such law. Such a law there is. There is the work of evil to perform, they would turn their law of self-preservation written by God him- claws against himself. Such a fiend is an self on our hearts. There is the primal com- ariny. They who evoke it cannot dismiss it. pact and bond of society, not graven on stone, They are at once its masters and its slaves. nor sealed with wax, nor put down on parch-Let them not fail to find for it task after task ment, nor set forth in any express form of of blood and rapine. Let them not leave it for words by men when of old they came together; a moment in repose, lest it tear them in pieces but implied in the very act that they came "Thus was it with this famous assembly, together, presupposed in all subsequent law, They formed a force which they could neither not to be repealed by any authority, not invali- govern nor resist. They made it powerfal dated by being omitted in any code; inasmuch They made it fanatical. As if military insoas from thence are all codes and all authority. [lence were not of itself sufficiently dangerous, "Neither do I well see wherefore you cava- they heightened it with spiritual pride,—they liers, and, indeed, many of us whom you mer- encouraged their soldiers to rave from the rily call Roundheads, distinguish between those tops of tubs against the men of Belial, til who fought against King Charles, and special-every trooper thought himself a prophet. They ly after the second commission given to Sir taught them to abuse popery, till every drun Thomas Fairfax, and those who condemned mer fancied that he was as infallible as a him to death. Sure, if his person were invio- pope. lable, it was as wicked to lift the sword against it at Naseby as the axe at Whitehall. If his life might justly be taken, why not in course of trial as well as by right of war?

"Then it was that religion changed her ture. She was no longer the parent of arts and letters, of wholesome knowledge, of inno cent pleasures, of blessed household smiles. "Thus much in general as touching the In their place came sour faces, whining voices, right. But for the execution of King Charles the chattering of fools, the yells of madmes in particular, I will not now undertake to de- Then men fasted from meat and drink, wh fend it. Death is inflicted, not that the culprit fasted not from bribes, and blood. Then me may die, but that the state may be thereby ad- frowned at stage-plays, who smiled at massevantaged. And, from all that I know, I think cres. Then men preached against painte that the death of King Charles hath more hia-faces, who felt no remorse for their own most dered than advanced the liberties of England.painted lives. Religion had been a pole-star First, he left an heir. He was in captivity. to light and to guide. It was now more like The heir was in freedom. He was odious to the Scots. The heir was favoured by them. To kill the captive, therefore, whereby the heir, in the apprehension of all royalists, became forthwith king; what was it in truth but to set their captive free, and to give him besides other great advantages?

46

that ominous star in the book of the Apocalypse, which fell from heaven upon the fountains and rivers, and changed them into wormwood; for even so did it descend from its high and celestial dwelling-place to plague this earth and to turn into bitterness all that was sweet, and into poison all that was nourishing.

"Therefore it was not strange that such things should follow. They who had closed the barriers of London against the king could not defend them against their own creatures They who had so stoutly cried for privilege,

"Next, it was a deed most odious to the people, and not only to your party, but to many among ourselves; and as it is perilous for any government to outrage the public opinion, so most was it perilous for a government which had from that opinion alone its birth, its nur-when that prince, most unadvisedly no doubt ture, and its defence.

"

Yet, doth not this properly belong to our dispute; nor can these faults be justly charged upon that most renowned Parliament. For, as you know, the high court of justice was not established until the House had been purged of such members as were adverse to the army, and brought wholly under the control of the chief officers."

came among them to demand their members, durst not wag their fingers when Oliver filled their hall with soldiers, gave their mace to a corporal, put their keys in his pocket, and drove them forth with base terms, borrowed half from the conventicle and half from the ale-house. Then were we, like the trees of the forest in holy writ, given over to the rule of the bramble; then from the basest of the shrubs "And who," said Mr. Cowley, "levied the came forth the fire which devoured the Cedars army? Who commissioned those officers? of Lebanon. We bowed down before a man of Was not the fate of the Commons as justly mean birth, of ungraceful demeanour, of stam deserved as was that of Diomedes, who was mering and most vulgar utterance, of scanda devoured by those horses whom he had him-lous and notorious hypocrisy. Our laws were self taught to feed on the flesh and blood of men? How could they hope that others would respect laws which they themselves insulted; that swords which had been drawn against the prerogatives of the king would be put up at an ordinance of the Commons? It was believed of old, that there were some devils easily raised, but never to be laid; insomuch, that if a magician called them up, he should be forced to find them always some employment; for, though they would do all his bidding, yet, if he Then answered Mr. Milton: "What you left them but for one moment without some have now said comprehends so great a number

made and unmade at his pleasure; the consti tution of our Parliaments changed by his writ and proclamation; our persons imprisoned; our property plundered; our lands and houses overrun with soldiers; and the great charter itself was but argument for a scurrilous jest; and for all this we may thank that Parliament; for never, unless they had so violently shaken the vessel, could such foul dregs have risen to the top.”

COWLEY AND MILTON.

The

scornfully now, who shook not at the sound of
His
it while he lived, would, by very few, be men-
tioned otherwise than with reverence,
own deeds shall avouch him for a great states-
man, a great soldier, a true lover of his coun-
try, a merciful and generous conqueror.

tented. And I, for mine own part, marvel less that he sometimes was fain to indulge their violence than that he could so often restrain it.

of subjects, that it would requiré, not an even- | troubled times, nave worked out the deliver. ing's sail on the Thames, but rather a voyage ance of nations and their own greatness, not by to the Indies, accurately to treat of all; yet, in logic, not by rhetoric, but by wariness in suc as few words as I may, I will explain my sense cess, by calmness in danger, by fierce and stubborn resolution in all adversity. of these matters. An army, as you hearts of men are their books; events are their "First, as to the army. have well set forth, is always a weapon dan- tutors; great actions are their eloquence; and gerous to those who use it; yet he who falls such a one, in my judgment, was his late among thieves spares not to fire his musque-Highness, who, if none were to treat his name toon because he may be slain if it burst in his hand. Nor must states refrain from defending themselves, lest their defenders should at last turn against them. Nevertheless, against this danger statesmen should carefully provide; and, that they may do so, they should take es"For his faults, let us reflect that they who pecial care that neither the officers nor the soldiers do forget that they are also citizens. I seem to lead are oftentimes most constrained do believe that the English army would have to follow. They who will mix with men, and continued to obey the Parliament with all duty, specially they who will govern them, must, in but for one act, which, as it was in intention, many things, obey them. They who will yield in sceming, and in immediate effect, worthy to to no such conditions may be hermits, but be compared with the most famous in history, cannot be generals and statesmen. If a man so was it, in its final consequence, most inju- will walk straight forward without turning to rious. I speak of that ordinance called the the right or the left, he must walk in a desert, self-denying, and of the new model of the army. and not in Cheapside. Thus was he enforced By those measures the Commons gave up the to do many things which jumped not with his command of their forces into the hands of men inclination nor made for his honour; because who were not of themselves. Hence, doubtless, the army, on which alone he could depend for derived no small honour to that noble assem-power and life, might not otherwise be conbly, which sacrificed to the hope of public good the assurance of private advantage. And, as to the conduct of the war, the scheme prospered. Witness the battle of Naseby, and the memorable exploits of Fairfax in the west; but thereby the Parliament lost that hold on the soldiers and that power to control them, which they retained while every regiment was commanded by their own members. Politicians there be, who would wholly divide the legislative from the executive power. In the golden age this may have succeeded; in the millennium it may succeed again. But where great armies and great taxes are required, there the executive government must always hold a great authority, which authority, that it may not oppress and destroy the legislature, must be in some manner blended with it. The leaders of foreign mercenaries have always been most dangerous to a country. The officers of native armies, deprived of the civil privileges of other men, are as much to be feared. This was the great error of that parliament, and though an error it were, it was an error generous, virtuous, and more to be deplored than censured. "Hence came the power of the army and its leaders, and especially of that most famous leader, whom both in our conversation to-day, and in that discourse whereon I before touched, you have, in my poor opinion, far too roughly handled. Wherefore you speak contemptibly of his parts I know not; but I suspect that you are not free from the error common to studious Because Oliver was an and speculative men. ungraceful orator, and never said, either in public or private, any thing memorable, you will have it that he was of a mean capacity. Sure this is unjust. Many men have there been ignorant of letters, without wit, without eloquence, who yet had the wisdom to devise, and the courage to perform that which they lacked language to explain. Such inen often, in

"In that he dissolved the parliament, I praise him. It then was so diminished in numbers, as well by the death as by the exclusion of members, that it was no longer the same assembly; and if at that time it had made itself perpetual, we should have been governed, not by an English House of Commons, but by a Venetian Council.

He

"If in his following rule he overstepped the laws, I pity rather than condemn him. may be compared to that Mandius of Samos, of whom Herodotus saith, in his Thalia, that wishing to be of all men the most just, he was not able; for after the death of Polycrates he offered freedom to the people, and not till certain of them threatened to call him to a reckoning for what he had formerly done, did he change his purpose, and make himself a tyrant, lest he should be treated as a criminal.

"Such was the case of Oliver. He gave to his country a form of government so free and admirable, that, in near six thousand years, human wisdom hath never devised any more excellent contrivance for human happiness. To himself he reserved so little power that it would scarcely have sufficed for his safety, and it is a marvel that it could suffice for his ambition. When, after that, he found that the members of his Parliament disputed his right even to that small authority which he had kept, when he might have kept all, then indeed I own that he began to govern by the sword those who would not suffer him to govern by the law.

"But for the rest, what sovereign was ever more princely in pardoning injuries, in con What sea quering enemies, in extending the dominions and the renown of his people? 2 N what shore did he not mark with imperishable

memorials of his friendship or his vengeance? Mr. Cowley seemed to me not to take much The gold of Spain, the steel of Sweden, the ten amiss what Mr. Milton had said touching that thousand sails of Holland, availed nothing thankless court, which had indeed but poorly against him. While every foreign state trem-requited his own good service. He only said, bled at our arms, we sat secure from all as- therefore, "Another rebellion! Alas! alas! sault. War, which often so strangely troubles Mr. Milton. If there be no choice but between both husbandry and commerce, never silenced despotism and anarchy, I prefer despotism." the song of our reapers, or the sound of our looms. Justice was equally administered; God was freely worshipped.

Many men," said Mr. Milton, "have floridly and ingeniously compared anarchy and despot. ism; but they who so amuse themselves do but "Now look at that which we have taken in look at separate parts of that which is truly exchange. With the restored king have come one great whole. Each is the cause and the over to us vices of every sort, and most the effect of the other;-the evils of either are the basest and most shameful-lust, without love evils of both. Thus do states move on in the -servitude, without loyalty,-foulness of same eternal cycle, which, from the remotest speech-dishonesty of dealing-grinning con- point, brings them back again to the same sad tempt of all things good and generous. The starting-post: and till both those who govern throne is surrounded by men whom the former and those who obey shall learn and mark this Charles would have spurned from his footstool.great truth, men can expect little through the The altar is served by slaves whose knees are future, as they have known little through the supple to every being but God. Rhymers, past, save vicissitude of extreme evils, alter whose books the hangman should burn, pan-nately producing and produced. ders, actors, and buffoons, these drink a health "When will rulers learn, that where liberty and throw a main with the king; these have is not, security and order can never be? We stars on their breasts and gold sticks in their hands; these shut out from his presence the best and bravest of those who bled for his house. Even so doth God visit those who know not how to value freedom. He gives them over to the tyranny which they have desired, "Iya παντες επαυρώνται βασιλκος.”

"I will not," said Mr. Cowley, "dispute with you on this argument. But if it be as you say, how can you maintain that England hath been so greatly advantaged by the rebellion ?"

"Understand me rightly, sir," said Mr. Milton. "This nation is not given over to slavery and vice. We tasted, indeed, the fruits of liberty before they had well ripened. Their flavour was harsh and bitter, and we turned from them with loathing to the sweeter poisons of servitude. This is but for a time. England is sleeping on the lap of Dalilah, traitorously chained, but not yet shorn of strength. Let the cry be once heard-the Philistines be upon thee; and at once that sleep will be broken, and those chains will be as flax in the fire. The great Parliament hath left behind it in our hearts and minds a hatred of tyrants, a just knowledge of our rights, a scorn of vain and deluding names; and that the revellers of Whitehall shall surely find. The sun is darkened, but it is only for a moment: it is but an eclipse; though all birds of evil omen have begun to scream, and all ravenous beasts have gone forth to prey, thinking it to be midnight. Wo to them if they be abroad when the rays again shine forth.

talk of absolute power, but all power hath limits, which, if not fixed by the moderation of the governors, will be fixed by the force of the governed. Sovereigns may send their opposers to dungeons; they may clear out a senatehouse with soldiers; they may enlist armies of spies; they may hang scores of the disaffected in chains at every cross-road; but what power shall stand in that frightful time when rebellion hath become a less evil than endurIance? Who shall dissolve that terrible tribu. nal, which, in the hearts of the oppressed, denounces against the oppressor the doom of its wild justice? Who shall repeal the law of self-defence? What arms or discipline shall resist the strength of famine and despair? How often were the ancient Cæsars dragged from their golden palaces, stripped of their purple robes, mangled, stoned, defiled with filth pierced with hooks, hurled into the Tiber! How often have the Eastern Sultans perished by the sabres of their own Janissaries, or the bow-strings of their own mutes! For no power which is not limited by laws can ever be protected by them. Small, therefore, is the wis dom of those who would fly to servitude as if it were a refuge from commotion; for anarchy is the sure consequence of tyranny. That governments may be safe, nations must be free. Their passions must have an outlet provided, lest they make one.

"When I was at Naples, I went with Signor Manso, a gentleman of excellent parts and breeding, who had been the intimate friend of "The king hath judged ill. Had he been that famous poet Torquato Tasso, to see the wise he would have remembered that he owed burning mountain Vesuvius. I wondered how his restoration only to confusions which had the peasants could venture to dwell so fearwearied us out, and made us eager for repose. lessly and cheerfully on its sides, when the He would have known that the folly and per- lava was flowing from its summit, but Manse fidy of a prince would restore to the good old smiled, and told me that when the fire descends cause many hearts which had been alienated freely they retreat before it without haste or thence by the turbulence of factions; for, if I fear. They can tell how fast it will move, and know aught of history, or of the heart of man, how far; and they know, moreover, that though he will soon learn that the last champion of it may work some little damage, it will soon the people was not destroyed when he mur-cover the fields over which it hath passed with dered Vane, nor seduced when he beguiled rich vineyards and sweet flowers. But when flames are pent up in the mountain, then it is

airfax."

ON MITFORD'S HISTORY OF GREECE.

Tars is a book which enjoys a great and increasing popularity; but, while it has attracted a considerable share of the public attention, it has been little noticed by the critics. Mr. Mitford has almost succeeded in mounting, unperceived by those whose office it is to watch such aspirants, to a high place among historians. He has taken a seat on the dais without being challenged by a single seneschal. To oppose the progress of his fame is now almost a hopeless enterprise. Had he been reviewed with candid severity, when he had published only his first volume, his work would either have deserved its reputation, or would never have obtained it. "Then," as Indra says of Kehama, "then was the time to strike." The time was neglected; and the consequence is, that Mr. Mitford, like Kehama, has laid his victorious hand on the literary Amreeta, and seems about to taste the precious elixir of immortality. I shall venture to emulate the courage of the honest Glendoveer

"When now

He saw the Amreeta in Kebama's hand,
An impulse that defied all self-command,
In that extremity,

Stung him, and he resolved to seize the cup
And dare the Rajah's force in Seeva's sight.
Forward he sprung to tempt the unequal fray."

being unlike the rest of the world. Every child has heard of Linnæus, therefore Mr. Mit ford calls him Linné; Rousseau is known all over Europe as Jean Jacques, therefore Mr. Mitford bestows on him the strange appellation of John James.

Had Mr. Mitford undertaken a history of any other country than Greece, this propensity would have rendered his work useless and absurd. His occasional remarks on the affairs of ancient Rome and modern Europe are full of errors; but he writes of times, with respect to which almost every other writer has been in the wrong, and, therefore, by resolutely deviat ing from his predecessors, he is often in the right.

Almost all the modern historians of Greece have shown the grossest ignorance of the most obvious phenomena of human nature. In their representations the generals and statesmen of antiquity are absolutely divested of all individuality. They are personifications; they are passions, talents, opinions, virtues, vices, but not men. Inconsistency is a thing of which these writers have no notion. That a man may have been liberal in his youth and avaricious in his age, cruel to one enemy and merciful to another, is to them utterly incon

In plain words, I shall offer a few considera-ceivable. If the facts be undeniable, they sup tions, which may tend to reduce an overpraised writer to his proper level.

pose some strange and deep design, in order to explain what, as every one who has observed The principal characteristic of this historian, his own mind knows, needs no explanation at the origin of his excellencies and his defects, all. This is a mode of writing very accept is a love of singularity. He has no notion of able to the multitude, who have always been ac going with a multitude to do either good or customed to make gods and demons out of men evil. An exploded opinion, or an unpopular very little better or worse than themselves; but it person, has an irresistible charm for him. appears contemptible to all who have watched The same perverseness may be traced in his the changes of human character-to all who diction. His style would never have been ele-have observed the influence of time, of circumgant, but it might at least have been manly and perspicuous; and nothing but the most elaborate care could possibly have made it so bad as it is. It is distinguished by harsh phrases, strange collocations, occasional solecisms, frequent obscurity, and, above all, by a peculiar oddity, which can no more be described than it can be overlooked. Nor is this all. Mr. Mitford piques himself on spelling better than any of his neighbours; and this not only in ancient names, which he mangles in defiance both of custom and of reason, but in the most ordinary words of the English language. It is, in itself, a matter perfectly indifferent whether we call a foreigner by the name which he bears in his own language, or by that which corresponds to it in ours; whether we say Lorenzo de Medici, or Lawrence de Medici, Jean Chauvin, or John Calvin. In such cases, established usage is considered as law by all writers except Mr. Mitford. If he were always consistent with himself, he might be excused for sometimes disagreeing with his neighbours; but he proceeds on no principle but that of

stances, and of associates, on mankind—to all who have seen a hero in the gout, a democrat in the church, a pedant in love, or a philosopher in liquor. This practice of painting in nothing but black and white is unpardonable even in the drama. It is the great fault of Alfieri; and how much it injures the effect of his composi tions will be obvious to every one who will compare his Rosmunda with the Lady Macbeth of Shakspeare. The one is a wicked woman; the other is a fiend. Her only feeling is hatred; all her words are curses. We are at once shocked and fatigued by the spectacle of such raving cruelty, excited by no provocation, repeatedly changing its object, and constant in nothing but in its inextinguishable thirst for blood.

In history this error is far more disgraceful. Indeed, there is no fault which so completely ruins a narrative in the opinion of a judicious reader. We know that the line of demarcation between good and bad men is so faintly marked as often to elude the most careful investigation of those who have the best opportunities for