tary to the Treasury, and asked him if he was going towards Downing Street; "because," added he, "a friend of mine has dedicated a play to Lord Bute, and it is usual to give dedicators something; I wish you would put his Lordship in mind of it." Severity of the Season.-Every year we hear that the climate of England is very different from what it was in former days. It may, however, be more than suspected that it was always variable, capricious, and uncertain. Horace Walpole, writing on this subject a century ago, reported on the current year what might do for 1844: "The spring has gone out of town for the season, and the summer has set in with its usual severity." Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.-That fine play in which Kemble used to be so inimitably great, and which has long been regarded as one of the noblest efforts of our great poet, was not always appreciated. Lee says, in the dedication of his "Lucius Junius Brutus," what seems to assert that it was ill-received, when first performed. "Shakespeare's 'Brutus,'" he says, "with much adoe beat himself into the heads of a blockish age, so knotty were the oaks he had to deal with." Last notices of the dramatist Wycherley.A publication called "Weekly remarks on the most Material News, Foreign and Domestic," 1716, contained the following intelligence:-" December 31, 1714.-Mr. Wycherly, who has wrote several plays and poems, and, among others, the comedy called The Country Wife, has lately taken one of twenty-four to himself, thinking it time to look toward heaven. 66 January 7, 1715.-On Sunday morning, the first instant, about three of the clock, died Mr. Wycherley (whom we lately mentioned to be married), aged 75." England and France.-The Prince de Joinville's ridiculous brochure seems founded on the old notion that England and France can never be real friends. Strange as this may sound, Mr. Fox speaking of the commercial treaty concluded with France in 1787, went so far as to declare "that France and England were natural and unalterable enemies; that it was essential to the safety and independence of England to regard France with jealousy and distrust; and that to endeavour to maintain friendly intercourse with that kingdom, was equally vain and contrary to sound policy." (Tomline. vol. ii. p. 5.) An Editor's Heroics.-Amaury Duval, in editing a history of the monuments of art collected by Denon, indulges in the following rapturous strain describing a morsel of papyrus: "We do not pretend to put this MS., however curious, in comparison with the never-dying glories of the youngest of the marshals of France, but we may safely affirm, that it is very valuable; it was found in Egypt, in the hand of a mummy, whilst the French valour was spreading its renown quite round the globe, or rather was making fast, after having taken two whole turns round our planet; it was brought to France in the same vessel that had the honour to convey home the invincible 38th Regiment of Infantry, a band of heroes of whom the smallest fifer, perhaps even the doctor of the regiment, by a single frown, could have routed Cæsar and all his legions; and it was finally framed and glazed, and safely hung on the wall in M. Denon's study in Paris, the unconquered and unconquerable, the city of glory and of triumph." The city, it may be necessary to remark, thus spoken of was Paris; and this sublime tribute to its unconquerable fame was rendered in 1829, the preceding fifteen years having been twice occupied by victorious foreign armies! On a piece of plate, got up by Messrs. Catchpole and Co., being presented to Mr. Bunn. A piece of plate the lessee cheers, Must be employed for Drury Lane. Penny-wise and Pound-foolish.-Frederick ef Prussia, according to Sir Charles Hanbury Williams, expended £40,000 on the Opera House and its engagements, yet, says he, the same king when an opera is to be performed, will not allow £10 a night for wax candles, and the smoke that rises from the bad oil, and the horrid stench from the tallow make many of the audience sick. A little Mother and a full grown Daughter. -The New Zealand Company's Report consists of 38 pages-the appendix to it of 1140! Postscript. - BRICKLAYER'S ARMS TER MINUS. We should mention that all the timber, amounting to many thousand tons, employed in the construction of the viaduct from the Bricklayers' Arms Station to New Cross, has undergone the process of paynizing described in No. 20 of THE MIRROR, whereby it is rendered thoroughly proof against the ravages of insects or of fire, and as durable as iron. Paynized Wood is actually to be used instead of iron for the rails of the Guildford Junction Railway. CORRESPONDENTS. "W." No. 2 of "Scenes on the Mediterranean" will appear in our next. "F." Contributions relative to the ancient buildings of London will be received with thanks. "Edinburgh and its Localities," with illustrations by Delamotte, will shortly appear. BURSTALL, 2, Tavistock street, Covent-garden LONDON Printed and Published by AIRD and and sold by all Booksellers and Newsmen. Original Communications. TRAFALGAR SQUARE. It does not often happen that promise exceeds performance. Those however who look at the representations made when the plan of Trafalgar Square was first announced, will see that much more has been done than the public had any reason to expect. Every one,however,regrets that exultation must stop short of the principal object in this noble area. The Nelson Pillar, of which we give a new view,is curtailed of its fair propor.. tions, and like Richard, "deformed, unfinished," stands a melancholy picture in the midst of a scene of extraordinary magnificence. Everything connected with its completion has gone wrong. The statue is a mean, unsightly object; the poor old pensioners, who No. 1219.] fought with our great naval hero, after being tantalized with the promise of a feast, seem to have little chance of getting it, the lions which were to ornament the base are wanting, and the column seems altogether but to tell of "poorness of spirit, and poorness of purse." In this distressing situation of things, as we assisted one Russian autocrat to rebuild his ancient capital, another comes to help us to ornament London. We read in a contemporary print "The emperor Nicholas, while driving by, saw the boarding, and asked the cause, one of his suite explained how it was, and the emperor at once put down his name for the amount requisite. Individual amiability goes far to make one forget the arbitrary acts of a sovereign; and the emperor, by this act, went further to gain popular opinion to his side in this country than if he had signed a hundred treaties of commerce with our minister at St. Petersburgh." There has been a singular backwardness on the part of the inhabitants of the metropolis in this case. It has been well remarked, "At Great Yarmouth arose a classic column, by the joint contributions of his fellow-countrymen of Norfolk.' Liverpool produced its colossal statue of lasting bronze. Dublin raised its huge column and gigantic statue, and Edinburgh its castellated memorial of Britain's illus trious admiral," while London remains without any corresponding perfect effort to perpetuate a name so illustrious. The project of creating the opening now made, and naming it "Trafalgar," after our greatest triumph on the ocean, originated with William the Fourth. To carry out the plan, a subscription was opened, and a committee organised, the Duke of Buccleuch lending his efficient aid as chairman. fortunately, the sovereign did not live to Date. 118 Trajan's Column Antonine's Column Un witness the progress of his favourite project. On a considerable sum being raised, the committee advertised for designs for a monument of architecture and sculpture; the rewards of £250, £150, and £100 respectively, being promised to the author of the design which the committee should deem first, second, and third, in order of merit: and the highest premium was awarded to Mr. William Railton. Mr. Railton had the advantage of amending his first design. The other candidates perhaps had the same, but we do not know the fact. We should have been glad to have seen something that had more of novelty in the conception and less resemblance to what we possessed before. It is, however, to be hoped it will not remain incomplete. Many have regretted that the figure over the capital cannot be converted into lions to ornament the base. The following is the comparative height of the principal columns in Europe:— 162 1671 CAMPBELL, THE POET. The justly admired poet Thomas Campbell is no more. He closed his earthly career on Saturday last, at Boulogne. Mr. Campbell was a native of Scotland. He was born at Glasgow in 1777. So early as when but nine years of age, he attempted to write poetry. In 1789, he left school to go to the University of Glasgow, where he was considered an excellent Latin scholar, and gained great distinction in a contest with a candidate twice as old as himself. He gained many prizes, and in Greek he took the lead of all his fellow-students. Quitting Glasgow, he became a tutor in a high family in Argyleshire. Then among the mountains of his native land he gave himself up to poetry, and proved one of its most successful votaries. After some time he removed to Edinburgh, where he became intimate with Dugald Stuart, and the leading Professors of the University. It was there that he produced his " Pleasures of Hope," being then but twenty-one years of age. This fine performance at once gave him fame, and for twenty years afterwards gave to the publishers between two and three hundred pounds annually. They had originally given £10 for the poem. Afterwards he received some further remuneration, and was allowed the profit accruing from a quarto edition of his works. "Many a true word is spoken in jest," the proverb teaches; and an anecdote told of Campbell may be thought to indicate a feeling within not very favourable to those who had given his poem to the world. Being in a festive party at a period when the actions of Bonaparte were most severely condemned in this country, on being called upon for a toast, Campbell gave "The health of Napoleon." This caused great surprise to all the company, and an explanation was called for. "The only reason I have for proposing to honour Bonaparte," said he, is that he has had the virtue to shoot a bookseller." Palm, a bookseller, had recently been executed in Germany by order of the French chief. *After remaining three years in Edinburgh he resolved to visit the continent. He sailed for Hamburgh, and travelled through a great part of Germany and Prussia, visiting the universities, and acquiring a knowledge of German literature. From the walls of a convent he beheld a part of the field of Hohenlinden during that sanguinary contest, and proceeded afterwards in the track of Moreau's army over the scene of combat. This impressive sight produced the celebrated "Battle of Hohenlinden;" an ode which is as original as it is spirited, and stands by itself in British literature. The poet tells a story of the phlegm of a German postilion at this time, who was driving him post by a place where a skirmish of cavalry had happened, and who alighted and disappeared, leaving the carriage and the traveller alone in the cold (for the ground was covered with snow) for a considerable space of time. At length he came back, and it was found that he had been employing himself in cutting off the long tails of the slain horses, which he coolly placed on the vehicle, and drove on his route. Campbell was also in Ratisbon when the French and Austrian treaty saved it from bombardment-a most anxious moment. In Germany, Campbell made the friendship of the two Schlegels, of many of the most noted literary and political characters, and was fortunate enough to pass an entire day with the venerable Klopstock, who died just two years afterwards. The proficiency of Campbell in the German language was rendered very considerable by this visit, and his own indefatigable perseverance in study. He eagerly read all the works he met with, some of them upon very abstruse topics, and suffered no obstacle to intervene between himself and his studies, wherever he might chance to be. Though of a cheerful and lively temper and disposition, and by no means averse from the pleasures which are so attractive in the morning ot existence, they were rendered subservient to the higher views of the mind, and were pursued for recreation only, nor suffered to distract his attention a moment from the great business of his life." After remaining in Germany thirteen months, he came to England, and then for the first time visited London. There he produced his "Battle of the Baltic," "Ye Mariners of England," and his "Hohenlinden." In 1793, he married Miss Sinclair, a lady of Scottish descent, and of great personal beauty. He established himself in the pleasant village of Sydenham, and it was in a house looking on the reservoir that his "Gertrude of Wyoming" was written. He soon afterwards removed to London, and subsequently re-visited Germany, and spent some time in Vienna. On his return, he undertook the editorship of the New Monthly Magazine, which under him rose to great importance. "In 1824 Campbell published his 'Theodric, a Domestic Tale,' the least popular of his works. Many pieces of great merit came out in the same volume, among which are the 'Lines to J. P. Kemble,' and those entitled the "Last Man.' The fame of Campbell, however, must rest on his previous publications, which, though not numerous, are so correct, and were so fastidiously revised that, while they remain as standards of purity in the English tongue,they sufficiently explain why their One author's compositions are so limited in number, 'since he who wrote so correctly could not be expected to write much.' 'By his marriage Campbell had two sons. of them died before attaining his twentieth year; the other while at Bonn, where, as already observed, he was placed for his education, exhibited symptoms of an erring mind, which, on his return to England soon afterwards, ripened into mental derangement of the milder species. This disease, it is probable, he inherited on his mother's side, as on his father's no symptoms of it had ever been shown. After several years passed in this way, during which the mental disease considerably relaxed, so that young Campbell became wholly inoffensive, his father received him into his house. The effects of such a sight upon a mind of the most exquisite sensibility, like the poet's, may be readily imagined; it was, at times, a source of the keenest suffering." To Mr. Campbell we owe the origin of the London University. He had thrice the honour of being elected lord rector of Glasgow in the university where he had formerly studied. His life, for the most part, was a prosperous, peaceable, and joyous career. He was associated with the ablest poets and most celebrated wits of the age. Though irritable, and sometimes not sufficiently cautious at the convivial board, every one gave him credit for kindly feeling, and regarded him as a most estimable character. Those who knew his virtues will fondly linger near his tomb. while they mourn that he is withdrawn from this scene, they will perhaps be consoled, repeating his thoughts, so beautifully expressed in his "Last Man," and exclaim "This spirit shall return to Him That gave its heavenly spark; Who captive lead captivity. SELF-CONCEIT. But The Amongst those follies which are nourished by mankind, few are more conspicuous than self-conceit. The learned in science, the renowned in literature, the ignorant, and the savage, are all blemished by its pleasing yet baneful influence. false position in which individuals are placed by this feeling is not perceivable to themselves, but apparent to those with whom they associate. Without the unction of flattery, which panders to their weakness, it would not exist, excepting in a dormant state. There are very few persons who can reject adulation, and if we happen to possess one quality on which we secretly plume ourselves, how gratifying it is to be applauded; and the flatterer at once possesses our regard. Should we possess the powers necessary to unite disquisitions on science, literature, the fine arts, politics, or religion, we are soon flattered into a belief of a fancied superiority, and while we have merely attained a decent mediocrity, yet we imagine we excel, and elevate ourselves above the common herd of mankind; for"Conceit in weakest bodies, strongest works." An affected love for mankind will frequently induce individuals to dedicate their energies for the benefit of society; will impel them on to impair their worldly circumstances by wasting the "midnight oil" in attempts which, from their imperfect talent, are abortive; and, should they fail, they are astonished at the want of comprehension of mankind; yet if they truly analysed the cause, they would discover that they had been flattered into the conceit of being able to effect all they desired. An attachment to literary pursuits will often operate so as to mislead such persons, imaginations, until they conceive the most stupendous projects, in order to attain wealth and fame. If affected by the cacoethes scribendi, they luxuriate in poetic fiction, exhibiting bright thoughts, and well turned periods; and they suppose their jingling the acme of excellence in composition, whereas, for all practical purposes they are totally unsuitable. "Science, the partizan of no country, but the beneficent patroness of all, has liberally opened a temple where all may meet;" and self-conceit but too often enters this edifice with an idea that it can enlighten and instruct, and leave all competitors at an immeasurable distance. Conceit may flash like a meteor for a short time, but it is soon compelled to yield to real genius, and feed on its solid materials, which it frequently claims as its own. Socrates has said that "the surest way to the temple of wisdom is through the portals of doubt; and that he only knew one thing-his own ignorance." This is a beautifully expressed opinion of one of the greatest of ancient philosophers; conceit did not blind him; for he well understood his own powers; and it would be better for science and literature if there were more followers of this illustrious man, whose doctrine was, "that the more mortals know, the greater consciousness they have that they know nothing;" whereas the conceited modern philosopher pretends to universal knowledge. A man may possess wealth, and he is soon flattered into a belief that the essence of all human virtue consists in opulence; and that all who do not possess dross are contemptible, powerless, and mean. Another may conceive he has the power to compose sentences on particular subjects, and no music is so exhilirating as indirect or direct praise, and should he possess the power to make his dogmas known, he is astonished if people do not acknowledge his superiority. Imperfect knowledge generally induces conceit, and no circumstance sooner cures this disease than enlightenment. The ingenious mind, that carefully examines the comparative amount of information it possesses will be modest in company, desirous of giving and receiving that "which never dies," and after this sublunary scene his researches are left as a beautiful legacy to mankind; while the hollow and superficial will generally be the noisiest declaimers, endeavouring to hide their ignorance by an attempt at ridicule, or insufferable tinsel; in fine, they are dressed in a “suit of tawdry qualifications which nature never intended them to wear;" and instead of attempting to increase their own knowledge or add to the information of others, they are, by the intelligent community, considered as pests to society, and permitted to pursue their vagaries amidst silent contempt; but, unfortunately, such persons are not sensitive, but impervious to those finer feelings of humanity which real knowledge inspires, cherishes, and refines. IRELAND.* "The necessity calls for the assistance of public measures and of a paternal government. It calls for the cordial co-operation of all classes; it is a question between illimitable taxation for pauperism and the punishment of crime, or the proper guidance and employment of the essentially agri. cultural population of Ireland."- SIMPSON'S Defence of the Landlords of Ireland. DRAINAGE. A very remarkable non sequitur, remarkable yet not uncommon, occurs in a work just published, from the pen of Dr. Rolph, "On the Systematic Colonisation of British Canada:-"The canals, the railroads, the public roads, the aqueducts, the viaducts, the bridges, the harbours, the villages, the towns and cities in America, are principally the result of Irish industry; and a moment's reflection must convince any one, that they would subjugate the forest fully as well as the French habitan; and I am quite per suaded, would cultivate the land with far more diligence, neatness, and success. is, then a matter of great moment"-what? that these faithful, devoted, loyal, improving, and valuable subjects of the Queen,' as It * Second Annual Report. Drainage, Ireland. (Act 5 and 6 Vict. cap. 89. Royal Assent, 5 Aug., 1842.) Presented to both Houses of Parliament, by com mand of Her Majesty, April 20, 1844. On the Construction of Wooden Railways for General Purposes of Communication, and more particularly as feeders to the great lines of railway already established. London, J. King, 1843. |