The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-12-19 00:00:00

it is that instantan

acknow

rofessedly dear to
lira, should surely have convinced Burns of the danger of
the precipice upon which they both stood, and of the pro-
A r .• . . . .

gemen

, from one

priety of relinquishing their interviews, made as they were
with every possible degree of secrecy. And yet in another
letter, in reply to one in which Clarinda informs him of

••••-,..111u4 1111 Vllll3 HIM lit
her alarms atthe indecorum of such interviews, we find
him saying, " Do not let us impose upon ourselves by
sounds. If in the moment of fond endearment and ten-
der dalliance (the italics are our own) I perhaps trespas-
sed against the letter of decorum's law, I appeal, even to
you, whether I ever sinned, in the very least degree,
against the spirit of the strictest statute ?" And conti-
nues, " Now my love, do not wound our next meeting
with any averted looks or restrained caresses ?" Whilst
he thus describes the feelings by which he himself is im-
pelled—" Oh, love and sensibility, ye have conspired
against my peace ! I love to madness and I feel to tor-
ture !"

Within a month after the composition of this piece of
high-flown sentimentalism, the poet was at Kilmarnock,

writes C

about to pre-
twa wee sarkies" to the eldest of the twin
children of " bonnie Jean ;" and from this period up to
the time of his marriage (in about another month) the
correspondence was still carried nn_ That orant whin!,

Burns ju
whilst he 4...5.n..uaca lllb professions or love to Clarinda, ..,
stating that, during their correspondence, he had not been
" under the smallest moral tie to Mrs. Burns," produced
an estrangement between them ; and although a few letters
passed subsequently, these were only the interchange of
mutual courtesy, and were comparatively cold on both
sides.

The feeling, which the volume now published must
produce upon most readers, can scarcely be other than one
of deep regret and reprobation. With Clarinda herself,
who appears to have been, with the exception of this un-
fortunate passion, an estimable and amiable woman, the
world has little to do. But the character of the poet is
the world's property;" and his friends and admirers can-
not but regret a publication which so materially darkens
the blotted page of his h
a doubt whether he was at an
, His most toucl
'
e which t

time capable of sic

ley must now appear, lose much of their charm,
when we once begin to suspect that the ardour which they
breathe is affectation, and that the feelings which they
pourtray come from the pen, or the fancy, and not the
heart.

We regret, therefore, on every ground, that such a cor-
respondence has, after a lapse of fifty years, and in a
changed stale of public feeling and morals, been given to
the world; and yet, having been so given, it must now
assume the position of an integral feature in the poet's
life and writings. As specimens of epistolary composition
the letters themselves are honourable to the talents of both
writers, and especially to those of the lady; and their
perusal may serve as a warning against the indulgence of
the kind of feeling under which they were both written.
The work is beautifully got up by Mr. Tait, and will, no
doubt, find an extensive circulation.

The Perils of the Nation : an Appeal to the Legislature,
the Clergy, and the Higher and Middle Classes. Se-
cond edition revised. London : Seeley, Burnside, and
Seeley, Fleet-street.
Fes modern publications of the same class have at-
tracted a greater amount of attention than the work be-
fore us. Its bold and manly tone—its genuine English
sentiments—its fearless condemnation of the utilitarian
spirit of the day ; and, above all, its earnest recognition
of Christian principle and Christian requirements, as the
basis of legislation, and the only true test of the healthy
condition of the social machine, were novelties, startling
enough to wake up the dullest amongst the worshippers of
expediency. Detached passages from it have been pub-
lished, in the columns of most of the journals in the in-
terest of conservatism, accompanied by commendatory
remarks ; and, indeed, so extensively is it thus known to the
world, and its value recognised, that it may appear almost
a work of supererogation to bestow upon the second edition
now before us a critical notice. We do this, however,
with a view to convey to those of our readers, who have
not perused the work itself, but contented themselves with
the abundant extracts laid before them by the press, the
general objects of the writer, and as fair an idea as we can
of the measures and policy, by which he proposes their•
accomplishment.
In the outset of the work, the writer lays it down as a
fact, of which he is thoroughly convinced—and he is not
singular in the opinion—that Great Britain is at this mo-
ment menaced with convulsion, arising from the social dis-
organization of her masses. To establish this position, he
proceeds to examine into the social and physical state of
the " manufacturing poor"—the " workshop labourers"
—the " commercial poor"—and the " agricultural poor"—
all of whom he shews, by the production of a mass of
documentary and statistical evidence, to be sunk in fear-
ful demoralization, intense bodily suffering, mental dark-
ness and error, and rapid progression to complete pauper-
ism. From such a state of the working population of any
country, it is stark madness to anticipate anything save
evil—anything less than civil and social convulsion ; and
the more especially is such a state of things amongst that
working population dangerous, when there is a total ab-
Bence on the part of the classes above them, and of the
legislature as well, of a disposition to adopt those kindly
measures of amelioration, which are required for the per-
manent restoration of the afflicted and disaffected masses
to a condition of wealth and contentment.
The cause, and the growth, of this threatening source
of evil is, we submit, justly, attributed by the writer,
amongst other concurrent circumstances, to a vicious sys-
tem of legislation which has prevailed for the last half
century, and to the adoption, by many successive gevern-•
ments, of a false and infidel philosophy, as the basis and
test of their measures. For years past we have been le-
gislating for Liao w 0015.4 qf /A. lo coot's-arias 'io.ot;oa
to the happiness of the nation. From the petty trades-
man to the millionaire—from the small farmer to the lord
of a thousand acres—throughout all ranks and all condi-
tions of the people, has sprung up a wild thirst for gold ;
for the gratification of which no sacrifice of principle, of
honesty, of humanity, even, is esteemed too great. To
promote the growth of capital—its accumulation in
masses—we have added farm to farm, sweeping our once
happy cottiers from their loved holdings, into the condi-
tion of totally dependent labourers or paupers, and driving
thousands of once substantial cultivators to struggle in
vain for other farms, upon which to bestow their industry,
and rear their families in comfort, with the too certain
prospect in view of ultimately sinking into the class be-
neath them. And all this mass of misery is created to
enable a comparatively small number of men to grasp in-
dependence and riches upon large farms of 1,000 or 1,500
acres. For the gratification of the same unworthy passion
we have depressed everywhere the price of labour; we
have decreased the profits of industry and enterprise ; and
as the result we have c eated, and are fast widening, a
gulf between poverty and wealth—on one side lashing to
fury a vast mass of passionate, despairing, demoralized
human beings, whom, at the same moment, we torture
and goad by the display, on the other side, of the heaps
of hoarded wealth which avarice and selfish philosophy
have wrung out of their misery.
Nor is this the worst feature of the system in which we
are as a nation embarked. Avarice has not only entered
into and taken possession of the national mind, but has
brought with it other demons, of strength and wickedness
equal to its own. The teaching of our modern philosophy
tells us not only to board—to scheme•—to " get money ;".
but it bids us also throw away all scruple with respect to
the honesty of the means which we employ. The " cutting
tradesman" who embarks in business without capital or the
prospect of capital adequate to the conducting of his busi-
ness upon the old principle of fair dealing,—who squanders
thousands in tricky embellishments and other devices to
hide his want of resources, and after a few years of " sel-
ling off at large sacrifices," finds his way ultimately into
the Gazette,—is, at the close of his career, only " a spirited
man!" He has scorned the jog-trot pace of his more
honest forefathers. He has ventured and lost a stake
which was not his; and he is—not a swindler—oh no !
he is only an unfortunate man. Another roll of the dice
would have enabled him to " pull through ;" and then lie
would have been a rich man, although old-fashioned peo-
ple might have been disposed to call him only a successful
swindler.
One natural result of the operation of such a system of
business, and such a code of commercial morality, is the
abandonment of the principle of equitable dealing. Every
tradesman in the present day is bent upon underselling his
neighbour. Cheapness is the infallible road to success ;
and how is this to be attained ? By reducing the wages of
the labourer, in part ; by the introduction of inferior ma-
terials; by the perpetration, in fact, of cruelty upon the
operative, or fraud upon the consumer. To what misery
has not the operation of this evil principle led ! It fills our
workhouses ; it has heaped our streets with vice and
wretchedness. It is the source of a thousand weekly
MURDERS of miserable victims, whom it condemns to toil,
half naked and famished, in garrets and cellars, for the
paltry wages which it offers, as the only alternative to save
them from utter starvation, or that infamous and death-
dealing instrument which we have provided for the pun-
ishment of poverty, a UNION WORKHOUSE ! What is a
country where such a mass of evil and suffering exists less
than a reeking pesthouse ?
To remedy the present condition—perilous condition—
of the nation, the writer of the work under notice
would have us to go back to the honest ways of
our forefathers; to legislate for its cure upon Christian
principles; to protect the labourer; to provide for him
the blessings of a religious education, and, in addition to
merely legislative measures, he endeavours to stir up in
individuals and classes, a disposition to cultivate, to the
utmost of their ability, the happiness of their dependants
and those beneath them in worldly station. Many of his
appeals, upon the necessity of this policy ar•e admirable,
alike in spirit and in substance; and the whole are cha-
racterised by a spirit of charity, humanity, and right feel-
ing, and are strengthened by unanswerable evidence of
their wisdom and sound policy, drawn from Scriptural au-
thority. As a nation, we are urged to reject the errone-
ous teaching of human philosophy, and to return to the
teaching and guidance, in all our dealings with one another,
of the only safe guide—the word of God.
The concluding passage upon this subject we must quote,
even at the risk of being accused of prolixity :
" The subject" (the peril of the nation, and the means
to be devised for its removal) " will, doubtless, engross
much of the attention. of the legislature during the
coming session ; and that their consultations may be di-
rected to the advancement of God's glory, the good of his
church, and the safety', honour, and welfare of our Sove •
reign and her dominions, is a prayer that ought to issue
from the ground of every heart. Meanwhile, this fact
stares us in the face: England is in imminent peril; she
has within herself abundant means for the removal of all
from which that peril springs, if each among her well-
informed classes will do his duty, first by searching and
trying his own ways, that he may return to the Lord in
whatsoever he has depsrteil from Him,—secondly, by
using the full amount of his influence to disseminate right
principles where they are obviously needed, through igno-