D'HAUSSEZ ' S GREAT BRITAIN.
THE misfortunes of the Ex-Minister of CHARLES the Tenth ap- pear to have jaundiced his vision ; instead of softening, they have soured his temper. Ile came to this country because he was driven here ; and such were his prejudices, that he con- fesses he had much rather have gone anywhere else. The hospi- tality he received here is highly creditable to the good feeling of the country. There was scarcely a Tory even that did not con- demn the spirit of the Administration of which he formed a part, and at the same time despised its incapacity; and yet misfortune and sympathy with fallen fortunes gave the poor man instant admission to numerous families of distinction—in fact, intro- duced him into the best circles of this country. The Ex-Minister shows his gratitude by sneering at the English love of novelty, end congratulating himself on his being a personage.
That varnish of condemnation which I carry along with me has not been un- serviceable to me. The curiosity which in England attaches to whatever is out of the common course, to men as well as to things ; the vanity which causes those who have played a conspicuous part to be sought after, filled up all the voids left, especially at first, by the various elements composing my existence. They have bound them together in such a manner as to give them an elevated situation in society, and to make of me, in spite, nay, perhaps on account of the events which have been my downfal, a personage who by common consent is sought after, questioned, consulted ; for whom the first place is everywhere re- served; and who, notwithstanding his previous habits, is regarded as a sort of political authority.
If it was vanity that induced his English friends to seek him, why, he is quite right in abusing them : if, on the contrary, it was compassion, and the strong desire which in England exists to separate political from moral crime, then is a long and very dull libel, in two volumes, but a poor return. No French writer on England hitherto—and the number of blun- derers of that sort is not small—ever took so many absurd views of this country, ever made so many gross mistakes, ever began to compose with less disposition to do right, or has been actuated with stronger and more distorting prejudices, orrather hatred, than this man, who saved his liberty, and it might have been his life, on our shores, and was treated with never-ceasing kindness and hospita- lity, from the moment lie landed to the moment he left the country. There would be no end were we to begin to exemplify the blun- ders or the misstatements he has committed,—not merely in the matters which demand information, which he has not, but in those which simply required him to look and see. This paragraph, for instance, he considers applicable to one of the leading and most beautiful features of British scenery, the Parks of England—
An immense space, surrounded by walls or a wooden paling, in the centre of which stands a house placed in the lowest part of the grounds, so as not to be seen from without, is, in England, denominated a park. The enclosure is dis- guised by a zone of larch, of pine, and other resinous trees. Within it is a pathway. The arrangement of these plantations is such, that the view, whether from within or from without, is interrupted by them; and a uniform, sad, and monotonous aspect is thus given to all parks.
But of all monstrous prejudices, conceive this Ex-Minister sticking up for the picturesque beauty of France, at the expense of that of England; and his declaring that "beautiful spots of country are rare," and that a traveller is not to expect " the smil- ing landscapes, the romantic scenery," &c. of France! Alas, alas ! when the Baron D'HAUSSEZ paraded himself through the ugly plains of his own country, he was the mighty tool of an all- powerful Government: a Prefect can see nothing but beauty in his domains ; and when he becomes a Minister, the whole country is embellished by the same act that raises him to power. On the other hand, as he gazed upon our scenery, he was an exile, the execration of the land he had governed, discontented with himself, hating England, and sneering even at the kindness that held out the hand of compassion and sympathy.
No man was ever so little qualified to gather information of this country. He does not appear to have known a word of English, and certainly was in no humour to learn ; and yet he has the au- dacity to dogmatize on a thousand matters, that he could only have mastered by long communication with the inhabitants. His impudence on this point may as well be collected from his visit to Sir WALTER SCOTT, as from any other part. The Baron neither spoke nor understood English ; Sir WALTER did not speak French. This being kept in view, what shall we say of the man who ven- tures thus to criticize and estimate Sir WALTER'S talents of con- versation?
I was up at eight o'clock the next morning, and was taking a survey of the grounds. Sir Walter joined me; gave me, with the utmost complaisance, all the explanations which I desired, and proposed that we should take a detailed view of his library. It was in this conversation that I was enabled to judge of the character of his mind, and satisfied myself that his imagination could not ecrop!etely shine forth without the aid of his pen. Sparing of observations, he doled out his words succinctly, and in a homely fashion. He seemed generally to want those extensive views which I had supposed him topossess. -The ob- server who had so happily seized the character of Louis the Eleventh, of Eliza- beth, of Mary Stuart, of James the First, as well as the customs and manners of the principal personages of his novels, appeared to have exhausted all his thoughts in his works, and to have left his memory a complete void.
The upholders of our Church establishment will not feel in- debted to this foreign Tory for his sketch of our clergymen. Here is his general idea of an English parson : we need not say how little it resembles the truth— If one wished to adopt the form employed by this deputy, to give an account of the English clergy, the reply to the question—What is a clergyman in Eng- land ?—would be as follows. An English clergyman is a man of distinguished birth, surrounded by a numerous family, provided with a rich benefice, living in luxury, participating in every pleasure, in all the enjoyments of the world, playing, hunting, dancing, attending the theatres, neither grave nor serious, un- less nature has made him so ; he is one who hoards his emoluments in order to settle his children ; who spends his fortune in wagering, in horses, in dogs, sometimes (when he is thoughtless and devoid of foresight) with a mistress ; in any event, giving little to the poor, and leaving their case, and the fulfilment of duties which he disdains, to some unfortunate curate, who fur a miserable stipend is obliged to exhibit the virtues and to fulfil the duties which the incumbent de- spises and neglects.
The same want of candour pervades the whole work. In these . . two sentences, the Ex-Minister dismisses the state of surgery England—
It is said that surgery has attained a high degree of perfection, and in support of this assertion the names of two very rich surgeons arc cited. It would be impossible to deny to these individuals the possession of rare talents, if we esti- mate the latter by the immense fortunes they have acquired.
We shall give no further specimen of this most impartial work, beyond the Baron's general opinion of the state of the arts in Great Britain.
Prepossessed as we may be towards England, we are bound to admit, that in respect to the fine arts she is inferior to the least favoured nations. Perfection in them is hopeless without that natural tact, that impulse of taste, that yield- ing to rules of general assent, which are incompatible with the education and independent opinions of Englishmen. If true to nature, and faithfully portray- ing it, theirs is a literal copy, which discards its nobler features. They never attempt an interpretation of it distinguished by its more dignified character, and free from those incidents which degrade without giving it a greater impress. of truth. The national taste favours and encourages this slothfulness of imagina- tion, which confines artists to the det.cription of mere facts, divested of every suggestion of fancy. Their efforts, when they endeavour to shake off the tram- mels of habit, tend exclusively to exaggerate the defects of the objects they de- sire to represent. Thus it is that their imagination, instead of soaring above the common level, falls powerless at every attempt. Accordingly, their drawing produces a caricature; their theatre a tiagetly or comedy alike at variance with all rules ; their music a lucre sound ; their architecture a Buckingham House or the Brighton Pavilion.
After this, we think we may leave the book to its fate; suggest- ing only a slight change in the title,—instead of " Great Britain in 1833," which the work does not in the least resemble, we would write "Baron DIIAUSSEZ in Great Britain in 1833," of which hea- portant fact the book is a very accurate reflection.
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