The Sun.
London, England, 1839-10-12 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1839.

LITERATURE.

EDINBURGH REVIEW. No, CELL
Longman, London, 1839.
Lord Brougham's Sketches of " Public Charac-
ters" who flourished during. the reign of George
the Third, are resumed in this Number. The two
principal ones, each of whom is drawn at full
length, are the Earl of Shelbourne and John
Wilkes, the last of whom is, not undeservedly,
given up to general contempt and abhorrence. We
have also a sort of etching of Lord Bute, which
would be a better likeness, if it were somewhat lest;
flattering. His Lordship was not, as the Reviewer
seems to imply, driven from the helm "by the cla-
mour raised against him mainly on account of his
native country;" doubtless this had something to
do with his retirement from office ; but the chief
cause was his own incapacity to conduct public
affairs in the bold, decided spirit that the exigencies
of the times required. He was a timid—he called
himself " cautious"--and, in no slight degree, a
distrustful statesman ; and wanted manly faith in
the resources of England. Compared with
Chatham, who, despite his occasional unworthy
adulation of Royalty, which is one of the greatest
blots on his political scutcheon, was incomparably
the loftiest-minded statesman that this country has
ever known, the Earl of Bute sinks into measureless
insignificance. Of Wilkes we have the following,
graphic portrait, which is correct in its every linea-
ment :
" Though of good manners and even a winning ad-
dress, his personal appearance was so revolting as to be
hardly human. High birth he could not boast ; for his
father was a respectable distiller in CI erkenwell. Of
fortune he had but a moderate share, and it was all spent
before he became a candidate for popular favour ; and
his circumstances were so notoriously desperate, that he
lived for years on patriotic subscriptions. Those
more sterling qualities of strict moral conduct, regular
religious habits, temperate and prudent behaviour, regu-
lar industrious life—qualities which are generally re-
quired of public men, even if more superficial accom-
plishments should be dispensed with—he had absolutely
nothing ; and the most flagrant violations of decency
on moral as well as religious matters were committed,
were known, were believed, and were overlooked by
the multitude, in the person of their favourite cham-
pion, who yet had the address to turn against one of
his antagonists, a clerical gentleman, some of those feel-
ings of the English people in behalf of decorum, all
of which his life was passed in openly violating.
Of the light but very important accomplishments which
fill so prominent a place in the patriotic character,
great eloquence, and a strong and masculine style in
writing, he had but little. His compositions are more
pointed than powerful ; his wit shines far more than his
passions glow ; and as a speaker, when he did speak,
which was but rarely, he showed indeed some address
and much presence of mind, but no force, and produced
hardly any effect. Of his readiness, an anecdote is
preserved which may be worth relating. Mr. Luttrel
and he were standing on the Brentford hustings, when
he asked his adversary privately, whether he thought
there were more fools or rogues among the multitude

of Wilkites spread out before them. -‘
I'll them what
you say, and put an end to you,' said the Colonel—but
perceiving the threat gave 'Wilkes no alarm, he added,
Surely you don't mean to say you could stand here one
hour after I did so ?" Why (the answer was) you
would not be alive one instant after.' How so ?'—' 1
should merely say it was a fabrication, and they would
destroy you in the twinkling of an eye I"
The Reviewer allows that Wilkes possessed great
powers of wit and repartee ; but this is hardly doing
him justice, for he was by far the wittiest man of
his age, perhaps more so than any Englishman of
whom we have a record. Foote was a cleverer
buffoon, and Sheridan showed more tact in firing
off his elaborated jokes ; but Wilkes was ever ready,
and needed not to concoct a good thing beforehand.
We have many instances of his matchless facility in
Boswell, who records how he conciliated the high
Tory Johnson by his sparkling conversational powers;
Gibbon, too, in the posthumous autobiography pre-
fixed to Lord Sheffield's edition of his works, has
borne equally striking testimony to his wit and sar-
casm ; and his diverting squabble with parson Horne
about the " old clothes," shows that, when he pleased,
he could be just as ready with his pen. The
Reviewer says " Wilkes was a fair classical scho-
lar ;" he was more than this, he was a first-rate
Latinist—that is to say, he had a perfect critical
acquaintance with the niceties of the Roman au-
thors—especially the poets, whom he dearly loved ;
and late in life he published an edition of his fa-
c.fiatu. VT ; o„ <.) 111,c,.-
ture, though not profound, was far from contempti-
ble ; and some great classical scholar—we forget
his name, but we think it was Gilbert Wakefield,
the friend of Fox—who spent a day with him at
the Isle of Wight not long before his death, ex-
pressed surprise at the extent of his acquaintance
with the orators and dramatists of Greece. But
here our panegyric must stop. He was a heartless
reprobate, who made a trade of politics, and a
deliberate, systematic study of libertinism. Though
one of the ugliest dogs in Christendom, with a big
chuckle head, white, glittering buck teeth, or ra-
ther tusks, and an infernal squint that might have
scared a ghost—Wilkes, strange to say, was a pro-
digious favourite with women ; and used often to
boast that, give him half an hour's use of his
tongue, and he would supplant the handsomest
man in England in the affections of a lady !
" Church and Tory Misrepresentations " is well
timed, and penned in a fearless spirit. The Re-
viewer justly denounces the encroaching temper of
the clergy,where education is concerned, and warns
the people how they submit to its decrees on this
point. " Let the people of England," he says,
" consider that on this question, their moral, their
civil, and their religious freedom depends. No ca-
jolery to the Wesleyans—no hypocritical com-
pliments to the Dissenters—should close their
eyes to the consequences of introducing into our
schools an ecclesiastical tyranny of the worst de-
scription." Sound advice this, and never more
needed than at the present crisis. Mother Church,
it is clear, is anxious to get the training of the
rising generation into her own hands ; tolimbue their
ductile natures with a becoming sense of her own
infallibility ; to prevent them from learning much
that they ought to learn ; and to teach them much
that, in a practical sense, it will not benefit them
to know. In a word, she is nervously soli-
citous to keep the rising intellect of England in a
state of bondage ; and against this attempted domi-
nation it behoves all free men to raise their voices.
" Life and Times of Richard Baxter" is a delight-
ful essay, abounding in anecdote and judicious cri-
ticism. The spirit that dictated " Lord Lynd-
hurst's Review of the last Session" is commented
on in a pointed, sarcastic manner, well suited to the
theme. We hope his Lordship will accept this
vigorous drummer-like flagellation in a meek and
thankful spirit, for he may rely on it that the " cat"
has been laid on for his own especial good. Speak-
ing incidentally of the "feeble Whig Government,"
against which the Tories are constantly hurling
Their ribald abuse, the Reviewer thus enumerates
some of the benefits which it has been the means o:
conferring on the community.

Turning from these financial measures, we see ef-
fected by this feeble Government' others, which no
Tory Administration ever felt itself endowed with the
vigour and the courage to propose—the English Muni-
cipal Bill—the Englis Tithe Bill—the adjustment of
Irish Tithes—the Irish Poor-law (a still more difficult
question than the English)—the Abolition of the Im-
prisonment for Debt by Mesne Process. Those Mi-
nisters whose hands are said to be so weak, have short-
ened by nearly two years the noviciate of African liberty ;
they have struck a deadly blow at the Slave Trade in
other countries ; they have prepared new paths for
commercial enterprise in Turkey and in Russia ; they
have commenced for Literature negotiations for the

greatest boon it can receive—an International Law of

Copyright ; they have established the great principle of
Popular Education, without exclusion of religious dif-
ferences ; and they have closed the last arduous Ses-
sion (for we will not narrow this boon by classing it
amongst the mere financial arrangements), with obtain-
ing, for every class of the people, the commocial, lite-
rary, and social benefits arising from the cheapest
possible intercourse by correspondence—preceding' in
this, the most vigorous and most popular states in the
world. These have, in four or five years, been eof
the acts of the Ministry charged with utterine sc?emncy l
of
Whether it be much or little, the charity the Oppo-
sition is to give nothing. They remind us of the story
told of Antigonus. A Cynic asked him fora drachm of
silver. Pooh!' said Antigonus, `that
av me then a ta-
t is not a present
that should come from a King.'
lent." Pooh ! said Antigonus,`that's
With those that should go to a Cynic.'not a present
who censure the
niggard generosity of others, there is always the double
excuse for their own thrift—the too much or the too little.
We repeat it—for we will nail down these facts upon
the memories of those whom we address—there has not
been an abuse upon which public opinion has been ex-
pressed with energy and decision, of which the reform
has not been either effected, or advanced, in the nine
years' administration f these Do-nothing Whigs.'
Look back to the mock Parliament of Rotten Bo-
roughs—it is reformed ;to the jobbing Corporate Oh-
pirchies—they are opened to popular control ; to the
disease that, in the banded mendicancy of the old Poor-