to be far more Italian than French. The quiet observation ;the calm reflection;-the impassive temper;-the patient and profound research; the unimpassioned calculation; - the unperverted vision;-the gentle manner;-the general reserve;-the wit, sparkling, yet replete with meaning;-all seem to mark him as a congenial spirit to that galaxy of great statesmen, who illustrated the middle ages of Italian history, -the Machiavellis, the Guicciardinis, the Viscontis of the South. Perhaps the least defensible part of Talleyrand's history, is his continuance in office under Napoleon, and submitting to execute his decrees, at a time when his wicked violations of the laws of nations, his extinction of public liberty, his oppression of weaker states, and his daring strides towards universal dominion, had called forth the animadversion of the whole civilized world. These were all acts which M. de Talleyrand condemned; against which he remonstrated; but of which he did not refuse to become the instrument. Certainly this would not have been the line of conduct pursued by a man of delicate and chivalrous honour. All we can say in his exculpation is, that he gave Napoleon better advice than that wilful potentate ever followed ;that he constantly and courageously opposed the war with Spain, one of the most unjustifiable of the Emperor's enormities, and that it is by no means certain that he would have served his country more effectually by retiring, than by remaining in office. By pursuing the latter course he certainly rendered himself in the eye of strict justice a particeps criminis ; as Carnot, his great opponent, had soiled his reputation by continuing the colleague of the sanguinary leaders of the Reign of Terror. Indeed the sin is one which he shares with all statesmen; and the question between them is only one of degree. For although, in strict logical justice, a minister ought to resign when his advice is rejected, yet if this principle were invariably followed out, government would be impracticable, and the changes of a cabinet would be like the phantasmagoria of a dream. IV. Mirabeau.—Of all the remarkable characters who arose during the French Revolution, no one exerted on the course of events an influence comparable to that of Mirabeau. He was the first in the Assembly to raise the standard of uncompromising opposition to the Court, and to awaken the tiers-etat to a sense of their power and their rights. Had he not lived, the first steps in the Revolution would have been very different, and consequently the whole of its subsequent career would have been materially changed. The portrait which Dumont has left us of VOL. I. No. 5.-New Series. 2 N this great man is too faithful and complete, to leave us any occasion to dwell long upon his character. Mirabeau was a man of gigantic dimensions, both in his form, his passions, and his intellect. He was born in the ranks of the nobility, but soon quitted them, partly by expulsion, partly by voluntary and indignant retreat. Ill treatment and domestic tyranny had early thrown him into the career of vice, which he followed with characteristic impetuosity. His flagrant offences against morals and decorum were the result rather of urgent appetites and boiling passions, than of depraved habits or ignoble tastes. With all the faults of a violent and untamed temperament, he united many estimable and amiable qualities. Filled with a restless vanity, devoured by insatiable and unscrupulous ambition, sincerely attached to the glory of his country, but above all desirous to link her fortunes to his own ;-he had yet a ready sensibility to all the kindly affections, and a strong sympathy with all that was grand, and generous, and noble. He was, in political life, a man of strong intellect and of penetrating sagacity; of incredible audacity, of indomitable courage; endowed with that overwhelming energy of character, and that brilliant, vehement, and at times almost terrific eloquence, which marked him out as the unrivalled leader of a popular assembly. He possessed various, but not profound knowledge; but he supplied his own deficiencies by a happy art in making use of the materials furnished to him by other minds. In this respect, and in some others, there was a strong resemblance between Mirabeau and Sheridan. Both were somewhat tarnished in their private character. Both supplied the want of knowledge by the resources of an extraordinary genius. Both availed themselves with singular dexterity, and with no scruple of the thoughts and language of other men.* Mirabeau was one "Un jour que Barnave, qui etait très-fier de sa prestesse à parler, venait de repondre l'improviste à un discours préparé, Champfort, qui était à causer avec Mirabeau sur les marches de la tribune, disait que la facilité était un beau talent à condition de n'en pas user. Mirabeau saisit cette expression pour son exorde, et débute ainsi; 'J'ai dit depuis longtemps que la facilité était un des plus beaux dons de la Nature, mais à condition de n'en pas user; et ce que je viens d'entendre, ne me fuit pas changer d'avis,' &c."—Dumont, p. 214. "In the year 1802, as Sheridan was walking down to the House with Sir Philip Francis and another friend, on the day when the Address of Thanks upon the peace was moved, Sir P. Francis pithily observed that it was a peace every one would be glad of, but no one could be proud of.' Sheridan, who was in a hurry, did not appear to attend to the observation; but before he had been many minutes in his seat, he rose, and in a short speech, evidently made for the purpose of passing his stolen coin as speedily as possible, said This, Sir, is a peace, which every one will be glad of, but no one can be proud of.'" Moore's Life, II. 331. of those men of violent and incalculable impulses, who, in public life, are suspected by all, and trusted by none. Like Sheridan, Shaftesbury, and Brougham, though above corruption, he was too fond of intrigue, and too comet-like in his course, to preserve an unblemished reputation. Like them he reigned by the force of talents alone. Of the influence of Character he had none. ART. VI. THE NATION'S RELIGION PREVENTING THE NATION'S EDUCATION. THE noisy and artificial outcry which has been raised against the scheme of Education proposed by Her Majesty's Privy Council, may teach more than one useful lesson to the statesmen of our time and country. It may serve to make them aware of the evils resulting from the system they have too uniformly adopted, of making the Government follow instead of lead public opinion;-of avoiding, with a caution at once pusillanimous and suicidal, either offending their enemies or encouraging their friends;—of leaving the unassailable ground of a great principle, to stand upon the untenable ground of temporising and ineffective expedients. The urgent demand for an improved system of elementary instruction for the lower orders of this country has long been obvious to observant and reflective men of all parties. Our Rulers have been the last to perceive it; and after they were made aware of its existence, have remained in careless inactivity, till the imperative voice of the country compelled them to bestir themselves. The evils of this plan of proceeding are palpable. Statesmen, who found their measures, not on what they consider to be just and right, but on the demands of the people, ought to have some infallible criterion by which they can ascertain beyond a doubt what the demands of the people really are:otherwise they are in continual danger of obeying the voice of the clamorous few, instead of that of the silent many. Our Ministers are in this position now. They are alarmed at the outcry raised against the moderate and temporising plan they have proposed, as if it were the voice of the country which condemned them ;and they entirely forget that the friends of a projected plan―rejoicing in its projection-are yet naturally satisfied with silent approval, and feel that they have nothing to do but to acquiesce; while its enemies are as naturally loud in their clamour, and active in their enmity. "Faction (says Mr. Burke) will make its cries resound through the nation, as if the whole were in an uproar; when by far the majority, and much the better part, will seem for a time annihilated, as it were, by the quiet in which their virtue and moderation incline them to enjoy the blessings of government." In another point, we think our statesmen have been frequently in error, and rarely more so than on the present question. They have an unhappy ingenuity in so framing their measures as to secure the greatest amount of opposition, and the smallest amount of support. They contrive to exasperate their enemies, but never fairly to arouse their friends. In order to conciliate opponents whom no concessions can disarm, they dilute, and clip, and emasculate their measures till their supporters find them not worth contending for. They entirely lose sight of a most indisputable and important axiom-that it is always much easier to excite hostile than friendly enthusiasm; and that while the faintest glimmering of innovation is sufficient to awaken and concentrate the deadliest enmity of those who have a vested interest in darkness, no measure which does not involve either a great prolific truth, or a large practical boon, will be ever able to arouse the energetic co-operation of those who have only a philanthropic interest in light. Would to God that our Statesmen could only be persuaded of the hidden strength that lies in the assertion of a great principle, and the assumption of a tenable position! Would to God they had that knowledge of human nature which alone can give them faith in human nature! Would to God we could induce them to cast good seed upon the waters-they know not in how few days they would find it again. The heads of the plan proposed by the Privy Council are the following: "To found a School, in which candidates for the office of Teacher in Schools for the poorer classes may acquire the knowledge necessary to the exercise of their future profession, and may be practised in the most approved methods of religious and moral training and instruction. "This School to include a Model School, in which children of all ages, from three to fourteen, may be taught and trained, in sufficient numbers to form an Infant School, as well as Schools for children above seven. "Religious instruction to be considered as general and special. "Religion to be combined with the whole matter of instruction, and to regulate the entire system of discipline. "Periods to be set apart for such peculiar doctrinal instruction as may be required for the religious training of the children. "To appoint a Chaplain to conduct the religious instruction of children whose parents or guardians belong to the Established Church. "The parent or natural guardian of any other child to be permitted to secure the attendance of the licensed Minister of his own persuasion, at the period appointed for special religious instruction, in order to give such instruction apart. "To appoint a licensed Minister to give such special religious |