"The English ministry first made this man a giant; but he is a giant, too, by the strength of his own mind and will, in comparison with the Liliputians cut out of reeds, which we call demagogues; and which are forced to be shut up in the Köpenick hot-house, or put under a Mainz forcing glass, to rear them into any size and consideration. But for this careful tending, these rushes would long ago have been dried up and whirled away by the wind; now, at least, we have the satisfaction of preserving some in our political herbariums, in perpetuam rei memoriam. Thank God, however, the governments of Germany do not prepare the ground for universal discontent; if this prevailed, and prevailed with justice, O'Connells must of necessity arise."-vol. ii, pp. 102-104.

The author had interviews and dined with many of our most distinguished and elevated men. The Duke of Sussex, for instance, was very courteous to him, and in return is described in most favourable colours. His criticisms, however, on our dramatic performances, our music, our paintings and statues, are discriminative, perhaps national, and not unfrequently anything but complimentary. For example, he could not get accustomed to the manner of English speaking and acting in the drama. Then, as to English cookery, though we have good fish, good meat, and good vegetables, we want the second step in the progress of the art, that is, the tasteful and scientific combination of nature and art. But yet, to such a man as Raumer, no doubt the interchange of noble and elegant ideas, and the flow of soul, is even of far more consideration than anything that is merely conventional or external. As a proof of this opinion, among many others the following account may be taken.

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"I dined with Mr. Murray, the eminent bookseller, from whom I have received great kindness and attention. I met Mrs. A; the wife, the daughter and son of Mr. Charles Kemble, the latter of whom is thoroughly versed in the German language; his sister I have already mentioned as a distinguished singer; Mr. Milman, the reviewer of my Hohenstaufen,' &c. I sat between Mrs. Murray and another lady of agreeable manners. We found that her mother and mine were both of French extraction, and this formed a sort of ground of acquaintance. She entirely declined an English origin, and said, 'I am a Scotchwoman.' This pointed assertion of the national difference might have suggested many observations; but I was like Holberg's prating barber-I fell again into the hundred times repeated subject of Mary Stuart and Elizabeth. The transition from this to Sir Walter Scott was easy. I observed how much

he was read in Germany, and that the pure morality of his works made them more congenial to our tastes than those of Byron, who, spite of his genius, has too much of the diabolical and the painful. From Scott's Abbot,' I said, we obtained a more correct knowledge of Mary's character, than from all the works of her un-historical advocates.

"The conversation was going on, on this subject, when Mr. Murray, who probably had heard a part of it, rose, came to me, and said in a whisper, • Do you know who your neighbour is?—No.'-'It is the daughter of Sir Walter Scott.'

VOL. II. (1836) NO. I.

"I can hardly describe to you what an impression this unexpected intelligence made upon me. It was not fear lest I had said anything disagreeable-not satisfaction at having said anything flattering; nothing of this kind passed through my mind. I scarcely know why, I dwelt on the one idea-Walter Scott is dead. I felt only the grief of the daughter at having lost such a father;-her sorrow at hearing him speak only in his works-of hearing from strangers from a distant land a faint echo of her own feelings. I am not ashamed to confess that I found it difficult to suppress an emotion which was entirely out of place in a cheerful company, and would probably have been the most distressing to her to whom I could the least have endured to give the slightest pain."—vol. ii, pp. 254-256.

Raumer travelled through a considerable portion of England, and found the country, though by no means so picturesque, fantastic, or sublime, as many parts of Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, yet in the highest degree agreeable, and in some parts, diversified. Everywhere he saw proofs of cultivation and flourishing agriculture. But the charm of the scenery to him consisted principally in the circumstance, that the several fields were by no means of the same size and shape, whilst every one of them was inclosed with green hedges; at the same time, the trees were so numerous, and scattered in such various groups, that England, he declares, though not the richest in forests, is perhaps the country that most abounds in trees. "I never could have supposed it possible," says he, "that such simple elements as a tree and bush, could produce as much variety as a kaleidoscope.'

We pass over his notices of Scotland, which he visited, that we may hasten forward with him to Ireland, the remotest point in his journey-a country, he says, which is on the whole, perhaps more fertile than England, and as beautiful as La Belle France. But, alas! amid all this natural beauty and fertility, the generous and considerate German beheld sickening sights, and affords his readers, amongst other deplorable representations, the following, which whether considered as illustrative of the author's generous and tender sympathies, and his elegant pathos, or descriptive of the unparalleled wretchedness of the poor Irish, would be sufficient to confer on these volumes-though from the nature of many of the topics discussed in them, their interest chiefly belongs to the present day-an imperishable beauty and worth.

"I returned to Dublin by way of Limerick, through fertile tracts, tedious bogs, and barren heaths, the rain pouring down all the time. You must be satisfied with this bare enumeration; and, if you desire descriptions of scenery, you may read over again what I wrote last year, about the same time, from Switzerland. My mind is filled with one thought-I can entertain no other-it is that of the inexpressible wretchedness of so many thousands. In England I looked in vain for misery, and all the complaints that I heard seemed to me to be partial and exaggerated; here, no words

can express the frightful truth which everywhere meets the eye. To form an idea of it you must see these houses-not houses, but huts-not huts, but hovels, mostly without windows or apertures; the same entrance-the same narrow space for men and hogs-the latter lively, sleek, and well fed, the former covered with rags, or rather hung with fragments of rags in a manner which it is impossible to conceive. If I except the respectable people in the towns, I did not see upon thousands of Irish a whole coat, a whole skirt, a whole cloak, but all in tatters, and tatters such as are nowhere else to be seen.

"The ruins of ancient castles were pointed out to me; but how could I take any pleasure in them while the desolate ruined huts surrounded me, and testified the distress of the present times more loudly than the others did the grandeur of the past? But then the lords were of the same race— of the same language; they were on the spot, and the people certainly not so wretched as since the confiscations of the English conquerors. Other huts were half fallen down, but the occupants crept into the remaining half, which was not larger than a coffin for the wretched family. "When I recollect the well-fed rogues and thieves in the English prisons, I admire, notwithstanding the very natural increase of Irish criminals, the power of morality- I wonder that the whole nation does not go over and steal, in order to enjoy a new and happier existence. And then the English boast of the good treatment of their countrymen, while the innocent Irish are obliged to live worse than their cattle. In Parliament they talk for years together whether it is necessary and becoming to leave 100,000 dollars annually (15,000/.) in the hands of the pastors of 526 Protestants, or 10,759 dollars to the pastors of 3 Protestants; while there are thousands here who scarcely know they have a soul, and know nothing of their body, except that it suffers hunger, thirst, and cold.

"Which of these ages is the dark and barbarous-the former, when mendicant monks distributed their goods to the poor, and, in their way, gave them the most rational comfort; or the latter, when rich (or bankrupt) aristocrats can see the weal of the church and of religion (or of their relations) only in retaining possession of that which was taken and obtained by violence?

"All the blame is thrown on agitators, and discontent produced by artificial means. What absurdity? Every falling hut causes agitation, and every tattered pair of breeches a sans-culotte. Since I have seen Ireland I admire the patience and moderation of the people, that they do not (what would be more excusable in them than in distinguished revolutionists, authors, journalists, Benthamites, baptized and unbaptized Jews) drive out the devil through Beelzebub the prince of the devils.

"Thrice-happy Prussia, with its free proprietory peasantry, its agricultural nobles, its contented and tolerant clergy, its well-educated youth!

"I endeavoured to discover the original race of the ancient Irish and the beauty of the women. But how could I venture to give an opinion! Take the loveliest of the English maidens from the saloons of the Duke of Devonshire or the Marquis of Lansdowne, carry her-not for life, but for one short season, into an Irish hovel-feed her on water and potatoes, clothe her in rags, expose her blooming cheek and alabaster neck to the scorching beams of the sun, and the drenching torrents of rain, let her

wade with naked feet through marshy bogs, with her delicate hands pick up the dung that lies in the road, and carefully stow it by the side of her mud resting place, give her a hog to share this with her-to all this add no consolatory remembrance of the past, no cheering hope of the future— nothing but misery-a misery which blunts and stupifies the mind-a misery of the past, the present, and the future ;—would the traveller, should this image of woe crawl out of her muddy hovel, and imploringly extend her shrivelled hand, recognize the noble maiden whom a few short weeks before he admired as the model of English beauty?

"And yet the children, with their black hair and dark eyes, so gay and playful in their tatters-created in the image of God-are in a few years, by the fault of man and the government, so worn out, without advantage to themselves or others, that the very beasts of the field might look down on them with scorn.

"Is what I have said exaggerated, or, perhaps, merely an unseasonable and indecorous fiction? or should I have suppressed it, because it may offend certain parties? What have I to do with O'Connell and his opponents? I have nothing either to hope or to fear from any of them; but to declare what I saw, thought, and felt, is my privilege and my duty. Discite justitiam, moniti, et non temnere divos !

'Liverpool, August 24, 1835. "Thank God, I am again in England, though not with the same feelings that I left it! Last night, as I quitted Dublin in the steam-boat, the dark clouds traversed the sky in rapid confusion, and when the sun burst through them, the mountains on the right and left threw their long shadows towards England. This shadow spreads in my fancy over the lately so glowing scene, and the more I endeavour to efface it, the more indelible does it appear, like the blood stains to Lady Macbeth. I have read and written much on the sufferings of different ages and nations, and wrote and read with sympathy; but it is a far different thing to see them; to see them in their gigantic form in our highly-extolled times, denied and extenuatednay, acknowledged and justified by those who, like the French, fancy that they are at the head of all human civilization. No wonder if the native Irish, like the prophet of old by the waters of Babylon, sit down and weep, if I, a stranger, am compelled to reckon the few days I passed among them as the most melancholy of my life. Of other, and I trust more cheering matters, in my next."-vol. iii, pp. 213-217.

He repels the absurdity of those who entertained the idea that the emancipation measure was to be a final one for Ireland, instead of a whole series of measures which will and must follow. It was but an act of justice, which, however, is immediately advantageous only to a few; though it is the right and the business of these few to employ their newly-gained position for the benefit of the country. Hence arises O'Connell's influence. Hence, whenever his powers fail him, and his rhetoric is at fault, he "lays himself down on the soil of his injured country, and rises, like a new Antæus, to fresh struggles." In another passage Raumer exclaims, "What avails. the stale joke of O'Connell and his tail?-if you do not like it, cut it off, and dissolve the Union, as he requires," is the answer.

On

the church question, municipal reform, and other popular measures contemplated by the present British government, he is strongly on their side with regard to the sister isle.

But we must conclude, however reluctantly, and refrain from tracing the author's opinions and style farther in these beautifully rich volumes, from which the English reader necessarily rises prouder, more enamoured, and more hopeful of his country, than he could be before—because a clear-sighted, a deeply informed, and a candid, benevolent stranger, tells him that England is great, good, and prosperous, at the same time giving the reasons for his belief and his averments, and pointing out clearly to her the course she should take for the future. And that his work will scatter to the winds many prejudices and errors entertained by strangers regarding Great Britain, we can no more doubt, than that it will in a few days be on the table of every legislator, student of history, friend to enlightened freedom, and admirer of elegant writing, in the United Kingdom, who can obtain this admirable translation of it; and thus will its spirit and lessons be widely disseminated, and largely imbibed. Wonderful! one may well exclaim, is the light which a single mind sometimes sheds over the world, and resistless the sway. In the present instance, much of this light and ardent strength arises from the sympathies which bind Englishmen and Germans together, owing to the bond of their common origin. Herr Von Raumer recognizes this sympathy with his peculiar felicity, in the concluding paragraph of his last volume, in words that must be encouraging and engaging to every subject of the British

crown.

"Undoubtedly, England is in very many respects different from Germany, but, in a more elevated and impartial review, the affinities and attractions appear far greater. While Italy still reposes on the laurels of its splendid two-fold existence in antiquity and the middle ages; while Spain, shaking off its compelled inactivity, is now torn to pieces by the fury of internal dissension; while France can never find permanent happiness, so long as it does not add to courage humility, to dominion selfcontrol, to activity perseverance, and to talents morality-where is the hope of the world, the guarantee for the future, the safeguard against the irruptions of barbarism? It is in the primeval sound stem of Germanic development, and its two main branches-Germany and Great Britain. If these two nations thoroughly comprehend their noble task, if they exert all their energies for its accomplishment, then, even, the diseased portions of Europe will recover their health, the manifold harmonies of life will again resound, and the smallest quarter of the globe will, in spite of all defects, still take the lead in the advance of knowledge throughout the world."-vol. iii, pp. 317, 318.