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precepts as to bestow adoration on his own name. He is considered a saint by them, and they pay him divine honours, addressing him in their prayers as their saviour and mediator; and, until his tomb was washed away by the Ravee, the Sikhs made pilgrimages thereto.

"The simplicity and purity of the doctrines taught and inculcated by Nanuk were the means of drawing towards him many who had troubled themselves but little with the complicated structure of the Hindoo religion, polluted, as it had become, by the worship of images and idols. Nanuk at once directed their attention to the one-existing Supreme Deity, who was endowed by him with the great attributes of omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence. He it was who knew all their actions, and their innermost thoughts; He it was who was ever present through space and time; the only Immortal: all others perished and were lost! Nothing was created without Him, and what men viewed with awe and wonder, emanated from His omnipotent hand. All the events which occurred were regulated by His presence, and every gift bestowed on man was supplied by His bounty. No place was without His presence. Turn my feet,' said Nanuk, to where the house of God is not-showing clearly that the mind of the teacher was deeply imbued with the great truth, that all space was filled with Him. The most insignificant animal that crawled on the earth, the least complicated flower that decked the face of the desert, were alike the work of the same Divine hand that formed the elephant and wide-spreading banian tree! Trusting to this bountiful Being, Nanuk despised all worldly riches, unless in so far as they served to relieve his fellow creatures; and charity to all mankind was one of the precepts which he was induced to preach to his followers, next to devotion to the Deity. The life of a fellow creature was sacred in his eyes, for the same breath was breathed into them all by the Almighty, and was only to be taken away by Him. Murder, war, and discord, whereby the lives of men were sacrificed, he deprecated; and cruelty and intolerance were held in abomination by him, as heinous

sins.

struction in the desperate invasion of British India: but the great body of the Sikh soldiers considered success certain, and the conviction may partly account for the fierceness of their onset, and the immense slaughter that preceded their repulse.

The state of the native Indian army must always be a subject of great interest in this country, for we presume that the Indian empire rests on its efficiency and fidelity." From the tone of this author we believe that his remarks may be considered impartial, and his experience is such as to give weight to his opinions. The following extract gives a rather favourable view of the spirit prevalent in that service:

"We have endeavoured to show the spirit which actuated the Khalsa troops in their attempt to spread their conquests over Hindostan; and it now seems proper to inquire whether the native portion of the British army was likely to have opposed a firm resistance to the Sikhs. lony, and an Adams, showed that the native troops of "The victories gained in India by a Clive, an Ochtertheir days were, at least, a match for any power opposed implicitly the orders of their European officers, between to them. The men were steady, brave soldiers, obeying

whom and the men the freest intercourse existed. The
officer commanding a company knew every sipahee per-
sonally, while the commanding officer of the regiment was
so associated with the interests and welfare of his men as
position of affairs is somewhat changed.
to be looked up to with a species of filial reverence. The
The bonds

which united the native soldier to his officer have been
look with esteem and respect on his commander no longer
sundered. The means whereby the former was made to
exist, for the independent power of the latter has been
curtailed, and the sipahee is drilled and taught the me-
chanism of the art of war, without an attempt being made
to enlist his feelings in the cause. He consequently takes
but little interest in the service, and looks upon it as &
officers in the native army do not know even the names.
means of present livelihood and future comfort. Many
of their native officers, (the Subedars, Jemadars, &c.);
and a wide chasm has separated the two classes.

"The doctrine of a fall of man, by a first act of disobedience to the will of his Creator, was not admitted by Nanuk he held that nothing was needed but a pure and holy life to insure happiness; grounded as such must be in a belief of the Deity ever present to watch man's actions. After all, Nanuk's was an imperfect code of religion, and finite in its application; but such as it was, there are many professing Christians whose creed is equal-tions; they are sulky and sullen, and refuse to obey of ly limited."

The Sikhs have always reverenced the memory of Nanuk since the period of his teaching, towards the close of the fifteenth century, although they soon forgot his most important precepts. His most influential successor from his death to the days of Runjeet Singh was Govind Singh, who to his religious, added also a very considerable military, character. He, unlike Nanuk, seems to have been more at home in fighting than teaching; and, while the Sikhs still professed to follow the faith of Nanuk, and had even raised him to a superhuman dignity in their estimation, they followed, without the slightest compunction, the exciting and ambitious path in which their warrior-chieftains led them on. Runjeet Singh's talents and shrewdness preserved the Sikhs for a time from destruction, by saving them from the fate on which, after his death, they madly rushed. There can be no doubt that Delhi, in the first instance, and Calcutta, in the second step, were the proposed destinations of the Sikh army when they crossed the Sutlej. Several of the Sirdars may have understood better than their followers the character of the enemy whom they volunteered to encounter; the difficulties of the way, and their own comparative strength to cope with them. It is even hinted that some of the leading men were willing to consign a troublesome army to de

"When a dislike to any particular duty arises, it spreads throughout the whole ranks: it is in vain that the commanding officer urges his men to a sense of their obliga

only instance the unruly spirit which prevailed in the ficers whom they hardly know except by name, We need corps that mutinied in 1843, and which, in spite of every exertion on the part of their officers, refused to march to Scinde until the presence of two European regiments. threatened their very existence.

"No body of officers can excel in zeal and energy those of our native army in India, but they cannot, under the present state of interference with the internal manage ment of their regiments, calculate with certainty on those marked the sipahee of former times. The mounted branch strenuous exertions, and that determined courage which of our army, called the regular cavalry, is not now composed of men sprung from a race of warriors. Many of them are persons of low caste, whose fathers and brothers are the cooks and table-attendants of the officers, and it not unfrequently happens that the latter swell the ranks of a light cavalry regiment. We look in vain for the gal lant Rajpoot and high caste Mussulman, who formerly displayed such courage and daring in the hard, fought fields of Indian warfare. Their officers, indeed, are the same gallant men who formerly led them to the charge, emulating in every respect the European officer at the head of his countrymen, but they have not the same macavalry are said to excel the regular in effectiveness? terial to work at. How is it, then, that the irregular They are officered from the classes of Englishmen who command regular cavalry, but the horses of the latter are of a better stamp. The regulars have not, it is true, the armed with a sword intended merely for a thrust, while same amount of cloth and trappings about them, and are the irregulars are in possession of a strong heavy weapon,

capable, when properly wielded, of doing great execution. | Nevertheless there is another vast difference existing between the regular and irregular cavalry; the latter possess in their ranks men of high caste and family, who are accompanied to the field by young relatives, who do their utmost to imitate them. This spirit of emulation does not exist in the regular cavalry, every man does what he considers his duty, and no more. In Affghanistan, one of our regular cavalry corps refused to charge the Affghan horse, even when it was certain from the very weight of its horses to overthrow the enemy! The advantage of charging en masse has not yet been fully impressed on the native cavalry; they still trust to their individual exertions, which, in the absence of effective weapons, can achieve but little. Could the regular native cavalry be brought to believe that a dense and compact body of well-trained horsemen will bear down undisciplined troopers, less reliance would be placed in individual power, and the full advantage of a body of dragoons might be realised. In some regular Native cavalry corps, a proper impression prevails (as witness the 1st Bengal regiment in Affghanistan, the 3d at Allewal, the 5th at Moodkee, and the 9th at Meeanee) but it is far from being universal. In the battle of Moodkee, the loss in the European infantry and cavalry was great as compared with that sustained by the Native branch of the service, and we endeavoured to reconcile such a marked difference, by supposing that the Sikhs took more deadly aim at the former, without for an instant doubting that both were equally exposed. The effect, however, produced on both branches of our Native army at that hardcontested fight was somewhat to shake their courage, and it could not be denied that, previous to the battle of Feerozshuhur, a fear prevailed that, opposed to formidable batteries, our Native infantry might waver, and our regular Native cavalry might shrink from charging guns, or even the squares of Sikh infantry.

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"Such a feeling was industriously suppressed, how ever, if ever entertained, by the Commander-in-Chief and Governor-General. The Native troops marched with alacrity to Feerozshuhur; but a resistance there awaited them which they could not have anticipated, and which certainly caused the wavering of the best troops Europe could produce. The Sikhs defended their entrenched camp with a spirit which even European intrepidity could not at once overcome; and if a less-courageous bearing were manifested by the Native troops, it should be remembered that they had not acquired that contempt for an enemy which the European entertains: their highest aim was to follow and emulate him.

"When entering, therefore, the field of Feerozshuhur, some doubted whether the Native character for bravery was equal to the approaching struggle; but the hopes of all were buoyant, and it was soon to be proved to what extent the Native soldier could be trusted.

Sir Harry Smith, with admirable prudence, forbade a shot to be fired in return for any that might be directed against his position. The white covers were taken off the caps, which served as marks for the enemy, and every means adopted for keeping the men out of the hostile fire. The gallant soldiers, who had at the point of the bayonet captured the batteries of the Sikhs, were thus glad to actually conceal themselves under the darkness of night. It was not flight, but as near an approach to it as can be well conceived; and no wonder if at this time the GovernorGeneral of India felt the precarious position of the troops. Never in the annals of warfare in India had matters attained such a threatening crisis. The European infantry alone could now support him, and he knew well what their daring bravery had accomplished at Plassy, Bhurtpore, and Ghuzni. In this action the reserve was brought up by Sir Harry Smith, and seized another portion of the position, while the 3d dragoons charged and took some batteries; yet the Sikhs remained in position, and in possession of a considerable portion of the quadrangle.'

We see that though Gilbert's division drove everything before it, and though Sir Harry Smith followed up with equal success, yet the Sikhs persisted in keeping their position. On the left, where the Feerozopore force was engaged, under the command of Sir John Littler, the fire was so terrific, that her Majesty's 62nd regiment was unable to make good their charge, and were ordered to retire; at least this is the explanation of those who ought to know best, and it does not follow that though one portion of an entrenched camp be carried, all the rest can be so. There was a half-moon battery at the right corner of the Sikh position which played with deadly effect on the 62nd, and against which they could not stand; had they formed a portion of the centre division, there is little doubt but the 62nd would have done their part well, and emulated their brave countrymen in capturing the batteries. It unfortunately happened that Sir John Littler, in his private despatch, intended solely for the Commander-in-Chief, used the words 'panic struck' as applicable to his regiment, and attributed the irresolution on the part of the Native regiments in his division as arising from the example of the 62nd.

To complete the estimate of the capabilities of the
Indian army, there is another passage which we should

also copy.
The first sentences refer to the unfounded
rumour respecting the conduct of the 62d, H.M.S., in
the Sikh fights-a regiment that seemed to have been
most severely cut up-

"Whether, as their own Brigadier stated, the regiments had received an order from himself to retire from a position which they could not carry without the risk of being annihilated; or whether this check was a necessary consequence of the insurmountable obstacle opposed to them, the loss in men and officers attests that the efforts of both were great, for we find that this gallant regiment had no fewer than 7 officers killed and 10 wounded; while among the soldiers of a weak regiment in numbers, there were 76 killed and 154 wounded, a greater number in both grades than fell to the lot of any other European regiment. Both the Governor-General and Commanderin-Chief did everything in their power to re-assure tho regiment that its well-known character for bravery was fully borne out; and it is to be lamented that an occur rence should have happened which could ever have rendered it a matter of doubt.

"Thus, on the setting-in of the night of the 21st December, were the European infantry regiments placed in the enemy's camp, having captured a portion of it, while the Sikhs occupied the rest; their cavalry and infantry moving about throughout the whole night, harrassing and firing on the British who were bivouacked. A large Sikh gun was brought up close to the British, and its contents discharged, but so near that the grape could not spread itself, and the men and officers thus escaped, while the chargers of the latter were knocked over, even when their masters were holding the rein while lying on the ground. On another occasion, while the 50th and other European soldiers and officers were lying on a tent and on the ground, a battalion of Sikhs passed and deli"As a contrast to the killed of the 62nd, let us see what berately fired into the midst of them; but, strange to the list of the other five Native regiments exhibited. We say, with little or no effect! this was a fearful position to find the number of casualities scarcely amounted to half be in and from the intervals, between the European that of the 62nd in rank and file; while not a single infantry regiments and the Native brigades with them, European officer belonging to the five regiments was being left vacant, there was no possibility of forming a killed; and the whole number of their wounded Euroline or acting in concert; portions of one regiment got pean officers little more than equalled that of the 62nd mixed up with more of another in the entrenchment, and regiment alone. We do not for an instant wish to draw in the darkness of night could not retain their respec- any invidious comparison between the European officers tive positions. If a regiment had attempted to move of the Native army and those of her Majesty's service; right or left in search of another, the Sikh guns were sure but we may rely upon it, that the list of killed and to be directed to the spot; and where the 50th bivouacked, wounded among these is a good proof that they and

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gable, have consented to fight the battles of their invaders, and sustain foreign influence on their swords. There is presumptive evidence in the circumstance, that the natives find the British sway, with all its blemishes, less onorous than the governments under which these parties lived or than those of the native princes around

them.

With the Sikhs we are likely to have intimate, perhaps too close, relations for the time to come; and therefore Dr. M'Gregor's volumes, although hastily written, have a considerable value, were it merely from the circumstance that they form the only regular account that we have, out of the newspapers, of these terrible battles that introduced our armies into Lahore.

TANCRED.

3 VOLS. 8vo.*

BY BENJAMIN D'ISRAELI, M.P.

TANCRED was announced two months ago, and published
We did not see the work soon enough

six weeks since.
to notice it in April. Now it is too late. Tancred has
been read by one half of the novel readers of the day,
and by a great many persons who do not generally attend
to works of fiction. Two or three days after its publica-
tion, we noticed a copy in a circulating library in London,
and expressed some surprise that Tancred should be ap-

their men were in a position of danger, and that both suffered equally. The fact, as regards Feerozshuhur, cannot be concealed. The Native infantry were not equal to the work. If it were otherwise, how came it that the capturing of the guns became the work of the European infantry and European cavalry? How did it happen that, long ere the European infantry found themselves in the intrenched camp, the Native regiment connecting them with one another had disappeared? They did not, perhaps, run away, but they did what, in effect, proved much more injurious; they hung back, lost their proper distances, and, instead of being side by side with the European soldiers, they got behind them, and fired, often accidentally killing or wounding the latter. So far as the result of the battle of Feerozshuhur is concerned, it would have been far more eligible to have formed the whole European force into one line, and left the Native regiments in reserve, and at such a distance as to prevent the consequence of their ill-directed, though wellmeant, fire. This point may be disputed by those partial to the Native soldier; and, had it been mooted before the campaign with the Sikhs, the supposition we have advanced would have been spurned: but facts have proved the truth and justice of our statement. It is well known that the European officers had the greatest difficulty in getting their men to advance, and that many threatened to cut them down. On the night of the 21st the fate of India depended on the continued bravery of the European infantry. Had the battle commenced early in the day, and with the troops fresh, and not fatigued by a long march and want of water, the conduct of the native troops would certainly have been far different and we have heard regrets uttered by even themselves to the effect that they could do nothing Psujasa aur bhookparently at a stop amongst the circle of readers. "Why, se murjata'I am dying for want of water and food' sir, its bespoke six times over," said the librarian; "we -and concluded by a downcast look and shrug of the subscribed for a dozen copies, and I think we must take shoulders - Hum kya kurne sukta!'-'I am good other twelve." The work had not been a month in the for nothing.' Those who do not know the Native character may smile at our endeavours to extenuate their field, when a second edition was announced. A second want of a combative spirit; but with those who know edition of a three-volume novel, in something less than how incompetent a Native is to do anything without his four weeks -a book that has no illustrations, no atwater and food, the excuse will go far to prove that we tractive points except its staple, the text. There is have not attached too much weight to these circumstances. A native knows none of the stimulating and exciting ef- nothing to be gained by reviewing a work of this descrip fects of wine, beer, or spirits. The European soldier can The public have pronounced upon it. The author, exist, it is true, without either, and be a robust, courage clearly, could not be put down; with all his exclusive ous individual: but the energy of the native is paralysed Hebrew notions--and occasionally they are offensive-he when he cannot procure water; his physical strength and courage give way in its absence. A European soldier, is fixed in the public mind as a great novelist, and they on the other hand, suffering from thirst, finds a mouthful will read his works. of rum sufficient to quench it, more effectually than perhaps a gallon of water; and this was verified on the night of the 21st, at Feerozshuhur. Those who were dying of thirst, and loathed the taste, or even the smell of the soldier's rum, were speedily obliged to own its magical effect in moistening their parched lips, and restoring the energy of mind and body. Fortunately, the causes which we have assigned for the apparent want of spirit and purpose, on the part of the Native soldier, were afterwards tested at Sobraon; where many Native corps charged side by side with the European regiments, and with a gallantry equal to that of their brethren in arms. This, it is hoped, will act as a warning to commanders, in all future battles, not to call upon the Sipahee to fight on an empty stomach. So well are the Sikhs aware of the baneful effects of such privations on the Natives of British India, that in all their wars they have invariably endeavoured to entrench themselves in a position where water is scanty: and the tact which Gooroo Govind exhibited when fighting against the Mussulmans, at Moogutsir, in the desert of the Hissar district, was as strong a case in point as that furnished by the Kulsa troops, in 1845, under Sal Sing and Tej Singh. Though far outnumbering the army of the Gooroo, the Sikhs got possession of the only water then procurable, and the Mussulmans consequently fled, and many died."

The conduct of the Indian army is, on the whole, without a parallel in history. There is no similar case where a people brave, and, with water and rice, indefati

tion.

Another reason might apologise for omitting a review of Tancred-it is half finished only. There must be other three volumes, and a short period must elapse before they can appear; for the third brings matters closely up to time; and that is a dangerous experiment in romancing. There is little difficulty in concocting a good romance a century backwards or forwards; because in the one case the public will not, and in the other they cannot pay any attention to your dates and facts; but it is a bold undertaking to make the hero of a romance figure in the present day, and fight battles, as it were, under the very nose of the reporters for the press, and correspondents for the London Journals: battles which they have never seen or heard of, although they occurred -say in the month of July last-that is bold, and of dif ficult management. Then, in dates so recent, people are apt to make keys-keys to Coningsby, keys to Tancredand a writer's most intimate friend may cut him in the park, if he forbear cutting him in any more dangerous way, on the supposition that he has been placarded in the last novel as Lord Milford, Lord Valentine, or some other disreputable character.

* London: Henry Colburn.

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In this particular work, we have met some fine pas-ours of the ancient Earls and Dukes of Bellamont in his sages-many smart passages and some few that are neither one nor other; while there is an obvious incoherence and apparent want of object in the volumes; arising, perhaps, from the story being half told. The first volume commences with a dissertation on cooks and cooking, which seems to have little or no connexion with the subject, though it is spun out unreasonably. Tancred is the son of the Duke of Bellamont, and is permitted the title Marquis of Montacute." The Bellamonts are a great country family, with broad lands, and the county representation: they once had several boroughs,-to be lost by the Reform Bill. The Duke of Bellamont is a quiet country squire put in a duke's place, and the Duchess is a cousin of her husband's from the north of Ireland, a puritan and a pietist, whose relaxations consisted in Bible Society meetings, and meetings of the Society for the Conversion of the Jews-at which Mr. D'Israeli seems to sneer-though is he not a converted Jew? The puritan and pietist opinions of the Ulster lady seem, however, to have conduced much to the usefulness and respectability of the Bellamont family; and the Duke and Duchess, because they were not exactly pleased with the conduct of the fashionable world, and very well pleased with themselves, were "exclusives" amongst the aristocracy, and lived like hermits in the country, by which "the people" on the estates, and the Marquis of Montacute--that is Tancred-were no losers.

own person. Mr. Pitt, who was far from favourable to the
exclusive character which distinguished the English peer-
age in the last century, was himself not disinclined to ac-
cede to the gentle request of his powerful supporter; but
the King was less flexible. His Majesty, indeed, was on
principle not opposed to the revival of titles in families to
whom the domains without the honours of the old nobility
had descended, and he recognised the claim of the present
Earls of Bellamont eventually to regain the strawberry-leaf
which had adorned the coronet of the father of the present
Countess. But the King was of opinion that this supreme
old house, and that a generation, therefore, must neces-
distinction ought only to be conferred on the blood of the
sarily elapse before a Duke of Bellamont could again figure
in the golden book of the English Aristocracy.
"But George the Third, with all his firmness, was
doomed to frequent discomfiture. His lot was cast in
troubled waters, and he had often to deal with individuals
as inflexible as himself. Benjamin Franklin was not more
calmly contumacious than the individual whom his treason
had made an English peer. In that age of violence,
obdurate spirit, could not fail of its aim; and so it turned
change, and panic, power, directed by a clear brain, and an
out, that, in the very teeth of the royal will, the simple
country gentleman whose very name was forgotten, became,
Marquis of Montacute, Earl of Bellamont, Dacre, and
at the commencement of this century, Duke of Bellamont,
Villeroy, with all the baronies of the Plantagenets in addi-
tion. The only revenge of the King was that he never
would give the Duke of Bellamont the garter. It was as
well, perhaps, that there should be something for his son
to desire."

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The history of the second rise of the Montacute family is thus given a piece of good political gossip founded on fact" :-

The manner in which the Duke and Duchess of Bellamont passed their time in town, was considered "out of society" by the world of the clubs, although they were very high people indeed, "meeting with Royalty" alone:

"After Easter, Parliament requiring their presence, the court-yard of one of the few palaces in London opened, and the world learned that the Duke and Duchess of Bellamont had arrived at Bellamont House from Montacute Castle. During their stay in town, which they made as brief as they well could, and which never exceeded three "The Duke of Bellamont was a personage who, from months, they gave a series of great dinners, principally his rank, his blood, and his wealth, might almost be placed attended by noble relations, and those families of the at the head of the English nobility. Although the grand-county who were so fortunate as to have also a residence son of a mere country gentleman, his fortunate ancestor, in the decline of the last century, had captivated the heir ess of the Montacutes, Dukes of Bellamont, a celebrated race of the times of the Plantagenets. The bridegroom, at the moment of his marriage, had adopted the illustrious Dame of his young and beautiful wife. Mr. Montacute was by nature a man of energy and of an enterprising spirit. His vast and early success rapidly developed his native powers. With the castles, and domains, and boroughs of the Bellamonts, he resolved also to acquire their ancient baronies and their modern coronets. The times were favourable to his projects, though they might require the devotion of a life. He married amid the disasters of the American war. The King and his Minister appreciated the independent support afforded them by Mr. Montacute, who represented his county, and who commanded five votes in the House besides his own. one of the chief pillars of their cause, but he was not only independent, he was conscientions, and had scruples. Saratoga staggered him. The defection of the Montacute votes, at this moment, would have at once terminated the struggle between England and her colonies. A fresh illustration of the advantages of our Parliamentary constituhon! The independent Mr. Montacute, however, stood by his Sovereign; his five votes continued to cheer the noble lord in the blue ribbon, and their master took his seat and the oaths in the House of Lords, as Earl of Bellamont and Viscount Montacute.

in London. Regularly every year, also, there was a grand banquet given to some members of the royal family by the Duke and Duchess of Bellamont, and regularly every year, the Duke and Duchess of Bellamont had the honour of dining at the palace. Except at a ball or concert under the royal roof, the Duke and Duchess were never seen anywhere in the evening. The great ladies, indeed, the Lady St. Julians, and the Marchionesses of Deloraine, always sent them invitations, though they were ever declined. But the Bellamonts maintained a sort of traditional acquaintance with a few great houses, either by the ties of relationship, which, among the aristocracy, are very ramified, or by occasionally receiving travelling magnificoes at their hospitable castle."

He was

"This might be considered sufficiently well for one ge neration; but the silver spoon which some fairy had placed in the cradle of the Earl of Bellamont was of colossal proportions. The French Revolution succeeded the Amecan war, and was occasioned by it. It was but just, therefore, that it also should bring its huge quota to the elevation of the man whom a colonial revolt had made an earl. Amid the panic of Jacobinism, the declamations of the friends of the people, the Sovereign having no longer Hanover for a refuge, and the Prime Minister examined as a witness in favour of the very persons whom he was trying for high treason, the Earl of Bellamont made a calm visit to Downing Street, and requested the revival of all the hon

"To the great body, however, of what is called "the world"-the world that lives in St. James's Street and Pall Mall, that looks out of a club window, and surveys mankind as Lucretius from his philosophic tower; the world of the Georges and the Jemmys; of Mr. Cassilis and Mr. Melton; of the Milfords and the Fitzherons, the Berners and the Egertons, the Mr. Ormsbys and the Alfred Mountchesneys-the Duke and Duchess of Bellamont were absolutely unknown. All that the world knew was, that there was a great peer who was called Duke of Bellamont; that there was a great house in London, with a court-yard which bore his name; that he had a castle in the country, which was one of the boasts of England: and that this great Duke had a Duchess: but they never met them anywhere, nor did their wives and their sisters, and the ladies whom they admired, or who admired them, either at ball or at breakfast, either at morning dances or at evening déjeûners. It was clear, therefore, that the Bellamonts might be very great people, but they were not in "society."

The fashionable world was, of course, piqued with this affectation, as they considered it, and were very desirous to get some knowledge of the mysterious family -the Duke, the Duchess, and their only son. Mr. D'Israeli, in later times, must have collected a personal

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"They say it is quite clear,' said Lord Fitzheron. "Safe for that,' said Lord Milford; and plenty of readymoney too, I should think for one, never heard of the sent Duke doing anything.'

""You don't mean that!' said Lord Valentine; and she is a very nice girl, too.'

"You are quite wrong about the hundred thousand, Fitz.,' said Lord Milford; for I made it my business to inquire most particularly into the affair; it is only fifty.'

"In these cases, the best rule is only to believe half,' said Mr. Ormsby,

"Then you have only got twenty thousand a year, Ormsby,' said Lord Milford, laughing; because the world gives you forty.'

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'Well, we must do the best we can in these hard times,' said Mr. Ormsby, with an air of mock resignation. With your Dukes of Bellamont, and all these grandees on the stage, we little men, shall be scarcely able to hold up our heads.'

666

Come, Ormsby,' said Lord Milford; tell us the amount of your income tax.'

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They say Sir Robert quite blushed when he saw the pre-figure at which you were sacked, and declared it was downright spoliation.'

"He does a good deal in his county,' said Lord Valentine. "I don't call that anything,' said Lord Milford; but I mean to say he never played-was never seen at Newmarket, or did anything which any body can remember. In fact, he is a person whose name you never, by any chance, hear mentioned.'

"He is a sort of cousin of mine,' said Lord Valentine, and we are all going down to the coming of age-that is, we are asked.

"Then you can tell us what sort of fellow the son is.' "I never saw him,' said Lord Valentine; but I know the Duchess told my mother last year, that Montacute, throughout his life, had never occasioned her a single moment's pain.'

Here there was a general laugh.

"Well, I have no doubt he will make up for lost time,' said Mr. Ormsby, demurely.

"Nothing like Mamma's darling for upsetting a coach,' said Lord Milford. "You ought to bring your cousin here, Valentine; we would assist the development of his unsophisticated intelligence.'

"If I go down, I will propose it to him.'

"Why if?' said Mr. Cassilis; sort of thing I should like to see once uncommonly-oxen roasted alive, old ar mour, and the girls of the village all running about as if they were behind the scenes.'

"Is that the way you did it at your majority, George?' said Lord Fitzheron.

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"Egad, I kept my arrival at the years of discretion at Brighton. I believe it was the last fun there ever was at the pavilion. The poor dear king, God bless him! proposed my health, and made the devil's own speech. "We all began to pipe. He was Regent then. Your father was there, Valentine-ask him if he remembers it? That was a scene! I wont say how it ended; but the best joke is, I got a letter from my governor a few days after, with an account of what they had all been doing at Brandingham, and rowing me for not coming down, and I found out I had kept my coming of age the wrong day!'

"Did you tell them?'

"Not a word. I was afraid we might have had to go through it over again.

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"You young men are always talking about money,' said Mr. Ormsby, shaking his head; you should think of higher things.'

I wonder what young Montacute will be thinking of this time next year,' said Lord Fitzheron. "There will be plenty of people thinking of him,' said Mr. Cassilis. Egad, you gentlemen must stir yourselves if you mean to be turned off. You will have rivals.'

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He will be no rival to me,' said Lord Milford; 'for I am an avowed fortune-hunter, and that, you say, he does not care for, at least at present.'

"And I marry only for love,' said Lord Valentine, laughing; and so we shall not clash.'

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Ay, ay; but if he will not go to the heiresses, the heiresses will go to him," said Mr. Ormsby. 'I have seen a good deal of these things, and I generally observe the eldest son of a Duke takes a fortune out of the market. Why, there is Beaumanoir, he is like Valentine. I suppose he intends to marry for love, as he is always in that way; but the heiresses never leave him alone, and in the longrun you cannot withstand it; it's like a bribe-a man is indignant at the bare thought, refuses the first offer, and pockets the second.'

"It is very immoral and very unfair,' said Lord Milford, that any man should marry for tin who does not want it.''

Mr. D'Israeli professes to have a political object in his novels; and his politics are of the highest Toryism. He admires, or professes to admire, the political ascendancy of the Aristocracy. He seems to lament even the changes of the Reform Bill; and " Progress" through his works is the great point of his enmity. He wants to retrograde. For a writer of these principles, it must be a sacrifice to paint in such dark and frivolous colours the idle hours-the time when the heart "looks out"— the leisure of the men whose cause he pleads, for whose superiority he toils, and sneers, and waxes eloquent in the Saxons Legislature. Sometimes, indeed, a germ of sympathy with the struggling classes of society may be traced in Mr. D'Israeli's speeches. Is he at heart still a Radical, and these revelations of the core of "Young England," are they satirical? Does the writer move in the brilliant circles of the West to tell the dingy East of all their wild oat sowing?

We pass over the festivities at Bellamont when the Marquis came of age-the offer made to him by his father of a seat for the county and of her niece as his wife, by his mother, both courteously postponed, which, in the latter case, at least, looks much like rejection, and of Tancred's determination to travel to the Holy Land—an idea that gave rise to all kind of contrivances on the part of the Duke and Duchess, short of an actual exercise of authority, to prevent. Tancred, however, is a man of diseased intellect. He expects a new revelation. He anticipates that at the Holy Sepulchre, or on Mount Sinai, he may meet with that enlightenment which he cannot, or will not, expect out of

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