The Press.
London, England, 1854-10-14 00:00:00

.000j3t1 14, 1854. _

-

f it t r at ur t.

Turkey : its History and Progress. From
the Journals and Correspondence of Sir
James Porter. Continued to the Present
Time by Sir George Larpent, Bart. Lon-
don: Hurst and Blackett.

THE compiler of the present work is grandson
of Sir James Porter, for many years ambassa
dor at Constantinople in the last century.
The portion of Sir James Porter's papers used
in the composition of these volumes is scarcely
large enough to justify the titlepage, and,
owing to their peculiar arrangement, we do not
know, on going through these volumes, whe-
ther we are reading original matter from the
pen of Sir James Porter or compiled details
from his grandson's pen. On the Turkish
question, and on all the phases of Turkish
society, Sir George Larpent (we say it without
disrespect) can only be taken as an authority
at second-hand. In the introduction Sir
George records his " acknowledgments for
" the ample sources placed at his command
" by foreign literature, and more especially
"by Übicini's Lettres sur la Turquie.'" Any
one who has read Übicini must at once per-
ceive that without the Frenchman's assistance
these volumes could scarcely have assumed
their present shape. We are not only con-
stantly reminded of the matter used by Übicini,
and classified by that clever writer with the
characteristic lucidity of French style, but his
letters, with their broad views and discursive
• felicity, are so often forced on our memory
that this present publication appears to some
disadvantage.
Sir James Porter was only a mediocre diplo-
matist, and has no pretensions to rank with
some of his contemporaries, like Sir Andrew
Mitchell, Sir George (Lord) Maoartney, and
others of that class. Misled by amiable feel-
ing of relationship, and perhaps overrating his
grandfather's knowledge, Sir George Larpent
falls into the mistake of confounding exten-
sive attainments with original talents. Men
of tenacious memory, with moderate under-
standings, often pile up masses of knowledge
that astonish persons not conversant with the
effects of systematic application How full
are our universities of deep scholars who can
compose no works of merit ! How crowded
are our clubs at Pall-mall with agreeable and
apparently omniscient members, skilled in
tongues, acquainted with the leading notabili-
ties of the age, who cannot make a decent
speech in Parliament, or throw off a clever
pamphlet on politics! In our public depart-
ments all that class of minds are docketted
red-rapists.
In his memoir of his grandfather Sir George
Larpent says :

Sir James Porter was the architect of his own fortunes ;
his father, whose name was La Rogue, or La Roche, was
captain of a troop of horse under James 11., and distin-
guiahed himself in an attack upon Mont St. Michel. His
parents followed the fortunes of James 11. to Dublin, where
the subject of our memoir was born about the year 1710.
The failure of their royal master's campaign entailed the
ruin of the La Roches ; their grant of land in Ireland was
forfeited and themselves proscribed. On the death of the
father, an unole of the name of Porter, possessing consider-
able influence in Dublin with the successful party, pro-
tected the family, and, at his request, they assumed the
name of Forter.

This account seems open to criticism. The
name of La Roche, or Roche, is of as much
antiquity in Ireland as that of de Burgh, le
Boteler, or Butler, or others of the Norman-
Irish families whose descendants are very
numerous in the sister country. Neither does
Sir G. Larpent seem to be aware that the
name of " Sir Charles Porter " is an eminent
3ne in the history of the seventeenth century
in Ireland.
The following account of the way in which
Sir James Porter emerged from " city " life is
supplied by the editor :
At the theatre he became acquainted with a young lawyer
of the name of Adams, and by him was introduced to a
debating society called the "Robin Hood," where he dis-
tinguished himself as a speaker, and to maintain his repu-
tation with the society he was constrained to study those
subjects which were brought forward for discussion.
Mauls became Pecorder of London and a Baron of the
Exchequer; their friendship only ended with their lives,
and was strengthened by a foully connection. James
Porter's brother, John, was also placed in business, pros-
pered, became an alderman of London, and he and Adams