The Sun.
London, England, 1835-10-05 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

WESTMINSTER REVIEW. No. LXVI,
• Macrone, London.
If w
e may judge from the present Number, we
si:ould say that a " change" for the better has " come
o'er the spirit" of this Review. It has:become
,some-
ring mellowed in its tone of thought and sentiment--
8 more agreeable and unaffected in its style—and no
longer lays clown its political; ethical, and critical ca-
✓ °us, in that strait-laced, dictatorial manner, which
for years so offensively characterized it. It is now
iniost as unassuming and conciliatory, as it once was
real and repelling. In the first article on " The
c._Cis of Canada" this change is strikingly percep-
.isble ; for the question, though of course argued on
the broad basis of liberality, is temperate, and even
lorbearing in its tone. If Mr. Roebuck (as we sus.
11:net) be the author of this Essay, we congratulate
tenon the patient research he has shown, and the
,Qmtmer which he has penned it. - " English Aris-
: -ratic Education" points out the folly of the present
jnstem with infinite force and propriety of reasoning ;
fashionable novels in support of his reasonings. They
et
quiteUit° "ninCillg enough without such aid—at best
'u
kdoubtftml---for the fair novelist, in her desire to
to A description tell, is very apt to sacrifice Nature
caricature, as in the instance -of " Mothers and
Daughters," which, as a transcript of real life, is by
hteans to be relied on. The only fault we find with
IluB otherwise irresistible article, is the author's exag-
gerated account of the contempt in which " reading
elfin are held by " non-reading men" at the Univer-
bie,s' We can assure him that, so far from being des-
se"' the one class is held in the highest esteem by the
Pal °tiler, whatever may have been the case in theof
my taw's of high Toryism. Thanks to the progress
enlightened opinion, ignorance is no longer a matter
p Ssheast at Oxford or Cambridge ; it has become fa-
thnl°nable, if not to study hard oneself, at least to admire
~.°s° who do ; and fashion is here, as. elsewhere, om-
.7lPotent. Newmarket is not the magic name to a rich
71 titled Cantab, that it was twenty, or even ten years
ingtO ;h has degenerated, as his ancestors would say,
4 ° something like a rational being ; and we do not
ahestair of living to see the day, when the Calendar
tan contain the names of as many aristocratic, as
plebeian wranglers. The Reviewer evidently confounds
e Universities of the present day, with those of thirty
Y,afears, since ; and on this founds one material portion
his reasoning ; whereas there is no more resem-
blance between them, than between savage and civilized
Improvement,
But doubtless there is still room for considerable
Pr°vement, and so far, therefore, the Reviewer is
Lcorrect, in his hypothesis. " Cooke's Memoirs of
ord Bolingbroke," though somewhat too didactic in
• Inalmer, is copious and accurate in detail, especially
mtl Itsbi Portraits of St. John and Walpole, which, as the
-°st animated portion of the essay, we extract
T• he history of these two distinguished men possesses a
110, romantic interest, which might suit very well (if it has
already served) for' the ground-work of a fiction. They
t°hreh
nearly of the same age, and their original position in life,
both left far behind, was pretty equal. The animosity
lieEa shook empires, is said to have commenced at Eton
730!, where the embryo statesmen were rivals. Perh_aps
vitte,a.us mind was not of itself suited to b. e long_ tenaritedby
ve feelins, had not ceaseless irritation and disappoint-
s Ted them ;abut the undying hatred of Walpole even when
theenehlY was at his feet, kept their enmity alive to the end ;
4,01100 e thundering from ' his place'. in the House of Com-
thii s' where he reigned with undisputed power,—the other
Nivg(4:l to reply from. the vulgar arena of the press,. but
.witha
irelliu„! which. forced him before the. world, as prominent in his
ten,„_ as his opposite his station. The were in many
ter of
men of far characters.. Walpy.ole, the great
of figures, possessed an unwearied application to busi-
shrewdness in discerning the clearest dray through the
‘vhic° Politics before him, and a pertinacity in followin than
any
other
uvenabled him to hold the helm unrivalled longer.
kirer LI" British statesman. We hear nothing from his
.ad-
nt si °,l grand bursts of eloquence, of richness in illustration,
doA:iliess of repartee ; but the speeches which have come
husk ° us show a steady well-supported eloquence,. and. a cleari
hss-like application to the point under discussion. h I e
eve, refound knowledge of the human heart, of which,ow-
fespeici'penerally saw best the darker portions.. His passions,bu
kept
he 'Y. the bad ones, it is easy to believe were strong
lethal them under powerful checks, when he felt that their
tteryegnee would recoil upon himself. It is needless to oh
this. how much Bolingbroke differed in his character frorei all
lin br
If their rivalry at school was of a litetary nature,. o-
lediel:e must have been greatly the superior. His know-.
1,04ea1:1 the French language was so far thatbeyondh generally
ermalal)n
enatte_ed at the period, that he was considered t e
cletaiis'ed with the ministry, capable of superintendinghththe
ham,
whf the
.Treaty of Utrecht. Walpole,
of modern
tdeernolaner
!Nage, s,s, by his son's admission so inorant owams
an batiliat his intercourse with the
..Sovereign °conducted
legiti Latin. Bolingbroke, although it is easy to see that the
aecas—t ate Path of his mind was that of political ambition, had
lignoa;9, Ted it to excursions. in so many directions, that when
'lad fatil"sly driven from his more congenial course,. he could
c't pe°fie" companions in his solitude—the great ancient mastersfn
terta, etion, who soothed his disappointment,. andsoare
a-
voiall'uted his thoughts, that he could fancy himself likethem,
Vi'al,a,"Y exile from the cares and bitterness of. statesmanship.
graeie to the last, had clung to his power with
.a convulsive
14147 and when shaken free, retired to his mansion
.and his
Tim I,ced Pictures, sullen and morose, a prey its ejection, and
of being soothed by literature, holding n contempt
tl4tiln-„rncrality, as it appeared before the world, was curiously
IthieCti Bolingbroke's assumed a lofty disinterested
far air,too
st4rttin °ea not belong to human nature- at all, and was
Itas ?' a contrast with the conduct of its author: Walpole
held i east candid. Independence sand political. integrity he
self 2 supreme Contempt ; and as he had establishedhteo h
neverim-
cna,,_u,Philo.sophy of morality to relieve his practice,.
haerZjed his practice. He was a sheer merchant in govern-
'every+l, thing was to be bought and sold.
(12.:`11e last sentence, though harsh, is strictly in ac-
to "nee with truth. But -Walpole has many excuses
io °Ter for the laxity of his Political code. He lived
the tinles when profligacy was the mule, and principle
lona
Ixiettele, ption among public men, and though it has
te2 °cell the fashion to say otherwise, he 'left the sys-
if at all, worse than he found it. Let it be re-
-1110"lhered to his honour too, that he was one of the
liv efficient peace Ministers we ever had, and had he
lied at a period more favourable to the growth of pub-
zov;:rtue, would have been one of the greatest. In his
tree of the " Memoirs of Sir James M'lntosh," the-
tett. viewer takes a shrewd, impartial view of the charac-
ow of the author of " Vindicim Gallicm," who wanted
1114(Yi energy' and practical decision of purpose to have
a, e him one of the foremost and most influential
tilesineu of his day. Sir James's mind was stored
to rich, curious, and various erudition, but he does
bt aPPear to have made himself master of any one
ranch of law, science, or philosophy. He was well
fedthe
*as a m n generalities of most great subjects ; but he
44 „Pt to shrink- from the labour of investigating their
t's and practical' bearings. It is as an historian
that. 11,e shows to best advantage, not, however, so much
of ;tile narrative, as in the speculative part,
aft„4is,_t°rY ; and here his fame will survive long
his metaphysical researches* have gone to
pr 13 Company with the verse of Blackmore, and the
j:se of Hannah More. In all, even the best, of Sir
ielries,Nlackintosh's.writingS, there is a want of earnest-
ft., and directness of purpose that greatly detracts
aiuoin their interest. He never carries his readers
and with him, and being destitute of fancy, boldness,
e'riginality, leaves no impression beyond what the
hour may suffice to obliterate. Works of
Cobbett" is the best, and we believe, the most
writ authentic account of the early history of this celebrated
N. er, we have yet met with. His anti-jacobin freaks in
ts,Zth America, when under the signature of Peter Por-
;tl.oe, he was supposed to have been in the pay of the
•Lsh-Povernment, and to have fulminated his phil-
lip.„ cr h "
es under their express dictation, is related in a,
.y 1
-b
part.„raPnle, piquant manner. The Reviewer is no
he , 7m°..of,Cobbett, but neither is he opposed to him;
so(iPeaks of him with temperance and discrimination ;
that Sys' what not even his bitterest enemy can deny,
elaric 1 itabi was'
all things considered, by far the most re-
-
of cobbeetitn,s_ an of his time. When, however, lie speaks
failure in the House of Commons, as .a