The Press.
London, England, 1858-01-09 00:00:00

40

Murillo, however, always attracted me more than any
other artist. His pictures are so dramatic that they take
instant possession of the interest, and impress the heart
far more than the creations of any other painter. The
complexion of his women seems the reality of the warm,
rich Andalucian skin —there is such vitality and clearness
in the tints mingling and melting into each other like those
of nature. There is a blending of the noble and the beau-
tiful, the graceful and the gentle, which is strangely fasci-
nating to me.

And wo will add, to all who believe that art
attains its highest end when, without soaring
above, it refines, purifies, and hallows each
common form of daily life.

Memoirs of the Duke of St. Simon. Abridged
from the French. By Bayle St. John.

Vols. 111. and IV. London : Chapman and

AMONGST the interesting works of the present
season there is not ono more readable than
this, the continuation of the new edition in
English of St. Simon's history, translated by
Mr. Bayle St. John. We think that the third
volume of this work is equal in interest to any
republication that has appeared for many
years. To some of our readers its contents
will be, as to ourselves, familiar from long ac-
quaintance, but there are many students of
literature who are not acquainted with the
mastefly delineation of the deathbed of Louis
XIV. Lord Macaulay produced great artistic
effect by his pictorial representation of the
death of Charles 11. (and we may ask whether
that of Cromwell would not have been a still
finer subject ?), but many persons would think
that the death of Louis XIV., as here de-
scribed by St. Simon, is still more striking,
and we cannot forget that it is drawn from
actual observation. The description of Louis
XIV. and his manners, as depicted in this
third volume, is full of interest, and abounds
with choice specimens of the art of memoir-
writing. The estimate, also, of Louis XlV.'s
character is singularly fair and philosophical,
and some parts of it aro quite extraordinary
when we see that St. Simon anticipated the
judgment of posterity.
The literary merit of these memoirs is im-
proved by Mr. St. John's style of condensa-
tion. As a writer, St. Simon appears better
in this edition than in the original; his re-
dundancies are retrenched, his involved sen-
tences are made terse, and irrelevancies are
avoided. Yet in the original memoirs these
irrelevancies had their value, as authentica-
ting the detailed character of the whole
narrative.
The fairness of St. Simon, and his remark-
able impartiality, are brought out clearly in
these memoirs. Louis XIV. resolved to legi-
timatise and give precedence to his natural
children, and Father Daniel, as a precursory
measure, was employed to write a history of
the French Monarchy. St. Simon says of
Father Daniel's history :

Never was French so clear, so pure, so flowing, with
such happy transitions; in a word, everything to charm
and entice the reader; admirable preface, magnificent
promises, short, learned dissertations, a pomp, an authority
of the most seductive kind. As for the history, there was
much romance in the first race, much. in the second, and
much mistiness in the early times of the third. In a word,
all the work evidently appeared composed in order to
persuade people—under the simple air of s man who set
aside prejudices with discernment, and who only seeks the
truth—that the majority of the Kings of the first race,
several of the second, some, even of the third, were bas-
tards, whom this defect did not exclude from the throne, or
affect in any way.

The distinction drawn by St. Simon between
the manner and the matter of Father Daniel's
history will be observei by our readers. When
the decree appeared which gave legitimacy and
wecedency to the illegitimate offspring of the
King, St. Simon burst forth with energy :

Foreign dukes and princes fumed, but uselessly. The
Court uttered dull murmurs more than c3uld have been
expected. Paris and the provinces broke out; the Par-
liament did not keep silent. Madame de Maintenon, de-
lighted with her work, received the adoration of her
familiars.

As fur me, I will content myself with but few reflections
upon this most monstrous, astounding, and frightful de-
termination of the King. I will simply say, that it is
impossible not to see in it an attack upon the Crown ;
contempt for the entire nation, whose rights ere trodden
under foot by it; insult to all the princes of the blood; in
f tel. the crime of high treason in its most rash and most
criuitual event. Yes! however venerable 011t1 may have
rendered in the eyes of men the majesty of Kings and
their awed persons, which are his anointed; however