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Which . has the most important part of the two ? We "both act by the direction of onr nature , arid who shall presume to decide ? tlie bug may produce a sleepless night forthe body ; and to the ingenious mind thus kept wakeful some great invention may oecur . Who isthe originator ? The bug which sucks Wood , or the ratui who unwillingly Iie 3 awake under the operation of bug grazing . Yet the invention may overturn the older of things , perhaps enable us to reach the moon ! Oh ! vain and miserableman ! Take a beautiful horse and place it alongside of a fat red-nosed bumboat woman of' Portsmouth : -woman is divine ! hut if this be our divinity what is her adorer , ; man ? Is not the beautiful horse at her side more divine ? more beautiful , more clean , more gentle , more innocent ? Look at the elegantly formed gnat that stings her : is he not more divine with bis light glistening wings ? But he bites ! Yes ! And ask a bullock what she does . Now put her beside a luxurious bishop . Where is the difference ? He is full of wine , as she is of gin : is the vine a finer plant than the juniper ? She dresses her own beefsteak , obtained b y her labour : his is dressed by a skilful cook , and paid for by others' labour ! Oh ! vain , miserable man I l we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us !"'
" Lord John Russell , in concert with them , wanted to do me out of + r + T ~ — this was made clear at an interview with his lordship . He was shv ai A + oaour : I was explicit and not shy , and spoke with such vehemence as to settle * th ex * licit > once—for jumping to my feet ; and extending my clenched hand , I said r ™ 7 rt Lord John I If they can ' t jin d a precedent form ] , going out vtohZ seat , IwUlI n ^ find one for a commander-zn-chief not Qoiny out when- ojered the sUiatlol n £ God > he , they will , I am sure , find one . My lord , I do not care whether tW a ' Said but to India I will not go without a seat in council . They foand tlieir ™» 1 ° not ' " Lady Campbell , daughter of Lord Edward Fitzgerald-has been E ^ V ' agreeable as ever . When the devil tempted Dunstan in the form , of 1 % .- ?* - woman , he no more took hold of her nose with hot tongs than I would t n , xiili ^ it , he had a daughter by the she-devil , and . Pamela » certainly aScwSST ?^ for nothing else could be so agreeable , so pretty , so wonderful ' as she is' Wk « J serpent also . Well , whether of devil ' s blood or saint ' s blood , she is dehVlitfVr f a are her children . " % UU 1 ' d so We can Coiicejre no class of readers , military , political , civil ; or general to whom this book will not be deeply interesting . tj ^ way
This is not exactly in the mood of Seneca . The vein of abuse now becomes more conspicuous . The East India Directors are " Leaden head people , "XordRipon ' s letters are " silly . " Sometimes he wrote , " My own dear brother , Satan himself ; " then , " I am a child ' in the hands of God ;" but he prefers castigating others even to praising himself . These are examples of the allusions Sir Williaia Napier has thought fit to preserve : " That soft , little , silky man , Lieut .-Coloael Melville "— " Blatant Buist "" I mean apology to the jackals for comparing them to the certain civil servants' *^ " With afew exceptions the ? editors are men whose-vileness has driven them from good society . One was drivea riom the church for . some tricks with a child ; another was broke for stealing a pearl , and for cowardice . " He refersj-of course , to the Indian press : — "How can I enter into a controversy on my own character with such miserable trretches as Buist , of the Bombay Times or Cope of the Delhi Gazette ?—since attested , for thieving . " Having cast a similar slur upon Mr . Fonblanque , he adds : ¦—
" The English journalists generally have tlie decency to state facts , and reason , on them according to the bent of their politics ; but these Indian ruffians , for they are neithermore nor leas , invent the most atrocious falsehoods . " : LordJRipon is , again , " a pactrass , " " an inibecile ;' Sir Janxes Graham £ t weak and t silly ; " General Outram" deserves to be shot ; " but we have quoted more than , enough to prove the rashness and bad taste of the biographer . We have only a little space for samples of the sparklihg-varieties that confer-an incessant fascination upon these volumes . Here is a reminiscence of'Meeanee : — - '' IalwayBfeltconfideirti of . victory somehoyrj even when on the edge of ; the bank first saw the multitudes below me , and the mass of shields ! Jupiter Ammbn ! -what a ¦ weight of flesh and bones to have pressed boldly upon us ! I trusted , to our fire , we could not miss ; yet some nervous fellows fired in the air and burnt my face , though on horseback .- - - . I saw numbers do this , it enraged me . " Again :- ?— . - ¦ " ' V ' ¦ " ' ' ... " .: ¦ /¦" . " ., ; . ' ¦ : ¦ ¦ .. - ¦'¦ ¦ : ' , ¦ . - .. . . -. ; "¦
" The greatest scene of destruction . I ever saw before , was th . e lane going up to Hougoumont ; but I assure you it was nothing to the bed of tne Fullailiee : it was . horrible , Wiien they found they could not force our line their courage fell , and their rushes over'tJre edge of the bank became less frequent , while our- men pushed more baldly to the edge ; then the Belo&eheee cut at their legSj but the soldiers growing more cool and expert as the battle wrent ony stepped back to reload , and putting the muzzles of their muskets just , over the edge , let fly into the mass . Covered by their shields the . Beloochees fell over , each other , and wounded men remained beneath the dead , glad of the protection . Those who attempted to run were shot down as they ascended the opposite bank ; bo that . from that part not one man , in my belief , escaped . The soldiers bayoneted all that had life on . the top of the heaps as we passed in pursuit , and all below were smothered . " Napier could vilify , but he could compliment also . This , to the Duke of Wellington , is not bad for a soldier : —
" As your Grace never had a master in war ; how can 1 convey to your mind the feelings of a- disciple ?" The Ameers of Sihdh have appealed to English ladies in bebalf of their " violated hareems : "" Mark the love of the Ameers , the'Patriarchs' for their'women , from the description of a whip found in Nusseer ' S' zenana avowedly to flog the women of those fallen princes . * . Th& whip-handle-is one foot : and . half an . inchlong , covered ; with bras 8 wire for two inches ^ at" each rend , and silvered 1 wire iu the : middle . A * each end is an ivory knob , anditbemvare two lashes ^ , each one foot five inohea and three-quarters , exclusive of tassela . at . theondof each lash . The lashes are made of plaited wire five-eighths of . anjiotjh . in circumference , and . capable of inflicting a . terrible flagellation . " We musfe new quote at . random : — "Marriage ia a dead drag upon military ambition . I have done pretty -well , but not half of what I could liavo done as a bachelor . ' *
" Eord Brougham is a queer fellow- He was talking something about burials at Miss' Coutta ' s , of being buried alive , and finished by saying-, However , I don ' t know , I never -was buried . You ought to have been , said . I , for your lordship was deadlonee , yxra-know . H& looked I hard at me , and then said in a low voice , Yte ! yesl I was dead-.. He did not seem to like the joko , and the leas so aa the old beau opened : hia ; mouth and gave a deep guttural laugh ,, while the others broke out aloud . " ? " *¦ £ 8 * " * my . ftast . rBsiwwto , to that blazo of beauty Lady John Thynne , and tell AWdU ' did . uw-gceat hoBour to droam otmei I fear as * L stopped her on the Queea ' s UlStowa ^ trtlA-. tfc ofc . iuQiatiuwtifij * a . higbwayraan , and her dream might not have bean w .-camjitamenlito ^ . Ij . ha d Irt on riding K < xLKovor agatn » after ayeov a , nd a half : the last time as a king at the head of an army , now as a wretch paying turnpikes ; and taken for a footpad by , that Deautiful . woman !"
^ J'JIs ? , ™?! ^ ^ ' aa Montagu and I wore , at tlie accoiuit we hoard from an ear-witness of Xord Brougham ' bringing Hbgg . to the bar of the House of Lords , for S i ^ S ^ r ? W *« ™< lcr t 6 od . When Hogg a eared ; Brougham ^ t ^ ft u £ l ^ ^' ' And ^ tben oaddtoly said , < Mr JIow ,, oh '! T be / your P Z ^ ir flSS ^ K " * ^ ' * ** ««• Tfdrgotyou an , JUa baronet fmtUr-^ JX ^^^ t ^ s : ^^ t ^ i ^ he iiamed Wm ifc — hon ^ Ucf ZZ ^ ^ TT ^^ ^^ y to . dino at OBboxno , with only a few ^ oZ ^ T ^^ v ^ J ^ ft ^ ' ^ «^ »«>* of tho neweat , but . was ? oaf £ ^ ^ Uad . no other waist-Ohl I dare sayiicliolaa ^ JX ^ S ^ V ^ Z ^^ ia LT ^ rZrCo ^ cU ^ ^ ^™*™^ l- ^ ££ k a seat
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THE WALPOLE LETTERS . Tlie Letters of Horace Walpole , Earl of Orford . Edited by Peter Cunn , ^^ Now Mrst Chronologicall y Axrauged . Vol . II . aSf " The second volume of this admirable edition contains the corresnonfinn ^ % ten . years-from 1746-56 , the period of the Jacobite rebellion Z ^ trif and execution of the rebel lords , the Netherlands campai <* n , tlie »« , « . £ ? * and decoration of Strawberry Hill , the Lisbon earthquake ! and tKw for one night o . nly , of single-speech Hamilton . Such pleasant readfn ^ nowhere else to be found;—less cannot fairly be said of the Walpole Letter * rendered doubly interesting now , and doubly valuable us materials of hi ^ torv by the careful chronological ordering and generally sensible annotations of Mr . Peter Cunningham . We had a few words to say against the Editor ' s plan as exemplified in the first volume ; in the second we mi .-rht mark som& superfluous _ notes ; but upon the whole the commentary is ° apleasai \ t and careful elucidation of the text .
itAvouldbe an _ impertinence to criticise the Walpole Letters . They are classics of conceited elegance , of charming levity , of reckless anecdote of fascinating slander , of epigram , and allusion . New generations of readers , however , are continually growing up , for whom there may be novelty , even in the correspondence of Horace Walpole . To remind such readers of the treasure arranged for them by Mr . Cimniiiffham , we merely glean from the golden field a sheaf of Walpolia ' na ; There is sublime inapertinence in this , to Sir Horace Mann : — Don ' t think , my dear child , that I hurry over my letters , or neglect writing to you I assure you I never do , when I have the least grain to lap up in a letter : ° buticonsider how many chapters of correapondence are extinct : Pope and poetry are dead I Patriotism has kissed hand 3 pa accepting a place : the Ladies Of / ford ] aiid T [; ownshend ] have exhausted scandal both in their persons and conversations : divinity and controversy are grown good Christians , say their prayers and spare their neighbours ; " and I think evea self-murder is out of fashion . Noiv judge whether a correspondent can furnish matter for the common intercourse of the . post J Here is a cabinet landscape sketch of Twickenham : —
It is set in enamelled meadows , with filigree hedges : — " A small Euphrates through the piece is roll'd , -,.... Andlittle finches wave their wings in gold . " Two delightful roads , that you would call dusty , supply me continually with coaches and chaises : barges as solemn as Barons of ike Exchequer move under my window ; Richmond Hill and Ham walks bound by prospect ; but , thank God ! tho Thames 13 between me and the Duchess of Queensberry . Dowagers as plenty iis flounders inhabit all around , and Pope ' s gliost is just now skimming under my window by a most poetical moonlight . I have about land enough to keep such a farm as Noah's , when he set up ia the ark with a pair of each kind ; but my . cottage is ' rather cleaner than I believe his was after they had been cooped up together forty days . Lord John Russell was once accused of cant by a renegade liberal . He replied that to cant was absurd , but that to recant was infamous . Walpole says : —¦
Here is a Ion mot of my Lady Townshend : we were talking of the jtfethodists ; somebody said , " Pray , ¦ Madam , is it true that Whitfield has recanted ? " "No , Sir , he has only canted " -Apropos of Methodism , to Sir Horace Mann : — If you ever think of returning to England , us I hope it will be long first , you must prepare 3 'ourself with Methodism . I really believe that by that time it willbe necessary : this sect increases as fast as almost ever any religious nonsense did . Lady Fanny Shirley has chosen this way of bestowing the dregs of her beauty ; and 3 Ir Lyttelton is very near making the same sacrifice of the dregs of all those various characters that he hns worn . The Methodists lovo your big sinners , as proper subjects to -work upon—and ; indeed , they havo a , plentiful liarvcst ^—I think what you call flagrancy was never more in fashion . Drinking is at the highest wine-mark ; and gaming joined with it so violent , that at the last Newmarket meeting , iu the rapidity of both , a bank-bill was thrown clown , and nobody immediately diiimiiig it , they agreed to give it to a man that was standing by . And , to the same correspondent , with respect to feudal dignity : —•
Mr . Chuto , who wont from henco this morning , « nd ia always thinking- of blazoning your pedigree in the noblest colours , has turned over all my library , till he has tupped a new and very groat family for you : in short , by your mother it is very clear that you are descended'from Hubert do'Burgh , Grand Justiciary to lviuhnrd tho Second : indeed I think he was hanged ; but that is a misfortune that will nttond very illustrious genealogies ; it is as common to them as to tho pedigrees about Paddington and Blackhoath . 1 have hud nt loi \ 3 t a dozen groat-groat-grandfatlicrs that camo to untimely ends . All your virtuosos in heraldry arc content to know that they had nnccstoi's who lived five hundred j r oar 3 ai ; o , no matter how they died . A matcn
with a low woman oorrupts a stream of blood ns long as the Danube , —tymnuyi ¦ villauy , and executions are mere flea-bites , and leave no stain . Tho good Lord 01 liuth , whom I suw on liichmond-grcou tliis evening , did intend , I believe , to cuuouW my genealogy with another execution . The Duke of Newcastle , in 1749 , was elected Chancellor of Cambridge : — His cooks havo boon there these ton day . n , distilling cssoaccs of every living creature , nnd massacring and . confounding all tho species that Noah and Moses toolc such pains to preserves and distinguish . It would be pleasant to eeo pedants and pW " lessors searching for etymologies of atraugo dishes , aud tracing more wou&orwi
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_ Jga __ . ^ iO ^ Mi . J ^ ° - 370 , Sat oedav-
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Leader (1850-1860), April 25, 1857, page 402, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2190/page/18/
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