right in his mind, for which he was to be pitied, not censured. Her charming daughter showed me a collection of dried plants, made and presented to her by Rousseau, neatly pasted on small writing-paper, and accompanied with their Linnæan names and other particulars. "Botany seems to have been his most favorite amusement in the latter part of life; and his feelings with respect to this pursuit are expressed with that energy and grace so peculiarly his own, in his letter to Linnæus, the original of which I preserve as an inestimable relic. I need offer no apology to the candid and well-informed reader for this minuteness of anecdote concerning so celebrated a character. Those who have only partial notions of Rousseau, may perhaps wonder to hear that his memory is cherished by any well-disposed minds. To such I beg leave to observe, that I hold in a very subordinate light that beauty of style and language, those golden passages, which will immortalize his writings; and a faint resemblance of which is the only merit of some of his enemies. I respect him as a writer eminently favorable on the whole to the interests of humanity, reason, and religion. Wherever he goes counter to any of these, I as freely dissent from him; but do not on that account throw all his works into the fire. As the best and most religious persons of my acquaintances are among his warmest admirers, I may perhaps be biassed in my judgment; but it is certainly more amiable to be misled by the fair parts of a character, than to make its imperfections a pretence for not admiring or profiting by its beauties. Nor can any defects or inconsistencies in the private character of Rousseau depreciate the refined moral and religious principles with which his works abound. Truth is truth wherever it comes from. No imperfections of humanity can discredit a noble cause; and it would be madness to reject Christianity, for instance, either because Peter denied Christ, or Judas betrayed him. "It will be hard to meet with a more edifying or more consolatory lecture on religion than the death-bed of Julia. Her character is evidently intended as a model in this respect. By that, then, we should judge of its author, and not by fretful doubts and petulant expressions, the sad fruits of unjust persecution, and of good intentions misconstrued. "Nor would it be difficult to produce, from the works of Rousseau, a vast majority of passages directly in support of Christianity itself, compared with what are supposed hostile to it. It is notorious that he incurred the ridicule of Voltaire, for exalting the character and death of Jesus above that of Socrates. But he was insidious, and he disbelieved miracles,' say his opponents. If he believed Christianity without the assistance of miracles to support his faith, is it a proof of his infidelity? If he was insidious, that is his own concern. I have nothing to do with hidden meanings or mystical explanations of any book, certainly not of the writings of so ingenuous and perspicuous an author as Rousseau. Unfortunately for him, the whole tenor of those writings has been too hostile to the prevailing opinions, or at least to the darling interests, of those in authority among whom he lived; for Scribes and Pharisees are never wanting to depress every attempt at improving or instructing the world, and the greatest heresy and most unpardonable offence is always that of being in the right. For this cause, having had the honor of feeling the vengeance of all ranks of tyrants and bigots, from a king or bishop of France, to a paltry magistrate of Berne, or a Swiss pastor, he was obliged to take refuge in England. Here he was received with open arms, being justly considered as the martyr of that spirit of investigation and liberty which is the basis of our constitution, and on which alone our reformed religion depends. He was caressed and entertained by the best and most accomplished people, and experienced in a particular manner the bounty of our present amiable sovereign. "One cannot but lament, that one of the most eminent, and I believe virtuous, public characters of that day, should of late have vainly enough attempted to compliment the same sovereign, by telling him he came to the crown in contempt of his people, should have held up a Messalina for public veneration, and become the calumniator of Rousseau! "It is, indeed, true, that a certain morbid degree of sensibility and delicacy, added to the inequalities of a temper broken down by persecution and ill health, made Rousseau often receive apparently well-meant attentions with a very bad grace. Yet, from most of the complaints of this kind, which I have heard from the parties immediately concerned, I very much suspect he was not unfrequently in the right. But supposing him to have been to blame in all these instances, they occurred posterior to his most celebrated publications. Was it not very unjust, therefore, for those who had patronized and extolled him for those publications, to vent their animosity against them for any thing in his conduct afterwards? "Far be it from me, however, to attempt a full justification of his writings. I only contend for the generally good intention of their author. The works themselves must be judged by impartial posterity. I merely offer my own sentiments; but I offer them freely, scorning to disguise my opinion, either because infidels have pressed Rousseau into their service, or because the uncandid and the dishonest have traduced him falsely, not daring to declare the real cause of their aversion,—his virtuous sincerity." Though his Tour lost Sir James the favor of Queen Charlotte, it gained him some valuable friends. Among these was Colonel Johnes of Hafod, a name familiar in the gossiping literary history of the last thirty years, and distinguished as that of the translator of Froissart. The visits of Sir James to Hafod, and his descriptions of that splendid place and its inmates, make an agreeable section of his memoirs. His first visit was made in 1795, and in the following year, a second was undertaken, in company with Lady Smith, then, we presume, newly married. She was charmed with the beauty of this romantic seat, and with its presiding genius. In the previous year, Sir James lost his excellent father, of whom he justly says, "There never was a more honest, sensible, judicious man, or excellent parent." In the church of St. Peter's, Norwich, his inscription to the memory of this affectionate father may now be seen. His mother survived till 1820, when, in a letter to his friend, Mr. Roscoe, of Liverpool, he mentions, that "She fell asleep so happily as never to have known what death was: nor did she ever know the fear of it. Her religion was of the most cheerful kind; no gloom, no uncharitableness, had any share in it. I had been in the habit of almost daily calls, to chat a minute or two with her, and I miss her with a degree of sadness I did not expect." Among the most agreeable of the correspondents of Sir James, is a young Swiss gentleman, Mr. Davall of Orbe, enthusiastic in his love of botany, and nature, and of their high priest in England. His letters are highly pleasing. One Lecturing, composing his works, and extending his scientific correspondence, the life of Sir James passed smoothly on. of his works was dedicated to the Marchioness of Rockingham, and a Most Honorable letter is received from her, delicately expressive of her alarm at some terrible blunder in the style of address, lest offence be given to noble Duchesses by an infringement of their exclusive honors and rights. Lady Smith has been over-anxious for the preservation and promulgation of these testimonials of the nobility; nor can we help noticing, to the credit of his tact, that Sir James seems to have known the full value of female patronage. After his marriage, he removed to Hammersmith to be near the nurseries, but spent the greater part of every year in Norwich, going to London to deliver his lectures. He also lectured on botany in other large towns in England, still going on with his own periodical works, and his contributions to those published by different booksellers. By 1814, Sir James had so far overcome the bad odor of his Tour of 1788, that he received the honor of knighthood. The miscellaneous correspondence which occupies so much of these volumes, would bear to be sifted and much diminished; yet there are interspersed many agreeable letters from Roscoe, from a warm-hearted Irish friend, named Caldwell, and from other persons eminent in science or in rank. Among the best of the letters of the remaining part of the work, is one from himself to Mrs. Cobbold, vindicating Mrs. Barbauld's poem, entitled "Eighteen Hundred and Eleven," which gave so much offence in certain High-Church and High-Tory quarters, that we believe, a Scottish literary lady was moved to put her pen in shaft against the Barbauld heresies. Mrs. Cobbold was indignant at the praises lavished upon America by the poetess, a subject on which no Tory can keep his temper quietly; and, at the deprecation of the war. Sir James vindicates the poetess with energy and fervor, and, it is very probable, shared her views. He, however, concludes very kindly; "Now, my dear friend, forget all party, and be (not a false, but) a true Christian philosopher, take this excellent woman to your heart as a congenial spirit; for if you knew her as well as I do, I will do you the justice to believe you would love and admire her as much." In 1818 Sir James was induced to offer himself a candidate for the botanical chair of Cambridge, though neither a member of the University, nor of the Church of England, and though holding opinions materially opposed to the Church creed. His peculiar tenets may be given in his own words, and those of his editor, for we are rather at a loss how to designate them. They were these: "That a man can be no Christian, as to faith, who does not judge for himself; nor, as to practice, who does not allow others to do so without presuming to censure or to hinder them. "His opinions were formed from the same source whence many, with equal sincerity, derivé very different ones. His creed was the New Testament, and he read it as a celebrated divine recommends; that is, ' as a man would read a letter from a friend, in which he doth only seek after what was his friend's mind and meaning, not what he can put upon his words.' "He was a firm believer in the divine mission of Jesus Christ; and, in 3+ VOL. II. NO. 1. maintaining the doctrine of the strict unity of God, as one of the truths our great Master was commissioned to teach, he considered his opinion truly apostolical. "I look up,' he says, in a letter to a friend,' to one God, and delight in referring all my hopes and wishes to him; I consider the doctrine and example of Christ as the greatest blessing God has given us, and that his character is the most perfect and lovely we ever knew, except that of God himself. This is my religion; I hope it is not unsound.' "Let it not be supposed that Sir James was indifferent to opinions, and considered all systems equally good; on the contrary, he preserved his own through good report and evil report, and no temptation of interest ever made him swerve one moment from the maintenance and vindication of those he had adopted: but among these, the first was charity; exclusiveness he considered as the very characteristic of Antichrist and pride. There was no sect of Christians, among the good and sincere, with whom he could not worship the Great Spirit to whom all look up, enter into their views, excuse what he might consider as their prejudices, and respect their piety: and whether it were in the Pope's chapel, or the parish church, he felt the social glow, 'To gang together to the kirk, And altogether pray ; Where each to his great Father bends, Old men, and babes, and loving friends, The affection he thus felt for others, he in general had the happiness of finding reciprocal, for love must owe its origin to love.' No one had less of a sectarian spirit; nor did he ever attempt to make converts, except to Christian charity." After this it is almost unnecessary to say that his attempt to obtain_the_botanical chair at Cambridge was unsuccessful. This good and amiable man died in March, 1828, after the illness of a single day. His character is summed up by Lady Smith, with the natural leanings of affection; and it is impossible it should be otherwise, though nothing is said that is not warranted by the whole tenor of the life of her husband, and by the documents and correspondence placed before us. And her estimate is exceeded by the praises of his other friends. We shall give but one sample, and in her own words. "Of the poor and humble, it gave him heartfelt pleasure to enter into their scanty pleasures, their little vanity, or even weakness; but the knowledge of the sacrifices they made to humanity and duty, of their kindnesses to each other, their fortitude in distress, melted his heart, and willingly would he have wiped all tears from their eyes. He truly felt that God hath made of one blood all the families of the earth;' and his benevolent sympathies extended to the whole human race." Having so high an opinion of the moral tendency of the early memoirs of Sir James Edward Smith, and being so much pleased with the amiable and tender spirit in which his editor, has fulfilled her task, it may seem ungracious to whisper, at parting, that the work is far too bulky, that it contains much that is of little importance, and a great deal that is of none whatever. Nor is the ar rangement what it might be, nor the narrative clearly developed. We should certainly also have liked to have seen a little more of the fire-side of a man, who at college, filled us with so much interest of a familiar and domestic kind. The youth who wrote so delightfully home, and to Kindersley his cousin, and Batty his friend, could not all at once lose this faculty. If the modesty of the writer has kept back letters, because addressed to herself, we are sorry for it. A few more of Sir James' own familiar letters were worth all the complimentary epistles in the volumes, and of these we have scarce one after his return to England in 1787. Still we owe Lady Smith thanks and gratitude for having given us so much that is instructive and of most winning example; in the history of her husband, and in the character of his parents. ART. II. [From "The Edinburgh Review, No. 112."] Three Years in North America. By JAMES Stuart, Esq. 2 vols. 8vo. Edinburgh: 1833. "WE have long wished to see such a book," was the gratulatory notice with which the appearance of Mrs. Trollope's work was hailed by those who seem to imagine, that to speak favorably of America is to speak disparagingly and factiously of Britain. The publication of the volumes before us, affords us the opportunity of saying in our turn, that we long have wished to see such a book, a book of Travels in Federal America, written by an honest, dispassionate, and competent observer, but one who, though educated and accomplished, should not be of the class, or practised in the artifices, of travelling authors, one less anxious to amuse or surprise, or to make himself be talked of as clever, or deep, or patriotic, than to exhibit an unvarnished view of facts as they arose, and to portray, in plain and simple language, the results of an attentive and discriminating course of observation on men and things," nothing extenuating, nor aught setting down in malice:" Such, so framed, and so written, is the work before us; and we, therefore, strongly recommend it to all who wish to obtain sound and correct information as to the actual condition of the vast and interesting countries of which it treats. Its author, though accustomed to mix in better society than nine out of ten of the foreigners who have visited the United States, does not affect to be disgusted with a great, a growing, and a happy people, because hotels, and the houses of opulent individuals, are not crowded with obsequious waiters and lacqueys, because it is * - [We would suggest that a judicious abridgment of these Memoirs would be a valuable publication in this country.] |