SPECTATOR'S LIBRARY.

Ilnrroercat, 131002APEIT,

Memoirs of the Court of England, from the Revolution in 1688 to the Death of George II. By John Heneage Jesse. Esq., Author of " Memoirs of the Court of England

during the Reign of the Stuart,." In three volumes Bentley. rascals,

The Bible is Spain ; or the Journies, Adventures, and Imprisonments of an Eug- lishman, in an attempt to circulate the Scriptures iu the Peninsula. By George Borrow. Author of "The Gipsies of Spain." In three volumes Moray.

The Modern History and Condition of Egypt. its Climate, Diseases, and Capabilities exhibited in a Personal Narrative of Travels in that country : with as Account of the Proceedings of Mohammed All Pasha, from 1801 to 1843; interspersed with Illustrations of Scripture History, the Fulfilment of Prophecy, and the Progress of Civilization iu the Last. By William Hult Yates, M.D., &c. Re In two volumes,

with illustrations Smithaad Eider,

JESSE'S MEMOIRS OF THE COURT OF ENGLAND. THESE three volumes continue Mr. JESSE'S very agreeable and not uninteresting biographical sketches of English sovereigns, courtiers, and persons of fashionable or frivolous mark ; the present series beginning with the Revolution, or more strictly with the life of WILLIAM the Third, and ending with persons who chiefly figured in the reign of GEORGE the Second—WALPOLE, the Countesses of SUFFOLK and YARMOUTH, mistresses of the King, and Lord MEL- COMBE, (BUBB DODDINGTON,) being the last lives. Besides its pleasant and gossipy character, the work has a value. The lives of the Kings were perhaps not wanted ; for, either in histories or other accessible books, as much could be learned about them as Mr. JESSE tells ; but the Queens and the rest of the Royal Family are of evident utility. Many, for example, may often have wished for some particular account of Prince GEORGE of Den- mark, consort of Queen ANNE; of CAROLINE, wife of GEORGE the Second ; of their son FREDERICK Prince of Wales, so conspicuous in every account of the period for his open opposition to his father; of his Princess, mother of GEORGE the Third, the " chaste " dowager of Justus ; or even of WILLIAM Duke of CUMBERLAND: yet they could only get their wants supplied after a fashion in biographical dictionaries, and not always there. In Mr. JESSE'S Memoirs of the Court of England there are sufficient sketches of them ; not indeed distinguished for any extraordinary qualities connected either with judgment or research, but displaying a good deal of con amore reading, an easy arrangement, and a pleasant mode of narrative. What has been said of the Kings may be said of some of the courtiers. Accounts are readily accessible of MARLBOROUGH and his SARAH, of BOLINGBROKE, Of CHESTERFIELD, of Lady MARY WORTLEY MONTAGU, of WALPOLE, of the minor poet SHEFFIELD Duke of BUCKINGHAM; and in a lesser degree of ATTERBURY, the Duke of NEWCASTLE,' HARLEY Earl of OXFORD, the Earl of PETERBOROUGH, and BUBB DODDINGTON. But even as regards some of these Mr. JESSE'S book is useful; for he hits the happy medium between the meagre notice of a dictionary and the expensive ela- borations in several volumes quarto or octavo. All the other lives supply a want in popular literature. They give us biogra- phical sketches or anecdotes of persons whom every reader of the history or literature of the period feels curious about, and for some of whom his interest has been excited: such are POPE'S " poor Wharton, nipp'd in folly's broadest bloom ; " Lord HERVEY, the " Sporus " and "Lord Fanny" of the same satirist; his wife, the charming " Lepel" of the Twickenham bard, and even of the cynic CHURCHILL; Mrs. MASH AM, the Bedchamber-woman of Queen ANNE; the adventurers Beau FIELDING and Beau WusoN ; King WILLIAst's favourites BENTINCK and KEPPEL, the founders of the PORTLAND and ALBEMARLE families ; with a whole lot of Kings' mistresses and others. Of course it will not be supposed that these notices are in any case complete biographies : they are memoirs in a strict sense. For any thing more, the less considerable characters could not yield materials; and space would have failed to develop the career of the more im- portant personages. The reader who wants to study the campaigns and diplomacy of MARLBOROUGH or the politics of WALroLE, must of course go elsewhere. This is not a fault but a fact, though a fact to be mentioned. The real fault of the book is rooted in the author's mind. Like retailers of gossip, from D'ISRAELI all round, he is in love with marvels, and words to correspond. To find out a mare's nest, to exalt an accessory into a principal, and dignify it with sounding words, is the delight of these writers, without much respect to truth or common sense. Thus be opens the notice of Mrs. Memo& in this strain- " It is remarkable how little is known of this celebrated woman ; who, from an almost menial situation, rose to be the favourite of her Sovereign ; who governed both Queen Anne and her counsels; who expelled Ministries and gave birth to others almost at her will; and Who, without positive talent, or ap- parently merit of any sort, could boast that she had on more than one occasion changed the destinies of Europe."

And agaiu, in his life of HARLEY he says-

" Thus was the ruin consummated of one of the greatest heroes, [Marl- borough,] and one of the most powerful Administrations, [the Whigs of Queen Anne,] by means of the secret influence of a Bedchamber-woman, and the intriguing genius of a renegade Dissenter." The whole of this is mere balderdash, or untruth. The Duke of MARLBOROUGH rather meanly consented to hold office after some of his friends resigned, and when the fitting tune came he was of course turned out : he was charged with peculation, of which there is little doubt that he was guilty; and, being threatened with prosecu- tion to recover the money, be went abroad. But bow this should be called "ruin," we cannot perceive ; and still less what Mrs. MASHAM bad to do with it. The "renegade Dissenter," as Mr. JESSE terms HARLEY, was the PEEL of his day, though with less capacity and less resolution : but HARLEM could do nothing till he

had got circumstances as well as Mrs. MASERU and the Queen in his favour—as he found to his coat a little while before, when he was turned out himself. As for "changing the destinies of Europe," and all the other fustian, Mr. JESSE ought to have known better ; for he has himself recorded some of the true circum- stances which caused the downfall of the Whigs :

" The unpopularity of a long and expensive war—the general impression that it was protracted by the Duke of Marlborough for the purpose of filling his own coffers—the excitement caused by the trial of the popular idol, Dr. Sacheverel—and the almost universal belief that the Church was in danger— had gradually alienated the affections of the people from the Whigs."

Mrs. MASHAM, or rather Mr. JEssE, illustrates the fly upon the wheel—" what a dust I raise !"—but in finer language.

These kind of things are blemishes, but detract nothing from the readableness and little from the utility of the work, for we do not recur to such publications for philosophy. Information as to facts and persons, with light gossipy anecdote, are what we look for, and what we find, in Memoirs of the Court of England. The following, touching upon the Viscount DUNDEE, who fur- nished Scores Claverhouse in Old Mortality, is something higher.

DUNDEE'S FOLLOWERS.

On the spot where Dundee received his death-wound, the Highlanders raised a large stone, which may be seen at the present day. When King William was told that the news of the defeat of Killicrankie had reached Edinburgh by express, " Then I am sure," he said, " that Dundee must he dead, or otherwise he would have reached Edinburgh before it." Again, when he was advised to despatch a large force to the Highlands in consequence of hi'Kay's recent defeat, " No," he replied, "it is quite useless: the war ended with the life of Dundee."

After the fall of their gallant leader, the greater number of Dundee's officers retired to France, where a small pension was conferred on them by the French King. When this boon was subsequently withdrawn, deprived of all honour- able means of subsistence, and finding themselves a burden to their unfortu- nate master King James, these brave exiles solicited permission to form them- selves into a regiment of private soldiers, merely stipulating that the selection of their officers should be left in their own hands. "James," says Dalrymple, "assented : they repaired to St. Germains to be reviewed by him, before they were modelled in the French army. A few days after they came, they posted themselves, in accoutrements borrowed from a French regiment, and drawn up in order, in a place through which he was to pass as he went to the chace ; an amusement of which he became passionately fond after the loss of his kingdom. He asked who they were ? and was surprised to find they were the same men with whom, in garbs better suited to their ranks, he had the day before con- versed at his levee. Struck with the levity of his own amusement contrasted with the misery of those who were suffering for him, he returned pensive to the palace. The day be reviewed them, be passed along the ranks; wrote in his pocket-book, with his own hand, every gentleman's name, and gave him his thanks in particular; and then, removing to the front, bowed to the body, with his hat off. After he had gone away, still thinking that honour enough was not done them, he returned, bowed agaiu, and burst into tears. The body kneeled, bent their heads and eyes steadfast upon the ground; and then, starting up at once, passed him with the usual honours of war, as if it was only a common review they were exhibiting." It is almost a painful duty to record the subsequent fate of these gallant men. From St. Germaine they were sent, a march of nine hundred- miles on foot, to the frontiers of Spain. " Wherever they passed," we are told, "they were received with tears by the women, with respect by some of the men, but with laughter at the awkwardness of their situation by most of them." Brave and uncomplaining ; obedient to orders ; ever the foremost in an onset, and the last in a retreat ; forgetting their own sufferings and misfortunes in the all- absorbing attachment which they conceived for their legitimate sovereign; during the course of six years, these noble-minded exiles encountered a series of vicissitudes and privations, which were only exceeded by the dignity with which they were endured. On two occasions alone are they said to have dis- obeyed orders. The first time was at the siege of Roses, where their ranks had become so thinned by disease, that, with a view to their recovery, they were ordered to quit the camp. Distressed, however, as was their condition, the order was deeply resented as an affront, and, till they had despatched a remon- strance to Marshal Noailles, they positively refused to retire. The second occasion of their breaking orders was in making a lodgment in an island on the Rhine. The French, betieving the river to be impassable on foot, had ordered a number of boats for the service : previously, however, to their arrival, the gallant exiles, tying their clothes and accoutrements to their shoulders, and placing their strongest men where the current was most impetuous, joined band in baud, and in the sight of both armies drove ten times their number from the island. The French were unable to conceal their admiration, and were loud in their applause : "Le gentilhomme," they exclaimed, "est toujours gentilhomme." "A gentleman, in every situation, is still a gentleman." So highly, indeed, did the French appreciate this gallant service, that they conferred on the island the title of L'Isle d'Ecosse, a name which it retains to the present day.

The remaining particulars concerning the fate of the Scottish brigade may be related in a few words. Neglected by the French Government, and with few of their wants attended to, they were ordered from the frontiers of Spain to Alsace. During this long march, their clothes are said to have fallen from them in tatters ; and they were frequently in want of food, and the com- monest necessaries of life. To add to their distressing condition, the face of the country, after they passed Lyons, was covered with snow; and yet, amidst all these miseries and privations, not a single complaint appears to have parsed their lips, and the cry of " Long live King James," was sufficient to enliven. them even in the extremity of their misfortunes. At the close of the war, they were disbanded on the banks of the Rhine, fifteen hundred miles from their own home, without the slightest provision being made for them. At this period, owing to the ravages of disease and war, their numbers were reduced to sixteen, and of these only four made their way to Scotland.

The length of this quotation will confine us to short miscella- neous passages for the rest of the extracts.

rims CORONAT OPUS.

Lord Chesterfield, during the last months of his life, was afflicted with a client:cps, which entirely baffled the art of his physicians, and subsequently proved the immediate cause of his death. " He was afflicted," Nays Dr. ats!y, " with no other illness, and remained to the last free from all manner of pain, enjoying his surprising memory and presence of mind to his latest breath; per- fectly composed and resigned to part with life, and only regretting that death was so tartly to meet him." About half an hour before he expired, his valet opened the curtains of his bed, and announced a visit from Mr. Dayrolles. Though he bad hardly strength to give utterance to his words, he muttered faintly, " Give Dayrolles a chair." Thus his last words were firsts of polite- ness. It was observed by his physician, Dr. Warren, who was in the apart- ment at the time, "Lord Chesterfield's good breeding only quitted him with his life."

CICERO MIDDLETON ON THE ARTICLES.

His "Discourse on the Miraculous Powers" supposed to have been vested in the early Christian Church, led the world to believe that he was a free- thinker; and his letters to Lord Hervey have since substantiated the fact. As a divine, a moralist, and a philosopher, he should have taken especial care to maintain his 'private character in good repute: and yet the same man who pro- fessed that "Providence had placed him beyond the temptation of sacrificing philosophical freedom to the servilities of dependence," is known, in the most shameless manner, to have subscribed the Thirty-nine Articles forthemere pur- pose of enjoying the living of Hascombe. " Though there are many things in the Church," he says, "which I wholly dislike, yet, while I am content to acquiesce in the ill, I should be glad to taste a little of the good."

THE SEYMOUR FAMILY.

Several influential gentlemen, from the counties of Devon and Somerset, shortly afterwards followed his example, [in waiting upon the Prince of Orange ;] and among these was the celebrated Sir Edward Seymour, who bad formerly been Speaker of the House of Commons, and who, singularly enough, had long been conspicuous for his almost bigoted advocacy of Tory principles. In the course of one of his earliest interviews with the Prince, " I believe, Sir Edward," said the latter, " that you are of the Duke of Somerset's family ? No, Sir," was the reply, " the Duke of Somerset is of mine."

A ROYAL REPARTEE.

To the vulgar the manners of William appear to have been at all times more gracious than to those of higher rank. Some years afterwards, he was passing through a village in the neighbourhood of Windsor, when a woman, determined to get a sight of the King, thrust herself close to the windows of the royal carriage. Having satisfied her curiosity, she exclaimed, somewhat contemptuously, though perhaps not with the intention of being overheard- " Is that the King ? why, my husband is a handsomer man than he." Wil- liam stooped towards her and said, very seriously, " Good woman, don't speak so loud; consider I'm a widower."

ECCENTRICITY OF PETERBOROUGH.

Whatever may have been the causes of difference between Lord Peterborough and Charles the Third, certain it is that the former was recalled from the scene of his glory in consequence of the charges preferred against him by the Spanish Monarch. These charges were afterwards investigated in the House of Lords; when not only were they declared to be utterly unfounded, but the House voted that, "during the time be had the command of the army in Spain, he performed many great and eminent services, for which he had the thanks of their House." The Lord Chancellor addressed him in a most flattering speech, in which his " wonderful and amazing success," " his personal bravery and conduct," and his " wise counsels," are dwelt upon in the most glowing language. " My lords," said Lord Peterborough in reply, "for the great honour and favour I have received from your Lordships, I return my most humble thanks, with an heart full of the truest respect and gratitude. No service can deserve such a reward. It is more than a sufficient recompense for my past hardships, and to which nothing can give an addition. I shall endeavour in all my future actions not to appear unworthy of the unmerited favour 1 have this day received from this great assembly." According to Lord Lansdowne, immediately after quit- ting this splendid scene, be ordered his coach to stop at a poulterer's shop, where he alighted and purchased a fowl for his dinner. [It was his practice to bargain for his dinner, and carry it home himself.]

CUMBERLAND'S GAMING.

The Duke, even in his boyhood, is said to have affected a gravity of demean- our, and to have been distinguished by a solemn assumption of philosophical superiority, such as not nifirequently covers a really weak mind, and which was borne out by no particular acts of wisdom in his subsequent career. As a youth, he affected to conceive the same paramount interest in the affairs of Parliament, or the council-chamber, that he took in the evolutions of an army or the trappings of a regiment of horse. Like his brother Frederick, he was fond of women, and also delighted in the pleasures of the gaming-table and the race-course. Unlike his brother, however, he possessed a strength of mind which enabled him to resist the temptation of play, as soon as prudence warned him against further indulgence. It was much to his credit, that having on one occasion lost his pocket-book on the race-course at Newmarket, he de- clined making any bets, alleging that his losses were already sufficient for one day. When the races were over, the pocket-book was brought to him by a half-pay officer, by whom it had accidently been picked up. The Duke gene- rously insisted on the officer keeping it. " I am only glad," he said, " that it boa fallen into such good hands; for if I had not lost it as I did, its contents would by this time have been scattered among the blacklegs of Newmarket."

THE DYING POLITICIAN.

On one occasion, the Duke of Cumberland is said to have found great diffi- culty in evading the importunities of his father, who was desirous that he should unite himself to a Princess of Denmark. The King had actually caused a negotiation to be entered into with the Danish Court ; and in this dilemma, the Duke sent to ask the advice of Sir Robert Walpole, scarcely forty-eight hours, it may be remarked, before the death of that Minister. Sir Robert recommended that the Duke should demand a large marriage-settlement. The advice was followed, and his Royal Highness heard nothing more of the match.