382 Novels by the Author of Headlong Hail. [Aprit, 
which view he hurries off impatiently to town, where, with no small in- 
genuity, and after much research, he contrives to become acquainted 
with divers cognoscenti in the Belles Lettres and the Fine Arts, all of 
whom he invites to spend the ensuing Christmas with him in North 
Wales. Asa matter of course they accept this invitation—the details 
of which, meagre and unsatisfactory as they may seem to the mere lover 
of incident and bustle, have furnished Mr. Peacock with materials for a 
volume, abounding in shrewd thought, broad caricature, and masculine 
and pertinent ridicule. Having discussed the plot, we proceed to the 
more important features of the tale, viz., its characters. In these it is 
rich to profusion. We have first Mr. Foster, the Perfectibilian, a gentle- 
man who is a staunch believer in the daily progress of human nature to- 
wards perfection, in every department of mind:—secondly, Mr. Escott, the 
Deteriorationist (whose motto ought to be “ deteriora sequor”), a cynical 
sort of philosopher, marvellously sceptical on the subject of the improve- 
ment of mankind, and one who holds it as his firm belief that they are 
fast retrograding in all branches of knowledge and virtue :—thirdly, 
Mr. Jenkinson, the statu-quo-ite, a negative sort of personage, who con- 
ceives that the human species is neither advancing nor retrograding, but 
remaining just where they ought to be :—fourthly, the Rev. Dr. Gaster, 
a pragmatical orthodox divine, fond of good cheer, as all orthodox 
divines are, or should be, and much addicted to falling asleep after din- 
ner, when abstruse or philosophical conversation is going forward :— 
fifthly, Mr. Cranium, whose name sufficiently implies the nature of his 
favourite pursuit :—and sixthly, Mr. Milestone, an enthusiastic advocate 
for the orderly—becoming—artificial—sophisticated, in architecture and 
landscape gardening. All these different gentlemen, together with their 
respective hobbies, are brought into the broadest and most amusing con- 
trasts imaginable ; their opinions are set in the richest light of ridicule, 
while an earnestness, a gravity, a calm, deliberate mode of discussion is 
adopted throughout their numerous dialogues, that renders the tale a 
complete unique of its kind, a production sai generis, standing boldly 
out in the desert flats of modern literature, like Zenobia’s column in the 
wastes of Tadmor. 
“* Melincourt,” which was Mr. Peacock’s second production, is a 
novel of a more original and elevated character. It may be called a 
satirical allegory, a species of writing of unusual rarity in the writings 
of modern times, as distinguished from those of Greece and Rome. We 
know, in fact, but of three writers who have immortalized themselves by 
their allegorical turn for satire, and these three are, Rabelais, Swift, and 
Arbuthnot. The first is, beyond all comparison, the greatest, most 
inventive, and most original ; he has a singular faculty of enabling his 
wildest fantasies to illustrate the plainest truths ; wears his fool’s-cap and 
bells with an imposing air ; end, under the surface of frivolity, conceals 
a rich stratum of religious and political wisdom. He has had numerous 
admirers, and countless imitators, none of whom, however, with the ex- 
ception of Swift, ever reached within a hundred degrees of his excel- 
lence, one great reason of which is, that the talents of Rabelais are pecu- 
liarly inaccessible to rivalry, or imitation, asmuch as he is an author of 
extraordinary political foresight, and a long reach of experience, extend- 
ing over upwards of half a century, during which time he saw life in its 
most varied forms, from the prince to the peasant, and at a period, when 
the intellect and manners of Europe were yet unsettled, and, conse- 
