The Press. — London, England, 1853-09-03 00:00:00

" from intoxicating drinks has been long " broken in pieces, and the numbering of the " host has come down from millions to thou " sands, and from thousands to hundreds." lie thinks, however, that the influence of the movement has survived its organisation, and that it has left Ireland eomparatively a sober country ; that the &nativism in which it ori ginated has died out, but that a practical ex perience has been gained by individuals of the benefits of temperance which will not be lost upon society. We hope it may be so, but we are less sanguine. Doubtless Father Mathew's preaching has induced many people to practise abstinence who, under a less potent stimulus than that of religious excitement, would have remained whisky-drinkers to the end of their lives; and these, having learnt the advantages of the change, act by the force of example upon their neighbours. But them is another side to the picture. No ease is more hopeless, in a monad point of view, than that of the relapsed teeto taller—of the man who, having taken upon himself a solemn vow, falls away from it under the influence of temptation. His self-respect is gone. He can no longer trust his resolu tion, though confirmed by the strongest ties. lie lugs been taught that anything short of abstinence is intemperance; and it is both the logical and the natural result of this lesson that when he ceases to abstain altogether he ceases also to be temperate. In this respect, if in no other, the system of vows and pledges has been productive of ill effects. lint there is a good deal of force in Dr. Forbes's remark that teetotalism is "the only means of attain " ing the habits of temperance in the ease of " strong thinks among the great mass of man " kind in the present state of society." "All " attempts to establish systematically the " practice of perfect moderation in the use of " alcoholic drinks among the working classes " in this country have utterly and invariably " riffled ; while experience has proved the per " feet facility with which the system of total " abstinence when once adopted may be main " Wined." And we concur yet more warmly in an opinion which our author vindicates at some length, that the prevalence of drunken ness in these Wands is owing to the want of rational amusements and occupations for the poor. The etymology of the absurd nickname " teetotalism, —now, like many other nick names, adopted by its objects, is explained as being a mere reduplication oaf the initial letter—a mode of emphasising words which our author says is common among the Irish pea santry. We have never heard it, and doubt the solution. The education question is briefly but sugges tively discussed. 1)1.. Forbes places the total number Of children attending school iu Ireland at 530,000, of whom, in round numbers. tr).0,000 receive their teaching from the National Board of Education. This calculation—which we believe to be correct—gives. when compared with as total population of 6,500.000 in Iss I. a proportion of rather more than one in eight, which plaeem Ireland edueationally above Eng land, Scotland, and France, and only below some of the Germain States. Dr. Forbes ap proves thoroughly of the national system, but acknowledges that. in regard of the Protestant population, it does not work satisfactorily—a result which he ascribes to religious prejudice. The Irish poor-law administration meets with our itflthoTM hearty support. Very in- Wresting statistics are given by him on this subject. Ile proves that in the four years, ts4ll, both inclusive, relief, in-doors and out-of-doors, has l►een granted to six millions of persons, at nu average cost of about 1t.500.000/.. the average of weekly cost being only Is. 4d. per head, including expenses of clothing as well as of maintenance. The in dustrial training given in the unions he con siders good. but finds serious fault with the dietary, as defective, and tending to produce disease. On the religious question Pr. Forbes dwells frequently, and at some length. He doubts the prevalence or reality of conversions to Protestantism ; assumes that throughout three provinces of Ireland. Ulster being excluded. the Catholic population is to the Protestant in the proportion of twenty to one ; does not uuticipate any material chump in this respect either from the Celtic exodus, or the English immigration which supplies its place; and quotes Sir It. Peel's opinion, expressed in Par liament when endowing Maynooth in '45, " that, do what we would, the Catholic religion " would continue to be the religion of millions "in Ireland." He is accordingly in favour of religious equality, but does not see his way very clearly to establish it. Voluntaryism be dislikes, as tending to lower the position and influence of the clerical profession ; and he would prefer a divided endowment, apparently not knowing, or choosing to ignore, the deep rooted aversion of the English electoral body to the establishment of "Popery," in any form It is but right to remark, that he discusses this whole subject, though with little novelty of argument, yet in a temperate and dis passionate manner. On the whole, we may pronounce that Dr. Forbes's work, if wanting in originality and compression, contains information enough, both in the shape of arguments and facts, to make it worth reading. Characteristics of the Duke (f IVellinytun, apart from his Military Talents. By the Earl De Grey, K.O. London : Bosworth. It is apparent from the titicpage of this volume that Lord De Grey intends to depict the man and not the conqueror. In this respect the portraiture is original. It is destitute of sword or uniform, of any trophy of conquest or sym bol of command. It is the intellectual and moral character of the duke which is here analysed ; and, by selecting those attributes for whieh he was most distinguished, and illustrating them from that great Thesaurus of authentic history, the Despatches, the author is enabled to exhibit the skeleton, or frame work, of that wonderful genius which has mainly influenced the course of the world for the last half century. It may be supposed, therefore, that Lord De Grey's is an earnest book. Thoughtful in design, it is highly intelligent and skilful in execution. It makes no pretence to any ex clusive information, and it judiciously avoids those apocryphal anecdotes which, whatever their intention, have caricatured the leading features of the duke's character as effectually as if they had appeared in Punch, instead of in the pages of grave quarterlies. Lord Be Grey, in ilia, takes the collection of Welling ton despatches, and, knowing that they faith fully reflect the mind of the duke in the various transactions in which he was engaged, and that they were called forth by the emergencies of the hour, says " here, if anywhere, shall we discover his real nature and sentiments, with out possibility of disguise." Our laureate has finely said, in reference to the perfect open ness of the duke's life, "Whatever rero►d leap to light, He never shall be shamed." And the same great truth is eloquently illus• tmted in some forcible passages in the intro duction to this volume : It may Is fairly said, that no man's character was ever subjeeted to so severe an ordeal .hn•ing his life as the Duke of Wellingttu►'s. The actions of many former great men have been pub. listted during their lives; but it has been left to after ages anti subsequent elucidations to explain the uodires which led to them. Many a hero has received the plaudits of his eontemporaries whose glory was perhaps accidental, or whose success arose from unf o reseen and fortuitous eir• cumstances, which were untold at the time, and the eon• cealment of which might have been dictated by sound and honest policy. But here every deed, and the ground upon which it was founded, an. shown at the same time. Nothing but the most entire confidence in the honesty and integrity of every public act of his life could ever have made a man consent to the exposition and publication of all his motives, feelings, views, and wishes, which are laid open in the wonderful collectio►► of these• despatches. Ile had that confidence. Il.• knew that not one word would be found in then► of which he need to feel asimmed : and from them alone. sanctioned as they have been by his own supervision, every iwgument and every deduction in the following pages will b. drawn. The leading qualities or principles of his character which the volume is designed to exhibit are : I st. His confitlence in himself, and buoyancy under rer• Nonni resisaisihility. His forbearance and forgiveness of injustice. His firmness under home and foreign annoyances. 4th. His natural &chugs of secrecy and caution. 4th. Ind SATURDAY, as to motley or rank, and his general candour anti simplicity of character. lith. His placability as to the faults and failings of others, evinced by his feelings connected with subordination and courts-martial. We must content ourselves generally with stating that each one of these heads receives pointed illustration from the Despatches ex tending over the whole period of the duke's military career, from his first command in India to his last at Waterloo, and that Lord De Grey establishes every position he advances with the neatness and precision of mathemati cal demonstration ; while the singular purity of an unpretending but effective style gives grace to his reasoning and beautiful finish to his conclusions. To attempt an analysis of a volume which is itself an analysis, with scarcely a superfluous sentence, would indeed be a futile task ; but, at the risk of being reproached with exhibiting single bricks as specimens of a building, we will adduce a few instances of the noble author's style of workmanship. No man had ever to bear so much personal responsibility as the duke during his command in the Peninsula, yet none ever exhibited less misgiving as to consequences. This is moral courage, of the highest and rarest kind. It was in ISO 9, when Bonaparte was at the cul. initiating point of his fortunes, that the condi- tion of Wellington and his army appeared most hopeless : lie had (says Lord De Grey) been always in the habit of drawing up a memorandum of the operations of the year; and a very valuable paper of that nature is placed amongst the despatches, dated I ,ecember 9, Irf4sl. It was sent to lAord Wellesley, with MS. comments of Lord Wellington's own, referring to the motives which had influenced hini, or to information which had subsequently reached him up to the period of his sending it, together with his own feel. lugs as respected the different events. The eoneluding observations are not cheerful, in tsonsequence of the wretched conduct of the Spaniards; but the thurnugh-birel spirit breaks out. His very last words in a note are "If the Spaniards had not lost two armies lately, we should keep up the ball for another year. But, us it is . !— lIUT I WON'T orsrAin!" This is exactly the moment when we believe that he was nearly the only man in his army who did not despair. The Common Council of the City of London thought pro. per to pass judgment upon his proceedings, anti presented an address to the King praying that Ins conduct might be inquired into. The only effect which this produced upon him is very tersely expressed in a letter to Mr. Villiera, as soon as he had received the information from Einglauid:— " You see the lush which the Common Council of the City of London have made at me! I act with a sword hanging over me, which will fall upon me whatever may be the result of affairs here: but they may dowhat they please, shall nut Ore up the game here as long as it can be played." " We should bold our ground as long as possible • and, please God, I trill maintain it as lung as I can ; and 1 will neither endeavour to shift from my own shoulders on to those of the Ministers the responsibility for the failure by calling for means which I know they cannot give." The Common Council, no doubt, has its records. What would it now give to expunge that leaf containing its judgment on the duke's military proceedings ! How different was his view of his position from that of the Common Council sages:— I inn in a situation in which no mischief can be done to the army, or any part of it. lam prepared for all events ; and if I am in a scrape, as appears to be the general belief in England, although certainly not my own, 171 gel out (0' it. The patriotism of his character was most strikingly displayed in the early part of his Indian career, when superseded in the com mand of the Indian forces destined for Egypt by General Baird : My former letters will have shown you how much this will annoy me ; but I have never had much value for the spirit of any man who does not sacrifice his private views and runreni•nce when it is necessary. The disinterestedness of the duke has nem., that we recollect, been so distinctly and ad mirably brought out as it is in this volume. When he took Oporto from the French the question was raised whether the property wrested from the enemy did not of right belong to the captors. In any division of the spoil Wellington's share would be large ; yet he writes : I considered well the whole question of the claim of the army to the property at Oporto, and the result waa a con viction.on my mind that we have uo claim whatever. This is toy opinion, but I may be wrong ; and I should be sorry if the army were to lose any advantage to which they are entitled by any error of judgment of mine. When appointed to the rank of Captain- THE PRR.SS. .mow ~'