The Sun.
London, England, 1862-02-14 00:00:00

LITER •ITURE.

The Private Diary of Richard Duke of Bucking
ham and Chandos, 3 Vols. Hurst. and
Blackett.
The ducal house of Buckingham has long occu-
pied a prominent position among the nobility of
England. It has filled, too, an important place
in literature, whether in the stern narrative of his-
torical facts, in the immortal verse of Shakspeare,
the brilliant pages of Scott, or in the hundreds of
romantic fictions which have chronicled the adven-
tures of the gay and witty courtier of the Restoration.
Of late years its members have played another part
on the literary stage, and entered the arena of
politics. Most readers of the day are conversant
with the valuable series of papers unveiling the
secret history of the last two reigns and the Regency,
which were collected and edited by the late
Duke of Buckingham. They are ranked among
the standard works which future students of our
political growth will turn to for the explanation
and illustration of events recorded in general terms
by the ordinary historian. It will be sufficient to
awaken the interest of those who have studied the
" Memoirs of the Courts and Cabinets of George
IV. and William IV." and observed the intimate
acquaintance with the moving springs of polities
and factions displayed in them, to learn that the
" Private Diary" before us is the work of the same
hand. The general reader, who finds less to interest
him in political details, will be equally attracted by
the volumes, which resemble rather the animated
narrative of an intelligent and observant traveller
than any drier or more solid work. The entertain-
ment afforded by its graphic pages is further in-
creased by the high rank and reputation of the
Duke, who was everywhere received with the
utmost cordiality and distinction, kindly welcomed
by the Pope, although a decided Protestant, and
courted by the Bonapartes, notwithstanding his
Royalist opinions. His pages aro consequently
enlivened by descriptions of his visits and banquets,
often told in a satirical or humorous manner; and
by snatches of court and fashionable gossip, and
occasionally, we must admit, of scandal. The Duke
does not by any means undertake to vouch for the
authenticity of all the anecdotes he sets down ; but
seemingly takes for his motto the Italian saying,
"se non e zero e ben trovato." The Duke, however,
was something more than a man of fashion and a
politician—he possessed no mean knowledge of art
and science, as these volumes amply testify. He
interested himself very much in natural history and
zoology, and was for some time busily employed
in collecting specimens. He was fortunate enough
to obtain some rare and singular samples, and re-
marks in one place, with justifiable pride, that he
had succeeded in obtaining specimens of every kind
of shell to be found in the neighbourhood. The
acquaintance with geology and mineralogy shown
by the Duke was likewise remarkable in his day ;
while in all matters of art he displays a cultivated
taste and critical perception. His wanderings are
almost entirely among the States of Italy, and, as
the preface justly observes, the picture he draws
of their government and social condition is remark-
able for its interest and fidelity, although the posi-
tion of affairs is now completely changed. Of course
it is not probable that such an intelligent and cul-
tivated wanderer could fail to visit the buried cities
of Herculaneum and Pompeii; and accordingly we
have an interesting recital of his subterranean excur-
sion. Shocks of earthquakes were frequent during
his residence in Italy, and much alarm was felt in-
consequence of a threatened eruption of the volcano.
It was at this time that the terrible disaster befell
Ischia, on which occasion a young girl was disin-
terred alive after being buried five days. It will
thus be seen that the work abounds with anecdote
and information of the most varied kind, and as
want of space prevents us at the present moment
from doing adequate justice to its merits, we shad
return to it at an early opportunity, and cite some
interesting passages.