taken to compile a detailed Report of the Canterbury Meeting, including such papers at length as he can procure. In so doing the Committee probably think that he acts with some officiousness; but the measure is clearly the result of their remissness and deficiency. It ought to have been arranged before the meeting that the papers should form an extra number of the Journal; and, when it was found that their number and extent had outgrown such limits, they would naturally have formed an octavo volume similar to that issued by the Historical Section of the Scientific Congress of France. Nor can it be overlooked that the Archæological Album, announced by a London publishing firm, under the editorship of Mr. Wright, who acted as one of the Secretaries at the Canterbury meeting, is taking up a field which might have been occupied with better effect by the Association itself, whose members would have received with greater satisfaction a series of engravings selected and sanctioned by the Committee at large, than the private work of any individual member, however able and experienced. It must, I fear, be admitted that they still " Imanage these things better in France," as was suggested by your correspondent W. B. in your March number; whose letter, though preliminary to the active operations of the Association, may, even after the present experience, be perused with some advantage. MR. URBAN, Yours, &c. D. H. THE stone of which a representation is sent herewith, according to tradition commemorates an unfortunate duel which formerly occurred at Canterbury, between two officers of the garrison. One of the victims of it was killed on the spot; the other expired as he passed an adjoining stile, while withdrawing from the scene of combat. Some friend recorded the "The first part of the Archæological Album will be devoted to a detailed account of the proceedings of that meeting, and a description of the objects seen in the various excursions made on that occasion." Prospectus. fall of one of the parties by a rude inscription on a stone of the boundary wall of St. Augustine's Abbey, at the place where the event occurred. It is and is by the footpath leading from on a Caen stone, 7 inches each way, St. Martin's church to the vicinity of St. Gregory's Barracks, and is near a doorway now stopped up. formerly of some note, and, according Mr. Rooke was of a Kentish family to a printed pedigree, was buried at St. Paul's, Canterbury. FINCH Rook 1695 DIED MARCH portance; but the mention of St. AuThe above relic may be of little imgustine's Abbey affords an opportunity of referring to the gratifying subject of its now being secured from further spoliation by the recent purchase of A. J. Beresford Hope, esq. M.P. The rapid destruction of Ethelbert's tower within the precinct of the Abbey leaves it doubtful how much longer these ancient remains might otherwise have survived. The above fabric, which rivalled, specimen of architecture, and was a happy, indeed an almost unwhich might have continued standing for many centuries, having been, as Mr. Britton informs us in his Picturesque Antiquities of English Cities, much undercut to furnish materials to house, fell down in part in 1824. The be used in building a gentleman's remainder was pulled down, notwithstanding the regret generally felt at the destruction of so fine a monument of antiquity, to avoid the expense which the adding a requisite support by masonry would have occasioned. Yours, &c. B. P. REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. The Dispatches and Letters of Lord Viscount Nelson. Edited by Sir Harris Nicolas. Vol. I. THIS work is executed with great professional knowledge, and exemplary diligence and care. Not only has Sir H. Nicolas collected his materials from every quarter that could afford them, but he has illustrated them by his own intimate acquaintance with all that can bear on the subject; while the interest which he evidently takes both in the person and achievements of his hero, and of the profession to which he belonged, gives animation to the whole narrative. The work is dedicated to Prince Albert; and in a very well-written preface Sir H. Nicolas informs us of the different sources from which he has drawn the stream of his biography. The letters in this volume extend from 1777 to 1794, including Nelson's services in the West Indies, -his command of the Boreas—his residence in Norfolk when on half pay-his subsequent appointment to the Agamemnon, and his station in the Mediterranean, terminating in the siege of Toulon, and the capture of Bastia. The chief event in his domestic life in the volume is his marriage with Mis. Nesbitt. His confidential correspondents were Captain Locker, his brother the Rev. W. Nelson, and his future wife: the greater part of his official correspondence is with Lord Hood. The entire body of this correspondence is so copious as to give an almost uninterrupted detail of all the events of his life-it is a picture painted by his own hand-where neither circumstances are omitted nor feelings concealed; and, when the whole work is concluded, it will form one of the most interesting specimens of the autobiography of a great man that we have in our language. The letters themselves are written in a style and manner that display those qualities of Nelson which won for him general attachment and esteem; perfect candour and simplicity-aclearness of understanding and resolution of will—a manliness of feeling, and an GENT. MAG. VOL. XXIII. anxious desire to perform his duty in the noble and arduous service which he had chosen; while the sterner and greater qualities necessary for success in his professional career, were united to much kindness and feeling in the claims of domestic life, and to a warm and friendly regard to those connected with him in the service. The letters themselves are of more or less importance, according to the circumstances in which he was placed when each was separately written. By persons belonging to the same profession probably not one of them will be overlooked, as they will all tend in a greater or less degree to complete the general portrait; other readers, it may be presumed, may not follow quite so closely the entire narrative; but both will be rewarded according to the degree of attention they may give to the subject; the one, in having a fine model of the finished seaman and naval commander set before them for imitation and study; the other, in observing the same character under a more general point of view, and remarking upon what basis his professional superiority has arisen, and what were those mental and moral qualities which enabled Nelson to pursue his career of glory with such steady and unbroken lustre, to unite in himself all the great and various qualities of a naval commander, firmness of resolution without obstinacy; undaunted and heroic courage without weakness; in his conduct to his officers and equals, friendship without favouritism; and to his men, kindness of manner without relaxation of discipline. We now give two or three specimens of those parts of the letters which, being on familiar and personal subjects, will be the more generally interesting, and because the first admiration of the hero is always succeeded by a desire of beholding him in his more unguarded hours, in the ordinary intercourse of life, and the unreserved intimacy of his family and friends. 1782. To his brother. "I am much afraid poor Charles will wait a long while H with Mr. R before he gets promotion, for he is a great liar. I wish I could congratulate you on a rectory instead of a vicarage; it is rather awkward wishing the poor man dead, but we all rise by deaths. I got my rank by a shot killing a post-captain, and I most sincerely hope I shall, when I go, go out of the world the same way. Then we go all in the line of our profession, a parson praying, a captain fighting. I suppose you are returned from Hillborough before this, and have taken Miss Ellen and the living," &c. We must follow this by giving the first letter he wrote to the lady who was to be his wife; a curious commentary on it will probably appear in the subsequent volumes. 1785, Sept. "Indeed, my dear Fanny, I had buoyed myself up with hope that the admiral's schooner would have given me a line from you, but the tidings she brought of the release of poor Mrs. Herbert (her aunt) from this world, sufficiently apologize for your not thinking of an absentee. Yet this believe from my heart, that I partake in all the sorrows you experience; and I comfort myself that, however great your grief at this moment may be, at losing a person who was so deservedly dear to you as your good aunt, yet, when reason takes place, you must rather have pleasure in knowing she is released from those trials she had undergone for months past. Time ever cures, and in the present instance I trust may have a tendency to soothe grief into a pleasing remembrance; and her unspotted character must afford you real comfort. Call religion to your aid; and it will convince you that her condition in this world was such as to ensure everlasting happiness in that which is to come. I have received a letter from Mr. Herbert, in answer to that which I left at Nevis for him. My greatest wish is to be united to you, and the foundation of all conjugal happiness, real love and esteem, is, I trust, what you believe I possess towards you. I think Mr. Herbert loves you too well not to let you marry the man of your choice, although he may not be so rich as some others, provided his character and station in life render such an union eligible. I declare solemnly that, did I not conceive I had the full possession of your heart, no consideration should make me accept your hand. We know that riches do not always ensure happiness, and the world is convinced that I am superior to pecuniary considerations in my public and private life, as in both instances I might have been rich. But I will have done, leaving all ་ "Herbert is very rich and very proud; he has an only daughter and this niece, who he looks upon in the same light, if not higher. I have lived at his house when at Nevis in June last, and I am a great favourite of his. I have told him I am as poor as Job; but he tells me he likes me, and I am descended from a good family, which his pride likes; but he also says, Nelson, I am proud, and I must live like myself, therefore I can't do much in my life-time. When I die she shall have twenty thousand pounds, and if my daughter dies before me she shall possess the major part of my property. I intend going to England in 1787, and remaining there my life; therefore if you two can live happily together till that event takes place, you have my consent.' This is exactly my situation with him, and I know the way to get him to give the most is not to appear to want it. Thus circumstanced, who can I apply to but you? The regard you have ever expressed leads me to hope you will do something. My future happiness, I give you my honour, is now in your power. If you cannot afford to give me anything for ever, you will, I am sure, trust to me, that if ever I can afford it I will return it to some part of our family. I think that it will be best to give her two or three hundred a year during her life, and if you will either give me, I will call it-I think you will do it-either one hundred a year for a few years, or a thousand pounds, how happy you will make a couple who will pray for you for ever. Don't disappoint me, or my heart will break; trust to my honour to do a good turn for some other person if it's in my power. I can say no more," &c. This is followed by a letter in which there is a singular mixture of different ardent spirits, viz. of love and rum; and then another, beginning," Separated from you, what pleasure can I feel? all my happiness is centred in thee." In August 1786 he tells Mrs. Nisbetthis heart yearns for her;" but in the meanwhile, his uncle Mr. Suckling had given him the hundred a-year, and then he says, "that nothing but reciprocity is equal to convey his feelings;" which shows how singularly intense they must have been. After this a considerable period passes, and we hear no more of the workings of the tender passion, except a stray sentence in a letter to his brother in 1787-" Marriage is not a thing to be hastily entered into:" but this adage was soon wiped out of his mind by a brush from Cupid's wing, for we find in a note that in March of the same year he was married to Mrs. Nisbett, and Prince William gave away the bride. When the Boreas was paid off, Nelson and his lady resided at the parsonage in Norfolk, and Mrs. Nelson used to go out bird's-nesting in the woods, as ladies in town ride in the park. Some few quiet years glided away in these charming and primitive pursuits; Nelson was then appointed to the Agamemnon, and went to the Mediterranean, and his wife there received from him the pleasing intelligence, "that Lady Hamilton has been wonderfully kind and good; she is a young woman of amiable manners, and who does honour to the station in which she is raised." Not wishing to impair the effect of this handsome and just eulogy, we must for the present finish our pleasing task, hoping soon to follow the biographer's future footsteps with our own. We must conclude with the following portrait of Nelson, drawn by a Royal hand, such as he appeared to Prince William in the year 1783. "I was then a Midshipman on board the Barfleur, lying in the Narrows off Staten Island, and had the watch on deck, when Captain Nelson, of the Albemarle, came in his barge alongside, who appeared to be the merest boy of a captain I ever beheld; and his dress was worthy of attention: he had on a full laced uniform; his lank unpowdered hair was tied in a stiff Hessian tail, of an extraordinary length; the old fashioned flaps of his waistcoat added to the general quaintness of his figure, and produced an appearance which positively attracted my notice, for I had never seen anything like it before, nor could I imagine who he was, nor what he came about; my doubts were however removed, when Lord Hood introduced me to him. There was something irresistibly pleasing in his address and conversation; and an enthusiasm when speaking on professional subjects, that showed he was no common being. Nelson after this went with us to the West Indies, and served under Lord Hood's flag, during his indefatigable cruize off Cape François. Throughout the whole of the American war, the height of Nelson's ambition was to command a line of battle ship; as for prizemoney, it never entered his thoughts, he had always in view the character of his maternal uncle. I found him sincerely attached to my father, and singularly humane; and the independence of the British navy he had the honour of the King's service particularly at heart; and his mind glowed with this idea as much when he was simply Captain of the Albemarle, and had obtained none of the honours of his country, as when he was afterwards decorated with so much well-earned distinction." Vide Minutes of a Conversation with the Duke of Clarence at Bushy Park, &c. Now let us compare this with another picture, drawn by a female hand. Mrs. Nisbett, afterwards Viscountess Nelson, received the following account of her future husband, in a letter from a lady; this was in 1785. "We have at last seen the Captain of the Boreas, of whom so much has been said. He came up just before dinner, much heated, and was very silent, yet seemed, according to the old adage, to think the more. He declined drinking any wine; but after dinner, when the President as usual gave the following toasts-the King, the Queen, and Royal Family-and Lord Hood, this strange man regularly filled his glass, and observed, that those were always bumper toasts with him; which having drunk, he uniformly passed the bottle, and relapsed possible during this visit for any of us to into his former taciturnity. It was im make out his real character, there was such a reserve and sternness in his be haviour, with occasional sallies, though very transient, of a superior mind. Being placed by him, I endeavoured to rouse his attention, by shewing him all the little more than yes or no. If you, Fanny, civilities in my power; but I drew out had been there, we think you would have made something of him, for you have been in the habit of attending to these odd sort of people," &c. p. 133, note. The Life, Progress, and Rebellion of James Duke of Monmouth, &c. By George Roberts. 2 vols. THERE has been so much diligence used in the composition of this work, so much investigation, local and personal, into all the facts relating to the subject, that it will be consulted by all future historians, and referred to by all those whose curiosity is directed to the interesting period to which it refers. Mr. Roberts has pursued the duty of an historian, in being minute without tediousness, and lively without exaggeration. The history is that of an ill-educated, weak, and wayward child, who grew up amid the flattery of courtiers, the indulgence of royalty, the intrigue of parties, and the malice of enemies, ignorant of himself and of others; embarking without foresight or preparation in the most hazardous of all enterprises, which required for its success much more wisdom, experience, and firmness than he was possessed of, as was shown a few years later in the enterprise of the Prince of Orange. The author says of him (and we give this as a specimen of the manner in which the book is written), "The eclat of the Duke's first appearance at court, the beauty of his person, and the natural endowments, and most en. gaging manners for exciting popular favour, which he possessed, have been described. The absence of a regular education has been mentioned; a want which the Duke felt, and which he sought to remove during a period which disgrace at court afforded. This golden opportunity his mode of life rarely allowed. How truly may we say of this leader of a great party, His hours fill'd up with riots, banquets, sports; And never noted in him any study, "How many would have been spoilt by the adulation of a court in which they appeared as idols! Few would have been proof against the flattery to which such a position exposed them. Apart from education, the Duke of Monmouth's abilities were, if not of the first rate, by no means contemptible. He had the art of inspiring those who followed him not only with confidence and esteem, but with affection, enthusiasm, and even fondness. He was brave, generous, affable, constant in his friendships, just to his word, and an utter enemy to all sorts of cruelty. As to his failings, we may say of him that he was a courtier of the reign of Charles II. when all the upper classes attained a height of profligacy now happily unknown. The treatment of his wife was altogether inexcusable, and the worst feature in the Duke's conduct. * "One of the most conspicuous features in the Duke's character seems to have been a remarkable, and, as some think, a culpable degree of flexibility. That such a disposition is preferable to its opposite extreme, will be admitted by all who think that modesty, even in excess, is more nearly allied to wisdom than conceit or self-sufficiency. He who has attentively considered the political, or, indeed, the general courses of life, may possibly go still further, and rank a willingness to be convinced, or, in some cases, even without conviction, to concede our own opinion to that of other men, among the principal ingredients in the composition of prudent wisdom. Monmouth had suffered this flexibility, so laudable in many cases, to degenerate into a habit, which made him often follow the advice, or yield to the entreaties, of persons whose characters by no means entitled them to such preference. The sagacity of Shaftesbury, the honour of Russell, the genius of Sidney, might, in the opinion of a modest man, be safe and honourable guides. The partiality of his friendship, and the conviction of his firm attachment, might be some excuse for his listening so much to Grey; but he never could, at any period of his life, have mistaken Ferguson for an honest man. There is reason to believe that the advice of the two last-mentioned persons had great weight in persuading him to the unjustifiable step of declaring himself King." Such are the words and the opinion of Mr. Fox, which to our minds present a clear and satisfactory view of the subject, and which are, therefore, very properly inserted by the author in his work. By thus adding to his own researches the reasonings and conclusions of other writers, Mr. Roberts has been able to take such a character and actions as will enable comprehensive view of Monmouth's the reader to follow him with pleasure, and to pursue the inquiry into more particular details than a general history would afford. |