1 among others1 may be held 
out as an instance4 ,nothing  can be    
more insignificant as to mere outward   
appearance1 and yet he is  listened to  
in the ,house of ,commons4 ,but he does 
not wield it1 he does  not insult or    
bully it4 ,he leads by following        
opinion1 he trims1 he  shifts1 he glides
 on the silvery sounds of his           
undulating1 flexible1  cautiously       
modulated voice1 winding his way betwixt
 heaven and earth1  now courting        
popularity1 now calling servility to his
 aid1 and with a  large estate1 the     
saints1 and the population of ,yorkshire

 to swell his  influence1 never         
venturing on the forlorn hope1 or doing 
any thing more  than hitting the house  
between wind and water4 ,yet he is      
probably a  cleverer man than ,mr4      
,irving4    ,there is a ,mr4 ,fox1 a    
,dissenting ,minister1 as fluent a      
speaker1 with a  sweeter voice and a    
more animated and beneficent countenance
 than ,mr4  ,irving1 who expresses      
himself with manly spirit at a public   
meeting1  takes a hand at whist1 and is 
the darling of his congregation2 but he 
is  no more1 because he is diminutive in
 person4 ,his head is not seen above    
the crowd the length of a street off4   
,he is the ,duke of ,sussex in          
miniature1 but the ,duke of ,sussex does
 not go to hear him preach1 as he       
attends ,mr4 ,irving1 who rises up      
against him like a martello tower1  and 
is nothing loth to confront the spirit  
of a man of genius with  the            
blood-royal4 ,we allow there are1 or may
 be1 talents sufficient to  produce this

 equality without a single personal     
advantage2 but we deny  that this would 
be the effect of any that our great     
preacher possesses4  ,we conceive it not
 improbable that the consciousness of   
muscular power1  that the admiration of 
his person by strangers might first have
 inspired  ,mr4 ,irving with an ambition
 to be something1 intellectually        
speaking1  and have given him confidence
 to attempt the greatest things4 ,he has
 not  failed for want of courage4 ,the  
public1 as well as the fair1 are won  by
 a show of gallantry4 ,mr4 ,irving has  
shrunk from no opinion1 however         
paradoxical4 ,he has scrupled to avow no
 sentiment1 however obnoxious4 ,he  has 
revived exploded prejudices1 he has     
scouted prevailing fashions4  ,he has   
opposed the spirit of the age1 and not  
consulted the esprit de  corps4 ,he has 
brought back the doctrines of ,calvinism
 in all their  inveteracy1 and relaxed  
the inveteracy of his northern accents4 
,he has  turned religion and the        

,caledonian ,chapel topsy-turvy4 ,he has
 held a  play-book in one hand1 and a   
,bible in the other1 and quoted         
,shakspeare  and ,melancthon in the same
 breath4 ,the tree of the knowledge of  
good and  evil is no longer1 with his   
grafting1 a dry withered stump2 it      
shoots  its branches to the skies1 and  
hangs out its blossoms to the gale--    
,miraturque novos fructus1 et non sua   
poma4    ,he has taken the thorns and   
briars of scholastic divinity1 and      
garlanded  them with the flowers of     
modern literature4 ,he has done all     
this1  relying on the strength of a     
remarkably fine person and manner1 and  
through that he has succeeded--otherwise
 he would have perished  miserably4     
,dr4 ,chalmers is not by any means so   
good a looking man1 nor so  accomplished
 a speaker as ,mr4 ,irving2 yet he at   
one time almost equalled  his oratorical
 celebrity1 and certainly paved the way 
for him4 ,he has  therefore more merit  
than his admired pupil1 as he has done  

as much  with fewer means4 ,he has more 
scope of intellect and more intensity of
  purpose4 ,both his matter and his     
manner1 setting aside his face and      
figure1 are more impressive4 ,take the  
volume of ,sermons on ,astronomy1  by   
,dr4 ,chalmers1 and the ,four ,orations 
for the ,oracles of ,god which  ,mr4    
,irving lately published1 and we        
apprehend there can be no comparison  as
 to their success4 ,the first ran like  
wild-fire through the country1  were the
 darlings of watering-places1 were laid 
in the windows of  inns1,a and were to  
be met with in all places of public     
resort2 while  the ,orations get on but 
slowly1 on ,milton's stilts1 and are    
pompously  announced as in a ,third     
,edition4 ,we believe the fairest and   
fondest of  his admirers would rather   
see and hear ,mr4 ,irving than read him4
 ,the  reason is1 that the groundwork of
 his compositions is trashy and         
hackneyed1 though set off by extravagant
 metaphors and an affected  phraseology2

 that without the turn of his head and  
wave of his hand1 his  periods have     
nothing in them2 and that he himself is 
the only idea  with which he has yet    
enriched the public mind6 ,he must play 
off  his person1 as ,orator ,henley used
 to dazzle his hearers with his         
diamond-ring4 ,the small frontispiece   
prefixed to the ,orations does not      
serve to convey an adequate idea of the 
magnitude of the man1 nor of  the ease  
and freedom of his motions in the       
pulpit4 ,how different is ,dr4          
,chalmers6 ,he is like a monkey-preacher
 to the other4 ,he cannot boast  of     
personal appearance to set him off4 ,but
 then he is like the very  genius or    
demon of theological controversy        
personified4 ,he has neither  airs nor  
graces at command2 he thinks nothing of 
himself2 he has nothing  theatrical     
about him 7which cannot be said of his  
successor and  rival72 but you see a man
 in mortal throes and agony with doubts 
and  difficulties1 seizing stubborn     

knotty points with his teeth1 tearing   
them with his hands1 and straining his  
eyeballs till they almost start  out of 
their sockets1 in pursuit of a train of 
visionary reasoning1 like  a            
,highland-seer with his second sight4   
,the description of ,balfour of  ,burley
 in his cave1 with his ,bible in one    
hand and his sword in the  other1       
contending with the imaginary enemy of  
mankind1 gasping for  breath1 and with  
the cold moisture running down his face1
 gives a lively  idea of ,dr4           
,chalmers's prophetic fury in the       
pulpit4 ,if we could  have looked in to 
have seen ,burley hard-beset by the     
coinage of his  heat-oppressed brain1   
who would have asked whether he was a   
handsome  man or not8 ,it would be      
enough to see a man haunted by a spirit1
 under  the strong and entire dominion  
of a wilful hallucination4 ,so the      
integrity and vehemence of ,dr4         
,chalmers's manner1 the determined way  
in  which he gives himself up to his    

subject1 or lays about him and buffets  
sceptics and gainsayers1 arrests        
attention in spite of every other       
circumstance1 and fixes it on that1 and 
that alone1 which excites  such interest
 and such eagerness in his own breast6  
,besides1 he is a  logician1 has a      
theory in support of whatever he chooses
 to advance1 and  weaves the tissue of  
his sophistry so close and intricate1   
that it is  difficult not to be         
entangled in it1 or to escape from it4  
,there's  magic in the web4 ,whatever   
appeals to the pride of the human       
understanding1 has a subtle charm in it4
 ,the mind is naturally  pugnacious1    
cannot refuse a challenge of strength or
 skill1 sturdily  enters the lists and  
resolves to conquer1 or to yield itself 
vanquished  in the forms4 ,this is the  
chief hold ,dr4 ,chalmers had upon his  
hearers1  and upon the readers of his   
,astronomical ,discourses4 ,no one was  
satisfied with his arguments1 no one    
could answer them1 but every one  wanted

 to try what he could make of them1 as  
we try to find out a  riddle4 ,by his so
 potent art1 the art of laying down     
problematical  premises1 and drawing    
from them still more doubtful1 but not  
impossible1  conclusions1 he could bedim
 the noonday sun1 betwixt the green sea 
and  the azure vault set roaring war1   
and almost compel the stars in their    
courses to testify to his opinions4 ,the
 mode in which he undertook to  make the
 circuit of the universe1 and demand    
categorical information  now of the     
planetary and now of the fixed1 might   
put one in mind of  ,hecate's mode of   
ascending in a machine from the stage1  
midst troops  of spirits1 in which you  
now admire the skill of the artist1 and 
next  tremble for the fate of the       
performer1 fearing that the audacity of 
the attempt will turn his head or break 
his neck4 ,the style of these           
,discourses also1 though not elegant or 
poetical1 was1 like the  subject1       
intricate and endless4 ,it was that of a

 man pushing his way  through a         
labyrinth of difficulties1 and          
determined not to flinch4 ,the          
impression on the reader was            
proportionate2 for1 whatever were the   
merits of the style or matter1 both were
 new and striking2 and the train  of    
thought that was unfolded at such length
 and with such strenuousness1  was bold1
 well-sustained1 and consistent with    
itself4    ,mr4 ,irving wants the       
continuity of thought and manner which  
distinguishes his rival--and shines by  
patches and in bursts4 ,he does  not    
warm or acquire increasing force or     
rapidity with his progress4 ,he  is     
never hurried away by a deep or lofty   
enthusiasm1 nor touches the  highest    
point of genius or fanaticism1 but in   
the very storm and  whirlwind of his    
passion1 he acquires and begets a       
temperance that may  give it smoothness4
 ,he has the self-possession and        
masterly execution  of an experienced   
player or fencer1 and does not seem to  

express his  natural convictions1 or to 
be engaged in a mortal struggle4 ,this  
greater  ease and indifference is the   
result of vast superiority of personal  
appearance1 which to be admired needs   
but to be seen1 and does not  require   
the possessor to work himself up into a 
passion1 or to use  any violent         
contortions to gain attention or to keep
 it4 ,these two  celebrated preachers   
are in almost all respects an antithesis
 to each  other4 ,if ,mr4 ,irving is an 
example of what can be done by the help 
of  external advantages1 ,dr4 ,chalmers 
is a proof of what can be done without  
them4 ,the one is most indebted to his  
mind1 the other to his body4 ,if  ,mr4  
,irving inclines one to suspect         
fashionable or popular religion of a    
little anthropomorphitism1 ,dr4         
,chalmers effectually redeems it from   
that scandal4      ,footnote ,a3 ,we    
remember finding the volume in the      
orchard at  ,burford-bridge near        
,boxhill1 and passing a whole and very  

delightful  morning in reading it1      
without quitting the shade of an        
apple-tree4  ,we have not been able to  
pay ,mr4 ,irving's back the same        
compliment of  reading it at a sitting4 
99       99       99       99       99  
,,the ,,late ,,mr4 ,,horne ,,tooke4     
,mr4 ,horne ,tooke was one of those who 
may be considered as connecting  links  
between a former period and the existing
 generation4 ,his education  and        
accomplishments1 nay1 his political     
opinions1 were of the last age2  his    
mind1 and the tone of his feelings were 
modern4 ,there was a hard1  dry         
materialism in the very texture of his  
understanding1 varnished over  by the   
external refinements of the old school4 
,mr4 ,tooke had great  scope of         
attainment1 and great versatility of    
pursuit2 but the same  shrewdness1      
quickness1 cool self-possession1 the    
same literalness of  perception1 and    
absence of passion and enthusiasm1      
characterised nearly  all he did1 said1 

or wrote4 ,he was without a rival       
7almost7 in private  conversation1 an   
expert public speaker1 a keen           
politician1 a first-rate  grammarian1   
and the finest gentleman 7to say the    
least7 of his own  party4 ,he had no    
imagination 7or he would not have       
scorned it67--no  delicacy of taste1 no 
rooted prejudices or strong attachments3
 his  intellect was like a bow of       
polished steel1 from which he shot      
sharp-pointed poisoned arrows at his    
friends in private1 at his enemies  in  
public4 ,his mind 7so to speak7 had no  
religion in it1 and very  little even of
 the moral qualities of genius2 but he  
was a man of the  world1 a scholar bred1
 and a most acute and powerful logician4
 ,he was  also a wit1 and a formidable  
one3 yet it may be questioned whether   
his  wit was any thing more than an     
excess of his logical faculty3 it did   
not  consist in the play of fancy1 but  
in close and cutting combinations of    
the understanding4 ,the law is open to  

every one3 so1 said ,mr4 ,tooke1  is the
 ,london ,tavern6 ,it is the previous   
deduction formed in the  mind1 and the  
splenetic contempt felt for a practical 
sophism1 that  beats about the bush for1
 and at last finds the apt illustration2
 not  the casual1 glancing coincidence  
of two objects1 that points out an      
absurdity to the understanding4 ,so1 on 
another occasion1 when ,sir ,allan      
,gardiner 7who was a candidate for      
,westminster7 had objected to ,mr4 ,fox1
  that he was always against the        
minister1 whether right or wrong1 and   
,mr4 ,fox1 in his reply1 had overlooked 
this slip of the tongue1 ,mr4 ,tooke    
immediately seized on it1 and said1 he  
thought it at least an equal  objection 
to ,sir ,allan1 that he was always with 
the minister1 whether  right or wrong4  
,this retort had all the effect1 and    
produced the same  surprise as the most 
brilliant display of wit or fancy3 yet  
it was only  the detecting a flaw in an 
argument1 like a flaw in an indictment1 

by a  kind of legal pertinacity1 or     
rather by a rigid and constant habit of 
attending to the exact import of every  
word and clause in a sentence4  ,mr4    
,tooke had the mind of a lawyer2 but it 
was applied to a vast variety  of topics
 and general trains of speculation4     
,mr4 ,horne ,tooke was in private       
company1 and among his friends1 the     
finished gentleman of the last age4 ,his
 manners were as fascinating as  his    
conversation was spirited and           
delightful4 ,he put one in mind of the  
burden of the song of ,the ,king's ,old 
,courtier1 and an ,old ,courtier of  the
 ,king's4 ,he was1 however1 of the      
opposite party4 ,it was curious to  hear
 our modern sciolist advancing opinions 
of the most radical  kind without any   
mixture of radical heat or violence1 in 
a tone of  fashionable nonchalance1 with
 elegance of gesture and attitude1 and  
with the most perfect good-humour4 ,in  
the spirit of opposition1 or in  the    
pride of logical superiority1 he too    

often shocked the prejudices or  wounded
 the self-love of those about him1 while
 he himself displayed  the same unmoved 
indifference or equanimity4 ,he said the
 most provoking  things with a laughing 
gaiety1 and a polite attention1 that    
there was  no withstanding4 ,he threw   
others off their guard by thwarting     
their  favourite theories1 and then     
availed himself of the temperance of    
his own pulse to chafe them into        
madness4 ,he had not one particle  of   
deference for the opinion of others1 nor
 of sympathy with their  feelings2 nor  
had he any obstinate convictions of his 
own to defend--      ,lord of himself1  
uncumbered with a creed6    ,he took up 
any topic by chance1 and played with it 
at will1 like a  juggler with his cups  
and balls4 ,he generally ranged himself 
on the  losing side2 and had rather an  
ill-natured delight in contradiction1   
and  in perplexing the understandings of
 others1 without leaving them any  clue 
to guide them out of the labyrinth into 

which he had led them4  ,he understood1 
in its perfection1 the great art of     
throwing the onus  probandi on his      
adversary2 and so could maintain almost 
any opinion1  however absurd or         
fantastical1 with fearless impunity4 ,i 
have heard a  sensible and well-informed
 man say1 that he never was in company  
with  ,mr4 ,tooke without being         
delighted and surprised1 or without     
feeling the  conversation of every other
 person to be flat in the comparison2   
but  that he did not recollect having   
ever heard him make a remark that       
struck him as a sound and true one1 or  
that he himself appeared to think  so4  
,he used to plague ,fuseli by asking him
 after the origin of the  ,teutonic     
dialects1 and ,dr4 ,parr1 by wishing to 
know the meaning of the  common         
copulative1 ,is4 ,once at ,g----'s1 he  
defended ,pitt from a charge  of        
verbiage1 and endeavoured to prove him  
superior to ,fox4 ,some one  imitated   
,pitt's manner1 to show that it was     

monotonous1 and he imitated  him also1  
to show that it was not4 ,he maintained 
7what would he not  maintain87 that     
young ,betty's acting was finer than    
,john ,kemble's1 and  recited a passage 
from ,douglas in the manner of each1 to 
justify the  preference he gave to the  
former4 ,the mentioning this will please
 the  living2 it cannot hurt the dead4  
,he argued on the same occasion and in  
the same breath1 that ,addison's style  
was without modulation1 and  that it was
 physically impossible for any one to   
write well1 who was  habitually silent  
in company4 ,he sat like a king at his  
own table1 and  gave law to his         
guests--and to the world6 ,no man knew  
better how to  manage his immediate     
circle1 to foil or bring them out4 ,a   
professed  orator1 beginning to address 
some observations to ,mr4 ,tooke with a 
voluminous apology for his youth and    
inexperience1 he said1 ,speak up1  young
 man6--and by taking him at his word1   
cut short the flower of  orations4      

,porson was the only person of whom he  
stood in some degree of  awe1 on account
 of his prodigious memory and knowledge 
of his favourite  subject1 ,languages4  
,sheridan1 it has been remarked1 said   
more good  things1 but had not an equal 
flow of pleasantry4 ,as an instance of  
,mr4 ,horne ,tooke's extreme coolness   
and command of nerve1 it has been       
mentioned that once at a public dinner  
when he had got on the table to  return 
thanks for his health being drank with a
 glass of wine in his  hand1 and when   
there was a great clamour and opposition
 for some time1  after it had subsided1 
he pointed to the glass to shew that it 
was still  full4 ,mr4 ,holcroft 7the    
author of the ,road to ,ruin7 was one of
 the  most violent and fiery-spirited of
 all that motley crew of persons1 who   
attended the ,sunday meetings at        
,wimbledon4 ,one day he was so enraged  
by  some paradox or raillery of his     
host1 that he indignantly rose from his 
chair1 and said1 ,mr4 ,tooke1 you are a 

scoundrel6 ,his opponent without        
manifesting the least emotion1 replied1 
,mr4 ,holcroft1 when is it that  ,i am  
to dine with you8 shall it be next      
,thursday8--,if you please1 ,mr4        
,tooke6 answered the angry philosopher1 
and sat down again4--,it was  delightful
 to see him sometimes turn from these   
waspish or ludicrous  altercations with 
over-weening antagonists to some old    
friend and  veteran politician seated at
 his elbow2 to hear him recal the time  
of  ,wilkes and ,liberty1 the           
conversation mellowing like the wine    
with the  smack of age2 assenting to all
 the old man said1 bringing out his     
pleasant traits1 and pampering him into 
childish self-importance1 and  sending  
him away thirty years younger than he   
came6    ,as a public or at least as a  
parliamentary speaker1 ,mr4 ,tooke did  
not  answer the expectations that had   
been conceived of him1 or probably  that
 he had conceived of himself4 ,it is    
natural for men who have felt  a        

superiority over all those whom they    
happen to have encountered1 to  fancy   
that this superiority will continue1 and
 that it will extend from  individuals  
to public bodies4 ,there is no rule in  
the case2 or rather1  the probability   
lies the contrary way4 ,that which      
constitutes the  excellence of          
conversation is of little use in        
addressing large  assemblies of people2 
while other qualities are required that 
are hardly  to be looked for in one and 
the same capacity4 ,the way to move     
great  masses of men is to shew that you
 yourself are moved4 ,in a private      
circle1 a ready repartee1 a shrewd      
cross-question1 ridicule and  banter1 a 
caustic remark or an amusing anecdote1  
whatever sets off  the individual to    
advantage1 or gratifies the curiosity or
 piques the  self-love of the hearers1  
keeps attention alive1 and secures the  
triumph  of the speaker--it is a        
personal contest1 and depends on        
personal and  momentary advantages4 ,but

 in appealing to the public1 no one     
triumphs  but in the triumph of some    
public cause1 or by shewing a sympathy  
with  the general and predominant       
feelings of mankind4 ,in a private room1
 a  satirist1 a sophist may provoke     
admiration by expressing his contempt   
for each of his adversaries in turn1 and
 by setting their opinion at            
defiance--but when men are congregated  
together on a great public  question and
 for a weighty object1 they must be     
treated with more  respect2 they are    
touched with what affects themselves or 
the general  weal1 not with what        
flatters the vanity of the speaker2 they
 must be  moved altogether1 if they are 
moved at all2 they are impressed with   
gratitude for a luminous exposition of  
their claims or for zeal in their       
cause2 and the lightning of generous    
indignation at bad men and bad  measures
 is followed by thunders of             
applause--even in the ,house of         
,commons4 ,but a man may sneer and cavil

 and puzzle and fly-blow every  question
 that comes before him--be despised and 
feared by others1 and  admired by no one
 but himself4 ,he who thinks first of   
himself1 either in  the world or in a   
popular assembly1 will be sure to turn  
attention away  from his claims1 instead
 of fixing it there4 ,he must make      
common cause  with his hearers4 ,to     
lead1 he must follow the general bias4  
,mr4 ,tooke  did not therefore succeed  
as a speaker in parliament4 ,he stood   
aloof1  he played antics1 he exhibited  
his peculiar talent--while he was on his
  legs1 the question before the ,house  
stood still2 the only point at issue    
respected ,mr4 ,tooke himself1 his      
personal address and adroitness of      
intellect4    ,were there to be no more 
places and pensions1 because ,mr4       
,tooke's style  was terse and           
epigrammatic8 ,were the ,opposition     
benches to be inflamed  to an unusual   
pitch of sacred vehemence1 because he   
gave them plainly  to understand there  

was not a pin to choose between         
,ministers and  ,opposition8 ,would the 
,house let him remain among them1       
because1 if  they turned him out on     
account of his black coat1 ,lord        
,camelford had  threatened to send his  
black servant in his place8 ,this was a 
good  joke1 but not a practical one4    
,would he gain the affections of the    
people out of doors1 by scouting the    
question of reform8 ,would the ,king    
ever relish the old associate of        
,wilkes8 ,what interest1 then1 what     
party  did he represent8 ,he represented
 nobody but himself4 ,he was an example 
of an ingenious man1 a clever talker1   
but he was out of his place in the      
,house of ,commons2 where people did not
 come 7as in his own house7 to  admire  
or break a lance with him1 but to get   
through the business of  the day1 and so
 adjourn6 ,he wanted effect and         
momentum4 ,each of his  sentences told  
very well in itself1 but they did not   
all together make  a speech4 ,he left   

off where he began4 ,his eloquence was a
 succession  of drops1 not a stream4    
,his arguments1 though subtle and new1  
did not  affect the main body of the    
question4 ,the coldness and pettiness of
  his manner did not warm the hearts or 
expand the understandings of his        
hearers4 ,instead of encouraging1 he    
checked the ardour of his friends2  and 
teazed1 instead of overpowering his     
antagonists4 ,the only palpable  hit he 
ever made1 while he remained there1 was 
the comparing his own  situation in     
being rejected by the ,house1 on account
 of the supposed  purity of his clerical
 character1 to the story of the girl at 
the  ,magdalen1 who was told she must   
turn out and qualify4,a ,this met with  
laughter and loud applause4 ,it was a   
home thrust1 and the ,house 7to do  them
 justice7 are obliged to any one who1 by
 a smart blow1 relieves  them of the    
load of grave responsibility1 which sits
 heavy on their  shoulders4--,at the    
hustings1 or as an election-candidate1  

,mr4 ,tooke did  better4 ,there was no  
great question to move or carry--it was 
an affair  of political sparring between
 himself and the other candidates4 ,he  
took it in a very cool and leisurely    
manner--watched his competitors  with a 
wary1 sarcastic eye2 picked up the      
mistakes or absurdities that  fell from 
them1 and retorted them on their heads2 
told a story to the  mob2 and smiled and
 took snuff with a gentlemanly and      
becoming air1 as  if he was already     
seated in the ,house4 ,but a ,court of  
,law was the place  where ,mr4 ,tooke   
made the best figure in public4 ,he     
might assuredly be  said to be native   
and endued unto that element4 ,he had   
here to stand  merely on the            
defensive--not to advance himself1 but  
to block up the  way--not to impress    
others1 but to be himself impenetrable4 
,all he  wanted was negative success2   
and to this no one was better qualified 
to aspire4 ,cross purposes1 moot-points1
 pleas1 demurrers1 flaws in  the        

indictment1 double meanings1 cases1     
inconsequentialities1 these were  the   
play-things1 the darlings of ,mr4       
,tooke's mind2 and with these he        
baffled the ,judge1 dumb-founded the    
,counsel1 and outwitted the ,jury4 ,the 
report of his trial before ,lord ,kenyon
 is a master-piece of acuteness1        
dexterity1 modest assurance1 and legal  
effect4 ,it is much like his            
examination before the ,commissioners of
 the ,income-,tax--nothing could  be got
 out of him in either case6 ,mr4 ,tooke1
 as a political leader1  belonged to the
 class of trimmers2 or at most1 it was  
his delight to  make mischief and spoil 
sport4 ,he would rather be against      
himself than  for any body else4 ,he was
 neither a bold nor a safe leader4 ,he  
enticed  others into scrapes1 and kept  
out of them himself4 ,provided he could 
say a clever or a spiteful thing1 he did
 not care whether it served or  injured 
the cause4 ,spleen or the exercise of   
intellectual power was the  motive of   

his patriotism1 rather than principle4  
,he would talk treason  with a saving   
clause2 and instil sedition into the    
public mind1 through  the medium of a   
third 7who was to be the responsible7   
party4 ,he made ,sir  ,francis ,burdett 
his spokesman in the ,house and to the  
country1 often  venting his chagrin or  
singularity of sentiment at the expense 
of his  friend2 but what in the first   
was trick or reckless vanity1 was in the
  last plain downright ,english honesty 
and singleness of heart4 ,in the  case  
of the ,state ,trials1 in #agid1 ,mr4   
,tooke rather compromised his  friends  
to screen himself4 ,he kept repeating   
that others might have  gone on to      
,windsor1 but he had stopped at         
,hounslow1 as if to go farther  might   
have been dangerous and unwarrantable4  
,it was not the question how  far he or 
others had actually gone1 but how far   
they had a right to go1  according to   
the law4 ,his conduct was not the limit 
of the law1 nor did  treasonable excess 

begin where prudence or principle taught
 him to stop  short1 though this was the
 oblique inference liable to be drawn   
from his  line of defence4 ,mr4 ,tooke  
was uneasy and apprehensive for the     
issue of  the ,government-prosecution   
while in confinement1 and said1 in      
speaking  of it to a friend1 with a     
morbid feeling and an emphasis quite    
unusual  with him--,they want our       
blood--blood--blood6 ,it was somewhat   
ridiculous to implicate ,mr4 ,tooke in a
 charge of ,high ,treason 7and  indeed  
the whole charge was built on the       
mistaken purport of  an intercepted     
letter relating to an engagement for a  
private  dinnerparty7--his politics were
 not at all revolutionary4 ,in this     
respect he was a mere pettifogger1 full 
of chicane1 and captious  objections1   
and unmeaning discontent2 but he had    
none of the grand  whirling movements of
 the ,french ,revolution1 nor of the    
tumultuous glow  of rebellion in his    
head or in his heart4 ,his politics were

 cast in  a different mould1 or confined
 to the party distinctions and court-   
intrigues and pittances of popular      
right1 that made a noise in the time  of
 ,junius and ,wilkes--and even if his   
understanding had gone along with  more 
modern and unqualified principles1 his  
cautious temper would have  prevented   
his risking them in practice4 ,horne    
,tooke 7though not of the  same side in 
politics7 had much of the tone of mind  
and more of the  spirit of moral feeling
 of the celebrated philosopher of       
,malmesbury4 ,the  narrow scale and     
fine-drawn distinctions of his political
 creed made  his conversation on such   
subjects infinitely amusing1            
particularly  when contrasted with that 
of persons who dealt in the sounding    
common-places and sweeping clauses of   
abstract politics4 ,he knew all  the    
cabals and jealousies and heart-burnings
 in the beginning of the  late reign1   
the changes of administration and the   
springs of secret  influence1 the       

characters of the leading men1 ,wilkes1 
,barr1 ,dunning1  ,chatham1 ,burke1 the 
,marquis of ,rockingham1 ,north1        
,shelburne1 ,fox1 ,pitt1  and all the   
vacillating events of the ,american     
war3--these formed a  curious           
back-ground to the more prominent       
figures that occupied the  present time1
 and ,mr4 ,tooke worked out the minute  
details and touched in  the evanescent  
traits with the pencil of a master4 ,his
 conversation  resembled a political    
camera obscura--as quaint as it was     
magical4 ,to  some pompous pretenders he
 might seem to narrate fabellas aniles  
7old  wives' fables7--but not to those  
who study human nature1 and wish to     
know the materials of which it is       
composed4 ,mr4 ,tooke's faculties might 
appear to have ripened and acquired a   
finer flavour with age4 ,in a  former   
period of his life he was hardly the man
 he was latterly2 or else  he had       
greater abilities to contend against4   
,he no where makes so poor a  figure as 

in his controversy with ,junius4 ,he has
 evidently the best of  the argument1   
yet he makes nothing out of it4 ,he     
tells a long story  about himself1      
without wit or point in it2 and whines  
and whimpers like  a school-boy under   
the rod of his master4 ,junius1 after   
bringing a hasty  charge against him1   
has not a single fact to adduce in      
support of it2  but keeps his ground and
 fairly beats his adversary out of the  
field by  the mere force of style4 ,one 
would think that ,parson ,horne knew who
  ,junius was1 and was afraid of him4   
,under him his genius is quite  rebuked4
 ,with the best cause to defend1 he     
comes off more shabbily  from the       
contest than any other person in the    
,,letters1 except ,sir  ,william        
,draper1 who is the very hero of defeat4
    ,the great thing which ,mr4 ,horne  
,tooke has done1 and which he has left  
behind him to posterity1 is his work on 
,grammar1 oddly enough entitled  ,,the  
,,diversions ,,of ,,purley4 ,many people

 have taken it up as a description  of a
 game--others supposing it to be a      
novel4 ,it is1 in truth1 one of  the few
 philosophical works on ,grammar that   
were ever written4 ,the  essence of it  
7and1 indeed1 almost all that is really 
valuable in it7 is  contained in his    
,letter to ,dunning1 published about the
 year #agge4  ,mr4 ,tooke's work is     
truly elementary4 ,dr4 ,lowth described 
,mr4 ,harris's  ,hermes as the finest   
specimen of analysis since the days of  
,aristotle--a work in which there is no 
analysis at all1 for analysis  consists 
in reducing things to their principles1 
and not in endless  details and         
subdivisions4 ,mr4 ,harris multiplies   
distinctions1 and  confounds his        
readers4 ,mr4 ,tooke clears away the    
rubbish of school-boy  technicalities1  
and strikes at the root of his subject4 
,in accomplishing  his arduous task1 he 
was1 perhaps1 aided not more by the     
strength and  resources of his mind than
 by its limits and defects4 ,there is a 

web of  old associations wound round    
language1 that is a kind of veil over   
its  natural features2 and custom puts  
on the mask of ignorance4 ,but this     
veil1 this mask the author of ,the      
,diversions of ,purley threw aside and  
penetrated to the naked truth of things1
 by the literal1 matter-of-fact1        
unimaginative nature of his             
understanding1 and because he was not   
subject to prejudices or illusions of   
any kind4 ,words may be said to  bear a 
charmed life1 that must not yield to one
 of woman born--with  womanish          
weaknesses and confused apprehensions4  
,but this charm was  broken in the case 
of ,mr4 ,tooke1 whose mind was the      
reverse of  effeminate--hard1 unbending1
 concrete1 physical1 half-savage--and   
who  saw language stripped of the       
clothing of habit or sentiment1 or the  
disguises of doting pedantry1 naked in  
its cradle1 and in its primitive  state4
 ,our author tells us that he found his 
discovery on ,grammar among  a number of

 papers on other subjects1 which he had 
thrown aside and  forgotten4 ,is this an
 idle boast8 ,or had he made other      
discoveries  of equal importance1 which 
he did not think it worth his while to  
communicate to the world1 but chose to  
die the churl of knowledge8 ,the  whole 
of his reasoning turns upon shewing that
 the ,conjunction ,that  is the pronoun 
,that1 which is itself the participle of
 a verb1 and  in like manner that all   
the other mystical and hitherto         
unintelligible  parts of speech are     
derived from the only two intelligible  
ones1 the  ,verb and ,noun4 ,i affirm   
that gold is yellow1 that is1 ,i affirm 
that fact1 or that proposition1 viz4    
gold is yellow4 ,the secret of  the     
,conjunction on which so many fine heads
 had split1 on which so many  learned   
definitions were thrown away1 as if it  
was its peculiar province  and inborn   
virtue to announce oracles and formal   
propositions1 and  nothing else1 like a 
,doctor of ,laws1 is here at once       

accounted for1  inasmuch as it is       
clearly nothing but another part of     
speech1 the  pronoun1 that1 with a third
 part of speech1 the noun1 thing1       
understood4 ,this is getting at a       
solution of words into their component  
parts1 not glossing over one difficulty 
by bringing another to parallel  it1 nor
 like saying with ,mr4 ,harris1 when it 
is asked1 what a  ,conjunction is8 that 
there are conjunctions copulative1      
conjunctions  disjunctive1 and as many  
other frivolous varieties of the species
 as any  one chooses to hunt out with   
laborious foolery4 ,our author hit  upon
 his parent-discovery in the course of a
 law-suit1 while he was  examining1 with
 jealous watchfulness1 the meaning of   
words to prevent  being entrapped by    
them2 or rather1 this circumstance might
 itself be  traced to the habit of      
satisfying his own mind as to the       
precise sense  in which he himself made 
use of words4 ,mr4 ,tooke1 though he had
 no  objection to puzzle others1 was    

mightily averse to being puzzled or     
mystified himself4 ,all was1 to his     
determined mind1 either complete  light 
or complete darkness4 ,there was no     
hazy1 doubtful chiaro-scuro  in his     
understanding4 ,he wanted something     
palpable to feeling as to  sight4 ,what1
 he would say to himself1 do ,i mean    
when ,i use the  conjunction that8 ,is  
it an anomaly1 a class by itself1 a word
 sealed  against all inquisitive        
attempts8 ,is it enough to call it a    
copula1  a bridge1 a link1 a word       
connecting sentences8 ,that is          
undoubtedly its  use1 but what is its   
origin8 ,mr4 ,tooke thought he had      
answered this  question satisfactorily1 
and loosened the ,gordian knot of       
grammarians1  familiar as his garter1   
when he said1 ,it is the common pronoun1
  adjective1 or participle1 that1 with  
the noun1 thing or proposition1         
implied1 and the particular example     
following it4 ,so he thought1 and  so   
every reader has thought since1 with the

 exception of teachers and  writers upon
 grammar4 ,mr4 ,windham1 indeed1 who was
 a sophist1 but not a  logician1 charged
 him with having found a mare's-nest2   
but it is not  to be doubted that ,mr4  
,tooke's etymologies will stand the     
test1 and  last longer than ,mr4        
,windham's ingenious derivation of the  
practice of  bull-baiting from the      
principles of humanity6    ,having thus 
laid the corner-stone1 he proceeded to  
apply the same method  of reasoning to  
other undecyphered and impracticable    
terms4 ,thus the  word1 ,and1 he        
explained clearly enough to be the verb 
add1 or a  corruption of the old ,saxon1
 anandad4 ,two and two make four1 that  
is1 two add two make four4 ,mr4 ,tooke1 
in fact1 treated words as  the chemists 
do substances2 he separated those which 
are compounded of  others from those    
which are not decompoundable4 ,he did   
not explain the  obscure by the more    
obscure1 but the difficult by the plain1
 the complex  by the simple4 ,this alone

 is proceeding upon the true principles 
of  science3 the rest is pedantry and   
petit-maitreship4 ,our philosophical    
writer distinguished all words into     
names of things1 and directions  added  
for joining them together1 or originally
 into nouns and verbs4  ,it is a pity   
that he has left this matter short1 by  
omitting to define  the ,verb4 ,after   
enumerating sixteen different           
definitions 7all of which  he dismisses 
with scorn and contumely7 at the end of 
two quarto volumes1  he refers the      
reader for the true solution to a third 
volume1 which  he did not live to       
finish4 ,this extraordinary man was in  
the habit  of tantalizing his guests on 
a ,sunday afternoon with sundry abstruse
  speculations1 and putting them off to 
the following week for a  satisfaction  
of their doubts2 but why should he treat
 posterity in the  same scurvy manner1  
or leave the world without quitting     
scores with it8  ,i question whether    
,mr4 ,tooke was himself in possession of

 his pretended  nostrum1 and whether1   
after trying hard at a definition of the
 verb as  a distinct part of speech1 as 
a terrier-dog mumbles a hedge-hog1 he   
did  not find it too much for him1 and  
leave it to its fate4 ,it is also a     
pity that ,mr4 ,tooke spun out his great
 work with prolix and dogmatical        
dissertations on irrelevant matters2 and
 after denying the old  metaphysical    
theories of language1 should attempt to 
found a  metaphysical theory of his own 
on the nature and mechanism of language4
  ,the nature of words1 he contended 7it
 was the basis of his whole system7  had
 no connection with the nature of things
 or the objects of thought2  yet he     
afterwards strove to limit the nature of
 things and of the human  mind by the   
technical structure of language4 ,thus  
he endeavours to shew  that there are no
 abstract ideas1 by enumerating two     
thousand instances  of words1 expressing
 abstract ideas1 that are the past      
participles of  certain verbs4 ,it is   

difficult to know what he means by this4
 ,on the  other hand1 he maintains that 
a complex idea is as great an absurdity 
as a complex star1 and that words only  
are complex4 ,he also makes out a       
triumphant list of metaphysical and     
moral non-entities1 proved to be  so on 
the pure principle that the names of    
these non-entities are  participles1 not
 nouns1 or names of things4 ,that is    
strange in so close  a reasoner and in  
one who maintained that all language was
 a masquerade  of words1 and that the   
class to which they grammatically       
belonged had  nothing to do with the    
class of ideas they represented4    ,it 
is now above twenty years since the two 
quarto volumes of the  ,diversions of   
,purley were published1 and fifty since 
the same theory  was promulgated in the 
celebrated ,letter to ,dunning4 ,yet it 
is a  curious example of the ,spirit of 
the ,age that ,mr4 ,lindley ,murray's   
,grammar 7a work out of which ,mr4      
,c---- helps himself to ,english1 and   

,mr4  ,m---- to style,b7 has proceeded  
to the thirtieth edition in complete    
defiance of all the facts and arguments 
there laid down4 ,he defines a  noun to 
be the name of a thing4 ,is quackery a  
thing1 i4e4 a substance8  ,he defines a 
verb to be a word signifying to be1 to  
do1 or to suffer4  ,are being1 action1  
suffering verbs8 ,he defines an         
adjective to be the  name of a quality4 
,are not wooden1 golden1 substantial    
adjectives8 ,he  maintains that there   
are six cases in ,english nouns ,c1 that
 is1 six  various terminations without  
any change of termination at all1 and   
that  ,english verbs have all the moods1
 tenses1 and persons that the ,latin    
ones have4 ,this is an extraordinary    
stretch of blindness and obstinacy4  ,he
 very formally translates the ,latin    
,grammar into ,english 7as so many  had 
done before him7 and fancies he has     
written an ,english ,grammar2 and       
divines applaud1 and schoolmasters usher
 him into the polite world1 and         

,english scholars carry on the jest1    
while ,horne ,tooke's genuine  anatomy  
of our native tongue is laid on the     
shelf4 ,can it be that our  politicians 
smell a rat in the ,member for ,old     
,sarum8 ,that our clergy  do not relish 
,parson ,horne8 ,that the world at large
 are alarmed at  acuteness and          
originality greater than their own8     
,what has all this  to do with the      
formation of the ,english language or   
with the first  conditions and necessary
 foundation of speech itself8 ,is there 
nothing  beyond the reach of prejudice  
and party-spirit8 ,it seems in this1 as 
in  so many other instances1 as if there
 was a patent for absurdity in the      
natural bias of the human mind1 and that
 folly should be stereotyped6           
,footnote ,a3 ,they receive him like a  
virgin at the ,magdalen--,go thou  and  
do likewise4--,,junius4      ,footnote  
,b3 ,this work is not without merit in  
the details and examples  of ,english   
construction4 ,but its fault even in    

that part is that he  confounds the     
genius of the ,english language1 making 
it periphrastic and  literal1 instead of
 elliptical and idiomatic4 ,according to
 ,mr4 ,murray1  hardly any of our best  
writers ever wrote a word of ,english4  
,footnote ,c3 ,at least1 with only one  
change in the genitive case1            
99       99       99       99       99  
,,sir ,,walter ,,scott        ,sir      
,walter ,scott is undoubtedly the most  
popular writer of the age--the  lord of 
the ascendant for the time being4 ,he is
 just half what the  human intellect is 
capable of being3 if you take the       
universe1 and  divide it into two parts1
 he knows all that it has been2 all that
  it is to be is nothing to him4 ,his is
 a mind brooding over                   
antiquity--scorning the present ignorant
 time4 ,he is laudator  temporis acti--a
 prophesier of things past4 ,the old    
world is to him  a crowded map2 the new 
one a dull1 hateful blank4 ,he dotes on 
all well-  authenticated superstitions2 

he shudders at the shadow of innovation4
  ,his retentiveness of memory1 his     
accumulated weight of interested        
prejudice or romantic association have  
overlaid his other faculties4 ,the      
cells of his memory are vast1 various1  
full even to bursting with life  and    
motion2 his speculative understanding is
 empty1 flaccid1 poor1 and  dead4 ,his  
mind receives and treasures up every    
thing brought to it by  tradition or    
custom--it does not project itself      
beyond this into the  world unknown1 but
 mechanically shrinks back as from the  
edge of a  prejudice4 ,the land of pure 
reason is to his apprehension like ,van 
,dieman's ,land2--barren1 miserable1    
distant1 a place of exile1 the  dreary  
abode of savages1 convicts1 and         
adventurers4 ,sir ,walter would  make a 
bad hand of a description of the        
,millennium1 unless he could  lay the   
scene in ,scotland five hundred years   
ago1 and then he would  want facts and  
worm-eaten parchments to support his    

drooping style4  ,our historical        
novelist firmly thinks that nothing is  
but what has  been--that the moral world
 stands still1 as the material one was  
supposed to do of old--and that we can  
never get beyond the point where  we    
actually are without utter destruction1 
though every thing changes  and will    
change from what it was three hundred   
years ago to what it is  now1--from what
 it is now to all that the bigoted      
admirer of the good  old times most     
dreads and hates6    ,it is long since  
we read1 and long since we thought of   
our author's  poetry4 ,it would probably
 have gone out of date with the         
immediate  occasion1 even if he himself 
had not contrived to banish it from our 
recollection4 ,it is not to be denied   
that it had great merit1 both of  an    
obvious and intrinsic kind4 ,it abounded
 in vivid descriptions1 in  spirited    
action1 in smooth and flowing           
versification4 ,but it wanted           
character4 ,it was poetry of no mark or 

likelihood4 ,it slid out of  the mind as
 soon as read1 like a river2 and would  
have been forgotten1  but that the      
public curiosity was fed with ever-new  
supplies from the  same teeming liquid  
source4 ,it is not every man that can   
write six  quarto volumes in verse1 that
 are caught up with avidity1 even by    
fastidious judges4 ,but what a          
difference between their popularity and 
that of the ,scotch ,novels6 ,it is     
true1 the public read and admired the   
,lay of the ,last ,minstrel1 ,marmion1  
and so on1 and each individual was      
contented to read and admire because the
 public did so3 but with  regard to the 
prose-works of the same 7supposed7      
author1 it is quite  another-guess sort 
of thing4 ,here every one stands forward
 to applaud  on his own ground1 would be
 thought to go before the public        
opinion1  is eager to extol his         
favourite characters louder1 to         
understand them  better than every body 
else1 and has his own scale of          

comparative  excellence for each work1  
supported by nothing but his own        
enthusiastic  and fearless convictions4 
,it must be amusing to the ,author of   
,waverley  to hear his readers and      
admirers 7and are not these the same    
thing8,a7  quarrelling which of his     
novels is the best1 opposing character  
to  character1 quoting passage against  
passage1 striving to surpass each  other
 in the extravagance of their encomiums1
 and yet unable to settle  the          
precedence1 or to do the author's       
writings justice--so various1  so equal1
 so transcendant are their merits6 ,his 
volumes of poetry were  received as     
fashionable and well-dressed            
acquaintances3 we are ready  to tear the
 others in pieces as old friends4 ,there
 was something  meretricious in ,sir    
,walter's ballad-rhymes2 and like those 
who keep  opera figurantes1 we were     
willing to have our admiration shared1  
and  our taste confirmed by the town3   
but the ,novels are like the betrothed  

of our hearts1 bone of our bone1 and    
flesh of our flesh1 and we are  jealous 
that any one should be as much delighted
 or as thoroughly  acquainted with their
 beauties as ourselves4 ,for which of   
his poetical  heroines would the reader 
break a lance so soon as for ,jeanie    
,deans8  ,what ,lady of the ,lake can   
compare with the beautiful ,rebecca8 ,we
  believe the late ,mr4 ,john ,scott    
went to his death-bed 7though a painful 
and premature one7 with some degree of  
satisfaction1 inasmuch as he had  penned
 the most elaborate panegyric on the    
,scotch ,novels that had as  yet        
appeared6--,the ,epics are not poems1 so
 much as metrical romances4  ,there is a
 glittering veil of verse thrown over   
the features of nature  and of old      
romance4 ,the deep incisions into       
character are skinned and  filmed       
over--the details are lost or shaped    
into flimsy and insipid  decorum2 and   
the truth of feeling and of circumstance
 is translated into  a tinkling sound1 a

 tinsel common-place4 ,it must be owned1
 there is a  power in true poetry that  
lifts the mind from the ground of       
reality to  a higher sphere1 that       
penetrates the inert1 scattered1        
incoherent  materials presented to it1  
and by a force and inspiration of its   
own1  melts and moulds them into        
sublimity and beauty4 ,but ,sir ,walter 
7we  contend1 under correction7 has not 
this creative impulse1 this plastic     
power1 this capacity of reacting on his 
first impressions4 ,he is a  learned1 a 
literal1 a matter-of-fact expounder of  
truth or fable3,b  he does not soar     
above and look down upon his subject1   
imparting his own  lofty views and      
feelings to his descriptions of         
nature--he relies  upon it1 is raised by
 it1 is one with it1 or he is nothing4  
,a poet is  essentially a maker2 that   
is1 he must atone for what he loses in  
individuality and local resemblance by  
the energies and resources of his  own  
mind4 ,the writer of whom we speak is   

deficient in these last4 ,he has  either
 not the faculty or not the will to     
impregnate his subject by an  effort of 
pure invention4 ,the execution also is  
much upon a par with  the more ephemeral
 effusions of the press4 ,it is light1  
agreeable1  effeminate1 diffuse4 ,sir   
,walter's ,muse is a ,modern ,antique4  
,the  smooth1 glossy texture of his     
verse contrasts happily with the quaint1
  uncouth1 rugged materials of which it 
is composed2 and takes away any         
appearance of heaviness or harshness    
from the body of local traditions  and  
obsolete costume4 ,we see grim knights  
and iron armour2 but then they  are     
woven in silk with a careless1 delicate 
hand1 and have the softness  of flowers4
 ,the poet's figures might be compared  
to old ,c tapestries  copied on the     
finest velvet3--they are not like       
,raphael's ,cartoons1  but they are very
 like ,mr4 ,westall's drawings1 which   
accompany1 and are  intended to         
illustrate them4 ,this facility and     

grace of execution is the  more         
remarkable1 as a story goes that not    
long before the appearance of  the ,lay 
of the ,last ,minstrel ,sir ,walter     
7then ,mr47 ,scott1 having1 in  the     
company of a friend1 to cross the ,frith
 of ,forth in a ferry-boat1  they       
proposed to beguile the time by writing 
a number of verses on a  given subject1 
and that at the end of an hour's hard   
study1 they found  they had produced    
only six lines between them4 ,it is     
plain1 said the  unconscious author to  
his fellow-labourer1 that you and ,i    
need never  think of getting our living 
by writing poetry6 ,in a year or so     
after  this1 he set to work1 and poured 
out quarto upon quarto1 as if they had  
been drops of water4 ,as to the rest1   
and compared with true and great  poets1
 our ,scottish ,minstrel is but a metre 
ballad-monger4 ,we would  rather have   
written one song of ,burns1 or a single 
passage in ,lord  ,byron's ,heaven and  
,earth1 or one of ,wordsworth's fancies 

and  good-nights1 than all his epics4   
,what is he to ,spenser1 over whose     
immortal1 ever-amiable verse beauty     
hovers and trembles1 and who has  shed  
the purple light of ,fancy1 from his    
ambrosial wings1 over all  nature8 ,what
 is there of the might of ,milton1 whose
 head is canopied in  the blue serene1  
and who takes us to sit with him there8 
,what is there  7in his ambling rhymes7 
of the deep pathos of ,chaucer8 ,or of  
the  o'er-informing power of            
,shakespear1 whose eye1 watching alike  
the  minutest traces of characters and  
the strongest movements of passion1     
glances from heaven to earth1 from earth
 to heaven1 and with the  lambent flame 
of genius1 playing round each object1   
lights up the  universe in a robe of its
 own radiance8 ,sir ,walter has no      
voluntary  power of combination3 all his
 associations 7as we said before7 are   
those  of habit or of tradition4 ,he is 
a mere narrative and descriptive poet1  
garrulous of the old time4 ,the         

definition of his poetry is a pleasing  
superficiality4    ,not so of his       
,,novels ,,and ,,romances4 ,there we    
turn over a new  leaf--another and the  
same--the same in matter1 but in form1  
in power  how different6 ,the author of 
,waverley has got rid of the tagging of 
rhymes1 the eking out of syllables1 the 
supplying of epithets1 the  colours of  
style1 the grouping of his characters1  
and the regular march  of events1 and   
comes to the point at once1 and strikes 
at the heart  of his subject1 without   
dismay and without disguise4 ,his poetry
 was a  lady's waiting-maid1 dressed out
 in cast-off finery3 his prose is a     
beautiful1 rustic nymph1 that1 like     
,dorothea in ,don ,quixote1 when she is 
surprised with dishevelled tresses      
bathing her naked feet in the brook1    
looks round her1 abashed at the         
admiration her charms have excited6 ,the
  grand secret of the author's success  
in these latter productions is that  he 
has completely got rid of the trammels  

of authorship2 and torn off at  one rent
 7as ,lord ,peter got rid of so many    
yards of lace in the ,tale of  a ,tub7  
all the ornaments of fine writing and   
worn-out sentimentality4  ,all is fresh1
 as from the hand of nature3 by going a 
century or two back  and laying the     
scene in a remote and uncultivated      
district1 all becomes  new and startling
 in the present advanced                
period4--,highland manners1  characters1
 scenery1 superstitions1 ,northern      
dialect and costume1 the  wars1 the     
religion1 and politics of the sixteenth 
and seventeenth  centuries1 give a      
charming and wholesome relief to the    
fastidious  refinement and over-laboured
 lassitude of modern readers1 like the  
effect of plunging a nervous            
valetudinarian into a cold-bath4 ,the   
,scotch ,novels1 for this reason1 are   
not so much admired in ,scotland as  in 
,england4 ,the contrast1 the transition 
is less striking4 ,from the top  of the 
,calton-,hill1 the inhabitants of ,auld 

,reekie can descry1 or  fancy they      
descry the peaks of ,ben ,lomond and the
 waving outline of ,rob  ,roy's country3
 we who live at the southern extremity  
of the island can  only catch a glimpse 
of the billowy scene in the descriptions
 of the  ,author of ,waverley4 ,the     
mountain air is most bracing to our     
languid  nerves1 and it is brought us in
 ship-loads from the neighbourhood  of  
,abbot's-,ford4 ,there is another       
circumstance to be taken into the       
account4 ,in ,edinburgh there is a      
little opposition and something of  the 
spirit of cabal between the partisans of
 works proceeding from ,mr4             
,constable's and ,mr4 ,blackwood's      
shops4 ,mr4 ,constable gives the highest
  prices2 but being the ,whig           
bookseller1 it is grudged that he should
  do so4 ,an attempt is therefore made  
to transfer a certain share of          
popularity to the second-rate ,scotch   
novels1 the embryo fry1 the little  airy
 of ricketty children1 issuing through  

,mr4 ,blackwood's shop-door4  ,this     
operates a diversion1 which does not    
affect us here4 ,the ,author of         
,waverley wears the palm of legendary   
lore alone4 ,sir ,walter may1 indeed1   
surfeit us3 his imitators make us sick6 
,it may be asked1 it has been  asked1   
,have we no materials for romance in    
,england8 ,must we look to  ,scotland   
for a supply of whatever is original and
 striking in this  kind8 ,and we        
answer--,yes6 ,every foot of soil is    
with us worked up3  nearly every        
movement of the social machine is       
calculable4 ,we have no  room left for  
violent catastrophes2 for grotesque     
quaintnesses2 for  wizard spells4 ,the  
last skirts of ignorance and barbarism  
are seen  hovering 7in ,sir ,walter's   
pages7 over the ,border4 ,we have1 it is
 true1  gipsies in this country as well 
as at the ,cairn of ,derncleugh3 but    
they  live under clipped hedges1 and    
repose in camp-beds1 and do not perch   
on crags1 like eagles1 or take shelter1 

like sea-mews1 in basaltic  subterranean
 caverns4 ,we have heaths with rude     
heaps of stones upon  them3 but no      
existing superstition converts them into
 the ,geese of  ,micklestane-,moor1 or  
sees a ,black ,dwarf groping among them4
 ,we have  sects in religion3 but the   
only thing sublime or ridiculous in that
 way  is ,mr4 ,irving1 the ,caledonian  
preacher1 who comes like a satyr staring
  from the woods1 and yet speaks like an
 orator6 ,we had a ,parson ,adams  not  
quite a hundred years ago--a ,sir ,roger
 de ,coverley rather more than  a       
hundred6 ,even ,sir ,walter is          
ordinarily obliged to pitch his angle   
7strong as the hook is7 a hundred miles 
to the ,north of the ,modern  ,athens or
 a century back4 ,his last work1,a      
indeed1 is mystical1  is romantic in    
nothing but the title-page4 ,instead of 
a  holy-water sprinkle dipped in dew1 he
 has given us a fashionable             
watering-place--and we see what he has  
made of it4 ,he must not come down  from

 his fastnesses in traditional barbarism
 and native rusticity3 the  level1 the  
littleness1 the frippery of modern      
civilization will undo him  as it has   
undone us6    ,sir ,walter has found out
 7oh1 rare discovery7 that facts are    
better than  fiction2 that there is no  
romance like the romance of real life2  
and  that if we can but arrive at what  
men feel1 do1 and say in striking and   
singular situations1 the result will be 
more lively1 audible1 and full  of vent1
 than the fine-spun cobwebs of the      
brain4 ,with reverence be it  spoken1 he
 is like the man who having to imitate  
the squeaking of a pig  upon the stage1 
brought the animal under his coat with  
him4 ,our author  has conjured up the   
actual people he has to deal with1 or as
 much as he  could get of them1 in their
 habits as they lived4 ,he has ransacked
 old  chronicles1 and poured the        
contents upon his page2 he has squeezed 
out  musty records2 he has consulted    
wayfaring pilgrims1 bed-rid sibyls2 he  

has invoked the spirits of the air2 he  
has conversed with the living and  the  
dead1 and let them tell their story     
their own way2 and by borrowing  of     
others1 has enriched his own genius with
 everlasting variety1 truth1  and       
freedom4 ,he has taken his materials    
from the original1 authentic  sources1  
in large concrete masses1 and not       
tampered with or too much  frittered    
them away4 ,he is only the amanuensis of
 truth and history4 ,it  is impossible  
to say how fine his writings in         
consequence are1 unless we  could       
describe how fine nature is4 ,all that  
portion of the history of  his country  
that he has touched upon 7wide as the   
scope is7 the manners1  the personages1 
the events1 the scenery1 lives over     
again in his  volumes4 ,nothing is      
wanting--the illusion is complete4      
,there is a  hurtling in the air1 a     
trampling of feet upon the ground1 as   
these  perfect representations of human 
character or fanciful belief come       

thronging back upon our imaginations4   
,we will merely recall a few of  the    
subjects of his pencil to the reader's  
recollection2 for nothing we  could add1
 by way of note or commendation1 could  
make the impression  more vivid4        
,there is 7first and foremost1 because  
the earliest of our acquaintance7  the  
,baron of ,bradwardine1 stately1        
kind-hearted1 whimsical1 pedantic2  and 
,flora ,mac,ivor 7whom even we forgive  
for her ,jacobitism71 the  fierce ,vich 
,ian ,vohr1 and ,evan ,dhu1 constant in 
death1 and ,davie  ,gellatly roasting   
his eggs or turning his rhymes with     
restless  volubility1 and the two       
stag-hounds that met ,waverley1 as fine 
as ever  ,titian painted1 or ,paul      
,veronese3--then there is old ,balfour  
of ,burley1  brandishing his sword and  
his ,bible with fire-eyed fury1 trying a
  fall with the insolent1 gigantic      
,bothwell at the ',change-house1 and    
vanquishing him at the noble battle of  
,loudonhill2 there is ,bothwell         

himself1 drawn to the life1 proud1      
cruel1 selfish1 profligate1 but with    
the love-letters of the gentle ,alice   
7written thirty years before71 and  his 
verses to her memory1 found in his      
pocket after his death3 in the  same    
volume of ,old ,mortality is that lone  
figure1 like a figure in  ,scripture1 of
 the woman sitting on the stone at the  
turning to the  mountain1 to warn       
,burley that there is a lion in his     
path2 and  the fawning ,claverhouse1    
beautiful as a panther1 smooth-looking1 
blood-spotted2 and the fanatics1        
,macbriar and ,mucklewrath1 crazed with 
zeal and sufferings2 and the inflexible 
,morton1 and the faithful ,edith1  who  
refused to give her hand to another     
while her heart was with her  lover in  
the deep and dead sea4 ,and in ,the     
,heart of ,mid-,lothian we  have ,effie 
,deans 7that sweet1 faded flower7 and   
,jeanie1 her more than  sister1 and old 
,david ,deans1 the patriarch of ,st4    
,leonard's ,crags1 and  ,butler1 and    

,dumbiedikes1 eloquent in his silence1  
and ,mr4 ,bartoline  ,saddle-tree and   
his prudent helpmate1 and ,porteous     
swinging in the  wind1 and ,madge       
,wildfire1 full of finery and madness1  
and her ghastly  mother4--,again1 there 
is ,meg ,merrilies1 standing on her     
rock1 stretched  on her bier with her   
head to the east1 and ,dirk ,hatterick  
7equal to  ,shakespear's ,master        
,barnardine71 and ,glossin1 the soul of 
an attorney1  and ,dandy ,dinmont1 with 
his terrier-pack and his pony ,dumple1  
and the  fiery ,colonel ,mannering1 and 
the modish old counsellor ,pleydell1 and
  ,dominie ,sampson1,d and ,rob ,roy    
7like the eagle in his eyry71 and       
,baillie ,nicol ,jarvie1 and the        
inimitable ,major ,galbraith1 and       
,rashleigh  ,osbaldistone1 and ,die     
,vernon1 the best of secret-keepers2 and
 in the  ,antiquary1 the ingenious and  
abstruse ,mr4 ,jonathan ,oldbuck1 and   
the  old beadsman ,edie ,ochiltree1 and 
that preternatural figure of old ,edith 

,elspeith1 a living shadow1 in whom the 
lamp of life had been long              
extinguished1 had it not been fed by    
remorse and thick-coming  recollections2
 and that striking picture of the       
effects of feudal  tyranny and fiendish 
pride1 the unhappy ,earl of ,glenallan2 
and the ,black  ,dwarf1 and his friend  
,habbie of the ,heughfoot 7the cheerful 
hunter71 and  his cousin ,grace         
,armstrong1 fresh and laughing like the 
morning2 and the  ,children of the      
,mint1 and the baying of the blood-hound
 that tracks  their steps at a distance 
7the hollow echoes are in our ears now71
 and  ,amy and her hapless love1 and the
 villain ,varney1 and the deep voice of 
,george of ,douglas--and the immoveable 
,balafre1 and ,master ,oliver the       
,barber in ,quentin ,durward--and the   
quaint humour of the ,fortunes of       
,nigel1 and the comic spirit of ,peveril
 of the ,peak--and the fine old         
,english romance of ,ivanhoe4 ,what a   
list of names6 ,what a host of          

associations6 ,what a thing is human    
life6 ,what a power is that of  genius6 
,what a world of thought and feeling is 
thus rescued from  oblivion6 ,how many  
hours of heartfelt satisfaction has our 
author given  to the gay and            
thoughtless6 ,how many sad hearts has he
 soothed in pain  and solitude6 ,it is  
no wonder that the public repay with    
lengthened  applause and gratitude the  
pleasure they receive4 ,he writes as    
fast as  they can read1 and he does not 
write himself down4 ,he is always in the
  public eye1 and we do not tire of him4
 ,his worst is better than any  other   
person's best4 ,his backgrounds 7and his
 later works are little  else but       
back-grounds capitally made out7 are    
more attractive than the  principal     
figures and most complicated actions of 
other writers4 ,his  works 7taken       
together7 are almost like a new edition 
of human nature4  ,this is indeed to be 
an author6    ,the political bearing of 
the ,scotch ,novels has been a          

considerable  recommendation to them4   
,they are a relief to the mind1 rarefied
 as it  has been with modern philosophy1
 and heated with ultra-radicalism4 ,at a
  time also1 when we bid fair to revive 
the principles of the ,stuarts1  it is  
interesting to bring us acquainted with 
their persons and  misfortunes4 ,the    
candour of ,sir ,walter's historic pen  
levels our  bristling prejudices on this
 score1 and sees fair play between      
,roundheads and ,cavaliers1 between     
,protestant and ,papist4 ,he is a writer
  reconciling all the diversities of    
human nature to the reader4 ,he does    
not enter into the distinctions of      
hostile sects or parties1 but treats  of
 the strength or the infirmity of the   
human mind1 of the virtues or  vices of 
the human breast1 as they are to be     
found blended in the whole  race of     
mankind4 ,nothing can shew more         
handsomely or be more gallantly         
executed4 ,there was a talk at one time 
that our author was about to take  ,guy 

,faux for the subject of one of his     
novels1 in order to put a more  liberal 
and humane construction on the          
,gunpowder ,plot than our ,no  ,popery  
prejudices have hitherto permitted4 ,sir
 ,walter is a professed  clarifier of   
the age from the vulgar and still       
lurking old-,english  antipathy to      
,popery and ,slavery4 ,through some odd 
process of servile  logic1 it should    
seem1 that in restoring the claims of   
the ,stuarts by  the courtesy of        
romance1 the ,house of ,brunswick are   
more firmly seated  in point of fact1   
and the ,bourbons1 by collateral        
reasoning1 become  legitimate6 ,in any  
other point of view1 we cannot possibly 
conceive  how ,sir ,walter imagines he  
has done something to revive the        
declining  spirit of loyalty by these   
novels4 ,his loyalty is founded on      
would-be  treason3 he props the actual  
throne by the shadow of rebellion4 ,does
  he really think of making us enamoured
 of the good old times by the  faithful 

and harrowing portraits he has drawn of 
them8 ,would he carry us  back to the   
early stages of barbarism1 of clanship1 
of the feudal system  as a consummation 
devoutly to be wished8 ,is he infatuated
 enough1  or does he so dote and drivel 
over his own slothful and self-willed   
prejudices1 as to believe that he will  
make a single convert to the  beauty of 
,legitimacy1 that is1 of lawless power  
and savage bigotry1 when  he himself is 
obliged to apologise for the horrors he 
describes1 and  even render his         
descriptions credible to the modern     
reader by referring  to the authentic   
history of these delectable times8,e ,he
 is indeed  so besotted as to the moral 
of his own story1 that he has even the  
blindness to go out of his way to have a
 fling at flints and dungs  7the        
contemptible ingredients1 as he would   
have us believe1 of a modern  rabble7 at
 the very time when he is describing a  
mob of the twelfth  century--a mob 7one 
should think7 after the writer's own    

heart1 without  one particle of modern  
philosophy or revolutionary politics in 
their  composition1 who were to a man1  
to a hair1 just what priests1 and kings1
  and nobles let them be1 and who were  
collected to witness 7a spectacle       
proper to the times7 the burning of the 
lovely ,rebecca at a stake for  a       
sorceress1 because she was a ,jewess1   
beautiful and innocent1 and the         
consequent victim of insane bigotry and 
unbridled profligacy4 ,and it is  at    
this moment 7when the heart is kindled  
and bursting with indignation  at the   
revolting abuses of self-constituted    
power7 that ,sir ,walter  stops the     
press to have a sneer at the people1 and
 to put a spoke 7as  he thinks7 in the  
wheel of upstart innovation6 ,this is   
what he calls  backing his friends--it  
is thus he administers charms and       
philtres to  our love of ,legitimacy1   
makes us conceive a horror of all       
reform1 civil1  political1 or religious1
 and would fain put down the ,spirit of 

the  ,age4 ,the author of ,waverley     
might just as well get up and make a    
speech  at a dinner at ,edinburgh1      
abusing ,mr4 ,mac-,adam for his         
improvements in  the roads1 on the      
ground that they were nearly impassable 
in many  places sixty years since2 or   
object to ,mr4 ,peel's ,police-,bill1 by
  insisting that ,hounslow-,heath was   
formerly a scene of greater interest    
and terror to highwaymen and travellers1
 and cut a greater figure in  the       
,newgate-,calendar than it does at      
present4--,oh6 ,wickliff1 ,luther1      
,hampden1 ,sidney1 ,somers1 mistaken    
,whigs1 and thoughtless ,reformers in   
religion and politics1 and all ye1      
whether poets or philosophers1 heroes   
or sages1 inventors of arts or sciences1
 patriots1 benefactors of the  human    
race1 enlighteners and civilisers of the
 world1 who have 7so far7  reduced      
opinion to reason1 and power to law1 who
 are the cause that we  no longer burn  
witches and heretics at slow fires1 that

 the thumb-screws  are no longer applied
 by ghastly1 smiling judges1 to extort  
confession  of imputed crimes from      
sufferers for conscience sake2 that men 
are no  longer strung up like acorns on 
trees without judge or jury1 or hunted  
like wild beasts through thickets and   
glens1 who have abated the cruelty  of  
priests1 the pride of nobles1 the       
divinity of kings in former times2  to  
whom we owe it1 that we no longer wear  
round our necks the collar of  ,gurth   
the swineherd1 and of ,wamba the jester2
 that the castles of great  lords are no
 longer the dens of banditti1 from      
whence they issue with  fire and sword1 
to lay waste the land2 that we no longer
 expire in  loathsome dungeons without  
knowing the cause1 or have our right    
hands  struck off for raising them in   
self-defence against wanton insult2 that
  we can sleep without fear of being    
burnt in our beds1 or travel without    
making our wills2 that no ,amy ,robsarts
 are thrown down trap-doors by  ,richard

 ,varneys with impunity2 that no ,red   
,reiver of ,westburn-,flat sets  fire to
 peaceful cottages2 that no ,claverhouse
 signs cold-blooded  death-warrants in  
sport2 that we have no ,tristan the     
,hermit1 or ,petit-  ,andr1 crawling    
near us1 like spiders1 and making our   
flesh creep1 and  our hearts sicken     
within us at every moment of our        
lives--ye who have  produced this change
 in the face of nature and society1     
return to earth  once more1 and beg     
pardon of ,sir ,walter and his patrons1 
who sigh at not  being able to undo all 
that you have done6 ,leaving this       
question1 there  are two other remarks  
which we wished to make on the ,novels4 
,the one  was1 to express our admiration
 at the good-nature of the mottos1 in   
which the author has taken occasion to  
remember and quote almost every  living 
author 7whether illustrious or obscure7 
but himself--an indirect  argument in   
favour of the general opinion as to the 
source from which  they spring--and the 

other was1 to hint our astonishment at  
the  innumerable and incessant          
in-stances of bad and slovenly ,english 
in  them1 more1 we believe1 than in any 
other works now printed4 ,we should     
think the writer could not possibly read
 the manuscript after he has  once      
written it1 or overlook the press4      
,if there were a writer1 who born for   
the universe--    -----------,narrow'd  
his mind1 ,and to party gave up what was
 meant for  mankind--      who1 from the
 height of his genius looking abroad    
into nature1 and  scanning the recesses 
of the human heart1 winked and shut his 
apprehension up to every thought or     
purpose that tended to the future  good 
of mankind--who1 raised by affluence1   
the reward of successful  industry1 and 
by the voice of fame above the want of  
any but the most  honourable patronage1 
stooped to the unworthy arts of         
adulation1 and  abetted the views of the
 great with the pettifogging feelings of
 the  meanest dependant on office--who1 

having secured the admiration of the    
public 7with the probable reversion of  
immortality71 shewed no respect  for    
himself1 for that genius that had raised
 him to distinction1 for  that nature   
which he trampled under foot--who1      
amiable1 frank1 friendly1  manly in     
private life1 was seized with the dotage
 of age and the fury  of a woman1 the   
instant politics were concerned--who    
reserved all his  candour and           
comprehensiveness of view for history1  
and vented his  littleness1 pique1      
resentment1 bigotry1 and intolerance on 
his  contemporaries--who took the wrong 
side1 and defended it by unfair         
means--who1 the moment his own interest 
or the prejudices of others  interfered1
 seemed to forget all that was due to   
the pride of intellect1  to the sense of
 manhood--who1 praised1 admired by men  
of all parties  alike1 repaid the public
 liberality by striking a secret and    
envenomed  blow at the reputation of    
every one who was not the ready tool of 

power--who strewed the slime of rankling
 malice and mercenary scorn  over the   
bud and promise of genius1 because it   
was not fostered in the  hot-bed of     
corruption1 or warped by the trammels of
 servility--who  supported the worst    
abuses of authority in the worst        
spirit--who joined  a gang of           
desperadoes to spread calumny1 contempt1
 infamy1 wherever they  were merited by 
honesty or talent on a different        
side--who officiously  undertook to     
decide public questions by private      
insinuations1 to prop  the throne by    
nicknames1 and the altar by lies--who   
being 7by common  consent7 the finest1  
the most humane and accomplished writer 
of his age1  associated himself with and
 encouraged the lowest panders of a     
venal  press2 deluging1 nauseating the  
public mind with the offal and garbage  
of ,billingsgate abuse and vulgar slang2
 shewing no remorse1 no  relenting or   
compassion towards the victims of this  
nefarious and  organized system of      

party-proscription1 carried on under the
 mask of  literary criticism and fair   
discussion1 insulting the misfortunes of
  some1 and trampling on the early grave
 of others--      ,who would not grieve 
if such a man there be8    ,who would   
not weep if ,atticus were he8    ,but we
 believe there is no other age or       
country of the world 7but ours71  in    
which such genius could have been so    
degraded6      ,footnote ,a3 ,no6 ,for  
we met with a young lady who kept a     
circulating  library and a              
milliner's-shop1 in a watering-place in 
the country1 who1  when we inquired for 
the ,scotch ,novels1 spoke indifferently
 about  them1 said they were so dry she 
could hardly get through them1 and      
recommended us to read ,agnes4 ,we never
 thought of it before2 but we  would    
venture to lay a wager that there are   
many other young ladies in  the same    
situation1 and who think ,old ,mortality
 dry4    ,footnote ,b3 ,just as ,cobbett
 is a matter-of-fact reasoner4          

,footnote ,c3 ,st4 ,ronan's ,well4      
,footnote ,d3 ,perhaps the finest scene 
in all these novels1 is that where  the 
,dominie meets his pupil1 ,miss ,lucy1  
the morning after her brother's         
arrival4    ,footnote ,e3 ,and here we  
cannot but think it necessary to offer  
some  better proof than the incidents of
 an idle tale1 to vindicate the         
melancholy representation of manners    
which has been just laid before  the    
reader4 ,it is grievous to think that   
those valiant ,barons1 to whose  stand  
against the crown the liberties of      
,england were indebted for their        
existence1 should themselves have been  
such dreadful oppressors1 and  capable  
of excesses1 contrary not only to the   
laws of ,england1 but to  those of      
nature and humanity4 ,but alas6 we have 
only to extract from the  industrious   
,henry one of those numerous passages   
which he has collected  from            
contemporary historians1 to prove that  
fiction itself can hardly  reach the    

dark reality of the horrors of the      
period4    ,the description given by the
 author of the ,saxon ,chronicle of the 
cruelties exercised in the reign of     
,king ,stephen by the great barons and  
lords of castles1 who were all ,normans1
 affords a strong proof of the  excesses
 of which they were capable when their  
passions were inflamed4  ',they         
grievously oppressed the poor people by 
building castles2 and when  they were   
built1 they filled them with wicked men 
or rather devils1 who  seized both men  
and women who they imagined had any     
money1 threw them  into prison1 and put 
them to more cruel tortures than the    
martyrs ever  endured4 ,they suffocated 
some in mud1 and suspended others by the
 feet1  or the head1 or the thumbs1     
kindling fires below them4 ,they        
squeezed the  heads of some with knotted
 cords till they pierced their brains1  
while  they threw others into dungeons  
swarming with serpents1 snakes1 and     
toads4' ,but it would be cruel to put   

the reader to the pain of perusing  the 
remainder of the description4--,henry's 
,hist4 edit4 #ahje1 vol4  vii4 p4 #cdf4 
99       99       99       99       99  
,,lord ,,byron4        ,lord ,byron and 
,sir ,walter ,scott are among writers   
now living,a the two1  who would carry  
away a majority of suffrages as the     
greatest geniuses of  the age4 ,the     
former would1 perhaps1 obtain the       
preference with the fine  gentlemen and 
ladies 7squeamishness apart7--the latter
 with the critics  and the vulgar4 ,we  
shall treat of them in the same         
connection1 partly  on account of their 
distinguished pre-eminence1 and partly  
because they  afford a complete contrast
 to each other4 ,in their poetry1 in    
their  prose1 in their politics1 and in 
their tempers no two men can be more    
unlike4 ,if ,sir ,walter ,scott may be  
thought by some to have been      ,born 
universal heir to all humanity1    it is
 plain ,lord ,byron can set up no such  
pretension4 ,he is1 in a  striking      

degree1 the creature of his own will4   
,he holds no communion  with his kind2  
but stands alone1 without mate or       
fellow--      ,as if a man were author  
of himself1    ,and owned no other kin4 
,he is like a solitary peak1 all access 
to which is cut off not more by         
elevation than distance4 ,he is seated  
on a lofty eminence1 cloud-capt1  or    
reflecting the last rays of setting     
suns2 and in his poetical moods1        
reminds us of the fabled ,titans1       
retired to a ridgy steep1 playing on    
their ,pan's-pipes1 and taking up       
ordinary men and things in their hands  
with haughty indifference4 ,he raises   
his subject to himself1 or tramples  on 
it3 he neither stoops to1 nor loses     
himself in it4 ,he exists not by        
sympathy1 but by antipathy4 ,he scorns  
all things1 even himself4 ,nature  must 
come to him to sit for her picture--he  
does not go to her4 ,she must  consult  
his time1 his convenience1 and his      
humour2 and wear a sombre  or a         

fantastic garb1 or his ,lordship turns  
his back upon her4 ,there is  no ease1  
no unaffected simplicity of manner1 no  
golden mean4 ,all is  strained1 or      
petulant in the extreme4 ,his thoughts  
are sphered and  crystalline2 his style 
prouder than when blue ,iris bends2 his 
spirit  fiery1 impatient1 wayward1      
indefatigable4 ,instead of taking his   
impressions from without1 in entire and 
almost unimpaired masses1 he  moulds    
them according to his own temperament1  
and heats the materials  of his         
imagination in the furnace of his       
passions4--,lord ,byron's verse  glows  
like a flame1 consuming every thing in  
its way2 ,sir ,walter ,scott's  glides  
like a river1 clear1 gentle1 harmless4  
,the poetry of the first  scorches1 that
 of the last scarcely warms4 ,the light 
of the one proceeds  from an internal   
source1 ensanguined1 sullen1 fixed2 the 
other reflects  the hues of ,heaven1 or 
the face of nature1 glancing vivid and  
various4  ,the productions of the       

,northern ,bard have the rust and the   
freshness  of antiquity about them2     
those of the ,noble ,poet cease to      
startle  from their extreme ambition of 
novelty1 both in style and matter4 ,sir 
,walter's rhymes are silly sooth--      
,and dally with the innocence of        
thought1    ,like the old age--    his  
,lordship's ,muse spurns the olden time1
 and affects all the  supercilious airs 
of a modern fine lady and an upstart4   
,the object of  the one writer is to    
restore us to truth and nature3 the     
other chiefly  thinks how he shall      
display his own power1 or vent his      
spleen1 or  astonish the reader either  
by starting new subjects and trains of  
speculation1 or by expressing old ones  
in a more striking and emphatic  manner 
than they have been expressed before4   
,he cares little what it is  he says1 so
 that he can say it differently from    
others4 ,this may account  for the      
charges of plagiarism which have been   
repeatedly brought against  the ,noble  

,poet--if he can borrow an image or     
sentiment from another1 and  heighten it
 by an epithet or an allusion of greater
 force and beauty  than is to be found  
in the original passage1 he thinks he   
shews his  superiority of execution in  
this in a more marked manner than if    
the first suggestion had been his own4  
,it is not the value of the  observation
 itself he is solicitous about2 but he  
wishes to shine by  contrast--even      
nature only serves as a foil to set off 
his style4 ,he  therefore takes the     
thoughts of others 7whether             
contemporaries or not7  out of their    
mouths1 and is content to make them his 
own1 to set his  stamp upon them1 by    
imparting to them a more meretricious   
gloss1 a  higher relief1 a greater      
loftiness of tone1 and a characteristic 
inveteracy of purpose4 ,even in those   
collateral ornaments of modern  style1  
slovenliness1 abruptness1 and           
eccentricity 7as well as in  terseness  
and significance71 ,lord ,byron1 when he

 pleases1 defies  competition and       
surpasses all his contemporaries4       
,whatever he does1 he  must do in a more
 decided and daring manner than any one 
else--he lounges  with extravagance1 and
 yawns so as to alarm the reader6       
,self-will1  passion1 the love of       
singularity1 a disdain of himself and of
 others  7with a conscious sense that   
this is among the ways and means of     
procuring admiration7 are the proper    
categories of his mind3 he is a  lordly 
writer1 is above his own reputation1 and
 condescends to the ,muses  with a      
scornful grace6    ,lord ,byron1 who in 
his politics is a liberal1 in his genius
 is haughty  and aristocratic3 ,walter  
,scott1 who is an aristocrat in         
principle1 is  popular in his writings1 
and is 7as it were7 equally servile to  
nature  and to opinion4 ,the genius of  
,sir ,walter is essentially imitative1  
or  denotes a foregone conclusion3 that 
of ,lord ,byron is self-dependent2  or  
at least requires no aid1 is governed by

 no law1 but the impulses of  its own   
will4 ,we confess1 however much we may  
admire independence of  feeling and     
erectness of spirit in general or       
practical questions1 yet  in works of   
genius we prefer him who bows to the    
authority of nature1  who appeals to    
actual objects1 to mouldering           
superstitions1 to history1  observation1
 and tradition1 before him who only     
consults the pragmatical  and restless  
workings of his own breast1 and gives   
them out as oracles  to the world4 ,we  
like a writer 7whether poet or          
prose-writer7 who takes  in 7or is      
willing to take in7 the range of half   
the universe in feeling1  character1    
description1 much better than we do one 
who obstinately and  invariably shuts   
himself up in the ,bastile of his own   
ruling passions4  ,in short1 we had     
rather be ,sir ,walter ,scott 7meaning  
thereby the ,author  of ,waverley7 than 
,lord ,byron1 a hundred times over4 ,and
 for the reason  just given1 namely1    

that he casts his descriptions in the   
mould of  nature1 ever-varying1 never   
tiresome1 always interesting and always 
instructive1 instead of casting them    
constantly in the mould of his  own     
individual impressions4 ,he gives us man
 as he is1 or as he was1 in  almost     
every variety of situation1 action1 and 
feeling4 ,lord ,byron  makes man after  
his own image1 woman after his own      
heart2 the one is  a capricious tyrant1 
the other a yielding slave2 he gives us 
the  misanthrope and the voluptuary by  
turns2 and with these two characters1   
burning or melting in their own fires1  
he makes out everlasting centos  of     
himself4 ,he hangs the cloud1 the film  
of his existence over all  outward      
things--sits in the centre of his       
thoughts1 and enjoys dark  night1 bright
 day1 the glitter and the gloom in cell 
monastic--we see  the mournful pall1 the
 crucifix1 the death's heads1 the faded 
chaplet of  flowers1 the gleaming       
tapers1 the agonized brow of genius1 the

 wasted  form of beauty--but we are     
still imprisoned in a dungeon1 a curtain
  intercepts our view1 we do not breathe
 freely the air of nature or of  our own
 thoughts--the other admired author     
draws aside the curtain1 and  the veil  
of egotism is rent1 and he shews us the 
crowd of living men and  women1 the     
endless groups1 the landscape           
back-ground1 the cloud and  the rainbow1
 and enriches our imaginations and      
relieves one passion  by another1 and   
expands and lightens reflection1 and    
takes away that  tightness at the breast
 which arises from thinking or wishing  
to think  that there is nothing in the  
world out of a man's self6--,in this    
point  of view1 the ,author of ,waverley
 is one of the greatest teachers of     
morality that ever lived1 by            
emancipating the mind from petty1       
narrow1  and bigotted prejudices3 ,lord 
,byron is the greatest pamperer of those
  prejudices1 by seeming to think there 
is nothing else worth encouraging  but  

the seeds or the full luxuriant growth  
of dogmatism and  self-conceit4 ,in     
reading the ,scotch ,novels1 we never   
think about  the author1 except from a  
feeling of curiosity respecting our     
unknown  benefactor3 in reading ,lord   
,byron's works1 he himself is never     
absent  from our minds4 ,the colouring  
of ,lord ,byron's style1 however rich   
and  dipped in ,tyrian dyes1 is         
nevertheless opaque1 is in itself an    
object  of delight and wonder3 ,sir     
,walter ,scott's is perfectly           
transparent4 ,in  studying the one1 you 
seem to gaze at the figures cut in      
stained glass1  which exclude the view  
beyond1 and where the pure light of     
,heaven is  only a means of setting off 
the gorgeousness of art3 in reading the 
other1 you look through a noble window  
at the clear and varied landscape       
without4 ,or to sum up the distinction  
in one word1 ,sir ,walter ,scott is  the
 most dramatic writer now living2 and   
,lord ,byron is the least so4  ,it would

 be difficult to imagine that the       
,author of ,waverley is in the  smallest
 degree a pedant2 as it would be hard to
 persuade ourselves that  the author of 
,childe ,harold and ,don ,juan is not a 
coxcomb1 though a  provoking and sublime
 one4 ,in this decided preference given 
to ,sir  ,walter ,scott over ,lord      
,byron1 we distinctly include the       
prose-works of  the former2 for we do   
not think his poetry alone by any means 
entitles  him to that precedence4 ,sir  
,walter in his poetry1 though pleasing  
and  natural1 is a comparative trifler3 
it is in his anonymous productions  that
 he has shewn himself for what he is6-- 
,intensity is the great and prominent   
distinction of ,lord ,byron's  writings4
 ,he seldom gets beyond force of style1 
nor has he produced any  regular work or
 masterly whole4 ,he does not prepare   
any plan beforehand1  nor revise and    
retouch what he has written with        
polished accuracy4 ,his  only object    
seems to be to stimulate himself and his

 readers for the  moment--to keep both  
alive1 to drive away ennui1 to          
substitute a  feverish and irritable    
state of excitement for listless        
indolence or  even calm enjoyment4 ,for 
this purpose he pitches on any subject  
at  random without much thought or      
delicacy--he is only impatient to       
begin--and takes care to adorn and      
enrich it as he proceeds with  thoughts 
that breathe and words that burn4 ,he   
composes 7as he himself  has said7      
whether he is in the bath1 in his study1
 or on horseback--he  writes as         
habitually as others talk or think--and 
whether we have the  inspiration of the 
,muse or not1 we always find the spirit 
of the man  of genius breathing from his
 verse4 ,he grapples with his subject1  
and  moves1 penetrates1 and animates it 
by the electric force of his own        
feelings4 ,he is often monotonous1      
extravagant1 offensive2 but he is  never
 dull1 or tedious1 but when he writes   
prose4 ,lord ,byron does not  exhibit a 

new view of nature1 or raise            
insignificant objects into  importance  
by the romantic associations with which 
he surrounds them2  but generally 7at   
least7 takes common-place thoughts and  
events1 and  endeavours to express them 
in stronger and statelier language than 
others4 ,his poetry stands like a       
,martello tower by the side of his      
subject4 ,he does not1 like ,mr4        
,wordsworth1 lift poetry from the       
ground1  or create a sentiment out of   
nothing4 ,he does not describe a daisy  
or a  periwinkle1 but the cedar or the  
cypress3 not poor men's cottages1 but   
princes' palaces4 ,his ,childe ,harold  
contains a lofty and impassioned  review
 of the great events of history1 of the 
mighty objects left as  wrecks of time1 
but he dwells chiefly on what is        
familiar to the mind of  every          
school-boy2 has brought out few new     
traits of feeling or thought2  and has  
done no more than justice to the        
reader's preconceptions by the          

sustained force and brilliancy of his   
style and imagery4 ,lord ,byron's       
earlier productions1 ,lara1 the         
,corsair1 c4 were wild and gloomy       
romances1 put into rapid and shining    
verse4 ,they discover the madness  of   
poetry1 together with the inspiration3  
sullen1 moody1 capricious1  fierce1     
inexorable1 gloating on beauty1         
thirsting for revenge1 hurrying  from   
the extremes of pleasure to pain1 but   
with nothing permanent1  nothing healthy
 or natural4 ,the gaudy decorations and 
the morbid  sentiments remind one of    
flowers strewed over the face of death6 
,in  his ,childe ,harold 7as has been   
just observed7 he assumes a lofty and   
philosophic tone1 and reasons high of   
providence1 fore-knowledge1 will1  and  
fate4 ,he takes the highest points in   
the history of the world1  and comments 
on them from a more commanding eminence3
 he shews us the  crumbling monuments of
 time1 he invokes the great names1 the  
mighty spirit of antiquity4 ,the        

universe is changed into a stately      
mausoleum3--in solemn measures he       
chaunts a hymn to fame4 ,lord ,byron has
  strength and elevation enough to fill 
up the moulds of our classical and      
time-hallowed recollections1 and to     
rekindle the earliest aspirations of    
the mind after greatness and true glory 
with a pen of fire4 ,the names of       
,tasso1 of ,ariosto1 of ,dante1 of      
,cincinnatus1 of ,caesar1 of ,scipio1   
lose  nothing of their pomp or their    
lustre in his hands1 and when he begins 
and continues a strain of panegyric on  
such subjects1 we indeed sit  down with 
him to a banquet of rich praise1        
brooding over imperishable  glories1    
,till ,contemplation has her fill4      
,lord ,byron seems to cast himself      
indignantly from this bank and shoal  of
 time1 or the frail tottering bark that 
bears up modern reputation1  into the   
huge sea of ancient renown1 and to revel
 there with untired1  outspread plume4  
,even this in him is spleen--his        

contempt of his  contemporaries makes   
him turn back to the lustrous past1 or  
project  himself forward to the dim     
future6--,lord ,byron's tragedies1      
,faliero1,b  ,sardanapalus1 c4 are not  
equal to his other works4 ,they want the
  essence of the drama4 ,they abound in 
speeches and descriptions1 such as  he  
himself might make either to himself or 
others1 lolling on his couch  of a      
morning1 but do not carry the reader out
 of the poet's mind to the  scenes and  
events recorded4 ,they have neither     
action1 character1  nor interest1 but   
are a sort of gossamer tragedies1 spun  
out1 and  glittering1 and spreading a   
flimsy veil over the face of nature4    
,yet  he spins them on4 ,of all that he 
has done in this way the ,heaven and    
,earth 7the same subject as ,mr4        
,moore's ,loves of the ,angels7 is the  
best4 ,we prefer it even to ,manfred4   
,manfred is merely himself1  with a     
fancy-drapery on3 but in the dramatic   
fragment published in the  ,liberal1 the

 space between ,heaven and ,earth1 the  
stage on which  his characters have to  
pass to and fro1 seems to fill his      
,lordship's  imagination2 and the       
,deluge1 which he has so finely         
described1 may be  said to have drowned 
all his own idle humours4    ,we must   
say we think little of our author's turn
 for satire4 ,his  ,english ,bards and  
,scotch ,reviewers is dogmatical and    
insolent1 but  without refinement or    
point4 ,he calls people names1 and tries
 to  transfix a character with an       
epithet1 which does not stick1 because  
it has no other foundation than his own 
petulance and spite2 or he  endeavours  
to degrade by alluding to some          
circumstance of external  situation4 ,he
 says of ,mr4 ,wordsworth's poetry1 that
 it is his  aversion4 ,that may be3 but 
whose fault is it8 ,this is the satire  
of  a lord1 who is accustomed to have   
all his whims or dislikes taken for     
gospel1 and who cannot be at the pains  
to do more than signify his  contempt or

 displeasure4 ,if a great man meets with
 a rebuff which he  does not like1 he   
turns on his heel1 and this passes for a
 repartee4  ,the ,noble ,author says of 
a celebrated barrister and critic1 that 
he was  born in a garret sixteen stories
 high4 ,the insinuation is not true2 or 
if it were1 it is low4 ,the allusion    
degrades the person who makes1 not  him 
to whom it is applied4 ,this is also the
 satire of a person of birth  and       
quality1 who measures all merit by      
external rank1 that is1 by  his own     
standard4 ,so his ,lordship1 in a       
,letter to the ,editor of ,my           
,grandmother's ,review1 addresses him   
fifty times as my dear ,robarts2  nor is
 there any other wit in the article4    
,this is surely a mere  assumption of   
superiority from his ,lordship's rank1  
and is the sort of  quizzing he might   
use to a person who came to hire himself
 as a valet  to him at ,long's--the     
waiters might laugh1 the public will    
not4 ,in  like manner1 in the           

controversy about ,pope1 he claps ,mr4  
,bowles on the  back with a coarse      
facetious familiarity1 as if he were his
 chaplain  whom he had invited to dine  
with him1 or was about to present to a  
benefice4 ,the reverend divine might    
submit to the obligation1 but he has  no
 occasion to subscribe to the jest4 ,if 
it is a jest that ,mr4 ,bowles  should  
be a parson1 and ,lord ,byron a peer1   
the world knew this before2  there was  
no need to write a pamphlet to prove it4
    ,the ,don ,juan indeed has great    
power2 but its power is owing to the    
force of the serious writing1 and to the
 oddity of the contrast between  that   
and the flashy passages with which it is
 interlarded4 ,from the  sublime to the 
ridiculous there is but one step4 ,you  
laugh and are  surprised that any one   
should turn round and travestie himself3
 the  drollery is in the utter          
discontinuity of ideas and feelings4 ,he
 makes  virtue serve as a foil to vice2 
dandyism is 7for want of any other7 a   

variety of genius4 ,a classical         
intoxication is followed by the         
splashing  of soda-water1 by frothy     
effusions of ordinary bile4 ,after the  
lightning  and the hurricane1 we are    
introduced to the interior of the cabin 
and  the contents of wash-hand basins4  
,the solemn hero of tragedy plays       
,scrub in the farce4 ,this is very      
tolerable and not to be endured4  ,the  
,noble ,lord is almost the only writer  
who has prostituted his talents  in this
 way4 ,he hallows in order to desecrate2
 takes a pleasure in  defacing the      
images of beauty his hands have wrought2
 and raises our  hopes and our belief in
 goodness to ,heaven only to dash them  
to the  earth again1 and break them in  
pieces the more effectually from the    
very  height they have fallen4 ,our     
enthusiasm for genius or virtue is thus 
turned into a jest by the very person   
who has kindled it1 and who thus        
fatally quenches the sparks of both4 ,it
 is not that ,lord ,byron is  sometimes 

serious and sometimes trifling1         
sometimes profligate1 and  sometimes    
moral--but when he is most serious and  
most moral1 he is only  preparing to    
mortify the unsuspecting reader by      
putting a pitiful hoax  upon him4 ,this 
is a most unaccountable anomaly4 ,it is 
as if the eagle  were to build its eyry 
in a common sewer1 or the owl were seen 
soaring  to the mid-day sun4 ,such a    
sight might make one laugh1 but one     
would not  wish or expect it to occur   
more than once6,c    ,in fact1 ,lord    
,byron is the spoiled child of fame as  
well as fortune4  ,he has taken a       
surfeit of popularity1 and is not       
contented to delight1  unless he can    
shock the public4 ,he would force them  
to admire in spite  of decency and      
common sense--he would have them read   
what they would  read in no one but     
himself1 or he would not give a rush for
 their  applause4 ,he is to be a        
chartered libertine1 from whom insults  
are  favours1 whose contempt is to be a 

new incentive to admiration4 ,his       
,lordship is hard to please3 he is      
equally averse to notice or neglect1    
enraged at censure and scorning praise4 
,he tries the patience of the  town to  
the very utmost1 and when they shew     
signs of weariness or  disgust1         
threatens to discard them4 ,he says he  
will write on1 whether  he is read or   
not4 ,he would never write another page1
 if it were not  to court popular       
applause1 or to affect a superiority    
over it4 ,in this  respect also1 ,lord  
,byron presents a striking contrast to  
,sir ,walter  ,scott4 ,the latter takes 
what part of the public favour falls to 
his  share1 without grumbling 7to be    
sure he has no reason to complain7 the  
former is always quarrelling with the   
world about his modicum of  applause1   
the spolia opima of vanity1 and         
ungraciously throwing the  offerings of 
incense heaped on his shrine back in the
 faces of his  admirers4 ,again1 there  
is no taint in the writings of the      

,author of  ,waverley1 all is fair and  
natural and above-board3 he never       
outrages  the public mind4 ,he          
introduces no anomalous character3      
broaches no  staggering opinion4 ,if he 
goes back to old prejudices and         
superstitions  as a relief to the modern
 reader1 while ,lord ,byron floats on   
swelling  paradoxes--      ,like proud  
seas under him2    if the one defers too
 much to the spirit of antiquity1 the   
other  panders to the spirit of the age1
 goes to the very edge of extreme and   
licentious speculation1 and breaks his  
neck over it4 ,grossness and  levity are
 the playthings of his pen4 ,it is a    
ludicrous circumstance  that he should  
have dedicated his ,cain to the worthy  
,baronet6 ,did the  latter ever         
acknowledge the obligation8 ,we are not 
nice1 not very nice2  but we do not     
particularly approve those subjects that
 shine chiefly  from their rottenness3  
nor do we wish to see the ,muses drest  
out in  the flounces of a false or      

questionable philosophy1 like ,portia   
and  ,nerissa in the garb of ,doctors of
 ,law4 ,we like metaphysics as well as  
,lord ,byron2 but not to see them making
 flowery speeches1 nor dancing a        
measure in the fetters of verse4 ,we    
have as good as hinted1 that his        
,lordship's poetry consists mostly of a 
tissue of superb common-places2  even   
his paradoxes are common-place4 ,they   
are familiar in the schools3  they are  
only new and striking in his dramas and 
stanzas1 by being out  of place4 ,in a  
word1 we think that poetry moves best   
within the circle  of nature and        
received opinion3 speculative theory and
 subtle casuistry  are forbidden ground 
to it4 ,but ,lord ,byron often wanders  
into this  ground wantonly1 wilfully1   
and unwarrantably4 ,the only apology we 
can  conceive for the spirit of some of 
,lord ,byron's writings1 is the spirit  
of some of those opposed to him4 ,they  
would provoke a man to write any  thing4
 ,farthest from them is best4 ,the      

extravagance and license of the  one    
seems a proper antidote to the bigotry  
and narrowness of the other4  ,the first
 ,vision of ,judgment was a set-off to  
the second1 though      ,none but itself
 could be its parallel4    ,perhaps the 
chief cause of most of ,lord ,byron's   
errors is1 that he is  that anomaly in  
letters and in society1 a ,noble ,poet4 
,it is a double  privilege1 almost too  
much for humanity4 ,he has all the pride
 of birth  and genius4 ,the strength of 
his imagination leads him to indulge in 
fantastic opinions2 the elevation of his
 rank sets censure at defiance4  ,he    
becomes a pampered egotist4 ,he has a   
seat in the ,house of ,lords1 a  niche  
in the ,temple of ,fame4 ,every-day     
mortals1 opinions1 things are not  good 
enough for him to touch or think of4 ,a 
mere nobleman is1 in his  estimation1   
but the tenth transmitter of a foolish  
face3 a mere man of  genius is no better
 than a worm4 ,his ,muse is also a lady 
of quality4  ,the people are not polite 

enough for him3 the ,court not          
sufficiently  intellectual4 ,he hates   
the one and despises the other4 ,by     
hating and  despising others1 he does   
not learn to be satisfied with himself4 
,a  fastidious man soon grows querulous 
and splenetic4 ,if there is nobody  but 
ourselves to come up to our idea of     
fancied perfection1 we easily  get tired
 of our idol4 ,when a man is tired of   
what he is1 by a natural  perversity he 
sets up for what he is not4 ,if he is a 
poet1 he pretends  to be a              
metaphysician3 if he is a patrician in  
rank and feeling1 he  would fain be one 
of the people4 ,his ruling motive is not
 the love of  the people1 but of        
distinction not of truth1 but of        
singularity4 ,he  patronizes men of     
letters out of vanity1 and deserts them 
from caprice1  or from the advice of    
friends4 ,he embarks in an obnoxious    
publication to  provoke censure1 and    
leaves it to shift for itself for fear  
of scandal4  ,we do not like ,sir       

,walter's gratuitous servility3 we like 
,lord ,byron's  preposterous liberalism 
little better4 ,he may affect the       
principles of  equality1 but he resumes 
his privilege of peerage1 upon occasion4
 ,his  ,lordship has made great offers  
of service to the ,greeks--money and    
horses4 ,he is at present in            
,cephalonia1 waiting the event6         
99       99       99       99       99  
,we had written thus far when news came 
of the death of ,lord ,byron1 and  put  
an end at once to a strain of somewhat  
peevish invective1 which was  intended  
to meet his eye1 not to insult his      
memory4 ,had we known that we  were     
writing his epitaph1 we must have done  
it with a different feeling4  ,as it is1
 we think it better and more like       
himself1 to let what we had  written    
stand1 than to take up our leaden       
shafts1 and try to melt them  into tears
 of sensibility1 or mould them into dull
 praise1 and an  affected shew of       
candour4 ,we were not silent during the 

author's  life-time1 either for his     
reproof or encouragement 7such us we    
could give1 and he did not disdain to   
accept7 nor can we now turn             
undertakers' men to fix the glittering  
plate upon his coffin1 or fall  into the
 procession of popular woe4--,death     
cancels every thing but  truth2 and     
strips a man of every thing but genius  
and virtue4 ,it is a  sort of natural   
canonization4 ,it makes the meanest of  
us sacred--it  installs the poet in his 
immortality1 and lifts him to the skies4
 ,death  is the great assayer of the    
sterling ore of talent4 ,at his touch   
the  drossy particles fall off1 the     
irritable1 the personal1 the gross1 and 
mingle with the dust--the finer and more
 ethereal part mounts with the  winged  
spirit to watch over our latest memory  
and protect our bones from  insult4 ,we 
consign the least worthy qualities to   
oblivion1 and cherish  the nobler and   
imperishable nature with double pride   
and fondness4  ,nothing could shew the  

real superiority of genius in a more    
striking  point of view than the idle   
contests and the public indifference    
about  the place of ,lord ,byron's      
interment1 whether in                   
,westminster-,abbey or  his own         
family-vault4 ,a king must have a       
coronation--a nobleman a                
funeral-procession4--,the man is nothing
 without the pageant4 ,the poet's       
cemetery is the human mind1 in which he 
sows the seeds of never ending          
thought--his monument is to be found in 
his works3      ,nothing can cover his  
high fame but ,heaven2    ,no pyramids  
set off his memory1    ,but the eternal 
substance of his greatness4    ,lord    
,byron is dead3 he also died a martyr to
 his zeal in the cause of  freedom1 for 
the last1 best hopes of man4 ,let that  
be his excuse and his  epitaph6         
,footnote ,a3 ,this ,essay was written  
just before ,lord ,byron's death4       
,footnote ,b3      ,don ,juan was my    
,moscow1 and ,faliero    ,my ,leipsic1  

and my ,mont ,st4 ,jean seems ,cain1    
,don ,juan1 ,canto4 ,,xi4    ,footnote  
,c3 ,this censure applies to the first  
,cantos of ,,don ,,juan much  more than 
to the last4 ,it has been called a      
,,tristram ,,shandy in rhyme3 it  is    
rather a poem written about itself4     
99       99       99       99       99  
,,mr4 ,,campbell ,,and ,,mr4 ,,crabbe4  
,mr4 ,campbell may be said to hold a    
place 7among modern poets7 between      
,lord ,byron and ,mr4 ,rogers4 ,with    
much of the glossy splendour1 the       
pointed vigour1 and romantic interest of
 the one1 he possesses the  fastidious  
refinement1 the classic elegance of the 
other4 ,mr4 ,rogers1 as  a writer1 is   
too effeminate1 ,lord ,byron too        
extravagant3 ,mr4 ,campbell is  neither4
 ,the author of the ,pleasures of       
,memory polishes his lines till  they   
sparkle with the most exquisite finish2 
he attenuates them into the  utmost     
degree of trembling softness3 but we may
 complain1 in spite of  the delicacy and

 brilliancy of the execution1 of a want 
of strength  and solidity4 ,the author  
of the ,pleasures of ,hope1 with a      
richer and  deeper vein of thought and  
imagination1 works it out into figures  
of  equal grace and dazzling beauty1    
avoiding on the one hand the tinsel of  
flimsy affectation1 and on the other the
 vices of a rude and barbarous          
negligence4 ,his ,pegasus is not a      
rough1 skittish colt1 running wild      
among the mountains1 covered with       
bur-docks and thistles1 nor a tame1     
sleek pad1 unable to get out of the same
 ambling pace1 but a beautiful          
manege-horse1 full of life and spirit in
 itself1 and subject to the  complete   
controul of the rider4 ,mr4 ,campbell   
gives scope to his feelings  and his    
fancy1 and embodies them in a noble and 
naturally interesting  subject2 and he  
at the same time conceives himself      
called upon 7in these  days of critical 
nicety7 to pay the exactest attention to
 the expression  of each thought1 and to

 modulate each line into the most       
faultless  harmony4 ,the character of   
his mind is a lofty and                 
self-scrutinising  ambition1 that       
strives to reconcile the integrity of   
general design with  the perfect        
elaboration of each component part1 that
 aims at striking  effect1 but is       
jealous of the means by which this is to
 be produced4  ,our poet is not averse  
to popularity 7nay1 he is tremblingly   
alive to  it7--but self-respect is the  
primary law1 the indispensable condition
  on which it must be obtained4 ,we     
should dread to point out 7even if we   
could7 a false concord1 a mixed         
metaphor1 an imperfect rhyme in any of  
,mr4 ,campbell's productions2 for we    
think that all his fame would hardly    
compensate to him for the discovery4 ,he
 seeks for perfection1 and  nothing     
evidently short of it can satisfy his   
mind4 ,he is a high  finisher in poetry1
 whose every work must bear inspection1 
whose  slightest touch is precious--not 

a coarse dauber who is contented to     
impose on public wonder and credulity by
 some huge1 ill-executed design1  or who
 endeavours to wear out patience and    
opposition together by a load  of       
lumbering1 feeble1 awkward1             
improgressive lines--on the contrary1   
,mr4  ,campbell labours to lend every   
grace of execution to his subject1 while
  he borrows his ardour and inspiration 
from it1 and to deserve the  laurels he 
has earned1 by true genius and by true  
pains4 ,there is an  apparent           
consciousness of this in most of his    
writings4 ,he has attained  to great    
excellence by aiming at the greatest1 by
 a cautious and yet  daring selection of
 topics1 and by studiously 7and with a  
religious  horror7 avoiding all those   
faults which arise from grossness1      
vulgarity1  haste1 and disregard of     
public opinion4 ,he seizes on the       
highest point  of eminence1 and strives 
to keep it to himself--he snatches a    
grace  beyond the reach of art1 and will

 not let it go--he steeps a single      
thought or image so deep in the ,tyrian 
dyes of a gorgeous imagination1  that it
 throws its lustre over a whole         
page--every where vivid ideal  forms    
hover 7in intense conception7 over the  
poet's verse1 which  ascends1 like the  
aloe1 to the clouds1 with pure flowers  
at its top4 ,or  to take an humbler     
comparison 7the pride of genius must    
sometimes stoop  to the lowliness of    
criticism7 ,mr4 ,campbell's poetry often
 reminds us of  the purple gilliflower1 
both for its colour and its scent1 its  
glowing  warmth1 its rich1 languid1     
sullen hue1      ,yet sweeter than the  
lids of ,juno's eyes1    ,or ,cytherea's
 breath6    ,there are those who        
complain of the little that ,mr4        
,campbell has done  in poetry1 and who  
seem to insinuate that he is deterred by
 his own  reputation from making any    
further or higher attempts4 ,but after  
having  produced two poems that have    
gone to the heart of a nation1 and are  

gifts to a world1 he may surely linger  
out the rest of his life in a  dream of 
immortality4 ,there are moments in our  
lives so exquisite that  all that       
remains of them afterwards seems useless
 and barren2 and there  are lines and   
stanzas in our author's early writings  
in which he may  be thought to have     
exhausted all the sweetness and all the 
essence of  poetry1 so that nothing     
farther was left to his efforts or his  
ambition4  ,happy is it for those few   
and fortunate worshippers of the ,muse  
7not  a subject of grudging or envy to  
others7 who already enjoy in their      
life-time a foretaste of their future   
fame1 who see their names  accompanying 
them1 like a cloud of glory1 from youth 
to age1      ,and by the vision         
splendid1    ,are on their way          
attended--    and who know that they    
have built a shrine for the thoughts and
  feelings1 that were most dear to them1
 in the minds and memories  of other    
men1 till the language which they lisped

 in childhood is  forgotten1 or the     
human heart shall beat no more6    ,the 
,pleasures of ,hope alone would not have
 called forth these remarks  from us2   
but there are passages in the ,gertrude 
of ,wyoming of so rare  and ripe a      
beauty1 that they challenge1 as they    
exceed all praise4  ,such1 for instance1
 is the following peerless description  
of ,gertrude's  childhood3--      ,a    
loved bequest--and ,i may half impart   
,to those that feel the strong paternal 
tie1    ,how like a new existence in his
 heart    ,that living flow'r uprose    
beneath his eye1    ,dear as she was1   
from cherub infancy1    ,from hours when
 she would round his garden play1    ,to
 time when as the ripening years went   
by1    ,her lovely mind could culture   
well repay1    ,and more engaging grew  
from pleasing day to day4      ,i may   
not paint those thousand infant charms  
7,unconscious fascination1 undesign'd67 
,the orison repeated in his arms1       
,for ,god to bless her sire and all     

mankind2    ,the book1 the bosom on his 
knee reclined1    ,or how sweet         
fairy-lore he heard her con    7,the    
play-mate ere the teacher of her mind7  
,all uncompanion'd else her years had   
gone1    ,till now in ,gertrude's eyes  
their ninth blue summer shone4      ,and
 summer was the tide1 and sweet the     
hour1    ,when sire and daughter saw1   
with fleet descent1    ,an ,indian from 
his bark approach their bower1    ,of   
buskin'd limb and swarthy lineament2    
,the red wild feathers on his brow were 
blent1    ,and bracelets bound the arm  
that help'd to light    ,a boy1 who     
seem'd1 as he beside him went1    ,of   
,christian vesture and complexion       
bright1    ,led by his dusty guide1 like
 morning brought by night4    ,in the   
foregoing stanzas we particularly admire
 the line--      ,till now in           
,gertrude's eyes their ninth blue summer
 shone4    ,it appears to us like the   
ecstatic union of natural beauty and    
poetic  fancy1 and in its playful       

sublimity resembles the azure canopy    
mirrored  in the smiling waters1 bright1
 liquid1 serene1 heavenly6 ,a great     
outcry1  we know1 has prevailed for some
 time past against poetic diction and   
affected conceits1 and1 to a certain    
degree1 we go along with it2 but  this  
must not prevent us from feeling the    
thrill of pleasure when we see  beauty  
linked to beauty1 like kindred flame to 
flame1 or from applauding  the          
voluptuous fancy that raises and adorns 
the fairy fabric of thought1  that      
nature has begun6 ,pleasure is scattered
 in stray-gifts o'er the  earth--beauty 
streaks the famous poet's page in       
occasional lines of  inconceivable      
brightness2 and wherever this is the    
case1 no splenetic  censures or jealous 
leer malign1 no idle theories or cold   
indifference  should hinder us from     
greeting it with rapture4--,there are   
other parts  of this poem equally       
delightful1 in which there is a light   
startling as  the red-bird's wing2 a    

perfume like that of the magnolia2 a    
music  like the murmuring of pathless   
woods or of the everlasting ocean4 ,we  
conceive1 however1 that ,mr4 ,campbell  
excels chiefly in sentiment and         
imagery4 ,the story moves slow1 and is  
mechanically conducted1 and rather      
resembles a ,scotch canal carried over  
lengthened aqueducts and with a  number 
of locks in it1 than one of those rivers
 that sweep in their  majestic course1  
broad and full1 over ,transatlantic     
plains and lose  themselves in rolling  
gulfs1 or thunder down lofty precipices4
 ,but in  the centre1 the inmost        
recesses of our poet's heart1 the pearly
 dew of  sensibility is distilled and   
collects1 like the diamond in the mine1 
and  the structure of his fame rests on 
the crystal columns of a polished       
imagination4 ,we prefer the ,gertrude to
 the ,pleasures of ,hope1  because with 
perhaps less brilliancy1 there is more  
of tenderness and  natural imagery in   
the former4 ,in the ,pleasures of ,hope 

,mr4 ,campbell  had not completely      
emancipated himself from the trammels of
 the more  artificial style of          
poetry--from epigram1 and antithesis1   
and hyperbole4  ,the best line in it1 in
 which earthly joys are said to be--    
,like angels' visits1 few and far       
between--    is a borrowed one4,a ,but  
in the ,gertrude of ,wyoming we perceive
 a  softness coming over the heart of   
the author1 and the scales and crust  of
 formality that fence in his couplets   
and give them a somewhat  glittering and
 rigid appearance1 fall off1 and he has 
succeeded in  engrafting the wild and   
more expansive interest of the romantic 
school  of poetry on classic elegance   
and precision4 ,after the poem we have  
just named1 ,mr4 ,campbell's ,,songs are
 the happiest efforts of his            
,muse3--breathing freshness1 blushing   
like the morn1 they seem1 like          
clustering roses1 to weave a chaplet for
 love and liberty2 or their  bleeding   
words gush out in mournful and hurried  

succession1 like ruddy  drops that visit
 the sad heart of thoughtful ,humanity4 
,the ,battle of  ,hohenlinden is of all 
modern compositions the most lyrical in 
spirit  and in sound4 ,to justify this  
encomium1 we need only recall the lines 
to  the reader's memory4      ,on       
,linden1 when the sun was low1    ,all  
bloodless lay th' untrodden snow1       
,and dark as winter was the flow    ,of 
,iser1 rolling rapidly4      ,but       
,linden saw another sight1    ,when the 
drum beat at dead of night1             
,commanding fires of death to light     
,the darkness of her scenery4      ,by  
torch and trumpet fast array'd1    ,each
 horseman drew his battle blade1    ,and
 furious every charger neigh'd1    ,to  
join the dreadful revelry4      ,then   
shook the hills with thunder riv'n1     
,then rush'd the steed to battle driv'n1
    ,and louder than the bolts of heav'n
    ,far flash'd the red artillery4     
,but redder yet that light shall glow   
,on ,linden's hills of stained snow1    

,and bloodier yet the torrent flow      
,of ,iser1 rolling rapidly4      ',tis  
morn1 but scarce yon level sun    ,can  
pierce the war-clouds1 rolling,b dun1   
,where furious ,frank and fiery ,hun    
,shout in their sulph'rous canopy4      
,the combat deepens4  ,on1 ye brave1    
,who rush to glory1 or the grave6       
,wave1 ,munich6 all thy banners wave6   
,and charge with all thy chivalry6      
,few1 few shall part1 where many meet6  
,the snow shall be their winding-sheet1 
,and every turf beneath their feet      
,shall be a soldier's sepulchre4    ,mr4
 ,campbell's prose-criticisms on        
contemporary and other poets 7which     
have appeared in the ,new ,monthly      
,magazine7 are in a style at once       
chaste1 temperate1 guarded1 and just4   
,mr4 ,crabbe presents an entire contrast
 to    ,mr4 ,campbell3--the one is the  
most ambitious and aspiring of living   
poets1 the other the most humble and    
prosaic4 ,if the poetry of the one  is  
like the arch of the rainbow1 spanning  

and adorning the earth1 that  of the    
other is like a dull1 leaden cloud      
hanging over it4 ,mr4 ,crabbe's  style  
might be cited as an answer to ,audrey's
 question--,is poetry  a true thing8    
,there are here no ornaments1 no flights
 of fancy1 no  illusions of sentiment1  
no tinsel of words4 ,his song is one sad
 reality1  one unraised1 unvaried note  
of unavailing woe4 ,literal fidelity    
serves  him in the place of invention2  
he assumes importance by a number of    
petty details2 he rivets attention by   
being tedious4 ,he not only deals  in   
incessant matters of fact1 but in       
matters of fact of the most  familiar1  
the least animating1 and the most       
unpleasant kind2 but he  relies for the 
effect of novelty on the microscopic    
minuteness with  which he dissects the  
most trivial objects--and for the       
interest he  excites1 on the unshrinking
 determination with which he handles the
 most  painful4 ,his poetry has an      
official and professional air4 ,he is   

called  in to cases of difficult births1
 of fractured limbs1 or breaches of the 
peace2 and makes out a parochial list of
 accidents and offences4 ,he  takes the 
most trite1 the most gross and obvious  
and revolting part of  nature1 for the  
subject of his elaborate descriptions2  
but it is ,nature  still1 and ,nature is
 a great and mighty ,goddess6 ,it is    
well for the  ,reverend ,author that it 
is so4 ,individuality is1 in his theory1
 the only  definition of poetry4        
,whatever is1 he hitches into rhyme4    
,whoever  makes an exact image of any   
thing on the earth1 however deformed or 
insignificant1 according to him1 must   
succeed--and he himself has  succeeded4 
,mr4 ,crabbe is one of the most popular 
and admired of our  living authors4     
,that he is so1 can be accounted for on 
no other  principle than the strong ties
 that bind us to the world about us1 and
  our involuntary yearnings after       
whatever in any manner powerfully and   
directly reminds us of it4 ,his ,muse is

 not one of the ,daughters of  ,memory1 
but the old toothless1 mumbling dame    
herself1 doling out the  gossip and     
scandal of the neighbourhood1 recounting
 totidem verbis et  literis1 what       
happens in every place of the kingdom   
every hour in the  year1 and fastening  
always on the worst as the most         
palatable morsels4  ,but she is a       
circumstantial old lady1 communicative1 
scrupulous1 leaving  nothing to the     
imagination1 harping on the smallest    
grievances1 a  village-oracle and       
critic1 most veritable1 most identical1 
bringing us  acquainted with persons and
 things just as they chanced to exist1  
and  giving us a local interest in all  
she knows and tells4 ,mr4 ,crabbe's     
,helicon is choked up with weeds and    
corruption2 it reflects no light  from  
heaven1 it emits no cheerful sound3 no  
flowers of love1 of hope1  or joy spring
 up near it1 or they bloom only to      
wither in a moment4 ,our  poet's verse  
does not put a spirit of youth in every 

thing1 but a spirit  of fear1           
despondency1 and decay3 it is not an    
electric spark to kindle  or expand1 but
 acts like the torpedo's touch to deaden
 or contract4 ,it  lends no dazzling    
tints to fancy1 it aids no soothing     
feelings in the  heart1 it gladdens no  
prospect1 it stirs no wish2 in its view 
the  current of life runs slow1 dull1   
cold1 dispirited1 half under ground1    
muddy1 and clogged with all creeping    
things4 ,the world is one vast          
infirmary2 the hill of ,parnassus is a  
penitentiary1 of which our author  is   
the overseer3 to read him is a penance1 
yet we read on6 ,mr4 ,crabbe1  it must  
be confessed1 is a repulsive writer4 ,he
 contrives to turn  diseases to         
commodities1 and makes a virtue of      
necessity4 ,he puts us  out of conceit  
with this world1 which perhaps a severe 
divine should do2  yet does not1 as a   
charitable divine ought1 point to       
another4 ,his morbid  feelings droop and
 cling to the earth1 grovel where they  

should soar2  and throw a dead weight on
 every aspiration of the soul after the 
good  or beautiful4 ,by degrees we      
submit1 and are reconciled to our fate1 
like  patients to the physician1 or     
prisoners in the condemned cell4 ,we can
  only explain this by saying1 as we    
said before1 that ,mr4 ,crabbe gives  us
 one part of nature1 the mean1 the      
little1 the disgusting1 the             
distressing2 that he does this          
thoroughly and like a master1 and we    
forgive all the rest4    ,mr4 ,crabbe's 
first poems were published so long ago  
as the year #aghb1  and received the    
approbation of ,dr4 ,johnson only a     
little before he  died4 ,this was a     
testimony from an enemy2 for ,dr4       
,johnson was not an  admirer of the     
simple in style or minute in            
description4 ,still he was an  acute1   
strong-minded man1 and could see truth  
when it was presented to  him1 even     
through the mist of his prejudices and  
his foibles4 ,there was  something in   

,mr4 ,crabbe's intricate points that did
 not1 after all1 so  ill accord with the
 ,doctor's purblind vision2 and he knew 
quite  enough of the petty ills of life 
to judge of the merit of our poet's     
descriptions1 though he himself chose to
 slur them over in high-sounding  dogmas
 or general invectives4 ,mr4 ,crabbe's  
earliest poem of the  ,village was      
recommended to the notice of ,dr4       
,johnson by ,sir ,joshua  ,reynolds2 and
 we cannot help thinking that a taste   
for that sort of  poetry1 which leans   
for support on the truth and fidelity of
 its  imitations of nature1 began to    
display itself much about that time1    
and1  in a good measure1 in consequence 
of the direction of the public taste  to
 the subject of painting4               
,book-learning1 the accumulation of     
wordy  common-places1 the gaudy         
pretensions of poetical fiction1 had    
enfeebled  and perverted our eye for    
nature4 ,the study of the fine arts1    
which came  into fashion about forty    

years ago1 and was then first considered
 as a  polite accomplishment1 would tend
 imperceptibly to restore it4 ,painting 
is essentially an imitative art2 it     
cannot subsist for a moment on empty    
generalities3 the critic1 therefore1 who
 had been used to this sort of          
substantial entertainment1 would be     
disposed to read poetry with the  eye of
 a connoisseur1 would be little         
captivated with smooth1 polished1       
unmeaning periods1 and would turn with  
double eagerness and relish to  the     
force and precision of individual       
details1 transferred1 as it were1  to   
the page from the canvas4 ,thus an      
admirer of ,teniers or ,hobbima  might  
think little of the pastoral sketches of
 ,pope or ,goldsmith2 even  ,thompson   
describes not so much the naked object  
as what he sees in his  mind's eye1     
surrounded and glowing with the mild1   
bland1 genial vapours  of his           
brain3--but the adept in ,dutch         
interiors1 hovels1 and pig-styes  must  

find in ,mr4 ,crabbe a man after his own
 heart4 ,he is the very thing  itself2  
he paints in words1 instead of colours3 
there is no other  difference4 ,as ,mr4 
,crabbe is not a painter1 only because  
he does not use  a brush and colours1 so
 he is for the most part a poet1 only   
because  he writes in lines of ten      
syllables4 ,all the rest might be found 
in a  newspaper1 an old magazine1 or a  
county-register4 ,our author is himself 
a little jealous of the prudish fidelity
 of his homely ,muse1 and tries  to     
justify himself by precedents4 ,he      
brings as a parallel instance of  merely
 literal description1 ,pope's lines on  
the gay ,duke of ,buckingham1  beginning
 ,in the worst inn's worst room see     
,villiers lies6 ,but surely  nothing can
 be more dissimilar4 ,pope describes    
what is striking1 ,crabbe  would have   
described merely what was there4 ,the   
objects in ,pope stand  out to the fancy
 from the mixture of the mean with the  
gaudy1 from the  contrast of the scene  

and the character4 ,there is an appeal  
to the  imagination2 you see what is    
passing in a poetical point of view4 ,in
  ,crabbe there is no foil1 no contrast1
 no impulse given to the mind4 ,it  is  
all on a level and of a piece4 ,in fact1
 there is so little connection  between 
the subject-matter of ,mr4 ,crabbe's    
lines and the ornament of  rhyme which  
is tacked to them1 that many of his     
verses read like serious  burlesque1 and
 the parodies which have been made upon 
them are hardly so  quaint as the       
originals4    ,mr4 ,crabbe's great fault
 is certainly that he is a sickly1 a    
querulous1  a uniformly dissatisfied    
poet4 ,he sings the country2 and he     
sings it in  a pitiful tone4 ,he chooses
 this subject only to take the charm out
 of  it1 and to dispel the illusion1 the
 glory1 and the dream1 which had        
hovered over it in golden verse from    
,theocritus to ,cowper4 ,he sets out    
with professing to overturn the theory  
which had hallowed a shepherd's  life1  

and made the names of grove and valley  
music to our ears1 in order  to give us 
truth in its stead2 but why not lay     
aside the fool's cap and  bells at once8
 ,why not insist on the unwelcome       
reality in plain prose8  ,if our author 
is a poet1 why trouble himself with     
statistics8 ,if he is a  statistic      
writer1 why set his ill news to harsh   
and grating verse8 ,the  philosopher in 
painting the dark side of human nature  
may have reason  on his side1 and a     
moral lesson or remedy in view4 ,the    
tragic poet1 who  shews the sad         
vicissitudes of things and the          
disappointments of the  passions1 at    
least strengthens our yearnings after   
imaginary good1 and  lends wings to our 
desires1 by which we1 at one bound1 high
 overleap  all bound of actual          
suffering4 ,but ,mr4 ,crabbe does       
neither4 ,he gives  us discoloured      
paintings of life2 helpless1 repining1  
unprofitable1  unedifying distress4 ,he 
is not a philosopher1 but a sophist1 a  

misanthrope in verse2 a namby-pamby     
,mandeville1 a ,malthus turned  metrical
 romancer4 ,he professes historical     
fidelity2 but his vein is not  dramatic2
 nor does he give us the pros and cons  
of that versatile  gipsey1 ,nature4 ,he 
does not indulge his fancy1 or          
sympathise with us1 or  tell us how the 
poor feel2 but how he should feel in    
their situation1  which we do not want  
to know4 ,he does not weave the web of  
their lives  of a mingled yarn1 good and
 ill together1 but clothes them all in  
the  same dingy linsey-woolsey1 or      
tinges them with a green and yellow     
melancholy4 ,he blocks out all          
possibility of good1 cancels the hope1  
or  even the wish for it as a weakness2 
check-mates ,tityrus and ,virgil at  the
 game of pastoral cross-purposes1       
disables all his adversary's white      
pieces1 and leaves none but black ones  
on the board4 ,the situation of a       
country clergyman is not necessarily    
favourable to the cultivation of  the   

,muse4 ,he is set down1 perhaps1 as he  
thinks1 in a small curacy for  life1 and
 he takes his revenge by imprisoning the
 reader's imagination  in luckless      
verse4 ,shut out from social converse1  
from learned colleges  and halls1 where 
he passed his youth1 he has no cordial  
fellow-feeling  with the unlettered     
manners of the ,village or the ,borough2
 and he  describes his neighbours as    
more uncomfortable and discontented than
  himself4 ,all this while he dedicates 
successive volumes to rising            
generations of noble patrons2 and while 
he desolates a line of coast  with      
sterile1 blighting lines1 the only leaf 
of his books where honour1  beauty1     
worth1 or pleasure bloom1 is that       
inscribed to the ,rutland  family6 ,we  
might adduce instances of what we have  
said from every page  of his works3 let 
one suffice--      ,thus by himself     
compelled to live each day1    ,to wait 
for certain hours the tide's delay2     
,at the same times the same dull views  

to see1    ,the bounding marsh-bank and 
the blighted tree2    ,the water only   
when the tides were high1    ,when low1 
the mud half-covered and half-dry2      
,the sun-burnt tar that blisters on the 
planks1    ,and bank-side stakes in     
their uneven ranks2    ,heaps of        
entangled weeds that slowly float1      
,as the tide rolls by the impeded boat4 
,when tides were neap1 and in the sultry
 day1    ,through the tall bounding     
mud-banks made their way1    ,which on  
each side rose swelling1 and below      
,the dark warm flood ran silently and   
slow2    ,there anchoring1 ,peter chose 
from man to hide1    ,there hang his    
head1 and view the lazy tide    ,in its 
hot slimy channel slowly glide2         
,where the small eels1 that left the    
deeper way    ,for the warm shore1      
within the shallows play2    ,where     
gaping muscles1 left upon the mud1      
,slope their slow passage to the fall'n 
flood3    ,here dull and hopeless he'd  
lie down and trace    ,how side-long    

crabs had crawled their crooked race2   
,or sadly listen to the tuneless cry    
,of fishing gull or clanging golden-eye2
    ,what time the sea-birds to the     
marsh would come1    ,and the loud      
bittern1 from the bull-rush home1       
,gave from the salt ditch-side the      
bellowing boom3    ,he nursed the       
feelings these dull scenes produce      
,and loved to stop beside the opening   
sluice2    ,where the small stream1     
confined in narrow bound1    ,ran with a
 dull1 unvaried1 saddening sound2       
,where all1 presented to the eye or ear1
    ,oppressed the soul with misery1    
grief1 and fear4    ,this is an exact   
fac-simile of some of the most unlovely 
parts of the  creation4 ,indeed the     
whole of ,mr4 ,crabbe's ,borough1 from  
which the  above passage is taken1 is   
done so to the life1 that it seems      
almost  like some sea-monster1 crawled  
out of the neighbouring slime1 and      
harbouring a breed of strange vermin1   
with a strong local scent of  tar and   

bulge-water4 ,mr4 ,crabbe's ,tales are  
more readable than his  ,poems2 but in  
proportion as the interest increases1   
they become more  oppressive4 ,they     
turn1 one and all1 upon the same sort of
 teazing1  helpless1 mechanical1        
unimaginative distress2--and though it  
is not  easy to lay them down1 you never
 wish to take them up again4 ,still in  
this way1 they are highly finished1     
striking1 and original portraits1       
worked out with an eye to nature1 and an
 intimate knowledge of the  small and   
intricate folds of the human heart4     
,some of the best are  the ,confidant1  
the story of ,silly ,shore1 the ,young  
,poet1 the  ,painter4 ,the episode of   
,phoebe ,dawson in the ,village1 is one 
of  the most tender and pensive2 and the
 character of the methodist parson  who 
persecutes the sailor's widow with his  
godly1 selfish love1 is one  of the most
 profound4 ,in a word1 if ,mr4 ,crabbe's
 writings do not add  greatly to the    
store of entertaining and delightful    

fiction1 yet they  will remain as a     
thorn in the side of poetry1 perhaps for
 a century to  come6      ,footnote ,a3 
,like angels' visits1 short and far     
between4--4    ,blair's ,grave4         
,footnote ,b3 ,is not this word1 which  
occurs in the last line but one1  7as   
well as before7 an instance of that     
repetition1 which we so often  meet with
 in the most correct and elegant        
writers8                   99       99  
99       99       99            ,,sir   
,,james ,,mackintosh4        ,the       
subject of the present article is one of
 the ablest and most  accomplished men  
of the age1 both as a writer1 a speaker1
 and a  converser4 ,he is1 in fact1     
master of almost every known topic1     
whether  of a passing or of a more      
recondite nature4 ,he has lived much in 
society1 and is deeply conversant with  
books4 ,he is a man of the  world and a 
scholar2 but the scholar gives the tone 
to all his other  acquirements and      
pursuits4 ,sir ,james is by education   

and habit1 and we  were going to add1 by
 the original turn of his mind1 a       
college-man2 and  perhaps he would have 
passed his time most happily and        
respectably1 had  he devoted himself    
entirely to that kind of life4 ,the     
strength of his  faculties would have   
been best developed1 his ambition would 
have met  its proudest reward1 in the   
accumulation and elaborate display of   
grave  and useful knowledge4 ,as it is1 
it may be said1 that in company he talks
  well1 but too much2 that in writing he
 overlays the original subject and      
spirit of the composition1 by an appeal 
to authorities and by too formal  a     
method2 that in public speaking the     
logician takes place of the  orator1 and
 that he fails to give effect to a      
particular point or to  urge an         
immediate advantage home upon his       
adversary from the enlarged  scope of   
his mind1 and the wide career he takes  
in the field of  argument4    ,to       
consider him in the last point of view1 

first4 ,as a political  partisan1 he is 
rather the lecturer than the advocate4  
,he is able to  instruct and delight an 
impartial and disinterested audience by 
the  extent of his information1 by his  
acquaintance with general principles1   
by the clearness and aptitude of his    
illustrations1 by vigour and            
copiousness of style2 but where he has a
 prejudiced or unfair antagonist  to    
contend with1 he is just as likely to   
put weapons into his enemy's  hands as  
to wrest them from him1 and his object  
seems to be rather to  deserve than to  
obtain success4 ,the characteristics of 
his mind are  retentiveness and         
comprehension1 with facility of         
production3 but he is  not equally      
remarkable for originality of view1 or  
warmth of feeling1 or  liveliness of    
fancy4 ,his eloquence is a little       
rhetorical2 his reasoning  chiefly      
logical3 he can bring down the account  
of knowledge on a vast  variety of      
subjects to the present moment1 he can  

embellish any cause he  undertakes by   
the most approved and graceful          
ornaments1 he can support  it by a host 
of facts and examples1 but he cannot    
advance it a step  forward by placing it
 on a new and triumphant                
'vantage-ground1 nor  can he overwhelm  
and break down the artificial fences and
 bulwarks  of sophistry by the          
irresistible tide of manly enthusiasm4  
,sir ,james  ,mackintosh is an          
accomplished debater1 rather than a     
powerful orator3 he  is distinguished   
more as a man of wonderful and variable 
talent than  as a man of commanding     
intellect4 ,his mode of treating a      
question is  critical1 and not          
parliamentary4 ,it has been formed in   
the closet and  the schools1 and is     
hardly fitted for scenes of active life1
 or the  collisions of party-spirit4    
,sir ,james reasons on the square2 while
 the  arguments of his opponents are    
loaded with iron or gold4 ,he makes1    
indeed1 a respectable ally1 but not a   

very formidable opponent4 ,he is as     
likely1 however1 to prevail on a        
neutral1 as he is almost certain to be  
baffled on a hotly contested ground4 ,on
 any question of general  policy or     
legislative improvement1 the ,member for
 ,nairn is heard with  advantage1 and   
his speeches are attended with effect3  
and he would have  equal weight and     
influence at other times1 if it were the
 object of the  ,house to hear reason1  
as it is his aim to speak it4 ,but on   
subjects of  peace or war1 of political 
rights or foreign interference1 where   
the  waves of party run high1 and the   
liberty of nations or the fate of       
mankind hangs trembling in the scales1  
though he probably displays equal       
talent1 and does full and heaped justice
 to the question 7abstractedly          
speaking1 or if it were to be tried     
before an impartial assembly71 yet  we  
confess we have seldom heard him1 on    
such occasions1 without pain for  the   
event4 ,he did not slur his own         

character and pretensions1 but he       
compromised the argument4 ,he spoke the 
truth1 the whole truth1 and  nothing but
 the truth2 but the ,house of ,commons  
7we dare aver it7 is  not the place     
where the truth1 the whole truth1 and   
nothing but the  truth can be spoken    
with safety or with advantage4 ,the     
judgment of the  ,house is not a balance
 to weigh scruples and reasons to the   
turn of a  fraction3 another element1   
besides the love of truth1 enters into  
the  composition of their decisions1 the
 reaction of which must be calculated   
upon and guarded against4 ,if our       
philosophical statesman had to open the 
case before a class of tyros1 or a      
circle of grey-beards1 who wished to    
form or to strengthen their judgments   
upon fair and rational grounds1  nothing
 could be more satisfactory1 more       
luminous1 more able or more  decisive   
than the view taken of it by ,sir ,james
 ,mackintosh4 ,but the  ,house of       
,commons1 as a collective body1 have not

 the docility of youth1  the calm wisdom
 of age2 and often only want an excuse  
to do wrong1 or  to adhere to what they 
have already determined upon2 and ,sir  
,james1  in detailing the inexhaustible 
stores of his memory and reading1 in    
unfolding the wide range of his theory  
and practice1 in laying down  the rules 
and the exceptions1 in insisting upon   
the advantages and the  objections with 
equal explicitness1 would be sure to let
 something drop  that a dextrous and    
watchful adversary would easily pick up 
and turn  against him1 if this were     
found necessary2 or if with so many pros
 and  cons1 doubts and difficulties1    
dilemmas and alternatives thrown into   
it1 the scale1 with its natural bias to 
interest and power1 did not  already fly
 up and kick the beam4 ,there wanted    
unity of purpose1  impetuosity of       
feeling to break through the phalanx of 
hostile and  inveterate prejudice       
arrayed against him4 ,he gave a handle  
to his  enemies2 threw stumbling-blocks 

in the way of his friends4 ,he raised so
  many objections for the sake of       
answering them1 proposed so many doubts 
for the sake of solving them1 and made  
so many concessions where none  were    
demanded1 that his reasoning had the    
effect of neutralizing itself2  it      
became a mere exercise of the           
understanding without zest or spirit    
left in it2 and the provident engineer  
who was to shatter in pieces  the       
strong-holds of corruption and          
oppression1 by a well-directed and      
unsparing discharge of artillery1 seemed
 to have brought not only his  own      
cannon-balls1 but his own wool-packs    
along with him to ward off  the         
threatened mischief4 ,this was a good   
deal the effect of his maiden  speech on
 the transfer of ,genoa1 to which ,lord 
,castlereagh did not deign  an answer1  
and which another ,honourable ,member   
called a finical  speech4 ,it was a most
 able1 candid1 closely argued1 and      
philosophical  exposure of that         

unprincipled transaction2 but for this  
very reason it  was a solecism in the   
place where it was delivered4 ,sir      
,james has1 since  this period1 and with
 the help of practice1 lowered himself  
to the tone  of the ,house2 and has also
 applied himself to questions more      
congenial  to his habits of mind1 and   
where the success would be more likely  
to be  proportioned to his zeal and his 
exertions4    ,there was a greater      
degree of power1 or of dashing and      
splendid effect  7we wish we could add1 
an equally humane and liberal spirit7 in
 the  ,lectures on the ,law of ,nature  
and ,nations1 formerly delivered by ,sir
  ,james 7then ,mr47 ,mackintosh1 in    
,lincoln's-,inn ,hall4 ,he shewed       
greater  confidence2 was more at home   
there4 ,the effect was more electrical  
and  instantaneous1 and this elicited a 
prouder display of intellectual  riches1
 and a more animated and imposing mode  
of delivery4 ,he grew  wanton with      
success4 ,dazzling others by the        

brilliancy of his  acquirements1 dazzled
 himself by the admiration they excited1
 he lost  fear as well as prudence2     
dared every thing1 carried every thing  
before  him4 ,the ,modern ,philosophy1  
counterscarp1 outworks1 citadel1 and    
all1  fell without a blow1 by the whiff 
and wind of his fell doctrine1 as  if it
 had been a pack of cards4 ,the volcano 
of the ,french ,revolution  was seen    
expiring in its own flames1 like a      
bon-fire made of straw3 the  principles 
of ,reform were scattered in all        
directions1 like chaff before  the keen 
northern blast4 ,he laid about him like 
one inspired2 nothing  could withstand  
his envenomed tooth4 ,like some savage  
beast got into  the garden of the fabled
 ,hesperides1 he made clear work of it1 
root and  branch1 with white1 foaming   
tusks--      ,laid waste the borders1   
and o'erthrew the bowers4    ,the havoc 
was amazing1 the desolation was         
complete4 ,as to our visionary  sceptics
 and ,utopian philosophers1 they stood  

no chance with our  lecturer--he did not
 carve them as a dish fit for the ,gods1
 but hewed  them as a carcase fit for   
hounds4 ,poor ,godwin1 who had come1 in 
the  bonhommie and candour of his       
nature1 to hear what new light had      
broken  in upon his old friend1 was     
obliged to quit the field1 and slunk    
away  after an exulting taunt thrown out
 at such fanciful chimeras as a  golden 
mountain or a perfect man4 ,mr4         
,mackintosh had something of the  air1  
much of the dexterity and               
self-possession1 of a political and     
philosophical juggler2 and an eager and 
admiring audience gaped and  greedily   
swallowed the gilded bait of sophistry1 
prepared for their  credulity and       
wonder4 ,those of us who attended day   
after day1 and were  accustomed to have 
all our previous notions confounded and 
struck out of  our hands by some        
metaphysical legerdemain1 were at last  
at some loss to  know whether two and   
two made four1 till we had heard the    

lecturer's  opinion on that head4 ,he   
might have some mental reservation on   
the  subject1 some pointed ridicule to  
pour upon the common supposition1  some 
learned authority to quote against it4  
,to anticipate the line of  argument he 
might pursue1 was evidently presumptuous
 and premature4 ,one  thing only        
appeared certain1 that whatever opinion 
he chose to take up1  he was able to    
make good either by the foils or the    
cudgels1 by gross  banter or nice       
distinctions1 by a well-timed mixture of
 paradox and  common-place1 by an appeal
 to vulgar prejudices or startling      
scepticism4  ,it seemed to be equally   
his object1 or the tendency of his      
,discourses1  to unsettle every         
principle of reason or of common sense1 
and to leave  his audience at the mercy 
of the dictum of a lawyer1 the nod of a 
minister1 or the shout of a mob4 ,to    
effect this purpose1 he drew largely  on
 the learning of antiquity1 on modern   
literature1 on history1 poetry1  and the

 belles-lettres1 on the ,schoolmen and  
on writers of novels1  ,french1         
,english1 and ,italian4 ,in mixing up   
the sparkling julep1 that  by its potent
 operation was to scour away the dregs  
and feculence and  peccant humours of   
the body politic1 he seemed to stand    
with his back  to the drawers in a      
metaphysical dispensary1 and to take out
 of them  whatever ingredients suited   
his purpose4 ,in this way he had an     
antidote  for every error1 an answer to 
every folly4 ,the writings of ,burke1   
,hume1  ,berkeley1 ,paley1 ,lord ,bacon1
 ,jeremy ,taylor1 ,grotius1 ,puffendorf1
 ,cicero1  ,aristotle1 ,tacitus1 ,livy1 
,sully1 ,machiavel1 ,guicciardini1      
,thuanus1 lay  open beside him1 and he  
could instantly lay his hand upon the   
passage1  and quote them chapter and    
verse to the clearing up of all         
difficulties1  and the silencing of all 
oppugners4 ,mr4 ,mackintosh's ,lectures 
were after  all but a kind of           
philosophical centos4 ,they were        

profound1 brilliant1  new to his        
hearers2 but the profundity1 the        
brilliancy1 the novelty were  not his   
own4 ,he was like ,dr4 ,pangloss 7not   
,voltaire's1 but ,coleman's7  who speaks
 only in quotations2 and the pith1 the  
marrow of ,sir ,james's  reasoning and  
rhetoric at that memorable period might 
be put within  inverted commas4 ,it1    
however1 served its purpose and the loud
 echo died  away4 ,we remember an       
excellent man and a sound critic,a going
 to hear  one of these elaborate        
effusions2 and on his want of enthusiasm
 being  accounted for from its not being
 one of the orator's brilliant days1 he 
replied1 he did not think a man of      
genius could speak for two hours        
without saying something by which he    
would have been electrified4  ,we are   
only sorry1 at this distance of time1   
for one thing in these  ,lectures--the  
tone and spirit in which they seemed to 
have been composed  and to be delivered4
 ,if all that body of opinions and      

principles of  which the orator read his
 recantation was unfounded1 and there   
was an  end of all those views and hopes
 that pointed to future improvement1 it 
was not a matter of triumph or          
exultation to the lecturer or any body  
else1 to the young or the old1 the wise 
or the foolish2 on the contrary1  it was
 a subject of regret1 of slow1          
reluctant1 painful admission--      ,of 
lamentation loud heard through the      
rueful air4    ,the immediate occasion  
of this sudden and violent change in    
,sir ,james's  views and opinions was   
attributed to a personal interview which
 he  had had a little before his death  
with ,mr4 ,burke1 at his house at       
,beaconsfield4 ,in the latter end of the
 year #agif1 appeared the ,regicide     
,peace1 from the pen of the great       
apostate from liberty and betrayer of   
his species into the hands of those who 
claimed it as their property  by divine 
right--a work imposing1 solid in many   
respects1 abounding in  facts and       

admirable reasoning1 and in which all   
flashy ornaments were  laid aside for a 
testamentary gravity1 7the eloquence of 
despair  resembling the throes and      
heaving and muttered threats of an      
earthquake1  rather than the loud       
thunder-bolt7--and soon after came out a
 criticism  on it in ,the ,monthly      
,review1 doing justice to the author and
 the  style1 and combating the          
inferences with force and at much       
length2 but  with candour and with      
respect1 amounting to deference4 ,it was
 new to ,mr4  ,burke not to be called   
names by persons of the opposite party2 
it was  an additional triumph to him to 
be spoken well of1 to be loaded with    
well-earned praise by the author of the 
,vindici ,gallic4 ,it was a  testimony  
from an old1 a powerful1 and an admired 
antagonist4,b ,he sent  an invitation to
 the writer to come and see him2 and in 
the course of  three days' animated     
discussion of such subjects1 ,mr4       
,mackintosh became  a convert not merely

 to the graces and gravity of ,mr4      
,burke's style1 but  to the liberality  
of his views1 and the solidity of his   
opinions4--,the  ,lincoln's-,inn        
,lectures were the fruit of this        
interview3 such is the  influence       
exercised by men of genius and          
imaginative power over those  who have  
nothing to oppose to their unforeseen   
flashes of thought and  invention1 but  
the dry1 cold1 formal deductions of the 
understanding4  ,our politician had     
time1 during a few years of absence from
 his native  country1 and while the din 
of war and the cries of party-spirit    
were  lost over a wide and unhearing    
ocean1 to recover from his surprise and 
from a temporary alienation of mind2 and
 to return in spirit1 and in the  mild  
and mellowed maturity of age1 to the    
principles and attachments of  his early
 life4    ,the appointment of ,sir      
,james ,mackintosh to a ,judgeship in   
,india was one1  which1 however         
flattering to his vanity or favourable  

to his interests1  was entirely foreign 
to his feelings and habits4 ,it was an  
honourable  exile4 ,he was out of his   
element among black slaves and sepoys1  
and  ,nabobs and cadets1 and writers to 
,india4 ,he had no one to exchange ideas
  with4 ,the unbought grace of life1 the
 charm of literary conversation  was    
gone4 ,it was the habit of his mind1 his
 ruling passion to enter into  the shock
 and conflict of opinions on            
philosophical1 political1 and  critical 
questions--not to dictate to raw tyros  
or domineer over persons  in subordinate
 situations--but to obtain the guerdon  
and the laurels of  superior sense and  
information by meeting with men of equal
 standing1 to  have a fair field        
pitched1 to argue1 to distinguish1 to   
reply1 to  hunt down the game of        
intellect with eagerness and skill1 to  
push an  advantage1 to cover a retreat1 
to give and take a fall--      ,and     
gladly would he learn1 and gladly teach4
    ,it is no wonder that this sort of  

friendly intellectual gladiatorship is  
,sir ,james's greatest pleasure1 for it 
is his peculiar forte4 ,he has  not many
 equals1 and scarcely any superior in   
it4 ,he is too indolent for  an author2 
too unimpassioned for an orator3 but in 
society he is just  vain enough to be   
pleased with immediate attention1       
good-humoured  enough to listen with    
patience to others1 with great coolness 
and  self-possession1 fluent1           
communicative1 and with a manner equally
 free  from violence and insipidity4    
,few subjects can be started1 on which  
he  is not qualified to appear to       
advantage as the gentleman and scholar4 
,if  there is some tinge of pedantry1 it
 is carried off by great affability  of 
address and variety of amusing and      
interesting topics4 ,there is  scarce an
 author that he has not read2 a period  
of history that he is  not conversant   
with2 a celebrated name of which he has 
not a number of  anecdotes to relate2 an
 intricate question that he is not      

prepared  to enter upon in a popular or 
scientific manner4 ,if an opinion in an 
abstruse metaphysical author is referred
 to1 he is probably able to  repeat the 
passage by heart1 can tell the side of  
the page on which it  is to be met with1
 can trace it back through various      
descents to ,locke1  ,hobbes1 ,lord     
,herbert of ,cherbury1 to a place in    
some obscure folio of  the ,school-men  
or a note in one of the commentators on 
,aristotle or  ,plato1 and thus give you
 in a few moments' space1 and without   
any effort  or previous notice1 a       
chronological table of the progress of  
the human  mind in that particular      
branch of inquiry4 ,there is something1 
we think1  perfectly admirable and      
delightful in an exhibition of this     
kind1 and  which is equally creditable  
to the speaker and gratifying to the    
hearer4  ,but this kind of talent was of
 no use in ,india3 the intellectual     
wares1  of which the ,chief ,judge      
delighted to make a display1 were in no 

request  there4 ,he languished after the
 friends and the society he had left    
behind2 and wrote over incessantly for  
books from ,england4 ,one that was  sent
 him at this time was an ,essay on the  
,principles of ,human ,action2  and the 
way in which he spoke of that dry1      
tough1 metaphysical  choke-pear1 shewed 
the dearth of intellectual intercourse  
in which he  lived1 and the craving in  
his mind after those studies which had  
once  been his pride1 and to which he   
still turned for consolation in his     
remote solitude4--,perhaps to another1  
the novelty of the scene1 the           
differences of mind and manners might   
have atoned for a want of social  and   
literary agrmens3 but ,sir ,james is one
 of those who see nature  through the   
spectacles of books4 ,he might like to  
read an account of  ,india2 but ,india  
itself with its burning1 shining face   
would be a mere  blank1 an endless waste
 to him4 ,to persons of this class of   
mind things  must be translated into    

words1 visible images into abstract     
propositions  to meet their refined     
apprehensions1 and they have no more to 
say to a  matter-of-fact staring them in
 the face without a label in its mouth1 
than they would to a hippopotamus6--,we 
may add1 before we quit this  point1    
that we cannot conceive of any two      
persons more different in  colloquial   
talents1 in which they both excel1 than 
,sir ,james ,mackintosh  and ,mr4       
,coleridge4 ,they have nearly an equal  
range of reading and of  topics of      
conversation3 but in the mind of the one
 we see nothing but  fixtures1 in the   
other every thing is fluid4 ,the ideas  
of the one  are as formal and tangible1 
as those of the other are shadowy and   
evanescent4 ,sir ,james ,mackintosh     
walks over the ground1 ,mr4 ,coleridge  
is  always flying off from it4 ,the     
first knows all that has been said upon 
a subject2 the last has something to say
 that was never said before4 ,if  the   
one deals too much in learned           

common-places1 the other teems with     
idle fancies4 ,the one has a good deal  
of the caput mortuum of genius1  the    
other is all volatile salt4 ,the        
conversation of ,sir ,james ,mackintosh 
has the effect of reading a well-written
 book1 that of his friend  is like      
hearing a bewildered dream4 ,the one is 
an ,encyclopedia of  knowledge1 the     
other is a succession of ,sybilline     
,leaves6    ,as an author1 ,sir ,james  
,mackintosh may claim the foremost rank 
among  those who pride themselves on    
artificial ornaments and acquired       
learning1 or who write what may be      
termed a composite style4 ,his          
,vindciae ,gallicae is a work of great  
labour1 great ingenuity1 great          
brilliancy1 and great vigour4 ,it is a  
little too antithetical in the          
structure of its periods1 too dogmatical
 in the announcement of its  opinions4  
,sir ,james has1 we believe1 rejected   
something of the  false brilliant of the
 one1 as he has retracted some of the   

abrupt  extravagance of the other4 ,we  
apprehend1 however1 that our author is  
not  one of those who draw from their   
own resources and accumulated feelings1 
or who improve with age4 ,he belongs to 
a class 7common in ,scotland  and       
elsewhere7 who get up school-exercises  
on any given subject in  a masterly     
manner at twenty1 and who at forty are  
either where they  were--or retrograde1 
if they are men of sense and modesty4   
,the reason  is1 their vanity is weaned1
 after the first hey-day and animal     
spirits  of youth are flown1 from making
 an affected display of knowledge1      
which1  however useful1 is not their    
own1 and may be much more simply stated2
  they are tired of repeating the same  
arguments over and over again1  after   
having exhausted and rung the changes on
 their whole stock for a  number of     
times4 ,sir ,james ,mackintosh is       
understood to be a writer in  the       
,edinburgh ,review2 and the articles    
attributed to him there are full  of    

matter of great pith and moment4 ,but   
they want the trim1 pointed  expression1
 the ambitious ornaments1 the           
ostentatious display and rapid          
volubility of his early productions4 ,we
 have heard it objected to his  later   
compositions1 that his style is good as 
far as single words and  phrases are    
concerned1 but that his sentences are   
clumsy and disjointed1  and that these  
make up still more awkward and sprawling
 paragraphs4 ,this  is a nice criticism1
 and we cannot speak to its truth3 but  
if the fact  be so1 we think we can     
account for it from the texture and     
obvious  process of the author's mind4  
,all his ideas may be said to be given  
preconceptions4 ,they do not arise1 as  
it were1 out of the subject1 or  out of 
one another at the moment1 and therefore
 do not flow naturally  and gracefully  
from one another4 ,they have been laid  
down beforehand in  a sort of formal    
division or frame-work of the           
understanding2 and the  connexion       

between the premises and the conclusion1
 between one branch  of a subject and   
another1 is made out in a bungling and  
unsatisfactory  manner4 ,there is no    
principle of fusion in the work3 he     
strikes after  the iron is cold1 and    
there is a want of malleability in the  
style4 ,sir  ,james is at present said  
to be engaged in writing a ,history of  
,england  after the downfall of the     
house of ,stuart4 ,may it be worthy of  
the  talents of the author1 and of the  
principles of the period it is  intended
 to illustrate6      ,footnote ,a3 ,the 
late ,rev4 ,joseph ,fawcett1 of         
,walthamstow4    ,footnote ,b3 ,at the  
time when the ,vindiciae ,gallicae first
 made its  appearance1 as a reply to the
 ,reflections on the ,french            
,revolution1 it  was cried up by the    
partisans of the new school1 as a work  
superior in  the charms of composition  
to its redoubted rival3 in acuteness1   
depth1  and soundness of reasoning1 of  
course there was supposed to be no      

comparison4                   99        
99       99       99       99           
,,mr4 ,,wordsworth4        ,mr4         
,wordsworth's genius is a pure emanation
 of the ,spirit of the ,age4  ,had he   
lived in any other period of the world1 
he would never have been  heard of4 ,as 
it is1 he has some difficulty to contend
 with the hebetude  of his intellect1   
and the meanness of his subject4 ,with  
him lowliness  is young ambition's      
ladder3 but he finds it a toil to climb 
in this way  the steep of ,fame4 ,his   
homely ,muse can hardly raise her wing  
from the  ground1 nor spread her hidden 
glories to the sun4 ,he has no figures  
nor  no fantasies1 which busy passion   
draws in the brains of men3 neither  the
 gorgeous machinery of mythologic lore1 
nor the splendid colours of  poetic     
diction4 ,his style is vernacular3 he   
delivers household truths4  ,he sees    
nothing loftier than human hopes2       
nothing deeper than the human  heart4   
,this he probes1 this he tampers with1  

this he poises1 with all  its           
incalculable weight of thought and      
feeling1 in his hands2 and at the  same 
time calms the throbbing pulses of his  
own heart1 by keeping his  eye ever     
fixed on the face of nature4 ,if he can 
make the life-blood flow  from the      
wounded breast1 this is the living      
colouring with which he  paints his     
verse3 if he can assuage the pain or    
close up the wound with  the balm of    
solitary musing1 or the healing power of
 plants and herbs  and skyey influences1
 this is the sole triumph of his art4   
,he takes  the simplest elements of     
nature and of the human mind1 the mere  
abstract  conditions inseparable from   
our being1 and tries to compound a new  
system of poetry from them2 and has     
perhaps succeeded as well as any one    
could4 ,nihil humani a me alienum       
puto--is the motto of his works4 ,he    
thinks nothing low or indifferent of    
which this can be affirmed3 every  thing
 that professes to be more than this1   

that is not an absolute  essence of     
truth and feeling1 he holds to be       
vitiated1 false1 and  spurious4 ,in a   
word1 his poetry is founded on setting  
up an opposition  7and pushing it to the
 utmost length7 between the natural and 
the  artificial3 between the spirit of  
humanity1 and the spirit of fashion  and
 of the world6    ,it is one of the     
innovations of the time4 ,it partakes   
of1 and is carried  along with1 the     
revolutionary movement of our age3 the  
political changes  of the day were the  
model on which he formed and conducted  
his poetical  experiments4 ,his ,muse   
7it cannot be denied1 and without this  
we cannot  explain its character at all7
 is a levelling one4 ,it proceeds on a  
principle of equality1 and strives to   
reduce all things to the same  standard4
 ,it is distinguished by a proud        
humility4 ,it relies upon its  own      
resources1 and disdains external shew   
and relief4 ,it takes the  commonest    
events and objects1 as a test to prove  

that nature is always  interesting from 
its inherent truth and beauty1 without  
any of the  ornaments of dress or pomp  
of circumstances to set it off4 ,hence  
the  unaccountable mixture of seeming   
simplicity and real abstruseness in the 
,lyrical ,ballads4 ,fools have laughed  
at1 wise men scarcely understand  them4 
,he takes a subject or a story merely as
 pegs or loops to hang  thought and     
feeling on2 the incidents are trifling1 
in proportion to  his contempt for      
imposing appearances2 the reflections   
are profound1  according to the gravity 
and the aspiring pretensions of his     
mind4 ,his  popular1 inartificial style 
gets rid 7at a blow7 of all the         
trappings  of verse1 of all the high    
places of poetry3 the cloud-capt towers1
 the  solemn temples1 the gorgeous      
palaces1 are swept to the ground1 and   
like the baseless fabric of a vision1   
leave not a wreck behind4  ,all the     
traditions of learning1 all the         
superstitions of age1 are  obliterated  

and effaced4 ,we begin de novo1 on a    
tabula rasa of  poetry4 ,the purple     
pall1 the nodding plume of tragedy are  
exploded as  mere pantomime and trick1  
to return to the simplicity of truth and
  nature4 ,kings1 queens1 priests1      
nobles1 the altar and the throne1 the   
distinctions of rank1 birth1 wealth1    
power1 the judge's robe1 the  marshall's
 truncheon1 the ceremony that to great  
ones 'longs1 are not  to be found here4 
,the author tramples on the pride of art
 with greater  pride4 ,the ,ode and     
,epode1 the ,strophe and the            
,antistrophe1 he laughs to  scorn4 ,the 
harp of ,homer1 the trump of ,pindar and
 of ,alcaeus are still4  ,the decencies 
of costume1 the decorations of vanity   
are stripped off  without mercy as      
barbarous1 idle1 and ,gothic4 ,the      
jewels in the crisped  hair1 the diadem 
on the polished brow are thought        
meretricious1  theatrical1 vulgar2 and  
nothing contents his fastidious taste   
beyond  a simple garland of flowers4    

,neither does he avail himself of the   
advantages which nature or accident     
holds out to him4 ,he chooses to have   
his subject a foil to his invention1 to 
owe nothing but to himself4 ,he  gathers
 manna in the wilderness1 he strikes the
 barren rock for the  gushing moisture4 
,he elevates the mean by the strength of
 his own  aspirations2 he clothes the   
naked with beauty and grandeur from the 
store of his own recollections4 ,no     
cypress-grove loads his verse with      
perfumes3 but his imagination lends a   
sense of joy      ,to the bare trees and
 mountains bare1    ,and grass in the   
green field4    ,no storm1 no shipwreck 
startles us by its horrors3 but the     
rainbow lifts  its head in the cloud1   
and the breeze sighs through the        
withered fern4  ,no sad vicissitude of  
fate1 no overwhelming catastrophe in    
nature  deforms his page3 but the       
dew-drop glitters on the bending flower1
 the  tear collects in the glistening   
eye4      ,beneath the hills1 along the 

flowery vales1    ,the generations are  
prepared2 the pangs1    ,the internal   
pangs are ready2 the dread strife    ,of
 poor humanity's afflicted will1        
,struggling in vain with ruthless       
destiny4    ,as the lark ascends from   
its low bed on fluttering wing1 and     
salutes the  morning skies2 so ,mr4     
,wordsworth's unpretending ,muse1 in    
russet guise1  scales the summits of    
reflection1 while it makes the round    
earth its  footstool1 and its home6     
,possibly a good deal of this may be    
regarded as the effect of  disappointed 
views and an inverted ambition4         
,prevented by native pride  and         
indolence from climbing the ascent of   
learning or greatness1 taught  by       
political opinions to say to the vain   
pomp and glory of the world1 ,i  hate   
ye1 seeing the path of classical and    
artificial poetry blocked up  by the    
cumbrous ornaments of style and turgid  
common-places1 so  that nothing more    
could be achieved in that direction but 

by the most  ridiculous bombast or the  
tamest servility2 he has turned back    
partly  from the bias of his mind1      
partly perhaps from a judicious         
policy--has  struck into the sequestered
 vale of humble life1 sought out the    
,muse  among sheep-cotes and hamlets and
 the peasant's mountain-haunts1 has     
discarded all the tinsel pageantry of   
verse1 and endeavoured 7not in  vain7 to
 aggrandise the trivial and add the     
charm of novelty to the  familiar4 ,no  
one has shewn the same imagination in   
raising trifles into  importance3 no one
 has displayed the same pathos in       
treating of the  simplest feelings of   
the heart4 ,reserved1 yet haughty1      
having no unruly  or violent passions1  
7or those passions having been early    
suppressed17  ,mr4 ,wordsworth has      
passed his life in solitary musing1 or  
in daily  converse with the face of     
nature4 ,he exemplifies in an eminent   
degree  the power of association2 for   
his poetry has no other source or       

character4 ,he has dwelt among pastoral 
scenes1 till each object has  become    
connected with a thousand feelings1 a   
link in the chain of  thought1 a fibre  
of his own heart4 ,every one is by habit
 and familiarity  strongly attached to  
the place of his birth1 or to objects   
that recal  the most pleasing and       
eventful circumstances of his life4 ,but
 to the  author of the ,lyrical         
,ballads1 nature is a kind of home2 and 
he may be  said to take a personal      
interest in the universe4 ,there is no  
image so  insignificant that it has not 
in some mood or other found the way into
  his heart3 no sound that does not     
awaken the memory of other years4--     
,to him the meanest flower that blows   
can give    ,thoughts that do often lie 
too deep for tears4    ,the daisy looks 
up to him with sparkling eye as an old  
acquaintance3  the cuckoo haunts him    
with sounds of early youth not to be    
expressed3 a  linnet's nest startles him
 with boyish delight3 an old withered   

thorn is  weighed down with a heap of   
recollections3 a grey cloak1 seen on    
some  wild moor1 torn by the wind1 or   
drenched in the rain1 afterwards becomes
  an object of imagination to him3 even 
the lichens on the rock have a  life and
 being in his thoughts4 ,he has         
described all these objects in a  way   
and with an intensity of feeling that no
 one else had done before  him1 and has 
given a new view or aspect of nature4   
,he is in this sense  the most original 
poet now living1 and the one whose      
writings could the  least be spared3 for
 they have no substitute elsewhere4 ,the
 vulgar do  not read them1 the learned1 
who see all things through books1 do not
  understand them1 the great despise1   
the fashionable may ridicule them3  but 
the author has created himself an       
interest in the heart of the  retired   
and lonely student of nature1 which can 
never die4 ,persons  of this class will 
still continue to feel what he has felt3
 he has  expressed what they might in   

vain wish to express1 except with       
glistening eye and faultering tongue6   
,there is a lofty philosophic tone1  a  
thoughtful humanity1 infused into his   
pastoral vein4 ,remote from the         
passions and events of the great world1 
he has communicated interest and        
dignity to the primal movements of the  
heart of man1 and ingrafted his  own    
conscious reflections on the casual     
thoughts of hinds and shepherds4        
,nursed amidst the grandeur of mountain 
scenery1 he has stooped to have  a      
nearer view of the daisy under his feet1
 or plucked a branch of  white-thorn    
from the spray3 but in describing it1   
his mind seems imbued  with the majesty 
and solemnity of the objects around     
him--the tall rock  lifts its head in   
the erectness of his spirit2 the        
cataract roars in the  sound of his     
verse2 and in its dim and mysterious    
meaning1 the mists  seem to gather in   
the hollows of ,helvellyn1 and the      
forked ,skiddaw  hovers in the distance4

 ,there is little mention of mountainous
 scenery  in ,mr4 ,wordsworth's poetry2 
but by internal evidence one might be   
almost  sure that it was written in a   
mountainous country1 from its bareness1 
its simplicity1 its loftiness and its   
depth6    ,his later philosophic        
productions have a somewhat different   
character4  ,they are a departure from1 
a dereliction of his first principles4  
,they  are classical and courtly4 ,they 
are polished in style1 without being    
gaudy2 dignified in subject1 without    
affectation4 ,they seem to have  been   
composed not in a cottage at ,grasmere1 
but among the half-inspired  groves and 
stately recollections of ,cole-,orton4  
,we might allude in  particular1 for    
examples of what we mean1 to the lines  
on a ,picture by  ,claude ,lorraine1 and
 to the exquisite poem1 entitled        
,laodamia4 ,the  last of these breathes 
the pure spirit of the finest fragments 
of  antiquity--the sweetness1 the       
gravity1 the strength1 the beauty and   

the  langour of death--      ,calm      
contemplation and majestic pains4       
,its glossy brilliancy arises from the  
perfection of the finishing1 like  that 
of careful sculpture1 not from gaudy    
colouring--the texture of the  thoughts 
has the smoothness and solidity of      
marble4 ,it is a poem that  might be    
read aloud in ,elysium1 and the spirits 
of departed heroes and  sages would     
gather round to listen to it6 ,mr4      
,wordsworth's philosophic  poetry1 with 
a less glowing aspect and less tumult in
 the veins than  ,lord ,byron's on      
similar occasions1 bends a calmer and   
keener eye  on mortality2 the           
impression1 if less vivid1 is more      
pleasing and  permanent2 and we confess 
it 7perhaps it is a want of taste and   
proper  feeling7 that there are lines   
and poems of our author's1 that we think
  of ten times for once that we recur to
 any of ,lord ,byron's4 ,or if there    
are any of the latter's writings1 that  
we can dwell upon in the same  way1 that

 is1 as lasting and heart-felt          
sentiments1 it is when laying  aside his
 usual pomp and pretension1 he descends 
with ,mr4 ,wordsworth to  the common    
ground of a disinterested humanity4 ,it 
may be considered  as characteristic of 
our poet's writings1 that they either   
make no  impression on the mind at all1 
seem mere nonsense-verses1 or that they 
leave a mark behind them that never     
wears out4 ,they either      ,fall      
blunted from the indurated breast--     
without any perceptible result1 or they 
absorb it like a passion4 ,to  one class
 of readers he appears sublime1 to      
another 7and we fear the  largest7      
ridiculous4 ,he has probably realised   
,milton's wish1--and fit  audience      
found1 though few3 but we suspect he is 
not reconciled to the  alternative4     
,there are delightful passages in the   
,,excursion1 both of  natural           
description and of inspired reflection  
7passages of the latter  kind that in   
the sound of the thoughts and of the    

swelling language  resemble heavenly    
symphonies1 mournful requiems over the  
grave of  human hopes72 but we must add1
 in justice and in sincerity1 that we   
think it impossible that this work      
should ever become popular1 even in  the
 same degree as the ,lyrical ,ballads4  
,it affects a system without  having any
 intelligible clue to one2 and instead  
of unfolding a  principle in various and
 striking lights1 repeats the same      
conclusions  till they become flat and  
insipid4 ,mr4 ,wordsworth's mind is     
obtuse1  except as it is the organ and  
the receptacle of accumulated feelings3 
it is not analytic1 but synthetic2 it is
 reflecting1 rather than  theoretical4  
,the ,,excursion1 we believe1 fell      
stillborn from the press4  ,there was   
something abortive1 and clumsy1 and     
ill-judged in the attempt4  ,it was long
 and laboured4 ,the personages1 for the 
most part1 were low1  the fare rustic3  
the plan raised expectations which were 
not fulfilled1  and the effect was like 

being ushered into a stately hall and   
invited  to sit down to a splendid      
banquet in the company of clowns1 and   
with  nothing but successive courses of 
apple-dumplings served up4 ,it was not  
even toujours perdrix6    ,mr4          
,wordsworth1 in his person1 is above the
 middle size1 with marked  features1 and
 an air somewhat stately and ,quixotic4 
,he reminds one of  some of ,holbein's  
heads1 grave1 saturnine1 with a slight  
indication of  sly humour1 kept under by
 the manners of the age or by the       
pretensions  of the person4 ,he has a   
peculiar sweetness in his smile1 and    
great depth  and manliness and a rugged 
harmony1 in the tones of his voice4 ,his
  manner of reading his own poetry is   
particularly imposing2 and in his       
favourite passages his eye beams with   
preternatural lustre1 and the  meaning  
labours slowly up from his swelling     
breast4 ,no one who has seen  him at    
these moments could go away with an     
impression that he was a man  of no mark

 or likelihood4 ,perhaps the comment of 
his face and voice is  necessary to     
convey a full idea of his poetry4 ,his  
language may not be  intelligible1 but  
his manner is not to be mistaken4 ,it is
 clear that  he is either mad or        
inspired4 ,in company1 even in a        
tte--tte1 ,mr4  ,wordsworth is often    
silent1 indolent1 and reserved4 ,if he  
is become  verbose and oracular of late 
years1 he was not so in his better days4
  ,he threw out a bold or an indifferent
 remark without either effort or        
pretension1 and relapsed into musing    
again4 ,he shone most 7because he       
seemed most roused and animated7 in     
reciting his own poetry1 or in  talking 
about it4 ,he sometimes gave striking   
views of his feelings and  trains of    
association in composing certain        
passages2 or if one did  not always     
understand his distinctions1 still there
 was no want of  interest--there was a  
latent meaning worth inquiring into1    
like a vein  of ore that one ,cannot    

exactly hit upon at the moment1 but of  
which  there are sure indications4 ,his 
standard of poetry is high and severe1  
almost to exclusiveness4 ,he admits of  
nothing below1 scarcely of any  thing   
above himself4 ,it is fine to hear him  
talk of the way in which  certain       
subjects should have been treated by    
eminent poets1 according to  his notions
 of the art4 ,thus he finds fault with  
,dryden's description of  ,bacchus in   
the ,alexander's ,feast1 as if he were a
 mere good-looking  youth1 or boon      
companion--      ,flushed with a purple 
grace1    ,he shews his honest face--   
instead of representing the ,god        
returning from the conquest of ,india1  
crowned with vine-leaves1 and drawn by  
panthers1 and followed by troops  of    
satyrs1 of wild men and animals that he 
had tamed4 ,you would thank1  in hearing
 him speak on this subject1 that you saw
 ,titian's picture of  the meeting of   
,bacchus and ,ariadne--so classic were  
his conceptions1  so glowing his style4 

,milton is his great idol1 and he       
sometimes dares  to compare himself with
 him4 ,his ,sonnets1 indeed1 have       
something of the  same high-raised tone 
and prophetic spirit4 ,chaucer is       
another prime  favourite of his1 and he 
has been at the pains to modernise some 
of the  ,canterbury ,tales4 ,those      
persons who look upon ,mr4 ,wordsworth  
as a merely  puerile writer1 must be    
rather at a loss to account for his     
strong  predilection for such geniuses  
as ,dante and ,michael ,angelo4 ,we do  
not  think our author has any very      
cordial sympathy with ,shakespear4 ,how 
should he8 ,shakespear was the least of 
an egotist of any body in the  world4   
,he does not much relish the variety and
 scope of dramatic  composition4 ,he    
hates those interlocutions between      
,lucius and ,caius4  ,yet ,mr4          
,wordsworth himself wrote a tragedy when
 he was young2 and we  have heard the   
following energetic lines quoted from   
it1 as put into the  mouth of a person  

smit with remorse for some rash crime3  
----,action is momentary1    ,the motion
 of a muscle this way or that2          
,suffering is long1 obscure1 and        
infinite6    ,perhaps for want of light 
and shade1 and the unshackled spirit of 
the  drama1 this performance was never  
brought forward4 ,our critic has a      
great dislike to ,gray1 and a fondness  
for ,thomson and ,collins4 ,it is       
mortifying to hear him speak of ,pope   
and ,dryden1 whom1 because they have    
been supposed to have all the possible  
excellences of poetry1 he will  allow to
 have none4 ,nothing1 however1 can be   
fairer1 or more amusing1  than the way  
in which he sometimes exposes the       
unmeaning verbiage of  modern poetry4   
,thus1 in the beginning of ,dr4         
,johnson's ,vanity of ,human  ,wishes-- 
,let observation with extensive view    
,survey mankind from ,china to ,peru--  
he says there is a total want of        
imagination accompanying the words1  the
 same idea is repeated three times under

 the disguise of a different            
phraseology3 it comes to this--let      
observation1 with extensive             
observation1 observe mankind2 or take   
away the first line1 and the  second1   
,survey mankind from ,china to ,peru1   
literally conveys the whole4 ,mr4       
,wordsworth is1 we must say1 a perfect  
,drawcansir as to prose writers4 ,he    
complains of the dry reasoners and      
matter-of-fact people for their want of 
passion2 and he is jealous of  the      
rhetorical declaimers and rhapsodists as
 trenching on the province  of poetry4  
,he condemns all ,french writers 7as    
well of poetry as prose7  in the lump4  
,his list in this way is indeed small4  
,he approves of  ,walton's ,angler1     
,paley1 and some other writers of an    
inoffensive modesty  of pretension4 ,he 
also likes books of voyages and travels1
 and ,robinson  ,crusoe4 ,in art1 he    
greatly esteems ,bewick's wood-cuts1 and
 ,waterloo's  sylvan etchings4 ,but he  
sometimes takes a higher tone1 and gives

 his  mind fair play4 ,we have known him
 enlarge with a noble intelligence and  
enthusiasm on ,nicolas ,poussin's fine  
landscape-compositions1 pointing  out   
the unity of design that pervades them1 
the superintending mind1  the           
imaginative principle that brings all to
 bear on the same end2  and declaring he
 would not give a rush for any landscape
 that did not  express the time of day1 
the climate1 the period of the world it 
was  meant to illustrate1 or had not    
this character of wholeness in it4 ,his 
eye also does justice to ,rembrandt's   
fine and masterly effects4 ,in the  way 
in which that artist works something out
 of nothing1 and transforms  the stump  
of a tree1 a common figure into an ideal
 object1 by the  gorgeous light and     
shade thrown upon it1 he perceives an   
analogy to his  own mode of investing   
the minute details of nature with an    
atmosphere  of sentiment2 and in        
pronouncing ,rembrandt to be a man of   
genius1 feels  that he strengthens his  

own claim to the title4 ,it has been    
said of  ,mr4 ,wordsworth1 that he hates
 conchology1 that he hates the ,venus of
  ,medicis4 ,but these1 we hope1 are    
mere epigrams and jeux-d'esprit1 as  far
 from truth as they are free from       
malice2 a sort of running satire or     
critical clenches--      ,where one for 
sense and one for rhyme    ,is quite    
sufficient at one time4    ,we think1   
however1 that if ,mr4 ,wordsworth had   
been a more liberal and  candid critic1 
he would have been a more sterling      
writer4 ,if a greater  number of sources
 of pleasure had been open to him1 he   
would have  communicated pleasure to the
 world more frequently4 ,had he been    
less  fastidious in pronouncing sentence
 on the works of others1 his own would  
have been received more favourably1 and 
treated more leniently4  ,the current of
 his feelings is deep1 but narrow2 the  
range of his  understanding is lofty and
 aspiring rather than discursive4 ,the  
force1  the originality1 the absolute   

truth and identity with which he feels  
some things1 makes him indifferent to so
 many others4 ,the simplicity and       
enthusiasm of his feelings1 with respect
 to nature1 renders him bigotted  and   
intolerant in his judgments of men and  
things4 ,but it happens to  him1 as to  
others1 that his strength lies in his   
weakness2 and perhaps  we have no right 
to complain4 ,we might get rid of the   
cynic and the  egotist1 and find in his 
stead a common-place man4 ,we should    
take the  good the ,gods provide us3 a  
fine and original vein of poetry is not 
one of their most contemptible gifts1   
and the rest is scarcely worth  thinking
 of1 except as it may be a mortification
 to those who expect  perfection from   
human nature2 or who have been idle     
enough at some  period of their lives1  
to deify men of genius as possessing    
claims above  it4 ,but this is a chord  
that jars1 and we shall not dwell upon  
it4    ,lord ,byron we have called1     
according to the old proverb1 the       

spoiled  child of fortune3 ,mr4         
,wordsworth might plead1 in mitigation  
of some  peculiarities1 that he is the  
spoiled child of disappointment4 ,we are
  convinced1 if he had been early a     
popular poet1 he would have borne his   
honours meekly1 and would have been a   
person of great bonhommie and  frankness
 of disposition4 ,but the sense of      
injustice and of undeserved  ridicule   
sours the temper and narrows the views4 
,to have produced works  of genius1 and 
to find them neglected or treated with  
scorn1 is one of  the heaviest trials of
 human patience4 ,we exaggerate our own 
merits when  they are denied by others1 
and are apt to grudge and cavil at every
  particle of praise bestowed on those  
to whom we feel a conscious             
superiority4 ,in mere self-defence we   
turn against the world1 when it  turns  
against us2 brood over the undeserved   
slights we receive2 and thus  the genial
 current of the soul is stopped1 or     
vents itself in effusions  of petulance 

and self-conceit4 ,mr4 ,wordsworth has  
thought too much of  contemporary       
critics and criticism2 and less than he 
ought of the award  of posterity1 and of
 the opinion1 we do not say of private  
friends1 but  of those who were made so 
by their admiration of his genius4 ,he  
did not  court popularity by a          
conformity to established models1 and he
 ought  not to have been surprised that 
his originality was not understood as a 
matter of course4 ,he has gnawed too    
much on the bridle2 and has often       
thrown out crusts to the critics1 in    
mere defiance or as a point of  honour  
when he was challenged1 which otherwise 
his own good sense would  have withheld4
 ,we suspect that ,mr4 ,wordsworth's    
feelings are a little  morbid in this   
respect1 or that he resents censure more
 than he is  gratified by praise4       
,otherwise1 the tide has turned much in 
his favour  of late years--he has a     
large body of determined partisans--and 
is at  present sufficiently in request  

with the public to save or relieve him  
from the last necessity to which a man  
of genius can be reduced--that  of      
becoming the ,god of his own idolatry6  
99       99       99       99       99  
,,mr4 ,,malthus4        ,mr4 ,malthus   
may be considered as one of those rare  
and fortunate writers  who have attained
 a scientific reputation in questions of
 moral and  political philosophy4 ,his  
name undoubtedly stands very high in the
  present age1 and will in all          
probability go down to posterity with   
more  or less of renown or obloquy4 ,it 
was said by a person well qualified  to 
judge both from strength and candour of 
mind1 that it would take  a thousand    
years at least to answer his work on    
,population4 ,he has  certainly thrown a
 new light on that question1 and changed
 the aspect of  political economy in a  
decided and material point of           
view--whether he  has not also          
endeavoured to spread a gloom over the  
hopes and more  sanguine speculations of

 man1 and to cast a slur upon the face  
of  nature1 is another question4 ,there 
is this to be said for ,mr4 ,malthus1   
that in speaking of him1 one knows what 
one is talking about4 ,he is  something 
beyond a mere name--one has not to beat 
the bush about his  talents1 his        
attainments1 his vast reputation1 and   
leave off without  knowing what it all  
amounts to--he is not one of those great
 men1 who  set themselves off and strut 
and fret an hour upon the stage1 during 
a  day-dream of popularity1 with the    
ornaments and jewels borrowed from the  
common stock1 to which nothing but their
 vanity and presumption gives  them the 
least individual claim--he has dug into 
the mine of truth1 and  brought up ore  
mixed with dross6 ,in weighing his      
merits we come at once  to the question 
of what he has done or failed to do4 ,it
 is a specific  claim that he sets up4  
,when we speak of ,mr4 ,malthus1 we mean
 the ,essay  on ,population2 and when we
 mention the ,essay on ,population1 we  

mean  a distinct leading proposition1   
that stands out intelligibly from all   
trashy pretence1 and is a ground on     
which to fix the levers that may  move  
the world1 backwards or forwards4 ,he   
has not left opinion where  he found it2
 he has advanced or given it a wrong    
bias1 or thrown a  stumbling-block in   
its way4 ,in a word1 his name is not    
stuck1 like so  many others1 in the     
firmament of reputation1 nobody knows   
why1 inscribed  in great letters1 and   
with a transparency of ,,talents1       
,,genius1 ,,learning  blazing round     
it--it is tantamount to an idea1 it is  
identified with  a principle1 it means  
that the population cannot go on        
perpetually  increasing without pressing
 on the limits of the means of          
subsistence1  and that a check of some  
kind or other must1 sooner or later1 be 
opposed  to it4 ,this is the essence of 
the doctrine which ,mr4 ,malthus has    
been  the first to bring into general   
notice1 and as we think1 to establish   

beyond the fear of contradiction4       
,admitting then as we do the prominence 
and the value of his claims to public   
attention1 it yet remains a  question1  
how far those claims are 7as to the     
talent displayed in them7  strictly     
original2 how far 7as to the logical    
accuracy with which he has  treated the 
subject7 he has introduced foreign and  
doubtful matter  into it2 and how far   
7as to the spirit in which he has       
conducted his  inquiries1 and applied a 
general principle to particular objects7
 he has  only drawn fair and inevitable 
conclusions from it1 or endeavoured to  
tamper with and wrest it to sinister and
 servile purposes4 ,a writer who        
shrinks from following up a well-founded
 principle into its untoward            
consequences from timidity or false     
delicacy1 is not worthy of the  name of 
a philosopher3 a writer who assumes the 
garb of candour and an  inflexible love 
of truth to garble and pervert it1 to   
crouch to power  and pander to          

prejudice1 deserves a worse title than  
that of a sophist6    ,mr4 ,malthus's   
first octavo volume on this subject     
7published in the year  #agih7 was      
intended as an answer to ,mr4 ,godwin's 
,enquiry concerning  ,political         
,justice4 ,it was well got up for the   
purpose1 and had an  immediate effect4  
,it was what in the language of the ring
 is called a  facer4 ,it made ,mr4      
,godwin and the other advocates of      
,modern ,philosophy  look about them4   
,it may be almost doubted whether ,mr4  
,malthus was in the  first instance     
serious in many things that he threw    
out1 or whether he  did not hazard the  
whole as an amusing and extreme paradox1
 which might  puzzle the reader as it   
had done himself in an idle moment1 but 
to which  no practical consequence      
whatever could attach4 ,this state of   
mind would  probably continue till the  
irritation of enemies and the           
encouragement  of friends convinced him 
that what he had at first exhibited as  

an idle  fancy was in fact a very       
valuable discovery1 or like the toad    
ugly and  venomous1 had yet a precious  
jewel in its head4 ,such a supposition  
would at least account for some things  
in the original ,essay1 which  scarcely 
any writer would venture upon1 except as
 professed exercises of  ingenuity1 and 
which have been since in part retracted4
 ,but a wrong  bias was thus given1 and 
the author's theory was thus rendered   
warped1  disjointed1 and sophistical    
from the very outset4    ,nothing could 
in fact be more illogical 7not to say   
absurd7 than the  whole of ,mr4         
,malthus's reasoning applied as an      
answer 7par excellence7  to ,mr4        
,godwin's book1 or to the theories of   
other ,utopian philosophers4  ,mr4      
,godwin was not singular1 but was kept  
in countenance by many  authorities1    
both ancient and modern1 in supposing a 
state of society  possible in which the 
passions and wills of individuals would 
be  conformed to the general good1 in   

which the knowledge of the best means   
of promoting human welfare and the      
desire of contributing to it  would     
banish vice and misery from the world1  
and in which1 the  stumbling-blocks of  
ignorance1 of selfishness1 and the      
indulgence of  gross appetite being     
removed1 all things would move on by the
 mere  impulse of wisdom and virtue1 to 
still higher and higher degrees of      
perfection and happiness4 ,compared with
 the lamentable and gross  deficiencies 
of existing institutions1 such a view of
 futurity as barely  possible could not 
fail to allure the gaze and tempt the   
aspiring  thoughts of the philanthropist
 and the philosopher3 the hopes and the 
imaginations of speculative men could   
not but rush forward into this  ideal   
world as into a vacuum of good2 and from
 the mighty stream of  tendency 7as ,mr4
 ,wordsworth in the cant of the day     
calls it17 there was  danger that the   
proud monuments of time-hallowed        
institutions1 that the  strong-holds of 

power and corruption1 that the          
,corinthian capitals of  polished       
society1 with the base and pediments1   
might be overthrown  and swept away as  
by a hurricane4 ,there were not wanting 
persons whose  ignorance1 whose fears1  
whose pride1 or whose prejudices        
contemplated  such an alternative with  
horror2 and who would naturally feel no 
small  obligation to the man who should 
relieve their apprehensions from the    
stunning roar of this mighty change of  
opinion that thundered at a  distance1  
and should be able1 by some logical     
apparatus or unexpected  turn of the    
argument1 to prevent the vessel of the  
state from being  hurried forward with  
the progress of improvement1 and dashed 
in pieces  down the tremendous precipice
 of human perfectibility4 ,then comes   
,mr4  ,malthus forward with the         
geometrical and arithmetical ratios in  
his  hands1 and holds them out to his   
affrighted contemporaries as the only   
means of salvation4 ,for 7so argued the 

author of the ,essay7 let the           
principles of ,mr4 ,godwin's ,enquiry   
and of other similar works be carried   
literally and completely into effect2   
let every corruption and abuse of  power
 be entirely got rid of2 let virtue1    
knowledge1 and civilization  be advanced
 to the greatest height that these      
visionary reformers would  suppose2 let 
the passions and appetites be subjected 
to the utmost  control of reason and    
influence of public opinion3 grant them1
 in  a word1 all that they ask1 and the 
more completely their views are         
realized1 the sooner will they be       
overthrown again1 and the more          
inevitable and fatal will be the        
catastrophe4 ,for the principle of      
population will still prevail1 and from 
the comfort1 ease1 and plenty  that will
 abound1 will receive an increasing     
force and impetus2 the  number of mouths
 to be fed will have no limit1 but the  
food that is to  supply them cannot keep
 pace with the demand for it2 we must   

come to a  stop somewhere1 even though  
each square yard1 by extreme            
improvements in  cultivation1 could     
maintain its man3 in this state of      
things there  will be no remedy1 the    
wholesome checks of vice and misery     
7which have  hitherto kept this         
principle within bounds7 will have been 
done away2  the voice of reason will be 
unheard2 the passions only will bear    
sway2 famine1 distress1 havoc1 and      
dismay will spread around2 hatred1      
violence1 war1 and bloodshed will be the
 infallible consequence1 and  from the  
pinnacle of happiness1 peace1           
refinement1 and social advantage1  we   
shall be hurled once more into a        
profounder abyss of misery1 want1  and  
barbarism than ever1 by the sole        
operation of the principle of           
population6--,such is a brief abstract  
of the argument of the ,essay4  ,can any
 thing be less conclusive1 a more       
complete fallacy and petitio  principii8
 ,mr4 ,malthus concedes1 he assumes a   

state of perfectibility1  such as his   
opponents imagined1 in which the general
 good is to obtain  the entire mastery  
of individual interests1 and reason of  
gross  appetites and passions2 and then 
he argues that such a perfect structure 
of society will fall by its own weight1 
or rather be undermined by the          
principle of population1 because in the 
highest possible state of the           
subjugation of the passions to reason1  
they will be absolutely lawless  and    
unchecked1 and because as men become    
enlightened1 quick sighted  and         
public-spirited1 they will shew         
themselves utterly blind to the         
consequences of their actions1 utterly  
indifferent to their own  well-being and
 that of all succeeding generations1    
whose fate is placed  in their hands4   
,this we conceive to be the boldest     
paralogism that ever  was offered to the
 world1 or palmed upon willing          
credulity4 ,against  whatever other     
scheme of reform this objection might be

 valid1 the  one it was brought         
expressly to overturn was impregnable   
against it1  invulnerable to its        
slightest graze4 ,say that the ,utopian 
reasoners are  visionaries1 unfounded2  
that the state of virtue and knowledge  
they  suppose1 in which reason shall    
have become all-in-all1 can never take  
place1 that it is inconsistent with the 
nature of man and with all  experience1 
well and good--but to say that society  
will have attained  this high and palmy 
state1 that reason will have become the 
master-  key to all our motives1 and    
that when arrived at its greatest power 
it  will cease to act at all1 but will  
fall down dead1 inert1 and senseless    
before the principle of population1 is  
an opinion which one would  think few   
people would choose to advance or assent
 to1 without strong  inducements for    
maintaining or believing it4    ,the    
fact1 however1 is1 that ,mr4 ,malthus   
found this argument entire 7the         
principle and the application of it7 in 

an obscure and almost forgotten  work   
published about the middle of the last  
century1 entitled ,various  ,prospects  
of ,mankind1 ,nature1 and ,providence1  
by a ,scotch gentleman  of the name of  
,wallace4 ,the chapter in this work on  
the ,principle  of ,population1         
considered as a bar to all ultimate     
views of human  improvement1 was        
probably written to amuse an idle hour1 
or read as a  paper to exercise the wits
 of some literary society in the        
,northern  capital1 and no farther      
responsibility or importance annexed to 
it4 ,mr4  ,malthus1 by adopting and     
setting his name to it1 has given it    
sufficient  currency and effect4 ,it    
sometimes happens that one writer is the
 first  to discover a certain principle 
or lay down a given observation1 and    
that another makes an application of1 or
 draws a remote or an immediate         
inference from it1 totally unforeseen by
 the first1 and from which1 in  all     
probability1 he might have widely       

dissented4 ,but this is not so  in the  
present instance4 ,mr4 ,malthus has     
borrowed 7perhaps without               
consciousness1 at any rate without      
acknowledgment7 both the preliminary    
statement1 that the increase in the     
supply of food from a limited  earth and
 a limited fertility must have an end1  
while the tendency to  increase in the  
principle of population has none1       
without some external  and forcible     
restraint on it1 and the subsequent use 
made of this  statement as an           
insuperable bar to all schemes of       
,utopian or progressive                 
improvement--both these he has borrowed 
7whole7 from ,wallace1 with all  their  
imperfections on their heads1 and has   
added more and greater  ones to them out
 of his own store4 ,in order to produce 
something of a  startling and dramatic  
effect1 he has strained a point or two4 
,in order  to quell and frighten away   
the bugbear of ,modern ,philosophy1 he  
was  obliged to make a sort of monster  

of the principle of population1 which   
was brought into the field against it1  
and which was to swallow it up  quick4  
,no half-measures1 no middle course of  
reasoning would do4 ,with a  view to    
meet the highest possible power of      
reason in the new order of  things1 ,mr4
 ,malthus saw the necessity of giving   
the greatest possible  physical weight  
to the antagonist principle1 and he     
accordingly lays  it down that its      
operation is mechanical and             
irresistible4 ,he premises  these two   
propositions as the basis of all his    
reasoning1 #a4 ,that food  is necessary 
to man2 #b4 ,that the desire to         
propagate the species is an  equally    
indispensable law of our                
existence3--thus making it appear  that 
these two wants or impulses are equal   
and coordinate principles  of action4   
,if this double statement had been true1
 the whole scope and  structure of his  
reasoning 7as hostile to human hopes and
 sanguine  speculations7 would have been

 irrefragable2 but as it is not true1   
the  whole 7in that view7 falls to the  
ground4 ,according to ,mr4 ,malthus's   
octavo edition1 the sexual passion is as
 necessary to be gratified as  the      
appetite of hunger1 and a man can no    
more exist without propagating  his     
species than he can live without eating4
 ,were it so1 neither of  these passions
 would admit of any excuses1 any delay1 
any restraint from  reason or foresight2
 and the only checks to the principle of
 population  must be vice and misery4   
,the argument would be triumphant and   
complete4  ,but there is no analogy1 no 
parity in the two cases1 such as our    
author  here assumes4 ,no man can live  
for any length of time without food2    
many  persons live all their lives      
without gratifying the other sense4     
,the longer the craving after food is   
unsatisfied1 the more violent1          
imperious1 and uncontroulable the desire
 becomes2 whereas the longer the        
gratification of the sexual passion is  

resisted1 the greater force does  habit 
and resolution acquire over it2 and1    
generally speaking1 it is  a well-known 
fact1 attested by all observation and   
history1 that this  latter passion is   
subject more or less to controul from   
personal  feelings and character1 from  
public opinions and the institutions of 
society1 so as to lead either to a      
lawful and regulated indulgence1 or  to 
partial or total abstinence1 according  
to the dictates of moral  restraint1    
which latter check to the inordinate    
excesses and unheard-of  consequences of
 the principle of population1 our       
author1 having no  longer an extreme    
case to make out1 admits and is willing 
to patronize  in addition to the two    
former and exclusive ones of vice and   
misery1  in the second and remaining    
editions of his work4 ,mr4 ,malthus has 
shewn  some awkwardness or even         
reluctance in softening down the        
harshness of  his first peremptory      
decision4 ,he sometimes grants his grand

 exception  cordially1 proceeds to argue
 stoutly1 and to try conclusions upon   
it2  at other times he seems disposed to
 cavil about or retract it3--the        
influence of moral restraint is very    
inconsiderable1 or none at all4 ,it  is 
indeed difficult 7more particularly for 
so formal and nice a reasoner  as ,mr4  
,malthus7 to piece such contradictions  
plausibly or gracefully  together4 ,we  
wonder how he manages it--how any one   
should attempt  it6 ,the whole question1
 the gist of the argument of his early  
volume  turned upon this1 ,whether vice 
and misery were the only actual or      
possible checks to the principle of     
population8 ,he then said they were1    
and farewell to building castles in the 
air3 he now says that moral  restraint  
is to be coupled with these1 and that   
its influence depends  greatly on the   
state of laws and manners--and ,utopia  
stands where  it did1 a great way off   
indeed1 but not turned topsy-turvy by   
our  magician's wand6 ,should we ever   

arrive there1 that is1 attain to a state
  of perfect moral restraint1 we shall  
not be driven headlong back into        
,epicurus's stye for want of the only   
possible checks to population1  vice and
 misery2 and in proportion as we advance
 that way1 that is1 as  the influence of
 moral restraint is extended1 the       
necessity for vice and  misery will be  
diminished1 instead of being increased  
according to the  first alarm given by  
the ,essay4 ,again1 the advance of      
civilization and  of population in      
consequence with the same degree of     
moral restraint 7as  there exists in    
,england at this present time1 for      
instance7 is a good1  and not an        
evil--but this does not appear from the 
,essay4 ,the ,essay  shews that         
population is not 7as had been sometimes
 taken for granted7  an abstract and    
unqualified good2 but it led many       
persons to suppose  that it was an      
abstract and unqualified evil1 to be    
checked only by vice  and misery1 and   

producing1 according to its             
encouragement a greater  quantity of    
vice and misery2 and this error the     
author has not been  at sufficient pains
 to do away4 ,another thing1 in which   
,mr4 ,malthus  attempted to clench      
,wallace's argument1 was in giving to   
the  disproportionate power of increase 
in the principle of population  and the 
supply of food a mathematical form1 or  
reducing it to the  arithmetical and    
geometrical ratios1 in which we believe 
,mr4 ,malthus is  now generally         
admitted1 even by his friends and       
admirers1 to have been  wrong4 ,there is
 evidently no inherent difference in the
 principle of  increase in food or      
population2 since a grain of corn1 for  
example1 will  propagate and multiply   
itself much faster even than the human  
species4  ,a bushel of wheat will sow a 
field2 that field will furnish seed for 
twenty others4 ,so that the limit to the
 means of subsistence is only the  want 
of room to raise it in1 or1 as ,wallace 

expresses it1 a limited  fertility and a
 limited earth4 ,up to the point where  
the earth or any  given country is fully
 occupied or cultivated1 the means of   
subsistence  naturally increase in a    
geometrical ratio1 and will more than   
keep pace  with the natural and         
unrestrained progress of population2 and
 beyond  that point1 they do not go on  
increasing even in ,mr4 ,malthus's      
arithmetical ratio1 but are stationary  
or nearly so4 ,so far1 then1 is  this   
proportion from being universally and   
mathematically true1 that  in no part of
 the world or state of society does it  
hold good4 ,but our  theorist1 by laying
 down this double ratio as a law of     
nature1 gains  this advantage1 that at  
all times it seems as if1 whether in new
 or  old-peopled countries1 in fertile  
or barren soils1 the population was     
pressing hard on the means of           
subsistence2 and again1 it seems as if  
the  evil increased with the progress of
 improvement and civilization2 for if   

you cast your eye at the scale which is 
supposed to be calculated upon  true and
 infallible data1 you find that when the
 population is at  #h1 the means of     
subsistence are at #d2 so that here     
there is only a  deficit of one half2   
but when it is at #cb1 they have only   
got to #f1 so  that here there is a     
difference of #bf in #cb1 and so on in  
proportion2  the farther we proceed1 the
 more enormous is the mass of vice and  
misery we must undergo1 as a consequence
 of the natural excess of the           
population over the means of subsistence
 and as a salutary check to its  farther
 desolating progress4 ,the mathematical 
,table1 placed at the front  of the     
,essay1 therefore leads to a secret     
suspicion or a bare-faced  assumption1  
that we ought in mere kindness and      
compassion to give every  sort of       
indirect and under-hand encouragement   
7to say the least7 to the  providential 
checks of vice and misery2 as the sooner
 we arrest this  formidable and         

paramount evil in its course1 the less  
opportunity we  leave it of doing       
incalculable mischief4 ,accordingly1    
whenever there is  the least talk of    
colonizing new countries1 of extending  
the population1  or adding to social    
comforts and improvements1 ,mr4 ,malthus
 conjures up  his double ratios1 and    
insists on the alarming results of      
advancing  them a single step forward in
 the series4 ,by the same rule1 it would
  be better to return at once to a state
 of barbarism2 and to take the  benefit 
of acorns and scuttle-fish1 as a        
security against the luxuries  and wants
 of civilized life4 ,but it is not our  
ingenious author's wish  to hint at or  
recommend any alterations in existing   
institutions2 and he  is therefore      
silent on that unpalatable part of the  
subject and natural  inference from his 
principles4    ,mr4 ,malthus's gospel is
 preached to the poor4 ,he lectures them
 on  economy1 on morality1 the          
regulation of their passions 7which1 he 

says1  at other times1 are amenable to  
no restraint7 and on the ungracious     
topic1 that the laws of nature1 which   
are the laws of ,god1 have doomed  them 
and their families to starve for want of
 a right to the smallest  portion of    
food beyond what their labour will      
supply1 or some charitable  hand may    
hold out in compassion4 ,this is        
illiberal1 and it is not  philosophical4
 ,the laws of nature or of ,god1 to     
which the author  appeals1 are no other 
than a limited fertility and a limited  
earth4  ,within those bounds1 the rest  
is regulated by the laws of man4 ,the   
division of the produce of the soil1 the
 price of labour1 the relief  afforded  
to the poor1 are matters of human       
arrangement3 while any  charitable hand 
can extend relief1 it is a proof that   
the means of  subsistence are not       
exhausted in themselves1 that the tables
 are not  full6 ,mr4 ,malthus says that 
the laws of nature1 which are the laws  
of  ,god1 have rendered that relief     

physically impossible2 and yet he would 
abrogate the poor-laws by an act of the 
legislature1 in order to take  away that
 impossible relief1 which the laws of   
,god deny1 and which the  laws of man   
actually afford4 ,we cannot think that  
this view of his  subject1 which is     
prominent and dwelt on at great length  
and with much  pertinacity1 is dictated 
either by rigid logic or melting        
charity6 ,a  labouring man is not       
allowed to knock down a hare or a       
partridge that  spoils his garden3 a    
country-squire keeps a pack of hounds3 a
 lady of  quality rides out with a      
footman behind her1 on two sleek1       
well-fed  horses4 ,we have not a word to
 say against all this as exemplifying   
the  spirit of the ,english             
,constitution1 as a part of the law of  
the land1 or  as an artful distribution 
of light and shade in the social        
picture2 but  if any one insists at the 
same time that the laws of nature1 which
 are  the laws of ,god1 have doomed the 

poor and their families to starve1      
because the principle of population has 
encroached upon and swallowed up  the   
means of subsistence1 so that not a     
mouthful of food is left by the         
grinding law of necessity for the poor1 
we beg leave to deny both fact  and     
inference--and we put it to ,mr4        
,malthus whether we are not1 in         
strictness1 justified in doing so8      
,we have1 perhaps1 said enough to       
explain our feeling on the subject of   
,mr4 ,malthus's merits and defects4 ,we 
think he had the opportunity and  the   
means in his hands of producing a great 
work on the principle of  population2   
but we believe he has let it slip from  
his having an eye to  other things      
besides that broad and unexplored       
question4 ,he wished not  merely to     
advance to the discovery of certain     
great and valuable truths1  but at the  
same time to overthrow certain          
unfashionable paradoxes by  exaggerated 
statements--to curry favour with        

existing prejudices and  interests by   
garbled representations4 ,he has1 in a  
word1 as it appears  to us on a candid  
retrospect and without any feelings of  
controversial  asperity rankling in our 
minds1 sunk the philosopher and the     
friend of  his species 7a character to  
which he might have aspired7 in the     
sophist  and party-writer4 ,the period  
at which ,mr4 ,malthus came forward     
teemed  with answers to ,modern         
,philosophy1 with antidotes to liberty  
and  humanity1 with abusive ,histories  
of the ,greek and ,roman republics1 with
  fulsome panegyrics on the ,roman      
,emperors 7at the very time when we were
  reviling ,buonaparte for his strides  
to universal empire7 with the slime  and
 offal of desperate servility--and we   
cannot but consider the  ,essay as one  
of the poisonous ingredients thrown into
 the cauldron of  ,legitimacy to make it
 thick and slab4 ,our author has1       
indeed1 so  far done service to the     
cause of truth1 that he has counteracted

  many capital errors formerly          
prevailing as to the universal and      
indiscriminate encouragement of         
population under all circumstances2 but 
he has countenanced opposite errors1    
which if adopted in theory and  practice
 would be even more mischievous1 and has
 left it to future  philosophers to     
follow up the principle1 that some check
 must be  provided for the unrestrained 
progress of population1 into a set of   
wiser and more humane consequences4 ,mr4
 ,godwin has lately attempted an  answer
 to the ,essay 7thus giving ,mr4        
,malthus a ,roland for his ,oliver7  but
 we think he has judged ill in          
endeavouring to invalidate the          
principle1 instead of confining himself 
to point out the misapplication  of it4 
,there is one argument introduced in    
this ,reply1 which will1  perhaps1 amuse
 the reader as a sort of metaphysical   
puzzle4    ,it has sometimes occurred to
 me whether ,mr4 ,malthus did not catch 
the  first hint of his geometrical ratio

 from a curious passage of ,judge       
,blackstone1 on consanguinity1 which is 
as follows3--    ,the doctrine of lineal
 consanguinity is sufficiently plain and
 obvious2  but it is at the first view  
astonishing to consider the number of   
lineal  ancestors which every man has   
within no very great number of degrees3 
and so many different bloods is a man   
said to contain in his veins1 as  he    
hath lineal ancestors4 ,of these he hath
 two in the first ascending  degree1 his
 own parents2 he hath four in the       
second1 the parents of his  father and  
the parents of his mother2 he hath eight
 in the third1 the  parents of his two  
grandfathers and two grandmothers2 and  
by the same  rule of progression1 he    
hath an hundred and twenty-eight in the 
seventh2  a thousand and twenty-four in 
the tenth2 and at the twentieth degree1 
or  the distance of twenty generations1 
every man hath above a million of       
ancestors1 as common arithmetic will    
demonstrate4    ,this will seem         

surprising to those who are unacquainted
 with the  increasing power of          
progressive numbers2 but is palpably    
evident from  the following table of a  
geometrical progression1 in which the   
first  term is #b1 and the denominator  
also #b2 or1 to speak more intelligibly1
  it is evident1 for that each of us has
 two ancestors in the first  degree2 the
 number of which is doubled at every    
remove1 because each of  our ancestors  
had also two ancestors of his own4      
,lineal ,degrees4                       
,number of ,ancestors4      #a        44
       44        44                     
#b    #b        44       44        44   
#d    #c        44       44        44   
#h    #d        44       44        44   
#af    #e        44       44        44  
#cb    #f        44       44        44  
#fd    #g        44       44        44  
#abh    #h        44       44        44 
#bef    #i        44       44        44 
#eab    #aj        44       44        44
                 #ajbd    #aa        44 

44        44                 #bjdh      
#ab        44       44        44        
#djif    #ac        44       44         
44                 #haib    #ad         
44       44        44                   
#af1chd    #ae        44       44       
44               #cb1gfh    #af         
44       44        44                   
#fe1ecf    #ag        44       44       
44              #aca1jgb    #ah         
44       44        44                   
#bfb1add    #ai        44       44      
44              #ebd1bhh    #bj         
44       44        44                   
#a1jdh1egf    ,this argument1 however1  
7proceeds ,mr4 ,godwin7 from ,judge     
,blackstone  of a geometrical           
progression would much more naturally   
apply to  ,montesquieu's hypothesis of  
the depopulation of the world1 and prove
  that the human species is hastening   
fast to extinction1 than to the  purpose
 for which ,mr4 ,malthus has employed   
it4 ,an ingenious sophism  might be     
raised upon it1 to shew that the race of

 mankind will  ultimately terminate in  
unity4 ,mr4 ,malthus1 indeed1 should    
have  reflected1 that it is much more   
certain that every man has had ancestors
  than that he will have posterity1 and 
that it is still more doubtful1  whether
 he will have posterity to twenty or to 
an indefinite number of                 
generations4--,,enquiry ,,concerning    
,,population1 p4 #ajj4    ,mr4          
,malthus's style is correct and elegant2
 his tone of controversy mild  and      
gentlemanly2 and the care with which he 
has brought his facts and  documents    
together1 deserves the highest praise4  
,he has lately quitted  his favourite   
subject of population1 and broke a lance
 with ,mr4 ,ricardo  on the question of 
rent and value4 ,the partisans of ,mr4  
,ricardo1 who are  also the admirers of 
,mr4 ,malthus1 say that the usual       
sagacity of the  latter has here failed 
him1 and that he has shewn himself to be
 a very  illogical writer4 ,to have said
 this of him formerly on another ground1

  was accounted a heresy and a piece of 
presumption not easily to be  forgiven4 
,indeed ,mr4 ,malthus has always been a 
sort of darling in the  public eye1 whom
 it was unsafe to meddle with4 ,he has  
contrived to  make himself as many      
friends by his attacks on the schemes of
 ,human  ,perfectibility and on the     
,poor-,laws1 as ,mandeville formerly    
procured  enemies by his attacks on     
,human ,perfections and on              
,charity-,schools2  and among other     
instances that we might mention1 ,plug  
,pulteney1 the  celebrated miser1 of    
whom ,mr4 ,burke said on his having a   
large  estate left him1 that now it was 
to be hoped he would set up a           
pocket-handkerchief1 was so enamoured   
with the saving schemes and  humane     
economy of the ,essay1 that he desired a
 friend to find out the  author and     
offer him a church living6 ,this liberal
 intention was 7by  design or accident7 
unhappily frustrated4                   
99       99       99       99       99  

,,mr4 ,,gifford4        ,mr4 ,gifford   
was originally bred to some handicraft3 
he afterwards  contrived to learn       
,latin1 and was for some time an usher  
in a school1  till he became a tutor in 
a nobleman's family4 ,the low-bred1     
self-taught  man1 the pedant1 and the   
dependant on the great contribute to    
form the  ,editor of the ,quarterly     
,review4 ,he is admirably qualified for 
this  situation1 which he has held for  
some years1 by a happy combination of   
defects1 natural and acquired2 and in   
the event of his death1 it will be      
difficult to provide him a suitable     
successor4    ,mr4 ,gifford has no      
pretensions to be thought a man of      
genius1 of taste1  or even of general   
knowledge4 ,he merely understands the   
mechanical and  instrumental part of    
learning4 ,he is a critic of the last   
age1 when  the different editions of an 
author1 or the dates of his several     
performances were all that occupied the 
inquiries of a profound scholar1  and   

the spirit of the writer or the beauties
 of his style were left to  shift for   
themselves1 or exercise the fancy of the
 light and superficial  reader4 ,in     
studying an old author1 he has no notion
 of any thing beyond  adjusting a point1
 proposing a different reading1 or      
correcting1 by the  collation of various
 copies1 an error of the press4 ,in     
appreciating a  modern one1 if it is an 
enemy1 the first thing he thinks of is  
to charge  him with bad grammar--he     
scans his sentences instead of weighing 
his  sense2 or if it is a friend1 the   
highest compliment he conceives it      
possible to pay him is1 that his        
thoughts and expressions are moulded  on
 some hackneyed model4 ,his standard of 
ideal perfection is what he  himself now
 is1 a person of mediocre literary      
attainments3 his utmost  contempt is    
shewn by reducing any one to what he    
himself once was1 a  person without the 
ordinary advantages of education and    
learning4 ,it is  accordingly assumed1  

with much complacency in his critical   
pages1 that  ,tory writers are classical
 and courtly as a matter of course2 as  
it is  a standing jest and evident      
truism1 that ,whigs and ,reformers must 
be  persons of low birth and            
breeding--imputations from one of which 
he  himself has narrowly escaped1 and   
both of which he holds in suitable      
abhorrence4 ,he stands over a           
contemporary performance with all the   
self-conceit and self-importance of a   
country schoolmaster1 tries it by       
technical rules1 affects not to         
understand the meaning1 examines the    
hand-writing1 the spelling1 shrugs up   
his shoulders and chuckles over a  slip 
of the pen1 and keeps a sharp look-out  
for a false concord and--a  flogging4   
,there is nothing liberal1 nothing      
humane in his style of  judging3 it is  
altogether petty1 captious1 and literal4
 ,the ,editor's  political subserviency 
adds the last finishing to his          
ridiculous  pedantry and vanity4 ,he has

 all his life been a follower in the    
train  of wealth and power--strives to  
back his pretensions on ,parnassus by a 
place at court1 and to gild his         
reputation as a man of letters by the   
smile of greatness4 ,he thinks his works
 are stamped with additional  value by  
having his name in the ,red-,book4 ,he  
looks up to the  distinctions of rank   
and station as he does to those of      
learning1 with  the gross and           
overweening adulation of his early      
origin4 ,all his notions  are low1      
upstart1 servile4 ,he thinks it the     
highest honour to a poet to  be         
patronised by a peer or by some dowager 
of quality4 ,he is prouder  of a        
court-livery than of a laurel-wreath2   
and is only sure of having  established 
his claims to respectability by having  
sacrificed those of  independence4 ,he  
is a retainer to the ,muses2 a          
door-keeper to learning2  a lacquey in  
the state4 ,he believes that modern     
literature should wear  the fetters of  

classical antiquity2 that truth is to be
 weighed in the  scales of opinion and  
prejudice2 that power is equivalent to  
right2 that  genius is dependent on     
rules2 that taste and refinement of     
language  consist in word-catching4     
,many persons suppose that ,mr4 ,gifford
 knows  better than he pretends2 and    
that he is shrewd1 artful1 and          
designing4  ,but perhaps it may be      
nearer the mark to suppose that his     
dulness is  guarantee for his sincerity2
 or that before he is the tool of the   
profligacy of others1 he is the dupe of 
his own jaundiced feelings1 and  narrow1
 hoodwinked perceptions4      ,destroy  
his fib or sophistry3 in vain--    ,the 
creature's at his dirty work again6     
,but this is less from choice or        
perversity1 than because he cannot help 
it and can do nothing else4 ,he damns a 
beautiful expression less out  of spite 
than because he really does not         
understand it3 any novelty of  thought  
or sentiment gives him a shock from     

which he cannot recover  for some time1 
and he naturally takes his revenge for  
the alarm and  uneasiness occasioned    
him1 without referring to venal or party
 motives4  ,he garbles an author's      
meaning1 not so much wilfully1 as       
because it is a  pain to him to enlarge 
his microscopic view to take in the     
context1 when  a particular sentence or 
passage has struck him as quaint and out
 of the  way3 he fly-blows an author's  
style1 and picks out detached words and 
phrases for cynical reprobation1 simply 
because he feels himself at  home1 or   
takes a pride and pleasure in this sort 
of petty warfare4 ,he is  tetchy and    
impatient of contradiction2 sore with   
wounded pride2 angry  at obvious faults1
 more angry at unforeseen beauties4 ,he 
has the  chalk-stones in his            
understanding1 and from being used to   
long  confinement1 cannot bear the      
slightest jostling or irregularity of   
motion4 ,he may call out with the fellow
 in the ,tempest--,i am not  ,stephano1 

but a cramp6 ,he would go back to the   
standard of opinions1  style1 the faded 
ornaments1 and insipid formalities that 
came into  fashion about forty years    
ago4 ,flashes of thought1 flights of    
fancy1  idiomatic expressions1 he sets  
down among the signs of the times--the  
extraordinary occurrences of the age we 
live in4 ,they are marks of a  restless 
and revolutionary spirit3 they disturb  
his composure of mind1  and threaten 7by
 implication7 the safety of the state4  
,his slow1  snail-paced1 bed-rid habits 
of reasoning cannot keep up with the    
whirling1 eccentric motion1 the rapid1  
perhaps extravagant combinations  of    
modern literature4 ,he has long been    
stationary himself1 and is  determined  
that others shall remain so4 ,the       
hazarding a paradox is like  letting off
 a pistol close to his ear3 he is       
alarmed and offended4 ,the  using an    
elliptical mode of expression 7such as  
he did not use to find  in ,guides to   
the ,english ,tongue7 jars him like     

coming suddenly to a  step in a flight  
of stairs that you were not aware of4   
,he pishes and  pshaws at all this1     
exercises a sort of interjectional      
criticism on  what excites his spleen1  
his envy1 or his wonder1 and hurls his  
meagre  anathemas ex cathedr at all     
those writers who are indifferent alike 
to his precepts and his example6    ,mr4
 ,gifford1 in short1 is possessed of    
that sort of learning which is  likely  
to result from an over-anxious desire to
 supply the want of the  first rudiments
 of education2 that sort of wit1 which  
is the offspring  of ill-humour or      
bodily pain2 that sort of sense1 which  
arises from a  spirit of contradiction  
and a disposition to cavil at and       
dispute  the opinions of others2 and    
that sort of reputation1 which is the   
consequence of bowing to established    
authority and ministerial  influence4   
,he dedicates to some great man1 and    
receives his compliments  in return4 ,he
 appeals to some great name1 and the    

,under-graduates of the  two            
,universities look up to him as an      
oracle of wisdom4 ,he throws the  weight
 of his verbal criticism and puny       
discoveries in black-letter  reading    
into the gap1 that is supposed to be    
making in the ,constitution  by ,whigs  
and ,radicals1 whom he qualifies without
 mercy as dunces and  miscreants2 and so
 entitles himself to the protection of  
,church and  ,state4 ,the character of  
his mind is an utter want of            
independence and  magnanimity in all    
that he attempts4 ,he cannot go alone1  
he must have  crutches1 a go-cart and   
trammels1 or he is timid1 fretful1 and  
helpless  as a child4 ,he cannot        
conceive of any thing different from    
what he finds  it1 and hates those who  
pretend to a greater reach of intellect 
or boldness of spirit than himself4 ,he 
inclines1 by a natural and  deliberate  
bias1 to the traditional in laws and    
government2 to  the orthodox in         
religion2 to the safe in opinion2 to the

 trite in  imagination2 to the technical
 in style2 to whatever implies a        
surrender  of individual judgment into  
the hands of authority1 and a subjection
 of  individual feeling to mechanic     
rules4 ,if he finds any one flying in   
the  face of these1 or straggling from  
the beaten path1 he thinks he has them  
at a notable disadvantage1 and falls    
foul of them without loss of time1      
partly to soothe his own sense of       
mortified self-consequence1 and as an   
edifying spectacle to his legitimate    
friends4 ,he takes none but unfair      
advantages4 ,he twits his adversaries   
7that is1 those who are not  in the     
leading-strings of his school or party7 
with some personal or  accidental       
defect4 ,if a writer has been punished  
for a political libel1  he is sure to   
hear of it in a literary criticism4 ,if 
a lady goes on  crutches and is out of  
favour at court1 she is reminded of it  
in ,mr4  ,gilford's manly satire4 ,he   
sneers at people of low birth or who    

have  not had a college-education1      
partly to hide his own want of certain  
advantages1 partly as well-timed        
flattery to those who possess them4 ,he 
has a right to laugh at poor1           
unfriended1 untitled genius from wearing
  the livery of rank and letters1 as    
footmen behind a coronet-coach laugh  at
 the rabble4 ,he keeps good company1 and
 forgets himself4 ,he stands at  the    
door of ,mr4 ,murray's shop1 and will   
not let any body pass but the           
well-dressed mob1 or some followers of  
the court4 ,to edge into the  ,quarterly
 ,temple of ,fame the candidate must    
have a diploma from the  ,universities1 
a passport from the ,treasury4          
,otherwise1 it is a breach of  etiquette
 to let him pass1 an insult to the      
better sort who aspire to  the love of  
letters--and may chance to drop in to   
the ,feast of the  ,poets4 ,or1 if he   
cannot manage it thus1 or get rid of the
 claim on the  bare ground of poverty or
 want of school-learning1 he trumps up  

an  excuse for the occasion1 such as    
that a man was confined in ,newgate a   
short time before--it is not a lie on   
the part of the critic1 it is  only an  
amiable subserviency to the will of his 
betters1 like that of  a menial who is  
ordered to deny his master1 a sense of  
propriety1 a  knowledge of the world1 a 
poetical and moral license4 ,such       
fellows  7such is his cue from his      
employers7 should at any rate be kept   
out of  privileged places3 persons who  
have been convicted of prose-libels     
ought  not to be suffered to write      
poetry--if the fact was not exactly as  
it  was stated1 it was something of the 
kind1 or it ought to have been  so1 the 
assertion was a pious fraud1--the       
public1 the court1 the prince  himself  
might read the work1 but for this mark  
of opprobrium set upon  it--it was not  
to be endured that an insolent plebeian 
should aspire to  elegance1 taste1      
fancy--it was throwing down the barriers
 which ought  to separate the higher and

 the lower classes1 the loyal and the   
disloyal--the paraphrase of the story of
 ,dante was therefore to perform        
quarantine1 it was to seem not yet      
recovered from the gaol infection1      
there was to be a taint upon it1 as     
there was none in it--and all this  was 
performed by a single slip of ,mr4      
,gifford's pen6 ,we would willingly     
believe 7if we could7 that in this case 
there was as much weakness and          
prejudice as there was malice and       
cunning4--,again1 we do not think it    
possible that under any circumstances   
the writer of the ,verses to ,anna      
could enter into the spirit or delicacy 
of ,mr4 ,keats's poetry4 ,the fate  of  
the latter somewhat resembled that of   
--a bud bit by an envious worm1    ,ere 
it could spread its sweet leaves to the 
air1    ,or dedicate its beauty to the  
sun4    ,mr4 ,keats's ostensible crime  
was that he had been praised in the     
,examiner ,newspaper3 a greater and more
 unpardonable offence probably  was1    

that he was a true poet1 with all the   
errors and beauties of  youthful genius 
to answer for4 ,mr4 ,gifford was as     
insensible to the one  as he was        
inexorable to the other4 ,let the reader
 judge from the two  subjoined specimens
 how far the one writer could ever1     
without a  presumption equalled only by 
a want of self-knowledge1 set himself in
  judgment on the other4      ,out went 
the taper as she hurried in2    ,its    
little smoke in pallid moonshine died3  
,she closed the door1 she panted1 all   
akin    ,to spirits of the air and      
visions wide3    ,no utter'd syllable1  
or woe betide6    ,but to her heart1 her
 heart was voluble1    ,paining with    
eloquence her balmy side2    ,as though 
a tongueless nightingale should swell   
,her heart in vain1 and die1            
heart-stifled1 in her dell4      ,a     
casement high and triple-arch'd there   
was1    ,all garlanded with carven      
imag'ries    ,of fruits1 and flowers1   
and bunches of knot-grass1    ,and      

diamonded with panes of quaint device1  
,innumerable of stains and splendid     
dyes1    ,as are the tiger-moth's       
deep-damask'd wings2    ,and in the     
midst1 'mong thousand heraldries1       
,and twilight saints and dim            
emblazonings1    ,a shielded scutcheon  
blush'd with blood of queens and kings4 
,full on this casement shone the wintry 
moon1    ,and threw warm gules on       
,madeline's fair breast1    ,as down she
 knelt for ,heaven's grace and boon2    
,rose-bloom fell on her hands1 together 
prest1    ,and on her silver cross soft 
amethyst1    ,and on her hair a glory1  
like a ,saint3    ,she seem'd a splendid
 angel1 newly drest1    ,save wings1 for
 heaven3--,porphyro grew faint3    ,she 
knelt1 so pure a thing1 so free from    
mortal taint4      ,anon his heart      
revives3 her vespers done1    ,of all   
its wreathed pearls her hair she frees2 
,unclasps her warmed jewels one by one2 
,loosens her fragrant boddice2 by       
degrees    ,her rich attire creeps      

rustling to her knees3    ,half-hidden1 
like a mermaid in sea-weed1    ,pensive 
awhile she dreams awake1 and sees1      
,in fancy1 fair ,st4 ,agnes in her bed1 
,but dares not look behind1 or all the  
charm is fled4      ,soon trembling in  
her soft and chilly nest1    ,in sort of
 wakeful swoon1 perplex'd she lay1      
,until the poppied warmth of sleep      
oppress'd    ,her soothed limbs1 and    
soul fatigued away    ,flown1 like a    
thought1 until the morrow-day3          
,blissfully haven'd both from joy and   
pain2    ,clasp'd like a missal where   
swart ,paynims pray2    ,blinded alike  
from sunshine and from rain1    ,as     
though a rose should shut1 and be a bud 
again4    ,,eve ,,of ,,st4 ,,agnes4     
,with the rich beauties and the dim     
obscurities of lines like these1 let  us
 contrast the ,verses addressed ,to a   
,tuft of early ,violets by the          
fastidious author of the ,baviad and    
,mviad4--      ,sweet flowers6 that from
 your humble beds    ,thus prematurely  

dare to rise1    ,and trust your        
unprotected heads    ,to cold ,aquarius'
 watery skies4      ,retire1 retire6    
,these tepid airs    ,are not the genial
 brood of ,may2    ,that sun with light 
malignant glares1    ,and flatters only 
to betray4      ,stern ,winter's reign  
is not yet past--    ,lo6 while your    
buds prepare to blow1    ,on icy pinions
 comes the blast1    ,and nips your     
root1 and lays you low4      ,alas1 for 
such ungentle doom6    ,but ,i will     
shield you2 and supply    ,a kindlier   
soil on which to bloom1    ,a nobler bed
 on which to die4      ,come then--'ere 
yet the morning ray    ,has drunk the   
dew that gems your crest1    ,and drawn 
your balmiest sweets away2    ,o come   
and grace my ,anna's breast4      ,ye   
droop1 fond flowers6 ,but did ye know   
,what worth1 what goodness there reside1
    ,your cups with liveliest tints     
would glow2    ,and spread their leaves 
with conscious pride4      ,for there   
has liberal ,nature joined    ,her      

riches to the stores of ,art1    ,and   
added to the vigorous mind    ,the soft1
 the sympathising heart4      ,come1    
then--'ere yet the morning ray    ,has  
drunk the dew that gems your crest1     
,and drawn your balmiest sweets away2   
,o come and grace my ,anna's breast4    
,o6 ,i should think--that fragrant bed  
,might ,i but hope with you to share--,a
    ,years of anxiety repaid    ,by one 
short hour of transport there4          
,more blest than me1 thus shall ye live 
,your little day2 and when ye die1      
,sweet flowers6 the grateful ,muse shall
 give    ,a verse2 the sorrowing maid1 a
 sigh4      ,while ,i alas6 no distant  
date1    ,mix with the dust from whence 
,i came1    ,without a friend to weep my
 fate1    ,without a stone to tell my   
name4    ,we subjoin one more specimen  
of these wild strains,b said to be      
,written two years after the preceding4 
,,ecce ,,iterum ,,crispinus4        ,i  
wish ,i was where ,anna lies2    ,for ,i
 am sick of lingering here1    ,and     

every hour ,affection cries1    ,go1 and
 partake her humble bier4      ,i wish  
,i could6 for when she died    ,i lost  
my all2 and life has prov'd    ,since   
that sad hour a dreary void1    ,a waste
 unlovely and unlov'd4      ,but who1   
when ,i am turn'd to clay1    ,shall    
duly to her grave repair1    ,and pluck 
the ragged moss away1    ,and weeds that
 have no business there8      ,and who1 
with pious hand1 shall bring    ,the    
flowers she cherish'd1 snow-drops cold1 
,and violets that unheeded spring1      
,to scatter o'er her hallow'd mould8    
,and who1 while ,memory loves to dwell  
,upon her name for ever dear1    ,shall 
feel his heart with passion swell1      
,and pour the bitter1 bitter tear8      
,i did it2 and would fate allow1        
,should visit still1 should still       
deplore--    ,but health and strength   
have left me now1    ,but ,i1 alas6 can 
weep no more4      ,take then1 sweet    
maid6 this simple strain1    ,the last  
,i offer at thy shrine2    ,thy grave   

must then undeck'd remain1    ,and all  
thy memory fade with mine4      ,and can
 thy soft persuasive look1    ,that     
voice that might with music vie1    ,thy
 air that every gazer took1    ,thy     
matchless eloquence of eye1      ,thy   
spirits1 frolicsome as good1    ,thy    
courage1 by no ills dismay'd1    ,thy   
patience1 by no wrongs subdued1    ,thy 
gay good-humour--can they fade8         
,perhaps--but sorrow dims my eye3       
,cold turf1 which ,i no more must view1 
,dear name1 which ,i no more must sigh1 
,a long1 a last1 a sad adieu6    ,it may
 be said in extenuation of the low1     
mechanic vein of these  impoverished    
lines1 that they were written at an     
early age--they were  the inspired      
production of a youthful lover6 ,mr4    
,gifford was thirty when  he wrote them1
 ,mr4 ,keats died when he was scarce    
twenty6 ,farther it may  be said1 that  
,mr4 ,gifford hazarded his first        
poetical attempts under all  the        
disadvantages of a neglected education3 

but the same circumstance1  together    
with a few unpruned redundancies of     
fancy and quaintnesses of  expression1  
was made the plea on which ,mr4 ,keats  
was hooted out of the  world1 and his   
fine talents and wounded sensibilities  
consigned to an  early grave4 ,in short1
 the treatment of this heedless         
candidate for  poetical fame might serve
 as a warning1 and was intended to serve
 as a  warning to all unfledged tyros1  
how they venture upon any such doubtful 
experiments1 except under the auspices  
of some lord of the bedchamber or       
,government ,aristarchus1 and how they  
imprudently associate themselves  with  
men of mere popular talent or           
independence of feeling6--,it is the    
same in prose works4 ,the ,editor scorns
 to enter the lists of argument  with   
any proscribed writer of the opposite   
party4 ,he does not refute1  but        
denounces him4 ,he makes no concessions 
to an adversary1 lest they  should in   
some way be turned against him4 ,he only

 feels himself safe in  the fancied     
insignificance of others3 he only feels 
himself superior  to those whom he      
stigmatizes as the lowest of mankind4   
,all persons are  without common-sense  
and honesty who do not believe          
implicitly 7with  him7 in the           
immaculateness of ,ministers and the    
divine origin of ,kings4  ,thus he      
informed the world that the author of   
,,table-,,talk was a person  who could  
not write a sentence of common ,english 
and could hardly spell  his own name1   
because he was not a friend to the      
restoration of the  ,bourbons1 and had  
the assurance to write ,characters of   
,shakespears  ,plays in a style of      
criticism somewhat different from ,mr4  
,gifford's4 ,he  charged this writer    
with imposing on the public by a flowery
 style2 and  when the latter ventured to
 refer to a work of his1 called ,an     
,essay on  the ,principles of ,human    
,action1 which has not a single ornament
 in it1  as a specimen of his original  

studies and the proper bias of his mind1
  the learned critic1 with a shrug of   
great self-satisfaction1 said1 ,it  was 
amusing to see this person1 sitting like
 one of ,brouwer's ,dutch  boors over   
his gin and tobacco-pipes1 and fancying 
himself a ,leibnitz6  ,the question was1
 whether the subject of ,mr4 ,gifford's 
censure had ever  written such a work or
 not2 for if he had1 he had amused      
himself with  something besides gin and 
tobacco-pipes4 ,but our ,editor1 by     
virtue  of the situation he holds1 is   
superior to facts or arguments3 he is   
accountable neither to the public nor to
 authors for what he says of  them1 but 
owes it to his employers to prejudice   
the work and vilify the  writer1 if the 
latter is not avowedly ready to range   
himself on the  stronger side4--,the    
,quarterly ,review1 besides the         
political tirades  and denunciations of 
suspected writers1 intended for the     
guidance of the  heads of families1 is  
filled up with accounts of books of     

,voyages  and ,travels for the amusement
 of the younger branches4 ,the poetical 
department is almost a sinecure1        
consisting of mere summary decisions    
and a list of quotations4 ,mr4 ,croker  
is understood to contribute the  ,st4   
,helena articles and the liberality1    
,mr4 ,canning the practical good  sense1
 ,mr4 ,d',israeli the good-nature1 ,mr4 
,jacob the modesty1 ,mr4 ,southey  the  
consistency1 and the ,editor himself the
 chivalrous spirit and the  attacks on  
,lady ,morgan4 ,it is a double crime1   
and excites a double  portion of spleen 
in the ,editor1 when female writers are 
not advocates  of passive obedience and 
non-resistance4 ,this ,journal1 then1 is
 a  depository for every species of     
political sophistry and personal        
calumny4 ,there is no abuse or          
corruption that does not there find a   
jesuitical palliation or a bare-faced   
vindication4 ,there we meet the  slime  
of hypocrisy1 the varnish of courts1 the
 cant of pedantry1 the  cobwebs of the  

law1 the iron hand of power4 ,its object
 is as mischievous  as the means by     
which it is pursued are odious4 ,the    
intention is to  poison the sources of  
public opinion and of individual        
fame--to pervert  literature1 from being
 the natural ally of freedom and        
humanity1 into an  engine of priestcraft
 and despotism1 and to undermine the    
spirit of the  ,english ,constitution   
and the independence of the ,english    
character4  ,the ,editor and his friends
 systematically explode every principle 
of  liberty1 laugh patriotism and public
 spirit to scorn1 resent every  pretence
 to integrity as a piece of singularity 
or insolence1 and strike  at the root of
 all free inquiry or discussion1 by     
running down every  writer as a vile    
scribbler and a bad member of society1  
who is not  a hireling and a slave4 ,no 
means are stuck at in accomplishing this
  laudable end4 ,strong in patronage1   
they trample on truth1 justice1 and     
decency4 ,they claim the privilege of   

court-favourites4 ,they keep as  little 
faith with the public1 as with their    
opponents4 ,no statement in  the        
,quarterly ,review is to be trusted3    
there is no fact that is not            
misrepresented in it1 no quotation that 
is not garbled1 no character  that is   
not slandered1 if it can answer the     
purposes of a party to do  so4 ,the     
weight of power1 of wealth1 of rank is  
thrown into the scale1  gives its       
impulse to the machine2 and the whole is
 under the guidance of  ,mr4 ,gifford's 
instinctive genius--of the inborn hatred
 of servility for  independence1 of     
dulness for talent1 of cunning and      
impudence for truth  and honesty4 ,it   
costs him no effort to execute his      
disreputable task--in  being the tool of
 a crooked policy1 he but labours in his
 natural  vocation4 ,he patches up a    
rotten system as he would supply the    
chasms in  a worm-eaten manuscript1 from
 a grovelling incapacity to do any thing
  better2 thinks that if a single iota  

in the claims of prerogative and  power 
were lost1 the whole fabric of society  
would fall upon his  head and crush him2
 and calculates that his best chance for
 literary  reputation is by             
black-balling one half of the           
competitors as  ,jacobins and levellers1
 and securing the suffrages of the other
 half in  his favour as a loyal subject 
and trusty partisan6    ,mr4 ,gifford1  
as a satirist1 is violent and abrupt4   
,he takes obvious or  physical defects1 
and dwells upon them with much labour   
and harshness of  invective1 but with   
very little wit or spirit4 ,he expresses
 a great deal  of anger and contempt1   
but you cannot tell very well           
why--except that he  seems to be sore   
and out of humour4 ,his satire is mere  
peevishness and  spleen1 or something   
worse--personal antipathy and rancour4  
,we are in  quite as much pain for the  
writer1 as for the object of his        
resentment4  ,his address to ,peter     
,pindar is laughable from its           

outrageousness4 ,he  denounces him as a 
wretch hateful to ,god and man1 for some
 of the most  harmless and amusing      
trifles that ever were written--and the 
very good-  humour and pleasantry of    
which1 we suspect1 constituted their    
offence in  the eyes of this            
,drawcansir4--,his attacks on ,mrs4     
,robinson were unmanly1  and even those 
on ,mr4 ,merry and the ,della-,cruscan  
,school were much  more ferocious than  
the occasion warranted4 ,a little       
affectation and  quaintness of style did
 not merit such severity of             
castigation4,c ,as a  translator1 ,mr4  
,gifford's version of the ,roman        
satirist is the baldest1  and1 in parts1
 the most offensive of all others4 ,we  
do not know why  he attempted it1 unless
 he had got it in his head that he      
should thus  follow in the steps of     
,dryden1 as he had already done in those
 of ,pope  in the ,baviad and ,maeviad4 
,as an editor of old authors1 ,mr4      
,gifford is  entitled to considerable   

praise for the pains he has taken in    
revising  the text1 and for some        
improvements he has introduced into it4 
,he had  better have spared the notes1  
in which1 though he has detected the    
blunders of previous commentators1 he   
has exposed his own ill-temper and      
narrowness of feeling more4 ,as a       
critic1 he has thrown no light on the   
character and spirit of his authors4 ,he
 has shewn no striking power of         
analysis nor of original illustration1  
though he has chosen to exercise  his   
pen on writers most congenial to his own
 turn of mind1 from their  dry and      
caustic vein2 ,massinger1 and ,ben      
,jonson4 ,what he will make of          
,marlowe1 it is difficult to guess4 ,he 
has none of the fiery quality  of the   
poet4 ,mr4 ,gifford does not take for   
his motto on these  occasions--,spiritus
 precipitandus est6--,his most          
successful efforts in  this way are     
barely respectable4 ,in general1 his    
observations are petty1  ill-concocted1 

and discover as little tact1 as they do 
a habit of  connected reasoning4 ,thus1 
for instance1 in attempting to add the  
name  of ,massinger to the list of      
,catholic poets1 our minute critic      
insists  on the profusion of crucifixes1
 glories1 angelic visions1 garlands of  
roses1 and clouds of incense scattered  
through the ,virgin-,martyr1 as         
evidence of the theological sentiments  
meant to be inculcated by the  play1    
when the least reflection might have    
taught him1 that they proved  nothing   
but the author's poetical conception of 
the character and  costume of his       
subject4 ,a writer might1 with the same 
sinister1  short-sighted shrewdness1 be 
accused of ,heathenism for talking of   
,flora  and ,ceres in a poem on the     
,seasons6 ,what are produced as the     
exclusive  badges and occult proofs of  
,catholic bigotry1 are nothing but the  
adventitious ornaments and external     
symbols1 the gross and sensible         
language1 in a word1 the poetry of      

,christianity in general4 ,what  indeed 
shews the frivolousness of the whole    
inference is that ,deckar1  who is      
asserted by our critic to have          
contributed some of the most  passionate
 and fantastic of these devotional      
scenes1 is not even  suspected of a     
leaning to ,popery4 ,in like manner1 he 
excuses ,massinger  for the grossness of
 one of his plots 7that of the          
,unnatural ,combat7  by saying that it  
was supposed to take place before the   
,christian era2  by this shallow        
common-place persuading himself1 or     
fancying he could  persuade others1 that
 the crime in question 7which yet on the
 very face  of the story is made the    
ground of a tragic catastrophe7 was     
first made  statutory by the ,christian 
religion4    ,the foregoing is a harsh  
criticism1 and may be thought illiberal4
 ,but as  ,mr4 ,gifford assumes a right 
to say what he pleases of others--they  
may  be allowed to speak the truth of   
him6      ,footnote ,a3 ,what an awkward

 bed-fellow for a tuft of violets6      
,footnote ,b3      ,how oft1 ,o ,dart6  
what time the faithful pair    ,walk'd  
forth1 the fragrant hour of eve to      
share1    ,on thy romantic banks1 have  
my wild strains    7,not yet forgot     
amidst my native plains7    ,while thou 
hast sweetly gurgled down the vale4     
,filled up the pause of love's          
delightful tale6    ,while1 ever as she 
read1 the conscious maid1    ,by        
faultering voice and downcast looks     
betray'd1    ,would blushing on her     
lover's neck recline1    ,and with her  
finger--point the tenderest line6       
,mviad1 pp4 #aid1 #bjb4    ,yet the     
author assures us just before1 that in  
these wild strains all  was plain4      
,even then 7admire1 ,john ,bell6 my     
simple ways7    ,no heaven and hell     
danced madly through my lays1    ,no    
oaths1 no execrations2 all was plain2   
,yet trust me1 while thy ever jingling  
train    ,chime their sonorous woes with
 frigid art1    ,and shock the reason   

and revolt the heart2    ,my hopes and  
fears1 in nature's language drest1      
,awakened love in many a gentle breast4 
,ibid4 v4 #ahe-ib4    ,if any one else  
had composed these wild strains1 in     
which all is  plain1 ,mr4 ,gifford would
 have accused them of three things1 #a4 
,downright nonsense4 #b4 ,downright     
frigidity4 #c4 ,downright doggrel2 and  
proceeded to anatomise them very        
cordially in his way4 ,as it is1 he is  
thrilled with a very pleasing horror at 
his former scenes of tenderness1  and   
gasps at the recollection of watery     
,aquarius6 he6 jam satis  est6 ,why rack
 a grub--a butterfly upon a wheel8      
,footnote ,c3 ,mr4 ,merry was even with 
our author in personality of abuse4     
,see his ,lines on the ,story of the    
,ape that was given in charge to the    
ex-tutor4                   99       99 
99       99       99            ,,mr4   
,,jeffrey        ,the ,quarterly ,review
 arose out of the ,edinburgh1 not as a  
corollary1  but in contradiction to it4 

,an article had appeared in the latter  
on ,don  ,pedro ,cevallos1 which stung  
the ,tories to the quick by the free way
 in  which it spoke of men and things1  
and something must be done to check     
these escapades of the ,edinburgh4 ,it  
was not to be endured that the  truth   
should out in this manner1 even         
occasionally and half in jest4 ,a       
startling shock was thus given to       
established prejudices1 the mask was    
taken off from grave hypocrisy1 and the 
most serious consequences were  to be   
apprehended4 ,the persons who wrote in  
this ,review seemed to have  their hands
 full of truths1 and now and then1 in a 
fit of spleen or  gaiety1 let some of   
them fly2 and while this practice       
continued1 it was  impossible to say    
that the ,monarchy or the ,hierarchy was
 safe4 ,some of  the arrows glanced1    
others might stick1 and in the end prove
 fatal4 ,it  was not the principles of  
the ,edinburgh ,review1 but the spirit  
that  was looked at with jealousy and   

alarm4 ,the principles were by no means 
decidedly hostile to existing           
institutions3 but the spirit was that of
  fair and free discussion2 a field was 
open to argument and wit2 every         
question was tried upon its own         
ostensible merits1 and there was no foul
  play4 ,the tone was that of a studied 
impartiality 7which many called         
trimming7 or of a sceptical             
indifference4 ,this tone of impartiality
  and indifference1 however1 did not at 
all suit those who profited or  existed 
by abuses1 who breathed the very air of 
corruption4 ,they know  well enough that
 those who are not for them are against 
them4  ,they wanted a publication       
impervious alike to truth and candour2  
that1  hood-winked itself1 should lead  
public opinion blindfold2 that should   
stick at nothing to serve the turn of a 
party2 that should be the  exclusive    
organ of prejudice1 the sordid tool of  
power2 that should go  the whole length 
of want of principle in palliating every

 dishonest  measure1 of want of decency 
in defaming every honest man2 that      
should  prejudge every question1 traduce
 every opponent2 that should give no    
quarter to fair inquiry or liberal      
sentiment2 that should be ugly  all over
 with hypocrisy1 and present one foul   
blotch of servility1  intolerance1      
falsehood1 spite1 and ill-manners4 ,the 
,quarterly ,review  was accordingly set 
up4      ,sithence no fairy lights1 no  
quickning ray1    ,nor stir of pulse1   
nor object to entice    ,abroad the     
spirits2 but the cloister'd heart       
,sits squat at home1 like ,pagod in a   
niche    ,obscure6    ,this event was   
accordingly hailed 7and the omen has    
been fulfilled67 as  a great relief to  
all those of his ,majesty's subjects who
 are firmly  convinced that the only way
 to have things remain exactly as they  
are is  to put a stop to all inquiries  
whether they are right or wrong1 and    
that  if you cannot answer a man's      
arguments1 you may at least try to take 

away his character4    ,we do not       
implicitly bow to the political         
opinions1 nor to the critical  decisions
 of the ,edinburgh ,review2 but we must 
do justice to the  talent with which    
they are supported1 and to the tone of  
manly  explicitness in which they are   
delivered4,a ,they are eminently        
characteristic of the ,spirit of the    
,age2 as it is the express object of    
the ,quarterly ,review to discountenance
 and extinguish that spirit1  both in   
theory and practice4 ,the ,edinburgh    
,review stands upon  the ground of      
opinion2 it asserts the supremacy of    
intellect3 the  pre-eminence it claims  
is from an acknowledged superiority of  
talent and  information and literary    
attainment1 and it does not build one   
tittle  of its influence on ignorance1  
or prejudice1 or authority1 or personal 
malevolence4 ,it takes up a question1   
and argues it pro and con with  great   
knowledge and boldness and skill2 it    
points out an absurdity1 and  runs it   

down1 fairly1 and according to the      
evidence adduced4 ,in the  former case1 
its conclusions may be wrong1 there may 
be a bias in the  mind of the writer1   
but he states the arguments and         
circumstances on  both sides1 from which
 a judgment is to be formed--it is not  
his cue1  he has neither the effrontery 
nor the meanness to falsify facts or to 
suppress objections4 ,in the latter     
case1 or where a vein of sarcasm or     
irony is resorted to1 the ridicule is   
not barbed by some allusion 7false  or  
true7 to private history2 the object of 
it has brought the infliction  on       
himself by some literary folly or       
political delinquency which is  referred
 to as the understood and justifiable   
provocation1 instead  of being held up  
to scorn as a knave for not being a     
tool1 or as a  blockhead for thinking   
for himself4 ,in the ,edinburgh ,review 
the  talents of those on the opposite   
side are always extolled pleno  ore--in 
the ,quarterly ,review they are denied  

altogether1 and the  justice that is in 
this way withheld from them is          
compensated by a  proportionable supply 
of personal abuse4 ,a man of genius who 
is a lord1  and who publishes with ,mr4 
,murray1 may now and then stand as good 
a  chance as a lord who is not a man of 
genius and who publishes with  ,messrs4 
,longman3 but that is the utmost extent 
of the impartiality of  the ,quarterly4 
,from its account you would take ,lord  
,byron and ,mr4  ,stuart ,rose for two  
very pretty poets2 but ,mr4 ,moore's    
,magdalen ,muse is  sent to ,bridewell  
without mercy1 to beat hemp in          
silk-stockings4 ,in  the ,quarterly     
nothing is regarded but the political   
creed or external  circumstances of a   
writer3 in the ,edinburgh nothing is    
ever adverted  to but his literary      
merits4 ,or if there is a bias of any   
kind1 it arises  from an affectation of 
magnanimity and candour in giving heaped
 measure  to those on the aristocratic  
side in politics1 and in being          

critically  severe on others4 ,thus ,sir
 ,walter ,scott is lauded to the skies  
for his  romantic powers1 without any   
allusion to his political demerits 7as  
if  this would be compromising the      
dignity of genius and of criticism by   
the  introduction of                    
party-spirit7--while ,lord ,byron is    
called to a grave  moral reckoning4     
,there is1 however1 little of the cant  
of morality in  the ,edinburgh          
,review--and it is quite free from that 
of religion4 ,it  keeps to its province1
 which is that of criticism--or to the  
discussion  of debateable topics1 and   
acquits itself in both with force and   
spirit4  ,this is the natural           
consequence of the composition of the   
two ,reviews4  ,the one appeals with    
confidence to its own intellectual      
resources1 to  the variety of its       
topics1 to its very character and       
existence as a  literary journal1 which 
depend on its setting up no pretensions 
but  those which it can make good by the

 talent and ingenuity it can bring to   
bear upon them--it therefore meets every
 question1 whether of a lighter  or a   
graver cast1 on its own grounds2 the    
other blinks every question1  for it has
 no confidence but in the powers that   
be--shuts itself up in  the impregnable 
fastnesses of authority1 or makes some  
paltry1 cowardly  attack 7under cover of
 anonymous criticism7 on individuals1 or
 dispenses  its award of merit entirely 
according to the rank or party of the   
writer4 ,the faults of the ,edinburgh   
,review arise out of the very           
consciousness of critical and logical   
power4 ,in political questions it       
relies too little on the broad basis of 
liberty and humanity1 enters too  much  
into mere dry formalities1 deals too    
often in moot-points1 and  descends too 
readily to a sort of special-pleading in
 defence of home  truths and natural    
feelings3 in matters of taste and       
criticism1 its tone  is sometimes apt to
 be supercilious and cavalier from its  

habitual  faculty of analysing defects  
and beauties according to given         
principles1  from its quickness in      
deciding1 from its facility in          
illustrating its  views4 ,in this latter
 department it has been guilty of some  
capital  oversights4 ,the chief was in  
its treatment of the ,lyrical ,ballads  
at  their first appearance--not in its  
ridicule of their puerilities1 but in   
its denial of their beauties1 because   
they were included in no school1        
because they were reducible to no       
previous standard or theory of  poetical
 excellence4 ,for this1 however1        
considerable reparation has been  made  
by the prompt and liberal spirit that   
has been shewn in bringing  forward     
other examples of poetical genius4 ,its 
capital sin1 in a  doctrinal point of   
view1 has been 7we shrewdly suspect7 in 
the uniform  and unqualified            
encouragement it has bestowed on ,mr4   
,malthus's system4  ,we do not mean that
 the ,edinburgh ,review was to join in  

the general  hue and cry that was raised
 against this writer2 but while it      
asserted  the soundness of many of his  
arguments1 and yielded its assent to the
  truths he has divulged1 it need not   
have screened his errors4 ,on this      
subject alone we think the ,quarterly   
has the advantage of it4 ,but as  the   
,quarterly ,review is a mere mass and   
tissue of prejudices on  all subjects1  
it is the foible of the ,edinburgh      
,review to affect a  somewhat fastidious
 air of superiority over prejudices of  
all kinds1 and  a determination not to  
indulge in any of the amiable weaknesses
 of our  nature1 except as it can give a
 reason for the faith that is in it4    
,luckily1 it is seldom reduced to this  
alternative3 reasons are with it  as    
plenty as blackberries6    ,mr4 ,jeffrey
 is the ,editor of the ,edinburgh       
,review1 and is understood  to have     
contributed nearly a fourth part of the 
articles from its  commencement4 ,no man
 is better qualified for this situation2

 nor indeed  so much so4 ,he is         
certainly a person in advance of the    
age1 and yet  perfectly fitted both from
 knowledge and habits of mind to put a  
curb  upon its rash and headlong spirit4
 ,he is thoroughly acquainted with the  
progress and pretensions of modern      
literature and philosophy2 and to  this 
he adds the natural acuteness and       
discrimination of the logician  with the
 habitual caution and coolness of his   
profession4 ,if the  ,edinburgh ,review 
may be considered as the organ of or at 
all pledged  to a party1 that party is  
at least a respectable one1 and is      
placed in  the middle between two       
extremes4 ,the ,editor is bound to lend 
a patient  hearing to the most          
paradoxical opinions and extravagant    
theories which  have resulted in our    
times from the infinite agitation of    
wit1 but  he is disposed to qualify them
 by a number of practical objections1   
of speculative doubts1 of checks and    
drawbacks1 arising out of actual        

circumstances and prevailing opinions1  
or the frailties of human nature4  ,he  
has a great range of knowledge1 an      
incessant activity of mind2 but  the    
suspension of his judgment1 the         
well-balanced moderation of his         
sentiments1 is the consequence of the   
very discursiveness of his reason4      
,what may be considered as a commonplace
 conclusion is often the result  of a   
comprehensive view of all the           
circumstances of a case4 ,paradox1      
violence1 nay even originality of       
conception is not seldom owing to our   
dwelling long and pertinaciously on some
 one part of a subject1 instead  of     
attending to the whole4 ,mr4 ,jeffrey is
 neither a bigot nor an  enthusiast4 ,he
 is not the dupe of the prejudices of   
others1 nor of his  own4 ,he is not     
wedded to any dogma1 he is not long the 
sport of any  whim2 before he can settle
 in any fond or fantastic opinion1      
another  starts up to match it1 like    
beads on sparkling wine4 ,a too restless

  display of talent1 a too undisguised  
statement of all that can be said  for  
and against a question1 is perhaps the  
great fault that is to be  attributed to
 him4 ,where there is so much power and 
prejudice to contend  with in the       
opposite scale1 it may be thought that  
the balance of truth  can hardly be held
 with a slack or an even hand2 and that 
the infusion  of a little more visionary
 speculation1 of a little more popular  
indignation into the great ,whig ,review
 would be an advantage both to  itself  
and to the cause of freedom4 ,much of   
this effect is chargeable  less on an   
,epicurean levity of feeling or on      
party-trammels1 than on  real           
sanguineness of disposition1 and a      
certain fineness of professional  tact4 
,our sprightly ,scotchman is not of a   
desponding and gloomy turn of  mind4 ,he
 argues well for the future hopes of    
mankind from the smallest  beginnings1  
watches the slow1 gradual1 reluctant    
growth of liberal  views1 and smiling   

sees the aloe of ,reform blossom at the 
end of a  hundred years2 while the      
habitual subtlety of his mind makes him 
perceive decided advantages where vulgar
 ignorance or passion sees only  doubts 
and difficulty2 and a flaw in an        
adversary's argument stands him  instead
 of the shout of a mob1 the votes of a  
majority1 or the fate of  a pitched     
battle4 ,the ,editor is satisfied with  
his own conclusions1 and  does not make 
himself uneasy about the fate of        
mankind4 ,the issue1 he  thinks1 will   
verify his moderate and well-founded    
expectations4--,we  believe also that   
late events have given a more decided   
turn to ,mr4  ,jeffrey's mind1 and that 
he feels that as in the struggle between
  liberty and slavery1 the views of the 
one party have been laid bare with      
their success1 so the exertions on the  
other side should become more           
strenuous1 and a more positive stand be 
made against the avowed and  appalling  
encroachments of priestcraft and        

arbitrary power4    ,the characteristics
 of ,mr4 ,jeffrey's general style as a  
writer  correspond1 we think1 with what 
we have here stated as the              
characteristics of his mind4 ,he is a   
master of the foils2 he makes an        
exulting display of the dazzling fence  
of wit and argument4 ,his strength      
consists in great range of knowledge1 an
 equal familiarity with the  principles 
and the details of a subject1 and in a  
glancing brilliancy  and rapidity of    
style4 ,indeed1 we doubt whether the    
brilliancy of his  manner does not      
resolve itself into the rapidity1 the   
variety and  aptness of his             
illustrations4 ,his pen is never at a   
loss1 never stands  still2 and would    
dazzle for this reason alone1 like an   
eye that is ever  in motion4 ,mr4       
,jeffrey is far from a flowery or       
affected writer2 he has  few tropes or  
figures1 still less any odd startling   
thoughts or quaint  innovations in      
expression3--but he has a constant      

supply of ingenious  solutions and      
pertinent examples2 he never proses1    
never grows dull1  never wears an       
argument to tatters2 and by the number1 
the liveliness  and facility of his     
transitions1 keeps up that appearance of
 vivacity1  of novel and sparkling      
effect1 for which others are too often  
indebted  to singularity of combination 
or tinsel ornaments4    ,it may be      
discovered1 by a nice observer1 that    
,mr4 ,jeffrey's style of  composition is
 that of a person accustomed to public  
speaking4 ,there is  no pause1 no       
meagreness1 no inanimateness1 but a     
flow1 a redundance and  volubility like 
that of a stream or of a rolling-stone4 
,the language is  more copious than     
select1 and sometimes two or three words
 perform the  office of one4 ,this      
copiousness and facility is perhaps an  
advantage  in extempore speaking1 where 
no stop or break is allowed in the      
discourse1 and where any word or any    
number of words almost is better  than  

coming to a dead stand2 but in written  
compositions it gives an  air of either 
too much carelessness or too much       
labour4 ,mr4 ,jeffrey's  excellence1 as 
a public speaker1 has betrayed him into 
this peculiarity4  ,he makes fewer blots
 in addressing an audience than any one 
we  remember to have heard4 ,there is   
not a hair's-breadth space between any  
two of his words1 nor is there a single 
expression either ill-chosen or  out of 
its place4 ,he speaks without stopping  
to take breath1 with ease1  with point1 
with elegance1 and without spinning the 
thread of his  verbosity finer than the 
staple of his argument4 ,he may be said 
to  weave words into any shapes he      
pleases for use or ornament1 as the     
glass-blower moulds the vitreous fluid  
with his breath2 and his  sentences     
shine like glass from their polished    
smoothness1 and are  equally            
transparent4 ,his style of eloquence1   
indeed1 is remarkable for  neatness1 for
 correctness1 and epigrammatic point2   

and he has applied  this as a standard  
to his written compositions1 where the  
very same  degree of correctness and    
precision produces1 from the contrast   
between  writing and speaking1 an       
agreeable diffuseness1 freedom1 and     
animation4  ,whenever the ,scotch       
advocate has appeared at the bar of the 
,english  ,house of ,lords1 he has been 
admired by those who were in the habit  
of  attending to speeches there1 as     
having the greatest fluency of language 
and the greatest subtlety of distinction
 of any one of the profession4  ,the    
law-reporters were as little able to    
follow him from the extreme  rapidity of
 his utterance as from the tenuity and  
evanescent nature of  his reasoning4    
,mr4 ,jeffrey's conversation is equally 
lively1 various1 and instructive4       
,there is no subject on which he is not 
au fait3 no company in which he  is not 
ready to scatter his pearls for sport4  
,whether it be politics1 or  poetry1 or 
science1 or anecdote1 or wit1 or        

raillery1 he takes up his  cue without  
effort1 without preparation1 and appears
 equally incapable  of tiring himself or
 his hearers4 ,his only difficulty seems
 to be not  to speak1 but to be silent4 
,there is a constitutional buoyancy and 
elasticity of mind about him that cannot
 subside into repose1 much less  sink   
into dulness4 ,there may be more        
original talkers1 persons who           
occasionally surprise or interest you   
more2 few1 if any1 with a more          
uninterrupted flow of cheerfulness and  
animal spirits1 with a greater  fund of 
information1 and with fewer specimens of
 the bathos in their  conversation4 ,he 
is never absurd1 nor has he any         
favourite points  which he is always    
bringing forward4 ,it cannot be denied  
that there is  something bordering on   
petulance of manner1 but it is of that  
least  offensive kind which may be      
accounted for from merit and from       
success1  and implies no exclusive      
pretensions nor the least particle of   

ill-will  to others4 ,on the contrary1  
,mr4 ,jeffrey is profuse of his         
encomiums and  admiration of others1 but
 still with a certain reservation of a  
right  to differ or to blame4 ,he cannot
 rest on one side of a question3 he is  
obliged by a mercurial habit and        
disposition to vary his point of view4  
,if he is ever tedious1 it is from an   
excess of liveliness3 he oppresses  from
 a sense of airy lightness4 ,he is      
always setting out on a fresh  scent3   
there are always relays of topics2 the  
harness is put to1 and  he rattles away 
as delightfully and as briskly as ever4 
,new causes are  called2 he holds a     
brief in his hand for every possible    
question4  ,this is a fault4 ,mr4       
,jeffrey is not obtrusive1 is not       
impatient of  opposition1 is not        
unwilling to be interrupted2 but what is
 said by  another1 seems to make no     
impression on him2 he is bound to       
dispute1 to  answer it1 as if he was in 
,court1 or as if it were in a paltry    

,debating  ,society1 where young        
beginners were trying their hands4 ,this
 is not to  maintain a character1 or for
 want of good-nature--it is a           
thoughtless  habit4 ,he cannot help     
cross-examining a witness1 or stating   
the  adverse view of the question4 ,he  
listens not to judge1 but to reply4  ,in
 consequence of this1 you can as little 
tell the impression your  observations  
make on him as what weight to assign to 
his4 ,mr4 ,jeffrey  shines in mixed     
company2 he is not good in a            
tete-a-tete4 ,you can only  shew your   
wisdom or your wit in general society3  
but in private your  follies or your    
weaknesses are not the least interesting
 topics2 and our  critic has neither any
 of his own to confess1 nor does he take
 delight  in hearing those of others4   
,indeed in ,scotland generally1 the     
display of  personal character1 the     
indulging your whims and humours in the 
presence  of a friend1 is not much      
encouraged--every one there is looked   

upon in  the light of a machine or a    
collection of topics4 ,they turn you    
round  like a cylinder to see what use  
they can make of you1 and drag you into 
a dispute with as little ceremony as    
they would drag out an article from  an 
,encyclopedia4 ,they criticise every    
thing1 analyse every thing1 argue  upon 
every thing1 dogmatise upon every thing2
 and the bundle of your  habits1        
feelings1 humours1 follies and pursuits 
is regarded by them no  more than a     
bundle of old clothes4 ,they stop you in
 a sentiment by a  question or a stare1 
and cut you short in a narrative by the 
time of  night4 ,the accomplished and   
ingenious person of whom we speak1 has  
been  a little infected by the tone of  
his countrymen--he is too didactic1  too
 pugnacious1 too full of electrical     
shocks1 too much like a voltaic         
battery1 and reposes too little on his  
own excellent good sense1 his  own love 
of ease1 his cordial frankness of       
disposition and unaffected  candour4 ,he

 ought to have belonged to us6    ,the  
severest of critics 7as he has been     
sometimes termed7 is the  best-natured  
of men4 ,whatever there may be of       
wavering or indecision in  ,mr4         
,jeffrey's reasoning1 or of harshness in
 his critical decisions1 in  his        
disposition there is nothing but        
simplicity and kindness4 ,he is a       
person that no one knows without        
esteeming1 and who both in his public   
connections and private friendships1    
shews the same manly uprightness  and   
unbiassed independence of spirit4 ,at a 
distance1 in his writings1 or  even in  
his manner1 there may be something to   
excite a little uneasiness  and         
apprehension3 in his conduct there is   
nothing to except against4  ,he is a    
person of strict integrity himself1     
without pretence or  affectation2 and   
knows how to respect this quality in    
others1 without  prudery or intolerance4
 ,he can censure a friend or a stranger1
 and serve  him effectually at the same 

time4 ,he expresses his disapprobation1 
but  not as an excuse for closing up the
 avenues of his liberality4 ,he is a    
,scotchman without one particle of      
hypocrisy1 of cant1 of servility1 or    
selfishness in his composition4 ,he has 
not been spoiled by fortune--has  not   
been tempted by power--is firm without  
violence1 friendly without  weakness--a 
critic and even-tempered1 a casuist and 
an honest man--and  amidst the toils of 
his profession and the distractions of  
the world1  retains the gaiety1 the     
unpretending carelessness and simplicity
 of  youth4 ,mr4 ,jeffrey in his person 
is slight1 with a countenance of much   
expression1 and a voice of great        
flexibility and acuteness of tone4      
,footnote ,a3 ,the style of             
philosophical criticism1 which has been 
the  boast of the ,edinburgh ,review1   
was first introduced into the ,monthly  
,review about the year #agif1 in a      
series of articles by ,mr4 ,william     
,taylor1 of ,norwich4                   

99       99       99       99       99  
,,mr4 ,,brougham--,,sir ,f4 ,,burdett4  
,there is a class of eloquence which has
 been described and particularly        
insisted on1 under the style and title  
of ,irish ,eloquence3 there is  another 
class which it is not absolutely unfair 
to oppose to this1 and  that is the     
,scotch4 ,the first of these is entirely
 the offspring of  impulse3 the last of 
mechanism4 ,the one is as full of fancy 
as it is  bare of facts3 the other      
excludes all fancy1 and is weighed down 
with  facts4 ,the one is all fire1 the  
other all ice3 the one nothing but      
enthusiasm1 extravagance1 eccentricity2 
the other nothing but logical           
deductions1 and the most approved       
postulates4 ,the one without scruple1   
nay1 with reckless zeal1 throws the     
reins loose on the neck of the          
imagination3 the other pulls up with a  
curbbridle1 and starts at every  casual 
object it meets in the way as a         
bug-bear4 ,the genius of ,irish  oratory

 stands forth in the naked majesty of   
untutored nature1 its eye  glancing     
wildly round on all objects1 its tongue 
darting forked fire3  the genius of     
,scottish eloquence is armed in all the 
panoply of the  schools2 its drawling1  
ambiguous dialect seconds its           
circumspect  dialectics2 from behind the
 vizor that guards its mouth and shadows
  its pent-up brows1 it sees no visions 
but its own set purpose1 its own  data1 
and its own dogmas4 ,it has no figures1 
nor no fantasies1 but  those which busy 
care draws in the brains of men1 or     
which set off its  own superior         
acquirements and wisdom4 ,it scorns to  
tread the primrose  path of             
dalliance--it shrinks back from it as   
from a precipice1 and  keeps in the iron
 rail-way of the understanding4 ,irish  
oratory1 on the  contrary1 is a sort of 
aeronaut3 it is always going up in a    
balloon1 and  breaking its neck1 or     
coming down in the parachute4 ,it is    
filled  full with gaseous matter1 with  

whim and fancy1 with alliteration and   
antithesis1 with heated passion and     
bloated metaphors1 that burst the       
slender1 silken covering of sense2 and  
the airy pageant1 that glittered  in    
empty space and rose in all the bliss of
 ignorance1 flutters and  sinks down to 
its native bogs6 ,if the ,irish orator  
riots in a studied  neglect of his      
subject and a natural confusion of      
ideas1 playing with  words1 ranging them
 into all sorts of fantastic            
combinations1 because in  the unlettered
 void or chaos of his mind there is no  
obstacle to their  coalescing into any  
shapes they please1 it must be confessed
 that the  eloquence of the ,scotch is  
encumbered with an excess of knowledge1 
that  it cannot get on for a crowd of   
difficulties1 that it staggers under  a 
load of topics1 that it is so environed 
in the forms of logic and  rhetoric as  
to be equally precluded from originality
 or absurdity1 from  beauty or          
deformity3--the plea of humanity is lost

 by going through the  process of law1  
the firm and manly tone of principle is 
exchanged for  the wavering and pitiful 
cant of policy1 the living bursts of    
passion  are reduced to a defunct       
common-place1 and all true imagination  
is buried under the dust and rubbish of 
learned models and imposing             
authorities4 ,if the one is a bodiless  
phantom1 the other is a lifeless        
skeleton3 if the one in its feverish and
 hectic extravagance resembles a  sick  
man's dream1 the other is akin to the   
sleep of death--cold1 stiff1  unfeeling1
 monumental6 ,upon the whole1 we despair
 less of the first than  of the last1   
for the principle of life and motion is1
 after all1 the  primary condition of   
all genius4 ,the luxuriant wildness of  
the one may  be disciplined1 and its    
excesses sobered down into reason2 but  
the dry  and rigid formality of the     
other can never burst the shell or husk 
of  oratory4 ,it is true that the one is
 disfigured by the puerilities and      

affectation of a ,phillips2 but then it 
is redeemed by the manly sense  and     
fervour of a ,plunket1 the impassioned  
appeals and flashes of wit of  a        
,curran1 and by the golden tide of      
wisdom1 eloquence1 and fancy1 that      
flowed from the lips of a ,burke4 ,in   
the other1 we do not sink so low in  the
 negative series2 but we get no higher  
in the ascending scale than  a          
,mackintosh or a ,brougham4,a ,it may be
 suggested that the late ,lord  ,erskine
 enjoyed a higher reputation as an      
orator than either of these3  but he    
owed it to a dashing and graceful       
manner1 to presence of mind1  and to    
great animation in delivering his       
sentiments4 ,stripped of these  outward 
and personal advantages1 the matter of  
his speeches1 like that  of his         
writings1 is nothing1 or perfectly inert
 and dead4 ,mr4 ,brougham  is from the  
,north of ,england1 but he was educated 
in ,edinburgh1 and  represents that     
school of politics and political economy

 in the ,house4  ,he differs from ,sir  
,james ,mackintosh in this1 that he     
deals less in  abstract principles1 and 
more in individual details4 ,he makes   
less use  of general topics1 and more of
 immediate facts4 ,sir ,james is better 
acquainted with the balance of an       
argument in old authors2 ,mr4 ,brougham 
with the balance of power in ,europe4   
,if the first is better versed in  the  
progress of history1 no man excels the  
last in a knowledge of the  course of   
exchange4 ,he is apprised of the exact  
state of our exports and  imports1 and  
scarce a ship clears out its cargo at   
,liverpool or  ,hull1 but he has notice 
of the bill of lading4 ,our colonial    
policy1  prison-discipline1 the state of
 the ,hulks1 agricultural distress1     
commerce and manufactures1 the ,bullion 
question1 the ,catholic question1  the  
,bourbons or the ,inquisition1 domestic 
treason1 foreign levy1  nothing can come
 amiss to him--he is at home in the     
crooked mazes of  rotten boroughs1 is   

not baffled by ,scotch law1 and can     
follow the  meaning of one of ,mr4      
,canning's speeches4 ,with so many      
resources1 with  such variety and       
solidity of information1 ,mr4 ,brougham 
is rather a  powerful and alarming1 than
 an effectual debater4 ,in so many      
details  7which he himself goes through 
with unwearied and unshrinking          
resolution7 the spirit of the question  
is lost to others who have not  the same
 voluntary power of attention or the    
same interest in hearing  that he has in
 speaking2 the original impulse that    
urged him forward is  forgotten in so   
wide a field1 in so interminable a      
career4 ,if he can1  others cannot carry
 all he knows in their heads at the same
 time2 a  rope of circumstantial        
evidence does not hold well together1   
nor drag  the unwilling mind along with 
it 7the willing mind hurries on before  
it1  and grows impatient and absent7--he
 moves in an unmanageable procession  of
 facts and proofs1 instead of coming to 

the point at once--and his  premises 7so
 anxious is he to proceed on sure and   
ample grounds7 overlay  and block up his
 conclusion1 so that you cannot arrive  
at it1 or not  till the first fury and  
shock of the onset is over4 ,the ball1  
from  the too great width of the calibre
 from which it is sent1 and from        
striking against such a number of hard1 
projecting points1 is almost  spent     
before it reaches its destination4 ,he  
keeps a ledger or a  debtor-and-creditor
 account between the ,government and the
 ,country1  posts so much actual crime1 
corruption1 and injustice against so    
much  contingent advantage or sluggish  
prejudice1 and at the bottom of the     
page brings in the balance of           
indignation and contempt1 where it is   
due4  ,but people are not to be         
calculated into contempt or indignation 
on  abstract grounds2 for however they  
may submit to this process where  their 
own interests are concerned1 in what    
regards the public good we  believe they

 must see and feel instinctively1 or not
 at all4 ,there is  7it is to be        
lamented7 a good deal of froth as well  
as strength in the  popular spirit1     
which will not admit of being decanted  
or served out  in formal driblets2 nor  
will spleen 7the soul of ,opposition7   
bear to be  corked up in square patent  
bottles1 and kept for future use6 ,in a 
word1  ,mr4 ,brougham's is ticketed and 
labelled eloquence1 registered and in   
numeros 7like the successive parts of a 
,scotch ,encyclopedia7--it  is clever1  
knowing1 imposing1 masterly1 an         
extraordinary display of  clearness of  
head1 of quickness and energy of        
thought1 of application  and industry2  
but it is not the eloquence of the      
imagination or the  heart1 and will     
never save a nation or an individual    
from perdition4    ,mr4 ,brougham has   
one considerable advantage in debate3 he
 is overcome  by no false modesty1 no   
deference to others4 ,but then1 by a    
natural  consequence or parity of       

reasoning1 he has little sympathy with  
other  people1 and is liable to be      
mistaken in the effect his arguments    
will  have upon them4 ,he relies too    
much1 among other things1 on the        
patience  of his hearers1 and on his    
ability to turn every thing to his own  
advantage4 ,he accordingly goes to the  
full length of his tether 7in  vulgar   
phrase7 and often overshoots the mark4  
,c'est dommage4 ,he has no  reserve of  
discretion1 no retentiveness of mind or 
check upon himself4  ,he needs1 with so 
much wit1      ,as much again to govern 
it4    ,he cannot keep a good thing or a
 shrewd piece of information in his     
possession1 though the letting it out   
should mar a cause4 ,it is not  that he 
thinks too much of himself1 too little  
of his cause3 but he is  absorbed in the
 pursuit of truth as an abstract        
inquiry1 he is led away  by the         
headstrong and over-mastering activity  
of his own mind4 ,he is  borne along1   
almost involuntarily1 and not impossibly

 against his better  judgment1 by the   
throng and restlessness of his ideas as 
by a crowd  of people in motion4 ,his   
perceptions are literal1 tenacious1     
epileptic--his understanding voracious  
of facts1 and equally  communicative of 
them--and he proceeds to                
--------,pour out all as plain    ,as   
downright ,shippen or as old            
,montaigne--    without either the      
virulence of the one or the bonhommie of
 the other4  ,the repeated1 smart1      
unforeseen discharges of the truth jar  
those  that are next him4 ,he does not  
dislike this state of irritation and    
collision1 indulges his curiosity or his
 triumph1 till by calling for  more     
facts or hazarding some extreme         
inference1 he urges a question to  the  
verge of a precipice1 his adversaries   
urge it over1 and he himself  shrinks   
back from the consequence--      ,scared
 at the sound himself has made6    ,mr4 
,brougham has great fearlessness1 but   
not equal firmness2 and after  going too

 far on the forlorn hope1 turns short   
round without due  warning to others or 
respect for himself4 ,he is adventurous1
 but easily  panic-struck2 and          
sacrifices the vanity of self-opinion to
 the necessity  of self-preservation4   
,he is too improvident for a leader1 too
 petulant  for a partisan2 and does not 
sufficiently consult those with whom he 
is  supposed to act in concert4 ,he     
sometimes leaves them in the lurch1  and
 is sometimes left in the lurch by them4
 ,he wants the principle of             
co-operation4 ,he frequently1 in a fit  
of thoughtless levity1 gives an         
unexpected turn to the political        
machine1 which alarms older and more    
experienced heads3 if he was not himself
 the first to get out of harm's  way and
 escape from the danger1 it would be    
well6--,we hold1 indeed1 as  a general  
rule1 that no man born or bred in       
,scotland can be a great  orator1 unless
 he is a mere quack2 or a great         
statesman unless he turns  plain knave4 

,the national gravity is against the    
first3 the national  caution is against 
the last4 ,to a ,scotchman if a thing   
is1 it is2  there is an end of the      
question with his opinion about it4 ,he 
is  positive and abrupt1 and is not in  
the habit of conciliating the  feelings 
or soothing the follies of others4 ,his 
only way therefore to  produce a popular
 effect is to sail with the stream of   
prejudice1 and  to vent common dogmas1  
the total grist1 unsifted1 husks and    
all1 from  some evangelical pulpit4     
,this may answer1 and it has answered4  
,on the  other hand1 if a ,scotchman1   
born or bred1 comes to think at all of  
the  feelings of others1 it is not as   
they regard them1 but as their  opinion 
reacts on his own interest and safety4  
,he is therefore either  pragmatical and
 offensive1 or if he tries to please1 he
 becomes cowardly  and fawning4 ,his    
public spirit wants pliancy2 his selfish
 compliances  go all lengths4 ,he is as 
impracticable as a popular partisan1 as 

he  is mischievous as a tool of         
,government4 ,we do not wish to press   
this argument farther1 and must leave it
 involved in some degree of  obscurity1 
rather than bring the armed intellect of
 a whole nation on  our heads4    ,mr4  
,brougham speaks in a loud and          
unmitigated tone of voice1 sometimes    
almost approaching to a scream4 ,he is  
fluent1 rapid1 vehement1 full of  his   
subject1 with evidently a great deal to 
say1 and very regardless  of the manner 
of saying it4 ,as a lawyer1 he has not  
hitherto been  remarkably successful4   
,he is not profound in cases and        
reports1 nor does  he take much interest
 in the peculiar features of a          
particular cause1 or  shew much         
adroitness in the management of it4 ,he 
carries too much weight  of metal for   
ordinary and petty occasions3 he must   
have a pretty large  question to        
discuss1 and must make thorough-stitch  
work of it4 ,he1  however1 had an       
encounter with ,mr4 ,phillips the other 

day1 and shook all  his tender blossoms1
 so that they fell to the ground1 and   
withered in an  hour2 but they soon     
bloomed again6 ,mr4 ,brougham writes    
almost1 if not  quite1 as well as he    
speaks4 ,in the midst of an ,election   
contest he  comes out to address the    
populace1 and goes back to his study to 
finish  an article for the ,edinburgh   
,review2 sometimes indeed wedging three 
or  four articles 7in the shape of      
refaccimentos of his own pamphlets  or  
speeches in parliament7 into a single   
number4 ,such indeed is the  activity of
 his mind that it appears to require    
neither repose1 nor any  other stimulus 
than a delight in its own exercise4 ,he 
can turn his  hand to any thing1 but he 
cannot be idle4 ,there are few          
intellectual  accomplishments which he  
does not possess1 and possess in a very 
high degree4 ,he speaks ,french 7and1 we
 believe1 several other modern          
languages7 fluently3 is a capital       
mathematician1 and obtained an          

introduction to the celebrated ,carnot  
in this latter character1 when the      
conversation turned on squaring the     
circle1 and not on the propriety of     
confining ,france within the natural    
boundary of the ,rhine4 ,mr4 ,brougham  
is1 in fact1 a striking instance of the 
versatility and strength of the  human  
mind1 and also in one sense of the      
length of human life1 if we  make a good
 use of our time4 ,there is room enough 
to crowd almost every  art and science  
into it4 ,if we pass no day without a   
line1 visit no  place without the       
company of a book1 we may with ease fill
 libraries or  empty them of their      
contents4 ,those who complain of the    
shortness of  life1 let it slide by them
 without wishing to seize and make the  
most of  its golden minutes4 ,the more  
we do1 the more we can do2 the more busy
 we  are1 the more leisure we have4 ,if 
any one possesses any advantage in a    
considerable degree1 he may make himself
 master of nearly as many more  as he   

pleases1 by employing his spare time and
 cultivating the waste  faculties of his
 mind4 ,while one person is determining 
on the choice of  a profession or study1
 another shall have made a fortune or   
gained a  merited reputation4 ,while one
 person is dreaming over the meaning of 
a  word1 another will have learnt       
several languages4 ,it is not           
incapacity1  but indolence1 indecision1 
want of imagination1 and a proneness to 
a  sort of mental tautology1 to repeat  
the same images and tread the same      
circle1 that leaves us so poor1 so dull1
 and inert as we are1 so naked  of      
acquirement1 so barren of resources6    
,while we are walking backwards  and    
forwards between ,charing-,cross and    
,temple-,bar1 and sitting in the  same  
coffee-house every day1 we might make   
the grand tour of ,europe1 and  visit   
the ,vatican and the ,louvre4 ,mr4      
,brougham1 among other means of         
strengthening and enlarging his views1  
has visited1 we believe1 most of  the   

courts1 and turned his attention to most
 of the ,constitutions of the           
continent4 ,he is1 no doubt1 a very     
accomplished1 active-minded1 and        
admirable person4    ,sir ,francis      
,burdett1 in many respects1 affords a   
contrast to the  foregoing character4   
,he is a plain1 unaffected1             
unsophisticated ,english  gentleman4 ,he
 is a person of great reading too and   
considerable  information1 but he makes 
very little display of these1 unless it 
be to  quote ,shakespear1 which he does 
often with extreme aptness and felicity4
  ,sir ,francis is one of the most      
pleasing speakers in the ,house1 and is 
a  prodigious favourite of the ,english 
people4 ,so he ought to be3 for he is   
one of the few remaining examples of the
 old ,english understanding and  old    
,english character4 ,all that he        
pretends to is common sense and  common 
honesty2 and a greater compliment cannot
 be paid to these than  the attention   
with which he is listened to in the     

,house of ,commons4 ,we  cannot conceive
 a higher proof of courage than the     
saying things which  he has been known  
to say there2 and we have seen him blush
 and appear  ashamed of the truths he   
has been obliged to utter1 like a       
bashful  novice4 ,he could not have     
uttered what he often did there1 if1    
besides  his general respectability1 he 
had not been a very honest1 a very      
good-tempered1 and a very good-looking  
man4 ,but there was evidently no  wish  
to shine1 nor any desire to offend3 it  
was painful to him to hurt  the feelings
 of those who heard him1 but it was a   
higher duty in him not  to suppress his 
sincere and earnest convictions4 ,it is 
wonderful how  much virtue and          
plain-dealing a man may be guilty of    
with impunity1 if  he has no vanity1 or 
ill-nature1 or duplicity to provoke the 
contempt or  resentment of others1 and  
to make them impatient of the           
superiority he  sets up over them4 ,we  
do not recollect that ,sir ,francis ever

 endeavoured  to atone for any          
occasional indiscretions or intemperance
 by giving  the ,duke of ,york credit   
for the battle of ,waterloo1 or         
congratulating  ,ministers on the       
confinement of ,buonaparte at ,st4      
,helena4 ,there is no  honest cause     
which he dares not avow3 no oppressed   
individual that he  is not forward to   
succour4 ,he has the firmness of manhood
 with the  unimpaired enthusiasm of     
youthful feeling about him4 ,his        
principles are  mellowed and improved1  
without having become less sound with   
time3 for  at one period he sometimes   
appeared to come charged to the ,house  
with  the petulance and caustic         
sententiousness he had imbibed at       
,wimbledon  ,common4 ,he is never       
violent or in extremes1 except when the 
people or  the parliament happen to be  
out of their senses2 and then he seems  
to  regret the necessity of plainly     
telling them he thinks so1 instead of   
pluming himself upon it or exulting over

 impending calamities4 ,there  is only  
one error he seems to labour under      
7which1 we believe1 he also  borrowed   
from ,mr4 ,horne ,tooke or ,major       
,cartwright71 the wanting to go  back to
 the early times of our ,constitution   
and history in search of the  principles
 of law and liberty4 ,he might as well  
,hunt half a day for a forgotten dream4 
,liberty1 in our opinion1 is but a      
modern invention 7the growth of books   
and printing7--and whether new or old1  
is not the less desirable4 ,a man  may  
be a patriot1 without being an          
antiquary4 ,this is the only point  on  
which ,sir ,francis is at all inclined  
to a tincture of pedantry4 ,in  general1
 his love of liberty is pure1 as it is  
warm and steady3 his  humanity is       
unconstrained and free4 ,his heart does 
not ask leave of his  head to feel2 nor 
does prudence always keep a guard upon  
his tongue or  his pen4 ,no man writes a
 better letter to his ,constituents than
 the  member for ,westminster2 and his  

compositions of that kind ought to be   
good1 for they have occasionally cost   
him dear4 ,he is the idol of the  people
 of ,westminster3 few persons have a    
greater number of friends  and          
well-wishers2 and he has still greater  
reason to be proud of his  enemies1 for 
his integrity and independence have made
 them so4 ,sir  ,francis ,burdett has   
often been left in a ,minority in the   
,house of  ,commons1 with only one or   
two on his side4 ,we suspect1           
unfortunately for  his country1 that    
,history will be found to enter its     
protest on the same  side of the        
question6      ,footnote ,a3 ,mr4       
,brougham is not a ,scotchman literally1
 but by  adoption4                   99 
99       99       99       99           
,,lord ,,eldon ,,and ,,mr4              
,,wilberforce4        ,lord ,eldon is an
 exceedingly good-natured man2 but this 
does not prevent  him1 like other       
good-natured people1 from consulting his
 own ease or  interest4 ,the character  

of good-nature1 as it is called1 has    
been a  good deal mistaken2 and the     
present ,chancellor is not a bad        
illustration  of the grounds of the     
prevailing error4 ,when we happen to see
 an  individual whose countenance is all
 tranquillity and smiles2 who  is full  
of good-humour and pleasantry2 whose    
manners are gentle and  conciliating2   
who is uniformly temperate in his       
expressions1 and  punctual and just in  
his every-day dealings2 we are apt to   
conclude from  so fair an outside1 that 
,all is conscience and tender heart     
within also1 and that such a one would  
not hurt a fly4 ,and neither would  he  
without a motive4 ,but mere good-nature 
7or what passes in the world  for such7 
is often no better than indolent        
selfishness4 ,a person  distinguished   
and praised for this quality will not   
needlessly offend  others1 because they 
may retaliate2 and besides1 it ruffles  
his own  temper4 ,he likes to enjoy a   
perfect calm1 and to live in an         

interchange  of kind offices4 ,he       
suffers few things to irritate or annoy 
him4 ,he has  a fine oiliness in his    
disposition1 which smooths the waves of 
passion  as they rise4 ,he does not     
enter into the quarrels or enmities of  
others2  bears their calamities with    
patience2 he listens to the din and     
clang of  war1 the earthquake and the   
hurricane of the political and moral    
world  with the temper and spirit of a  
philosopher2 no act of injustice puts   
him beside himself1 the follies and     
absurdities of mankind never give  him a
 moment's uneasiness1 he has none of the
 ordinary causes of  fretfulness or     
chagrin that torment others from the    
undue interest they  take in the conduct
 of their neighbours or in the public   
good4 ,none of  these idle or frivolous 
sources of discontent1 that make such   
havoc  with the peace of human life1    
ever discompose his features or alter   
the  serenity of his pulse4 ,if a nation
 is robbed of its rights1      ,if      

wretches hang that ,ministers may       
dine1--    the laughing jest still      
collects in his eye1 the cordial squeeze
 of the  hand is still the same4 ,but   
tread on the toe of one of these amiable
 and  imperturbable mortals1 or let a   
lump of soot fall down the chimney and  
spoil their dinners1 and see how they   
will bear it4 ,all their patience  is   
confined to the accidents that befal    
others3 all their good-humour  is to be 
resolved into giving themselves no      
concern about any thing but  their own  
ease and self-indulgence4 ,their charity
 begins and ends at  home4 ,their being 
free from the common infirmities of     
temper is owing to  their indifference  
to the common feelings of humanity2 and 
if you touch  the sore place1 they      
betray more resentment1 and break out   
7like spoiled  children7 into greater   
fractiousness than others1 partly from a
 greater  degree of selfishness1 and    
partly because they are taken by        
surprise1  and mad to think they have   

not guarded every point against         
annoyance or  attack1 by a habit of     
callous insensibility and pampered      
indolence4    ,an instance of what we   
mean occurred but the other day4 ,an    
allusion was  made in the ,house of     
,commons to something in the proceedings
 in the  ,court of ,chancery1 and the   
,lord ,chancellor comes to his place in 
the  ,court1 with the statement in his  
hand1 fire in his eyes1 and a direct    
charge of falsehood in his mouth1       
without knowing any thing certain  of   
the matter1 without making any inquiry  
into it1 without using any  precaution  
or putting the least restraint upon     
himself1 and all on no  better authority
 than a common newspaper report4 ,the   
thing was 7not that  we are imputing any
 strong blame in this case1 we merely   
bring it as an  illustration7 it touched
 himself1 his office1 the inviolability 
of his  jurisdiction1 the               
unexceptionableness of his proceedings1 
and the wet  blanket of the             

,chancellor's temper instantly took fire
 like tinder6 ,all  the fine balancing  
was at an end2 all the doubts1 all the  
delicacy1 all  the candour real or      
affected1 all the chances that there    
might be a  mistake in the report1 all  
the decencies to be observed towards a  
,member  of the ,house1 are overlooked  
by the blindness of passion1 and the    
wary  ,judge pounces upon the paragraph 
without mercy1 without a moment's       
delay1 or the smallest attention to     
forms6 ,this was indeed serious         
business1 there was to be no trifling   
here2 every instant was an age  till the
 ,chancellor had discharged his sense of
 indignation on the head  of the        
indiscreet interloper on his authority4 
,had it been another  person's case1    
another person's dignity that had been  
compromised1  another person's conduct  
that had been called in question1 who   
doubts  but that the matter might have  
stood over till the next term1 that the 
,noble ,lord would have taken the       

,newspaper home in his pocket1 that he  
would have compared it carefully with   
other newspapers1 that he would  have   
written in the most mild and gentlemanly
 terms to the ,honourable  ,member to   
inquire into the truth of the statement1
 that he would have  watched a          
convenient opportunity good-humouredly  
to ask other ,honourable  ,members what 
all this was about1 that the greatest   
caution and fairness  would have been   
observed1 and that to this hour the     
lawyers' clerks and  the junior counsel 
would have been in the greatest         
admiration of the  ,chancellor's nicety 
of discrimination1 and the utter        
inefficacy of the  heats1 importunities1
 haste1 and passions of others to       
influence his  judgment8 ,this would    
have been true2 yet his readiness to    
decide and to  condemn where he himself 
is concerned1 shews that passion is not 
dead in  him1 nor subject to the        
controul of reason2 but that self-love  
is the  main-spring that moves it1      

though on all beyond that limit he looks
 with  the most perfect calmness and    
philosophic indifference4               
,resistless passion sways us to the mood
    ,of what it likes or loaths4    ,all
 people are passionate in what concerns 
themselves1 or in what they  take an    
interest in4 ,the range of this last is 
different in different  persons2 but the
 want of passion is but another name for
 the want of  sympathy and imagination4 
,the ,lord ,chancellor's impartiality   
and conscientious exactness is          
proverbial2 and is1 we believe1 as      
inflexible as it is delicate in  all    
cases that occur in the stated routine  
of legal practice4 ,the  impatience1 the
 irritation1 the hopes1 the fears1 the  
confident tone of  the applicants move  
him not a jot from his intended course1 
he looks at  their claims with the lack 
lustre eye of prefessional indifference4
  ,power and influence apart1 his next  
strongest passion is to indulge in  the 
exercise of professional learning and   

skill1 to amuse himself with  the dry   
details and intricate windings of the   
law of equity4 ,he delights  to balance 
a straw1 to see a feather turn the      
scale1 or make it even  again2 and      
divides and subdivides a scruple to the 
smallest fraction4 ,he  unravels the web
 of argument and pieces it together     
again2 folds it up  and lays it aside1  
that he may examine it more at his      
leisure4 ,he hugs  indecision to his    
breast1 and takes home a modest doubt or
 a nice point  to solace himself with it
 in protracted1 luxurious dalliance4    
,delay  seems1 in his mind1 to be of the
 very essence of justice4 ,he no more   
hurries through a question than if no   
one was waiting for the result1  and he 
was merely a dilettanti1 fanciful judge1
 who played at my ,lord  ,chancellor1   
and busied himself with quibbles and    
punctilios as an idle  hobby and        
harmless illusion4 ,the phlegm of the   
,chancellor's disposition  gives one    
almost a surfeit of impartiality and    

candour3 we are sick  of the eternal    
poise of childish dilatoriness2 and     
would wish law and  justice to be       
decided at once by a cast of the dice   
7as they were in  ,rabelais7 rather than
 be kept in frivolous and tormenting    
suspense4 ,but  there is a limit even to
 this extreme refinement and            
scrupulousness  of the ,chancellor4 ,the
 understanding acts only in the absence 
of the  passions4 ,at the approach of   
the loadstone1 the needle trembles1 and 
points to it4 ,the air of a political   
question has a wonderful tendency  to   
brace and quicken the learned ,lord's   
faculties4 ,the breath of a court       
speedily oversets a thousand objections1
 and scatters the cobwebs of his  brain4
 ,the secret wish of power is a thumping
 make-weight1 where all  is so          
nicely-balanced beforehand4 ,in the case
 of a celebrated beauty and  heiress1   
and the brother of a ,noble ,lord1 the  
,chancellor hesitated long1  and went   
through the forms1 as usual3 but who    

ever doubted1 where all  this indecision
 would end8 ,no man in his senses1 for a
 single instant6  ,we shall not press   
this point1 which is rather a ticklish  
one4 ,some  persons thought that from   
entertaining a fellow-feeling on the    
subject1  the ,chancellor would have    
been ready to favour the                
,poet-,laureat's  application to the    
,court of ,chancery for an injunction   
against ,wat  ,tyler4 ,his ,lordship's  
sentiments on such points are not so    
variable1 he  has too much at stake4 ,he
 recollected the year #agid1 though ,mr4
 ,southey  had forgotten it6--    ,the  
personal always prevails over the       
intellectual1 where the latter is  not  
backed by strong feeling and principle4 
,where remote and speculative  objects  
do not excite a predominant interest and
 passion1 gross and  immediate ones are 
sure to carry the day1 even in ingenuous
 and  well-disposed minds4 ,the will    
yields necessarily to some motive or    
other2 and where the public good or     

distant consequences excite no  sympathy
 in the breast1 either from             
short-sightedness or an easiness of     
temperament that shrinks from any       
violent effort or painful emotion1      
self-interest1 indolence1 the opinion of
 others1 a desire to please1 the  sense 
of personal obligation1 come in and fill
 up the void of public  spirit1         
patriotism1 and humanity4 ,the best men 
in the world in their own  natural      
dispositions or in private life 7for    
this reason7 often become  the most     
dangerous public characters1 from their 
pliancy to the unruly  passions of      
others1 and from their having no set-off
 in strong moral  stamina to the        
temptations that are held out to them1  
if1 as is  frequently the case1 they are
 men of versatile talent or patient     
industry4--,lord ,eldon has one of the  
best-natured faces in the world2  it is 
pleasant to meet him in the street1     
plodding along with an  umbrella under  
his arm1 without one trace of pride1 of 

spleen1 or  discontent in his whole     
demeanour1 void of offence1 with almost 
rustic  simplicity and honesty of       
appearance--a man that makes friends at 
first  sight1 and could hardly make     
enemies1 if he would2 and whose only    
fault  is that he cannot say ,nay to    
power1 or subject himself to an unkind  
word or look from a ,king or a          
,minister4 ,he is a thorough-bred ,tory4
  ,others boggle or are at fault in     
their career1 or give back at a pinch1  
they split into different factions1 have
 various objects to distract  them1     
their private friendships or antipathies
 stand in their way2 but  he has never  
flinched1 never gone back1 never missed 
his way1 he is an  out-and-outer in this
 respect1 his allegiance has been       
without flaw1  like one entire and      
perfect chrysolite1 his implicit        
understanding is  a kind of             
taffeta-lining to the ,crown1 his       
servility has assumed an air  of the    
most determined independence1 and he has

      ,read his history in a ,prince's  
eyes6--    ,there has been no stretch of
 power attempted in his time that he has
 not  seconded3 no existing abuse1 so   
odious or so absurd1 that he has not    
sanctioned it4 ,he has gone the whole   
length of the most unpopular  designs of
 ,ministers4 ,when the heavy artillery  
of interest1 power1 and  prejudice is   
brought into the field1 the paper       
pellets of the brain go  for nothing3   
his labyrinth of nice1 lady-like doubts 
explodes like a  mine of gun-powder4    
,the ,chancellor may weigh and          
palter--the courtier  is decided1 the   
politician is firm1 and rivetted to his 
place in the  ,cabinet6 ,on all the     
great questions that have divided party 
opinion or  agitated the public mind1   
the ,chancellor has been found uniformly
 and  without a single exception on the 
side of prerogative and power1  and     
against every proposal for the          
advancement of freedom4 ,he was a       
strenuous supporter of the wars and     

coalitions against the principles of    
liberty abroad2 he has been equally     
zealous in urging or defending every    
act and infringement of the             
,constitution1 for abridging it at home3
 he  at the same time opposes every     
amelioration of the penal laws1 on the  
alleged ground of his abhorrence of even
 the shadow of innovation3 he  has      
studiously set his face against         
,catholic emancipation2 he laboured     
hard in his vocation to prevent the     
abolition of the ,slave ,trade2 he was  
,attorney ,general in the trials for    
,high ,treason in #agid2 and the other  
day in giving his opinion on the        
,queen's ,trial1 shed tears and         
protested  his innocence before ,god6   
,this was natural and to be expected2   
but  on all occasions he is to be found 
at his post1 true to the call of        
prejudice1 of power1 to the will of     
others and to his own interest4  ,in the
 whole of his public career1 and with   
all the goodness of his  disposition1 he

 has not shewn so small a drop of pity  
as a wren's eye4  ,he seems to be on his
 guard against every thing liberal and  
humane as  his weak side4 ,others relax 
in their obsequiousness either from     
satiety  or disgust1 or a hankering     
after popularity1 or a wish to be       
thought  above narrow prejudices4 ,the  
,chancellor alone is fixed and          
immoveable4  ,is it want of             
understanding or of principle8 ,no--it  
is want of  imagination1 a phlegmatic   
habit1 an excess of false complaisance  
and  good-nature 444 ,common humanity   
and justice are little better than vague
  terms to him3 he acts upon his        
immediate feelings and least irksome    
impulses4 ,the ,king's hand is velvet to
 the touch--the ,woolsack is a  seat of 
honour and profit6 ,that is all he knows
 about the matter4 ,as to  abstract     
metaphysical calculations1 the ox that  
stands staring at the  corner of the    
street troubles his head as much about  
them as he does3  yet this last is a    

very good sort of animal with no harm or
 malice in  him1 unless he is goaded on 
to mischief1 and then it is necessary to
  keep out of his way1 or warn others   
against him6    ,mr4 ,wilberforce is a  
less perfect character in his way4 ,he  
acts from  mixed motives4 ,he would     
willingly serve two masters1 ,god and   
,mammon4 ,he  is a person of many       
excellent and admirable qualifications1 
but he has  made a mistake in wishing to
 reconcile those that are incompatible4 
,he has a most winning eloquence1       
specious1 persuasive1 familiar1         
silver-tongued1 is amiable1 charitable1 
conscientious1 pious1 loyal1  humane1   
tractable to power1 accessible to       
popularity1 honouring the  king1 and no 
less charmed with the homage of his     
fellow-citizens4 ,what  lacks he then8  
,nothing but an economy of good parts4  
,by aiming at  too much1 he has spoiled 
all1 and neutralised what might have    
been an  estimable character1           
distinguished by signal services to     

mankind4 ,a  man must take his choice   
not only between virtue and vice1 but   
between  different virtues4 ,otherwise1 
he will not gain his own approbation1 or
  secure the respect of others4 ,the    
graces and accomplishments of private   
life mar the man of business and the    
statesman4 ,there is a severity1 a      
sternness1 a self-denial1 and a painful 
sense of duty required in  the one1     
which ill befits the softness and       
sweetness which should  characterise the
 other4 ,loyalty1 patriotism1           
friendship1 humanity1 are  all virtues2 
but may they not sometimes clash8 ,by   
being unwilling to  forego the praise   
due to any1 we may forfeit the          
reputation of all2 and  instead of      
uniting the suffrages of the whole world
 in our favour1 we  may end in becoming 
a sort of bye-word for affectation1     
cant1 hollow  professions1 trimming1    
fickleness1 and effeminate imbecility4  
,it is best  to choose and act up to    
some one leading character1 as it is    

best to  have some settled profession or
 regular pursuit in life4    ,we can    
readily believe that ,mr4 ,wilberforce's
 first object and principle  of action  
is to do what he thinks right3 his next 
7and that we fear is  of almost equal   
weight with the first7 is to do what    
will be thought so  by other people4 ,he
 is always at a game of hawk and buzzard
 between  these two3 his conscience will
 not budge1 unless the world goes with  
it4 ,he does not seem greatly to dread  
the denunciation in ,scripture1  but    
rather to court it--,woe unto you1 when 
all men shall speak well of  you6 ,we   
suspect he is not quite easy in his     
mind1 because ,west-,india  planters and
 ,guinea traders do not join in his     
praise4 ,his ears are not  strongly     
enough tuned to drink in the execrations
 of the spoiler and the  oppressor as   
the sweetest music4 ,it is not enough   
that one half of the  human species 7the
 images of ,god carved in ebony1 as old 
,fuller calls  them7 shout his name as a

 champion and a saviour through vast    
burning  zones1 and moisten their       
parched lips with the gush of gratitude 
for  deliverance from chains--he must   
have a ,prime-,minister drink his health
  at a ,cabinet-dinner for aiding to    
rivet on those of his country and  of   
,europe6 ,he goes hand and heart along  
with ,government in all their  notions  
of legitimacy and political             
aggrandizement1 in the hope that  they  
will leave him a sort of no-man's ground
 of humanity in the ,great  ,desert1    
where his reputation for benevolence and
 public spirit may  spring up and       
flourish1 till its head touches the     
clouds1 and it  stretches out its       
branches to the farthest part of the    
earth4 ,he has  no mercy on those who   
claim a property in negro-slaves as so  
much  live-stock on their estates2 the  
country rings with the applause of  his 
wit1 his eloquence1 and his indignant   
appeals to common sense and  humanity on
 this subject--but not a word has he to 

say1 not a whisper  does he breathe     
against the claim set up by the ,despots
 of the ,earth  over their ,continental 
subjects1 but does every thing in his   
power to  confirm and sanction it6 ,he  
must give no offence4 ,mr4              
,wilberforce's  humanity will go all    
lengths that it can with safety and     
discretion3 but  it is not to be        
supposed that it should lose him his    
seat for ,yorkshire1  the smile of      
,majesty1 or the countenance of the     
loyal and pious4 ,he is  anxious to do  
all the good he can without hurting     
himself or his fair  fame4 ,his         
conscience and his character compound   
matters very amicably4  ,he rather      
patronises honesty than is a martyr to  
it4 ,his patriotism1 his  philanthropy  
are not so ill-bred1 as to quarrel with 
his loyalty or to  banish him from the  
first circles4 ,he preaches vital       
,christianity to  untutored savages2 and
 tolerates its worst abuses in civilized
 states4  ,he thus shews his respect for

 religion without offending the clergy1 
or  circumscribing the sphere of his    
usefulness4 ,there is in all this an    
appearance of a good deal of cant and   
tricking4 ,his patriotism may  be       
accused of being servile2 his humanity  
ostentatious2 his loyalty  conditional2 
his religion a mixture of fashion and   
fanaticism4 ,out upon  such half-faced  
fellowship6 ,mr4 ,wilberforce has the   
pride of being  familiar with the great2
 the vanity of being popular2 the       
conceit of an  approving conscience4 ,he
 is coy in his approaches to power2 his 
public  spirit is1 in a manner1 under   
the rose4 ,he thus reaps the credit  of 
independence1 without the obloquy2 and  
secures the advantages of  servility1   
without incurring any obligations4 ,he  
has two strings to his  bow3--he by no  
means neglects his worldly interests1   
while he expects  a bright reversion in 
the skies4 ,mr4 ,wilberforce is far from
 being  a hypocrite2 but he is1 we      
think1 as fine a specimen of moral      

equivocation as can well be conceived4  
,a hypocrite is one who is the  very    
reverse of1 or who despises the         
character he pretends to be3 ,mr4       
,wilberforce would be all that he       
pretends to be1 and he is it in fact1   
as far as words1 plausible theories1    
good inclinations1 and easy  services   
go1 but not in heart and soul1 or so as 
to give up the  appearance of any one of
 his pretensions to preserve the reality
 of any  other4 ,he carefully chooses   
his ground to fight the battles of      
loyalty1 religion1 and humanity1 and it 
is such as is always safe and           
advantageous to himself6 ,this is       
perhaps hardly fair1 and it is of       
dangerous or doubtful tendency4 ,lord   
,eldon1 for instance1 is known to be  a 
thorough-paced ministerialist3 his      
opinion is only that of his party4  ,but
 ,mr4 ,wilberforce is not a party-man4  
,he is the more looked up to  on this   
account1 but not with sufficient reason4
 ,by tampering with  different          

temptations and personal projects1 he   
has all the air of the  most perfect    
independence1 and gains a character for 
impartiality and  candour1 when he is   
only striking a balance in his mind     
between the  clat of differing from a   
,minister on some 'vantage ground1 and  
the  risk or odium that may attend it4  
,he carries all the weight of his       
artificial popularity over to the       
,government on vital points and         
hard-run questions2 while they1 in      
return1 lend him a little of the        
gilding of court-favour to set off his  
disinterested philanthropy and          
tramontane enthusiasm4 ,as a leader or a
 follower1 he makes an odd jumble  of   
interests4 ,by virtue of religious      
sympathy1 he has brought the ,saints    
over to the side of the abolition of    
,negro slavery4 ,this his adversaries   
think hard and stealing a march upon    
them4 ,what have the ,,saints to do     
with freedom or reform of any           
kind8--,mr4 ,wilberforce's style of     

speaking is not quite parliamentary1 it 
is halfway between that and             
evangelical4 ,he is altogether a        
double-entendre3 the very tone of  his  
voice is a double-entendre4 ,it winds1  
and undulates1 and glides  up and down  
on texts of ,scripture1 and scraps from 
,paley1 and trite  sophistry1 and       
pathetic appeals to his hearers in a    
faltering1  inprogressive1 sidelong way1
 like those birds of weak wing1 that are
  borne from their strait-forward course
      ,by every little breath that under
 heaven is blown4    ,something of this 
fluctuating1 time-serving principle was 
visible even  in the great question of  
the ,abolition of the ,slave ,trade4 ,he
 was1 at  one time1 half inclined to    
surrender it into ,mr4 ,pitt's dilatory 
hands1  and seemed to think the gloss of
 novelty was gone from it1 and the gaudy
  colouring of popularity sunk into the 
sable ground from which it rose6  ,it   
was1 however1 persisted in and carried  
to a triumphant conclusion4  ,mr4       

,wilberforce said too little on this    
occasion of one1 compared with  whom he 
was but the frontispiece to that great  
chapter in the history of  the          
world--the mask1 the varnishing1 and    
painting--the man that effected  it by  
,herculean labours of body1 and equally 
gigantic labours of mind  was ,clarkson1
 the true ,apostle of human ,redemption 
on that occasion1 and  who1 it is       
remarkable1 resembles in his person and 
lineaments more than  one of the        
,apostles in the ,cartoons of ,raphael4 
,he deserves to be  added to the        
,twelve6,a      ,footnote ,a3 ,after    
all1 the best as well as most amusing   
comment on the  character just described
 was that made by ,sheridan1 who being  
picked up  in no very creditable plight 
by the watch1 and asked rather roughly  
who  he was1 made answer--,i am ,mr4    
,wilberforce6 ,the guardians of the     
night  conducted him home with all the  
honours due to ,grace and ,nature4      
99       99       99       99       99  

,,mr4 ,,southey4      ,mr4 ,southey1 as 
we formerly remember to have seen him1  
had a hectic  flush upon his cheek1 a   
roving fire in his eye1 a falcon glance1
 a look  at once aspiring and           
dejected--it was the look that had been 
impressed  upon his face by the events  
that marked the outset of his life1 it  
was  the dawn of ,liberty that still    
tinged his cheek1 a smile betwixt hope  
and sadness that still played upon his  
quivering lip4 ,mr4 ,southey's mind  is 
essentially sanguine1 even to           
over-weeningness4 ,it is prophetic of   
good2 it cordially embraces it2 it casts
 a longing1 lingering look after  it1   
even when it is gone for ever4 ,he      
cannot bear to give up the thought  of  
happiness1 his confidence in his        
fellow-man1 when all else despair4  ,it 
is the very element1 where he must live 
or have no life at all4  ,while he      
supposed it possible that a better form 
of society could be  introduced than any
 that had hitherto existed1 while the   

light of the  ,french ,revolution beamed
 into his soul 7and long after1 it was  
seen  reflected on his brow1 like the   
light of setting suns on the peak of    
some high mountain1 or lonely range of  
clouds1 floating in purer ether67  while
 he had this hope1 this faith in man    
left1 he cherished it with  child-like  
simplicity1 he clung to it with the     
fondness of a lover1 he  was an         
enthusiast1 a fanatic1 a leveller2 he   
stuck at nothing that  he thought would 
banish all pain and misery from the     
world--in his  impatience of the        
smallest error or injustice1 he would   
have sacrificed  himself and the        
existing generation 7a holocaust7 to his
 devotion to the  right cause4 ,but when
 he once believed after many staggering 
doubts and  painful struggles1 that this
 was no longer possible1 when his       
chimeras  and golden dreams of human    
perfectibility vanished from him1 he    
turned  suddenly round1 and maintained  
that whatever is1 is right4 ,mr4        

,southey has not fortitude of mind1 has 
not patience to think that evil  is     
inseparable from the nature of things4  
,his irritable sense rejects  the       
alternative altogether1 as a weak       
stomach rejects the food that  is       
distasteful to it4 ,he hopes on against 
hope1 he believes in all  unbelief4 ,he 
must either repose on actual or on      
imaginary good4 ,he  missed his way in  
,utopia1 he has found it at ,old        
,sarum--      ,his generous ardour no   
cold medium knows3    his eagerness     
admits of no doubt or delay4 ,he is ever
 in extremes1 and  ever in the wrong6   
,the reason is1 that not truth1 but     
self-opinion is the ruling principle  of
 ,mr4 ,southey's mind4 ,the charm of    
novelty1 the applause of the  multitude1
 the sanction of power1 the             
venerableness of antiquity1 pique1      
resentment1 the spirit of contradiction 
have a good deal to do with his         
preferences4 ,his inquiries are partial 
and hasty3 his conclusions raw  and     

unconcocted1 and with a considerable    
infusion of whim and humour and  a      
monkish spleen4 ,his opinions are like  
certain wines1 warm and generous  when  
new2 but they will not keep1 and soon   
turn flat or sour1 for want  of a       
stronger spirit of the understanding to 
give a body to them4 ,he  wooed ,liberty
 as a youthful lover1 but it was perhaps
 more as a mistress  than a bride2 and  
he has since wedded with an elderly and 
not very  reputable lady1 called        
,legitimacy4 ,a wilful man1 according to
 the  ,scotch proverb1 must have his    
way4 ,if it were the cause to which he  
was sincerely attached1 he would adhere 
to it through good report and  evil     
report2 but it is himself to whom he    
does homage1 and would have  others do  
so2 and he therefore changes sides1     
rather than submit to  apparent defeat  
or temporary mortification4 ,abstract   
principle has  no rule but the          
understood distinction between right and
 wrong2 the  indulgence of vanity1 of   

caprice1 or prejudice is regulated by   
the  convenience or bias of the moment4 
,the temperament of our politician's    
mind is poetical1 not philosophical4 ,he
 is more the creature of impulse1  than 
he is of reflection4 ,he invents the    
unreal1 he embellishes the  false with  
the glosses of fancy1 but pays little   
attention to the words  of truth and    
soberness4 ,his impressions are         
accidental1 immediate1  personal1       
instead of being permanent and          
universal4 ,of all mortals he is  surely
 the most impatient of contradiction1   
even when he has completely  turned the 
tables on himself4 ,is not this very    
inconsistency the reason8  ,is he not   
tenacious of his opinions1 in proportion
 as they are brittle  and hastily       
formed8 ,is he not jealous of the       
grounds of his belief1  because he fears
 they will not bear inspection1 or is   
conscious he  has shifted them8 ,does he
 not confine others to the strict line  
of  orthodoxy1 because he has himself   

taken every liberty8 ,is he not afraid  
to look to the right or the left1 lest  
he should see the ghosts of his  former 
extravagances staring him in the face8  
,does he not refuse to  tolerate the    
smallest shade of difference in others1 
because he feels  that he wants the     
utmost latitude of construction for     
differing so  widely from himself8 ,is  
he not captious1 dogmatical1 petulant in
  delivering his sentiments1 according  
as he has been inconsistent1  rash1 and 
fanciful in adopting them8 ,he maintains
 that there can be no  possible ground  
for differing from him1 because he looks
 only at his  own side of the question6 
,he sets up his own favourite notions as
 the  standard of reason and honesty1   
because he has changed from one extreme 
to another6 ,he treats his opponents    
with contempt1 because he is himself    
afraid of meeting with disrespect6 ,he  
says that a ,reformer is a worse        
character than a house-breaker1 in order
 to stifle the recollection  that he    

himself once was one6    ,we must say   
that we relish ,mr4 ,southey more in the
 ,reformer than in  his lately acquired1
 but by no means natural or becoming    
character of  poet-laureat and courtier4
 ,he may rest assured that a garland of 
wild  flowers suits him better than the 
laureat-wreath3 that his pastoral odes  
and popular inscriptions were far more  
adapted to his genius than  his         
presentation-poems4 ,he is nothing akin 
to birth-day suits and  drawing-room    
fopperies4 ,he is nothing1 if not       
fantastical4 ,in his  figure1 in his    
movements1 in his sentiments1 he is     
sharp and angular1  quaint and          
eccentric4 ,mr4 ,southey is not of the  
court1 courtly4 ,every  thing of him and
 about him is from the people4 ,he is   
not classical1 he  is not legitimate4   
,he is not a man cast in the mould of   
other men's  opinions3 he is not shaped 
on any model3 he bows to no authority3  
he  yields only to his own wayward      
peculiarities4 ,he is wild1 irregular1  

singular1 extreme4 ,he is no formalist1 
not he6 ,all is crude and chaotic1      
self-opinionated1 vain4 ,he wants       
proportion1 keeping1 system1 standard   
rules4 ,he is not teres et rotundus4    
,mr4 ,southey walks with his chin  erect
 through the streets of ,london1 and    
with an umbrella sticking out  under his
 arm1 in the finest weather4 ,he has not
 sacrificed to the  ,graces1 nor studied
 decorum4 ,with him every thing is      
projecting1  starting from its place1 an
 episode1 a digression1 a poetic        
license4 ,he  does not move in any given
 orbit1 but like a falling star1 shoots 
from  his sphere4 ,he is pragmatical1   
restless1 unfixed1 full of experiments1 
beginning every thing a-new1 wiser than 
his betters1 judging for  himself1      
dictating to others4 ,he is decidedly   
revolutionary4 ,he may  have given up   
the reform of the ,state3 but depend    
upon it1 he has some  other hobby of the
 same kind4 ,does he not dedicate to his
 present  ,majesty that extraordinary   

poem on the death of his father1 called 
,the  ,vision of ,judgment1 as a        
specimen of what might be done in       
,english  hexameters8 ,in a court-poem  
all should be trite and on an approved  
model4 ,he might as well have presented 
himself at the levee in a fancy  or     
masquerade dress4 ,mr4 ,southey was not 
to try conclusions with  ,majesty--still
 less on such an occasion4 ,the extreme 
freedoms with  departed greatness1 the  
party-petulance carried to the ,throne  
of  ,grace1 the unchecked indulgence of 
private humour1 the assumption of       
infallibility and even of the voice of  
,heaven in this poem1 are pointed       
instances of what we have said4 ,they   
shew the singular state of              
over-excitement of ,mr4 ,southey's mind1
 and the force of old habits of         
independent and unbridled thinking1     
which cannot be kept down even  in      
addressing his ,sovereign6 ,look at ,mr4
 ,southey's larger poems1 his  ,kehama1 
his ,thalaba1 his ,madoc1 his ,roderic4 

,who will deny the  spirit1 the scope1  
the splendid imagery1 the hurried and   
startling  interest that pervades them8 
,who will say that they are not         
sustained on  fictions wilder than his  
own ,glendoveer1 that they are not the  
daring  creations of a mind curbed by no
 law1 tamed by no fear1 that they are   
not rather like the trances than the    
waking dreams of genius1 that  they are 
not the very paradoxes of poetry8 ,all  
this is very well1 very  intelligible1  
and very harmless1 if we regard the rank
 excrescences of  ,mr4 ,southey's       
poetry1 like the red and blue flowers in
 corn1 as the  unweeded growth of a     
luxuriant and wandering fancy2 or if we 
allow  the yeasty workings of an ardent 
spirit to ferment and boil over--the    
variety1 the boldness1 the lively       
stimulus given to the mind may then     
atone for the violation of rules and the
 offences to bed-rid authority2  but not
 if our poetic libertine sets up for a  
law-giver and judge1 or an  apprehender 

of vagrants in the regions either of    
taste or opinion4 ,our  motley gentleman
 deserves the strait-waistcoat1 if he is
 for setting  others in the stocks of   
servility1 or condemning them to the    
pillory  for a new mode of rhyme or     
reason4 ,or if a composer of sacred     
,dramas on  classic models1 or a        
translator of an old ,latin author 7that
 will hardly  bear translation7 or a    
vamper-up of vapid cantos and ,odes set 
to music1  were to turn pander to       
prescription and palliater of every     
dull1  incorrigible abuse1 it would not 
be much to be wondered at or even       
regretted4 ,but in ,mr4 ,southey it was 
a lamentable falling-off4 ,it is  indeed
 to be deplored1 it is a stain on       
genius1 a blow to humanity1 that  the   
author of ,joan of ,arc--that work in   
which the love of ,liberty is  exhaled  
like the breath of spring1 mild1 balmy1 
heaven-born1 that is  full of tears and 
virgin-sighs1 and yearnings of affection
 after truth  and good1 gushing warm and

 crimsoned from the heart--should ever  
after  turn to folly1 or become the     
advocate of a rotten cause4 ,after      
giving up  his heart to that subject1 he
 ought not 7whatever others might do7   
ever  to have set his foot within the   
threshold of a court4 ,he might be sure 
that he would not gain forgiveness or   
favour by it1 nor obtain a single       
cordial smile from greatness4 ,all that 
,mr4 ,southey is or that he does  best1 
is independent1 spontaneous1 free as the
 vital air he draws--when  he affects   
the courtier or the sophist1 he is      
obliged to put a  constraint upon       
himself1 to hold in his breath1 he loses
 his genius1  and offers a violence to  
his nature4 ,his characteristic faults  
are the  excess of a lively1 unguarded  
temperament3--oh6 let them not          
degenerate  into cold-blooded1 heartless
 vices6 ,if we speak or have ever spoken
 of  ,mr4 ,southey with severity1 it is 
with the malice of old friends1 for  we 
count ourselves among his sincerest and 

heartiest well-wishers4 ,but  while he  
himself is anomalous1 incalculable1     
eccentric1 from youth to  age 7the ,wat 
,tyler and the ,vision of ,judgment are 
the ,alpha  and ,omega of his disjointed
 career7 full of sallies of humour1 of  
ebullitions of spleen1 making           
jets-d'eaux1 cascades1 fountains1 and   
water-works of his idle opinions1 he    
would shut up the wits of others in     
leaden cisterns1 to stagnate and        
corrupt1 or bury them under ground--    
,far from the sun and summer gale6      
,he would suppress the freedom of wit   
and humour1 of which he has set the     
example1 and claim a privilege for      
playing antics4 ,he would introduce an  
uniformity of intellectual weights and  
measures1 of irregular metres and       
settled opinions1 and enforce it with a 
high hand4 ,this has been judged  hard  
by some1 and has brought down a severity
 of recrimination1 perhaps              
disproportioned to the injury done4     
,because he is virtuous1 7it has  been  

asked17 are there to be no more cakes   
and ale8 ,because he is  loyal1 are we  
to take all our notions from the        
,quarterly ,review8  ,because he is     
orthodox1 are we to do nothing but read 
the ,book of the  ,church8 ,we declare  
we think his former poetical scepticism 
was not only  more amiable1 but had more
 of the spirit of religion in it1       
implied a  more heartfelt trust in      
nature and providence than his present  
bigotry4  ,we are at the same time free 
to declare that we think his articles in
  the ,quarterly ,review1               
notwithstanding their virulence and the 
talent  they display1 have a tendency to
 qualify its most pernicious effects4   
,they have redeeming traits in them4 ,a 
little leaven leaveneth the whole  lump3
 and the spirit of humanity 7thanks to  
,mr4 ,southey7 is not quite  expelled   
from the ,quarterly ,review4 ,at the    
corner of his pen1 there  hangs a       
vapourous drop profound of independence 
and liberality1 which  falls upon its   

pages1 and oozes out through the pores  
of the public  mind4 ,there is a        
fortunate difference between writers    
whose hearts are  naturally callous to  
truth1 and whose understandings are     
hermetically  sealed against all        
impressions but those of self-interest1 
and a man  like ,mr4 ,southey4 ,once a  
philanthropist and always a             
philanthropist4  ,no man can entirely   
baulk his nature3 it breaks out in spite
 of him4  ,in all those questions1 where
 the spirit of contradiction does not   
interfere1 on which he is not sore from 
old bruises1 or sick from the           
extravagance of youthful intoxication1  
as from a last night's debauch1  our    
laureate is still bold1 free1 candid1   
open to conviction1 a  reformist without
 knowing it4 ,he does not advocate the  
slave-trade1 he  does not arm ,mr4      
,malthus's revolting ratios with his    
authority1 he does  not strain hard to  
deluge ,ireland with blood4 ,on such    
points1 where  humanity has not become  

obnoxious1 where liberty has not passed 
into a  by-word1 ,mr4 ,southey is still 
liberal and humane4 ,the elasticity of  
his  spirit is unbroken3 the bow recoils
 to its old position4 ,he still stands  
convicted of his early passion for      
inquiry and improvement4 ,he was not    
regularly articled as a                 
,government-tool6--,perhaps the most    
pleasing and  striking of all ,mr4      
,southey's poems are not his triumphant 
taunts hurled  against oppression1 are  
not his glowing effusions to ,liberty1  
but  those in which1 with a mild        
melancholy1 he seems conscious of his   
own  infirmities of temper1 and to feel 
a wish to correct by thought and  time  
the precocity and sharpness of his      
disposition4 ,may the quaint but        
affecting aspiration expressed in one of
 these be fulfilled1 that as  he mellows
 into maturer age1 all such asperities  
may wear off1 and he  himself become    
,like the high leaves upon the          
holly-tree6    ,mr4 ,southey's          

prose-style can scarcely be too much    
praised4 ,it is plain1  clear1 pointed1 
familiar1 perfectly modern in its       
texture1 but with  a grave and sparkling
 admixture of archaisms in its ornaments
 and  occasional phraseology4 ,he is the
 best and most natural prose-writer of  
any poet of the day2 we mean that he is 
far better than ,lord ,byron1  ,mr4     
,wordsworth1 or ,mr4 ,coleridge1 for    
instance4 ,the manner is perhaps        
superior to the matter1 that is1 in his 
,essays and ,reviews4 ,there is  rather 
a want of originality and even of       
impetus3 but there is no want  of       
playful or biting satire1 of ingenuity1 
of casuistry1 of    learning and of     
information4 ,he is full of wise saws   
and modern 7as  well as ancient7        
instances4 ,mr4 ,southey may not always 
convince his  opponents2 but he seldom  
fails to stagger1 never to gall them4   
,in a  word1 we may describe his style  
by saying that it has not the body or   
thickness of port wine1 but is like     

clear sherry with kernels of  old       
authors thrown into it6--,he also excels
 as an historian and  prose-translator4 
,his histories abound in information1   
and exhibit  proofs of the most         
indefatigable patience and industry4 ,by
 no uncommon  process of the mind1 ,mr4 
,southey seems willing to steady the    
extreme  levity of his opinions and     
feelings by an appeal to facts4 ,his    
translations of the ,spanish and ,french
 romances are also executed con  amore1 
and with the literal fidelity and care  
of a mere linguist4 ,that  of the ,cid1 
in particular1 is a masterpiece4 ,not a 
word could be  altered for the better1  
in the old scriptural style which it    
adopts in  conformity to the original4  
,it is no less interesting in itself1 or
 as a  record of high and chivalrous    
feelings and manners1 than it is worthy 
of  perusal as a literary curiosity4    
,mr4 ,southey's conversation has a      
little resemblance to a common-place    
book2 his habitual deportment to a piece

 of clock-work4 ,he is not  remarkable  
either as a reasoner or an observer3 but
 he is quick1  unaffected1 replete with 
anecdote1 various and retentive in his  
reading1  and exceedingly happy in his  
play upon words1 as most scholars are   
who  give their minds this sportive     
turn4 ,we have chiefly seen ,mr4        
,southey  in company where few people   
appear to advantage1 we mean in that of 
,mr4  ,coleridge4 ,he has not certainly 
the same range of speculation1 nor  the 
same flow of sounding words1 but he     
makes up by the details of  knowledge1  
and by a scrupulous correctness of      
statement for what he  wants in         
originality of thought1 or impetuous    
declamation4 ,the tones of  ,mr4        
,coleridge's voice are eloquence3 those 
of ,mr4 ,southey are meagre1  shrill1   
and dry4 ,mr4 ,coleridge's forte is     
conversation1 and he is  conscious of   
this3 ,mr4 ,southey evidently considers 
writing as his  strong-hold1 and if     
gravelled in an argument1 or at a loss  

for an  explanation1 refers to something
 he has written on the subject1 or      
brings out his port-folio1 doubled down 
in dog-ears1 in confirmation of  some   
fact4 ,he is scholastic and professional
 in his ideas4 ,he sets more  value on  
what he writes than on what he says3 he 
is perhaps prouder of  his library than 
of his own productions--themselves a    
library6 ,he is  more simple in his     
manners than his friend ,mr4 ,coleridge2
 but at the  same time less cordial or  
conciliating4 ,he is less vain1 or has  
less  hope of pleasing1 and therefore   
lays himself less out to please4 ,there 
is an air of condescension in his       
civility4 ,with a tall1 loose figure1 a 
peaked austerity of countenance1 and no 
inclination to embonpoint1  you would   
say he has something puritanical1       
something ascetic in his  appearance4   
,he answers to ,mandeville's description
 of ,addison1 a parson  in a tye-wig4   
,he is not a boon companion1 nor does he
 indulge in the  pleasures of the table1

 nor in any other vice2 nor are we aware
 that ,mr4  ,southey is chargeable with 
any human frailty but--want of charity6 
,having fewer errors to plead guilty to1
 he is less lenient to those of  others4
 ,he was born an age too late4 ,had he  
lived a century or two ago1  he would   
have been a happy as well as blameless  
character4 ,but the  distraction of the 
time has unsettled him1 and the         
multiplicity of his  pretensions have   
jostled with each other4 ,no man in our 
day 7at least no  man of genius7 has led
 so uniformly and entirely the life of a
 scholar  from boyhood to the present   
hour1 devoting himself to learning with 
the enthusiasm of an early love1 with   
the severity and constancy of a         
religious vow--and well would it have   
been for him if he had confined  himself
 to this1 and not undertaken to pull    
down or to patch up the  ,state6        
,however irregular in his opinions1 ,mr4
 ,southey is constant1  unremitting1    
mechanical in his studies1 and the      

performance of his  duties4 ,there is   
nothing ,pindaric or ,shandean here4 ,in
 all the relations  and charities of    
private life1 he is correct1 exemplary1 
generous1 just4  ,we never heard a      
single impropriety laid to his charge2  
and if he has  many enemies1 few men can
 boast more numerous or stauncher       
friends4--,the  variety and piquancy of 
his writings form a striking contrast to
 the  mode in which they are produced4  
,he rises early1 and writes or reads    
till breakfast-time4 ,he writes or reads
 after breakfast till dinner1  after    
dinner till tea1 and from tea till      
bed-time--      ,and follows so the     
ever-running year    ,with profitable   
labour to his grave--    on ,derwent's  
banks1 beneath the foot of ,skiddaw4    
,study serves him for  business1        
exercise1 recreation4 ,he passes from   
verse to prose1 from  history to poetry1
 from reading to writing1 by a          
stop-watch4 ,he writes a  fair hand1    
without blots1 sitting upright in his   

chair1 leaves off when  he comes to the 
bottom of the page1 and changes the     
subject for another1  as opposite as the
 ,antipodes4 ,his mind is after all     
rather the recipient  and transmitter of
 knowledge1 than the originator of it4  
,he has hardly  grasp of thought enough 
to arrive at any great leading truth4   
,his  passions do not amount to more    
than irritability4 ,with some gall in   
his  pen1 and coldness in his manner1 he
 has a great deal of kindness in his    
heart4 ,rash in his opinions1 he is     
steady in his attachments--and is a     
man1 in many particulars admirable1 in  
all respectable--his political          
inconsistency alone excepted6           
99       99       99       99       99  
,,mr4 ,t4 ,,moore4--,,mr4 ,,leigh       
,,hunt4        ,or winglet of the fairy 
humming-bird1    ,like atoms of the     
rainbow fluttering round4               
,,campbell4    ,the lines placed at the 
head of this sketch1 from a contemporary
 writer1  appear to us very descriptive 

of ,mr4 ,moore's poetry4 ,his verse is  
like  a shower of beauty2 a dance of    
images2 a stream of music2 or like the  
spray of the water-fall1 tinged by the  
morning-beam with rosy light4  ,the     
characteristic distinction of our       
author's style is this continuous  and  
incessant flow of voluptuous thoughts   
and shining allusions4 ,he  ought to    
write with a crystal pen on silver      
paper4 ,his subject is set  off by a    
dazzling veil of poetic diction1 like a 
wreath of flowers  gemmed with          
innumerous dewdrops1 that weep1 tremble1
 and glitter in  liquid softness and    
pearly light1 while the song of birds   
ravishes  the ear1 and languid odours   
breathe around1 and ,aurora opens       
,heaven's  smiling portals1 ,peris and  
nymphs peep through the golden glades1  
and an  ,angel's wing glances over the  
glossy scene4      ,no dainty flower or 
herb that grows on ground1    ,no       
arboret with painted blossoms drest1    
,and smelling sweet1 but there it might 

be found    ,to bud out fair1 and its   
sweet smells throw all around4      ,no 
tree1 whose branches did not bravely    
spring2    ,no branch1 whereon a fine   
bird did not sit2    ,no bird1 but did  
her shrill notes sweetly sing2    ,no   
song1 but did contain a lovely dit3     
,trees1 branches1 birds1 and songs were 
framed fit    ,for to allure frail minds
 to careless ease44444    ,mr4          
,campbell's imagination is fastidious   
and select2 and hence1 though  we meet  
with more exquisite beauties in his     
writings1 we meet with  them more       
rarely3 there is comparatively a dearth 
of ornament4 ,but ,mr4  ,moore's        
strictest economy is wasteful and       
superfluous excess3 he is  always       
liberal1 and never at a loss2 for sooner
 than not stimulate and  delight the    
reader1 he is willing to be tawdry1 or  
superficial1 or  common-place4 ,his     
,muse must be fine at any rate1 though  
she should  paint1 and wear cast-off    
decorations4 ,rather than have any lack 

of  excitement1 he repeats himself2 and 
,eden1 and ,eblis1 and cherub-smiles    
fill up the pauses of the sentiment with
 a sickly monotony4--,it has been  too  
much our author's object to pander to   
the artificial taste of the  age2 and   
his productions1 however brilliant and  
agreeable1 are in  consequence somewhat 
meretricious and effeminate4 ,it was    
thought  formerly enough to have an     
occasionally fine passage in the        
progress of  a story or a poem1 and an  
occasionally striking image or          
expression in  a fine passage or        
description4 ,but this style1 it seems1 
was to be  exploded as rude1 ,gothic1   
meagre1 and dry4 ,now all must be raised
 to  the same tantalising and           
preposterous level4 ,there must be no   
pause1 no  interval1 no repose1 no      
gradation4 ,simplicity and truth yield  
up the  palm to affectation and grimace4
 ,the craving of the public mind after  
novelty and effect is a false and uneasy
 appetite that must be pampered  with   

fine words at every step--we must be    
tickled with sound1 startled  with shew1
 and relieved by the importunate1       
uninterrupted display of  fancy and     
verbal tinsel as much as possible from  
the fatigue of thought  or shock of     
feeling4 ,a poem is to resemble an      
exhibition of fireworks1  with a        
continual explosion of quaint figures   
and devices1 flash after  flash1 that   
surprise for the moment1 and leave no   
trace of light or  warmth behind them4  
,or modern poetry in its retrograde     
progress comes at  last to be           
constructed on the principles of the    
modern ,,opera1 where an  attempt is    
made to gratify every sense at every    
instant1 and where the  understanding   
alone is insulted and the heart mocked4 
,it is in this  view only that we can   
discover that ,mr4 ,moore's poetry is   
vitiated or  immoral1--it seduces the   
taste and enervates the imagination4 ,it
 creates  a false standard of reference1
 and inverts or decompounds the natural 

order of association1 in which objects  
strike the thoughts and feelings4  ,his 
is the poetry of the bath1 of the       
toilette1 of the saloon1 of the         
fashionable world2 not the poetry of    
nature1 of the heart1 or of human  life4
 ,he stunts and enfeebles equally the   
growth of the imagination and  the      
affections1 by not taking the seed of   
poetry and sowing it in the  ground of  
truth1 and letting it expand in the dew 
and rain1 and shoot up  to heaven1      
,and spread its sweet leaves to the air1
    ,or dedicate its beauty to the      
sun1--    instead of which he           
anticipates and defeats his own object1 
by plucking  flowers and blossoms from  
the stem1 and setting them in the ground
 of  idleness and folly--or in the cap  
of his own vanity1 where they soon      
wither and disappear1 dying or ere they 
sicken6 ,this is but a sort  of child's 
play1 a short-sighted ambition4 ,in     
,milton we meet with many  prosaic      
lines1 either because the subject does  

not require raising or  because they are
 necessary to connect the story1 or     
serve as a relief to  other             
passages--there is not such a thing to  
be found in all ,mr4 ,moore's  writings4
 ,his volumes present us with a         
perpetual feast of nectar'd  sweets--but
 we cannot add1--where no crude surfeit 
reigns4 ,he indeed  cloys with          
sweetness2 he obscures with splendour2  
he fatigues with  gaiety4 ,we are       
stifled on beds of roses--we literally  
lie on the rack  of restless ecstacy4   
,his flowery fancy looks so fair and    
smells so  sweet1 that the sense aches  
at it4 ,his verse droops and languishes 
under a load of beauty1 like a bough    
laden with fruit4 ,his gorgeous  style  
is like another morn risen on mid-noon4 
,there is no passage  that is not made  
up of blushing lines1 no line that is   
not enriched with  a sparkling metaphor1
 no image that is left unadorned with a 
double  epithet--all his verbs1 nouns1  
adjectives1 are equally glossy1 smooth1 

and beautiful4 ,every stanza is         
transparent with light1 perfumed with   
odours1 floating in liquid harmony1     
melting in luxurious1 evanescent        
delights4 ,his ,muse is never contented 
with an offering from one sense  alone1 
but brings another rifled charm to match
 it1 and revels in  a fairy round of    
pleasure4 ,the interest is not dramatic1
 but  melo-dramatic--it is a mixture of 
painting1 poetry1 and music1 of the     
natural and preternatural1 of obvious   
sentiment and romantic costume4 ,a  rose
 is a ,gul1 a nightingale a ,bulbul4 ,we
 might fancy ourselves in  an eastern   
harem1 amidst ,ottomans1 and otto of    
roses1 and veils and  spangles1 and     
marble pillars1 and cool fountains1 and 
,arab maids and  ,genii1 and magicians1 
and ,peris1 and cherubs1 and what not8  
,mr4 ,moore  has a little mistaken the  
art of poetry for the cosmetic art4 ,he 
does  not compose an historic group1 or 
work out a single figure2 but throws  a 
variety of elementary sensations1 of    

vivid impressions together1 and  calls  
it a description4 ,he makes out an      
inventory of beauty--the smile  on the  
lips1 the dimple on the cheeks1 item1   
golden locks1 item1 a  pair of blue     
wings1 item1 a silver sound1 with       
breathing fragrance and  radiant light1 
and thinks it a character or a story4   
,he gets together a  number of fine     
things and fine names1 and thinks that1 
flung on heaps1  they make up a fine    
poem4 ,this dissipated1 fulsome1        
painted1 patch-work  style may succeed  
in the levity and languor of the        
boudoir1 or might  have been adapted to 
the ,pavilions of royalty1 but it is not
 the style  of ,parnassus1 nor a        
passport to ,immortality4 ,it is not the
 taste of the  ancients1 'tis not       
classical lore--nor the fashion of      
,tibullus1 or  ,theocritus1 or          
,anacreon1 or ,virgil1 or ,ariosto1 or  
,pope1 or ,byron1 or  any great writer  
among the living or the dead1 but it is 
the style of  our ,english ,anacreon1   

and it is 7or was7 the fashion of the   
day6 ,let one  example 7and that an     
admired one7 taken from ,lalla ,rookh1  
suffice to  explain the mystery and     
soften the harshness of the foregoing   
criticism4      ,now upon ,syria's land 
of roses    ,softly the light of eve    
reposes1    ,and like a glory1 the broad
 sun    ,hangs over sainted ,lebanon3   
,whose head in wintry grandeur towers1  
,and whitens with eternal sleet1        
,while summer1 in a vale of flowers1    
,is sleeping rosy at his feet4    ,to   
one who look'd from upper air1    ,o'er 
all th' enchanted regions there1    ,how
 beauteous must have been the glow1     
,the life1 the sparkling from below6    
,fair gardens1 shining streams1 with    
ranks    ,of golden melons on their     
banks1    ,more golden where the        
sun-light falls1--    ,gay lizards1     
glittering on the walls    ,of ruin'd   
shrines1 busy and bright    ,as they    
were all alive with light2--    ,and yet
 more splendid1 numerous flocks    ,of  

pigeons1 settling on the rocks1    ,with
 their rich1 restless wings1 that gleam 
,variously in the crimson beam    ,of   
the warm west1 as if inlaid    ,with    
brilliants from the mine1 or made    ,of
 tearless rainbows1 such as span    ,the
 unclouded skies of ,peristan6    ,and  
then1 the mingling sounds that come     
,of shepherd's ancient reed1 with hum   
,of the wild bees of ,palestine1        
,banquetting through the flowery vales--
    ,and1 ,jordan1 those sweet banks of 
thine1    ,and woods1 so full of        
nightingales4--    ,the following lines 
are the very perfection of ,della       
,cruscan sentiment1  and affected       
orientalism of style4 ,the ,peri        
exclaims on finding that old  talisman  
and hackneyed poetical machine1 a       
penitent tear--      ,joy1 joy forever6 
my task is done--    ,the gates are     
pass'd1 and ,heaven is won6    ,oh6 am  
,i not happy8 ,i am1 ,i am--    ,to     
thee1 sweet ,eden6 how dark and sad     
,are the diamond turrets of ,shadukiam1 

,and the fragrant bowers of ,amberabad4 
,there is in all this a play of fancy1 a
 glitter of words1 a shallowness  of    
thought1 and a want of truth and        
solidity that is wonderful1 and  that   
nothing but the heedless1 rapid glide of
 the verse could render                 
tolerable3----it seems that the poet1 as
 well as the lover1      ,may bestride  
the ,gossamer1    ,that wantons in the  
idle1 summer air1    ,and yet not fall1 
so light is vanity6    ,mr4 ,moore ought
 not to contend with serious            
difficulties or with entire  subjects4  
,he can write verses1 not a poem4 ,there
 is no principle of  massing or of      
continuity in his productions--neither  
height nor breadth  nor depth of        
capacity4 ,there is no truth of         
representation1 no strong  internal     
feeling--but a continual flutter and    
display of affected airs  and graces1   
like a finished coquette1 who hides the 
want of symmetry by  extravagance of    
dress1 and the want of passion by       

flippant forwardness  and unmeaning     
sentimentality4 ,all is flimsy1 all is  
florid to excess4  ,his imagination may 
dally with insect beauties1 with        
,rosicrucian spells2  may describe a    
butterfly's wing1 a flower-pot1 a fan3  
but it should not  attempt to span the  
great outlines of nature1 or keep pace  
with the  sounding march of events1 or  
grapple with the strong fibres of the   
human  heart4 ,the great becomes turgid 
in his hands1 the pathetic insipid4 ,if 
,mr4 ,moore were to describe the heights
 of ,chimboraco1 instead of the         
loneliness1 the vastness and the shadowy
 might1 he would only think  of adorning
 it with roseate tints1 like a          
strawberry-ice1 and would  transform a  
magician's fortress in the ,himmalaya   
7stripped of its  mysterious gloom and  
frowning horrors7 into a jeweller's toy1
 to be set  upon a lady's toilette4 ,in 
proof of this1 see above the diamond    
turrets  of ,shadukiam1 c4 ,the         
description of ,mokanna in the fight1   

though  it has spirit and grandeur of   
effect1 has still a great alloy of the  
mock-heroic in it4 ,the route of blood  
and death1 which is otherwise well      
marked1 is infested with a swarm of     
fire-fly fancies4      ,in vain         
,mokanna1 'midst the general flight1    
,stands1 like the red moon1 in some     
stormy night4    ,among the fugitive    
clouds1 that hurrying by1    ,leave only
 her unshaken in the sky4    ,this      
simile is fine1 and would have been     
perfect1 but that the moon is  not red1 
and that she seems to hurry by the      
clouds1 not they by her4 ,the           
description of the warrior's youthful   
adversary1     ----,whose coming seems  
,a light1 a glory1 such as breaks in    
dreams4--    is fantastic and           
enervated--a field of battle has nothing
 to do with  dreams3--and again1 the two
 lines immediately after1      ,and     
every sword1 true as o'er billows dim   
,the needle tracks the load-star1       
following him--    are a mere piece of  

enigmatical ingenuity and scientific    
mimminee-pimminee4    ,we cannot except 
the ,irish ,melodies from the same      
censure4 ,if these  national airs do    
indeed express the soul of impassioned  
feeling in his  countrymen1 the case of 
,ireland is hopeless4 ,if these         
prettinesses pass  for patriotism1 if a 
country can heave from its heart's core 
only these  vapid1 varnished sentiments1
 lip-deep1 and let its tears of blood   
evaporate in an empty conceit1 let it be
 governed as it has been4 ,there  are   
here no tones to waken ,liberty1 to     
console ,humanity4 ,mr4 ,moore  converts
 the wild harp of ,erin into a musical  
snuff-box,a6--,we do  except from this  
censure the author's political squibs1  
and the ,two-  penny ,post-bag4 ,these  
are essences1 are nests of spicery1     
bitter and  sweet1 honey and gall       
together4 ,no one can so well describe  
the set  speech of a dull formalist,b1  
or the flowing locks of a ,dowager1     
,in the manner of ,ackermann's dresses  

for ,may4    ,his light1 agreeable1     
polished style pierces through the body 
of the  court--hits off the faded graces
 of an ,adonis of fifty1 weighs the     
vanity of fashion in tremulous scales1  
mimics the grimace of affectation  and  
folly1 shews up the littleness of the   
great1 and spears a phalanx of          
statesmen with its glittering point as  
with a diamond broach4      ,in choosing
 songs the ,regent named    ',had ,i a  
heart for falsehood fram'd3'    ,while  
gentle ,hertford begg'd and pray'd      
,for ',young ,i am1 and sore afraid4'   
,nothing in ,pope or ,prior ever        
surpassed the delicate insinuation  and 
adroit satire of these lines1 and       
hundreds more of our author's           
composition4 ,we wish he would not take 
pains to make us think of them  with    
less pleasure than formerly4--,the      
,fudge ,family is in the same  spirit1  
but with a little falling-off4 ,there is
 too great a mixture of  undisguised    
,jacobinism and fashionable slang4 ,the 

divine ,fanny ,bias  and the mountains  
la ,russe figure in somewhat quaintly   
with  ,buonaparte and the ,bourbons4    
,the poet also launches the lightning of
  political indignation2 but it rather  
plays round and illumines his own  pen  
than reaches the devoted heads at which 
it is aimed6    ,mr4 ,moore is in       
private life an amiable and estimable   
man4 ,the  embellished and voluptuous   
style of his poetry1 his unpretending   
origin1  and his mignon figure soon     
introduced him to the notice of the     
great1 and his gaiety1 his wit1 his     
good-humour1 and many agreeable         
accomplishments fixed him there1 the    
darling of his friends and the idol  of 
fashion4 ,if he is no longer familiar   
with ,royalty as with his garter1  the  
fault is not his--his adherence to his  
principles caused the  separation--his  
love of his country was the cloud that  
intercepted the  sunshine of            
court-favour4 ,this is so far well4 ,mr4
 ,moore vindicates his  own dignity2 but

 the sense of intrinsic worth1 of       
wide-spread fame1 and  of the intimacy  
of the great makes him perhaps a little 
too fastidious  and exigeant as to the  
pretensions of others4 ,he has been so  
long  accustomed to the society of ,whig
 ,lords1 and so enchanted by the smile  
of beauty and fashion1 that he really   
fancies himself one of the set1  to     
which he is admitted on sufferance1 and 
tries very unnecessarily to  keep others
 out of it4 ,he talks familiarly of     
works that are or are  not read in our  
circle2 and seated smiling and at his   
ease in a  coronet-coach1 enlivening the
 owner by his brisk sallies and ,attic  
conceits1 is shocked1 as he passes1 to  
see a ,peer of the realm shake  hands   
with a poet4 ,there is a little         
indulgence of spleen and envy1 a  little
 servility and pandering to aristocratic
 pride in this proceeding4  ,is ,mr4    
,moore bound to advise a ,noble ,poet to
 get as fast as possible out  of a      
certain publication1 lest he should not 

be able to give an  account at ,holland 
or at ,lansdown ,house1 how his friend  
,lord ,b----had  associated himself with
 his friend ,l4 ,h----8 ,is he afraid   
that the  ,spirit of ,monarchy will     
eclipse the ,fables for the ,holy       
,alliance in  virulence and plain       
speaking8 ,or are the members of the    
,fudge ,family  to secure a monopoly for
 the abuse of the ,bourbons and the     
doctrine of  ,divine ,right8 ,because he
 is genteel and sarcastic1 may not      
others be  paradoxical and              
argumentative8 ,or must no one bark at a
 ,minister or  ,general1 unless they    
have been first dandled1 like a little  
,french  pug-dog1 in the lap of a lady  
of quality8 ,does ,mr4 ,moore insist on 
the  double claim of birth and genius as
 a title to respectability in all       
advocates of the popular side--but      
himself8 ,or is he anxious to keep the  
pretensions of his patrician and        
plebeian friends quite separate1 so  as 
to be himself the only point of union1 a

 sort of double meaning1  between the   
two8 ,it is idle to think of setting    
bounds to the weakness  and illusions of
 self-love as long as it is confined to 
a man's own  breast2 but it ought not to
 be made a plea for holding back the    
powerful  hand that is stretched out to 
save another struggling with the tide   
of popular prejudice1 who has suffered  
shipwreck of health1 fame and  fortune  
in a common cause1 and who has deserved 
the aid and the good  wishes of all who 
are 7on principle7 embarked in the same 
cause by equal  zeal and honesty1 if not
 by equal talents to support and to     
adorn it6    ,we shall conclude the     
present article with a short notice of  
an  individual who1 in the cast of his  
mind and in political principle1  bears 
no very remote resemblance to the       
patriot and wit just spoken  of1 and on 
whose merits we should descant at       
greater length1 but that  personal      
intimacy might be supposed to render us 
partial4 ,it is well  when personal     

intimacy produces this effect2 and when 
the light1 that  dazzled us at a        
distance1 does not on a closer          
inspection turn out an  opaque          
substance4 ,this is a charge that none  
of his friends will bring  against ,mr4 
,leigh ,hunt4 ,he improves upon         
acquaintance4 ,the author  translates   
admirably into the man4 ,indeed the very
 faults of his style  are virtues in the
 individual4 ,his natural gaiety and    
sprightliness of  manner1 his high      
animal spirits1 and the vinous quality  
of his mind1  produce an immediate      
fascination and intoxication in those   
who come in  contact with him1 and carry
 off in society whatever in his writings
 may  to some seem flat and impertinent4
 ,from great sanguineness of temper1    
from great quickness and unsuspecting   
simplicity1 he runs on to the  public as
 he does at his own fire-side1 and talks
 about himself1  forgetting that he is  
not always among friends4 ,his look1 his
 tone are  required to point many things

 that he says3 his frank1 cordial manner
  reconciles you instantly to a little  
over-bearing1 over-weening self-        
complacency4 ,to be admired1 he needs   
but to be seen3 but perhaps he  ought to
 be seen to be fully appreciated4 ,no   
one ever sought his society  who did not
 come away with a more favourable       
opinion of him3 no one was  ever        
disappointed1 except those who had      
entertained idle prejudices  against    
him4 ,he sometimes trifles with his     
readers1 or tires of  a subject 7from   
not being urged on by the stimulus of   
immediate  sympathy7--but in            
conversation he is all life and         
animation1 combining  the vivacity of   
the school-boy with the resources of the
 wit and the  taste of the scholar4 ,the
 personal character1 the spontaneous    
impulses1  do not appear to excuse the  
author1 unless you are acquainted with  
his  situation and habits--like some    
proud beauty who gives herself what  we 
think strange airs and graces under a   

mask1 but who is instantly  forgiven    
when she shews her face4 ,we have said  
that ,lord ,byron is a  sublime coxcomb3
 why should we not say that ,mr4 ,hunt  
is a delightful  one8 ,there is         
certainly an exuberance of satisfaction 
in his manner  which is more than the   
strict logical premises warrant1 and    
which dull  and phlegmatic constitutions
 know nothing of1 and cannot understand 
till  they see it4 ,he is the only poet 
or literary man we ever knew who puts   
us in mind of ,sir ,john ,suckling or   
,killigrew or ,carew2 or who united     
rare intellectual acquirements with     
outward grace and natural gentility4    
,mr4 ,hunt ought to have been a         
gentleman born1 and to have patronised  
men  of letters4 ,he might then have    
played1 and sung1 and laughed1 and      
talked  his life away2 have written     
manly prose1 elegant verse2 and his     
,story  of ,rimini would have been      
praised by ,mr4 ,blackwood4 ,as it is1  
there is  no man now living who at the  

same time writes prose and verse so     
well1  with the exception of ,mr4       
,southey 7an exception1 we fear1 that   
will be  little palatable to either of  
these gentlemen74 ,his prose writings1  
however1 display more consistency of    
principle than the laureate's3 his      
verses more taste4 ,we will venture to  
oppose his ,third ,canto of the  ,story 
of ,rimini for classic elegance and     
natural feeling to any equal  number of 
lines from ,mr4 ,southey's ,epics or    
from ,mr4 ,moore's ,lalla  ,rookh4 ,in a
 more gay and conversational style of   
writing1 we think his  ,epistle to ,lord
 ,byron on his going abroad1 is a       
masterpiece2--and the  ,feast of the    
,poets has run through several editions4
 ,a light1 familiar  grace1 and mild    
unpretending pathos are the             
characteristics of his more  sportive or
 serious writings1 whether in poetry or 
prose4 ,a smile  plays round the        
features of the one2 a tear is ready to 
start from the  thoughtful gaze of the  

other4 ,he perhaps takes too little     
pains1 and  indulges in too much wayward
 caprice in both4 ,a wit and a poet1    
,mr4 ,hunt  is also distinguished by    
fineness of tact and sterling sense3 he 
has  only been a visionary in humanity1 
the fool of virtue4 ,what then is the   
drawback to so many shining qualities1  
that has made them useless1 or  even    
hurtful to their owner8 ,his crime is1  
to have been ,editor of the  ,examiner  
ten years ago1 when some allusion was   
made in it to the age  of the present   
king1 and that1 though his ,majesty has 
grown older1 our  luckless politician is
 no wiser than he was then6             
,footnote ,a3 ,compare his songs with   
,burns's4    ,footnote ,b3      ,there  
was a little man1 and he had a little   
soul1    ,and he said1 ,little soul1 let
 us try1 c4--    ,parody on      ,there 
was a little man1 and he had a little   
gun4--    ,one should think this        
exquisite ridicule of a pedantic        
effusion might  have silenced for ever  

the automaton that delivered it3 but the
  official personage in question at the 
close of the ,session addressed an      
extra-official congratulation to the    
,prince ,regent on a bill that had  not 
passed--as if to repeat and insist upon 
our errors were to justify  them4       
99       99       99       99       99  
,,elia1 ,,and ,,geoffrey ,,crayon4      
,so ,mr4 ,charles ,lamb and ,mr4        
,washington ,irvine choose to designate 
themselves2 and as their lucubrations   
under one or other of these noms  de    
guerre have gained considerable notice  
from the public1 we shall  here attempt 
to discriminate their several styles and
 manner1 and to  point out the beauties 
and defects of each in treating of      
somewhat  similar subjects4    ,mr4     
,irvine is1 we take it1 the more popular
 writer of the two1 or a more  general  
favourite3 ,mr4 ,lamb has more devoted1 
and perhaps more judicious  partisans4  
,mr4 ,irvine is by birth an ,american1  
and has1 as it were1  skimmed the cream1

 and taken off patterns with great skill
 and  cleverness1 from our best known   
and happiest writers1 so that their     
thoughts and almost their reputation are
 indirectly transferred to his  page1   
and smile upon us from another          
hemisphere1 like the pale reflex  of    
,cynthia's brow3 he succeeds to our     
admiration and our sympathy by a  sort  
of prescriptive title and traditional   
privilege4 ,mr4 ,lamb1 on the  contrary1
 being native to the manner here1 though
 he too has borrowed  from previous     
sources1 instead of availing himself of 
the most popular  and admired1 has      
groped out his way1 and made his most   
successful  researches among the more   
obscure and intricate1 though certainly 
not  the least pithy or pleasant of our 
writers4 ,mr4 ,washington ,irvine has   
culled and transplanted the flowers of  
modern literature1 for the  amusement of
 the general reader3 ,mr4 ,lamb has     
raked among the dust and  cobwebs of a  
more remote period1 has exhibited       

specimens of curious  relics1 and pored 
over moth-eaten1 decayed manuscripts1   
for the benefit  of the more inquisitive
 and discerning part of the public4     
,antiquity  after a time has the grace  
of novelty1 as old fashions revived are 
mistaken for new ones2 and a certain    
quaintness and singularity of style  is 
an agreeable relief to the smooth and   
insipid monotony of modern  composition4
 ,mr4 ,lamb has succeeded not by        
conforming to the ,spirit of  the ,age1 
but in opposition to it4 ,he does not   
march boldly along with  the crowd1 but 
steals off the pavement to pick his way 
in the contrary  direction4 ,he prefers 
bye-ways to highways4 ,when the full    
tide of  human life pours along to some 
festive shew1 to some pageant of a day1 
,elia would stand on one side to look   
over an old book-stall1 or stroll  down 
some deserted pathway in search of a    
pensive inscription over a  tottering   
door-way1 or some quaint device in      
architecture1 illustrative  of embryo   

art and ancient manners4 ,mr4 ,lamb has 
the very soul of an  antiquarian1 as    
this implies a reflecting humanity2 the 
film of the past  hovers for ever before
 him4 ,he is shy1 sensitive1 the reverse
 of every  thing coarse1 vulgar1        
obtrusive1 and common-place4 ,he would  
fain  shuffle off this mortal coil1 and 
his spirit clothes itself in the  garb  
of elder time1 homelier1 but more       
durable4 ,he is borne along with  no    
pompous paradoxes1 shines in no         
glittering tinsel of a fashionable      
phraseology2 is neither fop nor sophist4
 ,he has none of the turbulence  or     
froth of new-fangled opinions4 ,his     
style runs pure and clear1  though it   
may often take an underground course1 or
 be conveyed through  old-fashioned     
conduit-pipes4 ,mr4 ,lamb does not court
 popularity1 nor  strut in gaudy plumes1
 but shrinks from every kind of         
ostentatious and  obvious pretension    
into the retirement of his own mind4    
,the self-applauding bird1 the peacock  

see3--    ,mark what a sumptuous        
pharisee is he6    ,meridian sun-beams  
tempt him to unfold    ,his radiant     
glories1 azure1 green1 and gold3    ,he 
treads as if1 some solemn music near1   
,his measured step were governed by his 
ear3    ,and seems to say--,ye meaner   
fowl1 give place1    ,i am all          
splendour1 dignity1 and grace6    ,not  
so the pheasant on his charms presumes1 
,though he too has a glory in his       
plumes4    ,he1 christian-like1 retreats
 with modest mien    ,to the close copse
 or far sequestered green1    ,and      
shines without desiring to be seen4     
,these lines well describe the modest   
and delicate beauties of ,mr4 ,lamb's   
writings1 contrasted with the lofty and 
vain-glorious pretensions of  some of   
his contemporaries4 ,this gentleman is  
not one of those who pay  all their     
homage to the prevailing idol3 he thinks
 that      ,new-born gauds are made and 
moulded of things past4    nor does he  
,give to dust that is a little gilt     

,more laud than gilt o'er-dusted4       
,his convictions do not in broad rumour 
lie1 nor are they set off to  the world 
in the glistering foil of fashion2 but  
live and breathe  aloft in those pure   
eyes1 and perfect judgment of all-seeing
 time4  ,mr4 ,lamb rather affects and is
 tenacious of the obscure and remote3 of
  that which rests on its own intrinsic 
and silent merit2 which scorns all      
alliance1 or even the suspicion of owing
 any thing to noisy clamour1 to  the    
glare of circumstances4 ,there is a fine
 tone of chiaro-scuro1 a  moral         
perspective in his writings4 ,he        
delights to dwell on that which is      
fresh to the eye of memory2 he yearns   
after and covets what soothes the       
frailty of human nature4 ,that touches  
him most nearly which is withdrawn  to a
 certain distance1 which verges on the  
borders of oblivion3--that  piques and  
provokes his fancy most1 which is hid   
from a superficial  glance4 ,that which1
 though gone by1 is still remembered1 is

 in his view  more genuine1 and has     
given more vital signs that it will     
live1 than a  thing of yesterday1 that  
may be forgotten to-morrow4 ,death has  
in this  sense the spirit of life in it2
 and the shadowy has to our author      
something substantial in it4 ,ideas     
savour most of reality in his mind2  or 
rather his imagination loiters on the   
edge of each1 and a page of his         
writings recals to our fancy the        
stranger on the grate1 fluttering in    
its dusky tensity1 with its idle        
superstition and hospitable welcome6    
,mr4 ,lamb has a distaste to new faces1 
to new books1 to new buildings1 to  new 
customs4 ,he is shy of all imposing     
appearances1 of all assumptions  of     
self-importance1 of all adventitious    
ornaments1 of all mechanical            
advantages1 even to a nervous excess4   
,it is not merely that he does  not rely
 upon1 or ordinarily avail himself of   
them2 he holds them in  abhorrence1 he  
utterly abjures and discards them1 and  

places a great  gulph between him and   
them4 ,he disdains all the vulgar       
artifices of  authorship1 all the cant  
of criticism1 and helps to notoriety4   
,he has no  grand swelling theories to  
attract the visionary and the           
enthusiast1 no  passing topics to allure
 the thoughtless and the vain4 ,he      
evades the  present1 he mocks the       
future4 ,his affections revert to1 and  
settle on  the past1 but then1 even this
 must have something personal and local 
in  it to interest him deeply and       
thoroughly2 he pitches his tent in the  
suburbs of existing manners2 brings down
 the account of character to the  few   
straggling remains of the last          
generation2 seldom ventures beyond  the 
bills of mortality1 and occupies that   
nice point between egotism  and         
disinterested humanity4 ,no one makes   
the tour of our southern  metropolis1 or
 describes the manners of the last age1 
so well as ,mr4  ,lamb--with so fine1   
and yet so formal an air--with such     

vivid obscurity1  with such arch        
piquancy1 such picturesque quaintness1  
such smiling  pathos4 ,how admirably he 
has sketched the former inmates of the  
,south-  ,sea ,house2 what fine fretwork
 he makes of their double and single    
entries6 ,with what a firm1 yet subtle  
pencil he has embodied ,mrs4  ,battle's 
,opinions on ,whist6 ,how notably he    
embalms a battered beau2  how           
delightfully an amour1 that was cold    
forty years ago1 revives in  his pages6 
,with what well-disguised humour he     
introduces us to his  relations1 and how
 freely he serves up his friends6       
,certainly1 some of  his portraits are  
fixtures1 and will do to hang up as     
lasting and  lively emblems of human    
infirmity4 ,then there is no one who has
 so sure  an ear for the chimes at      
midnight1 not even excepting ,mr4       
,justice  ,shallow2 nor could ,master   
,silence himself take his cheese and    
pippins  with a more significant and    
satisfactory air4 ,with what a gusto    

,mr4 ,lamb  describes the inns and      
courts of law1 the ,temple and          
,gray's-,inn1 as if  he had been a      
student there for the last two hundred  
years1 and had been  as well acquainted 
with the person of ,sir ,francis ,bacon 
as he is with  his portrait or writings6
 ,it is hard to say whether ,st4 ,john's
 ,gate is  connected with more intense  
and authentic associations in his mind1 
as  a part of old ,london ,wall1 or as  
the frontispiece 7time out of mind7 of  
the ,gentleman's ,magazine4 ,he haunts  
,watling-street like a gentle spirit2   
the avenues to the play-houses are thick
 with panting recollections1  and       
,christ's-,hospital still breathes the  
balmy breath of infancy in his          
description of it6 ,whittington and his 
,cat are a fine hallucination for  ,mr4 
,lamb's historic ,muse1 and we believe  
he never heartily forgave a  certain    
writer who took the subject of ,guy     
,faux out of his hands4 ,the  streets of
 ,london are his fairy-land1 teeming    

with wonder1 with life  and interest to 
his retrospective glance1 as it did to  
the eager eye  of childhood2 he has     
contrived to weave its tritest          
traditions into a  bright and endless   
romance6    ,mr4 ,lamb's taste in books 
is also fine1 and it is peculiar4 ,it is
 not  the worse for a little            
idiosyncrasy4 ,he does not go deep into 
the  ,scotch novels1 but he is at home  
in ,smollett and ,fielding4 ,he is      
little  read in ,junius or ,gibbon1 but 
no man can give a better account of     
,burton's ,anatomy of ,melancholy1 or   
,sir ,thomas ,brown's ,urn-,burial1  or 
,fuller's ,worthies1 or ,john ,bunyan's 
,holy ,war4 ,no one is more             
unimpressible to a specious declamation2
 no one relishes a recondite  beauty    
more4 ,his admiration of ,shakespear and
 ,milton does not make  him despise     
,pope2 and he can read ,parnell with    
patience1 and ,gay  with delight4 ,his  
taste in ,french and ,german literature 
is somewhat  defective3 nor has he made 

much progress in the science of         
,political  ,economy or other abstruse  
studies1 though he has read vast folios 
of  controversial divinity1 merely for  
the sake of the intricacy of style1  and
 to save himself the pain of thinking4  
,mr4 ,lamb is a good judge of  prints   
and pictures4 ,his admiration of        
,hogarth does credit to both1           
particularly when it is considered that 
,leonardo da ,vinci is his next         
greatest favourite1 and that his love of
 the actual does not  proceed from a    
want of taste for the ideal4 ,his worst 
fault is an  over-eagerness of          
enthusiasm1 which occasionally makes him
 take a  surfeit of his highest         
favourites4--,mr4 ,lamb excels in       
familiar  conversation almost as much as
 in writing1 when his modesty does not  
overpower his self-possession4 ,he is as
 little of a proser as possible2  but he
 blurts out the finest wit and sense in 
the world4 ,he keeps  a good deal in the
 back-ground at first1 till some        

excellent conceit  pushes him forward1  
and then he abounds in whim and         
pleasantry4 ,there  is a primitive      
simplicity and self-denial about his    
manners2 and a  ,quakerism in his       
personal appearance1 which is1 however1 
relieved by  a fine ,titian head1 full  
of dumb eloquence6 ,mr4 ,lamb is a      
general  favourite with those who know  
him4 ,his character is equally singular 
and  amiable4 ,he is endeared to his    
friends not less by his foibles than his
  virtues2 he insures their esteem by   
the one1 and does not wound their       
self-love by the other4 ,he gains ground
 in the opinion of others1  by making no
 advances in his own4 ,we easily admire 
genius where the  diffidence of the     
possessor makes our acknowledgment of   
merit seem like  a sort of patronage1 or
 act of condescension1 as we willingly  
extend our  good offices where they are 
not exacted as obligations1 or repaid   
with  sullen indifference4--,the style  
of the ,essays of ,elia is liable to the

  charge of a certain mannerism4 ,his   
sentences are cast in the mould of  old 
authors2 his expressions are borrowed   
from them2 but his feelings  and        
observations are genuine and original1  
taken from actual life1 or  from his own
 breast2 and he may be said 7if any one 
can7 to have  coined his heart for      
jests1 and to have split his brain for  
fine  distinctions6 ,mr4 ,lamb1 from the
 peculiarity of his exterior and address
  as an author1 would probably never    
have made his way by detached and       
independent efforts2 but1 fortunately   
for himself and others1 he has  taken   
advantage of the ,periodical ,press1    
where he has been stuck into  notice1   
and the texture of his compositions is  
assuredly fine enough to  bear the      
broadest glare of popularity that has   
hitherto shone upon them4  ,mr4 ,lamb's 
literary efforts have procured him civic
 honours 7a thing  unheard of in our    
times71 and he has been invited1 in his 
character of  ,,elia1 to dine at a      

select party with the ,lord ,mayor4 ,we 
should prefer  this distinction to that 
of being poet-laureat4 ,we would        
recommend  to ,mr4 ,waithman's perusal  
7if ,mr4 ,lamb has not anticipated us7  
the  ,rosamond ,gray and the ,john      
,woodvil of the same author1 as an      
agreeable relief to the noise of a city 
feast1 and the heat of city  elections4 
,a friend1 a short time ago1 quoted some
 lines,a from the  last-mentioned of    
these works1 which meeting ,mr4         
,godwin's eye1 he was  so struck with   
the beauty of the passage1 and with a   
consciousness of  having seen it before1
 that he was uneasy till he could       
recollect where1  and after hunting in  
vain for it in ,ben ,jonson1 ,beaumont  
and ,fletcher1  and other not unlikely  
places1 sent to ,mr4 ,lamb to know if he
 could help  him to the author6    ,mr4 
,washington ,irvine's acquaintance with 
,english literature begins  almost where
 ,mr4 ,lamb's ends1--with the           
,spectator1 ,tom ,brown's works1  and   

the wits of ,queen ,anne4 ,he is not    
bottomed in our elder writers1 nor  do  
we think he has tasked his own faculties
 much1 at least on ,english  ground4 ,of
 the merit of his ,knicker-bocker1 and  
,new ,york stories1  we cannot pretend  
to judge4 ,but in his ,sketch-book and  
,bracebridge-,hall he gives us very good
 ,american copies of our ,british       
,essayists and ,novelists1 which may be 
very well on the other side of the      
water1 and as proofs of the capabilities
 of the national genius1 but  which     
might be dispensed with here1 where we  
have to boast of the  originals4 ,not   
only ,mr4 ,irvine's language is with    
great taste and  felicity modelled on   
that of ,addison1 ,sterne1 ,goldsmith1  
or ,mackenzie2  but the thoughts and    
sentiments are taken at the rebound1 and
 as they  are brought forward at the    
present period1 want both freshness and 
probability4 ,mr4 ,irvine's writings are
 literary anachronisms4 ,he comes  to   
,england for the first time2 and being  

on the spot1 fancies himself in  the    
midst of those characters and manners   
which he had read of in the  ,spectator 
and other approved authors1 and which   
were the only idea he  had hitherto     
formed of the parent country4 ,instead  
of looking round  to see what we are1 he
 sets to work to describe us as we      
were--at  second hand4 ,he has ,parson  
,adams1 or ,sir ,roger de ,coverley in  
his  mind's eye2 and he makes a village 
curate1 or a country 'squire in         
,yorkshire or ,hampshire sit to these   
admired models for their portraits  in  
the beginning of the nineteenth century4
 ,whatever the ingenious  author has    
been most delighted with in the         
representations of books1 he  transfers 
to his port-folio1 and swears that he   
has found it actually  existing in the  
course of his observation and travels   
through ,great  ,britain4 ,instead of   
tracing the changes that have taken     
place in society  since ,addison or     
,fielding wrote1 he transcribes their   

account in a  different hand-writing1   
and thus keeps us stationary1 at least  
in our  most attractive and             
praise-worthy qualities of simplicity1  
honesty1  hospitality1 modesty1 and     
good-nature4 ,this is a very flattering 
mode  of turning fiction into history1  
or history into fiction2 and we should  
scarcely know ourselves again in the    
softened and altered likeness1  but that
 it bears the date of #ahbj1 and issues 
from the press in  ,albemarle-street4   
,this is one way of complimenting our   
national and  ,tory prejudices2 and     
coupled with literal or exaggerated     
portraits of  ,yankee peculiarities1    
could hardly fail to please4 ,the first 
,essay in  the ,sketch-book1 that on    
,national ,antipathies1 is the best2 but
 after  that1 the sterling ore of wit or
 feeling is gradually spun thinner and  
thinner1 till it fades to the shadow of 
a shade4 ,mr4 ,irvine is himself1  we   
believe1 a most agreeable and deserving 
man1 and has been led into  the natural 

and pardonable error we speak of1 by the
 tempting bait of  ,european popularity1
 in which he thought there was no more  
likely method  of succeeding than by    
imitating the style of our standard     
authors1 and  giving us credit for the  
virtues of our forefathers4             
,footnote ,a3 ,the description of sports
 in the forest3      ,to see the sun to 
bed and to arise1    ,like some hot     
amourist with glowing eyes1 c4          
99       99       99       99       99  
,we should not feel that we had         
discharged our obligations to truth or  
friendship1 if we were to let this      
volume go without introducing into it   
the name of the author of ,virginius4   
,this is the more proper1 inasmuch  as  
he is a character by himself1 and the   
only poet now living that is a  mere    
poet4 ,if we were asked what sort of a  
man ,mr4 ,knowles is1 we could  only    
say1 he is the writer of ,virginius4    
,his most intimate friends see  nothing 
in him1 by which they could trace the   

work to the author4 ,the  seeds of      
dramatic genius are contained and       
fostered in the warmth of the  blood    
that flows in his veins2 his heart      
dictates to his head4 ,the most         
unconscious1 the most unpretending1 the 
most artless of mortals1 he             
instinctively obeys the impulses of     
natural feeling1 and produces a  perfect
 work of art4 ,he has hardly read a poem
 or a play or seen any  thing of the    
world1 but he hears the anxious beatings
 of his own heart1  and makes others    
feel them by the force of sympathy4     
,ignorant alike  of rules1 regardless of
 models1 he follows the steps of truth  
and  simplicity2 and strength1          
proportion1 and delicacy are the        
infallible  results4 ,by thinking of    
nothing but his subject1 he rivets the  
attention  of the audience to it4 ,all  
his dialogue tends to action1 all his   
situations form classic groups4 ,there  
is no doubt that ,virginius is the  best
 acting tragedy that has been produced  

on the modern stage4 ,mr4  ,knowles     
himself was a player at one time1 and   
this circumstance has  probably enabled 
him to judge of the picturesque and     
dramatic effect of  his lines1 as we    
think it might have assisted            
,shakespear4 ,there is  no impertinent  
display1 no flaunting poetry2 the writer
 immediately  conceives how a thought   
would tell if he had to speak it        
himself4 ,mr4  ,knowles is the first    
tragic writer of the age2 in other      
respects he is  a common man2 and       
divides his time and his affections     
between his  plots and his              
fishing-tackle1 between the ,muses'     
spring1 and those  mountain-streams     
which sparkle like his own eye1 that    
gush out like his  own voice at the     
sight of an old friend4 ,we have known  
him almost from a  child1 and we must   
say he appears to us the same boy-poet  
that he ever  was4 ,he has been cradled 
in song1 and rocked in it as in a dream1
  forgetful of himself and of the world6

          ,,the ,,end4