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    Landoir ' s ia 1852 . The amenities of Bath were forgotten , and the friendship of the usurper indignantly rejected . He does not allude to that unpleasant , incident at this date , but contents himself with a passing protest at the destruction of the Roman Republic . What will the French proscription say to these compliments and to these remissions from a republican pur sanr / , like Mr . Landor , without * the journalist ' s exouse ? It is noticeable that Mr . Landor dedicates these- letters , in a few words of emphatic commendation , to Mr . Gladstone , as one who " at N " aples perceived the causes of revolutions , and exposed them . " We have only room for a few brief extracts in this place , but we shall endeavour to commit further depredations on the letters elsewhere .

    MODERN KINGS . " Read tlie court-calendars , run over the red-letters of Idnas ; against ¦ which of these letters does youv fifiger touch the initials of Jin honest man ? Look at Spain , -whose planks Wft are collecting , wrecked nnti rotten . Look wherever else you will across the Atlantic , andiiyou will discover no potentate on the whole mainland whose signature you would en * dorsefto tlievalue ofacenU Spain ., forraorly the most honourable of nations , is now the most dishonourable , and her queens bear the same character as her kings . The people hath lost alike the-civilisation of the . Moors and the fortitude of the Goths . A few generations of Bourbon kings have been sufficient to efface the character of the nation . And yet this worthless race is that which some hundreds of Frenchmen , perhaps a thousand . or more , would ; replace ion the throno ; of France !"

    I ^ OtHS NAPOLEON . *• The heir of Napoleon the'Firsfc is Emperor of France . The people , almost ¦ unanimously bftvEicalled him . to the throna They were indignant at being defrauded by their represent tativesy -and , fond : of any clever , trick , . were amused at seeing : tlifem scattered . Tie-French revolution is at last complete . Let the virtue of Nappieon thi& Third be but «( jualto his sagfici . ty , and Europe may then expect more blessings at his haul than ever she experienced of miseries from his uncle Tlrfe is much , very much indeed ; and what is there which can imUicejtis to hope it ? Wiut is there ? ttis interest ^ the prime mover of men and nations . ...... " There is- one palace on earth in which tie hungry courtier is less attentively listened to than the man of calm reflection . In that palace my distant voice may perhaps be heard ;

    it is the only one I am desirous it should enter . Confident is my hope and my belief that the wisest , and , since his accession , the most consistent , of rulers will open a newer and wider and ; more indestruetiblCTOad to his ambition . He may acquire a' far more glorious name in history than the prondest and mightiest of hisvpredecessors ; his title may be the Napoleon of' -Peace . . » ... ,. " Unfriendly as I confess 1 Jiave always felt toward the -Emperor of Franco ,. because of htstreaclterous-invasion of tbe TJoman RepuVljc , yet , long before that time , arid ever since , I ' saw- clearlyv although not to the bottom , hia deep sagacity . Firmly do I believe that a statesman of- equal ability is nowhere in existence . Surely" , who has almost attained the gfary of & ¦ Cromwell , will nevtfr condescend to be little better than a Richelieu . He lias avoided , and will continue to avoid , the errors of . his uncle . The one might ha-Ye broken up tha Russian empire ; the other will . " ......

    THE DOXY OF MEN' AHD OB SATI 0 X 3 . 11 Let every man vow to himself , and to his God , that the order of the Universe shall not be disturbed by anarchy ; that God alone is Unity ; that , if the laws of men are violated by men ; flto laws shall take their place ; that , if lesser offences arc punished , greater shall be ; tfoftt , if the iacendinry of a corn-stack suffers death for it , the incendiary of a province shall undergo the same penalty ; that every city is bound in duty to prosecute him , and every man iu every city to lift up & hand against him . By these resolutions the people of" fcltiropa may at last recover from their fallen state : until they are carried into execution , it is vain to expect , it' is unmanlv to be anxious about , their welfare . "

    TYHAS 2 nOtI > E . " Assassination ( villanous term for glorious deed ) is the natnral death of tyrants ; but to wbntf a condition must a people be reduced whoii the profligate and the coward ore ministers oFjjusticc . Ought tins to be ? But there are circumstances in which I would again ask you , ought it not to be ? \\ "hat , if a million arc held in bondage ; what , if they must cut tUe . binder ' s throat before they can cut the bonds ? Which is best ? that a million should endure a life of ignominy an « i servitude , or one man enddre one blow ? If ho suffer , it is for a ^ momont ; if they suffer , 'it is for ages . Punishment forages would not repay his guilt ; theirs is mainly his . Another such will spring , up , you tell me . No doubt ; have not weeds and brambles sprung up ill your homestead year after year ? and have not you extirpated them until none are left ? Perseverance is manly , is heroic , is godlike : all good results from it . The fruits of the oarth are . irrigated by the sweat of the brow ; no curse is there in this denunciation . c Why sittest thou idle ? ' is the gravest of rebukes . "

    JOBBERY . " Recently I have heard ( whether truo or false it is the business and duty of others to determine ) that n piece of lnnd near Southampton was wanted for a signal-station . It belongs to a gentleman of high family and equally high honour , a gentleman in the service of her Majesty , Mr . Leveson Gowor . Tins incrodiblo thing -is , a tiling without precedent , aithing which stands quite aklono , this gentleman asked for it no more than its intrinsic value- » -five hundred pounds , Ho was informed by a peraon iu office that , for a decent gratuity ^ he might obtain fifteen hundred . Indignant at the proposal , ho naado it known iinmedmtcly to the head of the department . No notico was taken . " The following passage on Italy begins like a strain of fine . music : —

    ITALY . " Novarraoro shall we two revisit that central city of central Kurope , whero tho great master und thoigreater scholar wiUi a flttoke of tho pencil rususcsitated saint and martyr , purified , beuut / y , digiiifieadeQiopiiujlo , gavo infancy fordkuowledgo , thon sallied out together , and . 'caught tho fresh air fanning the crowned Toruyia . Novor shall wo soc ygahi those other lovely plnoes , of which tho lovoHest is Verona . But tho generous heart in ovory laud boats Btroiifify for Italy . From Italy wo received , together with minor gifts , tlio first rudiments of eloquence , tho first emotions of patriotism . If aho conquered our nncostors , it wna to . civilke thom ; if she ruled them , it was under tho tribunal of tho laws . Italy is tho common country , and ought to bo tho common care , of nil tho civilised throughout tho wodkl . To neglect her in tho heaviness of hor Borrows , in her struggles for life , is dis * gractifnl . Tho nearest ought to ran up first to hor assistance , but timely services mny bo rendered , to her by the moro remote . Illy fears throb more strongly than my liopaB , In thot agony of desperation the oppressed of ISuropo may burst forth , not aiinultanoously . Vainly do they look nromidfor nolp or sympathy , /' Wo have already far exceeded oar limits . Without accepting all their opinions , and taking exception to a oertnin occasional extravagance , we recommend these letters as a strengthening and rofresliing study for political Kbadortj .

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    SYJDKNHAM PAl'KKS . —No . I . Tiwrits are changed Hinco the greatest conqueror of tho ago stretched his oag . lcglance into the fair west and spied out theso pleasant httlo isles ; fruitful uiul ftiir then , but anvflge and suspicious of tlio foreign foot—a sort of ^ rTr ^ ii '"" 4 . 'S » 'witK its Hocks , amd herds , and green pasturos —the arts ot < ufo flourishing in Uxishman simplicity , and artistic ambition satisfied with a fcuugb . whiold and n handsome 8 i > cm \ But the 1 ) 1 uil and bony old Julius waa no dUeUonto , though ho might have been fashionable enough to dooorato Jus villa , with » few Apolloa and Vonudcs ; liu cume , saw and conquered , with an aye to buainoaa , and looked upon us from a colonist ' s point of vww . Judging lcom Ixia despatches , tho keeu old coloniser must , have sueu

    there was good stuff in us barbarian islanders ; one could fancy he liked the tough work they gave his legions in the waves at Dover , for your Roman ' s ideal of a man was " a fighter , " and not a bad rudimentary organisation either . But now , if we could catch a real old Roman , and lead him in triumph along the Strand , as he served our Caractacus , how we should make him stare at his colonial produce , and how we should enjoy paying off the old grudge with the malicious whisper , that while he and his cousins ' Greeks have retired to the Museums and live only ia history , th& rude islanders have been spanning the globe and holding up the light of knowledge to the nations .

    Think how the Spartan blood has been tamed , and the Attic salt lost its sa-wur ; wh y * your modern Athenian couldn ' t bo trusted with the-Parthenon family plate , such was his converting propensity . What's P-hidia 3 to me or I to Pericles , Bays your modern acropohtan stonemason , as lie builds in au metope for a chimney , or chops up some torso over which , the great sculptor of all time had sighed and thought his life away . What a strange , deyelopentent , that . these heir-looms of art should come to be but so mucb . stone ia th « ir own home , while to . us , the once barbarian islanders ^ they , have , become priceless treasures—« the sacred , inspired records of immortal art , -

    Look , too , at " the Eternal City , " sitting on her seven hills Ilka . anidiot miser . over the ruins of his treasure . The chair of Hadrian ,, filled byvth e * august autocrat of all the consciences , who , -oddly enough , protectahiSfpalace with the sacred works of Pagan art , and garrisons the capitol with an Antinous and a Venus more safely than -with legions . Rome is still a shrine to -which art-pilgrims flock to breathe a charmed air and , wait for inspirations , but the art-life of Rome is sustained by foreign blood ; . the : cry * of " sculptor Homanus sum , " is become as empty as " civis Romaausj" &c . ; the one calls up Gibson , the other a French grenadier . The centre of dogmatism , the city of forbidden books , where native talent exhausts its resources jn the manufacture of Pietas and Virgins in endless copies ,, and every kind of veritable antique , cannot be the birthplace of the new and . the stiong : in art ; all there is solemn , suggestive , grand , but monumental;—the Hades of art *

    This-loss of power in the ancient centres of civilisation seems , to suggest a necessity for change and renovation j we must haye new races , new . climates , new food , and new . social conditions to secure that advance to which we all aspire * We speak of the mai % h of civilis ^ bib % and such it'is ; th « old camping ground is fbrsaken for fresh fields and pastures-new ; : we can go back to the old resting-places by the tracks and the beacons that still " reiaain , but before us lies the enticing Canaan of our hopes , the blue mysterious distance that cheers and tempts us ever with the desire to , e-xplore . We can measure our advance in our railways , steam-ships , and telegraphs , in the Titan Teachings of science , in the love of nature and humanity , and in . the struggle for free thoughts , with a frank and pure expression of them , Y " etfor the consummation so devoutly to be wished , experience would lead , to look still westward for

    us the next remarkable events of civilisation , remembering also that some of tbe most important ai » plicationso £ science as w ^ sli as the most daring experiments in social economy have been made , and are now progressing , in the new world of the Anglo-Saxon race . Precious are the moments in a nation ' s life when the tide is to be seized : and happily for us the " situation" was perceived when the idea of-the ' 51 Exhibition arose . That wallbe chronicled as an event in our history different from , any that had preceded it . Its origin was eminently characteristic of the age and its success showed the people were ripe for it , Fullof enterprise to tax the most ardent energy , inspired with a warm feeling for the universal benefit of the race , and ennobled by the determination to sink * all prejudices of race and soil in such a communion of the nations , —it was a council of art and industry .

    Wherever we . may choose to trace the first and full conception of this scheme , whether in the collective thought of that little knot of old Adelphi labourers ^ or in the one high head to which the command was afterwards so ! gjacefully yielded , the grandeur and opportune fitness of the idea touched eYery mind with one conviction ; all felt tbe motive to bei nob !< v manly , genei-ous , worthy the best . efforts of a people first in machinery , manufacr ture , and commerce , and not second in art , science , and literature . The marvellous success that attended all stages of its progress , the struggles that bwke down -every obstacle , the enthusiasm and delight that burst upon'the

    workers -Kthen their task was done > will never be forgotten ; r—a gigantic elFortwas made to show the world our power ; the million yielded to the charm , took up the idea , and « ven called the place their own . Here would s « eiu to be the strength of uny similar undertaking ; not in the mere show of the historical and tho beautiful , which require a cultivated mind and a tutorod eye , & refinement of an ajsthetic kind that the " polloi " , axe not yet ready for . The sensation of amazement and wonder fades with repetition ' » s rapidly aa any other , and even the boa / utyof one that we love becomes invisible before the bright ideivlof tho heart , —wo all demand some etirring , interest of our own .

    If you will visit the Sydonham Pakco as a man of the world , to see how tho poople take it , you wilLnotice how they wandoi with vacant -wonder amongst the beauties of art ; Byzantine may bo Egyptian , and Moresque Italian , for all they care . On every side- you will henr the popular voioo exclaim , "it ' s nil very pretty , and must have cost a sight of money , and we should like it very well if wo could understand it . " Tho real objects of iutereat preaonted to the shilling visitor arc the eating and drinking , courts , wJiere ho can bo taught to contemplate the I'oquiremonts of his inner man ,, nftor which , by an easy suggestion , you will iind him amongst the etutfed i of

    animals , intensely taken up with the strange and questionable shapes Ins fellow-man ; he can do without Blumcnbach and Pritulmrd , or oven Latham , tUolv own great progenitor here , because ho can make liis own comparisons ; like the monkey at the looking-glass , he can study his own views of tho dcvelopement theory on the spot ; he is touched with a fellow-fooling as he exolaima before the chimpanzee , " is ho not a imm and u brother I" Next jou find him in the migratory bosom of h » n family , reposing after his > labours , taking the air of the gardens , and again ronlly unjoying tho brass band : tho lust glunpoo you got of hint ie in hia natural element—the crowd at tho railway station , vociferating how glad hi > ia to huvo eeon it , —wiMi that he likes it almost aa well us ( Oromorno f

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    July 22 , L 854 ] THE LEA D E * # 9 *

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), July 22, 1854, page 691, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2048/page/19/