The Sun.
London, England, 1838-10-04 00:00:00

T, ITE T 1 4 nr 'UP r

'YLiI

i

(Coaciva,d ir:an ihe
Lord Brougham's Portrait of Erskir: is, in the minnte-
ness of its details and its strictly impartial tone, inferior
only to his masterly sketch of Jeremy Bentham. His
Lordship bears high' testimony to the many amiable qua-
lities that distinguished Erskine in private life. " The
disposition and aisnnors of the man," he a.sur,ll us, "
hardly le.-s attractive than his genius
ailinira..le He tva,,. -a.
t!i ople,°
and kindly affections. 01 •+,

coaversationi ant he was too gay to
dii:cuss;on ; but his humour was playfu: to buoyancy, aot,.
wild even to extravagance ; and he iiiiin!ge ; his roaini,ig.
devious, and abrupt imagination as much ,
as in public he kept it under rigorous controul."
Lord Byron, who saw much of Er'kioe pr-viotis
to his last departure font England, bears liar d.Ercni
testimony to this. Instead of b,ing, playful acd homotons
in conversation, he was—s i)s the node inlet iu Moore',.
Life of him—% ain and egotistical to a degre,, and ic ve:
easy but when talking ab:•ut the Trial by Jury. We so -
pect there is [Midi wryward and splenetic exlgzera.s ion
here, and that Lord Brougham's account of Erskine's col-
loquial vivacity, is the correct one. Tierniiy's character
exhibits more elaborateness and diligent pains-taking than
the suoject deserves, for he was by no means a first-rate
it,tc,m-in or orator, nor can all his biographer's ► ffoils
mike him one. The ordinary nature of the mweriais is
vis b e through the thick coating of varnish that is spre id
over it. There is justness, however, in the rein ark that
" Tierney's understanding was of that plain and solid descrip-
tion which wears well ; and is always more at the command
of its possessor than the brilliant qualities that dazzle the
vulgar."

We now come to that portrait which—judging from
the scrupulous care with which he has finished it throughout
—Lord Brougham, no doubt, considers as his master-piece,
we mean, his portrait of Napoleon. Nothing can be
more accurate than this, in some of its lineaments, but as
a %%hole, it is imperfect ; chiefly because his Lordship has
not sufficiently availed himself of the numerous hints and
suggestions furnished by the more recent annalists of the
Consulate and the Empire. Thus, he tells us in a note, that
Napoleon's " massacre of the prisoners at Jaffa is a verycou-
troverted matter," whereas if he had read Las Cases or Barry
O'Meara he would have found that it was an established
fact ; indeed the Emperor himself admitted, and even de-
fended, the massacre on the score of its absolute necessity,
in the published conversations which he held with Lord
Ebrington at Elba. Again, his Lordship tells us, that
when Napoleon marched " from Cannes to Paris with a
handful of men," his bosom was " fired with the desire,
and sustained with the confidence of overthrowing a dy-
nasty." Now the feet is just the reverse. After his re-
turn from Elba, the Emperor was no longer the man he
had been. Even his warmest adherents admit this. His
star, he felt, was dimmed ; and his former serf-confidence
had almost wholly deserted him. Those who saw him
when he entered his carriage, in order as he said, "to
measure swords with Wellington," describe his manner as
having been altogether sub lustl and crest-falen, and as if
he felt assured that the day of battle had.ceased to be the
day of victory. In speaking of him is a mere warrior, Lord
Brougham does no more than justice to Napoleon. He was
not merely a sei,:ntific soldier, but a ci eator in the art of war.
His combinations, though simple, were wholly original ;
and he had the art of repairing a blunder with more readi-
ness and dexterity than any gsnerd that ever lived, as he
showed in the b vale of Arcole, where what appeared even
to his own soldi• rs a defeat, was converted by one rapid,
energetic movement, into a decisive victory. His Lord-
ship makes no allusion to the Ernueror's powers of imagi-
tion, but be had these—though he professed to ridicule
them in others—to a very surprising extent. Tile whole
tone of his conversation, a hen on board the L'Orieht, on his
voyage to Egypt ; the prevailing coaracter of his thoughts
at that period : the specittams left us of his coLoqiii,il
powers, by O'Meara ; his improvised row :nee of " Glair),"
which we find in Bourienne ; his lectrical Bulletins ; and
above all, that strikingly poetical address to his soldiers
just before going into acti ‘n in Egypt, "Soldiers, from the
heights of yonder Pyramids, forty centuries look down
on your—all these well-known facts convince us that had
his ambition run in that channel, the Emperor might
have been the first poet, instead of the first warrior of
his age. We all know what he was as a Laislator ;
it remains to state that nature had endowed him with
equal talent as a mathematician. But, indeed, his capa-
city, so far from being restricted, was univers 11 in its
range. He astonished Goethe, by the el gance and
profundity of his remarks on the belles lellres, arid fur
nished Talina and Canoga with several valuable hints and
suggestions that e tch turned to admirable account in his
respective profession. As for comparivg him wit Caesar,
the one loses, as much as the other gains, by the com-
parison. Caesar was a middle-aged min when he
commenced his career of conquest ; Naaoleon was
little more than a mere boy. Caesar fought but
one decisive victory over troops as well diseipl nod
as his own ; Napoleon fought a hundred. Against
the Pharsalia of the one, we may place the Castilieg: e. the
Austerlitz, the Mount Tabor, the Marengo, the Fried) end,
and the Wagram, of the other. Caesar was a yam cox-
comb ; Napoleon remarkable for his modest and dignified
simplicity. Caesar wrote_ an insipid elegant work, which
ho ca led his " Commentaries ;" Napoleon dictated his
Annals, which, if not in mere mauler, at least in point
of matter, nee worth a hundred of them. Caesar had
more showy accomplishments ; Napo!eou more sterling
intellest. In point of natural kindlineFs the Ro-
man, we t ink, has the advantage ; for Napoleon
was a man of stern, ruthkss char .cter, who woul:i
have teen more remarked for this than he is, had he
not had the good fortune to conic nnmediai e'y after
such blood-thirsty monsters as Danton and Robe pier: e,
compared with whom he appeared in the eyes of French-
men quite a prodigy of gentleness and humanity. Lord
Brougham's summing up of the Emperor's character is in
the very loftiest spirit of philosophical eloquence. " He
was a conqueror and a tyrant," observes his Lordship.
This is true—far too true, and compels us reluctantly to
give up the man, for whose innate capscity we have more
reverence than for that of almost any mali that ever ex sted.
Napoleon had it in his power to have been the bene-
factor of the world. He was its scourge and its abhorrence.
Professing, at the outset of his career to be the chill and
champion of freedom, he no sooner found himself in au-
thority, than he became its bitterest foe. But he lived to
pay the penalty of his apostacy. The rock of St. Helena
tells a sad tale, arid points a more impressive moral than
divine or senator ever yet delivered from the pulpit or the
senate. Napoleon, with all his glory, has pass.al away ; his
dynasty is extinct ; his famous Marshals, like the Knights
of Charlemagne, are now nothing but a name ; and the
conclusion we should derive from his eventful history, is
this—namely, that he who wars against freedom, no matter
how mighty be his power, or how gigantic his endowments,
goes forth to a battle which, sooner or later, must end in an
inglorious defeat.
The review of Mr. Dickens's tales is favourable, but not
too much so. No man observes more acutely, and pour-
trays more accurately, all that lies on the surface of society
than this accomplished novelist ; but he has not, like
Bulwer, the power of analyzing and developing the more
recondite qualities of the human heart. He can hit off a
peculiarity to the life, but he cannot pourtray such subtle,
complex characters as we meet with in the Disowned,
and Paul Clifford. His Oliver Twist, is, as the Reviewer
justly observes, his best work, and the present age has pro-
duced few better. " The Life and Writings of Sir William
Temple" is one of Macauley's cleverest essays, 1. ss spark-
ling and figurative, indeed, than his earlier ones in this
periodical, but more fully informed with sound judg-
ment, and more sagacious in its portraiture. The
Reviewer, however, is mistaken, in supposing that Robes-
pierre was one of the authors of the great civil movement
of the French revolution ;he was its mere slave—its tool
—its puppet—and was sacrificed the instant he attempted
to alter its direction. It was not by leading the mob, but
by basely pandering to their worst tastes, that he acquired
influence over them. The cursory character of Swift,
though only in outline, is sketched in Macauley's
boldest and correctest style ; and equally deserving
are his portraits of Shaftesbury and Sir William Temple.
" Duke of Wellington's Indian Dispatches" is somewhat
dry and meagre, confining itself to mere facts, instead of put-
ting forth opinions. The remaining articles in the Number
offer nothing worthyofparticular comment. From Macauley's
" Life and Times of Sir W. Temple," we quote the fol-
lowing sketch of that eminent statesman. The extracts
from Lord Brougham's " Contemporary Portraits," we shall
reserve for some more leisure day.
" Yet Temple is not a man to our taste. A temper not
naturally good, but under strict command—a constant regard
to decorum—a rare caution in playing that mixed game of
skill and hazard, human life—a disposition to be content with
small and certain winnings rather than to go on doubling the
stake these seem to us to be the most remarkable features of
his character. This sort of moderation, when united, as in
him it was, with very considerable abilities, is, under ordinary
circumstances, scarcely to be distinguished from the highest
and purest integrity; and yet may be perfectly compatible with
laxity of principle, with coldness of heart, and with the most
intense selfishness. Temple, we fear, had not sufficient
warmth and elevation of sentiment to deserve the name of a
virtuous man. He did not betray or oppress his country : nay, he
rendered considerable services to her; but he risked nothing for

• This allusion to Lord Erskine's simplicity reminds us of
an admirable remark made by Mr Bultver in (we think) " The
Student," to the effect—we quote from memory—that com-
mon-place cannot easily get over the shock of seeing a great
man simple. This observation, in its acuteness and oh% o
though cynical truth, s worthy of Swift or Rouchefoucault.

~ ,

m

U u., fit4blic
eye, except at conjunctures when he was almost certain to
gain, and could not possibly lose—at conjunctures when the
interest of the State, the views of the Court, and.the passions
of the multitude, all appearel for an instant to coincide. BY
judiciously availing himself of sc,veral of these rare moments,
he sit eet:cled in esta%lishing a high chara,t,r fn, wisdom and
W`qc, lavuurabi: n,ver
r tr. fl.- the
• .• 01 u ;'; ' 211111
r :bile
• , bu, esAta,lu udean-
I ig,s %litimut i.,currihg

FREEMAS(IN'S QUA HTERLY REVIEW
In our u..t.tai n•xi,es of he z we acct.
& wally omitted the Freemason's Qa.,:rterlv Review'
which, theri.foro, we now feel .t our duty to give some brio
aeriount. The present Number is one of more than the
usual order of excelence ; it is full of varlet} in its articles',
fin,l div!..ys much . and judieinent in the selection a
them. Amoig the heat, of toe hghter sulijectq, we
menuon a to ie entitkl " Gem," which
works out a beneficial moral, ttirou"li the agreeable mediurn
of fiction. This story is just of sufficing length, arid being
unaffectedly and iiiilily written in point of style, is calcu-
lated to become a fat ourite with the majority of its readers.
" Second Magnetic Pole Discovered," is a curious and in-
structive scientific communication from the pen of Mr•
Robert TyiL r. " Collectaneal' is a sort of ontnium tithe-
tun of anecdotes and interesting facts, and forms a body °I
light, amusing reading..

LLOYD'S SHIPPING.-(THIS DAY•

DEAL, OCT. 3.—Wind N. /V.E., fresh breeaes.—No
arri-
vals reported.
PORTSMOUTH, OCT. 3.—Wind E. to N. E. , fine.—Arrived
the Favourite, Cobden, from St Petersburg!); Union, peters?
from Memel ; and Yanston, J4rvis' from Gijon. Sailed W
Majesty's ship Hastings, and her Majesty's steamer Mete.*
for the Mediterranean.

PLYMOUTH, OCT. 2.—Wind E.—Arrived the Mary Ridge"
way, Traill, from Leghorn ; Superb, Custance, from Pl"'
foundland ; Mary, Carter, from St. Domingo; St. Arms,
\Vitchett, from Quebec ; and Baltic, Ditcham, from Cadia*
Sailed the Louisa Campbell, Buckley, for Launceston.
FALMOUTH, OCT. 2.—Wind N. E., moderate breezes.l
Airived off port the George 'Welsford, from Quebec; and
Candidate, Goodwin, from Zante. Sailed the Thomas Hughes'
M`Mann, for Hamburgb.
LIVERPOOL, OCT. 3. —Wind E., moderate.—Arrived the
Niker, Radman, and Caroline, Hanmar, from Dantzic. Afr
rived off port the Laurence, from Calcutta. Sai led the AdaT
Lodge, Main, for Charleston: Ann, Whinfield, from gel
Janeiro; Hector, Watson, fur St. John's, New Brunswick;
Nightingale, Cruickshank, for Pernambuco; Creole, Trael"
for New Orleans; Arraxibia, Trevethen, for Naples; 11'1
martin, Penny, for Genoa, &c. ; Castilian Maid, Scott, a!:
Albion, Ball, for Gibraltar; :Margaret, Hunter, for 54,
Thomas's; Franklin, for New York ; Sir John Tobin. , IGr
fi,lis, for Mauritius ; and Charles Hamerton, forßeynold,
St. Thom.is's,
STANGATE CREEK, OCT. 3.—Arrived the Orion, Reber*
from Kertch.
DOVER, OCT. 3.—Arrived the Rozinante,. Arrabarina, frail
St. Ander. Arrived tiff port Hermado Habanero, BaVaPlinin
BRIDPORT, OCT. 3.—Arrived the Helen, Kinnear, - t
St. Petersburgh.
; eon,
SALECOMIIE, OCT. 3—Arrived off port the `yelling
from Sierra Leone.
DARTMOUTH, OCT. 3.—Arrived the Lord Charles Spencer'
from Rio Janerio.
BRIDGEWATER, OCT. 3.—Arrived the E peror, fr St Pet• rsburgh.
frog)
BRISTOL. OCT. 3.—Arrived the Chieftain, pules) -
Quebec ; Parkens, Walton, from Onega.
GLOUCESTER, OCT. 3.—Arrived the Alert, Gregson,
Archangel.
NEWPORT, OCT. 3.—Ariired the Resource, Divan' frees
St. Andrew's.
An'
CLYDE, OCT. I.— fArrived, the Fanny, Hutton, front An-
tigua; Lady Turner, George, from Demerara;
derson, from ditto.
faro
DUBLIN, OCT, 2.—Arrived, the Velocity, Roberts,
Ti ; City of Limerick (steamer), from Lo•idon; Afrou
Pearce, from ditto. Arrived off, the Irvine, Madill'
Prince Edward's Island.
desalt'
Coax, OCT. I.—Arrived, the Ariadne, Hane, from 0
Off ditto, the Martha, from Quebec. warts
PETERHEAD, OCT. 1 . —Arrived off, the Hecla, Ste
from Davi.' Straits, 21 fish, about 200 tons. fro°
LEITH. OCT 3.—Arrived, the Columbus, Pearson,
St. Petersburgh.
Stettin:
LEITH Roans —The Rob Roy, Morrison, from dttor
Undisunte 1. from Davis' S.raita ; Clarendon, Kerr, from I 60
10 fish ; and Ann, Shallow, from- ditto, 10 fish'
Cecilia,
tons.
OFF THE START, OCT. 3.—The William Harris, ierri'
from Sydney. N w South Wales.

ABERDEEN, OCT. I.—. Arrived, the Commodore, Vt"?
from Riga.

SUNDIKLAND. OCT. 2.--Arrived,
rine, from St. Petersburgh. the William ard C.3l°'
TORBAY,
OCT. 2.—Arrived, the Harriett, Freeman, from
Jamaica.
HULL, OCT. 2.—Arrived the Active, Partridge, fromHaul°
burgh ; Shamrock, Dibble, from ditto Beale,
Gottenburg; Fortuna, Sehmoy, from Stralsund ; Desetts;
Sempke, from ditto; Antwerp, M'Ken, from Konigs"`":
Ellergill, Knill, from Wyburg ; Williams, Hill, from ditto;
St George, Taylor, from ditto; Ruby, Lawson, from ditto
Robert Taylor, Wheatley, from ditto Conference, sElliot,'
from ditto ; Bulwar, Simpson, from ditto ;
from ditto; Atalanta, James, from ditto; Carmen,
~,..,
v. rens, from Stockholm; Gem, Hall, from Narva ; Eben„eov,
ryers, from ditto; Williams, from Memel; Johanna, " .
land, from Riga 1 Chase, Broan from St. Peters from
St. Marv's, Tucker, from di to ; 'Ajx, Richenburr,pfirtitt,
fa,irtitno. ;ditWaterloo,
Simpson,to
oti, F Roberts,
rost, ffrroon: , a ditto F
andr ie n dßsoc)liaaKiftrsai,,lffirl,
RAM,GATE, OCT. 3.--A Swedish barque, said to beiorrpud„
Gieort,taeinidbuleigak, tys,riiidaivnitlgoffbetehneoNnurshthoreF,oarn•fdand, with lo'"' °a into
Elizabeth, ser,
Foreland,
will be ssiste
thiA harbour next tide. ), for
LEITH ROAM, OCT 1 —The James Watt (steamer
1'
put back, with machinery damaged.
t, will;
The Carders, Creighton, arrived off Cork--513°1Granel
Sir Charles Malcolm. from Singapore, 27th April, mit. April,
Ladrone, and Tapley, from London- to Canton, 29t"
iii lat. 21 N., long. 113 E.