Imatges de pàgina
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be understood by a free people; and ings. Although we have already enthose whose cowardice or despair made larged this article beyond its proper them submit to be the instruments of limits, we must give our readers a few the tyrant's vengeance on one who had specimens of this singular chronicle.

After Sir Patrick's escape, he made

armed for their deliverance, may very innocently be presumed to have suffered his way to his own castle, and was With regard, again, to the phrase of under the church, where his daughter, some remorse for their compliance. concealed for some time in a vault the context of Mr. Fox, that it is not every night, with an heroic fortitude, "authorised assassins," it is plain, from then a girl under twenty, went alone, applied to

gainst the remains of Argyle's armed however, which lightened this perilous followers, but to those individuals, intercourse, is to us still more admirable

whether military

the disarmed and solitary fugitives, or not, who pursued for the purpose of butchering them in cold blood, in their caverns and moun

tains.

than its heroism.

"She went every night by herself, at

midnight, to carry him victuals and drink; and stayed with him as long as she could

to get home before day. In all this time

Such is the substance of Mr. Rose's my grandfather showed the same constant observations; which certainly do not he continued to possess to his death, which appear to us of any considerable value was at the age of eighty-four; all which -though they indicate, throughout, a good qualities she inherited from him in a landable industry, and a still more laud-high degree. Often did they laugh heartily able consciousness of inferiority,- to- in that doleful habitation, at different gether

composure, and cheerfulness of mind, that

to believe) berality and moderation, countera natural disposition to arted by the littleness of party jealousy by concern for her father, she stumbled

had a terror for a churchyard, especially in the dark, as is not uncommon at her age, by idle nursery stories; but when engaged

and resentment. We had noted a Was and small inaccuracies; but in a for soldiers and parties in search of him, great number of petty misrepresenta- fear of any kind entering her thoughts, but work which is not likely either to be which the least noise or motion of a leaf much read, or long remembered, these put her in terror for. The minister's house things are not worth the trouble of was near the church. The first night she

over the graves every night alone, without

Correction.

went, his dogs kept such a barking as put her in the utmost fear of a discovery. My

Though the book itself is very dull, grandmother sent for the minister next however, we must say that the appendix day, and, upon pretence of a mad dog, got Is very entertaining. Sir Patrick's nar- him to hang all his dogs. There was also delights us far more, is another and without the servants suspecting: the only Five is clear and spirited; but what difficulty of getting victuals to carry him, more domestic and miscellaneous narra- way it was done, was by stealing it off her tive of the adventures of his family, diverting story she has told about this, and from the period of Argyle's discomfiture other things of the like nature. Her father til their return in the train of King liked sheep's head; and, while the children William, This is from the hand of were eating their broth, she had conveyed Lady Murray, Sir Patrick's grand-most of one into her lap. When her brother daughter, and is mostly furnished from Sandy (the late Lord Marchmont) had fararite and exemplary daughter./said, 'Mother, will you look at Grizzel; There is an air of cheerful magna- has eat up the whole sheep's head.' This timity and artless goodness about this occasioned so much mirth among them, little history, which is extremely en- that her father at night was greatly enterpaging; and a variety of traits of tained by it, and desired Sandy might have Scottish simplicity and homeliness of a share in the next.”—App. p. [v.] character, which recommend it, in a peculiar manner, to our national feel

plate at dinner into her lap. Many a

while we have been eating our broth, she

They then tried to secrete him in a low room in his own house; and, for

this purpose, to contrive a bed concealed | of living there, without thinking it a under the floor, which this affectionate miracle. They had no want, but plenty of and light-hearted girl secretly excavated everything they desired, and much conherself, by scratching up the earth with her nails,"till she left not a nail on her fingers," and carrying it into the garden at night in bags. At last, however, they all got over to Holland, where they seem to have lived in great poverty, but in the same style of magnanimous gaiety and cordial affection, of which some instances have been recited. This admirable young woman, who lived afterwards with the same simplicity of character in the first society in England, seems to have exerted her self in a way that nothing but affection could have rendered tolerable, even to one bred up to drudgery.

"All the time they were there (says his daughter), there was not a week my mother did not sit up two nights, to do the business that was necessary. She went to market; went to the mill to have their corn ground, which, it seems, is the way with good managers there; dressed the linen; cleaned the house; made ready dinner; mended the children's stockings;

and other clothes; made what she could for them, and, in short, did everything. Her sister Christian, who was a year or two younger, diverted her father and mother, and the rest, who were fond of music. Out of their small income they bought a harpsichord for little money (but is a Rucar) now in my custody, and most valuable. My aunt played and sung well, and had a great deal of life and humour, but no turn to business. Though my mother had the same qualifications, and liked it as well as she did, she was forced to drudge; and many jokes used to pass betwixt the sisters about their different occupations."-p. [ix.]

"Her brother soon afterwards entered into the Prince of Orange's guards; and her constant attention was to have him appear right in his linen and dress. They wore little point cravats and cuffs, which many a night she sat up to have in as good order for him as any in the place; and one of their greatest expenses was in dressing him as he ought to be. As their house was always full of the unfortunate banished people, like themselves, they seldom went to dinner without three or four, or five of them, to share with them; aud many a hundred times I have heard her say, she

could never look back upon their manner

An eminent maker of that time.

tentment; and always declared it the most
pleasing part of her life, though they were
not without their little distresses; but to
them they were rather jokes than griev
ances. The professors, and men of learning
in the place, came often to see my grand-
father. The best entertainment he could
give them, was a glass of alabast beer,
which was a better kind of ale than com-
mon. He sent his son Andrew, the late
Lord Kimmerghame, a boy, to draw some
for them in the cellar: he brought it up
with great diligence; but in the other hand
the spiket of the barrel. My grandfather
said, Andrew, what is that in your hand?'
When he saw it he run down with speed;
but the beer was all run out before he got
there. This occasioned much mirth;
where to get more."-pp. [x. xi.]
though perhaps they did not well know

Sir Patrick, we are glad to hear, retained this kindly cheerfulness of character to the last; and, after he was an Earl and Chancellor of Scotland, and unable to stir with gout, had himself carried to the room where his children and grandchildren were dancing, and insisted on beating time with his foot. Nay, when dying, at the advanced age of eighty-four, he could not resist his old propensity to joking, but uttered various pleasantries on the disappointment the worms would meet with, when, after boring through his thick coffin, they would find little but bones.

There is, in the Appendix, besides these narrations, a fierce attack upon Burnet, which is full of inaccuracies and ill temper; and some interesting particulars of Monmouth's imprisonment and execution. We dare say Mr. Rose could publish a volume or two of very interesting tracts; and can venture to predict that his collections will be much more popular than his observations.

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it worth buying? Is it worth borrow-schools, is, that they devote too large a ing? and

or rather it need not, be the exclusive

to weigh diligently the importance of true, that the attainment of classical literathese interrogations, before they take ture is highly desirable; but it should not, any decided step as to this work of object of boys during eight or nine years. Mr. Edgeworth; the more especially as the name carries with it considerable would give them an acquaintance with the authority, and seenis, in the estimation classics sufficient for all useful purposes, and of the unwary, almost to include the would make them as good scholars as gentleidea of purchase. For our own part. men or professional men need to be. It is not we would rather decline giving a direct requisite that every man should make Latin answer to these questions; and shall or Greek verses; therefore a knowledge of content ourselves for the present with prosody beyond the structure of hexameter

"Much less time, judiciously managed,

95

acquisition as any which folly or fashion has introduced amongst the higher classes of mankind. It must indeed be acknowledged that there are some rare exceptions; but even party prejudice would allow, that the persons alluded to must have risen to

and pentameter verses is as worthless an

and cannot, make sudden alterations.

making a few such slight observations as may enable the sagacious to conjecture what our direct answer would be, were we compelled to be more explicit. One great and signal praise we think to be the eminent due of Mr. Edgeworth: a canting age he does not cant;eminence though they had never written a period when hypocrisy and fanati- parents, and the public in general, may be saphics or iambics. Though preceptors, cism will almost certainly insure the convinced of the absurdity of making boys cess of any publication, he has con- spend so much of life in learning what can Satly disdained to have recourse to be of no use to them; such are the diffiy such arts;-without ever having culties of making any change in the ancient been accused of disloyalty or irreligion, rules of great establishments, that masters ae is not always harping upon Church themselves, however reasonable, dare not, and King, in order to catch at a little | popularity, and sell his books; -he is manly, independent,liberal-and maintains enlightened opinions with discreon and honesty. There is also in this work of Mr. Edgeworth, an agreeable diffusion of anecdote and example, such as a man a view to talking acquires who reads with or writing. With these merits, we cannot say that Mr. Edgeworth either very new, very profund, or very apt to be right in his pinion. He is active, enterprising, unprejudiced; but we have not Very much instructed by what he written, or always satisfied that he got to the bottom of his subject. On one

and

been

gested might be, perhaps, to take those "The only remedies that can be sugboys, who are not intended for professions in which deep scholarship is necessary, away from school before they reach the highest classes, where prosody and Greek and Latin verses are required.

"In the college of Dublin, where an admirable course of instruction has been long intended by men of acknowledged learning established, where this course is superand abilities, and pursued by students of uncommon industry, such is the force of example, and such the fear of appearing inferior in trifles to English universities, that much pains have been lately taken to introduce the practice of writing Greek

and Latin verses, and much solicitude has been shown about the prosody of the learned languages, without any attention being paid to the prosody of our own.

subject, however, we cordially agree with this gentleman; and return him our thanks for the courage "Boarding houses for the scholars at with which he has combated the ex- Eton and Westminster, which are at cessive abuse of classical learning in present mere lodging houses, might be kept

We have long wished for an opportunity of saying something; and one which we consider to be of the very highest

importance.

"The principal defect," says Mr. EdgeFurth, in the present system of our great

hours when the boys were not in their

public classes, assist them in acquiring

general literature, or such knowledge as might be advantageous for their respective professions.

"New schools, that are not restricted to any established routine, should give a fair

trial to experiments in education, which own, and deny-to think himself above
afford a rational prospect of success. If everything which has been of use to
nothing can be altered in the old schools, him in time past-and to cultivate that
leave them as they are. Destroy nothing exclusively from which he expects
injure none-but let the public try whether future advantage in short, to do
they cannot have something better. If the
experiment do not succeed, the public will everything for the advancement of his
be convinced that they ought to acquiesce knowledge, which it would be infamous
in the established methods of instruction, to do for the advancement of his for-
and parents will send their children to the tune. If mankind still derive advan-
ancient seminaries with increased con- tage from classical literature propor-
fidence."-(pp. 47-49.)
tionate to the labour they bestow upon
it, let their labour and their study
proceed: but the moment we cease to
read Latin and Greek for the solid
utility we derive from them, it would
be a very romantic application of hu-
man talents to do so from any feeling
of gratitude, and recollection of past
service.

We are well aware that nothing very new can remain to be said upon a topic so often debated. The complaints we have to make are at least as old as the time of Locke and Dr. Samuel Clarke; and the evil which is the subject of these complaints has certainly rather increased than diminished since the period of those two great men. A hundred years, to be sure, is a very little time for the duration of a national error; and it is so far from being reasonable to look for its decay at so short a date, that it can hardly be expected, within such limits, to have displayed the full bloom of its imbecility.

There are several feelings to which attention must be paid, before the question of classical learning can be fairly and temperately discussed.

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To almost every Englishman up to the age of three or four and twenty, classical learning has been the great object of existence; and no man is very apt to suspect, or very much pleased to hear, that what he has done for so long a time was not worth doing. His classical literature, too, reminds every man of the scenes of his childhood, and brings to his fancy several of the most pleasing associations which we are capable of forming. A certain We are apt, in the first place, to re- sort of vanity, also, very naturally, member the immense benefits which grows among men occupied in a comthe study of the classics once conferred mon pursuit. Classical quotations are the on mankind; and to feel for those watchwords of scholars, by which they models on which the taste of Europe distinguish each other from the ignorant has been formed, something like senti-and the illiterate; and Greek and Latin ments of gratitude and obligation. | are insensibly become almost the only This is all well enough, so long as it continues to be a mere feeling; but as soon as it interferes with action, it nourishes dangerous prejudices about education. Nothing will do in the pursuit of knowledge but the blackest ingratitude; the moment we have got up the ladder, we must kick it down - as soon as we have passed over the bridge, we must let it rot; - when we have got upon the shoulders of the ancients, we must look over their heads. The man who forgets the friends of his childhood in real life is base; but he who clings to the props of his childhood in literature, must be content to remain as ignorant as he was when a

test of a cultivated mind.

Some men through indolence, others through ignorance, and most through necessity, submit to the established education of the times; and seek for their children that species of distinction which happens, at the period in which they live, to be stamped with the approbation of mankind. This mere question of convenience every parent must determine for himself. A poor man, who has his fortune to gain, must be a quibbling theologian, or a classical pedant, as fashion dictates; and he must vary his error with the error of the times. But it would be much more fortunate for mankind, if the public child. His business is to forget, dis-opinion, which regulates the pursuits of

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individuals, were more wise and en-language. Compared to them, merely lightened than it at present is. as vehicles of thought and passion, all modern languages are dull, ill contrived, and barbarous.

All these considerations make it extremely difficult to procure a candid bearing on this question; and to refer this branch of education to the only proper criterion of every branch of education-its utility in future life. There are two questions which grow out of this subject: 1st, How far is any sort of classical education useful? 2d, How far is that particular classical education, adopted in this country, useful?

Το

That a great part of the Scriptures have come down to us in the Greek language, is of itself a reason, if all others were wanting, why education should be planned so as to produce a supply of Greek scholars.

The cultivation of style is very justly made a part of education. Everything which is written is meant either to please or to instruct. The second Latin and Greek are, in the first object it is difficult to effect, without place, useful, as they inure children to attending to the first; and the cultivaintellectual difficulties, and make the tion of style is the acquisition of those life of a young student what it ought rules and literary habits which sagato be, a life of considerable labour. city anticipates, or experience shows to We do not, of course, mean to confine be the most effectual means of pleasing. this praise exclusively to the study of Those works are the best which have Latin and Greek; or to suppose that longest stood the test of time, and other difficulties might not be found pleased the greatest number of exer which it would be useful to overcome:cised minds. Whatever, therefore, but though Latin and Greek have this our conjectures may be, we cannot be merit in common with many arts and so sure that the best modern writers sciences, still they have it; and, if they can afford us as good models as the do nothing else, they at least secure a ancients; we cannot be certain that solid and vigorous application at a they will live through the revolutions period of life which materially influences of the world, and continue to please in al other periods. every climate under every species of government-through every state of civilisation. The moderns have been well taught by their masters; but the time is hardly yet come when the necessity for such instruction longer exists. We may still borrow descriptive power from Tacitus; dignified perspicuity from Livy; simplicity from Caesar; and from Homer some portion of that light and heat which, dispersed into ten thousand channels, has filled the world with bright images The two ancient languages are as and illustrious thoughts. Let the cultere inventions-as pieces of mechan- tivator of modern literature addict him. ism incomparably more beautiful than self to the purest models of taste which any of the modern languages of Europe; France, Italy, and England could their mode of signifying time and case, supply, he might still learn from Virgil by terminations, instead of auxiliary to be majestic, and from Tibullus to be verbs and particles, would of itself tender; he might not yet look upon amp their superiority. Add to this the face of nature as Theocritus saw the copiousness of the Greek language, it; nor might he reach those springs with the fancy, majesty, and harmony of pathos with which Euripides softened of its compounds; and there are quite the hearts of his audience. In short, it suficient reasons why the classics appears to us, that there are so many should be studied for the beauties of excellent reasons why a certain number

the

go through the grammar of one language thoroughly is of great use for mastery of every other grammar; because there obtains, through all languages, a certain analogy to each other in their grammatical construction. Latin and Greek have now mixed themselves etymologically with all the languages of modern Europe-and with none more than our own; so that it is necessary to read these two tongues for other objects than themselves.

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