The Press. — London, England, 1857-05-09 00:00:00

MAY 9, 1857. craturt. A Concise History of the English Constitution. By Edward Howley, Esq., of the Middle Temple, Barriqer-at•Law. (Dedicated by his Lordship's permission to the Earl of Clarendon.) London : Longinans. WE have had comic histories of England, and there is no reason why we should not have comical commentators on the Constitu tion. The remark occurred to us on reading the following passage : While the Marquis Wellesley was Governor-General, his son Wellesley, afterwards Duke of %Wellington, fought in a subordinate rank with the army that stormed Seringapa tam, during the assault of which the fanatic Tippo Saib was killed, leaving his kingdom, Mysore, the stronghold of Southern India, to be annexed to the British possessions, A.n. 1799. Four years afterwards young Wellesley, holding an independent command, at the battle of Assaye, broke the power of the Mahrattas, and presaged the glory of waterloo. His " son " Wellesley ! Where was the author horn, or reared, not to know that the Duke of Wellington was brother to the Marquis Wellesley ? We might suppose that the author had written " son " inadvertently for " brother," but the phrase " young Wellesley " is used at the end of the passage, and in the corrigenda of the volume no reference whatever is made to this ridiculous blunder. This work is dedicated, " by his lordship's permission," to no less a personage than her Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, the Earl of Clarendon. We do not know whether Lord Clarendon will ap prove of Mr. Howley's account of our proceed ings in India : The mull course of proceeding has been to quarter troops on the territory of an ally who ostensibly desires secnrty against foreign or domestic aggression, and gra dually to compel the unfortunate ally to resign all military power. The next step is to require him to abdicate his civil power, and become the humble recipient of a per.sion. Or whether his lordship will like the style of the following passage : The Ameers of Scinde having displayed a hostile feel ing towards England during the Affghan war, Sir Charles Napier, oblitering the memory of an English general having retreated through the Koord pass, defeated and banished the Ameers, and added their territory to the dominions of the Company. Undeterred by the fate of the Ameers of Scinde, the Seikh chieftains, whose territorial acquisitions bordered the western frontier of Affghanistan, attacked the possessions of the Company, but an army under Lord Gough routed them at the battle of Chillian wallah, acd maintained the supremacy of the British set• tlements in India. " Obliterating the memory." We can assure the author of this work that the tummy of the disasters in India for which the Melbourne Ministry was responsible has not been oblite rated even by Sir C. Napier's exploits. The grammar of the author is often as obscure as his political conception. He says : Most European Governments control the courts of jus- tice, and despise the reclamations of the people, bnt can be purified if they give sufficient play to the elective or representative system, which attunes the actions of sove reignty in harmony with the wishes of the community. His notions, also, often clash with each other. He says : The advantage of English over native rule arises from an English tnbunal being able to chastise the highest officials, from a superior race exercising the check of par liamentary discussion, and from an interested Home Go vernment being ready to dismiss any public set rant who is guilty of misconduct. Elsewhere (as above) the author sneered at "the usual course followed," • and then he places the "advantage of English rule" upon " superior race" (by which everything could be justified), and upon " an interested Home " Government." Observing these incongruous passages, we call to mind a part of the passage from Horace, cited on the titlepage si Caecns iter monstrare velit. There is a portentous solemnity of tone, ushering in a superficiality of matter in this volume, which makes us think of th e sergean t s immortalised by Pope : Both had a gravity would make you split, And shook their heads at Murray as a wit. The benign patronage which the author is pleased to extend towards Bacon and Lord Mansfield does credit to him. He also exer• vises great self-control in refraining from THE PRESS. " original views." He confesses himself thus in his preface : In the composition of his work, the author has been much influenced by the conviction that there may be a great advantage in omitting to mention facts which teach little that is worth knowing. Though every shell gathered on the seashore proclaims the greatness of the Divinity, and though the study of shells might lead to the discovery of a dye that would rival the Tyrian purple, yet persona in an ordinary station of life may do better than devote them- selves to the study of conchology. The author is also c3n• ♦inced that it is better to state the opinions and arguments of a Bacon or a Lord Mansfield than indulge too much in original views, which would be without the support of an established political reputation, and which, if not parti• cularly striking, would be deemed worthless in this age of light literature, lectures, and encycloparlias. The serene pomposity with which he turns up his nose at this age of "light literature and " encyclopedias," while he hesitates about putting forth his " original views," is charmingly comic. It reminds us of the schoolboy who told his friends that lie had written a tragedy " in the same style as Shake- spcare s. There is no detailed table of contents to this volume, nor an index. The chapters cf which it is composed are thus headed The Constitution—Sovereignty—The Feud il System— The English Law of Landed ['rope -t)—Magna Charta of John—The Reign of Charles I.—Petition of Right— Hampden's Appeal against Ship Mone3—The Pill of Rights—The Act of Settlement—The Law of Treason— Parliamentary Supplies—The Liberty of the Press—Poli• tical Relations between England and her Dependencies. We might have supposed that " Church and State" would occupy the attention of a cum• meutator, or the " House of Lords," or the " House of Commons," or " Franchises," or " Counties, Cities, and Boroughs." The defi nition of "The English Constitution " is a ponderous joke, which we shall not withhold from our readers. The first sentence runs thus: -- The English Constitution, as it substantially exists, may be defined as the aggregate of the laws that determine the political relations between the bodies that share in sove reign power, and between those bodies and all subordinate legislatures, together with the laws that regulate the poll tieal relation% between the sovereign bodies. the subordi nate legislatures, and the individual members of the com munity. That is a matchless specimen of a lucid defi nition. and w•e refer it to the notice of the lovers of "light literature." The commentator then continues : Parliament possesses a sovereignty in the sense of legal impunity ; but though Parliament, taken cillectively, can not be legally hound, yet the King, Lords, and Commons, like the Legislatures of the British dependencies, are sepa rately capable of receiving legal obligations, and therefore each of them may be leg illy bound in their political rela tions towards the subordinate legislatures and toward,' the individual members of the community. This will read as so much " news " to consti tutional lawyers. The confusion of ideas in the author's mind, resulting from his not dis tinguishing between the " Constitution" and the " Empire," is ludicrously obvious. At definitions this author shines. Here is a luminous sentence : In truth, feudalism was the product of that elelnent of the principle of status which is termed commendation, united to that element of the principle of contract which is styled emphyteusie. We are reminded of the 1ec, ,, 11 pedants' ques tion, at which all readers of " light literature" would be amused, and most perusers of " cyclopiedias" would be puzzled. " Whether " goods taken in withernarn are irreplevisable?" But enough of a ,cork which is only a stu dent's commonplace-book on th• 3 text-writers of the Constitution. We trust that the noble Secretary for Foreign Affairs will not choose this volume as a handbook for the candidates for employment in the F.O. Department. The Roua Pass; or, Englishmen in the High lands. By Erick Mackenzie. Three Vols. London: Smith and Elder. SCOTCH novels have not yet gone out of fashion. There arc phases of northern life Ivhieh are worth describing ; and the contrasts of Scotch society, with the rich background of the High lands, offers tempting materials for a novelist's art. The domestic life of Scotland is interest ing—a fact which has been rather obscured from the circumstance of Scott having asso• elated the renown of his fictions with "histori cal" scenes and subjects. As a relief to the still life of our English tales, it is probable 459 that there will always be a demand amongst readers for a certain amount of Scotch novels. This novel, though rather a long story, we have read through with the greatest interest. It is full of life-like descriptions and finished portraits It has nothing that deserves the name of plot, yet the author• raises such an interest in his fictitious personages that we feel we could go on reading about their ordinary daily life almost through another three volumes. Some persons may think that these details are a little too copious —that the number• of pic nics, ono very like another, is rather too great, and the quantity of claret and whisky con sumed a little too carefully registered ; but the situations are so picturesque, the male actors so striking, and the young ladies so pretty and full of fun, that we could not wish a single scene away. The figures in the foreground are, first, the family of a Highland laird, consisting of him self and his three daughters,—Norah, Esme, and Ishbel; and, secondly, a party of three English gentlemen, Harold, Auber, and Marchmoram, who rent some large shootings in their neighbourhood: and the action lies chiefly in the Highland hall of Glenbenrongh and the shooting lodge at Dreumah. The nomenclature seems affectedly quaint, a fashion which is springing up amongst novelists. Of the three girls, Ishbel is too young to be made love to ; Nor•ah is quickly appropriated by Mr. Harold; and Esme becomes the object of the rival attentions of Auber and Marchmoram. These arc described as men of the very highest London stamp—leaders in the world both of fashion and intellect—and the latter ambitious of political power, and bent upon rising in Parliament. As a valuable assistant in forwarding these views, he has previously formed an engagement with a duke's daughter, Lady Ida Beatiregard ; and, though ho falls deeply in love with Esme, he shrinks from retarding his political advancemenkby aban doning his ducal alliance. Auber is a man of a different order—a blasé man of keen intellect and co'.d neart, with exquisitely fascinating manners—who in his intercourse with Esme is merely seeking to amuse an idle hour. For tunately for frer own peace, the Highland girl reads his character aright, and her heart is never in danger for• a moment. She is, how ever, completely subdued by the proud and vigorous nature of Marchmoram and the pro gress of their attachment forms the main interest of the story. The minor• personages are all kept distinct, are thoroughly well executed, and their careers invested with pro portionate interest. The author's descriptive and dramatic power is high. His knowledge of human nature must be considerable, fur• his leading characters seem to stand in flesh and blood before us. These are his two principal excel lences; for the story is unskilfully put toge ther, and the moral commonplace. He leaves gaps iu his narrative which show great want of ar•t, as, for instance, where, after Torah's engagement to Harold, she writes home in a disconsolate style from Yorkshire to say the match is broken off; and the very next thing e hear about her is that the wedding-day is fixed. These, however, arc faults which prac tice will do much to correct In the case of a comparatively unknown candidate for literary applause we think it only fair• to allow our readers to judge by extracts, when the work gives promise of ability. The following spe cimens will, we think, justify our• remarks : A HIGHLAND " B %RN BALL." The barn was very large, the floor level with the ground. Chandeliers, formed of fresh green branches, hung from the black rafters at intervals, innumerable tallow candles burning amongst the garnishing of leaves. A wattling of green birch extended across the upper end of the barn, having candles and oil lamps ranged on the top of it. Chairs were placed before this wattling for the ladies ; and two rows of deal forms, borrowed from the schoolhouses and farms, extended the whole length of both sides. Three barrels, reversed, and covered with plaids, having a stool placed on the top of each, formed the orchestra ; which was occupied by two fiddlers and a performer on the doub'e bass. The piper stood next them, immovable, with the pipes under his arm, ready to change the tune or music at a moment's warning. The doorway was ornamented by an arch of evergreens and heather, and branches of birch and holly were every where fastened above the rafters and on the walls, which were of rough clay, tlre floor being smoothly planked. Upwards of a hundredcountry people were seated around, and a large band of old and young men stood at the door