ficulties would not permit it to follow the example of the British government, in granting a premium upon the whale fishery, still it was disposed to offer every possible assistance; and, as an earnest of this desire, guaranteed that not only all materials required for the purpose might be imported by them free of all duties, but that the export of the oil should be duty free, and that all the local authorities throughout the country should afford them every possible protection. Upon the faith of such prospects the sum of 60,000 dollars was invested in the enterprise, vessels were chartered, equipped, and furnished with proper crews and materials for whaling, and they were sent to sea: the refining establishment was to have been fixed at Coquimbo, whither were sent all the barrels and barrel-staves that could be purchased on shore or afloat. Soon after this was done the grand expedition sailed from Valparaiso; but, as the governor of that port had neglected to procure sufficient water-casks for the use of the transports and ships of war, an order was given to the commissary-general to put into Coquimbo, and there take all the hogsheads prepared for the whaling establishment: in vain did the individuals interested protest against this violation of private property; in vain did they urge the ruin it would cause them on the arrival of the whaling ships, shortly expected to return with sperm oil: all was of no use, the casks were taken for the public service. They collected together all the old whale-oil hogsheads that could be mustered to receive the returns of the first vessel that should come in; but, on its arrival, the governor of Coquimbo claimed the right to levy duties by virtue of an old Spanish law exacting a portion of the produce of the fishery, amounting, I believe, to about one-eighth share of the whole product; and, for acquittance from these duties, application to the supreme government was made in vain. But neither of these arbitrary proceedings could damp the ardour of the speculators, or arrest their operations, until another most violent measure was put in force against them. The want of casks in which to store the oil-blubber was provided against as well as it could be, by sinking a reservoir on the high promontory that overlooks the bay of Coquimbo; this work was stopped by the governor of the town and province, on the plea that it would be injurious to the health of the inhabitants, although the spot is several miles distant from the town: jealousy against foreigners was the motive which produced these proceedings. The want of storage brought on immense charges for demurrage of vessels, which arrived with cargoes of blubber, and this, with other unavoidable expenses, compelled them to abandon the speculation, after losing a very considerable sum of money.'-Vol. ii. pp. 287-289.

Mr. Miers adds two other specimens of conduct equally profligate on the part of the government, which are really too instructive to be omitted.

Another instance occurred; it was a plan for refining copper, and manufacturing vessels for exportation to Peru. Some such establishments on a very small scale exist at Quillota, Melipilla, and Santiago, and will be described in their proper place. On this occasion an attempt was to be made on a larger scale nearer the copper mines, and the projector fixed himself in Coquimbo, where he built his rude refining furnaces after the mode of the country, and commenced his operations with every prospect of success; but no sooner were his copper pans brought to market

than duties of thirty-three per cent. were laid upon their exportation; this could not be borne, and thus one of the first manufacturing establishments that really promised to be useful to the nation was put down by the iniquitous policy of the government.

'Another instance of folly, on the part of the government toward manufactures, has been displayed since I left Chile. Many attempts have been made to establish breweries, but all have failed, owing to the difficulty of making malt in a country possessing a climate so different from that of England. Lately, a very intelligent Englishman conceived the practicability of brewing of good beer, for which there promised to be a considerable consumption: with the aid of his scientific and mechanical knowledge he succeeded in his attempts, contrary to the expectations of those who had failed to effect the same objects; but no sooner had he completed his first brewings for sale to the shipping, than the government, having previously made many public protestations in favour of manufacturing establishments generally, and promises to the one under consideration in particular, decreed beer and ale to be foreign spirituous liquors, and that the manufacturer was therefore liable to be taxed: they at first charged him with a levy of fifty dollars-where it will stop no one can contemplate; it is not unlikely it may be so heavily increased as to force him to abandon his enterprise.'-Vol. ii. pp. 289, 290.

6

These examples of perfidy are worthy of old Spain, and we have not the least doubt that Mr. Miers has correctly reported them. They are quite in unison with the system of that wretched kingdom, improved perhaps by the rapacious character of most of those individuals whom the revolution has from year to year raised to the surface of affairs in Chile. It should also be known, that in consequence of many circumstances enumerated by Mr. Miers, the trade of Chile is extremely limited,' and that 'throughout all South America there is scarcely any way of employing capital in a large way, more especially so in Chile and Peru." The foreign trade in Chile, he adds, entails in most cases a loss to the home adventurers,' as the system upon which it is carried on is altogether of a petty, retail nature. The trade in national produce must also be a losing concern, on account of the enormous expense incurred by carriage in the interior of that mountainous country. Upon this subject of the commercial capabilities of Chile, Mr. Miers' work may be consulted with safety and advantage. With respect to the mines also, as we have already intimated, a copious mass of information will be found in these volumes, accompanied by very sensible admonitions, which cannot fail to attract the attention, and we hope the respect, of those whom the subject concerns.

There are three engraved maps inserted in these volumes, which the reader of South American history, as well as the traveller who may follow Mr. Miers, will know how to appreciate. Two of these maps are original, and the whole are executed with distinctness, upon as large a scale as the work would allow. Of the lithographic plates which are given to illustrate the text we cannot speak so highly. They perhaps serve their object of explanation sufficiently well, but as specimens of art they are beneath criticism.

ART. IV. The Political Primer; or the Road to Public Honours. 12mo. pp. 194. 10s. 6d. London. Colburn. 1826.

THERE are many subjects connected with the qualifications which fit a man for success in political life in this country, and which, although they are matter of daily observation amongst us, have never yet been brought together in anything like a connected or masterly composition. The materials for a work similar in its plan and objects to that "de oratore," imputed to Cicero, abound nowhere so much as they do in England, and in no other country, ancient or modern, do we find so many peculiarities necessary to the formation of a brilliant public character. We live not under a monarchy, although a great part of the state machinery receives its impulse from a king. We live not under a republic, although the people exercise, in some degree through the House of Commons, but chiefly through the press, and by means of public meetings, an important influence upon the government. We do not yield obedience to a theocracy, and yet "the church" possesses a formidable sway, which may be perverted, as we have seen it very much perverted during the late general election, to party purposes. Neither, strictly speaking, do we recognize the rule of an aristocracy, although, perhaps, this of all the others approaches nearest to the form of government which practically exists amongst us. But, then, it is not a mere aristocracy of birth or wealth; it includes in it the superior orders it is true, but it is not solely composed of these, for it is open to distinguished talent of almost every kind. Highly endowed and cultivated minds, whether they are devoted to public, legal, scientific, or literary pursuits, if they can but make themselves to be felt in the country, are tolerably sure of winning their way, not, perhaps, to stars and ribands, but to that real peerage of influence which converts their opinions into laws, and places them in a situation from which they may assist in directing the energies of the whole community.

Perhaps it is one of the clearest proofs of the peculiarities appertaining to what may be called the political theatre of England, that the species of oratorical eloquence which would have fascinated an Athenian or a Roman audience, or which, at the present day, might delight an assembly of Spaniards or of Frenchmen, would scarcely be listened to in either of our houses of Parliament. We have a style of debate which, like our constitution, is strictly national; it admits of very little ornament; it acknowledges no methodical rules, no exordium, no divisions of argument, no perorations; if ornament be used, it must grow naturally, or rather be struck out like fire, from the subject in hand; if any of the arrangements laid down by the schools be resorted to, they must be completely hidden, for every thing like artifice in eloquence is suspected, and the orator is soon left to address himself to empty benches.

It is not our purpose here to enquire into the causes of these

national peculiarities. It is sufficient for us to know that they exist, and we think that the writer who would enter seriously into the whole of this subject, by comparing together the lives of our eminent statesmen, by fixing justly the degree of renown to which they attained, by pointing out the proper characteristics of their style of speaking, and by tracing the means and the stages of their progress in public life from the time of their setting out until their death, would confer a valuable benefit on the rising generations. If the book were well executed it would be ranked among the most important works in our language.

The little publication before us, though something more than an election jeu d'esprit, we need hardly say falls immeasureably short of the standard which, in our own minds at least, we have fixed for an essay upon such a theme as the road to public honours.' are ready to admit that here and there the author presents us with some observations, evidently the results of a vigilant attention to public life, though not, we should think, of any actual experience in it. A great portion of his work is taken up with admonitions to young members who are about to appear in either house of Parliament, and with suggestions as to the style of elocution which it would be useful for them to cultivate. In the absence of more elaborate rules, these admonitions and suggestions may be read with advantage by the persons for whose guidance they are intended; at the same time it appears to us that their value is considerably diminished by the attempts at wit with which they are intermingled. To reverse the compliment which Pope paid to Longinus, our author is not "the great sublime he draws." Some specimens of speeches which he offers to young lords and commoners as examples for imitation, are beneath the notice of a school-boy.

Neither can we commend the system of hypocrisy and fraud which the author lays down for the adoption of an ambitious young man just returned from the university, and setting out upon his first canvass. It may be true that some of the tricks which are here mentioned have been occasionally resorted to in cases of contested elections; but the candidate who should owe his success to such despicable arts, or to any arts inconsistent with the frankness and dignity of a gentleman, would deserve to be set down among those pettifoggers who work their way into the House of Commons by low scheming, and attend there only for the purpose of trading in the property of the public. It is no apology for the introduction of such base resources to say that they have been used, and may still be used by individuals aspiring to represent a borough or a county in Parliament; it was the business of an author who writes at a time when the whole frame of our constitution is undergoing a change, (we trust we may call it an improvement), to explode such paltry subterfuges, to condemn falsehood, and flattery, and fraud, instead of holding them up as sanctioned by a course of practice which no usage can justify.

The maxims laid down by the author for the management of a' candidate's wit at an election are dull enough. They are given in a style meant to be epigrammatic, but when they aim at the point they generally overshoot the mark, or fall short of it. Indeed, wherever the author wishes to be lively he becomes particularly verbose. The smile kindled by expectation at the commencement of a sentence perishes before we arrive at its termination.

But notwithstanding these and other objections which we might offer to the general execution of this work, particularly as to the style, which is diffuse and careless, yet we think the author entitled to praise for drawing the attention of the public to the important and interesting subjects of which he treats. It is no small merit that he has given us the first specimen of a political primer,' and it is due to him to add that it contains many things with which it would well become many old and all the new Members of Parliament to make themselves acquainted. His sentiments on political affairs lean to the liberal side, and where, as a critic, he discusses the merits of different well-known speakers, we think his opinions unexceptionable. They show that he has paid particular attention to the style of elocution best suited to Parliament, and that he is by no means so destitute of good taste as one would be inclined to conclude from his own rhetorical examples. As an instance of sound criticism we may take his observations on the use of figurative language, than which, by the way, no language can be more hazardous to a speaker addressing a body of Englishmen.

'One of the greatest proofs of wit, is the use of a kind of figurative language precisely adapted to persons, things, times, circumstances, and places, for a fertile fancy is so stored with sensible images, that a speaker possessing it may illustrate, amplify, or enforce his topics by allusions to many different things, all fit for the general purpose of illustration, &c. &c.; but it requires a quick and delicate tact to select, at the instant, the precise image which pleases, and impresses most, the particular set of persons addressed. There could not be produced from the stores of ancient or modern eloquence, a more striking instance of this faculty, than Mr. Canning's allusion to the ships in ordinary at Plymouth, when he wished, in 1823, to prove to the inhabitants of that town, that the pacific attitude of Great Britain was no proof of want of energy or power. It flattered the auditors; was clearly understood by every one of them; and proved invincibly that apparent inertness, and real active power, may coexist in the same subject: the proof did not require a process of the understanding; it struck the mind as light strikes the eye; and the figure also precisely suited the extended view of the statesman, who desired to convey the sentiments of the British Ministry to the European Cabinets, through the ears of the unsuspecting inhabitants of Plymouth. But if he had wished to convey his views to foreign ministers, through the channel of a speech to his former constituents at Liverpool, he might have used the same figure, and the speech would have been equally admired by a stranger, and his political object would have been equally gained. But Mr. Canning's taste is too perfect to allow him to say a word about ships