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    Very noticeable in Literature is that -terrible donde la familiarite which moves men to speak -with easy confidence on topics utterly and absolutely removed from their acquaintance—which urges them to decide on the opinions of an Auguste Comte , -whose name they unsuspectingly spell Compte ; on the " dreams" Kaxt , not a page of whose writings they have ever read ; on the peculiar qualities of Goethe , whom they persist in calling Goethe ( not aware that such a . name is impossible in German ) ; on Sophoci . es , without previously taking the trouble of mastering the Oreek Alphabet ; and on many other topics equally excluded from their studies .

    They talk like men accustomed to dine habitually at Stafford House , and they do not kno w the Duchess of Sutherland , even by sight ! They are absolute in their verdicts , because these verdicts are unhampered by any of those doubts which knowledge might suggest . M . Ponsabd , in . his reception at the French Academy , with equal innocence assures France and the ' Universe that Racine is more natural than Goethe , " who is very affected , " and talks with the same easy 'familiarity of Shakspea ^ whom he calls " the divine Williams" ( le ( limn Williams ) , by way of pleasantly indicating the extent of his accomplishment in English . To be ignorant of German and English cannot , it seems , constitute any obstacle in the way of

    a correct appreciation of English and German poets ; and yet to minds of more ordinary calibre the inability to read a poet appeal's a reasonable obstacle in the way of criticising that poet . Why should M . Poxsabd thus deliberately go out of his way to make public statements on subjects of which he not only knew himself to be initially ignorant , but also knew that others knew it ? What would M . Ponsard think of any , -Englishman ' s opinion of Racine if that Englishman exhibited rudimentary ignorance of French ? False judgment or rash judgment , founded on imperfect knowledge , cannot be guarded against . We are all incessantly mating mistakes ; but against the mistakes arising from absolute and conscious ignorance , we ought surely to be on our guard .

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    The despotism of the present Government in France is growing more and more odious . Unable to coax or terrify the men of intellect , it vainly tries , by the purchase of various journals and periodicals , to create organs for itself whereby to influence public opinion . It has purchased , recently , La F'Crite and Za T o /' . r de la 7 Y'rilc ( what irony !) , to add to its friends in the press-It has purchased , La licrue Conteiupora ' uie , founded originally by the Fusionist party . But it is one thing to purchase a journal , another thing to get contributors ; and Government finds , to its irritation , that

    contributors — anxious as they arc to contribute — hold sternly aloof from La Jieruc . Government . may buy up all the journals , and so place journalists in the alternative of writing for it , or not--writing at all / but so odious is the-Government that they actually prefer not writing at all . Inthis dilemma the Minister of the Interior bethought him of a cunning infamy . The great rival to tlie jRrvttfi Coj / tcuiporaine "was of course the lieaie tics Deit . v Monde /) , which circulates all over Europe , because it is incomparably the best Jievue in France . Amomr the writers in this review the orreater number

    are more or less in the dependence of the Government , as professors , employes , &c . To these writers Government applies , demanding their assistance in the Governmental review , and demand it on the ground of their being public . functionaries . The majority , and of course the better contributors , decline ; whereupon they are threatened with the Minister ' s displeasure — and all know what that means . Nay , to one of these recalcitrant writers it Was insolently said : " Your name is wanted ; if you refuse your articles , I will , at all events , publish your name among i « y contributors . " To render this tyranny more conspicuous , we should observe that the Revue des Deux Mondes stipulates with its contributors that they shall not contribute to any other periodical of a di < rerent political tendency ; so that if the employe" is

    intimidated , and gives his articles to the liecuc Contemporcdne , he ceases to have the Ilcoico des J ) on . v Moi / dcs open to him ; and inasmuch as the Contem-2 ) ormne has no character , no circulation , whereas the Dcu , v Moiules has a very high character , and a European circulation , the man of letters is asked , or rather forced , to choose the very inferior organ , and exclude himself from the superior organ . Imagine a man having the Quarter / open to him , and being told that he must give up the Quarterly ( which expounds his views , and which gives his writings celebrity and influence ) for tlie Prospective

    lievietp , which expounds views opposed to his own , and which nobody reads 1 What should we in England think of a Government which could only hope to sustain itself , and influence public opinion , by manoeuvres such as this ? Is not this despotism as despicable as it is oppressive ? Not content with keeping its place behind bayonets , this miserable regime tries to extort from all men an avowal that the regime of buyoncts is wisdom no less than force , is moral no less than potential , is respectable no less than brutal . But although France may bo subdued by bayonets and the dread of socialism , it will not declare the regime wise , moral , and respectable .

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    IteCEMBOSR 20 ^ 185 & ] THE LEADEB . 1215

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    • —? " - — . . . Critics are not the legislators , but the judges and police of literature . They do not maKe laws—they interpret and try to enforce them . —Edinburgh Review-

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    THE LIFE OF SIR JOHN MALCOLM . The Ijfe and Correspondence of Major-General Sir Jchn Malcolm , G . CB . Bv John William Kaye . la 2 vols . Smith , Elder , and Co . »^ i answer for »*» " ™ rote the Duke of Wellington in 1824 to Sir John Malcolm , " that from the year 1796 no great transaction has taken place in . the East m which you have not played a principal , most useful , conspicuous , and honourable part ; and you have in many services , diplomatic as well as military , been distinguished by successes , any one of which in ordinary circumstances would have been deemed sufficient for the life of a man , and would have recommended him to the notice of lis superiors . " This was no mere idle compliment , or friendly exaggeration , "but the honest testimony of one as little capable of flattery as was the other of being gratified by any such homage to his vanity . Malcolm ' s services , in truth , dated from early boyhood . He had not yet completed his thirteenth year when he first girded on his sword , and swore fealty to the East India Company . No man was ever truer to his allegiance . Though fully aware of his unpopularity at the India House , he never for a moment allowed any personal

    considerations to interfere with the discharge of his puhlic duties . Throughout his long and arduous career he was ever booted and spurred , and ready for the saddle . Even ^ in his temporary retirements from active employment , whether necessitated by ill health or the consequence of a reasonable desire to revisit his fatherland , his mind was still engaged in advancing-the true interests of his ' honourable masters , ' and the welfare and prosperity of his fellow subjects in the East . During his first visit to England we find him exerting himself in the cause of the Native Army , and demanding from tlie Crown the recognition of its just claims . On his second return to Europe he gave valuable evidence before the parliamentary committee touching the political , military , and commercial relations of the East India Company , and the invidious distinctions that prevailed lietween . the officers of their army nnd those o f his Majesty ' s service . The former bore the beat aad burden of the day , while the latter carried off all the honours . His very death was mainly accelerated by over exertion in battling against the opponents of the Company ' s charter .

    But it was in India that he achieved Iiis titleto an undying fame , and to the gratitude of many millions of human beings . His first public service , indeed , was singularly in harmony with the general character of his subsequent career . He was placed in command of the detachment ordered to the frontier of Mysore to receive the English prisoners released by Tippoo Sultan , shortly after his accession to the throne . At this period of his life John Malcolm was a wild , thoughtless boy , full of animal spirits , and rejoicing in a sanguine and healthy organization . The natural consequence was pecuniary embarrassment . But the cloud raised by the vapours of a too frank and joyous disposition , was quickly , dispersed by the rays of a proud and honest heart . Before he was yet nineteen , his reformation was complete , and , in the course of two years , he succeeded , by the exercise of the greatest

    self-denial , in discharging all his debts and liabilities . He was fortunate , too , in becoming acquainted with some of the most distinguished men of the diplomatic corps , who inspired him with a desire to enter the political department of the service . As a thorough and extensive knowledge of the native languages was an indispensable preliminary to obtaining employment in that capacity , young Malcolm assiduously applied himself to the acquisition of the various dialects in use in Central India , in addition to the courtly Persian . To this he was indebted for his first staff appointment , and his introduction into a sphere of activity for which lie was peculiarly adapted . It is * true , indeed , he sometimes regretted that his political duties prevented him from taking a prominent part in those field operations which afford the shortest cut to glory . But , on the other hand , he enjoyed special opportunities of rendering an equally honourable and more permanent good service to the empire , by diffusing confidence , tranquillity , and happiness

    throughout Central India . On one occasion , however , he had good reason to lament the mischance that confined him to a bed of sickness , while his friend Arthur " Wellesley , with whom he was associated as political , agent , was breaking down the power of the Mahrattas on the blood stained fields of Assye and Argaum . Later in life ^ he too knew " the joy that warriors feel , ' when at Mehidpoor he stormed the young Holkar ' s batteries , and drove his numerous host into headlong flight . But it was to peaceful missions rather than to martial exploits that Malcolm owed his widen-eputation . The latter won for him the insignia of a Grand Cross of the bath , and might possibly have gained for him a faint celebrity among students of military history . To the former he was indebted for the friendship of the foremost men of liis day , for the affectionate gratitude of a people hitherto grievously oppressed , and for a conspicuous niche in . the memory of future generations , so long as the British empire : in the East shall live in men ' s minds .

    The pacification of Central India was essentially his work . In this cause he laboured night and day . His tent was at all times open to prince or peasant . No one was ever denied access to his presence . He listened patiently to all their grievances , and sought earnestly to relieve them . Even when his decision was unfavourable , the unsuccessful applicant or defendant was the first to recognize his wisdom , justice , and love of truth . His unfailing good humour and warm , generous disposition , made him , besides , personally popular , and especially endeared him to those wlio were tjho most closely associated with him . In the many delicate negotiations with which he was charged , his intimate knowledge of the Oriental character

    enabled him . to achieve his end without wounding the sensitive vanity of the native chiefs . The upright , high-minded English gentleman ever proved more than a match for Asiatic duplicity and craft , while his kindliness of manner gained the hearts of those whom the sword had yet failed to subdue . He was conscious , indeed , that in the fulness of time the British Government must inevitably become , not only the paramount , but the solo po-vvcr in Ilindostnii . But though he accepted the necessity , and admitted the expediency of such a contingency , lie would have scorned to hasten its advent by the slightest exhibition of ill faith , or by an overbearing demeanour . Ho well knew that to render our ultimate possession of India safe and permanent , its heterogeneous elements must require the action of time to become thoroughly amalgamated and firmly wrought . He even conceived th « , t tue last

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 20, 1856, page 1215, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2172/page/15/