The Press.
London, England, 1858-02-27 00:00:00

though we have heard of the name of Black-
more as a poet, we never saw it associated with
a Chief Justicealup.
The charm of contemporary history consists
in its bringing before the reader a new and
close view of the great actors in the politics of
the time. But Sir A. Alison seems to be
deficient in the knowledge required ; and we
must observe that the various French writers
who have produced so many contemporary
narratives all lived at Paris, and were them-
selves engaged in the strife. Their views
might be distorted by passion and antipathy
to individuals, but their knowledge was first-
hand. English contemporary history neces-
sarily has much to do with parliamentary
affairs, and it can be best written by a member
of Parliament or by some well-informed
journalist residing in London
The summaries of statistics by Sir A. Alison
are always valuable, and his fairness to both
sides is highly honourable to his mind, and
can scarcely be lauded too much. Our space
will not allow us here to criticise his views on
Foreign Affairs, but we may possibly refer to
them another day.

The Letters of Horace Walpole, Earl of Orford.
Edited by Peter Cunningham, F.S.A. Now
First Chronologically Arranged. In Nine
Vols. Vols. VI. and VII. London : Bentley.
Ma. CUNNINGHAM has now brought us to a
period of great interest, both in the careers of
Walpole and of England. Walpole begins to
feel that he is growing old, and the effect of
the change on his mind is curious to watch.
England is engaged in a war, unprosperous
indeed, but pregnant with great results—the
American war—and all Europe is simmering,
with bubbles of infinite variety, towards the
great boiling-over which at the end of the last
century changed the face of the world. It is
amusing to follow the elderly philosophic wit
down the decline of life. His character gets
more sharply marked, just as his features
did by advancing age. His wit defies even
the gout. His gossip flows as abundantly as
ever; and, altogether, a Nestor whose expe-
rience is delivered in epigrams is surely an
interesting personage.
But, before we say anything further about
these two volumes, a word on the editor. Mr.
Cunningham has done good service to English
literature, and can therefore afford to have it
E,aid that here he is but performing an ordi-
nary task in an ordinary manner. To arrange
the letters in order of time is no great feat,
and he annotates them but indifferently.
Many notes can only claim the merit of saving
the reader a reference to Sir Egerton Brydges'
edition of Collins's Peerage. Others explain
what is obvious. Some seem only to be
printed that, our editor may have the pleasure
of seeing what Tom Moore calls
The one loved name
placed in small capitals (" CUNNINGHAM ") at
the end of the sentence. For example, when
Walpole says to Mason " we should have been '
" very happy with our hips and haws and
"racing days, and called it luxury," is it really
necessary that our eye should be dragged
down to the bottom of the page to read " From
" Addison—CUNNISOHAM" ? Would a man who
did not know that hackneyed phrase be
likely to read Walpole at all? The truth is,
that we have here a Walpolian editor without
anything whatever of a Walpolian mind.
Quickness—delicacy—light, sharp penetration
—are not Mr. Cunningham's characteristics,
though we repeat that ho has valuable ones.
Ile is an elephant who cannot pick up a pin ;
a sounder antiquary than Walpole, but
fo: removed from sympathy with the peculiar
brilliance of his mind. We are sorry to re-
'Hark that he does Walpole a great injustice
at p. 71 of Vol. VI. Horace has been irrita-
ting antique verse in some lines to Lady
saory, whereupon Peter gratuitously observes,
He is not so apt as Chatterton, of whom he
thouyht so little." Now, Walpole several
times, in these very volumes, expresses the
highest admiration of Chatterton's parts, in
language emphatic enough even to satisfy
Keats, who dedicated " Endymion " to the
Young poet's memory. Such carelessness will
not help Mr. Cunningham's reputation. For