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we should have asked his leave to reprint the whole of them without mutilation or comment,—and as it is, he must just be contented with this apology; that we were anxious to place what he has done under the eyes of many who could have no chance of seeing the pamphlet itself. We feel in the lofty character, and universal estimation, of the present Chancellor, all the interest which reverence can inspire: and—seeing him thoroughly, and effectually, and unanswerably, vindicated from a long sequence of elaborate calumnies, the object of which was to attack not merely the judge and the minister, but the honest man and the enlightened gentleman-we thought it our duty to enable all our readers, and more especially those who reside at a great distance from the only mart of pamphlets, to partake our gratification and our triumph.

For the rest, we should hope that the present publication may be received as a salutary warning by Mr Brougham himself, and by certain minor spirits, who, without anything of Mr Brougham's talents, are so fond of aping Mr Brougham's insolence.

As for the editor of the Edinburgh Review, the next time he admits an attack, openly stigmatizing the Conduct, and casting out suspicious hints, (to say the least of it,) as to the мoTIVES of the Chancellor, he ought to remember, that he subjects his London publisher to the risk of a punishment very different from that of a refused injunction. And the sovereign scorn or indifference with which the Chancellor has refrained, on all similar occasions, from exercising the severe power, both coercive and punitory, which the law really has placed in his hands, for the enforcement of the respect due to that high tribunal, ought certainly to make all those blush who have insinuated against him, like this rash, and ignorant, and malevolent reviewer, the charges, most alien to his nature, of political vindictiveness and judicial intolerance.

always exist, and there will always be found persons willing, for an adequate remuneration, to employ themselves in supplying, exciting, and propagating, this depraved appetite. By taking away the prospect of gain, they are diverted to some more honourable course. It is impossible to say to what extent this may already have operated. It is often seen, that the appearance of an highly successful work, by stimulating crowds of imitators, gives a new direction to the literature of the day. If such had been the consequence of some of the publications, to which the principle in question has lately been applied, it is certain that public morals and taste would have experienced a serious shock. We see the application of the law to those individual works, but we cannot know how many aspirants after the rewards and distinc

tions of literature, would, if the law had not deterred them, have adopted the same tone, and echoed the same sentiments, varying only the style and form, so as to adapt their writings to the tastes and capacities of every class. The more adventurous would probably have struck out some new, and yet unknown line of licentious composition; they, in their turn, would have had their followers and imitators, and no one can say how far the extension of profligacy might have attested the success of their labours.

"The loss which may possibly be suffered by the author of a work, not of a criminal nature, is another popular ground of objection to the law on this subject. If it be meant by those who adopt it, that this law may be erroneously applied to productions which are clearly harmless, it can only be said that such objections apply equally to all human laws, for they are all open to maladministration. When such instances occur, the judge, and not the law, is in fault. But if it be said, that when a work, really within the rule,a work, the propriety and innocence of which are by no means clear, may eventually be found capable of supporting an action, and that the author may then have been injured by the denial of an injunction in the meantime, the answer is, that while his case was uncertain, he had no right to such relief. The extent of his sufWeshall conclude with one more quo-fering is, that he must have recourse to an actation. The same things have in effect been said before often enough; but they are things that cannot be said too often, nor considered too seriously— and they never will be said better than by our author.

"In an artificial state of society, a large demand for vicious excitement will

tion, the only remedy which the law gives for the generality of wrongs. His success in that proceeding will of course be followed by ample damages, measured, not merely by the loss he has suffered, but by the indignation naturally excited by the defendant's conduct. It is true, that the latter may, perhaps, be unable to pay; and this is the only contin

gency by which, in such cases, the author can ultimately be a loser. It is, however, a misfortune not peculiar to his case. Every one is liable to be injured by persons incapable of making compensation. Poverty and insolvency are evils which it is not in the power of the law to cure.

"It is satisfactory that there is no reason for supposing any loss of this kind to have been sustained in the cases which have hitherto occurred. In the two first of them, the plaintiffs have themselves acquiesced in the decision. They have not thought fit to have recourse to actions, either with a view to damages, to secure the future sale, or to relieve their feelings from the wounds which the doubts of the Lord Chancellor are said to inflict in cases of this sort: No appeal has been made from his judgments to a jury. The third case has only lately occurred, and, as some further proceedings may perhaps be taken, we shall suppress the reflections it suggests. In the instances in which the piracy has been quietly submitted to, the parties who have not thought their cases fit to be laid before a Chancellor or a jury, can scarcely complain of the law having been improperly applied against

them.

"But, granting that some loss should occasionally be thus incurred, it is one, the danger of which has been voluntarily encountered, and which will seldom fall on persons peculiarly deserving of sympathy. When Wilkes was asked by a foreigner, how far the law of England would permit libel and sedition to be carried, he is said to have replied that he did not yet know, but that he was trying to ascertain it experimentally. The same spirit still actuates some; they make it their business to achieve all the mischiefs of which the press can be made the instrument, while studying to evade the punishment due to their intentions. Such persons may now and then experience from this rule a short interruption of their profits, but it can scarcely be thought desirable that OUR LAWS should be altered to suit THEIR VIEWS, and to give increased encouragement to THEIR PURSUITS.

We have no notion who the author of this admirable tract is; but we can scarcely suppose that the talents he has displayed, leave a wide field for speculation as to this, among the professional circles of London.

PANACEAS FOR POVERTY. "I like not the humour of bread and cheese."

FROM the days of Job, downwards, COMFORTERS (to me) have always seemed the most impertinent set of people upon earth. For you may see, nine times in ten, that they actually gratify themselves in what they call consoling" their neighbours; and go away in an improved satisfaction with their own condition, after philosophizing for an hour and a half upon the disadvantages of yours.

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There are several different families of these benevolent characters abroad; and each set rubs sore places in a manner peculiar to itself.

First and foremost, there are those who go, in detail, through the history of your calamity, shewing (as the case may be) either how completely you have been outwitted, or how exceedingly ill or absurdly you have conducted yourself-and so leave you with their good wishes," and an invitation to 66 come and dine, when your troubles are over."

Next, there are those, a set, I think, still more intolerable, who press the VOL. XIV.

SHAKESPEARE.

necessity of your resolving immediately upon " something ;" and forthwith declare in favour of that particular measure, which, of all the pis allers of your estate, is the most perfectly detestable.

Thirdly come the "whoreson caterpillars," who are what people call "well to do" in the world; and especially those who have become so (as they believe) by their own good conduct. These are very particularly vile dogs indeed! I recollect one such(he was an opulent cheese-monger,) who had been porter in the same shop which he afterwards kept, and had come to town, as he used to boast, without cash enough to buy a night's lodging on his arrival.

This man had neither love nor pity for any human being. He met every complaint of distress with a history of his own fortunes. No living creature, as he took it, could reasonably be poor, so long as there were birch brooms or watering-pots in the world. He would tell those who asked for 4 L

work, that" idleness was the root of all evil;" prove to people" that a penny was the seed of a guinea," who were without a farthing in the world; and argue all day, with a man who had nothing, to shew that "out of a little, a little might be put by."

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Fourthly, and in the rear, march those most provoking ruffians of all, who uphold the prudence of always 'putting the best face" (as they term it) upon an affair. And these will cure your broken leg by setting it off against somebody else's hump back, and so soundly demonstrate that you have nothing to complain of; or admit, perhaps, (for the sake of variety) the fact that you are naked; and proceed to devise stratagems how you shall be contented to remain so.

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And it is amazing what a number of (mad upon that particular point,) but otherwise reasonable and respectable persons, have amused themselves by proving, that The Poor have an enviable condition. The poor "Poor!" They seem really to have been set up as a sort of target for ingenuity to try its hand upon; and, from Papin, the Bone Digester, down to Cobbett, the Bone Grubber,-from 'Wesley, who made cheap physic, and added to every prescription a quart of cold water, to Hunt who sells roasted wheat (vice coffee) five hundred per cent above its cost-an absolute army of projectors and old women has, from time to time, been popping at them. High among these philosophers, indeed I might almost say at the head of them, stands the author of a tract called, "A Way to save Wealth;" which was published (I think) about the year 1640, to shew how a man might thrive upon an allowance of TWOPENCE per day.

The observations prefatory to the promulgation of this inestimable secret, are worthy of everybody's-that is every poor body's attention.

First, the writer touches, generally, upon the advantage of "thin, spare diet;"-exposing how all beyond is

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mere pitiable luxury ;"- -enumerating the diseases consequent upon high living; and pointing out the criminal acts and passions to which it leads ;evidently demonstrating, indeed, to the meanest capacity, that no man can possibly eat goose, and go to Heaven.

Shortly after, he takes the question up upon a broader ground; and examines it as one of mere worldly policy,

and of mere convenience.-"The man who eats flesh, has need of other things (vegetables) to eat with it; but that necessity is not felt by him who eats vegetables only."-If Leadenhall market could stand against that, I am mistaken.

The recipes for cheap dishes will no doubt (when known,) come into general practice; so they shall be given in the Saver of Wealth's own words.Here is one-(probably) for a Christmas dinner.

"Take two spoonfuls of oatmeal; put it into two quarts of cold water, then stir it over the fire until it boils, and put in a little salt and an onion. And this," continues our Economist, -"this does not cost above a farthing; and is a noble, exhilarating meal !”. For drink, he afterwards recommends the same dish, (unboiled ;)—and no form of regimen, it must be admitted, can be more simple, or conveni

ent.

Now this man was, certainly, (as the phrase is,) "something like" a projector in his way. And it seems probable that he met with encouragement; for, passing the necessities, he goes on to treat upon the elegancies of life.

Take his recipe for instance, next,"For dressing (cleaning) a hat." "Smear a little soap on the places of your hat which are felthy, and rub it with some hot water and a hard brush. Then scrape it with the back of a knife, what felth sticks; and it will bring both grease and soap out."-The book of this author is scarce ;-I suspect the hatters bought it up to prevent this secret from being known.

Only one more recipe-and really it is one worthy to be written in letters of gold;-worthy to stand beside that never-to-be-forgotten suggestion of Mrs Rundell's-(she who now in the kitchen of the gods roasts !—that

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roasts," in a proper sense, not is roasted,)-her immortal direction to prevent the creaking of a door,-" Rub a bit of soap on the hinges !"-This it is.

"To make your teeth white."

"Take a little brick dust on a towel, and rub them."-The mechanical action, (the reader sees) not the chemical; but potent notwithstanding.

But Mrs Rundell deserves better than to be quoted, in aid, on an occasion like this; nay, merits herself to

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take rank, and high rank, among our public benefactors. Marry, I say, that the thing is so, and shall be so: for, even amidst all the press and crowd of her moral and culinary precepts,even while she stands already, as a man may say, "in double trust,' teaching us good life in one page, and good living in another; here, holding up her ladle against "excessive luxury," such as Essence of Ham" -(praised be her thick duodecimo, but for which the world had never known that there was such a perfume ;) and, presently, pointing out the im"portance, and weeping over the rarity of such "creature comforts" as strong coffee, and smooth melted butter ;ever and anon, even amid all these complicated interests, the kind lady finds room to edge in a thought or two about the poor.

Pour echantillon,

"The cook should be charged," says Mrs R., " to save the boiling of every piece of meat or ham, however salt; the pieces of meat which come from the table on the plates; and the bones made by the family." "What a relief," adds she, "to the labouring husband, to have a warm, comfortable meal!"-The rind of a ham, for instance, after Mrs R. had extracted the "Essence?"

And again she goes on.-" Did the cook really enter into this, (the love of her fellow creatures ;) she would never wash away as useless the peas, or groats, of which soup, or gruel, have been made ;-broken potatoes ;-the outer leaves of lettuce ;-the necks and feet of fowls," &c.; "which make a delicious meat soup, especially for the sick." (Sure, people would be falling sick, on purpose to eat it!)

The sick soup essay concluding with a farther direction to the cook, not to take the fut off the broth, " as the poor like it, and are nourished by it!" and with a calculation which, if we know anything of the mathematics, might make Demoivre himself look to his laurels ;-"Ten gallons of this soup," concludes Mrs R., " from ten houses, would be a hundred gallons; and that, divided among forty families, would be two gallons and a half to each family."

Tam Marti quam Mercurio! And done with chalk upon a milk tally, ten to one else!-Tam Cocker quam

Kitchener! And this lady is dead! It almost makes us waver in our faith!

Turn sour ye casks of table beer,
Ye steaks, forget to fry;
Why is it you are let stay here,
And Mrs Rundell die ?

But whims, (if they happen to take hold at all,) take the strongest hold commonly upon strong understandings.

Count Rumford, though an ingenious man, had a touch of this bon chere a' peu d'argent disease; and his Essays afford some pleasant illustrations of the slashing style in which men construct theories, when the practice is to fall upon their neighbours.

After exhausting himself upon the smoky chimnies of the world, the Count strips to the next of its nuisances,— the beggars.

He was to feed the poor; (encore the Poor!) and the point was, of course, how to feed them at the cheapest rate.

"Water," then, he begins-(the cunning rogue!) "Water, I am inclined to suspect, acts a much more important part in nutrition, than has been generally supposed." This was a good active hobby to start upon; and, truly, his Countship, in the sequel, does outride all the field.

First, he sets out an admirable table, at which he dines TWELVE HUNDRED persons, all expenses included, for the very reasonable cost of one pound fifteen shillings English.

But this (which was three dinners for a penny) was nothing; and, in a trice, the Count, going on with his reductions, brings down the meal for twelve hundred, to one pound seven shillings. And, here, he beats our Saver of Wealth (the contractor at twopence a day) hollow; because, with his dinner found for a farthing, a man must be an example of debaucherya mere rascal-to think of getting through such a sum as twopence a-day; out of which, indeed, he might well put by a provision for himself and his wife, in old age; and fortunes for two or three of his younger children.

The Count's running commentary upon these evolutions, too, is a chef d'œuvre in the art of reasoning. At one time, it seems, he dieted his flock, partly upon bread begged publicly in charity, and partly upon meat which was the remnant of the markets. Even out of evil the wise man shall bring

with it. Such a turmoil as to what the poor shall eat! I say, there are plenty of them-let them eat one another.

good. The charity bread was found extremely dry and hard; "but, therefore," says the Count, 66 we found it answer better than any other; because it made mastication necessary, and so prolonged the enjoyment of eating." As for the meat, he soon finds that an article quite unnecessary, and actually omits it altogether in the people's soup, without the fact being discovered! But the crowning feature of all, (and there I leave Count Rumford,) is the experiment which he makes in eating (to be quite certain) upon himself; arguing upon the nutritious and stomach-satisfying qualities of a particular "cheap" dish, he puts the thing to issue-thus:

"I took my coffee and cream, with my dry toast, one morning" (hour not given)" at breakfast, and ate nothing between that and four o'clock. I then ate," [the particular dish, I believe, however, it was a three farthing one, "and found myself perfectly refreshed." And so the Count finishes his dissertation upon food, by declaring the Chinese! to be the best cooks in the world.

Now, I confess that (at first sight) there would seem to be something accomplished here. No doubt, if our labourers would eat farthing dinners, and get rid of that villainous propensity which they have to beaf-steaks, their savings," and consequent acquisition of property, would be immense. But does the Count not perceive, and did it never strike his coadjutors, that, if this system were acted upon, all the poor would become rich? when they would be an incomparably greater nuisance than they are in their present condition. I grant the existing evil, but do not let us exchange it for a greater. The question is a difficult one, but there be minds that can cope

*

People must not be startled by the apparent novelty of this plan ;-those who can swallow Count Rumford's dinners, may, I am sure, swallow anything. I have examined the scheme, which I propose narrowly, and (prejudice apart) can see no possible objection to it. It is well known, that rats and mice take the same mode which I hint at, to thin their superabundant population; and what are the poor, but mice in the cheese of society? Let the public listen only to this suggestion, and they will find that it ends all difficulty at once. I grant that there might be some who would be ravenous, at first, upon their new diet; especially any who had been living upon Mrs Rundell's soup; but that is an evil which would correct itself; because, so admirably operative and perfect is the principle, the mouths would diminish in exact proportion with the meat. Upon my system, (and, I repeat, I can see no objection to it), the poor might go on pleasantly, reducing their numbers at their leisure, until one individual only, in a state of necessity, should be left; and if it were worth while to go on to niceties, I could provide even for him under my arrangement, by having him taught to jump down his own throat, like the clown, in" Harlequin Conjurer." Certain it is, we hear, on every side, that, if the poor go on increasing, they will soon eat up the rich; and, surely, if anybody is to be eaten by them, it ought, in fairness, to be themselves. And, moreover, as it is shrewdly suspected that too many of them are already eaten up with laziness, why, hang it, if they are to be eaten at all, let them be eaten to some purpose.

Compere Matthieu, I think, makes this remark somewhere, in a general defence of cannibalism. But my project does not go so far.

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