The Sun.
London, England, 1831-01-31 00:00:00

LITER A TURE.

QUARTERLY REVIEW—No. LXXXVII.
LONDON, 1831.
The political economists, who some few years
since by dint of perseverance, paradox, and
effrontery, contrived to write themselves and
their system into some sort of consideration,
no were moreover petted and made much of
by the coxcomb politicians of the day, and di-
/hled the suffrages of fashion with Almack's,
the opera, and the dignified science of gas-
tronomy, are now beginning, slowly indeed, but
e' my,
to find their proper level. It is scarcely
;we years since political economy was in all
I,t,s glory. Aspiring tyros in Parliament and
literature affected an acquaintance with its more
than Eleusinian mysteries; not a few among the
fair
it sex, quitting Scott, Byron, and Moore with
disdain, coquetted with it, as though it were—as
expounded by our modern professors—an bite'.
the
system ; and even dandies and exquisites,
I'le most forlorn and imbecile of created beings,
'Ported with it with just as much self-compla-
'l
o' teneY as they would have toyed
,/ " with Amaryllis in the shade,
Or with the tangles of Neaara's hair."
i 1 Ilella five years ago, was the fashionable noto-
r '.letY which political economy had secured for
;tBelf• Where is the science now ? In the
fan
stage of decrepitude, voted a bore by the
mandies, unintelligible by the Blues, and a
But
by the wise and the sound-headed.
lit when we speak of the political economists
with distrust, we do not intend our observa-
t
1 bens to apply to Adam Smith—the Alpha and
mega of the system. He was in every re-
spect a philosopher, clear and comprehensive in
its views, a sound thinker, an expert logician,
41.4 one who brought his speculations to square
with Practice. Since his time little or no pro-
' cress has been made in the science. There has
been indeed a prodigious noise and shuffling of
efeet, but no onward movement,—a march, like
IS:I:at the soldiers call " mark time," but no
:trance. Our modern professors are full of subtle
'lleories, and daring paradoxes, and—nothing
le. They write of political economy as play-
rights manufacture a pantomime, which is perfect
_ proportion to the ingenious shifts and devices,
rrd changes and paradoxes, introduced into it.
tr they can only invent a theory, dress up an old
110181111 in the disguise of a new discovery, build
tip,. one definition and pull down another, they
ink they have done all that possibly can be
4 for the science.
"Diruit, cedificat, mutst quadrata rotundis,"
tor Piles less to the fantastic trifler in Horace than
of a rnod
notable'
professor of political
st economy. It is
rt this class that the fir article in thoe
etshein " Quarterly" treats. The Reviewer speaks
go•-"e41 and their pretensions with the easy in-
erettee that a strong man would exhibit in
4 rig forth to a battle with a weak one. He
upereiliously polite, and will be read with
interest by all who wish to see quackery un-
N4l4ked.
He shows that though all our modern
i Meal economists have agreed that the science
(i 4 at "of the laws which regulate the pro-
the 1,6, " and distribution of wealth," not one Of
oi
'm w has been able•to define what he means b
ey
iii aitlm," and that consequently he is undertak-
o
t
which explain a system the very ground-work of
oft he is wholly unable to comprehend. "Lives
k,titt'heducated Poets" is a pleasant article on Mr.
an ins he edition of the poems of John Jones,
littio_Pred butler in a Yorkshire family. The
btretorthe
isentertaining chiefly for its sketch of
owater-poet, a man much talked of
for hi the year 1630, as much for his verses as
4 i .
ouch !laying sailed from London to Queenbo-
to two in paper boat, with two stock-fish tied
cit,i walking-canes for oars ! "On the Prin-
r ea
d Of Morality" is a clever, but somewhat
latee%re notice k ---..ee of a work on this subject by the
with
..,r• Jonathan Dymond, a pious and accom-
the se..4Quaker. The cursory observations on
imite 14, ath, which the Reviewer has introduced
tatmisw.s essay, are tinged not a little with Puri-
an ehtb Origin of the Homeric Poems" is
indeed orate dissertation on a point interesting
'hand
tiblit scarcely important enough to de-
viewer 'me very formal notice which the Re-
dasN ~ taken of it. Let commentators
i'ooll.,`"e°rists say or write what they will, the
beliefq will not readily be disturbed in its
Illati• that the Iliad is the composition of one
ate tr Mr. Coleridge's remarks on the subject
%••-•eated by the Reviewer with the respectful
kg,'lderation
_ light's
~ to which they are entitled. Payne
Aaih Prolegomena" are also mentioned
b
ittrt;"rtesY• The Latinity of this able dia-
-1 and floll is correct, and remarkable for its vigour
'r i ; reedom. 1.-, vigour
* , vl e remember perusing• it some
',, 404/41.8 since in the pages of the Classical
01 41 .4°l' " Moore's Life of Byron" is reviewed
, .. s„: .
'l) `lark spirit of laudable impartiality,
f 4rk .
i (41 ,„Ide of the noble Poet's character is dwelt
lie"Ltit t°o much minuteness. A few years
, -e ~.,
. aided' when the idea of the monster has sub-
will title:.
.man will come forth, and Lord Byron
tim,t,th I rise in the opinion of the world as
l\flir 5s
he has been of late years degraded.
qv' ItarY Events of the late French Revolu-
Of the
the , into a lengthy detail of the events
With three famous days in
in July, and exposes
4 niece II s nilasriraattliovtle,
tytldieaysmis-statements of Mr•
:I‘,4lithjott,s,t, severity
worhivcahgis described as being
tra i •
vast and contradictory

LONDON,
MONDAY EVENING, JANUARY 31, 1831.

The whole of the Cabinet Ministers left town
this morning to attend his MAJESTY'S Council
at Brighton.

The customary despatches have been received
at the Foreign Office this morning from France
and Holland.

At the sitting of the French Chamber of De-
puties on Friday evening, both the Minister of
War and the Minister of Foreign Affairs
announced that the intentions of the French
Cabinet were pacific, and that nothing short of a
violation of the national honour should induce
them to precipitate the country into war. The
Foreign Minister, however, added, emphatically,
" we are upon the point of peace or war."

The following extracts from German Papers
respecting Poland must be received with due al-
lowance,—they being all in favour of Russia,
and against the Poles:—

FRONTIERS OF POLAND, JAN. I3.—The reception
of Lieut.-Colonel Wylezinski at St. Petersburgh, was not
so favourable as the report spread at his return of the sen-
timents of the Emperor. The Emperor, it is said, seri-
ously warned him, and urged him to endeavour to induce
his countrymen to lay to heart the conditions offered them,
upon which they might hope for pardon, and to abstain from
all father remonstrance s against them. All steps taken
with this view must, however, be fruitless with the en-
thusiasm that has seized the Poles, and a dreadful fate
awaits the country, unless some higher dispensation saves
it from the abyss into which it is about to plunge. The
middling and lower classes are particularly enthusiastic,
and ready to risk everything among the great nobility.
Timidity prevails and produces a difference of opinion in
this class, some being disposed to unconditional sub-
mission while others would negotiate. Others, however,
have joined the general movement, and by their influence,
wealth, and superior education, even given it the
impulse. Hence the Dictator finds himself entangled
in a labyrinth, from which he will [find it diffi-
cult t 9 extricate himself. The. circumstance that the
people already begin to distrust him has the most injurious
effects, and the assembly of the Diet, on the 17th, is likely
to be very stormy, and a prelude to scenes that will ensue—
that is to say, with an excess of the most ardent feelings,
it will betray disunion in its actions and reactions--the
latter, founded in fear of the people, will probably by no
means correspond with the views of the majority of the
Members of the Diet. This, it is affirmed, that if the
communications to be made by the Dictator should be of
such a nature that the election must be immediately made
between open war and unconditional submi4s'on, they will
decide fur the former, and renounce their allegiance to
the Emperor of Russia, as having lost his rights toPol Ind.
The people, who seem not to be thoroughly aware of their
situation, desire war, in which they hope to be victorious,
and even see in a natural phenomenon a sign of the rege-
neration of Poland.

The sight of the late Aurora Borealis made a great
impression on the inhabitants of Wars tw, who consider it
as an omen of the favourable issue of the appreaehing
contest. _

VV
The thunder clouds collected on the Russian frontier
provinces have not yet burst. Accumulated masses of
snow and condensed frost are not, indeed, great obstacles
to the conveyance of cannon and military stores on sledges,
but throw great difficulties in the way of the rapid ad-
vance of the infantry and cavalry, though ample distribu-
tions of brandy are not wanting. What the Journals have
said of the hatred which the native Russians feel towards
their half brethren in Poland is certainly true. It is re-
turned with interest by the Poles. Both Alexander and
Nicholas were fully aware of this, and would willingly
have dispensed with the odious measure of keeping Russian
regiments in Poland, but they could not venture to leave
the Polish troops, especially the artillery, to themselves,
and thus new seeds of inextinguishable hatred were sown.
With respect to the sentiments of the Lithuanian army,
the most contradictory reports are circulated. Whatever
the learned Cliodzko in Paris may say, the Russian lan-

gunge is not Pol'sb, anti the ancient Lithuanian is gra-
dually becoming extinct. Deeply rooted distrust would
not allow the territory of Wolna, so liberally supported
by the Empress Catherine, to be made the centre fur the
diffu%ion of superior knowledge and public instruction.
The teachers called to it from foreip countries were ex-
tremely restricted, and often ill-used, and the old great
Lithuanian finally has never ceased to be at heart Polish.
Even in the third generation the two races do not cordially
blend together. Here, on the frontier of Silesia, it is
universally believed that the Emperor Nicholas will leave
no means of conciliation untried before he proceeds to a
decision by the sword. How exculpatory for the present
ru'ers is the report of the origin of the insurrection, which
has been transferred from the Russsian to all the German
journals! Even Chlopiecki is spoken of in as mild terms
a. possible. The President Dictator himself, is doubtless,
convinced that the decisive battle will end with a new
Finis Polonice.

He has certainly resolved unwillingly to publish the
long-withheld manifesto on the causes of the insurrection.
Perhaps it was meant only to prevent the return of the
Cesarowitsch to Warsaw. In the Russian frontier pro-
vinces, the measures oftlefence and security are prosecuted
with great real ; paople of all classes have readily left their
homes to join their respective corps. This has had its
intended effect on the Polish population of the Grand
Duchy, where it must be owned that the temper of the
peasants y is not very tractable, because the serf in the
kingdom of Poland has not to pay so great contributions
as the emancipated freemen of Posen. On the other hand,
it is indubitable that the immen'e majority of the inhabi-
tants of the towns, and of the Jewish population in the
kingdom of Poland itself, could be induced only by compulsion
and fear to take part in the general arming that has been
commanded. All the accounts in the Warsaw Journals
of the enthusiasm for liberty are, if not mere fictions, great
exaggerations. It seems certain that many Frenchmen
have found means under various disguises to get to War-
saw, but it is not likely that they have brought any money
with them.

BRESLAU, JAN. M.—According to all accour.lB the
Russian army will have been joined by the Reserve Gre-
nadier divisions before the 29th, on which day the opera-
tions'will begin on two lines, viz. on the road from
Bialystock and Brzsc. The troops will advance as ra-
pidly as the scarcity of provisions will allow. It is sup-
posed that the Emperor will endeavour to cause divisions
among the Poles by offering to many amnesty and even
personal advantages. Almost all the landowners who went
from the Grand Duchy of Posen to the insurgents have
returned home at the first summons.
VIENNA, JAN. 18.—The Prussian General Von Roda
has brought the insignia of the Black Eagle for our Crown
Prince Ferdinand, King of Hungary. Our accounts from
Poland are so at variacne with each other, that we can
f•~~m no opinion of the state cf the country. Most of
those persons belonging to the kingdom of Galicia, who
are in the kingdom of Poland, have returned home on the
summons issued by the Government of Galicia. The
Turkish mail of the 25th December brings no news of
any importance;

- . -
JAN. 19.—Four per Cents., 80i; Bank Shares, 1029.
JAN. 20.—Four per Cents., 80; Bank Shares, 1033.

Parliament will re-assemble on Thursday next,
and the public await in anxious suspense the
measures on which it shall resolve,—but the
paramount question which engrosses the minds
of all men is the great question of REFORM.—
The Boroughmongering system, Proteus-like,
displays corruption in almost endless forms and
deformity. There arc boroughs that have
representatives without having any inhabitants,
as Gatton, Old Sarum, Newton, and many
others ;—boroughs with a large population,
whose Members are returned by a mere faction
yclept " the Corporation," as Bath with forty
thousand inhabitants, where the Members are re-
turned by twenty-four individuals,—Hastings
with six thousand inhabitants, the Members
chosen by a like number,—Marlborough and
Mahnesbury, with upwards of three thousand
inhabitants each, and the Members for each
chosen by a dozen, or rather nominated by the
Boroughmonger who commands the dozen.
In other boroughs some few inhabitants have
votes, which are overpowered by numerous non-
resident freemen, mostly of the lowest class, as
Lincoln, Liverpool, Hull, Dover, &c. &c.;
and there are some where the inhabitants have
not even the semblance of a voice in the election
of those who are termed their representatives, as
Knaresborough, with a population exceeding
three thousand persons, the Members for which
are returned by a handful of strangers sent in on
the day of election for the purpose.
The influence that returns the Members for
nearly all these descriptions of boroughs is of
the same character and employed for the same
purposes. The Aristocracy, not content with
occupying one House of Parliament, return by
these devices a majority of the other, and usurp
the whole power of legislation for their own ex-
clusive benefit, which they modestly pretend is
that of the country. In England legislation is
reduced to a trade, and become a monopoly, and
the humblest of the community suffer from the
baleful results.

The Boroughmongers will cling to the power
of which they surreptitiously possessed them-
selves, with the same tenacity as to life ;—not
venturing to rely on open hostility, they will re-
sort to artifice,—some only of themselves or
hirelings will openly oppose, others will profess to
support Reform, the latter the better to quarrel with
the details, and propose amendments intended
to strangle the great measure, while the minor
myrmidons will always be ready to cough, cheer,
or divide by signal from their leaders. A
plot has been concocted and matured,—the
conspirators against Reform are trained and
marshalled ready for the field,—in theatrical
phrase, the parts are cast, and the company com-
plete, even to scene-shifters and link-boys. Ex-
secretaries, ex-under-secretaries, ex-treasurers,
and ex-whippers-in, have all rehearsed and are
ready to perform their several parts before and be-
hind the curtain ;—all tried men,—veterans on
the stage of corruption, as the public will perceive
when the curtain rises and the drama begins.
We should be sorry, however, to detract from
any claim to public virtue these worthies may
be supposed to possess,—themselves the off-
spring of corruption, it may perhaps be an act
of filial duty on their parts to support that cor-
ruption in which they were engendered, by
which they have thriven, in which alone they
can exist.

Let the people of England look to it.
'rhe
boroughmongers are far more deadly enemies
than any foreign foe they ever had, or can have,
to contend with, the latter can only attack the

extremities of the State,—the former prey upon
the vitals of the public. Let the people then
come forward and sul,port their own rights and
the King's Government—in the language of our
contemporary, the Tines, let them " thunder for
Reform,"—to fail to do so would be little less
than treason to their own best interests, and
those of their posterity. These are times, this
is a struggle, in which to quote the immortal
NELSON, " England expects every man to do
his duty."

We have much pleasure in directing public
attention to the spirited and patriotic resolutions
entered into by the late memorable meeting at
Bristol. The sentiments recorded there are
so entirely in unison with our own, that
it would be superfluous to enlarge upon them.
The people of Bristol have set a noble example
to their countrymen in the West of England,
which we have no doubt will be duly appreciated
and acted upon. A reformed Parliament will
reform every other abuse, whether in Church or
State—it will save the pence of the poor, and
protect the thousands of the rich—dealing
out justice to all—and favouring only the most
worthy. Let all worthy men, therefore, petition
for Reform, for the sake of themselves and their
country.