The Press.
London, England, 1854-01-28 00:00:00

88

(which have caused such dismay. at Rome)
about the facility with which Irish Roman
Catholics conform to Protestantism in Eng
land and America, we do not think that it is
extravagant to look forward to the days when
Ireland will be as - Protestant as its sister
kingdoms. The very freedom of our laws will
contribute to that glorious result. Formerly
a certain feeling of honour prevented Roman
Catholics in Ireland from joining a religion
with exclusive social advantages. But the
age of official monopoly ha,s visaed by, and
a loyal and learned Catholic can rise to the
same elevation as those gained by his Protes-
tant fellow-subjects. This free participation of
social honours will gradually generate freedom
of opinion amongst the Catholics. It is doing
so already, and, as one Plunket won oratorical
renown iu advocating the political " emanci-
pation" of the Catholics, so his son, the
Bishop of Tuani, has done marvels his dio-
cese tor their spiritual progress.
We feel that for these bright moral and
social prospects the Protestants of the empire
are under vast obligations to Lord Derby.
Nor is there any part of his defence of the
Irish Church more to be admired than the cir-
cumstance that he never insulted the feelings
of Roman Catholic adversaries by scoffing at
their rites. Galling language about " the
mummeries of superstition came from the
same lips that twenty years before had talked
of " appropriation." scouted the compact of
the Act of Union, and suggested that of
" Lichfield-house. The difference between
the lines of policy and the styles of eloquence
employed by these rival leaders can never be
forgotten—by the Protestants who rejoice at the
progress of their National Church, and by the
Catholics who have writhed under the insults
cast on their receding creed. Lord Derby did
not truckle to them when they were powerful ,
Lord John Russell used them first, and
abused them afterwards. In both instances
the merit of sound principle, consistently up-
held, remained with the Conservative cham-
pion.

Florence the Beautiful. By Alexander Baillie
Cochrane, Esq., Author of " Lucille Bel-
mont," " Ernest Vane," &c. &e. Loudon:
Hurst and Blaekett.
Tins new work of fiction from Mr. Cochrane's
pen exhibits his characterestic freshness
of feeling and strong sense of the beauti-
ful. Looking at nature with the eye of a
painter, he excels in sketching landscapes and
depicting " interiors " with graphic fidelity of
detail. Apt to eonfound sentitnent with pus•
siou, he allows rather too much sway to his
powers of description, while he does not suffi-
ciently elaborate the dramatic portions of his
story. la minds constituted like his the vague
sense of the beautiful ought to be balanced by
cultivating the faculties required iu the por-
traiture of common life. Homely matter and
every-day characters ought to be interspersed,
for the sake of contrast, through the pages of
the picturesque fictioniats—the class of novel-
ists in which Mr. Baillie Cochrane finds him-
self at home.
In every chapter of " Florence the Beautiful"
we are reminded that Mr. Cochrane's genius
ought to excel with the pencil. Enjoying,
with a painter's rapture, the charms of lovely
scenery, he has selected the country of the
Touraine as the subject on which he can best
exhibit his descriptive powers. The banks of
the Loire have never before been so vividly
delineated. Readers who require incessant
action and a plot swarming with characters
will complain that " Florence the Beautiful"
is too like a gallery of pictures, and that they
lay down the volumes admiring the genius of
the artiat rather than sympathising with his
ideal beings. The story, also, being one of
the domestic episodes in the French Revolu-
tion of 1791-3, is scarcely sufficiently novel in
its subject. Abounding in tragic situations,
• '- rather ielodramatic than
' sufficiently
the tale.
of the

its treatment is rather melodramatic titan
poetioul, and our attention is not sufficiently
sonoeut *1 ori itei,witonages of the tale.
The btu' z ft:,:a:.?description of the
scene'. ,••
If whielt justifies to its
assure " La Belle," it is
assure ' .1--, f from the cold sea
f.• A,x(o•
'll a iVA \k.7!