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AMERICAN TRAVELS. Two Years on the Farm ...
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1,1 Kk Of Lord Langdalio. Memoirs Of The...
T 9 it _riSthing to have shown the thousands of obscure and struggling men how well and nobly an obscure life may be lived—how _successful _courageous perseverance and self-mastery may become—how self-respect brings with it the respect of others P Is it nothing even to have Drought before the world actions of such generous delicacy as that of Sir _Ffcancis Burdett P In our eyes that passage alono would justify the volumes * We will give it . ¦ ¦ . Lord Langdale , when Mr . Bickersteth , an obscure young man keeping terms , became acquainted with Sir Francis ; the acquaintance deepened into friendship . Bickersteth was poor—so poor that he had to sell his Shakspeare and the Italian Poets , to buy law books—and many a young lawyer will understand what it must have been to receive such a letter aa this : —
« Dear Bickekste _* h :,- —I have five hundred times been upon the point of speaking to you upon a subject I very much wished to do , hut have been fearful of offending you;—yet I know not why , since you are sure to take a thing as it is intended . Without any more preface , I am very desirous , if I could tell how , to serve you ; and after revolving a variety of things this has occurred to me . I know that it is often of the greatest importance to a man in the cornmenceritetit of any career , to have the command , in cases of emergency , of a sum of mone _^^ don't be alarmed . Now , if you Would allow me to be your banker to a certain
extent , say five hundred pounds , the whole of which , or any part , you might draw for whenever . occasion made it desirable , and replace it at your own convenience , I have thought this might , in the beginning of an arduous profession , be of great service to you and no detriment whatever to me , and therefore I have flattered myself that ihe offer , proceeding as it does from a just esteem of your character , wonld not be by you rejected : if it should not , as I have set my heart upon it it will not , pray write two words , —and mind , two Words only—or rather , three- —I accept it—and never further mention made of it between us . "Now the _murdei * is out ; I hope I have not done wrong . I am , _howe ver , confident you will take it as
intended , ' . ... " And believe me , with great esteem , yours very sincerely , "F . _Bttbdbtt . " 26 th , 1813 . " Many men would have lent the money—for an extensive _acquaintance with private history discovers a far greater amount of generosity among men than is usually believed in—but only a delicate and exquisite moral nature could have done it so charmingly . There is a generosity of man-Tier , greater even than a generosity of act—* , way of giving that enhances the g ift . It is for touches such as this , and for the lesson taught by the whole life , that we value the _Memoirs of Lord Langdale . As a man , he Was not peculiarly interesting ; as a story , his life has only a moral interest . The friend of Bentham , Grote , James and John Mill , Burdett and the Radical party , there were considerable hopes entertained of him , which he failed to justify ; but as the story of a plodding life succeeding in its aims , these volumes are suggestive . He \ _yas made Master of the Bolls by Melbourne ; and respecting this we may make an extract of correspondence , to let a little light upon official _perplexities : —
" ' I waited upon Lord Melbourne , ' so writes Mr . Bickersteth , on the 11 th ; * he began by asking whether my views had in any respect altered . I said they had ; that on consideration , though my personal objections to the peerage had in no respect diminished , yet my difficulties might perhaps give way , if I could be persuaded that by means of it I should be able to render any useful assistance towards Law Reform , and if I could be entirely free in politics . —Lord Melbourne What do you mean ?' - _^ -Bickersteth . This is a subject on which there should be no ambiguity . There is nothing more hateful or more mischievous than a political judge , influenced by party feeling . In my opinion , he should be wholly free from
all party bias _; and if I , being a judge , am also to be in Parliament , it can , only be on the clearest understanding that I am to be wholly free from any political and party tie ; to put it strongly , as free under your Administration as if I had received my judicial appointment from your opponents . —To this , after silence for ttfew minutes , Lord Melbourne said gravely and with dignity— ' I understand you ; I fully appreciate your motives , and I think you aro perfectly right / He soon afterwards said , that the subject must be considered fhrther ; from which I understood that it was necessary to consult his colleagues . Lato in the evening of the same day , I received the following note from Lord Melbourne : — ' Downing-street , Jan . 11 th , 1836 .
' My deab , Sin , —We should lament Campbell ' s resignation , and consider it a groat loss ; but wo cannot now draw back ; wo are therefore determined , at all hazards , to proceed with our arrangement , and if you are ready to undertake the Rolls , we are ready to give it , upon thc understanding which you so clearly expressed to me thiB morning . We can hardly dispense with your assistance in the House of Lords , but you must not consider yourself bound to givo support politically . Yours faithfully , ' _MEIiDOUEUE / 'II . Bickoratoth , Esq . ' "To this Mr . Bickersteth sent the following answer : — ' 12 th January , 1830 .
' My I ) Eab Lono , —I beg leave to thank you most sincerely for tho early information which you have _licen kind enough to givo me . If the peerage can lie dispensed with , or even postponed , 1 shall feel great additional gratitude ; but if _required , and notwithstanding tho reluctance and misgiving which I cannot satisfactorily overcome , I consent to accept it on the terms of perfect political independtsnee , which your lordship so liberally ( and if I may presume to suy it ) so properly sanctions and approves . I now await your orders , only wishing to add , that if the arran gement is settled , 1 ought , without any delay , to relieve myself from _professional engagements , which cannot bo continued without future inconvenionco , and that I can take no steps for that purpose till I am released from tho obligation of secrec y by which I consider myself bound . I remain , my dear Lord , your faithful _« mel obliged servant , « H . BiokebSTETH . ' ' « , Craven . Hill , BaySwator . '
Apropos of Lord Melbourne , there is an amusing anocdote , which wo transfer to our columns : — " Lord Langdale often spoke of Lord Mell > ourn « 's art of saying things in an _<«» j ; off-hand way , which would give great offence from any one else . Ho used to be much amused nt tho way in which Lord Melbourno got rid of — - _~ , who
1,1 Kk Of Lord Langdalio. Memoirs Of The...
wanted to be placed upon one of the government commissions , and who had been urging his claims on Government . * What you say is perfectly true / said Lord Melbourne ; ' and I agree with every word you say , but you know that if I were to appoint you commissioner , the fellows would not sit with you , d n them ! ' "
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American Travels. Two Years On The Farm ...
_AMERICAN TRAVELS . Two Years on the Farm of Uncle Sain , with SketcJies of his Location , Nephews , and Prospects . By Charles Casey . Bentley . So much unhappy ill-feeling has been created by the inconsiderate and ungenerous reports of travellers in America , that we are glad to see any new traveller adopting a more rational tone . Let Americans satirize themselves ; our task should rather be to note in what respects the Anglo-Saxon race has made for itself a freer sphere wherein to live a larger life , than is facile amid our dead and half-alive traditions . That we may learn
much from America we must study its essentials , and not allow a volatile mind , to be attracted by collateral details . Thus we may learn , by examjjle , how perfectly comfortable society may be without several of those 'institutions , ' fondly believed to be essential to our well-being—we can even learn that Justice may exist without Horse-hair ! and that a State Church ( although so inestimable a blessing ) may be dispensed with , and society not fall to pieces ! Mr . Casey has looked at America with admiring , if not with profoundly discriminating eyes . Brother Jonathan thus presents himself to Mr . Casey ' s view : — -
_" _ISTcxt come the people , let us see them ; one feels so anxious at the " monarchs " at home , —the far-famed Jonathan—he of reform—the rifle—and republic , ——the cool , shrewd , vigorous , large-souled , indomitable citizen ! He that is so criticised , admired , and feared by all classes in Europe ; well , here thoy are , the real living Yankees at home . And business ,- —and , as to houses of business , let me say , that he who walks along Broadway , may see one of the finest trading establishments in the world , a literal marble palace , devoted to commerce ; and if he turns into the lower part of the city , where the wholesale merchants ' most do congregate , ' he will conclude . that London has a rival , and will , within a century , have a superior ; and one looking on this great city and people , is prompted to pause and analyze the peculiarities of mind that compose the American . Vieing with the Parisian in dress—the Englishman in energy—cautious as a Dutchman—impulsive
as an Irishman—patriotic as Tell—brave as Wallace—cool as Wellington—and royal as Alexander ; there he goes—the American citizen ! In answering your questions , or speaking commonly , his style is that of the ancient Spartan ; but put him on a stump , with an audience of whigs , democrats , or barn-burners , and he becomes a compound of Tom Cribb and Demosthenes , a fountain of eloquence , passion , sentiment , sarcasm , logic , and drollery , altogether different from anything known or imagined in the Old World states . Say anything of anybody ( as public men ) untied with conventional phraseology , he swings his rhetorical mace with a vigorous arm , crushing the antagonistic principle or person , into a most villanous compound . See him at dinner , he despatches his meal with a speed which leads you to suppose him a ruminating animal , yet enjoying his cigarro for an hour afterwards , with the gusto and ennui of a Spaniard .
" Walking right on , as if it were life against time , with the glass at fever-heat , yet taking it cool in the most serious and pressing matter , a compound of the lied Man , Brummel , and Eranklin , —statesman and labourer , on he goes , —divided and sub-divided in politics and religion , —professionally opposed with a keenness of competition in vain looked for even in England ; yet , let but the national [ rights or liberty be threatened , and that vast nation stands a pyramid of resolve , united as one man , with heart , head , hand , and purse , burning with a Roman zeal to defend inviolate the cause of the commonwealth .
" To him who has lived among the Americans , and looked largely at the theory and practice of their government and its executive , there remains no possible doubt that the greatest amount of personal security and freedom has been produced from the least amount of cost of nny nation in the world . Culling its principles and wisdom from the history of all empires , it stands the nearest of all earthly systems io perfection , because it is built on , and embodies those principles which God hath proclaimed in his attributes . And the prayer of all men should be , that the day may never come when those immutable maxims will be tainted by vanity or corrupted by wealth . "
American vanity and American grandiloquence — of which thero is _ddubtless an abundance — meet with an ingenious explanation in Ibis volume , and one to us quite now : — " Ono ' of the peculiar differences that strike the traveller ' s eye in the New World is the vastness with which nature displays herself , —there is a gigantic grandeur in all that meets the vision , which fact has , I doubt not , contributed much to imbue tho American mind with those comprehensive ideas and words at which Islanders cavil as egotism or bombast—but wo cannot lose sight of the fact that our physical nature is considerably acted on by the locality of our birth and residence ; nor is oUr mind free from the influences of climate and association , for let
twins lie raised , one on thc mountains of Switzerland , the other on the plains of Holland , and tho men will dilfer world wido in mind and body : hence it is not to bo expected that a man dwelling in a densely populated island , such as Britain , could expand his mind to tho capacity of recognising as natural the large spoken American , because tbo mind of sueh a man , from the first exercise of its powers , judged of and looked ut all things with the contracted oircumserihed vision of au insular judgment , and has conscientiously settled down into the conviction that any circle of thought , speech , or action , larger than its own , is bombast or speculation , proving that the Gulliver of Jonathan Swift was not a pasquinade on his own times alone , but fits tho phlegmatic and conservative John Hull as happily now as in tho eighteenth century .
" The rivers , mountains , lakes , forests , nnd prairies of America , all bear the stump- of vastness ; and this largeness is reflected in the minds of her citizens ; hence by tho senator af the States—to the merchant—the landowner and artisan —projects are propounded and curried out which wonld in England be hooted down in tho _projiosal _hb Utopian . Tho ventures would he called ruinous speculations—modes of _ojioration that would ho termed fantastic , and manners and habits that would lie coerced as subversive of law and order , are here severally but tho spontaneous workings of a _larger mind more _favourahly located , and acting harmoniously for tho genoral good . " Of Mr . Casey ' s _yolumo wo can briefly eay , that it is agreeable though
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 21, 1852, page 19, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_21081852/page/19/
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