Dec. 11.-Finished Burke's Speeches. Nothing can furnish stronger proofs of his political consistency than these compositions; the germs of his future sentiments are perpetually manifesting themselves-almost as if purposely placed there to establish it. He is perpetually inculcating, in all proposed reforms and changes of Government, the attending to practical grievances, and their redress exclusively. "This is the true touchstone of all there is which regards Man and the affairs of Man-Does it suit his nature in general?-Does it suit his nature as modified by his habits?" In his speech on Reform of Representation, he says-"The excellence of mathematics and metaphysics is, to have but one thing before you but he forms the best judgment in moral disquisitions who has the greatest number and variety of considerations in one view before him, and can take them with the best possible consideration of the middle results of all." Dec. 16.-Finished Burke's "Abridgment," as he calls it, of the History of England; comparing it occasionally in some important points, as the character of William the Conqueror, the last moments of Henry the Second, the humiliation of John, and the provisions of Magna-Charta, with the parallel passages in Hume. They correspond more nearly than one would expect. Hume is more generally full and exact but there is in the Statesman, on all proper occasions, a depth of thought, and vigour of expression, and richness of explanation, which the Philosopher wants. One could much have wished that Hume had seen this sketch; of which I think, on comparison, there is no appearance. Dec. 24.-Looked into Andrews's Anecdotes. He observes, sarcastically, on Freethinkers, that they never desire to make converts of their wives and daughters. On purse pride he observes, acutely, that though the most disgusting of any other kinds, it has the advantage of being bottomed on a communicable quality. Dec. 30.-A bill of fare is preserved in Salter's Hall, by which it appears that the feasting of the Company (fifty in number) in 1506, cost 17. 13s. 24d. The same number three years since was charged for dinner 3807. The company of Barbers and Surgeons, primitively combined, were not dissevered till 1746. The whole expense, I find (for I am reading Beauties of England and Wales, art. London), of erecting St. Paul's, was 736,7521. 2s. 34d. The iron balustrades cost 11,2021. Os. 6d. The pillars of St. Paul's were limited to four feet in diameter, in consequence of the quarries of Portland not affording larger masses. The church covers 2 acres, 16 perches, 23 rods, and 1 foot: the height to the top of the lantern is 330 feet. STATE PAPERS Published under the Authority of His Majesty's Commission. Vols. IV and V. 4to. Lond. THESE two volumes are parts of a magnificent series of State Papers illustrative of the reign of Henry VIII. designed to be published by the State-Paper Commissioners ;-a series which, if ever completed, will, we hope, contribute greatly to the formation of settled opinions respecting the policy of the English Government, and the character of the English Ministers, during the first half of the sixteenth century. The volumes of this collection have been sent forth at such long intervals, that our readers will not be displeased to be reminded as to the nature of the authority under which they are published; indeed, it is necessary to go back to the fountain-head, by way of explaining and justifying some remarks which we shall hereafter make. On the 10th June 1825, his Majesty George IV. directed a Commission to Lord Canterbury, then Speaker; Sir Robert Peel, then Home Secretary; Mr. Charles Watkins Williams Wynn; Mr. John Wilson Croker; and Mr. Henry Hobhouse; in which Commission, after reciting that it had been represented that the documents in the State-Paper Office had been in great measure arranged, and that many of them had been found to be of great value and importance, and to throw great light on various obscure parts of the history of the realm, his Majesty directed the said Commissioners to examine the several papers deposited and arranged in the said office, and to cause such of them as they thought fit for publication to be published, in such manner and style as should be approved by the Lords of the Treasury. The Commissioners resolved" to proceed chronologically in the execution of their Commission; that is, they determined to publish the earliest documents first; but finding that the papers relating to the reign of Henry VIII. and his three children were very imperfectly arranged, they directed the whole of them to be, in the first place, carefully assorted and calendared. This task occupied a very considerable time, but was ultimately accomplished, as we have every reason to believe, in a most satisfactory We have no personal knowledge upon the subject, but we have heard, from many quarters, that the arrangement is admirable; and it gives us great pleasure, not merely to state the fact, but to add that the credit of it is due to two gentlemen named Robert Lemon-father and son. The father died some three years ago, greatly regretted in many a pleasant circle; the son survives, and is still occupied in his highly useful labours at the State-Paper Office. manner. The arrangement having been completed, the Commissioners determined to confine their publication in the first instance to the reign of Henry VIII. and to classify the papers so as to bring together into separate parts those relating to the same subjects. They divided the papers intended for publication, or rather, we fancy we should say, they divided their meditated publication into seven parts: I. The Correspondence between the King and Wolsey; II. That between the King and his other Ministers at home; III. That relating to Ireland; IV. That relating to the Scottish Border; V. That with the Governors of Calais; VI. That with foreign Courts; and VII. Miscellaneous. Upon the death of George IV. the authority of the Commissioners was renewed by the late King, and in the year 1831 the first and second parts of the contemplated series were sent into the world in the shape of a huge quarto volume, containing about 950 pages. In 1834 the third part was published in two thin quarto volumes; and, recently, the fourth part-the work before us-has added two more quartos to the collection. They are all handsome volumes, well printed, in a good clear type and, with the exception of the disproportion in size between the first and the subsequent volumes, are blameless as a series of publications. The Commissioners have also recently endeavoured to bring them within the means of a widely extended class of readers by reducing the price of each volume to twenty shillings; at which rate they are about upon a par with the cost of the Penny Magazine. We have upon former occasions noticed the contents of the previous volumes,* and will therefore turn at once to those now before us; in which, in consequence of a slight deviation from the original plan, we find not merely the correspondence with the Scottish Border, but that also with the Scottish Court. The first thing which strikes us is the very great number of the documents printed in these volumes which are not derived from the State-Paper Office. The total *Gent. Mag. Vol. ci. pt. 1. p. 440, and Vol. iii. N. S. p. 513. number of documents printed in the fourth volume is 265, of which 163 are derived from the British Museum, 71 from the Chapter House, 2 apparently from the Vatican, and the poor remainder of 29 from the State-Paper Office. In the fifth volume, the number of borrowed documents decreases considerably, and, taking the whole of the two volumes together, the account stands thus: So that only about one volume out of the two has been really derived from the StatePaper Office. We rather think there has recently been some transfer of letters from the Chapter House to the State-Paper Office; and if so, it is probable that those here printed are amongst the transferred documents, although, when the books went to press, the documents were certainly at the Chapter House. But, if this be so, and the documents were inserted in the printed collection in anticipation of the meditated transfer, there still remain those from the Museum, which occupy pretty nearly, if not quite, the whole of one of the volumes, and respecting which we cannot help asking the question-Why were they inserted? They are not within the authority of the Commission, which is to print "papers deposited and arranged in the State-Paper Office" only. The Commissioners had no more right to print documents from the Museum, than they would have had to have eked out the poverty of the collections in the State-Paper Office by letters in the archives of France or Germany. And there is a great practical evil connected with this overstepping the limits of the Commission. We do not need a Commission to publish letters which are in the Museum; they are there universally accessible; and individual sagacity and enterprise may be depended upon for discovering those worthy of publication, and giving them to the public. But the State-Paper Office is closed against all inquirers who do not choose to apply for, or cannot obtain, an order for admission from a Secretary of State. This seems rather ridiculous, so far as it relates to documents dated so far back as the reign of Henry VIII.; but so it is: and, whilst that regulation lasts, it is only through the medium of a Royal Commission that we can hope to see the original documents given to the public. In these days, Government is not over-liberal in such matters, and every penny expended by the State-Paper Commissioners in searching for, obtaining, or printing documents in the Museum, is just so much money taken from a most important use, and bestowed upon one in which it is scarcely, if at all, needed. The quartos will increase quite fast enough from the treasures of the State-Paper Office alone, and some economist will soon begin to count the cost, and think it is high time the work were at an end. Such a gentleman will not find any apology for the outlay in the fact that one-half the money was expended in works not within the scope of the Commissionit will rather furnish him with a lever whereby to upset the whole. And now, having made these remarks, which we felt it to be our duty to do, we gladly pass to the more pleasant task of laying before our readers an outline of the contents of these volumes. "O Scotland! Scotland!" one is tempted to exclaim, upon closing the book, "Alas! poor country! Where sighs, and groans, and shrieks that rend the air, Are made, not mark'd; the dead-man's knell Is there scarce ask'd- For whom?' and good men's lives Dying or ere they sicken." It would be difficult in the history of any country to parallel the wretchedness which overwhelmed that "nation miserable" during the part of the sixteenth century which is comprehended in these volumes. The glory which redounded from the bold stand for independence made against the power of England at earlier periods, almost compensated for the unhappiness which accompanied it, but Flodden was as inglorious as it was fatal; and what glory could there be in the perverse squabblings of the factions which by turns tyrannised over and desolated their country during the minorities of James V. and Mary? Nor was there wanting that too-frequent ingredient in the misery of Scotland, the interference of England, designing and unfriendly, even when not openly hostile. The present volumes open with an account of "the bataill betwixt the Kinge of Scottes and th'Erle of Surrey, in Brankstone;" or, according to the name by which it is better known, in Flodden Field, on the 9th September 1513. the divisions and positions of the armies, the writer proceeds thus: After stating "Th'Erles of Huntley, Arell, and Crawford, with theire host of 6000 men, cam upon the Lord Haward, and shortly their bakkes were tourned, and the moste parte of theym slayne. The King of Scottes cam with a great puyssaunce upon my Lord of Surrey, havyng on his lyfte hand my Lord Darcy son; which 2 bare all the brounte of the bataill; and there the King of Scottes was slayn within a spere length from the said Erle of Surrey, and many noble men of the Scottes slayn mor, and no prisoners taken in thoes 2 battailes." "The battaile and conflytte beganne betwix 4 and 5, at after none, and the chace contynued 3 myles with mervelous slawter, and 10,000 mor had been slayn if the Englisshemen had be on horsbak. "The Scottes were 80,000, and aboutes 10,000 of them slayn, and under 400 Englisshemen slayn." "The King of Scottes body is brought to Berwyk. Ther is no grete man of Scotland retourned home but the Chamberlain. It is thought that fewe of them bee lefte on lyve." (IV. p. 1, 2.) There is a lapse of ten years between this despatch and the next paper, and various changes which had taken place in the mean time are at once brought before our notice. Margaret, the widow of James IV. and sister of Henry VIII, one of the most headstrong dissolute women of her time, had married the Earl of Angus, the head of the powerful house of Douglas, with a precipitancy which greatly disgusted her subjects. The marriage was not, and could not come to good." The handsome form which attracted the royal widow soon lost its charms in her eyes, whilst her imperious conduct drove her husband into political opposition, and thence into exile. During many years they do not seem to have agreed in any thing except the scandalous licentiousness of their lives. In the Cotton library is a large collection of this unhappy woman's letters-a collection which has given much information to the historians of Scotland, and several of the letters in which have been published by Sir Henry Ellis and others—singular specimens they are, both of orthography and handwriting. Of her Majesty's proficiency in both those accomplishments, we cannot give our readers a better idea than is conveyed by the following extract from one of her letters published in the present collection. She is writing in great fear of the return of Angus, her husband, into Scotland, which had been advocated in a letter from Henry VIII. "Bot, towscheng a poynt that is in your Gracyz sayd vryteng, sayeng that my Lord of Angws hath labord for the pece, and that he vol helpe vyth is atouryte; as to that, me thynke, deryst brothar the Kyng, me thynke that he nor no nothar suld be hard in that matar, so well as I your systar, nor that ze may get so mykyl honnor to dw for thayr reqwest, as for me. And therfor I besche your Grace that syk thing be not in your mynd, bot that it be I that dwz it, for the luf and favor that ze bere to the Kyng, my son, and me. And gyf it be throu otharz, I trast I sal not be so thankfwly takyn here. Pray your Grace to pardon me that I vryt so playnly to you; bot I vryt no thyng bot as your Grace vol fynd. I besche your Grace to pardon me of my ewel hand, for I am som thyng not wel dysposyd, and therfor I have cawsyd my hand to be copyd, in aventwr, gyf your Grace can not red my evel hand. And God presarve you. Vryten the 14 day of Jwly." She adds by way of postscript,― "Deryst Brothar, plese your Grace, towschyng my Lord of Angws comyng here, I vald beseke your Grace to be wel awysyd in the sam, as I have vryten of be foor; and as towschyng to my part, gyf he vol pwt hand to my gonrouffe, I vol not be contentyd therevyth, for I have bot ryght sobar thyng to fynd my selfe vyth, and hath schawn your Grace yat dyvarz tymez, and gat bot lytyl remed. Vharefor, now, and I be troblyd vyth my Lord of Angus, it is your Grace that doth it, and than I volbe constrayned to seke othar helpe; for I vol not lat hym trobyl me in my lyffeng, as he hath don in tymez past." (IV. 82.) The Queen's endeavours to prevent the return of Angus being unsuccessful, she then sued for a divorce; leading, in the meantime, a life the character of which may be estimated from the following extract from a letter addressed by the Duke of Norfolk to Wolsey, upon hearing of the intention of the English government to send Doctor Magnus and Roger Ratcliffe upon an embassy into Scotland. "And where the Kinges pleasure and your Graces is to send Master Magnus and Roger Ratclif, I am very joyfull thereof, for I trust moche good shall come of their being there, as well by their wisedomes in giffing Her Grace good counsell for the ordring of the realme to the contentacion of the noble men and others, as by the secret advyse of Mr. Magnus as a Prest, to gif her some holsome counsell for th' ordring of her owne living." (IV. p. 146.) If Magnus's advice was tendered upon that delicate subject, it was probably of little avail, for, after several intermediate attachments, the Queen had then received into her prime confidence Henry Stewart, second son of Lord Avandale, and, with all the indiscretion of a woman blinded by passion, had heaped upon him, although a mere youth, the most important offices of the State. "Henry Stuard had of late," we read, Vol. iv. p. 148, "in his keeping the Great Seale, the Prevy Seale, and a other seale called the Quarter Seale, and the Signet ; and also occupied the office of Treasurer; and doth rule as he woll, to the great grudge of all others." The divorce between Margaret and Angus was at length obtained, probably by con sent. The alleged ground upon which the sentence proceeded does not appear with certainty, but the following extraordinary passage occurs in a letter written by Magnus from Edinburgh during his embassy. "The Quene's Grace contynueth still at Stirling, and seweth faste for the Devorce betwene her said Grace and the said Erle of Anguisshe; surmitting [suggesting] her cause to be that she was married to the said Erle the late King of Scottes her husbande being a live, and that the same King was living three yeres after the feilde of Flodden or Brankeston." (IV. 385.) Soon after the Divorce was ratified, we find Lord Dacre writing from the Border thus "As fore newes of Scotlaund, Henry Stuard haith maryed the Quene of Scottes, as she haith confessed her selfe; and for that cause the King her son caused the Lorde Arskyn and a certain companye to lye about the castill of Sterling to attache him; and thereupon the said Quene delyvered him out and soo he is put in ward by the Kinges commandement." (IV. p. 490.) He was released after a time, and soon began to fall into disrepute with his fickle wife. In 1536, as if in anticipation of a storm, he offered his humble service to Henry the Eighth, and shortly afterwards Margaret applied to the same great arbiter, * Vol. V. p. 62. This letter is mentioned incorrectly in the table of contents. It |
