,transcriber's note3 ,spelling and punctuation are sometimes erratic4 ,a few obvious misprints have been corrected1 but in general the original spelling and typesetting conventions have been retained4 ,accents in foreign language phrases are inconsistent1 and have not been standardised4 ,text enclosed by underscores is in italics 7italics74 ,small capital text has been replaced with all capitals4 ,,blackwood',s ,,edinburgh ,,magazine4 ,,no4 ,,cccxci4 ,,may1 #ahdh4 ,,vol4 ,,lxiii4 ,,contents4 ,,the ,,caxtons4 ,part ,,ii4 #ebe ,,education ,,in ,,wales #edj ,,the ,,silver ,,cross #efd ,,heigh-,,ho6 #egb ,,republican ,,paris--7,march1 ,april1 #ahdh17 #egc ,,the ,,spaniard ,,in ,,sicily #ehi ,,crimes ,,and ,,remarkable ,,trials ,,in ,,scotland4 ,,kidnapping--,,peter ,,williamson',s ,,case #fjg ,,the ,,repealer',s ,,wish ,,granted #fbg ,,the ,,last ,,walk4 ,,by ,b4 ,,simmons #fbi ,,man ,,is ,a ,,featherless ,,biped #fca ,,the ,,revolutions ,,in ,,europe #fch ,,edinburgh3 ,,william ,,blackwood ,,and ,,sons1 #de1 ,,george ,,street2 ,,and #cg1 ,,paternoster ,,row1 ,,london4 ,to whom all ,communications 7post paid7 must be addressed4 ,,sold ,,by ,,all ,,the ,,booksellers ,,in ,,the ,,united ,,kingdom4 ,,printed ,,by ,,william ,,blackwood ,,and ,,sons1 ,,edinburgh4 ,,the ,,caxtons4--,,part ,,ii4 ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,when ,i had reached the age of twelve1 ,i had got to the head of the preparatory school to which ,i had been sent4 ,and having thus exhausted all the oxygen of learning in that little receiver1 my parents looked out for a wider range for my inspirations4 ,during the last two years in which ,i had been at school1 my love for study had returned2 but it was a vigorous1 wakeful1 undreamy love1 stimulated by competition1 and animated by the practical desire to excel4 ,my father no longer sought to curb my intellectual aspirings4 ,he had too great a reverence for scholarship not to wish me to become a scholar if possible2 though he more than once said to me somewhat sadly1 ,master books1 but do not let them master you4 ,read to live1 not live to read4 ,one slave of the lamp is enough for a household2 my servitude must not be a hereditary bondage4 ,my father looked round for a suitable academy2 and the fame of ,dr ,herman's ,philhellenic ,institute came to his ears4 ,now1 this ,dr ,herman was the son of a ,german music-master1 who had settled in ,england4 ,he had completed his own education at the university of ,bonn2 but1 finding learning too common a drug in that market to bring the high price at which he valued his own1 and having some theories as to political freedom which attached him to ,england1 he resolved upon setting up a school1 which he designed as an era in the history of the human mind4 ,dr ,herman was one of the earliest of those new-fashioned authorities in education1 who have1 more lately1 spread pretty numerously amongst us1 and would have given1 perhaps1 a dangerous shake to the foundations of our great classical seminaries1 if those last had not very wisely1 though very cautiously1 borrowed some of the more sensible principles which lay mixed and adulterated amongst the crotchets and chimeras of their innovating rivals and assailants4 ,dr ,herman had written a great many learned works against every pre-existing method of instruction3 that which had made the greatest noise was upon the infamous fiction of ,,spelling-,,books3 ,a more lying1 roundabout1 puzzle-headed delusion than that by which we ,,confuse the clear instincts of truth in our accursed systems of spelling1 was never concocted by the father of falsehood4 ,such was the exordium of this famous treatise4 ,for instance1 take the monosyllable ,,cat4 ,what brazen forehead you must have1 when you say to an infant ,c1 ,a1 ,t1--spell ,,cat3 that is1 three sounds1 forming a totally opposite compound--opposite in every detail1 opposite in the whole--compose a poor little monosyllable1 which1 if you would but say the simple truth1 the child will learn to spell merely by looking at it6 ,how can three sounds1 which run thus to the ear1 see--eh--tee1 compose the sound cat8 ,don't they rather compose the sound see-eh-t1 or ceaty8 ,how can a system of education flourish that begins by so monstrous a falsehood1 which the sense of hearing suffices to contradict8 ,no wonder that the horn-book is the despair of mothers6 ,from this instance1 the reader will perceive that ,dr ,herman1 in his theory of education1 began at the beginning6--he took the bull fairly by the horns4 ,as for the rest1 upon a broad principle of eclecticism1 he had combined together every new patent invention for youthful idea-shooting4 ,he had taken his trigger from ,hofwyl2 he had bought his wadding from ,hamilton2 he had got his copper-caps from ,bell and ,lancaster4 ,the youthful idea6 he had rammed it tight6 he had rammed it loose6 he had rammed it with pictorial illustrations6 he had rammed it with the monitorial system6 he had rammed in every conceivable way1 and with every imaginable ramrod2 but ,i have mournful doubts whether he shot the youthful idea an inch farther than it did under the old mechanism of flint and steel6 ,nevertheless1 as ,dr ,herman really did teach a great many things too much neglected at schools2 as1 besides ,latin and ,greek1 he taught a vast variety in that vague complexity now-a-days called useful knowledge2 as he engaged lecturers on chemistry1 engineering1 and natural history2 as arithmetic and the elements of physical science were enforced with zeal and care2 as all sorts of gymnastics were intermingled with the sports of the play-ground2--so the youthful idea1 if it did not go farther1 spread its shots in a wider direction2 and a boy could not stay there five years without learning something1 which is more than can be said of all schools6 ,he learned at least to use his eyes1 and his ears1 and his limbs2 order1 cleanliness1 exercise1 grew into habits2 and the school pleased the ladies1 and satisfied the gentlemen2 in a word1 it thrived3 and ,dr ,herman1 at the time ,i speak of1 numbered more than one hundred pupils4 ,now1 when the worthy man first commenced the task of tuition1 he had proclaimed the humanest abhorrence to the barbarous system of corporeal punishment4 ,but1 alas6 as his school increased in numbers1 he had proportionately recanted these honourable and antibirchen ideas4 ,he had1 reluctantly1 perhaps1--honestly1 no doubt1 but with full determination1--come to the conclusion1 that there are secret springs which can only be discovered by the twigs of the divining-rod2 and having discovered with what comparative ease the whole mechanism of his little government1 by the admission of the birch-regulator1 could be carried on1 so1 as he grew richer1 and lazier1 and fatter1 the ,philhellenic ,institute spun along as glibly as a top kept in vivacious movement by the perpetual application of the lash4 ,i believe that the school did not suffer in reputation from this sad apostacy on the part of the head master2 on the contrary1 it seemed more natural and ,english1--less outlandish and heretical4 ,and it was at the zenith of its renown1 when1 one bright morning1 with all my clothes nicely mended1 and a large plumcake in my box1 ,i was deposited at its hospitable gates4 ,amongst ,dr ,herman's various whimsicalities1 there was one to which he had adhered with more fidelity than to the anti-corporeal punishment articles of his creed2 and1 in fact1 it was upon this that he had caused those imposing words1 ,philhellenic ,institute1 to blaze in gilt capitals in front of his academy4 ,he belonged to that illustrious class of scholars who are now waging war on our popular mythologies1 and upsetting all the associations which the ,etonians and ,harrovians connect with the household names of ancient history4 ,in a word1 he sought to restore to scholastic purity the mutilated orthography of ,greek appellatives4 ,he was extremely indignant that little boys should be brought up to confound ,zeus with ,jupiter1 ,ares with ,mars1 ,artemis with ,diana--the ,greek deities with the ,roman2 and so rigidly did he inculcate the doctrine that these two sets of personages were to be kept constantly contradistinguished from each other1 that his cross-examinations kept us in eternal confusion4 ,vat1 he would exclaim to some new boy fresh from some grammar-school on the ,etonian system--,vat do you mean by dranslating ,zeus ,jupiter8 ,is dat amatory1 irascible1 cloud-compelling god of ,olympus1 vid his eagle and his gis1 in the smallest degree resembling de grave1 formal1 moral ,jupiter ,optimus ,maximus of the ,roman ,capitol8--a god1 ,master ,simpkins1 who would have been perfectly shocked at the idea of running after innocent ,fraulein dressed up as a swan or a bull6 ,i put dat question to you vonce for all1 ,master ,simpkins4 ,master ,simpkins took care to agree with the ,doctor4 ,and how could you1 resumed ,dr ,herman majestically1 turning to some other criminal alumnus--how could you presume to dranslate de ,ares of ,homer1 sir1 by de audacious vulgarism ,mars8 ,ares1 ,master ,jones1 who roared as loud as ten thousand men when he was hurt1 or as you vill roar if ,i catch you calling him ,mars again6 ,ares who covered seven plectra of ground2 ,ares1 the man-slayer1 with the ,mars or ,mavors whom de ,romans stole from de ,sabines6 ,mars1 de solemn and calm protector of ,rome6 ,master ,jones1 ,master ,jones1 you ought to be ashamed of yourself6--and then waxing enthusiastic1 and warming more and more into ,german gutturals and pronunciation1 the good ,doctor would lift up his hands1 with two great rings on his thumbs1 and exclaim--,und ,du6 and dou1 ,aphrodit2 dou1 whose bert de ,seasons velcomed6 dou1 who didst put ,atonis into a coffer1 and den tid durn him into an anemone2 dou to be called ,venus by dat snivel-nosed little ,master ,budderfield6 ,venus1 who presided over ,baumgartens and funerals1 and nasty tinking sewers6 ,venus ,cloacina1--,o mein ,gott6 ,come here1 ,master ,budderfield2 ,i must a flog you for dat2 ,i must indeed1 liddle boy6 ,as our ,philhellenic preceptor carried his archological purism into all ,greek proper names1 it was not likely that my unhappy baptismal would escape4 ,the first time ,i signed my exercise1 ,i wrote ,pisistratus ,caxton in my best round-hand4 ,and dey call your baba a scholar6 said the ,doctor contemptuously4 ,your name1 sir1 is ,greek2 and1 as ,greek1 you vill be dood enough to write it1 vith vat you call an e and an o--,p1 ,e1 ,i1 ,s1 ,i1 ,s1 ,t1 ,r1 ,a1 ,t1 ,o1 ,s2 and you vill alway put de accent over de i4 ,vat can you expect for to come to1 ,master ,caxton1 if you don't pay de care dat is proper to your own dood name--de e1 and de o1 and de accent8 ,ach6 let me see no more of your vile corruptions6 ,mein ,gott6 ,pi6 ven de name is ,pei6 ,the next time ,i wrote home to my father1 modestly implying that ,i was short of cash1 that a trap-bat would be acceptable1 and that the favourite goddess amongst the boys 7whether ,greek or ,roman was very immaterial7 was ,diva ,moneta1 ,i felt a glow of classical pride in signing myself1 your affectionate ,pesistratos4 ,the next post brought a sad damper to my scholastic exultation4 ,the letter ran thus3 ,,my ,,dear ,,son1--,i prefer my old acquaintances ,thucydides and ,pisistratus to ,thoukuddes and ,pesistratos4 ,horace is familiar to me1 but ,horatius is only known to me as ,cocles4 ,pisistratus can play at trap-ball2 but ,i find no authority in pure ,greek to allow me to suppose that that game was known to ,pesistratos4 ,i should be too happy to send you a drachma or so1 but ,i have no coins in my possession current at ,athens at the time when ,pisistratus was spelt ,pesistratos4 ,your affectionate father1 ,a4 ,,caxton4 ,verily1 here indeed was the first practical embarrassment produced by that melancholy anachronism which my father had so prophetically deplored4 ,however1 nothing like experience to prove the value of compromise in this world6 ,pesistratos continued to write exercises1 and a second letter from ,pisistratus was followed by the trap-bat4 ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,i was somewhere about sixteen when1 on going home for the holidays1 ,i found my mother's brother settled among the household lares4 ,uncle ,jack1 as he was familiarly called1 was a light-hearted1 plausible1 enthusiastic1 talkative fellow1 who had spent three small fortunes in trying to make a large one4 ,uncle ,jack was a great speculator2 but in all his speculations he never affected to think of himself1--it was always the good of his fellow-creatures that he had at heart1 and in this ungrateful world fellow-creatures are not to be relied upon6 ,on coming of age1 he inherited #fjjj from his maternal grandfather4 ,it seemed to him then his fellow-creatures were sadly imposed upon by their tailors4 ,those ninth-parts of humanity notoriously eked out their fractional existence by asking nine times too much for the clothing which civilisation1 and perhaps a change of climate1 render more necessary to us than to our ancestors the ,picts4 ,out of pure philanthropy1 ,uncle ,jack started a ,grand ,national ,benevolent ,clothing ,company1 which undertook to supply the public with inexpressibles of the best ,saxon cloth at #gs4 #f;d4 a pair2 coats1 superfine1 #a1 #ahs42 and waistcoats at so much per dozen4 ,they were all to be worked off by steam4 ,thus the rascally tailors were to be put down1 humanity clad1 and the philanthropists rewarded 7but that was a secondary consideration7 with a clear return of #cj per cent4 ,in spite of the evident charitableness of this ,christian design1 and the irrefragable calculations upon which it was based1 this company died a victim to the ignorance and unthankfulness of our fellow-creatures4 ,and all that remained of ,jack's #fjjj was a fifty-fourth share in a small steam-engine1 a large assortment of ready-made pantaloons1 and the liabilities of the directors4 ,uncle ,jack disappeared1 and went on his travels4 ,the same spirit of philanthropy which characterised the speculations of his purse attended the risks of his person4 ,uncle ,jack had a natural leaning towards all distressed communities3 if any tribe1 race1 or nation was down in the world1 ,uncle ,jack threw himself plump into the scale to redress the balance4 ,poles1 ,greeks1 7the last were then fighting the ,turks17 ,mexicans1 ,spaniards1--,uncle ,jack thrust his nose into all their squabbles6 ,heaven forbid ,i should mock thee1 poor ,uncle ,jack6 for those generous predilections towards the unfortunate2 only1 whenever a nation is in misfortune1 there is always a job going on6 ,the ,polish cause1 the ,greek cause1 the ,mexican cause1 and the ,spanish cause1 are necessarily mixed up with loans and subscriptions4 ,these ,continental patriots1 when they take up the sword with one hand1 generally contrive to thrust the other deep into their neighbours' breeches' pockets4 ,uncle ,jack went to ,greece1 thence he went to ,spain1 thence to ,mexico4 ,no doubt he was of great service to these afflicted populations1 for he came back with unanswerable proof of their gratitude in the shape of #cjjj4 ,shortly after this appeared a prospectus of the ,new1 ,grand1 ,national ,benevolent ,insurance ,company1 for the ,industrious ,classes4 ,this invaluable document1 after setting forth the immense benefits to society arising from habits of providence1 and the introduction of insurance companies--proving the infamous rate of premiums exacted by the existent offices1 and their inapplicability to the wants of the honest artisan1 and declaring that nothing but the purest intentions of benefiting their fellow-creatures1 and raising the moral tone of society1 had led the directors to institute a new society1 founded on the purest principles and the most moderate calculations--proceeded to demonstrate that twenty-four and a half per cent was the smallest possible return the shareholders could anticipate4 ,the company began under the fairest auspices3 an archbishop was caught as president1 on the condition always that he should give nothing but his name to the society4 ,uncle ,jack--more euphoniously designated as the celebrated philanthropist1 ,john ,jones ,tibbets1 ,esquire--was honorary secretary1 and the capital stated at two millions4 ,but such was the obtuseness of the industrious classes1 so little did they perceive the benefits of subscribing one-and-ninepence a-week from the age of twenty-one to fifty1 in order to secure at the latter age the annuity of #ah1 that the company dissolved into thin air1 and with it dissolved also ,uncle ,jack's #cjjj4 ,nothing more was then seen or heard of him for three years4 ,so obscure was his existence1 that on the death of an aunt1 who left him a small farm in ,cornwall1 it was necessary to advertise that ,if ,john ,jones ,tibbets1 ,esq41 would apply to ,messrs ,blunt and ,tin1 ,lothbury1 between the hours of ten and four1 he would hear of something to his advantage4 ,but1 even as a conjuror declares that he will call the ace of spades1 and the ace of spades1 that you thought you had safely under your foot1 turns up on the table--so with this advertisement suddenly turned up ,uncle ,jack4 ,with inconceivable satisfaction did the new land-owner settle himself in his comfortable homestead4 ,the farm1 which was about two hundred acres1 was in the best possible condition1 and saving one or two chemical preparations1 which cost ,uncle ,jack1 upon the most scientific principles1 thirty acres of buckwheat1 the ears of which came up1 poor things1 all spotted and speckled1 as if they had been inoculated with the small-pox1 ,uncle ,jack for the first two years was a thriving man4 ,unluckily1 however1 one day ,uncle ,jack discovered a coal-mine in a beautiful field of swedish turnips2 in another week the house was full of engineers and naturalists1 and in another month appeared1 in my uncle's best style1 much improved by practice1 a prospectus of the ,grand1 ,national1 anti-,monopoly ,coal ,company1 instituted on behalf of the poor ,householders of ,london1 and against the ,monster ,monopoly of the ,london ,coal ,wharfs4 ,a vein of the finest coal has been discovered on the estates of the celebrated philanthropist1 ,john ,jones ,tibbets1 ,esq4 ,this new mine1 the ,molly ,wheel1 having been satisfactorily tested by that eminent engineer1 ,giles ,compass1 ,esq41 promises an inexhaustible field to the energies of the benevolent and the wealth of the capitalist4 ,it is calculated that the best coals may be delivered1 screened1 at the mouth of the ,thames1 for #ahs4 per load1 yielding a profit of not less than forty-eight per cent to the shareholders4 ,shares1 #ej1 to be paid in five instalments4 ,capital to be subscribed1 one million4 ,for shares1 early application must be made to ,messrs ,blunt and ,tin1 solicitors1 ,lothbury4 ,here1 then1 was something tangible for fellow-creatures to go on--there was land1 there was a mine1 there was coal1 and there actually came shareholders and capital4 ,uncle ,jack was so persuaded that his fortune was now to be made1 and had1 moreover1 so great a desire to share the glory of ruining the monster monopoly of the ,london wharfs1 that he refused a very large offer to dispose of the property altogether1 remained chief shareholder1 and removed to ,london1 where he set up his carriage1 and gave dinners to his fellow-directors4 ,for no less than three years did this company flourish1 having submitted the entire direction and working of the mines to that eminent engineer1 ,giles ,compass--twenty per cent was paid regularly by that gentleman to the shareholders1 and the shares were at more than cent per cent1 when1 one bright morning1 when least expected1 ,giles ,compass1 ,esq4 removed himself to that wider field for genius like his1 the ,united ,states2 and it was discovered that the mine had for more than a year run itself into a great pit of water1 and that ,mr ,compass had been paying the shareholders out of their own capital4 ,my uncle had the satisfaction this time of being ruined in very good company3 three doctors of divinity1 two county members1 a ,scotch lord1 and an ,east ,india director1 were all in the same boat1--that boat which went down with the coal-mine into the great water pit6 ,it was just after this event that ,uncle ,jack1 sanguine and light-hearted as ever1 suddenly recollected his sister1 ,mrs ,caxton2 and not knowing where else to dine1 thought he would repose his limbs under my father's trabes citrea1 which the ingenious ,w4 ,s4 ,landor opines should be translated mahogany4 ,you never saw a more charming man than ,uncle ,jack4 ,all plump people are more popular than thin people4 ,there is something jovial and pleasant in the sight of a round face6 ,what conspiracy could succeed when its head was a lean and hungry-looking fellow1 like ,cassius8 ,if the ,roman patriots had had ,uncle ,jack amongst them1 perhaps they would never have furnished a tragedy to ,shakspeare4 ,uncle ,jack was as plump as a partridge--not unwieldy1 not corpulent1 not obese1 not vastus1 which ,cicero objects to in an orator--but every crevice comfortably filled up4 ,like the ocean1 time wrote no wrinkles on his glassy 7or brassy7 brow4 ,his natural lines were all upward curves1 his smile most ingratiating1 his eye so frank1 even his trick of rubbing his clean well-fed ,english-looking hands1 had something1 about it coaxing and debonnair1 something that actually decoyed you into trusting your money into hands so prepossessing4 ,indeed1 to him might be fully applied the expression--,sedem anim in extremis digitis habet2 ,he had his soul's seat in his finger ends4 ,the critics observe that few men have ever united in equal perfection the imaginative with the scientific or musing faculties4 ,happy he1 exclaims ,schiller1 who combines the enthusiast's warmth with the worldly man's light--light and warmth1 ,uncle ,jack had them both4 ,he was a perfect symphony of bewitching enthusiasm and convincing calculation4 ,dicopolis in the ,acharnenses1 in presenting a gentleman called ,nicharchus to the audience1 observes--,he is small1 ,i confess1 but there is nothing lost in him3 all is knave1 that is not fool4 ,parodying the equivocal compliment1 ,i may say1 that though ,uncle ,jack was no giant1 there was nothing lost in him4 ,whatever was not philanthropy was arithmetic1 and whatever was not arithmetic was philanthropy4 ,he would have been equally dear to ,howard and to ,cocker4 ,uncle ,jack was comely1 too--clear-skinned and florid1 had a little mouth1 with good teeth1 wore no whiskers1 shaved his beard as close as if it were one of his grand national companies2 his hair1 once somewhat sandy1 was now rather grayish1 which increased the respectability of his appearance1 and he wore it flat at the sides and raised in a peak at the top2 his organs of constructiveness and ideality were pronounced by ,mr ,squills to be prodigious1 and those freely developed bumps gave great breadth to his forehead4 ,well-shaped1 too1 was ,uncle ,jack1 about five feet eight1 the proper height for an active man of business4 ,he wore a black coat2 but to make the nap look the fresher1 he had given it the relief of gilt buttons1 on which were wrought a small crown and anchor2 at a distance this button looked like the king's button1 and gave him the air of one who has a place about ,court4 ,he always wore a white neckcloth without starch1 a frill and a diamond pin2 which last furnished him with observations upon certain mines of ,mexico1 which he had a great but hitherto unsatisfied desire of seeing worked by a ,grand ,national ,united ,britons ,company4 ,his waistcoat of a morning was pale buff--of an evening1 embroidered velvet2 wherewith were connected sundry schemes of an association for the improvement of native manufactures4 ,his trousers1 matutinally1 were of the colour vulgarly called blotting-paper2 and he never wore boots1 which1 he said1 unfitted a man for exercise1 but short drab gaiters and square-toed shoes4 ,his watch-chain was garnished with a vast number of seals3 each seal1 indeed1 represented the device of some defunct company1 and they might be said to resemble the scalps of the slain1 worn by the aboriginal ,iroquois1 concerning whom indeed he had once entertained philanthropic designs1 compounded of conversion to ,christianity on the principles of the ,english ,episcopal ,church1 and of an advantageous exchange of beaver-skins for bibles1 brandy1 and gunpowder4 ,that ,uncle ,jack should win my heart was no wonder2 my mother's he had always won from her earliest recollection of his having persuaded her to let her great doll 7a present from her godmother7 be put up to a raffle for the benefit of the chimney-sweeps4 ,so like him--so good6 she would often say pensively2 they paid sixpence a-piece for the raffle--twenty tickets1 and the doll cost #b4 ,nobody was taken in1 and the doll1 poor thing1 7it had such blue eyes67 went for a quarter of its value4 ,but ,jack said nobody could guess what good the ten shillings did to the chimney-sweeps6 ,naturally enough1 ,i say1 my mother liked ,uncle ,jack6 but my father liked him quite as well1 and that was a strong proof of my uncle's powers of captivation4 ,however1 it is noticeable that when some retired scholar is once interested in an active man of the world1 he is more inclined to admire him than others are4 ,sympathy with such a companion gratifies at once his curiosity and his indolence3 he can travel with him1 scheme with him1 fight with him1 go with him through all the adventures of which his own books speak so eloquently1 and all the time never stir from his easy-chair4 ,my father said that it was like listening to ,ulysses to hear ,uncle ,jack6 ,uncle ,jack1 too1 had been in ,greece and ,asia ,minor1 gone over the site of the siege of ,troy1 eat figs at ,marathon1 shot hares in the ,peloponnesus1 and drank three pints of brown stout at the top of the ,great ,pyramid4 ,therefore1 ,uncle ,jack was like a book of reference to my father4 ,verily at times he looked on him as a book1 and took him down after dinner as he would a volume of ,dodwell or ,pausanias4 ,in fact1 ,i believe that scholars who never move from their cells are not the less an eminently curious1 bustling1 active race1 rightly understood4 ,even as old ,burton saith of himself--,though ,i live a collegiate student1 and lead a monastic life1 sequestered from those tumults and troubles of the world1 ,i hear and see what is done abroad1 how others run1 ride1 turmoil and macerate themselves in town and country1 which citation sufficeth to show that scholars are naturally the most active men of the world1 only that while their heads plot with ,augustus1 fight with ,julius1 sail with ,columbus1 and change the face of the globe with ,alexander1 ,attila1 or ,mahomet1 there is a certain mysterious attraction1 which our improved knowledge of mesmerism will doubtless soon explain to the satisfaction of science1 between that extremer and antipodal part of the human frame1 called in the vulgate the seat of honour1 and the stuffed leather of an armed-chair4 ,learning somehow or other sinks down to that part in which it was first driven in1 and produces therein a leaden heaviness and weight1 which counteract those lively emotions of the brain1 that might otherwise render students too mercurial and agile for the safety of established order4 ,i leave this conjecture to the consideration of experimentalists in the physics4 ,i was still more delighted than my father with ,uncle ,jack4 ,he was full of amusing tricks1 could conjure wonderfully1 make a bunch of keys dance a hornpipe1 and if ever you gave him half-a-crown1 he was sure to turn it into a halfpenny4 ,he was only unsuccessful in turning my halfpennies into half-crowns4 ,we took long walks together1 and in the midst of his most diverting conversation my uncle was always an observer4 ,he would stop to examine the nature of the soil1 fill my pockets 7not his own7 with great lumps of clay1 stones1 and rubbish1 to analyse when he got home1 by the help of some chemical apparatus he had borrowed from ,mr ,squills4 ,he would stand an hour at a cottage door1 admiring the little girls who were straw-platting1 and then walk into the nearest farm-houses1 to suggest the feasibility of a national straw-plat association4 ,all this fertility of intellect was1 alas6 wasted in that ingrata terra into which ,uncle ,jack had fallen4 ,no squire could be persuaded into the belief that his mother-stone was pregnant with minerals2 no farmer talked into weaving straw-plat into a proprietary association4 ,so1 even as an ogre1 having devastated the surrounding country1 begins to cast a hungry eye on his own little ones1 ,uncle ,jack's mouth1 long defrauded of juicier and more legitimate morsels1 began to water for a bite of my innocent father4 ,,chapter ,,ix4 ,at this time we were living in what may be called a very respectable style for people who made no pretence to ostentation4 ,on the skirts of a large village1 stood a square red brick house1 about the date of ,queen ,anne4 ,upon the top of the house was a balustrade2 why1 heaven knows--for nobody1 except our great tom-cat ,ralph1 ever walked upon the leads--but so it was1 and so it often is in houses from the time of ,elizabeth1 yea1 even to that of ,victoria4 ,this balustrade was divided by low piers1 on each of which was placed a round ball4 ,the centre of the house was distinguishable by an architrave1 in the shape of a triangle1 under which was a niche1 probably meant for a figure1 but the figure was not forthcoming4 ,below this was the window 7encased with carved pilasters7 of my dear mother's little sitting-room2 and lower still1 raised on a flight of six steps1 was a very handsome-looking door4 ,all the windows1 with smallish panes and largish frames1 were relieved with stone copings2--so that the house had an air of solidity and well-to-do-ness about it--nothing tricky on the one hand1 nothing decayed on the other4 ,the house stood a little back from the garden gates1 which were large1 and set between two piers surmounted with vases4 ,many might object1 that in wet weather you had to walk some way to your carriage2 but we obviated that objection by not keeping a carriage4 ,to the right of the house the enclosure contained a little lawn1 a laurel hermitage1 a square pond1 a modest green-house1 and half-a-dozen plots of mignionette1 heliotrope1 roses1 pinks1 sweet-william1 c4 ,to the left spread the kitchen-garden1 lying screened by espaliers yielding the finest apples in the neighbourhood1 and divided by three winding gravel-walks1 of which the extremest was backed by a wall1 whereon1 as it lay full south1 peaches1 pears1 and nectarines sunned themselves early into well-remembered flavour4 ,this walk was appropriated to my father4 ,book in hand1 he would1 on fine days1 pace to and fro1 often stopping1 dear man1 to jot down a pencil-note1 gesticulate1 or soliloquise4 ,and there1 when not in his study1 my mother would be sure to find him4 ,in these deambulations1 as he called them1 he had generally a companion so extraordinary1 that ,i expect to be met with a hillalu of incredulous contempt when ,i specify it4 ,nevertheless ,i vow and protest that it is strictly true1 and no invention of an exaggerating romancer4 ,it happened one day that my mother had coaxed ,mr ,caxton to walk with her to market4 ,by the way they passed a sward of green1 on which sundry little boys were engaged upon the lapidation1 or stoning1 of a lame duck4 ,it seemed that the duck was to have been taken to market1 when it was discovered not only to be lame1 but dyspeptic2 perhaps some weed had disagreed with its ganglionic apparatus1 poor thing4 ,however that be1 the good-wife had declared that the duck was good for nothing2 and upon the petition of her children1 it had been consigned to them for a little innocent amusement1 and to keep them out of harm's way4 ,my mother declared that she never before saw her lord and master roused to such animation4 ,he dispersed the urchins1 released the duck1 carried it home1 kept it in a basket by the fire1 fed it and physicked it till it recovered2 and then it was consigned to the square pond4 ,but lo6 the duck knew its benefactor2 and whenever my father appeared outside his door1 it would catch sight of him1 flap from the pond1 gain the lawn1 and hobble after him1 7for it never quite recovered the use of its left leg17 till it reached the walk by the peaches2 and there sometimes it would sit1 gravely watching its master's deambulations2 sometimes stroll by his side1 and1 at all events1 never leave him1 till1 at his return home1 he fed it with his own hands2 and1 quacking her peaceful adieus1 the nymph then retired to her natural element4 ,with the exception of my mother's dining-room1 the principal sitting-rooms--that is1 the study1 the dining-room1 and what was emphatically called the best drawing-room1 which was only occupied on great occasions--looked south4 ,tall beeches1 firs1 poplars1 and a few oaks1 backed the house1 and indeed surrounded it on all sides but the south2 so that it was well sheltered from the winter cold and the summer heat4 ,our principal domestic1 in dignity and station1 was ,mrs ,primmins1 who was waiting gentlewoman1 housekeeper1 and tyrannical dictatrix of the whole establishment4 ,two other maids1 a gardener1 and a footman composed the rest of the serving household4 ,save a few pasture-fields1 which he let1 my father was not troubled with land4 ,his income was derived from the interest of about #ae1jjj1 partly in the three per cents1 partly on mortgage2 and what with my mother and ,mrs ,primmins1 this income always yielded enough to satisfy my father's single hobby for books1 pay for my education1 and entertain our neighbours1 rarely1 indeed1 at dinner1 but very often at tea4 ,my dear mother boasted that our society was very select4 ,it consisted chiefly of the clergyman and his family1 two old maids who gave themselves great airs1 a gentleman who had been in the ,east ,india service1 and who lived in a large white house at the top of the hill2 some half-a-dozen squires and their wives and children2 ,mr ,squills1 still a bachelor3 ,and once a-year cards were exchanged--and dinners too--with certain aristocrats1 who inspired my mother with a great deal of unnecessary awe2 since she declared they were the most good-natured easy people in the world1 and always stuck their cards in the most conspicuous part of the looking-glass frame over the chimney-place of the best drawing-room4 ,thus you perceive that our natural position was one highly creditable to us1 proving the soundness of our finances and the gentility of our pedigree1 of which--but more hereafter4 ,at present ,i content myself with saying on that head1 that even the proudest of the neighbouring squirearchs always spoke of us as a very ancient family4 ,but all my father ever said1 to evince pride of ancestry1 was in honour of ,william ,caxton1 citizen and printer in the reign of ,edward ,,iv4--,clarum et venerabile nomen6 an ancestor a man of letters might be justly vain of4 ,heus1 said my father1 stopping short1 and lifting his eyes from the ,colloquies of ,erasmus1 salve multum1 jucundissime4 ,uncle ,jack was not much of a scholar1 but he knew enough ,latin to answer1 ,salve tantundem1 mi frater4 ,my father smiled approvingly4 ,i see you comprehend true urbanity1 or politeness1 as we phrase it4 ,there is an elegance in addressing the husband of your sister as brother4 ,erasmus commends it in his opening chapter1 under the head of ',salutandi formul4' ,and indeed1 added my father thoughtfully1 there is no great difference between politeness and affection4 ,my author here observes that it is polite to express salutation in certain minor distresses of nature4 ,one should salute a gentleman in yawning1 salute him in hiccuping1 salute him in sneezing1 salute him in coughing2--and that evidently because of your interest in his health2 for he may dislocate his jaw in yawning1 and the hiccup is often a symptom of grave disorder1 and sneezing is perilous to the small blood-vessels of the head1 and coughing is either a tracheal1 bronchial1 pulmonary1 or ganglionic affection4 ,very true4 ,the ,turks always salute in sneezing1 and they are a remarkably polite people1 said ,uncle ,jack4 ,but1 my dear brother1 ,i was just looking with admiration at these apple-trees of yours4 ,i never saw finer4 ,i am a great judge of apples4 ,i find1 in talking with my sister1 that you make very little profit of them4 ,that's a pity4 ,one might establish a cider orchard in this county4 ,you can take your own fields in hand2 you can hire more1 so as to make the whole1 say a hundred acres4 ,you can plant a very extensive apple-orchard on a grand scale4 ,i have just run through the calculations2 they are quite startling4 ,take #dj trees per acre--that's the proper average--at #as4 #f;d4 per tree2 #djjj trees for #ajj acres #cjj21 labour of digging1 trenching1 say #aj an acre--total for #ajj acres1 #ajjj4 ,pave the bottoms of the holes1 to prevent the tap-root striking down into the bad soil--oh1 ,i am very close and careful1 you see1 in all minuti16--always was--pave 'em with rubbish and stones1 #f;d4 a hole2 that1 for #djjj trees the #ajj acres is #ajj4 ,add the rent of the land1 at #cjs4 an acre1 #aej4 ,and how stands the total8 ,here ,uncle ,jack proceeded rapidly ticking off the items with his fingers3-- ,trees1 #cjj ,labour1 #a1jjj ,paving holes1 #ajj ,rent1 #aej ------ ,total1 #a1eej ,that's your expense4 ,mark4--,now to the profit4 ,orchards in ,kent realise #ajj an acre1 some even #aej2 but let's be moderate1 say only #ej an acre1 and your gross profit per year1 from a capital of #aeej1 will be #ejjj4--ejjj a year4 ,think of that1 brother ,caxton4 ,deduct #aj per cent1 or #ejj a-year1 for gardeners' wages1 manure1 c41 and the net product is #dejj4 ,your fortune's made1 man--it is made--,i wish you joy6 ,and ,uncle ,jack rubbed his hands4 ,bless me1 father1 said eagerly the young ,pisistratus1 who had swallowed with ravished ears every syllable and figure of this inviting calculation1 ,why1 we should be as rich as ,squire ,rollick2 and then1 you know1 sir1 you could keep a pack of fox-hounds6 ,and buy a large library1 added ,uncle ,jack1 with more subtle knowledge of human nature as to its appropriate temptations4 ,there's my friend the archbishop's collection to be sold4 ,slowly recovering his breath1 my father gently turned his eyes from one to the other2 and then1 laying his left hand on my head1 while with the right he held up ,erasmus rebukingly to ,uncle ,jack1 he said-- ,see how easily you can sow covetousness and avidity in the youthful mind6 ,ah1 brother6 ,you are too severe1 sir4 ,see how the dear boy hangs his head6 ,fie6--natural enthusiasm of his years--'gay hope by fancy fed1' as the poet says4 ,why1 for that fine boy's sake1 you ought not to lose so certain an occasion of wealth1 ,i may say1 untold4 ,for1 observe1 you will form a nursery of crabs2 each year you go on grafting and enlarging your plantation1 renting1 nay1 why not buying1 more land8 ,gad1 sir6 in twenty years you might cover half the county2 but say you stop short at #bjjj acres1 why1 the net profit is #ij1jjj a-year4 ,a duke's income--a duke's--and going a begging as ,i may say4 ,but stop1 said ,i modestly2 the trees don't grow in a year4 ,i know when our last apple tree was planted--it is five years ago--it was then three years old1 and it only bore one half bushel last autumn4 ,what an intelligent lad it is6--,good head there4 ,oh1 he'll do credit to his great fortune1 brother1 said ,uncle ,jack approvingly4 ,true1 my boy4 ,but in the meanwhile we could fill the ground1 as they do in ,kent1 with gooseberries and currants1 or onions and cabbages4 ,nevertheless1 considering we are not great capitalists1 ,i am afraid we must give up a share of our profits to diminish our outlay4 ,so1 harkye1 ,pisistratus--7look at him1 brother--simple as he stands there1 ,i think he's born with a silver spoon in his mouth7--harkye1 now to the mysteries of speculation4 ,your father shall quietly buy the land1 and then1 presto6 we will issue a prospectus1 and start a company4 ,associations can wait five years for a return4 ,every year1 meanwhile1 increases the value of the shares4 ,your father takes1 we say1 fifty shares at #ej each1 paying only an instalment of #b a share4 ,he sells #ce shares at cent per cent4 ,he keeps the remaining #ae1 and his fortune's made all the same2 only it's not quite so large as if he had kept the whole concern in his own hands4 ,what say you now1 brother ,caxton8 ',visne edere pomum8' as we used to say at school4 ,i don't want a shilling more than ,i have got1 said my father1 resolutely4 ,my wife would not love me better2 my food would not nourish me more2 my boy would not1 in all probability1 be half so hardy1 or a tenth part so industrious2 and---- ,but1 interrupted ,uncle ,jack1 pertinaciously1 and reserving his grand argument for the last1 the good you would confer on the community--the progress given to the natural productions of your country1 the wholesome beverage of cider1 brought within cheap reach of the labouring classes4 ,if it was only for your sake1 should ,i have urged this question8 should ,i now8 is it in my character8 ,but for the sake of the public6 mankind6 of our fellow-creatures6 ,why1 sir1 ,england could not get on if gentlemen like you had not a little philanthropy and speculation4 ,pap6 exclaimed my father1 to think that ,england can't get on without turning ,augustine ,caxton into an apple-merchant6 ,my dear ,jack1 listen4 ,you remind me of a colloquy in this book2 wait a bit--here it is--,pamphagus and ,cocles--',cocles recognises his friend who had been absent for many years1 by his eminent and remarkable nose4--,pamphagus says1 rather irritably1 that he is not ashamed of his nose4 ',ashamed of it6 no1 indeed1' says ,cocles3 ',i never saw a nose that could be put to so many uses6' ',ha1' says ,pamphagus1 7whose curiosity is aroused17 'uses6 what uses8' ,whereon 7lepidissime frater67 ,cocles1 with eloquence rapid as yours1 runs on with a countless list of the uses to which so vast a development of the organ can be applied4 ',if the cellar was deep1 it could sniff up the wine like an elephant's trunk1--if the bellows were missing1 it could blow the fire1--if the lamp was too glaring1 it could suffice for a shade1--it would serve as a speaking-trumpet to a herald1--it could sound a signal of battle in the field1--it would do for a wedge in wood-cutting1--a spade for digging1--a scythe for mowing1--an anchor in sailing2 till ,pamphagus cries out1 ',lucky dog that ,i am6 and ,i never knew before what a useful piece of furniture ,i carried about with me4' ,my father paused and strove to whistle1 but that effort at harmony failed him--and he added1 smiling1 ,so much for my apple trees1 brother ,john4 ,leave them to their natural destination of filling tarts and dumplings4 ,uncle ,jack looked a little discomposed for a moment2 but he then laughed with his usual heartiness1 and saw that he had not yet got to my father's blind side4 ,i confess that my revered parent rose in my estimation after that conference2 and ,i began to see that a man may not be quite without common-sense1 though he is a scholar4 ,indeed1 whether it was that ,uncle ,jack's visit acted as a gentle stimulant to his relaxed faculties1 or that ,i1 now grown older and wiser1 began to see his character more clearly1 ,i date from those summer holidays the commencement of that familiar and endearing intimacy which ever after existed between my father and myself4 ,often ,i deserted the more extensive rambles of ,uncle ,jack1 or the greater allurements of a cricket match in the village1 or a day's fishing in ,squire ,rollick's preserves1 for a quiet stroll with my father by the old peach wall2--sometimes silent1 indeed1 and already musing over the future1 while he was busy with the past1 but amply rewarded when1 suspending his lecture1 he would pour forth hoards of varied learning1 rendered amusing by his quaint comments1 and that ,socratic satire which only fell short of wit because it never passed into malice4 ,at some moments1 indeed1 the vein ran into eloquence2 and with some fine heroic sentiment in his old books1 his stooping form rose erect1 his eye flashed2 and you saw that he had not been originally formed and wholly meant for the obscure seclusion in which his harmless days now wore contentedly away4 ,,chapter ,,ix4 ,egad1 sir1 the county is going to the dogs6 ,our sentiments are not represented in parliament or out of it4 ,the ,county ,mercury has ratted1 and be hanged to it6 and now we have not one newspaper in the whole shire to express the sentiments of the respectable part of the community6 ,this speech was made on the occasion of one of the rare dinners given by ,mr and ,mrs ,caxton to the grandees of the neighbourhood1 and uttered by no less a person than ,squire ,rollick1 of ,rollick ,hall1 chairman of the quarter sessions4 ,i confess that ,i1 7for ,i was permitted on that first occasion not only to dine with the guests1 but to outstay the ladies1 in virtue of my growing years1 and my promise to abstain from the decanters7--,i confess1 ,i say1 that ,i1 poor innocent1 was puzzled to conjecture what sudden interest in the county newspaper could cause ,uncle ,jack to prick up his ears like a warhorse at the sound of the drum1 and rush so incontinently across the interval between ,squire ,rollick and himself4 ,but the mind of that deep and truly knowing man was not to be plumbed by a chit of my age4 ,you could not fish for the shy salmon in that pool with a crooked pin and a bobbin1 as you would for minnows2 or1 to indulge in a more worthy illustration1 you could not say of him1 as ,st ,gregory saith of the streams of ,jordan1 a lamb could wade easily through that ford4 ,not a county newspaper to advocate the rights of-- here my uncle stopped1 as if at a loss1 and whispered in my ear1 ,what are his politics8 ,don't know1 answered ,i4 ,uncle ,jack intuitively took down from his memory the phrase most readily at hand1 and added1 with a nasal intonation1 the rights of our distressed fellow-creatures6 ,my father scratched his eyebrow with his forefinger1 as he was apt to do when doubtful2 the rest of the company--a silent set--looked up4 ,fellow-creatures6 said ,mr ,rollick--fellow-fiddlesticks6 ,uncle ,jack was clearly in the wrong box4 ,he drew out of it cautiously--,i mean1 said he1 our respectable fellow-creatures2 and then suddenly it occurred to him that a ,county ,mercury would naturally represent the agricultural interest1 and that if ,mr ,rollick said that the ,county ,mercury ought to be hanged1 he was one of those politicians who had already begun to call the agricultural interest a ,vampire4 ,flushed with that fancied discovery1 ,uncle ,jack rushed on1 intending to bear along with the stream1 thus fortunately directed1 all the rubbish#a subsequently shot into ,covent ,garden and the ,hall of ,commerce4 #a ,we talked sad rubbish when we first began1 says ,mr ,cobden in one of his speeches4 ,yes1 respectable fellow-creatures1 men of capital and enterprise6 ,for what are these country squires compared to our wealthy merchants8 ,what is this agricultural interest that professes to be the prop of the land8 ,professes6 cried ,squire ,rollick1 ,it is the prop of the land1 and as for those manufacturing fellows who have bought up the ,mercury-- ,bought up the ,mercury1 have they1 the villains6 cried ,uncle ,jack1 interrupting the ,squire1 and now bursting into full scent--,depend upon it1 sir1 it is a part of a diabolical system of buying up1 which must be exposed manfully4--,yes1 as ,i was saying1 what is that agricultural interest which they desire to ruin8 which they declare to be so bloated--which they call 'a vampire6' they the true blood-suckers1 the venomous millocrats6 ,fellow-creatures1 sir6 ,i may well call distressed fellow-creatures1 the members of that much suffering class of which you yourself are an ornament4 ,what can be more deserving of our best efforts for relief1 than a country gentleman like yourself1 we'll say--of a nominal #ejjj a-year--compelled to keep up an establishment1 pay for his fox-hounds1 support the whole population by contributions to the poor rates1 support the whole church by tithes2 all justice1 jails1 and prosecutions by the county rates1 all thoroughfares by the highway rates--ground down by mortgages1 ,jews1 or jointures2 having to provide for younger children2 enormous expenses for cutting his woods1 manuring his model farm1 and fattening huge oxen till every pound of flesh costs him five pounds sterling in oil-cake2 and then the lawsuits necessary to protect his rights2 plundered on all hands by poachers1 sheep-stealers1 dog-stealers1 church-wardens1 overseers1 gardeners1 gamekeepers1 and that necessary rascal1 his steward4 ,if ever there was a distressed fellow-creature in the world1 it is a country gentleman with a great estate4 ,my father evidently thought this an exquisite piece of banter2 for by the corner of his mouth ,i saw that he chuckled inly4 ,squire ,rollick1 who had interrupted the speech by sundry approving exclamations1 particularly at the mention of poor rates1 tithes1 county rates1 mortgages1 and poachers1 here pushed the bottle to ,uncle ,jack1 and said civilly--,there's a great deal of truth in what you say1 ,mr ,tibbets4 ,the agricultural interest is going to ruin2 and when it does1 ,i would not give that for ,old ,england6 and ,mr ,rollick snapped his finger and thumb4 ,but what is to be done--done for the county8 ,there's the rub4 ,i was just coming to that1 quoth ,uncle ,jack4 ,you say that you have not a county paper that upholds your cause1 and denounces your enemies4 ,not since the ,whigs bought the ----shire ,mercury4 ,why1 good heavens6 ,mr ,rollick1 how could you suppose that you will have justice done you1 if at this time of day you neglect the press8 ,the press1 sir--there it is--air we breathe6 ,what you want is a great national--no1 not a national--,a ,,provincial proprietary weekly journal1 supported liberally and steadily by that mighty party whose very existence is at stake4 ,without such a paper1 you are gone1 you are dead1 extinct1 defunct1 buried alive2 with such a paper1 well conducted1 well edited by a man of the world1 of education1 of practical experience in agriculture and human nature1 mines1 corn1 manure1 insurances1 acts of parliament1 cattle shows1 the state of parties1 and the best interests of society--with such a man and such a paper1 you will carry all before you4 ,but it must be done by subscription1 by association1 by co-operation1 by a grand provincial ,benevolent ,agricultural1 ,anti-innovating ,society4 ,egad1 sir1 you are right6 said ,mr ,rollick1 slapping his thigh2 and ,i'll ride over to our ,lord-,lieutenant to-morrow4 ,his eldest son ought to carry the county4 ,and he will1 if you encourage the press1 and set up a journal1 said ,uncle ,jack1 rubbing his hands1 and then gently stretching them out1 and drawing them gradually together1 as if he were already enclosing in that airy circle the unsuspecting guineas of the unborn association4 ,all happiness dwells more in the hope than the possession2 and at that moment1 ,i dare be sworn that ,uncle ,jack felt a livelier rapture1 circum prcordia1 warming his entrails1 and diffusing throughout his whole frame of five feet eight the prophetic glow of the ,magna ,diva ,moneta1 than if he had enjoyed for ten years the actual possession of ,king ,crsus's privy purse4 ,i thought ,uncle ,jack was not a ,tory1 said ,i to my father the next day4 ,my father1 who cared nothing for politics1 opened his eyes4 ,are you a ,tory or a ,whig1 papa8 ,um1 said my father--there's a great deal to be said on both sides of the question4 ,you see1 my boy1 that ,mrs ,primmins has a great many moulds for our butter-pats2 sometimes they come up with a crown on them1 sometimes with the more popular impress of a cow4 ,it is all very well for those who dish up the butter to print it according to their taste1 or in proof of their abilities2 it is enough for us to butter our bread1 say grace1 and pay for the dairy4 ,do you understand8 ,not a bit1 sir4 ,your namesake ,pisistratus was wiser than you1 then1 said my father4 ,and now let us feed the duck4 ,where's your uncle8 ,he has borrowed ,mr ,squills's mare1 sir1 and gone with ,squire ,rollick to the great lord they were talking of4 ,oho6 said my father1 brother ,jack is going to print his butter6 ,and indeed ,uncle ,jack played his cards so well on this occasion1 and set before the ,lord-,lieutenant1 with whom he had a personal interview1 so fine a prospectus1 and so nice a calculation1 that before my holidays were over1 he was installed in a very handsome office in the county town1 with private apartments over it1 and a salary of #ejj a-year--for advocating the cause of his distressed fellow-creatures1 including noblemen1 squires1 yeomanry1 farmers1 and all yearly subscribers in the ,,new ,,proprietary ,,agricultural1 ,,anti-,,innovating ----,,shire ,,weekly ,,gazette4 ,at the head of his newspaper ,uncle ,jack caused to be engraved a crown supported by a flail and a crook1 with the motto ,pro rege et grege1 and that was the way in which ,uncle ,jack printed his pats of butter4 ,,chapter ,x4 ,i seemed to myself to have made a leap in life when ,i returned to school4 ,i no longer felt as a boy4 ,uncle ,jack1 out of his own purse1 had presented me with my first pair of ,wellington boots2 my mother had been coaxed into allowing me a small tail to jackets hitherto tailless2 my collars1 which had been wont1 spaniel-like1 to flap and fall about my neck1 now1 terrier-wise1 stood erect and rampant1 encompassed with a circumvallation of whalebone1 buckram1 and black silk4 ,i was1 in truth1 nearly seventeen1 and ,i gave myself the airs of a man4 ,now be it observed1 that that crisis in adolescent existence wherein we first pass from ,master ,sisty into ,mr ,pisistratus1 or ,pisistratus ,caxton1 ,esq4--wherein we arrogate1 and with tacit concession from our elders1 the long envied title of young man--always seems a sudden and imprompt up-shooting and elevation4 ,we do not mark the gradual preparations thereto2 we remember only one distinct period in which all the signs and symptoms burst and effervesced together2--,wellington boots1 tail1 stiffener1 down on the upper lip1 thoughts on razors1 reveries on young ladies1 and a new kind of sense of poetry4 ,i began now to read steadily1 to understand what ,i did read1 and to cast some anxious looks towards the future1 with vague notions that ,i had a place to win in the world1 and that nothing is to be won without perseverance and labour2 and so ,i went on till ,i was seventeen1 and at the head of the school1 when ,i received the two letters ,i subjoin4 #a4--;,,from ,,augustine ,,caxton1 ,,esq4 ,,my ,,dear ,,son1--,i have informed ,dr ,herman that you will not return to him after the approaching holidays4 ,you are old enough now to look forward to the embraces of our beloved ,alma ,mater1 and ,i think studious enough to hope for the honours she bestows on her worthier sons4 ,you are already entered at ,trinity1--and in fancy ,i see my youth return to me in your image4 ,i see you wandering where the ,cam steals its way through those noble gardens2 and1 confusing you with myself1 ,i recall the old dreams that haunted me when the chiming bells swung over the placid waters4 ',verum secretumque ,mouseion1 quam multa dictatis1 quam multa invenitis6' ,there1 at that illustrious college1 unless the race has indeed degenerated1 you will measure yourself with young giants4 ,you will see those who1 in the ,law1 the ,church1 the ,state1 or the still cloisters of ,learning1 are destined to become the eminent leaders of your age4 ,to rank amongst them you are not forbidden to aspire2 he who in youth 'can scorn delight1 and love laborious days1' should pitch high his ambition4 ,your ,uncle ,jack says he has done wonders with his newspaper1--though ,mr ,rollick grumbles1 and declares it is full of theories1 and that it puzzles the farmers4 ,uncle ,jack1 in reply1 contends that he creates an audience1 not addresses one1--and sighs that his genius is thrown away in a provincial town4 ,in fact1 he really is a very clever man1 and might do much in ,london1 ,i dare say4 ,he often comes over to dine and sleep1 returning the next morning4 ,his energy is wonderful1 and--contagious4 ,can you imagine that he has actually stirred up the flame of my vanity1 by constantly poking at the bars8 ,metaphor apart--,i find myself collecting all my notes and common-places1 and wondering to see how easily they fall into method1 and take shape in chapters and books4 ,i cannot help smiling when ,i add1 that ,i fancy ,i am going to become an author2 and smiling more when ,i think that your ,uncle ,jack should have provoked me into so egregious an ambition4 ,however1 ,i have read some passages of my book to your mother1 and she says it is vastly fine1 which is encouraging4 ,your mother has great good sense1 though ,i don't mean to say that she has much learning1--which is a wonder1 considering that ,pic de la ,mirandola was nothing to her father4 ,yet he died1 dear great man1 and never printed a line1--while ,i--positively ,i blush to think of my temerity6 ,adieu1 my son2 make the best of the time that remains with you at the ,philhellenic4 ,a full mind is the true ,pantheism1 plena ,jovis4 ,wherever there is knowledge1 there is ,god4 ,it is only in some corner of the brain which we leave empty1 that ,vice can obtain a lodging4 ,when she knocks at your door1 my son1 be able to say1 ',no room for your ladyship1--pass on4'--,your affectionate father1 ,a4 ,,caxton4 99 99 99 99 99 #b4--;,,from ,,mrs ,,caxton4 ,,my ,,dearest ,,sisty1--,you are coming home6--,my heart is so full of that thought that it seems to me as if ,i could not write any thing else4 ,dear child1 you are coming home2--you have done with school1 you have done with strangers1--you are our own1 all our own son again6 ,you are mine again1 as you were in the cradle1 the nursery1 and the garden1 ,sisty1 when we used to throw daisies at each other6 ,you will laugh at me so1 when ,i tell you1 that as soon as ,i heard you were coming home for good1 ,i crept away from the room1 and went to my drawer where ,i keep1 you know1 all my treasures4 ,there was your little cap that ,i worked myself1 and your poor little nankeen jacket that you were so proud to throw off--oh6 and many other relics of you when you were little ,sisty1 and ,i was not that cold formal ',mother' you call me now1 but dear ',mamma4' ,i kissed them1 ,sisty1 and said ',my little child is coming back to me again6' ,so foolish was ,i1 ,i forgot all the long years that have passed1 and fancied ,i could carry you again in my arms1 and that ,i should again coax you to say ',god bless papa4' ,well1 well6 ,i write now between laughing and crying4 ,you cannot be what you were1 but you are still my own dear son--your father's son--dearer to me than all the world--except that father4 ,i am so glad1 too1 that you will come so soon3 come while your father is really warm with his book1 and while you can encourage and keep him to it4 ,for why should he not be great and famous8 ,why should not all admire him as we do8 ,you know how proud of him ,i always was2 but ,i do so long to let the world know why ,i was so proud4 ,and yet1 after all1 it is not only because he is so wise and learned1--but because he is so good1 and has such a large noble heart4 ,but the heart must appear in the book too1 as well as the learning4 ,for though it is full of things ,i don't understand1 every now and then there is something ,i do understand--that seems as if that heart spoke out to all the world4 ,your uncle has undertaken to get it published2 and your father is going up to town with him about it1 as soon as the first volume is finished4 ,all are quite well except poor ,mrs ,jones1 who has the ague very bad indeed2 ,primmins has made her wear a charm for it1 and ,mrs ,jones actually declares she is already much better4 ,one can't deny that there may be a great deal in such things1 though it seems quite against the reason4 ,indeed your father says1 ',why not8 ,a charm must be accompanied by a strong wish on the part of the charmer that it may succeed1--and what is magnetism but a wish8' ,i don't quite comprehend this2 but1 like all your father says1 it has more than meets the eye1 ,i am quite sure4 ,only three weeks to the holidays1 and then no more school1 ,sisty--no more school6 ,i shall have your room all done freshly1 and made so pretty2 they are coming about it to-morrow4 ,the duck is quite well1 and ,i really don't think it is quite as lame as it was4 ,god bless you1 dear1 dear child6--,your affectionate happy mother1 ,k4 ,c4 ,the interval between these letters and the morning on which ,i was to return home1 seemed to me like one of those long1 restless1 yet half dreamy days which in some infant malady ,i had passed in a sick-bed4 ,i went through my task-work mechanically1 composed a ,greek ode in farewell to the ,philhellenic1 which ,dr ,herman pronounced a chef-d'uvre1 and my father1 to whom ,i sent it in triumph1 returned a letter of false ,english with it1 that parodied all my ,hellenic barbarisms by imitating them in my mother tongue4 ,however1 ,i swallowed the leek1 and consoled myself with the pleasing recollection that1 after spending six years in learning to write bad ,greek1 ,i should never have any further occasion to avail myself of so precious an accomplishment4 ,and so came the last day4 ,then1 alone1 and in a kind of delighted melancholy1 ,i revisited each of the old haunts4 ,the robbers' cave we had dug one winter1 and maintained1 six of us1 against all the police of the little kingdom4 ,the place near the pales where ,i had fought my first battle4 ,the old beech stump on which ,i sate to read letters from home6 ,with my knife1 rich in six blades1 7besides a cork-screw1 a pen-picker1 and a button-hook17 ,i carved my name in large capitals over my desk4 ,then night came1 and the bell rang1 and we went to our rooms4 ,and ,i opened the window and looked out4 ,i saw all the stars1 and wondered which was mine--which should light to fame and fortune the manhood about to commence4 ,hope and ,ambition were high within me2--and yet1 behind them1 stood ,melancholy4 ,ah6 who amongst you1 readers1 can now summon back all those thoughts1 sweet and sad--all that untold1 half-conscious regret for the past--all those vague longings for the future1 which made a poet of the dullest amongst you on the last night before leaving boyhood and school for ever6 ,,education ,,in ,,wales4#b #b ,reports of the ,commissioners of ,inquiry into the ,state of ,education in ,wales1 appointed by the ,committee of ,council on ,education4 ,parts ,i4 ,,ii4 ,,iii4 #ahdg4 ,that it is the duty of a wise and foreseeing government to inquire into the condition of whatever affects the well-being of the people1 is almost a political truism1 and may certainly be received as a political axiom4 ,more especially1 however1 when the subject is one of such vital importance as education1 does such an inquiry become necessary3 and1 in truth1 the leaders of the state cannot be considered as doing their duty1 unless they make themselves acquainted with the practical bearings and results of the system1 whatever it may be1 that exists4 ,not that the government of this country1 until very recent periods at least1 ever troubled themselves with such matters3 the more direct political business of the state1 the clash of parties1 and the struggle for power1 absorbed their whole attention2 and education was left1 as a matter of private and local concern1 to the clergy and the gentry exclusively4 ,the voluntary system1 superinduced upon the country by the indolence or neglect of those who held the reins of authority1 was allowed to remain in unaided operation as far as education was concerned2 and until the establishing of ,national ,schools1 as they are commonly termed1 and for some time after that event1 the governments that followed each other in the dingy recesses of ,downing ,street cared no more for village schoolmasters1 and knew no more about them1 than they did about village blacksmiths4 ,it was enough if the people went on tolerably well1 and paid their taxes2 whether they learned any thing at school1 or whether they had schools in which any thing might be learned1 was1 at head-quarters1 a matter of no moment4 ,most of the upper classes of the nation were of the same feeling--the middle classes1 too1 folded their arms and looked on4#c ,had it not been for the force of events1 and the efforts of a few energetic men1 education had been shelved1 as a musty useless topic1 for an indefinite period4 #c ,this1 it will be understood1 does not apply to ,scotland1--where education has been a very popular interest for nearly two centuries back4 ,now1 however1 in this forty-eighth year of the nineteenth century1 it is viewed in a far different light4 ,the middle classes have begun to take up the matter as they had never done before1--purging and unsealing their long abused sight to the manifold advantages involved in it for themselves2 while the upper classes look more to how it fares in this respect with the very poor or the profligate4 ,and so much pressed on this subject1 from many quarters1 is the government1 that neither ,lord ,john ,russell1 as long as he remains on the ,treasury ,bench1 nor any body else1 who may get there1 can ever hope to avoid doing something for the education of the people4 ,there has been a growing sense of the importance of this subject on the part of the nation at large1 which has acted on the nervous sensibilities of all occupants of office in later years2 and the very force of events themselves1 apart from all theoretic reasoning as to expediency or the contrary1 has compelled each successive government to look after the schoolmaster1 and even to send him abroad in the world1 though at the risk of making him the laughing-stock of his scholars for want of due preparation4 ,we do not purpose to write the history of the educational movement of this realm since the middle of the eighteenth century--volumes might be compiled on the topic1 and it would still remain unexhausted4 ,there are1 however1 two things which we would point out to the attention of our readers4 ,the first is1 that the constituted authorities of this country and the legislature1 ever since the time of the ,reformation1 have acted too much upon the principle that the ecclesiastical establishments of the nation1 aided by the ,foundation schools of the land1 not only were sufficient to attend to the moral and religious welfare of the community1 but that they actually did effect this end1 and that they did bring up the people in the right way2 whereas we now know1 that not only has the constitution of the ecclesiastical revenues and administration been lamentably unequal and ineffective1 but that provisions for teaching1 upon a general and effective plan1 could hardly be said to exist4 ,at all events1 when the population began to increase rapidly--when the great movement of the ,methodists took place in ,england--and later1 when religious dissent not only reared its hydra head1 but became encouraged in high places--the nation seemed all at once to start from its lethargy1 and to inquire into what means it possessed for enlightening and civilising the humblest classes of its children2 and1 when it did so inquire1 those means were found wanting4 ,again1 in these our own days1 when crime is shown to be increasing in a much faster ratio than either the enormous wealth or the already great population of the country2 and when legal inquirers have traced back adult crime to puerile and even infantine neglect and ignorance2 when the brutality of the people shows itself at every man's door and homestead1 in the burning of farming-stock or the destruction of machinery and dwelling-houses1 and makes itself to be paid for in the form of constantly increasing poor-rates1--in times such as these1 it behoves every man1 who has any thing to dread from the insurrectionary rising of the lower classes1 to look sharply around him1 and to see how best the sources of the evil torrent may be dried up2 where the strongest dam may be thrown across its impetuous course1 and into what side-channels its blind strength may be diverted4 ,it behoves every thoughtful lover of his country to consider well how the innate national energies of his fellow countrymen may be improved1 humanised1 and directed to proper objects2 and how the mass of the people1 instead of being dreaded as a mob of hungry1 savage levellers1 may come to be looked on as the broad basis and support of the whole national edifice4 ,and this is to be effected by attending1 not merely to the physical and material well-being of the people1 but by giving well directed and unceasing diligence to the promotion of true religion and sound knowledge among them4 ,we maintain that hitherto1 and even at the present time1 the public constituted means for attaining this important end have been1 and are1 altogether insufficient2 and we further maintain1 that the necessity of making some adequate provision is increasing every day1 and cannot long be postponed without imminent danger to the community4 ,we would also beg our readers to observe that1 in the case of these commissions of inquiry into the existing state of education in any given district1 but especially in ,wales1 the commissioners had not got to look into what the existing government1 or previous governments1 had done1 nor into how their systems acted--those governments had done nothing1 and they had no system2 but they rather went to see what the people1 abandoned to their own resources by the state1 which ought to have aided them1 had been able to effect out of their own means and goodwill1 and to witness the results of the voluntary and fortuitous systems which were then in full and unaided operation4 ,whatever causes of blame and offence the commissioners might meet with--whatever imperfections1 and shortcomings1 and ill doings1 they might perceive--these could not so much be laid to the blame of the people1 as they might in fairness be attributed to the neglect and apathy of the nation at large4 ,it was entirely owing to the private efforts of the people in their various localities1 unconnected with each other--to their desultory and varying efforts--that any thing had been done at all4 ,it was obviously better that something should have been done rather than nothing2 but the debt of gratitude for the something was due to the people--the blame of the nothing lay with the legislature and the nation at large4 ,it would1 therefore1 be highly unbecoming in such commissioners1 to show any flippant petulancy in their animadversions on the generally defective results which the isolated operations of the several parishes and districts might evince4 ,it would behove them to look on with rather a benevolent eye1 and to speak with a guarded tongue concerning the evils they might witness4 ,we think they have not altogether shown these qualifications in the ,reports now before us2 and after perusing them1 we rise with the feeling that the commissioners seem to have thought themselves authorised to find out how far the various teachers1 c41 had neglected duties imposed on them by the public1 and that they had expected to find perfection pervading the country2 whereas they should have anticipated that imperfection and neglect would prove to be the rule--perfection and care the few and distant exceptions4 ,it is by no means so easy to inspect a school1 or to find out the knowledge and the modes of thinking of young people1 as might be supposed4 ,it is not to be done by any one stalking stiffly into a school-room1 giving himself the airs of a ,dr ,busby1 and putting questions with the consequence of an examiner in the schools at ,oxford4 ,the very idea of a stranger being in the room1 and much more of one authorised to examine1 is enough to dislocate the thoughts of children1 older and riper than village boys and girls commonly are2 and the mere interruption of the usual formalities of class arrangement and class work is sufficient to break up the discipline which1 in all parochial schools at least1 rests upon a very precarious and doubtful basis4 ,much less is it possible1 by a flying visit of one1 or two1 or three hours1 to get at a true perception of what the average knowledge of children may be fairly rated at3 it is only by repeated and patient inspection that the ordinary amount of work done1 and knowledge gained1 can be discovered4 ,the young mind1 too1 does not commonly retain facts--it rather receives general impressions1 and1 though this is not produceable knowledge1 it is1 nevertheless1 information1 and cultivation of the mental powers1 and formation of the character1 not without great value4 ,but because a child cannot answer certain questions at a certain time and place1 it does not therefore follow that it is ignorant of the subject4 ,the thoughts cannot be concentrated1 the powers of the memory and of expression have not been sufficiently cultivated2 the faculty of reproduction1 and the method of arrangement and classification of ideas1 do not exist4 ,it is impossible for such a child to pass through the ordeal4 ,and yet the common expression of young people1 when the question they could not answer is explained for them--,oh yes6 ,i knew that--only ,i could not remember it1 tells the whole truth1 and reveals at once the constitution and the weakness of their minds4 ,examinations1 unless they immediately follow the subject learnt1 are not suited to young children1 and may tend to give a false idea of their real acquirements4 ,but1 if to this dread of answering questions be added the awe arising from an examiner's--a strange examiner's presence1 the physical impossibility of obtaining satisfactory replies is thereby confirmed4 ,we remember it in our own case at school2 in the presence of the university examiner1 who periodically visited us1 it was ,obstupui1 steteruntque com2 vox faucibus hsit2 and even in the schools of adolescent life1 the examiners put us many a stiff question in ,plato and ,aristotle at which we hung our heads and stammered out nonsense2 but which1 as soon as we got back to our rooms in college1 came to our memory in provoking vividness4 ,the commissioners seem to have hoped for unimpeachable examinations--and in almost every case they were disappointed3 they could often hardly get a reply to the commonest questions4 ,much of this arose from their examining chiefly in subjects that were taught in a foreign language4 ,but of this more anon4 ,the nature and object of this inspection of ,welsh schools are sufficiently explained in the instructions from ,mr ,kay ,shuttleworth1 the secretary to the ,committee of ,council1 which preface the first of the three goodly volumes to which these ,reports extend4 ,these instructions say3-- ,attention was called1 during the last session of parliament1 to the state of education in ,wales1 by a motion in the house of commons1 for an address to the ,queen1 praying her majesty 'to direct an inquiry to be made into the state of education in the principality of ,wales1 especially into the means afforded to the labouring classes of acquiring a knowledge of the ,english language4' ,the secretary of state for the home department undertook on that occasion1 on behalf of her majesty's late government1 that such an inquiry should be instituted1 and he intimated that it should be conducted under the authority of the committee of council on education4 ,the object of your commission is1 to ascertain1 as accurately as circumstances will permit1 the existing number of schools of all descriptions1 for the education of the children of the labouring classes1 or of adults--the amount of attendance--the ages of the scholars--and the character of the instruction given in the schools2 in order that her majesty's government and parliament may be enabled1 by having these facts before them1 in connexion with the wants and circumstances of the population of the principality1 to consider what measures ought to be taken for the improvement of the existing means of education in ,wales4 ,it will be perceived from this portion of the instructions1 that the inquiries of the ,commissioners were to be limited to the schools intended for the lower classes only2 and therefore that they would have to look for the workings of the voluntary and the isolated system in its fullest extent4 ,the further definition of the object of the ,commission is thus specified3-- ,the schools for the instruction of the poorer classes in ,wales have chiefly been erected by private beneficence1 and some have been endowed from the same source2 such of them as have no permanent endowment are supported by the small payments of the poor1 by collections in religious congregations1 and by voluntary subscriptions4 ,their lordships cannot confer on you any absolute authority to enter into and examine schools1 nor to require from any persons information respecting them which they may be unwilling to communicate4 ,if no objection is made to your visit1 you will personally examine1 where practicable1 the condition of the school1 keeping in view the following particulars1 as those on which it will be important to obtain correct information3--,the tenure of the school1 whether held under a mere temporary occupation1 or secured by deed for ever1 or for a term of years--the capacity of the school-room--the state of the school furniture and apparatus--the number of the children on the books--the average attendance--the organisation of the school1 and the methods used--the subjects professed to be taught--the time allotted to each--the books used--whether the children are instructed in the ,welsh language1 or in the ,english1 or in both--whether in each case in the grammar or not--the actual condition of their instruction on all subjects professed to be taught4 ,you will ascertain the amount and sources of the annual income available for the necessary expenses2 the number of teachers--their ages--whether trained at a normal school or at a model school--for what period1 and when4 ,at what age they commenced their vocation as teachers2 their previous occupation--the salaries of each teacher--their income from school pence1 and other emoluments4 ,whether they follow any trade1 or hold any other office4 ,whether they have a house rent-free1 a garden rent-free1 fuel1 or other emoluments4 ,numerous ,sunday-schools have been established in ,wales1 and their character and tendencies should not be overlooked1 in an attempt to estimate the provision for the instruction of the poor4 ,the ,sunday-school must be regarded as the most remarkable1 because the most general1 spontaneous effort of the zeal of ,christian congregations for education4 ,its origin1 organisation1 and tendencies1 are purely religious4 ,so far so good2 the spirit of these instructions is wise and humane2 we can only regret that such a commission had not been issued a century earlier4 ,but shortly after1 there follows a sentence which1 to any one tolerably well acquainted with ,wales1 must appear at first sight absolutely trivial1 and then highly extraordinary3-- ,in some parts of the country it will probably be necessary that you should avail yourselves of the services of persons possessing a knowledge of the ,welsh language4 ,why1 of course1 when ,welsh is the living spoken language of three-fourths of the whole district to be examined1 and when ,english is essentially a foreign language1 imperfectly understood in those portions1--in some parts1 indeed1 hardly at all known1--the very least of the qualifications that we should suppose a commissioner or school inspector ought to possess1 would be a good knowledge of the ,welsh language4 ,did1 then1 the lords of the privy council1 composing the committee of education1 know so little of the country they wished to have inspected1 that they thought it only probable that in some parts of the country a knowledge of ,welsh would be necessary8 ,if they had been sending travelling commissioners to the ,continent to inquire into the state of public education in ,france or ,germany1 would they then have sent to the former country those who knew no other foreign language than ,german1 and to the latter those who knew none but ,french8 ,this is a regular piece of official oversight1 betraying one-sided and crude views of the subject to be treated2 and showing that the examination of it was begun in a hasty and somewhat inconsiderate manner4 ,it might have been predicted that any one not thoroughly conversant with ,welsh could never obtain original information for himself1 but would have to speak through other people's mouths1 hear with their ears1 and even see with their eyes4 ,he would never gain the confidence of the people1 but would return with an imperfect1 and all but a second-hand report4 ,he would resemble the honest tar who1 on his return from ,cherbourg1 gave it as his opinion that the ,french were the dullest nation on the face of the earth1 since they could not speak common ,english4 ,and so it has actually proved to be the case with these very ,commissioners4 ,not only do we find the main grievance in their reports to be the ignorance of the children in the ,english language1 but the prevalent feeling1 all over ,wales1 is1 that these gentlemen have gone out of it nearly as wise1 concerning the actual knowledge of the people1 as they came into it3 and that1 could the examinations have been conducted by them in the ,welsh tongue1 their reports would have assumed a very different character4 ,what8 complain of children not twelve years of age for not comprehending questions addressed to them in a foreign language8 ,bring a ,french ,government inspector of schools from ,paris1 and set him to examine all the boarding-schools round ,london in the ,french tongue1 he himself using it all the while for his questions2 and then let him go home and declare that not one child in ten knew any thing about what he said to them1--and he would come near the truth2--and very like this is the result of this inspection of ,welsh schools by ,english examiners4 ,the ,government1 however1 do not seem to have learnt wisdom in this respect1 for they have very recently appointed1 as permanent inspectors for ,wales1 a gentleman named ,morell1 and one of the authors of this very report1 ,mr ,symons2 neither of whom1 we will bet a leek to a potato1 can hold a conversation in ,welsh4 ,one of the main difficulties in the way of education in ,wales1 if not the principal difficulty of all1 results from the circumstance that the language of the principality is not that of the rest of the kingdom4 ,to understand this difficulty fully1 it must be remembered that the ,welsh belong to a race of men essentially and altogether distinct from those that inhabit the lands eastward of ,offa's dyke2 that the peculiarities of national character which subsist among them have been only in a very small part removed by amalgamation of the two races2 and that these differences are so wide1 and so deeply seated1 that here1 as elsewhere--wherever1 indeed1 the ,celtic and ,teutonic races have been brought into contact1--a struggle and an opposition1 a repulsive tendency1 more or less open and active1 have ever existed1 and have brought about the subjugation1 the inferiority1 and1 to a certain degree1 the degradation of the former4 ,the ,saxons produced few or no results of importance by their attacks on the ,welsh2 the hardy mountaineers generally gave them as much as they brought2 and1 had they been doomed to meet with no men of sterner stuff1 they would still have held their own in unbroken integrity4 ,but the energy of the ,normans1 their fire and gallantry1 animating and directing the slower impulses of their ,teutonic vassals1 made the monarch of ,england at length the conquering sovereign of ,wales2 and1 from that moment1 with the transient exception of ,owen ,glyndwr's bright resistance1 ,wales not only became the conquered and suffering country1 but showed all the symptoms of it1 and brought forth all its fruits4 ,the higher classes either became replaced by ,anglo-,norman nobles1 or imitated both their customs and their language2--many of the largest landed proprietors no longer resided in the principality2 and those who did1 held themselves far above their ,celtic vassals in proud and domineering exclusiveness4 ,the common people--the mass of the nation1 including the petty free-holders and the remains of the conquered native nobles--formed a national party1 ever opposed to their haughty masters2 adhered to their national language with the greater devotion1 as it was to them the only relic of their former independence2 retained their ancient national customs and superstitions2 and were content to turn their backs upon the progress of that nation whose power they could not throw off1 though the desire to do so remained1 and is not1 even at the present day1 extinguished4 ,the ,welsh still call themselves the ,cymry1 and the ,english the ,saeson4 ,they still look on the ,english as foreigners2 and this fact alone speaks volumes as to the antagonism that still subsists between the two races4 ,it is not our intention to go into any discussion upon the political bearings of this state of things3 we will only observe1 that the gentry and clergy of ,wales having mainly carried on their studies in the ,english language1 and having been anxious to do so as a mark of distinction from their humbler neighbours1 not only has the ,welsh language remained almost stationary since the time of the conquest1 but the national mind1 the intelligence of the common people1 has never kept pace with that of ,england4 ,nearly all the literature and science1 all the poetry1 history1 and belles-lettres of the ,english nation1 have been to the ,welsh totally unknown4 ,they have never been translated2 and1 for that very reason1 the middle classes of the country1 and of course all the lower ones1 are1 it may be said1 almost totally ignorant of them4 ,another circumstance tending to this comparative isolation1 is the physical formation of the country1 which1 by keeping the people1 down to the present time1 fixed to their bleak hills and extensive moorlands1 and by discouraging the growth of large towns1 has retained the people in a state of primitive agricultural simplicity1 which1 while it may make them enjoy a certain amount of happiness not inferior to that of their trade-enslaved neighbours1 retards them in what we suppose to be the summum bonum--the march of civilisation4 ,the language1 the feelings1 the aspirations of the ,welsh are different from those of the ,english--altogether different3 and the million of inhabitants1 who are of ,celtic race--just like the two millions of ,celts in ,france who retain the name of ,britons2 and the seven millions of the ,erse in ,ireland1 who also differ altogether in sympathies1 and to a great extent in language1 from their conquerors--never will unite with the ,saxon race so far as to keep pace with them in what is called improvement and knowledge4 ,this fundamental difference is alone sufficient to account for the different degrees of education in the two countries1 even supposing that1 after all1 this difference should turn out to be less than it is actually supposed to be by her ,majesty's inspectors2 and it will also account for the immense preponderance of dissent in ,wales1 and for the pining state of the church4 ,ever since the time of ,henry ,,viii41 the ,english church has been the church of the conqueror4 ,the conquered have been left to form their own religious creed2 and1 at the present moment1 the ,welsh adhere with all the warmth of national enthusiasm1 and with all the devotion of a conquered people1 to any form of worship but that which they see adopted by the upper classes--by their ,anglo-,norman lords and masters4 ,the limits of a review do not allow of our pursuing this portion of the subject to the extent we might wish2 but we know that what we have here asserted is at the bottom of some of the main differences between the ,welsh and the ,english characters2 and we do not know of any means whereby these causes can be removed1 except through the soothing and permuting influence of time4 ,we appeal to the knowledge and experience of the more intelligent of the ,welsh gentry for a confirmation of these views2 we find ample evidence in support of them in the pages of these very reports4 ,all through these volumes--in almost every page--there is the same complaint that the difference of language impedes the communication of knowledge2 and1 indeed1 we very much doubt whether any ,english parent or schoolmaster1 who wished to convey all ideas of religious and secular knowledge to his children through the medium of the ,welsh language1--to be taught them by an ,englishman1--from the age of eight years old and upwards1 would not arrive at the same negative result as the ,welshman who makes the same experiment by means of the ,english tongue4 ,we may here quote the following important observations from the report of ,mr ,lingen--by far the most able1 and the best digested of the three4 ,and we take the opportunity of pointing out this gentleman's introductory remarks1 as conveying the most valuable information which we have met with concerning the actual state of ,wales1--as well as for the highly enlightened and philosophic spirit in which they are conceived4 ,mr ,lingen observes3-- ,my district exhibits the phenomenon of a peculiar language isolating the mass from the upper portion of society2 and1 as a further phenomenon1 it exhibits this mass engaged upon the most opposite occupations at points not very distant from each other2 being1 on the one side1 rude and primitive agriculturists1 living poorly1 and thinly scattered2 on the other1 smelters and miners1 wantoning in plenty1 and congregated in the densest accumulations4 ,an incessant tide of immigration sets in from the former extreme to the latter1 and1 by perpetuating a common character in each1 admits of their being contemplated under a single point of view4 ,whether in the country1 or among the furnaces1 the ,welsh element is never found at the top of the social scale1 nor in its own body does it exhibit much variety of gradation4 ,in the country1 the farmers are very small holders1 in intelligence and capital nowise distinguished from labourers4 ,in the works1 the ,welsh workman never finds his way into the office4 ,he never becomes either clerk or agent4 ,he may become an overseer or sub-contractor1 but this does not take him out of the labouring and put him into the administering class4 ,equally in his new1 as in his old1 home1 his language keeps him under the hatches1 being one in which he can neither acquire nor communicate the necessary information4 ,it is a language of old-fashioned agriculture1 of theology1 and of simple rustic life1 while all the world about him is ,english4 ,thus his social sphere becomes one of complete isolation from all influences1 save such as arise within his own order4 ,he jealously shrinks from holding any communication with classes either superior to1 or different from1 himself4 ,his superiors are content1 for the most part1 simply to ignore his existence in all its moral relations4 ,he is left to live in an under world of his own1 and the march of society goes so completely over his head that he is never heard of1 excepting when the strange and abnormal features of a revival1 or a ,rebecca or ,chartist outbreak1 call attention to a phase of society which could produce any thing so contrary to all that we elsewhere experience4 ,cut off from1 or limited to a purely material agency in1 the practical world1 his mental faculties1 so far as they are not engrossed by the hardships of rustic1 or the intemperance of manufacturing1 life1 have hitherto been exerted almost exclusively upon theological ideas4 ,in this direction too1 from causes which it is out of my province to particularise1 he has moved under the same isolating destiny1 and his worship1 like his life1 has grown different from that of the classes over him4 ,nor has he failed of tangible results in his chosen province of independent exertion4 ,he has raised the buildings1 and maintains the ministry of his worship over the whole face of his country1 to an extent adequate to his accommodation4 ,on the manifold evils inseparable from an ignorance of ,english1 ,i found but one opinion expressed on all hands4 ,they are too palpable1 and too universally admitted1 to need particularising4 ,yet1 if interest pleads for ,english1 affection leans to ,welsh4 ,the one is regarded as a new friend to be acquired for profit's sake2 the other as an old one1 to be cherished for himself1 and especially not to be deserted in his decline4 ,probably you could not find in the most purely ,welsh parts a single parent1 in whatever class1 who would not have his child taught ,english in school2 yet every characteristic development of the social life into which that same child is born--preaching--prayer-meetings-- ,sunday-schools--clubs--biddings--funera ls--the denominational magazine 7his only press71 all these exhibit themselves to him in ,welsh as their natural exponent1 partly1 it may be1 from necessity1 but1 in some degree also1 from choice4 ',in the ,cymreigyddion 7benefit societies7 it is a rule that no ,english shall be spoken4' ,it is true that the necessities of the world more and more force ,english upon the ,welshman2 but1 whether he can speak no ,english1 or whether he speaks it imperfectly1 he finds it alike painful to be reminded of his utter1 or to struggle against his partial1 inability of expression4 ,his feelings are impetuous2 his imagination vivid2 his ideas 7on such topics as he entertains7 succeed each other rapidly4 ,hence he is naturally voluble1 often eloquent4 ,he possesses a mastery over his own language far beyond that which the ,englishman of the same degree possesses over his4 ,a certain power of elocution 7viz41 to pray 'doniol1' as it is called1 i4 e41 in a gifted manner71 is so universal in his class that to be without it is a sort of stigma4 ,hence1 in speaking ,english1 he has at once to forego the conscious power of displaying certain talents whereon he piques himself1 and to exhibit himself under that peculiar form of inability which most offends his self-esteem4 ,from all those favourite scenes of his life1 therefore1 which can still be transacted without ,english1 he somewhat eagerly banishes it as an irksome imposition4 ,through no other medium than a common language can ideas become common4 ,it is impossible to open formal sluice-gates for them from one language into another4 ,their circulation requires a net-work of pores too minute for analysis1 too numerous for special provision4 ,without this net-work1 the ideas come into an alien atmosphere in which they are lifeless4 ,direct education finds no place1 when indirect education is excluded by the popular language1 as it were by a wall of brass4 ,nor can an old and cherished language be taught down in schools2 for so long as the children are familiar with none other1 they must be educated to a considerable extent through the medium of it1 even though to supersede it be the most important part of their education4 ,still less1 out of school1 can the language of lessons make head against the language of life4 ,but schools are every day standing less alone in this contest4 ,along the chief lines of road1 from the border counties1 from the influx of ,english1 or ,english-speaking labourers1 into the iron and coal-fields--in short from every point of contact with modern activity1 the ,english tongue keeps spreading1 in some places rapidly1 but sensibly in all4 ,railroads1 and the fuller development of the great mineral beds1 are on the eve of multiplying these points of contact4 ,hence the encouragement vigorously to press forward the cause of popular education in its most advanced form4 ,schools are not called upon to impart in a foreign1 or engraft upon the ancient tongue a factitious education conceived under another set of circumstances 7in either of which cases the task would be as hopeless as the end unprofitable71 but to convey in a language1 which is already in process of becoming the mother tongue of the country1 such instruction as may put the people on a level with that position which is offered to them by the course of events4 ,if such instruction contrasts in any points with the tendency of old ideas1 such contrast will have its reflex and its justification in the visible change of surrounding circumstances4 ,we find the same statements amply corroborated by the evidence of ,mr ,symons1 another of her ,majesty's inspectors4 ,he observes3-- ,the ,welsh language is a vast drawback to ,wales1 and a manifold barrier to the moral progress and commercial prosperity of the people4 ,it is not easy to overestimate its evil effects4 ,it is the language of the ,cymri1 and anterior to that of the ancient ,britons4 ,it dissevers the people from intercourse which would greatly advance their civilisation1 and bars the access of improving knowledge to their minds4 ,as a proof of this1 there is no ,welsh literature worthy of the name4 ,the only works generally read in the ,welsh language are the ,welsh monthly magazines1 of which a list and description are given in the ,appendix lettered ,h4 ,they are much more talented than any other ,welsh works extant1 but convey1 to a very limited extent1 a knowledge of passing events1 and are chiefly polemical and full of bitter sectarianism1 and indulge a great deal in highly-coloured caricatures and personality4 ,nevertheless they have partially lifted the people from that perfect ignorance and utter vacuity of thought which otherwise would possess at least two-thirds of them4 ,at the same time1 these periodicals have used their monopoly as public instructors in moulding the popular mind1 and confirming a natural partiality for polemics1 which impedes the cultivation of a higher and more comprehensive taste and desire for general information4 ,this has been conclusively proved by ,mr ,rees1 the enterprising publisher at ,llandovery4 ,he commenced the publication of a periodical similar to the ,penny ,magazine1 in the ,welsh language1 but lost ,l4#bjj by it in a year4 ,this was probably too short a trial of the experiment2 but it sufficiently evinces the difficulty of supplanting an established taste1 by means however inoffensive4 ,the evil of the ,welsh language1 as ,i have above stated1 is obviously and fearfully great in courts of justice4 ,the evidence given by ,mr ,hall 7,no4 #cg7 is borne out by every account ,i have heard on the subject2 it distorts the truth1 favours fraud1 and abets perjury1 which is frequently practised in courts1 and escapes detection through the loop-holes of interpretation4 ,this public exhibition of successful falsehood has a disastrous effect on public morals and regard for truth4 ,the mockery of an ,english trial of a ,welsh criminal by a ,welsh jury1 addressed by counsel and judge in ,english1 is too gross and shocking to need comment4 ,it is nevertheless a mockery which must continue until the people are taught the ,english language2 and that will not be done until there are efficient schools for the purpose4 ,the ,reverend ,mr ,griffiths1 of the ,dissenting college1 ,brecknock1 says3-- ,it 7the ,english language7 is gaining ground in the border counties1 but not so fast as ,englishmen are apt to suppose4 ,very few pulpits or ,sunday-schools have changed languages within the memory of man4 ,until that is done1 the ,english1 however employed in ordinary matters of business1 can have little effect on the formation of character4 ,as to the desirableness of its being better taught1 without entering on considerations of commerce or general literature1 confessedly important as they are1 perhaps you will forgive my taking an extract from the address published by the ,llandovery conference from which the following passage may be cited3--',hallowed by religion and rich with the magic of genius and associations of home1 it 7the ,welsh language7 cannot be otherwise than dear to our hearts4 ,it has done good service in its day1 and the sooner that service is acknowledged1 the better for all parties concerned4 ,if die it must1 let it die fairly1 peacefully1 and reputably4 ,attached to it as we are1 few would wish to postpone its euthanasy4 ,but no sacrifice would be deemed too great to prevent its being murdered4 ,at the best1 the vanishing for ever of a language which has been spoken for thousands of years is a deeply touching event4 ,there is a melancholy grandeur in the very idea1 to which even its bitterest enemies cannot be wholly insensible4 ,what1 then1 must the actual fact be to those who have worshipped and loved in its accents from the earliest hours of childhood1 and all whose fondest recollections and hopes are bound up in its existence8' ,mr ,johnson1 the third inspector1 publishes a most curious list of all the books now circulating in the ,welsh language4 ,they are only #dje in number1 and out of these #cji relate to religion or poetry1 #ej to scientific subjects1 and only the remaining #df to general subjects4 ,what can be done for the education of a people with such a literature8 ,evidently nothing1 until one of these two contingencies shall take place3 either that the people forsake their own language1 and adopt ,english exclusively1 or that a very considerable number of the best elementary and educational books in the ,english language be translated into ,welsh1 and the people taught in them4 ,neither of which contingencies are likely to fall out for many generations yet to come2 though the latter is clearly possible and desirable2 and the former not only impossible except in the lapse of ages1 but also1 for reasons that we shall advert to hereafter1 highly to be deprecated even if it lay within the limits of feasibility4 ,we now address ourselves to the main features of the reports themselves2 and shall begin by observing that each volume consists of an introductory report1 followed and supported by an immense mass of detailed evidence1 accounts of the examination of each school1 and elaborate tables1 enough to confound the diligence of the most indefatigable reader1 and amply sufficient to satisfy the statistical appetites of ,mr ,kay ,shuttleworth1 the secretary of the committee1 and ,mr ,williams1 late ,m4,p4 for ,coventry1 in whose motion these volumes originated4 ,the first volume 7,mr ,lingen's7 contains #fb pages of introductory report1 and #dib of evidence and tables4 ,the second volume1 7,mr ,symons's17 #fh of report1 and #bff of evidence1 c42 and the third1 7,mr ,johnson's17 which is the volume devoted to ,north ,wales1 has also #fh of report1 and #ceh of evidence4 ,the reports of nearly all the schools1 with very few and widely-scattered exceptions1 run all on the same themes2 the inability of the children to answer the examiner's questions1 and their ignorance1 bad pronunciation1 bad syntax1 c41 of the ,english language4 ,we know for a fact1 on the other hand1 that the returns of the inspectors are disputed in a great number of cases by competent judges residing in or near the parishes where the examinations took place2 and that the inspectors are accused of having conducted their examinations not only in an off-hand flippant manner1 with much precipitancy1 but with a method so decidedly ,english1 and therefore foreign1 as at once to unnerve both the children and the schoolmasters1 and thus to have produced the most negative and unfavourable results possible4 ,in a great many instances1 too1 the inspectors are accused of having made erroneous returns4 ,we have been ourselves at the pains to make inquiries into these points1 but for the very obvious reason of not wishing to involve ourselves in controversy1 we abstain from discussing the evidence1 especially with three lawyers for our antagonists3 we leave this task to the ,welsh local press1 which has been for some time past running a-muck at them1 and is disposed to devour them--reports1 pens1 ink1 wigs1 gowns1 and all4 ,we shall content ourselves with stating1 that we know of one instance in which the inspector has sent in a very unfavourable report of a considerable school1 which had been thoroughly and patiently examined only a few weeks before by one of the ,welsh bishops1 aided by some local clergymen1 in the presence of a large concourse of the laity1 and when the result had turned out to be highly creditable both to the teachers and the scholars4 ,in the latter case1 the children had been questioned both in ,welsh and ,english by ,welsh people1 and by people whom they knew and were not afraid of4 ,in the former1 they had been examined by one of her ,majesty's inspectors1 learned in the law1 but not in the ,welsh language1 nor in the art of conciliating the ,welsh people4 ,we shall take instances from each of the three reports1 diving into these parliamentary folios quite at hazard1 and fishing up the first returns that meet our eye3 they will give some idea of the inspectors' skill1 and of the condition of the schools4 ,mr ,lingen reports as follows of a school in the parish of ,llangwnnor1 ,carmarthenshire4 ,i visited this school on the #bdth of ,november2 it is held in a ruinous hovel of the most squalid and miserable character1 which was originally erected by the parish1 but apparently by encroachment4 ,on ,sunday the ,calvinistic ,methodists hold a school in it2 the floor is of bare earth1 full of deep holes2 the windows are all broken2 a tattered partition of lath and plaster divides it into two unequal portions2 in the larger were a few wretched benches1 and a small desk for the master in one corner2 in the lesser was an old door with the hasp still upon it1 laid crossways upon two benches1 about half a yard high1 to serve for a writing-desk6 ,such of the scholars as write retire in pairs to this part of the room1 and kneel on the ground while they write4 ,on the floor was a heap of loose coal1 and a litter of straw1 paper1 and all kinds of rubbish4 ,the vicar's son informed me that he had seen eighty children in this hut4 ,in summer the heat of it is said to be suffocating2 and no wonder4 ,the master appeared a pains-taking and amiable man1 and had a very good character given of him4 ,he had been disabled from following his trade 7that of a carpenter7 by an accident4 ,he was but indifferently acquainted with ,english2 one of the copies set by him was ',the ,jews slain ,christ4' ,i stood by while he heard two classes--one of two little girls1 and another of three little boys and a girl--read4 ,the two first read an account of our ,lord's temptation2 the master asked them to spell a few words1 which they did1 and then to give the ,welsh equivalents for several ,english words1 which they also did2 he asked no other questions4 ,the other class read small sentences containing a repetition of the same word1 e4 g41 ',the bad do sin--wo to the bad--the bad do lie1' c4 ,they were utterly unable to turn such sentences into ,welsh2 they knew the letters 7for they could point to particular words when required17 and they knew to some extent the ,english sound of them2 they knew also the meaning of the single words 7for they could give the ,welsh equivalents17 but they had no idea of the sentence4 ,with them1 therefore1 ,english reading must be 7at best7 a mere string of words1 connected only by juxtaposition4 ,mr4 ,symons gives the following report of a school at ,llanfihangel ,creiddyn1 in ,cardiganshire4 ,this parish contains a very good modern school-room1 but it is not finished inside4 ,there is no floor of any sort4 ,the school1 nevertheless1 is of the most inferior description1 devoid of method in the instruction1 and of capacity in the master4 ,during the whole of last summer the school was shut1 and the room was used by the carpenters who were repairing the church4 ,one of their benches is now used as a writing table4 ,few of the children remain a year2 they come for a quarter or half-a-year1 and then leave the school4 ,fourteen children were present1 together with two young men who were there to learn writing4 ,four of the children only could read in the ,testament1 and the master selected the #ast chapter of ,revelation for them to read in4 ,they stammered through several verses1 mispronouncing nearly every word1 and which the master took some pains to correct4 ,none of them knew the meaning1 or could give the ,welsh words for 'show1' 'gave1' or 'faith4' ,one or two only knew that of 'grace1' 'woman1' 'nurse4' ,their knowledge of spelling was very limited4 ,of ,scripture they knew next to nothing4 ,jesus was said to be the son of ,joseph2 one child only said the ,son of ,god2 another thought he was on earth now2 and another said he would come again 'to increase grace1' grace meaning godliness4 ,three out of the five could not tell why ,christ came to the earth1 a penny having been offered for a correct answer4 ,two could not tell any one thing that ,christ did1 and a third said he drew water from a rock in the land of ,canaan4 ,none knew the number of the ,apostles2 one never heard of them1 and two could not name any of them4 ,christ died in ,calvary1 which one said was in ,england1 and the others did not know where it was4 ,four could not tell the day ,christ was born1 or what it was called4 ,the days of a week were guessed to be five1 six1 four1 and seven4 ,the days in the month twenty and fifteen1 and nine could name the months4 ,none knew the number of days in the year2 and all thought the sun moved round the world4 ,this country was said to be ,cardiganshire1 not ,wales4 ,ireland one thought a town1 and another a parish4 ,england was a town1 and ,london a country4 ,a king was a reasonable being 7creadwr rhesymnol47 ,victoria is the ,queen1 and it is our duty to do every thing for her4 ,in arithmetic they could do next to nothing1 and failed to answer the simplest questions4 ,i then examined the young men1 promising two-pence to those who answered most correctly4 ,they had a notion of the elements of ,scripture truths4 ,two of them had no notion of arithmetic4 ,the third answered easy questions1 and could do sums in the simple rules4 ,on general subjects their information was very little superior to that of the children4 ,and ,mr ,vaughan ,johnson1 in examining the church school of ,holyhead1 in the ,isle of ,anglesey1 reports as follows3-- ,holyhead ,church ,school4--,a school for boys and girls1 taught by a master and mistress1 in separate rooms of a large building set apart for that purpose4 ,number of boys1 #if2 of girls1 #dg2 #aj monitors are employed4 ,subjects taught1 reading1 writing1 and arithmetic1 the ,holy ,scriptures and ,church catechism4 ,fees1 #a;d4 per week4 ,this school was examined ,november #i4 ,total number present1 #aag4 ,of these1 #bj could write well on paper2 #dj were able to read with ease2 and #bb could repeat the ,church catechism1 #ae of them with accuracy4 ,in knowledge of ,holy ,scripture and in arithmetic1 the boys were very deficient4 ,scholars in the first class said that there were #ah gospels1 that ,bartholomew wrote one and ,simon another2 that ,moses was the son of ,david4 ,these answers were not corrected by the rest4 ,by a lower class it was said1 that ,jerusalem is in heaven1 and that ,st ,paul wrote the gospel according to ,st ,matthew2 another believed it was written by ,jesus ,christ4 ,the oldest boy in a large class said1 that ,joseph was the son of ,abraham4 ,a child about #aj years old said1 that ,jesus ,christ was the ,saviour of men2 but1 upon being asked ',from what did he save mankind8' replied1 'from ,god4' ,having heard from the patrons that the scholars were particularly expert in arithmetic1 ,i requested the master to exhibit his best scholars4 ,thirteen boys accordingly multiplied a given sum of s4 d4 by 7#be 47 ,the process was neatly and accurately performed by every boy4 ,i then examined the same class in arithmetic1 and set each boy a distinct sum in multiplication of money4 ,instead of 7#be 7 ,i gave #e as the number by which the several sums were to be multiplied4 ,i allowed each boy for this simple process twice as much time as he had required for the preceding1 which was far more complicated2 but only two of the #ac could bring me a correct answer4 ,this is well worthy of remark4 ,the original sum appears to be one which they are in the habit of performing before strangers2 many had copied the whole process from those next them1 without understanding a single step4 ,the girls were further advanced in arithmetic and in ,holy ,scripture4 ,but the #b;d class asserted that ,st ,matthew was one of the prophets2 that ,jesus ,christ is in the grave to this day2 and two stated that ,jesus ,christ and the ,virgin ,mary were the same person4 ,although these questions were put in ,english and in ,welsh1 few of the children could understand what they heard or read in the ,english language4 ,the questions were therefore interpreted4 ,we should here observe that a considerable number of the examinations were conducted not by the inspectors themselves1 but by persons hired by them1 more or less on account of their knowledge of the ,welsh language4 ,to these we attach little or no weight1 because they have not the sanction of a ,government commission1 nor do the persons themselves hold any official or private rank by which their capacities for conducting such examinations can be ascertained4 ,as a specimen of the state in which some of the peasantry are1 we find ,mr ,lingen1 while in ,pembrokeshire1 remarking thus3-- ,i entered two cottages1 where the children were said not to be attending school4 ,in the first ,i found an extremely well-spoken and intelligent girl of twelve or thirteen years old1 and her brother somewhat younger4 ,they had been to ,yerbeston day-school for about a quarter1 and to ,molleston ,sunday-school for about two years1 though not for the last month4 ,it was closed during the bad weather and short days4 ,she read about ,jesus in the ,testament2 but could tell me nothing about him except that he was called the ,son of ,man4 ,she said1 ',they only teach us to read2 they don't tell us any of these things at the ,sunday-school4' ,in the other cottage ,i found two little children1 a boy and girl1 going1 and having been1 to no school of any kind4 ,the girl was nursing an infant3 there were two other children from home4 ,the mother of four of them was a widow1 the fifth child was apparently a pauper1 billeted upon her in consideration of #es4 per week from the parish4 ,at the time of my visit the mother was out at farm-work 7winnowing71 and had to be called2 ,i could get no answer from the two children4 ,the girl1 who was the eldest1 and in her ninth year1 only replied to my questions by a cunning1 unpleasant grin1 though her face was intelligent and not ill-looking4 ,the boy had a most villainous expression of sullen stolidity2 he was mixing culm with his hands4 ,they knew no prayers1 nor who to pray to--and of course never prayed4 ,the mother could not read nor write--'worse luck1' as she said2 her only chance of educating these children was a free-school4 ,the entire #es4 went in food at the present high prices1 and 'not enough then4' ,in this same neighbourhood ,i asked some questions of a little boy1 nearly seven1 whom ,i met on the road4 ,it was in vain that ,i tempted him with half-pence to answer2 he knew nothing of ,sunday--of ,god--of the devil--'had heard of ,jesus ,christ from ,jemmy ,wilson1' but could give no account whatever about him2 he knew neither the then day of the week1 nor how many days in a week1 nor months in a year2 he had never been in any school2 his brother and sister were going to ,st ,issell's school4 ,i had to repeat my questions two or three times over before they seemed to impress any thing more than his ears4 ,the first answer invariably was1 and it was1 often repeated half a dozen times--',what ee' say8' and the next ',do' know4' ,the condition of the buildings in which the schools are commonly held in the country parishes is wretched in the extreme4 ,take the following brief accounts1 some of which might furnish admirable sketches to a ,cattermole or a ,maclise3-- 7#a47 ,the school was held in a miserable room over the stable2 it was lighted by two small glazed windows1 and was very low2 in one corner was a broken bench1 some sacks1 and a worn-out basket2 another corner was boarded off for storing tiles and mortar belonging to the chapel4 ,the furniture consisted of one small square table for the master1 two larger ones for the children1 and a few benches1 all in a wretched state of repair4 ,there were several panes of glass broken in the windows2 in one place paper served the place of glass1 and in another a slate1 to keep out wind and rain2 the door was also in a very dilapidated condition4 ,on the beams which crossed the room were a ladder and two larch poles4 7#b47 ,the school was held in a room built in a corner of the churchyard2 it was an open-roofed room2 the floor was of the bare earth1 and very uneven2 the room was lighted by two small glazed windows1 one-third of each of which was patched up with boards4 ,the furniture consisted of a small square table for the master1 one square table for the pupils1 and seven or eight benches1 some of which were in good repair1 and others very bad4 ,the biers belonging to the church were placed on the beams which ran across the room4 ,at one end of the room was a heap of coal and some rubbish1 and a worn-out basket1 and on one side was a new door leaning against the wall1 and intended for the stable belonging to the church4 ,the door of the schoolroom was in a very bad condition1 there being large holes in it1 through which cold currents of air were continually flowing4 ,if1 however1 the condition of the school-buildings is thus unsuitable1 the previous education and training of the teachers is not less faulty4 ,the subjoined extract from ,mr ,lingen's report is borne out by precisely similar statements from those of his coadjutors3-- ,the present average age of teachers is upwards of #dj years2 that at which they commenced their vocation upwards of #cj2 the number trained is #abe per cent of the whole ascertained number2 the average period of training is #gcj months2 the average income is ,l4#bb1 #ajs4 #i;d4 per annum2 besides which1 #afa per cent have a house rent-free4 ,before adopting their present profession1 #f had been assistants in schools1 #c attorneys' clerks1 #a attorney's clerk and sheriff's officer1 #a apprentice to an ironmonger1 #a assistant to a draper1 #a agent1 #a artilleryman1 #a articled clerk1 #b accountants1 #a auctioneer's clerk1 #a actuary in a savings' bank1 #c bookbinders1 #a butler1 #a barber1 #a blacksmith1 #d bonnet-makers1 #b booksellers1 #a bookkeeper1 #ae commercial clerks1 #c colliers1 #a cordwainer1 #g carpenters1 #a compositor1 #a copyist1 #c cabinet-makers1 #c cooks1 #a corn-dealer1 #c druggists1 #db milliners1 #bj domestic servants1 #aj drapers1 #d excise-men1 #fa farmers1 #be farm-servants1 #a farm-bailiff1 #a fisherman1 #b governesses1 #g grocers1 #a glover1 #a gardener1 #agg at home or in school1 #a herald-chaser1 #d housekeepers1 #b hatters1 #a helper in a stable1 #h hucksters or shopkeepers1 #a iron-roller1 #f joiners1 #a knitter1 #ac labourers1 #d laundresses1 #a lime-burner1 #a lay-vicar1 #e ladies'-maids1 #a lieutenant ,r4 ,n41 #b land-surveyors1 #bb mariners1 #a mill-wright1 #ajh married women1 #g ministers1 #a mechanic1 #a miner1 #b mineral agents1 #e masons1 #a mate1 #a maltster1 #a militia-man1 #a musician1 #a musical-wire-drawer1 #b nursery-maids1 #a night-schoolmaster1 #a publican's wife 7separated from her husband17 #b preparing for the church1 #a policeman1 #a pedlar1 #a publican1 #a potter1 #a purser's steward1 #a planter1 #b private tutors1 #a quarryman1 #a reed-thatcher1 #bh sempstresses1 #a second master ,r4 ,n41 #d soldiers1 #ad shoemakers1 #b machine-weighers1 #a stonecutter1 #a serjeant of marines1 #a sawyer1 #a surgeon1 #a ship's cook1 #g tailors1 #a tailor and marine1 #a tiler1 #ag widows1 #d weavers1 and #fj unascertained1 or having had no previous occupation4 ,in connexion with the vocation of teacher1 #b follow that of assistant-overseer of roads1 #f are assistant overseers of the poor1 #a accountant1 #a assistant parish clerk1 #a bookbinder1 #a broom and clog-maker1 #d bonnet-makers1 #a sells ,berlin wool1 #b are cow-keepers1 #c collectors of taxes1 #a drover 7in summer17 #ab dressmakers1 #a druggist1 #a farmer1 #d grocers1 #c hucksters or shopkeepers1 #a inspector of weights and measures1 #a knitter1 #b land-surveyors 7one of them is also a stonecutter17 #b lodging-house keepers1 #a librarian to a mechanics' institute1 #af ministers1 #a master of a workhouse1 #a matron of a lying-in hospital1 #c mat-makers1 #ac preachers1 #ah parish or vestry clerks 7uniting in some instances the office of sexton71 #a printer and engraver1 #a porter1 barber1 and layer-out of the dead in a workhouse1 #d publicans1 #a registrar of marriages1 #aa sempstresses1 #a shopman 7on ,saturdays17 #h secretaries to benefit societies1 #a sexton1 #b shoemakers1 #a tailor1 #a teacher of modern languages1 #a turnpike man1 #a tobacconist1 #a writing-master in a grammar-school1 and #i are in receipt of parochial relief4 ,upon this the inspector observes with great good sense-- ,no observations of mine could heighten the contrast which facts like the above exhibit1 between the actual and the proper position of a teacher4 ,i found this office almost every where one of the least esteemed and worst remunerated2 one of those vocations which serve as the sinks of all others1 and which might be described as guilds of refuge2 for to what other grade can the office of teacher be referred after the foregoing analysis8 ,is it credible that1 if we took #ghd shoemakers1 tailors1 carpenters1 or any other skilled workmen1 we should find them 7one with another7 not to have commenced their calling before #cj years of age8 nor more than #dgc per cent of them who had not previously followed some other calling nor more than #a in every #h who had served any apprenticeship to it1 nor even this #hth man for a period much longer than half a year8 ,the miserable pittance which they get is irregularly paid4 ,the pecuniary part of the question1 the ways and means for supporting an efficient system of education in ,wales1 may be very fairly inferred from the following extract of the report on three of the most prosperous counties in the principality1 corroborated as it is by similar statements and returns in other districts3-- ,there is a great and general deficiency of voluntary funds for the maintenance of schools for the poor in the rural parts of ,south ,wales4 ,by far the most liberal contributors to such schools in ,england are the clergy4 ,the following table exhibits the clerical income of the beneficed clergy in my district4 ,i would beg to call particular attention to the average area and population of the parishes in ,carmarthenshire1 and to the income of the clergy in the remote hundreds of ,dewisland and ,kemess3-- ---------------------------------------- ------------------------------- ,number of ,vicarages or,number of ,total ,income ,counties4 ,parishes4,rectories4 ,perpetual ,glebe of ,clergy from ,curacies4 ,houses4 ,benefices4 ---------------------------------------- ------------------------------- ,carmarthenshire1 #gg #af #gb #bf #i1igd ,glamorganshire1 #abe #ec #hc #cc #ah1aja ,pembrokeshire1 #adj #eh #he #cd #ag1dah ---------------------------------------- ------------------------------- ,the three #cdb #abg #bdj #ic #de1dic ,counties1 ---------------------------------------- ------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- ------------------------------- ,average ,number of ,average area ,income of ,parishes on ,average of square ,counties4 ,clergy per which the population miles ,parish4 average ,incomeper ,parish4per ,parish4 is taken4 ---------------------------------------- ------------------------------- s4 d4 ,carmarthenshire1 #aai #ac #j #ge #a1chj #ab ,glamorganshire1 #aec #g #aa #aah #a1cfd #f ,pembrokeshire1 #abi #j #e #ace #bee #d ---------------------------------------- ------------------------------ ,the three #acc #j #d #cbh #a1jfh #f ,counties1 ---------------------------------------- ------------------------------- ,the poor provision which the church offers to an educated man1 and the necessity of ordaining those only1 for the great majority of parishes1 who understand the ,welsh language1 are facts which bear powerfully upon the education of the country4 ,a large portion of the ,welsh clergy complete their education exclusively in ,wales4 ,the licensed grammar schools1 from which they were formerly ordained1 have been superseded for ,st ,david's ,college1 ,lampeter4 ,still1 so far as daily education has hitherto been supported by voluntary payments1 this has been mostly in connexion with the church4 ,for1 putting aside #caa per cent of the day-scholars as belonging to private adventure schools1 and #aji percent for children in union workhouse and workmen's schools1 there remains #cii per cent of the day-scholars in connexion1 and #aha per cent not in connexion1 with the church4 ,whatever deficiencies there may be in the system of daily and secular education1 much more zeal and energy is shown in the ,sunday schools2 the causes and objects of which are so graphically and accurately described by ,mr ,lingen1 that we must again quote his own words3--observing that the two other reports tell the same tale exactly1 only in different language-- ,the type of such ,sunday schools is no more than this4 ,a congregation meets in its chapel4 ,it elects those whom it considers to be its most worthy members1 intellectually and religiously1 to act as 'teachers' to the rest1 and one or more to 'superintend' the whole4 ,bible classes1 ,testament classes1 and classes of such as cannot yet read1 are formed4 ,they meet once1 generally from #b to #d ,p4,m41 sometimes in the morning also1 on each ,sunday4 ,the superintendent1 or one of the teachers1 begins the school by prayer2 they then sing2 then follows the class instruction1 the ,bible and ,testament classes reading and discussing the ,scriptures1 the others learning to read2 school is closed in the same way as it began4 ,sections of the same congregation1 where distance or other causes render it difficult for them to assemble in the chapel1 establish similar schools elsewhere4 ,these are called branches4 ,the constitution throughout is purely democratic1 presenting an office and some sort of title to almost every man who is able and willing to take an active part in its administration1 without much reference to his social position during the other six days of the week4 ,my returns show #aa1jjj voluntary teachers1 with an allowance of about seven scholars to each4 ,whatever may be the accuracy of the numbers1 ,i believe this relative proportion to be not far wrong4 ,the position of teacher is coveted as a distinction1 and is multiplied accordingly4 ,it is not unfrequently the first prize to which the most proficient pupils in the parochial schools look4 ,for them it is a step towards the office of preacher and minister4 ,the universality of these schools1 and the large proportion of the persons attending them who take part in their government1 have very generally familiarised the people with some of the more ordinary terms and methods of organisation1 such as committee1 secretary1 and so forth4 ,thus1 there is every thing about such institutions which can recommend them to the popular taste4 ,they gratify that gregarious sociability which animates the ,welsh towards each other4 ,they present the charms of office to those who1 on all other occasions1 are subject2 and of distinction to those who have no other chance of distinguishing themselves4 ,the topics current in them are those of the most general interest2 and are treated in a mode partly didactic1 partly polemical1 partly rhetorical1 the most universally appreciated4 ,finally1 every man1 woman1 and child feels comfortably at home in them4 ,it is all among neighbours and equals4 ,whatever ignorance is shown there1 whatever mistakes are made1 whatever strange speculations are started1 there are no superiors to smile and open their eyes4 ,common habits of thought pervade all4 ,they are intelligible or excusable to one another4 ,hence1 every one that has got any thing to say is under no restraint from saying it4 ,whatever such ,sunday-schools may be as places of instruction1 they are real fields of mental activity4 ,the ,welsh working man rouses himself for them4 ,sunday is to him more than a day of bodily rest and devotion4 ,it is his best chance1 all the week through1 of showing himself in his own character4 ,he marks his sense of it by a suit of clothes regarded with a feeling hardly less ,sabbatical than the day itself4 ,i do not remember to have seen an adult in rags in a single ,sunday school throughout the poorest districts4 ,they always seemed to me better dressed on ,sundays than the same classes in ,england4 ,as a specimen of the relative number of ,sunday schools belonging to the different religious persuasions in ,north ,wales1 we will take ,mr ,johnson's summary1 which gives the following tabular result2 and which is nearly in the same proportion in the rest of the principality3-- ,,sunday ,,schools4 ,church of ,england1 #abd ,baptists1 #gc ,calvinistic ,methodists1 #ede ,independents1 #bcb ,wesleyan ,methodists1 #ahc ,other ,denominations1 #d ---- ,total1 #aafa ,but if we take the returns of the daily schools for the same six counties1 the proportions will be found to1 be greatly changed3-- ,,day ,,schools ,,for ,,the ,,poor4 ,schools4 ,scholars4 ,church1 #bfi #ah1gcb ,baptists1 #j #j ,calvinistic ,methodists1 #c #adj ,independents1 #f #bge ,roman ,catholics1 #b #ee ,wesleyans1 #b #bhe ,british and ,foreign1 #db #d1igi ,schools1 not ,british and ,foreign1 #bi #a1gbf ,workhouse ,schools1 #h #dfc ,factory1 #a #cj ,private adventure1 #baf #e1cdh --- ------ ,total1 #egh #cb1jcc ,out of these daily schools for the poor1 not less than #bfi1 or #df per cent of the whole number1 7to say nothing of many of the private schools17 are publicly provided by the ,church2 and it should be remembered that of the ,dissenting ,sunday schools nearly all are held in their meeting-houses1 and form part and parcel of their religious system2 whereas the ,church ,sunday school is mostly an institution apart from the church itself1 and established on its own separate footing4 ,with regard to the funds for supporting schools1 the following remarks by ,mr ,johnson1 as applied to ,north ,wales1 are too important to be omitted4 ,he says3-- ,it appears1 from the foregoing analysis of the funds of #eag schools1 that the amount annually raised by charitable contributions of the rich is 7in round numbers7 #efge1 that raised by the poor #gjjj4 ,it is important to observe the misdirection of these branches of school income1 and the fatal consequences which ensue4 ,the wealthy classes who contribute towards education belong to the ,established ,church2 the poor who are to be educated are ,dissenters4 ,the former will not aid in supporting neutral schools2 the latter withhold their children from such as require conformity to the ,established ,church4 ,the effects are seen in the co-existence of two classes of schools1 both of which are rendered futile--the ,church schools supported by the rich1 which are thinly attended1 and that by the extreme poor2 and private-adventure schools1 supported by the mass of the poorer classes at an exorbitant expense1 and so utterly useless that nothing can account for their existence except the unhealthy division of society1 which prevents the rich and poor from co-operating4 ,the ,church schools1 too feebly supported by the rich to give useful education1 are deprived of the support of the poor1 which would have sufficed to render them efficient4 ,thus situated1 the promoters are driven to establish premiums1 clothing-clubs1 and other collateral inducements1 in order to overcome the scruples and reluctance of ,dissenting parents4 ,the masters1 to increase their slender pittance1 are induced to connive at the infringement of the rules which require conformity in religion1 and allow the parents 7sometimes covertly1 sometimes with the consent of the promoters7 to purchase exemption for a small gratuity2 those who cannot afford it being compelled to conform1 or expelled in case of refusal4 ,where1 however1 the rules are impartially enforced1 or the parents too poor to purchase exemption1 a compromise follows4 ,the children are allowed to learn the ,church catechism1 and to attend church1 so long as they remain at school1 but are cautioned by their parents not to believe the catechism1 and to return to their paternal chapels so soon as they have finished schooling4 ,a dispensation1 in fact1 is given1 allowing conformity in matters of religion during the period required for education1 provided they allow no impression to be made upon their minds by the ritual and observances to which they conform4 ,the desired object is attained by both parties4 ,outward conformity is effected for the time1 and the children return in after-life to the creed and usages of their parents4 ,the fact is1 that the farmers and all the lower classes care little for education per se1 though they wish their children to profit by a knowledge of ,english1 in order to facilitate their advancement in after life2 and they are unwilling1 at the same time1 to support schools in connexion with the ,church4 ,that ,church is to them the church of the rich man as distinguished from the poor2 of the conqueror as distinguished from the conquered2 of the ,englishman as distinguished from the ,welsh2 it is the ,church of ,england1 not of ,wales2 and their affections as well as their prejudices are all opposed to it4 ,this again is one of the main causes--and it is so pointed out by the commissioners--of the slow progress of education in ,wales1 supported1 as it mainly is1 by the upper classes4 ,it is not the proper place to enter here into any further discussion as to all the causes of dispute in ,wales2 we will merely state that we believe it to be now confirmed1 not only by the national antagonism of the two races1 but also by the democratic principles which are so widely diffused throughout the country1 and which are sure to break out again to a most dangerous extent in ,wales on the first opportunity4 ,hear what ,mr ,lingen states on the subject3-- ,most singular is the character which has been developed by this theological bent of minds isolated from nearly all sources1 direct or indirect1 of secular information4 ,poetical and enthusiastic warmth of religious feeling1 careful attendance upon religious services1 zealous interest in religious knowledge1 the comparative absence of crime1 are found side by side with the most unreasoning prejudices and impulses2 an utter want of method in thinking and acting2 and 7what is far worse7 wide-spread disregard to temperance1 wherever there are the means of excess1 of chastity1 of veracity1 and of fair dealing4 ,i subjoin two extreme instances of the wild fanaticism into which such temperaments may run4 ,the first concerns the ,rebecca riots4 ,w4 ,chambers1 jun41 ,esq4 of ,llanelly ,house1 kindly furnished me with a large collection of contemporary documents and depositions concerning the period of those disturbances4 ,an extract from the deposition of one ,thomas ,phillips of ,topsail1 is illustrative of the vividly descriptive and imaginative powers of the ,welsh1 and of the peculiar forms under which popular excitement among them would be sure to exhibit itself4 ,shoui-yschwr-fawr and ,dai ,cantwr were noms de guerre borne by two ringleaders in these disturbances4 ,between ten and eleven o'clock on the night of the attack on ,mr ,newman's house1 ,i was called upon by ,shoui-yschwr-fawr1 and went with the party4 ,on my way ,i had a conversation with ,dai ,cantwr4 ,thomas ,morris1 a collier1 by the ,five ,cross ,roads1 was walking before us1 with a long gun4 ,i said ,thomas is enough to frighten one with his long gun4 ,dai said1 ,there is not such a free man as ,tom ,morris in the rank4 ,i was coming up ,gellygwlwnog field1 arm in arm with him1 after burning ,mr ,chambers's ricks of hay2 and he had a gun in the other hand1 and ,tom said1 ,here's a hare1 and he up with his gun and shot it slap down--and it was a horse--,mr ,chambers's horse4 ,one of the party stuck the horse with a knife--the blood flowed--and ,tom ,morris held his hand under the blood1 and called upon the persons to come forward and dip their fingers in it1 and take it as a sacrifice instead of ,christ2 and the parties did so4' ,and ,dai added1 'that he had often heard of a sacrament in many ways1 but had never heard of a sacrament by a horse before that night4' ,the other instance was told me by one who witnessed much of the ,chartist outbreak4 ,he said that 'the men who marched from the hills to join ,frost1 had no definite object beyond a fanatical notion that they were to march immediately to ,london1 fight a great battle1 and conquer a great kingdom4' ,i could not help being reminded of the swarm that followed ,walter the ,penniless1 and took the town which they reached at the end of their first day's march for ,jerusalem4 ,we could point out several districts in ,wales1 in which few gentry reside1 such as the south-western portion of ,caernarvon1 and some parts of ,anglesey1 where the most republican and levelling doctrines prevail extensively among the farmers and the labouring classes1 and where resistance to tithes1 and not only to tithes1 but to rents1 is a subject fondly cherished for future opportunity4 ,the town of ,caernarvon itself is a pestilent hot-bed of discontent2 so is ,merthyr ,tydvil2 so is ,newtown2 so is ,swansea2 and so are many others4 ,the commissioners dwell rather lightly on this part of the subject--on these consequences of the past and present condition of the country1 and of the defective education existing in it4 ,many of the assistants employed by the commissioners were ,dissenters1 and their examinations of ,church schools may be therefore suspected2 at least we fancy that we can discern a certain warmth of admiration1 and intensity of unction1 in the reports on the ,dissenting schools1 which are not bestowed on the others4 ,however this may be1 we cannot but admit that these reports do actually show the existence of a very defective state of things in the principality2 and we find the commissioners justly pointing out and reprobating two glaring vices in the ,welsh character1 the existence of which we admit1 and to which we shall1 of our own knowledge1 add a third4 ,the first refers to the want of chastity1 or rather to the lax ideas of the common order of people on that subject previous to marriage4 ,this1 with every wish to excuse the national feelings and failings of the ,welsh1 we must allow to be proved by the concurrent testimony and experience of every one well acquainted with the principality4 ,this vice1 however1 is more systematically established in the northern than in the southern counties2 and the existence of this system is1 we have no doubt1 of very long standing1 ranking1 indeed1 among the national customs which lose their origin in the night of ages4 ,the common notion prevalent among the lower classes in ,wales1 and generally acted on1 is1 that want of chastity before marriage is no vice1 though afterwards it is considered a crime1 which is very rarely committed4 ,before we pass a sweeping condemnation on the rude population of the ,welsh mountains for this laxity1 let us remember that1 such is the false state of over-civilisation in ,england1 the same ideas and practices exist universally among the male portion1 at least1 of the people1 and pass without any thing beyond a formal1 we might almost say1 a legal reprimand3 that in ,france1 ,spain1 ,portugal1 ,italy1 and1 it may be1 other countries of ,europe1 this laxity exists not so much before as after marriage2 and that therefore the poor ,celtic mountaineers do not stand alone in their ignorance of what is better4 ,it appears by the official returns1 that the proportion of illegitimate children in ,north ,wales shows an excess of #abc per cent above the average of all ,england and ,wales upon the like numbers of registered births4 ,we know ourselves of a union of #dh parishes in which there are now #ejj bastard children supported out of the poor-rates2 and1 in fact1 the prevalence of the vice is not to be denied4 ,the volumes of these reports contain numerous minutes of evidences and letters from magistrates and clergymen corroborative of this fact2 and they all agree in referring it to the ignorance of the people4 ,we are not inclined to lift the veil which we would willingly allow to hang over the faults1 the weaknesses1 and the ignorance of a poor uncultivated people2 believing1 as we do1 that the remedies for such a state of things are not far off1 nor difficult to find2 and knowing that1 if there be any palliation of such a state of things1 it is to be found in this circumstance1 that the married state is most duly honoured and observed in that country1 and also1 that the women marry early in life1 and support all the duties of their state in an exemplary manner4 ,we could also pick out county after county in ,england1 where we know that the morality of the lower orders is little1 if at all1 elevated above this standard1 and where the phenomenon of the pregnant bride is one of the most ordinary occurrence4 ,the statement of these facts1 as published by the commissioners1 has caused great indignation throughout ,wales1 and has set the local press in a ferment1 but has not produced any satisfactory refutation of the impeachment4 ,another vice1 correlative to1 and consequent upon the other1 is the want of truth and honesty in petty matters observable throughout the land4 ,this is the common complaint of almost every gentleman and magistrate in the twelve counties--that the word of a ,welshman of the lower classes is hardly to be trusted in little matters2 and that the crime of false swearing in courts and at quarter-sessions is exceedingly frequent4 ,in the same manner1 the people generally1 in the minor transactions of life1 are given to equivocations and by-dealing1 and make light of telling an untruth if it refers only to a matter of minor importance4 ,were a ,welshman called as a witness in a case of felony1 we think his oath might be depended upon as much as an ,englishman's2 but is he called up on a case of common assault1 or the stealing of a few potatoes from his neighbour's field--or is he covenanting to sell you coals or corn at a certain price and weight--we should be uncommonly careful how we trusted to his deposition or his assurances4 ,a clergyman of ,brecknockshire says3-- ,the ,welsh are more deceitful than the ,english2 though they are full of expression1 ,i cannot rely on them as ,i should on the ,english4 ,there is more disposition to pilfer than among the ,english1 but we are less apprehensive of robbery than in ,england4 ,there is less open avowal of a want of chastity1 but it exists2 and there is far less feeling of delicacy between the sexes here in every-day life than in ,england4 ,the boys bathe here1 for instance1 in the river at the bridge in public1 and ,i have been insulted for endeavouring to stop it4 ,there is less open wickedness as regards prostitution than in ,england4 ,drunkenness is the prevailing sin of this place and the county around1 and is not confined to the labouring classes1 but the drunkenness of the lower classes is greatly caused by the example of those above them1 who pass their evenings in the public-houses4 ,but clergymen and magistrates1 who used to frequent them1 have ceased to do so within the last few years4 ,i have preached against the sin1 and used other efforts to check it1 though ,i have been insulted for doing so in the street4 ,i think things are better than they were in this respect4444 ,i do not think they are addicted to gambling1 but their chief vice is that of sotting in the public-houses4 ,a magistrate1 in another part of the county1 gives the following testimony3-- ,crimes of violence are almost unknown1 such as burglary1 forcible robbery1 or the use of the knife4 ,common assaults are frequent1 usually arising from drunken quarrels4 ,petty thefts are not particularly numerous4 ,poultry-stealing and sheep-stealing prevail to a considerable extent4 ,there is no rural police1 and the parish constables are for the most part utterly useless1 except for serving summonses1 c4 ,sheep and poultry stealers1 therefore1 very frequently escape with impunity4 ,drunkenness prevails to a lamentable extent--not so much among the lowest class1 who are restrained by their poverty1 as among those who are in better circumstances4 ,every market or fair day affords too much proof of this assertion4 ,unchastity in the women is1 ,i am sorry to say1 a great stain upon our people4 ,the number of bastard children is very great1 as is shown by the application of young women for admission into the workhouse to be confined1 and by the application to magistrates in petty sessions for orders of affiliation4 ,in hearing these cases1 it is impossible not to remark how unconscious of shame both the young woman and her parents often appear to be4 ,in the majority of cases where an order of affiliation is sought1 marriage was promised1 or the expectation of it held out4 ,the cases are usually cases of bon fide seduction4 ,those who enter the workhouse to be confined are generally girls of known bad character4 ,i believe that in the rural districts few professed prostitutes would be found4 ,the clerk1 to the magistrates at ,lampeter observes3-- ,perjury is common in courts of justice1 and the ,welsh language facilitates it2 for1 when witnesses understand ,english1 they feign not to do so1 in order to gain time in the process of translation1 to shape and mould their answers according to the interest they wish to serve4 ,frequently neither the prisoner nor the jury understand ,english1 and the counsel1 nevertheless1 addresses them in ,english1 and the judge sums up in ,english1 not one word of which do they often understand4 ,instances have occurred when ,i have had to translate the answers of an ,english witness into ,welsh for the jury2 and once even to the grand jury at ,cardigan ,i had to do this4 ,a juryman once asked me1 ',what was the nature of an action in which he had given his verdict4' ,truth and the sacredness of an oath are little thought of2 it is most difficult to get satisfactory evidence in courts of justice4 ,upon the above evidence1 ,mr ,symons1 the inspector1 remarks3-- ,notwithstanding the lamentable state of morals1 the jails are empty4 ,the following comparison between the relative criminality of the three counties in my district with that of the neighbouring agricultural county of ,hereford1 exhibits this moral anomaly in the ,welsh character very forcibly3-- ,committals for ,trial at ,centesimal ,assizes and ,proportion ,counties of,population,quarter ,sessions of ,offenders in #ahda for the #e years to ,population ending with #ahde4 ---------------------------------------- ----------- ,brecknock #ee1fjc #bfa 4#df ,cardigan #fh1gff #ace 4#ai ,radnor #be1cef #adj 4#ee ,hereford #aac1hgh #a1aih #a4je ,crimes1 therefore1 are twice as numerous in ,herefordshire as in ,radnorshire or ,brecknockshire1 and five times more so than in ,cardiganshire4 ,i attribute this paucity of punishable offences in ,wales partly to the extreme shrewdness and caution of the people1 but much more to a natural benevolence and warmth of heart1 which powerfully deters them from acts of malice and all deliberate injury to others4 ,and ,i cannot but express my surprise that a characteristic so highly to the credit of the ,welsh people1 and of which so many evidences presented themselves to the eye of the stranger1 should have been left chiefly to his own personal testimony4 ,facts were nevertheless related to me which bore out my impression2 and ,i may instance the ancient practice among neighbouring families of assisting the marriages of each other's children by loans or gifts of money at the 'biddings' or marriage meetings1 to be repaid only on a similar occasion in the family of the donor1 as well as the attendance of friends at times of death or adversity1 as among the incidents which spring from and mark this honourable characteristic4 ,notwithstanding all this1 we know1 from official sources1 that the proportion per cent of commitments for ,north ,wales is sixty-one per cent below the calculated average for all ,england and ,wales1 on the same amount of male population of the like ages4 ,in fact1 the jails of ,wales are commonly empty1 or the next thing to it2 and the whole twelve counties would hardly keep one barrister1 on the crown side1 above starving-point4 ,maiden assizes are any thing but uncommon in that country4 ,that particular foci of evil do exist1 we have asserted before2 and we find the following trace of this portion of the subject in the report of ,mr ,vaughan ,johnson on ,montgomeryshire3-- ,the following evidence relates to the parishes of ,newtown and ,llanllwchaiarn1 which contain #fhdb inhabitants3-- ',it appears that1 previously to the year #ahde1 no district in ,north ,wales was more neglected1 in respect of education1 than the parishes of ,newtown and ,llanllwchaiarn4 ,the effects were partly seen in the turbulent and seditious state of the neighbourhood in the year #ahci4 ,the permanent evils which have sprung from this neglect it will require many years of careful education to eradicate4 ,a memorial1 presented by the inhabitants to the ,lords of the ,committee of ,council on ,education1 at the close of the year #ahde1 contains the following plea for assistance in providing popular education3-- ,in the spring of the year #ahci the peace of the town and neighbourhood was threatened by an intended insurrection on the part of the operative class1 in connexion1 it is supposed1 with other parts of the kingdom1 with a view to effect a change in the institutions of the country2 but such an insurrection1 if intended1 was prevented by the presence of an armed force2 and a military force has ever since been stationed in the town1 with a view of preserving its peace4 ',your memorialists believe that1 if the inhabitants had had the benefit of a sound moral and religious culture in early life1 the presence of an armed force to protect the peace of the town would not be needed in so comparatively small a place2 and your memorialists are under a firm conviction that no better way can be devised for the removal of all disposition to vice and crime1 than by enlightening the ignorant1 and especially by sowing in early life1 by the hands of the teacher1 the seeds of religion and morality4' ',the alarm occasioned by these disturbances has passed away2 but ,i ascertained1 by a careful inquiry among the persons best acquainted with the condition of the working-classes1 that even at the present day low and unprincipled publications1 of a profane and seditious tendency1 are much read by a class of the operatives2 that private and secret clubs exist for the dissemination of such writings1 by means of which the class of operatives have access to the writings of ,paine and ,volney1 to ,owen's tracts1 and to newspapers and periodicals of the same pernicious tendency4 ,it is stated that many persons who read such works also attend ,sunday schools1 from their anxiety to obtain a knowledge of the art of reading1 which they cannot otherwise acquire4 ,it is the opinion of those who are best acquainted with the evils complained of1 that the most efficacious remedy would be the circulation of intelligent publications on general subjects1 within the comprehension of the working-classes1 by the help of reading-societies and circulating libraries1 at terms which the operatives would be able to afford4' ,the third vice--for it is a vice--which we know to be prevalent in ,wales1 is the extreme dirt and untidiness of all the inhabitants4 ,go into any ,welsh town or village1 and observe the squalid shabby look of the houses and their tenants2 visit their farms and cottages1 and see the wretched filth in which men and animals herd together1 and you will bear witness to the truth of our assertion4 ,there is no spirit of order and improvement among them2 every thing is done on the principle of the least possible present trouble4 ,were the ,welsh blessed with the climate of ,naples1 they would1 every one of them1 become pure ,lazzaroni1--as it is1 they approximate to the ,irish in their innate indolence and love of dirt4 ,whenever the commissioners for the health of towns receive their full power1 they will have an ,augean stable to cleanse1 comprising the whole ,principality4 ,even here1 however1 we are disposed to find some excuse for the people4 ,they have so few resident gentry1 at least of the larger proprietors2 their country is so wild and so lonely2 the difficulties of poverty and bad weather which they have to contend against are so great1 that the philanthropical inquirer must make large allowances for them on this head4 ,the commissioners found most of the country schools conducted in the most wretched buildings2 but perhaps these buildings were some of the very best and cleanest in the district3 they thought them neglected1 and in bad repair2 whereas the inhabitants might have supposed that they had done the correct thing1 and had adorned them in a style of lavish expenditure4 ,we might go on multiplying our extracts and our comments ad infinitum1 but we purposely abstain2 and we shall conclude our review of these highly important documents with one or two inferences that seem to us obviously necessary4 ,in the first place1 as long as the ,welsh language cannot reckon1 among its literary treasures1 the principal portion of the good elementary books of instruction which have long been employed in ,england1 and are still issuing from the ,english press1 it is obviously impossible to place the education of the ,welsh on the same level as that of their ,saxon neighbours4 ,not only should the best ,english books be translated into ,welsh--we mean for the instruction and amusement of the middle and lower classes1--but translations might be made most advantageously from other tongues2 and the literature of ,wales might become permanently enriched with the best fruits of all nations4 ,we by no means coincide in opinion with those who would discourage the study of ,welsh1 and would even attempt to suppress that language altogether2 we look upon it as one of the most interesting and valuable1 though not one of the most fortunate and gifted1 of ,european tongues4 ,in ancient literature1 in poetry1 and in an immense mass of oral tradition1 it is uncommonly rich1 and1 by the mere dignity of age1 is worthy of its place being ever kept for it among the languages of the world4 ,but1 further than this1 though it operates to a certain extent as a social bar to the more intimate connexion of the ,welsh and ,english populations1 it serves also as a strong bond and support of ,welsh nationality1 and keeps alive in their breasts that indomitable love of their country1 and that spirit of national pride1 which is the best safeguard of the liberties of the realm1 and its protection from democratic invasion4 ,it hinders the operations of centralisation--that odious and destructive principle of government which ,whigs and ,democrats are so fond of copying from their masters1 the revolutionary ,french2 and it teaches the people to rely on their own resources1 and to preserve the ancient freedom of their country4 ,in times like these1 when the aggressive levelling spirit of democracy is actively at work1 and when the ancient liberties of the country are gradually falling beneath the scythe of radical innovation1 any thing that may serve as a check to the decline and fall of the empire is not to be lightly despised or abandoned4 ,the ,welsh1 like the ,basques1 like the ,bretons1 like the ,hungarians1 have preserved their national language and feelings1 though all these are united to empires and people far more powerful and numerous than themselves2 and thus are destined to form the most energetic and abiding portions of those empires1 when the excessive advance of civilisation1 and the destruction of all national virtues1 shall have brought about their disruption and ruin4 ,let the higher orders and the government of the country show1 the former more enlightened and more energetic patriotism1 and the latter more intelligence and foresight than hitherto4 ,let them provide the people with the materials of education and instruction2 let them call forth the numerous learned men to be found amongst the clergy of the ,principality2 let them require and pay for the formation of an elementary literature1 and the nucleus thus originated will grow betimes into a goodly mass1 fit for the work required1 and itself generating the means of its future increase4 ,the natural acuteness of the ,welsh people is such--and the ,commissioners bear ample testimony to the fact--that1 had they but books in their own tongue1 the facts of knowledge would be universally acquired4 ,they would make as much progress in secular as they now do in theological research2 and were their powers of acquisition well directed1 the whole character of the nation would undergo an elevating and improving change4 ,we would have them taught ,english as a foreign language--as an accomplishment1 in fact4 ,it belongs to a totally different family of languages1 and must always be a foreign tongue to a ,celt--but still it may be acquired sufficiently for all the common purposes of life2 while all facts1 all instruction1 all matters for reflection and memory1 should be conveyed in the national tongue1 the pure ,cymric language4 ,government need not trouble itself by attempting to carry the details of educational systems into operation2 all that it is required to supply is the moving and the controlling power2 the various duties of the great machine will be better fulfilled by the people at large--that is to say1 by the local authorities1 the constituted voices and hands of the national body4 ,we are aware of the many difficulties that are sure to meet any government1 or rather any political party1 that should attempt at the present day to carry into effect a scheme of general education4 ,the sectarian spirit of the country is so thoroughly excited1 the minds of the people are so thoroughly wild upon certain subjects1 that any thing like a patriotic sinking of interests for the general good is out of the question2 much less is it to be expected that1 under ,whig leaders1 the discordant members of the state would be inclined to defer to the superior authority of the legislators4 ,the predominance of the democratic element in the present phase of the constitution of ,england hinders the action of government1 and injures in this1 as in most other respects1 the very best interests of the country4 ,still we cannot but think that1 were there at the head of affairs a band of statesmen in whose political integrity1 private honour1 and public capacity1 the country could firmly rely1 the mass of the people might be made to rally round their standard1 rather than round the gathering-posts of factious leaders1 whether political or religious4 ,but at the present moment1 when the tone of political morality and parliamentary consistency is so low1 when treason and tergiversation are the order of the day1 and when the undisguised pursuit of gain--by fair means or by foul1 but still by some means or other--is allowed to usurp an undue place in the councils of the nation1 it is in vain to hope for any very satisfactory results4 ,we would say1 follow out the ,church scheme fearlessly and boldly1 but without intolerance--follow it out consistently and honestly1 and you will obtain more numerous and more worthy followers1 you will produce more permanent and more beneficial results1 than by truckling to this sect or to that1 or by the vain endeavour to curry favour with all4 ,at the same time we think1 with the commissioners1 that to make the ,bible the sole book of education1 as is the case in most schools1 is a bad plan2 it brings the sacred volume itself into contempt and dislike1 and it limits the field of instruction in an undue degree4 ,we would introduce more of secular subjects even into the common schools1 and certainly not less of real religion2 and to that end we would endeavour to fit the teachers for their duties1 and suit the extensiveness of the schools to the amount of work to be done4 ,religious education being maintained daily as a part1 not as the whole1 of education1 it should be made the exclusive topic of ,sunday education2 and the amount of information on religious topics thus gained would be found to be greater1 in a given time1 than when the child's mind is bent to that one subject alone--the hardest1 the sublimest of all subjects--and when all his thoughts1 all his ideas1 are concentrated on the ,bible1 the ,prayer-,book1 and the ,catechism4 ,in this matter1 however1 the heads of the ,church are the authorities with whom the move for improvement ought to originate2 and1 would they but act with energy and unanimity1 there is no doubt that they would carry the weight and influence of the nation along with them4 ,the third observation we have to offer refers to the lamentably inadequate provision made1 in a pecuniary point of view1 for the education of the people4 ,not only are the teachers totally unprepared by previous education1 but1 even let their talents and acquirements be what they may1 their brightest prospect is that of earning less than at any trade to which they may be take themselves--without any prospect of ever1 by some turn of fortune's wheel1 amassing for themselves a store for their declining years4 ,work1 to be done well1 no matter what its nature may be1 must be properly recompensed2 no system that is not adequately supported with funds can be expected to continue in a state of efficiency--it will speedily degenerate1 decline1 and ultimately perish4 ,not to dwell upon truisms of this kind1 we shall at once state what we think would form a sufficient fund for the maintenance of a uniform and effective system of public instruction in ,wales1 and the means of carrying it into effect4 ,we conceive that the advantages of education1 being felt by every man--even whether he be the direct recipient of it or not--should be paid for out of a common fund1 raised in an equitable manner by the state4 ,on the other hand1 in an agricultural country1 where the main interests of the state are in the hands of the great landed proprietors1 and where the well-being and safety of the whole depends upon the morality and the physical good of the labouring classes1 the magistrates of the country1 and all the owners of land1 are most intimately bound up with the healthy action and welfare of the whole people2 nor can they by any means shift from their shoulders the duty of providing for the happiness of their tenants and dependents4 ,for similar reasons1 the merchants1 manufacturers1 and other citizens of large towns1 have a direct interest in the welfare and in the in moral advancement of all the working and inferior classes of the urban population4 ,now1 we maintain that one of the most efficient and ready methods for the promotion of industry1 the suppression of vagrancy1 the diminution of drunkenness1 sensuality1 and crime1 and therefore the lowering of poor-rates1 police-rates1 county-rates1 c41 would be the giving the people a better religious and secular education1 and the raising of them in the scale of social beings4 ,it would follow from these premises1 if assented to1 that an education tax would be one of the fairest and most directly advantageous which could be imposed on the country2 and we are further persuaded that1 as its effects began to make themselves felt1 its justice would be acquiesced in by all who should pay it4 ,we would therefore suggest1 #ast1 ,that a general poll-tax should be raised on the country1 without distinction of person1 or age1 or sex1 for the purposes of education2 and1 in order that people might not murmur at it for its oppressiveness1 we would fix it at the value of one day's work of an adult agricultural labourer4 #b;d1 ,on all the acreage of the country we would recommend a land-tax to be levied1 with the same intent1 and without exception for any class of property whatsoever4 ,this we would fix at some small fractional part of the annual value of the land in rent charge1--say at one penny per acre4 #c;d1 ,on all household property in towns1 for tenements1 belonging to persons not in the condition of labourers1 we would lay a similar tax of a small fractional portion of the annual rent2 and on all mining and manufacturing property1 wherever situated1 we would impose a certain small annual charge4 ,to fix ideas1 we will suppose that the sum produced by this latter class of property should be equal to one-half of that charged for the same purpose on the landed proprietors4 ,the sums to be raised may be thus calculated3-- #ast41 ,the entire population of ,north and ,south ,wales1 as ascertained by the census of #ahda1 is #iaa1fjc3 and the average rate of wages for an able-bodied agricultural labourer may be safely estimated at #as4 #f;d4 per diem1 as a minimum throughout ,wales1 ,a poll-tax1 therefore1 of #as4 #f;d4 per head on the whole population1 would produce a sum of #fh1cge4 #b;d41 ,the entire acreage of ,wales is very nearly #e1bjf1ijj acres2 and a land-tax of #a;d4 per acre would therefore produce #ba1fie4 #c;d41 ,estimating a tax on houses1 and mining and manufacturing property throughout ,wales1 at only half the amount of that raised on the land1 we should have a sum of #aj1hdg4 ,the whole would stand thus3-- ,poll-tax ,l4#fh1cge ,land-tax #ba1fie ,house-tax1 c4 #aj1hdg --------- ,l4#ajj1iag ,now assuming that1 whether by adhering to the old division of parishes for the formation of educational districts--and for many reasons1 religious as well as political1 we should be sorry to see this arrangement disturbed--there would be required1 at the rate of at least one school for each parish1 the total number of #hfc schools4 ,but on account of the increased size of some of the towns1 and the accumulation of mining population in several mountainous districts1 it might be necessary to provide more than this number4 ,we will therefore1 at a guess1 fix it at #ajjj1 and this would furnish at least one school for every #ajjj of the whole population1 adult as well as infantine--a proportion which will be allowed to be abundantly sufficient1 when it is considered that such schools are intended only for the lower classes4 ,to support1 however1 a school in a proper state of efficiency--that is to say1 to furnish it with properly trained teachers1 male and female1 and with the requisite books and other instruments of teaching--we do not think that we are overstraining the point if we assign the annual sum of one hundred pounds as necessary4 ,this sum might either be divided in the proportion of sixty pounds per annum for a male teacher1 and forty pounds per annum for a female1--or it might most advantageously1 in some cases1 be bestowed on a teacher and his wife1 supposing them both capable of undertaking such duties4 ,of course1 in all cases suitable buildings1 including school-rooms for both sexes1 residences and gardens for the teachers1 should be provided at the public expense1 and maintained in repair from a distinct fund4 ,we shall then perceive that the sum mentioned above1 amounting in round numbers to one hundred thousand pounds per annum1 would be sufficient for the purpose2 and we think that it would not only be so1 but that1 it would be made to furnish a sufficient sum for retiring and superannuated pensions1 on the principle adopted in several of the ,continental states1 of an annual percentage being deducted from the salaries of all civil servants to form a fund of this nature1 specially devoted to their own benefit4 ,we do not throw out any specific hints for the collection and management of this fund2 but it might be raised along with other local rates1 and by the same local officers1 so that the smallest possible addition might be thereby made to the cost of collecting it4 ,one part of this plan1 however1 without which the whole would be inefficient1 would be the forming of a body of inspectors1 and the establishing of training-schools or colleges for teachers4 ,the latter are already beginning to exist1 and machinery for the former is now at work under the direction of the ,committee of ,council4 ,but we should hope to see training-schools established on a much larger and more efficient scale than at present2 and we should desire to see the appointment of inspectors1 and the management of the education funds1 taken out of the hands of such a body as the ,privy ,council1 and given to the local and provincial authorities1 civil and ecclesiastical1 of ,wales4 ,if such appointments remained in the hands of government1 political jobbing would act upon them with greater intensity than through the medium of local interests and county influence2 and1 what would be far worse than this1 another impulse would be given to the principle of centralisation1 one of the most fatal for national spirit and national freedom that can be devised1 and which we are called upon to resist at all times1 but especially when a party of ,whig politico-economists1 as wild and destructive in the ultimate tendencies of their theories as the ,girondists of ,france1 are in possession of the reins of power4 ,we say nothing on the subject of ,sunday schools2 we leave them altogether to the consideration and support of the ,church1 and the various sects in ,wales1 by whom1 if they are wanted1 they can be efficiently maintained without any interference of the state4 ,but we call loudly upon the legislature of the ,united ,kingdom to give at least the initiative and the moving power to the natural inertness of the ,welsh people2 and we would summon them1 as they value the happiness1 the tranquillity1 and the moral advancement of that portion of the country1 to take the matter of education under their primary control1 and to form a general system1 harmonious in its manner of working1 comprehensive in its extent1 and tolerant in its religious tendencies4 ,much opposition and prejudice and clamour would have to be combated1 as upon every question seems now to be the case in what we fondly consider the model of all political constitutions4 ,but unless the legislature and the statesmen at the head of affairs are prepared to meet these obstacles1 and to remove them in their sovereign wisdom1 they had better declare their incapacity openly1 and renounce their functions4 ,,the ,,silver ,,cross4--,a ,,campaigning ,,sketch4 ,,from ,,the ,,german ,,of ,,ernest ,,koch4#d #d ,this sketch is derived partly from the note-book1 and partly from the conversation1 of a young ,german1 now living upon a small estate near ,barges in the ,upper ,pyrenees4 ,,night-,,quarters4 ,in the village of ,careta1 upon the mountains near the ,arga1 which flows from the ,pyrenees to ,pampeluna1 the wind whistled and the snow drifted upon a stormy ,january evening of the year #ahcf4 ,it was about seven of the clock3 ,jos1 a sturdy peasant1 sat by his kitchen fire1 on which withered vine-branches blazed and crackled1 and dried his hempen sandals4 ,beside him knelt a haggard old woman1 handsome in the ugliness of one of those strongly-marked1 melancholy1 yellow countenances1 in which a legend of the ,alhambra seems to lurk4 ,dressed in rusty black1 she crouched like an animal by the hearth1 poking and blowing at the fire1 which sometimes broadly illuminated the remotest corners of the room and rafters of the roof1 at others was barely sufficiently vivid to light up her mysterious old physiognomy4 ,suddenly a tremendous gust of wind burst open the wooden shutter1 and howled into the apartment4 ,dios6 what weather6 croaked the old woman4 ,an affirmative carajo was her husband's reply1 as he knocked the dry mud from his leathern gamashes against the edge of the raised hearthstone4 ,god help the poor troops in the mountains6 continued the old woman4 ,daughter1 shut the window4 ,a young girl1 who sat1 spindle in hand1 upon a wooden bench in the gloom of the chimney corner1 obeyed the order4 ,her coarse woollen dress could not wholly disguise the graces of her form1 as she tripped across the kitchen through the fitful firelight1 which shone upon her gipsy features and clear brown skin1 and upon the two long plaited tails of jet-black hair that fell down her back nearly to her heels4 ,before closing the window she listened1 with the true instinct of a vedette1 to the sounds without4 ,in a lull of the blast1 her ear caught the noise of distant drums1 beaten not in irregular guerilla fashion1 but by well-trained drummers1 in steady quick time4 ,father1 cried ,manuela1 troops are at hand4 ,nonsense1 child3 'tis the garrison tattoo below at ,larasuena4 ,no1 father1 it draws nearer4 ',tis the ,french4 ,mother1 hide the beds4 ,beds were hidden1 a sack of white beans was carefully concealed1 the family jackass was tethered in the darkest corner of the cellar-like stable4 ,preceded by rattle of drums1 two wet and weary battalions of the ,french ,legion marched into ,careta1 and after a few minutes' halt the shivering alcalde was hurrying from house to house1 allotting quarters to the tired strangers4 ,an hour later ,i sat beside ,jos's hearth1 smoking a friendly cigarillo1 with the surly old peasant4 ,upon the earthen floor1 at various distances from the fire1 at which sundry pair of white gaiters1 newly washed1 hung to dry1 lay those soldiers of my squad 7,i was then a corporal7 who had not fallen in that day's fight by ,larasuena4 ,at a sort of loop-hole in the wall1 looking out into the street1 a sentry stood4 ,for a long while ,jos sat with folded hands1 gazing at the fire4 ,i did all ,i could to make him talk2 told him about ,german customs and ,german men2 then spoke of ,spain1 of the ,constitution and so forth2 less1 however1 if truth must be told1 with a view to his amusement than to that of the sweet-faced girl with the long black locks who sat over her spindle in the opposite corner4 ,at last ,jos's sullenness thawed so far that he asked me very earnestly if the ,german jackasses were as big and as strong as those in ,navarre4 ,what could ,i reply to such a question6 ,suddenly a long shrill whistle was heard outside the house4 ,keep a bright look-out6 cried ,i1 to the sentry at the loophole4 ,again all was still4 ,father ,jos dropped off to sleep2 the patrona went down stairs to fodder the donkey1 and ,i addressed my conversation to pretty ,manuela4 ,i know not how it was1 but we got on so well together that soon ,i found myself seated close beside her1 one arm round her waist1 whilst the other hand played with a silver cross that hung from her neck1 and on which were engraved the words1 ,mary1 pray for me6 ,and she told me of her brother ,antonio1 who was away from home1 and of her sister ,maria1 who was with relations at ,hostiz1 in the valley of the ,bastan4 ,and where is your brother ,antonio1 ,manuela8 ,my brother is--in the mountains4 ,you seem good and kind1 stranger2 you tell me you are not a ,frenchman1 but a ,german4 ,oh6 if you meet my brother in fight1 do not kill him--spare him for my sake6 ,but1 dear ,manuela1 how am ,i to know your brother8 ,one ,carlist is so like another4 ,no1 no6 you are sure to know him3 he resembles me1 and he wears upon his breast a silver cross like mine4 ,the same words are written upon it1 and not a bullet has touched him since he has worn it4 ,so1 your brother is a soldier of ,don ,carlos1 your sister dwells in a ,carlist village1 and your parents--at least your father1 judging from his looks when ,i spoke of the ,constitution1--also hold for the ,pretender4 ,do you not fear ,christino troops8 ,no1 ,seor--at least ,i should not1 if they were all as good as you1 who protected me from that rude ,italian4--,dios6 she exclaimed1 suddenly interrupting herself1 and springing from her chair like a scared deer4 ,from under the bench on the other side of the fire peered forth the dark countenance of a ,piedmontese soldier1 his checks flushed with wine1 his eyes sparkling with a sullen fire1 his ignoble1 satyr-like features expressing a host of evil passions4 ,he shot a venomous glance from under his dirty eyelashes1 then turned himself round1 grinding between his teeth an ,italian malediction4 ,he still lay where ,i had violently thrown him1 when1 upon our first entrance1 ,i rescued ,manuela from his brutality4 ,to bed1 girl6 screamed the old woman1 who just then re-entered the kitchen4 ,manuela went to bed1 and ,i composed myself to sleep upon the bench by the fire4 ,it was eleven o'clock1 and the silence in the village was unbroken save by the howling of the storm and the occasional challenge of a sentry4 ,,in ,,the ,,mountains4 ,the road from ,pampeluna to ,france passes by a mountain of some size1 whose real name ,i have forgotten1 but which our soldiers called the ,hill of ,death1 because1 for a league around1 it emitted an odour of unburied corpses4 ,close to the road1 but at a considerable elevation1 a conical peak springs from the hill-side4 ,around this peak1 upon a ,july night1 about six months after the scene at ,careta1 lay a column of ,carlists1 awaiting the dawn4 ,there they are1 scattered about the fires1 forlorn figures of unconquerable endurance1 barefoot1 in linen trousers and thin cloth jackets1 the scarlet plate-shaped cap upon their heads4 ,burnt brown by the ,castilian sun1 their daring picturesque countenances assume an additional wildness of aspect in the red light of the watch-fires4 ,from one of these1 ,fernando1 a handsome ,arragonese lad1 whose father and brothers have been shot1 and whose sister is a fille-de-joie at ,saragossa1 snatches a charcoal with his fingers1 and places it upon a stone1 to light his paper cigar4 ,then comes ,hippolito1 a pale emaciated boy of sixteen1 and sets upon the fire a small pot of potatoes1 which he has carried with him since morning4 ,the ,carlists caught him in ,catalonia1 and dragged him along with them1 and often does he swear a peevish oath that his death will be in the hospital4 ,beside him lies ,cyrillo1 a desperate scapegrace from ,estremadura1 intended for the university1 but whom restlessness and evil courses have brought under the banners4 ,he has a piece of bacon on his bayonet1 and toasts it at the flame4 ,hard by1 a brace of ,andalusians have got a guitar1 and strike up a melody1 so plaintive and yet so strangely spirit-stirring1 that a bearded dragoon1 slumbering upon his back1 with his hands beneath his head1 suddenly opens his great wild eyes4 ,one of his comrades stands near him1 his arms folded on his breast1 gazing down wistfully into the valley of the ,arga1 now veiled by the mists of evening1 and which he perhaps for many a long day has not dared to visit--as if the tones of the guitar brought melancholy to his mind4 ,suddenly the measure is changed1 and the musician breaks into the lively fandango2 a joyous ,navarrese seizes the pensive trooper by the arm and whirls him round1 but receives in return a push that sends him staggering against the guitar player1 whilst he grasps at his girdle for the ready knife4 ,an obscene curse burst from half-a-dozen throats2 with fierce looks the two men confront each other1 but are separated by force1 and again the guitar tinkles in the night air1 whilst ,hippolito gathers up his potatoes1 upset and scattered in the scuffle4 ,a dirty priest comes up1 a decoration upon his black coat1 and enjoins order and peace4 ,he has scarcely walked away1 when a soldier in handsome uniform rushes up to the fire1 and throws himself down1 breathless and half fainting4 ,he is a deserter from the ,christino regiment of ,cordova4 ,they give him unlimited wine1 and he tells them the latest news from the hostile camp4 ,the bota passes from mouth to mouth2 and whilst the deserter sleeps off his libations and fatigue1 his new comrades cast lots for his good shirt and strong shoes4 ,the same evening four battalions of the foreign legion were quartered at ,villalba1 four leagues nearer to ,pampeluna4 ,upon an open space in the village1 whence the sun had long since burned away the grass1 a party of ,germans sat upon scattered blocks of stone1 and discussed1 whilst a gourd of wine circulated slowly amongst them1 an order just issued to hold themselves ready to march at a minute's notice4 ,who knows1 said one of them1 a tailor from ,regensburg1 whether we shall be alive to-morrow8 ,let's have a song4 ,a song1 a song6 repeated another1 a shoemaker from ,rhenish ,prussia1 who had found himself uncomfortable in the ,vauban barracks in ,luxemburg4 ,what shall it be8 cried a journeyman mechanic1 who1 when upon his travels1 ran short of work and money4 ,before any one could answer1 a capering ,frenchman struck up1 ,entendez-vous1 le tambour bat1 le clairon sonne1 c4 ,hold your infernal ,french tongue6 shouted the ,germans4 ,here's the sergeant from ,munich will give us a song4 ,the ,bavarian1 nothing loath1 struck up a song1 whose simple strain and familiar words brought home and friends to the memory of all present4 ,the melody echoed far through the still evening air1 and1 when it concluded1 tears were in every eye1 and no one spoke1 save the ,regensburg tailor1 who muttered1 ,god take us safe out of this cutthroat country6 ,the sun went down4 ,a few pieces of ship-biscuit were shared for the evening meal1 and then the drums beat to roll-call1 which was held in quarters1 and at whose next repetition many a man then present was doomed to be missing4 ,that same night1 twelve o'clock had scarcely struck1 when the three solemn taps with which the ,french gnrale begins1 resounded through the village of ,villalba4 ,in less than ten minutes the battalions were under arms1 hurrying at quick step along the desolate road to ,larasuena4 ,in a meadow1 outside this village1 half an hour's halt was allowed1 for the men to fill their flasks with vinegar and water1 as a remedy for the faintness occasioned by heat4 ,then the march continued4 ,the column had scarcely halted1 for the second time1 in rear of the houses of ,zubiri1 when a sharp fire of musketry was heard from the mountain above4 ,at charging pace the weary troops hurried up the steep acclivity4 ,the sun was scorching hot2 the knapsacks seemed insupportably heavy4 ,nearer and nearer was the noise of the fight2 in the ranks of the ascending soldiers short suppressed gasps and groans were heard4 ,the tailor from ,regensburg fell forward1 with froth upon his lips1 and gave up the ghost4 ,on reaching a small level1 we saw it was high time for our arrival4 ,the second regiment of the royal guard already gave ground1 when the cry ,la ,legion6 changed the fortune of the day4 ,with fixed bayonets our battalions rushed like tigers upon the factious ranks1 which were disordered by the shock4 ,the ,bavarian sergeant fell amongst five ,carlists1 who settled him with their knives4 ,a pale subaltern of the factious came in contact with three of our grenadiers1 and begged piteously for mercy4 ,but the grenadiers had no time2 they cut a bad joke in ,swabian dialect1 and brained him with their muskets4 ,of the first encounter of the day1 these are the only episodes ,i remember4 ,suddenly the ,carlist bugles sounded the retreat4 ,we formed column and hurried in pursuit1 followed by the royal guard4 ,from time to time the enemy halted1 till the bayonet again dislodged them4 ,by turns our battalions were sent forward as skirmishers4 ,it was nearly noon4 ,a dying officer of ours begged me for a mouthful of vinegar4 ,i had but two2 one for myself1 and one for my comrade1 whom ,i had not seen1 however1 the whole of the day1 and never saw afterwards4 ,it was about twelve o'clock when my company advanced to skirmish4 ,the line deployed1 and as we slowly advanced1 loading and firing1 ,i had to pass through the corner of a small thicket4 ,just as ,i entered it1 ,i observed a ,carlist horseman1 at its other extremity1 fire his carbine at one of our men4 ,then he disappeared amongst the trees1 and five seconds later ,i saw him riding towards me4 ,surrender6 he shouted in ,navarrese patois1 and stooped behind his horse's head4 ,at my shot the animal stood stock-still1 and the rider fell from his saddle4 ,blood streamed from a wound between neck and shoulder4 ,i released his foot from the stirrup1 propped him up against a beech-tree1 and unbuttoned his jacket from over his panting breast4 ,as ,i did so1 a silver cross fell almost into my hand4 ,it hung from his neck by a ribbon1 and upon it were the words1 ,mary1 pray for me6 ,i had seen such a cross before4 ,open your mouth1 ,antonio6 ,i cried4 ,he obeyed1 and ,i poured upon his parched tongue the last contents of my flask4 ,he thanked me with his dying breath4 ,i concealed the cross within his jacket1 and followed the signal that called the skirmishers forward4 ,,hidden ,,treasure4 ,a fortnight later1 at about the same hour as in the previous ,january1 the ,legion marched into ,careta4 ,as before1 old ,jos was seated upon the bench in the chimney corner1 making a cigarillo out of the stumps of a dozen others1 carefully treasured in his coat cuff2 and the patrona jumped up with a shrill ,dios de mi alma6 as the foreign drums announced her former guests4 ,the old billets was the convenient order1 as regarded quarters2 and with shout and song1 and clatter of musket-buts1 my company rushed up the well-known staircase4 ,the rough greeting over1 and a demand for wine complied with1 ,i inquired after ,manuela4 ,she is with friends in the mountains1 grumbled the old woman4 ,it was ten o'clock4 ,with four other non-commissioned officers ,i betook myself1 an iron lamp in hand1 to the room allotted us4 ,jos and the patrona had been long asleep4 ,the soldiers lay for the most part in the deathlike slumber of extreme fatigue1 upon the chairs and in the kitchen4 ,the floor of our room was of tiles1 affording a cold1 uncomfortable resting-place4 ,as to bedding1 it was not to be thought of4 ,whilst examining our dreary lodgings1 one of my companions pointed out an opening in the wall1 closed up with square flat stones1 laid upon each other1 but not cemented4 ,judging from the external aspect of the house1 we conjectured this condemned doorway to lead into another apartment4 ,the suspicion that beds or wine were perhaps concealed there1 induced us to remove the upper stones1 and when enough of them were out to allow of ingress1 my comrades hoisted me up to the opening1 through which ,i held the lamp1 and saw a passage with several doors4 ,taking my bayonet and havresack1 ,i bid my comrades remain where they were1 and1 promising an equitable division of spoils1 ,i climbed over the wall4 ,shading the lamp with my hand lest a ray should meet the eye of old ,jos1 ,i moved along as noiselessly as possible1 whilst behind me my companions poked their heads through the opening1 and made eager and curious inquiries as to what ,i saw4 ,in one corner ,i found a pile of sheep's wool1 which ,i threw out to serve as bed4 ,in the room ,i found some rude furniture1 broken and worthless1 old shrivelled goatskins1 empty casks1 and the like4 ,i was about to cease my investigation1 when ,i noticed a wooden partition cutting off the end of a room4 ,there was a door in it1 which ,i opened4 ,whilst my comrades were busy spreading out the wool1 it revealed an alcove1 containing a clean1 white bed1 in which some one lay4 ,hastily shading the lamp ,i gently closed the door4 ,but perceiving that the person in the bed1 whoever it was1 did not stir1 ,i ventured nearer1 and beheld a mass of long black hair spread out in rich waves over the snow-white sheet4 ,the sleeper's face was turned to the wall2 another glance1 and ,i recognised ,manuela4 ,my heart throbbed violently4 ,it was a hard fight1 harder than that on the #dth ,july4 ,she lay so still and unconscious1 breathing so softly1 and her dark hair twined so temptingly over the bed-clothes1 like snakes out of paradise4 ,but upon her partially unveiled bosom lay the silver cross1 and the lamp-light shone upon the words1 ,mary1 pray for me6 ,silently ,i shut the door and returned to my comrades4 ,upon my assurance that ,i had found nothing worth looking after1 the stones were replaced in the opening1 and we lay down to sleep4 ,but ,i have often slept more soundly upon bare tiles than ,i did that night upon ,jos's wool4 ,at daybreak the diana called us1 as usual1 under arms1 to wait the return of the morning reconnoissance4 ,after that1 various duties occupied me for some hours4 ,upon my return to the house1 ,i had all the difficulty in the world to appease ,manuela's mother1 who showered upon us1 to the astonishment of the whole company1 every malediction the ,spanish language affords4 ,the old lady had found the wool scattered about our room1 and naturally concluded that was not the full extent of our depredations4 ,manuela now made her appearance1 bathed in tears--her presence in the house being already known1 so her mother supposed1 to all of us4 ,it was again evening4 ,the thunder rolled1 and a heavy summer shower poured down in torrents1 when1 as ,i ascended the stairs1 a flash of lightning showed me ,jos equipped and girt for the road4 ,manuela hung sobbing round his neck1 and bid him ,god-speed4 ,on my appearance1 the old peasant darted through the back-door2 and a second flash gave me a glimpse of his brown cloak as he strode over the garden fence and disappeared across the country4 ,an hour later our drums beat for unexpected departure1 and the soldiers hurried out of the house4 ,i lingered an instant1 and1 with my arm round ,manuela's waist1 told her1 in few words1 my discovery of the previous night4 ,her cheeks burned like flame1 and she raised her great dark eyes timidly and gratefully to my face4 ,may ,god repay it to your sisters and mother6 were her words4 ,i said you were not like the rest4 ,but your home is far hence1 and if the war spares you1 poor ,manuela will soon be forgotten4 ,give me something whereby to remember you1 ,manuela4 ,a kiss1 if you will4 ,take this cross4 ,i give it you4 ,wear it in battle1 as my brother ,antonio does his1 and show it him if you meet in strife4 ,may it shield and accompany you to your distant home1 and remind you sometimes of the poor ,navarrese maiden4 ,i pressed the sweet girl closer to my breast1 took a farewell kiss1 and whispered1 ,adieu1 poor ,manuela6 ,just then1 through the half-open door1 appeared the unclean countenance of the ,piedmontese4 ,he grinned with rage and disappointment1 and disappeared at ,manuela's cry of alarm4 ,ten or twelve leagues south-west from ,pampeluna lies the fortress of ,lerin1 perched high upon the summit of a hill4 ,thence1 a few weeks after the preceding scene1 the second division of the foreign legion started suddenly at midnight1 the object of the mysterious march unknown even to the officers4 ,when the column had reached the bottom of the road that zig-zags down the hill1 a peasant1 tied1 by precaution1 to one of the horses of the advanced guard1 conducted them rapidly across the ,ega1 through meadows and vineyards1 and wild broken country4 ,it was very dark1 and now and then a man or horse fell down a bank or into a ditch4 ,when day broke1 however1 it was discovered that the wrong direction had been taken4 ,the column went to the right about1 and reached1 just as the sun rose1 a beaten track leading direct to ,sesma1 a village occupied by ,carlist troops4 ,bright blazed the bayonets in the sunbeams1 betraying our presence to the foe we were to have surprised4 ,whilst we gave the ,carlists employment in the adjacent woods and fields1 our general made a dash into the village1 caught the alcalde1 and1 by threats of a short shrift and a sharp volley1 made him pay down a small portion of the long arrears due to the legion4 ,upon our orderly retreat to ,lerin1 effected in squares of battalions1 on whose skirts hosts of ,carlist cavalry impotently hovered1 we were surprised to see our peasant guide led along with bound hands4 ,when the sight of the fort's artillery made the enemy cease the pursuit and return to ,sesma1 the column was formed into one large square1 a drum-head court-martial was held upon the peasant1 and preparation made for his instant execution4 ,although well acquainted with the country1 he had led the troops astray1 exposing them to great danger1 and partly frustrating the object of the expedition4 ,further proof of his guilt was found upon him1 in the shape of a letter from the ,carlist village of ,hostiz4 ,with bowed head1 and in sullen silence1 he listened to his sentence1 announced with a threefold rattle of drums4 ,for the first time the unpleasant duty devolved upon me of forming one of the firing party4 ,heavens6 how ,i started as ,i drew near to the victim1 and recognised old ,jos from ,careta4 ,poor ,manuela6 ,i trembled as ,i looked round1 expecting her to appear4 ,just then came pouring out of the town1 with a woman at their head1 a crowd of peasants in ,sunday garb1 hat in hand1 and approached the general1 slackening their pace respectfully as they drew near4 ,but ,manuela's mother 7she it was who accompanied them7 sprang forward like a fury1 menacing the general with her clenched fist and mad ,cassandra-like countenance1 and heaping upon him curses such as only an angry ,spaniard can lay tongue to4 ,her shrill imprecations contrasted oddly with the humble and deprecating entreaties of the men1 and with the muttered prayers of ,jos1 who awaited his last minute upon his knees before the firing party4 ,permission given1 one of the men stepped forward as spokesman4 ,may it please your ,excellency1 said he to the general1 to spare this man's life4 ,he is unacquainted with the country4 ,he first came hither only a month ago1 after his hearth had been ravaged1 his family scattered1 his house burned4 ,be merciful1 ,seor4 ,we will all be sureties for his good behaviour4 ,let him return to his wife3 and so shall the blessed ,mary and the angels comfort your ,excellency in the hour of agony6 ,no1 no6 yelled the woman1 sputtering with fury1 her long grizzled hair streaming around her distorted face4 ,no6 they shall not comfort him1 the vile heretic6 ,jos ,lopez6 husband6 die bravely1 curse the heretic dogs with thy last breath1 and the angels will hear thee6 ,curse upon ye1 strangers1 come to destroy our dwellings1 to slay our men1 to slight our faith6 ,death and agony to your souls1 pest in your veins1 ravens on your carcass1 ashes on your threshold6 ,die1 ,jos1 for the ,king and the holy faith6 ,viva la ,santa ,maria6 ,viva ,carlos ,quinto6 ,four men led away the peasants and the furious woman4 ,the word of command was given1 and ,i had to aim at the breast to which1 only a month previously1 poor ,manuela had been pressed in the cottage at ,careta4 ,once more ,jos exclaimed1 in a loud voice1 ,mary1 pray for me6 ,then there was the rattle of a volley1 the peasant sprang into the air1 and fell down upon his face1 his jacket smoking with burnt wadding4 ,the band struck up1 and we marched back to ,lerin4 ,,the ,,wine-,,skin4 ,three days afterwards1 on the #adth ,august1 the legion made an unexpected incursion into the valley of the ,bastan1 a district full of strong positions1 and formerly1 for some time1 the abiding place of the ,pretender1 of whose cause its inhabitants were enthusiastic partisans4 ,moving with extreme rapidity1 we swept1 with small resistance1 one village after another4 ,on our approach1 soldiers1 peasants1 women1 and children1 packed their beds upon jackasses1 and fled with bag and baggage to concealment in the mountains4 ,towards noon1 every sign of a foe having disappeared1 we retired rapidly through the valley towards the ,arga1 and on this retreat some plundering occurred in the villages4 ,arrived at ,hostiz1 ,i entered what appeared the best house in the village4 ,the streets were strewn with clothes1 linen1 and other objects1 dropped or thrown away by the fugitives4 ,i met two soldiers carrying large red curtains of heavy rich silk2 others had laden themselves with cheeses1 others with honey or wine2 one man had got a large crucifix4 ,half-naked women ran screaming through the streets4 ,eager for a draught of wine1 for ,i was exhausted to faintness by the extreme heat and by the fatigue of a long rapid march1 ,i hurried up the stairs4 ,the house bore witness to utter wantonness of destruction4 ,every thing was broken and smashed2 and hence ,i was not a little surprised to observe the good-humoured air with which a handsome young woman1 standing in the roomy vestibule1 distributed wine to a large party of our soldiers1 who drank in greedy haste1 laughing1 singing1 and extolling the charms of their ,hebe4 ,hallo6 my girl1 a drink of wine1 for heaven's sake6 ,i had scarcely uttered the words when an adjacent door opened2 and1 with arms extended and dishevelled hair1 ,manuela rushed towards me4 ,give him none1 ,maria6 she cried2 and you1 she added1 seizing both my hands1 for ,god and the saints' sake1 drink not a drop6 ,at the words1 her sister ,maria dropped the mouth of the wine-skin1 allowing the red liquor to gush over the floor1 and disappeared4 ,the drums beat to fall in and march4 ,but now the soldiers1 an instant before so joyous1 sank down1 one after the other1 like poisoned flies1 writhing and bemoaning themselves upon the stairs and in the passage4 ,manuela hung senseless upon my arm4 ,i stooped to lay her gently on the ground1 when a musket was fired not three paces behind me4 ,i looked round4 ,it was the ,piedmontese1 grinning horribly in mingled agony and exultation1 as he doubled himself like a worm in the pangs of poison4 ,but the wretch's aim had been too true4 ,her breast pierced by the bullet1 ,manuela fell dead beside the other victims4 ,how beautiful she was1 even in death1 whilst her left breast poured forth in a crimson stream the many sorrows she had sighed under6 ,poor ,manuela6 ,how pale was now your cheek6 ,how different the last farewell kiss on your chill blue lips from that warm and thrilling one in ,careta6 ,,the ,,hospital4 ,the military hospital at ,pampeluna was formerly the palace of the bishop1 who fled to ,don ,carlos at the commencement of the war4 ,its spacious halls and corridors were converted into twelve large wards1 four of them for wounded men1 and four others for fever patients4 ,each ward contained about fifty beds1 in which1 upon dirty mattresses1 ,christino soldiers pined and suffered4 ,most of the sick of the foreign legion there gave up the ghost4 ,the nurses were sisters of the ,order of ,mercy2 but these1 like nearly all ,spaniards pertaining to the church1 were adherents of the ,pretender1 and any thing but zealous in the discharge of their duty towards us4 ,people spoke even of the poisoning of soups and drinks given to the patients--a thing certainly not impossible1 all such matters being prepared by the sisterhood1 whose proceedings were but carelessly superintended4 ,in each of these wards1 during the dead hours of night1 a single lamp burned1 leaving the two extremities of the room in darkness4 ,the hospital being close to the town wall1 there was never a lack of night-birds1 attracted to the windows by the smell of corpses4 ,day and night the sisters moved about the wards1 in white veils and black dresses--a mass of keys1 beads1 and crucifixes1 suspended at their side4 ,and frequent were the visits of the episcopal chaplain1 ,don ,rafael ,salvador1 preceded by bell-ringing urchins1 and bearing the last sacrament to some expiring sinner4 ,repeated bivouacs in inclement weather1 and especially that of the #aath ,march1 at the foot of the ,dos ,hermanas1 laid me1 on the #aeth ,march #ahcg1 seven months after the incident last related1 upon a sick bed in this house of suffering4 ,four bloodlettings within two days had done something towards calming the fever that burned in my veins1 but still enough remained to beset my couch with delirious images4 ,grim and horrible visages1 pale1 mournful figures that seemed of moonshine1 and vaguely reminded me of my home1 scenes from my childhood1 and others from the war in which ,i had been nearly two years a sharer1 passed rapidly before me4 ,now it was the tailor from ,regensburg1 with froth on his lips1 expiring on the mountain side2 then old ,jos1 with sightless eyes and pierced by a dozen bullets1 danced a ghastly fandango at my bed-foot2 and then ,i beheld a colossal breast1 white and beautiful1 offering blood to drink to a host of thirsty soldiers4 ,from such visions as these ,i one night awoke and lay with my eyes fixed upon the lamp1 which hung just opposite to me1 revolving wild and melancholy fancies in my fevered brain4 ,do what ,i would1 ,manuela's image continually recurred to me1 and with the strange pertinacity of delirium ,i repeated to myself that she would come and rescue me from my unhappy condition4 ,in a bed behind me1 an ,andalusian prayed with the chaplain1 who threw a red silk coverlid over his emaciated body1 received his confession1 and administered the holy wafer4 ,at the window a screech-owl uttered its annoying cries4 ,upon a bed opposite to me a sick ,german sang-- ,jetzt bei der ,lampe ,dmmerschein ,gehst du wohl in dein ,kmmerlein4 ,further off another patient whistled a fandango2 and next to me1 upon my left hand1 an unhappy creature1 frantic with fever1 and bound down upon his bed with leathern straps1 wrought and strove till he got rid of his coverings1 and wrenched the bandage from his arm1 which forthwith sent up into the air a spout of blood from a recently opened vein4 ,for a moment the ,german's kindly song soothed and calmed my perturbed ideas2 but suddenly ,jos gave a bound before me1 and held up his fist with a frightful laugh1 and yelled out like a lunatic1 ,viva ,carlos ,quinto6 ,and ,manuela wrung her hands till my two sisters came and consoled and prayed with her4 ,then suddenly her pale face1 surrounded by a white veil1 was bent down till it nearly touched mine2 and she said1 in soft and tender tones3-- ,poor stranger1 will you drink8 ,yes1 ,i replied1 and looked her full in the face4 ,manuela it was4 ,i well remembered the sweet countenance1 first seen in ,careta4 ,i raised myself1 and would fain have seized hold of her1 but she moved slowly away1 her rosary and golden crucifix and black gown rustling through the room4 ,it was no deception4 ,again ,manuela came1 and brought me some cooling drink4 ,once more ,i looked her hard in the eyes4 ,god6 now ,i remembered6 ,it was the same beautiful woman who distributed the wine at ,hostiz and would fain have given me some4 ,faugh6 ,i exclaimed1 and raised myself in bed to call the ,piedmontese to shoot her4 ,but she bent soothingly over me1 and laid hold of the ribbon upon which ,i wore ,manuela's silver cross4 ,i thought she was about to strangle me2 but she smiled kindly1 and showed me that she wore a similar cross upon her breast4 ,and she gave me to drink1 and then took away the little earthen jug1 and disappeared at the dark end of the room4 ,and ,i lay thinking how like she was to ,manuela1 the poor girl in ,careta1 who loved me and saved my life4 ,the same night--how long afterwards ,i cannot tell1 perhaps five minutes1 perhaps two hours--the pale sad face again bowed over me4 ,just then two hospital attendants bore away a corpse1 rolled in its bed-clothes4 ,my neighbour1 ,no4 #ej1 cried out1 ,pierre6 they are burying you6 and laughed horridly1 whilst the ,german opposite sang gently and mournfully3 ,sei still6 ich steh' in ,gottes ,hut1 ,der schtzt ein treu ,soldatenblut4 ,but close beside me a soft voice whispered3 ,sleep1 and be at rest2 ,god give thee peace and health4 ,i am not ,manuela--,i am ,maria4 ,i found thy cross1 and ,i pray for thee4 ,thou shalt recover and return to thy country6 ,and her prayers and care prevailed4 ,i did recover1 and returned to friends and home4 ,but often still do ,i think of poor ,manuela1 and of my loves and perils and sufferings in yon strange land beyond the ,pyrenees4 ,,heigh-,,ho6 ,a pretty young maiden sat on the grass1 ,sing heigh-ho6 sing heigh-ho6 ,and by a blythe young shepherd did pass1 ,in the summer morning so early4 ,said he1 ,my lass will you go with me1 ,my cot to keep1 and my bride to be1 ,sorrow and want shall never touch thee1 ,and ,i will love you rarely8 ,oh6 no1 no1 no6 the maiden said1 ,sing heigh-ho6 sing heigh-ho6 ,and bashfully turn'd aside her head1 ,on that summer morning so early3 ,my mother is old1 my mother is frail1 ,our cottage it lies in yon green dale2 ,i dare not list to any such tale1 ,for ,i love my kind mother rarely4 ,the shepherd took her lily-white hand1 ,sing heigh-ho6 sing heigh-ho6 ,and on her beauty did gazing stand1 ,on that summer morning so early4 ,thy mother ,i ask thee not to leave1 ,alone in her frail old age to grieve1 ,but my home can hold us all1 believe-- ,will that not please thee fairly8 ,oh6 no1 no1 no6 ,i am all too young1 ,sing heigh-ho6 sing heigh-ho6 ,i dare not list to a young man's tongue1 ,on a summer morning so early4 ,but the shepherd to gain her heart was bent2 ,oft she strove to go1 but she never went2 ,and at length she fondly blush'd consent-- ,heaven blesses true lovers so fairly4 ,,republican ,,paris4 ,,march1 ,,april #ahdh4 ,is there any former lover of ,paris who imagines that1 when the barricades of the last insurrection have been removed1 the devastations repaired1 and the street lanterns mended1 ,paris will wear1 with its republican face1 the same aspect as it did of old8 ,if there be such a man1 let him still cherish the fond delusion1 and not come and see4 ,or1 would he learn the truth1 let him try the experiment of taking from the fairest face he knows and loves1 the gay1 coquettish cap of gauze and ribbon1 the light1 butterfly-like chef-d'uvre of the most tasty fancy of a ,french marchande des modes1 and let him put on that head the ,phrygian cap of liberty1 the bonnet rouge1 in all its startling coarseness of red cloth4 ,he thinks1 perhaps1 that the face will be the same1 or at least wear the same expression as before6 ,fatal mistake6 ,animated1 gay with colour1 flushed with the red reflected tints1 picture-like even1 may be the pretty face--but it will have utterly lost its former charm2 it will look staring1 vulgar1 swaggering1 disordered1 at best ,bacchante-like4 ,or1 to take a more psychological comparison3--,let him think back upon the time when he was in love1 and wandered in the company of the beloved1 and try to remember how he looked upon the objects that surrounded him4 ,of a surety1 whatever their natural want of beauty they wore a peculiar look of brightness2 there was a magical veil of rose-coloured charm upon all4 ,let him then reflect upon the aspect of the same spot when she was gone4 ,the objects remained the same1 but certainly they wore not the same air to his eyes2 they were the identical objects he had looked upon before1 and yet he could have sworn that they were changed--that the whole landscape was discoloured4 ,and so it is with ,paris4 ,streets1 squares1 and houses are the same1 but its moral appearance is totally altered3 there is a changed look in the very air2 the impression on the mind is as different as rose-colour is from gray upon the sense2 the psychological tint has been washed out1 blurred away1 and replaced by a troubled1 confused1 indescribably unharmonious and uncongenial colour4 ,but without attempting to convey to others a feeling impossible to define1 it is easy enough to point out the altered state of being of the ,french capital in the outward physical aspect of republican ,paris4 ,true1 the marks of devastation have been almost entirely removed from the ,boulevards and principal streets with wonderful alacrity on the part of the municipal authorities4 ,young trees have been planted on the spots where the old ones were cut down to form barricades3 they look stunted1 meagre1 and unhappy enough1 to be sure--very like the young republic that their frail stems typify--but they manage to keep up the look of the line of avenue4 ,there they stand1 all ready to be cut down again for the construction of fresh barricades1 if ever they grow big enough before they are wanted1 which is certainly a very doubtful matter4 ,the asphalte is already laid down once more in the holes of the broken-up trottoirs1 or at least smoke and stench enough prevail in the labours of plastering it down2 and in a short time the iron railings of the ,boulevard du ,rempart will again prevent drunken citizens in smocks from falling down into the street below2 at all events1 there is mortar and solder enough ready on the pavement to do the work4 ,on the opposite side of the way1 that fatal building1 the ,hotel of ,foreign ,affairs1 before which so frightful a scene of carnage was acted1 looks much as it did of yore--perhaps only a little dirtier1 a little more public-office-like--although young citizens en blouse mount guard before its gates instead of soldiers of the line1 and on its walls1 smeared with blood-dipped fingers1 glare before one's eyes1 unwashed away by rain1 the startling capitals--,,mort ,a ,,guizot4 ,but it is to be presumed that the eyes of passers-by will get used to the bloody words--forgotten1 perhaps1 before many months in other visions of blood--perhaps smeared over in their turn by ,mort ----4 ,who can tell8 ,the pavement has been long since restored to the streets2 although1 to tell the truth1 here and there the disjointed1 ill-replaced stones still slightly lift their heads to tell a tale of past devastation1 and proclaim their readiness to rise again at a moment's warning2 and fiacres jolt uneasily over them--very much like the ,provisional ,government over the rough work left them to stumble against by the ,revolution4 ,but1 upon the whole1 ,paris has nigh recovered its former material look1 and might almost cheat the wanderer1 who looks only upon stone walls1 and pavements1 and lamp-posts1 into the belief that it has undergone no change1 and retained no scars from its late burning eruptive disorder1 unless he stroll past two spots which startle him into a recollection of the truth4 ,here the long faade of the palace of the ,tuilleries1 its window-panes all smashed1 its shutters shattered--the broken casket of royalty6 ,there the quondam ,palais-,royal1 its walls still blackened by the bonfires of royal furniture lighted in its courts2 its windows paneless1 its once flowered terraces bare or boarded with planks4 ,and1 opposite1 the smoked walls of that ruined building1 on the other side of the square1 where the last defenders of royalty were shot down1 or were flung back to perish in the blazing pile of the vast guard-house4 ,but if ,paris has thus washed away its blood and dirt1 thus mended its rent garments1 thus patched over its scars1 where then is the great change8 ,come and see6 ,the scenes with which the streets of republican ,paris teem are such as those who have only known the city in its kingly garb have never witnessed4 ,what was the aspect of ,paris formerly on one of those bright champagne-like spring days1 when the ,parisian butterflies of all classes1 the humble gray moth as the sparkling tiger-fly1 came forth to sun themselves in the golden air8 ,there were crowds--but listless1 easy1 careless crowds1 that sauntered they knew not whither1 and turned back they knew not why--crowds of beings who ran over each other1 and almost over themselves1 as they fluttered hither and thither1 enjoying the brightness of the sky without rendering themselves any reckoning of their enjoyment4 ,there are still crowds in the streets2 but no longer listless1 easy1 careless crowds4 ,they form in large groups1 and knots1 and circles on the pavement1 and at street corners1 and at the entrance of galleries and passages2 and1 from the midst of the mass1 if you can get near enough to hear1 comes the sound of haranguing or of disputing4 ,each group is an al fresco club in which the interests of the country at large are being discussed2 and round about is ever a dark murmuring1 and a rumour1 and a ferment--and sometimes minor disputants break off from the parent knot2 and presently they form a nucleus for a fresh encircling crowd2 and another group takes up its standing2 and a great banian-tree of politicising knots drops its branches1 which thus take root up and down the ,boulevards1 far and wide1 until the whole long avenue is planted with separate little circles of disputants or spouters4 ,here a well-dressed man assures his unknown auditors that the arbitrary and despotic measures of an obnoxious ,minister of the ,interior destroy all confidence1 and prepare the ruin of the country1 with the fear of another ,reign of ,terror3 there a workman on a bench1 with violent gesture and inflamed countenance1 declares that the salvation of the republic1 one and indivisible1 hangs upon the despotism--he gives it another name--of the same ,minister of the ,interior--for the time being1 the hero of the people4 ,but think not that the blouse is sundered from the frock-coat1 or the varnished boot from the clouted shoe4 ,here you see a young lgant of the ,faubourg ,st ,germain1 his legitimist principles and his old dynastic hopes prudently concealed behind the axiom1 ,all for ,france6 ,franais avant tout6 discussing amicably a knotty point about elections1 or the measures of the ,provisional ,government1 with an unshaved artisan in a smock3 and look6 they are of one mind--or apparently so--and the kid-gloved hand grasps the rough1 callous1 toil-hardened palm4 ,here again a good bourgeois1 a shopkeeper1 in his uniform as a ,national ,guard1 the grocer of your street corner maybe1 holds ,monsieur the ex-,count1 his customer1 by the button1 to develop his last republican scheme for the certain remedy of the financial crisis4 ,a little further on1 a dark-browed man1 in a ragged coat1 with a tricolor cockade1 scarcely concealing the blood-red ribbon beneath1 declares to a knot of young schoolboys1 that the only method to avert the general misery is by the spoliation of the vile rich2 but meets with little sympathy1 and goes away scowling1 as if he thought that his time would yet come4 ,and here again a gamin1 a very child1 with his snub nose insolently cocked in the air1 his sabre bound about his body1 and his musket on his arm--for he just comes from keeping guard--is holding forth upon the interests of the ,republic to a red-faced1 mustached old gentleman1 who looks like an old general2 and who smiles good-temperedly on the urchin1 and listens1 until the young patriot thinks probably that he has sufficiently enlightened granny upon the art of sucking republican eggs1 and swaggers off1 screeching ,mourir pour la ,patrie1 at the top of his shrill voice4 ,and around each of these minor centres of two suns is all the hemisphere of listening planets and satellites4 ,and thus every where is a fusion1 according to the best-established republican principles of galit3 and no great harm done1 were the doctrine to rest there--every where ferment1 commotion1 murmur1 movement4 ,but the old ,parisian flaneur1 with his easily satisfied curiosity1 his desultory wanderings1 his careless movements--and what ,parisian of the street-crowds1 man1 woman1 or child1 had not formerly more or less of the spirit of a true flaneur8--is gone from the streets of ,paris4 ,a citizen has something else to do than flaner3 he feels all the weight of the interests of the country on his own individual shoulders2 and he has no time now but for making harangues1 on which the welfare of ,france depends1 and discussing political or social questions1 equally for the welfare of all humanity4 ,it is wonderful how quickly the change has come over the spirit of his dream4 ,but fashion and contagion work miracles4 ,come6 look at this picture now4 ,it is a bright moonlight night4 ,the beams of the full moon are whitening the long line of elevated columns of the ,bourse4 ,in the large1 open1 moonlit place before it are crowds--every where crowds--in isolated circles again1 looking like clumps of little wooded islands in a glistening lake4 ,let us approach one of the dark masses4 ,in the midst of the circle stands a young fellow1 bare-headed1 shaking his fair locks about him most theatrically1 and baying at the moon4 ,he is mounted on a tub1 or some such temporary pulpit4 ,his arms are tossed aloft in the moonlight with such energy that we feel convinced he fancies himself a second ,camille ,desmoulins animating the ,parisian population against the tyrants of the country4 ,we get as near as we can1 and we now catch his words4 ,he is1 in truth1 haranguing against tyranny1 but the tyranny of the shopkeepers2 and he calls upon all citoyens and true patriots to join him in a petition to the ,government for the closing of shops on ,sundays and holidays at twelve o'clock1 instead of three in the afternoon6 ,but the mass around does not seem to catch his enthusiasm2 for ,i see none of those shifting lights in the chiaro-obscuro of the crowd1 that would indicate one of those electric movements that fall upon popular masses1 under the influence of inspiration4 ,now1 he cries1 ,vive la ,republique6 citizens1 friends1 let us to the ,faubourg ,st ,antoine6--the workman's quarter1 where meutes are generally cooked up4 ,but no one seems inclined to follow him into that distant region1 in order to get up a shop-shutting insurrection2 and more than one voice calls out1 plus souvent6 or1 ,anglice1 ,i wish you may get it6 ,come6 here is another picture4 ,the night this time is dark and drizzly4 ,upon the pavement of the now naked flower-market1 beneath the quiet ghostly white walls of the ,madeleine1 stand thick groups of men3 there are some hundreds of them--some in cloaks1 some in thick coats1 some with their hats slouched down upon their brows1 all wearing1 in their several patches of murmuring forms1 an air of conspiracy1 which is greatly increased by the sombre and inclement state of the night4 ,and conspirators they are--but bold-faced conspirators in the face of a dripping heaven4 ,in republican ,paris1 however1 there is1 as yet1 no police to prevent conspiracy3 and in this instance the plotters are not conspiring against republican ,france1 but against monarchies and empires4 ,the dusky forms are those of the ,german democrats1 who are holding a desultory council for the raising of a ,german army to go and conquer the liberties of the great ,german republic they intend to found4 ,to-morrow their address to the citoyens ,franais1 calling on them to lend arms and give money towards the recruitment of their force1 will be on all the walls of ,paris4 ,in a day or two a few hundreds will be off1 with the full conviction that they are to mix their own republican leaven of sourness into all the freshly baked ,german constitutional governments1 and proclaim their republic wherever they go4 ,they are talking1 in this bigger group1 not only of breaking tyrant-chains1 but of wreathing laurels for their own brows4 ,think not also that the ,boulevards retain their glittering aspect of rich decorated shops1 teeming with the luxury of colour and gilding as before4 ,we are in the midst of a financial crisis1 and misery and want are increasing daily4 ,trade has ceased with the want of confidence2 ruin has fallen on many2 workmen have been dismissed1 and shop-boys turned adrift in hundreds upon the streets2 and1 in spite of the roasted larks all ready for hungry mouths1 and showers of gold which the ,government promises as about to fall from the heaven of the republic upon the working classes1 it is not only on the faces of the tradespeople at their shop-doors1 or behind the mockery of their plate-glass windows1 that there is impressed a gloom1 but upon the many hundreds and thousands who seek work and cannot find it1 and who wander up and down with hanging heads1 or while away their weary hours in lounging about the outskirts of the disputing groups4 ,see6 how many shops are shut6 ,see6 how sadly the placard of boutique louer1 upon the closed doors1 meets the eye at every ten steps1 and tells a tale of bankruptcy2 how many rows of dismal shutters1 like coffin-lids erect upon their ends1 give by day to the streets that funereal look they formerly only gave by night2 and chalked upon these shutters are still the words--armes donns au peuple1 a still remaining souvenir of the days of tumult1 disorder1 and bloodshed1 when every house in ,paris was scrawled over by the same announcement1 in order to prevent the forcible entry of the mob into private dwellings to carry off defensive weapons4 ,if we step aside into one of those monster-shops1 with their vast corridors1 and avenues1 and galleries1 and staircases1 which lately were so crowded that it was difficult for customers to be served even by the hundred commis within1 what a scene of desert listlessness meets our eyes6 ,there is scarce a solitary customer who wanders amongst their long galleries1 vainly draperied and beshawled with all the rich wonders of modern manufacture4 ,the weary-looking shop-boys1 the few that remain1 run out of breath from one end of a long gallery to another to get what you want1 for they have now several departments of the establishment under their care4 ,there is not a trace here of ,paris as it was4 ,come out in the streets again6 ,what has become of the bright look they wore8 ,there are no longer the belles toilettes of the last ,parisian fashion--no gay dresses1 or but a scanty1 worn-out1 tawdry show--none of the ancient splendour of rich ,paris4 ,a few lgants1 it is true1 familiar faces1 may be still met upon their former lounging haunts on the ,boulevards2 but they are few1 and their varnished boots even have a dull lustreless look1 that is perfectly sympathetical with the general gloom4 ,several1 certainly1 may be met in the uniform of the ,national ,guard1 but with such an altered1 any thing but lion-like mien1 that you do not recognise them at first1 and cut half your best acquaintances4 ,the equipages which formerly dashed hither and thither over the pavement1 are now rar aves in the streets2 and the few who exhibit thus openly their superior wealth have1 for the most part1 considered it advisable to have the armorial bearings upon the pannels of their vehicles painted over4 ,most of the upper classes have put down their carriages1 and sold or sent away their horses4 ,the unfortunate rich1 however1 are in sad straits2 if they show themselves en voiture1 while their humbler neighbours walk on foot1 they may stand a chance1 in the new realm of galit1 of having their ears saluted with the menacing cry of bas les aristocrates-- bas les riches6 if they restrict their expenses and reduce their establishments1 they run the risk of being seriously denounced as favourers of the conspiration de lconomie1 which they are supposed to form in order to injure the republic by refusing to spend their money4 ,where the people are lords and masters1 the upper classes have evidently a far harder game to play1 and much less tolerance to expect1 than in the contrary rule4 ,in the aspect of the streets1 then1 there is not a trace of ,paris as it was4 ,how looks the scene8 ,there are plenty of ill-dressed men moving about with anxious faces3 they are the hungry crew from the provinces1 come to solicit places in the new order of things1 and snatch what morsel of the cake they can in the general scramble4 ,they may be known by the size of their tricolor cockades1 and streaming ribbons at their buttonhole2 for they think it necessary to proclaim1 as flauntingly as they can1 by symbol1 the republican principles which1 they suddenly find out1 always and from all times1 although unknown to themselves1 animated their souls4 ,and blouses there are in plenty1 as of course4 ,they are the kings of the day1 and they are not yet chary of their royal persons1 or tired of exhibiting the consciousness of their royalty in the streets4 ,some of these braves citoyens have got far beyond the comparison1 drunk as a lord--they are drunk as an emperor3 and with their ideas of aristocratic power1 and their maxim of all for us1 and nothing for nobody else1 why should they not be8 ,besides1 as they choose to have much pay and no work1 how could they better employ their time8 ,the uniforms of the ,national ,guards are now almost more numerous than the frock-coat and round hat2 and though so fallen from their high estate before the frowning demonstration of the people1 these former soi-disant defenders of the liberties of their country assert a certain predominance in the aspect of the moving scene4 ,where so lately arms were never seen1 having been strictly prohibited by orders of the police1 now pass by you1 at all times1 bands of armed men1 in tolerably ragged attire1 or en blouse1 with muskets on their arms1 their white sword and cartouche belts crossing their breasts1 and little bits of card-paper stuck in their caps4 ,these are small battalions of the newly recruited garde mobile--recruited chiefly from the idle refuse of the people2 and as they march hither and thither continually1 they seem still to have a faint idea that they are obeying orders from their officers3 but how long this fancy of obedience and discipline will be still entertained among them1 is a very ticklish question4 ,some of them are standing sentinels at the gates of the government buildings and public offices1 in lieu of the soldiers of the line that formerly met your eye there4 ,here again1 before the ,hotel de la ,marine1 are a few sturdy-looking sailors1 the most honest in physiognomy of most of the individuals you meet2 and with their blue dresses1 and ribbon-bound glazed hats1 give a new feature1 and not an unpicturesque one1 to the street scene4 ,a few soldiers still roam about in desultory manner2 the jealousy of the people will not allow of any armed force but their own within the walls of ,paris2 and they have a debauched demoralised look that they wore not of old2 for they no longer obey orders1 wander about at will1 and return to their barracks only when they want to be fed4 ,without seeking for any marked republican fashion1 there may be thus found sufficient change in the outward attire of the general throng to show at once that you are in the streets of republican ,paris1 and not ,paris as it was4 ,and yet1 specimens of the fantastic republican attire of a gone-by time1 the recollections of which few1 one would think1 would wish to recall1 are not altogether wanting4 ,a few bonnets rouges1--the ,phrygian caps of liberty1--with tricolor cockades on one side1 startle the eye sometimes3 some adventurous female of the lower classes crosses your path now and then with a similar coiffure1 and in a tricolor dress of red1 blue apron1 and white collar2 and here and there a tricolor-bedecked fellow1 with a fanner in his hands1 invites you to witness his feats of republican jugglery4 ,this1 however1 is the mere child's play that mocks an old comedy1--an old tragedy1 ,i should have said4 ,little is as yet done to parody that fearful epoch of ,french history3 people do not even address each other as citoyen and citoyenne4 ,the name appears only in public documents4 ,what ,king ,people may require1 when it feels more fully its own strength--what comedy1 or what tragedy1 of old times it may choose to act again1 remains to be seen upon the dark and gloomy page of the future4 ,the new-born giant only stretches his arms as yet1 and crushes a fly or two in sport2 as yet he scarcely knows his awful power4 ,now listen to the street-cries in the formerly orderly thoroughfares of the capital4 ,what an incessant screeching of voices1--rough1 shrill1 clear1 and husky--fills the air1 and1 if not deafens1 tears the ears4 ,from an early hour of the morning until after midnight1 the hoarse screaming ceases not in the streets4 ,wo betide the nervous and impressionable6 they are sure to go to bed nightly with a headach4 ,all this eardrum-rending clamour has reference only to one object of all1--that of the necessary daily food of republican ,paris--of the newspapers4 ,their name now is legion4 ,with one ambitious exception1 all the old established newspapers are submerged in this deluge of republican prints4 ,we have now two or three ,republiques1 ,la ,reforme1 ,la ,libert1 ,le ,salut ,public1 ,la voix du ,peuple1 and who can tell how many other voices besides1 including ,la voix des ,femmes2 for the milder sex already lifts its voice still more fiercely if possible than the ruder4 ,but it would be as difficult to enumerate all the names of the demons in a fantastic poet's inferno1 as all the titles of the new republican newspapers that howl around one in the distracted streets of ,paris4 ,there is one1 as was before said1 that is screeched more noisily1 more assiduously1 more sturdily1 than all the others2 and the sounds of its hawking ring long in the ears after the streets have been left1 and even pursue the bewildered street-wanderer to his bed1 and in his dreams4 ,it weighs in weight of noise against all the other papers of ,paris taken in the mass4 ,listen6 ,what do you hear8 ,nothing but ,dmandez la ,presse6 ,la ,patrie6 ,dmandez la ,presse6 ,la voix des ,clubs6 ,dmandez la ,presse6 ,la vrai ,dmocrate6 ,dmandez la ,presse6 and so on to the crack of doom4 ,it is the journal of an intriguing man1 of strong sense1 and stronger ambition1 who has not yet obtained that power at which he grasps2 but as the whole paper is for one sou1 it will be strange if1 with this active system of living puffing1 he arrive not at some great pinnacle1 or fall not into some deep abyss4 ,ears1 however1 will get accustomed to the cannon of the battlefield2 but the harassed spirit gets not easily accustomed to the bodily assaults of every moment4 ,at every step newspaper-venders obstruct your path1 rushing down upon you like cab-drivers in the streets of ,naples3 the thousand rival sheets of printed paper are flared in your face1 thrust into your hand1 forced into your bosom1 ten at a time1 with the accompanying howl of only a sou6--only five centimes6 ,suppose that1 for a moment--a bold supposition6--you have escaped from the attacks of these invading hordes of republican journalism1 you must not fancy that your future path is unobstructed4 ,of course1 in republican ,paris1 a street-police would be considered as the most frightful of tyrannies2 universal license is the order of the day4 ,besides the politicising and haranguing crowds already mentioned1 your course is hemmed by countless others4 ,here is a juggler--there a quack-doctor--there a monkey--here a pamphlet-vender2 and each has its thick encircling throng of idlers around it4 ,and1 alas6 how many there are who have now no business but to idle4 ,the thickest crowd1 perhaps1 is round a long-haired meagre fellow1 who is crying ,les crimes de ,louis ,philippe1 et les assassinats qu'il a commis--all for two sous6 to an admiring and applauding throng of the lowest classes4 ,some better feelings murmur at this useless ass's kick at the dead lion2 but they are few4 ,move on6 ,there is another obstructing crowd before a host of caricatures on the walls2 of course1 they are all directed against ,louis ,file-vite1 as he is termed1 and his accolyte ,cuit-sot4 ,there is a rare lack of wit in them1 be they allegorical1 typical1 or fanciful2 but they are sure to attract a gaping and a laughing throng4 ,move on again1 if you can6 ,you find two or three hommes du peuple1 in blouses1 planted before you1 who cry1 authoritatively1 and without budging themselves to the right or to the left--,faites place1 nom de ,dieu6 ,and you1 of course1 make room2 and if you are disposed to reverence1 you will take off your hat to them too2 for these are your lords and masters1--what say ,i8 your kings6 and no autocrat was ever more despotically disposed4 ,move on again1 if you can6 ,you will stumble over the countless beggars stretched across the pavement1 or squatting in gipsy-like groups1 or thrusting wounds and sores into your face4 ,many there may be real sufferers from the present misery1 but the most are of the got-up species4 ,it is now the beggars' saturnalia2 they keep high holiday in the streets4 ,the people have cried ,a bas les municipaux-- bas les sergents de ville6 ,those execrable monsters1 the agents of a tyrannical power1 have been driven away1 if not massacred1 in the last three glorious days3 and the people want no police1--the great1 the magnanimous1 the generous1 the virtuous1 as the ,government calls it in its proclamations4 ,try to move on once more6 ,before the walls1 all plastered with handbills of every kind1 are again throngs to read and comment4 ,on every vacant space of wall1 at every corner1 are posted countless addresses and advertisements4 ,the numerous white bills are decrees1 proclamations1 addresses1 and republican bulletins of the ,provisional ,government1 all headed with those awful words1 ,republique ,franaise1 which make many a soul sink1 and sicken many a heart1 with the remembrance of a fearful time gone by4 ,and decrees there are which hurry on the subversion of all the previously existing social edifice1 without reorganising in the place1 destroying and yet not building anew2--and proclamations more autocratic and despotic1 in the announcement of the reign of republican liberty1 than ever was monarchic ordinance2--and addresses to the people1 couched in vague declamation1 telling these rulers of the day1 ,oui1 peuple6 tu es grand--oui1 tu es brave--oui1 tu es magnanime--oui1 tu es gnreux--oui1 tu es beau6 with an odious flattering such as the most slavering courtier never ventured to bestow upon the most incensed despot2--and bulletins declaring ,france at the pinnacle of glory1 and happiness1 and pride--the object of envy and imitation to all people4 ,private addresses from individuals or republican bodies there are also innumerable1 in the same sense2 until one expects to see angels' wings growing behind the backs of every blouse1 forming harmonious contrast with the black unshaven faces4 ,but we are far from being at the end of the long lines of handbills1 that give ,paris the look of a city built up of printed paper4 ,here we have announcements of clubs--the mille e tre noisy mistresses that court the fascinating1 seductive1 splendid ,don ,juan of a ,republic2 there are four or five in every quarter of the town1 almost in every street4 ,and then come their professions de foi2 and then their addresses to the people1 and their appeals1 and their counsels to the ,government1 and their last resolutions1 and their future intentions--say1 their future exactions4 ,most greet the fall of the social edifice with triumph2 but few1 if any1 let you know how they would reconstruct anew3 some boldly state their object to be the enlightenment of a well-intentioned but ignorant ,government1 which it is their duty to instruct3 others call down the celestial vengeance1 and the thunders of heaven1 on their head1 if ever they should deceive or lead astray the people4 ,here again we have petitions to ,government1 and demands1 and remonstrances from individuals or small bodies--delegates1 they tell you1 of the people's rights2--some wild and inflammatory1 some visionary to the very seventh heaven of political rhapsody1 but all flattering to the ,peuple ,souverain1 whose voice is the voix de ,dieu6 ,here again we have whole newspapers pasted on the walls1 with articles calling upon the people to take arms again1 since their first duty to their country is mistrust4 ,now a proposition to tax the revenues of the rich in a progressive proportion of one per cent for every fortune of a thousand francs1 two for every two thousand1 fifty for every fifty thousand1 and so on progressively1--without stating1 however1 whether those who possess a revenue of a hundred thousand francs are to pay a hundred per cent1 or what is to become of those who possess two hundred thousand4 ,now1 a menacing call upon the ,government to perform their duty in exacting the disgorgement of that vile spoliation of the nation1 the indemnity granted to the emigrants at the ,restoration1 as belonging to the people alone4 ,here again are numerous addresses and appeals from and to all foreign democrats in ,paris--,germans1 ,belgians1 ,italians1 ,poles--calling for meetings1 and begging the braves ,franais to give them arms and money to go and conquer the republics of their respective countries by force4 ,here again1 other notices from all trades1 and companies1 and employments1 appointing meetings for the consideration of the interests of their partie2 tailors1 caf-waiters1 bootmakers1 choristes of theatres1 gens de maisons1 7servants17 even to the wandering hawkers on the public ways1 and lower still1 all wanting to complain to the ,provisional ,government of the restraint laid on their free rights4 ,here again1 proposals for congratulatory addresses1 and felicitations to the ,government1 from all manner of various representatives of nations resident in ,paris4 ,here again1 ten or twelve solitary voices of braves citoyens1 proposing infallible remedies for the doctoring of the financial crisis4 ,here again1 advertisements1 in republican phrase1 recommending to the citoyennes1 now that the hour is come1 to take up their carpets1 some especial wax for their floors2 or reminding the ,citoyens ,gardes ,nationaux1 that1 in this moment of the awakening of a country's glory1 when they watch over the interests of ,france1 and are indefatigable in patrolling the streets of the capital1 the citoyen so and so will cut their corns with cheapness and ease6 ,and all these are pasted about in confused pell-mell2 all are headed with the necessary ,vive la ,republique6 ,wonder then not1 at the thick crowds about these documents1 all treating of a country's weal1 all announcing some new and startling design1 all devoured by eager eyes4 ,wo betide1 however1 the citoyen who may leave his house door closed for a whole day6--he will find it barricaded with plastered paper from top to bottom on the morrow2 or the shopkeeper who may lie too long a-bed--it will be a difficult task for him to take down his placarded shutters3 and both will stand a chance of getting hooted for venturing to displace a printed paper headed with the talismanic words1 proclaiming individual liberty of person and opinion4 ,no tyranny like a mob tyrant1 ,i trow4 ,apropos of advertisements1 the play-bills will no less startle the ancient habitu of ,paris1 were he now again to return to his old haunts4 ,the names1 formerly so familiar to his eyes1 are gone in many instances4 ,the old ,acadmie de ,musique is now the ,thtre de la ,nation2 the ,thtre ,franais1 the ,thtre de la ,republique2 the ,thtre du ,palais ,royal1 the ,thtre ,montansier4 ,in this confusion he will be still more confounded by the composition of the bills3 every where the announcement of patriotic songs and chorusses1 sung between the acts--of propos pieces1 allegorical or historical--of titles such as ,les ,barricades1 ,les ,trois ,revolutions1 ,les ,filles de la ,libert1 ,la ,revolution ,franaise1 and so forth1 throughout all the theatres in ,paris4 ,even in the ex-,thtre ,franais he will scarcely trust his astonished eyes to see that ,mademoiselle ,rachel will sing the ,marseillaise between the acts4 ,oh6 theatre-loving old habitu of ,paris1 you will think that your wits have gone astray1 and that your senses are deceiving you6 ,the new names of streets will no less bewilder your mind4 ,all that smacked of royalty1 or dynasty1 or monarchic history have already republicanised themselves1 as is the old wont of ,paris streets under every change of government3 there are many that have long since forgotten all the hundred and one names that they have already borne4 ,then you will know how to pity the embarrassment of an unlucky man who lived in the ,rue ,royale ,st ,honor4 ,on going out in the morning of the #beth of ,february1 he found unexpectedly that he lived in the ,rue de la ,republique4 ,well1 he made up his mind to that2 but the ,rue ,rambuteau had already claimed this glorious title2 so the ,rue ,royale had to make shift with that of the ,rue de la ,revolution4 ,but now came again another prior claim2 and the ex-,rue ,royale was again despoiled4 ,now it has no name at all3 and the poor individual in question1 as far as his direction goes1 might as well live in the ruins of ,palmyra4 ,but to return to the outward aspect of republican ,paris4 ,hark6 what a noise of awkward drumming6 and see6 a host of men of the lower classes comes pouring down the street1 in hundreds--nay1 in thousands4 ,several banners are borne among them3 they shout ,vive la ,republique6 and sing with that utter bold disregard of time1 which1 the ,french themselves would tell you1 is peculiar only to supposed unmusical ,england4 ,the ,marseillaise or the now so popular ,mourir pour la ,patrie1 or the ,ca ira of fearful memory2 and interlard their discordant efforts at chorus with screams of bas les aristocrates6 ,scarcely has the horde rushed past you1 than there comes another1 and another1 and another1 until your brain whirls with the unceasing throngs4 ,now it is a troop of women1 banners also at their head2 now again a long line of more orderly1 and better dressed men2 but they cry ,vive le ,gouvernement ,provisoire6 ,now again a band of ruffian fellows1 with the howl of bas les riches6 ,they cross your path at every step1 these marching bands4 ,sometimes they are deputations of all the different trades1 or subdivisions of peculiar branches of handiwork--tailors1 joiners1 scavengers1 paviours1 sign-painters1 wet-nurses1 cooks1 and so forth1 as far as the imagination or the memory can reach in enumeration1 and still further2 and they are all streaming to the ,hotel de ,ville1 to harangue the ,provisional ,government on their several rights and wrongs1 desires and demands4 ,sometimes they are mere bands promenading for the sake of promenading1 screeching for the sake of screeching1 and making demonstrations1 because whatever is theatrical1 whatever smacks of show and parade1 whatever gives them the opportunity of exhibition1 and with it the hope of admiration1 is the ruling passion of the people2 or because they have nothing else to do1 and will not work1 although the ,government pays them daily with the country's money4 ,now comes a troop of would-be ,hungarian patriots1 in their national dress1 their attilas1 pelisses1 braided pantaloons1 singing a national hymn--somewhat better than the ,french1 by the way--flaring about banners1 and getting up all sorts of ,quixotic theatrical manifestations1 lowering their banners in mere sport1 flourishing them upon others1 and calling upon the manes of several of the victims of liberty murdered in their country's cause4 ,these are specimens of the ,hungarian nation of the frantic description1 who1 after carrying felicitations to the ,provisional ,government in the name of their country1 are now parading the streets to show themselves off4 ,now comes again a long troop of young fellows in light-coloured blouses1 bound with lacquered leather belts around their waists3 they have broad white beavers on their heads1 mounted by black1 red1 and yellow cocks' feathers2 and they bear banners of black1 red1 and gold--a more picturesque throng than those you usually meet4 ,the colours are the colours of the ,german nationality3 the young men are ,german patriots4 ,poor deluded young fellows6 their minds have been excited by designing men2 and they are about to march off to ,germany to conquer the liberties of the ,german republic1 expecting that all ,germany is to rise again at their puny call1 and at the sound of that magical name republic4 ,they have been begging for arms and ammunition1 and money1 of all ,paris2 and now1 with the slender succour they have obtained1 they go to meet their fates4 ,but now comes a fresh marching mass of many thousands1 with the usual accompanying drums and banners3 there are women and children among the throng--if children still there be in ,france1 when every urchin fancies himself a man4 ,they distinguish themselves from the others by the tall bare poplar stems they bear4 ,these are great poetically and symbolically-minded patriots of the lower classes1 who are bent on planting trees of liberty all over ,paris4 ,they protest that they are fully earning the pay the country gives them1 by enacting these wonderful feats for the country's good4 ,their delegates knock at house-doors1 and thrust themselves into private dwellings1 to beg--no6 to demand contributions for the celebration of their fte2 and these republican ftes are of every day and every hour4 ,the ancient habitu of ,paris will not find his capital much embellished by the aspect of these tall unsightly bare stems erected at every corner1 on every square1 on every vacant space of ground1 although they be all behung with banners1 and garlands1 and tricolor streamers4 ,let us follow some of these immense gangs4 ,in some instances they have got a priest among them to bless their patriotic fte3 and the poor ecclesiastic is dragged along with them1 oft-times pale and trembling at the thought of the unusual ceremony he is thus violently called upon to perform4 ,now again they summon the whole clergy of some rich parish church to come forth in cope and stole1 and with incense and banner1 and all the hundred other rich accessories of the pomp of ,catholic ceremony1 to bestow the blessing on these naked emblems of a country's naked liberties1 and pronounce a political sermon1 felicitating ,france on the awakening glories of the republic1 established by divine ,providence and a people's might1 before the poor ragged pole4 ,sometimes again they come1 fresh with triumphs1 from the ,hotel de ,ville1 where they have constrained one or more of the members of the ,provisional ,government to accompany them--some of them nothing loth1 when popular demonstrations are to be theatrically made--and to give vent to wonderful speeches1 flattering to this people1 si grand1 si magnanime1 si gnreux1 si beau6 c41 c41 as before1 as every day1 as in every word they are to hear2 all which flattering words teach them how their excellence is ill recompensed1 and how it ought to exact still more4 ,they are now at work with more or less of this pomp1 and in the midst of a greater or lesser concourse of spectators4 ,the pavement is torn up3 a hole is dug in the street2 the tree is planted1 pulled up to its elevation1 firmly fixed in the ground--although1 by the way1 in many instances1 the poor tree of liberty looks in a very tottering state--and the havock committed in the pavement more or less repaired4 ,the acclamation is great3 shouts1 shrieks1 cries rend the air3 the religious benediction is over3 the priests hurry away as quietly as they can3 the members of the ,government retreat1 escorted by a deputation of delegates1 after an oration3 and now the ,marseillaise1 or the ,mourir pour la ,patrie1 are again screeched in discordant chorus1 amidst the incessant firing off of guns4 ,all day the tumult lasts throughout the city3 to a late hour of night the firing in the air is incessant4 ,a barricade of stones and poles is erected round the precious emblem of liberty3 the surrounding houses are constrained by threats of window-breaking to illuminate in honour of ,king-,people3 pitch fires are bright at each corner of the barricade3 and patriotic boys1 who devote themselves for their country's weal1 are posted1 with muskets on arm1 to do sentry-duty all night round the tree--lest any audacious enemy of the country should compromise the safety of the republic by attempting to pull down one of the many hundreds of its emblems that now disfigure the streets of ,paris4 ,again1 who would recognise his old ,paris in these strange scenes1 or in the night pictures1 thus faintly sketched1 which meet his eye at every turn8 ,when these mighty deeds for a country's welfare and glory shall come to end--when ,paris shall have been all so beplanted that it will resemble a naked forest1 what great feats to prove their zeal in behalf of ,republican ,france will they next invent8 ,qui vivra verra is a favourite ,french proverb4 ,heaven grant that it be not reversed1 and that qui verra ne vivra pas6 ,but see6 they have already invented another great patriotic amusement4 ,whence come those discordant howlings8 ,a band of fellows is rushing up and down the ,boulevards1 dragging along a bust of the ex-,king1 by means of a rope round its neck2 they have attached to it a label1 ,louis ,philippe la lanterne6 ,see6 what a frantic delight they express in their schoolboy amusement4 ,how wonderfully their ferocious faces picture forth the grand1 the generous1 the magnanimous1 the beautiful6 ,they flourish sticks about at carriage windows1 with the cry of bas les riches6 bas les aristocrates6 and they forcibly turn such equipages out of their royal way1 if their path be crossed by adventurous coachmen4 ,but as yet they do no real harm2 and the pacific majority is hopeful in its force to restrain1 if the time for restraint should come4 ,now again comes pouring down from the ,rue du ,faubourg ,st ,denis1 another host of men1 women1 and children1 howling the ,ca ,ira4 ,they have got a great placard among them1 declaring1 that if their landlords do not remit to them their rents1 for two quarters at least1 they will burn down their masters' houses over their heads3 and1 unobstructed1 this screeching mob invades the streets4 ,but this is rather too much1 even amidst the license due to ,king ,people in ,republican ,paris4 ,to-morrow will be posted on the walls of the capital1 a notice from the ,prefet de ,police1 appealing to the good sense of the mob not to burn houses1 and containing a half-concealed under-current1 but an under-current only1 of threat4 ,now again you may be witness to a grotesque scene of a high revolutionary tone4 ,we are in the purlieus of one of the great public schools of ,paris--the collges1 as they are termed4 ,suddenly the street is invaded by several hundred boys3 they rush along uttering hideous vociferations2 before them flies a well-dressed middle-aged man3 he flies as if for his life1 and is pursued by showers of stones from the young revolutionary insurgents4 ,this flying man1 these screaming and pursuing children--what a lesson there is in it6 ,let us catch hold of one of the little urchins1 and ask what all the uproar means4 ,he tells us that the object of all his schoolboy hate1 is a tyrant--a tyrant like ,louis ,philippe2 and that1 like ,louis ,philippe1 they are driving him forth with scorn4 ,what has he done then8 we ask4 ,he was too strict1 is the only reply2 and on rushes again the young revolutionist to join in the general pursuit1 with a big oath1 and the cry of ,vive la ,republique6 bas les tyrans6 ,now again1 late in the evening1 hurries past a detachment of ,national ,guards4 ,we ask1 what now is afloat in a city where every day something new and startling crosses our life's path4 ,we are told that the citizen troops are hastening to the rescue of a newspaper editor1 who has ventured to write articles in opposition to the ,government4 ,his house is being stormed by an angry and excited mob2 they threaten to break his presses1 if not burn the whole establishment4 ,in vain he meets the mob with courage1 and asserts the right of that liberty of opinion1 which the republic has proclaimed as one of its first benefits4 ,he is not listened to4 ,what is liberty of opinion1 or any liberty1 in the sense of a mob1 compared with its own liberty of doing what it listeth8 ,they advance upon the house with threatening gesture--they pour in3 the ,national ,guards arrive1 and a scuffle ensues4 ,with difficulty the mob is driven back1 and sentinels are posted4 ,but now the crowds1 in the dim night1 grow thicker on the ,boulevards than ever2 and violent declamation is still heard from the midst against the man who1 whatever be his real ends and aims1 has the courage to assert an opinion contrary to the mass4 ,partisans there are1 for and against3 and high words arise1 and threats are again proffered3 and along the damp night air comes ever the murmur of many angry voices far and near3 and the rumour ceases not1 the crowd disperse not4 ,and in the distracted city1 where was firing1 and shouting1 and singing1 and drumming1 all day1 there is still the agitation and the tumult long and late into the night4 ,but let us take a turn to the neighbourhood of the ,hotel de ,ville1 the seat of the ,government2 other fresh scenes will there meet our eyes4 ,daily and hourly pour up into the open space before the fine old building1 such troops of drumming1 banner-bearing men and women as have been before described4 ,sometimes they are deputations from the various trades1 full of all sorts of grievances1 for which the members of the ,provisional ,government are expected to find immediate remedy2--sometimes they are bands of workmen1 all couching1 under different expressions1 the demand for much pay and little work2--sometimes they bear addresses from various nations all speaking in the name of their country1 which probably would disavow them2--sometimes they are delegates from the thousand and one clubs of ,paris1 who all choose to lay their resolutions1 however frantic and impracticable they may be1 before the ,government1 and expect to impose upon it their distracted will2--sometimes they are a body of individuals1 who have got some fancy for a remedy of the financial crisis1 which1 of course1 unless it would offend them bitterly1 the ,government is expected forthwith to adopt4 ,deputations1 addresses1 counsels1 demands1 exactions1--they must all be admitted1 they must all be heard1 they must all receive flattering promises1 that probably never will1 and never can be fulfilled4 ,see6 they come streaming up from all sides1 from streets and quays1 in noisy inundating floods2 and now the streams mingle and roar together1 and struggle for precedence4 ,generally1 delegates are despatched to obtain audiences of the persecuted members of the ,government2 but sometimes1 again1 some tired minister or other is forced to appear in front1 and harangue their importunate petitioners1 amidst cries of ,vive la ,republique6 ,for those who dwell upon this place1 ,paris must appear to be in a state of constant revolution4 ,the noise1 the tumult1 the drumming1 the shouting1 the marching and the countermarching1 never cease for a moment4 ,see6 to-day there is a tumult before the faade of the old building4 ,battalions of ,national ,guards have marched up1 without arms1 to protest against a despotic and arbitrary ordinance of an ambitious and reckless minister4 ,they bring up their petition as thousands of other deputations have brought up theirs2 the square is filled for the most part with long military-looking lines of their uniforms4 ,but in a sudden1 they have come to a check4 ,before the long faade of the line of building1 are posted bodies of armed men1 of the lower classes1 with muskets charged and bayonets fixed4 ,the demonstration of the ,national ,guards1 who dare to murmur at the will of their governors1 spite of the proclamation of the reign of liberty1 is not to be received4 ,anger and indignation is on the faces of all the citizen-soldiers2 their feelings are excited2 they cry1 down with the obnoxious minister2 they are met by cries from the armed people1 of down with the ,national ,guards6 down with the aristocrats6 ,the middling classes are now considered1 then1 as the aristocrats of the day2 and the people treat them1 as they have treated1 in days gone by1 the titled noblesse--as enemies6 ,but now they advance in rank and file1 determined to force an entrance to the ,government palace3 and the people oppose them with pointed bayonets2 and drive them back2 disperse them like sheep2 pursue them down the quays2 and the unarmed mob1 collected in countless crowds around1 joins in the cry of down with the ,national ,guards6 ,the ,national ,guards are vanquished4 ,they were considered in the revolutionary days of combat as the heroes1 and allies1 and defenders of the people4 ,only a few weeks are gone by since then2 and they1 in turn1 are overthrown in a bloodless revolution4 ,their prestige is lost for ever4 ,the last barrier is thrown down between the upper and the lower classes--the breakwater is swept away3 and when the day of storm and tempest shall come1 when the angry waters shall rise1 when the inundation shall sweep on and on in tumultuous tide1 what shall there be now to oppose it8 ,on the morrow1 what a scene6 ,from a very early hour of the morning1 bands of hundreds and of thousands1 in marching order1 have poured down upon ,paris from all the suburbs4 ,from north1 south1 east1 and west1 they have come in countless hordes into the central streets and squares of the capital4 ,along the ,boulevards1 from the ,bastile1 from the heights of ,montmartre1 down the avenues of the ,champs ,elyses and the quays--from beyond the water and the ,faubourg ,st ,martel1 they have come1 sweeping on like so many mountain torrents4 ,every where as they advanced they have proferred cries of ,down with the ,national ,guards6 down with the aristocrats6 down with the legitimists6 down with the enemies of the ,republic6 ,better dressed men in many instances have marshalled them on their way2 and among the inhabitants of ,paris goes forth a murmur1 that they have been roused to this state of tumult by the accolytes of the obnoxious minister1 with the intention of overawing his colleagues and displaying his own power4 ,and if1 in truth1 they shout long live any one1 it is his name they cry3 his noble-hearted and more moderate colleague1 lately so popular1 has lost a people's favour4 ,and now the hundred torrents have met upon the quays1 and before the ,hotel de ,ville2 and hundreds of banners with manifold inscriptions are waving in the air2 and troop upon troop is marshalled into some degree of order3 but fearful is the mass3 awful is the demonstration of a people6 ,and now the members of the ,government are compelled1 one and all1 to come down upon the elevated terrace before the faade of the ,hotel de ,ville3 they are behung with tricolor scarfs1 the ends of which stream with long gold fringes2 their heads are bared before their masters and the rulers of the land4 ,and now the host of people defiles before them2 and they make speeches1 and cry ,vive la ,republique6 ,vive le peuple6 ,and the people1 proud of its force1 and rejoicing in its demonstration1 that shows its power over the bourgeois1 answers with shouts that rend the air4 ,heavens6 what a scene6 ,this is ,republican ,paris1 indeed1 ,i trow6 ,but come quickly to the ,boulevards3 the mighty mass has passed away to the column of liberty in the ,place de la ,bastile2 and it will come down the ,boulevards in overwhelming tide1 exulting in its triumph4 ,and now it comes4 ,the long line1 five abreast--there are nearly two hundred thousand in this great army--stretches on and on1 almost from one end to the other of the immense central artery of the capital4 ,it comes1 and the chorus of the ,marseillaise rolls like thunder along1 dying away but to burst forth again4 ,hark6 how it peels along the ,boulevards6 ,it comes1 and the senses swim as the host goes by1 marching on1 and on1 and on--confusing the sight with the incessant passing of such a stream of living beings1 and its waving banners2 deafening the ears with the menacing cries of ,down with the aristocrats6 and the discordant chorussing of confused patriotic songs--for the ,marseillaise now gives way to the fearful ,ca ,ira4 ,it comes1 and it seems as if it never would end4 ,awful1 indeed1 is the display of a people's force1 thus excited and inflamed by designing leaders6 ,at last the mighty procession passed away1 leaving consternation and alarm behind it4 ,but think not that ,paris resumes its usual aspect4 ,the various bands break up at last1 but they still parade the streets in several battalions3 and the shouting and howling and singing cease not during the day4 ,but the night of the same day is come1 and all is not yet done4 ,not content with its triumph1 the people demands that all ,paris should honour it with a festival1 whether it will or not4 ,down the ,boulevards come the hordes again1 slowly1 and pausing as they came on3 they are chanting1 in measured notes1 the words ,des lampions6 des lampions6 amidst the cries of ,illuminate1 or we break your windows6 ,down with the aristocrats6 ,why all ,paris should be illuminated1 because it has pleased ,king ,people to make a demonstration1 it would be too insolent to inquire4 ,it is a fancy1 a caprice--and autocrats will have fancies and caprices4 ,it is the people's will2 and1 however fantastic or unreasonable1 the will must be obeyed4 ,des lampions6 des lampions6 ,the monotonous chant is impressed upon the ears with stunning force1 until you believe that you must retain it in your bewildered brain until your dying day4 ,and as they come along1 see how readily the will of the people is obeyed6 ,there is no readiness so quick as the readiness of fear4 ,up and down1 from above and from below1 right and left1 in long irregular lines1 until the lines of light become more general and more regular--see the illumination bursts forth from the faades of all the houses4 ,windows are rapidly opened on every side1 in sixth stories as on first floors1 on every terrace1 on every balcony2 and lamps1 lanterns1 candles1 pots of grease1 all flaming1 are thrust out at every one4 ,see6 how the light darts up and down like wildfire1 dancing along the houses in the darkness of the night1 with an increasing phosphoric flicker4 ,you may mark the progress of the mob1 as it goes farther on in dusky mass1 and is lost to sight in the gloom1 not only by the eternal monotonous cry that bids the inhabitants illuminate1 coming from the distance1 but by the gleaming track it leaves behind it like a gigantic1 broad tail of fire4 ,presently all the ,boulevards will be brightly lighted2 and the gleams of the many thousand points of light will illuminate a thickly moving crowd of beings1 that look like the uneasy spirits of some gloomy pandemonium4 ,fairy-like1 however1 has the magical illumination sprung forth at the people's bidding1 and fairy-like does it flicker on all sides in the night4 ,all the other principal streets are burning also on either side1 like long bands of spangled stuff glittering in the sun4 ,the ,faubourg ,st ,germain1 suspected of legitimacy1 has long since been the first to yield to threats1 and demonstrate at its windows its supposed sympathy in a people's triumph2 and to-morrow we shall be told by the republican papers1 how ,paris was in an ecstasy of joy--how all the population strove in zeal1 with one accord1 to fter le peuple gnreux--how spontaneous was this illumination of republican enthusiasm4 ,spontaneous was the feeling that dictated it1 certainly2 but it was the spontaneity of fear--the fear of the quietly-disposed in the face of a reckless and all-powerful mob6 ,let us turn now from the glittering illuminated streets4 ,what is that unusual light1 streaming dimly1 and in blurred rays1 across the damp night air1 from the windows of the chapel of ,st ,hyacinthe1 attached to the church of the ,assumption in the ,rue ,st ,honor8 ,in such a place1 at such an hour1 it has something ghastly and unearthly in its nature4 ,and hark6 from within there comes a noise of hoarse murmuring1 which swells sometimes suddenly into discordant shouts1 that are almost groans4 ,the impression conveyed by both sight and sound is little like any that ,paris1 even on its murkiest nights1 and under its most dismal veil1 ever bestowed on you before4 ,the unwary wanderer in ,paris streets by night1 in search of romance1 may have had visions of theft1 assassination1 misery1 crime1 before his eyes1 in the dark silent thoroughfares1 but always visions of a most positive earthly nature2 now he cannot help fancying himself transported into some old town of mystic ,germany1 with some fantastic1 mysterious1 unearthly1 ,hoffmannish deed going on near him4 ,are the headless dead1 among the victims of a prior revolution1 risen from their bloody vaults1 to beckon unto their ghastly crew new victims of another8 or are demons rejoicing in that once sanctified building1 that the reign of men's most evil passions should have begun again in that disturbed and fermenting city8 ,such is the first impression the dim scene conveys4 ,do you ever remember such in other days8 ,let us follow those dark forms that are gliding across the court of the church1 and mounting the steps of the illumined chapel4 ,we enter2 and the scene1 although neither ghastly nor demoniac1 is scarcely less strange than if spectres and demons had animated the interior4 ,faintly lighted by a few dripping candles is the long dismantled chapel2 and damp1 dreary1 funereal-looking1 is the whole scene4 ,a dim crowd1 in this darkness visible1 is fermenting1 thronging1 struggling1 and pushing in the aisle4 ,at the further end1 in that vaulted semicircle where once stood the altar of the ,lord1 rises a complicated scaffolding behung with black cloth4 ,with your imagination already excited1 you may fancy the dark construction a death-scaffold for the execution of a criminal--it is only the death-scaffold of the social state of ,france4 ,we are in the midst of a republican club4 ,on the highest platform1 occupying the space where was the altar1 sit president and secretaries of the society--the new divinities of the consecrated building4 ,yes6 the new divinities2 for they arrogate to themselves the same right against which they declaimed as blasphemy in kings--the right divine4 ,you will not listen long before they tell you so2 besides1 their first maxim is1 ,la voix du peuple est la voix de ,dieu4 ,on the lower platform before them stand the orators4 ,hark to the doctrines that they promulgate for the subversion of all existing order in the country1 amidst shouts and screams1 and cries of violent opposition sometimes1 but generally of applause4 ,see6 the haggard1 lanky-haired republican youths1 who have shouted out all their fury1 give way to a quiet1 respectable-looking old man1 whose gray hairs glimmer faintly in the candle-light4 ,a feeling of greater calm comes over you3 you imagine1 after all this sound and fury1 signifying nothing1 his old head will pacify the hot1 maddened blood of frantic boys4 ,what does he say8--,yes1 the republic is one and indivisible--it is more than indivisible--it is ,,god6 ,you shrink back disgusted4 ,can the rhapsody of republican fanaticism go further8 ,are these ,christian men8 or are they really evil unearthly beings in a human form8 ,the confused scene around you is almost enough to make you think so4 ,but real enough is the eternal clatter of the president's hammer on his table4 ,he rolls his eyes furiously2 he browbeats every orator who may not be of his own individual opinion1 and dares to be moderate when he is exalt2 and when your head aches--your heart has ached long ago--with the furious noise of the president's hammer1 which you expect every moment to smash the table to pieces1 you edge your way out of the dark fermenting crowd1 and hurry forth1 glad to breathe the purer air of heaven4 ,ferment there is ever enough now in the streets of ,paris by night3 it ceases not4 ,there are throngs pouring in and out of all the various thousand-and-one republican clubs of ,paris1 like wasps about their nest2 but it is in the dim night air1 and not in the bright sunlight of day--in dirty coats and smocks1 and not with bright wings and variegated bodies4 ,the wasp1 too1 stings only when he is attacked--the republican wasps seek to attack that they may sting4 ,the al fresco clubs also crowd the ,boulevards1 in the chance medley confusion of all men and all principles4 ,but see6 there is here again1 in the ,rue du ,faubourg du ,roule1 a confusion of a still more complicated nature--the swarming in and out of the small district school-house is even more virulent than is usual4 ,it is another night-scene1 such as the old habitu of ,paris never witnessed1 certainly4 ,what is occurring8 ,let us crowd in with the others4 ,what a scene of frantic confusion6 ,a crowd springing upon benches1 howling1 screeching1 yelling4 ,at the further end of the low room is a ruined gallery1 in which stands1 surrounded by his friends1 a man dressed in a red scarf1 with the red cap of liberty on his head3 he has a pike in his hand1 and he vainly endeavours to make himself heard by the excited crowd4 ,for some time you will be unable to comprehend the nature of the scene3 at last you discover that an ultra republican1 of the most inflamed ideas1 wants to establish a ,jacobin club4 ,a ,jacobin club6 ,there is terror in the very word1 and in all the fearful recollections it conveys4 ,but here the good sense of the artisans and small tradespeople of the district is against so appalling a reminiscence of a fatal time4 ,down with the bonnet rouge6 they cry4 ,down with the red scarf6 ,no ,jacobins6 no ,jacobins6 their day is gone4 ,no terror6 ,thank ,god6 there is some good sense still among the people4 ,down with the president--away with him6 they cry4 ,he doffs at last his blood-red ,phrygian cap--they are not content3 he doffs his blood-red scarf--they are not content3 he lays aside his red cravat--they are not content3 the pike--all--his very principles1 probably1 if they would have them4 ,but no4 ,they make a rush at last up into the tribune2 they drive the would-be ,jacobin and his friends down4 ,in vain a small minority declares them all aristocrats--paid agents of legitimacy--,i know not what republican names of reproach4 ,the honest workmen thrust the party forth from their district school-house4 ,they escort these objects of their contempt with ironical politeness to a side-door1 bearing the candles they have seized from the tribune in their hands4 ,the door is closed over the ,jacobin party--a shout of triumph resounds4 ,but in the street1 before the school1 is long a noisy throng4 ,the good moon1 although now and then obscured by passing clouds1 shines kindly on it4 ,she seems to smile more kindly upon those who have done a good deed1 although a deed of suppressed violence1 than on most of the distracted throngs she illumines in her course over the disturbed city4 ,good moon6 would we could accept thy augury1 and hope for holy calm6 ,the scenes thou shinest upon cannot continue thus1 'tis true4 ,a change must come--a change for the better or the worse4 ,heaven grant that our foreboding prove not true--that1 when thou comest forth in thy fulness again1 another month1 thou mayest smile on better order1 on calmer groups6 ,before we part company1 old habitu of ,paris1 we must cast a glance at all the public buildings we pass4 ,on all--public offices1 columns1 fountains1 monuments1 churches1 dismantled palaces--on all alike floats the republican banner--on all are painted in broad characters the words1 ,,libert1 ,,egalit1 ,,fraternit6 ,fraternit6 ,vain word1 when each man grows day by day more and more bitterly his neighbour's enemy4 ,egalit6 ,vain word again1 and vain word ever1 spite of the efforts of the rulers of ,france to bring down to one level all the intelligence1 the talent1 the feelings1 and passions of human nature1 that ,providence1 in its holy wisdom1 has made so different and so unequal4 ,libert6 ,vainest word of all6 ,in the present state of things1 there is constraint in every scheme1 tyranny in every tendency1 despotism in every doctrine4 ,but enough4 ,we will not begin to discuss and speculate upon the destinies of ,france4 ,all this sketch would strive to do1 is to convey an idea1 however vague1 of the present outward state of ,republican ,paris4 ,,the ,,spaniard ,,in ,,sicily4#e #e ,histoire de la ,conqute de ,naples par ,charles d',anjou1 frre de ,st ,louis4 ,par le ,comte ,,alexis ,,de ,,st ,,priest1 ,pair de ,france4 #d vols4 #hvo4 ,paris1 #ahdh4 ,vol4 iv4 ,the insatiable spider1 who1 after securing in her gossamer meshes ample store of flies for the day's consumption1 again repairs1 with unwarrantable greed1 to the outer circles of the delicate network1 in quest of fresh and superfluous victims1 must not wonder if1 on return to the heart of the citadel1 she finds a rival ,arachne busy in the larder1 and either is expelled from her own cobweb1 or suffers seriously in ejecting the intruder4 ,at risk of offending his admiring biographer by so base a parallel1 we compare ,charles of ,anjou to the greedy spider1 and think him justly punished for his rash cupidity by the evils it entailed4 ,this ,french count1 who1 although a king's brother1 had no chance of a crown save through aggressive conquest1 found himself1 whilst still in the vigour of life1 and as the result of papal favour1 great good fortune1 and of his own martial energy1 sovereign of an extensive and flourishing realm4 ,king of ,southern ,italy1 ,protector of the ,north1 ,count of ,provence1 ,vicar of ,tuscany1 ,senator of ,rome1 all-powerful with the ,pope--whose word had then such weight that his friendship was worth an army1 whilst from his malison men shrunk as from the dreaded and inextinguishable fire of ,greece--,charles of ,anjou was still unsatisfied4 ,the royal spider had cast his web afar2 it embraced wide possessions1 with whose enjoyment he might well have been content1 whose administration claimed his undivided attention4 ,but on their verge an object glittered from which he could not avert his eyes1 whose acquisition engrossed his every thought4 ',twas the clime of the ,east1 'twas the land of the sun1 the gorgeous and romantic region so attractive to ,european conquerors4 ,doubtless1 crusading zeal had some share in his oriental cravings2 but ambition was his chief motor4 ,he was willing enough to wrest ,palestine from the infidel1 but his plan of campaign led first to ,constantinople4 ,his notion was to seek at ,st ,sophia's mosque the key of ,christ's sepulchre4 ,whilst thus looking abroad and meditating distant conquest1 ,charles treated too lightly the projects of a prince1 less celebrated1 but younger and more crafty than himself1 who silently watched the progress of events1 and skilfully devised how best he might derive advantage from them4 ,pedro of ,arragon1 who had married ,mainfroy's daughter1 ,constance1 cherished pretensions to the crown of the ,sicilies2 and1 ever since the year #abgi1 he had been intriguing with the chiefs of the ,ghibellines1 with a view to an invasion of ,charles's dominions4 ,he spoke publicly of ,sicily as the inheritance of his children1 and did not dissimulate his animosity to its actual ruler4 ,whilst ,charles prepared a fleet for his ,eastern expedition1 ,don ,pedro assembled another in the harbour of ,portofangos1 and kept it in constant readiness to sail1 but none knew whither4 ,its destination was suspected1 however1 by some2 and the ,pope1 who entertained no doubt concerning it1 demanded to know ,pedro's intentions1 whilst ,philip ,,iii4 of ,france1 at the request of his uncle1 ,charles of ,anjou1 sent ambassadors to the ,arragonese monarch to make a similar inquiry4 ,the answer given is variously stated by the archives and chronicles of the time1 as evasive1 prevaricatory1 and even as a direct falsehood4 ,it left no doubt upon ,charles's mind that mischief was meant him by the ,spaniard4 ,i told you1 he wrote to ,philip1 that the ,arragonese was a contemptible wretch4 ,unfortunately1 he carried his contempt of his wily foe rather too far2 he would not believe that so small a potentate1 un si petit prince1 would dare attack him in ,italy1 but took for a strategem the avowal of his intentions that appears to have escaped ,pedro1 and thought his views were directed in reality to ,provence1 whither he accordingly despatched his eldest son4 ,meanwhile1 ,don ,pedro lingered in port1 in hopes of an insurrection in ,sicily1 which ,john of ,procida and others of his ,sicilian adherents were fomenting by every means in their power1 until his position became positively untenable1 so pressed was he with questions by different ,european powers1 and even by his own great vassals4 ,one of these1 a rico hombre1 by name the ,count of ,pallars1 having publicly asked him1 in the name of the ,arragonese nobility1 the object of his voyage1 and whither it would lead1 ,don ,pedro replied3 ,count1 learn that if my left hand knew what my right was about to do1 ,i would instantly cut it off4 ,and still he clung to the ,catalan coast1 always on the eve of departure1 but never lifting an anchor1 until the tidings1 so long and ardently desired1 at last reached his car4 ,they were unaccompanied1 however1 by the popular summons and proffered sceptre he had sanguinely and confidently anticipated4 ,but we are outstripping events1 and must revert to the eloquent opening of ,m4 de ,st ,priest's fourth volume4 ,the name of ,sicily is illustrious in history4 ,if the reputation of a people had for sole foundation and measure the number of inhabitants1 the extent of its territory1 the duration of its influence1 the ,sicilians1 impoverished by continual revolutions1 decimated by sucessive tyrannies1 more isolated from the general progress by their internal organisation1 than from the mainland by their geographical position1 would hold1 perhaps1 in the annals of the world1 no more room than their island occupies on the map of ,europe4 ,but they need not fear oblivion3 they have known glory1--and what glory touches1 though but transitorily1 for ever retains the mark4 ,for individuals as for nations1 it suffices that their lot be cast in those rare and splendid epochs whose contact ennobles every thing1 which illuminate all things by their brilliancy1 and stamp themselves indelibly upon the memory of the remotest generations4 ,happy who then lives1 for he shall never die6 ,vast kingdoms1 boundless regions1 peopled by numerous races1 powerful by material force1 but intellectually vulgar1 then yield in dignity and grandeur to the least nook of land1 to some petty peninsula or remote island4 ,such was ,greece1 such also was ,sicily1 her rival1 her competitor1 and the asylum of her illustrious exiles4 ,in the middle ages there was no vestige of the ancient ,trinacria--of that land of art and learning1 the home of every branch of human knowledge--of that politic and warlike power which yielded to ,rome and ,carthage only when she had made them dearly pay a long-disputed victory--of that ,sicily1 in short1 which ,plato taught and ,timoleon governed--which ,archimedes defended and ,theocritus sang4 ,formerly the whole island was covered with cities4 ,in the thirteenth century1 most of these had disappeared4 ,agrigentum could boast but the ruins of its colossus and temples4 ,syracuse still retained some shadow of past greatness3 she was not yet reduced1 as now1 to the quarries whence she sprung2 she had not yet become less than a ruin2 but her splendour was extinct4 ,catania1 overthrown by earthquakes1 found it difficult again to rise4 ,nevertheless other ,sicilian towns preserved their importance1 and ,christendom could not boast cities handsomer and more populous--more abounding in wealth and embellished by monuments--than commercial ,messina and kingly ,palermo4 ,these two cities were at the time referred to the abode of luxury and pleasure4 ,messina1 at once the market and the arsenal of the island1 portus et porta ,sicili1 as ,charles of ,anjou called it1 was the principal posting-house upon the road from ,europe to ,asia1 and was enriched by the constant passage of pilgrims and crusaders4 ,sumptuary laws were deemed necessary to repress the extravagance of a population whose women wore raiment of silk1 then more precious than silver and gold1 with tiaras upon their heads1 encrusted with pearls and diamonds and other precious stones4 ,asia and ,europe were there united2 ,catholics and ,mussulmans lived side by side in peace and amity4 ,in the streets1 the ,arab's burnous and the turban of the ,moor moved side by side with priestly robe and cowl of monk4 ,the pleasures there in vogue were no longer the simple and innocent ones vaunted by ,virgil and ,theocritus4 ,it was a hotbed of debauchery1 frequented by pirates1 gamblers1 and courtesans--a mart of commerce1 whither traders of all nations repaired4 ,palermo1 on the other hand1 was the residence of kings4 ,the ,normans established there the seat of their power1 inhabiting it constantly2 and although the wandering life of ,frederick of ,swabia denied him a fixed abode1 he loved ,palermo the ,happy1 and dwelt there whenever able4 ,very different were the predilections of ,charles of ,anjou4 ,he disliked ,sicily as much as he loved ,naples4 ,by an effect1 perhaps1 of that love of contrast often found implanted in the human breast1 his stern and sombre gaze took pleasure in the bright and joyous scenery of his continental dominions1 which it could not derive from the more sad and serious beauties of the opposite island4 ,moreover1 he held the ,sicilians disaffected to his rule1 and his hand was heavy upon them4 ,heavier still1 doubtless1 were those of his delegates and officers1 who presumed upon his known dislike1 and upon his preoccupation with schemes of foreign aggrandisement1 to exceed the measure of oppression he prescribed and authorised4 ,a very different course should have been adopted with a nation already abundantly prepared to detest their ,french masters4 ,the antagonism of character was alone sufficient cause for mutual aversion4 ,there was no point of sympathy between conquerors and conquered--nothing that could lead to friendly amalgamation4 ,on the one hand1 reserve1 dissimulation1 silence2 on the other1 an indiscreet frankness1 vivacity1 and noise4 ,on both sides1 a strong attachment to their native country1 and conviction of its superiority over all others--a strong partiality for its language1 usages1 and customs--a sincere contempt for all differing from them4 ,m4 de ,st ,priest1 who strives earnestly1 but not very successfully1 to vindicate the memory of his countrymen of the thirteenth century1 is still too veracious a historian not to admit that they treated with shameful insolence and rudeness a people whom the kindest treatment would with difficulty have induced to look kindly upon their conquerors4 ,he is painfully anxious to make out a good case for those he calls his brothers1 7very old brothers by this time17 but succeeds so little to his satisfaction1 that he is fain to throw himself on the mercy of his readers1 by asking the rather illogical question1 whether the crime of a few individuals is to be imputed to a nation1 or even to a part of a nation8 ,then he enumerates some of the grievances which brought on the massacre known as the ,vespers4 ,it is certain1 he says1 that ,charles of ,anjou1 not by himself1 but by military chiefs1 to whom he abandoned himself without reserve1 abused of the means necessary to retain in subjection a people hostile to his cause1 and whom that very excess of oppression might drive to shake off an iron yoke4 ,he abused of the feudal prerogative which gave him right of controlling the marriages of the vassals of the crown1 by compelling rich heiresses to marry his ,provenal adherents1 or by retaining in forced celibacy noble damsels whose inheritance the royal exchequer coveted4 ,this is pretty well for a beginning1 and enough to stir the bile of a more patient race than the ,sicilians1 even in an age when such acts of feudal tyranny were less startling and odious than they now would seem4 ,but this is merely the first item4 ,charles also abused of an old law that existed both in ,sicily and ,spain1 and which has been but recently abolished in the latter country4 ,the law of the mesta gave the sheep of the royal domain right of range of all the pastures in the country1 no matter who the proprietors4 ,with this vexatious privilege ,charles combined exorbitant monopolies4 ,he compelled the rich landholders to take on lease his horses1 flocks1 cattle1 bees1 and fruit-trees1 and to account to him for them every year at a fixed rate1 even when disease decimated the animals1 and the sirocco had withered and uprooted the trees and plants4 ,and nothing was less rare1 ,m4 de ,st ,priest acknowledges1 than the personal ill-treatment of those who delayed to pay the impost1 often twice levied upon the same persons1 under pretence of chastising their unwillingness4 ,imprisonment1 confiscation1 and the bastinado1 punished their indigence4 ,the nefarious tricks played with the currency completed the measure of misery poured out upon the unhappy ,sicilians4 ,like ,alphonso ,x4 of ,castile1 and most of the potentates of the period1 ,charles coined pieces of money with much alloy1 which he named1 after himself1 ,carlini d'oro1 and exchanged them by force against the augustales1 an imperial coinage of the purest gold4 ,the public voice was loud against such tyranny and abuse1 but it reached not the arrogant ears of the ,beaumonts1 the ,morhiers1 and other haughty ,frenchmen who successively governed ,sicily4 ,the ,bishop of ,patti and brother ,john of ,messina1 complained to the ,pope in presence of ,charles himself4 ,the king heard them in silence1 but1 after the pontifical audience1 he had his accusers seized4 ,brother ,john was thrown into a dungeon1 and the bishop only escaped prison by flight4 ,besides the heavy griefs above stated1 other grounds of complaint1 more or less valid1 were alleged against ,charles ,i4 ,amongst these1 he was accused of persecuting highwaymen and banditti with overmuch rigour4 ,the nations of southern ,europe have ever had a sneaking tenderness for the knights of the road4 ,he was also reproached with the abolition of certain dues1 unjustly exacted in the ports of ,patti1 ,cefalu1 and ,catania1 by the bishops of those towns4 ,m4 de ,st ,priest brands the ,sicilians as barbarians for thus quarrelling with their own advantage4 ,but it is a fair query how far ,charles made the diminution of episcopal exactions a pretext for the increase of royal ones1 and whether the draconic system adopted for the repression of evil-doers1 may not have been occasionally availed of for the oppression of the innocent4 ,then the ,sicilian nobles1 lovers of pomp1 show1 and external distinctions1 grumbled at the absence of a court2 and this was in fact so weighty a grievance1 that its removal might perhaps have saved ,sicily for ,charles1 or at any rate have retarded the revolt1 and given him time to prosecute his designs on the ,east4 ,palermo might have been conciliated by sending the ,prince of ,salerno to live there4 ,a gay court1 and the substitution of the heir to the throne for obscure and detested governors1 would have made all the difference4 ,charles did not think of this1 and moreover he had no great affection for his eldest son1 a prince of monkish piety1 timid and feeble1 although brave2 a dull and pale copy of his uncle ,louis ,,ix41 and whose faults and virtues were not altogether of a nature to obtain his father's sympathy4 ,when speaking of the ,prince of ,salerno1 the ,king of ,naples sometimes called him ',that ,priest6' ,the strongest motive of discontent1 however1 the most real1 and which placed the nobility and higher classes amongst the foremost of the disaffected1 was the bestowal of all public offices upon foreigners4 ,at the beginning of his reign ,charles had left to ,neapolitans and ,sicilians all fiscal and judicial posts1 lucrative to the holders and productive to him2 the strangers who accompanied him1 ignorant of the country1 would not have known how to squeeze it properly1 as did ,gezzolino della ,marra1 ,alaimo de ,lentini1 ,francesco ,loffredo1 and other natives4 ,in these he reposed confidence1 and1 even after the defeat of ,conradin1 he still left ,sicilians in the places of ,maestri razionali1 ,segreti1 ,guidizieri1 c4 ,but about #abgh1 we find ,italian names disappearing from the list1 and replaced almost entirely by those of ,provenals and ,frenchmen4 ,at that date there seems to have been a clean sweep made of the aborigines4 ,such a measure was sure to cause prodigious dissatisfaction and hatred to the government4 ,those who depended on their places were reduced to beggary1 and those who had private fortunes regretted a state of things which swelled these1 besides giving them influence and power4 ,to the latter class belonged ,alaimo de ,lentini1 one of the richest and best born of the ,sicilian barons1 possessed of great political and military talents4 ,he had served ,mainfroy1 had quarrelled with and been proscribed by him1 and then1 espousing the interests of ,charles1 had shown himself an implacable persecutor of his countrymen4 ,his good qualities were frequently clouded and neutralised by his versatility and evil passions2 his life was a mingled yarn of noble actions and frequent treachery4 ,left to himself1 he might have bequeathed a higher reputation to his descendants1 but he was led astray by the evil influence of his wife4 ,he was already in the decline of life when he married this woman1 who was of plebeian birth and ,jewish origin1 but the widow of ,count ,amico1 one of the principal nobles of ,sicily4 ,her name was ,maccalda ,scaletta1 and soon she obtained complete empire over ,alaimo4 ,of dissolute morals1 ironical wit1 and of an insolent and audacious character1 that feared nothing and braved every thing1 ,maccalda's youth had been more adventurous than reputable1 and amongst other pranks she had rambled over all ,sicily in the disguise of a ,franciscan monk4 ,her love of pleasure was not more insatiable than her vanity1 and she eagerly desired to figure in the first rank at a court4 ,so long as ,alaimo retained the high office of chief magistrate of ,sicily1 her gratified pride allowed him to remain a faithful subject3 but towards the year #abge1 ,charles of ,anjou suspected and dismissed him1 and thenceforward ,alaimo1 instigated by his wife1 was the mortal enemy of the ,french4 ,he joined the intrigue set on foot by ,john of ,procida in favour of the ,king of ,arragon1 and laboured efficiently in the cause of his new patron4 ,m4 de ,st ,priest does not himself narrate the oft-told tale of the ,sicilian ,vespers1 but gives the accounts of ,saba ,malaspina and ,bartolomeo de ,neocastro1 asserting that of the former writer to be the most correct1 as it is certainly the most favourable to the ,french4 ,he then enters into a long argument on points of no great importance2 his logic being principally directed to show that if the ,french fell an easy prey to the infuriated ,sicilians1 it was through no lack of courage on their part1 but because they were unarmed1 surprised1 and overmatched4 ,he also takes some useless trouble to upset the story generally accredited of the immediate cause of the massacre1 namely1 an insult offered to a bride of high birth4 ,the spirit of exaggerated nationality1 apparent in this part of his book1 stimulates his ingenuity to some curious hypotheses4 ,it is a ,french failing1 from which the best and wisest of that nation are rarely quite exempt1 never to admit a defeat with temper and dignity4 ,there must always have been treachery1 or vastly superior numbers1 or some other circumstance destructive to fair play4 ,not a ,frenchman from ,strasburg to ,port ,vendres1 but holds1 as an article of faith1 that1 on equal terms1 the grande nation is unconquered and invincible4 ,m4 de ,st ,priest seems to partake something of this spirit1 so prevalent amongst his countrymen1 and actually gets bitter and sarcastic about such a very antiquated business as the ,sicilian ,vespers4 ,who does not recognise in this story 7that of the insulted lady7 an evident desire to exalt the deed of the ,sicilians of the thirteenth century by assimilating it to analogous traits1 borrowed from ,roman history8 ,who does not here distinguish a ,lucretia1 or1 better still1 a ,virginia2 a ,tarquin1 or an ,appius8 ,the intention is conspicuous in the popular manifestos that succeeded the event4 ,in these1 reminiscences of antiquity abound4 ,the heroes of the ,vespers sought to make themselves ,romans as quickly as possible1 lest they should be taken for ,africans4 ,and so on in the same strain4 ,it is clearly seen1 says the ,french historian in another place1 that the first outrage upon that day was perpetrated by the ,sicilians1 and not by the ,french2 we behold brave and unsuspicious soldiers1 inspired by good-humoured gaiety and deceitful security1 barbarously stricken1 in consequence of demonstrations1 very indiscreet certainly1 but whose inoffensive character is deposed to by a contemporary1 hostile to the ,french and to their chief4 ,the facts of the case are told in ten words4 ,by a long course of injustice and oppression the ,french had dug and charged1 beneath their own feet1 a mine which a spark was sufficient to ignite4 ,it is immaterial what hand applied that spark4 ,enough that the subsequent explosion involved the aggressors in universal destruction1 and freed ,sicily from its tyrants4 ,the statement of ,saba ,malaspina is not1 however1 altogether so exculpatory of the ,french1 on the unimportant point of ultimate provocation1 as might be inferred from some of ,m4 de ,st ,priest's expressions4 ,when the ,signor ,aubert 7,herbert7 d',orleans governed ,sicily1 says the chronicler1 several citizens of ,palermo1 of both sexes1 went out of the town to celebrate the festival of ,easter4 ,some young strangers joined them1 and perhaps amongst those were many who carried weapons1 concealing them on account of the edict forbidding them to be borne under very severe penalties4 ,suddenly some ,french varlets1 probably servants of the justiciary of the province1 associated themselves with the public rejoicings1 less1 however1 to share than to trouble them4 ,would to heaven they had never been born1 or had never entered the kingdom6 ,at sight of all this crowd which danced and sang1 they joined the dancers1 took the women by the hands and arms1 7more1 perhaps1 than was decent and proper17 ogling the handsomest1 and provoking1 by significant words1 those whose hands or feet they could not press4 ,at these excessive familiarities1 which may be said1 however1 to have been inspired only by gaiety1 several young men of ,palermo1 and certain exiles from ,gata1 lost their senses so far as to assail the foreigners with injurious words1 such as the ,french do not easily suffer4 ,then said the latter amongst themselves1 ',it is impossible but that these pitiful ,patarins#f have arms about them1 otherwise they would never venture such insolent language2 let us see if some of them have not concealed swords1 or1 at any rate1 poignards or knives4' ,and they began to search the ,palermitans4 ,then these1 very furious1 threw themselves upon the ,french with stones and weapons1 for a great number came up who were armed4 ,the varlets fell for the most part stoned and stabbed to death4 ,thus does play engender war4 ,the entire island revolted1 and every where was heard the cry1 ',death to the ,french6' ,the details of the ensuing massacre are as horrible as they are well known2 and ,m4 de ,st ,priest passes lightly over them4 ,men1 women1 and children1 soldiers and priests1 all fell before the vengeful steel of the insurgents4 ,the little fortress of ,sperlinga alone afforded shelter to the fugitive ,frenchmen1 giving rise to the proverb still current in ,sicily1 ,sperlinga neg4#g ,messina1 however1 at first took no part in the movement1 and continued tranquil in the possession of a ,french garrison4 ,this was cause for great alarm to the ,palermitans1 already somewhat embarrassed with their rapid victory and sudden emancipation4 ,messina hostile1 or even neuter1 nothing was done1 and ,sicily must again fall into the vindictive hands of ,charles of ,anjou4 ,as usual1 in ,sicilian revolutions1 ,palermo had given the impulse1 but a satisfactory result depended on the adhesion of ,messina4 ,flattering overtures were made by the insurgents to the ,messinese2 but the latter still hesitated1 and1 far from joining the massacre1 sent six galleys to blockade ,palermo1 and armed two hundred cross-bowmen to reduce the fortress of ,taormine4 ,the effort was in vain4 ,instead of attacking ,taormine1 the bowmen re-entered ,messina1 and pulled down the fleurs-de-lis1 whilst the inhabitants of ,palermo1 upon the appearance of the galleys1 hoisted the ,messinese cross beside their own flag1 and fraternised with the fleet that came to block their port4 ,this completed the revolution1 and ,messina also had its massacre4 ,the viceroy1 ,herbert of ,orleans1 finding it impossible to hold out longer in his fortress of ,mattagriffone1 capitulated1 and embarked for ,calabria with five hundred ,frenchmen1 amidst the menacing demonstrations of a furious mob4 ,sicily was declared a republic1 and a deputation was sent to the ,pope1 to place it under his protection4 ,an attempt made by the ,arragonese party to obtain the preference for ,don ,pedro was premature1 and consequently failed4 #f ,is it true that virgins1 torn from their mothers' arms1 were the habitual victims of the conqueror's brutality8444 ,is it true that1 when a ,frenchman met a ,sicilian on horseback1 he made him dismount1 and forced him to follow upon foot1 however long the road8 ,is it true1 that the foreigners could not find themselves with the people of the country without insulting them with the odious name of ,patarins1 an insult which the ,sicilians repaid with usury1 by styling them ,ferracani8--,st ,priest1 vol4 iv4 pp4 #bc1 #bd4 #g ,since augmented into the ,latin line-- ,quod placuit ,siculis1 sola ,sperlinga negavit4 ,charles of ,anjou was with the ,pope at ,montefiascone1 when news reached him of the revolt and massacre at ,palermo4 ,his first emotion was a sort of religious terror1 which expressed itself in the following singular prayer1 recorded by ,villani and all the historians3--,lord6 he said1 you who have raised me so high1 if it be your will to cast me down1 grant at least that my fall be gradual1 and that ,i may descend step by step4 ,although he as yet knew nothing but the insurrection of a single town1 he seems to have beheld the shadow cast before by the evil day at hand4 ,he left ,montefiascone1 having obtained from ,martin ,,iv41 whose indignation equalled his own1 a bull of conditional interdiction against the ,sicilians1 should they not return to their allegiance4 ,the ,pope also sent ,cardinal ,gerard of ,parma to ,sicily1 to bring about the submission of the rebels4 ,but at ,naples ,charles learned the insurrection of ,messina1 and his fury knew no bounds4 ,neocastro and other chroniclers represent him as roaring like a lion2 his eyes full of blood1 and his mouth of foam1 whilst he furiously bit the baton he bore in his hand--a favourite practice of his when angry and excited4 ,after writing to his nephew1 ,philip of ,france1 for a subsidy and five hundred men1 he set sail himself with his queen1 ,margaret of ,burgundy1 at the head of the formidable armament fitted out for the conquest of the ,east4 ,there were two hundred vessels bearing an army composed of ,french and ,provenals1 of ,lombards and ,tuscans1 including fifty young knights of the noblest families in ,florence1 and 7a strange spectacle in the host of ,mainfroy's conqueror7 a thousand ,lucera ,saracens4 ,the total was fifteen thousand cavalry and sixty thousand infantry1 and the rendezvous was at ,catona1 a ,calabrian town opposite ,messina1 where1 by the king's orders1 forty galleys already awaited him4 ,undaunted by the formidable array1 the ,messinese prepared a vigorous defence1 repairing their walls1 barricading their port with beams1 and even assuming the offensive with their galleys1 which chased some of the ,king's into the port of ,scylla4 ,yet a bold and sudden assault would probably have taken the town1 and the reduction of all ,sicily must necessarily have followed4 ,this course was urged by ,charles's principal officers2 but he preferred the advice of the ,count of ,acerra1 who1 from cowardly or perfidious motives1 urged him to wait the result of the legate's negotiations with the rebels4 ,this was a fatal error4 ,delay was destruction4 ,at the very moment it would well have availed him1 ,charles abdicated his usual fiery impetuosity in favour of temporising measures4 ,encamping four leagues to the south of ,messina1 he lost precious time in idle skirmishes4 ,whilst he burned their woods and vines1 the ,messinese raised fortifications1 and named ,alaimo de ,lentini captain of the people1 the chief office in the new republic4 ,whilst ,alaimo took charge of the defence of ,messina1 his wife ,maccalda1 with helm on head and cuirass upon breast1 armed and valiant like another ,pallas1 marshalled the garrison of ,catania4 ,hostilities were about to commence when ,cardinal ,gerard of ,parma reached ,messina4 ,alaimo received him with the greatest respect1 and offered him the keys of the town in token of liege homage to the holy see4 ,the ,cardinal replied by a vague offer of pardon if they submitted to the ,king4 ,at the word submission1 ,alaimo snatched the keys from the legate's hand1 and exclaimed in a voice of thunder1 ',sooner death than a return to the odious ,french yoke6' ,after this theatrical burst1 probably a piece of mere acting on the part of a man who had served under so many banners1 serious negotiations began4 ,it was impossible to agree4 ,the exasperation of the ,messinese reached a height that terrified the legate1 who made his escape1 after placing the city under interdict4 ,the proposals he took to ,charles were the immediate raising of the siege1 and return of the army to the ,continent2 taxes as in the time of ,william the ,good2 and1 finally1 a formal engagement that the island should no longer be garrisoned by ,french or ,provenals1 but by ,italians or ,latins4 ,if these conditions are refused1 said the bold ,messinese1 we will resist till death1 though we should eat our children6 ,the ,cardinal admonished ,charles of the prudence of accepting these terms1 hinting that it might be less necessary to observe them1 when the island was again in his hands4 ,charles was too angry and too honourable to listen to the jesuitical insinuation1 and war was the word4 ,the legate returned to ,rome1 in despair at the hot-headed monarch's intractability4 ,charles's knights and officers were clamorous for an instant assault2 but he preferred a blockade1 not wishing1 he said1 to punish the innocent with the guilty4 ,m4 de ,st ,priest discredits the motive1 and attributes such unusual forbearance on the part of the ,lion of ,anjou to the fear of losing1 by the indiscriminate pillage that would follow a successful assault1 the great riches ,messina was known to contain4 ,the foe's decision published1 ,messina threw away the scabbard4 ,a life of freedom1 or a glorious death1 was the unanimous resolve of its heroic inhabitants4 ,every man became a warrior2 the very women gave example of the purest patriotism and sublimest devotedness4 ,matrons who1 the preceding day1 clothed themselves in gold and purple1 young girls1 brought up in the lap of luxury and ease--all1 without distinction of rank or riches1 with bare feet and dresses tucked up to the knee1 bore upon their shoulders stones and fascines1 and heavy baskets of bread and wine4 ,they helped the labourers1 supplied them with food1 attended to all that could increase their physical and moral strength4 ,from the summit of the ramparts they hurled missiles on the besiegers4 ,they held out their children to their husbands1 bidding them fight bravely1 and save their sons from slavery and death4 ,oh6 it was a pity1 says a song still popular in ,sicily1 great pity was it to see the ladies of ,messina carrying chalk and stones4 ,deh com' egli gran pictate ,delle donne di ,messina1 ,veggiendo iscapighate1 ,portando pietre e calcina4 ,not long ago a wall was still shown1 built by these heroines4 ,the names of two of them1 ,dina and ,clarentia1 have been handed down to posterity4 ,whilst ,dina upset whole squadrons by hurling stones from warlike engines1 ,clarentia1 erect upon the ramparts1 sounded the charge with a brazen trumpet4 ,such incidents gave a fine field to the superstitious and imaginative2 and persons were not wanting who affirmed they had seen the ,virgin ,mary hover in white robes above the city1 whilst others maintained she had appeared to ,charles of ,anjou's ,saracens4 ,the great assault was on the #adth ,september #abhb4 ,you have no need to fight with these boors and burgesses1 said ,charles to his knights2 you have merely to slaughter them4 ,he undervalued his foe4 ,in vain did his chivalry advance against the town like a moving wall of steel2 in vain did his fleet assail the port4 ,beams and chains1 hidden under water1 checked and destroyed his shipping2 men and horses fell beneath the missiles of the besieged4 ,one of these would have killed ,charles1 had not two devoted knights saved him4 ,they covered the ,king with their bodies1 and fell crushed and lifeless at his feet4 ,on the side of the ,sicilians1 ,alaimo displayed great military talents and personal courage4 ,he was every where to be seen1 animating his men by his example4 ,when the ,french were finally repulsed with terrible loss1 and compelled to raise the siege1 ,charles tried to corrupt ,alaimo by immense offers1 and went so far as to send him his signature upon a blank paper4 ,the ,sicilian resisted the temptation--rejecting treasures and dignities1 to yield1 at a later period1 to the influence of a treacherous woman4 ,meanwhile the deputation charged to offer ,sicily to the ,pope1 returned with a refusal4 ,martin ,,iv4 would have nothing to say to them4 ,he would have better served ,charles by acceptance4 ,subsequently he might have restored the island to the ,king4 ,as it was1 he drove the ,sicilians into the snares of the aristocratic league that supported ,pedro of ,arragon4 ,the republican government was unequal to the task it had undertaken1 and the ,pope's rejection of the protectorate threw them into great perplexity4 ,a meeting was held to debate the course to be adopted2 and the ,spanish party1 schooled by former failure1 achieved a decisive triumph4 ,its leaders remained mute2 but an old man1 of such obscure condition that his name was not exactly known1 harangued the assemblage1 recalled the memory of the house of ,swabia1 reminded his countrymen that ,constance was the legitimate heiress to the crown1 and proposed to offer it to her husband1 the ,king of ,arragon1 then at the port of ,collo1 on the coast of ,africa1 near ,constantina4 ,the words were scarcely spoken1 when a thousand voices extolled the wisdom of the speaker1 and ambassadors were immediately named from the people of ,palermo to the ,king of ,arragon4 ,don ,pedro had lingered at ,portofangos1 in expectation of such a summons1 for more than a month after the insurrection at ,palermo2 but finding the secret negotiations of ,john of ,procida with the chiefs of the ,sicilian aristocracy less immediately successful than he had hoped1 he had sailed for the coast of ,africa1 on pretext of interfering in a quarrel between the ,king of ,constantina and two of his brothers1 but in reality to be nearer the stage on which he hoped soon to play an important part4 ,he affected surprise at the arrival of the ,sicilian envoys1 who threw themselves at his feet1 bathed in tears and dressed in deep mourning1 and in a studied harangue implored him to reign over ,sicily1 and relieve them from the intolerable yoke of the ,count of ,provence4 ,they said nothing of ,conradin's glove1--the anecdote1 ,m4 de ,st ,priest says1 not having been yet invented4 ,don ,pedro delayed reply till he should have consulted his principal vassals4 ,most of them urged him not to engage in a hazardous enterprise1 that would draw upon him the displeasure of the ,king of ,france2 but to be content with what he already possessed1 without seeking to acquire what would assuredly be valiantly defended4 ,don ,pedro heard their objections in silence1 and broke up the council1 merely announcing that the fleet would sail next day1 without saying whether for ,catalonia or ,sicily4 ,according to one account1 scarcely credible1 and bearing strong resemblance to a popular report1 he declared the wind should decide his destination4 ,the wind blew for ,sicily1 much to the discontent of some of the barons1 and to the secret and profound joy of the ,king4 ,after a prosperous voyage of only three days' duration1 ,don ,pedro landed at the port of ,trapani4 ,the inhabitants received him as a liberator1 and he proceeded to ,palermo1 where his stay was one unbroken triumph4 ,he did not remain there long4 ,he was as active and indefatigable as ,charles of ,anjou2 like him sleeping little1 and rising before the sun4 ,he resolved to march to the succour of ,messina1 and to intercept the ,french army's communications with ,calabria4 ,he sent forward two noble ,catalan knights to warn the ,king of ,naples off the island1 with the alternative of war should he refuse4 ,a judge from ,barcelona accompanied them1--it being the custom of the time to compose such embassies partly of military men1 and partly of persons learned in the law4 ,the envoys were courteously received in the ,french camp1 but their lodging did not correspond with their reception4 ,either through contempt or through negligence1 they were quartered in a church1 without bed or chair1 and had to sleep upon straw4 ,at night they received two jugs of black wine1 six loaves equally dark coloured1 two roasted pigs1 and an enormous quantity of bacon-soup4 ,coarse fare and hard couch did not1 however1 prevent their sleeping soundly1 and repairing next morning to the royal presence1 richly attired in fine cloth lined with vair4 ,charles1 who was unwell1 received them reclining under curtains of magnificent brocade1 and with a little stick between his teeth1 according to his habit4 ,he listened patiently whilst the chief of the embassy summoned him to evacuate the island1 and replied1 after a few minutes' reflection1 that ,sicily belonged neither to him nor to the ,king of ,arragon1 but to the holy see4 ,go then1 he said1 to ,messina1 and bid the people of that city declare an eight days' truce1 for the discussion of necessary things4 ,this the ambassadors agreed to do1 but got a rude reception from ,alaimo1 who would not credit their quality of ,arragonese envoys1 when he heard them advocate a truce4 ,don ,pedro was no longer at liberty to treat with ,charles1 even had he wished it3 the ,sicilians1 at least that party of them that had invoked his aid1 had done so for their own ends1 and would permit no transaction4 ,the ambassadors returned to ,charles and announced their ill success1 and the ,king bade them repose till next morning1 when he would speak further with them4 ,but the next morning they learned that he and the ,queen had left the camp during the night1 and had embarked for ,calabria4 ,many historians have severely blamed this retreat2 ,m4 de ,st ,priest vindicates its wisdom and propriety4 ,defection was increasing in ,charles's army1 weary of a fruitless siege that had lasted seventy-four days1 and he was in danger of being cut of from ,calabria2 for although he still had his fleet1 it consisted of heavy1 unwieldy transports1 and was very unmanageable4 ,soon after his departure from ,sicily it was destroyed and captured by the ,arragonese fleet4 ,he began also to form a juster estimate of his formidable adversary1 whose politic and generous conduct contrasted with his own severity1 often pushed to barbarity4 ,he resolved to try a system of conciliation with the ,sicilians2 and1 being too proud and stiff-necked to adopt it in person1 he sent his son ,charles1 ,prince of ,salerno1 to carry it out4 ,it was necessary to find a pretext in order honourably to absent himself4 ,the customs of the time furnished him with one4 ,he did not show himself their slave1 as has often been said1 but made them serve his purpose1 and skilfully used them to mask the difficulties of his position4 ,it was not1 then1 from a ,quixotic and foolish impulse1 unbecoming at his age1 but with a political object1--in order to escape from the scene of his disappointments and defeats1 and to draw his enemy from that of his victories and triumphs1--that he took the resolution to challenge ,pedro of ,arragon to single combat4 ,a friar bore the cartel2 ,pedro accepted it2 and this strange duel between two powerful kings was fixed to take place in a plain near ,bordeaux1 an ,english town1 as the chroniclers call it1 ,bordeaux then belonging to ,edward ,i4 of ,england4 ,pending the preliminary negotiations and arrangements for this combat1 hostilities continued1 and the results were all in favour of ,don ,pedro4 ,his natural son1 ,don ,jaime ,pris1 or ,peres1 admiral of the ,catalan fleet1 made a night excursion from ,messina to ,catona1 upon the opposite coast1 surprising and massacring five hundred ,french soldiers4 ,carried away by youthful ardour1 he then pushed on to ,reggio2 but fell into an ambush1 and lost a dozen men4 ,although the final result of the enterprise was highly satisfactory1 ,pris returning victor with a rich booty1 his father1 indignant that his orders had been overstepped1 spared his life only at the entreaties of his courtiers1 degraded and banished him1 and gave the command of the fleet to ,ruggiero de ,lauria4 ,this was a lucky hit4 ,lauria1 although violent and perfidious by character1 was of courage as great as his good fortune was invariable4 ,once at the head of the ,arragonese fleet1 the success of ,don ,pedro ceased to be doubtful4 ,the conditions of the projected duel being arranged and agreed to by both parties1 ,charles left ,reggio1 the ,prince of ,salerno remaining there at the head of an army brought in great part from ,france4 ,the war was now transported in great measure into ,calabria4 ,there every thing was favourable to the ,arragonese4 ,his soldiers found themselves in a climate1 and amongst mountains1 reminding them of their native country4 ,the ,almogavares1 hardy and reckless guerillas1 lightly equipped1 and with sandalled feet1 were more than a match for the ,french knights and men-at-arms1 with their heavy horses and armour4 ,one day1 whilst the ,prince of ,salerno was at ,reggio1 an ,almogavare came alone to his camp to defy the ,french4 ,at first they despised the challenge of the ill-clad savage1 but finally a handsome young knight left the ranks1 and accepted the defiance4 ,he was conquered by his opponent1 who1 after bringing him to the ground1 buried his knife in his throat4 ,the ,prince of ,salerno1 true to the laws of chivalry1 dismissed the conqueror with rich guerdon4 ,the ,king of ,arragon would not be surpassed in courtesy1 but sent in exchange ten ,frenchmen1 free and without ransom1 declaring that he would always be happy to give the same number for one ,arragonese4 ,this piece of ,spanish rodomontade was backed1 however1 by deeds which proved ,pedro no impotent boaster2 and the ,prince of ,salerno was compelled to retire from ,reggio--whose inhabitants1 favourable to his rival1 hypocritically affected grief at his departure--to an adjacent level1 known as the pianura di ,san ,martino4 ,charles of ,anjou was now at ,rome1 whose ,pope he found friendly and supple as ever4 ,a crusade was promulgated1 the usurper of ,sicily was excommunicated1 and his ,arragonese crown was declared forfeit and given to ,charles de ,valois1 second son of ,philip the ,bold1 whom the ,italians called ,carlo ,senza ,terra1 because he tried many crowns but could never keep one4 ,to cloak his manifest partiality1 ,martin ,,iv4 strove to make ,charles give up the duel1 and1 failing to do so1 declared himself openly against a project which he treated as mad and impious4 ,he declared null and void the agreement and conditions fixed between the champions1 and exhorted the ,king of ,england to forbid the encounter of the two sovereigns upon his territory4 ,edward ,i4 was not the man to spoil sport of this kind2 he neither made nor meddled in the matter4 ,on the appointed day1 7#beth ,may #abhc17 ,charles1 coming from ,paris1 where his intended duel had excited the enthusiasm of the ,french youth1 entered ,bordeaux1 armed cap--pie1 at the head of a hundred knights1 established himself with them in the lists1 and waited from sunrise till sundown4 ,then1 the ,king of ,arragon not appearing1 he sent for ,jean de ,grailly1 seneschal of ,guienne1 had a certificate of his presence at ,bordeaux drawn up in due form1 and set out for his county of ,provence4 ,various causes have been assigned for ,pedro's non-appearance4 ,it is certain that he left ,sicily1 after having summoned thither his queen and all his children1 excepting the eldest1 ,alphonso1 who remained in ,arragon4 ,the only distinct cause assigned by ,m4 de ,st ,priest1 for his defalcation in the lists1 is the ,arragonese version4 ,don ,pedro had gone from ,valentia to ,collioure1 and already the hundred chevaliers he had chosen to accompany him were assembled at ,jaca1 on the frontier1 ready to enter ,guienne1 when he was suddenly informed that1 at the request of ,charles of ,anjou1 ,philip of ,france had accompanied his uncle to ,bordeaux1 and lay near that town with twenty thousand men4 ,warned by the ,king of ,england that the ,king of ,france was in ambush for him1 ,pedro decided not to show himself publicly at ,bordeaux2 but being at the same time fully resolved to acquit his promise by going thither1 he disguised himself as a poor traveller1 and took with him two gentlemen dressed with less simplicity1 all three mounted on good horses1 and without other baggage than a large bag full of provisions1 that they might not be obliged to stop any where4 ,the ,king acted as servant to his companions1 waiting on them at table1 and giving the horses their corn4 ,in this manner they arrived very quickly at ,bordeaux1 where ,don ,pedro was received and concealed by an old knight1 a friend of one of the two gentlemen4 ,upon the morrow1 which was the day appointed for the duel1 ,pedro repaired to the lists1 with the seneschal1 who was devoted to him1 before the sun rose1 consequently earlier than ,charles of ,anjou4 ,there he caused his presence to be certified by a notarial act1 then fled precipitately1 and put an interval of several hours between his departure and the pursuit of the ,kings of ,france and ,sicily4 ,this is rather an improbable story1 as ,m4 de ,st ,priest justly remarks2 and1 even if true1 it is a sort of evasion that does little credit to the ,king of ,arragon's chivalry4 ,it appears likely that ,pedro1 standing upon his well-established reputation of personal bravery1 thought himself justified for once in consulting prudence1 and felt little disposed to stake his life and crown upon the goodness of his lance and charger4 ,abandoning to his rival the honours of the tourney1 he gained1 with his fleet and army1 more solid advantages4 ,soon after ,charles's return to ,provence1 twenty-nine galleys despatched by him from ,marseilles to the succour of ,malta were attacked and destroyed by ,ruggiero de ,lauria1 in spite of the valiant efforts of the ,provenal admiral1 ,william ,cornut4 ,in the heat of a terrible and prolonged combat1 and seeing himself about to be vanquished1 ,cornut jumped upon ,lauria's galley and attacked the admiral1 axe in one hand and lance in the other4 ,the lance point pierced ,ruggiero's foot1 and1 nailing him to the deck1 broke off from the pole2 the ,provenal raised his axe1 when the ,sicilian1 active and furious as a tiger1 snatched the iron from his bleeding wound1 and1 using it as a dagger1 stabbed his enemy to the heart4 ,the sea was the real field of battle1 and1 unfortunately for ,charles of ,anjou1 the ,french lacked the naval skill and experience of the ,catalans4 ,pedro was detained in ,arragon by some turbulent proceedings of his nobility1 but he was ably replaced by his wife4 ,queen ,constance was no ordinary woman4 ,adored by the ,sicilians1 who persisted in regarding her as the rightful descendant of their kings1 her influence exceeded that of ,pedro himself4 ,surrounded by her children1 and followed by her ,almogavares1 she traversed the island in all directions1 going from ,palermo to ,messina1 from ,messina to ,catania1 encouraging the people by kind and valiant words1 giving bread to the necessitous1 and followed by the blessings and admiration of her new subjects4 ,by the advice of ,john of ,procida1 she resolved to anticipate the ,prince of ,salerno1 who only awaited his father's arrival to make a descent upon ,sicily4 ,she sent for ,ruggiero de ,lauria1 who was the son of ,madonna ,bella1 her nurse1 and spoke to him thus3 ',friend ,ruggiero1 you know that you have been brought up1 from your earliest infancy1 in my father's house and in mine2 my lord the ,king of ,arragon has loaded you with favours1 making you first a good knight and then an admiral1 such confidence has he in your valour and fidelity4 ,now1 do better still than heretofore2 ,i recommend to you myself1 my children1 and all my family4' ,when the ,queen had spoken1 the admiral put knee on ground1 took the hands of his good mistress in his in sign of homage1 kissed them devoutly1 and replied3 ',madonna1 have no fear2 the banner of ,arragon has never receded1 and still shall conquer4 ,god gives me confidence that ,i shall again work to your satisfaction1 and that of my lord the ,king4' ,then the ,queen made the sign of the cross over the admiral1 who quitted her to put himself at the head of thirty galleys1 and of a host of light vessels armed at ,messina4 ,with these he entered the gulf of ,salerno4 ,the son of ,charles of ,anjou had no suspicion of the sortie of the ,arragonese fleet1 and an officer whom he sent to reconnoitre brought back a false account of the enemy's strength1 diminishing the number of their vessels4 ,thereupon the ,prince of ,salerno resolved to give battle1 being urged to do so by the ,count of ,acerra1 the same who had formerly advised ,charles to postpone the assault of ,messina4 ,the count's advice1 whether treacherous or sincere1 proved fatal in both instances4 ,the ,sicilian fleet1 which had advanced to the very ,molo of ,naples1 passed under the windows of the ,castello ,nuovo1 insulting the ,prince of ,salerno by words injurious to his nation1 his father1 and himself4 ,too angry to be prudent1 and forgetting ,charles's orders on no account to stir before his arrival1 the prince1 covered with new and brilliant armour1 bravely embarked1 lame though he was1 on board the royal galley1 followed by the flower of the ,french chivalry4 ,lauria1 cunning as skilful1 feigned to fly at his approach4 ,riso1 the ,messinese1 and other ,sicilian exiles1 showed chains to ,lauria1 calling out1 ,brave admiral1 here is what awaits you2 turn and look6 ,lauria obeyed their order1 turned about1 and fell furiously upon the ,neapolitan fleet1 which was defeated by the very first shock4 ,the ,prince of ,salerno and the ,french knights defended themselves with the courage of despair4 ,the royal galley alone held out1 until at last the ,prince1 seeing it about to sink with the weight of combatants1 and having bravely fought and dearly sold his liberty1 gave up his sword to ,ruggiero1 who offered him his hand to conduct him on board the admiral's galley4 ,sir ,prince1 said the ,arragonese1 if you do not covet the fate of ,conradin1 order your captive1 the ,infanta ,beatrix1 sister of our ,queen1 and daughter of ,king ,mainfroy1 to be instantly delivered up to us4 ,with the fierce ,lauria it was unsafe to trifle or delay4 ,the ,prince wrote to his wife1 ,mary of ,hungary1 that1 vanquished and a prisoner1 his life depended on the release of ,beatrix4 ,on receiving his letter1 the ,princess of ,salerno hurried to the prison of ,mainfroy's daughter1 embraced her1 clothed her in her richest apparel1 and instantly gave her up to ,lauria's envoy4 ,at the news of the ,prince's capture1 the ,neapolitans were on the point of revolt4 ,an incident occurred that did not leave him the least doubt of their sentiments4 ,when seated on the deck of ,ruggiero's galley1 in the midst of a circle of knights who kept respectful silence1 he saw approach a number of boats filled with peasants1 who asked permission to come on board4 ,they brought baskets of those large figs called palombale1 and also a present of gold augustales4 ,taking the ,prince1 on account of his magnificent armour1 and of the respect of those around him1 they knelt before him and said1 ,admiral1 accept this fruit and this gold2 the district of ,sorrento sends them you as an offering1 and may you take the father as you have taken the son6 ,notwithstanding his misfortunes1 the young man could not help smiling1 as he said1 ,truly these are very faithful subjects of my lord the ,king4 ,he was taken to ,sicily and landed at ,messina1 where ,queen ,constance and the ,infante ,don ,jaime then resided4 ,when ,charles of ,anjou learned the double disaster that had befallen him in the capture of his fleet and son1 his first expression was one of bitter irony4 ,the better1 he exclaimed1 that we are quit of that priest1 who spoiled our affairs and took away our courage6 ,bitter grief succeeded this factitious gaiety4 ,he shut himself up in a private chamber of the ,castel ,capuano1 sent away the attendants and torches1 repulsing even the tender caresses of his queen1 and groaned and lamented in solitude and darkness4 ,when day appeared he forgot his sorrow to think of vengeance4 ,in his absence1 ,naples had nearly escaped him4 ,from ,pausilippo to the ,molo1 shouts for ,pedro of ,arragon had been heard4 ,naples must expiate the crime4 ,charles prepared to shed an ocean of blood1 but the ,pope's legate interceded2 and the enraged sovereign contented himself with hanging a hundred and fifty of the most guilty from the battlements of the ,castel ,nuovo4 ,then1 with his usual impetuous activity1 he armed a fleet1 and sailed for ,messina1 but was met by a message from ,constance1 that if he touched the shore of ,sicily his son's head should roll upon the scaffold4 ,what could the murderer of ,conradin reply to this threat8 ,trembling with fury1 he returned to ,calabria4 ,the position of his son justified great anxiety4 ,a large majority of the ,sicilians were clamorous for his death1 as an expiatory sacrifice to the manes of ,conradin4 ,queen ,constance1 who had nobly resolved to save him1 was compelled so far to yield to public clamour that a parliment was assembled to deliberate on his fate4 ,with the exception of ,alaimo de ,lentini1 all the members voted for the ,prince's death4 ,but ,constance would not ratify the sentence till she heard from ,don ,pedro1 to whom she had already despatched intelligence of the important capture4 ,as she had foreseen1 ,pedro ordered the ,prince1 and the chief amongst his companions1 to be sent immediately to ,arragon4 ,this was done1 and ,sicily seemed guaranteed for a long time from the aggressions of the house of ,anjou4 ,to foreign warfare internal strife succeeded4 ,the ,sicilian nobles1 the same men who had entreated ,pedro of ,arragon to reign over them1 now repented of their choice4 ,they had found a master where they had intended a crowned companion4 ,already the failure of a rebellion had cost several of them their heads1 when a second plot was got up1 in which ,alaimo de ,lentini took a prominent part4 ,the rank1 influence1 and services of this man1 the first in ,sicily1 rendered ,pedro uneasy1 and excited the jealousy of his two ministers1 ,john of ,procida and ,ruggiero de ,lauria4 ,alaimo's indulgent vote upon the trial of the ,prince of ,salerno1 although conformable to the wishes of the ,king1 yet had increased suspicions he for some time had entertained4 ,these1 however1 would not have broken out but for the imprudent audacity of ,maccalda1 ,alaimo's wife1 who had flattered herself she should be able to govern ,pedro of ,arragon4 ,during the siege of ,messina1 she presented herself before him in her ,amazonian garb1 a silver mace in her hand2 but this warlike equipment could not restore her youth1 and1 notwithstanding the ,king's passionate admiration of the fair sex1 he passed the night in talking to her of his ancestors1 and finally fell asleep4 ,irritated by this contempt of her charms1 ,maccalda vowed hatred to ,queen ,constance4 ,although of very low origin1 the insolent matron pretended herself at least the equal of the daughter of ,mainfroy the bastard4 ,she refused her the title of queen1 and never spoke of her but as the mother of the ,infante ,don ,jaime4 ,every advance made by ,don ,pedro's wife was insolently rejected by her4 ,the ,queen wished to become godmother to one of her children2 ,maccalda disdainfully declined the honour4 ,the ,queen had a litter made to take air in ,palermo1 a piece of luxury unprecedented in ,sicily4 ,maccalda immediately rambled about the island in a litter twice the size1 eclipsing her sovereign by her presumptuous splendour4 ,in short1 the court of ,arragon could not endure this incessant struggle1 and soon serious grounds for vengeance were found4 ,all powerful with her husband1 ,maccalda excited him to revolt4 ,he corresponded with ,charles of ,anjou1 then in ,calabria2 one of his letters1 in which he promised to deliver ,sicily to the ,king of ,naples1 fell into the hands of ,john of ,procida4 ,don ,pedro1 informed of ,alaimo's treason1 dissimulated and wrote him an affectionate invitation to ,spain1 under pretence of conferring with him on the affairs of ,sicily4 ,resistance and obedience were equally dangerous2 but the latter left most time to turn in1 so ,alaimo obeyed4 ,he no sooner reached ,arragon than he was thrown into a dungeon4 ,at the same time ,maccalda1 stripped of her husband's possessions1 was put in prison in ,sicily4 ,there she preserved her courage and gaiety1 and passed her time in laughing at ,queen ,constance1 and in playing at chess with a ,moorish king1 prisoner like herself4 ,sixty ,french knights were massacred in the prison of ,matagrifone1 at the instigation of the ferocious ,ruggiero de ,lauria1 so soon as he learned the treason of ,alaimo and ,maccalda4 ,for these a tragical end was reserved4 ,at the commencement of the following reign1 the defender of ,messina was thrown into the sea1 a halter round his neck2 and it was conjectured that ,maccalda ,scaletta1 also met a violent death in the obscurity of her dungeon4 ,charles was not more fortunate in military operations than in secret plottings4 ,in vain did he besiege ,reggio2 for want of provisions he was compelled to return to ,naples4 ,but although fortune proved so fickle1 his bold spirit remained unbroken1 and he conceived a gigantic plan1 which was to avenge all his disasters4 ,he resolved to fall upon ,sicily at the head of considerable forces1 whilst a powerful ,french army entered ,arragon4 ,but death nullified his schemes4 ,whilst upon the road from ,naples to ,brindes1 to prepare the new armament1 he was compelled by the violent attacks of ague1 from which he suffered continually since his misfortunes1 to stop at ,foggia4 ,his hour had come4 ,by his will1 made upon the day of his death1 he left the kingdom of the ,two ,sicilies and the county of ,provence to his son ,charles prince of ,salerno2 and1 failing him1 to his grandson ,charles ,martel1 then twelve years old4 ,his testamentary dispositions completed1 he turned his thoughts to things spiritual4 ,margaret of ,burgundy1 summoned in all haste to her husband's side1 arrived but just in time to receive his last adieu4 ,he expired in her arms1 the victim of grief as much as of disease1 overtaken by premature old age1 but full of faith in his good right and in divine justice4 ,upon his deathbed he was untormented by remorse2 he beheld neither the threatening shade of ,conradin nor the rivers of blood with which he had inundated ,sicily2 his eyes and lips were fixed with love upon the cross1 whose most faithful defender he esteemed himself4 ,at the supreme hour1 and with his last breath1 he made a final and impious manifestation of the overweening pride and self-confidence that were amongst his most prominent qualities during his life4 ,he confessed himself1 and demanded the last sacrament1 sat up in his bed to receive it worthily1 fixed his eyes upon the redoubtable mystery1 and1 speaking directly to the body and blood of ,christ1 addressed to them these words of audacious conviction3 ',sire ,dieu1 as ,i truly believe you to be my ,saviour1 ,i pray you show mercy to my soul4 ,since it is certain that ,i undertook the affair of ,sicily more to serve the holy church than for my own advantage1 you ought to absolve me of my sins4'#h #h ,the death of ,cardinal ,richelieu offers a singular resemblance with that of ,charles of ,anjou4 ,having demanded the ,viaticum3 ,here is my ,lord and my ,god1 he exclaimed2 before him ,i protest that in all ,i have undertaken1 ,i have had nothing in view but the good of religion and of the state4--,,st ,,priest1 vol4 iv4 p4 #afe4 ,the body of ,charles was transported to ,naples1 and buried in the cathedral1 under a pompous mausoleum4 ,his heart was taken to ,paris1 and deposited in the church of the ,grands ,jacobins1 with this inscription3-- ,,li ,,coer ,,di ,,grand ,,roy ,,charles ,,qui ,,conquit ,,sicile4 ,upon her husband's death ,margaret retired to her county of ,tonnerre1 where she had founded an hospital1 and passed the rest of her life in pious and charitable exercises4 ,the first chevalier in the world has ceased to live1 exclaimed ,pedro of ,arragon1 on learning the death of ,charles of ,anjou4 ,he himself survived his great rival but a few months4 ,after conquering ,philip ,,iii4 of ,france in the defiles of ,arragon1 a victory which procured the fortunate ,arragonese the soubriquet of ,pedro de los ,franceses1 he died very penitent1 restoring his possessions to the church1 whose liegeman he acknowledged himself1 and putting under the protection of the holy see his two kingdoms of ,arragon and ,sicily1 which he bequeathed to his sons1 ,alphonso ,,iii4 and ,jaime ,,ii4 ,about the same time ,martin ,,iv4 ended his days1 full of grief for the loss of ,charles of ,anjou1 to whom he was devotedly and blindly attached1--,an attachment1 says ,m4 de ,st ,priest1 which excites interest1 so rare is friendship upon thrones1 and especially in old age4 ,thus was ,charles of ,france1 brother of ,st ,louis1 followed to the tomb by the most remarkable of his contemporaries4 ,a new epoch began2 the age of ,philip le ,bel1 of ,boniface ,,viii41 and of ,dante4 ,the great poet1 so severe to the living ,captiens1 has treated them better in the invisible world4 ,whilst he has precipitated ,frederick ,,ii4 and the most illustrious ,ghibellines into the depths of the eternal chasms1 he shows us--not in torture1 but awaiting a better destiny--not in the flames of purgatory1 but in the bosom of monotonous repose1 in the shade of a peaceful forest1 in a valley strewed with unknown flowers--,charles of ,anjou and ,pedro of ,arragon1 seated side by side1 reconciled by death1 and uniting their grave and manly voices in hymns to the praise of the ,most ,high4 ,the political separation of the island and continent of ,sicily was now complete1 but none foresaw its long duration4 ,the period immediately succeeding the death of ,charles of ,anjou was one continuous struggle between ,naples and ,palermo1 the former striving to regain lost supremacy1 the latter to retain conquered independence4 ,for a moment the kingdom of the ,two ,sicilies1 torn in twain by a great popular movement1 was on the point of reuniting2 the great result obtained by the ,sicilian ,vespers seemed about to be lost1 and the ,vespers themselves to lose their rank of revolution1 and subside into the vulgar category of revolts and insurrections4 ,strange to say1 the foreign dynasty that had profited by the successful rebellion1 was itself on the eve of destroying the work of its partisans4 ,after the ephemeral reign of ,alphonso ,,iii4 ,king of ,arragon1 eldest son and successor of ,don ,pedro1 ,don ,jaime1 second son of this ,prince1 united upon his head the crowns of ,sicily and ,arragon4 ,the will of the two deceased kings had been to keep these crowns separate4 ,don ,pedro verbally1 ,don ,alphonso by a written will1 had called the ,infante ,frederick1 son of one and brother of the other1 to reign in ,sicily so soon as ,don ,jaime should take possession of the hereditary sceptre of ,arragon and ,catalonia4 ,jaime disregarded their wishes4 ,he kept ,sicily1 not for himself1 but to restore it to the enemies of his family1 to his prisoner1 now chief of the house of ,anjou1 agreeably to a secret treaty they had entered into during the captivity of ,charles ,,ii4 ,if ,m4 de ,st ,priest is correct in placing the first negotiation of this treaty so far back as the summer of #abhd1 soon after the action in which ,charles lost his liberty1 it is difficult to understand what could then have been ,don ,jaime's motives4 ,his father and elder brother dead1 it is more easy to explain them4 ,we must remember that before falling into the hands of the terrible ,ruggiero de ,lauria1 ,charles1 then ,prince of ,salerno1 commissioned by the ,king of ,naples to make concessions to his subjects1 had proclaimed a political reform1 under the auspices of ,martin ,,iv4 ,after the death of this ,pope1 his successor ,honorius1 also a declared partisan of the house of ,anjou1 extended still further these political privileges1 and the convention known in the history of ,naples as the ,statutes of ,honorius 7,capitoli d',onorio7 there long had the force of law4 ,in view of these privileges1 imposed by papacy1 and conceded by the dynasty whose despotism had driven ,sicily to revolt1 the dynasty established by that revolt was compelled to bid higher for popular approbation4 ,the rival royalties began a dangerous race in the path of reform4 ,the ,arragonese could not allow the ,angevine to surpass him in generosity4 ,don ,jaime saw himself compelled to make such concessions to the clergy and aristocracy1 that ,sicily retained but the mere shadow of a monarchy4 ,the authority awaiting him in ,arragon was certainly not more absolute2 but there1 at least1 he found himself in his native country and hereditary dominions2 habit1 tradition1 old affinities1 compensated what the supreme power lacked in strength and extent4 ,in ,sicily things were very different4 ,the island was altogether in an unsatisfactory state4 ,the chiefs of the aristocracy1 the authors of the revolution1 had all rebelled in turn4 ,it had been found necessary to put to death ,caltagirone1 ,alaimo de ,lentini1 and other leaders of the ,arragonese intrigue4 ,the air of ,sicily seemed loaded with rebellious infection4 ,even ,ruggiero de ,lauria1 and ,john of ,procida1#i were suspected of disaffection4 ,nor did the profits of the island compensate the anxiety it caused4 ,exhausted by war1 ,sicily yielded no revenue1 but required support in men and money4 ,more than this1 the papal anathema still remained upon the family of ,pedro of ,arragon4 ,it weighed upon ,don ,jaime and upon his mother ,queen ,constance4 ,courageous though she was1 the daughter of the excommunicated ,mainfroy1 the widow of the excommunicated ,pedro1 had difficulty to support the interdict4 ,successive popes sustained the interests of the ,french dynasty1 and bestowed the crown of ,arragon1 a fief of the holy see1 upon ,charles of ,valois1 brother of ,philip le ,bel4 ,true1 possession did not accompany the gift1 to which the ,arragonese did not subscribe1 but drove back ,philip the ,bold when he tried to introduce his son into his new kingdom1 an attempt which cost him his reputation and his life4 ,still ,don ,jaime was anxious1 for various reasons1 to have the donation annulled4 ,to this end he addressed himself to the ,king of ,naples1 still prisoner at ,barcelona1 offering to give him up ,sicily1 and even to aid him to reconquer it1 on condition that the ,pope removed the interdict from his house1 and that ,charles of ,valois was compelled to renounce the title of ,king of ,arragon4 ,moreover1 a matrimonial alliance1 always an important tie1 but especially so in the middle ages1 was to seal the friendship of the two monarchs4 ,don ,jaime was to marry the princess ,blanche1 eldest daughter of the ,king of ,naples1 and granddaughter of the great ,charles of ,anjou4 ,boniface ,,viii41 greatly attached1 at the commencement of his popedom1 to the interests of ,france1 joyfully acquiesced in these arrangements4 #i ,procida died at an advanced old age1 in his native province of ,salerno1 reconciled with the ,pope and with the ,king of ,naples1 at enmity with ,sicily1 and re-established in his possessions by ,charles ,,ii4--,st ,priest1 vol4 iv4 p4 #agb4 ,every thing seemed arranged1 when unexpected obstacles arose4 ,on the one hand1 ,charles of ,valois1 having neither dominions nor crown1 obstinately resisted the transfer of his imaginary kingdom2 on the other1 the ,sicilians declared they would die to a man rather than acknowledge the sovereignty of the house of ,anjou4 ,they summoned ,don ,jaime to renounce his project1 and when he persisted in it1 they raised to the throne the ,infante ,frederick1 at first with the title of ,lord of ,sicily1 afterwards with that of ,king4 ,this prince proved worthy of the national choice4 ,in vain did ,boniface ,,viii4 assail him in turn with flattery and menace2 the new king of ,sicily remained faithful to his people4 ,by a strange concurrence of circumstances1 he found himself opposed in arms to his brother ,jaime of ,arragon1 now the ally of his father-in-law1 ,charles ,,ii41 who had recovered his liberty and returned to his dominions4 ,in spite of his own and his subjects' valour1 ,frederick ,,iii4 was at first nearly overcome4 ,the house of ,anjou would have reconquered ,sicily1 but for the defection of the fickle ,king of ,arragon1 who abandoned his allies and returned home1 carrying with him the contempt of all parties4 ,after various changes of fortune1 a definitive treaty of peace was concluded between the belligerents1 under the auspices of ,rome4 ,by its conditions1 ,frederick ,,iii4 was to retain the crown of ,sicily for his life1 with the title of ,king of ,trinacria1 invented to avoid infringement on the rights of ,charles ,,ii41 who kept the title of ,king of ,sicily1 with the reversion of the dominions for himself and his direct heirs1 after the death of ,frederick1 who married ,eleanor1 youngest daughter of ,charles4 ,the basis of this treaty was manifestly unstable1 its very letter was soon effaced3 and ,frederick1 disdaining the singular title of ,king of ,trinacria1 soon resumed his rightful one4 ,there were thus two kings of ,sicily1 on this and that side the straits1 and from that period dates the term1 the ,two ,sicilies4 ,during a reign of thirty-four years1 ,frederick ,,iii4 did much for the nation that had placed him at its head4 ,a scholar and a legislator1 he encouraged letters1 navigation1 and trade1 established a national representation1 and bequeathed his subjects the famous ,sicilian constitution1 which was entirely destroyed only in the present century4 ,but the tendency of power in ,sicily was to the hands of the nobles4 ,frederick struggled hard to keep down the aristocracy1 but his efforts had no permanent success3 at his death the barons became omnipotent1 the feudal system prevailed1 and for more than a century the annals of the island are but a confused history of the rivalries of the ,chiaromonte and the ,vintimiglia1 the ,palizzi and the ,alagona1 the ,luna and the ,perolla1 and many others besides4 ,the ,chiaromonte1 notwithstanding their ,french origin1#aj were the chiefs of the ,italian or ,latin party2 they became absolute masters of ,palermo1 and reigned over it from the summit of their castle of ,steri1 whose massive masonry still exists in the heart of that city4 ,the kings of ,sicily1 to obtain their support1 sought the hands of their daughters2 but at last the haughty patricians fell from their pinnacle of greatness1 and by treason or stratagem were led to the scaffold4 ,distracted and weakened by discord1 ,sicily offered1 at this time1 an easy prey to ,naples1 had the descendants of the first ,charles been the men to profit by the opportunity4 ,but they were far from inheriting the martial energy of their great ancestor1 and1 in spite of circumstances frequently favourable1 ,sicily was never reconquered by the race of ,charles of ,anjou4 #aj ,it is at this time 7the moment when ,charles of ,anjou raised the siege of ,messina7 that estimable1 but second-rate historians place the pretended adventure of a ,french chevalier of the name of ,clermont1 to whose wife1 they say1 ,charles of ,anjou had offered violence4 ,they add1 that1 after revenging himself by a similar outrage to one of the king's daughters1 this ,french knight fled to ,sicily1 where he founded the powerful house of ,chiaromonte1 ,counts of ,modica4 7,st ,priest1 vol4 iv4 p4 #ajd47 ,m4 de ,st ,priest disbelieves this anecdote1 which is certainly inconsistent with the character for rigid morality and chastity he assigns to his hero4 ,the concluding line of ,m4 de ,st4 ,priest's work contains a sentiment which will doubtless find ready echo in the hearts of his countrymen1 ever jealous of ,great ,britain's aggrandisement and territorial growth4 ,may ,sicily he says1 never become a second ,malta4 ,the wish1 whose heartfelt sincerity cannot be doubted1 points to the possibility1 not to say the probability1 of the event deprecated2 an event which1 however unwelcome to ,france1 would1 in many respects1 be highly advantageous to the two parties more immediately concerned4 ,so manifest are the benefits that it is almost impertinent to point them out4 ,sicily would find efficient protection1 commercial advantages1 a paternal and liberal government2 ,england would obtain a storehouse and granary1 and an excellent position whence to observe and check ,french progress in ,northern ,africa1 should the ambition of the young republic1 or of any other government that may succeed it1 render interference necessary4 ,at the present moment1 when half ,europe is unhinged1 political speculation becomes doubly difficult2 but whatever turn events take1 there is little likelihood of ,france either abandoning her ,african colony or resting contented with its present extent4 ,doubtless1 she will some day lay hold of ,tunis1 or at least make the attempt4 ,it is but a short sail from ,tunis to ,sicily4 ,the peace-at-all-price men1 who would fain dispense with fleets and armies1 and trust to the spread of philanthropy for the protection of ,britain and its colonies1 would have no fresh cause for their insipid and querulous grumblings in the annexation of ,sicily to the ,british empire4 ,it would be unnecessary to recruit an additional drummer1 or man a cock-boat the more4 ,the island ,sicilians1 of more hardy frame and courageous temper than their ,continental neighbours1 are1 as they have lately shown1 able to defend their liberties4 ,they would furnish troops and mariners1 who1 with ,british discipline and direction1 need be second to none in ,europe4 ,increased advantages should of course be afforded to ,sicilian produce imported into ,great ,britain4 ,this would cut two ways4 ,whilst benefiting the ,sicilian1 and encouraging him to industry1 it would spur the stolid and stubborn lawgivers of ,spain to moderate the absurd tariff which excludes foreign manufactures from that country1 save through illicit channels4 ,under ,british protection and ,british laws1 ,sicily1 if she cannot hope ever to resume her ancient grandeur and prosperity1 would flourish and improve to an extent impossible during her ill-assorted union with ,naples4 ,,crimes ,,and ,,remarkable ,,trials ,,in ,,scotland4 ,,kidnapping--,,peter ,,williamson',s ,,case4 ,before entering on the personal history of a man whose adventures carried him through all the strata of social life1 from the feathered savage of the ,prairies to the industrious burgess in small-clothes1 let us give a few incidental notices of that crime--kidnapping1 or man-stealing1--his subjection to which was the opening scene of his eventful career4 ,we can1 perhaps1 scarcely point to a more distinct type of feebleness in the law of any country than the frequency of this crime4 ,in that community where the people1 marked off by any distinction in race or appearance--where persons born in serfdom1 or of a particular line1 or speaking a peculiar language--are doomed to slavery1 the laws may be unjust and barbarous in the extreme1 but it does not follow that they are feeble4 ,the slavery exists by them1 not in spite of them4 ,it is in the country where the person1 free by the law1 is seized1 and1 in defiance of the law1 held in forced bondage1 in obedience to the interest or the malevolence of individuals1 that this characteristic of feebleness is so prominently developed4 ,the purloiner of coin or plate can only be tracked by external incidents2 there is nothing in his connexion with the property that in itself proclaims his crime4 ,the horse and cattle-stealer have to deal with less silent commodities2 but even the objects of their depredations are not placed in an unnatural position by ownership1 and have no voice wherewith to proclaim their custodier's dishonesty4 ,but the man who holds another in possession in a free country1 is a criminal in the eye of every one who sees him exercise his ownership2 and he carries about with him a perpetual witness and accuser1 who is under the strongest inducements to be ever vigilant and ever active4 ,the law under which common thefts are practised1 is only that which does not see far into a millstone2 but the law under which kidnapping may be pursued with impunity1 is deaf1 and blind1 and1 paralytic4 ,owing to the strong central administration of justice in ,england1 it does not appear that this crime was ever very prevalent in the south4 ,we find1 indeed1 in ,whitelock's ,memorials1 under the date of #ith ,may #afde--;,an ordinance against such who are called spirits1 and use to steal away and take up children1 and1 bereave their parents of them1 and convey them away4 ,the measure then adopted1 which will be found among the ordinances of the ,long ,parliament1 shows us that it had become customary to seize children and carry them out of the country1 to be employed as slaves in the plantations1 or probably to be sold to the ,mediterranean pirates4 ,the ordinance says1 ,whereas1 the houses of ,parliament are informed that divers lewd persons do go up and down the city of ,london and elsewhere1 and in a most barbarous and wicked manner steal away many little children1 it is ordered by the ,lords and ,commons1 in ,parliament assembled1 that all officers and ministers of justice be hereby straitly charged and required to be very diligent apprehending all such persons as are faulty in this kind1 either in stealing1 selling1 buying1 enveigling1 purloining1 conveying1 or receiving children so stolen1 and to keep them in safe imprisonment till they may be brought to severe and exemplary punishment4 ,it is further ordered1 that the marshals of the ,admiralty and the ,cinque ,ports do immediately make strict and diligent search in all ships1 and vessels upon the river1 and at the ,downs1 for all such children1 according to such directions as they have1 or shall receive from the committee of the ,admiralty and ,cinque ,ports4 ,the few reports we have of ,english cases of kidnapping are too profusely dressed up with technicalities to permit us to see the naked facts4 ,shower reports the case of ,lees v4 ,dassigny1 the #cdth of ,charles ,,ii4 ,an ,english common-law reporter never condescends to know the year of the ,christian era2 he knows only that of the king's reign1 and if he had to mention the foundation of the ,turkish empire1 he would mark it as the #bhth ,edward ,i42 while the discovery of ,america would as undoubtedly be an event of the #hth ,henry ,,vii4 ,when we turn to our chronological tables1 we find that the #cdth of ,charles ,,ii4 means the year #afhb4 ,how far the pleadings throw any light on the adventures of the youth who had been kidnapped and sent abroad1 the reader may judge from a fair specimen3--,they sue an homine replegiando in the name of the young ,turbett2 and after an alias and a pluries1 they get an elongatus est per quendam ,philippum ,dassigny infra nominatum4 ,this was to the ,sheriff of ,london1 whereas the defender never lived in ,london1 but at ,wapping1 in ,middlesex1 c4 ,the effect of the pleading1 of which this is the commencement1 was1 that the accused might be bailed1 and on security to bring home the boy in six months1 death and the perils of the seas excepted1 he was discharged on bail4 ,in ,trinity term the boy came home1 and being brought into court was delivered to the father2 but they never proceeded4 ,sir ,thomas ,raymond gives us the further information1 that the kidnapper was a merchant trading to ,jamaica1 and that the victim was a scholar at ,merchant ,taylor's school1 and a hopeful young youth4#aa ,an act of ,king ,william's reign shows that the offence was still prevalent1 by imposing penalties on the masters of vessels leaving people behind in his ,majesty's plantations or elsewhere4 ,it appears to have been almost solely for the foreign market that kidnapping was practised in ,england4 ,the cultivated and populous character of the country1 the power of the laws1 and the perpetual vicinity of a kind of parochial municipalities1 probably rendered the forcible seizure and imprisonment of individuals within the country too difficult and dangerous an operation to have been frequently accomplished by force2 though the fatal facilities for confinement in lunatic asylums may have frequently made them the living tombs of those whom the rapacity1 or the malignant passions of others1 have doomed to imprisonment4 ,yet1 were we to take foreign novelists as true painters of ,english manners1 we would find in ,madame ,cotin's ,malvina1 that a ,french beauty having secured the affections of an ,english duke1 his powerful relations seize her after she has become his wife1 and lock her up in a turret of their private castle1 where1 though the neighbouring physician and the clergyman visit her1 and all the world knows that she is imprisoned1 no one dares to interfere in her behalf2 and her fate is only balanced by that of her husband1 whom the ,attorney-,general transports1 by a writ of ,habeas ,corpus1 to the ,west ,indies4 ,somewhat similar1 if our memory serves us right1 are the notions of ,british liberty embodied in ,walladmor1 the story got up to pass as a ,waverley novel at one of the ,leipsic fairs1 where1 in the year #ahah1 the ,lord ,lieutenant is found committing every person with whom he quarrels to his private dungeons in his own castle4 #aa ,raymond's ,reports1 #dgd4 ,we need no writers of romance to find instances of kidnapping in ,scotland before the ,union4 ,the vast solitudes which frequently separated inhabited districts from each other1 the feudal fortalices scattered hither and thither1 the weakness of the crown1 the judicial powers possessed by many of the barons2 and we may add to this1 the spirit of clanship1 which surrounded every ,highland chief with an army of retainers1 as faithful to the preservation of his secrets as they were relentless in avenging his feuds--all conspired to render it too easy for a powerful individual to adopt such a form of outrage against his enemy4 ,not that the practice was pursued in the manner of a sordid trade1 as we have found it followed in ,england1 and as we shall find that at a later period it was adopted among ourselves4 ,the ,scots had no colonies to be supplied with this species of living merchandise2 and in truth the human animal has seldom been with us so valuable a commodity in the home market1 as greatly to raise the cupidity of his neighbour4 ,those who ventured on kidnapping flew at high game4 ,a young or a superannuated king requiring the aid of able counsellors1 nay1 sometimes a monarch in the vigour of his power1 would be the object of such an attempt4 ,among lesser personages1 statesmen offensively powerful1 dignified churchmen about to issue ecclesiastical censures1 and judges of the ,court of ,session prepared to give adverse decisions1 were in great request1 and eagerly sought after4 ,alexander ,gibson of ,durie1 for some time a principal clerk of session1 and afterwards a judge in that court--lawyers know him as the author of a folio volume of reports of more than average unreadability--was a special victim1 having been twice successfully spirited away4 ,in #afjd1 ,george ,meldrum1 younger of ,dumbreck1 was tried for several acts of this description1 of one of which ,durie1 then ane of the clerks of our sovereign ,lord's ,council and ,session1 was a victim4 ,among those whom the kidnapper took to his assistance were--,john ,johnston1 called ,swyne-foot1 and some other worthies1 comprehensively described as ane company of common and notorious thieves1 brigands1 and murderers1 who assembled with swords1 hagbuts1 and pistolets4 ,durie was residing in ,st ,andrews1 and it appears that his enemy employed ane fellow called ,craik1 the said ,george ,meldrum's own man1 to watch his motions4 ,he was riding1 as it would appear1 on the bank of the ,firth of ,tay1 opposite to ,dundee1 accompanied by a brother barrister and his servant1 when the ambuscade treasonably put violent hands on their persons1 and took them captives and prisoners4 ,their captor reft fra them their purses1 with certain gold and silver being therein1 extending to the quantity of three hundred merks or thereby--an act which the indictment reproachfully mentions as specially unworthy of ane landed man4 ,meldrum proceeded with his captive through ,fifeshire to ,kinghorn1 on the ,forth2 thence1 crossing over to ,leith1 he marched through ,edinburgh1 passing the palace gate of ,holyroodhouse--a circumstance to which the indictment alludes as a powerful illustration of the audacity of the transaction4 ,the party then proceeded through ,lothian and ,tweeddale across the ,border unto ,england1 to ,george ,ratcliff's house1 where they detained him captive and prisoner for the space of eight days or thereby4#ab ,thus was this high official conveyed a distance of about a hundred miles1 not only through the most populous and fertile part of the kingdom1 but through the centre of the metropolis1 under the very shadow of the throne2 and that not by any of the great barons who could command an army of followers1 but by a petty country gentleman1 aided by a few ,border freebooters4 #ab ,pitcairn1 ii4 #dbh4 ,the second private captivity of ,durie was accomplished on the principle on which an elector is sometimes abstracted4 ,it was for the purpose of defeating his adverse vote on the bench in a cause then before the court4 ,sir ,walter ,scott mentions the incident in the notes to the ,border ,minstrelsy2 and the reader who remembers his picturesque and spirited narrative may perhaps be amused by seeing how the same event appears in the sober garb of a reporter of decisions4 ,forbes1 in his ,journal of the ,session1 says-- ,some party in a considerable action before the session1 finding the ,lord ,durie could not be persuaded to think his plea good1 fell upon a stratagem to prevent the influence and weight that his lordship might have to his prejudice1 by causing some strong masked men kidnap him in the ,links of ,leith at his diversion on a ,saturday afternoon1 and transport him to some blind and obscure room in the country1 where he was detained captive without the benefit of daylight a matter of three months--though otherwise civilly and well entertained--during which time his lady and children went in mourning for him as dead4 ,but after the cause aforesaid was decided1 the ,lord ,durie was carried back by incognitoes1 and dropped in the same place where he had been taken up4#ac #ac ,forbes's ,journal of the ,session1 preface1 p4 xviii4 ,during the civil wars of the seventeenth century1 the victorious party frequently found it difficult to dispose of their captives4 ,in ,england many of them were sent to the plantations2 and perhaps the idea which this practice communicated to the public1 of the value of captives transported to the colonies1 may have first instigated those acts of kidnapping against which we have found the ,long ,parliament protesting4 ,scotland had no such means of disposing of her prisoners1 whose numbers were frequently very inconvenient4 ,many of them were sent abroad to be soldiers under those continental leaders who were considered on the same side with the victorious party at home2 others were subjected to a sort of slavery in this country2 but wherever their lot might be cast1 their captivity would be very apt to be abbreviated by some revolution in the fortunes of war4 ,a person who preserved accurate notes of political events as they passed under his eye1 kept the following very business-like account of the distribution of the common soldiers taken in the battle in which ,montrose was made prisoner3-- ,tuesday1 #bast ,may #afej4--,this day the two hundred and eighty-one common soldiers taken at ,kerbester1 that were in the ,canongate prison--the house ordains forty of them1 being forced from ,orkney1 and have wife and children1 to be dismissed4 ,the house gives six of them1 being fishers1 to the lieutenant-general2 also other six fishers of them1 given by the parliament to the ,marquis of ,argyle2 and six of them being lusty fellows1 given to ,sir ,james ,hope1 to his lead-mines4 ,the remnant of them the house gives to the ,lord ,angus and ,sir ,robert ,murray1 to recruit the ,french regiments with1 to be transported out of the country to ,france4#ad #ad ,balfour's ,brieffe ,memorials of ,church and ,state1 #ah4 ,it may be questioned if these gifts were very valuable to their receivers1 or if the coerced labour they inferred was worth possessing4 ,certainly so little valuable was the mere human being to the community1 some thirty years afterwards1 that the liberal and patriotic ,fletcher of ,saltoun pleaded hard for the establishment of slavery in ,scotland1 not as a privilege to the aristocracy1 but as a boon to so many thousands of our people who are1 at this day1 dying for want of bread4 ,he saw that sheep and oxen1 being property1 were cared for and kept alive1 and1 by a process of reasoning which he seemed to consider a very natural one1 he thought that he had but to convert his fellow beings into property1 to let them be also cared for4 ,yet1 like all men who conceive social paradoxes1 he was haunted by the shadow1 cast before1 of the revulsion of common sense against his proposal1 and thus anticipated the obloquy it would incur4 ,i doubt not that what ,i have said will meet1 not only with all the misconstruction and obloquy1 but all the disdain1 fury1 and outcries1 of which either ignorant magistrates or proud lazy people are capable4 ,would ,i bring back slavery into the world8 ,shall men of immortal souls1 and by nature equal to any1 be sold as beasts8 ,shall they and their posterity be for ever subjected to the most miserable of all conditions1 the inhuman barbarity of masters1 who may beat1 mutilate1 torture1 starve1 or kill1 so great a number of mankind at pleasure8 ,shall the far greater part of the commonwealth be slaves1 not that the rest may be free1 but tyrants over them8 ,with what face can we oppose the tyranny of princes1 and recommend such tyranny as the highest virtue1 if we make ourselves tyrants over the greatest part of mankind8 ,can any man1 from whom such a thing has escaped1 ever offer to speak for liberty8 ,but they must pardon me if ,i tell them1 that ,i regard not names but things2 and that the misapplication of names has confounded every thing4#ae #ae ,balfour's ,brieffe ,memorials of ,church and ,state1 #ah4 ,his plan of social reorganisation was1 that every man of a certain estate in this nation should be obliged to take a proportional number of the poor1 and employ them in hedging and ditching his grounds1 or any other sort of work1 while the young were to be educated in the knowledge of some mechanical art4 ,here we have one of the earliest undoubted expositions of communism4 ,but ,fletcher called things by their accepted names1 and for ,saint ,simon's industriel and chef1 we have slave and owner2 for ,fourier's ,phalanges we have gangs4 ,nor does the illustrious patriot flinch from describing in their proper harsh colours the coercive means necessary for thus keeping society in fetters4 ,we recommend to ,m4 ,louis ,blanc the passage where he says3--,these things1 when once resolved1 must be executed with great address1 diligence1 and severity2 for that sort of people is so desperately wicked1 such enemies of all work and labour1 and1 which is yet more amazing1 so proud1 in esteeming their own condition above that which they will be sure to call slavery2 that1 unless prevented by the utmost industry and diligence1 upon the first publication of any orders necessary for putting in execution such a design1 they will rather die with hunger in caves and dens1 and murder their young children1 than appear abroad1 to have them and themselves taken into such a kind of service4 ,there is spirit--almost sympathy in this picture of the desperation of savage liberty2 and the enthusiasm with which the lover of his own freedom describes the love of the poor outcasts for theirs1 sounds as if it gave the lie to the sincerity of the project4 ,it seems to have had no supporters4 ,the state of the labour market did not make the possession of human beings a desirable investment1 and landed gentlemen were not anxious to become the owners of their poorer neighbours1 for the general good of the community4 ,kidnappings and deportations for political purposes1 still continued to be occasionally practised4 ,one memorable instance was the far-famed story of ,lady ,grange1 to which we propose to dedicate a separate notice1 in virtue of our having perused some documents with which the world at large does not seem yet to be acquainted4 ,there is little doubt that occasionally a person who showed a disposition to impart dangerous ,jacobite secrets was spirited away to ,france1 to give an account of his views and intentions1 under circumstances in which he might not be so likely to forget the obligations he had incurred to the exiled house4 ,generally speaking1 however1 kidnapping was worthless in a commercial sense2 though ,lovat1 whose actions were scarcely in conformity with any particular social rule1 choosing to have in his service a well-trained ,london footman1 without paying him1 got possession of his person1 and kept it as safe in his own custody at ,castle ,dounie as if he had taken him to ,algiers4 ,it was1 however1 when the ,scottish trade with the plantations began to open up1 soon after the ,union1 that the disgraceful practice of kidnapping and transporting children became prevalent4 ,the power possessed by many of the chiefs1 as independent local judges1 with but a nominal responsibility to the control of the crown or the intervention of the supreme courts1 gave facilities for this traffic1 which poor human nature seems to have been incapable of resisting4 ,the victims were sometimes persons tried and convicted before the hereditary tribunal2 and since they must be punished1 it were pity to allow an opportunity to be lost1 by which the infliction might be turned to the profit of the judge or his friends4 ,thus we find ,lovat1 desirous to propitiate the favour of ,duncan ,forbes1 offering his brother a gift of a few ,strathglass rogues1 clansmen of his next neighbour and hereditary enemy1 whom he had caught in his own domain1 and convicted in his own court4 ,he had at first proposed to send them to ,america2 but1 as they are handsome fellows1 he offers them to ,forbes1 for his nephew's ,dutch regiment4 ,i shall send them to him1 says the accommodating chief1 without any expense in keeping of them2 for ,i will send immediately orders to carry them south with a guard4 ,there is a captain there of ,arthur's regiment1 who will receive them and deliver them to ,arthur2 and ,i'll send him other two ,camerons that are in your prison--tall fellows2 and five such good men will do him more service1 now that the ,dutch expect a war1 than thirty men next season4#af #af ,culloden ,papers1 #aah4 ,it was in reference to such practices that the engineer officer1 who1 while employed in laying out the military roads through the ,highlands1 preserved so many shrewd remarks on the manners of the people1 added the following to his budget3-- ,when any ship in these parts is bound for the ,west ,indies1 to be sure1 a neighbouring chief1 of whom none dares openly to complain1 has several thieves to send prisoners to town4 ,it has been whispered their crimes were only asking their dues1 and such-like offences2 and ,i have been well assured they have been threatened with hanging1 or at least perpetual imprisonment1 to intimidate and force them to sign a contract for their banishment1 which they seldom refused to do1 as knowing there could be no want of witnesses against them1 however innocent they were2 and then they were put on board the ship1 the master paying so much a head for them4 ,thus two purposes were served at once--viz43 the getting rid of troublesome fellows1 and making money of them at the same time4#ag #ag ,burt's ,letters from the ,north of ,scotland1 #eth ,edit41 i4 #ej4 ,but our more immediate concern1 in the present instance1 is with no frightful feudal baron1 presiding over chains and dungeons1 in the mysterious recesses of his own solitary moated tower4 ,the offenders exposed in ,peter ,williamson's history1 were grave1 sober burghers--bailies and town-councillors of one of the most worshipful and respectable corporations in the ,united ,kingdom--men of peace1 staid in their demeanour1 cautious in their walk of life--careful not to rub their smooth1 well-brushed broad-cloth against any impure thing4 ,their proceedings had the fairest and most innocent appearance3 men of industry and business themselves1 keepers of their bonds and engagements1 they were but somewhat rigid in exacting industry and punctual performance of obligations from others4 ,kidnapping1 crimping1 deforcement1 slavery1 were words unknown in their vocabulary1--they did but hire servants3 it was nominally for a period of years1 it might happen to be virtually for life2 it might be to bear the burden1 under a tropical sun1 in the steaming swamps of the ,antillas--still it was a mere contract4 ,they would have been frightened by the name of a slave-ship1 but they meekly acknowledged that they freighted vessels in the servant trade1 with cargoes of boys4 ,for them alone did seethe ,a thousand men in troubles wide and dark3 ,half-ignorant1 they turn'd an easy wheel1 ,that set sharp racks at work to pinch and peel4 ,many years had passed over the guilty traffic1 ere an accident having disturbed the placid surface it assumed to the world1 some men of honour1 courage1 and high station resolved to probe its mysteries2 and discovered that the sleek burgesses1 by their corporate authority1 had been able noiselessly to accomplish as wide and devastating a tyranny as ever had been revealed by the dungeons of some mouldering baronial tower to frighten this world against feudality4 ,peter ,williamson was born at ,hirnley1 in the parish of ,aboyne1 ,aberdeenshire1 the clergyman of which mentions him in the statistical account1 along with the celebrated ,father ,innes1 and ,ross1 the author of the ,fortunate ,shepherdess1 as one of the eminent men connected with his parish4#ah #ah ,new ,statistical ,account1 ,aberdeen1 #ajed4 ,the district1 though situated on the slopes of the higher ,grampians1 has not1 within the reach of history1 been inhabited by ,celts1 and ,williamson's name speaks to his ,saxon origin4 ,he says he was1 if not of rich1 yet of reputable parents2 and they evidently belonged to a poor and frugal1 but independent class1 who may still be found rearing their humble fortunes on those somewhat sterile uplands1 neither as masters nor as servants1 but each independently farming his own croft4 ,one of the witnesses1 examined more than twenty years afterwards1 said he knew ,james ,williamson having a plough going in ,upper ,balnacraig1 to the best of the deponent's remembrance1 and heard he had likewise a plough going in ,hirnley1 when he lived there2 and that he was in such circumstances as to keep his children and his family1 without their being obliged to beg their bread4 ,we take the brief history of his seizure from ,peter's own narrative4 ,i was sent to live with an aunt at ,aberdeen1 where1 at eight years of age1 playing on the quay1 with others of my companions1 being of a stout1 robust constitution1 ,i was taken notice of by two fellows belonging to a vessel in the harbour1 employed 7as the trade then was7 by some of the worthy merchants of the town1 in that villanous and execrable practice called kidnapping2 that is1 stealing young children from their parents1 and selling them as slaves in the plantations abroad4 ,being marked out by those monsters of iniquity as their prey1 ,i was easily cajoled aboard the ship by them1 where ,i was no sooner got1 than they conducted me between the decks1 to some others they had kidnapped in the same manner4 ,at that time ,i had no sense of the fate that was destined for me1 and spent the time in childish amusements with my fellow-sufferers in the steerage1 being never suffered to go upon deck while the vessel lay in the harbour1 which was till such a time as they had got in their loading1 with a complement of unhappy youths for carrying on their wicked commerce4#ai #ai ,life and various ,vicissitudes of ,peter ,williamson4 ,we shall take our further notices of this occurrence from a very different source--a huge bundle of papers1 chiefly printed1 consisting of the documents connected with the long train of litigation in which ,williamson was subsequently involved1 owing to the publication of the passage we have just cited4 ,the papers consist of pleadings1 accounts1 letters1 and the testimonies of witnesses--a sort of mass in which it is clear from the beginning that one cannot fail to find curious things by boring holes through it here and there4 ,we are not aware that this valuable source of information about the manners of the place and period has ever been heretofore applied to literary uses1 with the exception of some references made to it1 in a curious and very able compendium of provincial lore1 called ,the ,book of ,bon ,accord1 or a guide to the city of ,aberdeen2 a work which1 like ,tooke's diversions of ,purley1 not unknown to collectors of juvenile circulating libraries1 appears to have been christened with some peculiar object of hiding the learning and ingenuity of its contents under a frivolous exterior4 ,at the time when legal investigations were commenced1 ,williamson was a man in middle life1 who had gone through adventures and vicissitudes enough for a century of ordinary human existence4 ,the first step was to identify the trained travelled man with the poor boy who had mysteriously disappeared from the streets of ,aberdeen2 and the next to prove the act of kidnapping4 ,several witnesses remembered ,williamson2 he was described by them as a rough1 ragged1 bumble-headed1 long1 stourie clever boy1 by which is meant a growthy boy2 and a stout1 clever1 rough loon1 and very ill to guide1 and very ragged till he got clothes4 ,a neighbour of the old crofter said he believed1 upwards of four years before the battle of ,culloden1 it was the general report of the country1 that when the said ,peter ,williamson was a little boy going with a clipped head1 he was taken at ,aberdeen1 and carried to ,philadelphia with several other boys4 ,he remembered conversations with the youth's father1 who complained that he came into ,aberdeen seeking his son ,peter1 but they would not let him near hand him2 that his son ,peter was in a barn in ,aberdeen1 and they would not let him speak with him2 and1 that the merchants in ,aberdeen had carried away his son to ,philadelphia1 and sold him for a slave--observing1 that it was commonly rumoured that several merchants there1 whom he named1 did deal in that way of carrying away boys2 and he concluded by saying he saw the father shed many salt tears on that account4 ,the session clerk1 who had been at ,peter's baptism1 recognised him when he saw him1 as the same identical ,peter ,williamson at whose baptism he had been present1 and confirmed the story of his father's having attempted in vain to get access to him in the barn1 characterising the old man's lamentation as very sore and grievous4 ,mr ,fraser of ,findrac1 a neighbouring proprietor1 knew several of ,james ,williamson's children1 and had heard it was the practice of some of the merchants of ,aberdeen to kidnap young children1 and send them to the plantations to be sold as slaves4 ,he heard in the country that the said ,james ,williamson or his wife had gone into ,aberdeen1 and one of their sons called ,peter ,williamson had followed2 and that ,james ,smith1 saddler in ,aberdeen1 had picked up the said ,peter2 and the deponent heard he was either put in prison1 or put on board a ship1 till the ship sailed2 it was the voice of the county that ,james ,williamson and his wife regretted1 or made a clamour for the loss of their son1 not knowing what was become of him4 ,the investigation brought to light some other cases1 and gradually opened up the whole mystery of iniquity4 ,one old woman1 the miller's widow1 who remembered that ,peter was sent into ,aberdeen1 to be under his aunts1 his mother being dead1 and that soon thereafter he was missing1 said that in the parish of ,aboyne they were generally afraid to send their boys on errands to ,aberdeen1 for fear they should be carried off4 ,some witnesses remembered having in their youth made marvellous escapes2 and ,alexander ,grigson1 domestic at ,aboyne ,castle1 had a story to tell1 that about twenty years ago1 he and another boy were coming from the mill of ,crathie1 where they had been seeking their meat2 and near to a birch wood1 near to the ,kirk of ,crathy1 three countrymen on horseback came up with them1 but the deponent knew none of them2 and they asked him and the other boy that was along with him1 if they would go with them1 and they would clothe them like gentlemen2 but the deponent being elder than the other boy1 made answer that they would not go along with them1 for it struck the deponent in the head that perhaps he and the other boy were to be carried abroad1 in respect a rumour prevailed in the country that young boys were carried abroad at that time4 ,the men threatened force2 and the boys1 who could not fail then to have the blackest notions of their intentions1 took to their heels while the kidnappers were tying their horses1 and defied discovery in the recesses of the old forest of ,mar1 which1 fortunately for them1 skirted the road4 ,this incident may have been a trick to frighten two country lads4 ,another1 recorded by a chairman in ,edinburgh1 has a more business-like appearance4 ,in the year #agbh or #agbi1 he went to ,aberdeen to see an uncle and an aunt1 who lived there2 and whilst he was there he was carried up to a house by a person whom he did not know1 where he got a dram and a piece of biscuit1 and was promised a new coat and great encouragement1 if he would agree to go over to ,america with the other lads that were engaged to go there2 that he signified his willingness to agree to the proposal2 that upon this he was desired to go and come back to his breakfast again2 but when he told this to some of the countrymen of his acquaintance1 they told him that he was a fool1 for he would be sold to the blacks1 and they would eat him2 that upon this he resolved immediately to leave the town1 which he did4 ,it appeared that those who endeavoured to recover their children were threatened with coercive measures2 and the poor people seem to have been impressed with the conviction1 that they were in the hands of an overwhelming power1 with which it would be vain to contend4 ,thus one individual1 having recovered possession of his son1 met the captain of the transport vessel in the street1 who bade him send back the youth1 otherwise he might expect unpleasant consequences4 ,therefore he promised and engaged to return his said son1 which he accordingly did4 ,depones1 that if he could have hindered his son from going to ,america he would have done it2 and if he had known as much then as he does now1 he would have done it4 ,depones1 that before he promised to return his son to the said ship as above1 he was himself threatened to be put into the ,tolbooth4 ,the line of defence adopted by the kidnappers was1 that no one was forced1 in the first instance2 that each boy was the object of a distinct agreement1 either with his parents or with himself2 and the subsequent coercion employed towards them1 which could not be denied1 was thus interpreted to be a judicious protection by the employers of the property they had fairly acquired4 ,but the very evidence given by their own emissaries--almost every sentence bearing in its bosom a general assurance that nothing illegal was done--is quite sufficient in the description of minute facts to support1 if not confirm1 the darkest suspicions4 ,thus one of the crimps1 desiring to excite some feeling against the exiles1 as a graceless inconsiderate class1 unworthy of sympathy1 said that such persons1 whether boys or older people1 whom the deponent engaged to go to ,america on board the said ship1 the ,planter1 after they had been--some four1 some five1 some six weeks clothed and maintained by him at the expense of his employers1 were endeavouring to desert and run away1 and were tampered with1 or decoyed to engage or take on with other people in the town of ,aberdeen1 who were1 at the very same time1 engaging and indenting servants to ,america2 and1 in order to prevent their being so decoyed1 the older people so engaged by the deponent were put in prison1 and the younger people were put into the workhouse or poor's hospital4 ,there was1 it seems1 much competition in the trade2 and1 at the same time1 the live commodity had a propensity to remove itself from the custody of its owners4 ,thus might the employment be termed a doubly hazardous one2 and a certain scrupulous citizen1 who had grave doubts about the propriety of joining the speculation1 though he wished to be a part-owner of the ship in which it was conducted1 gave this account of his hesitation3 ,having been informed that servants had been indented by ,ragg and his owners to go on board of his said ship to ,america1 and the deponent not inclining to be concerned in that servant trade1 proposed to ,ragg to hold a share of the ship if he was to have no concern of that adventure of the servants1 as he was an utter stranger to any merchandise or trade in that way2 to which ,robert ,ragg said1 that he could not have any concern with the ship without having a concern in the servants1 which made him break up any farther communing with ,ragg about the matter4 ,but this witness was an instance of the instability of good resolutions3 he was strongly pressed by friends for whom he had a high esteem2 the profits and advantages of the undertaking--but that1 of course1 was a secondary matter--were largely spoken of in support of these importunities1 to hold a share in the same way as the other owners had done1 as well in the adventure of the servants as in the ship1--to which importunities the deponent at last yielded4 ,not less tell-tale is a letter by the captain of the vessel1 written in a spirit of honest indignation to one of the parties involved in the legal proceedings4 ,dear ,sir1--,i am favoured with yours of the #bhth ,september1 and am sorry you are put to trouble about one ,williamson4 ,i do not remember any of that name that went out in the ,planter1 and am certain1 if he is not mentioned in the account of what was got for the servants' indentures1 that is to say1 of course1 for the sale of the 'servants' themselves1 if even he was ever indented1 he must have run away at ,aberdeen1 or at ,cape ,may1 where the ship was lost3 and ,i am sure there was no servant in that ship but what was legally attested before they went from ,aberdeen4 ,i cannot tell if any register is kept at ,philadelphia of the sale of servants1 but ,i imagine not4 ,these admissions1 that the servants required coercion2 that they were confined in the public prison and other convenient places2 and that they were sold1 are of course1 amply confirmed by the witnesses on the other side4 ,a witness1 ,william ,jamieson1 had a pathetic little history of his own to tell4 ,he lived in the village of ,old ,meldrum1 in the year #agdj1 and he had then a son ,john1 between ten and eleven years old4 ,one evening his boy did not come home2 and in the course of his anxious inquiries1 next day1 about the missing youth1 he was told by some neighbours1 that they saw a man1 whom they said was a servant to ,john ,burnet1 late merchant in ,aberdeen1 who was commonly called ,bonny ,john1 with the deponent's said son1 and two other boys1 much about the same age1 travelling towards ,aberdeen1 and that his son would be sent to the plantations4 ,the kind of alarm that would be conveyed to the father's heart by such an intimation1 may be imagined2 and the poor villager1 surrounded by people among whom a dread of this species of kidnapping had become a panic1 would be little relieved from his anxieties1 by hearing the neighbours describe the horrors of the slavery to which such of their offspring as underwent the calamity of capture were subjected1 and lament their utter feebleness to resist the strong hand1 fortified by law and authority1 by which the injury was perpetrated4 ,jamieson1 however1 resolved to make an effort for his son4 ,he went presently to ,aberdeen1 and saw ,burnet1 who apparently transacted too large a business in the servant trade1 to be conscious of so small an item in the account as the villager's son1 and told him that he had several boys1 but did not know whether the deponent's son was amongst them2 but said1 though he was1 the deponent would not get him back1 because he was engaged with him4 ,the deponent--a word which in ,scotland is the technical term for witness2 we are sorry that it is necessary to use it so often1 but we cannot help it--after his interview with the great kidnapper1 wandered along the broad links or downs on the sea-shore1 where he had been informed the boys were out getting the air4 ,there he observed a great number of boys--he thinks about sixty3 that they were attended by a man who1 the deponent was informed by the people of the town1 was employed for the purpose by the said ,john ,burnet2 that this man had a horsewhip1 and the deponent observed him striking the boys therewith1 when they went out of the crowd4 ,the poor man saw his own boy ,john in the little herd1 and joyfully hailed him4 ,the boy1 by a natural impulse1 ran to his father1 and said he would gladly follow him home if he dared4 ,immediately upon this1 the person who was ,mr ,burnet's overseer1 came up and gave the boy a lash with his whip1 and took him by the shoulder and carried him amongst the rest1 and immediately drove them off4 ,the father kept company with the procession1 and thus describes its progress4 ,when the boys were marching up to the barn1 the deponent kept pace with the overseer1 who followed immediately after the boys1 entreating of him to get liberty to speak to his son2 who answered him that he should get leave to speak to him by-and-by1 when they were come to the barn2 but when they came there the overseer locked the door1 and refused the deponent access2 that he never saw his son after this4 ,that the deponent in passing through the town of ,aberdeen1 after his son was so locked up from him1 was told by several tradespeople1 and others to whom he had told the story of his son1 that it would be in vain for him to apply to the magistrates to get his son liberated1 because some of the magistrates had a hand in those things1 as well as the said ,john ,burnet2 upon which the deponent went home4 ,a very characteristic record of these transactions still remained in the books and accounts of the parties implicated4 ,among these documents1 one of the witnesses1 denominated ,walter ,scott1 writer to the signet1 produces the ship book1 apparently the same which some of the witnesses more descriptively call the kidnapping book4 ,it is needless to say whose father it was who possessed this curious document4 ,the investigation occurred in #agfb--nine years before the birth of ,sir ,walter2 and it was perhaps one of the last ideas that would have ever occurred to his respectable parent1 that it was worth while communicating to his offspring any information from a mere merchant's account book1 which had been placed in his hands in the usual routine of his business1 and probably afterwards forgotten4 ,yet what a lively history might have been woven out of its dry materials1 had it remained among the other lumber in ,george ,square1 to be rummaged out by the lame boy6 ,mr ,scott was the agent for the kidnappers4 ,it is satisfactory to observe that he appears to have been too honest an agent for their purposes2 for we find that he transmitted to them this book by post1 in order that it might be exhibited in the course of the arbitration1 to which we shall hereafter allude2 but his employers knew their own interest too well to produce it1 until they were subsequently compelled to do so4 ,the extracts from the books transferred to the papers before us1 are of course those only which have some reference to the case of ,peter ,williamson2 thus-- ,jan4 #h1 #agdc4 ,to a pair of stockings s4 d4 to ,peter ,williamson #j #f ,to a woollen cap to ditto #j #e #ac1 ,to five days of ditto #a #c ,and a more emphatical entry-- ,to the man that brought ,williamson #a #f ,listing appears to have been the slang1 or1 more properly speaking1 the business term for kidnapping1 and the price of the operation passes through a scale of sums1 graduated probably to the difficulty of the task4 ,thus1 while ,williamson was procured for #as4 #f;d41 there is an entry ,to a ,serjeant for listing ,mackie1 #es42 while on the other hand1 there is only #as4 #d;d4 to ,lighton and a soldier for listing ,robert ,paterson4 ,there is one sweeping charge of a guinea1 to ,maclean1 sent to the country to list servants1--amount of business done not stated1 but it must have been considerable1 as there are occasional entries of cash sent to the country to ,maclean4 ,sometimes sums are entered as paid to the parties themselves--as #es4 to ,margaret ,robertson1 when listed2 yet this can scarcely have been a voluntary operation on ,margaret's part1 as the immediate succeeding item is #as4 #f;d4 to the wright on board and one of the boys for listing her4 ,five shillings are entered as to two soldiers for listing ,allardyce4 ,he must have been a difficult boy to catch1 as there is a further entry of #bs41 as cash they spent with him4 ,this item introduces us to a dark feature in the expenditure of the kidnappers1--the sums that appear to have been spent by them in vicious indulgences to their young captives1 to prevent the tedium of their imprisonment1 from driving them to desperate efforts for their escape4 ,we have thus1--to the boys to play at cards1 #as42 and in another place1 to the boys to drink1 when put in the workhouse1 #as42 to six packs of cards to them1 #i;d4 ,it is almost a relief in the perusal of these heartless business-like columns--every red line of which has the hard outline of premeditated cruelty--to read of #as4 #f;d4 being paid to the piper for playing in the workhouse two days4 ,but in the neighbourhood of this1 there are some entries which we dare not copy4 ,there is a candid explicitness about these accounts1 which we must confess that we have not sufficient virtuous courage to imitate1 by transferring to our columns some charges1 of which we would yet fain give our readers an idea4 ,the person who kept the books no doubt called a spade a spade2 and1 indeed1 he bestowed on many other things their ordinary vulgar nomenclature4 ,we tremble in approaching his most explicit declarations2 we almost fear reproach in offering to the reader an extract of an item1 in which he has been very decorous1 considering the subject2 but such an item6 who shall explain its meaning8 ,here it is--,to ,colonel ,horsie for his concubine1 #a6 ,some entries referring to the boys in the ,tolbooth1 or1 more briefly1 the prisoners1 remind us1 were this necessary1 that these accounts related to persons kept in bondage4 ,other parts indicate the comprehensive nature of the business done in the servant trade4 ,thus1 on the #abth of ,may1 there is a charge of #gs4 #f;d4 to three days' board of ten servants from the ,tolbooth2 and on the same day1 to five days' board of thirty-four servants1 #b1 #bs4 #f;d4 ,the latter number is frequently repeated in the account1 and probably represents the stock of one considerable holder4 ,it was estimated by the witnesses that sixty-nine were transported in one cargo in #agdc2 and when1 says a writer already alluded to1 it is considered that the trade was carried on to an equal extent for nearly six years1 it is impossible to estimate the number of unhappy beings carried off at less than six hundred4#bj #bj ,book of ,bon ,accord1 #ij4 ,we have endeavoured in our account of these transactions to be sternly and rigidly prosaic1--perhaps our readers may think we have no great merit in accomplishing such a resolution1 but we also take merit for having adhered to the facts attested with impartial accuracy4 ,to afford some relief to the plainness of our detail1 we shall wind it up by treating the reader to a part of the eloquent and denunciatory exordium of ,williamson's counsel1 ,maclaurin1 brother of the great mathematician4 ,persons of every character1 sex1 and age1 were kidnapped1--men1 women1 half-grown lads1 and infants1 some of them not above six years old4 ,the whole country was in terror and consternation1 afraid to let their children go near ,aberdeen1 and trembling for fear of a kidnapping excursion from that place4 ,the unfortunate creatures that had been wheedled or pressed into the service1 were at first confined in a barn or workhouse1 where they had a piper to play to them1 and cards allowed them1 in order to hinder them to think1 or meditate their escape2 but that they soon attempted1 and one or two of them with success2 upon which the rest were shut up in the ,tolbooth4 ,during their confinement1 the parents and other relations of those who had been enticed or forced away1 flocked to ,aberdeen in hopes of effectuating their release1--hopes which they would never have entertained had they reflected that the town-clerk and one of the bailies were deeply interested to thwart them4 ,accordingly1 no entreaties or solicitations availed2 and those who seemed too importunate were threatened themselves with banishment1 incarceration1 and other distress4 ,it will readily occur that it is much easier to imagine than describe the scenes which it is in proof ensued2 for nothing more piteous and moving can well be figured than to see fathers and mothers running frantic through the streets1 crowding to the doors and windows where their children were imprisoned1 there giving them their blessing1 taking farewell of them for ever1 and departing in anguish and despair1 imprecating curses upon those who were the authors of their misery4 ,so much for the first step1--the catching of the prey4 ,we have some farther testimony to the judicious strictness with which the worshipful merchants protected their property after it was stowed away2 but we do not hear that their cargo of young lads1 as one of them calls it in a confidential letter1 was insured4 ,william ,wilson1 one of the sailors1 testified1 however1--that there were several men in the ship besides the sailors1 and also several boys and girls2 that he saw these boys and girls put on board2 that they were brought to the ship in a boat1 and were guarded by a number of porters from ,aberdeen1 who continued to guard them all night till the ship sailed1 going home always in the morning and returning at night2 that during the day they were guarded by the ship's crew1 the one half of whom did the duty of the ship1 and the other half took care of the boys and girls1 notwithstanding whereof two of them made their escape4 ,some of these boys appeared to the deponent to be about fourteen years of age1 some to be about sixteen or eighteen1 and others not to exceed ten or twelve years of age2 that after the boys were put on board1 the hatches of the ship were put down and locked every night1 both while the ship continued in the harbour of ,aberdeen1 and afterwards when she was at sea4 ,it will naturally occur to the reader1 that though the magistrates and other public officers of a corporation might combine together to perpetrate such acts1 they could not carry their authority across the ,atlantic1 or compel the governors of the foreign possessions of the crown to acknowledge the brand of slavery they had set upon their captives4 ,this naturally suggested itself to us from the beginning1 as throwing a doubt over the essential movements of the transaction2 but it was speedily cleared away by discoveries very creditable to the ingenuity1 if to no other quality1 of these astute burgesses4 ,every captive was indented in the presence of a magistrate1--the captor himself1 of course1 or some other person engaged in the servant trade--and that for a limited number of years4 ,the indenture was certified and transmitted to the place of destination4 ,this expedient brought each captive within the colonial code1 which applied very rigorous rules to indented emigrants1--rules which virtually placed them in the category of slaves4 ,these harsh regulations were justified by the circumstance that the class generally consisted of convicts--indenture being the form in which criminals obtained the alternative of transportation as a mitigation of some more dreaded punishment4 ,when the emigrant arrived at ,virginia1 the ceremony by which he was sold was an assignment of his indenture4 ,this could1 of course1 only convey a right to the labour of his body for a limited period2 but as the convict emigrants required to be under a very potent discipline1 powers were put into the hands of the planters by which they were enabled to protract the indented period2 and ,williamson himself describes with apparent accuracy1--the children sent off and sold1 no doubt to cruel masters1 whose ill treatment obliges them often-times to elope to avoid slavery2 and as there is no probability of making their escape1 as they are always taken and brought back1 and for every day they are away from their master they serve a week1 and for every week a month1 and for every month a year2 besides obliged to pay all costs and charges that is advertised for apprehending them1 which will probably bring him in a slave for four or five years longer at least4 ,we shall now1 in the briefest shape1 give an outline of ,williamson's adventures1 as detailed by himself1 between his removal from the country1 and his return to vex his oppressors with multiform litigation4 ,the vessel stranded on a sand bank at the mouth of the ,delaware1 and was for some time deserted by its crew1 the cargo of boys being left to an anticipated fate1 which ,williamson says he often in his subsequent miseries wished had really overtaken them4 ,being afterwards taken on shore1 they were relieved by a vessel sailing to ,philadelphia1 where they were sold at about #af per head4 ,what became of my unhappy companions1 says ,williamson1 ,i never knew2 but it was my lot to be sold to one of my countrymen1 whose name was ,hugh ,wilson1 a ,north ,briton1 for the term of seven years1 who had in youth undergone the same fate as myself4444 ,happy was my lot in falling into my countryman's power1 as he was1 contrary to many others of his calling1 a humane1 worthy1 honest man4 ,having no children of his own1 and commiserating my unhappy condition1 he took care of me until ,i was fit for business4 ,he was allowed by his indulgent master occasionally to attend a school1 where he picked up some crumbs of education2 and finally1 at the age of seventeen1 he became the old gentleman's heir4 ,after a few vagrant years he married1 and settled as a substantial planter near the forks of the ,delaware4 ,he was in a place much exposed to the inroads of the ,french ,indians1 who1 he tells us1 in the spirit of the military profession to which he was subsequently attached1 generally appeared in small skulking parties1 with yellings1 shoutings1 and antic postures1 instead of trumpets and drums4 ,in one of these inroads they burned his comfortable dwelling and substantial steadings1 and carried him off captive4 ,all the world knows what is conveyed in the simple statement of such a fact2 and ,williamson's description of the tortures he underwent impart little additional horror to the simple announcement of his seizure4 ,it is possible to discern people's nature in their own account of their actions2 and not unfrequently do we see the brave man in the description of dangers avoided1 as we do the poltroon in the exaggerated account of those courted and overcome4 ,williamson's narrative conveys the irresistible impression that he was a man of eminently firm nerve1 undying hope1 and unconquerable energy--such a character as the ,indian tribe would respect1 and1 after a sufficient trial1 desire to incorporate with itself4 ,hence1 while others are slowly slaughtered1 ,williamson is still permitted to live1 struggle1 and endure4 ,in the difference between his own trials1 terrible as they were1 and the ignominious brutalities heaped on a poor fellow captive1 who met his fate with gentleness1 prayers1 and weeping1 we see the indication of the savage respect paid to the unbroken spirit of the ,aberdonian1 whose body they might rend inch by inch1 but whose spirit remained firm and impenetrable as his native granite4 ,at length1 after several months of wandering1 he made his escape2 and the manner in which he did so was in keeping with his resolute spirit4 ,he planned no stratagems1 and consulted no confederates1 but fled outright2 and1 though naked1 emaciated1 and ignorant of the country1 defeated his pursuers by sheer fleetness of foot and endurance of fatigue4 ,profusely bleeding--without even such a verdant show of clothing as ,ulysses endowed himself with when he met ,nausica--emaciated to the last extremity1 he somewhat astonished and also alarmed a female neighbour by an unceremonious morning call1 dropping exhausted on the floor ere he could communicate or receive intelligence4 ,little need had he too speedily to recover his faculties2 the first news he heard was that his broken-hearted wife had not long survived the calamity of his capture4 ,he seems to have now acquired a decided taste for vagrant habits1 mingled with a spirit of vindictive animosity towards the ,indians1 against whom he records several exterminating onsets with a sort of horrible relish4 ,he enlisted himself as a soldier4 ,but ,american warfare then allowed a far wider latitude for varied military operations than the ordinary experience of the ranks3 and sometimes he was an ,indian warrior1 patiently unravelling and following up a trail2 at another time we find him commanding a detachment of colonists as one versed in the native mode of fighting1 with the rank and emoluments of a lieutenant4 ,in his little book he details his various military adventures with much spirit and apparent truthfulness4 ,we have from his pen a description of one enterprise1 which is a little romance in itself4 ,a lover1 hearing that the home of the object of his affections has been desolated1 and his beloved carried off by a band of one of the most formidable of the tribes of predatory ,indians1 in his frantic zeal raises a party of adventurers1 with whom he tracks their path4 ,he arrives just in time to save the damsel from the worst horrors of such a fate1 and the marauders are put to the sword4 ,the whole narrative has an animation and interest not unworthy of ,cooper1 who appears to have been acquainted with ,williamson's book1 and may not improbably have derived from it a part of his information about the military operations of ,vaudreuil and ,montcalm with the ,indians in the ,french interest4 ,williamson was indeed a captive at that capitulation of ,oswego which has cast so deep a stain on the honour of this commander1 and he was soon afterwards sent to ,england as an exchanged prisoner4 ,he complains that1 on his voyage1 though the ,french behaved with a good deal of politeness1 we were almost starved for want of provisions4 ,he arrived at ,plymouth in ,november #agfe1 and1 owing to a severe wound in one of his hands1 was discharged as incapable of farther service4 ,no longer able to apply his energies to ,indian warfare1 he looked around him for that employment which in his native country would best supply its place1 and found it to be--literature4 ,he published ,a ,brief ,account of the ,war in ,north ,america1 showing the principal causes of our former miscarriages2 as also the necessity and advantage of keeping ,canada1 and maintaining a friendly correspondence with the ,indians4 ,this pamphlet is dated in #agfj2 and we here mention it1 that we may not allow it to interrupt the narrative of the somewhat momentous consequences of a little book which he published two years later1 with the title ,french and ,indian cruelty exemplified1 in the ,life and various ,vicissitudes of fortune of ,peter ,williamson3 containing a particular account of the manners1 customs1 and dress1 of the savages2 of their scalping1 burning1 and other barbarities committed on the ,english in ,north ,america1 c41 c4 ,mr ,williamson was somewhat prolix in his title pages1 and we cannot inflict the whole of this one on the reader4 ,it was dedicated1 with considerable sagacity1 to ,william ,pitt4 ,in the frontispiece there is a full-length portrait of ,mr ,peter ,williamson1 in the dress of a ,delaware ,indian4 ,much as ,catlin's book and other works have tended to make us acquainted of late with ,indian customs1 the drapery of this portrait carries with it a decided appearance of accuracy1 and attention to detail4 ,the face is probably a likeness4 ,divest it of the feathered head-gear1 it is that of a hard-featured inhabitant of the north-east coast1 somewhat impregnated with an air of fierceness and excitement4 ,contemplate the entire figure3 it is certainly a very fair representation of the ,indian1 such as we have seen him in the few importations exhibited in this country4 ,for several years this representation was one of the main attractions of the booksellers' windows in ,scotland2 and many an infant has the careless parent or ignorant nurse frightened into constitutional nervousness1 by the intimation that the wild man1 whose picture had been seen during the morning walks1 would appear to the infant in the dark1 and visit his misdeeds with some mysterious punishment4 ,besides the occupation of the literary man1 ,williamson pursued that of the actor4 ,during the day he sat behind a stall1 vending his account of his adventures--in the evening he rehearsed them in the largest room of some popular tavern2 where1 like ,catlin1 he made the people acquainted with the costume and habits of the people1 of whom he had acquired that acute experience which boys are said to have obtained of the boundary marks where they have been whipped4 ,in a moment of infatuation1 the magistrates of ,aberdeen1 finding that the interest attached to ,williamson's narrative and exhibitions subjected them to unpleasant reflections1 resolved to punish him4 ,he had migrated northwards1 creating a little public curiosity and wonder wherever he went1 until1 on reaching his native city1 he was brought before the magistrates1 charged with a libel on the community1 contained in that passage descriptive of his seizure on the pier of ,aberdeen1 which has been already quoted4 ,the magistrates1 being at once the prosecutors and the judges1 had little difficulty in committing him2 and he was thus very roughly awakened from a dream in which he began to think himself happy in having endured these misfortunes1 a recital of which promised to put him in a more prosperous situation than he had ever hoped for4 ,the stock in hand of his books1 amounting to three hundred and fifty copies1 was seized and burned in the market-place by the common hangman1 and he was committed to prison until he should sign a recantation of the passage containing the account of the kidnapping4 ,the mind that bore up against the fiercest cruelties of the savages1 seems to have bowed before these judicial terrors4 ,in the centre of the torturing hordes1 without a civilised eye to look on him1 he acquired the stern virtues of those on whom he looked-- ,impassive1 fearing but the shame of fear1 ,a stoic of the woods1 a man without a tear4 ,among his own people1 beneath the shield of ,british justice1 with a public to whom oppression never appeals in vain he sank unmanned2 and in utter prostration of spirit he signed the recantation in the terms in which it was desired1 and marched out of prison a heartbroken and ruined man4 ,but the cup of the iniquities of his oppressors was now full1 and their hour of retribution was at hand4 ,the blow dealt against them was not so severe as injured justice might have required1 but it was dealt with an ignominious scorn that made compensation for its want of severity4 ,there were at that time many men of high spirit and great attainments in the ,scottish bar4 ,they knew that the age they belonged to was one1 in which the safety of the public liberties was intimately allied with the independence of the bar4 ,it was not an uncommon practice for a few of the ablest and most popular advocates to unite together in vindication of the victim of some formidable system of oppression2 and1 fortunately for ,williamson1 his case attracted their generous interest4 ,andrew ,crosbie1 the prototype of ,scott's ,pleydell1 threw his whole energies1 and they were not small1 into this cause4 ,the pleadings at our bar at that time were full of philosophy1 general declamation1 and poetry2 and we have before us some papers from ,crosbie's pen which are brilliant and pleasing specimens of this class of forensic rhetoric4 ,at the present day the rhetoric of the law appeals only to the jury1 and in the shape of vocal oratory4 ,in the days of our grandfathers it was addressed to the learned bench1 and was embodied in carefully prepared written pleadings4 ,the intellectual rank of the audience to be influenced1 and the medium of communication1 would thus naturally invest the pleadings of these old lawyers with a literary turn1 not equalled in the corresponding productions of this age4 ,so we find that ,crosbie bursts open the case with these well-turned periods3-- ,that liberty which the constitution of this country considers as its favourite object1 is the result of the due equipoise which our law has established between the authority of magistrates and the rights of the people4 ,as the relative duties of society must be enforced by the magistrate1 and compliance with the laws exacted from the citizens by means of his authority1 all the power that is necessary for these salutary purposes is bestowed upon him2 and1 in the due execution of it1 he is not only entitled to the protection of the law1 but is an object of its veneration4 ,yet the same principles that have thus armed him with authority1 for the benefit of society1 have wisely imposed on him a restraint from abusing it4 ,the result of these proceedings was1 that1 in #agfb1 the ,court unanimously awarded to ,williamson damages to the extent of #ajj2 and it was declared that1 for this sum as well as #hj of costs1 the guilty individuals should be personally liable1 and that the same shall be no burden upon the town of ,aberdeen4 ,a corporation is a sort of ideal object2 it has no personality2 it has been pronounced1 by a high authority1 to have no conscience2 it has just one reality about it--it has a purse4 ,into this purse its members may have been accustomed1 from time to time1 to dip for the deeds done by them in the flesh--that is1 in their corporeal1 not their corporate capacity4 ,perhaps the law1 in countenancing this arrangement1 considered that the members of a corporation must be so essentially wound up in its interests1 that parting with the money of the corporation--that is1 with the money of the public--was as great a punishment for their own individual delicts as parting with their own4 ,be this as it may1 the ,court decreed that1 on this occasion1 the public of ,aberdeen should not pay for the outrage inflicted on ,williamson4 ,now let us behold the ingenuity with which these worshipful gentlemen baffled the ,court1 and made the public pay after all4 ,there were certain dues collected by the magistrates1 as deputies of the ,lord ,high ,admiral of the ,coast4 ,it appears that this high official might have applied the sums so levied to his own use1 but he had ceased for some considerable time to exact them1 and1 by consuetude1 they had been added to the revenues of the corporation4 ,now1 if the ,lord ,high ,admiral had set covetous eyes on this fund1 to apply it to his own domestic purposes1 the act might have been considered one of unutterable meanness--perhaps the corporation would have resisted it4 ,but1 on the other hand1 to demand a portion of this money1 and use it for getting the members of the corporation out of a scrape1 was a highly public-spirited act4 ,the ,high ,admiral assigned #ahj from this fund1 to pay the damages and costs to ,williamson3#ba it need not be said1 that of course this application was suggested to him by persons who had the best reason to believe that the corporation would not resist it1 and that all the business arrangements for his operation on the fund were simplified to his hand4 #ba ,kennedy's ,annals of ,aberdeen1 i4 #bif4 ,having been so far successful1 ,williamson1 who seems to have had an insuperable objection to half-measures1 raised an action of damages against his kidnappers4 ,it has been asserted1 though we do not know on what authority1 that the ,crown was desirous to institute criminal proceedings against them1 but that they were protected by a clause of indemnity in some act of parliament4 ,williamson boldly laid his damages at #ajjj4 ,his perseverance drove his adversaries to a series of extraordinary1 and in this country1 fortunately1 unprecedented measures4 ,they persuaded ,williamson that it would be for the mutual advantage of the parties to have the matter settled by arbitration1 without the costly intervention of the ,court of ,session4 ,he adopted the advice1 and the decision fell to be given by ,james ,forbes of ,shiels1 ,sheriff-,substitute of ,aberdeenshire1 acting as oversman4 ,we are introduced to this gentleman's convivial character in a most startling manner1 by the statement of counsel that the ,sheriff's mother1 ,lady ,shiels1 died about the #dth of ,november1 and there can be no doubt that he would get a hearty dose at her burial4 ,it was accordingly on that occasion that the worthy judge appears to have commenced a series of potations1 under the pressure of which he speedily followed his parent to the grave4 ,williamson's affair came through his hands in the very climax of his convivial fit2 and both parties seem to have considered it their duty to minister assiduously to these furious cravings1 which ever cried with the ,cyclop 4 ,williamson was not backward in contributing to the ,sheriff's conviviality4 ,his own account of his motives was1 that knowing ,forbes to be prepared to decide unfairly1 he wished to keep him so hard at his beloved pursuit of drinking1 that he should have no opportunity of exercising his other avocation of judging4 ,accordingly1 he employed a friend to tenchel and drink the ,sheriff--or1 as it is elsewhere expressed1 to drink him hard2 in fact1 the operation is talked of quite in an abbreviated and technical form1 as a common proceeding in the way of business in the ,sheriff ,court4 ,the drouthy crony who performed this duty seems to have taken to it with the same disinterested zeal1 with which ,kean sat up three nights drinking with a friend under depression1 for the purpose of keeping up his spirits4 ,the favoured individual must have felt his task coming light to his hands1 when he found the ,sheriff in a tavern busy at hot punch about eleven o'clock forenoon4 ,an attempt was made on him by the enemy1 but ,williamson and his drinking assistant carried him off in triumph to the ,new ,inn to dinner1 where1 however1 they were obliged to submit to the presence of the other party1 who held a hospitable competition with them in plying the ,sheriff with the liquor which he loved4 ,here they all sat close drinking1 as is the phrase in that part of the country1 helter skelter--that is1 copiously and alternately of different liquors--till #aa o'clock at night1 when ,forbes1 by this time dead-drunk1 was conveyed home by his two servant maids1 with the assistance of ,george ,williamson1 ,gerard1 and the ,pursuer4 ,this is the counsel's history of the day1 and that it is not an exaggerated one1 we may infer from an average quotation from the evidence3 one of the witnesses thus concludes his narrative3-- ,depones1 that from four o'clock in the afternoon to eleven o'clock that night1 they all drunk what they call in ,aberdeenshire ,helter ,skelter1 alternately of different liquors1 and plentifully1 in such a way that the ,sheriff in particular was very drunk1 and the deponent himself was also drunk4 ,that the ,sheriff's two servant maids came for him with a lantern to carry him home1 and came into the room where the company was1 and staid there some time--fully a quarter of an hour--and got some drink1 but what it was he cannot tell4 ,that the ,sheriff called for a good part of the liquor which was drunk4 ,that at last the deponent assisted to carry home the ,sheriff1 who was not able to walk2 and either the pursuer or ,mr ,gerard assisted the deponent in so doing2 and the two maids went before him with a lantern1 and placed him in his easy-chair in his bedroom1 and then the ,sheriff called upon his maids to give the company drink1 which the maids refused to give1 and then they came away and left him4 ,next day the enemy took possession of ,forbes by a coup de main4 ,they seized him in bed1 half through his drunken sleep1 and conveyed him to a favourite houf1 kept by a man with the historical name of ,archibald ,campbell4 ,there tea and coffee were called for to breakfast1 but as these insipid liquors were not to ,forbes's mind1 a large dose of spirits1 white wine1 and punch was administered to him1 with cooling draughts of porter from time to time4 ,the kidnappers hired a whole floor of the inn for that eventful day--it was the last on which the reference remained valid1 so that if it passed without a decision1 the question went back to the ,court of ,session2 and the worthy confederates gave express instructions that ,williamson was not to obtain access to their conclave1 and that ,forbes was to be denied to him4 ,that sport of fortune became naturally alarmed when he heard that ,forbes was not at home2 and knowing instinctively where else he was likely to be1 searched for him in all the taverns in town1 as ,seldon tells us that the ,king of ,spain was searched for in ,london when he was outlawed4 ,one of the waiters1 in his evidence1 stated that ,williamson came to the house and inquired at the deponent if ,shiels was there1 to which he answered1 in obedience to the orders he had received from collector ,finlayson1 that ,shiels was not there2 that on this the pursuer left ,mr ,campbell's house1 and 7having returned in about an hour7 he insisted with the deponent that ,shiels was in the house1 and that it was to no purpose to deny him1 for that he knew by the deponent's face that he was there4 ,but deponent still denied that ,shiels was in the house4 ,deponent was1 unfortunately for his professional prospects1 not sufficiently brazen-faced for a waiter4 ,the ,sheriff was soon brought up to the mark4 ,cards were introduced1 and they had a roaring day of it4 ,for the sake of appearances1 at the time when he was making up his judicial mind1 the ,sheriff retired to a room alone4 ,here a message was conveyed to him from his sister1 intimating that he had made an appointment for that day1 and the time to keep it had arrived4 ,whereupon1 says a witness1 ,shiels touched his nose with his finger1 and said ',jode'--a by-word of his--',davie1 you see from whence this comes'--that ,shiels returned for answer to his servant that he could not go1 being engaged about peremptory business4 ,he first spoke about awarding a trifle to ,williamson4 ,in the end he gave a decision entirely against his claim2 and the confederates considered this so great a triumph1 that next morning1 being ,sunday1 they were reported to have read the ,decree ,arbitral to a circle of impatient well-wishers on the ,plainstones or market-place1 while the citizens were on their way to church4 ,after having pronounced the decree1 the ,sheriff1 according to the testimony of one witness1 was very merry and jocose1 and engrossed a good deal of the conversation2 and the waiter who refused ,williamson admission to him had to testify that he conveyed him home to his own house1 as he had done many a night besides that4 ,there were many picturesque little incidents in the whole affair4 ,thus we are told by one witness1 in a very pathetic strain1 of abortive efforts made by the ,sheriff to go through the public market-place from one tavern to another4 ,in a little the ,sheriff and the deponent came down to go to the ,new ,inn2 and upon the ,sheriff's observing that there were too many people upon the exchange1 and that he was too far gone in liquor to cross the street1 he turned in again to ,john ,bain's1 and afterwards made another attempt of the same kind1 and returned for the same reason2 and a little after two o'clock they made a third attempt1 and1 observing that the exchange was thin of people1 they went over to the ,new ,inn4 ,discreet ,sheriff--he had achieved the ,greek sage's problem of knowing himself6 ,but other people knew him1 too2 and thus the hostess of the inn1 being asked if when ,shiels was once drunk1 he did not keep in a hand--that is1 he continued drunk for some days1 answered1 that she has observed ,shiels as in drink at one time and to continue so for several days after1 and that was too commonly his case2 that it is her opinion1 when ,shiels was in liquor1 by flattering of his vanity1 he might be very easily induced to do things which he would not otherwise do2 and the deponent has had occasion to see several instances of this sort1 by which she means that she has heard ,shiels1 when in liquor1 promise to do things which she believes he would not have done if sober2 nor does the deponent remember or know that ever ,shiels did do any of these things when sober that he said he would do when in liquor4 ,but there are two sides to all questions2 and as human nature has a tendency towards extremes1 there were some people prepared to testify to the supernatural and alarming intenseness of the ,sheriff's sobriety4 ,it was1 we believe1 a townsman of this same ,sheriff who1 when thrown from his horse1 being asked by a sympathising lady who was passing1 if he were hurt8 answered in the intenseness of his politeness--,oh6 no1 mem6 quite the reverse--quite the reverse4 ,so it appeared in the eyes of some of his friends that ,forbes was not merely as sober as a judge1 but upon the whole a good deal more sober than a well-constituted judge ought to be--if he had any blemish1 it was on the reverse side of intoxication4 ,one of the several landladies whose establishments he frequented--not the lady already quoted--was especially eloquent on this point4 ,at dinner-time they only drank a bottle of wine and half a mutchkin of punch the witness makes no allusion to the consumption before and after4 ,mr ,forbes also drank tea in the deponent's house1 and she had occasion to see ,mr ,forbes at breakfast and dinner1 and when he went out of her house when the company parted after supper at night2 and upon all these occasions he1 ,mr ,forbes1 was perfectly sober1 and sufficiently capable of business1 and when he went out of her house1 she remembers perfectly1 she turned in to her servants and said1 that she never knew ,mr ,forbes sit so long in her house on so little drink2 and she added1 ,god grant that neither ,mr ,forbes nor she might be fey4 ,so awful and portentous was his sobriety6 ,another witness who testified to the production of so many items of liquor that it makes one giddy to read the list1 winds up by saying--,after drinking a few glasses1 they were told that supper was on the table in another room1 to which they moved3 ,that after supper they drank a moderate quantity of wine1 and punch1 and parted sober about eleven o'clock3 ,that the deponent had a particular proof of ,mr ,forbes's sobriety after supper1 by his maintaining1 with great spirit and elocution1 one side of a problematical question that occurred in the company4 ,the law is extremely averse to review the decision of an arbiter4 ,he may be stupid and careless2 he may have utterly misunderstood both the law and the facts2 but the parties have adopted the reference as a succedaneum to litigation1 and they must stand the hazard of the die4 ,in a few instances1 however1 where there has been gross corruption1 or a palpable combination against one of the parties1 the law has interfered to reverse the proceedings4 ,the case of ,peter ,williamson is one of these instances2 and on the #c;d of ,december #agfh1 some years after the poor ,sheriff-,substitute had bidden himself from his disgrace by drinking himself into the grave1 the ,court awarded ,peter ,williamson damages to the extent of #bjj against the persons who1 nearly thirty years previously1 had spirited him away from the pier of ,aberdeen4 ,the subsequent career of ,peter ,williamson1 though not all directly our present purpose1 is so inviting that we cannot pass it over4 ,he was one of those men who1 with no settled purpose of life1 have their brains perpetually spinning forth projects1 and their hands perpetually putting them in operation4 ,wherever external circumstances placed him1 there his internal nature predestined him turn the opportunities afforded him to the best account4 ,we have seen him exercising the isolated energies of the self-sustaining savage in the wilderness2 we shall now see him regulating the complex wheels of mutually dependent civilisation4 ,one of his earliest projects was announced1 in #agfb1 through a letter in the ,edinburgh ,courant4 ,the drain of able-bodied men by the war had1 he stated1 prompted him to endeavour to discover some labour-saving machine1 to facilitate the operations of the harvest2 and he had at considerable expense invented an engine which would1 in the hands of a single man1 do more execution in a field of oats in one day1 and to better purpose1 than it is in the power of six shearers to do4 ,this machine1 he continues1 is now completed1 and is constructed in such a manner that1 when the corn is tolerably thick1 it will cut down near a sheaf at a stroke1 and that without shaking the grain1 or disordering the straw1 besides laying down the corn as regularly as the most expert shearer can do4 ,the machine possessed other qualifications far too numerous to be recapitulated here2 and though the inventor protested that neither vanity nor conceit1 but the sole desire to serve the public1 prompted him to expatiate on its merits1 it is not absolutely necessary1 at the present day1 to join in all his anticipations of its wonderful influence on the amelioration of mankind4 ,we are no authority on the abstruse practical subject of reaping-machines2 but justice to our hero renders it right to say that his invention found a place in agricultural nomenclature1 as the basket-scythe4#bb ,we have already mentioned some of his achievements in literature4 ,he published a pamphlet on the ,militia3 and1 contemporaneously with the invention of the scythe1 we find him advertising1 along with his account of his adventures1 that ,commissions from the country will be punctually answered for this and all other sorts of books2 as also stationery-ware of all sorts2 and in connexion with this general announcement of a stationery-establishment1 he enlarges on another book1 apparently of his own composition1 called ,a ,general ,view of the ,whole ,world2 containing the ,names of the principal ,countries1 ,kingdoms1 ,states1 and ,islands1--their length1 breadth1 and capital cities1 with the longitude and latitude2 also the produce1 revenue1 strength1 and religion of each country4 ,this encyclopedia1 political1 statistical1 and theological1 was to be had for six shillings sterling4 ,from such comprehensive themes we find him descending to the object of the following curious advertisement1 dated #ith ,april #aggb3-- ,this day was published1 price one shilling the pack1 and sold by ,peter ,williamson1 printer1 in the head of ,forester's ,wynd1 ,edinburgh1 the ,,impenetrable ,,secrets which is called ,,proverb-,,cards1 containing excellent sentiment1 and are so composed1 that they discover the thoughts of one's mind in a very curious and extraordinary manner4 ,the explanation of the secret is given gratis with the pack2 each set consists of twenty cards1 and ten lines upon each card4#bc #bb ,a representation of it will be found in the ,scots ,magazine for #agfb1 p4 #djd4 #bc ,this advertisement1 with other curious newspaper-scraps regarding ,williamson1 is preserved in the biographical notices of ,kay's ,portraits1 i4 #acg4 ,we may here1 perhaps1 have traced to its invention the well-known toy called ,conversation-,cards1 which has enlivened many a little ,christmas party4 ,if this be so1 the debt of youth in general1 to the poor kidnapped boy1 is not small4 ,in #aggf he started a weekly periodical called ,the ,scot's ,spy1 or ,critical ,observer1 which appears to have been continued through the following year with the title of ,the ,new ,scot's ,spy4 ,in the mean time1 he kept a tavern1 over the door of which he advertised himself as from the other world4 ,it appears to have been for some time in the ,parliament ,square1 and subsequently in the interior of the ,parliament ,house itself1 part of the wide area of which was partitioned into booths4 ,every now and then he was dropping before the public some invention great or small4 ,now it was a new invented portable printing-press2 next1 marking-ink for linen1 which stands washing1 boiling1 and bleaching1 and is more regular and beautiful than any needle4 ,but the chief monument of his energy was the establishment of a penny post-office for the city of ,edinburgh1 which he supported as a private speculation4 ,it appears to have been soon after the year #aghj that he commenced this undertaking1 and contemporaneously with it he published a ,street ,directory4 ,one might suppose that the post-office1 the directory1 and the tavern1 with an occasional invention or pamphlet1 would form sufficient occupation1 not only for one head1 but one family4 ,williamson1 however1 must have all his fires full of irons2 and so we find that his wife and daughter had to appear before the public as busy as himself in their own department4 ,on the cover of his directory it is intimated1 that ,mantua-making is carried on in all its branches as formerly1 by ,mrs ,williamson and daughter2 who1 lest any means of exercising their craft should pass them1 by reason either of its insignificance or its gravity1 are made to state1 that they engraft silk1 cotton1 thread1 and worsted stockings2 make silk gloves1 and every article in the engrafting branch1 in the neatest manner1 and on the most reasonable terms2 likewise silk stockings washed in the most approved style2 also grave-clothes made on the shortest notice4 ,one would naturally imagine that all these professions of activity must have indicated a thrifty1 industrious1 moral1 happy home4 ,alas1 no6 ,in #aghi ,williamson was obliged to divorce his second wife1 the mother of several children2 and the revolting details of the inquiry show too plainly that the degraded woman pursued another profession besides those efforts of decent industry which her husband advertised to the world4 ,she1 on her part1 charged her husband with having acquired tipling habits1 and keeping low dissipated company2 while she stated that1 notwithstanding the considerable sums that passed through his hands in the course of his various speculations1 his family were frequently subjected to great privations4 ,the inquiries connected with the divorce exhibit throughout1 tokens of sordid squalor1 which show that ,williamson was little fitted to seize the tides of fortune that so frequently ran in his favour1 or to direct his energies into any satisfactory path of self-advancement4 ,active and turbulent as he had been--dreaded1 admired1 nay1 respected for his services as a citizen--he had never bettered his condition1 or risen above the rank of the vagabond4 ,his total want of early education may have unfitted him to take advantage of his opportunities4 ,the reader1 he says1 in one of his pamphlets1 will be here asking what school ,i was brought up at8 ,i shall only tell them1 that the extent of it was upwards of four thousand miles1 and the height thereof as high as the heavens1 governed by ,indians of many nations2 and regular education is no way taught among them1 but handed down from one generation to another2 and their records are kept1 marked with tomahawks on the outside of trees1 and can be distinguished by themselves for centuries back4 ,it might be a sublime school--but not a hopeful seminary for sober citizens4 ,yet1 among ,kay's exquisitely hard etchings there is a portrait of ,peter1 from which it is evident that lie must have been a very handsome worshipful-looking man1 with that well-fed self-assured air--that corporation dignity of manner1 and citizen urbanity1 if one may use the expression1 which beseem the corporate officer4 ,nature and the tailor seem at the moment to have united to represent in his person a ,deacon at least1 if not a ,bailie4 ,he is depicted in conversation with ,abyssinian ,bruce1 and as saying to the haughty ,lord of ,kinnaird--,there is more truth in one page of my ,edinburgh directory1 than in all your five volumes #dto2 so1 when you talk to me1 don't imagine yourself at the source of the ,nile4 ,poor ,williamson's eventful life came to an end on the #aith ,january #agfi4 ,,the ,,repealer',s ,,wish ,,granted4#bd--;,,an ,,irish ,,tale4 ,,in ,,one ,,short ,,chapter4 #bd ,as this paper was being printed1 we were struck with the coincidence between the general idea contained in it and two striking articles in the ,times newspaper4 ,we know that the writer of the present article had not1 when he wrote it1 seen the articles in the ,times4 ,but these views1 in our opinion1 cannot be too often impressed on the attention of the reflecting portion of the ,irish people4 ,nobody doubts that there was hot blood--misunderstanding--difficulty-- at the beginning4 ,it is clear enough1 also1 that many arrangements which followed were not of a soothing kind4 ,nor can it well be denied2--but stop a little6 ,the other side of the question seems to be perpetually consigned to oblivion4 ,numbers of people are in ecstasies with the year #aghb4 ,the wildest democrats of the present day revert with pride to the glimpse of nationality exhibited by ,ireland immediately before the ,union4 ,the grand choral cry of ,repealers is for a ,parliament once more in ,dublin4 ,oh1 melancholy1 deplorable1 almost ludicrous inconsistency6 ,the year #aghb and ,repeal6 ,the independence of ,ireland after #aghb and ,repeal6 ,the old ,irish ,parliament and ,repeal6 ,plunket--a son of ,ireland--talked of history being an old almanac4 ,memorable indeed was the year #aghb4 ,,but ,,its ,,trophies ,,were1 ,,the ,,handiwork ,,of ,,the ,,saxon4 ,bright may have been the gleam of independence which succeeded that year4 ,the whole movement owed character and solidity to ,,great ,,saxon ,,leaders4 ,conspicuous is the fame of those men who protested with fiery eloquence against the treaty of the ,union2 and ,,these ,,were ,,all ,,saxons4 ,it is very strange1 but very true1 that the sinews and loins of the agitation now-a-days are all begotten of ,saxon spirit and ,saxon freedom4 ,there is not a letter in the alphabet of self-government--there is not a syllable in the code of municipal law--there is not a sentence in the charter of political liberty--of ,ireland1 which is not the lesson1 the example1 or the boon of the ,saxon4 ,every thing that ,ireland now demands is an imitation of a ,saxon institution4 ,and ,ireland only demands these things1 because for ages ,saxon institution have pervaded her soil1 and imbued her people4 ,,grattan and ,,charlemont are ,saxon names4 ,in all the principles for which these remarkable men contended1 no vestige of a ,celtic idea can be traced4 ,until the ,saxon--conqueror as he was--touched the ,irish soil1 there did not grow1 blossom1 or bear fruit any intelligible notion of social order1 or public liberty4 ,but the gratitude of nations is not different from the gratitude of individuals4 ,away with the ,saxon6 ,can nothing cure the madness8 ,large practical wisdom in legislation1 exuberant boundless prodigality of munificence1 are equally unavailing4 ,away with the ,saxon6 ,but disgust may at length do what force never could have done4 ,honest1 sober1 orderly folks in ,britain begin to cherish strange thoughts4 ,and the wings of thoughts are words outspoken4 ,are ye ready1 ,o ,milesians6 for such a dawn when it breaks8 99 99 99 99 99 ,there was nothing either very bright or very dull about the morning4 ,yet not a single human being you met was inclined even to whistle merrily or recklessly4 ,and was there1 then1 silence over the whole land8 ,very far from it1 ,i assure you4 ,at the harbour of every sea-port1 where a vessel of any size could come1 there was a most unmistakeable noise4 ,heavily1 steadily1 dreadfully1 came down along the rugged stones of each quay the continual tread and tramp of armed men1 who1 coldly and speechlessly as statues1 marched towards the ships4 ,but there was no other noise4 ,the officers gave no word of command2 nor was any command needed4 ,unbroken as the stream of the river1 hundreds after hundreds1 without any clash1 or din1 or tumult1 passed from the solid land on board of the floating bulwarks of ,old ,england1 and without a shout or a sigh--without a murmur of adieu--without the momentary radiance of a smile on a solitary face--departed ,,from ,,ireland4 ,the ,saxons were going4 ,the quick strokes of the paddle-wheels whitened the waters2--the sail bellied bigly to the wind4 ,from ,,erin the ,,green1 the ,saxons were ,,gone4 ,then rose from earth to sky--what8 ,for many a day thousands of eyes had been gazing at the bustling scene4 ,at first1 the spectacle of such crowds of all sorts of people going leisurely away with all their kith and kin1 with all their bag and baggage1 brought with it no distinct idea4 ,the first loaded ship which left the harbour with such a freight took its departure beneath a shower of triumphantly derisive shouts4 ,and so did many a vessel afterwards4 ,but people become tired of shouting at the same thing4 ,likewise1 a constant repetition of the same thing1 which in certain circumstances will destroy wonder1 does in other circumstances beget and spread wonder4 ,the sameness of the business began to be painful4 ,countless throngs of lookers-on still choked the quay3 but the gibe was rarely heard2 the cheer had quite died away4 ,it was incredible how time lagged in its flight4 ,suddenly1 once more1 a stir ran through these gazing tens of thousands4 ,a feeble cry--more like a cry of pain than of joy--rang from the discord of the innumerable lips4 ,every body was gone1 except the soldiers4 ,of the hated ,saxons1 all who lived by the arts or occupations of peace1 all were at length away--men1 women1 and children4 ,the soldiers remained till all their peaceful brethren were safely on the bosom of the treacherous sea--safer than the bosom of ungrateful ,ireland4 ,the soldiers now went themselves4 ,it was not an hour or a day1 in which that embarkation could be completed4 ,on it went without interruption4 ,and the people stood by1 and saw it going on4 ,why was there not the continuous roar of exultation from moment to moment1 as file after file1 regiment after regiment1 mass after mass of the bloody servants of the ,saxon sullenly and silently retreated8 ,strange1 surely1 that it was not so6 ,strange1 surely1 that there was no whisper all this time from the bystanders6 ,strange1 surely1 that the bystanders1 as the ships1 ship after ship1 sailed away with those very ,saxon soldiers1 began to turn their regards off altogether from the ships1 and to fling unquiet doubtful glances one on the other6 ,the detested foreigner was gone2--and was there1 therefore1 more neighbourly love among those that remained8 ,what6 ,erin ,mavourneen1 is not your emancipation come8 ,why is there no shout8 ,the ,saxons are going4 ,the quick strokes of the paddle-wheels whiten the waters4 ,where is the pan of the ransomed and redeemed8 ,the sail bellies bigly to the wind4 ,from ,erin the ,green1 the ,saxons are gone4 ,then rose from earth to sky--what8 ,,ireland ,,is ,,left ,,to ,,itself--,,wholly1 ,,entirely1 ,,absolutely ,,to ,,itself4 ,the ,repealer has his wish4 ,the sea runs between ,ireland and ,england--and all that is ,irish and all that is ,english4 ,the cable is cut4 ,the ,emerald ,isle is adrift4 ,no ,saxon soldier pollutes her soil2 but not a ,saxon shilling glistens in her purse4 ,the ,british ,viceroy is no more2 neither is the ,british ,chancellor of the ,exchequer any more--,,there4 ,ireland has got its own parliament4 ,,also ,,ireland ,,has ,,got ,,its ,,own ,,poor4 ,not a stiver of ,english millions now crosses ,st ,george's ,channel4 ,not for one death by starvation now is ,england or the ,saxon answerable4 ,,ireland ,,has ,,her ,,own ,,exuberant ,,exchequer4 ,,ireland ,,pours ,,abundance ,,into ,,the ,,myriad ,,mouths ,,of ,,her ,,famine-,,stricken ,,people4 ,shout1 then1 ,o ,ireland6 shout6 ,the sail bellies bigly to the wind4 ,from ,erin the ,green the ,saxons are gone4 ,the sun of ,repeal is at its noon4 ,then rose from earth to sky--what8 ,and they looked into the faces of each other with a dull1 blank look--and from earth to sky arose the yell of wild despair1 of irretrievable confusion1 and of maddening perdition4 ,the ,repealer had his wish4 ,the cable was cut4 ,ireland was adrift--and ,,left ,,to ,,itself4 ,order1 law1 justice1 peace1 trade1 industry1 money1 prosperity1 and--oh terrible truth6--,,independence were gone away--quite away with the ,,saxon4 99 99 99 99 99 ,and the ,milesian ,republic endured--we blush to number the hours of its ephemeral and horrible existence4 ,every where the fair face of the beautiful ,,isle was hideously seamed with scars of civil war4 ,every where mounted upwards the smoke of roof-trees destroyed1 and hearthstones desolated4 ,every where over the surface of the great surrounding ocean boomed the discordant wail of the land torn by the vultures of anarchy4 ,again6 at the harbours of sea-ports there was an unmistakeable noise4 ,over the rugged stones went the continual tramp and tread of armed men1 who1 with bursts of brutal insolence1 marched from the ships4 ,the clang of foreign arms again sounded in the cities1 along the plains1 and across the hills of ,erin4 ,ireland had become the province of a foreign power which did not speak the ,english tongue4 ,ireland was that day trampled on by the iron heel of a new master4 ,albion1 from its white cliffs1 saw the scene4 ,but the ties had been long broken4 ,,the ,,last ,,walk4 ,,by ,b4 ,,simmons4 ,oh lost ,madonna1 young and fair6 ,o'er-leant by broad embracing trees1 ,a streamlet to the lonely air ,murmurs its meek low melodies2 ,and there1 as if to drink the tune1 ,and mid the sparkling sands to play1 ,one constant ,sunbeam still at noon ,shoots through the shades its golden way4 ,my lost ,madonna1 whose glad life ,was like1 that ray of radiant air1 ,the ,march-wind's violet scents blew rife ,when last we sought that fountain fair4 ,blythe as the beam from heaven arriving1 --,thy hair held back by hands whose gleam ,was white as stars with night-clouds striving-- ,thy bright lips bent and sipp'd the stream4 ,fair fawn-like creature6 innocent ,in soul as faultless in thy form1-- ,as o'er the wave thy beauty bent ,it blushed thee back each rosy charm4 ,how soon the senseless wave resign'd ,the tints1 with thy retiring face1 ,while glass'd within my mournful mind ,still glows that scene's enchanting grace4 ,ah6 every scene1 or bright or bleak1 ,where once thy presence round me shone1 ,to echoing ,memory long shall speak ,the ,past's sweet legends1 ,worshipp'd ,one6 ,the wild blue hills1 the boundless moor1 ,that1 like my lot1 stretch'd dark afar1 ,and o'er its edge1 thine emblem pure1 ,the never-failing evening star4 ,the lawn on which the ,sunset's track ,crimson'd thy home beside the ,glen-- ,the village pathway1 leading back ,from thee to haunts of hated men-- ,the walk to watch thy chamber's ray1 ',mid storm and midnight's rushing wings-- ,these1 these were joys1 long pass'd away1 ,to dwell with ,grief's eternal things4 ,my lost ,madonna1 fair and young6 ,before thy slender-sandall'd feet ,the dallying wave its silver flung1 ,then dash'd far ocean's breast to meet2 ,and farther1 wider1 from thy side ,than unreturning streams could rove1 ,dark ,fate decreed me to divide-- ,to me1 my henceforth buried ,love6 ,yes6 far for ever from thy side1 ,madonna1 now for ever fair1 ,to death of ,,distance ,i have died1 ,and all has perished1 but--,despair4 ,whether thy fate with woe be fraught1 ,or ,joy's gay rainbow gleams o'er thee1 ,i've died to all1 but the mad thought ,that ,,what ,,was ,,once ,,no ,,more ,,shall ,,be4 ',tis well3--at least ,i shall not know ,how time or tears may change that brow2 ,thine eyes shall smile1 thy cheek shall glow ,to me in distant years as now4 ,and when in holier worlds1 where ,blame1 ,and ,blight1 and ,sorrow1 have no birth1 ,thou'rt mine at last--,i'll clasp the same ,unalter'd ,angel1 loved on earth4 ,,man ,,is ,a ,,featherless ,,biped4 ,i have heard--,i saw yesterday that fact enlarged upon in ,mrs ,thunder's ,tales of ,passion--that people's hair may be turned gray by intense anxiety1 intense fear1 intensity of any kind1 in a single day4 ,my hair is not exactly gray 7far from it1 indeed1 considering my time of life7--but1 if the above physical phenomenon did ever really occur1 it ought to be silvery-white4 ,for ,i have passed through a day1 the consequences of which colour1 and will colour1 my whole existence4 ,life's fever came to a crisis1 and the crisis turned out unfavourably4 ,the threads of my destiny got into a tangle1 and ,fate in a passion cut the knot with her scissors4 ,my earthly career has been divided into two distinctly-marked portions1 and the point where the two are united--the bending-stone 7as the ,greeks say7 of the race-course1 is the day on which ,i was plucked4 ,reader of ,maga1 as your experiences are possibly confined to the land of ,maga's nativity1 ,i will explain to you what it is to be plucked4 ,it is to have your degree refused at one of the ,english universities4 ,now don't suppose that1 when ,i have said this1 ,i have said all4 ,the mischief does not end with the refusal4 ,it is bad enough1 truly1 to have gone through three years of reading and walking1 or of port-wine drinking and tandem-driving1 and then to get nothing for your trouble4 ,but that's not it4 ,a plucking brings with it consequences quite peculiar to itself--consequences hardly intelligible out of ,england--hardly intelligible1 indeed1 out of the sphere of the upper classes in ,england4 ,the ,english universities are the nurseries of adolescent ,english gentlemen--of the whole aristocracy1 church1 and bar4 ,and the many thousand persons comprised in these very extensive denominations1 although they may have nothing else in common1 agree in fond and not very discriminating reverence for ,oxford and ,cambridge4 ,i really believe that many a man1 whose actual reminiscences of these seats of learning are confined to the pace of the boats and the badness and dearness of the wine1 yet manages to persuade himself that his being was somehow exalted by his three years' course4 ,and then the sacredness which attaches to their verdict6 ,a fellow will pass current any where with the university stamp upon him4 ,i know that ,muggleton1 who got a medal1 and is the slowest dummy in creation1 used to be invited occasionally to dinner-parties as a substitute for the late ,s4 ,s4 ,besides1 university life is common ground to half the world4 ,you place ,tories and ,whigs1 high churchmen and low churchmen1 round the same table1 and there follows a wrangle or a quarrel2 but1 let the conversation once veer round to the incidents of ,slogger's year1 or the character of ,dr ----1 and you will find the talk flowing freely1 and opinions unanimous4 ,so you see the unpleasantness of there being nothing to be said about one1 under such circumstances1 except that one was plucked4 ,of ,mr ,pennefeather1 of ,elmstead ,lodge1 ,surrey1 7my present designation17 little is known in the neighbourhood of the aforesaid ,elmstead ,lodge1 beyond the fact that he and his charming family live there4 ,but the name of ,pennefeather of ,st ,saviour's1 ,cambridge1 is common property1 and hundreds know it in connexion with certain unfortunate circumstances1 already alluded to4 ,i was always in my college considered rather a reading man4 ,i attended chapel and lecture regularly4 ,i went to few parties or none4 ,grindham of ,st ,john's 7the present dean of ----71 and ,swetter of ,trinity 7the new ,queen's counsel71 backed by their respective colleges for the senior wranglership1 were old school-fellows of mine1 and we continued our acquaintance4 ,by dint of flattering ,swetter1 and listening to ,grindham's endless holdings forth on mathematical subjects1 ,i grew into favour with both4 ,i believe the worthy fellows began to think me one of themselves1--nothing very brilliant1 perhaps1 but still sure of a decent place in the honour-list4 ,and1 indeed1 had fate pleased1 their influence might have brought things to a better issue4 ,i was induced to keep my outer door scrupulously shut till two o'clock ,p4,m42 and1 though ,i often fell asleep in my chair1 and conic sections always made my head ache1 ,i nevertheless made some way4 ,but ,i was ruined by a flute6 ,i had learned to play in early life--my mother liked me to accompany my sisters2 and now the accomplishment1 of which ,i had grown most school-boyishly ashamed1 was discovered by a lazy1 handsome1 perfumed1 kid-gloved flaneur of a fellow1 ,jenkyns of our college1 whose rooms were above mine4 ,he was just then getting up a musical association1 and of all things wanted a second flute4 ,i have no patience to narrate the steps of the seduction and triumph1--how ,i resisted his overtures at first1 then gave way conditionally1 then unconditionally1--how we had meetings1 and held committees1 and gave concerts1--how the dons first looked suspicious1 then indifferent1 then applausible1--and how1 finally1 far conspicuous with my white waistcoat and baton1 ,i led the band on the first anniversary of our foundation1 in the presence of the vice-chancellor and a brilliant assemblage of professors and heads of houses4 ,but the degree examination was approaching--unappeasable1 inevitable4 ,grindham1 ,i confess1 had begun to look cold on me2 but ,swetter1 who was a little ambitious of being considered an accomplished gentleman as well as a great mathematician1 rather countenanced my proceedings4 ,he never joined us himself--he was a great deal too deep for that--but he largely affected contempt for fellows who maintained that fiddling and reading were incompatible4 ,and indeed1 without being in the least aware of it1 ,i had been made1 as it were1 the pattern-man of our association and the new system4 ,did any one object to our concerts1 rehearsals1 and practisings1 as occupying too much time1 he was referred to ,pennefeather of ,st ,saviour's1 a regular leading man1 by ,jove--pal of ,grindham and ,swetter--goes home after a concert1 and sits up half the night with a wet cloth round his head4 ,so said report--lying as usual2 and my fall was the greater in consequence4 ,the examination was over1 and the result was to be announced next morning4 ,i had felt my ideas rather vague on the subject of the questions asked1 and half suspected that my answers partook of their looseness4 ,still ,i had my hopes--,i had covered a good deal of paper with my writing--a wranglership was not so very unlikely4 ,with this conviction ,i went to bed1 and slept1 on the whole1 very soundly4 ,in the morning ,i dressed1 shaved1 and breakfasted1 with considerable deliberation2 and1 just before nine o'clock1 walked down to the senate-house4 ,the scene there1 on this and like occasions1 is sufficiently exciting to an uninterested person--something more than exciting to one in a situation like mine4 ,a crowd of young men1 half mad with expectation1 beset the doors of the edifice4 ,the fate of themselves and their friends1 their bets and the honour of their respective colleges1 are at stake4 ,they shout and scream4 ,the doors are thrown open4 ,all rush in4 ,a pandemoniac confusion ensues4 ,then some patriotic individual volunteers to read aloud the expanded list1 and1 hoisted on the shoulders of his neighbours1 begins1--,,wranglers1 ,grindham1 ,st ,john's2 ,swetter1 ,trinity2 ,pump1 ,trinity1 7,hooray6 shouts somebody1 and runs off to convey the intelligence to ,mr ,pump1 who is funking in his room7--,mullins1 ,st ,john's2 ,shobley1 ,st ,saviours2 c41 c4 ,i listened calmly to the first half of the wrangler-list1 anxiously to the last1 tremblingly to the names in the next class1 agonisedly to those in the third and last4 ,my name was not there at all6 ,in the hope that it might have been omitted by mistake1 ,i waited until the crowd thinned1 and then1 with dim eyes1 read the paper myself4 ,there was no mistake at all4 ,i ran1 unobserved1 to my rooms1 locked myself in1 and during the next three hours ,i won't say what ,i did or thought4 ,there are moments--but never mind6 ,i'm a father of a family now4 ,the day was verging towards the afternoon when ,i put on my hat1 determined to go out and brave the mocking looks of the undergraduate world4 ,i thought ,i had some notion of what was to be expected1 but the bitterness of the draught surpassed all my anticipations4 ,i had hardly got outside the gate of my college1 when there turned the nearest corner a walking party of fifteen gentlemen abreast--the centre-piece was ,grindham4 ,the two wings were composed of his admiring1 flattering friends4 ,my appearance caused a singular alteration in the countenances of the party4 ,some looked awkwardly2 most of them manifested a strong inclination to laugh2 but ,grindham himself would have passed without recognising me1 had not his neighbour whispered something in his ear4 ,he turned and shook hands--,i would have given the world so that he had cut me1 for ,i expected some of that pity which d----d goodnatured friendship proffers on such occasions4 ,alas6 my friend had forgotten my position in his own3 he did not seem in the least aware that any person except himself and ,swetter1 the defeated ,swetter1 had been interested in the late examination4 ,he talked incoherently for some minutes1 for repressed exultation was making his eyes dim1 and causing his tongue to stutter2 and there we stood1 he the victor and ,i not even worthy to be considered the vanquished1 chattering on the most indifferent matters--even about that confounded musical association--and neither of us venturing to touch upon the subject which was filling each of our hearts to overflowing4 ,had any one of the fourteen young men who were tittering together at a little distance1 been a cynic or a psychologist1 he might have freely fed his humour1 or made a valuable addition to his stock of observation4 ,grindham1 ,pennefeather--pride struggling hard to be modest2 shame striving to gloss itself over with gay indifference--human nature in either case denying and belying itself--what lesson1 or what a caricature6 ,but1 just before we separated1 something seemed to strike my companion4 ,he suddenly became more confused than ever1 and then was clearly striving hard to look sentimental4 ,by the bye1 my dear fellow--oh6 ah6 ,i was very sorry 444 better luck next time1 eh6 ,and so we parted4 ,but ,i had lost my friend4 ,i proceeded4 ,an indistinct object became visible on the other side of the way1 which1 as ,i approached1 gradually assumed the form and proportions of a man4 ,it was a figure1 not unfrequently seen in my day in the streets of ,cambridge3 a broad-brimmed1 low-crowned hat1 which completely concealed the countenance of the wearer1 just permitted to loom out of its shadow a many-coloured neckhandkerchief1 printed with the flags of all nations4 ,this last cosmopolitan habiliment shone in advantageous contrast to a dogskin waistcoat1 of indescribable hue1 and immensely broad trousers of white flannel4 ,no coat at all was visible in front1 but behind you might perceive that one of bright olive-coloured cloth came sharply out immediately below the arms1--a sporting ,newmarket coat1 exaggerated to intensity4 ,such was the outer man of ,mr ,charles ,maxey1 of ,st ,saviour's2 the inner man was full of all corruption and wickedness4 ,this gentleman1 being rather at a loss for occupation amid the uncongenial excitements of the day1 was engaged in somewhat roughly schooling a small and horribly ugly terrier puppy to follow him up and down the street4 ,i had no acquaintance with him4 ,i knew nothing of him whatever1 beyond the fact that he generally entered the ,college ,hall very much after the proper time1 dressed in a rough pilot coat1 and invariably swearing violently1 as he came in1 at some unknown person or object outside the door4 ,but it appeared that1 if ,i had lost one friend1 ,i had gained another4 ,he1 who would never have ventured to speak to me before--for the credit of our college1 let me say that he was completely and universally cut--now rushed across the street1 and shaking me by the hand1 bade me cheer up1 7,i had flattered myself ,i was looking tolerably cheerful17 and d--n the concern6 ,the beast then favoured me with a dissertation on the nature1 cause1 and consequences of mishaps like mine2 in the course of which he explained that his own two pluckings had been entirely owing to the remissness of his private tutor1 in not providing cigars at his 7the private tutor's7 rooms1 and thereby failing to render ,mr ,maxey's studies sufficiently agreeable4 ,b--and ,t--1 censoriously remarked that gentleman1 always do it3 so ,i shall go to one of them1 and cut old ,z--1 next term4 ,finally1 he insisted on taking me off to breakfast1 7breakfast at two o'clock67 at the rooms of a friend of his1 who had been plucked fifteen times1 and meant going on to the twentieth plucking1 to entitle himself 7according to an old ,cambridge tradition17 to a gratuitous degree4 ,i accompanied him in passive helplessness1 and found a room some thing more than filled with about thirty ,maxeys1 smoking and singing4 ,i remember it all to this day2--the indescribable songs--the spiced ale--,maxey's story about trotting the gray mare to ,newmarket--the jocular allusions to myself--all this comes over me now like a dream of purgatory4 ,the events of that day are indissolubly linked together in my mind2 and ,i can never recall my misfortune without recalling too the meeting with ,grindham and the party at the rooms of ,mr ,maxey's friend4 ,but hard as these things were to endure in our little world at ,cambridge1 ,i have since experienced worse consequences of that accursed plucking among grown men1 and in a manner made more painful to a sensitive organisation like mine4 ,i won't say what my father said when he heard of this termination of my university career4 ,he had been a chancellor's medallist himself1 and1 in virtue of his medal1 was listened to in parliament before the war4 ,i believe he thought that all a man's doings in life were contained in his university exploits1 like the chicken in the egg4 ,me he sent off to read theology with a clergyman in the country1 previously to taking orders--for a family living awaited me4 ,in this position ,i remained two years4 ,i may mention1 in passing1 that my worthy instructor1 a perfect ninny1 though a former fellow of his college1 despised me utterly for my past failure1 and was at no pains to conceal his contempt2 and at the end of that time1 ,i set out for the cathedral city of ,f----1 to go through the bishop's preparatory examination4 ,now1 there is a prevalent notion in ,england1 or at least in the ,english universities1 that a bishop's examination is regulated after a peculiar fashion4 ,it is reported that the prelate1 or his chaplain1 examines beforehand the calendars of the two universities1 and adapts his subsequent questions to the information thence derived1 in what may be called reverse order4 ,thus1 a wrangler or first-classman1 being supposed fit for any thing1 is asked nothing in particular4 ,it was even whispered--ay6 even in these days of priestly dignity--that when my friend ,grindham's eldest son1 himself a second senior wrangler1 went up a few weeks ago to the ,bishop of ----1 his lordship merely demanded information respecting the feeling of the university on the ,hampden question1 and on being satisfactorily answered1 remarked that he dined at six1 and dismissed his examinee4 ,but1 to resume--the questions are said1 or rather were said1 to increase in difficulty with the decreasing honours of the applicant4 ,a second-classman had questions of average difficulty put to him1 a man who took no honours1 was stiffly catechised2 a plucked man--but how it fared1 and perhaps still fares1 with plucked men1 you shall judge from my case4 ,after a night of excessive nervousness at the inn1 ,i proceeded to the palace at ten o'clock in the morning4 ,a number of serious-looking1 white-cravatted1 young men were waiting in the outer room1 into which ,i was ushered4 ,it was bitterly cold3 there was1 it is true1 a fire2 but it was actually going out1 because no one dared to stir the ,episcopal embers4 ,an inner door every now and then opened and shut1 admitting each time some one individual of the shivering crowd into the dreaded presence4 ,many old familiar faces were there4 ,i should perhaps have shrunk from their aspect1 had not nervousness1 and perhaps a feeling that every one of them might in a few minutes find himself in my identical position1 placed us all on a level4 ,so ,i looked almost boldly about me4 ,after a few minutes1 ,i was on the point of addressing an old acquaintance1 when1 above the shoulder of the man to whom ,i was about to speak1 there appeared a face1 often seen but always loathed in my walking and sleeping visions4 ,it was ,maxey's4 ,the cosmopolitan handkerchief had disappeared1 and the debauched eyes looked brighter and less bloodshot than of old2 but it was the same ,maxey who fraternised with me on the day of my fall4 ,he was--,i am sorry to say--attempting to get into orders4 ,he had been rejected1 he told me1 once before1 but he had now been coached by so-and-so half a year1 and meant to manage it this time4 ,whether ,mr ,so-and-,so provided cigars for theological pupils ,i did not inquire2 ,i was too much sickened by ,maxey's presence1--so much so that it was really a relief when ,i was summoned in my turn to the ,bishop's apartment4 ,i passed through a long passage1 then through an ante-room2 lastly1 a door opened1 and displayed his lordship sitting solemnly at a large green table4 ,the chaplain was leaving the room just as my name was announced4 ,i saw him put his hand to his mouth1 and distinctly heard him whisper in a loud aside--,plucked in #ah--1 my ,lord4 ,the ,bishop's face assumed an expression of yet more awful solemnity4 ,he gravely motioned me to sit down1 and then1 looking me full in the eyes1 said--,ah hem6 ,i have no doubt1 ,mr ,pennefather1 you have sufficiently prepared yourself for the--hem--important office you propose to take on yourself4 ,i am sorry to say that this--ah6--hem--most important office is often entered upon without sufficient--hem-- preparation4 ,a pause4 ,fluency was not his lordship's forte4 ,but if the moral annihilation of the object addressed is the end and aim of oratory1 he proved himself in this case a ,demosthenes4 ,he then continued--,nothing is more--hem--essential to a clergyman than a knowledge of the early history of ,christianity4 ,let me ask you what you know of the ,patripassian heresy8 ,i don't know what ,i might have answered under other circumstances1 but the chaplain's whisper and the ,bishop's exordium were too much for me4 ,i could not utter a word4 ,other questions followed1 to which ,i answered nothing or nonsense4 ,in the end ,i recollect that his lordship made me a long speech1 from which ,i gathered--it was not difficult to do this1 as it consisted of the same sentence repeated in every variety of collocation--that he was very sorry that he could not admit me into orders with such--hem--ah--insufficient preparation4 ,i bowed and left the room1 passed through the ante-chamber and passage into the apartment where the rest of the candidates were waiting1 and thence made my exit with some words of ,mr ,maxey's dancing and humming in my ears1--so we're plucked again1 old boy6 ,between this scene and the next passage of my life1 which ,i shall sketch or the reader's benefit1 there was an interval of several years4 ,i had been abroad most of the time1 and had very nearly managed to forget my university misfortune4 ,there was no occasion to revert to the bishop1 for my elder brother died1 and ,i stepped into his place--the family living being duly put out to nurse for my brother ,tom4 ,from the proximate parson1 ,i had become the bachelor heir1 with rooms in ,piccadilly1 a groom1 and a brougham4 ,one day--it was in the course of my first season in town--,i was dining with ,jobson in ,hamilton ,place4 ,why ,i went so frequently to ,jobson's1 any body who remembers ,emily ,jobson1 and what an angel she looked in that lilac silk1 will easily guess4 ,i had flattered myself ,i was not prospering badly with her4 ,but ,i knew there was a rival in the field--no other person than my old friend ,swetter1 then a rising junior of five-and-thirty at the chancery bar4 ,we were running on a tie1 as ,i fancied--,swetter and ,i4 ,the dear girl was1 ,i am sure1 very much puzzled to decide between us2 and ,i often thought ,i could see1 by the expression of her face1 that she was balancing ,swetter1 his advantages and disadvantages1 his possible peerage1 and the necessity entailed on his wife of staying in ,london through the winter1 against me and my little place in ,surrey4 ,and all the time1 ,i had an uneasy consciousness that my rival could get the start1 if he pleased1 by confiding to ,emily certain awkward antecedents of mine1 known to the reader4 ,but1 to do him justice1 he was too much of a gentleman to head me by such means4 ,this ,i knew1 and though at this very dinner-party he was sitting opposite ,emily and myself1 and looking exquisitely uncomfortable every time ,i whispered in her ear between the spoonfuls of bisque d'crivisses1 ,i felt certain that even greater provocation would not tempt him to peach4 ,so all went smoothly--as smoothly as things ought to go at one of ,jobson's admirable dinners4 ,but towards the middle of the second course1 ,jobson's voice1 which had been growing gradually louder since we sat down1 became so overpowering as to beat down and absorb all other conversation4 ,he was talking about ,cambridge and his son ,plantagenet4 ,jobson is a nouveau riche 7some of his friends call him ,tyburn ,jobson1 because he made his money in hemp71 and rather unnecessarily fond of introducing the now well-known facts that ,plantagenet is at the university1 and ,tudor in the ,guards4 ,so1 ,jobson giving the cue1 ,cambridge became the text of the general conversation4 ,glauber1 who stammers horridly1 and1 like most stammering men1 takes every opportunity of telling long and inextricable stories1 began to hold forth1 in the midst of general silence1 concerning ,lady ,ligham's son ,william1 whom her ladyship would persist in believing a genius1 and whom she had sent to ,cambridge expressly to be senior wrangler4 ,but1 added ,glauber1 only the other d44d44d44day ,i heard he was p44p44p44pluck--4 ,the word was not out of his mouth1 when that brute ,jones1 who was next him1 gave him a tremendous admonitory poke in the side4 ,glauber first turned wrathfully on him1 and then1 beginning to comprehend1 looked straight at me--his red face becoming redder with confusion1 and his great goggle eyes almost starting out of his head4 ,i b 4 4 b 4 4 b 4 4 beg your p 4 4 p 4 4 begun the wretch2 but ,swetter and ,jones1 who had been writhing with suppressed laughter1 here gave vent to such sounds as effectually drowned his miserable voice4 ,i gulped down a glass of champagne1 and made things worse by choking myself4 ,meanwhile ,emily looked on with a face of the utmost astonishment4 ,well1 we concluded dinner1 drank ,jobson's wine1 and ascended to the drawing-room4 ,no sooner did we enter1 than ,i saw ,emily go straight up to ,swetter1 and ask a question4 ,he laughed a good deal at first1 and then visibly commenced a long story4 ,i followed it in ,emily's face as clearly as if ,i had been listening to it4 ,yes6 the temptation was too much for ,swetter2 and1 to say the truth1 he only did what any one else would have done in like circumstances4 ,he told all4 ,determined to know my fate1 ,i walked to ,emily's chair1 and began conversing in my usual strain4 ,she was civil--just civil--but in less than five minutes1 she managed to inform me that she hoped her dear brother ,plantagenet would work hard at ,cambridge--for the honour of his family4 ,it was enough4 ,swetter and she were married in two months4 ,i left ,london without waiting for the season to conclude1 and buried myself and a fishing-rod in a lonely ,welsh cottage4 ,for months ,i saw nobody but the old woman whom ,i brought from ,monmouth to cook my dinners4 ,she1 ,i believe1 thought me decidedly mad--principally because ,i once swore dreadfully at her1 when1 propos of a chicken on which ,i was to dine1 she used a word vernacularly employed to signify the stripping birds of their feathers4 ,i fished1 caught nothing1 and mused on ,emily4 ,at last1 however1 on casually extending a ramble to a greater length than usual1 ,i found that a house1 five miles from my present residence1 and quite as solitary1 had been taken by an ,english family4 ,as a matter of course--though ,i really cannot precisely remember in what way--we became acquainted4 ,all ,i know is1 that ,i determined the acquaintance should commence as soon as possible1 immediately after meeting a young lady in a pink bonnet1 who was sauntering along the side of the stream in which ,i was pretending to fish4 ,this was ,caroline ,lumley4 ,they were the ,lumleys--,captain and ,mrs ,lumley1 and two daughters4 ,the family had lived the anomalous life common to ,english semi-genteel families with small incomes4 ,they had resided1 now in ,jersey1 now in ,dublin1 now on the ,continent--every where but in civilised and inhabitable parts of ,england4 ,at present they had settled themselves down1 for the sake of cheapness1 in a spot where every thing except mutton and house-rent was twice as expensive as in ,london1 and where they had to walk five miles to meet with a neighbour4 ,that neighbour was myself4 ,i was sick with disappointed love1 and ,caroline ,lumley was dying with ennui4 ,need ,i say that in six weeks we were engaged6 ,i really believe that she worshipped me as a superior being4 ,there had been few or no men in the out-of-the-way places where they had lived4 ,there never are4 ,they are all draughted off to business and employments of various kinds4 ,so ,i not only had no equal in her estimation1 but could not1 by any possibility1 have had one4 ,she thought me the handsomest man in the world4 ,she used to praise my talents and accomplishments to my face4 ,indeed1 by the side of old ,captain ,lumley1 who1 prosy by nature1 had long ago exhausted all his topics1 ,i might have appeared a ,crichton4 ,every now and then1 however1 when ,caroline had called me clever1 there used to come over me a shudder4 ,could she be ever brought to think of me as ,emily ,jobson probably did8 ,the idea was positively maddening4 ,many a night did ,i lie awake1 speculating whether1 after all1 it might not be better to secure myself against another such cross of destiny by freely revealing to her my great secret4 ,at last1 reflection1 building on the reminiscences of an old ,cambridge tradition1 suggested to me a plan which ,i lost no time in executing4 ,my love1 said ,i to ,caroline one morning1 did you ever hear of ,cambridge8 ,oh yes6 she replied1 apparently quoting from ,pinnock2 it's the capital of ,cambridgeshire4 ,did you never hear any thing else about it8 rejoined ,i4 ,it's famous for its university1 isn't it8 said she1 seemingly from the same source4 ,on this hint ,i spake1 and told her how that ,i had been educated at ,cambridge1 and how that1 after three years of intense study1 ,i had received the greatest honour the university had to bestow--a plucking4 ,yes1 said ,i1 my face radiant with a triumphant expression--,i was actually plucked4 ,i am sure you were1 you dear1 clever thing6 cried she1 throwing her arms round my neck4 ,we were married at ,monmouth1 and ,i took my bride straight to ,london4 ,i own ,i was a little desirous of showing ,emily ,jobson1 or rather ,emily ,swetter1 that there was a young lady in the world quite as pretty as herself1 and with better taste4 ,swetter and his wife called on us as soon as he heard we were in town2 and shortly afterwards we dined with them at their new house in ,torrington ,square4 ,among the guests was ,grindham--my ,grindham1 but how changed6 ,he had become tutor of his college1 and had expanded into the most perfect specimen of the university don ,i ever beheld4 ,he was positively swelling with importance4 ,so inordinately conspicuous1 indeed1 was his air of self-appreciation1 that even my little ,caroline noticed it2 and ,i heard her ask ,mrs ,swetter who and what he was4 ,he took the very highest honours at ,cambridge1 said she in reply4 ,caroline smiled1 and seemed to think him quite justified in looking as important as he did4 ,the cloth was removed4 ,caroline was sitting by ,grindham's side4 ,she had spoken little during dinner-time2 but ,i had noticed that several times she had seemed fidgetty1 as though she ought to say something to her neighbour4 ,now my wife had at that time a bad habit of speaking in a very loud voice--in consequence of a deaf father1 and of the little society she had seen4 ,the conversation1 accordingly1 had no sooner stopped 7as is its wont7 with a dead pause1 than she turned to ,grindham1 and said in a tone of appalling distinctness-- ,mr ,grindham1 were you ever plucked8 ,had a trumpet been suddenly blown close to ,grindham's ear1 he could not have looked more thoroughly taken aback4 ,caroline repeated her words with yet more frightful clearness-- ,i understand that you were plucked at ,cambridge4 ,grindham's countenance grew purple2 we had a room full of university men1 and the insulting speech was overheard by all4 ,there was a universal stare and stir2 and ,mrs ,swetter seemed to be saying to herself1 what wild beast have ,i got here6 ,caroline1 perceiving she had done something very much amiss1 got frightened1 and bent over her plate during the rest of dinner4 ,when the gentlemen came to the drawing-room1 ,mrs ,swetter and she were sitting together4 ,they had been talking1 and ,caroline's face was very red4 ,our eyes met3 her look was full of contempt4 ,she has been more than my better half ever since4 ,there never passes a day on which ,i am not taunted with my plucking4 ,,the ,,revolutions ,,in ,,europe ,when an ,eastern sage was desired by his sultan to inscribe on a ring the sentiment which1 amidst the perpetual change of human affairs1 was most descriptive of their real tendency1 he engraved on it the words3--,and this1 too1 shall pass away4 ,it is impossible to imagine a thought more truly and universally applicable to human affairs than that expressed in these memorable words1 or more descriptive of that perpetual oscillation from good to evil1 and from evil to good1 which from the beginning of the world has been the invariable characteristic of the annals of man1 and so evidently flows from the strange mixture of noble and generous with base and selfish inclinations1 which is constantly found in the children of ,adam4 ,and this1 too1 shall pass away4 ,the moral whirlwind which has lately swept over the states of ,europe1 and shaken all the kingdoms to their foundations1 will subside4 ,old habits will in the end return--old affections revive--old desires resume their sway--old necessities become imperious4 ,institutions may be modified--dynasties overturned--forms of government altered--monarchs sent into exile2 but the human heart remains1 and will for ever remain1 the same4 ,that foundation being unaltered1 the social necessities of men will in the end compel them to the old establishment of authority1 under names perhaps new4 ,old power will revive1 old rule be established1 old authority be confirmed4 ,the great body of men will still remain hewers of wood and drawers of water2 because ,nature never intended them for any other destination1 and she has rendered them incapable of discharging the duties of any other station4 ,respectable1 useful1 and virtuous1 when confined to it1 they become pernicious and ridiculous when for a time withdrawn from it to be placed in another4 ,mind will ere long resume its sway over matter1 moral over physical strength4 ,nations may rise in insurrection2 they may destroy the existing government2 they may establish a democratic or republican institution2--but that will not alter the nature of things2 it will not compensate the incapacity for self-government of the great body of mankind2 it will not relieve them from the first of human necessities1 that of being directed by a few4 ,under one name or another--that of ,decemvirs1 a ,triumvirate1 a ,committee of ,public ,salvation1 a ,directory1 or a ,provisional ,government1 the old authority is speedily evolved1 only the more powerful that it has been cradled in violence4 ,it is not the weakness1 it is the irresistible strength of a democratic government which is its greatest evil4 ,it is the iron grasp it never fails to lay on the property of others which is its principal danger1 the never-failing instrument of its speedy overthrow4 ,property is soon swept away by it1 but liberty is swept away still more quickly4 ,a ,csar1 a ,cromwell1 a ,napoleon1 arises like an avatar to stay the wrath of ,heaven let loose in the unbridled passions of men2 and ages of servitude succeed one terrible and unforgotten period of popular license4 ,it is the more important to refer to these lasting principles in human affairs at this time that the events which have recently occurred on the ,continent seem at first sight to set all former experience and history at defiance4 ,not only has monarchy been again overthrown1 and a republic restored in ,france by a single urban tumult1 but the contagion of the example has spread to other countries1 hitherto deemed the stronghold of the conservative principle1 and farthest removed from the influence of the revolutionary mania4 ,that ,italy1 following in the wake of a reforming ,pope1 should be speedily convulsed by popular fervour1 was anticipated1 and might easily be understood4 ,that ,lombardy and ,venice1 long impatient of the ,tramontane yoke1 should seize the first opportunity to cast it off1 was what every person acquainted with the feelings of the people in those beautiful provinces has long expected4 ,that ,prussia1 the most highly educated state in ,europe1 and which has long murmured at the delay in conceding the popular institutions promised during the struggle with ,napoleon in #ahac1 should make an effort now to obtain them1 might be understood4 ,that the ,poles1 smarting under their recent dismemberment1 and mourning their lost nationality1 should eagerly grasp at the shadow even of the means of restoring it1 was of course to be expected4 ,but that ,austria1 the most aristocratic monarchy in ,europe--that ,austria1 without either seaports1 commercial cities1 or manufacturing emporiums1 should be seized by the same passions1 and that the monarchy which had defeated ,napoleon at ,aspern1 and all but destroyed him at ,wagram1 should be overturned by an urban tumult1 headed by a burgher guard and the beardless students of the university--this indeed surpassed human comprehension4 ,it not unnaturally induced in superstitious or highly excited minds the belief that the end of the world was approaching1 or that an entire new era had opened upon human affairs1 to which nothing which had preceded it could furnish any thing like a parallel4 ,according to the temper of their minds1 men and women either believed that the dark prophecies of the ,revelation were about to be accomplished1 and that the great battle of ,armageddon was to precede the advent of the ,millennium1 or that the era of commercial organisation and socialist felicity was approaching1 and that all the miseries of mankind were to expire amidst the universal dominion of the people4 ,in the midst of these general hopes and fears1 more experienced or practical observers fixed their eyes on the spoliation of ,austria by liberalised ,piedmont2 of ,denmark1 by revolutionised ,prussia2 and of ,lithuania1 by regenerated ,poland2 and drew the conclusion that human selfishness was the same in all times and ages2 that pirates could sail under the red as well as the black flag1 and that the fervour of ,louis ,blanc and ,lamartine would terminate in a conflict as fierce1 and disasters as wide-spread1 as those which followed the visions of ,siyes1 and the philanthropy of ,robespierre4 ,what is in a peculiar manner worthy of consideration in the overthrow1 in so short a time1 of so many of the established governments of ,europe1 is the facility with which they appear to have been overturned by sudden urban tumult1 and the immediate submission of the whole provinces and remainder of the empire1 the moment the ruling power in the capital was changed4 ,it was not thus1 in former days1 either in ,france or any of the other ,european monarchies4 ,paris was often lost and won during the ,english wars1 the contests of the ,league and the ,fronde1 but the provinces were not dismayed by the loss of the capital2 and1 in their fidelity1 ,charles ,,vii4 and ,henry ,v4 found the means of changing the scales of fortune1 and again wresting it from the arms of rebels or strangers4 ,charles ,i4 set up his standard at ,northampton2 and ,london1 from the very outset of the conflict1 was in the hands of the ,long ,parliament2 but he found1 in the fidelity of the northern and western counties1 the means of maintaining for years a gallant conflict1 in which victory more than once was on the verge of rendering triumphant the royalist cause4 ,berlin1 during the ,seven ,years' ,war1 was twice taken by the ,russians2 but ,frederick the ,great emerged victorious out of that terrible strife4 ,vienna1 in the time of ,maria ,theresa1 was wrested from her arms by the ,french and ,bavarians2 but she threw herself on the fidelity of the ,hungarians1 and1 ere long1 the standards of ,france were driven with disgrace behind the ,rhine4 ,the double capture of the same city by ,napoleon did not determine the conflict between ,france and ,austria2 but a desperate struggle was subsequently maintained1 with almost balanced success1 at ,austerlitz1 ,aspern1 and ,wagram4 ,but now a single tumult1 in which the loss of life does not equal that of an ordinary skirmish1 has overthrown the greatest monarchies4 ,that of ,louis ,philippe fell before fifty men had been killed in the streets of ,paris2 that of ,prussia sank in a conflict in which one hundred and eighty-seven men fell on the popular side2 and an chauffoure1 which scarcely would deserve a place in military history1 overturned the monarchy of ,austria1 within sight of the steeples of ,aspern1 and around the cathedral which had witnessed the victory of ,john ,sobieski and the triumphant entry of ,maria ,theresa6 ,it is impossible not to conclude that moral and political causes have here enervated the minds of men1 and weakened1 to a most ruinous extent1 the strength of nations4 ,the depositaries of power have not1 in general1 shown themselves worthy of the trust which they held4 ,there is no reason to suspect them of personal cowardice2 but the moral courage which carries through a crisis1 and so often averts danger by venturing to face it1 appears to have been generally awanting4 ,men forgot the words of ,napoleon1 on occasion of ,malet's conspiracy--,the death of a soldier would be the most glorious of all1 if that of a magistrate1 slain in the faithful discharge of his civil duties1 were not still more honourable4 ,of few in these days can it be said1 in the words of the poet1-- ,justum et tenacem propositi virum ,non civium ardor prava jubentium1 ,non vultus instantis tyranni1 ,mente quatit solid2 ,si fractus illabatur orbis1 ,impavidum ferient ruin4 ,a long peace seems to have enervated the minds of the higher orders on the ,continent2 habitual luxury to have disinclined them to sacrifices by which it might be endangered4 ,to slip through a crisis quietly1 and with as little risk or disturbance as possible1 seems to have been the great object2 to avert danger at the moment1 by pushing it forward to future times1 the universal system4 ,with how much success it was practised1 the present deplorable state of ,france1 ,prussia1 ,austria1 and ,lombardy1 sufficiently attests4 ,the army was apparently everywhere faithful1 and fought bravely2 it was the want of moral courage and determination in the government which ruined every thing4 ,they forgot the words of ,mirabeau--,such is the fate of those who hope1 by concessions dictated by fear1 to disarm a revolution4 ,but farther1 the surprising facility with which the governments of these great military monarchies have been overthrown1 in the late extraordinary revolutions1 and the immediate submission of all the provinces to the new central power in the capital1 suggests another1 and a still more important consideration3--that is1 the danger attendant on that system of centralisation1 which1 adopted by all the governments of ,france1 monarchical and republican1 for two centuries1 from ,imperial ,rome1 and from thence imitated over all ,europe1 has now apparently concentrated the whole strength of a state1 moral as well as physical1 in the capital4 ,that such a system is very convenient2 that it improves and facilitates administration in many respects1 and greatly augments the national strength1 when held together by unanimous feeling1 and ably directed1 may readily be conceded4 ,the great power and extraordinary triumphs of ,prussia under ,frederick the ,great1 and of ,france under ,louis ,,xiv4 and ,napoleon1 sufficiently demonstrate that4 ,but what is the situation of such a centralised power when assailed1 not in its circumference1 but in its centre2 not in the extremities1 but the heart8 ,can any thing be expected of it but immediate submission to the power1 whatever it be1 which is in possession of the wonted seat of government1 which has the command of the palace1 the bank1 the treasury1 the post-office1 and the telegraph8 ,these revolutions1 of which so much is said1 cease to be national1 to become merely urban movements2 they are no longer an effort of plebeians against patricians1 but of one set of prtorians in the capital against another4 ,they are no longer rvolutions d'tat1 but rvolutions du palais4 ,it is of no consequence who inhabits the palace--a king1 a tribune1 an emperor1 or a decemvir4 ,it is there1 under whatever name that despotic power resides1 it is discovered where the vital spring is to be found4 ,deprived of its capital1 a centralised state1 be it republican or monarchical1 is ,samson when shorn of his hair2 it becomes the victim of any ,dalilah who takes the trouble to lure it to perdition4 ,that this is the true character of the revolutions which have lately taken place on the ,continent1 and struck the world with such astonishment1 from the magnitude of the changes which they involved1 and the facility with which they were accomplished1 is apparent on the very surface of things4 ,they were all urban tumults1 not national movements2 the nation was never consulted on them at all4 ,they were all concluded before the provinces heard of their commencement2 they succeeded so easily1 because the nations in which they occurred had been accustomed to obey the commands of the capital as implicitly as troops do the orders issuing from headquarters4 ,the national consent of ,france1 so far as it could be collected1 was decidedly in favour of the ,duchess of ,orleans and the ,count de ,paris on the night of the #bdth ,february2 for two-thirds of the ,chamber of ,deputies were for that government4 ,but what then8 ,the armed mob1 the prtorians of the capital1 rushed in--the refractory deputies were dragged from their benches as summarily as the ,council of ,five ,hundred were expelled from their seats by the grenadiers of ,napoleon on the #ahth ,brumaire2 a voice called ,c'est trop tard4 ,a l',hotel de ,ville6 ,vive la ,republique6 and the ,orleans dynasty was overthrown1 and universal suffrage established4 ,in ,prussia the whole affair was a combat in the capital1 between fifteen thousand regular troops and thirty thousand trained and disciplined citizens1 7every man in ,prussia is bred a soldier27 and after one hundred and eighty-seven men on the popular side had been killed1 the ,king yielded1 and the nation rushed headlong1 from absolute despotism to household suffrage1 equal electoral districts1 and a single ,national ,assembly4 ,this is just the ,cadiz constitution of #ahab1 which has ever since been the rallying point of the democrats throughout the south of ,europe1 over again4 ,it was the same at ,vienna3 the whole affair there was determined in a single day1 before intelligence of the commencement of the revolt had reached either ,lintz or ,presburg4 ,it is ridiculous to talk of these as national movements1 or revolutions of the state3 they are mere urban tumults1 originating in a struggle for the dictatorship in the capital1 and decided without the sense of the nation being taken either on the one side or the other4 ,but1 most of all1 these ,continental revolutions teach a lesson of inestimable importance to the people of this country1 and which recent events have so well illustrated1 as to the incalculable value of a hereditary order of succession in the government1 supported by hereditary respect1 and resting on the disinterested loyalty of the people4 ,it is in vain to conceal that it was the fact of its being a usurping government which proved fatal1 in the crisis of its fate1 to the monarchy of ,louis ,philippe4 ,he was the ,king of the ,barricades1 and how could he withstand the force of the ,barricades8 ,it was the same with the government of ,robespierre1 the ,directory1 and ,napoleon3 they were all usurpations1 and fell before the power which had created them4 ,they had not taken root in the loyal and generous affections of men4 ,the dynasty of ,cromwell perished with himself2 ,charles ,,ii4 was restored amidst the unanimous transports of the whole nation4 ,it was the same with the government of ,great ,britain for long after the ,revolution of #afhh3 it is well known that1 during the last years of the reign of ,queen ,anne1 it was almost an open question in both houses of parliament1 whether the ,stuart line should be restored1 or the ,hanoverian family1 in terms of the ,act of ,settlement1 be called to the throne4 ,the devastating civil wars and bloody contests of the ,prtorian ,guards with the legions1 which stained with blood the annals1 and shortened the existence of the ,roman empire1 may show what is the fate of a great nation which1 having cast away the bonds of hereditary loyalty1 has nothing to be guided by1 in the choice of a ruler1 but the blind partiality of armed men1 or the corrupted support of interested hirelings4 ,it will be long before either will produce the fidelity of the ,scottish ,highlanders in #agde1 or the glories of ,la ,vende in #agic4 ,usurpation of the throne is a sure prelude to endless dissension1 national corruption1 and endangered freedom4 ,the expulsion of the ,tarquins brought ,rome to the brink of ruin2 its effects were not removed for two centuries4 ,england took nearly a century to recover the effects of the most just and necessary revolution in which men were ever engaged--that which chased ,james ,,ii4 from the throne4 ,our present stability1 amidst the fall of so many other governments1 is mainly owing to this1 that by the long possession of the throne by her ancestors1 ,queen ,victoria unites in her person the two firmest foundations of regal power--a nation's consent1 and a nation's loyalty4 ,if any doubt could exist as to the importance of the barrier which the government of ,louis ,philippe and the administration of ,m4 ,guizot opposed to the torrent of revolutionary anarchy1 and the ascendant of selfish ambition1 it would be removed by the dreadful nature of the events which have since taken place1 or are in progress1 in every part of ,europe4 ,never was so clearly demonstrated the incalculable moment of the restraint which religion1 law1 and order impose on the rapacious and selfish passions of men1 or the truth of ,hobbes' doctrine that the natural state of man is a state of war4 ,instantly1 as if by magic1 the world has been thrown into confusion2 and out of the chaos have arisen not the virtuous and benevolent1 but the vicious and aggrandising propensities4 ,while ,liberty1 ,equality1 ,fraternity are in every mouth1 tyranny1 rapacity1 enmity are in every heart4 ,a legion of demons seem to have been suddenly let loose upon the world2 the original devil was expelled1 but straightway he returned with seven other devils1 worse than himself1 and the last state was worse than the first4 ,kings and ,kaisars1 ministers and generals1 demagogues and aristocrats1 seem to have become alike seized with the universal contagion4 ,in the general scramble1 when society seemed to be breaking up1 as in the horrors of a shipwreck or the disasters of a retreat1 all subordination has been lost1 all sense of rectitude passed away1 and the prevailing principle appears to have been to make the most of the crisis to the purpose of separate advantage4 ,the great parent republic took the lead in this demoniac race4 ,from the very first1 its steps were disgraced by rapine and robbery2 by the most audacious violation of vested rights1 and the most shameful disregard of private interests4 ,the first thing they did was to burn the railway stations1 and expel with savage barbarity several thousand inoffensive and industrious ,english and ,belgian labourers and artisans1 without their wages or their effects1 from the ,french territory4 ,the next was1 to confiscate the savings' banks throughout ,france--virtually destroying thereby nine-tenths of the accumulated savings of ,french industry since the peace4 ,the suspension of cash payments soon after lowered the value of all realised property a third4 ,a heavy addition 7#de per cent7 was imposed on direct taxes3 the period of payment anticipated by six months4 ,fifty millions of francs 7#b1jjj1jjj7 was next exacted from the ,bank of ,france without interest2 the ,bons du ,trsor ,royal 7,exchequer ,bills7 were thrown overboard2 a progressive income-tax is hinted at2 and ,government have now openly commenced the work of spoliation by seizing upon the ,paris and ,orleans and ,orleans and ,vierzon railways1 and directing their whole proceeds1 averaging #bjj1jjj francs 7#hjjj7 a week1 to be paid into the public treasury6 ,this is done without a hint at disapprobation1 or even an expression of dissent1 from the whole press of ,france4 ,nay1 they have now taken to stopping1 like footpads1 common travellers1 and forcing them to give up their specie in exchange for worthless paper4 ,we doubt if the whole history of mankind contains an account of the perpetration1 in so short a time1 of so many acts of rapacity1 or such an instance of the slavish degradation into which the press has fallen4 ,lord ,brougham1 a great liberal authority in his day1 has given1 in the ,house of ,peers1 the following graphic and characteristic account of the state of ,france at this time1 7,april #ag17 from which he has just returned3-- ,the present condition of ,paris1 if it continue for any time1 would inevitably effect the ruin of that glorious country4 ,paris governs ,france1 and a handful of the mob govern ,paris4 ,he hoped and trusted that they would live to see better times4 ,he hoped that what they now saw passing before their eyes--the general want of credit1 the utter impossibility of commerce going on1 the complete ruin of trade in the capital and great towns1 the expedients to which the ,provisional ,government finds itself compelled to have recourse day by day to perpetuate its existence1 and to make its ephemeral being last--one day taking possession of the banks of deposit to the robbery of the poor--another1 stopping the supplies of the rich--a third day stopping travellers for the purpose of taking their money from them 7hear1 hear1 and laughter7 at the barriers1 upon the ground that the town was in want of cash4 ,he hoped1 he said1 that they would soon see such an unsettled state of things give way to a more firm form of government4 ,he knew some of those individuals who had severely suffered by these circumstances--7hear1 and laughter7--but he should inform their ,lordships that he was not here present4 7,continued laughter47 ,although it was a pity to spoil their merriment1 he yet rejoiced in being able to show them that there was not a shadow of foundation for the report which had been circulated respecting himself2 when he came to the barrier1 the circumstance occurred which had no doubt given rise to the story4 ,he was told that he should stop in order that his baggage might be examined4 ,on requiring further explanation for this conduct1 he was informed that the inquiry was sought for for the purpose of seeing whether he had any money4 7,laughter47 ,he had heard a great deal respecting the misgovernment of former rulers1 but he had never heard of such a step as this being tolerated4 ,he knew one person from whom they took #bjj1jjj francs1 giving him bank paper instead4 ,the state of trade in that country was dreadful--the funds falling suddenly from #gj to #cb2 the bank stopping1 notwithstanding the order for the suspension of cash-payments2 the taking possession of one of the railways1 with the proceeds1 amounting to about #hjjj a-week1 which were put into ,louis ,blanc's pocket to be dispensed again according to his peculiar theory4 ,in the same way1 it was said1 the ,provisional ,government intended to act with all the other railways4 ,they had1 no doubt1 a right to do all this1 if they pleased1 and also1 as it was rumoured they intended to do1 to seize the bank1 and to issue a paper currency to a very large amount4 ,he only hoped that at the meeting of the ,national ,assembly1 they would open their eyes to the necessity of taking such steps as to prevent that mischief to which such experiments as these were likely to lead4 7,hear1 hear47 ,he believed that the certain result of such a government would be this--that they would be stricken down with imbecility1 and would become too weak to perform the ordinary functions of a government4 ,they might struggle on for a time1 until some military commander would rise and destroy the ,republic1 and perhaps plant in its place a military despotism4 ,at this moment he was of opinion that any one general1 with #aj1jjj men1 marching into ,paris1 would have the effect of at once putting an end to the ,republic4 ,no man could doubt it4 ,the ,belgian ambassador the other day had applied to ,m4 ,lamartine for protection2 the latter said in reply1 he admitted the full right of the ambassador to such protection1 but he had not really three men at his disposal4 ,the people in ,paris were as uneasy as any persons could be at this state of things1 but they have made up their minds to the fact that this experiment of a ,republic must be tried2 so that ,france must remain a ,republic for some time1 whether it be for her advantage or not4--,morning ,chronicle1 ,april #ac1 #ahdh4 ,wretched as this account of the present state of ,france is1 its prospects are if possible still more deplorable4 ,the misery brought on the working-classes by the ruin of commerce1 destruction of credit1 and flight of the opulent foreigners1 is such that it is absolutely sickening to contemplate it4 ,seventy-five thousand persons are out of employment in ,paris alone1 which1 with the usual number of dependents1 must imply two hundred thousand human beings in a state of destitution4 ,the only way of supporting this enormous mass of indigence is by maintaining it as an armed force2 and it is said that #bjj1jjj idlers are in this way paid thirty sous a-day to keep them from plundering the capital6 ,but the resources of no country1 far less one shipwrecked in capital1 trade1 and industry1 can withstand such a strain4 ,the following is one of the latest accounts of the financial and social condition of ,france1 by an able observer on the spot3-- ,the time is now fast approaching when the pecuniary resources left in the treasury at the revolution will be exhausted4 ,the old loan has ceased to be paid up4 ,the new loan remains a barren failure4 ,the regular taxes are paid with reluctance1 and are not paid beforehand except in ,paris4 ,the additional impost of #de centimes 7near #ej per cent on the direct taxes7 is positively refused as illegal by the rural districts and provincial cities4 ,the stock of bullion in the ,bank of ,france decreases1 and1 in short1 the progress of financial ruin goes steadily on4 ,we pointed out some weeks ago the exact and inevitable course of this decline1 and we now read in a ,french journal of repute the precise confirmation of our predictions3--',we are now1' says the ,journal des ,debats1 'but two steps removed from a complete system of paper-money2 and if we enter on that system1 we shall not get out of it again short of the total ruin of private persons and of the state1 after having passed through the most rigorous distress2 for it would be the suspension of production and of exchange4' ,the plan proposed1 though not yet sanctioned by the ,provisional ,government1 seems to be a general seizure and incorporation with the state of all the great financial and trading companies1 such as the ,bank of ,france1 the railways1 the canals1 mines1 c41 and the issue of a vast amount of paper by the state on the alleged credit of this property--in short1 a pure inconvertible system of assignats4 ,monstrous as such a proposal appears1 we are inclined to think that the rapid disappearance of the precious metals will render some such scheme inevitable1 and it will be the form given to the bankruptcy and ruin of the nation4--,times1 #adth ,april4 ,in the midst of these woful circumstances1 the ,provisional ,government does not for a moment intermit in the inflaming the public mind by the most fallacious and false promises of boundless future prosperity from the adherence to republican principles1 and the return of stanch republicans to the approaching assembly4 ,in the same able journal it is observed1-- ,we have now before us a handbill entitled the ,bulletin de la ,republique1 and printed on white paper1 the distinctive mark of official proclamations1 headed1 moreover1 with the words ,ministre de l',intrieur4 ,this document is one of those semi-officially circulated1 as we understand1 by ,m4 ,,ledru ,,rollin1 for the purpose of exciting the ,republican party4 ,a more disastrous appeal to popular passions1 and a more delusive pledge to remedy all human sufferings1 we never read2 for after having laid to the charge of existing laws all the miseries of a poor man's lot1 heightened by inflammatory description1 the working classes are told that 'henceforth society will give them employment1 food1 instruction1 honour1 air1 and daylight4 ,it will watch over the preservation of their lives1 their health1 their intelligence1 their dignity4 ,it will give asylum to the aged1 work for their hands1 confidence to their hearts1 and rest to their nights4 ,it will watch over the virtue of their daughters1 the requisite provision for their children1 and the obsequies of the dead4' ,in a word1 this exceptional and transitory power1 whose very form and existence are still undefined1 announces some necromantic method of interposing between man and all the laws of his existence on this globe--of suspending the principles of human nature1 as it has already done those of society--and of changing the whole aspect of human life4 ,no delusions can be so enormous3 the word is too good for them--they are frauds2 and these frauds are put forward by men who know well enough that the effect of the present crisis already is1 and will be much more hereafter1 to plunge the very classes to whom these promises are made into the lowest depths of human suffering4--,times1 #adth ,april4 ,one of the most instructive facts as to the ruinous effect of the late ,revolution on the best interests of ,french industry1 is to be found in the progressive and rapid decline in the value of all ,french securities1 public and private1 since it took place4 ,it distinctly appears that two-thirds of the capital of ,france has been destroyed since the ,revolution1 in the short space of six weeks6 ,attend to the fall in the value of the public funds during that brief but disastrous period3-- ,french #c per cents4 #e per cents4 ,fr4 ,ct4 ,fr4 ,ct4 #ahbe #gf #ce ,july #bc #ahag #fi #j ,july #bi #ahbi #hf #af ,dec4 #e #ahba #ij #fj ,nov4 #b #ahcj #he #ce ,jan4 #ah #ahbb #ie #j ,sept4 #e #ahca #gj #ej ,dec4 #b #ahbd #ajd #hj ,feb4 #e #ahcd #he #ej ,nov4 #cj #ahbh #aji #j ,sept4 #d #ahdj #hf #fe ,july #bb #ahbi #aaj #fe ,mar4 #d #ahdd #he #fe ,dec4 #bb #ahca #ih #cj ,dec4 #ae #ahde #hf #dj ,may #bj #ahce #aaj #cf ,feb4 #d #ahdf #he #j ,feb4 #bh #ahcg #aaa #j ,sept4 #e #ahdg #hj #cj ,jan4 #b #ahda #aag #e ,sept4 #d #ahdh #dg #j ,mar4 #ae #ahdd #abf #cj ,mar4 #d #ahdh #da #bg ,mar4 #bh #ahdg #aai #dj ,feb4 #bb #ahdh #ce #fg ,april #a #ahdh #aaf #ge ,feb4 #bb #ahdh #cd #fd ,april #e #ahdh #ig #ej fell to #hj ,mar4 #g4 #ahdh #cc #aj ,april #ad #ahdh #fe #hj ,april #b #ahdh #ea #j ,april #ab ,la ,presse1 ,march #ab1 and ,times since that date4 ,the value of railway stock and bank shares has declined in a still more alarming proportion4 ,bank shares1 which in #ahbd sold for #cdjj francs1 are now selling at #ijj francs--or little more than ,a ,,fourth of their former value4 ,railway stock is unsaleable1 being marked out for immediate confiscation4 ,taking one kind of stock with another1 it may safely be affirmed that ,,two-,,thirds of the capital of ,france has perished since the ,revolution1 in the short space of seven weeks4 ,the fruit of thirty-three years' peace1 hard labour1 and penurious saving1 has disappeared in seven weeks of anarchical transports66 ,of course1 the means of employing the people have declined in the same proportion2 for where credit is annihilated1 how is industry to be maintained1 before its produce comes in1 but by realised capital8 ,how is its produce to be disposed of if two-thirds of the classes possessed of property have been rendered bankrupt8 ,already this difficulty has been experienced in ,france4 ,the ,paris papers of #acth ,april announce that seventy-five thousand persons will be employed at the ateliers ,nationaux1 or public workshops1 at #cj sous a-day1 in the end of ,april--at a cost of #aab1ejj francs a-day1 or #c1cge1jjj francs1 7#aej1jjj7 a-month4 ,this is in addition to an armed force of above #ajj1jjj men1 paid for the most part two francs a-day for doing nothing4 ,no exchequer in the world can stand such a strain2 far less that of a bankrupt and revolutionised country like ,france4 ,it is no wonder that the ,french funds are down at #cb1 and an issue of assignats--in other words1 the open and avowed destruction of all realised property--is seriously contemplated4 ,this is exactly the condition to which ,france was brought during the ,reign of ,terror1 when the whole inhabitants of ,paris fell as a burden on the government1 and the cost of the #fhj1jjj rations daily issued to them1 exceeded that of the fourteen armies which combated on the frontiers for the ,republic4 ,in those days the misery in ,paris1 the result of the ,revolution1 was so extreme1 that the bakers' shops were besieged day and night without intermission by a famishing crowd2 and the unhappy applicants were kept all night waiting during a severe frost1 with a rope in their hands1 and the thermometer often down at #e ,fahrenheit1 to secure their place for the distribution when the doors were opened4 ,there is nothing new in the condition of ,france and ,paris at this time3 it has been seen and experienced in every age of the world2 it has been familiar to the ,east for three thousand years4 ,the principle that the state is the universal proprietor1 the middle class the employs of government1 and the labouring class the servants of the state1 is exactly the oriental system of government4 ,it is just the satraps and fellahs of ,persia--the mandarins and peasants of ,china--the zemindars and ryots of ,hindostan over again4 ,exact parallels to the armed and insolent rabble who now lord it over ,paris1 and through it over ,france1 may be found in the ,prtorians of ,rome--the ,mamelukes of ,egypt--the ,janissaries of ,constantinople4 ,the visions of perfectibility and utopian projects of ,louis ,blanc1 ,lamartine1 and ,ledru ,rollin1 have already landed the social interests of ,france in the straits of the ,reign of ,terror--its practical government in the armed despotism of the ,algerine pirates1 or the turbulent sway of the ,sikh soldiery4 ,but the contagion of violence1 the ascendant of ambition1 the lust of rapine have not been confined to the armed janissaries of ,paris1 or their delegates the ,provisional ,government4 ,they have extended to other countries3 they have spread to other states4 ,they have infected governments as well as their subjects2 they have disgraced the throne as well as the workshop4 ,wherever a revolution has been successful1 and liberal governments have been installed1 there a system of foreign aggression has instantly commenced4 ,the first thing which the revolutionary government of ,piedmont did1 was to invade ,lombardy1 and drive the ,austrian armies beyond the ,po2 the first exploit of constitutional ,prussia1 to pour into ,sleswig to spoliate ,denmark4 ,open preparations for revolutionising ,lithuania are made in the grand-duchy of ,posen4 ,a war has already commenced on the ,po and the ,elbe2 it is imminent on the ,vistula4 ,lamartine's reply to the ,italian deputation proves that ,france is prepared1 on the least reverse to the ,sardinian arms1 to throw her sword into the scale2 his conduct in permitting an armed rabble to set out from ,paris to invade ,belgium1 and another from ,lyons to revolutionise ,savoy1 that the extension of the frontier of ,france to the ,rhine and the ,alps is still the favourite project of the ,french republic4 ,if he declines to do so1 the armed prtorians of ,paris will soon find another foreign minister who will4 ,france has #fjj1jjj men in arms3 ,austria #ejj1jjj3 #aej1jjj ,russians will soon be on the ,vistula4 ,hardly was uttered ,mr ,cobden's memorable prophecy of the approach of a pacific millennium1 and a universal turning of swords into spinning-jennies1 when the dogs of war were let slip in every quarter of ,europe4 ,hardly was ,m4 ,lamartine's hymn of liberty1 equality1 fraternity1 chanted1 when the reign of internal spoliation and external violence commenced in ,france1 and rapidly extended as far as its influence was felt throughout the world4 ,and this1 too1 shall pass away4 ,the reign of injustice is not eternal3 it defeats itself by its own excesses3 the avenging angel is found in the human heart4 ,in the darkest days of humanity1 this great law of nature is unceasingly acting1 and preparing in silence the renovation of the world4 ,it will bring about the downfall of the prtorian bands who now rule ,france1 as it brought about the overthrow of ,robespierre1 the fall of ,napoleon4 ,the revolutionary tempest which is now sweeping over ,europe cannot long continue4 ,the good sense of men will reassume its sway after having violently reeled3 the feelings of religion and morality will come up to the rescue of the best interests of humanity3 the generous will yet combat the selfish feelings3 the spirit of heaven will rise up against that of hell4 ,it is in the eternal warfare between these opposite principles1 that the true secret of the whole history of mankind is to be found3 in the alternate triumph of the one and the other1 that the clearest demonstration is to be discerned of the perpetual struggle between the noble and generous and selfish and corrupt desires which for ever actuate the heart of man4 ,to rouse effort by the language of virtue1 says ,mr ,alison1 and direct it to the purposes of vice1 is the great art of revolution4 ,what a commentary on these words have recent events afforded6 ,judging by the language of the revolutionists1 they are angels descended upon earth4 ,nothing but gentleness1 justice1 philanthropy is to be seen in their expressions3 nothing but liberty1 equality1 fraternity in their maxims4 ,astra appears to have returned to the world3 the lion and the kid have lain down together--,justice and ,mercy have kissed each other4 ,judging by their actions1 a more dangerous set of ruffians never obtained the direction of human affairs3 justice was never more shamelessly set at nought in measures1 robbery never more openly perpetrated by power4 ,their whole career has been one uninterrupted invasion of private rights2 their whole power is founded on continual tribute to the selfish desire of individual aggrandisement among their followers4 ,we do not ascribe this deplorable contrast between words and actions to any peculiar profligacy or want of conscience in the ,provisional ,government4 ,some of them are men of powerful intellect or fine genius2 all1 we believe1 are sincere and well-meaning men4 ,but ,hell is paved with good intentions4 ,they are pushed on by a famishing crowd in their rear1 whom they are alike unable to restrain or to feed4 ,they are fanatics1 and fanatics of the most dangerous kind--devout believers in human perfectibility1 credulous assertors of the natural innocence of man4 ,thence their enormous error--thence the enormous evils they have brought upon the world--thence the incalculable importance of the great experimentum crucis as to the justice of these principles which is now taking place upon the earth4 ,to give one instance1 among many1 of the way in which these regenerators of society proceed to spoliate their neighbours1 it is instructive to refer to the proposals officially promulgated by the ,provisional ,government1 in their interview with the railway proprietors of ,france1 whom1 by one sweeping act1 it was proposed to absorb into the state4 ,the ,minister of the ,interior stated that it was proposed to purchase the shares of the proprietors2 and the word purchase sounded well1 and was doubtless a balm to many a quaking heart1 expecting unqualified confiscation4 ,but he soon explained what sort of purchase it was which was in contemplation4 ,he said that it was the intention of ,government to absorb all the railway shares throughout ,france2 to take the shares at the current price in the market1 and give the proprietors not money but rentes1 or public securities1 to the same amount6 ,that is1 having first1 by means of the revolution1 lowered the current value of railway stock to a twentieth1 or1 in some cases1 a fiftieth part of what it was previous to that convulsion1 they next proceed to estimate it at that depreciated value1 and then pay the unhappy holders1 not in cash1 but in ,government securities1 themselves lowered to a third of their value1 and perhaps ere long worth nothing4 ,a more shameful instance of spoliation1 veiled under the fine names of absorption1 centralisation1 and the like1 never was heard of2 but the ,minister of the ,interior had two conclusive arguments to adduce on the subject4 ,some of the railway lines at least were paying concerns1 and the republic must have cash2 and all of them afforded work for the labouring classes1 and ,government must find employment for the unemployed4 ,to such a length have these communist and socialist projects proceeded in ,paris1 that a great effort of all the holders of property was deemed indispensable to arrest them4 ,the effort was made on ,monday1 #agth ,april2 but it is hard to say whether the dreaded evils or the boasted demonstration were most perilous1 or most descriptive of the present social condition of the ,french capital4 ,was it by argument in the public journals1 or by influencing the electors for the approaching ,assembly1 or even by discussion at the ,clubs1 as in the days of the ,jacobins and the ,cordeliers1 that the thing was done8 ,quite the reverse3 it was effected by a demonstration of physical strength4 ,they took a leaf out of the book of the ,chartists--they copied the processions of the ,janissaries in the ,atmeidan of ,constantinople4 ,the ,national ,guard1 two hundred and twenty thousand strong1 mustered on the streets of ,paris3 they shouted out1 ,a bas les ,communistes6--,a bas ,blanqui6--,vive le ,gouvernement ,provisoire6 and the ,parisians flattered themselves the thing was done4 ,is not the remedy worse than the disease8 ,what were fifteen thousand unarmed workmen spouting socialist speeches in the ,champs de ,mars to #bjj1jjj armed ,national ,guards1 dictating their commands alike to the ,provisional ,government and the ,national ,assembly6 ,was ever a capital handed over to such a lusty band of metropolitan janissaries8 ,what chance is there of freedom of deliberation in the future ,assembly in presence of such formidable spectators in the galleries8 ,already ,m4 ,ledru ,rollin is calculating on their ascendancy4 ,like all persons engaged in a successful insurrection--in other words1 who have been guilty of treason--he is haunted by a continual1 and in the circumstances ridiculous1 dread of a counter-revolution2 and in his circular of #aeth ,april1 he openly avows the principle that ,paris is the soul of ,france2 that it is the advanced guard of ,freedom1 not for itself alone1 but the whole earth2 and that the departments must not think of gainsaying the will of their sovereign leaders1 or making the cause retrograde1 in which all nations are finally to be blessed4 ,the account of this extraordinary demonstration1 given in the ,paris correspondence of the ,times of #aith ,april1 is so characteristic and graphic1 that we cannot forbear the satisfaction of laying it before our readers4 ,it recalls the preludes to the worst days of the first ,revolution4 ,ever since the appearance of this bold defiance to the moderate majority in the ,provisional ,government1 and its announcement that 'the gauntlet was thrown down--the death-struggle was at hand1' the city has naturally been in a state of subdued ferment4 ,various reports1 some of the most extravagant kind1 were circulated from mouth to mouth4 ,it was said that the majority of the members of the ,government intended retreating to the ,tuileries1 and fortifying their position--that a collision between the violent and moderate parties was imminent--that the ,ultras1 led by ,blanqui1 were to profit by a new manifestation in favour of a further delay in the general elections1 and against the admission of the military into the city upon the occasion of the great fraternisation fete1 in order to upset the moderate party in the ,government2 in fine1 that ,ledru ,rollin1 with two or three of his colleagues1 was instigating1 aiding1 and abetting ,blanqui in this movement to get rid of that majority of his other colleagues that thwarted his designs4 ,whatever the truth of all these rumours1 the alarm was general4 ,it soon became generally known that a monster meeting of the working classes was to be held in the ,champ de ,mars on the ,sunday1 and that ,messrs ,louis ,blanc and ,albert1 instigated1 it was said1 by the ,minister of the ,interior1 had convoked this assembly4 ,the ,ultra party1 it was added1 designed to make use of this manifestation in order to forward the schemes already mentioned4 ,this was the state of things on ,sunday morning4 ,in the ,champ de ,mars1 a little after noon1 the scene was certainly an exciting one4 ,delegates of all the trades and guilds of ,paris were assembled1 to the number of nearly #ajj1jjj men4 ,banners were waving in all directions1 and the fermenting crowd filled about a third of the vast space of the plain4 ,it was with difficulty that an explanation could be obtained of the real object of the meeting4 ,its ostensible object1 however1 appeared to be the election from among the working classes of fourteen officers for the staff of the ,national ,guard2 although other motives1 such as the choice of candidates among them for the general elections1 and various deputations to the ,government upon various matters connected with the endless organisation of work1 were also put forward4 ,there is every reason to believe that the greater part of the meeting had in reality no other object in view1 and that the other secret intrigues fomented by the ,blanqui party were confined1 at all events1 to but a chosen few4 ,about two o'clock the monster procession began to move towards the ,hotel de ,ville4 ,along the outer boulevards1 along the esplanade of the ,invalides1 over the ,pont de la ,concorde1 and along the quays1 it moved on1 like a huge serpent1 bristling with tricoloured banners4 ,the head of the monster appeared to have nearly reached its destination before the tail had fully left the ,champ de ,mars4 ,in passing through the ,faubourg ,st ,germain1 ,i found the rappel beating in every street2 the ,national ,guards were hurrying to their places of meeting1 columns were marching forward2 in every mouth was the cry that the ,provisional ,government was in danger from the anarchists of the ,ultra party4 ,on reaching the quays1 ,i found every thing in a state of revolution4 ,they were already lined1 literally from one end to the other1 by files of the ,national ,guards2 other battalions were advancing towards the ,hotel de ,ville2 the legions of the ,garde ,mobile were hurrying in the same direction1 and seemed1 as far as ,i could judge1 animated by the same spirit of resistance as the ,national ,guards to the supposed coup-de-main expected to be directed against the majority of the ,government4 ,it was with difficulty that the advancing legions could proceed along with the monster procession1 which seemed surprised and stupified by the force displayed4 ,thousands upon thousands of spectators crowded the long thoroughfare also1 all endeavouring to push on to the scene of action4 ,i reached at last the ,place de l',hotel de ,ville2 it appeared a very sea of bayonets2 a small space only was left for the passage of the procession4 ,the force of the armed citizens of the ,national ,guards and the ,garde ,mobile made certainly a tremendous show4 ,in this state matters remained upon the ,place for about four hours1 during which the members of the ,government were employed probably in receiving the delegates of the monster meeting of the working classes4 ,from time to time1 however1 when they appeared at the windows of the old building1 shouts were raised by the ,guards1 and the caps1 hats1 shakos1 kpys1 and all the other variations of coiffure1 that suddenly burst up1 like a forest1 into the air upon every bayonet point1 had a most singular effect4 ,this was repeated continually4 ,during the whole of this long scene1 in which such of the armed force as filled the ,place kept its position1 the ferment among the surrounding crowd was intense4 ,several hommes du peuple were in a very angry and excited state2 they declared that the working classes were insulted by this demonstration of the ,national ,guards2 that the ,national ,guards were the enemies of the people2 that the people must rise once more against them1 c4 ,the cry against the ,moderates was raised under the name of reactionaires and faux republicains2 the counter cry was anarchie and communisme4 ,several times the angry parties among the spectators were on the point of coming to blows1 and much hustling took place4 ,this state of things remained the same when ,i left the ,place de l',hotel de ,ville at six o'clock4 ,in addition to the lines of ,national ,guards that still occupied the quays1 battalions after battalions of the different legions were still pouring along towards the ,hotel de ,ville even at that hour4 ,the advancing columns reached through the ,place du ,carrousel far upon the ,rue de ,rivoli4 ,they were hurrying on as quickly as the intense press permitted them1 shouting almost universally1 ,a bas les ,anarchistes6 or more commonly1 for that was the real rallying cry1 ,a bas les ,communistes6 ,general ,courtais1 with his staff1 was riding up and down among the advancing ranks1 declaring1 as far as ,i could hear1 that the ,government was no longer in danger1 but thanking them for this demonstration of their desire to support it4--,times1 #aith ,april4 ,on the following night1 7,monday #ag17 attacks were made by the ,communists on the ,treasury1 the ,hotel de ,ville1 and several other posts2 but they were defeated by the ,national ,guard4 ,it thus appears that the ,provisional ,government1 before it has been seven weeks in office1 is already passed in the career of revolution by a force from below6 ,it is fain to summon the ,national ,guard for its protection1 and to receive the petitions of the proletaires and ouvriers from the ,champ de ,mars1 surrounded not by the love of the people1 but the bayonets of sixty thousand ,national ,guards grouped round the ,hotel de ,ville6 ,insane projects of communism1 and the division of all profits among the workmen1 without leaving any thing for the profits of stock1 have made such progress among them1 that in a few weeks the ,provisional ,government is accused of imitating the conduct of ,louis ,philippe1 because they do not forthwith adopt these without limitation1 and are significantly warned to avoid his fate4 ,it is evident that the destiny of the whole civilised world is wound up with allowing these communist ideas in ,france to run their course unmolested1 and work out their appropriate and inevitable fruits4 ,we anticipate no good from the revolution in ,prussia4 ,we are well aware1 indeed1 of the intelligence and energy of that gallant people4 ,we know that her inhabitants are the most highly educated of any people in ,europe1 and second to none in patriotism and spirit4 ,prussia is capable1 in good time1 and from her own exertions1 of working out the elements of constitutional freedom4 ,but we distrust all revolutions brought about by example4 ,contagion never yet spread the spirit of real freedom3 foreign imitation may for a while overthrow existing governments1 but it cannot establish new ones in their stead on a durable foundation4 ,the ,republic of ,rienzi1 who1 according to the fine expression of ,madame de ,stael1 mistook recollections for hopes1 perished in a few years without leaving a wreck behind4 ,where are now the ,batavian1 ,cisalpine1 ,ligurian1 and ,parthenopeian ,republics1 which arose during the fervour of the first ,revolution around the great parent ,republic8 ,what has been the result of the revolutionary mania which in #ahbj threw down the established government in ,piedmont1 ,naples1 ,spain1 or ,portugal8 ,what has become of the ,republics of ,south ,america1 which borrowed their institutions from the ,french or ,spanish model8 ,has any one of these countries obtained real freedom in consequence of their exertions8 ,have they not all1 on the contrary1 suffered dreadfully1 and in nothing so much as their capacity for liberty1 from their effects8 ,has not capital been so abridged1 industry so blighted1 security so endangered1 violence so general1 that the cause of freedom has been postponed for centuries1 if not rendered entirely hopeless1 from the triumph of foreign imported liberalism8 ,whatever it may effect elsewhere1 free-trade in revolutions does nothing but evil in society4 ,nothing but what is of home growth1 in constitutions at least1 can succeed there4 ,it is difficult enough to make the tree of liberty prosper even where it is indigenous in the earth2 but who ever heard of a transplanted tree of liberty thriving in the soil to which it was transferred8 ,already all the usual and well-known effects of successful revolution are to be seen in ,berlin4 ,extravagant ideas among the working classes1--visions of unbounded felicity in all4 ,hopes that can never be realised1--expectations inconsistent with the first laws of society4 ,in the midst of this chaos of excitement1 transports1 and chimerical projects1 have come the inevitable attendants on such an assault on the established interests and order of society1--shaken credit1 frequent bankruptcy1 diminished employment1 a falling revenue1 augmented discontent1 foreign warfare1 general suffering4 ,these effects follow so universally and invariably from the triumph of ,revolution1 that they may be fairly set down as its inevitable results4 ,it is in the midst of this scene of danger1 excitement1 and tribulation1 that ,prussia1 without the least previous preparation for it1 is to plunge at once into universal suffrage1 equal electoral districts1 and a deputy for every #ej1jjj souls6 ,england1 with its centuries of freedom1 cautious habits1 realised wealth1 and opulent middle classes1 could not withstand such a constitution4 ,the abolition of the national debt1 of the house of peers1 and a division of property1 would follow from it in three months4 ,what1 then1 is to be expected from ,prussia1 which1 so far from having served an apprenticeship to freedom1 is not yet entered with the craft8 ,so strange and sudden has been the revolt at ,vienna1 that it is scarcely possible to conceive that it can be of lasting effects4 ,the framework of society there1 the habits of the people1 the ideas prevalent among them1 are essentially aristocratic4 ,the change in the government was entirely the work of a few thousand ardent students and discontented burghers in the capital4 ,there is no material suffering in the ,austrian provinces3 ,chartism is not there1 as here1 fanned by the misery produced by free-trade and a contracted currency4 ,in these circumstances1 it is not unlikely that1 after the first blush of the insurrection is over1 and men begin to consider in what respect they have benefited by it1 there will be a general inclination to return to the former government4 ,probably a few concessions--as of a national ,diet1 where the wants of the country may be made known by a majority1 still composed of nobles and landed proprietors--will satisfy the general wish4 ,old feelings will revive1 old ideas return1 old habits retain their ascendancy2 foreign warfare will make the national supersede the social passions4 ,it will be with them as was said of the first ,french ,revolution in ,la ,vende1--giving privileges to the people is like casting water on a higher level--it speedily finds its way to the lower4 ,the ,revolution of #ahdh in ,vienna will be--like that of ,jack ,cade in ,england1 or ,rienzi in ,italy1 and all similar movements in countries not prepared for them--a brief and painful effort which leaves not a trace behind4 ,but this much may without the least hesitation be predicted4 ,if this return to old feelings and habits does not take place--and ,austria1 with its various races1 provinces1 and interests1 and accustomed submission to authority1 is really revolutionised1 its power will be annihilated1 its provinces partitioned1 its people enslaved1 its happiness destroyed1 and a fatal breach made in the great ,germanic barrier which separates ,french ,insurrection from ,russian ,absolutism4 ,what a contrast to the storms which now agitate and have so profoundly shaken the ,continental states does the aspect of ,great ,britain at the same period afford8 ,we1 too1 have our dangers3 we have our ,chartists and our ,repealers3 the whole force of revolution in this island1 and of insurrection in the neighbouring one1 have been directed to assail and overturn the constitution4 ,this treasonable attempt1 too1 has been made at a time of all others most likely to give it success3 when the ruinous dogmas of free-trade had paralysed industry1 and of a gold currency had shattered it2 when bankruptcies to an unheard of extent had shaken commerce to its centre1 and an unexampled number of persons in all the manufacturing districts were thrown out of employment4 ,yet even in these1 the most favourable of all circumstances for the success of sedition1 when real and wide-spread internal suffering is aggravated by vehement external excitement1 how has it fared with the revolutionists8 ,their treasonable designs have been every where met with calm resolution by the ,government and the country2 and with scarce any effusion of blood1 without a contest which can be dignified with the name of rebellion1 without a single execution1 as yet at least1 on the scaffold1 their designs have been rendered abortive4 ,the ,press has stood nobly forward on this momentous crisis2 and to its ability and truly patriotic spirit1 the defeat of the disaffected1 without bloodshed1 is mainly to be ascribed4 ,england has shown one instance at least of an empire saved by the unbought loyalty of her people and the free independence of her ,press4 ,the metropolis has set a splendid example of mingled patriotism and firmness3 and ,europe1 which expected to see the treason of the ,chartists triumphant on the #ajth of ,april1 and another republic1 proclaimed on the banks of the ,thames1 was astonished to behold their boasted multitudes shrink from a contest with six thousand soldiers supported by an equal number of police4 ,beyond all question1 it was the glorious display of public spirit then made by the middle and higher classes1 who came forward to a man to defend the cause of order1 which paralysed the audacity of the revolutionists1 and saved the empire from the horrors of hopeless indeed1 but in any event disastrous1 civil warfare4 ,the following observations by a distinguished journal1 long known for its able and intrepid defence of the cause of religion and order1 put this memorable event in its true light3-- ,the eleventh of ,april1 in the year #ahdh1 has arrived1 and the ,united ,kingdom is still a monarchy4 ,the day1 the great day1 which was to revolutionise the nation1 and to establish a republic on the ,french model1 has passed over1 and we find no change4 ,the ,parliament sits at its ease as heretofore2 the courts of law administer justice as heretofore2 and the officers of the executive are transacting the business of the ,government without molestation4 ,all other business1 too1 is proceeding in its ordinary course4 ,a better means of estimating the strength of the ,chartists than has yet been afforded1 was afforded by the exhibition yesterday on ,kennington ,common4 ,the five millions and a half mustered #aj1jjj1 or1 to take the highest estimate1 #ae1jjj4 ,it may be said that these were the ,chartists of ,london and its neighbourhood2 but though we have shown that this is not the fact1 let it be so1--,london and its neighbourhood comprise a population of two millions1 giving five hundred thousand men of military age4 ,of these1 then1 but #ae1jjj at most--we say but #aj1jjj--;are ,chartists3 #a in #ejj according to our estimate1 #a in about #ccj according to the higher estimate of the number on the common4 ,let us now turn to the more pleasing side of yesterday's proceedings2 and let us1 in the first place1 acknowledge the true fountain of domestic peace1 and of every other blessing--',,unless ,,the ,,lord ,,keepeth ,,the ,,city1 ,,the ,,watchman ,,waketh ,,but ,,in ,,vain4' ,to the bounty of ,divine ,providence we owe it1 that this morning we arise in peace to pursue our peaceful occupations4 ,may we not add1 with humility1 that to the ,giver of all good we owe the honour that the metropolis of ,england has won1 in setting to the world an example of a peaceful victory over the worst spirit of rebellion1 encouraged by the triumph of rebellion in almost every other capital of ,europe4 ,yes1 it is to ,him1 and to the teaching of ,his word1 the glory is due4 ,we have told the number of ,chartists2 now what was the number of special constables8--,two hundred thousand2 the ,morning ,chronicle says1 we believe truly1 two hundred and fifty thousand--no sickly spectres1 like those whose perverse activity summoned them from their usual avocations1 but the manhood of the metropolis1 from the high-spirited nobility and gentry downward1 through all the gradations of society1 to the strong-armed artisan1 and the robust drayman or coal-whipper4 ,yes1 the special constables enrolled yesterday presented a body for spirit1 strength1 and number1 not to be matched1 out of ,great ,britain1 on the face of the earth4 ,how truly did we say a few weeks ago1 that every ,sunday saw meekly kneeling in the churches of the metropolis a body of men that could laugh to scorn the assault of any enemy1 foreign or domestic1 that could by possibility be brought to confront them4 ,these men look for spirit1 and strength1 and safety in the right quarter1 and they themselves yesterday exhibited the proof4 ,the military preparations of the ,government were prudent1 as providing against the danger of local success on the part of the enemies of order1 but it is plain that they did not operate by terror1 for a soldier was not to be seen2 it was the little staff of the special constable that quelled sedition1 and it is right that this should be known to all our foreign enemies1 and to domestic traitors1 as proof beyond all doubt that the people of ,england are firmly united in defence of their constitution4--,standard1 ,april #aa4 ,that the ,chartists fully expected a ,revolution to be effected in ,london that day is decisively proved by their conduct in the provinces4 ,at ,glasgow1 a placard appeared1 headed ,,threatened ,,revolution ,,in ,,london2 and invited the people to be ready to come out by their thousands and tens of thousands1 the moment farther intelligence was received4 ,the absorption of the ,electric ,telegraph by ,government was a sad blow to them1 for it left them at a loss how to act4 ,it is impossible to exaggerate the moral guilt of the movement thus happily defeated by the firmness of the ,government and the loyalty of the immense majority of the people4 ,situated as the ,continent now is--with capital destroyed and credit ruined in ,france2 war imminent1 and commerce paralysed in ,germany2 and hostilities actually raging in ,italy1 it is evident that ,great ,britain1 if secure of internal tranquillity1 may again1 as during the war1 become the workshop and emporium of the world4 ,secure within her sea-girt shores1 protected alike by her fleets1 her armies1 her past renown and present spirit1 she1 has advantages during such a strife which no other country possesses1 provided she does not throw them away by her own insanity4 ,but this the proceedings of the ,chartists and ,repealers are precisely calculated to do4 ,had the ,london demonstration turned out successful1 these prospects would have been utterly ruined1 credit destroyed here as it has been in ,france1 and the misery of the people augmented to a degree never1 perhaps1 before witnessed in modern ,europe4 ,every ,chartist meeting1 by prolonging the period of distrust1 by checking the return of confidence1 by preventing the outlay of capital1 postpones the restoration of prosperity by a certain period4 ,as long as they continue1 trade never can revive1 industry must continue to languish1 poverty to increase1 suffering to be prolonged1 woe to be augmented4 ,what1 then1 is the guilt of those who1 for their own selfish purposes1 or to gratify a senseless vanity1 prolong an agitation fraught with such disastrous consequences--retain the people1 in whom they profess to be interested1 steeped in such misery--and avert1 when about to set in1 the returning flood of prosperity to their country8 ,the ,french journalists1 in the interest of revolution1 are loud in their condemnation of the apathy1 as they call it1 of the great bulk of the ,english nation on this occasion1 and express their astonishment that the ,chartists1 for some reason they cannot understand1 shrank from a contest with the ,government1 under circumstances which gave them1 as they think1 every prospect of success4 ,we will tell them the reason--which is not the less true1 that it may not be altogether pleasing to their vanity3 ,the ,english are major and they are minor2 the ,english are men and they are schoolboys4 ,we1 too1 have had our dreams of communism1 but they were brought forward by ,jack ,cade in the days of ,richard ,,ii42 we1 too1 have indulged in social aspirations1 but it was in the days of the ,fifth-,monarchy ,men1 and they ended in the despotism of ,cromwell4 ,it is very well for schoolboys and juvenile academicians to indulge in extravagant freaks suited to their years2 but they do not become bearded veterans4 ,when ,england became a man1 she put away childish things4 ,france1 by the spoliations and destruction of the first ,revolution1 has lost the elements of freedom4 ,but ,germany yet possesses them2 and if she does not abuse her advantages1 in two hundred years she may possess the mingled freedom and stability which now constitute at once the glory and happiness of ,england4 ,it requires that time to be free of the craft of liberty2 there is no royal road to freedom any more than geometry4 ,england has preceded other nations by two centuries in this glorious path2 it would ill suit the masters to recede1 and imitate the follies of such as are only becoming tyros in the attempt to follow it4 ,those who have long ago reached the summit1 and know with what difficulty it was attained1 can afford to smile at the young aspirants who invite them to descend and renew the toil of the ascent4 ,those who have spread political power with safety over a million of pacific electors diffused over a whole empire1 have no occasion to imitate the example of those who would establish despotic power in the hands of two hundred thousand armed ,janissaries of a single capital4 ,printed by ,william ,blackwood and ,sons1 ,edinburgh4 99 99 99 99 99 ,transcriber's note3 ,page #eec3 ,the transcriber has divided the large table into two sections4 ,page #eif3 ,no closing quotation mark was provided in the original--'were the immediate raising of the siege1 and return of the army to the ,continent2 444' ,page #fcf3 she used a word vernacularly employed to signify the stripping birds of their fathers4 'fathers' has been replaced with 'feathers'4 ,the chapter title ,,the ,,caxtons has two consecutive chapters entitled ,chapter ,,ix4