The Sun.
London, England, 1834-07-12 00:00:00

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7::,11)1s!VE T ;DT.,.
4 --114tpry of the Fall of the Roman Empire. By J. C. L.
De Sismondi. Longman and Co., and Tciylor, 1834.
It is one of the great -indirect advantages which we de-
rive'from the writings of men of splendid genius, that the
excellence of their works rears itself as a barrier, prevent-
ing our being inundated with the emanation's of ordinary
Minds, in any of the several departments of literature and
teicnee, consecrated by their undying presence. He must
Possess an order of intellect towering above, or crawling
below,
the common level of humanity, who presumes
to tread in the foot-prints of Milton, Shakspeare, Locke, or
Newton ; and hence all the books which have been written
the subjects, and after the manner of these illustrious
authors, were either far above, or greatly below mediocrity.
The cause of this is easily perceived. The writers of what
are called tolerably good readable books, are commonly
alenofsound sense and worldly prudence ; they see the ob-
stacles presented to the attainment of wealth or fame by
following
in the track of great writers ; and they have the
,nnderstanding to know that they themselves want the abi-
lity to surmount them. Not so fools, however. They listen
to nothing but the whisperings of their own vanity. They
Write, publish, are laughed at or scorned, and—forgotten.
And here extremes meet ; for there are others besides
fools who are not deterred from any undertaking on ac-
count of the most eminent previously acquired success.
And such is the author of the work now before us, which,
iw all that relates to the philosophy of government, will gain
Y a comparison with the highly polished pages of Gibbon.
It
is true that Sismondi's history is an abridged account of
the fall of the Roman empire, and might with more pro-
PrietY be styled a history of the causes by which that great
catastrophe was produced ; but in itself it is perfectly ori-
ginal, full of thought, and. rich in moral aphorisms and re-
flections, too which cannot be strongly impressed on the mind
of every statesman and writer on the science of social
:elir: esmgeanm,t. It is not a record of wars, and triumphs, and
and individual bravery, and licentiousness,
and the hatred of persecuting and contending sects and
factions ; but an elaborate investigation of the causes of
PcPular discontent ; the sources of poverty and agrarian
insurrection ' • the state of the public mind with respect to
literacy knowledge ; and the mistaken policy of the empe-
rors and provincial governors. The style is neither so
Measured, so elaborate, nor so sounding as Gibbon's, but
• fol' all that, it is equal to some of our very best English
authors.
Sismondi's History will be of immense importance to the
numerous class of readers who were shocked by the irre-
ligious spirit of Gibbon's " Decline and Fall." Perhaps it
is llOt generally known that that great work of the elegant
infidel is proscribed in all Roman Catholic seminaries of
Youth ; and that the finding of it in the dormitory of a
student of Maynooth would subject the offending inmate to
esPulsion. The world will smile at this illiberal narrow-
. minded severity, but such is the fact. Of the history be-
fore us, we can say that it contains not an expression which
can, by any possibility, be construed into an indifference of
teligi°ll ; and that it does contain many passages, advocat-
nig the doctrines of the Sacred Scriptures.
• The following passage will convey a correct impression
of the author's style, as well as of the condition of the b
• 4"mn people in the second and third centuries of the
Christian sera :
" The higher classes of a nation may impress upon the Govern-
14,riTt a character of wisdom and virtue, if themselves are wise and
r""us ; but they cannot give it strength, for strength must al-
ways come from the mass. But in imperial Rome this mass, so
'aried in its language, its manners, its religion, its habits ; so sa-
vage in the midst of civilization ; so oppressed and brutified, was
rare
,elt perceived by those who lived on its toils : it is hardly men-
"eli y historians ; it pined in wretchedness, it perished and dis-
appeared in some provinces, while no one condescended to notice
Its extinction ; and it is only by a series of comparisons that we
.Tsalt discover its fate. In the present state of Europe, the class of
i_l4bandmert—those who live by the manual labour of agriculture—
iins four-fifths of the whole population, England alone excepted.
e may conclude that, in the Roman empire, the agricultural po-
pulation was proportionally larger, since manufactures and com-
merce were in a less advanced state than with us. But, whatever
were
their numbers, they formed no part of the nation. They
eregarded as scarcely superior to the domestic animals whose
labours they shared. The higher classes would have dreaded to hear
'nem pronounce the name of country ; dreaded to call forth their
night have turned against their oppressors. The peasantry were
rigorously deprived of arms, and were incapacitated from contri-
buting to the defence of their country, or from opposing resistance
to any enemy, enemy, foreign or domestic.
he rural population of the empire was divided into two
classes, free colons and slaves • differing, however, far more in name
than in any positive rights. 'The former cultivated the earth for
certain fixed wages, generally paid in kind ; but, as they were
severed from their masters by an impassable distance ; as they were
immediately dependent on some favourite slave or freeman ; as
their complaints were unheard, and the law afforded them no
security, their condition became more and more deplorable ; the
Payment exacted from them more and more ruinous ; and if, ren-
dered desperate by misery, they abandoned their fields, their dwell-
ings, their family, and fled to take refuge under the protection of
some other propnetor, the constitutions of the Emperors had pro-
'tided a summary process by which they could be reclaimed, and
seized wherever they were found. Such was the condition of the
free cultivators of the soil.
" The slaves were again subdivided into two classes ; those who
. were born on their master's estate,--sand who, consequently having
510 other place of abode, no other home or country, inspired a
larger. share of confidence,—and those who had been purchased.
The former lived in huts, in the farm-buildings or homesteads,
under the eyes of their inspector or bailiff, nearly like the negroes
deWest West India estate. But, as their numbers were continually
t.irocreasing from bad treatment, from the avarice of their superiors,
misery and despair, a continual and active trade was carried
of throughout the empire to recruit them from among the prisoners
r. The victories of the Roman arms,—frequently, also, the
‘')tylicts of the barbarians among each other, or the punishments
inflicted by the Emperors or their Lieutenants on revolted cities or
Provinces the whole population of which was sold under the spear
the Prsetor,ept the market constantly supplied with slaves ;
at the expense of all that would have been the most valuable
I'll of the population. These wretched beings worked almost
raPstantly with chains on their feet : they were worn down with
s‘lglie in order to crush their spirit, and were shut up nightly in
übterraneous holes.
I'lle frightful sufferings of so large a portion of the population,
't
I 2 bitter hatred against its oppressors, produced their natural con-
ase_yences ; continual servile insurrections, plots, assassinations,
.poisonings. In vain did a sanguinary law condemn to death
.7,the slaves of a master who had been assassinated ; vengeance
'4i.lat? despair multiplied crime and violence. Those who had already
usfied their revenge, those who had failed in their attempt to do
!O, but over whose head suspicion hung, fled to the forest, and
lived by rapine and plunder."

The hay harvest has become very general through-
out the whole of the West Riding during the past week, and
should the weather continue fine ten days longer, the bulk will
be got in good condition. The yield is in some places much
larger than in others, but on the whole we believe it will prove
above an average crop.—Hull Packet.
February, Theru Ceylon Government Gazette, -cif the 15th of
contains copies of letters from the first officer of the
ZgaY Munro, and from the Colonial Secretary at Port Louis,
accompanied with lists of various bills of exchange, public and
Private, which were preserved from the wreck. They were
tbund on, and delivered •up by, the surviving lascars ; and it
,rears that a number of Royal mails, lost-office packets, and
;Lose of the Hon. East India Company's service, were left on
lisland, together with six of the most effective of the crew
the General Jackson, and one lame man of the crew of the
still YMunro. The convict, whose name is Forsythe, is also
on
the island, having disappeared when the rest were em-
er,4l‘'ing on the General Jackson. Captain Percival will, of
tfourse, have returned for his six seamen, and some British au-
..litY should dispatch a vessel for the two remaining survivors
left
Lady Munro, and for the mails and packets that were
on the island.—East India Gazette..
A melancholy instance of the effects of hydrophobia.
li
?curred in Cork on Wednesday. The subject of it was a fine
ttle girl of the name of Walsh, who, about four months since,
was attacked and bitten by a dog, just as she left home on her
was
to school. The wound, however, healed ; the dog was
the accident forgotten, and no symptom of the ultimate
teesult was manifested until Wednesday last, when the child
!r• merle melancholy and desperately mad. Medical aid was
_nulediately sought for, and eminent physicians were promptly
Lt;l:tqendance, but the poor creature was so excited and violent
13oe it was dangerous to approach her, and no assistance could
b enclered• She was secured and conveyed to the Asylum,
clliletdthe malady was seated too deeply for removal, and she
the next morning at one o'clock.—lrish Paper.
iExtract of a letter, dated Madeira, June 10 :
asTt here have been wonderful doings in Madeira since my
to• Last Wednesday week the Don Pedro, a 64-gun fri-
e, arrived here with dispatches for the Governor, (which
ine refused to accept,) desiring him to give up the island
favour' of Donna Maria. They put the island under a
;Prima state of blockade, and on the following Sunday a
!l,T3oner of war arrived to assist them. The Governor
ist refused, and they informed us by signals that Miguel
r a eftPle
tely driven from Portugal ; and' on Thursday,
.a!te _ great many councils of war, the Governor quietly
• ?- up the island, and hoisted Donna Maria's colours on the
Me: and all the forts. The schooner left yesterday for
then the
and they will shortly send a new Governor here ; till
ren t.ne old one still holds his office. Amongst the first things
:trey lid was to make a regular gaol delivery,' and a very
have
sight it was to see the poor prisoners, many of whom
ec:een confined for several years, and mostly for political
s, but they made no distinction between them and the
and
criminals. They have had for the last three days
of itunside white flags hanging out of all the windows, and bands
befor parading the streets. I never saw such enthusiasm
e."—Morning Advertiser.