England in 1835; being a series of letters written to friends in Germany, during a residence in London and excursions into the provinces:

Contents

Page

Preface to the American Edition 9

Memoir of the Author ......... 17

Letter I

Departure from Berlin — Magdeburg Cathedral — Progress of popular singing — Düsseldorf — School of painting — Steam-experiment on the

Rhine 25

LETTER n.

Steam-boats and Postwagen — Travelling Companions — Nymwegen — Rotterdam — Voyage to London — Aspect of the Thames — Historical recollections — Characteristic buildings — Grandeur of London . . 26 LETTER IIL Aspect of London — Vastness and Quantity — Progress of Society — Paris and London contrasted — Self-reflection — Berlin politicians . . 29

LETTER IV.

Party at the Duke of D 's — General impressions — Beauty of the

Women — English compared with Roman Women — Absence of orders and decorations — English language — Specimen of German spelling by

English officials . 32

LETTER V.

Breakfast — Catholics in Prussia and in Ireland — Political crisis — State of the present Ministry, and dismissal of the last — Sir Robert Peel — Whigs and Tories — A Landscape Painter — Beauty an aristocratical

privilege in England 33

LETTER VL Whig Ministry — Causes of its formation and dismissal — Manner of dismissal— Its effects — Points at issue between Tories and Whigs — Lord Prussian Church policy — Irish Catholics, genuine Conservatives— O'Connell — Causes of his power — Tithes in Ireland — Attempts at reform — Private and public property — Mr. Stanley's motion — London and Paris news .......... 36

LETTER VII.

Mr. Babbage's Calculating Machine — Philosophy and Mathematics — Dinner party, its length and luxury — Climate — Museum — Rhubarb tart — Vastness of London — Its metropolitan and commercial character — Comparison with other capitals — Squares — Parks — Regent's Park . 46

LETTER VIII.

Irish Church — Lord Althorp's motion — Debates upon it — Grievances of the Catholics — Kildare Street Society — Mr. Stanley's motion — Opposition to it — Its success — Duties of a Statesman — Tory doctrines — Church property — Violence of parties — Necessity of concession — Irish Union — Improvement in Irish commerce — Irish poverty — Middlemen — Poor Laws for Ireland — State and prospects of Ireland . . .49 LETTER IX.

London Shops — Hackney Carriages, Omnibuses — Clubs — Wealth and Magnificence of the Church of England — London and South wark Bridges — Thames — English value for Time — Political Spirit of Prussia— Dinner at Lord M 's 60

LETTER X.

State and Prospects of the Ministry — Cost of Elections — Sentiment of an English Minister — Letter of Lord Holdernesse, on the Ministry of 1757 — Resignation of the Ministry — Sir Robert Peel — Religious Tolerance— Power of Words —Idolatry of Forms 63

LETTER XI.

Philharmonie Concert — Comparison of London and Paris Music — Mr.

Hallam — Sir F. Palgrave — Mr. Cooper , 68

LETTER XIL

Sir Robert Peel — House of Lords — Situation of the Catholic Clergy — English and German Protestantism — Historical Sketch of the Church of England — Motions and Debates on Church Reform — Church Revenues— Dissenters — English Tithes — Tithe Reforms — Voluntary System— Necessity for Reform 72

LETTER XHL Newspapers — The Times — The Standard — Athenaeum Club House — Dinner at H House — Squares — Domestic Architecture and Fur-

niture— Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens — Dinner with Turkish Ambassador — Specimen of General Seydlitz's French — Museum — Chapter house, Westminster — Sir F. Palgrave — Doomsday Book — Germanic Institutions of England — Rich materials for History possessed by England — Regent's Park — Zoological Gardens . . .83 LETTER XIV.

New Ministry — False maxims concerning the English Constitution — Relations of Lords and Commons — Tories and Radicals — Party inconsistencies— Hereditary Peerage — Peers for Life — Example of Rome —

Ecclesiastical Aristocracy — Decline of Aristocracy — Duke of S .

Domestic Finance — Eating-house — Dinner of Artisans — Drury Lane Theatre; Oratorio — Performance of the Messiah at Berlin and London compared — Modern Italian Singing and Music — Dinner — Comparative Prices of London, Paris, and Berlin — Tea Trade with China . . 87 LETTER XV.

Different ways of regarding Poverty — Experiments of ancient Legislators to equalize W^ealth — Moses, Lycurgus, Solon, Servius Tullius — Influence of Christianity — Historical Sketch of English Poor-laws — Law of Settlement — Increase of Poor's-rate — Scotland — Increased consumption of England— Diet of Poor-houses — Remedies proposed — Mr. Sadler — Report of the Poor-law Commission — Allowance Svstem — Moral eff'ects — Functionaries — Overseers — Law of Bastardy — -Plans for Reform — Poor-law Commissioners— Objections to the Poor-law Bill — Prevalent errors about England — Right of the Poor to relief . 98 LETTER XVI.

Party Prejudices of England — Peers for Life — Aristocracies of France and England — Lawyer Peers — Eligibility of Peers to sit in the House of Commons — Ex officio Seats in the House of Commons — Difficulties attending the formation of a Ministry — Balance of Parties — Negro Slavery — Objections to Emancipation — Notions on private Proj)erty — New Ministry — Causes of Changes in England — Tory Blunders — " Measures not Men" — Freedom of the Press— English Newspapers — Speeches of Sir R. Peel and Lord John Russell — Lord Melbourne and

O'Connell— Corrupt practices at Elections 119

LETTER XVII.

Climate of England — Houses — Fires— Museum — St. Paul's Cathedral —

St. Peter's — English Drama — English Law 129

LETTER XVIII.

Exchange — Bank — Lloyd's Cotfee-house— Naples and London— Commercial Spirit— West India Docks— Absence of Soldiers— Standing Armies ...... ...... 131

LETTER XIX.

Radical opinions and Tory saws — Concession — English. Church — Incomes of Bishops — Voluntary System — Education ^Expenses — Steam Printing-press— Intellectual power— Westminster Abbey— English Manners — Education of Women — Covent Garden — Macbeth — Richmond—English Architecture — Fashion and Flattery . . . .13a

LETTER XX.

Museum — Philharmonie Concert — Police-office — Summary Proceeding — Morning Concert — Concert-room — English, French, and German women — Royal Military Asylum — Chelsea Hospital — Hyde Park . 145

LETTER XXL

French Communicativeness — English Reserve — Prussian ' Staatszeitung' — 'Wochenblatt' — Exhortations to Peel — 'Thorough' — Insignificance of the Theatre — Political Press in Berlin and London — Whigs and Tories — Primogeniture — Husband-catching — Religious Bigotry — New Interpretation of the Apocalypse — Hansard's Debates — English Society— German Joviality 152

LETTER XXII.

English and French Society — Scene in an Omnibus — House of Commons — English Oratory — Poor Laws for Ireland — O'Connell — Public and Private Law — Repeal — Lord John Russell — Devonsire Election — Sir R. Peel's City Speech — Fifty-fourth Birth-day — ' King and Constitution'— King of Prussia, the First Reformer of Europe — ^Fogs — English

Orthography of German . . . 161

LETTER XXIII.

Reform in Parliament — Historical Sketch of English Parliament — Spiritual Peers — Creation of Peers — Changes in the House of Commons, from Edward I. to George III. — Projects of Reform — Mr. Pitt — Duke of Wellington's resistance — Its consequences — Lord John Russell's Bill — Remarks on the Debates — Rejection by the Lords — Resignation and Return of Whig Ministers — Final Passage of the Bill . . .168

LETTER XXIV.

Remarks on the Reform Bill — English attachment to Forms — England and France Constitutional States : meaning of those words — National Bigotries — History, Principles with their Consequences — Sir Robert Peel — Exclusive Regard to Quantity, and neglect of Quality, in mo- <^ern Political Schemes — Edinburgh Review — Reports of Commissioners— Royal Authority— Centralization — Relation of number of Electors to Population — Annual Parliaments — Ballot — Prospects of England , 178

LETTER XXV.

English Civility — Hyde Park — Equipages — Westminster Sessions — English Procedure — Practical Eloquence — Prison — Tread-mill — Political Creed of a Radical — Specimen of an English Family of the Middle

Classes 193

LETTER XXVI.

Visit to Haileybury — English Sundays — Want of intellectual Recreation— Want of popular musical Education — Beer Bill — Beer Shops — Gin Shops — Causes of Drunkenness — Prostitution — Illegitimate Children— Population — Increased Value of Life ..... 200

LETTER XXVII.

Municipal Reform Bill — Political Constitution of Villages— Report of Corporation Commission — Municipal Charters — Protest of Sir F. Palgrave — London Review — Radical scheme of Municipal Reform — Its resemblance to Municipal System of Prussia — Centralization — Royal Authority 212

LETTER XXVIII.

Party at Lord 's — Pictures — English Society — Vacuity of 'Routs' —

■ Ballot — Sir Robert Peel — Dissenters — Duke of Wellington and Oxford — Shades of Toryism — English and German Universities — Lord Brougham — Foreign popular Education — Study of History in England . — Duke of S. — King's Birth-day Processions — Mail Coaches — Party at

Lord L 's — Statues — Dresses — Aristocratical Blood and Beauty —

London 'Squeezes' — Dinners — Judges in Westminster Hall — Tieck — Stepney Papers — Mr. Faraday — Royal Institution . . . .281

LETTER XXIX.

Codification — Ignorance of Roman Law in England — Notion of the absolute perfection of English Law exploded — Lord Brougham's Speech — Anomalies — Rejection of Bills by the Lords — Law of Inheritance- Centralization of Justice — Quarterly and Edinburgh Reviews — Practical Men — Local Courts' Bill — Debate — Prussian Law — Influence and Interests of Lawyers — House of Lords — Vocation of an Aristocracy —

Registration 2^^

LETTER XXX.

Effect of the French Revolution of July in England — Ignorance of Continental Politicians — Prussian Government and People — English independent of French civilization — Law and Practice of Inheritance — Their effects — French and English Tumults — Their Differences . . 240

LETTER XXXI.

German Commercial League — Prussia, Austria, Hamburg — Exhibition, British Gallery — Covent Garden — Queen's box — Characteristic of Philistines — Journey to Windsor — Miseries, aquatic and acoustic — Presentation to the Queen — Windsor Castle — Its Grandeur and Historical Interest — Shakspeare — Return to town — B House — Rout —

English Musical Composers 244

LETTER XXXII.

Sir R . P Mr. O'Connell — German Demagogues — Haymarket

Theatre ; Royal Box — Much ado about Nothing — Concert — Musical Criticism — Zoological Gardens — Society of Arts — English Parties — Chantrey — Sculpture— State-Paper Office — Hanover-Square Concert

Messiah 351

LETTER XXXIII.

Uniforms — Orders — Police — Want of Popular Amusements — Civilization by means of Art — Modern French Drama — English Parties — Society — Spirit of Associatioii — Clubs 261

LETTER XXXIV.

War,of Opinions in England — Contradictory AflSrmations on Agriculture — Prussian Peasantry 270

LETTER XXXV.

Agriculture 281

LETTER XXX VL ,

Manufactures — Comparison of ancient Times with modern — Relations of Master, Journeyman, and Apprentice, in the Middle Ages — Guilds — Causes of their Decline — Advantages of the old System — Law of Master and Apprentice — Factory Children — Factory Bill — Condition of Workmen — M.ichiuery — Cuiiiparative Production of England — Steam and Human Labour 289

LETTER XXXVII.

Systems of Trade — ^Truck System — Wages — Iron — Coals — Silk — Wool — Cotton — State of Manufactures and Manufacturers in England . 294

LETTER XXXVIII.

State of Commerce and Manufactures in England — Glove-trade — Decline of Monopolies — Navigation Laws — Prussian Commerce — Commercial League — English Shipping — Balance of Trade — Old and New Doctrine of Exports and Imports — Security of Commerce — Capital — Increase in the Commercial Prosperity, Production, and Consumption of Great Britain 301

LETTER XXXIX.

Malibran in Fidelio — Comparison with Milder, Schechner, Schrceder- Devrient — Variety of Genius — State of the Drama in England — Causes of its Decline— French, English, and German Drama —State-Paper Office— Dinners 308

LETTER XL.

Milbank Penitentiary — Extravagant Diet of Prisoners — Compulsory Silence — Crinae and Punishment — Increase of Crime in England — Value of Statistical Details — Increase of minor Offences, Decrease of atrocious Crimes — Effect of Mitigation of Punishments — Reform of Criminal Law — Sir J. Macintosh — Sir Robert Peel — English Mode of Codification — Punishment of Death — Comparative Statements of Committals and Convictions — Forgery — Imprisonment for Debt — Scotland

—Ireland 318

LETTER XLI.

Kensington Gardens — Travellers — Anecdotes of Burckhardt— -Prussia — Personages of the Old Testament ....... 327

LETTER XLII.

Buckingham House — Dinner at Mr. Murray's — Sir Walter Scott — Cobbett — Hunt — Demagogues — Lord Brougham — Mr. O'Connell — Prospects of England 329

LETTER XLIII.

English Atmosphere — Greenwich Hospital — Thames — Decline and Fall of Nations — Regent's Park — Sunday — Children — Smuggling — Germany, France, and Russia — English Women — King's Pictures — Flemish School — Haymarket Theatre — Beggar's Opera — Comic Acting—Pit Scene 332

LETTER XLIV.

English Popular Eloquence — Specimens of Speeches to Constituents — Pledges — Absence of Philosophical Principles — Debates on Paper Currency and Ballot 340

LETTER XLV.

National Gallery — English Painters — Poussin, Claude, Sebastian del Piombo, Correggio — Gloomy Predictions — Weather — Blue Devils — English Travelling — Coleridge's Table Talk — Canning — The French

Character — English Philosophy — Cologne 342

LETTER XLVI.

Visits— Bentham — Originality — Doctrine of Utility — Locke — Haymarket Theatre — 'The Queen's Champion' — Sheridan's 'Rivals'— Mr. K. —

Hamlet 348

LETTER XLVII.

Difficulty of understanding England — Radicals — Tory policy — Devonshire Election — Corporation Bill — Irish Church Bill — Oxford — Security and Tranquillity of E ngland 351

LETTER XLVIII.

National Prejudices— English Aristocracy — Lords and Commons — Desdemona — Russia — The Emperor Nicholas — Prussian Government — Guarantees — Public and Private Law 354

LETTER XLIX.

India — Territorial extent — History of British Conquests — East India Company — China Trade — Trade and Revenue of India — Indiaa Law — Hindoo Character — Contradictory Accounts — Duration of British Power

in India — Duties of Parent States to Colonies 358

LETTER L.

Dearness and mode of living in England — Prices — Stock in hand — Savings' Banks — Population — Diseases and Death — Emigration — Ultras

of all Descriptions 367

LETTER LL English Ladies— Prussia— Patriotism — German Malcontents — Police —

Religions Intolerance — Catholics — Dissenters 371

LETTER LII.

Party Views— Democracy— Waterloo-Place— English and French Cookery—Englis Ladies 377

LETTER LIII.

Diplomatists — The English Church — Newspapers — Taxes on Literature

— Selling Wives — Divorces 381

LETTER LIV.

English Ladies — English Literature and Philosophy — Authors and Pub-

lishers-~.James L — Oaths — Don Carlos 388

• LETTER LV.

John Sebastian Bach and Handel — The Parks in London — Grandeur and Wealth of England — Advantages of Germany — Value of the Past and Present — Immortality of Nations — Rich and Poor — St. Simon — Democracy of Christianity 391

LETTER LVL Italy — Poland— Constitutions — Money — Labour — Value — Prices — Utilitarian Doctrine 396

LETTER LVn.

Schools — Universities — The Irish Church 401

LETTER LVIIl.

Post-office Regulations — Jews — Money — Bank of England — Hampton Court — Raphael's Cartoons — Ancient and Modern Art — The Beautiful and the Disagreeable — Religion and the fine Arts — British Museum — Greek Sculptures — Their Perfect Harmony — Italian Opera — Mrs. Austin— Departure from London 413

LETTER LIX.

Eulogium on Englishmen — Stage-Coach — Journey to Nottingham — Character of the Scenery — The Mob in Nottingham — Attempt on Louis Philip — Character of the French — Their Legislation — Wakefield — Cotton Factory— Sheffield— Leeds— Selby— York— Rippon . . 422

LETTER LX.

Divine Service — Mental Improvement — Birthday of the King of Prussia --Studley Park — Fountains Abbey — The Middle Ages and Modern Times — Newcastle on Tyne — Factories — Durham — Coal Mines at South Helton — Progress of English Manufactures . . . .429

LETTER LXI.

Seaham — Sunderland — Edinburgh — Situation — Beauty — Laws — Regulations— Prisons — Divine Service — Presbyterianism — Street Preachers ---Glasgow — Manufactories — Cathedral — Prison — University — Population—Improvements— The Scotch Lakes — Passage to Ireland . . 473

LETTER LXII.

Ireland — Distress — Orangemen — Intolerance — Reform — Dublin — Clonmel— Kilkenny— Calne— Early History— Cork— Misery— Beauty of the Irish Women 450

LETTER LXIII.

Return to England — Liverpool — Iron Rail-road — Manchester — Children — Workhouse — Schools in Manchester — England and Germany — Birmingham— Wolverhampton — Dissenters — Peculiarities of the Cities — King and People— Prussian Constitution 465

LETTER LXIV.

Oxford — Colleges — University — Religion — Dissenters — Christianity in England and Germany — London University — King's College — Inns of Court — Cambridge — Prussian Administration — Police Passports — Students . 476

LETTER LXV.

Finances 488

LETTER LXVI.

Concluding Observations— Municipal Reform — Lords and Commons — Political Rights— Future Reforms— State of Parties— Eulogium on England— Apprehensions and Hopes— Future Prospects— England and Germany 508

AMERICAN EDI T ms^l^ifitw'^^

The following work is probably the most valuable addition to the stock of information which America possesses concerning England and English institutions, or which she has hitherto received, or, in the ordinary course of things, is likely to receive.

Professor von llaumer's profound acquaintance with the history of other ages and nations ; his early study of moral and political science ; his cultivated judgment of art; and his sense of its important influences on the character of a people, (a matter little understood in England, and less in America;) lastly, his higli and approved integrity and impartiality, form a combination of qualities not often to be found in a traveller; a combination which jnstly entitle him to the confidence of enlightened Americans in his representations of England.

Enough, and more than enough, has been written to excite national contempt and hatred on either side the Atlantic. It is time to put an end to this cowardly and most pernicious warfare, which lays waste, not the works, but the heart of man. The sword may cut off one generation, but this prepares the evils and horrors of strife for generations unborn and uncounted. These acts of hostility are not the less criminal, that they are done in the enjoyment of a base and indolent security. The fierce and ruthless invaders of a country, who peril their lives for conquest, are respectable, compared to these cowers of the noxious seeds of national antipathy ; for who shall venture to say

JO l^KEFAGK.

what will be the harvest of crime and misery their chiklren's cliildren will have to gather in?

Let us hope that the time is not distant, when such appeals to the worst passions of nations will be received with the neglect which will form their only appropriate and effective punishment.

Every enlightened American will doubtless receive with satisfaction a picture, of the land of the fathers and founders of his race, traced by so able and honourable a hand. He will recognise the elements of the mingled heritage of good and evil which he has derived from the mother country. And as, on the one hand, it ill becomes England to taunt America with faults, which are but the exaggeration of her own ; with bad institutions which she implanted, or sordid tastes, which she bequeathed with her own commercial spirit: so, on the other, it will be graceful in America to correct her hereditary defects, without forgetting the good she has received, and is daily receiving, from her full participation in the results of all the labours of the mind of England. It is, indeed, the high and glorious privilege of Englishmen, that in working for their country, they work for America. They have the double incentive, and the double reward, of thinking that no jealousy, no hostility, no obstructions to mutual intercourse, can prevent the rich freight of wisdom and humanity from being borne on the stream of a common language to the farthest corners of the western world.

On the other hand, the sagacious American will detect those circumstances of the old country which may impede her career, and which do not present themselves in the youthful state. If the advantages which America possesses, are subjects for her own exultation, they also furnish reasonable grounds for enhancing the expectations that may be conceived of her by others. She will have little cause to triumph in her exemption from the obstacles which other forms of society are supposed to throw in the way of improvement, if her progress is not commensurate with her freedom.

The time will, perhaps, come, when men will turn with satiety, if not with disgust, from those contests about forms of government which have hitherto absorbed their attention, to the exclusion, or neglect, of

PREFACE. H

iliose improvements in the condition of mankind which are practicable under different forms, and without which none are of much value.

I venture to think, that this book will suggest very useful reflections to the mind of every intelligent and dispassionate reader on this point. He will, doubtless, be struck with Herr v. Raumer's remarks on the wide differences existing in the institutions of England and France, and will see how little effect the common name of constitutional monarchy has had in assimilating them. If, pursuing this train of thought, he asks himself, how many of the institutions, on which the welfare and dignity of society depends, actually exist, or are possible to be introduced into the absolute monarchy (as it is called) of Prussia, the constitutional monarchy of England, and the republic of America, he might perhaps be led to transfer his solicitude from forms, to causes which are more accessible to his influence. Perhaps, however, this suggestion is least of all needed in America, where the lessons of Prussia, on the great subject of national education, have been received with an ardour and alacrity which put England to shame.

The causes of the great social defects of England and of America, are, as it seems to me, not tobe sought in monarchy or in republicanism, but in various others; the chief of which, is the eager pursuit of gain, and the consideration universally granted to money. From such sources, I cannot see what, but a sordid, selfish, tasteless, and material existence can arise. If these defects are more striking in America than in England, it is because the commercial element meets with fewer counteracting causes.

Self-appreciation is no less the interest than the duty of nations, as well as of individuals. An angry and boastful nationality blinds nobody but ourselves to our defects.

It is, perhaps, one cause of the intellectual superiority of Germany, that she is, of all nations, the freest from this — the most quick to perceive, exact to appreciate, and willing to admit ihe merits of others.

But I am intruding much too far on the indulgence of my American readers. Some expressions of approbation of very humble, but, I hope, not useless labours of mine, which have come to me across the

12 PREFACE.

Atlantic, seemed to warrant, if not to demand, a few words of recognition.

I am fully sensible, that I owe these very gratifying expressions to the character and merits of the author whose interpreter I have been, and still more, to the infinite importance of the subject he treats ; but this is far from lessening their value.

On the contrary, no personal applause could give me half the satisfaction I have felt in learning that America appreciated the value of a work, of whose utility I have so profound a persuasion.

If what I now submit to her judgment, be the means of removing a single prejudice, of softening a single antipathy, of suggesting a single useful reflection, I shall esteem myself doubly rewarded for the toilsome, though not ungrateful task of a translator.

Fortunately for America and for England, they need no such mediators. The spirit of peace and love, of humility, and of justice, is the only interpreter wanted between them.

S. A.

London, March 14, 1836.

As Herr von Räumer mentions in one of the following letters, that, •when he did me the honour to request me to translate them, he gave me full powers to omit, abridge, and alter, it seems necessary that I should say whether I have used this permission, and to what extent.

At first it appeared to me expedient to omit a good deal ; particularly the author's statements of the past history, and actual state, of certain English institutions, with which it seemed fair to presume English readers to be familiar. But, on looking nearer into the matter, I saw that his arguments and conclusions rested immediately on these statements ; and that if I omitted the latter, I took upon myself the responsibility of the question, whether Herr v. Raumer's conclusions followed from his premises ; and, if not, whether it was the statement that was incorrect, or the inference unsound. And this I did not feel myself justified in doing. I have therefore given them all.

I have omitted (as I have carefully noted in the several places) certain summaries of debates in Parliament. These debates are quite recent, and references are given by the author to Hansard's reports of them ; so that those who desire it can easily refresh their memory.

I have also omitted one or two personal allusions. There is, however, little of this kind for the translator to do. Herr v. Raumer's objects were certainly far removed from the vulgar and discreditable one of collecting and retailing personal anecdotes ; and I think the reader will perceive a general feeling of good will, respect, and gratitude towards England and Englishmen, which would naturally preserve him from all inclination to disparage or calumniate persons with whom he came in contact ; as his high integrity would make him recoil from the idea of betraying confidence reposed in him.

I think it right to mention more particularly one instance in which I have used my discretionary power, because it may be liable to misinterpretation ; though, as it is of a personal nature, I do so with extreme reluctance. The name of Mr. Bentham occurs not unfrequently in the work, as the supposed representative of tlie opinions of an existing party, and always accompanied with expressions of disapprobation or of contempt. I have constantly omitted it, when used in this manner, and have only inserted it in one place, where some remarks on Mr. Bentham's opinions occur. Allusions and insinuations, founded on what I believe to be an entire misapprehension of the character and sentiments of Mr. Bentham, were, as I thought, neither instructive nor convincing; and to me, who had much cause to know the warmth, singleness and kindness of heart of the venerable man of whom Herr V. Raumer has conceived such erroneous impressions, would have been, I confess, most painful to write. I am anxious, however, that this unfairness, if such it be, should be understood to be the effect of grateful and affectionate regard for the memory of a revered friend, and to have no relation to speculative systems of politics and ethics, which it is quite beyond my objects and my province to affect to judge.

With regard to the opinions generally contained in the work, it would be presumptuous in me to attempt either to advocate or to criticise them ; nor should I have alluded to them had I not seen that the author's politeness has led him to express a wish that they might coincide with mine.

I am far from undervaluing any expression of Herr v. Raumer's respect; and there are many subjects, among those within my reach, on which I entirely agree with him ; but I must protest against being made a party to the opinions of any author whatever. It is the peculiar and invaluable privilege of a translator, as such, to have no opinions ; and this is precisely what renders the somewhat toilsome business of translating attractive to one who has a profound sense of the difficulty of forming mature and coherent opinions, and of the presumption of putting forth crude and incongruous ones ; not to mention the more individual feeling of the unsuitableness of any prominent and independent station in the field of moral and political discussion, to a person naturally withdrawn from it.

The remark which I have just made as to the opinions of an author, also applies to his statements. In three volumes* containing so large a variety of subjects, treated as they arose day by day under public discussion, even a native might be expected to commit occasional errors with regard to matters of fact. I have, however, abstained from veri-

* The Loudon edition was published in three volumes.

fying his statements, or from suggesting any corrections of assertions, as to the accuracy of which a doubt might occur to me : inasmuch as I wished to exhibit a faithful portraiture of the author's views, and of the amount of knowledge which he possessed on each subject, so as to enable an impartial estimate to be formed of the weight due to his opinions.

The Memoir of the Author, translated from the ' Conversations Lexicon,' 1 have prefixed, because the lives and writings of the eminent men of Germany are not in general familiar to English readers; because it would be worth while to insert it, if it were merely to show the transition of the man of business into the man of letters-^so utterly unknown in this country ; and because the history of Herr v. Raumer's political life affords the best commentary on his political opinions regarding England. They appear to be such as a loyal subject of Prussia, where reform has so long been the exclusive business of the government, would naturally fall into.