that unity therefore of purpose which is so essential to the increase of dominion cannot exist in so divided a people. But independent of this circumstance, which the course of events may in a short time remove, they will not have for many years yet, a sufficient number of idle and destitute individuals to fill the ranks of their army, or to supply their navy. Their population is at present far below the means of its easy support; and until it increases far beyond its present extent, it will repose in inglorious security, nor be roused either by the pressure of immediate want, or the calls of hungry ambition into activity and power. Of our author's power of describing British scenery, the following is a specimen, "We are just returned from Loch Katrine. The distance from Callender to the Guide's house, is about eight miles of rough roads We went in two hours and a half, and returned in two hours, and have spent eight hours on a spot celebrated for its natural beauties, and still more now as the scene of the most picturesque poem that ever was written. "You approach this consecrated spot with your imagination considerably exalted, and prepared for something very wonderful. In this unfavourable state of mind, the first sight of Loch Venachoir and Loch Achray did not satisfy us. The latter lake receives the waters of Loch Katrine, by an outlet through the Trosachs, a confused jumble of rocks and tops of mountains, which seems to have slid down from higher mountains, Benvenue on the left, and Ben-Ledi on the right, and, to bar the passage, "Crags, knolls, and mounds, confusedly hurled "One of these odd pieces of rocks (Binean) pointed like a steeple, is said to be 1800 feet high, half of which is perpendicular. The general effect of this anti-chamber of Loch Katrine is, upon the whole, more grotesque than great or beautiful. We entered it by a narrow defile, between two ramparts of rocks, finely rent and broken, and overgrown with old trees, their mossy trunks and fantastic branches hanging over on each side. Turning the last corner, Lake Katrine burst upon us,-not in its full beauty at first, but twenty yards farther the sight was indeed glorious. The following rough sketch may render the description more intelligible. Advancing by the road cut into the rocky base of Ben-Ledi, you see, on the other side of the lake, the mountain of Benvenue rising in blueish grandeur, behind the rocks and wood of the shore, which are deeply indented with bays and promontories. The retrospect of the Trosachs you have left, presents still the same aspect of grotesque wildness which serves to set off the simple and rich composition of Benvenue. We had provided a guide, who took us in his boat to the island of the Lady of the Lake; which the the imagination of the poet has, if not embellished, at least much enlarged. We knew at first sight The aged oak, that slanted from the islet rock,' and did not fail to gather a few leaves and acorns, which will render us an object of envy among the numerous readers of Mr. Scott in America. The Naiad of the Strand was unfortunately not there. "With head upraised, and look intent, And eye and ear attentive bent, And locks flung back, and lips apart, Like monument of Grecian art." Vol. i. P. 321. Our author generally writes in a strain of sufficient good humour; the extortion, however, practised upon himself, in common with every visitor of Blenheim, that splendid monument of national gratitude, appear, and, we must confess, with much justice, to have excited his spleen. The dues exacted by servants at the seats of our English noblemen, are indeed a disgrace, though perhaps a necessary one, to the nation; there is, however, a point beyond which even accustomed extortion becomes intolerable. "We were first conducted to a small house on the left, containing a humble appendage to the glory of the Marlboroughs, viz. a cabinet or gallery of old china; and were made to undergo the sight of a whole series of dishes and teapots, from the earliest infancy of the art, in modern Europe, among the Romans, and in China: the specimens are, as may be supposed, mostly very coarse, rude, and ugly. Of all connoisseurships this is perhaps the most childish. The guardian of these treasures is, very properly, a female. Whether she perceived our unworthiness, I do not know, but there seemed to be a sort of tacit agreement between us to dispatch the business as quickly as possible. Having paid our fees, we drove on, among very fine trees, and, passing between the palace and the water, had a full view of its front. I had heard much of its magnificence, and of its heaviness; but I saw nothing of either. The pediment of the main body is too high and narrow; the colonnade of the wings is interrupted by awkward projections. Multitudes of low towers, pointed pinnacles, and other ornaments hérissent the top of the edifice, which seems to want simplicity and grandeur, some extensive surface or large parts for the eye to rest upon. The main body on this side extends about 350 feet from wing to wing. "Crossing the bridge, we admired the finely indented and woody banks of the piece of water, which is very clear, and appears to cover about 200 acres. We drove to the column already men-. tioned, then across a plain, with meagre plantations, and herds of lazy over-tame deer, round the western extremity of the lake. We had been overtaken by a gardener, who came after us au grand galop, mounted on an ass, to direct our admiration to particular spots spots (all tame enough), and get his 2s. 6d. On the limits of his jurisdiction, the park, he delivered us over to another cicerone, an old servant, who descanted on the architecture, and, among other things, made us take notice of a colossal bust of Louis XIV. taken at Tournay, and placed here over the pediment, with this inscription, Europæ hæc vindex genio decora alta Britanno,' and below, the British lion clawing the Gallic cock to pieces; adding, with a sigh, that things were much altered since that time. He committed us to the charge of another domestic, our fifth guide, (a great division of labour,) who opened to us a small theatre, used formerly by the family and their friends. In an adjoining room are numbers of original Titians, very large, without frames, and but lately put up, after lying for near a century in a garret, being a present of the King of Sardinia to the great Marlborough, who was no virtuoso. These Titians appeared to me very bad pictures; incorrect drawing,-no shades, and vulgar expres sion. A sixth man took us round the pleasure-grounds, and these were certainly well worth seeing." Vol. ii. P. 104. -- "The seventh guide was a coxcomb of an upper servant, who hurried us through the house. The entrance-hall is very fine. The apartments exhibit Gobelin tapestry, in very bad taste, as usual; a multitude of indifferent pictures, and some good ones. I recollect an excellent Vandyck, Time clipping the wings of Love, and a very indifferent portrait of some mistress of Charles II. by the same; a huge family picture, by Sir Joshua Reynolds, in which the present duke is conspicuous for the beauty of his person; an excellent Death of Seneca by Lucca Jordano; but we had really no time to see them properly. Nothing can be more magnificent than the library. It is about 200 feet long, by 32 feet wide; the coved ceiling is richly worked and painted, and supported by a row of columns of the rarest marbles, each of a single block; the entablature and base also of marble. This library contains 20 or 25,000 volumes. We remarked a statue of Queen Anne by Rysbrack, the dress finished with extreme care. The fees of all our different guides amounted to nineteen shillings. The annual income of the Duke of Marlborough is estimated at 70,000l.” Vol. ii. P. 107. The reader will now be curious to hear the summary of our author's observations upon the general character of the English nation. "If I was asked, at this moment, for a summary opinion of what I have seen in England, I might probably say, that its poli "This allegory of Vanbrugh has been called a tecture," tical institutions present a detail of corrupt practices,-of profusion, ---and of personal ambition, under the mask of public-spirit very carelessly put on, more disgusting than I should have expected: the workings of the selfish passions are exhibited in all their nakedness and deformity. On the other hand, I should admit very readily, that I have found the great mass of the people richer, happier, and more respectable, than any other with which I am acquainted. I have seen prevailing among all ranks of people that emulation of industry and independence, which characterize a state of advancing civilization, properly directed. The manners, and the whole deportment of superiors to inferiors, are marked with that just regard and circumspection, which announce the presence of laws equal for all. By such signs I know this to be the best government that ever existed. I sincerely admire it in its results, but I cannot say I particularly like the means. What I dislike here, I might be told, belongs to human nature in general; to the world, rather than to England particularly. It may be so, and I shall not undertake the panegyric of either the one or the other. "The government of England is eminently practical. The one under which I have lived many years might be defined, on the contrary, a government of abstract principles. Certain opinions have taken possession of men's minds, and they cling to them, as to the religion in which they were born, without examination. The measures of the government have the prejudices of the multitudę for their bases, always the same under any change of circumstances, and to be obeyed, in defiance of the better judgment of that very government. Were the people left to themselves, they might come to a right judgment of things; but they are encompassed by newspapers, conducted by the mercenary pens of men, often foreigners, who find it more convenient to flatter prejudices, and inflame passions, than to rectify and enlighten; they follow the stream of public opinion,-yet they swell the tide, and give it its headlong violence; and the people believe themselves free, under an oligarchy of newspaper writers. Vol. ii. p. 297. Between the French and the English he draws the following comparison, which, considering that he is a native of the country of the former, is tolerably fair. "The English, for instance, lay claim to a certain superiority of moral rectitude, of sincerity, of generosity, of humanity, of judgment, of firmness and courage; they consider themselves as the grown men of Europe, and their neighbours as sprightly children, and that is the character they give them when in their best humour,--for otherwise they might be disposed to take Voltaire at his word, who said they were moitié singes et moitié tigres, "The French, on the other hand, admit of no comparison as to nicety of taste, versatility of genius, and perfection in all the arts of civilization. In high honour, in generosity, in courage, they yield to none. "The "The lower people in England hold other nations in thorough contempt. The same rank in France, in the interior of the country at least, scarcely know there are other nations; their geogra phy is that of the Chinese. "Of all the various merits claimed by the proud Islanders, I believe none is less disputed than that of generosity. It is not only a received thing that an Englishman has always plenty of money and gives it away very freely, but no sacrifice of a higher kind is supposed to be above his magnanimity. I have to remark, on this subject, that those who give a little, after promising much, appear to have given nothing, while those who, without promising any thing, give a little, have credit, on the contrary, for giving a great deal. This accounts, in part, for the two opposite reputations, the one for unmeaning politeness and mere show of sentiments, the other for simple and blunt generosity. The fact is, as to giving substantially, that it is much easier for the English to do than the French, and accordingly much more is given in money by the former than by the latter; but I doubt extremely whether the English are more disposed than their neighbours to bestow their time and personal attention upon their friends in sickness or misfortune, and the distressed in general. There is in England a sort of fastidious delicacy, coldness, or pride, which stands a good deal in the of active benevolence. The ties of blood are also, I think, way weaker than in France. People seem to calculate with more strictness how far the claim of kindred extends, and even the highest degree of consanguinity, that of parents and children, seems to command rather less deference and respect. A cousin may certainly not be more to you than another man, yet it is an amiable error, and a useful one, to think yourself obliged to show some kindness, and feel some particular sympathy for the man, whom nature has placed nearly in the same rank of life with yourself, and whom you are likely to meet oftenest in your journey through life. upon "The English are better reasoners than the French, and therefore more disposed to be just,-the first of moral qualities; and yet the propensity to luxury and ostentation is so strong, as well as so general here, as to expose this same sense of justice to hard trials. I never knew a prodigal who was just, nor indeed truly generous, he never has it in his power. "I do not conceive it possible for some of the most horrible scenes of the French Revolution to be acted here, in any event. The people in France are capable of greater atrocities than those of England, but I should think the latter sterner,-less prone to cruelty, but less susceptible of pity. "There are perhaps, at this moment, more distinguished men of science at Paris than in London, and I think it is admitted by the English themselves. But there are certainly better scientific materials here, and in the long-run, accuracy and depth should prevail over quickness of parts. However the account may stand against |