death-stab to modern Superstition. That horrid incubus, which dwelt in darkness, shunning the light, is passing away; with all its racks and poison-chalices, and foul sleeping-draughts, is passing away without return. He who sees even a little way into the signs of the times, sees well that both the Smithfield fires and the Edinburgh thumbscrews (for these too must be held in remembrance) are things which have long, very long, lain behind us; divided from us by a wall of Centuries, transparent indeed, but more impassable than adamant. For, as we said, Superstition is in its death-lair: the last agonies may endure for decades or for centuries; but it carries the iron in its heart, and will not vex the earth any more.

That, with Superstition, Religion is also passing away, seems to us a still more ungrounded fear. Religion cannot pass away. The burning of a little straw may hide the stars of the sky; but the stars are there, and will reappear. On the whole, we must repeat the often-repeated saying, that it is unworthy a religious man to view an irreligious one either with alarm or aversion; or with any other feeling than regret, and hope, and brotherly commiseration. If he seek Truth, is he not our brother, and to be pitied? If he do not seek truth, is he not still our brother, and to be pitied still more? Old Ludovicus Vives has a story of a clown that killed his ass because it had drunk up the moon, and he thought the world could ill spare that luminary. So he killed his ass, ut lunam redderet. The clown was wellintentioned, but unwise. Let us not imitate him: let us not slay a faithful servant, who has carried us far. He has not drunk the moon; but only the reflection of the moon, in his own poor water-pail, where too, it may be, he was drinking with purposes the most harmless.

ART. VII.-Ueber den Zeitpunct der Volljährigkeit der Prinzen aus dem Hause Braunschweig, etc. By M. Hurlebusch. Helmstadt. 1826.

2. Von Prann's, v. Martens' und Schmelzer's Gedanken, &c. By M. Hurlebusch. Brunswick. 1827.

3. Ueber den entwichenen Herzogl. Braunschweig. Geheimenrath v. Schmidt-Phiseldeck, etc. By M. Hurlebusch. Brunswick.

1827.

4. Beitrage zur Characteristik des von Braunschweig entwichenen Geheimenraths, etc. Brunswick. 1827.

5. Ueber meiner Austritt aus dem Herzogl. Braunschweig.

Staatsdienst.

Staatsdienst. By M. Justus de Schmidt-Phiseldeck. Hanover. 1827.

6. Antwort eines Unbefangenen, &c. Brunswick. 1828. 7. Réfutation des Accusations Injurieuses, hasardées par Son Altesse Sérénissime le Duc Régnant de Brunswick, contre Son Auguste Tuteur, et contre les Personnes chargées de l'Education du Duc durant sa Minorité. Hanover. 1827. 8. Versuch, die Missverstaendnisse zu hebben, &c. From official documents. Hamburg. 1828.

9. Gehörige Würdigung und actenmässige Abfertigung, &c. Strasbourg. 1828.

SUCH are a few of the works which have been published in

elucidation of the present controversy between Brunswick and Hanover. Among the club of authors, we recognise an old friend-old indeed from past villanies, though young in yearsthe illustrious Mein Herr Johann Wit, alias-for all rogues political and civil, public as well as private, know the expediency of an alias-Von Döring. This precious composition of low rascality, who was first a carbonaro, and afterwards a spy in many countries, has now, it seems, turned his ready attention to politics; and hiring himself, in the spirit of the old Condottieri soldiers, who were men of as little principle as himself, to the first power which would engage his honourable services, he has entered the field of literary controversy as the avowed champion of His Serene Highness of Brunswick, to bespatter with the slime of his contemptible abuse so respectable a minister, a nobleman, and a gentleman, as the Count Ernest de Münster, the able and upright functionary of the king of Hanover. Another champion of the rights of Brunswick, is a Counsellor Klindworth, a personage with not the nicest sense of honour, and a paltry sycophant to boot, and, thus circumstanced, well worthy of following in the wake of such an individual as Mein Herr Wit, alias Von Döring. If, in the choice of councillors, there be wisdom, happy indeed is the prince who is surrounded with councillors like unto MeineHerren Klindworth and Von Döring; and such a wise prince is the youthful heir of that Brunswick's fated Chieftain,' whose glories will live in the pages of our English poet-for to that heir will most aptly apply a certain well-known Spanish proverb, in all the force of its primitive significance.*

A third defender of the cause of His Serene Highness is one Hurlebusch, now president of the Consistory at Brunswick, and formerly president of the Appeal Tribunal at Wolfenbüttel. This person was, during the prince's minority, by the general desire of the people, dismissed from his situation-the reasons being natural and moral unfitness for the functions of his office. He adulated the weakness of his master, by sycophantic and contemptible writings, and succeeded in being reinstated in his judicial appointment. The way for such a low-minded person to keep possession of

what

Independently, however, of the gentry already mentionedthe 'par nobile fratrum'-the bashful supporters of the ducal 'scutcheon of the House of Brunswick, there is a certain English horse-dealer, who cuts no contemptible figure in this memorable story. His office was to carry a cartel, an absolute challenge from this young Hotspur of an Herzog to the Count de Münster, which the man of horses conveyed en preux chevalier,' and delivered with a lofty flourish of his fist, as was his wont, when knocking down a gingered Bucephalus to a gaping bidder. The grounds of the challenge were some words of alleged offence contained in the pamphlet (No. 7), which the duke and his 'scutcheon supporters twisted into an insinuation of personal cowardice against the former; but which better heads than their's at once saw were only employed as an assurance to the prince that he was casting ridicule and disgrace on himself, and on his exalted station, by licensing the bare-faced calumnies of his accredited advocates, and by the utter extravagance and absurdity of his own conduct. This was a rare opportunity for the florid tropes of our immaculate Von Döring; nor is it missed, for we have a fine description of the potentate's descent from his throne to avenge his insulted honour, to which is added a piece of antithetic sentimentalism, respecting the man and the prince, or 'verbiage' of that kind. The Count de Münster, however, was not willing to gratify the beardless Herzog at the game at balls, for which he seemed so anxious; the king, his master, forbid his servant's participation in so ludicrous an exhibition, and the challenge being declined, His Serene Highness was constrained to bottle up his personal animosity to the Count. The horse-dealer's journey, not forgetting the above-mentioned flourish of his digits, were of none effect; while the brimstone missive was disregarded as so much waste paper. But, that our readers may have a right understanding of the business, we will give a rapid description of the incidents ab ovo.'

Duke William of Brunswick fell covered with glory on the field of Waterloo. By his appointment, and by right of relationship, King George of England became the guardian of the hero's orphaned children. Both were sons, the elder of whom, Charles, was born on the 30th of October, 1804, and his brother was younger by only a year. By a codicil to the will of the deceased duke, the Count Münster, with the late Lord Liverpool and Mr. Canning, were particularly desired to concern themselves in the adjustment of the ducal affairs; which had been, owing to the French campaigns and political convulwhat is as dear to him as life-the emoluments of the judgeship-is to continue in the same line of sycophancy. Accordingly, by mouth and by pen, his daily task is to be praise his young master, the Serene Highness. sions

sions in Germany, thrown into considerable disorder. Aware, therefore, of the high opinion entertained by the Duke William respecting the worth and integrity of the Count Münster, the King of Great Britain appointed that nobleman, with the only two members of the Brunswick State Council (Messrs. de SchmidtPhiseldeck and de Schleinetz), a Committee of Guardianship and Management for the young Princes of Brunswick. At their solicitation, moreover, His Britannic Majesty was pleased to nominate, as Minister of State, the Count de SchulenburgWolfsbourg, an individual equally distinguished for public and private worth, and one whose value and excellence had been long tried, and received unusual approbation during his service as President of the First Chamber of State in Hanover. On that nobleman's death in 1818, the Count d'Alvensleben succeeded to that station.

:

This high functionary surrendered his office into the hands of the Duke Charles, on the completion by that prince of his 19th year though the two councillors of state not only continued their services, but, to all appearance, enjoyed the full confidence of their sovereign, till the flight of Schmidt-Phiseldeck in 1827. The youthful course of Duke Charles had been remarkable for headstrong and turbulent passions, and the unlimited indulgence of sensual appetite. The future prospects of Brunswick, therefore, were overclouded with doubt and apprehension, and it then became a question with the Guardian Committee whether or not the prolongation of the prince's minority would be a measure recognised by law. The two Privy-Councillors, and the Count d' Alvensleben, were unanimous in their opinions as to its absolute necessity; but as the latter was determined to withdraw entirely from all participation in the government, and the whole odium of the measure would naturally fall on the person of Schmidt-Phiseldeck, who must, in case of the Count's secession, be the Prime Minister, and who might, in all probability, be dismissed from his employment by the wilful and impetuous duke (and such dismissal would be hard upon him on account of his want of private fortune) His Britannic Majesty promised him an equivalent employment in the service of Hanover, as a fair recompence to a worthy servant for the faithful and energetic discharge of his duty. In this, we cannot see anything which, in the slightest manner, derogates from the dignity of the monarch, or abstracts from the uprightness and integrity of the servant.

The prolongation of the duke's minority was certainly considered illegal by M. de Martens, an eminent publicist; but it was a question on which the most discordant opinions had been delivered by jurists equally celebrated with that individual.

'La

La question, si les princes de la branche ducale de la maison de Brunswick devroient, d'après les lois de famille, être considérés majeurs à dix-huit ans, ou à un terme plus reculé, a été jugée différemment par plusieurs publicistes, mais elle a été si peu décidée, qu'à l'avènement du Duc Charles en 1735, le gouvernement de Brunswick avoit demandé et obtenu pour ce prince, veniam ætatis de la Cour Impériale Aulique, bien qu'il cut alors accompli sa vingtdeuxième année.'

There is little doubt but that the princes of this line have long possessed the right of fixing the minority of their own children; and no instances are on record of any duke assuming the reins of domination at so early a period as the Duke Charles in question. The example afforded, says the author of the Refutation,' by Duke Eric the younger, in the 16th century, is a sufficient warning of the danger to which the subjects of Brunswick are exposed under the government of princesyouthful, rash, and inexperienced.*

M. de Martens delivered his opinion at the request of Count de Münster, who communicated it himself to the princes of Brunswick. But the lawyer was ignorant of one of the testamentary dispositions of the late duke-viz. that of 1813; added to which, he was not sufficiently acquainted with the contents of the archives of the principality in regard to the question at issue.'-p. 50, Réfutation. In consequence of this, the Count d'Alvensleben undertook the investigation of the matter, and by his enquiries, he proved most distinctly and indisputably that the opinion given by M. de Martens was not only contradictory to the settled usages of the family, but that the son would not, by right, attain his majority on the completion of his 18th yeareven though his father had not himself limited the term of tutelage and minority. In the Refutation,' p. 50, is given that testamentary document of the late duke, wherein the period of self-action is, though by implication, yet most distinctly marked out.

'Si les circonstances politiques permettent que mes enfans, pour terminer leur première éducation, à l'égard de laquelle j'entends parler de l'époque où ils auront atteint leur seizième jusqu'à leur vingtième année, soient établis en Allemagne, je souhaite qu'ils y soient envoyés, pour qu'ils apprennent à connoître les mœurs, les usages et les lois de leur patrie allemande, ainsi que leurs droits comme princes, pour terminer leur éducation sous la surveillance exclusive de Madame la Maregrave de Bade.'+

* See the Chronicle of Rethmeyer, tom. 2, p. 804.

The Count's memorial is given at p. 76 of the 'Réfutation.'

Sollten die politischen Verhältnisse es dereinst erlauben, dass meine Kinder, nach Vollendung ihrer ersten Erziehung, nach Deutschland geschickt werden könnten, wohin ich die Erlangung ihres 16ten bis 20sten Jahrs rechne; dann wünsche ich, dass sie, um mit den Sitten und Gebräuchen, den Interessen und Rechten ihres deutschen Vaterlandes,

und