56 REVIEW.-Thomson's Essay on Magna Charta. [July, was found necessary to stop the privilege by an Order of Council, directing that all such nominal servants, "that do not by virtue of their places receive either fee, wages, salary, dyet, boardwages, or livery, be from the first day of January next, absolutely disabled from making use of the same for any pretence of privilege or protection from their creditors, bearing of offices, or any other privilege or protection from the due course of law whatever." It is well known that the same system of privileges, in France, continued even for a century later, and was productive of the most mischievous discontents. With the change of manners, at the close of the seventeenth century, the court became less numerous, and assumed more of the habits of private life. It is uncertain when the duty of the Gentlemen of the Privy-chamber expired; its performance was probably only occasional with James and William; and on the accession of another female Sovereign it became merely honorary, as it has since continued. With the "honour" the present possessors of the office must be content; for we imagine they will obtain very little of that "serious, if not mournful consideration," which Mr. Carlisle, in sober sadness, requires for their lost "rights, profits, privileges, and advantages!" The privilege of setting a creditor at defiance, is one which no honest man would wish to enjoy; and, notwithstanding the learned pleadings of a late Advocate-general, who was one of the body, we cannot think it can conduce either to "the personal grandeur of the Sovereign, or the splendour of the kingly office," to defend by its prerogative a spendthrift or a swindler. With regard to exemption from offices too, it appears a contradiction to plead the priority of the King's service, at the same time that it is lamented that the King has ceased to require any service at all. The present Gentlemen are, in fact, in the same situation as the Gentlemen Extraordinary of the reign of Charles the Second; and their claim to privileges no stronger. The present personal servants of Royalty are styled Pages. It appears probable that, in actual service, as each set of officers became superior to the duties of their place, the Grooms superseded the Gentlemen, and the Pages the Grooms. We trust a second edition may enable Mr. Carlisle to arrange more perfectly the many curious particulars he has here assembled. He has obtained a large number of original documents from the State-paper and other record offices; and having inserted the names of all the Gentlemen whom he has found as having enjoyed the office, he has agreeably enlivened the lists with biographical anecdotes. Much more, however, the industry of the amiable author will enable him to collect on that part of the subject; and such a biographical collection, with an index, would be a desirable work. An Historical Essay on the Magna Charta of King John: to which are added the Great Charter in Latin and English, the Charters of Liberties and Confirmations granted by Henry III. and Edward I. the original Charter of the Forests, and various authentic Documents connected with them; explanatory Notes on their several Privileges, a descriptive Account of the principal Originals and Editions extant, both in print and manuscript, and other Illustrations, derived from the most interesting and authentic sources. By Richard Thomson. 8vo. pp. 644. Major. THE industrious compiler of the "Chronicles of London Bridge" has here selected subject which cannot be better recommended than in the words of Sir William Blackstone, which he has adopted for his motto, that "There is no transaction in the ancient part of our English History more interesting and important, than the rise and progress, the gradual mutation and final establishment, of the Charters of Liberties." Mr. Thomson has brought together all that could be found on the various discussions and ratifications of the ancient liberties of England; and besides the Great Charter of John, has printed at length translations of three Great Charters of Henry the Third, and ano ther of Edward the First. These show that, although the celebrated Charter had been actually and perfectly obtained from the reluctant John, it required constant vigilance on the part of the subject to maintain his prize unimpaired. Such, at least, is one view of the history of these transactions; in another we may perhaps find a wellmeaning Monarch persecuted by disaffected and encroaching nobles-by those petty tyrants whose iron rule 1829.] REVIEW. Faulkner's Chelsea. was so much more burthensome to their vassals than that of the Sovereign could be to them. Each party was doubtless at times tyrannical, and each at times the sufferer from tyranny; but still amid these natural results of the clash of human passions and interests in an uncivilized state of society, we may regard with satisfaction those acts by which our uncouth ancestors, being men of deeds not words, exercised the same "opposition" which is considered so desirable in modern government, and may contemplate with gratitude those struggles which reared for posterity the invaluable fabric of the British Constitution. Mr. Thomson remarks (p. 460) that "the most important and extensive of the charters of liberties, though posterity has generally connected them with the name of King John, were in reality passed under the seal of Henry the Third." We conceive this to have arisen less from the relative importance of the several charters, than because the triumphant success of the popular cause over the obstinacy of John, was a precedent to which the people delighted to refer. Besides the various matters detailed in his title-page, Mr. Thomson has appended Memoirs of the twenty-five Barons who were securities for King John's Charter, of that sovereign, of Archbishop Langton, of Robert Baron Fitzwalter, of Pope Innocent III., of Philip II. of France, of Cardinal Pandulphus, and of Hubert Earl of Kent. These are illustrated by engravings of such of their sepulchral monuments as remain. The volume is tastefully decorated with a multitude of beautifully executed wood-cuts; and each page is surrounded with an elegant border. The talents of Mr. W. H. Brooke, F.S.A. have been very advantageously employed in the designs, the greater part of which are very happy and appropriate. We are sorry, however, we cannot approve of the reduction of the seals. It contradicts their description as "the great seals" of England, and is liable to give rise to wrong ideas. The two cuts of Cardinal Gualo's seal (pp. 117, 336), though giving such different representations, are, we doubt not, from the same matrix; and we regret that, from the two, the inscription was not more completely decyphered. The seal of the Earl of PemGENT. MAG. July, 1829. 57 broke in p. 130, is so badly drawn, that it were much better omitted. An Historical and Topographical Description of Chelsea, and its Environs; interspersed with Biographical Anecdotes of illustrious and eminent Persons who have resided in Chelsea during the Three preceding Centuries. By Thomas Faulkner, Author of the Historical Description of Fulham and of Kensington. 2 vols. 8vo. plates. THE magnificent Thames cannot be let upon a building lease, and such a river is to a landscape what light is to a world. Such situations, if in the vicinity of a populous district, are never neglected; and Chelsea is known in our early English History as the held in 785. Mr. Faulkner has clearly Cealchythe or Chelcythe of the Synod disproved the appropriation of that Chalk hythe to Kelcheth in Lancashire, or Chalk in Kent; an idea of the Saxon L. Chelsea is, however, formed from the hard K accentuation the Nona Rolls of 14 Ed. III. (see i. in positive proof, called Chelcehuth in P. 175.) As to the pretended Roman antiquity with which Maitland has invested the place, by making Coway Stakes of the Reach, it implies only a common but mischievous perversion of circumstantial evidence, to support a preconceived hypothesis. Modern Chelsea has, in its new Church, a decidedly successful imitation of the ancient Gothic. Abhorring, as we heartily do, all that fantastic distortion, which accompanies every attempt to Gothicise the Grecian, and by which pastry or millinery forms can only at best be produced, we rejoice in every opportunity of showing that the Gothic style may be still most happily copied. Connected with this subject, Mr. Faulkner has introduced some appropriate remarks, from which we make the following extracts: "Architecture, more than any other art, depends on the influence of religion; the temple being with many nations its only, and amongst all its highest object. At the era alluded to, all the talent, all the science, and all the wealth of the country, were brought in aid of the perfection of the Christian temple, aud the result has fully justified the efforts. The great impression teriors, make upon the mind of every unprewhich these churches, particularly their injudiced person, on that of the intelligent and well-informed, as well as that of the uncul 58 REVIEW.-Faulkner's Chelsea. tivated and ignorant, is truly wonderful; they combine the simplicity and majesty of the groves of the forest, with the richness and beauty of its flowers and leaves; all its variety, greatness, and simplicity. "In a Gothic church, no idea can possibly arise, save that of Christianity, and of the rites of Christianity. We cannot desecrate it, even in thought. From its mode of construction, no convenience which we need ever becomes a blemish, and its character assimilates itself to every emblem or ornament which its use requires. The Gothic style always fills the eye, and conveys the notion of comprehension and capacity. Habitation, and converse, and congregational worship beneath its roof, are seen to be its intent. We are invited to enter into the cathedral. The portals expand, and in the long perspective which appears between the pillars of the porch and ends in the distant choir, the light darts downwards through the lofty unseen windows, each marked by its slanting beam of luminous haze, chequering the pillars and the pavements, and forming a translucent gloom. Gothic architecture is an organic whole, bearing within it a living vegetating gem. Its parts and lines are linked and united; they spring and grow out of each other. Its essence is the curve, which, as in the physical world, is the token of life or organized matter. It is a combination of arches, whose circles may be infinitely folded, multiplied, and embraced. Hence the parts of a Gothic building may be expanded indefinitely, without destroying its unity. However multiplied and combined, they still retain their relative bearing; however repeated, they never eucumber each other. All the arched openings, the tall mullioned windows, the recessed doors, are essential parts: they do not pierce the walls of the structure; on the contrary, they bind them together. The spire may rise aloft, the large and massy walls may lengthen along the soil, but still the building preserves its consistency. Richness of decoration, colour, and gold, may increase the effect of the Gothic style, but the inventor chiefly relies upon his art and science. Gravitation, which could bring the stone to the ground, is the power which fixes it in the archivolt; and every pinnacle bears witness to the mastery which the architect has gained. Frequently the details are bad. Parts, considered by themselves, are often destitute of beauty, but they are always relevant, and all minor faults are lost in the merits of the entirety." ii. 75; 76. But a libel has been cunningly and interestedly circulated, that the system of dilapidating old churches and spoiling new ones, because it promotes business without the labour of qualification in knowledge, should not be im [Jaly, peded. This snake is killed by Mr. Faulkner: "Gothic architecture has hitherto laboured under the reproach of being enormously expensive; but it is gratifying to find, from the example of Chelsea Church, that the fact is exactly the reverse; at least for ecclesiastical purposes; for the whole expence of this beautiful edifice is stated to be about 30,000l., and it will bear an advantageous comparison, in point of magnificence, with some modern churches which have cost three times that amount. This may arise, in a great degree, from the fact, that in Gothic architecture nothing superfluous is admitted; every part is useful and necessary, and its best ornaments are the essentials of its construction. It is true, that more nicety of calculation may be demanded in balancing and proportioning the various parts, and the labour of the architect may be greatly increased thereby ; hence the lovers of Gothic architecture are much indebted to Mr. Savage for this splendid and commanding proof that the principal objection to their favourite style is un founded." The following extract (i. 202) will show the proper and laudable feeling of our ancestors concerning their Churches. Attention to Temples (as may be seen from various passages in Horace) was deemed a great cause of divine protection and prosperity, and the feeling derived from thence ought not, and cannot be called superstitious, by any law of philosophy which admits a Providence." "The image or sculpture of a Church in ancient times was often cut out, or cast in plate or other metal, and preserved as a religious treasure, to perpetuate the memory of famous Churches." (Mon. Angl. Tom. 3, p. 309.) How much more conducive to piery, God was this, than the puritanical and a proper sense of the glory due to substitute of mere windowed barns and hovels. Why should piety be allego-> rized as a figure without hair or teeth, nose, or other essentials of beauty? About the year 1633 the communion-table in Churches began to be placed altar-wise, after the pattern of Cathedrals, which were called motherchurches. i. 214. Association of ideas with idolatry ought to have been discouraged; but our ancient Reformers, in many instances, deformed, instead of reformed, and like barbers who had an advantages in selling wigs, instead of cutting and dressing the hair, shaved the head. pl. 1829.] REVIEW.-Miscellaneous Reviews. We have heard the name of a deceased gentleman (Mr. Wilson, surgeon, of Henrietta-street, Covent garden), who could recapitulate the names of the persons designated by the various characters in the novels of Fielding and Smollet. Among these renowned personages, not one of the least is Strap the Burber, in Roderick Random, the fidus Achates of that Eneas, Roderick Random, alias Smollett himself. Strap was, it seems, a Mr. W. Lewis, a bookbinder, who resided at Chelsea, and died about 1785 (i. 171). Mr. Faulkner gives, in p. 268 seq. an excellent biographical account of Smollett himself, by which it appears, that he was personified under 59 different names in parts of his other novels. We have read in various works, which we cannot enumerate, other appropriations of these characters, and we think that it would be a literary curiosity if a perfect Clavis was published, with the best possible biographical accounts, now to be obtained *. In the last generation such a task would have been easy, perhaps it might still be executed, but in a short time it will be impracticable. Here we shall leave this interesting and useful work, with feelings of the warmest approbation. *We throw out this for the attention of our Correspondents. The Present to young Christians, or Little Mary set free, is well-intended, but far, we think, from a judicious mode of instruction applied to that age. It is a sermon in an enthusiastical form, a fanatical one, and as nothing of that heavy character will induce children to take an interest in it, it will accordingly not make an impression, but be considered as a task, and be detested. Miss Hamilton, in her Letters on Education, has set the question at rest, concerning the right modes of inculcating religious feelings. The phraseology too, that of the conventiele, will perpetually exclude the book from the houses of the opulent and educated. Memoirs of O'Bertin. We do not think better of a fruit tree for having lichens on its bark; on the contrary, we should prefer it if these excrescences were scraped off. We apply this remark to the sectarian jargon, in which is cloaked up the history of a worthy clergyman, who made the utmost exertions to civilize and improve a village of savages. Biography, rationally narrated, might have influenced thousands, who will now despise it: and thus extensive benefit is foolishly extinguished, possibly under views of proselytism, whereas the bad taste of the style will limit the circulation to the initiated only. Aids to Developement. This is a children's book, in which the wonders of Natural Philosophy, and the ingenious processes of Art, are made pegs and nails for hanging thereon certain religious tenets. Natural Philosophy is an excellent vehicle for inculcating piety, especially if the reflections (as in Parke's Chemical Catechism), are developements deduced from the phenomena; but as to such a knowledge of Christianity, as is fit and safe for children, nothing is equal to the church catechism. Jones's Christian Biography. Mr. JONES has compiled a useful book of reference; for though we think mere preaching and mere authorship in se, neither do, nor ought to imply any more than Scotch degrees, and have the bad tendency of cheapening titles, and dissevering society by wrong modes of obtaining eminence; it is always useful to have the means of knowing A from B, even if they are only letters of the alphabet. The Edipus Rex of Sophocles. By the Rev. JOHN BRASSE, D. D. &c. This is one of a series of improved school-books, publishing by Mr. Valpy. We need not say, that this work is edited in a most instructive and satisfactory form, for Dr. Brasse is evidently a masterly Grecian. The Anthology for Midsummer 1828, is a tasteful selection, and calculated to produce sound principles, correct reason, and amiable habits. In addition, it is exceedingly entertaining. Mr. CLISSOLD's Last hours of eminent Christians is a work which may do considerable good, and is written in an interesting form. John Huss, or the Council of Constance, a Poem, is strong and energetic, with much command of language and elegant phraseology. The Village Nightingale and other Tales, by ELIZ. FRANCES DAGLEY, confer the highest honour for taste, sentiment, interest, and instruction upon the fair authoress. We know few Tales so elegant in construction, and so favourable to the promotion of sound judgment and just discrimination. The Anti-Slavery Monthly Reporters for April and May are, as usual, violent and abusive of the established clergy; but they point out to just reprehension the abuse of Sunday into a day of labour. [July, The Practical Information for superseding the necessity of climbing boys for sweeping chimnies has our warmest commendations. The Machine is coming more and more into vogue, and in some places, one person buys it and others hire it, upon cheaper terms We than the pay to chimney sweepers. throw this out as a very effectual mode of easily extending the practice. D'Erbine, or the Cynic. There are passages in this novel which do honour to the author; but we are concerned to say, that it has a favourable bias to seditious principles. We need only mention the palpable falsehood of bishops having hunting lodges (i. 3), the sneer at our late excellent monarch (i. 188), and even commendation of TOM Paine. ROYAL ACADEMY. School of Painting. FINE ARTS. 224. A Roman Princess washing the female Pilgrims' feet. D. Wilkie, R. A.— Lovely head and figure. In this room there are two other religious subjects of very great merit by the same artist. They are Pilgrims confessing in the Basilica of St. Peter's, No. 293; and the Pifferari, No. 293. This latter represents some Calabrian shepherds playing their hymns to the Madonna when arriving with the pilgrims in Rome. 246. Camilla introduced to Gil Blas at the Inn. G. S. Newton, A.- On the same spot where was hung this artist's Vicar of Wakefield forgiving his daughter Olivia, last year, is this illustration of a scene in another of our popular novels. The landlord, with a flambeau in his hand, lights the lady and her attendants to the room of Gil Blas; and stands with a dauntless look of effrontery; while the young Gil Blas looks modest and bashful at the visit of the stately Camilla, with her old superannuated punctilious esquire and sly page. It is worthy of Mr. Newton's talents. 257. Battle of Borodino. G. Jones, R. A. -A very good representation of a splendid victory. Buonaparte is seen in the foreground to the right on foot, accompanied with his staff, watching the result of the attack made by a column of infantry supported by the cuirassiers of Caulaincourt, who bravely fell. Murat is on the left encouraging his troops. 261. Comus and the Lady benighted. J. Wood.-Comus attended by some of his revellers, in a variety of postures, discovers by the use of his charms that a lady is benighted in the wood; he sets about exerting his power to entice her to where he is. Up a very pretty vale appears approaching the lady, who considers the noise of "the ill-managed merriment" to be her best guide. It is a pretty picture. 263. Scandal!! "Only think!" T. Clater. This artist exhibited last year "The Morning Visit," itself a picture of scandalous import. This is perhaps the way in which he gained his information for the preceding subject. A couple of old tabbies, in rich brocades, &e. appear relating, to their great contentation, some important faux pas or imagined slip, and garnishing it with appropriate shrugs of the shoulder, raising the hands, elevating their eyes, &c. Behind the screen is the female servant listening; on the table are several indications of illhealth; and the dogs and cats exhibit no very great partiality for one another. It is a very highly finished picture, and in the treatment of the subject and display of the powers of art, deserves praise. 283. A Spaniel. A. Cooper, R.A.-Painted with Mr. Cooper's accustomed abilities. 299. The Legacy. J. Inskipp.-A young lady looking over the contents of a trunk of dresses and trinkets, and dropping a tear to the memory of the donor. Has considerable merit. 318. A Turnspit and a species of Spaniel, R. R. Reinagle, R. A.-Very well painted in high relief. ner. 327. Subject from the Revelations. F. Danby, A.-Another wonderful picture in this artist's peculiar grand and forcible manIt is an exact portraiture copied from the allegorical description of the angel in the 10th chapter of the Revelations, verses 1, 2, 5, and 6. It is an excellent painting, but we regret the choice of subject. 887. Loretto Necklace. J. M. W. Turner, R. A. Has less of Mr. Turner's overbearing light; but possesses great beauty and richness. It is a scene to wonder and delight, to surprise and gratify. |