The Sun.
London, England, 1853-11-11 00:00:00

LITERATUBE.

Fasti Christiani ;or Rhymes of the Kalendar. In
Six Books. By W. C.!A. Maclaufin. C. Dolman.
Little more can be said of this volume than that
it is wonderfully ingenious. Its author, formerly
Dean of Moray and Ross, appears to have been in-
spired by a singular religious enthusiasm shortly
before his conversion to Catholicism—an enthu-
siasm somewhat kindred to that which a little
earlier called into existence the lives of S. Philip
Neri, S. Rose of Lima, and S. Thomas of Villa_
nova by the Oratorians. In consequence of this
peculiar enthusiasm, it is observable that our
author, W. C. Augustine Maclaurin, M.A., pre-
pared for his ethical change by penning these
six books of the " Fasti Christiani." His title-
page reminds us that he has otherwise called
the effusion " Rhymes of the Kalendar." Accord-
ing to the writer's own explanation his plan has
been to allot to each day, on the average, about
sixteen lines or four elegiac stanzas—introducing
somewhere towards their " middle places" (namely,
" as they occur when Easter falls on the eighth of
April") the various privileged moveable solem-
nities. Altogether the effusion must be regarded
as a genuine curiosity : the result of singular la-
bour—labour that we cannot but venture to regard
as singularly misapplied. For these half-dozen
books, so far as we have been enabled to peruse
them cursorily, do not anywhere seem to be illu-
mined by one solitary gleam of poetry, whether of
thought or expression. The writer undoubtedly
appears to be a man of research, but at the same
time a man in no way gifted with anything like
brilliancy of imagination. He has contented him-
self with weaving the legends of the Kalendar into
an elaborate but colourless arabesque of versifica-
tion. It produces the effect of an intricate embroi-
dery in the same material—or like a drawing in
Indian ink finished with a pencil of Dutch minute-
ness. As a display of surprising ingenuity the
work is alone remarkable, but in this respect it
may be regarded as, in a great measure, really ex-
traordinary.

Du Pape. Par M. le Comte Joseph de Maistre.
Translated by the Rev. -Eneas M'D. Dawson.

C. Dolman.

It were superfluous to allude to the celebrated
work here submitted to our notice otherwise than
in its character as a translation. The original has
long since commanded for itself a world-wide re-
nown—having for upwards of thirty years enjoyed
in
nieadilaletec luyli
oa
nr n
tasn nfi er rs
ta na Er
pueraorpaena
one repn u tlaBtli
6o 8
ll7mi
it-
waConti-
nents recognised
ripened as s theeo
afrr
subi
p. of
Its laborious
author,
,r
ce so eua
nr ct hj
was recognised by lettered readers on the
as ambassador
sandeph deof
Maistre, in his diplomatic position
from the Court of Turin to that of St. Petersburg,
commanded for some years a rare and inestimable
opportunity, of which he never failed to avail him-
self, for examining during his sojourn iu Russia
many precious stores of old works written in the
original Sclavonic. From these forgotten or dis-
regarded tomes he exhumed an astonishing abun-
dance of facts illustrative of the argument embodied
in his masterpiece. The extent of his erudition
may be perceived even by a superficial observer on
glancing through the four books of his notable
treatise "Du Pape," especial attention being
directed to the manifold foot-notes, affording the
text the advantages of authentication and embel-
lishment. English readers have long been familiar
with the memorable " Journey Round my Room,"
by Count Xavier de Maistre. They may now be-
come acquainted with the chef-Xceuvre of his
brother, Count Joseph de Maistre, a work of rather
more importance, of rather larger attraction, and
of rather more extended fame, particularly, as we
have said, among the more educated races of the
European Continent. Thanks to the Rev. Aneas
M'D. Dawson, the author of this renowned treatise
has obtained the advantage of appearing before
Englishmen through the medium of a faithful and
perspicuous translation.