The Sun.
London, England, 1847-01-18 00:00:00

Sl7 Ny JANUARY 18, 1847.

LITERATURE.
THE EDINBURGH REVIEW. No. CLXXI

One of those admirable biographical articles for which
the blue-and-buff Review has been remarkable since its
commencement, is prefixed to the seven other articles in
the present quarter. The subject has been suggested
by the recent publication, edited by Mr. John Hill
Burton, viz., a copious biography of David Hume.
As a composition the paper is singularly ditficient: it
has none of the graces of style, and none of the orato-
rical enthusiasm, which would have characterised a
contribution upon the same theme from the pen of
Lord Jeffrey: it is altogether devoid of that spigra-
matic tartness and brilliant illustration, which would
have been found in one written by the late witty
Canon of St. Paul's Cathedral, Sydney Smith : it
has neither the graceful. style of Walter Scott,
nor the splendid enamel of Macaulay. Never-
theless, the article is valuable, readable, and.
judicious. Since the decease of the great his-
torian of England, but little, comparatively, has
been known by the multitude respecting his
domestic career, and his familiar character.
Whatever circumstances or peculiarities in his per-
sonal histOry had reached the ear of the public, had
only come to us incidentally. As his contemporaries
—the more illustrious of them—followed him to that
ferry-boat of old Charon, which he himself in a de-
plorable fit of levity, joked about on his death-bed,
stray anecdotes and casual incidents relating to David
crept out piecemeal in their memoirs and autobio-
graphies. Otherwise nothing was printed which
could elucidate his disposition and his habits, until
the letters and manuscripts left by Hume to
the care of his nephew, Baron Hume, with a tes •
tamentary injunction as to their publication,
(en injunction rejected by Adam Smith,) were
consigned to the Royal Society of Riinburgh on the
decease of the Baron, were ultimately resigned into
the editorial hands of Mr. Burton, and were finally
1846 given to the world in two goodly and interesting
volumes. Before then, the generality of the English
public had only picked up a few intermitently recog-
nised traits in regard to the historian of the country.
Everyone knew that flume was (ethically), rather
more than slightly deistical. Everyone knew that he
had dabbled in metaphysics, and had tried to establish
a system of philosophy, and had failed. Everyone
knew that Hume had a natural affection for
frugality, and an occasional passion for vo-
luptuousness. Everyone knew that Hume was
a fat man—a decidedly fat man ; more than
corpulent in his middle age, and towards the
close of his life rapidly approximating to obesity.
Everyone knew that he absolutely abhorred Eng-
land, that he contemned " the barbarians living on
the banks of the Thames," that he had contracted an
incongruous friendship, and afterwards picked an
anomalous quarrel, with Jean Jacques Rousseau ;-
that he rejoiced in the luxurious society of Paris ;
that he could at last thoroughly enjoy the fabrications
of the cuisine; that his physiognomy was lumpish
and unmeaning;",and (be it said with tenderness and
reverence) that he had wept passionately on hearing
of the death of his mother. We had grouped together
the hieroglyphs, but we wanted the key to them.
We were aware of the principal actions and events of
his bodily life, but we wanted the narrative
of his mental alternations ; we wanted admittance into
the secret chambers of his heart ; we wanted to plumb
the depths of his infidelity, and to form some ade-
quate conception of his extraordinary intellect.
These desiderata could be best obtained through the
medium of his private correspondence, and the multi-
tude of hitherto unrevealed facts treasured up among
his private manuscripts. Through the intelligent
agency of \lr. Burton, under the sanction of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh, most of these mysteries
are now explained, many of the most intricate por-
tions of the labyrinth are threaded. "The Life and
Correspondence of David Hume " reposes in
authentic " leather" on a thousand bookshelves in
the kingdom, and that Life and that Correspondence
are condensed into the compass of some seventy pages
in the January quarter of the Edinburgh Review.
From the period of his birth, at Edinburgh, in 1711,
to his demise in the same capital, on the 25th of
August, 1776, the career of David Hume is tracked
with sagacity and discrimination. After his matri-
eulating, in 1723, at the University of Edinburgh,
we are introduced to him when the victim of the
most morbid and hypocondriacal phantasies. For the
law he is destined—reads the rudimentary chapters of
Voet and Vitiniva—and imbibes a thorough and iner-
radicable detestation of the profession. In his twenty-
first year, namely, in 1731, we 'find him selling
gloves and bombiizeen from behind the counter of an
extensive tradesman in Bristol. A fierce disgust
seizes him at his occupation, and before the expiration
of the twelvemonth, he is off to France, and domesti-
cated at La Fleche. By 1737 he has returned to
Lo-:don with his " Treatise on Human Nature" com-
pleted, and in 1739 the same treatise is issued through
the press—an abortion. Thereupon David Hume is
detected, and seeks consolation in the family circle at
Ninewells. Before 1741 has expired there appears
in Edinburgh a little volume from him, entitled
"Moral and Political Essays," a volume which
ultimately accumulates in bulk and worth
into the shape of his renowned " Essays, Moral,
Literary, and Political." Subsequently he produces his
"Dialogues on Natural Religion," and in the course
of 1745, he is degenerated into "the company- keeper
of a literar7 lunatic," Lord Annandale, living near St.
Albans. then comes the ridiculous expedition in
Britanny, carrying off the Scotch scribe in the retinue
of General Sinclair, in the capacity of secretary and
Judge Advocate. Saving that this adventure en-
abled him to obtain some more extended experience of
the world than he could have gleaned by dozing in
his elbow-chair, it was the waste of the invaluable
time of Hume. After an absence of two or three
years he returns homewards, one thousand pounds in
pocket, and settles down, in something like domes-
ticity and comfort, at Edinburgh. He is there
soon afterwards elected Librarian of the Faculty
of Advocates, which places an enviable assort-
ment of books at his command. In 1752 he
commences his History of England, beginning with
the Stuarts, and so going back towards the Conquest,
till its completion in 17G2. During the intervals of
its composition he comes to London, namely in 1758,
and' resides there somewhere about a year in Lisle-
street, Leicester-fields. By the publication of his im-
mortal work, David Hume had now won for himself
laurels upon which he could repose (and not inoio•
riously) during the remainder of his days. He visits
Paris in the full blaze of his celebrity ; returns to
England, and lives in London two years, dating from
the middle of 1766 to the middle of 1768, and settles
finally in the autumn of the latter year at Edinburgh
with a respectable income of twelve hundred pounds per
annum. An amusing description is given by the
reviewer of the literary despotism exercised in Lon-
don by Doctor Johnson, at the period of Ilume's
arrival in the metropolis. " Considering Johnson's
occasional brutality," says he, " it would not have
been safe for him and Hume to have met in private."
And as a superb illustration of the sway of the great
lexicographer, he observes, " it was only by taking
advantage of Johnson's being away, that half-a-dozen
friends contrived to smuggle Adam Smith into the
club." The laughable antipathy of Hume to Eng-
land and the English people, is unquestionably the
weakest of the many weak points in his character.
It tainted his whole nature like a gangrene ; it
flawed his intellect like monomania. During his
sojourn in the French capital, the historian was not
merely " a passion," with its inhabitants, he was
a God, before wtiont they bowed down is ado-
ration ; and we conceive the writer is not
far from the truth, where lie suspects that the incense
offered to him for a time intoxicated his masculine and
robust nature. Among the numerous acts of extrava-
gant homage paid to Hume, was that of the presen-
tation of the three little princes (sons of the Dauphin),
aged respectively nine, eight, and six. These poor
children were "set up to deliver prepared harangues
to David Hume, on his Philosophy and History."
Little did the enactors and spectators of that burles-
que scene anticipate that those infantine panegyrists
of the English historian, were the germs of three
sovereigns, who were to be rendered memorable by
their misfortunes—Louis XVI., Louis XVIII., and
Charles X. We can imagine to ourselves the
grotesque figure of Monsieur Hume, engaged
in the role of a Sultan in a pantomimic tableaux at
Paris : we can imagine the Scotch author making
fictitious love to his imsginary captives, se.aten p, upon
a sofa, between two of the prethtiestnwdoms
elnutiter.nranocuei
thumping his legs and atom. ac, , a
over and over again "Eh bum saes demoiselles.p.ig E!
bien ! nous ; eh bien ! vohus voila vous voila
ici I" until he is tumbled out of "disgrace-
fully"rtenedriolyomini'uginethnt
as incorrigible. We can
it
preposterous exhibition, now that has been so vividly
revived to our recollection by the reviewer. There is
a very noble image introduced into this article by way
of illustration to the meanness of Hume's haughty
infidelity in matters ethical. It is comprised
in three brief seanttteenrscees and is this :—" He would
have been happir, we think, if the severity of
e
his code of morals had been a little raised—and
if he had lifted himselfup by looking to a higher
nature ! There was of old a legendary figure of
Christ, which wassaasid to have a power of growth in
it, so as to
alwaystaller than the tallest man,
The companionbe toth
this figure, and also converse to it,
would the wail: who, erect in bin; elf and noble,

yet, from looking upwards, becomes nobler still
We have commented so largely upon this biographi-
cal paper, that we have left ourselves little space
for the enumeration of the subsequent articles.
A contribution larded with anecdotes, and brimming
over with antiquarian gossip about the streets of
Paris, follows. Talking about the Place Royale, the
writer has availed himself of the opportunity to sketch
the character of Cardinal Richelieu in a few brilliant
touches—so brilliant and so truthful withal, that we
transcribe the passage entire :

"Cardinal Richelieu, take him for all in all, was per-
haps the ablest, if not the greatest of Frenchmen (f_a-
Napoleon, it must be recollected, was not a Frenchman:
by birth) ; and he was the most essentially French.
Capable of the greatest schemes of statesmaike arnbi
thin, thd smallest personal interest or personal pique lay-
ever more closely at his heart. Even while planning his
% ast combinations of foreign and domestic policy, the
bulk of his time and thoughts seem to have been occu
pied with cares of the most trifling description : with
amorous and literary enterprises, having nothing but th,
gratification of vanity for their object : with elaborate
deviois of mystification and baffoonery, childish sivalries,
womanish intrigues, and the tricks of a malicious monke'..
He had Lone of the sympathies, few of the prejudices,
of his age. Neither sacred things, nor coo at crated int
postures, had any empire over him. King, Pope, an(
Parliament were to him m,-re names, riaresruting piece,
in the game of polities. Yet the same man was the slave
of the paltriest impulses, whe his councilor egotism was
piqued. If w e read of him one day as guiding the swore;
of Gustavus, of stemming the R enish re-action, foundiey
the short-lived absolute monarchy of France ; the nex,
day he figures on a level with poor Pr. Goldsmith, when
he wanted to exhibit his agility in jumping over a stick
against a showman's puppet. This is no idle compari-
son. Brienne has recorded how Mary of Medicis, making
sport of her clerical lover, then Bishop of Luton, per
suaded him, by adroit reflections on his skill, to execute
new saraband in het. royal boudoir, with castanets in
~ his: bands, and in the costume of an .Andalusian majo—
amidst the suppressed convulsion of laughter of certain
spectators posted behind the arras—laughter which
Richelieu, when he discovered the trick, never forgot or
forgave to his dying day. On the one hand, Father Jo-
seph, the masked politician, the secret councillor of alt
the deepest plans of Richelieu's ambition ; on the other.
Bois Robert, the unfrocked athiest and buffoon—they
are the contrasted figures with which that of Richelieu
seems inseparably connected. On the whole, gteat as In-
was, there is something fundamentally odious in his
character, which makes him one of the most ur interest
ing great men of history. Lke Voltaire, whom he so
strikingly resembled in many points of character, he was
spiteful. hard-hearted, and cruel. He bated the Queen,
who had rejected his impudent suit. He hated all whom
she favoured. Ifis political victims were not many, but
they were hunted out with peculiarly cold and careful
cruelty. He could be generous towards those who had
committed offences against him: there is a striking story
told by Tallemant des R6aux, who may be believed when
he speaks well of any one, of his conduct to a thievish
secretary; but he could not forgive an insult, a jeer, or
the slightest mortification to his vanity, or opposition to
hi. projects. His death was felt by France like the re-
lief from a nightmare—from the king to the lowest
rhymester of the ruelles, all Joined in the burden of the
couplets which proclaimed it—
' 11 eat parti, it a pile bagage,
Ce Cardinal I'
But it is remarkable that a man so hateful, so destitute
of all faith and all loftiness of purpose, should have left
such durable impressions on the world. Scarcely does
Paris itself, which is fell of his relics— the Palais Royal,
the library, the street which bears his name—speak more
plainly of Richelieu than that fabric of modern European
policy,- of which he has, acarely with exaggeration,
been termed the founder."

That fabric was erected on the ruins of aristocratic
feudalism ; and, in return, upon the ruins of that
fabric was erected the yet more modern system of
European policy. A. clever argument in favour of
the transference of the moneys collected by the local
taxation of the kingdom (amounting annually to some.
where about 11,000,0001. sterling) into the hands of
Government, is contained in the next contribution.
The writer conceives that by this transference
of the administrative power from a number
of scattered and conflicting municipalities to the
one united power by which the whole destinies
of the empire are protected, a very considerable
economy would be the consequence. In this there
something beyond mere plausibility, but the matter
is one involving so many interests, and is one, more-
over, in which the body of the citizens of this empire
are so deeply interested, that it requires the most
elaborate scrutiny before a single step be taken ont
way or the other. There is much reason in the ad-
vocacy both of the Government distribution of those
11,000,000/.. and of the local distribution of them.
As Lord Lincoln observed in his recent ad-
dress to the con'tituency of Manchester, there
is ample scope for both Government exertion
and individual exertion, though the Noble Lord
qualified the observation by exclaiming, "Do not sup-
pose that I should wish to see everything conducted,
as in other countries, by the effort of the Govern-
ment." The calculation of the amount of rates, tolls,
dues, and fees collected annually in England is of so
much importance to the consideration of the question
at issue, that we transfer it to our columns :
" Relief of poor (1845) X 5,039,703
Miscellaneous purposes defrayed out of
poor's rate .. ..
County and borough rate (1845)
Highway rate
Church rate

537,737

• ... 1,279,962
••• ••• 1,312,812
••• ... 506,812
••• 82.097
••• ... unknown
~. unknown

Sewers' rate (metropolis)
Rest of country ... •••
Lighting and watching rite

---
Total of rates in England, £8,759,123
Turnpike tolls • • ... ... £1,348,084
Borough tolls ••• ••• 9.. ••• 378.011
Light dues ...
••• ... ... 257,776
Port dues ... ... ... ... ... 554 615
Justiciary fees
~G • ••• ••• ••• 68,725
Other mibeellaneous fees ... ... ... unkn )wn

Total of tolls, &c., in England, £2.607,241
Adding these two classes of local taxes together, we
obtain the following result :
Rates
~, £8,759.123
Tolls, dues, and fees 2,607,241

Total local taxes in England, £11,366,364"
Upon " Bancroft's History of the United States,"
and "Bunsen on the Basilicas of Rome," there are
two admirable articles to which we could willingly de-
vote more than a cursory allusion. "Thornton on Over-
population" is a sensible review upon a matter of the
highest interest, both in regard to nationality and hu-
manity. The essay devoted to the consideration of the
"Genius and Writings of Pascal," is a splendid panegyric
upon a man with a sublime nobility of heart and a
supreme loftiness of intellect. Blaise Pascal is one
of those " bright particular stars " which appear not
once in a generation, but one in a century of gene-
rations. The article is eloquent and learned. With
a disquisition upon that very comprehensive system
called " Centralization, —a subject suggested by the
recent works of M. de Carmenin (Timon), M. Vivien,
Charles Dunoyer, and Samuel Laing—the Edin-
burgh Review for the first quaiter of 1847 is com-
pleted,, and completed excellently.

DEATH OF LORD KINGSALE.—The Exeter Flying.
Post announces the decease of this nobleman, whose
faMily name is so familiar to those interested in heraldry
and genealogy. His Lordship died on the 7th inst., at
Ringrone House, near Kingsbridge. The deceased John
Stapleton de Courcy, Lord Kingsale, Baron Courcy of
Courcy, and of Ringrone, Premier Baron in the Peerage
of Ireland, was born September 17, 1805, and succeeded
his uncle, the taenty-seventh Lord, in 1832. In Oc-
tober, 1825, he married Sarah, second daughter of J 0
seph Chadder, Esq., of Devonshire, by whom he had
issue five children, including the Hon. John Constantine
(born in 1827), who succeeds to the title and estates,
which latter lay in the county of Cork, Ireland. The
De Courcys came to this country with William the Cu,.-.
quei•or. The first holding the above title was Sir John
tie Courcy, who was (Ustingnished in the wars of Eng-
land and Ireland in the time of Henry 11. Having bee.:
champion of England in a dispute with France, and
having vanquished the greatest swardatnan of the period
in the latter country, King John granted him and his
descendants the ptivile.4e of remaining covered in the
presence of tho Sovereign. We may add, that up to the
present time, the right has been exercised by members
of the family.
SOHAM.—ANOTHER ATTEMPT AT FIRE, AND CoM-
MITTAL OF THE SUPPOSED INcENDIARr.—We have to
record another attempt at fire in ti,is unfortunate parish,:.o
which, providentially, like the la,t, was unsuhctetst.cu:
the part of the incendiary. About a fortnig it
was discovered that the buildings opposite the Baptist
Chapel had had a most narrow escape of fire, a hand-
kerchief with turf ashes, and a box of Lucifers, the former
partly consumed, being found in a barn bel ,raging to
Messrs. Cowers. Suspicion had for some little time
rested upon an individual 'named Munson, as being con-
cerned in other fires, although no actual clue could be
obtained, and on the present occasion that suspicion Was
strengthened by several circumstances; on inquiry being
made, it was ascertained that the handkerchief lr.a(l been
in Munson's possession only a few days previou.. This
fact led to his being taken into custody, and after 'an
examination before John Dobede, Esq., he was remanded
for a week, and on Tuesday last twain underwent a more
lengthened hearing before the Newmarket bench,
the evidence adduced was found sufficient to justify
them in fully oommitting the prisoner for trial. As
different witnesses gave their evidence, they were cross-
examined by Munson at great length,' but without any
ether result than that of strengthening the case against
him.—Cambridge Independent 3
NEW IRISH MAGISTRATE.—reestBia.
O'Con-
nell, of Bahoss, E •
MX-, has reeeivederrthYe. ries Daniel
on. in-law of Daniel O'Connell,
giotrate.,„„,46,,t,Fio .et. appointment of stipeudiary ma-
rent c.