صور الصفحة
PDF
النشر الإلكتروني

ART. 7.-An Essay on the History of the English Government and Constitution, from the Reign of Henry VII. to the present Time. By Lord JOHN RUSSELL. Crown 8vo. pp. 320. London, 1821. To comment on all the matters which, in this little volume, Lord J. Russell has brought before us, would be to discuss almost every subject connected with politics and political economy. If our limits allowed, we should gladly contribute to the dissemination of his opinions on the National Debt, Parliamentary Reform, Public Schools, Liberty of the Press, Parties, &c.: for nothing can be more interesting to the public than an acquaintance with the political creed of its legislators, and a knowledge that the opinions which they entertain on great constitutional questions have not been lightly embraced, but are convictions of the mind, honestly and laboriously attained by a course of historical research. The book, however, is presented to the public in so accessible a shape that there can be no doubt of its extensive circulation: but we repeat that it is too brief, for it presumes a greater stock of historical knowledge in the reader than can fairly be expected: though, as the author intimates, it will provoke the wits and excite the thoughts of other men.'A few words on another subject and we have done.

In the course of his observations, Lord John frequently quotes that most sagacious political writer Machiavel, and that muchdebated work,' as he calls it, "The Prince." Bacon and Rousseau saw the real drift of the Florentine secretary in this 'muchdebated work;' while Harington, Clarendon, and many other writers of celebrity, suspected that its author wanted to throw an odium on monarchy. A letter in the Harleian Miscellany, vol. i. p. 55., settles the point: it is entitled "Machiavel's Vindication of himself against the Imputation of Impiety, Atheism, and other high Crimes, extracted from his Letter to his Friend Zenobio Buondelmonte." At the close of it he says:

'I now come to the last branch of my charge, which is, that I teach princes villany, and how to enslave and oppress their subjects. If any man will read over my book of The Prince' with impartiality and ordinary charity, he will easily perceive that it is not my intention therein to recommend that government, or those men there described, to the world: much less to teach men to trample upon good men, and all that is sacred and venerable upon earth, laws, religion, honesty. If I have been a little too punctual in describing these monsters, and drawn them to the life in all their lineaments and colours, I hope mankind will know them the better, to avoid them; my treatise being both a satire against them and a true character of them. Who

442

Lord J. Russell on the English Government.

ever in his empire is tied to no other rules than his own will and lust must either be a saint or a very devil incarnate; or if he be neither of these, his life and reign are like to be very short,' &c. &c.

Those who are acquainted with the history of Florence will not ask why Machiavel should conceal his principles under a veil of irony almost impenetrable. He was deeply involved in the conspiracy of the Soderini, in the year 1494, by which the three sons of the great Lorenzo de' Medici (Piero, who succeeded his father in the government of Florence, and his two brothers Giovanni and Giuliano) were proclaimed enemies to their country, and obliged to flee from its vengeance. In the year 1512, the family of the Medici were restored by the assistance of Pope Julius II. and of Ferdinand of Spain: and Lorenzo de' Medici, the eldest son of the deceased Piero, assumed the reins of government. As usual in such cases, all those were now removed who had been in office under the republic; and Machiavel, with an unshaken fortitude, underwent the ignominy and the pains of torture, which were in vain inflicted on him for the purpose of procuring information relative to the actors in the conspiracy. Under the reign of this Lorenzo, who died a victim to his debaucheries, Machiavel wrote "The Prince;" a circumstance sufficient to account at once for the satire which characterizes it and the secresy which attended it.-Monthly Review, Feb. 1822.

ART. 8.-A Foreigner's Opinion of England, Englishmen, Englishwomen, English Manners, Morals, Domestic Life, Arts and Artists, Literature, Criticism, Education, Universities, Clergy, Sectarians, Nobility, Parties, Politics, Laws, Lawyers, Merchants, Commerce, Charities, Fashions, Amusements, and a Variety of other interesting Subjects, including Memorials of Nature and Art, comprised in a Series of free Remarks, the result of personal Observation during a residence of Two Years in Great Britain. By CHRISTIAN AuGUSTUS GOTTLIEB GŒDE. Translated from the original German by Thomas Horne. 3 Vols. Crown 8vo. London, 1821. [Wells & Lilly, Boston.]

MR. GEDE seems to have resided about two years in Eng land, viz. in 1802 and 1803, when his opinions were formed and committed to paper; and his translator does not favour us with any preface, or indulge us with any statement of the reasons which induced him to undertake the translation of a work written so long since. Nor has the reader any assistance beyond his own research to ascertain the precise time of which Mr. Goede is speaking, for not a date is to be seen throughout the

volumes. This writer has left no subject untouched :-manners, politics, religion, and the arts, all pass before him in review, though his remarks contain nothing that is either very profound or very novel.

As far as we can draw any meaning from some mystical passages interspersed through these volumes on the nature of constitutions, and on the parties in England, we conceive that the writer is a sort of Burkite :---yet he once ventured to mount the cupola of St. Paul's in company with his worthy friend Dr. Ag,' whom he describes as a zealous patriot,' for declaring that he would not survive the subjection of the liberties of England to military discipline.

On another occasion, also, the author very fairly records two eulogies on Mr. Fox; one pronounced by a gentleman to his son, begging him to observe that lusty man particularly, and to let his image sink deep in his mind, for that he had done great things for his country.-Ibid.

ART. 8.-Memoirs of the Mexican Revolution; including a Narrative of the Expedition of General Xavier Mina: to which are annexed, some Observations on the Practicability of Opening a Commerce between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, through the Mexican Isthmus, in the Province of Oaxaca, and at the Lake of Nicaragua ; and on the vast Importance of such Commerce to the civilized World. By WILL. DAVIS ROBINSON. 2 Vols. 8vo. London, 1821. [Philadelphia.]

THIS book appears to offer high claims to public confidence; and, although [!] it is animated by that republican spirit which may be called natural to a citizen of the United States, yet the author had visited personally the provinces which he describes, was intimately acquainted with the individuals whom he characterizes, and paints every thing with the hues of a vivid fidelity, if not with the grey coldness of impartiality. The narrative embraces the causes and origin of the Mexican revolution, and especially details the romantic expedition of General Xavier Mina; who, like another Fernando Cortez, had nearly overturned the Mexican empire at the head of as small a band of soldiers: the Creole patriotic party serving, like new Tlascalans, to reinforce his staff with numerous allies accustomed to the local sort of warfare. A poetic degree of interest is attached to the history of this noble martyr of independence, whose abortive enterprise will perhaps one day occupy the tragic pen of some Mexican dramatist.

444 Robinson's Memoirs of the Mexican Revolution.

Mr. Robinson appears to have acted as supercargo over some investments of arms and ammunition, with which certain American merchants had agreed to supply the insurgents; and he was received in a friendly manner on landing at Boquilla di Piedra, (a post then in possession of the revolutionists on the coast of Vera Cruz,) at the head quarters of Don G. Victoria, the commandant-general of the patriot forces. Some difficulties having occurred in paying the drafts of which Mr. R. was the bearer, he was forwarded to Tehuacan, where partial payments were made, and next addressed to Guasacualco: but the troops who escorted him having been surprised by the royalists at Playa Vicente, he was obliged to surrender himself to the Spanish authorities, and to claim the benefit of the indulto, or amnesty offered by the crown. He was however sent to Europe; and finding, after his arrival at Cadiz, and after some correspondence with the American ambassador, that his case would probably terminate in a sentence of banishment to the African fortress of Ceuta, he determined to attempt an escape. He succeeded, and went on board an American vessel, which lay at Gibraltar, and took him to Philadelphia. The business of Mr. R. in the Mexican territories, if liable to the charge of commercial contraband, had nothing in it of rebellious hostility: but there was unluckily a Doctor John Hamilton Robinson, who was a brigadier-general in the service of the Mexican patriots, for whom the author was mistaken; and his assertions of non-identity were placed to the account of fraud.

During his sojourn among the patriot-forces, the writer had the opportunity of consulting the journal of Mr. Brush, commissary-general of Mina; of collecting various local newspapers, and other native sources of intelligence; of reading memoirs of the revolution drawn up by a Creole; and, above all, of observing on the spot the scene of adventure. Since his return, he has obtained a perusal of the correspondence of General Mina with various distinguished individuals in Europe, and has thence been supplied with particulars of the early biography of his hero. With these materials he was well prepared for his undertaking, and has reason to expect an extensive attention to his book, the execution of which does credit to the literature of Philadelphia.

These volumes form a welcome contribution both to the history and the geography of the Mexican provinces. The convulsions which rocked the cradle of their liberties will long be contemplated with affectionate interest; and the fortunate structure of the region, which, owing to its great elevation above the

level of the sea, presents a Grecian climate in a tropical latitude, will secure to it a perfection of prosperity, and a comprehension of productive powers, not elsewhere united on the surface of the terrestrial globe.

Xavier Mina united humanity, courage, and military science, and was worthy from his virtues to become intrusted with the generalship of the armies of freedom: but he had perhaps less of the statesman than of the officer; and consequently he did not make all possible use of his short practical connection with the insurgents of the interior, in procuring for himself a formal delegation of the supreme command. Some convention of representatives should have been called to bestow moral authority on his military measures, which had too much the appearance of a piratical inroad, and too little of the dignity of an insurrection for independence.-Ibid.

ART. 10.-Views of Society and Manners in America; in a Series of Letters from that Country to a Friend in England, during the Years 1818, 1819, and 1820. By an Englishwoman. 8vo. pp. 520. London. [Bliss & White, New-York.]

Ir, when compared with the fair sex, men be allowed to trace with greater force, fulness, and exactness, the physical and political features of a country; its geology and natural history; the character of its mountains, rocks, seas, and rivers; the principles of its government; the strength and discipline of its armies and navies; the extent and nature of its foreign as well as domestic commerce and connections; still, in compensation to the ladies, it will be conceded, in return, that they are peculiarly quick in discerning, and equally happy in portraying, those delicate lineaments of moral character which frequently elude the notice of our obtuser organs. Yet perhaps it is true that they are prone to draw a flattering though a resembling portrait of the original; and to this complaisance they may be insensibly led by the desire of returning good offices. Into whatever society introduced, they are received with a smile of complacency and welcome: the air of benignity and cheerfulness which beams from their own countenances is communicated to those around them in the company of females, the roughest of us soften down the asperities of our nature; and we at least endeavour to suppress and conceal them from observation. The effort is laudable on our part, as a homage paid to the sex: they feel it accordingly, acknowledge it, and gracefully remunerate the

« السابقةمتابعة »