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throughout London and the neighbourhood, contemplated in silence the passage of his hearse. The multitude were silent, the multitude evinced as much respect in the expression of its grief as might have been expected from the most polished society. Nelson had given as a signal, on the day of Trafalgar, England expects every man to do his duty;' he had accomplished that duty, and when expiring on board his vessel, the honourable obsequies which his country would grant him presented themselves to his thoughts as the beginning of a new life.

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"Nor yet let us be silent on Lord Wellington, although in France we cannot but suffer by the recollection of his glory. With what transport was he not received by the representatives of the nation, by the Peers and by the Commons. No ceremony was required to convey this homage rendered to a living man; but the transports of the English people burst forth on all sides. The acclamations of the crowd resounded in the lobby before he entered the House; when he appeared, all the members rose with a spontaneous motion, unrequired by any formality. The homage which is dictated elsewhere was here inspired by emotion. Yet nothing could be more simple than the reception of Lord Wellington: there were no guards, no military pomp, to do honour to the greatest general of the age in which Bonaparte lived: but the day was celebrated by the voice of the people, and nothing like it could be seen in any other country upon earth.

"Ah! what a fascinating enjoyment is that of popularity! I know all that can be said on the inconstancy, and even the caprice of popular favour; but those reproaches are more applicable to ancient republics, where the democratic forms of government led to the most rapid vicissitudes. In a Country governed like England, and, moreover, enlightened by that torch, without which all is darkness, the liberty of the press, men and things, are judged with the greatest equity. Truth is submitted to the observation of every one, while the various constraints that are employed elsewhere, produce necessarily great uncertainty in judgments. A libel, that glides across the compulsory silence to which the press is condemned, may change public opinion in regard to any man, for the praise or the censure ordered by government is always suspicious. Nothing can be clearly and solidly settled in the minds of men, but by free discussion."

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other, to that sentiment of liberty which makes all feel the desire of defending themselves mutually against oppression; for it is in that respect especially that, in politics, we should treat our neighbour as ourselves.

"The state of information, and the energy of public spirit, is more than a sufficient answer to the arguments of those men who pretend that the army would overpower the liberty of England, if England were a continental state. It is, without doubt, an advantage to England, that her strength consists rather in her marine than in her land forces. It requires more knowledge to be a captain of a ship than a colonel; and none of the habits acquired at sea lead one to desire to interfere in the interior affairs of the country. But were nature, in a lavish mood, to create ten Lord Wellingtons, and were the world again to witness ten battles of Waterloo, it would never enter the heads of those who so readily give their lives for their country, to turn their force against it; or, if so, they would encounter an invincible obstacle among men as brave as themselves, and more enlightened, who detest the mili tary spirit, although they know how to admire and practise warlike virtues.

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"That sort of prejudice which persuaded the French nobility that they could serve their country only in the career of arms, exists not at all in England. Many sons of lords are counsellors; the bar participates in the respect that is felt for the law; and in every career civil occupations are held in esteem. In such a country there is nothing as yet to be feared from military power: ignorant nations only have a blind admiration for the sword. Bravery is an admirable quality when we expose a life dear to our family, and when, with a mind filled with virtue and knowledge, a citizen becomes a soldier to maintain his rights as a citizen. But when men fight only because they will not take the trouble to employ their minds and their time in some steady pursuit, they cannot be long admired by a nation where industry and reflection hold the first rank.”

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Manners, above all in the eyes of Frenchwoman, are matters of importance enough to entitle them to be considered in immediate connexion with subjects of more apparent dignity. Our readers will be delighted to see what kind of impression our manners, so little understood among the Continental nations, made upon the mind of one who had travelled so much, and with such opportunities and faculties of observation.

"The science of liberty (if we may use that expression), at the point at which it is cultivated in England, supposes in itself a very high degree of information. Nothing

can be more simple than that doctrine, when once the principles on which it reposes have been adopted; but it is nevertheless certain, that, on the Continent, we seldom meet with any person who, in the heart and mind, understands England. It would seem as if there were moral truths, amidst which we must be born, and which the beating of the heart inculcates better than all the discussions of theory. Nevertheless, to enjoy and practise that liberty, which unites all the advantages of republican virtues, of philosophical knowledge, of religious sentiments, and monarchial dignity, a great share of understanding is requisite in the people, and a high degree of study and virtue in men of the first class. An English minister must unite with the qualities of a statesman the art of expressing himself with eloquence. It thence follows, that literature and philosophy are much more appreciated, because they contribute efficaciously to the success of the highest ambition. We hear incessantly of the cmpire of rank and of wealth among the English; but we must also acknowledge the admiration which is granted to real talents. It is possible that, among the lowest class of society, a peerage and a fortune produce more effect than the name of a great writer; this must be so; but if the question regards the enjoyments of good company, and consequently of public opinion, I know no country in the world where it is more advantageous to be a man of superiority. Not only every employment, every rank may be the recompence of talent; but public esteem is expressed in so flattering a manner, as to confer enjoyments more keenly felt than any other.

"The emulation which such a prospect naturally excites, is one of the principal causes of the incredible extent of information diffused in England. Were it possible to make a statistical report of knowledge, in no country should we find so great a proportion of persons conversant in the study of ancient languages, a study, unfortunately, too much neglected in France. Private li braries without number, collections of every kind, subscriptions in abundance for all literary undertakings, establishments for public education, exist in all directions, in every county, at the extremity as in the centre of the kingdom: in short, we find at each step altars erected to understanding, and these altars serve as a support to those of religion and virtue.

"Thanks to toleration, to political institutions, and the liberty of the press, there is a greater respect for religion and for morals in England than in any other country in Europe. In France people take a pleasure in saying, that it is precisely for the sake of religion and morals that censors have been at all times employed; but let them compare the spirit of literature in England since the liberty of the press is established there,

with the different writings which appeared under the arbitrary reign of Charles II. and under the Regent, or Louis XV. in France. The licentiousness of published works was carried among the French in the last century to a degree that excites horror. The case is the same in Italy, where, however, the press has at all times been subjected to the most galling restrictions. Ignorance in the bulk of the poeple, and the most lawless independence in men of superior parts, is always the result of constraint."

"In every country the pleasures of society concern only the first class, that is, the unoccupied class; who, having a great deal of leisure for amusement, attach much importance to it. But in England, where every one has his career and his employment, it is natural for men of rank, as for men of business in other countries, to prefer physical relaxation-walks, the country; in short, pleasure of any kind, in which the mind is at rest; to conversation, in which one must think and speak with almost as much care as in the most serious business. Besides, the happiness of the English being founded on domestic life, it would not suit them that their wives should, as in France, make a kind of family selection of a certain number of persons constantly brought together.

"We must not, however, deny, that with all these honourable motives are mixed certain defects, the natural results of all large associations of men. In the first place, although in England there is much more pride than vanity, a good deal of stress is laid on marking by manners the ranks which most of the institutions tend to bring on a level. There prevails a certain degree of egotism in the habits, and sometimes in the character. Wealth, and the tastes created by wealth, are the cause of it: people are not disposed to submit to inconvenience in any thing; so great is their power of being comfortable in every thing. Family ties, so intimate as regards marriage, are far from intimate in other relations, because the entails on property render the eldest sons too independent of their parents, and separate also the interest of the younger brothers from those of the inheritor of the fortune. entails necessary to the support of the peerage ought not, perhaps, to be extended to other classes of proprietors; it is a remnant of the feudal system, of which one ought, if possible, to lessen the vexatious consequences. From this it happens likewise that most of the women are without portions, and that in a country where the institution of convents cannot exist, there are a number of young ladies, whom their mothers have a great desire to get married, and who may, with reason, be uneasy as to their prospects. This inconvenience, produced by the unequal partition of fortunes,

The

is sensibly felt in society: for the unmarried men take up too much of the attention of the women, and wealth in general, far from conducing to the pleasure of social intercourse, is necessarily hurtful to it. A very considerable fortune is requisite to receive one's friends in the country, which is, however, the most agreeable mode of living in England: fortune is necessary for all the relations of society; not that people are vain of a sumptuous mode of life; but the importance attached by every body to the kind of enjoyment termed comfortable, would prevent any person from venturing, as was formerly the case in the most agreeable societies in Paris, to make up for a bad dinner by amusing anecdotes.

"In all countries the pretensions of young persons of fashion are engrafted on national defects; they exhibit a caricature of these defects, but a caricature has always some traits of an original. In France the pretenders to elegance endeavoured to strike, and tried to dazzle by all possible means, good or bad. In England this same class of persons wish to be distinguished as disdainful, indifferent, and completely satiated of every thing. This is disagreeable enough; but in what country of the world is not foppery a resource of vanity to conceal natural mediocrity? Among a people where every thing bears a decided aspect, as in England, contrasts are the more striking. Fashion has remarkable influence on the habits of life, and yet there is no nation in which one finds so many examples of what is called eccentricity, that is, a mode of life altogether original, and which makes no account of the opinion of others. The difference between the men who live under the control of others, and those who live to themselves, is recognized every where; but this opposition of character is rendered more conspicuous by the singular mixture of timidity and independence remarkable among the English. They do nothing by halves, and they pass all at once from a slavish adherence to the most minute usages, to the most complete indifference as to what the world may say of them. Yet the dread of ridicule is one of the principal causes of the coldness that prevails in English society: people are never accused of insipidity for keeping silence; and as they do not require of you to animate the conversation, one is more impressed by the risks to which one exposes one's self by speaking, than by the awkwardness of silence. In the country where people have the greatest attachment to the liberty of the press, and where they care the least for the attacks of the newspapers, the sarcasms of society are much dreaded. Newspapers are considered the volunteers of political parties, and, in this, as in other respects, the English are very fond of keeping up a conflict; but slander and irony, when they take place in company, irritate highly the delicacy of the women, and the pride of the men. This VOL. III.

is the reason that people come as little forward as possible in the presence of others. Animation and grace necessarily lose greatly by this. In no country of the world have reserve and taciturnity ever, I believe, been carried so far as in certain societies in England; and if one falls into such companies, it is easy to conceive how a disrelish of life may take possession of those who find themselves confined to them. But one of these frozen circles, what satisfaction of mind and heart may not be found in English society, when one is happily placed there? The favour or dislike of ministers and the court are absolutely of no account in the relations of life; and you would make an Englishman blush, were you to appear to think of the office which he holds, or of the influence he may possess. A sentiment of pride always makes him think that these circumstances neither add to nor deduct in the slightest degree from his personal merit. Political disappointments cannot have any influence on the pleasures enjoyed in fashionable society; the party of opposition are as brilliant there as the ministerialists: fortune, rank, intellect, talents, virtues, are shared among them; and never do either of the two think of drawing near to or keeping at a distance from a person by those calculations of ambition which have always prevailed in France. To quit one's friends because they are out of power, and to draw near to them because they possess it, is a kind of tactics almost unknown in England; and if the applause of society does not lead to public employment, at least the liberty of society is not impaired by combinations foreign to the pleasures which may be tasted there. One finds there almost invariably the security and the truth which form the bases of all enjoyment, because they form their security. You have not to dread those perpetual broils which, in other countries, fill life with disquietude. What you possess in point of connexion and friendship, you can lose only by your own fault, and you never have reason to doubt the expressions of benevolence addressed to you, for they will be surpassed by the actual performance, and consecrated by duration. Truth, above all, is one of the most distinguished qualities of the English character. The publicity that prevails in business, the discussions by which people arrive at the bottom of every thing, have doubtless contributed to this habit of strict truth which cannot exist but in a country where dissimulation leads to nothing but the mortification of being exposed.

"It has been much repeated on the Continent, that the English are unpolite, and a certain habit of independence, a great aversion to restraint, may have given rise to this opinion. But I know no politeness, no protection, so delicate as that of the English towards women in every circumstance of life. Is there question of danger, of trouble, of a service to be rendered, there is no4 N

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sex.

thing that they neglect to aid the weaker From the seamen who, amidst the storm, support your tottering steps, to English gentlemen of the highest rank, never does a woman find herself exposed to any difficulty whatever, without being supported; and every where do we find that happy mixture which is characteristic of England, a republican austerity in domestic life, and a chivalrous spirit in the relations of society. "A quality not less amiable in the English, is their disposition to enthusiasm. This people can see nothing remarkable without encouraging it by the most flattering prais

es.

One acts then very rightly in going to England, in whatever state of misfortune one is placed, if conscious of possessing in one's self any thing that is truly distinguished. But if one arrives there, like most of the rich idlers of Europe, who travel to pass a carnival in Italy, and a spring in London, there is no country that more disappoints expectation; and we shall certainly quit it without suspecting that we have seen the finest model of social order, and the only one which for a long time supported our hopes of human nature."

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Upon the whole, we close the work of Madame de Stael with increased admiration for her talents, with greatly increased regret, that she should have been cut off at a period of life when the direction of these ta

lents had begun to be more strictly useful than ever,-when, if her imagination and enthusiasm might be supposed likely to decline, there might have lain before her so large a prospect of strengthening reason, and improving wisdom. The impression which her work is calculated to produce in her own country, is a sober and salutary one of hope and patience. In ours, we trust it will be read and studied by those whose ignorance renders them unconscious, or whose meanness renders them unthankful observers of the blessings they enjoy.

The progress and results of the French Revolution should produce on us no other effect than that of a firm and tranquil joy in the contemplation of our own condition at home. The idea of establishing in modern Europe a system of polity upon any thing like the model or principles of the commonwealths of antiquity, however fascinating the first idea of such a thing might have appeared, has been proved, by the experience of France, to be essentially unprofitable and absurd. It is too late to change the nature of Christendom. We have lived for more than a sixth of the whole age of the world in the cultivation of a set of

ideas and principles, which have been proved capable of producing every thing that is great and good in human endured that we should part with our intellect and action, and it is not to be heritage. Let those whose reason is too refined to bear with our Gothic prejudices, fly to the shores of another continent, where they may have in abundance all physical accommodations, and all that they are pleased to consider as freedom, in the midst of uncut forests and untilled savannahs,

in a land where there are neither castles nor cathedrals,-among men that, puffed up with an ignorant and contemptible vanity, are contented to consider themselves as the aboriginal Tyypog of a new land, rather than to glory in the recollection that they speak the language of England,

and

"Are sprung

From earth's first blood."

Let such depart, and let us bid God speed to their journey. But let us not be deceived into any participation of their paltry phrenzy. Let us rejoice in the memory of great and virtuous ages; let us not separate ourselves from our fathers, or be the robbers of our children.

We cannot close our paper more appropriately, than with the following pathetic and sublime sonnet of the most meditative and English of our living poets.

"Now that all hearts are glad, all faces bright,
Our aged Sovereign sits;to the ebb and flow
Insensible; he sits deprived of sight,
Of states and kingdoms, to their joy or woe,
And lamentably wrapped in twofold night,
Whom no weak hopes deceived,-whose
mind ensued,
Through perilous war, with regal fortitude,
Peace, that should claim respect from law.
less Might.

Dread King of Kings! vouchsafe a ray divine
To his forlorn condition! let thy grace
Permit his heart to kindle, and embrace
Upon his inner soul in mercy shine;
(Though were it only for a moment's space)
The triumphs of this hour; for they are

THINE."

SOME REMARKS ON THE USE OF THE PRETERNATURAL IN WORKS OF

FICTION.

Some have thought that, in modern works of fiction, there should be no gratuitous introduction of the preternatural, and that_superstitious tales are only to be tolerated when they

form a part of some picture of past ages, during which such things were universally believed. But, even in the most enlightened ages, so desirous is the human mind of an outlet by which to escape from the narrow circle of visible things into the unknown and unlimited world, that surely poets should be permitted to feign all wonders which cannot be proved to be impossible, and which are not contradictory to the spirit of our religion.

To this class belong the re-appearance of the dead, and the struggle of evil beings for an ascendancy over human nature. The eastern talismanic theory of sorcery supposed that superhuman powers were acquired by discovering and taking advantage of the occult laws of nature to compel the service of spirits; but the notion of a voluntary assistance lent by wicked angels to wicked men is much more sublime, and agrees better with the spirit of modern thought. The one is a childish idea founded on the mechanical operation of causes which have never been proved to exist; but the other has a moral interest, being conformable to our knowledge of character and passion.

That there exists in this country that strength of imagination which delights in the feeling of superstitious horror, is proved by the practice of our ancient dramatists; and of all those authors who wrote in the original English spirit down to the end of last century, when, partly from the revival of old ballads, and partly from the importation of German books, there sprung up an immense number of romances and fictions, the interest of which was founded almost entirely upon apparitions and the mysteries of haunted castles, or prophecies, dreams, and presentments.

Every sort of machinery of this kind was put in requisition; till, by the unskilfulness of the artists, and the unsparing manner in which their resources were employed, the superstitious branch of romance writing fell gradually into disrepute; and probably among the immense number of novels published, there are now six that represent modern manners, for one that resorts to the old machinery of spectres and mysteries. The greatest poets of the present time, however, have not disdained to continue the use. of it; and indeed some of Scott's

works excite the feelings of superstitious fear and traditional awe in a degree that has never been surpassed. Wordsworth's fictions in this line have exquisite beauty, and may be said to represent the spontaneous and creative superstition of the human mind, when acted upon by impressive circumstances. The poems of the Thorn, Lucy Gray, and Hartleap Well, are instances of this. The poem of the Danish Boy is a beautiful superfluity of fancy, but is too entirely poetical to please common readers. Lord Byron's strength lies in a different direction; and the spectres which appear in his poetry are not the product of imagination working upon what is unknown and invisible, but are created by the passions of the heart striving to embody their own objects. The world of spirits is not an object of interest to him for its own sake, and when he resorts to it, he does so only for the images of what he loved or hated on earth. Mr Coleridge has perhaps the finest superstitious vein of any person alive. The poem of Christabel is the best model extant of the language fit to be employed for such subjects. It was the greatest attempt, before Walter Scott's poems, to turn the language of our ancient ballads to account in a modern composition, and is perhaps more successful in that respect than the Lay of the Last Minstrel itself. Indeed Christabel may be considered as a test by which to try men's feeling of superstition, and whoever does not perceive the beauty of it, may rest assured that the world of spectres is shut against him, and that he will never see worse than himself."

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any thing

To make the marvellous a means of producing the ludicrous; that is to say, to arrive at new and diverting situations, by feigning a suspension of the laws of nature, has not been much attempted in English literature, and is perhaps rather a cheap species of wit, since it supposes more fancy than knowledge or penetration. At the same time it has its attractions; for it gives the mind a pleasing respite from the inexorable tyranny of facts, and flatters us for a time with the appearance of vivid and immoveable nature relaxing from its severity, and ceasing to present the usual barriers to our wishes. The tale of Vathek, in which these things are well exem

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