BOOKS.
TOHNsToN's ENGLAND AS IT IS.* To describe a civilized country " as it is," in its geography, is not very difficult ; for, be the scale what it may, the materials are all ready to the hand, in maps, plans, and books, from the coup-d'seil of the whole region in the general map down to the local topogra- phy or guidebook. The " statistics,' as regards population, its distribution and classes—the public and parochial income and ex- penditure—the facts relating to imports and exports, with other matters of a similar kind—are all readily .accessible. The diffi- culty lies in their management ; for if they are exhibited in full de- tail, they are apt to degenerate into a chaotic mass of tables,. while it requires considerable knowledge, with a comprehensive mind, to throw aside ,everything but general results and truly to point out the conclusions they contain. The particulars of institutions, constitutions, laws, and public establishments, are readily hunted out and presented. To: describe the "social. and political" state of a highly civilized people, is a more difficult undertaking. It re- quires a wide experience to collect the materials, a penetrating genius to perceive the living truths, so,„inuoh more difficult to see and seize than, those which are inanimate, and a faculty at once skilful and comprehensive, to present them. Mr. JOhnston's view of the " social, political, and , industiial " state of," England as it is in the middle of the nineteenth cen- tury," is not exactly such a book as the title might lead one to expect. The topics discussed are indeed sufficient to take in the features that distinguish the age. The agriculturists, the population and. its em oyments, taxation revenue, expeni- diture, foreign trade, criminal offenders, births, deaths, and marriages, railways, church revenues, local taxation, and a few similar matters, are fair enough representations of statistics. The moral and physical condition of the people, and the political danger it threatens, public schools and .universities, the Church of England in several aspects, lawyers, law and its adminis, tration, rich and poor, the press, manners and conversation, with some other topics, furnish means of sufficiently if not cam, pletely discussing and exhibiting the social and political state of Britons. Sir Robert Peel is perhaps forced in by the weight of his character, and to feed a political grudge of the author. The other topics are rather -miscellaneous than altogether belonging to a class. The supply. of London withannat, the sanatory condition of the people, small farms and allotpiants, beer-shops and drinking habits, &c., rather contribute to throw lights more, or less curious on the main propositions, than are really indispensable to the gene- ral conclusions.
These subjects, however sufficient for the purpose in hand, want coherence, nor are they treated with sufficient, breadth or profundity to exhibit England as it is The author states in his preface, that the volumes " had their origin in a design of writing letters to a friend on the Continent, in order to make him acquaint- ed with the present' state of England." This purpose, however, was soon lost sight of. Had the design been continued, the book would have been better and worse; better, as being more system- atic, complete, and informing ; worse, as not being so readable and amusing. The work is in reality a series of essays oron. thirty-seven topics, whose general nature: we have already indica:- tad; and their treatment varies with the subjects. Mr. Johnston is a Tory of the. Alison or Blackwood school Like his leader, he affects a turn for statistics ; and, like that leader, he has not plod- ding industry, or skill in figures, to present such a thorough exhibition of a subject as the existing materials would enable him to make, while he has not sufficient economical knowledge. or perhaps political acumen, to exhibit a broad and conclusive view. In questions that come under the head of temporary polities—as those relating to free trade or demooratical progress—Mr. Johnston also possesses the old Tory prejudices, and carries them to such a length that he seems to think (Vol. I. page 177) that Sir Robert Peel might have been able, had he but stuck to his old colours, to have modified if not to have repealed the Reform BilL With persons who entertain such notions argument is useless. They are in the condition of the Parisian petit maitre, who having en- gaged to squire a party of ladies to have an eclipse of the sun ex- pounded to thorn by the. celebrated astronomer Cassini, arrived too late at the Royal Observatory, and were told that the eclipse was over. "Oh, never mind, ladies," said the beau, " step up : Cassini is a partieularfriend, he will begin again for me." Though Mr. Johnston in politics has th4 ideas of Mr. Alison and his party; he has a much better style than his prototype ; less ponderous, more varied and easy: Re has a more flexible mind, with greater life and feeling—he is a writer, not a rhe- torician. He has, too, an essayist's observation of life, with a good deal of the grace of manner of the elder essayists. Hence, in subjects with Which he is acquainted either by experience or look- ing oni he is a very agreeable and attractive writer ; abounding in judicious observations and sketches of society, striking for their truth:and shrewdness, though, not quite painting England as she is-- This portrait of the fashionable solicitor, fxoni the paper on
Attornies and Solicitors, is a neat delineation of a class.
"Hating 'bovine confidential advisers in questions where property in con- cerned,,they are often called upon in respect to disagreements, doubts, sus- t*iolall,:nad Other _domestic troubles, where a calm impartial judgment is reluirett and perfect secrecy may be depended upon. Some of them might
JrAiiala ,4 Politieal, Social, and Industrial, in. the Middle of the Nine- teitith LB-William Johnston, Esq., Barrister-at-him In two volumes.
Pxhighed mawrar. tell very strange histories of confidences no less strange ; for your solicitor is the only man Who is enabled-by his professional conscience so to identify himself with his principal' that he will make nothing. known that is con- fided to him professionally, no matter what interests beyond those of his client. may be concerned. If some man or woman—it may be of rank or wealth—having committed some great offence, goes to confess to the parson of the pariah, the reverend gentleman may probably deem it his bounden duty to call in the police, or to inform the injured party, as the case may be. Not so the solicitor. He advises, soothes, and lays down the doctrine of discretion, which he considers applicable to the circumstances. Solicitors are the priests of the Numen Prudentia, and thereby many of them become very important and very rich. As regards morality, the same in- convenience or evil belongs to the system in which they are the prime movers, as does to the system of acting by trustees, or any other representa- tion of the interests of an individual by persons who are,not representatives of his conscience. I am far from saying that respectable solicitors take no account of what a man is in honour and conscience bound to do, as well as in law and in prudence. They generally consider what is becoming to a man in the station which he occupies and in the circumstances with which he has to deal. Following that rule, they cannot set aside the obligations of honour and conscience. But passions and affections and ge- nerous emotions are the natural auxiliaries of conscientiousness, especially when it is to be exercised among persons connected by blood or affinity; and these the solicitor keeps at a distance. He may give a cold opinion as to what might be considered generous, but his business is to advise what is prudent, and to keep hia clients on their guard against emotion. And this is another reason why so much is committed to confidential solicitors; for great or rich personages are glad of an escape from the disturbance of what they call a scene,' meaning thereby any occurrence in which the passions or feelings are strongly moved ; and they take refuge from such agitation under the cold shade of professional advice. It is, moreover, but too true; that while the eminent professional adviser will generally, if left to himself, either de, or recommend to be done, that which is reasonable and becoming under the circumstances, yet he is not so independent but that be will yield himself in some degree to be the instrument of his employer's anger, or en. nifty, or prejudice, if the employer be rich and insist upon that course being taken. Whatever he does will of course be done in a respectable manner, and with due regtrd to professional rules ; but many things which are harsh and domineering, and even unjust, may be done in this way ; and the proud and unfeeling man of wealth will not find much difficulty in obtaining even the most eminent aid to carry out his views, if he be willing, as he generally is, that a decorous and formal manner shall pervade the proceeding; how- ever severe in their substance and cruel in their intention.'
There is critical acumen in the following estimate of' the peculiar qualities of newspaper writers, from the article on the Press.
"As to the writers of original articleson the events of the day, it is quick- ness of thought and readiness of expression on paper whioh chiefly .fit them for their office. There are men who can write, and with great force too when they must write, but who cannot bring themselves to write today that which might as well be written tomorrow. On the other hand, they who write best cannot write off-hand. They ponder the matter, and the thoughts which occur to them they are able to lay up in store, and deliberately to ar- range in the beat order. Men who give much of their attention to the,events of the day, find their reflections thereon to evaporate even faster than those events shift their position and Change their colour. Harassing as the work of the daily journaliat may appear, and as it no doubt really is, it is that which prima facie appears the greatest hardship of the task—namely, the necessity for writing off-hand—that makes it from day to day a practicable thing. Besides being a grand and standing excuse for all sorts of mistakes, it is the very life of the cause. For the most part, the journalist writes under immediate im_pulse supplied either by the news of the day or the re- marks of some rival jourrial, which impulse quickens some spring of utter- ance, whether by sympathy, indignation, suggestion of supplementary mat- ter, or what not. Let any topic, however, only wait a few days to grow cold, and it would be recurred to as a sheer task, which the writer would scarcely, have patience to encounter."
Mr. Johnston clearly perceives and accurately traces the prevail-
Ing of the age ; its levity, its selfishness, its goodnatured
indifference, and the absence of all earnestness or heartiness for anything except self, with, as cause or consequence, the want of vigorous faith, even if it be only in a prejudice. He sees marks of it in our public schools, in our universities, in society, in our "manners and conversation." The following passage from the chapter on this last subject may be taken as an example of Mr. Johnston's social dissection.
" In short, the people, such as one ordinarily meets, are as incapable of good conversation as of singing Greek verses to a lyric accompaniment. With such. persons, when a man has nothing to say which he really does think, because such matter would be unsuitable, he may escape the awkwardness and the chill of silence by some remark calculated to dissipate dulness, and to preserve the spirits from sinking into torpidity. Again, it may be said that life cannot be. a continual study of wisdom though it ought never to degenerate into mere folly. The man who can think only in that superficial way which serves the turn of a conversationist, is not indeed worthy of much consideration, but we should not undervalue the power of throwing aside the severer habits of reflection and tossing the lid' of lighter thought in animated talk. But the truth is, that conversation such as Mr. Taylor de- scribes—that is, easy, graceful, clever, and sparkling.conversation, with bits of knowledge toned to and fro in it—is, if not very rare, at least not very common, even in the circles of the highest pretension. There is plenty of lightsomeness, plenty of sarcasm ; but gracefulens; cleverness, and bits of knowledge, even of the superficial kind, are onlyto be met with on fortunate days or nights. The conversation one too often hears, and the manner which accompanies it, are not merely vain and unprofitable, because wanting in depth and earnestness, but directly and unquestionably pernicious, because fraught with a sneering spirit which feeds pride, and puts humble truth out of countenance.
'And there are smiles by shallow worldlings worn, To grace a lie or laugh a truth to scorn.'
"Mr. Eliot Warburton, in his book called The Crescent, and the Cross,' describes a visit to the island of Delos in his usual picturesque and striking manner, and adds—' The island has been very little visited, and there ap- pears to be a wide field for research amongst its varied relics. Our party was a large one, and consisted moreover entirely of English,—a circumstance which, I know not why, is always fatal to research, or even to reflection : a scoffing spirit inevitably prevails ; and whether on the mountain of Parnas- sus, or m the valley ofJehoshaphat, our countrymen seem to think that every- thing is unreal except themselves and their sandwiches : this :is. the very triumph of objeetivity. " I do not now what 'the triumph of objectivity ' means, but for the rest, I think Mr. Vienrburton has justry desoribed„the ordinary outside habit or affectation of the English : a lightsome indifference—salad nf diedaimi ful carelessness which they do not really feel—is aimed at by almost all who desire to assume the tone of high society. "The present Lord Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench, who succeeds in everything he attempts, and who, before he assumed the, ermine, had at- tained the position not only of a Cabinet Minister and a Peer of Parliament but also of a popular author, achieved his, literary success by, a happy atten- tion to this prevailing taste for contemptuous gaiety of manner. Although in his capacity of politician he was an advocate of popular influence, and always contended that great weight should' e giVen to the wisdom and the will of the multitude, yet in his capacity of author, when writing the life of Lord Eldon, he says, 'The recent victory of Salamanca, a renewed cry against Popery, and a plentiful harvest, which had, as usual, given the people a high opinion of the wisdom of the Government,' &c. The Govern- ment of 1812 was a Tory Government ; which accounts for tho learned Lord's peculiar opinion of, the wisdom of the people in thinking well of it on that occasion, and for his method of expressing that opinion. "The jesting, flippant, and contemptuous tone of remark, is very fre quently applied to the habits and circumstances of• the speakers themselves. Men seem to regard themselves as the sport of a fate which they despise. They who have run the round of fashionable dissipations sneer at the Insi- pidity of civilized life. They will not take the trouble to set an example of better conduct. They will not themselves substitute-good sense, moderation, cordiality, and politeness, for the pomp, ceremony, affectation, and vain- glory of which they are conscious, but they go on with the crowd, and sneer at what the crowd is doing, They talk of stale civilization,' ridicule those who are pinioned at dinner-tables,' 'stuck up in ball-rooms,' or living in a round of formal ceremony and ' utter respectability,' while an humbler, more genuine, and more simple life than this, is no less scorned, if it be unaccompanied with great expense or the ability to be greatly expensive."
The paper on Peel is a severely just estimate on narrow grounds and from the writer's point of view. It becomes harsh in its sub- stance, from the critic's leaving out the exousatory circumstances ; owing, we think, to a certain limitation of mind, which prevents him from. seeing the whole, rather than from any disposition, to unfairness. It is easy to make out a strong case of inconsistency. against Peel, or any speaker who has changed his opinion, or at • least given utInnince to the change ; becauseif a man is to speak for a side, he will speak as well as ho can, and make • the most of his case, without regard to private doubts. or -the fact that he. may even in council have expressed an -opposite• opinion. When, -- some years afterwards, he has to speak on the other side, striking contrasts may be detected, although they are not so much contrasts- in opinion as in rhetorical statement; and Peel (whose business was not speech, though he carried on business by means of speaking) is more obnoxious to, this trial from the telling nature of his rhetoric. But "all victuallers do so." It- is a vice of every age, and of this, more especially, which is not only an' age of transition, (when men must change much, and rapidly,) but of speechifying. The true ground of censure is not Peel, but the low scale of public morality, which " dares think one thing and: another tell." We hear constantly of men and ministers who are arguing against their own conviction ; everybody knows it, every- body talks of it, and everybody thinks so little about it that it is mentioned as a fact of course, worth neither praise nor censure. A further cause of Peel's seeming inconsistency was, that he was not only emphatically a minister of action, but a minister who propounded nothing to be done till the time for doing it had arrrived. Pitt proposed a reform of Par- liament, indifferent whether it were earned or not. " Measures for rejection" have been more or less a characteristic of all later Administrations as well as of Oppositions, to which alone they properly belong. From pride, or some other peculiarity of oha- rooter, Peel seemed to require that what he proposed should be accomplished. Hence he kept his resolutions secret till the time for acting on them came. In a general, or the minister of an absolute monarchy, this reticence would have been lauded. In a constitu- tional government, where incessant speech is a necessity, it in- volved him in the rhetorical error we have just explained. We believe this point is the great objection to Peel, except his conduct towards Canning on the Catholic question; which is only to be explained on low party grounds, and on the fact of the absolute necessity of settling the subject so early as events brought it on not being visible. Mr. Johnston alleges the change in his views on the currency against Peel. But that is rather a proof of his honesty, at the same time that it is a key to his general conduct When Peel first came into Parliament he was a mere youth, who had been trained by his father, and his tutors, to 'swear by "Pitt and paper money "; and he voted' for Vansittart's "resolution " as a matter of course. When he brought in the bill for the renewal of cash payments, he had emancipated-himself on that question fromparental, educational, and party control, and possessed the courage to act upon it. He showed that a duty to his own con- victions of the truth was a paramount principle of action with him : for he had no official responsibility, no puMic call to do what he did, any- more than anybody else ; while he not only offended party and family connexions, but ran a chance of serious loss of property through his father's prejudices,—as was also the case on the Catholic question. In like manner, in early manhood Peel voted against Romilly, and afterwards turned law reformer himself • though Mr. Johnston omits this: trait. He also, and less excusably, avoids all notice of the effects of Peel's measures; and the character he latterly impressed both upon Government and the public, in preserving, during the late Continental convul- sions, so much ,good, feeling among all .classes, and quiet among the people. .
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