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perceive the actual reason, and was foolish enough to be vexed at it.

The serious business transacted by Portland at Paris principally related to two objects: 1. The removal of James II. from St. Germains, and indeed from France into Italy. This he was unable to accomplish. 2. The more difficult subject of a proper settlement of the balance of power in Europe in the event of the death of the King of Spain, and the succession of the Dauphin to the throne of that vast monarchy. We cannot follow the steps of this intricate negotiation, the policy, and even the propriety, of which on the part of William III., without the concurrence of the Emperor, may well be doubted. Equally doubtful was the actual design of the King of France. Leaving these subjects for the present, it is enough to point out that the volumes before us contain the correspondence respecting this negotiation between William III. Portland, and the pensionary Heinsius, on the one side, and Louis XIV. and Count Tallard his ambassador in London on the other. Keeping the negotiation secret from every body else, the English King in this way concluded a partition treaty, to which the great seal was put by Lord Somers almost without knowing its contents. By this treaty France and other countries were to receive various equivalents, and the kingdom of Spain was to descend to the son of the Elector of Bavaria. The treaty was concluded on the 11th October, 1698. In the following February the labour was rendered fruitless by an act of Providence. The son of the Elector of Bavaria was seized with small-pox and died after an illness of a few days. Thus the whole design was frustrated. The fragments of the broken web were skilfully put together again by the same negotiators as before, except Portland, who retired in a huff because the King had got another favourite during Portland's embassy in France. A second partition treaty was agreed upon. The Archduke Charles was substituted for the deceased prince of Bavaria, and once more the peace of Europe was secured, as it was thought, by this settlement between France, England, and Holland. After a few months the King of Spain died, leaving all his domi

nions by will to the Duke of Anjou, second son of the Dauphin. The event was unexpected. Louis XIV. assembled his council in the apartments of Madame de Maintenon. Some of his ministers contended for abiding by the treaty.

"What has the Duke of Anjou done," inquired the Maintenon, "that he should be deprived of his rights?" The remark was conclusive. The treaty was repudiated; and here the present work comes to an end. Our readers know that there ensued one of the bloodiest, and for this country one of the most glorious, of wars.

The papers here published are derived from three sources: 1. The letters between Louis XIV. and Marshal Boufflers and Count Tallard were selected by the Editor from the War Office in Paris, and "the Foreign Office," we presume, in Paris also. These are all new to English history. We should have preferred their being printed in the original French. No translation, nor any other contrivance, can make a collection of such letters popular, and persons who desire to use them for historical purposes would find the language of the originals more satisfactory than any translation, however skilful. 2. The second collection of papers here published is that of the letters between William III. and the Earl of Portland. The originals of these are all in French, and remain in the possession of the Duke of Portland at Welbeck Abbey. They were copied by Sir James Mackintosh, and were slightly used by the continuator of his History of England, but are now here published in translations for the first time. Again we must express our regret that the originals were not published instead of translations. 3. The third collection here published consists of letters from William III. to the pensionary Heinsius. These were written in Dutch, and are here printed as translated by the Editor from a French translation made for Sir James Mackintosh. These letters are not new. They were printed (nearly ninety in number) in the second volume of the Hardwicke State Papers (4to. 1778), pp. 333-398, having been communicated to Lord Hardwicke by the Pensionary Fagel. The present Editor prints some letters that were not printed by Lord Hardwicke. He

has also supplied some very curious passages evidently designedly omitted by Lord Hardwicke, or by the person who supplied him with the transcripts. But, on the other hand, M. Grimblot has made some retrenchments or omissions, in the propriety of which we cannot concur, and has neither printed some letters that are given in Lord Hardwicke's collection, nor has he availed himself of that work to correct the mistakes of Sir James Mackintosh's transcriber; so that even now the series of this important correspondence is neither complete nor altogether correct in either work.

But if these defects are apparent in the only part of the book in which we have any means of testing the labours of the Editor, it is no less certain that, in that very portion of the book, the restoration of the suppressed passages to which we have alluded, gives this work considerable interest. These restored passages relate to the proceedings in the English Parliament when William was compelled to disband his army and dismiss his Dutch guard. They exhibit the King's feelings on that occasion as highly excited, and clearly shew that at that time he was very near putting in practice his threat of resigning the government and returning to Holland. A few of these passages are worth printing as specimens.

“Dec. 16-26, 1698. I am very glad that Holland has agreed to the war-budget. I should like if matters here went on equally well in Parliament; but the proceedings in the House of Commons today (of which you shall be informed) annoy me to such a degree that I cannot at present tell you any more about them." (ii. 214.)

"Jan. 6-16, 1699. Matters in Parliament here are taking a turn which drives me mad. I shall soon see myself forced to take a step that will astonish them; but I cannot speak more of it at present." (ii. 233.)

"Jan. 13-23, 1699. I am sorry to be obliged to tell you that matters here go on worse than one ever could have fancied, and that I foresee nothing but confusion and troubles. If France has advanced any money for this purpose, it has turned to a very bad use. I can assure you that nothing is more superfluous; for, in general, people here are so bad and ill-disposed, that they have no need of pay as an inducement to abandon wholly their own safety." (ii. 238.)

"March 21-31, 1699. Last Saturday I desired to make a new attempt in the House of Commons to see if they would not have sufficient respect for me to agree to keep my Dutch guards a little longer in the pay of the kingdom. But this attempt has had the opposite effect, and the House has resolved to send me a very im

pertinent address on the subject. Hence these troops must embark this week." (ii. 310.)

"May 5-15, 1699. At last this sad session is at an end, and I intend, please God, to leave for Holland, at the begin. ning of next month: God knows how I long for that moment. I have not yet informed any one of my intention; but this does not prevent all the world from talking about it already." (ii. 328.)

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May 12-22, 1699. It is not possible to pay a farthing to any body, considering the state in which Parliament has left me, as I have already informed you: hence neither Munster nor any other prince may look for anything from me.' (ii. 330.)

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"Nov. 17-27, 1699. Parliament opened yesterday. You will see from my speech that I ask nothing for myself: I speak only of their own safety in general

terms. Hence one might expect a session that would offer no difficulty; but people here have such a strange temper that I dare not form any expectation. Opinions are divided as to what is going to be done. But I assure you that nobody is in a condition to judge, or even to form the slightest conjecture about it. We must always say here like the newspapers, ' time

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will show.' Both Houses have adjourned till Friday next." (ii. 379.)

"April 12-23, 1700. At last I prorogued Parliament yesterday. It has been in truth the most dismal session I have ever had. The members have separated in great disorder and after many extravagances. Unless one had been present he could have no notion of their intrigues; one cannot even describe them." (ii. 398.)

These and other passages, which were all kept out of the Hardwicke papers, and are now for the first time brought to light, shew the entire want of cordiality between the King and the Parliament. A passage in one of Lord Hardwicke's letters, not here printed, exhibits its cause. The King writes: "It seems as if it were a punishment from heaven that people here are so little sensible to what passes without the island, though we ought to have the same interests and anxieties as those upon the continent." This the

English people never could be brought to believe: they were, indeed, anxious not to believe it. And, whilst they allowed that it was but natural for Holland to keep up her army whilst her great neighbours stood at bay, Englishmen cast a thankful glance upon the watery barrier which surrounded them, and disbanded their army, Dutch guards and all, with the most entire absence of apprehension.

One extract more and we will come to a close. It shall be a description of William given by one of the Ryswick plenipotentiaries on the part of France.

"He received us alone in his cabinet, where we three entered without any attendants, and were about half an hour in conversation with him. He saluted us very courteously all three in succession, both as we entered and as we left, and spoke very politely to us individually. He speaks well and to the point, and seems careful to choose the terms which he employs, so as to express neither too much nor too little. He speaks French well, and has no foreign accent. He speaks thick and very slowly. He is thin, and appears to be of a weak constitution, notwithstanding the great fatigue which he daily undergoes in hunting, as he did yesterday, in this cold weather, from morning till evening." (i. 136.)

Mons. Grimblot seems to anticipate that some change in the general estimation of the Earl of Portland will be one of the results of his publica

tion. We can scarcely think so. It exhibits him, it is true, playing his part creditably as a diplomatist, although at Paris not without some indiscretions, and it sets forth his master's great kindness towards him; but it also shows that no regard for the necessity of William's service could prevent his flying off from the court when he found himself likely to be eclipsed by the rising brilliancy of Keppel. Portland was evidently a pettish, jealous man,-which he has always been thought to be, but certainly not devoid of talent. If that has ever been supposed, this work will establish the contrary.

The Editor has done his work well. It was only from his own statement in the Preface that we discovered him to be a foreigner. Few English editors could have written so good a Preface, or would have shewn such good judgment in the notes. We have spoken freely upon points on which we think there might have been some improvement, or on which we differ from him in opinion, but we are not the less ready to acknowledge that our literature is highly indebted to him for bringing the treasures of foreign archives to bear upon the illustration of our national history. His book will take its stand amongst our best collections of Diplomatic Correspondence.

THE MUSEUM DISNEIANUM.

THE names of Hollis, of Brand, and of Disney have already been long enrolled among the most liberal patrons of learning and the most devoted admirers of classical antiquity. The Museum Disneianum owes its formation chiefly to the united labours of the two former, its present preservation to the latter; who, with a generosity of spirit worthy of his predecessors, has now perpetuated its fame, and diffused the information it is ca

pable of conveying, by the aid of the draftsman and engraver, elucidated by his own learned observations, in two goodly quarto volumes,* which correspond in form and appearance with the publications illustrative of the national collection of marbles in the British Museum.

Mr. Thomas Hollis was the heir to a large fortune, amassed by an eminent family of merchants in the city of London. They were dissenters by re

Museum Disneianum, being a Description of a Collection of Ancient Marbles, in the possession of John Disney, esq. F.R.S. F.S.A., at the Hyde, near Ingatestone. With Engravings. 1846. 4to.

With

Museum Disneianum, Part II. being a Description of a Collection of various Specimens of Ancient Art, in the possession of John Disney, esq. F.R.S. F.S.A. Engravings by George Measom, Upper Seymour Street, Euston Square, 1848. 4to.

ligious profession; and from the instruction of Dr. Jeremiah Hunt, Dr. Foster, and other eminent persons of that persuasion, he imbibed his freedom of sentiment and ardent love of liberty. His education had been partly received at Amsterdam, and in 1748 he again visited Holland, with the intention of proceeding on more extended continental travels. His companion in this tour, and in one of greater extent, undertaken in 1750, was Thomas Brand, esq. of the Hyde near Ingatestone, who subsequently became his heir, and added the name of Hollis to his own.

It was during these tours, and in the period extending from 1748 to 1753, that the greater part of the antiquities, still remaining at the Hyde, were collected. In the year 1761 Mr. Chambers the architect (afterwards Sir William,) built a new hall at that mansion, for their reception and arrangement. Some additions to the collection, as well of marbles as other antiquities, have been made by the present owner, Mr. Disney, who some twenty years ago returned from Italy laden with fresh stores from that emporium of

art.

The First Part of the Museum Disneianum contains fifty-nine plates in lithography, all executed by Mr. L. A. Hammersley, principal of the Government School of Design at Nottingham. The first forty-three represent various marbles,-chiefly busts, some whole-length statues, and some bas-reliefs. Mr. Disney's general remarks on the collection are as follow:

"With regard to the character of these marbles, as to excellence or genuineness, every one will judge for himself. I do not pretend to direct the taste of other people; but, having seen many and very numerous collections of various degrees of importance, from those of the Vatican, Florence, and the Louvre, down to my own, I have formed opinions which I am not disposed to obtrude upon the public, being unwilling to expose myself to the imputation of partiality or prejudice,

"I may, however, be allowed to feel

some little pride and satisfaction, when that opinion has been strengthened on the judgment of such men as John Flaxman, James Christie, and Taylor Combe, all of whom I have seen at the Hyde, and have given me their sentiments without reserve, which I have respectively noticed in each

case, either by stating their names at length or by initials, as J. F., J. C., T. C.

"Besides these worthy and celebrated men, I have been favoured with the suggestions and opinions of my learned and Sir Henry Ellis, and Mr. Hawkins, who excellent friends, Sir Richard Westmacott,

succeeded Mr. Combe as curator of the antiquities in the British Museum. To these gentlemen I must acknowledge the great obligations I am under for their assistance in compiling this work, and also to Mr. Charles Newton."

The seventeen latter plates represent cinerary urns and inscribed tablets, which are accompanied by_the learned explanations of the late Rev. James Tate, Canon of St. Paul's, written when visiting the Hyde, so long ago as 1809. Such memorials generally derive their chief value from the commentator's skill, who is enabled by comparison and juxta-position to explain their construction with critical certainty, in cases where the most learned ingenuity, without such assistance, would only be liable to be misled into unprofitable conjecture. The systematic collection of inscriptions is therefore much to be commended, for it provides an armoury to which the scholar may repair when any monument of extraordinary interest is discovered.

We now turn to the Second Volume of the Museum Disneianum, which was given to the world in the year 1848.

The contents of the Second Part are more miscellaneous than those of the First. Besides five bronze statues, which are represented in lithography by Mr. Scharf, they consist of a variety of antiquities, chiefly in bronze, all of which have been engraved on wood, with great boldness and effect, by Mr. George Measom. Of these engravings the Plates which accompany the present article are specimens.

The first of these exhibits a tripod Thuribulum, found at Pompeii in the year 1790. It is thirteen inches high, standing on three goat's legs: a wreath of flowers hangs down between each leg, and a woman's head is attached to

each wreath. There are two handles representing the heads and necks of swans. The interior of the patera is highly wrought with leaves, and the so-called honeysuckle, in a circle: in the centre is a head of Medusa. has a hole broken through it.

It

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