The Sun.
London, England, 1838-04-23 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

MEMOIRS OF SIR WILLIAN KNIGHTON.
Two Nit.
Bentley, Loudon, 10:0.
No one, on perusing these volumes but must see that
Sir William Knighton was the man, of all others, in whom
George the Fourth placed the greatest confidence. He
seems, indeed, to have been the only really intimate friend
which that distrustful and capricious monarch possessed
during his whole life. Fox he may have regarded with
more respect ; and by fits and starts he may have derived
more pleasure from the society of Sheridan ; but Knighton
was his dearest and most inlispensable associate, separated
from whom he was ever restless and uneasy, and with whom
alone be could live in uninterrupted harmony for any length
of time. We do not wonder at this preference, for Sir
William possessed, in a high degree, all the qualities most
likely to endelr him to a man so utterly selfish as the Fourth
George. Ho was of mild conciliatory manners, cheerful,
patient, and self-denying, satisfied with his position, and
not ambitious of a higher or a more lucrative one. He
seems, moreover, to have been most sincerely attached to
his Royal Master : to have devoted himself to his service
with an unhesitating abandonment of all selfish considera-
tions ; and, above all, to have maintained rt gentle, uniform,
firmness of character, which the King could not but have
respected, if only by reason of its novelty. The letters and
journals in the volumes before us—which were evidently
not written with an eye to publication—display his charac-
ter in a very pleasing light, and almost lead us to the convic-
tion that it is possible for a man to be a successful courtier
and a King's favourite, and yet preserve his integrity unsul-
lied. 'Till we read Sir. William's correspondence, we could
have had no idea of the vast influence he exercised over his
Master, who seems to have consulted him on every occasion,
and entrusted him with his most precious secrets. The
reminiscences of such a man, therefore, had he chosen to
tell us all that it was in his power to tell, could not but have
teemed with the most curious and important information ;
but all that is of real importance is studiously kept back ; and
we are put off instead with fragments ofjournals and gossip-
ping anecdotes—amusing enough, certainly, but in no wise
worthy to be remembered beyond the hour. It would na-
turally be imagined, from the influence he exercised at
Court, that, not being ambitious, and secure of his Master's
favour, Sir William Knighton would have been a happy man.
Never was a greater mistake. His frequent correspond-
ence with his family convinces us that his Court life was
one of incessant hardship and anxiety ; and that there were
moments, and these not " few or far between," when he
would gladly have exchanged all the pomp and luxury of
the palace, for the comfort and quiet of his own " cottage at
Blendworth." Indications of this feeling are of constant
occurrence. Thus, writing to his wife, from Brussels, he
says :—" My King, God bless him ! never gives me a mo-
ment. The pen is never out of my hand by day, and it is
his wish that I should sleep in his dressing-room at night,
so that he may have access to me at all hours." A few
days afterwards, addressing the same individual, he
says, " you will scarcely believe that though I have been
here two days, I have never once been able to stir outside
the doors. The bundle at Blendworth cottage, amid all
my grandeur, are my only comforts." To his daughter he
writes thus, from Hanover :—" I have had so much to do,
that I am fairly tired before the night begins. I seem
doomed never to have a moment to myself." The following
week he addresses her in these terms :—" Here I am at
Herenhausen, full of anxiety and wretchedness. The King
has had a most severe fit of the gout, and I have bad an
anxious time of it I can assure you." Again, on the
following day he tells the same correspondent, " I have for
the last few days lived in such a state of confusion—of exer-
tion, that my head is almost every now and then ready to
crack." Such are the anxieties and labours that beset the
post of King's favourite, which those, not let behind the cur-
tain, would suppose to be the most enviable in the world !
The " Memoirs of Sir William Knighton" have convinced
us, that it is almost better to be a bookseller's hack, than
the intimate friend and confidential adviser of a great mo-
narch. The latter—hopeless slave!—must always wear a
mask ; always assume a smooth and smiling exterior, even
when he is ready to burst with spleen and indignation, at
the ticket-porter-like duties entailed on him ; but the former
has at least the consolation of knowing, that he may give
vent to his feelings of annoyance, and—pleading the high
authority of Johnson—knock down his bookseller with a
folio, which is a great luxury to authors of an irritable turn
of mind. As a specimen of Royal epistolizing—as Gibbon
phrases it—we quote one of George the Fourth's letters to
his " dearest friend" Knighton, by which it will be seen that
his Majesty was a better hand at making a bow than inditing
a missive ; and that he cut syntax with as much cool deter-
mination of purpose as he cut his old friends the 'Whigs :

" Boyal9eorge Yacht, Milford Haven. Sept. 10,-1821.

" My dear Friend—So many unexpected circumstances have taken
place since I wrote to you, that I scarce know where I am to take up
matters to put you au fail of everything in all quarters. It is rather a
difficult task to undertake, particularly as I know you are not partial to
long letters. I will, however, endeavour to do my best, and be as con.
eise as possible.

" My last letter told you I was to embark (as I did) that day at Dun.
leary. We made since that two ....fforts to stand out on our homeward
♦oyage, but were driven back by change of wind. However, on Friday
last, we stood out suddenly upon a change of wind in our favour and
persevered; but we encountered a most formidable tempest for nearly 48
hours, such as has been hardly known by the most ♦eteran sailor, and,
with the blessing of God, arrived safe in this port about eleven o'clock in
the forenoon of yesterday. Not to be prolix, but in order to give you
some little idea of our state, most of our fleet were separated, except the
Royal Sovereign yacht, the L(fry frigate, and ourselves. The Grecian
sloop of war, reckoned one of the best schooners in the service, sprung
her mast, and was obliged entirely to part company from us in distress,
and to make for the very first anchorage she could, where it is hoped
she is long before this in safety, though as yet no intelligence of her has
been received.

" Most even of our crew and company were deadly ill, but the very
worst of all was my poor self; and I am now, for the first time, since we
are again at anchor in smooth water, risen from my bed, and not with.
out considerable exertion and inconvenience to myself. I have suffered
so much solely for the purpose of writing to you ; for I too gratefully feel
the warmth of your affectionate heart towards me at all times, not only
not to neglect you, but to prove to you that you are always present to
my mind ; and I feel quite sure, that if any part of our history of the
last week should reach you, that the short note which F- wrote you
yesterday would not in the least answer the purpose of quieting your
affectionate anxieties and cares about me. When F- wrote,
it was in the utmost haste, to save the post, which leaves here before
three o'clock in the afternoon, that you might know something decidedly
of us, and we had then thoughts of pursuing our return overland, as he
acquainted you ; but, upon thorough consideration, we found this
scheme next to impracticable; what from the very mountainous and
bad state of the roads through this part of South Wales, the scarcity of
horses, the dreadful length of the stages, and, after all, the formidable
length of the journey itself to London, being above 272 miles, and this,
too, unattended with any sort of comfort or accommodation on the road, at
any rate until we reached Gloucester. Upon the best calculation, there-
fore, we could not have reached our destination at earliest till Thursday
night. We have, therefore, determined, all matters considered, to sum-
mon up resignation and patience to our aid, to wait the first steady and
favourable wind, and which is now very promising, that will carry us
round the Land's-end in about eight hours ; after which we shall make
Portsmouth at the very latest twelve hours afterwards, let the wind be
then almost whatever it may.
" In addition to this, I must also say that it was quite out of the ques-
tion my being able, for two or three days at least, to encounter so tedious
a journey by land ; I am completely shattered and torn to pieces by the
effccts and sickness of an eight-and-forty hour's tempest. Up to this
moment, then, you are acquainted with everything upon which it is
in my power to give you any information by letter. The veriest minu-
tiee of the details of what has passed since we met, you shall have from
me when we meet.
" Now then, God bless you I Ever yours, &c., G. It.

SOUTH AMERICA AND THE PACIFIC.
Two Volumes.
Er TIIII HON. P. CI.YPBMLL BeinarT.
London, Colburn, 1838.
The intelligent author of these very interesting volumes
states, in the dedication, that he would not have consented
to their publication, had he not had reason to believe that
the information contained in them might facilitate the com-
ing out of a plan, proposed by a gentleman named Wheel-
wright, for the establishment of a British Steam Company
for the navigation of the Pacific. Mr. Scarlett became
acquainted with Mr. Wheelwright in Chili, of whose pro-
ject he says—" His plans appeared to ma ably and accu-
rately stated, and are consistent with the impressions I re-
ceived myself in those countries. Feeling the advantages
which must accrue to the commercial world from the esta
blishment of steam communication along the whole western
coast of the Americas, particularly if it could, hereafter.
Kith railroads or canals across Central America or the
Isthmus, unite the two seas, I determined, with Mr.
Wheelwright, to bring his observations, as well as nib
own, on the same subject, more under public notice. The
promotion of these views is, I
.atn convinced, calculated to
produce inestimable benefit to the general interests of trade,
and will also have the effect, if adopted, of bringing remote
regions of the globe, full of natural resources, more under
the influence of a better social and political atmosphere."
These considerations are most praiseworthy ; but, inde-
pendently of them, we should hail with thankfulness the ap-
pearance of a work which contains so much practical infor-
mation relative to the present social and political state of
the South American Republics. Mr. Scarlett landed at
Rio de Janeiro, and visited Buenos Ayres, Monte Vidor,

crossed the Pampas to Mendoza, and the Andes to San-
;iago stopped for some time at Valparaiso, and then pro-
ceeded to Lima; Pay'ta; and Panama; whence he returned
to England: 146 ibii-nd #h countries through which be
travelled abounding in all the natural resources of wealth ;
but owing to the thinness of the population, their extreme
indolence, and a succession of revolutionary struggles, they
presented the appearance of a vast wilderness. In the
towns only did he discover any traces of social order, and
in some of these he found public libraries and other indica
cations of a people advancing in civilization. Were the
Governments of the South American States to encourage
emigration from Europe, and to adopt a federative system
for the prevention of anarchy among themselves, that vast
country would soon boast of nations as rich, as intelligent,
tnd as powerful, as any in Europe.
These volumes are embellished with numerous well exe-
cuted plates, maps, and plans, illustrative of the dresses
And customs of the South Americans, and the improve-
:nents of which the Hon. Mr. Scarlett and Mr. Wheel.
wright consider that country susceptible, with a view to
facilitate and increase our commercial relations in that part
of the world. The style of the work will strongly recom-
mend it to such as dislike rambling dogmatists, who only
see in every Object reflections of their own sage preconcep-
tions. It is pleasingly, because modestly and unassumingly,
written.