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factures" ( Levy ) , in which lie endeavours to set forth the revolutions which the change in the manners of the age enforces upon certain branches of trade and liianufacture . M . Le Pelletier de Saint-ltemy lias published avolumeon the French Antilles ( Gruillaumin ) , which is well spoken of , and M . Boiiiiievaux , a retired missionary , another agreeable little volume on Indo-China , showing tfiat part of Cochin China which borders on India .
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HORACE . WALPOLE . Journal of the Reign ofKing George the Third , from the year 1771 to 1783 . By Horace Walpole . Now tfrst published from the original MSS . Edited , with notes , by Dr . Doran . In 2 vols . London : U . Bentley . The Letters of Horace Wal pole . Edited by Peter Cunningham ; Now first chronologically arranged , in » volumes . Vol IX . London : 11 . Bentley .
To any one who should skim over the critical journals of the last forty years for notices of Horace Walpole , it would be curious to observe the steady rise which his character , at least his literary character ^ lias been making : during' that period . Horace Will pole , like iuany other men , _ morc or less fa . rn . OTis . than . he ; ,, had formed , for himself an idcai character and position , which he was constantly holding up to the world as that which ^ he would accept as a faithftiMikeness ; and the world , as it generally does in such cases , took him at his word , arid ' . stamped him at his own valuation . To say that he was an idler , a
dilletaiitigentleman , a virtuoso ,- a fastidious connoisseur , an elegant trifler , a writer with a crowqilill of airy nothings , a gimcrack architect , an amateur author , and ostentatious despiscr of the vulgar herd of Grub-street " scribblers , " a devout believer in the virtue and grace of Ion ™ pedigrees , were Once the commonplaces of all who talked or wrote of Wai-, pole . Even Lord Mtieaulay ,. in his celebrated essay on Walpole ' s correspondence with Mann , repeated these things in a brilliant manner ; though he was well answered by Miss Berry ' s admirable defence . JBu fc the world was , before -this , coming- to
a better judgment on the matter . As . volume af ter volume of letters , historical essays , and joiuiials came forth , and were added to the known ' fruits of his long life , it was begun to be seen that the master' of Sti'awberry Hill had by no means so bad an account to give of his time as be had pleaded < rnilty to . Like the self-charged profligacy of JBiolingbroke , Pope , and Byron , it was felt that the idleness of Walpole was not unlike other men ' s industry- —that his admitted lack of learning was not fatal to his just claim to extensive knowledge , and that his pretence of " trifling" away his days was , iii fact , but the outward and fictitious clothing of a long and , on the whole , a useful clothing-of a long and , on the whole , a useful
Ufa . Jt' any one -should think otherwise , let him compare upon , the shelves of a library the ¦ " writings of thci ' fine gentleman AValpole even ' with those of the professed literary'hack , his contemporary , Johnson . If Walpole , even regarded as a man of letters , was axx idler , what -were his friends and correspondents , Gray , Warton , Malonc Isaac Jleed , Pinkerton , or a score of others ? . And if mere bulk should bo no tost of merit ; what writer lias dono move to amuse and delight his readers than Walpolo ? What a fund of anecdote is in his letters , journal !? , and histories—what inexhaustible so tiroes of quotation and illustration What a world of famous men and womciv— 'from
King Glooi'ge the First and the Duchess of Kendal — -the elderly gentleman in the " breeches of snuffcoloured . eJofcli , " and the " loan , ill-favoured old lady , " io whom Walpolo when a boy was introduced privately by night , in their apartment in the shabby , old , rod-brick palace of St . James ' s—down tp Willies and the Common Council , and the poor old king in his solitude and madness . I 3 von St . Simon itt eclipsed by lna English prototype . Whoever writes of the history ot the last century must go to Walnolo , and will find in him , on the whole , a tolerably honest guide j— for his prejudices ,
though strong and numerous , Ho on the surface , l ^ e the weak points of a man go . oil enough , and honest enough , as the world goes . If anybody is not Buflioiontly warned against thorn it is his own fault ; V You , will remember , " ho snid to Archdeacon Co . \ o , " that I am tho son of Sir" Uobort Walpolo , and therefore must bo prejudiced in liis favour . Ipaets I will not misrepresent or dlsguiso , but my opinions ami reflections on those facts you will Vfc'ooAvu wjth ojvutlon , and adopt or reject nt
your discretion . " What more could the truest worshipper of " truth have said ? : As to Walpole ' s alleged "heartlcssness , " there are abundant proofs , not only in Miss Berry ' s eloquent and beautiful defence , but in the 'friost ppeii facts of his life , to gainsay it . Even his constancy as a correspondent—trifling evidence as it may be thought by some—is to iis no slight one in his favour . Let any . 'man ask himself how many of the ardent friendships of his early life have been preservedhow many correspondences which Were to last for ever have , dropped with the correspondents themselves , and been forgotten ? It is no . small thing to say that the warmth of a friendship _ begun in childhood should be steadily maintained
in a regular correspondence for more than half , a century . No less creditable to Walpole is his hero-worship towards his father , the great Sir Robert ; , the profound respect and affection with which he regards the memory of liis mother , whose reputation the gossips of the age have somewhat tarnished ; or .. his genuine allection for his brother ' s illegitimate child . We are not thick and thin apologists of Walpole . His narrow class sympathies ^ his belief in the superior clay whereof his own order were compounded , and his patrician horror of " the mob , " jar upon us in these days ol progress and' . reform . IJut Walpole must be taken with his merits , as well as his failings . The former we are convinced are great ; and the latter arc sxicli as the wise and charitable will hot visit with
too harsh a judgment . . '¦ ¦ Tlie . ^ Journal , " edited by Dr . Doran , with notes in his own chatty , pleasant , anecdotical , Walpoleftiimanner , were called by the ; writer 'hnnself the " Last Journals of Horace Walpole . " They form a continuation to his " Memoirs' of the Reign of King George IH , " which terminate in the year 1771 . Walpole , in the outset , warns the '¦ reader that the Journal "is rather calculated for his own amusement than for posterity ; " a-nd he adds : " I . like ; tp ; keep tip- the thread of my observations ; if they prove useful to , any bod y . else , I shall be glad ;
but I am not to answer , for their imperfections , as I intend this Journal for no regular work . " The publication has been long delayed- —we suspect kept back till the recent death of the old Duchess of Gloucester , for the mother of the Duke of Gloucester was Horace Walpole ' s favourite , niece , the illegitimate daughter of his brother Edward ; and there is ho portion of the J . oimial which will be read with greater interest than that in which the journalist gives the history of the marriage of this niece , then Laura , Countess of Waldegravc , famous for her beauty , with the somewhat
weakminded l'oyal diikc . Great talk had arisen upon the secret marriage of the Duke of "Cumberland with Mrs . Horton , when a new subject * of gossip was found in the rumoured marriage of another of the King ' s brothers , the Duke of Cumberland , which was confirmed on his return from Italy . Horace affected to have no knowledge of tlie mntt'b , though shrcw ' diy suspected to have been well cognisant of it . In the Diary ., however , Le mentions his . constant neutrality , only now and then dropping a word or two in praise of tho excellent heart ,, and good feeling , and admirable prudence of his niece , who wrote , on her marriage , the following letter to her father , Sir Edward : — " St . Leonard ' s , May 19 , 1772 .
, " My dbar and , j svuii iiokorku Siu , —You cannot easily imagine how miieh every past affliction , has beeii increased to me by my not being at liberty'to make you quite easy . The duty to a husband being superior to that we owe a father , I . 'hopo will plead my pardon , and that , instead of blaming my past reserve , you will think it commendable . " When tho Duke of Gloucester married me ( which was in September , 1706 , ) I promised him in no consideration in the world , to own it , even to you , without his poripission j which permission I uovw had till yesterday , when ho arrived in much bolter health and looks than ever I saw him ; yot , ns you may suppose , much hurt at all that has past in liis
absence ; so much so , that I have had great difficulty to prevail upon him to let things as much as possible romuln as they aro . To secure my oharactor , without injuring his , is the utmost of my wishes ; and 1 daresay that you and all nvy volutions will agree -with mo that I shall bo much happier to bo called Lady Waklogravo , and rcsptfotod ns iiuohoss of Gloucester , than to fool myself the , cause of his leading jmoli u life as his brother doos , in order for mo to bo culled your Koyal Bigness . I am prepared , tor tho sort ai nbttso the newspapers will bo full- of . Vory few pooplo will boliovo that a woman will refuse to bo called Princoss it ' lt is In her powor . « To fotvo tho power in wy . prldnfwa . ii not using It
in some measure pays the debt I owe the Duke the honour he has done me . ¦ . * . -- ¦ " . All I wish ot ' my relations is , tljat they will show the world that they are satisfied with my conduct yet " seem to'disguise their ¦ reason ' s . ' "If ever I am fortlinate enough to he called the Duchess , of-Gloucester ,, there is ' an end of almost all the comforts I now enjoy , which , if things can go on as they-are now , are muni / . " The excellent , ri ght feeling , and prudent Duchess , however , was not bv any moans patient in obscurity , but longed to shine before the world a , real duchess .
. Not the least amusing feature in the story of the Duke ' s match is the rivalry of the Duchess of Cumberland , and the contempt expressed towards that upstart lady by the Walpolcs , as Well as by the new Duchess of Gloucester . Lady " Waldograve , ( for so the hitter was still called ) felt ncutely wc are told , the hurt'the Duke oi Cumberland's marriage had occasioned her . Lady Waldi / ^ rsive ' s sister was particularly acrimonious . ' Tho recent Mrs . Horton , now Duchess of Cuni . bc . 'vland , since her ' wedding was openly announced , luiil assumed " uncommon state ; ' but " their diminutive court , " we are told , " was so shunned that slie was forced to bestow her hand to be kissed bv hei * menial 1
servants-. " Her brother , the . iiiiuous Colonel Luttrell , says the historian of lherivfil fhetioil , " burned with impatience to see her arid hini . solf of more conseti ' nencc ' . " . The . . Walpoles wore not likely to . remain ' patieutjinder-. this .- The Duke oi'GIuuoester wai-s'iirged to-a-public declaTalioh ; In it he delayed , declaring that he had nut been tible ' to" ihid . nn occasion of speaking to the-Iviny .- it was no wonder that he . « hiuiik iitiin the task , if-Walpole ' ei account of the Diike ' s brother ' s reeeptjon on a shnilar occasion be correct . At leiigtli , however , the lovely Laura , Dowager Countess of Wal < legrave , w . tis-, 6 poi » iy recognised-as Duchess-of ' Gloucester . The Duke v .-ould not uro
to the King himself ; but he . sent T \ I . Loirrand to him to own his . marr iage . The-result > v i ; - < that the-King was-enraged , the Duke disgraced , the vanity of the lovd-ly- Laura satisliccl , an < l the fainily pride of the Walpoles lilted to the liig-hoi-t point . The Duchess sent ibr Horace , who had how nu longer any -scruples about visiting his i niece . We can do no more than allude to a fev / passages in the journals which- ' abound in interesting matter , political and private , carrying , us as they do over the stormy days of \ Vilkes and the American war , down to August , 17 b 3 ,. where the
long series of WalpoJe ' s histories comes at l . i ^ t to ari end . The second publication , whtisc tide we have placed at the head of this paper , also brings to a close Mr . Cunningham ' s edition of tlie letters . The concluding volume" is preiheed by a neat memoir of the Walpolo . funiilv , and ends with a valuable index—^^ so long a closidcratuni to tho historical student—to - the -whole nine volumos . For the notes which Mr . Cunningham hu . s iiirui . xhed , we cannot , indeed , say much . lVulpole requires m these days sbmo noting to mnke allusions ,, already obscured . by time , intelligible to tho reader ^ but Mr . Cunningham furnishes little but an occasional mcmoraiidum—apropos or nial' < i-pr () i > os— -un \ t the such da
person mentionea in the text M died ' a y and year—a copiousness of tombstone nuormatioi ) , due , we . suspect , in no uiuall degree to tho Mucky circumstance of tho existence m tho Bi-itish Museum of a very oxtensive nianuscript obituary index . The bringing , however , of tJio whole of Walpolo ' s coiTespoiKk-nce , including tlie letters to iMy Ossory , ! Sir Horace Maim , nnU Mason , into regular chronological order , . in i » nu handsome , 'but cheap voluweei , is in itselt ft real servico to histoi-ienl literaturp , Tlie cdk'ction comprises 117 letters never hitherto published , besides 35 others that have not been liiduUeu in tiny previous edition—tlie whole roncl , niij ? | uo great number , of 2 , C 0 S . letters—the result , ot tjio spare monionts of tho Hiipiiosed idler . I- * - '' ! ]* can now expect nothiug moro ii-om tho siune lively pan . Tho rich »» in « of AVal ^ oleau , miuuiseripta must bo cxlmnstud t and tho complete work * w Horace Walpolo nro belbro the world .
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SIR WILLIAM lIAMlLTO 2 s' \ S LKC'J L . 1 !•> Lectures on Mvtaphgaiv * . . JJy ' Mi ^ V JllJiiU ) 1 »« ' » »»" ' JJurt . Eillloil'by the Kuv . 11 . L . ^ Ihu ^ I , J » . •>•< . Oxtbrd , iuul John Veiteh . IM . A ., Kdinburgh . -i \ «• \ V . : i $ hi « kwoud jiihI fauns . ( skcon ^ notioji : ) . Tun oiu'dinnl ilocU-iiio and key note ol o »»
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364 THE LE ' ApE . B .. [ No , 469 , March Xftlggg ^ '
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Leader (1850-1860), March 19, 1859, page 364, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2286/page/12/
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