never merited notice, he next proved traitor | to his Tory employers, and made disclosures of facts and designs entertained by those State officers, for which, if evidence were found one degree better than that of Richmond, they merited impeachment. But we are not yet come to the point.

This man, notorious in Scotland, who had first, the Reformers say, and will prove, endeavoured to entrap, that he might betray them, and who next, traitor on both sides, exposed his Tory employers, because Lord Sidmouth would not give him as much money as he wanted-this person, for above fifteen years in the mouth of the world, threatens an action for libel on his precious character! And whom is he to sue? Not the author of the EXPOSURE OF THE SPY SYSTEM, the foundation of what he calls the libel; not the reviewer of that work in Tait's Magazine for May last; not Mr Tait, the proprietor of that Magazine, nor any man in Scotland; but Messrs. Simpkin and Marshall, as agents in London of Tait's Magazine, as they are of hundreds of works, and of many periodicals, for the contents of all of which they are held legally responsible by the existing law of libel! This is law undisputably; but as Baron Bolland laid it down in the case of the newsman, any librarian, clubroom keeper, or other person in Brighton, Bath, Bristol, or other town in England, who shall lend or sell that number of the Magazine in which Richmond is called a spy, is equally liable to be sued by Mr. Richmond; because the truth is a libel on his character, and he can select and sue whom he pleases. These are peculiar beauties in the English law of libel. In Scotland this man threatened a prosecution for defamation against the spirited Editor of the Glasgow Chronicle, who denounced him; but that action was prudently dropt. We restrain ourselves from entering into the grounds for such an action.

LETTER FROM THE Paris, 15th February, 1834. MOST ADMIRABLE TAIT, - A CHEAP, popular, classical, intellectual Miscellany, published monthly; edited by men of enlightened and pro. gressive views, and tending to the cultivation of cosmopolitan principles, has been one of the dreams of my youth, one of the wishes of my manhood, and now the reality of my yet more matured years. We are not without some periodicals of this nature in France, though they are all too dear; and Tait's Magazine is certainly at the "tête" of those which propose to supply the multitude with an intellectual, refined, and elevating diet. To aid you in your praise

What we wish to illustrate is, the power which the law of libel gives to any man, and to a man like Richmond, to bring his action in a distant country, far from the persons to whom his character and doings are notorious, as in this case, by pouncing upon the London agents of an Edinburgh work. The operation of this law gives him the power of compelling the publishers, as defenders, to bring up from Scotland such men as Lord Meadowbank, Mr. Drummond, Admiral Fleming, Mr. Cockburn, the Solicitor-General, the Lord Advocate, Sir William Rae, Mr. Kirkman Finlay, Mr. Reddie, Mr. Hardie, Mr. Prentice, and a host of the old Glasgow reformers, at incalculable expense, to prove, what is notorious as the sun at noon day-that Richmond was a spy engaged and extravagantly paid. His own book shows how ten years afterwards he betrayed his Tory employers. In Scotland the witnesses are all on the spot. In London there is but Lord Sidmouth and some of the Under Secretaries, who could be placed in a witness. box, to prove that Richmond was held by the Government to be, what they overpaid him for being, to get rid of his importunity.

Such is the practical operation of the libel law such the power which a man like Richmond possesses over every coffee-house keeper, librarian, or bookseller in England, who ever sold or lent a copy of the Magazine in which the Exposure of the Spy System is reviewed! That anything so monstrous, such an outrage to all justice and all common sense, can take place, is scarce credible; but it has been threatened, and we have no doubt of Mr. Richmond's good will. Does the law, then, under which such flagrant injustice could be perpetrated, not demand instant revision? It is nothing that the pursuer would be nonsuited. Where is the defender, in such a case, to look for indemnification for his loss and trouble? *

CELEBRATED O. P. Q.

worthy labours is honestly one of my princi pal motives for writing, for the first time in my life, in a Monthly Magazine. But I have likewise another object in view, not less desirable, nor less exciting. It is that of approaching England to France-I mean English minds, and English tastes of making you acquainted on he other side of the manche, with all the distinguished spirits of the age in this country; whether political, scientific, literary, or artial; and thus of interesting the mass in Great Britain in the destinies and works of our poets, our statesmen, our painters, our sculptors, our politicians, our patriots, and our scientific and

states.

learned men: thereby destroying national prejudices, removing national ignorance; and forming, what is far more beneficial and durable than all the alliances of the two governments-I mean a sincere and frank alliance between the two people. I should years ago bave commenced my task, but that all the Magazines and Reviews in England were too aristocratical for my purpose. I cannot write aristocratically, but I am very happy to write popularly. Three shillings and sixpence, and even Half-a-crown, are sums not easily afforded every month by those for whose instruction and happiness I desire to labour; and as the circulation of a Magazine could not possibly be great, while the price was so high, I resolved to wait for a shilling or a sixpenny periodical, which should be established on a permanent basis, and be directed to the object of general improvement.

At length, most admirable Tait! your Shilling Magazine has been announced,—its first number has appeared, it has fully answered all my expectations, and I come forward to volunteer my services, and offer my co-operation.

At the commencement of a series of monthly articles, which will contain " SKETCHES OF LivING CHARACTERS," in this country, at the present day, I am bound, in my own justification, to assure you, that they will all be sketched from nature, from personal observation, and personal knowledge. My information will not be taken from books and hearsay; but from the firesides, the studies, the ateliers, the laboratoires, and the private walks and private intercourse of those whose characters I shall attempt to delineate. On the statements my papers will contain, you may fully rely; and though friendship will not be foreign to the undertaking, it will never influence my judgment, or induce me to praise that which is to be censured,

or hold that up to admiration which should be condemned and avoided.

My "FRENCH National Picture Gallery," will sometimes contain portraits of men who are not French, but Poles, Italians, Germans, and so on. Yet I shall preserve the title of my Essay as "French," since, were I to adopt the words "General," "Cosmopolitan," "European," or "Universal," more would be expected from me than I am prepared to accomplish; and as all those whose characters I shall sketch are either French, or reside more or less habitually in France, I shall be excused for my "French" predilections, and insist on retaining my "French" title.

My first sketch is of a " SCULPTOR"*"THE" Sculptor par excellence of France. This is not accidental. A " picture" gallery should begin with a painter or a sculptor. I have chosen the latter as combining both, and have given DAVID! My second sketch will be that of VICTOR HUGO, the romancer, poet, and dramatist; and my third, of ARMAND CARREL, the republican politician, and best political writer of the age. I will not tell you who will follow, but engage to supply you with a good collection of busts, all taken by the artist from life.

Who I am, what I am, and where in this vast capital I reside, will remain, if you please, three little secrets, which as you do not know, and never will, I am not afraid of your divulging.

Success to the Shilling Magazine! and success to our mutual attempts to excite a kindly feeling of brotherhood and sympathy between the two nations, France and Great Britain! Believe me to be,

Your sincere friend and fellow-labourer,
O. P. Q.

This Sketch is so late in the month of reaching our northern capital, that we are forced, however unwillingly, to delay it till April.

ISLE of perennial spring! The genial breeze
Wafts Indian fragrance o'er thy sapphire seas.
For thee fond Nature's lavish hands diffuse
Her softest odours, and her loveliest hues.
How smiles the sunbeam on thy hills of green!
How sleeps the twilight in thy deep ravine!
How blows each flower of Eden on thy plain!—
But, pause a while-'Tis time we change the strain.
There frowns a savage place, where cliffs o'erhang,
Where flower ne'er blew, nor sweet bird ever sang;
Half-seen, half-heard, mephitic fountains flow,
Lost in engulfing caves that yawn below.
Far from that desert, with averted eyes,
And limbs unnerved, the peasant trembling flies;
For there, sole tenants of the dire domain,
Reigns a foul brood-or once was known to reign.

"Didus ineptus of Linnæus, named Dodo by the Portuguese; Dronte and Oiseau de degout by the French. This bir is extinct, and no stuffed specimen or accurate drawing enables us to describe or classify it. The most disgusting accounts of its rapacity and 4thy habits are to be found in the early travellers in the Mauritius. -Cyclopedia of Natural History, vol. 11. p. 137.

DRYDEN'S VIRGIL

Through Nature's soul what wild vagary played,
What dream of grandam dotage, when she made
This shapeless compound of incongurous things,
With ostrich beak, and penguin's needless wings?
Vile race, of feathered bipeds most unclean,
Gross and grotesque, unseemly and obscene;
Ill-patched mosaic of a thousand flaws,
A goose's plumes, a ravenous vulture's claws!
Along a shelving crag, in many a row,
They perch, and sing their song of Do-do-do.
Dodo their name. When urged by hunger's pain,
They leave their fastness and invade the plain;
Nor force, nor art, their countless hordes can stem,
Or stay their greed. Nought comes amiss to them.
For them the anxious shepherd tends his fold;
For them the fertile valley waves in gold.
Not the rich fig-trees ripening hopes escape;
No, not the promise of the clustered grape.
The spring's fair blossoms fade; the warblers fall
Dead from the trees; the honey turns to gall.

Arouse thee, peasant! fly the coming foe-
For death is in that cry of Do-do-do.

Such things were once. No more the sounds of fear
Fall on the scared and superstitious ear;
For now our latter days no more produce,
On the deserted cliff, the vulture-goose.
Sweet birds, the curious travellers now pursue,
And search your vacant haunts in vain for you;
For Nature, grown impatient to behold
Her bungling work, repentant breaks the mould!
Enough of Indian islands.

Bend our view

To England England had her dodos too;
Yes, the Geese-Vultures, wafted from afar,
Came down, like types of Seeva's avatar.
Ill-omened birds! By winds infected blown,
They robbed our altars and usurped our throne-
Clung with rude talons to our palace bowers-
Reared their young nestlings in our minster towers-
Grasped with brute force what fraud had failed to steal—
Dragged Justice, hoodwinked, at their chariot wheel-
To Moloch and to Mammon bent their knees-
Defiled God's house with hireling debauchees-
Through gore and carnage worked their murderous way-
Yea, in our senate shrieked aloud for prey.
Our fathers erred; but did their sins demand
Worse than Egyptian plagues to scourge the land,
That you should come, accursing and accurst,
Sons of the horseleech, with insatiate thirst?
"Give, give," you cry, till scarce one drop remains
Of ebbing life-blood in your country's veins.

Ill-omened birds! The voice of vengeance calls-
Your dirt-cemented Babel prostrate falls.
Murrains and plagues your leprous members seize,
Your blackening blood one mass of dire disease.
Loud are your wailings-long your screams of wo;
But no one heeds the cry of Do-do-do!

They died, all died. But still their Vampire sprites
Rise from the festering grave, and wail o'nights;
Haunt the lost strongholds of their ancient sway,
Where Sarum mourns relentless schedule A ;
Or where some useless church to ruin falls,

Hoot their sad anthems through the crumbling walls;
Blaspheming, yell their mockery of prayer,
Their screech-owl litany of wild despair,
For Charles the desperate, and his jesuit oath-
Miguel and Carlos, mild Arcadians both,—
For him, the spotless hero, meek and bland,
Whose goodly presence cumbers still the land,—
For the sweet soul of Berri's bastard brat,—

For Russia's soft and guileless Autocrat,-
For thee, thou exiled patriot of Algiers,-
For the French Chouans, and the British Peers,-
For Metternich, philanthropist serene,―
For Austria's Kaisar, and Utopia's Queen,-
For Blackwood's gang-for Oxford's jovial Dons,—
For Mother Church, and Ikey Solomons,-
For some new gag to stop the people's breath,—
For Famine, Pestilence, and sudden Death!

Three ghosts there are, who still distinction plead,
And in their sunk condition strive to lead,
Pass their slow hours, unmindful of their fall,
In Theban discord and intestine brawl.
First, is a beastly Dodo, old and grim,
And many a wondrous tale is told of him.
Ere death and dotage made his efforts vain,
He led the Dodo cohorts to the plain.
Before his might the baffled foemen fled;
The dodos slew them and devoured the dead.
In grateful memory of his martial fame,
The Crook-bill Slaughter Dodo was his name.
Next, a Ghost-Dodo, greedier than the rest-
The Spinning Dodo with the fiery crest.
Famed for low cunning, fraudful arts he tried,
Failed in them all, and unsupported, died;
Yet his sad spectre for precedence pleads,
Behowls his fall, and boasts his bootless deeds.
The last, a Dodo, withered, weak, and wan,
Skilled to betray, to wheedle, and trepan;
Great master of a thousand odious tricks,
In thee, the goose and vulture nicely mix!
Well-trained tragedian! He could quaintly sigh,
Squeeze out false tears, and, blubbering, seem to cry;
When, to his aid, his pitying victims came,

Dash out their brains, and ravenous eat the same.
The torn and mangled limbs he used to store
In an Old Bag,-and hence the name he bore.
Pluperfect fiends, farewell! Aside we lay
The pen, and dash our trivial theme away.
Perchance, when time's Lethean stream shall glide,
And fresh disgust to sullen hate subside;
Some English Tacitus with pride may tell,
Vespasian reigned, when base Vitellius fell-
May write with poet's pen and patriot's aim,
The annals of his country's crimson shame,
In that dark age when fair Astræa fled,
When Slaughter raged, and hapless England bled.
For us, their sires, our children's tears may flow,
Whene'er they read the tale of no-do. do.

THE immediete cause of the Duke of Wellington's retirement from office, was his defeat by the persons forming the present administration, on a motion respecting the recommendations by the Finance Committee, of means to curtail the expenses of the Government. Coming into office expressly in consequence of having gained a victory on the side of economy, and of having induced a majority, even of the boroughmongering Parliament, to sanction the views of the Finance Committee, it was expected of the present administration, not merely that they were generally inclined to economy, but also that they would

follow expressly those suggestions which they had so successfully defended. It was, moreover, confidently believed, that with a reformed House of Commons, no difficulties would be found in carrying their frugal intentions into immediate effect. Assuredly the conduct actually pursued by the ministry on this subject is a matter requiring some explanation. We require some reason for the course pursued by the victorious Whigs during the last session; for certainly, if, from this course unexplained, we are to judge respecting the future, our anticipations of relief need be of the most cheerless character. During

the last session, the various suggestions of the Finance Committee were successively rejected by the very persons who had come into power in consequence of having supported them while in opposition; and a reformed Parliament sanctioned those very abuses, for the creation of which the unreformed Parliament had been deemed worthy of condemnation and extinction. The sinecures which the Whigs had so long denounced were formally authorized by a large majority of the House, under the guidance of the Whigs. The enormous army and navy, against which they had so often and so loudly exclaimed, was in reality not only not diminished, but increased; and while some paltry pretences of minute savings were played off, a very serious increase was made of the burthens under which we labour, and a wasteful extravagance manifested, well worthy the worst days of irresponsible Parliaments.

But can this system continue? We think not. Even as at present constituted, the Government cannot hold on its course. The Times, the observant Times, has made this discovery, and begins to bawl out against Lord Althorp, and pretend to a vast deal of virtuous indignation, respecting that noble Lord's dealing with the Civil List last year. This tone of The Times is a good indication respecting popular opinion; and tells very significantly the wishes and feelings of the wealthier classes who now rule in the House of Commons. During the last Session, the Ministers, with a curious infelicity, contrived by their attempts at reduction, neither to do good by removing the really pernicious imposts, nor to gain popularity by taking off those most obnoxious. Had they played their game with decent dexterity, they might have gained the good opinions of the middling classes-had they taken off the assessed taxes, they would have gained popularity-had they abolished the taxes on knowledge, they would really have deserved it. Pursued by that destiny which eventually will destroy them, they missed both these courses, and peddled at some petty changes which interested no class. Dividing and subdividing relief, none felt the benefit, and all were dissatisfied. This course they cannot pursue during the present Session. Should they be so foolhardy as to attempt it, their fate is sealed-they will not be in office at the end of the year.

But it may be asked, what can be done? In what way can the deficiency be supplied, which will necessarily arise if these obnoxious taxes be abolished?

We will state the question as it really stands, and then answer this inquiry.

Our expenditure is divided into two distinct classes-First, that which goes to the payment of the interest on the debt; secondly, that which goes to the maintenance of the Government.

The first class of expenditure we acknowledge

cannot be diminished: either the debt must be paid, or the interest continued. The question respecting the mode of the payment of the debt is a separate consideration. We allow that it ought to be weighed and attempted; but in the meantime, we utterly repudiate every scheme for cheating the public creditor. All the economy that is to be effected must be made in

The second class of expenditure, viz. the Expenses of the Government, and in the mode of collecting the revenue.

Stated in round numbers, the revenue at present is £50,000,000. The interest on the debt £25,000,000. So that the saving, in the shape of diminished expense, must be made in the £25,000,000 remaining.

Allowing that the abolition of the assessed taxes and taxes on knowledge would amount to £3,000,000, let us inquire if there could be no means of making up this sum.

First, let us consider the saving of expenses. Are the people of England aware that, during a time of profound peace, we are expending a sum beyond £12,000,000 upon our army and navy!* Can any man in his senses believe that this is needed? In this, be it remembered, is not charged the expense of such part of our army as is in India; so that all that portion of our territory must be entirely excluded from consideration, when speaking of this enormous sum. For what is this sum needed? We will answer: It is needed to keep up the Irish Church-it is needed to maintain bad government in our colonies, and to maintain bad government at home. Were we to abolish tithes in Ireland, to let the colonies govern themselves, and not oppress our people at home, we should want none of this force. In the meantime, without pretending to hope that we shall for years be sufficiently reasonable to demand such extensive reforms, we must say that the establishment, even for its present purposes, is altogether overgrown. For example, what need have we of the expensive establishment of the Guards? Does any one believe that our King wants three regiments of foot, and three of horse to watch him, and see that he is safe from attack? If he do want such aid, how does it happen that a few soldiers take care of him now in Brighton; that he drives about as he ought, as a simple private gentleman? The truth is, the whole thing is for show, or for the quartering a certain number of younger sons of the aristocracy on the people. This show, we assert, we can well spare; and the maintaining the younger sons we call a downright robbery. We are plain men, and like to take a practical view of a subject. Now, therefore, we suggest the following inquiry to every person called upon to pay assessed taxes, and sevenpence in place of threepence for his newspaper, half-a-crown for his almanack, and so

on.

"Which would be most agreeable to me,

Army, L.6,070,978. Ordnance, L.1,455,223. Navy, to keep them quiet, while Ireland alone employs 23,074. There n.ust be something wrong where this is the case.

which, as a sensible man, ought I to prefer, labouring from morning to night, living a life of painful anxiety, lest at the end of the year I find, after all my labour, I be in debt, and at the same time blessed with the luxury of knowing that there are three fine regiments of foot, and three of horse, all excellently armed, well fed, and quite ready to ride me and any of my neighbours into the mire, if we should be foolish enough to get into their way; or would I rather work less, enjoy life as it passes, exempt from 'carking care,' and be deprived of the luxury of the soldiers?" Say what we will, this is the real inquiry; and we, in our turn, ask, if benevolence, and care, and consideration for our loving subjects would not be much better manifested by a cutting down of all such expensive trumpery and idle show, than by running riot, and living heartlessly on the hard earnings of the peasant, the mechanic, and the tradesmanearnings wrung from them, spite of wretchedness and heart-rending distress? We shall have in answer loud exclamations of unfairness, imputations of magnifying expenses, and confounding various matters. There is, however, no unfairness in the case. In the first place the sum is not a small one. It is small indeed, when compared with our enormous total expenditure; and this is just one of the greatest evils resulting from the immensity of that sum. Every saving proposed seems so small, to deduct so minute an amount from the whole mischief, that we become careless of every means of economy. But the old saying of "many littles make a meikle," ought never to be out of our remembrance; and, here be it remarked, we are endeavouring to attain a saving of three millions. Now, the sum expended on our Guards is as follows :— 1st Regiment of Life Guards, £30,185 1 7 2d Ditto 30,185 1 7 oval Regiment of Horse Guards, 26,753 17 10

scription, if it would totter and fall, unless maintained by all these swords and bayonets. Ay, it will be said, this is a very Republican view of things. Really we are little solicitous whether our notions be Republican or not. All we feel anxious about is, whether they be rational. Now to us there appears nothing irrational in believing that the respect paid voluntarily to a wise and beneficent ruler is the best support which his dignity can receive; in fact, that it is the only support it is capable of receiving. But we have not yet done with the subject. Mr. Hume, last year, proposed to lessen the number of our forces by ten thousand men. Had this proposal been acceded to, the army expenditure would have been diminished nearly by L.300,000.* That this might safely have been done cannot be doubted. No pretence of a reason was adduced for the maintaining of 89,000 soldiers, excepting the fact that the army amounted to that number already. But let any one who wishes to satisfy himself look over the various places at which our forces are distributed, and he will at once be convinced that 70,000, ay, 50,000, are far more than we need.t

If the army be redundant, who can doubt of the fact that the navy is so? For what, at this moment, are we expending above four millions and a half on the navy? There is no war-there is no chance of a war. We put it to the public, and to their representatives, do they believe that the service now rendered by the navy could not be rendered for two millions? We ask if the Admiralty Office ought to cost L.104,070? We desire to know why the following outrageously extravagant establishment is maintained during a state of distress, or, in fact, during any time?

SALARIES OF THE LORDS COMMISSIONERS.

53,884 7 0

£281,199 14 10

Comptroller of Victualling and Trans

Now, here is above a quarter of a million actually thrown away. Does anybody believe the American President costs sixpence in show of this sort? Why should our King? To keep up his dignity? His dignity must be of a poor de

Chief Clerk,

Does any body fancy that no saving can be effected amongst departments thus paid? The