own character or the public interest. His speeches consisted for the most part of short and striking sentences, expressing philosophical views, appealing with energy to the instincts of common sense, and retorting with haughty boldness and gaiety upon an adversary's attack.

In the House of Commons (though this seems now partly forgotten) he was, as we have said, though a very rare, a very effective speaker; and, as he had seldom concluded one of his phrases in that assembly before the pause was covered with cheers, a sort of hesitation which sometimes interfered between one phrase and the other was little noted. In the cold and silent audience of the House of Lords this defect was more visible, especially as Lord Melbourne succeeded to a position which Lord Grey had just adorned with a remarkably continuous and stately flow of eloquence. He soon, however, displayed some of the most useful and shining qualities of a debater; a thorough knowledge of his audience; a frankness and good-nature which disarmed animosity; a ready wit which was always at hand to encounter an obstinate antagonist; and such sound and statesmanlike views on all important subjects, as gave the tone of wisdom to his raillery, and the air of dignity to his ease.

In the Cabinet, his equable disposition and conciliatory address soothed down all angry discussions; and as he understood all opinions, and could see into all personal motives, he was ever ready to suggest the compromise or offer the satisfaction that was desired.

In society he was perhaps the most graceful and agreeable gentleman that the present generation can remember.

Everything with every body, he was still always himself. He could meet the politician, the man of letters, the man of the world, each on his own ground, and did so naturally and without effort. His mirth was constant and sparkling, and his wit of that best kind, which Dr. Johnson so aptly designates by saying, "We have never enough of it, if we have not too much."

His first impulse in ordinary conversation, was to treat things lightly; he had no idea of wasting seriousness; but when business really presented itself, his elastie mind recoiled immediately to the form required by the occasion. At such times he drew himself up; his head became erect; his eye earnest; his lip compressed; no frivolous word broke in upon what he had to hear or to say; his

attitude and manner, a moment before goodhumored, easy and arch, became at once sober and impressive..

His person and countenance were always noble and manly; and with the advance of years the latter gained in dignity. In some parts of his habits and character, he resembled the jovial, good-humored, practical Sir R. Walpole; in others, the studious, the speculative, and refining Bolingbroke: there was a great deal, indeed, in him which took one back to the days of Queen Anne and the ministers of a time when politics and letters were intermingled.

Some peculiarities in his character it is here the moment to notice. His antipathy to all exaggeration and affectation, and the keen glance that he was able to give into the motives of others; his aptitude to detect hypocrisy and to discount false sentimentality, established in his own mind a desire to control or to conceal the real kindness of his disposition; and to smile-as if with the incredulity of a man who is ignorant of the feelings he derides-at enthusiasm or disinterestedness.

Yet, Lord Melbourne's view of mankind was not really a harsh one. In Mr. Wilberforce's memoir, there is an anecdote of this gentleman having once asked Mr. Pitt whether his experience as Minister had induced him to think well or ill of his fellowmen. Mr. Pitt answered, "Well ;" and Lord Melbourne, when told this anecdote by a friend, and asked his own opinion, replied"My opinion is the same as Mr. Pitt's." Nor was he inactive and unambitious, as we have heard it stated, from a feeling that nothing was worthy of action or ambition. The fact is, that many of the ordinary motives which stimulate men, did not stimulate him; he was so utterly without vanity, that he could not even comprehend its influence upon others. He was not, consequently, likely to talk or to act merely for the sake of making a figure. For everything in action which did not seem to him to present a possible, practical, and quick result-for everything in ambition which did not seem to him to hold out a solid and prompt reward—his understanding had no sympathy. The business of office, of government, of carrying on society, pleased him in action and satisfied him in ambition.

For office, therefore, though this was not generally known, he was an ambitious man ; and in office, though he still wore the easy and careless manner which had marked him in private life, those who knew him well,

knew that his mind was constantly active in considering how its duties were best to be discharged. This point in his character is worth noticing, because it gives more merit to his impartial course in politics to his many refusals of employment; and shows that he was firm in his principles, though they were adopted without enthusiasm.

Upon the whole, without wishing to give this article the air of an eulogy, we think that we may fairly observe, that whilst many have illustrated their career by deeds of greater renown, few have ever gone through a distinguished career more honorably. A member of Parliament during a long period of years, and in the midst of critical and changeful times, his conduct was always marked by moderation; and although his votes were not given to one party alone, he was never accused or suspected by any party of being influenced by self-interest. Now refusing to give up the rights of the Government to the mob; now protecting the interests of the nation against the Government; he was for animating order by activity; he was for maintaining order against agitation. Mihi semper in animo fuit," as he once said, quoting from his favorite author, "ut in rostris curiam, in senatu populum defenderem."

towards the extension of the liberties of the subject, and the prosperity of the empire. Abroad, during the same time, the policy of England was eminently English; viz: prudent, peaceful, liberal.

He died almost regarded as a father by his queen; held in the highest estimation by the most distinguished of his contemporaries; deeply mourned by his relatives and friends; and without leaving behind him an enemy, though ignorance in default of malice may raise him up detractors.* Of the probability of this, he was himself long since aware; nor would it be possible to write anything on such a subject, more touching or more apposite than the passage from one of his own speeches, with which we will conclude our notice.

"The exploits of the soldier are performed in the light of the sun and in the face of day; they are performed before his own army, before the enemy; they are seen, they are known; for the most part they cannot be denied or disputed; they are told instantly to the whole world, and receive at once the meed of praise, which is so justly due to the valor and conduct that achieve them. Not so the services of the minister; they lie not so much in acting in great crises, as in preventing those crises from arising; therefore they are often obscure and unknown, subject to every species of misrep

First minister of the Crown under Queen Victoria, he never allowed the solicitations of his supporters, his own passions or interests, to lead him to exercise the almost unbounded influence which, for a time, he held over his youthful Sovereign, in a manner prejudicial to the rights accorded to her authority by our constitution, nor to a degree that was unfair to his opponents.

During his administration, the maintenance of tranquillity and order was made useful

tack, and condemnation, whilst in reality entitled to the approbation and gratitude of the country;-how frequently are such services lost in the tranquillity which they have been the means of preserving, and amidst the prosperity which they have themselves created."

*It is but justice to add, that he has also found defenders where he might not have expected them; and one of the kindest and ablest notices of his life came from the pen of an opponent.

See Mr. Lamb's speech on the 11th of March, 1818, on the Indemnity Bill.

THE election of Louis Napoleon to the Presidency of the French Republic will naturally excite some curiosity in regard to his history and public character. Hitherto he has only been known through the foolish affairs at Strasburg and Boulogne; his published works, notwithstanding the merits claimed from them by his adherents, having failed to enlarge his reputation. His life has, nevertheless, been somewhat eventful, and he does not lack the advantage of varied fortune and severe experience. Whether he has profited remains to be seen. From such hasty materials as we could procure, we have arranged for the Tribune the following brief notice of his history:

Charles Louis Napoleon, son of Louis, exking of Holland, was born in Paris on the 20th of April, 1808. His god-parents were the Emperor and Maria Louisa, and during his childhood he was an especial favorite of the former. On the return of Napoleon from Elba, he stood beside him on the Champ de Mars, and when embraced by him for the last time, at Malmaison, the young Louis, then a boy of seven years, wished to follow him at all hazards. When the family was banished from France, his mother removed to Augsburg, where he received a good German education. He was afterward taken to Switzerland, where he obtained the right of citizenship and commenced a course of military studies. After the July Revolution, by which he was a second time proscribed from France, he visited Italy in company with his brother, and in 1831 took part in a popular insurrection against the Pope. This movement failed, but he succeeded in making his escape, and, his brother dying at Forli the same year, he visited England and afterward returned to Switzerland, where, for two or three years, he contented himself with writing poetical and military works, which do not appear to have been extensively read. The death of the Duke of Reichstadt, in 1832, gave a new impulse to his ambitious hopes. His first revolutionary attempt, at Stras

burg, in October, 1836, completely failed, but after a short imprisonment in Paris, he was sent to this country. The illness of his mother occasioned his return the following year, and after a visit to Switzerland he took up his residence in England until his second attempt at Boulogne, in 1840.

In this affair several of his followers were killed, and he was himself taken and sentenced to imprisonment for life in the Castle of Ham. The particulars of his escape in May, 1846, after an incarceration of six years, are well known. From that time until the end of September last, when he was returned as a Deputy to the National Assembly from the Department of the Seine, he has resided in England. A late London journal, in describing his mode of life, gives the following not very flattering account:

"He was unscrupulous in contracting obligations which were wholly beyond his means of repayment; and his most serious pursuit was the study of alchemy, by which he expected to arrive at the discovery of the philosopher's stone. So vigorously did he prosecute this exploded science, at a house which he had fitted up as a laboratory at Camberwell, and so firm was his faith in the charlatan empiric whom he employed to aid him in transmuting the baser metals into gold, that he is said to have actually appropriated his revenue in anticipation, and to have devoted the first milliard of his gains to the payment of the national debt of France, in order to acquire thus an imperial throne by purchase?"

The large majority by which he was elected a Representative astonishes every one, and gave his followers the first encouragement to bring forth his name as a candidate for the Presidency. To defeat the acknowledged Republican party, he received also the support of the Legitimists and Orleanists, and those combined influences have elected him by an immense majority. The rest must be left to Time and Fate.

THE preparation of this biography by Dr. Beattie, the friend and the physician of Thomas Campbell, has been known for some time; and the three volumes now published are the result of his labors. The history of Thomas Campbell is one of an almost entirely literary character. The late poet was strictly a literary man. He followed no other profession permanently, and he was eminently successful in that path whereon he was partly forced. The biographer has endeavored to make the poet tell the story of his own life, by quoting largely from his letters, and often interspersing only such connecting links as appeared to be absolutely necessary. This plan has advantages, and it is not without disadvantages. The public generally prefer to have a history of this nature not in the words of the biographer, but in the letters and papers of the person in whom they are most interested. The "Life of Keats" has been produced in a similar style, but on a smaller scale, by its noble editor. The disadvantages inseparable from this plan are, that we have a redundancy of writing often on trivial matters, and on points evidently considered by the writer of minor importance. In preparing old letters for the press, this course can scarcely be avoided. The plan, however, appears to have been suggested by Campbell himself. Dr. Beattie is not a volunteer in the matter. He was brought under a promise by his late friend to write this work. A number of the necessary papers were put into his possession by Mr. Campbell prior to his death. Dr. Beattie was thus compelled to take the work in hand, which he has now discharged in a style that will be satisfactory to the many friends of the author of the "Pleasures of Hope." The first chapter contains a genealogical statement of Campbell's ancestry. His grandfather was Laird of Kirnan, in Argyleshire. At his death, Robert Campbell, the poet's uncle, succeeded to the estate; and living more extravagantly than the rent

roll permitted, he was compelled to sell his land to a half-brother, and, proceeding to London, lived as a literary man-a precarious living at any period, and peculiarly hazardous in the last century. He died in London, "in very reduced circumstances." The second brother, Archibald, studied for the Presbyterian Church; and having for some time been minister of a Scotch congregation in Jamaica, he ultimately settled in Virginia, United States. A son of this gentleman afterwards succeeded to the original family estate-a small parcel, in a large property to which he became entitled by the law of entail. Alexander, the third son, was engaged in the mercantile profession. But we quote Dr. Beattie's account of

THE POET'S FAMILY.

"Alexander, the youngest of the three sons of Archibald Campbell, and father of the poet, was born in 1710. He was educated with a view to America, where he entered into business, and remercantile pursuits; and early in life went to sided many years at Falmouth, in Virginia. There he had the pleasure of receiving his brother Archibald, on his first quitting Jamaica to settle in the United States; and there also, some ten years afterwards, while he was making his way in busiacquaintance with Daniel Campbell, a clansman, ness very satisfactorily, he formed an intimate

but no blood relation, of the Campbells of Kirnan.' He was the son of John Campbell, and his wife Mary, daughter of Robert Simpson. John Campbell was a merchant in Glasgow, nearly related to the Campbells of Craignish, an old Argyleshire family. The Simpsons had been for many generations residents in the city, or immediate neighborhood, of Glasgow, where they possessed several small estates. An old tradition, still current among the collateral descendants-for Robert Simpson died without male issue-states that the progenitor of the Simpsons was a celebrated royal armorer' to the King of Scotland. In that capacity, it is said, he fashioned two broadswords, of exquisite temper and workmanship; one of which he presented on the centenary anniversary of the battle of Bannockburn, to the Duke of Albany, Regent of Scotland; the other he retained as an heir-loom in his own family, where it is still