FR I E N D S H I P ’S GA R L A N D

BE I N G T H E

T E C O N VE RSAT I O N S , LE T R S , AN D O P I N I O N S

OF TH E L ATE

A R M I N I U S

BA RO N V O N T H UN D E R - T E N - T RO N C K H

C OLL ECTED AN D ED I TED

WI TH E A D EDI CATORY LETTER TO ADO L S CENS LEO , ESQ .

” OF ! TH E DAI LY TE L E G RAP H

BY M A T T H E W A R N O L D

’ ' ' ' nzanzbus da te lz lza plem s

POPULAR E D I T/ON

L O N D O N

WATE R L O O P LACE D E R co . 1 S M ITH , E L , , 5

1 903

[A ll r ig h t s re s e rv e d!

C O NT E N TS .

DED I CATO RY L ETTE R

L E E I TT R .

I introduce A rminiu s and Geist to fi l e Britis/z P ublic

L ETTE R I I .

A rminius appears as b is own

L E E I I I TT R .

1 expostulate wit/z A rminius on ft is R evolu tionary

LET E I V T R .

' A rminius assails tae Britts/z P ress f or its Free and I ndepen dent Comments on Foreign Politics

L ETTE V R .

communicate a Valuable E x osition o A rminius o tfie p , y , j

System of Tenant -rzlgflz t in P russia o

L ETTE R VI .

’ 1 become intrustea wit/z tko Views of A rminius on Compu lsory CONTENTS .

VI I L ETTE R .

M ore about Co mp ulsory E ducation

V LETTE R I I I .

r a P la ul S i nature m Friend L eo o the D ai Unde yf g , y , f ly ’ Tele ra /z advocates an im ortant L iberal M easure and g p , p , ,

so in i ves N ews o A rminius in do g , g f

ETTE I ! L R .

A rminius startin or. tb e Continent to take a t in tb e War , g f p r

between France and P russia addresses a D isres ec ul , p tf Farewell to Our P eople and I nstitutions

L E E ! TT R .

A rminiu s writin rom tile German Cam be ore P aris c om , g f p f ,

ments in b is old Una reciative S irit on tb e A ttitu de , pp p , of Our Beloved Country in tb e Black S ea Question

L ETTE ! R I .

1 take up t/ze Cudgelsfor Our Belov ed Cou ntry

L E E ! I TT R I .

’ L i z a M r ‘ s . G. A . S ala sa s a D r m fi , y , ea I

M Y CO UNTRYM E N

A COURTEO US E ! PLA NAT I ON D E DI CATO RY L ETTE R .

M Y R L EO Grub S treet Candlemas D a 1 1 DEA , , y, 87 .

of . la S HALL I ever forget the evening, at the end st

our of November, when y feeling letter describing the death o ur friend first met my eyes ? I was alone in my garret ; it was j ust dark my landlady opened the door and threw

a paper on the table . S elfish creatures that we are my

first thought was It is a communication from the Literary

Fund ! Th e straits to which I am reduced by my long

warfare with the Philistines , have at last, I said to myself, become known they have excited sympathy ; this is no

- . O a doubt a letter from Mr ctavian Blewitt , enclosing half

of crown , the promise my dinner at Christmas , and the kind wishes of Lord Stanhope for my better success in

H saw P all authorship. astily I lighted my lamp , and the

ll az ett Y L o h M a G e. ou e ow know, , , after vainly knocking

of D ai Tele ra b a to N ~ at the door the ly g p , I c rried orth Y L . v iii DEDICA TOR ETTER

umb erland Street my records of the conversations of

of r Arminius . I love to think that the suc cess the Wo k

’ house Casual ’ had disposed the Editor s heart to be friendly towards Pariahs ; my communication was affably

P all M all Gaz ette accepted, and from that day to this the ,

Ar whenever there is any mention in it of minius, reaches

at me in Grub Street gr is. I took the paper, I opened it

your playful signature caught my eye . I read your letter

end and through to the , then

‘ d r r Su er me, Leo, to d aw a veil ove those first days of

grief. In the tumult of feeling plans were then formed to

f which I have not energy to give ef ec t . I nourished the design of laying before the public a com plete account of

Ar n T - - Tronckh r mi ius von hunder ten , and of the. g oup

The r of which was gathered round him . histo y his family has been written by the famous Voltaire in his Candide but I doubt whether an honest man can in conscience send the British public to even the histo rical works of that

Y n r r dangerous author . et a si gular fo tune b ought together in our set the descendants o f a number of the personages

andide - - h C . T T ronck suffi of Von hunder ten is, perhaps , c iently made known by the following letters his cu rious delusion about the living representative of Pangloss is also

fully noticed there . But not a glimpse, alas , do these r o f our r r M ab ille ecords give poo friend Ma tin (de ) , who L DEDICA TOR Y E TTER. ix

has just been shut up in Paris eating rats, the cynical

’ of r of th e descendant that g eat foe Pangloss s optimism ,

andide H Martin of C . ardly a glimpse is given of th e

Pococurarrte Marquis Pompeo , little Pompey with the soft

ou T ' eyes and dark hair, whose acquaintance y made at urin

orti ues da P b under the p g , and whom you brought to

of h . of London in the hope curing , y the spectacle the

'

D ail Tele ra b indifi erence . Of y g p , his hereditary and ennui E our nglish friends , too, the public would , doubtless , be

. . h glad to hear more M r Bottles himself fills , in t e

following letters, by no means that space to which his

for importance entitles him the excellent Baptist m inister, R . s so ev . whom Mr Bottle has high a regard , the Josiah

M ar ane L eo Jupp, appears far too unfrequently your y j , , is a nam e and nothing more hardly more than names are

my good and kind patroness , the late lamented Mrs .

H . Bottles , and her sister and successor, Miss annah It is

th e a small matter, perhaps ; but I should have liked , too, public to know something of my faithful landlady here in

G K o n rub Street, itty Crone, whom , after my vain conflict

with the Philistines is ended , will probably devolve the

of pious duty closing my eyes .

had i aof A I imag ned a memori l rminius , in which all these would have found their place ; but my spirits broke All down in the attempt to execute my design . , therefore , DEDICA TOR Y LETTER .

A that I have done is to collect the stray records of rminius which have already been published , to illustrate them with notes so far as appeared necessary, and to give myself the melancholy pleasure of dedicating to you , Leo , a collection which owes to your brilliant and facile pen some of its best

ornaments .

O ur friend had an odd way of showing it, but certainly

D o Arminius had a love for this country . you remember,

Leo a , th t conversation in the summer of last year, the last we spent together in his company ? It was in the arbour

‘ ’ - of the garden of the Bald Faced Stag at Finchley . We had all been to the gallery of the H ouse of Commons to

hear Mr . Vernon H arcourt develop a system of unsectarian

f P religion rom the Life of M r. ickwick ; but from some

a or obst cle other the expected treat did not come Off. We

r r r A adjou ned to Finchley, and the e, you emember, rminius

n H e began with a discourse on religious educatio . exacted

from me, as you know, the promise not, as he harshly

‘ ’ a r phr sed it, to make a hash of his ideas by eporting them to the public ; and the promises of friendship are

. r r sacred But afte wa ds the conversation became general .

ra and r It then took a wider nge I emember Mr . Frederic

H rr a ison beginning to harangue, with his usual fiery

n a n of En eloque ce, on the enerv tio gland, and on the

malignancy of all the brute mass of us who are not D E DJCA TOR Y L E TTER. xi

A ‘ — . E Comtists rminius checked him . nervation said he depend upon it, yours is still the most fightingpeople — in the whole world . Malignancy the best character of

E r the nglish people ever yet given , f iendly as the character

’ ! is u : Th e , is still this of B rke s ancient and inbred

r of integrity, piety, good nature, and good humou the f ” Y o E . people ngland our nation is sound enough, if only

one it can be taught that being able to do what likes, and

n ffi for sa one ot . y what likes , is su cient salvation Its

- dangers are from a surfeit of clap trap , due to the false notion that liberty and publicity are not only valuable for

the use to be made of them , but are goods in themselves ,

summum bonum nay, are the

To ff w the same e ect he rote to me from before Paris,

‘ r You a week o two before his death . know I do not

of or j oin in the common dislike your nation , in the belief

in its certain decay . But no nation can , without danger , go on stuffing its mind with such nonsense as is talked by the newspapers which you are stupid (sic) enough to quote

” Th e G with admiration . ermans , forsooth , says your

! Zlele ra /z n precious g p , cannot too soon begin the lesso , of

E a which ngland has been the special teacher , that nation l greatness and wealth are to be priz ed only in so far as they

n z ensure the freedom of the i dividual citi en , and the right

h a of all to join in free debate . Without t at liberty , xii DEDICA TOR Y LETTER .

German Empire will be only a gilded despotism , politically

r r ar r of its weak in spite of its milita y powe , b ba ic in spite

” ” Th e a a D ail schools and u niversities . f ll, s ys your y

’ ! s a G n is jVew , of the l te overnme t of France history s

” - DO ou re assertion of the principle of political liberty . y

a not see that if France, without politic l liberty, has signally

and G r lost, ermany, without political libe ty, has signally

a e or of won , it is bsurd to make the pres nce absence political liberty in themselves the ground of the fall or

f or success Of nations ? O the fall success of nations ,

r a a certain virtues a e the ground ; politic l , y, and social

r are a r libe ty, , if you like, f vou able to those virtues , where a root of them already exists therefore I am a R epublican

— u but they by no means ensure them . If yo have not

r a r r these vi tues , and im gine that you political libe ty will

r pull you through without them , you will be uined in spite

E a sh of your political liberty . I admire ngl nd because e has such a root in her o f these Virtues not because they

h er n have given , among other good thi gs , political liberty .

Y r - r o n r r ou fetish wo ship of mere liberty is , the cont a y, just now r Y r r the g avest danger to you . ou newspape s are every day solemnly saying that the great lesson to be

r so — learned from the p esent war is so and , always some

n it T r thi g which is not . here a e many lessons to be learned from the present war ; I will tell you what is for you the Y L DEDICA TOR E TTER.

—obedie nce. T great lesson to be learned from it hat,

- instead of every man airing his self consequence, thinking it bliss to talk at random about things , and to put his finger

ou r in every pie, y should se iously understand that there is

rz lit of a g way doing things, and that the bliss is , without

’ of - to thinking one s self consequence, do them in that way, — or to forward their being done, this is the great lesson

ou your British public , as y call it, has to learn , and may

G ! learn, in some degree, from the ermans in this war

Englishmen were once famous for the power of holding

their tongues and doing their business, and, therefore, I

Th e admire your nation . business now to be done in the

world is harder than ever, and needs far more than has

of been ever yet needed thought , study, and seriousness ;

of - miscarry you must, if you let your daily doses clap trap make you imagine that liberty and publicity can be any

’ substitute for these .

r I doubt whether this is sound, Leo, and, at any ate,

D . the T. should have been more respectfully mentioned but it shows that the feeling of Arminius towards this

. own country was at bottom tender My patriotism , as you

know , never wavered, even while I made myself, in a

h of A mannerft e mouthpiece rminius , and submitted to the

own . predominance which his intellect, I , exercised over me

r a My affection fo him rem ins as strong as ever, but now xiv DE DI CA TOR Y L E TTER .

that his life is ended, and his predominance withdrawn , I

n feel that a new destiny is probably Ope ing for me . My patriotic feelings will henceforth ha ve free play ; the iron Y hand of Arminius will no longer press them down . our

d of counsels, Leo, the stu y our newspapers , the spectacle

r of our g andeur, will work with these my natural feelings

al I shall earn the public approbation , I shall not be

of ways an Ishmael . I shall ally myself to some those — A great Liberal movements which , however rminius might

choose to call them petty aimless activities , bustle without — any E rnst der ins Ganz e gent seem to me admirably

of our ro suited to the genius national life, and highly p ductive of enjoyable excitement and honourable importance

to their promoters .

We are now on the point of commencing what

A r rminius, with his fatally carping spi it, called o ur

‘ - — Thyestean banquet of clap trap we are on the eve of of T the meeting Parliament . Mr . . Chambers will again

introduce that enfranchising measure , against which I have

had some prejudices, but which you , Leo, have so — eloquently upheld the bill for enabling a man to marry

’

r. ! his deceased wife s siste Mr . Mial , that Israelite indeed,

i on r w ll resume, a more stupendous scale than eve , his

r for all a labou s making bitterness , and wr th, and anger,

v - and clamour , and e il Speaking be put away from us , with DE D I CA R L TO Y ETTER. xv all malice ; and for our enjoyment of the pure milk of

The of Christianity. devoted adversaries the Contagious

Diseases Act will spread through the length and breadth of the land a salutary discuésion of this equivocal measure

and of all matters connected with it and will thus, at the

same time that they oppose immorality, enable the followers

of of even the very straitest sects Puritanism to see life . Some of these workers will doubtless suffer me to put my

hand to their plough . Like the tailor to the poet Cowper,

' to some one or other of them I may be allowed to make my modest appeal

a s a m tt e ar atten ant sa S y, h ll y li l b k d il ,

P ursue th tr um and arta e th e a e ? e i ph , p k g l

on or If not the hustings the platform , at least I may do ! something in the closet, with the pen My mind full of u R this new tho ght, as I passed down egent Street yester

- w day, and saw in a shop windo , in the frontispiece to one

’ H D - of Mr . epworth ixon s numerous but well merited

of of editions , the manly and animated features the author

uide to M ormonism the immortal G , I could not help

exclaiming with pride I , too , am an author

And h . see t en , Leo , comes the reaction I look up and

’ Ar m minius s vacant stool I sniff, and y nostrils no longer

Th of n catch the scent of his tobacco . e dreams exciteme t DE D JCA Y L TOR ETTER . and ambition fly away ; I am left solitary with the

of remembrance of the past, and with those consolations

i Yet piety and religion, wh ch you , Leo, have outgrown . — how can I do you such an injustice when at this very

moment my chief consolation, under our heavy bereave

ment, is in repeating to myself that glorious passage you read to me the other day from one of your unpublished

'

D . T. tb e Garden o tb e H es erides articles for the f p , t/ze inscrutable e ed S /zinx wlzis ers wit/z Ral - arted li s y p p , f p p ,

Alysteries more t/zan E leusinian of tb c H appy D ead

Believe me, my dear Leo , Y our faithful admirer,

AR MATTHEW NOLD .

ADOLESCEN S LE E O, SQ . & c . &c . & c. (TH E acquaintance o f the ever - to - b e - lamented Arminius was made by the present Editor on the Continent in the

The o f a of V n year 1 8 6 5 . early history the noble f mily o

- -Tronckh A Thunder ten , to which rminius belonged , their

of establishment in Westphalia, the sack their castle in the m of a o iddle the last century by the Bulgarians , the f te f their principal dependents (among whom was the famous

D r f . o optimist philosopher, Pangloss) , the adventures

’ Arminius s grandfather and his deportation to the Jesuits

- R of . at ome, are recorded in a well known treatise Voltaire

Additional information is supplied in several of the follow

ing letters .

A E 1 8 6 6 rminius came to ngland in , and the corre spo ndence now given in a collected form to the public

o f a commenced in the summer th t year, at the outbreak

A of the war between Prussia and ustria. Many will yet r r r l r a r emembe the th i l with which they o igin lly eceived, t ro n r r E h ugh the unworthy mi ist y Of the p esent ditor, the

f ‘ ’ n o . communication of the great doctri e Geist What,

B ’ FRI E N DS H I P S GA RL AND .

a r r then, must it have been to he r that doct ine in its fi st

A ! Yet newness from the lips of rminius himself it will ,

I h o e a o f exce p , be admitted, th t even in this position p tional E r in privilege, the present dito succeeded preserving

n his coolness , his i dependent j udgment, and his proper — r . E D feelings as a B iton ) .

’ 4 FRI E N D S H I P S GARLAND .

My Prussian friend got a little mo rtification at the

n of mortifi begi ning his visit, and as it is my belief this

a cation set him wrong from the first , I shall rel te what it R was . I took him with me down to eigate by the railroad , and in the carriage was one o f our representative industrial

of men (something in the bottle way) , a famous specimen that great middle class whose energy and self- reliance

E a our make ngland wh t it is, and who give the tone to

ur Parliament and to o policy . News had just come Of the first bloodshed between the Austrians and Prussians now

‘ ’ ’ G S O at war together in ermany . they ve begun fighting, cried my countrym an what fools they both are And he handed us P unc/z with that masterly picture in it of Denmark avenged that scathing satire which represents the King of Denmark sitting with his glass of grog and his

a l cig r, to g oat over the terrible retribution falling upon his

great enemy Prussia for her misdeeds towards him . M y

Prussian glared at the striking moral lesson thus brought to

his notice, but rage and contempt made him speechless . I

’ hastened, with a few sentences taken from M r . Gladstone s

R to recent advice to the oumanians , pay my homage to

at a the gre principles of pe ceful, industrial development

r ‘ ’ which we e invoked by my countryman . Ye s war ; , I

‘ n said, interrupts busi ess , and brings intolerable incon venience with it ; whereas people have only to persist I A N D ‘ GE I S ’ INTROD UCE A RMINIUS T. 5

a steadily in the manufacture of bottles, railways , banks , nd

c finance ompanies , and all good things will come to them

’ o wn of their accord . Before I had finished we reached

R out eigate , and I got my still speechless Prussian quickly f o the train . But never shall I forget the flood when speech came " at last : Th e dOlt ! the dunderhead ! H is ignorance o f

of G the situation , his ignorance ermany, his ignorance of

o f what makes nations great , his ignorance what makes

of v life worth living, his ignorance e erything except

’ — ! so of bottles , those infernal bottles I heard much all this that I am glad to forget it without going through

r n it again with the B itish public . I only me tion it to make the rudeness Of expression in what follows less un

accountable .

‘ The day befo re yesterday the Daily lVews published

r G that powe ful letter from Mr . oldwin Smith , pronouncing

in favour of the Prussian alliance . In great excitement

w At ’ I ran ith it to my friend . last I have got something,

- ‘ r o u one of I c ied, which will please y ; a declaration by

o ne o f for our best writers , in our best newspapers, a united

G Pr and ermany under ussian headship . She we are there

m W o r upon to co bine to curb France . herever I g , I hea

’ a ' A people dmiring the letter and approving the idea .

H t sardonic smile , such as Alexander von umboldt used o ’ N D 6 FRI E N D S H I P S G A RL A , have when he contemplated the late K ing of Prussia ’s

’ r r missiona y deaconesses , came over my Berline s harsh

‘ ’ ‘ G Go d ! a a countenance . ood s id he, the miracles th t needle - gun is working ! It is only a year ago you were

threatening Prussia with France, and suggesting to that

a a r great and s gacious ruler, as you c lled him , the F ench

E R r mperor, to take the hine Province f om us ; it is not six weeks since I saw him styled in this very newspaper,

En n ! with the dignity usual in glishme at present, the

” r of H e a biter Europe . has done nothing in the mean time to injure you ; he has done his best to keep well

H ow with you . charmed he will be with his friends !

But the declaration you are all so pleased at , who is it

? ’ G ’ ‘ ’ . n by Mr oldwin Smith, I answered . I k ow him ,

‘ ’ ’

a . Oh he said a good writer, but a f natic , no , no , said

‘ ’ a man o f e I g nius and virtue .

n r Without answeri g, my Be liner took the newspaper

' ‘ r r H and ead the lette . e should have served under

’ N n a ‘ elso , he s id, as he finished it ; he hates a Frenchman a s . H r a he does the devil oweve , it is true that pre

’ n an I n r po der ce the world such as the F ench , thanks to

r to an your stupidity, we e fast getting, is enough make y

a a a r hum n being, let lone Frenchman , unbea able ; and it is a good thing to have a great Germany in the world as

as rea n t . Fra ce well a g . It would be a good thing to have I A N D ‘ GE I S ’ INTROD UCE A RMINIUS T.

too us. a great England , if you would let But pray what is to unite Ge rmany and England against France ? What is to be th e ground o f sympathy between actual England

’ G ? ‘ YOu ’ and actual ermany are a strong Liberal , said

‘ Yo . u a I , so I can easily answer you are drawn tow rds

of England because her liberalism , and away from the

’ o f ‘ French Emperor because his despotism . Liberalism

’ ‘ and despotism ! cried the Prussian ; let us get beyond

these forms and words . What unites and separates people

’ e t now is G is .

t I had not the slightes idea what he meant, and my

‘ r looks told my bewilde ment . I thought you had read

’ ’ ‘ r D ff a G . . G Mr nt u s chapters on ermany, said he But G D Mr . rant uff knows what he writes about , so I suppose

u Y yo have not . our great Lord Palmerston used to call

! Germany that country o f d - d professors ; and the

E to nglish public, which supposes professors be people w who kno something, and hates anybody who knows any

of thing , has always kept its mind as clear my unfortunate

as o u o f country it could . But I advise y , for the sake the

’ ev€nt n n D f T s o w a . G u . passing, to re d Mr ra t f s book here

! G —intelli you will find that in Berlin we oppose eist,

! ~ — ence ou U . g , as y or the French might say, to ngeist

! ” ! Th e victory o f Geist over Ungeist we t hink the

r a The h e g e t matter in the world . same idea is at t bottom ’ N 8 FRI E N D S H I P S GARL A D.

of democracy ; the victory Of reason and intelligence over wh o blind custom and prejudice . So we German Liberals believe in ! Geist ” have a sympathy with France and its

n r so far r . gover o s, as they are believe s in democracy We

E have no sympathy with nglish liberalism, whose centre is

” in the ! Ungeist of such people as your wiseacre in the

’ R r eigate t ain .

‘ ’ ‘ r a T r But then you play, c ied I , the g me of the o ies ;

! G : The T . E for listen to Mr oldwin Smith ories in urope,

n of r r with the sure insti ct a party, ecognise the g eat patron

o f r in E r of You eaction the mpe or the French . and we are in r r T a to unite, o de to defeat the ories nd the Emperor

’ r of the F ench .

‘ Th e a r : M r Prussian nswe ed . Goldwin Smith blinds himself with the passions, as the Empero r of the French

sa n r T himself would y, of a othe age . h e T o ries of Eu rope

a for E have no re l love the mperor Of the French ; they

r r may admi e and envy his absolutism and st ength , but they hate his fundamental principles : they can have no real sympathy with the Sovereign who says boldly that he

o f E detests the actual public law urope, and who tells

‘ the people that it is among the people h e fi nds the true

o f a r genius Fr nce, and breathes f eely . S lich a man works

! ” fo r ‘ G in no t a eist his way ; , perhaps, through D aily

Th n u e d en e of Arm n us fo r t s exe r b e and i lg c i i hi c a l unsuccessful 1 UCE A R M /N I US A N D ‘ GE I S T ’ INTROD . 9

Tele ra lz or T or g p , monster meetings in rafalgar Square , a

’ o les s T C russ Manufactory standing where it ought not , a

of glorious monument individualism and industrialism , to

! ” adorn the finest site in f-Europe ; but by making the common people feel they are alive and have a human

N - G fo r spirit in them . We orth ermans have worked

! ” G our eist in way, by loving knowledge, by having the

- Yo u best educated middle and lower class in the world .

f ! ” see what this has j ust done or us . France has Geist

in in her democracy, and Prussia her education . Where

ou P— have y got it got it as a force, I mean , and not only Y in a few scattered individuals . our common people is

! ” barbarous ; in your middle class Ungeist is rampant ;

ou G is and as for your aristocracy, y know eist forbidden

n by ature to flourish in an aristocracy .

‘ ’ ‘ S O r do not , he continued , suffe yourself to be

! ” r deceived by parallels drawn from times befo e Geist .

What has won this Austrian battle fo r Prussia is Geist ;

G K r eist has used the ing , and Bisma ck , and the Junkers ,

! ' ” U in uniform own and ngeist , all for its ends ; and

1 Geist will continue so to use them till it has triumphed .

t rant was unwort of a me mb er o f our reat Teuton am . y ‘ hy g ic f ily Prob m — D b n hi E . a a ter S e an h e an e his o n o of . ly, f d , ch g d pi i I am unwilli ng to triumph o v er Armi nius in his grav e ; b ut I ’ ‘ Bo tt es anno t e remar n at n e st in un orm as M r. c h lp ki g th U g i if , l ob serves to me h as ust v en a rett o o a ount o f th e Ge st in , j gi p y g d cc i ’ L I o FR I E N D S H I P S GAR A ND.

! It will ally itself with Geist where it finds it, because there it has a ground for mutu al respect and understanding

” r r no G . and whe e the e is eist, it has none

’ ‘ ‘ n A d now , this odious man went on , now , my dear

r a n one . f iend, I sh ll soo be leaving you , so word more

Yo u have lately been writing about the Celts and the

G r e e mans, and in the cours of your remarks on the

one Germans you have said , among many impertinences ,

’ ru You of thing which is t e . have said that the strength N G orth ermany lay in this , that the idea of science

rn r o f n Y u . o gove ed every depa tment huma activity there ,

a o r r my dear friend, live in c unt y whe e at present the idea

a - n f of cl p trap gover s every department o human activity .

G a e ar n in e r . G re t vents happe ing the wo ld , and Mr oldwin

Smith tells you that England will be compelled to speak

. I t o sad sh e S sh e at last w uld be truly if, when does peak,

o TO a a should talk n nsense . prevent such dis ster, I will

o f give you this piece advice , with which I take my leave

” Get Geist .

T an God d— d ro a r h k , this p fessor (to spe k as Lo d

‘ Pa r o to own I ntelli enz - S taat lme st n) is now gone back his g .

Fren m ch de ocracy ; and I have a sh rewd suspici on it will gi ve an

‘ ’ ’ equally goo d account o f th e G e i st o f Armi nius s e ducated and

b era r en s in Pruss a li l f i d i . Perh aps Arminius was tak e n away fro m the ev to o me —E D il c .

L ETTER II .

e r A rminius appears as his own I nterpr te .

8 Berlin u l 1 1 66 . , j y 3 , A r o f . a AN English f iend mine, Mr M tthew rnold , seems to have rushed into print with an idea o r two he

I was E an and picked up from me when in ngl d, to have

r r made athe a mess of it ; at least, he sends me some news

r papers which have answe ed him , and writes me a helpless

of sort a letter at the same time, asking me how he is to w . N o parry this , and what he is to say in reply to that , I

r for A d have a rega d this Mr . Matthew rnol , but I have

a r t ken his measu e, and know him to be , as a disputant , r r A n athe a poor creature . gain and again I have see him anxiously ruminating over what his adversary has hap pened to say against his ideas and when I tell him (if the ideas

r dummleo were mine) that his adve sary is a pf , and that he

and must stand up to him firm square, he begins to smile, and tells me that what is probably passing through his

’ adversary s mind is so and

A v ery ill -natured and exagge rate d d esc riptio n o f my (I h o pe not unam ab e a o i l c nd ur. N H I S O WN A RMI IUS INTERPRE TER . I 3

I see your hideous truss manufactory in Trafalgar

Square comes up in this controversy, and that very manu

factory brings to my mind a ridiculous instance o f my ’ I poor friend s weakness . had been running over with him a few of the principal violations o f aesthetic laws in

London , illustrating the lesson by reference to the stucco

palaces of my beautiful Berlin . After despatching the

’ Duke of Wellington s statue and the black dome and grey

’ - N G l pepper boxes of your ational allery, I came to C o es s

‘ ? manufactory . Can anything be more atrocious I asked .

’ ‘ ’ It is bad , answered my poor friend ; and yet, he went

‘ o n A , and yet , rminius , I have a tenderness for that manu

T factory . hat manufactory, with other things in London

o ne f fo r like it, is of my avourite arguments the immortality

’ ’ ot ? o f the soul . What folly have you g in your head now

‘ ’ ‘ R us f said I . emember, said he , what is told o the Z statue of the Olympian eus by Phidias . It was life enough to have seen it felicity had then reached its consummation

the spirit could grasp no more, and the man might end .

And not fo r what therefore , I ask , must be in store the

who D British ratepayer, in his life has only seen the uke

’ ’ of Wellington s statue and Coles s truss manufactory ? H is

to . r felicity must surely be yet com e Somewhe e, beyond

’ the grave , and for a good twenty minutes my simple ’ 1 4 FRI ENDSHIP S GARLAND .

friend went on with stuff like this , which I will not weary yo u with any more of.

as Pr an a a s for I , Sir, a true ussi h ve pa sion what is

’ a tliclt do sa o u wissensclz f (I not y scientific, because then y

sea- r English will think I mean I have an interest in the bea ,

- o r in the blue lights and smells o f a chemical lectu re) . I am sa wissenscb a tlicn , I y, f ; I love to proceed with the

f Ar r n o a . st i gency philosopher, and Mr Matthew nold with T his shillyshallying spoils the ideas I confide to him . here

r w r fo e I rite to you myself, to tell you (since I like you natio n fo r the sake o f the great men it has fo rmerly

and o f - a produced , its brave he rted, industrious people)

r f whe e the pinch o the matter for you really lies .

‘ re — b ein E rnst der ins Ganz e It lies he there is in you ,

’ elzt Y g . ou peck at the mere outside of problems ; you

have not go t your mind at work upon them you fancy

o i they will solve themselves with ut m nd , if only you keep

n and r o n maki g bottles , letting eve y e do what is right in

his o wn and a a at eyes , congr tul ting yourselves the top o f

r o n own ‘ n you voices your success . I dividualism and industrialism will in time replace Coles by a worthier

’ a o f o ‘ edifice, s ys one your prophets . N t without an E rnst

’ der ins Gauz e elzt ‘ ’ g , I answer . Not without Geist and

faith in ‘ Geist a nd this is just what your individualism

‘ a o - and industri lism has not g t. A self administering com S H I S WN I N TE RPR R 1 A RMINIU o E TE . 5

’— T munity is surely an ideal . hat depends entirely on what

’ - . has G the self administering community is like If it eist ,

‘ ’ T in G . and faith eist , yes ; if it has not, no hen another

‘ ! ” o f your prophets asks : Why should Geist care about

? D democracy emocracy is government by the masses , by

’ -Y the light o f their own vulgar tastes . our democracy

a perhaps , but this is just what m kes your weakness ; you

’ demo a s . have no , no people, but masses with vulg r tastes

The top part o f them are in training to be Philistines like your — Y middle class the lower part is a rabble . our democracy

has not yet reached even the idea o f country ; the friends of your northern workmen tell us they read American news A N for E . o papers , and care more merica than for ngland

‘ wonder ; they have never been quickened by an E rnst

’ der ins Ganz e eb t g , the only baptism that makes masses G ’ into a people they have never been in contact with eist ,

- T o n a only with clap trap . abate feudalism by providi g th t

in o ne msrgnificant case out of o ne million land shall not

follow the feudal law o f descent to abolish English church

’ 1 s E D ate because the nglish issenters are strong , and to

spare the Irish Church Establishment because the I rish

1 Catholics are man ' weak ; to give a leave to marry his

No d oubt this remark o f Arminius had so me share in producing that great measure which has sinc e abolish e d the I ri sh Church by the ’ — r e nm ur e sta m D po wero f th e E nglish Disse nte s ity to Ch ch blish ents E . ’ I 6 FRIENDSHIP S GA RL A N D .

’ deceased wife s sister ; to give a man who lives in a parti culat kind of house a vote for membe rs o f Parliament that is the pabulum by which the leaders of you r people

and to an E rnst der seek to develop Geist in it, awaken

’ ‘ not as lit. ins Ganz e ge If this is Spiritual enough, a final

r o f resource there is rioting in the pa ks , and a despotism your penny newspapers tempered by the tears of your

of E a executive , to hasten the growth nglish democr cy in

dignity and intelligence .

a The French are not solid enough for my t ste ; but,

ott in I I immel has had fi re G that people a baptism , and

‘ democrac which r o f a i the y is bo n fire baptism l ke theirs ,

‘ ’ n T r Geist cannot help ca ri g about . hey were un ipe for

’ a 8 set to and the t sk they in 9 themselves do yet, by the

’ ’ ‘ an h ir faith of G d t e . G strength eist in eist, this mere vipe r brood of canting egotists did so much that they left their trace in half the beneficial reforms through Europe ;

ask N and if you how, at aples, a convent became a school , o r T a ar a to r in icino an intoler ble olig chy ce sed govern , o

P a - ou in russia Stein was ble to carry his land reforms , y get o ne answer : t/ze Frenc/z ! Till modern society is finally

, E formed French democracy will still be a power in urope, and it a a to a ff r at T u will m n ge h ve e ective leade s the ileries ,

not and only in Cayenne . It will live, though the classes

’ rot c has G a above it may be ause it faith in eist, nd does H I S O WN P ARMINIUS INTER RE TER . 1 7

‘ ’ not think that people can do without Geist by dint o f

1 tar holding monster meetings , and having their S and

Tele ra li n - g p every morning, and payi g no church rates , and

’ marrying their deceased wife s sister .

Sir for We Prussians , , have, as a people, no great love

the French , because we were blown into the air by the

‘ of G explosion their eist some sixty years ago , and much

‘ r - qua relling and ill blood followed . But we saw then what a powerthe ‘ Geist in their democracy gave them and we

‘ s w r r et to o k to make ourselves st ong, not by a sort of wild

' fireib a tism of G wa p the mass , but in our steady erman y, by

ormin our of culture, by f g faculties all kinds , by every man

c doing the very best he ould with himself, by trusting, with

‘ ’ E rnst der ins Ganz e elzt an g , to mind and not to clap

‘ i ’ trap . Your earnest L beral in England thinks culture all moonshine he is for the spiritual development of your

r - democ acy by rioting in the parks, abolishing church rates ,

’ and marrying a deceased wife s sister ; and for leaving your — narrow and vulgar middle class (of which I saw anincom parable specimen in a Reigate train when I was over in E . O n . ngland) just as it is the other hand, Mr Matthew

The S tar e Arm n us mse h as asse rom amon st us , lik i i hi lf, p d f g b ut may we not say that its work was done wh en it had o nce laid the b ases o f that admi rab l e and fruitful alliance between M ialism and Millism w th e o urse of our o t s is now e ver da c n , hich c p li ic y y o so at n — D lid i g E . ’ A RL N D I S FRIENDSHIP S G A .

Arnold writes me word that a club has just been formed

r o f among you to do honou to the memory that great man ,

h as for its R ichard Cobden ; that this club taken motto ,

R r n n and R Peace, et e chme t , eform and that these

’ a r b den s r M . C o wo ds, by a speci l command from ghost, are to bear the following interpretation Peace to o ur

r our rofli ate o f nonsense, ret enchment of p g expenditure

’ a - of r cl p trap, and reform ourselves . Whether this is t ue,

’ or merely a stroke of my poor friend s so - called playfulness

(H eaven save the mark I do not feel quite sure I h Ope

for your sakes it is true, as this is the very thing you want ,

o and nothing else can save y u from certain decline .

Do not be astonished at the aristocratic prefix to my name ; I come of a family which has for three generations

rubbed shoulders with philosophy . Y our humble servant,

VO N - - T R ON C KH THUNDER TEN .

T/ze ED O o tlze P IT R f ALL MALL GAZETTE .

’ 2 0 N L FRIE DSHIP S GA R AND.

’ garret (for I don t smoke myself) with the smell of his

fi S tar execrable tobacco, getting the daily bene t of my and

Tele ra lt S tar g p (I take the for wisdom and charity, and

Tele ra lz fo r the g p taste and style) , and keeping me up

’ yawning till two o clock every morning to listen to his

rubbishy transcendentalism , and yet be too fine a gentle man to make me the depositary of his ideas for trans mission to the English public But Arminius has the r idiculous pride of his grandfather, who , though the family

estate had all gone to the dogs, and he was ruined and

’ i set stifl G turned pr est, chose to his erman face against

’ H e o ff Candide s marriage with his sister . got shipped to

R o ne the Jesuits at ome, as every knows ; but what is not

‘ so R well known is , that when the French evolution came,

r T l this p ecious priest , like a leyrand, married, and my

i A n a Arminius s his grandson . rmi ius c me over here to

a a a w . wh o m ke cqu intance ith Mr Lowe, he has found out is in some o dd way descended from the philosopher

2 n a r r T - - Pa gloss , g eat f iend of the Von hunder ten Tronckh

I t was ne essar un nown to Vo ta re wh o wro c ily k l i , te th e hi story o f

h e on T am —E D t V . f ily. .

2 I t is m fi rm b e e t at t s re at ons w y li f h hi l i hip , hich had b e come a

fi xe ea w t Arm n us neverrea x d e ste . Th e o t m sm o d id i h i i , lly i p i i f M r. ’ Lo we s est mate o f th e Br t s m e ass and its H ouse o f Co mmon i i i h iddl cl s, in his e eb rate s ee o n R e orm had in m o n o c l d p ch f , , y pi i n, struck ’ Arm n us s an and ma e him ma n a i i f cy, d i gi e kinship in th e flesh wh ere t ere was in trut on a ns inth e S r t - D h h ly ki hip pi i . E . I ! W N 1 E POSTULA TE ITH A RMI IUS. 2

family ; but ever since the sack of their chateau by the

Von T - -Tronckhs Bulgarians , the hunder ten have not had a Sixpence in the world except what they could get by

‘ G ’ Ar their eist, and what minius gets by his is such

’ beggar s allowance that he is hardly presentable ; well G enough for rub Street, but , as I told him , not at all the

sort of company Mr . Lowe keeps .

’ I don t think Arminius has gained much by being his

for own expounder, more vague declamatory trash than his

. Th e letter I never read truth is , he cannot rise to an

E ’ nglishman s conception of liberty, and understand how

‘ f r own . o liberty, like virtue, is its reward We go self

’ ‘ All ’ m . govern ent, I am always saying to him right, he

‘ ’ ‘ says, if it is government by your better self. Fiddle

’ ‘ our ! sticks about better self answer I . Who is to be

’ ‘ And ? No . the judge , the self every man chooses what

’ is the self the mass of mankind will choose , cries he ,

n is when they are ot told there a better and a worse self,

’ and shown what the better is like ? ‘ They will choose

’ ‘ ’ sa a . the worst, very likely, y I , but th t is just liberty

‘ ’ And what is to bring good o ut o f such liberty as that ?

‘ Th e of o ur he asks . glorious and sanative qualities . ’ matchless Constitution , I reply ; and that is always a

stopper for him .

’ A ’ But what I grieve most to observe in rminius s letter , ’ L N . 2 2 FRIENDSHIP S GAR A D and what will lead to my breaking with him in the long

b ad re volu , run, in spite of my love for intellect is the tionary leaven which I see works stronger and stronger in

and no r s him, which he doubt got from the wo thle s French

‘ o f company his grandfather kept . I noticed an instance

as and o a it while he w over here , I have had an ther inst nce ,

h in to a . T e besides his letter you , since he went aw y

ha stance while he was ove r here was this . I d taken him

s e down to Wimbledo n to e the shooting ; and there,

r walking up and down before the grand tent , was Lo d

’ E r E Elcho . verybody knows Lo d lcho s appearance , and how admirably he looks the part of o ur governing classes

’ to my mind, indeed , the mere cock of his lordship s hat is

one o f the fi nest and most aristocratic things we have . So

o E u A A of course I p inted Lord lcho o t to rminius . rminius

him a a n a eyed with j cobi ic l sort of a smile, and then

‘ ’ Cedar o f Lebanon which Go d has not yet b ro ken !

A n . was r k sneered he I pleased at mi ius nowing his St .

A r a are a ugustine, for the P ussi ns in gener l thought to be

n b ut at and much tai ted with irreligion I felt the time, I

n r feel still , that this was not by any mea s the p oper way o f a n of a n n a r E spe ki g dashi g oblem n like Lo d lcho .

T s art a ex a ns no oub t t ou i hi p i lly pl i , d , h gh t cannot altog e th er e x use th e wea n u n c , k i d lge ce always c ropping out in Arminius fo r

Fran e and its mmo ra e o e —E D c i l p pl . I ! L W A R AI I N I US E POS TU A TE ITH . 2 3

The other instance is worse still . Besides writing A rminius long letters , I keep him regularly supplied with

S tar the , sending him my own copy after I have read it

h ar i l f t rough twice . I p t cu a ly begged him to study the m nu ber for last Wednesday week , in which there was the

‘ ’ o f An A R most beautiful account ristocratic eformer .

The other papers had not go t it . It related h o w the

H a onour ble Charles Clifford , a gentleman of strikingly H handsome appearance , addressed the crowd in yde Park H from the footboard of a H ansom . e told them he cared

o r Pakin to ns nothing for the Walpoles g , who were for

a putting down the voice of the people, for, s id he, he was

a H son o f higher in soci l position than they . e was the a

- in- a peer, his son law was peer, and all his family belonged

T re to the aristocratic classes . his announcement was c eived with enthusiastic applause by the street- H ampdens

’ ‘ M a a k u i one . s o present y I y , right honourable sir, cr ed

‘ o u not of them , why, as y are such a big man , you do open

’ a a the Park g tes to us poor people ? M r . C . s id he wished

b e he had the keys o f the Park in his pocket . But de livered himself of the great principle that it is the duty of the aristocnatic classes to protect and promote the interests of H the working men , and then he drove Off in his ansom

amidst redoubled applause .

Now and e as nothing , Sir, gives me such pride pl asure ’ 2 4 FRIENDSHIP S GARL AND .

as t raits of this kind, which show that we have , Lord

n ar Macaulay fi ely says , the most popul aristocracy and the

most aristocratic people in the world . I thought it would do Arminius good to study the incident , and I wrote him

? . word to that effect . Would you believe it , Sir Mr

‘ ’ Geist cannot condescend to write me a letter, but he

S tar a c o r sends me back my with vile sket h , rather cari

’ cature o f . C . s , this touching incident ; and opposite Mr

‘ E ’ gentlemanly figure he has written sel , and opposite the

‘ ’ G crowd Lumpenpack , which a friend who knows erman

are o f better than I do tells me words disrespect , and even

T r contempt . his is a spi it which I hate and abhor, and I tell Arminius plainly through your columns (since he chooses to adopt this way of corresponding) that unless he can

of all break himself it is ended between him and me, and when next he comes to England he will find the garret

in G a door rub Street bolted gainst him .

Yo ur obedient servant,

A M ATTHEW RNOLD .

Tb e ED OR o tb e P IT f ALL M ALL GAZETTE . L ETT E R IV .

A rminius assails tk o Britisn P ress f or its Free and

I ndependent Comments on

Berlin A u ust 1 1 1 866 , g , .

’ F0R \H eaven s sake try and prevail upon your country

so for men , who are very anxious for peace themselves , not

’ to go on biting first the French Emperor s tail and then

fo r o f t ours , merely the fun the hing apparently, and to have the pleasure o f at least seeing a fight between other

if n n You o e o w . people , they cannot have of their know

that M ichelet , the French historian , all through his history,

‘ familiarly talks of your people as ce dogue ; upon this ce

‘ dog ue mordit such a one upon that ce dogue dé cb ira such

’ A mordre another . ccording to him , you must always be

or dé cb irer- o r ing ing some one, at home abroad , such is

n o f — your i stinct savageness and you have, undoubtedly — a r of . you have, st ong share pugnacity When I was over E in ngland the other day, my poor fri end Mr . Matthew

A o f rnold insisted , with his usual blind adoration everything

E on o ne of nglish , taking me down to admire your great ’ D 2 6 FRI E N D S I I I P S GA RL A N .

as public schools precious institutions, where, I tell him ,

a o for 2 so l. sterling a ye r your boys learn gentlemanly dep rt

n r . ment a d c icket Well , down we went , and in the playing

‘ ’ fi l are : a e ds (which with you the school) I decl re , says

‘ ’ a A so n o f a Mr . M tthew rnold , if there isn t the th t man

R a And you quarrelled with in the eig te train there, close

a so n our a a P by him, is of one of gre test f milies , a lan ta e net n E A g It is o ly in ngland , rminius , that this beautiful a o f s lutary intermixture classes takes place . Look at the

’ bottle - merchant s so n and the Plantagenet being brought up side by side ; none of your absurd separations and

e - a sev nty two qu rterings here . Very likely young Bottles

’ r wa will end by being a lo d himself. I s going to point o ut a to Mr. M tthew Arnold that what a middle class wants

r is ideas, and ideas an a istocracy has nothing to do with ;

a a o so th t th t vulgar dog , B ttles the father, in sending his son a n and a d to le r only cricket gentlemanly eportment ,

ar r had like the istoc acy, done quite the wrong thing with him . But just at this moment our attention was attracted by a wh t was passing between the boys themselves . First, a ‘ o and a : P a boy goes up to B ttles , s ys Bottles , l ntagenet a s ys he could lick you with one hand ; you are as big as

— ’ ’ , him he is you wouldn t take a licking from , would you ?

‘ ’ No ! answered poor Bottles, rather hesitatingly . Upon

e to a ‘ ’ this anoth r boy rushes Plant genet . Plantagenet,

’ 2 8 FRIENDSHIP S GARL A ND

France eat humble pie ! France is humiliated France is ’ f suffocating ! France is not di ficult to stir up , and the

French Emperor has already had to ask for the frontier of

ou 1 8 1 4 . If y go on at this rate I expect he will have to

r f T ask for the Ma k o Brandenburg next week . hen you

‘ ar : will come to Bism ck and say Bismarck, the tyrant is

i r r stretching h s greedy fist ove Ge man soil . Will you let him have it ? Think of the prodigious strength you have

T o f o f wo n. just shown , the glory you have just hink

c 1 8 1 o f French insolen e , think of 3 , think German honour,

au r- é ra t f s e u o E . think of , think the moral support of ngland

Not an inch of German soil for the French tyrant And — so, while you yourselves the new man in you , that is ,

a teach the n tions , as Lord Stanley says , how to live, by

- R a peacefully developing your bottle man in the eig te train ,

’ - a your half n ked starvelings selling matches in St . James s

a T P rk , your truss manufactories in rafalgar Square, and your D aily Tk legraplz saying in spite of all powers human and divine what it likes , you at the same time want to

‘ ’ ou throw a bone to the old dogue in y , in the shape o f a very pretty quarrel o f your getting up between other

people .

Do , Sir, let other people also have a chance of teaching

how - the nations to live , and emulating your bottle man and

D ai Tele ra b F r . o r your ly g p my pa t, I have the greatest A RAI I N I US L TH E 2 A SSAI S BRITISH PRESS. 9

so - G o f aversion , and have all the clearest headed ermans

a my acquaintance , to a qu rrel with France . We, as

w o ur genuine Liberals , kno that French democracy is

You natural ally . will Observe it is the Constitutionalists in France who are crying o ut so loudly for more territory

r An to make their strength keep pace with ou s . d then

o ur and think of poor delicate constitutionalism at home, of the cruelty o f leaving it with its work to do in the face of t a war wi h France, and Bismarck made stronger than ever by such a war I know our German constitutionalism

pretty well . It comes up to the throne, With fullest heart ’ K devotion we approach Prussia s ing, reverently beseeching

’ ’ his him to turn away unconstitutional ministers . Prussia s K gracious ing gives a grunt , and administers a sound kick

’ to . bis petitioner s behind , who then departs , singing in fervent tones H ocli for K ing and fatherland

N o r of r , Sir ; peace, the g owth a republican spi it all

E through urope, and a mutual support between all those

r Th a e . e who share this spirit , what I wish for French are vain ; they have been spoilt ; we have been going very fast ; and you and the O rleanists keep telling them

not s N o they are humiliated if they do get omething . doubt people have a right to go to war for the balance of p ower if they believe in it you have gone to war fo r it

E r r often enough when it suited your turn . So the mpe o > s L . 30 FRIENDSHIP GAR AND

him a of of the French , as you will not let have a ch nce being wise and of seeing that here is a new spiritual force

on ma he had not reckoned , which yet he y perfectly make

friends of and live happily with , thinks he must do some

ask for rectifi ca thing forthe balance of power, must some

tion or other of frontier . I only hope he will ask for

b e r something moderate, and that we shall mode ate when

‘ r Sir he asks for it . P ay, , pray do not you play the dogue and make moderation harder both for the Emperor and

for us . I assure you a war with France would be a curse to us which even the blessing of your moral support would hardly

And for ou compensate . supposing ( certainly y do hate the French pretty strongly) in a year or two you deter

‘ r n mined to give us your active suppo t, and to se d, with

r out o f n infinite c ying , an expedition fifteen thousa d men

o f Gothland or to the coast some such place, I am afraid ,

T is uer e War b etwe en Fran his p il . ce and Prussi a h as sinc e

W n b n ab happened . e have ot ee l e to gi v e our undiv ided mo ral sup

ort to e t er omb atant of our a t ve su o rt t ere ore p i h c c i pp , h f , th ere could

b o But it ma b e e ar e n uest on. ess asserte q i y f l ly d , that th e we ll

b a an e a ternat ons o f our mora su ort th e w s l c d l i l pp , i e and steady ad vice

ven b our news a ers and in a t o ur att tu gi y p p , , f c , i d e generally in regard

to t s war ave ra se Great Br ta n to a hi , h i d i i h eight even more con

s icuous t an sh e h as ever et o u e in th e p h y cc pi d , e steem and admi ration

f or n o n r - o u E D . f eig c t ies. ' A S S A I L S TH E BRI TI S I I 1 A RMINIUS PRESS. 3

Sir , with the vast armaments and rapid operations of modern warfare, even this active support of yours would

r not do us any g eat good . Y l our humb e servant ,

VO N R - - T R O N C K H THUN DE TEN .

l e o tlze P E DITOR f ALL MALL GAZETTE .

P — B ’ . S . . A y the way, I read poor M r Matthew rnold s

ou Yo u letter to y the other day . see just what he is the

r discursiveness , the incapacity for a guing, the artlessness , the not very delicate allusions to my private circumstances

wn and his o . It is impossible to enter into any serious

o n one o t discussion with him . But point f fact I will se

sa him right. I w Mr . Lowe and found him very affable even more like his ancestor Pangloss than I should have

‘ ’ The o f thought possible . best all possible worlds was

‘ always o n his lips ; a system of such tried and tested

’ ‘ efficiency what can we want more ? the grumbler fails

’ o f to suggest even one grievance . I told him that bottle

R o n o f barbarian in the eigate train , and he said that men

‘ ’ this kind rested the mighty fabric o f English prosperity . . I could not help saying that in my Opinion no country could long stand being ruled by the spirit (o r rathe r matter) o f men like that that a discontent with the present ’ 3 2 FRIENDSHIP S GA R L A N D .

of o state things was growing up , and that t morrow even , U r see . . o next day, we might a change pon this, Mr

r w a r Lowe th e himself into theat ical attitude, and with the

most enthusiastic vehemence exclaimed

To - morro w

Oh s are it s are it , p , p ‘ I u no s t die t o ght t o o .

a r A In man like poo Mr . Matthew rnold, this infatuation

a r n E n bout eve ythi g nglish is co ceivable enough , but in a

’ M r . o ut man of Lowe s parts I own I cannot quite make it ,

w n not ithstandi g his descent from Pangloss .

T VON .

As the sent ments ere attr b ute to M L o e to t r r. w e e w t i h i d , g h i h this very remarkabl e and spl endid passage o f p o etry with which h e

’ on u e s are all ta en ro m M r. L owe s r nte s ee es and ma c cl d , k f p i d p ch , y

ave b een rea b Arm n us in th e Times I st n o h d y i i , ill retai my d ub ts

w et er his nterv e w M r L o e h h h i i w ith . w ad ever any e xi stenc e except in his own r m —E D e t a na on . f il e i gi ti . L R ETTE V .

o unicate a Valuable Ex osition b A rminius I c mm p , y ,

o Tenant- t in P russia of t/ze System f rn .

Gru b S treet N emb r 8 6 , ov e 8 , 1 6 .

M Y love for intellect has made me seek a recon

of f ciliation with Arminius , in spite all I had to complain o

o in him , and any one who had looked in here t night ffi might have seen him pu ng away at his pipe, and laying

ld H e so down the law just in his o style . was immensely

D ail Tele ra lz r tickled at the y g p calling his poo friend,

arretteer artless and obscure g that he knows him to be,

‘ ” r of k id- a high p iest the glove persuasion , that he has

- been in a good humour ever since, and to night he has

been giving me some information which I do think , notwithstanding the horrid animus he betrays in delivering

it, is highly curious and interesting, and therefore I hasten

to communicate it to you .

Bes es all I had to n ure rom Arm n us mse our ea n id e d f i i hi lf, l di g newspape rs pe rsiste d in ho lding me answe rabl e for every parad ox — utte re b him E D . d y . ’ L . 34 FRIENDSHIP S GAR AND

r It is about the Prussian land eforms , and this is how I

‘ You a got it out of him . made me look r ther a fool ,

’ ‘ n a a r Armi ius , I beg n , by wh t you p imed me with in

’ an u Germany last year about Stein settling your l d q estion .

‘ ’ r sa a m r I da e y you looked a fool , s ys y P ussian boor,

’ ‘ ’ ‘ ‘ ? me but what did I tell you Why , says I , you told Stein had settled a land question like the Irish land

' so Corn/it ll M a az ine question , and I said in the g , and

a r now the matter h s come up again by Mr . B ight talking at D of out ublin what Stein did , and it turns he settled l nothing like the Irish and question at all , but only a

’ ’ of - a r sort tithe commutation aff i . Who says that ?

‘ ’ a A A r . Times sked rminius very able write in the , I

replied .

’ ’ I don t know that I have ever described Arminius s

personal appearance . H e has the true square T eutonic

a of - r head, a blond and disorderly m ss tow like hai , a podgy h and sanguine countenance , shaven c eeks , and a whity

- a . H e a ro brown moust che we rs a ugh pilot coat, and

w of generally smokes a ay with his hands in the pockets it ,

o n ’ and his light blue eyes fixed his interlocutor s face .

a o ut o f When he takes his h nds his pockets, his pipe out

f " ’ o , o fl his mouth and his eyes his friend s face, it is a sign

a th t he is deeply moved . H e did all this on the present

a occasion , and p ssing his short thick fi nge rs two or three

2 N D A RL A . 36 FRIENDSHI P 5 G

Times of reforms become in the , for the reassurance the

- - - r o f a well to do B itish Philistine, a sort tithe commut tion

ir — o in or o r ! n n o r afla , n thing the w ld m e othi g in the w ld more

’ ’ ‘ n a r A Don t go o in that bsu d way, rminius , said I I

’ - m don t tell you it was a tithe commutation , but a com utation

- Times a like the tithe commutation . It was simply, the s ys ,

- n - the conversion of serf te ures into produce rents . I hope that gives you a perfectly clear notion of what the whole

’

was . o ut thing , for it doesn t me But I make from the

‘ Times that the leibeigener R ub bish ab out the

’ ‘ leibei ener A g , cries rminius , in a rage, and all this jargon to keep your stupid mind in a mist do you want to know

’ ‘ ’ l ? Yes what rea ly happened , I do , said I , quietly, my love for knowledge making me take no notice of his

‘ Y . es impertinence , I do, and particularly this : In the first

’ a ’ place , was the l nd , before Stein s reforms, the landlord s

’ ’ ‘ ’ ’ ? Th e a A ‘ or the tenant s landlord s , s ys rminius . You

n ’ ‘ h mea , said I , t at the landlord could and did really eject

’ ’ Y s . e do . his tenant from it if he chose , I , says Arminius

‘ ? ’ ‘ Well , then , what did Stein do asked I . H e did

’ ‘ A . this , rminius answered In these estates , where the

- on landlord had his property right the one hand, and the

na - on r r te nt his tenant right the othe , he made a comp omise .

r - fifth In the fi st place he assigned, say, two s o f the estate ON R - ARMINIUS P USSIA N TENA NT RIGHT. 3 7

to the landlord in absolute property, without any further

‘ - claim of tenant right upon it thenceforth for ever . B ut the remaining three - fifth s he compelled the landlord to sell to

’ so a the tenant at eighteen years purchase, that this p rt should become the tenant ’s absolute property thenceforth

for r. Yo u eve will ask , where could the tenant find money to buy ? Stein opened rent - banks in all the provincial

the a - r chief towns , to lend ten nt the purchase money requi ed , for a s o which the St te thu became his credit r , not the

H e r landlord . had to repay this loan in a ce tain number

f To o years . free his land from this State mortgage on it

o wn r h ad and make it his clear prope ty, he every induce

ment to work hard , and he did work hard and this was th e

o f o f grand source the frugality, industry , and thrivingness

to o of the Prussian peasant . It was the grand source , , his

’ ‘ was attachment to the State . It rotten bad political

’ ‘ Now see economy, though , exclaimed I . I what the

Times meant by saying in its leading article yesterday that

I reland is incomparably better governed than the United

S G or o f tates , France, ermany, Italy, because the excellence government consists in keeping obstacles o ut o f the way of a w wa individu l. energy, and you thro obstacles in the y

’ of your great proprietors energy, and we throw none in

T f the way of ours . alk o a commutation like the tithe

d was a commutation , in eed Why it downright spoli tion ’ D 38 FRIENDSHIP S GA RL A N . it was just what Lord Clanricarde says some people are

’ ‘ ’ r . driving at in I eland, a system of confiscation Well ,

‘ : r ' says A minius , calmly, that is exactly what the Prussian

junkers called it . They did not call it commutation , they T called it confiscation . hey will tell you to this day that

ou Stein c onfiscated their estates . But y will be shocked

a G to he r that the Prussian overnment had, even before

’ sad f Stein s time, this habit o playing tricks with political

To economy . prevent the absorption of small proprietors G by a great landed aristocracy, the Prussian overnment

— - t bauer- ut a made a rule hat a g , peasant property, could

not , even if the owner sold it , be bought up by the Lord

Clanricarde of the neighbourhood it must remain a bauer

u t g still . I believe you in England are for improving

off of r small proprietors the face the earth , but I assu e you

in Prussia we are very proud of ours , and think them the

of f H z strength the nation . O late years the ohen ollerns

have taken up with the junkers , but for a long time their

' policy was to Uphold the bauer class against the junb er

ou o f class ; and, if y want to know the secret the hold

which the house o f H ohen z ollern has upo n the heart of

’ t e not r th e G h Prussian people, it is in F ederick reat s

victories that you will find it , it is in this policy of their

’ ‘ ’ ‘ . A domestic government My dear rminius, said I , you

make me perfectly sick . Government here, government / A R /l[I N I US ON - PR USSIA N TENA NT RIGHT. 39

E - there We nglish are for self government . What b usi

- t t . a ness has any Mr. S ein o settle th t t his o r that estate i s

’ too large for Lord Clanricarde s virtues to . expand in ? a ’ Let each class settle its own ffairs, and don t let u s have

Governments and H ohen z ollerns pretending to be more

and enlightened than other people, cutting and carving

o d for what they call the general interest, and G knows

what nonsense of that kind . If the landed class with us

o t has g the magistracy and settled estates and game laws , has not the middle class got the vestries, and business , and civil and religious liberty ? I remember when the late Sir George Cornewall Lewis wanted to get some

statistics about the religious denominations, your friend

now Bottles, who is a millionaire and a Churchman , was

! N ! then a Particular Baptist . says Bottles , here I put

o G on down my foot . N overnment earth shall ask me

” o r whether I am a Particular Baptist a Muggletonian .

And G of t Bottles beat the overnment , because the horough understanding the upper and middle classes in this country

n h i o wn have with o e anot er that each s to go its way , and Government is not to be thrusting its nose into the

of T concerns either . here is a cordial alliance between

i ’ ‘ Y ’ A . es them on th s basis , yes , I know, rminius sneer ingly answered ; H erod and Pontius Pilate have shaken

’ hands . ’ 4 0 FRIENDSHIP S GA RLA ND .

’ ‘ ‘ A On But I will show you , rminius, I pursued, plain

‘ ’ of N ot - grounds political economy to night, inter

‘ ’ ru ted A . p rminius, yawning ; I am going home to bed

And o ff he went, descending the garret stairs three at a

and - time, leaving me to burn the midnight oil in order to

Sir send you, , what is really, I flatter myself, an interesting ,

sa o and I may even y a valuable, communicati n . Y our humble servant,

A MATTHEW RN OL D .

Tb e o tb e P EDITOR f ALL MALL GAZETTE . V- L ETTE R I .

I become intrusted with the Views of A rminius on

m u Co p lsory E ducation.

Gru b S treet A ril 2 0 1 86 , p , 7 .

I T is a long while since you have heard anything of A rminius and me, though I do hope you have sometimes Th given a thought to us both . e truth is we have been in O Y u the country . o may imagine how horribly disagreeable Arminius made himself during the famous snow in London

o f a A f at the beginning this ye r . bout the state o the

was a z - o ut streets he bad enough , but bout the poor fro en working men who went singing without let o r hindrance

‘ Th e before our houses , he quite made my blood creep .

’ ’ of ui s en a dirge a society g v , he used to call their pathetic

songs . It is true I had always an answer for him

‘ ’ T God H ausmannised ! hank , we are not yet and if that

not o f was enough , and he wanted the philosophy the

r of a thing, why I turned to a so t constitution l commonplace

’ E vade mecum book , or true nglishman s , which I have been these many years forming for my o wn use by potting ’ 4 2 FRIENDSHIP S GARL AND . extracts from the Times and which I hope o ne day to give

a to the world , and I read him this golden phorism

Administrative, military, and clerical tyranny are unknown

in this country, because the educated class discharges all the corresponding functions through committees of its own

’ ’ ‘ ‘ Ar body . Well , then , minius would answer, show me your administrative committee for ridding us o f these

’ ’ - A cursed froz en out impostors . My dear rminius , was my

l ‘ a a quiet rep y, voluntary organis tions are not to be de lt

r Th e com with in this perempto y manner . administrative mittee you ask for will develop itself in good time ; its E future members are probably now at nurse . In ngland

! our row we like improvements to g , not to be manu

’ factured.

H a owever the mental str in , day after day, of this line

of na as so high constitutio l argument w wearing, that I

gladly acceded to a prOposal made by Arminius in one o f

his fits of grumbling to go with him for a little while into

r o the count y . So int the country we went , and there,

r a unde his able guidance, I h ve been assiduously pursuing

As G . the study of erman philosophy a rule, I attend to

nothing else j ust now but when we were taking o ne of our

walks abroad the other morning, an incident happened

which led us to discuss the subject of compulsory educa

n and tio , , as this subj ect is beginning to awaken deep

44 FRIENDSHIP as GARL AND .

Th e o f r a a . thous ndth worst the sto y, to my mind, was th t the old rogue had a heap of young children by a second

ar one wife whom he had m ried late in life, and that not of

r these child en would he send to school, but persisted in

letting them all run wild, and grow up in utter barbarism .

I hastened to tell A rmi nius that it was a poaching case and a I dded that it was not always , perhaps, in poaching cases that our local self- government appeared to the best

’

a . r advant ge In the present case , however, the e is , said I ,

no danger ; for a representative o f the D aily Telegraph is

’ on k down here, to be the loo out for j ustices j ustice, and

n ’ to preve t oppression . Immediately afterwards I was sorr I r r y had said this , for the e are unfo tunately several

A t things which operate on rminius like scarle on a bull, making him vicious the moment he comes across them ;

D ail Tele ra h o f H and the y g p is one these things . e declares it foments o ur worst faults ; and he is fond of

D ’ E applying to it ryden s dictum on lkanah Settle, that its

and r style is boisterous its p ose incorrigibly lewd . Though

do r certainl - I y think its prose a little full bodied , yet I cannot bear to hear Arminius apply such a term to it as

‘ r and r incor igibly lewd I always remonst ate with him .

’ N o Ar ‘ , a incorr minius , I lways say, I hope not igibly ; I should be sorry to think that of a publication which is forming the imagination and taste of millions o f English ON L E O A RMINIUS COMP U SOR Y D UCA TI N. 4 5

’ ‘ ’ A ’ men . Pleasant news, was rminius s answer, the last

‘ of time I urged this to him , pleasant news the next batch o u a y , then , will be even more charming th n the present

' ou I trouble y with all this , Sir, to account for the

’ acerbity of tone in some o f Arminius s subsequent conve r

to o sation ; an acerbity he often manifests , and which

tends , as I tell him , to detract from the influence which his

O n talents and acquirements would otherwise give him . the present occasion he took no direct notice of my men

D ail Tele ra h tion of the y g p , but seemed quite taken up

n ‘ with scrutinisi g old Diggs . Such a peasant as that

’ ‘ old r wretched c eature , he said at last, is peculiar, my dear

r . O a friend , to you country nly look at that counten nce

Centuries of feudalism have effaced in it every gleamo f

’ ‘ r of fi ddlestick s humane life . Centu ies interrupted

1 for o u A ( I assure y , Sir, I can stand up to rminius well ‘ A h w on . o enough a proper occasion) My dear rminius, can you allow yourself to talk such rubbish ? Gleam o f

old humane life, indeed do but look at the twinkle in the ’ H f . e o has rogue s eye has plenty life and wits about him, old D ou iggs , I can assure you y j ust try and come round

’ ’ ‘ him about a pot of beer ! Th e mere cun ning of an

’ ‘ ’ ! A For animal retorted rminius . my part , pursued I ,

‘ it is his children I think most about ; I am told not one f of them has ever seen the inside o a school . D o you ’ L . 46 FRIENDSHIP S GAR AND

Ar know, minius , I begin to think , and many people in this

country begin to think, that the time has almost come for

a taking a leaf out of your Prussi n book , and applying, in

a K the education of children of this class , what the gre t ant

T he a calls the categorical imperative . g p between them and o ur educated and intelligent classes is really too ’ Y frightful . our educated and intelligent classes sneered

‘ Ar minius , in his very most offensive manner ; where are

’ they ? I should like to see them .

I was not going to stand and hear our aristocracy and

’ - set wa A middle class down in this y; so , treating rminius s

ebullition of spite as beneath my notice, I pushed my way

r - through the c owd to the inn door . I asked the policeman

‘ r a r o n the e what m gist ates were the bench to day . Vis

’ Lum in ton man R E H ittall count p g , says the , everend sau ,

’ ’ and E ir . G ! Bottles squ e ood heavens I exclaimed,

r n A r tu ni g round to minius, who had followed me, and

r in fo getting, my excitement, my just cause of offence with

’ G Ar n a ot him , ood heavens , mi ius , if Bottles h sn t g him

’ ‘ ’ r ! S ic itar ad astra Yes self made a county magist ate . ,

‘ A one of says rminius , with a smile , your educated and

And intelligent classes, I suppose . I dare say the other

r a e . Y r are of two to match ou magistrates a sort judges, I know ; just the people who are drawn from the educated

’ . N a o i and intelligent classes ow, wh t s sauce f r the goose s A RMINIUS ON COMP UL SOR Y ED UCA TION. 47 sauce for the gander ; if you put a p ressure on one class to

on make it train itself properly, you must put a pressure

T do others to the same end . hat is what we in Prussia, if

‘ t our you are going to take a leaf ou of book . I want to hear what steps you take to put this pressure o n people

old D to above iggs there, and then I will talk you about T putting it on old Diggs . ake his j udges who are going to try him to -day how about them ? What training have

v are you made them give themsel es , and what their qualifications ?

I luckily happen to know Lord Lumpington and H ittall

pretty well , having been at college with them in former

days , when I little thought the Philistines would have brought my grey hairs to a garret in Grub Street ; and I

r have made the acquaintance o f M . B ottles since and know

l a S wa A a l . o s bout him I able to satisfy rminius s curiosity ,

h ad and I great pleasure in making him remark , as I did so o f o ur E a r , the rich diversity nglish life, the he lthy natu al

a o ur a f pl y of free institutions , and the h ppy blending o

‘ The classes and characters which this promotes . three

’ a ‘ magistr tes in that inn , said I , are not three Government functionarie§ all cut out of one block ; they embody our

- whole national life the land , religion , commerce, are all

Lum in t n represented by them . Lord p g o is a peer of old

E H ittall is family and great estate sau a clergyman Mr . ’ L 4s FRIENDSHI P S GAR AND .

‘ - - T Bottles is one of our self made middle class men . heir

n politics are not all of o e colour , and that colour the

’ Lum in ton a Government s . p g is a Constitution l Whig ;

T A s ld . . H ittall is a benighted o ory for Mr Bottles, he is a Radical of the purest water quite one of the Manchester

H e o ne o f r r - s school . was the ea liest f ee trader ; he has always gone as straight as an arrow about R eform ; he is

r an ardent voluntary in eve y possible line, opposed the

’ H one o f D Ten ours Bill, was of the leaders the issenting opposition o ut of Parliament which smashed up the educa

’ tion clauses of Sir James Graham s Factory Act ; and he paid the whole expenses of a most important church - rate

f o n And o w . contest out his pocket , finally, he looks for

’ r T wa d to marrying his deceased wife s sister . able , as my

r n G D f ie d Mr . rant uff says , the whole Liberal creed, and in not a single point of it will you find Bottles tripping

‘ T ’ hat is all very well as to their politics , said

A ‘ rminius, but I want to hear about their education and

’ ‘ ’

n . T i telligence here, too, I can satisfy you , I answered .

‘ L um in ton was E H i tall p g at ton . t was on the foundation

at Charterhouse, placed there by his uncle, a distinguished

of Y prelate, who was one the trustees . ou know we E nglish have no notion of your bureaucratic tyranny of treating the appointments to these great foundations as r public pat onage, and vesting them in a responsible ’ ' / I N V A RllI I N US O COI P UL S OR Y ED UCA TION 49

er in wh minist ; we vest them independent magnates , o

o f relieve the State all work and responsibility, and never

of for H i l take a shilling salary their trouble . tta l was the

’ last o f six nephews nominated to the Charterhouse by his t uncle, his good prelate , who had thoroughly learnt the

' ‘ ’ ‘ t b e ins at divine lesson that chari y g home . But I want ’ A to know what his nephew learnt , interrupted rminius ,

‘ ’ Lum in ton E ‘ T and what Lord p g learnt at ton . hey

’ ‘ old cur followed, said I , the grand , , fortifying, classical

’ ‘ Did ? ’ riculum. they know anything when they left

i ‘ f asked Armin us . I have seen some longs and shorts o

’ ’ ‘ H ittall s , said I , about the Calydonian Boar, which were

’ not bad . But you surely don t need me to tell you ,

A t rminius , that it is rather in raining and bracing the mind

—a of for future acquisition , course mental gymnastics we

a it — set c ll , than in teaching any thing, that the classical

’ ‘ curriculum . is so valuable . Were the minds of Lord

H ittall Lumpington and M r . much braced by their mental

‘ ’ m A . I gy nastics inquired rminius Well , _ answered ,

‘ during their three years at Oxford they were so much

' occupied with Bullingdon and hunting that there was no

fo r great opportunity to judge . But my part I have always thought that their both getting their degree at last

with flying colours , after three weeks of a famous coach for a n i f st men , four ights without going to bed, and an ncredible E ’ L 5 0 FRIENDSH IP S GAR A ND.

o f r - consumption wet towels , strong cigars , and b andy and

of of a water , was one the most astonishing feats ment l

’ gymnastics I ever heard of.

’ ‘ for That will do the land and the Church , said

And You Arminius . now let us hear about commerce ? ’ H mean how was Bottles educated answered I . ere we

get into another line altogether, but a very good line in its

to o . . way, M r Bottles was brought up at the Lycurgus

Y u A . o H ouse cademy, Peckham are not to suppose from the name of Lycurgus that any Latin and Greek was

taught in the establishment ; the name only indicates the

a o mor l discipline, and the strenu us earnest character,

. As imparted there to the instruction , the thoughtful

educator who was prmcrpal o f the Lycurgus H ouse

A a — A Silver um Ph D c demy, rchimedes p p, . . , you must have

of G P— ! heard him in ermany had modern views . We

our a ! must be men of age, he used to s y. Useful i knowledge , liv ng languages , and the forming of the mind

through observation and experiment, these are the funda f ” o . r a mental articles my educational creed O , s I have heard his pupil Bottles put it in his expansive moments after dinner (Bottles used to ask me to dinner till that

ff o f ! a air yours with him in the R eigate t rain) : Origin al man Silver um , p p fine mind fine system None of your — — antiquated rubbish all practical work latest di scoveries

V L ETTE R I I .

ion about Compulsory E ducat .

S tr et A ril 2 1 1 86 . Grub e , p , 7

nd im I TA K E up the thread of the interesting a portant discussion on compulsory educatio n betwee n

Arminius and me where I left it last night .

‘ ’ A ‘ a of But, continued rminius , you were t lking com

’ ulsor o f . p y education , and your common people s want it

w r No , my dear f iend , I want you to understand what this p rinciple of compulsory education really means . It means

’ far fo r that to ensure, as as you can , every man s being fit

or his business in life, you put education as a bar, con

The dition , between him and what he aims at . principle

one is just as good for class as another, and it is only by

u applying . it impartially that yo save its application from

ur s being insolent and invidious . O Prussian pea ant stands our compelling him to instruct himself before he may go

about his calling, because he sees we believe in instruction ,

our too and compel own class, , in a way to make it really

r t o r feel the p essure , inst uct itself before it may go about M L Y E D UCA TI I V MORE A BO UT CO P U SOR O . 5 3

’ ' ow ou its calling . N , y propose to make old Diggs s boys instruct themselves before they may go bird -scaring or

- sheep tending . I want to know what you do to make those three worthies in that justice - room instruct them

’ ma selves before they y go acting as magistrates and judges .

’ ‘ DO ? f said I why, just look what they have done all o

Lum in ton H ittall themselves . p g and have had a public

Dr school and university education ; Bottles has had .

’ il r m an of S ve pu p s, d the practical training business . What

’ on earth would you have us make them do more ?

Qualify themselves for administrative or judicial functions ,

’

A . T if they exercise them , said rminius hat is what really

ou answers, in their case, to the compulsion y propose to

’ D b Lum in ton apply to iggs s oys . Sending Lord p g and

” H ittall n of Mr . to school is othing ; the natural course D ’ things takes them there . on t suppose that, by doing

this , you are applying the principle of compulsory educa D ’ and ou . You are tion fairly, as y apply it to iggs s boys

fo r or not interposing, the rich , education as a bar con

dition between them and that which they aim at . But

we e interpose it, as do , between the rich and things th y

sa . to aim at , and I will y something to you I should like

’ Lum in to n ? know what has made . Lord p g a magistrate

‘ ’ ‘ r Lum in ton r ? Made Lo d p g a magist ate said I ; why,

’ ‘ L um in to n t . And R the p g es ate , to be sure the everend ’ 54 FRIENDSHIP S GARL AND .

‘ E i all A . sau H tt continued rminius Why, the Lumping

’ ‘ of . And ton living, course, said I that man Bottles

‘ ’ H is E and - he went on . nglish energy self reliance, I

’ a r r f A nswe ed ve y sti fly, for rminius s incessant carping began

‘ to put me in a h uff ; those same incomparable and truly

British qualities which have just triumphed over every

obstacle and given us the Atlantic telegraph - and let me

V on T . tell you , , in m y opinion it will be a long time

! ” before the Geist of any pedant of a Prussian professor

’ ‘ ’ gives us anything half so valuable as that . Pshaw !

A ‘ replied rminius , contemptuously ; that great rope, with a ! P hilistine at each end of it talking inutilities

‘ ’ h e on ‘ But in my country , went , we should have begun to put a pressure on these future magistrates at

. L um in ton school Before we allowed Lord p g and Mr .

H ittall t o go to the university at all, we should have

examined them , and we should not have trusted the

of keepers that absurd cockpit you took me down to see ,

t o examine them as they chose, and send them jogging comfortably off to the university on their lame longs and

. No shorts ; there would have been some Mr . Grote as

School Board Commissary, pitching into them questions a r bout histo y, and some Mr . Lowe, as Crown Pat ronage

Commissary, pitching into them questions about English literature ; and these young men would have been kept MORE A BO UT COMP UL SOR Y ED UCA TION 5 5

’ D r from the university, as iggs s boys are kept f om their

- T bird scaring, till they had instructed themselves . hen ,

of to if, after three years their university, they wanted

! —a be magistrates, another pressure great Civil Service

of examination before a board experts , an examination in

E R E of nglish law, oman law, nglish history, history juris

‘ prudence A most abominable liberty to take with

T c om Lumpington and H ittall exclaimed I . hen your pulso ry education is a most abominable liberty to take with

D ’ ’ ! r A . iggs s boys , reto ted rminius But , good gracious

’ ‘ A o u a my dear rminius, expostulated I , do y really me n

’ to maintain that a man can t put old Diggs in quod for snaring a hare without all this elaborate apparatus of

’ ‘ Roman law and history o f jurisprudence ? And do you

’ A ‘ really mean to maintain , returned rminius , that a man

’ can t go bird - scaring o r sheep - tending without all this

’ ‘ ’ r of r ? Oh elabo ate apparatus a compulso y school , but ,

‘ w a o f I answered , to live at all , even at the lo est st ge

’ ‘ ’ human life, a man needs instruction . Well, returned

‘ A r rminius, and to administe at all , even at the lowest

’ stage of public administration , a man needs instruction .

’

e so . We hav never found it , said I

Arminius shrugged his shoulders and was silent . By this time the proceedings in the justice - room we re d rawn to an of end, the majesty the law had been vindicated ’ L 56 FRIENDSHIP S GAR AND.

D r out. against old iggs , and the magistrates we e coming

I never saw a finer spectacle than my friend Arminius

as az as presented, he stood by to g e on the august trio

H is - n they passed . pilot coat was tightly buttoned rou d

e his stout form , his light blue ey shone, his sanguine cheeks were ruddier than ever with the cold mo rning and the

of o f was excitement discourse, his fell tow blown about

of - by the March wind, and volumes tobacco smoke issued

old is from his lips . So in days stood , I imagine, h great

a a a on R n mes ke by the b nks of the Lippe, glaring the oman

legions before their destruction .

H is Lord Lumpington was the first who came out.

r - and lo dship good naturedly recognised me with a nod, then eyeing Arminius with su rprise and curiosity Wh o m

’ ‘ o n A r earth have you got there ? he whispered . ve y

’ savant distinguished young Prussian , replied I and then

r dropping my voice, in my most impressive unde tones I

‘ : And o f added a young man very good family, besides ,

’ my lord . Lord Lumpington looked at Arminius again ;

and smiled, shook his head , and then , turning away,

‘ ’ ’ : c ou on r half aloud Can t ompliment y your f iend ,

says he .

As H ittall f for that centaur , who thinks o nothing o n

ar fi eld- r r e th but sports , and in the pe fo mance of his sacred

duti s . n e ever warms up except when he lights o n some COIWP UL S OR Y MORE A BO UT ED UCA TION. 57

or passage about hunting fowling, he always , whenever he

a meets me, remembers that in my unregener te days , before

Ar a for was minius inoculated me with a p ssion intellect , I r not ather fond of shooting, and q uite such a successful

H ittall a shot as himself. So , the moment he c tches sight

‘ ’ ’ ‘ : H ow old ? o ut l Of me d ye do , fellow he blurts ; wel ,

ou been shooting any straighter this year than y used to, eh ? ’

r m Ar I turned f o him in pity, and then I noticed minius ,

’ wh o had unluckily heard Lord Lumpington s unfavourable

on comment him , absolutely purple with rage and blowing

‘ ’ turk e c o c k N A like a y . ever mind , rminius , said I sooth

‘ in l run Lum in to n ask g y after p g , and him the square

’ r o f - r l oot thirty six . But now it was my tu n to be a litt e

f e no or . an yed , at the same instant Mr Bottl s stepped into

r and r his b ougham , which was waiting for him , obse ving

A old of R rminius , his enemy the eigate train , he took no

of notice whatever me who stood there, with my hat in

r my hand , practising all the airs and graces I have lea nt o n o f the Continent ; but, with that want amenity I so

often have to deplore in my countrymen , he pulled up

o ur a the glass . on side with grunt and a jerk , and drove o ff d A r like the win , leaving rminius in a very bad tempe

a and indeed , and me, I confess , a good de l shocked

mortified . ’ L 5 8 FRI E I VD S H /P S GAR AND .

A ot r H owever, both rminius and I g ove it , and have

now returned to London , where I hope we shall before l o ng have another go od talk about educational matters .

r A am fo r Whateve rminius may say , I still going straight ,

with all our heart and soul , at compulsory education for

! Sir our o r r . the l we o ders Why , good heavens , with

z r present squee able Ministry, we are evidently d ifting fast

and to household suffrage , pure simple ; and I observe,

r r mo eover, a Jacobinical spi it growing up in some quarters

a which gives me more alarm th n even household suffrage .

o G r r sit c om My elevated p sition in ub St eet, Sir, where I mercin ar a o f a g with the st s , comm nds a view a cert in

a sp cious and secluded back yard ; and in that back yard ,

saw th e o Sir, I tell you confidentially that I ther day with

own n r my eyes that powerful you g publicist , Mr . Frede ic

H r in a ar ison , full evening costume, furbishing up guillotine .

T n are r sa hese thi gs very se ious and I y, if the masses are

’ to and have power, let them be instructed, don t swamp with igno rance and u nreason the education and intelligence

a a which now be r rule mongst us . For my part , when I

’ o f L um in to n s and n think p g estate, family, co nections ,

’ o f H ittall s o f when I think shooting , and the energy and

- r self eliance of Bottles , and when I see the unexampled pitch of splendou r and security to which these have c o n

c am own r du ted us, I bent , I , on t ying to m ake the new

(FROM the autumn of this year ( 1 8 6 7) dates one of the f most painful memories o my life . I have mentioned in the last letter but one how in the spring I was commencing

r the study of German philosophy with A minius . In the

M r o f . autumn that year the celebrated young Comtist ,

r r H r o f F ede ic ar ison , resenting some supposed irreverence

a r in mine towards his m ster , pe mitted himself, a squib ,

n un ustifiab l o f brilliant i deed, but j y severe, to make game

na for a o n my i ptitude philosophic l pursuits . It was this

‘ o ccasion he launched the damning sentence : We seek

A r M r . o f vainly in . a system philosophy with p inciples

’ r r n cohe ent, inte depe dent , subordinate, and derivative .

Th e a blow c me at an unlucky moment for me . I was

n G A studyi g, as I have said , erman philosophy with rminius

’ ‘ we were then engaged o n H egel s Phenomenology o f

’ Geist and Ar , it was my habit to develop to minius , at

r r g eat length , my views of the meaning of his g eat but

f o r a O ne r r . a di ficult c unt ym n mo ning I had , pe h ps, been

u r a r r r a little f lle than usual over ve y p ofound chapte .

Arm was f r n r o inius suf e i g f om dyspepsia (br ught on , as I 6 1

a w a believe , by incessant smoking) his temper, l ays irrit ble ,

to - h e seemed suddenly burst from all control, flung the

' P hanomenolo ie to a g the other end of the room , excl iming

That smart young fellow I s quite right it is impossible to

’ ’ make a silk purse out o f a sow s ear ! This led to a

a sa rupture, in which I think I may f irly y that the chief

blame was not on my side . But two invaluable years were

M r r thus lost Arminius abandoned me for . F ederic

H u of his arrison , who m st certainly have many memoranda

later conversations , but has never given them , as I always

A n did mine of his earlier ones , to the world . mela choly occasion brought Arminius and me together again in 1 8 6 9 the sparkling pen of my friend Leo has luckily preserved — ED . the record of what then passed . ) L R V ETTE I I I .

Under a P la ul S i nature m Friend L eo o the yf g , y , f

‘ ’ D ail Tele ra h advocates an im ortant L iberal y g p , p

IVI ure and in so doin ives N ews o A rminius eas . , , g , g f

’ me s P c n si . a s la e u e 8 1 86 j , j , 9 .

FO R the sake of my health it is my custom at this full - bl ooded time o f the year to submit myself to a lower

o f fo r ing course medical treatment , which causes me a few days to be voted below par for Fleet Street ; so I have

of bethought myself utilising my leisure, while universal

a humanity does not cl im me, and while my style is reduced

f P all M all Gaz ette nearer the pitch o the , by writing to

o n you on a subject in which I am strongly interested, and

a see far which your ide s are , I am sorry to , from sound .

I mean that great subj ect o f which a fragment will be

r - H b ought under discussion to night, by the ouse of Com

’ n r hamb r mons going into Committee o M . C e s s admirable

’ o bill for enabling a w man to marry her sister s husband .

My ideas on this subj ect have been stirred into lively

a activity by a visit I h ve j ust been making . I believe my L E O A D V T L I BE RA L 6 OCA TES A GREA MEA S URE. 3 name has been once or twice mentioned in your columns

R in connection with the Bottles family near eigate, and

of with a group friends gathered round them . Poor M rs.

ri fo r Bottles , I grieve to say , is ot long this world . She and her family showed an interest in me while I was rising to

name and fam e, and I trust I have never forgotten it .

She sate, as Curran says , by my cradle , and I intend to

follow her hearse . Meanwhile, with our Paris corre s ondent p , who happens to be over here for a few days , I

to R Th have been down eigate to inquire after her . e accounts were unhappily as bad as possible ; but what I saw awakened a train of ideas and suggestions which I am

o u going to communicate to y .

I found a good many people assembled, of whom T several had come on the same errand as I . here was

- of that broken down acquaintance my early youth, Mr .

A as Matthew rnold , who h had many a dinner from Mrs . Bottles (for she was kind to literature even in its humblest T manifestations) , snivelling and crying in a corner . here

of to was that offensive young Prussian his , who seems him have dropped entirely , and to have taken up with a

much younger man than my poor Old acquaintance , and a

i - r re much be ter dressed man, with whom he is pu suing

a searches concerning labour and capital , which are h rdly,

ur a a a . as o Paris correspondent s ys , p lpitating with actu lity I P as A R 64 FRIE NDSH G L A N D .

There Was a B aptist minister who h ad been the shepherd

o f the Bottles family in the old days when they were

' h as Dissenters , and who never quite lost his hold upon

T h er H Mrs . Bottles . here was sister annah , j ust about

a e as the same g poor Sarah who married Bottles , and the

’ T B ttles s o f . o very image her here was Job Bottles ,

E n brother, who is on the Stock xcha ge a man with black

of hair at the sides his head , a bald crown , dark eyes and

- a and . fleshy nose, a camellia in his button hole Finally, f n o . there was that ha dsome niece Mr and Mrs . Bottles ,

’ M ar ane . r n Mary Jane . y j I neve pronounce the am e

without emotion ; in season and o ut Of seas o n it keeps

‘ rising to my lips . But the life we live in Fleet Street is

r a all f devou ing , and I h ve sacrificed to it thought O mar

ria e O ur Pa g . ris correspondent comforts me by saying w that, even ith the domestic affections suppressed, exist

ence turns out to be a much more tolerable affair than

humdrum people fancy .

of a Presently the members the f mily left the room, and as the Baptist minister took the N onconformist out of his

and a r pocket beg n to ead it , as the Prussian savant was

r i M quite abso bed w th his new young man , and as r.

L eo e re a u es I ma ne to w at th e o h ll d , i gi , h w rld has d oub tless — not e the re uent ntro u t o n o f M ai ane n ic d , f q i d c i y j i to his articles fo r

- h D . t e T. ED . L E O A D VOCA T L I BE RA L 6 TES A GREA MEA S URE. 5

A Matthew rnold counts for nothing, I was left to the

of conversation our Paris correspondent, whom we call Nick because of the diabolical salt which sparkles in his de

‘ ’ ‘ T h m ’ li r c T . . a b r v an es. e s s e hey say, I began , that if Mr C

excellent bill , which the Liberal party are carrying with

of such decisive maj orities , becomes law, the place poor H Mrs . Bottles will be taken by her sister annah , whom

you have just seen . Nothing could be more proper ; H M rs. B ottles wishes it , Miss annah wishes it, this reverend r of of f iend the family, who has himself made a marriage

’ ‘ E s . the same kind , wishes it, everybody wishe it verybody

’ old but Bottles himself, I should think , retorted my

‘ ’ — ’ friend ; don t envy him at all l shouldn t so much mind

’ if it were the younger one, though .

T of hese light words my friend, Sir, seemed to touch

a spring in me . Instantly I felt myself visited by a shower of o f for fo r ideas , full import the Liberal party and the

future, and which impel me to address to you the present

’ ‘ And one N ? letter . why not the younger , ick said I , gently why not ? Either as a successor to Miss H annah o r of H not ? in lieu Miss annah , why Let us apply John

’ r ? Bright s c ucial tests . Is she his first cousin Could there be a more natural companion for Selina and the

? r — so other Bottles girls O , to take the moral ground touchingly and irresistibly chosen by o ur great popular F ’ RLA N D 6 6 FRIENDSHIP S GA .

—if tribune, legislation on this subject were impeded by the

ot party of bigotry, if they chose not to wait for it, if they g

on married without it, and if you were to meet them the

r boulevard at Paris during their wedding tou , should you

r fli : . ou o go up to Bottles and say Mr Bottles , y are a p

’ ’ ‘ a ? ‘ h N g te man O dear, no, said ick ; I should never

’ ‘ o f And on dream it . if you met them a year later

’ ‘ N the same spot, I continued, with a ormandy nurse

cr ut behind them carrying a baby , should you y o to the

’ ‘ ’ : ? N of poor little thing Bastard othing the kind , he

answered .

I noticed that my friend accompanied each of these f assurances with a slight rapid droop o one eyelid . Let

’ ‘ fli nc Y a N . ou ou us have no pp y, ick , I said mean that y hardly feel yourself in a position to take high moral ground

’ ‘ ’ ‘ of our this kind Well, said he, I suppose that even

great tribune, John Bright himself, does not very often

rofli ates address people as bastards and p g , whatever he f o . At thinks them least , I should imagine the Offender

must almost be a bishop or some other high - placed

’ Anglican ecclesiastic to provoke him to do so ‘ A fig

’ ‘ . or for your fine distinctions , cried I Secretly openly ,

one will any dare call Bottles , if he contracts a marriage of

’ rofli ate ? this kind, a p g man A Poor Mr . Matthew rnold, upon this, emerged sud

’ R 6 8 FRIENDSHIP S GA L A N D .

‘ r m E I neve refuse to listen to a re ark upon style . xplain

’ ‘ H D ’ yourself, said I ; why do you call Mr . epworth ixon s

, ’ - a M acaula ese ? M acaula ese style middle cl ss y I call it y ,

‘ a r says the ped nt, because it has the same inte nal and

’ e xternal characteristics as Macaulay s style ; the external characteristic being a hard metallic movement with nothing

f of o the soft play life, and the internal characteristic being a perpetual semblance of hitting the right n ail on the h ead — . And Macaula e se without the reality I call it middle class y , because it has these faults without the c ompensation o f

o f a great studies and conversance with great ffairs, by

’ a which Macaul y partly redeemed them .

’ r a I tu ned way in pity . Let us leave the envious, said

‘ N on n I to ick, to break their teeth this mag ificent file, the countlessness of whose editions has something analogous

- a o f D ail Tele ra h to the world wide circul tion the y g p . Let

r fi ne of r us pu sue his regenerating idea sexual insu rection .

a Let us deal with this question as whole . Why, after

Mr . Chambers has succeeded at his one single point

- to night, are we to have to begin afresh at other points

- r ? a to mor ow We h ve established, I hope, that no man may presume to call Bottles profligate for marrying either

- in- H o r his sister law annah , his niece Mary Jane . But this

A o o . is not en ugh complicati n , like the complications of

G r t s to reek t agedy, sugges s it elf my mind . You noticed V R A T 6 L E O A D OCA TES A G E L I BE RA L MEA S URE. 9

Y z . ou Mr . Job Bottles must have seen his ga e resting o n Mary Jane . But what with his cigars , his claret, his

- o . camellias, and the state f the money market , Mr Job

H is Bottles is not a marrying man just at this moment .

o n brother is ; but his brother cannot last for ever . Job ,

o f and . the other hand , is full vigour vitality We have

of heard of the patience Job ; how natural , if his brother

a now marries M ry Jane , that Job , with his habits tempered ,

of o f - his view life calmed, and the state the money market

i sh e different, may w sh , when is a widow some five years

r An . d hence, to ma ry her himself we have arrangements

! At which make this illegal such arrangements I hurl ,

f r with scorn and disgust, the burning words o ou great leader—Ecclesiastical rubbish

I t an t e e Fr nd o r m a e f tea n e t t wor . h k h , i chi g h d

B l ’ . o tt e s s r Why , I ask , is Mr Job liberty, his Ch istian

r n libe ty, as my reverend frie d yonder would say, to be abridged in this manner ? And why is Protestant Dis sent to be diverted from its g reat task of abolishing State

Churches for the purpose o f removing obstacles to the sexual insurrection of our race ? Why are its more devoted

of ministers to be driven to contract, in the interests

r of Ch istian liberty, illegal unions this kind themselves , pour encourager les autres l Why is the earnest liberalism ’ L 7 o FRIENDSHIP S GAR AND . and nonconformity of Lancashire and Yorkshire to be agitated o n this question by hope deferred ? Why is it to be put incessantly to the inconvenience of going to be

G o r U married in ermany in the nited States , that greater and better Britain

Wh ves us manners ree om v rtue ower ? ich gi , f d , i , p

Why must ideas on this topic have to be incubated for

of the Shak s eare years in that nest spicery, as divine p says , f T o . . the mind Mr Chambers, before they can rule the T ? . world For my part , my resolve is formed his great question shall henceforth be seriously taken up in Fleet

As so old Street . a p to those toothless Cerberuses, the

n N ’ bishops, who impotently exhibit still the passio s, as ick s

n French friends say , of a other age, we will accord the continuance of the prohibition which forbids a man to

his marry grandmother . But in other directions there

’ h f r . amb rs s o shall be freedom Mr . C e admirable bill

’ enabling a woman to marry her sister s husband will

- doubtless pass triumphantly through Committee to night,

’ f Th e amidst the cheers o the ladies gallery . Liberal

party must supplement that bill by two others : one

’ ’ enabling people to marry their brothers and sisters

’ n hi children , the other enabli g a man to marry s brother s

’ wife . S A GRE A T L I BE RA L 1 MEA S URE . 7 s prospect fills me with an which lo ment y only in Fleet Street, and I am

myself, Y ours in haste, L A YOUN G ION . — ur H (AFTER o meeting at Laburnum ouse, have I ever R mentioned that the m ansion of Mr . Bottles at eigate is — called Laburnum H ouse intercourse was renewed b e

A tween rm inius and me , but alas not the close intimacy

f a r a o . old d ys Perhaps , had I foreseen his app o ching

end, I should have made more strenuous efforts to regain

his confidence . But it was not to be ; and the following A letter will show the cruel inj ustice with which rminius ,

r H r misled , I am su e, by Mr . Frederic arrison and the pa ty m with who that gentleman generally acts, could bring himself to speak of the man wh o has done so m uch to

popularise his name and ideas . ) L ! ETTE R I .

A rminius startin or the Continent to tahe art in , g f p

the War between France and P russ a add i , resses a

D isrespectf ul Farewell to Our P eople and I nstitu

t n io s.

l Che uer Alle A u u t q y, g s 9, 1 870.

I AM o ff t o night for the Continent to join the Prussian army ; if it had not been for an accidental circumstance

2 ou with which I need not trouble y , I should have been off

a fortnight ago . I have no love for the preaching old drill

K of or sergeant who is called ing Prussia , for the audacious conspirator who pulls his wires this conspirator and his

rival conspirator, Louis Bonaparte, stand in my affections

o n ar. pretty much a p Both play their own game, and are m a . a r obst cles to better things I a republican , I desi e

n a republic for every country in Europe . I believe o

' A ter our ru ture Arm n us remove rom m mme ate ne f p , i i d f y i di igh b ourho d in ru tr and estab s e mse in C e uer A o G b S eet li h d hi lf h q lley . I l ove to think that pilgrims will one day seek out his l odging t ere - E D h . 2 i — H s e ts a as ED . d b , l ’ 7 4 FRIENDSHIP S GA RL A N D . country of Europe is so fitted to be a republic as Germany ;

I believe her difficulties are from her H ohenz ollerns and

sh e H apsburgs, and nothing else . I believe will end by getting rid of these gentry and that till that time comes the world will never know of what real greatness sh e is

we capable . But the present war, though are led by the

- — of G old drill sergeant and his wire puller, is a war ermany

against France . I must go and take part in it .

Before I go , I am moved to send you a few farewell

remarks on your country and its position , about which you seem (and I am sure I do not wonder at it) to be much

concerned and embarrassed just now . I have a great

esteem for your nation , its genius , and its past history and your present stage of development has been a subject of constant study and thought with me duri ng the years I

have lived here . Formerly I have more than once com municated ou my ideas to y , as occasion arose, through

A . M r. Matthew rnold But experience has shown me that ,

though willing and inquisitive, he has hardly brain enough

of for my purpose ; besides , he has late been plunged over head and ears in some dispute of Greeks of the

Lower Empire wi th your foolish and impracticable Dis

1 senters .

I make no comment o n th e tone and spirit of this b ut I cannot forbear remarking that wi th th e removal of Arminius and his influe nce

’ 7 6 FRIENDSHIP S GA RL AND.

a to other Powers in the most magnificent manner ( duty ,

‘ sa E y the truth , it always fulfils) what ngland believes to ’ G be due from and to her, keeps exhorting your overnment

to do the same, to speak some brave words, and to speak

’ them with promptitude and energy .

I suppose your Government will do so . But forgive me if I tell you that to us disrespectful foreigners it makes very little difference in our estimate o f you and of the

futu re whether y o ur Government does so or not . What

’ gives the sense and significance to a Government s declara

And tions is the power which is behind the Government . what is the power which is behind the Government o f ? Th England at the present epoch e Philistines .

n Simply and solely the Philistines , my dear frie d, take

r No sa is . a n my wo d for it , you will y, it the nation P rdo

n a me, you have no natio . France is fused into one n tion

r r by the milita y spirit, and by her democ acy, the great

o f 1 8 legacy 7 9, and subsisting even amidst her present corruption . Germany is fused into one nation by her idea of union and of the elevation of her whole people through

You culture . are made up, as I have often told you

r of through my poo disciple whom you so well know,

- three distinct and unfused bodies, Barbarians, Philistines, Y . ou Populace call them aristocracy, middle, and lower

. '

s. One of these n an clas three must be predomi ant d lead . RM /N I US H I S L V OF L A TA KES EA E ENG AND . 7 7

for o r T Your lower class counts as yet littl e nothing . here is among the m a small body of workmen with modern

of ideas , ideas organisation ; who may be a nucleus for the

o f future ; there are more them Philistines in a small way ,

Philistines in embryo but most of them are mere

n es d r ow . r i uu o m. populace, , to use your kindly term ,

Such a class does not lead . Formerly your aristocracy led ; it commanded the politics of the country ; it had an

’ — of aristocracy s ideas , limited enough , but the idea the

’ — country s grandeur and dignity was among them it took

your middle and lower class along with it, and used them in m its own way , and it ade the great war which the battle of

Wate rloo crowned . But countries must outgrow a feudal

of organisation , and the political command an aristocracy Y your country has outgrown it . our aristocracy tells upon

England socially ; by all the power o f example o f a class h - - igh placed , rich , idle , self indulgent, without mental life, it

teaches your Philistines how to live fast . But it no longe r

rules ; at most it but administers ; the Philistines rule . That makes the difference between Lord Grenville and

G had Lord Granville . When Lord renville to speak to

E in 1 r urope 7 93 , he had behind him you aristocracy, not

n i deed fused with your middle and lower class , but w ielding them and usmg their force ; and all t h e world

ra for n knew what your aristoc cy meant, they k ew it them ’ N L A D . 7 8 FRIEN DSHIP S GA R

G selves . But Lord ranville has behind him , when he

1 8 0 or speaks to Europe in 7 , your Philistines middle class ;

or and how should the world know, much care, what your middle class mean ? for they do not know it themselves .

To You may be mortified , but such is the truth . be

on consequent and powerful , men must be bottomed some

or sentiment r vital idea , , which lends st ength and certainty f to their action . Your aristocracy o seventy years ago had the sentiment of the greatness of the old aristocratical E ngland, and that sentiment gave them force to endure

labours , anxiety, danger, disappointment , loss, restrictions

f Y fo unda o liberty . our ruling middle class has no such

ou tion hence its imbecility . It would tell y it believes

r E in indust ial development and liberty . xamine what it

means by these, and you find it means getting rich and

An not being meddled with . d these it imagines to be

- self acting powers for good , and agents of greatness ; so E that if more trade is done in ngland than anywhere else,

if your personal independence is without a check , and your

newspaper publicity unbounded, your Philistines think they

are by the nature of things great, powerful, and admirable, and that their England has only to speak with promptitude

’ and energy in order to prevail .

My dear friend , do not hold your notions in this

do mechanical fashion, and not be misled by that magnifi H I S L V OF L N A RMINIUS TA KES EA E ENG A D . 7 9

‘ cent Times of yours ; it is not the failing to speak with r d p omptitu e and energy which injures you , it is the having Y nothing wise o r consistent to say. our ruling middle

no r class have great, seriously and t uly conceived end — therefore no greatness of soul o r mind therefore no sted ff . ou fastness and power in great a airs While y are thus ,

Y u in great affairs you do and must fumble . o imagine that your words must have weight with us because you are very rich and have unbounded liberty and publicity you

will find yourselves mistaken , and you will be bewildered .

T u ou hen yo may get involved in war, and y imagine that you cannot but make war well by dint of being so very rich ; that you will just add a penny o r two to your

- - income tax, change none of your ways , have clap trap

r everywhere, as at p esent, unrestricted independence,

rr legions of newspaper co espondents, boundless publicity ;

of hustle and thus , at a grand high pressure expenditure, ,

a and excitement, arrive at a h ppy and triumphant result .

But autho rity and victory over people who are in earnest

means being in earnest oneself, and your Philistines are not in earnest ; they have no idea great enough to make them so: They want to be important and authoritative ; they want to enforce peace and curb the ambitious ; they want to drive a roaring trade ; they want to know and criticise all that is being done they want no restrictions 80 FRIENDSHIP s GARL AND.

on their personal liberty, no interference with their usual way of going on ; they want all these incompatible things

n equally and at o ce, because they have no idea deep and A strong enough to subordinate everything else to itself. correspondent of your o wn Times wrote from Berlin the

‘ The o f other day, complete control this people by the

’ H ow State is most striking . would your Philistines like

o f that ? Not at all . But it is by sacrifices this kind that

. success in great affairs is achieved and when your Philis

- tines find this out, or find that a raised income tax, torrents

- w and o f clap trap , everybody saying hat he likes doing w what he likes , ne spaper correspondents everywhere, and

a generally animated state of the public mind, are not

- enough to command success, they will be still more

bewildered .

And this is the power which Lord Granville h as behind

him , and which is to give the force and meaning to his

r G ! words . Poo Lord ranville I imagine he is under no H . e r e illusions knows the B itish Philistine, with his lik s

f hot and dislikes, his e fusion and confusion , his and cold

of fits , his want dignity and of the stedfastness which comes

r of of f om dignity, his want ideas and the stedfastness

a — h e r which comes from ide s has seen him at wo k already .

H e has seen the Russian war and the R ussian peace ; a

' war and peace you r aristocracy did not make and never H I L V F 8 1 A RMINIUS TA KES S EA E O EN GL A ND . — m ' would have ade, the British Philistine and his news

papers have the whole merit o f it . In your social gatherings

I know you have the habit o f assuring o ne another that in some mysterious waythe Russian war did you good in the

’ ' ‘ eye s o f Europe . Undeceive yourselves it did you nothing

' a G tOO clever but h rm , and Lord ranville is far a man not

T ‘ D r to . know it hen , in the enma k quarrel , your Philistines

no t did make war, indeed , but they threatened it . Surely in the Denm ark case there was no want o f brave words

a ‘ no f ilure to speak out with promptitude and energy . f A nd we all know what came o it . Unique British Philistine ! Is he most to be revered when he makes his wars o r when he threatens them ? And at the prompting o f this great backer Lord Granville is now to speak !

r sa ! P obably he will have, as the French y, to execute him self ; only do no t suppose that we are under anydelusion

as to the sort o f force he has behind him .

’ a u My dear friend, I think I am perh ps writing to yo

to E fo r the last time, and by the love I bear the ngland o f your past literature and history, I do exhort your Philis

E sa tine middle class, which is now ngland, to get, as I y,

‘ Geist to search and not rest till it sees things more .

of as they really are, and how little a power over things

- or as they really are is its money making , its unrestricted

or or D or independence , its newspaper publicity, its issent,

G ’ 8 2 FRIENDSHIP S GARL AND.

any of the things with which it is now most taken and

h ow its newspapers deceive it when they tell it night and

day that, being what it is, and having the obj ects it has, it

of commands the envy and deference the world , and is on

the sure road to greatness and happiness, if indeed it be

not already arrived there . My dear friend, I have told you

our G a — the elevation o a whole eo erman progr mme, f p ple

t rou h u T h g cult re. hat need not be your English pro

ou gramme, but surely y may have some better programme

one - the beati cation o than this your present , fi f a whole

eo le throu h - tra p p g clap p .

And now o , my dear friend , it is time for me to g , and

no t to what fate I go I know but this I know, that your

r r so count y, whe e I have lived long and seen so much ,

is on its way either to a great transformation or to a

great disaster .

Y - our sincere well wisher,

V O N THUNDER - TEN -T R ON CK H

The R o the P EDITO f ALL MALL GAZETTE .

’ A ND . 84 FRIENDSHIP S GA RL

‘ ’ r and r telling R ussia with p omptitude ene gy, in your own

‘ - E fine, full mouthed fashion, what ngland believes to be

’ due from and to her . B ut even at such a crisis you do

not forget to improve the occasion , and to indulge in the

f peculiar strain o moral reflection whence you get, your

‘ r r o acles tell us, that moral weight which you action , if

’ r r conducted with tole able judgment, is su e to command

‘ E dinbur h R eview G (see, in the last g , ermany, France ,

’ E a o f and . so ngl nd, p It is not much the matter

R ‘ the ussian incident as its manner that pains you . We

’ ‘ r Times protest, says you magnificent , that our sharpest feeling at the moment is pain at the apparent faithlessness o f z ar W the C , and at the rudeness ith which he has

’ r denounced the t eaty .

a h a My de r friend, the weat er is abomin ble, and the

of supply tobacco, to me at any rate, short and bad but I

cannot resist sitting down without a pipe, in the mud , to

see our write to you , when I y great heart beating in this

manner .

H ow — like you , how like the British Philistine in one of h is is ‘ hot fits, when he moved to speak to Europe with ! ’ Of promptitude and energy history, the future, the

a r of inevit ble d ive events, not an inkling ! A moral

R - — criticism of ussia and a wounded self consequence, that

is all T h you are full of. e B ritish Philistine all over N TH E BLA CK S E A E S TI N 8 A RMINIUS O Q U O . 5

A r of t your p esent stage development , as I have often

ou b e ne ficent remarked to y , this being is the depositary f Y f o . G o your force, the mover your policy our overn

You ment is , in and by itself, nothing . are a self

‘ governing people, you are represented by your strong

’ : middle part, your Philistine and this is what your

Government must watch this is what it must take its cue

from . H G ere , then , is your situation , that your overnment

does not and cannot really govern , but at present is and

must be the mouthpiece of your Philistines ; and that G foreign overnments know this very well , know it to their

cost . Nothing the best of them would like better than to

E r - ~ E d deal with ngland se iously and respectfully, the nglan

of E o f their traditions , the ngland history ; nothing, even , they would like better than to deal with the English

— as ma h Government, at any time it y appen to stand, com — f z or posed o a do en men more less eminent , seriously

God ! and respectfully . But, good it is not with these

do z en men in their natural state that a foreign Government

finds it has to deal ; it is with these doz en men sitting in

how — devout expectation to see the cat will jump, and that cat the British Philistine

What statesman can deal seriously and respectfully

when he finds that he is not dealing mind to mind with an ’S L 86 FRIENDSHIP GAR AND.

of intelligent equal, but that he is dealing with a tumult

- likes and dislikes , hopes , panics , intrigues, stock jobbing ,

- a i norance quidnuncs , newspapers , de ling with g in short — f r r o that o ne wo d contains it all, behind his intelligent equal ? Whatever he says to a British Minister, however

convincing he may be, a foreign statesman knows that he

’ of has only half his hearer s attention , that only one the

’ British Minister s eyes is tu rned his way the other eye is turned anxiously back o n the home Philistines and the h as ome press, and according these finally go the British

T r of r Minister must go too . his so t thing demoralises you

r in Ministe s themselves the end, even your able and honest

a G od ones, and m kes them impossible to deal with . forgive me if I do him wrong — but I always suspect that

old H r your sly Sir amilton Seymour, in his conve sations

E N war with the mperor icholas before the Crimean , had at a r l st your Philistines and your p ess, and their unmistakable

z bent, in his eye, and did not lead the poor C ar quite

. E straight If ever there was a man who respected ngland, and would have gone cordially and easily with a capable

r r N . E R B itish ministe , that man was icholas ngland, ussia, and Austria are the Powers with a real interest in the

E and astern question , it ought to be settled fai rly between h . N E t em icholas wished nothing better . ven if you would h rn not t us settle the question , he would have forbo e to any

i 88 FRIENDSHIP s GA RL AND . do z en years in every Chancery of Eu rope that Russia de

a to elat ed h er po siti o n in the Black S e be intolerable, and was r o an and na ar es lved to get it altered . Fr ce Bo p te, driven by the French f at as yo u are driven by the British

— at Philistine, and the French f has proved a yet more

fatal driver than yours , being debauched and immoral, as

as —a r R well ignorant, c me to g ief. I suppose ussia was not bound to wait till they were in a position to make

’ a ai ‘ r ou c pital out of her ag n . But with us, at any ate, y

sa ‘ will y, she might have dealt seriously and respectfully,

’ f a A b o . instead being f ithless and rude gain , I elieve

Russia would have wished nothi ng better than to deal

ou ou seriously with y , and to settle with y , not only the

o f S ea E question the Black , but the whole astern question ,

4 - which begins to press for settlement ; but it was impos

. o u ff sible It was impossible, because y o er nobody with

' You ofl er whom a serious statesman can deal se riously . a G overnment , with men in it eminent and able no doubt , but they do not make you r policy and their eye is always

rn to tu ing back the power behind them which does make it .

T a o r r Was R h t p we is the B itish Philistine . ussia, at a

r n fo r c itical mome t , to lose precious time waiting the chance

o f a n and fi s medley ccide ts , intrigues , hot cold t , stock

o r- r n o n j bbing, newspape a ticles , conversatio s the railway,

n a n on n out r co vers tio s the om ibus, of which g ows the A RMIN IUS ON TH E BLA CK S E A Q UES TION 89

of - foreign policy a self go verning people , when that self is

? R no t o n the British Philistine ussia thought , and p assed

to its obj ect .

For my part , I cannot call this faithless , though I admit

it may be called rude . But it was a rudeness which Governments with a serious object before them cannot

u Th e well help committing when they are dealing with yo .

question is : Will you at all better yourselves by having

‘ one of hot now your fits , Speaking with promptitude and ’ R energy, and, in fact, going to war with ussia for what she ? A has done las, my dear friend, this would be throwing the handle after the blade with a vengeance ! Because

your governing part, your Philistine middle class, is ignorant

R and impracticable, ussia has unceremoniously taken a step

E And in the astern question without you . what does your

going to war with Russia in the present posture of affairs

mean ? It means backing up the Porte to Show fight ;

' ’ Palmerston s old line for n going in , in Lord , upholdi g and — renovating the Grand T u rk it means fighting against

n T h o ature . his is w the ignorant and impracticable get punished they are made to smart for being ignorant and

im ractioab le to p , and they can only resent being made smart by showing themselves more ignorant and impracticable D . o so R still not do , my dear friend ussia has no wish

o u r t a n and to quarrel with y she had a se ious objec to g i , , L A N ! 90 FRIENDSHI P as GA R D .

as time pressed, she did what she had to do without entering into an i nterminable and possibly fruitless conver

’ ‘ n n r sation with you r you g ma from the count y . But she

does not mean more than her avowed object , which was really indispensable to her she will try to make things now as pleasant as she can (consistently with getting her obj ect) for your young man from the count ry ; and the moment the young man has clear ideas she will ask nothing better

r than to deal with him se iously and respectfully .

All U — turns pon that, my dear friend the improving

r At you young man and giving him clear ideas . present

r he is vulga , ignorant , and consequential and because he

un is vulgar, he is ignoble because he is ignorant , he is

on - u stable ; because he is consequential , he is the look o t for r aff onts and apt to fly into a heat . With these qualities

r mortifications he cannot but b ing upon you and himself, so or All long as he governs tries to govern . nations have

of their young man this sort, but with you alone he governs ,

E r of and hence the uropean impo tance him and his failings .

You know how I dislike the Junkerism and militarism Of

sa my own Prussian country and its government ; all I y is ,

- o f that the self government your Philistine is as bad, or even

r . T for A wo se here is nothing like it anywhere ; merica,

r n which in some respects esembles you, has ot you r meces

E h er sary relations with urope ; and, besides, Philistines ,

’ L 92 FRIENDSHIP S GAR AND.

And ou his h ot fits always as soon as possible . perhaps y

a are getting out of your recent hot fit alre dy perhaps ,

o ne o f fi ts even while I write, you have got into your cold ,

sa and are all for pacific solutions and moral suasion . I y,

H eaven grant it with all my heart .

And E ? , meanwhile, how are my friends in ngland I

see R E n think I Bottles by the oyal xcha ge at this moment,

‘ Times on the holding forth , with the in his hand , perfect unanimity of Opinion among the mercantile community of

l" the City of London I think I hear poor Mr . Matthew Arnold ’s platitudes about ‘ the two great conquests of

E —liber and ublicit nglish energy, ly p y Liberty, my dear r f iend, to make fools of yourselves , and publicity to tell all

r s the wo ld you are doing o .

r ar- deutsch Fo give my frankness , and believe me, your d sincere frien ,

V ON R - -TR ONC K H THUNDE TEN .

The o the P EDITOR f ALL MALL GAZETTE . L ETTE R ! L

tahe u th e ud els or ur Belo ed un r I p C g j O v Co t y .

Gru b S treet N mb r ove e 2 1 8 0 . , 5 , 7

I K NOW by experience how hard it is to get my

a A b ld , disjointed chat , as rminius calls it, into the news

r papers in these sti ring times , and that was why I did not attempt to complain o f that extraordinary effusion o f his H which you published in August last . e must have

at written that letter , with its unhandsome remarks my

expense, just after I had parted with him at his lodgings in

A o f Chequer lley, with expressions the tenderest concern , ff o . before he went to the war Since then , I have dis covered that he had referred nearly all his tradespeople to me for payment I am daily besieged in my garret by his

out is tobacconist , and when I get , the street made quite

of intolerable to me by the violence his washerwoman ,

m A though L a sure rminius , like all foreigners , always gave

T his washerwoman as little trouble as possible . hese

s now thing ~ have nettled me a good deal and there comes this new letter of his from Paris . in which , besides totally ’ S H lP S L . 94 FRI E N D i GA R AND

- A in r M r. uncalled fo r snee s at Bottles and me, rminius dulges in an outrageous attack on my country and her behaviour in this Russian business . I have kept silence for a few days to make sure of being perfectly cool but

now, Sir, I do hope you will give me space for a few lines in reply to him . About the Russian note I disagree with Arminius in t to o . I go thoroughly along with Lord Shaftesbury, whose

Times admirable letter to the proves , what I have always A thought , how unj ust rminius is in denying ideas to the

A —so British aristocracy . treaty is a promise, I read Lord

’ Shaftesb urys argument men should keep their promises

w . if bad men ill not , good men must compel them

It is singular, Sir, but in my immediate neighbourhood here in Cripplegate we have lately had a case which

R f l out exactly illustrates the ussian di ficu ty, and bears

’ r all r Lord Shaftesb u ys argument . We do ou marketing in

Whitecross Street ; and in Whitecross Street is a famou s

tripe - shop which I always visit before entertaining Armi N G nius , who , like all orth ermans , and like our own

Dr. celebrated Johnson , is a very gross feeder . Two

r A powe ful labourers , who lodge like rminius in Chequer A lley, and who never could abide one another, used to

meet at this tripe - shop and quarrel till it became manifest

a shO th t the p could not stand two such customers together,

’ L . 96 FRIENDSHIP S GAR AND and the City M issionary that he would use the t ripe - shop

n and no more . O this condition a treaty was patched up ,

a peace reigned in Crippleg te .

r n r And now, Sir, comes the sta tling poi t of esemblance

f A : to the present R ussian di ficulty . great big hulking

r z a a a Ge man , called Frit , has been for some time t king le d

in our neighbourhood , and carrying his head a great deal

hi ross S treet ' M ark et a D l higher in W tec th n ennis iked .

At last Den nis could stand it no longer ; he picked a

r z - a qua rel with Frit , and they had a battle roy l to prove

which was master . In this encounter our City Missionary

o no on t ok part , though he bestowed , as usual , both sides

and good advice beautiful sentiments in abundance . D ennis had no luck this time he got horribly belaboured,

and now lies confined to his bed at his lodgings , almost

a ’ past praying for . But wh t do you think has been Mike s

o ? . D c nduct at this juncture Seeing ennis disabled, he a r ddressed to the City Missiona y an indecent scrawl, couched in language with which I will no t sully your

ff - pages , to the e ect that the tripe shop lay handy to his d o or (which is true enough) ; and that use it he needs

of R -hn must , and use it he would, in spite all the ev . f

B-ll sa or might y do to stop him .

Th e of r feelings , Sir, the wo thy Missionary at this com municatio n r may be easie imagined than described . H e L FOR UR I TA KE UP TH E CUDGE S O CO UNTR Y. 97 launched at Mike the most indignant moral rebuke ; the

To out of brute put his thumb to his nose . get M ike the

’

- i l f Y tripe shop there is nothing left but phys ca o rc e . e t how

our ? Y o f is estimable friend to proceed ears outpouring ,

- since he has been engaged in mission work , hav e some

‘ what damaged his wind ; the hospitalities of the more serious - minded citi z ens of Cripplegate to a man in his

position have been , I hope , what they should be ; there

o f are apprehensions , if violent exercise is taken , gout in

. D the stomach ennis can do nothing ; what is worse ,

Fritz has been seen to wink his eye at Mike in a way to beget grave suspicion that the ruffians have a secret co m

The i a pact together . general feeling n Crippleg te is that

nothing much can be done, and that Mike must be allowed o - t resort again to the tripe shop . f ? But I ask you , Sir, is this morally de ensible Is it

’ right ? Is it honest ? H as not Lord Shaftesb urys English heart (if it is not presumptuous in me to speak thus of a person in his lordship ’s position) guided him true in the

of R ? A precisely similar case ussia treaty is a promise , and we have a moral right to demand that promises shall

‘ -shO be kept . If Mike wanted to use the tripe p, he should have waited till’ Dennis was about again and could talk

things over with the City Missionary , and then , perhaps , the two might have been found willing to absolve Mike

H ’ L 98 FRIENDSHIP S GA R AND.

H is is from h is promise . present conduct inexcusable ;

-hn B - li the only comfort is that the R ev. j has a faithful

press still to back him , and that Mike is being subjected to a fearful daily castigation in the columns of the Band of w H ope R evie . R Therefore, Sir, as to ussia I emphatically think

H is z Arminius wrong . sneers at my eal for the grand principles of liberty and publicity I have hardly left myself

space to notice . But, Sir, I do believe, with Mr . Bright , that the great function committed by Providence to our

‘ ’ - English speaking race is the assertion of personal liberty .

If this be an error, I would rather, I own , err with Mr .

r Von T - -Tr nckh B ight than be right with hunder ten o . I T know Von . maintains that we so intently pursue liberty and publicity as quite to neglect wisdom and virtue ; for

which alone, he says, liberty and publicity are worth

having . But I will ask him , Sir, have we ever given

? T The liberty and publicity a full trial ake liberty . Lord

has is Chancellor , indeed, provided for Mr . Beales, and it whispered that Colonel Dickson will have a high command

R but wh is M r Bradlau h in the approaching ussian war y . g

not et a D ean ? T y hese , Sir, are the omissions , these the

r ff our own failu es to carry into full e ect great principles , which drive earnest Liberals to despair A . A gain, take the principle of publicity rminius (who ,

A RL A N 1 00 FRIENDSHIP S G D . whatever that have an interest of the same natu re for the

’ ratis public mind ; distribute it g to mechanics institutes ,

’ r u wo kmen s halls , seminaries for the yo ng (these latter — more especially) and then you will be giving the principle T o f publicity a full trial . his is what I Often say to

n Armi ius and , when he looks astounded , I reassure him

a n with sentence which , I k ow very well , the moment I

a all n m ke it public , will be stolen by the Liberal ewspapers .

a - no t But it is getting ne r Christmas time, and I do mind

a o f — Th making them present it . It is this e spear of

reedom lihe that o A chilles has the ower to heal t e f , f , p h wounds which itself mahes

T A n his rmi ius can never answer and, badly as he has

r a stu fi t e ted me , my heart relents to think of the pe ed face

I have often seen him with at hearing it . Poor Arminius

I wonder what h e is doing now ? If the Prussians keep

sticking in the mud before Paris , how will he continue to

a be r the wet weather, the winter nights , the exposure ?

And may not his prolonged requisitions for tobacco and sausages (merciless I know they will be prove too much at last for the patience of even some down—trodden worm o f bour eois ? Or a French g , again, this is the hour for a sortie Ar , and minius is as brave as a lion . I go to my garret - window ; it is just midnight ; how gloomy is Grub

r ! St eet at this hour I look towards the familiar regions I L F R UR 1 0 1 TA KE UP TH E C UDGE S O O CO UNTR Y. of Whitecross Street Market and Chequer Alley ; the

of venerable pile Cripplegate Church , which I could never

A n r s r a d a . get rminius to enter, rise da kly s dly befo e me

D a b e in to w ism l presentiments g cro d upon my soul, and

I sign myself,

Sir, your uneasy servant,

MATTHEW ARNOLD .

The o the P E D ITOR f ALL MALL GAZETTE . L ETTE R ! I I .

M A ala sa a D ream as r G. . S s . y ,

r a o mb r 2 6 1 0 Ve s illes, N ve e , 87 .

AN event has just happened which I confess frankly

ffi ict m r me o u will a others o e than it does , but which y f ought to be informed o . Early this morning I was passing between Rueil and

er H ow Bougival , opposite Mont Val ien . came I in that

? M on cher r ! You place at that hour , fo give my folly

R omeo and uliet ou at have read j , y have seen me

r n r belle France C emor e, and though Ma s has just now this

r r r in his g ipe, yet you remembe , I hope, enough of you

r r r classics to know that, whe e Ma s is , Venus is neve very ff o . E r R far arly this mo ning , then , I was between ueil and x O n Bougival , with Mont Valerien in grim pro imity . a bank by a poplar - tree at the roadside I saw a k not o f

G r r r e man soldiers , gathe ed evidently ound a wounded

man. a r a h and I pp o c ed frankly tendered my help, in the

a a o t name of British hum nity . What answer I may h ve g

’ 1 04 FRI E N D S H JP S GARL AND.

’ ’ hope he will be comfortable with his dead wife s sister .

‘ T ’ A r H a . Next, Mr . Frede ic rrison ell him , says rmin ius,

‘ r — h e a for to do more in literatu e, has a t lent it ; and to ’ T avoid Carlylese as he w o uld the devil . hen I mentioned

a pe rsonage to whom Arminius had taken a great fancy

and of w last spring, hose witty writings some people had , A absurdly enough , given Mr . Matthew rnold the credit ,

’ Az - Az ama amat Batuk . Both writers are simple but t s is

’ o f l the Simplicity shrewdness , the other s of help essness .

At T ’ ‘ T him ’ hearing the clever urk s name, ell only,

‘ r A n r sex whispe s rmi ius , when he w ites about the , not to

’ Show such a turn for sailing so very near the wind !

M r A Lastly, I mentioned . Matthew rnold . I hope I rate

’ this poor soul s feeble and rambling perfo rmances at their proper value ; but I am bound to say that at the mention

Ar of ‘ of his name minius showed signs tenderness . Poor

! ’ ‘ fellow sighed he ; he had a soft head, but I valued T — his heart . ell him I leave him my ideas , the easier him ’ ones ; and advise from me, he added , with a

‘ a D r f int smile , to let his issente s go to the devil thei r own way

At this instant there was a movement on th e road at

r r — f a little distance f om Where we we e, some o the Prussian

r n , an rat a P i ces I believe, passing ; at y e, we he rd the

n G r r H och - in rrah n an ho est e man soldie s g, hu i g , d God L IFE A DREAM 1 0 5

- rococo . bles sing, in their true hearted but somewhat manner

’ T - - r h A flush passed over Von hunder ten T onck s face .

‘ ’ ‘ God German r bless y, he mu mured , and c onfound all her kings and princelings These were his last coherent

H is o words . eyes closed and he seemed t become

unconscious . I stooped over him and inquired if he

‘ — M r had any wishes about his interment . Pangloss .

— — ’ Lowe mausoleum Caterham , was all that , in broken

H is words , I could gather from him . breath came

f instinc with more and more di ficulty, his fingers felt tivel - - h e y for his tobacco pouch , his lips twitched was

gone .

mon cher R to So died, , an arrant epublican , and, speak

H is my real mind , a most unpleasant companion . great

name and lineage imposed on the Bottles family, and authors who had never succeeded with the British public took pleasure in his disparaging criticisms on our free and noble country ; but for my part I always thought him an

overrated man .

H i Meanwhile I was alone with his remains . s notion of their being transported to Caterham was of course m r c i l old ac i a t oab e . p Still , I did not like to leave an

a . quaint nce to the crows , and I looked round in perplexity

r Fortune in the most unexpected manner bef iended me .

Th e grounds of a handsome villa came down to the road ’ L 1 06 FRIENDSHIP S GA R AND. close to where I was ; at the end of the grounds and

- overhanging the road was a summer house . I ts shutters had been closed when I first discovered Arminius ; but

while I was occupied with him they had been opened , and

- a gay trio was visible within the summer house at breakfast . T I could scarcely believe my eyes for satisfaction . hree

of English members Parliament, celebrated for their ardent

charity and advanced Liberalism , were sitting before me adorned with a red cross and eating a Strasburg pie ! I

approached them and requested their aid to bu ry Arminius . My request seemed to occasion them painful embarrass

‘ ment ; they muttered something about a breach of the

’ on a understanding , and went with their breakf st . I

insisted , however ; and at length , having stipulated that what they were about to do should on no account be

r a drawn into a precedent , they left their b eakf st, and

r r A - togethe we bu ied rminius under the poplar tree . It was r a a hurried business , for my f iends had an eng gement

Vo - to lunch at Versailles at noon . Poor n Thunder ten

Tro nckh o n , the earth lies light him , indeed I could see ,

as - I left him , the blue of his pilot coat and the whity brown o f his hai r through the mould we had scattered

r ove him .

My benevolent helpers and I then made o ur way to

r V r gethe to e sailles . As I parted from them at the H Otel

’ L . 1 08 FRIENDSHIP S GAR AND

mon cher for add, , for you also, and the whole British

press lay in a suggestion which it called forth from Sala .

’ ‘ ’ a ‘ R It is all very well, said Sal , but Old ussell s guns

are getting a little honeycombed ; anybody can perceive

H e off that . will have to be pensioned , and why should not you succeed him ? ’ We passed the afternoon in

talking the thing over, and I think I may assure you that

a train has been laid of which you will see the effects

shortly .

For ff w my part, I can a ord to ait till the pear is ripe ;

of of inocu yet I cannot, without a thrill excitement, think

lating the respectable but somewhat ponderous Times and

of our — its readers with the divine madness new style, the

Th mon cher a . e style we have formed upon S la world, ,

i n t l knows that man but mperfectly . I do o c ass him with

r r of the g eat maste s human thought and human literature,

Shak s eare D . Plato, p , Confucius, Charles ickens Sala, like

o us his disciples , has studied in the book f the world even f more than in the world o books . But his career and genius have given him somehow the secret of a literary mixtu re novel and fascinating in the last degree : he blends the airy epicureanism of the salons of Augustus with the full

our En - r bodied gaiety of glish Cider cella . With our people and mon cher r country, , this mixture, you may ely upon it ,

now is the very thing to go down there arises every day a L IFE A DREAM ! 1 09

’ a a l rger public for it and we, S la s disciples , may be trusted

—T ut a u . o vo s not willingly to let it die ,

A Y G I ON 1 OUN L .

! t The EDITOR in he PALL MALL GAZETTE .

’ I am bound to say that in attempting to verify L eo s g raphic ’ ’ of D r Russe s mount n on orse a rom the atter s d escription . ll i g h b ck , f l o wn e x e ent o rres on en e to w L eo re ers us I ave b e en c ll c p d c , hich f , h

u R a e I ave seem to b e on th e ra of w at unsuccessf l . epe t dly h ed t ce h m r e n meant b ut th e art u ar es r t on h e a u es to I ave y f i d , p ic l d c ip i ll d h

u o n never be en lucky enough to light p .

I ma add t at in s te of w at L eo sa s of th tra n h M r e e and . y h , pi h y i ’ ’ S a a ave a o f Dr. Russe s a roa n retirement of L eo s l h l id , ll pp chi g ,

ros e t of su e e n him of th e arm of th e eon ne st e and o f p p c cc di g , ch l i yl , the s os t on of th e u m n to b e as nate it —I anno t di p i i p blic i d f ci d by , c m se e eve t at e t er th e ub or the ro r etors of th e Times y lf b li h i h p lic , p p i , a f r a an e so r v u ona Bu L e o re yet ripe o ch g e ol ti ry . t was always

u n —E D sang i e . (I HAVE thought that the memorial raised to Arminius

would not be complete without the following essay, in

a which , though his n me is not actually mentioned, he will be at once recognised as the leading spirit of the foreigners

whose conversation is quoted .

Much as I owe to his intellect , I cannot help some times regretting that the spirit o f youthful paradox which led me originally to question the perfections of my count ry men , should have been , as it were , prevented from dying

A Th o ut r . e by my meeting, six yea s ago , with rminius

da S atur R eview . A y , in an article called Mr Matthew rnold his ’ and Countrymen , had taken my correction in hand,

a and I was in a f ir way of amendment , when the inter vention o f A as rminius stopped the cure, and turned me,

has been often said, into a mere mouthpiece of this dog

matic young Prussian . It was not that I did not often

his dislike spirit and boldly stand up to him but, on the m whole, y intellect was (there is no use denying it) over h Th is. e matched by following essay, which appeared at

of 1 8 66 r o f a re the beginning , was the first p oof this f tal p

—E D dominance, which has in many ways cost me so dear . ) .

’ I I 2 FRIENDSHI P S GARL AND .

I do not quite know what to say about the transcen

o f am dental system philosophy, for I a mere dabbler in

m to o f these great atters , and grasp and hold a system philosophy is a feat much beyond my strength ; but I

a certainly did talk bout British Philistines , and to call people Philistines when they are doing j ust what the

i i wisest men in the country have settled to be qu te r ght ,

to n . n does seem unreasonable, not say indece t Bei g

really the most teachable man alive , I could not help

a S aturda making , after I had read the rticle in the y

R eview a sa , serious return , as the French y, upon myself and I resolved never to call my countrymen Philistines

a ag in till I had thought more about it , and could be quite

sure I was not committing an indecency . 1 was very much fortified in this good resolution by

something else which happened about the same time .

Every one knows that the heart of the English nation is

of its middle class ; there had been a good deal talk , a

of year ago , about the education this class , and I , among

was others , had imagined it not good, and that the middle

‘ B z l . . a e class suffered by its not being better But Mr y,

of r the member for Manchester, who is a kind epresentative

a of this class , m de a speech last year at Manchester, the

‘ - middle class metropolis, which shook m e a good deal .

1 N ow Sir T omas Baz le Bar — h y, t . E D . M Y CO UN TR YMEN 1 1 3

‘ ’ l ‘ fe w . Baz e During the last months , said Mr y, there had been a cry that middle - class education ought to receive

H e r more attention . confessed himself ve y much sur

r H e prised by the clamou that was raised . did not think

that class need excite the sympathy either of the legislature

’ ff Miall or . . the public Much to the same e ect spoke Mr ,

‘ m - N oncon ormist : another iddle class leader, in the f M iddle

a of class educ tion seems to be the favourite topic the hour,

and we must confess to a feeling of shame at the nonsense

which is being uttered on the subject . It might be

w a d o f thought from hat is s i , that this section the com

- — r munity, which has done everything else so well, which has

astonished the world by its energy, enterprise , and self

out reliance , which is continually striking new paths of

of industry and subduing the forces nature, cannot, from

some mysterious reason , get their children properly edu

’ a of c ted . Still more strong were the words the D aily

M ws (I love to range all the evidence in black and white

to o wn disc o mfiture before me, though it tends my ) about

‘ the blunder some of us were making : All the world knows that the great middle class of this country supplies

th e the mind , will, and the power for all the great and good

to things that have be done, and it is not likely that that

class should su rrender its powers and privileges in the o ne

o f of H case the training its own children . ow the idea o f ’ 1 1 4 FRIENDSHIP S GA RL AND .

n such a scheme can have occurred to a ybody , how it can have been imagined that parents and schoolmasters in the

and l of most independent , active , and en ightened class

‘ h ow E nglish society, it can have been supposed that the class which has done all the great things that have been G done in all departments , will beg the overnment to send

inspectors through its schools , when it can itself command

whatever advantages exist, might seem unintelligible but ’ T for two or three considerations . hese considerations do not much matter just now ; but it is clear how perfectly

’ Baz le s was Mr . y stand a stand such as it becomes a

Baz l . e representative man like Mr y to make , and how well

‘ the D aily Telegraph might say of the speech : It was at

r once g and , genial, national, and distinct ; and the

‘ M orning S tar of the speaker : H e talked to his co n

i uents st t as Manchester people like to be talked to , in the

of language clear, manly intelligence , which penetrates

r through Sophisms , igno es commonplaces , and gives to

H is conventional illusions their true value . speech was thoroughly instinct with that earnest good sense which

r characte ises Manchester, and which , indeed, may be fairly

H ow very fine and striking is thi s language El oq uent as is the

oma e w our news a ers st a in th e same uart r it s m h g hich p p ill p y q e , ee s as

in 1 866 t e r eu o h ad a r n if, , h i l gy i g and fulness which it h as since in om m a o - s e e sure st . E D l .

’ 1 1 6 FRIENDSHIP S GARL AND .

— I them as they are, had been meddling with practice ,

proposing this and that, saying how it might be if we

~ 1 o I was r n e a ! s he d this o r that . S suffe i g deservedly in b e ing tau nted wi th hawking about my nostrums o f State

to o o f schools for a class much wise to want them , and an

Academy for people who have an inimitable style already .

T o r n be su e, I had said that schools ought to be thi gs of

a n loc l, not State , institution and ma agement, and that we ought not to have an Academy ; but that makes no

r diffe ence . I saw what danger I had been running by thus

n r and i t uding into a sphere where I have no business , I

resolved to offend in this way no more .

’ This I say as a sincere penitent but I do not see that there is any harm in my still trying to know and under if stand things , I keep humbly to that, and do not meddle

r r out of m . with g eater matte s , which are y reach So having once got into my head this notion of British Philis tinism and of the want of clear and large intelligence in

our middle class , I do not consider myself bound at once

as to put away and crush such a notion , people are told to

S aturda do with their religious doubts ; nor, when the y

R eview tells me that no nation in the world is so logical as

En M ornin S tar o ur the glish nation , and the g , that grand nati onal characteristic is a clear intelligence which pene

trates through Sophisms , ignores commonplaces, and gives T Y 1 [M Y co UN R M E N . I 7

to conventional illusions their true value, do I feel myself compelled to receive these propositions with absolute sub m as a ission articles of faith , transcending re son indeed,

S aturda this would be transcendentalism , which the y

R e iew v . condemns Canvass them , then , as mere matters

ma of speculation , I y; and having lately had occasion to

on for travel the Continent many months , during which I

of was thrown in company with a great variety people,

I remembered what Burns says of the profitableness Of

see see us on trying to ourselves as others , and I kept the

or watch for anything to confirm contradict my Old notion ,

in which, without absolutely giving it up , I had begun

certainly to be much shaken and staggered .

I must say that the foreign opinion about us is not at

a ur a rn n tar all like that of the S t d y R eview and the M o i g S .

I know how madly the foreigners envy us , and that this

of must warp their judgment ; I know , too , that this test foreign opinion can never be decisive ; I only take it for

our what it is worth , and as a contribution to study of

the matter in question . But I do really think that the a our dmirers of great middle class, which has , as its friends

e and en mies both agree , risen into such preponderating

r of r H o f impo tance late years , and now retu ns the ouse

o f Commons , dictates the policy Ministers , makes the

and r v newspapers speak with its voice , in sho t go erns A R A N D 1 I 8 FRIENDSHIP S G L .

n - I sa r the cou try, do think, I y, the admirers of this g eat class would be astounded if they could hear how cavalierly a foreigner treats this country o f their making and

’ a ‘ E . s man ging It is not o much that we dislike ngland ,

1 official a Prussian , with the graceful tact of his nation ,

‘ ’ of . said to me the other day, as that we think little her

Th e Colo ne Gaz ette of g , perhaps the chief newspaper

G of ermany, published in the summer a series letters ,

o n much esteemed , I believe , by military men , the armies o f Th e the leading Continental powers . writer was a

G f f a . o erman o ficer, but not a Prussi n Speaking the false

E N a military system followed by the mperor ichol s , whose great aim was to turn his soldiers into perfectly drilled

r machines , and contrasting this with the f ee play left to

‘ the individual soldier in the French system : In con

’ of a sequence their purely mechanical training, s ys this

‘ r R o f w iter, the ussians , in spite their splendid courage,

were in the Crimean war constantly beaten by the French ,

’ 2 na e en b the n lish and the Turhs y, decidedly beaten v y E g .

H ardly a German newspaper c an discuss territorial changes

E add a r r in urope but it will , fter its ema ks o n the probable

‘ policy of France in this or that event : England will

N ot A rm n us. E D i i .

2 ( a se b st v on d n E n l J , l e g andern und Turk e n entschi eden ge ’ s la en ch g .

’ 1 2 0 FRIENDSHIP S GARL AND .

was a . g me of cross purposes For never , surely, there such

f a game o cross purposes played . It came to its height

P when Lord almerston died the other day. Lord Palmer

‘ ’ n E n o f our sto was ngla d the best type age and country , the Times well called him he was a great representative man a E , emph tically the nglish Minister the interpreter o f the wishes of that great middle class o f this country

which supplies the mind, the will , and the power requisite

all for the great and good things that have to be done , and therefore ‘ acknowledged by a whole people as their best

’ f . T o impersonation Monsieur hiers says Pitt , that though

E sh e he used and abused the strength of ngland , was the

r second count y in the world at the time of his death , and

r T the first eight years afterwa ds . hat was after Waterloo and r o f And e ra o f the t iumphs Wellington . that primacy

sa E and triumphs, Lord Palmerston , y the nglish news

a r on was p pe s, has carried to this hour . What Wellington

’ as ha a a soldier, t t was P lmerston as a statesman . When

a r r I re d these wo ds in some foreign city or othe , I could not help rubbing my eyes and asking myself if I was

r ’ . P l r a d eaming Why, taking Lord a me sto n s c reer from

1 8 0 r 3 (when he fi st became Foreign Secretary) to his death ,

a of n there c nnot be a shadow doubt, for any o e with eyes

r a and ea s in his head , th t he found England the first Power

’ a h rd in the world s estimation , and th t e leaves her the thi , M 1 2 1 Y CO UNTR YMEN.

no after France and the United States . I am politician

I mean no disparagement at all to Lord Palmerston , to whose talents and qualities I hope I can do j ustice ; and

’ ’ Palm rsto n s o r indeed it is not Lord e policy, any minister s

of o f us policy, that is in question here, it is the policy all , it is the policy of England ; for in a government such as

so ours is at present, it is only, as we are are often reminded ,

‘ by interpreting public Opinion , by being the best type of

’ a his age and country, th t a minister governs and Lord

’ ‘ Palmerston s greatness lay precisely in our all acknow

’ our ledging him as best impersonation . Well , then , to

our o ur f of this logic, practical ef orts in the way criticism , our clear manly intelligence penetrating through sophisms

and our and ignoring commonplaces, above all , redoubtable

h a phalanx possessing t ese advant ges in the highest degree , our a great middle cl ss , which makes Parliament , and which

r supplies the mind , the will, and the powe requis ite for all

the great and good things that have to be done , have

’ brought us to the third place in the world s estimation ,

f H o o . e instead the first who disbelieves it , let him g round to every embassy in Europe and ask if it is not

true .

The in to foreigners, indeed , are no doubt as the real authors of the policy of modern England they know that — H eu incredibiles h umanarum re rum mutationes l E D . ’ 1 2 2 FRIENDSHIP S GA RL AND .

l r a o f P aristocracies ours is no longe policy itts and , dis posing of every movement o f the hoodwinked nation to whom they dictate it ; they know that our policy is now

n o f E n —E dictated by the stro g middle part gland, ngland

Ar a happy, as Mr . Lowe, quoting istotle, s ys , in having her

r and h er middle part st ong extremes weak ; and that ,

are a r o ne our though we dministe ed by of weak extremes ,

a a a r as a the ristocr cy , these man ge s administer us , weak

extreme naturally must, with a nervous attention to the

wishes of the strong middle part, whose agents they are .

It was not the aristoc racy which made the Crimean war it

— was was the strong middle part the constituencies . It the strong middle part which showered abuse and threats o n Germany for mishandling Denmark and when Germany

ruffl a r Come and sto us a g y nswe ed , p , sl pped its pockets , and vowed that it had never had the slightest notion of pushing

r m matte s so far as this . It was the strong iddle part which ,

a n by the voice of its favourite newsp pers , kept threateni g

G r n ermany, afte she had s apped her fingers at us , with a

a n a a r future ch stiseme t from Fr nce, just as sma ting school boy threatens his bully with a drubbing to come from some

big boy in the background . It was the strong middle part,

n of speaki g through the same newspapers , which was full coldness, slights , and sermons for the American Federals

Arm n us he sa s it over a a n i — i i y g i n his last le tter b ut one E D .

FRIENDSHIP S GA RLAND .

l f o f sant y intermeddling with the a fairs the Continent, this it is getting rid of ; it is leaving the miserable foreigners

to themselves , to their wars , despotisms , bureaucracy, and

A a r E . h t ed of free, prosperous ngland few inconveniences may arise before the t ransition from our old policy to our

a and a off new is f irly accomplished, we quite le ve the habit o f meddling where our own interests are not at stake .

a mortifi cation We may be exposed to little in the passage, but our clear intelligence will discern any occasion whe re o ur r T interests a e really at stake . hen we shall come forward and prove ourselves as strong as ever ; and the

r of w . fo eigners , in spite their envy, kno it But what

r sa st ikes me so much in all which these foreigners y is , that it is just this clear intelligence of ours that they appear at E the present moment to hold cheap . nglishmen are often heard complaining of the little gratitude foreign nations

for r - Th e show them their sympathy, thei good will . reason

’ r - is , that the foreigne s think that an Englishman s good will

o r to a foreign cause , dislike to it, is never grounded in

r a perception of its real me its and bearings, but in some

. T sa E a chance circumstance hey y the nglishm n never, in a o these c ses , really comprehends the situati n , and so they can never feel him to be in living sympathy with them . I have got i nto much trouble for calling my country

' and all r r men Philistines , th ough these remarks I am dete M V CO UNTR YMEN 1 2 5

mined never to use that word but I wonder if there can

’ be anything offensive in calling one s countryman a young

man . from the country I hope not ; and if not, I should

o f say, for the benefit those who have seen Mr . John ’ E E Parry s amusing entertainment, that ngland and nglish

o n men , holding forth some great crisis in a foreign

— sa or — on country, Poland , y, Italy, are apt to have

foreigners very much the effect o f the young man from

the country who talks to the nursemaid after she has upset

T the perambulator . here is a terrible crisis, and the dis

o f course the young man from the country, excellent in i s . N itself, felt not to touch the crisis vitally evertheless ,

on he goes ; the perambulator lies a wreck , the child

old screams , the nursemaid wrings her hands , the gentle

man storms , the policeman gesticulates , the crowd thickens

on un still , that astonishing young man talks , serenely con

scious that he is not at the centre of the situation . H appening to be much thrown with certain foreigners

E who criticised ngland in this sort of way, I used often

to think what a short and ready way one o f our hard

E hitting nglish newspapers would take with these scorners,

if they fell into its hands . But being myself a mere seeker

for truth , with nothing trenchant or authoritative about me,

I could do no more than look shocked and begin to ask

‘ a o u E questions . What I s id , y hold the ngland o f to ’ L 1 2 6 FRIENDSHIP S GAR AND.

a no t day cheap, and decl re that we do comprehend the

E of 1 8 1 situation yet you rate the ngland 5 so high , and call Olit fathers and grandfathers the foremost people in

Did Europe . they comprehend the situation better than

’ ’ ‘ ‘ Yes r r r we ? , eplied my fo eign f iends , the situation as

T for they had it, a great deal better . heir time was a time

Our energy, and they succeeded in it, perfectly . time is a

time for intelligence , and you are not succeeding in it

’ at all . Though I could not hear without a shudder this insult

r M orni n S tar to the ea nest good sense which , as the g says , may be fairly set down as the general characteristic of

E E ngland and nglishmen everywhere, yet I pricked up my

’ o f r E ears when my companions talked ene gy, and ngland s

success in a time for energy, because I have always had

a r — — a notion myself th t ene gy, energy with honesty, is

’ E t r r to ngland s grea force ; a g eate force her, even , than her talent for penetrating through Sophisms and ignoring commonplaces ; so I begged my acquaintances to explain a

little more fully to me what they meant . Nothing can be

’ ‘ Y . Tim clearer, they answered our es was telling you the other day, with the enlightenment it so often shows at

of r present , that instead being p oud of Waterloo and the

great war which was closed by it, it really seemed as if you

ought rather to feel embarrassed at the recollection of them ,

’S RL A D 1 2 8 FRIENDSHIP GA N .

T T . fathers . hey were just the people to do it hey had a d vigorous lower class , a vigorous mid le class, and a vigorous

Th e aristocracy . lower class worked and fought, the

a a middle cl ss found the money , and the ristocracy wielded

T r was ~ the whole . his a istocracy high spirited , reticent ,

fi rm . , despising frothy declamation It had all the qualities

’ Grenville s useful for its task and time ; Lord words, as

! early as 1 793 : England will never consent that France

of Shall arrogate the power annulling at her pleasure, and

r o f unde the pretence a pretended natural right , the

of E — political system urope, these few words , with their

o ne sa of lofty strength , contain , as may y, the prophecy futu re success ; you hear the very voice of an aristocracy

standing on sure ground , and with the stars in its favour .

ou 1 8 1 Well , y succeeded, and in 5 , after Waterloo, you were

E ! T h ” the first power in urope . hese people ave a secret ,

! we all said ; they have discerned the way the world was

r on going, and therefo e they have prevailed ; while , the

‘ in other hand , the stars their cou rses fought against

’ ra Sise . We held you in the greatest respect we tried to n copy your constitutional governme t we read your writers .

! A ” G ! f fter the peace, says eorge Sand, the literature o

G r reat B itain crossed the straits , and came to reign

” . of amongst us It reigned in Byron and Scott, voices the

great aristocratical spirit which h ad just won the victory T E N 1 2 M Y co UN R YM . 9

Scott expressing its robust, genial conservatism , holding by a thousand roots to the past Byron its defiant force and

indomitable pride . We believed in you for a good while but gradually it

began to dawn upon us that the era for which you had had

for ou the secret was over , and that a new era , which y had

Th l r . e of o d e a not the secret , was beginning work the

o f R was to prevent the formation a second oman empire, and of to maintain a store free , rich , various national lives T for the future to work with and bring to harmony . his

of of was a work force, energy : it was a work for an

ou aristocratical power , since , as y yourself are always

saying, aristocracies , poor in ideas , are rich in energy .

You . were a great aristocratical power , and did it B ut

r of then came an era with another wo k , a work which it is

the g reat glory of the French R evolution (pardon us for

so e of saying , we know it mak s some your countrymen

it : angry to hear , ) passionately to have embraced the idea

the work of making human life, hampered by a past which

T . f it has outgrown , natural and rational his is a work o

intelligence, and in intelligence an aristocratic power , as

ou w so . A y kno , does not much shine ccordingly, since

the world ha s been steadily moving this way , you seem to

have lost your secret , and we are gradually ceasing to Y . ou sa E is believe in you will y, perhaps , that ngland no

K ’ A L A N D I 30 FRIENDSH IP S G R .

- longer an aristocratical power, but a middle class power , E wielded by an industrial middle. class , as the ngland of

r T your fathers was wielded by a territo ial aristocracy . his

so may be and indeed, as the style , carriage, and policy

o f England have of late years been by no means those of

so . an aristocratical power, it probably is But whatever

sa o f class dictates it , your course, allow us to y, has not

late years been intelligent ; has not , at any rate, been

And successful . depend upon it , a nation who has the

secret of her era, who discerns which way the world is k c . going, is suc essful , eeps rising Can you yourselves , with

w of - all your po ers self satisfaction , suppose that the

o r Crimean war raised you , that your Indian mutiny raised

or you , that your attitude in the Italian war raised you, as your performances at the beginning of the century raised

ou ou Y u n . o ow ou y Surely y cannot held your , if y will you showed tenacity ; you saved yourselves from disaster ;

one . but you did not raise yourselves , did not advance jot

ou on Can y , the other hand , suppose that your attitude in

D A the anish business, in the merican business , has not lowered you ? You are losing the instinct which tells people how the world is going you are beginning to make

out r Th e mistakes you are falling of the f ont rank . era of aristocracies is over nations must now stand or fall by the i n o f an The ntellige ce their middle class d their people .

’ L 1 3 2 FRIENDSH IP S GAR A ND.

! says : Th e seven H ouses of Commons that have sate

R a r since the eform Bill h ve pe formed exploits unrivalled , no t merely in the six centuries during which Parliament has existed but in the whole h istory of representative

! H e a : assemblies . s ys Look at the noble work , the heroic work which the H ouse o f Commons has performed

- and within these thirty fi ve years . It has gone through revised every institution o f the country ; it has scanned

our o ur o ur mumCI al our trade, colonies , laws , and p

institutions ; everything that was complained of, every

thing that had grown distasteful , has been touched with

success and moderation by the amending hand . And to

such a point have these amendments been carried, that

this when gentlemen come to argue question , and do all in

i their power to get up a practical gr evance, they fail in

” T r . You suggesting even one he e is what M r . Lowe says .

see we have nothing left to desire, absolutely nothing .

A r ! s M . Lowe himself goes o n : With all this continued

a —E n peace , contentment , h ppiness , and prosperity, ngla d

n o f — in its prese t state development and civilisation , the

of E — mighty fabric nglish prosperity, what can we want

” more ? Evidently nothing ! therefore to propose ! for

England to make a step in the direction of democracy is

the strangest and wildest proposition ever broached by m ” an . a A r People t lk of me ica . I n America the working M Y CO UNTR YMEN 1 3 3 classes are the masters does anybody doubt that ? And

En compare , Mr . Lowe means, gland , as the middle class

A a is making her, with meric , as the working classes are

r H o w r making h e . entirely must the compa ison turn to

of E d T n the advantage the nglish mi dle class hen , fi ally ,

h I our as to t e figure we cut n the eyes of the world ,

grandeur and our future, here is a crowning sentence ,

r wo thy of Lord Macaulay himself, whose style Mr . Lowe

! enthusiastically admires The destiny of E ngland is in the great heart of E ngland I

not Mr . Bright had then made his famous speech about

of T the misdeeds the ories , but, if he had, I should

our e l un certainly have added that middl c ass , by these

of r r rivalled exploits thei s , had not only raised their count y

o f to an unprecedented height greatness , but had also saved

our foolish and obstructive aristocracy from being emptied

into the Thames .

As wa r a it s, however, what I had urged, or rathe wh t

I had borrowed from Mr . Lowe , seemed to me exceedingly

for f n r o . forcible, and I looked anxiously its ef ect my heare s

T s hey did not appear o much disconcerted as I had hoped .

‘ ’ ‘ U t r ndoub edly, they said , the coming of you middle

l r r c ass to power was a natu al saluta y event, to be blessed ,

not anathematised . Aristocracies cannot deal with a time

h for intelligence ; their sense is for facts , not ideas . T e ’S A RL A ND 1 34 FRIENDSHIP G .

of world of ideas is the possible, the future the world

aristocracies is the established, the past, which has made N their fortune, and which they hope to prolong . o doubt,

o f too, your middle class found a great deal commercial

to w i and social business waiting be done, hich your ar sto

cratic governments had left undone, and had no talents for

T for doing . heir talents were other times and tasks ; for curbing the power of the Crown when other classes were too inconsiderable to do it ; for managing (if one com pares them with other aristocracies) their affairs and their

dependants with vigour, prudence, and moderation , during the feudal and patriarchal stage of society ; for wielding the force of their country against foreign powers with

energy , firmness , and dignity . But then came the modern

r of Spi it, the modern time ; the notion , as we say , making

— or human life more natural and rational, , as your philo

of for Sophers say, getting the greatest happiness the

r H u . ou d o g eatest number ave y succee ed , are y succeed m ing, in this hour of the any, as your aristocracy succeeded in the hour of the few ? Yo u say you are : you point to

! H of the noble work , the heroic work which the ouse

Commons has performed within these last thirty - fi ve years

n of r everythi g that was complained , eve ything that had

n grow distasteful , has been touched with success and

ra o n n A mode ti by the amending ha d . llow us to set

’ A R A ND I 36 FRIENDSHIP S G L .

n r . people almost a ywhe e Well, then , you are not a success ,

m n according to the oder standard , with your common

Are ? T people . you a success with your middle class hey have the power now what have they made of themselves ?

? A what sort of a life is theirs life more natural , more

n r ratio al , fuller of happiness , more enviable , therefo e, than

of ? Yes ou the life the middle classes on the Continent , y E will say , because the nglish middle class is the most

industrious and the richest . But it is just here that you

go a great deal too fast , and so deceive yourselves . What b o r r rings about , rathe tends to bring about , a natural ,

? T : rational life , satisfying the modern spirit his the

growth of a love of industry , trade, and wealth the growth of a love o f the things o f the . mind ; and the growth o f a

of T love beautiful things . here are body , intelligence , and

f : soul all taken care of. O these three factors of modern

o ne life, your middle class has no notion of any but , the

r . T r of r r n fi st hei love indust y, trade, and wealth , is ce tai ly prodigious ; and their example has done us a great deal o f to good ; we , too , are beginning get this love , and we wanted it . But what notion have they of anything else ?

D o o f but look at them , look at their lives . Some us know your middle class very well a great deal better than

r r in n ra you own uppe class ge e l knows them . You r middle

a f class is educ ted , to begin with , in the worst schools o ’ TR VM E N 1 M Y co UN . 37

our your country , and middle class is educated in the best

o f ? T h e of ours . What becomes them after that fineness and capacity of a man ’s Spirit is show n by his enjoyments

your middle class has an enjoyment in its business , we

o n admit , and gets well in business, and makes money ; ? D but beyond that rugged with business , your middle class seems to have its sense blunted for any stimulus

un besides , except religion ; it has a religion , narrow ,

All intelligent , repulsive . sincere religion does something for S of of the pirit, raises a man out the bondage his

o f merely bestial part , and saves him ; but the religion your middle class is the very lowest form of intelligential

r life which one can imagine as saving . What othe enjoy

? Th e n r of ments have they ewspapers , a so t eating and

our of drinking which are not to taste , a literature books

or - almost entirely religious semi religious , books utterly

n u readable by an educated class anywhere , but which your

n sa middle class co sumes , they y, by the hundred thousand

r on teeto and in thei evenings , for a great treat , a lecture t li m r a s o nunneries . Can any life be imagined more

r ? hideous , mo e dismal , more unenviable Compare it with the life bf our middle class as you have seen it on the

R r Z r Th o or . e hine this summer, at Lausanne, u ich world

and of enjoyment , so liberalising civilising , belongs to the

a r as r middle cl sses the e , well as the wo ld of business the ’ S L . 1 38 FRIENDSHIP GA R AND

E n whole wo rld is theirs , they possess life ; in ngla d the highest class seems to have the monopoly of the world

of enjoyment , the middle class enjoys itself, as your

eare sa - Shak Sp would y, in hugger mugger, and possesses life only by reading in the newspapers , which it does

of . devoutly, the doings great people Well then , we do not at all want to be as your middle class ; we want to

learn from it to do business and to get rich, and this we are learning a great deal faster than you think but we do

our not , like your middle class , fix consummation here

of we have a notion a whole world besides , not dreamed

’ of so too in your middle class s philosophy ; they, , like T no . your common people, seem to us success hey may

be the masters of the modern time with you , but they are

T s e not solving its problem . hey cannot e the way the

r wo ld is going , and the future does not belong to them . Talk of the present state of development and civilisation o f En n n E ! gla d, mea ing ngland as they represent it to us

E Why , the capital , pressing danger of ngland , is the barbarism of her middle class ; the civilisation of her

’ ’ E n a a middle class is gland s capit l , pressing w nt .

‘ ’ ’ r Well, but, said I , still catching at Mr . Lowe s powe ful

‘ P r a o f help, the a li ment this class has performed exploits u nrivalled not merely in the six centuries during which

ar a has P li ment existed, but in the whole history o f repre

’ 1 40 FRIENDSHIP S GA RLA ND.

r r E mo e . Such a spectacle as your Irish Chu ch stablish

‘ Y ment you cannot fi nd in France or Germany . our Irish

‘ - a a as land question you h rdly dare to f ce , Stein settled

- Of threatening a land question in Prussia . the schools for your middle class we have already spoken ; while these

r are schools a e what they , while the schools for your poor ar a a r e m int ined in the expensive, unjust , i rational way they ar En an of s e, gl d is full endowments and foundation , capable

of by themselves , if properly applied, putting your public

on education a much better footing . In France and

G r a all havm e m ny similar funds are thus employed, g been brought under public responsible management I n E ngland

are r and they left to p ivate irresponsible management, are, in

out of Y f ' muni i l . ou o c a nine cases ten , wasted talk p r or o f in ef m ; and cities and the manner life them have, for the modern business of p romoting a more ratio nal and

n humane life in the great body of the commu ity, incalculable

. r D . o impo tance you suppose we Should tolerate in France,

G z a ermany, Swit erland , It ly, your London corporation and

n r Lo don vest ies, and London as they make it ? In your

r do r do p ovincial towns you better ; but even the e, the municipalities Show a tenth part either o f the intelligence or r for as a a o f the ca e the ends, we h ve l id them down ,

I t is one t an s to Ant - S tate - C ur - i m — g , h k i h ch s ED . 2 We av e a edit - E D h f c . M Y N TR YM E co U N . 1 4 1

h o ur ? Y modern society , t at municipalities show our middle - class man thinks it the highest pitch o f development and civilisation when his letters are carried twelve times a w and day from Islington to Camber ell , from Camberwell

- to Islington , and if railway trains run to and fro between

f H e them every quarter o an hour . thinks it is nothing

that the trains only carry him from an illiberal , dismal life

a at Islington to an illiberal , dism l life at Camberwell and

r A the letters only tell him that such is the life the e .

Swiss burgher takes heaven knows how many hours to go G from Berne to eneva , and his trams are very few this is an extreme on the other side ; b Ut compare the life the

Swiss burgher finds or leaves at Berne or Geneva with the

o f E Or life the middle class in your nglish towns . else you

! think to cover everything by saying : We are free ! we

” are free ! O ur newspapers can say what they like !

Freedom , like Industry , is a very good horse to ride

You but to ride somewhere . seem to think that you have

on of or only got to get the back your horse Freedom , your

as ou horse Industry, and to ride away hard as y can , to be

sure of coming to the right destination . If your news ‘ o f papers can say what they like, you think you are sure

T of being well advised . hat comes your inaptitude for

for - ou see ideas , and aptitude clap trap y can never the two sides of a question ; never perceive that every human ’

L . 1 42 FRIENDSHIP S GAR AND

n a o o ne has n . state o f thi gs , even go d , its i conveniences

n o f We can see the conve iences your state well enough ,

n n o f o f and the i nconve ie ces ours ; newspapers not free, and prefects over- busy and there are plenty of us who

Yo u r af sa proclaim them . eagerly epeat ter us all we y that redo unds to you r own ho nour and glo ry ; but you never

Yo u follow our example yourselves . are full of acuteness to perceive the ill influence of our prefects on us ; but if

o ne Th e E any says to you , in your turn nglish system of a great landed aristocracy keeps your lower class a lower

a for r and a cl ss eve , materi lises and vulgarises your whole

” a — ou a r middle cl ss , y stare vac ntly at the speake , you

a in a c nnot even take his ide s ; you can only blurt forth ,

! in r a - r or r o f eply, some cl p t ap othe about a system such tried and tested effi ciency as no other country was ever happy enough to possess since the world was a

r v h I have observed in my t a els , t at most young gentle

o f our E men highest class go through urope, from Calais

Wh at a contrast b etween this Jacobinism and th e noble senti ments o f Barro w : M en will nev e r b e h eartily loyal and submissive to authority till they b ecome really go od nor will the y ever b e very ’ oo t t e see t e r ea ers su I r m mb n t s g d , ill h y h i l d ch . e e er o nce quo ti g hi passage to A rminius at the time wh e n we were all full o f th e M o rdaunt ’ r ‘ ‘ t a . Yes re mar e Arm n us in his t ou t u m nn r a i i l , k d i i , h gh f l a e , th t s w a ma ’ h t k es your L ord Col es S O inexpressib ly p reci ous ! But was t s an answer ? I sa no t — hi y . E D .

’ L . 1 44 FRIENDSHIP S GAR AND

a a n a been too much influenced by it, h ve t ke , h lf insensibly ,

’ a an aristocracy s material stand rd, and do not believe in

r ideas certain it is that their intelligence has no a dour, no Y n f . plan , leads them owhere it is inef ectual our intellect

is at this moment , to an almost unexampled degree, with f E ’ out influence on the intellect o urope .

‘ n a an While this was bei g s id, I noticed Italian , who

one of r - r was our pa ty, fumbling with his pocket book, f om whence he presently produced a number o f grey news

‘ N ow E . paper slips , which I could see were nglish just

’ ‘ for r w listen to me a moment, he c ied, and I will sho

ou a sa on E y wh t makes us y, the Continent, that you nglish

n a have no se se for logic, for ideas , and that your pr ise and

a r bl me, having no substantial foundation , are worth ve y

You a little . remember the f mous French pamphlet before our in 1 8 N a ol n t r and tal war began 5 9 : p eo he Thi d I y .

Th e a to pamphlet ppealed, in the French way , reason and

! first principles ; the upshot of it was this : Th e treaties

which bind governments would be invariable only if the A world was immovable . power which should intrench

itself behind treaties in order to resist m odifications de

manded by general feeling would have doub tless on h er

an a r h side cqui ed right , but s e would have against her

a r and a Y n . o u E n o mor l ight univers l conscience glish ,

L tt e Pom e o Po o urante . A most all the rest Arm i l p c c l is ini us. M Y N TR YM E N 1 co U . 4 5

on the other hand, took your stand things as they were

! ” ! Times If treaties are made, said your , they must be

‘ ” T o ne i r respected . ear , ar d all are waste paper . Ve y

well ; this is a policy, at any rate , an aristocratical policy

Th e Times much may be said for it . was full of contempt

! for as c on the French pamphlet, an essay, it called it ,

veying the dreams of an agitator expressed in the language

” 0 of an academician . It said N one accustomed to the

pithy comments with which liberty notices passing history , can read such a production without complacency that he

does not live in the country which produces it . To see

the heavy apparatus of an essay brought out to solve a

question o n which men have corresponded and t alked and

speculated in the funds , and acted in the most practical

manner possible for a month past, is as strange as if we

so on beheld some spectral review, and . Still very well

there is the strong practical man despising theories and

! Th e o f r reveries . sentiment ace is just now threatening

to be exceedingly troublesome . It is to a considerable

” T extent in our days a literary revival . hat is all to the

ff T our ff same e ect . hen came a hitch in a airs , and fortune

as if sh e seemed she was going to give, as often does give,

! ” - Th r . e the anti theorists a t iumph Italian plot, cried

! Tim s Th E e . e r the , has failed mperor and his familia s knew not the moral strength which is still left in the ’ L 1 46 FRIENDSHIP S GAR AND .

T o enlightened communities of Europe . the unanimous and indignant reprobation of English opinion is due the

failure of the imperial plots . While silence and fear reign

a of everywhere abroad, the eyes and e rs the Continent are E turned continually to these Islands . nglish Opinion has

f a ur been erected into a kind o Areop gus . O business E w went forward again , and your nglish Opinion gre very

! ! Times stern indeed . Sardinia, said the , is told very plainly that sh e has deserted the course by which alone sh e

u or co ld hope either to be happy great, and abandoned

of herself to the guidance fatal delusions , which are luring f her on to destruction . By cultivating the arts o peace

She would have been solving, in the only possible way, the f di ficult problem of Italian independence . She has been taught by France to look instead to the acquisition of fresh

territory by war and conquest . She has now been told with perfect truth by the warning voice o f the British

Parliament that she has not a moment to lose in retracing

”

to . , her steps , if indeed her penitence be not o late Well

we our to make a long story short, did not retrace steps ; we went on , as you know we succeeded and now let us H make a jump from the spring to the autumn . ere is

En A your unanimous glish Opinion, here is your reopagus ,

r Times ! he e is your , in O ctober : It is very irregular

’ to (Sardinia s course) , it is contrary all diplomatic forms .

’ L S . 1 4s FRIENDSHIP GA R AND

turn of your imagination , some gust of liking or disliking .

When I heard some of your countrymen complaining of

for E Italy and her ingratitude nglish sympathy, I made , to

o f explain it, the collection Of those extracts and a good

r T many mo e . hey are all at your service ; I have some

aturda R eview ou here from the S y , which y will find

’ Times No exactly follow suit with those from the . , thank

’ ‘ m r Th e Ti es . you , I answe ed . is enough My relations

aturda R eview r - with the S y are ather tight stretched , as

r r m o f you say he e, al eady ; ake me a party to none your

’ quarrels with them . After this my original tormentor ‘ once more took up

’ ‘ Y n ‘ a . ou his p rable see now what I mea t , he said , by

a old o f s ying that you did better in the time, in the day

r a . An r a istocr cies a istocracy has no ideas , but it has a — policy, to resist change . In this policy it believes , it

its . sticks to it ; when it is beaten in it, it holds tongue

T a his is respectable, at any r te . But your great middle

la o u r n r c ss , as y call it , your p ese t governing powe , having

n r no policy, except that of doi g a roa ing trade, does not

n f - h ot k ow what to be at in great af airs , blows and cold

n — in by tur s , makes itself ridiculous, short . It was a good

aristocratical policy to have helped Austria in the Italian war it was a good ari stocratical policy to have helped the

Arm n f u us o o rse . i i , c M Y N TR YM E 1 co U N . 49

A The o f South in the merican war . days aristocratical policy are over for you with your new middle - class public

our Opinion you cut , i n Italy, the figure friend here has

A ou ou just shown you in merica y scold right and left, y get up a monster- memorial to deprecate the further effusion of blood ; you lament over the abridgment of civil liberty

by people engaged in a struggle for life and death , and

meaning to win ; and when they turn a deaf ear to you

! sa Oh one and win , you y, , now let us be great united

! ” Anglo - Saxon family and astonish the world This is just of a piece with your threatening Germany with the

E of Do ou see mperor the French . y not that all these Am blunders dispose the ericans , who are very shrewd , and who have been succeeding as steadily as you have been

! failing , to answer We have got the lead, no thanks to

you , and we mean to astonish the world without you

U ou nless y change , unless your middle class grows more

ou intelligent , y will tell upon the world less and less, and

end by being a second H olland . We do not hold you

cheap for saying you will wash your hands o f all co n

u o wn cerns but yo r , that you do not care a rush for

. influence in Europe though this sentence of your Lord

! : Th e of Bolingbroke is true opinion mankind, which is

” fame after death , is superior strength and power in life .

ou a so We hold y che p because you Show few signs , except ’ L 1 5 0 FRIENDSHIP S GA R A ND.

f of a n in the one department o industry, underst ndi g your

of a n time and its tendencies , and exhibiting moder life

And r which shall be a signal success . the eaction is the

n 1 8 1 - a stro ger, because, after 5 , we believed in you as now

You days we are coming to believe in America . had

r won the last game, and we thought you had you hand

Now . full of trumps, and were going to win the next the

game has begun to be played, and we have an inkling of what your cards are ; we shrewdly suspect you have

’ scarcely any trumps at all .

‘ I am no arguer, as is well known , and every puny " whipster gets my sword . So , instead of making bad

n worse by a lame answer, I held my to gue, consoling myself with the thought that these foreigners get from

of R a a O us , at any rate, plenty ol nds for any str y liver they ma a a y h ve the luck to give us . I h ve since meditated a

a o n a was good de l wh t then said , but I cannot profess

H d duc . e to be yet quite clear about it owever, all due

a tions made for envy, exagger tion, and injustice, enough

o n our r stuck by me of these remarks logic, c iticism , and

of r love intelligence, to dete mine me to go on trying

(taking care, of course , to steer clear Of indecency) to

of keep my mind fixed on these, instead singing hosannahs

A nd this is why it was peculiarly unlucky for me to b e th rown so mu w t Arm n — us wh o ov a n E D . ch i h i i , l ed rgui g

’ 1 5 2 FRIENDSHIP S GARL AND .

a r . sure, inv luable exercise for us just at p esent Let all

can o n persist in it who , and steadily set their desires

introducing, with time, a little more soul and spirit into

to o E . the , too solid flesh of nglish society

r wh o r of I have a f iend is ve y sanguine, in spite the

r a a dismal c o kings of these foreigners , bout the turn things ar a e even now t king amongst us . Mean and ignoble as

’ ‘ o ur a has a middle class looks , he s ys , it this c pital virtue,

ha r s . or it seriousness With f ivolity, cultured uncultured, you can do nothing ; but with seriousness there is always

T f . o hope hen , too, the present bent the world towards

amusing itself, so perilous to the highest class , is curative

’ for A and good our middle class . piano in a Quaker s

- drawing room is a step for him to more humane life nay,

a - perh ps, even the penny gaff of the poor East Londoner is — a step for him to more humane life ; it is, what example

? S trathmore sa — it o ne shall we choose it is , let us y, is the pound-eleven - and—sixpenny gaff of the young gentlemen of f the clubs and the young ladies o Belgravia, that is for them but a step in the primrose path to the everlasting

r . sa bonfi e Besides, y what you like of the idealessness of

r of a istocracies , the vulgarity our middle class, the imma turit of our y lower, and the poor chance which a happy

f type of modern life has between them , consider this O all

k a —of o f a that ma es life liberal and hum ne , light, ide s , Of M Y CO UNTR YMEN 1 5 3

— f wh culture, every man in every class o society o has a

of r dash genius in him is the born friend . By his b inging i up , by his habits , by his nterest, he may be their e nemy

r o f by the p imitive, unalterable complexion his nature , he

r T . o f is their f iend herefore, the movement the modern

spirit will be more and more felt among us , it will spread ,

’

v . Na it will pre ail y, this enthusiast often continues ,

‘ on Times so getting excited as he goes , the itself, which

’ — Times stirs some people s indignation , what is the but

z to a gigantic Sancho Pan a, borrow a phrase of your friend

H z attrac eine a gigantic Sancho Pan a, following by an

tion he cannot resist that poor, mad , scorned , suffering ,

sublime enthusiast, the modern spirit following it, indeed ,

a with const nt grumbling , expostulation , and opposition ,

of with airs of protection , compassionate superiority, with

of an incessa nt byplay nods, shrugs , and winks addressed f to the spectators ; ollowing it, in short, with all the

of incurable recalcitrancy a lower nature , but still follow

’ ? r ing it When my f iend talks thus, I always shake my

transcen head , and say that this sounds very like the

dentalism which has already brought me into so many ’

scrapes .

I have another friend again (and I am grown so cowed by all the rebuke my original speculations have drawn upon me that I find myself more and more filling the part ’ 1 54 FRIENDSHIP S GARL AND.

A - of a mere listener) , who calls himself nglo Saxon rather

‘ En ‘ and a a than glish , this is wh t he s ys We are a small

’ n ‘ ou cou try, he says , and our middle class has , as y say,

ur not much gift for anything but making money . O

a our a a freedom and wealth h ve given us a great start, c pit l will give us for a long time an advantage ; but as other

r - r nece s countries g ow better governed and icher, we must saril w our z y sink to the position to hich si e, and our want of nt for n any emine gift telli g upon the world spiritually,

doom us . But look at America ; it is the same race ;

are o r - whether we first they ; Anglo Saxonism triumphs .

You used to say that they had all the Philistinism o f the

E l s and at ng i h middle class from which they spring, a gre

n a of wn o . ou ma y f ults their besides But y noticed, too ,

a f th t, blindly as they seemed following in general the star o

their god Buncombe, they showed, at the same time, a

a our feeling for ideas , a vivacity and pl y of mind , which

A middle class has not, and which comes to the mericans,

probably, from their democratic life, with its ardent hope,

z on r . its forward stride , its ga e fixed the futu e Well , since these great events have lately come to purge and form them , how is this intelligence of theirs developing itself ? Now they are manifesting a quick sense to see how the

’ N ot th e ta ente aut or o f G reater Br ta n t u th e rea er l d h i i , h o gh d m t b e n ne to su o s — igh i cli d pp e so . ED

’ 1 56 FRIENDSH IP S GARL AND.

has to now mounting come up , will she be at the p

nihil nec me ua rentem vana moratur , q

Yes we arra n h er b ut she , ig ,

Th e wear T tan w t ea y i , i h d f ’ Ears and ab our- dimm d e es , l y , R egarding neith er to right

N or e t o es ass ve l f , g p i ly by, S taggering o n to h er goal

Bear n o n s ou ers mmense i g , h ld i ,

At antean th e oa l , l d ,

We n not to b e b orne ll igh , O f th e too vast o rb of h er fate ’ A F C M H — one of our ( REN H AN signing himself orace , not — set of own , but a person full intellect , wrote to the

Editor of the P all M all Gaz ette a sort of electioneering

letter from Paris in answer to the foregoing essay, saying

our what blessings liberty and publicity were, and how

miserable the French middle class was without them . I cannot do better than conclude with the answer I made to

him , from which it will appear, I hope , how courteous was

n always my moderation whe I was left to myself, and had n A a ot rminius at my elbow to make me s y what he chose . I should premise that My Countrymen had been received

o f for with such a storm obloquy , that several months after

—not G its appearance I was in hiding , indeed , leaving rub

—ED Street, but changing my lodgings there repeatedly . ) . la a on A Courteous Exp n ti .

rub S r et M arch 1 1 8 6 G t e , 9, 6 .

ALTHOUGH I certainly am rather pained to find

myself, after my long and arduous labours for the deliver

of ance from Philistinism this nation in general, and the civilisation and embellishment of o ur great middle class in

particular, an object of aversion and mistrust to my country men m r , when I expected nothing fro them but g atitude and

tr love , still I have learnt to y and wrap myself on these

own r occasions in my vi tue, knowing very well that the

r of n benefacto s manki d are seldom popular, and that your

n public favourite is ge erally some Barabbas . Meanwhile,

’ ’ out of for posterity s sake, I keep harm s way as much as I can but as I sit shivering in my garret listening nervously to the voices of indignant Philistines asking the way to

Gr r r P all all az ette ub St eet, a f iend brings me the .M G with

’ H a or ce s two letters . Perhaps it would be my best

and f f way to keep perfectly still , not to give any Sign o li e to my enemies ; but such is my mveterate weakness (dear

I /LAUD 1 60 I QQZEHVZZSZZLPflS CL4 EL . many shortcomings ; and I am sure I devoutly ho pe they may ; but my foreign friends were only talki ng of the

present .

It was the life of the middle class in Switz erland and

Germany that my foreign friends said was more enjoyable

of n E a than the life the correspondi g class in ngl nd, and

‘ o r H orace declares my f reign f iends were right . But he goes on to draw a frightful picture of the middle class in

T r his own country , France . his is what I so admi e in

r r r these continental w ite s, and it is just what my fo eign

‘ friends claimed for them We foreigners can see o ur own

ro deficiencies well enough , and are not backward in p claiming them ; you English can see and say nothing but

’ what redounds to your own honour and glory . It makes me blush to think how I winced under what the foreigners

a o f E h o w r s id ngland, I longed to be able to answe it, how I rejoiced at hearing from the English press that there was n othing at all in it , when I see the noble frankness with

r H o which these fo eigners judge themselves . w H orace does give it to his poor count rymen when he thinks they

r ! T dese ve it So did Monsieur de ocqueville, so does

Monsieur R enan . I lay up the example for my o wn e difi cation , and I commend it to the editor of the M orning

tar f r S o his .

I have seen very little o f the French middle class which A CO UR TE O US E ! P L AN A TI ON 1 6 1

of H orace describes, and I daresay what he says them is

all true . But what makes me look at France and the

French with such inexhaustible curiosity and indulgence

— to is this, their faults are not ours, so we are not likely

so n catch them their merits are not ours , we are ot likely

- sufficient to become idle and self from studying them . It is not that I so envy H orace his Paris as it is —I no longer G dance, nor look well when dressed up as the angel abriel , so what should I now do in Paris —but I find such interest and instruction in considering a city so near London and yet so unlike it ! It is not that I so envy ‘ H orace

e- - bour eois his caf haunting, dominoes playing g ; but when I go through Saint Pancras , I like to compare our vestry

- bour eois haunting, resolution passing g with the Frenchman ,

‘ to to : T o f and say myself his , then , is what comes not é frequenting caf s , nor playing dominoes My countrymen

ot é here have g no caf s, and have never learnt dominoes , and see th e mischief Satan has found for their idle hands to

’ e- do ! Still, I do not wish them to be the caf haunting ,

- dominoes playing Frenchmen , but rather some third thing ,

neither the Frenchmen nor their present selves .

And this brings me to the one little point of difference

’ one H E (for there is j ust ) between orace and me . very

’ oh thing, as he himself says , depends a man s point of view .

w o f E N o s . H , his point view is French , mine ngli h e and M ’ N D 1 62 FRI E ND S H I P S GA RLA .

— f his friends have, he says , one absorbing desire, to di fuse in France the knowledge and love of true political liberty . For this purpose they are obliged to point to other coun

’ ‘ ’ ‘ - E H b . tries , and ngland is, says orace, their great stand y

o w of E N , those who Speak evil the nglish constituencies ,

‘ & c c H r & . of our great middle class , . , discredit , o ace

' En lish arliamentar of says , g p y government and the power

- the press, and tend to damage the great stalking horse behind which he and his friends are moving to the attack

f E r an so o d . the French mpe or, spoil their game for them

‘ ’ H his orace and friends are evidently Orleanists , and

I have always observed that the Orleanists are rather sly . They can put their tongue in their ch eek as well as any

at of body the expense my dear country , but she is to be

an angel of light as long as it serves their turn . So the

‘ M ornin S tar ! g and I are to go on crying , We are free

’ ! Our we are free newspapers can say what they like,

or whether this cry does us good no , because true political

‘ ’ liberty is the o ne thing needful for H orace and . the Th . e M ornin S tar French g , I must say , does its duty

‘ ’ H r nobly, and orace ought to be very g ateful to it ; but

E to o n because I , thinking only of ngland , venture go a little farther, and to inquire what we do with ourselves w hen we are free to do just what we like, I give umbrage

i H e - h orse and to orac he says I destroy his stalking , he

’ AN 1 64 FRI E N D S H I P S GARL D .

— n our Palmerston , that it struck me there was a da ger of

our f trading too extensively upon tails, and, in act , running

to tr to tail altogether . I determined y and preach up the

ur h improvement and decoration of our heads . O hig est

' of — class , besides having course true political liberty, that regulation tail which every Briton of us is blessed with ,

1 is altogether so beautiful and splendid that for my part I hardly presume to inquire what it has or has not in the way

f So own o . heads I turn to my class the middle class ,

! so z z which , not being beautiful and splendid, does not da le

An ut my eyes so much . d for this class I want to work o a deliverance from the horrid dilemma in which ‘ H orace ’

- or e and others try to fix us liberty and Philistinism , els

culture and slavery.

After this candid explanation on our one point of

t h e f difference (for rest o his letters I heartily thank him) , H I trust that orace will not in future think it his duty, whenever he finds me preaching to my countrymen that

with all our political liberty we are still, in many respects,

—I sa unprofitable servants , trust, I y, that whenever he sees

to this , he will not now think it his duty to administer me

‘ : ne - ou a sharp pinch and exclaim False o , what are y about what have you done with your tail ? begin brandish

’ ing it in our tyrant s face again directly Let him and

' — And a o ve all as M r. ar e sa s o/z te. ED b , C lyl y , p . A C R TE ! TI 1 O U O US E P L AN A ON . 65

the French rather themselves get back their lost tails from

their tyrant, who is generally supposed, too , to have had,

’ of when he talked crowning the edifice, this appendage

in view .

do I hope, Sir, that the sentiments expressed in this

letter may be the means of procuring for your excellent newspaper that free circulation in the French capital which

ou of is at present, I am told , denied y and as my bit coal

is worn to a stump, I sign myself, your humble servant ,

R M ATTH EW A N O LD .

T/ze EDI O L A TT T R of ti n PALL M A L G Z E E . (I N May of this year ( 1 8 66) Arminius arrived in London an event which I sometimes fancy future ages will parallel A with the arrival of ugustine at Canterbury . In July, six A weeks later, began what, in talking to rminius , I loved to

‘ ’ ’ - - Gezst. call, half playfully, half seriously, the preaching of

N 1 8 0 In ovember, 7 , four short years afterwards , he lay

- buried under the Bougival poplar tree Shadows , indeed,

as Mr . Sala says, we are, and shadows we pursue . A —T Farewell, rminius hou good soul , thou great

—ED intellect, farewell .

TH E E ND

' ’ S ottzswooa ° p e 67 Co. L td P rinters N -s re t S a , , ew t e qu re, L ondon.

" T H E W O R K S O F ElizabethBarret Brownin andofRobertBrwnin t g o g.

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