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You received me with kindness, indulgence, generosity, and I may even say with some measure of your confidence. And the relation between us has assumed such a form that you can never be my debtors, but that I must be for ever in your debt.'

An old and highly esteemed member of the Liberal party (Mr. Philips, Member for Bury) said that the delivery of this passage brought tears into his eyes; and (he added): 'I was not ashamed to own it, when I observed that several friends near me were similarly moved.'

Mr. Gladstone is more Ciceronian than Demosthenic. Amplification not condensation is his forte; but he can be fanciful or pithy on occasions: as when in a budget speech he compared his arrival at the part in which the remissions of taxation were to be announced, to the descent into the smiling valleys of Italy after a toilful ascent of the Alps; or when he said that it was the duty of the Minister to stand like a wall of adamant,' between the people and the Crown. His graceful reply to Mr. Chaplin will compensate for many a hasty reproof administered to assailants whom he had better have left unnoticed :—

'The hon. member who has just sat down has admonished us, and myself in particular, that the sense of justice is apt to grow dull under the influence of a long parliamentary experience. But there is one sentiment which I can assure him does not grow dull under the influence of a long parlimentary experience, and that is the sense of pleasure when I hear-whether upon these benches or upon those opposite to me-an able, and at the same time frank, ingenuous, and manly statement of opinion, and one of such a character as to show me that the man who makes it is a real addition to the intellectual and moral worth and strength of Parliament. Having said this, I express my thanks to the hon. member for having sharply challenged us. It is right that we should be so challenged, and we do not shrink from it.'

We must stop here. The walls of our portrait gallery are covered. We are like the Hanging Committee of the Academy, driven to exclusion by selection; and we shall doubtless be suspected of prejudice or partiality like them. The high claims of the excluded, however, form one among many reasons for looking hopefully to the future, after reverting proudly to the past. There are no rising orators, it is true; nor (as we recently noticed) are there any rising poets, painters, or actors, any rising men of first-rate genius of any kind. Yet England is replete with intellectual life: it must still contain hearts pregnant with celestial fire: and there never existed a more appreciating public; so appreciating, indeed, that in default of real genius, it is often content to put up with the counterfeit article.

With a rich soil and good seed, why should there be no harvest, or a blighted one? Haply the destiny of the rising generation is that of Banquo: "Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none.' If Gray might ennoble his country churchyard with the dust of imaginary departed worthies, why may we not people our senate with the animated forms of coming ones? It is good not to despair of the commonwealth, and we do not despair of it. The scene at St. Paul's on Thanksgiving Day has indefinitely postponed the arrival of the New Zealander to sketch its ruins. Whatever may become of the Manchester School, British eloquence, statesmanship, patriotism, and loyalty will not fade like the Tyrian dye; the British Houses of Parliament will not moulder like the Venetian palaces; nor (for it all comes to that) have the people of this little isle' shown the slightest symptom of abandoning or forfeiting the grand position which the Premier claimed for them at Blackheath, among the small and select company of great nations that have stamped their names on the page of history, as gifted with the qualities that mark the leaders of mankind." This recalls the fine lines of Goldsmith, beginning:

'Pride in their port, defiance in their eye,

I see the lords of human kind pass by.'

Have they in any respect degenerated since then?

ART. VII.-The Diaries and Letters of Sir George Jackson, K.C.B., from the Peace of Amiens to the Battle of Talavera. Edited by Lady Jackson. 2 Vols. London, 1872.

G

RAY a little overstepped the mark when (as quoted by Horace Walpole) he said that if any man were to form a book of what he had seen and heard himself, it must, in whatever hands, prove a useful and entertaining one.' The value of such a volume would surely depend upon the character and opportunities of the bookmaker. He should possess some, at least, of the qualifications which we recently laid down as essential to the traveller. He should be a discriminating observer, and he should be thrown amongst people or into situations where scenes worth describing might pass before him, or things worth commemorating might occur. But if Gray had said any diplomatist' instead of any man,' we should readily assent to the proposition; for any diplomatist worth his salt would speedily acquire the habit of keeping his eyes and ears open at the fitting times and places, whilst any diplomatist with

a moderate

a moderate share of luck must see and hear a great deal from which less privileged persons are shut out.

The book before us, composed of the diaries and letters of Sir George Jackson, is an example. Attached to a mission at the early age of sixteen, he immediately set about acting on Gray's notion: he wrote down in letters to his mother, or in the form of diaries intended for her perusal, whatever struck him as remarkable, as well as what might be expected to interest her relating to his brother (the chief of the mission) or himself.. The diaries for the first two or three years are really surprising productions for a youth in his teens. He drew pen-and-ink sketches of the royal and illustrious personages with whom they were mixed up: he narrated the progress of negotiations: he repeated the current anecdotes; he described the passing manners, morals, and fashions; he fixed the Cynthias of the minute; and future historians will turn to him, as we now turn to Pepys, for the traits and touches which constitute the charm of history. His career is given in the most abridged form in an introductory chapter:

'Sir George Jackson was the youngest son of Dr. Thomas Jackson one of the canons of the Abbey of Westminster, rector of Yarlington, chaplain to Francis, fifth Duke of Leeds, and subsequently canon residentiary of St. Paul's. He was born in October, 1785, and was destined for the church; but the death of his father, at a comparatively early age, caused a change in the family arrangements. At the close of 1801, he left Westminster to join the special mission to Paris, as unpaid attaché; Mr. Francis Jackson, his brother, and senior by many years, being the minister appointed to reside in that capital during the negotiation of the Treaty of peace at Amiens.

In the same capacity, he accompanied Mr. Francis Jackson's mission to Berlin, in October, 1802-pursuing there his general studies under professors while gaining experience in the line of life he had entered upon.

In 1805, he was presented at the Prussian court as Chargé d'Affaires, during his brother's temporary absence; and was afterwards sent on special service to the electoral court of Hesse Cassel.

Early in May, 1806, Mr. Francis Jackson was ordered to quit Berlin without taking leave; the definitive occupation of Hanover by Prussia having just taken place, and war, in consequence, being determined upon on the part of Great Britain.

'Later in the year, overtures were made to the British Cabinet for a renewal of friendly relations between the two powers, and at about the same time that Lord Morpeth was appointed to negotiate with Prussia, Mr. George Jackson received orders from Mr. Fox to leave England for the north of Germany.

'He returned, in February, 1807, with the Treaty with Prussia, signed by Lord Hutchinson, at Memel; and in the following April he

was

was sent back by Mr. Canning, with the ratification of the Treaty, and instructions to Lord Hutchinson to appoint him Chargé d'Affaires on his lordship's return to England.

In July, he was gazetted secretary of Legation to Mr. Frere's mission to the Court of Prussia. This mission however was put an end to by the Treaty of Tilsit.

Recalled to England, he took Copenhagen on his way; witnessed the bombardment of that city, and brought home the account of the capitulation, and the surrender of the Danish fleet to the British forces.

'In 1808-9, he was one of the secretaries of Legation to the mission to the Spanish Junta.'

As the book contains nothing of later date than 1809, we need not accompany him farther. We will only add that in 1813 he was Secretary of Legation to Lord Londonderry; that from 1814 to 1816 he was Chargé d'Affaires at Berlin; that he filled several other diplomatic employments without ever arriving at the fixed rank of Minister; that he was knighted on being made K.C.H., in 1832; retired on a pension in 1855; and died at Boulogne, May 2, 1861.

The Diaries begin November 12th, 1801, stating that the mission were overtaken at Dartford, on their way to Dover, by a messenger from Madame Otto (the French ambassadress) with a note and small box recommended to the Minister's especial care, its contents being a cap for Madame Bonaparte. Their reception at Calais and Boulogne is described as enthusiastic, and the fact is important as indicating the popular joy at the prospect of peace. Escorts of cavalry, commanded by officers, accompanied them the whole way to Paris; and to avoid addresses and receptions, they made arrangements to pass two nights instead of three upon the road. Soon after their arrival they go to see a parade at the Tuileries:

And a very grand affair it was. The space was, perhaps, rather small for the number of troops present; cavalry, infantry, and artillery, besides numerous field officers, generals, and commanders of different grades. Their uniforms were splendid; for the most part ornamented with elaborate embroideries in gold and silver. Even the upper part of the boots of some of the officers had tracings or inlayings of gold, others had gold spurs most beautifully wrought.

'The proceedings commenced by the French colours being carried by the Consular Guard, to the audience-chamber, where the First Consul was waiting their arrival. As they were borne through the ante-room, the guard on duty saluted them, the bands in the courtyard at the same time playing the war-inspiring Marseillaise hymn. Soon after, with a grand fracas, the wide doors of the audience-chamber were thrown open, and the standards were carried back with the same ceremonies,

ceremonies, but, now, preceding the grand guerrier in person. He descended to the court, where a white charger, with very rich trappings, was held in readiness for him. As soon as he had mounted, and his brilliant staff of generals had surrounded and saluted him, the inspection commenced.

It would seem quite as likely for 'historic doubts' to be seriously entertained relative to the existence of the first Napoleon, as for the popular and traditional impression of his physiognomy to be declared false. Yet so it is. M. Michelet, in a work recently published, states that the only reliable portrait of him is a full-sized one by David, who took no less than two years to finish it. The artist has shown himself conscientious, courageous-not caring whether he pleased, thinking only of the truth. So much so, that the engraver dared not follow it in certain details where truth contradicted tradition. David made him as he always was, without eyelashes or eyebrows, a small quantity of hair of an uncertain brown, which, in his youth, seemed black, in consequence of a free use of pomatum. The eyes are grey like a pane of glass wherein one sees nothing; in short, a complete and obscure impersonality which appears phantasmagorial.' The impression of the Diarist is in accordance with the popular one, especially as regards the eyes :

'I was much struck by the personal appearance of Bonaparte; for the caricatures, and the descriptions which the English newspapers delight to give of him, prepare one to see a miserable pigmy; holloweyed, yellow-skinned, lantern-jawed, with a quantity of lank hair, and a nose of enormous proportions. But, though of low stature-perhaps five feet five or six-his figure is well-proportioned, his features are handsome, complexion rather sallow, hair very dark, cut short, and without powder. He has fine eyes, full of spirit and intelligence, a firm, severe mouth, indicating a stern and inflexible will-in a word, you see in his countenance, the master-mind; in his bearing, the man born to rule.'

What follows might have been written within the month in this year of our Lord 1872, or indeed it might have been written with especial application to the French capital four or five times over at intervals of fifteen or twenty years since 1789.

'It is very bright now, without the slightest fog or haziness in the atmosphere. This, however, as I have lately discovered, is not considered an advantage by every body. For, a few days ago, a rather eccentric old fellow we had here, an Englishman, called to see my brother, and met with an acquaintance, who, in the course of conversation, asked him how he liked Paris. "To tell you a good deal in a few words," he answered, "I don't like the climate." ""No!" said his friend; "why, we are in the midst of November,

and

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