Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

prison, and liberated the accused. But, notwithstanding all their interest and the right of their case, they never succeeded in reversing the sentence, or bringing the matter to a final decision. How many persons were burned under this infamous process is not stated; but from the context it should appear that the number was very great. According to Le Clercq's account, almost all the accused were brought to acknowledge their guilt, either by the torture, or the false promises of their persecutors, that, if they confessed, they would be let off with a short penance, whereas (it was intimated) they would certainly be burned if they persisted in a denial. When brought to the stake, many made loud complaints of this treachery, and publicly accused the prosecutors of their falsehood: but this declaration of innocence was, by the malice of the torturers, construed into a fresh obedience to the Devil," de quelles choses," says our author, "je m'attens à Dieu.”

Such then, gentle reader, was "La Vauderie," which in its day was, no doubt, regarded as a useful prop to authority; and which, considering the tendency of events, may, as I have said, again become fashionable with the "Eteignoirs" of the Holy Alliance. It is true that the judges of the land have recently declared against the reality of witchcraft in a very edifying manner; but I should like to hear Mr. Justice this, or My Lord Chief that, persist in such heresy, if a quintuple alliance should agree that La Vauderie is a valuable part of the social system, and one of the best pieces in the marqueterie of their religious mosaics. The revival of the penal laws against the black art in Europe might in various ways be turned to a good account; and the measure might the more safely be adopted by the TEXES, the successors of Napoleon, as there is little apprehension that the weapon would be turned against themselves, common report and notoriety, amply testifying that they are "no conjurors." The Carbonari,* for instance, those night-mares of despotism, might thus very conveniently be rendered formidable to all other old women, and put down without fear or hesitation. Their profession would give some colour to the charge; and no one could doubt that they were at least "bewitched," since their infatuation extends to offering offence to such rulers, and that, spurning at the numerous comforts provided by their paternal government, they presume to look for a gratior libertas than that which Italy enjoys under the pious sway of the father-in-law of the Ex-Emperor of France. But not to travel from home, are we not pestered with reprobates, who, in order " to raise the wind," would not hesitate to go twenty times to the Devil? which seems to come very nearly within the definition of the black art; and would, in the eye of the law, render the offenders amenable to a more summary justice than is to be had under the insolvent act. The penal laws against witchcraft might likewise become supplementary to the libel laws, inasmuch as they would evidently embrace the case of those who sell themselves to the (printer's) devil.

They might farther be turned to good account in keeping down a superfluous population. For if poverty be prima facie evidence against those suspected of other crimes, why not in the case of witchcraft also? Too many, indeed, of our countrymen are known to be driven on the

*Literally, Colliers.

practice of various black arts by the pressure of the times; and no thing is more reasonable to suppose than that they who have not a guinea on the face of the earth, should be desirous to change their element, and mount into the air, if it were only to escape from their creditors. The very circumstance of their having the "Devil in their pocket," would tell against them.

Not the smallest advantage derivable from this project would be the facility with which his Majesty's ministers might get rid of Mr. H-by burning him for a witch. For they might most conscientiously swear that he is consuming them night after night by a slow fire. This much, indeed, is certain, that more than one of them has shewn himself eager to draw blood from that gentleman, which could only proceed from their apprehension of his casting figures and preventing the butter from coming when they churn.

The revival of these laws would also operate against a certain institution for the subjugation of literature; for assuredly" the Devil was in" the parties who first hit on such a wild-goose scheme: and it is farther to be remarked, that the powers of casting their readers into a deep sleep, which are evinced by some of its members, exceed all that we read of the myrtle sprig which the Devil gave to Lewis's Monk, and can only be attributed to the same infernal agency. Another race of evil-doers, whose operations would be restrained by these laws, is that of the porter-brewers, whose cauldrons "bubble bubble, toil and trouble," with ingredients, than which the witches in Macbeth could produce nothing more deleterious. I need say nothing to the opponents of Catholic emancipation. The alliance of the Pope and the Devil is of ancient standing; and to deal with the one is plainly to deal with the other.

An attorney, they say, is "a match for the Devil;" and his bill of cost, the Devil in propria persona. These sable-suited gentry may therefore be safely trusted to the operations of the revived law, by which their bills and themselves will be committed to the same fire.

From these numerous advantages there are, to be sure, some drawbacks. The New Monthly Magazine, for instance, must forego all commerce with several "comical Devils," who are wont to set their readers in a roar. Grimm's Ghost must no more be evoked; and "the devilish good fun" of Peter Pindaric must thenceforward slumber in oblivion. Our readers will likewise no longer be " enchanted" by divine poesy.

Another important consideration is, that the Corinthians and Tom and Jerry boys will no more be permitted to "play the Devil;" which will be a heavy loss to society, "eclipsing the gaiety of nations," and diminishing the "harmless amusement" of the worthiest members of the community.

All things, however, considered, the balance is decidedly in favour of the project; and as soon as Louis" of the large stomach" shall have brought back the Inquisition into Spain, there is little room, for doubt that a rider will be tacked to his next decree for abolishing the English Parliament, which shall enjoin all good Christians to believe in witchcraft, and condemn to the flames all that are "en Vauderie" with the dæmon of Liberty, possessed of a (reasoning) devil, or dare to utter the cabalistical word-Constitution.

[blocks in formation]

M.

[ocr errors][merged small]

WATCH-fires are blazing on hill and plain
Till noon-day light is restored again,
There are shining arms in Raphaim's vale,
And bright is the glitter of clanging mail.

The Philistine hath fix'd his encampment here-
Afar stretch his lines of banner and spear-
And his chariots of brass are ranged side by side,
And his war-steeds neigh loud in their trappings of pride

His tents are placed where the waters flow,
The sun hath dried up the springs below,
And Israel hath neither well nor pool,
The rage of her soldiers' thirst to cool.

In the eave of Adullam king David lies,
Overcome with the glare of the burning skies;
And his lip is parch'd, and his tongue is dry,
But none can the grateful draught supply.

Though a crowned king, in that painful hour
One flowing cup might have bought his power-
What worth in the fire of thirst could be
The purple pomp of his sovereignty!

But no cooling cup from river or spring
To relieve his want can his servants bring,

And he cries, "Are there none in my train or state,
Will fetch me the water of Bethlehem gate?"

Then three of his warriors, the "mighty three,"
The boast of the monarch's chivalry,

Uprose in their strength, and their bucklers rung,
As with eyes of flame on their steeds they sprung.

On their steeds they sprung, and with spurs of speed
Rush'd forth in the strength of a noble deed,

And dash'd on the foe like a torrent-flood,

Till he floated away in a tide of blood.

To the right-to the left-where their blue swords shine
Like autumn-corn falls the Philistine;

And sweeping along with the vengeance of fate,
The "mighty" rush onward to Bethlehem gate.

Through a bloody gap in his shatter'd array,
To Bethlehem's well they have hewn their way,
Then backward they turn on the corse-cover'd plain,
And charge through the foe to their monarch again.

The king looks at the cup, but the crystal draught
At a price too high for his want hath been bought;
They urge him to drink, but he wets not his lip,
Though great is his need, he refuses to sip.

But he pours it forth to Heaven's Majesty-
He pours it forth to the Lord of the sky;
'Tis a draught of death-'tis a cup blood-stain'd-
"Tis a prize from man's suffering and agony gain'd.

Should he taste of a cup that his "mighty three'
Had obtain'd by their peril and jeopardy?

Should he drink of their life?-'Twas the thought of a king!
And again he return'd to his suffering

[ocr errors]

WRITERS OF IMAGINATION.

Do we not owe much more to writers of imagination than is generally acknowledged? This is a query which I think must be answered affirmatively. Literature has mainly contributed to the present advanced state of civilization; and in inquiring what branches of it have more particularly tended to those refinements which spring from generous and noble feelings, it must be conceded to our poets and romancewriters. Much was gained from the ancients that produced an influence upon the character of modern nations; but perhaps their writings operated most beneficially by exciting a love of research, and arousing genius to exertion. This idea gathers strength from the fact that the study of the ancients did little in awaking the flame of civil liberty. They were long the inmates of cloisters and of courts, but they effected no direct change in favour of liberal feelings. Inquisitors tortured, Popes duped, Monks cheated, and Princes trampled on mankind, but no spontaneous spirit of resistance was aroused among the people by the free circulation of the classics. They were, no doubt, an indirect cause of original thinking and the uncontroled operations of genius, by propagating a taste for study and feeding the flame of emulation; but, directly, they were harmless enough to be tolerated by the present Czar of Muscovy, or the feudal sovereign of Hungary himself. It will be found that their present state of literature, or at least that state in which there is the most extensively diffused taste for letters, is a pretty good criterion of the grades of the different nations of Europe in refinement. Whatever each separate class of authors may have contributed to this end, the diffusion of high and generous feelings is principally owing to writers of imagination. To them we are largely indebted for the better sentiments of the age, and for all that by exciting the passions leads to eminence and renown. This is mainly owing to their prominent principle of keeping the mind dissatisfied with common-place things, their power of creating images superior in every respect to reality, which we admire and would fain imitate; and the admiration they infuse for what is good and excellent, or sublime and daring. Writers on science have ameliorated the physical condition of man, enlarged his stock of information, and increased his luxuries. In devoting themselves to their own peculiar studies, they were urged on by the desire of improvement, which very desire, the moving spring of all, is increased by the dislike of standing still; and the spirit of ambition which imaginative writers greatly assist nature in sustaining. Like the trophies of Miltiades that would not let Themistocles rest, the visions and day-dreams that haunt the mind and fill the soul with things better than the world and society afford it, by making us discontented spur us to pursue those beyond our reach, and keep us in progression.

What can some branches of literature effect towards the refinements of social life-writers on law, for example? They may enable the lawyer to improve his practice, and arrive at the end for which he labours-his private profit; for in spite of cant this is the sole object

* The Editor begs leave to say, that he thinks his correspondent utterly at fault in his opinion respecting the influence of classical learning on the progress of liberty in the modern world.

of the profession. For this the members drudge and dispute on both sides of a question, or on either side, just as they are hired, and their efforts, in plain fact, are alone directed to their individual advantage. There is no enthusiasm in the pursuit beyond what springs from the love of gain; and inasmuch as it is for the public good that intricate and contradictory laws should be made clear when they can be made so at all, writers on law may be merely styled useful, and nothing more. A pure legislation must depend on civilization; but this is not the lawyer's, but the statesman's calling, and emanates from public opinion expressed by its representatives, and its spirit must be governed by the variations of time and circumstances. Writers on grammar, medicine, and technical, and limited arts, contribute indirectly and remotely to refinement. The Bentleys of their age, who devote volumes to the correction of a comma, or the supposed use of an obsolete letter, are but abstractedly beneficial, inasmuch as they smooth the way to learning for the great spirits that are destined to operate good through the medium of the passions. Those writers who appeal to reason make very slow progress in imposing conviction, compared with those who operate the other way. By the alchemy of association and the power of appeal to the heart through its vivid pictures, more impression is made on mankind by one writer of imagination, than by twenty reasoners. Reason will never be any other than a regulator. The writer of imagination leads us to better objects and desires than the world exhibits to our senses, and thereby keeps alive a perpetual wish of improvement by the contemplation of what ought to exist, and the dissatisfying us with what really does.

Let us examine facts. Writers of imagination, far above all others, have been in advance of the time in which they lived. Gifted with a species of intellectual foresight, they have appeared to pour forth their effusions as if in the midst of times they were never destined to see, but in the more refined spirit of which they were fully qualified to partake. They breathed a different intellectual atmosphere from contemporaries, and were acknowledged by those of the highest refinement in their day with a respect that could only have arisen from a sense of discriminating admiration. Monarchs and courts, till late times, associated with poets and romance-writers: the court formerly being the most enlightened and refined circle in the state, the centre of knowledge and fine feeling, there was a natural affinity between them. As a portion of the people attained a higher state of mental culture, they approached the court itself, and at last equalled, and a numerous body of them surpassed, most of the individuals composing it, in cultivated intellect. Writers then naturally felt the tone of a considerable portion of the popular feeling to be most in unison with their own, and the latter became to writers of imagination what courts had been in earlier times. Part of the people having become as discerning as the individuals whom chance, interest, or caprice, may have elevated to carry on affairs of state for the monarch, where talent and intellect should have constituted the qualification-talent that, discarding prejudice, would have assimilated things to the light of the age-is one great cause of the present feverish feeling of some European nations. In Russia, for instance, where the court is among a dark people, it is still the centre of the intellectual refinement of the empire. Writers of imagination,

« AnteriorContinuar »