The Sun.
London, England, 1854-05-22 00:00:00

11 ...
456 ...

literature. Speaking of romance writers, it is amaz-
ing that he makes no adequate mention either of
Charles Paul de Kock, or of Alexandre Dumas the
volaininous and inexhaustible. Ref rring to the
philosophers renowned as scientific men-of-letters,
it is matter of astonishment that he dedicates not
a page, not even a paragraph, to savans as illus-
trious as Arago and Leverrier. That he should
overlook Juste, or minor writers of that class,
cannot, of course, be in any respect surprising. A
few mediocrities are (at all times and under all
circumstances) amply sufficient. Okeya aXtc Toes
rptotc, apices. But with all their scarcely nu-
merable faults, neither Dumas nor De Kock
can assuredly be designated mediocrities. And
assuredly, also, among the greatest of the great men
who have dedicated their genius to the most sub-
lime of the physical sciences, may be ranked
those two glorious astronomers—Arago and Le-
verrier. While, however, we may object to
sundry faults of omission in regard to this remark-
able survey of French literature during and after
the Restoration, we could mention among its
blemishes but few faults of commission. Gratefulfor
the delight which the perusal of this masterly cri-
ticism has yielded us, we can speak of it in terms
only of unaffected admiration. It matters but little
in its regard—when weighing it in the balance of
judgment—it signifies comparatively nothing that
we find it remarked with more familiarity of phrase
than we should hare thought befitting the dignity
of history, that Napoleon was always " on the
look-out" for genius in any department. We
can pass by as of no account the casual straws
caught up in the flow of that rushing eloquence
which time will solidify and eternize into the
amber current of historic narrative. Closing the
volume after a perusal of this brilliant chap-
ter—a chapter in itself a masterpiece —we
can think, not of the occasional flaws in
the style, but of the exquisite taste every
sentence evidences, the rhetorical power of the
annalist, his extraordinary variety of knowledge, his
classic erudition, his wonderful familiarity with
every branch of modern literature, his eclectic en-
thusiasm, but, above all, his. noble and splendid
magnanimity. This magnanimity he reveals at
the very outset of his criticism when he is consider-
ing the relative merits of contemporary historians,
as though he himself had no pretensions to the
name of annalist. With no unstinting hand, but
with words of panegyric, and with cordial fervour,
Alison awards the bay garland of Clio, with more
or less ample umbrage, according to their deserts,
to Guizot, Sismondi, Thierry, Michaud, Barante,
Salvandi, Thiers, Lamartiue. It is worthy of him
—for the critic has no need of jealousy, even if
his nature could harbour so vile a feeling. Another
peculiarity scarcely less deserving attention may be
coupled with this same magnanimity. The flowing
periods, or rather the ample folds of his rhetoric, do
not preclude Alison from the sparkling point of sen-
tences eminently epigrammatic. He says (p. 559) of
Chateaubriand—" He was a man of the olden time
stranded by fate on the storm-beaten shore of the
Revolution." He writes magnificently of Thiers
(p. 621), particularly in reference to his Histoire
du Consulate et de l'Entpire—" Not only is he in-
genious, dramatic, and eloquent, but his writings
abound in important, general, and often in just
generous appreciation of individual character."
He talks (p. 618) of Chateaubriand having visited
the Holy Sepulchers " with the mingled feelings
of a classic scholar and a devout pilgrim," and
Lamartine " with the highly-wrought imagination
of a poet and the brilliant conceptions of a painter,"
and Michaud "with the heroic spirit of a Crusader.
Throughout the whole of this elaborate criticism,
moreover, Alison continues to approve himself
alike earnest, discriminating, genial, and magnani-
mous—even to the close of the chapter, when
turning from letters he directs his attention to
actors, painting, and architecture. Altogether
his latest volume will in no way deteriorate his
reputation : on the contrary, we rest assured that
so far from in any respect derogating from his
fame as the historian of modern Europe, it will
constitute only an additional and important means
towards securing its perpetuation.