The work of Mr. Palgrave, to which we have slightly alluded, is comprised in a recent volume of Mr. Murray's "Family Library." It is written in a remarkably clear and agreeable style; but as it embraces only the Anglo-Saxon period, we must wait for the remaining volumes, before we can give any lengthened notice of a production, which will doubtless deserve our best attention.

ART. IV. Social Life in England and France, from the French Revolution in 1789, to that of July, 1830. By the Editor of Madame du Deffand's Letters. 8vo. pp. 214. London: Longman and Co.

1831.

In this light, sketchy, and well written work, the author has displayed a correct and polished taste, and a good deal of that gossiping acquaintance with "men and manners" which it is always delightful to encounter. He is evidently a gentleman of considerable experience in life, since he professes to treat, from personal knowledge, of a period including the last forty years, and intimates that Horace Walpole was amongst his earliest friends. His principal apparent employment in the world has been the pursuit of pleasure, and we have here the fruit of the observations which he has made in the course of his career, upon the constitution and changes of society in the two most civilized nations of the globe.

With respect to England, his remarks are much more scanty than we could have desired. Having lived a great part of his life in France, he has devoted by far the larger portion of his volume to that country, considering, perhaps, that the other branch of his subject had been already sufficiently treated, in a lively work which was published here about three years ago, entitled "A comparative view of the social life of England and France, from the restoration of Charles the Second to the French Revolution,"-a work, indeed, to which the present is an avowed sequel. The difficulties of dissecting and lecturing upon the forms of society amongst us, may possibly have deterred him from entering upon such a task at much length. It is no very easy matter to say what" society" is in this country, and where it is to be seen in its greatest activity and perfection. If we approach the higher classes, during that period of the year when the west end of the town is most populous, and observe the manner in which they occupy their time, we shall find them generally congregating in large masses at the opera, the French plays, the subscription concerts, Almacks, routes in private houses, and, when the weather grows warm, at fêtes champêtres. Now that we have a brilliant and hospitable court, we may add that the drawing-rooms, the balls and the dinners given at St. James's, also frequently attract together large assemblages of the best informed, best educated, best dressed, the wisest, the bravest, and the handsomest persons in the land. But can we find amongst

them, upon any of these occasions, the realization of those ideas which are generally excited in the mind by the term Society?

If we cast our eyes a little lower in the scale of existence, and contemplate the professions, the families of the lawyer, the physician, the sailor, the soldier, and the merchant, we shall possibly perceive amongst them more of the true character of English society, than we can discover elsewhere. Their lives are, however, generally speaking, so retired, that there seems to be no common standard of society established amongst them, beyond the ordinary custom of giving, in the course of the season, a certain number of dinner and evening parties, in which choice viands and old wine, music and quadrilles, fill up the intervals which they devote to social relaxation. There are public institutions, such as the Royal Society, the Society of Arts, the Royal Institution, and latterly the College of Surgeons, at which a common love of science and art unites, occasionally, individuals of different grades, from the prince to the architect. But they have not as yet (though the attempt has been made more than once) succeeded in establishing, at such meetings, that free and familiar conversation, which is essentially requisite to constitute what we understand by social intercourse. The clubs also, of which we have a great number, have altogether failed as promoters of that object. They enable single men, and married men when separated from their families, to dine comfortably, and to read the newspapers and other popular productions at an economical rate. But every approximation to general intercourse amongst the members of those establishments has been constantly checked, by that latent, but ever active indisposition, which Englishmen have to form acquaintance with each other, without the regular preparatory steps of proper introduction and frequent meeting in respectable places.

Society, in fact, in the true meaning of that term, is much more limited in this country than in France, or perhaps, than in any other nation calling itself civilized. We all live upon a scale of expenditure, which has no example upon the continent; we lay out fortunes in the mere decoration and furniture of our houses; we must have equipages; our costume, both for males and females, is enormously costly; the meats and vegetables served at our tables, are purchased at a price three or four-fold greater than they would amount to upon the continent; and hence, though an opulent people, we live, even in private, to the utmost extent of our means, and therefore it is that we are not, and cannot generally be, a social community.

If by society be meant the frequent and unrestrained meeting of many families, who are in equal, or nearly equal classes of life, and who communicate freely with each other upon all matters in which they feel a common interest, thus developing individual character, and influencing, by their example, the manners of the country to which they belong, it is manifest that we have no such

institution in England. It has sometimes happened, as the author of this work remarks, that a distinguished person, such as a late celebrated duchess, whom he characterises under the fictitious name of Lucia, is raised to the throne of fashionable life, and is enabled to impart to it for a while a determined tone; she is surrounded with the elite of all parties, and under her commanding influence all the inferior restraints upon intercourse are broken down. Men of different ranks in life meet together in her presence, conversation is unfettered, wit gives out all its brilliancy, talent all its energy, knowledge all its treasures, wisdom all its instruction, and cheerfulness exhausts its power of entertainment. When the late king first entered life as the Prince of Wales, he also had his court, at which society, varied, it is true, and sometimes not the most virtuous, might have been found. But for a long period, there has been no predominant influence of this kind exhibited in the fashionable world, and consequently no society.

Nevertheless, it would seem to a reflecting mind, that we are possessed of many of the elements, of which society of the best description is composed; and when they are brought together in any considerable force, as they sometimes are, by accidental circumstances, we may perceive that we want only a repeal of the old non-intercourse system, a free trade, as it were, in the exchange of ideas, to rival, if not to surpass, our more fortunate neighbours in this respect. The education of our young men, whether destined for the senate, the learned professions, the field, or the ocean, is now much more generally attended to, and infinitely better directed, than it was before the peace. Confined by the war for a lengthened period to their own country, they had no opportunity of correcting their prejudices, or of polishing their manners. They indulged to satiety in every gratification. They were exceedingly selfish, uncourteous to women, homely in their dress and appearance and in all their ideas. The young men of the present day are the reverse of all this. They are well read in all the necessary, as well as the elegant branches of literature; foreign travel has given simplicity and ease to their manners; their taste is sound upon most points; they are courteous towards the amiable sex, and they no longer drink to intoxication. A party of men will not now consume half a dozen bottles of wine, who, twenty years ago, would have taken to their share half a dozen bottles each.

The change that has taken place among the naval and military men is particularly obvious. Schooled in the trying scenes of the late war, dispersed in all parts of the world, and, we may say, commanding wherever they appeared, their minds have been prodigiously elevated above the rank which their predecessors attained. Hence every military man, and almost every naval officer, is now an author. He can write, and write well. Every garrison town has its library; so also, we believe, have most of the ships of war in commission. In the intercourse of the world, the sailor and the

soldier are no longer distinguishable by professional peculiarities of character, from the ordinary mass of gentlemen. The education of our ladies is also conducted, generally speaking, upon an admirable system, such as is adapted to make them attentive to the duties which usually fall to their share, and to render them interesting as intellectual companions. Their schools are well regulated for the accomplishment of these purposes, and of late years they have been enabled, by the vast circulation of such works as "The Family Library" and those which emanate from the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, to partake constantly at home of the springs of information, of which they could only have slightly tasted in a state of disciplined tuition. The great obstacle to the harmonious combination of these fine social elements, arises, and we fear long will arise, out of the system of our domestic expenditure, which is unnecessarily, and, indeed, unnaturally extravagant.

The operation of the income tax discovered many curious sources of unexpected wealth, and laid open many still more curious traits of national character in the acquirement and in the use of it. Persons trafficking in stalls, or small shops, actuated by that strict sense of honesty, which had probably been the foundation of their success, gave in incomes of £4,000, and £5,000 a year; and paid, with scrupulous exactness of calculation, to Government, yearly sums four times greater than any they had ever expended on themselves. The same inquisitorial process injured many brilliant commercial reputations, and stopped many in a dangerously rapid pursuit of fortune. In general, the whole body of retail dealers, who, contrary to the ideas and habits of other countries, had been accustomed to see every additional tax, and the weight of all public burdens, fall on their customers, and not on themselves, endured, with less patience than any other order of people, the privation of indulgences to which they had accustomed themselves. They, therefore, so increased the price of every article of their commerce, as at once to secure to themselves the same indulgences and the same profits; thus eluding all contribution to the public necessities, at the expense of the consumers. The immense influx of paper money, from the year 1797, having raised the nominal price of every thing, and the spirit of our government being adverse to all interference with internal policy, allowed this manœuvre of the retail dealers to pass unnoticed. It is to these times that must be referred the great demoralization, on the score of fair-dealing with their employers, which has taken place in this whole order of people. The large fortunes acquired in the public funds, the improvident expenditure necessarily entailed by war, and the carelessness of those who profited by it, allowed of a sort of reciprocity in the imposition of exorbitant charges, which has been since established into a regular system, instead of having ceased with the disastrous times which gave it birth.'-pp. 19–21.

Equal in political rights, it has been too much the fashion to assume, that we should at least appear to be equal to our neighbours in point of fortune. We sacrifice comfort to ostentation. The author is much mistaken in supposing that the pressure of VOL. 11. (1831.) No. 11.

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the income tax reduced the stately system of the great families to the extent which he mentions. For a time it may have had a partial effect of that kind, but after the tax was repealed, the old usage of numerous servants, horses, carriages, and, above all, of committing the affairs of the household to the superintendence of domestics, was resumed, and continues unabated to this hour. Rents may fall, estates in the West Indies may be for years unproductive, the interest of money in the funds may be lowered, but the same show is still kept up in families, who, having too much pride to break up their establishments, go on borrowing money from year to year in order to support them, until at length, bankruptcy compels them to fly the country.

In a healthy condition of society, there are few public entertainments which exercise a greater share of influence than the drama. It never was so prosperous in this country as in the days of Garrick, John Kemble, and Mrs. Siddons: since the departure of the latter from the stage, it has been constantly declining in its character, and, for some years, theatrical property has been a serious burthen to its possessor. Nor are we surprized at this, when we consider the wretched stuff of which all new tragedies and comedies have been recently composed, and the mediocrity which has marked the actors in general, especially the females. In addition to these tokens of degeneracy, we must mention the nuisance of the saloons, which has grown intolerable. Who would expose his family to the risk of being seated side by side with the prostitutes, who abound in every part of our theatres? These places of public amusement seem almost, as if they were destined exclusively for the exhibition of the attractions of these unhappy victims of crime,-nothing better than bazaars for the sale of these Circassian slaves. And if, for a moment, we glance behind the curtain into the Green-room, what examples of vice do we not behold there; it is indeed as bad as any other of the saloons. The Footes, the Loves, the Patons, the Vestris', are these to be considered as proof of the position which the author has rashly laid down, that the stage has ceased to be either the school or the refuge of female profligacy'? The vices of the individual actors or actresses would, however, be overlooked, if their genius were capable of commanding universal attention. That is very far from being the case. Never was the theatre less popular with all classes of society than it is at this moment; never was its influence more circumscribed.

The features of society in France are more distinct, and stand out in much higher relief, from the ardent character of the nation, than they do with us. The author thus paints them in the early part of the revolution.

The exaggerated and impossible equality of the democratical republic of 1793-the profligate and degrading manners of the Directory-the newly acquired power and efforts of Bonaparte to establish a better order of social life-the remnant of the old nobility, who, intrenched in the recesses