leaves of the new pamphlets his Excellency receives from England; and seeing that their Excellencies' carriage arrives to an appointed second after the opera. It is true the honourable attachés enjoy the sweets as well as the sours of office, and acquire a degree of importance, otherwise unattainable by their shallow capacities, by their supposed admission behind the scenes of the great political stage, no less than by playing jackal to the great lions of the State. Unhappily for Arthur, our hero, his honourable stature happens to be of unheroic dimensions. There is nothing more imposing in his air than acute in his intellect; our Gammonborough is not even a "happy accident" in the routine of lordly imbecility. Had he turned out a fine dignified-looking fellow, calculated to do honour to the blue riband, and figure with advantage among the great representatives of the Great Powers, it is probable that at thirty he might have found himself "Sir Arthur Gammon borough, Secretary of Legation;" at forty, (provided some Queen of France, of Spain, or Em. press of Russia or Austria, were young, fair, and discriminating,) "Lord Gammonwell of Gammonwell," and an Excellency; at fifty, "The Right Honourable the Earl of Gammonwell, K.G.;" and at sixty, "Marquis of Gammonwell, Ambassador Extraordinary,-Gartered, Toisond'or-ed, St. Esprit-ed, St. Ferdinanded, St. Anned, St. Waldimired, St. Michaeled, and St. Georged," and all the rest of it! with a salary of twelve thousand per annum, a palace, and a service of gold plate, to afford two dinners per week to travelling Earls and dilettante Countesses ;-an object of wonderment to the Minister of the United States, working hard for his country, on a stipend of as many hundreds, and a crate of crockery; and of envy to the honourable attachés sprouting up under cover of his branches, the FLedgLING DIPLOMATISTS of oligarchical Great Britain. THE BALANCE OF PREMIERS; OR, WHAT WE HAVE LOST, AND WHAT WE HAVE GAINED, THE Edinburgh Review is really one of the most amusing of periodicals. As becomes its dignity of place, it takes the lead of the Ministerial press, in acting on the maxim, to " Welcome the coming,-speed the going guest." At page 520 it is clearly set forth, that the whole framework of British society may fall to pieces, if Earl Grey persist in the barbarous design of abandoning office; but as his Lordship unluckily had no opportunity of perusing this eloquent and pathetic deprecation, he took that alarming step; when, presto! change!-and at page 521-without even turning over a new leaf-all is right again, and we are better off than ever, by obtaining, in Lord Melbourne, such a Premier as no man ever dreamed of! one, in short, who fairly makes Lord Grey kick the beam. WHAT WE HAVE LOST. LORD GREY-"It is not to be denied that this virtuous, experienced, and most able statesman, has arrived at an age when rest has more charms than power; and when, without grudging, he might, in ordinary times, be suffered to seek a repose, which no man ever better earned by a But we long life devoted to the service of his country. must look to his vigour-we must ask whether or not any one symptom of failure has appeared-before we can allow, that in these times, he has any right to prefer rest to duty. The place he occupies is the proudest man can aspire to. With the full confidence of the Monarch, the undoubted love of the people, the admiration and esteem of his colleagues, the cordial affection of Parliamentwhat man ever willingly resigned such a pre-eminence? His leaving the helm at present would be the subject of uni versal regret. Then, what claims to his ease' can Earl Grey urge? Who ever pronounced more spirited, able, and eloquent speeches than he has this very session made? The united testimony of all members of Parliament that has reached us, convinces us that Lord Grey never in his whole life showed more entire vigour of mind than he has this present year. His Lordship, we have heard, is accustomed to say that he is himself the best judge, and that he feels his own decline. We have, we confess, very little faith in the justness of such a feeling. Nerves, stomach, weariness, all concur to discredit a man's judg ments against himself in this particular. Proverbially, no one's estimate of his own capacity is trusted for a moment-and why? Because he sees through a deceitful medium. Lord Grey, in a word, is a very extraordinary man, such as few countries have produced; and the continuance of his services is a blessing with which the exigencies of the public service cannot easily dispense."Edinburgh Review, page 520. WHAT WE HAVE GAINED. "The loss of Lord Grey is most deeply to be deplored We have fully expressed our opinion on this head in the preceding page. But that Lord Melbourne has shewn the greatest talent and firmness in the execution of a most difficult office in very critical times, every one knows. His natural abilities are of the first order, and his accomplishments are on the same scale—an impressive speaker, formed on the best and most classical models; a man of large and comprehensive views, matured by extensive reading; a functionary, whose habits of business, and capacity for despatching it, have no superior; in private life, one of the most amiable and universally beloved No wonder characters that ever appeared in society. that sanguine hopes are entertained for a Government formed under his auspices. Such a man may well despise the sneers of a few newspapers, possibly under the guidance of disappointed individuals.”—Edinburgh Re. view, page opposite 520. THE SCOTTISH BAR, IN REFERENCE TO THE LATE ELECTIONS. LAWYERS have, in all ages and in all countries, been eminently conservative. Their creed has always been, Whatever is, is right; and that profession has furnished the most strenuous supporters of abuses, because they were old, and the most violent opponents of reforms, because they were new. Many causes contribute to form the disposition of mind we have described. From the commencement of a lawyer's peculiar studies, he is taught to pay the most profound deference to authority and precedent. What ought to be is no part of his consideration or inquiry: the only question is, "What do our ancestors, in their books of law say?-what have the judges formerly decided?" Reason is resorted to, only when little or no assistance can be had from books of authority, or reports of adjudged cases. Farther, the profession is, of all others, that which the Government or Ministry have the readiest means of influencing. Emolument may be obtained without the favour of ministerial influence, but only by the most assiduous and severe exertion; and there is no line in life in which employment, and consequently a permanent livelihood, is more precarious. The bar is not like other professions, or like most trades, in which a business once formed may be retained with little exertion, and even handed from father to son; the business of a lawyer cannot be maintained without constant efforts, vigorous health, and assiduous application. After all, the lawyer can never reckon with any certainty on the continuance of his business. The rise of a successful rival, the promotion to the bench of judges who may have a personal dislike to him, the mere caprice of his employers, may reduce him from opulence to penury in the course of a few years. Feeling the precarious nature of his livelihood, a lawyer becomes naturally the worshipper of the dispensers of patronage, and looks with eagerness to those offices which the Ministry of the day have alone the power to bestow. In Scotland, these influences have had uncontrolled operation, and their effects on the political state of the bar are apparent. Of four or five hundred members, there are probably not half-adozen who are not the partisans of the Whig or Tory faction. Owing to the long period during which the Tories held the reins of Government, the greater number belong to that party; but there are evident symptoms that, if the Whigs continue in power for a few years longer, their adherents in the Faculty will out-number those of their opponents. The number and value of the places the Ministry for the time has, directly or indirectly, to bestow, is indeed sufficient to corrupt a more numerous as well as more wealthy body than the Faculty of Advocates. Of these places, perhaps, the most considerable effect in corrupting the young advocate, in the outset of his professional career, is to be attributed to that of sheriff-depute. It can be held by any advocate of five years' standing. Being nearly a sinecure, it does not interfere with his professional duties; while it affords a decent and permanent livelihood, and has always been, and is at this moment, the reward of political partisanship. 30 Sheriff-Deputeships, varying from 4 Principal Clerkships, at £1000, 13 Judgeships in the Court of Ses- wards of 1 Lord Advocate,--Salary £1500- 1 Solicitor-General,-Salary £600- 4 Advocates-Depute, at £250 each, 115 £12,000 14,400 4000 2400 35,000 4000 2000 1000 5200 £80,000 And we have about 115 places, and an annual sum of £80,000, to be divided among some three hundred advocates; for not more than that number actually practice at the bar. But great as this sum appears, it is not the whole means of corruption the Tories possessed. Very recently, several reductions have been made. Thus, two Judgeships in the Court of Session, five in the Jury Court, four in the Exchequer, four Commissaries of Edinburgh, and a Judge Admiral, have been reduced, or are to be reduced after the death of the present holders, who received in whole, £20,200 annually; so that the Tories had upwards of 130 places, and £100,000 a-year, wherewith to purchase the partisanship of the Faculty of Advocates. Can we wonder that among that body are always to be found the eager supporters of the powers that be; and that, in the late election for Edinburgh, not one of them voted for the independent candidate? MARY HOWITT'S SKETCHES OF NATURAL HISTORY. We have classed these delightful juvenile books together. Mrs. Howitt's is the more charming, Dr. Bowring's the more useful, if, indeed, the humanizing delights be not among the highest of the utilities. Dr. Bowring inculcates his MINOR MORALS by stories told by Mr. and Mrs. Howard to their children, and in conversations upon the circumstances related. The plan is exactly that of the Evenings at Home, Charlotte Smith's juvenile volumes, and Mrs. Johnstone's Diversions of Hollycot. But wherever he has travelled, and whatever he has read, Dr. Bowring has kept in view the establishment and nurture of sound principle in young minds. Hence many of his illustrative anecdotes have a beautiful adaptedness to his purpose, and, at the same time, the force of truth and reality. We shall give one example, adduced in teaching what constitutes true courage :— "During my travels in Spain, I fell in with a famous bandit chieftain, whose name was Jayme Alfonso, a man whose adventures were far more romantic and marvellous than those of either the English freebooter, Robin Hood, or the Scotch mountaineer, Rob Roy. Jayme was brave but not cruel; and I say this, because some writers have hastily and thoughtlessly said, that no brave man was ever cruel. But, my boys! there have been many men very brave and very cruel. It happens that people get into their heads a notion that courage is a virtue,—always a virtue; so when they find men committing cruel acts, they deny these men's courage, though their courage is really as remarkable as their cruelty. This comes from the confused notions that the world is filled with, as to what is virtue and what not. Jayme was one of the most courageous men I ever knew or heard of. He was daunted by no dangers. He seemed never to think of his privations. He lived, year after year, amidst the rocks and the forests; and sometimes, for whole months, entered no human habitation. It was his custom to order his band to disperse at sunset, and he invariably fixed on some place for their meeting at break-of-day. Jayme, however, had many virtuous qualities; and when the remembrances of the past came over him, when he thought of the days of his youth and his innocence, regrets and penitence sometimes broke out in tears. I had, when in Spain, a muleteer for a servant, who told me that a brother of his, a boy who had wandered away from Crevil lente, the birth-place of Jayme, once saw a man sitting on a rock, hanging over a stream, weeping bitterly. soon found from his dress, appearance, and the number of weapons he wore, that it was Jayme the robber, and being much alarmed, took to his heels and ran away. But Jayme summoned him back, seized him by the hand, and inquiring his name, told him he knew his family, and that they were honest people, and that he hoped the boy would be honest too; for I,' he said, 'am Jayme el Ladron, and very wretched am I indeed! Yet I was once as innocent and as happy as you.' He "But I was about to tell you an instance of Jayme's courage. The governor of Crevillente had been long in search of Jayme and his band. They had done so many kind things to the peasantry; they had provided food for the necessitous in the time of a dearth, and had so frequently relieved them with the money they had plundered from travellers, that Jayme was popular throughout all the district, and not a villager or cottager would betray him or his companions. A regiment of soldiers had been for years kept marching and counter-marching in pursuit of Jayme, who had often surprised them, and had even carried away some of the officers to his mountain haunts; and on one occasion, where a lieutenant had been wounded, and left for dead in a skirmish with the bandits, Jayme took him to some of the deepest solitudes of the neighbourhood, cured him of his wounds, and conducted him safely to the main road which led to the town of Crevillente. Jayine's mother lived in the town. She was a respectable person, independent, though not wealthy; and one day the Governor, exasperated with Jayme's long resistance, and weary of his own vain attempts to capture him, ordered Jayme's mother to be arrested, thrown into prison, and levied a heavy fine upon her, declaring she should not have her liberty till she divulged the hiding-place of her son. She could not have done this, if she would; for Jayme never communicated to her any of his proceedings; so that the conduct of the Governor was alike useless, unjust, and cruel. "The next day-it was before the sun had arisen—a stern-faced man, with a rifle in his hand, and several pistols in his belt, his bare legs girded with the chickweed sandals worn by the Valencian peasantry, and clad in one of those button-covered vests whose arms hang over the shoulders, and often entangle themselves with the many coloured ribands that float from the band of the sombrero (hat); a stern-faced man appeared at the gate of the Governor's abode, and said he came on matters of extreme urgency, and must have an instant audience of his Excellency. His presence awed the guard; and supposing, perhaps, that he was a messenger of the government, he was allowed to enter; and without saying a word he marched straight to the Governor's bed-room, who was still asleep. Shutting the door, he stood erect at the foot of the bed, aroused the Governor, and said in a loud voice: I am Jayme the robber, and am answerable for my own deeds. You have taken a poor old woman: she was helpless; she is innocent. You have extorted money from her; you have thrown her into prison. Now hear me: the sun has not yet risen: if before that sun sets, the money is not restored, and the prison doors opened, in the grave I have ordered to be dug for you you shall be buried. I am Jayme the robber!" He left as he had entered, unmolested; but the Governor knew so well the firmness and determination of Jayme, that he ordered the money to be paid back, and the prisoner to be released ; and the circumstances were related to me on the spot soon after they occurred." "This was indeed courage, papa !" exclaimed Arthur; "was it virtuous courage?" "No doubt it was, Arthur; for it checked injustice, rescued innocence, and gave a lesson to the Governor he would not soon forget." Dr. Bowring informs us, in his preface, that "His little volume is launched as an experiment, and that, if welcomed, it will be followed by others, in which the Greatest Happiness Principle will be applied to a variety of other topics." We cannot venture to predict the degree of success, even while confidently pronouncing upon the merit of the design, and the wisdom of thus beginning at the true and sure foundation. In Britain we have many chivalric orders, as that of the Bath, the Thistle, the Garter, &c. &c. These are the orders instituted by princes. But society, humanity, are also beginning to have their orders, and this is one of them : "There is, in some of the towns of Germany, an institution which exhibits the most exalted courage, united with the most praiseworthy benevolence. At Hamburg, for example, there are certain men, chosen for their known intrepidity, whose office it is to rescue human beings from dangers. To be so chosen is deemed one of the highest honours that can be conferred by their fellow-citiThey wear a peculiar uniform, are found in cer zens. tain stations of the city, and bear the name of Menschenretter, or men-savers. In cases of fire, or flood, or other public calamities, it is their special business to rescue human beings from the perils that surround them. Others may be occupied with the preservation of property: their concern is with human life alone; and the instances of heroic self-exposure which I have heard of, show how much of courageous virtue there is in the world, and what an extraordinary power the good opinion of our fellows has to excite it. There is not one of these Menschenretter who has not often exposed his own life, and often saved others from destruction. Even before the honourable title is conferred, many are the efforts of selfdevotion to obtain it. They have been known to force their way through the raging flames, and to have rescued infants in the highest stories of houses when the roof was falling in, and after the staircases had been consumed. It is not long ago that one of the most distinguished of Menschenretter, a celebrated mathematical instrumentmaker at Hamburg, made a desperate attempt to save a fellow-creature in a building that was being rapidly con sumed by fire. He failed the flames had made too much progress-roof, beams, all fell in; he was buried in the ruins. His mutilated corpse was afterwards found; it was exposed in the market-place to the grateful gaze of ten thousands of the people. It was remarked, that though the body was terribly mutilated, the features were scarcely changed. They were calm and serene, as if in sleep. The Menschenretter had often been heard to say, 'There are two ways, in either of which I desire to die: in the exercise of my office, or surrounded by my friends. Both wishes may be said to have been fulfilled in one, for multitudes of friends witnessed his heroism and deplored his fate. All admired, all wept; and they followed him with solemn hymns to his grave. "Here, my boys, was courage! lence! Here was virtue !" Here was benevo "We understand, we understand," exclaimed Arthur and George, at the same time. "You need not tell us now what the courage is that is not virtue !" Among the other stories, we have been charmed with that entitled the "Love of Flowers," and edified by "Nobility of Skin," and "Justice." The volume is embellished with engravings by Cruikshank, who, clever as he is, is not, in our judgment, the best artist for youth. Dr. Bowring's little work will be found a most valuable present for young people; and a great help to the correction of false opinions, and the removal of prejudice among those who are no longer young, if they will deign to read a juvenile book, which will pleasingly tell them many things of which they have never yet dreamed. MARY HOWITT'S volume is altogether charming -in exterior, in embellishments, in contents. The "Sketches" are in verse; the sweet, simple, natural, and pious verse of this delightful writer, which possesses a character of tenderness and sweetness all its own. We fear lest the multitude, taking her literally at her word, may imagine this a work fit for children merely. It is adapted to children certainly, but its uses are expansive as humanity. We can but enumerate a few of the subjects. The "Coot," the "Camel," the "Cedar Trees," the " Monkey," the “ Eagle," the Kingfisher," the "Broom-flower." But this is an idle task. We must not quote twothirds of the volume, and, limited in this respect, we are quite at a loss what to select. Perhaps a stanza, gleaned here and there, will best convey an idea of the nature and execution of these exquisite pictures, as this of the Monkey : MONKEY, little merry fellow, Thou art Nature's Punchinello; Full of fun, as Puck could beHarlequin might learn of thee! In the very ark, no doubt, You went frolicking about; Never keeping in your mind, Drowned monkeys left behind! Have you no traditions-none, Look now at him!-slyly peep; Now that posture is not right, Ha! he is not half asleep; You shall have it, pigmy brother! There the little ancient man We shall next take The Water-Rat :- After a bright, fresh description of the woods, we get to the subject of the 'sketch. There I'll show you the brown water-rat at his play. You will see nothing blither this blithe summer-day. A glad innocent creature, for whom was ordained, The quiet of brooks and the plants they contained; But hush! step as lightly as leaves in their fall, Man has wrong'd him, and he is in fear of us all. See! there he is sitting, the tree roots among, And the reed-sparrow by him is singing her song. See how gravely he sits; how demure and how still, Like an anchorite old at his mossy door sill. Ah no, now his mood of sedateness is gone, And his harlequin motions he'll shew us anon. Look! now, how quickly the water he cleaves, And again he is up 'mong those arrow-head leaves. See his little black head, and his eyes sparkling shine; He has made up his mind on these dainties to dine. From the water-rat we pass to the sparrow's nest. -What a medley thing it is; I never saw a nest like this; -Put together, odds and ends, Pick'd up from enemies and friends. See! bits of thread, and bits of rag, Just like a little rubbish-bag! Here's a scrap of red and brown, Like the washer-woman's gown; And here is muslin, pink and green, And bits of calico between; Ah! never thinks the lady fair, As she goes by with mincing air; How the pert sparrow overhead, Has robbed her gown to make its bed! Well, here has hoarding been and hiving, Before a home of peace and ease, Was fashioned out of things like these, Think, had these odds and ends been brought Pray what could he have done with them? Neat, warm and snug, with comfort stored, Where five small things may lodge and board. We leave the astonishment of the philosopher to come to the moral of the tale : And here in this uncostly nest, These little creatures have been blest; We would have copied out the whole of the migration of the patriotic "Grey Squirrels," the Scots, the Swiss, the Poles, among quadrupeds, who, overrun by the wild swine, retreated from their country in good order; but that we see there the initials, W. H. The description of a Lapland winter, and the scenery of the northern regions, which ushers in this tale, is most beautiful. Again we would fain take the TRUE STORY OF WEB-SPINNER, a tale of chivalry,-of Baron Blue-bottle, and Madgy de la Moth, save that we could not break its unity, and are, besides, tempted to plunge into the splendid sunlit Southern Seas, for O, the South! the balmy South, How warm the breezes float! How warm the amber waters stream, From off our basking boat. Come down, come down, from the tall ship's side, See! where the shoals of dolphins go, A glad and glorious band, See! on the violet sands beneath, How the gorgeous shells do glide; Look how the sea-plants trembling float, Over those nether rocks, Heaving and sinking soft and fair, With many a stem of golden growth, And starry flower between. The Garden, which is in a different style, will be a favourite with many. It was a child's garden. Full of flowers as it could be, And London-pride its border. And soon as came the pleasant spring, The singing birds built in it, The blackbird and the throstle-cock, The woodlark and the linnet. We cannot go over the catalogue of its beauties, but we may select a few. A lilac tree and a guelder-rose, A broom and a tiger-lily, The true white daffodilly. I had marigolds and jilliflowers, And pinks, all pinks exceeding, I'd a noble root of love-in-a-mist, And plenty of love-lies-bleeding. I found far off in the pleasant fields, More flowers than I can mention; I found the English asphodel, And the spring and autumn gentian. I found the orchis, fly, and bee, I found within another wood For wherever there was a pleasant flower I set them in my garden beds, Those beds I loved so dearly,-Where I laboured after set of sun, And in summer mornings early. O, my pleasant, pleasant garden-plot! Oftimes I sat within my bower, Like a king in all his glory; Oftimes I read, and read for hours, Some pleasant wondrous story. I read of gardens in old times, I raised up visions in my brain, The noblest and the fairest ; But still I loved my garden best, And thought it far the rarest. Who can forbear to enrich the heart and fancy of every young person, with whom he may be connected with poetry like this? We shall not here cite more than one stanza from our special favourite, the "Wood-mouse." It is embued, like many of Mary Howitt's compositions, with the finest spirit of Wordsworth. I saw a little Wood-mouse once, Like Oberon in his hall, With the green, green moss beneath his feet, I saw him sit and his dinner eat, His dinner of chestnuts ripe and red, I wish you could have seen him there; To see the small thing God had made From the Humming-bird we quote this delici ous stanza : |