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No. 263.

Journal of English and Foreign Literature, Science, and the Fine Arts.

LONDON, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1832.

PRICE FOURPENCE.

This Journal is published every Saturday Morning, and is despatched by the early Coaches to Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Dublin, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and other large Towns; it is received in Liverpool for distribution on Sunday Morning, twelve hours before papers sent by the post. For the convenience of persons residing in remote places, the weekly numbers are issued in Monthly Parts, stitched in a wrapper, and forwarded with the Magazines to all parts of the World.

REVIEWS

The Political, Commercial, and Financial

Condition of the Anglo-Eastern Empire, in 1832: an Analysis of its Home and Foreign Governments, and a Practical Examination of the Doctrines of Free Trade and Colonization, with Reference to the Renewal or Modification of the Hon. East India Company's Charter. By the Author of 'The Past and Present State of the Tea Trade of England, and of the Continents of Europe and America, &c.' London: Parbury, Allen & Co.

THAT the East India Company are masters of the fairest portion of India-that they won this fine empire in a series of wars waged against their European enemies and the native princes-that they have maintained and extended their power by measures sometimes bold and sometimes gentle-sometimes fierce and sometimes merciful-and that they are kind and generous to their servants, and rank high amongst the merchant princes of the earth, we required no one to tell us. It has, however, been the pleasure of our author to recapitulate all this, and in a style which is little to our liking, and in a strain much too triumphant and overbearing. Although we dislike his style, and doubt many of his conclusions, we are not insensible to the value of his statements: in these there is a fullness, an accuracy, and a desire to make no reservation, which will win many readers to his volume, and do no small service to the nation, so far as regards the East India Company.

The author, having explained in what manner this empire has been acquired and kept, and delivered a dissertation on the character and condition of the native tribes of India, showing, that they are a people jealous in matters of civil policy, domestic manners, and religion, proceeds to give us an analysis of the Home Government of India, consisting of the Courts of Proprietors, Directors, and Board of Control. There are, in all, 3.579 Proprietors, and 6,000,000l. of stock. The holder of 500l. in stock is entitled to a seat in the Court of Proprietors, and has liberty to speak and give or withhold his assent regarding any measures proposed: the holder of 1,000l. stock has, in addition to these powers, a vote for a Director: the holder of 3,000l. two votes: the holder of 6,000l. three votes, and all who hold from 10,000l. to 100,000l. have four votes. To hinder corruption and prevent collusive transfers of stock, or purhases to create votes for the moment, no proprietor can vote unless he has held the amount of stock for twelve months. No is proxy. permitted, and minors are incapable. There are 45 proprietors, with four votes each, 50 with three, 370 with two, 1502 with one, and 221 hold only 5001. each, and can debate, but not

vote for a director. There are, in all, 2,658 votes, and they are thus curiously divided: Members of Parliament, private gentlemen, bankers, merchants, &c. 1836 votes; married officers in the King's and Company's service, women, widows, and spinsters, 372 votes; 222 votes; bishops, rectors, and curates, 86 votes; officers of His Majesty's Navy, 28 votes; English, Irish, and Scotch Peers, 20 votes; and doctors and surgeons 19 votes. The Court of Directors is composed of 24 proprietors of India stock to the amount of not less than 2,000l. each: of these, in the year 1831, nine were retired civil or law officers of the company; 4 military officers of ditto; 5 maritime commanders of ditto; 4 private Indian merchants, and 8 London bankers. More than twenty of these had an extensive practical knowledge of Indian affairs, and seven were Members of Parliament. This Court enjoys full authority over all matters at home and abroad, relating to the political, financial, judicial, military, and commercial affairs of the Company, subject, however, to limitations by Acts of Parliament, and the superintendence of the Board of Control. The Court again is divided into 14 Committees, called as follows:-1. Secret Committee, 2. Correspondence ditto, 3. Treasury ditto, 4. Government troops and stores ditto, 5. Legal proceedings ditto, 6. Military ditto, 7. Accounts ditto, 8. Buying ditto. 9. Warehouses ditto, 10. India House ditto, 11. Shipping ditto, 12. Private Trade ditto, 13. Civil College ditto, 14. Military College

ditto.

The Home Patronage of the Court of Directors is shared, in some degree, with the Government Board of Control; its annual value was calculated by the Westminster Review, at 600,000l.: that this is overrating the patronage of the Court prodigiously, there can be little doubt; indeed, without openly charging the directors with violating solemn oaths, and forgetting all the trusts reposed in them, no one can pretend to put a value on their power. Only one member has been charged with corruptly bestowing his patronage; and we, of our own knowledge, know that the Court of Directors, as well collectively as individually, have done acts of kindness and generosity, which might be examples even to Royal governments. The patronage of the Court consists of civil, military, and naval appointments for India; and, taking the average of the last five years, the amount will be, of writers, 40; of engineers and artillery officers, 67; of cavalry officers, 15; of infantry officers, 125; of assistant surgeons, 56; and of naval officers and others, 30. The Board of Control sent out to India during the last five years, 22 writers, 63 military cadets, and 16 assistant surgeons: of all presentations, the writerships are the most valuable, and the Board of Con

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share. On examining the lists of writers who went from Haileybury College for the last five years, we perceive 3 sons of noblemen, 8 sons of baronets, 14 sons of clergymen, 8 sons of directors, 30 sons of the Company's civil servants, and 22 of the Company's military servants. When we consider that the directors have strong family claims; that numbers of meritorious officers have no fortunes and clever sons, and that many of the Company's servants in the east, have been cheered in their arduous duties, by the prospect of provision being made for their children-if their merits entitled them to it, we cannot see that the directors have been partial in their patronage. Nay, many orphans and others, whose misfortunes and merits were their chief claim, have received," says our author, "appointments from donors, whose names they have never yet learned, and to whom they were perfect strangers."

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Our Indian army is officered, and our Courts of Judicature maintained by a yearly supply of military cadets and writers, who are educated at the great seminaries of Haileybury and Addiscombe. Of the former of these establishments, our author informs us,

"The civil service of India, from which the executive, financial, judicial, and commercial departments are supplied, from the provincial magistracy to a seat at the Council Board (or sometimes to the governor-generalship), originates principally from the students of Haileybury College, an establishment founded by the East India Company for the better and surer supply of men qualified to fill the important duties which devolve on an English official, when transplanted to shores where the happiness or misery of millions depends upon his talent, his integrity, and moral firmness of character. The students at Haileybury, who must enter between the ages of sixteen and twenty, are classed in four successive terms of six months each; two entire days in every week are given to Oriental literature, and part of other days. There are four European departments; seven months in the year are devoted to lectures on various subjects; for instance, a receives in three terms from seventy to eighty student who remains two years at the college, hours of law tuition, and altogether ninety

hours; he is instructed in elemental knowledge on the limits between morals and law, political and civil rights; in the English and Mahomedan criminal law, and on the law of evidence; the moral and legal obligations of government are also inculcated; the laws affecting property, promises and contracts, and the obligations arising from public and private relations, are carefully taught, as well as the classics, mathematics, and in fact every branch of education which can be requisite for a statesman on the most extensive field of action.

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trol seems to have had morethan its proper tivated; the most learned professors of philo

sophy are also in attendance, and every day, | Presidencies. These are officered partly by except Sunday, there are lectures."

Every student pays 100 guineas per annum, and costs the Company in addition, 1177., before he is ready to sail for India. All who are acquainted with this seminary, know how useful it is in preparing the civil servants of the Company for the proper discharge of their duties in the East. The military seminary of Addiscombe is equally useful in educating officers :--

"This establishment, when full, consists of 150 cadets; who pay 657. the first year, and 50% the second, the extra 157. being for the purpose of supplying them with uniform and accoutrements. The young men are selected from the most respectable families of the three kingdoms, in the same manner as the civil servants; it frequently happening that one brother embarks in the one service, and the other in its opposite. They are educated in strict military discipline, as well as in the oriental languages; are expected to be grounded in the classics, and be acquainted with at least one continental European modern language. The officers of the college consist of some of the oldest and most experienced of the Company's army, and the public examiner is Col. A. Dickson, of the Royal Artillery. This gentleman visits the college from time to time, to mark the progress of the cadets, and see when they are fit to be brought forward for an examination. There is no fixed period for their remaining at college, but if after two years any cadet does not evince talents which it is thought will further develope themselves in six months, his friends are recommended to withdraw him. The cadets get their appointments as soon as qualified; but by Act of Parliament they cannot proceed to India before they are sixteen years of age. Their appointments to different branches of the service are undeviatingly made in consequence of inerit, and the examinations are conducted unconnected with the masters who have had the instruction of the cadets; if a lad is unable to stand the mathematical tests for the Artillery or Engineers, but evinces much general talent and diligence, then he is recommended for the Infantry. On leaving Addiscombe, the engineer cadets go to Chatham to finish their education in sapping and mining under Colonel Pasley. The grounds around Addiscombe are laid out with redoubts, guns, &c. for the purpose of practice; and the pains taken for the formation of good soldiers have been eminently the cause of success in the Indian artillery, &c."

We have ourselves witnessed the anxious labours of the various professors, and the patient firmness and gentlemanly mildness of Col. Houston; nor have we been uninter

ested in the studies of the cadets: it was no hasty review of their merits, which made the Duke of Wellington say, that the young engineers and artillery officers of Addiscombe, surpassed those of like standing in the royal army. The average expense of each cadet on this fine establishment, is 987., or nineteen pounds less than that of the writers at Haileybury.

The army, to which those young men furnish a regular supply of officers, is immense; the territory over which they have to be spread is large; and the frontier, reaching from Bombay on the left, to Bengal on the right, is extensive, and peopled, too, by many warlike nations.

There are of engineers 1,062, of artillery 16,962, of cavalry 19,539, of infantry 169,617, and of invalids 10,496; making in all, 217,698 men, in the three

the King and partly by the Company: there
are 95 officers of engineers, 358 artillery
officers, 463 cavalry officers, 3,276 infantry
officers; on the staff 383, in the medical
department 590; making in all, including
the commissariat, and warrant officers of
artillery, 5,531; of whom, 752 are in the
King's service. Of native officers there
are 525 in the cavalry, and 3,126 in the
infantry-there are but 12 engineers; in
all, however, there are 4,542, of whom 573
are medical men. The native troops in
our service are Hindoos and Mahometans;
they are mixed in every regiment, and in
discipline, cleanliness, and sobriety, they
are, says our author, unsurpassed by any
other troops. The native artillerymen make
it a point of honour to be cut down at their
guns rather than desert them; wherever a
British officer will lead, it has rarely or
never been found that his sepoys will not
follow.

In the chapter on free trade with India,
the author discusses the matter of the Com-
pany's monopoly, and the propriety of open-
ing the charter to all his Majesty's subjects.
Were India like any other country under the
sun-more particularly European countries

there could not be one moment's doubt in the matter; but our empire there is held by opinion rather than force-by refined policy rather than the terror of our horse and foot; and many well-informed persons are of opinion that an unrestrained intercourse would, while it increased individual wealth, sap national power. This let the wise in such matters discuss; the tables of import and export contained in this chapter, will supply them with the materials of speculation, and they will see for themselves whether our commercial intercourse with India has been improved since the partial opening of the trade. Of printed books there are less exported than formerly; and to this we may add, that the Hindoos have not become partial to European clothing, as was anticipated -the importation of woollens has been falling off, and the same may be said of many

other articles.

The chapter on the Indian press gives us many curious details; there are thirty-three newspapers and other periodical works in Bengal alone, conducted by Englishmen; of these, five are daily political papers, six are daily commercial ditto, two are tri-weekly ditto, three duo-weekly ditto, eight weekly ditto, six monthly journals, two quarterlies, and two annuals. No duty was imposed on these newspapers when the stamp law was enforced within the Presidency, and the postage upon them was reduced one half. A Calcutta newspaper is carried 1000 miles for three-pence; and when any one commences a new journal, the government sends the first number, free of postage, into any quarter of Hindostan the proprietor chooses. The scientific periodical of Captain Herbert goes free everywhere. Of native papers there are ten; some are in Persian, some in Bengalee, some in Hindoostanee, and one in broken English. Of the restrictions upon the press the author says:

"Those who complain so loudly of the Indian authorities on this score, should look at home and ask themselves what are the restrictions on the press in the free city of London? Numerous sureties, and penalty bonds of 5001, each,

before a single paper dare be printed; then a stamp duty of fourpence on each paper; after that a tax on the very paper itself; and after that again, three shillings and sixpence on each advertisement! Two years imprisonment for libel; and confinement in Horsemonger Gaol on bread and water, with an addition of gruel to ward off the cholera, for presuming to sell an unstamped paper. In India no penalty bonds are required, no sureties, no stamps, no excised paper, no advertisement duty; yet England boasts of the glorious freedom of the press!' If the East India Company had pursued a simi lar course in India, there would have been a pretty hue and cry throughout the land. There is certainly a power vested in the governments of India of sending out of the country any person whose actions tend to disturb the peace of the country, whether by means of writing in a newspaper or by any other method."

On education, which is closely connected, for good or evil, with the press, the author

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"As an instance of the efforts making for the diffusion of intelligence throughout the British dominions, I may quote the testimony before

Parliament of the Hon. Holt Mackenzie, who states that since the renewal of the last charter, the Bengal Government have established a college at Calcutta for the Hindoos, and reformed very much the old Moslem College; that col leges have been established at Dellii and Agra, for both Hindoos and Moslems; the Hindoo college at Benares has been reformed; at the several institutions it has been the object of Government to extend the study of the English language, and good books have been supplied, &c.; that seminaries have been established in different parts of the country, and schools es tablished by individuals have been aided by Government."

Our space will not allow us to pursue these inquiries farther. Though the author has written his work more in the spirit of a par

tizan than we like, we cannot quarrel with his arithmetic; nor, indeed, with many of his remarks. It will, we suspect, be found infinitely more difficult to make extensive changes in India than some of our friends imagine; that country is in a ticklish state; Russia, notwithstanding her distance, regards it as a more easy prey than she does the nations of Europe; fifteen millions of Mahomedans are ready to draw the sword and put their feet in the stirrup on slight pretences; the native soldiers, too, may well be doubled; nay, on several occasions, the European portion of the army has shown such spirit regarding changes as the wise should respect. We hope, however, that something will be done which, without hurt ing individual rights, or putting our dominions to hazard, may meet the wishes of all parties.

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THIS is a mere compilation, clumsily overlaid with disjointed extract, and without any attempt at character. It has been got up with a blunt pair of scissors and inadhesive paste. Still it is pleasant in its subject-very small and portable-and we recommend it to our readers. It does not seem to have been intended to throw light on history-(and it succeeds in its non-intention)-but to illumine Yorkshiremen. "The Biographical Memoir," says the compiler, "now submitted to the public, was intended to have commenced a series of lives, to be published

under the title of The Worthies of Yorkshire and Lancashire'; for which a prospectus was issued last March."

Now, that Andrew Marvell, who, in his lifetime, figured as a poet and a patriot, should come to be noticed at last, merely because he was a Yorkshireman, is certainly one of the curious chances which the lottery of life presents to us. Marvell has always ranked, indeed, as an eminent man, in the minds of those who studied our political history, or descended from such grave studies to waste an occasional hour amongst those pleasant idlers, the older poets. But these have not been many; and the probability is, that the fame of Marvell will be considerably extended by this publication. He will now be known as an eminent Yorkshireman"! He will be discussed at Doncaster during the races; he will be heard of amidst the cakes at Pontefract ;-even the assizes at

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York will not pass without due mention of his name; and the waters of Harrogate will grow sweeter as his verses are recited at that famous spring. Formerly, as we well remember, (for a curious sheet of devices was hung up, with the hams, in our uncle's kitchen, detailing the qualifications of the men of York,) manual dexterity and practical acuteness were the only heights to which a Yorkshireman's fancy ever soared. If he could bishop a horse, or play the sharp to an undoubted flat, it was enough. Henceforth, however, we shall have "canny Yorkshire" ambitious of hailing amongst her proud names that of the patriot Marvell. It may have some effect even in the elections, whenever the balance of popularity shall be suspended between a Tory and a Whig;-and why not?-the influence of a great name (and Marvell's is an undoubted great one,) ought to survive, and does survive, from generation to generation. Its virtue is powerful as well as beautiful. It is not all sound and fury signifying nothing"; but is, as it ought to be, a help, as well as a mark to aim at, for after-coming men, when they struggle for popular distinction, or tread their quiet and studious way to renown.

| writers, or fatigued with the smartness of the
moderns. How, with so much nature and
imagination, Marvell could at times be so
unnatural; or how, with so much of artifice
and epigram in the construction of his verse,
he could soar so high, remains to us a pro-
blem.

The pleasantest portion of the little volume before us, is that which contains Selections from Marvell's Poems,'--though the selector has no accurate notion of the poet's region of power. His verse, which is both artificial and natural, quaint and easy, and as full of sentiment as of wit, constitutes, as it were, a pleasant paradox, delightful to all lovers of poetry-a relief to them unutterable, when oppressed by the sublimity of the older

There is a fine flavour in the verses of
Andrew Marvell: his stanzas on the "re-
mote Bermoodas"-his lines about the Fawn
-his address to his Coy Mistress-his sa-
tires on Holland-his 'Drop of Dew'
'Mower's Song,' &c.; and those rhymes
where he speaks of

The discipline severe

Of Fairfax and the starry Vere!
are all most delightful. We are not aware
Andrew Marvell. Perhaps Waller mingles
that there is any poet closely resembling

the two extremes of nature and artifice al-
most as completely as he; but, notwithstand-
ing his greater reputation, we hold Marvell
pression, the greater man.
to be the greater poet, and, beyond all ex-
it not an unjust destiny that (with at least
If this be so, is
equal merit as a poet,) the high-minded
thinker and pure patriot, should have earned

a smaller name in literature than the com

monplace man and the courtly turncoat?

Becket: an Historical Tragedy: and other
Poems. London: Moxon.

unable to write dramatic poetry. Many
A man may be an excellent poet, and yet
qualifications are required for that species of
others. To imagination, must be added ex-
composition which may be dispensed with in
perience; that intuitive knowledge of the heart
confirmed by the actual knowledge of life;
natural to all true poets, must have been
and the power over language must be every
day increased by an enlargement of the facul-
ties, out of which language is itself created.
thought and feeling necessary, when they
We speak not here of the greater intensity of
are intended to inspire, not merely the poet's
own heart with stronger passion, but to give
unreal forms the likeness of the kingly crown
of life. This is a question of degree, and
refers to the natural constitution of the poet's
spoken as peculiarly needful to the dramatic
mind. The qualifications of which we have
writer, must be superadded to those of his
natural genius, however great and elevated.
Nature forbids one faculty of the mind to
perform that of another. To imagine well
and rapidly, can never atone for a want of
nice discrimination; and then, since know-
ledge, experience, profound judgment, and a
minute acquaintance with the human world
are necessary, those powers of mind which
kept in constant exercise. But it so happens,
are necessary to their acquisition, must be
that the poetical temperament is, in itself,
unfavourable to their developement; and it is
equally the case, that the two classes of en-
dowments are rarely found together. Hence
it is, that the appearance of dramatic genius
is such an unfrequent occurrence, and that
they who possess it, may fairly be regarded
as the most perfectly constituted of human
beings. In proportion to their excellency,
all the powers of their minds, together with
the whole system of their passions and sym-
pathies, are beautifully balanced. With other
poets, a plan of compensation seems discover-
able. They almost appear to have received

imagination and deep feeling, in lieu of clear sense and judgment. The world, in its common-place book, has a well-known note on this subject; but nothing of the kind holds good with dramatic writers. Whatever should be found in human nature, in its best state, and matured by wisdom and extensive knowledge, must be found in them, or they fail in the very end and purpose of their office.

We have established our canon;-a right one, we believe, but not a severe one,--there being no severity, properly speaking, in truth. In bringing, however, an individual author to such a test, it is a question, whether he ought to be judged by his relative, or his actual approach to it. One of the chief circumstances which separate the literary men periods, is derived from the distinction here of ages like our own, from those of grander alluded to. The noble spirits of old were bent on being great, from the belief in that finest of philosophical themes, that greatness is a something, and not a mere quality of relation. scarcely be made intelligible to the world; In these days, a notion of this kind could and literary men partaking in the general error, it is very seldom a book presents sufficient signs of merit, that is, of pure intellectual force, to call for a consideration of more that its comparative worth. When the extreme difficulty of dramatic poetry is taken into account, examples of striking excellence in this class will be still more rarely looked ed on the formula- this is better,' or 'this for; and our sentence will generally be foundis even worse' than what we usually meet with.

right to the former award; and had we not
The poems before us, have indisputably a
species of composition on which the author
formed high and stern notions respecting the
the occasional beauty of his diction, and the
has ventured, the morality of his sentiments,
pathos which especially characterizes some
into a stronger expression of approbation.
of the minor pieces, would have tempted us
Becket may well claim the attention of poe-
tical readers. The interest it inspires is not
an intense one, but it engages the mind, and
Boldness is not a characteristic of the author's
fixes it without intermission on the subject.
tinct impressions respecting persons and
style; but his cautious delineations leave dis-
events described: and though he has not
exercised that power of magical concentra-
tion, after which the dramatist, whose mo-
strive, he has shown what a sedate mind by
ments should be ingots of thought, ought to
calm poetical reflection may effect. We shall
now endeavour to illustrate what we have
said; taking our first extract from the scene
in which Becket and the King become recon-
ciled:-

Becket.
Often my heart melts for thee.
King Henry. Couldst thou persuade me that-
Oh, Becket! Becket!
Were not those days sweet-let thy heart reply,
If, as thy words import, it is not yet
Quite frozen by that breath of bad ambition
Which seeks to set apart and tyrannize
Men's souls-when we two lived as creatures born
Of the same mother, in the self-same hour?
When we, laying aside our state, but not,
We trust, our dignity, and thou relying
On consciousness of worth and confidence
Of love, our sports, our meals, our studies-almost
Our inmost thoughts and hopes-we shared together?
Becket. With thee it rests-nor were the achieve.

ment hard

Once more to make us to each other all
We e'er have been, and to the troubled world
Give peace.

King H.
Becket.

What wouldst thou?

Utter but one word.

King H. Speak for us.
Becket.
Say but, RETURN IN PEACE;
For I am placable, and ask no more.--
Respect in me the Church and her just rights.

King H. Body and soul have we been torn apart
By this rank feud: the day that sees it healed
Will we make holy in the calendar.

-Be't, in God's name-we ask thee back to England.
And, for thy lands and living, by my life
No sordid reckoning shall mar atonement.
Touching the offence of our son's coronation,-
We know thou lovest him; nor canst thou forget
'Twas our dear wish thou shouldst so: to which end
We gave the training of his youth to thee.
He loves thee too; and, for your mutual love,
We freely pardon this rebellious league.
Restored with honour to your Kentish towers,
There shall the crown of England on his head
Be once more set by your hand.

[Becket attempts to kneel-the King
raises him.

But, remember,

We'll have our bishops and our lords absolved
Ere thou depart, or ne'er see Canterbury.
Becket. It shall be done.
King H.
Enough! enough!-Now let us,
Forgetting, as if such things ne'er had been,
The unkindnesses of intervening years,
Renew on both sides the old confidence.

[The King takes Becket by the hand, and
leads him towards the Barons, &c.

But the most effective, perhaps, in the poem, is the scene between Queen Eleanor and De Barre, when the latter comes to inform her of the death of her son, on whom she had endeavoured to place the crown :-Eleanor. No more of Becket; let him live or die. Let him o'erthrow the state, and in its ruins Perish!-I have no further interest In what men do or suffer upon earth; No further stake in England, if thy tale Be true, and he is dead indeed.

De Barre.

His sickness

Eleanor. Tell me not of disease. Was he not young,
Vigorous, and beautiful? How should such die?
I'll not believe

But some of you have murdered my bright boy.
De B. Madam, he died in his bed.
Eleanor,
So many men have,
That died no natural death. Improbable falsehood,
And ill compacted!-Fevered by remorse!

Remorse? for that, to avenge a mother's injuries,
And challenge his own right, he dared oppose
A tyrant in an honourable war?
De B. I've said the truth.
Eleanor.

Tell me, old knight-remember,
We are a Queen still, though a prisoner,
And may find means to give thee golden thanks-
Was it my husband that did poison him?

De B. Pardon me, lady, if I take my leave:

I see this news hath been too much for you.

-I did not think she had loved earthly thing
So keenly as this frantic grief denotes.

[Aside.

Eleanor. Well, sir, I see that you are faithful still
To one that's all unfaithfulness to me.
'Twere fit I should believe. You have opened,
By this sad tale, to my distracted soul,

Shut from the world, an ample world-of grief.
I might through weariness have dashed myself
Against the walls of this dull prison-house,
As the caged bird gores its own breast for freedom;
But you have brought me argument to live,
And thank these solitary dungeon glooms,-
That leave me at full leisure to be wretched,-
To waste myself in weeping for my child,
And utter curses on mine enemies.

De B. Take comfort, madam.
Eleanor.

Sir; and so I shall:
Despair shall bring it me. I am resolved
Back from the tearless and indignant queen,
To all the weeping helplessness of woman.
-You've done your thankless office, sir; and we
Do thank you not. Leave us-with our affliction.

Among the minor poems, we may name the Bard's Apotheosis, and the Portrait, as pleasing us most: from the latter, we extract the following, as a specimen of the author's powers of description :

-

"That valley was a Paradise on earth.

It was scooped, bay-like, deep into the hills,
Which girded it about, save to the east,
And there it met the sea; not with the frown
Of rocks, as to repel an enemy,

But with such gradual, wooing gentleness
Of sunny-green descent as scarce could tire

The level-gliding sea-maids, when they troop

To bathe their ivory limbs in the smooth air.

You might have worshipped Peace there, for the winds

The invisible tenants of the solitude

Came but in zephyrs, dropping playfully,
To snatch a little odour; and the war-

The everlasting war-of the loud sea

Against the land, which curbs, but cannot all
Subdue its strength, here paused: they laid them down
And slept together, beautifully twined.

I said, the round hills girt this valley in:
Yet somewhere they gave way to a young stream,
Which sportively, and with pure, musical foot,
Danced down through roots and rocks; then sunk
to rest,

Like a play-wearied child. But, of his birth
He made a deep and shadowy mystery,
Covering the gushings of his infant strength
With leaves and buds, branch-wood and blossomed
flowers,

Without one penetrable point to foot

Or eye. On either side his waters, stood-
Downwards from where the current gentlier grew-
A row of ashes, ivy-twined and gray
With lichen tufts; and up, and out, they shot
Their many arms, fantastically far-
So far, that they made dusk at noontide hour,
Full half-way to the margin. And above,
They circled, crescent-like, and gathered in,
And fenced from all the world this fairy spot.

To the opinion we have already given of the writer's ability, we may add, that his good taste has prevented his falling into the errors which so frequently mar our cotemporary poetry, and which it requires the highest species of creative genius to render in any degree excusable.

Die Völkerfrühling und seine Verkünder: The People's Spring-time, and its Heralds. By Jordan Brand. Nurnberg. FREEDOM! freedom! is the universal cry, from the Grampians to the Ouralian mountains; and all the guilty successes of the Russians will not be able to stifle it. Warsaw, indeed, has fallen-for a season; but it were to abandon all our best hopes of man and of his destinies, to doubt that it will again, and ere long, be the proud capital of a free people.

eyes

criminately everything that has not in his the weight and authority of reason. Börne respects the belief of all, and tolerates innocent prejudices. Weitzel rejects all ideas of uniformity in the purely intellectual world, and even consecrates prejudices, when they contribute to the happiness of mankind. He is even of opinion that, in matters of morality and religion, there are no errors, except such as make man more depraved and miserable. This is, indeed, a noble, but it is also a dangerous system of belief, in the present day, when the great and powerful are so ready to avail themselves of every error and prejudice of the lower classes, for the purpose of leading them blindfolded. Heine and Börne turn the present time to profit -Weitzel looks to the future. Like Rousseau, when Weitzel, with powerful hand, seizes his opponent, he thinks to crush him at a single blow, and indignantly throws him to a distance, Poisonous reptiles, however, are endowed with Heine are well convinced; and therefore, like great tenacity of life, of which Borne and Voltaire, they do not quit them until they have

seen them reduced to their native dust. Weitzel is too early prodigal of his good seed; while his friends, on the contrary, are busy ploughing up and preparing the soil. They thin the forest, which would otherwise stifle its fairest and noblest productions.

"Heine's style has a family resemblance to that of Börne. Börne's agrees occasionally with Weitzel, in some points; but the style of the latter resembles neither of the former. Each bears his own peculiar character on his forehead, and his words correspond with his appear ance. To humanity,-appealing with anguished countenance and supplicating look,-Heine ap

Pears only to reply by mockery and indiffer ence; Börne conceals his excitement, which is, nevertheless, intense; Weitzel is not ashamed of appearing what he really is, deeply affected; nor can he always restrain a sudden burst of indignation. Heine casts his regard around; with penetrating eye searches the weaknesses and follies of man and of society, and applies his scalpel fearlessly and remorselessly to the festering sore. He is the man of the present age. The look of Börne is directed forwards to futu rity: his eye is quick and piercing; and at his uplifted arm the servile crowds around the throne, and beneath it, tremble with fear. The third, with his sword pointed downwards, averts his gaze from the present scene, and turning to the far-distant past, sadly feeds the sympathies of his all-grasping heart, with images of shadowy antiquity. Borne calls to the field-Heine rushes into the fight with sword and daggerWeitzel hurls his spear amid the conflict, but has lost all hope of victory. ** When the first speaks, we listen to him with fear and astonishment; while the second is addressing us, we

The little work before us is a glowing defence of free principles, and of some of their most ardent defenders in the author's native country -Germany. "La revolution fera le tour du monde," is a text on which he founds his firm belief, because he is of opinion that the French revolution contained the elements of an improved state of society, adapted to the enlightened races of modern Europe-whether they inhabit the frozen regions of Russia, the temperate clime of England, or the ardent soil of Italy. But our author's principal object is to make more widely known the great merits of three of his living countrymen-Heine, Börne, and Weitzel, who, although distinguished by very striking peculiarities of mental disposition, possess, in common, a most heartburning detestation of tyranny and oppression in every shape, and whose long unnoticed, but persevering efforts, are at last beginning to bear fruit in the awakened and delighted attention of their own country-suspend our breath in anxious expectation; and

men.

For the most part, they do not go directly to work in their attacks on the citadel of corruption, but, with all the powers of wit, learning, and argument, while seeming to diverge, they still keep in view their grand object; and such is the mastery of the assailants, that the reader, from being delighted and amused, concludes by becoming an ardent disciple.

Börnet and Heine are both young men, of the Jewish persuasion: Weitzel is advanced in years, and has long held the situation of head librarian at Wiesbaden. We shall translate our author's clever, but somewhat German summary of the style and manner of the trio.

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Heine, with the weapons of argument, as well as of contemptuous scorn, attacks indis

+ See Athenæum, No. 222, and 223.

the third makes us tremble. ** Oh, that they would unitedly raise their voices for the deliver

ance of their father-land from the chains of

moral and political debasement-from the dominion of night-and announce to the world the approach of the people's spring-time!"

This concluding aspiration of Mr. Brand will be cordially echoed by every one who wishes to see the native country of the printing-press enjoying its utmost blessings.

Journal of the Geographical Society of Lon

don. Vol. II. London: Murray. WE have read this Journal with a double pleasure-pleasure arising from the interest of the work itself, and a little allowable satisfaction at finding that our reports of the proceedings of the Society, and the papers read at its meetings, have been generally full and

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Latest Official Accounts from Swan River. "2d April, 1832.-The only portion of Western Australia which has been any way examined or explored is inclosed in the accompanying map of reference, which will afford, at a view, a general idea of the routes and discoveries of the principal exploring parties. It will not be requisite for me to enter into the details of the reports which have been made to me on these matters; but I shall endeavour to give a general sketch of the information which we possess relative to the soils, the surface, the supply of water, the climate, and the indigenous products

of the country.

"The coast from Gantheaume Bay on the west to Doubtful Island Bay on the south, including the several islets and rocks, present the remarkable calcareous substance which has been supposed to exist in no other place than on the shores of New Holland and on those of

Sicily. Although it serves in general as a kind of edging to this part of the continent, it is occasionally interrupted by the protrusion of granite and trap; and it is in some places covered by sand. The open downs which it forms sometimes afford good sheep-keep, and it burns into very fine lime; but in general the soil upon it is of little value. Behind this sea range of hills, which are sometimes 800 feet in height, and two or three miles in breadth, there is a low sandy district which appears to have had a diluvial origin, as it exhibits occasionally pebbles and detached pieces of the older rocks, and varies from mere sand to red loam and clay. In some parts this sandy district presents considerable portions of very fine soil, and in no part is it absolutely sterile. The banks of the rivers, which flow through it, are of the richest description of soil, and although a large portion would not pay for cultivation at the present price of labour, it is not unfit for grazing. Out of this sandy plain there occasionally arise ranges and detached hills of primitive formation, the most extensive of which is the range which bounds the plain on the east or landward side, and extends from the south coast between Cape D'Entracasteau and Wilson's Inlet, northward to the 30th degree of latitude. The highest altitude attained by these primitive mountains is about 3500 feet, which is supposed to be the height of Roi Kyncriff, behind King George's Sound; but the average height may be stated at 1000 feet. To the eastward of the principal of these ranges is an interior country of a different formation from that on the coast, being of a red loamy character. It appears to have the lowest portion of its surface about 500 feet above the level of the sea, and discharges all its waters westwardly, or southwardly, through the range aforesaid. Some of these streams have a constant current, and would afford a supply of water in the dryest months; and, in general, neither the interior nor the country near the coast can be said to be badly watered. "Such is the imperfect sketch which I am able to afford of the general surface of the country. In the quality of its soils it is extremely variable; but there have been ascertained to exist, by Capt. Bannister, Mr. Dale, and many other explorers, extensive districts of land of the best kind. And having given that point every attention, being fully aware of the great importance of being well assured that there is a sufficiency of fertile land, I may now express my conviction, from the reports of others no less than by my own observations, that there is abundance, and indeed as large a proportion of it as usually exists in such extensive territories.

"The only products of the country of any stream, the breadth is so great, and the wooded value at present are its timber, which is inex-islands so numerous, that it appears as if we haustible and of excellent quality, and its grasses, navigated a large lake. The Dutch in former which afford feed of superior quality for sheep, times had cotton, indigo, and cocoa estates up horses, and cattle. There is a good species of the Essequibo, beyond their capital, Kykoveral, tobacco and perennial flax, similar to the kind on an island at the forks or junction of the three usually cultivated in Europe; but these are as rivers. Now, beyond the islands at the mouth yet only valuable as indicative of the capabilities of the Essequibo there are no estates, and the mighty forest has obliterated all traces of former hand, not a vestige of the dwellings of the Holcultivation. Solitude and silence are on either landers being to be seen; and only occasionally in struggling through the entangled brushwood one stumbles over a marble tombstone brought from the shores of the Zuyderzee.

of the soil.

have been kept at King George's Sound and at "For some time back registers of the weather

Perth; and hereafter it will be possible to ascertain with precision the ranges of the temperature, the barometrical pressure, and the degree of moisture in these districts, compared with other countries. At present, after three years' experience of the climate of the Swan River district, it may be said to be exceptionable only in the months of January, February, and March, when the heat and drought are as disagreeble as they can be without affecting health. The district of King George's Sound being exposed to southerly winds in summer, and frequently visited by showers, is the most equable, perhaps, in the world, and the most temperate. The heat on the west coast is certainly intense, and the mosquitos, which abound there in summer, are serious evils in their way, and have caused some dislike to this part of country as a place of residence. But notwithstanding these and other local and trivial objections, the climate, the ports, the position, and extent of the country, are such as fit it to be the seat of a wealthy and

populous possession of the crown; and I feel justified in saying in this stage of its occupation, that it will not fail to become such, from any natural disqualification of the soil."

Another interesting paper, from which we shall make an extract, is the account of Capt. Alexander's expedition up the Essequibo. Our original report was, indeed, very full, and contains some interesting information omitted in the Journal of the Society, as not being purely geographical :

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My purpose was now to proceed up the noble Essequibo river towards the El Dorado of Sir Walter Raleigh, and view the mighty forests of the interior, and the varied and beautiful tribes by which they are inhabited. Our residence on the island of Wakenaam had been truly a tropical one. During the night, the tree frogs, crickets, razor-grinders, reptiles, and insects of every kind, kept up a continued concert. Atsunrise, when the flowers unfolded themselves, the humming birds, with the metallic lustre glittering on their wings, passed rapidly from blossom to blossom. The bright yellow and black mocking-birds flew from their pendant nests, accompanied by their neighbours, the wild bees, which construct their earthen hives on the same tree. The continued rains had driven the snakes from their holes, and on the path were seen the bush-master (conacouchi) unrivalled for its brilliant colours, and the deadly nature of its poison; and the labari equally poisonous, which erects its scales in a frightful manner when irritated. The rattlesnake was also to be met with, and harmless tree snakes of many species. Under the river's bank lay enormous caymen or alligators, - one lately killed measured twenty-two feet. Wild deer and the peccari hog were seen in the glades in the centre of the island; and the jaguar and cougour (the American leopard and lion) occasionally swam over from the main land.

"We sailed up the Essequibo for an hundred miles in a small schooner of thirty tons, and occasionally took to canoes or coorials to visit the creeks. We then went up a part of the Mazaroony river, and saw also the unexplored Coioony: these three rivers join their waters about one hundred miles from the mouth of the Essequibo. In sailing or paddling up the

"At every turn of the river we discovered objects of great interest. The dense and nearly impenetrable forest itself occupied our chief attention; magnificent trees, altogether new to us, were anchored to the ground by bush-rope, convolvuli, and parasitical plants of every variety. The flowers of these cause the woods to appear as if hung with garlands. Pre-eminent above the others was the towering and majestic Mora, its trunk spread out into buttresses; on its top would be seen the king of the vultures expanding his immense wings to dry after the dews of night. The very peculiar and romantic cry of the bell-bird, or campanero, would be heard at intervals; it is white, about the size of a pigeon, with a leathery excrescence on its forehead, and the sound which it produces in the lone woods is like that of a convent-bell

tolling.

"A crash of the reeds and brushwood on the river's bank would be followed by a tapir, the western elephant, coming down to drink and to roll himself in the mud; and the manati or

river-cow would lift its black head and small piercing eye above the water to graze on the from a stage fixed in the water, with branches leaves of the corridore tree. They are shot

of their favourite food hanging from it; one of twenty-two cwt. was killed not long ago. High up the river, where the alluvium of the estuary is changed for white sandstone, with occasionally black oxide of manganese, the fish are of delicious flavour; among others, the pacoo, near the Falls or Rapids, which is flat, twenty inches long, and weighs four pounds; it feeds on the seed of the arum arborescens, in devouring which the Indians shoot it with their arrows: of similar genus are the cartuback, waboory, and amah.

"The most remarkable fish of these rivers are, the peri or omah, two feet long; its teeth and jaws are so strong, that it cracks the shells of most nuts to feed on their kernels, and is most voracious. Also the genus silurus, the young of which swim in a shoal of one hundred and fifty over the head of the mother, who, on the approach of danger, opens her mouth, and thus saves her progeny; with the loricaria calicthys, or assa, which constructs a nest on the surface of pools from the blades of grass floating about, and in this deposits its spawn, which is hatched by the sun. In the dry season this remarkable fish has been dug out of the gound, for it burrows in the rains owing to the strength and power of the spine; in the gill-fin and body it is

covered with strong plates, and far below the surface finds moisture to keep it alive. The electric eel is also an inhabitant of these waters, and has sometimes nearly proved fatal to the strongest swimmer. If sent to England in tubs, the wood and iron act as conductors, and keep the fish in a continued state of exhaustion, causing, eventually, death: an earthenware jar is the vessel in which to keep it in health."

The very valuable notes by Mr. Wilkinson, on a Part of the Eastern Desert of Upper Egypt, appear to have been read at the second meeting of the Society in November 1830, a few days before those arrangements were per

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