the Roman Catholic fuorusciti, ennobled by Joseph | habits repels a foreigner accustomed to more genial II., who admitted him to close intimacy; but manners as to a more genial climate. It is a curiknown less creditably by his daring spirit of gam- ous subject of speculation, to consider what might bling adventure at Spa, and other baths, and by a sanguinary duel with Count Dubarry, which gave him an unfortunate celebrity. The proposal for escape was communicated to the queen. It was shown that there was a strong probability of success. But though the plan promised safety, it involved the abandonment of her husband and children. The queen refused-she remained; and she remained to die. 46 This anecdote, which we give upon the most conclusive evidence, is fully supported by Madame Campan's authority :-"Les évasions étaient sans cesse proposées" (vol. ii., p. 103). “La reine se recevait des conseils et des mémoires de tout part" (p. 106). La reine se rendait souvent à mon appartement, pour y donner audience, loin des yeux qui épiaient ses moindres demarches" (vol. iii., p. 161). Similar cases must have occurred, similar offers must have been made, and necessarily made without the knowledge of Louis XVI. But are we justified on hearsay evidence of nightly visits to the queen, or of secret correspondence, to attribute to her a forgetfulness of her duties as a wife-and that in the case of a wife, who would not condescend to purchase her safety by abandoning her husband? have been the result if these two eminent states- 66 Lord Holland seems to have placed so unqualified and unreserved a confidence in the good faith and truthfulness of Talleyrand, that it almost amounted to credulity. Yet, at the very moment when he so declares his trust, he couples it with statements or admissions, which suggest grave reasons for doubt. My general and long observation of Talleyrand's veracity in great and small To some persons the honor of Marie Antoinette matters makes me confident," he observes, (p. 37,) may appear as stale and unprofitable a subject of" that his relation is correct. He adds, however, inquiry as the "scandal against Queen Elizabeth." 'He may, as much or more than other diplomats, We see the matter in a more serious light; and, suppress what is true; I am quite satisfied he never independently of the general principles of truth and actually says what is false, though he may occajustice, which are at issue, we feel that we are not sionally imply it." Less satisfactory evidence to so far removed from the events of the French revo- support personal credit we have seldom heard. lution, or so entirely disengaged from their mighty influences, as to render it indifferent and immaterial to guard against any mistake respecting the causes which produced or accelerated that social earthquake. Talleyrand occupies a considerable share in these pages. This might have been expected, both from his position and from the intimacy existing between him and Lord Holland-an intimacy assuredly not founded on any similarity of mind or character. On the contrary, the marked contrast between the polished astuteness of the French diplomatist and the frankness of the English statesman, must have made each an entertaining study to the other. The same contrast was whimsically exhibited in their personal appearance. The half-closed, but always sly and observant eye, the features cold and impassive, as if cut in stone, the "physiognomie qui avait quelque chose de gracieux qui captivait, mais de malicieux qui effrayait," (Mignet, Discours à l'Académie, vol. i., p. 110,) bespoke the subtlest of all contemporary politicians, and was the very opposite of the open and generous countenance of Lord Holland. It appears that Talleyrand and Mr. Pitt were associates at Rheims after the peace of 1782. The one was acting as aumonier to his uncle, the archbishop; the other was at the time a student of the French language. How little could either party have foreseen the future destination of his companion! Talleyrand appears to have felt, with some bitterness, that subsequently, and more especially during his mission to England in 1794, Mr. Pitt never marked, by any personal attention, the slightest recollection of the intimacy previously existing. We believe that this is far from being a solitary case. The cold and foggy atmosphere of our 66 My friend is preeminently veracious," deposes the witness, called to character, "except that he may, perhaps, more than others of his craft, suppress the truth, and imply a falsehood." Nor does our mistrust rest solely on this admission. Lord Holland gives especial instances which are not without their significance. In describing the reports and papers (more especially that on Education) to which Talleyrand owed much of his early celebrity, Lord Holland informs us, that "they may be suspected of being the work of other men" (p. 36). In like manner, we are told that it was just possible that the merit of a bon môt not his own," might have made it somewhat tempting to Talleyrand to own it" (p. 6). These matters may be passed over, perhaps, as trivial. Lord Holland, however, goes further. He informs us that, at Erfurt, "Talleyrand, from a questionable preference of the interests of peace to the official duties of his confidential station, ventured secretly to apprise the Emperor of Russia that the object of the interview was to engage him in a war with Austria; and he even went so far as to advise him to avoid going to Erfurt; or, if he did go, to resist the instances of Napoleon to make war" (p. 172). It is hardly possible to conceive more unprincipled treachery committed by a minister of state towards the sovereign he served, and to whom, whilst in his service, he was bound by every tie of honor and obligation. Had the diplomatist gone no further than to display at once his powers of tact and of flattery by his whisper to Alexander, when the two emperors were about to enter their carriages, returning to their respective dominions, "Ah! si vôtre majesté pouvait se tromper de voiture," we might have forgiven the characteristic bon môt. But calmly and deliberately to betray the master he served, would, even if the case stood alone, deprive | how skilfully an adroit thief contrives to carry off Talleyrand of all claim on the confidence of man- the watches and purses of the incautious, whilst kind. It is far from standing alone. putting the owners off their guard by marked attention and demonstrations of respect. In respect to that passage in Talleyrand's life, which is generally referred to as the strongest The best defence we have seen offered for the proof of his faithfulness-namely, his ultimate political perfidy of Talleyrand is the following adoption of the cause of the Bourbons-Lord Hol- extract, taken from his Eloge by Mignet, as proland gives us a most curious illustration of the nounced at the Academy:-"Quand on n'a eu influence of accidental circumstances, not only on the qu'une opinion, quand on n'a été l'homme que d'une destinies of men, but of nations. After the nego- seule cause, le jour où cette cause succombe on se tiations at Chatillon, we are informed that Talley- tient à l'écart, et on s'enveloppe dans son deul; rand and the Duke Dalberg were both desirous to mais lorsqu'ayant traversé de nombreuses révolulearn what conditions Austria would impose on tions on considère les gouvernemens comme des France, if France were to agree to abandon and formes ephémères d'autorité, lorsqu'on a pris l'habdethrone Napoleon. They employed, for this pur-itude de ne les admettre qu'antant qu'ils savant se pose, M. de Vitrolles, whom they little suspected conserver, on se jette au milieu des évênemens, of being, at the time, a secret agent of Monsieur and the Bourbons. This emissary was furnished with a ring, or some secret sign, to ensure him credit with Prince Metternich. Vitrolles, exceeding his instructions, but relying on his secret credentials, assured the Allies that Talleyrand and others had formed their plot, and were determined to restore the Bourbons; and that they were awaiting a declaration in favor of the exiled family. On the arrival of the armies, the Allies were surprised to find that no such plot existed, and Talleyrand no less so that his name had been Whatever may be the opinion formed of Talleyinstrumental in restoring the Bourbons. He was, rand as a statesman, in one judgment all must however, too quick-sighted not to make a virtue of agree. We doubt whether any one in our times necessity. The restoration was inevitable; he was ever excelled him in the peculiar wit of which he too adroit not to father the spurious child unexpect- was the great master. He combined at once the edly sworn to him by the prostitute who had con-point of Martial with the condensed sententiousness ceived it." (P. 299.) It is true that by this account, M. de Vitrolles is shown to have well merited the epithet applied to him. But what was Talleyrand? We are inclined to say, "Il y en a deux." pour en tirer le meilleur parti." (Mignet, Discours, vol. i., p. 141.) Considering that the French historian has in this passage well described the French statesman, we are not surprised to find, even in his éloge, the following judgment pronounced upon Talleyrand :-" Dès sa jeunesse l'ambition lui ayant été offerte comme perspective, et laissée comme ressource, il s'habitua à subordonner la rêgle morale à l'utilité politique. Il se dirigea surtout d'après les calculs de son esprit." (Vol.i., p. 158.) man. of Tacitus, and a grace and delicacy peculiar to the countrymen of Fontenelle. Lord Holland truly says that his bon môts were, for forty or fifty years, more repeated and admired than those of any living "The reason was obvious. Few men utWe have dwelt upon the degree of credit due to tered so many, and yet fewer any equally good. the testimony of Talleyrand, not only because Lord By a happy combination of neatness in language Holland informs us that he relies almost implicitly and ease and suavity of manner, his sarcasms asupon him-as it was "from his authority that he sumed a garb at once so courtly and so careless, derived much of the little knowledge he possessed that they often diverted as much as they could mortiof the leading characters in France before and after fy their immediate objects." (P. 40.) This, though the Revolution," (p. 34)—but for another and a true, seems to us scarcely to distinguish with far more important reason. The Prince Talley-precision the peculiarities of Talleyrand's wit. Its rand has left, for future publication, the memoirs of force and raciness were even more striking than its his own time. This fact is put beyond all doubt brilliancy. It was " weighty bullion" rather than by Lord Holland, in whose family circle parts of French wire." The wit of some who have been these memoirs were read. We can easily imagine the " engouement" " with which these revelations may hereafter be received, and the degree of credit they may derive from the author's name, his wit, and the mystery attending the appearance of a work long suppressed. It becomes, therefore, important to suggest reasons to prevent his evidence from passing above its true value. It appears somewhat more than possible that one who had successfully overreached his contemporaries, should feel a secret pleasure in the hope of making a dupe of posterity. He has said, indeed, and said with his accustomed wit, "De nos jours il n'est pas facile de tromper long tems. Il-y-a quelqu'un qui a plus d'esprit que Voltaire, plus d'esprit que Bonaparte, plus que chacun des ministres passés, presents, et à venir. C'est tout le monde." But this well-turned epigram is so far from creating or increasing our faith in its author, that we are inclined to believe that at the moment he uttered it he was contemplating with self-complacency the possibility of deceiving that very public before whose omniscience and infallibility he affected to bow down. We know from our police reports thought distinguished conversers resembles a flight of rockets, which rise and burst, and leave little behind but the falling stick and the smell of gunpowder. A second class exhibit their powers by writing in phosphorus-very brilliant, but very cold. A third class deal in electricity; draw sparks, or perhaps give a shock from a wellcharged jar, but the whole is artificially prepared, and the rustling of the glass against the silk betrays the previous arrangement. With Talleyrand all was effective and terse, and at the same time was thoroughly natural. Above all, his wit was argumentative, and when used in conversational warfare, it penetrated the most solid block like a red-hot shot, embedding itself in the timber, producing combustion, or, perhaps, firing the magazine. Talleyrand's wit exhibited all its characteristics, whether directed to political, to literary, or to social objects. Of this we have a happy example in his commentary on the complaint of deafness made by that vainest of all mortals, M. de Chateaubriand :-"Je comprends; depuis qu'on a cessé de parler de lui, il se croit sourd." Another reply of his is also given us by Lord Holland, and is equally striking. In answer to a silly than in gallantry. This, and his association with coxcomb, who was boasting of his mother's beauty the bloody crew of the Montagnards, might dispose in order to claim (" par droit de naissance") simi- of his public and private character. lar personal attractions for himself, Talleyrand answered, "C'était donc M. vôtre père, qui n'etait pas si bien." We wish that Lord Holland, who possessed more opportunities than any other man for collecting and stringing these conversational pearls, had been more diligent in so agreeable ation to connect itself with him, were a portion of vocation. We may add two anecdotes from memory, which we are not quite certain to have seen in print. The name of a man of rank in France, who, before the Restoration, had taken great pride in his relationship to Napoleon, being mentioned in society, some one present asked whether he was really a kinsman of the emperor? Autrefois, Oui; à present, Non!" was the significant reply. As an example to show how readily the same powers were applied to the lighter as well as the graver subjects of discussion, we give another anecdote, which originated in a London salon. An attractive lady of rank having made some ineffectual attempts to engage Talleyrand in conversation, as a last effort required his opinion of her gown. He opened his eyes, surveyed his handsome questioner from her bust to her ankles, and then examining the robe in question, observed, with entire gravity, "Madame, elle commence trop tard, et elle finit trop tôt." We must not omit one of the very best of his sayings, as preserved by Lord Holland in this volume. Having given up the intimacy of the distinguished daughter of Neckar for that of a certain Madame Grand, who neither possessed attractiveness of wit or of conversation, Talleyrand justified his change by observing, "Il faut avour aimé Madame de Staël, pour connaître tout le bonheur d'aimer une bête." Never were two mistresses so transfixed by one shaft. It did not come from Love's quiver. It is much to be regretted that so many of Talleyrand's happiest replies have been lost. They merit being preserved in a more appropriate depository than in the dialogue, however lively, of "Bertrand and Raton," or in the fugitive literature of the day. We are aware of what a delicate nature is wit. It bears transport as little as the precious Mangusteen, or those wines which lose their flavor if taken beyond their native vineyard. It loses much from want of its original entourage. It is essentially dramatic in its nature, and cannot be transmitted with effect through the coarse medium of printer's ink. This was, however, less the case with Talleyrand than with most others of the class; and from his political position, and the nature of the subjects with which he dealt, our loss is proportionally great. We know not whether it is to Talleyrand that we are to attribute Lord Holland's inclination to pronounce more favorably on the character of Egalité, than his contemporaries have done, whatever their shades of opinion. We are not informed on what grounds we can assume that "no man has been more calumniated than the Duke of Orleans, or will be more misrepresented to posterity." (P. 21.) Lord Holland admits that " his habits were far from respectable." This is surely taking us a likeness in miniature. M. Thiers is bolder; he describes Egalité as "livré aux mauvaises mœurs, il avait abusé de tous les dons de la nature et de la fortune." A man who would select Laclos as secretary to vouch for his morals, and Danton as a pledge for his politics, gave evidence that "les Liaisons dangereuses" might exist in other matters Lord Holland admits, that there is reason to suspect that the persons interested in keeping up the influence of the Duke of Orleans were agents in the revolutions of the 10th August and 2d September, 1792; and that the only party which showed the least disposithose to whose language and manoeuvres the horrors of that last day are mainly attributed.” (P. 29.) This, surely, is conclusive. We cannot for one moment accept, in palliation of his vote condemning Louis XVI. to death, the suggestion that he could not have saved the king by voting against his death, but that he, more than any one else in the Assembly, would have accelerated his own death by so doing." (P. 32.) This plea involves a principle which would justify weakness and crime in almost all cases. We need only look to the procès verbal of the Assembly, to see that his vote, whatever might have been its unworthy motive, created a sensation of horror, even in the Assembly itself. He voted twice. First against the appeal to the people, which was proposed with a view of giving to the unfortunate king one additional chance of escape. The second vote was for his death-the most wanton and savage act even of revolutionary times. In both cases his vote was motivé, and characteristic of all his base selfishness. The record informs us, that, in voting against the appeal, he said, "Je ne m'occupe que de mon devoir. Je dis, Non." He spoke more fully still in favor of death :-" Uniquement occupé de mon devoir, convaincu que tous ceux qui ont attenté ou attenteront par la suite à la souverainté du peuple, méritent la mort-je vote pour la mort." Is it wonderful that this should have been followed by a "sourd murmure?" (Hist. Parl., vol. xxiii., p. 144.) The justification of his treason, suggested by Lord Holland, is likewise sanctioned by the observations of M. Thiers on the trial and execution of the Duke of Orleans. "Obligé de se rendre supportable aux Jacobins ou de périr, le duc prononça la mort de son parent, et retourna à sa place au milieu de l'agitation causée par son vote. ** Le plus profond et le plus volontaire abaissement ne pouvait ni calmer les défiances ni conjurer l'échaffaud." (Thiers, vol. ii., p. 357.) Lord Holland does not profess much acquaintance with the northern or the German courts. He does full credit, however, to the character of the great Count Bernstorff, and forcibly describes that steady moderation which enabled him to continue strong in consistency, and which protected him from the necessity of adopting, like so many other contemporaneous statesmen, that "pliancy of principle, for which history will withhold from their excesses in prosperity, the honorable excuse of fanaticism, and from their sufferings in adversity, the grace and dignity of martyrdom." (P. 56.) Under his wise administration Denmark prospered, and Lord Holland is fully justified in stating, that "the commerce and agriculture of the country advanced, the people were relieved from feudal burthens which oppressed them; tranquillity was preserved, justice purely administered, and the foreign policy conducted in a manner creditable and even glorious." (P. 53.) This is the more remarkable when it is considered that at this time the king was in a state of childishness approaching to insanity. Papers requiring the sign manual were laid before him rather as a medical prescription, to occupy his mind, than as a function of royalty. Meantime, so jealous was he of his own rights, that finding a paper had been | putas." (P. 73.) This seems well-founded on signed by the crown prince in anticipation, and Spanish royal experience, for we find little in the before it had been submitted for his own signature, social state and individual characters painted by on the next occasion when called on for the sign Lord Holland, at variance with this sweeping demanual," to the surprise and consternation of the nunciation. Nor was this corruption confined to courtiers, he signed as Christian & Co.; observing the private life of the great. Its influence extended that though once the sole proprietor of the firm, as to affairs of state; and ministers seem to have been he now discovered that he was reduced to be a chosen on the same grounds on which we are inpartner only, he wished to save his associates the formed by Juvenal that bequests were made in trouble of adding their names." (P. 51.) At Paris, Imperial Rome. Hence the most stupendous where it was the fashion to undervalue the intelli- ignorance is exhibited even by ministers of some gence of the Scandinavian race, it had been once natural shrewdness of capacity. Lord Holland reported, with witty malice, that a Danish traveller, assures us, on conclusive authority, (P. 135,) that on being asked what was the cordon bleu of Den- in documents coming from the office of the Prince mark, answered, "Monsieur, le Saint Esprit du of the Peace, then foreign minister, the Hanseatic roi mon maître, est un Elephant," alluding to the towns, Villas Hanseaticas, were often designated first order of Danish knighthood. An anecdote Islas Asiaticas. He adds, that he was assured that given us by Lord Holland serves to prove that even the same Godoy was for some time at the head of in the case of their sovereign, Frederick VI., as the foreign affairs before he discovered Prussia and well as in that of Christian, the spirit of wit might Russia to be different countries, being led into this still occasionally inspire the heavy animals of the mistake by an economical arrangement, which_inBaltic. The partition of the States of Europe was duced the two courts to club for an ambassador. regulated at the Congress of Vienna by the number Yet, with these disqualifications, Godoy continued of souls" or inhabitants within the ceded States. the ruler of Spain for years. Though ignorant of The King of Denmark, as we know, was no gainer many things, he was so far conscious of his own by these changes. On taking his leave at Vienna, deficiencies as at times to select his instruments of the emperor assured him kindly of the universal government with discretion. To him Jovellanos regard and respect which he had acquired. "Pen- and Saavedra, both considerable men, owed their dant vôtre séjour ici vôtre Majesté a gagné tous les first elevation. Lord Holland, on the whole, cœurs. "Mais pas une seule âme,' was the seems to have considered Godoy friendly to Engready but reproachful rejoinder. We should have land, having entered into office on anti-Gallican wished to have heard more of the Danes. We principles. But constancy and good faith were not have ever felt a respect for these "English of the the attributes of his time or class. When promoted North," as they are called; a title which we feel to the rank of prince, a right was conferred on him more than ever willing to concede to them at a time by patent to bear before him, on all solemnities, a when there can be no question concerning their golden image of Janus; and this "santo Iddio a patriotism and courage, whatever difference of due faccie" was not an inapt emblem of his policy opinion may exist between diplomatists and the and that of too many others of greater pretension. German people concerning the merits of the cause The ignorance of Godoy was at least equalled by in which these noble virtues have been exhibited. the coarseness of his royal master, Charles IV.,. The warm partiality which Lord Holland felt at who is justly described as "brutal, silly, and cred-all times for Spain and the Spaniards, is fully ulous," (P. 142.) On discovering the treachery of shown by the attention he has paid to the Court of his son Ferdinand, which amounted nearly to trea-Madrid, its princes, and its statesmen. This par- son, his dignified reply to the prince of the Asturias, tiality was natural in the biographer and critic of protestations of innocence was, "Tú mientes, Ferthe great dramatist of Castile; in one who had nando, tú mientes; y tú me lo pagarás, sí, Ferhimself not only gathered, but transplanted to our nando, tú me lo pagarás!" English soil some of the sweetest flowers of the The dismissal or retirement of Spanish ministers Vega. So disposed was he to praise all that was of state appears at times accompanied with forms Spanish, that we recollect well hearing him address unknown in our colder regions. The disgraced to a French military diplomatist an energetic pane-minister is said to be "jubilado," or regaled," gyric on the prowess of the Spanish armies. When as Lord Holland translates it. We know not defeated in his argument, as his friends had been whether Mr. Fox would have applied the term in their battles, Lord Holland closed by saying, "jubilado" to his dismissal in 1783, or Lord Sid"At least you must confess that no troops in mouth to his overthrow in 1804. Nor do we beEurope can make such marches as the Spaniards." lieve that the latter, however orthodox, would have "True," replied the Frenchman, " provided they felt his resignation more palatable if, like Jovellaare marching in retreat." This reply was conclu- nos, he had been placed in strict ecclesiastical sive, and the conversation dropped. custody, and been condemned to study his catechism daily. (P. 106.) 66 Undisguised as was Lord Holland's partiality, he could not, however, create patriots, heroes, or It is interesting, and in some respects instructive,. philosophers out of the materials before him in the to find how often in these pages proofs recur of the Spanish Royal Collection. We may be assured, barbarous policy of our Roman Catholic penal code. indeed, by our guide, that we are under the gilded "Every one conversant with the modern military roofs of Madrid or Aranjuez. But the manners and history of Spain," observes Lord Holland, "or morals to which we are introduced seem below with good society in that country, cannot but be those of the most wretched Venta, and the food to struck with the large proportion of their eminent which we are condemned is an olla, in which rancid officers who were either born or descended from oil and garlic predominate. The judgment on the those who were born in Ireland." (P. 79.) female character passed by Charles III., in reply "O'Reilly, who rejected all the offers of Marshal to the confiding simplicity of his son, is better given Laudon, made to him when prisoner of war, to inin the original language than in our own—“ Carlos, duce him to engage in the imperial service, (p. Carlos, que tonto que eres. Todas, si todas, son | 79,) had been a young Irish adventurer." O'Far rel is classed by Lord Holland as one of the leaders | eighteen months in an unwholesome prison at of the enlightened party which proposed to itself, Madrid; after his subsequent imprisonment in an by providing against political abuses, to raise Spain African fortress-he sought and found an asylum in the rank of European States. in a country where his "consistency of principle, firmness of spirit, and austerity of virtue in public and in private," were justly appreciated. In this country we have reason to know that the great commander towards whom, in the palmy days of political triumph, Arguelles had expressed jealousy and mistrust, had opportunities, of which he availed himself, of marking his discriminating kindness to the political exile, and in contributing to his happiness and contentment. Blake, though admitting his "mala estrella," is considered by Lord Holland an accomplished soldier, and as exercising great influence over his troops. (P. 155.) His military work was praised by General Foy-no mean authority. Blake's wife took refuge at Plymouth after the capture of Coruña. "She considered herself neglected by our government, which confirmed all the jealousy against England which her husband derived from his Irish origin." Of O'Donnel (Abishal) Lord Holland speaks less favorably: "He retained more of the nation from which he sprang, than of that in which he was born and educated to arms. He showed greater talent, and had more success, than all the other Spanish generals; but he was unsteady, intemperate, and unreasonable, and regardless of truth and character." (P. 159.) This notice of some of the great and noble Spaniards would be indeed incomplete if all mention were omitted of one as well known and deservedly valued in our home circles as he had been in our battle fields. The nobler characteristics of the Spanish race were never more appropriately represented than by Alava. The friend and associate of Wellington, he was worthy of that high It would, however, be most unjust if, from what distinction. He appreciated it, as much as he did we have written and extracted, we were understood his name of Spaniard. He spoke of his great to suggest or to countenance the supposition that commander with a devoted tenderness which seemed Spain, at the period described by Lord Holland, only next to the love he bore his country, and his did not produce, or that it does not now contain, young queen. Lord Holland was well qualified to men of those noble and manly endowments, and of appreciate his character, which, as he describes it, that chivalrous sense of honor and patriotism, which and as we recollect it, in many points resembled form the genuine Castilian. We hope and believe his own. "Alava," he tells us, (p. 159,)" was that such men do exist at present. That there impetuous in temper, and heedless in conversation; were many such in the times described by Lord but yet so honest, so natural, so cheerful, and so Holland is proved by the pages before us. Of affectionate, that the most reserved man could these Melchor de Jovellanos was a bright example; scarcely have given less offence than he who comand we feel great pleasure in extracting Lord Hol- manded the respect of so many by his intrepid land's description of his character, which is not openness and sincerity." We may add two aneconly interesting in itself, but affords a good speci- dotes of Alava, which are highly characteristic, men of Lord Holland's style :-"Jovellanos dis- and which will, to most of our readers, be new. tinguished himself at an early period of life by his Sitting at table near a member of Lord Grey's literary productions in verse and prose, his taste government, and heartily expressing his approval in the arts, and his extensive knowledge in all of a branch of policy then under discussion, he sudbranches of political economy. Great as were his denly turned round and exclaimed, with all the veintellectual endowments, his moral qualities were hemence of the South, "But you must not think I in unison with them. The purity of his taste was can ever prefer this government to the Duke of of a piece with that of his mind; and the correct- Wellington-it is he whom I love!" At a later ness of his language a picture of his well regulated period, when about to take leave of England, he life. In the persuasive smoothness of his elo- visited a private family, where he had been received quence, and the mild dignity of his demeanor, one in the most familiar intimacy. For one of the seemed to read the serenity of his temper and the young ladies of that family the old soldier and minelevation of his character." (Pp. 90, 91.) Yet ister had always manifested an affectionate and this man was condemned to the dungeons of parental regard. He took leave with emotion. Majorca ! Returning from the door to repeat his farewell, he, for the last time, addressed his favorite:-"You are good, you are young; your prayers will be heard; let me entreat you, for my sake, when you kneel to God, never forget a prayer for my queen.' But we must close this subject, and pass to the last which calls for our attention. Another distinguished man was, like Jovellanos, a native of the Asturias. Augustin Arguelles was an early visitor to England; he had acquired a knowledge of our language and literature, very uncommon among the natives of the Peninsula; yet he was jealous of our country, of its foreign policy, and even of our great captain, to whom Spain owed its deliverance. His unblemished integrity and rare disinterestedness were exhibited to the very close of his life, when, as we believe, he declined receiving the large income allotted to the high office which he filled near the present Queen of Spain during her minority. He had to sustain severe trials both of prosperity and of misfortune; and perhaps it was to the former he yielded, and fell a victim. He was tempted by the intoxication of popular applause, and he did not always use for the best purposes the almost unlimited ascendancy granted to him in the Cortes. The proceedings of that body were often unwise, and sometimes unjust. But after Arguelles had undergone the cruelties inflicted by Ferdinand; after a confinement of In the earlier part of this article, we noticed two particularities which, though they add to the force and graphic interest of Lord Holland's Reminiscences, have a tendency to impair that calmness and impartiality which are indispensable requisites in a historian. We pointed out his irrepressible, but somewhat indiscriminating, sympathy for misfortune; and his readiness to receive with undue favor all evidence tendered on behalf of the cause, or the persons, who interested his feelings. Both these influences seem to have been brought into play in dealing with the character of Napoleon. We do not believe that Lord Holland would himself have denied that this portion of his work was so far written with a bias, that his inclination was to convey a favorable impression of one whom he |