of it was himself an historian and a musician, but more of a courtier and man of the world than either. The secret of his success may perhaps be discovered in the following passage, where, in alluding to three eminent performers on different instruments, he says, "These three illustrious personages were introduced at the Emperour's court," &c.; speaking of them as if they were foreign ambassadours or princes of the blood, and thus magnifying himself and his profession. This overshadowing manner carries nearly every thing before it, and mystifies a great many. There is nothing like putting the best face upon things, and leaving others to find out the difference. He who could call three musicians " personages," would himself play a personage through life, and succeed in his leading object. Sir Joshua Reynolds, remarking on this passage, said, "No one had a greater respect than he had for his profession, but that he should never think of applying to it epithets that were appropriated merely to external rank and distinction." Madame D- it must be owned, had cleverness enough to stock a whole family, and to set up her cousin-germans, male and female, for wits and virtuosos to the third and fourth generation. The rest have done nothing, that I know of, but keep up the name.

Madame D'Arblay, however, had no right to be inflicting "the Wanderer" upon the family character. We cannot resist another extract from this paper, because we think it written with great vigour and feeling, and because it conveys the spirit of the author's essay with a force of truth and compression, which must carry it to the minds and hearts of all readers.

There is not a more helpless or more despised animal than a mere author, without any extrinsic advantages of birth, breeding, or fortune to set him off. The real ore of talents or learning must be stamped before it will pass current. To be at all looked upon as an author, a man must be something more or less than an author-a rich merchant, a banker, a lord, or a ploughman. He is admired for something foreign to himself, that acts as a bribe to the servility, or a set-off to the envy of the community. "What should such fellows as we do, crawling betwixt heaven and earth;""coining our hearts for drachmas ; now scorched with the sun, now shivering in the breeze, now coming out in our newest gloss and best attire, like swallows in the spring, now "sent back like hallowmas or shortest day?" The best wits, like the handsomest faces upon the town, lead a harassing, precarious life are taken up for the

bud and promise of talent, which they no sooner fulfil than they are thrown aside like an old fashion-are caressed without reason, and insulted with impunity—are subject to all the caprice, the malice, and fulsome advances of that great keeper, the Public-and in the end come to no good, like all those who lavish their favours on mankind at large, and look to the gratitude of the world for their reward. Instead of this set of Grub-street authors, the mere canaille of letters, this corporation of Men dicity, this ragged regiment of genius sueing at the corners of streets in forma pauperis, give me the gentleman and scholar, with a good house over his head, and a handsome table, "with wine of Attic taste, to ask his friends to, and where want and sorrow never come. Fill up the sparkling bowl, heap high the dessert with roses crowned, bring out the hot-pressed poem, the vellum manuscripts, the medals, the portfolios, the intaglios-this is the true model of the life of a man of taste and virtù

the possessors, not the inventors of these things, are the true benefactors of mankind and ornaments of letters. Look in, and there, amidst silver services and shining chandeliers, you will see the man of genius at his proper post, picking his teeth and mincing an opinion, sheltered by rank, bowing to wealth-a poet framed, glazed, and hung in a striking light: not a straggling weed, torn and trampled on; not a poor Kit-run-the-street, but a powdered beau, a sycophant plant, an exotic reared in a glass-case, hermetically sealed, "Free from the Sirian star and the dread thunder-stroke"-

whose mealy coat no moth can corrupt nor blight can wither. The poet Keats had not this sort of protection for his personhe lay bare to weather-the serpent stung him, and the poison-tree dropped upon this little western flower:when the mer

cenary servile crew approached him, he had no pedigree to show them, no rent-roll to hold out in reversion for their praise: he butt and puppet of a lord-he could only was not in any great man's train, nor the

offer them" the fairest flowers of the season, carnations and streaked gilliflowers,"

66 rue for remembrance and pansies for thoughts"-they recked not of his gift, but tore him with hideous shouts and laughter, "Nor could the Muse protect her son ! "

We pass over the essay on Criticism, and that on Great and Little Things; though there is much of the author's power of thought and language in both. The first, however, is a little bitter. The latter essay contains a beautiful passage on the author's early enthusiastic hopes, and his later disappointments, which

we are only prevented from extracting by its length. This passage is written with such genuine fervour and such a lapse of passion, as to make it in the author's cooler moments necessary for him to beg in a note "that it may be looked upon merely as a specimen of the mock heroic style, and as having nothing to do with any real facts and feelings."

The next essay on the Familiar Style is full of good matter for flowery writers. The author is, perhaps, a little hard upon his familiars.

The paper upon "Effeminacy of Character" is not so good as its companions: it is diffuse, and wandering. The inquiry Why Distant Objects please," is, however, in Mr. Hazlitt's best style, and makes all effeminacy of character forgotten. Is there a reader whose heart does not throb to the truth of the following passage?

If I have pleasure in a flower-garden, I have in a kitchen-garden too, and for the same reason. If I see a row of cabbage. plants, or of peas or beans coming up, I immediately think of those which I used so carefully to water of an evening at W. -m, when my day's tasks were done, and of the pain with which I saw them droop and hang down their leaves in the morning's sun. Again, I never see a child's kite in the air, but it seems to pull at my heart. It is to me, "a thing of life." I feel the twinge at my elbow, the Autter and palpitation, with which I used to let go the string of my own, as it rose in the air and towered among the clouds. My little cargo of hopes and fears ascended with it; and as it made a part of my own consciousness then, it does so still, and appears "like some gay creature of the element," my playmate when life was young, and twin-born with my earliest re collections.

The inquiry whether" Actors ought to sit in the boxes?" is an inquiry which ought not to be made. Why should they be excluded; Mrs. Siddons in the boxes, is a different person from Mrs. Siddons on the stage!-Nay, half the charm of a theatre is the sight of some bright favourite of the world casually caught there. A glimpse of Mrs. Garrick,-who now, alas! will revisit our glimpses no longer;-a peep at old Bannister crawling up by the side of his namesake, to be amused himself, as he has so often

helped to amuse; -Miss M. Tree decorating the front of the house with her beauty, and looking like her own voice, a breathing sentiment! Is a casual glimpse of this kind fatal to the illusion of the drama? If so, who would sit down in the same room, or walk the same streets, with Mr. C. Kemble, or Mr. Liston? The actors in such case must, like Captain Absolute, "get an atmosphere and a sun of their own." The same excluding system, if allowed upon the grounds on which Mr. Hazlitt would establish it, ought not to stop with the actors: it should extend to authors and forbid their exits and their entrances, out of, or into, this working day world. What business has Mr. Godwin to sit in that box, full of respectable unintellectual people, and so, to take away the dream we have of him through his books? What! Does the author of Caleb Williams find any pleasure in Miss Paton's Polly ?---Is St. Leon a venerable looking bald-headed gentleman? Does Fleetwood wear spectacles? Alack! Alack! Authors must be shut up. Talk not of Actors scattering the illusion by their bodily presences: - Authors !---dull, lubberly, awkward poets, and hard uncomely prose-writers, are the men to make havoc with the fancy, and crush conceits to death. Let them be tied up! Let them be kept in their cages! Let them be prevented from coming out by day or candlelight to impoverish the enthusiasm of mankind, and give their own works the lie!

The mistake into which Mr. Hazlitt has fallen, appears to us to be this---he would exclude actors from sitting in the boxes under the belief that he would thus, by not seeing Cato in undress, preserve the illusion of the drama untarnished; whereas, the only thing to be observed is strict privacy behind the curtain. The boxes may be open to all the world; the stage should be forbidden ground to all but the actors. We cannot confound Cato in his robes, with John Kemble in his own dress; but if we saw him behind flat deceitful columns, or turning to the prompter for his eloquence; if we saw Cato walking arm in arm with Mr. Colman, or beheld Coriolanus chatting with Caleb Quotem ;

---the illusion would be gone! The dream would be scared---and all Mr. Hazlitt's erring anticipated results, of actor's enjoying themselves as men, would indeed be arrived at.

The essay "On the Disadvantages of Literary Superiority," is powerfully written; but is, we think, constructed upon a wrong basis.

Our limits forbid us to notice the four concluding essays in this clever volume---on Patronage and Puffing, -on the Knowledge of Character, on the Picturesque and Ideal---and on the Fear of Death. They are all

written with infinite spirit and thought.

We have now, we trust, shown that this volume of Table Talk has more than ordinary claims to the attention of the public. It has its faults, to be sure,-abruptness of style, occasional vehemence of expression, exaggeration of thought, and conceit; but on the other hand, it has abundant beauties to delight all lovers of nervous English prose, let them be ever so fastidious.

ALTHOUGH, according to the French papers,, there have been decisive movements, valuable surrenders, and most skilful evolutions, since our last, still our amount of foreign intelligence for this month is scanty indeed. When we look at the bulletins now published in the official Parisian papers, we can scarcely believe that this is the same, at least nominal, army, which so lately, under Napoleon, recalled the days of Hannibal and the Cæsars. The truth seems to be, that though, according to their own accounts, they have entered many towns, and taken some unimportant fortresses, and been received in every place with universal acclamation as deliverers, they have made but little way in the menaced subjugation of the country. That they would advance to Madrid without any serious opposition, and even uninterruptedly for a time occupy that capital, was never doubted before they crossed the Pyrenees; the policy of the Spaniards was notorious, and, indeed, too obvious to be concealed, even had secresy been intended; the removal of the King and Royal Family from Madrid spoke plainly the intention of leaving the capital open to the enemy. This was their system during the late war: Joseph Buonaparte was long in peaceable possession of Madrid; and it is surprising that the Bourbon government can either believe themselves, or imagine they can dupe others into believing, that so defenceless a capital is even a preliminary to the conquest of so, both naturally and artificially, defensible a

country. To follow minutely the march of the Duke d'Angoulême would afford but little information or interest to our readers—his bulletins are either very dry accounts of his daily progress, and his nightly rest, or else inflated descriptions of battles gained without a shot fired, and triumphal entries into, or exits from, depopulated towns, always "amid the acclamations of the inhabitants." One of these bulletins, almost the very last, we give verbatim, and by it leave our readers to judge how little they lose by the omission of the remainder. As it is so late, it will also show the advance made by the French. " May 16. The French army continues to advance upon Madrid. His Royal Highness, with the corps of reserve, arrived on the 9th at Lerma, from Burgos. Marshal Oudiot arrived on the 8th at Valladolid. His advanced guard is on the Duero. General Obert will be on the 14th at Almaran." Such is the sum total of the intelligence generally to be gleaned from those official documents. A movement of Mina's has, however, given some interest to the accounts, in despite of the studied mystery in which they are enveloped. This celebrated chieftain is, it seems, at the head of a formidable army; and the commander of the Allied French and Spanish forces had, by every manœuvre, endeavoured for above ten days to bring him to a battle, or to drive him within the walls of Barcelona, where it was hoped the want of provisions would soon force him to surrender, His talent, however, completely out

generalled his antagonists; for instead of retreating in the way in which they intended, he turned upon Ripoll, drove Romagosa and a division of the French troops before him, and, with the greatest part of his force, marched upon Berga. He is now on the frontier of France, and the greatest apprehension is entertained that he will actually make an irruption into the country, and raise there the standard of insurrection. If he should decide on this, it is difficult to say what may be the consequences; he has with him a considerable corps of French refugees, commanded by Colonel Fabvier, a distinguished officer, who, in such an enterprise, must afford him effectual facilities. Indeed, it is hard to speculate upon what may be the designs of such a chieftain as Minahis is the Guerilla system of warfare, and in its operations he is considered as unrivalled. During the late invasion, he seemed often left without a single adherent, and then suddenly appeared at the head of thousands his cannon he buried in the mountains when there was danger, and had them dug up again when they were wanted; he never suffered himself to be either exasperated or goaded into battle, but hung upon the skirts of the enemy, either endangering their success, or adding to their misfortunes-he contributed to their annoyance in a thousand ways, cutting off their stragglers, intercepting their supplies, impeding their artillery, and adding to their embarrassment by generally appearing in the very quar ter where he was least expected. Such a man, in the kind of operations now carrying on in Spain, is almost an army in himself, and would prove of incalculable annoyance, from his general local knowledge, in case the invaders sustained any reverse. The French papers, though they cannot conceal his move ment, endeavour to undervalue it,, and declare it only "retards" his ruin; that he has caused them considerable alarm, however, may be gleaned from the fact that Curial, D'Eroles, and Donadieu, have received orders to pursue him; and the anticipated consequence is, that they will be able to effect but little in Catalonia. This has had, at all

events, the effect of detaching a considerable body of the French from the main army, which is now calculated altogether at only 67,000 men. Moncey is said to have demanded a further reinforcement of 25,000 men.

By an article dated Madrid, April 30, it appears that the Spanish government had received dispatches from General Ballasteros, dated from his head quarters at Tarragona, April 19. He gives an account of a skirmish on the 18th, between a part of his forces and a very superior body of the French army, in which the Spaniards, after obstinately contesting the unequal combat, were able to effect a most skilful and orderly retreat. Ballasteros speaks of this in terms rather of triumph. By letters from the north of Spain, it seems that the bands of the Faith are daily diminishing; that Quesada has been deserted by almost all his troops, and that the other chiefs have been entirely abandoned. This defection has been partly caused by the ill-advised proclamation of the Regency organized under the auspices of the French government. This proclamation went so far as to authorise a formal disavowal of all the acts of the Spanish government, political and administrative, since the 9th of March, 1820, which includes in its proscription most of the respectability of the country. The immediate consequence of this was, the preparation of all the leading inhabitants to quit Madrid, including the members of the public offices, the bureaux, and the municipal administration.

Abisbal, whose activity is incessant, was also concentrating his troops and preparing to quit the capital. With the addition of the forces, who left Burgos on the approach of the French, his division is calculated at between 15 and 20,000 men. His route was considered uncertain, whether into Andalusia or Estramadura. He has issued a vigorous proclamation, declaring all persons who shall support, or even adhere to the French, or even remain in the towns and places occupied by them, to be traitors to their country. All the men able to bear arms are to find out and unite with the national army in whatever part of Spain it may be stationed. On the 23d of

April, the deputies having arrived in sufficient numbers at Seville, the Session of the extraordinary Cortes was resumed. The president, Senor Florez Calderon, delivered an animated speech, in which he declared the resolution of the Cortes, to resist to the last extremity the insolent dictation of foreigners and never "to tamper with iniquity nor with any thing which might compromise the honour of the nation." This address, which was received with acclamation, was followed up, on the 24th, by a message from the minister of the interior, communicating the following declaration of war on the part of Spain.

Office of the Secretary of State for

Foreign Affairs.

The King has been pleased to address to me the subsequent decree

"Whereas the Spanish territory has been invaded by the troops of the French government without a declaration of war, and without any of those formalities which custom has sanctioned; and whereas this act of aggression can be viewed in no other light than as a violation of the rights of nations, and an open commencement of hostilities against Spain, I, being bound to repel force by force, to defend the integrity of the states of the monarchy, and to chastise the audacity of the invading enemy, have resolved, after consulting the Council of State, pursuant to the provision in article 236, of the political Constitution, to declare war, as in fact, I do now declare it, against France. Wherefore I charge and command all the competent authorities to carry on hostilities by sea and by land against France, by all the means in their power consistently with the law of nations. I farther order, that this, my declaration of war, be published with all due solemnity. You shall hold it to be promulgated for execution, making provision for printing, -publishing, and distributing it. (Subscribed by the Royal Sign Manual.)

To Don Everisto San Miguel, April 23. In the Alcazar of Seville."

At the same time, a partial change of ministry was announced; merely, however, it would appear from this decree, a change of persons, not of principles; the change did not displace San Miguel, who may be regarded as the life and soul of the Constitutionalists. Many decrees were at the same time proposed for the formation of Guerilla corps, and amongst them was one for the organization of a foreign legion, to be called the "Liberal foreign Legion,"

in which the officers are to have the same rank which they held in their own countries, and the regulation and promotions to be the same as in the Spanish army. Such are some of the preparations, and we can as yet only call all they have done preparations, which the Spaniards have made, and are making, to resist their invaders. To talk of a pitched battle, under the peculiar plan which they seem pursuing, is quite out of the question. Their system is completely Fabian. When the enemy advances they retire-when he approaches any weak or doubtful place, they abandon itwhen he assails any fortress sufficiently strong to stand a siege, they resolutely defend it, and thus divide and delay the forces opposed to them. The Guerillas too have begun to make their appearance, and are reported in a Bayonne paper to have already captured a military convoy; indeed, this system of predatory warfare is their own peculiar province, and though without much glory in the aggregate, is still of most especial annoyance to a foe obliged to support himself in a hostile territory.

We have seen a most intelligent British officer, who highly distinguished himself in the late peninsular war, and who has lately passed through and actually inspected the two belligerent armies; his rank as a British officer gave him an introduction to the Duke D'Angoulême, and his services to the Spaniards against Napoleon ensured him equal access to the Constitutional General; he reports, that the conduct of the Spaniards is altogether the result of a previously organized and deliberate plan, and that its results were already commencing amongst the French troops. Disease and partial want were apparent; and although the peasants, tempted by their gold, for they have scrupulously paid for every thing, had hitherto supplied them with provisions, still it was quite understood that the slightest deficiency in payment would instantly convert the purveyors into Guerillas. Rumours were afloat of various kinds, one that negociations for peace had already commenced between the French and the Cortes, another that the government were determined to remove the royal family to Cadiz, or even to the Canaries, if necessary;